Family Update

One of my New Year's goals was to update the blog regularly, I am failing miserably! I always have good intentions, but become distracted and/or completely forget. I'm hoping to work a tad bit harder towards this goal so family and friends near and far can stay updated!

We've been staying busy, as usual! Kynzley has FULLY recovered from her surgery and is doing great! She was pretty much a text book case in terms of recovery. She had good days and boy did she have some bad days! She took two full weeks to get back to herself and not need any more medication. You can definitely see a change in her! Her eyes sparkle again, she no longer snores and is sleeping great, and has her spunk back! 

Kynzley also hit a huge milestone -- she lost her first tooth!! Of course Kynzley would be in the kind that wants to keep her tooth and delay the tooth fairy for a bit. She did, however, write the tooth fairy a nice letter asking her to come back at a later time so she could enjoy her tooth for a bit. She was also concerned that if the tooth fairy left her money that she wasn't sure what she wanted to spend it on so it gave her some more time to think about it. Ha! She kept her tooth for about a week and then decided to put it under her pillow. She was very excited in the morning to see what the tooth fairy had left! 

On a school note, Kynzley is doing great! She loves to read, write and do math. It's been fun to watch her grow in all subjects. We are learning that Kynzley is a perfectionist. Wow, this has been interesting!! When doing her homework she can get pretty upset if things are not looking the way she wants them to. It took a lot of convincing to have her show her work for harder math problems. She was concerned that if she showed her work on the paper that she wouldn't look smart because she couldn't do it in her head. Another example, we enjoyed a fun evening at a church fundraiser where your menu made absolutely no sense and you were taking a shot in the dark on what you were ordering for each course - totally meant for fun! Kynzley was in tears because she did not know how to fill in her menu correctly because she didn't know what the right answers were suppose to be and she didn't want to mark the wrong thing. It needed to be perfect and it needed to be right (in her eyes)! We are greatful that she takes pride in her work and studies, but wow, the emotions that come with this is crazy!

Well, Benton is 19 months already! Time is going so fast - slow down little one!!! He had is 18 month check up not too long ago and we've learned that he's average on the weight and height scale. For weight he was in the 50th percentile and for height he was in the 70th. A lot of people think he's older than he is, obviously not because of his size, but because of the things he does. He is super independent and loves to do things on his own, he talks .... A LOT and does really well keeping up with the older kids. As of right now he's obsessed with Barney and Thomas The Train. He is VERY particular and knows what he wants. It's even starting in what clothes he wears. He will tell you no if he doesn't want to wear a certain shirt or put on certain shoes. He loves shoes and will show you when they look stylish with his outfit - he's a character! Oh, and, Benton is called she, her and little girl daily. I'm used to it and don't correct people anymore. 

We are blessed that we are happy, healthy and together!

After the passing of Cody, we've helped friends with their pups! This is Carley, she's a regular ;-)

Benton's beautiful locks

When Kynzley does homework Benton also enjoys doing homework! He also likes to be praised often for his work :)

On this day, Benton and I had a mommy son date to the local bakery. On our way out I asked Benton if he wanted a cookie, he picked out a soccer ball cookie! There were three choices: red, blue and pink. We ordered our cookie, not specifying a color, and the lady behind the counter was SO excited that they had one PINK one left just for "her" aka Benton. Bless her heart! She was so thrilled to put "her" pink cookie in a bag so "she" could carry it :) I'm use to it, I don't correct anyone anymore.

#prettyboy

As you can see from this picture Kynzley LOVES funky socks. For her 100th day of school she took 100 of her funkiest socks to share with the class

Kynzley and her cousin Zoie after one of Zoie's high school poms performances. We also had the privilege of watching Zoie and her team perform at state last weekend! The girls did awesome!

Showing sissy his new kicks

A little ice skating/hockey practice

 * Monday-Thursday afternoons Benton and I get to play with our friends Ari and Alex. Yes, they are twins! They recently turned one! We've known them since they were born, it's been so fun to watch them grow!!! They help keep this house busy :)

Ari, Benton and Alex

Happy 1st Birthday

I had the privilege of making their first birthday outfits. I am so proud of how they turned out! As you can see I like to free hand on paper and then work on my final product :)

Almost complete.....

