Back from the land of magic!

We are home from our amazing Florida trip! I actually don't even know how to describe our adventure in words. It would be impossible. It was the most magical, amazing, memorable vacation I have ever experienced in my lifetime. I only pray that our boys will take the good memories with them forever! 

Give Kids the World Village was our "home base" for the week, and I cannot say enough good things about this amazing place. They treat children like celebrities 24 hours/day. Our boys have never gotten so much love and been so spoiled ever before (and that's saying a lot!). Around every corner was a surprise. A cookie truck handing out cookies and lemonade. A generous group of people randomly handing out Christmas presents. Gifts being left on our kitchen table daily. Free food and ice cream whenever we wished. Rides on trains. A huge party every single night, in which EVERY child was made to feel like the most important person in the world. A carousel to ride any time of the day. A tree that snored. Access to a pool and splash park and mini golf and arcade games and a magical castle with a wishing well that burps (this was the boys' FAVORITE place and we visited it twice/day minimum). I could go on and on.  

In addition to everything at the Village, we were given passes to every theme park in the Orlando area. We made the most of those passes and managed to hit most spots on our list. Elijah's main wish was to go to Aquatic Waterpark, and we got the FULL treatment there. We felt like celebrities!

Not only did we get our very own dolphin show at Aquatica (seriously!), but we got our own HUGE cabana. We had our very own, private space for the day, which was stocked with goodies (a TON of goodies), a fridge filled with water and a couch and comfy chairs and the whole works. As the generous man from Aquatica walked us back to our area, I began to cry. I really didn't expect that sort of treatment. I felt overwhelmed and grateful for the experience and everything that was being done for us. Then we received two huge bags of goodies, including water guns for the boys, a framed photo of the four of us from the dolphin show, towels and candy and chips and seriously it went on and on. That wasn't all! We got a behind-the-scenes tour of the waterpark, where we learned about the inner workings of the park. Elijah and Sammy got to "line a backwash" by turning a giant wheel, which meant they helped to purify the water in the park that day! 

(taking a break in our cabana to eat mid-day...can you tell Elijah was tired?!)

We went to Magic Kingdom on Sunday and had a BLAST. I think it's safe to say it was our favorite place. One of the perks we received was having a Fast Pass that put us in the front of every line in every park. We took full advantage of this, as we knew we would never have this opportunity again. I think we made it on 10ish rides that day alone. They were all incredible! We walked for about 7 hours straight. The boys got to meet Mickey Mouse (Sammy loved this). Elijah got super duper special treatment and was sent back to meet the other Disney characters (Sammy ran screaming).

Elijah and Sammy bonded with Mayor Clayton and his wife Ms. Merry at the Village. They appear at the parties every night (there is a different theme every night of the week...pirate/princess, pool party, CandyLand, Halloween, birthday, Village Idol, Christmas) and at other various events during the day. Elijah especially was enamored by these two and was ready to pose with them for a photo at every opportunity. The last night of our trip, the boys got tucked in by Ms. Merry. I got video of that and Elijah has watched it about 100 times.

Elijah decided he wanted to be a contestant on "Village Idol," which is the Village's version of American Idol. He sang the Alvin and the Chipmunks version of Jingle Bells. He asked me to PLEASE come out on stage with him, so I did. I coached him through the song and he did GREAT! It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen and I'll never forget it.

We also made it to Animal Kingdom, although that was our roughest day. Elijah did not sleep well during most of the trip, and the night before AK was the roughest night. Our AK day was rough for all of us. We were running on fumes and we were all grumpy and totally spent. We did enjoy the Festival of the Lion King show, where we were again treated like royalty. We sat in the front row! Dan was called on stage to demonstrate a warthog noise (super funny). Then Elijah got to run around on stage with the performers! It was an incredible, colorful and enjoyable show. Sammy hid his face in my lap for most of it, in fear that someone would ask him to come on stage. :)

We went to Universal Studios one day and had a blast there. This is where we were introduced to the world of 3D! Elijah did great with it, which surprised me. Sammy was terrified. All of us except for Sammy loved the Despicable Me and Shrek rides. I rode on the Harry Potter ride by myself and was in HEAVEN. I was super happy to walk through Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. :)

There are so many other things! We went to Hollywood Studios and loved (all except Sammy) the Toy Story ride. We also attended a live Disney Junior show, which the boys loved. We went to Sea World and watched the Shamu show, which we thought was really cool until we watched the Dolphin Show. AMAZING! That was one of the highlights of our trip.

