Feet on the ground

Betsy took these of the girls the other day, and when she asked Sofia if she would like to get her picture taken with some balloons, she was a bit concerned..."But I don't want to fly away!!" Don't worry sweets. We would never let that happen.

Martushev Family Goals 2011

I have been doing it every year since Artyom and I were married. In fact, I did it every year before there was even an "us". I credit it to my parents who, at the beginning of each year, sat us down at our weekly "Family Council" and asked us what we wanted to have as our goals for the year. There was one we could always count on one of the six of us blurting out- THE BEACH! The yearly campout and as that got harder on my mom, the trip to the Beach. A year just wasnt a year without it. Another being to read the Book of Mormon each morning was a goal on a number of year's lists as well. And we did it. (I had a really awesome Mom).

The others? I could not tell you a 1/4 of them. But the ones that stood out then, still stand out now.

Now there is an "us" and I have been putting together a "Martushev Family Goals (insert year here) since we were married. So here we are again at the forefront of another New Year and I am finally getting my goals, family goals and waiting on the Red Flame to get me his goals to slap on our fridge door. We find it not only keeps US more accountable, but it is so much fun to cross a goal off and write the date that we accomplished it. Then, at the end of the year, the list is taken down and put in "The Book" to be filed away and revisited at another time- further down the road.

So as I make my goals, some have been on there a few years in a row. Some are new and others? We make up as we go. But I love doing it and am hopeful and try to be patient as we do our best to accomplish them.

Happy 1st month of 2011. I hope if you did make some goals for yourself, your family, etc. That you accomplish all you set out to do~and more.

Direction

Seriously, just seeing her face when she opened this one from U. Paul and A. Liane, made my heart happy. It was TWINS! A boy and a girl. She almost immediately gave the boy to Ella...

She was VERY happy about her Curious George Pajamas. And the Hello Kitty electric toothbrush on the left? Ella got one too. Can I just say how much we LOVE the electric toothbrush?! Awesomeness.

I realize it is now 2011...and mid way through January at that. But I cannot help but have to go backwards to put in a bit about our Little Miss' Birthday. It was quite the social gathering (as much as you can get with your brother, sil and 2 kids) but we had a blast. Hang tight as the direction of the blog goes back and forth. I do this for Grandpa (among many others) and they don't seem to mind...so neither do I.

I scored one of the many "Daily Deals" that are out there, and we combined our weekly FHE with Sofia's Birthday. The Pederson's came out with us and we had fun at the all you can eat Pizza and Pasta bar that I scored which made it basically free! We went on rides and played video games and ate, and ate, and ate! She had a great 4th birthday and thanks to Uncle Paul and Aunt Liane (and cousins) coming along with us, she had a great time on the rides and opening her presents. It was fun to see Ella watch her and imitate every ooooh and ahhh and WOW that came out of her big sister's mouth.

Unfortunately, I walked like a hunchback for all but about 15 minutes of the entire night. I bent down and threw my back out- OUCH!! I was out for over a week. It was horrible. But Sweets had her day and I was able to take a moment and remember "her day" the day she joined us. And how excited I was when she decided to become a part of our family on October 7, 2006. Days like that, you don't soon forget.

Because in 5 years Ill laugh about it.

Poor Miss Ella about half way through the "ear journey". Neither one of us felt very well here.

I thought I would be over being sensitive about the comments that I was getting regarding Ella and the incident of the ear. The truth? It still bothers me, but I had to document this as our blog is somewhat of a journal for me. The good, bad and the ugly. This entry has a little bit of each. On that note, here is the story for history's sake...and so I can make Ella read it each and every time the thought crosses her mind to put something in her ear.

Ella had a bad fever which caused her eardrum to burst. Ouch. I know. Well it was healing quite nicely, but also probley caused a bit of discomfort as it did. So, she did what any normal 2 1/2 year old would do...Following breakfast one morning, she put a piece of Captain Crunch in her ear. We tried to get it out, but only seemed to push it in her ear further. Our pediatrician said it would more than likely break down and fall out. If it was not causing her any discomfort, then let it come out. DONT try to remove it on your own as it will make it worse.

So we waited. And then one night it WAS bothering her. I thought it was out since I could not see it. Then as I took a flashlight and looked deeper in her ear by holding it out and looking into the canal, there it was. Stuck. Badly. Not going anywhere and causing alot of pain. This was the 23rd of December, so Long story short (well shorter) we went to do something about it. December 23rd is NOT the day to try and find a specialist in your network- our network's customer service was closed and NOTHING is open. The ENT recommended by our Pediatrician was "only in the office for an hour" and told us to go straight to the ER" So we did. Our first ER visit mind you, and Ella was happy walking in. Fast Forward 7, yes 7 hours later. Ella was no longer happy walking out, in fact The Red Flame had to carry her as she whimpered in her sleep. She was absolutely exhausted and the solidified cereal was STILL in her ear. We spent 7 hours of people flushing, poking, proding with 4 adults need to hold our little one down and then finally causing bleeding in her ear in the ER. It was awful.

She spent the weekend like that then first thing Monday we took her to the ENT (a different one) who got it out in 15 minutes. LOVE Dr. Katz at Alta View. He was great!! Lesson to parents: IF you can stand it, wait the weekend and go STRAIGHT to the specialist. They are called that for a reason. If not, if the ER cannot get something out of the ear, nose or throat in 15 minutes or less, it is not coming out. That is what Dr. Katz told us. Good to know.

Then the drainage began. Were not talking just a little, it was dripping from her ear lobe for a week! She would not leave my arms and left a puddle each time she lifted her head up. GEW!! Ear drops, cold medicine and the fever still did not break, with the cold she got on top of that we again went to our pediatrician and currently she is on a pretty heavy antibiotic for; a double ear infection, swollen tonsils and sinus infection. Yeah. Go ahead and nominate me for Mother of the Year. I sooo deserve it!

It was a pretty miserable few weeks for our family over Christmas. HOWEVER. I am pleased to announce that we are on the mend! Were trying to beef Ella up as she lost over a pound during this whole fiasco, and I came through VERY grateful for wonderful friends, family, and the power of prayer. No matter what you belive in or how feel about prayer, there is power there. And it's real.

I may be up to the humorous jab or two like "just add milk!", "was it crunch berries or peanut butter crunch?" In about 5 years or so...But for now? I'm just glad this is now a memory and no longer my reality.