WHAT'S THAT PUZZLE YOU'RE DOING DEAR?

We had Joe's Dad over for dinner a few weeks ago (his Mom was sick in the hospital) and after dinner Annalise came with a puzzle. So being the sweet Grandpa he is, he started helping Annalise figure it out. Then Joe came over and the two guys were both helping. Well, about three minutes after starting, Annalise lost interest (maybe because the boys were hogging all the pieces!) and left. And did the boys loose interest? No Way! This was serious puzzle time now. They got pretty stressed out when they couldn't find where a few pieces went. Now, you may be thinking, "What's the big deal about two grown men, doing a puzzle?" Well, let me tell you......IT WAS A CINDERELLA, PRINCESS, TOTALY GIRLY PUZZLE! It was so funny to see father and son bonding over a princess puzzle, not hunting or fishing, but a princess puzzle! :-) Joe later confessed that Cinderella was one of his favorites when he was a little boy. But not to worry ladies.... He's all man now........that is except for the occasional princess puzzle party! :-)

Oh, the lessons we learn from our kids!!

My Baby is Growing up!!

The other day Annalise was wearing this cute outfit that made her look so grown up. So all day I kept grabbing her and kissing her and saying things like, "Oh, Lise, you're so big, you're not my little baby anymore, what am I going to do? Will you still love me when you get big, will you sit on my lap and let me hold you?" So I really laid it on thick and I swear, she really was loving the attention. Every time she'd come over and kiss me and say that "yes, she'd be my baby forever", etc, etc etc. Well when Joe got home that night I started saying, "Joe doesn't she look so big, she's not my little baby anymore! What am I going to do?" Etc, Etc Etc. Then Annalise comes overs, looks at me really sweet, pats my cheeks with both hands and says, "Mom, I will always love you and I'll always be your baby......but can you not complain anymore?" Yeah, I just about busted up! But hey, at least she gets the concept of complaining! :-)

Bull Riding is Cancelled - I'm so Bummed!

Due to Ava's pneumonia we are cancelling tonight's date night. I was soooo hoping she'd be better by today, but she woke up again during the night needing more breathing treatments. I just don't feel good about leaving her with a sitter. We WILL do this date thought if it kills me! Probably in two weeks we'll do it. I'll post the time and date once she's better. Thanks for understanding.

I NEED TO VENT

There will be no pictures on this post. Just my frustrations. I am tried of sickness. I had the flu last weekend, and while I am feeling almost normal again, Annalise has gotten a bad cough, has a fever and "says" her tummy hurts. Ava has an ear infection, tonsillitis, and pneumonia. All this week. What is going on in our lives? We have never had so many sicknesses and injuries in month. I've spent over $400 in the month of March for co-pays/prescriptions, etc. And that's WITH insurance! I do not understand how anyone can go without insurance! That's a bankruptcy bill just waiting for you! I've had to cancel so many fun things this week and I'm starting to get upset by this. When will it end? I'll tell you when it'll end - TONIGHT - because I really want to make it for our date night! So all you germs out there - listen up! You better stay clear of the Larson's because we've had enough! That's right.....I'm watching you....and I'll be waiting with my Lysol can in hand!

Lets Plan our Bull Riding Date Night!!!!

The Date Night is ON!! Meet at Saddle Ranch at 6:30. I have a head count of 10 so far!! Yee Ha, here we come! Carpool if you can!

Okay, I admit, I'm getting a little nervous thinking about it, but I really want to do this! Wow, it's so sad that this is on my bucket list! I know several of you were interested before, so now it's time for action!

The location is Saddle Ranch Chop House in Scottsdale (see link below), it's open all day and so is the bull riding. So, I think we should do a semi-early dinner (they have a decently priced menu) - maybe 6ish so we beat the really wild crowd. Then we can watch a few strangers and learn some technique. After a delicious meal, we'll chat a bit, let the adrenaline kick it and then RIDE THE BULL!! Or we can always ride first - this might be easier on the stomach, but harder on the nerves. How does March 28th or April 4th work out for everyone? I want your feedback so we can plan this date night. Everyone if welcome - lets make this a memorable night! We do need a headcount so we can get a big table all together.

Come on - GET BRAVE, grab your tightest pair of JEANS (ha ha) and RIDE THE BULL!!!!!!
http://www.srrestaurants.com/home.html

Finally some answers about Ava

Ava has Vesicoureteral (Urinary) Reflux

I'm sure you are all sick of hearing about Ava's kidneys by now, but here's the latest for those who've been asking:

She went to the hospital for her tests yesterday. The doctor who did the ultrasound, wouldn't tell me if she has current damage to her kidneys, so I'll have to wait for her doctor to get the results. We did however, get the results of the VCUG test. And as the doctor suspected, she does have reflux in her kidneys. There's a little flap that isn't working, so instead of all the urine emptying out of her kidney, some leaks back up into it. It's a level 2 of 5; five being the worst. She'll have to see a specialist for treatment. Most likely she'll be on antibiotics for a year, and then she'll have the VCUG test again to see if her body has corrected itself. Or, depending on what the specialist says, she'll have surgery. So, at least it's not a five in severity and hopefully there is no damage done to her kidneys already. If that's the case, she should have a really good prognosis!

The VCUG was done around 1:30 yesterday afternoon, and by 9:30 she still hadn't gone pee-pee. All her doctors (yes, I called all three!) said she was probably scared and sore. She would grab herself, double over and fall to the floor and cry. So sad. We tried warm baths, advil, etc but nothing worked so her doc's said to take her immediately to the ER. Yeah, like that's where I wanted to go AGAIN! I called around and they were all slammed, I knew it would be an all nighter. So we were so blessed; Joe's a Urologic Pharm. Sales Specialist, so he knows a lot of urologists. He called one that he's pretty good friends with and he invited us down to his office (at 10pm!), opened it up and did the cath for her right there. Yeah, isn't that AWESOME! Thanks so much Chris Morris - You're my Hero! We would have been at the ER for hours, and he did the whole procedure in 10 minutes! He actually did the cath faster than the pediatric specialist at the hospital! We owe him big time and will be taking him and his wife out for dinner this weekend!