I'm hoping to put together a video of our trip in the next few weeks. I also have a huge list of Sammy quotes to share that are hilarious!

Elijah's sleep on the trip was sporadic, but mostly poor. He was up early (4:00ish) on most mornings. We tried the medication for a few days that his sleep specialist recommended and the following couple of days were VERY challenging. So we stopped the meds. We are praying so hard for answers in this area. I am dreading sending him back to school because I cannot stomach anticipating calls/emails from teachers and the principal. It makes me sick to think about it. Something needs to change and we are praying about what that might be. I have a few other things in the works that could help our boy. More on that to come (hopefully soon)!

We are SO GRATEFUL for our amazing trip, but we're also dealing with some major post-trip blues. Thanks for checking in! We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Chipping away at life and an AMAZING send-off party!

We have been chipping away at life. It seems like so much sometimes, doesn't it? Work, work, work and everything else. I don't mean to complain. I am GRATEFUL for work and busy-ness.

Today we surprised the boys with a Make-a-Wish trip "send-off" party. Our amazing wish team hosted the most incredible party at our house, and we were supported by our amazing family! It was a day to remember for all of us. We will never forget it.

I knew guests were showing up at 2:00 and the wish team was arriving at 1:15. I left the house with the boys at 12:30 with a destination of "the mall" in mind. The roads weren't ideal due to snow, so we ended up driving around on back roads (I wanted the boys to nap in the car) and then going to Target. When we arrived back home and drove by our driveway, we saw my cousin Trevor and his cuties walking along the snowy sidewalk. Elijah said, "Hey! Who IS that?!" I said, "Our neighbor Tom" (I knew he'd ask a name). "Why is Tom going to our door?" Uhhhh...  "What is Tom doing? Does Tom have kids?? WHO ARE THOSE PEOPLE? WHY ARE THEY GOING INTO OUR HOUSE?!?!?"

Elijah was onto me, but both boys were genuinely surprised when they walked into our home to find so many people saying "SURPRISE!!!" The party was a huge success. Its official name was Surprise Snowy Sunday Sundae Send-off Party (SSSSSP). The wish team had an extensive ice cream sundae bar set up and the kids played fun sundae-related games. It was a blast!

Sammy insisted on sitting RIGHT NEXT TO his brother...on the same chair. Those boys love each other so much.

The games the kids played were so much fun!

Here's a photo of all the kids on the stairs. HIIII! I'M ELIJAH! :)

The complete opposite of his brother, Sammy had to be physically forced into the photo.

Dan is flying out of town as I type. He will be gone until Wednesday morning, so I'll be playing the "single mom" role for a few days. Getting S to daycare, E on the bus, driving down to Cannon Falls to work, getting E from bus and S from daycare.. Please tell me we will survive the week! I can't quite yet envision that we are leaving for Florida in a few days. WE ARE LEAVING FOR FLORIDA IN A FEW DAYS!

I don't think I've mentioned Elijah's ear issues of late. He has had a bit of blood oozing from his surgery ear (along with an occasional low-grade fever), causing some concern. We are praying for minor issues, and his ENT doc does not seem worried. We are giving him ear drops a few times daily, in hopes that he had an ear infection after his last round of strep.

The sleep/behavior saga continues. Last week was a grueling one at school for our oldest boy. We continue to try to find the perfect formula for him. Things seem so complicated sometimes. Every little piece ends up affecting other pieces and it gets so tricky. I just hung up the phone with his sleep specialist and she told me, "He is such a tricky case!" Uhh, yep! In every aspect. But we love him unconditionally and we will continue to do our best to find the perfect formula to make him the happiest person possible, along with his precious brother, Sammy.

That's all for now! Have a great week and thank you so much for checking in!

