Cameron Howard

Please keep Cameron and his family in your thoughts today as this morning at 8:45am he went into brain surgery. What a procedure on the 5 year old!! Clink on his link and give his family some words of encouragement. Thanks all you prayer warriors!
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/cameronhoward

Visits

Friday afternoon Papa and Claudia came over to do our celebrating for the holidays. When they first arrived Danny was doing PT so I kicked them out as lil man was paying more attention to the chit chat in the other room then with Mr Dan. Of course Danny then fell asleep either to the doctor outings we were at Friday morning or cuz he was mad I sent them away and he couldn't go along....needless to say no PT was done. Here are some pictures of our great time together. My grandparents came over for dinner too.....I cheated and ordered Chinese but it was GREAT.

Can you say Monkey see Monkey do....that's what I think when I see this picture of these two, heehee. This is Dan and his Dad Dan aka Papa......I will post again with a "Dan Legacy" soon.

Here is our newest addition to the family....Elizabeth, Avrianna's American Girl Doll that she got from Papa & Claudia
How Sweet!
Oh MY....they aren't related are they, Their resemblances are stunning!
The KINGS of BS right here in my living room.....and boy was it flying, LOL. It was such a blast listening to their stories.

The coolest firetruck ~ that Danny got from Papa & Claudia.....this thing does everything...moves every which way, the ladder moves up/down and even spins around, and it has a siren. Everyone enjoyed playing with it. Danny got another firetruck that I can adapt to work with his switch, YAY! This one is just for "SHOW"

Then today Uncle Tim and Amanda came over and we had a WONDERFUL visit. It was so nice to see them again. I realized that they really are not that far away...only about 1.5hr away so once Danny is out of his brace I think we're going to road trip and visit them. It's always a really nice time when we get together with them. We MISS you guys.....thanks for all the goodies. Avrianna is already excited about her week to pick out a dinner (our new twist to dinner...we rotate weeks and once a week someone needs to pick out something new out of a cookbook) as she got two great kids cookbooks from them. They brought wonderful Christmas present for the kids and even a bottle of wine with a dip for us. Uncle Tim and Amanda had their first experience with Wii today as they played bowling with Avrianna. Don't worry guys I won't use them at the wedding....just going to post a few good ones on here, LOL. Thanks again for the great visit we definitely need to get together more often.Yeap his 6 year old God Child beat him at bowling ~ Go Avrianna!!Best Friends FOREVER!!

I hope everyone that is staying warm....we are expected to get highs in the negative teens this week around here....This is just CRAZY!! Take care and please post in our comments or guestbook to let us know you stopped by.

Stuff

Yesterday was a day filled of a whole lot of nothing, let me explain. Danny was scheduled to have his first OT but I received an email in the am that the therapist would not be coming out as she woke up with pink eye....thanks for canceling Ms Kristi and we hope you feel better. Hope to see you next week! So the afternoon was pretty much open with the exception of Avrianna's swimming. Well she was suppose to have swimming but when we arrived we found the doors at Club West to be locked and the establishment no longer in business....WTF? No phone call, no letter, no nothing! So needless to say Avrianna was VERY disappointed and had wet eyes as we left to go back home. I will have to find some where else to take her for swimming, sigh. Once we got home I filled the tub up, loaded it with bubbles, and with her swim suit and goggles on in she went, heehee. A mini swim if you will.

Then I got ready to GO OUT! I know I couldn't believe it myself. The neighbors took me out to Waverly for dinner and then we saw Neal McCoy. We had a great time...I even caught his autographed hat that he threw into the audience....I'm never lucky like that, WOW. I got his CD too! But on a somber note.....I had fun and all but reality still seems to slap me in the face, good and bad....I went to use the restroom which of course if FULL at these functions only to find a lady in the first stall had fallen (she had fixed AFO's on and used a cane). The floor was wet because of all the snow and crap outside so I can only assume her cane slipped out from under her and there she laid....with the bathroom full NO ONE was helping her, I was appalled....so after another women helped me to unlock the door I went into the stall to help her out. I'm sure she was just beside herself not only to have fallen but with her pants still down none the less. Then you have all these drunk women in the bathroom staring, making comments, but not helping....WHATEVER! Thankfully the women who helped unlock the door for me realized I had all I could do to pick her up and helped balance her for me to pull her pants up....she wasn't the lightest, but I couldn't leave her lay there. I didn't want to open the door till her pants were up, to give her some dignity. I felt awful for her and the situation that no one helped her until I came. She was so apologetic and kept saying you don't HAVE to help me......with my reply YES, YES I DO!! I just couldn't get back into the swing of the concert after that, but I still did have a good time overall. I GOT his hat,LOL.

