Oh Yes Wyoming!

A few months ago I got the crazy idea to travel to Wyoming with the girls, by myself. It seemed like a great idea when we booked the flight but on Saturday morning I was dreading the trip. There is so much stuff to pack and take with two little ones and the thought of navigating the airport by myself with all of that stuff with dreadful. We had to take 2 carseats, 1 stroller, my bag, their bag, the diaper bag, and my computer bag. Oh yeah...and TWO KIDS. Here's a picture of the craziness: Hayden in the stroller, Ellie in the Baby Bjorn, carseat perched on top, computer bag in the bottom of the stroller, and diaper bag on my back. Total Craziness.



Matt drove us to the airport and we planned to ask the airline if he could get a pass through security so he could help me get to the gate. They offered the pass before we could request one! Getting through security went smoothly, although it took some time, and we were even able to stop at Starbucks so I could get a decaf peppermint mocha latte. Mmmmm...the holidays are here! Anyway, when we got in line to board the plane Matt told the attendant that he wasn't traveling with us and that it was just me with the two babes. The attendant told Matt that he could get me on the plane as long as he came right back. How about that?! He was able to carry Hayden's carseat down to the plane, get it strapped in, and get us settled. I could have done it but it would have been a complete nightmare. And, I might have needed a strong drink before takeoff.

We ended up with an extra seat in our row so we were able to stretch out a little bit. The girls were wonderful on the flight. The plane was packed with kiddos so any crying or yelling that they would have done wouldn't have been a big deal, but they were both so good. When we arrived in Denver a wonderful man across the isle asked if I needed help. I gladly accepted his help and handed him the heaviest bag I had. He carried it out to the terminal for me and from there I was able to throw it in the stroller and not think twice about it.

My dear friend Melanie and her husband Ryan agreed to meet me at the airport to help me get all of my baggage and get out to the rental car building. They were both so amazing...seriously amazing. Ryan lugged around our bags, Melanie brought gifts for the three of us, they both held Anabelle, Melanie took Hayden to the bathroom, they watched Hayden while I took Anabelle to the bathroom (after a major blowout, by the way), they packed all of our stuff into their car, and stayed with us until we were ready to drive off of the rental car lot. Did I mention how amazing they were?! Plus, it was so wonderful to catch up with them a little bit too.

The drive from Denver to Laramie went pretty well. I even managed to remember the shortcut around Ft. Collins and we made pretty good time. We stopped at McDonald's on the outskirts of Ft. Collins for a bathroom break, to feed Ellie, and to get a little apple pie and vanilla ice cream treat. We got back on the road and made our way to Laramie.

We were about 15 minutes from town when I got pulled over...of course. He said that he clocked me going 82 in a 65. Darn speed limit! In Phoenix it's 75 almost everywhere and I guess I just wasn't paying attention. I told him that I was traveling alone with the girls and that Hayden had to use the potty. But, both girls were totally silent and I couldn't squeak out a tear so I got the ticket. However, he said he reduced my speed to 79 so that it won't end up on my record, but we'll see if that actually holds up. Boo.

In the end though we made it to Pop and Susan's house safely so that's all that really matters. I don't think that I'll travel alone with the kids again (at least not any time soon) but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be. What an adventure!

Doctor Visit

Yesterday we went in for our monthly visit with Dr. Papez, Anabelle's electrophysiologist. At every visit they do an EKG and take her blood pressure. These can both be hard to do because Anabelle has to remain pretty still to get a good reading. But, she was great and it only took two tries to get both readings they needed. They also weigh her and measure her at each visit.

Dr. Papez said that she looks and sounds good and she's growing! She's now 23 inches tall and weighs over 11 pounds. Because she's gaining weight he increased her dosage of Flecainide to .9 mL. This isn't anything to be concerned with. He just wants to make sure that she's getting enough medicine for her body weight. He plans to increase the dosage again next month after she's over 12 pounds. In two weeks we'll stop by his office again so Anabelle can wear the Holter monitor. Like last time, it will only be on for 24 hours to see if she's having SVT and just coming out of it on her own.

We travel to Wyoming for Thanksgiving this weekend so he gave us the names of a few electrophysiologist in Denver, just in case. We'll be taking the stethoscope with us and we'll be keeping an eye on her, but hopefully there's no reason to call those doctors.

The best news is that he's still giving her a 50% chance of "growing out" of WPW during the next year. Even though her pathway is pretty robust he said that it's still a possibility that it will go away. Yay! Every time we see Dr. Papez I like him more and more. He's never in a rush to get in and out (like I feel most doctors are), he answers all of our questions, and he's got a positive attitude. We feel very lucky to work with him and know that he's taking great care of our baby.

Onion Rings = Success!

If you're confused by the title of this posting, read the last post first...

The onion rings that Matt made tonight were wonderful! They looked good on the plate and they were even better to eat! Matt and I both really enjoyed them (although he's already thinking of ways to improve them for next time). Hayden really liked the first one she had. But when she started on the second one she found onion in it and didn't want anything to do with it. By the third ring she had forgotten all about the onion again and loved it.

So, I guess we'll be adding onion rings to the menu!

The Chef

We have some hamburger meat left over from this weekend so Matt is making burgers for dinner tonight. When he realized that we were out of frozen fries he decided to make onion rings...from scratch...for the first time ever.

