School night

Today was supposed to be Emma's 6-month check-up at the dentist - postponed from July. However I ended up re-scheduling it again and taking her to the hospital. Let me explain...

Sunday night, before we came home to the newly restored power, we noticed that Emma had some bleeding in the inside corner of one eye. We called the doctor who said it looked (picture messaging rules!) like a [bruise] under the surface, but to call again if it got worse.

Monday morning it looked slightly worse so we called and he told us to take her to an eye doctor, just to be safe. I called the hospital where Emma sees the eye specialist. They said it sounded like a bruise, but would check it out if we felt it necessary.

I did, and scheduled an appointment for Wednesday since I already had the day off.

We went this morning and they confirmed that she did not scratch or cut her eye. She probably poked it a bit, not uncommon. Thankfully we were only there for about 45 minutes, probably the shortest visit there ever!

We came home, picked Toby up from Nanna's and headed home for lunch.

My anxiety built over the course of the afternoon as I prepared for the evening: The orientation and picnic at Emma's pre-school. (I forget if I announced that she was accepted into the school back in May, sorry! She got in, after many rounds of questions and concerns.)

We hadn't said much to Emma about starting school, but tonight she got to meet her teachers, spend some time in the classroom and get used to the idea of going to school. She seemed very comfortable.

During the opening talk backpacks were mentioned. Emma turned to me and said "Oh - I forgot my backpack! I'll bring it with me next time."

Emma's cubby

I spoke to her teachers about the first days (the very first being next Thursday) and any concerns. At this point we really aren't worried - Emma is drinking from regular cups (a little, but enough to fit in), eating well and was able to get on the potty by herself.

We have had to vent her several times in the past week, since stopping tube feeds. The gas builds up from gulping her water fast. ("Emma fast" that is - 25 minutes for a cup of water). Initially we were effectively bottle feeding her her water, but increasingly she is doing it herself.

I'm not as anxious about Emma starting school as I might have been if I wasn't already leaving her with Christina. I've had to deal with the letting go issues a bit already. That said, like any mum, I'm deeply hoping Emma will make good friends and have a postiive experience. I'm so glad I get to hang around the first few school days!!

Back up

When Scott went to help the clean up at church, I put the kids down
for a nap and got my head down too.

I was disappointed to wake up and find we were still in the dark.
After contemplating the option I went with packing the kids up and
heading to McDonalds. Scott got home just in time to join us.

We discussed the options for the evening and night, before receiving a
text from out neighbor that the power was back on.

We hope it stays that way!

Power out

We knew it was too good to be true!! Our power went out about
11:30am. Thankfully it's not hot today, so we won't need the air
conditioning, however it is not good, nonetheless.

The last bands of wind are still to cone through in the next few
hours, but right now all seems good.

Thank God.

Eye of the storm

Apparently the eye of the storm is passing by us, about 100 miles to
the east. With a huge storm that is already stretching up into
Canada, that's pretty close!

So far the news is showing mainly flooding, the banks of the major
rivers in the city already over flowing.

We have power at this point, and can only pray it continues.

Sticking together

We thought it would be best to keep the family altogether tonight, so
we're hunkering down together for the night.

Keeping vigil

We lost power very briefly around 10pm and that gave us a push to put
the kids to bed - yes, it's late!!

Toby didn't seem to notice the rush to get them down before the power
went out for good. Emma did, or maybe she was over tired, but she got
quite teary.

Since then the power has flicked off and right back on about 5 times.

The eye of the storm is about 200+ miles southwest of us but tornadoes
have been touching down much closer to home.

The severity of the storm is that it is moving so slow that the winds
are sustained and heavy rain falling for 12 hours or more over an
area.

Our house is at the highest elevation in our area, so the flooding
should not directly affect us. However trees are uprooted much easier
in saturated ground than hard, dry ground, so the winds are the worry.

Our friend Grant is hanging out with us, so Scott and Grant are
getting much amusement from my slight hysteria!! (surely getting all
the dishes done is standard storm preparation!)

Thankfully Grant brought candles with him, since we didn't have any.
Our flashlight is also not working, as we discovered when we replaced
the batteries. (I did borrow one I found at church this morning!)

One thing is for sure, after two natural disasters in one week I'm
going out and getting an emergency kit together.

I'll probably post through the night - I'm not feeling too sleepy right now!!

Waiting

We are holed up in the house with the necessities (ice-cream, chips
etc) waiting out the storm.

