Looking back on the summer, I can't believe how fast time goes when your not looking. In May Emily started her therapy and is doing quite well. We were going three days a week, but this therapy is very difficult for Emily. So since the beginning of July we have gone to twice a week. We will continue the therapy till October then have a barrium swallow test done to see if the therapy is working.
Nick spent a week at ASU, at game camp, designing video games and graphics. He had a great time and loved it. Since coming home from camp, he has spent all of his free time on the computer putting his new knowledge to work.
Michael has hung out with his friends, played hours and hours of xbox and enjoyed doing nothing for the most part. In August he will get his driving permit so he has been studying for his test and learning his new marching band music for the fall.
We spent two weeks in Florida, we had a great time seeing family from Indiana, who came to Florida to see us. We had lots of beach time and lots of quiet time relaxing. While we were in Florida, there was lots of debating on our quite time and relaxing. My children and I saw the time to relax and unwind from the long year, busy schedules. Others saw it as being lazy, unproductive and just plain old weird. I guess some people don't remember how busy school schedules are with three kids and three different schools.
School starts in a week and a half and the kids are looking forward to it. This is Nicks last year at the middle school. He has made the wind ensemble band at school and is looking forward to all of the field trips that comes with this band. He has been practicing alot and is hoping to make drumline at the high school next year. Michael has started band camp this week and is enjoying it. This years band is smaller than last but the kids all seem to get a long and all seem to have the same passion for music. I can't wait to see their show at half time football games.
Emily finished up her baton twirling at state finals in May. She took three first places in her age group and won model of the year in 0-9 age group. She was happy to take the summer off, but now is looking forward to September to start practicing again. This year she hopes to master 2 batons and her twirl presentation. If she can do this by Feb., then we will have added two additional events she can compete in.
Don and I are doing well, in Aug, this will be our 16th wedding anniversary. Time flies when your having fun... No news on when he will leave again for Oregon, but his trip will not happen in 2010, maybe in the spring next year. Only time will tell.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Long over due updated.
Things here have been just as crazy as they can get. Emily had her surgery in March and is doing well. She has been on the liquid thickener since Feb and has had no pneumonia. The biopsy showed us that she has no bacteria or fungus in her lungs ,but she has a high lipid index which means she is aspirating more than original thought. Her therapy we are still waiting on, it could be anytime within the next year or so. We have contacted a therapist outside of the children's hospital, so we are waiting to hear from them.
Emily is still doing baton and loves it. We go to 1 competition a month and practice every week. She has started working on two batons now and is hoping to have them mastered by September for football season. We just celebrated her 7th birthday and she has started taking tennis lessons. We will see how long that lasts.
Michael and Nick we don't see much of them. They are either at school, with their friends or up in their rooms playing xbox. Life of a teenager, I guess. Both boys received straight A's on report cards for the 3rd quarter. Yeah for them. Nick will be taking a summer class at Arizona State this summer in graphic design. He is very excited
We have not heard when Don is leaving for Oregon, right now it is looking Fall. We are all looking forward to summer. 5 weeks of school left and the kids are counting down the weeks. . We will also be heading to Florida sometime this summer to meet my new niece Emree, and visit with family and don't forget the most important beach time.
Emily is still doing baton and loves it. We go to 1 competition a month and practice every week. She has started working on two batons now and is hoping to have them mastered by September for football season. We just celebrated her 7th birthday and she has started taking tennis lessons. We will see how long that lasts.
Michael and Nick we don't see much of them. They are either at school, with their friends or up in their rooms playing xbox. Life of a teenager, I guess. Both boys received straight A's on report cards for the 3rd quarter. Yeah for them. Nick will be taking a summer class at Arizona State this summer in graphic design. He is very excited
We have not heard when Don is leaving for Oregon, right now it is looking Fall. We are all looking forward to summer. 5 weeks of school left and the kids are counting down the weeks. . We will also be heading to Florida sometime this summer to meet my new niece Emree, and visit with family and don't forget the most important beach time.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Updates on Emily's tests
Let me first start by apologizing that this post will be long. Let me back up a few months and catch everyone up. Emily got pneumonia on Thanksgiving, in December, and January. We took her to Children's Hospital to see her pulmonologist Dr W. He didn't like the fact that she had been on the steroids that often, she looked like crap, with dark circles under her eyes and dark fingernails. So he ordered a bunch of tests for the next few weeks.
