Pool Saga

I wanted to post some fun pictures of the kids swimming and since this is my 'journal/scrapbooking' I wanted to write down the story of our pool. After looking at my blog and comparing it to others I have noticed that I am always pretty long winded in writing and this one will be the same. That is what you get when I don't journal and haven't scrapbooked in forever...Anyway, here is our pool story.

When we were looking to buy our current house the pool was not an enticing feature-we loved the house but honestly were not that interested in the pool. The house was a foreclosure and had pretty much been abandoned for over a year. This included the pool. The pool had never had a cover on it (scary!) and the first time we saw it, it was 1/4 full of brown, gross, stinky water/leaf junk.

My mother HATED the pool! She did not want us to buy this house because of the pool. She thought it was such a liability. She worried about Carson (3 at the time) and having the pool in its current state. She thought we should fill it in with dirt and grow a garden.

With all the work the inside of the house needed the pool sat untouched for a few months. Cam started researching pool things on the Internet and read somewhere that if you left a pool empty of the winter it would freeze/crack/possibly lift out of the ground if the water table was high enough. This was motivation that we HAD to deal with the pool.

First we got all the "chunks" (Leaves/garbage etc...gross I know) out of the water and then started pumping out the disgusting water. Where did we pump this lovely water??? Into our side yard and down the gutter (I'm sure our neighbors were impressed with us :)Once it was empty we (99% Cam I should say) scrubbed it clean.

The cleaning process was interesting. Cam had to buy certain chemicals to clean it (hypoxy something...I will have to ask and add in later) and a special suit and mask to wear to clean it in. He looked like a space man.

Cam got tied up in another project and could not finish the pool for awhile. So we would not have any problems of it cracking or lifting out of the ground while it was completely emptied we filled it about 1/4 of the way full.

A few weeks later, Cam was ready to tackle the pool again. We pumped the semi clean water out again. Once it was clean and empty again, Cam decided that we should paint it. We bought the paint ($90 dollars a gallon x 10 gallons)! And Cam started painting it. He painted the deep end first and then covered that end with big blue tarps so leaves and dirt would not blow in and stick to the fresh paint. As he continued to paint and cover, less and less of the pool was being 'ventilated' I was always worried Cam was going to pass out in the pool due to lack of oxygen/paint fumes! Cam said I worry to much (true).

After the paint job and sealing the paint we were ready to start filling it in with some H2O. This is the interesting part. We started filling it with water and after it was about 1/2 full Cam read on the Internet about children sitting on pool drains and having severe medical issues from this (research on your own if you want to know more...:). Mind you our pool drain is on the deep end of the pool which would be under 9 feet of water if we ever got it filled, but Cam was concerned and wanted to place a grate over the drain to prevent any problems. So again, we started pumping out the water.

This time we had a constant stream running down our curb/gutter of milky white water (from the fresh paint). I started feeling really bad about wasting so much water and wondering what our neighbors thought of us.

The grate was placed and we started filling up the pool with water. How do you fill up a pool with water? The only way in our area is to use your own water from your hoses. I don't know how many gallons of water it holds (Cam would know) but it took about a week with two hoses running 24 hours a day to fill the pool. We had a high water bill that month...high enough that the water company called to ask us what was up (they thought there must have been some kind of error, too bad there wasn't :)

When the deep end was full of water, Carson and I 'slid' down the slope from the shallow end into the deep end. It was pretty fun.

After the pool was full, our backyard went into lock down mode. We were at the mercy of coverpools. Two weeks after the day it was supposed to be installed we had the pool covered. The cover is constantly locked and only Cam and I know where the key is.

We started heating and filtering the pool and discovered that the heater was kaput. We ordered a heater and Cam installed it. After a lot of work we were finally able to start enjoying the pool!