With such a large area, it's tough to know if all the warnings on the
news are for all people. The beach areas have been evacuated, but
everyone around here is digging in.

We've seen some very heavy rain, sporadically, but we are still a long
way from the arrival of the eye overnight.

Our fears are mainly power outages and falling trees - we have 3 tall
trees in our yard and every house around us has at least one or two.
There are tornado warnings in the counties around us.

We have been running the air conditioning at lower than usual to give
us more time if the power goes out, same with the fridge and freezer.

The kids are enjoying the time we are spending at home together, so
every hurricane has a silver lining!!

Calm before the storm

Extreme Weather

On Tuesday we experienced an earthquake. Just a few days later we are expecting to feel the effects of a hurricane.

Would you believe me if I said I'm not worried? No! And you shouldn't!!

It will come as no surprise that the local media hypes up every band of rain that comes through the area, and there are many people who experience problems caused by heavy rain. But it is a case of the boy who cried wolf.

So as they started to talk about hurricane Irene this week I paid it no attention - that, and the fact that we rarely watch the news anymore as it's so depressing!

However, as we bowled with the kids today (Scott took the day off after working overtime all week), they had the TV on and we caught some of the weather report.

We stopped by Target on the way home and it seemed busier than usual. I was there to get something for my recurrence of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, but thought perhaps we should grab some bottled water, just in case.

Pah! The shelves were cleared. Oh well, how bad could it be - after all we got through last years 3-day power-outage with no warning and a 9month old baby!

On the way home from a birthday party at 9.30pm we stopped by BJs wholesale store for batteries (for the microphones at church, in case you were wondering) and found that just a few minutes before closing the place was packed. There were no carts available and when I ran in, it looked like people were preparing for Armageddon!

Of course, I grabbed a pack of bottled water (quite heavy with no cart!) and the batteries I need - although there were very few of them too.

Once home, we tuned in to the local news before going to sleep only to learn that the area beaches (less than 80 miles away) are under mandatory evacuation, the city has taken down all flags and we are expecting a foot of rain on Sunday, in what has been the wettest month on record. (That means mucho flooding!!)

Manhattan has evacuated most of the island and they are a couple hundred miles north of here! They've even shut the airports as of noon Saturday.

So, Saturday will just be waiting and praying that once again the media were exaggerating!! I'll keep you posted!

Magic Number 5

I forgot when exactly I laid out my dream/challenge for God and the world to see, so I looked it up and it was July 6: http://ehmnews.blogspot.com/2011/07/milestone.html

I said "I have a dream. My dream was that Emma would be off the tube completely by Kindergarten. That's in two years. That's one of those "keep it real" dreams! My "way out there" dream is that she would be off the tube by the time she starts pre-school. That's in two months!!"

This was followed by the promise of scripture:
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Emma had gone from drinking maybe 5ml a day to 250ml most days, a leap forward nobody could have predicted. It was a shaky start from there on as we struggled to adapt our schedule from quick and easy tube feeds, to 25 minutes concentrated on drinking from a cup - the time it used to take us to administer a tube feed.

It was clear that to avoid regression, and make any progress we would need to bite the bullet and make the changes. And we have.

Over the past week Emma has drunk four of the five water boluses each and every day. The fifth contains prune juice, an excellent natural laxative - necessary because of the gastroschisis hangover.

However, today (mark the date on your calendar) Emma has not had any contact with a tube. Not only did she drink her 5 waters (and Sprite, her new favorite and the only thing except water she'll drink), but she also drank one cup of water containing Miralax, a dissolved powder laxative that we can use instead of prune juice. As for venting, Emma's been burping like anyone else, on occasion!

So, in summary, I don't plan on using that g-tube again.

Did I mention that school doesn't start for two weeks?!!!

"with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. (Phillipians 4:6)

Earthquake

About two hours ago the ripple effect of an earthquake in Virginia was
felt locally.

Scott was driving through the city, didn't feel it but wondered why
all the streets were full of people!

I was having lunch with a friend but didn't feel it! Apparently the
tables shook and glasses rattled. I wouldn't know - I was in the
bathroom!!

Nanna was watching the kids at our house, said the floor shook a lot.

The media is having a field day, I'm kind of disappointed that I
didn't really experience it - but very thankful everyone is safe.

Who needs expensive toys when there are sofa cushions!!

Glass Half Full

I'm sure some people think I'm crazy taking as many pictures of my kids as I do - I occasionally think it myself! However, I just realized why it's so important.

