Croup: Season 9, Episode 4 (Elijah)

Hello from Porta-land! We are still amongst the living, although I have to check my pulse a few times a day to make sure of that. My lack of posts are evidence that we are in a bit of a crazy season right now. It is Dan's super-busy work season, I have taken on a large work project that is due in a few weeks and we've been trying to clean up our new (awesome!) yard and manage life, as well.

Yesterday on the drive to school in literally a matter of a minute, Elijah went from feeling super to feeling terrible. He spent yesterday and today at home. Today I had him lay down for a nap and when he woke up he had a mild croup episode. I could tell it scared him by the panicked look in his eyes, but I stayed calm and encouraged him to do the same. I gave him a teeny-tiny dose of steroids and all was well minus a slightly barky cough for the rest of the day. He took a bigger preventative dose before bed tonight because all of my croup alarms were going off. We're praying for an uneventful night and for a much better, school-filled day tomorrow!

Speaking of tomorrow, we will bring Elijah to Children's for his 6-month cardiology check-up. We have no reason to believe anything is amiss, but it's always good to get the official report.

A couple cute things from this evening.. As I was putting Elijah to bed, he called me back into his room. "Mom? I loved when you laid down with me for a nap today. It was my favorite part of the day." I already knew that because I watched him as he fell asleep and he had a content smile on his face as he drifted off with his arms wrapped tightly around me. Just like our old napping days. It was a precious mama moment that I'll always remember.

We have a family member who is close to going home to Jesus. Sammy and I were praying for her at bedtime and Sammy thoughtfully interrupted the prayer to say, "Mom? I think I know why her brain and body aren't working as well anymore. It's because she's old and her blood got stuck in her wrinkles." That boy. He is so sweet and always thinking of others and also thinking through how and why things happen.

Dan and I brought the boys to a Casting Crowns concert last weekend as a (delayed) birthday gift for Elijah. It was amazing! The boys were on cloud nine hearing their most favorite songs from the radio LIVE. Danny Gokey was one of the opening bands and he had some fun dance moves to go along with his music. Since the concert, Sammy has been trying to replicate the dance moves in our living room and in our backyard as he plays DG's music on one of our phones. It is so stinkin' cute and I love that he wants to be like someone who loves to sing about and dance to Jesus.

We're getting excited to get our RV back, open up our pool for the season and watch our trees and gardens come alive! There is a lot to look forward to but also a lot to get through in the next few weeks. Pray we survive! Here's hoping you all are doing great. Thanks for checking in!!

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!

Croup: Season 9, Episode 2 (Elijah) and behavior/school updates

Apparently we are finding plenty to do because time is passing way too quickly. Life is full right now! We are managing everything ok, but Dan and I are starting to show signs of being over-extended and exhausted. I cannot imagine what it will feel like to be fully unpacked and settled in our house. We still have so much to do. And we're hosting Thanksgiving. And and and...it's always a million things. Last weekend we pulled out our RV to give it a final clean-out before storing it for the winter and it was bittersweet! That was our home for four months. We made incredible memories in it. Life was SIMPLE while we lived in it. It made me both happy and sad to pull everything out. We will say our official winter-goodbye this coming weekend.

Two nights ago I recognized a few signs that Elijah might get a croup episode. I said, "Croup alert tonight!" and sure enough, a couple hours later we heard the stridor. It was a mild case, but of course it's never fun. We gave him a tiny dose of oral steroids and Dan sat outside with him for a bit. After that he was just fine, minus a few sniffles and sneezes that he's had since.

We had Elijah's fall school conference today and it was great! He has the BEST fit for teachers this year. They take the "rough" times in stride and certainly know how to bring out the best in him. So far this year, Elijah has shown interests in a few new things! He loves science and music. He just got a new recorder and he has been practicing it faithfully and learning how to read music. We've had a few people tell us that he has begun opening up a lot at church (the boys go to a separate area from us) and he's even been dancing to worship music comfortably in front of everyone. I love it! I have always had a feeling that music would be the bridge that connected him to church and Jesus. His teacher told us tonight that he has made some meaningful friendships in class this year (all girls, of course). There are a handful of girls who help to keep him on track (LOVE this) and really look out for him and care about him. He is keeping up with school work just fine and knows way more than he believes he does.

As far as behavior is concerned, his teachers explained his school behaviors to us and they basically mimic his home behaviors. This is good because he's being consistent! He has good days and he has tough days. I can tell within two minutes of spending time with him in the morning which kind of day it's going to be. Good days are really good. He doesn't defy authority, he completes tasks without complaining and he is generally good-natured and kind to everyone. Most days are good days. Lately I'd say we get at least four of them/week. The tough days can be really tough. There is a lot of talking back and refusals to do anything that's asked of him. He seems to want to anger and provoke everyone around him. I'm sure the tougher days are related to not sleeping as well through the night, but we aren't sure what causes that. We got new comfy (BIG!) beds for both him and Sammy and have made their rooms safe, comfortable, dark and peaceful places. I know that sometimes anxiety intrudes his mind and it's so hard to stop once it starts. We just continue to give him consistent love and care and pray that over time the good days will happen even more frequently!

A Sammy Prank :)

Sammy is loving first grade. His classmates and teacher could not be a more perfect fit for him. He is SO. Smart. He puts together and solves math problems that I'm pretty sure 5th graders can't do. His handwriting is perfect, he aces all of his spelling tests and he never has to be told to do his homework. He is such a sweet, kind little soul. He always has been, but it's been fun to see that sweetness in him even when kids around him start talking about more mature things. Despite his sweet spirit, he has not lost his strong will. He can so easily get mad at any one of us for something as simple as being corrected when using bad manners. He gets SO MAD and can say hurtful things and even threaten to run away from home. His latest tactic is running out to my car when he's upset and sitting in it until he cools off. Smart! He always comes back in with apologies and love.

