Thanksgiving 2008

We had a great Thanksgiving - was at my mom and dad's in Dilworth with my grandma and brother and family. Brady was sick most of that week, but managed to have some fun playing with his cousins, Grant & Dylan . . . imagine that! Just a few snapshots of our day.

our baseball fanatic son

I promise to get some Thanksgiving pics on here soon, but had to share a video with you. Not only does Brady probably not get much choice in the things he'll hopefully love and what we watch on TV - he now has embraced baseball so much that when he is pitching . . . he only throws strikes. Which you'll hear for yourself in the following clip.

we had a bit of a rough week last week. Tuesday 11/18/08 we lost James' maternal grandmother, Violet Stiller. Doctors had warned us they felt the end was near, and so it was. She was on her morning walk with Grandpa when she collapsed. The prayer service was last Friday and funeral Saturday in Zumbrota, MN. While it was a sad time that brought us together - it was a celebration in that all of her 23 grandchildren were together for the first time in many years. I even got to meet a couple of James' cousins that I hadn't yet met - so I have now officially met all his first cousins.

11/18 is usually a somber date for another reason - in 1988 on that very same day is when James lost his father. Funny in a weird way how things happen . . .

As if James didn't have enough reasons to remember 11/18 - he experienced his first kidney stone that afternoon - or so we found out later. He took himself to the walk-in clinic that evening because the pain was quite unbearable, enough that he couldn't finish a sentence without having to stop to wince in pain. Tuesday night and in to Wednesday was tough, Wednesday it got a little better and Thursday it turned worse again - so much that I took James to the ER. We both learned more about kidney stones, got some cool pictures from his CT scan and even better . . . he passed the stone while in the ER.

He's still a bit sore and I'm sure the 5 hour drive on Friday and Saturday was no help - but there was nothing that was going to stop him from being at his grandmother's funeral . . . even a kidney stone.

Hope you all have a wonderful & loving Thanksgiving - remember to give thanks for all you have . . . . every day :)

Not so great news

Happy or good news is not what I bring to the blog tonight. Today has been a long one, in only negative ways. Today marks 20 years since James lost his dad, which of course is a sad day in itself.

Sadly, the news got worse - we received a phone call early this morning that his maternal grandmother had passed away. While her passing was somewhat expected, the actuality and finality is always hard. We are so grateful that we were able to visit with her this past summer and say our goodbyes at that time.

Additionally, James spent some time at the doctor this evening for some intense pain he was having in his mid to lower back which has turned out to be a kidney stone. I think we're both relieved he went to be seen and received some medication to help with the pain. He's having some trouble dealing with the next stage right now - but know that it has to run its course and was told it could pass in a few days or take as long as 2-3 weeks. Cross your fingers for the shorter!

Hope all are doing well!

Halloween

Halloween was definitely a blast this year - Brady's first time actually trick-or-treating and he LOVED it! We were a little unsure how he might react to others in costume, but wasn't scared and called many by name (Batman, Spiderman, Elmo, etc). That was a nice surprise - you just never know.

We sure think our little "Jeff Gordon" was cute - but you can be the judge :)

He was able to be with his cousins, Grant & Dylan which always makes for a good time. We were actually successful in getting the 3 to stop long enough to get a picture - pretty good considering they were having a blast looking through their candy buckets and running around. Grant was dressed as a Twins baseball player, Justin Morneau he tells me - Brady as Jeff Gordon - and Dylan as Elmo (or mo-mo as he calls him, I love that).

job change

Hello all!!! It's been a little while - sorry about that! Happy to report that my thyroid has been behaving, I actually get cold sometimes - haven't had that for 2 years or more.

I wanted to let you know that in 2 weeks I will be leaving MeritCare, which has been my "home" for the past 6 years (and some change). I will be soon working for Dr Jeffrey Harvey, an orthodontist, in south Moorhead. My position is called a scheduling coordinator, which has similar functions of my job here at MeritCare, but a few new ones I don't even know all about yet.

I've been a little frustrated with MeritCare in the inability for advancement and growth, so felt I needed a change - maybe it's turning 30 and need to "mix it up" in this new decade, I don't know. I am a creature of comfort, so am a little anxious about the change, but it's what I need to do right now and is good for my family, finally putting that bachelor's degree to use.

