Bring on the Eggs!

With all the excitement of Elyse's arrival, I forgot to mention that we had the kids tested for allergies a few days before Elyse was born. Henry tested negative for almonds and hazelnuts, but was still positive for peanuts, pecans, walnuts, cashews, and flax. We still have to avoid all nuts in order to avoid cross-contamination. However, Miss Ava tested negative for EVERYTHING! So we have a family diet that now includes eggs which opens many doors for us at home but is even more helpful when we eat out. She has enjoyed ice cream, pancakes, cookies--all made with eggs without any problem! We are so, so grateful and pray that Henry continues to outgrow his allergies as well.

Merry Christmas to You!

Is it Cindy Lou Who who was only 2????

We wish you a Merry Christmas as we welcome the birth of our Savior, Jesus!

Iced over

This morning we woke up to ice everywhere. Truly, you cannot step out our front door without sliding because you're standing on two inches of solid ice. I'm pretty much over the joy of ice and snow...


View from our front door this morning--the sun is just overwhelming isn't it?


The tail end of our Camry


Our nearest street light

The week in review...

Our children like to arrive at our near extreme weather conditions. Henry was born just following a SEVERE ice storm in 2004, Ava was born on a day in July when it was 104 degrees, and Elyse was born just prior to the worst winter storm here in 30 years. As I type we've had snow on the ground for a week and currently everything is covered in a sheet of ice. It's made for a lot of good family time! Carl and Henry decorated a gingerbread house and the kids and I made Christmas cookies.

Elyse is a WONDERFUL baby. She is very sweet, sleeps a ton, and so far is a good eater too. Both Henry and Ava have adjusted very well (so far) and we have loved having Carl home this week.

Here are some photos to sum it all up!


The view down our street



Carl took the kids for a 'sled around the block'



Sweet, sleeping girl



I LOVE this one of Ava--it captures her spirit so well!



Not really loving her sponge bath, but what a cute little body that is!





Carl and Henry building a 'snow volcano'


Elyse snuggled by her Aunt Holly

Birth Day Photos

Let the fun begin!


The absurd number of bracelets I had to wear. The 'fall risk' was my personal favorite.


Our first peek at our beautiful, vernix covered girl!



Look at those wondorously long toes! We can thank the Sanders side of the family for those!


Our sweet girl all cleaned up under the warmer. You can begin to see the little bruises she sustained on her quick exit out.




Sweet kisses from big brother Henry



Talking with Nana


Snuggles from Gigi and Papa



Our little gift so dearly loved...

Elyse's arrival story

After much anticipation the last several weeks, Carl and I had resolved that it would probably be early January before Elyse joined us. On Saturday, Carl took Henry swimming while Ava napped and I rested. About 4 o'clock I thought I noticed a bit of a trickle indicating my water had broken but I was so determined not to go to the hospital again for a false alarm (we had gone the Sunday before) that I was sure I was mistaken. Needless to say I puttered in preparation just in case. By the time Ava woke up at 5:30 (she had a really LONG nap) I was quite sure that my water had, in fact, broken. I called Carl about 5:45 and we started the preparation. We called Carl's mom who was all set to watch the kids, called my parents who were at dinner and our siblings. We took the kids through the McDonald's drive-thru for dinner and stopped at the store for a few essentials as a huge winter storm was about to hit. We headed to the hospital shortly after 7 and it was quickly determined that not only had my water broken (at this point it was gushing) but I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes. I thought this would be my first birth without pitosin!