We have had many fun days swimming in the pool but it can be a lot of upkeep and cost. I like the pool water WARM but Cam likes to save money. So when Cam goes to work I turn the heater on full blast. When Cam comes home he turns the heater off. Cam thinks WARM water is actually water that is just a little bit warmer than freezing :)

Right now, I think our pool is pretty safe, it is completely fenced in with a locked fenced, and always covered with a locked cover when we are not using it. Of course CONSTANT SUPERVISION is a must. I never worry when it is us using the pool but worry when we have neighbors and friends over. I have had a few times when the neighbor kids have come over wearing their swim gear and ask to swim. I always tell them "Yes, if your mom will come swim with you." I just won't be responsible for other people's kids swimming.

Future pool plans include, replacing the brick/tile around the edge and putting in a new deck.

So here are some pics of us swimming this summer. Carson is becoming a fish and Hannah doesn't know what to think about it yet. Also, of course the day I decide to take pictures is the day when all of Carson's swimsuits needed to be washed and he is swimming in his red undies. Good thing he doesn't realize this could be possibly embarrassing...yet.


Carson jumping off the diving board. He didn't dare do this last year.


Carson and Hannah. Hannah did not want her brother holding her. Mom did not want Carson holding her so this is the best and only picture of the two of them.


Carson and his 'swim gear' This cracks me up.

Carson the Brave

As part of the "Summer O'Fun" at the Greener Household we bought Lagoon Season Passports. I bought them with the intent of being able to pick up and go with both kiddos. I honestly thought that Carson would still want to ride the rides for little kids and Hannah and I could stroll after him and watch him go on the rides.

The first time we went luckily we were with his older cousins because the first ride he wanted to go on was the white roller coaster, next he went on the wild mouse. We then split up with his cousins and Carson was forced to ride on the 'kiddie rides.'

The next time we went I arranged a sitter for Hannah and only Carson and I went. We had so much fun and Carson is an excellent Lagoon buddy. He is not afraid of any ride. We went on wicked and the colossus and all of the other rides I did not think Carson was ready for yet.

As we were preparing to go on wicked...I have to admit that I was a little scared myself and I thought "Why in the world am I letting my baby go on this ride? What if the booster seat wasn't installed right? If you have to have a booster set should you really be going on this ride :)? Maybe I can hold him in with my one arm...yeah right. Can we get off now?"

Again, my boy is growing up.

Carson LOVED wicked and we went on it many more times that day. I can't believe how brave he is. Wow. Carson the brave...

These are a few pictures of 'Wicked' they don't really do the ride justice...

Hannah's ancestry...? :)

There is always much debate and friendly arguing about which side of the family our cute children look like. Carson is obviously his father's child-that boy looks nothing like me. I always smile when I look at my blonde haired, blue eyed boy...I never would have imagined that my child would have those traits. Carson does have my personality though :)

When Hannah was a newborn, it was hard to say who she looked like. Her eyes took forever to change (first the normal blue/gray look, they then changed to definetely blue, then greenish, then hazel and at 5-6 months finally brown!) Her hair is the same, it looks brown with a little red tint to it but if you look at what is coming in on the back it is pure white! She also has an olive/darker complexion I think she looks more like me but others disagree.

Well a friend of mine finally figured it out! She told me that Hannah resembles the Kewpie doll! Well, I had never even seen or heard of a kewpie doll so I looked them up. It's true, Hannah is a long lost relative of the Kewpie doll.


Hannah's relatives...? :)


Pictures to Compare too...







What do you think? She definetely has the same mowhawk hair style, head shape, big brown eyes, chubby cheeks, and I have definetely seen her pull Kewpie doll expressions before. Kewpie dolls are cute but I happen to think my Hannah is by far the cutest model/make of the Kewpie/Greener family.

P.S I ordered Hannah a Kewpie doll for her 1st birthday. I think it is important for her to see some of her ancestors :)

Hannah is 11 months!

All about Hannah at 11 months!

