Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

 Mikayla

 Alaina

Alaina's scary moment

I should say right away that Alaina is perfectly fine, but gave us quite a scare when she had a seizure on Sunday, December 18th.  We were attending church in Belle Plaine for Mikayla's Sunday school Christmas program & Alaina was sleeping peacefully in her carseat.  Around 9:50am, I noticed she was starting to wake up in her car seat & within seconds I knew something wasn't quite right.  She had this strange look on her face & then her eyes started to roll up & she was shaking & not responding to us like she normally would.  I immediately got her out of the carseat, took her out of the church & asked the small group of people that were standing by the door if they knew a nurse or doctor.  I told them that I thought something was wrong & that I thought she was having a seizure.  At this moment, I dropped to my knees in the hallway, holding Alaina & cried, watching my little girl & feeling so helpless.  Someone called 911 for me right away & another lady from our church was kneeling right next to me with her arm around me, helping to keep me calm.  I believe the seizure lasted for about 2 minutes, but that two minutes seems like eternity in my mind.  The seizure stopped & within minutes, she was her normal, happy, smiley self, which was a great relief.  The seizure stopped before the ambulance arrived, but they took Alaina & I in the ambulance to Ridgeview Medical Center in Waconia as a precaution while Randall, Mikayla & Nolan drove separately in our van.  Of course, this was the one time that both Randall & I accidentally left our cell phones at home.   The paramedic in the ambulance let me borrow his phone & I was able to call my mom & dad so they could come to the hospital & pick up Mikayla & Nolan.  The ER was quite a busy place that Sunday morning & there was only one doctor, so there was quite a lot of waiting.  We were probably in the ER for about 4-5 hours where they were able to draw her blood to run some tests & take a CT scan.  The tests came back normal & because her seizure wasn't fever related  & had never happened before, they had to send us to children's hospital in Minneapolis to get an MRI.  We arrived at children's around 4:30pm where Alaina & I spent the night. Her EEG was scheduled for 8:30am Monday morning, but her MRI wasn't able to be scheduled until 4pm (and didn't actually happen until 6pm) Monday afternoon, so it was a long day.  We finally were told around 8pm that her MRI was normal (GREAT NEWS!!) & that we could go home.  After being discharged, we got home around 10pm & were ready for bed.  Although we don't really know what caused her seizure, we are keeping a close eye on her & hoping it will not happen again.  We will keep all of you posted if there are any new developments.

 Waiting in the ER with Alaina

Alaina in her bed at Children's Hospital

(sorry this is a little small. was taken with my camera phone & I don't know how to make it bigger :)

Our little Prima Ballerina

We enjoyed watching Mikayla dance during the Just For Kix winter show on Saturday, December 17th.  She seems to enjoy dance very much & loves getting dressed up for the shows.  Unfortunately, we probably won't be able to have her join the Just for Kix dance program next year due to the timing of practices, but are hoping to find another dance studio that will work.

Painting fun

Mikayla & Nolan enjoying some paint time

Visiting Santa & Mrs. Claus

The kids & I (Randall had to work late) enjoyed Belle Plaine's annual tree lighting ceremony on Thursday, Dec. 1st at the park where they had horse drawn wagon rides, hot apple cider, cookies & of course, Santa & Mrs. Claus.  Mikayla & Nolan are not yet brave enough  to sit on Santa's lap, but Mikayla wanted to sit on Mrs. Claus's lap & tell her all about the lalaloopsy doll she would like to get this year.

 Waiting for the wagon ride to begin.  Alaina got to enjoy the ride as well, but she was cozily bundled up in her car seat next to my feet.

Mikayla telling Mrs. Claus all about the lalaloopsy doll

Sisterly love!

Mikayla enjoying some Alaina time.  There is never a shortage of hugs & kisses for Alaina!

Thanksgiving 2011

 Alaina taking a nice nap on Thanksgiving day

 

Seydie & Mikayla singing karaoke while Hazelynn & Tristan patiently wait for their turn

Luann & Alaina

 Nolan enjoying some toys

 Amber & Hazelynn playing a game

We enjoyed our annual Thanksgiving gathering with my family at the Nicollet Conservation Club.  There is always lots of room for the kids to run & play, karaoke to sing, food to eat & families company to enjoy!

Our first snowfall

November 19th- Although the snow didn't last long, Mikayla & Nolan enjoyed it while it was here.