It will mean changes in our daily life, James will now have to bring Brady to daycare, but I will still pick him up. I think James is actually excited for that, just to become a part of that daily routine that he hasn't been for 2 years, except on rare occasion. Being in the dental world, I'll get to frequently have Fridays off - not sure what I'm going to do yet with that time but excited to find out.

So - that is a change in my/our world and hoping for the best. Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well in the transition and my new co-workers like me!! :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Fall Festival

We had such a fun time on Sunday going to our first Fall Festival here at Rheault Farms. For those of you not familiar - it's a farm-like layout that turns into a pumpkin patch of sorts for the last 2 weekends in September and is run by the Fargo Parks and Rec department.

Kids can pick their own pumpkins, decorate them with glitter, ride ponies, shoot hoops, toss bean bags, ring toss, ride the train, jump in the bounce house, climb the inflatable ladder and slide down the other side and other things. This was our first time at any sort of pumpkin patch with Brady, so were quite exited - and of course took plenty of pictures.

We were joined by our good friends Sonny & Christy and their daughter, Jada. Jada is just over 5 months younger than Brady and they have a really good time together.

Apparently something about falling down was quite funny . . .

The only thing he wasn't having was the ponies. He was a big talker until it was his turn to get on for a ride - he curled himself up in a ball so his feet wouldn't even touch it

He did surprise us in liking the slide - although, as you'll see, I got to go with him. Can't say I minded too much after he realized he was safe and when his belly laughing started. I was afraid we wouldn't get him to do anything else.

Hopefully the LAST thyroid update!

I was right!!! The pink pills are it! I had another blood test on Sept 25 to find that my levels are now in the normal range. My TSH level is at 3.69 - nicely in the middle of the 0.4-5.0 normal range. So - this is the right dosage and as far as I know, I only have to have it tested once a year now. I was too excited to ask questions when I got the phone call! Just wanted to share the good news!

thyroid update

Ok - so, if you had read my post on August 1st - you'll see that I was to have my blood tested next in 8 weeks from then which would be approx. the 3rd week in September. Well, I ended up having a blood test after 4 weeks instead, after urging from my wonderful nurse co-workers.

I had been on one dosage from May-July and it changed with the blood draw I had on the 25th of July. This past week and a little more was causing a LOT of trouble for me and it didn't dawn on me that the only thing I had changed was my Synthroid dosage. I was extremely tired, not just from a busy day of work or even playing volleyball - I would sit on the floor to play with Brady and fall asleep sitting straight up. After a few days of that, combined with headaches worse than previous migraines and overall just feeling really crappy - I mention to one of our nurses at work. She wants me to call my doctor and see if they'll order another TSH check to see if that is the culprit.

Sure enough - had my blood drawn on Thursday, August 28 to find that my once too low TSH (was 0.18 and wasn't supposed to be lower than 0.4) was now at 11.69 (and not supposed to be over 5.0). A little over an 11 point jump in 4 weeks - no wonder I felt like crap - that's a HUGE difference! So - now I'm on yet another different dosage of Synthroid, if you're counting - this is my 3rd dosage since May . . . can't say I'm a fan of this constant switching. But, going into this situation, I knew that it usually takes a few tries to find the happy-medium needed, so can't say I'm surprised.

I have decided, however, that this dosage is going to work! Why - you ask? These pills are PINK!!! That has to be good right? hahaha

Anyway, that's all for now - my next blood draw will be in 4-6 weeks, unless I'm feeling crummy again before than. ttfn!

Brady's 2nd Birthday

Brady is 2!!!

Sunday July 27th marked Brady's 2nd birthday. Of course, like all parents say - we don't know where the time has gone. We had family and friends over for an Elmo themed party. It was a beautiful evening, so the kids were able to enjoy all our outdoor toys, a pool, and Auntie Sandy's bounce house we borrowed. We feasted on tacos-in-a-bag and of course cake. At right is Brady eating with his cousin Dylan (my brother's youngest). Dylan is 13 days older than Brady. And my mom trying to get both to eat :)

Brady was lucky enough to have great-grandma Doris make his birthday cake. She was a little concerned about how it turned out, but I thought it was great. She cut out tinfoil to act as the windows, Kit Kat bars as the bumpers, yellow M&M's for the headlights and chocolate mints for the tires. I think she did an outstanding job and from the pictures you can probably tell he certainly enjoyed it.