Ta-da! I had so much fun making the shirts and the hats, they looked super cute in them as well :)

*Back in November we had our first family pictures taken since Kynzley was one. Crazy and sad! Thank you Jessica Sands Photography for capturing such lovely moments! These are just a few of our favorites! Photo credit: Jessica Sands (http://www.jessicasandsphotography.com)

Happy New Year

Nothing like the first blog of the year! Happy New Year all! We had a very low key New Year's Eve, together as a family as Kynzley heals up. No better way to ring in the new year than with your crew :)

On that note, Kynzley is doing pretty well! She is probably healing as the text books would say she would heal. She's not hunched over in pain, but she's still having some very uncomfortable moments. We are trying our best to stay on top of the pain with her medication, but she's five and of course doesn't always want to take her meds with ease. Yesterday she woke up very sore (which we were told was going to happen). She was complaining of neck pain and that her ears hurt - both super normal! We explained it was because she is healing and that lots of rest will help!! She's pretty bored, ha! One can only watch so many movies and color so many pictures. She wants to be active so bad but gets tired quickly and we are still pushing lots of rest. Her biggest complaint right now is that she is HUNGRY!!!!! She is probably the only young patient who is supposed to have an ice cream popsicle diet that does not want any of it! Right now she wants popcorn, mac n' cheese with hot dogs, steak and a sandwich. Poor girl! Last night she did have some chicken noodle soup noodles and it helped a tad. Hopefully soon we can make her dreams come true and serve her "real" food. Our goal is that tomorrow, Satruday, she has very little pain. Fingers crossed!!!! 

After brother went to bed Kynzley enjoyed a homemade slushy and enjoyed some quiet

Yesterday morning (day 3) You can tell by her face she was feeling pretty rough :( Her wonderful teacher has kept in contact with us to keep up to date with Kynzley and how she is feeling. It makes Kynzley feel so special!! Kynzley had a special note for her :)

My last photo of 2015! Two cuties!! -please don't mind Kynzley's yogurt lips, we were trying to get some heavy food in her tummy before drifting off to dream land. 