Today was a full day! The kids and I went to Theda Clark to the Children's Specialty clinic to have Avrianna's follow-up appt with the surgeon. She got a GOLD star! Everything looks great! Her hemoglobin was 13.9 OMG that is awesome, no wonder why she is bouncing off the walls as her "normal" was around 9-10. The surgeon stated he was impressed with how well her numbers have progressed and in such a short time. Her platelets are High but with my understanding that too will get better. As her bone marrow has been used to reproducing her blood cells faster all the time with the spleen in and it just has to get use to having no spleen.

I got word today that the family is going to go on a Dolphin excursion in one of the ports on Avrianna's Make A Wish trip. I thought she would LOVE to swim with the dolphins but was unsure if we were going to be able to all go together because of the lack of accessiblity. We ARE, and she is SO EXCITED!!

Danny had his follow up appt with Dr Kasper on his incisions and he to got a GOLD Star too! There is one area the looks as the start of a pressure soar, but we caught it in time so it shouldn't cause too much problems...I just have to keep it clean, lubed, and loosen the brace. Other then that the kids are good! Danny had his PT come out today, but Danny wasn't into it at all. Looks like Ms Maria and Mr Scott Danny the most alert this time. This is what we got............

Poor Danny, the fresh air and out of the house for the first time in 3 weeks must have wiped him out! So no PT for him today, but Mr Dan and I were able to catch up on the goals and things that we are planning on doing for Danny in the next few months. I am so excited to get the therapies back up and running.

Dan's dad is coming tonight to celebrate Danny's birthday, Christmas, and New Years with us so a good time will be had tonight. It's always a blast when Papa and Claudia come down to visit. Avrianna is so excited to hang out with Claudia....these two are TWO PEAS IN A POD, they have SO MUCH FUN together! My grandparents will be joining us for drinks and dinner too so let me tell you the BS will be flying around here. Both my grandfather and Papa Dan are the KINGS of story telling, so I'm thinking I should put one of Danny's diapers on just to be safe, LOL. Well need to get things ready around here before everyone walks in the door at the same time.

Take care....please sign our guestbook or comment at the end of the post. The kids love it when it to them. If interested take a look at our current house that is for sale in the link Our Stories to the left. Thanks for following our journeys.

Great Day

My lil Eskimo!!

What a day yesterday was!! Danny was AWESOME in therapy....he surprised Ms Maria and Mr Scott with all that he could do. YAY!! Even with being laid up in bed for the last few weeks and in pain he was ON HIS GAME. Danny activated his toy, had purposeful movement, and even had the appropriate facial expressions during a conversation. We were talking about something funny and all of a sudden Danny got this smile on his face....let me tell you it would melt ice, LOL. Ms Maria has some new ideas that she would like to try with lil man in regards to purposeful movement which would prepare him for a possible communication device down the road...OMG! Can you say AWESOME!! All the things I was told he would NEVER due communicate was the biggest blow to me....to NEVER hear MOM or I LOVE YOU I still have a hard time with this, but to know that maybe someday HE will tell me what he wants (maybe not in the English version but .......HELL who cares, if he can express to me in anyway what he wants that will MAKE MY DAY!!!) It's amazing how priorities change and how you look at things differently now. All I want is for my son to be "normal"....fight with his sister, run around with friends, sas back, and eat junk food. So much people take for granted!!!!!

Avrianna had a blast in Theatre class and she even lucked out not going to get labs....So a good day! She wasn't so lucky today for labs but now they are done and I can only hope no more in the near future. She was so brave until we got into the lab room and then.....well it could have been worse, LOL. She got a cool band aid and some stickers and then we were off to the library & dilly bars to "make it better". Again amazing what you take for granted....Avrianna is six and has been in for lab work so many times I can't even count. I would give anything to take those memories away for her, sigh!

