Cohen Has Surgery.

Reagan had a blocked tear duct when she was born.  I was constantly wiping "goop" out of her eye.  When she was 9 months old, my pediatrician recommended her for a study a medical group was doing on obstructions of the tear duct.  It meant that I got paid to have her see a specialist.  It was a pretty sweet deal!  Especially considering that they gave me prescription drops to put in her eye (also free); and those drops worked!  She didn't have any more problems after that, and I made over $100.  All of which, I deposited in to her college savings account.

Cohen was born with the same problem.  Only both of his eyes had blocked tear ducts.  I went through the same motions, of constantly cleaning the discharge out of his eyes.  It was always worse when he was sick.  And with both Cohen, and Reagan; I always had people asking if they had eye-infections?

Cohen's defect didn't clear up, the way Reagan's had.  As he got older, the problem got worse.  He looked like he spent a lot of time crying, when he really didn't.  It was just that his natural tears didn't have anywhere else to go, but down his cheeks.

At Cohen's 18 month well-child appointment, Dr. Swensen suggested that I take Cohen to a specialist.  I was really sad that I couldn't get Cohen in to a study, like I had with Reagan.  Seeing a pediatric opthamologist is expensive, when you have to pay for it yourself!

Dr. Swensen recommended: Dr. Robert Hoffman.  I called Dr. Hoffman's office, and the wait time to get in to see him was ridiculous!  Dr. Swensen always takes care of me (turns out, Dr. Swensen, and Dr. Hoffman went to medical school together); he pulled some strings, and got me an appointment to see Dr. Hoffman, ASAP.

Dr. Hoffman recommended that Cohen have both of his tear ducts surgically unblocked.  We scheduled the surgery.  Dr. Hoffman was going to be out of town for most of the month of June.  So, Cohen had to wait until July 25th to have the surgery.

We had to be to Primary Children's Medical Center at 7:30AM.  My Mom came to my house to watch the girls.  I LOVE having her nearby.

Check-in was speedy.  The surgical clothing they gave me to dress Cohen in was ridiculously oversized.  He kept tripping over all of it.

When we made it to the 2nd waiting room, we found out that Dr. Hoffman was running behind.  We had to wait for over an hour here.  Cohen was surprisingly well-behaved.  Since he couldn't eat or drink that morning, I was expecting him to be a grumpy bear!  My son LOVES to eat.  His usual breakfast is: 2 nutrigrain waffles, a bowl of cereal (adult sized), and yogurt.  You can see how I'd be worried by the fact that I made him skip breakfast.  But he did well.

When Elsa had her surgery, they asked if I wanted to give her Versed (to relax her)?  I would have given it to Cohen, for his surgery, but they didn't even offer it?  They didn't take him back to the operating room in one of the little cars, or wagons either.  I held him while we walked back, and then I handed him off to the anesthesiologist.  It was one of those painful Mommy moments!

The doctor came to speak to Nick and me after the surgery.  He said that he probed Cohen's eyes first, and dislodged a lot of his blockages, but it wasn't enough to totally fix them, so he had to insert little balloons in both ducts too, to expand the ducts (the balloons were removed at the end of the surgery).

The nurse came, to escort me back to recovery.  She was also taking another family to recovery.  Their child was closer than mine, so she had the go with her, and I had to wait in the hall.  From the hall, I could hear my little boy screaming at the top of his lungs!  But I couldn't see him.  It was agony.  Waiting for the nurse to come back to take me to Cohen.
When I finally got to him, he was inconsolable.  After Elsa's surgery I had an idea of what to expect; but it doesn't make it any easier.  The nurse had tried to give Cohen a bottle, which I thought was weird.  He hasn't taken a bottle for almost a year now.  I don't think he even knew what to do with it.

We moved Cohen to a different recovery room, and they let Nick come back.  Cohen was still fighting mad.

Things went on this way for a good hour.  He didn't want to drink anything.  He didn't want a popsicle.  He didn't want to watch TV.  He didn't want Mommy to hold him.  He didn't want Daddy to hold him.  All he wanted was to get the IV out of his foot, and the heart monitor off.

I finally asked the nurse to bring me some crackers.  He brought an array of goodies, and I tempted Cohen with some Lorna Doone cookies.  That was the ticket.  He scarfed down the cookies, and asked for more.  Then, I got him to drink some apple juice (out of a sippy cup, this time).  I tell you... that kid does not like to be hungry.  After he ate, he calmed down; and the nurse took out his IV.

