Scarf Giveaway!!

Wanna see the cutest blog in central MN? Go HERE!!

My good friend Alison has her own little scarf boutique, and she's doing her very first GIVEAWAY!! To enter, send a picture of yourself in your favorite scarf, tied in a fun, unique way to alij@alijboutique.com! Deadline is March 13th!

Ready? GO!!

Little Genius?

I've always know my kids are smart-and friends who spend any amount of time with them re-iterate that to me from time to time, but today Malachi was proving his math skills to me. Here is the conversation I had this morning with my 4 1/2 year old:

Mal: "Mommy, 1+2+3+4 is 10."
Me: (After running the math in my head), "Wow, Malachi, you're right!"
Mal: (Without missing a beat), "And 1+2+3+4+5 is 15!
Me: "That's right!"
Mal: "And 1+2+3+4+5+6 is 21."
Me: "Malachi, who told you this?"
Mal: "I learned it myself. And 1+2+3+4+5+6+7 is 28!"
Me: "Stop it, just stop it! You're too young to be doing MATH!!"
Mal: "And 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8 is 36!"

So what do you think?

Tenderness...

It was a tender moment...

As I was kissing my baby boy "goodnight", our eyes met. In the last light of the day, we just lay there, taking each other in.

I took advantage of our 'moment':


"I love you, Mathias." I said.


He gently took his chubby little hand, placed it on my face...


...and pushed me away.

Whoa...

Well, as promised, I'm going to spend a minute updating you on Madison's condition.

She's been doing remarkably well, in my opinion. Aside from the occasional soreness, and, as of last night, extreme itchiness, she's been a very bright, positive young girl.

I picked the kids up from my friend Angie's last night after work, and Madison was already almost in tears over her itchy ears. I tried to get home as quickly as I could, but by the time I got home, she was practically screaming! So I caved and gave her two teaspoons of Tylenol with Codeine. I don't know if it was psychological, or what, but that seemed to calm her almost instantly. (That and the Disney Channel).

Then last night as I was kissing her "goodnight", (she was already sleeping) I couldn't help but notice that her bandage was down over her eyes, and the tops of her little ears were poking out the top! I called (quietly) for Seth to come help me pull it up, but we woke her in the process. I don't know if she was hurt, or just scared, but she did NOT like that! Finally, with Seth holding her arms, and I-very gingerly trying to pull up the gauze, we did get it back up to about halfway as far as the Dr. had it to begin with. Then we wrapped her entire head with an ACE Bandage. That seemed to hold it enough for her to go back to sleep.

Seth took the day off today since I took off Monday and Tuesday, and took her back in to see Dr. J. We wanted to know that her ears were still where they were supposed to be, and that our makeshift bandage would hold up until next Monday afternoon. Their appointment with the Dr. took all of 10 minutes, and they were cleared to go! I think we'll all be a little more careful about that thing falling too far down from now on!

Just pray for patience for us, and especially for Madison. Pray also that she will be comfortable these last 4 1/2 days until she can be free from all that gauze!

Thank you for all of your prayers and support!

Successful Surgery!

As Madison lays sleeping beside me, I can't help but thank God that everything went well during her surgery this morning.

Seth was not able to go with us to the surgery as he started a new phase of his job today. He didn't request the day off 2 weeks ago, as is proper protocol where he works. His supervisor just kept reassuring him that he could have as much time as he needed when the time came. Little did any one of us know, Seth was transferred from the shop to the field...today. Seth was unable to get ahold of anyone over the weekend to permit him to actually take the day off, so he figured he'd better show up to work...even if it meant he had to be at the jobsite over an hour away at 7am this morning.

So Madison and I, along with my mom and sister Brittany, arrived at the Surgery Center between 7:30 and 7:45. After filling out a few forms, we were brought to the back to be admitted. Madison cried from the minute she woke up this morning, to when the nurse and anesthesiologist had to pry her off of me to take her into surgery. I tried my best to encourage her, and my mom and Brittany helped me distract her.

Mom and Brit stayed with me for a while after they took Madison back. They even went out and bought me breakfast! But my mom had to teach a class at the Y this morning, so they left after a bit.

Dr. J. said that the surgery would take about an hour, so when we started gaining on an hour and a half, I started to worry. I had brought a book with me, but I couldn't concentrate on it. All I could think about were the irrational things that could be going on in the back...for your sake, I won't go there right now.