It's a busy season for us, but a fun one, too! There are so many good things coming together for our family. I have to learn to bite off just a little bit at a time and not expect everything to come together overnight! Thanks for peeking in.

Croup: Season 7, Episode 1 (Samson) ...and so much more!

Well goodbye, October! Jeez, that month went fast. I'm so far behind with my posts. I hope you're still reading! Let's rewind to two Thursdays ago..

Sammy got a scary croup episode right in the middle of the day. We had just pulled into the driveway after school and he could hardly breathe. He looked at me with panicked eyes, so I rushed him inside, panicking myself, and got a small dose of oral steroids down his throat. I sat with him outside for a bit and decided to hold of on the epi neb until absolutely necessary. We never had to take the neb and his breathing became much less scary. As always, his body held onto the croup forEVER, but thankfully it never became that scary again. Two weeks later, he still has a lingering cough from it.

Along these same lines, sickness has totally taken over our family for the past few weeks. It started with stomach issues for me, then last week Sammy threw up before school one morning followed by some tummy troubles for Elijah. We all seemed to be healing when, two days later, Elijah started throwing up. A few hours later, Sammy puked ALL OVER his brand new mattress in the middle of the night. A few hours later he spilled his puke bowl onto his newly changed sheets. Two days later Elijah threw up again. The next day my stomach was bad again and I was bed-bound for 12 hours. A few hours later Dan was throwing up and he spent all of today in bed. UGH! We are ready for healing!

The boys, my little minions, had such a fun Halloween this year! Our new neighborhood is the PERFECT neighborhood for trick-or-treating, with it's big beautiful trees and friendly neighbors. Sammy was so excited and happy that he was skipping from house to house and giggling and telling me every ten seconds that this is the BEST HALLOWEEN EVER!!! The boys of course got tons of candy, but we've been rationing due to above-mentioned tummy troubles.

We have been trying to squeeze a few things in between the sickness, but honestly it has been frustrating how slow the unpacking process has gone. I just can't seem to get anything done! Soon. Right?

Not as much time will pass before my next post. Thanks for peeking in! Go INDIANS! (Cheering as we type, Gramps!)

Croup: Season 9, Episode 1 (Elijah)

You know those cycles Elijah goes through where things are just off? Yep, we're here again. I won't go into the gory details, but he is being awakened almost every night somewhere between 1:00 and 5:00 with tummy troubles, which is affecting sleep. I remember this same thing happening a few years ago right around this same time of year. Tummy affected sleep affected behavior affected school affected life affected tummy affected sleep and on and on. We've cut way down on his sugar and dairy intake and this seems to help a bit. One thing about our summer RV trip is that we did not eat as healthfully as we normally do, so I know that has played a role. I've been trying to be much more intentional about getting healthy food into our bodies.

Elijah was up with croup for the past two nights to commemorate the 2016 Croup Kick-off! Thankfully with the help of oral steroids it has been very mild. But present enough to make sure he doesn't get any sleep! Last night he was up at 2:00 with a mild barky cough so mild that a neb wasn't needed. I would have taken him outside for some soothing cool nighttime air if it hadn't been raining. I tucked him in and told him to go back to sleep and he did not sleep another wink. How do I know this, you ask? Because his bed is two feet from my bed and I listened to him move around and talk for the ENTIRE REST OF THE NIGHT. His croup was just fine at 7:15 when I finally peeled myself out of bed, but I kept him home from school so he could sleep off the rest of the sickies and get caught up a bit. We just woke up from a little nap and we're both feeling better.

All four of us have been fighting little sore throats and runny noses and coughs. Sick season is here! And to join in on the fun, Buddy has begun acting up like a wily teenager. Having been cooped up for 2 weeks after his surgery, I think he is DONE with it. Yesterday while I was trying to wrap up homework with the boys I noticed that Buddy was being way too quiet outside. Usually he sits at the door and whimpers if one of us isn't out with him. We peeked out to find that he had chewed the cupholders and a head cushion off of our two favorite lawn chairs. I was so. mad. I moved the chairs out of his reach and went back in to finish homework. TWO MINUTES later I looked out to see a gigantic hole that had been dug in my in-laws beautiful green front lawn. I just about died. I put him in his kennel and kept him there until Dan got home. I realize it's pointless to be upset with and ignore a dog who has tons of pent-up energy, but I was and I did. I threatened to sell him and the boys begged for me to change my mind. The jury's still out.

In the midst of tons of good, positive, big things that are happening for our family, some little things are working against us. It's one of those seasons where we have to work extra hard to overcome the little things. We are trying! Swimming hard upstream! We'll get there!

Have a great rest of your week! If you know how to repair lawn holes, stop by any time! ;)

Croup: Season 6, Episode 2 (Samson) and a busy weekend

Our weekend was packed with fun things and fun people and when it was all wrapped up we were pleasantly exhausted. We enjoyed an evening away from home on Saturday night. We brought the boys to some friends' house and they loved exploring new territory. Sunday we had two of my awesome cousins over to watch the Super Bowl, as well as Elijah's bff. It was a huge success! Everyone had a great time and we stuffed ourselves with calorie-laden snacks.

I'm a few days behind in posting about this, but Sammy got croup a few nights ago. It was mild and we managed it with oral steroids, a steamy bathroom and Mama snuggles. As usual, the stridor lingered for a few days but never became severe.