Cohen fell asleep in his carseat on the ride home.  He slept most of the afternoon. 
24 hours later, you cannot tell that he recently had surgery.  He is toddling around like his normal self.  He has had 2 bloody noses today, but the doctor said it's to be expected.  He said Cohen may also bleed from his eyes.  That hasn't happened, yet.
But Cohen's prognosis is good.  The doctor said that most of the time this type of surgery is very effective, and rarely does it have to be re-done.  Thank goodness!

Reagan's 5th Birthday!

My oldest baby turned 5 on July 19th.  In my "pre-child" days; I always thought that I would never want to have a baby during July, or August.  I didn't want to have to deal with deciding whether to send my kids to school on time (so, they'd be the youngest kids in their grade); or holding them back a year (so, they'd be the oldest kids in their grade).  I didn't want them to miss out on having a birthday during the actual school year.  I didn't want to spend my summers being enormous, and about ready to give birth.

As is always the way: I had a baby in mid-July, and one in August too (Elsa).  Considering how difficult it was for me to get pregnant with my two girls; I was just grateful to have them, and didn't care so much about the months in which they were born.  And although, it was pretty miserable being 9 months pregnant in the middle of summer, I only had to go through it once (well, twice.... once with each kid).  And my other concerns seem to be unfounded.  My kids are smart enough, and tall enough to fit in with the other kids in their grades.  No need to hold them back.  Also, there are so many things you can do at summer birthday parties!

For Reagan's birthday: she woke up, and we let her open presents before Nick went to work.  From Mom and Dad she got: a (play) bow and arrow set, a pretty Rapunzel nightgown, a maxi dress, Mary Poppins on DVD, and a bell for her bike.

Reagan had swimming lessons that morning, and my Mom came with us.

I had a babysitter come to the house during Cohen and Elsa's nap time; and Reagan and I snuck off.  We went and had pedicures done!

In the evening, we met Nick's parents, and his brother, Nate; at Leatherby's.  We let everyone have ice cream for dinner!

Saturday morning was Reagan's birthday party.  I found a deal on Deseret News deals for a giant inflatable waterslide.  Nick and my brother, Brian, picked it up and set it up.  I invited 15 kids to Reagan's birthday party, thinking that about half of them probably wouldn't come.  Only two of the kids didn't make it; so it was a pretty big event!
The people that came were: my nephews, Lance, and Grant; friends from Reagan's preschool: Cole, and Peyton, neighborhood friends: Evia, Taytem, Laurie, Eva, Julia, Quentin, and Colin, and family friends: Mason, and Lily.

The waterslide was a big hit!  We didn't have cake and ice cream.  I just bought all of Reagan's favorite junk food, and made a "treat table", where the kids could help themselves to the various goodies.
As party favors, I gave the kids beach towels, and more bags of candy.  I spent a long time on youtube, learning how to make towel origami; and I folded all of the party favor towels in to: crabs, flowers, and snakes.  I thought it was pretty impressive, but the kids really didn't care.

After the party, Heather, Jeff, and my nephews all stayed; and we had neighbors pop over at various times throughout the day to play.  My kids, and my nephews played on that waterslide from 10AM until 7PM.  Despite my best efforts at regularly applying sunscreen; Reagan and Elsa still got sunburns.

Nick was super-Dad the entire day.  He was on the waterslide just as much as the kids were.

On Sunday, we had my family over for dinner.  We celebrated birthdays for Jeff, Reagan, and Grant.  Brian and Jenny gave Reagan a backyard waterslide; and she loved that!  Reagan also got more Maxi dresses (she's really "in to" them lately); a Leapfrog DVD, and more money for her college account.

I think Reagan had a great time celebrating her birthday, over a three-day period.  I'm still in shock that she's old enough to be going to Kindergarten!  Happy Birthday, big girl!  I hope you are always as big-hearted, and caring; as you are at 5 years old.

Swimming Lessons, Week Two.

Oh boy.  Week two of swimming lessons...

Reagan, as expected, made even more strides.  She learned to dive.  She can do the freestyle stroke from one end of the pool, to the other (the short end, but still....).  She is fearless, and swimming is something she truly excels at!  I love watching her.

