Anna's Turn

 During the summer, Anna joined the swim team at the YMCA. She's been having so much fun and getting quite strong.

 She recently-ish competed in her first swim meet. At first she was begging to not have to compete. She was so nervous. But she did great. She came in second in her heat for breaststroke and third in another. We're just so proud of our little fish.

 Even if it does mean that I spend a whole lot of time shuttling her back and forth to and from practices.

I think mostly we are hoping it gives her the confidence to try new things. She isn't exactly our most adventurous child. Love this girl.

The Sick

 This has been one of the worst Winters for sickness. And not just for us. Almost everyone I know has kids who've been perpetually sick.  If it wasn't puking, it was mysterious rashes, pneumonia, Hand, Foot and Mouth, colds, coughs, fevers, Bronchitis, Strep, etc etc etc.

Fortunately for us, we haven't had it as bad as all that. Libby did get HFM right after Christmas but that was more of a relief since she is my last kid to get it. Done and done.

But in the last month our kids one at a time have fallen victim to a puking bug.  And finally, we're passing the flu (pretty sure that's what this is) around. Right now it's poor Anna. We're on day 3 of a fever and just for extra fun, today she lost her voice.  Poor thing.

 She's been pretty miserable. But you need to understand that Anna is my only cuddly child. So, all she wants is to be held. Obviously, I can't do that, but I've tried to acquiesce as much as possible. Also, it's 80 degrees here and holding a child who is running a 103.3 temperature makes things a little... uh... sweaty.

But sickness aside, isn't she beautiful? Don't you just want to kiss those luscious lips? Okay, maybe after she's done being sick.

Safety First.

Nevermind the lack of knee, elbow, or wrist pads. Nevermind the lack of helmet. Nevermind the fact that she's rollerblading in the middle of the street in front of our house.

Please note that my child, who up to this point hated reading to the point of weeping and wailing at the mere mention of it, cannot seem to put her book down long enough to rollerblade! Hallelujah!

Results.

Again, thank you to everyone for your advice and concern regarding Anna and her food issues.
Two Tuesdays ago we had an Endoscopy done.
Last Tuesday we got the results of the 7 biopsies that they performed.

Everything normal. The test did confirm she IS lactose intolerant.
I don't know about you, but I am overwhelmingly relieved. In the interim we have noticed a definite difference in Anna's appearance for the better. And the fact that she's in no pain whatsoever calms my momma nerves.

So glad to have my happy healthy Anna back.

Thank You

Thank you to everyone who commented on my Longish Story about Anna.

We're still waiting on some results, but we DID run the full gamut of blood and stool studies. They did test for both Gluten Intolerance and Celiac.  We also did a hydrogen breath test for lactose intolerance.

Here's what we now know.
1. 90-100% of Asian Americans are lactose intolerant.
2. Anna IS lactose intolerant.
3. All other tests came back negative and non-reactive.

We're still working through some other things and we'll keep you updated as we hear anything else.

Thanks!

A long Story... Short. ish.

You remember my Anna?

Well, a couple of months ago, around the time school started, she began complaining about stomach aches.
Now, I think I need to tell you that Anna can be a bit dramatic. And so, I assumed that she was mostly just tugging on my sympathy chains. Which wasn't working. I largely ignored her complaints. I did mention them to the pediatrician when we saw her in November. The pediatrician agreed that she was probably just being a girl. So when she complained I told her to go use the bathroom, or lie down...

Right before Christmas her stomach aches began increasing in intensity and frequency. We also noticed that her belly began to look big... as in bloated. After a brief conversation with my husband we decided to have her avoid dairy and we'd see where that led us. (You can see her big belly in the picture below).

