Kambria's surgery

So I have not mentioned it a whole lot before, but today Kambria had her eye surgery to put stents in her eyes so that they don't water and make her look like she is crying all the time. So we started he whole process last night. She could not have anything to eat or drink once she went to bed. She did not eat much fro dinner so I tried to get her to eat some milk but to no avail.

Sow she woke up this morning...asking for apple juice. Of course she could not have anything and that was so hard for me to have to tell her she could not have anything. We drove out to Children's Hospital in Aurora and began the process. We had to be there at 8:15 for her 10:15 surgery. Bryan and I were VERY impressed with this hospital. You can tell it is a newer hospital, but none the less, VERY friendly. We checked in and instead of them pointing to where you should go they walked you there. And then they were so friendly and nice when they checked us in again for insurance. Th lady was very impressed with how Kambria was talking at not even 2 years yet. We think she is smart but it is nice to hear it from complete strangers too. ;o)

Then we got escorted to the next waiting area where the surgery would be. We waited for a while and then went back to the prep room. They gave her some little pajamas/gown to put on. They were quite cute.

Then we were allowed to go to the little playroom and got to play for about an hour while we waited for the surgery to begin. They had a lot of fun toys, but the one Kambria liked the most was the big playhouse. There was even a doorbell on it.

After waiting for a while, the surgeon came and talked to us as well as the anesthesiologist. Then they had Bryan put his jumpsuit and hat on as he wanted to go back into the room with Kambria while they put her under. I did not want to go back for fear I would break down crying. so it was good that Bryan was there.

The operation itself took only about 20 minutes and then they came and got us to tell us that Kambria had woken up not but a couple minuted later. She of course was crying, but immediately wanted apple juice. She downed it quite fast and then we gave her a Popsicle. She downed that one and wanted another...and later in the recovery room wanted another. So she ate quite a few of them.

We watched some TV in the recovery room while they periodically checked her vitals until it was time to go home. We were discharged around noon and as we were coming down the elevators, we noticed a bunch of people in the atrium. So we went to check it out. They were having an ice cream competition. so we got to taste 3 different flavors and then vote for our favorite. So that was a fun treat.

As we were walking out the front doors, Kambria said she wanted cheese...unusual request so we took her to get macaroni and cheese from Noodles, while Bryan and I got Chipotle. It was a successful day! Now we just hope that the stents stay in her eyes for the required 6 months and that it clears up her watery eyes. Wish us luck.

not much going on...

Bryan's graduation day from Northwestern University...

Bryan with his instructors.

So I have been told that I need to update our blog. We are now back in Colorado...just waiting around. We drove back from Chicago on June 28th and made a quick stop in Carroll, IA to see our friends Nate and Sarah and their new addition Allison.

Then we drove to Fort Collins, to spend time with Bryan's family...which the turned into a fun weekend driving to Utah to spend time with the rest of his family, but Kambria and I got to FLY!!! it was so much better than spending another 7 hours in a car.

Kambria ended up getting a fever. And then Madalyn got a fever and ended up having hand, foot and mouth disease. poor little girl! But it was a fun weekend trip.

We also got to spend a little tiem that sunday afternoon with my Grandma Jetta and Aunt Sherie! It was fun to have Kambria see her great grandma, and great aunt. It was time well spent.

Then we came home and have been waiting for this little baby boy to come...I am getting all the more anxious and he could not come any sooner... I told the doctor today that I would like to have a scheduled c-section after much thinking and praying about it...but after talking with the PA, she said they would not take a baby any earlier than 1 week...so she said August 5th...but we will have to see what the scheduler says later this afternoon...i would prefer um Monday!!!

Here is Kambria with her favorite snack...popcorn!

And so we have just been trying to stay cool...here are Bryan and Kambria at a friends pool...while I sat and watche don the sidelines!

As far as Bryan and information on his residency...we have none. We thought there was a couple that might work out, but nothing has thus far. So we are just praying and waiting and hoping that all his diligent efforts in searching for one will pay off...sooner than later.

First prayer

Just a quick update note...Kambria said her first prayer yesterday. Of course it is with my help and a very short and sincere prayer....but none the less, she said it and we were so very proud!!!! So this is a memorable experience for the family I thought I would share!