Both Ava and Henry were born on Sundays and I was hopeful that Elyse would be too but unfortunately since my contractions were so close at 8:30 pm, I thought it would be much faster than that. Elyse's timing was perfect. My mom and sister had just returned from a trip to Hawaii late Friday night and my OB, Dr. Frank was headed to Syria and Lebanon with his family for two weeks leaving Tuesday morning. Dr. Frank joined us at the hospital about 9:30. He came in to deliver Elyse even though he was not the doctor on call. Soon after, my contractions waned and were only about every 7-8 minutes apart and not as intense. They had given me a course of Penicillin because I had not yet been tested for Strep B and they wanted to be safe. We had to wait until 1:30 am to be sure that Elyse would not have to have a blood culture after she was born so we just waited. At 11:30 I told Dr. Frank that we would need some pitosin and we did. They started me on it about 12:30 at 2, then moved it to 4 and then to 6. That did it. Within 40 minutes I went from 5 cm dilated (which I had been at for hours) to having a baby. I refer to her as my 'one push wonder' as her entire head delivered by itself during a contraction (when the doctor had stepped out to go to the bathroom) and I had to wait to do the one push for her shoulders. She was born at 2:13 am--a Sunday--just like I had hoped. It was amazingly fast and so far my recovery has been a breeze. I really feel almost like my normal self.

Elyse cried for about the first 10 minutes after she was born and we were astonished that she was 6 lbs. 4 oz. (we thought she'd be under 6 lbs.) and 18 inches (the exact same stats as her brother who was also born at 36 weeks). Since then she is very content and doesn't even complain when she has a dirty diaper. She has been eating well so far and we'll pray she continues to as preemies are notorious for being too tired to feed well. She is beautiful, has a full head of hair and long beautiful fingers and toes! We are all smitten--even Henry and Ava. Pictures coming later today!

We're on our way!

We are leaving for the hospital and hope to have some news and photos soon after Elyse's arrival!

Lest we not forget...

There are some memorable moments from this fall that I never got around to posting. However, I know if they don't get written down, I'll forget. So...

1. After starting with Henry's pet praying mantis, Prancis, we ended up with a total of 4 praying mantis pets: Prancis, Lucky Prancis, Gimpy Prancis (he only had one of his two front legs when we found him), and Mean Prancis (the only green one with a very bad temper). They stayed with us for several weeks until Gimpy and Prancis passed away (they generally die in early fall even in the wild) and Lucky Prancis laid an egg sac. Let me be clear that the egg sac pushed me over the edge and I demanded the release of Mean Prancis and insisted that Lucky and her egg sac be permanently moved outside. There are 700-1000 praying mantises in each egg sac. Too many for this mama. We await their hatching outside this Spring.

2. Some wonderful Ava words and phrases: bunt (for button), Old MacDonalds (her name for McDonalds), Oh! Sure I can (in response to most any request) unless she doesn't want to and then she says 'No, I'm too big...", I wanna see the big one (when we are changing a dirty diaper--Daddy's personal favorite).

3. Henry told me the other night as I was tucking him into bed that he wished he could be 4 forever, and I could be 33, Daddy could be 29, and Ava could be 2. Sometimes I wish that too buddy--and then you throw a massive tantrum and I can see the benefit of growing older too...

The biggest bump

Here are some photos my sister took today. The bump is ever larger and we are expecting Elyse's arrival any day. I went to the doctor today and am 3 cm dialated, 75% effaced, and her head is at 0 station (basically ready to come out!). I have been quite crampy the past two days though it is possible that it could still be a few weeks. We are ready and waiting...

Updates

I wish I had the energy to post on our daily activities, but the reality is I just don't! It has been a beautiful November here for the most part and just this week started to get cold enough to feel like winter is coming.

Henry is our resident bookworm and has decided that our public libarary is one of his favorite places in the world. He is amazed that it is free to check out the books and he has taken up residence in the animal section--particularly insects and marine life. He continues to astound us with his reading. He is a whole word learner (not so much phonics) and can breeze through most any book he picks up. It seems like words make sense to him and he LOVES all that he can learn by reading. He takes books with him everywhere--in the car and even to the park where he takes breaks from running and sliding to read a few pages. When he wakes up at 6 am he heads downstairs to greet us with his sunshiney morning disposition and then heads to the great room to read until we pull ourselves out of bed to make coffee. His behavior is improving a lot as he learns to control his emotions as he is such a passionate boy. We love him dearly and he is growing into a wonderful son and big brother.

