Madi had great birthday parties!

Sunday Madi had her birthday party at the Eccles Ice Center. It was a good time.

Here she is looking pretty serious over her cupcake. I think she was concentrating on getting ready to blow out the candles.

Henry was ready for the action. Thanks to Kate for the cute photo!

Madi dug into both kinds of cupcakes and both kinds of ice cream, plus some sorbet.

I think Sarah and Andrew liked the cupcakes too.

GaGa gave Henry his dairy-free cupcake and sorbet. Henry is still doing a bit better. His tests for wheat allergy haven't come back yet. We have just been continuing the probiotic and limiting wheat in the meantime.

Maggie and Henry like each other! I think Henry looks kind of smitten.

Madi was happy to celebrate with her friends, and of course to get great gifts. You kind of have to take my word on that, because she looks so serious in all the pictures. Here she is with Ceci.

And here with Finnegan and Maria Luisa. Tio Scott too!

Of course, there was the skating. I was wondering how it would go for people who hadn't skated before, or who were pretty out of practice, but everyone seemed game.

Tim and Madi skated for a bit. Madi did well. She even started to skate a bit without the walker later.

Here in action is Sarah, Madi, and yes, GaGa.

We were all pretty tired out afterwards. The next morning was Madi's actual birthdate. Here she is with her new doctor's costume.

That evening, we went to Happy Sushi for her birthday dinner. The adults sort of made some very concrete suggestions about where to eat that night. She really enjoyed it anyway, and she loved the mochi ice cream.

Then Madi had fun talking to Grandmother and Granddaddy by Skype and opening presents from them.

She got a beautiful princess outfit from Grandmother and Granddaddy and then had a little tart from Sweetly Divine. We like getting pastries there because they are truly delicious, and plus, the owner and pastry chef is our neighbor.

Today, GaGa left. We will miss you GaGa! Thanks for visiting us.

Then the kids went to daycare and Madi had another party. Whew!

Tomorrow is Madi's birthday party!

Madi will celebrate her birthday tomorrow at the Eccles Ice Center. Today we started getting ready by baking cupcakes. Pink (raspberry) and orange ones. Madi set out all of the baking cups to start.

She helped me zest and squeeze the lemons and oranges.

Here we are decorating the last set. She is excited!

Henry meantime went today to get his blood drawn for the wheat allergy test. That part of the day was not fun, but he handled it as well as you could expect. We won't know the results until next week because it has to be done in Salt Lake City.

He had a good day, and his poop is actually finally starting to improve, as of today! We don't know why. We have been limiting wheat, and giving him a probiotic, and just more time has passed. Could be anything causing this respite from the diarrhea, but we are just glad it is better.

Here he is walking, which he loves and always does with a grin.

Here he is relaxing and sharing a beer with his dad.* Tim had a busy day trying to shovel all of the gravel from our road back on the road from the various places it got to over the winter. Snowplowing tends to redistribute things.

Tim was just a wee bit tired after all that. He fell asleep picking up toys I think.

Tomorrow will be fun at the Ice Rink!

*Now don't get too worried - the bottle was empty by the time Henry got to it.

It's Spring!

The kids have enjoyed spending time outside with GaGa the last couple days. The weather has been beautiful - clear, sunny, and in the 50's.

Henry likes feeding some of the Spring greenery to the chickens.

Henry is doing great in most ways. He is walking more and more, and has taken up to 15 steps in a row. Unfortunately, though, he STILL has diarrhea. We have ruled out several causes at this point. An x-ray found no obstructions (which seemed unlikely but needed to be eliminated, so to speak). A stool culture revealed no infectious bacteria or other organisms. Given the length of time, it can't be viral.

That leaves ... well, mainly food sensitivities. Sigh. He already doesn't eat any dairy or soy, so the problem can't be there. One possibility is that he is allergic to wheat. He will be getting a blood test for that tomorrow. Another possibility is that all of the antibiotics he had to take for his ear infections threw off his intestinal flora. We are hoping it is that one. That one can be fixed with some probiotics, which we have started. The other one is a life-long diet of wheat exclusion. Did I mention we hope it is not that one?

Madi and Tim got outside the other day and started working on the electric fence for the goats. It always takes a beating over the winter. The goats are ready to get out of the corral and nibble the sprouts!

The kids have really enjoyed having GaGa here. Sunday is Madi's birthday party so we are going to get ready for that!

We think she's gonna pull through

Madi has been doing incredibly well following her tonsil surgery. Today we successfully reduced her pain medication by one dose. She is only taking it two times a day now, when she theoretically could take it six. Here she is trying out her new dress for her birthday. This year she has chosen official birthday colors - pink and orange. You should expect to see a lot of pink and orange in coming posts.

Henry is doing well overall, too, although he STILL has diarrhea, going on nearly two weeks now. We are having his poop cultured to see if the cause might be bacterial. Sorry if that is more detail than you need.

