Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas, and we hope all of our friends and family had a nice holiday too. We flew up the 23rd, and had Christmas eve at Lois and John's house. Nana was doing so well...she was up in her wheelchair and was so happy. Christmas day we went to see J and Lauren and our nephew Aiden (he's getting SO big!). Matt's parents were there, and it was so nice to see them! We had a wonderful dinner (who'd have ever thought that stuffing with lil' smokies would be so yummy!), and we spent many hours hanging out with family...it was so nice. Then on the 26th, my mom, my brother, my cousin Jaimie and I met my cousin Lauren at the tattoo parlor. We got pretty things there. :-) Then on the 27th (the day we left), Kayley had a touch of the flu and couldn't have the birthday party we were planning for her. She stayed with my parents while Matt and I went to see my Nana again (apparently after Christmas, she started getting worse, and she had been unresponsive). We left to go to the airport later that day, and found out our flight was delayed almost 2 hours! We FINALLY land in Baltimore, and wait to ge our luggage, where it had said Manchester, only to find out that they'd changed where they would send our luggage. We were waiting for our luggage at the claim that was listed as the claim for Providence. Grr...so we find our claim and get our luggage, and by that time it was almost 10pm. We went straight to the hotel and went to sleep, got up in the morning and went home. Now Matt has laryngitis. Poor thing. :-( We got a call at almost midnight last night from my brother telling me that my Nana had passed. Now, Kayley and I are going back to NH on Thursday (Poor Matt can't take any more time off), and we'll be back on Sunday. I'm so sad, but only for myself and my family. I'm so happy for Nana...she hasn't been well for a long time. It's been such a long couple of weeks...all in all though, our Christmas was fun, and it was so nice to see family we hadn't seen in a while. :-)

Almost Christmas...

Since we are flying to see family for Christmas this year, Kayley's been getting several larger presents delivered to her (how lucky is she?!) She's already received many wonderful things. Nana and Grampa have sent her lots of fun things, including an electric paintbrush light set (very cool), a Barbie Fairy, some foam crafts, an adorable outfit with a Hello Kitty vest, and a Ballerina book. She loves them so much, and she's been having a great time playing with all her new toys. She also received a handmade afghan from Matt's aunt Mary, along with a very cute stuffed afghan pony named Penelope. We were able to get a picture of Kayley, sound asleep, wrapped up in her new afghan with the pony at her head on her pillow. So sweet! And a HUGE thank-you to Matt's Uncle Bob and Aunt Kathie for the basket of assorted English Muffins and Strawberry Jam...they are so tasty, and Kayley loves the cinnamon ones!

We can't wait to see everyone...we're so excited to get there! It's been since July since Matt and Kayley have been to NH/MA to see family, but I last saw them in September. Either way, we feel it's been too long!

The weather here has been very strange...one day last week, it was almost 70 degrees! Then it promptly went down to about 40 the next day. It's nothing like the ice storm that hit NH/MA 3this past week. No wonder so many people have been getting sick. Kayley has a cold, but she's starting to get over it, with only a bad cough left. Matt had a slight cold, but it went away quickly, and I had a small one too.

We're doing pretty well...and we're so excited that we've pretty much finished shopping. I think we have finished, actually. And there's only 6 more days until we arrive in Manchester, 8 more days until Christmas, 9 more days until me, Mom, Stephen and several cousins are going to have a bonding time at a local tattoo and piercing shop, and 10 more days until we're back home. :-)

We have a wonderful lady coming to the apartment to check in on the cats while we're gone. She'll come on the 24th, and on the 26th. I'm going to leave special instructions to give the cats their Christmas presents on Christmas eve, and possibly some ham from the fridge. It's just so much less upsetting to the cats for them to stay at home, instead of being boarded. And much cheaper too...it's wonderful.

Merry Christmas!! I'll post again after we get back!

Turkey day!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! We had a very nice day, and we all even got to sleep in a little. Matt started his famous turkey, and it soon filled the house with fabulous turkey-smell. :-) We ate, and Matt and I felt sleepy, but Kayley was just as revved up as ever. We took her out to the soccer field so she could run it off. And she did...she's a heck of a runner. :-D Matt talked to his Nana, and then to his Mom and Dad, and wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Then around 3, Stephen called and put my Nana on the phone. I hadn't talked to her on the phone in about a year, just because her hearing's a little rough. It was wonderful to hear her voice...especially since she was so happy to be home for good....I could actually HEAR her smiling!! I really miss everyone though, this was the first major holiday since Kathy passed away. This was also the first holiday since we moved to the East coast that we had a Thanksgiving...just the 3 of us. :-) It was very nice, and we had a very nice day!

Good day!

