Marker mayham - so pretty

Sophie has decided that markers are a great thing to put on her face. In the process of decorating her face, she said "So pretty".

Enjoy the pictures

Tigger

This is from trick or treating part one. Trick or treat part two is tonight.

Carving pumpkins

What a nice tradition to do with the kids, right? So where is sophie?

Well miss thing is too much of a princess this year to get her hands
dirty in the 'yucky' seeds .party popper.

Halloween fun

Sophie likes wax lips.

Oh baby showers...

'it is nougety'

Kitty cat

Sophie loves her new kitty cat, which is good because driving to
Cleveland is BORING!

Pumpkin patch

On the way home from her second year well baby we found a pumkin
patch. What a gorgeous day!

The great pumpkin

Thankful

We get at least one insurance statement a day. I am so thankful for
Eric's job that provides our insurance. Total medical bills so far
have exceeded 30k. And she still has months of expansion and surgery
to take them out. Then all of that has to be repeated two more times.

It is so scary having insurance tied to employment, especially in this
economy. I am thankful we are part of the 'haves' in this respect.
Let's hope and pray it stays that way!

Sent from my iPhone

The fruits of yesterday.

Sophie is enjoying her new toys, and her new chair

Birthday Thanks!

As some of you know, today is Sophie's second birthday! If you ask her how old she is, she'll proudly say two. We would like to thank uncle Dave and aunt Cathy, aunt Marylin, as well as aunties Erika and Kim.

Ok the last two are honorary aunts, but it still works. Here are two pictures, and one actually contains a picture of Heather (gasp!)

Thank you!

I want to send a big thanks to Uncle
Gary and our friend Jane for passing on contacts for medical supplies.
They were very useful and we've gone fro no contacts to two!!

Sent from my iPhone

Happy Birthday!!!

Round three is complete and Sophie got a bid fat cookie and some
stickers for being a champ.

Today is Sophie's second birthday!! Happy birthday kiddo. We'll have a
proper bday this weekend :)

Stiller country

As a bit of a joke, I stopped by eat and park to pick up steeler cookies to give to the hospital tomorrow. We are playing the browns after all. Whe I went the the grocery store, I found this little gem, so it is coming along dor the ride.

Go Steelers!

Dermatology check up

Sophie and I saw the derm team today. They had docs and residents from
the pittsburgh plastics group we broke up with .... Awkward.

Attention was taken away from our defection when they saw something
wierd behind her ear, which turned out to be a chunk of apple. At
least that is easy to take care of it.

It was nice to hear that research may show in 20 years that removal
isn't recommended anymore. Instills confidence in the decision we were
advised to make. ( yes, that is sarcasm tinged with bitterness). BIG
party when this is over.

Sent from my iPhone

Which...

She apparently can't wait to open!!!

Bday gifts are arriving!

Sophie is two tomorrow! Thanks aunties to aunties and uncles for
sending on gifts!!!

Brussels sprouts

The great thing about kids is that they are open and pumped to try
anything. We are trimming brussels sprouts to get ready for her
birthday dinner. I just hope the rest of the family is as willing to
try them!

Woe to the Durable Medical Goods Suppilers

A bit of a rant.

I have called just about every durable medical good supplier in the Pittsburgh area to try to find the goods we need to do the expansion process at home. I am striking out everywhere. When I do seem to find a place, I get a call back hours later that they can't get it. Seems that there are muliple things going on here.

1. Durable medical goods people it seems don't carry needles. So I think this stalls them.
2. IV places cannot supply the stuff because they won't be used for an IV.
3. Home infusion wants to bill for the whole thing, meaning they can't give us the supplies unless we use their services.
4. Lots of places don't know what the hell we need.
5. Lots of number re-route to places I have already called. This one I don't get.

I have gotten my hopes up several times only to be struck down because they can't supply it. I may have found a supplier and just faxed off the information, I expect a call shortly to say they can't fill it. In the mean time can anyone tell me where the heck I can get anything in the below list. ugh

1. .9% Normal Saline injection- 100cc bag
2. Betadine swabsticks - 1 box
3. 18 G x 1 1/2 in needles -( kendall monoject-sterile) - 100 needles
4. #25G x 3/4in (Monojet Angel Wing)- blood collection/infusion set with female luer
5. 20cc syringes (luer lock syringe with tip cap)

I edited it a bit down, but that is exactly what we need. What a pain in the arse.

Don't eat the apple!

Sophie uttered this warning to snow white today. We didn't know she
could follow plot!

Onions

What would close out a day where hummus was for breakfast?

Why an onion, of course!

Hummus for breakfast?

Why not, it is perfectly paired with an ear of corn. Now that is the
real breakfast of champions!

Sent from my iPhone

Expansion 2

2 down! We are on the way home from Westlake, where we had
expansion#2. the suburban center was so small and quiet compared to
the main hospital . Dr. Gosain, Randy and the rest of the team are
doing a great job and say Sophie is doing well.

This could go on for quite a while. The family is ready to tick off
the weeks and have this over with but the reality of the situation is
that it is going to take a while. We have to keep in perspective the
more they can expand now the faster this will be over!

Sophie was asking for every family member , hoping dad, uncle matt,
nana Nancy or pop pop emil would bust in and rescue her away from the
mean doctors.

We are having a heck of a time finding a supplier with the stuff we
need to do the expansion at home in order to save this drive. I don't
understand how saline and needles are exotic health care supplies.

Anyway, you can see from the picture that she is in good spirits.
Maybe that is just because the Cheeze it's fix everything. ( right e$?)

Rock lobster part 2

How disappointing the pic didn't show Saturday! Here is Rocky dog, as
a lobster. I love my silly friends.

Thanks for the artwork Auntie Kalai

Kalai made the beautiful new header art for the site. She is also teaching me lots of good blogging techniques, as she got a good head start on this trend with her site, http://antibloggedy.blogspot.com/ . Thanks Kalai!

Ripping out the garden

After weeks of neglict, we are finally getting around to cleaning out the garden. Sophie has discovered two things. First, those peppers we wouldn't let here earlier are quite delicous now. Second, its fun to dig in the dirt.

Rock lobster and errata

I found the mythical rock lobster this morning. I didn't know this existed outside of 1980's Atlanta.

In other random news, a study looked into what is the fatal flaw in men of different nationalities. Russian men were too hairy, German men are smelly and the Brits are apparently lazy, and Greeks are soppy. ( I will have to find the link so you all don't think i am making up this defamation). Apparently the best men are in brazil, Italy and Spain. Got your passport?

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Post first fill pic

Here is a picture that may be a bit blurry (she is impossible to get to stop moving sometimes) of her after her first fill.

It doesn't seem to bother her at all so that is a very good thing.

First expansion

Is done and they said it went well. I can't say it was entirely
pleasant, but I don't think it bothered her too much. She had more of
an issue with being restrained than being in pain or uncomfortable.

One down. Not surehow many to go but this first round should be done
by the holidays. I hope they put her back together properly again!!!

Sent from my iPhone

How early is early?

I thought I was the best most selfless mom ever for waking in the
predawn hours to get babes to the doc this am. But as I was driving by
the high school all of those kids were already headed to class!
Suckers for doing that every day!

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I can fit!

Goats and pumkins

Soergels orchards is the best for great fall farm adventure ! Sophie
loves to feed the goats. I probably should have stopped har fom
kissing them.