Edie Out-takes:

Edie update:

She had her post-op hearing test, and her specialist checked her blocked tube today.

Results: Tubes are CLEAR!!! and she passed her hearing test!

Next step is to re-contact the school system now that she is three and has gone through this screening. I will keep you all posted on our next step!

Yay Edie!!!

Father's Day

A very tired Daddy on Father's Day

I don't mind if people ask me if they are twins.

Every time I've gone out in public for the last 4+ years

I've been asked that question at least once.

However,

I still find a simple statement they make mind boggling.

In a moment of shock they bring to my attention the fact that:

(like I haven't noticed by now...)

'THEY HAVE DIFFERENT COLOR EYES!!!'

Me Love You

I am thrilled that I can capture the three of them in a picture without having to bribe them with gum to sit still, or have to fire off 100 shots to get one good one!!

Yay Me!

Reagan's Rain

While the rest of us are growling at the thought of another day of rain, Reagan has her boots, coat and bug/critter cage in hand.

She will spend hours roaming the yard for any creepy crawly she can get her hands on. She loves chasing dragonflies and butterflies carefully putting them into her cages.

She loves going out early in the morning and catching salamanders by the handful. She'll fill her cage and then sit there examining each one.

When I finally get her into the house she will sit and flip through the pages of her National Audubon Field Guide to New England (thanks Grammy!) and study the pictures of other creatures she hopes to catch.

She is anxious to go to the beach and catch some 'ocean creatures'.

She loves telling everyone about her 'finds' and learning more about them, she is creative and truly loves the earth around her, future naturalist....perhaps?

Hair Pretties

I'm very excited lately that Aubrey is into 'hair pretties', pony tails, barrettes, and she does not want to cut her hair!!

$1.oo Sweatshirts!!!

Edie

Reagan & Aubrey

Dance Party!!!

Interpretive Dance

The Tango

Edie?

This happens at least once a week,

and every time it does I have a moment of sheer panic!
I know I put her

In her room,,

I shut the door,

I come down and fold laundry at the bottom of the stairs,

Once she has stopped humming,

I go up,

but when I open the door to her room

this is what I find.

Sound asleep, under her bed.

Edie's Appointment

She did great!! What a brave little girl. Little did we know she was missing an inoculation :"(

She was absolutely fascinated with all the babies in the office. She would go over to then tip toeing, hands out in front of her with her thumb and index finger pinched together as if she was holding up a princess gown. Most of the babies were still buckled into their care seats resting on the floor under the watchful eye of mommies and daddies. She would crouch down bottom touching the floor, knees under her armpits and say in a sweet voice. Hi baby, hi. So sweet.

We had a great nurse that weighed her in at 38.8lbs (2lbs heavier than her big sisters).

Heart, lungs, abdomen were all in good shape.

She suggested a multivitamin, and some cream for 'sensitive' areas.

Then the ear exam....

Left ear tube...

still blocked!

She did pass the hearing test! Let's hope we get that tube flushed out, so we do not have to repeat the procedure!!

She followed all the directions of the pediatrician.

Answering questions such as:

• your name: Edie E.D.I.E (yes she spells it!!)
• do you have sisters mmm mmm Adooo and LaLa (Doc looked at me for translation)
• age: she said 5 and then threw her head back laughing
• she drew circles on paper, and drew a person, with hair, ears, lips, arms, legs,
• she knew her colors, shapes
• identified all but one of the symbols and shapes on the eye chart. She did not recognize the '+'
• she answered questions the doctor asked in regards to water safety, and stranger danger
• we had a long talk in the car about those topics, and repeated them once we picked up sisters!!
• she then had to get the 'pinch', it surprised both of us.

After the 'pinch' she, wanted off that table and immediately grabbed my purse and her blankie and headed for the door limping, in just her undies and undershirt saying 'I nee Adoo and LaLa' In her moment of pain she needed/wanted her sisters, the Sesame Street Sticker was no prize.

She soon fell asleep in the car. I promised her lunch and a Mommie/Edie afternoon. We went to Applebee's and she pushed her lunch aside and dug into my soup and salad. She ate it all. I let her, she would offer me a bite of my lunch now and then and I let her feed me, she did so with a smile. I treated her to an ice cream, that she also polished off, peppered with the occasional offering to mom.

