The Goings On

We have had an interesting 3 months dealing with Richard's medical complications. To spare you the details, Rich has been sent from doctor to doctor, been refused to be seen, basically been told that his pain and problems have been in his head, been put on antibiotics 3 or 4 times and now FINALLY he has gotten some answers. He happened to have a follow-up with his regular physician and he unloaded it all on her, told her every detail, and expressed his overwhelming frustrations to her. He has been in pain and missing work and no one seems to have any idea what to do with him. She listened and then examined him herself and said that yes, there was definitely something going wrong down there. She sent him for a testicular ultrasound and had him come back in that very day for results. Turns out it's not in Richard's head (DUH!!!). He has a condition called Hydrocele (which is fluid around the testicles) and varicose veins on BOTH testicles. Poor guy. Needless to say, if someone had taken the time to actually run some tests on him, this all could have been remedied months ago. He will most likely have to have surgery, which would be the only way to stop the inflammation and pain. If this could have been discovered back when the problems first arose, he could already be recovered by now. He's back at work for the first time in weeks and will see the Urologist in about 2 weeks. After that we will find out the details of the surgery and what the recovery time will be. Not fun, not fun at all!!!

Now to the fun part of life...our kiddos. They are such beautiful, crazy, funny little people and I don't know what we would do without them.

Our little Cooper-man is SO cute!!! He is walking about 90% of the time now and is beginning to say more and more words. He's got loads of personality and is such a love bug.

Yes, I know...Mommy is hysterical.

This is his "cheese" face. I love it!

Dakota is doing A LOT better. We implemented hot sauce on the tongue for biting as she was getting crazy out of control with that issue (including parents calling about her in the nursery). Needless to say, she hasn't bitten anyone in about 3 weeks! Wahhh Hooo!!!! She also slept through the whole night last night and even slept in to 7:15! How glorious!!!

Here are some pictures from TayTay's first game. I was trying to get a nice picture of Koko because the lighting was so good...this is what I got when I asked her for a pretty face. Oh well!

"See my cwazy eyes?"

Here's Tay and her teammates in their "cheer bling" shirts.

Water break!

Taylor is doing great! She is an amazing student and is reading like you wouldn't believe. She also is a champion speller and has received a 100% on every spelling test she has taken. She LOVES school and is so happy. :)

Her cheer uniform finally arrived. Here she is trying it on.

Here she is getting to wear it to Spirit Day at school (that would be a low v she is doing there)

Last night I took Taylor to her school's Fall Festival. Some 1st graders did the "Pumpkin Patch Polka." It was very cute.

Ham alert

My 3 monkeys...they may wear me out, but I love love love them!

Taylor's Birthday and First Time at Disneyland!

We've had a busy week! First, and most importantly, my sweet little Tay Tay turned 6 years old!!! Can you believe it?! It seems like yesterday she was placed in my arms for the first time. Taylor has been a joy. She is so funny, beautiful, and smart. I am so thankful for the time that I have had with her and look forward to the many years to come. Happy Birthday Taylor!!!

I wanted to take her picture before school on her birthday and this is what she came up with...always the poser!

We had my best buddy and her family over for dinner on Tay's b-day. The kids had so much fun and the big people had a good time too. Taylor said that is was the best birthday ever!!!

I love the look Taylor is giving Ellie here. Her body language is totally saying, "Don't even think about it!"

On Wednesday, after school, Taylor and I headed down to my mom and dad's. Loni was also there. All us girls left Thursday morning for...dum da da dum...Disneyland! Taylor was sooo excited!!!

My mom and Taylor ready to go!

The tram ride

Taylor's first roller coaster ever was the Matterhorn. She was SO nervous...can you see it in her face?

Feeling a bit more confident...

Ready to go

Taylor LOVED the roller coasters (except the abominable snowman on Matterhorn, oh yes, and Indiana Jones was WAY too scary for her...she buried her face in my arm the whole time, poor thing, I had forgotten how intense it was)! Her favorites were Splash Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean. It was so fun to spend the day with her, she was so well behaved and was a trooper about all the walking we had to do. Her only disappointments were not seeing the princesses and Tinker Bell fairies, the lines were CRAZY long!

Autotopia was another hit! (See Loni and Tay peeking through the back)

Face painting was also very exciting!

Feeling goofy while waiting for lunch.

Thunder Mountain...here we go!!!!

Taylor loved the carousel...especially checking herself out in the mirror!

TEACUPS!

It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small, small world! :)

We went to "Honey, I shrunk the audience!" Taylor hated it...it totally freaked her out!

DUMBO!

All in all, it was a great day and Taylor had so much fun! She was completely pooped at the end of the day and fell asleep within seconds of getting in her car seat. Thank you Mom and Loni for going with us, it was so fun to spend the day with you too!!!

We returned home Friday to find all well with Daddy and the babies. Saturday morning Taylor had Primary Program practice and then cheered at her first game! She was so cute! They haven't gotten their uniforms yet, but they had matching "cheer bling" shirts to wear. I will post pictures when the full outfit arrives. Today was the program and Taylor did great! She memorized her part after reading it about 4 times, she is such a smarty pants. Also, Dakota didn't bite anyone in Nursery today! Go Koty!!!