Drama Mama

This afternoon Bella came over to play. Somehow Natalie slid off her bed onto something that tore a little bit of skin off the bottom of her foot. It was drama the rest of the afternoon/evening. She wasn't sure if she could walk or bend down to get anything. The bandaid kept coming off. She couldn't take a bath, put on a sock, etc...She was barely walking or limping. We'll see if she forgets about her "injury" when she wakes up tomorrow.

Natalie visits Bella's New Room

Bella has a brand new pink and green big girl room that was just completed today. Natalie went to visit and they shared a book together in the reading nook.

Goggles

We bought Natalie some goggles. It took her a while to put them on once we got to the pool. Eventually she did, but said it would be 85 days before she put her head under water to use them!

Straight Hair

Today just for fun I straightened Natalie's hair.

Meds Day 1

Today Natalie started her medication, Sulfasalazine. So far so good. Some kids have allergic reactions to it, but she's been fine today. The meds make her more susceptible to sunburns so we'll have to keep sunblock on her at all times when out.

1st Dance Recital

Last night was Natalie's first dance recital. She and her classmates danced to a song called "In my Ballet Shoes." She seems to love being on stage and dancing! She's learned a lot this year and is looking forward in being in dance next year.

Dance Recital Rehearsal

Tonight Natalie practiced for her dance recital. She is sooo excited about dancing in the recital tomorrow. She was exhausted after tonight's run through. Tomorrow is going to be even later!

Pool TIme

Fun at the pool!

Gym

Lately Natalie has been asking to go to the kids club at the gym to play. Today Aissa and I took Bella and Natalie to the gym to test it out on a trial basis just to see how they'd do. They seemed to both have fun and said they'd go back, so we might just have a winner! It would work out for Mark and me nicely. Then we could both go to the gym for a while and not have to take turns watching Natalie. Mark can rehabilitate his miniscus in the pool or on other equipment and I can run more. Hopefully her enthusiasm will continue!

Fiesta Farms

Today Natalie and I took a trip to the farm - Fiesta Farms that is! They have a ton of different animals out there: llamas, goats, sheep, rabbits, guinea pigs, pigs (and 8 baby pigs too), chickens, turkeys, horses, dogs, peacocks, and emus. Natalie fed the sheep, goats, rabbits, and guinea pigs. She got to hold a rabbit, although it wiggled quite a bit. She listened to a peacock squak and make all kinds of noise. One of the baby pigs escaped from his cage and was so excited to be running around outside. He was squealing and having all kinds of fun. We met up with Jana and Lauren and the girls played on the multiple playgrounds, took a hay ride, and rode the horses. It was a lot of fun, just really hot and humid!

Sandia

Natalie spent part of the day at Poppy and Grandma's house while I got some homework done. She ate a piece of watermelon at their house, one of her favorite foods. She loves the end pieces of the watermelon because she can suck the juice through a straw once it starts to accumulate.

Same day, different library

Natalie had to run an errand with me to my former school library to get something done for one of my classes. She found a comfy spot to read!

Story Time

Today Natalie had a great time at the playground with her friends Lauren and Lilly. After playing at the playground we went to story time at the library where she heard two books read about dogs and made a dog foldable craft. She had a great time!

Father's Day

Natalie began the day with an exciting trip to the Cracker Barrel. She wasn't excited about going at first, but then when she saw the store inside and all of the toys she was glad she was there. After breakfast she picked out one of those weasels on a ball that rolls. The dogs and cat were just mildly amused by it. I don't think any of them will attack it, although Oliver might bat at it.

Natalie gave her daddy his gift today: pictures we had taken of us secretly last Wednesday. She did a great job keeping the secret for so many days. I will try to post some of the pictures later. He also got a new wallet.

We spent part of the day at Poppy and Grandma's house. She picked wildflowers, played with toys, rode her bike, and threw Shatze's stuffed frog for him. She was exhausted when we left and actually fell asleep in the car. I don't know how anyone can actually sleep all bent over like that!

New PJs

Natalie has been wanting pajamas that are dresses (instead of the boring shorts/t-shirts we normally have her wear.) She picked out Dora pajamas today at Kohl's. I am anti-cartoon characters on clothing, but since she'll just be wearing it to bed I guess I can live with it. It does look cute on I guess. It came with yellow slippers and a scrunchie for her hair. I am also anti-scrunchie, but again for bed I can make an exception.

Buddy Bucks

Natalie has been collecting Buddy Bucks from HEB. Every time she is good when we shop she gets to ask for buddy bucks from the cashier. She inserts the buddy bucks into a machine that grabs little plastic pieces with stickers inside. Each sticker has a point value and they are kept in a sticker collection book to redeem for future prizes. We finally redeemed a bunch of them in the machine today. She took previous stickers she got from the machine and turned them in for a new pail and shovel and a frisbee. She is very proud of them and ready to take them to the beach at any given time we decide to go! She got a bunch of 50 point stickers today, but will redeem them in the next round of prizes.