The first test was a barium swallow test at the cildrens hospital. We went last Friday. The test showed that Emily has Dysphagia. It is a swallowing disorder. Out of 12 swallows Emily penetrated into her lungs 6 times, with 1 aspiration. What that means is when she swallows juice, milk or water the liquid will enter her lungs and come right back out, but every now and then she will suck it into her lungs, causing pneumonia if enough liquid is swallowed. To fix this Emily has been put on Hydra Aid, a beverage thickener for all of her liquids. This gel ( it looks like hair gel) comes in a packet that looks like ketchup packets. It has no taste or smell, just makes her drinks look like watered down honey. It is really gross, but Emily has been a great sport and doesn't seem to bother her. Childrens hospital also wants to start doing therapy on her throat mussels that she is not using properly. The therapy is called Vital Stimulation. The will put pads on her mussels in her neck and then send electric waves to the mussel to stimulate it. This will be done for 7 weeks 5 days a week at childrens hospital. Thank goodness there was a 6 month wait for the therapy, childrens hospital is 38 miles from my house and trying to work around the kids school schedule is almost impossible.
On Feb 22. she will be seeing a GI doctor. They are worried that she may have some reflux that is causing damage to her voice box and throat, which may be causing the Dysphagia. After we go on the 22nd Dr W. and the GI doctor will schedule a lung biopsy and the Gi doctor while she is out for the biopsy he will go into her stomach and look around. The reason for her lung biopsy is that when xrays are taken of Emily they all look alike, healthy or sick. She has a spot on her lower left lung that is dark. We are hoping that it is fluid that can be removed during the surgery, however if it is scar tissue or damage due to the liquid in her lungs, she will have to be put on a oxygen supplement. I will update on the 22nd what the GI recommends.
Other news in our home, Michael had his 15th birthday. Emily and Nick moved bedrooms. Emily is so happy to be upstairs, she has slept every night for 2 weeks in her own bed. This is a big deal in our house, Emily has slept in my room every night for 2 years. It was starting to get old. Nick is in love to be downstairs aways from all of us. Nick's birthday is coming up at the end of the month, he will be 13. When did I get so old that I now have 2 teenagers in my house. Yikes.
We still have no dates as to when Don will be going back to Oregon. It is looking like anytime between April-July. Hopefully sooner than later. I would love to have him home for beginning of the new school year and football season. Only time will tell what will happen with his trip.
The first test was a barium swallow test at the cildrens hospital. We went last Friday. The test showed that Emily has Dysphagia. It is a swallowing disorder. Out of 12 swallows Emily penetrated into her lungs 6 times, with 1 aspiration. What that means is when she swallows juice, milk or water the liquid will enter her lungs and come right back out, but every now and then she will suck it into her lungs, causing pneumonia if enough liquid is swallowed. To fix this Emily has been put on Hydra Aid, a beverage thickener for all of her liquids. This gel ( it looks like hair gel) comes in a packet that looks like ketchup packets. It has no taste or smell, just makes her drinks look like watered down honey. It is really gross, but Emily has been a great sport and doesn't seem to bother her. Childrens hospital also wants to start doing therapy on her throat mussels that she is not using properly. The therapy is called Vital Stimulation. The will put pads on her mussels in her neck and then send electric waves to the mussel to stimulate it. This will be done for 7 weeks 5 days a week at childrens hospital. Thank goodness there was a 6 month wait for the therapy, childrens hospital is 38 miles from my house and trying to work around the kids school schedule is almost impossible.
On Feb 22. she will be seeing a GI doctor. They are worried that she may have some reflux that is causing damage to her voice box and throat, which may be causing the Dysphagia. After we go on the 22nd Dr W. and the GI doctor will schedule a lung biopsy and the Gi doctor while she is out for the biopsy he will go into her stomach and look around. The reason for her lung biopsy is that when xrays are taken of Emily they all look alike, healthy or sick. She has a spot on her lower left lung that is dark. We are hoping that it is fluid that can be removed during the surgery, however if it is scar tissue or damage due to the liquid in her lungs, she will have to be put on a oxygen supplement. I will update on the 22nd what the GI recommends.
Other news in our home, Michael had his 15th birthday. Emily and Nick moved bedrooms. Emily is so happy to be upstairs, she has slept every night for 2 weeks in her own bed. This is a big deal in our house, Emily has slept in my room every night for 2 years. It was starting to get old. Nick is in love to be downstairs aways from all of us. Nick's birthday is coming up at the end of the month, he will be 13. When did I get so old that I now have 2 teenagers in my house. Yikes.
We still have no dates as to when Don will be going back to Oregon. It is looking like anytime between April-July. Hopefully sooner than later. I would love to have him home for beginning of the new school year and football season. Only time will tell what will happen with his trip.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Happy New Year!!!
