Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Keeping Cool at Disneyland

We went to Disneyland today. It was hotter than normal for the area, it was close to 90 degrees.

What better way to keep cool and refreshed than with a squirt bottle. Rachel didn't know how to squirt it to make water come out, but the people who passed us by didn't know that. LOL.
Staying cool in the shade up on a horse.
Keeping cool with her shades on.

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Haylee Comes to Play

Haylee came and spent the day with our family today. Her and Rachel played so well together and had a lot of fun. And I got a taste of what it would be like to have twins, as they are only 6 months apart in age. LOL.

"I bet the two of us could really drive my Mommy crazy, shall we try?"
This afternoon, we went to a church BBQ.
The girls found a ball to play with and had fun with that for a while.
And they had a blast chasing each other on the play structures.
Stopping for a water break.
McKenzie spent the day with Gramma, next time, she can come join the fun with the three kids at our house.

Friday, May 26, 2006

"Mmmmm Good"

Gramma makes really good spaghetti.
Can you tell how much I enjoyed it??

Thursday, May 25, 2006

ENT Appointment

Rachel saw her ENT this morning, and he confirmed that the hearing evaluation showed minimal hearing loss. However, at this age it is hard to get accurate results, espeically if the child doesn't cooperate. He saw no need to replace the tubes but did prescribe some ear drops to help clear up a possible clog in one of her tubes. She'll have her hearing retested again in 4 months and we'll see him again for follow up.

Monday, May 22, 2006

Hearing Evaluation

When Rachel saw the Craniofacial team in February, they recommended that Rachel have a hearing evaluation because it is routine with cleft affected children.

Rachel had that hearing evaluation today. And much to our surprise, she failed the two tests in both ears. The audiologist diagnosed her with mild hearing loss. And suggested we see her ENT for follow up. Thankfully we don't have to wait too long and I was able to get an appointment for Thursday morning.

Not really worried about the diagnosis. The way they test a 21 month old can't be all that accurate. And Rachel wasn't exactly cooperating either. LOL. We'll see what the ENT says when he sees her and go from there.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Friends

Sitting quietly, planning their next attempt to drive their mothers crazy.
The sign says it all.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Lunch and a Playdate

The girls and I went to lunch at a friends house today. Lisa has two boys ages 5 and 2, both very close in age to my girls, so they got along great!

Following lunch, Lisa found shorts and t-shirts for the girls, and together, the kids enjoyed the little pool and the hose and getting wet.

Rachel loves the water...she loves it when the sprinklers are on, she loves playing in the water when the hose is on and is leaking from the faucet. So she had a blast today!

Monday, May 15, 2006

New Wheels for Rachel

Since Rachel was born, we've been using the stroller we got new when Hannah was born. Needless to say this stroller has put the miles on, several hundred miles just at Disneyland, not to mention the miles I've put on it when I was walking for exercise. It looks dingy and looks pretty well used. The basket is being held up by a piece of plywood. That's how bad of shape it's in.

I've looked at new strollers, yard sales, and Ebay, never finding anything as sturdy as the current one I have. I was excited last week when I ran across an ad on Craigslist, for a stroller that looked brand new, was the same company of my current stroller, and fit exactly what I was looking for. Only thing was it came with the infant carrier, which I had no use for. LOL. After thinking about it a few days, I came to the conclusion that the stroller alone was worth the $40 they were wanting for the set, so I contacted the seller and now have a new stroller!

We took it to Disneyland today and put the first of many miles in the years to come!

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Latest Accomplishment

Rachel's mastered the task of climbing the ladder to the slide, and boy is she proud about that!

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day. Some Mothers wake up to breakfast in bed. Some wake up to flowers and homemade cards. What do I wake up to?? Not one kid with gunky eyes, but BOTH girls with gunky and crusty eyes. LOL.

I got the flowers and homemade cards too. LOL. But I spent the beginning of my Mother's Day taking the girls to Urgent Care where my predetermined diagnosis of an eye infection was confirmed. Both girls were given antibiotic eye drops and are considered contagious. Thus we couldn't go to the Mother's Day BBQ at my grandmother's house this afternoon, nor were we able to spend any time with my mom for Mother's Day.

Rachel's eye actually started looking weird yesterday when we were visiting Steven's mom. The fold in her eyelid was red, and by the evening her eye was a little puffy, so it really wasn't a huge surprise to wake and find her eyes gunky. Poor little girl, she's the worst of the two. But is a real trooper and acts perfectly fine.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Survivor and Operation Smile

We're bigtime Survivor fans in this household and come Thursday evening, as soon as the girls are in bed, we settle down to watch one of our favorite television shows. We've been fans ever since the first season.

When I received an email today from Operation Smile, stating that following Sunday nights airing of the Season Finale, props and memorabilia from Survivor: Exile Island will be auctioned off and all the proceeds from the auction will go to Operation Smile, I was really touched.

I know that probably sounds bizarre, but it touched me because I know that as a result of this charity auction, there will be children, some babies, some older children, who, like Rachel was born with a cleft of some sort, will literally be given a new smile. I know that somewhere out there, a mothers heart will be touched as well. This email made me an even bigger Survivor fan! LOL.

To learn more about the Survivor auction and it benefitting Operation Smile, visit here.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Speech Session # 4

Today was Rachel's fourth session of speech therapy, and let me just start off by saying how incredibly smart Rachel is. She must know that the entire purpose of going to this appointment week after week is to get her to talk, because the minute we enter into the pressence of our Speech Therapist, Rachel doesn't say a single word, mutter any jibber jabber, or make a single peep...for the entire HOUR we are with her! LOL.

We have seen improvements in her trying to express herself. And she will do the things that Adrianna has us work on. But as far as exhibiting her improvements to the professional who's helping her, she doesn't. Therefore, we now are going to try and video tape her talking so that we can prove her increasing vocalness.