EAR and back...

We have returned and the $50 it took to see the specialist was WORTH. EVERY. PENNY. After the captn. crunch episode, I was not about to try and take that thing out by myself. So off we went.

Well our beloved Dr. Katz was not in the office, but his fellow Dr. Stevens took very good care of us. Ella was very easy going and happy through 99% of the visit. I kept on telling her to look at me and I smiled and told her a story while Diane the nurse and Dr. Stevens took out "the foreigner" in her ear. She did the scared giggle and that made me smile even bigger. I'll take it though! I would rather her laughing nervously than crying. Sigh. 3rd times a charm right? She will outgrow this right? Those amongst other things are the positive affirmations I keep on telling myself.

Sofia is pointing to where we figured the elastic had traveled to her inner ear.

The cute nurse told Ella that she was a caterpiller being wrapped up in a cocoon and once he got the foreign object out, she could be unwrapped and be a butterfly!

The culprit.

EAR we go again...

Some may recall during our first bi-annual Pederson Cousin Reunion in Park City, UT where Ella, then about 2? Decided that it would be fun to put a pine needle in her ear. Well that time, I was able to get it out with Patrice's tweezers and we went on with our lives. Then not even 6 months later, the now 2 1/2 year old put Captain Crunch in her ear 2 days before Christmas (needless to say that Christmas was NOT one that either of us enjoyed very much). This one did not go as smoothly and cost us 7 hours in the ER (which did nothing) and then after Christmas came a visit to our hero, Dr. Katz an ENT who we loved. I decided at that point to put him on my speed dial and I am grateful that I did.

There are times when a Mom just gets that 6th sense of intuition to do or not do something. This was the feeling I got, when picking up the girls, I decided to check Ella's ear. I'm not even sure why. There was nothing there that I could see, so I ALMOST just went about getting them in the car. Almost. That feeling came to me again and I pulled out her ear so I could see all the way down her ear canal. And there it was. At first I thought it was just some wax buildup...Yeah. If only I could BE so lucky. There, deep in her ear, was a bright yellow HAIR ELASTIC! Seriously?! Ella will often put her hair inside her ear- its just her thinb. But MAN. Please tell me she will outgrow this eventually like Sofia's passing out when she cries? (another story for the books...) It was not bugging her at all, so I speed dialed the ENT and will be making an appt. first thing this morning.

I'm hoping when we leave Dr. Katz's office, this smile will be minus a hair elastic in her ear. So here she is. Ella and the culprit-one of which will soon be evicted from the home it has made in her ear canal. Ahh Ella my love, you keep me on my toes.

Family Pics

I could not be much happier at the way they turned out. I have put off family pics (from anyone other than family in some time. HOWEVER. Artyom was a good sport and agreed to go. I promised it would be 60 min. or less and it would be fun. Tia at FotoFly delivered on both!! We were cracking up the whole time, joking about "my Russian" and the girls kept on speaking in Russian and laughing since our photographer had no clue what they were saying.
It was great! Cannot wait to get them printed and put on our wall. Sigh. Family is the best.

Happy Birthday America

Fun, food, family, fatigue. That about sums up our 4th of July. We have bother #3 Ryan down with wife Tonya and thier brood of 5 here visiting so there are a ton of pics to post, and stories to tell.

One thing that I cannot stop thinking about was last night as we watched the BIG fireworks from a friends backyard. Sofia asked me why it was America's birthday. I went on to explain as best I could in a simple way and one a 5 year old will understand, that America celebrates being free-which means we can live the way we want to live. I went on to explain that many, many men and women have worked very hard and fought very bravely to protect us so that we can keep this privledge (she does know what this word means as from time to time she looses hers! LOL). I also let her know that men and women have died to protect us and they are still fighting when needed to make sure we can live the way we want to.

I told her of the many Uncles, Grandpas, Great Grandpas, etc. who have served our Country to help keep us safe. I got emotional as I told her of her Uncle Jon who would be going to Afghanistan to help in another effort to keep people safe. I just could not get Jon out of my mind as I know he leaves in a few days for his 3rd tour. I can only pray that our Heavenly Father will keep him safe once again and make sure his family are taken care of while he is gone.

The older I get, the 4th of July to me is no longer just about the fun fireworks and carnival rides. It means so much more. And I want to do more to respect it. During our parade yesterday, as the Veterans floats went by I said, "Thank you!" as they rode by. Ella echoed my thanks and she too waved and yelled, "Thank you!" She may not know what power that statement holds to the people who served this country, but she knows what Thank You means.

So, thank you to those who serve our Country. It is US who should salute YOU.

Happy Birthday America.