 Elsa, is another story...  The first day, of week 2 was... painful.  Elsa screamed the entire lesson.  She didn't want to back float.  She didn't want to do chipmunk cheeks.  She freaked out when Brooks tried to get her to jump off of the side of the pool.  Who knew it was possible for her to throw a temper tantrum in the water?!

 Nick and I could hardly keep Cohen out of the pool.  If Nick would have let him, Cohen would have jumped off of the diving board:

 It gave me an idea...  I'd already paid for Elsa's lessons, for that week.  Why not switch Elsa and Cohen?  Brooks was OK with my proposal.  So, on day 2, we let Elsa sit on the sidelines; and we put Cohen in the pool.
In my mind, I expected everything to go, well... swimmingly.  I thought Cohen would love lessons.  But he didn't.  He's still a little too young to understand what is going on.  He didn't scream.  But you can tell, by the look on his face, that he wasn't in love with swimming lessons:

Day 3, I put Elsa back in the pool.  Despite how much she hated it, I couldn't justify letting the money go to waste.
Things started off much the same way.  Elsa screamed. 
Then, her teacher asked Elsa to sing the ABC song.  It calmed Elsa down.  She spent the remainder of the lesson floating on her back, and serenading us with different songs.
The biggest surprise came on day 4.  Elsa was standing on the steps of the pool, and Brooks knocked a toy ring in to the pool.  It went to the bottom of the pool.  Elsa said she wanted to go get it.
So, Brooks let her try.  Elsa held her breath, and went down in to the water.  She came up holding the ring, AND smiling!  Turns out, she loves diving for objects.  Who knew?!
Day 4 and day 5 were wonderful!  Reagan was happy swimming, and Elsa was happy diving.
I still don't know if the girls will be able to take lessons in August, but my fingers are crossed, that they will.

Elsa's Growing Up.

Elsa is my social butterfly. For a two year old, she remembers names really well.  She walks around at church, and greets everyone (young and old) by name.  She loves playing with other kids.  She and Reagan either play really well together, or they fight ferociously.  That sounds familiar.  Heather and I were the same way.

Elsa's terrible-two's were pretty rough.  But her 3rd birthday is in two weeks, and she has been showing her delightful side again.

Elsa is completely potty trained.   Getting her there was an entirely different experience, from what I went through to toilet train Reagan.  Reagan did it at a younger age, but had lots of "accidents".  Elsa hasn't had a single "accident" since she decided that she was done with diapers.  Since January, I've tried several times, to potty train Elsa.  I couldn't figure out a reward that would entice her to use the toilet?!  She didn't want cookies, or M&M's, or any treat.  I'd put her in a pair of panties, and she'd act like there wasn't a difference between them, or her diaper.  It was frustrating, and gross. 
Finally, the week before we went to New Mexico, I hit on Elsa's "currency".  I told her that she couldn't go to Pre-school if she was wearing diapers.  Boom!  That did it.  No more diapers for Elsa.  I worried about how she'd do on vacation.  Was I an idiot to potty train her right before we left?  Well, there was no turning back.  Fortunately, Elsa surprised me, and did amazingly well!  I put her in a diaper for the drive to NM, and she stayed dry.  5 hours in to the car ride, she told me she needed to go potty.  So, on the return trip, I let her stay in panties; and she was fine.  Hallelujah!
Once that little girl makes up her mind to do something, she does it 100%.
Now I only have one set of diapers to change (I have a feeling Cohen is really going to give me a run for my money, when it comes to potty training!).  The only downside to having Elsa out of diapers is that it presents a new challenge: how do I get her pants to stay up?  That girl is a skinny-mini!  Safety-pins have been working as a temporary fix.

She can hardly wait to start Pres-School.  The other day, she had her first play-date.  My Angel -Baby is growing up too fast.

More Sumer Fun.

I've been trying to take the kids on summer excursions, at least once a week.  Two weeks ago, there was a blessedly overcast day, and I deemed it the ideal day to take the kids to the zoo.  Kelli and her daughter came too.

My bright idea wasn't original.  Many, many other parents had the same thought.  The zoo was busy!  All of the parking spaces at the zoo were taken, so we had to park up the street from the zoo.

