Christmas Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

Once again, the holiday season is upon us. With that said, it means I have to write my holiday letter. I always said I wasn’t going to write this generic letter, however this is the 3^rd year I have written and I actually enjoy it. It makes me slow down for just a few minutes out of the year and reflect on where our family has been and what we have done throughout the year!

To start the year off in January, our daughter turned 1. We celebrated the occasion in Horseshoe Bend and it was an amazing event (that she will never remember J). All the family was there and it was a very nice get together. Thanks to everyone who came! This year, we didn’t have too many travel adventures! We only went down to Boise a few times, which isn’t nearly enough. We did get down to Orofino a lot for weekend trips, which is always fun.

Our most memorable trip down to southern Idaho was our 4^th of July camping trip. We had the most amazing time down there for 9 days! We camped and ate and ate, and ate some more!! Haha. The guys did salmon fish and we ended up bringing lots of fish home. George’s parents and brother and his family came up so we had all the kids together for a week. They really enjoyed each others company and Kiersten learned a lot from her cousin Carson, like how to fill her shoes with dirt and SOOO many great facial expressions. We had the luxury of staying in the camper that we bought last year, while the others stayed in tents! This year we went camping a lot and next year we hope to go even more! I could spend every weekend in the camper out of the city if we didn’t have anything else to do!!

In September we had a great time heading to Orofino for the LumberJack Days and County Fair. I have only been back during fair days once since high school graduation so it was something that I was looking forward to and also looking forward to taking Kiersten too. Kiersten got to ride many rides, the carousel was her favorite, and she got to see all the barn animals. She liked the cows the best and was scared of the snorting pigs!

On to some not so memorable events… In June Kiersten had to have surgery to put ear tubes in. She has had a ton of ear infections, and the tubes were such a blessing, however it was hard for her because she didn’t know what we were doing to her, and George and I felt horrible. With that said, just this last week we had to go back to the ear doctor for her 6 month checkup and found out that her left ear tube has already fallen out! I’m hoping that she will not have to have it again, but the odds I think are against us since she has allergies and she already has fluid behind her eardrum. We will see with time. Another slightly difficult time this year was when we moved her into a toddler bed in August. She loved it because she could get out of it anytime she wanted. At first it was hard to keep her in it but after the first few horrific nights she has become accustom to her new bed. She has now become an early morning person though, and I am not too fond of that.

I can’t write a letter without talking about hunting season. George had a great hunting season. He was down in Tensed almost every weekend. The camper became his weekend Home. He enjoyed every minute of it, although he didn’t get a deer. He did however go to Riggins with all the guys for one week, and he shot a bull elk down there. It must not have been very big, because has never bragged about it or showed me the horns. Either way it gave him plenty of GUY time. While George was gone hunting most weekends I stayed home with Kiersten and took up a long lost hobby of mine. I re-taught myself how to crochet again. I decided that I would start selling my crochet hats and it has become a busy little online business/hobby. It’s been a great thing to keep me busy, and George really liked it as well. Since I didn’t complain as much as normal about how much he was gone.

Beyond all those fun PLAY things we did throughout the year, we still have to work. George is still with Boise Cascade and really enjoys it. He took on selling a new product this year and has been traveling for work a bit more. He takes week trips into Montana every few months and he also got to visit Reno for 3 days this year. I am still working at Kootenai Medical Center, and I also really enjoy my job. I took on a new role at the hospital in the middle of this year, It is called Admit and Discharge Nurse. So I see patients when they first come into the hospital and get them settled in and I also help patients discharge out of the hospital on the day they go home. I really enjoy it because it isn’t as stressful as working the floor but I still get to do patient care and most of all get to visit with patients.

This year has been a busy year between work and play and watching Kiersten grow up. We have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and I hope you have enjoyed yours as well. We are looking forward to what 2010 has to bring us and we want to wish your family a Happy Holidays! Take care and we hope to hear from each and every one of you throughout this next year.

