Hearing

Can you imagine what it would be like if you couldn't hear?  You would miss out on those high-pitched giggles from your children, whispered sweet nothings from your spouse, and the joy of hearing your preschooler's first music concert.

I have two deaf dialysis patients, both whom I've gotten to know fairly well.  Lately I've realized what a challenging life they may lead, living in a world where technology and communication is developed for those without any hearing impairment.

Both of these patients lost their hearing when they were very young so living as hearing impaired is all they know. Ironically both are parents, and at least one spouse is also deaf.  Can you imagine not being able to hear your child crying?  How challenging would it be to sleep at night, knowing you wouldn't wake when your little one needed you?

They say that when you lose one sense, your other 4 senses kick in and make up for it.  Possibly they had a different sense that was stimulated when their little one was in need.

So many of us multi-task when talking to someone.  Being hearing impaired would be difficult because you would need to utilize your hands for communication.

One of my patients sends and receives text messages from friends that have videos of them signing messages.  She said this is her primary way of communicating with friends, along with text messages and emails.  I suppose this is an example where technology has possibly helped expanded her ability to communicate.

I primarily communicate with her by writing messages. I grab some paper, a pen, and start writing.  I always have to allot extra time for her as communicating this way takes twice as long.  She is able to read lips but has some difficulty with this.

I can't help but wonder that she is missing out on so much, not being able to hear the world around her.  Specifically, she is not able to listen to music. I find listening to music so enjoyable and I turn my radio or Pandora on whenever I have a chance.  However, I've read that the hearing impaired can feel the vibrations of music which still allows them to "hear" the music.  Beethoven was still able to compose music even as his hearing declined which again emphasizes the significance of our other senses.

Cochlear implants are becoming more and more popular.  I love watching videos of little ones after this surgery, when the implants are turned on and they hear their mother's voice for the first time.  What a joy to see what science can do.

https://youtu.be/ZDD7Ohs5tAk

These situations help me realize we cannot take our health for granted.  We should cherish our ability to hear the sweet voices of our children, the off-tune singing of our spouses, the welcome bark of our dogs, and alarms that sound to signal danger.  Our lives would be much different if we couldn't.

A Basketball Weekend

Last weekend was full of basketball.  We attended our first Woodward Granger sporting event when we headed to the girl's basketball game at the high school.  Alena had signed up for a dance clinic and performed at the halftime of the game.  She had a great time and it was cute watching all of the performances.  This was my first trip to Woodward.  It was weird sitting in the gymnasium thinking that this is where we may watch our children play sports.  I still love the small town feel of this school and we were able to mingle with our neighbors that live directly behind us during the game.

Saturday morning, Alena had her first basketball practice.  While I entertained two 3 year olds, I occasionally caught a glimpse of her working on different drills.  She was one of only 3 girls who went out for basketball and by far the tallest of all the kids.  I'm sure the other kids will catch up to her soon.

We went home quick for an early lunch and then headed to Ames for the Women's Iowa State basketball game.  Alena was chosen to be the Honorary Captain for the game which meant she needed to be there ahead of time to participate in some special things. She was able to be in the locker room with the team and coach, tour the training room and media room and get her picture on the big screen with her name announced. She was so excited and had a great time.  What a special day for her!

Media Room

Men's Locker Room

Clone Cone!

We ended the weekend by enjoying another sport, football, with a little Superbowl Party.  This was one of those weekends where I am exhausted come Sunday night but it was all worth it. We squeezed a ton in and everyone had a fabulous time.  I am ready for some outdoor activities though-come on Spring!

A few random pics of our adventures this winter:

Swimming at the "Pirate Pool" (We will definitely do this again next winter)

This boy refused to stand still for a picture...

She loves ice skating!

Picky Eaters

Dear Mom and Dad,

I apologize for every time I complained about what you made for dinner.  And for every time I said "yuck" when you placed my plate in front of me.  And for refusing to eat the meal you prepared for me.

Love,

Me

Karma stinks.  I know I was a picky eater when I was growing up and I'm sure my parents hated it!  I've heard my little ones complain about what I made for dinner many, many times and now I know exactly what my parents went through!

As I've gotten older I've tried more and more foods and love them. I can't help but think that maybe if I had just tried more when I was younger, I would have developed a palate for many more things.

