Borrowing From the Regulars

Quick update on David. He has slept almost the whole night for the last two nights. What an amazing thing that is. And I didn't have to resort to the Phenegran to make him sleep. I have finally gotten him to take his meds again and with the combination of steroids and regular pain medicine he is much better. I can definitely tell he's still not all the way yet, but closer. The steroid 'scrip was only for 3 days - today being the 3rd day. Today is the 9th day so I am hoping tomorrow he can go to school!!

Okay - now onto my regular post. I have started following many blogs in the last couple of months and let me tell you there are some amazing women out there. They write so well. I surely don't have that talent :), but I still like to blog. It's a pretty fun hobby. I have seen a few things out there that I would like to borrow - like topics, questions, list ideas, etc. I hope that is OK and doesn't violate blogger etiquette!!

The first one is a list of topics/questions for thought by Heather over at Madame Rubies - http://madamerubieswrites.blogspot.com/2009/05/simple-womans-daybook-may-7.html. Her responses are really well written.

I hope she doesn't mind that I'm borrowing her idea. So here goes:

Outside my window... it is a dark and rainy morning. I should crawl back in bed since the rest of the house is still asleep, but there is something about drinking coffee and listening to the rain without David underfoot that is sheer bliss! I know he will be jumping to turn his weather wheel when he wakes up. He is following in the footsteps of cousin Zach :)

I am thinking... how much I don't like to talk on the phone. Isn't that weird. I like texting and e-mailing and even sending actual cards and letters, but I don't like the phone. I think it's because I am always busy and I resent the intrusion :) - silly, I know, especially for a Southern female!!

I am thankful for... God and the miracles he's worked in my family with my husband and father. The children he's blessed me with. The home and jobs and life he's led me to. The friends I've encountered and are no more and the ones who are steady. The new family I gained almost 10 years ago. For my Bible study group.

From the kitchen... thoughts on the dinner menu; thawing center cut pork-chops; but there is coffee and Krispy Kreme donuts! Need I say more.

I am creating... not much in this area right now. I do have the plans and tools and ideas for my scrapbooks, just not the time and motivation. I guess my new organization and time management stuff could go in here. I am trying to find that "groove" of work time and family time. You would think since I work at home it would be easy, but actually it's alot harder because there are no boundaries and no black & white.

I am going... to the grocery store today and taking David to buy cleats for t-ball (when/if it stops raining - we don't anything bad enough to have to get out in this). He also wants his own bat, since of course the other boys had them at practice last night, but I think that is a little much. I need to see how much they cost though. Last night we went to our first practice and I really liked the coach and other parents. The boys actually did little drills and stuff - like a real practice, which I liked, but hadn't expected since these are little ones.

I am reading... a variety of books on my amazing Kindle. I just finished the "Idiot Girl and The Flaming Tantrum of Death" and "Gods in Alabama"; I think next will be the "Magician". I usually read one a day or every couple of days. Books are my drug of choice :)

I am hoping... for David to continue to improve; my dad and step-mom to be able to truly enjoy their beach trip later this week; Dan to not have to deal with such grief from his key employee; my "sister's" mom to have an uneventful chemo day.

I am hearing... rain, Fox News and Teddy (my boxer dog) snoring.

Around the house... chaos!! Being stuck at home and busy with David we look like a tornado has picked up thousands of trains and cars and scattered them everywhere. Also there are countless loads of clothes - thankfully clean.

One of my favorite things... hmmm - one. And since it says thing I won't go with the obvious and say family. I will have to say - well I have sat here for a few minutes and I honestly cannot decide between a cup of coffee and my Kindle, so I guess there is a tie.

A few plans for the rest of the week... taking David back to school - maybe/hopefully!! Working for me and a little grocery shopping. Emily is here this weekend and David's birthday party is Saturday. Swimming (for the kids anyway).

Brighter Days Ahead... We Pray!

Last night continued as I described in the last post. It is really wearing me down, the exhaustion and the feelings you have when you watch your little one hurting. We slept in and actually had about a 4 & 1/2 hour stretch of solid sleep. That helped me feel alot better. I finally came to a compromise with David to have a little medicine with his juice so that helped him wake up in much better spirits.

