Disney on Ice

On March 13, we headed to the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City for Disney on ice!  Grandma Peterson arrived in Mendon at 9 a.m., we loaded in the van, and arrived in Salt Lake for the 11 o'clock show.

Which cartoon show was the favorite?

CARS.........

The other shows were Little Mermaid, Lion King, and Tinkerbell but Cars won as our favorite hands down!  We loved Mater!!!

Going into the show it was sprinkling a little rain.  Not too bad though.  During intermission and the trip to the top for some popcorn and drinks we looked outside and saw it was snowing HUGE flakes.  Our walk to the car after the show was in the rain and snow.  Upon reaching the van we were drenched.  Nicole wasn't too sure of the rain running down her head.

We left Salt Lake and headed to Layton for lunch at the Training Table and then home for naps!

Nicole's Surgery

Today was the day for Nicole's surgery.  The day for tubes in her ears.

I think up until yesterday afternoon I was in denial that we were actually going to go through with the surgery.  Nicole was on the tail end of her cold.  She Still had a little runny nose and a bit of a cough.  I thought that they would cancel the surgery.  Boy!  Was I wrong!  At 3:30 p.m. when I found out the surgery was still going to happen, everything turned into a tornado and I sat in the middle wondering what in the world was going on.

Let the craziness begin........

I left the doctor's office and returned to Traci's to help get Hannah ready to go to JC Penney to have her picture taken in her baptism dress.  Thank goodness Traci was willing to start Hannah's hair!

Earlier in the day I had two phone calls from Logan Regional Hospital (LRH) needing information to get Nicole registered for surgery and to get information for the anesthesia.  I put these phone calls on hold until I knew for sure the surgery was going to happen.

At Traci's, I called LRH to find out what time we had to have Nicole there in the morning.  They asked if I had talked to the nurse for anesthesia.  I told them not yet.  That was my next phone call.  They left a message to have her call me because she was with a patient.

I went in to assist in getting Hannah dressed and ready so we could be to pictures at 4:40.  All of a sudden it dawned on me that I needed to figure out what I'm going to do with Hannah and Ashley.  They need to be taken care of while we're at the hospital dealing with Nicole.  I did not leave Mendon prepared for the girls to sleep over at Grandma's so we're going to have to punt.  I also didn't want to wake them up at 6 a.m. and bring them to Grandma.

I left Traci's with Dave keeping the two youngest and asking him to contact the registration department to get Nicole registered for the next morning.  It worked out great that he had to come to Traci's to fix something.  I drove off with Hannah at 4:38 for pictures and told him we'd meet up at my mom's.

After pictures and dinner in town, Hannah and Ashley were left behind with Grandma and we went home with Nicole.  Luckily, Ashley went to Traci's yesterday morning in her pajamas.  Hannah, well she ended up wearing a house coat of my mom's to bed.  I was very thankful that Hannah and Ashley had great attitudes about staying with grandma and being willing to "go with the flow."

Before putting Nicole to bed, Dave gave her a blessing, which was quite a workout.  She DID NOT want to stay on the stool and she DID NOT want Dave's hands touching her.  Good times!

My alarm went off at 5 a.m. this morning.  That's just WAY too early in the morning.  Dave and I got ourselves ready and got Nicole out of her bed at the last minutes and took her straight to the van.  After dropping school clothes off on my mom's doorstep for Hannah and Ashley (again......I was totally unprepared), we arrived at the Surgical Center at 6:30 a.m.

At the Surgical Center, we got all of the paperwork signed, Nicole's weight taken, her pulse and oxygen level checked, her temperature checked, and we were back in a room ready to put her in the gown, hat and socks.  At first, she did not want anything to do with the gown.  After she realized there were kitties on the gown she was all over putting it on.  The socks were OK and she did great with leaving the hat on.

We had some down time while were waiting for her doctor and the anesthesiologist so we started taking pictures of Nicole (she took a few of herself too) and then she drew pictures.  When people started entering the room, she knew something was up so she hunkered down in Dave's arms.

The anesthesiologist took Nicole from us at 7:30 a.m.  This was the part I had been dreading.  I didn't want to hear her cry.  To our amazement she did awesome!  She left without a tear.  That sure made it a lot easier on mom!