Happy Holidays,

The Drakes

Wow…been a long time…

Okay, So I knew it had been a while since I shared our lives with everyone. However I didn’t realize it had been almost 2 months!  Time sure does fly these days!  Well the last couple months we have had some great time.  We spent a lot of the summer in our camper and loved it.  Still didn’t get to go camping at some places we wanted to.  We promised Bret and Tami that we would make it down to the potlatch area this summer and NEVER did.  I swear next year we will!  I really want to go camping down there and see where George spent his high school days!  I know silly but he talks about all these places they went growing up and I’ve never seen them, and I hate that.  Anyhow next summer, I PROMISE.
So as of my last post Kiersten got moved to her toddler bed.  She loves her toddler bed and she still sleeps through the night, which is great.  However, now that she can get out of bed on her own, and open the door on her own, she likes to come into our bedroom at 6:30 am.  I’m not so fond of that wake up time, since she used to sleep in until 8.  I am however getting used it! She is converting me to a morning person, if that is at all possible!  So with that said, I have a new found love… and that is French Pressed coffee.  If you haven’t tried it… do because its the best.  I have never liked drip coffee and I still think it is nasty!!
So in the last few months we have had a few doctors appt: First Dentist appt, follow up eye doctor appt, and of course the normal well baby checkups. I think I already talked about her eye doctor appt.  The doc said she thinks she will only have to wear glasses for another 18 months and we moved on to wire rimmed cute glasses. I’m sure there is pictures in here that I'll post!
Dentist appt. Kiersten's peds doctor was a little concerned about Kiersten’s right upper tooth because it hasn’t come in all the way…or its shorter than the other front tooth.  I’m glad to say that its only because she sucks her thumb.  The dentist wasn’t that concerned.  He did say in the future… we really will have to work at getting her off her thumb, (sounds like an addict haha)  Anyhow not now, its to dependable to get her to sleep haha.
Well baby checkups:  Not sure which ones we have had lately since the last posts…however she is growing up and doing fine.  She says a million words now!  Anything you say, she will repeat or attempt to repeat!  My favorite is when she says I Love ya!  It is the most adorable thing… I may have video footage to put on here I'm not sure.
In September, Kiersten had her first hair cut, and went to her first fair days in Orofino.  It was a lot of fun! And I have a million pictures from the fair.  She got to ride rides, and see all the fair animals!  She even would pet the pigs…well sort of.  Petting consisted of touching it really quickly and then running to the other side of the barn isle!  It was cute and a great experience for her. she really wanted to pet the cows…for some reason she loved them, but their butts were to the fence so we couldn’t .  We may have to visit Great Grandma Drakes house to see the cows next time in Boise. (i think they still have them)
Her first hair cut….haha I’m laughing just thinking about the experience we put her through.  So Grandpa has a ROBOCUT (flobee).  If you don’t know what this is…its a way to cut your hair with a cutting mechanism hooked up to the vacuum.  Okay that sounds crazy in itself.  However, It really does work!  At first, I'm sure she was thinking…wow these people are crazy. But after she got the hair cut she would go over to the vacuum piece and put up to her head like she was cutting her own hair.  She must not have hated it that bad!!  And it was great because it got rid of all her baby fuzzy hair and mom didn’t have to grab a pair of scissors.
Okay so now that I’ve wrote a book, we can get onto the pictures!!

 

Kiersten at the parade…

Looking at the pigs from a distance!!!

Finally got the courage to touch the pig!

Riding in the dump truck with grandpa at the OCI auction!

Horses were her favorites! But she also rode the wale, car, and rescue copter.

And now on to the haircut…

I forgot to get an After shot…but her hair is much better!! Not as fuzzy like baby hair anymore!

Big Girl BED….

So I think there are alot of updates…however the biggest and most important is that kiersten is now in a toddler bed!  She was sick again and before she got sick we thought about puting her in the toddler bed but the month long illness put going to the toddler bed off.  But now that she is better…we are doing good in the toddler bed.   The first couple days were a little tricky.  She didn’t really want to stay in it, it was more like a toy that she could get in and out of!  But now she is sleeping through the night (actually night time has been great from the beginning).  Its nap times that are a little tricky.  she gets up about 3 times before she stays in bed and sleeps…


So with Kiersten sleeping in her own bed…and able to get in and out…sometimes it doesn’t work out so well.  The other day I put her in for a nap.  She cried for a min but I figured she had fallen asleep. I waited 20 min or so and went to check on her and this is where she was… fast asleep!

Her newest thing is she loves to have her life jacket on…she runs into everything with it. Its pretty funny.

Oh her new words… I LOVE YOU! Sound more like “ i luuuhh  yaaah” but its cute!  She actually told me over the phone on my way home from work that she loved me!

