Screaming and Crying

Taylor had his post op follow up appointment today.  As far as his surgical site, everything went very well.  The appointment it self probably couldn't have gone worse.  I got a late start because Wes needed his diaper changed when I discovered an explosion in his pants.  I couldn't find Ava's sandals, and my kids become surprisingly deft when I as them to help me find things.  They will wander around the house as if they have some idea what they are doing.  Then after some period of time, you say, "Liv, did you find Ava's shoes?" and she looks at you like you are a martian speaking Chinese and says, "what?"

Anyway, I did eventually find the sandals, and pack all four of my whinny, wriggling little monsters into the car.  On the way there I got an upsetting phone call that frankly just frustrated me at the most inconvenient time. When we got there, I had trouble ending the call, and my children took this opportunity to pretend not to know what they should be doing.  They found a planter of rocks next to my parking spot and began chucking the stones.  Thankfully, I don't think they hit anything or anyone. I finally got off the phone, corralled my children, and made way for the elevator.  As I got on the elevator, Wes picked that moment to make his own independence be known, and he literally high tailed it out of there.  I ran after him, leaving my three other children in the elevator.  The door closed as I chased Wes down the hallway.  Now I had three children screaming inside the elevator, and one screaming and kicking, HARD, in my arms.  

The kids really were not in any danger since I had not pushed any buttons.  So I pushed the up button again, and the door opened. But the passerby's must have thought I was completely incompetent. Once we were all united inside the elevator, I hit the button for the second floor, and the door closed.  This of course set Wes off completely.  He started freaking out, screaming and crying.  It was the longest two story elevator ride I have ever experienced.  

When the door opened all the panic resolved as the kids discovered that Children's hospital Clinics have an awesome waiting area designed (shockingly :) for kids.  I waited while the two desk attendants concluded their conversation with a personal visitor.  In the meantime, my children found all of the wheeled toys, and were pushing each other around the waiting room screaming with glee.  This, of course, procured all the eyes on the floor, visitors, other patients, nurses, whoever... 

When I finally got to the desk, the woman informed me that one of Taylor's insurance plans was not in fact on file... which was odd since he was just there for his pre-op consult... Then she asked me every question no less than twice, and in the end, found his primary insurance information.  I am convinced that she simply didn't know what she was looking at.  It took at least twice as long than usual.  Then she handed me a whole bunch of paperwork and an armband and told me to put it on him.  This turned out to be my next fail.  One would think after five years of putting arm bands on people in the ER that I could have handled this small task.  Yeah, no.  I pulled on the wrong part and the paper slipped out causing the band to stick together three times too big.  I never understood why they need to arm band kids in the first place... its just a clinic.... 

So I filled out the paperwork and broke up at least four fights between my children, before the nurse called for Taylor.  I plucked Wes out of the little car thing he was "driving", which set him off yet again.  Squawking and screaming as loud has he can manage, we followed the nurse.  Who commented, "Your very busy!" with wide shocked eyes no less than three times.  

YES, I AM VERY BUSY

After weighing and measuring, we went to the room. The kids made a bee line for the toy mounted to the wall.  (which is developmentally bellow nearly all of them...) and then preceded to fight over it... of course.  The nurse tried asking me questions, but Wes' screaming, "MY TURN! MY TURN! MY TURN...", wasn't conducive to actual communication.  I scooped him up in an attempt to put an end to it, and well it escalated.  He threw himself to the grown and then big crocodile tears streamed down because he had hurt himself.  Eventually he stopped crying and started exploring again.  He tripped at least twice before he discovered that he could climb the exam table.   Then he climbed up on the exam table step and fell twice more.  All while the nurse was trying to "assess" Taylor.  She finally determined that his incision (which BTW, is an inch long on his abdomen slightly to the left and above his belly button) looked "good".  (Which is what I told her at least three times already...)

She left... a few more fights, a few more falls... and Ava holding herself and crossing her legs.  So I get all the children together and we go looking for a bathroom.  Wes is screaming as we do this because he wasn't going to get over his last little clumsy tumble.  I get Ava on and off the potty in record time, all the kids cover their ears and cry about the "loud" potty, and we go looking for the room again.  

The doctor finally walks in, wearing a sling on his dominant hand and tries awkwardly to shake my hand.  His comment?  Yeah, "so which one is the patient?" I resisted my urge to retort, "The 6 year old male, TAYLOR."  