The doctor tried to get it set up so we could watch the surgery on TV.  It did not end up being an option so he recorded it for us and gave us a DVD of the surgery.  We haven't watched it yet but we intend to.  Should be interesting!

The doctor came in a little before 8 a.m. and said she was all done and the surgery went well.  He informed us that there was a lot of puss/infection build up behind her ears.  The surgery was something that definitely needed to be done.  Kids with that much fluid behind the ears are usually down to about 50% of hearing.  Poor girl!  We have to make sure we are aggressive with the antibiotic ear drops so all of the infection drains out.

The OR nurse stopped by also to tell us that Nicole was so cute!  She said when she got to the OR and found out that everyone had a hat on like she did she was all smiles.  As they went to put the mask on her with the gas to make her fall to sleep, she asked for her mom (made me feel good).  The nurse told her I'd be there in a minute and she said OK and then was to sleep.

I was chatting with Hannah on the phone at 8:05 and they brought Nicole to us.  She was NOT a happy camper!  They explained to us that for the kids it's like they are trying to wake up from a nightmare and they can't.  She was inconsolable and cried for quite awhile while lying in Dave's arms.  They had the pulse meter on her big toe and she was not happy about that.  She was trying all she could with her other foot to push it off.

Finally, Nicole fell to sleep in Dave's arms and the two of them caught a nap for about 20 minutes.  The next thing we knew Nicole woke up and was totally fine.  She had 1 1/2 cups of apple juice.  Walked to the nurse's station for a Cinderella sticker and said she wanted to go home.  We were discharged around 9:30 a.m.

We had to stop by Kmart to pick up Nicole's ear drops and we were in Mendon at 10:30 a.m.  Since then she has been on the go.  You'd never know anything happened today.  I did get her to take a break for a nap but other than that she's been non-stop.

I'm glad it's over.  Maybe it was better that I was in denial up until the moment because then it all became crazy and I didn't have much time to worry.  Again, I am EXTREMELY thankful that I took her in to be checked.  With her giving us no signs of anything being wrong I have no idea how we would have ever found out.  She must have either gotten use to the muffled sounds or she has a really high tolerance to pain.  Either way I am glad she is on the mend now!

Valentine Dinner

For Valentine's this year Hannah and I decorated the table and we celebrated with a Valentine's dinner.

We ate Hannah's favorite main dish, which was sweet pork burritos.  We had pomegranite 7-up to drink and made some chocolate chip cookies that had pink and red chips in them.  YUMMY!

Each of the girls had a boquet of flowers, a valentine note pad, and a little cute valentine trinket.

The roses in the middle of the table were given to me by Dave.  Sweet!

Meet Ed the Snowman

One Monday evening after a nice snowstorm we came home and the girls called Dave to see if when he got home, he would take them outside and make a snowman.  Dave agreed and convinced me to come out and help.  So, outside we went.

Hannah realized that it really is alot of work to create a snowman.  The snow just doesn't come together very quickly.  Ashley was more in to playing and eating the snow and Nicole was more interested in poking her fingers in the snow.

After the snowman was created, Dave and I asked what we were going to name him.  They came up with Ed.  I think they named him after my mom's neighbor Ed.  Too cute!

Funny Girls

Here's some fun pictures of the girls. These are the great moments to capture.

Here are two pictures of the girls when Hannah did everyone's hair. She did her's first but needed a little assistance with the braids and then had Ashley and Nicole sit on the stairs so she could do their hair.

Ashley could not fall to sleep one night. I came down from upstairs to head to bed and found that Ashley had come out of her room and was in Hannah's bed. So Hannah could fall to sleep, I made Ashley a bed on her floor so she could be in the same room but not be "scared".

The next morning when I went to wake Hannah up for school this is how I found the two of them.....snug as bugs in a rug! They might not show it all the time but I think they DO like each other.

The girls and I had a little party for the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics. We had flags to wave and cheered. I believe Dave was at a Mt. Crest basketball game. The girls almost made it to the end, which was 11 p.m. Hannah asked Ashley if she could lay by her and that was it. Out they went!

