3 1/2 Year Portraits

Now That's More Like It

I completely enjoyed tonight's episode. After last weeks disappointment, "The Office" was back with great humor and memorable moments.

Oh...and look who's pregnant.

The Past 10 Years

Recently I was reading a blog that challenged it's readers to take a look back at the past. What was I doing 1 year ago...5 years ago....10 years ago? It's fun to see how quickly life can change in a matter of a few years. So here I go.....a look at what I was doing each spring during the past decade.

1 year ago: 3 months pregnant with Elisabeth.

2 years ago: In California visiting family. We spent a fun day here.


3 years ago:
Enjoying our new home.


4 years ago:
On vacation in Washington D.C. and Virginia and 3 months pregnant with Lorelai.


5 years ago:
Taking a vacation up and down the pacific coast, visiting light houses.


6 years ago:
3 months pregnant with Alexandra (do you see a pattern?).


7 years ago:
Working full time at Hallmark and enjoying my first year of marriage.


8 years ago:
Busy planning my wedding.



9 years ago: Completing my first and last year at BYU. Just months away from meeting Donald.



10 years ago: Getting ready to graduate from High School. I was here with my high school orchestra.

***Despite how it looks my life consists of more than being pregnant and going on vacation. That's just what I do best in the Spring I guess :)

What have you been doing for the past 10 years??

My 100th Post

Well, I am surprised. After a week long poll to see what the majority would pick as a paint color for our computer room, the winner was clay. Clay??? Don't get me wrong, clay is a nice color. It's simple, and respectable. But to be honest with you I thought people would be a little more bold in their color choice.




But thanks for the input and when I get around to painting the room I'll be sure to post pictures and show you what I finally decide on. Who knows....I might just stick with the majority's choice.

The Best Friends Book Club

In January several of the children in our neighborhood formed The Best Friends Book Club. They meet monthly to discuss the book that they had been assigned to read. This past Saturday was Alexandra's first turn hosting the meeting at our home.

When the girls showed up they all ran upstairs to Alexandra's room to start talking about A Little Princess. I asked if they needed my help and they were quick to tell me no. Of course I had to eaves drop. It was priceless. These girls stayed so focused! They talked about how certain characters lives were shaped by different experiences they had been through. And then they related their own lives to the book. These girls are 5-7 years old! I was impressed! My favorite part was when they were choosing the book for the upcoming month. They all came with ideas and voted on which to read. In case you were wondering the winner was Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

After the discussion the girls came downstairs for some lemonade and cookies. And then they all went in the family room to watch the movie version of A Little Princess. I think they were pleasantly surprised at the different ending.

Later that day we couldn't resist the gorgeous weather and took our children to the park. Elisabeth, who has been couped up indoors since birth loved being outside and feeling the warmth of the sun on her chubby little legs. We tried her in the baby swing, not sure how she would do. She loved it! I think we'll buy an infant swing to hang on our front porch. Lorelai enjoyed the park too and Alexandra.....well....to read about Alexandra's adventures during our outing to the park click here.

5 1/2 Year Portraits

The Office has returned

I was a little

disappointed

in last night's episode.........

were you??

Craniosynostosis

Elisabeth had another head CT at Sacred Heart Medical Center yesterday followed by an appointment with her neurosurgeon. Unfortunately things were still looking the same. Elisabeth has craniosynostosis. I've talked about this condition in some previous posts, but for those of you that aren't familiar with it, here is the wikipedia definition:

Craniosynostosis is a birth defect of the brain characterized by the premature closure of one or more of the fibrous joints between the bones of the skull (called the cranial sutures) before brain growth is complete. Closure of a single suture is most common. The abnormally shaped skull that results is due to the brain not being able to grow in its natural shape because of the closure. Instead it compensates with growth in areas of the skull where the cranial sutures have not yet closed. The condition can be gene-linked, or caused by metabolic diseases, such as rickets or an overactive thyroid. Some cases are associated with other disorders such as microcephaly (abnormally small head) and hydrocephalus (excessive accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain). The first sign of craniosynostosis is an abnormally shaped skull. Other features can include signs of increased intracranial pressure, developmental delays, or mental retardation, which are caused by constriction of the growing brain. Seizures and blindness may also occur.

They were able to do a 3D reconstruction of Elisabeth's skull after the CT. It was amazing to look at. It literally looked like a color photograph of her skull. And they could view it from every angle. On Elisabeth's skull, the anterior fontanelle (soft spot) is completely closed, as is the sagittal suture. The sutures on the side and the back are still open.

They will repeat the CT in several months to follow up on today's scan and to see if any of the other sutures have started to close. We will then go to Seattle Children's Hospital where they have an entire craniofacial center. We'll meet with Dr. Joseph Gruss who is a craniofacial plastic surgeon about the different options for dealing with Elisabeth's problem. Most likely it will be corrected with surgery.

Elisabeth's head may become more misshapen over the next few months. With the skull unable to expand upward, we expect it to push out toward the back. Her head is already somewhat elongated, but it could become more extreme. The brain will grow towards the path of least resistance, and for Elisabeth, that's the back. We'll see what happens.

For me it was an exhausting day but it had its perks. Or maybe just one perk. Four hours of driving to listen to some of my favorite music; a Brahms violin concerto, Mozart's Requiem, and Bruch's Violin Concerto to name a few. My girls sat in the back happily watching Alvin and the Chipmunks (a few times over).

***Sorry to those of you who have heard a lot of this information before. It helps for me to come home and type out everything that we talked about at the appointment before I forget it.***

I've been meaning to do this......

OK, I have been tagged twice for this now, so I guess I better post some answers! Here we go:

A-Attached or Single? Attached
B-Best Friend? Donald!