While Avrianna was at Theatre class I went to GW (my cool way of saying Goodwill,LOL). I know I've been loosing some inches as my pants have been getting baggier, but I didn't know I lost that many, YAY!! So in your face Wii Fit, heehee. I can't believe it....I bought size pants that I haven't been in since High School. WOOHOO!! I'm still not at the weight I'd like to be at, but the size I am....isn't that weird, but I'm sure carrying my 55lbs son around is helping with muscle weight, argh!!! I've always been "Big boned" so I'm happy with where I am despite what Wii fit says. So again a good day....I was doing the happy dance in the dressing room and then had to show off my new buys to Dan (which I NEVER do!) LOL. I was so happy with myself....to have lost over 100lbs and get back to may HS size pants, ROCK ON!

Avrianna and I went out the house site today and they roof is starting go on, WOW. Here are some pics of lil mans room getting the roof put on!

Take care! Check out our post of our current house that is for sale = link is on the left in Our Stories. We would love it if you signed our guestbook or post a comment to let us know you stopped by...thanks for following our journeys!

Routines

We are slowly getting back into our routines around here. Avrianna has finished her school work and is outside (she's NUTS) playing with the neighbor girl and Danny is awaiting his first therapy since we've returned from Florida (a month ago today). Wow did we have alot of stuff happen in the last month, amazing! Now I know why I have BOXES (yeah who needs bottle when they have boxes) of wine stacked up, LOL. Gotta have my wine!! Yesterday Danny's vision teacher was suppose to come out but due to the the ice rink that was still in our driveway we rescheduled for next week. Today is Speech and the teacher, Thursday is OT, and Friday is PT.....they all come to the house and do therapy with Danny so at least I don't have to worry about getting him out in this weather or catching one of the wonderful bugs that linger in the schools. He has been doing well respiratory wise since surgery (knock on wood....I shouldn't have even mentioned it as Danny has a tendency to throw me curve balls when I think I've got it under control, LOL) and I want him to stay that way! I've been doing more and more range of motion with him through the day so he gets pretty wiped out by evening. I just feel bad that he has to lay in his bed all day and all night for 6 weeks, poor thing, so the least I can do is give him massages and range to get the muscles moving. That has got to suck being stuck laying down with your legs spread open all the time.
This week Avrianna starts her Theatre class and swimming. She is so excited to get back in the pool again. Not just to swim but to show Ms Stacy how well she is doing the breast stoke and to show her how much more energy she has. Avrianna thinks she can swim alot longer now and she wants to show it off. You GO GIRL!! She was doing so well in swimming before surgery that we were even asked if she wants to join a swim team (she just turned 6). I am amazed! So I am interested in seeing her stamina now after surgery. We've never had anyone in a swim team before so that would be fun. Avrianna has to go in to get some post surgery lab work done before her visit to the surgeon on Friday....YIKES! That is no small feet, she HATES needles, but can't say I blame her. I am going to get creative and take her today before her theatre class tonight so hopefully it won't be too bad. I'm so mean, I know!!
I've been doing some research on Avrianna's Disney Cruise and I think it will be a good time. I'm a lil disappointed in the lack of accessibility ~ it's a great family thing if you're ambulatory. Most of all the ports are not accessible so getting Danny off the ship and going sightseeing as a family is becoming an issue but I am working hard to get that changed. Avrianna was VERY disappointed when I told her Danny might not be able to get off the ship so one of us would have to stay behind with him. That didn't go well AT ALL!! She's such a GREAT big sister to Danny she loves him and protects him so much. I must be doing something right, LOL! At times I wonder what is the best and am I doing the right things, but when I see the devotion they have for each other I know, it's all good.
This morning our adoption social worker came over and we are going to put the adoption process on hold till May. I'm disappointed about it but with the miscommunication, scheduling, our travel plans it's the best route right now. So when we get back from Florida we will be working diligently to complete our home study so we can bring more joy into our lives with another child. I'm so excited!! Just wish this journey wasn't as hard as it has been on us....first not being able to get the lil girl overseas, last minute, and now because of miscommunication another delay. It WILL be all worth it in the long run!!
Take care and thanks for stopping in to check on us. Please take some time to sign our guestbook or make a comment at the end of each post. The kids love it when I read your comments to them. Also if interested in seeing our current house that is for sale click on the link to the left in Our Stories section

WISH Granted!!

