You know Oma's in town when....

...your hair looks great!

Or interesting, at least..

Gotta love this stuff.

:)

Waiting to hear...

WARNING: If bruising makes you feel ill, don't look at this:

This HUGE bruise on the back of Jenica's leg is a result of ????? No one knows. Jenica has no memory of anything. Neither do I. No crying. No hysteria. Not even a complaint about it until I noticed in late Friday. Seeing that it appeared so close to her stent procedure, it caused lots of phone calls and running around. We wound up at the pediatrician's office. He said Children's Hospital Hematology Department needs to see it. He thought it is probably connected to the low aspirin dose we have Jenica on and that the dose might need to be revisited. So, I made more phone calls yesterday. Now, we wait...

I'll keep you posted...

Oma Time - Hovander

It's good to stick with the favorites. Can't come to Bellingham without a visit to Hovander Park...

Beautiful days... let's hope for more!

Dirt is Good Food!

Not chocolate... Oh no!

This one...she's amazing. Just when I think she can't top whatever it is that she has just done, she does. And, of course, she is not only proud, but she thinks it's HILARIOUS. Dirt = good stuff.
There's a reason we call her "Diablotine." She's earned it. Hoooo boy...

Surgery Saga -- We're HOME!

Wow. We've been hoping to be on "the other side" of June 19th for sometime now, and now, it's gone! (Yahooo!)

We got back to the house sometime after 3pm. Record time. They were ready to have us out of there today, and that was fine with us. Jenica had a pretty good night, a good morning, had some lunch and some last minute instructions and we got on the road.

I only managed to take a few photos to record this event, but here are a selection.
On the road! OK, we admit it: DVD players are great for long car rides.


The girls had some play time when we first arrived. We kept waiting for Jenica to have a total meltdown; it was about 12:00 noon at this point and she had had no food since 8:30 the night before. But, she was fine -- in great spirits even. (Maybe less food is the trick???)

Dressed and ready to go. Jenica thought these lovely socks were just like ducks' feet.

Little sister kills time with local wildlife.

The next day!

This last photo was taken a little while before they released us. The girls squeezed in a bit more TV time (knowing that the TV at home is nowhere near the beds...)

And now, we are all home, safe and sound.

A big thank you for all your good thoughts, prayers, calls, emails, thoughtfulness, kindnesses... we needed every bit of it and it helped!

Have a great rest of your weekend. We're planning on it...

Surgery Saga -- Part the ??

Well, it was a success! So far so good.

Jenica is currently sporting a 12mm stainless steel stent in her left ventricle artery.

She went in at 1:30 and was out by 3pm. She then spent some time in recovery and was admitted to the hospital around 4:30. She was really "woozy" and a bit "out of it", but in about an hour started to behave more normally. She was extremely thirsty, but couldn't keep down any liquids or food, much to her dismay. She settled in once she realized she was going to be able to watch "Aristocats" and enjoy some ice chips. When Dr. Johnston showed up to check on her at about 6:45, he asked her "so, how's it going?" and her response was "ahhhh...nice..."

Her color is good and her appetite is back as of this AM. She is up walking around (at 6:30, no less). Although, the report from daddy this AM is that she is VERY grumpy.

Kerry thought staying in a hotel was really neat and kept asking me "when are Daddy and Jenica coming?" She also thought being able to watch TV from the bed was the best thing since night baseball.

We should be headed back home sometime this evening.

Thank you again everyone. Big hugs from Children's Hospital. XO
KC

Surgery Saga -- Part the Second

Hello from Seattle Children's Hospital:

We made it down no problems this AM -- even with no food in J's stomach. Having the portable DVD player set up in the car is sometimes a godsend.

Jenica rose to the occasion, no problem. She had a few questions about "whether the needle was going to hurt" and where she was going to sleep tonight. Only once did she whisper to me that she wanted to "go home." She surprised us again by not needing any assistance to go with the Anaesthesiologist . Usually they give them a little "cocktail" to relax them before heading to the operating room. Not this time! She walked on her own with the anaesthesiologist, and gave us the thumbs up on the way out of the room.