Apparently decided he didn't want to use a fork and used my Pampered Chef spatula - at least he waited until the others had received their pieces of cake :)

We were thrilled that so many were able to attend and think Brady had a wonderful time. He was

able to go swimming with cousins Danielle & Cheyenne as you see above. Had fun playing in the shallow pool and his Little Tikes cars as you see below.

The shallow pool was a gift from his aunt & uncle, Brian & Sandy. We were a little concerned since he hadn't shown a lot of "like" towards pools and water, but I think this has helped him turn that around . . . or so we hope :)

He still isn't the biggest for opening gifts. At least not what I thought he'd be right now - I thought most kids at this age are SO ready to open presents that nothing else matters - not so much with Brady. And he seems to have a short attention span . . . hmm - wonder if that came from his mother? Fortunately, he had cousins Grant & Cheyenne and friend Jada that were more than willing to help - it's always good to have help right?

The birthday party was complete - a big thank you to Brian, Sandy and kids and my family for helping tear down the toys and bring in chairs/tables and presents - it would have taken MUCH longer without their help. The last picture I want to share is of Brady and his cousin Dylan, just because it was too funny. They are sitting on the kitchen floor, eating watermelon - so I ask them to look at me and say "cheese" . . . they looked at each other and said "cheese" - they got it 1/2 right! I just love how it turned out.

I still can't believe he's 2!!!

Lisa update

Hello all! Happy Friday! I can't believe it's already August - that's crazy!

Anyway - wanted to update with how my thyroid is behaving . . . in that it isn't . . . or at least not completely yet anyway. My T4 is now behaving, but my TSH is not. The last time I had blood work done, my T4 was at 0.4 and was too low after my radioactive iodine treatment so I started taking Synthroid to bring it back up. My T4 is now at 1.7, so is in the normal range but on the high end. My TSH was not much of an issue before, but is now not yet balanced out. It is at 0.18 and is supposed to be between 0.4-5.0. I need to continue with the Synthroid, but the dosage has changed and I will be having blood work again in another 8 weeks. That's my update for now.

A huge thank you for those extra prayers for my cousin Heather. She is doing amazingly well for what has happened to her. The MRI results of her knee showed an ACL tear that will require surgery and a fracture to her tibia. So in total, broken tibia, broken wrist and torn ACL. She and her husband were seeing a doctor today to get a second opinion on what should happen here in the near future with regard to her injury, possibly surgery and her pregnancy. But, for now - she's taking it in stride and seems in good spirits despite what has happened - she's such an amazing strong woman!

I hope to get pictures up here of Brady's 2nd birthday - I'm hoping before the weekend is out!

Have a great weekend!

remainder of vacation and prayer request

Hello all -man am I terrible at updating this thing, I promise I'll try to get better - k?

I'll start with the story to the end of our vacation which was in our last post and have a favor to ask at the end.

On July 5th and 6th, we spent time with my Anderson side of the family, to catch up but also for a specific reason. I have 2 cousins (brother & sister) that are living in Colorado, they are both expecting their first baby this fall. My cousin Heather and her husband Dustin are due in early November and cousin Jeff and his wife Kelly are due in early October. They were home to MN to visit family, so a double baby shower was planned while they were here - so that event is what rounded out our week vacation.

22 of us, I believe, took in a Twins game on Saturday night, the 5th and then met again for the baby shower on Sunday before heading back home. We had a great time just visiting with family, but specifically with the cousins since we don't see them as often as we'd like and talking to them about their impending parenthood.

This is a picture of as many cousins that were able to make it to the shower. We're missing 3 of our cousins that live in California, but the other 6 of us were there with our families.


From left to right (back couple rows of adults): Jeff Haanen (cousin), Dustin Camping, Heather Camping (cousin), James holding Brady, Kelly Haanen, me, Susan Miller (cousin), Scott Wittnebel (cousin), Nikki Wittnebel, Brad Anderson (my brother) holding a sleeping son Dylan, Sara Anderson


From left to right (kids in front): Ben & Nicholas (sons of Susan), Hannah (daughter of Nikki) and Grant (son of Brad & Sara)

The kids are a little less clothed because it was very hot and humid in Plymouth that day and the sprinkler was going full blast :) It was a great day and so excited for them!


