Spring Break 2016!

Dan and I agreed tonight that it has been a WEIRD past couple of weeks for our family. We went from debilitating sickness (me) to vacation to NEW PUPPY WHO LIKES TO CHEW ON EVERYTHING to more sickness and strange leg infection (Dan) and then spring break. It's been a lot, but we are doing just fine. Our laundry is piled high. A few stacks of unsorted papers sit atop our counter. I can't seem to keep up with the dishes. I haven't cooked a meal in nearly two weeks. Our bathrooms all need a serious cleaning. But we are alive and happy! I have spent the majority of my energy on: 1. boys, 2. hubby (when he was ill) and 3. dog. And that is just about it!

Elijah loves when Buddy licks his face. These two are so cute together and I know that one day they are going to be a huge source of comfort for one another. Sammy loves when Buddy snuggles his little head into his lap. He writes Buddy notes and draws him pictures and tapes them directly above his kennel. This pup is loved! Car rides are a source of comfort for ALL of my boys.

The boys and I had a great Spring Break Monday today! We brought Buddy down to my sister's house for a puppy play date with her pup Tate. Buddy wanted to PLAY-PLAY-PLAY and Tate wanted nothing to do with it. :) Yesterday Buddy played with Dan's sister's dog Oreo and they basically mauled each other (freaked me out!). He was so tired after hours of play that he could literally barely keep his eyes open when we got home.

We are all looking forward to warmer spring weather! We are going to get another bike for the boys soon and I'm determined to get them riding this spring. Swim lessons start soon and so does soccer for Sammy.

Thanks for checking in! More puppy and boy tales certainly coming soon. :)

Our little teachers

Have I shown you the boys' haircuts yet? I don't think I've taken pictures of them since all their hair was chopped off! Here is the back of Sammy's head at his kindergarten music program last week..

Being in this small group was the only time he participated in actions. I suppose he figured that not participating when in the spotlight would make him the center of attention even more. When he was in the masses on the stands, he sang the songs but did NOT participate in hand or body movements. That's our Sammy! The cutest little bumblebee ever!

We have all been healing this week. I mean, I have been healing this week! Everyone else has been doing great! We are all super excited for our waterpark trip that begins tomorrow after school. This will be our sixth annual waterpark adventure!

Elijah has had another super week at school! We are so happy about the reports that have been coming home. I have been trying to spend as much time at school as possible and I like to think my hugs help.

Today after school we had Elijah's BFF over for the first time in a few weeks (due to the crazy sickness). She approached me privately and told me that there is another girl in their class who has been getting in the way of Elijah and A's friendship. Today at recess when A was pushing Elijah on the swings (how sweet is that??), this other little girl came up and said, "I'VE got this taken care of....you can leave, A." So after A told me this story I explained that Elijah truly cherishes their friendship and that she just needs to talk to him about this. So A said, "Elijah! I need to talk to you!" E said, "What did I do? Am I in trouble? Are you mad at me?" :) I sat on the sidelines and listened to their chat. A told him her concerns and Elijah replied in the most mature way I ever could have imagined. His response was better than anything I could have come up with! He said, "A....that other girl is my friend. I like her, but I don't like her as much as I like you. You are more important to me. Tomorrow I will talk to her and straighten everything out." She kinda sat speechless (as did I) and I jumped in and expressed how proud I was of both of them for communicating so well and sorting through an issue. It was awesome! I love that E and A are such great buds and that they complement each other so well.

For the past few mornings the boys have been playing "school" before Dan and I get out of bed. They are awake by 6:00 and either play quietly in their room or in the loft until 7:00 when we get breakfast ready. A few mornings ago I walked into a "classroom" where Elijah was teaching a handful of stuffed animals about sea creatures, while Sammy had a few students pulled out for reading. It was seriously the sweetest thing. I couldn't believe the organization involved and the dedication to the project. I took the above video later that afternoon....still dedicated to teaching their students!

If Sammy becomes bored in the morning before 7am, he has been coming to my side of the bed and asking to get into bed with me. This is NOT typical, but I have loved it. A few mornings ago he said, "Special DELIVERY! SAMMY SNUGGLES coming INNNNN!" Once I had my arms wrapped tightly around him in bed, he said, "Mommy? At the end of the day at school when we do circle-up, I'm going to say that my favorite part of the day was THIS. Snuggles with you are the BEST!" He always asks me to squeeze him tighter tighter TIGHTER!!!! This morning as I was squeezing as tightly as possible without suffocating him, I told him that I had to get in the shower. He said, "But you smell so good! PLEASE don't wash that delicious smell off you!" Oh that boy..he melts my mama heart.

