One small step for a little boy!

With the weather getting nicer...we tend to start thinking about spring-like activities.  The last couple of years we have been looking forward to Nicole's Soccer season.  This year we have a bit of a wrinkle.  As hard is it is to believe...Russell is old enough to play soccer this spring.  It seems just a little unreal that he is old enough; as he is still just a little guy.

We did it...we took the plunge and signed him up for soccer.  I suppose it isn't a big deal...3 year olds everywhere are signing up for soccer, it should be no different for him.  Then we think about where he was 3 years ago and it then becomes a big deal.  What a three years it has been.  It seems so surreal to be thinking about him playing soccer given everything he has been through.

I have no idea if Russell will enjoy soccer or what he will do.  I guarantee it will be entertaining.  I think the big question is how Mom and Dad will handle this.  Get out your Kleenex.  I am sure we'll get lots of funny looks and people will be wondering what is wrong with us.  I guess it won't be what is wrong but what is right!  These moments make everything worth while.  Stay tuned for the date of the first game and pictures to follow!

2011 was a good year !

Although our New Years resolution has not gone really well...we look back at 2011 as a very good year.  Yes...our idea of a good year is a little different than most.  Russell was admitted to hospital twice in early   2011, and he broke his arm in June.  Not exactly fun times...but we learned a lot about how strong our little boy is.  Being in hospital actually gave us a lot of confidence and understanding of his health and how to manage it.  Knowing what to avoid can make all the difference in the world.  The broken arm I can hardly remember.  It didn't slow him down at all and it seemed like such a short time that he was in the cast.  In spite of some of the challenges we had...we had so many more positives.

Nicole started school in September...a pretty big day for the little girl and she has done so awesome in school.  I was able to get a lot of work done around the house...and I am looking forward to enjoying my landscaping in the spring time.  The big change for Russell was that he is no longer a baby...in 2011 he turned into a real little boy who runs and plays and causes carnage and mayhem.  No helpless little baby anymore.  In 2011...it seemed like we moved forward.  Hospital world seems to be fading into the distance...time to get on with life.  Time to start thinking about the future.  My fondest memory of 2011 had to be Christmas.  Christmas has always seemed to be a difficult time.  In years past we had so many bad experiences around the Christmas season.  Susan's Dad was extremely sick at Christmas, and passed shortly after New Years...my Dad and Susan's Mom were diagnosed with cancer right around Christmas and of course our memorable Christmas in Edmonton.  2011 was different.  Both Nicole and Russell really got into it this year and Susan and I went along for the ride.  We didn't do anything out of the ordinary but the joy the kids brought to the Christmas Season was quite infectious.  I have to mention what a trooper Nicole was.  She was involved in a Christmas concert at school and at church.  We really didn't know what to expect because, as parents, we were never really involved in the practices.  We had no idea what to expect.  At church, Nicole, was on stage for a full hour and seemed to be totally into it...she knew her lines and knew her songs...very impressive for a 5 year old.  She did awesome!

2011 had a very shaky start but turned out to be a great year.  2012 has started out a little bumpy...hope it turns around just like it did last year.

New Years Resolutions

Can you change your New Years resolution...or do you have to wait for next year?

I've never been much for New Years resolutions but I don't think setting goals and trying to improve yourself are bad things.  Susan and I had only one real goal for 2012.  We wanted to go the whole year without landing in the Emergency Room.  2011 was pretty good...only 3 trips to the ER.  If we could avoid the ER that would be fantastic.

So, how long did we last?  A whole 12 days.  Wahoo!

At 5:30 PM on January 12 I got the phone call.  "Hello....Hello...Uhm before I say anything I'm allright."  When a phone conversation starts that way you start jumping to conclusions and the words that "you're allright" are not all that comforting.  The only think it tells me is that you're not unconscious.  This is the call I got from Susan.  She had been in a car accident heading home from work.  She was pretty confident she broke something in her foot.  Off to the emergency room.  Yay!

The interesting part is that we got to go to the Seven Oaks Emergency room.  A new experience.  I thought I should starting writing reviews of the hospitals of Western Canada.

To make a long story short and after spending the better part of two days in the emergency room (yes...we had to come back the next day because they couldn't get enough of our sunshiney personality) we discovered Susan had done a pretty good number on her foot.  She would have surgery on it a week later and thus began our next adventure.

So there went our New Years resolution up in smoke after a whole 12 days.  So...I wondered if I could change New Years Resolutions...what I wanted to do a few more posts on here.  I always felt this was a good way to purge.  I don't really care if anyone reads this blog...I do this for me.  Its a great way to vent frustration.  You may think that it has been pretty quiet at our place lately and that's why I haven't posted anything.  That couldn't be further from the truth...there has been lots going on.  Hopefully...I can be a little more disciplined and post a little more often.  It has been very busy the last 3 or 4 months and our calendar is rapidly filling up for the spring.