We picked up sisters, and she donned her shiny silver band aid like a badge of courage, taking time to pull her pants down around her ankles to show them the bandage on her thigh. They each hugged her and brushed her hair out of her face and said 'you ok Edie'. She was running around with them shortly after.

Where did my little Edie Baby go?

Your The Office Manager For A Reason

We are part of a doctors 'network'. We had our babies at a hospital affiliated with our family doctor and our pediatrician.
Our babies were born in 04' and Edie in 06'. When we go to the emergency room, urgent care facility or the doctors office they simply plug in their names, birth dates and tah dah...their entire medical history is available.

Well, we have not been pleased with the office ongoings, (confusing the twins who are NOT identical) their sense of urgency, and just the over all confidence of the team. These are my kids and I want someone with a bit more confidence and experience. Yes with twins and with children in general. Your the doctor get in there and check stuff out! Don't be half assed because you don't want to get them upset. Do it right and thorough and make sure they are OK.

My sister in law has raved about her pediatrician. Even better her office is part of the same network, so it shouldn't be a problem swapping them over...right?? They were also accepting new patients.
I made the call, the first of March got the transfer of records documents and delivered them to the old office they would take care of it from there.

In April I called the new office, I brought Aubrey to them for a chronic cough she had been battling. The receptionist pulled up ALL her information, the doctor in the examination room had ALL her information at her fingertips too!

I asked the receptionist on the way out to set up appointments for all three girls to have physicals. I loved how thorough she was, her attention to detail, bedside manner, and tenure.

Receptionist :No records, Can't set up physicals, but they can be seen in emergencies.
I thought the ball was rolling?
This is what happened next:

1. We had to call the old office, I was informed that:
2. They requested the documents from a third party to be copied,
3. Their request was on March 26th. Couldn't understand why the new office didn't have them yet,
4. They gave me the number of that third party.
5. I had to leave her a message because she only works Tuesdays from 3:30- 5pm.
6. She returns my call the following Tuesday (because I had left her my message on Wednesday the week before), and proceeds to
7. Tell me the girls hospital, emergency room information, pediatrician appointments, and in office visits are ALL on the network because they were born the year all records became available on 'the network' computer system and
8. The new office can access them.
9. no paperwork needed,

Great!, I called the new office again, and guess what? Still can't set up a physical!! The want the paper documents.

Repeat steps 1-8

What month are we in now...oh yeah JUNE!!
I want my girls to have physicals at the new office, because it's a new office. And I want everyone up to date before sports, and a potentially new school for the twins in the fall. So, I attempted to set up physicals again. and guess what?
Yup they were still looking for the records, that were ALL available on the network.
Enough is Enough, who the heck isn't doing their job and bringing frustration to ME!?,
ENTER: The Office Manager, she has that title for a reason, run the dang office, she ok'd the appointments and was taking it upon herself to get the documents the office needed to run more efficiently.
Good job Office Manager!!
Edie goes tomorrow for her physical.

A Story To Tell

I seem to fall back on journaling when I have a feeling that I either want to remember or one I am trying desperately to escape.

I'm working on an unpublished post. It's is a collection of those pre-twin writings I've come across recently.

I've always been a writer, journaling for as long as I can remember. I have journals tucked away in a beat up old box in the basement. I've dragged that box around for years before it was tossed on the top shelf in the basement. It has seen apartment after apartment. (For a while there I moved around quite a bit, but the books were the story of my life, they went where I went. They are filled with elementary school silliness, middle school crushes, junior high torment, high school awkwardness, and college where I found my 'beginning'.

I have found notes, journal pages, and other pieces of paper with random emotions bled onto them, some even on the back of the infertility specialists appointment card. They are tucked into my jewelery box, the bottom of the hope chest, and the twins keepsake boxes. That is where I found my calendars. Day by day chronicles, chicken scratched with appointments, schedules, medication regiments, and the heartbreaking scribble on each month of the dreaded words: DAY 1.

Some of the pieces of paper are hard to read, they bring back terrible feelings of longing, desperation and frustration. Others expose the sadness I felt in acceptance. Accepting that my belly would forever be empty but my heart was full, bursting with love it had to give to 'someone'.
I think back to that time and everyone said 'it will happen'. Yes, it did, thank you all for confidence when mine was failing. My heart was so terribly broken, there were no words of encouragement that could mend it. After all this time, it's still healing. My girls, all three, help it mend a bit each day.
My girls are3 and 4, and I still struggle with some of those feelings when I hear of someone else going through the same pain.

