Adenoidectomy

When Madelyn was about 2 1/2 years old and really starting to talk and communicate my mom mentioned how naisely she sounded some times. It sounded like she was talking out of her nose. I agreed but didn't know what to do about it and honestly I thought she'd grow out of it as she got a little bigger. What I thought might take a few weeks to outgrow turned into months and now a few years later, it still hasn't been outgrown. Along with the speech Madelyn is also quite the snorer. She can keep the house awake with how loud she can get at night. Madelyn also seems to suffer from a chronic runny/stuffy nose. She can almost never breathe out of her nose but breathes with her mouth open. It is extremly difficult for her to chew her food with her mouth closed. While sitting/standing next to her you can hear her breathe constantly. I can hear her breathing at night when she's asleep while I'm in a different part of the house. My mom has accused these problems to her adenoids almost from the beginning

My mom and I weren't the only's who noticed the naisely speech. She had primary teachers, her kindergarten teacher, a speech therapist and even her 1st grade teacher this year all mention her naisely speaking.

I have mentioned all of the above symptoms to two previous pediatricians and was told it was an allergy issue and just to give her allergy meds. I would do this, it would improve but then come back within a few days after having stopped the meds. The pediatrician's answer to this was to keep giving her allergy medication since it worked. It seemed she was quite a bit worse during our allergy season so I would. I would stop though after allergy season cause I didn't believe in keeping her drugged year round.

A few weeks ago I finally got around to establishing my kids with a new doctor. During Madelyn's appt., thanks to my mom's urging, I mentioned this to him and he thought that with all her symptoms it would be worth taking her to a ENT.

Visiting with Dr. Chase, the ENT, was quite informative. After discussing all of Madelyn's symptom's including the way this girl can sleep for 10-12 hours and still wake up crabby as if she didn't get enough sleep, a decision was made. Madelyn was scheduled for an Adenoidectomy. That surgery took place today.

Madelyn and I arrived at the hospital and waited in the waiting room for about 15 minutes before we were brought back to the pre-op room. We read the hospitals books and colored while we waited.
After Madelyn was weighed, measured, temp taken and a few other things we were left to wait our turn.

She was given a special gown to change into. She wasn't too thrilled with how short it was and the fact there was only 2 buttons in the back.

Unfortunately Dr. Chase got a wee bit behind. Instead of her surgery taking place at 11:30 it was about 1:00 before she was taken away. During our extra time together we read Junie B. Jones and Amelia Bedilia books, colored more and tried to watch some tv. Madelyn couldn't eat or drink anything after midnight last night. To say she was thirsty/hungry before surgery was an understatement.

We got a little teary eyed with how long things were taking and the fact we couldn't find anything decent on tv to watch.

After watching a cooking show and a few episodes of reality game shows it was finally our turn. My big girl was wheeled away from me.

I went to the waiting room anxiously waiting for the Dr. to come out. Just 30 minutes later Dr. Chase came and sat by me. His first comment was , "WOW, she had some HUGE adenoids." According to him they were so large they were actually growing into her nasal cavity. It's no wonder the girl couldn't breathe out of her nose, she snored and she talked naisely!

I then continued to wait until Madelyn came out of the anesthesia.

When Madelyn was brought into her post op room I was there waiting for her. The nurse gave her the 1st popsicle of many.

After her popsicle and her feeling more awake we got to get ready to go home. Her IV was taken out and she was able to change back into her own pajamas.

Getting dressed took a lot out of her. She didn't feel very well and got a little cold so we stayed a while longer until she felt like she was ready to leave.

When she was ready she got a ride to the car in a wheel chair.

She wasn't to impressed but her brother's comment was, "that's so cool".

The poor thing felt sick the entire way home. Lucky for the both of us we made it home without her throwing up in the van. For a few hours she stayed on the couch eating pudding and watching a movie.

Tonight, now hours later she's acting as if nothing happened. She's up and around acting like normal. The nurse told me that for several hours she may act normal but then she'd probably "crash" as all the meds leave her system. I'm hoping this "crashing" will take place tonight while she is asleep. My mom mentioned tonight as she was standing near Madelyn that she couldn't hear her breathe. Already we can see a difference. I'm so glad we had this surgery done for her. Now knowing it was indeed her adenoids I feel bad I didn't push it harder with previous pediatricians. Why it took so long to get her the help she needed. I hope she sleeps good tonight and her recovery will be quick for her. She shouldn't be in too much pain and the only real issue that other patients have had with this procedure is stinky breath for a few weeks while their body heals. Stinky breathe we can deal with. Especially knowing the not sleeping good, runny nose, snoring and having a hard time breathing days are over.

You were a brave little girl today Madeyln. I'm proud of you.

Valentines Day!

It was a tradition when I was growing up that as kids we'd wake up to a decorated table on Valentines Day. There was always a valentines table cloth, a little treat for us and the table was sprinkled with conversations hearts and other little candies. I have continued this tradition with my children. I start them off with sugar first thing in the morning and then drop them off at school. I'm sure the teachers really appreciate this from all the parents.

