Don't blink; that's how fast this post will be.....

I know I promised pictures when I had a second; but I have not had a second....Couldn't have to anything to do with three kids and how close Christmas is......As I write this I am in the midst of writing Christmas cards (gasp I know, it's been a couple of years since I've managed to get them done).

Morgan got her first term report card and it was great.
2 A-
6 B+
1 B-
3 B's
I had an interview with her teacher and she's doing really well except for the usual complaint of not getting her work done in an appropriate amount of time. Nothing shocking there. Mme. did say that she is in the top three for reading in her class which is awesome. I'm so proud.

The other news around here is that Ella and I saw the geneticist last week. He said that both diagnoses that we have had are correct. That she has a little Moebius (with the 7th nerve involvement) and that it is also (mostly) Hemifacial Microsomnia. The cause is not genetic, and that it was vascular and related most likely to the hole in the placenta which was most likely there all along. So there we are, very nice to have some answers.
Okay I'm off, have to keep going with the cards. Pictures will be up soon I hope.
xxoo

Cookie

Just a quick little update while I have a second. We had a wonderful visit with Nana and Grandad, and Morgan had a good birthday party, although she has been sick, and wasn't quite herself for it. She is in bed as we speak as she was up in the night with a high fever. Off to the doctors as soon as I can get through by phone (this has been going on, on and off for a week now and she has missed quite a bit of school). I have lots of pictures to post which I'll try to do later today.

The big news in our house is sad. As you all know we had a beautiful smooth collie named Cookie. She was our foster dog who never left because we all fell hard for her. Well this house has gotten extremely busy and loud, and Paige has a temper to be reckoned with (reminds me a lot of one of her aunties....) Anyways it has all gotten a bit much for Cookie, especially without Fury's calming influence. After much deliberation from all sides we made the heartbreaking decision to relinquish her back to her original home. I can't believe how empty the house is without a canine presence, but I think that we have made the right decision for everyone, although Maggie has been looking for her. Speaking of Maggie, poor kitty was on my lap last week, breathed on me and I almost fell over. When I looked in her mouth I discovered that she had a canine tooth that was rotting and loose. When I took her to the vet, she was able to pop it right out without putting her under. She is much happier now, and has been enjoying soft food while her gum heals.

So that's us, Christmas is quickly creeping and I must get organized and get cards out......it's been a couple of years. I'll get some pictures posted today hopefully.

xxoo to all.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MORGAN!!!!!!!!

Born November 23, 2000. I cannot believe that six years have passed already. You bring us such joy, and we love you very much. Don't ever lose your excitement about the world around you, or your joy for life!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG GIRL!!!!!!

When I was One,
I had just begun.

When I was Two,
I was nearly new.

When I was Three,
I was hardly Me.

When I was Four,
I was not much more.

When I was Five,
I was just alive.

But now I am Six, I'm as clever as clever.
So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

-- A.A. Milne



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xoxoxo Mama, Papa, Paige, and Ella

A bit hasty

Okay, so I was a bit hasty in ending my rant. I picked up Morgan, only to be pulled aside by the teacher. Turns out Morgan has not been concentrating on her work the past two days, and today was rude to Mme. ! I think it has to do with not getting enough sleep, but now I'm really frustrated. It isn't as if she comes from a home where manners aren't taught. ARGHHHHHH!!!

Okay, end rant. For real this time; I hope.

One frustrated Mama

Man! Things are wicked busy around here as usual. Kev has a new job which is really exciting. He was away last week, and is away this week also, but after that will be home for a bit.

The kids are driving me nuts!!!! Paige is into wicked temper tantrums during which she is completely irrational. This is getting to be very trying, and I'm starting to lose my cool. I usually handle it okay, but it is happening on a daily basis. Morgan's thing at the moment is to not do what I ask, resulting in lots of yelling because we are always rushing (even though I leave them plenty of time). Ella is now very mobile (which is fun) and into everything.

