Our Kids

We have been quite busy. I am finally uploading all the mischief we have been in to on our Flickr site so feel free to hop over if you are interested.

We did try to get out to see Santa the other day. So far every year the girls have declined a visit with Santa even shunning a train trip to the North Pole. This year looked promising as they were very excited about a trip to see Santa and their BFF Kate was going to the North Pole on the train with Santa. So we planned an outing, talked about it and right up until we got to his little house they were excited, really excited. But alas, when the moment came they declined saying that Santa was too scary. I am glad we did not plan on that trip to the North Pole this year, maybe next year:)

The girls had their 5 year check up today and here are the details:

Piper:
Weight – 35.2
Height – 40 3/4#
She is hanging in at that 25% for height and weight which is where she has been most of her life.

Lela:
Weight: 39#
Height: 43.5 inches
She is in the 50% for weight and 75% for height.

The girls are all checked out and doing great. I have gotten much more lenient on vaccinations in the past few years so we skipped those for now which even made the nurse happy:)

The girls had an eye check and both are doing good, I think Lela needs to see an optometrist to monitor one of her eyes but the Ped said Piper but I think she was reading the wrong chart (so it goes with twins). I am back there tomorrow with Landis so I will double check on that. Lela still has fluid behind her left ear but the tube is in so it can drain if it needs to and hopefully the bacteria is working its way out of town (or out of her ears at least).

It is truly amazing to me that today Piper and Lela turned five years old. Five years old! Crazy!

Mystique did an awesome job with their birthday, as always! The girls were very excited this year because they were going to have a party at Build-A-Bear with their “best friends” from school. Pictures and movies are forthcoming, but from what I heard, a fun time was had by all. Piper came home with an “ice-skating bear”, Lela now has “Sugar” which is a Panda bear, and Landis now has her second cat from Build-A-Bear and she’s wearing an “Angel” t-shirt. Ahh, the irony

After Build-A-Bear we had assembled a motley crew of family… Nana Peggy and Grandpa Norman have been with us for a few days and while the girls were at Build-A-Bear they decorated our house with various Happy Birthday items (and 12 helium balloons!). Uncle JJ, Grammy Kathie, and Grampy Jack came over and I showed up with some Pizza — as requested by the girls. Hilarity ensued — Piper and Lela excitedly opened their presents, and even Landis got a few gifts as she walked around saying “UP UP!” to anyone who would listen (and/or pick her up!)

It was a lot of fun for everyone. Landis quickly fell asleep tonight but I think Lela and Piper are still a bit jacked up from the day’s activities as it’s almost 9pm and they’ve just now fallen asleep. I think. At least it’s quiet back there, although it might be because Mystique went back there to lay with them. There’s actually a good chance that it’s only Mystique who is asleep back there and the girls are now having a tea party.

But I ramble. To sum it all up: the girls have provided us five years of joy and we couldn’t be more proud of them. Kudos to Mystique for creating an awesome day for the girls (I forgot to mention the cake that looked like an Oreo cookie! It was yummy.) And thanks to our family and friends for celebrating this day with our girls. Love to all!

Well Lela had her appt with the ENT at the surgery center today at 615A. That meant an early morning for the Scottsdale Haslups and a few of the Chandler Haslups. Grammy and Grampy came down to watch the girls. Piper slept in until her normal time just after 7 and lucky for them Landis had been up from 1-5A with mommy (um…yeah?) so she slept until after Piper got up.

Meanwhile we headed to the surgery center. Lela was all smiles and cheery, well as cheery as she can be at 530A. We got all signed in and waited. She started to get thirsty but otherwise did not complain. Just after 7 she and I headed back to talk to the anesthesiologist, the nurse and the surgeon. She was pretty much ignoring all the smiling faces and kind words from the staff. Pretty soon they said it was time to go and she walked off with them without a peep. About 5-10 min later we were in with Dr. Chuang and he was telling us all went well. She had what he called “glue ear” which I guess is very thick mucous which they removed. About 5 min later we were in with her. She was a bit disoriented and crying but soon calmed down and we were out of there. She had some snacks (dried cheerios) on the way home and some water.

