November 18th Update

Aaaaah! We've been hit by another cold! I've been so vigilant this fall trying to keep us from catching any of the nasty bugs that are out there, and this is our second sickness of the season. Oh well. It's been a busy weekend. I had big plans to post this several days ago... sigh... I blog when I can, people.

Soren has been obsessed with sports lately. New addition to his toy collection have been a junior size basketball (named Anthony) and Nerf hoop and ball set. The ball is his best buddy - he has even put it on one side of the see saw and sat on the other side and bouced with it. Anthony doubles as a bowling ball - we have a set of plastic cups that double as pins. He has been playing "hoops" and "bowlin" all week. I'm grateful for some indoor fun as we have been home all week feeling yucky. He continues to learn new concepts: "I HATE this show, Mom" and new phrases: "I need some caffeine RIGHT NOW" (seriously? do you really know what you are asking for?) and is generally pretty fun to be around. I have been having some frustration with discipline and obedience. We have a great discipline plan for home, my problems all involve being away from home. He is growing up and wants to be more independent. He is so much fun.

Svea is getting so big! Her face is starting to show through, she is getting some yummy baby fat rolls, and her smile has become huge and easy. She is batting at toys placed in front of her and can even entertain herself with baby toys while I am busy cooking or helping Soren. She rolled over for the first time last night. We have had a couple of doctor visits for her the last two Fridays. Her well baby visit was great - she is a healthy, big girl. The doctor commented on her cute big belly. Her stats (as of 11/13/2009) are 14 lbs 3 oz (75th percentile), 25.5 in tall (above 95th percentile), 16.5 in head circumference (85th percentile). She knows how to work the system and has the saddest sad face I've ever seen (yes that is a real tear leaking out of the corner of her eye):

As soon as she gets the attention she desires, the sad face changes to a big gummy grin.

We saw the pediatric urologist on Friday. After we treated yet another UTI, Svea has been diagnosed with vesicouretal reflux. She has grade one on the left ureter and grade three on the right (For more detailed information, click here). The odds of growing out of VUR are pretty good for a grade one (95%) and a little worse for a grade 3 (45%). Since urine travels from her bladder all the way back to her kidneys, we have to keep that urine sterile to avoid another kidney infection. She'll have to take a low dose bladder specific antibiotic daily until her reflux problem is resolved. We'll have another round of testing when she is one to see where we are at and to discuss possible surgery. Until then we just have to keep a close eye on her for infection.

The boys have been busy catching lizards in the backyard. Soren has grabbed a couple on his own. It's pretty cute. Beautiful Phoenix winter weather is here, and we can't get enough!

Ashley

November 7th Update

It has been way too long since I've updated. Let's see... the weather has cooled down, heated back up, and cooled back down since I last wrote. Fall here in the land of the blazing summers sure is a strange time of year!

The kids and I were able to enjoy a trip to the zoo with friends in the beautiful weather the week before Halloween. I'm so relieved that our zoo pass is going to start being an asset again! I can see lots of zoo trips in our near future!

Halloween was interesting this year. I thought Soren understood what was going to happen this year, but I guess he wasn't quite ready for Halloween this year. When we went to pick out a pumpkin for Soren and Svea I had to laugh - Soren insisted on one of the tiny decorative size pumpkins. So Svea got a full size pumpkin and Soren got a mini. We went to a pumpkin carving with some friends and Soren wouldn't even go near the pumpkins, let along scoop or carve one. Erik did a great job carving us a kitty face pumpkin and a mini traditional pumpkin. The costumes this year were a big flop. I had Viking costumes planned for both of the kids, but I was having a hard time getting Soren's costume sewed since he refused to try it on. After a lot of fighting and tears, I finally decided that Halloween was not important enough to warrant that much stress. Much to my surprise, Soren changed his mind about wearing a costume on Halloween night. I could feel a little bit of the childhood magic wearing off on me as Soren watched children trick or treating through our neighborhood. When he realized that he was going to get candy like the kids coming to our door, the deal was sealed. He ran and got his old costume from last year and started trying to put it on himself. Erik took him around the block and they visited a few houses. Soren got a ton of candy and proceeded to stuff himself. It was a fun night - we ran out of candy toward the end of the evening. I can never believe how many trick or treaters we get in our neighborhood.

I've started venturing out more often. Now that Svea has hit the magic 3 month mark things are becoming much easier. She is more predictable and easier to sooth. We've been able to run errands, go to volleyball, and do fun activities with and without friends. I finally scored my first culture pass this week for free admission to the Phoenix Children's Museum, so going out has already paid off!

Yesterday was kind of a crazy day. I have been playing volleyball on Thursday nights until very late, so I am always a little pooped on Friday. Svea and I had to be at the hospital by 8:30 for her VCUG. The brand new Cardon Children's Hospital opened this week, so we were lucky enough to be one of the first patients there. The new facility is very nice, and we had wonderful staff helping us. The test was awful. Poor Svea. She screamed through the entire thing. The radiologist informed me that Svea does have vesicouretal reflux. I should hear more details from our pediatrician next week when he receives the full report. I'm trying to do some research this weekend so I can be prepared to make the best decisions for Svea's health. The most common treatment will be a prophylactic antibiotics for several months until she can grow out of this.

After a stop by the doctor's office, we headed home and picked up Erik and Soren. We went out for lunch, then headed over to the Children's Museum for the afternoon. I was surprised at the amount of construction going on - the place feels half finished. Half finished or not, Soren LOVED it. He had a blast. We would pull him protesting from each activity only to have him engrossed in the next area. His favorite thing (tonight anyway) was the noodle forest. He cried when we left - the sure sign of a very fun place!

Today was busy as well. We had some friends over for sushi, so we spent the afternoon running up to the Japanese store. We found some delicious ikura (salmon roe) and maguro (yellowfin tuna). Dinner was a real treat to me - our guests were brave and tried some of everything. We had miso soup, california rolls, ikura, maguro, and tamago (omelet) sushi with plenty of pickled ginger, soy sauce and wasabi. Dessert was good old American brownies and ice cream. I've been craving maguro for a long time (my whole pregnancy), so I'm a happy girl tonight.

Well, better call it a night. I have to remember to blog more often so it doesn't get so LOOOOONG!

Ashley

Here are a couple of little movies for the grannys, grandpas, aunties and uncles... and anyone else who doesn't get overloaded checking out my little honeys: