Our turn to dance

Waiting for Water

2011-06-03T01:10:00.001-07:00

Communication is vital to my life. My marriage depends on being able to communicate despite long physical distances, iffy Internet service, varying time zones, and hastily written emails. My husband and I are constantly trying to improve and become more effective at communicating so that when we can only hear that the other one is talking on Skype, we can glean enough information from playing "fill in the blanks".
When I was pregnant with Anna they cautioned that because of my illness at a certain point we ran the risk of Deafness...I actually sighed a huge sigh of relief that that was "all" because I know ASL...I could communicate, we could bond and get to know each other.
When we were in the hospital they cautioned the same with Nolen because of the antibiotics he was on...and I sighed feeling relief...once again this was the "devil that I know". What they didn't say was that his hands wouldn't work...or that a lot of Encephalitis survivors can't connect spoken words with meanings or figure out how to produce a word with their desired intent. They didn't warn me that he could be trapped and I could spend my days searching his sweet face trying to "see a connection". That I would sign "eat", "more", and "all done" for months and not see any desire to reciprocate (even though the girls were signing already at this age). So I sign, repeat verbally, babble incessantly back at my little man hoping that something starts chipping away at that wall barring our ability to communicate. Oh how I live for our "water" day...

*reference to Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan in the Miracle Worker*

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How many military spouses does it take to change a flat tire?

2011-06-01T08:50:00.001-07:00

Remember how I mentioned Murphy's Law of Deployments, If it can break, it will break.... Here is a shining example... My new (as in that is a BRAND new tire) flat tire. Thankfully I had my fellow military spouses there to help out (Thanks Julee, Laura and Tiffany) and Dunkin Donuts to occupy my children.

And it takes 0 Military Spouses, we just call a man in green to come do it for us ;P In all seriousness....I did learn a lot!

Tips to Change a Tire:

1. Unload all the tools. We glanced over the tire iron (or lugnut turny thing as it was called until we remembered the proper name) and attempted to use a Jeep Tire Iron. No they are not universal....which proves that a man makes them.

2. The lugnuts are screwed on tight (and this is the step where a man in green came in very handy)...like super tight...so put your parking break on and JUMP onto the Tire Iron. Viola!

3. Put the jack on the shock thingy (go ahead and laugh, but I know EXACTLY what I'm talking about)....and lift it up, take the old one off and put on the new one.

4. You can only go about 50 miles on a spare, and about 50 mph at that...which is why I am driving the beat up chevy that is my husband's until I can garuntee Toyota can work on my car.

A very special thanks to all the guys who helped and the ladies as well!

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10 "Good" things about Deployment

2011-05-31T17:14:00.000-07:00

So Ryan's been gone for a bit, no need to get specific...OPSEC and all, but while I was cleaning up after dinner tonight and thinking to myself that these leftover Chicken Kebobs were going to be AH-MAZING tomorrow for lunch, I realized that they were the perfect "husband" sized portion...and instead of getting sad, I actually thought...there might be a plus side to this quasi-single parenthood. So here comes my somewhat ridiculous, sometimes trivial attempt at "10 Good things about Deployment".

1. Leftovers/Deployment Dinners
After being used to cooking for a family of 5, and now having the main eater removed from the equation, I find myself bombarded with leftovers. I myself, am not a big fan, but I usually end up "recycling" or recreating the previous meal into something new (taco night is always followed closely by beef stroganoff night). The girls however require "real" lunches and leftovers are just the thing! In addition to leftovers, you have what my friends and I have dubbed "deployment dinners"...things that you would NEVER serve your husband and probably should never admit to eating. For instance, some nights it's just easier to pretend you are back in college and feed everyone cereal, or toss some hot dogs in a pot of boiling water followed closely by mac n cheese and maybe a few carrots and ranch dip just to ease the guilt of feeding your kids crap a little. We also take FULL advantage of deals like "Kids Eat Free at IHOP every Tuesday" or "Free kids meals at Wendy's when you buy an adult meal" nights. The kids eat, someone else cooks and cleans, everyone is happy.

2. A Get Out of Bed Free card:
You can literally get out of bed, not put on any make up, or shave your legs, and walk around with out your significant other EVER knowing. Go ahead, throw your hair up in a pony tail...wet, and throw on some "work out" clothes (aka buying really cute gym outfits so that you can run around and have people thinking how "good" you look going to the gym and wondering how great you must look when you actually try when in reality you are totally faking it). It's actually very liberating...and makes dressing up so much more fun when your loved one returns. Not to mention all the money you save by not having to replace razors or makeup.

3. Cover Hog's paradise:
See all those covers, see all that bed...it is all yours for however long he's gone. You can sleep sideways if you want, take his favorite pillow, not make up the bed, whatever you want because it.is.all.yours.

4. Complete Controller Control:
You have complete control over the Television, radio, a/c, heat...whatever you want you can do it. Want to watch a Vampire diaries marathon all day Saturday? Have a sick affection for Zombie films or Ghost Whisperer??? Go ahead and indulge, no one is around to complain (accept for your children...)

5. Books, Books, and more Books
I LOVE to read, and find that I spend a large portion of my "free time" that is usually our "quality couple time" reading....and it tends to be trashy romance novels. Things that my husband teases me for.

6. Ms. Fix-It
      We all know Murphy's Law of Deployments If it can go wrong, it will go wrong....something WILL break, someone WILL get sick (probably requiring a trip to the ER) and some major purchase or decision WILL have to happen. So get ready to learn a new skill, how to navigate tricare and other such demands having three small children with the stomach flu will do to ya. To date, I have learned how to repair and replace the waterhose connector thing on the fridge, replace the innards of a toilet, eliminate clogs and snake drains, bug bombed a nest of yellow jackets while pregnant, installed shelves, and put air in my tires. These are things I would have NEVER even thought about doing but because of my Darling Husband who would do them for me, but I have become quite adept at googling how-to videos and trying my hand.

7. "Endearing" traits are gone
    Ryan is a pretty amazing and is a nearly perfect husband. And by nearly perfect, I mean he likes to clean his razor and leave the clippings IN THE SINK. It drives me nuts, and has since we were first married. I drive him bonkers because I am handicapped in the area of putting lids properly back on things like the toothpaste, milk jug and various other cartons. These minor annoyances or "endearing traits" of a relationship are absent as soon as the other leaves the house. I don't have to clean the sink and he doesn't complain about my inability to close things. It's a win-win.

8. To Laugh at oneself, Cope with Stress, and Roll with the punches
    I have never in my life been so humbled (other than perhaps by childbirth) as I am when my husband is gone. I learn what sets me off, I learn what stresses me out, and I learn how to handle those stresses (bubble bath, candles, chocolate, and good book, please. Wine is optional.). I have had to learn to laugh at myself when I am so stressed and can't find my phone only to open up the fridge to grab a juice box and see it sitting on the shelf next to the butter. I learn to roll with the punches and be grateful for what I have. Three days in a row last week the kids and I had 5 am wake ups for doctors appointments, therapy appointments, meetings and what not. We got up, we got dressed, and we went with it because it was the only option. Learning to roll with the punches and find laughter in a situation can be the key to surviving.

9. Relationship/Communication
        I learn to appreciate my spouse, to appreciate the little things he does (like take out the trash) that I now have to do. I remember to say thank you to him when he gets home and takes the trash out. As rough as deployments are on a relationship, I have found that ours continues to improve because of them. We learn to "read" the signs of stress through a broken up skype image, we support each other across the miles with an emailed joke/comic, videos of the kids, or flowers because he knows I had a rough day which lead to me crying behind the kitchen counter while the kids played in the other room. Our communication skills are honed and sharpened by the distance and demands of deployment.

10. Homecoming
       I get to look forward to a day, a time, when I get greeted by my husband because he has missed me for an extended period of time. We get to think about that day, dream about that day, and plan that day. And then we get to live it out. We get that first kiss fireworks explosion over and over again. I get to go shopping, primp, shave my legs, and dress up so that I look my best for the man of my dreams. We have memories to share, stories to tell, and we get to stay up looking at each other making sure that the dream is now real. I get to cook "real food" and have it appreciated. I get to share the covers, TV, and movie picking decisions. I get to cuddle with my husband, reach my foot out at night and touch his leg just to make sure he is still there. And those endearing traits, they reappear and for awhile you are so glad to see those razor clippings in the sink...they actually make you smile.

Don't get me wrong---Deployments/Trips/TDYs/Seperation from the man you love sucks, but there is always a silver lining.

No such thing

2011-05-19T07:12:00.001-07:00

I'm starting to think that their is no such thing as a good doctors appointment. Kaelyn and Nolen both had "well baby" check ups a few weeks back and I go thinking..."Finally, a normal, routine doctors appointment." Boy was that thought shattered fast. Kaelyn has had what we thought was a benign Stills Heart murmur that was "fading", meaning that up until the other day we were confident that she would grow out of it. Apparently it's back, it's loud and it warrants a very thorough eval with a pediatric cardiologist.
Nolen's was equally bad and very much like watching a precious diamond ring (in this case my dream of a normal drs Appt) spiral in slow motion down the sink drain...you want to scream, you frantically try and stop the spiral only to watch your wasted efforts go tumbling down the drain. Nolen's head has been growing at an alarming rate, and before the Neuro team would let us leave the office they stressed that he MUST be seen and frequently by our pediatrician to keep an eye on the potentially threatening situation. I didn't mention this to the Ped and the first words out of her mouth were, "Nolens head growth is alarming..." Basically, we are waiting to see how his head growth will be in the next month or so before we do further testing. Meaning pray and hope it slows down so that we can avoid an MRI and/or CT scan. A lot of different things can cause this, one of which being poor cerebal spinal fluid circulation which would then lead to surgery where he would have a shunt installed that ran from his brain to abdomen to help the flow of fluids. Other causes are tumor/poor bone structure/and other ugliness.

In addition to this new concern, Nolens weight is yet again "not so good"...so I've been stuffing his face...and need suggestions for high calorie/high protein baby friendly foods (already doing sweet potatoes and avocados). Suggestions?

So there it is in a nutshell...my lovely brood of children can not have a normal, routine doctors appointment. It's just not possible!

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2 Birds, 1 Stone

2011-05-11T15:46:00.000-07:00

When you are routinely outnumbered by many small children you find joy in things that kill "2 birds with 1 stone". Point in case, my shark broom/light vacuum can hit my wood floors, kitchen tiles AND the throw rugs! Newest thing my Shark can do...

PT for Nolen!!! He LOVES chasing me when I sweep (with a real broom he goes after the crumbs) and the Shark.

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Why my blog posts are lacking

2011-05-02T15:22:00.000-07:00

Monday- Developmental Instruction-Early Intervention 12-1pm
Physical Therapy, Private with about 25 min drive 2-3pm
*absurd amount of traffic means we typically eat crockpot meals for dinner!*
Tuesday- Occupational Therapy-Early Intervention 1130-1230
Thursday-Physical Therapy-Early Intervention 1230-130
Friday- Kaelyn's Dance class 5-6
Saturday-Anna's Dance class 9am-930
Sunday-Church

Sprinkle with doctors Appointments, trips to the Hospital, and one pending weekly therapy. As needed add visits to the grocery store and other such errands. Apply coffee generously and let Rest for at least 5 hours. After it has risen, knead back down and start the cycle again.

How far we have come!

2011-05-01T16:41:00.000-07:00

*sorry for my man voice in the video, had a hideous cold! Also, the picture of Nolen with the girls is the most recent of my big man!*
I have been promising this post for quite some time....here it goes! Check out how much progress we have made! (More like He has made)

From IVs, EEGs, Oxygen, Warmer beds, and NG tube

From postioning rolls, head turns, and mobiles

From meal time weight checks, calculations and conversions

From not being able to lift our head, open our hands, clear our nose from the floor, laugh or smile

to...

Sitting and playing with our sisters

Laughing, smiling, eating and babbling babas and mamas

To scooting, rolling and moving.

We are far from perfect, months from normal, and absolutely blessed to be where we are! The progress he has made in the past 7 months leaves me breathless, he has done more than I dared hope for!

Just a tad bit frustrated

2011-04-19T06:10:00.001-07:00

I have been using the Blogpress app to write and post, and I have written about 3 post, hit publish and then POOF they are gone :(

So here is the recap

-I started couponing, and am addicted.

-We are home and are trying to get back into the swing of things. My family decided to give us an extra special parting gift of the stomach virus...thankfully we are all recovered and no one landed a trip to the hospital (it was a bad strand and two of my friends kiddos ended up in the hospital because of it).

-We hit the ground running with 2 therapy sessions on Monday, Neurology (and car maintenance) appointments today, a new Mom meal tomorrow and then a quick trip to a friends cabin for the weekend (after Thursdays therapy of course).

-nolen started scooting at my Moms. It's not much, it's not pretty, but it's forward movement and I'll take it!

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Can you say burnout?

2011-04-07T17:57:00.001-07:00

I was really feeling the pressure with all the new therapies, doctors appointments, and other concerns...so I packed the kids up and ran away to...my mamas!

My stash for the ride...:-)

I get to enjoy sunsets with my Anna on my parents new balcony (in their GORGEOUS home that can hold the entire family, first time we have ever fit in a house)...

My four siblings have come in town and I got to spend the day having fun with the kids...something I don't get to do very often...because we are always going, always doing therapy, or schoolwork, or work, or a thousand other things.

We went for a walk-- and yes there are extra toes...those are my darling nieces (5, and one is missing)!

We explored some empty bird nests, old cows bones, look for a mermaid in the pond, and played a very long and somewhat hysterical game of Sorry.

Tomorrow my one missing niece will be here...I can't wait!

I love our "family"

2011-04-02T18:09:00.001-07:00

A fellow military wife was lamenting the woes of "Grandparents" day at her children's schools and how it really just salts the wound of not having your "real" family close enough for these type of things.

And then tonight I hosted a good, ole fashioned slumber party and realized that these little girls (and their moms)...

Are part of our New Jersey/Military Family.

And I love these little ladies (and their Moms!).

Kaelyn and her friends are enjoying a night of fun. Heart shaped pizzas, movies, popcorn, cookies...laughs and memories! While my dear sweet Anna spends the night with her Best Friend Hunter...

(Ryan is not a fan of his mothers sense of humor...she added a candle to make the dinner for 2 much more romantic)

I don't think I say it enough, but I love my kids and I love our makeshift family!

I love that I can ask these ladies for anything, that they can come pick my kids up at 4 am from the ER, they think to send my husband a copy of our daughters first soccer game when he is deployed, that I have sat and cheered on their daughters at soccer games and dance recitals and felt the same swell of pride I feel for my children. That they will help me find the humor in anything and when its not there, pass a glass of wine and drink a toast to shared worries and the woes of Grandparents day.

These ladies not only get "it", they get me.

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The "Stack"

2011-03-31T06:18:00.001-07:00

Here is just a fraction of Nolens medical records that I have to provide for our Disability application! I had to input a comprehensive summary of his records for each doctor, therapist, specialist etc for most visits! Talk about making you want to give up before you even start.

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Must be a 4 year old thing

2011-03-30T20:24:00.001-07:00

Kaelyn has gotten really good about delivering some funny punchlines unintentionally. Recently, Ryan forgot his cover/hat and we drove on base to drop it off. Kaelyn inquired as to how I knew which car was his because "a lot of cars look similar to Dads". So I explained about how I know the color, the make, and the license plate number along with my old parking sticker from College.
Kaelyn quickly states, "For yours we would just find a car that looks similar and then look inside to see if it was messy. If it's messy than we would know it's yours!"

Just so you all know, my car is pretty clean right now...so I don't know what she is talking about!

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Long time no post

2011-03-30T10:12:00.001-07:00

Once again, I must apologize to you all for neglecting the blog. Life has really gotten hectic!! Ryan is currently in training so we have been soaking up the Daddy time while we can, knowing that as soon as training is done life will get even more hectic!!!

Nolen has passed the 6 months since illness mark, and we have accepted that a full recovery is not to be expected buy we still hope for it. I will post more on him later, but his health and GI issues have improved. His blood levels aren't normal, but don't indicate Leukemia/Liver/Kidney failure as of yet. And he is making some great strides in therapy. Which brings me to why life has been so crazy.

--We have our application in for Disability, our Social Worker Stan thinks we have too much money in savings and unless we can get them to look at Nolen separate from us we probably won't qualify. The application process is absurd! It took about a week of nothing but working to post his medical history! I'll send you guys the picture of "The Stack" so you can fully appreciate the amount of work that goes into just the beginnings of the application process!!

--Nolen has been evaluated for Occupational therapy (adding it once a week), Developmental teaching (to help with his cognitive, social, emotional and language delays). He qualified for both and we will be adding these two therapies to our existing two for a total of 4 therapy sessions/week (maybe five because our CHOPS therapist wants to add OT as well).
We are waiting on referrals for a hearing test and developmental pediatrician as well.

--Nolen has these precious braces to wear

-My Darling husband and my best friend from Oklahoma arranged for a quick getaway to NY. It was amazing and much needed...as I was and am probably quickly approaching therapy burnout. Tips anyone??

Here are some snapshots from our trip
--Prom-- the Awesome 80s Prom, an interactive improv show where Em and I partied like it was 1989.

Breakfast club anyone??

Then we went on to Ellis island and liberty Island...where we did not act our age an ended up with some awesome pictures.

I co-hosted a Kraft First Tasters party! Lots of great food and free stuff!!

And...I was contacted by word of mouth for my first sewing job! A passion made a modest profit.

Custom Colts Baby Bedding
-Bumpers-

Pillow

Crib Skirt

And Blanket

I also painted this for my girls...

We have been making some serious progress on the homeschooling front, which has also cut into my blogging time.

Along with my job...my sister in law is due in July and keeps handing over some items to me to handle while she peeps for baby and I get my feet wet as her replacement come the arrival of her little girl in July!

Thanks for hanging in there and for checking up on me! I miss you guys too!

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Kaelyn's Dreams

2011-03-06T16:26:00.000-08:00

My girls (and possibly Nolen, but I won't know until he is much older) have always seemed to have dreams. Both good and bad. So part of our morning routine is to talk about what we dreamt about the night prior. Yesterday morning, Kaelyn shared this gem of a dream with me...

"I had the craziest dream last night mom"
"Really, what did you dream about darling" expecting to hear about the latest princess dream in a LONG line of princess dreams
"I dreamed that Dad, Me and Anna went swimming. And *insert gigle* Dad was wearing a little *hold her hands really close together* girls swim suit. Isn't that silly!"
"That is really silly!"

So, I made her repeat the dream and video taped it so that Ryan could see it when he got home. He didn't find as much humor in the situation as I did! I spent the whole day imagining my husband in something like this...

And it made my heart happy. Do your kids dream?

My homeschooling Secret Weapon

2011-03-04T06:02:00.000-08:00

Audio books are my secret homeschooling weapon! The girls LOVE them, they buy me about 15 mins while also counting as "educational". Matter of fact, this post WOULD NOT be happening if it wasn't for an audio book rented from the library!

I like to say it works on Anna, my 2 year olds, listening skills....she is now very good at knowing when to turn the page, while Kaelyn has excellent listening skills, it teaches her how to use inflection with her book as well as reading comprehension. I've picked up a few really cheap audio books from the Dollar Tree (Jonah and the Whale, Jack and the Beanstalk, Noah's Ark and Cinderella). While the biblical ones have songs following the story, the classics have questions. Kaelyn has started answering the questions outloud.

In addition to audio books, my lovely Mama Dot (aka my Grandma) bought the girls a subscription to Highlights and it has an audio book option on it's website! LOVE IT! The girls will sit and flip through their stack of three highlights while I cook dinner.

I know my posts have been scarce these past few weeks, and there is a LOT going on in my life (I'd really enjoy a slow down) and to better serve my family, my job, my volunteer position, I've had to let things slide. Once I get the handle I'll be back in full force, but for now I am going to squeeze in a shower while Snow White finishes on audio!

What are your homeschool secret weapons/tricks? I would love to diversify!

More Preschool corner visit here!

Denial-What is it good for?

2011-02-20T16:36:00.000-08:00

I struggle sometimes to balance my want to live in denial with my NEED to keep a positive but realistic outlook. I want ~~to ignore~~ to vehementantly deny the possibility that my son might have delays and special needs for the rest of his life. But, I can tell you one thing that I have learned in the past 6 months...having a special needs child radically changes YOUR life....even if his "specialness" is just possibly temporary. These radical changes permeate more than the big picture aspect of your life. Even the mundane day-to-day living has become completely different.

Almost everything I do with Nolen is calculated, from how I try and pick him up by coaching him from laying on his back onto his side, then to sitting as opposed to just grabbing under the arms and going to how I carry him differently then I carried my girls, trying to keep the pressure on his hips and not under his butt (so that he is encouraged to lengthen his body and not curl up). I try to make every moment and every interaction with him an attempt to instruct him, strengthen him, and encourage him.

I push my son. I push him more than my girls were ever pushed, I stand for hours in the toy aisle analyzing which toys encourage suplination in his forearms. (Any suggestions?) I sing ridiculously loud lullabyes over the sound of the EEG monitor being glued to his scalp and his screams. I spend hours at therapy making crazy sounds and faces and popping his binky in trying to keep him from screaming the entire session. (Again, any suggestions?) And in those session in which he just isn't having it and I would have whisked my girls up in my arm and walked away, I fight the urge and push him through it. Why? Because he needs to be pushed and my emotional need to protect him has to be ignored by HIS needs for therapy.

  I live, breathe, eat and sleep his difficulties daily. I watch his progression and jump for joy when a new skill is mastered, but I am constantly aware of the other milestones he should have reached but hasn't.  This is why I am so quick to recognize denial in those around me...I know and see his issues on the most intimate levels, I hold him when he has bad nights full of residual pain, I worry when he sleeps for a full day and doesn't show interest in eating, I watch and hear his frustration when his hands don't perform as he needs them too. I simultaneously beam with pride and cringe with realization when he adapts to using his wrists to move things because he can't open his hands. I spend hours on the phone with my sister adjusting his lab levels and demanding further test because 6 months later his liver and other levels SHOULD be normal, but aren't. (Any suggestions on how long post Encephalitis abnormal labs are considered acceptable?)

I get that every parent or loved one of a child requiring different needs wants to ignore them, wants to gloss over them, wants to give their child more time, begs that it's just a time thing and not a real issue to be faced head on. But what good does glossing over do for a child who *might* have real issues? None. Just like becoming overly emotional when my son was in the hospital didn't help him it only exhausted me.

Because I am his mom, I don't struggle with denial because I am faced with this one hard truth---Denial has no value other than to make me feel good.

     Denial does not make a problem go away. In fact denying that your child has a problem only makes it a  bigger problem because you neglect to push them and seek out assistance and therapies that can make a HUGE difference when you start early.

   Denial is not the same thing as being optimistic. Optimism is choosing to hope for the favorable outcome. I hope, pray and believe that Nolen will be well, but I am very realistic about where we are, and less than comfortable with the fact that he might not be "normal". Ryan said it best, "Nolen just wants to be loved, and regardless of what happens, I am more than happy to love him"

So, help me out here (since I did just let you read my diary)...how do you balance Denial with Reality? Worry with Optimism? Do you think you can be Optimistically realistic? Am I in denial about being a Pessimist?

That little snot!

2011-02-16T19:00:00.000-08:00

The girls have our old iPhones because I have become *that* parent...the one I swore I would never be! I figure all you "No video games for my kids parents" can talk to me after multiple doctors and physical therapy appointments in one day...and then judge my decison. But be forewarned...this is one of my best parenting concessions to date.

This morning...Kaelyn, in all her sweetness, walked up to me holding her phone, "Mom check this out" and holds up the phone to show me the pictures she took.

I feigned interest, expecting yet another montage of random blurry shots. She could tell and decided to narrate with a very proud grin.
"These are the towels on the floor," she succeded in getting my full attention as I saw the blurry shape of white which could only be the pile of towels waiting to be washed,"and this is a picture of my blanket on the floor, and these are the toys on the floor, and this is a picture of the dishes in the sink. This house is a mess! See all these things"

*she keeps flipping photo after photo*

As I mentally thanked her for the digital "to-do" list, I looked up and said "Well, now you know what needs to be done".

Preschool review: Hearts and more Basics!

2011-02-11T08:12:00.000-08:00

So this week has been pretty awesome as far as homeschooling goes.
Kaelyn continues to progress with Reading and she enjoys her new reading corner (I'll put up pictures later), Anna has started signing her alphabet although she really doesn't like to actively do anything yet.

Kaelyn worked on cutting...so she made this cool fence.

Then we sorted colors, counted and graphed the results. We "predicted" which color would have the most hearts, which would have the least and the "evaluated" the results.

We made "heart snowflakes"!!! And decorated them.

And we also talked about recycling. We turned toilet paper rolls into heart garland and took the broken crayons and made them into heart shaped multi colored crayons for our friends.


The girls painted them, and I cut and poked holes. Then the girls threaded the ribbon through!

Visit Preschool Corner for more!

Preschool Corner- Getting back to basics

2011-02-04T04:58:00.000-08:00

I know, long time no see! I now have a computer and although I don't really have any pictures of the kids in action, I do have some shots of their work!

In order to actually get homsechooling done, I've had to eliminate some of the fun themed aspects because they take time, planning and often require us to be at home. The basics, and adapted fun activities have become our staple since we spend a lot of time in the car and at doctors appointments.

KAELYN:

MATH: We are counting past 20 without mistakes, and if she could remember the tens changes past 40 she would be well on her way to counting over 100. We are doing great at manipulating items to solve word problems for both addition and subtraction using "key words" like gave, added, earned, etc to determine what type of problem she is doing and to manipulate her manipulative's to find the answer.

WRITING: I have had her practice her penmanship and spelling by using Progressive Phonics handwriting pages. She has started coloring her drawings and illustrating scenes from books...and her artwork is impressive!

Both the flash card and hearts are from the dollar spot at Target. We use those hearts as manipulative for Kaelyn and for Fine Motor Skills work for Anna. Anna uses a spoon and moves them from one container to the other. She seems to really enjoy this!

READING: We are READING PEOPLE! It's so exciting. She is using phonics and sight words to sound out and read!!!! Below are some of the books that she is picking up and bringing to read to me regularly. What I love, is if she can't figure out a word, she spells it out, tries to sound it out and THEN brings it to me for help! Her confidence is there, and she is tackling reading with excitement and pride.

See the colored picture in the middle??? Kaelyn colored it!

SCIENCE: We are reading aloud Magic School Bus Whales chapter book as a family at nap and at bedtime. The girls are really enjoying it and we are discussing the difference between Baleen Whales and Toothed Whales. Due to the snow, we have been reviewing states of matter (what does snow become when it melts, etc) and talking about the seasons and why some trees still have "leaves" and others do not.

ANNA!!! 3 in August
I just started really working with Anna on learning some of the basics that she refuses to learn "naturally". It was around this time that I started actively working on Kaelyn's attention span and teaching her to sit and learn for longer periods of time. Anna struggles with colors so we have been doing a lot of sorting, coloring and labeling in our everyday environments. Shapes are coming along easily, and we have a fun game that we play. In addition to I spy (numbers for Kaelyn Colors for Anna), I give Anna a hand drawn list of shapes and ask her to "call out a shape" to Kaelyn. She points and says the name of a shape and Kaelyn is suppose to try and find it. Obviously I might have to help find the less common shapes (heart shaped lettuce anyone?). Anna has taken to signing her alphabet with me which makes me very happy!

NOLEN:
We have been working on rolling over and Nolen is a rollin'! We are also working on opening and closing his hands by using puffs to encourage him to open, grasp, release. He can't get the puffs in his hand but it does encourage him to move his hands with purpose towards a small item, which is difficult. Anna loves "helping aka eating" Nolen's snacks during this exercise, but at least she is sharing!

Here are some great weekly recaps at Preschool Corner!

We are seizure free!!!

2011-01-26T17:52:00.001-08:00

We were released today with a "Seizure free" ruling!!! I'm soo excited and relieved. Now we can focus on his GI issues, liver issues and other minor lab abnormalities. We made it home before the snow/ice/rain mix fully hit the area. Learned a cool new meteorological term, compliments of where the Air Force has stationed us...apparently we are having Thundersnows...sounds made up huh?

Not nearly as cool as the Dustnados we had in Oklahoma!

BTW...I wrote this using the free app of Blogbooster. :)

Prayers Please

2011-01-25T06:25:00.000-08:00

So, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I'd love for everyone to pray that if Nolen is going to have any more episodes, that he has them today while he is hooked to the monitor. I would love to know 100% either way if these episodes are seizures or not. The easiest way to know is for him to have them while hooked up and the machines to clearly say "This is not a seizure".

I hate the idea of seeing him have them, but if I have to see them, I'd like to see them while he is being tested. I'd also like to only have him there for 24 hours and if he doesn't have one in a 24 hour time frame we will stay for longer.

**This was meant to come out on the 25 of Jan. Not today. In my rush to get out I didn't press the right button. Sorry :)**

A One Computer Family, A little white lie, and a trip to the hospital

2011-01-24T06:23:00.000-08:00

So, unfortunately we are down to one laptop. This probably wouldn't be a problem from most families, but Ryan is completing his Masters, trying to catch up on work AND doing taxes while for some reason unbeknownst to me, my boss is selling houses like the economy is good and I am trying to send out contracts, comps and post new listings. In addition to all of this, I am working on a second blog for my volunteer spot with Ryan's squadron. Needless to say, computer time is virtually non-exisitant and this blog has long been forgotten. What I need....is an app for my phone where I can blog....any suggestions????

Now on to my little white lie and the hospital stay.
Nolen was having frequent seizure like movement and it was really freaking me out in early December late November. As his other issues and general health improved these seizures seemed to slow down (meaning I noticed them less...but it could also have been tied to the fact that I started moving him back into his crib). I lied. Yep, I HATE lieing and it bothers me soo much that I'm actually admitting it here. I never to his doctors about this little glimmer of hope where his "episodes" slowed down. Nope. Sure didn't. Because like his diahrrea and other health issues that absolved for three weeks and have now returned in full force, I suspect that the "episodes" will pick up as well. So, the Neuro team finally have decided to test and see if these episodes are in fact seizures or just infantile movements. This means that I am leaving with Nolen for a 24 hour video EEG tomorrow! And believe me, taking an infant overnight into the hospital requires a lot of baggage!

I'm bummed that I haven't been able to update you guys on what all is occuring here at our home.
Kaelyn has started reading. I'm so excited for her because right now her reading issues aren't actual issues, it's more a lack of confidence. She's grasping the concept, putting phonics into use and sounding out words, now to get her to realize that she CAN do it! She's also counting past 30 without help...well on her way to 100 if she can just remember the teens changes. Adding and subtracting are becoming more automatic for her, although her number recognition beyond 10 is needing some serious attention.

Anna is doing well, refusing to learn her colors, but knows most of her shapes. She's starting to count beyond 7 on her own. Her abilities to dress herself, care for herself, and express herself never cease to amaze me! I have to remind myself that she isn't much over 2 frequently.

I have a lot of fun crafts planned for Valentine's and for the Chinese New Year! I only hope that we will have our second computer back in time for me to share:)

Now, I have to go get everyone ready for a return trip to Labs for more blood tests for Nolen (his Liver and Calcium levels are messed up a bit), therapy and then more packing for tomorrow's trip to CHOPS!

Welcome home!!

2011-01-14T17:29:00.000-08:00

We welcomed Ryan home today! So exciting!

This has been a huge relief. We have had a very busy week of various doctors appointments.

Feeding Team-
Want us to continue fortifying his food in hopes of encouraging more weight gain.

GI-
Nolen had a Barium Suck Swallow test and it was perfectly normal! YAY. That means that his choking is probably due to fatigue, poor tone and reflux. We will know more after he spends two weeks on his new medication (which according to Ryan tastes AWFUL! We will definitely do our best to make sure to ask for it to be flavored next time considering the LARGE amount he takes each day.). Nolen is still having blood in his stool, so we will be waiting to wean (ughhh) for at least another 4 weeks. I don't want to introduce formula to him (or spend days very uncomfortable to having to stop weaning quickly) until the blood has stopped. During the next 4 weeks, I will have to eliminate soy and dairy.

Neurology-
Concerned about his seizure like movement so we will be going to CHOP for an overnight EEG, possibly over two night frames. We will be waiting to do an additional MRI until he is older unless his development stalls or deteriorates. Encephalitis can become degenerative, and brain damage can be extensive and we won't know until his brain is fully mylienated. Neurology was very hopeful given his development that things looked positive regarding his brain damage. IF he is having seizures we will end up undergoing further test to find out where they are located and how best to treat them (drugs/surgery).

Now, I'm back to snuggling with my husband and I will do my best to try and post our AWESOME developments in our homeschool as well as some yummy recipes!

My Solo Snow Day

2010-12-30T18:20:00.000-08:00

New Jersey just recently enjoyed a pretty hefty snow, and I once again was thankful for my HOA. I generally feel HOA's are Un-American with there restrictive rules an regulations on what kind of plants I can put in my backyard, but ever so often...I realize that there is some SERIOUS benefit to swallowing the loss of certain freedoms. One of those benefits happens to be Snow Removal. Without my HOA I would have never made it out my front door or garage because the snowdrifts on that side of the house were deeper than three feet on my front porch (which is covered).

So how exactly does a quasi-single Mom of three small children manage to take the older two out in the snow. Easy.

Lots of prep work during their naps. I had towels laid out for sitting on after the snow and bathrobes on backs of chairs, along with a laundry basket to dump shoes and wet items in.

Then the real fun began!

I fed the little guy, then hook him safely into his highchair with a couple of toys.

The girls eagerly waiting for me to say go! LOL, Nolen was moved closer to the window so that I could see him.

Our backyard had shallower snowdrifts thanks to all the houses and the way the wind was blowing so Anna wasn't as scared of the snow as last year. The snow was way over her head last year.

Kaelyn took off and man did she have fun!

And Nolen watched from inside. I could even hear him drop his toy!

She laid in it and made snow angels

She dunked her face in it.

Anna still had a difficult time moving in the snow, but she did have fun!

Kaelyn about to "slam" the snowball in my face. She remembered doing that with Daddy last year.


The snow was too flakey to make a real snowman, so the girls filled up our Snowman building Kit jar...and we called it good.

We made it inside and had snow ice cream (I prepped the milk and sugar mix and let it cool while we were outside). And when we finished the snow ice cream we had hot chocolate (I had the mugs in the microwave waiting on us. All I had to do was press start. By the time we were undressed it had cooled enough for the girls to drink.

I was actually worried about being able to make this work. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to take Kaelyn to play (Anna is still unsure about the whole snow thing). But, I tried and it went pretty well. We might even try again.

Works for me Wednesday! Shower curtain hooks repurposed+Theme answer

2010-12-29T06:50:00.000-08:00

*The theme for this week is what one thing would you tell people. I would tell people to appreciate EVERYTHING. Every easy and peaceful breath your child takes, appreciate having your loved ones with you, appreciate your home, your warmth, and food in your belly. This year has been a year of wanting. A year of wanting a Healthy baby, of having that Healthy baby born and become a very sick infant, of wanting improvements and a full recovery, ~~of wanting~~ of NEEDING my husband and my family to be together under one roof. I have learned to appreciate the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of life. Their is JOY in every moment to be had, it's just not always the easiest thing to find. Perhaps instead of appreciating everything, I should say find the Joy in the Despair.*

My tip!

I HATE towel racks. I think they are old fashioned, antiquated and really a waste of space. Your towels can't dry effectively on them. The only purpose they serve is for looks, and I am more of a function+looks, please kind of girl. So for the first year of living in this home I left our towel racks bare in protest of their sheer inefficiency.

My husband is fortunate that I'm not one of those women who has to have everything perfect right way...it helps our budget A LOT. But the one room I attacked immediately after moving here was the girls. The movers lost our old bachelor shower curtain (PRAISE GOD!) and I went out and replaced it. My first time buying a shower curtain and I went for the cheap "S" hooks at target. Big Mistake. My curtain NEVER STAYED on. So, after three months of silently cursing those hooks I went and bought more and was left with an entire pack of useless S hooks until inspiration hit.

S hooks+Towel Rack=FUNCTIONAL!

Viola!

The offensive S hook. The balls didn't work to hold the curtain up.

The Functional, Child Friendly and Cute Towel Rack! My kids are able to put their towels up and get them down with ease. Yes, I do have to rehook the towel rack on occasion but it works well enough not to drive me nuts!

I will admit it. I don't wash my jeans after each wearing. Neither does my husband. Call it laziness, I call it being green, water conservation and time conservation. I also had a problem as a teenager of NEVER HANGING MY CLOTHES BACK UP. Sorry Mom. That problem continued into adult hood until this. I now hang my jeans by the belt loop on my towel rack. It's AWESOME!

Visit here for other Works for Me!

2010 in Review

2010-12-26T19:08:00.001-08:00

What a year, what a year! I can't say I will be sad to see 2010 end, but I'm very anxious about 2011!

In the past year:

Kaelyn turned 4, Anna turned 2, and Nolen joined our sweet little family.
My Best Friend Emily came out to visit us in our new home!
We finish our basement, and by we, I mean mostly my darling husband!
I volunteered as a Key Spouse
I started working as a Real Estate Assistant.
Kaelyn's Second Dance Recital where she rocked it out (if that's what ballerinas do) to a Pirate song!
My "extended family" (read my military friends who ARE family) and I have an Epic Camping Trip
My parent's and Sam visited us in NJ!
While in Utero, Nolen had Choroid Plexus Cysts that resolved on their own, but 6 weeks after his birth and 3 weeks into Ryan's deployment...Nolen gets sick with Spinal Meningitis on Sept 2.
Three hospitals later, we are at CHOPS PICU and he has Encephalitis.
My brother gets married.
Ryan deploys again and will return in 2011!!!!
Anna starts Dance!!
We celebrate 5 years of marriage despite the miles that seperate us.
Kaelyn plays and scores a goal in Soccer!
I attempt to write a novel and stop half way (about 25,000 words in) because I don't like where my character's are headed.

What 2011 has to hold!

Ryan will return! That's a big one!
Ryan goes to instructor upgrade school (yay for 6 weeks of my husband being home)
We *were* going to go on a cruise...but I don't think we can leave Nolen with anyone as of yet due to his health so that's a maybe.
Nolen undergoes some extensive testing in Jan. that should let us know what his future should hold.
Ryan graduates with his Masters.
I *hopefully* start Nursing School.
My baby goes to Kindergarten (You have no idea how old this makes me feel)

I survived.

2010-12-26T18:17:00.000-08:00

This was my first time experiencing Christmas without Ryan in my own home. Last year, I spent the holiday's with my mom, but with Nolen's physical therapy regimen and trying to add on Speech and Occupational Therapy, I couldn't get away. We literally had therapy on Christmas Eve Eve and would be having it tomorrow if there wasn't a MASSIVE blizzard and we weren't all suffering from the Christmas Crud. Poor Nolen has a hard enough time clearing his own spit, to hear him choke repeatedly just from the added mucous (and his congestion is NOTHING compared to Anna's) is heart wrenching.

I was shocked at how easy Christmas was, and how not sad I was. What I mean to say is that, yes I missed my husband. I missed having Ryan to help set up the toys and although he joined us via Skype, he was only able to see a few moments of their excitement. But Christmas was surprisingly fun, easy and joyful despite the gaping whole that my husband would normally fill. Like the fact that all of the toys decided to die AT THE SAME TIME and required screwdrivers and various dirty thoughts and impatient stares from the girls while I struggled to replace EVERY single battery. I was very aware at how much easier Christmas would be if I had an extra two pairs of hands to help.

The girls mostly got gifts from family and very few from us (we are waiting until Ryan is home to have a second Christmas with Dad). Kaelyn and Anna both recieved a ton of coloring activities and items.

These were Barbies from ReeRee (my mom), Anna's face was covered in Chocolate from her stocking and I just adored how she said "NickerDOOdles" whenever she grabbed cookies out of the tin. Kaelyn looks so much older than four here...makes me sad :(

Merry First Christmas! And keeping with the McAdams' tradition, all of Nolen's gifts from Santa were hand-me-downs!

The best gift of the day is that Nolen kinda rolled over.

I missed seeing my darling husband, sharing the holiday with him and listening to the girls play with their dad, but SOON, very SOON, my husband will be home and we will replay Christmas all over again!

*Sorry for the absence, I am just now getting the handle on doctor's appointments and therapy and hope to get back to my Real Estate/Key Spouse/HomeSchooling/Blogging self in no time!*

Finding a few things difficult to swallow

2010-12-12T19:37:00.000-08:00

- Nolen might be having seizures...considering the episodes I have seen AND the fact that 50% of all Encephalitis cases result in seizures...it's probably more of an is and less of a might.

- That a full recovery is unlikely given his age and the fact that a full recovery hasn't already occurred. The younger you are the worse off you are, especially if you are under 1 according to Encephalitis sites and Acquired Brain Injury sites.