I called the ENT's office and spoke to the nurse on call. She said all of this was 100% normal and no matter what I had to do he NEEDS this pain medicine and she said he also needs steroids for a few days. She called in the prescription and we ran out for a minute to pick it up. He did not want to take it and I wanted to get it in him right away - not wait for him to drink some juice and it be diluted. So, very sternly, I told him if he didn't take it we were going back to the hospital and they were putting the burning medicine in his ears like he had at the beach last year. He was terrified and took the medicine. He HATES HATES HATES HATES medicine in his ears and believe me he's had TONS of it in his 4 short years. The nurse recommended telling him we were going back to the hospital for another IV and shots if he didn't take it, but I said that won't work because since he's still so young they knock him out with meds and gas before they put the IV in - so he has no recollection of that pain. She said I hate to lie to them and to worry them, but in this case he needs the meds so you have to do it.

We also have Phenegran suppositories that they gave us from day one. I am going to use one of those tonight to help him sleep. He needs a solid nights rest so he can heal and mommy needs one so she can keep this up :)

I have Bible study tonight and I am so glad for that time!! I just pray he's resting peacefully when I get back. Thanks for all of your prayers and kind words and e-mails.

Michelle

The Boy and His Tonsils

I want my happy baby back!!!!!

Wow - who knew this would be so hard and that instead of getting better it gets worse. I thought we were in great shape based on David's recovery the first few days - not that they were easy, just seemed what I expected. Well it turns out those were a cakewalk compared to how things are now.

He is miserable!!! And to top it off he is absolutely refusing any and all meds. I know plenty of "tricks" for getting medicine in (considering he's had enough ear infections to be on the 4th set of tubes) and I have even have resorted to force, but NOTHING is working now!!! During the day he is pretty lethargic with bouts of energy and a few crying spells. A new complaint that started last night is his stomach hurts - you can't touch it or even let a shirt or blanket touch it. It lasts about 30 minutes each time. Then the worst of all is night time. Last night and so far this night he is waking about every two - three hours crying uncontrollably, drooling and shivering. It is so heart wrenching - I laid there a little while ago holding him just praying my heart out and trying not to cry. Needless to say he won't be going to school tomorrow.

I also fear he is becoming dehydrated - based on urine output and food/fluid intake, which is essentially none in both areas. I plan to call the ENT in the morning and if I am not satisfied with what they say then I will call his Pediatrician.

I did find a blog that made me feel a little better. She wrote about her child's experience and several commenter's told their stories as well. The consensus being:

• this is a lot harder than any anticipates and than any doctors tell you
• pain peaks at day 5-7
• turning the corner happens around day 9 or 10
• dehydration is common
• the prescription pain medicine has alcohol in it so it burns - which is why the kids won't take it (I'm afraid that's what has given David this new fear of all meds; I wish I would have known that to start with - UGH)
• even though your child probably has a high pain tolerance from MULTIPLE ear and/or throat infections - this will still be HELL

If you are interested in the blog and comments, here is the link: http://typeamama.blogspot.com/2008/05/recovery-for-toddler-tonsillectomy.html

Well - I'm back to my vigil of dozing and comforting. All I have is a kind voice, two arms and kisses and cold juice. I pray that pain settles and that he will not refuse meds again tomorrow.

Happy Mother's Day

I hope all you wonderful mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, friends, etc. are having a special day. You all impact children and help them on their journey through life. The day is bittersweet for me with the loss of my mom, mother-in-law and grandmothers, but also a special day as my children give me sweet kisses and my husband treated me to a girlfriend beach trip last weekend! I spent some time this morning reflecting on things I do the same, worse and better than my mother. Sweet memories and it's nice to see that I do most things the same and just a few worse & better. I always knew I had a wonderful role model and it's proven itself as I raise my kids.

David is recovering as expected from his surgery earlier this week. Not eating much, but he is staying hydrated. The pain comes and goes. When it comes it's bad - he'll start sobbing and shaking and shivering and run a mild fever. Not much makes that better except mommy. Last night he woke up 3 times doing this, but so far today it's not happened once. He is lying on his little "couch" in my study watching TV as I type this.

