The medical group wins. For now.

30 frustrating minutes at the MRI lab.

a happy meal.

5 hours in the car.

1 hour at the children's hospital to see the neurosurgeon.

$4 for parking.

Traffic, traffic, traffic.

I think that sums up mine and Robert's day today.

Dr. Krieger, Robert's neurosurgeon, had requested a full spinal MRI at the Children's hospital with sedation. After battling with the medical group again, we gave in and just did a partial spine at a local imaging center.  The MRI, in the words of Dr. Krieger, ".. was horrible. Crappy." But he was able to see that the syrinx is still there and hasn't changed substantially in size. If it has changed a little in size he couldn't tell due to the poor quality of the MRI. So, in a year Robert will have another MRI, and it WILL be a full spine with sedation at the children's hospital. We will now be filing official complaints and changing medical groups. If that means finding a new pediatrician, then I guess we will be saying goodbye to dear Doc Sharma, who we have been seeing for over 7 years now.

A humorous moment of the day.... Before the MRI we had given Robert a sedative, chloral hydrate, prescribed by the pediatrician. It did nothing for Robert. He tried his hardest to stay still, but he is a very active 4 year old. He moved without even knowing he was moving. After the MRI the tech said to me, "if they send you back you might want to think about getting him a sedative, like chloral hydrate, or something."  I just laughed.

In the end, we survived the day, Robert is doing GREAT, and all is well.

A Happy Valentine

I hope everyone felt loved today! David and I don't really celebrate Valentines Day as a couple, but we try to do some fun things for the kids. This morning we had pink heart shaped pancakes and the kids had some special valentines to open and then after dinner we had this yummy jello dessert. Robert saw it in the Family Fun magazine and could not stop talking about it. He carried it around for several days looking at it with wide eyes and a watering mouth. Now, how could I resist that.... Anyway, it was fun to make and turned out cute.  I think it would be neat to do for the 4th of July with red and blue jello and cut into stars! So fun!

Sharing

Today, during sacrament meeting William took a handful of bread (without me realizing it) as the tray was passed then shared them with the entire family. Little piece by little piece, and with every piece he gave away he said, "you welbum", with a big ol' grin!  He was so proud of himself.

Next week I'll pay more attention and make sure he only gets one piece of bread, but this week it was just too cute.

Slumber Partying

 

We are overprotective parents and have a "no sleepover" rule, but every once in a while the kids request a "slumber party". Last weekend was one of these parties. It consisted of dancing, Sorry Sliders, rodent races (with zhu zhu hamsters), story telling, and finally crashing together on the floor.  No parents are allowed in these parties and they all have a great time, especially the boys who are usually not permitted in the girls room.  

I love these moments. They make motherhood all worth while. It will be a sad day when they outgrow these kinds of things.

7 Years

I took some pictures for some friends last week. Their handsome little guy just turned 7!  Here are some of my favorites....

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

Thank you for letting me do your pictures!

Ms. Veruca Salt

Lat week Alahna played Veruca Salt in the 2nd grade production of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" She did great and we were very proud of her. The pictures are lousy, but given the circumstances, it was the best I could do.

 

Veruca with her golden ticket

 

Standing with Mr. Salt and the girl who chews bubble gum (her name has suddenly slipped my mind)

 

And my favorite, Veruca running off stage to get a squirrel!

2 years ago Anna played the same role, and I think we must have the 2 best Veruca's ever. Although, having them both play the same part has caused our first real experience with sibling rivalry.

Our dear friend, the nebulizer

It has been a while since we have had to use it, but this is how Robert spent a good chunk of time last week. He refuses to put his mouth on the mouthpiece, because he hates the way it tastes.