Hang on...its going to be a bumpy ride.

What's goin' on

I must admit that I have become extremely lax about posting on here.  What you can read into that is that things are pretty quiet and somewhat routine around the Lepp house.  For the most part that is true...and that is great news.

So here is a quick update on what's going on:

Thanksgiving weekend - On our way home from
Pelican Lake....very very quiet!

Thanksgiving - We had a very busy Thanksgiving weekend.  We hosted the Thanksgiving dinner for the Kusela clan on Saturday.  It was a low-key event (which is our style) that was relaxing and the weather was fairly nice too.  The kids were able to play outside and enjoy a bit of fresh air.  On Sunday...we packed up the kids and headed to Pelican Lake, to my brother's cabin where we had the Lepp Thanksgiving dinner.  Yes turkey and pie...two days in a row.  Was feeling a bit like a stuffed turkey after that.  In spite of a lot of activity I think we were able to relax.  The drive was very enjoyable.  On the way home both kids were "zonked" out.  We did not hear a peep from the back seat the whole trip.  I think they had a good time.

Nicole on her first day of school

School -  Nicole is absolutely "psyched" about school.  She really looks forward to going and is really enjoying herself.  Nicole has always been a little "iffy" about new things.  It has always taken her a bit of time to adjust.  This has not been the case with school.  She has adjusted amazingly well.  My only issue is that she doesn't tell us a whole lot about what is going on at school.  I think maybe its Dad being a little bit "nosey."  Perhaps, it is a lot to expect a detailed synopsis of the day's activities from a 5 year old.  I guess we'll see how it goes when we go to parent-teacher interviews.

The evil grin

Russell - The boy has been doing really well.  Very steady progress with him.  He is still living on a diet of Rice Krispies and Peach Juice...but we're working on it.  We are now having a child development person come to our house and work with him.  They want to work on a lot of his "delayed" issues.  Eating, speech, and any other issue that they think he may be lagging.  We have had a few visits, and the consensus us that is doing very well on his own.  Russell is probably one of the least complicated cases they have to deal with as I can imagine they deal with some very complex kids who may have autism, fetal alcohol syndrome, or other challenges.  They just want to help Russell pick up the pace and getting him to where a 3 year old should be.  Developmentally he is ideal fora 2 year old...unfortunately he is 3.  Medically, Russell is putting up some stellar bloodwork numbers...very happy about that.  We have been having to give Russell a shot every two weeks to help with anemia.  Because of his improved bloodwork numbers we have been able to discontinue giving the shot.  You don't know how happy we are about that...it totally sucks to have to give your kid a shot.

Maggie - Our neglected member of the family has developed her own issues.  She developed a fairly nasty rash.  We have been trying to treat this since spring without much luck.  This week I took her into the vet again and we are now thinking it is a food allergy.  So we have her on hypoallergenic food and she is back on anti-biotics and some prednisone.  I guess you can't be a member of this family and not be on some meds.  We give Nicole vitamins just so she doesn't feel left out at "Med time."

I guess the only people I haven't talked about are the Mom and Dad.  The Mom and Dad celebrated our 19 years together on Oct 3.  19 years and we still bicker and argue like champs.  You think one of us would have caved by now.  I guess we are both stubborn.  Oct 3 is also our 3 year anniversary of Russell arriving in Edmonton under very adverse conditions.   That was a bit of a challenging week for me.  It's a significant memory to me but it doesn't hold a lot of significance to Susan.  She always says her big anniversary is the day of Russell's transplant.  I guess we all process things differently.

I think we're all up to date now....

What I Did on my Summer Vacation

As the days get shorter and the kids are heading back to school; the sure signs that Fall is here.  This is a very different fall for us.  Our not sol little girl has embarked on her scholastic career.  Hard to believe she is old enough to be going to Kindergarten.  This has brought back a lot of memories of my early school days.  One of the activities from school that I remember was discussing or writing about what I did during the summer. 

This has been a much more typical summer than what we can remember in recent years.  Other than Russell's sudden meeting with the floor, and his resulting broken arm, our summer has been relatively hospital free.  Thinking back now I hardly remember Russell breaking his arm.  He was only in a cast for 4 weeks and even when he was in his cast he really didn't slow down much.

