Welcome to my blog!

Thank you for taking the time to stop by and visit! We hope to share with you our journey of raising a child with Achondroplasia, the most common type of dwarfism. If this is your first time here, please start by reading Caitlyn's Story. It will share the beginning of her life with you. Enjoy!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

My Littlest Book Worm

Hanna loves looking at books.  She’ll disappear into her room and I will usually find her looking through her books. 
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Somebody else liked books at 1 1/2 years old – still likes them to this day.
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Happy Turkey Day

We headed over to my parents for Thanksgiving this year.  It is so nice having them close by – so we could head over after Hanna’s nap and head home before bedtime. 
Here’s Nana playing “ashies” with the girls.  Hanna would walk around the house saying “ashies, ashies” until someone played with her.  
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Helping with the after dinner clean-up
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Caty with her new jammies, before the 6+ inches got whacked off!
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With Nana and Papa
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Family picture – have to decide if this one will end up on the Christmas card or one from Maui…
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With Grandpa – Scott’s dad drove down from Reno to join us
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We have much to be thankful for – great health and loved one – both family and friends.  Thank you for being a part of our lives. 

Monday, November 29, 2010

Simple Woman’s Daybook – November 29th 2010

For today – November 29th 2010
Outside my window...  the frost has finally cleared from the ground – man was it cold outside this morning when we brought Caty to school
I am thinking...  about planning an LPA get together with the Southern CA friends while we’re down in San Diego for Christmas. 
I am thankful for...  the fact that school started back up today – Caty turned into a real pain in the you know what over break – talking back, not listening, yelling at us, refusing to go to bed at night – coming out of her room 5/6 times before falling asleep….the list goes on. 
I am wearing... jeans, a long sleeve shirt and a fleece sweatshirt that I got in Seattle back in 2001 when Scott and I drive through there on a road trip. 
I am creating... at least thinking about creating gifts from the girls to the grandparents for Christmas
I am going...  to finish up here and do some Wii Fit Running
I am reading... nothing yet, have many many books to choose from, not sure which one I’ll pick up – I’ll let you know next week.
I am hoping... that Caty had fun at school today and now that we’re back into our regular routine her attitude improves. 
I am hearing... Hanna playing with the dominoes – into the tin, out of the tin, and repeat, over and over and over again. 
Around the house... the dishwasher is going and a load of laundry is going in next; into the washing machine that is. 
One of my favorite things... is coffee on a COLD morning
A few plans for the rest of the week…  school and more school – YAY!!  Not much else during the week.  Saturday we have our LPA Chapter Holiday Party – one of our biggest events during the year with usually 75+ attendees.  Sunday Jerrod Niemann is playing at Stoney’s Rockin Rodeo and I’m hoping to go.  Going to try and win tickets on the WOLF
A video that I am sharing...

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Out They Came!

