Hay Happens and Hay's Happen

Last week, we had a follow up with the endocrinologist upon her having her bone exam and blood test.

Dr. Sandstrom recommended she go through growth hormone treatment because her height is shown to be only 4’9″. If she has this particular treatment, she will add 3″. So, we are going to go through the preliminary testing to see if she qualifies. This means a five hour stint of IV’s and blood draws. (FASTING that is!)

We got it scheduled the Friday before school starts since it requires early morning and a whole 1/2 day. The day is here now.

We arrived at 7:45am for the 8am appt and waited a bit. Good thing Paw Patrol was playing!

She was quite nervous, but we had been preparing for the past couple days with much PRAYER> Joshua 1:9, to be exact: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Yes, Tot HE IS WITH YOU! Oh, and I’ll be right there too.. (I’m holding you tightly!)

They got her height and weight.

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And then we met Kat, her nurse for the day.

She gave me a rundown of the day and the tests performed.

Then they hooked the first IV up. A little poke and then the straw goes in. Courtney came in to bring her an iPad and get her distracted. It worked (the first time!)

We are on our way. ( I think). Daddy texted us a lovely video wishing her well. My friends also texted some prayers. We read a few books, played on iPad, made a necklace. They made her a nice card. All going swimmingly the first two hours.

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UNTIL…. the arginine injection was when it got a bit messy. The IV started to hurt, and the blood showed clotting. She had to remove the IV and re-insert. This occurred for about an hour poking in various places. We had to redo a few of the tests also. At one point, she felt nauseous and they wanted to give her some Zofran. It hurt too bad, and Tatum said she’d rather feel nauseous; she even threw up. We had two hours left after 1:00. We were supposed to be finish by 1, but it went slower than we had anticipated. All of us were quite hangry!

BUT, my little trooper, she pushed through for the last two tests.

Kat and Courtney were so impressed with her bravery and her kindness, they let her pick two gifts from the prize closet. TWO! She got two babies because she loves being a mommy.

On the way home she had Chik-fil-a, and she said, “I’m in heaven!”

She wanted to thank Kat and Courtney, so she made them a card. I will send it off on Monday.

In one week, we will find out about the results of the test. If she fails it, insurance covers it. For the first time I am hoping for a failing test! (not sure if I understand it all quite yet). I am just grateful for the opportunity. She learned so much today from this. She gained courage, compassion, and gratitude. So proud of you, sweet girl.

It’s been a great summer of Tatum reading books as noted in the last blog post.

She was assigned to read five books over the summer and was given a choice of books.

We picked Animal Ark series because the levels were highest. They did not disappoint.

Here are the five books she chose:

She had to complete an AR test for each. The word count for the three Animal Ark (Ben Baglio) were around 27,000 words and were 4th and 5th grade level.

She also read two more fun books.

Now for the assignment, she picked two books to report.

Beginning, Middle, End, and a pic of the ending. (100%)!!

Now the next one:

Favorite part and pic (100%)!

The other three were just read and AR tested. (90, 100, 90%s)!

She did such a great job. What fun doing this with her and organizing it! HA!

Sad face but happy that we had the opportunity to do this weekly.
Today, we would have breakfast at Wildflower. They finally open at 8am! That calls for celebration and a few kisses!

She had avocado toast. I don’t think it’s big enough!?

It did not disappoint, and moreover, the conversation did not either. We chatted about school hopes/dreams, our walk with Jesus, and fun memories. Delightful.

After, we went to Hobby Lobby. Why? Because it tickles us pink to be in that store creating ideas and making plans for our new home. Also, they have many little fun crafts. I let her buy a toy for a celebration of our time together.

I love you so much, Tot. I will miss our mornings. We’ll continue to do our girlie time; it just may look differently.

What makes cauliflower taste not like cauliflower? Marinade, tossing, and roasting. You have to truly transform this cruciferous veggie for it to be edible. Tatum helped me do just that this morning.

In a large plastic bag, we added coconut aminos, maple syrup, hot sauce, and black pepper to florets.

Then,

That’s right, toss those babies! Now, what do you think Coopy is thinking?
Drop it! Drop it! Drop it!

Sorry, pup, you have your own chew toys.

Dinner will be delightful tonight. Thank you, Tatum for your tossing precision!

Oh the days of me reading to her….they seem to be passing away.

This summer, she is to read five books and report on two. She has already finished her assignment, but she still must finish her five. Now, for Tatum her reading level is in the 3rd and early 4th grade. Therefore, her books are chapter books and take a little longer to read.