We watched a little TV, she complained about pain in her right ear (we motrin’d her up) and then we did some crafting. So far so good, she is eating and feeling good. Her school teacher came by and brought her a present and a DVD (was that not the sweetest thing). She even brought a gift for Landis, super sweet of her.

Now we can put antibiotic drops directly on the source of the bacteria and hopefully kill it for good. The only real downside is that she can’t get her ears wet for a long time but it isn’t an issue because that girl can swim or bathe for hours and not get a drop on her from the neck up:)

Other than the parents (and grandparents) needing a nap we are all doing good. Thanks to friends and family for the kind thoughts and support.

Good News – Got in to ENT today
Bad News – fluid behind ear still present, suspects it will build up again, hearing loss in left ear and slight hearing impairment in right ear
Good News – hearing loss is most likely temporary
Bad News – tubes are our only option
Good News – should stop the build up and stop creating a breeding ground for the antibiotic resistant strain she picked up from some poor kids that has seen too many antibiotics
Bad News – it is this Wednesday
Good News – hopefully it will be quick and she can go to school since that is what she wants, more good news is that it could be so much worse, we could be dealing with something way more permanent and/or tragic so I am thankful that this is our test for now and not something worse

Fever 105
Eardrum Infected
Eardrum Burst
Two shots (one dose) in each thigh of Rocephin
Pain in legs so she can’t/won’t walk
Fever stays with us all day
Nasty drainage Fri nite and Saturday
Lela feels good
Monday doctor appt to follow up
Monday, perforation healed (are you serious in just a day), fluid behind ears
Referred to ENT, appt today at 1PM

So today we are just moving along decorating for the holidays, moving things around and just getting the house sorted out after our busy weekend. Lela tells me she is cold, so I get her a sweatshirt. Then she tells me that she is still cold, oh no! I check her temp and alas she has a fever AGAIN! I wrap her in a blanket and put her on the couch. After about an hour her temp is up to 101.5. Gah!

Now we were just at the doctor on Monday and got a clean bill of health for her and her ears. But now it is Wednesday, which is too close to Friday for this to happen. I am not sure what to do, should I make a preemptive sick child appt like I did with the last fever knowing it would turn in to an ear infection or should I just wait. So far her ear is not hurting but she has absolutely no other symptoms so what else could it be and the last one went from ear pain to exploding ear drum in less than 12 hours.

This child cannot catch a break with these ear infections. I think I am going to go and buy some stock in Children’s Motrin and maybe something stronger for myself, lol!

We started off Friday with hope for a wonderful 3 day weekend but alas it was not meant to be. First thing Friday morning a strange sequence of events occurred which ended up with an 80lb footboard falling across Landis’ legs, yeouch. We called BCBS nurse on call and got the word that we needed to take her to Urgent Care. So I packed her up and took her. She was fine not crying but we did not want to take any chances. We spent some time there and after seeing the doctor got sent to AZ Radiology for xrays. By this time it had been about 3+ hours and the fun of being out and about with just mommy had lost its luster.

We waited some more and then finally got in for our xray. By the time we got it all set up she was so sleepy that she was falling asleep in my arms. The staff was short that day so there was no one to help with xrays and I was (and am) 7+ months pregnant and darn it all if I forgot my lead suit, lol. So I called Jason and he loaded up the girls and car seats in his car and came our way. By the time he arrived we had found someone to help and the xrays were done. Landis was super, very calm, very cooperative and no tears. We went on our way and got some lunch with the entire fam before heading home.

Then I started to get sick, it is the same thing that Jason had a week or so ago so we know what it is, how it acts and how long it lasts. But no one has a good time when mamma is sick:)

We made it through the weekend just a little worse for wear. We did get to celebrate Uncle JJs birthday on Sunday and that was fun. I am feeling better today, hoping this is the tail end of the sickies at least for me.