Today I got the phone call that Avrianna was excepted for her Make A Wish ... we are going on a Disney Cruise in February. She is so EXCITED!! I don't have all the information yet but she wanted me to post her good news. I know is it a Western Caribbean cruise and it's for 7 nights on the Disney Magic ship, but that's about it. I will post again later.

What an Ice Rink

OMG ~ This winter is just brutal!! I can't believe we came home for this....If Danny could travel I would be on the road, right now, back down to Florida. They say we haven't had a winter like this since the late 1880's. Last night it rained here...the air temp was great for rain but the ground not so much. Once the water hit the ground it instantly froze!! Everything looks like an ice rink. Dan gets to drive home in this crap as he is still in Tomahawk, YIKES!! Is it February yet...Florida here we come. The shine on EVERYTHING isn't due to it being wet...it's ALL ICE!
Last night I signed myself up on Facebook. That is fun!! Another addicting outlet for me :). Can you tell how much I get out? .....NEVER! So I sit and chat it up on the computer. I talked to so many of my classmates last night, it was AWESOME! Hey Guys!!!! I can't wait to rekindle old friendships once again. I was amazed to see how many of them still live in the area....again I don't get out much, heehee.
Avrianna woke up twice last night due to tummy aches (but I knew that was going to happen because she played so hard yesterday). She is still sleeping but that is to be expected with a rough night. I am going to call Monday and see if I should have her checked out. I don't think it is anything too alarming as the pain comes and goes so I'm still thinking it is spasms. But you never know after major surgery so I'll call....Friday she has her follow-up appt with the surgeon, but I don't think I am going to let it go that long without a simple phone call....call me over acting, LOL!
Danny slept pretty well...as well as you can with a HUGE brace on. He is such a trooper! I haven't had to give him any pain meds in the last 2 days, YAY!! It amazes my how well my kids are doing after their surgeries. He is awake and sounding like a motor (so junky) I am going to give him Mr Jiggles alil extra today and hope that clears things out. Not sure what is bring on the extra secretions but hoping I can get it under control. Never a dull moment here at the Osero House.
Connie gave me a plaque yesterday and it's so appropriate: Hope ~ Learn from yesterday, Live for today, and Hope for tomorrow. If it's one thing that I have learned in this journey.... You NEVER know what tomorrow brings so be thankful for what you have TODAY as Tomorrow you may not have it. Appreciate yourself, hold your love ones close, and go with the flow. Take care!
Check out our house that is for sale if interested ~ link is to the left in Our Stories

Visit from the Niemuth's

Today we got a visit from our good friends Connie, Griffin, and Rhiannon. We had a great time! The girls played very well together (Avrianna had to be reminded again that she had surgery and she needed to relax once she came to me the second time with her tummy aches, sigh), Connie and I had a few cocktails, and the boys laid around being the good boys they are. Danny was not into the visit too much, he seemed wiped out today. Avrianna got into Danny's bed to hang out with him this evening ~ here's a picture of the two monkeys, LOL. He's wide awake now....see his smile. I can't wait till his brace comes off and I can cuddle with him in his bed again....not enough room for me to fit too.

I set up a hair appt for next Tuesday on the 13th. I will be again donating my hair to Locks of Love. Dan isn't too excited my hair will be short again, but it won't be short for too long. I looked and it was a year ago today that I donated 11". So it took a year to all grow back. With our frequent stays at the hospital I see so many kids walking around with no hair.....I can give back! So I made a pack with myself that once a year I will get my hair cut and donate it to these kids. I will have to post before and after pictures that day. Well not too much to report today, Take care!

House For SALE By Owner!!

This is our current house. We are looking to move into our new house this fall so I'm getting our current one out there and see how it does. Whether we wait and move out when the new house is ready or move out early it all depends on the market out there!!

