Sam's Youtube debut

My SEM students have been putting together podcasts since February.  The official name of their project is "How Things Work".  They were to pick a topic they wanted to know more about and how it works.  Sam chose the electric & acoustic guitar (gee, I wonder where she came up with that idea? :) )  So, the kids had to research their topic, take notes and write a script.  After their script was written, I would video them.  Sam did hers the other night.  She's kinda my lab rat in figuring out how to do this.  If I can figure out how to turn the video so you don't have to watch it sideways I'd be much happier.  Anyone know how to do that?
The next step for me is to figure out how to get all the videos of my students uploaded to my SEM website (it's a uen website).  Anyone know how to do that?  I'm thinking if I can zip the file to make it smaller I can do it.  Not sure exactly how to go about that yet.  Still working out the kinks.  I should be a pro by the time I'm done doing 28 of these suckers!
Happy viewing!

Pictures!

In my last phone dump post I posted a picture of Brookelyn eating a strawberry.  It so happens I took a bunch on my camera of that same strawberry eating.  You can tell how excited she is about it.

I love this one.  She looks like: "mmmm..this is so good.  What are you looking at?!"

This is such a Caleb face

This is totally a Caleb face too!  You can tell she's watching me trying to figure out what I'm doing.

Sam with her newest dance trophy.  This was at the Clearfield High School competition last weekend.  She competes again tomorrow night.  She'll have another trophy and probably a couple ribbons from that one.  I really need to get her a trophy shelf....soon.

It would appear that summer is already here.  Caleb has been digging like no tomorrow in the dirt by the fence in the backyard.  Apparently, he's not only digging in it, he's also eating and snorting it.

And here's where I realize I haven't taken any photos of Nash this past week or two.  That poor kid!  I always say he has middle child syndrome!  No wonder!  Actually, he's been sick.  Yesterday at work I got a phone call telling me he threw up in class.  The poor kid had to lay in the sick room for two hours before I could get off work and get there!  I didn't answer my phone when they called because I was with my students.  My class had just gotten underway and it's an hour and fifteen minute class.  When I did finally get the message, my fifth graders were on their way into class.  I did a half class with them so that I could get all the explanations they needed before I dismissed them.  Then I had a 10 minute drive from the school I was at to his school!  Poor kid actually ended up throwing up about five times yesterday.  He was home again today and seems to be doing much better.  I'm going to send him to school tomorrow despite the pleas I know I'm going to hear!  It was actually terrible timing for him to get sick.  I was observed TWICE today so I couldn't stay home with him!  Good thing Grandma closes at work on Thursdays and Grandpa was available between when Grandma left & I could get there.

A follow up to yesterday

Today I was talking to my girlfriend about B's ear situation.  I figured the following:

1-If my kids' surgeries had all been done separately, we would have endured 19 surgeries/operations at our house.
2-We have paid a MINIMUM of $9,600 for tubes/adenoids/tonsils for 4 kids.
     a - if our deductible hasn't been met, we pay a MINIMUM of $1,100 per surgery.
     b - if our deductible has been met, we pay a MINIMUM of $800 per surgery
     c - I figured $9,600 by multiplying 12 surgeries x $800
     d - this figure does not include Samantha's broken arm when she had to be sedated and her arm set
     e - this figure is only the hospital amount, not the co-pays to the ENT, co-pays to the pediatrician, co-pays for prescriptions, or the anesthesia bill, or the surgery bill for the ENT

Yes, this thoroughly depressed me.  Why?  That's a TON of money.  And, I figure we've got a few more surgeries to endure.  Why?  Brooke has her second one coming up and Caleb has only had 2 sets of tubes (Sam & Nash have had 4) and Brooke has only had tubes and adenoids - not tonsils (other 3 have had tonsils out too).

What's unfortunate is that this total doesn't include our dental bills.  And yes, we have AT LEAST 1 set of braces and an implant in our future.

I think I will seriously recommend DNA testing for my children before they marry!  That or suggest they all go to ENT school or marry a doctor!

Cheaper by the dozen

Today I took Brookelyn back into the ENT to have her follow up again.  Her right ear was clogged...again.  Fortunately for her, we didn't hold her down and unclog it.  Dr. Blotter has decided we need to remove the tube that's in her right ear now and replace it with not just one, but two, brand new tubes (a different kind of course).  So, we had the pleasure of scheduling TUBE ROUND 12 today.  Yep.  An even dozen.  Oy.