Last night was a pleasant evening of friends and family. Dan's brother and wife came over and our friends Leslie and Trey & kids. We (well the kids and men) swam and grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and sat outside to eat. The weather was great. I said one time it was pleasant and David starts looking around for a present HA HA.

Today is a lazy day. David and slept late and Dan worked on some project (he's always building something). Then I have played on the computer and played with David. Next I am going to read and have a cup of coffee.

David's Surgery

Off to the hospital bright and early with a sad little boy crying for chocolate milk that is not allowed. The other 364 days of the year he wakes up with his milk, today "no cigar". Then we arrive at our strange place well before time to wake up on a normal day. He's given up on the chocolate milk and now going with I'm hungry - my child who doesn't eat and never says I'm hungry - desperate for something. Mommy is good for comfort, but not really smiles. Grandma arrives with a surprise and there are the smiles :). Short-lived and with a little grumpiness attached, but smiles none the less. Now back to a little room and a bed, which for some reason he just knows is for him since he climbs right in. Then the gown, which was non-eventful. Next a variety of ladies come trouping in - nurses, nurse anesthetist, anesthesiologist, or nurse, etc. I think he's deciding this isn't such a bad deal after all. They are all nice, have stickers, hug him, tell him he's cute and they love his eyes... which my flirt of a son flutters to them at every opportunity. Dr. Bowman pops his head in a couple of times and that's ok - no fear of him, he's just Aiden's dad (friend at school). Then he drinks the happy medicine and he is laughing at Grandma and squealing and all is good. They come then and wheel him away as we smile and say see you in a few minutes, love you...

I didn't cry, because it's not my thing, but boy is that a hard thing to do. Knowingly sending your child off for surgery, basically elective surgery at that. The mild risk doesn't bother me as much as the pain I am causing him. The pain he won't understand and mommy won't be able to kiss away. And why... will it even work? This is my babies 4th surgery on these blasted ears and I've added in tonsil removal in a desperate attempt to make him well and pain free and infection free. Will it work? Only God knows the answer to that. All I know is yet again I've subjected him to pain on a hope and a prayer.

About 20 minutes go by and a lady, who I assumed was in the business dept., called my name. I went into the door she called me from (office side, not recovery side) and waved to the others to stay put (Barbara, Dan and Emily). I assumed it was just another insurance question or something. Then I'm in a hallway following her and she leads me to a conference room and says Dr. Bowman will be right in. Oh... well heck, I should have had Dan come with me. Then my panic sets in. The last time I sat in a little room and waited for Dr. Bowman to come in with normal routine, good news - he came in and told me Dan had stage 4 cancer... I didn't realize how scared I still was, my stomach was flipping and doing butterflies, I saw spots. I tried to pray, but I couldn't. It was not a great 5 minutes.

He comes in then and is all smiles - whew, "thank you God!!!!". Surgery was routine, no problems, David did great. Blood loss less than a thimble, everything fine. Just a note - tonsils were very large. The only out of the ordinary thing was an Osteoma in the ear canal. He said they are normally very slow growing and he just can't believe he missed it in clinic. They are non-cancerous bony growths that typically have to be removed because they can grow large enough to close the ear canal. He said he didn't remove it while in there since 1) he didn't have the kit and mostly, 2) he has not done but a few and would rather his senior partner (the ear guru) do it. So we will follow-up with him after the current situation is healed and go from there.

Next back in the waiting room to wait for the recovery nurse to call us. She does and Emily and I go back first. I hear my baby crying as soon as the doors open. He is not happy. I know, I know - perfectly normal. His throat hurts, he's disoriented and agitated from the anesthesia and doesn't know where he is and strange women are holding him still. It still breaks your heart a little to hear it. I get back there and they ask me to hold him, which of course I was planning to do anyway! I sing to him and rub his back and he passes back out. This happens several times over the next 30 minutes. Emily, Dan and Barbara all take turns coming in and then Barbara and Dan leave and Em and I stay for the duration. (They only let 2 people back there and David was not up for company so there really wasn't a need for them to stay.)

