I can't believe it! Madelynn didn't lose her first until she was half way through kindergarten! It's the same tooth that Madelynn lost though, I think.
Madelynn lost one just before Christmas, it's the upper one right next to her big tooth.
We went for a drive this evening to look for wildlife. We were going stir crazy in the house. We saw a lot of deer. I don't have any pictures of the deer. It was too dark for my camera. I have some nice pictures of the sunset though. ETA: These are a little big, so the edges are getting cut off. You might have to click on them to get full size. :)
Christmas was different this year. We stayed home for the first time ever. It feels like we were faking it! We let the girls open their presents about 2 o'clock so Grandma and Grandpa and Chelsea could watch on the webcam. At least we had that. Our friends Kim and Jared came over with their kids at 5 and we had dinner with them. They left to go do their presents and came back around 9 and we had a fun night playing some board games and pool. This morning the kids got up early and were ready to do their stockings! I have a few pictures.
It's been snowing since early evening on Christmas Eve. I just went and measuredand as of 11 pm we have 8"!!
I have to say, I am so excited to take the tree down. It's so dry, I'm going to have a huge needly mess in my living room when I get it out the door!
Ava had a class Christmas party on the last day of school before vacation. Here are some pictures. They sang some songs, put presents in each others stockings, and even had a visit from Santa. Madelynn's class had a Polar Express party, but it was just for the kids, so I didn't go.
Not a lot has been going on around here. Travis has been working nights, so he slept all day today. I didn't have a lot to do, so I scrubbed all the cupboards and walls in the kitchen. lol. Exciting day!
It snowed yesterday. This is the first time all winter we've had any kind of accumulation of it. The kids were very excited and had fun throwing snowballs at Dad while we walked home from school. I was excited for it too, but now I'm ready for it to go away. It takes to long to get anything done outside with it here. lol. Actually, it can snow the whole 2 weeks of Christmas vacation. I wouldn't mind that, because I don't have to go anywhere!
We decided to go buy a tree this year with how busy everyone has been working. Travis got a nice one! I think this is the first tree we've ever had that held all of my ornaments without a problem. There is a random slide show at the bottom with pictures from Ava's class Thanksgiving party and the light parade. I was having problems getting pictures to load and finally got it working.
We went to the light parade in Helper tonight for Christmas. We went last year too. I'm almost positive it was on this same weekend, but last year we were watching in about a foot of snow with huge flakes coming down. This year, nada! Wait, it did snow the day before Thanksgiving for about 3 seconds and melted right away. I wish it would snow. I hate when it's cold and not snowing, I mean, what's the point of the cold if it isn't going to snow! Maybe if it would snow I would feel like it's almost Christmas! When I lived in SD I hated the snow. I was so excited to move to NM to get away from it. After 5 years of living there and not getting any snow I missed it. Moving to Wyoming was exciting, maybe we'd see some snow! We did, but mostly it just blew around. Last year around here was awesome! I don't think I'd ever seen so much snow in my life, and it stuck around for a long time! I mean, come on, if it's winter, we should have a little at least. It's still getting into the 50's during the day. It feels like fall! Santa may be wearing shorts delivering presents in Utah this year! lol!
Not a lot has been going on around here. We had Thanksgiving at our house with the Patterson's and Kim's mom. That was nice. The mine gave us all smoked turkeys and they were so good! I couldn't sleep that night, so I went shopping at 5am on Black Friday. It was crazy at Walmart. The lines were about 3/4 of the way thru the parking lot on both sides when I got there at 4:40. By 5 when they opened the lines were all the way to the back of the parking lot. Once I got inside I went to the toys first for some little pet shop thing Madelynn wanted. I grabbed a couple of those and tried to get over to electronics to look at the Wii games they had for $16, but there was no way I could get over there. I made my way to where they had the $9 movies and found out the Wii games were there, but they were all gone already (only about 10 minutes had passed by then!). I came home and tried to sleep again, and couldn't so I headed over to Kmart. It was much nicer there, you could actually walk around! I got most of the shopping for the kids done, so that was nice. The best part of it was that they didn't even know I'd gone, so they weren't asking what I bought! It still doesn't feel like Christmas. Maybe because we haven't got a tree? I am not sure. It sure is going to be weird this year, not going to South Dakota. This will be my first Christmas I haven't went, ever. I have been home on Christmas before, but usually we went before or after in that situation.