So I'm feeling a bit bit stretched and needing to vent. I feel like the calmer I try to be with them, the more they push, until I blow my lid and feel like crap for yelling at them. I know its all about limits and how hard one can push, but man!

We saw the plastic surgeon at Sick Kids two weeks ago I guess it was. He says that Ella DOES NOT have Moebius Syndrome, which I had kind of suspected. His diagnosis is something called Hemifacial Microsomia. I'm still doing research on it, but you'll find lots of info on google. He will see her again in 18 mths to see how things are progressing. There is a lot that he can't know until she is old enough to communicate with us about what kind of feeling she has. If surgery is to be done it will be when she is five or so.

Halloween went well, but I don't have many pictures because I forgot the camera at Morgan's school. Luckily it was still there the next day. I'll post them when I get a chance. Gotta run and get Morgan, I'll post more soon.

End rant ;)

Neverending, or so it seems.......

Well as usual I spoke too soon again (seems to be a pattern). Paige woke up this morning "with hard stuff" in her eyes. So eye drops have started for her, and she had to miss her gymnastics class this morning. On the upside, my eye is fine now, and Ella's is looking much better.

Tonight is our first bingo for the preschool. Kev is going to go. The bingo hall is right smack downtown which isn't the safest place; so he doesn't want me going. Probably for the best since the baby is pretty cranky, and we all know how she feels about bottles and sippy cups......Still part of me kind of wanted to go out of pure curiosity! Maybe I'll do the next one, who knows.

Morgan did go to gymnastics this morning. Here's a peek:


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Cool eh????
xxoo

She crawled :)!

Ella crawled in the girls room this morning!!!! Yeah girl!!! I tried to get it on the camera when we got home from taking Morgan to school but she didn't want to cooperate. I did get this though which is kind of fun anyways. We'll keep trying though.



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I am now giving in and am off to the drugstore to fill the prescription that the doctor gave me on Monday for antibiotics should I need it. My throat is worse and my ear is now hurting, so I think it is high time....
xxoo

Oh Man! (as Morgan would say)

So I jinxed us with my post yesterday. The baby now has two gunky eyes (they aren't pink though) which I am treating, and Paige although she doesn't have pink eye (yet), she is miserable and didn't go to preschool this morning. I thought it might be better to keep her germs to herself for a few more days as she doesn't go again until Monday. My eye is feeling much better but my throat is not!

To top it all of Morgan got in trouble at school today for not listening (shocking I know) and as a result is getting her seat moved tomorrow. She is also as we speak writing an apology note (in french), and drawing a picture. The internet is a wonderful thing; I went to Babel fish and got the translation, since we all know how good my french is - not! Very cool.
Okay, end rant!
By the way guys, I have a couple of "regulars" who always leave me a comment and I love it. Would more of you who read this leave a comment every now and then so I can know who's reading?????
xxoo

BOOGA *&%^!!

For those of you who don't know, that is a bad word in our house! I just got a call from the genetics department, and Ella's apointment has been cancelled. The doctor is on medical leave and they don't know when she'll be back. We've been waiting for that appointment for 7 months so this is quite frustrating.

Not to mention the fact that I contracted pink eye, and this bloody virus that is sapping all of the energy out of the grown-ups in this house. So far Paige hasn't gotten very sick, and the baby is fine thankfully - since she is still protected by my immune system. Even Morgan is still wiped out from it; I have been having trouble getting her up in the morning, and for anyone who knows Morgan, this is not a normal thing!


Okay rant finished, I'm off to rescue the baby who is pushing herself under the playpen!
xxoo

SUCCESS!!!!!!!