I opted to take our wagon, as transport for my children, rather than my stroller.  The only time in the zoo, when all three kids sat in the wagon, was when we had to ascend that really steep hill, at the back of the zoo.  Go figure.  It's a good thing I've been exercising more, otherwise there is no way I would have been able to pull 90-ish pounds worth of children, and baby gear up that hill!  The wagon is also hard to maneuver.  For the life of me, I cannot get that wagon to tow behind me in a straight line.  It weaves all over the place.  I think I'll leave the wagon at home, from now on.

One benefit of going on a cool day, was that the animals were more active.  The kids stood there and watched the polar bear swim in the same circle, over and over again, for 20 minutes.

This trip, we didn't ride the carousel.  And we didn't even visit every exhibit at the zoo.  Wrangling 3 kids was not easy for this Mom.  So, we skipped stuff
Elsa was terrified of the giant elephant sculpture.  She wouldn't go near it.  So, I was only able to capture a picture of Cohen and Reagan sitting on the trunk.

The day at the zoo was fun!  And I suppose it is better to go on a day when it's crowded, than on a day when it is blistering hot.

Last week, we had a morning when it rained for 45 minutes.  It was one of those great summer downpours.  The girls put on their wellies and went outside to play.  After a few minutes, Elsa said she needed her jacket.  I took it out to her.  I left Cohen sitting at the table eating cereal for breakfast.  I didn't close the door behind me.  The next thing I knew: Cohen was playing in a puddle outside.

Just as one child grows out of the terrible-two's (Elsa); another child is entering that stage (Cohen).  Ah, the joys of having children so close in age.  I was hoping for a "breather" between dealing with child mischief.  Guess that's not going to happen.  Oh well.  I love my kids anyway.

Independence Day, and a Trip to New Mexico.

Nick had to work the morning of Independence Day.  I had wanted to take the kids to the Grantsville parade, but we were going to be driving to Farmington, NM later in the day, and I didn't think it would be fair to add an extra 2 hours to the already long drive we had ahead of us.  So, I was elated when my neighborhood decided to have a Fourth of July pancake breakfast and bike parade.

I got up early and went for a jog.  When I got home I showered, and dressed, and made a ton of bacon (that was my contribution for the pancake bfast).  I put the kids in new red, white, and blue outfits; and we took off for the parade.

Originally, Reagan wanted to ride her own bike.  But that desire wore off shortly after we left the house.  Lucky me, I "got" to pull all three kids on my bike.  It's a one-speed beach cruiser bicycle, and our neighborhood has a lot of hills; the morning was hot, and this task turned out to be not such a treat.  I rode my bike most of the parade route, but had to walk a short distance on a hill.  Of course, that is when I had my picture taken :)

When we arrived home, after the bike parade, I think I was more gross and sweaty than I had been after my run, that morning.  I had to take another shower.  I love my kids so much, and I want them to have fun childhood experiences, so I'd definitely do it again.  Even if it does mean that I get dirty.

We picked Nick up from work at 2PM, and started our drive to New Mexico.  Our view for the 4th of July wasn't filled with BBQ's and fireworks... It looked more like this:

             

I drove the entire way to Farmington.  I was making excellent time too.  Until, I was pulled over for speeding, in Cortez, CO.  The patrolman was surprisingly nice.  He let me off with a warning, and gave the kids pins that say, "Good To Go!", because they were all wearing seatbelts.

We arrived in New Mexico around 9PM.  The kids were exhausted, so we checked in to our hotel, and went to bed.  This trip, we stayed at a Towneplace Suites.  Nick gets a corporate discount through Walgreen's at Marriott Hotels, and was able to get a fantastic rate for a studio suite at Towneplace.  But I felt uneasy about cramming all 5 of us in a Studio.  I was certain there would be a lot of sleepless nights, and that we'd all be crabby, and stepping all over each other.  So, two days before we left, I ponied up the cash; and booked us a (more expensive) 1 bedroom unit.  I'm glad we went that route.

DAY 2: We met up with the Sims' and visited the Aztec Ruins.

Nick wanted me to take a picture of the mortar and pestle.  Being a pharmacist, he thinks stuff like that is cool.  I added an extra coolness factor to the picture, and had Elsa pose in it.

For lunch, we went to St. Clare's Winery.  I was very pleasantly surprised to find so many good places to eat in Farmington, NM!  Because, that town doesn't have much else going for it.  Ha ha.  St. Clare's had food that would rival any of the Bistro's found in big cities.

After lunch, we took the kids to Big Bounce, to let them burn off some energy.  We stayed for hours.