Ava and I went up to Provo with Kim, Jared, and Aden to take their car back the Monday after. We walked around the mall a little bit and ate lunch and came home. It was nice to get out of the house for the day. Ava went back to school Tuesday for a "feast." The kids got to bring their favorite foods. I went to help out and it was quite interesting. There was everything from artichokes (Yes! From a 4 year old!) to spagetti noodles and ice cream. Ava brought jello. I guess that was her favorite for now. I would have thought she would have wanted to bring chocolate donuts. :)
Madelynn is doing good, not a lot going on with her. She is doing good in 1st grade and dance. Ava had her checkup today on her tonsils and tubes and he said she got an A+ and is 95% healed. Yay! Now I am wondering why she keeps waking up crying again the last few nights. I've had a little snuggler in my bed for the last 3 nights at about 1 am.
The girls had a dance recital today at a craft fair for Christmas. This year is going too fast! Ava is still feeling good today! I am so glad.
Ava was so good today! She was her normal self. It was sooooo, soooo nice!! I hope she stays this way!
Ava had another screaming fit this evening/morning? I don't know it's 3 am. So I decided to type what she does into google and came up with this: night terrors after tonsillectomy. After reading this and several other sites I am almost positive that is what is going on. I don't think that she was in pain this time because she woke up just 2 hours after I gave her tylenol. Who knows, it's 3 in the morning and I'm exhausted. . . .
If anyone is reading this and has experienced this and has advice for me please, please post a comment! I would greatly appreciate it. I get really crabby with not enough sleep!
Oh look, I even found a video of a different kid doing it. This is how she acts.
Ava has thrush. I took her into the doctor today, just so I wouldn't worry all weekend. He said she is healing along normally though, so that is good news. I have to take her in again in 2 weeks instead of Monday.
She seems to be doing worse. I am not sure what's going on, she's complaining of a headache and that her throat hurts again. She wakes up screaming and won't take tylenol unless I force her to. I'm going to call the doctor in the morning and see if this is normal. It's been a week today. I would have hoped that she would be feeling better by now.
Ava didn't need any pain meds or even just Tylenol today and she did great! She even had chicken nuggets for dinner. Yay! She went to the bathroom too! I think things are looking better. I am so glad. That was the worst experience. It made me wish I'd waited until she was like 12 or something!
I guess I'm not getting any sleep tonight. Ava just woke up crying that her throat hurt and I can't give her Tylenol for another half an hour. Ugh, i hate this!
2nd update: I couldn't get her to take any tylenol until 5:30 this morning. She has been waking up about every 2 hours and being a little demon child. She says her throat doesn't hurt, so I am not sure what's going on.
Well, things seem to be going better over here. Ava has been acting mostly normal. Last night I woke up to the bed shaking and thought something was wrong with her. I looked at her and she was giggling really hard. I asked her what was so funny and she pointed at me and said "monkey." ha ha! I guess I looked like a monkey with my CPAP mask on. What a goof.
Travis went to work yesterday morning at 10 and came home around 2, then he had to go back to work at 7pm and was there until noon today! It is just ridiculous. I hope they can get things straightened out at this mine, so he can spend more time with his family. He had plans with the girls last weekend to go to Madagascar 2 and ended up getting called to work. This weekend he had plans to take Madelynn to a birthday party at the wave pool, since I didn't want Ava around a bunch of people, and he was at work, so she didn't get to go to that either. It makes him feel really bad that he can't do things he promised the girls he would do with them.
We didn't really do much this weekend. Kim and Jared came over to take our trailer to their house for the winter. The driveway looks empty without it there. We stayed over there for awhile, as the girls were having a fun time playing with Katie. We came home when Trav got home and Katie came with so they could play some more. We (me, Trav, Kim, and Jared) played a couple of games of Clue (my fav!) and then Ava wanted to play Operation, so we got a couple of rounds of that in.
I switched Ava over to just regular Tylenol, since she's not went #2 since before her surgery. She has already woken up twice crying, I am not sure if it's from taking the regular Tylenol or not. She won't tell me what is wrong when she wakes up or even let me touch her, so I don't know what's going on. She ate a lot more today, but she wasn't into drinking anything. She gets annoyed that I'm telling her to drink all of the time. I think she is staying hydrated though, she is sweating really bad in her sleep.