It took far longer than it should have to tell me his incision, like I said now four times, "looked fine".  Then we were on our way.  But my kids have been around the block a few times and asked for the stickers.  Three of them engaged the desk ladies looking for their loot, while Wes spotted the car.  He was off.  I was not far behind him, but he beat me there.  He pushed the other kid, who was getting out of the car, out of his way and had one whole foot in before I caught up.  I apologized to the parents profusely, and scooped Wes up and brought him back across the room.  I set him down and tried to round up the troops.  Wes, threw himself on the floor so hard that I heard a crack.  And of course, started screaming.  

I picked him wailing, physically pushed all the kids to the elevator and watched all the shocked faces as the doors closed. 

I held myself together until we got to the car.  They were all complaining by then, but Wes had not let up.  I guess it doesn't surprise me in hindsight, he had hit his head so hard that there was a rug burn, bruise, and swelling to the area.  But I was loosing it.  I started crying.  All the way home sobbing.  There are times when I feel so good about Wes, and then there are these times, when I just want someone to give me some answers, support... something... 

Meet and Greet

Yesterday we took the kids to school to meet all their new teachers and leave all their new supplies.  We went to Wes' classroom first.  He jumped right in exploring and babbling away.  We discussed some logistics and confirmed all details.  His new speech and language therapist, who was also Taylor's first speech and language therapist in the school district, also stopped by to meet him.  I have a really good feeling about that.  

Then we tromped along to the other side of the building where the first grade classrooms are.  Taylor and Alivya will again have separate teachers.  I was surprised at how shy they were acting when they met their new teachers.  Alivya will have a substitute until November as her new teacher had a baby recently.  Liv will also begin the year sitting next to two of her friends from kindergarten, Addison and Ava.  They were excited to see a few of their friends also there meeting their new teachers. 

I can't

Yesterday I told Ava to bring her plate to the sink after we finished eating.  She said "I can't try that" and gave me the poutiest little girl smile.  I tried to get her to do it again for the camera, but she was on to me.  

When E was her age, he told everyone that he "can't want to" and for eleven years that has been our family inside joke whenever we don't want to do something... "Oh I can't want to" we would say to each other.  I think now its time to change up the phrase! "Oh I can't try that!"

My Wes

Who doesn't just love this face?

Where have all the flowers gone?

This morning I woke up and peered out my window over my lovely back yard.  I was disappointed to see that so many the beautiful red leaves had fallen of our enormous maple (whose leaves begin changing color every year in July). I love fall, except for the fact that it precedes winter.  There are a lot of ways in which I am ready for fall, but a lot in which I am just not.  

This afternoon I took the kids for an appointment with a therapist that specializes in feeding therapy.  I am hoping that she has some special feeding voodoo that will get Wes on the fast tract to normality, yet I don't dare to hope.  Other special needs Moms will definitely understand this. I really liked the therapist, I think she has a good energy, and some tricks that we haven't tried.  She warned me though that it can be hard to get prior authorization from insurance companies for this stuff.  Which frankly rials me up.  

So we will see how this goes.  If it goes well, I might get Taylor some help too.  

Frog

Felt a little bit like a frog today.  I sat on my perch (desk) and croaked (hit the button) all day.  A day in the life of a frog, who knew you could get the experience while working on the birth center? 

Do the Westli!!!



:o) Love this kid!!!

Meet Mr Butterfly

Doing homework... how does this happen after just the first day?  Well you all know me, so you know that these assignments are actually due until October.  But now they are done, and in October, I will be grateful not to have to worry about getting them done :)  

In other news, Ava is doing great going pee pee on the potty.  She can hold it until we decide she should try and then she goes.  Anyone know how to get her to tell us that she has to go?  She rarely gets the poopy in the potty.  Three maybe four times... but most of it ends up as a mess in her undies.  Frustrating...  suggestions most welcomed... :)

2nd Semester

I started the second semester of my nursing program today. 

It humbles me to think that I can sit for the LPN boards at the end of this term.  Marks the half way point.  This time next year, I will be one semester from graduation.  

Funny how things can seem so close and yet so far away. 

My blog posts, not unlike this week, might be shorter for the time being.  Classes really do keep me busy, sorry :(

Wordless Wednesday

Who is Pneumo?

Liv had another follow up with her pulmonologist today.  The pulmonologist who was here this time was the one that first saw Taylor in the NICU six years ago.  It was nice to be able to share with her how well he is doing.  They haven't seen Taylor since we had to switch when he was two. 

Alivya is doing very well.  We made no changes to her plan and will follow up again in three or four months.  Hopefully by then we will know how the cold and flu season will effect her asthma.  

Happy Birthday E

My wonderful nephew Evan turns 14 today.  

Seems like just yesterday when I peeled his Momma off the floor of her apartment, suffered her screaming wrath trying not to drive too fast or too slow and to miss all the pot holes between her apartment in Menasha to the hospital in Neenah... The spent a long evening next to her under her strong grip while she decided too late that she wanted drugs and begged the nurses to "stop it" so they could all do it "later".  

