Answers...

We traveled to Cincinnati Children's Hospital yesterday in search of answers, which we got. I've written before that Taylor has a whole host of health issues for which we have been seeing different specialist trying to find some answers. The most current issue has been trouble urinating, complaining of pain in the kidney areas, multiple UTI's, fevers, etc.

Taylor had a renal ultrasound (view of kidneys and bladder) and a VCUG (cath inserted and dye is run throughout the urinary tract). These tests confirmed that she has renal reflux. Basically her urine does not completely void her body and backs up into her kidneys. Reflux and urinary tract infections can cause kidney damage, so they do not take this lightly (although renal reflux is fairly common).

This is a condition that some kids can outgrow and the body repairs itself. The doctor is not hopeful that this will be Taylor's situation - her reflux is fairly significant (especially in her right kidney).

The plan: She will be on preventative antibiotics every day for the next 6 months. If she has a fever over 101 for more than 24 hours we need to collect a urine sample and have it tested for infection (specialist needs to be contacted with any infection she might have). We will follow up at the end of July with the specialist. They will perform another renal ultrasound at that time to see if her body has made any progress in repairing itself. If not, we will need to consider two different types of surgical procedures to repair this.

They also encouraged us to see their colorectal specialist (internationally known) in hopes to resolve her bowel issues. We just found out our GI specialist at St. Vincent's in Indy is moving to Canada, so this would be a perfect time to get a new set of eyes on her. I will call Monday to see when we can get in.

The good news: We have some answers as to why she has so much trouble going potty and this could also be an answer to her "mysterious" fevers.

The bad news: The specialist encouraged us not to pursue anymore potty training at this time. If she wants to go on the potty - fine, but no active toilet training. It has been painful for her to have bowel movements and urinate for a while now, so he wants to resolve these issues before we go any further with the training. Once it doesn't hurt anymore then we can hopefully change her mindset about using the potty. Anyone have any Pull-ups coupons they're not using?! :)

So, there you have it. We are very thankful for these answers. Our goal at this point is to find answers to her medical issues and improve her everyday life. We just want her to be a 3 year old and have fun. We know God is good and we truly felt He lead us in this direction. We have been praying for guidance and for the doctor's wisdom. He is the Great Physician!

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all they ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

Thank you for your prayers and concern for Taylor over the past year and a half. Please continue to pray for this antibiotic to keep at bay any infections, the doctor's wisdom, for Neal and I to make the right decision if she does need surgery and for her to just feel good and enjoy life! Thanks - we love you all!

More later...

A Winter Wonderland

Taylor waited and waited and waited for the snow. Finally...it came. She was so excited to get all bundled up and play in our backyard.

Bryce enjoyed watching sister from inside the warm house. :)

But he really wanted to be in the snow with her.

Time for sledding...our good friends the Smith's have a great sledding hill at the side of their house. Perfect size for our little ones. Kelsey really enjoyed playing with Taylor and Bryce. This was their FIRST sledding experience (Taylor was too scared last year).



Taylor would scream with delight each time she would go down. She wanted to go again and again and again. We finally made her come in...she was none too happy with us.

You can hardly see Bryce, but he is on Kelsey's lap in this pic. He didn't want to sit still long enough to get on the sled, but he loved it once they were moving.
My kids LOVE the snow and cold - they must get that from their father. I enjoy looking at the snow from inside my nice warm house with a hot cup of tea in my hand. Actually, the pics of Taylor playing in our backyard were shot from inside :) Pathetic, aren't I?

Guess what? My blog is officially caught up...now let's see if I can keep it that way.

More later...

Learning Wii In Your 60's!

I know I promised sledding next, but I forgot to mention anything about Christmas with my family. We had a great time at John and Emily's house. But I have to tell you - the highlight was my parents learning to play Wii for the first time! What a riot! We played several rounds of bowling and I couldn't resist snapping a few pics....

Jason is *trying* to show Dad how to use the controller.

Dad's first attempt.

Now it's mom's turn.

And I couldn't forget to post of picture of this cutie! This is Kendra, John's youngest. She was born in July and is a joy! She has smiles and love for everyone.

Okay, now it's time for some sledding...

More later...

Christmas Day

Okay, where did I leave off....yes, Christmas Day. Neal and I finally woke the kids up at 9:00 (I know we won't have many more years of that - I'm sure they will be waking us up at 5:00 a.m. soon!). We attend 11:00 p.m. service on Christmas Eve so that makes for a very late night. We take them in their jammies, but of course, our kids don't sleep. They were wide awake for the while service. Geesh!

Anyway, Christmas morning hits for Taylor was her new sled, Cinderella doll and horse and her new craft kit. Bryce was thrilled with his new ball (yeah, a ball folks - it's the little things in life!), school bus and stuffed husky doggie. They had many more surprises, but those were the favorites.

We spend Christmas day in our jammies (all day - so much fun), play with the kids, eat homemade pecan rolls (thanks to Neal's mom) and just have a fun day. This year Neal's mom and his niece came over in the afternoon to celebrate. We opened presents, had dinner (once again, thanks to Neal's mom - homemade beef n' noodles - YUM!) and played games. What a great way to spend Christmas day.

Here are some pics from our day:

Just getting on a roll with the unwrapping...
"Whoohoo - Cinderella and her horse!"

"So this is how you get to the presents..."

Taylor was so excited about her new sled, but she had to wait a while to try it out (pics in my next post :)

Taylor helping Bryce with one of his presents.

Bryce giggled the whole time Kirby opened her present.

Bryce loving on his new Husky doggie that Daddy and Taylor picked out for him.

Bryce, Nanny Austin and Teagan.

"Look more presents...wonder if this one is for me?"