You know, I knew this was coming and I had been telling my family this was coming.  Jinxed it, right?  No, was trying to mentally prepare myself.  You know what?  It didn't help!  I'm still bummed out for my poor baby girl that she has to have another round of tubes already.

Dr. Blotter suggests we leave the left ear alone because it has been working (and looking) beautifully.  My fear is that as soon as she comes out from having a second one put into the right ear that the left ear is going to start acting up and giving us the run around.  Guess all I can do is cross my fingers, right?

Now we play the waiting game.  Because of my work schedule and the schedule the kids have right now, I had to wait to get her in until May 16th.  We could have gone in on May 3rd, but then I'd have to miss work...again.  Can't do that to my students right now because that is their last week of class to prepare their final presentations that they've been working so hard on since January!  I'm just hoping that she doesn't end up with another ear infection in that ear between now and then!

I asked Dr. Blotter today if there is any other family that he knows of that has bought as many tubes as we have.  His answer was a resounding No.  He said that he has one guy who's nine and is getting his fifth set of tubes, but as far as a family goes, nope, we pretty much take the cake.  I told him I should start a support group I guess!  I can laugh about it now, but lets wait and see what Sam's allergy testing says on May 10th.  We might not be laughing any more!  Good thing we're done having kids, I can't afford any more medical bills!

Samantha

Samantha was told about a week and a half ago that she would need glasses so she could finally see the white board at school.  I took her into the eye dr. back in Oct. and she was boarderline then.  Since she's complained about sore eyes and headaches all year I broke down and took her back in again.  The last time we went in the dr. told us that she was still boarderline.  I told him I was going to get her the glasses anyway because of all the trouble she's had.  He said he'd give me a slightly stronger prescription then because if he went with what she was now she wouldn't be able to tell a difference when she had her glasses on.  Even though she was sick the day we went to the dr.'s office she was a trooper and picked out her new glasses.  They finally came in on Thursday last week so we went and picked them up.  I think they are super cute on her.  They don't even hide her amazing baby blues too much.  I did tell her the headaches would likely get worse before they get better since it would take some adjusting for her eyes to get use to the glasses.  Sure enough, today she was complaining about a headache again.  Lucky for me after I gave her some ibuprofen she was miraculously cured!

 

Today Samantha and her dance team completed in the Showtyme Classic Dance Competition down at Clearfield High School.  She just did two of her dances - ballet and jazz.  Both her dances took second place and she got a trophy.  She's pretty excited about her newest trophy and loves showing it off.  Next Friday she competes again so I'm sure we'll be adding at least one more trophy to the collection.  I think her dad's going to have to build her a shelf just for dance trophies!

B stumps the ENT

Today Brooke had another appointment with the ENT to check and see if her right tube was staying unclogged YET or not.  Travis had the pleasure of taking her this morning.  I had told him that I never get out of there in under an hour and a half.  The man was out of there and on his way in 45 minutes!  That is so not even fair!

And what did the ENT find when he looked in B's ear?  Well, it was clogged...again....worse than last week.  The left ear however looks fabulous...again.  So, he unclogged her right tube...again...and put ear drops directly into her ear drum...again....and told us to continue drops for a week....again....and then come back to have it checked....AGAIN!

The prognosis?  Well, lets be honest.  The poor man has been stumped by my darling baby girl.  He used titanium silver oxide coated T tubes when he put tubes in.  These tubes NEVER clog :)  He says he pulled out all the stops this time because he knows our history.  If her tube is clogged again next week (and let's be honest, I will die of a heart attack induced by shock if it isn't) we will likely have to go in and place a second tube in that right ear so she has two in the same ear.  Sound familiar?  Oh yea, I did that already!  The question becomes do we leave the left ear alone and cross our fingers that it doesn't start to clog the second she comes out of the second surgery, OR do we just insert a second tube in the left ear as well in anticipation?  Putting two tubes in each ear is a bit risky.  We did it with Sam, but she was older than B is now when we did it.  She was about five years old.  The reason it's risky is because the area where the tube is placed is quite small.  By placing two tubes in it, you are increasing the likelihood that the ear drum will rupture.  You also run the risk of the ear drum not repairing itself completely when the tubes come out (or should I say IF the tubes come out).  Sound familiar?  Oh yea, Sam had a hole that wouldn't heal fixed just over a year ago!

So, what now?  Wait...and do more ear drops.  If I would have known when I got married what I would go through with my children, I would have bought shares and shares and shares of  Floxin (the ear drops we use) stock!  I could have paid for all the surgeries the kids have had!