We are ALL at different stages of sickness that just will not seem to totally go away. I got hit with another round of congestion over the weekend and now Dan has been hit, as well. I'm ready for total health for us! Elijah has been the healthiest of all of us this winter.

I am loving being able to work from home and really focus on my food blog. Dan has had some work drama that has added a bit of stress to our lives. Elijah is doing mostly well in school, with rough patches here and there. After a routine appointment to his developmental ped last week, we are going to increase anxiety med dosage again. Sammy is as sweet and sassy as ever, giving me TONS of "love" letters and snuggles and then telling me what a horrible mom I am in the next breath. Ugh.

That's us in a nutshell! I hope you are all healthy and starting your week off great!

Croup: Season 8, Episode 2 (Elijah)...and frogs and crickets.

Based on lots of sneezing and a certain little something I could hear in Elijah's breathing yesterday, I knew there was a chance that croup would happen last night. At 11:00, he woke up with mild (thank goodness) stridor. We gave him a dose of oral steroids and I sat with him in a steamy bathroom until he complained that the room was too hot. I brought him to bed with me for a bit just so I could hear if it was going to get worse. Sometimes it does, but usually the steroids help. After listening to him snore for an hour, I brought him back to his bed. This morning he had a bit of a cough, but was doing much better and seemed to sleep great for the rest of the night.

Speaking of sleep, we may have discovered something that helps Elijah sleep better. His in-home behavioral therapist was here earlier in the week when E was having a really rough time. There was a lot of screaming and refusing to do anything that was asked of him. So she got out her phone and turned on a noise app. She told him he could listen to any sound on the app and he chose....FROGS AND CRICKETS. Uhhh, ok. He immediately calmed down! So that night he asked if he could turn the noise machine in his room to FROGS AND CRICKETS as opposed to the white noise we always use. We were hesitant because who the heck wants to have frogs croaking in their ear while they sleep? We let him do it and he slept till nearly 6:00am! This. Never. Happens. We have turned on FROGS AND CRICKETS every night since and he has slept until at least 5:30, sometimes even a little past 6:00. This morning I said to Dan, "Seriously? FROGS? And CRICKETS? That's all he needed?"

The frogs and crickets have NOT helped with behavior this week. Oye. It was a DOOZY week. My energy and patience were depleted and I remembered just how challenging things could be when the wind blows violently and directly against me. We did a med increase at the end of December, but I'm wondering if we need to do another. We have an appointment to see Dr. M on Monday, so we'll see what he says and go from there. Even with the tough week we had, I don't and NEVER will blame Elijah for it. He is not the difficult one. Those detoured pathways in his brain are to blame. They make him overwhelmed and things get scary for him when that happens. It's not his fault. If anything, even through the very frustrating moments, I feel so terribly for him because I know he doesn't feel good. I have experienced anxiety in its truest meaning and it is a HORRIBLE feeling. The worst feeling. I am not always able to do this because I sometimes am too worked up and upset, but sometimes I'm able to pull out a miraculous bit of patience in the midst of a storm and.....HUG ELIJAH. It is counter-intuitive on so many levels, but it helps.

Amidst the stormy seas of NLD, we have done a few fun things in the past week! Dan and I had a night away from home without the boys. It was sooo nice and relaxing and left me wanting more! This year we will celebrate our 10-year anniversary, so we are determined to celebrate all year long! We feel super grateful that we have not only survived these 10 years, but THRIVED! That's something to celebrate.

I can't remember if I mentioned the field trip I went on with Sammy's class last week. We had so much fun snowshoeing with his class! He has the best little group of friends. They are all so sweet and kind and respectful. Which brings me to Sammy, my sweet boy. He has gotten a few extra reminders to have good behavior this week at school, which is unlike him. His teacher isn't concerned, but since it's not typical for him she thought it was worth mentioning. I asked what sorts of things he had been doing. Are you ready for this? While standing in the lunch line, he bent over and made his butt cheeks "talk" to his friends. Yep! He was SO UPSET when we gently tried to talk to him about the reminders he needed. He was so worried that his teacher was mad and that we were mad. I assured him we definitely were not upset, but that we at least needed to discuss it. He covered his ears and buried his face in the couch because he couldn't handle the thought of being in trouble at school. Yesterday he didn't need any reminders, so the gentle talk must have worked! The butt cheeks have been silenced. :)

The boys don't have school today, so they are at daycare for the first time since summer so I can work. They were so excited to see their daycare friends! Dan will be out of town tonight, so it's just the boys and me for pizza movie night. Tomorrow Elijah has snowboarding and Sammy will get to watch him for the first time. I'm still trying to figure out a way to get Sam on the slopes without a meltdown. Ice skating and sledding will be good first steps and I'm hoping to make those happen in the next few weeks.

Have a great weekend! Sorry for the ranting post. That's what happens when I only post once/week!

Happy Merry Crazy Christmas!

We received our family photos that Hope Kids took for us this past fall. Look at these handsome boys!

We have had a bit of a crazy past week. Both boys have been sick on and off. Two nights ago Sammy was borderline for a croup episode. It was minor enough not to report on here officially. :) After a very brief and semi-unnecessary steamy bathroom stint, he grabbed his favorite blankies from his bed and said, "Well?! Are you going to help me with these, or what?" "OH! You're coming to bed with me??" And yes, he came to bed with me. It was wonderful because I LOVE having him close to me, but I typically do not let our boys in our bed. Sammy is a restless sleeper, so we didn't sleep much after that. It was worth it, though.

