Surgery for Ella

I know I have never written about Ella's sleep issues and that we went and saw a Pediatric Sleep Doctor earlier this week, but she does and we did. The Dr was amazing and answered so many questions for us.

Anyway, she suggested we see and ENT as well, so we went today. My god, thank god we did.

First of all I cannot believe how amazing and awesome Ella was. She brought with us her stethoscope and otoscope and asked him to look at her ears with hers first then she let him look in her ears without me even sitting with her which 3 months ago would only have happened pinning her down! Then he numbed her nose and she let him use one of the super long snake things all the way up her nose. She was sitting on my lap and she did squirm a bit but then the nurse walked into the room and she said to her, "please hold me hand." So she did and Ella stopped squirming.

When we were checking out she said to the nurse, "I liked when you rubbed my hand." It was so cute.

So anyway this is what he told us:

Tonsils-tonsils are rated on a scale of 1-4. 1 being normal, 4 taking up the entire back of the mouth. He (like the sleep Dr.) said Ella's are a 3+...so very large.

When I asked why the ped didn't say anything, he said because big tonsils alone aren't an issue. He said if we just came in here saying she had big tonsils, he would have said, ok, so what, but coupled with the other things that's when it's an issue.

Adenoids-he had to numb her nose with these drops which Ella proclaimed, "GROSS" and then stuck one of those snake telescopes all the way up it. It was really gross. So adenoids are rated as small, moderate, large, or huge. He said Ella's are between large and huge and that she has a ton of boogers (his word) that are stuck between the adenoid and the wall so she can't pass mucus and she has absolutely no airway in her nose, so she's completely breathing through her mouth.

He, like the sleep Dr. said that all though they can't 100% confirm that she has sleep apnea until we do the overnight sleep study, they would both be shocked if she doesn't.

She sleeps 12-14 hours a night and is still exhausted and grumpy, she sweats like crazy, snores, sleeps with her mouth open, and last night I was sleeping with her for a bit and about had a heart attack when she flailed her arms up and starting gasping for air. She just turned over and started to suck her thumb. I on the other hand was a wreck!

So the ENT suggested we not wait for the sleep study and just schedule a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy ASAP. They are calling on Monday to schedule but it looks like it can be done in the next 2-3 weeks! EEK! Is it wrong that I think it's funny that they call it a T&A and the book they give her is called "Things to know about a T&A" HA!

While I'm not excited for Ella to have surgery, I am happy about having some possible answers for Ella's constant tiredness and grumpiness and inability to focus and concentrate. The surgery is an outpatient procedure and is so minimally invasive it's crazy. He said his part takes less than 30 minutes!

So cross your fingers that she recovers easily and that this is the answer to a lot of our questions. I'm so glad we decided to go down this path (ie a medical path vs a purely psychological path). I'm thankful that we have a pediatrician who listens to us and kept trying to help us and eventually steered me down this path.

I'll keep you all informed on the surgery.

Saturday Night

This Saturday night we had our friends Noa, Emiro and their sweet baby girl, Aviv, over for dinner.

Ella was so excited for the baby to come over. She went around the house picking up all her small toys to make sure Aviv didn't choke on them...never mind her sister choking on them, but Baby "Abiv" has to be safe.

We had such a wonderful time and Ella was just enthralled with Aviv and the feeling was mutual. The girls actually had to tell us they wanted to go to bed, because we were having too much fun to notice that it was past bedtime...oops.

After our girls went to bed. Noa put Aviv down in the pack n play and the adults continued to drink wine and chat for a couple more hours.

Thanks for the great evening Noa and Emiro!

My fruit pizza-notice the chunk of cookie dough taken off the side, that was thanks to grubby paws Sofia
Sofia and Aviv. Sofia kept bringing over her toys for Aviv to play with. It was very sweet. Granted Sofia is 17 months and Aviv is only 8 months but Sofia just dwarfed her!

Ella and Aviv cuddling on the couch

Sofia doing what she does best-trying to grab the camera
Ella answering the phone for Aviv
It's for you, Aviv
Aviv enjoying the balloon on Ricardo's lap-she's just so sweet ans squishy that Ricardo and I totally hijacked her from her parents to take turns loving on her.

On Sunday, Ella's school had a special visitor day with Daddy. I'm waiting for school to post pictures so I can post them here. They both had a great time.

