This blog post is for Aunt Janet. Her and I were talking at Donavan's birthday party yesterday, and she mentioned she gets a kick out of me because I'm so organized and plan everything in advance. Well, here I go again..... :)
So my boys' joint family birthday party isn't until this Saturday but I'm already planning their party for next year!! It was mentioned to me by Uncle Gene how since both my boys and two of Jessica's boys' birthdays are so close together, that it would be nice to combine them (Clifford and Donavan are in January, Kristjan in February, and Dominic in March). And since Jessica and I invite all the same "Nielsen" family members, it does make sense to just have one huge party and everyone only has to travel once! So today Jessica and I have been texting each other on details on where we'd want to have the party (thinking Auburn since it's about half way for each of us), the cakes, the invites, the date, etc. And since I love planning, I'm giddy with excitement to plan this out!! :)
Monday, January 31, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Kindergarten Paperwork
It's already that time: signing Kristjan up for kindergarten!! I picked the paperwork up last Saturday and have been working on getting everything complete to turn it in on February 7th. I also met with the school nurse yesterday to pick up more paperwork in regards to Kristjan's allergies. Since Kristjan has what they call "life threatening food allergies" to tree nuts and peanuts, Pete and I have to set up a safety plan for the school in the event he has a reaction. Everything has to be completed and meds given to the school prior to the first day or school, or he can't attend. I'm trying to get everything done as soon as I can. So while Pete and I were working on the paperwork last night, we came upon a section that stated
"Doctor orders are not adequate for nurses to delegate 'what to do and when' to unlicensed staff if the nurse is not present. Therefore, Benadryl will no longer be administered first and there will not be a 'wait and watch' period of time."
So basically in the event of a reaction, the epi-pen will be administered. Really?! Pete and I understand all of this is because the school doesn't want to be held liable if something goes wrong, and of course we wouldn't want something serious to happen to Kristjan. But what if Kristjan has a topical reaction (which results in a rash to his face, give him benadryl and he's fine), is he getting hit with the epi-pen??? Our concern is we feel this is an extreme (and traumatizing) response for a small reaction. A few years back when Pete's mom had to inject Kristjan with the epi-pen, it took him a long time to get over it. He would constantly say "mama mickey hurt me", which of course she herself didn't do anything wrong, but that's what he associated with her for a while. And every time he heard a siren he'd get upset and ask us if they were coming to our house to give him a shot. Seriously, it took months for him to stop saying this stuff.
Plus, what's really irritating is the nurse is only at the school on Wednesdays; Kristjan is signed up for school to attend Tuesdays/Thursdays. And what's the point of us making a safety plan if the school won't be able to follow half of it? Half of the instructions would be to give him benadryl for any reaction (unless he's wheezy or not breathing).
This is frustrating....
"Doctor orders are not adequate for nurses to delegate 'what to do and when' to unlicensed staff if the nurse is not present. Therefore, Benadryl will no longer be administered first and there will not be a 'wait and watch' period of time."
So basically in the event of a reaction, the epi-pen will be administered. Really?! Pete and I understand all of this is because the school doesn't want to be held liable if something goes wrong, and of course we wouldn't want something serious to happen to Kristjan. But what if Kristjan has a topical reaction (which results in a rash to his face, give him benadryl and he's fine), is he getting hit with the epi-pen??? Our concern is we feel this is an extreme (and traumatizing) response for a small reaction. A few years back when Pete's mom had to inject Kristjan with the epi-pen, it took him a long time to get over it. He would constantly say "mama mickey hurt me", which of course she herself didn't do anything wrong, but that's what he associated with her for a while. And every time he heard a siren he'd get upset and ask us if they were coming to our house to give him a shot. Seriously, it took months for him to stop saying this stuff.
Plus, what's really irritating is the nurse is only at the school on Wednesdays; Kristjan is signed up for school to attend Tuesdays/Thursdays. And what's the point of us making a safety plan if the school won't be able to follow half of it? Half of the instructions would be to give him benadryl for any reaction (unless he's wheezy or not breathing).
This is frustrating....
Friday, January 21, 2011
Party Time
Last night we celebrated Clifford's birthday by serving his favorite meal (chicken fettucini alfredo and steamed broccoli) and dessert (homemade oatmeal cookies and vanilla ice cream). After dinner he opened up our gift to him. He was very happy to see a new Lego Ninjago set.
Tonight Clifford had a pizza and ice cream sundae party with his friends Xavier and Grant. Pete and I survived the two and a half hours of 4 boys running around and being loud! Clifford had a blast and loved his gifts.
Tonight Clifford had a pizza and ice cream sundae party with his friends Xavier and Grant. Pete and I survived the two and a half hours of 4 boys running around and being loud! Clifford had a blast and loved his gifts.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Clifford is 6 today!!!!
Wasn't it just yesterday that Clifford was born??!!
Some cool facts about Clifford's birth:
Notice how Clifford's body is all scrunched up and looks like a jelly bean in the first baby picture? That's how he came out; he was breached and his little baby butt was stuck in my pelvis (no wonder the inversion didn't work!). I bet he was happy to finally stretch his body out!
