Maddie Update

Just wanted to let everyone know that Maddie had her follow-up appointment today with the E.N.T. We didn't find out much because there was a lot of scabbing, and he didn't want to disturb the scab or disrupt the healing process. We did learn that there is no infection and that the damage is just in the 1 area. (He was afraid that the battery acid moved and caused damage elsewhere.)So, we go back in 2 weeks to check on the healing progress.



Today when the Dr. walked into the room, Maddie was all smile sand sitting in the chair by herself- complete opposite from last week when she was sitting on my lap, clinging to me,and putting up a fight when he tried to look up her nose. He said to her, "Madison, I couldn't tell last week because you were so upset, but you are a very cute little girl!" to which Maddie replied, "I know." and just smiled at him.



We're working on humility.....

Maddie's Field Trip to the Farm

Maddie's pre-school went on a field trip to the Sonora High School Ag Farm a couple of weeks ago. It was HOT and all of the parents were melting, but the kids had a blast!




Maddie driving the tractor.
Maddie and her friend Jaren.

The pre-school gang and a few siblings.

Spring Break Adventure

We had a pretty low key Spring Break. It was nice to not have any plans and just hang out together. Friday we went on a hike in Eaton Canyon in Pasadena to a waterfall. It was a lot of fun, and a beautiful day. We went with our friends the Breens and the Putnams.

Nate, Trev, and Maddie
Maddie, Nate, Emily, Trevor, Christopher, Luke, and Joel
Trevor, Luke, and Maddie. Luke was giving Maddie a ride on the log.
Emily, Liza, Deanna, and Maddie
Trevor
Nate was a huge help, taking our hands and helping us across the million creek crossings. He's helping Maddie here.
We had the kids go ahead and scope out the best way across the creek each time.

Easter

My cute kids in their Easter duds! I was busy, so Todd took the pics. Not the poses and backgrounds I would've picked, but we got the job done!

Our Monday Adventure

So Mondays are generally a pretty crazy day. I watch my friend Jeanette's boys Jack and Brian who are 3 and 2 all day, Maddie and Jack have pre-school, my boys get out early, and I watch my other friend Deanna's 2 boys after school. Now I've added another friends' daughter to the after school crew, so what am I up to, 20 kids or so?!:) I picked up Jack and Maddie from pre-school at noon, made the kids lunch when we got home, and then went into the bathroom because I was determined I'd get it cleaned that day. I had already showered, but had no make-up and hadn't even dried my hair so it was pretty funky looking. I had just sprayed cleaner all over the shower, when Maddie came in crying. She said her nose hurt and finally told me she stuck something up it and it was stuck . Great. I'm having her blow and blow her nose, but the dang thing won't budge. She's in hysterics, because it's so far up there it's hurting her. So I decide we're going to have to take the dreaded trip to the emergency room. What's more fun than an emergency room with a hysterical 5 year old and a 2 & 3 year old, right? But first things first- I am not leaving this house before putting at least some make-up on! So, yes, I did take a couple of minutes to do that. What, it wasn't like she was choking on an almond or anything! I start gathering everyone and everything to leave when I realize I have to pick-up 5 more kids in an hour. Not going to happen. So I call Todd and luckily he was only half an hour away and I told him to come home, NOW. Then my brilliant husband called his mom to have her watch Jack and Brian for me. What a lifesaver! Maddie and I get to the E.R. and were seen about 30 minutes after we got there. Maddie is still crying. Everyone is asking her what she put in her nose, and she says she doesn't know. The Dr. comes in and says, "OK, usually when this happens I just have them hold the other nostril closed and blow and it comes right out." I bite my tongue because I want to yell, "Really?! Gee, I never thought of that one! Good thing I came into the ER for that fabulous, insightful medical advice!" Instead I said very politely, " yes, we tried several times at home, but it wouldn't budge so we came here." His next brilliant idea was to have me hold the other nostril closed, cover her mouth with my mouth, and blow hard into her mouth. OK, I'll cooperate. So here I go, take a deep breath, put my mouth to hers, blow, and proceed to be covered in bloody snot all over my face. No lodged object, just snot. The Dr. tells me, "oh ya, that usually happens." Thanks big helper! He tried several other things- a vacuum type instrument, some small pliers, without numbing and 3 adults holding her down. He finally declared that they will have to surgically remove it and sent us to the surgery floor to get her prepped. We're finishing up the paperwork and they get an IV in her and then the Dr comes running in and says, "cancel the surgery! We're sending her over to an E.N.T.(ear, nose and throat) specialist and he'll see her right away. So they unhook her from everything, have me fill out more papers to transfer her, and that was the end of our 3 hour ER visit. Off to Placentia. Maddie fell asleep on the drive and was making some really funny whistling noises with that thing in her nose! We get there, get right in, and the 1st thing the Dr. does is put numbing spray in her nose- what a novel idea! He proceeds to try an array of tools to extract the darn thing, to no avail. At one point he looked up the other nostril, and discovered that he could see the object on that side too. He sent his nurse to call the hospital to book an O.R., and then decided to try 1 more time and, bingo! That sucker finally came out! Oh, but the fun does not stop there my friend! It turns out that the mystery object was a battery from a booklight. It was a 1/2 inch diameter battery- the button type that goes in watches. And the reason the Dr. could see it in the other nostril is because the battery started corroding, and the acid ate thru the cartilege in her nose, perforating her septum. So now we go back to the Dr. in a week to check the extent of the damage. At this point the Dr. is pretty sure she'll need reconstructive surgery. Great, only we would have a 5 year-old with a nose job!
So,the moral of this story is don't bother cleaning your bathroom,because it's just going to get dirty again anyways, and if you're going to stick something up your nose, stay away from batteries!

