Sadbh’s update – August 31st 2013

Sadbh slept great and did not wake until after 7. The first thing she said was “the sun wake up”.  She was in a fantastic mood and was over the moon when she heard her friends out playing in the living room.

After breakfast we all headed down to the beach and Sadbh joined Aidan building sandcastles.

She went for a little dip in the water to wash off the sand but she was not happy when her bathing suit got wet so she ended up running around nude on the beach.

We gave her a bath as soon as we arrived back at the house and after she was dried off we got her ready for trach care. She fell asleep half way through and slept for a good hour and a half.

Unfortunately, she was very upset when she woke up and was very disappointed when she realized that mommy was not there. I comforted her as best as possible and after awhile she calmed down so we headed out to the kitchen for lunch. As soon as all the other kids woke up we went over to the pool to cool off.

Sadbh desperately wanted to join her friends in the pool and made several attempts to jump in.  I caught her each time, luckily. 

After dinner, all the kids enjoyed an ice cream cone together on the couch while they watch The Lion King.  Then it was time to head off to bed and Sadbh was out in no time.

New photos.

Photos from August 31 2011.

Photos from August 31 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 30th 2013

Sadbh slept like a log but woke up shortly after six. She immediately asked where her cousins were and after I told her that they were not here she asked where her friends were.

They were all still fast asleep so she had to wait a while before it was time to get up.

She had a fun packed day playing with all her friends.

By early afternoon she was exhausted and obviously ready for her nap. We managed to get trach care done quite easily but it was a real struggle to get her to sleep. All our efforts failed and after an hour we gave up and headed out for a drive.

By the time we hit the main road Sadbh was fast asleep.

The rest of the day was spent having a great time with all the other kids and after dinner they all got to watch Toy Story 2 before heading to bed.

Sadbh fell asleep quite quickly and almost fell asleep while wearing the cap. It was a little too uncomfortable for her so she pulled it off and asked Katie to put her guard on instead.

New photos.

Photos from August 30 2011.

Photos from August 30 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 30th 2013

Sadbh slept like a log but woke up shortly after six. She immediately asked where her cousins were and after I told her that they were not here she asked where her friends were.

They were all still fast asleep so she had to wait a while before it was time to get up.

She had a fun packed day playing with all her friends.

By early afternoon she was exhausted and obviously ready for her nap. We managed to get trach care done quite easily but it was a real struggle to get her to sleep. All our efforts failed and after an hour we gave up and headed out for a drive.

By the time we hit the main road Sadbh was fast asleep.

The rest of the day was spent having a great time with all the other kids and after dinner they all got to watch Toy Story 2 before heading to bed.

Sadbh fell asleep quite quickly and almost fell asleep while wearing the cap. It was a little too uncomfortable for her so she pulled it off and asked Katie to put her guard on instead.

New photos.

Photos from August 30 2011.

Photos from August 30 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 29th 2013

Sadbh had a great sleep but was not as successful wearing her trach cap. Helen noticed that she was very restless so she gave her a break to allow Sadbh to have a good night sleep.

Helen worked an extra hour to allow Katie and I to get a head start at getting everything packed and set up for our long weekend with the gang at Lake Chelan.

Earlier in the week Katie had checked with everyone going to make sure that everyone was healthy and that there were no exposures to colds. We received a clean bill of health from everyone but did hear back that three of the kids spent the day with another sick kid on Monday.

We were assured that the sick child was on the tail end of her cold and was no longer contagious.

After a lot of back and forth Katie and I decided to go to Lake Chelan.

Sadbh woke early and got to spend a little time hanging out with Helen. She’s usually asleep while Helen works so she was very shy.

After breakfast Sadbh helped pack up all her stuff and only for the fact that it was lashing rain she would have helped load the car took.

A few hours later we were on the road for Chelan and before we even got on the freeway Sadbh was fast asleep.

The drive went smooth and Sadbh woke up half way there. She did great considering it was a long drive and only grew restless about ten miles away from our destination.

