Drama At Church

The story I am about to post happened 2 weeks ago if that tells you how far behind I have gotten thanks to a little stinkbomb who likes to keep me from getting anything done (he shall remain nameless but his name starts with a C...)

Ian was complaining when he woke up that the Holy Ghost was in his tummy. I guess the Holy Ghost sounded like something scary to him and he was hurting so that was his way of describing it. The pain was in his right side (appendics). My first reaction was to ask him if he needed to use the bathroom. He went, and felt better. We got ready for church thinking all was well. As we went to get in the car, Ian was laying on his stomach on the hot cement on our front porch. I asked him what was going on; was he cold? Tired? Sick? He wouldn't really say so I figured he was just tired. As we were about a minute away from pulling into the parking lot Ian was saying he felt like he was going to throw up and was gritting his teeth because he was in so much pain. We parked the car and Mike carried Ian inside because he couldn't walk.

Lauryn and I went into the chapel and grabbed one of the doctors who is a doctor specializing in newborns (I am spacing on the official name). We found him and told him something was wrong with Ian and he left the chapel with us. I knew at that point it was going to get some attention; but thankfully, we were subtle enough that only a few noticed and came out to see if everything was ok and if they could help. We were worried that it was appendicitis or kidney stones and asked the doc if we were being overly paranoid or should take him to the ER. Based on Ian's health history we decided it would be best if he went in.

It was a long drive to the ER as I wondered how much more my heart could take if there was something seriously wrong. We got to the hospital and he started throwing up which made me even more convinced that it was appendicitis. They drew some blood and did a urine test to rule out kidney stones. Then we went in for an x-ray and waited to hear the results.

Well, it was the best case scenario. He was extremely constipated so it was an easy fix. I didn't realize he could be constipated if he was going- he had just gone that morning, but evidently, you can be. The fecal matter (aren't I proper) was super high up into his intestines. I know that constipation can be a side effect of chemo and we had Mirilax for it, but I wasn't giving him any because I didn't know he was backed up. He had to get an enema (poor thing) but he felt awesome about 5 minutes later. I think he lost a good 3-5 pounds.

Ian saw the picture and is now convinced that there is a dog living in his tummy because of the way the shadows and stuff look on it (I'll admit, it really does look that way). They gave him a copy of his x-ray which he proudly taped on his wall and shows to everyone calling it his "poop picture". I wasn't about to post it to the site, I have a little more class than that (not much) but if you are disappointed, come to our house. Ian will gladly show it to you.

Super Hero School

We weren't quite sure what to do with Ian as far as preschool went this year. I am absolutely terrified to have him enrolled anywhere especially with all the hype about the Swine flu. Two of my cute friends who live down the street from me, have little boys Ian age and they are best buds. We decided to do a preschool between the three of us. They are completely aware of his situation and I don't have to worry about them bringing their kids sick and I don't have to feel like we are wasting money if he gets put into quarantine and can't go.

As we met and the ideas began to flow, we decided to call it the Super Hero School for Boys (no girls allowed except for the moms of course). It has been so fun planning everything around a super hero theme. Sara is too cute and she actually made uniforms for them to wear which is a super hero t-shirt and a cape with their initial on the back. (When all the capes are together the three boys initials spell either BID or DIB.) They all have matching backpacks as well with several super heroes on them.

They had their first meeting Tuesday at Sara's house where she kind of laid down the rules and tested them to see where they were at. The next morning, Ian started bawling when I told him he didn't have school that day. Then on Thursday, we had our first field trip where we went to the Great Mall and had to find things like the letter S, snakes, slides, gumball machines, etc. Needless to say, it was a hit! I am so in trouble! I am going to be the boring teacher, I can already tell:) Ian said he wants to go to the Superhero School for Boys Forever. I guess we have a lot of work to do in order to turn it into a University:)

Four Months Old!!!

It is hard to believe that Caleb is four months old already. He had his well baby visit and all looks good. He came in at 90% for length and 75th for weight. He has started to roll over (from back to front and only to the right). We also can begin to give him rice cereal now. The kids were so excited to watch his first attempt at eating the stuff. He did fairly well at getting it down although he did need a bath afterwards to get the glued on cereal off.

From the nose down, he is all me. The eyes, are definitely Mike. It is crazy to look at a baby that looks like me. He is the first one where I can truly see it. I don't know if I have a warped memory or not but I don't remember my other kids being as high maintenance as he is. Caleb is a huge cat napper. I will just barely get him down and then he is up within 10-15 minutes screaming. He spends a lot of time in a front pack (which I am sure is going to cause me to spend a lot of time at the chiropractor). I guess I am just to loveable. He can't stand to be away from me because I am such an awesome mom:)

The nights have been so beautiful here lately. He was really having a hard time going to sleep so he and I snuggled up in the hammock while the kids fired up the fire pit and roasted marshmallows with Mike. He absolutely loved it and so did I. It was nice to hold and enjoy him while relaxing without worrying about the next thing I needed to get done. We need to lay in the hammock more. You cannot be stressed while hanging out in one. It is too peaceful.

We are a nerdy computer family. I think pretty much anyone who knows us will concur with that. My kids can conquer Lego Star Wars pretty much the day they can walk. We have more computers than family members (ok, slight exaggeration, but pretty stinking close). Caleb is already being primed as he sits in the crook of Mike's arm watching the screen while he programs (as you can see in the above posted picture). A perfect example of just how ingrained the computer is into our life is Ian. It was his turn to pray at dinner and he folded his arms and sat there quiet for a few seconds before he said, "I forgot the password. I need help."

Ian had an appointment on Tuesday. He was in a a great mood and it was adorable to listen to him singing "You Are My Sunshine" and "Pearly Shells" all the way to the hospital. The second we got there, he was completely silent and avoided making contact with all of the nurses and Dr. Max. He was brave though and opted to sit alone with me holding his hand as they accessed his port. It was just a routine injection of Vincristine, labwork, and then we were done.

The big event of the week was we took the training wheels off his bike. He instantly took off and was riding! Ian was so excited and proud! He only needs a little help getting started and then he is good to go. I am sure he will be totally proficient at starting alone in no time at all.

He hit the jackpot today and got about a 100 hot wheel cars from a friend of mine. She is soon sending her baby off to college and was cleaning out her garage and they were so sweet to think of Ian. We went over there so he could pick out his favorites. I was blabbing and not really paying attention, but evidently, they were all his favorites as there was not a car that didn't make it into the box we took home. He spent all day lining them up in a perfect straight row and then, sorting them into piles according to color. He had everything from an orange pile, to red, to silver, and camoflauge. Now, if we could just channel those organizational skills into his bedroom...

In addition to scoring the cars, he also scored 2 GI Joe's (Barbie size) and HUGE Hummer that they fit in. I was cracking up to see that he had rounded up 2 of the girls Barbie's and put them in the back seats so that each of the GI Joe's could have a girlfriend.

Caleb is growing like a weed. He gets more and more interactive by the day. We just discovered he is ticklish now and laughs hysterically at all the dumb faces and noises we make at him. He has gotten so strong and is really close to turning over.

It is so hard to believe that the summer is almost over. School starts in about a little over a week. I don't know what I am going to do when the girls leave. They have been such a big help to me. We just got to go and see their new school. It is so nice! Can a school be beautiful? Because, it really was. It is so open and spacious and there are HUGE windows everywhere you go. I think the power could go out and they would barely notice a difference as far as the lighting is concerned. They are so excited to start now. We will find out on Thursday who their teachers are and which friends are in their classes.