Breakin out the pool!

First time breaking out the pool for the summer - it was SO hot!!

Ari with 2 of her cousins, Madison and Dylan

My beautiful girl...

Madison showing off her "dress"

Dylan's diaper was so huge!! lol

Dirt? Yes Please

Jordan and I needed to fill in a few bare spots in the yard with some grass seed. Apparently we weren't watching Ari close enough and she decided to help herself to sampling some dirt!!

Little Miss Sunshine...

Happy Spring from our pretty girl!

Happy Easter!

Easter 2011

Ari's Easter dress from her cousin Zane. We went to Grandpa and Grandma James' for lunch and an Easter Egg hunt! She got a princess cup in her basket from mommy and daddy and was SO proud. She got a pretty pretty too (a necklace).

Big Girl Seat!

Ari got her new big girl car seat in March - her legs getting too long to be facing backward! She was pretty excited...more so about the box, but that's alright...

Holly Moved Home!

At the end of April my sister Holly and her family moved back to Minnesota after living in Kentucky for almost 10 years. My mom watched Ari so Jordan and I could go help. My dad and Mary drove their truck down, and Holly and Hyatt rented a Uhaul trailer for them to pull back. We loaded their van full as well as our Jeep!

Here is just SOME of what had to go in the trailer...

Loaded up and ready to go!!

The Kentuckians becoming Minnesotans...

I can only imagine what people were thinking as we drove down the highway. We saw a lady in 1 car taking a picture!! haha

Ariana's Ear Tube Surgery

The surgery was a success! We arrived at Minneapolis Children's Hospital at 6:15am and got checked into our room on the day surgery floor. Ari got to wear koala pj's with rocket ships on them! She wasn't too sure about the nurse at first, but she warmed up pretty quick.  We read a few books to keep Ari busy, but eventually it was all just too boring so she decided to fall asleep.

The anesthesiologists and her ENT, Dr. Brown, stopped by around 7:15 to go over the basics of the surgery. It was nice that Ari was sleeping so we could talk through everything with them. They said one of us could be in the room with her while they put her under which I appreciated. I don't think I could have handled passing her off and listing to her cry all the way to the operating room! Fortunately Ari stayed asleep until we got into the OR and I laid her on the table. That made it a lot easier for me because had she been awake I'm sure she would have been very clingy and I would have had a harder time leaving her behind.

The surgery was very quick! We saw one of the anesthesiologists in the hallway not even 10 minutes later and he poked his head in to tell us the surgery went well and that Ariana would be in recovery for about 10 minutes. The Dr. Brown came in a few minutes later to reiterate that the surgery went well as expected. They had suctioned some of the fluid out of her ear(s) and sent it to the lab to be analyzed just to make sure there wasn't any underlying infection. We were a little concerned, but he said it was typical practice to do so.



The recovery nurses brought Ari back to the room around 8:15; it was funny because she was still a bit loopy and was a little wobbly when sitting up! They had us stay for about 30 minutes to make sure she was able to keep water and juice down (which she did without any issues), and then we were free to head home.

 

       

As soon as we got home Ari was down playing with her toys as if nothing had happen.  She had some milk and then took almost a 4 hour nap!  We gave her tylenol through out the day yesterday just to keep her comfortable, but so far so good! We have a follow up appointment with him April 4th to make sure the ear tubes are staying in place and to make sure no scar tissue is forming around the tube(s). We'll have to go back every for months until they fall out (they usually take 9 months to fall out). Dr. Brown even called last night to check up on Ariana and make sure she was doing okay! He's such a nice doctor - we highly recommend him if anyone needs an ENT!!

Thanks to everyone who prayed for our Ari girl (and us) yesterday!

Pre Op physical

We found out last week that Ariana needs to have ear tubes put in. She had a double ear infection back in September and she's had fluid in her ears ever since. She's had another ear infection since, and with all the fluid in her ears the doctor said she's not hearing as well as she could be. Our pediatrician sent us to an ENT (ear, nose, throat doctor) for a second opinion and a hearing test.  The ENT said Ari's hearing was "on the lower end of average" and confirmed that tubes were probably our best option.

Things will be pretty hectic for us in the next few weeks so when they said they had an opening Thursday the 17th we booked it figuring it would be easier to get everything done right away. Especially knowing she's not hearing that well! So her surgery is scheduled for 7:45am Thursday, 3/17 at Minneapolis Children's Hospital. The actual procedure is only about 15 minutes, but we have to check in at 6:15...AM. UGH!

We had to have a pre op physical done on Tuesday to make sure Ari's got a clean bill of health...




Clean bill of health! Better call and tell Daddy!

  

WHAT?! This paper says I won't
be able to eat until after surgery?!?!

  

HUH? I can have milk and a snack right afterwards? Well...





...Well, ok then. I'm down with getting tubes. Let's rock out of the doctor's office mom!!



Cozy Coupe

Ari got a Cozy Coupe for Christmas from Uncle Jim and Auntie Jana and LOVES to ride in it.  The problem is, we get so tired of pushing her! We've resorted to hiding it in the front closet sometimes so she forgets about it. Apparently she was sick of asking us for a ride and decided to give her bear Cooper a ride herself...

My Valentine...

Ariana in her Valentine's Day outfit - getting ready to head to church...

Ariana turns 1!!

Ari turned 1 on January 26th!! I can't believe a year has gone so fast! On her actual birthday we went to the play place at Rosedale mall and went to Panera for dinner. She was a happy girl!!

We had a big party for her the weekend of the 29th. Her nickname is "bug" so we had a ladybug themed party for her. My godmother and I made ladybug invites, I found a ladybug dress from Gymboree, and made a ladybug cake and cupcakes...

I'm terrible...

It's been forever since I've posted anything on here so here are a few things that have happened in our 2011 so far....

We rang in the new year in Milwaukee with the Shoup side of Jordan's family. It was great to see every one again and introduce them to Ariana. On the way home I was nice enough to contribute $250.90 into the Wisconsin State Patrol's pension fund...

In mid January Jordan and I went to Las Vegas with our friends Tim & Lindsay and Alex & Bonnie. We were there just over 4 days and had an awesome time! We visited Hoover Dam (very cool), watched the sunset at the top of the Statosphere, had dinner at the Wynn buffet, walked...and walked...and walked through just about every Casino there, lost...and then found...a $100 poker chip at the Gold Nugget!! It was a great trip to get away with friends. Ari stayed behind with Grandpa & Grandma James - she had fun too. :)



Inside the Hoover Dam

On top of the Stratosphere - it was beautiful!!

$100 poker chip lost...and found 14 hours later in the best steak house in Vegas