Happy New Year

So while we took off much of last year, we're back now in 2011 to regale you of the Coleman day-in-the-life tales. And as a belated holiday gift to you, you can look back at an overview of what you missed in 2010. This will take you through our summer:

April: A family beach trip

May: Surgery and such

June: Keeping busy

July: A month in collages, part 1

July: A month in collages, part 2

August: A lotta birthdays...and an announcement

Fall and winter catch-ups will be posted shortly. Enjoy and welcome back!

August: A lotta birthdays...and an announcement

Like mommy, like daughter: A relay track event my friend Rose and I competed in together included a kids' 400-meter dash, so we decided it was about time for Sydney to give the running shoes a try as well (which ended up virtually as big as mine). That one lap around the track took Sydney at least three minutes. Not entirely sure about what to do and where to stop, she was nevertheless very serious about the whole thing and never stopped moving until she crossed the finish line. Drew followed her around the track with the video camera. We were very proud of her - maybe in a few years, mommy will have a new running buddy!

Josiah and Sophia: We got to enjoy a rare weekend with the cousins this month! We took Nick and Megan and the kids to the farmers' market and generally enjoyed just hanging out together. The kids get along so great. Doesn't happen often enough!

A 30th birthday: We all met at the beach to celebrate Hannah's birthday with a bonfire and made a short weekend of it (see pics here...including some unreal ones of Sydney being Sydney).

A little boy birthday: Sydney's friend Luke had an army camouflage style birthday party at a little water park...ended up with great photos of all the kids at play.

A little girl birthday: We hadn't seen Lisa, Timmy and little Clara for nearly a year, so we were thrilled to be able to celebrate Clara's ladybug birthday with her and the rest of the Reitmeier gang in Sisters when she turned one. Loved to see the kids interact...and of course we ended up having a player piano-led dance party with the kiddos!

An "Oma" birthday: We had a special surprise gift for my mom at her birthday dinner. She opened a personalized necklace to find not two, but three birthstones symbolizing the birth months of each of her grandchildren. That's right...we're pregnant with baby #3!!

The family was excited to hear about our new little one, due on April 6, but with Uncle Michael sadly absent, we gave Sydney the job of calling him to share the big news for herself. Grannie and Granddad found out soon afterward on Skype the same way, and it became official: this Coleman family will soon be a family of five.

July: A month in collages, part 2

An active month: Our July activities included dips in the backyard pool, a few days in sunny Sunriver with our friends, the Bernsteins, lots of running and races for me (including a PR in the Foot Traffic Flat Half Marathon on Independence Day!), and a lot of the P90X workout regime for Drew. Sydney was enrolled in a Kids' Sport class where she dabbled in the basics of soccer, basketball, t-ball and hockey. We also took a trip up to Washington, the first stop being Seattle to visit Aunt Carla and Dana.

Sydney, Noah, Daniel, Elijah, Eve...and a partridge in a pear tree: Then it was over to Wenatchee to stay with the Hunters. Their new house has a huge backyard where all the kids (besides weeks-old Eve) played happily for hours, especially on the trampoline Drew and Nigel put together for them. We also took in a touring show of Whose Live Anyway?...sooo funny. Loved seeing Ryan Stiles and all those guys in person!

Taking in the sunshine: Our final stop was Richland, where we enjoyed more outdoor activities with the grandparents and cousins.

Whew, what a month!

July: A month in collages, part 1

Brotherly/sisterly moments: These images paint such an accurate picture of their days together. I can often expect to find them, at some point, squeezed into some silly corner somewhere. And Elijah can just as often expect to find his sister all up in his face.

A look at our son: Here find one afternoon's adventures of Elijah trying to escape out the doggie door. He only tried this the one time.

A look at our daughter: Only a tiny sampling of what happened when Sydney discovered the photo-taking feature on Skype this summer. I found literally hundreds more she'd taken of herself.

Only our kids...

June: Keeping busy

Teeny tiny mortarboards: Sydney came home from the hospital and recovered enough just in time to attend her preschool class's graduation ceremony. One morning a week, Syd enjoyed the basics like making crafts, hearing stories, experiencing show & tell, and learning fundamental classroom skills like raising her hand and standing in line. She loved her Teacher Jeanette and Teacher Nancy!

Good pals: Once in a while, I have to get in a photo of these four neighbor friends. Tigist and Mihiretu have been here a couple years now, and mention of their names or playtime with them always produces shrieks of joy. Can't believe how much these guys have grown up already.

Strawberries at Baggenstos Farms: We always try to get in a trip to pick berries during the summer. On this day for some reason, Elijah was particularly sensitive and broke out in tears again and again...and again.

Actually, this was a bit indicative of this season for Elijah. Literally the day he hit 18 months, he became this new, revved up version of our sweet boy, hit a rough spot with napping, acted more irritable...was generally just not himself. It was like he'd been hanging out with his thumb in his mouth for the past year and a half cultivating this innocent, wide-eyed persona, but was really just sitting back and taking in the world just to suddenly barge forward and take it over. Looking back, this lasted only about three or four months, and then he snapped out of it.

...But nothing like a nice 'plumber' shot of Syd to balance out her brother's somber mood. That girl's pants never seem to fit right. Hopefully her mama can figure that out before the school years hit.

I promise this is the view from their front door. June was capped off by a long weekend in Sisters with the Reitmeiers and friends. Drew missed out, unfortunately, as his high school alumni basketball game coincided with our trip, but we had a great time at our own annual games, the Sisters Sports Invitational IV.