Today was a pleasing day indeed. :-) This morning, Matt and I brought Kayley to have her pictures taken again. We went to WalMart 2 weeks ago and they were horrible. The pics from there came back today and they were OK, but not as good as they could have been. This time, we went to JCPenney. Before the appointment, I did her hair, and I used the curling iron and made her look super cute. When we made the appointment last week, they suggested that we wrap a present and give it to her so she can open it for the pictures for a prime photo opportunity. So, we gave that to her today too, but even before we did, the pictures and her smile were SO GOOD! It was awesome, and the photographer was sensational. He was so good with her, and he was very energetic. What a great experience. I don't think we'll go anywhere but JCPenney again. :-)

We went to the movies today too, and saw Bolt, a 3-D animation that opened yesterday. It was so cute, and the first time I think I'd ever kind of cried during a cartoon. It really was wicked cute though, and I can't wait for it to come out on DVD so we can own it. I wonder if our new 3-D glasses will work for a DVD....this was the first time I'd ever seen a 3-D movie at the theater, and it was trippy. :-)

We went to the movies last weekend too, and saw Madagascar 2. It was awesome, and so much better than the 1st one. We're going to have to own that too when it comes out!

I just found out that my Nana's going home for good! She's going home for Thanksgiving, and staying. I'm so happy to hear that...she's been hating the nursing home...they haven't been taking very good care of her. She is going to freak out when she find out that she doesn't have to go back! Yay!!
!

Finally!!

We finally heard back from the urologist, and Kayley has an appointment on December 19th at 2pm. And we don't even have to go to Richmond (yay)! So, it'll be good to see what he says about Kayley's kidneys and the correct course of treatment. :-)

Stupid glue gun. Kayley and I were making Christmas crafts yesterday, and I burned 3 fingertips. Ouchie...took almost 3 hours with my hands in cold water for the burning feeling to stop. :-(

Nothing much else to report. We got Kayley's pictures done last weekend, and they didn't come out very good at all. She was fake-smiling. So, we're going to go to JCPenney and try again either this weekend or next.

Hooray!!

I just want to brag that Nana walked 30 feet today!! She rocks! I am so proud of her!

A few more things to celebrate:

Kayley went #2 in the potty all by herself, with no nudging from me. Heck, I didn't even ASK her to! Sorry of this was too much info. But I thought this day wouldn't come...haha

AND, we just bought our plane tickets for Christmas! YAY! Prices weren't too bad either, for all 3 of us. :-)

Still no word from the urologist yet. I'm going to try another number I got for them and try to get an appointment for next week.

I'm a little bummed that Matt doesn't have Veterans Day off....he always has in the past, but not this year? I just don't get it. :-( Oh well. Maybe I'll drop him off at work on Wednesday so Kayley and I will have lunch with my mom...she's here in Reston, VA for a biotech conference. :-)

Where the wild things AREN'T...

Kayley had a great time last night during our first year trick-or-treating in Virginia. We saw just a few trick-or-treaters on our path, and maybe 10% of the doors we knocked on actually HAD people passing out candy. It was very disappointing for us, and I know it would have been disappointing for Kayley if she were a little bit older. But at her age, she was just happy to be dressed in a princess dress, walking around at night, and getting some candy. We have 572 apartments in this apartment complex, and it is very hard to tell who is taking part in Halloween and who is not. There is no outside light people put on when they are passing out candy, like there used to be when Matt and I were kids and trick-or-treating. Matt came up with a good idea for next year...everyone who is participating in halloween and handing out candy should put a red bow or something on their door. Maybe next year, we'll just go to the mall.

We got a few yummy-looking bread recipes from Matt's mom in the mail yesterday. They look really tasty, and I can't ait to try them...thanks Deb!

It's supposed to be a gorgeous day today, about 75 degrees! We're going to go to a fall-type fest, and have a good time. And tomorrow, we're going to try to get Kayley's Christmas pictures done. :-D

voter frustration....

I'm glad I did this before I spent hours in line waiting to vote. I went on CanIVote.org to find out if in fact I am registered here. My name didn't show up in my county, so I called the voter registration, and apparently they didn't get my registrations when I went to the DMV to get my license in February. And it's too late to register now, as the cutoff date was Oct. 6th. Ahhh! OK, I wouldn't call myself a very political person. In fact, I'd say that I don't care about politics much at all. This would have been the first election that I'd ever have taken part in. Seriously. I've never done this before. Anyway, this is one election I wanted to take part in, because I believe this is one of the most important ones in a very long time. I don't want the wrong person to become president.

Holday season with a toddler...

I feel like I'm about to go insane. When Kayley and I are watching TV together, commercials come on for some new toy, and all Kayley can say is "I want that", or "I want to do that". I'm getting so good at saying "I know you do, sweetie..." I feel like a broken record. I've started Christmas shopping for Kayley, for her birthday AND Christmas. I'm getting there, but I still have so much left to do. I saw something that said "holiday season" and I just about had a panic attack. :-)

I can't believe Kayley is going to be 4 this year! She's been talking so well, in full sentences...and she just WON'T stop! She really tries to elaborate and talk about everything she's thinking about. And she just loves to draw. She draws all the time...flowers, cats, just about anything. She's good at it too!

Our nephew Aiden turns one in just a few days! He is such a big handsome boy, and he is very smart. I can't wait to see him when we go up to NH for Christmas!