So, we did have her avoid dairy... sorta. When it was too difficult to worry about, we told her just to eat it anyway. Terrible parents, I know, but we didn't see any improvement when she wasn't eating dairy anyway.
When we got home from our trip over the holidays, we made an appointment for Anna. But since it was a consult appointment instead of a sick visit, they didn't have any available spots for almost two weeks. We finally got in to see the pediatrician who took one look at her big belly and referred us to a pediatric gastroenterologist, and encouraged us to LAY OFF THE DAIRY.

So, we did. We removed all the major sources of dairy (cheese, milk, yogurt, butter, etc) and again we didn't really notice a difference. Last Monday (the 17th), we went to IKEA as a family. We always eat there, and especially because they were running a deal where whatever you spent on food would be deducted from your furniture purchase (score!). Matt went through the line and ordered four identical kids meals and food for the grown ups. We ate and went on our merry way. About two hours later, Anna started complaining that her belly was REALLY hurting her. I took a look and it was the biggest I had ever seen her belly bloat to.  Bad.

I racked my brain but couldn't come up with what she might have eaten to cause that!  She'd had a bagel with peanut butter and oranges for breakfast.  She'd had meatballs and fries for lunch.  There could have been traces of milk in the meatballs, but I didn't think they could have caused this much of a problem for her.

On the way home, I called a friend. I was talking about Anna's problem and suddenly it came to me: HOLY FREAKING CRAP.  Matt had purchased four identical kid's meals. With a CHOCOLATE MILK.  Which Anna didn't even blink about.  Suddenly, I ran my brain through the last week... she hadn't once complained about a stomach ache.

We saw the gastroenterologist last Thursday and Anna's scheduled for a Lactose Intolerance test this Thursday, as well as blood testing for other food intolerances/allergies.

Here's to some answers. If you have a moment, and could say a quick prayer in her behalf and in the behalf of the doctors that we'll be able to figure out what's ailing her quickly, that would be great. Thank you!

Ahem... Where were we?

Oh yes. Blogging.

So, school started awhile ago for us. We've entered our third week and as a bonus, this year Miles is attending a five day a week half day preschool. So, between the hours of 12p and 3p (read: naptime for Lucas AND Libby), my house is silent.  Well, except for the sweet clicking of my knitting needles. Yes. I am liking this.

My husband is kind enough to do the early morning walk to the bus stop. I couldn't love him more for it. I am not to be seen in public before 9am. Trust me.

So, here they go. Off to First and Third Grade. 

They really love riding the bus. I love that they ride the bus. It's a win-win.

 And for the record, I already hate third grade. But I promise that you don't want to get me started. I could really complain all day long. It is making me take a long, hard look at my reasons for not homeschooling... we shall see.

 My girls each picked out skinny jeans to wear to school that first day. I've had to enforce the "please put your dirty clothes in the laundry hamper and not back in your drawer to be worn for 5 days in a row" rule.

 Heh. Skinny Jeans that sag on my children's tiny heinies. Bwahahaha.

 

Ah yes. Welcome back to freedom school.
And this is the part where I confess that Miles's first day picture got taken with my camera phone... stay tuned. 

Knitting Giveaway!

CLOSED! Thanks everyone who entered!

(Sorry! I know many of you saw this earlier this week... Oops!)

Anna also feels the need to complain that I never knit for her.
She requested some hand warmers, you know in case her fingers got frozen in this Arctic Wasteland that is Florida. Don't ask, I have no idea.

 These were SO easy that I'm offering to make another pair!

If you'd like to win a sweet little pair of handwarmers (either adult or child), leave a comment below. I'll pull a name next Monday!

Wordless Wednesday: It's Not Even Close to Halloween

Clones

Recently, I sent my husband this picture message.

He replied with a common, "Libby is just so darned cute!" And he's right. She is.
One small problem however. This is not Libby.
This is Libby:

The top picture is actually this girl:

And in all honesty, if we got another child exactly like Anna, it wouldn't be a bad thing.

Toofless.

At the moment, Anna has 3 loose teeth.

She did have 4. But last week, one was just too wiggly for me to stand any longer, and I pulled it out.

