Home is the nicest word there is. Holidays at home with Oma and Opa.

On the last afternoon of 2022, Opa, Paul, and Nate are watching Michigan Football play in the Fiesta Bowl, Elise is watching SNL (Saturday Night Live) skit medleys on You Tube and hanging with Oma.  Lily is enjoying a lazy day rereading the Keeper of the Lost Cities series in preparation for book 9 which she got for Christmas.   I'm enjoying my chai, listening to my 2022 favorites playlist, and writing this final blog of the year.

These past 2 weeks have been low key, lovely, and lazy at home while the Portland weather was very much the opposite.   We saw a few friends and adventured some around town but we mostly reveled in our family time at home with Oma and Opa.  Lots of movies (Strange World was a bust, Oceans 11 was a hit, Groundhog Day was in the middle), cooking, baking, table tennis (Elise is really into it now), city walks, the game Telestrations, LEGO building, and playing tennis & volleyball filled our time.

Love this view and smell all December long

Family cookie decorating.  Even Opa joined in decorating one single cookie.  He decorated it like he Dr. Opa performing open heart surgery. It's resting on top of a frame in their dining room because Opa can't bear to see his masterpiece eaten.

The wild weather over the Holidays started with an ice and snow storm....enough for some sledding all around the neighborhood.  Paul and I were even able to sled from the top of Irving all the way to 23rd.

Family Zoom Christmas Eve concert with Uncle Eric and Aunt Lolo.  Zoom is not the platform to use to enjoy live music, fyi.

As usual, Opa did not disappoint with his traditional Christmas Eve filets. Gotta coat them in mayo is his preferred way.

Everyone loves Oma's Holiday cookies (Plaetzchen)

Obligatory kid photo Christmas morning before presents can be opened.  They woke up the latest yet this year.  Didn't get started until well after 8am.

 Paul's cards to me always crack me up and choke me up.

On our traditional Christmas day hike. 

We took all the Barbies and the dollhouse to the basement and moved ALL the LEGOS back up.  Great to see Elise building from scratch vs from a set for a change.

Paul is our puzzle lover.  This is the Michigan Football stadium puzzle.

Lily loves her chill time in her bedroom with Mochi. Mochi will only sleep with Lily.

Nate's bday hike on Wildwood trail.  He finally made it to the new-ish pedestrian bridge over Burnside.

Kids are forgetting how to smile.  They prefer silly.  So glad Nate had a really good Birthday.  He works so hard for these goofballs (and dealing with me).

       Paul played in his first USTA sanctioned 12U yellow ball tournament. He won his first match and lost the 2nd.  We are super proud of him.  You'll notice he still loves wearing holiday socks for good luck.

We treated Oma and Opa to dinner at 1891 which is the REALLY nice restaurant at the Mac.  The service and food did not disappoint.  

As for looking ahead at 2023, I hope the adventures and challenges we will face teach us more about ourselves and helps us articulate and understand the type of person we each are and want to be; it's challenging but also amazing how different we each are.  I personally hope the kindness and compassion Nate and I try to teach our kids to show to others is a bit more present at home.  

 "Document the moments you feel most in love with yourself.  Recreate and repeat." 

Will end this post by sharing our favorite songs from 2022.  Music definitely played a stronger role in our lives this past year.   We had made a resolution to listen to more music and we did just that.  

Nicole's 2022 favorites playlist: https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/b20cf14895e64cbd8597df0ab1e796b7sune?ref=dm_sh_hSgEpjsnHTnPN86D75PcBm6AW

Nate's 2022 favorites playlist: https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/42ea7b6290d84ebc81855df3d824f23bsune?ref=dm_sh_2svlOTpxjephw1tkwKcW53hSO

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Macrodactyly Update - 1 year post op update - Surgery #3

Elise (age 11) recently had her 1 year post op follow up from her 3rd surgery to address her macrodactyly condition on her right foot.  The reasons for her surgery last December were:

1) Destroy the growth plate in her big toe as a preventative measure to limit more difficult complications down the road.  The growth plate was destroyed in a previous surgery but it grew back!

2) Remove (debulk) soft tissue from bottom of her foot to hopefully fit into more shoe styles.

3) Change the angle of her big toe to decrease the overall height of her foot by cutting a wedge of the bone and inserting a couple of small pins.

Before Surgery - December 2021

After Surgery December 2022

Results

The way her special foot looks now is most likely how it will stay in terms of soft tissue overgrowth.  With her growth plates destroyed and as much soft tissue as possible removed, it's just not really possible to grow more.  That's good news but also a bit sad since we are at a point where really can't do anything more to help her foot...if that ends up being true.  Her shoe wear options didn't really improve like we hoped from her surgery so extra wide New Balance continues to be our best friend.  Once her foot stops growing, custom made shoes is what we'll explore.

Sensation to a portion of her foot did not return like we hoped; It probably won't at this point ever again.  That's not good news.  It's not as dangerous as it is more annoying looking ahead.  She wouldn't feel temperature sensation or stepping on something sharp.