Kiersten's Big Picture photo session

We hadn't had professional pictures taken of Kiersten yet and I felt like we should. Here are some images from her session at  "Big Picture".

Eye Doctor APPT...

We went to Dr. Morossy's office today. It was a great visit, besides the fact that I have an 18 month old that doesn't listen! But anyhow... we originally weren't suppose to see her until November however it has been really hard to get Kiersten to wear her glasses lately! So we made an appointment early. Which I'm so glad we did. The doctor said her eyes are much better. Her lazy eye is only lazy about 20% of the time...used to be 50% of the time. She said that was a significant change for the better. She said if we wouldn't have put glasses on her, there was a good chance that she would have been having the lazy eye about 80% of the time. And also she said Kiersten probably doesn't want to wear her glasses because the prescription is way to strong for her. WHOOOHOOO. so her vision is getting better. So she is changing her prescription and we get to order new glasses. They are wire rimmed glasses... Pink.. and this is what they look like!

Here is a picture of her in a bronze pair.... its a bad picture cause she wouldn't hold still but its an idea on what she will look like soon!

OH AND EVEN BETTER NEWS. SHE THINKS SHE WILL ONLY HAVE TO WEAR GLASSES FOR ANOTHER 18 MONTHS OR SO!!

Glasses...

Kiersten is going into get her eyes checked again August 4th! Can't wait to see what her eye doctor says and see if she has to continue to wear them. As you have noticed the last few pictures she doesn't have them on... she hates them anymore. I'm just wondering if her prescription is off...and she can't see as well with them on. Anyhow we will see August 4th! And i'll let ya know! and hopefully...if she has to continue to wear them we will order new ones...cause hers are terribly scratched up these days!

Camping over the 4th of July

Wow,  Its been a month since I wrote on here. So i'm not sure I updated everyone on my throat issue... No news is good news, i guess because everything was fine.
So this summer has already flown by... we went down to southern idaho right after the 4th of July and had an amazing visit with George's Family.  We were down in HSB for the 4th of july so we went down to the HSB firework show.  It was a very very good show for such a small down.  Kiersten loved them.  She just sat on her daddy's lap and watched the fireworks go and blow up.
(Later we were camping and a gun went off and she pointed to the sky and said WOW, i guess she really remembered the fireworks). Anyhow the fireworks were great on Saturday and then on Sunday we took all day pretty much to get ready for camping.  We went shopping for food and packed everything and then Monday morning we headed out to camp.
We camped outside of Cascade, up by Warm Lake.  It was a great relaxing time.  Kiersten loved camping although she was up atleast once every night while out camping, and she slept through the night the first night home.  So I think she was glad to be home.  Anyhow Kiersten had a blast with all of her cousins.  Carson and her played together so well, while Ciara and Calvin were big enough to go fishing with the guys!  We had an amazing camp area set up and it was so fun and relaxing seeing all the family and hanging out, outside all week.  The only bad part about the whole even was the bugs.  There was alot of biting bugs!
We arrived home on Friday, and we picked up everything through the weekend and got back to normal life...however Monday rolled around and George started getting sick.  He didn't sleep through the night for three nights.  I didn't really realize he felt so miserable because he hadn't really complained.  Until Thursday when he got up and went to work and then ended up back home by 9am.  I asked him what was wrong and he said he was sick, and hurt. 
Anyhow his symptoms were severe neck and back pain, cough, and high fevers.  And all around muscle aches.  We went to the doctor, and he tested him for alot of things and ruled everything out.  His diagnoses was that he thought George had West nile virus, and had pneumonia from his body being week and trying to fight the virus.  Anyhow the doctor said that if he gets worse he needs to come back in, however...there is nothing they can do except treat the symptoms. 
So he is on antibiotics for the pneumonia and on pain medicine for the pain.   He was still is very week...however he did start going back to work.  He has to rest alot and gets very week and tired when just walking from the vehicle to the house!  Its a little crazy but I believe that he is getting better!
So here is the pictures from the week of camping...

 On Our way home, waiting for dad…

to fix the flat tire we got on the camper on the way home!

All in all, it was a great camping trip and we can’t wait to go again!!

Giggler in the Rocking Chair

Slightly Scary News...

