Monday, December 21, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Praise God!
Posted by The Merry Band of Fife at 9:25 AM 1 comments
Labels: family
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Christmas Outfits
Posted by The Merry Band of Fife at 9:50 AM 2 comments
Labels: holiday
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Nutcracker
Posted by The Merry Band of Fife at 8:47 AM 0 comments
Monday, December 14, 2009
Violin Time
Posted by The Merry Band of Fife at 10:07 AM 0 comments
Labels: violin
Sunday, December 13, 2009
December Drama
This is a post I would have been more than happy not to have to make. But, in the interest of telling it like it is, here goes:
On Wednesday night I had to teach a makeup lesson and James wasn't home from work yet, so Allegra, Cecily, Colin, and Ian hung out in the office for 30 minutes. When I was done and came into the office Cecily was really upset and inconsolable, which is not like her at all. It took quite a while for me to calm her down and even after she was calm she still would erupt in screaming every few minutes. Then she started coughing and gagging, which resulted in vomitting - it scared me, but at the same time, sometimes kids do that when they get super upset. It was Awana Grand Prix night and Hero had a car to race, so we bundled Cecily into her carseat and headed down to pick Hero up from ballet and then scooted over to Meridian for Awana. Cecily screamed bloody murder in her carseat, so much so that she gagged and vomitted some more. She even refused to take her bottle. Once we got to Awana and I was holding her she calmed down again and even took a nap in my arms. We got home late from Awana, about 9, and we bathed Ceci and she acted like her normal self for most of the time, but then started screaming again. She wouldn't take her nighttime bottle. I thought that maybe she was just sick (she's had a little runny nose and congestion for most of the month) and put her crib mattress on an incline and turned the humidifier on. But she just wasn't acting like herself, and I told James that in all of my baby-raising experience I've never seen one acting like this, which concerned me greatly. So he called the pediatrician's after-hours number and spoke to a nurse who suggested that we take her to the Urgent Care facility that was open til 10 out in Eagle. I was afraid for her to be in the carseat by herself with the choking and all the children were already in bed, so we told Hero that she was in charge and took off with Cecily at 9:45. She fell asleep in the car and slept the whole way there, very peacefully and I was starting to feel foolish for panicking. As the doctor began the assessment everything looked completely normal and Cecily was happy and smiling. And then I lied her on the table and the doctor shone her light in her mouth and used the tongue depressor and there was something silver in the back of Cecily's throat! I about passed out when I saw it. The doctor immediately said that she wouldn't pull it out there and sent us to St. Luke's ER, calling them ahead of time to let them know we were coming. That car ride was SO scary! We got there and were immediately brought back and Cecily's breathing was monitored (which was steady and fine) and the ER doctor ordered x-rays. She had partially swallowed the metallic spring from a wooden clothespin (which, we learned later, Colin had broken while I was teaching). The x-rays were pretty scary-looking. The ER doctor felt that it would be prudent to remove the item in the OR, so the ENT doctor was called in. About an hour and a half after we got to the emergency room Cecily was taken downstairs for surgery. They put her under general anesthesia and did a laryngoscopy (I think that's the right spelling). The surgery took less than five minutes, but it was a nervous wait for James and I in the deserted OR floor. The ENT doctor said that it came out without a hitch, only drawing a tiny bit of blood and leaving no swelling. What a relief! After the surgery Cecily went up to the PICU for monitoring. When they finally let us up to see her she was in a nurse's arms and completely back to her old self, smiling and happy. She showed absolutely zero effects from the traumatic events of the night. I can't say the same for her parents. It was horrible. But the outcome turned out as well as could be expected. We were able to take her home just an hour after surgery and we made it back to our house by 1am, which isn't bad, all things considered (we'd called Lynn over to spend the night with the older kids since we thought we'd be there all night). I feel so fortunate that we followed our gut instincts and try not to spend too much time dwelling on the "what-ifs". Thankfully the Man Upstairs was watching out for our little angel that night. Here's some pictures of her pricey ER visit souvenirs - the item in the bag is what was in her throat.