Toddlers are picky eaters.  I know few toddlers who aren't and I think it's pretty normal.  I accept that I will have to deal with the pickiness.  What's even more challenging with my three kids, is they all have different palates.

I decided many years ago that I was not a short order cook.  I meal plan every week and what I make for dinner is what you eat.  The only exception is on left over night, when the kids can decide to eat left overs or choose something else, (usually PB and J or grilled cheese).  I always make sure that each child likes one component of the meal, whether it is the main dish, the vegetable or another side.

I have many go to recipes, some all my kids love, others one or two like, and a few that none of them care for, but Justin and I really like.  I also try new recipes all the time, listening to feed back from the family to determine if they are keepers or not.

There are some days my kids eat great and other days that are hit and miss. One week they may love something and hate it the next week.  They do understand that if they don't eat much for dinner and are hungry later, they will eat their dinner.  Some may think this is harsh but honestly it's helped my kids be a little more adventurous with trying different things, and many times once they do try something, they realize they actually like it.  We don't force food down their throats or make them finish their plates.  However, the words I can't stand hearing 15 minutes after the kids leave the table and Justin and I are finally finishing up the dishes are:  "I'm hungry!"

It helps that my kids are exposed to a lot of different foods at school.  They have all been great eaters at school.  It used to drive me nuts that A loved the broccoli that Chef Carlos made at school but she didn't like mine!  I secretly wanted to pull Carlos aside and ask him his secret to making broccoli my child would eat!  (Ironically a couple weeks ago I steamed broccoli and not one of my children wanted to try it-L used to be my "little tree" eater!  They all agreed to finally try it and they LOVED it!).

I love trying new foods and recipes and hope my little ones will continue to be excited about trying something new.  Most importantly, if I can incorporate them into helping me make meals, they are even more likely to try something they had a hand in making.  Hopefully their palates will continue to expand as they get older!

Phone Went A Swimmin'

So, today my phone decided to go swimming. She had tried to do this a few times before but never quite made it all the way in.  This time she slid right into the potty at TJ Maxx!

Now before you question why I was using my phone while going potty, I wasn't!  I had her safely stored in my winter coat pocket, but she somehow snuck out and before I could catch her she was diving in feet first.

I quickly rescued her, said a couple swear words, (I'm sure the person in the stall next to me wondered what was going on), and hurried out of the stall.  I was planning to stick her under the hand dryer but there wasn't one so I grabbed a couple paper towels, toweled her off and hurried out of the store.

I was scared to even look at my phone because I knew it was toast so I just turned it off.  I remembered hearing if you ever drop your iphone in water you should put it in a bag of rice to help absorb the water and hopefully save your phone. I drove to Wal-Mart and sprinted to the rice aisle.

I had a decision to make. I didn't know what kind of rice I needed to get:  brown rice, white rice, organic...I decided to go with the old standby and grabbed an 84 cent bag of white rice.  Definitely my cheapest trip to Wal-Mart ever!  What's even more funny is I did self check out and picked the machine that would only take credit cards so I now have an 84 cent charge on my credit card. Justin will love that.

I opened the rice in the parking lot, pouring half of it out, and shoved my phone in the bag.  The only problem was I didn't really know how long I needed to leave the phone in the rice.  Plus, dialysis units and my office use my phone to get a hold of me during the day so I couldn't leave it off the rest of the day.   Of course I had no idea what the phone numbers were to these units so I could tell them my phone wasn't working...Who memorizes phone numbers anymore?  And what phone would I use to call them with?  Dang, what did we do before cell phones?

So I went to plan B.  Since I was out near Jordan Creek I ventured to the Apple Store.  They told me it would be an hour wait so I was FORCED to shop for an hour while I waited for them to look at my phone.

Finally an hour was up and the friendly Apple employee went to work on my phone.  Ten minutes later he returned saying everything was working except my phone thought the headphones were plugged in so I couldn't hear anything unless the speaker was on.  Hmm, well at least it was functional but I wouldn't be able to have any private conversations.  He said the phone could be replaced for $299.  Since it was still functional, I wasn't ready to give up on it yet!  He recommended leaving it off and in rice for the rest of the day to see if that would help.

