I have had a cold for more than week that I don’t like. But, I’m finally starting to feel better.

He said

Well, within minutes of our post last week about Emelia’s tummy follies we had messages galore from people who care which is really nice. But, we also had an old friend of ours Dr. Nic(ole) reach out to us. We haven’t seen her in some years since she lived in London while going to Med School at Western. She is now in Ottawa a full-on doctor and – to our benefit – a gastroenterologist (Sorry Dr. Nic if that’s not the official field but I autocorrect suggested it, it sounded legit enough, and I ran with it).

At any rate, Nicole reached out to give us some advice, insight and even some great suggestions that we’re now trying. One of the things that has suggested and had great success with is Align Probiotics which she really believes based on her symptoms could very likely be the culprit. We started her on them Wednesday this week and we’re less than a week in, but combined with medicine she is on, we have noticed a tiny bit of progress. We’re fully aware that it will likely take some time for the probiotics to fully work, but we’re delighted that we have a new partner in Dr. Nic! And if worse case she does need to be referred to a gastro Dr., I would happily drive to Ottawa to have an excuse to see our old pal too.

Monday this week, I had an open shift at the store which got me home the same time all the daycare kids were gone for the night. With it being so close to December, we figured it was the perfect time to start to get the house in the Christmas spirits. It’s getting dark so early that even at 5pm it was already too dark to do the outside lights, so we focused on the inside getting the tree up and decorations on it. After a couple of hours we had the house already looking very Christmasy. And when the daycare kids arrived the next day to the tree up, they were fascinated by it (as they should be).

The rest of the week was a blur of work, and Emelia’s regular schedule that dictates our days. On top of her tummy fun, she’s now also working into more than a week with a nasty dry cough that impacts her sleep and her practice at the gym. She had a really great week a gymnastics according to Coach Alex and she’s feeling a lore more competition ready which is good cause we’re about 6 weeks away. She certainly would love for the cough to bugger off, but for the most part she’s been able to practice at the level she wants to.

The big thing on our dance card this week was a festive gathering with the extended Teeter family. All of Dad’s sisters and their extended families have started a tradition of coming down to see have the Brunch with Saint Nick at Fanshawe Pioneer Village, which works perfect for spending the afternoon with Dad as he works there. And then, they collected after at Mom & Dad’s to visit with anyone in our family that can make it. The added bonus this year was Emelia was happily volunteering with Poppa in the print shop. We got to spend Brunch out at the village and then the afternoon and early evening over at Mom & Dad’s with everyone visiting with family we don’t get to see enough. There was lots of food and laughter – it was the perfect way to properly kick off the Festive Season!

She said

The last few weeks have been a blur. We are moving more and more into the Christmas season and therefore the events that go around that. The coming month is going to be a busy one. Last week and the previous weekend was starting to focus more on the holiday season. The first was to get a solid start on Christmas shopping. With the ongoing postal strike we are still waiting on a number of the packages we ordered to actually arrive.

I feel in pretty good shape with things being in order. I do not have all the actual shopping 100% complete but I do know what we are getting for everyone, Emelia is 90% done other than stocking stuffers. I still need to get all the support people in our lives done, things like her teachers, coaches, are some of the bigger ones I need to wrap up this week. I have the kids almost done, and other than a very special surprise I am working on for John things are pretty good.

This week was not only about getting things in order for Christmas but getting working really hard to work on mending Emelia’s stomach. With the incredible guidance of our friend Dr. Nic we are working on hopefully mending Emelia’s stomach and getting her back to her normal healthy self. Emelia has been an insane trooper through it all, taking all the meds, the appointments, the tests and mostly the pain she is in. Things are slowly improving, too slow but some progress is good. Every day there is a little progress and at this time we will take each positive step. We are hoping that this will put her in a much better place soon.

Next week we have another busy week and an event we have been really looking forward to for a long time. A trip up to my sisters place to celebrate Christmas and Marshall’s 4th birthday. With all our weekly activities it wont be long and we will be off to Bracebridge to spend the weekend with my family – I cannot wait.

It’s starting to feel more and more like Christmas. The tree is up, as I am typing thing I have Gordie snuggling at my feet with the Christmas lights up and we realize we are really lucky and grateful.