Anyway, I should try to get some sleep, since Madelynn has school in the morning. It seems when I lay down I start to worry about Ava and can't fall asleep!
Well, our first night home was tiring. Ava went to sleep about 9:30 and I tried to go to sleep with her, but I just laid here for 2 hours worrying about her. I set my alarm clock for 3:15 to get up and give her the pain medicine, but I didn't hear it I guess because I woke up at 3:50 to her screaming. I got her to take a drink and her medicine and she went right back to sleep. Did I mention that giving her the medicine is like pulling teeth? She HATES it! At 7:30 I got Madelynn up for school and got her there without a problem. I had to wake Ava up though, and she wouldn't go back to sleep. She is really bad in the mornings. I am thinking because her throat gets really dry and hurts worse after sleeping all night without drinking anything. We napped for about 2 hours and then went to get Madelynn. She was doing better by then, perking up, I guess you'd call it. Then we got home and she got a bloody nose and I freaked out. I called my mom for advice and she said to wait 10 minutes. It seemed to quit, so I decided not to worry. Then it started again, so I called the doctor and they told me that if it was bleeding it wasn't from the surgery and if it gets worse to take her to the ER. That didn't seem right to me, I mean, aren't the adenoids right behind her nose?????? It bled again a little at 7, but I think she was picking her nose. I got her to eat some of a slushie from Sonic. She seemed to like that. I haven't been able to get her to eat much of anything. I picked up some baby food today, we'll see if she likes that. :) She was in a good mood all night, playing with Madelynn and watching a movie with Travis. Now we're sitting in bed watching a movie. She actually took her medicine without complaining tonight, so I am wondering if she is in a lot of pain now or if it's hurting less. I hope hurting less! I hope she goes to sleep soon. She has big bags under her eyes. This is so hard. I feel like I have a newborn again. I was very crabby when Travis got home.
Here's to hoping tomorrow is better!
Neither of us slept much last night. We got to come home about 10 o'clock today. She seems to be doing better here. She drank some Gatorade and is asleep now.
And yes, she did get tubes also. Those don't seem to be bothering her, just swallowing.
This is before, with the teddy bear they gave her.
We went in at 7:30 this morning and at 9 they started. They were done about 9:40. The doctor said her adenoids were huge and blocking her whole nose. Poor girl. I have been with her all day and she seems to be doing really well. She hasn't complained of any pain and is drinking stuff and eating jello. Travis is with her now, so I can have a break, as she has to spend the night there at the hospital and I am staying with her.
Here she is afterwards. I can't believe how good she is doing!
Ava had a doctor appointment today with the ENT after last week's appointment. She is having surgery next Wednesday! She's getting her tonsils and adenoids out. She's also getting tubes in her ears. The doctor didn't think she had an ear infection anymore, but we asked for a hearing test and they did a tympanogram (?) on her ears. This blows and sucks on your ear drum to see how much vibration it has. Ava's line, which should look like a little hill I am told, was flat. We were told this means that she has fluid behind her ears, even though the doctor said it didn't look like she had an ear infection. The hearing doctor couldn't get a good answer from the regular hearing test, so he did one where she didn't have to respond and that came out saying that her hearing was near normal, so that's good news. Now I know when she yells about me turning down the tv that she can still hear it! Poor girl must have got my sinus and ear genes. It sounds like she is just like me in this department!
Anyway, the surgery is next Wednesday, the 12th. I'm not sure what time, but if you all could send prayers we would appreciate it!
It's been Halloween overload here this week. Both girls had parties at dance and Ava had one today at preschool. Since Madelynn's in 3 dance classes this is 5 parties already this week, with a halloween carnival at Madelynn's school tomorrow! Crazy!!! In the middle of all of this I found out Ava has an ear infection and I asked the doctor about her snoring (She's loud for a 4 year old!) She thinks that Ava has a really tiny throat. I said that is interesting, I have sleep apnea and my doctor told me pretty much the same thing, so she looked at my throat and Madelynn's and said Madelynn's is bigger than both mine and Ava's. lol! I guess Ava got those genes from me! Poor girl. I'm taking her to the ENT on Tuesday. Hopefully we can find something out, because I left the pediatrician kind of confused!