Ella Goes to The Dentist

On Friday, Ella went to the Dentist for the first time. We had made this appointment before the great middle finger debacle of 2009. At first I was thinking of canceling it, but I'm glad I kept it because Ella really did awesome.

I was so nervous about this appointment because Ella can be a little...well...difficult, but we had talked about this appointment and how all her friends also go to the dentist for a couple of weeks, so when we got there she was really excited.

She hoped right into the chair
With her cool shades to block the bright spotlight-fake smile
With the hygienist. Ella of course picked bubble gum flavor for her cleaning.
With Dr. Michelle. She applied the fluoride paste and then Ella stood up and said to her, "What's this gunk on my teeth?"

I was very pleasantly surprised with how well Ella did. She didn't protest once-even when the hygienist scraped a little bit or flossed her teeth. I have to laugh though, Ella is almost 3 1/2 and she still doesn't have 2 of her 2 year molars...talk about a slow teether!

Sofia's 1st Trip to the ER

Well, last night sure was an exciting night in our house.

Around 7pm, right after baths, Ella and Sofia were having a great time running around upstairs slamming doors and then running away from each other...do you already see where this is going?

Anyway, Ella ran into her bedroom and Sofia was waiting for her to close the door so she could knock on it and I guess her hand was just right there against the door on the hinges side.

When Ella closed the door she closed it completely on Sofia's middle finger. It was horrible. Horrible.

The tip of her finger was ripped almost completely off. It was seriously hanging on just on one side and the nail bed is disconnected and she has a slight fracture.

The Dr told us she sliced it almost to the bone. I shutter even when I write it. I feel so badly for Sofia but she was such a trooper.

Ricardo rushed off with her to the ER and Ella I followed right after. They were wonderful to her and Ella at the ER and Sofia was seriously a rock star. I don't know if she was in shock or what but she was covered in blood and it was dripping everywhere but she still smiled at the Dr and nurses and sang twinkle twinkle to them.

Ella was so upset for Sofia and when they took Sofia to x-ray Ella kept asking to "Where's Sofia? I want to see Sofia. I want to see Sofia right now!"

When I asked her if she wanted to go home and wait for Sofia at home she was almost mad at me for even suggesting it and told me that we had to wait for Sofia and all go home together. Ella was very patient and just sat with the woman who checks you in and colored.

When they strapped her onto the board so they could stitch her up, she didn't even cry. She only cried when they injected the local into her hand but just lied there talking to Ricardo while being stitched up. I hid in the waiting room with Ella. Luckily, Sofia is a TOTAL Daddy's girl, so really wanted to be with Ricardo anyway. I was having a hard time stomaching the blood.

We went to the hand surgeon today who said that because she's so young he expects her to have a full recovery and that the nail bed will most likely re-attach itself and grow back fine.

We go back in a week for a check up and to have the stitches removed. Poor Sofia, less than 18 months old and a serious injury.

Here are a couple of pictures that Ricardo took from his cell phone last night in the ER. The quality isn't great but you get the point. I'll spare you all the picture he took of her actual finger because it's disgusting.

Strapped into the board after getting stitched up

After she got stitched up she went into the waiting room to see Ella. The people there were so nice and brought the girls, cereal, cookies, milk and juice. Nothing stops Sofia from eating. Nothing!

Here's her little "Rocky" hand when we got home

Here she is this morning eating breakfast...once again, nothing gets between Sofia and her food.

Waiting for the Dr. this morning. She was still walking around giving everyone in the waiting room hugs and blowing them kisses (Ella gave her a necklace to wear to make her feel better).

With Daddy in the exam room. Ella's in the background playing with knees.

I think we've had enough excitement for awhile now!

Sisterly Love in the Tub!

The girls love to take baths together but I normally forget to bring in my camera. I took these pictures earlier this month.

Monkey Sofia

It's always obvious to me the difference in coloring between the two but seeing them in the bath makes is clear as day. It's pretty funny...can you just see it? Yes, we're sisters. Yes, from the same parents...and then poor Sofia YES I'm 50% Mexican. I'm not lying!

Playing in the snow

We've had more snow so far this winter than we have in the last two winters combined. Needless to say, I'm over it, but the girls still really enjoy playing in it. Actually, I really don't mind when the snow is nice and powdery but it's usually topped off with a nice layer of ice which makes it impossible to shovel/plow and no fun to play in.

This past weekend though, the snow was great to play in so Monday afternoon (when it started to snow again) we took the girls out to play.