Matt's parents are also coming home for Christmas! It was so nice to see them when they were in MA in May, and Kayley had such a great time having out with her Nana and Grampa. :-)

Matt, Kayley and I are going to Florida in Febuary. Kayley and I went last year, but Matt was unable to go. But this year, he's coming with us, and I'm so excited! I can't wait to bring Kayley back to Disneyworld. She had so much fun there last time, that she still talks about it to this day! I really like sitting on the beach and watching the pelicans dive bomb themselves into the ocean looking for tasty treats....it cracks me up!

Anyway, as far as Kayley's medical stuff goes, I'm still waiting to hear back from the pediatric urologist. As soon as there's an appointment, I'll post about it. :-)

Kayley update

Kayley's doctor FINALLY called me back yesterday, and it's pretty good news. Her reflux isn't as bad as we thought. We thought it'd be a stage 4 or 5 reflux (which would be the worst grade), but on the right it was more of a 2-3, and a stage 2 on the left. Bottom line is, she started a daily low-dose antibiotic last night, and she should grow out of it. The pediatrician told me that it was probably worse when she was younger and that she's most likely growing out of it now. I have to call the pediatric urologist today and we'll decide the best course of treatment. She probably will NOT need surgery, which is awesome! I mean, it's still a possibility, but a less likely one. :-) Good news all around. We're very happy. :-)

No word yet...

There's been no word yet from Kayley's doctor about the results of her test on Wednesday. I was very much hoping that they'd have come in by now. I hope we get a call by Monday, because I really want to know what we have to do next.

Kayley's fine and back to her old self again. And she just adores that Sleeping Beauty bear that we got for her after her procedure. She brings it with her everywhere we go. And Orbitz has been sleeping with her just about every night since. He's very protective over her, and they love each other so much. I got some pictures of him sleeping in her bed with her arm around him...it's seriously the sweetest thing. :-)

The weather's kind of strange lately. One day last week, it was in the 70s, almost to the 80s, and now we're lucky if we get to 60s. :-) I like it though, as long as it's nice and sunny. This is my favorite time of year. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, but Sunday's supposed to be gorgeous. I don't know what we'll do, and I don't really care, as long as it's fall-related.

Tomorrow, it'll be 5 weeks since my aunt Kathy passed away. It's been really hard for so many people in my family, and I'm having a really hard time of it myself. I just can't imagine what things are going to be like with her gone. She was such a huge part of this family. Very much like a matriarchal-type. I miss her.

Kayley's VCUG

We went to the hospital this morning around 9:30, and the procedure started around 10. The first thing they did was take an x-ray of her bladder and kidney. Then came the hard part. They had to catheterize her (which made her scream), push liquids into her bladder, and let her urinate. They had to do it twice, and we had to hold her down the whole time. It was horrible, not only for her, who had to go through it, but for us too. It was so hard to see her in pain and uncomfortable.

Anyways, The preliminary results showed that she does have a pretty severe reflux going on there, about a stage 4 or 5 (the tech said that he'd seen much worse in his career). Now, where we go from here, we don't know. I'm going to call the pediatrician tomorrow, she should have the results, we'll go over them, and then we'll be sent to a pediatric urologist from there.

The tech did say that some kids grow out of this problem, but in severe cases, she may need surgery to correct the problem. So we'll see. We don't even know exactly all the details right now. But as soon as we know anything, I'll post.

As soon as we were finished the appointment and Kayley (and we) calmed down enough, we brought her to Toys 'R Us (because she totally deserved it), and got some lunch. Now, we're sitting in the living room (Kayley's snuggled up with her Dada with her new Sleeping Beauty Bear) watching Sleeping Beauty. I'm just glad this test is over with, although it probably won't be the last time. Next time though, they said they can sedate her. This was way too much for her to take.

I'll let you know where we go from here...

~Jess

Luray Mountains and Belvedere Plantation

Over the weekend, Matt, Kayley and I went up north to the town of Luray. There's an area called Skyline Drive that allows us to take a drive along the mountains and see fantastic views of the trees, the sky, and the valley below. It was beautiful. Next time we go, we're going to pack a picnic lunch.

Also, we went to Belvedere Plantations, which is a HUGE farmland area with pumpkin picking, pig races, face painting and lots of other things. We had a great time, and the kettle corn is unbelievable. ;-)

Kayley's VCUG is tomorrow...

Tomorrow, Kayley's having a VCUG (voiding cystourethrogram). What they're going to do, is catheterize, put in fluids, and wait for her to evacuate the fluid. In other words, the whole test will depend on how she urinates. :-) It's basically a test to make sure she doesn't have a reflux (which is very similar to heartburn and acid reflux, just...down there.) Anyway, it should take about 40 minutes, and hopefully we'll know the results soon after that. If it's negative, awesome. If there's a problem, depending on the severity of the situation, chances are good that she'll grow out of it in a few years. We'll find out tomorrow.

So, this is my blogspot. Several people I know have one, and I thought I'd give it a try for myself. :-)