Kindergarten Physical and Registration

Rachel had her Kindergarten physical with our Pediatrician this morning. Overall, it went well. For the last few days, she kept asking if she was going to be getting shots, and we didn't lie to her, we told her that she probably would be getting shots. She was fine with that, didn't say she didn't want to go, etc.

Our regular nurse wasn't there and I think that made Rachel nervous. She wouldn't cooperate for the in-office hearing test, which didn't concern me too much, she had an official one with our audiologist in January and it was fine. But she cooperated for only half of the vision exam. She wouldn't let her left eye be covered. Dr. Berry checked her over and everything is good. Rachel has has a couple of warts appear in the last year, and for the last couple of weeks I thought they were spreading everywhere. She itches these bumps to the point of bleeding and that can cause warts to spread. We have an appointment with the Dermatologist in two weeks that we've already been waiting four weeks for. This worsening outbreak kinda had me worried, I mean come on, what mother wants to see their child covered in warts? I had a friend take a look at her bumps on Monday and she said it was Eczema. Dr Berry confirmed the diagnosis and prescribed an ointment to apply at bedtime when she's in a flare up, as well as suggested a lotion following bath time.

Next came the immunizations, four of them. Two in each leg. As much as we've endured with Rachel - handing her off to surgical scrub nurses, watching her be whisked off to surgery, the hospital stays, you'd think that a couple of shots would be no big deal, but no, when your child cries, you tear up and shed a few tears too. She was not happy! She cried all the way out of the clinic (had to carry her out), all the way to the car, and all the way down the block to Starbucks where I promised her an apple juice and caved when she asked for a chocolate Frappacino. I figured four pokes, she deserves chocolate. That made her happy.After our stop at Starbucks, I hopped on the freeway and went straight to the enrollment center for our school district and registered our baby for Kindergarten! It was kinda sad and kinda exciting at the same time. We made up a song about being registered for school in the car and she's excited. And thus the never ending question of "When do I start kindergarten" has commenced. I love that I was able to get this picture. The banner actually has the school name listed on it, as this is the week that school allows Kindergarten registration, but for safety reasons, I've blurred the school name out. It's such a cool picture though and I cannot believe come August 4th, we'll be dropping two children off for school...everyday!

Field Trip to the Pizza Place

There's a local hole in the wall, Mom and Pop pizza kitchen who's kids went to the preschool over 15 years ago. And ever since then, they've opened up their pizza kitchen to our preschool for a field trip. Not just a tour of the kitchen, but the kids get to make their own pizza! The kids had a blast! And the pizza was out of this world!

First, we got to see where they mix the pizza dough. After washing their hands and taking their place in line, they were given a dough round. They used a special little roller to punch out some the air, and they patted and even tossed the dough back and forth and then stretched it onto the pizza plate.Also at the same station, they added and spread the pizza sauce all over their dough. This sauce is the best! You can taste the spices and seasonings and the garlic!Next up, the cheese and topping counter! Rachel loaded up her pizza with lots and lots of cheese. And for toppings she picked pepperoni, sausage, and olives! She was so proud of her pizza creation.After only a few minutes in the big, big ovens, the individual pizzas were done and ready to eat! Each preschooler got their pizza in their own box. They enjoyed a slice or two fresh out of the oven, and then got to the take the rest home! Nothing like steaming, pipping hot, fresh pizza straight out of the oven!Another great field trip had by the preschoolers! We're very appreciative of Capone's opening up their kitchen to us. The kids, and even us Mommies, had a great time making our own pizzas and of course eating them!

Coloring Eggs with Friends

Rachel was SO excited to be having friends come over after school this afternoon to have a "coloring Easter egg party". There were seven kids, eleven cups of coloring, and in the end, forty five eggs had been colored! They all had so much fun and it was a great way to kick off the weekend.

The First of Many

Today, Rachel had the first of many, many years of dental procedures.

At last month's check up and cleaning, it was discovered that she had four tiny cavities that needed filling. We were going to break it up over two appointments, but the dentist was able to knock them all out in one appointment! Which not only was an answer to prayer, but it saved us about $70, as the insurance doesn't cover the nitrous gas and we won't have to come back for another appointment and another round of nitrous gas.Overall, Rachel did great! She sat so still while Dr. Hoffer got all the 'bugs' out of her teeth. Rachel did cry as we were walking out to the car. But I think it was because she was extremely numb and the sensation was new to her. A trip to the Dollar Tree for an additional prize and a stop at McDonald's for an ice cream and Sprite helped in the recovery though. If anyone is looking for an awesome Pediatric dentist, I have one and will highly recommend her!! Thank you all the for the prayers for Rachel this morning!

Prayers for Rachel's Dental Appt

This morning, at 9:00am PST, Rachel has her first of two dental appointments to take care of a couple of cavities in her teeth that are deeply grooved.

They will first administer some laughing gas, and then do a shot to numb the areas. They take the highest precautions to make this a good experience as she has years and years of dental work ahead of her.

Would you please be praying for Rachel. For her dentist, Dr. Hoffer, and for her assistant. That Rachel will tolerate the 'giggle juice' well and it won't make her sick. That she won't become scared or anxious. That overall her appointment will go well.

I really would appreciate any and all prayers for this appointment. Up until recent months, I've had a high anxiety level for going to the dentist and I sure don't want that for my own children. An update and pictures will follow sometime in the afternoon.

Spending the Day with Uncle Bart

Today is Uncle Bart's birthday and what better way to spend the day (besides going to Disneyland) than a picnic? Today was Papa's last day of vacation, so we packed a picnic lunch fit for the birthday king and drove to Encinitas. We went to the park near his house and had our picnic in the surroundings of a beautiful park and beautiful blue skies.

We've been to this park once before and it is amazing. I wish we had a park like this near us, we'd spend a lot more time at the park if we did. This particular park actually has someone who lives in an RV in the parking lot (don't worry, it's out of the way and still attractive) who keeps the park up and the restrooms clean and chases out the homeless at night. The play structures and things for kids to play on is all so different and a lot of fun. After lunch and our time at the park, we made our way to the beach. We stopped off at the beach just down the road from the campground we go camping at with our church friends and family. You can see the campground behind Rachel in this picture. Wish we were able to join Uncle Robbie and Auntie and the girls there next week for Spring Break, but someone has to go back to school! Wahhh.We had a great day at the park and strolling the beach. It was absolutely beautiful with blue skies, crisp ocean breeze, and plenty of sunshine. We enjoyed the day and hope Uncle Bart did too!

A Week of Easter Festivities

I know, Easter is well over a week away, so why the earliness of the Easter Festivities? Because the preschool is on Spring Break next week!

The official festivities began on Tuesday when they hunted for eggs on the front lawn of the preschool/church. They were allowed to collect four eggs. Within minutes Rachel had her basket full and needed to actually put some back. LOL. Gave me a good idea as to who'll attempt to get all the eggs on Easter when we hunt for eggs with their cousins. LOL. Today concluded the festivities at school. They had an Easter party, followed by an Easter parade where they wore their giant egg and chick posters and sang songs about Peter Cottontail and the bunny's fuzzy tail and other bunny songs. Gramma came to see her youngest granddaughters parade about, and Papa has been on vacation this week and he came too! Sadly, this parade today marked the very last preschool parade for our family. In the Fall, both Rachel and Haylee will be starting Kindergarten, at schools at opposite ends of the city! Here are our little chicks.