- That by listing him as disabled (we've had the papers written out and the note from the doctor, we just delayed doing so) DOES NOT mean I'm giving up on him. It is simply the best decision for everyone in our family.

In other news, he's just as happy as he was the day he came. Nolen seems to have gotten the best of both Ryan and I. You see, Kaelyn has my temperament, she's an old soul whose feathers are hard to ruffle. But, when she breaks...she breaks. Just like me. Anna, she has a curiosity streak a mile wide (which leads her to mischief) but she has a giant heart and the charm and wit of her Father to redeem her. Nolen seems to have both my temperament (a very laid back child) and Ryan's charm (boy can he light up a room with his smile!).

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-08T16:02:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

The girls and Nolen had a wonderful time one Saturday posing for B. Malpedo Photography fo rher Mini Sessions. I am not one for the typical posed pictures, and I'm also not one for professional photography, but this experience has changed my outlook!

The classic Nose Pick on Santa's lap. She's lucky I love her (and that Nolen wasn't looking at the camera), because this was almost our Christmas card!

This is our card (if I can just find time to order them!)

Nice Certificates!

If Kaelyn hadn't had her goofy face..this would have been it

Can't tell you how much I love this one!

She loves the fur!!!

Nolen's Physical Therapy Eval

2010-12-06T16:27:00.000-08:00

I had an obscene amount of anxiety regarding this appointment. The kind of anxiety where you can feel your heart beat faster and your chest tighten...the kind that you are sure would be bad for you if you felt it all the time. I couldn't and still can't pinpoint why I was so anxious. Maybe it was leftover worry from a very disappointing GI appointment, but whatever it was it wasn't fun.

The Physical Therapist, named Adrienne which only keeps with our running TV/Movie themed names/jokes (remember Al who we already see once a week) and had me remembering a friend from an old base while also reciting a thousand and one Yo Adrienne jokes in my head, agrees that we definitely need more therapy for the little guy. I don't know why, but my heart deflated just a little bit when I was told this. I KNEW in my head that this was what I was going to hear, but I hoped with my heart that I was just too close to Nolen to see the progress that he has made. My heart was wrong, my head was right...he isn't progressing like "they" (and I) think he should. Right now he has a giant piece of tape on his back testing for allergies. If he isn't allergic, next week we will start taping his torso so that his muscles will "remember" how to function and grow stronger. In addition to having his torso taped, his hands will be taped open. Sounds Cruel? Barbaric? Mideval? Yea, I'm right there with you. But at this point...it's tape or end up in braces that aren't nearly as flexible. Hopfully, we can avoid the braces (because if the tape doesn't make a difference, then we are goign to be adding Occupational Therapy and braces to our litany of things to do).

Things they mentioned to me:

~Nolen is still weak on the left side (his head tilts that way, as though he has torticallis (a tight muscle that impairs rotation of the neck) but his is related to muscle weakness.
~His hands are too tightly closed
~His torso is weak
~His tone is still very poor

Things that we are doing:

~Adding more exercises (yes, more!!)
~Continuing therapy with them and with Early Intervention
~Taping

Go ahead and call me nutty.

2010-12-02T18:42:00.000-08:00

I won't mind...because I am very aware that I am nutty. But sometimes its the ordinary things, the ordinary moments, that make me realize the relationship God has with us, and with his son.

I should probably give back story so that you can really grasp what I am trying to say. This past week has been full of bittersweet moments. Moments where I can see Kaelyn gaining so much independance, where I want to tell her "No, don't worry about doing those things, just be my little girl and let me do it" but find myself stepping back and letting her try her hand. Point and case, I was in the shower the other day when Kaelyn and Anna come in with bowls full of rice crispy cereal. They ask if they can have it for snack and I said of course (seeing as saying No could have led to me having to follow through if they didn't listen and I had just put shampoo in my hair.) Next thing I know, as conditioner is going into my hair, Kaelyn asks how you make cereal (she had tried making oatmeal during my shower the other day and forgotten to cook it leading to "oatmeal that didn't taste so good"). I tell her the steps not thinking that it could harm anything....right? Wrong, I come downstairs after my shower and Kaelyn tells me on my way down and her way up that "If I was hungry she left me a snack on the table" which is a phrase I say to her fairly often. So, I walk into my kitchen and find an ENTIRE bag of rice crispy cereal all over the floor (and a neat little pile with a spoon and a ton of sugar on top on the table...as in ON THE TABLE) and sugar spilled everywhere. I want to tell her not to do it again, but I find myself instead thanking her for the thoughtful snack and ignoring the mess until Nap.

God must feel the same way about us at times. Not wanting to step back and let the big messes happen, wanting to take his hand and guide ours as we pour cereal...but instead he steps back, lets us try our best, praises us for the effort knowing that his Grace will cover us. And then, when the timing is right, he cleans it up.

I also wonder about Joseph and Mary more, now that I am a parent. They must have wanted to pull little Jesus back by the robes and tell him to not worry about the world, because Lord knows I often want to stop Kaelyn's mind from questioning the whys and what nots she becomes more and more aware of. I want to hold Kaelyn back and make childhood last as long as possible, to protect her knowing that I can't protect her from it all. Joseph and Mary had to want the same things, they had to want their child to rest easy and not carry the fate of the world, but it was a hopeless desire, just as my desire to freeze my kids at four is hopeless.

Meal plan Monday- Dairy and almost Soy free

2010-11-29T10:07:00.000-08:00

So, as advised by Nolen's doctors, I am trying a Dairy Free (and added Soy free myself) diet in the hopes that it will rule out a milk and soy allergy as the cause of his constant diarrhea since his admitance to the hospital. With that said...Milk and Soy are in virtually everything, so this first menu is kinda my first attempt.

Today- I made my base for two (maybe three meals) using left over roast veggies and turkey from thanksgiving. It's basically Chicken Stock, Chicken Breast, Roast Veggies, Seasoning, Celery and Potatos. I ate it as Chicken Soup for lunch (the girls had a sandwich with cheese and bread that has whey in it).

Dinner- Individual Chicken Pot Pies. I'm taking my Chicken Base and mashing the potatos for thickness, filling pie crusts (milk free/soy free) and baking until crust is done since the base is already cooked

Tuesday-
Lunch- Leftover Pizza for the kids, a Salad with my homemade dressing (Most dressings on the shelf use Vegetable oil, which has soy in it).

Dinner- Roast made in the crockpot with lots of veggies (I'll be using an onion soup packet mix...which has trace amounts of soy...but I don't think it should count because when listing allergies it doesn't include Soy, it only says that it's made in a factory that uses soy).

Wednesday-
Lunch-Roast Sandwich (using the bread I found that is milk free!)
Dinner- Pan fried Tilapia, Fresh Veggies, Garlic bread

Thursday-
We will be gone for all meals (which means I will have to be googling things that are milk free for me to eat or packing lunch/dinner)

Friday-
Lunch-Dirty Rice (left over Tilapia, onions, bell pepper, celery and beans)
Dinner-I'll be Christmas Shopping while the girls eat dinner at Parent's night out.

Saturday-
Lunch-Might be out...We have the Christmas party that morning
Dinner-Chicken Base with beans and rice added to make it a hearty soup for the girls, with Grilled cheese!

Sunday-
Leftovers????

More Meals at Meal Planning Monday!

Nolen's GI update

2010-11-28T09:52:00.000-08:00

So on the 22nd we went to see the GI Doctors at CHOPS. First off, I absolutely LOVE these doctors. They ROCK! They talked to Nolen (like he could talk back) and they caught a few things that were never mentioned to me before regarding Nolen's time in the hospital.

Apparently, his Liver functioning, nutrition levels and other vital functions were compromised and completely off the charts while in the hospital. I don't know if the doctors purposely neglected to tell me this information or if they choose to omit it for fear I couldn't handle it. (Heck, the only reason I know his actual diagnosis is because I stayed in the "circle" during rounds and heard them say he had it.) Needless to say, this omission caused me NOT to mention it to my doctor, and because the hospital has yet to share records with Nolen's Pediatrician, tests have not been repeated to insure that things have normalized. I will be correcting this ASAP (Monday). Those of you who know my husband can only imagine how livid he is about this neglect.

Things we learned-
-Nolen does have blood in his stool.
-He isn't Gaining like he should
-More than likely, his choking is related to reflux
-He has an overgrowth of yeast.

What we are doing-
-I am going on a no-dairy/no-soy diet to see if the diarrhea is related to an allergy. (Soy and Milk are exposure allergies, and this is the more unlikely of the causes but the easiest and least invasive means of eliminating a potential cause).

-He is being treated both orally and topically for the yeast

-He is getting fortified breastmilk (breastmilk plus powdered formula) in the hopes that more calories/ounce will help him make up the difference without using the tube.

-His Zantac was upped to 3xday/1.2ml...more on this later

-Testing his stool for infection (the most likely cause of his Diarrhea)

We go back in Jan. and if his choking doesn't improve we will do a barium suck swallow test as well as put him on medication for his secretions and possible put the tube back in due to the fear of aspiration (where you end up getting fluid in your lungs and developing pneumonia).
That amount of Zantac was causing Nolen to be excessively sleepy and less interested in eating so I have since had to stop that amount. His choking has returned to the severity prior to this.

I am thankful for Life.

2010-11-27T09:52:00.000-08:00

Call it cheesy, but this year, I am finding myself thankful for life. Not just the happy go lucky parts, but the bare knuckles, rough and tumbled parts. Why? I've learned that it's those rough and tumbled parts that polish you into a more beautiful person. The kind of person who realizes that even at your worst you have something to be thankful for, even if it's as small as the next breath.

We have a tradition of writing what we are thankful for on a table cloth in permanent ink.

Each year we sit at the table and enjoy our food with reminders of our blessings in the past, the friends we have shared this meal with and the reminders of the blessing from that current year.

This year, these are our new blessings-
I wrote that I was thankful for love that knows no distance, strengthens in moments of weakness and grows without end.
Kaelyn wrote that she was thankful for the food God made us.
Catherine (my friend's daughter who is also four) wrote that she was thankful for the Three Musketeers and that her Daddy is going to come home from fighting the bad guys (her dad is also deployed)
Kari (my friend who shared this holiday with me, and helped me assemble the table we ate on) wrote that she was thankful for friends who are there in the good times and the bad.
Hunter and Anna just wrote. :)

I hope you and yours had a joyful holiday weekend! I've got lots of updates on Nolen and the girls!

Dr's Office Homeschooling

2010-11-19T07:40:00.000-08:00

Since Nolen is requiring so many frequent doctors appointments, I have had to start rethinking my approach to homeschooling. Before I relied heavily on worksheets/traditional style learning, but that doesn't always translate well into a doctors setting where my girls will have to work independantly from me. This is what I have found that works

-Lots of File Folder Games!
-Puzzles

I carry these puzzles in a coupon sorter, and they very easily pull out. Kaelyn using them for her phonics and word recognition. Anna uses them for learning how to sort the colors and put the puzzles together.

While waiting for Nolen's medication, Kaelyn wrote a book (about 3 musketeers, I have to find it so that I can put a picture up) while Anna played with more puzzles.

-Lots of Reading! Kaelyn has progressed beyond Short A in Progressive Phonics and I am combing Progressive Phonics with Hubbard's Cupboard so that we are hitting both Phonics and Sight words! I'm so excited to see her make strides in reading! She is doing great at sounding out three letter words, especially those with the short a sound, and she can sight read *on, had, this, see, at, we, will, and a few more that I can't quite remember.

-Lots of everyday math. For example, with Fruit Snacks I make Anna tell me the color while I make Kaelyn sort them by color, tell me which has more, which has less etc. It seems to be working (with Kaelyn). Yesterday she told me that "If we had two cinderellas then we would have four evil stepsisters. But I like to pretend that Cinderella has a nice sister like Anna, so that would be two nice sisters as well" She's spontaneously drew a pattern (for her calender chart which is exactly what we used to do when we had daily school time). She asks to see this chart so that she can tell me "what kind of day it is, and what the weather was like".

-Lots of Drawing- In addition to making her own story book, she also regurgitated the plant life cycle! Complete with water hose, sunlight, dirt, seed, seedling, full blown flower with roots!!!!

Then we donated our hair!!! She is so excited to be doing something to help others. I told her I was donating my hair and explained how they would use my hair to make wigs for people who don't have hair. She didn't understand so we toured the Locks of Love photo gallery and she was SOLD on the idea.

Before she got it cut!

her and her ponytail! It was about 8 inches of hair!!!

The after! I love it because she can take care of it by herself!! As much as she likes it, I think she will grow it back out!

Nolen is doing better. He has been having choking episodes that can not be explained away easily. They occur despite position, whether he is eating or not (meaning he chokes on his own spit), time of day, etc. His peditrician started him on Zantac to see if it might help the symptoms (it seems to have helped the severity of his choking, although it could just be that I am more in tune to his cues) and we see the GI doctor on Monday. Hopefully we can get a suck swallow test scheduled so that we can determine the cause. He is doing much better with tracking/head control, and seems to be gaining strength daily. He has been spacing out and did so that the therapist was concerned. I'm going to be tracking the time and duration so that we can determine if it's something to note to the Neurologist come Jan/Feb.

More Homeschool posts at Preschool Corner!

Dear Ryan,

2010-11-18T20:23:00.000-08:00

November 19, 2005

Five years! Amazing how little time it seems looking back. 1/2 a decade!

We started out with things a little backwards, but God knew what he was doing. The first year wasn't easy, but I love the memories I have from it. (The now infamous envelope argument.) The morning after this picture was taken you hopped on a plane and went back to training. I think it set a good tone for what I could expect in the years to come.

I finally joined you after 3 months of marriage. I was about 4 months pregnant and we lived in that one bedroom apartment, an air mattress and one car! All for the sake of saving money. It was worth it. Thank you!

We skipped a honeymoon because you had training. It was a little over a year that we would finally get away for our first time ever as a couple. Kaelyn stayed with your mom and we went to Hawaii.

I love this picture of us. It makes me smile thinking of how much fun we had on our "honeymoon". How you got out of the stupid Kayak in the middle of Kanaohe Bay and I wouldn't get out with you because I was scared of sharks. Then the current pulled you away and I couldn't get the Kayak to move towards you. I still smile thinking of how horribly burnt our legs got.

2 Apartments, 2 Houses, 4 States, I would say we are par for the course of a military family. We have said goodbye, and hello

a lot in the past five years. I like the hello part the best.

But while you are away, the kids and I have learned so much. I have grown so much because of you and your amazing attitude. You have such a desire to contribute, to do your best, to try your best and to help others, that spirit has rubbed off on me and our girls. I hope Nolen learns that from you. I also hope Nolen learns you since of Chivalry and Family.

We have been there as we have had to say goodbye to those we love. We have held each other's hand, comforted each others breaking heart, calmed each other's fears, and leaned on each other for strength, hope, knowing that together we can do anything. Smiling through the pain, laughing despite the trails, loving no matter what, and celebrating across the distance.

I have watched you grow as a man. I stood there and proudly watched you take the oath as you were promoted to Captain.

I have watched you grow from an eager young father who didn't know much...

To a Dad who can expertly feed a baby while entertaining a toddler. We have been blessed with three gorgeous children, and I watched you rise to the occasion, and walk out of a deployment and straight into this.

You walked off a plane from one of the most stressful environments into the most stressful one, and you picked up Dr. Dolittle and you started reading where I had left off. I can't tell you how much you mean to me, or how much I admire your strength or perhaps it's your ability to find the strength to do what needs to be done. Thank you for letting me be weak in that situation, for letting me break down.

I remember the first time you got to hold Nolen after he had "woke up", and the way he smiled at you, like he wanted you to know that he remembered you, and that it was like you had never left.

I know exactly how he feels, your smile, your presence and your face bring me such joy, a joy that even though we aren't together this year, it spans the distance.

Ryan, I am so thankful, so blessed and so wonderfully in love with you. I can't wait to see what the next 5 years hold.

Happy 5th Anniversary baby!
Fly Safe and Sleep well.
Love always,
B

The longest Tuesday ever

2010-11-09T18:15:00.000-08:00

Today was an insanely long day, but it was a success (as I sit writing this watching Glee and avoiding work)

Successful things that happened today:

-Managed to get a box of goodies out to my hubby
-Made it to MOPS where I volunteered in the PreK room
-PreK room rocked a modified game of pictionary (I drew/wrote letters, shapes, numbers, etc)
-Ate all meals at a fast food joint
-Made it to Philly and our Neuro appointment
-Put both girls into simulatenous timeout for not sharing and interupting me during the doctors appointment, but ended up with perfect angels after said incident.
-Made it to the soccer game
-Where KAELYN SCORED A GOAL!!!

Now the not so successful moments-
We haven't been able to figure out what is causing Nolen's sudden issues with choking. For the past two weeks he has been experiencing episodes where he chokes about 2-4 times a day. I would venture to say that atleast once every 3-4 days he has one so severe that his lips will change colors. Neuro doesn't think it's a sign of seizure (which is a good thing) but wants me to follow up with Speech (which will require a referral). He has Physical therapy on Thursday, so hopefully I can swing getting Early Intervention to tack on a speech therapy session. We will see.

Our week in school

2010-11-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I don't have any photos this week, but I do have some great links!

Kaelyn has been wanting to plant plants, and I unfortunately had to inform her that that season has really come and gone. So I spied some of those tiny little pots with seeds included at the Target dollar spot and we have been learning about plants all week.

This site here has a GREAT game that teaches about how a plant grows. It also has a lot of other great resources and games. Kaelyn enjoyed pouring water on her virtual seed and watching the roots grow and a sprout form.

This site has great information on the purposes of each part of a plant. It's also got a "tree video" that my daughter loved to watch.

I uploaded a few free games for the girls and they have enjoyed them. They are Toddler Quiz. Which I was hoping would quiz Anna on colors, but it quizes on a lot more than just that. And then SantaCount, which is a fun count the presents game.

Kaelyn had an overwhelming desire to read this week, so she started out on a book she picked out. Needless to say it was FAR above her abilities, but it was what she wanted. She did a great job and recognized a few sight words I didn't know she could (Is, He, and On). I am just excited that the desire is there! FINALLY!!!!!

We've also been entertaining a lot of questions here lately regarding the body. Which is great because we've been using our body book!

Aside from some accidently addition and subtraction, color recognition and shape recognition,we haven't managed to do formal school this week!

Here is what other families have been up to over at Preschool Corner!

Feeling guilty

2010-11-04T08:45:00.000-07:00

I am very thankful to have my little blog here, in the past when only random bloggers were reading it, I found it very helpful to vent out some of my guilt/fears/etc. Well, now that people I see on a regular basis are reading it, I thought I would hesitate to admit those fears/guilt here, but apparently I'm not.

So here it goes. I am starting to get a little overwhelmed with the amount of appointments Nolen is requiring. Here is a peek into next week.

Monday- Possible starting PT in voorhees (it's not set up yet, but it will be MWorF of every week)
Tuesday-MOPS and then Neurology in Phili
Wednesday-empty (but every other week we do weigh ins and development checks on base, and shots).
Thursday-PT at noon
Friday-empty, Dance Class
Saturday-Dance Class and Soccer Party

I know it doesn't seem like a lot, if it was just one child. And then you have to add in the normal errands of groceries, the library, post office, etc.

But I have two other kids, who I am responsible for. Two kids who require attention and being taught. Not to mention that I have a referral for ANOTHER therapy, but I am waiting to schedule it because I don't know how the therapist in Voorhees are going to feel about having two additional children with the one they are helping.

I sometimes wonder how I am going to manage to teach Kaelyn like I should, or how I am suppose to be able to play with Anna like I want...and that is why I find myself waiting to call and schedule Occupational Therapy. I know it would help him, but that would put therapy three times a week, not to mention Neuro/GI atleast once a week. Those two appointments mean a trip into Philadelphia. In addition to bi-monthly weigh ins, monthly well babys, and additional developmental checks. Not to mention the girls have appointments of their own.

I have once again looked into schools around here for Kaelyn to attend PreK, but that still leaves Anna. If I put her into school (and Anna into daycare) those are just two more things that I have to schedule around, four more trips. It would only further hinder my ability to be flexible with appointments because I don't have to worry about picking her up from school. I've thought about daycare, but again I wonder if it would help or hurt (the more flexible you are with appointment times the better chance you have getting your child seen at an appropriate time and not MONTHS into the future, for instance w/GI the earliest I could get him seen at the Voorhees office would be Feb. but since I am willing to drive I managed an early morning appointment 35-40 mins away from the house in Dec.).

I am feeling a tad bit guilty about not spending enough time with the girls, especially Anna. I feel guilty for not taking Nolen to this additional therapy until I figure out how to balance all I have going on and I find myself scared that somehow, amongst it all I am going to find that I have overlooked something (like shopping for Christmas...can you believe we are only a few weeks away).