I hurried to my car and shoved it back in the bag of rice before heading back to work.  After a couple hours I decided to turn it back on.  It still wasn't functioning correctly.  While at a dialysis center I had searched online "my iPhone thinks the headphones are plugged in" and surprisingly had numerous recommendations on what to do to help it.  (What did we do before the Internet?)  One suggestion was to suck really hard on the headphone jack. I did this and wouldn't you know it, all my sounds came back on and my phone is as good as new.

Whew, I didn't want to have to listen to the wrath of Deb, our office manager, who would not be happy when I told her I needed to have my phone replaced!

Another thumbs up for this Apple product. I have always stood behind my iPhones and iPads and have never had any trouble with them.  This just shows that maybe they are indestructible.  We've had  our original iPad for 6+ years now without any issues.  Each child has dropped it a number of times yet it still keeps going.  Ironically, the screen did crack last month but no child is to blame for it (ahem, Justin).  A nice guy in Madrid repaired it for a decent price and it's back to working just fine.

Don't worry, I sanitized my phone with about 100 alcohol wipes :).  Sorry Apple guy, I didn't sanitize it before I handed it over to you.  Oops!

Our Rose Bowl Experience

We never expected to make two trips to Southern California in 2 months but we just couldn't pass up this opportunity.

5 years ago when we were vacationing with my family in California, we decided to get tickets to the Rose Bowl with my brother and his wife.  I doubted our Hawkeyes would ever make it to this prestigious bowl game so figured we might as well see a game here while we can.  We cheered on TCU and Wisconsin, taking in the amazing atmosphere.  Justin and I mentioned that if Iowa ever DID make it to the Rose Bowl, we would be there. 

We aren't spontaneous people.  In fact, many people would be annoyed at the degree of planners we are.  From planning our meals every week, to planning our weekend 6 days in advance, we like to know what's going on and hate NOT knowing what is going on!  So planning this trip in a few hours the day they announced the bowl games was way out of our element.  

Weeks leading up to the game we didn't mention to many people we were going, for a variety of reasons. I did chit chat with one of my dialysis patients who was part of the Hawkeye team in 1959 who won the Rose Bowl.  He is one of the oldest living NFL players, (and quite stubborn), but a joy to talk football with!  

I had serious buyers remorse for weeks as well.  I am such a saver and HATE spending money. I rarely buy something unless it is on sale and really dislike spending money on myself.  Talking to many friends and co-workers leading up to the trip helped me realize that this was a trip of a life time and you only live once, (or YOLO as my BFF would say!).  

I also felt horrible that we were leaving our kids again in the hands of the grandparents who were probably still recovering from the last time we ventured to California, (which was like 5 weeks ago!).

Many people made the trip to CA just for the game. We decided to make the most of it and spent 5 days in this sunny place.  We were so lucky to plan our flight when we did because it snowed the day before and the day after we flew out. We had no trouble with our travels but did have to sprint in the Dallas airport to catch our connecting flight.

Our fight to LA

We spent two nights with my cousin Sheila, her husband, Thomas, and their daughter Grace. Grace is a phenomenal swimmer, (we're talking Junior Olympic champion and possible 2020 Olympic hopeful!).  I have always wanted to watch her swim so we watched one of her practices the second night we were there.  Outdoor high school swimming pools are just not possible in the Midwest!  

Having family there was a bonus as Sheila could tell us exactly where to go and what to see.  Our first day we ventured to Malibu and after seeing a couple beaches, we had lunch at Malibu Seafood. I ate here when I was in 7th grade, (22 years ago). It was special being able to bring my husband here.  After seeing a couple more beaches we went to the Malibu Winery for wine tasting. This winery was adorable with tons of seating and great tasting wine. Many locals brought in their own picnic basket of little snacks to eat with their wine.

New Year's Eve day we headed to the Port of LA where the USS Iowa is.  This was an amazing experience.  We arrived shortly after it opened and quickly saw the line was a growing.  It would have been an hour and a half wait to get on the boat where we were in line.  Ironically, we spotted a neighbor from 98th Street who we were able to join in line.  Shortly after that we were touring the boat.  

