Friday, August 26, 2011

Tahlia's Surgery and Shannon's first performance

August 17th was a very big day. Tahlia had her first surgery (getting tubes in her ears) and my little sister Shannon had her very first dance performance with Trinity Irish Dance group. First up are pictures from Tahlia's surgery. These were all taken before she went in. It was an early, long morning I tell ya!
 But she went in like a champ and she came out doing very well!
She was so upset by the bracelet, my poor hunny.

The anesthesiologist gave her the mask to play with and get use to. It actually smelled very good, like strawberries! We were pretending it was a flower. She loves smelling flowers!

Sharing the "flower" with her doctor bear. The nurse gave her that bear and she didnt like the fact that the bear was wearing clothes, so she took them off. lol

Tahlia in her surgery gown... *tear*

Big hugs before surgery. It was tough to let her go.

She looks happy... she was delusional with Tylonal, thats why. HA!

Okay, there is "pathetic-toddler-before-surgery" look. Oh yeah, and the "jail-bar" look to the crib serves as added effect. Classic...
As the day went on, Tahlia progressively got better. Dan also made it home after 10days at AT in Ft McCoy. It is so nice to have him back home! So all 3 of us headed out to my little sister's FIRST dance performance. That was the first time I actually sat through an Irish dance performance and it was great! The whole show was an hour and Shannon with her group was close to last.




This is my sister's group coming up to dance


Bright blonde wig in the middle is her :)


She was so proud!

One of the final performances' of the night.



Monday, August 22, 2011

A slightly hormonal blog about my ultrasound

We got there at 9:30am- the time of the appointment. It took 40min. for the ultrasound tech to see us. That really erks me because our toddler is a very busy girl and to wait for 40min PAST our appointment time was very upsetting.. and tiring. In following her into the room I was waiting to hear and apology, it didnt come. In arriving in the the room I was hoping for an apology, it never came. She never mentioned it. Not once. For me, a simple "sorry" goes a long way. I would have let my annoyance with her go had she apologized. But nothing.

As she proceeded with the measurements, she asked me about the blood I experienced earlier on... no big deal. But kept on referring to the blood thing during the ultrasound. Saying things like, "everything is looking good", "I dont see any blood", "your one of the fortunate". I then informed her that my doctor didnt seem worried about the blood-thing anymore and he even told me that it is far from a concern of his anymore. This ultrasound was just to make sure everything looked healthy as far as the baby is concerned as well as the placenta, etc. She looked so lost and said, "Thats not what it says on my order." and informed me that they dont do anatomy exams this early in the pregnancy but she will try the best she can.

Now I am lost. My first ultrasound with Tahlia was when I was 12wks. He was VERY thorough, looked at the heart beat, listened to the heart beat, listened to the blood flow in the cord, recorded the blood flow in the cord. He also measured every bone in her body. He was able to tell me with certainty that the baby was looking to be very healthy one. When I asked about measuring the blood flow in the cord for my baby she said they only do that now for "'Retar...' they have a new word for it now,  'developmentally delayed' babies. It is then that we look at the blood flow in the 3rd trimester". - I couldnt believe my ears....

Then out of the blue she said, "would you like pictures?". I said, "oh, your done already?" She basically said yes in a round-about way but discovered more measurements to take. Then she said she would be back because the printer isnt working. I thought, "okay, maybe she will be able to get a better angle of the baby when she comes back?" NOPE. She handed me a wash cloth, told me to wipe my stomach and hopefully we will have pictures. It was hard for me to remember an actual, visual picture of the baby that she took during the course of the appointment. She didnt even title any of the pictures with a cute, "Hi mom and dad". So I protested and asked if she would just take another look when she comes back, perhaps the baby would change positions. She told me that she might have another patient waiting and she felt we had enough pictures to choose from. By then, I was done... just done.

We ended up getting pictures... not your usual picture. We left not really knowing if our baby was healthy with any certainty. We left not really knowing the sex of the baby. When she got to the baby's bottom, she asked me what I think it is and I said, "Boy". She then said, "I would lean toward that too"... so who knows if she was just feeding me things I "wanted" to hear. We basically left feeling like the time we spent there was an utter waste of time. The only thing that wasnt a waste was being able to see the baby again. It was nice to see "him" wiggle and "his" hands being held by "his" face.

In a month, I pray to have a completely different experience somewhere else. Until then, I will let my OB know about the experience (though I am sure he will be able to tell by the awful pictures). I will also complain to the hospital.


Im sorry, but "Long"? In the picture I am suppose to show my family?!? I added "Head" and "butt" so you can try and figure out the picture.

Almost 15wks pregnant.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

A busy start to August

Date night and new family additions (8.4.11)
We purchased our Uromastyx. (Achilles and Aurora)

Aurora enjoying her new home

Our first time mini golfing together!




It was a perfect night! I love giving him surprises <3

"FORE!"

What a beautiful sky on our date night :)


Tahlia giving Achilles a kiss :)

The complete lizard set up.

At the Wisconsin State Fair 08.06.11

Dancing with the Mascots

Watching the kids dancing on stage

Dancing in the mist

Oh, the joy of the Bell misters


Petting a cow for the first time

This is the first cow Tahlia pet!


More WI State Fair 08.12.11


"What big ears you have"

"Hello" Mr. Rabbit

Tahlia had a fit when we left this cow. She adored this one!

Tahlia, sitting in the big tractor tire

This was such a great idea, the kids sure loved it! Except Leah, who freaked out when her feet touched the corn ;)

What a cutie-pa-tutie!

Tahlia watching the bear show

The bear show

The state fair crowd.

My Birthday at the Zoo 08.13.11

It was great to take my daughter to the Milwaukee County Zoo on my birthday!