Thankfully, I do have my own little outlets. I am still working and volunteering...but those are two things that make me happy, that make me feel like I am accomplishing something, and thankfully they can be done during naps and bedtimes when I am free.

Why does your son reek of Olive Oil? And other Random Madness

2010-11-03T18:57:00.000-07:00

So the next time you pick up my little man, and you suddenly have the urge to wipe your bread across his scalp, you'll now know why. Poor guys has HORRIBLE cradles cap and nothing has worked. So now, I am trying olive oil. Despite the strong odor and urge to gobble him up, it doesn't seem to be doing much. Any suggestions to help with cradle's cap?

Kaelyn has started trying to use reverse psychology on me on a near to regular basis. The first time, I had fed her lunch and she asked for chips. I told her that after she woke up from nap, if she picked up her room she could have them for snack. So, Kaelyn decides to forgo lunch in the hopes of eating chips. She wakes up, doesn't pick up and it is now time to go. She starts to complain about being hungry to which I tell her, you made these choices and will now have to wait until we are back home. This is what she threw back at me.
"Mom, you want me to grow up and be big and strong right?"
"Yes I do Kaelyn."
"Then you should probably give me those chips."

Tonight's attempt at reverse psychology
"You want me to go to sleep right?"
"Yes, I do Kaelyn"
"I have to have chocolate milk to go to sleep."
"Well, that's unfortunate seeing as you didn't use your manners when you asked and how you have already had one glass of milk. Your more than welcome to get water."
"No, it has to be chocolate milk to work"
"Then I guess you'll just have to lay in your bed, in the dark, all night long until morning"

Anna has discovered how to climb on my cabinet knobs and turn on all the facets in an attempt to wash her hands. I have found all my sinks running simultaneously as she tests out this new found skill. I am expecting a very high water bill.

This will be my third attempt at successfully collecting and freezing a stool sample from Nolen. Trust me, I do not like doing this, but some how I have managed to bungle the attempt on more than one occasion. Luckily I have perfected the double bag, ziploc container, in it's own corner away from my frozen veggies method.

Kaelyn hid her eyedrops. I will probably have to call and ask for another prescription. Any suggestions on where a four year old might hid drops?

Have I mentioned that Anna now thinks clothing is completely optional.

Madness I say, complete madness.

perspectives

2010-11-02T20:47:00.000-07:00

My father-in-law once asked me if I wanted my children to be gifted (in reference to my husband and I, who both were in gifted classes) and I responded, "No". He asked if I wanted them to do well in school and I answered quite honestly, "I don't care what they do in school, or if they are as dumb as a rock. All I want my children to do is three simple things, Have a GREAT work ethic, Be respectful/polite, and have a good heart. I truly believe that if they can do those three things, they will do well in life."

I don't know what prompted me to think of this...perhaps I was just being a sentimentalist, or it was Kaelyn's comment earlier today regarding how she was "determined to learn to read". Since Nolen's gotten sick and set back, I've started to adjust my perspectives and forget about the silly "Your child should be doing x,y, and z by age blah" book and let my son and my girls write their own stories. That, and one of Ryan's co-workers looked at him after asking how Nolen was doing and simply said, "If he is only 3 months behind for the rest of his life he is still doing pretty damn good". I'll take that.

What my hubby does....

2010-10-30T19:42:00.000-07:00

I was very fortunate to be invited to participate in what they like to call a "spouse flight". This is a chance for the guys (and I include females when I say guys) to show their significant others "what they do". My husband's air craft has three main jobs, a pilot/co-pilot, an engineer and a boom operator. So all the spouses of those three positions were allowed to tag along for a demonstration. I don't usually think my husband has a cool job, but I do now!

That's a video of our aircraft "recieving" fuel! When connected they are a little less than 15 feet apart! Here is a picture!

This is what it looks like from inside the cockpit of the reciever, if I was doing what Ryan does, which is fly the plane.

My friend Ashlie in the "belly" of the KC10!!!

This is Ashlie and our "boom". The Boom is the thing that is piloted down to the recieving aircraft. In the above pictures it's the brightly colored "hose". I'm not 100% on how accurate this all is, it's just my understanding of it all. In my terms, the boom is the person who puts the gas hose into the tank.

You can see the people in the other jet! We were waving to each other! HOW CRAZY IS THAT!

This is the view through the THICKEST glass in the airforce! The Boom uses mirrors and a glass inbetween his legs to help orient himself and so that he can "see" around the giant aircraft.

And that's what it looks like to GIVE Fuel!

More Life Learning

2010-10-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

See that Giant Black Tub??? I have loaded up the most frequently used arts and crafts items into it and started leaving it out on the table for the girls to find in the morning!

I also tucked in some Halloween stickers, ghost cut outs and stamps. The girls have REALLY enjoyed this laid back, cut/color/cleanup into one giant tub approach! So much so that I even snuck a few worksheets under it in hopes of encouraging Kaelyn to do some "work" without her noticing it. Low and behold this is what she did!

Instead of tracing the animals, she cut them out! She did a REALLY good job as well!!

This free-range craft/worksheet approach keeps the girls entertained and allows them to learn and develop things at their own pace. I LOVE this more relaxed "unschooling"-esque approach!

Speaking of Life learning, one of the last things the girls did with Daddy before he left was examine this guy!

Who says Halloween isn't educational. They spent a good 15 minutes discussing bones and joints only to end up pointing out how inaccurate my $1 Halloween skeleton is...everyone is a critic!

Then we made cookies! Hello Counting, Direction following, Science and life skills!

Then Kaelyn worked on her 8 sight words (we added See/Sees, This, is, and Me). She actually started sounding out words today which is a HUGE Step for us!

Then she played illustrator and colored in the books as well as added her own special touches....like a Musketeer and Plaid fabric for the tent on the cover page!

Anna and I have been working really hard on labeling her shapes (like with colors, she does a great job pointing to the one you request but lacks the ability to label most). She knows (labels and recognizes on her own) heart, start and circle.

And this lovely little hand-me-down from my mom has been an AWESOME game for Kaelyn to play independantly (she picks a word tile adn then spells out the word underneath it). Anna has enjoyed playing it like a puzzle.

Here is the link for more homeschooling fun over at Preschool Corner!

This is Life

2010-10-28T07:27:00.000-07:00

I hope you can find a reason to smile through the spit up today!

Siblings

2010-10-26T19:25:00.000-07:00

I am fortunate to be one of five children. My siblings and I spread a wide range of 13 years, and this gap of years means that the older two didn't really "click" with the younger two initially. I am one of the younger two and I totally get how we must have been annoying little pests at age 6 to our highschool/college counterparts. Despite the gap, we were close, but recently something magical has happened...we all grew up and were able to sit down for a meal together, as equals.

Dena, Jeff (who was getting married the next day) and his New Brother In Law

Me and JJ

And Angelica/Sara and my brother Daniel who escaped my pictures!

We gathered together for the first time ever, had a drink (water and ice cream for the groom, it's a tradition...on my wedding night I had water and ice cream as well), food, and lots of laughter.

Which brings me to this, I love family...even my functionally dysfunctional one who can simultaneously make me laugh and want to scream. In a bind, they are there to hold your sick son so that you can shower

They take all your children (and nieces) out to get their nails done for a wedding

They laugh with you

They cry with you, they pray for you, and they celebrate with you! I am so thankful that for all our faults, issues, and disagreements, we got the chance to stand by my baby brother and welcome our newest sibling into our dysfunctional family (and yes, she was fairly warned).

Congrats Jeff and Welcome to the family Jenny!

Al the Therapist?

2010-10-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

I am so very happy to report that I recieved a phone call today (I get to check calling THEM off my to-do list) regarding Nolen's Physical Therapy. It starts next Thursday at 1230 and will continue until it's no longer needed! And, get this, our therapist's name is Al. Yep, all I keep imagining in my little head is this guy

In the floor with my son...makes me smile...because I'm wierd like that!

Preschool Corner-Almost Unschooling

2010-10-15T17:02:00.000-07:00

So, for those few of my readers who don't homeschool, there is this movement of what people call "unschoolers" who believe that everyday life should teach our children a well balanced education. I think in some ways these individuals are 100% correct. This past week has been more like UNschooling or Life Schooling than anything else. Our week of life school was really full of lots of unplanned educational things...I'm pretty satisfied with our week!

Monday was a family day with Ryan's impending Deployment until Next year and Tuesday was MOPS. And well, we had two playdates and a doctors appointment!! Busy all around.

We have managed to keep up our "circle" time routine of discussing the day of the week, the date, today/tomorrow/yesterday, and the month. I was shocked that on Thursday, when we went to the Comissary (military grocery store), Kaelyn stopped and looked at me and Anna and says, "What is the weather like today? Is it rainy?" To which Anna said, "No"...until they had narrowed down what the weather was, then they asked me to help with the date and the day of the week!!! Then during our playdate, all of the kids had sat down in their chairs in front of our circle time board and went through the same motions!

Anna has been picking up more and more colors as well as shapes this week just through everyday life. Again, at the grocery store we were looking for Grapes and I asked which they wanted RED or GREEN. She can match her colors and point to the correct one when prompted but is still learning how to label correctly.

Kaelyn's been really inquisitive this week about how things are made...so we've been discussing the process of making things as well as making her an awesome Halloween Costume.

It really needs a fluffy slip to fill out the satin underskirt..

Kaelyn learned how to measure using a tape measurer, cut a pattern, pin a pattern, sew a seam and make alterations after a garment has been made. She also started making Patterns out of the blue one day so that has been our latest game. I'll start a pattern (verbally, so I'll say pink yellow blue pink yellow *pause*) and then let her finish it. Then she'll start a pattern and I'll finish it.

It was nice to have a week full of free drawing and life learning!!! Here's what other families have been up too...Preschool Corner

Adios NG Tube!

2010-10-12T20:23:00.000-07:00

Nolen is gaining the bare minimum for each day (25 g or kg...which is a big difference I know, I just can't remember which and I sincerely suspect it's kg, but I'm so not sure). This is HUGE! We can take the tube out and stop the weight pre-and post feeding. I won't say the tube won't have to go back in, but I will say that for now, my sanity is just a bit more secure since I am no longer have to reinsert the tube on a near regular basis. Each week we will be doing weight checks at the med group to make sure he keeps his weight up!

Since Nolen's weight/feeding seems to be improving, we are now going to start focusing on other aspects of his condition. Nolen is still developmentally delayed (very much a newborn in most areas). The only area he appears to be on point with is socially he will engage with you and attempt to make noises (they think that part of his delay in "speech/cooing/laughing/squealing" relates to his lack of tone). With that said, here are the big plans for his care.

-Continue weight checks, but stay OFF the tube!

-See a neurologist. His Ped and the Early intervention team all feel that we should start seeing a neurologist due to the fact that there hasn't been any marked improvement in his physical tone/strength nor a large developmental milestone. We've also noticed a slight difference in the sides (left side versus right side) that would indicate possible issues neurologically.

-Start weekly physical therapy with Early Intervention through the state. In about three months or sooner, we will reevaluate Nolen's condition and start Speech as well as Developmental Therapy. If needed we may also start Occupational Therapy. Our goals for physical therapy is to see Nolen moving or making an effort to move and for speech we hope to have him babbling.

We haven't classified Nolen as anything, or pushed for him to get into the programs offered by the military (EFMP or ECHO) to get him access to more intensive care per the advice of our Pediatrician. She cautions that once an EFMP is started it's hard to "undo" and that would be a quasi permanent label for what we foresee to be a temporary condition. She also says that Tricare should cover due to the lack of a diagnosis...so it looks like more fighting with insurance lies ahead for me!

Preschool Corner- Review week, Ants continued

2010-10-08T05:48:00.000-07:00

This week has been an absolutely ideal homeschooling week. We had Soccer and doctors appointments the last two days, but otherwise we've had school as part of our daily routine!!!!

We managed to have circle time (with both girls in attendance). Our circle time consists of looking at the weather and hypothesizing what tomorrow's weather will be, singing the days of the week and establishing what today is, yesterday was, and what tomorrow will be, the day of the month and a countdown to Halloween, review our alphabet, say the pledge and count to 100.

I spent the week reviewing what we had learned last year since this is our "official first week".

Kaelyn being "tested" on number recognition and the ability to put them in the correct order. We call this Number Jumble

MATH: I was surprised to see how well Kaelyn is counting to 100, and how well she is doing with 13,14,15,16. Those were things she struggled with before we stopped for the summer. If made to look at the numbers rather than just saying them, Kaelyn can get 13,14,15,16 correct 100% of the time and she's begining to understand the teens placement in determining what number comes after 39,49,59, etc. Kaelyn also has taught Anna how to count past 10!!! I have a feeling that my girls are going to be number people....which is so like their father and so unlike me! I wanted to insure that Kaelyn recognized her numbers and could place them in the proper order from and unordered list. She does great with 1-8, but struggles with 9-12. We will work on 7-12 until she grasps that last four with ease. Then we will continue on into the teens followed shortly by the 20s.

READING: I've been quizzing her during circle time on showing Anna certain letters or find the letters by sound and she's done a remarkable well job considering I never drilled the alphabet with her, just shower her the letters as we went along with writing. Then, I "tested" her using the Kindergarten printout from the public school she will be attending where Capital and Lower case are jumbled together and the children are expected to recognize all the letters without mistake and within three seconds. So using that as my standard, we flew through the list and only missed 18. Sounds like a lot, but I didn't cut her any slack. A lot of her errors were due to the style/font used (the a had a hook at the top, their J didn't have a top, etc) or are common mistakes/confusions (ie d/b, p/q, wW/mM, u/v) l with 1or that their I doesn't have a top and bottom it's just a line). So now we know which letters to continue to review.

Playdough letters and sight words as well!

We read the first Bob book and worked on the At family. Anna is slowly picking up phonics by being around us during school.

ANNA's school:
Anna can match her colors very well, but getting her to SAY the colors is a completely different matter. The same with the alphabet or counting....I have heard her count objects 1:1 up to 5, but to get her to count with you or for you...not going to happen. Her alphabet, well, she likes to sing herself to sleep at night and she will sing the ENTIRE alphabet without error...but if you ask...it's No. So, right now I just keep playing games with her to try and get her to feel comfortable showing me what I've seen/overheard her doing already!

Pink was our Color this week!

In other news, Anna has been doing an AMAZING job with her potty training and has decided that various toys should be potty trained as well....Enjoy!

I would have had pictures of Kaelyn's first soccer game, but my Camera is doing something odd....

For more preschool corner go here!

Works for me Wednesday-Over the door shoe organizer

2010-10-06T18:43:00.000-07:00

You know those shoe organizers that hang over the back of your door...they tend to ruin the door jamb by wearing a groove into the wood when you close it...or even worse, won't allow you to close your door.

I used two of them in our old home, and hated the damage they did on our door jambs, so I vowed NOT to use them again....ever....until one day while opening boxes from my husband's college days that had were packed and never touched again, it hit me....those shoe racks were my organization salvation.

The clear pockets let me SEE what's in there, and all my frequently needed tools, flashlights, batteries, etc. are readily available!

For more tips go here! or tell me what works for you!

Preschool Corner- Integrating Nolen's Special Needs into our Homeschool day

2010-10-01T16:41:00.000-07:00

So, now that Nolen is requiring a lot more time than just a "normal" newborn with his extra doctors appointments, therapists and feeding team/feeding care, we have been taking our time stepping slowly back into this homeschool year. A lot of homeschooling had to occur on the go, in doctors offices and through our daily experiences, so I don't have a lot in means of photographs. I'm also working hard to incorporate Anna into our work so there are a few activities that we did together.

I haven't received my curriculum yet (Horizon's Math, Explode the Code), so this week was inspired by the new PBS series The Cat and the Hat knows a lot about that....all about Ants. (Yes, it's a sad day when you end up finding and creating a homeschool week around a cartoon you watched with your children. I'm just trying to make it through day by day.) I still have a lot of activities I want to do with this so we will continue on into next week.

We watched the show, discussed how Ants work together, how they lived in colonies and had a queen Ant. Which then led to pretending to be the queen. Then we talked about how we were having to work together as a family with all the new demands of taking care of Nolen.

Things they did together:

Teamwork: The girls worked together to clean up their toys each night. They also Marched together saying "2,4,6,8" like the ants on the show. They had to work together to "lift" heavy things like the laundry basket. They also helped me set up areas for Nolen to use for his "therapy". Right now, due to his severe loss of muscle tone, his therapy really consists of encouraging proper spinal alignment and assisting his body into "relearning" how to hold it's head in the proper positions. So, the girls helped roll up blankets to create bolsters, used the pictures on our paperwork and helped assemble these little centers for Nolen all around the house!

The rolled up blankets support his head so that he can look straight ahead while the larger one on the bottom props his knees up so that if you could flip him over onto his tummy he'd look like he was crawling.

Kaelyn helped teach Anna her colors and shapes using these toys. I am learning that Anna is a much more "hand on" learner. Kaelyn then used the pegboard to sort, make patterns, finish patterns, and count.

Kaelyn's School work:

Kaelyn enjoyed playing pretend Queen Ant, she also decided to spontaneously make a book on her own. She wrote the title (3 Musketeers) and then used some of the leftover Ant Circles to create a person! It was all on her own, and yet again, inspired by a movie they watched more than once this week. I know...shame on you Mom!

She also assembled the spine and folded the book on her own. Aside from Spelling the title (which she asked me to do) this is her first independently done craft! And I'm loving how proud she is. It's gone to EVERY appointment and has been worked on very carefully in each one.

Both girls were supposed to do this art project, hoping to teach Anna about circle, the color red and the number three while encouraging Kaelyn to work independently while I assisted Anna. Anna ended up tearing her ant up, while Kaelyn produced a very nice ant with self cut legs and antenna.

Anna, on one of our many outings worked on this lovely Ant!

And I love that she had to hold the pen correctly to get it to mark!

That's what we've managed to do so far in our very hectic time of adjustment. Hopefully, I'll get easier at doing homeschool in a waiting room! To see what other families have been up to check out Preschool Corner!

The big D

2010-09-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

Disabled.

Yes, I said it. That's the title that Nolen is finally wearing. While I don't want this for my child, it does allow us to hopefully get the coverage for the Nutritionist that we need, and will also open other doors for future care. We don't know if it's a permanent disability, or if it's something he could essentially "grow out of" or "recover from", but his severe delay in development, his complicated issues with eating, and his severe loss of muscle tone in his entire body has made the label inevitable.

My son is currently disabled.

  While yesterday was spent fighting for coverage with our insurance, I'd consider today was our first real adventure into what I call the "real world of having a sick/delayed/disabled" child. Spent the entire morning at one doctors appointment with our Feeding team. The feeding team consists of a GI Doctor, Pediatrician, Speech Therapist, Nutritionist (which our insurance doesn't cover), and an Occupational/Physical Therapist. All rolled up into one nice Loooonnnggg appointment. Thankfully, Ryan was there to help with the ladies while I focused on our little man. They were happy with our progress but *insert dramatic pause* he was going to be needing to keep the tube for much longer.
           Nolen had been doing REALLY well and having more good days where he took most of his feeds orally, and less bad days were more than 50% was through the tube. I think my heart broke (as well as my spirit momentarily) when the Nutritionist announced that he was now going to be requiring 115 MLs per feed/8x a day!!! She literally took her pen and popped that happy little bubble floating above my hopeful head. Nolen will literally be needing supplementation with EVERY feed, and over half of his nutrition will be through the tube. It's like starting back at square one for the THIRD TIME (the first being birth, where you work your butt off to get them to nurse well). Did I mention that I have to pay a crazy amount for this bubble popping specialist??
          Occupational Therapist gave us some exercises to do with our little man (about twice a day) and I will now be trying to work those in with the girls schedules. Speech Therapy got to witness Nolen "peter out" during a feed...why he can't show them how he is at his best I will never know. We will be seeing our feed team once a month now. They discussed doing one "big" feed to make up the difference between his end total and end goal, but since he would need such a large amount that isn't a viable option.

I know some of you have asked these questions in person, but I figure there are those of you out in cyber land who have the same ones so I'll try and answer them the best I can....

