And We're Off!

Last week, the girls and I flew to Lincoln, NE to visit Courtney, Rich, Afton, and Madelyn. Although it was a quick trip, we had lots of fun. Here are some highlights.

Looks like we had an exciting flight, huh? Actually, it went really well. Morgan loves airplanes and Sadie slept. I told Morgan that when we got off the airplane, we would go to Afton and Mei Mei's house. As we were landing/taxiing to the gate in Lincoln: "Mommy, lots of people going to Afton's house!" She thought everyone on the plane was coming!

We went to the Omaha Zoo and had lots of fun! Here's Courtney eating lunch with her girls.

Future Celebrities??? Morgan's got the sunglasses down, and Afton's taking care of the smile for the fans! Too cute!

How could we forget Mei Mei? Here she is, hanging out in the stroller. For those of you that read Courtney's blog...here's proof that she wears more than just a diaper!

I always seem to get forgotten because I'm the one taking the pictures. Here's Sadie and I. She slept in the sling (carrier) the entire time at the zoo! She loves to snuggle! In fact, the Primary Program was this past Sunday, and, knowing that Morgan would struggle to sit still seeing her Daddy up on the stand, I asked him if he would take Sadie. Brian put her in the sling, and conducted the Primary songs, without a peep from Sweet Sadie! Many men came up to him after sacrament and mentioned they would never do that! He's awesome! Thanks, sweetie!

WOW!!!

I walked into the family room yesterday and found Morgan sitting on the floor like this.

Brian was no where in sight, so she had obviously lined up her pieces all by herself. I asked Brian if he had built these "shapes" with her the day before and then just dumped them into her Duplo box, and he said he hadn't made those shapes and they had disassembled their previous "project". So, apparently, Morgan did this all by herself. I am pretty impressed! This child never ceases to amaze us!

Candy Factory

Last week, we went to Hammond's Candy Factory for a tour. While not too exciting for a bunch of 2-year olds, it was still a nice trip. If anything, the tour is FREE, and you can sample candy!!! Who wouldn't like that?

Oh, and this is how I found Sadie, asleep in her carseat when we got home. She sure is a trooper!

How Does Your Garden Grow???

Ours grows quite well!

Remember way back in April, when we planted (click on the link) our garden? We were doubtful that something would sprout after Morgan was a bit too helpful and dumped out a tray of dirt.

We were excited a couple of weeks later to find that our garden actually was growing (link again), and we didn't have such black thumbs.

Now, we are proud to report that we have GREEN thumbs! Our zucchinni is wonderful, Morgan loves to pick and eat the cherry tomatoes, several watermelon are growing, we're anxiously waiting for our beefsteak tomatoes to redden up, and we can't wait to try our cucumbers. Sadly, our lettuce didn't make it (we didn't give it as much care as required--any tips??), so we'll try again next year.

Here's another batch of our yummy zucchinni. Morgan, our veggie lover, gobbles them up at dinner!

Our tomatoes haven't reddened quite yet, but are getting closer. If the freeze hits first, we'll tell you what Fried Green Tomatoes really do taste like!

Here are some of our cucumbers. They've been late bloomers, so we can't wait to taste them!

This, too, would be your face, had you found a watermelon this big, while pruning the plant. We seriously had NO idea there were actually watermelons growing, we just thought the plant was going to town!

Oh, Morgan!

This afternoon, we were spending time in the backyard. Morgan was playing with her various toys and got into her car.

Morgan: I'm Driving!
Brian: Where are you going?
Morgan: Umm...Home Depot!

We both burst out laughing! Completely random, but I guess it shows that kids really do listen to everything you say!

Sadie's Results...

...are inconclusive.

She still has fluid in her middle ear, but the ENT won't do anything about it until at least 6 mos. old. He wants her to come in every 3-4 weeks to be checked because there is a chance the fluid will still drain on its own. If not, she will need to get tubes in her ears and then, when the fluid drains, they can do more tests.

You're probably wondering why they are waiting on tubes. Well, in order to insert the tubes, Sadie will go under General Anesthesia, and after 6 months of age, the risks associated with surgery are greatly reduced. Therefore, they like to wait until then.

I tried to get more information from the doctor today (if there is something we can do at home, what is the likelihood of it still draining on its own, etc.), but to no avail. So, I called Sadie's pediatrician (btw, for those of you in Denver, we love Stapleton Peds--Drs. Noah and Brandon are awesome!) and they completely support us getting a 2nd opinion from a Pediatric ENT. The earliest available through Children's Hospital is October 4th, so we'll be waiting until then!

Now, the only stress is getting Brian home from Texas BEFORE the hurricane hits. His original flight is cancelled, and he's scheduled for tomorrow morning, pending the Dallas airport doesn't close earlier than 7 a.m. (it's already cancelled all flights after 10 am tomorrow).

Sadie's Hearing Test...Again

For those of you that don't already know, Sadie didn't pass her hearing screening (the typical one used is the Otoacoustic Emissions test) before being released from the hospital. We were told not to worry, that some newborns still have fluid in their ears that takes a few days to a few weeks to clear out. The hospital scheduled her for another hearing screen at 3 weeks old.

