First Class

Rachael participated in her first gymnastics class today. I'm hoping she'll learn some control over her body. Watching this video, it also looks like she needs a little core strength too. (Ok, yes, I over-analyze)  It's hard to remember that she is just 3. She had a blast. She especially liked the trampoline and the pit (not shown).

Flora (with a little Fauna)

Part of my birthday experience provided by my mom was a trip to the gardens at Thanksgiving Point. I've never been there. It was fabulous. I am a sucker for flowers. This is a picture heavy post. Hope you enjoy!

Free. Free is Good.

Patrick's niece and nephew are getting older, so yesterday we inherited their play sets. Anna loves the Little Tykes one. She was excited to crawl through the openings and go down the slide. Rachael is ecstatic about the swings. We do need to replace the chain on the regular swing, but everything else works great. Woo Hoo!

Perspective

While reading a book about bugs, Rachael asked me why some of the bees were big and some were little. She didn't understand when I tried to explain that some were close and some were far away. So we did an "experiment" to show how things that are the same size can look smaller or larger. See the pictures below. I'm not sure that she really understood it, but she was excited to be like Sid the Science Kid and do an experiment.

The Zoo With Patrick

We went to the zoo last Saturday with Patrick. It was so crowded. We usually go during the week. They had a lot of animals out with handlers, so Rachael got to pet a ferret and a New Guinea singing dog. They didn't let her pet the tortoise or the lizard because there is some federal law that says they have to be 5 or older to touch a reptile. It was nice to have Patrick there. He hasn't been since last year. Of course, I didn't actually get any pictures to prove he was there. So, just believe me. 

Enjoy the cuteness!

Seizure

A week ago Tuesday, both Anna and Rachael were sick. Anna threw up 4 times the night before. Patrick changed her sheets 3 times. We think she was so tired that she just slept through the last one. Rachael threw up after she woke up around 7 a.m. luckily she was in the bathroom, unluckily she missed the toilet. So, after a morning of Pedialyte and saltines the girls seemed to be doing better. I started making lunch. Then Rachael started crying and coming that her stomach felt full. She came to me and was holding my leg and crying. Then she fell over. I thought she had lost her balance, but she was having a seizure. Her whole body went rigid and gray. She lost consciousness and could only breathe in explosive bursts spaced alarmingly far apart. After an eternity, she relaxed and a few seconds later was able to focus her eyes on me and start crying. The whole thing probably only lasted about 30 secs or so. I laid her down and she slept for an hour. She has done this at least twice before when she was under a year old and right around a year. We took her to the ER the first time. They checked her out and couldn't find anything wrong so sent us home saying to come back if she had so many within a certain time period or for longer than a certain amount of time. She did not have a fever with any of them.

I took her to the doctor later and he said he thought it might be what's called a breath-holding seizure. I looked it up later and it is an involuntary breath holding causing a lack of oxygen that leads to a seizure as opposed to faulty electrical activity in the brain that is part of a typical seizure disorder. To rule out the latter, the doctor ordered a sleep-deprived EEG. 

The night before Rachael's EEG, I showed her some clips from youtube of kids getting EEG's so she'd know what to expect. Patrick woke her up at 3 a.m. They played until about 6 when I took over. She was having a hard time staying awake, especially in the car ride to the hospital. You can see how tired she was in this first picture.

She did so well. She didn't cry and wasn't scared at all.

Here, she is all hooked up except for the heart monitor. You can see how many wires there were. She's holding a mirror so she can see them too.

After she was all hooked up, the tech had her do a couple things and then try to fall asleep. It didn't take her too long. When she was really asleep, he woke her up slightly and then flashed a strobe light in her face in different patterns. Here she is after it was all over. She was pretty tired still.

It will be a while before we get the results of the test.

Biker

Ok, sometimes, maybe I'm a bicyclist. Back at the beginning of June, I somehow became involved in a relay race in Ennis, MT with my sisters and mom. I rode 8 miles on my bike and didn't die and actually wasn't that sore. My muscles could have gone longer...my bum, not so much. I made it in 38 minutes according to the time stamp on the following picture taken by my mom at the relay point. Tawnia rocked it in her beautiful canoe. Mom walked the walk and Trystal ran. Kayla (our newest sister) was there for the assist portion.

I took the girls in the bike trailer to a park in Iona a week or two ago. It was 6.4 miles round trip. On our way back we saw these cute ducklings in the canal. I'm not sure, but I'm counting about 12 babies there. That is a lot of eggs to push out of one body. Maybe she's the daycare duck?

I guess the hardest part is consistency. To ride all the time, I would pretty much need to take the girls with me, which isn't bad unless the wind is blowing. In Idaho, the wind is blowing all the time. That bike trailer acts like a huge parachute behind a fighter jet slowing it down when it hits the deck. 

The best part is being outside and hearing all the birds and seeing green things. I wish I knew more of the names of what I see. I think it would be fun to be a birdwatcher. I need a good book for that. My birthday is coming....

So Close...

Have I mentioned Rachael's love affair with the zoo peacocks?

The Dentist

Rachael had her first dentist appointment this month. Thanks to youtube and elmo, she knew what to expect and didn't cry at all. She was a little nervous about the chair going up. She did everything she was told and even let them polish her teeth.

The Zoo, Again.

The last time we went, they had alot of the repair work done and more exhibits open. Rachael likes the "old turtles". We caught them regarding each other closely.

Mothers Day

Patrick got me live orchids for Mothers Day. They are beautiful. I hope I can keep them alive. They look a little more particular than my other houseplants.

Toothy

So, this post is a little late. Anna cut her first tooth on the 5th. She's got 2 more now, for a grand total of 3 in 2 weeks.
On a side note, the doctor's diagnosis of pneumonia last Friday was down graded upon review of the chest xray. Anna has bronchiolitis. This is actually the 2nd time for that diagnosis this year. Thank goodness for antibiotics. She's feeling much better now.