One doctor appointment down ...

Well, I suppose we got good news from the ENT doctor yesterday. Riley's ears are both full of fluid, but he doesn't think Riley needs tubes again. After taking the hearing test, they found that Riley wasn't hearing in the acceptable range in his right ear (which we knew) and he was at the low end of the acceptable spectrum with his left ear. But, at this point they don't think that he has any permanent hearing loss and that it is mostly due the large amount of thick mucus/fluid that is backed up behind the eardrum. It appears that this is occurring because his adenoids are enlarged. When this happens, it doesn't allow the mucus to drain as it should. The enlarged adenoids can also cause him to feel a tickle in his sinuses/throat area which causes him to sniff quite a bit. This causes any mucus to back up further into the sinuses and then the ears. Sooooooo, next week we are off to the hospital for an adenoidectomy. Poor little guy will be sore for quite a bit and will be out of school for a whole week! We'll give him lots of TLC and soft foods during that time. Once he is healed from the surgery, we will go back to have the fluid drained from his ears and do another hearing test. Hopefully with better results. Also, once those big ol' adenoids are gone, our little Riley will no longer snore as loud as a lumberjack sawing logs. I think we'll all be thankful for that one! Please pray that everything goes smoothely during surgery and our little buddy has a quick recovery. Thank you = )

Riley stuff that's on my mind ...

Our schedule has been jam-packed, so there are a ton of things I could post about right now and pictures I could upload, but I have a few things on my mind that I just need to get out now. My dear mom will tell me not to worry until there's something to worry about. I love that about her, she keeps me grounded. Unfortunately, that is just not how I'm wired. I worry and plan until I know there's nothing to worry about and/or plan for.

Anyhow, there's a couple of issues that I'm worried about, anxious about, and excited about.

First, tomorrow we are once again visiting the ENT's (ear doctor's) office. Riley suffered numerous ear infections again this winter and his eardrum finally burst a couple of weeks ago. At his 5 year checkup, the drum was healing, but once again his right ear was filled with fluid. In addition to this, his pre-school teacher mentioned that he seems to be asking her, as well as other teachers and students, to repeat themselves almost constantly. We have been noticing this at home also. So, hopefully, the hearing loss is just due to the drum still healing and the fluid in his ear muffling the sound waves and not something else. In the meantime, I will fret and pray.

Second, on Friday the 1st, I will be taking Riley back to our family doctor for a biopsy. He has a very dark mole on the palm of his hand that appeared about a year ago. It started very small and no one thought it was of much concern. However, at his 5 year checkup I pointed it out to the doc again and she was a bit taken with how much it has grown. It's now just smaller than a pencil eraser. She did say she isn't overly concerned with it at this point since it has a pretty regular shape and no extending lines radiating from it ... but still, it's an odd place to have a mole and the increase in size should be checked. Hopefully, it's nothing. But, again, in the meantime, I will fret and pray.

Next, we will be venturing to the kindergarten round-up in April. I can hardly believe my little Rileybug will be starting kindergarten this year! I am so excited for this next milestone! He is so smart and makes friends so easily, so I'm not very worried about that. But, along with his intelligence comes a VERY strong will coupled with INTENSE curiosity. Sometimes this can be a challenge for authority figures and Riley. So, I pray that he ends up with a teacher who is willing to listen to him (and me) so he can be the BEST boy he can be. In the meantime, I will fret. And pray.

News from Japan ...

My cousin, Mitch, and his family are currently living in Japan. KAKE News did a skype interview with him. Click here to check it out: http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/Interview_With_Kansan_Living_In_Japan_118046824.html

Please keep him, his family, and all of the other people there in your prayers.

Here is a transcript of his interview if you can't load the video:

Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Tonight, Japan is setting up a 20-mile no-fly zone around one of its nuclear power plants. The government is advising people in an around the Fukushima plant to stay indoors.
A native Kansan and his family are living too close for comfort to the disaster in the Pacific. Mitch Masden is from Wilson, KS. He currently lives with his wife and daughter in Kitakata, about 100 kilometers southwest of ground zero. Back toward the coast, he is about 100 kilometers due west of the Fukushima power plant.
"Right now the streets are pretty calm," said Masden via Skype.
But Masden says he thinks that's because nobody knows what to do. It's not mass chaos as much as it is bewilderment in the country he moved to with his wife eight years ago. Although more than 100 kilometers away from Sendai, Masden says buildings were heavily damaged and things were tossed inside his own home.
"We didn't actually get hit by any of the wave, but everybody is still freaked out about that part," Masden explained. "I don't even like to watch the news over here because that's all you see."
With concerns about the gasoline and food supply, his family is conserving as much as they can, even though there aren't massive food shortages where he is.
"We're driving as little as possible," Masden said. "Right now in Kitakata, we can still get milk, meat and stuff like that. All the rice and bread is sold out."
Masden's family is not currently in the evacuation zone for nuclear radiation concerns, but that zone keeps getting closer and closer.
"Every day they're expanding the evacuation radius," he said. "The first day it went from 3-5 kilometers. The next day it went from 5-10 and then 10-20. Now it's up to 30 kilometers away."
Meanwhile, Masden says he's struggling with the possibility of returning to Kansas.
"I don't know exactly what my wife wants, but I'm kinda leaning for moving back to the states, but it's also how long will that take?"
Masden told us the one thing that comforts him is that there is no widespread panic and only very few reports of looting and crime.
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Riley is 5!