Looking to relocate, downsize, up size, go to a Ranch style, or just something new. Then take a look at what this house has to offer. It is a located on E Shady Ln in Town of Menasha which is in the Neenah School district and just 5 minutes from downtown Neenah or into Appleton. It has a great location out of town but yet a stone throw away from town. For those of you looking for that country feel but close enough to all the action.
It is a Ranch style home (sq ft 1,700 of gross living area) and it is an open concept: all on the main floor 3 large bedrooms = one master and 2 addl with large closets (all on the same side of the house), 2 full baths(1 master) & 1 1/2 bath, dining area, Kitchen, laundry, Huge pantry, wood fireplace, and more closets. All appliances are included! I am possibly looking at leaving the Dining set/Hutch/and dry bar along with the house too. Most of the window treatments are staying with the house too. The basement is unfinished but is already plumbed for a bathroom and has the capability of another living room, office, and 2 more bedrooms, so there is ample room to grow with this house or to just have ALOT of storage space. It has a 3 car attached garage the is totally finished with tongue and grove wood and peg board surrounding and with a wood ramp (can be removed) into house. An extra wide driveway for all those additional toys! It is located on just over half acre and is wonderfully landscaped with fruit trees, evergreens, shrubs, flowers, and cement curbing around house. It has a large deck off the back of the house and an attached hot tub (110V) that will be staying with the house. I am also looking at leaving the playgym outside too. It even has a well ~ we test it every year to make sure in safe levels for Danny and it tests better then city water, YAY! For more info if interested please email myself at osero@sbcglobal.net

KitchenIn kitchen looking into dining area and living roomHalf bath off of kitchen/garage areaOne Bedroom (closet is a walk in) - used as a play room now2nd Bedroom - full wall closetKids Full bathMasterMaster bathLaundry RoomBasement (play area)

Entry to house from Garage

The backyard in the winter (fenced with trees!)Some of the wildlife ...here's the turkeys in our driveway/road in the front yard. We also have a 12 point buck hanging around our back yard in the farmers field.Thanks for your interest and checking it out!

Pig Video & Half Way ~ 3rd Post

Well here is the link to Danny activating the pig switch toy. Now that I know it takes awhile to get the video's on here....but I figured it out. Yay! (the ohho at the end is because Elmo fell out of the bed, heehee)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlC9OIiOrD8

Oh yeah forgot to mention what today is............HALF WAY!! 3 weeks ago today the kids had their surgeries and 3 weeks from today Danny should be getting out of his brace. Woohoo!! As you can see on his arms still he can hold onto a bruise forever......three weeks out and he is still green and yellow all over, sigh.

Take care!

Video of Danny Talking - 2nd post

Sorry I was unable to get all the video's on one post....here's the next one. I will post the video of Danny playing with his pig next. They take FOREVER to download! I've been trying for the last few hours to just get 3 videos, argh.

This next one is......yeap I got him chattering up a storm....it's awesome. Here's his VOICE! I think he realized I wasn't going to leave him alone so he'd better just show it off to me, LOL. Isn't he a ham? I wasn't too sure I was going to get anything from him yesterday as in the afternoon he was having a rough day. He cried alot, so I couldn't take it anymore. I picked him up and sat in the recliner with him. I HAD to cuddle with my lil guy!! Thank god we have an over sized rocker recliner as we took up ALL of it, heehee. I got to cuddle with my lil man, YAY! He even fell asleep in my arms, smile!! So that tells you what I did in the afternoon, NOTHING but cuddle with lil man! I got sucked into one of those Hallmark movies so that's what Danny and I did. Isn't it great I got to watch a sappy movie with my babes in my arms, how WONDERFUL. After his nap he was in such a good mood, hoping I had alil to do with it too :), so I got the camera out and hoped for the best. This is what I got!

Here is the Link to You Tube...I find this easier. I am still working on the pig one!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtO35Xx3GKg

Videos!!! 1st post

I think I figured the videos out, Yay! They just take forever to download on here I guess. Here are some videos I took of my lil man (and Ms Avrianna). This first one is of Danny turning on his new Pig switch activated toy he got for Christmas. I tired to adapt Elmo Live but had no such luck yesterday. Well here he is making his toy GO!! I couldn't get him to turn it off...even when we took his hand away from his brace as you can see he clenched onto it....LOL. The boy knows what he wants to play with.

This next one is him watching his Elmo....this is a cool toy. Unfortunately I have to activate it but he really loves listening to him and watching him move around (yeah I know he is "blind" but can you see him "looking" at the toy, YAY!). I know he sees more then he is given credit but I also think he can "see" with his ears....make sense? He also got an iflop...which is also a great toy for him. It is a stuffed frog (you might be able to see it int he background) with headphones on and he plays Danny's CD's (can do mp3's) and the headphones are speakers that light up to the beat of the music. This will catch his eyes too :)

Only I can get the Wii fit and still manage to gain weight, ugh! I only gained 2.5lbs so not too bad but still in the WRONG direction. I guess the butter saturated foods and desserts didn't do me wonders. So Wii and I have to "bond" alil better the next few days. I blame Dan for this one...he is such a GREAT cook and we have so much fun working in the kitchen together (I know, weird) that the past few days I just my routine down. Dan is gone for a few days up North so I will be tackling those extra lbs hard!