Did I mention that Dr. Blotter said it looked like there was a bit of infection in the right ear as well?  No?  Well, I just did.  We took B into the pediatrician yesterday because Sunday night she was up crying all night and running a high fever.  The pediatrician said it looked to be a very bad sinus infection (thank you Sam for sharing your germs) so he put her on antibiotics.  Appears the sinus infection had made an EARly appearance (aren't I hilarious? :) )  So much for hoping this child would pay me back with no ear infections since she put me through 10 weeks of preterm labor and weighed 10 lbs!

Phone dump

Some of these I may have posted before, but, oh well!  My kids are cute enough to post the same photo twice, right?  I think so!

This was B's first pony tail/top knot.

In the tub tonight.  She's recently discovered the joy of 1-standing up in the tub & thinking it's hilarious when mom freaks out 2-yelling at the baby in the faucet 3-tasting the bar of soap 4-drinking bath water like her hilarious 3 yr old brother and 5-making the biggest splashes possible.

I took this one awhile ago.  I think it's funny that B sleeps with her mouth wide open like Sam does.

I took this one quite awhile ago too I think.  Amazing they are getting along here.  That wasn't happening today at all!  Nice to have a visual reminder that it does occasionally happen!

St. Patrick's Day (well, really the day before but they were dressed so cute for school)

Caleb has discovered the joy of dress ups within the last few months.  He has worn his poor pumpkin Halloween costume to DEATH.  Seriously.  The velcro up the back has seen much better days & needs repaired if he is to continue wearing it.  He sure loves it though!

Cracks me up when she pulls out her pony tail/top knot and she's left with this awesome mohawk!

This was at California Adventures.  This is the shirt she got for dancing there.

I don't even remember taking this picture!  It had to have been me though because it was on my phone!  She's wearing the outfit we brought her back from California too.

She is looking more like her older sister every day.  However, she maintains that mischeivous sparkle in her eye that Caleb also has.  I'll admit it...I'm afraid, I'm very, very afraid!  I took this picture when I gave her some strawberries last week.  It was so funny.  I gave her just a slice or two and she snarfed them right up.  When hers were gone & she realized Caleb had a whole bowl full she started smacking him and reaching for his bowl while yelling at him until he finally caved and gave her some of his!  It was so funny!

Another visit to the ENT

Samantha called me on Monday telling me she wasn't feeling well.  By Tuesday night it was kinda obvious.

Wednesday morning she woke up with a fever of 102.  I kept her home from school and we went to the pediatrician & the eye dr.  The pediatrician told us she had an ear infection.  I was not a happy camper.  She has been ear infection free for over a YEAR.  The ENT & I were actually discussing on Monday when I had Brooke in there about how they will all eventually outgrow it...like Sam.  So, the pediatrician started her on an antibiotic.  She slept most of the day.

Thursday I took her temperature before I ever woke her up.  Her temperature was still 101 so I didn't even bother waking her up to send her to school.  By about 2 pm on Thursday Sam told me she wanted to try going to school.  So, I sent her to school for about the last hour.  After school she seemed to be doing ok, so we went to dance.  After dance it was apparent that we had done too much.  She went to bed kinda early, without doing any homework.

This morning I woke her up & told her to get ready for school.  She immediately began telling me she wasn't feeling well, etc.  I pleaded with her to go to school at least long enough to take her spelling test.  Nope.  Wasn't happening.  So, I called the ENT's office to see if there were any available appointments (which there wasn't).  So, I asked if I could leave a message for Dr. Blotter.  I briefly told the receptionist what was going on.  Less than 10 minutes later a nurse called me back & I then explained to her what was going on.  Now, let's face it, I am no stranger to prescriptions, infections, or much of anything in the way of ear/sinus infections.  The nurse proceeded to tell me that the prescription would stay in her system for 10 days even though she only took if for 3 (duh the kid is allergic to penicillin, all she ever takes is zythromax).  Then she told me that it was likely just a virus but, if I was that worried, she would squeeze us in at 10:45 so Dr. Blotter could look at her.  I took the appointment & hung up rather annoyed with the nurse.
Fast forward to a little after 10 when I arrive at the ENT's office.  We sat and waited and waited and waited.  On the bright side, I was able to almost finish my required reading from my text book for my meeting next Friday.  Finally we go in.  When he saw me he said that we shouldn't have jinxed ourselves earlier this week by saying they outgrow it!  I explain to Dr. Blotter what's going on so he takes a look.  Well apparently her left ear has created a vacuum of sorts and her ear drum is being sucked into the ear canal.  Awesome, right?  Her right ear is a little waxy, but nothing major.  He takes a look at her nose.  It is the worst looking nose he's seen in a long time.  It looks "very, very allergic".  What does this mean?  Allergies.  He said that with her being on a prescription and her not getting better would be because the pollen count has gone way up.  He gave me two prescriptions.  One is a steroid that she takes SIX times a DAY for SIX DAYS.  The other is a nasal spray that she does 2 times a day.  We will also need to continue the Claritan we've been doing for a week.  And, last but certainly not least, we scheduled allergy testing.  (She's not happy about this one after watching the video & seeing the kids with hives on their arms.)  We finally left the ENT's office a little after 12.

