October Pictures

October Fun - photo slideshow

Crazy Month

So, once again good intentions have not kept this blog up to date. I’ll start with Halloween and November as that was an insane month for our family. The week before Halloween was a lot of fun. We had our usual pumpkin carving party with Melody’s family. Josh and Zach both got cute Mr. Potato Head pumpkin sets from Grandma and Grandpa Terry, so they put those together early in the day. Then when everyone came over we had dinner and started carving. Josh had a little help with cleaning out his pumpkin but carved the rest completely by himself. Then Christian and I got very ambitious. I had found some patterns and so Christian carved Dr. Doofenshmirtz, while I carved Phineas, Ferb, and Perry. They turned out pretty cool! The Saturday before Halloween we went to a ward Halloween party which was a lot of fun. They had a Witch come and ready scary stories to the kids. On Halloween I took both kids out trick-or-treating, with my sister and her kids, while Christian stayed home and handed out candy. That ended our October.

November started off fairly harmless. Zach was working really hard getting ready for his school play and things seemed to be going really well. Then about the middle of the month our phone rang and it was Zachs teacher saying he was having a seizure and what did I want them to do. Now, they have mistaken his happy dances for seizures before so after going through a lengthy check-off list I said to give him his meds and jumped in the car. By the time I got to the school the seizure had been going for about 20 minutes. We ended up rushing him to the closest ER when it finally stopped after 40 minutes. By the time we got there his fever was up to104 and the poor kid was miserable. They took him by ambulance up to Primary Childrens Hospital where we spent the next 3 nights. It turns out that his Phenobarb level (his anti-seizure med) was way to low. His dose had to be adjusted and now he is doing much better. He got out of the Hospital on a Friday and spent the weekend recovering at home. The next Wednesday and Thursday were his school play. They put on Beauty and the Beast and he played Phillipe. Grandma Jean made his costume (did you know you can’t buy a horse costume for a large child in the US?) and he looked awesome! He was so proud of himself and did such a great job! The first day, he had a little bit of stage fright for his first scene but got over it and by the end on the last day was mad it was over. Josh even got to miss a couple hours of school to come and see his brother in the play. That Saturday Christian and I went on a date while the boys played at Grandma and Grandpa Terry’s. When we got there to pick him up he told us his stomach hurt. About halfway home he started throwing up (thank heavens for popcorn buckets and empty big gulp cups) and couldn’t stop. After a couple hours of that he couldn’t move he was so sick and had nothing left to throw up but his body kept trying. Christian took him off the ER. It took them so much medicine to get him to stop throwing up that they insisted on sending him by ambulance up to Primary Childrens Hospital. By now it was about 3am so I hurried to the ER just in time to jump into the ambulance and Christian went home to Zach. Turns out he had gastroenteritis. Luckily after giving him a ton of IV meds and letting him sleep for a long time he was able to come home Sunday evening. The next week I started feeling sick with a sore throat and yucky lungs. I went into the doctor and he said it looked like bronchitis and sent me home with antibiotics. Then it was Zachary’s birthday. I couldn’t go to his class, on the off chance I was contagious, so when he got home we took the boys to see the new Muppet movie. It was great but I was feeling awful. When I woke up the next morning I couldn’t speak at all or swallow anything. My Mom called the doctors office for me, since I couldn’t, and they squeezed me in for an afternoon appointment. By the time I got to the doctor a little after 3, I couldn’t even swallow my own spit I was having a hard time breathing. He sent me to the ER (shocked?) to get an x-ray and for some help with pain and monitoring. They got me straight back since the doc had called ahead and it turned out I had an abscess in my throat. It is extremely rare and incredibly dangerous. On top of that, I also had pneumonia. They started me on 4 different IV antibiotics and IV steroids to bring down the swelling, and admitted me to the hospital where I spent the next 4 days. An ENT had to come at least once a day and check it with a scope to make sure it was healing okay. I was released on December 3 and spent the next several days basically taking antibiotics, pain medication, and sleeping. That was our November!

I will post about December, January, and February soon as well as adding some pictures from Halloween and the play!

October so far....

So things just never go as you plan. However, I have decided to just give up trying to go back and try to catch everything up from the past and just keep up from now on. There for this post will be October so far (fitting for the title right?).

Zach has been playing soccer again this year with his wonderful VIP team. I love this group. They really are out there to have fun and enjoy what they are doing. This is the 20th year that VIP has been a part of the AYSO program so next weekend they get to go to the REAL game again. They will play on the field at half time like they usually do, but unlike the usual, they will get to be on the field before the game to escort both REAL and whoever they are playing out onto the field. It should be a lot of fun.

Grandma Jean has let Josh help decorate for Halloween. He thinks we need a bunch of blow up decorations in the front yard like the neighbors, though luckily settled for orange lights. He also painted some jars like a jack-o-lantern and a ghost (thank you pinterest.com for fun ideas!).

Last Tuesday Grandma and Grandpa Terry came and took the boys to the pumpkin patch. They had a blast riding around in the wheelbarrows and picking out the biggest pumpkins they could find. Josh has been pretty upset that I wouldn't let him carve it yet but once I explained it would be mush by Halloween I think he understood.

