Bella's surgery

How they expect people to sleep with all those wire, I'll never know!

Bella was having problems focusing and was always tired.  She also was a super loud snorer.  I never linked the problems together until I overheard another mom in my exercise class talking about what a difference it had made once her son was diagnosed with sleep apnea and had surgery.  I went home and did some research on sleep apnea.  Jared and I were floored at how well the symptoms fit Bella.  We took her to the pediatrician who was great and referred us to the sleep center.  Bella had a sleep study done in June at the Alton Memorial Sleep Center.  It was located in the Holiday Inn in Alton.  One level of one wing was closed off for the sleep center.  We went in Sunday evening and they hooked Bella up to the machines.   Jared was already working in Indiana so the Pearson were a life -saver and watched the kids for us.  Bella and I stayed the night.  We were in adjoining rooms but I didn't sleep at all.  Can you blame me?  My little girl was hooked up to machines and I wasn't comfortable leaving her alone so I couldn't relax enough to sleep.(Rochelle was a life-saver again when she had me drop Bella off and continued to watch the kids while I slept).  I kept checking on her through out the night and was getting frustrated because she wasn't snoring at all.  She normally snored so loud that she would consistently startle herself awake.  I was afraid we were going to go through the study for nothing.  However, even though she slept much better than normal the test still reported a mild case of sleep apnea.  Since any degree of sleep apnea is considered abnormal in kids that young she was referred to an ENT in St. Louis. Unfortunately, the ENT couldn't get her in until the day before we moved so we crossed our fingers and hoped the doctor here would continue with the process.  I was a little worried I would have to be driving her into Chicago since we were going to have to see an ENT in St. Louis. The first thing I did here was find a pediatrician and set up an appointment for Bella and have the results of the test faxed to the new pediatrician.  I wanted to move forward on helping her get the rest she needed and yes, I wanted it all done the same calendar year so I didn't have to meet the deductible twice!! Dr. Brogan was great and referred her to an ENT here in Valpo.  The ENT got us in 2 days later. He was only in the room about 2 minutes (just long enough to look inside her mouth) before declaring she needed to have her tonsils removed.  He said they'd take her tonsils and adenoids at the same time.  We were leaving for Ohio later that afternoon to spend a long weekend fixing up the house since it was finally up for sale.  He opened his calendar and asked how the 17th worked.  The 17th was less than a week away and she needed to have lab work done.  I quickly ran her to the outpatient center here in town and got her lab work completed with only about 2 hours to spare before we left.  We ended up having car problems in Ohio but made it back in time for the surgery.

Bella pre-surgery

I was impressed with how quickly everything moved.  I also appreciated the convenience of the outpatient center right here in Valpo.  Her tonsils were indeed quite large as the ENT had suspected but he was amazed by the size of her adenoids.  He said they were blocking about 90% of her nasal passage.  She is doing much better now.  She isn't so tired and grumpy all the time.  She is doing much better at school and her reading has vastly improved.  I think she was so tired all the time before and couldn't focus.   My only complaint is that they told Bella and Jared and I that they would retrieve us from the waiting room and have us in the room with her before she woke up.  They did not do that.  I would have been okay with them waiting to make sure she awoke without any complications if they had told us and her that from the beginning.  But don't assure my 6 yr old that I'll be there when she wakes up if you have no intention of getting me.  It made it look like I abandoned her.  But, overall I don't have any complaints.  The whole process went smoothly especially considering that we moved in the middle of it.  Bella in her typical dramatic fashion refused to talk for longer that the doctor thought necessary afterwards.  She also ended up missing some school.  The doctor wanted her to stay home the first 3 days but she was very upset to miss the first day so he allowed her to attend a 1/2 day on the first day of school.  Xandy on the other hand was wishing she'd had surgery to extend her summer vacation also.

Jacob's B-day

Jacob turned 4 in September.  He wanted a Yoda cake so I decided to give my new icing tool a try.  I was impressed with how easy and quick it made decorating.  I'm so not artistic or creative so I was super proud of the end result.

 Jacob with his loot.  He was most excited about his new bedding which surprised me.

We are so grateful to have Jacob has part of our family.  He is a sweet caring little boy.  He loves to snuggle and help others.  He's growing up way too fast!

First Day of School

 All three of the girls are at the same school this year.  Next year Katy will move on to middle school and last year she was at an intermediate school so this is the only year it will happen.  It has been really nice though.  Katy is in Mrs. Rainey's 5th grade class.   Her teacher had a baby in September and comes off maternity leave tomorrow so she's had Ms. Roberson most of the year.  Alexandra is in Mrs. Coyle's 3rd grade class.  She adores her teacher.   Bella is in Mrs. Keller's 1st grade class.  Her BFF down the street from us and is in the same class.  They are inseparable. 
When we went to the open house before school started the girls were a little wary.  They had been spoiled in the brand new buildings and lockers the last few years.  Memorial is older and has the traditional hooks for your coats and bags.  Xandy looked like she was going to cry when she first saw it.  They absolutely love it there now.   They are constantly asking us to stay within Memorial's boundaries when we get more permanent housing. 

On the first day os school I took Jacob to the new park in downtown Valpo.   He enjoyed playing in the water.

 

 Jacob is a smart little bugger.   He is always amazing us with his deductive and reasoning skills.   Here was his first attempt at writing his name.  He put the "J" down and asked how to spell the rest.  I wrote the letters under the line and he copied them up above. 

