Our Doctor Visit

This past Thursday was our long-awaited visit with Ella's plastic surgeon to start the process of the tissue-expansion. We weren't sure exactly what to expect, but knew that they were going to get all of the measurements they needed and get the tissue expanders figured out and ordered. The doctor had told us to tell Ella that we'd be doing "arts and crafts." And we knew to prepare a bit of time, as the process may take awhile. So in our minds we envisioned having clay molds and plaster of paris out or whatever else in order to get all of the measurements they would need. But, thankfully, it ended up being much more simple than that.

"I got my new George blanket, my new kitty-cat hat, mama kitty, and my cup. I ready to go to the doctor now mom!"

Our appointment was at 10:00, the first hour of which was spent in the waiting room, listening for Ella's name to be called. Ella got a new box of crayons from the receptionist and found two new coloring books about hospital stays - so this kept here occupied for a while. Then, she found some sort of pink brochure. I told her that she should put it back, to which her reply was "I need this mom." I looked at it and it was called "Understanding Your Hysterectomy." Dave and I shared a smile over that one. But then she decided that I needed to have it, since it was pink and I was a girl, and then found a different brochure that she said was for Dave, since it was blue and he was a boy. It was titled "Disorders of the Pelvic Floor" or something like that. Yikes, I hope Dave's uterus isn't falling out! Finally, Ella's name was called and back to the examining room we went.


We were up on the twelth floor, so had a pretty neat view of some of the downtown buildings. Here is what our view was like. Ella tried to tell us that all of the buildings were garages, and just wouldn't believe when we said they weren't.



Finally Jim, the physician extender (the doctor's right-hand man, or "Tonto" as we like to call him), arrived and started by showing us a couple of samples of what tissue expanders looked like. They were a lot thicker and bigger than we had imagined. The two samples we saw were both oval, one was about 8 inches long and 4 inches wide, and the other about 4 inches by 2 inches. Each had a small tube running from it - they kind of reminded me of a computer mouse. And he also showed us what the port (where the solution would be injected) looked like. Ella really enjoyed playing with these and seemed rather excited that these "balloons" were going to go on her head to make it bigger.

When the doctor came in, he chatted with us about what we could expect over the next few months, and about tissue expanders, and answered all of the questions we had. Then they went through the templates they had and decided how best to maximize using her scalp to end up with the skin needed to cover the injury area. Two of the templates were chosen as the right size and shape for the expanders in the back of her head and on the left side, just above her ear. They decided to create a custom-designed expander that would cover the entire right side of her head. So there was a lot of holding plastic films up to her head and checking to see if the fit was accurate, as well as tracing onto a clear film to create the custom-shaped template. Ella was very cooperative through the whole process, and provided us plenty of entertainment as she excitedly talked about her balloons and how they were going to be on her head and filled with water. In fact, when we left "empty-handed" - she wanted to know when we were going back to get her new balloons.

So the plan is to have three total expanders implanted - two smaller ones and the large custom-designed one. They will create a mold of the custom one, have us back in to make sure it is accurate, and then will send it in to have expanders that shape and size made. So it will take a few weeks before all of the expanders are here and ready to be implanted. Right now we are thinking early December for this surgery.

Once they are in place, it will be an overnight hospital stay, and then she will be able to go home, as long as everything is feeling and looking okay. We will be able to do the injections from home - after watching it be done a couple of times in the office. The plan is to inject a very small amount every day for about two months, or until the skin has expanded enough - maybe more and maybe less. Then they will do the surgery to replace the graft with all of the new-grown skin, and we will be done! I SOOOOO can't wait for that day to be here!

And now, a word from Ella......

Hope this works...

Our Crazy Last Weekend

Well, it is almost the weekend again, so I thought I'd better hurry and put a few things down about the weekend we had almost a week ago. It was a weekend filled with good times with good friends - old AND new!