I love being an aunt.  I was 17 when E came into the world.  I dragged him around with me everywhere.  I remember stopping by the stage at school one day.  People said, "Julie, do have something to tell us?" I said, "Umm... my sister had a baby?"

Anyway, this year, my little baby E will be a freshman at that very school.  Where did all that time go?  That was also the year I met Jon.  I don't think he loved carrying around my baby nephew, but not doing so probably would have been a deal breaker for me.  I always knew babies would be in my future, so how Jon cared for E was sort of my first chance to see how my future fit with him.  

Anyway, food for another book :)

Happy Birthday Evan, hope it was great!

Rest or not

We are spending the day getting the house ready for fall.  Trimming the burbs, burning the trimmings, cleaning, scrubbing, all that fun stuff.  

Later we will head over to Grandma K's for our usual sunday afternoon!

Happy Birthday Mom

Happy Birthday Mom, Hope your having a great day!

Lazy Photo Day

Pathophys

Since Last Tuesday, a nasty virus (known as the Rhino virus) has attacked my body.  It has carefully and laboriously embedded itself into he cells that line my sinus cavity and settled in.  The pressure of this entrenched army makes my face pound.  Yesterday said army's inhabitance caused the draining of thick nasty mucus to flow down my nasal pharynx.  There, the mucus irritated the he** out of my poor cilia that line my trachea and bronchial tubes.  I put on a good show while traipsing around Bay Beach and sucking on cough drops to sooth the pain in my throat.  Today, said thick mucus has defeated the efforts of my poor ciliated cells and encrusted itself in a hard thick coating.  My last ditch effort, huge fits of dry hacking, surprisingly having irritated my throat as much as the drippage of yesterday.  Still, cough to the state of virtual vomitus and that nasty crap that loosens is so gross!  

Lets everyone give my poor immune system some much needed encouragement... Come on immunity, HEAL already!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bay Beach!!!!

We are totally exhausted after spending most of the day at Bay Beach Amusement park in Green Bay!

The kids and I went to Taylor and Wes' chiropractor in the morning, then came home to get ready for the big day.  We packed a snack, water bottles, diapers and the cushy tushy.  Around noon we headed out.  First stop was the potties, of course.  The big kids took off on their own adventure, while the younger kids, my sister, Stephanie and I started in the kiddie area. 

Wes was apprehensive about the Lady Bugs, their first ride, but seemed to enjoy some of it.  Same with the boats... though he really got into the boats after a minute or so. 

Then he was done.  He wanted nothing to do with the Flying Fighters, where the "guns" make a high pitched whistling noise.  He let me put him in the race car, but climbed out before the ride started.  He did the same with the other cars.  I was proud of him though.  The first time we brought Taylor and Liv, Taylor wouldn't go on anything.  

Then Taylor picked the Ferris Wheel, which had a long line in mostly direct sunlight.  The kids were impatient, but waited and we finally got our turn. 

Taylor road with Leah...

Alivya road with Amy, and I got Ava (YES!!! She doesn't yet understand the concept of "rocking" the car, which is the part I don't really like...)  Ava thought it was awesome.  She giggled and laughed and yelled woohoo through the whole ride. After that we took a potty/re apply the sunscreen break.  During the break, Taylor told me he was hungry.  So we went back to the car for sandwiches and chips.  This is a terrible photo, but it is so much my kids that I had to post it anyway!  Haha!

After "second lunch", we took a long walk through the Nature Center.  The chipmunks were amazingly friendly.  The kids actually got within an arms distance at one point and Amy told them not to touch the chipmunks.  I never really thought I would hear that in the context of a "wild" animal.  

We saw, bobcats, ravens, otters, snakes, turtles, a cougar, a deer, and some other animals.  Then we refilled our water bottles and took another potty break.  The kids played in the exhibit at the nature center building.  Then we headed back to the rides.  

Ava, I must caveat for a minute, was super awesome.  She went potty twice while we were there, and stayed dry the whole day.  We walked over three miles, most of which she also walked.  She took a couple short rides in the stroller when Wes wanted to walk.  Ava took a little digger on the trail, but pretty much got right up and moved on.  She really had a great time and enjoyed everything.  She didn't complain, she didn't whine, and she got on and off when the ride attendants said it was time.  I was simply impressed with how well she handled the whole day. 

We all rode the train, which is a big tradition in our family.  We have pictures of me when I was probably younger than Ava and Wes riding the train with Amy and my dad.  So it sort of became a tradition. And who doesn't love a little train ride?  Taylor has requested that we get a train like that for home...  so Taylor. 

