ENT Appointment

So Erica’s ENT appointment yesterday was pretty uneventful.  Everything was normal.  She was amazing.  They had to use a numbing spray which reportedly tastes terrible.  Once she was numb they threaded the scope up her nose and down her throat.  A nurse and I held her head still and I had my arm over her hands but we didn’t even hardly need to.  The only time she squirmed was when they advanced the scope, she never tried to stop them or anything.

Car ride Conversation

So we spent a little time in the car today.  We went for a drive out to Lowell to Joshua’s spot to get some fall pictures for the “to everything there is a season” page for his scrapbook.  Then after Brandon got done with praise band practice, we went over to Oakcrest Manor so he could see his Opa and Oma’s new place and we could check how Opa was doing after the big move yesterday.  On the way home Sam was asking if there was somewhere in the US that had no man made features (they’re working on what makes a community in their social studies curriculum) so we told her yes and the conversation continued.  After a little bit Erica asked if she was born in the US, again the answer was yes.  After a bit she said “there’s one kid in my class that was actually born in the desert”.  Brandon and I were a little tired this afternoon so he says “was he raised by cactus’?” Erica said no.  So I asked if he had a prickly personality, again no.  Someone then asked a funny question about was his name _____?(I don’t remember right now) so she says “no its Cody” then Lauren asks, “is he a she?”.  Too funny.

A bit past peak but here are some pictures from our little color tour:

Truth Be Told

So I was playing with Lauren this morning while getting her dressed.  She’s rather partial to PJ’s so sometimes it takes some cajoling to get her into regular clothes and I wanted her to be ready when my mom comes to pick the girls up for the day (yea! free day for mommy).  So I get all done and I wrap her up in a big hug and say ” I love you Laurensita” and she says ” I love daddy best”.  Well at least she’s honest I guess.

On a side note, we had to give Erica an albuterol treatment this morning because her breathing sounded tight.  Please pray that she will come out of it without having to up her steroids again and that she will be okay for her scope proceedure tuesday.

The Secret’s out!

So my little brother and sister-in-law finally told my grandparents that they are going to have a baby (I know it was all Darrell Linds)!  Finally we don’t have to worry about saying something on accident (ask Brandon about that), you see we’ve known for over a month already.  They are due for their first baby in April some time and we’ve already gotten to see pictures of the little munchkin.  So for all those who had their hopes up, no we are not currently expecting.

My children have been at it once again.  Samantha got home from school today and was talking about Becca (her cousin) not being on the bus.  She then got onto the topic of riding the bus home on halloween. She said ” riding the bus home on Halloween is the scarriest day to ride home, because you never know when you might look this way and Aagh! there’s a skeleton or Aagh, there’s a ghost or whoa, there’s a big Jackal.

The missing coat Mystery

We were on our way to go do errands with the children this morning and of course Sam couldn’t find her coat.  Now,she was sure “Erica probably swiped it and put it in her backpack”, apparently Erica has done things like this once or twice however I explained that unless she saw Erica do it she could not say that because it could turn out to be bearing false witness.  So I found her a different jacket and we were on our way.  As we are driving down the road I turn to say something to Sam and notice she’s wearing the coat she was looking for so I asked her where she found it.  It was in the van by the door (didn’t I ask her if she looked in the van?  I’m sure I did.)  So I took the oportunity to point out that she should be more careful about her accusations when Erica pipes up from the back “Well I was a suspect.  All people are suspects until proven guilty”.  Too much scooby do and A-Z mystery books I think.  

Then a little farther down the road I go to change the radio station and Lauren (who was in a fabulous mood) says “hey I was lisnen to dat gaerl”.  She has an opinion about everything especially when she’s tired.

Nana are you out there?

Hi Nana, Hope you get your internet today.  Look forward to hearing from you one way or another.

Uncle Darro,this one’s for you=)

Yesterday Brandon, Lauren and I were having a picnic in the living room (the table was covered with my baking project).  Lauren was wearing her “Uncle Darrell Shirt”.  Uncle Darrell (my younger brother) played baseball for Calvin College when Sam was little.  Each year as a fund raiser they would sell T-shirts to their adoring fans (translate family).  So of course we bought one for Sam which has been passed down through the girls.  So Lauren was making conversation at lunch and she says, “this my unco Darro shuurt, it have a super Darro on it!”(see photos).  So Georgo, somehow you’ve managed to charm another one (it was not that long ago Lauren would barely look at him).

Anatomy 101

So I forgot a funny story about Erica’s Video swallow test the other day.  As a kid if we were choking my mom would ask us if it “went down our sunday throat”.  So naturally as a child I thought I had a special “throat” just for Sunday.  So of course I have used this line with the girls.

Just before her test Brandon told her we were going to check if stuff was going down her Sunday throat.  She said it wasn’t but it had gone down her April and June throats once.

Erica’s Video Swallow test results

Things went very well at Erica’s test today.  They said that everything looked good and she is not aspirating while eating or drinking.  Erica was once again a very courageous little girl.  She was supposed to come hungry so we didn’t give her anything after a small snack at breakfast.  At different times through the day she would say “I’m hungry mom, but not for barium.”  But she cooperated fully (I bribed her with some of my now famous cookies and BK chxn nuggets and fries) and got through the test very well.  Thanks for all the prayers.  Only one specialist left, she will see the ear, nose and throat Dr. on the 30^thof this month.  I think after that they will have run out of specialists   One interesting tid bit, she has a “c” shaped epiglottis, apparently this is normal -just an interesting factoid.

On a roll

We had another fantastic time at the supper table tonight.  The children were definitely on a roll.

Erica’s comment about how full she was from her hot lunch last week, “My tummy was as full as a camel at an oasis 70 thousand years.”

Brandon was telling us about Jason’s plan for a mission trip to the mountains of Haiti.  We were talking about where they would stay etc.  Samantha said, “well they could always boil some crickets” to which I responded “gross”, then she said,”what? anything with 6 legs or under you can eat” (source: fetch with ruff rufman)

We were talking about Sam’s spelling test and discussing whether she should be marked down for reversing a letter and she comes out with ” I bet Alexandra gets confused a lot because everyone around her uses their right hand” (Alex is apparently left handed)

As the girls kept coming up with all of these things I started writing them down so I wouldn’t forget.  Erica says”please write him down” when she took a big bite of her brownie and Brandon told her “that’s an awful big morsel”

The conversation continued:

Brandon “we don’t need you aspirating anything”

Samantha “especially not cake, cause then her breath will smell like cake”

And the last one for the night, they were talking about how a coyote was eyeing my niece’s cat this weekend and discussing that coyotes are carnivores and Erica pipes up with ” but not us, we’re omnivores”

End note: we should have preliminary results from her video swallow test tomorrow at the end of the proceedure.