Addie at the park

Addie Grace Smith, you are one of a kind. It is so hard to get a picture of you with a natural smile. You have many that you have come up with, the cheezy grin, the upper lip curl grin, the squinty eye grin...the list goes on and on. Fortunately, this picture captures your beautiful 4 1/2 year old smile. Love it! October 30, 2008

Alexis at the park

I love this picture of Alexis. We went to Carrie Blake Park specifically to take Fall pictures of you and Addie. You wanted so much to wear this hat that we took the summer to locate. This picture captures your natural smile and how beautiful you have become. I just love it!

A visit to the doctor

Last month, I kissed Addie goodnight and thought she had a stinky ear. Gross, I know, but it smelled funny. So I mentioned it to Korey who basically said not to worry about it, he didn't think her ear smelled. A few days later, I was trying to wake her up and again, I thought her ear smelled. This time, I called the Mayo clinic hotline and the nurse, as kindly as possible, tells me to have Addie seen in the next 24 hours. Great! I call and leave a message for the doctor at 8a. I called back at 11a and was told a nurse would get back to me...eventually I ended up making the trip to PA to the childrens clinic.
The nurse and doctor checked her ears and said they were full of ear wax and probably a little dirt. No redness, no swelling-so they wanted to give her an ear wash. I was hoping they would say that! Addie has major wax production and very narrow ear canal so there is always a ton of wax in her ear. So, the nurse starts with the 'stinky' ear. Three full pans of orangy colored water and lots of big wax chunks later, the nurse is satisfied and goes to the left ear. This one didn't stink,but if you wash one, you should wash the other. The first tray gets full quickly, the same gross chunks as the right ear. As she begins filling the next pan, Addie starts to cry and begs her to stop. Uh oh. The nurse grabs the ear looky thingy and check her ear. Mind you, there was nothing but wax prior to the ear wash, BUT after the first tray was filled, something was unlodged. The nurse says." There is something blue in there."
I ask Addie, Did you put something in your ears, honey?
Addie- She is a little weepy and shrugs her shoulders..."Mommy, it's just that I tried to put the pretty clear bead in, but it wouldn't fit. So, I put the blue one in."
OH MY GOODNESS. It was actually hard not to laugh. She was so serious. That pretty clear one just wouldn't fit so she just had to stick the blue one in!
Needless to say, both the nurse and I told Adddie not to do that again and warned her of the dangers of putting anything in her ears again. The nurse finished washing out her ear and we left. I was satisfied that I had done the right thing by taking her in, and thankfully there was no damage done.