May it rest in peace?!?!...

Garbage that is!

I don't know if I am the only mom out there with this problem, but I cannot throw anything in the garbage without the approval of my children. Whether I tell them or not, they investigate the garbage daily. Kynadi will often pull out papers she drew one line on, upset that I threw her picture away, or broken trinkets/toys, candy that I don't want eaten, and any other object she may find even the tiniest value in. Brooklyn has joined in this escapade in her own way. She tends to pull out anything she finds interesting...used paper plates, empty cans, milk carton ect. The worst happened during lunch a few weeks ago. Brooklyn will never sit still at the table to eat, so she was up wandering around the kitchen with her mouth full. But then I realized nothing seemed to be disappearing off her plate. I look in her mouth and sure enough, she was choosing to have last night's dinner remnants rather than the lunch I had fixed for her. SICK! I have now begun hiding garbage that may be of "special interest" to my children and also plan my big "throw-outs" at night while they sleep and take things to the outside trash. This all seems a bit ridiculous, but I hate having to explain and confess my reasons for throwing things away.

Pre-school Song

Kynadi sings this song at pre-school everyday. It has actions that she was showing me, but she didn't do them quite as well in the video. I didn't know she even had a "pre-school song' until she started singing it this day. Her teacher gets the curriculum from a company called "Mother Goose Time" thus the song. Anyway here it is. The words of the song are below so you know what she is saying.(Kynadi had to tell them to me).

Oh, when she tells me to put my thumb up it is because I told her that if she wasn't singing loud enough I'd put my thumb up so she knew to sing louder. I thought it was cute that she told me to show it to her.

It’s Mother Goose Time, Mother Goose time,
Clap your hands and say,
It’s Mother Goose Time, Mother Goose Time,
We’re learning everyday.
It’s a brain game, with a book worm,
Math puzzles and tunes and twirls,
Writers’ workshop and art studio,
Kinda fun for boys and girls.
We’re gonna read and write and paint and sing,
Jump, and count, explore everything,
It’s Mother Goose Time, Mother Goose time,
Clap your hands and say,
It’s Mother Goose Time, Mother Goose Time,
We’re learning everyday.

Linken Update

Not a ton to say about our baby... since all he does is sleep, eat, poop, and cry. Within this last week though he has started to smile at us, which has been fun. He's getting chubbier too now, which I also like. We still don't have any sort of schedule down that's for sure, but hopefully that is coming soon. He's been sick that last few days (poor thing) so he's a bit fussier, but overall he is a really good baby. And cute to boot! I never imagine I'd have two red heads, but it looks as though this might be the case.

As for Linken's head...

I can see more and more that his little head is growing skeewampused. Thankfully it isn't something that bothers Linken (at least as far as I know :) ) Anyway, we met with the doc at Primary Children's this last Thursday. He explained things to John (since John wasn't at the first appointment) and we got to meet with the Plastic Surgeon that would help with the "endoscopic" way. I really liked the Plastic Surgeon. He had before and after pics to show us, and really tried to answer all the questions we had, and offered to put us in touch with others who had babies go thru this procedure. We also learned from him that if we went the endoscopic way that Shields Orthopedic would be the ones they worked with for the head helmet. This made me feel good as well, since these are the same people that we have gone to for Kynadi's brace. They are GREAT!

As for which procedure to choose...

At first, after meeting with just Dr. Brockmeyer, John was thinking to go the more invasive way and be done, which I still have never felt that great about. So when John was telling me this I really didn't know which way to go. But after we met with the Plastic Surgeon, I think we both felt better about the endoscopic way. It's less invasive therefore less painful to Linken, two doctors rather than just one will be involved in the surgery, the helmet will help protect his head as well as "mold" it to normal (even if it will be a hassle), plus after surgery they will put him in the ICU per protocol with the plastic surgeon, whereas the more invasive way the doc doesn't see a need for the ICU even though it is more invasisve. I like the idea of the ICU because it seems Linken will be watched more closely right after surgery. So I think we have decided to go the endoscopic way. Now the next steps are to make the appointment for the surgery (mid March) and he'll need x-rays and a CT Scan done before then. Poor kid has a lot a head of him in the next month.(pun not intended) The docs all make is sound like it will be fine, so I'm trying to feed off them.

I love this pic with Link and my mom. I think he looks so cute here. I just want to squeeze his little cheeks.

Sisterly Love

Nothing much to say here...I just love when my girls hug. Brooklyn will even pat Kynadi's back sometimes. I think it's too cute.

Copy-Cat

Brooklyn is sooo funny. She loves to do everything Kynadi does. Tonight was a cute example of it. I had the girls in the bathtub and they were splashing and messing around. Well some how during their play Kynadi hit her elbow on the tub. So she grabbed her elbow and said "ouch" and was beginning to cry when Brooklyn saw and grabbed her elbow followed by "ouch" too. I thought it was too cute, and luckily Kynadi thought it was funny too and started laughing rather than crying. I love being a mom!

Be's block

K...another post for my sister. This one is for Morgan. Sorry I tried to email, but hotmail wouldn't let me, so here's the pics..