So I have to write about this right now becuase I just found out today and i'm slightly scared. So I'm not sure if many of you know, I have had a cough for about two months. I finally broke down and went to the doctor. My doctor, I love to death, and she took my complaint pretty serious. Which i'm thankful for. I can see doctors saying, oh you have had a cough for few months...lets give ya some antibiotics and see if it gets better. However, Dr. Jacobson, started with a chest xray, and lab work. The chest xray appeared normal, and my lab work was normal. She was looking for pneumonia and or tumors in my chest, and to make sure I didn't have a clot that went to my lungs. They were both negative, so with those test being negative. She ordered a pulmonary function test. She said she was looking for allergies or asthma. Well my numbers showed that I have asthma. That I'm fine with...a little medication, and i'll be fine. However it also showed that I have a "possable upper airway obstruction, vocal chord dysfunction abnormality." Who knows what this can mean...it can mean a multitude of things from a little vocal chord swelling to something growing in my upper airway/vocal chords. I'm a little nervous about it. When I think about it, I feel like someone is pressing on the front of my vocal chords. (this is probably just me being a hypochondriac) Anyhow....

With these results, it means I have to have more testing done. So my Primary Doctor is referring me to an Ear Nose and Throat doc so he can take a scope down my throat to make sure there isn't something obstructing my airway! Yes, I'm a little nervous about this!! We will see with time. In the mean time i'm trying not to stress about it. Hopefully its just a little inflamation from the pollin in the air!!

Well on a happier note... here is an absolutely adorable picture of kiersten....

SURGERY....

Hello everyone,
I'm glad to say that surgery went WELL. We went in to Kootenai Outpatient Surgery at 6:30 this morning and they pre-op'd Kiersten. They took her out of her PJ's and put her into a little disposable shirt and pants. After asking many questions, and us seeing the doctor, and anesthesia, They invited one parent to carry Kiersten back into the operating room. We had discussed this prior to surgery and it was whatever parent she really wanted today. However... she really didn't care who's arms she was in this morning... and George decided he didn't want to go back there. So I gowned up and carried her back into the OR. After getting back there I set her down on the operating table and she really didn't want to be sat down. She starting crying and reaching for me...and anesthesia put the mask over her face... YES. She put up a good fight. She didn't' want the tight mask on her face. However, after crying and taking deep breaths of the anesthesia she became very tired....and that is when we laid her down completely on the table. By the time we got her head down to the table...she was fast asleep.
The anesthetist was great and said he had three kids, and would treat her like his own... although it isn't the same as your own...he stroked her hair as she fell asleep which made me realize that he probably did care!! Anyhow...fast asleep and then I had to confirm her to the doctor and what surgery he was doing on her and then they whisked me out of the room.
I went and de-gowned and then met George out in the waiting area! After about 5-10 min waiting, the nurse came back and got George and I. We went back into a consult room...we were suppose to talk to the doctor in there prior to going to Kiersten however their was some communication breakdown between the nurses and the doctor. They thought he had already came and talked to us, and he hadn't, so they took us back to Kiersten. While waiting in the conference room...we could here her crying in the post op area. When we got back there...she was screaming uncontrollably. She screamed and was throwing herself around for about 30 min at the hospital... and cried all the way home and then cried for a while at home. So it was probably 1.5 to 2 hours of crying. Then she started to get better. You could tell her ears hurt though. Every time she would cough, or burp...she would start crying a painful cry! After some Tylenol and ibuprofen...she was better. She finally started playing around the house. She ate lunch, and now is taking her first nap for the day. So much for her sleeping most of the day like the doctor said most kids do
The doctor did come in and talk to us after we were with Kiersten, however it was hard to hear him and concentrate on him since she was screaming and flailing all over the place. I do remember him saying... We will talk to you tomorrow, if you have any questions, don't be afraid to call, and that he wanted her on antibiotic ear drops for a while! He did say her ears had lots of fluid but he didn't think it was infected. Anyhow that's about all I remember from the conversation with the doctor. Well I better go.. I'm sure Kiersten will be awake soon.

~Jocelyn Drake~

Monday...

Monday is the big surgery day... i know not such a big surgery! But it is for parents when there child is getting anesthesia! I pray everything goes well and we are much better after wards.

Friday Night Kiersten started getting fevers again and has been very cranky. I called the surgeon's office yesterday and got ahold of the oncall doc. He prescribed antibiotics again for her! So we have been druging her up with tylenol every 4 hours and ibuprofen every 6. And aumentin twice a day! We didn't have any real high fevers through out the night (while sleeping). She was 103.6 at 8pm last night!
So she seems to be a little better today! I don't know we will see. Still pretty needy though. She doesn't like to sit on your lap until she is sick, then that is all she wants...poor baby!