And on another note...Bryan got his test back from last Friday and he got a 97% on it!!! We (mostly him I am sure, but I was too) are EXTREMELY proud of this. And he is more than half way one with his finals! He graduates in 2 days! We are on the countdown!

And a shout out to our friends Nate and Sarah Pettitt. They had their second child, a girl, 8 lbs 1 oz yesterday and 3:39 pm. We don't know the details yet, but congrats to them! We will be stopping by their house on the way back to Denver, so we are excited we get to see their new addition!

Making cookies

So this morning, Kambria decided she wanted to wake up at 4:30am!! I was not too happy with that!! She whined for milk and her binky and anything she could think of. She would lay down for abut 15 minutes and then decide to whine for something new. So she stayed in her play pen until 6 when she finally would not stop crying so I decided to let her come in bed with us. She climbed all over Bryan and when he finally got up at 6:45 she went and watched sesame street so I could rest for another 15 minutes. I tried to keep my patience all morning long...I don't think I did too bad of a job...But by 9:30 I was almost at my whits end...so it was BATH TIME!!!!

So I let Kambria have a bath with bubbles. She LOVES baths, but loves baths with bubbles even more! She was content just playing with her toys, which happen to be beach toys, and the bubbles. I finished doing dishes and did some laundry while she played in the tub. Now mind you our bathroom is right by the kitchen and "laundry." So I just leave the door open but can hear EVERYTHING she is doing...so don't think I just leave her there without supervision...that would be DUMB!

So after I started the dishwasher I peeked at her and found this...

She was just playing with the bubbles with this on her head like it was the normal thing to do! I couldn't resist taking a picture!!

Then after she had a little rest for about an hour I woke her up and we made cookies together. It is coming down to the last week we are here in Chicago and we want to use up as much food as we can. So I decided to try and use up the flour and sugar etc...and what better way than chocolate chip cookies!

So Kambria helped me all along the way, and was pretty good at it too...

Here she is helping mix the dough in the bowl...

And of course she knows all about "tasting" the dough to make sure it is good... And then she has to watch the cookies bake...
And then taste the final product at the end! What a great little baker!!!

So we had a great day after a rough morning! Chocolate comes through again!

Saturday fun

One night after we had had dinner, Kambria was sitting on Bryan and happened to spill some of her milk on herself. Bryan hit his forehead and said, "Oh, Shoot!" Kambria thought it was the FUNNIEST thing and was laughing and laughing. We tried to get some of it on video. She would copy Bryan and then laugh and laugh! We thought it was great!

So on Saturday June 14,we decided to meet Bryan after he had studied for a while and go to Millennium Park and let Kambria playing the water. We all got a little sun, but no burns thanks to spf 50 baby sunscreen for Kambria and I!!! I love that stuff! We ate hot dogs for lunch and then played in the water.

I made sure to bring extra clothes for Kambria and to have the camera ready! It was a lot of fun seeing her enjoy the water as much as she did. She is such a thrill to watch and she enjoys life so much. Complete strangers even comment to us how enthusiastic she is and of course we agree!!! We love her a ton! enjoy the pictures. Also notice the prgoression of her hair being wet. Aspeciall how soaked she is on the last picture. :)

On the walk back home after playing in the water, we decided to make a stop at the Lego store. It was fun to see the big "sculptures", if you can call them that. Kambria would have enjoyed it even more, but we kept her in the stroller since she was a bit tired from all the running around in the water.

This is a replica of Chicago, made out of Legos! It is quite amazing!

Back from Denver

So the reason I have not posted in a while is due to the fact that Kambria and I flew back to Denver for my sister Tess' high school graduation and my 10 yr high school reunion! Yes, my sister and me are 10 yrs apart. It was fun to go to the graduation and be reminded of what mine was like. We both had our ceremonies at Red Rocks amphitheater. The whole fam was there for Tess', except of course Colin who is still in Argentina!

Kambria and Hayden had a blast together, except I think it took Hayden a little while longer to be as enthusiastic to see Kambria as she was to see him. But it didn't take too long and then they were hugging each other and having a grand time!