Finally, Dr. J. called me back to discuss the surgery with me. He said that everything went perfectly! He told me that he wished I could see her ears, that they looked great! He explained that she would have to wear her "head gear" until next Monday, when we'll go in to have Dr. J. take it off. After discussing her meds, he shook my hand and told me, "Congratulations" (I found that amusing).

Then the nurse took me back to sit with Madison as she slept off her anesthesia. She woke up a couple of times asking to go home, but fell immediately back to sleep. Finally, at about 12:15, we were discharged with a script for Tylenol with Codeine.

Madison occasionally stirs from her sleep to tell me that her throat hurts (they had to intibate her during the surgery since Dr. J. had to maneuver her head around some.) She's hungry, since she hasn't had anything to eat since 9:30 last night; but since she still has some nausea and vomiting, I'm starting her on the clear liquids/semi-solids rather slowly. She has had some water and about a half a cup of applesauce, and that seems to be sitting well with her for now. I've given her tylenol, and if that holds her until 3:40, I'll just give her motrin, and leave the Tylenol with Codeine alone. If regular Tylenol and Motrin work, I'm happy with that.

Thank you all for all of your love and prayers for Madison! I'll do my best to keep everyone updated on her situation.

Madison's Surgery-Before and After Part I

We promised Madison that she would have a brand new bedroom when she had her surgery...I guess a little sumpin'-sumpin' to sweeten the deal. So since her surgery is tomorrow morning, bright and early, we decided to push to finish it so that she could sleep in it the night before!

Here are the befores:

And here are the afters:

I appologize for such a dark picture, but I wanted to show you my favorite feature: the curtains. They're simply white panels with silk flowers hot glued onto them, but I LOVE THEM!

For the past year and a half, Madison and Malachi have shared a bedroom, leaving Mathias with this room as the nursery. We've decided that now's the time for Madison to once again have her own room, and to transition Mathias into his own "Big Boy" bed. In order for this change to take place, this room needed an overhaul. I have yet to hang Wall Art, and you may have noticed that the picture frames are empty, but I'm pretty happy with the outcome!

Surprise!

A couple of weeks ago, Seth informed me that I needed to clear my schedule for Friday night, February 13th. The reason being, that he was taking me somewhere, and I was not to know any more.

He worked out all of the details, including informing me what to wear and making sure the kids were taken care of (as we were going to be gone overnight).

This is where he took me:

This is the Spicer Castle Bed and Breakfast, located on beautiful (frozen) Green Lake in Spicer, MN. He booked us for a Murder Mystery Supper as well, which was a BLAST! We, along with 19 other guests, all gathered to the Main Dining room for a little role-play game of Clue! Seth and I played Richard S. and Liza S. Neak, the snoopy next door neighbors of Sir Roger Watersdown, a ficticious character who mysteriously drowned in his pool. Everyone at the table was a suspect, and it was up to all of us to find out whodunnit!

We slept in a charming little cabin, called the Martha room:

Our "Bathroom"

Cozy little fireplace

Seth and I with the other Mystery guests.

This was by far the best Valentine's Day I've ever had!

Whoops!

Well, as far as some of you know, Madison could've already had her surgery today...but we rescheduled it...AGAIN.

We weren't able to get policy numbers from our insurance until today, so we pushed the surgery back (hopefully for the last time) until February 16th.

Thank you for your prayers today, and for your continued prayers for Madison. She's one blessed little girl to have so much prayer coverage :D

I'll keep you posted (I think)!

Back in the Saddle

Today was my first day back to work for the first time in a long time. As many of you know, I've been working from home on an as-needed basis for the past 16 months. But today was the start of what will be a month and a half full-time run.

I forgot what it's like to sit in a chair for the majority of the day. I forgot what it's like not to have to answer a bazillion questions from curious children. I forgot what it's like to work with adults!

It should be interesting to see how this next month and a half goes...especially considering my children are being taken care of by a different care-giver every single day! Aside from being watched by my sisters this week, they'll not be in the same place two days in a row for the next 45 days! I must say, though, that they'll be in the care of the best care-givers around!

