Twelve!

Cupcakes for the class with edible pearls

Sleepover at the St. Regis.  K might have been Eloise in a former life.  I think I was also.

Notice that little monkey in the background who joined us for the sleepover because his father had to go out of town unexpectedly.  He talks in his sleep!  He screamed out something about every 20 minutes (just as I had fallen back to sleep.)  I felt like a POW the next morning.

Olivia

Bill and Aperna.  Sheila and Elliot were there too.

The kids swam in the heated pool even though it was cold and rainy.  I took this photo from inside, Catherine and I hung out in the billiards room and watched the kids swim through the window

The jacuzzi was the place to be.  They all came in and hopped in the bath tub in their swim suits and watched tv on the tv that is built into the mirror.  Do people have those in their homes?? Those tv's are a kids dream come true.  

Be Careful What You Wish For

K has been chomping at the bit (so to speak) to get braces. I did not want to start orthodontic treatment knowing that we might move. It looks like we will be in Atlanta for at least another 18 months so I decided to go ahead and get with the treatment. K was so excited, thinking that she would soon be sporting colorful new braces.  Things did not quite work out as she anticipated.  For the next year she has to wear an appliance called a herbst.  It is kind of like the modern day equivalent of head gear.  It looks horribly uncomfortable to me.  The goal is to move her lower jaw forward (she has a slight over bite.)  She will then wear braces for a year.  She has really been a good sport once she got over the initial shock that she would be wearing something in her mouth that is similar to a horse bit for the next year.

Leaky Gut and Gluten Intolerance

I am a member of numerous online adoption groups.  In a couple of the groups parents discuss leaky gut and how curing their children's leaky gut has helped with their behavior problems.  I am lucky that K really doesn't have any behavior problems so I have haven't investigated leaky gut but the concept seems odd to me.  There is also a lot of discussion about gluten intolerance in these groups.  Again another subject that I do not know anything about but I do find it curious that so many people as of late are gluten intolerant.  

I have a friend who was having terrible stomach aches.  She went to a GI doctor who she decided she did not like (that could be a subject for another post but is probably better left unsaid for now).  A friend then convinced her to go to a holistic doctor who started treating her for leaky gut and gluten intolerance.  She spend thousands of dollars on dietary supplements but the stomach aches got worse and worse.  She finally decided to go to another GI doctor.  I think there was also a trip to an acupuncturist someone during the six months.  The GI doctor did not know what was wrong but recommended a colonoscopy.  This friend is in her 40's.  I agreed to take her to the colonscopy.  After the procedure we were asked to meet with the doctor. This friend is very high energy and wanted to know if the doctor could just call because she was ready to get out of there.  The nurse said that she would tell the doctor we were in a hurry.  We were escorted to a small room and the doctor came in.  She asked if it was all right if I was there?  My friend said sure.  The two of us had no idea what was about to transpire.  The doctor said they had found something.  I thought maybe a polyp?  The doctor gently told us that it was a mass or a tumor.  I think she said mass to ease us into the whole thing.  She stopped calling it a mass during the conversation and switched to tumor.  My friend wanted to know if she would loose her hair and if she could go to Mardi Gras and then tuned out.  I was desperately trying to organize my thoughts not even knowing what I should be asking.  I have started a blog with updates on her treatment. 

www.updatesonmignon.blogspot.com

Snow Mountain

We spent the afternoon at Snow Mountain with Jenna.  I love how you can see the snow that is being made in the photos.  The girls played in the snow and did a lot of tubing.  No tubing photos because I did not take my telephoto lens.