I stole these pictures from Leah...thanks!

Like I said I also attended my 10 yr reunion. It was fun and nice to see that people have grown up...of course there are some that have not. But none-the-less it was fun. I was in student senate my senior year and so I got the privilege of helping plan the activities. We only had a graduating class of about 100 people, so we made it as simple as possible. Friday night we had a grown-up night only at the local Lucky Strikes. It is a bowling alley, but this one is nice...it even had a dress code. So people sat around and talked, bowled, played pool and drank...we had 2 free drink tickets...of course I had to give mine away since they would not let me use them for virgin drinks! Oh well such is life! They also had pizza and appetizers. It was fun to chat away and see what people have been up to. I stayed from 6 to 11 pm that night. I even saw my old next door neighbor Natalie who I had not talked to since I was about 13 yrs old!

Then Saturday we had a tour of our new (old) high school. They had just finished remolding and rebuilding it a year ago. It was quite amazing. As soon as I get pictures I will share!

Then we had a BBQ at Lakewood Park where all the families were invited. It was fun to see each others' kids and let them play together. Kambria had a ball playing in the sand. Everyone commented on how she looked just like me. What a great compliment!

This is a short version...since I do not know what more to say about it. But it was a fun time and I am glad that I went...even if Bryan had to stay in Chicago without us!!! I told him he should plan on going to his next year!

This is what I came home to...

How sweet is Bryan??!!! They are GORGEOUS flowers! They are so pretty that they even look fake! What a nice surprise!

And after 12 days apart from each other, I finally got to come back "home" to Chicago and Bryan!!!YEAH We had never been apart from each other for this long since we began dating over 4 yrs ago. It was tough for both of us, but I think even tougher for Kambria to be away from her Daddy. She missed him SO much...even to the point that she did not want to let go of him from the time we got off the airplane. She wanted him to do everything...even change her diaper! It was sure nice to have a break from that one :) But she is settling down and not so upset when he goes off to school in the mornings as much anymore...she even wanted me to hold her last night...which is good for me to know I am still needed!

So now that I am back, I can keep up on this blog thing again!!!

Museum ... Part 2

So here are some more pictures from our two day adventure to the Museum of Science & Industry.

At the museum they had a great area for kids called the Idea Factory. Here they could play with things made for kids that would teach them about many different concepts in a hands on way.

This is Kambria playing in the younger kids section. She loves to play in the water, whether it's in the sink as she is brushing her teeth, or here playing with the waterwheel. It was neat to see how Kambria was learning..."Now if I poor the water here, the wheel will spin and make something else move". The water was actually very warm too. She looked so cute in her little rain coat.

Here Kambria is trying to figure out how the ball is staying in the air.

They have a large, long clear tube that has high-seed air rushing through it. The kids put these plastic balls in the tube and watch it zoom around the museum in the tube. It reminded me of the boy getting sucked into the tube in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Kambria kept trying to put the ball in the tube, but the air blowing through the tube would also blow the ball out it you didn't keep it in there for a second or two. Kambria couldn't understand why her ball kept on flying out at her and hitting her in the head.

This is Bryan and Kambria in a big tractor, Kambria loves to climb in them. It was difficult to get her to climb out so other kids could get in.

While on the "farm" we learned all about POOP! and how it is used for energy in a lot of things you might not think of. I know Lisa will appreciate this ;)
Eliza and Bryan trying out the space suit.

They have a bunch of different airplanes hanging from the sealing. This is a real united jet that you could walk though. They have removed some paneling and such so you can see parts of the plane you wouldn't normally see, it was quite interesting.

Kambria didn't like the thought of standing in the turbine engine...obviously.

They also had a huge model train set. It spans from Chicago to Seattle. I thought this was so neat, all the detail that was put into it, just amazing. Grandpa George Fairbanks would have just loved it.

Here is something that Bryan found very neat to watch. They have a large incubator with chicken eggs getting ready to hatch. We got there just at the right time and this is what we saw...

You're almost there...

This poor little chick...completely worn out. Well, wouldn't you be if you had to climb your way out?