What the battery looked like at 12:30 when it went into her nose.

What the battery looked like after being in her nose for 6 hours.

Haha...the joke's on you!

I thought I'd give you all a good laugh when I sent out our Christmas cards with our blog address on it. I figured it would motivate me and get me blogging again. Um, ya...it didn't work. What finally got me was when I saw my good friend Amy, who was visiting on Sunday, and saw that she was 5 months pregnant (and I had no idea. I know, great friend, huh?!) that made me realize I need to get my act together because not only have I not been blogging, I also have not been reading blogs. So, here in a nutshell is a recap of the Casida Crew's last 8 months....

Grandpa Chitwood passed away in June. Sean got engaged in September(?). My kids started a new school- Jordan Elementary, and we're all loving it! I have gone from PTA President to lowly PTA member who occasionally volunteers and is virtually unkown at Jordan and loving it! Spent Thanksgiving in the Bay Area/ San Francisco with the Funderburk family. Mom was in the hospital for about 10 days right before Christmas with pneumonia. We celebrated what felt like 20 different Christmases. It was a rough one with both Grandma and Grandpa Chitwood gone. It's so weird that they were both here last Christmas, and both gone this one. Notice the pattern...JJ got married in January (2009), Grandma passed away in February. Ryan got married in May, Grandpa passed away in June. Sean just got married January 2nd, 2010 so Nana better watch her back because we have not had a good track record with grandparents. I'm just saying....;) Anyway, like I mentioned earlier, Sean married Amber on January 2nd, and yes, for those of you keeping track, I have been married for 12 years and then my brothers all decided to get married in 1 years span. Sean & Amber had a Scottish wedding, which meant all of the guys in the family wore kilts, even my boys. It was an evening ceremony in Mesa, AZ at their friends' gorgeous home/backyard. Fun was had by all! The day after the wedding our family drove up to Williams where we rode the Polar Express. It was a blast and we're already planning our trip to go back next year! The following morning we drove another hour to the Grand Canyon to take in the amazing views there. There was snow, it was freezing, but it was worth it! Trevor got Student of the Month in February which was awesome. Nate won a gold medal in History at the Academic Day of Excellence a few weeks ago. He was on a team of 4 competing against all of the other schools in the district. We are so proud of both boys! Maddie has lost her first 2 teeth in the last couple of weeks, and got all of her immunizations so she's all ready to start Kindergarten in the fall- and boy is she ready! I think that covers most of the big events that have been happening around here. Here are some pictures of some of the above mentioned events. Love to all!

A Cub Scout No More!

At the end of March, Nate received a bunch of awards that he earned in cub scouts. (This was the 1st pack meeting they had since Nate turned 11 in January).
He earned his Webelos Badge, among many others, which comes with a mother's pin that he's pinning on me below. I wasn't nervous while he was doing this, but I must say that I got a flash of fear thinking I'll have to go thru this with Trevor in a couple of months....SCARY!



They then did the Arrow of Light award presentation
Followed by the Bridging from Cubs to Boy Scouts where the Cub Scouts sent him on his way over the bridge, and the Boy Scouts met and welcomed him on the other side. Very cool!