A lady in my online kidswithfacialparalysis group told me about these sunglasses. After a bit of searching, I found them in Canada and ordered them. As you can see they don't have arms, but are held on by a neoprene band. I took Ella outside in them this afternoon. For the first time in her life she was outside without trying to hide from the sun, without a blanket tent on her head. She was out in the open, and laughing at me, and her eye wasn't red or tearing!! YEAH!!!!!!!
Doing the Happy Dance!!!!! And she looks pretty cool too.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope everyone had a good long weekend.

Poor Morgan is still not feeling well. I took her to the Urgent Care yesterday and it turns out that as well as having an Upper Respiratory Infection, she also has Pink Eye. I had to keep her home today because it takes a full 24 hrs of her being on drops to not be contagious anymore. Ella's ECG was this morning, so Morgan came with me to the hospital and was an absolute star!

Ella wouldn't hold still so they were only able to really confirm that she does indeed have a murmur. We then saw the cardiologist. He said that the murmur is innocent and nothing to be concerned about. He would like to do a proper ECG when she is three, however if she requires surgery before that it may have to be done earlier, but is taking a wait and see attitude so as to not have to sedate her unnecessarily.

That's the news from here. There is leek and potato soup in the crock pot (made with homemade turkey broth), and the grass is cut, so I am off for some quiet time with the girls.
xxoo to all.

Ella and Paige were playing the piano together in the hallway the other day. Of course by the time I got the camera most of the fun was over, but this is what I did get. Enjoy.


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Time for an update

Things have been a little more hectic than usual; at least it certainly feels that way. My mother-in-law has an expression about every time you think you can make ends meet, somebody moves the ends. Now that isn't exactly the case here, but kind of. The company that Kev works for and loves has gone into receivership, meaning that he has to move on and find a new position. Now this is not necessarily a bad thing, since it an opportunity for growth, and since he did such a good job in his position he is in demand within the industry. But it is nonetheless a stressful thing.

The girls have been very busy with school, sparks, preschool, library, gymnastics, etc.....and loving it. I am however very much looking forward to this weekend, and having some quiet time! Morgan came home from school with a fever yesterday (poor muffin) which meant that we weren't rushing out the door at 8:45am this morning to go to gymnastics, which I must admit was quite nice. Paige however was not quite as amused; Kev had a contract job to do today so she had to miss her class also. Ella is busy growing, and trying to crawl when she isn't being dragged here there and everywhere in the car to her sisters activities. (I met a lady in England last summer who told me how her third baby was her car baby - this certainly applies to Ella). She's so close to crawling, up on her hands and knees rocking away, but she rolls everywhere she wants to go. The big girls never rolled to get anywhere which is probably why they crawled so early. Ella has a busy month ahead of her: Tuesday she as an ECG to make sure that her heart murmur is innocent, then the week of the 23rd we go to Sick Kids to see the plastic surgeon, see the paediatrician, and the geneticist! Busy, busy busy!!

I have some good pictures to post from the last little while, and as always will put some up on flickr as well. We celebrated Kev's birthday this week, and last weekend we went to the zoo.

Not to be vain, but I think that this is a really nice pictures of the big girls and I. Ella was sleeping, as you can see below.

Morgan's favourite animal. 

Tired Baby! 

At the zoo with Hannah. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!! xxoo

Bunk Beds

The girls are now the proud owners of bunk beds. They have been up for a week now, and Paige has slept in her OWN bed every night!!!!!!! Yeah for us! You can't see from the picture, but they have little pink fairies all over their comforters, and they love them.

The past week was very hectic, with Morgan's head, and preschool starting for Paige, as well as Sparks starting up for Morgan. She is going to a new unit, and really likes it. Morgan will get her staples out tomorrow, and gymnastics starts for both girls next Saturday so it is really very busy around here. I'll write more when I get a chance.

xxoo to all :)

Oops!

I went back in the archives, and I have already posted that picture, but here it is again..... I couldn't find it on Flickr so thought it wasn't anywhere. Oh well.
P.S. Bear with me, I'm playing with the template, and am not quite as talented as my sister, so it could be awhile.....