Cannot. Get. Enough.

Of. This. Girl.

First Day of Kindergarten!

Julia’s first day of Kindergarten at Lincoln Academy Charter School was today, August 28.  Our little girl has become an Elementary School Student!  We are so proud of her!

While the start was a little rocky and the finish even rockier, the In Between was great, according to Julia… at least, good enough to head back tomorrow!

Upon arriving at school, I got out with Julia to take her EpiPens and Benadryl to the office; she shot off towards Kindy waiting area – I had to call her back for a hug, kiss, and one last photo.  I went to the office; apparently I missed filling out one of the medical papers needed – one I would have found had I “dug just a little deeper on the website” (how do you dig a little deeper if you have no way of knowing you’re in need of doing so…?).  So… I drove the new paperwork out to Lakewood for the doctor to fill it out, and we should have it to school on Tuesday again – I hope!

Julia reported that she had a good day; she learned some new friends (though names escape her), she had yogurt for snack and she ate her lunch, and she played on the playground.

However, things fell apart a bit this afternoon – I received a call close to four from Mrs. G, Julia’s teacher, who was wondering where I was – Julia’s paperwork I had turned in suggested she would be in After Care, however, After Care didn’t have her on the list.  After about 45 minutes of waiting for me to come, Mrs. G decided to take Julia to After Care anyway, and said I would find her there.  And ugh, this was a message, because I just barely missed the call… ugh.

I tried desperately to call back, call the number of the After Care folks (no answer!  no mailbox/voicemail!), and finally called the 800 number for the After Care company.  The confirmed that Julia was indeed enrolled in After Care, but they couldn’t tell me why the site didn’t have her info and why no one could get a hold of anyone… this is what finally broke me.  I didn’t know if my child was handling this all okay, I couldn’t get a hold of anyone who could tell me… ugh again.  I cried most of the way there trying to figure out what to do; thankfully Mrs. G called again to let me know she checked on J before she left and that J had calmed down and seemed fine. 

I finally picked her up at 4:45 pm, and while Julia is a little leery of going back to After Care tomorrow (why aren’t you like the OTHER moms who pick my friends up right at school when school is over?  barf), she is more than willing to go back to Kindy tomorrow, and that’s all that I could ask for.

Rocky start, maybe, but here’s to an awesome year!

erin

ps.  Julia INSISTED she have her picture taken with the van.  HA!

The Big 3-5

I turned 35 today!  WOOHOO!

Adam and I enjoyed a wonderful afternoon together, after I finally roused from my sleeping quarters.  We started with lunch at Alehouse @ Amatos, had ice cream, walked to Denver Beer (but it wasn’t open), and then enjoyed a mas krug at Prost to celebrate their one year anniversary.

I did get a cake, but haven’t dug into it get – the girls and I didn’t have time before we had to go out, and we got home quite late and the girls needed to go to bed.  Methinks I will eat a piece before I go to bed.

Some updates on life around these parts….

My white blood cell count has been coming down, which is expected on the Gleevec (imatinib).  However, my count is lower than “normal”, and while that in and of itself isn’t a problem, the Neutrophil, which is one of the types of white blood cells, count is lower than it should be and if it goes much lower, I could have immunity risk against bacterial infection.  So, I now will start weekly blood tests to monitor the level, and if the level dips too low, I’ll have to go off Gleevec until it rises again, and then I will restart.

You might recall that after Anna was born, I went onto anti-anxiety medication.  I’ve been doing well with it.  This spring I considered going off of it, but quickly being sick and trying to get better consumed me and I never did anything about it.  Well, my doctor determined that potentially my anti-anxiety medication (Celexa) could interfere and cause a negative reaction with the Gleevec, and therefore I am weaning off of it.  Well, I should say, I weaned off of it.  For now I won’t be going onto anything else, as long as I believe that I’m handling any and all anxiety well.

Anna has taken at least two steps a day since Thursday, and today walked quite a bit while we were out – not her main / preferred method of transportation, but I can see the corner.  She is a much happier cat as a result.

Julia is increasingly excited about starting Kindy, and Raven started Pre-K today.  We also start ballet/tap combo for both girls this coming weekend.

Much going on.  Thanks for all of the birthday love today!

Erin

Mah Bebes

Here are pictures of my other two loves.

Raven is less than a month away from FOUR!  We are planning our first sleepover party with friends, and Minnie Mouse is our intended theme (though I believe if she had her way it would be a Bo-on-the-Go-My-Little-Ponies-Minnie-Mouse-Hello-Kitty party).  One of the best smiles on the planet; she always lights me up.  She starts Pre-K and will be in Miss Erika’s class starting next week; so hard to believe my precious baby is almost FOUR!  Love her!