A NOT SO very Merry Christmas

Well, Kynzley's Christmas break is not exactly how most would want to spend it. Yesterday, she had her tonsils and adenoids removed followed by having a very large blood vessel in her nose removed. She's feeling pretty tough today, but handling it best as she can and we still think she's a champ!! On top of having her first (and hopefully only) surgery, Kynzley also had her first experience with stitches last week.
I received a call last Monday from the school nurse saying that Kynzley had an accident in gym class --knowing that Kynzley likes to be rough and tough I was hoping it was just a call to treat her with an ice pack or something --. As I was calmly listening to the nurse explain what happened (she was running in class and slipped and caught herself with her face --per Kynzley) she paused for a moment and said "she will need to be picked up immediately!" Oh goodness! I replied with "oh!!! It's that bad?!", and like a great nurse, not wanting to upset Kynzley, tip toed away and whispered into the phone "yes! She's going to need to be taken in for stitches!" Gotcha!!!! Someone will be there right away!! She was taken in and was given three stitches to patch up her chin. She was a tough girl. The nurse explained she never cried because she had no idea how bad it was. The only time Kynzley cried was when she saw the scissors before stitching her up! She's since had them removed and her chin looks great - I have a feeling we have more of these to come .... with both kiddos! She had her stitches removed Saturday, which gave her two full days to not have to think about the doctor and enjoy her favorite treats!
Since Kynzley was a baby she right away had noticeably large tonsils! She choked often and snored (still does) beyond belief, but it was never a concern to our doctor because she never had (or has had) strep throat or any other reoccurring illnesses. Kynzley has always been a pretty healthy girl! Usually getting one major sickness during the year and then she tends to be good to go. This year seemed to be incredibly different. Upset stomachs were occuring more often than not, lots of vomiting, cold symptoms linger longer than they should and she was always feeling run down. For awhile we looked at what she was eating and thought maybe dairy was a trigger. After that seemed to not be it we were stumped and took all the illness as what is going to happen now that she was in school.
This past August is when everything really started to get "annoying". Kynzley seemed to get a "summer cold" and it was one that NEVER (I REPEAT NEVER) went away. To explain it simply, Kynzley has not taken a breath out of her nose since the beginning of August. This poor girl!! She has dealt with the puffy eyes, the lack of breathing, a constant cough, upset stomach and the cruddiness like a rock star!!! In October, I took her in to see if they could treat her for sinus infection. She was still stuffed up and her eyes were swollen, she mentioned her teeth hurt and she as having way  more headaches than we would have liked. No sinus infection but she had an ear infection so bad they were surprised that they hadn't burst. Kynzley NEVER once complained about an ear ache and never had a fever- we were shocked. They treated her for the ear infection with strong medications hoping it would also clear up some of her sinus issues. After she finished all her medicine her hearing was better but she still couldn't breath from her nose. I called back updating her doctor and they decided to go the stronger route with the meds and also schedule an ENT appointment. The new medication did nothing, she was even annoyed that she had to take it since she wasn't feeling different. The ENT appointment couldn't come soon enough!!! When we finally met with the specialist he looked in her mouth for .3 seconds, looked at me and said "you need to schedule surgery right away!" He was mentioning symptoms that I would have never related to being caused by her tonsils and adenoids - it felt so nice to have an answer!!!!
We scheduled surgery for when we did because Kynzley would rather miss a Christmas activity than a school activity. We knew that if we scheduled it for when school was in session her recovery would be miserable and probably not go as smoothly as it should because she would be too worried about not being at school. She was able to have a great Christmas and we also enjoyed a fun afternoon (after her stitches were removed) jumping at Bounce World on all the inflatables.
Yesterday morning came SUPER early! She was the first one scheduled for surgery (7am!) and we had a snow storm the night before. The drive in was dark and slow but we made it. She was prepped and taken into the OR only to return to us a new girl ;-) Her surgeon said she did great during surgery and that her tonsils and adenoids were extremely large!! Like I previously mentioned they also took a blood vessel from her nose. In the past if Kynzley rubbed her nose or picked it it would bleed for days and not just a little, A LOT! He mentioned that the blood vessel was very enlarged and attached to something it wasn't suppose to be so he was able to remove it. We cannot thank the operating staff enough for their hard work and gentle hands with Kynzley!!!
Kynzley came out of surgery feeling sad and wanting something to drink -- badly!!! They tried to hold her off as long as possible to see if she would fall asleep for a bit and then when she woke up they would give her a popsicle and water. She never fell asleep, really wanted water! Finally the nurse agreed and Kynzley had a glass of water, a glass of apple juice and a popsicle! Since she was doing so well and had PLENTY of liquids they decided we could go home! She had surgery at 7:30am and we were discharged at 10am! Go Kynz!!!
Her current status is as good as expected. She came home yesterday and watched movies, ate ice cream and popsicles and has gone through every flavor of power-aide. Today has been close to the same! She's a little more sore today and slightly puffy, but doing well! We can tell when she's ready for another dose of medicine because she gets very irritable. She goes from being social and coloring to curling up in bed in the dark. We have our fingers crossed that she will be back to school with her friends on January 4!
Thank you everyone for your well wishes and prayers!

Last Monday, Kynzley left for school all excited for her class Christmas party. I don't think her day ended as planned :-(

I had to squeeze in a cute Christmas picture! All ready for church!

Dec 29, 2015 all ready for surgery

After surgery. LOTS of snuggles!

Her new snuggly, Sugar

Flowers to help brighten her spirits! (we moved an extra T.V. into her room so she could rest without  Benton bothering her. She doesn't like it as much as we thought. I think she gets lonely.)

FINALLY sleeping. She made it until 5pm before she dozed off after surgery. Trooper!

Day 2. A morning art activity

Didn't last long. Peacefully resting!

Halloween Brag Session

It has sadly been a bit since I've last updated :-( I always have good intentions to update everyone, but struggle to find the time to sit down and dive in. I am on week three of successfully having all the littles on the same afternoon schedule - only took a month and a half!!! This being said, I will take this moment of silence and brag a bit about my children and share our Halloween excitements!