Seeing this battleship was quite an experience and I easily would have waited an hour and a half to tour it.  I loved viewing the living conditions, where meals were prepared and eaten, and FDRs bathtub.  This had to be installed before his trip across the Atlantic to meet with Winston Churchill and Stalin.  However, I was most excited about meeting Ernie, a WWII Vet who was actually stationed on the USS Iowa during the war.  I have a special place in my heart for our WWII vets, and proudly shook his head after viewing his pictures and memorabilia from his time on the boat. 

New Year's Eve was spent in Marina Del Ray with one of my best friends and her husband-it felt like college all over again!  

We were up early on New Year's Day to head to downtown LA. We decided to take the metro to the stadium to avoid the game traffic.  Surprisingly with all of the driving we have done in CA recently, we never had traffic issues and we both felt pretty comfortable driving in this state.  However, with thousands of fans traveling to Pasadena, we didn't want to risk anything.  The train ride was smooth and it dropped us off right near the parade route. 

We didn't get tickets for the parade for numerous reasons but I wanted to see at least one float live so we watched for a few minutes, taking in the whole experience.  We then started our walk toward the stadium which took us through beautiful neighborhoods with stunning homes before seeing the stadium and the golf courses that surround it.  This is all quite a site, especially with the mountains in the background. I remember being blown away the first time I saw it and just as much the second time. 

Two other couples we knew and us decided to purchase the tailgate package to avoid having to find a grill/cooler, etc for a tailgate.  The tailgate was well organized with yummy food and great beer and wine.  Looking back, it was quite pricey but again, YOLO!  I also was able to participate in a game of Bubble Ball soccer, which was something that always looked like fun!

A few hours later it was time to head into the game. With the recent shooting at San Bernardino, security was increased so it took a little longer to get into the game. I was impatient and snuck ahead in the line, leaving Justin in the dust. I wasn't about to miss the kick off of this game!

Yeah, the game stunk.  Honestly, all Iowa had to do was cover #5 like white on rice but apparently they didn't practice that!  At least the Stanford fans were classy, (much unlike their band!). It was still amazing to be there watching OUR team at the most prestigious bowl game there is! 

Our final day in CA was spent exploring Hollywood and Southern CA beaches (Redondo, Hermosa and Manhattan).  After walking along the boardwalk for an hour and a half, watching a beautiful sunset and eating sushi, we headed to the airport for our red eye flight home.  Lesson learned:  A red eye flight home when you have three little ones to care for is NOT a good idea!  We spent the rest of the week catching up on sleep! 

I love a fresh churro!

What I loved most about the trip was seeing Hawkeye fans everywhere we went:  Malibu, Marina Del Ray, Hollywood, and all the beaches.  There was always a sea of yellow and black wherever we traveled which made us feel a little at home.  What a fun trip!

A Little Thank You

Call me old fashion, but I appreciate a hand written thank you note. 


There's something about getting a note of appreciation from someone.  It doesn't have to be fancy or even store bought. In fact, a simple thank you on a post it note would suffice.  Just the fact that someone wrote a quick message of thanks and dropped it in the mail is enough.  It shows gratitude for whatever it is he or she received, whether it was a gift, a service, or something else.


Alena has been to many birthday parties over the last year and received very few thank you notes!  Maybe this is just the norm now?   


I'm going to continue to be old fashion and write thank you notes for my children until they are old enough to write their own. I think it's important that they continue to do this as they get older because these little notes are definitely appreciated.  Yes, I know most people open the card, read it, and throw it away.  I'm OK with this knowledge as I know they will be grateful to receive the little note in the mail. 


Speaking of mail, isn't it wonderful to receive a letter in the mail?  I hate that electronics have taken this away from most of it. It's so easy to send a text message and email now but there is something special about seeing your name on an envelope in the mailbox, (except when it is a bill).  A couple weeks ago, Alena saw me getting our Christmas cards ready to mail. She decided to make her own cards for some of her cousins.  They were short and sweet but very thoughtful.  It will be fun for her and her cousins to correspond via mail as they get older. 


Last month I received a letter from a new patient I was going to meet for the first time this week.  He introduced himself and indicated he was looking forward to meeting me.  Isn't that just the sweetest thing?


I see over 200 dialysis patients a week and many have become dear friends of mine.  Some patients I know so well we often spend more time talking about social things than medical things.  One particular patient always remembers to write me a thank you note near the holidays. I greatly appreciate this each year and it's a nice reminder of why I do what I do.  I love the patient interaction the most about my job, and why I went into this career.  Today I met a patient who went to high school with Elvis Presley-such interesting people I have met over the last 10 years! 