After the train, we hit the Merry Go Round, and the bumper cars.  Liv told us before we left that she wanted ride the bumper cars, it was the first thing she asked for when we got there, and through out the whole day all she wanted was to ride the bumper cars.  So we definitely could not leave without one bumper car ride.  Since they are so short, they could not ride the bumper cars alone.  So an adult had to ride with them, so Amy took each of Taylor and Alivya on the bumper cars.  

The missing voice

This blog was started in 2005 by my husband.  Back then, blogs were new, and few non major geeks had even heard of them, let alone have one of their own.  The trend didn't take long to catch on though, and now they are very common place.  His blog, I think, was really intended as a place where he could unleash all the geeky knowledge and finds he harbors.  If you go back to the very beginning of the blog, you will find quite a lot of this (the Nintendo Wii was just an exciting new concept). 

Then Taylor stirred up the pot, and soon they both arrived in stately fashion.  The blog became a place for our friends and family to gather information and see pictures.  In the isolating desperate world of the NICU, the blog was easiest way to disseminate up to date and accurate information about their conditions.  Six months later, when we finally had both babies home, the blog became a lifeline.  It was a means to connect with other families who had children like ours, it was a means to vent and describe the ins and outs of my new life.  It was the only adult connection I had with the world.  And by this time, it was my blog.  Jon stopped contributing and a very important perspective, in my opinion, was lost. Last year I stopped harassing him and begging him to contribute.  I changed the name and description to reflect these facts. I still miss his input, and I sometimes feel like he doesn't feel the need to talk to me because he has or will "read the blog". This is when you know that you share too much information with world wide web.

Earlier today, I was sitting at my computer completing my Meeting Minutes for our most recent SNA meeting, and I was notified that I had gotten an email from Jon.  An unsolicited email from Jon is like winning the lottery.  Hell, a solicited email from Jon is like winning the lottery, and unsolicited email is more like meeting Harry Potter in your back yard.  It just does not happen, ever... So I stopped all the presses and read the email. It read:

"In an effort to promote pease and prosperity throughout the Meadowlark household we are bringing the fight to the enemy. On Wednesday, the 15th of August, at 0900 hours, 5 diplomatic pressure devices, also known as bug boms, will be deployed. While it is unfortunate that it has come to this, we repeatedly warned the insurgent agents that their actions would have consequences.


During this period, allies of the collation, here to fore known as CATS (confidential authorized terrestrial sources) will need redeployment. Primary site location for this deployment would preferably be at the River address. This deployment, upon confirmation of Rivers commanding officer, will begin at 2000 hours on August the 14th. While some think that it is unwise to give a time table for withdrawal, as it will give the enemy a tactical advantage, we are certain that the mission will be concluded and the CATS returned to their homeland no later than 1600 hours on the day of operation.

We look forward to our victory, and hope that any future issues with the surrounding territories may be more peacefully concluded."   Later when I saw him briefly before work, I said, "interesting email."   He replied, "I was feeling creative."   Jon is a terrible speller, and rarely employs real grammar rules, but his expressive style is so unique.  That is what I miss most about his contributions to this blog.  We are pretty good about seeing things eye to eye, but the journey there is so completely different.  The email, in case you were unable to read between the lines, is explaining to his mom that we need to bomb the house for unwanted creepy crawlies and need a place for his animals to stay while we do it. 

Parent Information day

What is "Parent Information Day"? If you were like me and thought that it was a day set aside for parents to go to school and actually ingest information about their child attending said school in three weeks or less… well you would be wrong. As it turns out, Parent Information Day, is a day set aside for parents to drag all four of their unhappy children into said quiet school (until their children arrived anyway) to be handed a manila envelope full of advertisements and papers they were given on three previous occasions. In other words, waste of my time Day.


I was worried that it might rain as it sort of smelled like rain and was terribly cloudy like rain. But Jon has this app for his phone… hmm can’t remember what its called at the moment… anyway, he is pretty confident in said app. He likes to tell me that “the rain will be here in seven minutes”… based on the information that the app provides. So I look at my local weather channel app, and it shows a huge green rain blob over our whole area… but it wasn’t raining… so I text him, “Is it going to rain in the next 30 minutes?” I feel a little stupid doing this, like when you pick up one of those eight balls and ask if your current love interest “will marry you” and it says “perhaps”. A few minutes later I get a text back, “No”.

