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Das pumpkin.

Los pumkinas.

I have been having some abdominal pain for a few weeks. Since I just stopped using my hormonal birth control in favor of a nonhormonal type which does not prevent ovarian cysts and I have a history of ovarian cysts, I figured my cysts must be back. When the pain got worse than I’d experienced from cysts before, I called my gynecologist and made an appointment. Today at that appointment, she did an ultrasound on my ovaries and found what she is pretty sure is a dermoid cyst, or ovarian teratoma. An ovarian teratoma is a tumor made from various types of body tissues, which can include skin, organ tissue, hair, neural tissue, bone tissue, and teeth, that grows inside an ovary. Most ovarian teratomas are noncancerous (benign) and can be removed very easily with laparoscopic surgery. She told me there is a small chance that this is a normal ovarian cyst with solid tissue inside that will be absorbed naturally by my body, but she’s pretty sure it’s a teratoma and that it will need to be removed. There is a small chance (1-2%) that it is malignant, but it is usually very easy to remove all of a teratoma since these types of tumors tend to form inside nicely secluded, sealed membranes. I have a second ultrasound scheduled for a month from now. If the mass is still there, she will schedule me for surgery sometime in December.

Please pray first and foremost that God’s will be done in this situation. Secondly, pray that this is indeed a benign tumor that can be removed easily.

We got Tru’s school pictures back today, and they are so cute! If anybody wants any, let me know what sizes and how many. Note that the lightish discoloration that starts above her left eye (your left) and extends rightward into the background is not in the picture, it’s on my scanner.

Update: Remember to let me know if you want any pictures! I’ve only gotten one order so far.

I left the house yesterday to take the kids to school. When I arrived back home 45 minutes later, our Robomow was gone from the spot in the front yard in which it had previously been! I looked everywhere for it, including down the street, in the gutter, and in the drainage ditch that it gets stuck in occasionally. It was nowhere. It had obviously been stolen. I called the police and filled out a police report. I couldn’t find the serial number, but I printed off the Amazon.com page on the Robomow RM400 which showed the model number, price, and a picture of the mower. He told me it had probably been kids pulling a prank, and I was inclined to agree. Some kids who used to live in the neighborhood stole our DVD player a couple of years ago and stole $80 worth of diapers out of our neighbor’s trunk. We assumed they returned them to Walmart for cash.

Last night, Tru, Heidi, and I went for a walk and noticed our neighbor and his two sons outside in their yard. I asked them if they’d seen anything and told them what had happened. Tony hadn’t seen anything, but his son had. Apparently, as he was leaving yesterday morning for school, he’d seen the yard trash truck come by and pick up our lawnmower with its big claw! I called the City of Madison Public Works this morning and spoke with two different people. One lady talked to the driver that worked our neighborhood and confirmed that he did pick up the mower. She insisted that the driver was supposed to pick up anything that is near the curb. However, their Trash Collection Guidelines and Information pamphlet that they distribute says, “WE ARE NOT ALLOWED to pick up PAINT, OIL, BATTERIES, GAS AND GAS TANKS (or anything considered to be hazardous materials) TELEVISIONS, COMPUTERS, MICROWAVES…” Our Robomow contained a battery and a computer, and that list sounds an awful lot like they will not pick up most large electronics. She said the driver said that he thought it was a broken regular lawnmower, since it had no handle. This confuses me, too, because that list above also contains oil, gas, and gas tanks, and a regular lawnmower contains all three. She also said at one point in the conversation, “We wouldn’t have picked it up unless it was by the curb by the trash.” It may have been near the edge of our yard, but it was far around on our side yard and not anywhere near our trash.

I got a bit snippy with the rude lady, because she kept trying to justify the driver’s actions and wouldn’t even attempt to help me. She transferred me to a man. He told me that they would look for the lawnmower. I can’t imagine that it has not already been destroyed with the rest of yesterday’s trash, though. I hope that it hasn’t been for their sake, because they will be replacing it if it is gone. Grrr.

Update #1 (9/23): I got a call from them at about 10:45. I called them back at 12:30 and a new lady told me that the Robomow has already been destroyed. She recommended that we file a claim against the city’s insurance policy to be reimbursed. Hopefully that will work and we will be able to get another one.

Poor, sweet Rob. We hardly knew ye. :’(

Update #2 (9/24): I filed a claim for reimbursement. Now the fun part begins–fighting with the insurance company!

Update #3 (10/05): Well, that was easy! The city’s claims adjuster just called and agreed with me that the city was liable. She is going to mail me a release and a check!

Update #4 (10/28): Got the check today. Yay! We will invest it until springtime and get a new Robomow then.

Tru has really taken to school. She’s been absent a few times for doctor appointments, illness, and vacation, and every time she does, the teacher sends her work for the day home as homework. Tru loves it! She finishes it all in one sitting and then asks for more homework. She has learned lots of new songs, including “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”, “The B-I-B-L-E”, “Noah Built a Great Big Ark”, “Father Abraham”, and others; learned the Pledge of Allegiance; and learned various behavior related rhymes and methods. She now raises her hand even at home to get our attention. She is a Five Star Listener: “Eyes are watching, ears are listening, lips are closed, hands are still, and feet are quiet.”

At her school, parents drive up under a covered drive, and teachers put the kids in the car. Today, when I drove up to pick up Tru, Tru’s teacher, Mrs. Faulkner, practically ran up to my car, Tru in tow, beaming. She said, “Did you know that Tru can read already!?” Of course, I did know that, but I’m glad the teacher noticed, too! The rest of the class is still learning letters. They’ve done A, E, I, O, U, S, and T so far. They’ve also learned numbers 1-10. Tru knows how to read and write small words, and she can add and subtract numbers under 10. Mrs. Faulkner was very surprised and proud to learn that.