I hope you all had a great and safe New Year day and the start of 2009 is a healthy and happy one. Take care! I added some new kiddos to my list of sites I follow if you have time check them out. What a bunch of great kids and families!

Happy New Year ~ 2009

Once again The Osero household had a laid back holiday.....I LOVE IT!! We were all in bed early, we ALL got a good nights sleep, and we all feel great this morning. Now isn't that a great way to ring in the New Year. I have never gone OUT for the New Year and celebrated....too many drunks out (Ametuer night) and who needs the added stress of drinking and driving or getting killed by one....not a very good start to a New Year, HEY? So Dan and I made twiced baked potatoes, shrimp scampi, bunch of munchies, and a cheesecake.....and ate like royality. So much for the low carbs....LOL. Then we all played Wii and I got a chance to burn off some of the dinner, heehee. The kids are healthy and for us that is a GREAT start to a NEW Year. Have a wonderful day and spend it with the people who matter the most! Reflect on yesterday, Live life for today and hope for GREAT things tomorrow!! Happy New Year from the Osero's

Good Bye 2008

I can't believe today is the last day of 2008, the year just flew bye once again. Where does the time go? I can't say I'm going to miss 2008 as is was pretty rough around here.....Avrianna had her first Aplastic Anemic Crisis, Danny had multiple respiratory issues (in the summer), and to add the cherry on the top ended with both kids surgeries. That's just a some of the major issues. I'm looking forward to 2009 and hoping it is filled with many good things our way. With both kids surgeries behind them I can only hope for GREAT things next year. We will be moving into our new house in the fall so that in itself is exciting!!
Last night we had family movie night and watched Kung Fu Panda, again.....yeap it was painful but Avrianna & Danny love it!
Stay safe tonight! Reflect on the past, Live life for today, and move towards the future!! Not too much to report so that's nice for you guys, LOL. Happy New Year, 2009!

Appt, Appt, and more Appts!

Boy how exhausting today was. I sat on the phone ALL morning coordinating appts for the kids (well mostly Danny). After hours of moving things around it's all done....I hope. I have 3 full days of appts for Danny on Jan 21-22 and then again Feb 4. He is going to get a complete run down of follow-ups not only from the surgery but also with ALL the specialists that see Danny. 3 days to fit in all the docs, WOW.....I think the list is too long, LOL.
Let it snow...........AGAIN, ugh. I wish I could click my heels 3 times and say "There's no place like Florida", heehee. Time is just not moving fast enough for me and ALL this snow is making it worse. Too dream, sigh!!! We are anticipating another 6" tonight, YUCK.
Danny has been playing possum with the camera and getting him to "talking", so no go there...but I have the camera close and hidden so just maybe I can catch him, LOL. He got a clean over today with a sponge bath, nail clipping, hair washing, and then his favorite a lotion massage. He even gave me those eyes like.....Oh don't stop this is HEAVEN. I managed to slip my hand down the back of his brace and give his lower back a rub down. He LOVED it!!
Avrianna has been back in the swing of things with her school work. It was alil rough to get the routines back in place since surgery but we are pulling ahead once again. We have incorporated the new Wii Fit games that we got for Christmas in for our daily PE. We have a great time playing it together and it keeps us moving inside...hopefully getting Mom in shape too, LOL. Avrianna also got alot of computer school stuff so she was SO excited when I downloaded all of her material onto our old laptop. She has been working so hard and doing such a great job ..... she deserves it!
We are getting more disappointing news in regards to the adoption process. This whole getting the home study done is becoming a ROYAL pain. The social worker is coming out to the house for our meetings which is very helpful for us but to get the "training" done is nuts. Dan and I had already done our 16 hours training but because it was with our first agency the second wouldn't honor it so we need to do it over on their terms. With the first one we were able to due Internet courses so we could do it on our time frame, but with this new one we need to meet somewhere and the options are not working for us. Dan had gone to part of it and was going to finish it in Jan but instead they didn't sign him up for it and now the course is FULL. So Dan can't finish his part and I can't get mine done. I had planned for this and even had gotten someone to watch the kids for us....but now we can't get in. I requested forms twice to get registered with no replies from a social worker and now we are OUT OF LUCK! I am so pissy.....don't go the extra mile to help out a family that wants a child. The system SUCKS right now!
Please keep our good CB family in your thoughts today as today would have been Angel Jayden's birthday. They are missing him so MUCH! To follow their story www.caringbridge.org/visit/jayden HAPPY Birthday Jayden....balloons were sent off your way!
Take care!

