Quick Update on Hannah & stuff...

I just wanted to do a quick update on Hannah.
We went to the eye doctor yesterday and I am happy to say that everything is looking awesome and perhaps she will not even require glasses later (not that I would hate that but it is nice not to need them)
Hannah has been having issues with weight gain and growth in the last few months, she either holds her weight or she looses.. neither is good for her. She is a very active girl but she should be able to slowly gain weight and grow at a normal rate.. this is not happening. I have talked to the feeding and growth clinic and we have tried a few ideas to fix this. We added calories to her diet, but this made her reflex more and throw up. Since we do not want to have a negative association with eating we had to back off again.. this made her loose some weight and we are back where we started. after discussion on where to go from here, the doctors and I have decide that her reflex needs to be addressed further. He reflex has always been a problem but we have been able to control it with medication up to this point. Her reflex has hindered her growth and her breathing and with that we are being referred to a pediatric GI specialist.. there is only one in Spokane and at first we were going to be scheduled for November... yikes! Luckily God intervened and They had a cancellation while I was on the phone and we will be going in the end of April, otherwise I would have been heading to Seattle for a GI doctor. Until then we will just be keeping an eye on her and playing with her diet a bit to see if we can find some stable ground.
Hannah's speech is delayed by a bit even for corrected age and has a speech therapist that comes in a few times a month to work with her. Hannah also gets to go to a Kindermusik class every week as part of her therapy.. and Cassie gets to come as well, which the both really enjoy.
All of the children are doing well. Micah and Emeline still are enjoying school and Cassie loves it when they are gone. Cassie and Hannah are starting to bug each other on occation. We have had to have many talks about not hitting and sharing with both of them.. and a few time outs :) We are still working on Emeline and her reading, but I know it will come, and she will be on her way reading in no time.
Trent and I are doing great, we get to celebrate our 10th Aniverary April 2nd. We decided that this was reason to celebrate! We are lucky enough that Leanna agreed to come and be with the children so we could get away for the weekend about an hour away in Orifino. We have never been away from the kids for a vacation (hospital stays do not count), and I guess after 10 years, we can do that :) Leanna comes in this weekend and the children are so happy! (so are we)

SICK

So the sick bug visits out home again! Cassie and Hannah came down with pneumonia this last week and so far both are responding very well to medication. Cassie never sounded as crappy as Hannah, and has recovered very, very fast! Hannah is taking longer and besides being on an antibiotic she is also on an oral steroid to open up her lungs. I am also doing nebulizer treatments every 4 hours even at night to keep her breathing well. She is taking fluids and eating good and at this point we are very hopeful that we will not be taking her to the hospital! She is taking a bit longer to show improvment but has not gotten any worse.. and that counts for something!
March 23, Monday, Hannah has an appointment with her eye specialist in Spokane. I will let you know how it goes!

Happy 7th Birthday Emeline!!!

Emeline-Fall 2008

Emeline at about 9 0r 10 months...
I am amazed at how old my kids are getting. Emeline is the only one in our family that does not have a birthday in the month of June and there for gets very singled out with attention.. which she really loves!
Emeline is an amazing little lady that had just grown up so much in the last year. I love her sense of humor and her amazing creativity. She is our little "sugar"
Thank you so much to all the grandparents for the wonderful cards and gifts (she thinks she is rich now because she has 50 dollars) more pictures to come of her fun day!

Some times you just need to make cookies

My helpers (they really liked the dough..)

Nicely done, ready to go in the oven

Licking the spoon is the BEST part...
Some days you just have to make cookies. Emeline and Cassie love to help in the kitchen, and cookies are no exception. I was feeling like chocolate and had all the ingredients for my choco, peanut butter chip cookies. They are a HUGE favorite in our house and so needless to say, when I thought to take a picture of the finished product.. they were gone :)

This is what a 3 year old does with a camera...

A book

The laundry in the laundry basket

Sometimes it is fun to see through the eyes of a toddler. I asked her to take pictures of important things in the house, this is a few of the many, there were also a few pictures of walls and the floor. She took a picture of the trash too... Cassie is so funny sometimes. Her pictures did get better and she ended with Hannah's pony.