Ever since, he has had his typical lingering croupy cough. For the past few days, Elijah has had some random ailments, too. Tummy pains, headaches, sore throat, random aches....and today he woke up at 2am FOR THE DAY. When I saw him this morning I actually gasped. I have NEVER seen such tired and bloodshot eyes on my oldest boy. NEVER. And that is saying a lot. It was a rough day. I'm grateful today was timed well. We have a BIG agenda ahead of us and I want to be sure our boys are feeling good for the days ahead.

This holiday season has been so crazy, but we remain grateful and feel so blessed. Merry Christmas to all of you! Thanks for checking in. xo

Croup: Season 8, Episode 1 (Elijah)

I did not see last night's croup episode coming AT ALL, which is rare for me. Elijah was showing a few tiny signs of sickness yesterday, but I was so consumed with Sammy's strep that I didn't give croup a single thought. He woke up around midnight gasping and I knew he needed an epi neb asap. We got him downstairs and thankfully we were able to find the neb quickly since we haven't had to use it in so long. He was scared and was borderline panicking, which always makes things so much worse. I tried my hardest to appear calm so he would calm down. We turned on a show and let the racemic epi do its thing. When it was done he still had stridor, but it was manageable. We gave him a dose of oral steroids and I brought him to bed with me for a few hours so I could listen to his breathing. I loved that he kept reaching for me and wanting me to wrap my arms around him. :) After a few hours, Dan brought him back to bed and the rest of the night was uneventful. He was up extra early, thank you, Daylight Savings. This will happen for at least the next week.

I kept both boys home from school today, Sammy because of strep and Elijah because of after effects of croup. Despite not having slept much and having steroids in his body (usually these make him super irritable), we had a pretty awesome day! Both boys weren't at full capacity, but feeling good enough to play a bit and snuggle a lot. We barely got out of our pajamas today and took advantage of sickness-related technology privileges. :) Dan and I have implemented a no-technology rule on all school days, so today was an exception!

I'm wondering if the germs that infiltrated their bodies conspired with our boys because their dual day of sickness coincided with a very important day. As I walked bleary-eyed out of my bedroom this morning, this is the sign Elijah held in front of me.

I said, "Oh, how exciting!!" and then told him that I wasn't going to just go buy it. So he and Sammy grabbed their wallets and pooled the money and gift cards (thanks, Grammie and Gramps!) that they've been saving and presented me with enough money to cover a dvd purchase. So being the nice mom that I am, I went to Target at 8:00 this morning and bought their beloved dvd so my sweet sickies could enjoy it today. They were soooo happy.

They are both doing much better tonight and I plan to send them to school in the morning. Phew, another sickness under our belts! Getting on with our week now. Thanks for peeking in!

Pulmonology and dev-ped check-ups

Yesterday Elijah had a check-up with his pulmonologist, who he still sees because of croup. We have always loved Dr. K. He is one of the best doctors we have ever gotten to know. I am constantly amazed at and so thankful for our incredible doctors. As always, Dr. K blew my socks off. He is incredibly smart, relatable and kind. He always makes us as parents feel valued, validated and respected. As I talked about E's croup in the past year, he kept saying, "Very interesting." When I finished talking, he explained what he found so interesting. First of all, it is "highly unusual" for an 8-year-old to get recurrent croup (of course!). He was intrigued that Sammy also gets it regularly and severely. Also, according to him, most parents never know when croup is coming and they live in constant fear. I almost always know when it's coming, and I give the boys oral steroids to prevent or lessen an episode. Dr. K was in agreement that giving meds preventatively is absolutely the right thing to do. As for E's croup, although he is perplexed, he feels we are doing everything we can at this point.

He asked about summer plans and I shared that the little boys and I will be road-tripping out east again this year. He thought that was just the coolest thing ever and promised that he would send me a few children's books on CD that his children once enjoyed. What doctor does that? He is the best!

I have to share another little tidbit about our visit.. I brought both boys to the appointment and as expected, they started to fight. Elijah tried to head butt Sammy and a few unsavory words came out of his mouth. Then Sammy was saying, "Mommy-Mommy-Mommy" repeatedly as I tried to talk to the doctor. Dr. K looked straight at Sammy and firmly said, "Excuse me!" then at Elijah and said, "Elijah, you need to chill a little bit, okay?" Both boys quieted. At first I was embarrassed and thought he must think I'm a horrible mother. After the appointment I realized he was trying to help me. He has children. He knows children. He saw me stressing while trying to focus, and he helped me out.

Today we visited with Dr. M, E's developmental ped...another top-notch doctor! Seriously, I cannot say enough good things about his team. Dr. M took tons of time with us. Learning from yesterday, I brought Sammy to daycare so I could FOCUS. Elijah did great! We did not have even a single issue during the entire appointment, which is a pretty rare thing these days. We discussed the past few months...how school ended on a mostly good note and how summer is beginning on a mostly sour note. He suggested another med to "take the edge off," but of course I'm hesitant to try it. Elijah is so sensitive to meds, but the prospect of that "edge" being rounded out a little bit is so enticing. Dan and I have some talking to do.

Dr. M is so good at building Elijah (and me!) up and making him feel proud of himself. He uncovered all of E's accomplishments in the past few months and made sure to give him huge props for everything. This is something I feel like I don't do enough. :( It is so easy to get caught up in the challenging times when we are in the trenches. Dr. M gave me a renewed perspective and I promised myself that I will DAILY tell Elijah how proud I am of him (Sammy, too). I am SO proud of my boys. Despite E's challenges, he is doing so incredibly well...and thriving! It is easy to forget about the hurdles he's jumped over to get to the point he is at now!