The not so fun part of October came last Wednesday. Zach was scheduled for what we thought was going to be a pretty simple dental procedure. He has to be sedated since he won't cooperate otherwise so it was up at Primary Childrens Hospital. Once they got the x-rays though it turned out they had to pull out 8 molars that couldn't fall out on their own and one of them had to be dug out of the bone (not fun!). Now we have to take him to an oral surgeon to find out if more has to be done to get his teeth to grow in. Thankfully now he is doing better and got to go back to school today.

Well, the next 2 weeks will be full of Halloween parties and the game so I will post more soon!

Goodbye Mrs. Warr

This has been a hard week. Josh had the most wonderful kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Warr that we have kept in touch with since leaving that class. Unfortunately she found out last year that she had cancer and this week she passed away. Since 2 of my nieces had her before Josh and Quinn was in her class this year, we decided that we needed to do something special for the kids to say goodbye. My sister Shauna and I had the kids each write a note to Mrs. Warr and we attached it to balloons and then we took them up the the kindergarten playground and let them say goodbye and release the balloons. It was very special and I think meant more to them than trying to sit through a funeral. As the kids all said, "We love you Mrs. Warr, have fun in Heaven!"

Update through pictures

This will take a while but instead of rambling on about everything we did this summer, I thought it would be more fun to just show you! Starting with these 2 events. The Hope Kids Royal Ball and Cub Country!

Favorite Song

I wanted to add this to the playlist but they don't have it available. I know I am overdue for an update and I will do that in the next few days but I really wanted this on the blog. This song as touched me so much over the last little while. It was written by a father whose son was going through cancer. If you get a chance please listen to it. Its called He's My Son by Dallyn Vail Bayles , but her are the lyrics.

Down on my knees again tonight,

I'm hopin' this prayer will turn out right,

See there is a boy that needs your help,

I've done all that I can do myself,

His mother is tired,

I'm sure you can understand,

Each night as he sleeps,

She goes in to hold his hand,

And she tries, not to cry,

As the tears fill her eyes.

Can you hear me?

Am I getting through tonight?

Can you see him?

Can you make him feel alright?

If you can hear me,

Let me take his place somehow,

See he's not just anyone, he's my son.

Sometime late at night I watch him sleep,

I dream of the boy he'd like to be,

I try to be strong and see him through,

But God who he needs right now is you.

Let him grow old,

Live life without this fear,

What would I be,

Living without him here?

He's so tired,

And he's scared,

Let him know,

That you are there.

Can you hear me?

Am I getting through tonight?

Can you see him?

Can you make him feel alright?

If you can hear me,

Let me take his place somehow,

See he's not just anyone, he's my son.

Can you hear me?

Please don't leave him,

He's my son.

WE ARE BACK!!! Biking and Bowling and even Fishing

After an exteneded break from blogging I have made my fabulous return to the blogging world in order to keep everyone up to date on our amazing lives. So far this summer (if you can call it that with the weather we've had) the boys have been very busy. Lets see, we will start with our oldest boy:

Christian is still employed with Morgan Stanley and while he actually only works 5 days a week it sometimes seems like he is glued to the job 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I guess thats the price I pay for having a smart husband that the team just can't do without. Right now though he is looking at having a pretty nasty surgery done in mid August and we are just waiting for the doctors office to schedule the pretest that has to go with it. In his spare time, he help my parents maintain their yard, takes the kids bowling, fishing, helps me with Zachs therapy, and watches the boys so that I can fulfill my many scout positions.

Melody: What can I say but that life is complicated? I still go to our old ward (did I mention we moved in with my parents again) for Zachs and Joshs scouts. Zach is a Webelos and Josh is a Tiger and this was the only pack he could be in. This is on Wednesday night so I am a leader ther for Josh. Then on Thursday afternoons I am the Den Leader in my new ward for the Wolf pack. Then on Thursday night I am the Den Leader Trainer for the District. Its crazy with 3 scout positions but I love it! When I'm not doing Scouts I'm trying to keep the house clean, taking kids to swimming lessons, going to physical therapy for my back and neck, helping Zach with his physical therapy, and trying to help the kids enjoy their summer.

Zach has continued to blow us away with what he has been able to do. Since he is no longer in the wheelchair, therapy at home this summer is a lot more fun. Basically I have been getting out his bike or walker and letting him go up and down the street until he gets tired. When I first started with the bike he could only go 10 minutes, tonight he went almost 30. It was incredible! He starts his summer school program next week but will miss the first day because he is going to be going to Cub Country with the Scouts (Lucky me, I get to go to!). He loves to go bowling. We use the ramp for his ball but he just walks right up to it and pushes the ball down then waits while someone gets him a new one. He knows how the systems works. Hes also really enjoyed going to some new movies but I think his favorite was Mr. Poppers Penguins as he danced through the entire movie.

Josh has been having a great summer. He has loved having so many boys living so close that he could play with. The minute that I will let him, he is at the door trying to find a friend to play with. The past week we started swimming lessons. He isn't sure he likes this but I think it is something that he needs more than anything. Like his big brother, he would much rather be out fishing with dad, bowling with the family, or riding bikes with his brother. He is very excited for Cub Country as well and is very close to earning his Tiger.

Well, thats us for now, but I promise I will keep this updated from now on!!!!

Zach and Josh fishing with Dad and Grandpa Brian

Bowling with the cousins!!!!!

Josh as swimming lessons!

Bike riding boys!