Meeting Blue and Dora

Yesterday we took the kids to Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America to meet Blue from Blue's Clues, which is one of their favorite shows. Christopher loved Blue, and tried to grab her nose. Sydney on the other hand was terrified of Blue and wouldn't go near her. Then a little later after a few rides, the kids got to meet Dora the Explorer. Sydney did much better that time, but she was still a little skeptical. They are pretty excited though because next Thursday they get to see the Wiggles! It should be a fun time...

Birthday and anniversary wishes!

I would like to wish a very Happy Birthday to my brother in law Reed on Sunday July 27. Also on the 27th, Happy 3rd Birthday to our nephew Eric, and Happy 4th Birthday to our niece, Samantha. Happy Anniversary Uncle Gary and Aunt Sue (on the 27th as well!!)

Birthday wishes go out to our nephew Nicholas who will be celebrating his 6th birthday on the 29th! Also Happy anniversary to my cousins Terri and Donnie, and Travis and Jaime! Hopefully I got everyone right!!

Check out our new photos

If you'd like to see photos of what we have been up to so far this summer, please check out our Maller Family Photos, and be sure to click on Stacey's public gallery. There are lots of fun photos!

Family Update

Greetings from a very hot and humid Minnesota!

Fortunately our air conditioning is in perfect working order for the hot weather that has come upon us. So I am happy to report that we are staying cool.

I met with my thyroid surgeon on the 7th for my post-op. She was happy to report to me that my incision was healing well and that my calcium levels are getting closer to normal, so that is all good. I will return to the endocrinologist on Monday August 4, and she will go over the thyroid hormone levels, etc. So I will let you know what I find out there.

Brad is trying to stay cool at work, and has been working a lot of extra shifts this past week. My mom was down to help care for the kids while he had some training classes for work last week, so that was nice.

We got all sorts of information about Sydney's preschool in the mail last week, so needless to say she is VERY excited about that. We took her out this past weekend and got her a backpack. She picked out an Ariel (The Little Mermaid) one. She will be going to preschool two mornings a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30-12. It will be so good for her to make some new friends and prepare herself for the school setting. Her latest accomplishment is drawing people. She made a picture of herself and my friend Brittany for Brittany's birthday and she added all the details as well. If I can figure it out, I will try to add one of her drawings on here.

Christopher has gained two more teeth, is walking like crazy and has graduated from his crib to a big boy bed (see photo). I can't believe how grown up my little boy is! Where did the time go??

Hope you are all having a fun summer!

Stacey's Return to Work/Happy 4th of July!

I am happy to report that I was able to return to work on Wednesday as planned. I am lucky though to have an extra day off for the 4th of July holiday. It was a pretty easy return to work.

The thyroid surgery went smoothly, and the pathology reports came back cancer free, not that they ever thought there was cancer, but pathology reports are normal with this type of thing. The most exciting thing to date was being able to remove the steri strips from over the incision, but I think the glue there may remain for months to come! The incision is not that large, so the scar should be small. I am pretty self conscious about it though and feel like people are looking at it all the time. If I get brave, I will have Brad take a photo and post it.

In the mean time, we hope that you all have a very happy and safe 4th of July holiday weekend.

Special Birthday wishes to our family friend Julia Hager who is 5 years old today?! (How can you be that old already? It seems like you were just born yesterday) and Birthday wishes to my cousin Jenny Truax on Sunday!