a moment for a Hannah update

I took Hannah to see the pediatric surgeon in Spokane yesterday and we are going to go ahead and do the surgery to fix her reflex. The procedure is called "Nissen fundoplication". the hope is that it will help stop her from refluxing and give her lungs the chance they need to get a bit stronger. There is always the chance that it will not change anything and we will just have to continue to deal with it all but the success rate is 80% it will work and for that, I am willing to try it. Hannah surgery is scheduled for January 7, 2011. a few days after we return from our winter vacation in eastern Idaho. We have a great surgeon and I feel confident that this will help her. we have chosen to wait until after the holidays because it is recommended that Hannah stick to a very soft diet the first month after the surgery, I do not want to sadden her holiday eating of goodies so we will fit it in before school starts for me. She will be at Providence Children's Hospital in Spokane Washington (formally know as sacred heart) for two or three days.
we are all very excited to be heading to Idaho Falls in just a few days. We hope we can see everyone that is in town and lives around there during our stay!!

Happy Halloween.. a little late :)

Some looked scarier than others this year...

here are our HUGE pumpkins.. they maxed out the poor scales at Winco, Hannah fit in the the last one on the left. Ownership from left to right; Micah, Hannah, Cassie, and Emy.

both Trent and I got in and got yucky... Hannah was not interested in touching the stuff inside what so ever! the kids designed the faces for their pumpkins using an app on my ipod.. it was so nice and easy :)

Micah cleaned out all of his pumpkin.. he designed the face and I carved it.

A beautiful princess..

A little devil.. oh and she loved it!

Rosemary from the tinkerbell movie.. she went around telling everyone she was a fairy called "hannah-fairy"

Micah wanted to look scary.. I think he got it!

 

 

 

 

results..

I am so Happy to tell everyone.. they were able to retrieve the data off the box!!! Hannah test came back and even with the medication they gave her during the procedure to calm her stomach the results came back mild to moderate reflex associated with registered pain. a small explanation: I had told Hannah about the box and explained what the buttons meant and when I need to push them. through the study Hannah kept pushing the button and I had to repeatedly get after for it. I put a note in the papers that i was recording on that she was doing this and apologized that it may show inconsistencies. It turns out that Hannah knew what she was doing and that when she pushed the button she was refluxing.
This shows that she is feeling it and is in some pain. with all of this and no sign of disease we are choosing to push through and get a referral for a pediatric surgeon to look at her case and see if surgery is a good idea. Hopefully a plan will be in place by the end of the year, we have an appointment as we head out of town just before Christmas to talk to Hannah's GI doctor. If surgery is needed or advised we will aim for the beginning of January before my classes start and after the holidays. Thank you to anyone that has been praying that we can get this data. I was horrified at the thought of putting her through this all again and had come to the conclusion that if they could not get the data I was going to hold off to test again until after cold and flu season, which is a rough time for Hannah regardless.

Update with Hannah

Hannah was a trooper through it all and we were able to get the scope and the PH study done. the scope came back that there was visable inflamation in the upper stomach but after taking samples she tested negitive for any diseases.. which I was counting on. The inflamation is thought to be from her throwing up and reflex problems at this point.
I just heard back from the doctor's office on the PH study and I am left frustrated. It appears there was a problem with the hardware that collected the data and they were not able to retrieve it. They have sent the hardware to the manufacture to see if they can retrieve the data. I hope that they can. I am not really feeling willing to do it all over again. while Hannah was off her meds to a month, in preparations for the test she aspiration at least three different times that cause her to get infections in her lungs and it sent her asthma all over the place. I am hopeful that one of two things happen. they are able to retrieve the data and we see what we have been dealing with for years or they decided we do not have to do the test again because she had so many problems off the medication that they are going to use that as proof. At this point I do not feel willing to put Hannah through all of that again... I pray it all works out. I am not a fan of picking on Children, especially when it is my own.

here is a picture of Hannah with the tube in and the box that was attached. she is in a better mood in this pic because she knows we are waiting for someone to come and take it out :)

flag football footage

both Micah and Emy are playing flag football...

Pictures.. because I don't feel like saying much :)

We went to our beautiful Arboretum and took some great photos.

Emeline was not into showing her teeth or smiling big..

Cassie, gotta love those eyes!

Love this one

Hannah

Cassie

Our family

Micah

The guys

I like this one also.. still deciding which I like best

Kids were getting pretty intolerant at this point but we got a few more pic out of them..

Just the two of us

my boy

best friends from birth..