On Saturday afternoon, Carol, Carma, and Kristi drove all the way from Iowa to visit us in our new home. We had a nice and relaxing time with them chit-chatting out in our front yard. Carma's lungs and cats don't get along real well, so it would have been a huge risk to her health for her to come inside considering the fact that one of our family members is a feline. But the weather was beautiful, and sitting outside worked just fine. But we could have done without the bugs. They definitely were not staying away. And they were the tiny little black ones that land on you and then give these little stinging bites. But we survived. Here is a pic of us out in the front yard. Kristi is taking the picture, and Ella is way too busy running around to sit still and be in it.



Then on Sunday morning Dave was scheduled to lead the chapel services at both hospitals in town. So we all attended the second service at the same hospital that Ella was (and will be) a patient in. They called it a chapel, but we all agreed that the room seemed to be much more than what that term implied. It was rather ornate, and we were all rather awed as we walked in. Here is a pic, but even it doesn't give a true representation of what the place really was like.



After this it was more fellowship and food as we ate at the local Old Country Buffet. Everything was very yummy. Ella especially liked the orange soft-serve ice cream they had. Well, everyone did actually...




So that in itself was a pretty busy weekend. Then we received a call on Sunday afternoon after the ladies left, inviting us along on a trip to an apple orchard! Our new friends Ben and Naomi were going with their 2 kids and a few others and wondered if we'd like to go too. So we couldn't pass that up, and off we went! There were small animals, hay bales, pumpkins, and lots of apples! Ella and the other kids helped themselves to one of the free samples, and looked so cute chomping them down! Ella used our wagon ride around the orchard as a good opportunity to polish hers off....or maybe it was a new one she grabbed to take with. Who knows! All I know is that we did a LOT of apple-eating that day!







After the wagon ride, we purchased a bag that we could fill up with as many apples as we picked from the orchard. Dave and Ella did a great job picking the best ones (okay, so maybe Ella picked a few of the not-really-the-best ones, but that was okay too), and our bag was filled up in no time!





Needless to say, we all slept really good on Sunday night! What a wonderful weekend it was!

Ella Has a New Cousin!

Yay! Ella's not the only grandchild on my side anymore! Uncle Paul and Auntie Dana finally gave her a new little cousin, and Dave and I a new little....
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NIECE!!!!! ( :

Little Morgan Keli arrived at 5:54 am California time - just about 6 hours after they checked into the hospital. She was 8 pounds and 1 ounce, and 19 1/2 inches long. Dana was a trooper and did the whole thing without any drugs or IVs of any kind. What a woman! So Paul and Dana obviously got absolutely no sleep last night. Hopefully they are resting right now. ( :

We are so happy and excited to have this new little baby girl in our family and can't wait to see pictures of her! And meet her!

All this talk about babies has Ella telling me that we need to get a baby that she can help take care of. She's looking at the Hanna Andersson (kids' clothing) magazine right now picking one out for us.

Congratulations Paul and Dana!

Spiderman Park

After a few colder than normal days and the threat of rain coming over the next few days, we just couldn't let the beautiful Sunday afternoon go by without some time outdoors. So off to one of our neighborhood parks we went.

There are a few to choose from near our home, and we found out very soon after our move that each of the parks has its own name, as given by the locals. Close to us we have "the Purple Park," "the Blue Park," or "Spiderman Park." Downtown is a very large park known as "goose-egg park." I was told that it had to do with the, ahem, "goose-eggs" left on the ground by the many ducks and geese there. But I read that the name came from it's oval, egg-like shape. So I suppose I can decide what the name refers to.

But Sunday's park of choice was the Superman park. The equipment is blue and red, and there are web-likd ropes that the kids can climb on. I suppose that's where the name came from. One of the best things about this park was the giant teeter-totter.



Ella, as always, spent most of the time just running around.


Of course, we once again reflected on how nice it was to have a Sunday afternoon spent as a family, relaxing and enjoying the day and our time together. Ella and I have been enjoying having daddy around on Sundays now.....but don't tell him that. ( :

Friends you choose, but family...

