Gobble, Gobble

We had a pretty good Thanksgiving.  It was nice having a few days off of work and the girls being home from school.  Thanksgiving Day we went to my parents' house for lunch.  My whole immediate family was there as well as my grandmother.  The food was fabulous, as usual, and the company was just as good.  That night we had surprise visitors when my aunt and uncle and my cousin and her family showed up.  It was so nice to see them!!  The girls had fun playing with my cousin's kids, Hannah and Mitchell, and I enjoyed visiting with Kenny, Julie, Marc and Michele!  Love you guys!! 

The next day I ended up taking Mallory to the doctor because she was coughing and running a low temp like she did the last time she had pneumonia and my suspicions were right.  The doctor now thinks it may be asthma related so we go back for a recheck in 10 days and then will possibly be sent to a pulmunologist for the asthma.  Another specialist we have to endure but another reason why she keeps getting pneumonia was answered.  Mallory's cough improved with the nebs and she did not run a fever for the rest of the weekend.  She was sent back to school today with instructions to not run or overdo it at school. 

The doctor did not let Mallory go to Skylar Spessard's birthday party for fear that Mallory may catch a virus from the other kids so Isabella got to go alone.  She had a ball!!  And we are so appreciative of the Spessards for letting her tag along.  They didn't get home until 10:30!!  Needless to say, Isabella was asleep in the chair on Saturday by 7:00. 

Since Mallory couldn't go to the birthday party we did let her venture out, mask included, on Saturday to watch the fish house parade in Round Lake.  Yes, we live in a town full of red necks!  But it was so much fun and neat to see the inside of them when the parade was over. 

We put up our Xmas tree Saturday night.  Now all we need is presents to go under it!

Yesterday, we skipped church since both girls were not feeling well.  The girls and I stayed in our bed watching TV till almost 2:00!!  What a great, lazy Sunday afternoon!

H1N1 does not spell fun

Man has it been crazy for the Oyes this last week.  On Tuesday the 27th of October E and I headed to the Cities with Mallory for a doctor's appointment the following day at MINCEP.  Mallory's neurologist at Avera Children's is no longer practicing there so this is where we decided to go.  After stopping at Red Lobster (yum!!) in Mankato for some supper we made it to our hotel about 10:00 that night.  Isabella stayed in Round Lake with Gammy and Papa since she had preschool on Wednesday. 

Mallory was scheduled for a 3 hour video EEG on Wednesday, which she hasn't had done before.  After she got hooked up to the electrodes she looked like this:

She did great during the test and fell asleep when they wanted her to.  After the test we went and got a bite to eat before meeting up with the doctor.  The exam with the doctor went well.  He said it sounds reasonable to continue weaning her off her meds and see what happens.  The EEG did show some brain abnormality during the flashing lights, which does indicate some seizure tendency.  We go back in 6 months if nothing changes. 

That night we got back to RL around 5ish and around 8:00 that night Mallory spiked a 103 temp.  Off to the ER we went.  Doctor there confirmed H1N1.  Yay...not.  Told me just to keep up with Tylenol and Motrin and plenty of liquids and let it run its course.  Needless to say, that took a week.  She finally went back to school yesterday.  Isabella ended up getting it Friday evening and I got it Friday morning and E got it Friday sometime.  So all weekend we were sick, sick, sick.  The girls did end up feeling a little better Saturday night before trick or treating so we did let them go.  Isabella didn't last long though.  She was only out about a half hour before she asked to go home. 

Here's what they dressed up as:

Holle and Nate Spessard invited us to go with them trick or treating, which was fun.  Thanks guys!! 

The girls definately were beat that night.  We all rested on Sunday.  I was finally able to go back to work today for a full day.  But now I think the morning sickness is kicking in as I have been nauseous on and off all day.  I was really hoping to avoid it this time since I had been feeling so good but it doesn't look like that's a possibility. 

HOPEFULLY we have all now since recovered from the nasty H1N1 and can feel somewhat normal again!

Imagination Movers

We had a great weekend with lots of fun things.  Friday night we met up with our friends, Dave and Dana and their son, Joe, for supper at HuHot before heading to see the Imagination Movers at the Washington Pavilion.  We were so excited to see our great friends and spend some time with them.  The show was amazing and the kids even got VIP passes to meet the Movers and get their autographs.  Here are some highlights from the show: 

The girls and I with the Imagination Movers

My loves

Eric with our good friend, Dave, waiting for the show to start

Bella shaking her groove thing

The girls meeting the Movers and getting their autographs

Bella's not so sure she wants to give him a high five

Saturday night Eric and I took the girls to see the new movie, "Where the Wild Things Are".  We had bought the book a few days earlier and had spent every day reading it so we would know what the movie was about.  I thought it was okay.  Isabella said she loved it and thought it was really good and Mallory must have liked it because all I could see was her crying at the end.  She's so tender hearted-I love that about her.  I thought the book though was way better and that the movie didn't really depict the book very much.  But I was glad we went and I think we need to make "movie night" a weekly thing, either by going to the movies or staying in and watching the movies.  It is something we all enjoy doing as a family and I couldn't ask for a better way to spend my Saturday night. 