I can pull myself up and stand up. My mom finds me in my crib standing anytime I wake up.
I can dance.
I can drink out of a straw.
I love to drink out of my sippy cup.
I am figuring things out like, I try to put socks on my feet or hats on my head. I try to plug things into the outlet,
I can shake my head no.
I only have two bottom teeth. (Note from mom, I just learned in school that children should have there age (example 11 months) minus 6 and that is how many teeth they should have. So Hannah should be close to tooth number 5...where are they?
I have discovered opening drawers and cupboards.
My favorite foods include: bananas, ham, mashed potatoes, crackers.
I usually sleep through the night. Occasionally I wake up for a little snack.
I can hold my own. A girl has to stand up for herself. :) When my brother is pestering me, I either crawl away really fast or I climb on him and bounce aka "bum drops" With that said...
I really do love my brother. He entertains me, plays with me, and makes me smile and laugh a lot.
As always I LOVE being outside.
New words I have learned

Thank you
Hot
What's that? (Doesn't really sound like that but it is :)

(Note from mom, Hannah's language has really taken off this month. She will mimic almost everything she hears either with sound or with the pitch of her voice. We may hear it over and over again (like Thank you) or sometimes she will say it once and then that is it.)

And lastly, my mom's favorite...
I give kisses

I am learning new things everyday! Watch me grow!

Here are a few pictures from my 11 month birthday.






I did not want my pictures taken tonight. Some of my pictures turned out pretty good (like above) but most looked similar to the ones below.


Make this picture big to show off the bottom lip. It is so cute.

Newman Family Reunion

The second I came home from school on Friday, we left to go camping for the weekend at Downatta hot springs for the Newman Family Reunion.

We had a great time. The weather was perfect and the company was fun. As always there was a lot of yummy eating and lots of swimming.

This was Hannah's second time camping (the first time she was about 9 weeks old) and she did okay. Now that she is mobile she wanted to be on the ground crawling around! It was pretty dirty and so was she. The first night sleeping in the tent was not her idea of a good time. She woke up 4 times that night! The second night she only woke once.

Carson, played all day. Whether he was swimming, playing in the sand, or riding his bike he was on the go all day. He had so much fun and said on the way home he wished we could stay there for "ten days"

We really did have fun but I have not been home now for one week! I am grateful to have a weekend away but also so grateful to be home!


Hannah and Daddy. As you can see, the seeds from the nearby trees were all over the pool...the hazards of having an outdoor pool!


Carson under water!


Mason under water!


Hannah feel asleep on our second time in the pool. What a cute little baby.


The sign that it is time to get out of the water!

TItles

I have had many titles in my life, daughter, student, teacher, nurse, mother, wife, etc. This week I earned a new one...coach.

Last Thursday, the Dragons played their final game. It was mixed with relief and with sadness for me. First the relief...

What a commitment! Two days of games and practices is a huge time commitment!

Responsibility! We HAD to be at every game and every event (coaches training, closing ceremonies). I would like to say that we are responsible but sometimes the option of not having to go is nice...even though most likely we would have went anyway!

Fairness! This was probably the hardest thing for me. I wanted to make sure that everything was fair. At the age of 6 I did not think it was important for the 'best' players to play pitcher etc. All of the kids needed a fair rotation of positions and that was difficult to do! I was of the opinion that this was strictly to have some fun and teach some t-ball basics. Some parents/opposing teams thought this was the professional leagues and I hated that! I also did not want anyone to think we were favoring Carson so he probably played outfield the most. It was hard to find a fairness balance and we did the best we could.

So now the sadness.

Time goes by too fast. T-ball is over-the end of an era in the Greener household. Carson will play pitch next year. Ouch, he is growing up.

I really did like our little team. I know all the kids, and their families. I was happy when they succeeded. I wanted them to feel good about themselves and feel like they could do anything they wanted. I hope they had a good experience.

The fun is over. Next year, they keep score, call outs, and if you are not one of the best you sit on the bench. Seems a little intense for 7 year olds, but I guess that is a skill that each child has to learn. I want to 'protect' Carson just a little longer though...

I do not think we will ever be Carson's coaches again. We are not athletic or knowledgeable enough. That is why we did it this year so we could do 'our community service' and then let the professionals take over!

I will add 'Coach' to my list of titles, tuck it away and pull it back out when Hannah wants to play!



A dragon lives forever-Go Carson!

Plane Post from the Past

Two weeks ago, Cam took Carson and Hannah to see the B17 "aluminum overcast" It was at the Ogden airport for a limited time. I worked a night shift the night before then went to church. I was running on about 17 minutes of sleep and choose sleep over seeing the plane.