A few weeks ago I was visiting our local Target and came across these mail boxes in their dollar section. I needed something new this year to keep all the kids goodies in and so decided to go with these. I love em'. They will last for many years to come.

Each mail box was filled with a few pieces of candy along with a fun Valentines Day straw.
Last year I came across a package of heart shaped straws and bought them at 90%off. I HATE straws. We can go weeks without any spills at the table but if I let the kids use a straw it's a guarantee there will be a spill. I HATE straws and I hate the mess that inevitably happens because of them. Needless to say the kids were quite excited this morning when they saw there new straws. They could hardly believe that Mom was going to allow them to use them all day long. Lucky Kids.

Breakfast didn't turn out quite as planned this year. Somehow we used all the eggs over the weekend without knowing it. When I went to make breakfast I couldn't. And so we had cold cereal with heart shaped cinnamon toast instead.

Emily wanted a picture of her drinking out of her new straw.

For dinner tonight the girls helped make heart shaped breadsticks.

Along with a heartshaped pizza

and pink lemonade.

(Brayden's been on an antibiotic for 15 days now and still isnt' feeling well.

Just look at those poor eyes.)

Yum.. Yum..

For dessert after Family Home Evening (a lesson on love of course) we each had our very own warm, right out of the oven, heart shaped brownie with a scoop of ice cream on top.

Mmmm mmmm mmmmm!

I bought these foil heart shapes years ago wanting to use them in one my kids class rooms at school. I thought they were cute with perfect perportions for little ones. The package only came with 24 hearts and in previous years my kids classes always had more then 24 kids. It just wouldn't be fair not to have one for each child. I was hoping to use them this year in Hunter's class. However, no homemade treats are allowed in Utah schools. Figures! So I used them tonight and suprised my kiddo's. I love em' and they loved em'. I'm definetly going to look for some more this week and save them for next year.

Madelyn wanted to shine her heart out to everyone. Wishing them a Happy Valentines Day!

Is it Summer?

Starting Thursday afternoon of this past week Hunter has been asking me to take him to the school just for fun, he wanted to play on the playground equipment. Despite the farely nice day we were having I told him we couldn't go after dinner because it would be too cold. Saturday after lunch we finally made it to the school.

Hunter and Madelyn had a blast showing off to mom and the younger kids.
Last time we went to play at the school Emily was to scared to walk the bar by herself. She was quite proud of her bravery this time to do it by herself with no help.

Brayden was excited to get out of the house.

We all had fun running, jumping, yelling, stretching, laughing and just getting the wiggles out. It has been way to long since we've had such a nice warm sun shiney day.

There is a reason this little town is called Hurricane. It is always windy. These past few weeks has been nothing but terribly windy and cold. We have all stayed inside as much as possible. Saturday was a great day at breaking everyones cabin fever. It was not HOT as Madelyn claims it was but very nice and warm. It was a sun shiney day with NO wind. I'm tired of the sickenss going around, the cold, the ear aches and all the runny/stuffy noses. I hope the cold is gone and more sun shiney days are ahead. I am so ready for spring. Bring on the warmer weather.

Valentine Boxes.

Earlier this week I pulled up Family Fun on the internet to help get our creative juices flowing. Years past, the kiddo's have made their Valentine Box at school. This year we needed to make them at home and then take them to school.

Hunter chose to do "Crazy Card Bag".

I think it was the name that grabbed his attention.

I cut out the heart and then he drew the face.

He then cut out hands and feet.

Didn't like the 1st set of hands so he did it again using his own hand as a template.

Pretty smart, kiddo!

Meet...

"Crazy Card Bag"

by Hunter

Madelyn fell in love with the "Love Boat" also found at Family Fun. We cut, cut and cut.

She taped, and taped and taped.

It was finally time to apply the stickers.

and

"The Love Boat"

was finally completed by Madelyn.

Valentines Beginnings

Valentines Day is one week from today. Hunter's class at school is making homemade valentines and writing friendship letters to give to each other. When Madelyn heard about the homemade valentines she wanted to make some too for her class mates. Tonight for family home evening we made the girls valentines. I decided to make enough for Emily's class too. She was so excited to help make them. This will be her 1st Valentines Party in Pre School. I bought a bag of pencils last year after Valentines Day at 90% off. My stipulation to the girls tonight was that we weren't going to buy anything. We had to use what we could find around the house.
Madelyn didn't feel like butterfly's were very appropriate for the boys nor alien's for the girls.
So... we made both.

Thanks Family Fun for the great ideas.

Later this week we will be making there Valentine Boxes that all 3 kids need to have for their school party. In previous years the kids have always made identical valentine bags with their class mates as a project in school. Hunter and Madelyn are so excited to create their own unique one this year.