The Verdict....

I took Linken down to Primary Children's this last Thursday to meet with Dr. Douglas Brockmeyer, a neurologist there. I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't know if they would do a CT scan while we were there or what. I was a bit nervous because John was already in Utah for some training for work and I was left with all three children to take to the appointment alone. Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa Walker met me at the hospital to watch the girls while Linken had his appointment. I'm grateful they volunteered to come, it definately made the visit easier.

Anyway, the doc said he is 99% sure that Linken does have craniosynostosis. This wasn't really a surprise since we've had two pediatricians tell us the same thing. The good news that day, was that the doc didn't think he needed a CT scan to verify. He was sure enough without a scan and said it would just cause unneeded exposure to radiation. So I didn't have to go thru that with Linken like I did with Kynadi.

The doctor then told me we would have two options to fix his skull. Both surgeries and either one would be performed when Linken is only 3 months old. The first option is an endoscopic surgery, where they would give Linken two smaller incisions; one at the front of his head and the other at the back. This option would be done with a plastic surgeon as well as the neurologist. After this surgery Linken would have to wear a helmet for 9-12months and we would have to make regular visits to the doc during that time. The second option is a more invasive surgery where there would be one large incision from almost ear to ear. This is a more intense surgery, but after it is done, Linken wouldn't have to wear a helmet. My first thought was to do the less invasive surgery to lessen risks and then just deal with a helmet for awhile. But I go back and forth. Either way scares me.

So we will meet with the doc again at the beginning of Feb. so that he can double check Linken's skull and verify the problem. This way John can meet the doc as well, and ask more questions about each option. We will also be able to meet with the plastic surgeon that would assist in the endoscopic surgery.
Anyway, nothing exciting to look forward to, but hopefully we can get this taken care of and we won't have anything else to worry about.

The picture shows how Linken's skull is elongated and there is a bulge at the back.

Anyone else need some shoppping done?

This is just a post for Brynn. It seems easier than emailing all the blasted pics. The girl's coat was normally $80.00 and I got it for $8.98 and the boy's coat was normally $54.00 (I think) and I got it for $8.98 as well. Now that's a bargain. The shirt and pants were only $1.18 each. You don't find deals like this everyday so maybe it is worth a post! Anyway, Brynn, here are the Grrrreat purchases I got for your children!

Christmas

I just realized I never posted anything about Christmas. Our Christmas was pretty fun this year. I was exhausted, from having Linken, but Kynadi was so excited, you couldn't help but be excited too.
I thought I had everything ready before hand, since I didn't know when Linken would be popping out, but I was still up until like 2:00 in the morning wrapping and doing things.
We spent the night at my parents house since Kelsey and Mindy were there. We figured it would be more fun for the girls that way.
Kelsey was with Spence for Christmas Eve and Mindy told him to have Kels back at our parents house by 6:30 the next moring. I figured Spence would be late, and my kids wouldn't be up until 7:30-8:00. But no luck. Brooklyn was up at 6:30, as if she knew thats what we had told Spence. Anyway, the girls had fun. They got too much. They didn't even realize half the toys they had recieved. Kynadi would have been happy if she would have gotten Play-dough and nothing else. It made me realize that I don't have to do so much to make them happy. I recieved my one want too...certificates to go to the rec and get this flabby body back in shape. Thanks Mom and John. And John recieved his Playstation 3...although I guess it wasn't a Christmas gift, he ruined that, but he got it the day before Christmas. So all the gifts were good, and as I'm typing this I feel like the true meaning of Christmas was lost!

Anyway here are a few pics.

Brynn...I thought you would appreciate mom wearing your apron.

Here's mom's tree we harrassed her about. Notice there are no ornaments, half the lights don't work, and the bow topper looks great! LOL At least there was a tree at all.

This is what John and Linken looked like at 6:30 in the morning, trying to get up to see what Santa brought.

The video is of Brooklyn unwrapping a gift. Dad has always been a Nazi about the wrapping paper being thrown into the garbage bag, and Brooklyn seemed to pick right up on it and was just as particular. The only problem is that when she unwraps, as you can see, her pieces are a bit small. We would have been there all day if we would have let her continue like this on every gift!

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Jumping Jack Queen

We haven't posted a video for Corbyn and Landen lately, so this is what Kynadi wanted to show them. Enjoy.

The Mullet is Gone..or at least shortened.

Poor Brooklyn can't grow hair except in the back. Everyone tells me to cut it...which actually annoys me, but we won't get into that. Anyway, I finally decided to trim it, so it is at least even. So here's her new due...we'll just keep hoping the top starts growing too.

Vinyl in my own house...can you imagine

I just put this vinyl up in Kynadi's room, which ironically enough is the only place in my house that has vinyl on the wall. Anyway, I'm not sure what to think. In some ways I think it looks cute, but I wonder if it's a bit busy? Should I fix it in any way? Thoughts, anyone? Different colors, placement? Be honest...not too honest BRYNN!

Don't mind the messy room...we were in the middle of ...uh well, I don't know, it's just a mess.