Little Senorita

Enjoying dress up time at school.

Sea World with Gram

We took advantage of the long Thanksgiving holiday and spent a day at Sea World with Gram.  I love that the three of us were able to do this.  We had a great day, despite the crazed bird that attacked Gram while it attempted to steal my lunch.

Here are some photos:

Shivers the Polar Bear

Look at those reindeer!

Decorating our tree should be interesting this year...

Fancy Feet

Look at those straight toes!!

Hard to believe that only 3 1/2 weeks after Kendall's surgery her feet look this good!  It's so amazing!  Here's a before and after:

Before (This is the left foot - it was worse than the right) :

After:

Although both feet look amazing, the toes on the left foot do have a bit more straightening to do.  The doctor assured us that this will happen over time as she grows.  We already see a difference in her balance and it's hard to even tell where they made the small incisions.  We're all so glad that we went through with the procedure!

Maybe she'll be a foot model after all!

In the first few days after Kendall was born, one of the first things that I noticed was her overlapping toes.  Having had foot problems for most of my life, I was concerned about it and asked her doctor when he visited us in the hospital.  I was told that they should straighten out over time, and that she'd "probably never be a foot model", but should be able to walk, run, jump and do everything that she wanted to do.

Over time, and especially as she began to walk, he toes did straighten out a bit.  However, she never seemed to have the balance that she should have, and would trip and fall quite often.  She would also get blisters on her toes as they rubbed against one another when she wore shoes.  

My mom urged me to take her to a specialist after hearing a horror story about the surgical procedures needed for an older child with a similar problem.  The specialist diagnosed her with "curly toes" and recommended a quick surgical procedure that would fix the problem.

On Monday, Kendall had the surgery to straighten her toes.  Formally called a "bilateral toe tenotomy", the surgery involved cutting the tendons in the affected toes, allowing them to stretch and straighten.  We should also see increased mobility and flexibility in the toes.  I guess that this type of surgery is also used for children with hammer toes and club feet.  The surgery was at 8:30 a.m., and we had to check in by 6:30, so our bleary eyed crew woke up about 4:30 a.m. and was out of the house a little after 5:30.

Once at Children's Hospital, we checked in, waited, met with the nurses, doctors and anesthesiologist, watched a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and then the nurses scooped up our baby and took her away.

The surgery only took about 30 minutes - long enough for Dan and I to shove some food in our mouths at the cafeteria.  They paged us and ushered us into a waiting room where we met with the doctor.  Everything went well and they only had to cut the tendons in two toes on each foot.  We thought they were going to have to cut three on each foot.  We waited another hour and then were able to visit her in the recovery room.  

The poor thing cried and wailed for a good 20 minutes, but calmed down after she received a second does of pain medication and about 4 cups of juice.  We spent about an hour and a half in the recovery room, then we were discharged and headed home.

Recovery at home has gone amazingly well.  We removed the bandages on Wednesday morning and now have her feet covered with socks.  She has dissolvable stitches which should stay in for another week.  By Wednesday she was up and moving around pretty normally, and by Wednesday evening, she was back to her fun-loving self.

Monday night - watching shows on the ipad and feeling pretty good on the pain medication

Monday night - looking straighter already!

Tuesday night - getting around, but crawling...

...with more of an attitude

Bandages won't make it much longer

  

Wednesday morning - showered, had my bandages removed and feeling back to normal!

We had a hard time with this procedure, because we really didn't want to put her through the surgery.  I felt horrible about it, and found myself second guessing the decision the night before we took her in.  I want Kendall to be able to do anything in life that she wants to do.  She comes from two athletic families, and if she chooses to be an athlete, I didn't want to regret not helping her when we could.  I know that we made the right decision, and it has been a pretty easy recovery process.  Who knows, with those brand new toes, maybe she will be a foot model one of these days.

AARRRRR...Happy Halloween!!

Halloween 2011 turned out to be a great holiday.  Since Halloween was on a Monday this year, the holiday turned into more of a weekend-long celebration.

We decided a few months ago that Kendall would dress as a pirate for the big night.  I wanted her to dress in a costume that she'd actually wear, and this turned out to be a great pick.  She looked super cute, AND loved her costume and the accessories!

