It's here, it's here, it's here!!!

We’ve got extra a lot-a lot to be thankful for this year.  I spent much of Thanksgiving Eve with Kayliana at Children’s Hospital.  She’d started limping again and we had seen our Pediatrician the day before.  Dr. B. wanted us to get more Xrays and lab work done.  It blows my mind that Kayli holds so still for Xrays – maybe she’s kind of freaked out by the process, the big camera thingy, the noise it makes, the hard weird bed thingy she has to lie still on, but she does it like a champ.  After Xrays, we went to the Lab where, sadly, the two nurses had a heck of a time finding Kayli’s wee little veins and had to poke her like crazy before successfully drawing blood. L Holding her down for that was no fun…but, in the end, all tests, Xrays, etc. came back fine and clear…INCLUDING the Xray from a couple of weeks ago on which they saw a cyst on her bone.  Turns out it was just a stupid shadow on the crappy Xray film.  Obviously, we’re VERY relieved that there’s nothing there, but we could’ve done without the expensive unnecessary stress!

 

In the end, Dr. B. thinks that Kayli’s limping may be from a hip/joint infection caused by a virus.  If Kayli continues limping for a week, we’re to give her Ibuprofen and let Dr. B know for further investigation, but thus far, she’s not been gimpy at all.  Thank goodness!

 

With our good news and relief, we went into Thursday extra grateful and had a really nice Thanksgiving.  We hosted my parents, brothers and sister-in-law.  I must say (completely biased here), I thought the food was quite delicious this year!

 

After everyone had left, we curled up with the kiddos and watched Home Alone to kick off my very, very, VERY favorite time of the year!  Thanksgiving is always special and I do try to savor the moments it creates, but for me I celebrate it with the anticipation of what is to come!  Friday is “Christmas Decorating Day,” and we had a lot of fun this year especially since it was our first time decking the halls of this house. We decorated, drank hot cocoa, listened to Christmas music (since I’m “officially” allowed to now, it will be on 24-7 through Christmas) and stayed in pajamas until late in the afternoon.  Despite the pouring rain, Mike and I (but especially Mike) even got the outside lights up.  We. Were. SOAKED.  And then the next two days were dry and gorgeous…oh well.  That’s just how dedicated we are to Christmas Decorating Day!

 

Kayli LOVES it all this year.  She walks into the living room, looks at the tree and sighs, “Oooh, pretty.”  When we’re driving in the car, even if a house only has one strand of twinkly lights she admires it with a “Pretty!”  And I have to say, we were really impressed with how well she helped hang ornaments.  Sure, they were a little clumped together – and obviously along the bottom part of the tree since that’s where she can reach, but overall she did a great job and was REALLY sad when there weren’t more ornaments to hang!

 

I’d gone to get the camera so that I could capture the “prettiness” on film when – low and beheld – Kayli was also admiring our décor but had, uh, dedecked…undecked herself (minus the red sash, of course).

Turkey Day spread

The table and family (minus my dad who took the picutre)

A nudey elf!

One of my favorite views -- and what the kids will see first thing Christmas morning!

Kayliana turns two!!

Today our baby girl turns two.  Not quite a baby, not totally a ‘big’ girl – she’s in that in-between called “toddlerhood.”  I know I’m biased, but I can honestly say that she is the cutest, most fun little two -year old.  She has so much personality and it’s just amazing to watch her as she’s grown into her own little identity.  What’s especially exciting is that she’s really, REALLY starting to talk more.  Yes, slippers are still “fwupees” and quite frankly, I hope they remain fwupees for a while yet, but hearing her say words, even sentences in her cute little voice is just beyond cool.  We’re not doing a big party this year – just a few separate small celebrations with close friends.  

And I am hoping to have Mia and her parents over some time soon so they, too, can join us in celebrating this little girl we all love so much.

Kayli's newest adventure!