Easy Bake Sugar Cookies

Today Natalie did more baking in her Easy Bake Oven. Today it was sugar cookies. They turned out nicely, but it's just takes a long time to bake 4 of them. Each cookie cooks individually for 10-12 minutes each. But she had a lot of fun and especially enjoyed adding the sprinkles.

Last day of dance

Today was Natalie's last day of dance class for the year. She still has her dance rehearsal and recital left to go though. In dance today Natalie's class performed their dance in front of the girls in the class next door and vice versa. Then they all practiced their final dance of the evening, "We are Family." Their recital doesn't start until 7 pm and won't end until 9 something...way past Natalie's bedtime. I volunteered to be one of the moms backstage so I guess I can always bring her night night and pillow if she wants to lay down (yeah right.)

Fun at the Pool

Natalie and Bella had fun splashing at the pool this afternoon.

Mi Tierra

Since we were already downtown and so close to some great Mexican restaurants, we stopped by Mi Tierra for lunch. We haven't eaten there for a loooooong time! Natalie doesn't ever remember eating there even though I'm sure she's been there a few times. We managed to get some pictures of her at the resaurant and bakery even though the lighting wasn't all that great for picture taking on a cell phone. Natalie left with a few goodies from the bakery because who can resist?

followup visit

Today was Natalie's followup appointment for her colonoscopy on Monday. The testing revealed that she has proctitis (inflammation of the rectum.) It is a very mild case and going on medication may help clear it up and make the bleeding stop. She had to get more blood drawn today and give them a stool sample. The blood tests she did were CBC (red and white blood platelets and anemia), ESR (inflammation), and IBD. Once the results of the blood work and the stool sample come back she can start the medication, Sulfasalazine.
She'll keep taking the meds through September at least and then go back to the pediatric GI doctor for another visit. At that time we'll see if the bleeding has stopped and move on from there. The doctor said that in some cases bleeding does stop. He may also have to do a flexible sigmoidoscopy to check to see if the inflammation is still present. This is just a wait and see what happens kind of thing. In some cases inflammation goes away and sometimes it develops into something more. At least we have some answers and a plan.

New header

Like the new header? I like it so much better than what was there before. Thanks, Steph!

Devil's Food Cake

It's been a while since Natalie has baked anything in her Easy Bake oven. Tonight she made a devil's food cake and was really proud of it. It looks like we'll be doing some more lightbulb baking this weekend.

gifts

Grandma Lou took care of Mark today during his surgery. She brought Natalie a couple of gifts. Natalie got a dress, a Hello Kitty clock radio, and some food items for her Easy Bake oven. She's ready to bake everything today!

HEB

This has to be the best invention ever! Natalie asks for her own buddy bucks now, puts them in the machine herself, and places the stickers in her book. I don't know what prize we're working towards yet, but she just likes the stickers.

VIA Bus

Today was VIA bus day at Pre-K. Natalie was so excited to ride the bus! They watched a bus safety video and took a 2 mile ride on the bus. Natalie says she rode in the very back of the bus and it was fun. She also made a Father's Day gift and brought it home nicely wrapped. I guess we'll see what that is on Sunday.

Mark's Surgery

Mark had surgery today on his miniscus. Hope I spelled that correctly. His mom came over early to take him, and the wait was longer than the actual surgery. He is resting at home with medication and some type of machine that has water and ice in it that helps alleviate pain.

Does she have a license?

Today after lunch with Mark we headed out to Poppy and Grandma's house. Natalie had a long list of things she wanted to do while she was there and driving the tractor was one of them! She did a great job driving and even turned it around at the end of the driveway. I asked her if she'd drive me home since she already knows how to drive, but she said she only knows how to drive tractors.

Dr. Natalie

Natalie has been having a blast with her doctor outfit and kit. Today she was practicing on one of her favorite patients, Oliver. He didn't seem to mind.

the day after

Natalie was definitely feeling better today. She ate pretty well, although her full appetite hasn't quite returned yet. She went to Pre-K (don't call it daycare) with her three heart monitor stickers on, but we covered them up with a t-shirt so no one would notice. Those things were stuck on so tight that it seemed like if we tried to take them off like bandaids it might take her skin with it! Thank goodness Brandi gave us some adhesive tape remover. They were small, oily cloths that I used like floss under each sticker that wore off the adhesive. They came off pretty easily and it was relatively painless. I only heard a couple of "owwwws" but I think they were more for dramatic effect. The rectal bleeding still persists and I've had to answer a lot of Natalie's questions about how much longer it will persist. I keep telling her that we will know more on Friday.

Natalie was excited to start her Tuesday computer class, an extra program through her Pre-K, and thought it was "excellent". They talked about internet safety and are working on some type of computer program together to solve a mystery.