They were able to go inside the plane and Cam said Carson went through about 10 times. Cam said it was hard to go through the plane holding Hannah. My response was "welcome to my life!"

He is a good dad. I am glad he could take the kiddos and I could get some uninterrupted sleep!

Yes, I managed to survive...barely :)

My "intensive week" is officially over and I couldn't be happier. It was a lot of work and late nights. I think I avereaged 3-4 hours of sleep each night. I also never want to eat at the University of Utah Hospital cafeteria again. The next "intensive week" aka 10 days is coming on July 7-17th-including Saturday. Yuck.

Overall, though it really was okay. I learned a lot and the time did go by fast. My kids were happy and when I came home my hubby had the house spotless (including laundry!) Thanks!

Silly anxiety and worries...

I am basically writing this for some therapy for myself so feel free to skip this as it has no useful or fun information to read about. In general, I feel like I am able to handle a lot of things but because of upcoming event I am having a lot of silly anxiety and worries...

Besides my classes, twice a semester I am required to attend "intensive weeks" at school. Usually they are from 9-5 Mon-Wed. Because it is summer semester and the courses are condensed the "intensive weeks" are longer! The first one is next week Mon-Fri and the first day is 7:30 am to 9:00 p.m! AHHH! The other days are pretty much the same minus an hour on two of the days!

This is resulting in big anxiety and worry for me...My kiddos and I are staying at my sisters house in Heber and I will drive to U of U and back everyday. I am not worried about my kids. I know they will be loved to pieces (thank you Carrie!) but I am worried about my ability to leave them for so long! I hate leaving them and rarely do...I have separation anxiety! :)

I am learning so much, but I have to say that for the first time in my 16+ years of schooling I feel intimidated, nervous, and a feeling of being the 'new girl' on the job everyday! You know the feeling of wanting to be impressive, wanting to do a really good job, wanting to know all the answers etc? Does that make sense?

Anyway, there you have it. Each time these weeks have come up I always get these similar feelings and after each week flies by and turns out fine...I can't believe I worried so much! It always boils down to one thing though...I will miss my sweet babies and my cute hubby!

Congrats to Blake!

This picture is an oldie but a goodie of Uncle Blake and Carson. Sorry, I do not know why it is sideways or how to fix it...

We need to give a huge CONGRATULATIONS to Blake! He graduated from BRHS yesterday. I seriously can not believe that Blake is old enough to be graduating...
Here are some of my favorite memories and things we LOVE about Blake.

He is the greatest uncle. Carson loves Blake. He is always willing to play with Carson. He is great at playing chase, building starships out of legos, jumping on the trampoline, and all other sorts of things that little boys think is cool. Carson really looks up to you, Blake.

He is soo funny. You should hear his impression of Rex from Napolean Dynamite. It is hilarious.

Last summer, the Greener family was swimming here and Blake was doing tricks off the diving board. He was jumping and catching balls etc. He did a front dive into a little tiny tube and about broke his neck. You could tell it hurt and I was scared, but Blake came out of the water with a smile.

This probably doesn't seem that funny to anyone else, but a few Christmas's ago you received a Scene It- sports edition game and wanted to play. I remember playing and you were the only one answering any questions. :)

Blake, remember at the family camp out when we rented those bikes? You and I were biking up the hill and I was doing all of the work. :)ha ha :)

Remember your wrapping paper 'costume' at the family Christmas party? I have to admit it was pretty good and you played the part well.

There are so many other great things about Blake. He is kind, happy, handsome, great at sports, fun to be around, and the list could go on and on. We love you Blake and are proud of you! We can't wait to continue to be involved in all the things you will accomplish!

School's out for Summer!

We celebrated Carson's last day of Kindergarten on May 29, 2008. I think I must be a weird mom because I am soooo excited to have my little boy home again all day! I have missed him.

In honor of the last day of school we had a 'Happy Summer' Party. I dropped Carson off at school, made him an invitation, picked up a cake, and picked up a surprise that you will see and hear more about below.