Now, we wait. 2 hours, a bit more or less.

We also got the"good news" that we may NOT have to stay overnight... we'll see.

Well, we're hanging in there, especially Kerry May.

More to come!
KC

Surgery Saga: Part the First

Well, as we prepare for our "adventure" to Seattle Children's Hospital tomorrow, we received a call from the surgery center with some interesting news.

We thought J. was headed in for a 10:30 procedure, which meant we were going to have to get up and HUSTLE out of here tomorrow AM at the crack of dawn.

BUT NO!

They've changed her procedure to 1:30pm. Great! We don't have to actually BE there until just before noon!

BAD NEWS: J. can have nothing to eat after 5:30 AM. From 5:30 to 9:30 she can have clear liquids (7-Up or water). Then, she can put absolutely nothing in her mouth after 9:30AM. Yea. Should be a GREAT ride to Seattle. (Now, where did I put those ear plugs?).

Here's we go! Thanks again everyone for all your good thoughts and wishes.

More to come...

Sister Snuggle

After baths this morning, Kerry May hit a low low energy point. No clue what was up, but she was in no mood for anything but lying down. Jenica was convinced there was something wrong with her and decided she would "make it all better." So, they hung out together on the futon for nearly 45 minutes, just snuggling with one another (and a bunch of random junk).

So strange -- this relationship has been so interesting to watch as it evolves. Some days there is so much love. Some days there is so much venom.

I'll take the love part any day. :)

Dancing Queen, Jumping Bean

The Gym Star Galaxy Gym Show was held today as an end of the season wrap up for the gymnastics students (and two ballerina/gymnasts -- Jenica being one of these). Because the ballet class was so small this session (only two girls), the instructor incorporated the two into the regular program. Jenica thought this was a heavenly idea.

While she started out feeling quite self-conscious and nervous, we were proud to see her rise to the occasion and then really enjoy herself. They did a "rotation style" gymnastics meet so we were able to see Jenica's progress in a number of areas. We were impressed because:

1) we're her parents so it's nearly impossible to be objective,

2) she's only been doing about 15-20 minutes of gymnastics each week since September.

Truly though, it's just so amazing to see them blossom into capable little people right in front of you.

She started with some "bar" work.

Lots of tumbling.

Some floor routine.

And a finish on the beam.

What was even more difficult for these kids was the watching, waiting, being patient, and clapping for other people. Jenica told me this part was "boring," but we know it might have been the most valuable part of the whole day. Sometimes, whether one likes it or not, it's simply other peoples' time to shine.

Always Moving Forward

Woo-hoo -- it's been a nutty week and a half, and only about to get nuttier!

We've tackled:
1) Portfolio review with Miss Jenica. Wow. She walked us through what she's learned the past two years at Whatcom Day and I have to say again, wow. Her teachers put together a great binder, complete with her work, pictures, etc. Maybe I should have it bronzed? :) Honestly though...she's changed so much from when she first enrolled. Children, yup, they are amazing.

2) Pizza party and thank you for teachers. Thank you teachers! I am so grateful for all you people who are so gifted in working with small children. My hat's off to you.

3) School-wide BBQ and party. What a zoo!

4) Three year "well baby" check up for Kerry May. All good on this front except that we must now do a swallowing study to figure out this food-holding thing she does. Other than that, the pediatrician was admiring all of her bruises and scrapes and I think he was pretty impressed. :)

4) Our last BTC Parenting Class. While I still only feel about 10% capable of being even a 1/2 way decent parent, and will desperately miss my "therapy check in sessions" with Ann Marie, both kids are off to school next year, so I am "on my own." I might sneak in an evening "tune up" class...

On to bigger and better (???) things:

1) J.'s surgery
2) camp
3) vacation
4) camping
5) more camp
6) OH and a month long visit with Oma!

Whew. I'm going to go and sit on my duff for a bit...
:)
Happy Summer everyone!