Julia is five-going-on-fifteen.  She is a School Ager now at daycare, and starts Kindergarten on August 28.  Definitely the Little Mother in our family.  Definitely our Soft Hearted One.  Super duper excited about Big School and starting up ballet again next Saturday.  Gives the best Huggies and Kissies.  Love this girl!

Not dead yet.

I am continually amazed by the roses on our property; I do nothing to them, and they bloom.  And bloom some more.

My aunt Chris and cousin Dru came to visit this last weekend, and were TREMENDOUSLY helpful with turning a nasty yard into a beautiful place where I actually want to spend my time.

On one of our many trips to Lowe’s, we eyed the succulents, but we didn’t buy any until Sunday morning.  I had a great desire to create a succulent garden, but didn’t really know where I wanted to do it – then I eyed the bird bath that has sat empty (because duh, we’re in Colorado, and keeping a bird bath full is a daily activity, and I don’t do daily yard activities if I can help it)… and voila, a succulent garden!  Very happy with how it turned out.

Thank you so much to Chris and Dru for visiting – it was SO wonderful to have you here!  The girls miss you already and have been asking about “Grandma” Chris and “Mom’s Cousin Dru” and where they went.  Hee, hee.  And Adam says thanks for patching the hole in the ceiling… so much less for us to do!

love,
erin

15 Months on the 15th of August

Anna is 15 months old today!

Anna WALKED tonight for the first time!  (I am so thankful that I was able to witness this milestone for all three of my girls.) As luck would have it, as soon as she started, I said in a rather excited voice, “Oh, Anna, you good girl!” and this freaked her out, she started crying, and she sat down.  Heh.

Anna is down to using the bottle at night.  She uses a sippy cup during the day. We have successfully used the sippy cup at dinner time two days in a row without her pitching it so hard that it breaks.  Progress.

Words: uh oh, mama

Personality: Very obstinate; loving when she wants to be and NOT when she doesn’t; happy when she’s happy and ORNERY when she’s not – very good at throwing tantrums; definitely her own girl – so different than the two older girls!

Food likes: Strawberries still seem to be her favorite

Still 12 teeth.

Going camping for the first time tomorrow night.

Loves her owl blankie, but also has developed a bond with a number of stuffies in her crib.

Still sleeps on her tummy with her butt in the air.

Has transitioned really well to the Tiny Tots toddler room at daycare; naps on a mat without ANY problems – so cool!

LOVES shoes. LOVES.  (Mama’s girl!)

Happy 15 months, Anna!

Love, Mama.

“I’m a big kid now!”

Anna officially moved to the toddler room today – she’s not a baby anymore!  Sad mama.  Happy girl!

8/5 Randomness

• I turn 35 in 2 weeks.  WOOHOO!  Love birthdays and love my birthday!  Super excited for it!  I am taking the day off that day, and Adam and I are talking about different possible ideas for the day.  Should be fun!
  
• I have been on Gleevec (imatinib) for about 20 days now.  The main side effect I’m experiencing is bone pain, but that was expected, so other than it being more than a little irritating, I firmly believe it means that things are going well.  Fatigue is also still a problem, but nothing that I haven’t been able to deal with – I’m still working full-time, and other than slacking a bit in the home department, I have been hanging in there.
  
• Today I had a procedure called Essure performed.  Essure is a (as close to permanent you can get) permanent birth control.  For all intents and purposes, it is a tubal ligation.  The procedure in and of itself wasn’t so bad, but afterwards I was in a lot of pain, so I spent most of the day sleeping and completely overwhelmed with pain medication.  Doing well now, but of course I am wide awake after sleeping six hours in the middle of the day.  In about three months I’ll have an x-ray done to determine if the procedure worked or not.
  
• Thanks to my cube mate, who is Puerto Rican, I have a newfound love of Puerto Rican coffee.  Between that and my French press, I’m in heaven.
  
• I still plan on doing a Questions Regarding CML blog post; I just haven’t had much energy to put it together – hopefully soon!
  
• Julia starts Kindergarten on August 28th!  I’m so excited for her.  She is BEYOND excited and beyond ready.  I love that she is so excited about school!
  
• My aunt Chris and cousin Dru are flying out to visit this week.  Much fun will be had!
  
• Raven turns four in a little over a month – cuh-razy!  We waffled between a Bo on the Go, My Little Pony, and Minnie Mouse theme, but we’re going with Minnie Mouse.  I also plan to allow her and Julia to have their very first friend sleepover.  Wish us luck!
  
• Anna is communicating better; not necessarily with real words, but with “talking” and pointing to things she wants or needs.  She also is putting a lot more weight on her feet, moving / walking around furniture a lot more, and also letting go and standing solo for a bit of time here and there.  So proud of her!
  
• Adam has joined a new band, the Canyon Creek Band.  He will be going on a small tour with them to Arizona in September.  Lots of exciting times ahead!

That’s all for tonight! 

Erin