exhale.

the past few months have been really busy.
when i woke up today, i felt like i had exhaled for the first time in months. i slept really well. and even though i still have appointments and plans for this week, it just feels different. maybe my brain re-adjusted itself during my slumber. maybe it’s my new home accessories from IKEA. or maybe someone has been praying for me. but i just feel — good. great. happy. relaxed.

the results are in…

and after a VCUG (test where they pump xray fluids into your bladder to do xrays) miette’s kidney reflux is GONE!
i have been doing a lot of praying about this (and i know others have been too) and i am so thankful she is past this.
she will still have to have an ultrasound every now and then to make sure her kidneys/bladder are still functioning correctly, but she gets to go off of the anitbiotics and move on.

miette did great in the test today. of course, there were tears, but she really, really did well. what a trooper!

halloween.

a nebraska cornusker cheerleader and alber pujols join forces for some candy collecting.

we need to get this kid a new mitt. he switched hands on us.

m and her pigtails… too cute.

instead of traipsing through neighborhoods after dark, we went candy collecting at Belwood Nursing Home, which is where justin’s grandma stays. the residents of the home were happy to see all of the kids dressed up and gave out some great candies. all of the kids had a great time, and we have plenty of ‘goods’ to show for it!

grandma and grandpa B with just a small portion of their great grandkids… henry, violet, annabelle, miette and finn. grandma had a princess crown on her head, she was “queen esther”!!

and the resulting candy.

pumpkin guts.

around the house.

finn working on some numbers.

reading together.

marveling at the ridiculous amount of ladybugs whizzing around outside.

patchin’ it up.

went to ackerman’s pumpkin patch this last saturday to get some pumpkins. it was cold, but the kids had fun. lots of fun animals and room to run

4 stitches on a monday evening.

i had just pulled a tasty side dish (sweet potatoes and red onion, a little treat i learned from danielle) out of the oven on monday night, when i hear: the door to our mud room shut, a little cry from miette, and justin saying, “we are going to the hospital, NOW.” he said it looked like the tip of her ring finger was just hanging on…

within 2 minutes, everyone and everything we needed had been thrown, literally, into the car and we were racing down the freeway, miette in justin’s lap in the front seat (so thankful we weren’t pulled over by any police!! i was speeding… a lot). he had to hold her hand up, with a wet cloth over it since it was bleeding, and some ice.
we live about 25 minutes away from the nearest ER.

so we get there, the triage people inspect it, and they say it looks like she might need some stitches and will xray it in case it is broken. so, thankful that it wasn’t as bad as we thought, but NOT thankful because they said the wait was an hour or two!!
my inlaws came and took finn for some hospital gourmet, while we waited with a sad little baby. i’m not sure how long we actually waited, i figured looking at the clock a ton wasn’t going to make things go any faster.
they called us in for xrays, which was a little tramatic, since they had to basically smoosh her little hand flat with a piece of plastic… and shortly after that we were up in the room, waiting to see the dr.

her finger wasn’t broken at all and she had to get four stitches. they numbed up her hand with some local anesthesia… her finger looked like a little sausage when they put all of that fluid in there!! the stitches seemed to take a long time… they had to do the fourth one four times, her skin was so soft that the stitch kept pulling through her skin… very sad.

and then we were on our way home by around 9:15. we cleaned up the house, threw away the dinner that was left out, got miette a little sustenance, and put the kids to bed.

the sad thing is, is that the thumb that miette sucks on is on the same hand as her wound… and we have to wrap up her whole hand (and even up her arm a little) so she doesn’t pull the bandages off… she did not sleep well the first night without her precious thumb!! we have given her a pacifier, and sometimes she likes it, and sometimes she doesn’t… with any luck, she’ll LOVE it by the time this is over and lbecome a paci-girl!

miette’s ‘club,’ as we lovingly call it…

stitches come out next wednesday.
we are so glad it wasn’t worse that it was!!!!

smooch.

small spaces

i often find miette crammed into small, unexpected spaces. she is a lot like her older cousin, violet… small, flexible, and curious.

in a cabinet.

in a side table drawer. why not?

she certainly keeps us on our toes!

winter 2006

the other day i was thinking of this picture.

i had no idea why justin rushed for the camera. but photographic evidence proves i had an envelope stuck to my rear.
it still makes me laugh.
i love laughing at myself!