Memorial Day, smores and sparklers

We woke up early on Memorial Day so that we could head down the road to Unionville to see the parade. A great time was had by all. The kids enjoyed the parade and Saige had a blast waving at everyone walking by. We just lounged around all day then had a BBQ that night. I bought some graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows earlier in the week so we built a fire and had smores. Boy did those marshmallows go QUICK. We made Saige smores but she had more of an interest in the chocolate (smart girl!). Could have cared less about the marshmallows and graham crackers..lol. She went right for the chocolate as soon as she saw where it was. Once we all had our fill of smores it was time to spark up the sparklers! Saige wasn't too interested in the sparklers because she was still looking for more chocolate. The other kids had a blast with them though. It was so nice to have a day to just relax and enjoy life.

Good times!

Had a GREAT time today at the Stormville Flea Market with Mer, Tim, Lulu, Carol and Samantha. It was so nice to see everyone again and words can't begin to describe how good it feels that the girls were able to see each other again. I love we are able to stay in touch with several of the TQ group. I think one day it will be very important to them to have had this bond.

I'll have more of an update tomorrow but for now I'll post some pics of Saige, Samantha and Lulu. I also have a few pics of Julie playing soccer. She scored TWO goals!!

Never a dull moment in this house!

lol. Tonight our darling Saige decided to bite off the end of an eraser and stick it up her nose. Now she's ever put things up her nose before but has always been able to blow it right back out. Not tonight. It was STUCK and she was not happy about it. I had to take my otoscope to look in her nose so that I could see it then take tweezers and pull it out. This took several tries and I was starting to think this would be a trip to the ER since she was VERY uncomfortable. After having 3 other children I really thought I had seen it all....NOT!!! Below is the offending eraser and tools used to retrieve said eraser. This kid sure does keep us on our toes!

16 months old!

Today our little girl is 16 months old. We are so blessed to have Saige in our lives.

An update

Things have been crazy busy lately but I finally have a minute to update.

The boys have been doing awesome in school. They just got their state report grades back and they got a 93 and 94. They are due to test again in karate this week but a doubt they will be allowed to since we haven't been able to go twice a week all month. Plus, I don't think they know all of the kata. The boys had a home soccer game this afternoon but lost 3-6. Oh well, they'll win the next one!! Go Bobcats!

Saige is keeping us on our toes. She has learned to say J (for Julie). We're still working on getting her to say Stephen but that's a tough one. She always calls out to Mike. She is picking up so many new words. She says nite nite, bye, I love, da da, ma ma, mom mom (this is what she calls my mom), what, why, cup, more, kitty, woof, please, ouch, cow, bath, fish, no, eye and so many more. We did a double take yesterday when she changed the TV to video so she could watch the Wiggles. There's a button on the front of the TV that you have to press to get it to come on and I guess she's seen us do it enough that she had it all figured out. lol. She understands alot also. I think she even understands more than we catch on to. I still can't believe we've been a family of 6 for 6 months already. Where has the time gone?

As for Julie, we finally found a new pediatrician and we absolutely love him. He went over Julie with a fine tooth comb. The last "specialist" (insert eye roll) we went to didn't even give Julie an exam, just said what she thought she didn't have and sent us on our way. Even had the nerve to tell us to take her off the antibiotics. I couldn't believe my ears. Anyway, the new pediatrician ordered a ton of bloodwork and not only said she should stay on the antibiotic but even upped her dosage. She is feeling a little better but has some complaints that worry me. Her "tired" legs and her inability to straigten her knees without pain are just a couple. The fact that my once very athletic child has NO interest in the sports (karate, swimming and soccer) that she once loved is another biggie. Julie has an appt with the orthopedic doctor this week and we hope that will either shine some light on whatever is going on or atleast rule some things out. I feel like I belong on the show Mystery Diagnosis these days. I just want to know what to do to get my little girl feeling better again. There's nothing worse than watching your child suffering and not be able to do a thing about it.

Ugh

It's been an incredibly aweful week. Today was the worst by far. Julie hasn't been herself ever since having mono in Dec/Jan. The past couple months she's been complaining of aches and pains which for the first month I attributed to her recovering from mono and having her tonsils removed. The past couple/few weeks she's been complaining more and more about SO many different things. Belly aches, knee pain, dizziness, tiredness just to name a few. This past week has been the worst for her. We took her Tuesday to get bloodwork done that would tell us if she has Lyme or not. We are STILL waiting for the results. I had to pick her up from school today because her legs were bothering her so much and I could just tell she didn't feel well just by looking at her. The pediatrician was hoping the results would be in today but no such luck. I think he wanted to help preserve what very little sanity I have left so he went ahead and started her on a 28 day course of antibiotics. Nothing gained nothing lost if she turns out to not have lyme. I don't know what to think. On one hand if it were a positive result atleast we would have an answer to what is wrong with our little girl. If not it's back to square one and more tests. Can't win for losing...

Happy 11th Birthday Stephen and Michael!!

I can't believe my boys are ELEVEN already. WHERE did the time go? We had a great day today. We got up bright and early and hit the 10:40 showing of Monsters vs. Aliens. GOOOOOOD movie! The kids liked the movie and I got to listen to Hugh Laurie's voice...good deal! Then it was off to get the boys a much needed haircut. They were going through that "I want my hair long" phase. Stephen wasn't happy with me at first for making him cut it but when he looked in the mirror he decided he liked it. Michael didn't care either way. He's my easy going boy. After haircuts it was off to Laser One for some laser tag and arcade games. When it was dinner time we went as a family unit out to Log Cabin then came home and had ice cream cake. WHAT a day! I'm exhausted. The boys are still going strong though. They are in their rooms putting together all the Star Wars lego's that they got. I figure it'll keep them busy for the rest of the week. lol.

Julie keeps getting better every day from her surgery. Mornings are the worst but once she gets her pain medication it is bearable.

Saige was back to the ENT yesterday with another ear infection. This makes 4 in almost as many months. Not good. The ENT is hoping that once the weather breaks that she will stop getting them but if not she's looking at tubes. She's on another strong antibiotic and seems to be better today. Julie is going back to the ENT on Friday for her post OP appointment and he said he wanted to see Saige also, just to make sure that the antibiotic is working. Fingers crossed!