Have a great rest of your week! We'll be back early next week!

Snowboarding video

This boy was almost three years old before he started walking. Back in those uncertain days, I never envisioned him being able to snowboard. I held back the tears today as I recorded this video. (I have a potential plan to get Sammy on the slopes next weekend...we'll see!)

Champion Water Chugger

Dan made it back from his work trip safely and we are happy to have him home. The week has been pretty standard, but today we received some news that wasn't ideal. I brought Elijah in for his 4-month post-surgery urology check-up. Things are better since surgery, but not great. He will need to have another dilation, this time followed by needing to be cathed DAILY for six months following. It's a bit of a punch in the gut. We were hoping to put this hurdle in our past. As always, we WILL get through this and come out stronger and hopefully Elijah will be finally be healed from this particular obstacle.

At his last urology appointment (before the last surgery), the doctor required that he have a full bladder and we ended up being in the office for 2.5 hours waiting for his bladder to fill up. This time he needed a full bladder, as well, so when we walked in Elijah declared, "We are NOT going to be here forever like last time." The nurse did an ultrasound to check bladder size and informed us that it wasn't full enough. I looked over and saw Elijah absorb this news and then proceed to start CHUGGING an entire bottle of water. He set it down and asked for a refill and then CHUGGED the entire second bottle, which was followed by, "We are NOT going to be here forever." Sure enough, a few minutes later his bladder was full. We were in and out in less than an hour! :) I loved his determination. I did not, however, like the two very urgent pee stops we had to make on our way home.

Elijah has been waking up super early again (3-4:00a), so a few mornings ago out of desperation I pulled him into bed with me and squeezed him tight with the Hug Machine in mind. It worked! The first night I tried it, he was up at 3:30 and my Mama Hug Machine helped him to sleep until 5:40! He NEVER would have gone back to sleep on his own without it. I don't know if I'll do it every day (I will occasionally need more than 5 hours of sleep/night), but it's good to know it helps!

We don't know much else this week! Have a great weekend!

Butterflies, sickness, camp, cousins, vacation and water...phew!

Since my last post, we have been busy! We have raised a few caterpillars who have transformed into beautiful butterflies. In this photo Elijah is holding Mr. Juicy! We set him free yesterday. I sat next to him until his wings were ready to fly. Watching the entire process from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly is incredible. It's a miracle!

I think Mr. Juicy flew back to our house for a visit today! I never see monarch butterflies in our yard, but one sat right on one of our bushes for a while this morning. 

We spent a few days last week in Iowa for our annual family reunion. The boys had more fun than ever this year, playing with their second cousins and splashing in the lake.

They got tons of snuggles.

We enjoyed a campfire by the lake one evening. This is the FIRST time Elijah has ever been able to participate in anything past 7:00pm (thank you, Straterra, for helping to expand his threshold!). We are still having some issues with behavior, but overall things are better. We are seeing fewer incidents and they are overall less dramatic. We do still have rough days and moments, but we are finding that he can bounce back from poor sleep or overstimulation MUCH more quickly than before. We are praying this trend continues.

The boys got a couple boat rides, which is always a treat!

They had so much fun in the lake this year! If we would have let him, Elijah literally would have spent every waking moment swimming. Being in the water is calming for him. It is definitely his happy place!

Silly green faces with cousin Cate!

We spent tons of time sitting on the dock and gazing out over the beautiful lake.

The boys got a to have a fun popcorn-movie night with their awesome second cousins (seriously, this bunch of kiddos is incredible...love them all!).

Literally two minutes after we got home from our Iowa adventure, Sammy dropped onto the couch. He spent the following 48 hours with a fever and a sore throat. He felt crummy. It was sad seeing him out of sorts, but it made for a good photo op! Sleeping on Gramps' lap during story time.. :)

The day after Sammy healed up, Elijah got the virus! :( Sammy thankfully was feeling good enough to go with my dad and stepmom up to northern Minnesota to spend some time with family. Elijah stayed back because this is heart camp week. We have been bummed that he's had to miss a few days of camp due to his fever, but he is looking forward to going tomorrow for the last day. Tonight we will be prepping for joke-telling at the talent show!