I find it odd that neither Travis or I has bad pollen allergies but Samantha is apparently going to suffer horrendously.  Travis suffers from hay fever a little, but nothing major.  And really only when he helps bale hay & is in the thick of it.  I don't have any pollen allergies at all (I'm allergic to just about everything else though).

So this week we've had the pleasure of:
1-Brooke's tube was clogged again at our appointment on Monday so we get to continue ear drops & go back next week.
2-5 chiropractor appointments for various people in the house.
3-A trip to the pediatrician for Sam which resulted in 1 rx & an ear infection diagnosis
4-A trip to the ENT which resulted in 2 more rx & an allergy diagnosis & allergy testing for Sam
5-I missed 2 days of work & am getting a tickle in my throat & a cough
6-A trip to the eye dr. for Sam which resulted in a nearsighted diagnosis for her & picking out new glasses
7-In between all these fun appointments we've had piano lessons, dance 2 x, me trying to get back with potential sponsors for Relay & a Relay for Life meeting!

It's a good thing their dad comes home on Monday so I can take a break from the dr.'s office!  Thank goodness it's FRIDAY!

The Callahans

So I bought myself a new Kindle Fire before heading to California.  I downloaded a bunch of free books onto it that I thought looked as though they might be good ones.  I also downloaded a few samples to read before deciding if I want to purchase those particular books.

The first book I read, which actually was a series of 5 books, was called The Callahans.  I read all five books in under a week.  I think that this shall be a new favorite of mine!  These books were amazing!  They begin in the late 1800s and span through WW2.  It's about 2 main characters who eventually marry.  It details there life here in SLC and abroad.  I told my mom, "You know, I was aware of the events that occurred during the time span, but I didn't realize that a person alive that long ago would be a witness so so many of these amazing world events."  It is true!  The book hits the following events: European immigration to the States, transcontinental railroad, Alaska gold rush, doing away with polygamous marriage, the beginning of the Morman missionary program, 1906 earthquake, early 1900 mine strikes in UT, UT statehood, Spanish-American war in Cuba, the Titanic, WW1, the beginnings of Hollywood, the Great Depression, and WW2.  It never dawned on me that someone born in the mid 1800s, and survived into adulthood, would witness so many amazing world events.

The book does have a strong LDS theme to it.  It details the struggles one man has in letting go of his Catholic faith and accepting the LDS faith.

Without giving the whole series away, all I can say is that this series was amazing!  I plan to call my grandpa and inform him it is a series he MUST read!  Even though I have the books on my Kindle, I find myself wishing I had hard copies.  I have a feeling these will be read again - and that's not something I usually do!

Happy Reading!

Happy Easter

For Easter I took all four kids and went to Manti.  Caleb has been asking since we came home from Manti at Christmas when he could go see Grandpa Butter again.  I gotta give it to him, the boy LOVES his great grandpa and the farm!

On Saturday morning we went to the town Easter egg hunt.  I think it was Sam that asked why it's called an Easter egg hunt when they don't even hide the eggs!  Good point.  The egg hunt down there is nothing like here at home.  They take the city park and divide it into 3 different areas 1-ages 0-3, 2-ages 4-7 and 3-ages 8-5th grade.  So yes, I had 4 kids in 3 different arenas.  Obviously I opted to stay with the little ones.  I threw a few tootsie rolls in B's basket but other than that just helped point out candy to Caleb.  They all got more than enough candy!  It was beautiful weather for the egg hunt this year, it was just kinda chilly.

Saturday afternoon we headed out to Easter Hollow (White Hills) for the Whitlock party.  There wasn't as many in attendance as there usually is, but it was still fun.  The weather was amazing!  B's head got a bit sunburned!  Grandma Kris even busted out the sunscreen for the kids!  The kids were climbing this big hill and loved playing in the dirt.  Later they threw (rather than rolled) their eggs off the hill.  It was fairly entertaining to watch from the bottom.

