My family

I love these two people. They are my whole world and make me so happy. Don't you just want to smile when you look at this picture? I do, every time.

Katheirne got her Tubes

Katherine got her tubes put in this morning.

For those who aren't familiar, this is a picture of a baby's tubes vrs an adults. The baby's are almost horizontal so fluids don't drain in to their throat nearly as well as ours do. Instead the fluid pools in their ear just waiting to be exposed to a bug and then "poof" you have an ear infection.

They recommend getting tubes if your baby/child has had more than 5-6 ear infections in a 12 month period as there is a risk of hearing loss. Katherine was way above that figure, so in the tubes went.

We had to be at the doctor's office at 6am, which meant getting the baby up and out of the house by 5:30am. She did amazingly well considering it was hella early and she couldn't have her milk. We were done and on our way home by 7:30am.

She was such a star and did amazing. They wouldn't let us be with her when they put her under, citing a sterile environment, but I think the truth is it's very hard for parents to watch their child be put under as they are usually scared and tend to cry and struggle, so it's easier for the staff if us parents are not in attendance.

They used a gas mask to knock her out, it took about 5 minutes to do both ears, and then she started waking up a few minutes after they took the mask off. Once she was awake and they made sure she was okay they let us see her.

They said she only cried a little when she woke up. She was super snugly and a little wobbly, but otherwise perfect. She wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything before surgery but we'd brought a sippy cup of milk and she devoured it before we'd even left the office.

Below is an example of the tubes. They say she can get water in her ears but to use earplugs if she's going to be in lake water or super soapy water. We may just end up using ear plugs in the public pool too, we'll have to see how well that goes over with her.

All is all it was a positive experience. The only reason it wasn't a totally positive experience was because of the doctor, who we have aptly nicknamed "The Horse's Ass." He's very arrogant, very rude, and talks down to you. The tricky part is I don't know if it's on purpose or if he's one of those doctors who are very good at medical things and not so good with people. I think it's a bit of both.

Either way we had a bit of a spat this morning...he asked if we had any questions before the surgery, we asked a few and then were told he had given us a hand out with all that information and said usually reading it is a good idea. I told him he shouldn't ask if we had any questions if he was going to make us feel stupid for asking them. He said he was joking, but I don't think so. Needless to say I was all fired up and mad just before they took my baby away for surgery. Not the best feeling.

I think doctors sometimes forget they are providing a service - we can pick a different doctor- and they need to be kind and patient with the parents as much as with the patient. I think they forget that although what they do is very routine for them, no big deal, it's rather scary and traumatizing for the parents. There's no reason, or excuse, to make a worried parents feel stupid for being concerned about their child.

Anyways, I'll get off my high horse and just be thankful the surgery went well, she did and is doing great, and we don't have to see old H.A. (Horse's Ass) for 5 weeks. After that we have to see him every 6 months as long as she has the tubes - I may find myself too busy on those occasions to attend - we'll see.

Rollin' Around

We got out the exercise ball and had some fun the other day. It has sand it is, so it's a bit hard for Katherine to roll it yet. Give her a few more weeks and it won't be an issue I'm sure.

It's Hot!

Katherine has learned how to blow on her food when it's hot. It's hilarious.

She picked it up by watching us, she just started doing it the other day and it's so cute I had to share.

Easter Weekend in Flagstaff

We spent Easter Weekend up in Flagstaff with the Whickers. We had a great time and even got to enjoy some snow!

Sandy's birthday was the 1st, so she had some left over balloons that Papa and Katherine loved playing with. My camera battery died while I was taking this video or I would have filmed longer - they were so cute together.

We had Katherine practicing her Easter Egg Hunting skills most of the day on Saturday, so by Sunday she was an old pro. She had a great time with the eggs, which we filled with Cheerios and Yogurt snacks.

She had a few baskets to choose from as Sandy had gotten her an Easter Basket too.

It snowed Friday night and into Saturday but the snow was completely melted and gone by Saturday afternoon. It was perfect, we woke up to a white morning, got the baby decked out in water proof clothing, let her experience snow for the first time, and then it all went away to leave a beautiful day on Sunday.

Ye-Haa!

We went to the Cave Creek Rodeo yesterday.

It was a blast. It lasted 2 hours, perfect time frame, and was a lot of fun. Katherine really enjoyed all the animals, and so did we. It was a small rodeo, of course, but they had all the basics - bull riding, bare back bronco riding, barrel racing, team roping, etc. The only thing they didn't have was mutton riding. Nathan really wanted to see the kids ride the sheep bare back, but they had done it the day before. Oh well, maybe next year.

As we were leaving there was quite the commotion under the bleachers. A boy had fallen through while sitting at the top. He was being well cared for and crying so I think that was a good sign. He was probably around 6 or 7 if I had to guess. We were very aware of Katherine the whole time, of course, as she doesn't know better and could easily fall through but that kid was at the age where his parents probably weren't that worried about him falling and he did. Scary.

Here is a cute pic of her being a cowgirl.

The germs have taken over

We're all sick. Not that unusual, except we're all sick with something different. Katherine has double ear infections, I have a head cold, and Nathan was puking all last night. He's not sure if it was food poisoning or what but he's going to the doc to get checked out.

Needless to say our house is over run with germs and at the moment and they seem to have the upper hand!

Katherine will be getting tubes put in her ears at the end of the month. She's had 8 ear infections, the majority of them double infections, and they are worried about hearing loss. Scarry! They typically recommend tubes if you have 5 or 6 infections in one year, so we think it's the right thing to do for her. Hopefully it will make a big difference.

We're naturally worried about the procedure, but from what we understand they put a mask on her, she falls asleep and the tubes are in within less than 10 minutes. As soon as they take the mask off her she'll start to wake back up. We can't be with her when they put her under but we can be with her right after they finish. I hope it's that easy.

I had 2 sets of tubes when I was a kid but my ears were bad until I was about 16 and got my tonsils taken out. I don't know if it was the age or the tonsils being removed, or maybe the combination but I think the tubes were just a band-aide, not a cure.