Seattle Recap
Aubrey and I arrived home from our two-week adventure at Seattle Children’s Hospital on Saturday afternoon. It’s taken me several days to get my feet back on the ground here in Minnesota, but I think I’m finally ready to put some words to the things we experienced. The biggest question I have been hearing since we got back is “was it worth it?” and the answer is most definitely yes. In two weeks time, Aubrey went from eating 0-200 calories a day by mouth to eating about 800-1000 calories a day. It was astonishing and fun and scary all at once (if you’re wondering about the scary part, it was just hard to believe this incredible change could stick!). A lot of people are curious about what makes Seattle’s program so...
Our first day without Rebecca and Aubrey…a tornado
With the abundance of severe weather in the midwest it seems that a lot of people know what it’s like to sit through a tornado. It can be a vastly different experience depending on what shelter you have and the intensity of the tornado. Before I describe Ella and my experience last Sunday, I just want to offer my sincerest sympathies and prayers to those who’ve experience loss as part of the tornadoes in Joplin, MO. If you so desire you can give to the American Red Cross to help out with the recovery. You can also still help out those in North Minneapolis (many of whom still need basic necessities) through Urban Homeworks (an organization that intimately knows the needs of North Minneapolis). After dropping off Rebecca and Aubrey at the airport...
Settling In
We have arrived in Seattle safe and sound! I know many people have been awaiting an update, but internet access have been a little problematic which means that unfortunately I may not be able to post too much these next couple of weeks. Aubrey and I flew in Sunday morning to Seattle Tacoma International Airport, where a hospital shuttle picked us up and took us to the Ronald McDonald House, where we will be staying for the next two weeks. We spent the day Sunday trying to settle in and find our way around in our new surroundings – it’s a little more disorientating than I expected to try to figure out how to do all the things our program requires in our new surroundings, but I’m sure that will get easier as we find our way around the house and...
Plant a Garden, Fly a Kite
Today was a gorgeous spring day and the girls and I took full advantage of the opportunity to be outside. After such a long, cold winter it is pure joy to be able to go barefoot and run in the sun and play in the dirt! One of the things that I have been most concerned about finding the time to get done before Aubrey and I leave for Seattle is preparing and planting my garden. We were planning to slowly dig up more bushes/small trees along the south fence to expand our garden area but Jason got ambitious and almost got the whole length of the fence cleared out, which I am super excited about. (Thanks, Honey, for spending Sunday afternoon digging out that horrible tree with the proliferate root system – I know you’d rather just forget the whole awful...
Emerald City, Here We Come!
At the end of this month, Aubrey and I will be off to Seattle for two whole weeks (May 22 – June 4). We are placing a lot of trust and hope in Seattle Children’s Hospital and the intensive feeding program that they have developed to help children like Aubrey who have been on g-tube feedings since infancy and thus have not learned to eat properly. Obviously, all the children are different in the challenges that they experience and the reasons they are not eating, but the program reports that typically kids are eating 50-70% more by the end of the two-week time frame. Since Aubrey only eats about 10-15% of her caloric needs by mouth right now, that probably won’t take us completely off the g-tube but it will get us really close to where we...
Just Like Daddy
Aubrey is and has always been a total daddy’s girl. She is always so excited when she wakes up on weekend mornings and finds out he is home, she cries for him when she gets busted for doing something she shouldn’t, and she plays “going to work like daddy” all the time lately. However, this last week she took it to a new level. We finally took the girls in for a long overdue haircut and when we told Aubrey where we were going, she ran over to Jason, started rubbing the back of her head excitedly, and said, “Like Daddy?!?” We hate to break it to you, Aubrey, but the growing bald spot on the back of your beloved daddy’s head is not a fashion statement. It’s just old age. And possibly genetics. Jason, all I can...
Kids Say the Darndest Things
Now that the girls are talking, we find that they really have a lot to say to us. And we are astonished to discover that it isn’t always about how much they love us and appreciate how we spend most of our waking hours catering to their every need. Can you believe it?! Take my favorite Ella quote from yesterday: AHHHHH! I’m MAD at you! I’m figuring this is just the first of many times I will be hearing this one, but it’s a little disconcerting to hear it from a 28 month old. At least she knows how to express her feelings. That has to count for something right? And then there’s Aubrey, who comes up with this one while I’m making supper tonight: I need BACON! I need BACON mom! Me: What? You need bacon? (I find this request...
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Christmas 2011
