Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Spring is here!

Spring is here, spring is here! I don't think I've EVER been more happy to say hello to spring. We are eagerly waiting for the birds to start frequenting our yard and for the big, beautiful trees to start turning green. The sunshine and warmth we've experienced recently has helped improve moods all around our house. Last weekend we were able to enjoy an OUTSIDE fire for once! Ahhh..


The boys are as cute and funny as ever. Since it's been warmer, they've been exploring our backyard and making up creative imaginary movies and games to fill their time. Everything usually turns into Pokemon somehow and there are fake "battles" that take place. The way these two talk back and forth about Pokemon reminds me of two old men talking politics. They are quite schooled in the Pokemon world and Elijah especially knows very specific details about EVERY character. "Oh, him? Yeah, he's on page 97 in the Pokemon manual. He weighs 237.4 lbs and he is 7'9"."


Do you see Sammy's Sharpied nostrils? Yep, constant antics around these parts.


School has been going great for both boys. They are both still enjoying chess club on Wednesday afternoons. If you asked either of them how our winter was, they'd say, "Awesome!"

I recently brought Elijah to his 6-month urology check-up and everything checked out great! They did an ultrasound of his one kidney (we hadn't had this looked at for years) and it looked wonderful. It's nice and big, which is great since it's taken over the other kidney's job as well as its own, and it's functioning well. We've continued to cath him daily since his surgery last summer and it's been working! Third time's a charm.

His well visit last week was great, too. Dr. S recommended that he see an orthotist for shoe inserts to help with his very flat feet. He's been experiencing leg (knee, I think) pain for over a year and the flat feet could very well be the culprit. That appointment is on Monday!

Other upcoming appointments in the next few months: cardiology, ENT, pulmonology. We are also in the process of getting him some extra assistance through the county/state and once we're through all the paperwork this will be GREAT to get him some extra help! He's doing so great. We are constantly so proud of Elijah and Sammy!

We hope you are all doing great! Work for both Dan and me have been insanely busy, hence the minimal posts. That should slow down soonish. Thanks for peeking in! More soon!

Monday, March 6, 2017

Croup: Season 9, Episode 3 (Elijah) ..and other!

At 3:00 this morning I was awakened from a strange dream involving staircases filled with water by a cough. I went into Elijah's room first and found him sitting up in bed, quietly looking at me. Before I could say anything he said, "Uhhhh yeah, I have croup." Thankfully it was mild and I appreciated that he was able to stay so calm. I gave him a teeny tiny dose of steroids and we were all back asleep. He seemed perfectly fine this morning.

The last few weeks have been a bit of a blur. Aside from Elijah's tiny croup episode early this morning, we have all remained free of sickness and I'm super thankful for that! Dan has been traveling off and on, I'm working super hard on a project, Elijah has been up and down with behaviors at school and home and Sammy has been making all of us laugh. We are saying goodbye to a beautiful Minnesota weekend and one that we spent together as a family!

In the past week I have experienced three strange but cool saved-at-the-last-minute-by-Sammy situations that I cannot help but share. A week ago Saturday I was madly preparing for a freezer meals party I was hosting. Sammy and I ran out for an errand in the morning and when we got back I started washing potatoes. Water running through my fingers, I looked down to see that my Sammy ring was not on my finger. Dan gave me a ring with each of our boys' birthstones on the day each of them were born. I particularly love Sam's ring. I get compliments about it all the time. It is beautiful. When I saw that it was gone, I panicked. I told Sammy it was missing and started digging through the contents of the garbage disposal. It wasn't there. I started crying. Then poor Sammy started crying. After a while, he wisely said, "Mom. I know you love that ring, but.. at least I'm still here." I hugged him tight and then he said, "You always tell me to retrace my steps. Where were you last?" We had just come inside from the garage, so I walked outside. Sammy followed and sat on our porch swing while I searched the car. As I walked past him, I looked at the ground as he swung backward and I saw the ring perched perfectly on the cement directly below him. We hugged and cried happily.

The second Sammy-save started while I was waiting in the school pick-up line a few days later. I inched around the corner toward the school in my car when POP...my back tire hit the curb and my hub cap rolled down the sidewalk. I watched it roll away in my rear view mirror. UGH. I'd grab the boys and pull around to get it, I thought. Once the boys were in the car, I drove back and the hub cap was gone. I got out of the car and asked a few kids if they'd seen it. One girl pointed her finger to the east and I climbed back into the car in defeat. Sammy said, "Well Mom! Follow her finger!" So I drove east. Nothing. I stopped in the middle of the road at the first cross street and looked to my left and THERE IT WAS, sitting smack in the middle of the road. I popped it back onto my wheel and drove off happily.

Sammy's third save happened a few days later. Dan was out of town and ALL of my boys (dog included) were up early with the birds. Sammy had come into my room making a little more noise than usual because "Your doorknob just fell off in my hand!" He left the room and closed the door behind him. I didn't think much of it until Buddy started whining. I let him out of his kennel and turned the doorknob to leave the room, except.. it wouldn't open. No matter which way I turned it, the door would not budge. Through the door I instructed Sammy what to do. "Put on your boots. Grab my shoes. Go out the back door. Help me out of the window." I crawled out of the window into the snow and made it back into the house. I removed the doorknob with a screwdriver but the door still wouldn't open (this is the second door in our house that has done this). I spent 20 minutes yanking, pulling, twisting, pushing, banging and finally decided to call a locksmith. Poor Buddy was on the other side whimpering and I knew he had to pee. It had snowed overnight so the locksmith had called to tell me he was a few minutes behind because of traffic. Literally TWO minutes before he arrived, Sammy zoomed by me with a pair of scissors in hand. A second later, that dang door was open and Buddy was happily running up and down our hall. I called the locksmith, told him that we had taken care of it but to come anyway so I could pay him for his drive time. He insisted on no payment and went back home. That was the third Sammy Save in a five-day span!

Elijah has some appointments coming up that I will write updates about in the next few weeks. We've just been trudging along with work and school and loving the unseasonably warm weather. The boys and Buddy have already been exploring the snowless yard and enjoying it. Buddy keeps climbing onto the pool, which is still covered but has ice on top that he likes to chew on. Silly puppy. That's about all for now! Thanks for stopping by!