Lines are Back UP

With the wonderful winterland we are having for weather around here my phone line was down and then went my DSL, sigh....So two days later I am back up and running, YAY! It gave me some time to get the new laptop I got up and running though. Dan and I didn't really do any presents for ourselves this year with the new house we decided that we didn't need anything. But after the holiday there was a great sale going on around here and we decided that we wanted to upgrade a few of our things so we got a new laptop and a digital camera. I am hoping that I figure out the camera and can get some video's of the kids on here soon. That was one of my requests that the camera can also take videos with sound. I can't wait to show off lil man's voice. He can be stingy with it so I'm hoping I can get it!! I sense a challenge here, LOL.

Avrianna is doing well, but she continues to OVER DUE it during the day and wakes up in the middle of the night with tummy pains. So I need to get her to settle down more, but with her having MORE energy now since the surgery it is becoming NOT an easy task. She has a follow up with the surgeon on the 9th and he is coming here to the Valley so I don't have to drive down to Milwaukee for a 5 min appt.

Danny is doing better with his pain so I think he is on the right side of the road to recovery. He continues to want to keep his wounds "dirty or wet" so he's been keeping me busy. Knock on wood here but no infections and the sites are looking better and better every day. Now the hardest part of this is not being able to hold him...it's tearing me apart.

Today I went out for some errands (without kids) and it was a nice break away. I was able to go out and about at my own leisure. I even got a chance to run out the new house site and we have WALLS, Yay! I was excited to see that...with the crappy weather I had thought it would be slow moving.

Front entry

Bedrooms Avrianna to the left, Master in the middle, Master bath, and Danny's far rightRear of house and Guest Bedroom (to left)Looking at rear of house from the South

Take care!!

Cleaning Up

Today I am starting to get life back to "normal". I am putting the Christmas stuff away and then if I have time I'm going to take the tree down. This season I'm just not into it.....usually the tree and decorations are up the day after Thanksgiving and not taken down till Jan 2nd, but not this year. I got the stockings and (thanks to Avrianna and my aunt) the tree up this year just in the nick of time and I'm already looking forward to taking it down. Don't get me wrong this Christmas was awesome with not having to go ANYWHERE, just hanging out with Dan and the kids, and playing with all the toys (it was so great I do believe it's going to be a new tradition around here, sorry famiy). But my mind set really wasn't into the Holiday in general. I had a bunch of munchie food ready so when people stopped by then I was ready for some entertaining. Most everyone stopped by to see the kids and say their Merry Christmas's so that was great. We just didn't go from place to place seeing the same people over and over....they came to us. We had our first Wii party last night with my sister's family...it was GREAT! Fun times had by all. I am so soar now though I've used muscles that I forgot I had. We got the Wii Fit too so I've been doing Yoga, balance games, and Aerobics so that should help in me getting back in shape (at home instead of having to go out). Boy was that a sock to the system.....she (wii) is so brutal.....I'm overweight and not really good at the training yet and she lets you know it....even makes your lil Mii person fat too, LOL. I'm so mad at her it is giving me the incentive to Kick it's BUTT, heehee. I would hate to see what she would have said a month and 10lbs ago...she probably would have just bursting out laughing when I got on it.
Danny is doing better but still requires his pain meds. Yesterday he had another blow out for me, LOL. So I am praying that this incision doesn't get infected. I swear the more I try to keep it clean the more HE thinks he needs to keep it dirty, what a BOY!!
Well just figured out my home phone line isn't working.....but the computer is??? That is weird but will need to call the phone company to see what the deal is. It is super duper foggy here and even raining? Only in Wisconsin can we get a record 39.7" of snow fall in December and then the last few days of December it rains. Well now Dan won't have to put the extension on the snow blower, as the snow banks were getting so tall the snow blower shoot wasn't able to get over them causing everything to hit the banks and blow right back at Dan, LOL. Alot of the snow is melting, YAY! I just hope the temp doesn't drop and this all freeze or it could get dangerous out! Take care