She was very eager to hang out with her friends.

Sadbh was very excited to arrive and although everyone was away at the pool, Sadbh had a great time playing with all of their toys.  This created a great distraction while we unloaded the car.

It took a couple of hours to get all her equipment set up in our room and as soon as we were done we got Sadbh ready for trach care. She was very willing and even told her friends that she could not play for a while as she was about to do trach care.

The rest of the evening was full of fun riding bikes with her buddies. She even set up a beauty parlor and tried to give Cormac some curls in his hair.

By bedtime she was exhausted and wanted to go to bed.

New photos.

Photos from August 29 2011.

Photos from August 29 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 28th 2013

Sadbh had a great sleep and Helen was able to cap her trach for two hours.

After the first hour she woke up asking to have it taken off so Helen suctioned her trach and put the cap back on. This did the trick and Sadbh slept soundly for another hour before Helen took it off. 

Helen gave Sadbh her binkie just after the cap came off.  Sadbh sucked very happily on it and Helen said to her “can I have that binkie?”  Sadbh thought that was very funny and she giggled away (in her sleep).

She woke up shortly after Helen left and was delighted to see mommy.

Katie stayed home today to look after Sadbh.

Sadbh was over the moon to have mommy all to herself but had no problem sharing her when Ali-Baba stopped by.

They had a great morning and managed trach care just after 1pm.  After they were done, they all piled in the car to run a few errands.  Sadbh was fast asleep in no time, but she only slept for 45 minutes and woke up just in time to go shoe shopping with Katie and Alibaba and pick out her new pair of shoes.

Once they got home, Sadbh insisted on putting gon her sailor suit and put on some music (Wheels on the Bus) so that she could dance.  She even wore her outfit out when they went for a walk to the post office.

When she arrived home it was time to change again and this time she put on a beautiful dress that her Aunt ZJ brought all the way from Hong Kong.

She had a wonderful day with mommy and was exhausted by the time I arrived home from work. It was late and she was already finishing up dinner.

We got a chance to cuddle and then it was time for Sadbh to hit the sack.

Tomorrow we load up the car and head off to meet our friends in Lake Chelan. We have received a clean bill of health from everyone so we are looking forward to a few days of relaxation and fun with the kids.

Since we have not been able to find a nurse I’m going to take a leave of absence from work for a few months while we search and train a replacement nurse. I’m really excited about the chance to spend so much time with Sadbh.

New photos.

Photos from August 28 2011.

Photos from August 28 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 27th 2013

Helen had a breakthrough last night and managed to cap Sadbh for 32 minutes.

Sadbh did well for the most part but grew uncomfortable towards the end.

Sadbh met Larissa at the front down this morning with a beautiful thank you card that she helped mommy make.

Both Sadbh and Larissa had a fun morning setting up a new farm toy that Ali-Baba and Kirk got for Sadbh.

Soon Ali-Baba arrived and joined in on the fun.

They had a great time but when Ali-Baba had to leave it was an emotional good-bye, Ali-Baba headed off to the sound of Sadbh shouting “good bye” at the top of her lungs from the front door. She could still be heard as Ali-Baba turned the corner.

Sadbh wore her trach cap all morning and even forgot about it when she took her nap. She actually fell asleep with it on and lasted an hour before popping it off.

After she woke up she spotted Larissa’s cheese and peanut butter crackers and insisted on having some. Larissa explained that she could not and told her that she did not think that mommy and daddy would like her to eat these. Sadbh responded with “mommy and daddy aren’t here, they won’t know.” Larissa could not believe her ears so she asked Sadbh to repeat what she just said and she told her the same thing using slightly different words.

We are in serious trouble.

It was a very sad farewell when it came time for Larissa to leave. After some big hugs and kisses Sadbh called after her as she walked to her car and as she drove off.

Larissa has been so wonderful to work with and she has taken such great care of Sadbh over the two years working nights at first and then working days for the last 5 months. We will miss her terribly.