The only concern was the amount of blood in his mouth. I didn't expect it to be that much and apparently neither did the nurses. Dr. Bowman came back in and he wasn't happy with it either. We discussed going back in and cauterizing or whatever it is they do to stop the bleeding. We first decided to try and rinse his mouth out and see if we could get his mouth clean and then watch and see how much more blood came. Not an easy process, but we managed to do it with a little water and a towel. 45 minutes later - no more blood!!! So all was fine in that regard. After more instructions and IV removal we were on our way home (or to the pharmacy 1st).

David has really done well since we got home at 11:30. He has had milk and juice and a little ice cream. He keeps asking for random foods, which is bizarre for my non-eating child, but I just distract him and change the subject because nothing he has asked for is soft. I am trying to really stay on top of the pain medicine and give it on schedule. If I've learned nothing else from Dan's ordeal and my back - it's give pain meds on schedule. Don't let the pain get bad first and then give the meds, because you will NEVER catch up. He has only slept a little, but he has not moved from my bed since we got home. Thank heavens for digital cable and noggin.

Whew, It's Been a While!

Sorry it's been so long since updating. I have a new resolution to stay on top of things better. We have just been busy dealing with a few things and I haven't taken the time to update. I'm going to make this a picture update, because it's easier to catch up that way :-).

There is one actual update, prayer request though. Tomorrow David will be getting his 4th set of ear tubes and getting his tonsils out. Please pray that all goes well. I will update soon with how he's doing.

The first group of pictures is an Easter Egg Hunt. Our friends Trey & Leslie invited us and the festivities were at Trey's mom's. She had a wonderful day set-up for the kids and David really enjoyed himself.

This group of pictures are the kids hamming it up with their Easter basket goodies.

This group of pictures is of Emily's actual birthday and an Easter egg decorating party at Leslie's.

This group of pictures is our annual family Easter celebration and egg hunt at my dad and Barbara's and also another birthday party for Emily and her cousin, Heather.

The last few pictures are the before and after of our new teenager, Emily. She turned 13 on this past birthday and my present to her was new "hair" and her first make-up. We made a big day of it with lunch and shopping.

Thomas the Train, Ears, Easter Eggs, a Teenager and More

I'm laughing to myself as I start this because the title sounds so silly; but this post is going to contain a lot of information and catch-up and pictures. So pour a cup of coffee or whatever your drink of choice may be and settled in for a long one as I ramble through what's been going on around here.

I think I have shared with you about David's obsession with Thomas the Train. Well Thomas & Sir Topham Hat came to Calera (Birmingham) recently and my SIL and I took our boys up for the big day. It was such a wonderful time for David. I'll share a couple of pictures of the boys below. One of the cutest things of the day happened as we were leaving - we walked by Thomas one last time and David said "Bye Thomas, see you next time, I love you!".

That Saturday, at the last minute, we ended up going to Leslie's for dinner. It was her birthday and our last official gathering with the Coleman's before heading to their new home state of FL. Here are a couple of shots of the big friends and little friends on that last night.

During all this David has been acting out and complaining and whining alot. For him this is usually a sign of yet another ear infection. That Monday I took him to the doctor yet again and of course ear infection. And the ear that was not infected (and was causing the most pain) had something weird going on with the tube. That afternoon we were back in with our ENT surgeon. We have been waiting and watching (while on antibiotics). We will see the ENT on this Monday afternoon and see how we should progress. Possibly David will have his 4th set of ear tubes... this time we will remove the tonsils as well. He is not eating well nor sleeping well. And yes HA HA those of you that know him know he doesn't usually eat or sleep well, but with his ears bothering him it is worse.

One of Dan's favorite hobbies is gun collecting and shooting and watching shoots and TV shows related to guns. Well the "Disney World" of guns was in Kentucky last weekend and Dan and his brother drove up for the weekend show. They had such a good time and were able to play guns and shooting to their hearts content.