Now, on a heavier note - I want to ask for any extra prayers. My aunt (mom to these 2 that are expecting) informed me today that Heather was hit by a car yesterday. She and Dustin were walking through Estes Park, CO and were crossing the street when the car that was waiting for them to cross was rear-ended and hit Heather. She was tossed about 5 feet, fortunately never lost consciousness but was taken to the ER to get checked out. Her right wrist is broken and left knee in a great deal of pain. She was having an MRI on her knee today to see what the damage is, but I haven't yet heard. The best news: baby is fine. Obviously, we pray that it remains that way. Heather may have a tough road ahead in the immediate future, but can recover from physical injury - it will just take time. Thank you for including my family in your prayers!

well - this post could be long! We were on vacation this past week 6/30-7/4 and of course packed a decent amount of events into our days. We started on Tuesday 7/1/08 at a Twins/Tigers game, which of course the Twins were victorious. :) James' aunt & uncle, Jim & Joan drove up from Zumbrota, MN to join us for the game. Always a good time. Joan was surprised at how well Brady sat for 3 hours - James and I were equally impressed!

We stayed Tuesday night at James' cousins place in Eagan, MN. We love staying there, they truly seem to uphold the name "hotel Wood" - and it's fun for Brady to have kids to play with. Jeremy & Kelly have 3 children, Tyler (13), Alexis (4) and Addison (1). Lexi sure loves when Brady comes and she treats him so well, even helped me give him a bath.

Wednesday we headed for the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley, MN - we were a little concerned with how Brady might do since he doesn't seem to like even cats & dogs. The fish seemed to be a favorite for him, he pressed his nose to the plexi glass watching the dolphins swim around for awhile, but couldn't seem to get closer than 5 feet to any animal that wasn't in water. We don't understand it . . . but why should we, right? :) My parents took me nearly every summer and it has changed, but not enough where it didn't bring back very fond memories - and I still LOVE the zoo!

After Brady taking pretty well to the dolphins as you see at left, we decided to watch the actual dolphin show before leaving. I cracked up hard when I captured Brady's face as he watched the dolphins jump out of the water during the show. I just can't believe that I timed it right. Check this out!

After the zoo, we headed to Zumbrota, MN, to James' uncle Gary & aunt Alyce's farm to stay Wednesday and Thursday nights. We were again back to our trouble with how Brady was going to take to the animals. He could pick from dogs, cats, cows and birds. We tried to teach him to say "hi" and "bye" to each animal, hoping to curb some of his fear. I don't know that we really succeeded with that approach because he would still scream when at the level of the animal. Sometimes to the point that he didn't like James or I even petting any particular animal. He really didn't seem to like when I sat in the driveway with the 13 cats and kittens as they crawled all over me. So protective at such a young age! Gary & Alyce's grandson Garrett did his best in being very patient with Brady to encourage him to pet a rooster . . . pointing at it was the closest Brady got . . . bless Garrett, he tried!

Thursday we visited with another cousin of James' in Zumbrota before picking up his grandparents for lunch at the Coffee Mill in downtown Zumbrota. Grandma Violet's health has been failing in the past year, so we really wanted to make a point of spending time with her - quite honestly was a large piece of where we chose to spend our vacation. We returned to their home after a yummy lunch to just sit and visit for awhile. It was a beautiful afternoon to sit on their deck, plus Brady had a fabulous time watching the traffic go by since grandma & grandpa live on highway 52 to Rochester, MN.

Early Friday morning we returned to Eagan for a 4th of July parade. It was quite toasty sitting out there - I believe it was near 90 degrees by the conclusion of the parade about noon. It dawned on us that Brady doesn't get to watch many parades, so excited to see his reactions. The only parade he annually attends is Loco Daze in Dilworth, but with Grandpa Jerry in charge, we don't get "down time" to actually watch the parade. I lost count after about 30 minutes of how many cars and trucks Brady pointed out, but overall seemed to really like the parade. He leaned forward out of my lap many times to see what was coming next. He liked the "wow-wow" trucks (fire engines to the rest of us), but wasn't a fan of the load horn when they were sitting right in front of us.