It's my day off today, and it's been a tough week. No, nothing exceptionally difficult, just tough. (Actually, it rained all week. Getting two kids out of the house at 7.30am, in your best clothes, trying not to be late or get wet - not fun. Can't wait for Fall!)

I worked three days as usual: work is going great, I really enjoy what I'm doing and who I work with. And given that my schedule was never that full during the week, I didn't anticipate that 3 days in the office and not at home would make a big difference.

However, I now have to fit seven days worth of life into just four! The priority, of course, is my family. I miss being around the kids so much, so on my days off I want to have quality time with them.

I guess I just haven't figured out how to balance the other stuff! Grocery shopping was always a random trip of a morning, chores were done on an adhoc basis and then other things here and there fit in.

I'm trying not to get frustrated or overwhelmed, since it's still a new situation and I guess we need to just prioritize and schedule.

Scott's been helping a lot, making dinner and feeding the kids. (Ironically having him home more for family time has cut down on my chore time!!)

I could feel myself getting overwhelmed at lunch time as the kids tried hard to drive me nuts, and I considered all the things I could do with myself at naptime (blogging was not one, but there were so many others I was frozen with indecision!).

So, I felt the need to vent, but also catch you up with the latest pictures (you can see the link here right?). As I scrolled through them, many below, I could not help but smile and feel
a) blessed to have a job and family
b) like none of the other stuff matters
c) it's not always about me

Take a look, hopefully they'll make you smile too!




Emma did this over and over. We thought it was awesome - not so long ago she wouldn't step down without hand holding, let alone jump with both feet!



Bowling is such a great thing to do with the kids, I even took them by myself on Tuesday. Toby really had a hard time waiting [safely] for the ball to come back!


Ice-cream after, just to make it the perfect night!


This is classic Toby...he is quite the antagonist/cheeky monkey!
I think I need to become a "glass half full" kind of person!

Day AND Night!

I was having trouble sleeping Friday night, anxious about the weekend. The time had come to take a big step. We were leaving the kids with Nanna and Pops for the day AND the night! You may laugh, but this was the first time since Toby's birth (the only other time) that we have both left the kids overnight, at the same time. That's right, 3 1/2 years since Emma came home and the night I was in labor was the only time one of us wasn't with her!

Since I went back to work and we saw how well they are doing without us for the day, and sleeping well at Christina's and Scott's Mom's during the day we thought they were ready to go an sleepover. (Well, I just now thought they were ready, Scott probably thought that ages ago!)

We dropped them off at 8am, just like any other day, only this time they had an overnight bag, and Emma was excited about her first sleepover (or maybe it was the idea of sleeping in Josiah's crib - she is always trying to get in Toby's crib!)

What did we do? Took to the beach, of course! Before we left the kids Emma asked me where we were going. I told a little lie, saying we were going to "run errands, nothing fun"! She was fine with that, and it was as much for her good as ours! It was half true - we were planning on doing nothing, at the beach!

We ended up at the same beach as some friends who were down there with their family. We weren't trying to avoid kids altogether, just not have the responsibility ourselves! We got to go in the water, together, for as long as we wanted. Scott played wiffle ball with some guys, while I sunbathed, and probably nodded off!

When the clouds rolled in we hit the boardwalk for some dinner (under a canopy because it was raining pretty hard) and then mini-golf, in the rain! Like a pair of crazy kids!!

We didn't want to fork out for a hotel, and that was fortunate since it rained so much. We got to come home and relax without first shepherding tired children to bed! Likewise, the next morning we got ready for church without the crying, whining and fight with shoes. (We were still late though - not having anyone to demand we got up!)

We picked the kids up after church (by which point I was missing them terribly!) and headed straight to Melissa's for lunch.

The rain was constant and hard, one of those Sunday's you just want to curl up under a blanket. Or in Toby's case, in a dog bed...

Harley was quite confused!

Then Keith and Scott had the "great" idea to sail paper plate boats down the stream that had formed on the field behind Melissa's house. Sure enough, that's just what they did, and took the kids with them...





I'm glad Scott does crazy stuff like that, the kids will have some great stories when they're older.

Then it was back home (kids both falling asleep on the way) for a playdate. A friend from church is moving away this week and her two girls have been Emma's only girlfriends. We invited them over to play for a couple of hours before a teary farewell (us, not the kids - they don't have a clue!).

All in all a packed weekend. This summer has been non-stop action, I need to come to work to take a break!!

Once again...

Time to catch up...

