Poopy Hands

UNFORTUNATELY... "poopy hands" has become a common phrase around our house. All potty training efforts with Maya were lost during my surgery/recovery time and she started pooping in her diaper again. Instead of just being normal and telling us when she had gone to the bathroom, she went through a phase where she would stick her hand in her dirty diaper and proceed to show us "Poopy Hands!!!" This of course all took place when Josh was trying to take care of everything by himself while I was recovering on the couch. Kids have perfect timing!

Yes folks, that is poop on her face. And it was everywhere else as well. She might be smiling but I can guarantee you Daddy was not :)


Now she's starting to look a little guilty... still with poop on her face



Our "Poopy Hands!" baby!

Down To One...

Hamster that is. Ten days after we purchased Peanut and Serafina for the girls' early Christmas gift, Peanut (the brown hamster) starting attacking Serafina. It happened two nights in a row where we had to physically pull Peanut off of Serafina. The second night I was home alone with the girls and ended up getting bit in the process. Serafina wasn't bothering Peanut at all... we would just set her on the opposite side of the cage and Peanut would immediately bolt over to her, jump on top and start biting her. Maryn and Maya were screaming and crying (two little hamsters make more noise than you might imagine) for me to save Serafina. The decision to take Peanut back was an easy one... we had a 14 day guarantee and she wasn't a good cage-mate within 10 days. She went back that night. I was concerned how the girls would feel about this, but they were fine since they had seen how mean and violent Peanut was towards Serafina. Now we are down to sweet, little Serafina. She is a cute little hamster and definitely favors Makenna. Or maybe it's just because Makenna favors her :)

Christmas 2010

I'm so far behind on blogging. Combine a bumpy road of surgery recovery with a few weeks of a dead computer and thus I'm blogging about Christmas in February :(

We drove back to our house on Christmas Eve, as has been the tradition for the past few years. It is so worth the craziness of Christmas Eve and all the traveling to be in our own home on Christmas morning. I love it! Makenna was the first one up on Christmas morning, then I let her wake up Maryn a little while later. We were all snuggled in Mom and Dad's bed waiting for baby Maya to wake up! The stinker picked Christmas morning of all mornings to sleep in! Daddy couldn't handle making the older two wait much longer so he finally got her up (It was approaching 8:00 if I remember correctly). Santa Claus was very good to the girls this year :) It was the year for outside toys... Makenna got a very big girl bike :), Maya got a 2 wheel bike and Maryn got a scooter!

Maryn's new scooter... it has red on it of course :)


Makenna's new bike


Maya on her new bike! She stayed in this position with a big goofy grin on her face for a long time! It took a lot of convincing to get her down to open other gifts!


Maya's new puppy (that has only been played with once I think)


Maryn's very cool new keyboard


Makenna getting excited over finding headbands in her stocking!


The girls loving the new water bottles they found in their stockings. And yes, I only have Maya's head in this picture because she was still perched on her bike for this picture :)

Makenna - 6 1/2 Years Old

All about Makenna at 6 1/2 years old!!!



Nicknames: Kenna, Nenny, Nenna, Nenner, Nenner Benner, Nen, Buddy, Peanut
Weight & Height: She weighs right around 57-58 lbs and continues to be off the charts for height.
Hair: Medium length blond hair.
Favorite foods: Hamburgers, Meatloaf
Favorite Drink: Water (I asked her, this is what she told me)
Favorite toys: Littlest Pet Shops, Magic Fabric, Serafina our hamster
Favorite stuffed animal: Duckie
Favorite Books: Reading continues to be a strong point for Makenna. She loves to read and it comes very easily to her. At her last conference in October she was reading at a 3rd grade level and I know she has been bumped up since then. She continues to love Boxcar Children books, but we've added Magic Tree House books to the favorites list as well!
Bedtime: Just recently we've started going to bed a little earlier because the girls weren't waking up well in the morning. We start getting ready for bed around 7:00 and we try to have lights out by 8:00
Wake-up time: I wake her up around 7:45 - 7:50 for school. She gets ready speedy quick... she is dressed, teeth brushed, hair done, breakfast eaten, bag packed, coat on and out the door by 8:30.