Sadbh’s evening was spent playing hide n’ seek and when mommy arrived home she found Sadbh sitting on the couch hiding under a blanket. She sat still for a few minutes pretending not to be there and it was funny how serious she was.

Trach care went very easy tonight and thankfully Sadbh was ready for bed afterwards.

All in all Sadbh wore her trach cap for over 8 hours total today. We are hoping that the recent homeopathic remedy that Krista sent is helping.

New photos.

Photos from August 27 2011.

Photos from August 27 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 26th 2013

Sadbh slept really well but would not allow Helen cap her trach. On Helen’s third attempt Sadbh pulled the cap off and said “No! No! No! No! No cap!

At that point Helen had no choice but to give in and let Sadbh sleep undisturbed for the remainder of the night.

Sadbh woke up in a very good mood.

She greeted Larissa at the door with “I’m going to be sad”. She did not have to elaborate on why she was going to be sad since today is the second last day Larissa looks after Sadbh.

They both had a fun morning playing around the house.

She wore her cap for almost 4 hours and almost wore it to bed when it came time for her nap.

She was full of energy again after two and a half hours and the fun continued as soon as I arrived home.

She had me carrying one of her purses while holding her tea set tray and pushing her toy pram, around and around the house for a half an hour or so. She was having a wonderful time keeping up with her toy stroller and occasionally she would insist that I change direction or go into a certain room.

It’s quite obvious who’s calling all the shots in this family.

Sadbh was wired to the moon when it came to bedtime. She had no desire to go to sleep but thankfully we were able to get trach care out of the way beforehand.

It took forever to get her to sleep and thankfully she fell asleep minutes before Helen arrived.

New photos.

Photos from August 26 2011.

Photos from August 26 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 25th 2013

Sadbh did great having her trach capped last night and tolerated it for an hour.  She was very restless during the entire time, however. She woke up around 1am and she and Danielle has a conversation for a few minutes.  When Danielle asked her if she thought it was time to go back to sleep Sadbh said “yes” and rolled over and went straight back to sleep.

By 6:40 she was wide-awake and very happy to see mommy sitting by her cot.

It was a beautiful morning so Sadbh got to spend most of it in the garden playing with her toys,

She was very busy making breakfast and cupcakes.

We tried to Skype with Nana and Granddad but unfortunately my parents were having technical issues so Sadbh did not get a chance to see them. She was very disappointed and kept asking to see them.

Katie’s friend Michelle stopped by and Sadbh was very happy to see her.

They got to spend some time hanging out in the sunshine before it was time for trach care and a nap.

Sadbh was very tired so it did not take long to get her to sleep after Katie and I finished up trach care.

She slept for a couple of hours and woke up looking for mommy. Katie and Michelle had gone out for a walk so Sadbh was very upset that she was not there for a snuggle.

I was able to calm her down and soon we were cuddling in the armchair reading books.

When mommy arrived home we headed down to Flying Squirrel pizza for something to eat and Michelle’s partner Ken joined us.

Sadbh was very shy at first but soon warmed up.

There was a family at the next table with a young snotty nosed little boy who kept coming over to play with Sadbh.

Both Katie and I were very much on the defensive trying our best to keep him as far away as possible. We felt bad as he was a friendly little guy but we cannot afford for Sadbh to get sick.

Thankfully his father could see that Sadbh had a trach and he also did his best to keep his son far enough away.

After we got home Sadbh had Katie and I sitting on the floor under the new dining table eating some breakfast that she prepared. She had quite the set up and was very busy making sure that we had plenty to eat.

New photos.

Photos from August 25 2011.

Photos from August 25 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 24th 2013

Danielle was able to cap Sadbh’s trach for thirty minutes before Sadbh could not tolerate it any further.

I took over at six when Danielle left and twenty minutes later I could hear Sadbh crying in her sleep. She was very upset and eventually woke herself up.

After disconnecting all her equipment we headed upstairs to mommy and soon Sadbh was very happy.