Hear our some pics from our 'Happy Summer' celebration.

Surprise number one was a cute cat cake that I wrote 'Happy Summer Carson!' on.


Surprise number 2...a new bike for Carson! I have to explain this though...Carson has never had a new bike, his was a wonderful hand me down from his cousin. The night before this I took him on a bike ride. His seat was as high as it would go and his knees were almost touching his chin. The training wheel was bent and the bike leaned to the side at a 30 degree angle! A new bike was needed so I tied it in with our celebrations!


The last thing we did to celebrate summer was set up the tent and had a 'campout' outside. We ate treats and watched movies.

Bragging about Carson

I just have to brag about my little boy for a minute. Isn't that what blogs are for anyway? To brag about our kids? Well, maybe not. But that's pretty much what I enjoy doing the most on mine :) So be patient and enthusiastic :) while I brag for a moment...

I think my boy is pretty smart. The second week of April we had him test for the Accelerated Learning Academy (ALA) at Hillcrest. So what is the ALA program you ask? :)

This is a program for first graders -6th graders. There is only one class per grade. The ratio is 19 students per teacher!!!! Yipee! The ALA program is composed of children from all over the district who are accepted. The curriculum is one grade higher than what they are actually in. So first graders will be doing second grade work etc. They get more hands on experiences like fieldtrips, science experiments, computer time, more autonomy etc. The best part is if the child is ready to advance to the next learning stage they can!

Before testing Carson, I observed the first grade teacher for a day and she is AMAZING!

I am sure by now you know where this is leading...Today (after 6 and 1/2 weeks) Carson got his test scores back and his acceptance letter. He tested wonderfully! He received his highest scores in Math (thanks to Dad!) and Reading. His lowest score was in Listening Comprehension....hmmmm :)

So, next year we are off to Hillcrest. I hope it is as good as an experience as I am thinking/hoping it will be. Can I just say how proud I am of my little boy! (as if you could not already tell :)

Okay, the bragging is over (for now).

Last post about the running day I promise!

So I am going on about this day..but I have to post these cute pics of Hannah after the Kids K.





Stoller toe touchers! Do I have a gymnast on my hands? :)

Kids K

I signed Carson up for the Kids K (which was actually a mile) the same day as the 5K. It was not until 12:30 though. So we all went home ate and came back. Carson was super cute and super excited. You could not drive to the start of the race so we had to meet and ride a bus there.

Cam was busy working on his project (the duplex) and was going to meet us at the finish line. I of course was taking my crutch along with me again. We got to the meeting area and again there were TONS of people and kids there. I thought Carson would be one of the youngest but I was wrong! There were little 2 and 3 year olds there with enthusiastic- obviously runner- parents too!

A lot of the parents I saw had already run and finished the marathon and then were running the race with their kids. I was impressed! After running my half marathons I didn't want to run or walk another step! I can't imagine how they felt.

As we got closer to loading the bus I was thinking of how I was going to possibly get Carson loaded, hold Hannah, fold the jogging stroller up and pack it onto the bus. A man behind me saw my plight and offered to take the stroller-Thank you Mr Anonymous Man!

When we got to the start Mr. Anonymous Man unloaded the stroller for me and asked if I needed help unfolding it. Not wanting to be a nuisance anymore to him I said "no, no I can get it."

So with one hand on the stroller the other holding Hannah I did the one arm flick to pop the stroller out in its usable position. In doing this I pinched Carson's finger in the side. Ouch!

It was minutes before the race started and Carson was crying his little eyes out. He kept saying "I can't race now!" and "My legs won't work now because my finger hurts!"

I was talking a mile a minute to get his mind off of his owie and then I remembered the fruit snacks in the stroller! I got them out and they were the cure-all! We were now ready to race again!

They said Go! and my little guy took off. I had to swerve (the stroller) around about a hundred adult/kids to not keep up with him but be able to keep an eye on him! This pace lasted for about 1/4 of a mile. Then it turned into complaining and walking for the next 1/4 mile.