Why can't you just bottle feed? It's easier than breast feeding. Yes, bottle feeding is easier, and yes, you can use fast flow nipples BUT Nolen's issue isn't necessarily being a poor sucker, his issue is that he fatigues quickly. He fatigues so quickly that even with a bottle he doesn't get the right amount in the specified time frame that the doctors have set. They want him to spend no more than 20 minutes (I allow 30) working for his food. A bottle can sometimes take only 20 mins and give him a full feed, just like the breast will sometimes work for a full feed in 20 mins. BUT usually he would tucker out and STILL need supplementation. So there is not much if any of a difference in a bottle vs breast. Also, I breastfeed because it is easy, convienant and quicker for me to do than bottle feeding (not to mention cheaper). Putting breastmilk in a bottle and then giving it to my child only to have to pump later isn't easier and just seems illogical.

Why not supplement using formula? Or just formula feed? Good question, I usually only breastfeed for about 3 months, and I've never exclusively breastfed until Nolen. I am so not a La Leche League, extended breastfeeding, breast is best type mom (although I'm not knocking those of you who are, I'm just not that dedicated). Nolen is having some gut issues due to the strong and intense round of antibiotics he was on. The dietitian/pediatrician/GI doc all feel that since probiotics (good bacteria found in your gut) are naturally in breastmilk as well as other protiens/compounds/whatchamacallits that encourage the growth of probiotics in your gut, that I should continue breastfeeding as long as possible. I'm not generally susceptible to the push to exclusively breastfeed, but in this case it prevents Nolen from having to have additional procedures/medicines/vitamins.

       With that said, Nolen pulled his tube out this morning before our appointment, and we are going to try a few things. He is having some skin issues due to the tape, so we are going to let him have a day off. One last day to look normal and "play" normal before we all accept that he has now been disabled. Sometimes it's good to play pretend. Today, we are going to weigh him at the start and finish of a 24 hour period without supplementing through the tube and try to supplement him using a bottle. We haven't tried supplementing using a bottle after a feed yet, but we will see how it goes. I don't think it's going to go too well since he's usually fast asleep and uninterested in sucking at the end of a feed but he's made me eat crow before! If he doesn't take the supplementation through the bottle, I will try doing a small feed (the amount needed) in between his two feeds, that way the end amount at the end of 24 hours is the same.

Now, I'm off to fight with my insurance company again...hopefully our new status as disabled will allow them to cover the services he needs.

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it!

2010-09-25T20:35:00.000-07:00

*I realize some of you are reading just to check up on Nolen, so I will seperate my blog by headings so that you can skip to Nolen's updates if you like!*

The girls are going to be here, at my house around 3pm tomorrow! As crazy as it sounds, I am just so pumped to have all of my family, once again under the same roof! I feel like we've spent far to much time spread across the globe/map for my liking.

I am a bit nervous about the added work load of two little people who will be needing my attention. Not to mention that we will be kick starting our Home school year.

Homeschool
I've decided to go with Horizon's Math and I think we are going to try our hand at Explode the Code for phonics/early reading. It's cheap enough that if I don't see Kaelyn liking or responding well to the system that I won't sweat the investment and can try a different program. I had originally hoped to do Calvert School, but after talking it over with Ryan I don't really NEED all the assistance (but I really WANTED to be lazy and let someone else do all the work for me) that Calvert offers but just needed help in planning Math and teaching Reading. Also, Calvert school is a larger financial investment when I'm still not sure how Kaelyn would respond to it.

Our plans for the first week are to work out our daily schedule (I have a rough idea of what it should look like, but now that I'm adding in Nolen's extra care, therapy, and doctors appointments I'm going to have to adjust accordingly) and to establish a Morning routine of Calander time.

Our Calander Time:
-Say the Pledge

-Work on the Weather/Season: (weather for Anna, Season's for Kaelyn)
-Sing the Days of the Week song (for Anna, but also to help Kaelyn be able to tell me what today is, tomorrow will be, and yesterday was)
-Sing the Month's of the Year song (complete with a dance :) because that's just how you should start your day, by dancing!)
-Work on our monthly binder where Kaelyn traces the number of the day and colors the pattern.
For example, Today is September the 25. Kaelyn would trace the number 25, and color the square on her calander pink because our pattern is White-Pink-White-Pink. I'm also considering having her count up to the date (so 1-25) to help reinforce her concept of numbers.

Normally, at breakfast I tell the girls what we have planned for the day as well as read a poem/story from our children's Bible. I am considering making a weekly calander so that Kaelyn can SEE what we have to do that day and the rest of the week. In addition to that, I would also like to make a daily schedule with times (Breakfast, School, Lunch, Nap, Dinner, Bedtime), so that she can start telling me what's next by using the clock and the schedule together.

Nolen

We had our first meeting with Early Intervention on Thursday of this week and Nolen qualifies. That's both a praise and a bit alarming. To qualify your child must be delayed by 25% in two or more areas or 33% in one. Nolen was evaluated at Newborn or less in most areas. I think we expected it to some extent, but it was still hard to hear from someone else's mouth that your once "on track/slightly advanced 6 weeker" has regressed to being "severely delayed". I also think it was a little bit harder for me because our Pediatrician had commented how it was very difficult for babies so young to get into the program unless it was extremely severe due to the variation in what is "normal" for this age. She had cautioned me that she thought Nolen needed some therapy but NOT to expect the state to let him in until he was older. It's a praise because we have heard amazing things about this program and the therapist in it! I'm very excited to start therapy and learn new techniques to help Nolen get back his strength quickly.

We meet with our team to start setting goals for Nolen on the 5th of October and then we will start having therapy sessions regularly after that initial meeting. In the mean time, they have given us a few tips of things to do with Nolen. The first is to encourage as much movement as possible by playing music/talking to him/moving his arms and legs/bathtime/etc. In addition to that, they also suggested using one of the gel packs (yes, like the kind you put in your lunch) underneath his head to help him be able to keep looking forward while laid on his back. That will help his head go back to a normal shape as well as encourage those muscles to strengthen. They are concerned about his hearing since he doesn't react to noises well, but there isn't much we can do for that other than wait.

Our pediatrician has also advised us to keep both the therapist through the state Early intervention program as well as the therapist through our insurance. (I won't lie, I was secretly hoping she would say, "Oh, you qualified for the state program that will come into your house and make your life much easier than having to drive all over NJ for therapy appointments with three small children, don't worry about the insurance approved therapy!". But she didn't.) So, this next week is going to be a busy one for Nolen, he has his first appointment with Speech Therapy through CHOPS and we start the process of getting him into physical therapy through CHOPS. CHOPS aka Children's Hospital of Philadelphia generally has a 2 year waiting list, but because we went through their hospital Nolen has somehow magically bypassed that waiting list and gotten in for Speech. I'm not sure yet if he will be able to get in with physical therapy, but the referral is already written and should I encounter a long wait list, I will happily find another suitable physical therapy company to work with! He will also be meeting with his feeding team, a GI Doctor and a couple of other additional individuals on Thursday.

A bit about the girls

2010-09-20T09:34:00.000-07:00

My sweet darling ladies have been living the high life with their ReeRee (my mom who is not old enough to be a grandma) and Gramps will hopefully be returning to our house this Saturday!!! So exciting. But while they've been away I've been getting some sweet stories back from my family. I thought that I'd lighten the mood on here with some cute stories.

Kaelyn has been teaching Anna to count. Anna's been able to count to 5 by herself for awhile now, but apparently Kaelyn has been counting to 16 with her. This is HUGE because Kaelyn usually messes up 13,14,15 and has apparently gotten it!

My parents have been doing a wonderful job helping me out and watching the girls. Mom went and bought some blueberry yogurt drinks. After Anna had drank two in rapid succession, she looked at my Mom and asked for some more to which ReeRee said No. Mom went on about her day and noticed that Anna was being really quiet (and since my mom has raised 6 kids now she is well aware that this is NOT a good thing) and went to find her. Anna had gotten 3 more drinks, opened the tops and saw that they each has the foil closure. Instead of giving up, she figured out how to open the foil and proceeded to drink EVERY LAST DROP!

I've figured out what curriculum we are going to be using for Kaelyn (will post about that later) and am attempting to rough draft a schedule of our days.

Nolen is making very small improvements each day. In the mornings (3 am feed-noonish), Nolen nurses extremely well and usually averages a little over 2 ounces (we want him to be taking 3!), but as it gets closer to noon, he starts to take less and less orally (but almost always at least an ounce). It's very frustrating to see him take so much and then drastically drop with each feed. It's a cycle of getting my hopes up and then getting them let down. Now that I can see the pattern (am feeds being consistently better than pm feeds), I know not to get too hopeful.
Tuesday, we go for his Well Baby exam but no immunizations because the doctor wants to wait until he's been out of the hospital for a month. Let me just say that the Colonel who is his pediatrician has just BLOWN me away with her dedication. We requested her specifically for Nolen because she does such an amazing job with the girls (and fought so hard to have Anna's tongue clipped). I saw her last week and she spent 2 hours in the room getting to know Nolen, asking me about my concerns, informing me on how we can use New Jersey's Early intervention program but if Nolen doesn't qualify because he isn't delayed enough to approach her about it and she'd make sure we got the specialist we need!! She also made it possible for us to get an appointment this week (unlike civilian providers, the military clinic doesn't always have appointments open for you to take, I've had to wait a month or more for well baby and 2-4 days for a sick child appointment)!!!
Wednesday evening the Home Care Nurse is coming to check his weight gain and vitals. Thursday evening the Speech Therapist and Physical Therapist are coming to evaluate Nolen and determine if he qualifies for early intervention or not. Friday evening Ryan is flying!

Living on Prayers, Pumpkin Spice coffee and little Patience

2010-09-16T15:34:00.000-07:00

Before I had kids, staying up to 3 am with friends after school or work was my idea of an exciting night. I never expected 3 am to become exciting because my child had pulled his feeding tube COMPLETELY out...but alas, that is where I am today.

Now, I'm finding myself dreading 3 am and thinking often of when I will get my next pumpkin spice coffee fix. I am so glad to have Nolen at home, and so thankful for all your faithful prayers and petitions on our behalf. Thank you for your overwhelming support and love for our little family. With that said, little Nolen has certainly kept us on our toes!

The hospital had established an every 3 hour feeding schedule (3,6,9,12, rinse and repeat) , and I really liked the predictablilty of it so I have been trying to stick to it, but feeding Nolen is an ordeal in and of itself.

Feeding Nolen used to be so easy, get him, nurse, change him, go about my day!

Now it's much much much more complicated and can take anywhere from an 1 hr-1hr 45 mins. Here is the process:

Wake Nolen (if he isn't awake)

Weigh Nolen and note weight and time

Go into our room and nurse Nolen (I was letting him eat until he stopped, but the doctors equate an hour of nursing to running a marathon and reccomend from now on I only do 20 mins top of nursing)

Weigh Nolen and note the amount gained

Change Nolen and start to prep him for a feed
       -Check tube placement with PH paper by removing a small amount of stomach fluid through the tube
       -Flush the tube with sterile water
       -Prep his connecting tube with the amount of breastmilk needed to make the appropriate amount
       -Attach the tubes, start his feed.

Leave Nolen's room and go pump for atleast 10 minutes

Store milk, clean up pump supplies and go to Nolen's room

Remove the tubing from Nolen's feeding tube

Flush his NG tube and then flush the tubing that connects the NG tube and syringe with water because apparently breastmilk will build up in the tube and clog it. Insurance only allows one tube and one syringe for feeding per day, so we are having to wash and santize a lot of our items so tha they can be reused.

And then sleep the 1hr-1hr 30mins until the next feed!

I really have to hand it to families with children who require special needs, I had NO IDEA the level of care and work that went into taking care of a child with just one extra need, I can't imagine those who need around the clock care.

Signs you've been in a hospital for far too long

2010-09-14T10:15:00.000-07:00

1.    You know where to find the good cereal and snacks in the nourishment room and are the go to parent for those inside tips

2.    You can recognize the "teams" of doctors by faces and know which level they work on and what their specialty is

3.    You recognize other parents in hallways, at the McDonald's (they give free coffee to patient's parents), and the elevator

4.    The clerk at the McDonald's knows your coffee and expects you around the same time each night

5.   You've perfected silencing the alarms while half asleep and verifying that your child was breathing and not flat lining.

6.   You can sleep sitting up in a chair, across two chairs, in a sleeping chair, on a bench and half way in an isolette while you comfort your sick child and wake up feeling moderately rested because you've learned the nurses rotations and know what hours to sleep during to get your optimal number of zzzs.

8.    Cleaning staff asks how your child is doing on your way down to get food from the cafeteria.

The good news is that I shouldn't be adding to this list anymore...as long as Nolen can pass his car seat test and all of our appointments are lined up we should be able to leave sometime this evening!!

Begining to think I have a new full time job

2010-09-13T21:05:00.000-07:00

I seriously am starting to feel a tad overwhelmed by the amount of people/appointments/extra care Nolen is going to require for awhile (and possible for a long time).

Sometime in the next day or so, I am learning how to put in an NG tube (for a video of what I will be doing, but on a baby not an adult), care for it, feed him using it, clean it, and remove it.

Arranging for a baby scale and pump to be rented and brought home to weigh Nolen after nursing him so that I can insure he gets the proper amount of breastmilk through his tube.

Arranging for Early Intervention (a great program that New Jersey offers to it's children where a home nurse evaluates your child and determines what therapies may be needed) to start making visits.

Follow up appointments with various doctors and therapists as needed. It's starting to look like I'll have plenty of appointments to keep myself busy with.

With that said, and as overwhelmed as I am...I am so ready to get out of this hospital. I have started recognizing other "blue band club members" as one of the fellow parents called us today as we were getting our complimentary coffee at the McDonald's in the food area for being parents of patients. A sure sign that it's time to be at home.

Breaking out the video camera

2010-09-12T17:49:00.000-07:00

So, here is somewhat funny story (perhaps I've been in a high stress tiny hospital room for far too long that I find this funny), Ryan and I had noticed Nolen alarming for low saturation levels often during the day (and no one responding, granted we were spoiled on the PICU where we had our own nurse, but these nurses are far less responsive than even the local hospitals peds nurses). So, when Ryan got tired of waiting on someone to respond, he went and got someone. They dismissed the alarm as Nolen's movements interfereing with the read (which can happen, but on day 10 of our hospital stay we are well versed in what is and isn't a good read). So, after Ryan voiced his frustration to me, I suggested that he video tape the next alarm because (as bad as this sounds) I was going to sleep.

About thirty minutes later I wake to hearing Nolen alarm and start to cry and see my husband actually video taping the event. He then calls the nurses and shows them the video tape (yes, by this point I am hiding in disbelief). Low and behold, we end up having three nurses come in (one was Dawn from yesterday, our very pregnant-35 weeks with twins nurse, and one other lady I had never met). THEN to pacify my husband we ended up having a doctor come in. Long story short, Ryan has them marking the frequency of his desats to see if it's getting worse (which it is because in over two days, today is the first day we have had alarms for desats in addition to the other alarms we get).

I am sure we are the butt of the joke on the unit tonight with our videotaping of alarms, but if it gets Nolen attention then it's well worth it.

Other things that Ryan has said during our hospital stay that still make me smile
"If I was this incompetent at my job, I would have died by now" (regarding Nolen's diagnosis)
"If there was an alarm on an airplane you would be demanding attention too" (regarding his alarms)

**Tonight, the alarm system that alerts the nurses to alarms in a patients room is not working, so it looks like I'll be getting my exercise getting nurses**

One small step for man....

2010-09-11T15:29:00.000-07:00

      It's been one small step at a time here in our little room on the regular Peds ward. Nolen's doing pretty good, but has had a few episodes of desats, high heart rates(these have been happening frequently) and high respiratory rates. The only concerning one of these is the high heart rates because that and his whimpers indicate that he is having some discomfort (from what I don't know, could be a lot of things, like the tube down his nose or one of his two ivs), but thankfully tylenol does a lot to manage his pain this time (unlike before where nothing touched it).

     He has spit up his feeds once or twice but is managing to keep most of it down. Despite his few episodes of spiting up, they are going to try and keep on the same course with getting him weaned off the slow feeds & put on gravity pulled feeds. If he can handle gravity feeds then we might be coming home with a tube and still working towards getting back to nursing.

   The speech therapist came by today and Nolen has managed to nurse and get about an ounce before he tires out. Hopefully we'll keep trying to nurse and he'll be back up to his full feeds via nursing!!! He's been able to lose the hat and is down to one heavy blanket to keep his temperature up!

There is talk of bringing in an occupational therapist and a physical therapist to see if there is anything we can do to assist him in regaining his strength. In some ways, it's like having a newborn all over again. I'm having to wake him to feed, reestablish a routine, reteach him how to hold his head up, rotate him so that his head isn't misshapen.

The doctor spoke to us today, and he said that generally with the enterovirus there is no long lasting effects, but since Nolen's case was so severe that he couldn't say there wouldn't be anything residual or long lasting. Honestly, I think my little man will be just fine once he gets his feet back underneath him!

He smiles, I smile

2010-09-10T16:13:00.000-07:00

Talk about melting your heart! We now have a brand spanking new room...on the PEDIATRIC Ward. No more Intensive Care Unit for this guy!

The doctors haven't dared give us a time line for going home, and we are looking at what I think is a minimum of two days to see if Nolen can handle feeds over short periods of time before we can lose the GI tube. They might send him home with the GI tube if he can't handle it, but want it to be an easier process for me (instead of having to stand and slowly feed for an hour, it would be much easier to feed for 20 mins). Currently, he has to remain an Eskimo to keep his temp up, and hopefully we can start seeing him warm himself w/o all the extra layers!

Nolen isn't awake or as active as he was or should be, nor is he crying as well as he should. So we have come a long way, and we have a long way to go.

Thank you guys so much for all the support, offers of help, prayers, well wishes and for petitioning others for prayers. I really have been very calm during this whole thing and a lot of it has to do with the fact that I know others are praying for our little one as well.

Praises:
We are where we are, without oxygen and off the isolette warmer. He is handling the bollus feeds for now.

Prayers:
My milk supply
Nolen can handle increased feedings
Nolen learns to warm himself
The girls continue to have a good time with family
A date to go home

This is the kind of crow I LOVE To eat!

2010-09-10T05:21:00.000-07:00

So, remember my frustration yesterday, and I how I was so sure Nolen shouldn't be coming off his oxygen....

Look at what is missing?? Can you figure it out???

Yep! You got that right, Little Man is breathing on his own. He still has occasional desats, his respiratory rate can still be a little high, but he is working it out, learning how to keep breathing and keep his rates up! I guess part of me was scared to make him work for it, but he can do it! (He was suctioned a time or two last night to help keep his airway clear)

Nolen still has his feeding tube (the yellow/cream tube through his nose) and is being fed breast milk continuously to help his body regain it's strength. Today, we hope to move him off continual feeds onto bollus feeds (which is what a normal child does, a large feed, period of no food, large feed.

Nolen is maintaining his core body temperature without the help of the warmer on the isolette. With that said, he does look a bit like an eskimo with his clothes, socks, knitted hat, and three blankets.

Today, I will gladly eat my crow for breakfast! Just glad to see some forward movement from little man! Can't wait until they let us take that big step down out of the PICU and onto the regular ward.

**knocks on wood to avoid jinxing myself**

I'm going for a walk.

2010-09-09T08:43:00.000-07:00

Yep, I am going for a walk before I become "that woman" or "that mom". Today, I am extremely frustrated and have lost the ability to filter and be nice (to doctors). We have no answers, and no indication of what to do or where to go. The doctors say that they think it's just an extreme presentation of Enteroviral Spinal Meningitis, and that it will just take time for Nolen to improve.

And that is not what infurates me.

What frustrates me to no end (and led to that very emotional post earlier on here) is that I keep seeing the SAME cycle of Nolen's care. After posting that very emotional post and starting a journal to document his decline, the doctors at that hospital FINALLY saw what I saw, FINALLY witnessed his fall back to being listless and non-responsive. They got it, and sent me here. And now, once again these doctors just don't get it.

They are going to try and determine if it is the oxygen Nolen needs or the airflow by putting him on room air at 1/2 liter. A liter is the amount of air being pushed in, the oxygen% is the amount of that air being pushed in that is oxygen. So, they are taking away his oxygen and putting him on room air.

This has been tried once before when Nolen was alert and presenting well with occasional desats (Sunday Night). After about 7 hours of being on room air, Nolen began to desat more frequently. Prior to that he was holding his own at 97 pulse ox. Then instead of his average being at 97, it went to 94, and then it was frequent desats (a low pulse ox means low oxygen saturation in the blood) so that the nurse had to move him up to 50% oxygen at 1 liter. Even then he struggled to move up to 100 pulse ox. Then next day was spent weaning him down to 35% oxygen at 1 liter...and he's been there until we arrived at CHOPS where they dropped him down to 1/2 liter at 35% oxygen. It was at this time that Nolen became the WORST that he has been...because he was fighting so hard to breath properly, to keep his heart rate normal, to keep his body temp up. (The doctors at the 2nd hospital had also blamed his low body temp on him being exposed during testing until it lasted for more than 7 hours, they also blamed his increasing unresponsiveness on his tiredness from testing.)