As I have been saying, the past few weeks have been challenging. I have been praying so hard for a breakthrough in ANY area. Last night at 3am, Elijah called me into his room, which is not unusual. What IS unusual is that he told me he had to go poop. So he did....IN THE TOILET. This is the first time he has ever done this in the middle of the night. He stayed clean for the entire rest of the night. Maybe our new "system" of taking toys away has been working?! We did a lot of talking about it today and I'm praying last night was a huge step in the right direction. I shared this accomplishment with Dr. M today and he was OVER THE MOON and hopeful about it.

I feel like we are doing EVERYTHING possible to help Elijah feel happier and more peaceful/rested. Please pray with us that we continue to make all of the right decisions!

That's all I have for tonight! Have a great evening!

Croup: Season 5, Episode 2 (Samson)

I've been hoping that Elijah's sickness from last week would pass right over Sammy, but no such luck. Sam was sounding croupy before bed last night, so we gave him a TINY preventative dose of oral steroids. He was up at 9:00 coughing and barking. I have to say that he is SO calm and sweet when he is sick. He wraps his little arms around my neck so sweetly. We sat in a steamy bathroom and then Dan brought him outside. Then, as I usually do when the boys are sick, I brought him to bed with us. He was wheezy for most of the night, but stayed calm and that helped to not send him into a full-blown episode. He took up ALL of my side of the bed, so I literally slept on 6 inches of the edge and wrapped my legs around the bottom of the bed. I think Elijah got the best night of sleep out of all of us for maybe the first time ever!

Sammy took a nap at daycare today and woke up with another croup episode. Ever since, he has been wheezy/barky. We took every preventative measure we could think of before bed tonight. He still sounds rough despite our efforts and I'm fully expecting another round tonight. Poor dude.

It has been a TIRING week. I worked 20 hours in Cannon Falls in addition to accomplishing just about everything else I normally accomplish in a week. I went on a field trip with E's class on Tuesday and had so much fun inspecting samples from a pond at a nature reserve. I have always loved going on field trips with him (minus a few nightmares from first grade). Sammy had a cute soccer practice last night. He is starting to feel more comfortable on the field. I LOVE watching him run around and have fun with other kids, even though he doesn't interact a ton with them yet.

I have 20 minutes of work to do and then I am putting this computer down and turning into a vegetable for the evening! Have a GREAT weekend, everyone! Be safe and have fun!

Croup: Season 7, Episode 4 (Elijah)....and a few other things

Yesterday I heard a familiar cough from Elijah and I had the thought that croup might be in our future. He woke up at 1:00am barking like a seal. We spent 15 minutes in a steamy bathroom and he sounded good enough to go back to bed. At 3:00 it was worse, so he and Dan did a round in the bathroom, followed by a dose of oral steroids and a trip outside. It got a little bit better and it was nowhere near as severe as it usually is, but he had moderate stridor even after our efforts. So that I could listen closely (and obsess), I brought him to bed with us. After 1 1/2 hours of Elijah sleeping soundly and me not sleeping at all, I retreated to the couch. Early morning sleep is so touchy with him and I did not want to do anything to wake him up once he was out. He still sounded barky in the morning, so we kept him home from school today.

I loaded Elijah up with essential oils tonight (thieves and frankincense!) and also gave him a preventative dose of steroids in hopes of avoiding a repeat of last night.

(Sammy is the cute little green guy in the middle with the red socks..)

This week has been BUSY and (mostly) fun! It was so much fun watching Sammy at his first soccer game on Saturday. He was hesitant to go out onto the field, but once he was out there he ran around and loved it. Every time he was running fast down the field, he would look over at me with a huge smile and give me two thumbs up. :)

Sunday was Mother's Day and it was incredible. My boys spoiled me with breakfast in bed, precious cards and gifts, flowers, a NAP, lunch out with Dan's family and tons of love and snuggle time. I think Mother's Day should happen every week!

Tuesday was Elijah's second grade track and field day. It was COLD! We were all bundled up in coats, hats, mittens, SCARVES and blankets. Elijah did so great at his events and tried his best. I was a proud mama! Minus a 15-minute stretch when the boys would not stop tackling each other in front of Elijah's classmates, it went smoothly and we had fun.

Here is Elijah and a friend of his getting ready to do the shoe kick! Super cute!

He did the hippity-hop relay again this year. He was behind the rest, but finished valiantly!

And this one was a total surprise to me.. he stacked cups! 

And of course they ended with a tug-of-war. The whole event was so fun to watch.

A few other tidbits from our week..

Dan and I celebrated nine years of marriage yesterday! Nine years. So much has happened, but I love my wonderful hubby more than ever. I don't know what I would do without him! Our traditional dinner out was one of the most delicious ones we remember.

I find lovely little nuggets on my phone such as the following all the time. Nice..

A neighbor of ours got out his mini 1959 Corvette last weekend and let Elijah sit in it (Sammy refused). It runs and everything! So cool!

That's enough excitement for one week, I think! I'm looking forward to the weekend when we can all relax and prepare for a couple of crazy weeks coming up. I'll be working in Cannon Falls for the next few weeks, so some other things will need to be shelved for a bit.

Thanks for checking in! Have a great weekend!

