Chrismtas tree 2007

We got our tree on Monday evening after work. When Andy was young, him and his dad would go out every year and cut down their own tree so Andy wanted to carry that tradition on with his own family. So that's what we did. We bundled up, went out on the wagon, and hiked for our tree. Andy cut it down and the guy was nice enough to drag it back for us since we both had our hands full carrying the girls. The night was getting late after Andy fought wtih the cheap tree stand we had all night so decorating had to wait for Tues night. So, Tuesday night we got all our decorations out and put them all on the tree. Mianna loved putting on the ornaments this year! Every time she put one on, she got all excited and we all got hugs! :) It was very cute! Hadley played with the garland all night. The best part was looking at all the ornaments and remembering the memories that went with them. When the tree was all decorated, Andy lifted Mianna up to put the angel on the top. We decided this would be a tradition when Mianna was born; ok, I decided this would be a tradition seeing that i love traditions :) Since Mianna was born, she always put up the angel. Actually this is the first year that she could literally put it on the tree. She felt pretty special. Were going to have to think of a tradition for Hadley so she doenst feel left out... The tree turned out very cute. Last night I was sitting on the couch getting all teary eyed as I couldn't take my eyes off it thinking how lucky Andy and I are to have such a special family! God has been so good to us! Thank you God!!!!

Fun in the snow

Mianna's been pretty excited with all the snow we've been getting. Last wk, we decided to go out and play! It was cold, but she kept saying she didn't want to go in so we kept playing. We made snow angels, sled down the little hill in the backyard where i work, and trampled through the deep snow. The hill was icey so the sled went really fast. I'm not sure she liked that so much, so she decided to slide down on her butt instead. She actually went pretty fast so i decided to try it out. It was a lot of fun! I'm not sure who had more fun, her or me! :)

Christmas festivites

Last wkd, Andy and I decided to take the girls to the Live Nativity Stable in Cedarburg. It was very cute. It was all acted out by grade school children. It was nice to give Mianna a better picture of where baby Jesus was born and how it was back then. The only thing I wonder is if she really thought that was the actual baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. I think maybe at first she did, but then i explained to her that they were just pretending to be them to show us what it was like. I think maybe she understood a little bit. Anyways, it was very nice to see and even though it was a bit cold, I'm glad we went. We stayed for about 1/2 hour watching and singing Christmas songs with them, then we left because the girls were getting cold. I highly recommend checking it out. It was very cute and gives the little ones a better picture of where Jesus was born. It is every Friday before Christmas from 6:30-7:30 in Cedarburg.

After that, we decided to take a ride to Belgium to see the house that lights up to music. It was very cool. We went last year too. Mianna enjoyed it a lot this year. If you've never been there, I would check it out! You turn on your radio to a specific station and the lights on the house light up with the music. This year they had a big sign lit up that said, "Jesus is the reason for the season." I was very impressed. I hope we can go again!

MRI and Ultra sound update

Hadley's MRI and Ultra sound results came back. As for the MRI, everything looked great. The cartilage where the bones will be forming where right in place meaning this issue is nothing more than scoliosis. As for the ultra sound, the Dr said that her kidneys look a bit small for her age. She didn't know what that meant so she called the urology Dr and got back to me the next day. That Dr said as of right now because she's so young, there not too worried about it, but they want her to get another ultra sound in a year to make sure they are growing properly. I don't know what it means to have small kidneys, but I think I'd rather not so I don't worry about the unknown. Right now, were not worried about it. I think they'll catch up :)
We have another apt with the orthopedic in Feb. to follow up on Hadley's spine. If it continues to curve more, then she will be put in a brace. If it gets better, chances are it will straighten out on its own.
I will keep you updated! Thanks for praying!

Christmas cookie baking day

Every year since I was a little girl, my sister and I would always have a Christmas cookie baking day with my mom. We'd even get to play hookie from school for it! :) It's been one of my favorite traditions. This year, we had help from our little cookie bakers! It was a lot of fun to carry on the tradition with our own daughters. I had a lot of fun spending some quality time with my mom and sister and look forward to it next year!

The Rorabeck's got Elfed!

This is really cute! Check out this website!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1159812823

Hadley's MRI update

Hadley had her MRI and ultra sound yesterday and it went great! It was about a thousand times better than her X-rays. She was so good! First we had her ultra sound and she just stared at the lady wondering what she was doing to her belly. She sat there so patiently for not eating for 6 hours. Then we went down to the MRI department. First a lady came out to tell us the procedure. She said they were going to try the sleepy medicine first, but if Hadley were to move at all, we'd have to do it all over again wtih an IV. She said that she will cry while they give her the medicine because it tastes yucky. So, after the talk, we went to her cold MRI room and she proceeded to giving her the medicine. Hadley kept spitting it out so she called in the "expert" who is good at this job. Well, Hadley kept spitting it out, but did not cry. They needed her to cry because that's how they get babies to take it, but Hadley still did not cry. They said they've never had a baby who didn't cry. :) So, in stead they made her smile and laugh and that's how they slipped the medicine in her. She was such a sweetie! Then i rocked her to sleep at we got her set up. Andy and I stayed in the room and watched her while the nurses watched from outside. Hadley didn't move for the first 45 min, then i saw her leg kick. Andy fell asleep so i quickly woke him up and told him i thought she moved. But she was still again. Then she started kicking. I thought, oh no! I don't want her to have to do the IV. So i look out the window to see if they see and they did. But they waited a minute to see if she'd sit still again, but she kept kicking. I just wanted to grab her and hold her. Then the lady came in and said, "I just talked to the radiologist and we can be done." I was so relieved! They pulled her out and i held her right away. She was really out of it from the medicine. They took her vitals and i got to fill her tummy up. She did so good!!!!! Thank you so much for your prayers. We will not get the results back till early next wk, so ill keep you posted! :)

Hadley's MRI and Ultra sound

Hadley has her scheduled MRI and Ultra Sound this Thursday! Her Ultra sound is at 8 and her MRI is at 9. She can not eat 6 hours before. I wasn't too worried because she was sleeping from 8 pm-8am and didn't wake up starving, but for the last couple days she has been waking up around 12/1am and again at 5/6am starving. She must be going through a growth spurt. I hope she is done with it by Thursday because I will not be able to feed her after 2am! Please pray that the process goes well and maybe she'll just sleep through it so they don't have to put the tube down her throat. Were going to try to keep her up more at night so she's super tired! Also pray for Andy and I. Its going to be a hard morning! Thanks!