Now, here we are again, with Nolen being EXTREMELY lethargic, not crying/moaning/making noises (other than gasping) with more signs of resperatory issues (high respiratory rates, high heart rates and even more low heartrates) trying it again because you think he needs the stimulation of airflow and NOT the oxygen, which is what the doctor at the previous hospital thought and was proved WRONG! SERIOUSLY!?!?!?! Do we have to repeat what we've already ruled out as a possibility?

You are telling me that my son is tired from fighting this virus, that there is nothing you can do to help him other than to treat the symptoms and provide supportive care. That he just needs time. So what do you do? You take away his breathing support?

**Yes, I understand that if you flood the body with oxygen it is actually counterproductive because oxygen causes the veins of your body to constrict, thus restricting blood flow and interfering with the bodies ability to properly oxygenate. Oxygen supplementation requires a precarious balance of the appropriate amount at the right rate. I also know that at some point he is going to be off the support altogether and I would love for that to be today, but given his somewhat rough night and his continued lack of responsiveness due to "sedation for his MRI" you try it anyways**

I think that other than not having answers...which is a frustration I can totally cope with. I find myself being unable to cope with watching the same things be done or said to excuse away his behaviors. For example, today his decrease in responsiveness from yesterday is being blamed on his sedation...whereas, before we landed here his decrease in responsiveness was being blamed on the procedures preformed the day before until it was SO BAD that we were transferred. Or, trying to wean him off the oxygen all together and failing (happened at both hospitals), or trying to just do increased stimulation with room air (which has been done at both hospitals).

Instead of repeating what others have done and failed to do successfully, lets try something new!

**never got my walk, vented via blog instead and now speech therapy is here to try and get Nolen to latch and nurse...wish us luck!**

Don't Wanna

2010-09-08T19:59:00.000-07:00

My sweet and darling child Anna has a favortie phrase and it's "Don't Wanna". She uses it for everything...."Don't wanna go to bed, Mommy", "Don't wanna time out", "Don't wanna nap"....and although some might find this very cute, I find it rather annoying. But part of me wants to channel Anna and just say I "don't wanna".
I don't wanna be here. I don't wanna sick child. I really just don't wanna.

But here I am. I do have a sick child. I am doing my best to ‎'be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer' Romans 12:12, despite the overwhelming desire to do my best impression of Anna!

A few things about Nolen and when I describe him. When I say Nolen was more active this morning (he has since started declining back to being more unresponsive), you really need to understand our definition of active
-he opened both his eyes fully (not half lidded and not with his eyes rolled back)
-he moved his arms and lifted them (not just letting them lay)
-he had noticeable reflexes that were absent yesterday
-he made his facial expressions to give the impression of pain or discomfort
-he "cried" which means he whimpered, sighed deeply and made tiny noises
-he responded to stimulus (painful procedures or uncomfortable ones were reacted to somewhat by him opening his eyes, making small noises and grimaces)
-he sucked on his passy (despite having not been fed for over 24 hours, Nolen was not interested in sucking period until this morning when he exhibitied some desire to suck/eat)

Nolen is taking a very small amount of milk over an extended period of time through a tube in his nose. Hopefully this will bring him back to his "active" state of this morning. He is still unable to cry as you would expect a baby to, remain awake for extended periods of time (5 mins or more), fight doctors, have strong reflexes and kick his feet.

Right now, to hear a strong cry from my son would be music to my ears.

Results are in---No News is Good News?

2010-09-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

Results are back, EEG, MRI, and Cultures are all normal. No indication of Encephalitis, seizure like activity, or malformations in the brain, no indication of bacterial infection. Back to the drawing board to come up with some other solutions to explain Nolen's worsening condition. Can't comment on how he is doing given the fact that he's been sedated and hasn't recovered from that either. His feeding tube is in place and they are starting feeds tonight, hopeful that that will encourage him to move/awake.

Move to CHOPS

2010-09-08T07:23:00.000-07:00

Sorry, for leaving those of you who I don't know in person and aren't on my Facebook list in the dark..

Nolen with his Electrodes attached under his sock cap

Yesterday morning (Tuesday the 7th), we (the nurses and I) mentioned to the pediatrician intensivist that Nolen had been sleeping through feeds, and upon the doctors examination she became very concerned like we were about his "floppiness" and his desats (which were remidied at that time by sholder rolls, which are blankets rolled and placed under the sholder making it easier for the airway to stay open and not weighted down or closed by his now "heavy head"). The doctor mentioned that she suspected Encephalitus (related to Meningitis) and wanted various tests ordered. One of those tests was an EEG, but they didn't have a technician available and due to his worsening condition they had us transferred to Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania.

Once here, they immediately put us back under "isolation conditions" which mean the doctors enter the room in really snazzy masks, gloves and aprons to protect themselves and other patients from potential germs Nolen might be creating. After what felt like an endless stream of doctors, questions, exams, and telling of our story, they decided to do a Video EEG overnight (which is much longer than the normal EEG of 4 hours). Ryan arrived, and since Nolen isn't being fed (he's on maintenance fluids to keep levels up), I left for a quick moments of rest and to take care of a few things at the house for the girls (who are with family). The room here only has one bench-suppose-to-be-bed that only one person can fit despite my very slim size, so we will probably be looking into the Ronald McDonald house which is only about a mile down the road since our home is a little ways away.

Unlike the other hospitals, meals are not included for parents, so Ryan and I will probably end up taking breaks at the Ronald McDonald house and bringing meals back during "shift change". We really don't have anything new to report.

Tests w/results (these were run at the other hospital)
-second 24 hour culture clear
-Blood work, Urine,
-First and Second Cranial Ultrasound Clear

Results due today:
Second 48 hour culture
Video EEG

Tests being run today:
MRI
but we may add more

Daddy reading Dr. Dolittle to Nolen. It was our bedtime book while he was away and the girls seemed to enjoy it. Whenever he was awake at Virtua I'd read and he seemed to enjoy it.

7 Sept Morning Update: There is an A and then there is an A

2010-09-07T05:39:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you guys, but I am a dork. I am. I was that kid, the one blowing the curve, the one who thought that not all A's are created equal...and you know what Nolen buddy, I still think that not all A's are created equal. I want you at 97-100 Pulse Ox at all times...I don't want just any A, I want an A+.

Before his temperature drop when he was still cooling down from a fever

We are waiting on the doctor, so there aren't any new ideas about what could be causing this, and in some ways I'm secretly praying for a positive culture so that I can KNOW what's wrong and where to go next with this. Watching your child fight the unknown is not fun....fighting the known is only better because you can measure progress, treat symptoms and learn how to help.

They are trying to wean him off his Oxygen (but it does NOT look likely, thirty minutes into being down at 35% and he's already dropping to the low 90s). My sister suggested that I keep a journal of his levels for a day or more to see if I can "capture" the pattern I'm seeing happen repeatedly but the nurses and doctors keep brushing off (with good reason, they don't see it because they don't make any type of note of a O2 level less than 100, whereas I know the numbers, I watch his average drop from being the high 90s, to the mid 90s, to the low 90s and then bottom at the 80s/70s). She thinks if I can catch the pattern on paper, perhaps they will be more willing to consider that there is a pattern at all. So here I go with my excell spreadsheet...every thirty mins...now that I know what to do, I'm doing it and feel so much better.

Nolen's experienced another "personality" change he has returned to the severity of lethargy/floppiness/unresponsiveness that initiated his move to the PICU. He isn't waking to eat, so we are doing bottle feeds. He has good feeds (4 oz of breast milk) but he is experiencing shorter and shorter wake times following feeds. Here is a picture of my sweet man, enjoy

He is warming up very slowly.

This is what torture feels like.

2010-09-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

Update: Nolen's on 40% oxygen, he seems to be holding his own for now, but I'm starting to notice him slowly losing his high levels for lower 90s. All his initial labs are good, we are now waiting for another 48 hour period for the Spinal Fluid cultures to rule out bacterial meningitis.

Edited update: Nolen is still not waking to eat, he is in a very deep sleep so his fluids have been increased and the nurse wanted to see how he would do using a bottle with breastmilk. I am SOO excited about this. I can pump and will pump like a champ just to keep it where he can have frequent little feedings and get some of those yummy antibodies and lots of calories!

If you wish to keep viewing me as some strong amazing woman...don't read any farther...but I am tired of being strong.

This has got to be what it feels like to be tortured. I have sat and watched and comforted and nursed and talked to this sweet baby child of mine for what feels like a very long and endless day. I have learned the patterns of his illness, I can see the downs coming from a mile away...I can almost predict them...and as much as I can scream it out loud, shout it out to whoever will hear...I have to sit and wait until he gets far enough down for them to push him back up. At the beginning of this very long day, I could hold him and comfort him and know that it was working...I could see his numbers go up, I could feel his breath slow, his heart ease and his body relax against mine and know that I WAS DOING SOMETHING, but now I sit here and just watch knowing that not even my touch is helping. God, how you must have felt with your son on the cross...binding your own hands and letting it happen, watching it happen, and not being able to do anything because of your love for use. I feel like all we are doing is buying time until something extreme has to happen...and I really would rather skip the buying time part and DO SOMETHING that is going to stop this very slow very cruel decent.

Nolen is exhausted. He was poked and prodded and examined today. He's had a spinal tap, a cathater, multiple sticks to get minute amounts of blood and he's spent. His core temp is low, he isn't waking to eat, he isn't eating, he isn't opening his eyes when I talk to him, he hasn't even attempted a half smile. He just lays, and lays and lays as his O2 levels drop slowly to a level where they end up upping the oxygen, and his lack of interest in eating leads to fluids being upped, and his body temperature has led to him needing a hat and socks and clothes and multiple blankets to keep warm when before we were stripping him down naked. His heart rate has dropped a couple of times today, his breathing has stopped for extended periods of time today, he has desated many times today.

There are no answers, no explanations and I have to keep telling myself to wait it out, to wait it out...but I am Oh so tired of waiting. I want to take his pain/discomfort/fatigue away. Put it on me, let me carry this burden for him, and I can't. I want to ease his pain/discomfort/fatigue...if it means that I sit stationary for another two days in the same spot and only get up to pee twice...I will sit...forever and never get up and just stink. Instead of people asking me what they can do...I wish someone would tell me what I CAN DO, because I just don't know anymore. Someone please tell me what to do.

The highlight of my day was the moments I spent reading to him, and watching his eyes flutter open momentarily, seeing the glimpse of baby blues and knowing that he somewhat aware of me. Of that moment when, after getting his hair washed from his brain ultrasound, he turned and he looked at me...he found my voice and he found me. I just want to reach out to him, heal him, comfort him, love him, hold him, assure him...

I am doing all I can, I just wish it was enough.

Updated at 1 am: I am doing much better now, I went and ate a delicious meal while listening/singing worship songs to Nolen. Once I calmed down and found myself less frustrated with everything, I fell fast asleep while sitting up and finally woke feeling pretty refreshed! Thank you for bearing with me.

PICU Update

2010-09-06T06:10:00.000-07:00

Right now he is on a very low level of Oxygen and it's more flow to stimulate his reflex to breathe. That said he's maintaining his oxygen levels around 97 (when during his episode here he had started to drop down to the low 80s with more frequency and shorter periods of recovery). Thankfully, the oxygen was given quickly enough that he hasn't presented as ill/listless/severe as he was prior to being placed at this hospital. Right now, we are waiting to see what the doctor wants to do, but I for see them preforming a Pneumogram (which is what was started when Nolen became so severe they had to remove the probe from his esophagus to move him to the this hospital). We aren't sure when, since he's needing the o2 to keep his levels up and being on oxygen might interfere with accurate results. He is definitely baffling a lot of people (the doctors and nurses included). I should know more as soon as the doc gets in.

**Since I started writing this, he had an episode while nurse was present and needed to be upped to 50%**

In the PICU

2010-09-05T21:55:00.000-07:00

Nolen has turned for the worse. We have transferred hospitals, he is experiencing frequent drops in his Oxygen levels. The cause has yet to be determined. Ryan is being brought home just in case this turns for the worse. Currently, the doctors here are trying to allow another episode to occur (by removing oxygen) and evaluate our course of action after that happens.

Thanks for the prayers.
Sorry so brief.

Good News!

2010-09-05T12:02:00.000-07:00

A HUGE PRAISE- It is Viral Spinal Meningitis. Which means that the antibiotics can stop, Kaelyn and Anna (as well as my friends children) are safe and we ideally would be out of her today. With that said...we are still here.
Nolen started vomiting last night and has continued throughout today as well as having developed diarrhea. They had him on fluids to prevent dehydration, but have since stopped them to see how he is doing on breastmilk alone since his vomiting has slowed (and hopefully stopped). We are hoping we get discharged early tomorrow morning so that my sister can make her plane and the girls can stay here with me!

Praises-
A diagnosis
Slowed vomiting
No IV

Prayer Request-
Dismissal tomorrow
No more vomitting
Increased Appetite
No fever
Safe travels for my sister

Thank you all so much for your prayers...I really feel like knowing so many were/are praying or sending positive thoughts our way helped me to find peace and comfort and not be fearful of what could have happened.

Waiting...not so patiently

2010-09-04T17:08:00.000-07:00

First off, Thank you all so much for your prayers and concerns for our little one and for my family. Nolen had been having a really rough night/morning but around 4 pm this afternoon he started taking a turn for the better!
I am finally able to let him lay and rest in his crib because he is feeling much more comfortable.

Thanks in large part to your prayers, tylenol and excellent care Nolen has gone from needing these kind of precautions with visitors

Dena's protective gear to prevent her from getting exposure to what could be Bacterial Meningitis

To needing NONE!

From being so sick that the only comfort to be had was in my arms


His IV is on the right, which is why his arms appear stiff

To being able to lay in his crib and watch the mobile while I pump to rebuild my milk supply from his slow nursing.

With only his big sister Kaelyn's cat to keep him company while he sleeps.

We are still waiting (not so patiently) on the results of this last culture. If it is clean and he doesn't continue to vomit (a new development that we are hoping is only a random incident) and his heartrate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure (which have all been high off and on) start to level out, and his fever and pain are managed by tylenol...we may be going home late tomorrow.....but those are a LOT of If's and all I really want is to know that he is well and isn't in anymore pain.

Update on Nolen

2010-09-04T06:47:00.000-07:00

So, I just heard back from the doctor. The initial culture shows NO GROWTH!!!! Which is a great indicator that this is just Viral Meningitis....which is a 100 times better than Bacterial. We won't have a 100% diagnosis until after the 2nd culture has been evaluated. From what I've been told, the second culture (48hr) is more of a precautionary measure to insure that some crazy bacteria isn't the cause as well as to take into account that there could have been very small amounts of the bacteria present due to catching it so early.

We are breathing easier...that is for sure! My sister made it safely into town and will be watching Nolen for an hour while I shower and visit with the girls. Then, she will be taking over the babysitting duties for my girls while I spend the rest of the time in the hospital with Nolen.

Nolen has been in a lot of pain (as evidenced by his high heart rate and high blood pressure readings as well as his crying/whimpering during sleep), and is very restless. Currently, the only way we have been able to keep his heart rate down near normal is through keeping skin contact (kind of like Kangaroo care) and moving him as little as possible (which means Mama isn't doing much). He is nursing more like his old self (Praise God) but not as frequently as I would like.

Anna is still running a slight fever, but other than sleeping A LOT she is acting just like her old self!

Current Prayer Requests/needs:
-48 hour culture comes back CLEAN
-Nolen's pain lessens and he is able to rest and Nurse more frequently
-Nolen's fever starts to subside
-Strength for Ryan and I.
-Guidance for Dena, my sister, as she is in a strange state (with wonky driving laws...but that's another post altogether) and a strange house where she doesn't know where anything is.

Prayers for Nolen

2010-09-03T07:42:00.000-07:00

So, I apologize if this is a bit jumbled or brief, but whether you pray or you just want to send positive thoughts please send them this way!

This morning at 1 am, I noticed Nolen had been a little bit more difficult to settle down and kind of fussy...so when I went to nurse him I noticed how hot he was. I took his temp and found it to be borderline at 100.7. Knowing that Anna had been sick the entire day and running a fever I knew it was probably a virus and debated rather I should bring him in or not. I called the on-call doc and the doc suggested I bring him in. The hospital confirms that Anna does have a virus but that due to his age Nolen would need to undergo a Spinal Tap, Blood Work, Catheter for urine samples, and observation to verify that there wasn't another source of infection. Even then, they might still admit him for observation and antibiotics as a proactive measure.

A good friend comes and picks the girls up, leaves me in the ER with just Nolen around 4 am. Nolen's labs come back and he does in fact have Spinal meningitis. We won't know until sometime tomorrow if it is bacterial or viral. We want it to be a viral infection and hope that Nolen starts to feel better (he's very restless and fussy) over our 48 hour stay here. If it is Bacterial than this will become a whole different ballgame.

Specific Prayer Request
-A Clean Culture showing that it is Viral Meningitis
-Anna and the girls and my friends Children remain well
-Rest for Nolen, ease of his fever and discomfort
-Peace for Ryan since I know this must be very difficult not being able to touch and comfort his very sick child
-Strength to hold it together for me
-Safe travels for my sister who is coming up tomorrow morning to help with the girls and take care of the house if this does end up being bacterial meningitus.

Thanks for your prayers/well wishes.

Base Chapel

2010-08-29T13:15:00.000-07:00

Yep, I went there. Today I ventured into the world of the base chapel and found that I loved it. Why? Because when I walked in there were more "temporarily" single moms than couples. There was a girl who sat down next to Kaelyn and her dad had left on very short notice just a day or so ago and she looked at Kaelyn and calmly said, "My daddy went away on an airplane to a different country.". Kaelyn looked at her and said, "My daddy is gone too." We, the girls and I, don't stick out here...we don't get the curious glances as to, "Is she married? Is she single? Why isn't her husband here?" and I don't feel the need to find a way to justify myself, my situation or clear the air in a conversation. (I once was walking in an airport pregnant with both the girls and I got/overheard some comments regarding "what kind of man would let his wife do this" and I quickly replied "one who has orders to go fight in a war". That not only shut them up but got me some really great help getting through security). I don't get the well intended comments that can be just a tad painful on those hard to adjust days...we just get a smile from someone who has been there...someone who understands without asking and prays for me, for their loved ones, and for my kids. I won't say this is our home church now, but I will say it was very nice and refreshing to walk into a place where everyone already knew my story.

We went to Sea, sea, sea to see what we could see see see

2010-08-27T17:34:00.000-07:00

Ryan's squadron had family day at a local military beach out here. When the invitation went out...I thought...Who in their right mind? That would have to be some crazy woman to try and take a 5 week old, potty training 2 year old and 4 year old to the beach all by herself....and before I knew it, I had coleslaw made and was making the drive to the beach....with a very full hybrid.
I don't know what drove me to the brink of insanity...but whatever it was...Thank you! I had a wonderful Friday evening with my "military family" and they were always there to lend a hand with carrying things to the beach or taking my fearless two year old out into the ocean.

Kaelyn spent most of her time on the beach playing in the sand, but she eventually ventured out into the water (despite her overwhelming fear of sharks that has been known to have her hiding on a very large boat from the water).

And she loved it! Have I mentioned that I have a brand spanking NEW CAMERA! It's the Fuji XP FinePix. Not only am I loving the clarity and detailing of this point and shoot camera, but the REAL reason we went with this camera is that it is virtually indestructible...Want to take it scuba diving---go right ahead. Want to hike Mount Everest---this is the camera for you. Point and case, the camera went swimming in the sandy surf rescuing sweet Anna from her very sick obsession with the waves and surfs!

She was way too comfortable with the waves. She would go out as far as she could, get knocked down, tumble in the undertow and start to get carried back out....come up coughing and smiling and do it again....and again...and again. Thank you peanut shell for the awesome sling which lets me snag my child!

It was a lot of fun watching her just run head first into the face of waves that were much taller than she was. I adore this child's lack of fear and determination (only when it's not directed at me). She spent a good fifteen minutes trying to "move water"

With a shovel...

Thankfully, I had my military family to keep an eye on Kaelyn while I spent the majority of my time playing Baywatch with Anna!

Ever since I've decided to embrace every fun opportunity that comes my way regardless of my overwhelming to-do list, I have found that we are really starting to enjoy our time together despite Ryan being away. I also find that the things on those lists always end up getting done and can often serve the purpose of filling that void of time after the kids go to sleep when I would normally snuggle with the hubby.