Since it was not going to rain, the eight ball said so, I decided to bike with the kids to the school to attend this most important “Parent Information Day”. As we left the garage I realize that the tire on Jon’s bike (because his has the adaptor for the bike trailer) is most nearly flat when I get my huge bum on it. This doesn’t bother me as much as the fact that I am peddling and peddling and my speed isn’t changing at all. I jump off the bike right next to my road side mailbox. Taylor and Liv stop too. I look down, the chain is completely off. Of course. I remove my helmet, my awesome new biker gloves, and attempt to put the chain back on. I have, believe it or not, put chains back on bikes before. But this one is now jammed between the frame and the sprocket housing. Crap (drink if you are playing 50 Shades of Grey drinking game!) I play with it some more, and finally it is free. I slip it on and jiggle the metal guide a little, and it seems right.

I put on my gloves, helmet, and leap onto the bike again. Just then, Livi says, “I think we should, um, bring some tissue.” Her nose has two gross streaks of thick yellow crap (yup, another drink) oozing out of it. So I tell her to open the garage, go back in the house and get some tissues. By now, my 30 minutes is definitely up… I think about asking the oracle if there will be rain in the next 30 minutes, but I decide that it pretty much doesn’t matter. So far what could go wrong had, and well, we would probably get rained on. I hadn’t gone through all that work.. yes, I broke a sweat pulling out the kids bikes, the bike trailer, and Jon’s bike, then strapping all the kids into their helmets and little ones into their seats… to give up because it might rain.

Finally we were off. If you don’t count Wes screaming every time I had to stop (2 streets and 2 for Liv) and all of Liv’s whining about needing to “catch up”, it was a very pleasant ride. We parked the bikes and invaded the school. Afterwards, the kids showed me their new classrooms, and I told them they could play on the playground for a while. This was super exciting because Johnston installed some new playground equipment since summer school ended just under a month ago. The video above is testament that this new piece is going to cause plenty of arguments for the playground supervisors.

Eventually I realized that Tay and Liv both needed to use the potty, and they both refused to use the school facilities, so we went home. More whining from the same offenders made the home ride less pleasant, but we made it home fine. It did not rain the whole day.

Work?

After yesterday's adventures, today we had to get back to the business of housekeeping.. boring!
Jon spent five hours today outside dealing with weeds, piles of rotting twigs and branches we've been "collecting", and our waist high neglected lawn. In the meantime, I spent the day cleaning up around the inside, doing laundry, tending the munchkins, exercising, and trying to decide if I have a sliver in my foot (which I do...)
Running on the treadmill with a sliver in your foot, pretty much sucks. Still, I did my 30 minute workout without tears. I made steak and zucchini and red potato bake for dinner. My steak was perfect, Jon gave me a firm "It was fine." Which is the only adjective Jon uses, the rest is up for debate. (He did eat all of the steak, however I have seen him eat all of other awful meals that I have made and refused to eat, and declare them "fine"... your guess is as good as mine.)
After dinner, which was awesome, to me anyway, I took a shower and we watched the closing ceremony for the 30th Olympiad. :( Actually I am sort of ready for it to be over, the Olympics consumed far more of my time than I really had to give it. I enjoyed the closing but not as much as the opening. I spent a lot of time wondering what was going on exactly and chumming it up to British oddness :) "Its the Brits" became my slogan.
So tonight we said goodbye to television with the exception of a few Packer games and the super bowl until probably the next Olympics... have a darn amazing yard free of piles of rotting debris, a more tidy house and about half clean laundry.

Mosquito Hill

This morning Jon surprised me with breakfast in bed.  It must be the one he owed me from Mothers Day (when I inadvertently scheduled a brunch with my Mom and ruined his big surprise... :) Maybe he should have scheduled some visits with the moms first so I couldn't screw it up ;) Anyway, he made eggs and sausage.  Very yummy...!

And more importantly perhaps, he got up with the kids to make said breakfast, and I got to sleep... and sleep... which I needed since I had to work last night.  It is really shocking to me how hard it is for me to stay up until 1am and get up the next morning.  I must be getting old :(

After breakfast we got the kids dressed and went on an adventure.  I haven't been to Mosquito Hill since I was in grade school, and I remember that trip being wet and cold... add a fair amount of walking = one bad asthma attack for me.  Anyway, I have had my eye out for some inexpensive outdoor things to do with the kids, and this one popped up on one of my searches.  They advertise a "Butterfly House" that requires a $1 donation per visitor.  The kids loved the butterfly festival, so I had high hopes.  For $6, I would say the butterfly house was a bit of a let down.  But I understand that it is towards the end of the season, and I will give them the benefit of the doubt.  The rest of the exhibits and hiking trails, however, were free.  So overall, I think $6 for three hours of pretty child friendly outdoor and indoor, education entertainment... good value.