Luckily Cam was standing on the sidelines at the 1/2 mile mark. I told Carson I saw Dad and he better start running so Dad could cheer for him. Seeing Cam was all the motivation Carson needed.

He ran as fast as he could for the last half of the race. He loved all the people cheering for him and I was so proud of him. He ran one mile in 14:00 flat. I think that is pretty good for a 6 year old.

All the kids got cowbell medals and the lady even put one around Hannah. It was a good experience for Carson. We had a lot of fun that day!


Before the race started-after the injury happened :)


After the race-showing off his "medal"



Me and my other very cute running partner!

Ogden 5K

Last Saturday was the big 5K. My first 'race' since having Hannah. When I have ran in the past I would get sooo nervous before it started. Feeling sick to my stomach, jittery, etc. This time I did not feel that way at all. (Probably because I had "my crutch"-the running stroller and because it was the shortest race I have done- 3 miles instead of 13.)

The race started at 7:00 in the morning. Cam kept telling me to just leave Hannah home and he would bring her. I refused because as I said early she was "my crutch" my excuse for going slow. I wasn't planning on waking her up I was just going to grab her in her pj's and bring her along. She woke up at 6:15 that morning anyway so it made the decision to bring her even easier!

There were so many people at the start of the race. Mike, Carrie, Connor, and Dallin found me at the start about 1 minute before it started and we were off!

The weather was beautiful and my littlest running partner feel asleep about two miles into the race. She was so cute and such a trooper.

I won't post my time here because I don't want all of you to be jealous :). But the race did exactly what I wanted it to do. It was very fun and very motivating. Here are a few pics from our adventure.


Greener Family at the race.


Brown Family at the race.


The cheering squad...Mom, Cam, and Carson


The cutest running partner you ever saw.

Fire!

Cam is in NYC until Thursday. He usually mows the lawn on Tuesday night to put the clippings in the garbage for Wednesday pick up. Well, tomorrow I have a primary activity to attend and knew that if I wanted to mow the lawn it would have to be tonight.

So trying to help Cam out I mowed the lawn tonight (which I actually enjoy doing except emptying the bag-I hate that) I had about two more rows in the front yard to finish when the lawn mower made this puttering sound and suddenly stopped.

The engine then proceeded to start on fire with a little orange flame shooting out the side. Luckily it self extinguished and then just started smoking like crazy and smelling really bad.

I left the lawnmower outside and played with the kids for over an hour to make sure it didn't spontaneously combust or something. When I went to put it away it was nice and cool so hopefully it is non dangerous now!

I don't know what happened to the thing. All I can say is I will never be helpful again! I almost burned something up and I wasn't even cooking!

Hannah is 10 Months Old!

Hannah had her 10 "monthversary" today. I really can not believe it. I love this darling baby!

All About Hannah at 10 months old!
I am MOBILE! I can get anywhere I want- very quickly too. If I am crawling on the hardwood floors I use a slide crawl method because it is faster. When I am on the rugs I crawl on all fours. My knees are raw. :(
New words I learned this month include bye bye, uh oh, ouch (taught by dad..because I am always pulling his hair!)
I know how to wave
If you ask me what the kitty says I make a hissing sound (We have a mean cat that only hisses!)
I know the actions to pat a cake-clapping, rolling, and throwing in the air.
I have a new funny smile where I scrunch up my nose and eyes and then smile. My mom and dad think it is SOOO cute.
Much to my mom's dismay I like to pull off all the "extras" she puts on me like headbands, bracelets, and shoes.
I love my brother very much.
I am so happy in the morning. I love seeing my family in the morning.
I LOVE being outside.
I like to copy my brother. If he yells for fun..I yell back!
I can almost pull myself up to a standing position. I still need some help though with this.
I like to kick the blankets off.
My mom thinks I am growing more hair.
My favorite foods are- anything really! I especially love strawberries and rice cereal mixed with OJ.
I am a very cute lovable baby...I am learning new things everyday...watch me grow!

Here are a few of my nicknames and who gave them to me!
Little Miss (Mom)
Lovie (Mom)
Sweet Cheeks (Carson)
Babs (Pronounced to rhyme like labs) (Dad)

Early Mothers Day..being posted late.