Alright...well pray for us!! hope the surgery goes well. Will update everyone tomorrow afternoon!

Tubes...

So we went to the ear doctor today. The ultimate decision made by me was to get the tubes. The doctor informed me of the risks and benefits...and the decision was up to me. I opted to get them put in at this point. George is out of town...we have talked a little bit about it over the phone but will discuss it more for sure this weekend and an ultimate decision will be made. But as of now We are scheduled to have the surgery May 18th early in the morning!

Will let ya know more after george gets home and the final decision is discussed between us!

LONG WEEK!!

Its only wednesday, and it has already been a very long week. George is out of town for work all week. Kiersten and I took him to the Spokane airport at 4am on Monday, and then came home and her schedule has been off ever since. Although I don't really think it was the 4am wake up call. I think her ears are bothering her again. She was up 2 times the night before last and up 3 times last night. Last night one of the times that she woke up, I couldn't get her to stop crying. She would want down out of my arms, then she would want back up, then she didn't want in my arms and she would through herself down on the ground. I didn't know what to do for her. I felt terrible. I gave her tylenol and motrin, but it didn't seem to change the night... she was up 2 more times after the medication. Although without the medication, maybe she would have been up a million more times. Who knows!
Anyhow it was a very long night, and although I'm back on my diet....breakfast this morning is a triple shot latte!
I don't think i could get through the day without it!

In a few hours we go to the Ear doctor. I can't wait to hear what he has to say!
I can't wait to get tubes in and be done with the whole ear infections.
I'm hoping that he will give her antibiotics again to get us through the weekend... and then maybe next week do the tubes! I'm not sure what the plan will be but i don't want to do tubes this week while George is gone!!

Her Daddy needs to be hear for it!

Anyhow i better go for now! I'll update later this afternoon about the doctors appt!

~Jocelyn~

Follow up appt...

So we took Kiersten into her pediatrician again for a follow up to look at her ears!
Looks like we have a tough girl.
She has been sleeping normally and acting normal, so i figured her ears were better. THEY WEREN'T. The doctor said both ears are full of puss. So she prescribed the third antibiotic in the last few months. We have been on augmentin, omniceph, and now zithromax.
So she prescribed these antibiotics and then she referred us to a ear nose throat doctor, to have possably have tubes put in her ears.
We see that doctor in two weeks...and we will see what they have to say! Dr Prince, our pediatrician, said she has had 5 ear infections in a little over 6 months.

I'm hoping that once we get the tubes...that she will start talking better. Not that she isn't talking...she does talk some but mostly baby talk. But I have a feeling that what she is hearing when we talk to her is muffled due to the fluid that is in her ears most of the time. So hopefully her verbal communication will get better!

okay...i'll fill ya in, in a couple weeks when we see the EENT.

First Camping Trip…

So we went camping for the first time last weekend… Kiersten loved it.  She just loves being outside so much , and now that the weather is good we have the option of being outside!
so here are pics from camping trip.

 She loved her cheeseburgers!

 We also went to the play area… she loved it. She loved playing on the slide…but I couldn’t get any photos because I was busy catching her.

 

Once she walked…now she climbs!!

So… Since Kiersten has learned to walk, then she learned how to run around the house, and now she knows how to climb on everything.
Not that I let her do this… I don’t on a normal basis, but I had to get pictures   So here is our little climber.

Busy Girl…

So sorry I haven’t written lately.  Not even sure when my last post was.  A LONG TIME AGO.  Been busy now that Kiersten is mobile. She is walking all over the place and is loving her new found attitude.  She loves to throw her head into things, or throw herself backwards whenever she doesn’t get her way.   IF ANYONE HAS ANY INFO ON HOW TO STOP THEM FROM THROWING FITS…PLEASE INFORM ME!!
You can tell she is into her toddlers just by looking at her head these days.  At this time she has a black eye from falling at daycare, and she has a big goose egg on her head from throwing her head into our coffee table! (those lovely tantrums).
The terrible two’s are beginning early (especially the last two weeks).
Anyhow here are some photos of my mobile daughter!!

Her new chair that Grandma Kate and Grandpa Den got her.

 

She talks nonsense, into the phone.