Posted by The Merry Band of Fife at 7:33 PM 3 comments
Labels: Cecily
Saturday, December 12, 2009
For Cecily
Posted by The Merry Band of Fife at 7:09 AM 2 comments
Friday, December 11, 2009
Even the Dog's in the Mood
Posted by The Merry Band of Fife at 7:22 AM 1 comments
Labels: Rory
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Tree #2
Posted by The Merry Band of Fife at 6:55 AM 1 comments
Labels: holiday
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
The Weather Outside
Posted by The Merry Band of Fife at 7:47 AM 2 comments
Labels: weather
Monday, December 7, 2009
More Firsts
It seems like every month I have to make a "firsts" post, but I suppose that's par for the course with an infant. Cecily had her 6 month check up (a little bit late) on Friday - she's doing great (weighed in at 16lbs4oz, which is perfectly average). Then on Saturday came a day I've been waiting a very long time for - I got to put a little ponytail with a barette into Cecily's hair. I felt bad putting it in because I had to pull pretty hard to get it to stay, but Cec was so cute all day. We've got a long way to go til pigtails though. She also got her first taste of finger foods (rice crackers) and juice in a sippy cup. She's growing so fast. Love you, Cecaroni (as your littlest big brother calls you)!
Posted by The Merry Band of Fife at 9:19 AM 2 comments
Labels: Cecily
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Holiday Preparations
Posted by The Merry Band of Fife at 4:09 PM 1 comments
Labels: holiday
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thanksgiving
Posted by The Merry Band of Fife at 1:55 PM 1 comments
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Half the Year - Gone!
Cecily 6 Months Ago
Cecily Today
Posted by The Merry Band of Fife at 10:06 AM 1 comments
Labels: Cecily
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Colin's Personal Plaything
Posted by The Merry Band of Fife at 9:57 AM 3 comments
Friday, November 13, 2009
Score One for Good Taste!
I'm so lucky - my future sister-in-law has good taste. These are the bridesmaid dresses she picked out, although they will be in black with a lime green sash around the middle. I think they are so pretty. Now it's time to get super-motivated with the Wii Fit LOL. I'm so excited to be in the wedding - I know that, for a lot of people, wedding party invitations are a dime a dozen and women get tired of shelling out money for dresses and everything. But not me - I've only been in two wedding parties in my entire life (my uncle's and James's sister's) so the idea is still fun and fresh. I remember being very sad as a girl because I was never a flower girl and then as I got older I was upset because I didn't have any sisters so I'd never get to be a maid of honor. Well, I'm mostly over the bitterness now, I promise LOL, but this wedding will be lots of fun. Even though it's Ryan getting married. My little brother. That's absolutely insane. We've already started planning our summer vacation. Due to the economics of buying SIX plane tickets, we are planning on driving. After our last drive to Wisconsin in 2006 we swore that we'd never do it ever again. But I guess the painful memories kind of fade the farther out you get from it, just like childbirth. We are tentatively planning to take advantage of the drive to stop at Mt Rushmore. Besides the wedding, of course, we are hoping to take the kids to Wisconsin Dells and Noah's Ark. They are SO excited. It's been too long since we've been back home. And on a side note about my own good taste LOL, look what I got from Mom and Dad for an early Christmas gift. My old coats were pretty worn out, and last year I had maternity coats, so it was time for a new one. This one was a smoking deal from Old Navy and I feel so pretty in it. Of course it hasn't been cold enough to wear it yet much, but we're supposed to be seeing some snow tonight and this weekend.
Posted by The Merry Band of Fife at 8:51 AM 1 comments
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The Stereotypical Mom
Posted by The Merry Band of Fife at 10:01 AM 0 comments
Labels: Cecily
Friday, November 6, 2009
Family Tradition
If I'm being honest, I'll admit that I haven't done this every year (or even most years), but in the spirit of being frugal and green I decided to turn all seven of our jack-o-lanterns into pumpkin puree. I'd never actually heard of anyone roasting their own pumpkins prior to meeting James' mother, but it's actually kind of fun, if you can overlook the huge mess that takes over your kitchen since it takes hours from start to finish. I now am the proud posessor of about 8 gallons of pumpkin puree. :-) Here's the process:
1. Cut your pumpkins into rough rectangles, discarding the bottom, top, and carved portions. Remove the top layer of inside flesh and wrap in aluminum foil.
2. Roast in oven until pumpkin is very soft and an orange hue (as opposed to yellow) - this takes between 60 to 90 minutes. Then remove from oven, allow to cool until you can handle it, take off aluminum foil and cut off pumpkin skin.
3. Puree on high for several minutes in food processor or blender until pumpkin is the consistency of a beginner baby food. Freeze extra.
4. Enjoy delicious homemade goodies like this Pumpkin-Cranberry-Walnut bread. :-)
Posted by The Merry Band of Fife at 9:11 AM 2 comments
Labels: Food
Monday, November 2, 2009
Halloween - A Little Late
Posted by The Merry Band of Fife at 9:14 AM 1 comments