Inside the environmental center, there were some interesting hands on exhibits.  In the foyer of the building, there were two living exhibits; a tank with a salamander and an open tank with turtles.  The kids really liked the turtles. 

The next room was a large room with a video and seats to watch.  The kids really were not up for sitting, so we just walked through this one. There was plenty to see without the video as the room was filled with stuffed wildlife.  Deer, wolves, ducks, and lots of birds.  The eagle was very impressive, but in a room full of stuffed "flying" birds overhead, I was a little squeamish and didn't stay long. 

The next room was very hands on.  It had a little tunnel for the kids to crawl through with educational information abut animals that live in the ground.  There was a large table with damp sand and five large blocks.  On each block there was a paw print from various animals.  The kids could make prints in the sand and learn how to tell what animal it was.  I thought this was one of the best parts of the indoor exhibits.  Jon and the kids put together a large puzzle about the circle of life -- this fish eats that fish who eats that fish who eats a this plant-- kind of thing.  The room was sort of busy though, and it seemed a little un-kept so that as the visitor, we didn't quite know where to go or what to do.  The different areas were not well distinguished from each other and we sort of had to figure things out for ourselves.  (Having said this, I worked enough in the museum world to know that this is probably a mater of funding and without asking for fee... well, you get what you pay for, right?)

The last exhibition room was filled with tanks.  The only animals we were actually able to see were frogs.  They were cool, but sort of typical.  What you would see at an aquarium or zoo.

The final room was a little gift shop with t-shirts etc for sale.  We left the building and took the paved path (because we had a stroller in case Wes needed it...) We walked through a prairie where the kids saw a bee hive and lots of grasshoppers.  We saw a cool plant that grew tall- waist height- and has the strangest buds.  The buds were about three inches in length, inch and half circumference and pointed down towards the ground.  I desperately wanted to know what was inside them, but none of them were open... I found them really interesting. 

The path curved through a wooded area that Taylor dubbed "the Forest".  I doubt the creators of the path intended for it, but it was pretty awesome to experience the temperature difference from the wide open prairie to the tree covered "forest".  It was at just the right distance too.  Just as the trees were seen up ahead, I was thinking, "Damn I didn't think it was this hot!"  We have experienced a wonderful cool down in the last week.  The weather has been really nice in the mid 70s with little humidity.  In the forest area, there didn't seem to be too much to see since it was around 2pm.  So we talked to the kids about the plants when they were nearby, but mostly they wanted to run along the path.  Jon and I hung back, took pictures of things we found interesting, and enjoyed being able to relax while the kids entertained themselves a bit. 

Next we saw what I would say was the best part, the FROG POND.  At first, I saw this green murky water and thought, "this is probably going to be boring." In fact Jon commented that he "didn't hear any frogs."  But it was AWESOME!  There was a large floating dock, so you could walk out quite a bit.  As I was walking up to it, I saw a frog, sitting right on the shore.  Then I noticed that there were two right there. And a few inches away there was another and another and another...  there were frogs everywhere!  Then we started seeing their little heads poking out of the water and some jumped in.  It was so cool.  I could have stayed there all day just watching the frog pond.  Wes was freaked out by the dock, but Livi thought it was pretty awesome too. Taylor and Ava were both interested, but got bored...

We walked through another open prairie area where I saw a small snake that no one else saw.  We took some pictures of the flowers, and the kids ran.  Then we turned up a rugged path that we thought was much smaller than it was.  At first it was grass, but soon turned into wood chips and felled forest flooring.  This was really interesting with a stroller. Of course Wes took a little digger and fell into the wood chips, and it was the end of the world.  He didn't like riding in the stroller over it either.  Before the end, Dad ended up carrying him.  I definitely think the kids preferred the paved path, and we probably should have just turned back the way we came. 

We left after that sweaty and tired.  Ava, Wes, and I actually napped on the way home.  Cheap, Fun, Educational, Photogenic, and time consuming... mission accomplished!

Just call her Pneumo

It turns out that little Liam, our friend's son whom we visited last weekend, had a cold.  How do I know this?  Because now my whole household also has said cold.  Ava started it on Tuesday, followed closely by Livi, then Wes, Jon, Me and Tay. Most of us are simply irritated by a persistent runny nose (Liam's most obvious symptom) and a little bit of an ache-E-ness... (yes, when I'm ill, I'm allowed to make up my own words :)  Livi, however, has been marred by a number of other crappy symptoms. Wednesday she woke up in tears with a "headache" which she pointed to the back of her head.  Some Tylenol and a little rest, and she was off to the races for the rest of the day. Yesterday, she woke up kind slow and complained all day (intermittently) about having a sore throat... especially when asked to eat carrots.  (However she did also eat her jello like she was dying...) This morning, she was plainly lethargic.  She complained of dry mouth, and broke down sobbing when I asked her to get dressed before she went downstairs for some water.  Then she ate r...e...a...l...l....y    s...l...o...w....  Then she laid on the couch and refused all of her siblings begging her to go watch TV downstairs.  I took her temp several times, it always read 99.7.  I gave her some decongestant, and hoped she would start to feel a little better.  I asked her several times if anything hurt, and she kept saying no.  Her lethargy was worrisome, and she began wheezing, so I gave her some albuterol and put on some movies for her to watch upstairs.  At about 2:30, she starts crying and freaking out.  When I calmed her down enough to talk, she told me that her ear hurt.