November 9th Caitlyn had her tonsils and adenoids taken out and it’s already made a world of difference.  She went from snoring like a freight train to sleeping peacefully. 
Getting ready
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Almost time
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She was wheeled off and we headed to the waiting room.  Scott and I took turns walking the hallways with Hanna.  About an hour later, Dr Rubinstein came out and told us that the surgery was over and she was just starting to wake up.  If you’ve been around kids coming out of anesthesia, it’s not fun.  Caty was very disoriented for awhile and her throat hurt (kinda obvious  seeing as she’s just had 2 things removed, although they had to put a breathing tube in, so add that soreness in).  Although not 5 minutes after waking up, she was asking for popsicles.
Here she is with popsicle #1 of I think about 8 she had while were there. 
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We had talked to Dr Rubinstein about the possibility of going home that same day.  He agreed to have her admitted with being monitored and if by 4:00 she was eating, drinking and doing fine, she could go home.  We originally thought that we’d be spending the night, so our plans we’d figured out for the day kinda when down the drain.  After the surgery I was going to take Hanna home so she could have lunch and take a nap.  Well, she fell asleep during the time that Caty was still in recovery.  Luckily Hanna slept for almost an hour in the stroller.  We decided to skip plan A and just hang out.  Hanna had fun playing around Caty’s room and of course taking lots of walks up and down the children’s wing. 
Caty wanted to go and check out the kids room so the girls and I ventured over there while Scott went to get us some lunch.  This was maybe 2 hours after her surgery.  Such a trooper!
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Hanging out watching some tv
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Finally around 3:30ish, I took Hanna home.  Caty was discharged about an hour later.  YAY!! 
Her recovery went great.  She obviously was in lots of pain and we were very thankful for the Tylenol with Codeine.  We chose this particular week to have the surgery because the school was out of Thursday and Friday for Veterans Day.  I had requested Independent Study for the following week if it was needed, but she was well enough to return to school on Tuesday, just one week post-op! 
We’ve already noticed an improvement in her sleeping.  She hardly makes any noises anymore.  We won’t mind sharing a room with her anymore. 
Here she is just 2 days after surgery running around the backyard.  :-)
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Thanks to those of you that sent get-well cards and gifts!  She loved them and they have kept her busy! 

So Very Thankful

Something fun to share before the real Thanksgiving Day post. 

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Halloween

Ok, so it’s a month late, but hey, it’s been a busy month to say the least.  Caty decided that she wanted to be a ballerina and pulled the whole costume out of her dress up box.  SCORE!!  And Hanna got to be a Pumpkin Fairy – a passed down costume from Caty – SCORE again!  Total cost of costumes= $0!!
Here are my two little pumpkins posing with their Potato Head Pumpkins.
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Ready for Trick-or-Treating
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Ready to go!
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Off to the neighbors first.  Don’t mind the blurry of the pictures, the girls were too fast for the camera. 
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Caty loved this house and it’s decorations.   031 035
Hanna liked Mickey as well as the snail that you can see crawling near by belt.  She like it so much that she picked the snail right off of him. 
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Me and my girls
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Scoping out Caty’s candy
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Hanna found the tootsie roll pops and wouldn’t let them go
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One happy girls with all her loot!
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Oh No! Oh Man!!!

Hanna's newest phrases are so funny to hear! Enjoy!

Ps - I'm posting this from the blogger app on my phone so hopefully it works.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Fall Carnival

Caty’s school threw a Fall Carnival on Saturday October 30th.  Scott brought her over as Hanna was napping.  She and I joined them for about 20 minutes at the end.  Caty had a ton of fun and won so many prizes – ok so they got prizes just for participating in each of the booths.

She put together her costume this year, straight from her dress up box.  She said she wanted to wear her puffy skirt and be a ballerina – how easy was that! 

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Doing some putty

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STRIKE!!!

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Bean Bag toss

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Send daddy with the camera and these are the only pics that I got.  They were having too much fun to get more pictures. 

Finally, She has Clear Eyes

Back on October 29th, Hanna had surgery to unclog her tear ducts.  And I have to say, it was a complete success!!! 
We had to arrive at 7:15 and thankfully Hanna played in the waiting room for the almost hour and half before they called us back. 
Here she is playing while we’re waiting
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Scott took the day off of work, dropped Caty off at school, then met us at the hospital.  He showed up about 5 minutes after we were brought back.  They gave Hanna the “silly juice” and within minutes she started getting loopy then just went to sucking her thumb.
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Off they went.  The procedure only took about 30 minutes and we were called back.  She wasn’t happy waking up from the anesthesia, but who is. 
We were in the car and on the way home by 11:00.   We weren’t sure what to expect – was it instantaneous?  Sure enough, Saturday morning, Hanna woke up with clear eyes.  The first time in 16 months. 
I’m so happy that I don’t have to fight with her every morning with a warm washcloth trying to free her eyes of goop!  

Wednesday, November 17, 2010