Katie found a replacement dining table and set of chairs for the house in a vintage store in Olympia. Sadbh was very excited to go for the spin and after half an hour she was fast asleep. As we exited the freeway Sadbh woke up and started laughing hysterically at a tree on the side of the road. We have no idea what as so funny but whatever it was Sadbh thought it was the best thing ever.

There was a sand sculpture festival in town so we took a detour to check it out. Sadbh really enjoyed the festival and she got busy dancing in front of the live band on the stage. The sand sculptures were incredible and we had to hold Sadbh back a few times as she wanted to go in to touch them.

Sadbh had her first ever taste of Coke today and she was hooked. She could not get enough. Thankfully it’s very rare that we drink sugary soft drinks.

She had a fun filled evening and she was so energetic when it came time for bed.

After a nice relaxing bath it was time for trach care and then she was off to sleep.

I hope she does not have any bad dreams tonight.

New photos.

Photos from August 24 2011.

Photos from August 24 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 23rd 2013

Sadbh slept right through the night and woke up in a great mood.

She had an appointment with Dr. Cavanaugh so off she went with mommy and Larissa.

Dr. Cavanaugh spent a lot of time working on her face and head and at one point Sadbh called out to Katie and said, “Mommy, I want to do something” but she just laid there and let the doctor work his magic. She was very calm even though she was not entirely enjoying the experience.

It was hard saying goodbye to mommy when they got home and Larissa had to create some serious distractions to keep her from getting too sad.

All in all she had a very fun day with Larissa and when I arrived home I found Sadbh hiding behind the shower curtain. She really enjoys trying to surprise me when I get home but in her excitement she always makes way too much noise.

Larissa and I were able to manage trach care before her shift ended. Sadbh was a good sport and made it very easy for us. Her trach still has a slight odor but it’s not as bad as it was a couple of days ago.

Uncle Neil stopped by this evening, as Sadbh was getting ready for bed. She was delighted to see him and showed off how good she is at brushing her teeth.

As Katie was putting Sadbh to sleep she explained that when her vocal cords start to work we will be able to go on holidays to Ireland and even Hawaii. Sadbh then asked if uncle Neil could come with us.

New photos.

Photos from August 23 2011.

Photos from August 23 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 22nd 2013

Helen was unsuccessful in capping Sadbh’s trach, however she slept like a log and woke up very happy this morning.

We are making a big effort to get Sadbh potty trained and Larissa broke out the reward stickers for every time she used her potty.

She made a valiant effort at one stage by pulling off her nappy and sitting for a while. Unfortunately she did not pee.

Larissa decided to leave the nappy off and Sadbh enjoyed the freedom as she ran about the house.

After breakfast when they headed out into the back garden Sadbh would not allow Larissa to put the nappy back on. She was having so much fun outside and did not want to go back in so she let loose with a big stream right in the grass. She had a look of shock and surprise on her face, which made it that much better.

She had a very short nap today and was wired to the moon. She had a great time devouring a bowl of blueberries and made a huge mess.

When it came time for trach care she calmed down to allow us to get the job done.

Bedtime was easy since she was so tired. Hopefully she will have another good night tonight.

New photos.

Photos from August 22 2011.

Photos from August 22 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 21st 2013

Sadbh slept well for the most part, though she was a little restless during the middle of the night.  When she woke up and Katie went into her, she was very snuggly and the first thing she did was give Katie a big hug and say “I love you”.  Needless to say, it made Katie’s day.

She had a good morning playing with Larissa.  Sadbh will surely miss Larissa very much when she leaves.  After a nice long walk outside, they returned inside where Sadbh proceeded to have Larissa sit on the couch with her legs crossed and hands on knees.  According to Sadbh, Larissa was in the waiting room of the doctors office (all Sadbh’s other dolls and animals were lined up on the couch too).  Dr. Sadbh then continued to see her “patients”, but it was Annabelle that  got all the attention.  Sadbh’s imagination is really in full swing and seems so far advanced.