I know it's been said that you can choose your friends, but your family you are sort of "stuck" with. Well I want to post some pictures of the family that I am very happy to be stuck with!

Last weekend we were able to get together with my (Dave) extended family for my dad's birthday. I remember when we used to have these old fashioned family gatherings all the time. But it's been quite some time since I have had the chance to be a part of one. And I must admit that I didn't realize how much I missed them! It was just a great time to get together with everyone else. There was plenty of food, fun, and just enjoying each other's company!

Since it had been so long since we were all able to be at one of these we decided we had to take some pictures. Fortunately a niece of mine brought her boyfriend along so he could be our photographer.

This is me with my dad and my three brothers and two sisters!

I don't know what's up with the canoe -- it's not like we are an aquatic family! Ella decided she needed to be in this one as well. I guess since she's by far the youngest grandchild she gets special privileges!

Grandpa with some of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Again, the canoe is kind of funny because if it were actually in the water I guarantee that my dad would not be sitting in it!

One big happy family!

Life in Black & White

New Jammies!

One of Ella's new obsessions is the whole notion of bones. She constantly talks about all of the bones in her body, how they are getting bigger, how hard they are, and where they are all located. She knocks on them, wants YOU to knock on yours (elbows and knees anyway) and is just basically obsessed with them. So, needless to say, she was pretty excited when she got these new jammies. Her "Bone Jams" as she calls them. Thank goodness it is a cool night (the first one in a LONG time), so she is able to wear them.

Ella Logic

Just a couple of comments made by Ella on the ride home from WI today.

Ella: "Take my cup mom."
Me: "Holy cow Ella, you chugged this down fast!"
Ella: "I hiding it." "It's in my tummy." "The bugs can't see it there." "They can't get it."

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"I not a bone. I a little girl. Doggies eat bones. Little girls are NOT bones!"

(This said after Ella thought about her day playing with the energetic puppy, who also had jumped and nipped at her pants a couple of times.)

Ella's New Stuff

Shortly after we moved into our new home, a package came for Ella - from Beppe, so we knew there'd be something really great inside! And there was! Hats! Four brightly-colored hats that Beppe hand-embellished with some of Ella's favorite things - rick-rack, buttons, and kitties! Ella loved them so much, she needed to wear them all at once.

Then a few days ago, we finally went out and got something that will make life much easier for us - another carseat for Ella. Where we live, we have only a one-car-wide driveway, and there is no street parking allowed, so if we need to go somewhere with Ella, we need to take the vehicle with the carseat which means - you guessed it - lots of games of "car leap frog" as we like to call it. So now, whichever car is behind, we will be able to use for whatever we need. Ella loves it. We took it out of the box and adjusted the harness height, and she made herself quite comfortable, putting her cup in the cupholder (which she thinks is just the coolest thing) and read the "buhstructions." She is obsessed with those. I think it's the little diagram pictures they have. For some reason, she just loves looking at those types of things - whether it's the airline safety card diagrams, the exit door diagram, or the carseat/airbag diagram you'll find on your car visor - she loves to look at it. Yes, we have a very interesting child.

Why we LOVE our new home!

Why Pumpkin loves it:
1 - the windows and doors! How exciting to have all of these huge window ledges to sit on and look out at the world outside! And a sliding glass door too! What a view!

2 - No door to keep me downstairs at night! Now, I get to truly be a part of the family and sleep upstairs with everyone else, just like it "should" be!

Why Ella loves it:
1 - the windows and doors! Finally, windows low and big enough for me to see everything going on outside!

2 - the hill in my backyard! No matter how many times I run up and down, I NEVER run out of energy. My favorite thing to do is to say to mom or dad, "let's race!" I always win of course. Oh, and a lot of times I will find other kids to play with at the top of that hill. Well, to run around with anyway!