Surgery Reschedule...ment

Since we found out a couple of days ago that the company Seth works for is changing insurances, we're changing our surgery date. The insurance we have now (one which no one has ever heard of) didn't pre-approve us for Madison's Otoplasty. (If you're totally lost as to what I'm talking about, see here, here and here.) Up until this point, we were going to go ahead with the surgery anyway, and pray that some/most/all of it would be covered. Now that we have another option, we're going to go ahead and take it. At the very least, we'll have a head start on our 2009 deductible.

So anyway, instead of Madison going in for surgery on the 22nd, it's now changed to January 5th. I'm a little bummed we had to change the date for two reasons: 1: She's actually supposed to be in school that day, instead of starting her two week Christmas break, and 2: I'm supposed to be working the whole month of January in the office. I hate to have to take more time off than necessary since I'm sort-of "filling in". I am, however, happy it's being postponed because Seth and I promised Madison she'd have her own (newly decorated) room after the surgery. This gives me more time to complete all of the little projects I have planned for her little "Garden Paradise".

So instead of painting Mathias' current room this weekend, and moving a ton of furniture, Seth and I may be able to finish our Christmas shopping.

There's a novel idea...

Weekend in Chicago

As you know, if you've read this post, our company Christmas party this year was a 4 day trip to Chicago.

Here's a little re-cap of this past weekend:

We left the office at Noon on Thursday, and made our way via Tourbus to Chicago. We played cards, watched movies, chatted with friends and, if we were lucky, caught some shut-eye. 9 1/2 hours later, we arrived at our hotel: the Hyatt McCormick Place.

The view of the city from our room was spectacular! And it's so big, it touched the horizon!

When we arrived Thursday night, the Bears were playing in Soldier field, and we could see the game on the JumboTron

Friday morning, we left the hotel at 8am to head to Burns Harbor for our Steel Mill Tour. Arcelor Mittal is one of the mills our company buys steel from. Although they weren't running at full capacity on this particular day, and a bar of steel got jammed in the machine that stretches it into coil form, it was a very informative tour, and very interesting.

Abbey and I striking our hot model poses in our HOTT Mill Tour GetUp

Molten hot steel about to be poured from the ladle

The steel was poured into bars, and left to cool. These particular bars are still red hot.

These "StarWars" looking vehicles were used to transport the bars to a different facility to be stretched into thin coils.

After the tour, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our big night. We all met in Steve and Anne's suite to "mingle" and play a game. My team won the game, and the prize was $100 cash!

One HOTT buncha gals! (L-R: Sue, Jeannie, Mandy, Abbey, and myself)

And our husbands (plus Bob, who's wife couldn't make the trip to Chicago). L-R: Aaron (Jeannie's), Bob, Joe (Sue's), Brooks (Mandy's), Ben (Abbey's), and Seth (Mine)We ate a delicious supper at Carnivale Chicago, then bussed over to the Ford Theatre for a Wicked experience!

Aaron and Jeannie at Carnivale

Seth and I
Steve and Anne (the ones we all have to thank for such an amazing experience!)

Saturday morning, we met again in Steve and Anne's suite to break into teams for a scavenger hunt. A portfolio of clues led us all over the McCormick center campus. And, once again, my team were the winners! This time, the prize was a T-Shirt and a DVD. Oh, and $100 dollars was given to everyone who didn't win the game the night before. So we were all winners!

After the hunt, a bunch of us left for shopping on the Magnificent Mile, Michigan Ave. Abbey and Ben, Aaron and Jeannie and Seth and I ate lunch (and dessert) at The Cheesecake Factory.

Saturday Lunch at The Cheesecake Factory!

Sunday morning, we checked out of our hotel, and left for home, but not without an amazing church service at Willow Creek Community Church. I've never been to a "Mega Church" before, but I have to say, it was a good experience. We spent the first 25 minutes of the service singing Christmas Carols, and then, instead of a message by Bill Hybels, Gary Haugen, of International Justice Mission, spoke. He gave a moving message of hope-of men and women in foreign countries who, for most of their lives, have been exploited and abused, until attorneys and officials partnering with IJM are able to bring them to justice.

After the service, we hopped back on the bus for the trek home. We were worried about blizzard rumors in Minnesota and wanted to make it back in one piece. As it turned out, we pulled into the office parking lot around 8pm.

I have to say, I'm really glad to be home with my kids again, but this past weekend was a nice vacation with my husband and some friends...and I can't wait for the next one! (hint, hint) :D

QUICK Little Update...