Friday afternoon, Kelly (cousin Jeremy's wife) and I took Brady and her 2 girls to McDonald's for lunch and then put them all down for naps while the guys went golfing. I think this was only the 2nd time out this summer for James, but I think he enjoyed himself - don't know that he thinks he did all too well, but that's another story. The evening brought us to the Mendakota Country Club (where Jeremy & Kelly are members) for a buffet dinner, games for the kids, horse rides, bouncy house, petting zoo and fireworks at dusk. It was a beautiful evening to be outside, not even much bother from the mosquitos - I'm guessing the club had recently sprayed in preparation for the night. We lined up along the first tee awaiting the fireworks - Brady loving the sparklers and little fireworks that were going off around us. He even got in to the "oohs" and "aahs" that are appropriate for fireworks. So 10:15pm comes and the "real" fireworks start . . . we think he liked them, but had to laugh at the manner in which he enjoyed them . . . check out the picture at left to see how Brady watched the fireworks that night - we can't figure out if they were a little too bright or it was the noise or a combination of both - too funny!

not too shabby if I do say so myself :) Didn't know I had a "fireworks" setting on our camera until I needed to have one!

Our vacation wrapped with some time with my family on the 5th & 6th, but I don't have any of those pictures so that will have to be a different post when I get those pictures on the computer.

Father's Day

We had a fun Father's Day - we had been in Minneapolis most of the weekend for a wedding, but drove back early Sunday to meet my parents and grandma for lunch. This is Brady helping James "open" his Father's Day present - it's a framed picture of Wrigley field in Chicago. James has always wanted some framed fields, so Brady & I thought this would be perfect.



The picture at right is Brady sitting between Grandpa Jerry & Grandma Jane at Johnny Carino's for lunch - I couldn't get him to make a good "cheese" with Grandma & Grandpa in the picture - so I guess we'll take this one :) Unfortunately my brother and his family weren't able to join us, as our nephew Grant was not feeling so well that day.



This picture was our best attempt at a picture of Brady with James for Father's Day - didn't turn out too bad if I do say so myself! I've gotten WAY too good at these "self-portraits". Brady really loves seeing his picture on the digital camera once it's taken, so it's sometime hard to get him in front of it first. At least we're all smiling . . .

Hope all you dads out there had a wonderful Father's Day!

And - as evidence that I'm getting too good at self-portraits. This is pretty good and cute if I say so myself . . . although I may be just a smidge biased :) The self-portrait is the only way I get in the picture most times, but if any turn out this well - I certainly need to continue!

Good news - our brother-in-law Jeff got to return home (finally) from Mayo Clinic last week. He has some pretty strict at-home instructions and care to follow but at least he gets to be at home instead of 11 hours away, across 2 states!

That's about it for now - still waiting for spring or summer to arrive weather-wise - Brady still has to wear his stocking hat when he comes to watch James & I play softball and it's JUNE! Oh well, what do you do.

Brady's good - picking up more and more words and we're actually starting to understand what he's trying to say. Literally tries to repeat most things we say . . . so far, so good :) Still can't believe he's almost 2 - the same question of "where does time go!"

On a silly side note - I'm very happy to report that 2 weeks ago, I hit my first true homerun with my women's softball team. It was actually over the fence in dead center - MAN that felt great! Have to say - I really want to have that feeling again, it was so fun!

That about wraps it up for now - will keep you posted with Mitchell life as it comes.

I'm finally going to get some pictures on here like I had promised - just had some time to transfer my digital pics to the computer - so take a peek if you want and have the time - thanks!

The pictures on the left was taken the weekend before Memorial Day, so Brady was a couple days shy of being 22 months old - I love the big grin and that he's learned how to smile for me when I say "cheese". The picture on the right is just yesterday - again, still good with that cheese. Just a couple of my favorite pics

test results

Hello all - got my test results - my once overactive thyroid is now not doing enough :) How's that? Well, my endocrinology doctor said that sometimes the radioactive iodine treatment works a little too well - which is what happened. My T4 level (which is the one that started all of this at 3.8) is now at 0.4 and is supposed to be no lower than 0.7 - so just barely under. So now, and hopefully briefly, I am hypothyroid. I am to take a medication called Synthroid for 3 months to put it back in the normal range and see my primary care doctor in the beginning of August where she'll order another blood test to be sure this Synthroid medication has been working.