Don't give up

Don't give up on me yet.  I know I've been terrible at posting.  Between my work schedule and computer problems I can't seem to get blogging in.  Both situations should be improving within the next month.  If you see Santa tell him I tried to be good this year and to please bring me a laptop for Christmas!!!!!!!  Merry Christmas everyone!!

Leela's wedding

My "little" cousin got married in May. Due to the fact that it was the week-end before all our baptism company was arriving and Jared was already working in a different state we were not all going to be able to make it. Thanks to a free airline ticket Jared had and some wonderful friends who helped watch kids and pick me up from the airport, I was able to go.

Leela dancing with my dad

                                                      

Leela and her husband Sean

Leela wore this traditional wedding attire to honor her Hindu heritage.

Some of you may remember the Little Black Dress story from Asha's wedding (Leela's sister). What you may not know is that Natalie and I almost bought the same dress again for Martin's wedding. That time was completely my fault as I had forgotten what the dress she wanted looked like. So for Leela's wedding we were ready. We talked and made sure our dresses were not going to be the same or even similar. After the wedding and luncheon reception, we went back to the hotel to rest before the BBQ Leela and Sean were hosting that evening. I was sharing a room with my parents and happened to be the one who opened the door when they came to see if we were ready. Nicholas just started shaking his head and muttering. I looked behind him and just started laughing. Natalie and I were dressed almost identical. Like Jared pointed out, its hard to find affordable modest dresses and since Natalie and I have similar tastes its not too suprising that were are drawn to the same dresses. However, of all the different options one might wear to a BBQ, what are the chances we'd pick the same thing? I think Nicholas was more upset than we were, but then evidence is mounting that he married someone exactly like his sister!

Pierogi Fest

The town Jared works in had a Pierogi Fest the last weekend in July.  A festival with polka music and kielbasa, halupki, and pierogis!!!! What more could a Ukrainian girl ask for??  It was hard to keep my feet still with all that Polka music.  The food was excellent.  (in fact, when we went to a popcorn festival a few weeks later, the kids were upset that no one was selling pieorgis).  The parade was really funny.

They closed one of the main roads in town

 Jared was a little confused as to why there were bagpipes, but I thought it was a great way to incorporate another part of my heritage

 This group had pedals attached to eat seat so they could pedal down the street while drinking

 There was a lawn mower group.  This was the best one.  Its an actual riding lawn mower

 The hats were supposed to each symbolize a pierogi filling

 Mr. Halupki and Ms. Paszki (spelling?)

 The Babuska Brigade

Fun with Family

While Grandpa and Grandma Reed and Great Grandpa and Grandma Reed were visiting, we had some fun!

We squeezed in a trip to the zoo also, even though it was sweltering.  Poor Great Grandpa and Grandma had come from cold temperatures in Idaho to 100+ degrees.  It was quite a shock for them.

Newborn

My little monkey got tuckered out

We walked across the foot bridge that crosses the Mississippi River.  The annual Route 66 festival just happened to be taking place.  Jacob enjoyed seeing all the old cars, especially the ones that resembled CARS characters.  We all enjoyed the sno cones booth half way across.

On the way home, we stumbled upon a Lewis and Clark museum.  We decided to check it out.  It was a cute little place tucked away along the river.  We didn't have a ton of time since we needed to get home, change in order to make it to St. Louis for Megan's baptism.

Great Grandpa introduced the kids to Family History.  They had fun looking at all his charts and photos.

We also went to Bully's so Grandpa and Grandma could determine whether it was as good as Pappy's.  And, of course, no visit is complete without a trip to Bobby's!

Summer Fun

Summer Fun in Valparaiso

Zoo Trip Bookends

When we first moved to St. Louis, the first time we got together with the Morrisons, we met at the zoo.  It was only appropriate then, that our final get together was also spent at the zoo.  Both dads had to work, but Elise and I took the kids.  We needed to use all of our passes on our membership.  I had enough to let us all ride the carousel and the train.  We also got to see a sea lion show.  During the sea lion show, child volunteers are picked from the audience to help feed the sea lion.  Katy has always wanted to be chosen.  She stategically placed herself right by the aisle.  When they asked for volunteers her hand shot up so high and fast....and she got picked!!!  She was beaming.  She gave the sealion commands, and then threw fish to him as a reward.  She also got to pet him and pose for a picture.  The trainer told Katy that she could pick a fish or squid to eat also, but Katy declined.  I'm not sure Katy was convinced it was a joke.

Paul recently had a b-day and had some money with him.  He decided to buy everyone a souvenir.  It was very sweet and generous of him. We shared a funnel cake before leaving.  It was a bittersweet day.  We had a ton of fun but were sad that both families were moving and in opposite directions. 

June 2011

Look at how much they all grew in 3 years....

September 2008

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Raging Rivers

We went to Raging Rivers one last time with the tickets the kids earned through school.  Jacob was thrilled to see spider man (I think he was there for a b-day party).  He originally spotted him from quite a distance away and was insistent that we get closer.  Spider Man took some time to talk with Jacob and pose for a picture.  Jacob even got a hug and a high five before we left.  Jacob was a little disappointed he had worn his CARS suit that day instead of his Spiderman ones.

Botanical Gardens

Mima, PopPop and Grandma B came a few days before the baptism.  Katy really wanted to see the botanical gardens before we left (her siblings had all been there before). Grandma B and PopPop stayed home, but Mima and they rest of us set off the explore the gardens.