Tonsils

Well, at the age of 30 we finally found a Dr. that would take Josh's Tonsils out. Josh's mom said she has tried since he was a baby, but no Dr. ever thought it was necessary. So after hearing every morning for the past 7 1/2 years about his throat hurting almost every morning, I took him to a Throat, Nose and Ear Dr. Without even so much of a pause in his voice, the Dr. said "oh ya, those need to come out".

So this past Thursday I took him to Wenatchee and had them removed. Not sure if any of you know much about having Tonsils removed or not, but it is probably one of the most unpleasant surgery to have done. There is no way to sugar coat it the Dr said, "it will be a miserable 2 weeks of recovery, but in the long run it will be well worth it".

So far Josh has done alright, things got a little crazy when Alyee decided she too needed to be sick and taken care of as well. Like I have told my Grandma, "The Lord never gives us more than we can handle".

Before Surgery

After Surgery

2 days after Surgery

A Day in Spokane

Last Monday Winston had an eye appointment to see if the eye patching we have been doing for the past year has made any difference. Unfortunately, his Dr. is not satisfied with the results and if anything says his eye is getting worse and loosing some vision. So with that said, she recommended us thinking about having surgery done within a year.

In 2005, Winston was diagnosed with a condition called Exotropia in his left eye. Since then it has shown signs of Amblyopia and that is why we started patching his eye. Patching sometimes helps strengthen the weak eye and correct the problem. Josh and I aren't sure what we are going to do, but for now we are continuing with the eye patching and having a second opinion done in March. It is strongly recommended that if a child does need surgery for this condition, it been done before the age of 9. By that age, most children's eyes are fully developed and it makes it hard for them to retrain them. We will keep you up to date as far as what we decide and what our other Dr. in Seattle recommends. Feel free to send any suggestions you may have.

Once we finished Winston's eye appointment, it was on to more enjoyable things. When going to Spokane you must feed the ducks & ride the carousel, it is a must in this family. The kids are getting so big and it makes it that more enjoyable to spend time doing such fun things with them. There is nothing better in life than watching life through your child's eye's, "I think". It was a great day and I can't wait to do it again with them.

Trouble

Our good friends have a little boy 2 months older than Alyee. It has been so fun watching the two of them grow through this past year together. As parents, we are really hoping they are going to be more like best friends since they are around each other so much, but the other night that all changed.

As the two of them sat on the race car, it made us as parents rethink our strategies and remember some of the things we did growing up. Hopefully as the two of them grow older, they will realize they won't be able to get much past us because chances are we have already tried it ourselves.

Country Life

I just love living in the country for 1 amazing reason, you just never know who or what may show up. This afternoon Hans, Alyee and I enjoyed the company of a very beautiful Bald Eagle. He just sat and watch everything going on around him right in our front yard.

They truly are an amazing animal.

All good things come to an end, and so we watch him depart our yard and head somewhere new.

Happy 52 Dad

Sunday we helped Dad celebrate his 52nd birthday. It was low key and enjoyable, it doesn't get much better than that.

He lucked out on the candles, I forgot all 52 of them.

Hope you had a good birthday Dad. We love you both very much.

Roberts' Speedway

It's so fun to watch my boys play together and enjoy each others company. They have really enjoyed the slot car track that Santa brought for them. The only problem is keeping Alyee out the way and off the track.

30 out of 34

As I'm sure many of you remember, back in November we had to take Hans to the ER room while on our vacation to the Oregon Coast. Friday, Josh and I took him to his Allergy Doctor and had some more tests run on more common Allergies. As it turns out, Hans is his Daddy made over again. He was tested on 34 things, such as trees, grasses, weeds, molds, environmental, and animals. He was allergic to 30 of the items. All the way from household dust and mold to Sagebrush, and lets not forget his peanut and nut allergy. I have to say it was very traumatic and if any of you have had to go through this with your child you will be able to relate.

Below I have posted a few pictures of him before and during his appointment.

Before seeing the Doctor

(Left) right after test had begun. (Right) 5 minutes into the test & still 15 minutes to go.

It really hurt he kept saying & there was no way I was getting a smile from him.

New Year's Resolutions

For New Year's we spent it with our dear friends The Weber's. We had the most enjoyable time playing games and laughing about what this next year will bring to all of us. It was the first year where Josh and I spent it with the kids in bed sleeping, which I must say was very fun. But before we put the kids to bed we did make our New Year's Resolutions. We all seemed to make fairly doable ones with the exception of my husband. I'm afraid he is going to have to work a little harder at his.

Josh - Get thin in 2010
Havila - Be more frugal and look for all those bargains
Winston - Build a robot
Hans - Grow tall enough for all of Disneyland rides
Alyee - Hopefully get potty trained

We hope everyone else has the most amazing Year. Happy 2010 to everyone!!