She carefully placed that tooth under her pillow after the repeated promptings of both her mother and father. And yet, somehow, the tooth fairy missed her that night. *EyeRoll*
Instead of just leaving the tooth under her pillow, Anna decided to play with it. That afternoon, she called to me from the bathroom.
"Mom? I was washing my hands, with my tooth in my hand, and I dropped it down the drain. Can you come get it?"

Thinking Errors 101
- Leave your tooth under your pillow.
- If you need to wash your hands while holding your tooth, put the tooth DOWN, then wash your hands.
- Under no circumstances, am I going to fetch your old tooth out of the drain.

I told her to go ahead and write the Tooth Fairy a letter and explain the situation. She brought me this:

Shall I interpret?
"Dear Tooth Fairy, When I was washing my hands I accidentally dropped my tooth down the drain. Please can I still get money?"

Best letter to the Tooth Fairy, ever. She placed it under her pillow and sure enough, the Tooth Fairy left her some "muny."

Good thing too, you wouldn't want to make this girl cry.

A Pleasant Surprise

If you're a mom, you know that when the kids get too quiet it can mean only one thing: TROUBLE. This is when you usually find that your children have escaped from the backyard carrying all the grapefruit from our tree that they can manage and are selling it door to door. TRUE STORY.

However, on this particular day I was met with a very pleasant surprise.

Phew!

So Wrong!

There's a reason that Florida is considered The Sunshine State. It's warm here. Or, that's the theory anyway.

For the last week or so, we've been NOT enjoying freezing temperatures overnight. This does not bode well for me or my electric bill. It's also less than pleasant for my poor children who don't have proper winter clothing and have to walk to catch the bus every morning.

Anna is wearing: A long sleeve shirt under a short sleeve shirt. The pink fuzzily lined sweatshirt. Gloves. A wool hat I crocheted her for Christmas 2008. Jeans. Sock & Sneakers. I'm fairly certain there are underwear under there, but I can't promise anything.

Matt, who dutifully walks them to the bus stop EVERY SINGLE DAY (THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!) told me that Anna walked to the bus stop while crying, "My face is SOOOO COLD! It hurts!"

Yeah, I'm not the only one who doesn't enjoy this weather. Bring on Spring already!

Hindsight being 20/20 and all...

Usually, when we talk about hindsight being 20/20, it is in regards to regret... something we wish we'd done differently. Instead, today I am here to tell you about the something I'm so grateful for.

Abbie was invited over to a friend's house to play. They also invited Anna over, but I figured Abbie needed some special time, so I let her go alone. Therein lies my mistake and my 20/20 moment or rather, HOURS.


With Miles and Lucas asleep, Anna had no one to occupy her time. Just me. Usually the boys' naptime is my downtime, my quiet time. Not today. Anna did not stop talking. AT ALL. For 4 hours. I found myself walking into the bathroom and closing the door, even though I didn't need to use the bathroom. I kept telling her to "go find something to do. Play quietly, read a book. WHATEVER!" I was losing my mind.


I would like to state for the record, that I am SO grateful that my girls are so close in age and so close as friends. I would never have made it through their childhood without someone else to distract them from me. Love them I do. I just can't manage to listen to three straight hours about a Superhero Baby movie...

The Haircut Story.

Most of you probably know where this is going...

We've had a beast of a time getting Anna to grow any hair. She was FINALLY!!! getting some lovely curls and a bit of length and I was able to put it in tiny pigtails.

It was adorable. Like this:Well, how can you possibly know what possesses some children to grab hold of scissors and go at each other?!? Needless to say I caught Abbie clipping away at Anna's hair. She had clipped off every one of Anna's tiny curls and taken a couple of big chunks off the top. In a very not so rational and rather angry moment, I grabbed the scissors, grabbed a big chunk of hair in the back of Abbie's head and lopped it off. Now, let me add that Abbie had already cut some of her own hair, so it was already going to need to be fixed, but yeah... I was pissed. I cried.