Light at the end of the tunnel

I am titling the next 10 days THE END OF INSANITY. An end to the madness is finally in sight.

One of the catalogs I've been putting together for my freelance job is going to press this week, which means lots of hours. I have 2 food blog deadlines to meet and 3 photography sessions to edit. Both of our cars are causing us trouble, so we have to bring them in. I have skis to service (so excited to share about skiing opportunities coming up) and physical therapists to call and Christmas shopping to do and a party to plan (excited to share about this, too!). Elijah has his usual stuff going on this week, along with an appointment with his psychologist. Oh, did I mention Dan's birthday is on Thursday?! We'll try to get out for a date that night.

Dan will be out of town for a few days for work early next week and we have E's special ed re-eval meeting next Wednesday morning. But work will be dying down for me by then (I hope) and we leave for Florida next Friday. I plan to do ZERO work in Florida and focus only on my boys and having a ton of FUN with their cute selves! I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and I'm embracing it, hugging it, calling to it! Come closer, light!

Elijah did a photo shoot with the Make-a-Wish photographers a few weeks ago. Some of his pics may be displayed in their booth in the Mall of America (we haven't seen it yet, so not sure if he's there). We just got an email from his awesome wish team today with this link! Check it out!

I know, I know. We are NOT the only ones who are stretched beyond measure this time of year. It is fairly normal, which seems wrong somehow, doesn't it?! We wish you all grace and peace in order to get through this "season" while keeping smiles on your faces and keeping your focus on the real meaning of Christmas.

Thanks for peeking in! We wish you all a wonderful December!

Behavior and potty and very fun pics!

This week Elijah has come home from school each day saying to us, "I didn't go to the principal's office!" as if this is a great feat. "Ok, Elijah, this is good news, but having three time-outs from your classroom is not good." He has continued to disrupt his class with inappropriate laughing and talking. No hitting so far this week, which we are thankful for. The mommy stomach-aches continue. Every time my phone rings, I feel like I want to vomit.

We will get there, and I truly KNOW this is the truth. Dan and I are ON IT. We are in constant communication with E's teacher and social worker and special ed case manager and principal. We know things about his day before he imagines we could know them. We are all working together to help him. We are blessed to have such an amazing team of people working with us.

On top of this, we are in the throes of potty training Sammy. Oh my GOODNESS, is he a toughie! How did we get two such tough ones in the potty-training realm?! Again, WE WILL GET THERE. Sammy hates underpants and change and being told what to do.

I will end with a few Make-A-Wish reveal pics! So much fun. We love our boys to pieces!

Make-A-Wish REVEAL!

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

Getting to the root

When is the last time I posted three days in a row? :) This week has been a doozy! My eyes are tired and red from waking up at 3:00 every morning doing the crying and worrying routine. Today was better. We decided to keep Elijah home from school today to give his teacher a break and to let him catch up on rest. When I explained this to him this morning, he said, "KETCHUP?! I am NOT. ketchup." Catch UP, honey, not ketchup.

We have done A LOT of chatting with Elijah's school caregivers this week. Principal, teachers, school social worker and special education case manager. They are all desperately trying to understand him and his actions, and we appreciate that. We have given them as much information as we can provide and we have shown them that we are IN this, and that we will do everything in our power to make his first grade year as fruitful as possible for everybody.

There are some major issues we need to work on. There are some behaviors that absolutely have to stop. Elijah cannot continue hitting teachers (upon inquiring, I learned that he was actually "swiping" them, which is something he does to Dan and me occasionally at home) and acting inappropriately.

On my way to work yesterday morning, I was doing more pondering and fretting and I had a moment of clarity. LISTEN TO YOUR GUT, I told myself. What have I been saying all along? It's all about sleep for him. If he were a rested boy, he would definitely not be doing these things. So I thought about the facts. He NEEDS to go to bed ridiculously early in order to be rested. He wakes up every morning ridiculously early, some mornings at 3:00 or 4:00. Once he is awake, there is absolutely no going back to sleep. He is exhausted. Not just exhausted, but chronically and deeply sleep-deprived.

