Happy Easter

I love Easter, and love these happy faces.

No More Cast!

Jack finally got the cast off his leg today. We have been anxiously awaiting this day for awhile! His leg was SO stinky when they removed it. I couldn't wait to get him home and submerge him in water. He has had his arm in a brace for a little while but got to get rid of that today too. His leg will remain in a brace for 3 more weeks and then hopefully we will be able to ditch that too. Jack was SO excited to finally take a bath which is one of his favorite things to do. He really missed it. I took the cutest video of him in the bath tub, but then deleted it on accident. I am SO mad at myself about that. He spent about an hour in the tub, and when he got out, he had some of the cutest wrinkly feet I've ever seen. He now has to learn how to walk in the brace which is a bit tricky cause his leg is bent at a different angle. But I'm sure he'll get the hang of it, and soon enough I'll be chasing after him again.

Fun Day on the Farm

 Me and the boys went for a visit to Grandma and Papa's. They got to watch Papa on the tractor, play on the tractors and the bulldozers, and go check on the cows with Aunt Terry. After a yummy lunch that included some of Grandma's delicious fried chicken, the boys had fun hangin' out with Papa in the recliner, and listening to him make different animal sounds. Fun day with good memories.

 

Another EMU Visit

Will's seizures started to increase in January, and despite changes in medication and adding different medicines/steroids, we haven't had any decreases. He has been having several in his sleep on most nights. He typically has 4-10 a night. They aren't very long or noticeable (most of the time), unless you're a paranoid Momma.

Will and I returned to Vanderbilt this afternoon for him to be admitted for a one night stay in their Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, EMU. We are here to make sure he doesn't have electrical status epilepticus during slow wave sleep, ESESS. That basically means that even though his body is able to rest his brain is not. This can result in cognitive impairments. Will always amazes me with how well he takes all the poking and prodding in stride. He is generally very patient and really tries his hardest to cooperate, but at the same time isn't shy about letting you know if he doesn't like something. He's a good mix of stubborn and agreeable. He has already fallen asleep and had a few seizures so I'm hopeful will know in the morning. So thankful to have a wonderful hospital so close to home.

Childs Prayer Round 2

I made soup and sandwiches for dinner the other night and when we called the boys to the table, Jack was really pouting about having to stop playing to eat. Patrick asked who would like to offer the prayer. Jack quickly and little too eagerly volunteered. His prayer?

"Dear Heav'ly Father, I don't like my sooup

I don't like my sanwich! It's goss!

Amen." 

Such a stinker...

Can't Keep a Good Cowboy Down

Jack got his splints changed for casts today. They cut the one off his wrist before X-raying it but left the leg one on. He was so excited saying, "It's all betta!" he was utterly disappointed when it was confirmed that there was a break in the wrist, and it would need to be put in a cast. Then he was devastated that picking "out colors" meant for his cast and not for a treat...Oops! I guess I should have been more specific. He had a morning full of disappointments, poor guy. So following, his appointment we had to do something about all that disappointment and picked up the only weapon I know that really helps in times like these; a chocolate milkshake. He forgave me.

Makin' Hay

Lucky No. 7

Patrick and I have been married for seven years today. Wow. We celebrated by him leaving work early (probably the best gift you can give a wife who stays home with little kids), me finishing up the painting in the boy's bathroom, going out as a family to Chuey's (our first time going and we loved it), then to Home Depot, then to Sweet CeCe's (expensive but tasty and fun for a special night), then back home to put the kids to bed, and clean the bathroom up together. Yup. He is the man of my dreams.

Nashville Temple

Honeymoon in Cabo San Lucas

Nov 2010

Goodbyes Are The Worst

Oh, how I hate saying bye to these two. They hold a special piece of my heart. 

At Grandma's

Brett gave Layla is old electric guitar. The kids were all pretty fascinated with it. It made Layla quiet the popular one with it.  Jack has learned how to get around with his splints. It is pretty pitiful but very hilarious to watch him drag himself across the floor. Poor guy.

"There's a Bunch of Bones Inside Me..."

Jack was procrastinating nap time eating his lunch, I was putting dishes away, and Will was climbing into bed, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jack starting to fall from his chair at the table. As I quickly tried to get to him, I thought that he was going to fall right on his head.  Seconds later, I realized I never heard a thump and that his right foot was stuck in the slats of the chair. As I pulled it out, I thought for sure it was broken. It just looked so contorted. He was screaming in pain and just sounded so pitiful. I quickly gave him some Motrin and told him we needed to go to the doctor. Oh my did that terrify him! He really started crying then and saying he was scared. I carefully carried him to his room and laid him on the floor so I could change his diaper and shirt. The shirt was soaking wet from a cup of water that spilled on him when he fell. While he was laying there crying, I asked, "Does your foot hurt really bad?" He said, "And my arm." That confused me because I didn't see him bump it. He let out a loud scream when I changed his diaper and paranoia set in that his hip was dislocated. I called the doctor and they told me to come right on. When I told Will he needed to change clothes so we could take Jack, he wasn't very sympathetic. He said,"But it's my nap time!" What can I say? The kid loves his naps. While I was gathering up our things to go, Jack was laying in his floor crying and not moving, and begging for me to hold him. It was pretty sad. I couldn't help but get teared up a few times. I tried to reassure him that the doctor would make it all better.

