Abby's 6th Birthday

We're finally back up and running! I have a ton of back posts to write so I'll just do one at a time. Let's start with March 2nd- Abby's Sixth Birthday. We were planning a huge party on the weekend so to celebrate her actual school-night birthday, we decided to do a family night. Her school does a lot of fun things and she was so excited- I don' t think she's ever gotten ready so fast! She wore her "Birthday Girl" shirt and some crazy outfit she picked out to school and when she got there, found a huge bow, little gift and Birthday Crown at her table. She has the greatest teacher ever. Then, at lunch, the whole of the lunchroom sang to her as well. She was on cloud nine when she got home. For the family festivities, Grandma and Grandpa came over and we had lasagna for dinner (her request) and a chocolate cake her Grandma baked... yummy. She was so excited to get the My Little Pony "Sweetie Belle's Gumball House" from her Auntie Carrie she had been coveting for about a year and thought they didn't make anymore... Our gift seemed to pale in comparison... her first real bicycle! She quickly warmed to that idea and rode it round and round in the garage all night (it was dark and rainy by that time outside). What a fun day... and there was so much more to come that Saturday... her first school-girl party! She has grown into such a wonderful girl and we are so lucky to have her in our family. She just has a zeal for life and loves to make cards and do things for others. She is so smart and reads so much and loves her brother and sister so much and loves anything arts and craftsy and always tries new foods and can be so helpful... if only we could get her to have that same enthusiasm for keeping her bedroom clean...

We are STILL having technical difficulties with our computer... and even adding photos so here are some older ones. There is not much to report. We had an AWESOME Hello Kitty birthday party for Abby on March 6. I did a little stint in the hospital. The good news? I don't have cancer. The bad news? They still don't know what's wrong so I have to wait for a specialist to accept my case or for Paul to get his big promotion- whichever comes first. Lily and Liam are learning new things everyday and can even do small commands. They are building their vocabularies... Lily is our little talker and tries really hard to say anything you ask her to. She can say, "Abby" perfectly and practices about 100,000 times per day- whether or not Abby is actually there or not.They are developing that hearing disorder... you know the one; apparently 100% deaf when you are saying something they do not like such as "don't jump on the couch" but suddenly develop super-human hearing when you are trying to sneak up on them as in to catch them to put them down for a nap. When I try to get them to say "Mama", they both giggle and say, "Dada!!" They like to save "Mama" for when they're hurt or need something. They like to share- sometimes and love to sit in the same chair and rock until it nearly falls over. Lily prefers mostly savory food while Liam is pretty much a hose that will suck in anything... that means ANYTHING. Abby continues to do very well in school and gets very obsessive about all things They Might Be Giants. I mean, OBSESSIVE. She also joined the school choir and is excited about that. She is mini-me. Here are some photos from a couple of months ago. I hope to update sooner rather than later this time.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Babies? What Babies?

So, just as Abby is officially no-longer a toddler shaped little girl, Liam and Lily are officially toddlers. They don't even bother to crawl anymore and just toddle and climb and explore. We have this make-shift barrier to try to keep them confined to the living room (we now call it "the corral"), but they are constantly finding ways of breaking out. They are usually sporting a variety of bumps and bruises in varying stages of healing. (Check out Lily's shiner!) Oh, and they encourage each other in their attempts. Lily prefers the climbing over things method (Liam had been known to give her a leg up to help out) and Liam prefers the "brute strength" method... and he is STRONG!. Abby helps out the best she can and enjoys playing with her brother and sister now that they can finally play. And speaking of "play", I have started teaching her piano. I plan on getting her through the first book and then I'll find her a proper teacher... so far, so good! They looked so cute at church today, I had to take some photos. The dress Lily is wearing was one of my very favourite ones of Abby's (take a look below at little Abby). I love re-visiting all of her old clothes and giving them new life with Lily. Paul and I are still just doing the best we can. We look forward to his promotion which will take place as soon as a position opens up and he interviews with a district manager. We feel very blessed to live in a nice neighbourhood in a lovely home. We are so very fortunate.

Me and My Gallbladder

So, as many of you already know, I have been suffering through digestive problems most of my adult life. About 8 years ago, I started having regular gall bladder attacks. At first I didn't know what they were because after waiting in the ER for hours, the pain would go away right before- dumb! Anyway, recently, I started having severe stomach pains so I finally went to the doctor (I was losing a ton of weight as I couldn't eat anything) and I mentioned having these attacks. I told the doctor that sometimes I can go months and months with nothing and then sometimes I might have 2 in the same week- her face looked horrified and she wondered why I hadn't done anything before now. I mentioned my fear of needles and procedures, not having the time, thinking it was just the way my body did things and the fact that in my family- we do not go to the doctor unless something is REALLY wrong. Long story short, she sent me in for an abdominal ultrasound and they found a ton of gallstones. I forget the wording used, but there are a bunch, so guess who is going to have a cholecystectomy? Woo hoo!
Abby has been worried so I told her the "good news"- that they found out my gallbladder wasn't working right and that it would easily be removed and my tummy aches would go away and wasn't that fantastic? I thought that would be it and she would be happy, but, Abby- being Abby- started in with the genius questions:

"Why would Jesus make your body with a part that doesn't work?" (Jesus didn't make my body, Grandma and Grandpa did and Heavenly Father made my spirit. Jesus is there to help us get through our difficulties).
"Will you have a surgery?" Yes, but it isn't that big of a deal- doctors do it all the time. And now, you don't even get a huge scar, just a few little ones."
"But your gallbladder is part of your body! You just can't remove a part of your body! It does something!- What does it do?" (Well, it stores acid called bile made in the liver and releases it to help you digest food only guess what? Bile is also sent directly to the intestines as well and so you can do without it.)
"Why do you even have one then, if you don't NEED it?" (Because there are a couple of ways your body can do the same thing and if it is broken, it just makes things worse. Don't worry it is a really easy surgery.)

Yeah, then, in the morning, the questions continued...
"How many cuts is a few? Where will they be? I want to see a gallbladder." (I show her a really good abdominal diagram on the computer)
"No! I want to see a REAL one, not a cartoon!" (So, I find a real one- and she's not grossed out.)
"I want to see where they will cut you." (I show her a diagram)
"No! I want to see it in real life- on the inside! I want to see the camera inside you!" (There are a bunch of videos on YouTube, so I showed her the whole surgery from the point of view of the laparoscope.)

And then she was fine with it. Seriously, where did she come from?

So now, it looks like it will be removed next month- unless I have to go to the ER before then! I'm kind of mad it's going to take so long because I like to eat and not have pain. At least I'm finally losing the baby weight, but I kind of don't think this is the best weight-loss program out there.