God's Beauty

On the way home tonight, after a horrible rainstorm, the kids and I saw this rainbow.  The picture does not do it justice, as it was very bright in the sky and  at one point, we could see the whole arch and every Roy G Biv color.

It was a great moment in the car with the kids discussing everything from what causes a rainbow to is there a really a pot of gold?  Moments like those are ones you treasure always when they are presented.   Just like pulling your car over to take a picture of the perfect rainbow.

Surgery for Birdie

After lots of recent ear infections and her recent emergency room trip, Dr. D. sent Birdie to see our favorite ENT, also a Dr. D.  He examined her, reviewed her file, on constant ear infections and sinus trouble, observed the fluid in her ears, tested her hearing (she failed her test with mild hearing loss) and then advised us to have her tonsils & adenoids removed and tubes put in her ears.  After we said yes, they were able to schedule her surgery pretty quickly.

Birdie was a real trooper getting her blood drawn in pre-op the day before.  She didn't cry or cringe at all.  I had bought her a new Pinkie Pie pony for her surgery, which she carried everywhere.  

Having done this twice already, with the same Dr and surgery center, Brian and I were prepared for the big day.  We arrived a little late so there wasn't a lot of waiting around time before she was taken back.  Everyone at this surgery center is wonderful.  Birdie didn't have any anxiety.  As it turns out, we even had the same anesthesiologist and post-surgery nurse as the last time with Daniel.  And, we discovered that our nurse is a neighbor of ours from just up the street.   We drive past her house daily and never knew.

Birdie came out of the anesthesia well with minimal crying and upset.  I sat in the bed and held her for about an hour till she woke up enough to eat her popsicle, which Daddy fed to her.  Thankfully, she did so well, we were able to go home by lunchtime.  

Her recovery has been very speedy with some good days and bad days, but overall she has done really well.  Having learned many lessons from Ashley and Daniel's similar surgeries, Brian and I have been diligent about her pain meds and keeping her from being too active too soon.

We should see overwhelming health benefits soon from the surgery, just as we did with Ashley and Daniel's back then.  Neither one of them got sick after their surgeries for a very long time.  Even with Ashley's difficult recovery, it was very worth it.  And we are confident it will be for little Birdie also.

Cougar Fans

Who's House?? Coog's House!!!

We watched the huge Cougar Victory today over #5 OSU. There were lots of screaming, jumping up and down and high-fives all afternoon. It was great to share my love of Cougar Football with my kids this afternoon. And for us to experience such an amazing game together was the icing on the cake.

"Eat 'em Up, Eat 'em Up, Eat 'em Up... Go Coogs Go!!"

First Day of Preschool

Laurie started Preschool last week! In stark contrast to last year, there was no crying or stress. She was ready and excited to go to school. As an extra plus, 6 of the 12 kids in her class were in her class last year, and she already knew her teacher.

We learned at "Forms Day" before school started, that Laurie is an Aqua Friend. All the classes have color names and I was a little concerned that my young 3 yr old got the "strange" color, but it didn't take her long to learn it. In fact, she wore her pretty Aqua dress to "Meet the Teacher" day.

Several new things for her this year include "signing in" every day when she arrives to class. This is a picture of her new teacher showing her how to put her aqua sticker on the attendance poster. Birdie also discovered that the first activity of the day is cutting with scissors. Wow, that was a huge hit! Laurie loves all the painting, coloring, playing outside, dress up and so many more neat things she gets to do while at preschool. During her first week, she even got to be the Line Leader. This is a big honor in the class.

Due to her August birthday, our little girl started in the 3's class with kids that are already turning 4 this month and are much bigger. Don't worry about her though, she's used to asserting herself against bigger kids - her older brother and sister! She thinks she is finally in with the "big kids".

One of the things Laurie LOVES about the new school year is that we are carpooling to school with her cousin, Alex. He is in a different class at the preschool, but they see each other on the playground and in the car. The two of them are so very cute together. I know Leah and I say that all the time, but it really is true. They are just the best friends, even when they're arguing about something trivial, which happens so often. This is a picture of them waiting in the car to get out in the carpool line one morning the first week of school.

Now that Daniel is in Elementary school and no longer on our drive to the preschool, Laurie and I have continued Daniel's counting of the school buses. On the 2nd day of school, Laurie, Alex and I counted 74 buses, almost beating Daniel's all time high of 84.