Daddy and Sadbh had a good evening playing together.  Katie was home a little later than usual and we got stuck into trach care immediately.  In the middle of trach care, Sadbh suddenly said “Daddy, daddy, my friend Mashine come over for dinner”.  Mashine is Osin and a friend that Sadbh has not seen for way too long.  It seems we will need to make sure to plan a play date very soon with this little man.

We noticed a sour smell from Sadbh’s trach this evening.  We haven’t had this before, but from a little research, we are concerned it might be the beginning indication of an infection in her trach.  We’ll call the doctor in the morning to see if we need to bring Sadbh in.

Sadbh was late to go to sleep, but once she was snuggled up with Katie, it did not take long to doze off.  Hopefully she will have another good night.

We are still sorting through our nursing solution, but we are confident we will figure out a plan soon.

New photos.

Photos from August 21 2011.

Photos from August 21 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 20th 2013

Sadbh slept great but only managed to be capped for a couple of minutes. She grew restless and popped it off the first chance she got.

She had a big surprise this morning when Ali-Baba arrived. Sadbh was over the moon to see her and soon after her cousins stopped by to say hi.

They had missed their flight yesterday so they stopped by to spend a couple of hours with Sadbh.

Trinity and Belle-Rose had a great time picking all the ripe tomatoes while Sadbh enjoyed eating them.

They all had so much fun and when it came time to say good-bye she gave them at least three monkey hugs each.

She was very sad to see them go and she cuddled up with Ali-Baba for a while after.

Ali-Baba and Larissa managed trach care and soon Sadbh was fast asleep.

Katie and I decided not to go with the nurse that we interviewed yesterday. She seemed good but there were a few things that we did not like. She had this cute frog hand puppet and was quick to show it to Sadbh. At one stage while Sadbh was eating dinner the nurse moved the frog over to pretend to eat some of Sadbh’s food. Well it turns out that she was not pretending and the frog popped its head into Sadbh’s bowl and grabbed a piece of food.

Who knows where that frog has been and to think that she did this in front of us, who knows what she would do if we were not around.

Unfortunately the agency does not have many other candidates available so Katie and I will have to make some hard decisions in the next week or so.

New photos.

Photos from August 20 2011.

Photos from August 20 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 19th 2013

Sadbh slept well and did not move all night. She had a nice sleep in and did not wake up until 8.

Helen managed to cap her trach for twelve minutes before Sadbh got restless and pulled it off.

She did not want Katie to leave for work and was very sad that her cousins would not be coming by.

Nevertheless she had a great day with Larissa and they both even got to go out for a long walk through the neighborhood.

She had a great time looking out for spiders and became very much the expert in spotting them in their webs.

I arrived home to a very happy and cuddly little girl. She was full of hugs and kisses and after Larissa left we went out into the garden to play.

She had a great time picking fresh tomatoes and could not wait to stuff them in her mouth.

At one point she grabbed my camera and tried to take a few photos of me for a change.

When it came time for bed we got Sadbh washed up and ready for trach care. She was a star and allowed us to get it taken care of easily.

Not long after she was fast asleep.

Last week we learned that Helen was giving up nights as she is going to school to be a nurse practitioner and she is about to start an internship.

Today we learned that Larissa will be also leaving us in a couple of weeks so we are now scrambling to find two replacements.

We are not optimistic that we will find replacements as great as Larissa and Helen.

This evening we met with a potential candidate to fill the day position but we feel that we need to interview a few more before making a decision.

New photos.

Photos from August 19 2011.

Photos from August 19 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 18th 2013

Sadbh slept in until 8am after a great night sleep and was in a very happy mood.

When she realized that her cousins were not around she was very sad but all of a sudden her iPad started to ring, it was her cousins from Portland wanting to Skype.

She was thrilled and headed out to show them her kitchen in the back garden.

Later her two cousins, Trinity and Belle-Rose stopped by with their parents so the fun kicked into high gear for the rest of the morning.

They had a great time but eventually you could tell that they were all tired.