Since Seth and I leave tomorrow for Chicago, and all I've done to prepare so far is laundry, I really have to make this brief...

We've finally set a date for Madison's surgery: December 22nd. It's the first day of their Christmas vacation, so she'll have plenty of time to heal before heading back to school in January. We still don't know if insurance will cover it, as they've said that we don't need prior authorization from them to proceed with the surgery...I'm taking that to mean nothing's guaranteed...so you can pray for that :

Madison turned 6 on November 19th! I can't believe I have a six year old! Six days later, I had my golden 25th birthday. Seth and I went out to Applebee's (one of our favorites) and when we got home, my sisters and mom were at my house to surprise me! Seth brought out a cake and everything. It was a nice surprise.

Well, that's all I have time for today. I'll post pictures and more when I get back from Chicago!

Toodles!

Madison Update

I'll do my best to update you on our "Journey to Otoplasty" :D


Yesterday afternoon we met with Madison's potential Otoplasty surgeon. (There are actually two we were looking at, but one has a lot more experience and is about 50% cheaper.) I'll call him "Dr. J." Dr. J. (And his amazingly helpful nurse, Marie) were very kind and patient with us and Madison as we had many questions and concerns.

After his evaluation of Madison's ears, he came to the conclusion that there were three things "wrong" with them. The first and second problems were that the bowl (the area right outside the opening to the ear) was not only bigger than "normal", but it was also separated from the head. The third problem was that there's no crease in the upper cartilage of the ear. The surgery would not only correct these three problems, but he would also take off a small bump that Madison has on the tip of her left ear. (As long as you're in there...) He called her condition "Lop Ear". We had many questions about insurance (I guess we have one that no one has ever heard of...not very reassuring), which Marie assured me that she would take care of right away. Once they let us know whether we'll be paying out of pocket or not (we'll have the surgery either way), we'll schedule her appointment. We'd prefer to do it over Christmas vacation since the transition back into school will be easier that way.

So I guess you can be praying that insurance sees this procedure as preventative/emotional instead of cosmetic, and also for Madison as she seemed pretty nervous about the whole thing-at first. However, this past Saturday, when I was out of town, she did tell Seth that she thought about it and would actually like to have the surgery!

Halloween 2008

Baby boys make good horseys. "Eee Hee"!
Batman says, "Hello"!

Our little Ladybug with her matching Ladybug baby.

My handsome men!
Freshman walker trying to get the hang of his new "head"...

Top-heavy costumes cause falling and tears.

My Little Habit-Breakers

My children never cease to impress me!

For a good chunk of Madison's life, she's been a nail biter. There are worse habits a child can have, but this one struck a nerve with me. You see, I too, am a recovering nail biter. And I remember feeling very self-conscious of my hands as a child. I didn't and don't want Madison to feel that way. So I shared my story with her; I told her of my embarassment of my short, non-pretty nails, and my struggle to quit biting them. Only when I realized that when they were long, they sounded really cool when I drummed my fingers, was I finally able to quit ;D.

Madison must've taken my sob story to heart, because now her nails are longer than most almost-six year old girls can grow them! Now, I don't really care if Madison's nails are long, short, backwards, upside-down or sideways. If she's happy, I'm happy. But I can't tell you how proud I am that she was able to kick a habit that some people struggle with for years, all on her own!

As for Malachi, he's had a "lithp" since he could talk! Have you met his brother and "thithter", Mathiath and Madithon?

At Mal's 4 year check up, I mentioned my concern for his speech impediment to his doctor, whose wife happens to have a degree in speech therapy. He recommended that we bring it to Malachi's attention (again) and try to encourage him to ssstressss his ssssses. That was five months ago, and today Malachi can say "Mississippi" correctly without even thinking about it!

I know I'm their mother, and I "have" to say this, but "My kids can do anything they put their minds to!"

America, The Beautiful

Malachi was playing with his Leap Pad this morning, and a book containing some patriotic songs. The songs would play without any words, but that didn't stop Malachi from singing the words he thought belonged in the songs at the top of his lungs.

For the song "America, the Beautiful", instead of singing the words,

"Oh Beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain",

he sang the words,

"America, America, there's nothing like you, too!"

Big Decision

This is a long story, but bear with me...