With all the emergency hospital visits we've had to make, one of the most important things I've learned is never forget their blankets or favorite sleeping buddy. I can't stress how necessary these items are!! I didn't grab them the first time we had an ER visit, but I've always remembered since. When we got to his office, I carefully unbuckled Jack and made sure to take his bear and blanket in with us. As we were walking in Jack through his tears mustered some courage and said, " I have my bayer and banket. I'm gonna be so brave. I'll be allll right." He is such a sweet, tender hearted little boy!

After a few X-rays it was determined that Jack's tibia was broken. The arm X-rays weren't showing any visible breaks but he was still not using it. They sent us to an orthopedic doctor who took a few more Xrays of Jack's arm. He saw fluid around the elbow in the growth plate. He thought it best to go ahead and splint it along with the leg just in case. When we come back in a week, the Xray should give us more information.

Jack was a pretty good sport through the whole ordeal but started feeling pretty sorry for himself when we got home, and he realized he couldn't drink his milkshake without help from Mama. He was so sad that he almost didn't drink it at all. After dinner, he was ready for bed. I laid him on our bed and turned on Bubble Guppies for him. There is an episode "Call a Clambulance" about a fish that breaks his tail bone. Jack has a new imaginary bosom buddy! But when the first catchy song came on. "A Bunch of Bones," and Will jumped up to dance, Jack got big tears in is eyes and said, "I can't dance! Mommy take it off. My boo boos all better." It was pretty pitiful.

Say "Cheese!"

Will has taken an interest in taking pictures lately. I often find him with my apparently not very well hidden camera. I was uploading my pictures today to the computer, and as I was scanning through the many pictures that were obviously taken by him, I was a tad mortified when I came to one that had me sitting on the toilet! I couldn't help but laugh, but sheesh! The toilet?!? Just another reminder that a.) when you are a Mom of little children, no matter how many times you may say, "I need some privacy please" you're not gonna get it (good for you for trying though!), b.) expect the unexpected (never coulda seen this one comin'),  and c.) be extra careful about the things you say and do in front of them, because you better believe they're gonna tell everybody they know, and some they don't, all about your business.

Dr. Will and Dr. Jack

We were able to go see Grandma Miller on Saturday evening. She will be 95 in March. Her eyesight has gotten really bad, so she asked the boys if they'd let her hold them since she couldn't see them very well. They let her hold them which I was so grateful for. After that they decided her slippers looked pretty interesting. They decided to start checking them out. This quickly changed over to them being doctors as they pretended to fix her leg. Grandma really enjoyed all the attention she got from them, despite the look of alarm in one of the pictures (she got a kick out of it). They told her she did a "good job," and for that she was awarded several imaginary suckers. Before we left she told the boys that she couldn't wait for her next doctor appointment with them. It was a sweet visit.

2011

As I have been thinking over the year that was 2011, I've had a lot of emotions flood through me. I remembered tonight, as we rung in the new year at Julee's last year, someone saying something along the lines of "good riddance to 2010. " Many of those that were present and heard the comment agreed. Some made comments about what difficult times they or someone they loved or knew had been having. 2010 wasn't particularly horrible for us, but it certainly wasn't any picnic. Don't get me wrong there was plenty to be grateful for, but it still had been tough.

Enter 2011...pretty sure the hardest yet. So many nights I cried myself to sleep. So many prayers for more faith, patience, and reprieve I uttered. So many times I fought back emotions as I tried to explain, answer questions, and make sense of what I didn't understand. I hate remembering those really hard days. It's just so hard to go back there. To think about how scared we were nearly every minute of the day. How unfair it was! How when things would start to get better they almost always got way worse. Sometimes life is just h.a.r.d. and really unfair. Period. And it's ok to acknowledge that. It's not our job to "fix"it and try to reason the pain away.  I try to focus on the incredible progress that Will has made, and how much we love being together and going and doing things.

So it is that I'm a little weary to send this year off with a  "good riddance." I hope I have learned what I needed up to this point, and pray that next year won't be a refresher course or an advanced level class. I am sad to see it go. It has ended on such a high, high note with so many hopes and expectations of all the good that awaits our family. I feel like we are living again and not just surviving. And while things are not perfectly perfect if there is such a thing, we are together.