Lexey's real birthday

On Lexey's actual birthday we gave her a new shirt in the morning...a frozen shirt, which she wore all day!  Lex had requested we have meatballs and mashed potatoes for dinner. After dinner we planned a family party with a few other families in the park nearby. We invited the Hatch, Francis, Scott and Hansen families.  We played a few party games. We did 3 legged race, water balloon toss, and a few other games. We also ad ice cream cones. It was a fun evening, perfect for Lexey!  After the party we came home and opened a few presents.

Such a funny picture of both of them scratching their head.

Dave and Calvin rocked the 3 legged race!

Lexey's birthday #7

Lexey requested we have a sand cake while at the beach house....so we did that. It was about a week before her birthday but we did candles and sang. I gave her one present while there, a fun stretchy stuffed animal she liked.

I love all of lexey's facial expressions!

Lexey is such a sweet and happy person. She is really delightful. She has a very steady temperament and doesn't get upset easily. She is compassionate and thinks of others. She is the quickest to share, even give up what she has, if someone else wants it. She is special.  She laughs easily, smiles a lot and makes home a happier place.

Flat Stanley visited from CA

April 6, 2015

Dear Annika,

We enjoyed having flat Stanley come to visit.  We shared many adventures with Stanley while he was here.  First Stanley spent a few days with us in Houston and then went on a family vacation to Louisiana.  While in Houston we took Stanly with us to pick strawberries at Froberg farm.

Let me tell you about Houston, Texas.  Houston is the most populated city in Texas. That means it has the most people of any city in Texas.  There are about 5 ½ million people in the Houston area.  There are many people in Houston from all over the world.  Stanly got scared and wanted his seatbelt on while driving in Houston because of the terrible traffic!   In spring we see a lot of Texas Bluebonnets, which is the Texas state flower.   

In school this year we learned the Texas pledge of allegiance and the Texas state song.

The Texas state pledge is:

"Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible."

Texas is the second largest state in the United States. (The largest state is Alaska).

Now, let me tell you about our trip to Louisiana.   In Slidell, LA we went on a swamp tour. We saw one alligator.   The reason we didn't see more alligators is because they hibernate when it is cold.  There are about 3 million alligators in the state of Louisiana.  On our swamp tour we also saw wild hogs, a raccoon, some snakes, some birds.  The pigs and raccoons love to eat marshmallows which our tour guide fed them. The alligators love to eat hot dogs!

Flat Stanley came with us to New Orleans. However, he was running around and being crazy so he didn't make it into our pictures.  We went to the French Quarter and walked around. We ate Beignets which are like doughnuts but taste better and are sprinkled with powdered sugar. We saw the beautiful church, St. Lukes cathedral in Jackson Square.

In New Orleans we saw many cemeteries. The grave stones were really big.  We  noticed the graves were above ground. Some people call the cemeteries cities of the dead, because it looks like a city with streets.  The reason the graves are above ground instead of in the ground is because New Orleans has  a high water table and if you try to dig deep to bury people you will reach water before you get dep enough.  Also, New Orleans floods often.

We had a wonderful trip and enjoyed having Flat Stanley travel with us.  We spent many hours in the car and while we were bored we watched movies on the tablet or played on the Nintendo DS.  He was very quiet in the car and did not disturb anybody. We would be happy to have Stanley come with us on another family trip.

Sincerely,

Clare

                                                         

Lexey's hospital visit

After Alligator Alley we had planned to drive up to Hattiesburg but then last minute made the change to stay in Mobile since it was a bigger city with more hotel choices. We got super lucky, or were super blessed to find a great hotel on our first call.  A great hotel for our family is one with two rooms, the first room having two beds and the other room having a pull out couch so we can fit all six of us. It is really hard to find, and an indoor pool for the kids!. We found a great hotel called Homewood Suites by Hilton...their pool was outdoor but next door was another hilton hotel so they told us we could use either pool. We stopped for dinner just as we were pulling into the hotel. First we took the kids to McDonalds...it was a very modern McDonalds. Then we went to Dickey's BBQ for Dave and I and did take out. We got checked into the hotel and while the kids touched everything in the room and oooohhh and awwwwed over the TV we shut the door and ate all by ourselves. As good as it gets on family vacation!  Then we took the kids swimming and after that everyone was tired enough to go to bed quickly.

Dave and I stayed up really late talking.

