Congratulations Bryan!

Congratulations on your promotion to Specialist, or in civilian terms "driver". I am so proud of you and all of your accomplishments. All of your hard work has paid off and you deserve nothing but the best! Through this crazy year you have stayed strong, helped me keep my feet on the ground and followed your dreams. I can't thank you enough for all that you do for our family. You are an amazing example to me and our beautiful children. I know this promotion was bitter sweet leaving your 18's family, but a new chapter has just begun and I am sure it will be just as good, if not better.

I hope your first shift at 17's C shift was as good as you hoped it would be and as Jeremy says every night during his prayers while you are gone, "Please watch over Daddy and keep him safe while he is at the fire station...."

We love you!

Quick Poll

I am just curious... for those parents whose kids were late teethers, how old were they when one finally popped through?

Results

I realized that I didn't post an update about Courtney's test results... They were normal, well at least a normal infection that should be able to be treated with antibiotic ear drops. So we had to finish out the week (Friday) doing ear drops and were told, "Just give us a call if there is anymore drainage." The next day our audiologist gave us a quick crash course on how to use an otoscope, sent us on our way and said to check for any drainage in her ear on Sunday.

Bryan and I were a bit skeptical on how this would work since you can't poke it in too far or it will hurt her, have to all but strap her down to look in her right ear, and have to hold the otoscope a certain way to move with her head when she moves so we don't jam the tip in her ear. So we couldn't check until today when she wasn't so fired up, and yep, you guessed it, there is still fluid in her ear! We were looking for "bone dry" and that wasn't the case. Anything white, green, yellow, etc. would not be good. Since I have only looked in an ear three times, not quite a professional, I wasn't sure what color it was, but it wasn't dry. Luckily, we go back to see our audiologist tomorrow for a mapping and she can give us the for sure thumbs up or down as to whether or not we call good ol' Dr. Syms!

The good thing is she hasn't run any fever. I just would like her right ear to be just as "bone dry" as her left!

A small delight!

After 16 months and 21 days, Courtney can walk! I knew eventually she would, but with her hearing impairment I was worried something else might be wrong. Even though I knew her brain was more focused on listening and processing sounds than developing her motor skills, I absolutely couldn't wait for her to walk! We are still holding out for teeth, but at least we know they are up there somewhere!

This is just the treat our family needed as we wait for the results on Monday to find out what is causing Courtney to have an ear infection since December 23rd! Dr. Syms took three cultures on Thursday and we are hoping it is nothing serious. We may have to consult with an infectious disease doctor depending on the results. So... we shall see!

Happy Birthday Logan!

Our little LoMan is 3 today and I can't believe it! He keeps us laughing all of the time and is recovering well from his eye surgery on Friday. We had his birthday party in California last weekend with his cousins - what a blast! Today Bryan is on shift so a friend of mine, Logan, Jeremy, Courtney and I had a lazy day, hung out and had cupcakes.

We love you LoMan!