Maddie's New Bike

Maddie and Gabe like to ride their bikes. We usually go outside at some point everyday so they can ride in circles in the driveway. Lately, Madison has been giving Gabe a hard time because she wants to ride his very boyish Disney Pixar Cars tricycle instead of her smaller, very girlish Disney Princess tricycle.

He usually gives into her and gets on the pink tricycle for a minute and then decides against it and goes after her to get his bike back. Good for you Gabe! Fight back!

Then she would cry and Gabe would feel bad. You can tell he feels bad because he goes up to her (making sure to stay firmly on the tricycle so she can't steal it back) and tries to hug her. He doesn't like it when his sister cries.

I finally got tired of the fighting and decided it was time for Madison to get a big girl bike. No, there is no special occasion - she just needed a bigger bike.

We went to Target and got her a new bike. She loves it and talks to it a lot. Every time we are leaving and we pull out of the garage she says, "Bye bye pretty bike!" It's pretty funny. Here are some pictures of her on her new pretty bike.

Gabe's Six Month Anniversary

I can't believe it is September 26th already. Six months ago today was the day we took Gabe in to have his bi-frontal craniotomy and endoscopic nasal surgery so the surgeons could patch the hole in the bone between his brain cavity and nasal cavity.

Here are some pre-op pictures:


It was definitely one of the worst times in our lives. We were so worried about him and Dave and I were taking turns running back and forth from the hospital just trying to get a couple of hours of sleep. We barely saw Madison for 5 days straight. We weren't sure if we wanted her to see Gabe in the condition he was in after the surgery. Both of his eyes were swollen shut and he had a pretty big bandage on his head. He was so drugged up he barely moved at all.

He went in for the surgery on a Monday and the Thursday after Madison came to the hospital and wanted to see her brother. She was able to come back and see him. She talked to him and touched his legs. I could tell he knew she was there, but he still barely moved. Later that night we were moved to a private room in the PICU and he started sitting up and watching Disney Pixar's "Cars" with one eye barely open (they were still pretty swollen). I totally believe that Madison helped him come through. Friday morning he wouldn't stay in his crib and wanted to be wheeled around the hospital in a push cart. We were discharged Friday afternoon because he was doing so well.

Here are some pictures of him at Easter (April 7th - 12 days after his surgery):

I feel so lucky that we ended up at UofM. I had been going to the doctor's office for his runny nose for so long. I finally got a doctor who suggested a hearing test. I ended up just going to our insurance book and picking someone at random. The hearing test lady recommended our Ear, Nose and Throat doctor and then he recommended our Neuro Surgeon and the two of them performed the surgery together.

We went for his final checkup in July and both the ENT and Neuro Surgeon said he shouldn't have to come back again. He is free and clear!!! YEAH!!!

Here are some pictures of my healthy baby (he's still my baby) boy:

He has a little scar on his back from the lumbar drain and if you pull his hair back you can sort of see a scar, but not really. He'll just never be able to "bic" his head. Even the little bald spot caused by stress has grown back in.

I have had people tell me how calm and upbeat I seemed while all this was going on. I really just had no choice. Gabe's condition was awful, but he was always miles ahead of the other kids that were in the PICU. Gabe was able to be fixed where some of the other kids were biding their time. Don't get me wrong - we definitely had our moments, but we're through it now. I still think about the people we spent a week of our lives with held up in the PICU at UofM Hospital. Sometimes I wonder if they are still there - still going through hell. I pray for them often.

If you've read this far, thanks. I know this is a long post, but today is a very special day for my family and I.

To Even Things Out

Here's a scrapbook layout of Gabe (and Dave) that I just finished.

What's your name little girl?

Me: Hey you, little girl, what's your name?

(Maddie ignores me)

Me: Hey, little girl in the pink shirt. What's your name?

(Maddie giggles)

Me: What's your name?

Maddie: Madison Cole Haefner



Last week while at my mom's house:

My mom: What's your name?

Maddie: Madison, but Papa calls me Darl'in.

Big Plans

Now that I have my new laptop I have big plans to start digital scrapbooking again. I just finished my first layout and thought I would share.

Are you Feak'in out? (spelling error intended)

On the way home from the gym...

Maddie: Mom, are you feak'in out?

Me: What?

Maddie: I said, are you feak'in out or what?

(I have no idea where she got freak'in out from)

Me: No, I'm not freak'in out, are you?

Maddie: No.

Do you have an accent?

I took this quiz today to determine what type of accent I have. It was right on. I used to have a friend in Las Vegas and we would laugh constantly about our accents.

The big ones were the words fire (I heavily concentrated on the r - he didn't) and bath (I heavily concentrated on the a - he didn't).

I also know a guy (from work) that lives in Windsor and he says "Eh" a lot and his wife recently made fun of the way people in Michigan say "Bath". It was funny.

While I was taking this quiz I couldn't help but think about how my grandma (who has a heavy southern accent even though she has lived in Michigan for more than 50 years) would say some of these words. I love her southern drawl and sometimes catch myself using some of her phrases.

Here are my results:

What American accent do you have? (Best version so far) Northern You have a Northern accent. That could either be the Chicago/Detroit/Cleveland/Buffalo accent (easily recognizable) or the Western New England accent that news networks go for.

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Do People Really Do This?

I was on MSN today and read an article about fun ways to exercise. Now, cardio salsa I can understand. Shaking your booty to festive music and learning fast paced choreography sounds like fun. I can even appreciate belly dancing and cardio striptease - maybe I'll learn a thing or two to impress my DH. But, do people really install poles in their homes so they can do pole dancing as an exercise? This woman did and it is pretty amazing stuff. I can see how it would be good exercise.