Happy 2nd Birthday Anna Elizabeth!

2010-08-21T07:00:00.001-07:00

Anna,

2 years! I can’t look at you now and imagine you, my chubby little toddler on the cusp of becoming a preschooler as the sweet baby full of spunk despite being born 5 weeks early. You have grown from a tiny little curly haired quiet baby in your first few days of life to a child who has ALWAYS had a voice that was meant to be heard. I admire you ability to stand up for yourself, perhaps it has something to do with being the second child, but I have never had to worry that you were being left out or mistreated…you would have let me know.

You have a smile and a personality that can charm even the coldest heart or soothe even the most frustrated Mom. You are definitely your own person, and very different from your sister. I love that! I love how you can smile and just brighten my day, how you are so quick to give a hug or a kiss, how you love your little brother just a little too much and how you can annoy your sister with just a look.

Unlike your sister, you are not interested in coloring (although you no longer eat the crayons or markers which is a HUGE step in the right direction).

But you talk so much better than she did a this age! Matter of fact, you amaze me with your understanding of language and the way the world works!

You are counting, jumping, climbing, running and riding your bike like you wouldn’t believe.

You are such an inquisitive creature, now I just have to harness that tendency in the right direction!

Anna, I am so blessed to be your mother and I can’t wait to see what person you become.

I love you baby (sorry this is so late in being posted)

Our last days…

2010-08-15T11:01:00.001-07:00

We kind of have a traditional way of “saying goodbye” to our Main Man (here is the post on that), and this last time hasn’t been any different other than we got to have a really AWESOME date night, compliments of one of my best friends out here.

This is Nolen who tagged along on our date night.

Ryan enjoying his Adult beverage!

Then some snuggle time on the bed!

Daddy helping Nolen sit up!

Followed by some Comic book Story time.

Then snuggles on the couch the next morning with a movie!

Everyone is trying to squeeze in some last minute snuggle time with Dad!

All and All, it’s been a good send off! Now it’s sink or swim time! I’m a pretty good swimmer!

Baby shower!

2010-08-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

I hope you don't mind an all photo post! I was taken out by Christine, my Sister-in-Law, who led me to believe we were meeting some friends for breakfast. Long story short....My friends and family surprised me with a GREAT shower for a then unknown baby!

Brittany(SIL), myself, Christine (SIL), Grandma, Val

Gifts at my surprise shower!The cute fruit basket!My sister-in-law Christine!My Grandmother-in-law, Izzie and Myself at the surprise shower!Grandma Again!The obligatory side shot!My beautiful cake!

Jullee (in brown), My Mother in law who hosted the party!

Felt like super woman...but then reality hit

2010-08-10T18:09:00.000-07:00

I really felt like super woman, for all of three minutes. And those three minutes happened at Nolen's 2 week check up...which is where I learned that he gained 2 pounds in a little over a week! Nolen was seen at 1 week due to his jaundice, but had not gained ANY weight...he was holding strong at 6 pounds 7oz. At his 2 week check up...8lbs4ozs That has NEVER happened for me....I've always had to supplement.

But, then reality happened...and I have piles of laundry in the corner of my room (but it's clean and that's half the battle) that I just knocked off the bed after INTENDING to put it away so that I can sleep.

Anna bit Kaelyn, Kaelyn cried, Anna pushed Kaelyn, Kaelyn cried...Nolen kicked his foot THROUGH his zippered sleeper (and yes I mean he BROKE his zipper!), He spit up, he peed...and suddenly it dawned on me...

Drum roll please, 3 kids is a lot!

But give me a few more weeks and I'll find my balance! There is a lot of things going on around here and I am just choosing to focus on the positive

Ryan leaves in a few days, but he IS here
Nolen isn't sleeping, but he IS gaining weight
Anna isn't playing nice with Kaelyn, but she IS potty trained
Kaelyn isn't doing school right now, but she IS learning to read
The laundry isn't put away, but it IS clean!
There isn't any sugar or other basics, but there IS meals (thank you squadron AND MOPS)

Just trying to find that silver lining and a balance...it IS there.

It's a BOY!

2010-08-03T11:37:00.000-07:00

Yes...you read that right! On July 21 (the day Ryan was supposed to be flying out) at 9:45 am we delivered a healthy baby BOY! Nolen Ryan McAdams (no, it's not after the baseball player, Nolen is a name we like and Ryan is my husband's name. His family has a tradition of using the father's first name as a middle name. Just a happy coincidence!) weighed 6 lbs 10.5 ozs and was 19.5 inches long. He is perfectly healthy although super skinny and long. He has the biggest little hands with crazy long fingers and arms! Sweet little monkey toes and a head full of hair!

His first real cry...he was slow to open his eyes and start crying.

THE BIRTH STORY

(for those who are interested, and those who aren't can just stop reading...although it's all very pg)

Labor started early on the 20th but I wasn't entirely convinced I was going to have a baby, so I walked and walked and walked and around 3pm I was pretty sure it "could be it". We packed a few things and then went out to dinner as planned. During dinner my contractions were about every minute and half and I was starting to get uncomfortable so we went back to Ryan's Dad's house and hung out for awhile. I tried the pool, thinking it would relax me, but this time around the water just annoyed me. So I got out and walked some more. We went to the hospital around 9 pm thinking they would just send me home or stop my contractions since I was still early, but while I was there I progressed from a 3-4 in less than an hour. They decided to admit me and I immediately asked if I could get up and walk around. The nurse (who I loved by the way), gently told me that it wouldn't be possible since my contractions were so frequent and intense. I wasn't happy about htis, but I went with the punches and decided to labor in bed as directed. I informed the nurse that unless they break my waters this was going to be a LONG night. She laughed me off and said that although they (the nurses) couldn't break my waters they were certain I would go quickly.

Fast forward two hours with no cervical change and waning contractions (still frequent but not really going anywhere) and baby's heart rate acting up she suggested I go ahead and take the epideral so that they could start pitocin. Part of me thinks they went with pitocin because they knew Ryan was suppose to leave, and after the nurses left me alone Ryan and I talked it over and he told me in the end it was my decision as long as what I decided didn't endanger myself or the baby. I told him that I'd take the drugs and pitocin because as much as I wanted to go natural, I really wanted him to be there more. So, around 11 pm I got my epideral and the nurses once again expected things to move quickly (the delivery items and baby crib were ready and waiting five minutes after I arrived, that's how CERTAIN they were that things would go quickly despite my repeated reminders that until they break my waters...nothing about my labors happens quickly). Shortly after my epideral (which didn't bother me at all because I had had it with my previous two children), I got a cath (which bothered the HECK out of me because I had never had it before...something about urine in a bag just gives me the heebie geebies) and then the pitocin started.

I can attest to what you hear about the dreaded Pitocin...it definitely makes contractions more intense....and for me that meant I felt EVERY one of my contractions DESPITE the epideral. I wasn't in pain, but there was near constant pressure which lead to a very long sleepless night! At 545 am, my water broke...the first time...confused? Yeah, so was I. Apparently my placenta pulled away from my uterus leading to a high leak in my fluids. This high leak just made me progress a small amount more. My doctor came in at 745/8 proclaiming that he had expected me to deliver already. I told him like I had told the others, unless you break my waters...this baby isn't going anywhere, BUT once you do...I'll be ready in an hour or two to deliver. He laughed (once again thinking I didn't know what I was talking about) and proceeded to break my waters. Once my waters broke, they ended up placing an internal monitor on the baby and on my uterus to make sure my contractions weren't too strong and ended up turning off the pitocin (and I suspect my epideral too because shortly after this all sorts of pain started). While the nurse was watching the new monitors, the baby started to really have some issues which resulted in me being put on oxygen, instructed on how to breathe and flipped around until his heartrate returned and stabalized. About thirty minutes after that scare I noticed something was really off and told Ryan to get the camera ready and call his family into the room (they had all been fast asleep the ENTIRE time I labored). Shortly after the phone calls were made and his family came into the room, I told him to get the nurse. Before the nurse even got in the room...this happened

This is me breathing through the urge to push...for about twenty more minutes.

The nurse walks in, checks me and I'm fully dialated but I have a cervical lip holding the baby in....and due to his iffy heartrate she decides to MANUALLY push my cervix over his head....did I mention that by this point I'm fairly certain I felt everything from the infamous burning sensation of his head to well the other less glorious bits of delivery.

The doctor walks in as my body is literally making Nolen crown on it's own without any help from me (despite the strong urge to push).

After he's born and we realize it's a boy the doctor then has some issues with my bleeding (they thought I was hemoraging but I suspect it was due to the placenta pulling away earlier on in labor) and then my placenta was "stuck" and I once again had to have someone MANUALLY deliver it for me by pulling it out with their hands (so if you see me looking not so happy in various pictures it's because it could have been during one of the various procedures where they realized my epideral was gone and had to give me local anesthesia). It was definitely not the easiest labor...but Nolen made it in time to meet his family!

That's Aunt Christine and Ryan's arm :)

Then our camera battery died and I'll have to upload more pictures later. But for now, I'm going to go nap!

Still no baby!

2010-07-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

Yep, you read that right...there is still no baby....and Ryan leaves on Wednesday....looks like I'll be stuck delivering by myself, and although I'm totally bummed about that, I'm getting there. I am considered full term on Thursday, so perhaps I'll get lucky and deliver tonight. Who knows?!?!?!?!?!?

Sorry to be so absent

2010-07-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have been so absent, but my laptop crashed (broken fan, still waiting on repairs) prior to my trip to California (where I currently am still waiting on the arrival of our third little one!) and I don't have easy access to a computer in California.

Here is a quick update...

Ryan is here in California until this Wednesday, so Baby needs to arrive soon otherwise Dad is going to miss out on the big day. He has orders for shortly after baby is due, so I'm hoping we can manage getting everyone back home to NJ as a family soon!

Kaelyn is in Georgia loving her time with my family...she asked to go there instead of coming with me to California. She's had a blast...Disney World, Riding Horses, Trips to the Lake and Pool....you get the idea! She is a tad homesick, but it passes quickly!

Anna is here in California with me and I'm loving the chance to get to spend some serious one-on-one time with my baby while I can! She's really enjoyed all the extra attention and has started talking really well! So well in fact that Kaelyn often brags on how "proud she is of Anna and her using WHOLE SENTENCES MOM!"

Now for me and baby 3, I'm doing pretty good, really sore and contracting off and on and fairly intensely. I am now 36 weeks (my long term goal!!!) I did end up in the hospital on two separate occasions here in California and have dilated to almost a two despite doctors attempts to stop me from dilating. Since then, the contractions are have not been close enough or regular enough to make baby arrive...but I'm hoping that it will happen soon. I'm off all medications and all restrictions....just wish I wasn't so sore so that I could enjoy this new found freedom from alarms for pills and taking it "easy". My gut says this baby is going to be a big one (with a very large head)....but only time will tell.

I will do my best to steal my hubby's laptop to update you on pictures and baby when the time comes!

Best wishes to all

Collections

2010-06-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

So, over at the Nesting Place the amazing thrifty decorator was discussing how she uses collections of items to keep her home from feeling cluttered as well as to make big impacts. I really want to copy her wall of empty frames (as seen above...it would totally deter my kids from touching the wall and looks AMAZING! I love it!) She invited us all to show off our own collections and here is mine...

Our only requirement for bottles to make it to the mantle is that they must be one of the following

1. Good bottles of wine, as in ones we want to purchase again

2. Mark a special occasion (we have our tradition of having a bottle of champagne on the eve of our first home or last night at a Base

3. Have really pretty labels...because I like that sort of thing!

My mantle wraps around, and the white wall is due to cathedral cielings that I refuse to paint myself or pay someone to paint. I'm not happy with the placement of the bottles, and that burgandy candle REALLY needs to get burned down to an appropriate height...but there it is...my collection!

Saying goodbye

2010-06-06T19:05:00.000-07:00

We are faced with saying goodbye to our favorite guy fairly often around here, and I was just thinking today how we make the "Goodbye to the Combat Zone" as normal as the "Goodbye as Dad leaves for work".

Recently, Ryan left for a short trip and I found myself putting Kaelyn down for nap as usual knowing that Daddy would be leaving at 4. Instead of forgoing nap, we kept our day normal, held onto normal for as long as possible. I settled in quietly next to Ryan with a book while he reviewed regs and procedures for overseas flights on his laptop. His mind was already on the mission. While I read, I would peek over the edge of my book and see my husband's face, those peircing blue-green intensely focused on the mission at hand and feel his hand slowly rubbing my back while I ventured off into my world of fiction. I eventually gave into the desire for a nap, and Ryan joined me shortly afterwards.

It was a normal afternoon, it was what we would do on any other weekend when he wasn't leaving while the girls napped, and it spoke volumes of how our "home" wasn't about to change just because it was missing one person. It was a silent promise to Ryan that I would keep things normal, regardless of what was missing... I would ignore the giant Ryan sized gap, the empty chair, always made up half of the bed, a toothbrush missing and a towel hanging long forgotten on his hook. I would keep "our" normal, and that he would come home and find his spot just where he left it.

Even though we'd love nothing more than running off together and soaking up a few last moments of family time in reckless abandon, we cling to our routine, our normal and by doing so we choose to relish the little things...the sight of our girls napping, the feeling of his hand on my back, a nap in each others arms. Those are the things you really miss, and perhaps that is why we hold so dearly to normal on a day that is anything but.

Saying goodbye is part of our lifestyle...we do it often, but it makes Hello so much sweeter.

Preschool Corner: Mermaids/Water Cycle

2010-06-04T09:33:00.000-07:00

Mermaids and the water cycle....completely not related, but Kaelyn went nuts in the library about finding mermaid books (We walked away with one that discussed the history of Mermaids, one about the legend of Atlantis because Posidean looked like a mermaid, and of course...Ariel). Kaelyn has also been bugging me about who makes it rain. So to answer her questions this was what our week consisted of.

Science:
To tag along on our Mermaid/Ocean theme, we bought a lobster and talked about the different parts, that it has an Exoskeleton and how it ate. She was really excited about it! Then a night later we ate it...yummy!

Then we did some work on introducing the water cycle....and an experiement using a cotton ball and water to show how a "cloud" gets "heavy" with water vapor (by sitting in the water), and then rains the water droplets out. We are still working on the water cycle, but here are some great resources I have used!

http://www.kidzone.ws/water/index.html

http://www.first-school.ws/activities/science/drippy.htm

I also am reading the Magic School Bus Wet All Over book, which I LOVE! We reviewed the concept of Buoyancy last week by reading Magic School Bus Floats...and did the experiment at the end!

Math/History: We are still working on coins here. Kaelyn can easily recognize Abraham Lincoln from our Penny work, as well as recognize pennies. We just started Quaters and George Washington! We did quarter rubs, where you place a quarter under a piece of paper and rub over the top to see the engravings better.

Reading: WE ARE FINALLY READING PEOPLE!! I have started using Hubbard's Cupboard site word curriculum and her four year old curriculum...talk about a break through! While I was absent, Kaelyn has picked up various site words like-
the on we will I see at a
As well as started sounding out more words on her own! The breakthrough came when Anna my youngest tried to start going potty and every time she went she got a treat. Kaelyn wanted a treat too, so I made her read. Who knew food was going to be the key to her reading?

For more Preschool Corner!

Where in the World is Brandie???

2010-06-02T17:31:00.000-07:00

Oh where, oh where can she be?

She could have been found at the USO Sesame Street Performance...but she's not there anymore

Or at her house making gift buckets and this cake...but she's moved on

And if you had been at the local Chuckie Cheese on the 26th of April...you would have seen her there

With her birthday girl!

Could she be in Philly?

Nope, she was never there, she was at home in bed sleeping!

On May 14 and 15th you could have found her at Yellowstone Park

napping under the trees with Anna

or Celebrating her 24th Birthday with BooBoo Bear and the kiddos...all the kiddos!

and glowing with pride as both her girls caught their first fish on Princess Poles no less!

(Anna was all about fishing, until something actually came up on her line!)

(fish number two for Kaelyn, who was very tired!)

And had you been ANYWHERE near my house the night before Aunt Brittany left with Anna for California and Ryan returned from training...you would have found me playing DD for my best friends!

All this to say, that I am at home now, with Ryan and Kaelyn. Ryan will be leaving soon...and will be gone most of the month of June, hence the reason we decided to have Aunt Brittany take sweet Anna with her to California (could you imagine me alone with two kids on the L&D ward??? I don't think so!). We have some really big things happening in June (Kaelyn's has birthday parties out her ears, followed by a baby shower, my parents coming out, Dance Recital and the end of Swim Lessons!).

I also owe you guys some GREAT photos of all the hard work Aunt Brittany did in our home and the baby's room! So exciting! July is just around the corner, and I usually go about 4-5 weeks early...so we might have some MAJOR announcements (like gender and a name) coming very soon! It's great to have my computer back and to finally be able to update you all! Sorry for the absence!

Meal Plan Monday

2010-05-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been absent guys, we are fighting contractions and colds here at my house...and those are two very vicious things especially when a new enemy has reared it's ugly head....not only is Ryan gone BUT it's looking like our two girls are now adding some stomach irritation going on! So, if I don't post, just know that I'm really working on getting people healthy!

Monday- Leftovers
Tuesday- Lunch-Leftovers
               Dinner-General Tao's Chicken and fortune cookies
Wednesday-Lunch- Sandwiches, Fruit and Yogurt
               Dinner-Aunt Brittany's Pork chops, Garlic Butter Rolls, Green Bean Casserole, Brownies (making double and           delivering the second dinner to our friend who just had a child!)
Thursday-Lunch-Leftovers
               Dinner- Tilapia with Fresh veggies!
Friday-Lunch-Might be ate out
           Dinner- At a group camp out with friends! We are SOO EXCITED! You have no idea!

for more menus go here!

BTW the only things I'm having to purchase for this weeks meals (aside from Friday night camp out items) are...
eggs/milk/bread/orange juice/brownie mix/those crunch onions for the casseroles and porkchops!

Wonderful Wonderful News

2010-05-06T18:57:00.000-07:00

This is our sweet, HEALTHY, CYST FREE baby! Yes, you read that right! He/She (it's still a surprise) is not only cyst free (completely, PRAISE GOD!) but is measuring on point or a little ahead (which is the normal for my child) and weighs 2 WHOLE pounds! I am so grateful for all the prayers and for this WONDERFUL news! I feel like I can breath, and plan for the arrival...if only I could get the Air Force to cooperate and allow some leave...

I wrote the first entry for our sweet little one in their baby diary (I try to write atleast twice a year for each of the girls) and thought it might be nice to share!

May 5, 2010

Dear Baby,

You don’t have a name, or even a pronoun, but you are more real to me than you will ever know. I sit here on the eve of “the day”…the one where we discover if your Choroid Plexus Cysts are gone, the one that will determine if I fight like a mad woman (which is so not my personality) to get the amniocentesis so that we can know what life holds for you dear one. Regardless of what tomorrow holds, know this one thing…that we love you, we love the life we’ve had thus far with you, and we can’t wait to see your sweet face, smell your sweet new baby smell and cradle you in our arms for the rest of your life.

You and your sweet beating heart have already impacted my life in ways that I had not expected. You have taught me patience, waiting for tomorrow has NOT been easy, but I’ve managed with the prayers of others, support of friends, and the joy of experiencing each day with you growing in me. I have been able to focus on the happy things, time with your father, stories with your sisters and the way you nudge me while I am reading to them…or how you will kick suddenly when Anna cries or Kaelyn talks to you. I’ve been able to float through the past four weeks enjoying each moment with you as though it were our last, and that in and of itself has been a blessing…because I haven’t taken one nudge, on kick, one stretch, one happy beat of my heart helping to grow yours for granted. I have thoroughly enjoyed having your Daddy spread his hand out against my growing belly and feel you so alive within me, hearing Kaelyn whisper sweet nothings to you, ask questions about you, and embrace the idea of you joining our little family, and watching Anna start to connect the dots that there IS a baby in mommy’s belly. Anna is so excited about babies!

You have taught me to value the small things, because God knows that we all too often get caught up in the big worries and miss out on the tiny blessings like a moving baby, the sound of your heartbeat, and the beauty of a quiet afternoon spent at the park. I’ve valued our small amount of time together and hope to keep this lesson in mind as we continue on.

You showed us the meaning of worth, value, life and perfection. Despite what the silly machine might say tomorrow, you are perfect, God made you and formed you for a reason, you have worth and value. It doesn’t matter what condition you may or may not have, I am so blessed to have you here with me and our family is overjoyed with your presence already! This is in no way a goodbye, but merely a hello from my heart to yours nestled safely within me.