Grade & Teacher: 1st Grade, Mrs. Seery
Best Friends: She has more friends than I can count - she's more social than Josh and I combined. Some of her best friends include Ana, Grace, Whitney, Ava M, Caroline and Hanna L.
Latest Accomplishment: She has only missed one word all year on her spelling tests! And this includes the challenge words which she does every week. And if I do say so myself, the one word she missed was a difficult word (Tuesday). This same test included the days of the week and months of the year... I think I focused too much on "Wednesday" and "February" in our practicing. Makenna was also bumped up to Advanced Math at the beginning of the school year.
Likes: playing with friends, seeing family, playing with her sisters, sleeping in, writing in one of her many journals, reading, one-on-one time with Mommy or Daddy
Dislikes: when her friends fight at recess, when her sisters fight, when her stomach is bugging her (from constipation), if she ever lets anyone down (which is rare)
Activities: Makenna participated in AYSO soccer this fall and will be on the same team again this spring. She took dance in the late fall and just recently switched to gymnastics (surprisingly, she was bored with dance). Makenna and Maryn start swimming lessons in March.
Fears: Going to bed and being sick - just lately she's been overly concerned about being sick and it always seems to hit right at bed time when she has time to think about it. It all started with her severe constipation a few weeks back when she wasn't feeling well most of the time. I think she's concerned that will happen again.
Favorite shows: Since the last time I posted this our family acquired cable TV. This added some new possibilities to her list. She's really too busy to watch much TV at all, but if she had to choose I think she'd pick Hannah Montana the movie or Shake It Up.
Health: She's getting over a bad cold right now and has been struggling with constipation over the past month. The constipation got really bad but I think we have it under control now.
Favorite Class in School: Music class. I know I'm biased, but this child has a very nice singing voice! She hopes to get a speaking part in the upcoming 1st grade musical. She really loves all school and is probably the only kid that is disappointed when there is a snow day.

Boutott Christmas

This year was our year to celebrate Christmas with my family. The girls always have so much fun at Poppy and Peepie's house! They love playing with Eden and loving on baby Chase :) There was quite the snowstorm on Christmas Eve this year, but we managed to make it to church that evening despite the mess. Of course Maryn makes everything interesting. We went to St. Stephen's on the hill in Cedar Falls and they have a large crucifix hanging from the ceiling that is a very graphic artistic portrayal. I noticed Maryn eyeing it and she started asking questions... "Why does he have holes in his hands?" "Didn't that hurt?" "Why did they hurt him?" "Are they going to put holes in my hands?" She has heard the story of Easter many times, but never with graphic pictures before. This was really starting to hit her and she was quite upset about it. Right there in the middle of church I had a full blown (whispered) spiritual conversation about why Jesus had to die on the cross for us and how we are so thankful that he did that so we could spend our forever life together in heaven. She got it, but was still terrified of the crucifix and didn't want to look at it. At one point (of course when it got quiet) she very loudly proclaims "I don't like this church!" And then after they announced "the gospel according to St. Paul", she took advantage of the pause in the speaking to announce "I don't like St. Paul, he was a mean guy!". I'm sure all the people around us just thought we were some atheist family that the grandparents dragged to Christmas Eve church. Ahhh. Life with kids. You gotta love what they come up with!

Our girls before Christmas Eve church


Maya's Christmas dress 2010


Makenna's Christmas dress 2010


Maryn's Christmas dress 2010






Maryn's favorite gift at Poppy and Peepie's - the movie "Pocahontas"


Maya checking out her new "Maya" puzzle


One of Makenna's favorite gifts - the book "Ramona Quimby Age 8"


Pure elation! Cotton balls for Christmas!


Maya running away and trying to hide with her bag of cotton balls... at home we typically take them away and don't let her play with the bag. She thought we would take her favorite gift!


Christmas cuddles


The birthday cake we made for baby Jesus! This has become a new favorite tradition of ours! And let me not fail to forget that it was completely dairy-free (so Maya could eat it) and was still excellent. I don't like chocolate cake, but apparently dairy-free chocolate cake is good!




Maya with her absolute favorite gift - cotton balls!


Sweet baby Chase! He is such a good baby!

The Life Of Our Almost 2 Year Old!

She's as tall as some three year olds and has as little hair as most 6 months old, yet my baby Maya is going to be two in just a little over a month. Where oh where has the time gone. She is getting so big and is doing new big girls things everyday! She has been learning her colors for awhile now. She does very well if I ask her to point to "blue" out of a row of colors, but if I hold up a color and just ask her what it is, her accuracy isn't as great. She has also, much to my surprise, starting learning her letters. I have a little alphabet flip chart that I used to teach Makenna and Maryn as well and I think the thing is magical. All of my kids could identify their letters at amazingly young ages, but Maya is beating them all by doing it at 22 months. She is starting to get that two year old defiance and "no" and "mine" are definitely some of her favorite words. She has a mind of her own and tries to push the limits. Looks like she's going to fit into our family just fine :)

My little fairy eating a snack.


This would be the mischievous side of her coming out. This fairy thinks she can fly :)


Bedtime books with Daddy and her absolute favorite teddy.


Ever since 20 months old Maya has taken a strong interest in the potty. She was very close to be trained and my surgery kind of derailed things a little bit. We'll get back on track after Mommy is feeling better.


She loves her big sister Nenny! Her day isn't complete unless she gets her "hug" and "kiss" from her big sisters.

Maryn's Preschool Christmas Program

Maryn had her preschool Christmas program the Tuesday before Christmas. As always, it was adorable! What's not to love about a bunch of three and four year olds trying to sing songs?! The kids helped act out a nativity story and they sang songs about Jesus. And of course we ate Christmas cookies :) My favorite memory of the day was when Maryn figured out that Poppy and Peepie and Papa and Nana were coming to her program. Her excited response was "They're ALL coming here just for ME!" It brought tears to my eyes. Oh little girl, if you only knew how special you are and how much we all love you!


Showing off her pretty dress before the program!