Katie and I managed trach care while Trinity watched on. Everything went according to plan and we were able to get trach care done without any problems.

Despite being very tired Sadbh had no interest in going to sleep, as she did not want to stop playing with her cousins.

Poppy stopped by on his way to the airport so he could say hello and good bye and soon after he left we headed up to Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill for a walk.

Since it was Karby’s families last night we all headed to dinner over by Golden Gardens. The service was extremely slow but we got to spend the evening together and the kids all had a fantastic time. Sadbh took a very short nap just before we arrived and woke up very groggy. She was soon having a blast with each of the girls before finally plopping into Ali-Baba’s lap to finish off her fruit drink.

At one stage I had to bring Sadbh to the bathroom to wash her hands. This was a first for me and I have to say it was not easy considering that I had to keep her from touching everything else in there.

Karby and his family followed us home since they were staying close by and we had a big farewell before they finally headed back to their place for the night.

Sadbh was full of hugs and kisses but was sad to see them off. I’m sure she is going to miss them something terrible in the coming days.

It will be a year at least, possibly longer before she gets to see them in person again, however Liberty made a promise to Skype on a regular basis.

New photos.

Photos from August 18 2011.

Photos from August 18 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 17th 2013

Sadbh woke up at 7 after a very good night sleep. She has not done well with the trach capping during the night but Danielle was able to cap her trach for 42 minutes.

When she woke it was time to spend time playing with her cousins before they headed off back to Portland.

After they left she and Liberty had breakfast together and Sadbh devoured a whole bunch of blueberries.

Later in the morning her other two cousins came over but she was starting to get tired. The excitement of a full house got the better of her so there was no hope in getting Sadbh to take a nap.

Mommy and Ali-Baba managed trach care while Uncle Karby and Aunt Zhou Jie watched on. Sadbh did great and as soon as they finished we all headed down to Pike Place Market.

Downtown was packed and any chance of Sadbh taking a nap was fruitless. She was thrilled to be with her cousins as we wandered through the crowds checking out the fishmongers and other stalls.

She especially enjoyed the different buskers and had a great time dancing along to the music.

Since it had turned out to be such a lovely day we decided to have a barbeque when we arrived home.

Sadbh and Trinity got busy preparing their food in the toy kitchen out in the garden. They put on quite the spread and laid it out for display on the bottom step of the back porch.

We had no problem getting Sadbh to bed tonight and by 8 she was fast asleep in mommies arms.

It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.

New photos.

Photos from August 17 2011.

Photos from August 18 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 16th 2013

Sadbh slept great and woke up excited to see her cousins.

Unfortunately, Larissa called in sick today however Katie had planned on taking the day off so it worked out in the end. Hopefully Larissa gets better quickly.

The day started off with Sadbh, Hayato, Kaito, Lulu and Liberty getting stuck into some serious fun.

Soon they were joined by Belle-Rose and Trinity and after a bite to eat they loaded up the cars and headed off to Remlinger Farm in Carnation to check out the animals and fun carnival rides.

The farm was full of all sorts of animals and Sadbh even got to see a new born Alpaca that was only 4 hrs old.

When it came to the pony ride Sadbh was very fussy. She did not like the first pony that she was presented with and insisted on another. This worked out for the first half lap but she soon got spooked and spent the rest of the trip telling Katie she wanted to get off.  She loved it when it was over, though and said she wanted to go again.

Not to worry, the next ride was extremely exciting as it was a trip on a miniature stream train. Sadbh was in her element and did not want to leave.

It was a very hot day and Sadbh found a sprinkler to cool off under. It was very refreshing and she had a great time jumping in and out from under it.

As soon as everyone arrived home from the farm we celebrated Liberty’s 10^th birthday. We had a huge pizza feast and once everyone was stuffed on pizza it was time for Ali-Baba’s angel food zebra cake.

Sadbh saw the candles and insisted that it was her birthday so she got to help Liberty blow out the candles also.