I think we can all do better with showing others our gratitude by saying thank you, whether that is in written form or verbally.  A thank you is like a compliment, it makes the recipient feel good about him or herself!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Christmas is by far my favorite holiday and the one I go all out for. I don't really decorate for the other ones but maybe that will change in the new place.  We got a jump start decorating this year because, well, it seemed like everyone was already in the mood and decorating so we jumped on the band wagon.  I almost always wait until after Thanksgiving, using the long weekend to place things in their correct places.  We started the weekend before this time. I figure, if we go to all this work getting things set up, we might as well enjoy them a little longer.

I purchased something I never thought I would:  A fake Christmas tree. My father will probably shake his head at this item in my home, but I just thought we needed two trees! One to gaze at from our main living space and one in our front room.

When we built this house, I knew exactly where our Christmas tree would go.  Justin picked the tree out this year from Dad's tree farm and honestly it was a nice choice. I knew it was a little bigger than what we normally pick but thought it would fit perfect.  Well, it's a good thing we ended up cutting some of the top off to shape it a little better otherwise it would not have fit.  It's big; maybe a little too big, but it's growing on me.

The other reason I felt we needed two trees is because we have so many ornaments. Justin and I have our own from when we were little, (both getting new ornaments each year), plus we have ornaments that we have obtained from being together.  (We usually get one from locations we travel to with the date on it).  The little ones also receive new ornaments each years so the number has grown.

The kid's ornaments are all on the real tree.  In all honesty, I probably should purchase more ornaments for the tree because it is a little bare but it's fine for this year.  We are pretty simple people, so lights and ornaments are all that go on our little (big!) tree.

Decorating the mantle was fun and I went a little non-traditional with the color scheme.  I went back and forth about where to hang the stockings and ended up getting new hangers for the mantle.  Caleb and Alena each have a little tree in their room, (next year I'll find one for Lauren).  While I was busy decorating the inside, Justin headed on the roof to hang a few Christmas lights. He also put lights around the deck.

We've had two weekends of baking and a freezer full of goodies. I purposely place these in the freezer in the garage so they aren't as convenient.  When we designed this house I pictured my three little ones sitting at a big island while we rolled out and then decorated Christmas cookies.  Having two ovens made the process go even faster.  I went back and forth about doing a gingerbread house.  In the end, I found a cute "gingerbread village" with 4 little buildings.  C missed out on this project as we was down for the count the day we did them.

My new favorite holiday cookie!

Elfie joined the family again on December 1st and I love each child's excitement every morning when they roam the house looking for him.  They are really getting into it this year!

Alena has her Christmas list all ready to go and has made one visit to Santa.  (She may need to revise this list as all she needs for Christmas are her two front teeth!).  The twins have no interest in seeing Santa although L did give him a high five when we ran into him at Home Depot a couple weekends ago.  C told me he wanted ME to tell Santa what he wanted.

I believe these lists are a combo of what Addie wants and what Alena wants!  Hope Santa can sort it out!

To help our little ones remember the reason behind Christmas, we are focusing on the four gift rule:  One thing they want, one thing they need, one thing they wear and one thing they read.  We will also have a few items for their stockings and maybe one or two other presents for them to open, but we really wanted to avoid going overboard with presents.

I love listening to what others do for the holidays and their traditions.  Do you wrap the gifts from Santa or not?  Does Santa bring many gifts or just one big gift?  Are stocking gifts wrapped?  What do you leave out for Santa and his reindeer?  Do you do anything special for Christmas Eve?  I will be honest, some of our traditions we are still figuring out. Justin and I came from two different families that each had their own traditions so we are trying to meld these traditions together.

I hope my kids continue to believe in Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy forever!  Unfortunately, I know that once they get into school, rumors about these friendly visitors being pretend will come up. Alena is already asking questions so I have to be even more careful about things, (she found the wrapping paper "Santa' used last year!).  Please stay young with your innocent minds forever!  

Alena had her Christmas music program a couple weeks ago and we have already had one family Christmas. Another Christmas is this weekend. The month is going so fast.  Does anyone else think 2015 went by faster than it should have?!