C-Cake or Pie? Pie....mmmm.....I usually eat the filling first and then the crust.
D-Day of Choice? I really enjoy Monday's because it has that fresh start feeling, kind of like New Years Day. After that I would say the Hanford Friday off.

E-Essential Item? Burts Bees chap stick
F-Favorite Color? Green. Everything I buy is green. I hang my clothes in rainbow order....the problem is that there is not much aside from green.
G-Gummy bears or worms? Well, if I must pick......gummy bears. Then I would give them to Donald.
H-Hometown? I was raised in Mission Viejo, CA, but I consider Kennewick to be my hometown now....love it! :)
I-Favorite Indulgence? Rocky Road Ice Cream
J-January or July? January......it's my birth month!
K-Kids? 3 darling little ladies
L-Life isn’t complete without? Donald
M-Marriage date? August 19, 2000
N-Number of brothers and sisters? 3 brothers, 2 sisters
O-Oranges or apples? apples. Tonight Donald made some delicious baked apples for dessert.
P-Phobias or fears? Lately I have been afraid of heights. I am also afraid of dying in a plane crash, that's the one way I don't want to go.
Q-Quote? "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be" Abraham Lincoln.
R-Reason to smile? A clean house

S-Season of choice? I live for Autumn.
T-Tag 3 people: I think everyone has done this tag already, if you haven't, you're it!
U-Unknown facts about me? I was the student council president of my elementary school.
V-Vegetable? frozen green beans. I craved them when I was pregnant. I would eat 2 pounds of them a day.
W-Worst habit? snacking all day
X-X-ray or ultrasound? Ultrasounds. They were the one perk to a very hard pregnancy. I loved seeing my sweet baby every week or two.
Y-Your favorite food? Mexican

Z-Zodiac sign? Capricorn

Everything in Order

I love the feeling of organizing

and reorganizing.

It's what I thrive upon. It's what makes me, me.

Today I am doing lots of organizing.

I love today.

Happy Ending

The owner has been found! Hurray! We called the animal shelter this afternoon and got the name and number of a lady who had been looking for a beagle. We called her and she came over at once. It was hers!! The dog (Bailey) was thrilled to be reunited with its owner.
Alexandra was in tears as it left. She had grown quite attached. I found her yesterday grooming it with my hairbrush. Needless to say that my hairbrush has since been thrown away and I had to use the girls hairbrush this morning. Tomorrow I will purchase a new one.

More Mozart

I have played so much Mozart this year......you would think that there aren't any other composers out there. It's all right by me. I love Mozart.

This weekend I have the privilege of playing Mozart's Requiem with Whitman College in Walla Walla. I am so excited! It is the most glorious music. And to top it off they are paying very generously. My plan is to stash away the paycheck until next months visit to Disneyland. After doing some quick calculations I figure that it will be enough to pay admission for the whole family leaving some left over for food and miscellaneous items.


**Dog update: yesterday the dog escaped. It went under the fence. After talking to my neighbor I found the dog in her backyard and learned that it had been wandering the neighborhood. Needless to say, the mutt is back in my backyard, with a rock blocking the hole. Am I crazy? Why in the world did I go in search of a dog that isn't mine and that I don't want?

Yesterday went like this....

First of all, I want to say that my camera is having uploading problems. Actually it's the cord that goes from the camera to the computer that is having problems. This is a big bummer because I would have been posting pictures today with all my news. Oh well, just use your imagination.

So last night I get home from work and Donald tells me to go and look on the back porch. I could not dream of what I was going to find. Had he bought something new? Was something in the backyard broken? No. A dog. A dog that isn't one of the two dogs that we already own. "Uh....Donald.....why is there a strange dog sitting on our back steps? ". I already knew the answer. You see Donald is a dog person. He loves dogs, me.....not so much. But I was sure that Donald had found this poor lost little creature and rescued it from danger of wandering the roads in the dark. Yes, I was right. So I have another dog at my house. I need to find the owner, quick. Preferably before my older two children grow attached (they are currently downstairs picking out a name). Anybody out there lose a dog??? A beagle-ish looking mutt-like dog? (this is where it would have been nice to post a picture)

There was something else waiting for me when I got home last night. This was something I was much more excited about. A few weeks back I had signed up for a Favorite Spring Things Swap. My package had arrived! How fun! I was completely spoiled with new socks, soap, a CD, and yummy treats (another picture would have been nice at this point). Thanks Elena! I love it all!

Along with the package was another piece of exciting mail. A letter notifying us that Alexandra had been accepted into the dual language program! Wooohooo!!!! We are thrilled. She starts kindergarten in the fall and will be in the program through 5th grade. The opportunity to become bilingual seems golden. We are so proud of her (especially since the day she took the test was when I was at the hospital with the baby and everything was topsy-turvy.....I wasn't sure she would be very focused). Congratulations Alexandra! We are so proud of you.

Today is looking to be fun. I am taking the girls to the park for a play date. I will see this gal and her sweet new baby and meet this girl for the first time. Can't wait!

I was thinking....

Donald and I always have the same thoughts. So to read mine for today, just go read his from yesterday :)

Lorelai

Let me introduce you to my little Lorelai....

*My 2nd born

*Favorite belonging: her "white blanket"

*A ballerina

*Very passionate about the color yellow.

*Favorite destination: Disneyland!

*Named after a character in my favorite television show, Gilmore Girls. Her middle name, Leigh, was after my father, who died while I was pregnant with her. It wasn't till after she was born that we discovered while watching a rerun that the character's name in the show is in fact Lorelai Leigh....how's that for meant to be???

* World's most devoted Mickey Mouse fan.


*Lorelai and Elisabeth have a very special bond. Kindred spirits indeed.


*Wants to be a teenager when she grows up :)

*Favorite candy: Junior Mints

* Full of spunk

*Speaks with a darling Boston accent.