Our summer was actually enjoyable for the first time in a long time.  We did things around the yard, went to the park, and even travelled a bit.  Normal things.  The past few years having a big yard has been more of a burden than a place to relax.  In between running around to medical appointments, being busy at work, continual rain and just trying to keep up with life.  Our yard has been sadly neglected.  Finally, this summer I got a chance to get a little bit ahead of the weeds and mowing the lawn.  June was very wet but July and August we received almost no rain.  I took a couple of weeks off in July and August and focused on sprucing up the flower beds and trying to clean things up a bit.  I must admit having things a little tidier does make you feel like you can enjoy the yard a bit more.  Today was a gorgeous fall day and it was so nice to walk around and not see so many unfinished projects.  Well....let's not kid ourselves...I have planted some lawn and I still need to do a few odds and ends but at least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.




I'm not a big fan of the look of chain link...but it is low maintenance.  I thought this mini-retaining wall made the fence look pretty good.

Getting close...Just need to get lawn planted






Note all the footprints on the sidewalk....I had lots of little people help with hauling topsoil

We planted a few plants...will probably do some more.  Even a little bit made a big difference.



Holidays & Birthdays

I haven't been posting much on here lately.  For those who know us; that is probably a good thing.

We have had one of the quieter summers in recent years.  This has been a welcome change.  After working for 20 years in jobs where summer is the busy season; it has been a welcome change to be able to take holidays in the summer.  I've taken a week off in July and taking another in August.  A much needed break.

Russell's broken arm is mending nicely.  He is out of his cast and up to full speed.  His arm still has a "bend" in it but because he is so young the Doctors anticipate it will straighten out on its own through growth. 

We celebrated Russell's 3rd Birthday on Friday (Aug 5).  Although Russell was born with a heart defect and their could have been a lot of issues when he was born, for both Susan and him.  Fortunately,  his birthday brings back very pleasant memories of a very perfect day.  Everything went so well the day he was born.  The days following...not so much.

Kids have an innate ability to "keep things real."  Russell (and most kids) get spoiled rotten on their birthdays.  They get inundated with toys and presents.  I really had to laugh yesterday that in the midst of an avalanche of toys; what were our kids doing for hours yesterday?  They played in our car in the drive way.  Apparently there are lots of switches, levers, and lights that can keep kids entertained for hours.  I put the car back in the garage at night; where i turned off all of the interior lights (every one) adjusted the mirrors and cleaned up all of the CDs that were strewn about the front seat.  Not a big deal considering we got a couple of hours of peace and quiet.

Summertime

I've been meaning to post something for a while but just haven't gotten around to it.  Believe me it's not because things have been dull that's for sure.

Where to start...Nicole finished up Soccer season at the end of June.  She had a bit of a challenge this year which was not a total surprise to us but a little frustrating.  From playing with her in the backyard she doesn't lack any skill, but she is a little intimidated by some of the more competitive kids and tends to hang back a bit.  Nicole has an extremely kind personality and hyper-competitiveness just isn't her.  She's also 5.  The bottom line is that by the end of the season she was more more involved and improved a great deal.  She had a lot of fun and made some friends who she will be seeing in the fall at Kindergarten.

Our little strike/lockout at Canada Post was very anti-climactic and bordered on being dull.  The strike has absolutely no effect on our work in Postal Transformation which is full steam ahead.  Our project is moving like a steamroller across the country.  The Winnipeg project will be complete by the end of September and we're moving right through Regina, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary, and the "Big One" Vancouver will be an amazing project. 

What else is going on....hmmmmm....let me think....ah yes....the "Russell."  Our little boy is up to his old tricks.  Many of you know that two weeks ago he broke his arm.  I guess he missed Emergency.  We broke a speed record getting in and out of the hospital.  He broke his arm at about 8:00 in the morning...X-Rays in Selkirk...transfer by Ambulance to Children's....set the bone....cast...another X-ray and home by 1:30 in the afternoon.  We were at a total loss as to what to do with the rest of the day.

One highlight for me was to have two experiences, in the past few weeks, to be reminded of how far both Nicole and Russell have come.  Near the end of the school year we had a Kindergarten orientation with Nicole at her new school.  It was quite an experience to see the school, her future classmates, and other parents.  It is so hard to believe it was only a few years ago that we had no idea we would ever have a little girl like her and now she is heading off to school.  I think both Susan and I are going to be total basket cases on her first day of school.  I also had a unique experience to take Russell to his child development assessment.  Russell is significantly behind where he should be due to his medical adventures.  He is now almost three but is quite a ways behind where he should be related to his growth and development.  It was very emotional to observe his assessment as he did the activities he was asked to do.  I wasn't upset or concerned that he is behind.  I was totally blown away at what this little boy can accomplish and how far he has come (he is nothing if not feisty) and he is making fantastic progress.  We just have to remember "baby steps."