Here is a cute video of Sammy running to Elijah Monday when we picked him up from camp. He has done this SAME exact thing every year. It's so precious. "BUUUDDDDDDDYYYYY!"

With Sammy up north, the boys have been missing each other like crazy this week. I've had to limit Elijah's phone calls to 1/day. He tells me how much he misses Sammy about 100 times an hour. Their phone conversations are ridiculously adorable. The first time they spoke Elijah excitedly said, "SAMMY?! Is it really YOU???" :)

Thanks for peeking in!

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!

My brave little swimmer!

Dan has been out of town this weekend, so the little boys and I have been kickin' it. I have been experimenting with our new essential oils and...I hate to be too hopeful but I think they might be helping. Elijah's sleep pattern has been different for the past few nights. He has longer stretches and he has not been awake for more than an hour and a half at a stretch. Overall, his behavior today was better than I've seen it in many months. Hopeful!!

The boys both started swim lessons this morning. Sammy started refusing to put his swim trunks on, so I had to bribe him with candy. Once we were at the pool, he said, "I'm NEVER getting in that pool!" I ignored it and when it came time to get in, he was very hesitant...BUT HE DID IT! It helped that his brother was just a few feet from him. Here he is jumping in the pool! Wow! (sorry the video is sideways..)

My two swimming cuties!

A year ago, he never would have gotten this far. Look at my little Sammy! 

Elijah is in the background with his teacher and Sammy is on the left with his..

Look at those kicks!

Sam was so cute. Every time he got done swimming, he would look over at me with a huge happy smile on his face. He would either give me two thumbs up or he would do the sign for "I love you." Not only did I get the I-love-you sign, but I got the DOUBLE I-love-you sign! I made sure to tell him how proud I was of him and he was sooo happy that he had given it his best effort. As we left the school he said, "I LOVE swim lessons! I love this place!" I'm so proud of my brave boy! I know that took a lot of courage for him.

Elijah has done a few rounds of swim lessons in the past few years and hasn't made a ton of progress, so we decided to put him in private lessons this round. He did great today! That boy LOVES being in the water.

That's all for now! Thanks for checking in!

Back-up dancer Elijah!

Here is a super cute video of Elijah being another boy's back-up dancer at the Heart Camp Talent Show on Friday. :) I saw him walk out with the wig-hat-clocknecklace ensemble and smiled. That is our oldest boy for sure. I love it.

Elijah's talent was joke-telling and he did GREAT! We rehearsed his performance a few times beforehand and I wrote a note card out for him. I can't show you, though, because he decided to tell the jokes while lying on the ground (I'll be more clear next time). I held my camera way over my head to capture the scene, but part of my hand got in the way and I missed it. :( Sad.

Heart camp was awesome this year! I feel like Elijah got much more out of it (comparing to last year) and was way more excited about it. As Sammy and I watched the talent show, I realized that every single heart kid is so special in such an awesome and unique way. These kids are incredible and so spunky and have such personalities!

I want to say a quick "thank you" to the helpful and encouraging comments/emails we have received recently! Thank you to a handful of you who we've never even met, yet who we receive such great insight from. I LOVED the early-morning quiet time thoughts, Lauren! I think you're onto something there. And Maggie, getting the class schedule beforehand is a great suggestion. We'll definitely do this! Thank you!! We are ALWAYS open to new ideas. It's part of the reason I keep up with this blog.

I'm meeting a very old (well, SHE's not very old, but I've known her for a very long time...just to clarify!) friend for lunch on Monday. She has a son with special needs and also has worked in the sp-ed department at a nearby school for years. She has both perspectives, home and school, and has graciously offered to share insight with me. I feel so grateful!

The boys and I are spending a quick night at the dz and will head back home in the am for church and then laundry/packing at home. We will be heading out on Tuesday for an almost-week-long trip to Iowa to spend time with family. We are excited! PLEASE pray for Elijah to feel safe and secure and for good sleep and amazingly awesome behavior while we're away. Thanks for checking in! Have a great weekend!!

Second year at heart camp!

We had a fun weekend spent mostly at the dropzone. I'll maybe save some of my Elijah-thoughts for another post and focus on other things tonight! I captured a couple cute smiley pics of the boys over the weekend.