Then again, maybe I'm naive.

Mommy Instincts

So, I DVR Oprah every weekday. I usually only watch one or two a week, but I DVR them just in case. This week when I heard Jenny McCarthy and Holly Robinson Peete were on the show talking about healing autism I went to my DVR, sat down and watched.

Jenny talked a lot about "Mommy Instincts". Although neither of my kids have autism I could totally relate to being in a situation and having these mommy instincts. It made me think about the many times I took Gabe to the doctors asking about his runny nose and why he stuck his tongue out all the time knowing something wasn't quite right.

All they would do is look at him and tell me it's a virus and there's nothing they could give him for it. So we would go back home until I got fed up, once again, with a constantly running nose and took him back in. I took him to a couple of different doctors thinking they would help, but to no avail. One doctor actually told me that sometimes a kids nose just runs constantly for no reason.

I knew something was wrong.

I ended up taking Gabe to an ENT for a hearing test and there was a little fluid in his ears so we continued to see the doctor afterwards. It wasn't until I could see the lining of Gabe's brain through his nostril that we found out what was going on.

Gabe had to have a bi-frontal craniotomy (brain surgery) and endoscopic nasal surgery to remove a mass that was totally blocking his left nasal passage. There was a hole in the bone between his brain and his nasal cavity and the lining of his brain fell through the hole and filled with fluid. During the surgery he lost his left olfactory nerve (sense of smell - there are two so he can still smell somewhat) because it was entwined with the mass. If this mass would have burst there would have been major consequences - one being meningitis.

Well, duh. If my entire left nostril was blocked and my nose was running all the time I would stick my tongue out so I could breathe too. Imagine having a sinus infection for most of your life. It had to have been pretty painful, but if you have it your entire life you don't know any difference.

Trust your Mommy Instincts no matter what. They are there so you can protect your child. Doctors may think you're crazy, but at least your child will be safe.

P.S. Even after you figure out what is really going on the doctors that couldn't figure it out will never admit it.

Maddie's First Day of School

This is Maddie's 3rd week of school and I still haven't downloaded the pictures I took so I thought I would write this post so I would be forced to.

She was so excited for school to start. She has been talking about it since February when we visited a class to see how it was. She did very well and we were very happy with the school so we signed up.

We went and met her teacher a couple weeks before school started and of course we did the whole school shopping thing (which is a whole other story).

On the first day of school we were sitting at the table eating breakfast when Madison asked me if I would be at school with her the whole time she was there. Usually Maddie couldn't care less if I'm with her or not, so I was partly shocked and touched at the same time. After she said this, I was a little nervous and told her I would be there if she needed me to be. She seemed happy with that answer.

So, we drove to school and got out of the car. I took one last picture and we went inside. Her classroom door opened and we went inside and hung up her coat and backpack on the hook with the teddy bear with the red heart necklace above it. Before I turned around to give her a hug and a kiss she was gone playing with kids. She never looked back.

I think it was more traumatic for Gabe and I than it was for her.

Picky Eating Toddler Approved Recipe

So, I was going to make chicken Parmesan for dinner tonight. After I baked the chicken and boiled the pasta I went to look for the spaghetti sauce. Uh-oh - no spaghetti sauce.

I was in a pinch so I had to make do with what I had - diced tomatoes and fat free italian dressing. Here's my recipe:

3 Chicken Breasts (I used Gordon Food Service 5 oz. Flash Frozen Chicken Breasts and put them in the oven frozen for 20 minutes - I LOOOOOVVVVVE these!!!)

1/2 cup Fat Free Italian Dressing

1 can Peeled, Diced Tomatoes

1 box Whole Grain Twisty Noodles

Bake chicken until done. Boil pasta until it's done. Mix the tomatoes (do not drain) and salad dressing in a bowl and put it in the microwave for 2 minutes then mixed it with the noodles. Put a piece of chicken on a plate and covered it with the noodles.

I put it in front of Gabe thinking he wouldn't eat it and we'd have to make yet another PB&J, but to my amazement he sat there and ate most of the chicken, 4 or 5 whole grain twisty noodles and a couple of tomatoes. Eating tomatoes is a miracle in and of itself. Of course, there were also carrot sticks on the side.

Of course Madison ate it - she will eat anything!

Hip Hip Hooray!

The boy baby will now eat baby carrot sticks! I am so excited! Now he will eat most fruits, peas, non-cooked carrots, grilled cheese, peanut butter and jelly, granola bars, crackers (of any kind), chicken tenders and cheese.

No Pushing!

Gabe can talk now. He is starting to say so many things. Last Thursday we were all getting ready to take Maddie to school and I had set breakfast out on the table. Gabe tried to climb up in Maddie's chair so she got mad and pushed him backwards. He gave her the dirtiest look I've ever seen, shook his little chubby finger at her and said, "No pushing!" I about fell over. It was the funniest thing I have seen in quite a while.

Later that day Gabe was climbing on our TV stand and I caught myself standing there shaking my finger at him saying, "No, no, no, Gabe!"

Monkey see, monkey do.

The Corner of Madison and what?

I was recently talking with my MIL about baby names and she told me how she drove by my DH's old stomping grounds. When he was in college his dorm was at the corner of Madison and William. Since I already have a Madison and a Gabriel and my DH doesn't care for the name William I decided to change it to "The Corner of Madison and Gabriel" and use it for the name of my blog.

The purpose of this blog is to keep family and friends updated with everything going on in our lives. I will try to update regularly.