I took her in, and after several attempts to test her hearing, the audiologist again couldn't get her to "pass." (I was informed at this point, it's not that she "failed", it's simply she didn't "pass"). He took her into a sound booth and tested her eardrums. The tests showed that neither of her eardrums were vibrating like they should. He told us not to worry, that it's likely still fluid, and she'll be re-tested in 3 weeks (at 6 weeks old). At this point, if she didn't pass the screen, Sadie would be referred to an ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) Specialist for further examination.

That's where we are today. The audiologist today attempted to "pass" Sadie again, but with no luck. She showed me how normal eardrums should perform on the test screen (visualize a mountain--slope up, peak, slope down), and then showed me what Sadie's were doing (flat line). Currently, Sadie's eardrums are not vibrating, meaning she's not hearing. Don't panic yet...

There are 3 likely situations that the ENT could diagnose at Sadie's appointment this Friday.

1. (Best Case) Sadie still has fluid in her ears, and it will need to be drained. After the fluid is cleared, she will get another test, the Auditory Brainstem Response test. Test results show no hearing loss.

2. Sadie still has fluid in her ears, and it will need to be drained. After the fluid is cleared, she will get another test, the Auditory Brainstem Response test. Test results show some hearing loss and further tests will need to be done to determine severity.

3. (Worst Case) Sadie does NOT have fluid in her ears and the Auditory Brainstem Response test, along with further tests, will help determine the type of hearing loss and treatment necessary.

We're hoping for situation #1 (of course!), and are praying for our sweet little Sadie Lady! We'll keep everyone posted as we find out more!

For more complete information on the whole process, click here.

"Privacy please"

We've been trying to teach Morgan the concept of privacy. We've had problems with her intruding on Daddy's bath time or potty time. To avoid a way too complicated discussion with my two year old, I introduced "privacy." I'd say, "Daddy needs privacy" when she tried to follow me in the bathroom. I think she's starting to understand the concept. Now, when she goes to the bathroom, she says "Morgan privacy please, shut-door." Just a word of wisdom, don't leave a two year old in the bathroom by herself for too long. Privacy is not the same as playtime.

Cardboard Box

I don't know where I learned this song, but I've been singing it to Morgan lately and she's started to pick up on it. Sorry, you won't get the tune, so if you don't know it, improvise.

I love you (Morgan Rae) Oh, yes I do.

I love you (Morgan Rae) Oh yes, it's true.

I love you (Morgan Rae) I do.

Oh, (Morgan Rae) How I love you.

Here is a video of Morgan singing her version (substitute "Daddy Dear") to Brian. Also, she thinks Peek-A-Boo is the coolest these days, so there's a little of that.

(Yes, my potty-trained daughter is wearing a diaper. Her pediatrician told me to put her back in a diaper if she showed signs of regression to get attention because of the new baby. So, after 3 accidents, she had to wear a diaper the rest of the day. It was quite amusing to watch her "waddle" like she'd been riding a horse, because she was so uncomfortable. Needless to say, by bedtime, she was crying for her panties back, and today, we were accident free! )

Photos and Reading

Morgan has been on a photo-taking kick these past few days. It seems like anytime she is holding Sadie, she asks me to take a picture. As you can see in the following pictures, Sadie "thoroughly enjoys" all of these photo-ops.



Morgan LOVES the "Little Critter" books by Mercer Mayer. In fact, for weeks now, that has been the ONLY book she reads at "rest time". So, a couple of days ago, we went to the library to expand our Critter collection. I think we'll end up owning the entire collection before Morgan even starts reading! So, if you need gift ideas....we'd love some help. There's a lot of Little Critter books!

Sadie's Blessing

We blessed our sweet Sadie this past weekend. It was a very busy weekend---13 people stayed at our house, we all met Tyler Jones, soon to be the newest member of the Ginos clan (translation: Alex is getting married in December), and BYU won!! We all had a lot of fun.

We are a happy family!

Our sweet Sadie Lady, looking up at her dad

The whole gang! Everyone stayed at our place, except for my parents and sister, Logan! It was very hectic and we all got little sleep!

Courtney and I took Morgan and Afton to a "pick your own" farm to pick strawberries. They loved it! To find a farm in your area, click here.

Morgan's favorite thing to do was take pictures with Auntie Freida's camera. Maybe one will turn out someday!

For details on this picture, be sure to check my parent's blog.

Papa Ginos playing on the floor with Morgan and Afton.

Monday was project day. The hole in our living room wall is now patched up (thanks Dad and Brian), and Morgan has a "playroom" in the basement, complete with drywall, carpeting (rugs), and flooring (scraps from our kitchen vinyl). Papa and Brian even moved the light switch down (look in the picture) so she can reach it all by herself!

Thanks so much to everyone who came to share the weekend with us! We had a lot of fun! We love you all and are glad you came!