I’m ever so behind in writing a post on Kayliana’s latest adventure: her first Xrays!  On Sunday morning, Kayli was running the loop (you know the kitchen-dining room-living room loop that is apparently designed for indoor track drills). We were in the kitchen when a sudden loud cry came from the living room.  Obviously, we weren’t there to witness what happened.  I don’t know if she tripped and fell, if she bonked into the coffee table, if she suddenly just crumpled to the floor – dunno; she was just hurt.  I picked her up, soothed her, she had a decent cry but not insanely long or anything, and then when I went to put her back down on the floor, she gave a shriek and started crying again.  At that point I noticed she wouldn’t put any weight down on her left leg.  We did the whole checking for swelling, bruises, toes wiggled fine thing, but she definitely couldn’t/wouldn’t walk on it.  After a bit, we decided to call the nurse line since this seemed like a problem that wasn’t going to go away.  Sure, enough, she recommended we come in to see the doctor.  Thankfully, there’s one office open on Sundays, so we won’t have quite the same hefty bill that the ER kindly sent us for her last ‘adventure.’

 

The doctor – an attractive woman with the nicest, smiliest eyes I’ve ever seen – seriously, she LOOKED like a Pediatrician – squeezed up Kayli’s left leg and, apparently, noticed a ‘hardness’ near the femur.  Ruh-roh.  That’s definitely the worst bone-leg situation to have as it means full on mega-cast if a cast is indeed needed.  I brought Kayli back to the Xray room.  We sat in the tiny waiting area across from a 9ish year-old boy and his dad.  I gave them a nod and asked, “What are you in for?”  (I’d like to think that I asked this in a gruff, The Godfather kinda-way but I probably was just boring and normal).  Turns out he’d fallen of a bar that he was swinging on and landed on his right wrist, but, as I found out with them, it wasn’t broken so he was sent home castless.

 

Kayli did great for her Xrays.  I thought for sure I’d have to hold her down (especially since she still won’t go on the examination bed thingy without having a total fit), but she did totally fine.  She layed there with her blankie, sucky her fingers, looking at (and talking about) the big Elmo poster on the wall.

 

Once the doctor got the Xrays, she did that sound that I just LOVE to hear from medical professionals, “Hmmm….hmpfh.  Weird….huh.”  All reassuring noises.  Not.

 

She brought me over and showed me the film where on one you could clearly see a large knob/bump sticking out of one of the bones. 

 

“I don’t love the look of that,” she said.  Yeah, me neither, I thought.  “It looks like maybe a cyst on the bone that’s possibly nothing – could’ve been there since she was born and we’d never know if we hadn’t done an Xray…and I don’t think it’s related to her injury this morning…but let me go check with one of my partners.”

 

She left the room and was gone for a while.  While she was away, Kayli wanted to get down and walk.  I decided to see what would happen and, sure enough, miraculously, she was walking WAY better.  She was still only walking on the toes of her left foot but definitely wasn’t showing signs of intense pain.

 

When the doctor came back in she still looked puzzled.  “Well, two other doctors looked at it with me and none of us can really figure out what’s going on.  But there’s definitely no huge noticeable breaks or fractures.  If I was being really conservative, I’d send you to Children’s for more in-depth Xrays, but we could just wait and see.  You’ll get a call in the next couple of days if there’s more follow-up needed.”  When I told her about Kayli walking around better she wanted to take another look at her.

 

Once again, Kayli walked like it wasn’t a big deal; she definitely had a limp, but it was nothing like before!  She even let the doctor squeeze and feel her leg without even a grimace.  In the end, the doctor was just as befuddled as I was.  She guessed that maybe Kayli had pulled a muscle and the hardness she felt was muscle spasms.  I heard her tell the nurse out in the hall, “Hmm! Yeah, that’s definitely not how I saw this ending.  I thought for sure we’d be putting her in a cast.” 

 

Then, as I sat in the room, putting Kayli’s pants back on her, I realized something: So, what’s this about a cyst on her bone?  It’s just a total coincidence?  Like, I’m supposed to just pretend that it isn’t there?!  I stuck my head out the door and asked the doctor pretty much that question.  And she pretty much – still looking a little confused – said, “Yep! It hasn’t caused any issues!” 

 

Hmmm.  Alrighty then.  Kayliana will turn 2 a week from today.  I think, you know, just out of curiosity, I might follow up with her pediatrician for her 2 year check-up.  “So, about this cyst on her bone that we’re just pretending we never saw…so, that’s cool, huh?  Right....?”