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!