ENT appointment

Today was Carissa's ENT appointment to check on her hearing and to see if the tubes have fallen out yet. She did well with the audiology part and her hearing is doing great especially when compared to what her hearing was like right before getting tubes. For the part of the visit where she actually saw the ENT doctor she wasn't completely cooperative, but she did okay. And her tubes are almost out and are plugged up, so they won't do her any good anymore. If she starts having problems with ear infections again then we can bring her back in again otherwise he just said to bring her back in a year. In a year he will check to see that the tubes are all the way out and that she doesn't have any holes in her ear drums.

Baking

Today, I decided to do some baking since it is such a cold day and I don't have school again until the 21st. We have a hard time making very many baked goods that Carissa can eat, since she is allergic to eggs. So, I wanted to try a couple of new things today. We decided to make a Toll House Pie, and some brownies. Both Carissa and Gabe were very good helpers with adding ingredients and stirring. I knew that the pie would be a complete experiment but the brownie recipe I got out of the allergy cook book. Both items failed. So I went ahead and made one more of the Toll House pies with eggs after both failed attempts, because it is really sad to spend all day baking and end up with nothing edible. Now everyone but Carissa can have a treat to eat. I've been baking for a long time, and up until I started trying to make things without eggs I think that everything I made was at least edible. I'm really hoping that once Carissa is 5 she won't be allergic to eggs anymore. I guess a lot of kids outgrow the egg allergy by about 5 years old. It makes me so sad always telling her that she can't eat things that everyone else is eating.

Eye appointment

Yesterday was Gabriel's fourth eye exam. About a year ago we found out that Gabriel has Brown's syndrome (two eye exams with different doctors). Brown's syndrome basically means that a ligament in Gabe's eye isn't long enough so that eye has limited movement when he looks up or away from his nose with that eye. His eye moves as far as it can and then it stops and shakes, it is weird to watch. Gabe's eye still works pretty well for him and when he needs to look farther he just moves his head, he doesn't even realize anything is wrong. And, the only way we can see the problem is if you hold his head still and have him look up at something. Once Gabe was diagnosed we were told that we would need to bring him in every 6 months so that they keep measuring how far his eye moves to see if it got worse or not. If it gets worse he counld need surgery.

So yesterday Gabe did excellent on his eye exam again. His vision is great and the best nesws is that all of the measurements of the movement of his eye have stayed exactly the same all year long. So, even though we were planning/expecting to take Gabe every 6 months for the next few years and once a year after that Gabe has done so well that we get to start yearly appointments already.

Grandma's birthday

Tomorrow is my mom's birthday, so a few days ago I told Carissa and Gabe that we needed to get something for Grandma's birthday. Carissa got really excited and told me that we should buy her flowers. Then she thought for a minute and said, "and a Halloween costume, because I want her to have candy too." I asked her if she wanted to get Grandma a costume so that she could go trick or treating and she said yes. Carissa wanted Grandma to go trick or treating to get candy for Grandma, Uncle Josh, and Aunt Alyssa. Then I asked Carissa, "What about Grandpa?" She said that Grandpa could go trick or treating for his own candy.

So yesterday, Carissa picked out flowers for Grandma and we all picked out a card. Then we drove to my parent's house and gave them to my mom.

Surgery scheduled

We went to Gabriel's appointment with the surgeon today, and he basically said that our doctor's were right. He said that it shouldn't be cancerous, but you can't check it until is removed. The surgeon today also called it a cyst where as our doctor called it a tumor. They mean pretty much the same thing, but I thought it just sounded less scary being called a cyst. Gabe will be put to sleep, and the cyst will be removed. The surgery will be on November 24th, and it should take about 45 minutes. It is our choice as to when Gabe has surgery, but the cyst will just keep growing the longer it stays there. And the other thing the surgeon told us is that those kinds of cysts usually end up burrowing into the bone as they get bigger, so if we wait until after that happens his bone would have an indent in it after the cyst gets removed. So, we decided that it really is better to do it sooner than later. And while I know this is best, I am still hating the idea of Gabe having surgery. I hated it when Carissa had her tubes put in, because I had to hand her over to a stranger and they took her down the hallway screaming. And then when little kids wake up from anesthesia, they wake up crying and usually cry for a while. So, between that and the usual risks of having surgery I'm not looking forward to it. But, I still know that we are making the right decision.

Ancient Love Building

Today, Gabriel was playing with blocks and he told us that he was building ancient towers. Pretty soon, Carissa joined him playing with the blocks. When Carissa was done building she told us that she made an ancient love building. She went on to tell us that people go there to give kisses to their true loves to wake them up. She told us how to get in the building and where to park as well. The picture of the ancient love building is first and then the ancient towers are second.

All four together

So, I realized that I haven't really taken pictures of Josh and Alyssa much the last few years. Which I figured probably has something to do with the fact that I have my own kids to keep me busy and take pictures of and the fact that Josh and Alyssa aren't little anymore. So, I've decided to start taking more pictures of them at least when the opportunity arrises. The other day after Carissa and Gabe had a nap at my parent's house Josh and Alyssa were playing with them on my parent's bed, and I took a picture.