Miss Ava continues to charm us all--even in the midst of her ongoing skin issues. They are better and worse but mostly better overall. We went back to the children's hospital yesterday and the doctor informed me that she just has a tough case of excema. We have scheduled to have her yearly allergy testing again and may glean some information there though her flare ups do not seem to be related in any logical way to what she eats. Regardless she is almost always happy, loves to dance and sing and be with her brother. She is amazingly obedient and very empathic for a two-year old. We love her and are grateful that she is feeling better overall.

Baby Elyse seems to be doing well too. I've had an ultrasound every 10 days or so to make sure that I do not continue to progress. So far so good. Really, my doctor just wants me to make it through this weekend (34 weeks) at which time I won't need steroid shots or any other intervention if I go into labor. After all this she probably will stay put until early January! I am so thankful that she has been able to grow and mature these past eight weeks. I feel very connected to her and she feels very 'present' to me (I'm not sure how else to describe it) though I feel like she is already part of our family (which she most certainly is) and all of us are really excited to meet her.

Carl continues to be an amazing husband and father and puts up with my 'hormonal moments' amazingly well (usually getting me to laugh somehow in the midst of my grumpiness) and we are hunkering down for a very quiet Thanksgiving weekend (that is as quiet as a house can be with two young children--sometimes the noise level amazes even me).

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. May it be a day of reflection for the many things we have to be truly thankful for.

Rashy, rashy girl...

It has been weeks upon weeks since Ava had her bout with the terrible virus and she still maintains these horrible rashes. Especially on her diaper area and face. We found out today that her ears are full of yellow fluid and we will have to go to the ENT to have them vacuumed out. Fungus has killed her pinky nail on her right hand (it completely fell off in a week) and it seems as though fungus has taken over her little body (this is what is in her ears too). I guess that explains why she wakes up crying and rubbing her ears night after night. We cannot figure out why her body is unable to heal itself as we apply all kinds of toxic steroids to her skin daily (which I HATE doing). We continue to pray for her improvement.

Family Fun Day: The Oregon Coast

We have been hoping to make it to the Oregon Coast Aquarium for several weeks but today we finally headed that way! It was a WONDERFUL day. I think it seemed even better because Ava was so happy (she sang and danced her way through the whole day), Henry was so cooperative (his behavior was outstanding), and it was a taste of 'normalcy' which we've been longing for. The weather was fairly warm and despite a rainy forecast we hardly had a drop of rain while we were out of the car.

The aquarium was fantastic. They were feeding the sea otters when we arrived, the octopus was putting on quite a show (when he usually is just sitting tucked in a hole), and they have a new Oddwater exhibit combining glass sculpture and interesting sea animals which was fascinating. Henry's favorite part was the sting ray part of that exhibit where he could touch the rays (as they had their barbs removed). Ava loved the animals too--especially the jellyfish (and, as you'll see, the mud puddles!).

After the aquarium we had a FABULOUS lunch at Tidal Raves and we are grateful to be able to have a pleasant meal out with our children (thank goodness for improved restaurant manners!).

After that, we headed north to Tillamook and went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory Visitor's center where you can watch them make cheese and butter as well as taste the different cheeses and have ice cream (yum!). Unfortunately there was not too much action in the process rooms but the ice cream was outstanding (as was the cheese) and we were graced on our way back by a HUGE herd of wild elk that had come down from the hills to graze. They were amazing to watch.

It was a fantastic day (and we filled up the car for $2.09/gallon--can you believe it???). Here are some photos from the day.



The octopus on parade



Watching the sea lions swim



The lion fish at the Oddwater exhibit



Henry's favorite...the sting rays



Ava and the giant jellyfish



The spider crabs...the world's largest. They were HUGE!



Touching sea stars, sea anemone, sea cucumbers, and abalone



Ava thoroughly enjoying a mud puddle. Thankfully I had included a change of clothes so I let her stomp to her heart's content!