Of course I know from past experience what this means.  So I called my sister to come watch the other kids, and Liv and I headed out for Urgy Care.  It took about a half hour to be see, the whole time with my little baby wincing, crying and covering her sore ear. She did indeed have an ear infection... in both ears... and pneumonia...  and a swollen throat...  no wonder the poor thing was so miserable.  So 10 days of antibiotics, around the clock albuterol nebs, extra inhaled steroids, lots of pampering, and prednisone if she isn't improving in the next day or so.

Do I have to?

I bought my scrubs for last semester online.  I did this because I knew that I just couldn't get a better price in person.  I knew, by doing this, that they inevitably would not fit right.  So it was no shock when I put them on the first time and the pants were like three inches too long.  I was surprised to find out that they sold scrubs without pockets.  Obviously whoever designed them has never worked a day in health care.  So I cut off the bottom three inches and made pockets for all my tops.  It was brilliant... until I put all the pants on and realized that I had not accounted for the hem.  Yes, I then owned four pairs of Capri style scrub pants.

So I knew that one of my summer projects was going to involve adding some fabric to the bottom of my pants so that they fit correctly.  I put it off valiantly, but the realization that classes start again in two weeks, meant that I really did need to get on with it.  So as much as I didn't want to bother, I pulled out all my pants and the remaining superfluous cut off pieces and sewed them back on.  They look a little silly, but since I was able to use the same fabric that I cut off of them, I think you have to look pretty hard to notice that someone stupidly cut them off two/three inches too high. 

When I am a nurse, I will hire a tailor who actually knows how to measure the length of the seams (and does so) before hacking off the bottoms.... :0p

Lazy Wednesday



New Student Orientation

This morning I rolled over in bed after hearing the kids in their rooms down the hall.  My phone said: 6:45, ugh.  After working until 12:30 this morning and crawling in bed shortly after 1am, 6:45 was not an hour I cared to be conscious for.  I rolled over again, groaning, and fell back asleep.  What felt like five minutes later, I heard the kids again, and decided that I wasn't going to get anymore sleep.  So I flung my legs over the edge and accepted my fate.  I picked up my phone and nearly fell over as I read the clock, 8:05!

S**t.

Yes, I do swear, usually when I am alone and realizing that I just majorly overslept...

I had to leave at 8:30 to get to the New Student Orientation for our next incoming nursing class at FVTC.  My attendance was a requirement from my new role as Co-Secretary of the SNA (Student Nurses Association). So here I was just crawling out of bed twenty five minutes prior.  Yikes!  Not only was I not dressed, or fed, but the kids were not dressed, fed, even up... This is not how I like to start my day. 

I did manage to get off on time, but I left Evan with a few more responsibilities than I would have liked.  The orientation went quickly, and I can't really put into words how it feels to know that I sat on the other side of that table just last December. 

For me, this marked an understanding that my summer is in fact coming to a really quick end, and school starts literally around the corner.

Post vacation blues

I feel like I haven't been home in three days...

What? I haven't really been home in three days?!?

I am sure you will be shocked to know that I spent the day doing laundry, making menus and grocery lists, cleaning, killing flies, and grocery shopping. Not necessarily in that order either...  oh, and showering... needed that time for myself :)

Ava did so well while we were off touring the state.  She stayed dry all of Friday, had a little accident on Saturday night, and a bigger one on Sunday afternoon.  This afternoon she had a little poo accident, but all of these were preventable as we got a little distracted with life.  I am super pleased with how things are going with her.  She is sitting willingly, peeing almost on demand.  She is just starting to tell us when she has to go, and has not really got the hang of doing number two on the potty yet.  There is still time.  Our diaper pail still feels a ton lighter, and somehow I am still spending less time cleaning up butts... so I'm happy, for now.

