Last fun of the year

Mike wanted to take the kids each on a special father date over the Christmas break. He and Lucy went for sushi and then to the library; her choice, isn't she a cutie?

A few days later, Mike and Elliott went black-light miniature golfing, and then to McDonalds...Elliott's pretty easy to please. 

After lunch, they headed to the Bronco shop for a litle fun.

The kids wanted some privacy in their rooms. I thought it was funny how different their takes on privacy are.

ELLIOTT:

 and LUCY:

All this snow has been so fun for the kids! They have shoveled the neighbors driveway 3 times now!! What a great opportunity for having fun while serving others.

HO! HO! HO! Merry Christmas!!

It WAS a very Merry Christmas!!! We did our traditional progressive dinner with Mike's family, which the kids love because they get to open lots of presents on Christmas Eve! 

We started at Jason and Kristine's for appetizers, where we learned that Elliott REALLY likes shrimp

And we learned that Archie is a little timid around Had Abogi (hee hee).

 And we learned that Archie and Rowan matched.

Then, it was on to the main course at our house, and dessert and Larry and Yoon's. 

After a quick reading of "The Night Before Christmas", the kids were off to bed. I couldn't sleep at all that night! I woke up about every 2 hours wondering what time it was, and finally, at 5:30AM, I couldn't stand it anymore, and I woke up the kids. They whisper-sang Away in a Manger as they walked down the stairs to find their loot. Elliott got a gigantic shooting remote-control helicopter and some board games, Lucy got rollerblades and a keyboard that teaches her how to play piano on the iPad, Archie got a new carseat, I got a vacuum that I'm so excited about, and Mike got a surround-sound speaker bar. Great haul this year.

We didn't get a white Christmas morning, but in the evening the snow started to fall. YAY!!

By the next day, we had a little skiff of snow! Enough that the kids could play a bit, and shovel an elderly neighbors driveway (their idea by the way! It helps when they think the act of service is fun!)

P.S. I think it's cute how Archie can now kick-back in style while we cruise around town. His carseat is HUGE!!

Christmas is on it's WAY!!

December is always such a fun month. Whatever you do, it's in the spirit of Christmas, and that just makes everything better. Here are some fun things we did this month leading up to Christmas.

 (Playing a Hershey Kiss Christmas Memory game for Family night)

   

(HO! HO! HO!) 

(this is Archie playing with the bubble-wrap from some Christmas packages!) 

(Lucy's upside-down-chin-face, always good for a laugh!)

Medical Procedures

We've had some fun times taking advantage of our met deductible this year, let me tell ya!

During mile 11 of our half marathon on September 1, my knee gave out. I started to see my physical therapist about it and we thought it was my loose joints, so we taped it. Still couldn't run. Then the pain (which was only in my knee, and only when running), migrated down my entire leg all the time. We thought it might be my back too (it's been giving my trouble for 12 years), so we worked on it. After 2 months of this and still no change, I went to a sports medicine doctor. He thought it might be my back or my knee, so he x-rayed both. My knee looked perfect (YAY!), but my back looked questionable. So I got my back MRI-ed. Yep, bulging-disc pushing on a nerve; bummer, but at least it's an answer!!! That was 2 months ago. 

After prednisone treatment, more physical therapy, anti-inflammatories, and a cortisone injection in my spine (pictured bellow. Not fun, by the way), still nothing. So, we MRI the knee...55 minutes of laying still in a machine is WAYYYY harder than it sounds! MY knees look good! Except a little irritation that is common with runners. Ice and ibuprofen...still nothing. 4 months later, I get another cortisone shot, this time in my knee, and we see what happens. After all this, I can now run for about 20 minutes before the pain gets me....it doesn't sound like much, but for someone who loves running as much as I do, it is SO GREAT!!!  

This is just an informative post...something to keep you in the loop. I'm not meaning to complain, I just think our bodies are so crazy sometimes. My friend Steve once told me that medicine is an art, not a science and he is sooooo right! Everything is connected, just like the childhood song says, and that makes it a little crazy to find what came first, the chicken or the egg, the leg or the back. I've been so blessed through all of this; its been such a good lesson in patience, perspective, priorities, and faith!!
Anyway, I am still just waiting to see how this plays out...what is causing the pain, how do I make it go away, and most importantly, will it heal in time for me to train for a marathon with my HUSBAND!!! That's what I miss most; it was so great running with him. He's a champ, by the way. He is a running fool, totally addicted. I kinda live vicariously through him.

But, on the other hand, crazy medical procedures can bring GREAT NEWS TOO!!! Archie went in for his second endoscopy to see how his EE was going, and to check on his C-Diff status. We woke up early, and waited in the hospital; we know the drill, we came prepared this time: the iPad.

Then they put him in his adorable oversize scrubs and little (I mean LITTLE, it is so cute!) blood-oxygen monitor.

They let him watch cartoons, but he was most interested in the remote control. Then they wheel him in and put him under (it's horrible, by the way, to see your little guy knocked out like that).

The procedure took less than a half hour, and they give him something to wake him up! He was crying when they put him under, and he picked right up where he left off when he woke up. He was inconsolable for 45 minutes after they woke him up; very unlike him. He usually gets distracted after just a moment or two.  Nothing worked, not even the magic of Dad or the iPad could snap him out of it. We think he just wanted to leave. Once they discharged us, he calmed down pretty quick.

It was a hard day for all of us, so Mike and I treated ourselves to our favorite meal: Boise Fry Company. Don't worry, it wasn't just for us, Archie likes the fries too.

A few days later, the news was in...Archie is 100% eosinophil-free!!! There is absolutely no inflammation in his esophagus, and it is now looking like he may have one of the rare cases of EE that isn't true EE at all, but just a sever allergic reaction (to milk most likely) that causes the EE to gather. Basically, he will most likely outgrow the disease that most kids have to live with all of their lives. And, as  if that wasn't enough, the C-Diff was totally gone too!!!! We are so blessed with this great news!