Merry Christmas

I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas Day! Everything at The Osero household went pretty well. I can't say uneventful but we did good. Avrianna slept till 7:30am (which I was totally surprised she slept that long), I could hear her lil feet walk down the hallway and then turn around and RUN back to Dan & my bedroom. She went right over to her Dad's side of the bed to woke him up first...cuz Santa had come, LOL. We got out of bed and went into the living room and lil man was up too..with smiles :) YAY!! We opened our gifts....over here we open each one at a time so we ALL can see what everyone got...needless to say over an hour later the gifts were open. Santa brought the family Wii (we must have all been good to get a "family" gift this year). Avrianna got a Bratz scooter and Danny got Elmo Live, from Santa. Avrianna was so excited that Santa gave more then one gift this year!! With all the kids in the world that he needs to bring gifts for we ask that he only bring one gift for each of our children. Plus it makes it easier on me not having to worry if Santa is bringing over the same things that I buy for them, heehee.

So happy she got a scooter!So many presents they went behind the couch ~ Oh MY!!!
Danny blessed us with a HUGE gift.....a MAJOR blow out, YUCK! I mean MAJOR. It took all of me, Dan, and Avrianna helping to get the job cleaned up. I even had to change all his brace padding, that was alot of fun, NOT! But thanks to all the team work from the family he was cleaned up in not time. Of course because I gave him a sponge bath last night he couldn't stay clean for long. Only CONCERNING issue is that his gauze pads over the questionable incision on his belly were saturated in BM, Oh NO! I cleaned it out as good as I could, poor lil guy cried so hard :( and I put bacitracin ointment with new gauze pads on. Now we are just hoping for the best....no infections....cross your fingers. With an open incision and BM soaked gauze pads things don't look to good thought. I am going to take some more pictures tomorrow (another warning just in case I due post them on here) so Dr Kasper can see them again and we can get his opinion.

It has been SO NICE staying at home this Christmas. No running here and there, going in and out. This is the FIRST Christmas of Danny's life he hasn't ended it in a sensory overload seizure fit.....want to take a guess with how we are doing it next year? I am seriously considering spending it in Florida!

Danny sleeping peaceful during our Christmas Day......after the blow out, LOL! Doesn't he look like a Christmas Angel?? Again Danny was in considerable amount of pain so he missed parts of the holiday but he deserves to just have some serious R&R time to recover. Ms Avrianna is still doing GREAT! She took her tape off last night in the bath tub and she is good to go, they all look wonderful. Dan and Avrianna have been playing Wii ALL DAY (which is so weird as we are not video game people) so that was a great family gift, Thanks Santa!! The big Christmas dinner I had planned has been postponed due to the munching ALL DAY here. I have had snacky foods out since we woke up just about so none of us wanted to sit down and have a BIG dinner. So tomorrow is my homemade lasagna and garlic bread. YUM!!

Opening

AssemblingInstructingAvrianna giving her Dad a run for his Money....she is SO GOOD!!

Have Snow will Shovel ~ 3rd Post

FYI~I deleted the last post of his incisions! Sorry to anyone that I grossed out but that was the only convenient way Dr K could "see" what I was telling him over the phone. Our concern is that the one incision is lifting and separating too much which may cause infection and other issues. Dr. Kasper said it looked OK right now but we need to keep a close eye on it! Sorry again

Avrianna was working so hard to help her Daddy! She wanted to go outside so bad today, so I figured I would let her go out for awhile...she ended up staying out for over an hour and she had a blast.

Two peas in a pod!!

The snow banks are getting so tall you just about lose Avrianna!

Look he CAN hold onto something when HE wants too.....Yeap I'm training him well....he is holding Dan's wine glass. He just needed an incentive!! As you can see Danny and I are not snow people in this family we don't go out in it unless we HAVE to.Just thought this picture turned out neet!! :)We had a nice quiet dinner at home with just us four and Avrianna can't wait to fall asleep so she can wake up early!