Today was Elijah's first day of his second year at heart camp! It sounds like he had a blast! On my way to pick him up I was saying this prayer: "Please no poop or behavior issues, please no poop or behavior issues.." Repeat x 200. From what I gathered, there were no poop or behavior issues! He was sooo excited to tell me all about his morning, which was a big change from last year. He is able to wrap his head around what heart camp means for the first time. "Sammy can't go to heart camp because he hasn't had heart surgery, right, Mom? Not many kids have heart surgery, right?" He was eager to tell me about petting a chicken and playing silly games and preparing for the talent show on Friday. I have been praying so hard that he will make a connection with a fellow (local) heart friend. We will see how the week pans out!

Sammy and Elijah were both sad this morning before camp. Elijah kept saying, "But I'm going to miss Sammy today!" and Sammy kept saying, "I miss Elijah sooo much!" When we saw Elijah walking down the road to meet us, Sammy ran into his arms, saying, "BUDDY!" These boys love each other so dang much.

He did the EXACT same thing last year, but Elijah wasn't as receptive then. :)

We have a lot going on this week! It'll be a crazy one, but my post-surgery fog finally seems to have lifted. I actually planned a week's worth of dinners, wrote out a detailed schedule through next Sunday on the white board and have planned out a few photo shoots, work days and some fun time. I love having a clear head!

Thanks for checking in and I hope you all had a great weekend!

Thinking in bullet points tonight.

- I'm feeling super thankful for the wonderful people in our lives. My cousin Trevor (our "car doctor," as the boys call him) has been such a huge help with our cars over the years. He so willingly helps us when we are in need of car help. He stopped by tonight to peek at our hood issue and he will spend a part of his day tomorrow replacing said injured hood. Then my stepmom VERY graciously offered to purchase a rental car for the boys and me so we won't have to fret about my old car crumbling on the interstate as we drive across the country. The road trip is ON and with much less stress! Thank you, wonderful people whom we love so much!

- I read an insightful chapter in my NLD book today and have contemplated it for most of the afternoon. Basically, whenever Elijah acts out, he is either overwhelmed or confused. We need to provide him with a "safe" place in our home that he can escape to when needed (especially since he does not have his own bedroom). We need to learn how to provide him with as much predictability as possible, especially when we're away from home. Over-explaining things/schedules repeatedly (something I've ALWAYS done) is very helpful for him.

- Sammy's fourth golden birthday is TOMORROW! I remember his birth so clearly. I was scared, really scared, for surgery. I remember his deep growl and I remember the doctor shouting, "HE'S SEVEN POUNDS EVEN!" I remember holding him and wondering why there weren't wires, tubes and IV poles attached to him. I remember loving him like absolute crazy and not wanting to even sleep because I adored him so much and wanted to be touching him at all times. I remember Elijah meeting him for the first time and saying, "Can I hold it?!" :)

- I love how Sammy says "pecause" instead of "because" and "long-mower" instead of "lawn mower."

- So many things have been making more sense lately as I continue to absorb new information about Elijah. I've been thinking about all those times when I became annoyed because he had to know the guy's name in the car next to us on the interstate or how many minutes/miles it would take for us to arrive at a certain destination or what time and date we would be able to see a certain person again. He was labeling everything! It wasn't OCD (like I've thought all along). He needed a verbal label and he needed it repeated in order to remember it.

- I am so excited to spend time with my wonderful heart mom friend Sarah and her two wonderful boys! Just a few more days!

- Tonight I found Sammy outside with his new squirt gun, washing my injured car's windows so thoughtfully and carefully. He even began washing the tires!

- Elijah willingly washed a few dishes on his own tonight. I have no idea what was going on there. Is there a full moon tonight?

- I hate packing. Are there Packing Assistants for hire?

- Sammy requested StraBlueNkle pancakes in the morning for breakfast. Short for: strawberry-blueberry-sprinkle pancakes. We'll make it happen for the golden birthday boy!

- I'm off to wrap Sammy's birthday gifts. Here's hoping our sweet youngest boy has a memorable golden birthday!

First grade track and field day!

Sammy and I spent the day with Elijah at school for Track and Field Day. For the first two hours, it was FUN! It was great to see Elijah out there with the rest of the kids, trying his absolute best. He needed a little help and struggled a bit, but he TRIED! I was proud. On the first "hippity hop" race, he got about halfway before one of the gym teachers carried him the rest of the way.

The second race was a relay, so he didn't have as far to go. He was very much behind everyone else, but he finished!