Here are a few pictures. Hmm, maybe not, I can't get them to load.
I can't wait until this election is over. I am sick and tired of getting emails bashing one certain candidate. Most of the time they aren't even true!!! I hope people are not falling for the b.s. that is spread in them. It is driving me crazy!!!!!!!!!!!
I was going to scan Madelynn's picture in to post, but my scanner is unplugged, so I will get around to it later, or you can see it in your Christmas cards. ;)
We had a busy day today. This morning Travis got up and got the camper winterized, so we wouldn't have any problems next spring when we go camping again. Then he mowed the lawn while the girls and I carved the pumpkins for Halloween! We left one for him to do, as I thought it would be too hard after I messed up the first one I tried! Kim and Jared and the kids came over and Travis and Jared finally removed the old couch from the back deck and took it to the dump! Yay! Thanks guys! I can't believe how much bigger the deck is again. ha ha! We played a few games of pool, which, no matter how much I play, I don't get any better! This weekend was so nice, Travis didn't have to go into work at all!! They called a few times, but everything was able to be fixed from home with his laptop. He was showing Kim and I the mine on it, that was kind of interesting. We got Madelynn's school pictures back. I keep meaning to scan one in and forgetting. I will get around to it eventually. We have a busy week ahead, with all the halloween parties at dance and school, plus Travis' 34th (!) birthday on Friday! I hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween.
Here are some pictures of the pumpkin carving, courtesy of Ava. She didn't want to get her fingers slimey doing the pumpkins. She didn't do that bad, although I have about 15 pictures of pumpkin seeds.
The wolf one is Ava's. I think it took Travis about 2 hours to get it carved! I did the skull one first and the eyes fell out, so they are being held up with tooth picks. The two smilie faces are the girls. Madelynn wanted a cat one, but it was way too hard for me to even try and she made up a song about smiling jack-o-lanterns, so I figured I would give their two happy faces. ;)
Ava didn't want to be in this picture, she took her bike and raced away almost all the way to Madelynn's school without telling us. She knows to stop at the corner, so she got in big trouble from Dad after he sprinted after her.
I feel like I should say something, but I don't have much to say! We have not been doing much. Friday night our friends, Kim and Jared, came over and we played some board games and had a good time. Saturday Travis got called into work again *rolleyes*. Once he got home, Kim and Jared, and our other friends, Candi and Dale, came over and we played some pool. I had a little problem walking and fell right over into the wall. lol!
Ava's doing well at preschool. Today was picture day and we put her hair in curlers last night to prepare. Her hair looked cute! It's also Red Ribbon Week at both girls schools. Tomorrow Ava has "crazy hair" day, so I put "rags" into her hair. We'll see how it comes out, when I did it to Madelynn she had an Afro. Madelynn had crazy sock day today. She wore fuzzy pink ones with polka dots and blue tie-dyed crocs, topped off with a red dress. Such a fashion statement! She started CCD about 3 weeks ago and thinks it's really fun! I am glad. Being active in the church when I was a kid was a nice thing for me.
Other than that, nothing much going on. I will be sure to post pictures from Halloween trick or treating, and Travis' birthday, if we do anything!
The weather has kept saying over and over this weekend that it was supposed to snow. This is the closest we have seen so far and it's Sunday night!
Not a lot going on here. Travis has to go to CO again this week for work. Hopefully the kids will be better for me than they were last time!
I'm sure everyone knows by now that Travis is a coal miner. I didn't post these pictures from last weekend yet. Kim and I stopped at a campground to let the kids play for awhile after we took the pictures. Madelynn decided it would be fun to play in the dirt around the camp fire grate. She was putting it all over her hands and face saying she was a "dirty coal miner." It was pretty funny!
Not a lot has been going on here the last week or so. It rained a whole lot on Saturday, and was still wet on Sunday, so the kids were going stir crazy!
Kim and I drove up Huntington Canyon on Saturday to try to get some more pictures. It was beautiful up there! The pictures do not do it justice. The mountains just looked like they were glowing from all the orange and yellow leaves. There wasn't a lot of red, which is my favorite!