So, yesterday, we took both of the girls in to Nancy, my stylist. I explained the situation, leaving out the part about me and my irrational behavior, and begged her for help. For poor Anna, there really isn't much we could do, except just even it up. So, she's back to looking rather boyish. (Tears!!!)and the back... the really sad part.

And frankly, I wanted Abbie's haircut to be painful. Draw emotional blood. Leave a mark. I know! I'm mean! She did cry off and on all day when I mentioned that it'd have to be cut and probably SHORT (courtesy of the mom-hackjob). I even made Abbie pay for the haircuts out of what was left of her birthday money. She has to work off the rest of the money in chores. Hard ones.

But, in the end, Abbie's haircut came out looking SO STINKING CUTE. And I'm kindof annoyed. I really wanted it to look bad as punishment. Is that so wrong?!She wasn't real pleased with me taking these pictures. Can you tell? It's a chin-length bob that's sharply stacked in the back. Basically the hairstyle I'm aiming for (almost there!). The best part is that Abbie's got great hair for this cut. I don't have to do a thing and it just falls into place. Love that.

A couple of things that bring me great joy.

This will be filed away in the "She's a total religious crazy, but still a good photographer" file.

Today, I drove to the temple with Anna and Miles in tow. Despite getting lost and having to call my RS President for help (she's got one of those fancy GPS systems in her car... we're also friends, Hi Debbie!), we made it. But guess what. It's Monday. The distribution center (which is why I was REALLY going there) was closed, as was the temple. So, with Miles dead asleep in my arms, Anna and I walked around the temple grounds for a couple minutes.

We sat down on a curb. I asked Anna what she wanted to do. Her simple reply, "Sing 'I Am A Child of God'." So we did. And I couldn't help but feel a couple of tears fall. Just yesterday I had explained to a friend that despite being very active in the church, I was feeling spiritually inactive. Like I just couldn't care less one way or the other. But today, sitting on that curb, I felt my Heavenly Father wrap His arms around me and my daughter for a brief moment. The simple request of a child, who I'm sure was feeling the love of her Heavenly Father too.

Now, to bring it back to Earth. Shortly thereafter, Anna told me she needed to use the potty. The Temple was closed. The Distribution Center was closed... and lest we be smitten for peeing on the grass (Anna's request) on Temple Grounds, we high-tailed it out of there.

And because it wouldn't be a photoblog without photos (and sorry, I didn't take my camera to the Temple.)

Miles, who I never get good pictures of:
And hey mom, doesn't he look like Adam here?:

Last from this series.

Finally figured out my camera/histogram issues. And I can now post the rest of these.
Ok, just one more.

I'm going to make every effort to pick up my camera tomorrow, but if not, there should definitely be new pictures some time this weekend. I have a slew of client shoots coming up...

If you're a client, keep your eyes peeled here (after your session, of course) for a sneak peek.

Not the birthday girl.

Yeah, I know. But these are from yesterday. I've been swamped with Valentine's Day and Birthday... not exactly my most relaxing holiday. But it's mostly over.

I do have pictures from cupcake eating, and I'll post them tomorrow, but for today... you get Anna, being so darn cute. Poor you.

Now I realize why.

Pictures of Anna are the easiest for me to take for a number of reasons.

1. She doesn't go to preschool all day.
2. She always wants to cuddle.
3. She's so patient with me.
4. Miles takes naps.

I'm gonna be so hurting for subjects if we decide to put her in Preschool this fall! Miles is not nearly so cooperative!
And again... Color? or Black and White?

For some reason, I feel like Anna's silky soft skin just looks amazing in BW.

Ok, last one.

01252007_3, originally uploaded by Scraplifter.

I'm really gonna try to feature some of my other kids. But she's just been so darn cooperative for me lately. Loving that! Here in the bathtub....

Taken with my sb600 bounced off the ceiling. So so pleased.