We went back to the hotel, and Nick and Garrett took the girls swimming.  Katie and I took our boys; and went to pick up dinner.  We got take-out from My Big Fat Greek Restaurant.  Yummy Greek food can be found in Farmington, NM.  Who knew?!

DAY 3:  We drove out to Mesa Verde, to see the cliff dwellings.  It was AMAZING!  The picture doesn't do it justice.

We did a group picture, at the visitor center.  It turned out pretty well.

Then, we drove to Durango, CO.  I was shocked at the difference a 1 hour drive made in scenery!  Farmington, NM is 100% desert scrub.  Durango, CO is a gorgeous mountain town.
We had lunch at a charming crepe Food Truck named, Michel's Corner.  I am sure I will dream about the delicious savory crepes we had!
The crepe truck is located on the corner of a busy intersection.  The seating is outside, next to the food truck.  Elsa wasn't interested in eating, and was wandering up and down the sidewalk.  Reagan, ever the big sister, decided to try to "boss" Elsa back to the table, and Elsa did the opposite.  She took off.  And nearly ran straight in to traffic!  There were a ton of pedestrians standing on the corner where Elsa was, but none of them tried to stop Elsa when she darted in to the street.  It was homeless man, that yanked her back to the sidewalk.  I was so grateful that Elsa wasn't hurt.  And I wanted to give the homeless guy my sincere thanks, but he disappeared, before I could locate him.  What a good person.

We headed to a less busy area of town, and took the kids to the train museum.

After that, Nick and Garrett took the girls to the Children's Museum.  Katie and I put Cohen and Steele in strollers, and walked down Main street.  We stopped at Jean Pierre's French Bakery.  The pastries were OK, nothing to rave about.

We got some food at a New Orleans-type restaurant.  The shrimp Po'Boy's were good eats.  Reagan had some deep-friend corn on the cob:

On the drive back to Farmington, we stopped at a bakery on the outskirts of Durango called, Bread.  Now, that... was deliciousness.  I've never had a better oatmeal cookie.  We also purchased a fresh baguette.  The entire baguette was gone before we made it back to the hotel.  The kids ate most of it.  And we called that dinner.

DAY 4: The kids were pretty tired.  Actually, we all were.  So, we spent the morning lounging around the hotel.  We went to the Sims' house at lunchtime.  Katie had picked up some specialty bread from GreatHarvest (I didn't even try to keep track of how many bakeries we visited on this trip!), and we had french toast for lunch.  While the little kids napped, the bigger kids watched a movie, and the adults played board games.  Garrett and Katie always introduce us to the best games!  This time we played "Munchkin", and "Castle Panic".
The kids wanted to go swimming again, so we grabbed dinner on the way back to the hotel; take-out from Si Senor, this time.  It's New Mexican cuisine.  Not to be confused with Mexican Food.  The main difference, that I noticed was the green chile sauce that topped the entrees.  We all got in the swimming pool this time; and we let the kids swim until their hearts were content.  Then, we bathed them all, and called it a night.

DAY 5: Nick woke up early, and went in to work with Garrett.  Garrett is a pharmacist for Indian Health Services, he's considered active-duty military.  He works at the hospital in Shiprock, NM; on the American Indian Reservation.  Nick was impressed with the work Garrett gets to do, and I think Nick would love working there.  Too bad, it's in the middle of nowhere!  Honestly though, if we could live in Durango, rather than Farmington; I would have no problem with Nick being employed there.

I packed up our stuff, and our kids; and Katie and I met Garrett and Nick at the hospital.  We then drove out to the Four Corners monument.  Every day on the trip was HOT, and this day was no exception.  The line to stand on the seal that marks the four corners was ridiculously long, and it was not in the shade.  So, we opted to take pictures NEAR the seal, rather than ON it.

Garrett volunteered to take a family picture of us, and captured this beauty:

It sums things up pretty well.  By the end of the trip everyone was tired of being hot, tired of driving, and tired of posing for pictures.

We didn't stay long.  Instead, we drove to Cortez, CO (Nick drove this time.  No reason to tempt fate).  We had lunch at a restaurant/bakery called, "Mr. Happy's".  Might as well stick to the bakery theme.

And then, we parted with the Sims'.  We love that family, and were sad to leave.  Until Independence Day 2014....  But Katie and talked about having them come stay with us around Christmas, so hopefully we don't have to wait too long before we see them again.