Sammy even got to run in a race! He was thrilled about it. He got a "participation" ribbon and was telling Elijah's friends that he won first place. "I'm SO speedy! And strong!" :)

It was sunny and HOT! The boys got a little too much sun, despite the layers of sunscreen I slathered on them. I was so busy taking care of them and worrying about them becoming dehydrated that I forgot to put sunscreen on myself. Ouch!

Toward the end of the event, all of the kids were just plain tired. I love this photo of Elijah in the center and everyone sprawled out and so exhausted. He has some really sweet kids in his class! There are a handful of boys I could actually say I adore! They were so kind to and patient with Elijah. They approached him and asked him questions and tried to play silly games with him. Sometimes he responded appropriately and sometimes he didn't. He has improved SO MUCH in this area. Sammy was really comfortable around E's pals and asked them all sorts of things and told them very random things about our family. "My mom likes to take baths at night!"

Tug-of-war was fun. Elijah got a kick out of it, although this was right around the time when I saw the switch flip in him. He went from being happy, cooperative Elijah to I-want-to-make-everyone-mad Elijah. I was his first victim. I saw it coming. He sat down next to me, dug his fingernails into my arm and said under his breath, "I'll smack you in the face." Yeah. :( I couldn't discipline him like I would have at home, so the only thing I could think to do was walk away and sit somewhere else. I saw him cry big dramatic tears as he screamed, "My mommy LEFT ME!" Oh please. A few minutes later, he came over and said sorry and asked me to sit by him. Then I started noticing that he was pushing his friends just a little too hard and grabbing Sammy's arm and yanking him around. I pulled him aside and spoke to him firmly. His response was a screaming, "I DON'T WANT TO SIT DOWN." Ugh.

Sammy had a really rough day, too, so I feel depleted and disheartened tonight. These boys are so tough right now. They are both in tough stages, and feed off one another so negatively. I have been doing EVERYTHING possible to get them good sleep at night, but nothing seems to work.

Sammy was whiny from the moment he woke up this morning. When we got to E's school, he wanted to do absolutely everything his own way. "No, Sammy, you cannot walk through that race! You'll get trampled!" "BUT I WANT TO." Ugh!

At lunch the first graders went into their classroom to eat. Sammy and I stayed outside with some other parents/families to eat our lunch. After I opened Sam's cheese wrapper for him, he FREAKED OUT. "DON'T OPEN MY CHEESE WRAPPER! I WANT TO DO IT!" "Ok, well it's done, Sam, so you'll need to get over it." "GO BACK HOME AND GET ME A NEW ONE SO I CAN DO IT MYSELF!" "Uh no, that's not going to happen." He whined and moaned and cried about that for ONE HOUR. I'm not joking. When we got home, he didn't like something I had said or done so he ran outside in circles in hopes of not being caught. The whole time he was SCREAMING as if I was going to hurt him. "DON'T TOUCH ME! I'M NOT GOING INSIDE!" I finally grabbed him, flailing, hitting and kicking my body, and brought him inside. I carried him to my room and put him in my bed and hugged him until he stopped.

When I told him what we were having for dinner tonight, he told me (as usual) that he'd rather have something else.

If there was ever a question that we might have another child, today confirmed an absolute NO for me.

On a totally different note, Elijah surprisingly had a great afternoon at therapy (PT/OT). And Sammy was a perfect angel in the waiting room. ??? E's wonderful PT chatted with me for a few minutes about the neuropsychologist's report. She has been a PT for many many years, keep in mind. Her words: "That was the best neuropsych report I have EVER read." Based on his report, she requested more time with E from our insurance company and it was granted! She has all kinds of new things to work with Elijah on based on Dr. M's recommendations.

The boys are finally quiet. I am going to go outside and read my new book on Nonverbal Learning Disorders. Have a great rest of your week! Thank you for the white board/chalk board recommendations!

Mishap Monday

I don't have Dan to talk to in the evenings after the boys are in bed, so I feel compelled to sign on and write! Sammy and I spent a day together while Elijah was at school (it was an "ok" day today...I'll take it). I rushed to get some photos edited this morning so we could stop by the post office on our way to the gym. Sammy and I walked up to the counter at the P.O. and...oh no. I realized I had left my purse at home. I loaded Sam back into the car and got into the driver's seat. Uhh, where are my keys?! Seriously, I...the most methodical OCD person when it comes to things I should be keeping track of...was suddenly without a purse AND keys?! I thought I was losing my mind! I quickly ran back into the P.O. and asked if anyone had seen keys lying around. I got a few strange/worried glances, as they had all just witnessed my missing purse saga. I went back to the car and Sammy was holding up my keys in front of his face. "Mommy! You told me to hold these!" Oh boy. I have relived the scene a hundred times today and I have no recollection of handing Sam my keys. The rest of the day took place without dementia precursors, so I'm chalking that strange 10 minutes up to a tired mama brain.