He was suppose to be a girl! Because Clifford was breached, I had numerous ultrasounds. Each time the nurse and doctor tried looking to see if the baby was a boy or a girl. And each time they could never get a definite answer. One time, the legs were split but of course the umbilical cord had to be going straight down in the middle, blocking everything (just our luck haha!). Even without a definite answer, our nurse and doctor said they were 95% sure the baby was a girl. Luckily, since it wasn't 100%, we bought a few items for both gender. On the day of the c-secion, as the baby was being pulled out, I'll never forget the excitement in Pete's voice as he laughed and said "Oooo, It's a boy!!"
Even before Clifford was born, Grandma Jane called the baby 'Junior". When Pete took Clifford out to see family in the waiting room, Grandma Jane saw the blue hat and exclaimed "It's a boy!" And to this day, she still calls him "Junior" (it's the only nickname he has).
We kept the name a secret. When deciding on a name for each gender, we started off with Christian Hans for a boy. As time went on, Pete decided he wanted to start a tradition. Since he was a 'second', named after his grandpa, then he wanted to name our son after his dad, making him a 'second' as well. We kept it a secret from Cliff (especially since we weren't sure on the gender). As I recovered in the recovery room, Pete took Clifford out to show everyone. From what I was told, someone asked about the name and Pete said "Clifford". I was told Cliff had a big grin on his face. Cliff joked with Pete, asking if Clifford had the 'Nielsen gap'. Pete, being hyped up on excitement, actually looked. Then Pete laughed at himself (since, of course, babies don't come with a set of teeth yet haha). It was fun keeping the name a little secret and surprising Cliff.
Here is a look at Clifford's past birthdays. He's growing up so fast!
1!!!
2!!!
3!!!
4!!!
5!!!
Wasn't it just yesterday that Clifford was born??!!
Some cool facts about Clifford's birth:
Notice how Clifford's body is all scrunched up and looks like a jelly bean in the first baby picture? That's how he came out; he was breached and his little baby butt was stuck in my pelvis (no wonder the inversion didn't work!). I bet he was happy to finally stretch his body out!
He was suppose to be a girl! Because Clifford was breached, I had numerous ultrasounds. Each time the nurse and doctor tried looking to see if the baby was a boy or a girl. And each time they could never get a definite answer. One time, the legs were split but of course the umbilical cord had to be going straight down in the middle, blocking everything (just our luck haha!). Even without a definite answer, our nurse and doctor said they were 95% sure the baby was a girl. Luckily, since it wasn't 100%, we bought a few items for both gender. On the day of the c-secion, as the baby was being pulled out, I'll never forget the excitement in Pete's voice as he laughed and said "Oooo, It's a boy!!"
Even before Clifford was born, Grandma Jane called the baby 'Junior". When Pete took Clifford out to see family in the waiting room, Grandma Jane saw the blue hat and exclaimed "It's a boy!" And to this day, she still calls him "Junior" (it's the only nickname he has).
We kept the name a secret. When deciding on a name for each gender, we started off with Christian Hans for a boy. As time went on, Pete decided he wanted to start a tradition. Since he was a 'second', named after his grandpa, then he wanted to name our son after his dad, making him a 'second' as well. We kept it a secret from Cliff (especially since we weren't sure on the gender). As I recovered in the recovery room, Pete took Clifford out to show everyone. From what I was told, someone asked about the name and Pete said "Clifford". I was told Cliff had a big grin on his face. Cliff joked with Pete, asking if Clifford had the 'Nielsen gap'. Pete, being hyped up on excitement, actually looked. Then Pete laughed at himself (since, of course, babies don't come with a set of teeth yet haha). It was fun keeping the name a little secret and surprising Cliff.
Here is a look at Clifford's past birthdays. He's growing up so fast!
1!!!
2!!!
3!!!
4!!!
5!!!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monster Jam
Last Saturday we hung out with the other Nielsen family for a night of fun. We drove down to Auburn to meet Jessica and her boys for some Round Table Pizza (Cindy was meeting us there to take Donavan for the night). Daniel met up with us for dinner after he got off work. After stuffing ourselves with yummy pizza, we drove to the Tacoma Dome for Monster Jam. Uncle Gene and his crew showed up as well. All the kids had fun goofing around with each other. Pete and I had never been to a monster truck show before and weren't sure what to expect or if our boys would even like it. It turned out to be a lot of fun! We definitely want to go again next year. After the show Jessica and her boys followed us home to spend the night and watch the football game with us. It was another fun weekend for us!
Pizza Time!!
This is Kristjan crying and upset by how loud the trucks were. Pete was a little slow at putting in the earplugs in the boys' ears before the start of the show. Poor boy!
All better!
'Freestyle' was a lot of fun to watch!
I love the memories that are being made for my boys being able to spend time with all the Nielsen cousins. It's so much fun to hang out with everyone!
The boys thought the part of the show when the dino came out to eat the car was awesome!
The best part of Monster Jam is the mishaps. The crowd goes wild when a truck tips over or breaks after an awesome jump!
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