Out of their Minds Design

September, Part III

September 8th, Nina ate squash.

Melissa and I married for nine years! Love you, Sweetie!

Also September 8th, Ian seems to know his letters pretty good, so I asked him to write his name. A couple different pictures are included here… I think he did pretty awesome, can you kinda see it? See this image larger.

He tried it a number of times and it was really neat to see. See this image larger.

I made the following notes on September 9th…

Ian fell against a gate, scratching his bum… He burst into tears and between sobs reassured me “I’m ok daddy I’m ok” and only cried harder. Later he claimed that Nina kicked the gate into the way, but that she had “said sorry already.”

Ian – “Daddy looked up the storm on his iPad and thunder is going to hit our house!”

Me – “Ian do you hear the kitty right now, he sounds a lot Iike you because you are being whiny.”
Ian – “That’s because the kitty didn’t say ‘please.'”

Ian – “That’s something you put under your arm and it counts to five. It tells you if you are sick and it is called a therbometer.” (While pointing at a thermometer.)

I made this, and I’m posting it here for you to enjoy. Ian called it “Mommy’s car” because it apparently looks like a Prius. See this image larger.

September, Part II

Nina did extremely well with the anesthesia, and we were relieved. The MRI technician would just need to look through the images and find out what the anomaly was! The waiting game begins anew! (This picture taken at breakfast after the procedure, still on September 3rd… we appreciate the break that our help let us have!) See this image larger.

At home and on 5 different drugs. Nobody’s happy about the latter part, everybody’s happy she’s home. See this image larger.

Grampa Dave plays with Nina a bit before dinner. See this image larger.

My exhausted family does what exhausted people do. See this image larger.

The bravest little girl I’ve ever met. See this image larger.

Thanks for taking this one Grampa Dave, a picture of me and the two kids is a rare one! Plus I love that we’re all playing with my iPad. See this image larger.

(September 5th, Nina had her first peas, I’m pretty sure.)

On September 7th Melissa called me at home to tell me she had the results, (and eventually the report) on the MRI… there was no anomaly to be found in her brain. They looked specifically at that area to try to find it, and there was nothing. I couldn’t believe my ears. I prayed hard for this one — and most of you know I don’t wear my faith on the outside — but thank you, God… we needed that one pretty bad.

September, Part I

Updates will be a little slower than the “every day” thing that’s been going on for the last couple weeks, but I will do my best to be timely and catch us up! We’re still a month or so off!

So keep in mind… we’d been waiting around for Nina’s MRI since the anomaly was conveyed to us on August 19th — sick in the knowledge that really it had been discovered back on July 28th, but not conveyed. When September 3rd rolled around, some action was finally ready to take place.

My heart breaks when I look at these pictures. They shouldn’t have to make hospital gowns this small. I’m trying to hold the camera and take the picture, so I look a little angry but I’m just trying to focus… the exhaustion you’re seeing there is legit. See this image larger.

Melissa and I were at our wits end. Not just because we didn’t know what the test would reveal, but Nina would have to undergo anesthesia with her heart condition. See this image larger.

I’m often amazed by Melissa’s toughness. She and I put on a pretty good front most of the time. We’ve relied heavily on family to help us through this, though, and again I thank you all. See this image larger.

Speaking of which, meanwhile, back at our house, Grampa Dave and Grandma Marcia (having arrived the night before) took care of Ian and stayed around as reserve help in case anything went wrong! See this image larger.

Grandma Marcia smiles on while Ian plays with the new toy they got him that morning… an erector set! Here’s a rocket! See this image larger.

Ian blasts off to outer space! See this image larger.

Yeah you’re cute, I guess we’ll keep ya. See this image larger.

August, Part X

On August 28th, Nina said “Mama!” and had her first banana!

August 30th, Nina wears Ian’s hat at the “red dinosaur” park. This is the day Ian told me to never go out into outer space without him again. See this image larger.

Same day, at lunch Ian’s long sweaty hair looks like it needs a cut. See this image larger.

So we got his hair cut! See this image larger.

And he was a good boy, so he got a treat! Think that made him happy? (This is the blue moon ice cream from the quotable Ian post.) See this image larger.

August 31st, Kasey down the street stopped by to see if Ian could play for a little while at his house. See this image larger.

So proud to watch Ian walk on his own over to Kasey’s house, but still a little sad to watch him go. See this image larger.

I was no less proud when Ian ran back home moments later so we could walk to Kasey’s together. See this image larger.

Kasey’s mom took this picture of the two of them playing “rescue guys.” See this image larger.

And that’s August in 10 parts! Next comes September!