She’s already read Bunnies in the Bathroom and Puppies in the Pantry.

She just finished Beagle in the Backpack, and I was S.H.O.C.K.E.D to see it’s a 5th grade level! OYE!

She took the AR test this morning. Wow. 90%.

Anyway, the cool thing is that she is choosing to read on her own without me. Just today, she was a bit under the weather. She wanted me to bring her some books, and for an hour, she just read and read and read and read.

You can hear her laughing and enjoying the books.

Every day while she eats lunch, I read to her Nancy Drew. When I was a kid, I had a huge set of these yellow books. We are on the second book right now. Then, at night we read for about 30-45 minutes. However, now she wants to read to me instead. Oh, the sadness. I love her reading to me, but I do miss doing the reading too!

Even at bedtime, you can find her reading.

I look forward to reading more books with her! We’ll do our own mini book club. (We’ll be true Book Buds!)

So proud of you, Tot.

Tuesday was taken this week with my presentation on ZOOM for GCU. So, we had to move our ‘Two Girls Two”sday to Wednesday.

Again, I surprised Tatum, so she wanted to dress up for me. I decided to make her feel ultra-special by wearing a dress myself. With the quarantine, it’s been easy to look schlumpy everyday.

First stop: Pedicures before school starting!

They were quite busy, but we enjoyed our comfy pedi chairs while we watched HGTV Property Brothers. It made us excited to move into our home.

We decided on GCU purple (more like lavender). You like our toes?

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Voila!

Now we headed over to Chompie’s for a quick bite.

Oh, isn’t she just beautiful?

I offered her a cookie or a bagel with cream cheese. Scooped and toasted of course!

She picked the blueberry bagel.

We played “questions.” Basically we each get to ask anything to each other, taking turns. We mostly talked about school coming up and what excites her/scares her the most. We tried to get all our concerns out so we could discuss them before school begins. It was a very fruitful discussion. (as usual!)

We also laughed our pretty new toes off! We so enjoy each other being together.

OH, he did it again. He outdid himself. Yes, my HHH planned to celebrate my birthday around May, but with the quarantine, we couldn’t really go anywhere.

The Sanctuary is a high-end, classy, beautiful hotel tucked away in the Camelback mountains. Doug found us a fancy suite back in February because in the summer, the rates are about 1/2 the price. So going in July was smart! Also, the restaurant, The Elements, is beyond delicious. (He took me there for my birthday five years ago when we were dating).

Mama agreed to watch Tatum, so she made Mama a lovely little picture to say THANK YOU.

Doug and I were then off! When we arrived, our room wasn’t quite ready so we just waited in the bar with a view of the mountains.

Then when we got to the room, they welcomed us with a few cookies, some champagne flutes and a nice card for me. I felt like royalty!

We didn’t have much downtime because we had dinner reservations at 6:30, so we immediately got all gussied up. I wore the same dress I wore there five years ago, but I had it shortened for my hubby. Thought he’d like that!

My HHH looked so dapper! I had to take a couple shots. He is relaxed, and for that, I’m grateful!

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Ok, we walked a whole three minutes to get to our destination. Love that because it is 114 degrees out right now. Yikes!

Don’t we look so cute?

Now, can you believe that FIVE years ago, this was us? I think we look a lot better together now! Well, that is about 30 lbs difference for the honey. (His heart grew and his body shrunk…that’s a deal!)

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We ordered an appetizer consisting of count them……Yes, 4 prawns. But they were SCRUMPTIOUS!

Our salads were also amazing. Wedges with bacon, tomato and for honey, blue cheese.

Now, what did we talk about? We brought some fun questions to go DEEP with each other, and they did not disappoint. We had such fun conversation and at times, pretty intimate. I loved it!!

Before we ate, he surprised me with the sweetest card.

WOW.

I’m blessed.

I’m even more blessed when my salmon came out. It delightfully sat upon a bed of broccoli. I have to admit, though, Doug’s filet looked mouth watering.

Oh, yes. Now we are talking!
Later, Beau MacMillan, the chef, came out to welcome us back. Check this out.

This was five years ago:

Tonight, he invited us back for a tasting menu. OK, twist my arm.

The rest of the night, we enjoyed being together alone in the room. It was such a joy.

We have come a long way in five years.

THEN:

NOW! Two lovebirds.

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I love you, HHH. Doing life together forever with my best friend.