Oh, and a HUGE thank you to my Mom for coming to the hospital today and spending five hours helping me with Ava. She was so good at trying to distract and play with her while the doctor did their tests. And when she couldn't comfort Ava, she'd rub my back and comfort me! She is so giving and loving - I LOVE MY MOM! Secretly, okay maybe not so secretly now, I still want my mom when I'm sick so it was sooooo good to have here there. Thanks again Mom!

So, today I'm just hanging out by the phone, waiting for a call to see about any existing damage. I have a feeling there won't be any, so lets pray I'm right! :-)

Thanks to all my friends for being so concerned about her and me! :-) Love you guys!

To learn more about reflux, click on this link: http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/vesicoureteralreflux/

3/15 UPDATE: Ava's kidneys are NOT DAMAGED!!!! Hooray!!!

Dang Asthma!!! Dang Swingset!! Leave my little girl alone!

Annalise has had it rough this past week. First she got a cold and that makes her Asthma really get bad, really fast. We ended up in Urgent Care on Sunday and she was coughing so hard, she couldn't breath and she ended up puking on both of us. Nice! They had her do a breathing treatment and that helped immediately. For the next 3 days we've had her on the machine about 4 times a day/night. She's been in our bed every night so we can monitor her breathing. Which in essence means very little sleep for a worried parent. Then, the first day she was actually acting like herself again.......we had the swing set incident!!

So we have this yucky old swing set (as you can see) and if there's too much weight on it, it lifts up. So Lisee had her friends over and the swing set started lifting up. So being a good little friend, she tried to hold the swing set leg down. Well, you can guess what happened next. The set slammed down on her big toe, slicing right into it. I panicked! This is the first open wound I've had to deal with. After rinsing in off and wrapping it up, I called the parents, sent Ava to the neighbors, and left for urgent care. They examined it and sent us to the ER. Three hours later we were FINALLY seen. Her toe looked so disgusting, I couldn't even look at it. They put in an IV, sedated her and stitched her toe back together. She is so strong - She kicked one nurse in the face and almost pulled another ones hair while they put the IV in. It took 4 adults to get it done. It was so sad. Even being sedated, her body would tighten whenever they touched her. After she woke up she said, "I have bandaids everywhere.....Poor Me!" Dang that swing set! Joe is fixing it before any of them can get near it again.

Oh, and we found something interesting about Annalise through this ordeal. She gets gas when she's nervous! :-) Both times at urgent care and at the ER, she had so much gas. I started calling her "My Little Tootty Bootty"! It was pretty funny.

I am so glad it wasn't worse - Imagine what could have happened! So gross. Poor little girl!

Finally - Some REFINEMENT in our lives!

Okay, did anyone else have the Israeli artists come to your door last week? We were just heading out the door and this couple from Israel came to the door. They told us they were artists from Israel, here for a few weeks trying to sell some paintings and fine a gallery to display their work. We've had other foreign groups come to our neighborhood before, and I'd heard good things, so I decided to take a peak. Her stuff was beautiful, but the story behind the paintings are even better. She's traveled many places, painting different scenery. Well, she lives in Israel, so of course some of the stuff was from there. She was quickly going through the paintings, telling us the history behind them, when she came to the one she did in Israel. It's the view from her home, and it's a path that many take (on the Sabbath) to get down to the Sea of Galilee. They believe if they touch the water, they will be blessed or healed.

I immediately stopped her and knew I had to have it. This is a beautiful oil painting. It's amazing to feel the MANY layers of oil she had to used to achieve the desired effects. The large painting is the one with the path to the Sea of Galilee and it took her 12.5 months to complete! The smaller one is from a little village across from the sea. I can't remember the name. This one only took 2 months, but I thought it would compliment the other for where I will place it. It's pretty amazing how lame my prints look next to an oil, and don't get me wrong, I love my prints. It's my birthday on the 7th and our anniversary on the 9th, so Joe asked her to inscribe the back. I love what he had her write, it's beautiful. Then she wrote in Hebrew about the painting. It's pretty cool and I'm excited to have an original piece of art in my home. Hope there are more to come!

WHAT'S THAT IN YOUR HAND AVA?

Can you tell what Ava's using to clean up the spilled water? And why is she smiling so big? Maybe it's because she just realized how absorbent Maxi Pads are! Yes, she found a pad in my bathroom and I was getting dressed, so I thought - sure it's fine, just let her play with the pad. Little did I know that she would quickly figure out she could spill water and clean it up really quick with this super-absorbent pad! She kept spilling the water over and over again, like she couldn't believe it was so absorbent! Maybe we should try out for a commercial featuring feminine products and their many uses! :-)

She's been doing the funniest things lately. Her personality is really starting to bloom. She's taking after her sister, so I've got some funny and tough years ahead! The other day the TV was on and she started to imitate things the actors would say. Well, a commercial for facial cream came on, and the actress dramatically rubbed her face as is to say "oh, this is soooo dry". Well, Ava immediately grabbed her face and got this really distressed look on her face and said "OOHHHH"! Seriously she acted like she was in a lot of pain. It was pretty dang funny. Maybe you had to be there. Anyway, it's so fun to see her personality develop. I am going to hate taking her to the hospital on Monday. She has not clue whats in store for her. She's my baby, yeah know?