CHRISTMAS 2007

So, its taken me a while to get christmas posted-SORRY!!! Here is a cute video of Ruby after getting her gifts on Christmas. It was only fitting that she should write Santa a letter of thanks. she felt it was her Duty.

poor sick little baby

So apparently--when you have a newborn ( under 2 months of age) and they get a fever, you are suppose to rush them into the emergency room.
Lucille got a fever yesterday when we came home from the store. I pulled her out of her carseat and she was hot. so i called the pediatrician, and he told me that its quite serious when newborns get fevers. i told him that Ezra had just recently got a fever followed by a cold. But he still said that i have to take her in to the ER if her temp was more than 100.4. her temp was not quite that, so i watched it all night, finally at six am , after no sleep all night, an irritable baby, i decided to take her temp again, and it was 101.
so i got up , got dressed and took her in. the hospital staff told me i did the right thing.
but i was not very happy that i rushed her in when it took them four tries to get an IV placed------and then they said she had to have a spinal tap!!! i was not happy about that at all. i know they were just trying to rule out menengitis, but i told them that if at all possible, i did not want that test.
its funny because when you tell the people in the hospital that your daughter previously had leukemia, they are much more sympathetic about not putting you as a parent through any more needless or traumatizing tests.
and its not like i wouldnt have let them do a spinal tap if there were enough legitimate reasons to. but i find it ridiculous to do needless tests.
Lucille was so traumatized by the needles that had four times been unsuccessful. it was really stressful for her and for me.
but her fever went down and the ER reluctantly let us go home. ( we are still waiting for the blood test results.---but over all she is still feisty and eating well---so they are not that worried. )
the moral of the story is, dont let your newborn get a fever.
i feel like its my fault. i have let kids hold her, and my kids have been around her kissing her on her face and such.
im going to be a little more protective from now on.

i love Ezra too

look at this curious little soul

welcome to the world!!!

On November 16th at 2:22 pm our little girl Lucille Pearl was born.
She weighed in at 7 lbs 8 oz. 21 inches long.
she has loads of dark black hair. looks a lot like Ruby did when she was a baby. but has more of Ezra's nose.
it will be interesting to see what she looks like.

She is such a sweet tempered baby. she barely cries when she needs something. if she is crying loudly, and demanding.
when you pick her up, she immediately stops and looks at you with her big curious eyes as if to say---I am ok, i just wanted to see you again.

Ruby is a proud big sister. she hovers and tries to help in any way that she can. she is my #1 diaper and wet wipe getter.
Ezra isnt really sure there is a baby around. when she starts crying, he walks around in a panic saying " baby hoogry, baby hoogry" that is how he says "the baby is hungry" . every once in a while he will notice the baby and if you ask him what her name is , he will say Lo Lu----or Loosee.

Ezra as Cinderella

On Rubys Bone marrow birthday Ezra decided he wanted a piece of the attention.
so he excitedly convinced jason that he needed to wear rubys dress up cinderella dress.

he would pat himself on the chest and say allela, allella!
that is how he says cinderella.

it was funny.
he knew he was being funny too. i hope this doesnt carry this on.
but you cant help but feel sorry
for the guy. he is going to have two sisters, and he is going to have
to play along with this for a while.

bone marrow birthday

Happy bone marrow birthday RUBY!!!!

november 7th is the day that ruby got a second chance on life.
its kinda still weird for us to celebrate two birthdays for her,
but it reminds us to be grateful, and that miracles DO happen. Ruby is celebrating
her 4th year of new bone marrow. her 4th year of being cancer free!

That day was the day we thought would never come.
it was very strange. she had about 2 weeks of chemo.
the kind of chemicals that the human body can barely tolerate
with out dying. and that is what would have happened if she had
not recieved the bone marrow
most people think that bone marrow transplant is a surgery.
it is not. it is a bag of what looks to be blood---the process is similar to a blood
transfusion. they pump the patient full of chemicals trying to destroy most all of the old
bone marrow. keeping the person right on the brink of death. and then when they look
at the blood counts seeing that the body is where it should be, they give it the healthy
bone marrow. and gradually the bone marrow grafts in the new host---and reproduces.

we are so grateful to that wonderful family/mother/baby---whoever you are, that decided to
donate their cord blood to save a life. we are also grateful to our heavenly father for letting ruby
live on this earth with us.

halloween party

yesterday we went to the Wieden and Kennedy work party. it was like a circus, or fair or something.
they had ponies, balloon scuptors, Santa clause, jumping blow up thingys, reptiles, face painting, crafts, and of corse, tons of treats, candy---what have you. Wieden always throws the best parties. so, if you ever get invited, you have to go.

we brought Ruby in her Mermaid costume, and Ezra in his Chicken. and I was a Nun.

it was great fun. and we were all extremely exhausted afterward. the reptiles were the coolest part, and i forgot to get pictures of the kids petting them. there were turtles, snakes, lizards of all kinds. ruby was so enchanted with the cobra that was there that she had the balloon man make her a snake to go with her costume.

rubyism

yesterday i was getting ruby ready for school. it was 40 degrees outside yesterday ( which is cold for portland-----i know some of you have colder wheather in minnesota!!!)
I told ruby she had to wear a coat today---and she was trying to make a case for wearing her jacket.
" NOOOO mommy, i want to wear a jacket today---I DONT want to wear a coat" and i said
" ruby, its really cold outside, you need to wear a coat when it is this cold"
she said " mommy, PLEEEEAZ-a, i really want to wear my ariel jacket.------do you want me to just sit around on the playground today? i really want to be a puma today and pumas dont wear big fluffy coats with fur!"

I just thought it was funny that she was so desparate in her attempt to convince me, that she had to tell me her plan of the day, and why she "needed" to wear a jacket. and that plan involved being a wild animal------who didnt have that certain wardrobe.

its sad that she feels so trapped and uncreative.

halloween

today is halloween.
ruby is being Ariel from the little mermaid.
she has so much ariel stuff that people at school call her the ariel girl.
she has ariel sneakers, ariel back pack, ariel sweatsuit, shirt and shorts.
its a little over the top.

at our ward party, ruby said before we got there,
"mom, im going to be the star----everyone is going to love my costume and they will think that im the REAL Ariel, from Disneyland."

she was convinced that people would not know she was ruby.

i love the minds of children.