I bet you didn't know that babyporta.com was your source for field trip follies and tired mama mishaps! So happy to entertain!

Bringing Elijah to karate is one of the many things Dan takes care of each week. I took him to karate tonight for the first time in a long time and it was so much fun! His skills are coming along and he is working so hard. Granted, his attention wanders more than most, but he tries his best. Here's a cute pic I snapped of E and S afterward (I really tried to get Lamby out of the shot).

Here's a quick video of my silly boys enjoying the lovely outdoors..

I got called into work tomorrow and Wednesday, so I'll be doing the "scramble," as I call it. Get E on bus-get S to daycare-drive quickly down to Cannon Falls-work 5 hours-hurry home-get E off bus-get S from daycare-BREATHE. If Elijah has a "great" day tomorrow, we plan to visit a park after school that the boys having been just dying to go to for weeks. I hope it works out! Have a great night and thanks for putting up with my rambling (once Dan is home I won't be so annoying).

First ear update

First update from OR is not exactly what we wanted to hear. The cholesteatoma has regrown.  Dr. L found three pearl-sized "bits" of tissue but he doesn't know how extensive the situation is or what lies beneath. He has not made a decision about whether or not to proceed with reconstructing ear bones. Elijah is otherwise doing great! Next update will be in an hour. In the meantime...me, my iPhone and American Horror Story!  (Dan thinks I'm crazy.)

Good news Monday

After a weekend filled with sickness (me) and serious behavioral issues at home (E), I was thrilled and a little bit shocked to learn that Elijah had a "wonderful" day at school today. It seems so random. He has been waking up so much and so early the past few nights, so I assumed he would have a rough day. Who ever knows?! Tonight he was unusually focused when following directions and doing homework. Most nights do not go nearly as smoothly. Hopefully it's just a matter of time to get the kinks out. If he has another good day tomorrow, I've promised him a movie theater outing over the weekend. I am not above bribery.

We have been consistent with bringing him to karate since he started a few weeks ago. Dan and I both think it is doing great things for him. Here is a cute video from tonight's lesson. He's slower than the other kids, but he does it correctly! Sound familiar?! :)

Dan said he also got to break his first board tonight! Here is a pic of that.

He earned his first karate "star" tonight for showing self-control and discipline in school today and Thursday of last week. GO ELIJAH!

Sammy is doing GREAT with potty! He has kept his pants totally dry for a few days now. We are still working on #2, but he is doing so well and we are proud! Could it be? Could we possibly have TWO potty-trained boys shortly? I still promise that we are going to throw a Potty Party when that happens. Toilet-shaped cake and all!

Tomorrow marks the middle of the month, which I'm happy about. October is an absolutely insane month for us, so having a breather in a few weeks will be nice. Thank you for checking in! Have a great rest of your week!

Make-A-Wish REVEAL!

Click here to watch Elijah's (& Sammy's!) Make-a-Wish reveal video!

Catching up

The little boys and I got home from our trip up north on Monday. We enjoyed spending time with family. Look! Elijah has perfected his swinging, pumping ALL BY HIMSELF. We have been working on this for a couple years now. I'm a proud mama!

As I mentioned in my last post, Elijah is in rare form these days. The summer action has caught up with him and he is one sleep-deprived little dude. We have literally been putting him to bed at 6:30 every night since we have been home. He falls promptly asleep and sleeps solidly until at least 6:00 the next morning. We will continue to do this for as long as his body needs it.

Behavior has been bad enough in the past few days/weeks that Dan and I have decided to make another change for Elijah. We have decided to eliminate food additives/preservatives from his diet for a while, as well as limiting his sugar intake. I have read so much about food dyes/additives contributing to challenging behavior in children, and just want to give it a try for a few weeks to see if there is a change. I'm feeling a little bit desperate and honestly just want a happy boy and family again. I will do anything, even if it means finding a second (third?) job to help finance the ridiculously expensive food.