Elise's leg length difference is the next issue we will consider for potential future surgery.    The good news is that her leg length difference has stayed consistent at 2.2 cm over the last couple of years so much more safe to say that it will stay that way.  Next step is determining whether to undergo leg length correction surgery.  2cm is when doctors start recommending it and she's right at that point.  We'll do an x-ray of her hand in 6 months to get a better estimate of her future growth to determine timing of the surgery if we do it.  She could wear a lift in her shoe the rest of her life too.  We'll definitely leave it up to Elise on this one.  We want to avoid potential hip issues down the road which could be quite painful.  

Overall, it's a mixture of good news and sad news.  We are incredibly grateful for not only the chief resident from Elise's 2nd surgery coincidentally relocating to Portland from Boston but also the simple fact that we like her, respect her, and appreciate her bedside manner.

Elise is a very sensitive 11 year old with big emotions but when it comes to her condition, she is incredibly resilient and strong.  She's had years of practice now on how to react to stares, mean comments, and questions.  She has quite a sense of humor at times about her foot whether it's making up jokes ("Why did a person blow their nose in their foot?  Because it has a lot of tissue in it.") or answering a kid asking about her toe with "lost it in a magic trick."

11, 44, Wendy

Paul and Elise are now 11.  They were treated to Lolo flying in to help celebrate, a movie birthday party, Jimmy Johns surprise for school lunch, and Super Deluxe burgers for dinner.  Unlike Paul, Elise also really wanted to have a small sleepover with friends.  Paul is more like Nate that way; he has fewer requests than Elise when it comes to this kind of stuff. Elise has been taking notes watching me celebrate my birthday; she wants to live it up big time.  

 They like to play "spin the bottle" to determine the order of which gift to open.

Even though I included a wresting picture, this past year has definitely been a year of these two bonding more. They look out for each other more and enjoy giggling together (in between their fights).  It used to be the Paul & Lily show with Elise left out most often.  That dynamic has shifted - Lily prefers more alone time now.

 

Elise recently earned a blue belt in Karate and performed in her 2nd piano recital.  We are especially proud of her since she is a home body and doesn't like to be in crowds or in situations that could produce conflict like competitive environments; her nerves are front and center beforehand. Elise is very sensitive and sometimes has a hard time handling her strong emotions.  It's made her a bit too risk averse (hence being a home body) which we say we are working on but honestly at a loss on how to best help her.  We'll get there.  Elise's biggest change over the last year has been stepping it up with her comedic chops and her way with words.  I gifted her a journal to enter all the zingers she comes up with. 

Mom: "do you want to be princess Elise or queen Elise?"

Elise: " President Elise."

She continues to be incrediblyn detailed with her drawings and clay sculptures.

Paul recently started doing a 2 minute abs routine before bed.  His tennis and baseball training includes conditioning and a little bit of weights which he is a big fan of.  Paul is quite social at school but isn't a big fan hanging out with friends outside of school and sports.   We have had to rein in his You Tube watching and push him to read more.  He is a goofball and very much into light sexual humor like "that's what she said."  We are okay with it but sometimes it's just too much.  Like swearing, the timing and frequency is critical.  He's the most reliable when it comes to following rules and completing lists.  He has a tendency to lie a bit more than we'd like because he is a bit of a mom/dad pleaser and doesn't want to get into trouble.

Lily's time has been super packed with her holiday Panto play and volleyball practice.  She decided to give volleyball another try after quitting when COVID first hit and made the top 14U team.  Sports is more my language so I can't help but be thrilled to see her on a sports team again.  I'm equally as thrilled to see her light up the stage with her smile.  It is as obvious as I am tall that Lily loves being up there.  She performed in 9 shows as Wendy in Peter Pan - UK Panto style.  It's her 4th time with her Panto crew and her meatiest role yet.  We can't keep our eyes off of her when she's on stage.  We are so clueless with the theater world but regardless, we're super proud.  

I am now 44.  I went big this year and escaped to Palm Springs with my sister Lolo.  It was incredible and getting my Lolo time and me time in warm weather only wants me to press repeat on that set up more often.  Keeping this trip on my memory shortlist.  

Nate's highlights from the past couple months include a couple of concerts with Nicole and with Elise.  The White Album Christmas show was quite an experience, with a live Beatles cover band performing at the same time as circus acrobats.  Other than that there has been a lot of getting kids to their sports and activities, and sneaking in gym workouts during Elise's karate classes.  He's looking forward to time off during the holidays to catch up on 2022 new music releases and hopefully getting in a day or two of skiing.

A few more random photos from the last couple of months.  

Advent calendar tradition. 

New Years Eve Fondue Tradition early this year so we could do it with Lolo. 

And just a couple more photos that I personally love

Them showcasing their personalities in their Halloween costumes

I was sick with COVID soon after Thanksgiving and couldn't go along to pick out our Christmas tree.  I asked them to take a picture.  You'll notice they almost forgot because this is in front of our home after they returned.