Backing up a bit..... a couple weeks ago, Benton had his 15 month check up and Kynzley had her first teacher conferences of the school year. Both went GREAT!!!! Benton is happy and healthy as can be. He is only in the 50% for height and weight - Mr. Average :) He is definitely a busy boy! He runs all over the place, talks non stop and is always doing something that makes us laugh. The funny thing about Benton is that he doesn't say your typical words such as 'ball', 'no', 'more', 'hi', ect. he says phrases. His favorite is his bossy phrase "daddy, get it!" Some of his other favorites are: "I got it!", "where are you?", "where you go?", "Thank you!" and sometimes he will sit down with you and have a conversation without saying any specific words at all - gets pretty entertaining! He's a joy, that's for sure!!!! He loves to be outside and is obsessed with anything trucks/cars, tractors and fire trucks! Instead of knowing what a cow says, Benton can very quickly tell you what a "tacta" and "fire tuck" say!

After Benton was seen it was Kynzley's turn. I tied in an appointment for her too because she had been dealing with congestion for what seemed to be forever. Her head was all stuffy, she had a horrible cough and she was starting to have a very difficult time hearing. I was leaning towards a sinus infection. To our surprise Kynzley had a server ear infection! What?!?! No fever, no complaints of her ear hurting - nothing! This is only her second one ever. Her first one was when she was  16 months old. Explains why she couldn't hear! She was given some good meds and is on the mend!

We also had Kynzley's school conferences that same week. She is doing wonderfully!! No surprise there ;) Her teacher said she's a joy to have in class and would love to duplicate her! Kynzley loves to play with everyone - girls, boys, kids from other classes, she's a social butterfly! She is also ahead of the Kindergarten curriculum (which works out perfect for her because she is in a class called "looping" She has the same teacher for Kindergarten and 1st grade - her teacher is able to start her on first grade things!). She loves to read, write and do math! It has been fun to have her read stories to us at night :) Her teacher is having her start to journal since she loves to write and can form sentences. I cannot wait to hear some of the stories she creates! She is definitely loving Kindergarten!! I miss her every day when she runs off to the playground in the morning, but LOVE when she comes home and shares all her fun stories and activities from the day!

Halloween Shenanigans

We fit in a couple Halloween activities this year! It's always nice to be able to use this kids' costumes more than once, especially since this year I let Kynzley purchase one. Ohhhh it killed me!!! But she's at that point where she has an idea in her head and she wont let it go - not even to please mom :( I still was able to make Benton's! The kids went as a God and Goddess this year. They were cute :) We tried a new trick -or-treat activity this year with some friends. It was hosted at one of the local colleges. They had games set up and a trick-or-treat through the dorms. It was fun! This was Benton's first experience with collecting candy. He caught on VERY QUICK - walk up to strangers, look cute and they put candy in my bucket, score! In our group we had Elsa from Frozen, a ladybug and pumpkin and a greek God and Goddess. So cute! We also attended the yearly Enchanted Forest trick - or - treat. It was a tad chilly, but the kids still fully enjoyed themselves. There were lots of giggles! They also got to sing and dance with Hans Mayer, which is always fun. 

For Halloween weekend, the kids and myself packed up and headed to Chicago (daddy stayed behind to do manly things....clean the garage!). Kynzley didn't have school so we were able to arrive in Chicago at good time which allowed us to watch Mckenna and her school do a Halloween parade. It was so fun to watch the excitement and surprise look on McKenna's face when she saw Kynzley there! It was a beautiful day so while we waited for McKenna to finish the rest of her school day Kynzley and Benton ran off some steam on the schools playground :) Halloween day was COLD and RAINY!!!! It was miserable! The kids painted pumpkins and enjoyed each others company all afternoon while we all crossed our fingers hoping the rain would stop long enough to collect some candy. Thankfully the rain did stop!!! It was still chilly but with lots of layers everyone was ready to go! I switched Benton's costume up a bit. He became and warm and snugly penguin! It worked perfect and he looked adorable. The girls had a ton of fun running door to door, but it pooped them out pretty quick. Benton was a riot while trick-or-treating! He would not let got of his bucket that was quickly getting heavy and every time he went to a door he would yell some jibberish. Most of the time it was to tell the people he was coming and not to leave him out, other times I believe it was his way of saying trick-or-treat :)

Viterbo University Halloween Trick-or-Treat

Giana, Kynzley, Ari, Alex, Benton

                        

Benton, Kynzley and McKenna

Cousins :)