Sammy and I were able to spend today together, which was needed and very special. Dan and Elijah were away for most of the day since Elijah had three different doctor's appointments. We like cramming them all in on the same day!

Appointment #1 involved getting fitted/molded for AFOs (ankle-foot orthotics) that will hopefully help with his ankles that turn inward, causing his feet to turn outward when he walks. He had AFOs back when he first started walking, but hasn't had them since he grew out of them. His PT thinks they will benefit him at this point, so we are on board!

Appointment #2 was an ear surgery follow-up with ENT. He took another hearing test, which showed no changes. E's next ear surgery to have a prosthetic device placed and hopefully improve the hearing in his left ear is scheduled for October 22nd.

Appointment #3 was a routine check-up with pulmonology regarding croup. The past year showed improvement in this realm (yay!), and we are praying for continued progress. Last year Elijah only had TWO croup episodes, so this year we are praying for NONE!

I am off to catch up on a little work and chill with my hubby! Have a good week and thanks for checking in.

Heart camp happiness

Here is a sweet video of Sammy greeting Elijah as we picked him up from Heart Camp today. He loves his bro so much (and vice versa)! Camp seems to be going well. Elijah doesn't seem to be connecting with kids yet, but I am still hopeful and I pray for this to happen at least twelve times every hour.

Trip tales coming soon!

Summer is here, BLESS THE LORD!

Summer weather is finally here, yay! We have been LOVING our time outside, which has thrown a wrench in our routines (eating dinner as a family at the dining room table, etc.) but we are fine with that. We have been without warmth for so long that we are willing to throw a few rules out the window in order to enjoy the delicious weather.

One of the routines/traditions we established through the winter was Pizza-Movie night every Friday night. It has become a weekly routine that we have all looked forward to every week. 

Now that the weather is getting nicer, I thought it might be a good idea to transform Pizza-Movie night into Picnic-Popsicle night! The boys are very excited about that idea. We tried it for the first time last week and it was a success.

As a family we experienced much growth over this 2013 winter. We now have a very very awesome and spirit-filled church that we can call our own. We have family dinners almost every night with near-proper-ness (ha!). We have implemented "No Technology Tuesdays" and the boys have completely adapted to this with no complaints. We read the Bible regularly and Jesus is an integral part of all of our lives. We have experienced major spiritual growth as a family this winter and we are soooo happy about all of this!

We are excited about what this summer will bring. We have MANY fun adventures in store!

Here is a video from the past few months that makes us all very happy! Bless the Lord!!!

Easter 2013

How has it been a week since my last post? Last week was Elijah's spring break, so we took the boys on a few fun outings. We joined a gym (finally), so Elijah was able to enjoy the pool and play area (daycare, which is like kid heaven). Sammy did not have a single bit of interest in enjoying the pool or the play area, unfortunately, although we did put him in the play area one day. I returned to find him sitting by himself, nearly in tears, sucking his thumb. When he saw me he ran to me and burst into quiet tears. Every time we ask him if he wants to go anywhere at all, he says, "I want home!" Poor guy. I know that feeling! That was me when I was his age. We continue to encourage him to try new things while still being sensitive to his feelings.

Easter was busy and fun! Church was awesome. Elijah was able to "sing" in front of church with his friends (he actually had his head turned away the entire performance, as he looked at the giant screen). It was seriously cute, though. Here is a very brief video clip of one of his little friends, ushering him out of the church after their song was over. The little girls adore him!

This video is from part of the song the kids were singing and doing sign language to. You can barely see the top of E's head behind the little boy in the front. I LOVE this song and have not been able to stop singing it since Sunday.

Dan's sister Christine snapped this pic of us on Easter. Handsome boys! And don't forget Lamby!

This was the best photo of about 25 I took of the boys. As is the case most of the time with picture-taking, Elijah is in full cooperation mode and Sammy is in anti-cooperation mode. E preferred that his tie be on the outside of his vest. :)

Dan's grandma and eight of her (many) grandchildren. These are all of the boys' cousins on Dan's side. Cute bunch!

My boys, me and of course Lamby!

I had some boy funnies to share, but I can only think of one of them!

On the way to church on Sunday, Sammy said to Elijah, "Elijah, what was your favorite part of the morning?" Without hesitating, Elijah answered, "I like being handsome and awesome!" :)


I hope you all had a nice Easter, as well.

Elijah's 6th birthday party!

We love this six-year-old! :)