Around 3am Lexey woke up saying her tummy hurt really bad. I laid by her for a little while and then went back to my bed. She was moaning and groaning and not resting at all. I kept trying to comfort her and help her go back to sleep.  She had a very specific localized pain just above her pelvic bone in her abdomen. This was strange to me as none of our kids with any kind of tummy bug has had such localized pain. Dave figured she was just coming down with a tummy bug. Around 5:30am Lexey finally threw up and so we figured Dave was right. After that she slept a little bit and we tried to sleep as well until the other kids started waking up. Dave took Calvin and Clare to breakfast and swimming while I slept with Jo and Lexey. After a little while, Jo woke up and Dave returned so I took Jo and Calvin swimming (Calvin can never get too much swimming).

When I got back to the hotel room around 11 to pack up and get ready to go, Dave was already up and ready. We decided we'd continue on with our trip and Lexey could just tag along and rest in the car. We tried to get her up to hop in the bath and was the throw up off her hair and change clothes, etc but she could not move. She was in too much pain. She was completely lethargic, limp as a rag and now running a fever.  Dave and I were alarmed to realize how sick she had gotten and discussed what to do.  Could we hit the road and get home to Houston, 7 hours away, before taking her to the DR?  If she had appendicitis as we suspected this wasn't a wise course of action.  Unfortunately, we knew we had to take her straight to the emergency room. We left the hotel around noon and drove 30 minutes to the children's hospital in Mobile.

I was nearly panicked and freaking out to leave Lexey in this hospital we knew nothing about and to be stuck hours from any friends or family.

Dave spent the day with her in the hospital and I took the other 3 kids to get lunch, fill up the car with gas, sit at the park and wait for news.  It took many hours to get an answer.  First, they waited in the waiting room, then in their own room.

waiting

 


 Around 3pm lexey got an IV and they drew blood for labs and she went pee in a cup for a urinalysis. Around for she went for a CT Scan.

on the way to the CT scan

getting set up for the CT

Isn't lexey sweet.

 Waiting for results (IV in right hand)

Labs showed that Lexey had a high white count. The CT scan was inconclusive. The ER doc said it would be up to the general surgeon what to do.  She had all the symptoms of appendicitis and every doctor she saw in the ER figured she'd be going into surgery as soon as the general surgeon was available.

Lexey was an angelic patient, being totally cooperative with all staff and drs. She was very descriptive in her answers when asked questions. 

She was in so much pain during the day that when Dave explained she might need surgery she said she would want surgery to take the pain away.

By this time the kids and I were bored sitting around and everyone needed to go to the bathroom. We decided to go to Target and get Lexey a get well package. We a teddy bear, pens, paper, legos, play doh, some colorful shorts, and a  lego set. At this point, we thought she'd be in the hospital for at least one full day.

Around 5:30 or 6 the general surgeon came to see Lex and said that he could see clearly on the CT that she did not have appendicitis. He thought her bladder looked inflamed and wanted to get another urinalysis (clean catch) in the morning and wanted to keep her over night for observation. Dave said that keeping her overnight means do nothing over night so he decided it'd be better just to drive home during the night and keep an eye on her so that if she needed medical attention by morning we'd be home.

We left Mobile about 7pm and arrived home before 1:30am.  Lexey was starting to feel a bit better by evening and drank a little Gatorade and ate some dry cheerios on our ride home. Then she slept most of the way.

The next day, Friday, Lexey was pretty slow going and we watched lots of TV so she could rest. She was improving and eating. By Monday Lex was back to 100%. We never knew what was wrong with her but I suppose that happens sometimes. We wonder if she were at another hospital if they would have operated on her based on her symptoms. Most hopstials do not do a CT scan before each appendectomy. So maybe it was a blessing we were in Mobile.

Dave said the medical staff and drs were all very kind and competent and it seemed like a great hospital. It was called USA childrens and womens hospital.

We sure love our Lexey and are so thankful she is happy and healthy once more. 

Alligator Alley

We absolutely LOVED alligator Alley in Summerdale, AL. It was so worth the trip and the $50 for our family to get in to see it. A one of a kind experience!

 At the first chance to hold an alligator Lexey decided just to pet it.

Calvin was awesome and wanted to hold it.

 so did I

Then we walked back into the swampy area where we could see the really big gators. We got there really late in the day, only about 30 minutes before closing, so we missed the gator feedings during the day. The owner was kind enough to come out to the swamps with us and do a couple of feedings of the really big guys. It was amazing.

At first Calvin didn't want to come out and chose to sit in the car but after a few minutes of prodding Dave got him to come in. once there I think he really enjoyed the experience.

When we were gearing up for a family photo, one of the employees offered to get out another gator for us to hold for the family picture. So kind!

By this time Lexey and Jo had warmed up to the idea and decided they'd hold it too!  I think Dave and Clare finished the day without touching a gator.

 Clare being dramatic