Maryn the Shepard








I know she's not even looking at the camera in this picture (she was sitting on Papa's lap after the program), but I think this picture shows just how beautiful she is. You don't even have to see her big gorgeous green/brown eyes and she's still beautiful! Love you Maryn!

My Gallbladder Story

I don't typically talk much about myself or Josh on this blog, but figured I should make mention of the health issues that have been a big part of the past year of our life (and also the reason I've been absent from this blog as of late).

January 1, 2010 I experienced what turned out to be my first gallbladder attack. At the time we had no idea what it was... just lots of stomach upset and excruciating stomach and back pains (I won't go into all the gory details :). After a week of enduring these symptoms, Josh insisted that I go to the doctor. She immediately suspected gallbladder and sent me for an ultrasound. No gallstones were detected (which was what she thought was causing my symptoms) and my lab work came back normal. My doctor gave me a prescription for a acid reflux medicine and told me to eliminate as much fat as possible from my diet. That was difficult considering I eat a very low fat diet to begin with.

Things went well for a few months. Very few symptoms and I was pretty good about following the diet (although I never did fill the prescription because I was never convinced it was acid reflux). Well come spring/summer time I started experiencing occasional flare-ups once again. I got very good at recognizing the symptoms and stopping a full-blown attack by foregoing food all together. Come fall the flare-ups were coming every week to every other week and would last anywhere from a few hours to a few days. At the end of October/beginning of November I had two separate attacks that both caused moderate chest pains that scared me. I didn't tell anyone about it at the time (not even Josh), but I knew it was time to go back to the doctor again. As it turns out, chest pains are one of the the last symptoms that show up in a bad gallbladder situation.

I was able to get in to see the doctor before Thanksgiving at a time when I, of course, wasn't flaring. It always seems like less of an issue when you're not in the middle of a flare-up because it seems manageable. A very good friend of mine that is a physician told me that a dysfunctional gallbladder would cause the same symptoms as gallstones and told me to request a HIDASCAN from my doctor to test the functionality of my gallbladder. My doctor was in agreement but still told me she thought it was acid reflux. I knew that acid reflux did not cause this amount of pain. Luckily she still ordered the HIDASCAN at my insistence.

They couldn't get my HIDASCAN scheduled until after Thanksgiving and of course the day after my doctor's appointment I had an attack that was only second in pain to my initial one last New Years. I called the Nuclear Medicine department and asked as nice as I could to get them to bump me up. They put me on a waiting list and as luck would have it, they got a cancellation for the day before Thanksgiving. Time to get this ball rolling. I was dropping weight like crazy and not feeling well at all. I lost 7% of my body weight in the month of November/December and that was with me already being at my healthy pre-pregnancy weight when this all started. I ate fruit for Thanksgiving dinner. I love food way too much to life my life like this. The HIDASCAN couldn't come fast enough.

The HIDASCAN itself is not that painful, but the medicine they pump through my system basically caused a small flare-up (good sign that things weren't right). The test came back abnormal. They would like your gallbladder functioning at a minimum of 35% and mine was 14%. Time to see a surgeon.

I saw a surgeon the second week of December and he was in agreement... my symptoms were a textbook case of a dysfunctional gallbladder. That combined with the abnormal HIDASCAN made me an ideal candidate for gallbladder removal. He told me that the surgery only alleviates symptoms in 70-80% of people so they have to be extremely careful in making this decision. Josh and I knew we had to try something (as I was no longer able to eat much at all, even items that had no fat). Surgery was scheduled for December 28th.

Somehow God gave me a good sense of peace about the surgery. All the scary thoughts of what could've happened during surgery didn't come to me until after the surgery. I praise God for that since I'm usually consumed with worry. Our pastor met us at the hospital the morning of the surgery and prayed with us... that helped more than I could ever explain. It took my mind off of things and reminded me that God is in control of this. He has a plan for me and this is part of it.

The plan was to remove my gallbladder laproscopically through four incisions in my abdomen. The surgery was suppose to take about an hour and a half, but Josh said my surgeon was done at one hour. The surgery went well and there was no injury to the ducts or surrounding organs. It took me awhile to come out of anesthesia and Josh claims we had the same conversation at least four times :) The ride home from the hospital was the height of the misery. The first day was difficult and painful but day by day it got better. The pain was managed very well and the discomfort in my abdominal area improved quickly. One of the most bothersome after effects of the surgery was the pain in my neck, throat and the back of my head from being intubated. Right now I am 10 days post surgery and I feel great. It's amazing to think that I had major abdominal surgery with an organ removed just 10 days ago! I still am unable to pick up Maya or anything weighing over 10 lbs and I get tired very quickly, which makes life kind of tricky at our house, but with the help of my wonderful husband, my parents and friends we are making it work.

And I am more than happy to report that the surgery seems to have worked! I have not had a single gallbladder symptom since the surgery! They told me the effects would be immediate if the surgery worked and they were right! I even ate pizza the other night and didn't feel a thing!!! Yay! Pizza has been a forbidden food for quite awhile now! So that was my 2010 in a nutshell! On to a much healthier 2011!