Esophagogastroduodenoscopy with Biopsies

Braydens been having some unexplained chest pains lately.  Our pediatritian sent us to a GI doctor who thought it was esophagitis caused either by reflux or allergy.  They wanted to have a look at his upper digestive tract and take some biopsies to confirm their diagnosis, so we went in yesterday for an esophagogastroduodenoscopy with biopsies (say it fast three times... or say it slow once- thats hard enough).  Well, it was a bit nerve racking for both Brayden and me (as I am a worrier) but we got through it, following these simple steps.

We got to the hospital around 6 am and we were out of there by 11am.  It was pretty fast.  There wasnt much recovery for Brayden other than recovering from the sedation.  He was spoiled by caring friends and neighbors who brought him cards and treats.  Im so grateful for the thoughtfulness of the people in our lives.

 

As for results, we are still waiting for biopsy results but everything they could see looked normal.  That is good news that there are no ulcers or lesions or stuff like that but a bit frustrating that we havent yet gotten to the source of his pain.  I will keep you posted.  Here are some pictures of his upper GI tract if you're interested.  

Dinosaurs, and Chickens, oh my!

This week Emmitt had an on again, off again, low grade fever, but still was his happy self.  Everytime I was about to take him in to the doctor, his fever would be gone.  On Wednesday night he said to me-
"Theres a big dinosaur in my ear"  -which made me laugh and of course wonder and then on Thursday he was sitting at the table with me and he said
"Whats that sound?"  I said I didnt hear anything and he said "Its a chicken, theres a chicken in my ear."
And then on Friday, I took him to the doctor and suprise, suprise,
He has an ear infection!

I did feel a bit odd taking him to the doctor and saying "he says he has a dinosaur in his ear"  But I guess thats how it felt to him :)
too cute!

ConAgra's "Bring your Kids to Work Day"

This year, Kevin was able to take both Makenna and Brayden to ConAgra's special "Bring your kids to work day."  They were able to participate in some fun workshops and learn a bit about food science.  As you can tell from the pictures they were fed well.  Brayden also joined his dad in a few of his meetings while Makenna enjoyed just hanging around the office.  Kevin took the kids to lunch at Zio's pizza and they spent some time sliding down those big slides downtown too.

 

As you can imagine, Brielle was pretty jealous of her older siblings, and very sad she couldnt go.  We made it up to her by joining them on the ConAgra campus after work to feed the ducks and then we went to dinner downtown at The Old Spaghetti Factory.  I think she was appeased by that :)  The day was a success.  In Makenna's own words "This was my favorite day of all the days of my life."

Quiet Time

I first instituted "Quiet time" for Emmitt so that I could have a free minute to do things like take a shower, or make dinner.  I would put him in his crib and give him books and toys.  I thought he might not like the idea but it has turned out to be something he asks for all the time.  He spends a lot of time playing in his bed.  Brayden configured this little basketball hoop in there for him so quiet time is pretty fun.  Its not unusual for the other kids to go in and play with him during his "quiet time"- making it not so quiet but still a wonderful thing!

Makenna's Tree

This year at school Makenna participated in the "Green Club."  At one of the meetings she was giving this redbud tree to plant.  We found a spot for it in the backyard and planted it together.  Now we cross our fingers and hope it makes it.

Disney 2013

 We just got back from a fabulous two week trip to Disney World.  WE LOVED EVERY MINUTE.  I have a million things I should be doing besides blogging about this trip but I want to get down the basics before I forget so I have my facts straight for memory-book-making.  Here's our day by day breakdown of the highlights

Monday March 25- arrive late at night, go to bed

Tuesday March 26

- Magic Kingdom- left Orange Lake resort at 7:15 for Magic Kingdom.  Rode Peter Pan and Little Mermaid, Had our Princess Breakfast in Cinderella's Castle, Rode Carousel and Space Mountain. -Had a rest at resort- Went back to the park in the evening- Dumbo, Gaston's, Main Street Electrical Parade,

 

Wednesday March 27

- Epcot- We had a more relaxed late start, Rode Nemo, played Agent P, did Mission Space, Soarin, Had a rest, Evening: Mexican dinner by the lake, Mexican ride

Thursday March 28

- Scott arrived! Animal Kingdom: Safari, Everest, Kali River, First swim of the trip, Went back to the park at night and rode Kali River Rapids till the park closed, got free soft pretzels!

Friday March 29

  - went to the T Rex Cafe for lunch, Swim and beach, boys went to Orlando Magic Basketball game

Saturday March 30

-Magic Kingdom: Big Thunder, Splash Mountain, Winnie the Pooh, Barnstormer, Dumbo, Gaston's for the famous cinnamon rolls, Small World, Giordano's pizza, Pool Time, Back for Buzz Lightyear, People mover (one of Emmitts favorites)

Sunday March 31

- Said a sad Good bye to Jeff and Jenns family, Saw Temple, drove around, went to church.  Then Easter Dinner and Egg Hunt

Monday April 1

- Animal Kingdom, Mickey Bars, Lion King show, girls bought souvenir pets- Simba and Bongo,

Tuesday April 2

- It was supposed to be stay-at-the-resort day but we just couldn't help ourselves- we decided to do a couple hours at Hollywood Studios (which was crazy crowded.) Then we spent lots of time at the hot sunny pool and beach.

Eating chocolate donuts outside Tower of Terror

Wednesday April 3

- Magic Kingdom- last day with Grandparents. Magic Carpets, Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room, Fairies at Tinker Bells Nook, Enchanted Tales with Belle, ate at Beasts Castle, Some stayed late through the crowds for more BTMR and Splash.  Julie, mom and I took a trip back at night for fireworks and Downtown Disney shopping.

I had to include this picture because it's pretty indicative of how our many trips to the Parks had worn us down.  You can see we gave up fighting him on the binki and since we pulled him out of bed early most mornings, we left him in his pajamas and gradually got him ready as we went along- breakfast in the car, sunscreen on the monorail, diaper change in the first ride line, and then we just got him dressed in stages whenever we had a free second.  Those are his pajama pants hes still wearing- we were half way there.  Pretty funny.

One of the special highlights of the trip was visitng Disney's new Fantasyland expansion.  These pictures are from "Enchanted Tales with Belle" where the kids get to act out the story with Belle and then get their picture taken with her.  

These pictures are from when we had lunch at Beasts castle in the new "Be Our Guest" restaurant.  The castle was quite amazing and although the long line and stress of ordering wore Kevin out (see top left picture) this meal was one of the highlights of the trip.  I definitely recommend it- its a really neat place.

Thursday April 4 

- Hollywood Studios- Toy Story Midway Mania, Tower of Terror, Rock n Roll Roller Coaster, Stunt show, Beauty and the Beast show (for the second time this trip), Chick Fil A, Rest and Swim

 Friday April 5

- We played cards, and hung out in the kids playroom in the lobby because the weather was cool and rainy.  Then after naps, we had to hit Magic Kingdom one last time. We hadn't done any really long waits this trip yet so we jumped in line to see Rapunzel (it was posted as a 75 minute wait- holy cow!)- which only ended up being  an easy 50 minutes.  Then we rode Mermaid and Dumbo, saw Philharmagic, ate at Pecos Bills, took the train back to Main Street, and said farewell to DisneyWorld.

Good Bye Mickey!  We had a great time- no we had a FANTASTIC time- way better than great. Rumor has it we wont be back for six years... so we'll be missing you Mickey! (Dont worry though- I try not to ever believe a rumor...)