Really? This is what my life is about?

2010-05-04T20:02:00.000-07:00

This morning, my dear sweet not-quite-19-month old decided to start going potty, on her own, as in going into the bathroom, stripping down, using it, putting on her pants and walking out.
She did it once...and then again...and again...and again! Not once did I have to remind her, ask her, or push her.

Yep, you read that right, today was a SUCCESS and I can't believe I am so freaking so excited about my child choosing to go potty, but that is what my life consists of these days...and I am so okay with that!

For those of you who will be potty training a younger child while having an older child wonder why they can't get a treat for going potty...here is my new tip! Use this opportunity, every time Anna uses the Potty...Kaelyn gets a chance to earn candy by READING SIGHT WORDS! So far, Anna is peeing in the potty 8/10 times and Kaelyn is reading The, On, and Cat/Hat/Mat because those were the words used in her various sentences today! By the time Anna is fully potty trained, Kaelyn might just realize that reading is EASY!!!

Preschool--Money, All about Pennies!

2010-05-01T11:06:00.000-07:00

So, first let me appologize for the lack of photos...my hubby and sister in law are in historic Philadelphia and have my camera.

This past week (aka 2 days of school) were spent focusing on the Penny! We managed to use pennies in almost ever area of study.

For math:
sorted coins, counted the number of pennies and other coins, talked about which had most etc.
We discussed the penny specifically..a penny=1
Used pennies to add and subtract small sums.
Did a great worksheet (that showed both the front and back of the penny because it took Kaelyn all of two seconds to discover that their was a difference) for counting Pennies

For Geography/history:
I visited the US Mint's website and we studied the history of Abraham Lincoln by looking at the various backs of coins and the stages of life the represented! We are still working on this section, but we also used the map to look at how far away California (where my Sister in Law lives) is from New Jersey, and then we began to look at the states that Lincoln lived in. http://www.usmint.gov/kids/teachers/lessonPlans/cents/_k01.pdf

For Science/Art:
We did Sun Prints using various coins to block out the sun on construction paper
Rubbed prints of a penny on copy paper and used the pennies to make shapes and rubbed copies of flowers etc.

For Writing/Reading:
We read tons of non-related books, but Kaelyn did manage to write her thank you notes for her birthday and I was shocked to realize that she could read her own handwriting. She would pick up a card, look at what she wrote and then proceed to draw a picture for that particular friend...it was CRAZY!

Anna worked on her colors, singing her alphabet and counting. She's really experiencing a vocabulary growth spurt and I'm loving the concepts, charm, and humor she has brought into our lives.

For more Preschool Corner go here!

In all honesty...

2010-04-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad that this past month has been crazy busy, because I have been completely oblivious to the fact that our ultrasound is quickly coming up...THE ultrasound that determines whether we (I mean I) push for the amnio to determine how our baby really is. This last week though, I've been finding the whole ultrasound to be looming in my mind (probably due to the fact that Ryan leaves in the next few days for training, and we only have dance to fill our days next week). So here I am, wishing for the days to fly by so that I can get some answers, while also wishing the days to slow down so that I can enjoy every last minute of living expecting the best because I don't know any different. It's quite the anxiety inducing conundrum...but for now, I'll content my days with reading endless books of stories for my sweet girls enjoy each tiny nudge from our sweet one.

To my sweet Four year old! Happy Birthday

2010-04-26T13:21:00.000-07:00

Dearest Kaelyn,

(two days old)

It is so hard for me to believe that four short years ago you arrived in our lives on April 26, 2006 at 6 lbs 10ozs, a small bundle of dark hair and deep blue eyes, that would forever change our lives. Even before your arrival, you taught me so much about the world around us. From the moment that I knew I carried another life, I knew that I would do whatever it took to take care of you...but I never realized how much you would teach me. I learned that the image of God portrayed by churches isn't always accurate, to trust that God would not leave me. God blessed me with you from the very beginning, that you were always a blessing and have always been a blessing. You are my hug from God, a sweet reminder of his Pure, Joyful (Kaelyn) Grace (your middle name) that I am so undeserving of.
In the past four years I have learned so much about you, how your heart is full of compassion for others, how you have a strong desire to avoid conflict, and how you want to please those around you. You have taken to saying that your "job is to make sure others are happy" and that you really had to look out for Anna.

You my dear, are an old soul...much like your mother, with a bit of wit and charm from your father, eyes of your Great Grandfathers, and a heart all your own. I am so honored to have gotten to spend the last four years watching you blossom into the young girl that you are, and I can't wait to continue watching you grow and shape yourself into this beautiful being.
All my love and Birthday Wishes,
Mom (it still feels weird to sign my name like this)

(At 2...you still hate Santa)

Things you love at four
-Dance
-Your friends Rory, Catherine, Makenzie, Kiyre (your BFF from Oklahoma), and Anna (you also mention new baby)
-Princess anything!
-Pink!
-Tea Parties
-Stories during nap while Anna is sleeping
-Movies
-Popcorn with M&Ms, Pickles, salad, soy beans, rice, soup and Pepperoni!
-your pink blanket
-To have your legs/arms tickled while you fall asleep
-Welcoming Dad home at the end of the day
-Sports *soccer* and riding your bike!!
-Blowing Daddy a kiss in the morning, one for his pocket just in case his day is bad and the other for his butt because you think that's funny.
-Being Sneaky

Things you can do
Count 1-100 using a chart and being prompted on the tens change (only 30,60,70,80, and sometimes 90)
Count 1-26 occassionally skipping 14/15
Adding simple sums (using manipulatives)
Writing your name and all your letters!
Sounding out words when asked to
Sing rhymes, retell stories and nursery songs
Hop on one foot, stand on one foot in a dance pose, run, jump, leap and skip
Teach Anna how to say new words
Days of the week, tell the hour on a clock

Last year at age 3!

Meal Plan Monday- Viva la Mexico

2010-04-19T05:17:00.000-07:00

Or atleast some decently priced easy to make at home Mexican food!

I came in under budget AGAIN this week ($95 total), and that even included a splurge on last nights Luau Themed Birthday dinner for the Husband (Macadamia and Coconut encrusted Salmon with fresh veggies and fresh fruit salad)! He turned 30 yesterday, and I spent the week doing tons of sweet little gifts/thoughtful things (atleast three a day) to mark the occasion. Some examples of these little gifts were to buy some of his favorite magazines, leave him love notes, take a few small items off his honey-do list (a new showerhead, shelves, and caulking), finding two sisters, 14 and 15, who live in our neighborhood who did an AMAZING job babysitting our girls for $30 (for five hours...and two babysitters....I felt like we robbed them) and a lovely date night. The girls really got into coming up with three things for Daddy as well as enjoying his new fire pit.

So this week's menu is yet another Money Saving Meals with Sandra Lee!

Monday- Lunch- Ballet Class Play Date
               Dinner- BBQ Chicken (left over from last week) with corn on the cob

Tuesday-Lunch- Leftover (Chicken on top of salad, Salmon on top of salad, you get the idea)
              Dinner-Out in Philly for my Sister-in-Law's Birthday...she's turning 25 and spending the day
traveling across the country to come help out while Ryan is gone...what can I say...she's pretty awesome!

Wednesday-Lunch-Leftovers/Sandwiches
                    Dinner-Fish Tacos with homemade Guacamole (the add the packet to mushed avacado kind)!

Thursday- Lunch- Leftovers or Corndogs
                 Dinner-Bean and Cheese Tamales although I forgot to purchase parchment paper...hope I remember, with Cinnamon Churros!

Friday- Lunch- Tuna Fish Salad with crackers and fresh fruit on the way home from the Y (since Aunt Brittany will be able to take the girls to their swim lessons)
             Dinner: Squadron Picnic... I must find a good side recipe for this!

Saturday-Lunch-Chuckie Cheese...it's Kaelyn's 4th Birthday Party (two days early!)
               Dinner- Ceviche

Sunday-Lunch-Bean and Cheese Chalupas
             Dinner-Breakfast for dinner...complete with Pumpkin Waffles!

So that's our week in a nutshell for more menus go here!

Any BBQ friendly side suggestions for a large group? I was thinking a 7-layer salad....suggestions???

Preschool Corner: States of Matter

2010-04-16T12:25:00.000-07:00

At a loss for what to do this next week, I visited the Kindergarten website of the local school where Kaelyn will be attending in 2011. I know I've been lacking in Science, so I decided to look at their science requirements and use it as a jumping off point for my lesson planning...

This week Kaelyn covered
States of Matter *we are doing Gas next week because Solid and Liquid were enough of a concept for this week)
started officially working on her sight words as part of our daily routine (a, at, be, can, do, each, for, go)
introduced the concept of vocabulary words (water, ice, liquid, solid,l)

This week Anna covered
Hot and Cold
Colors-reviewed Pink, introduced Blue
Shapes-Circle
ABC's
Counting 1-10

I hoping to establish the following as our "daily routine" of Counting 1-100 using our chart, Calander Time, and Observing the Weather with Kaelyn. Anna and I sing our ABC's using her chart, Days of the Week with Kaelyn's help, point out the shape of the week and the color. I notice that if we start the day off the same way each day it's very beneficial to us being productive and in the right mindset. Waking up at 6 also helps seeing as I can start the day AHEAD of the kids/house instead of behind.

Science: States of Matter
For the following experiement I used this website. I loved the step by step process as well as the follow up questions to discuss with your child. I also love how, if Kaelyn gets it I can increase her grasp on the concept by proceeding to the next level with the experiment.

We talked about how water is a liquid, and how liquids take the shape of their container. We poured water into our heart shape containers and then froze them. While it froze we went to the park!

Then we played with the ice and set up our "melting" experiments.And talked about how temperature changes the matter state of being.

We tested with hot water, room temperture water and Room temperature without water to see which would melt faster.

In an attempt to introduce the concept of Gas, I had heated up the water...but it didn't really click for her.

Kaelyn's Light Bulb moment for States of Matter came when I asked her to find a solid (a princess doll naturally) and bring it to me. Then I took a cup of water, and made a huge mess by pouring some of it out on the floor. I asked her if the water changed shape, she said "yes". I told her that a Liquid takes the shape of it's container...so when I poured it into a square glass it would be square, or we pour it into the heart pan it's heart shaped. Then we took the princess and dropped her on the ground...I asked if her shape changed? She said, "No", and I told her that the fact that it kept it's own shape meant that it was a Solid. *Please note that these are very BASIC definitions of solid and liquid, but she gets it now, she knows that OJ, Water, Milk, Etc are all liquids and that other things are solids*

Math: Counting (we are only missing 14 and 15 sporadically with her counting!!!), Patterns with Pom Poms and our Calander, and Telling time!

Writing: F, G, and H page, Copying our vocab words and sight words.
Although, we haven't copied the sight words yet...we are doing that this afternoon.
Reading: We went to the library and got a bunch of GREAT free books! We are starting Junie B. Jones series during my reading time with Kaelyn, and reading Poetry at breakfast from the Robert Louis Stevenson book we found...for free, at the library! I've never seen so many great books just given away! I really felt like a criminal.

Anna: 18 months
Collage work with pre-cut circles and glue

Blue Foam Stickers for her "Blue" work

Shapes Puzzles, labeling them during play

Drawing with Kaelyn and talking about circles

(We've been playing A LOT of SuperHero and Super Fairy)

Collage work with Blue paper, shades of blue, painting with blue, eating blueberries for snack.

Her Blue Materials included blue foam stickers, chalk, fat markers, "circle" markers which are like the Bingo Dotters except smaller and found at dollar tree, skinny markers and crayons!

Other Fun Things included:

Fire Pit with Daddy (for his early birthday present!)...we talked about how the smoke was a gas!

Baby three is cooking! Me at 23/24 weeks

Video Game time!

Which leads me to my GREAT DEAL OF THE WEEK! Free Apps for you iPhone/iPod...Kindergarten is making their apps free for the ENTIRE month in honor of Autism Awareness. These apps are great, some are simple flashcard style (for Anna's age) and others ask questions like "What Rhymes with ____" and shows four options for your child to pick. Other Question games that we have found are What doesn't belong and a Healthy Habits Game!

Another GREAT DEAL is to go to Resturant.com and use the promo code FEAST to get a $25 Gift Card for dining out for $3!!! Please read the fine print as you aren't allowed to use the cards in the same resturant more than once a week...but still a great deal!

For other Preschool Corner Go here and for Tot-School go here!

Let the fun begin

2010-04-15T05:18:00.000-07:00

Ryan has gotten word that his official papers for his waiver to return to flying status will be coming in towards the begining of next week AND he has a flight scheduled very soon! Thanks to those of you who have been praying about this for us! We really appreciate the support.

So, let the fun of deployments and quasi-single parenting begin!

Help is on it's way!

2010-04-13T15:03:00.000-07:00

So, after discussing our options...Ryan and I are both VERY excited to FINALLY have some help coming in. My lovely sister in law, Brittany, will be joining the family for awhile to help out with the girls and the housework. She couldn't come at a better time with Ryan leaving for training at the end of this month, being gone for the month of May and returning early June. The chance of an amnio following our next ultrasound (all in May) results...you get the idea.

*Me, Kaelyn, and Brittany*

Can I mention that the Procardia medication for contractions is slowly killing me....yes, I know that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I've NEVER had issues with this medication in my prior pregnancies, but this time around...it's really doing a number on my blood pressure (bottoming out) causing me to be exhausted or in a fog, my heart will race, and there are moments when I truly feel on fire. On top of all that I am starting to notice my contractions about an hour prior to my pill and an hour afterwards. With Brittany here, I won't be sweating the details of who will watch my chlidren should I have to return to the hospital.

Meal Plan Monday-April 12-19

2010-04-12T05:37:00.000-07:00

So, I'm going for quick, easy and out of my cabinet since I spent last weekend in the hospital for preterm labor. Grocery shopping and cooking long elaborate meals is not an option.

Monday- Lunch at Chic fil la with the ladies of Ballet
               Dinner Chicken (leftover) Nachos with Guacomole and Salsa!

Tuesday-Lunch will be ate out again due to Mops, or possible a picnic at the playground
               Dinner: Pan Fried Tilapia (from last week, it never happened!) with Corn Pudding (a left over recipe from last week)

Wednesday-Lunch- Sandwiches
                   Dinner-Indian food with homemade Naan from a box with the kids being offered Corn Dogs should they choose it (only because Indian food can be hot, we generally do NOT offer options to our children)

Thursday-Lunch-Salad topped with leftover Tilapia
                Dinner- Spaghetti with Salad and Garlic Bread

Friday-Lunch-is pita and fresh veggies with White Bean Hummus (here's the recipe! it turned out delicious and I am actually making it again with Black Beans!) And just for you information, the Corn Salad from last week was DIVINE! And the Blueberry Scones were equally divine and EASY! I will be making them again...and trust me when I say EASY...this chicka can't even bake cookies properly!
           Dinner: Dirty Rice with Trinity vegetables and Red Kidney beans

Saturday is a BIG QUESTION MARK because it's my husband's 30th Birthday and I'd like to have friends over (pending the behavior of my uterus), or perhaps have friends over on Sunday and let him use his new grill to entertain (that is if I can steal his car for an evening without him catching on! no way a grill is going to fit in my tiny hybrid trunk!).

So for now, let's assume that Saturday will be date night and that I will be hunting up an easy Cheesecake Recipe (to triple) to take to Ryan's work on Sunday for his Birthday followed by hopefully an impromptu BBQ Sunday night with a few friends and neighbors. That way Ryan can show off  his new Fire Pit and Grill (you only turn thirty once!).

For more Lovely Recipes/Menus go to Meal Plan Monday

Easter and Some White house

2010-04-10T07:59:00.000-07:00

So, here are some of my favorite shots from Easter (hunt at the Squadron, hunt at home, hunt at the White house). We don't have a lot of shots on our Camera from the White House due to the fact that our camera died shortly after our arrival (perfect timing right?). Thankfully, our iPhone's came quickly to the rescue! I'll post those pictures much much later...

Squadron Party!

Anna climbing and saying tOOOOHees

HOME

Daddy helping with the hunt!

Anna, dumping eggs as she goes!

The second hunt!

A little belly shot for you guys!
Sneak Peak of DC!

Waiting in line!

More waiting! Kaelyn keeping kitty warm in her sweater and the Washington Monument behind us!

Just to give you an idea of the line we were in!

We were listening to some great children's band in the line, ate some delicious free/healthy food and got some yummy drinks during our wait!

On the front line, that's the White House in the back

Attempt number two at getting the kids to look at the camera

She found Dora!

After the hunt, we visited some monuments! Here is Ryan and Kaelyn having a serious conversation at the base of the Washington Monument while Anna and I are on our way.

WWII Memorial, after we explained the importance of the memorial and why you didn't play/throw money in the water. The girls and Ryan were really absorbing the moment!

More to come later!

Hospital Stay

2010-04-09T12:24:00.000-07:00

So, I guess I've finally "broken in" the new doctor and hospital with an overnight stay for contractions. Thankfully, it doesn't appear that my contractions (1 every 1-2 mins lasting 1 min+) were very productive, but they are causing some "cervical change".

Here is the run down
-The baby looked and sounded great! Although it didn't like the monitor which meant I had a nurse at my bedside repositioning me or the monitor every twenty minutes or so.
-My contractions are slowed, but not stopped. They aren't as strong and I am very comfortable, unlike earlier.
-I'm on Procardia, which normally doesn't carry any side effects for me at all, but I'm definitely feeling the sluggish/flushed/on fire aspect with this pregnancy.
-I won't be on bedrest until my cervix starts to show more significant change. Bedrest doesn't show any indication of stopping contractions but it can slow down dialation. My activities are definitely limited (no more swim lessons for the girls), no more strenuous activities (mopping and vaccumming) and no more hanky panky.

So, now we are faced, yet again, with some tough decisions. Though, I am not on bedrest, I am asked to simply asked try and "take it easy" which is hard to do with two kiddos. So, Ryan and I are considering sending Anna to stay with his family(Kaelyn was the same age when she went away to stay while I was pregnant with Anna) and keeping Kaelyn here with me.

Why keep Kaelyn?

-She's pretty much self sufficient...unlike Anna who requires lifting/carrying/changing
-She has her birthday and friends, and while I realize she's only four, these are some pretty important things to her. She's only four, and has very few important things.
-Dance Recital
-If I should have to go to the hospital while Ryan is away or at work and my friends are unavailable, Kaelyn can come with me. I can trust that she will be perfectly content at my bedside with snacks and goodies and games and movies...Anna is so not at that point.

Thanks for your prayers! Sorry for the absence...now I'm off to make a snack and watch a movie with the kiddos.

Healthcare--No this isn't about the bill.

2010-04-07T11:59:00.000-07:00

I was just curious, since all I've ever really known is Tricare (the military healthcare), as to how healthcare issues work for everyone else out there.

Tricare is great---in that it's free and if I'm willing to fight for certian things, then I can manage to navigate the red tape, push for a referral or prescription, and get what I need done.

So...my question is, how does your healthcare work?

If you need to see the Ob, do you have to go get a positive blood test from the lab, see your primary care doctor, get them to write you a referral, call you insurance and find a list of OB's who accept your insurance, insure/inform your primary care doctor of who you want to see, and then finally call the OB to make the appointment (upon which you must bring a copy of your referral that you will get in the mail about two weeks after it's submitted?).

Or perhaps you need a medication, Do you have to call your main pharmacy and see if they can fill it (the base in my case, which couldn't) and then are directed to your insurance company, do you have to contact your insurance (who will then send you to an off shoot branch who is contracted out to deal with pharamacutical information), contact the contracted company who tells you to try Walgreens, which can't do it, then have walgreens attempt to have the contract pharmacy who directed you to Walgreens fill your prescription, get a rejection letter WITHOUT the prescription attached advising you to find a local pharamacy but never stating which one, find a pharmacy that accepts your insurance on your own, contact that pharmacy and see if they in turn can fill said prescription. Find one that does fill said prescription and get AMAZING service (I LOVE WHEN CAPITALISM WORKS, people who want your business, like civilian or private pharmacy's go out of their way to get it!), get your prescription, but realize that you are charged the FULL AMOUNT and not your general $3 copay. Call insurance, get directed to contract company, call contract company, get told it was never filed, call pharmacy, they did file and gladly refile (with a smile I'm sure), call contract company, get told it was due to the pharmacy's improper entry into the system (you couldn't tell me that the first time?), call pharmacy and give them contract company's number and hope for the best.

Have a headache yet? No more minutes left on your cell?

Is this just something military families deal with or is it this difficult for those of you in the "real world"? And I did simplify the above events for your mental sanity.