Pictures from the party!

So I know it has been a while but I told my sweet siblings that couldn't make it to the birthday party for grandma that I would post pictures. After the party we released all the balloons to go to Katie who had died on grandma's birthday. Here you go!

Yes we are starting from the time we are driving there. LOL!

At this point Dylan was the camera man sitting with daddy and grandpa.

Yes I made sure that daddy had the camera before grandma came in through the door. :)

After we sang of course Dylan was in charge of the camera again. LOL!!

At this point daddy had the camera the rest of the time. Good thing too.

We love you Katie!!! Happy you are free from pain and illness!

Happy 80th Birthday Grandma!! We love you very much!

day 16- Another picture of yourself

Yes I know it is still not day 14 but since my kids have been sick I just cannot pull myself to take a family picture with them sick. :( So I might just have to post a picture that I have and that I have posted before. :( I know that doesn't sound fun but I guess it is a wait and see thing.

A picture of me????
Maybe I will do something crazy and post....

Photo of me and my sisters minus one. :)

Than a funny face. LOL!! Posing for me kids while they have the camera.

day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play

Yes I understand that 14 comes before 15 but I need to get a picture before I can post 14 so I guess I had better get that picture soon. I would so have it if I had not had my computer stolen. Oh well them dumb people that broke into my house... Ok better stop the ranting and get on with the posting. LOL!

Well seeing as I do not have an Ipod. I guess I will combine all my playlists and put that on shuffle and then let you know what I come up with. LOL!!! Bet you anything it is going to be a lot of Disney movie music since that is what my kids watch and so I listen. At least it all good clean music. :)

1 - Top of the World - By The Carpenters

2 - Once Upon a December - Anastasia by Disney

3 - On Jump Ahead - Aladdin by Disney

4 - Son of Man - Tarzan by Disney (Phil Collins)

5 - Under the Boardwalk - By The Drifters

6 - Two World - Tarzan by Disney (Phil Collins)

7 - Yo Ho, a Pirates life for me - Disney

8 - Friend Like Me - Aladdin by Disney

9 - On My Way - Brother Bear by Disney (Phil Collins)

What do you want to bet that the next song will be a Disney song? LOL! Can't tell what I listen to when ever I am cleaning or anything else huh? :)

10 - Under the Sea - Little Mermaid by Disney

ROTFL!!! I told you didn't I? Well I win... Not sure what I win but heck I still win. This was composed of all my playlists that I have and there was like over 80 songs. LOL! Most of them were Disney songs from music off their movies. :)

Ugh! Winter really sucks!

Yes winter is good for many things like playing in the snow, skiing (which no one in my house does), sledding (again no one in my house really odes this either), and snow angels. But there is this dark side of wither that it is like no one really knows about, it is call cold and flu season. Included in that is croup and RSV. Things like a little cold really don't do much to some people but to my kids it is HORRIBLE!!!

Take for example Rhett contracted walking pneumonia from a younger cousin. (I am not mad. This is just an example.) But his cousin just had a runny nose and was walking around fine acting just a little grumpy but mostly just the runny nose. Rhett got it and spiked 103 temps and had to be taken to the doctors and than was given breathing treatments, and antibiotics since it was in his lungs and he isn't able to keep it out of his lungs. But Rhett was home from school for a week and his temps stayed really high for 3 day minimum.

So this winter at least since December we have worked really hard keeping everyone healthy since Dylan and Rhett needed surgery. The hospital will postpone surgery's if you have been sick within the last month. So we go there on Friday with 2 healthy boys grateful that they have stayed healthy all these days. Of course Dylan is at that age where toy are funner than anything else. Then there is Rhett who love the video games. So as Rhett is playing the video games Dylan is playing with the toys. I was watching Dylan making sure is was being good and this little boy that was playing with the toys also coughed. WHAT THE HECK!! You are not suppose to be coughing in same day surgery. As I hold my breath waiting to see what happens, and of course nothing is going to happen like that meaning a split second later. DUH! What was I thinking?!?!? So of course this little boy's parents didn't say anything to him like "Honey please cover your mouth." Or "Remember to cover your mouth." My heck he should have been wearing a MASK! That is why they have them there. But since he was sick he shouldn't have been in the same day surgery place anyways!!! Ok that was my little vent.