Taylor and Teagan making snowflake crafts after Christmas dinner.

Well, that FINALLY wraps up Christmas with the Austins. Now it's time for sledding...

More later...

Christmas Fun!

Boy oh boy did we have a full calendar in December (and this is just some of the highlights!) with all of our fun Christmas activities! We started the month with a Christmas celebration at Taylor's school. They invited all of the parents in for cookies, punch and caroling. Taylor showed us around her school and shared some of her favorite things after we finished our treats and sang some songs.

The next big event on our agenda was the Christmas program at our church. The theme was a Christmas Toy Shop and all of the kids were asked to wear their Halloween costumes to look like toys in the shop. Well you don't have to ask Taylor twice to wear her Cinderella dress! :) She was very timid and did not want to cooperate during rehearsals, but once the day came she performed wonderfully! We were so proud of her.

We also enjoyed decorating sugar cookies with our friends Clayton and his mommy Holly. Clayton and Taylor had a blast using different colors of icing and sprinkles. Their mommy's even let them enjoy a cookie for themselves! We also got together with Clayton and Holly after the New Year to make pine cone bird feeders for their grandparents and snowman crafts (we were supposed to get this in before Christmas, but thanks to lots of illnesses we had to postpone it). Unfortunately I didn't have my camera that day, but I can assure you that their bird feeders and snowmen were awesome! Thanks for supplying so many of the materials and creating a very fun afternoon Holly!

We also attended the Caterpillar Christmas party. They hosted a laser light show at the Long Center. We had never attended anything like this and it was really neat. Both Taylor and Bryce enjoyed the Christmas music and lights. They provided cookies and punch afterwards and you could also visit with Santa. Bryce agreed (for about 15 seconds) and Taylor stood a nice distance away. We are thankful that Caterpillar makes an effort to host special activities throughout the year for their employees families.

Taylor and Mommy spent an afternoon building a very cool gingerbread house (while brother napped :). We think it turned out spectacular! It was very sad to throw it away after the season was over. We are thinking of building a Valentine house to replace it because we just can't wait until next Christmas!

And last, but not least, was the Fink Family Christmas Eve. This has been a tradition in our family for around 70 years! My dad's brothers and sisters and their families gather on Christmas Eve for supper, presents and a very special visit from Santa. This night brings back so many memories for me as a child (when we used to gather at Grandma's house). We couldn't eat supper fast enough because we knew what was next......Santa always arrives around 8:00 with a bag a goodies for all of the little ones (with the help of a special elf). Everyone has a chance to sit with Santa and share their wishes. Even Grandma always made a point to sit on Santa's lap and visit. After Santa heads back to the North Pole we pass out all of the presents. It's so much fun to see what each other rec'd. Most years there are special gifts such as old, framed pictures of Grandma and Grandpa, family heirlooms, etc. A few years ago (after Grandma passed away) some of our family put together binders with special family photos and the most prized recipes from Grandma's collection. EVERY family member rec'd one! What a treasure to have always and for my children to have. It warms my heart and fills my eyes with tears to think of all of the memories over the years.

Well....enjoy the pictures below.

Taylor snuggling in for a long winter's nap.

Daddy and Taylor at her school Christmas party.

Taylor is showing us how they wear special glasses and a BIG pointer pencil to do the weather bunny each day. They have a bunny on the wall that is dressed by the kids each day according to the weather. This style of glasses is from my childhood, but doesn't she look cute!

Singing songs for the Christmas program at church.

Taylor taking her place during the program - look at that grin!

Concentrating on some serious cookie decorating.

Clayton adds a special touch to his cookie masterpiece!

Look at those awesome cookies - sure look yummy!

Bryce talking to Santa for a moment at the CAT party.

Taylor is proud of our beautiful gingerbread house.

We even created a snowman to stand in the snow outside of our house.

Nanny Fink and Bryce playing on Christmas Eve - waiting for Santa...

Look who has arrived!

"Hey Santa - I'm down here!"

Bryce would only see Santa if he could sit on Daddy's lap.

Same goes with Taylor...

Taylor opening her new Little Mermaid toy from her cousin Zoe.

Bryce opening new bath toys from his cousin Liam. Thanks for the great gifts Westlund family!

Check back in to read about our Christmas Day and the first sledding of the season!

More later...

A New Year!

Okay, since the last time I posted we have turned the calendar from November to December and now January. So much to fill you all in on. I will do my best this week to get you all up to speed on our Christmas festivities and also explain the latest with Taylor's health.

December was filled with much craziness. Not only were we busy with Christmas activities, shopping, decorating, baking, wrapping, church, etc. We also had a nice round of the stomach flu which affected all of us and kept us down for a while. We were also nice enough to pass it on the Neal's mom since she cared for the kids while I was sick (kind of hard to be a mom when you can't make it out of the bathroom for more than 10 minutes - uggh!).


Thankfully that passed and we haven't had too many germs since.


The month started with a trip to Homestead Christmas Tree farm to pick out the Austin Family Christmas Tree for 2008. We chose a skinny one this year because we had to gate it off thanks to Mr. I Get Into Everything These Days (aka Bryce). Luckily our friends the Drowns had extra gate to loan us (they had to do the same thing at their house for twice the reason - twins boys). Thanks Ryan and Holly for helping our tree stay pretty and presents remain wrapped until Christmas arrived :)!


Heading out to find the perfect tree.

Taylor enjoying the first snow of the season. Sure wish we would get more so she can go sledding. She asks about every day. :)




Bryce walking in snow for the first time.

This is the one. Neal found one he liked - I found one I liked - Taylor had the final say.

Stayed tuned...look for more posts this week. Thanks for checking in with us.

More later...