3 - the kids! There are a lot of kids in my new neighborhood. They are fun to watch and play with.

4 - the dogs! All of my neighbors seem to have cute little dogs. Daisy, a little chihuahua lives right next to me, and Samson, another small dog, lives on the other side.

5 - the church. It is so much fun playing with all of the other kids there, listening to a story, and doing a "craft" I especially liked the story about how God got swallowed by the fish. Or was it Jonah? I got a little confused when I re-counted it to mom and dad. Every time I drive by that church (which is any time we go ANYWHERE), I always have to comment about the fish I made there. And I can't wait to see what I'll get to do there next sunday!



Why Dave and I love it:
1 - the people! It's amazing how many kind and wonderful people we have already met. Even when shopping, the store employees and other shoppers seem to just be super friendly. Dave took Ella to the park only a couple of days after we moved and started talking to a nice young woman with a little boy just about Ella's age. As they talked, they discovered that her and her hubby graduated from the SAME college in Michigan as Dave and I! And even in the same year! And her dad is a pastor in Oregon serving in the same denomination as Dave. Crazy! Oh, and they attended the church we were planning on going to the first sunday here. So we met them there and then ended up at their home for lunch afterwards. Ella and I have even been on two playdates already at their house and have met some other moms and kids. So that has been wonderful!

2 - the city! We were both ready for large-town living once again, and so far it has been great. So nice to have everything so nearby and to drive in a big town once again.

3 - the schedule! Finally, we just might get to live just like most other people, and have a somewhat normal schedule. It has been so wonderful to actually experience a weekend! We have been able to visit friends in central Iowa two weekends ago, and will be able to go to Wisconsin to see Dave's family and celebrate his dad's birthday this coming weekend. We would never have been able to do that before. And a three-day weekend! What is that! Dave finally got to experience one of those too! We even had the pleasure of having John and Brooke visit on labor day evening for pizza, fellowship, and three games of settlers! Yes, I think this will be a great schedule to have for the year. (:

Yes, God is certainly GOOD, and it is amazing how he has already provided for us in so many ways - especially socially. We are truly getting a great start to our life here in this new town!

Our New Windows!

Well, we're finally moved in and mostly settled in our new home! There are a few things still in boxes that we need to go through and put away, but for the most part we are all unpacked. So, now that I JUST dug through a few things and found my camera-computer cord, I've got some pics uploaded and am ready to get rockin and rollin on this update! (:

Moving day was great - when it was finally over anyway! We had such AWESOME church friends help us pack and load up on the Iowa end, and then also some help on our "new home" end as well. Thanks John and Brooke for making the drive with us so that both of our cars could make it here and we could put you to work helping to unload!


Here is our truck, just before we closed it up.


Ella danced in her empty bedroom - I was sad to leave this, as it was the one room we spent time painting and decorating. I hand-painted the entire border while 8-months preggos to get the room ready for Ella's arrival. I'm definitely gonna miss it! ):



The pilot and co-pilot of our big yellow truck! Ella just LOVED riding with daddy. In fact, when we stopped half-way for a little lunch and leg-stretch, she absolutely did NOT want to get out. While ordering our food, she asked me if she could eat it in her carseat in the truck. That was the only place she wanted to be, not sitting by some boring table. Yes, she was quite proud of her "big lellow truck!" Just ask Dave, after 10 minutes of driving, he said that he certainly new the truck was yellow, since he had heard her say it only about a hundred times. (:


Pumpkin was not such a willing participant in the move, as was obvious by his constant "protests" during the entire drive, but he survived!


Here we are at our new home!


Ella had TONS of fun dancing and running in the long open truck. Yay! All of the unloading is done, let the unpacking begin!


The first morning in our new home. Ella is all set with her "mamma kitty cat" and her little rocking chair. Now she just needs daddy to get the TV out of that box and make it so that she somehow can watch Curious George before she starts going through withdrawal!