Where was I? Oh, that's right, Emma was sick at the beginning of last week. It turned into a nasty cough and congestion for much of the week and she ended up getting antibiotics. There is light at the end of the tunnel and finally she is barely coughing (and back in her own bed!)

A little sickness didn't hold us back though! On Friday Scott took the day off and we headed up to Aunt Maureen's for the day with the rest of the family.

Toby begrudgingly floating alone. Emma loved being in this little ring and floating around.

Kimberly being a big help, with her adoring fans!

"Row Row Row Your Boat" comes alive!!

The weather was great and it was a nice break. Thanks Maureen and John!

As often happens when kids are sick, routine and discipline go out the window! So we are back at the beginning with Emma's drinking. Well, actually we're further back because the allure of the prizes has faded! It's our fault really because we weren't consistent continuing Christina's efforts at home.

Work is going well though, I'm really enjoying it and getting to grips with the guilt of leaving the kids. The good part is, having been on both sides I realize that there is guilt whether you stay home or work. The key is identifying if it's healthy guilt (an indication that you actually did something wrong) or the kind that will hinder the joy and growth in your life.

I realize that me working does mean the kids have less time with me, but so much more with Scott, and us both together. We may even be able to take a vacation next year! What might seem hard in the short-term (it will not be an issue when they are in school!), will be better for the whole family in the long run.

But that will only be if I make the most of my time with the family and not worry so much about the cleaning and other chores (that never got done before anyway!). Hmm, that sounds like a great excuse!!

Changing times

Standing in line at the post office for a half hour on my lunch break
used annoy me beyond belief. Now it's a chance to blog, and catch up
on my Words games!

Always a silver lining!!

Getting Better

Emma was feeling much better today. She started off last night with us, I transferred her to her own bed when she was fast asleep and brought her back around 4am.

Toby tried the usual scream until I get into the big bed tactics, but since I had off today and Emma was the priority (sick kids get first dibs on the big bed!)I decided to resist. About half an hour of screaming and 3/4 trips to reassure him I loved him, but no, he is not getting out of the crib, he fell back asleep until 7am.

I myself have been feeling under the weather, so my 6am pilates sessions have been postponed! I was excited to have the first weekday off where we did not have an early therapy session and decided Toby could come in our bed at 7am, so we could all (excluding Scott, poor guy) sleep in. (Do you think I just undid all my hard work?!)

And sleep in we did - 8.45 we finally got up! I'm not sure who awoke first, but we did have to get moving - I was off work because Emma had a pulmonary check-up at noon.

Emma ate a waffle (plain, with no drink - weird!), so I knew she was feeling better. Toby ate a couple pancakes with syrup before flipping the rest onto the floor while I was out the room - nice.

Nanna came to watch Toby while Em and I headed downtown to the hospital. I gave him the choice of coming, he opted to stay home, but still freaked out when I left. Shouldn't he be able to make a rational decision and stick to it by now, at 22 months old?!! (I know!)

Anyway, the appointment went well and although Em was shy and focused on Monkey Math on my phone, she still showed them just how awesome she is. (I'd also emailed the doc her latest YouTube classics from church the other week, so he was well aware of the diva inside!)

We didn't need to schedule a follow-up at all, since she is doing so well, airway-wise, but I said we'd be back in a year. I'm not ready to cut the cord just yet!

Fast-forward to now. Emma went to bed at 8.30pm after a nice bath, no problem. And then it began. The little post-nasal drip cough that Toby had last week, but 20 times worse because Emma has thicker secretions and does not swallow as much.

Our bed seems to be magic because she sleeps so much better in there and I put her in a little while ago, and she is sleeping peacefully. I'm just not sure where I'm going to sleep...

Yes, that's my side of the bed!

Tangled

After dinner this evening Scott suggested we all watch a movie together. Since Toby will not sit through a whole movie (and is happy to watch whatever) we went with Emma's choice of Tangled (or Rapunzel as people without kids would know it!).

It was so nice to squeeze onto the sofa together for 90 minutes. Emma developed a fever yesterday and is still running a high temperature but she was lively enough to be enthusiastic.

By the end, where the plot takes that twist that leaves you on the edge of your seat (yes, it's just a Disney movie, but they do it so well!), Toby had brought in some random items from a drawer in the kitchen and he and Emma were having a tea party. When offered a "cup" I could only respond with "Shhh! I'm watching the movie!"

I loved it, as did Emma, who had seen it before. I highly recommend it!