So Sunday rolls around and Dylan is coughing this dry barking cough. WHAT THE HECK!!! NO!!!!!! He was healthy just 3 days ago. :( This really sucks. Than Sunday night he was coughing and chocking and wheezing. Holy crap little man please don't be sick. I called the bus driver and told him that Dylan was not going but he never got my call and showed up anyways. Then I called the doctors office and set up an appointment for Dylan who by this time had a whole bunch of snot out of his nose, struggling to breathe slightly. We go in and he has CROUP! I am so MAD!!! It is all because he had surgery on Friday!! Now he gets to miss school this week and try to recover from this nasty thing. He is still coughing and there is still snot coming out of his nose and I feel like I can't do anything to make him better. But for him I also wonder if the recovery time is going to be longer... What am I saying of course it is going to be longer!

Please people understand that when kids like mine get just a slight cold it is so much worse than if a perfectly "normal" healthy person gets that same cold. I was lucky that I have all the machines in my house that way I can keep the boys out of the hospital as much as I can. I can suction them, give them oxygen, check their oxygen saturation(O's), give them breathing treatments, and much more at home and if it gets to the point where I have to take them in it is really not good. I did call and talk to someone at the hospital and let them know that I was so not happy about what had happened and they need to inform more parents to keep there sick kids out of the surgery area.

So because of Dylan having croup no one really wanted to come over for Nikole's party and get their kids exposed. I don't blame them because I wouldn't want my kids exposed either if they were in my shoes. So since one 3 people were coming over we wanted to do something very special for her because everyone was there for Dylan's birthday a week ago, but not for her. So we took the kids out of the after school program early and we went bowling for an hour. Then we came home had cake and ice cream and had her open presents. She loved her birthday! She was so excited to be able to do all that she did that day. I took many different pictures until it was cake and ice cream time then it was daddy's turn to take the pictures so I am not sure how many pictures we got of her and her gift. Thank you everyone for you love and support to help make Nikole's day so happy.

Happy Birthday!!

Holy cow I am getting old!! Today was my sweet daughter's birthday and she is officially 9!!!!

I know can you believe that I would be old enough to have a little girl that old? LOL!

We had a very special birthday just for her since... I will have to explain later. Going to post pictures and some videos very soon.

Another day gone

Friday was a busy day for our family, it went something like this.

Get a call Thursday afternoon letting us know that both Dylan and Rhett are set up to be at the hospital at 7:30 am. You see they both needed to have surgery on their ears, meaning to have tubes placed in their ears. So as I was trying to think about who was going to watch Gavin and than take him to school I was panicking since the person that I had asked just had something come up so I was calling around and finally got my dad to watch him. So my dad told me that he was coming over at 7 am so we could be at the hospital by 7:30 am. Ok.... We woke all the children up and had them all ready for school and the hospital before 7 am. And since 2 of them couldn't eat anything we all went with out. We took Nikole to school and dropped her off a little early since the school opens at 7:20 am for breakfast thank goodness. From there we headed to the hospital and made it there right after 7:30 am! It was amazing to see my husband driving like me, a little crazy. :) LOL!

We get there and check in. After that we wait and wait and wait. Man it is the waiting that kills seriously! Finally when it was their turn we got them measured, weighted, bp (blood pressures), temps, etc... Making sure they were fit as fiddles and ready to go. Then the both dressed in the hospital gowns and sat them together and got a cute picture since this was the first time they went in for surgery at the same time. Rhett was reading a book and Dylan was throwing a fit because he had a bracelet on that said his name. LOL!! Then we went to another waiting room grateful that they didn't have a anesthesiologist that I don't really like. As we entered another waiting room the toys are on one side of the wall and on the other side are the video games. So of course Rhett headed straight for the video games and Dylan wanted to play with the toys. It was a good thing that we were both there.

