Catching up!

Is anyone still reading? Goodness, I have been slacking on this blog, which makes me sad! I promise to do a better job. We have been keeping busy. Dan and I feel very blessed to have found ways to take turns being at home with the boys so that they hardly ever need to go to daycare (although, they thoroughly enjoy spending time with their friends there). We currently live quite the unconventional life, and it suits us for now.

At the beginning of the year we had to switch to different insurance policies (one for Dan, Sammy and me and another for Elijah), which is, well, SCARY. With our medically-needy boy, change in that arena is scary. We will see how it all shakes out as the year rolls on.

Sammy is practically ready to apply for colleges. Seriously, this boy seems to be an over-achiever in every way. It is hard to believe sometimes that he is only two! He grasps concepts that I don't think most two-year-olds would, and just insists on doing everything himself which makes him really good at everything. We haven't nailed down potty yet, but it is near (I hope).

Speaking of potty, Elijah is still working on that. :) Dan and I have created quite a system of rewards and loss of privileges/toys for him. As I always say, over time progress is being made. I think back to last summer when I wanted to get on an airplane and fly to somewhere far far away and I am thankful for where we are at now. Things are so much better, but we still have progress to make.

Since Christmas break, we have been dealing with some extra behavior issues from E. Some days are tough. There have been days when EVERYTHING is a battle, and it gets tiring. Especially when Sammy mimics those behaviors because he looks up to his big bro so much. Elijah had a few days since the holidays when he was not nice to his teachers and friends at school. :( This made me very sad because he is such an incredibly sweet and friendly and kind person! Dan and I took that very seriously and addressed it immediately. We are constantly thankful for his amazing teachers and their great communication and their desire for the best for E.

As I always do when we stumble upon an issue with our boys, I went back to the basics. Before Christmas he was fine (or at least not telling his friends to "shut up"), so I figured he must be sleep-deprived from the craziness of the holidays. We have been putting him to bed at a ridiculously early time consistently for a few weeks now, and things are better. We still have plenty of battles, but he hasn't had any more issues at school and things are better overall.

I tell my boys about ten times every day things that I feel they need to hear: you are a GOOD person, you are SPECIAL and you are LOVED! I have said it so much lately that they have been saying these things back to me. "Mommy, I love you VERY much! You are a special girl!" :)

I will write more often so I don't create such long posts for you to read (if anyone is still reading)! Have a great weekend! Dan is off to the Northern woods with his pals, so it's just the little boys and Mama this weekend. We have pizza-movie night planned for our evening!

Better today. Can you tell?

By the end of yesterday, I was wondering if I could possibly feel any worse. I woke up this morning feeling much better and I'm actually not feeling like this might be the end of the world. Elijah appears to be getting over his cold and it's so nice to see his personality come back a bit instead of the crabby, snotty, tired wailing we've been enduring for the past 10 days. Tonight he threw up after dinner which has me nervous because usually a throw-up indicates a sickness to come (or teeth, and he has sprouted FOUR of them at the same time in the past day, so who knows..). Oh please please PLEASE, no more sickness! We need to get him into surgery and get him better. His heart is so ready to be fixed.

I have been feeling really bad recently for not being able to spend considerable time with Elijah before his surgery. I've just had kind of an itchy feeling at work all week, like, this isn't where I should be right now! I talked to my bosses and they agreed that I should be home with Elijah right now if that's what I'm feeling is right. I have a few projects to finish up tomorrow morning and then I'm taking the rest of the week off to spend with my chubby boy. I need this time with him so badly right now. I am just going to chew him up. He's going to be so tired of Mommy by the weekend.

You can see for yourself how much better Elijah is feeling. This is the beautiful, smiley face that I came home to today.











Have I mentioned what a big flirt he was in the hospital last weekend? He's shameless! We walked him down the hallway in a stroller a few times to get out of our room and he would look from side to side at all the pretty nurses like, yeah, I'm pretty cute! He kept babbling and wanted desperately to be the center of attention. Almost everyone mistook him for a girl in the hospital. It's those pretty curls and big eyes. Dan wants to cut his hair (for this reason) but I don't!

We have had some issues with our insurance company this week. They refused to pay for this month's RSV shot, which is completely stupid, so we had our doctors call in to back us up. We'll see what happens, but Dr. G said that he wasn't too concerned if he didn't receive this last shot. I'd like for him to be able to get it, but we'll see what happens. Insurance companies make me mad.

I'm calling Dr. G in the morning, because he told me to, so I'll post again when we have a plan. I am guessing that unless Elijah gets sick again (please God, NO!), we'll plan for surgery on the 15th! Here we go!!

Thank you, everyone, for the kind words, the encouraging comments and all the love and prayers you have sent our way. We couldn't feel more supported and loved right now by our family and friends. You all are wonderful! And thank you for praying for Helena's parents, too. Please continue to do so. They are grieving the loss of their beautiful little girl. I cannot fathom their pain.

Also, please pray for baby Micah. He has a surgery tomorrow to get a g-button placed in his tummy because of some feeding issues he's been having. Also, little Logan is having heart surgery tomorrow and another one next week. And Emma is re-re-reschuled to have her open heart surgery on Friday, so say some prayers for her! It is the week of the surgeries for all my precious heart babies!