On another note - asking for your thoughts and prayers. Our brother-in-law Jeff (James' youngest sister, her husband) is currently at the Mayo Clinic with some troubles. He had surgery yesterday and is possibly having another tomorrow to fix a problem of his lung continually filling with fluid. This whole process started 2 months ago when he was having trouble breathing and taking deep breaths - was hospitalized in Bismarck for a week or so and then transfered to Mayo because they felt that was best for him. He spent around 2 weeks at Mayo the end of March and early April with doctors running all sorts of tests, deciding that this could be handled maybe with a special diet. Well - early last week he was having trouble breathing again and was sent back to Mayo. The surgery yesterday was to go in to the lymphnodes just below the shoulder on the side where the lung is filling with fluid. The surgery Wednesday may be to do the other side. We're not real sure on the specifics, but understand it is very rare. The surgeons that are doing the surgery at #1 & #2 in the nation but have only done this particular surgery4 times I believe. It was decided that this is a condition Jeff has had since birth and doctors are surprised he survived it as an infant. Babies that have this condition are unable to vocalize their trouble breathing and the fluid takes over the lung space in the lung and basically they drown. So, the fact that he's in his mid 30's with this condition is rather impressive.

Hope you are all well! Thanks for checking in!

recent diagnosis

an update for some - others might not have known what I've had going on in the past couple months. So, I'll post the whole thing for those that don't know.

In late January, I was having some fainting, dizzy, blurry vision, hot flash moments. None of those got my attention until I started having some fast heart pounding that took my breath away - that definitely got my attention. On February 1, I took Brady to our family doctor for his 18 month check up and my/his doctor asked what was going on with me because I "didn't look right". I explained to her the above symptoms I was having so she ran some blood tests. Turns out my thyroid was really out of whack. My T4 (which is a component of the thyroid gland) was at a level of 3.8 - the high end of the normal range is 1.8 - not good. The clinical term for this is "hyperthyroidism".

My family doctor refers me to an endocrinologist that specializes in this and I see him 4 days later. At that appointment, he does an exam which consists of feeling my throat for any swelling or goiters and checking my vision and measuring my eyes. Apparently most people with hyperthyroidism notice symptoms with their vision first. Everything checked out normal. His recommendation was to take a small dose of radioactive iodine that would tell us exactly what kind of hyperthyroidism I had - there are 3 kinds: thyroiditis (which is temporary and comes and goes as it pleases, so unable to treat really), Grave's disease, also known as Hashimoto's; and I can't remember the one of the third.

After taking the radioactive iodine pill, I returned to the hospital to have a scan done. A device was close to my thyroid determining what percentage is was overworking. It resulted in 53.5% - the normal high is 28%. This meant I have Grave's disease. 2 weeks later I was given an appropriate dose of radioactive iodine (based on my %) as treatment. The radioactive iodine is the fastest and most effective treatment for Grave's because it directly attacks the overactive part of the thyroid and destroys those cells. I was unable to work for 4 days (because I work with pregnant gals), couldn't do anything with Brady, couldn't touch anything Brady or James might touch but if a must, had to wear gloves, couldn't be in a car with anyone, couldn't go to the movie theater or any restaurants, had to use a separate bathroom and sleeping arrangements. Now in hindsight, doesn't seem so bad - but at the time, couldn't have felt like longer days.

8 weeks later on April 8 I had my blood tested again to be sure it was working. My levels had to be dropping from the initial 3.8 or I had to do the radioactive iodine again - yuck! I was fortunate and my levels had indeed dropped and were now at 2.0. Still higher than they should be, but going in the right direction. I had my blood tested again today (5/8) to see if they are continuing to drop. My endocrinologist would like to see my number at no higher than 1.5 - cross your fingers - I hope to have results tomorrow!

That's been our immediate world so far - bump in the road, but thank goodness nothing serious. It does involve us having to wait 6 months to add to our family which was an initial bummer, but if this treatment makes the next pregnancy safer for me and baby - it will be worth it!

May

Hello all! Thought we'd start this blog to mainly show pictures on how fast Brady is growing. We can't believe it and we see him everyday. Also - to keep you posted what is going on in our lives and families.