Our holiday weekend started on Friday night with a neighborhood party.  The kids (and some adults) dressed up, we ate, and drank, and enjoyed the haunted house that our neighbor, Roger, created in his yard.  Kendall loved it, and spent most of the night walking back and forth through the maze seeing what tricks or treats she could find.  She found a toy rat and thought it was hilarious to scare people with it!

We spent part of Sunday afternoon carving our pumpkins.

On Monday, Kendall's class celebrated Halloween with a fall pot luck.  She started the day dressed as a kitty, but had too much fun with arts and crafts and had to change before lunchtime.

By the time Halloween eve rolled around, Kendall was ready for some trick or treating.  We had a great time walking around the neighborhood and getting candy.  Kendall was a bit hesitant to walk up to the doors at first, but then she realized that all she had to do was knock on the door, mumble a few words, hold a bag open, and people gave her candy!  Some people even let her choose what she wanted!

Kendall's friend, Gavin, as Yoda

Kendall's friend, Jack, as Darth Vader

I'm so happy that Kendall had such a great time this year.  She enjoyed all of the festivities and loved trick or treating.  Happy Halloween!!

I'll nap when I'm ready!

Nap time has been a difficult time lately.  Sometimes Kendall can't wait to rest, while other times she wants nothing to do with it.  With her now in a toddler bed, it's harder and harder to keep her down.  She sleeps great at night, but for some reason, she now hates to nap at home.

During those difficult days, we've tried everything that we can think of to get her to nap.  A consistent routine, soothing moments before bed, negotiating, removal of favorite toys, and bribery.  Lately, I've been blocking her doorway with a baby gate, so that she can open her door and look out if she needs to.  But, this forces her to stay in her room for a while and at least play quietly.  Even this strategy is hit or miss.  Take today for example:

Trying to escape is tiring.

I guess I just leave her there, right?

The 2011 Inauguration

Life is busy.  It seems like I never have enough time to spend with my dear friends that I met during my college days.  In previous years, bachelorette parties and wedding brought us together, but with only a few single ladies left, we knew that we must find time at least once a year for each other.  So, my sisters in the bond and I made the decision earlier in the year that 2011 would be the inaugural year for our annual get-together.

Someone suggested Santa Barbara for 2011, and off we went:

Wine tasting...check
Eating...check
Gabbing...check
Horrific birth stories that have probably scarred those without kids...check

We had a great time (as we always do) and I can't wait until 2012.  Melody will be picking the location, and Rachel will be the "tour director", which ensures that she'll pick the 2013 location.  I hear a spa weekend in Scottsdale is already being planned...

The Happiest Girl in the World

Last week we took Kendall to Disneyland for the first time.  Considering that we live less than an hour away, it's kind of a surprise that we haven't already visited.  Then again, considering that the happiest place on earth isn't at the top (or even towards the middle) of Dan's list of favorite spots, I'd say that getting Kendall there before she graduated from high school was actually quite an accomplishment.  Gram and Dude joined us for the big day, and we had so much fun!

We were up early and got to the park right as it opened so that we could meet some of Kendall's favorite characters at the Minnie and Friends Breakfast.  Kendall is enamored with Minnie, so I wanted to make sure that we met her.  Minnie had a number of friends there too: Captain Hook, Chip (or Dale - not sure which), Eeyore, the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella, and Tigger.

When Minnie finally came to the room that we were in, she started with the opposite side of the room.  Kendall was suddenly last in line to meet her, and she wasn't too happy.  She'd turn and look at her, while yelling, "Minnie!! Minnie!!" and then looking back to us wondering why Minnie wasn't coming to greet her.  She finally made it though, and Kendall couldn't have been happier.

This part of our day was really what we had come for, and boy was it great.  It was so amazing to see how excited Kendall was to meet Minnie and her friends.

We spent the rest of the day walking around the park and riding on many of the rides.  We hit Pinnochio's Daring Journey, Snow White's Scary Adventures, the Merry-go-Round, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, It's a Small World, Toon Town, Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, the Haunted Mansion, and the Jungle Cruise.

We even visited Mickey's house and met Mr. Mouse himself!

We really couldn't have asked for a better day.  And, believe it or not, Dan actually had a good time too...