Since that listen-to-my-gut moment, I have taken matters into my own mama hands. :) I found a renowned pediatric sleep clinic here in Minneapolis and scheduled an appointment...for December. The earliest available appointment. Just as I was about to hang up the phone, I desperately said, "WAIT. Is there any insight you can give me?" The nurse said, "Welllll, I'm not supposed to do this, but..." She told me it sounded like E has a sleep disorder called Advanced Sleep Phase Disorder. Then she said, "This is an extremely rare disorder." I began laughing like a lunatic! "Megan, are you alright?" "Aaaahhh, yes, I'm fine. Of course it's extremely rare. I'm sorry.."

If you read through the description, it describes Elijah's sleep TO A T. The nurse shared with me that we could start "light therapy" on him to see if it helps before the appointment. I'm doing research on that and will hopefully have a light in our home by next week. I VERY much appreciate her giving me the info. I truly believe this sleep issue is the root of the difficulties he is having.

Dan and I will be meeting with E's principal and teacher tomorrow morning to discuss some issues. We are PRAYING for a good meeting and a good school day for our boy.

Tomorrow is Elijah's Make-a-Wish reveal! We are so excited to share it with him! We decided to surprise him right off the school bus. I'll share details tomorrow. Please pray for a GOOD day, all around. Thank you for your prayers.

And yes, Sammy does still exist! And we love him dearly! Man, this boy is cute and sweet and creative and awesome and funny and smart. He amazes me every single day. I can just sit and watch him in his non-stop-talking-ness and wonder how anything so adorable could ever exist. Sammy will be involved in Elijah's wish reveal tomorrow, and I'm sure he'll be super excited about that.

More tomorrow!

Quick Elijah update and SUPER DUPER EXCITING NEWS

We got a little more of the story today from Elijah's teacher and special education case manager. Apparently there is no possible way he could have been sitting at a table all alone at lunch, like I had imagined all night last night. I'm guessing he is feeling excluded in some way and that is the issue. We don't really know. Dan went along on a field trip with his class today and got a feel for Elijah's relationships with his peers. It's about what it's always been like. He does not know how to appropriately interact with kids he doesn't know very well. He SO BADLY wants to interact, but he gets nervous and mumbles and turns and runs away out of pure excitement. Put him in front of an adult or his bro Sammy and he does just fine!

We went to his school picnic tonight and he was so excited to see a few of his classmates. One little girl approached him and said hello. What did Elijah do? He ran the other way. I could tell he wanted her attention. BADLY. So I ran over and literally picked him up and brought him over to this sweet little girl. I said, "Elijah, TALK. Is this your friend?" She introduced herself and told me that she was in his class. I encouraged him to interact and finally got him to ask her, "Do you want to play?" They ran around for a bit and that made me happy. We will get there. Just like with everything else!

On a semi-related note, Elijah had to come home from school early twice last week due to an icky tummy and some accidents. He had been complaining of stomach pains last week, and had been having issues off and on since mid-August when we changed his diet. We took him to the doctor on Friday and had a bunch of tests done. We just got results back today and everything came back normal! Thank God! Now we need to figure out what is upsetting his tummy.

And now for super exciting news! A few of my heart mama friends suggested that we turn in a Make-a-Wish application for Elijah. At first I just didn't know. I felt some guilt since Elijah is doing so well and has such a great prognosis. I filled out the application and Elijah's cardiologist approved it without hesitation. We met with the Wish people and of course E won them over. His primary wish?? To go to a waterpark in Florida that he has been DROOLING over on my iPad for months. His secondary wish?? To go to his "factory." (Waterpark of America here in town.)

I got the call tonight. Elijah's primary wish has BEEN GRANTED. We will spend one week in Florida, at Aquatica (THE waterpark) or Disney or Seaworld or wherever. I am speechless. I am so happy. Our boy who has been through SO MUCH (and of course his awesome bro, too) will be SO HAPPY. I was sobbing on the phone and could not speak coherently. After the week we had with school-related issues, we decided that a school reveal would be perfect! Elijah is going to be so excited and it is going to be a total surprise!

Thank you so much for reading! Have a good night, friends.