August, Part IX

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VIDEO BREAK! – This one is great… August 23rd, Ian quietly assembled two larger pickles, a button-sized pickle and a pickle he had bit into and surprised me with the final results. Click here to see the video.
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Also August 23rd, Daddy entertains Nina with some light reading. See this image larger.

Also August 24th, my beautiful family cuddles for a great pic! See this image larger.

Ian’s smile in this one is great… See this image larger.

August 25th, a nice bath for two, possibly three depending on the splash factor. See this image larger.

On August 28th Melissa took Ian to the Rockford Tomato festival. See this image larger.

Considering how much we all love tomatoes (we don’t) Ian had a great time. Here he is showing off his decorated tomato. See this image larger.

Ian added this small green puffball to the back of the tomato proclaiming it the tomato’s bum. See this image larger.

Nice job, kiddo! See this image larger.

August, Part VIII

Still August 22nd, must have been a great day for pictures! And Nina shines for the camera! See this image larger.

Ian and Nina do a dry run for their synchronized swimming routine… lookout 2024 Olympics! See this image larger.

If there’s one person who can crack Nina up, it is Ian. She gets such a kick out of him! See this image larger.

Have you met our awesome, beautiful children? See this image larger.

She keeps gnawing that zooey between her back gums, but we had yet to feel anything resembling teeth. (However we did see a “wittew toofy” shortly after this was written.) See this image larger.

Peekaboo! See this image larger.

August, Part VI

August 17th, on our front porch, Ian was just sitting in his rocker with a muscle shirt on and I thought he looked cute enough to take a picture. See this image larger.

Or two. See this image larger.

I’ve lost count. See this image larger.

August 19th, Nina had a great day in physical therapy for her neck… Melissa was so happy… then we went to the Ear/Nose/Throat doctor for what we thought was (“only”) going to be the full reveal on her Choanal Atresia. And while yes, that was evident in the CT scan (as seen in this picture) it quickly became the least of our worries. A scout scan (not pictured) showed something the radiologist noted might be a lytic lesion. We were terrified, and wouldn’t find out more about it for weeks! (Don’t let this scare you if this sounds like new information… it turned out we had nothing to worry about!) See this image larger.

Hi little cutie! See this image larger.

More from this photoshoot in a couple entries… she’s so happy! See this image larger.

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VIDEO BREAK! – Right around this time Nina displayed incredible spelling prowess. Click here to see the video!
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August, Part V

August 15th, a little later than our last entry, it was time for another trip to the park with Grandma Barb before she went home the following day!!

Sittin’ on a frog. See this image larger.

Maximum velocity slide goooooooo! See this image larger.

The inevitable “I am currently unhappy with you because we have to go home” segment of the park trip. See this image larger.

Nina’s ready to go! See this image larger.

Another shot of the front of our house. This one makes our shutters look less green. I like it! See this image larger.

That other side of the front. See this image larger.

Fire pit! See this image larger.

It was great having you here, Barb, we’ll see you soon! (And we did!)

August, Part IV

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VIDEO BREAK! – Click here to watch a video of Ian helping Mommy with the garden.
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These are also taken by Barb… these were really just to give Grampa Ray a head’s up on how the house is set-up, and yet to simultaneously entertain Ian. That’s a wise Grandma!

August 15th… *Hi Grandma!* See this image larger.

The playroom, but Ian sorta looks like he’s out of play… See this image larger.

*This way to your room, Gramma!* See this image larger.

The sunroom, clean-ish! See this image larger.

Nina continues to impress with her fine motor skills. 🙂 See this image larger.

Dining room. See this image larger.

Living room and Ian’s bunny. See this image larger.

August, Part III

I believe it was the evening of August 12th, Melissa and I ended up with food poisoning… this compounded with feeling like we weren’t getting anywhere on the unpacking front, so we sent up a flare for Grandma Barb to fly up and help us out, and she did. (Thank you!) Every picture in this entry is from her camera — it was good that she took some shots because I still hadn’t really gotten back in the swing of things.

August 13th, our Princess at the park! See this image larger.

Ian skillfully digging at the same park. See this image larger.

Woohoo! See this image larger.

This is where Grandma Barb crossed the line and let Nina go down the sli– I’m totally kidding. She just set her on there and took a pic! 🙂 See this image larger.

August 14th, Melissa took Barb and the kids to a function wherein they needed kids paintings… no problem! See this image larger.

Lured by the scent of a dirty diaper, potential babysitters swarmed. (I’m kidding, they said she was cute!) See this image larger.

*I’m painting with this?!?* See this image larger.

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VIDEO BREAK! – Click here to watch a video of Nina trying out some carrots!
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