Wishing all my friends and family a Happy New Year. I hope you all had a great holiday season and are well. We enjoyed our quiet holiday at home, missing our Florida family. I think this was the first time I enjoyed the kids being home and was not looking forward to school starting. Everyone got a long and there was very little fighting, which makes everything more enjoyable. Don took a week off and we had a great time playing Rock Band and Guitar Hero games that Nick received for Christmas. Michael enjoyed his xbox games and his new online account, so we didn't see much of him the week after Christmas.
School has started back and both the boys received honor roll. Emily did really well on her report card too. We are getting ready for Michael's solo ensemble band contest at the end of the month. Nick as started this semester drama class at school, and his getting ready for a school play in march. Emily has three baton competitions in the next two months. We have decided not to take Emily to baton regionals in Long Beach Cali, this year. She has been fighting a lung infection since Thanksgiving and we want to keep her close to home. Regionals is 4 days of very long hours and hard work and it might be to much for her this year. There is always next year.
The biggest news we have is that Don will be once again going to Oregon. Not sure of when, but like last time it will be 4-6 months of him being gone. Rumors have him leaving sometime in April, but one thing I have learned over the last 15 years with Intel, things can change in an instant. He could come home tonight and tell me he is leaving in the morning ( hopefully not). This can be quite frustrating but I am thankful that he has a great job and they have been so good to us over the years.
School has started back and both the boys received honor roll. Emily did really well on her report card too. We are getting ready for Michael's solo ensemble band contest at the end of the month. Nick as started this semester drama class at school, and his getting ready for a school play in march. Emily has three baton competitions in the next two months. We have decided not to take Emily to baton regionals in Long Beach Cali, this year. She has been fighting a lung infection since Thanksgiving and we want to keep her close to home. Regionals is 4 days of very long hours and hard work and it might be to much for her this year. There is always next year.
The biggest news we have is that Don will be once again going to Oregon. Not sure of when, but like last time it will be 4-6 months of him being gone. Rumors have him leaving sometime in April, but one thing I have learned over the last 15 years with Intel, things can change in an instant. He could come home tonight and tell me he is leaving in the morning ( hopefully not). This can be quite frustrating but I am thankful that he has a great job and they have been so good to us over the years.
Monday, December 14, 2009
No more pictures
A few months ago I added a counter to my blog. I know of four family members who look at it at that's it, however my hits were increasing more than they should of. So with this counter I can look at who is looking at this blog.
Lately I have had some overseas visits and they have been downloading some of my pictures. So as of today I will not be posting any more pictures of my family. All pictures will be up on facebook for family to look at. And all pictures of the kids have been removed.
On a lighter note....
yesterday was Emily's first baton competition. She competed in 4 events. Two marching and two solo's She received two first place medals and one trophy for first place. The fourth event results were to be announced at 5pm. We had been there since 9am, and Emily was ready to leave about 1pm, so we left and her coach will let us know of the results next Sunday at practice.
Michael's band season is finally over, (Yeah) his football team made it to the playoff games, and was one game away from the final when we lost. :( It was heartbreaking for everyone. This week is finals for Michael at school and he will be home for holiday break starting on Friday. We are staying home this year and with all that is going on I am quite relieved.
Nick is doing well in school and just had his Christmas concert at school. He is getting really good at his drums, and is looking forward to playing in high school with the marching band. As a fund raiser at the football games, the drum line lets members of the crowd to come down to the track and play with the drum line. Nick as done this twice and is in love.
Don and I are doing well, trying to get into the swing of things, since he has come home. Its been hard giving up some of the chores and responsibility that I have been doing the last 6 months while he has been away. Can we say control freak haha.... (but this is something we have all know for a very long time.)
Lately I have had some overseas visits and they have been downloading some of my pictures. So as of today I will not be posting any more pictures of my family. All pictures will be up on facebook for family to look at. And all pictures of the kids have been removed.
On a lighter note....
yesterday was Emily's first baton competition. She competed in 4 events. Two marching and two solo's She received two first place medals and one trophy for first place. The fourth event results were to be announced at 5pm. We had been there since 9am, and Emily was ready to leave about 1pm, so we left and her coach will let us know of the results next Sunday at practice.
Michael's band season is finally over, (Yeah) his football team made it to the playoff games, and was one game away from the final when we lost. :( It was heartbreaking for everyone. This week is finals for Michael at school and he will be home for holiday break starting on Friday. We are staying home this year and with all that is going on I am quite relieved.
Nick is doing well in school and just had his Christmas concert at school. He is getting really good at his drums, and is looking forward to playing in high school with the marching band. As a fund raiser at the football games, the drum line lets members of the crowd to come down to the track and play with the drum line. Nick as done this twice and is in love.
