SUMMER 2009!

COOPER 13 MONTHS


OWEN 3 1/2 YEARS


COOPER'S 1ST HAIRCUT


HE DOESN'T SEEM TO MIND TOO MUCH


THE BOYS!!


SYDNEY LOST ANOTHER TOOTH!


SHE PULLED OUT ALL BY HERSELF!!!!


MOM, SYDNEY, AND OWEN


GOOFIN' AROUND!!


T-BALL SEASON


GOTTA WORK ON KEEPING THAT BACK ELBOW UP!!


SYDNEY AND HER BEST FRIEND LUKER!!

Happy Birthday Cooper!!

Owen Gets Tubes

Well Owen had to have tubes put in his ears. We have been wondering for quite a while regarding his hearing and after we saw the hearing test and that he was functioning with mild to moderate hearing loss we felt bad about all the times that we had to yell at him thinking he had the common condition called selective hearing loss. But nope he actually did not hear us.
So the procedure itself is very easy and quick. About 5-10 minutes. They make a tiny cut just below the eardrum and vacuum out the mucous that is stuck behind the eardrum which is the actual cause of the hearing loss, and then put in ventilation tubes which fall out after about a year. Well in the adult we would just sit in a chair and clench our teeth and try and sit still, for a child they have to put them under anesthesia and put them to sleep. So we were not worried about the procedure but the fact that he was to be put under. I could have felt at ease that when I went in to lay him on the operating table that there was a Nurse Anesthetist and an Anesthesiologist but anyone that knows anything about surgery knows that you don't need both. So it actually made me more nervous because the process of putting a little child under anesthesia is a lot harder and riskier than an adult.
Nonetheless after only about 20 minutes from the time that I laid him on the table he was back in our arms awake and just fine. In fact he was back to himself only an hour and a half after surgery. Except for the part where he could actually hear. He spent the entire hour drive home singing lalalas and doing vocal exercises to himself. I suppose it sounded weird and he was getting used to his ears. Anyway, the hardest part about this will be to keep him from dunking his head under the bathtub water for the next 2-3 weeks.
All in all he was a trooper never once crying and save for a little anxiousness laying down on the operating table he did great. The nurses and staff at the Avera hospital were great as well. We arrived at 5:30 did the procedure at 7:30 and were gone by 9:00.

Nice hospital gown!


Just before I took him into the operating room

Just after the surgery

On the way back up to the room

All done!

Spring 2009

REAL FOOD!!!! NOODLES



SYDNEY RIDING THE ELEPHANT AT THE CIRCUS!



SWEET DREAMS OWEN!

Happy Easter!

Hope you all had a great weekend and a Happy Easter. A lot of Christians say Merry Christmas and Happy Easter without even giving it a second thought. A lot of Christians if you asked them what is the most sacred holiday might say Christmas but everyone that has professed to be the messiah or the king or god as been born and they have also or will die. What makes our religion special is that our King and our God is not dead and he never will. That is why Christians make such a big deal out of Easter, our messiah died and was risen again so that we can have eternal life. Without Easter our religion would be no different than any other. Enjoy the pics!!

Injuries

For those of who you have kids or have had children you are keenly aware of the many injuries one would sustain before adulthood. It makes you wonder how they survive and actually make it to adulthood. Well, the day of March 31 would make us thank our lucky stars.
It started with swimming class for Owen and Sydney. No they didn't drown, but we do always need to keep an eye on Big O as he would just prefer to jump in the deep end and see what happens. But after they were done swimming and Ann was getting them dressed Sydney who was sitting on a bench got her feet caught and fell backward landing directly on the back of her head on the hard locker room floor. It was bad enough that the mom next to Ann screamed. She had a significant goose egg on the back of her head and it is still sore if you touch it, but she had no concussion or headaches and we watched her pretty carefully over the next few days but she seemed to be just fine. In fact she was working on her head stands that evening before bed.
Later that night after we had cooked something on the stove Owen crawled up and stood next to me. Right after I got done saying that the stove was hot and to stay away, he thought it was time to test my credibility and he slapped his hand down on the hot stove. After a few minutes of cold water we looked at it figuring that it was for sure a trip to the ER but thank God there was hardly even an area on his hand or fingers that looked burned. Following a night of burn cream and a wrap, he didn't even blister. Go figure! But I think it scared him enough not to try it again. We shall see.
As far as Cooper there really isn't a day that goes by that he doesn't hit his head on something and i think all three of the kids now have had the triclops bruise.

March 2009

Here are some new pics of the kiddoes. Including our new gymnast.