Rowing the boat with auntie Shannon


Kisses for Leah

Leah looking utterly confused afterward... priceless :)

My mom with Tahlia, Katrice with her daughter Leah

Shannon and Tahlia by the fish

Tahlia's first pony ride!! What a great way to pass time while its raining.

Taking a break from the rain.

It was a little chilly, so I gave Tahlia my shirt. Makes for a good dress! lol

The new lion cubs (3) with their mom

Tahlia loved the lion so much, I got the classic Mold-a-Rama. Her very second one!

Add caption

Hop, hop

Leah had such a great time at the zoo!


She was the happiest while naked! Gotta love the nakey babies! :)


Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Tomorrow will be full of ups and downs

Our sweet daughter will be going through her very first surgery tomorrow, early in the morning. I am taking her to get tubes in her ears. This sucks... a lot. I have been putting it off, trying almost everything to avoid it but nothing has worked. As a mom, its hard to think your little one will be put to sleep  in a surgery gown aside her blankies and blankie bear. As a swim teacher, this is the last thing I would want my daughter to go through because part of me aspires for her to have a love for water as her father and I do. I have dwelt with TOO many kids who are over protective of their ears because of the friggin tubes... makes me obviously frustrated.

To remain positive I tell myself many things like... "This is so routine, she will be in and out and she is a strong kid and this will probably be more positive then negative in the outcome", "perhaps her speech will dramatically improve". But most of all, "You have to be strong for her".

I wish Dan will be there with me. That would make this slightly more easy. But my mom will be there so that will help.

That brings me to the good point. Dan will be coming home later in the afternoon! It will be so great to have him home again!!! There is nothing like that "first" hug after spending some time away from each other.


I am now 26!

August 13th was my birthday! Unfortunately, my husband couldnt be here to celebrate with me because he is still in training but he was here in my heart :) I will post pictures of the busy day when I get a chance. But I headed out to the zoo with Tahlia, my mom and sister, my friend and her daughter Leah. Though it rained through the morning and into the lunch hour, the sky eventually cleared up and left us with a cool 70 degree day. We stayed until the kids got cranky (around 4). Tahlia enjoyed her first pony ride and loved the lion! 
After the zoo, we went to dinner at Cooper's Hawk and it was very good!

New this week, Tahlia is now calling me "mom" instead of "mama"... when did she decide she was getting older???? lol

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

The Buzz (and a classic Tahlia story)

So, 'tis the season for good 'ol AT (annual training). I dropped Dan off at the armoury early Saturday morning and he will be across the state until NEXT Wednesday. Even though this is the longest time he has been gone since the deployment, Im not going to complain because it could have been a whole 2 weeks (like it should be) so I will take a week and a half.


Its been quite a while since I have talked about the pregnancy so I think it is fair to let you all know that everything is going well. The picture from the last ultrasound was a bit blurry so I didnt post it but my doctor was able to determine that the blood is relatively gone and no longer something to be concerned about. So I havent had an ultrasound since. I am a good 12 weeks along and really excited to be getting out of the dreaded 1st trimester.... all I am is tired and hungry... and all I want to eat is fast food lol. By the time we have the next ultrasound, it will be August 22nd and I will be 15 weeks. I am optimistic about the tech being able to determine a sex... especially if my instincts are right and I am having a boy. And of course I will post the ultrasound picture with all the details as soon as I am able to. But if the baby is a boy... dont expect us to announce a name right away because at this point we are at a road block and cannot find a name to agree on. If the baby is a girl, the name should be announced relativity quickly ;)

So yesterday, Tahlia managed one of THOSE stories that I will never forget... and I will always remind her of. Her and I were at a friend's house and we decided to hang outside for a little bit. After a while of playing, Tahlia wandered about 10ft away from me and picked up... something. She declared proudly, "ROCK!" I knew whatever she had in her hand was NOT a rock (I thought it was dried mud stuck together). When I got closer to see what is was... I couldnt believe what I saw. Horror quickly rushed over me when my thoughts processed and I realized what was in her hand.... A DEAD BIRD!!!!!!!!! A full-sized, dried up sparrow in my precious daughters hand! Now let me just pause for a second and remind all of you (especially if you dont know me totally well) I am terrified of birds- it is my phobia! So in short, I freaked. I grabbed her wrist, extended her little arm as far away from her body as it could go. As I hide my head behind her back, and closed my eyes as much as I could, I violently shook her hand in an attempt to make her release it... all the while yelling sentences along the lines of, "Oh my God! Oh my God! She has a dead bird!! Oh my God, there is a dead bird in her hand!!! Let GO!!! Oh my God! She wont let go! Oh my God! Oh my God!! Oh my God!!!!" It seemed like forever but I know it wasnt, my friend's dad came out of their house (cause Im sure he thought there was something terribly wrong), took Tahlia as I reluctantly let her go and tried to take the bird out of her hand. He said something like, "she has a good grip on this thing". And I think I said, "please just get it out of her hand!" Finally, he got it out of her hand. She was in shock by the whole incident and started to cry because I know I freaked her out with how freaked out I was. As I rushed her inside to wash and sanitize her hands, I hugged her, apologized and assured her she was okay. For the rest of that day I couldnt help but laugh at the situation as I played it back in my mind... even through today. I thanked my friend's dad for doing that because I know there was no way I was going to physically take that bird out of her hand... I felt so defenseless on what to do, I was so lost and I assure you, grabbing that bird out of her hand never even crossed my mind. Now I just wish my friend took a video of the whole situation... because that would have been an AFHV! I have never felt so out of control and freaked out in my life... completely an out-of-body experience. Hopefully she learned a valuable lesson, "Never pick up a dead bird... or a dead-anything... but especially a dead bird again!" lol

Love,
Jessa