Nicole's Ears

Back in December Nicole got her very first ear infection. In fact, she is the first of the three girls to get an ear infection. A round of antibiotics was given and we returned two weeks later for a follow-up appointment. At the follow-up appointment (Dec 24), Nicole was given a clean bill of health on her ears and we were good to go.

At the initial appointment for her ear infection, the doctor indicated that her ears were full of ear wax and that we should take her in to an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor and have them cleaned. We knew exactly what he was talking about because Hannah has been taken in multiple times to have her ear wax cleaned out (lucky girls to have inherited major ear wax from their dad). So, I made an appointment with the ENT doctor to have all three girls' ears cleaned. Hannah because it had been two years since she'd been, Ashley because she'd never had hers done and I was curious as to whether or not they were full, and Nicole because we knew hers were full.

We went for the ear appointment on February 5. The girls were seen by the doctor in order. Hannah had some ear wax but it wasn't too bad. This was the least amount of wax she'd ever had. That's great news where it had been two years! Her ear drums looked great!

Ashley was next. She was a bit nervous and a little freaked out because she'd never had it done nor seen anyone else have their ears cleaned by the doctor. Ashley did end up having a bit of "sticky" ear wax to clean out. She had more than Hannah but not too bad for being 4 and never having it done. Her ear drums looked great too!

Now we have Nicole who was not thrilled in the least to be the next one up for the ear cleaning experience. Thank goodness my mom had come with me. She took Ashley and Hannah out of the room so they didn't have to witness me and two nurses holding Nicole down. Nicole ended up having the most ear wax, which wasn't surprising because we knew from the other doctor that her ears were full.

After the ear wax cleaning of the first ear, the doctor checks her ear drum and informs me that she has a bunch of fluid behind her ear drum. I'm a bit in shock at this moment because Nicole has been acting fine. She has not complained once about her ears. He moves to the other side and once again, after clearing the way, notices there's fluid behind this ear drum too. We left the appointment with an antibiotic for Nicole to take for 10 days to clear the fluid. We have to come back in two weeks for a follow up appointment. If the fluid does not clear up, I am informed that we will need to put tubes in her ears so we don't run in to hearing loss. Wow! This is totally not what I expected from this appointment. I was simply going in to have the ear wax cleaned and that was that.

Today was the follow up appointment for Nicole. The downfall to this doctor is that you have to wait SOOOOOO long to even be seen by the doctor. I was excited that her appointment was today because last night she came down with a cold. I wanted him to be able to check her over and ask questions as to what we do now to prevent this cold turning in to another ear infection.

Once we saw the doctor, Nicole quickly covered her ears. She remember from the time before! Smart little stinker! With her on my lap and me holding her arms and head, he checked the left ear. It was red but probably because she had immediately started crying when he entered the room. He could possibly see a bit of fluid. Then came the right ear. Well, this one didn't fair too well. He immediately could see that it was still full of fluid. This is after being off the antibiotic for only one day.

We're now off to another room where a technician performs a pressure test on Nicole's ears. This is to tell them exactly how much fluid is behind her ears and if the fluid is thick and won't move or if it's thinner and moving around. Once again, Nicole is not a happy camper to have someone going after her ears. Once again, I hold the arms and head while the test is performed.

The right ear is done first. This is the ear that the doctor indicated was still full of fluid. The line on the screen that we are looking at is suppose to peak as the test is performed. Well.....for the right ear the line is flat. This indicates that she has quite a bit of fluid behind the ear drum and that it's the "sticky" kind and won't budge.

For the left ear, there is a peak. However, the peak is suppose to occur at the zero mark. Her peak occurs at the -100 mark, which means she does have fluid in this ear but it's the "movable" kind.

Back to the room we go to chat with the doctor. When he comes in, we look at the charts again that printed from the machine and the verdict is that Nicole needs tubes in her ears to drain the fluid. From this point forward it's a whirlwind. The doctor would have put the tubes in Nicole's ears this coming Tuesday had she not started with a cold. Instead, we are holding off a week and were given another antibiotic to get us through the cold so that neither a sinus nor ear infection occur. We are then given to the nurse who checks Nicole's heart and lungs and then takes us through the pre-op procedures.