Natalie took care of Poppy and Grandma's plants, flowers, and dog while they were on vacation. She got a trip to the toy store for being such a great helper. One of the items she picked out was a doctor's coat complete with a stethoscope, thermometer, and other fun tools. At the hospital yesterday she was given a bag full of doctor items that she could use to dress up in: gloves, hat, shoe covers, swabs, guaze, tongue depressor, alcohol wipes, etc... so now she has the lab coat to go with it. She's been playing doctor since she got home yesterday and I think it's a good way for her to work out what she's been through. At the hospital yesterday when they listened to her heart they told her to take "Big Bad Wolf breaths." So, of course we are all having to take our Big Bad Wolf breaths today with her play stethoscope. She cannot wait to wake up tomorrow and continue playing doctor.

colonoscopy

This morning Natalie had her colonoscopy. We have now ruled out polyps, but there are still many things that it could be. They did a biopsy and will have the results on Friday at her followup appointment. The list of could be diagnosis includes: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (which includes Crohn's and ulcerative colitis), proctitis, or some type of infection. The doctor said on a scale of 1-10 for severity it's a 1(mild.) I don't know if that's really good news or not. It's too hard to tell at this point.

Natalie was such a trooper today through everything. She got compliments from all of the nurses on what a good patient she was. One of the nurses wanted her to come to the hospital to train other kids on how to behave and what to expect at their hospital visit. Her anesthesiologist praised us highly on what a mature, well adjusted, sweet, and well prepared child she is.

Today Natalie talked about wanting a hot dog on a bun with ketchup in the middle. I think she let every nurse know who she came in contact with. So, tonight we made sure she had one. She was thriled!

Natalie and I looked at her colonoscopy pictures and talked about what might happen on Friday. I think she has some understanding of what is going on. She is more concerned about the heart monitor patches that they left on her. Those things are so sticky that I don't know how we're going to be able to take them off of her! She hates having even a bandaid removed so this should be fun.

Liquid Diet day 2

When I compare liquid diet day one to day two, it's like day and night. Yesterday everything was "fun" and new. Natalie could eat as many popsicles as she wanted to and drink her broth through a pretty colored straw. The jello was colorful and tasty. Today the novelty had worn off and she refused to eat. She would drink the MiraLax mixed with sugar free lemonade, but she only got 3 glasses out of the 4 she was supposed to drink down. Part of the third glass came right back up as projectile vomit with Mark and the couch as the unintended targets. I think she is pretty much empty and ready for tomorrow's colonoscopy.

Jello, broth, and popsicles

Prepping for a colonoscopy with a four year is not much fun. All she can eat is jello, broth, and popsicles. Everything must be sugar free and nothing red or purple. That narrows it down to peach, orange, lime, and lemon jello. Broth choices are vegetable or chicken and she will only drink it with a straw. Whatever works! We were only able to find orange sugar free popsicles. Everything else in sugar free is the wrong color. Drink choices are water (which doesn't taste too good with MiraLax mixed in), sugar free lemonade, or an orange sugar free drink. Yum. Mark and I aren't eating in front of her so that she doesn't feel so bad. In other words we are all hungry and we still have one more day of this. Her procedure is Monday morning and we have to be there at 6:00 am. This weekend cannot go fast enough!

Friday was the last day of VBS. Natalie was disappointed to see it end, but she has a CD to listen to that will remind her of the fun week. Natalie spent Friday afternoon with her friend Bella eating and riding bikes.

3D Artwork

Natalie got a 3D washable sidewalk paint kit as a goodbye gift from one of her friends at daycare. Today was her first day using it and she had a blast. Kamryn came over and they used the stencils, chalk, and paint to make designs on the driveway. When you put special 3D glasses on the images actually look 3D. They had a great time with it even though it was hotter than an oven outside!

Natalie and Rocky

Natalie loves her dog, Rocky!

Word Art

spirit day & picnic day

Thursdays are spirit days at Pre-K, so Natalie is showing off her new shirt in the picture. It was picnic day so she ate lunch outside. Today they had an egg and spoon race, bean bag toss, and other outdoor activities. It was an exciting day! Natalie was thrilled to have met a new friend to play with outside too from another class. She knew she was five, but couldn't remember her name though. She must play really hard there because she's exhausted and thirsty when she comes home.

Playdate and dress up

Natalie had a playdate with her friend Kamryn today. They dressed up and had a tea party with pretend tea (water). Natalie loves to dress up and now she has the perfect ensemble to dress up in - her Aunt Stephanie's old dance costume! It's way too big for her but she doesn't mind at all! Since she takes dance classes she thinks it's really fun to wear it.

Vacation Bible School

Natalie is having a great time at Vacation Bible School. Today she watched a puppet show, made rainforest animal puppet, and ate a spider for snack. It wasn't a real one - it was made out of Oreos with ice cream in the middle and it had pretzel legs. Yum! She was good today so as a special treat she got a lollipop.