Sofia before going out. This isn't a great picture of her, but it shocks me how old she looks in it. I don't know what it is-maybe her hair?
Sofia
Daddy and Ella on the sled

Sofia joined in on sledding fun

Sofia on the sled
Ella decided she wanted to make a snow angel like Caillou does. By the look on her face, it's obvious it's not nearly as fun as it looks on TV.
Building a "wedding cake". Ella is still obsessed with all things "married" so when we said, let's build a snow man! She said, no, let's build a wedding cake!
The view of our street from our front yard
Our back yard
Look at all that snow on the picnic table

I think what's most amazing to me about snow is how quiet it is when it's falling. Not the actual snow falling but just well everything. It's almost like the world has stopped to watch the snow fall. It's almost silent out. It's very pretty to experience...but still if this was the last snow fall of the season, I wouldn't complain.

The Berkshires with The Briefs

This weekend The Briefs (Andy, Jessica, Jordy, and Sammy) invited us to join us at their family's home in The Berkshires which sits on 75 acres. It was beautiful.


Of course we picked the coldest weekend of the winter to go (5 degrees when we left in the morning) but it didn't matter because we just hung out by the fire all weekend and had a great time.

10 AM
But it warmed up to a balmy temperature by noon...

Since we all arrived right at lunch time we decided to go out for pizza at a local pizza joint...

It's not my fault they can't spell Sofia
Ella and Jordy were over the moon when they saw each other. They couldn't stop running around and hugging. I couldn't get them to stand still long enough to get a picture together so instead I got a picture that looks like Ella is eating Jordy's face.

After lunch we all went to Stop & Shop for a Very Brady (Brunch) shopping excursion, which surprisingly went very well. We got to the house around 2 pm and the girls immediately sat down to color together.

Then they got bored with coloring and went to their respective DVD player...oh, modern technology...
Sammy joined Ella
Then he helped his Daddy build a fire for us.

Sammy really liked being around Ricardo and would walk around the house looking for him calling, "Mama, mama". Now granted Mama is Sammy's go to distress/want word. But it was still quite entertaining and we spent the rest of the weekend calling Ricardo "Mama Ricardo".

Ricardo and Sammy
Sammy and Sofia enjoying the view. Well, Sammy seems to be enjoying it. Sofia's chiando-ing about something.
Ella enjoying a cup of hot cocoa with mini marshmallows
I love this picture of Ella and Jordy cuddling on the couch
Sammy's secure enough in his masculinity to wear a flower bib and use a girly plate.

We decided to bathe Sammy and Sofia together and they had so much fun...I took a ton of pictures but only a few are blog-safe if you know what I mean.

Cheers!

playing
Jordy and Ella came in and saw the babies bathing together and decided that they should too.
Once again, a ton of pictures, but I'm not totally comfortable posting them on the "internets". So just one, but you get the point-they had fun!
Sammy and Sofia watching their big sisters playing in the tub

Ella and Jordy decided they wanted to not only sleep in the same room but in the same bed. I wasn't sure how this would go since Ella was exhausted and was really ready for bed by 7 pm but powered through until 8:30 pm when Jordana was ready for bed.

So the girls got all ready and climbed into bed and then the Daddies read them books

Then we left the room and enjoyed amazing steamed mussels and clams made by Andy

Of course there was a lot of chatter and little sleeping and then about 20 minutes later Ella comes walking out saying, "This hurts my ears. I need a band-aid for my ears." Followed by Jordy crying because Ella left. I guess what Ella's was trying to get across in her 3 year old way was, "Jordy won't stop talking and I want to sleep."

Poor Jordy was heart broken. Ella stood her up! I brought Ella upstairs to our room which had a daybed as well as the queen bed and she passed out in seconds. She was so out that about an hour later we heard a loud thud (no bed rails). When I walked in Ella was still sound asleep (albeit moaning) on the floor about 5 feet from the bed. I still can't figure out how she got where she was. It's almost like she leaped out or something. But whatever the case, she barely woke up and didn't remember it in the morning. Poor kid was tired.

The next morning we got quite a bit of snow (about 3 inches), which Andy and Ricardo took as a sign that they should go for a run...morons. But they had fun.

While the boys were gone, Jess and her kids cuddled on the couch
While Sofia made trouble

We had a wonderful, relaxing visit and it was so nice to be able to spend time together just chatting over great food and wine once the kids were asleep. It was hard to leave!

Thank you Andy and Jessica for inviting us!