From the nurse, we are taken to the front desk where they call the surgery section at Logan Regional to schedule Nicole's surgery. We are scheduled for the surgery on March 2. It may have to be postponed if Nicole's cold is not better or if for some reason she can't "bump" others and be the first surgery of the day, which would be 7:30 am because she has to fast for 12 hours and they can't make a 2 year old fast until late in the day.

Our appointment today was at 3:15 and we left the doctor's office at 5:10. By the time I hit the van, I was exhausted as to all that had transpired. Again, I was not expecting what occurred as this appointment. I thought for sure we'd go in and the doctor would say that all was good and she'd be given a clean bill of health. Not so.

However, I try to look on the bright side. Had I not taken the girls in to have their ears cleaned I never would have known Nicole had any problems. If her ears have been bothering her, she never showed any signs. There has been no crying, no tugging, no irritability, no nothing. I am grateful for the prompting and the events that occurred prior so that I made the appointment. A rough road could have been ahead of us had we not found this out sooner. Especially, before we ran into hearing loss issues.

As of now, we have started round 2 of the antibiotics and we'll plan for March 2!

Two Accidents in Two Weeks

I wanted to post all of our happenings in chronological order and I've been trying to find the time to catch up for December and January. However, I need to take a moment and intercede and go out of order for just a minute.

I have been involved in two accidents in the last two weeks. Are you kidding me?!?!?

Two weeks ago the girls and I were heading to Logan as we do every weekday morning for work, school, and Traci's. I turned on to the road below our house and noticed a bicyclist. That was odd. I'm not sure I had ever seen a bicyclist on this road so early in the morning. Especially on a morning that there was a skiff of snow on the road.

Heading down the road I'm "assuming" he'll keep going. I look in my rear view mirror and start the process of going around the biker. I look back to the road and I'm committed to the "go around" when all of the sudden his lifts his had to signal a turn and WHAM! We hit. Hitting someone with my vehicle is one of my worst nightmares and on this day the nightmare came true.

I quickly realized how lucky both me and my neighbor were. Yes, my van has some scars. The passenger mirror is broken and when I returned home from work I noticed the LARGE scratch down the side of the van from his handle bar. But....he didn't even fall off his bike! He stayed upright and wasn't hurt at all. Phew! I hate to think of what a few more seconds would have done. I don't think I could have handled it if I would have run over him. It makes me sick to my stomach to even think of it.

I called him that night just to make sure he was still alright. Thank goodness he was and is! He actually leads the music in sacrament meeting. The next Sunday we end up sitting two rows back from the front right in front of where the music is lead. Hannah asked me what I was going to do. I told her it would be fine. Well, he wasn't there to lead the music. You should have seen the look on Hannah's face. She thought he wasn't there because he was hurt. He appeared the next Sunday which put Hannah's mind to rest!

Then today, which is the next day that there has been snow on the road. It ran through my mind as I was getting ready this morning that the last time the roads had snow on them I hit the neighbor.

The girls and I left again for our morning routine. The roads here in Mendon were EXTREMELY slick. We slid through the stop sign and railroad tracks as we were stopping to turn on to the same road that the prior accident occurred on.

We made it all the way to the next stop sign before needing to stop to turn on to the "Old Mendon Road". As we approach the stop sign, I notice a car off the left hand side of the road in the ditch. I tell the girls to look out the window and see the car in the ditch. Hannah asks if anyone is in it. I look and say, "nope." Then, SMACK. We get rear ended. I thought it was the bishop that was behind me on the road. I actually work with the Bishop at BATC. Hmmm....how odd is this going to be to get out and "chat" with the bishop. As I got out, I was taken back to see that it wasn't the bishop it was his son. We accessed the damage while trying to keep from falling on the ground. The damage isn't too bad. We left and I will need to get with him about fixing the bumper.

I have now endured two accidents in two weeks. I think I should be done now for the next 10-12 years! Poor Hannah has been traumatized by the three accidents she's now been involved in. Poor thing might be in counseling for them. Kidding! She did cry this morning as we were driving in. However, she handled this one better than the one two weeks ago when I got a call from the school because she had an upset stomach. These accidents have been a good learning lesson to the girls as to how important it is to ALWAYS wear a seat belt!

So I'm done....or at least I'm hoping to be done for quite awhile! Let's hope sooner or later my stars align and I'll be left alone!