Huckleberries Anyone?

Though I struggle to say his name, Mike Huckabee is quickly gaining my interest. I am not a politically savvy person, so of course the thing that most impresses me about him is his faith. I was also impressed when I read that after being diagnosed with Type II diabetes in 2003, he lost 110 pounds and then barely two years later, he completed four marathons (and he plays bass guitar in a band:-)). Anyhow, when thinking about presidential candidates, keep him in mind.

Ellie's 1st birthday pics

Ellie's snow shoes are a bit big still

She liked being held by Daddy, not a huge fan of the snow!

Our pink snowgirls with Daddy

Lizzie suited up

We Learn

Today on Ellie's first birthday we learned just what "Wintry Mix" means. Pictures to come. Stay Tuned!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIANA!!!!!!!!!!!

Wintry Mix...Is that like Trail Mix?

So anyone who has known me for awhile knows my obsession with checking the weather forecast often (and when I say often, I'm not talkin' daily, but many times throughout the day to be sure I am "up to date"). Anyhow, the latest weather forecast for Ellie's birthday (Dec. 3rd) is

A Wintry Mix

Not having lived anywhere that snow had more than one name, I am not sure what that means, but it is exciting for anyone, who like me, is a WEATHER JUNKY!

Update:
According to Wikipedia a wintry mix is as follows:

"Many factors influence the form precipitation will take, and atmospheric temperatures are influential as well as ground conditions. Sometimes, near the rain/snow interface a region of sleet or freezing rain will occur. It is difficult to predict what form this precipitation will take, and it may alternate between rain and snow. Therefore, weather forecasters just predict a "wintry mix". usually, this type of precipitation occurs at temperatures between -2°C and 2°C (28°F–36°F)."

Update #2:

We are now expecting Straight up snow...no wintry mix..no snow. Boy, I wish they would make up their mind, the suspense is killing me!

Doctor Lingo

Last month we took Lizzie to her 1st Boston Children's Hospital Pediatric Cardiology appointment. Today we received a letter in the mail (a copy of what had been sent to Lizzie's primary care doctor). We had quite the time decoding it, what with all the medical jargon used. Thought we would share it not only to inform, but to give you something to do if you are bored (or really curious like us).

Dear Dr. Lenhardt

We had the pleasure of seeing Elizabeth in the pediatric cardiology clinic at Children's Hospital Boston on October 30th, 2007. As you know, she is a 2-year old girl who was born with Tetralogy of Fallot/pulmonary atresia, which was repaired at one week of age with a transannular patch and placement of a monocuspid valve. She also had her VSD closed at that time. She had been followed at Doernbecher Children's Hospital but is transferring care here as the family is settling in the Massachusetts area for Dad to finish his schooling.

Elizabeth had an uncomplicated postoperative course and has been doing well since her operation. She was negative for FISH 22Q11 deletion. She is growing along her projected growth curve and has a normal activity level. She is currently on no medications. Her only other medical history is left sided hydronephrosis. She has had a normal VCUG and normal renal function.

Her family history is negative for congenital heart disease and sudden unexpected death. Dad has a history of sinus arrhythmia and an innocent murmur. There is also a family history of Type 2 diabetes and asthma.

On exam, Elizabeth is a well appearing young girl in no apparent distress. Her weight is 11.8 kg with a height of 84.7 cm. Heart rate was 102 with oxygen saturation of 92% on room air. Her chest was clear to auscultation bilaterally. Cardiovascular exam revealed a normal active precordium with a normal S1 and a single S2. She has a 3/6 to-and-fro murmur heard loudest at the left sternal border but it can be heard throughout her precordium and radiating to her back. Her abdomen is soft, non-tender, and non-distended with normal bowel sounds and no hepatosplenomegaly. Her extremities are warm and well perfused with pulses 2+ and capillary refill less than 2 seconds.

An EKG done in clinic shows a normal sinus rhythm of 102 beats per minute. She has a complete right bundle branch block and has a right axis deviation. QRS duration is 120 milliseconds. Echocardiogram done which showed a PFO with bidirectional flow. No significant mitral or tricuspid regurgitation. She has severe pulmonary regurgitation and mild pulmonary stenosis with a 20-25 mm Hg maximal instantaneous gradient. She has good biventricular function. The aorta is slightly dilated with no aortic stenosis or regurgitation. There is no residula VSD flow. Her branch pulmonary arteries were not well seen.

Our assessment is the Elizabeth is a young girl with Tetralogy of Fallot and pulmonary atresia, which was completely repaired with a transannular patch, monocuspid valve, and closure of her VSD. She is clinically doing well and there has not been any significant change in her echocardiogram from her last echo done in May of 2007. We will continue to followup with Elizabeth on a yearly basis. We advised the parents to contact us sooner should they have any concerns or notice any worrisome symptoms including failure to gain weight, shortness of breath, dizziness, or syncope. We also discussed with them the possiblity of doing an MRI in the future (when she is able to undergo an MRI without sedation) that would help us better assess her right ventricular size. Although this will not play any acute role in her management, it may help with future decisions when she gets older in terms of pulmonary valve replacement.

Thank you for allowing us to participate in the care of this patient. Please do not hesitate to contact us in the future should you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Douglas Mah, M.D.
Cardiology Fellow

Lisa B. Bergersen, M.D.
Associate in Cardiology

Smelling the Door

Late last night after much crying from the girls room Allen reentered our room and stated the following while chuckling:

"Would you please get up and be a good parent and see what type of poop you smell through the door?"

Yes, we have become door sniffers.

INTERJECTION FROM ALLEN: Steph had asked me to get up and see what the matter was (we had heard a noise from the girls' room). I told Steph I couldn't hear much (at that particular time), but that there was definitely a foul smell coming from the other side of the door. Steph then informed me that Lizzie and Ellie have different poopy smells and asked who was responsible. I retorted that I had no idea and asked her the above question...

1st birthday present

Papa and Nana

Thank you for the really great birthday gift! It rocks! But, next time you send me one, could you not put anything in it. I had to wait until Mommy pulled a huge carseat out of it to play with it. What a drag.

Love,
Ellie

Rice for Free

The other day on a couple different news stations one of the stories was on a website that asks multiple vocabulary questions. With each correct answer they donate rice to the hungry around the world (through the United Nations). Then yesterday a friend posted a link to the very same site.
It is called freerice.com try it. Test your word wisdom and feed someone!
(Note: In the news story a teacher was using it to help her students with vocab., so if you have kids or teach, try it!)

Colors

We also took a trip up to Maine where we took these beautiful shots of the fall colors.

Jordan's Furniture?

Bethany and Melissa watched the girls one night while they were here so that Allen and I could have some much needed us time.
Some friends of ours had talked highly of Jordan's Furniture...I know, really a date at a furniture store, but this isn't just a furniture store.
Anyhow, Allen and I loved it so the next day we left Allen at home studying and had some fun at Jordan's.

They have:

Trapezing....


And creations everywhere made entirely of Jelly Belly Beans...


And an ice cream shop...

And my personal fav. the waterworks show (which cannot be captured on film, you really just have to see it, but here is what we did get).