Hannah update

We went to Spokane today to meet with Hannah's Peds GI doctor. Hannah has been having issues with reflex and stomach for as long as I can remember and instead of getting better as she has gotten older it seems to be staying the same or even getting worse. We think it may be causing her repeated severe asthma attacks and bronchial spasms.
The GI doctor and I talked, he looked over Hannah and we came up with a plan. October 19th we will head up to Spokane at the crack of dawn, where Hannah will be checked into Children's medical center for two out patient procedures. the GI doctor will be scoping Hannah to make sure she does not have this specific illness and also to look at the wear and tear on her esophagus. The second procedure is a PH test. The doctor will run a probe on the end of a tube the size of s spaghetti noodle down Hannah's nose and place it at the base of her esophagus. This probe will have to stay in place for 24 hours so that the doctor can get a good idea about the severity of Hannah's reflex. While the probe is in place we can not leave Spokane and will be staying in a local hotel or with anyone nice enough to let us stay with them. The reason for staying in town is so that if Hannah pulls it out we can take her to the ER at Sacred Heart Medical and have it put back in place. hopefully Hannah leaves it alone and we do not have to do that. Worse case she will not leave it alone and she gets admitted to the hospital and arms get board-ed..so she leaves it alone. Needless to say we do not want this to happen and I pray Hannah will not care it is there. The results will determine the next steps we take to get Hannah back on a good, healthy road.
otherwise life is good and we are all adjusting to school. Hannah started preschool yesterday and although she was not interested in me leaving her, we are sure she is going to get situated and love going. The only worry at this point will be her overall health and well being. I am being open minded with the idea that she may not be ready for preschool and if that is the case we will figure out something else. Micah, Emy and Cassie are having a great time at school and my classes are well on their way. I will try hard to keep anyone that wants to know posted as we learn more.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL...

First day of school.. the children were ready 20 minutes before we needed to leave.. Hannah thought she was going to school too. She was a bit sad when she realized we would be leaving her brother and two sisters at school and walking home, just the two of us.

Cassie- going to full day Kindergarten this year. The first few days have gone really well with learning all the rules.. she is a bit bored with the activities chosen, says it is just like preschool.

Emeline- entering the 3rd grade this year and very excited. She got to pick a seat by two of her friends and so far life is good.

Micah- a big 4th grader. He is already feeling the new, higher expectations but has told me he is really ready for it. He has a planner from the school to write down what and when things are due and is on his way to a great year.

Micah and his buddies on the walk to school

Hannah and Laina walking to school.. the only two on this trip that would be walking back with their parents and leaving their playmates behind..

Hannah decided to walk all the way there. Cassie pushed the empty stroller.

Cassie getting settled in her classroom and starting in her journal. She got right into the work that was laid out for  them. Hannah starts preschool next week and we hope that she can stay healthy enough to continue going through out the year. This will be her first real exposure to illnesses passed with the kids have brought home.  I started into my classes the last few weeks and are well under way.. so far so good!

Kalaloch..our trip!

what would the ocean be if you could not run away from the big waves. I love this picture, I just wish I would have caught Hannah in it as well.. she was off to the left :) I am always amazed that we go in the water when it is so cold.. I guess the waves call to all.

The kids loved the water..Hannah may have loved it too much. when she realized that she was warm in her wet suit she took off and I had to run in after her.. clothes and all. Jumping the waves was a true highlight of the trip.

We loved the sand, and it loved us back. Emy could not get over how awesome and smooth the sand was.. all the river banks we swim at in the past had pebble beaches and rough sand... she said this was way better.

Hannah loved the beach but would get way cold. Her wet suit helped keep her a bit warmer and also kept a lot of that "yucky" sand out. She enjoyed playing in the sand but had a few issues with it sticking to her hands. We went through a lot of water bottles to help her with her sensory overload.

I have to say forks and LaPush have run with the Twilight trend and are having fun with it. This is what you see as you enter the reservation into LaPush.. way too funny not to take a picture. There was also a tour that you could take on a bus twilighted out. it was an 8 hour tour that took you to some of the hot spots.. like where "Bella's car" was parked.

we took a road trip and headed up past forks to LaPush. We were not able to make the hike to the main beach so this is the other side of LaPush. For any twilight readers it is were the werewolves live :) It was absolutely beautiful!! It was too bad that is was overcast, but we enjoyed it all the same.

Cassie has created an awesome dance, and since she was so happy playing in the ocean she decided it was the right time for dancing.. way too cute

Micah found this very cool crab. he considered taking it home but decided it belonged in the ocean.. good call. I do not think the crab and his lizard would have gotten along.

We had a great time at the beach! It was overcast everyday but the last full day. It was really nice to have the sun come out and play. All of the family made it out except my Brother Dennis and his family. It was nice to spend time with Sisters, Brother, in-laws and some of the newest additions to the family. The cousins had so much fun playing together on and off the beach. We had tent sleep overs and even arranged Emeline going to spend a week at my sister's house with her girls next year. Emeline thought it was very cool that my sister has a house of only girls.. well except their dad, Issac. I think the next time we go we will cut the trip to 5 days.. 7 was just too much camping. Trent says I may change my mind by then. We will not be back for two years and I guess I should consider that all the children will be much older by then. 

Next year we will be heading to Idaho Falls for the Crook reunion, some much needed time with family down there and a trip to Yellowstone to round things off. We have already started the preparations.. the kids are studding up on Yellowstone and Micah has some ideas of what he can do with his cousins.. 

School starts for me on the 23rd. I am hoping all goes well and that i can pass my much dreaded Statistics class this semester. The kids start school on the 1st of September. All the kids are very excited, Cassie most of all. She gets to go to school all day with her brother and sister. She has decided this will make her a true big kid and her life will change forever.. lol. To prepare for school starting she decided yesterday that she should give up her training wheels and she is doing awesome.. all she needs to get now is the start and she will be on her way!!!

Just a silly picture

Hannah has given up wearing clothes lately but she really loved this hat...reminds me of Micah when he was younger :)

Summer has flown by with Birthdays, camping trips and soon.. my family reunion. It has been 4 years since We have been to Kalaloch and we are so very excited to be going this year. I had to mark it on the calendar so that the kids would stop asking..
A few noted activities we have done:
painted our nails several times. Emy has discovered how to do both hand by herself now and also is kind enough to paint her sisters nails when they ask.. way nice for me!
Cassie has gotten in touch with her artistic side and taken to making books.. She recently decided she wants words in them. I have been spelling a lot.. Micah has only corrected my spelling twice so far :)
Micah decided he wanted a pet so we bought him a leopard Gecko for his birthday, I have to admit I am not sure who likes him more.. I am a fan. He is very little and has finally decided that maybe he can climb into hands.. well mine at least. Hannah has to tell "Ben" goodnight every evening before she will go to bed. It is fun to have a pet again :)
Hannah has decided going in the potty is fun.. but that it is a game. One that she "chooses" to do when it works for her. I have decided not to push it and know that eventually she will just stay in underwear all the time. She loves to be naked so that may help us out!
With just one more trip to go, I can see summer coming to an end faster than I expected. We are all excited for school to start. I start my classes a week before the children do, I am glad I have a great babysitter that is willing to fill in the gaps for me.
I guess I have written enough.. more pictures will come, I promise!

Camping

We have so much fun with our friends camping. I am so glad we have there around to keep us company. I think Micah is actually warming his bum here at the fire... maybe not. I was the only one that remembered a camera or that had it handy all the time so I was not always the one taking the pictures. It is possible Dave is just heckling him here too :)

Cassie was working very had on a water hole... this is her sad face when the little one on the right broke a wall down... what do ya do? She recovered quickly and repaired it past perfect :)

Hannah's nap schedule got all screwed up while snuggling me she fell asleep.. I think I dosed off as well there for a sec. I welcome her snuggling me anytime.. have to hold on to those moments.

there is something wonderful about covering yourself in sand. The clean up after wards.. not so much!

We decided we need to try out the tent trailer so we packed up and headed about 45 minutes away to Laird Park. The van pulled the trailer like a champ and we love our trailer! Hannah did so well this camping trip we are going to take a few more! It was rather cold still at night so there was a lot of bundling up. A few of us were brave or stupid enough to jump off the small dam there and boy was the water cold, cold, cold! It took me several hours to warm back up. I was the only one in my family to take the jump. :)

Hannah's birthday

Hannah's party was simple, so was her cake. I was so tired from Cassie's I was not willing to do that again this round. Also Hannah is not old enough to truly care. She got a scooter which she loved and had spend much of her outside time on it! Trent and I said a little Happy Birthday to each other but that is as fancy as we go for each other.. too many other Birthdays to take care of.

Cassie's 5th Birthday

Barbie is still cool!

new big girl bike.. by the end of the day she was riding it so well I think the training will be going soon..

She absolutely loved her cake.. she better it was a lot of work!

Harder than I thought it would be but not the hardest thing I have ever done. It was fun to create it and now Micah is already planing what I can do for his.. oi! What was I thinking :)

Cassie had a fun day for her 5th Birthday, we all enjoyed the friends, food and fun! Next party is in 4 days... and the cake is not going to be this fancy.. I am thinking a giant frosted cookie!
For Trent and my birthday we will be taking the kids camping this next weekend.. we are so very excited to try out the tent trailer and roast smores! School is out on the 9th for the summer and I think I can safely say BOTH Emy and Micah are looking forward to a break.
Emy's will be doing extending school year which means she will go to school for 30 minutes twice a week, so that she can continue to progress in her reading, she has been working so hard and I am so proud of her!