May: Surgery and such

May was...well...memorable around here. For a few reasons:

Back into running shoes: Firstly, it marked the Eugene Half Marathon. After a lengthy hiatus from running, I'd finally got back into it enough to train for my second half marathon ever. And Jill and Hayley ran it, too! Michael, Drew and the kids accompanied us down to Eugene and made a weekend of supporting us. Who would've thought: the three Merritt sisters all running 13.1 miles?!

No, actually, you're NOT working tonight: Later in the month, Chelsey and I kidnapped Kristen for some girls' night merriment when we whisked her away to her surprise 30th birthday dinner at Urban Fondue.

An outlet for excess energy: May also marked the conclusion of Sydney's weekly tumbling class. This activity proved to be right up her alley - a much better fit than the more structured ballet. She loved diving around on the mats, turning somersaults, jumping on the trampoline, trying out the bar, and yelling "stick it!" upon landing. This brief photo slideshow gives a good overview of her antics. (Check out the little pink and grey outfit she wore...that's a hand-me-down from her own mama!)

A hospital pro at the age of three: At the end of May came one of the most significant struggles we've ever had to face: Sydney's surgery to repair her urinary reflux (see more background in the prior post.) But a very scary health event turned out to be an incredible time in learning how to trust God with our little girl.

On the day of surgery, Sydney ended up doing great. She went to sleep well and woke up well, a big blessing. Other blessings: surgery was a success with no complications, we were granted a private room, and she stayed only a single night in the hospital. Family and friends were of huge support.

When she did get antsy her second day there, Oma and Opa wheeled her and her IV down the hall to the playroom for a much-needed change of scenery. She got to paint a big box to go on display - and took advantage of their extensive video stash.

It was a long few weeks of recovery afterward. She dealt with nausea, vomiting, hallucinations, poor sleep and overall exhaustion, bladder spasms, and pain at her incision site and during urination. I'll never forget the day, about a month later, when she finally looked up from the toilet in surprise and told me, "Mama, it doesn't hurt when I pee anymore!"

Sydney has been a different girl since the surgery. Debilitating fits are fewer, farther between and more manageable. She's just overall a lot happier. Looking back, I wonder whether she had been in some some level of discomfort all the time.

In any case, we are very glad this is now behind us. During this chapter of questioning her health, we were given a firsthand lesson in leaning on the power of God. We have a new and very real empathy and compassion for parents who go through similar situations - and worse. And Sydney will carry with her a faint scar as a reminder that Jesus touched her in a special, healing way and had His hand on her the whole time.

The answer to our long-asked question

Yes, I know it's been a long bloggy while, and I fully intend to catch up on the last month's events when things simmer down a bit. This call out for prayer takes precedence, however...thanks for reading (you may have received this in an email from me already).


* * * * *

I wanted to recap the latest with Sydney's health now that we know more:

Sydney's latest seizure was in February, along with another ER visit. At that point, she was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection...not her first. Since then, we've taken her for further testing, and she's finally been diagnosed with urinary reflux. (A good explanatory site can be found here.) This basically means the waste that usually stays south once it hits the bladder is "backwashing" all the way up to her kidneys, causing infection...thus fevers...thus seizures. So there's our answer: we have it! It only took us a year and a half to figure it out...

Sometimes this condition remedies itself, and she's been on antibiotics to ward off infection, but a pediatric urologist determined that her kidneys have already taken too much of a beating to wait it out any longer. We've scheduled surgery for Sydney for this Thursday morning, May 27th, to correct the urinary reflux and protect her kidneys from any further damage the reflux and resulting infections have caused.

The decision to ultimately move forward that aggressively was based on the results from her kidney and bladder ultrasound last Tuesday, showing that her right kidney is a bit shrunken and therefore has lost some function. Due to some additional concerns of our pediatrician, we took the additional precaution of clearing her with a cardiologist to make sure there was nothing wrong with her heart that would impede a procedure of this nature, and she has been deemed good to go. Drew's parents are coming into town to stay with us, and that will be a big help.

The thought of surgery is scary, yes, but we're relieved to finally have an answer and a solution all at once, to be getting it over with in a quick timeframe, and are eager to get her healthy once and for all...and possibly seizure-free for good! We did a hospital tour this afternoon - very non-threatening and very helpful in familiarizing Syd with where she'll be and what she can expect to see and experience. Wanted to offer some specifics so you are aware and can be praying:

• She'll be admitted at 7 a.m. to the hospital.
• Surgery begins around 8:30 a.m. and will last about 3.5 hours.
• She'll stay maybe three nights in the hospital. She might be off solid foods for a day or two.
• She'll need to lie low a bit when we bring her home, but by a week later she should be back to her normal activity level (high to very high if you know Syd at all). =)

I did some research and found a site that describes pretty accurately what our doctor has outlined to us. Thought it'd be helpful if you want to read through to get a better idea of what's going on in her little body and what this surgery will do to correct it. It's been reassuring for us to arm ourselves with more information about it!

In light of the fact that the affected child's siblings have a 33% chance of being born with this same condition, we've scheduled the same VCUG test as Syd had for Elijah to occur within the next few weeks to either rule it out or make sure we nip it in the bud early. (Any future children we have would undergo the same testing at just one month of age. We won't think about that yet...)

Please keep Sydney in your prayers on Thursday as she heads into surgery. It's already been a long week for Drew and I, and we're ready for this to all be over. We know we serve a great God who is watching over her, and we know she's going to be fine - better, in fact, than she's been her whole life, since for the first time all her darned pee will go where it's supposed to! =)

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for praying with us - we'll keep you updated.

April: A family beach trip

Sand and surf: Our big event in April was a trip to Pacific City with my parents and my sister for a few days. Though windy, it was still sunny and beautiful. We spent lots of time on the beach: heading up the huge sand dune, marveling at Syd's endless energy, and admiring Elijah's first little faux-hawk.