When it came time for Sadbh to go to bed she came out to the back porch in nothing but her nappy and sang “So long, Farwell” from the sound of music to all our guests. It was adorable but I started to get worried when she started to pull her nappy off.

She is so lucky to have spent the day with her cousins.

New photos.

Photos from August 16 2011.

Photos from August 16 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 15th 2013

Sadbh had a fabulous night sleep and did not wake up until long after Helen left.

It was a wet soggy day but this did not slow Sadbh down. She had a great time with Larissa hiding from monsters, enjoying many tea parties and even getting a spot of shopping in.

At one point she pretended to be Ali-Baba and insisted on Larissa being Nana and they both headed down to Sadbh’s kitchen in the basement to cook a big meal.

Ali-Baba stopped by in the afternoon to help Larissa with trach care.

As soon as they were done it was back to playing hide and seek from the monsters and lions.

Later in the evening Sadbh’s cousins arrived for the evening. She was thrilled to see them.

All the kids had a great time and Sadbh was over the moon with excitement. They are in Seattle for the weekend so I’m sure she’s going to have a fantastic time over the next few days.

Bedtime was late but Sadbh was very content cuddled up with mommy and finally fell asleep before Helen arrived. Just before she dozed off, Sadbh said to Katie “I miss Sofia”.

New photos.

Photos from August 15 2011.

Photos from August 15 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 14th 2013

Sadbh was extremely restless last night and she had herself wrapped up in knots on a number of occasions. Helen thankfully kept unwrapping her each time.

She woke up in a good mood but the tossing and turning had her tired all morning.

She was sad to see mommy leave for work and watched her until the car disappeared down the street.

Ali-Baba came by to spend time with Sadbh today and as usual they had a ball together.

By the time Ali-Baba left Sadbh could hardly keep her eyes open. She was wiped out so Larissa had no problems getting her to bed for her nap.

Two hours and twenty-five minutes later Sadbh woke up in a great mood.

She did not have much of an appetite but that changed when the watermelon came out.

Sadbh was in a fun mood when I arrived home and immediately after Larissa left we got down to playing hide and seek. Her imagination was in full swing as we hid from lions, tigers and a rogue spider.

Trach care this evening was exhausting but Sadbh was in a good mood so we were able to get it down without any problems.

It’s just hard after a long busy day at work to go through the entire routine. That said I’m glad we do it everyday as her neck is in great shape as is her stoma.

It took forever to get her to sleep tonight and just as Katie put her in the cot she wanted to sing so she sang the rainbow song. It was quite funny to watch.

New photos.

Photos from August 14 2011.

Photos from August 14 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 13th 2013

Sadbh was in a very deep sleep so Helen tried capping her trach. She lasted ten minutes before pulling it off and went back to sleep without any problems.

She was really looking forward to seeing Larissa this morning and could not wait to get stuck into some serious play.

After mommy left for work Sadbh got busy hiding from monsters, took a very short pretend nap and indulged in tea and snacks.

Her imagination certainly has blossomed over the weekend, thanks in large to the time spent with her cousins.

She was out picking tomatoes in the garden when I arrived home and was happy stuffing her face.

When mommy arrived home we headed off to check out a couple of furniture stores in the search for a replacement for our dining table and chairs.

Sadbh was giddy and she had a great time checking out all the furniture.

Bedtime was late this evening since we had to manage trach care beforehand.

She was exhausted but fought sleep until moments before Helen arrived.

New photos.

Photos from August 13 2011.

Photos from August 13 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 12th 2013

Sadbh slept like a log until 8:15 and woke up very happy. As soon as she was dressed it was off upstairs to spend the morning playing with her cousins.

She partook in a fun game of hide and seek. All the kids had to hide while uncle Karby searched frantically for everyone. Sadbh was the second kid to get found but that was because she got bored hiding and started to walk around looking for everyone else.

It took a couple of hours to break down all her medical equipment and to load up the car.

As soon as everything was loaded into the car it was time to say good-bye to everyone and off we went.