Saturday night the kids dyed Easter eggs (again) at Grandma Bown's house.  We had to have all our egg knockin' eggs dyed!  They kids were excited to color eggs again - this time with Grandma Kris & Aunt Jamie AND their cousins!

Sunday morning the kids woke up and had to find their Easter baskets.  The Easter Bunny didn't hide any of them too difficult this year.  

Notice the candy in sister's hand & mouth?  Yeah, the Easter Bunny DID NOT leave her any candy.  Sister has turned into Swiper the Fox from Dora & managed to get what she wanted out of her brother's bucket.  Luckily I caught her before she choked on any wrappers!

I love her chubby little chocolate face!

Checking out the treasures they got in their baskets.

Sunday afternoon we had the Bown party at the farm.  All the kids got Easter baskets and a few Easter eggs that had candy in them.  These were the best pictures I could get of my kids!

And last, but not least, my baby turned 11 months old yesterday!  Where has the time gone?  Suddenly she's such a big girl!  She says "dada", "Daw (dog)", "Char (Charlotte)", "Sis (for Sam)", "Na (for Nash)", "hi" and "yea".  She has got some of the best facial expressions I've ever seen on a kid.  She grins like there's no tomorrow and she's generally quite happy.  She has 6 teeth now & loves ALL food!  In fact, when I gave her a piece of strawberry the other day she snarfed up hers, realized Caleb had a bowl full and started screaming at him and smacking him until he forked some of his over!  My mom says, "Well, she does come from a long line of good eaters."  It's true, she does, we LOVE our food!  Her hair has gotten quite long and we've been doing a top knot on her head.  She had managed to pull it out before I got her picture though.  At least she's eating a cracker and not one of her bows like usual!  And the trait I find the most amusing (until some time in the very near future), she gets the same mischievous look in her eyes that Caleb does!  We ARE in trouble!

California

What a crazy, fun week!  We left home at 2:30 am on Sunday, March 25th.  We made it it Anaheim by about 1:30 pm California time.  We only stopped a few times and didn't hit too much traffic going out of Vegas.  Our hotel was directly across the street from Disneyland and around the corner from the Anaheim Garden Walk (like The Gateway in SLC).  The day we arrived we had massive amounts of rain and terrible wind.  We were hoping for better weather the rest of the week!  Later in the day it cleared up enough that we were able to go around the corner and go through the Anaheim Garden Walk.  It was pretty dead (it was Sunday evening and many shops had closed due to the economy), but it was still a lot of fun.  We found the store Lush.  If you haven't been, you must go!  They told us they opened a store at the Ceder Creek shopping plaza in SLC and I might have to visit now!

On Monday we spent a staggering 15 HOURS at Disneyland!  On the bright side, we saw and did almost everything we wanted to!  The weather was nice - a bit chilly (we had to buy sweatshirts and a blanket for Sam), but nice.  After having a 3 day park pass, I will tell you that if you ever go to Disneyland, go on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & go when the gates open.  We went on Monday, Thursday, Friday and there were a ton more people there on Thursday and Friday.  However, the longest line we stood in the entire three days was only 45 minutes!

We visited the Princess Fantasy Faire and saw Ariel, Belle, and Tiana.  Then we walked over to the little shop & Sam got her face painted.  The lady that did it was quick and she did a good job too!

We went to the Princess Coronation Ball after visiting the princesses.  Here we learned how to wave like a princess and do a princess dance.

We rode on lots and lots of rides!  Nykelle & Sam became pretty good little friends.

We ventured over to Downtown Disney on Sunday night and bought the kids autograph books so we could get autographs while we were at the park!

At 6 pm we found seats for the parade and chilled out for thirty minutes before the parade.  These were Sam's favorite dresses in the parade.

On Tuesday we drove out to Long Beach and saw where Cindy & Tom grew up.  We saw what their elementary schools are like - SOOOO much asphalt!  The high school had more grass than the elementary school!  Weird!  We visited a Trader Joe's and a Smart & Final.  Then, we ventured out to Seal Beach.  It was fairly windy but Sam tells me the water wasn't too cold.  She and I wandered the beach for quite awhile looking for treasures.  We found some shells, but nothing like when we were up in Oregon.

Also while we were out in Long Beach we visited the Long Beach Aquarium over at The Pike.  These guys had sting rays as long as I am tall!