Yesterday, we didn't do much.  I wasn't feeling good in the morning so we stayed home from church.  While Eric was at work, the girls and I did some puzzles and made bracelets and just enjoyed some mommy-daughter time doing some girly things.  It was a great weekend spent with the people I love the most in this world!!

Homecoming

Mallory could hardly wait to get up this morning to dress up as a nerd for homecoming week.  It is all she talked about yesterday and had to keep reminding Eric and I about it.  Isn't she just the cutest nerd? 

I hope she has a really fun day as a nerd!

We had a pretty busy, pretty fun weekend. Friday night we enjoyed a supper out with the girls. It was only to the Sunset Grill in Round Lake, but still an enjoyable evening as a family. Saturday morning the girls and I went over to our neighbor's house to see our friend's new baby. Courtlynn Joy is absolutely adorable and it was so much fun being able to hold a new baby again. I even put her to sleep! It sure does give me quite the baby fever when I hold little ones. The girls had a great time playing with Noah and didn't even acknowledge that Gammy was there. Saturday night we went to Luverne to have supper with our friends, Shawn and Mandy. They treated us to a meal of halibut, green beans and cheesy potatoes with apple crisp for desert. Yum! And Shawn is a fan of my sausage-stuffed mushrooms so he convinced me to make him some so him and enjoyed them by ourselves and I was kind enough to leave him the left overs. The girls had a great time playing with their 3 little girls, Chrissy, Abby and Peyton. Hopefully their Baby No. 4 that will be arriving in November is a boy so Shawn has a little more testosterone in their house. And it'll be nice when the baby is born so Mandy won't feel like a "social retard" anymore!

Sunday we all attended church and helped with the little kids downstairs and then enjoyed a soup and sandwich lunch at Grandma's with Emily and John and the boys and Mom and Dad. The kids had fun playing downstairs and outside and it was nice being able to spend the day with my family.

So today is my first official day of college. Needless to say, I am beginning to think that maybe everyone was right when they said it would be too much. Even though I am only taking online classes I feel there is so much to do. It seems maybe we have neither the money or the time for me to do this. I REALLY want to to be able to provide a better life for my husband and kids, but maybe I just don't have the energy. I cannot stop thinking about all of the things I have to do. I spent way more money than I can afford at the book store and because of Eric's income I feel we may not qualify for very much financial aid. I am definately feeling the pressure this week and it's only Monday. I was late getting my financial aid application in and really hope the college has an answer soon as the payment is due this Friday. I need to be able to work out some type of payment plan if financial aid is not going to cover much.

I am also feeling the pressur of "What if I fail?" I know that I can't think like that if I really want to succeed, but it's hard to think about it when I'm already feeling run down and it's only the first day! Sooo could use all the encouragement, support, advice, money, and time that I can get!

So it has been a long time since I've posted anything. I don't know if that means we're just not that busy so there's not much to post or if I'm just lazy. Maybe a combination of both.

The weather was beautiful this weekend. Friday night we celebrated my nephew's 1st birthday at my sister's house. We had a lot of fun. The girls love playing with their cousins and they cry every time we leave and beg to stay overnight. Sunday after church the girls and I went to visit my dear friend, Amber, and her three girls at her parents' house. She lives in St. Cloud and was visiting her folks that live in Round Lake and we rarely get to see them but my girls and her girls always play really well together. It was so good to see them!!

After we left Amber's, the girls and I went to the park so Eric could sleep. He had to help with a prom the night before and got home around 4:30 a.m. so he was tired. The weather was perfect for the park and the girls even had some friends there to play with. My batteries on my camera are dead and I don't have any new ones so I don't have any pictures to post. I will try to do that soon.

Yesterday, Eric, Mallory and I ventured to Sioux Falls for a doctor's appointment for Mallory. It went well and we are anxious to see what the future holds for her. It was nice having the day off and spending time with Mallory and Eric. I actually get more used to it every time I have a day off. The weather again was beautiful. The girls had swimming lessons again last night too. Two more weeks and then they're done. I am SO PROUD of how well they are both doing. Isabella will now put her face in the water and do bobs whereas before she wouldn't even blow bubbles. And Mallory is improving with her front and back crawl as well.