The doctors came and talked to us and told us that Dylan will be going in first and then Rhett. They were only going to be in the OR for about 20 minutes. So they gave Dylan his versed and some ibuprofen and than was able to take him right back with in less than 5 minutes. Wow that was fast. I walked with him back to the door and then walked back to where Rhett was with daddy playing video games.

I gave my dad a call and told him that there was a good chance that we will be home before Gavin gets out of school. I thanked him for watching Gavin and taking him to school for us. He told me that Gavin was being very good and that everything was fine.

In 5 minutes after I got back they came to give Rhett the medicine and then with in less than 15 minutes the doctor that just finished with Dylan was there talking with us and told us that Dylan's right ear drum has a little scar tissue and everything went well. And the anesthesiologist came and told us that Dylan did great and then we walked Rhett to the door to the OR. We were then told that we needed to go to the waiting room and that Dylan would probably be ready for us. Ok...

We get to the waiting room after giving Rhett and hug and a kiss. We check in and find out that they have not called for Dylan's parents so we sat down and waited for about 15 minutes or less and then the doctor came in and talked with us telling us that the pressure in Rhett's ears have been relieved and the tubes had been placed just fine. He explained to us why Rhett's ears needed tubes since he didn't have the fluid or the infections that Dylan had had. His ears had suction and his ear drum was being sucked into his ear. He said that when that happens that can cause cysts and destroy the ear bones. So it was very important that he have them placed so that it didn't do anything very bad.

Less than 5 minutes after he left they had called for Dylan's parents. So we went back together and found him in the corner and drinking some apple juice. He still looked tired and a little woozy too. LOL! After we got there the nurse said that everything was going well and asked if we could go over the discharge papers now before Rhett arrived since once he arrived we might be too busy. She said we are not going to discharge you right now but you are going to busy with both the boys as soon as Rhett gets here. So we went over everything and signed, then in less than 5 minutes after she finished Rhett arrived and was sitting up looking around. LOL! He is like that sometimes. He was asking about video games as he was being rolled down the hall. Then he was placed right next to Dylan, which I have pictures of. They sure are cute together!

About 30 minutes later we were getting them dressed and ready to leave. This has been the fastest hospital stay that we have ever had. We left about 11:00 am! I know can you believe it! We were starving since none of us had eaten anything since the boys couldn't eat and we hadn't had anytime to get anything so we all went to breakfast. LOL!! I know breakfast at almost lunch time sounds crazy but after thinking of breakfast for 4 hours you can't just skip it.

As soon as we were done we went and got Gavin. Then we had to go get some birthday presents for Nikole since her birthday is coming up and the boys need to pick somethings out for her. As soon as we were done we came home and tried not to collapsed. We were all very tired since we were all up very early and only the 2 boys had slept anytime that day.

Then later that day I ran and got Nikole and decide to take her to the store so she can get a treat to take to her class Monday. She was very excited. We went and got some new clothes for her, Dylan and than treats for her class. It is funny since we were gone for at least 3 hours. It was great just doing girl things like shopping and just hanging out together just mother and daughter. When we came home all the boys were well and happy to see us.

What a very long day that it had been. I was glad to see it end.

day 13- A letter to someone who has hurt you recently

This is a letter to someone that I am not naming. Since that person might come and read my blog sometime. It was hard writing this letter because there are so many letters that I could have written.

Dear ...,

I know things have not always been the best between us, but things have gotten so much better for our friendship until you said very hurtful things to me. Your actions towards me made me feel like you don’t care about anyone but yourself. I do not appreciate your attitude towards me. Your words are like knifes and when you say things like that it hurts very badly. I don’t understand how you can act that way behind my back and then pleasant to my face acting like you care. I am not going into detail since I am trying to forgive you and get past this, but this is very hard for me.