About a month ago, Madison's school nurse stopped me in the hallway of her school. She explained that during their annual vision/hearing screening, the attending physician noticed a "foreign object" in each of her ears. We were concerned, naturally, and asked her about it. She said that she remembered putting a small stone from the school playground into the opening of her ear, and that it "fell" the rest of the way in.

Anyway, I took her to her family doctor, who tried very hard to remove the objects herself, but ended up referring us to an Otorhinolaryngologist (ENT) in the area. On our way there, I called Seth to meet us at the other clinic, as Madison's Dr. and Nurse had a tough time keeping Madison still for the attempt at the objects.

To make this long story a little shorter, Dr. M. (The ENT) retrieved the objects, a small stone in the right ear and an even smaller yellow bead in the left, (What?!) not without a little pain, screaming and blood from Madison.

But she's okay now. Her ears have healed nicely, and she's presumably learned her lesson.

But, the point of this post is this:

While in the Procedure Room with Dr. M., he mentioned noticing that Madison's ears protruded a little. We, of course, said that it didn't bother us ;D and that Madison had never complained about them, but that we'd talked briefly here and there about having them "fixed", not realizing exactly what that entailed. He explained that Madison's ears were a little underdeveloped, the fold hadn't fully formed, which is what causes them to stick out. He said that he could do an Otoplasty, a procedure where he would cut a football shaped piece out of the cartilage of her ear and stitch it back, closer to her head, creating that fold. Dr. M. said that they generally like to do these surgeries before the patient turns 5, so that the cartilage is softer and more pliable. After the surgery, which the patient is asleep for, the patient would wear ear-muff type things for a week, and head bands to hold the ears back for another six weeks after that.

Our dilema is this: Madison is turning 6 in a couple of weeks, so we've passed our "deadline". We feel the crunch to make a decision soon. My concern on the one hand, is that even though Madison has never complained about her ears, or anyone teasing her as a result of their protrusion, she one day may develop a complex. But on the other hand, one adult I've spoken with, who had the procedure as a child, complains that her ears are still sensitive to any touch.

Seth and I have been in prayer about this many times in the past few weeks. We would appreciate any input on this situation. If anyone knows of anyone who has had an Otoplasty done, or anyone who maybe wishes they would have ;D, we'd be curious to hear their story. And of course, we'd appreciate everyone's prayers on this matter. Thanks!

Field Trip

This morning started like any other Monday morning. That is, until I realized (at 7:30) it was the day of Malachi's field trip to the Fire Station- a field trip I had agreed to chaperone!! I showered and threw on something presentable, and we were out of the house in 30 minutes...okay, 35. However, once I reached the school, a look into my glove compartment revealed NO current car insurance papers! Mal's teacher was forgiving, saying to just get them in when I could. (Which I did, right after we returned to school...I don't think I've ever driven so carefully!)

However, that's where the drama in my day ends. I actually had a really great time with Malachi and the six other students in his class! (Besides the teacher and another chaperone.)

Mrs. B. had the children do a worksheet before we left for the field trip. While the children were coloring their pictures, one little red-headed boy, assumingly the class clown, looked at me and said,

"Who's that?"

Mrs. B. explained that I was Malachi's Mommy.

"Is she a Pre-Schooler or is she just here to tell jokes?"


But the very best part of my day was as we were walking back to the van, and Malachi, who was a couple of paces ahead of me, turned around and said, "Mommy, I'm so glad you could come with us today."

Shameless Plug

Although I don't see many comments to my posts, I know my readers are out there. And for those of you who live in the West Central MN area, please take note:

Tomorrow, October 11, from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm, my friend Alison will be having a Scarf Sale at LuLu Bean's Coffee House in Willmar. She offers a wide variety of scarves at GREAT prices, as well as some bangle bracelets and handmade baskets.

For more information, check out Alison's website: http://www.alijboutique.com/

I'll see you there!

Chi-Town, Here We Come!

Last week, the company I work for sent out an e-mail requesting that we reserve 4 days in December for a possible Christmas Party. This made sense since the past couple of years, the party was scheduled too late for some of us to attend, due to prior committments. Of course, I thought that meant that the party could land on any one of those days. Much to my great surprise, today we received another e-mail saying that we would be taking a tour bus to Chicago to spend ALL FOUR days celebrating Christmas as a company! We're told there will be "mandatory events, optional events and plenty of free time".

No, you don't understand - 4 DAYS with some of our CLOSE friends, going to CHICAGO with NO CHILDREN!!!