Sun, fresh air, clean house

We all seem to have made it through this round of illness, yippee!
Today the sun is out and it is making me want to get my house clean and clearing the air. I opened the windows for a short time (It is still cold outside about 40 degrees) and opened the shades to let the beautiful sun shine in! I have been just cleaning up some of the areas that have been neglected and missed the last few weeks while we have all been sick. I have de-germed our home, I have cleaned every door knob, handle, toilet, walls and the phone (a lot do not think of this but really what does everyone touch) I have wiped down some toys and whatever else I can think of today.
This afternoon we have a family trip to the dentist for routine cleanings. This will be Cassie and Hannah's first time seeing a dentist. I was so excited when a Pediatric dentist moved into the area, and she is wonderful! (we had a tooth emergency a month or so ago and she was great!)
I have not been so happy with some of the dentists in our area and have really enjoyed her so far. She is really child focused and has things for them to do and watch (TV on the ceiling above the chairs) She is really patient and I look forward to see how the children all react to her, I think a good dentist is golden!
Hannah; we have met with the feeding and growth clinic and we are changing up Hannah's diet some. We are adding more fat and calories in for her to be able to grow. It is amazing to me when you have to switch and start looking for healthy but fatty foods... it is hard! I had changed our families diet so much lately to be healthier and less fattening that I did not realize how much it had affected Hannah, oh man she needs fat and calories! I will be adding powder to her milk and adding real butter to her diet, peanut butter and more carbs. The big deal is Hannah does not tolerate dairy well and dairy is the best way to add healthy fats to a diet, so it makes it tricky. She drinks soy milk, the highest calories I can find here in Moscow. She can handle a small amount of cheese or yogurt. I am sure we will find a way to make it all work and she will be chubby again in no time! :)

The Season of sickness

I just know that when February rolls around I should just plan on the house being filled with sick little and big people. I know it is because it is so cold out side that we all stay in, warm up the house and get a bit lazy.
Micah started this run off with a cold, which quickly mutated to Bronchitis due to his asthma which flairs up from time to time. We got him on some good antibiotic and some meds for his cough/wheezy lungs and he was feeling better in just a few day. He missed a few days of school and he is probably the only child I know that asked his sister to go by his teachers room and get his homework (he did not get that dedication to school from me or Trent).
Hannah was quick to pick up the ball and start into a cold just as Micah was ending his. We had just changed out a few of Hannah's meds and I new she was vulnerable to getting sick.. I was as careful as could be and yet it still had to happen. Hannah was slowly showing signs of infection, and had a Well baby visit coming up on Wednesday last week so she even got to see her own doctor. Hannah has been dealing with weight issues as it is and so I had so many things to discuss at this appointment. After she was looked over, we talked and looked at growth charts and discussed what Hannah's asthma specialist had to say, we decided that Hannah need to be seen at the feeding and growth clinic in Spokane again (we went there last year for reflex issues) As for Hannah and this cold, I knew it was in her chest and the doctor confirmed that it was bronchitis as well. She perscribed her a strong antibiotic and I was told to watch for any changes in her breathing, ect. It was the first time, except for IV antibiotics that she has ever taken an oral one. She likes it good enough and has recover rather well this round. I have kept her home and tried to stay up on her breathing treatments and other meds so to avoid the hospital. I am so grateful that at this point she seems to be recovering and that we will not see the hospital this round.. YEAH!!!
Both Emeline and Cassie have picked up a small cold but it does not look as if they are going to get any worse than that. I think I may have dodged that bullet! I have been feeling under the weather but I am not too surprised because I was the one caring for the sick kids day and night and with that lost a lot of sleep. I hope to recover fast as well now that everyone seems to be getting better.
I did however get a phone call this evening informing me that a couple of friends children that have been over to play this weekend have stomach flu and pink eye so... I just pray that stays with them and that we miss that round of illness. I do not think I could handle more nights of no sleep, let alone barf!
I really hate the end of winter can you tell? At least it means that in a month or so we will start to see the beginning's of spring here.. something to look forward to!