Christmas 2014

Merry Christmas! We had an INCREDIBLE day in our house, lounging and napping and playing games and reading books and watching Christmas movies. It was one of the most enjoyable Christmases I can remember, despite Elijah being sick. :( He got a second round of croup two nights ago and since  has been trying to cough his lungs out. Just tonight his cough became super tight, although not wheezy (there's a difference). Dan is currently out trying to find a store open that sells Vics so we can rub that on his chest. We gave him a dose of cough medicine and an albuterol/pulimicort neb (we haven't had to do this in years), but none of these seem to be helping him much. Please pray with us for healing for his body!

Onto the important stuff....Christmas! We had a memorable celebration with Dan's family last night on Christmas Eve. Elijah was a tired mess by the end of the night, but both boys had a blast opening presents and eating cookies (Sammy was doing his best to do more bargaining) and playing with cousins. We were awake for a lot of the night trying to ease E's cough, so we were all tired this morning. But Santa still came and we had a very memorable and awesome day. We are so blessed and thankful for everything and everyone we have in our lives.

Our boys just before leaving for Christmas Eve service..

As always, Elijah was up before the birds this morning. Dan and I pleaded with him to lie down in the loft (so he wouldn't wake Sammy up) yet not peek downstairs (so he wouldn't get a pre-glimpse of Santa's surprises). When "awake time" came, the boys were sooo happy to run downstairs!

Elijah has been wanting the board game Trouble for months, so he was SO EXCITED to unwrap it!

Sammy got Sorry!, which he was indifferent about. He was indifferent about a lot of things today. We are finding that if we expect him to be happy or excited about something...he acts very unexcited.

Oh my gosh, the loot!

Elijah picked out a Pluto stuffed animal for Sammy and it was his FAVORITE gift. He hugged it like this for a long time.

Dan and I spent the past three nights putting the boys' BIG gift together. A Lego Movie spaceship! Once the boys had opened all their gifts, we asked them to face me and close their eyes while Dan brought in the exciting stuff. :)

SURPRISE! Have you ever seen happier faces?

We started our morning with a GRATEFUL prayer (that Elijah spoke eloquently). THINGS definitely occupied our day, but we had greater purpose today. We are grateful for Jesus and the gift that HE brings this time of year. We hope you all had a wonderful day, as well! Thanks for checking in. xo

Croup: Season 7, Episode 3 (Elijah)....and Christmas excitement!

Elijah had a mild case of croup last night at 10:00ish. After ten minutes in a steamy bathroom and ten minutes outside, he came to bed with me (no neb needed, yay!). I don't think Dan will ever understand my need for bringing him to bed, but it puts my mama mind at ease. The rest of the night was ok, with some coughing. Today was a little rough since sleep was not ideal last night. We gave him oral steroids during his episode (and again tonight before bed), which pretty much guarantees terrible sleep. I have been praying so hard that we can get him back to baseline during this two-week winter break, but things are not looking promising at this point. 

We have started re-introducing technology back into our lives. We are going to see how the week goes. I'm convinced Sammy is a college professor somewhere in his spare time, coaching people on manipulation and bargaining. He got us to agree to eating FOUR peas tonight (he despises vegetables) in order to get a few bites of dessert. After we agreed to the four peas, he looked at Dan and said, "Ok, four!" as he held up two fingers. Seriously!

Today Dan and I decided to each take a boy and have separate "date days" with our boys. It was a Sammy-Mama day and an Elijah-Daddy day. Sammy and I ran a few last-minute Christmas errands and then had lunch at his establishment of choice - Applebee's. During lunch, I learned that Sammy wants to be a "firefighter daddy" when he grows up. I explained that firefighters need to be strong and therefore eat their vegetables. Also that he will first need a wife if he wants to be a daddy. He told me that he wants to have FOUR boys and have a "pretty and nice" wife. :)

The boys are LOVING the Christmas season this year more than ever! It is so much fun. I got presents wrapped last night and they ooo-ed and aahhh-ed over the gifts that sat "under the tree" this morning. Ohhh dear...our tree. This year we got the prettiest, biggest, fullest tree we have ever had before. It is beautiful! About a week into having it as a part of our family, Dan and I started commenting on how much water this thing could drink! "I filled it up twice today!" "Me too!" A few days later our house had a unique scent. Our tree stand had a crack in the bottom, we found, and we had been pouring gallons and gallons of water straight into our carpet! GROSS! We got a new stand and all is well now for our pretty tree, minus the lingering wetness and smell. We have air fresheners, fans and towels all over our downstairs. So our presents aren't technically under our tree yet. 

We are super excited about the next few days! When we said our bedtime prayers tonight, I was so happy to hear Sammy say, "I'm so happy for Jesus!" We try very hard to keep that at the forefront amidst this totally crazy time of year. It seems impossible sometimes, doesn't it?

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! Thank you so much for checking in!!

Croup: Season 7, Episode 2 (Elijah)

While Dan was working overnight two nights ago, I heard some screaming over the monitor around midnight. I almost always approach Elijah's bed first, as he is typically the one yelling for me. He had croup. I plucked him out of bed and brought him into the bathroom to determine how severe it was. It was mild, thank goodness. I turned on the shower and hugged him tightly for ten minutes. Afterward he sounded slightly better, so I gave him a dose of oral steroids. Turns out, he slept horribly the rest of that night and the night after. Any medication in his body kills his sleep! We are praying for a much better night of sleep tonight.

We spent a super duper low-key day at home today. We cleaned, cooked, colored, did laundry and played. It was nice. Really nice. Minus church (can't wait for church!), tomorrow will be much of the same. Thanks for peeking in! Have a great rest of your weekend.

Croup: Season 5, Episode 1 (Samson)...AND a cardiology visit!