Bon Voyage

We spent Saturday in the greater Milwaukee area visiting old friends.  We started the trip visiting Sue, a friend we met in the NICU the first time. She was a nurse there at the time and took wonderful care of our tiny fragile little babies so that they could grow into the little monsters that they are today ;)  We get around to visiting each other at least once a year.  She has had some health troubles recently, so it was extra good for us to visit.  I like to think that my kids help remind her about all the good her work did for families, and maybe they put a little smile in her heart too :) She sure put a smile on them after our trip to Build a Bear. It was as usual, lovely to spend time catching up and chatting.  As usual, there wasn't enough time either...

For the next leg of our journey we invaded the house of some friends who graciously agreed to the siege. There we enjoyed the company of Jon's college roomies and their wives/children.  We had good food, drink, and entertainment. If you know us well enough, you'll know that this involves role playing board games and absurd card games with plenty of innuendo. We introduced A & T to Battleship, which they mostly understood...  We all stayed up into the hours that we maybe haven't seen much since college... okay, yeah, we didn't even make it that long... 

This morning we woke to the sound of our children, who did not sleep in.  I wonder sometimes if coffee kills the sleep deprived buzz enough that it would worth an addiction... hmm...

Out



Out of town :)

Hanging out and having fun too!

Wordless Day



Play Time



I took this video of Wes this morning after I recognized how nicely he was playing.  Some of you will not understand this, but try to keep in mind that Wes never played with toys at all until very recently.  Just before I got the camera on him, he was playing for about 15 minutes with the Gears, Gears, Gears toys.  Then as you will see, he discovers the PottyTime Elmo doll and plays with him for the entire vid.  I love that he explores the toy a little before he starts repeatedly hitting the buttons that make it talk.  Not too long ago, hitting the button repeatedly was his only form of "play". This is one of his puzzling behaviors that have made some poeple think he should be on the autism spectrum. 

I mentioned in a recent post that caring for Wes has somehow seemed easier recently... and I think this might just be one of the keys to that statement. One of the most stressful things about him, after feeding, is that he can't or won't keep himself occupied.  Consequently, we spend significant amounts of time trying to keep Wes entertained... like you would an infant.  It seems to me that since his language seems to be developing around food and eating (as this has been the most frustrating for both of us), that everytime he is malcontented, he would demand food... "Cracker!"  He does this constantly all day long.  If that doesn't work, then he runs to the table and cries, or the pantry and yells "Cracker, cracker, cracker!" Now that we are better at understanding what he wants, he is learning to deal with "no cracker!"  We acknowledge that we understand what he wants, but that as his parents we are telling him no.  This is a whole new war altogether! But we'll take it because it is communication.

Happy Dayz



We had sort of an off day today. The kids woke up early, well early for someone who went to bed as late as I did… 7:45… A few minutes after Ava came into my room and sweet as pie asked to climb into my bed, Liv came into my room and sheepishly informed me that she had “an accident”. So, reluctantly, I rolled out of bed. Ugh.

It is very rare that Liv has accidents, so this struck me as very odd. I had to tread carefully because in the past she has been extremely sensitive to even statements that closely resemble criticism about accidents. “Accidents happen, and that is okay.” She told me this on her way to the bathroom this morning just as she has since she was three years old and first learning to use the potty.

In other potty news, Ava has been accident free during the day since Monday. She has been very good about actually going pee pee when asked since Friday, though she usually isn’t pleased about being asked. It is funny because she really does soak up all the praise and rewards, but fusses when asked to sit and try. I am very pleased with how much control she has shown, but we are still waiting for her to recognize the need to go on her own. I had her go right before we left for the store yesterday, and she was dry for then entire trip. Friday will be a real test for how well she is doing since we have to travel to Madison for an appointment.

Taylor woke up this morning complaining that his tummy was “spinning”. At first I thought he was telling me that his incision was hurting, but after some more questioning I determined that he was just very hungry. This would be a result of his adamant refusal to eat what was prepared for dinner last night. He ate nearly half the box of cheerios in milk for breakfast this morning and drank a huge cup of apple juice. For lunch he gobbled up a large bowl of mac, but refused to even think about trying a blueberry. He said he his tummy felt much better.

Wes was very much himself. He ate his pancakes willingly without complaint this morning and drank almost a whole cup of milk. Maybe he wasn’t himself… Lunch went pretty good too, and I rewarded him with a cracker. Afterwards he toddled off to bed for a nap. They all got hair cuts last week, and I think Wes looks so much older now. I haven’t really been able to put my finger on it, but something has changed recently, and I find him more mature. I find myself thinking, “gee, Wes is really acting more like a three year old…” Sometimes this pleases me to pieces, and sometimes I think, “Did I want him to act more like a three year old?” Overall he has been much easier to manage, and it helps in some way to say, “Well that is just a normal three year old tantrum…”