Are you wearing pink today?

Today is Newborn Heart Defect Screening Awareness Day :)

Uh oh, guys, we're in trouble now...

Somebody has figured out how to climb onto the sofa and sneaks up every chance she gets and runs back and forth on it. She thinks it quite unfair that I keep taking her down even though she has already fallen off once before I could get her off......If she wasn't such a daredevil, I wouldn't mind so much :p

She is an expert at looking all cute and innocent, though :p

And then she tries to hide and shows she is not so innocent after all :0)

When she realized I could still see her, she popped back up to say "H!"

Have you taken the Pledge?

On November 30, 2009, a beautiful little girl named Cora was born.  Five short days later she would pass away at home, in her mother's arms, of an undiagnosed Congenital Heart Defect.  Cora's mother, Kristine, in honor of her little girl, is on a mission to spread awareness about CHD and has made it her goal that no other parent should have to get their child's diagnosis from the coroner.  November 30th has been declared Cora's Day in her hometown but Kristine wants to take things even further and make Cora's birthday a day of awareness.  So many people view CHD as a rare thing but it is the most common and birth defect.  CHD kills more than all childhood cancers combined.  And yet so many know so little about it......  Take the Pledge.  Demand a pulse ox screening at birth, let your pregnant friends know they should be asking for the screening, write your representatives and ask that they support having heart screenings to the newborn screening panel, learn the signs of a heart defect.  Heart defects are not just something that shows up at birth--it may take years or even decades before a heart defect is diagnosed and treated.  But knowledge truly is power--if you know what to look for and what to ask for, you may just save a life.

http://babyheartscreening.com/November30/  Click over and take a look at the Take the Pledge site :)   My grandmother had a heart baby who could not be saved.  We have come a long way in the last sixty years but there is still a long journey ahead--heart babies are still dying, some of them because they were not diagnosed.  Some day my own children may face this journey and I would hope by then the advances are even further along and diagnostics ensure all babies get treated asap.

Shameless request for help coming up :p

Sort of :p  It benefits you, too!  Have you heard of Swagbucks?  Thinking of trying it?  Use my referral link!  http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/NonnieL  If you sign up through my referral link, every time you earn points using the Swagbucks search engine, I get points, too, and you'll be helping me save up Amazon gift cards to buy things for the kids :p  At the moment, I am saving for a couple of books for Izzy that will help explain her surgery and scars in kid-language so as she gets older and starts wondering, she'll know.  And she'll be able to explain it to other kids so hopefully the teasing will be kept to a minimum when she starts school (I know, I know, it is years away but I'm a mom, it is my job to worry ahead of time and try to fix it before it is a problem).

As for the benefiting you part, I usually just use the Swagbucks search bar for my ordinary day-to-day stuff and pick up enough points for a gift card every few weeks.  If I complete some of the special offers, I can pick up a gift card every few days.  It all depends on how much time I feel like spending ;)  But, hey, even a small card every few weeks for stuff I do anyways is pretty darn great :p

And so ends my shameless plug for referrals :p

PS.  I think I am also supposed to state that my endorsement of Swagbucks in this post is in no way at the request of Swagbucks (although if they would give me points to make posts like this, it would be cool with me ;) ) and I'm not compensated and all that jazz.  Or at least I see bloggers making statements like that for both sponsored and unsponsered posting.  Hmmm...I wonder if a company ever does get mad if a blogger writes about a product/service without saying "this is all me!  They had nothing to do about it!"  Or are they just happy someone is broadcasting their company?  Anyone with experience care to answer my curiosity? 

Because nothing says Thanksgiving like licking your plate clean..

And it was only breakfast :p. Wonder what she'll do for the big meal?
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Starting to feel better

Izzy is finally starting to feel better--I was worried we would end up in hospital again but we managed to stay out!
My girl has been very cute and pathetic this last week.  All she wanted was for me to lay on the sofa so she could lay on top of me and doze and watch cartoons.  She loves to have PBS on but usually she ignores it until there is singing--she stops for singing so she can sing and dance along.  She gets excited when I say I'll put PBS on but doesn't really care that most of the time the tv is off so it is very unusual for her to bring me the remote and ask for "toos". 
Yesterday, she still felt bad enough that she wanted to mostly be still but she did sit in her brother's little black chair to watch about ten minutes and then she insisted I lay down so she could crawl up on me and take another nap lol. Improvement!

This is a few days ago--we aren't getting too many smiles right now because she is sick and oh-so-miserable :(

Everything went well and we are home!
Here is a groggy post op photo :)

I do not like the memories being on the surgical floor again brings :/

Surgery day for Bryce--good thoughts!

Adam Reed Tucker

We went back to the Lego Exhibit at the museum on Sunday so S could get an autograph :)  He was so excited and brought his very favorite Lego book (hardcover with six stories in it).  He was talkative in line but as soon as he was in front of Lego Master Builder Adam Reed Tucker he was starstruck and couldn't speak.  It was seriously cute.  I told ART S was a bit nervous and he was really nice and told S to keep building bc that's the best way to become a master builder (S's current career goal).  Once we were away from ART, S talked up a storm about him lol.
The boys both built some Lego buildings to go in the City at the museum and then we had time for some trains, planes, and automobiles before we left.
Today was Izzy's first swim lesson and she loved it :)  She was practicing in the bathtub tonight :D

It has been a busy but fun today and I am looking forward to a relaxing movie night to rest after all our busyness!  
First the boys had their very first swim lesson.  B is fearless and did awesome.  S is our worrier and was a bit apprehensive but he tried everything his teacher asked and I'll bet he will do great next week.
Next up was a factory tour to see pickup trucks being made.  It was a HUGE hit with all three kids.  Iz loved to see all the machines :)  The factory has a "living roof" and the boys loved the exhibits showing how its done.  They also loved the porous asphalt display and turned the water on and off as long as we would let them :p
Last stop was to see a Lego architecture exhibit and the boys took a pic with the giant legos :p

Someone is a big fan of cod and corn :)

You almost had a real post...

...but I am getting error messages when I try to post from the computer so you get a quickie phone post instead. 
B had his ENT appointment and is scheduled for surgery on Wednesday.  Since his last appointment,  he's had yet another double ear infection plus his ears are full of fluid again and its keeping his eardrums from working properly.  So tubes it is.
I keep being told having been through OHS, this should be no big deal.  It feels like a big scary deal to me.  Sure, the worries are different but in the end it comes down to the fact that my little guy, who has never even needed a trip to the hospital before, will be under anesthesia.   This time around,  it is the anesthesia that is the scary part!
But hopefully B will finally be able to hear properly! 
After his appointment,  we had a fun day at the museum :)