Passages of the deep--an exhibit where you walk though tunnels that take you deeper and deeper into the ocean. The fish swim all around you--over, under, and on the side!





The amazing view at lunch




Everybody loves their ice cream at the Tillamook Cheese Factory




The bull



A grouping of lady elk



A bit blurry but it gives you an idea of how many there were...

Counting our blessings

Ava got a clean bill of heart health from the pediatric cardiologist on Wednesday. It seems her heart has not been affected at all and likely will not be. She'll have one more echo a year from now just to be sure and then she won't have to be seen again! Hooray! I am so relieved as I worried that all the inflammation I was seeing in her skin may somehow be related to inflammation elsewhere in her body.

The pediatric dermatologist appt. also went as well as can be expected. He gave us a 3 week topical treatment (at which time we'll see him again) as he believes she just has a horrible case of excema. His hypothesis is that the rash she has with the terrible virus this summer compromised the integrity of her skin and bathing and swimming (which we probably do once a week at my parents) have exacerbated the problem. His hope is that once we get it under control and give it some good time to heal and return to healthy skin that she will be fine. If she is still inflammed when we see him in 3 weeks then we will do a myriad of tests to rule out something more awful.

One of the sweetest moments was when the doctor left the room to do some analysis under the microscope and Henry looked at us and asked "Is Ava ok?". He was genuinely concerned and though a simple inquiry it shows the depth of his love for his sister.

So far she looks MUCH improved in only 2 days. I can hardly believe the difference. We'll see if she stays that way as we begin to taper off the treatment (each week we were instructed to halve the topical treatment). Thank you again to all her are keeping her (and us) in your thoughts and prayers.

Update on Ava

Ava's condition has worsened again and we will be seeing the head of Pediatric Dermatology at OHSU on Wednesday at 2:40 pm. It will be a full day as she also has her second echocardiogram at the hospital here in Salem at 10:30 am. We'll keep you posted. Please keep her in your prayers.

Sidenote

I have had a few inquiries as to HOW Henry incurred his head wound. It really is quite funny so I can hardly believe I left it out! He was, in fact, pretending to be a nocturnal animal (which they have been studying at school) and was flying around his room trying to find his bed with his eyes closed! He almost made it as there was a good amount of blood on his pillow, but not with out making contact with either the corner of his window sill or bed frame first...

Happy Halloween!

On raising a boy--Part 2

Tuesday morning about 8:45 Henry was playing in his room while I was across the hall getting Ava dressed. I had asked him several times to get dressed because we have a music class we all go to on Tuesday mornings. I could hear him monkeying around when there was a thump and then crying. You have to know Henry to know that he doesn't cry from pain very often. About 10 seconds later he stumbled out, hand on his head, gushing with blood. I know that head wounds tend to bleed more than most so I tried to keep my cool until I really saw the wound. I grabbed a towel, blotted it off, and then started to panic (inside only of course). It was fairly sizable and I knew instantly that he needed stitches. Thankfully he calmed down quickly enough to hold the towel on his head while I ran down to our plethora of medical supplies from Carl's days working for McKesson. We had some sterile gauze and a wrap and I quickly bandaged him up and called Carl to come home. Our pediatrician said he could stitch him up and since our medical bills have been exorbitant, this sounded like a good option. We had to wait about an hour but the bleeding was at bay and Carl went back to work and met us at the doctor's office. The stitching was fairly uneventful except that the doctor struck a blood vessel that had remained in tact and Henry bled all over the table, down onto the doctor's pants and onto the floor...and Carl almost passed out. Henry was a trooper though and was not in pain as they numbed him first with a topical agent and then with Lidocane. Here is the visit to the doctor's office in photos.


Henry with mom's banadage job. I told him I thought he looked like an NBA player!


The wound.



The topical anesthetic in the wound.


After with a bandage covering the stitches. They both look a little pale don't you think?


The stitches (I had to capture this while he was sleeping as he's not keen to attention being drawn to it!).