I really wanted our friendship to grow and become stronger, but if you continue in this direction it will not be possible. In order for the friendship that we once had to be able to be there again we are going to need trust each other, but I don’t trust you. How do you think that can be repaired? I am going to take a break from this friendship and if you want it you are going to have to work on it alone since I am taking a break.

I hope that you understand that I don’t hate you it is just that I don’t trust you. I hope you have a wonderful life if you choose to not have me in your life. If you do want me then you are going to have to build up the trust that you destroyed.

Sincerely,

Andrea

day 12- How you found out about blogger and why you have a blog

I found out a while ago at conference about blogging. I had thought about it before but didn't think that I would have time to do anything like that. But then I start noticing how much my family was out of the loop with all the medical things that goes on in my house and some close family didn't even know anything had happened until our 4th ER visit or our 2nd surgery. Then I was on the phone lots retelling the story of what is going on over and over. Finally I decided that "Heck, why not try this blogging business and maybe it will help me not have to retell the story over and over."

I have my blogs to help others and to keep family that lives far away informed about the happenings in our house, since there is so much that happens.

With some syndromes there are support groups and meetings and fun things for families and kids with the same issues are all able to come together and talk about what has helped them and the problems they are facing. Well... Our kids are not like other kids. There is really no one that we can do that with which can be really hard. We are part of some great organizations that help families with kids that have terminal illnesses or syndromes. They do some great things nad they mean so much to me but I just wish that we could relate with someone. So I am hoping to help others out there that might know of someone like my boys, and get info to them on what we have been through.

I have been thinking about starting another blog about what has worked and what hasn't. What the resources are out there for families like mine. I would love some input if you think that is a good idea or not.

Pictures from Dylans Birthday

So I said I would post pictures and now is that time.
I get to post the cute pictures that I have from Dylan's 3rd birthday!

First thing in the morning is so much fun with a happy child.

Can you hear me telling them to get dressed for school. :)

See mom the balloon!

Christmas meets birthday. I have no desire to take it down. LOL!

So he likes doing this elephant walk and I have a video that I will have to load a little later.

His first birthday present and of course Rhett isn't dressed.

Can you feel the excitement? Just wait it is coming...

Oh my GOSH it is a...

TRAIN!!!! PARTY!!!!! YEAH!!!! Fell it now? LOL

Have to try it on and...

it fits!!! I am so happy I am running around with it all the time no matter what!

Thanks mom! Ok dad helped too but I know who's idea it was. he he he

Mom why did you have to wake me up and take me to school on my birthday?
No I want the backpack on my back not on my coat!

Mom I am so happy to see you after a long day at school!

It was so fun you should really try this. :)

Can I come again? Yes? YEA!!!!!

Blowing the candles out is really hard so daddy let me use some power tools!

I think he needs help. :)

What is it? I can't see it.

It is a CAR! Cool.

Wait this car has buttons. I wonder what this does...

OH MY GOSH DID YOU SEE THAT!!!! No well let me do it again...

See the lights? Well there is another button let's try that one...

Lights look better in the dark with no flash dad.

Look Nikole lights!!

Can I get closer?

Why can't I stick my fingers in the lights?

Gavin you are my friend since you like to look at what I am pointing at.

WHAT! Where did the lights go? Got to push more buttons.
Can we guess what his favorite toy is now?

The wheel is moving. WOW!!

See Nikole! It is moving!!

Why is it still in the box?

Huh? Were you telling me I have more presents? Oh I just want to play.
Fine I will open them.

Oh a chalk board! Just for me? Thanks.

More? Ok that is nice as soon as I am done can I play?

Look Nikole! I love Birthdays!!!!

So those are most of the fun things that he did on his birthday ok we had fun too. I know you are asking where are the picture of him eating his cake and ice cream, while just like any normal child he didn't want any until the next morning. LOL!! Yes he did get a piece of cake and some ice cream tonight before bed.


As soon as I can fix a few videos that are so funny I will post them so you can see his little elephant walk and his help with his party balloons.