This shark had a saw like nose.  It was so weird!

We made many, many, many trips to Downtown Disney.  I found a gigantic Lego store where I picked up a few things for Nash.

On Wednesday Cindy went to California Adventures with Greg, Stephanie & their kids.  We took her car & I drove us back down to Long Beach.  Yep.  Didn't even wreck or anything!  We had GPS or I never would have done it!  We went back to The Pike and checked out what the shops by the aquarium were.  We walked down the pier too.

We bought tickets and went whale watching.  Before we even got out of the harbor we saw dolphins (lower left).

Sam made good use of our 2 1/2 hour whale watching trip...she took a boat nap while using grandma & I as wind blocks!

We did see a few fin whales as we were turning around to head back to the harbor.  It was amazing!

When we got back by the harbor there were some sea lions hanging out on the buoy.

After whale watching we walked along the shoreline village shops.  Sam found a ride she had to go on.

Back at Downtown Disney she decided she wanted to get a character drawing of herself.  She ended up having them make her into Alice from Alice in Wonderland.  It's super cute.  I should take a picture of the final thing.  Apparently Alice is her new favorite (good thing with that Halloween costume already done!).  She ended up doing the trading pins and has about 7 Alice in Wonderland ones now!

On Thursday Sam danced at California Adventure so that's where we spent our day.  We rode lots more rides.

Grandma & Cindy rode rides with us too!

Cindy came with us to California Adventure because Greg & Steph had headed home.  Plus, she wanted to watch Sam dance.  We discovered the turkey legs.  Oh my!  If you are ever at Disneyland, you MUST try these!  They are $10, but worth every penny!

On Friday we were back at Disneyland for Sam to dance again.  I video taped her dance on Thursday and didn't get any pictures.  On Friday I took pictures instead of video taping.  The video is 26 minutes long so it's too long to upload!  They did a better job on Friday than they did on Thursday, but they cut Sam's hip hop routine out on Friday.

I took 184 pictures on my camera (they are all on my facebook if you want to see them all) and Sam had 2 disposable cameras.  I think she has 5 pictures total left (27 pictures on each camera).  Plus, my mom & Cindy both took pictures AND I bought the photopass CD that we had nearly 50 pictures on!  When I get the cd with the edits I made on it I'll post some of those pictures too.  There is an awesome one of Sam with Belle. 

On Saturday we went to the swapp meet at the Orange County Fair Grounds.  That was fun.  Reminded me of the flea market in Florida but much smaller.  We headed home around 10 am or so and made it back home around midnight.  We stopped a few more times coming home than we did going out.  Nothing traumatic except for some pretty good wind gusts.  I drove us from the California/Nevada line to Mesquite.  Cindy drove us the entire way there and except for when I drove on the way home she drove the rest of the way.

The boys had only been in bed a little while when we got home so Travis got them up.  They were really excited to see us and we were really happy to see them.  Brooke was sleeping when we got home but ended up waking up as I was ready to go to bed.  She was running a slight fever and was very clingy.  I chalked it up to teeth and let her fall asleep on my chest before I put her in her own bed.  Sunday she was running a very high fever and was just not herself.  I finally took her to Instacare around 7 pm or so.  I had given her ibuprofen around 6:15 pm and it was about 7:30 when we got in.  They took her temperature and it was still at 101.8!  They told me she had a double ear infection and that the right one was worse than the left one.  I was glad I already had an appointment with the ENT scheduled for today.  They put her on omnicef and eardrops 2 x a day.  

We went and saw the ENT today.  He told me that her left tube is open and looks ok but it's on the verge of being questionable.  Her right tube was clogged...again (it was a week ago too when we went in for the two week post op appointment).  He ended up getting the clog off her tube and injecting ear drops directly into her middle ear.  He said that that will usually make a difference.  We are to keep on the omnicef and do drops in each ear 2 x a day and go back in a week.  The dr. seems to think if we can get the fluid to drain so her tubes can stay clear that she'll do well.  I'm crossing my fingers we don't have to do two sets of tubes in each ear like we did for Sam.  I'm not holding my breath though.  He said he used titanium silver oxide coated t tubes that NEVER clog - I told him never say never with my kids!  He smiled and told me he's starting to see the familial tube issues arise.  I'm just glad he's a good dr. and is good to us!  Cross your fingers her tubes are clear in another week!  I told the nurse I brought Brooke home a cute minnie mouse outfit and she brought home a double ear infection!  She thought that was pretty funny!  Good thing I have a good sense of humor!