Sadbh was sad to leave and did not want to go.

It was not long before Sadbh was fast asleep in her car seat. She slept for an hour and 20 minutes and woke up as we were descending Stevens Pass.

She was in a great mood and very hungry.

She was very sad when we arrived home and realized that none of her cousins were there. I think she had hoped that everyone else had left and were on their way back to our house. She’s going to have to wait until Thursday for that.

It took another couple of hours to off load the car and get everything set up in her room.

By now Sadbh was getting hungry and very cranky. Just like me.

Before dinner we had to do trach care so we got everything set up and Sadbh in the bath.

She did not want to participate at first but after we got her set up with Kipper on the iPhone she was good to go.

Trach care went well and soon we were all eating dinner and feeling much happier.

It was a long day but it was well worth it for all the fun we had over the past few days.

New photos.

Photos from August 12 2011.

Photos from August 12 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 11th 2013

Another big thunder and lightning storm rolled through last night and had everyone in the house wide-awake except for Sadbh. She slept soundly right through it and did not notice when we lost power around midnight.

Thankfully we had flashlights and other backup precautions so we were able to change out her mist mask for a humidifier nose to keep her airway moist while the power was out.

She woke up in a great mood shortly after 7 and after a big snuggle she was off up stairs to start her day with all the cousins.

She was asking for Sophia again and when mommy explained that she had gone home Sadbh was very sad.

Nevertheless Sadbh had another fun filled day and spent most of it by the pool with her cousins.

She even got to go out on the boat again for a nice spin up the Columbia River.

We headed into Lake Chelan for dinner this evening and by the time we arrived home it was late and by the time we arrived home.

The stars were shining brightly in the dark sky and Sadbh and her cousins got to see a couple of shooting stars which caused a lot of excitement.

We had our work cut out for us to get her to sleep after the delight of what she just saw but it was mostly because of the chocolate cake she devoured for desert.

New photos.

Photos from August 11 2011.

Photos from August 11 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 10th 2013

Sadbh slept great despite the huge thunder and lightening storm that rolled through the valley.

We had a busy morning as we had to drive Sophia to the airport in Wenatchee so she could begin her long flight back to Germany.

It was very sad to see Sophia leave, as she is such a wonderful young lady and was fantastic with Sadbh.

Sadbh did not realize that she was leaving until we got back in the car to head home and kept asking where Sophia was the entire time.

On our way home through Wenatchee we could see huge plumes of smoke caused from a large forest fire close by.

Thankfully the air quality was not bad especially where we are staying. If the air quality does decrease we will certainly be heading home sooner.

Sadbh had a fun afternoon out boating on the Columbia River with her cousins. She loved it and especially enjoyed watching her cousins on the inner tube being towed behind the boat.

After a long fun day Sadbh finally fell asleep in bed with Katie and I. We were all pooped and were fast asleep in no time.

New photos.

Photos from August 10 2011.

Photos from August 10 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.

Sadbh’s update – August 9th 2013

Sadbh slept great and joined us in bed shortly after 5am.

She was eager for the day to start so she could play with her cousins.

Sadbh had so much fun with her cousins and Sophia and there was never a dull moment.

Unfortunately for Sadbh, she could not join everyone else in the pool however she kept Katie and me busy walking around keeping her safe and from falling in.

We had her monthly trach change scheduled for today so with the help of Ali-Baba and Sophia we got Sadbh set up and ready for business. We could not get online to stream her favorite programs, however she was so tried from her busy morning that she was soon fast asleep in mommies arms.

Trach change went well and we were all able to relax afterwards.

Sadbh slept for a couple of hours and woke up full of energy.

She was determined to get as close to the pool as possible so we spent the next hour or so shadowing her to keep her safe.

I was relieved when she finally wanted to go inside the house.

Bedtime was quite sad as Sadbh and Sophia brushed their teeth together one last time.

New photos.

Photos from August 9 2011.

Photos from August 9 2012.

All the best,

Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.