While Dan was off in Kentucky David and I stayed home and didn't do much of anything. That Saturday afternoon we did manage to get ourselves up and out to a friend's birthday party and that was alot of fun. Their were slides to thrill him and a cake with a cream cheese layer to thrill me :)

That following Monday we checked Emily out of school after SAT testing and then I took the kids to have their pictures made with live bunnies at our photographers. The set was AMAZING and the bunnies so cute. The kids had such a good time - as they do every time we go to Foster's. I can't wait to get the pictures back so everyone can see them. I had a bit of a struggle this time coming up with coordinating outfits for the kids. When you have 1 almost 13 and 1 almost 4 and they are the opposite sex - it is just really difficult to do. So after numerous stores I ended up at Storkland and found Hartstrings outfits that coordinated and they are not Easter themed, just spring/summer so the kids can where them throughout the season.

David is enjoying the benefits of being young. He had his first of 5 Easter parties and his first of 4 egg hunts at school this week. Eggs are just fascinating to him - fresh, hard-boiled, plastic, dyed - just eggs in general. He won't eat them, but he's fascinated by them. After Sunday I will have multiple Easter and Easter themed event pics and will post them all at once.

I had to miss the Easter party this year because we had an appointment to view the 125-unit apartment complex we are considering purchasing. The property seemed in good shape and the office manager quite knowledgeable. We had several questions for them, which they answered, generally to our satisfaction. Next they are to send us financials so we can review and determine if it's in our best to move forward with negotiations. In the meantime we have closed on a few new smaller properties and have a bid out on another. Things are really going crazy.

And speaking of business, our taxes simply kicked my butt this year. I had the hardest time getting it all together. But I completed them (finally) last week and delivered them to our accountant. Hopefully we won't have to pay our firstborn child to the IRS this year :) For several of you that have been "missing" me and wondering what was up - taxes would be the primary answer!!!

David and I went to the ballpark Thursday night to see friends, cheer on Hope and have a cupcake for Jackie's birthday. It is so neat to watch him at the ballpark. And it shows how much he has grown and developed. His first trip to the ballpark was at just a few weeks old, since Emily always played, and he was in his infant carrier, fast asleep. Now he's in his own "tailgate" chair and watching the game and cheering and clapping in the appropriate spots. Of course he is still a 3-year-old boy so in the middle of the game we had to take 15 and play on the playground. The reason I bring this up tonight though - is we've registered David for t-ball at the Y, which starts later in May. Well as we talked to him I realized he knows what ball is because of always watching Sissy, but he just collectively calls all that type of ball baseball. I was trying to explain baseball, softball and t-ball and wasn't having much luck. Turns out the field next to us was a t-ball field and the kids were having a game. We walked over and watched for a little bit so he could see what a "t" was. He loved it - seemed very excited. I can't wait for him to play.

Yesterday, Good Friday, was a memorable day for us. 1st of course: Remembering the death of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, is such a heart wrenching, touching thing. Emily & I talked about it several times yesterday and it just still leaves me in awe. 2nd: Emily's 13th birthday. Can you believe she is now a teenager. WOW!!! When I met Dan she was 3 and now she's a teenager. Oh my gosh. She spent the day with us while her mom was at work and then she will be back tonight. We usually have "interesting" schedules over birthday's and holiday's. 3rd: a fun party of dying Easter eggs at Leslie's. We had 10 kids age 6-mos. to almost 4 and Emily. It was a madhouse, but a good madhouse. I lost count of how many eggs they dyed. At least 8 dozen. And they all sang Happy Birthday to Em - so cute!! Best of all though - the Coleman's are in town for the weekend so seeing them was GREAT!!!! I'll post pics from this with the Easter pics later this weekend.

Oh - I almost forgot to give you guys an update on my back. Still not doing well - my pain meds have been changed yet again and the prescription for physical therapy has been extended... I'll let you know when something actually changes with it.

Whew - if you made it through this update you are a better person tham most LOL. Now that taxes are over I should be able to blog more regularly. I prefer that - then I can use my rambling post quota for a soap-box issue HA HA. I've got a good one on public schools my brain is cooking up.