It's an unpublished post, but those are the waters currently flowing though the Fisch Tank.

'Bed-Night' Snacks

The Incredible Edible Prune.

I hold them near and dear to my heart. They have helped Edie through some of her gastrointestinal issues due to her redundant colon, and they have helped the twins a countless number of times when a little coaxing was needed and I didn't not want to use an over the counter product.

Each night my girls have dinner at 5pm and then at about 6:45pm they have a 'bed-night' snack. Tonight two out of three asked for: PRUNES
I cut them into quarters and put them into tiny cups with a tooth pic (to avoid sticky fingers), and handed them out with a smile.

Todd and I got a kick out this video,

Enjoy

A New Look For The Fisch Tank

Time for me to give the blog a little (OK A LOT) of attention.

I've been missing the blog, and the little tokens of time I get to reflect and share our fun (and sometimes not so fun) times with all of you.

Most days fly by in what feels like the blink of an eye, but a lot does happen, and sometimes I get to capture those precious moments with my camera or with my words.

My last post was back in April and a lot has happened since then!

• My mom is home.
• Edie turned 3!
• The girls are still physically and mentally growing like weeds.
• They only have one more week of nursery school.
• Edie's speech is progressing nicely.
• We have a new pet and what is 'popcorning'?.

The list goes on and on. I've downloaded all the pictures off my camera (because the memory card was full). But the blog was looking a bit...blah. So, I've changed some colors, the layout, and notes.

Enjoy.

We had a fantastic site at Eastern Slope campground. The facilities and playground were a little dated but the kids had a blast at our site, until the 30+ flock of Canadian Geese flew and in and 'messed up' the lawn.

We had this wonderful field in front our tent that looked out to the Saco.

We spent most of the day just over the bank sitting in the sun and watching the girls play in the ankle deep river bed. Our site was also lit by last nights full moon and the thick grass flickered with fire flies as we called it a night.

Aubrey and Edie buddied up, Reagan explored the sand and shore.

The water was cold, but the sand and sun were very warm.

Then all three splashed and played for hours!

Princess Honeycomb

The girls just got their first pet.

It's a Guinea Pig and they chose to name her..... eh hmm, Princess Honeycomb. Most of the time we just call her 'piggy piggy'.

About 9pm she starts to jump and flip and go absolutely bonkers (in cavey speak this is called 'pop-corning'). She does her piggy cooing and chatters up a storm. Of course having all this FUN AFTER the kids have gone to bed, and we are desperate for quiet time!. We listen to her play and rustle up all the bedding, wondering if all this activity is normal (because nothing is ever normal here!)

She is fun, the kids (and Todd and I) are enjoying her. I have missed having a pet, and Todd is not allergic!

I'm sure there will be many Princess Honeycomb antics in the future.

Todd and I just celebrated our 8 year anniversary!

We have known each other since the fall of 1995!

Our first attempt at camping this summer was interrupted by Todd catching the nasty stomach bug the kids had been battling for two weeks.

By the end of the weekend he was feeling better and made the girls the talked about and much promised s'mores.

Edie's Tubes

Edie was having a hard time hearing the world.

Little did we know she was hearing the world around her as if she were living under water.

Try this, cup your hands and put them over your ears, this is a good example of how she was hearing things.

After a failed hearing test and the diagnosis of chronic fluid, it was decided that tubes would be a good starting point for us to start helping Edie hear the world better, and resolve the non-stop ear infections she has been battling.

May 6th:

She had a successful procedure. She did have fluid at the time, and she did have some bleeding. She was back to herself within 24 hours.

IMMEDIATE RESULTS:

She has gone from a very limited vocabulary to putting words together to make sentences (not in Edie speak) and she is picking up on the starting sounds of most words. She is trying new words too. She has tuned into music and now tries to sing along. She could always feel the beat, but now she can hear the words too. Her current favorite is Hanna Montana (Hamma Mon Hamma)

POST-OP CHECKUP:

Her left ear was blocked with some of the dried blood and fluid from the procedure. We were directed to use an ear wax removal foam to try and flush out the tube. If the tube does not flush clean she will need to undergo the procedure again. We followed the directions of the doctor and we are waiting for our next check-up and hearing test on June 22nd.