I have the sweetest most thoughtful little boy. I have to share this cute story.

Three times a school year the "rainbow bus" makes a visit to the local elementary schools. The rainbow bus is a reward program the school does for students who can pass of the skills for the quarter (reading 25 words, etc). It is pretty much a toys R us on wheels with brand new toys the children can choose from if they are sucessful in their skill pass offs (teachers and volunteers work very hard to have each student ready!)

The bus came for the last time the week before Mother's Day. When I picked Carson up that day he was secretly holding his "rainbow bus" prize behind his back. He had a grin from ear to ear.

I asked him to let me see his prize and he said he couldn't show me until mother's day. The whole way home from school Carson was bursting to keep it a surpise and bursting to show me. Finally he gave in and told me that instead of picking out a new toy he saw this lovely dolphin statue and knew I would LOVE it for Mother's Day!

I could not have been happier or any more in love with my little boy than I was right then. And Carson was right I do LOVE my dolphin statue! It will forever hold a special place in my heart and a special place in my home! It may seem silly but I can just imagine my little guy seeing all of the other kids choose racecars, spidermans etc and he wanted to choose something for me!

Thank you Carson for the best Mother's Day present ever! I am so lucky to by your mom! I love you!
Thank you Carson!


My "lovely" dolphin statue.

Hannah's Hematocrit Update

Warning! This post contains information on pork liver, pooping, & breastfeeding! Do not proceed if you are grossed out...

Hannah's hematocrit two weeks ago was 9.0, one week ago it was 10.5 (yeah!) and today it was 10.4 (sort of a yeah). It should be at 11.0. It is barely low and has shown improvement from two weeks ago so the pediatrician is going to give Little Miss one more week to raise it again, before we do the comprehensive lab work again.

When we did the labwork when Hannah was around 3-4 months old it came back consistent with iron deficiency anemia, so I was unsure of what/if any new information repeating the labs would offer. The doctor said we needed to make sure that it was still consistent with that diagnosis (which she was sure it would be) and to make sure all the other labs besides hematocrit were okay.

The MD increased Hannah's iron dose today so hopefully that will help. I also have been filling Hannah up with lots of iron rich foods like pork liver, turkey, cooked beans and lentils-those are all excellent sources containing iron aka lunch for Hannah. Dinner usually contains strawberries, broccoli, or orange juice which are excellent iron absorption enhancers. Hannah loves sweet potatoes but those are an iron absorption inhibitor so those are out now. In the morning Hannah has iron enriched rice cereal mixed with prune juice to help all this constipating iron stuff come out! All I can say is my poor baby. Luckily she is a trooper and actually likes her 'yummy' foods.

One thing you all might be wondering (and Cam accused me of!!) is the relation of this with breastfeeding- especially because I am a vegetarian and therefore am most likely not getting a lot of iron myself. Well, the answer is there is NO relation! Even if I ate pork liver all day long it would not help! So, sorry Cam, I will not be eating any meat.

So there you have it...I am sure you are all impressed with my iron knowledge-its amazing what you learn (and what you will do...can we say pork liver??) when it affects your child!

I hope and pray that next Thursday Hannah's hematocrit will be above 11.0!! The MD did say that Hannah just doesn't match the lab result. She isn't pale or overly sleepy so she believes it is mild and Hannah has compensated well. That made me feel good but then she said..."I still want to see the result over 11.0 though" so we will see.

The Dragons

T-Ball season has officially started. Our little guy is on the Dragon team. He has really improved since last year, although when playing outfield he would rather talk to his team or the opposing team instead of paying attention.

I think his improvement can be contributed to his team's stellar coaches...Cam and April :) That's right, yours truly. When we signed him up, the recreation office could not help and notice Cam and I's outstanding athletic ability, especially when it comes to T-Ball.

We have 11 little sluggers on our team, 9 boys and 2 girls. Each child got to choose a name and then we drew out of a hat. We became the DRAGONS (be afraid, be very afraid.) We are planning on going to state this year. :)

Come support our team and enjoy 55 minutes of entertainment and a few laughs!!