Our sweet Sammy was up at 9:00 last night with a barky cough and a teeny tiny fever. He and Dan sat in a steamy bathroom and then outside for a bit. It was fairly mild and improved enough to not consider medicine. Then I let him do the customary sleep-with-mama for a bit afterward. It's been a while since Sammy has slept with me. I'd forgotten that he likes to literally drape himself over my body and then fall asleep. Minimal sleep was occurring for the mama in the bed, so by midnight I put him back in his own bed. He did fine the rest of the night and just had a lingering runny nose and tiny cough today.

In other news, Dan brought Elijah to his 6-month cardiology check-up today. I had a bit of a nervous tummy about it (as always). Six months ago Dr. G had been surprised by how well Elijah's heart was doing, so I thought maybe this would be "the time" when we would hear "stuff" could be in the near future. I was wrong! His heart has mild stenosis (way milder than what he had expected), his valve has a tiny bit of leakage (very minimal) and heart function looks just great! We'll go back in six months! Again he told Dan that five years from surgery is a standard timeframe to expect the next surgery. That would be 2016 for Elijah, but hopefully in his case we will extend that a year or two! It always feels SO GOOD when Elijah is cleared for another six months! This is HUGE sigh of relief! And now we know that Elijah's overwhelmed exhaustion has nothing to do with his heart and everything to do with his brain.

Other than that, we are kind of doing bare minimum these days. On the days when we get Elijah to complete a sheet of homework or when I get a load of laundry folded AND put away I feel super accomplished. Dan and I are both working as much as possible while we can. This time of year provides opportunities for money for both of us, so we try to take advantage of that despite feeling like our family is being stretched in many directions. We have had a few weekend family days together lately, which has been SOOOo nice. But usually when one of us gets home, the other is leaving to go to work. I am definitely not complaining! We are so grateful to have work right now!!

I still haven't heard whether or not Dr. M #1 has connected with school. In the meantime, I've been PRAYING that Dr. M #2 will agree to write a note to shorten E's school days asap. Today I spoke with an advocate from PACER center and while she had a few good pointers for us for when we attend meetings, we are already doing everything she suggested. I'm excited to get E's days shortened because then we can actually work on lessening some of his anxieties. I want to get him swimming and playing a musical instrument. Both of these things I know would be VERY calming for him, but at the present time we cannot fit either into our schedule. Dan and I have something else in the works that we're hoping will pan out and that will help him immensely. I'll wait until we are 100% committed and then share!

Soon I will share photos from our yearly corn maze adventure! This past weekend I took the boys to Pumpkins in the Park, hosted by our city's schools. It was fun! The weather was gorgeous and the boys got candy and pumpkins and a few other treats. Tomorrow E gets to wear pajamas to school (a special class treat!) and then he has the rest of the week off. We have a few other doctor's appointments coming up this week and next, too. I hope this post made sense! I'm tired! Have a good night!

Croup: Season 7, Episode 1.1 (Elijah)

Mild to moderate croup episodes do not earn their own episode numbers, but Elijah had a "dot-one" last night. It involved a barky cough and mild difficulty breathing. Compared to Sunday night it was a piece of cake. Dan and Elijah sat in a steamy bathroom and then in the cool outside air and after that things were manageable. He coughed a bit early in the morning, but all was well. He has been in bed for 2.5 hours tonight and we just heard a bit of a barky cough. It may be another night of mild croup, but we're praying for none of it!

The past two days have brought sleeplessness, anxiety and frustration as I continue to ponder and worry about Elijah being totally overwhelmed by full days at school. The scripted lines that have been delivered to me over and over make me want to scream at the top of my lungs. We continue to try connecting educators with doctors in an attempt to make things easier. As far as I know, this hasn't happened yet.

Dan accompanied Elijah on a field trip today. E seemed to have reached his limit by noon, so Dan brought him home (he thought ahead and had driven himself...SUCH a good daddy!). We are going to try sending Elijah to school the rest of this week and one day next week. Monday he has a cardiology appointment that will take most of the morning and Wed-Fri is MEA. This is perfect. We are hoping to finally get him back to baseline. After that, well....to be continued! I have a few ideas which depend on a few different factors. My top priority with this situation: making things less overwhelming for Elijah-->shortening his days at school-->doing whatever it takes to make that happen. If it can't happen, we will take him out of school SOON and figure something else out. We...HE...cannot go on like this.

It's a busy week! I'm in Cannon Falls working all week and Dan is working two new jobs (that makes FIVE jobs total for him). Despite the craziness, I feel like we have good perspective and we are so grateful for everything, including these new struggles. We know everything will come together and that good things will come of all of this.

Thanks so much for peeking in. I hope you all have a great rest of your week!

Croup: Season 7, Episode 1 (Elijah)

At 10:30 last night, Elijah began screaming. Then we heard the stridor. There had been NO signs of croup yesterday (usually I have a pretty good idea that it might happen), so both Dan and I were shocked to hear it. Elijah was more scared than usual, maybe because it had been so long since his last episode. It broke my heart to see him so afraid. We attempted a steamy bathroom, but I knew the croup was severe so I got meds ready downstairs knowing that would need to happen.