Don and I are doing well, trying to get into the swing of things, since he has come home. Its been hard giving up some of the chores and responsibility that I have been doing the last 6 months while he has been away. Can we say control freak haha.... (but this is something we have all know for a very long time.)
Monday, November 9, 2009
Last 3 months
Well I can't believe its been so long since I posted anything. We have been super busy the last few months. When we got home from Oregon, Michael started band camp for two weeks. He said it was the hardest thing he has ever done, but loves it. We have been spending two nights a week at practice, Friday nights at football games, and Saturday practice for 4 hours every week. Our high school football team just ended their regular season with a record of 10-0 and we are headed to the playoffs. Nick has been busy with school and designing his own video games. The are alot like the old super Mario games but for a 12 year old they are fantastic. Emily has a new passion in her life. Baton Twirling!!!. She has been going to band practice with Michael and I every week. Michael's marching band has a baton twirler and Emily is in love with her. Emily follows this poor girl around everywhere. So about 5 weeks ago we started driving Emily up to Bell/Tatum for practice once a week. Emily is a natural. Her baton coach is entering her in her first competition in December. We are all very nervous for Emily, but she will do wonderful.
We have made a really hard decision to stay in Arizona this year for Christmas. We were planning a trip to Florida, however due to State Football schedules, airline prices, and that all of our Christmas gifts would have to be left in Arizona we decided to stay home. We are still planning our trip to Florida in June.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Good to be home!
We arrived home on Saturday , and boy is it good to be home. To sleep in your own bed, cook in my kitchen. Its all wonderful. Don has returned back to Oregon for the next 6 weeks. So the kids and I are trying to get back into the swing of things here. Michael starts band camp on Monday, so we are busy getting sports physicals, and papers in line to register him for that.
Emily is so excited to be home, she is sleeping downstairs in her room. For Emily this is big. She hates to sleep in her room. She does not like to be downstairs, while the rest of us are upstairs. Hopefully this will last and she wont come up stairs at night and sleep on the floor, like the last two years.
Nick has been enjoying his video games, and wii games. Its all he wants to do. He is not looking forward to school. But hopefully he will change his mind over the next three weeks. Because ready or not.... Yippee!!! school starts in three weeks. Can you guess that mom is excited???
Emily is so excited to be home, she is sleeping downstairs in her room. For Emily this is big. She hates to sleep in her room. She does not like to be downstairs, while the rest of us are upstairs. Hopefully this will last and she wont come up stairs at night and sleep on the floor, like the last two years.
Nick has been enjoying his video games, and wii games. Its all he wants to do. He is not looking forward to school. But hopefully he will change his mind over the next three weeks. Because ready or not.... Yippee!!! school starts in three weeks. Can you guess that mom is excited???
Friday, July 17, 2009
Going Home!!!
Well our summer trip has finally come to an end. We are leaving in the morning for Arizona. I couldn't be happier. We have done some amazing trips this summer. It has been a long 6 weeks in Oregon. We saw Mount St. Helen's, The Colombia river gorge and waterfalls, Tillamook cheese factory and Beach. We went to the Oregon Science Museum and Zoo. I will miss Don who has to stay in Oregon until Sept 1st, but with school starting in a few weeks, the time will fly by.
Arizona here we come!!!
Arizona here we come!!!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Twilight
It has been a long three weeks since Maui. We are in Oregon visiting Don for the summer. Our apartment is tiny, two bedroom/two bath. One TV, but it is nice. The weather has been in the high 60's but the humidity is about 200%, so we are all hot. Trying to come up with things to do with the kids is getting rough. We have been to the zoo twice, the science museum and the movies.
Fathers Day, we slept in. Sleeping-in in Oregon is really easy. The sun sets at about 10pm so we all have been going to bed at midnight or later. Even Nick sleeps in till about 9am. The other two kids sleep in later, 10-11am. It has been really nice. After lunch we decided to drive around to all the twilight locations. We got the list of addresses from a friend of Don's who daughter came up here to stay with Don while she tried out to be an extra in the new movie. She didn't get the part but gave us the list of sites. Don and I had a great time driving all over Oregon and Washington looking for the sites. The kids were a little bored. We spent 5 1/2 hours in the car and drove 218 miles round trip.
Forks High School
La Push Beach
Charlie & Bella Swan's Home
We saw five locations, and plan on this weekend seeing another two, The water fall at the end of the movie and the baseball field. Some of my friends say that I need professional help and other agree with me that this was the coolest road trip ever. I guess it depends on if you have ever read the books or not.
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