Well, another year has passed and I can hardly believe the sweet little angel baby I cradled in my arms is now such a big boy! Riley, we all love yo so much and are so proud of the helpful, funny, sentimental, athletic young man you are becoming!

We started out this special day surprising Riley with decorations and a super fun 45 minute game of balloon volleyball in the living room. I wish we had time to start every day like that. I think all our bellies hurt from laughing so hard!

Soon after, the family started to trickle in for the celebration.

Here's Riley posing with Grandpa Huber and Papa Soukup.

From here we headed to Lawrence Fire Station #1 for a tour.

(I totally recommend for anyone living in Lawrence, it was so fun and it's free!)

Riley and his best buddy, Kohen - they can't believe the firemen just said they could touch ANYTHING!

From there on out it was a button pushing, lever pulling, equipment trying extravaganza!

Hunter, Riley, and Kohen checking things out from the driver's seat.

Several of us adults had to check it out, too. This was their newest truck,

only 2 months old. Very cool.

The future firemen getting suited up = )

Each of the boys got a turn getting strapped onto the gurney and loaded into the medic truck.

They thought it was a blast!

Personally, I hope this is the first, last, and only time I see any of them near a gurney!

Me and my niece, Paige. She's 12 and already taller than me!

She is such a sweet girl = )

The boys sitting on the front of the firetruck with the lights going. Talk about excitement!]

After that fun adventure we headed to Riley's favorite place to eat - CiCi's!

Pizza and video games, the perfect combo for busy little boys = )

Then it was home for cake and presents.

Here's Riley's cake. I wasn't sure how I was gonna fit all of those vehicles onto the cake, but I think we made it work. The boys had a lot of input on the design. Riley loved it and I had so much fun making it!

Apparently Riley thought it tasted pretty good, too. He couldn't shovel it in fast enough = )

Corey confiscating one of Riley's presents for himself.

Who doesn't love a toy bow and arrow?

Kohen and Riley - best buddies with matching frosting faces = )

Snuggle time with Grandma Soukup!

All in all, I think it was a pretty darn good day and fun was had by all = )

Gage is funny ...

So, our little Gager has been on a roll lately with his funnies. Here are a couple that come to mind:

The other day while driving to pre-school we were discussing the differences between mammals and reptiles and what types of animals fall into each category. He had been quiet for a minute while Riley was still rattling off different matches. Then, with an onery little grin on his face he says, "Well, Daddy doesn't have any hair so he must be a reptile!" After that, we all erupted in laughter. Love that silly humor!

On this one, I don't think Gage was meaning to be funny, but his observation still cracked me up a little. Again on a morning drive to preschool, out of nowhere, Gage starts this exchange: Gage, "Mom, God sure is a good hider." Me, "What do you mean?" Gage, "Well, He's everywhere, but I can't see Him!" Seriously, so cute! I love the way his little mind works = )

Old News, New News, and Good News ..

A couple of weeks ago we headed back to good ol' Russell America to visit my Grandma. I really love that lady. I so wish that we all lived in the same town so we could spend more time together. Riley and Gage also have such a good time with her -- it might have something to do with the fact that she supplies them with enough cookies to feed an army! Here they are enjoying a little fun snuggle time = )

We have to laugh about this. There's close to 100,000 people in the town that we live in. We've lived here 14 + years and have been fortunate to avoid any type of auto accident during our time here. Well, during our short trip back to Russell - population approximately 4000 - we take my grandma out to supper. While inside eating, a local managed to back into our van out in the parking that literally had only 5 cars in it. Are you kidding me? Oh well, at least in a small town when that happens the people are nice enough to come in the restaurant and find you and tell you about it = )

There has been this box of 100 cookie cutters that I've had my eye on for a while and finally broke down and parted with my $10 for it. Inside it has the entire alphabet and number 0-9. This has become one of Riley's favorite new toys. He is so into learning to read right now, it's awesome! Riley loves putting all the letters and numbers in order and spelling out the few word that he can right now. He makes this nerdy momma so proud = ) 

In other news, we recently joined a new church. I've only belonged to 2 churches in my entire life - the one I grew up in going twice a week, every week, and the one we originally joined here in Lawrence. This was a decision I struggled with for a long time. I just wasn't feeling very connected to my church anymore and really struggled with some of it's teachings and general goings on. This is definitely not something I take lightly. So, I did a bunch of research and we visited a couple of churches in the area. One church in particular really seemed to stand out. For one, it was highly recommended by some very good people I know, and two, their children's program is pretty cool. The first time we visited, from the moment we walked in the door, people were so nice and helped us around (we must have had that deer lost in the headlights look!) So, once we got the children settled into their Sunday school class, Corey and I headed in for the service. Oh, my, goodness. I literally cried during the sermon. I have never done that before! Everything that was coming out of the pastor's mouth seemed like it directed right to me. Some signs are just too big to ignore. It was just what I needed to hear to know we were making the right decision. What a weight to be lifted from my heart! I am so looking forward to the children learning and growing with their wonderful children's ministry and for myself and Corey growing in our faith in such a comfortable surrounding.