As we have always done in the past, we turned on a cartoon as an attempt at distraction while the neb ran. I could hear that the medication was working (thank goodness), but before it began to take effect he repeated, "PLEASE HELP ME!" between gasps. It was heartbreaking! This has not left my mind today. I thought of it a thousand times and my heart lurched every time. After the neb we gave him a dose of oral steroids and in standard fashion I wanted him next to me in bed. The ONLY time we let our boys into our bed at night is when they are sick, so it was a rare and special event! I could tell that Elijah was still rattled by what had just happened because he would NOT let go of me. Both arms were wrapped tightly around me and this is not something he does very often. I wrapped myself around him right back and said a prayer out loud: "Dear Jesus, please let Elijah know that he is SAFE, PROTECTED and LOVED." A few seconds later... "Mommy? You are loved, too, you know." It came from a very genuine place, which doesn't happen all the time with him. I am so grateful to be both his and Sammy's protector and to be one of the two people responsible for making them feel safe and loved! I love my boys so much!

His stridor came back a bit as the night went on (this is typical), but it never got bad enough to warrant too much worry. He had a runny nose today and sneezed a bit, but we didn't hear any more stridor. I gave him a preventative half dose of steroids before bed tonight. Dan is gone working all night tonight, so I'm PRAYING it'll be a quiet one!

We kept Elijah home from school again today, which was the third consecutive school day. We discovered that more than three days in a row warrants a doctor's note, so we'll reluctantly send him back tomorrow. Although it seems like five days away should be PLENTY of time to recuperate.....it's not. Not for him. He reaches boiling point much more quickly than the rest of us and it takes him MUCH more time to get below boiling point. I've been doing everything possible to get his days at school shortened. I talked to the sp-ed supervisor for our school district today and explained our intentions behind keeping him home and reiterated that he just absolutely needs shortened school days. She seemed willing to explore options for him, but....shortening his days are a last resort, as I suspected. As unique as Elijah's situation is, they are still going to do everything possible to keep him in school full-time. I haven't fully processed this yet, and I'm not sure what is going to happen. I know that we cannot expect him to carry on as is. If the doctor/school won't allow us to shorten his days, we are going to have to find another answer. A few options in my head at the moment: short-term homeschooling (while we find a school more suitable) or simply showing up at school at 1:00 every day to take him out. Apparently E's neuropsych and teachers have been unable to connect, but I'm PRAYING (soooo very hard) that the doctor will be behind our thoughts 100%. If he is, this should definitely carry some weight. 

The people from Elijah's school keep assuring us that they "realllllly want him in school," which is great! But....do they want what is best for him....and what is best for our family?

Please pray for a peaceful night for us! I'm a tiny bit on edge having Dan gone and being on semi-croup alert. Thanks for checking in! I have really fun photos to share from a family outing we took this past weekend. Maybe tomorrow I'll get them posted!

Croup: Season 6, Episode 3 (Elijah)

We're starting off with a bang sans Dan. Juuuust as my sleepy body was crawling into bed last night, I heard stridor over the monitor and for some reason was not at all surprised. I carried Elijah for the second time in two days, this time to a steamy bathroom. The stridor wasn't super-scary, thankfully, so an epi neb wasn't necessary. We snuggled while sitting on the edge of the tub for 20 minutes and then I gave him a dose of oral steroids and put him in bed with me. From that moment until 2:00am, I went from placing my hand on his chest to putting my ear to his chest to asking him if he was ok...repeat 100 times. 2:00 (the witching hour) has always been Elijah's hour when croup is the most awful, if it's going to be awful. I realized I was not getting ANY sleep, so I put him back into his own bed at 2:00 on the dot. He had mild stridor the rest of the night and at 6:00 (the magic hour) all was well and he was ready to start the day!

Not surprisingly, I suppose, he had a "bad" note from his teacher today. It was his first in a long time, but with the steroids in his body (this med has always done a number on his mind/body) and lack of sleep I could have a little understanding. My attempt at putting both boys to bed early tonight was a complete failure. We are an overly tired bunch right now. I'm praying for a healing, restful weekend for all of us! And for a great DC trip for Dan! We miss him!

I'm believing for a turn-around day tomorrow. I'll be starting the day off with funfetti-strawberry pancakes! Come join us! :)

Croup: Season 4, Round 1 (Samson)

I feel like we have a couple of newborns in our house. Dan and I and the boys are all so ridiculously sleep-deprived I feel like we're all going a bit insane! To top it off, like a few rotten cherries on a melted sundae, Elijah has been showing interest in getting through the night without using a diaper. He has a goal in mind (President Business lego toy) and he is striving for it. We've told him that if he can keep a diaper totally dry through the night....he shall have whatever toy he wants. This has been seven years in the making!

This is all great and wonderful, but it coincides with trying to get him to SLEEP! He has been waking up in the wee morning hours to go potty, and then staying up for the remainder of the morning. He has been making slight progress in the potty realm, but the sleep keeps taking hits which affects so many other things. We are still finding our way with so many things.

Around 3:00 this morning, I heard the familiar stridor over the monitor. I ran into the boys' room and ran straight to Elijah by default. He said, "It's Sammy, Mom! Not me!" I went to Sam's bed and grabbed him, brought him to the bathroom and turned on the shower. Being the independent little Sammy that he is, he would NOT sit on my lap and would only sit on his little red stool. After ten minutes of steamed-bathroom time, I brought him back to bed with Dan and me which is a huge treat.

The ONLY time we allow the boys in bed with us is when they are sick. Sammy was so super cute, wrapping his cute little arms around my neck. Occasionally he would lean up and give me a big smooch on my shoulder and say, "I LOVE YOU" in a whisper. He melts my heart!

We made it through the rest of the morning with little sleep all around, but at least we all got some LOVE! At around 4:30, Elijah called Dan into his room to ask if he could join our bed with Sammy to "play." Um, NO! :)

Elijah was sent home early from school today due to an upset tummy. Both boys are a bit under the weather, and they both went to bed super early tonight. We're hoping for a turnaround tomorrow!