Here is the most recent example of her writing. Here, she’s written Tru, Zoe (a classmate), Mama, Daddy, Heidi all by herself with no help from me, even on spelling. Click on the image to view it full size. She’s such a smart little girl!

Tru’s school, Faith Christian Academy is having a fundraiser through Charleston Wraps. One of the prizes is being driven to lunch away from the school in a limo. She wants to do this very badly and must sell 35 items to be able to go. Please look through the list of items below and purchase something so that she will be able to go! If you purchase from the website, enter Student Code 456372 or Tru will not get credit for it. Free shipping on orders over $75! Alternatively, you can email me at erin@thespicelands.com or comment here with the three digit item number and quantity, and I will handle your order and deliver it to you.

Christmas Gifts
Candles
Collegiate Gifts
Flowers and Gardening
Gadgets
Gifts for Her
Gift Giving and Home Decor
Gift Wrapping Paper, including Christmas, birthday, and all-purpose paper
Gift Wrapping Accessories, including bags, ribbon, tools, and tags
Gourmet Chocolates
Jewelry
Kitchen Collection
Magazines
Personalized Gifts, including bags, mugs,
Religious Gifts
Stuff for Kids
Stationery and Calendars
Unique Edible Goodies and Gifts

We had lots of fun last weekend in Hot Springs, AR with Papa and Nana! It was Heidi’s first time on the lake and Tru’s second. Tru caught three fish with Papa and went tubing with Nana. Mike and I water skiied for the first time ever. Mike was much better at it than me. He stood up 2 out of 3 times. I tried 10+ times and only got up 3 or 4 times. Nana was a pro. Heidi was thrilled with the ducks and still keeps asking to feed them. She says, “Dut? Dut?” Mike has video that may go up here later, but for now, you will have to make do with the pictures.

Hello, all, if anyone is out there anymore. I see that we have only had one new comment in the past month and a half. I’ll try to do better about posting updates if you guys will post comments so that we know this website is worth keeping!

Tru and Heidi both had regular checkups last week. Tru is 39 inches tall and 36 pounds. She had her first vision and hearing tests. She performed perfectly on the hearing test and did very well on her vision test, too. Dr. Zbell was very impressed that she could jump on one foot (a 5 year developmental milestone) and praised Tru for becoming involved in soccer. Tru proudly told Dr. Zbell about the two goals she’s scored in the last 3 games. Tru got her first set of shots in the last 2 years and her last until she is 11 years old. Tru developed a fever in reaction to the shots and had to miss two days of school. She’s fine now, though!

Heidi was 23 and a half pounds and 31 inches long. Dr. Zbell was impressed by how quickly Heidi can walk and by how many words she can say. Heidi also had to have shots and reacted badly to them. She developed a fever, a runny nose, and spots. The spots were a reaction to the chickenpox vaccine. She is still a little sick, and I am going to call the doctor tomorrow to see if she needs to be on antibiotics from an infection secondary to the reaction. Hopefully we’ll have that all cleared up before our vacation on Thursday! Heidi can say many, many words now. She can say Mama, Dada, Tru, dog, cat, bird, flower, water, baba (bottle), night-night, bye-bye, cheese, Cheerios, car, that, light, get down, up, cuddle, and more. We’ve enrolled Heidi in a very nice educational daycare facility, and she will start going there after we get back from our vacation, at which time I will also begin working more.

Time for another update. Heidi is officially walking! She started about 2 weeks ago, and now she can take 20-30 steps by herself. She can say lots of words, too, even if few of them are discernible to people outside our family. People outside our family would be able to understand night-night, bye-bye, cheese, baba (bottle), Dada, and Mama. We can also understand more, Tru, dog, bird, Cheerios, car, down, up, and diaper. However, mostly when she says these words, she’s repeating after us.

I have had irritational (industrial or environmental) bronchitis since July 4th — that’s 10 days now! We shot off fireworks of our own after the city-sponsored fireworks, and the smoke got to me. I’ve had a sore throat and have been coughing and hacking. I bought a bottle of chloraseptic spray about 4 days ago, and half the bottle is gone already. I can’t wait until my throat heals. Fireworks are SO not worth this. Next year, I’m staying inside or wearing a face mask.

Tru starts Pre-K/K4 in 27 days! She has a bookbag and a lunchbox with matching thermos, and she is so excited. Her teacher is young and excited about teaching, and we already know that one boy in her class is the son of the 3rd grade teacher at the Christian private school she’s going to. I can’t wait, either!

We are in the process of performing some much-needed home repairs and upgrades. I began tiling both bathrooms today and hope to be finished within the next 4-6 days. After that, we’ll be getting new countertops, getting a new backsplash, and repairing the deck that I almost burned down last year.

Happy birthday to my twin sisters Allison (Ally) and Kerri! 26 — WOW! Happy birthday to my stepmom, Melissa!

We haven’t done a real update in a while, so I thought I’d just post a few things. Firstly, Heidi took her first steps yesterday! She was in the church nursery, and Mike was there with her. She’s taken a few more since then, 1-2 steps at a time. She’s getting huge! She’s over 23 pounds. She’s in the 90th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height. She’s wearing 18 months clothes already, which is perfect. Tru was 18 months old during the summer, so all the clothes are the correct season.

Tru is going to VBS at our church this week. She’s too young still to go by herself (church policy), so I’m volunteering in the nursery and Heidi comes with me. Saturday is the open house at Tru’s new school, so we’ll register her then. I can’t believe she’ll be in Pre-K in the fall!