JC Penny's

This past week my mom mentioned that JC Penny's was going to be having a sale. Being she has one of their cards she gets to go a day early but get the same deal. If her transaction was over $50 she would get $10 off. Wanting to get the $10 off all of us girls went together, Mom, Me, Madelyn, Christina, Hanna and Sheri met us there too. Suprisingly they had awsome deals for my girls. I bought a total of 17 shirts between both girls. Some were short sleeve for this coming summer but most were long sleeve for next winter. Along with there shirts I bought myself a new pair of matching pajama's. This is a picture of all of Madelyn's new shirts with my pajama's. I had already put Emily's in the storage bin for next year. The majority of the shirts ended up costing me $2.09. My pajama's were the most expensive at $5.35 but that was both the pants and shirt.

The checker was an awfully nice guy and let us use mom's card several times to get the $10 off.

My total came to $53.11 barely getting me that $10 off leaving my balance at $43.11

I saved a total of $213.73!

I love these kind of sales.

Primary Changes

I realized recently that I forgot to post a picture at the beginning of the year of our Primary changes.

Hunter is now in Senior Primary.

CTR 8 and proud of it!Madelyn is in CTR 7.
Emily is in CTR 5

Brayden fell asleep on the couch during picture time. He is in Nursery and is LOVING it. As we get close to the nursery door his pace quickens.

At the door he goes in all by himself.

We have no tears or screams for mom.

It's great!

Wedding cake cont.

This morning after I put the wedding cake together I felt for just a moment relief, a weight that was taken from my shoulders. After a few minutes of relief the anxiety came back. Yes, the cake was done and looked pretty good but now how am I going to transport it? It seems like most put the cake together at the reception but being this was my 1st I wanted to make sure everything looked good, I had enough flowers, ribbon and jewels, etc. After putting it together this morning I didn't want to take it apart and leave marks that I may not be able to fix when putting it together for the final time.
So I lined a box with aluminum foil, put the cake in it and had my mom go with me.
I drove while she held onto the cake. I'm pleased to say it was a succes. Despite my worrying of an accident occuring or the cake tipping over while in route or me dropping it or the jewels and flowers falling off.
NOTHING like that happened. It ended up being a very uneventful trip.
Thank goodness.



The cake looked perfect under Tai Pan's lighting.
I hope the bride is pleased. I am!

McKaylee's Wedding Cake

Today's the big day.

My wedding cake day!

It's been a lot of work these past 2 days.

But in the end I'm pleased. I'm a perfectionist and this cake is not perfect.

Although is any cake perfect?

I know what I did wrong with this cake and I know what I would do differently next time.

This was a great learning experience for me.

I'm greatful for the opportunity I've had to make this wedding cake.

Kierra's B.day cake

A little princess, Kierra, turned 2 today.A princess needs a tierra and a wand!
Whats a brithday party without cupcakes.

I hope the little Princess enjoys her cake.

Happy Birthday Grandpa

This month is such a special one, It's birthday time for you....Happy Birthday to you!

The Bosch Center in St. George is looking for someone to come in and demonstrate the different ways of decorating cakes. The store came to ME asking to see my cake portfolio.

Uhhhhh.... I don't have a porfolio.

I love watching shows like Ace of Cakes or The Cake Boss.

The problem I have afterwards is I then start to compare my cakes to theirs.

This is like comparing apple to oranges.

I LOVE their cakes but I am no where near there level and probaly never will be.

I will never own my own bakery with employee's working on different parts of the cake and then compiling them together.

Another thing I've notice while watching these shows is where they work.

You notice those huge tables they have? How about all that fondant they have to work with. I've also notice the expensive tools they have to use. But the #1 thing I've noticed is the lack of kids. You ever notice that?

I haven't seen a single epidsode with a child in the kitchen. Or how about an episode with a child trying to put a dish away, he jumps on the counter to be able to reach the cupboard just as the Cake Boss turns around to see this said child kneeling in the middle of the cake because they're NOT paying attention. Nope! Don't think I've seen something like that.

Have you seen an episode where a wee little one climbs upon the table and grabs a fistful of frosting off the cake? Or how about an episode where again a wee little one pushes a chair to the counter to pick up some figurines that someone has spent HOURS on making with fondant. Becuase these figurines are now dried when the wee little one drops them on the counter they break into a few pieces? Nope! Don't think I've seen an episode like that either.

Don't get me wrong. I do love my kids! I just wish I had a place to make the few cakes I make without all the distractions sometimes.

I want this job with the Bosch Center.

I want to be the one doing their demonstrations.

I have been given many opportunities this month is putting together a portfolio.

I have my 1st paying birthday cake this week. It's for a little girl turning 2.

This saturday I have a baby shower cake due.

The last saturday of this month I have my 1st wedding cake also.

The wedding cake is the one that has me on pins and needles all ready!

Besides these 3 jobs I've aquired this month, January if FULL of birthdays for our family.

I am going to use this month to build my portfolio.

The above picts are of the cake I made for my dad's birthday this past weekend.

It was way fun and I think the best cake I've done so far.