Tonight he tried some lamb. He wasn't sure about it, and didn't eat very much of it. He did say "Baaahh!!" when Tim informed him it was lamb. He ate tons of potatoes and broccoli.

Madi had the very same dinner - potatoes, lamb, and broccoli. We are pretty sure she is eating more now than before her surgery.

So far her voice has stayed pretty high compared to how it used to be. Here she sings a little song. Henry sort of drowns her out in the beginning with his commentary.

We're so happy she is doing so well! She is enjoying her week home with GaGa and Henry.

Continuing to do well

Madi has continued her great recovery from her tonsil surgery. It seems to us like she is eating even more than before she had it. Here she shows GaGa a fun website.

For dinner we made spoon bread. She did all of the stirring.

We did try a little experiment today and reduced her pain medication. It didn't go too well by after dinner, as Grandmother and Granddaddy can attest. They got to see her by Skype at her grouchiest in days. Sorry about that. She recovered after we gave her the medicine. Here she has a banana Creamie for her bedtime snack. Creamies are a Logan UT original since the 1950's.

Henry continues to walk more and more each day. We counted 11 consecutive steps today! Here is a video showing what he's up to lately. Unfortunately, he also has had diarrhea for over a week now, for reasons we don't understand. He's getting 4 molars at a time, too, apparently (it's kind of hard to get a good look in there). He's been a bit grouchy as a result. Let's hope he sleeps better tonight than last night.

Madi talking and Henry walking

Madi continues to have a good recovery so far. She has been eating and drinking a lot. Here she is with her dinner tonight (above). She ate all of that except the mashed potatoes, and also had some pears and Ben and Jerry's ice cream (not pictured).

Here she is (below) with the Camel Bak full of water (on the couch) and a glass of juice.

Here is a photo of her vocal chords. They are supposed to be completely smooth, but you can see the sort of hook-like projections on hers about 1/3 of the way down. Hopefully this will go away.

Both kids have been having a good time with GaGa. Here Henry models his new hat.

Madi's voice does sound different so far. She sounds to me like she has been breathing helium. Here you can hear for yourself. The adenoid removal in particular might affect her voice because they are behind the nose and were huge and draining. Her voice will gradually adapt over the next couple weeks, we have been told.

Henry meanwhile has been gradually walking a little more each day. Now he is up to five steps at a time! We are very excited.

Madi's tonsillectomy went well

Madi did really great with her tonsil surgery. Here she is getting ready for it. Notice that they had to get a huge gown in terms of circumference to fit her in terms of height! The first one they chose for her based on her age didn't even come to her knees.

She was a little worried at points, but overall she did just fine. Here she is with Tim.

Here she is waiting with me. She talked to the doctors about what to expect and walked back to surgery with them on her own.

She was gone about 30 minutes or so. They took her tonsils and adenoids out, and made pictures of her larynx to figure out why her voice is so gravely. The doctor said the surgery went very well. There was not a lot of bleeding or anything like that. She does have nodules on her vocal chords, which he thinks is probably caused by reflux. He said after the surgery that her voice will be different, because her tonsils and adenoids were really huge and swollen with lots of drainage. So maybe she will sound more like a little girl and less like a blues singer in the future.

Here she is following the surgery. She did not feel so well right after, but she started doing better on the way and once we got home.

GaGa was waiting at home with Henry. Madi was glad to see her. She has ensconced herself on the couch and is watching a selection of fine movies and sipping a variety of beverages.

She even had a great lunch of macaroni and cheese! So far, so good ... we are glad she is doing so well!

Madi goes for her tonsillectomy tomorrow

We have had some nice snow lately. This is a picture taken the other night of our yard.

Tim went skiing this morning, then I brought the kids up and we traded out for the afternoon today. You can see we had some nice powder.

Tim and the kids went and picked up Jerry Ann (GaGa) from Salt Lake City this afternoon. We are glad she has arrived. Here Henry is modeling his new cowboy hat with her. You may notice he does not have a binkie - the dentist banned it last Thursday! The roof of Henry's mouth was starting to mold to the shape of the binkie and his front teeth weren't coming in all the way either. Things will go back to normal in a few months. It hasn't been too bad without the binkie, really. He cries a bit when he goes to sleep or rides in the car, but otherwise seems just fine. Henry has had terrible diarrhea and diaper rash for several days now. We don't know why, but we do hope that goes away soon!

Madi has been doing ok. She has times where she seems to feel just fine, and others where she is very cranky. I picked this picture because it represents the former! We are really hoping that her tonsillectomy tomorrow will help her feel better in the long run. She goes in at 7 a.m.

She and Henry have been having a pretty good time together lately. We are on Spring Break right now. The University has made it an unpaid furlough to help with budget problems. Sometimes Henry and Madi play really well together, but sometimes they take each others' stuff. This is in a good moment.

Henry has lately discovered Tim's iPhone. Here he is playing a very simple game in which he touches the screen to uncover barnyard animals. He loves it!