I just heard him say, "now I know why onion rings cost more. They're a little labor intensive." Uh-oh. There's a chance we won't be eating until 7:30 tonight. But I have to give him credit for trying something new! I like this cooking kick he's on lately!

Checkup

We are at Dr. Papez's office for a monthly checkup. We just did the EKG. Darn stickers have to stay on until the doctor looks at the reading. She's such a champ!

We will post again soon with details from our appointment.

Thankful

I saw this hanging up at daycare this week. I remember thinking, 'I'm thankful for daddy too.'

Holding Hands

Awww...this just melts my heart. I love seeing our girls holding hands. Hayden was sitting next to me just leaned over and grabbed Ellie's hand. So sweet.

Hey! Stop Doing That!

Uncle Ash and Aunt Afton came over for a visit this past weekend. Hayden climbed into her toybox and got out all of her toys. Uncle Ash claimed he was trying to help her clean up but I think he may have also been trying to torment her. Either way, we all thought that it was hilarious. ENJOY!

Bum Up!

On Sunday we were relaxing and watching football when we heard Hayden say, "bum up!" We looked over to see her on the floor with her baby, a box of wipes, and one of Anabelle's diapers. She was changing her baby's diaper and kept asking the baby to put her "bum up!"
















Later that day she wanted to nurse her baby. She was wearing a dress so she pulled it all the way off. Then she covered herself up (so modest)!















Don't forget to burp her!
















She's just fascinated with everything that Anabelle does and we think that it's so sweet that she wants to be "a good mommy". However, I'm certain that she'll be mortified by some of these pictures when she's 13.

Holter Monitor

About a week and a half ago we went to see Dr. Papez for a follow up visit. While we were there he asked that Anabelle be put on a holter monitor for 24 hours so we could see what her heart was doing. He specifically wanted to see if she was going into SVT at any point. Also, because the Flecainide that she takes three times a day helps keep her heart rate low he wanted to see just how low it was getting.

They put a bunch of little electrodes all over her body. Those were connected to a little recording monitor that recorded all of her heart's electrical activity. After 24 hours we simply returned the holter monitor to the doctor's office and they analyzed the data.

Dr. Papez called today with great news! He said that during that 24 hour period she didn't go into SVT at all and her lowest heart rate was 70 which is not too low. Hooray! The medicine is doing it's job!

Who Wore it Best?

Uncle Ash was at our house the day before Halloween. He asked us if we had any Halloween costumes that he could borrow for work the next day. Matt had the perfect outfit for him.

Back in February we went to Vegas to celebrate my 30th birthday. While we were there I insisted that we go bowling in full 80s attire. Matt went to Goodwill and picked up an outfit that he called his "Used Car Salesman" getup. The outfit included a three piece suit, a thick gold chain, cream colored shoes...and a mustache.

The costume worked great for Ash with a few small tweaks. First, the pants were WAY too long so he had to roll them at the waist. Second, he didn't need to glue on a fake mustache. He was able to cut his beard into a Fu Manchu. It. Was. Awesome.

So folks...who wore it best? Cast your votes in the comment section. The winner gets...a NEW CAR! Or would it be a used car??

Ash trying on the costume




















Ash and his Fu Manchu















Matt at the bowling alley















Matt's Mustache

Halloween

We had such a fun Halloween! Hayden had a parade and party at daycare on Friday, we carved pumpkins with Uncle Ash on Saturday night, and then we took the girls out Trick or Treating in our neighborhood on Sunday evening. Hayden dressed up as Tinkerbell and Anabelle was a kitty.

Matt doesn't like carving pumpkins (mostly because it's messy) but we bought pumpkins at the pumpkin patch last weekend so we couldn't let them go uncarved. I bought a carving kit and Ash and I decided to go all out and make our pumpkins fancy. Ash's turned out AMAZING but mine was just so-so. I got a little aggressive and cut the head off of my owl and had to do some surgery with a toothpick. Hayden drew on her pumpkin with markers but then also wanted to carve one so Matt helped her and they went with the more traditional looking pumpkin. They did a great job. Ash and I also reminisced about pumpkin carving when we were kids. We can remember having a pumpkin fight in our dining room (think jr. high school food fight) and getting pumpkin "guts" all over the walls, the floor, in our hair, and all over our clothes. I think we actually did it two years in a row. Anyway, we always really enjoyed pumpkin carving as kids. Hopefully our kiddos will also enjoy it - although I don't know if we'll be having any pumpkin fights with Matt's aversion to the mess. haha

On Sunday we got both girls dressed in their costumes and we headed out after dinner. The weather was beautiful so a lot of people in the neighborhood set up card tables and camping chairs in their driveway. Hayden got the hang of it and made out like a bandit. She was also very polite - frequently saying "please" instead of "trick or treat". When we got home a few more people stopped by and she helped hand out candy. We dumped her bucket out on the floor and surveyed her loot. She got some fun stuff (including a pencil, playdoh, and a glowing bracelet) and tons of candy. Anabelle slept through most of the activities. She's such a laid back baby.

Now you must excuse me...there's a Twix in the kitchen calling my name! Check out all of our pictures by clicking below.

Halloween

Coworkers

Anabelle is my newest coworker. She mostly helps with filing and data entry. She let's me take care of the phone calls.