tonsillectomy

He was nervous about the surgery, but the video games beforehand helped him relax.  He picked root beer scent for his off-to-sleepytown mask and he was looking forward to his root beer slushy afterward.

After the surgery, I went back to be with him as he was coming to.  He was funny.  At first he was out of it.  "Are you my mom?"  Then he was a little out of body.  "I can't feel my hand."  Then he was obsessed with the hospital bed.  When he was first put out the bars were down.  He couldn't figure out how they got up, and why.  He kept saying that he felt like he was in jail.  He also kept saying "How long ago did they put me down?"  Then he got to feeling better and joking a little and the next thing we knew he burst into tears.  The nurse taking care of him had to turn away because it was so hilarious.  She said later how the teenage boys are always the funniest because they are all tough talking about football and the next they are sobbing wanting their moms.

We got him home and I stayed in bed with him.  He slept for a while and when he woke up he wanted to start his John Wayne marathon.  Grandpa Peel loaned him some DVDs, and Drew is loving them.

The other kids have been amazing.  In normal life, they have their moments of bickering and picking at each other, of pushing each other's buttons and fighting.  But, the minute one of them is sick, or hurt, they jump into action.

After school, the girls rushed up to see the patient.  I was making soup and mashed potatoes, and Bev took over the nursing responsibilities.  She took him ice cream and soda.  She exchanged out his ice pack.  She ran him a bubble bath and set out his robe.  She kept asking when he could have his pain medication because he was aching.  She made him a yes/no sign to help him communicate.

Jessi had been playing outside and when she came in, I asked her to sit up and practice her spelling words.  She told me she first needed to do something upstairs.  I asked what.  She said, "I think Drew needs snuggles."  I went to check on him and she was lying next to him with her little arm around his neck watching his John Wayne.

I had a work appointment, so Christian stayed with Drew.  He brought him his DS and found him the neck pillow.  He got him ice water and the Signing Time DVDs.  (It hurts to talk, so Drew has been using sign language and writing on a notebook to communicate.)  Every time Christian walks past him, he asks if he needs anything.

Day three and Drew is pretty sore.  We are keeping up on his pain meds, and keeping him on cold liquids.  I am trying to be patient when he snaps his fingers at me to get my attention.  He wrote down that maybe I could get him a bell.  I think we'll stick with the snapping.

I had my tonsils removed after my mission, and I was miserable, so I can relate to his pain.  Speaking of pain, the morning of day two, he was in lots of it and next thing I knew he started quoting A Knight's Tale, "Pain, lots of pain."  It's good to see he hasn't lost his sense of humor.

Mother's Day

Mike and the kids always make my Mother's Day special.  They got up early to make me breakfast.  I stayed in bed (folding socks) until I was summoned to the kitchen.  They made me my favorite--oven pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream, and a big glass of Diet Pepsi.  (I'm trying to not drink  until noon, but I went ahead and enjoyed it on my special day.)

Mike surprised me and got me a patio umbrella.  He also wrote a pretty great candy bar card.  After I read it, I asked him if he had printed it off the internet, it was so good.  He used to write me poems, and he is pretty good at it.  Bev did the writing on the poster.

The kids' messages say:

Andrew:  Thank you for giving birth to me first and for all you do.

Bev:  Happy Mother's Day!!! Thank you for all you do for me.

Christian:  Thanks for buying me fruit.

Jessica:  I love your snuggles.

I love being a mom and I can't imagine my life without these guys. 

week 18

Week 18.  I can't believe we are already in May.  Time is flying by.  I think that is why I am loving this project--I get to really look at our life and how we spend our time and all we have for which to be grateful.

Christian's baptism

Christian's baptism was wonderful.  It was a great day spent with family and friends.  When I asked him how he felt, he said, "Good, a little different than before."

We felt lucky to be able to share the service with Christian's friend Ethan.  He also invited his friend Alex to come.

We had yummy salads and desserts and pulled pork sandwiches.

I framed a bunch of the pics I took of the boy.  It was a little bit of a shrine.

Grandma & Grandpa Huff , Ryan, Erika and Mason.

Bev and Henry.  I didn't get a picture of Henry's parents or two other brothers, but they were there.

Grandma Jones, Julie, Katie and Courtney.

Jeremy, Robyn, Taylor, Morgan and Camryn.

Mike and Christian with Grandma and Grandpa Peel.

The two great-grandmas.

Bev and Jessi love having poor Max around.  He gets to be their little dress-up doll.

Kasi, Brittany and Boston.

After the dinner, the boys all huddled around the wii to play some Skylanders.

it's great to be eight

My little mister had his birthday and is getting baptized.  I was going to wait to take his pictures until his black eye had subsided, but then I decided to just go with it.  I may take some more after it's gone, but I have a feeling I will love these even more because of his shiner.

We got him scriptures, and he reads them almost every day.  He started in Genesis, and tells us all about the things he is reading.

He was a good sport, and after shooting over 100 shots, I got a few of him with his real smile.  When I tell him to smile for pictures I get something like this--a look of pain.

He also tends to squint his eyes.  I asked him to open his eyes a little bit more, and I got this.

Christian's birthday

Christian's birthday was back in March--I'm trying to get caught up.  This birthday included a custom-made skateboard and hockey sticks, breakfast in bed, birthday dinner at Golden Corral (yippee,) beginning Cub Scouts, a football birthday cake for one party and an orange jello cake for the other, and a friend party at Airborne.

We celebrated with the Huffs on St. Patty's Day.  It worked well because his favorite color is green.

Andrew and Bev made a fun game out of our tv box from the basement.



He got some fun gifts.



The most creative gift was from Aunt Mimi and her family.  They brought a huge box and made us all think there was an animal inside.  It was the longest paper-chain snake I have ever seen with a gift card attached.






The Jones gang.



Between both family parties, the friend party (when it's an even year,) and all of our birthday traditions, in our family, birthdays last for about a week.  It's good because I am so busy with all of the festivities that I can't really think about how fast they are growing up.

a day in the life

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

I am still going strong on taking at least one picture every day, but I decided to capture a few snippets from one whole day.

Mike and Christian were up early to get to the dentist by 8:00.  Mike had a cavity and Christian needed to have a tooth pulled.  I got Drew up and ready for school.  He has been taking home lunch to school--banana, cheerios (he buys milk at school) and a yogurt.  He missed carpool because he was busy finishing part of his homework that he forgot about last night.  I ran him to school a few minutes late.

Mike called at 9:15 saying that he was on his way to take Christian to school and that I should maybe take him a Jamba Juice for lunch.

The girls (who are off track) slept in until 9:30.  They played outside for a bit, played the piano and had a few hula hoop contests.

At 10:15 I got a call from the school saying that Christian was in the office sobbing that his mouth hurt.  I put on my I-didn't-do-my-hair-today hat and drove to the school.  (I never did end up getting my hair done today.)  He had big puffy eyes and was holding an ice pack to his cheek.  He said that it didn't hurt at first because the dentist had numbed it, but that he needed more numbing stuff.  When I signed him out at 10:22, I noticed his signing in was at 9:22.  He got a whopping hour of school in today.  The dentist gave him a tooth necklace to hold his pulled tooth.  He wore it all day.

We stopped on the way home for his orange Jamba Juice.  When we got home, I gave him some Motrin and then he went right to my bed.  He asked for his blankets--stars and quack quack--and his cheetah.

I had already planned to introduce one of my favorite movies to the girls while they were off track.  Today was the perfect day to do it.  They all lounged on my bed and I folded and ironed laundry while we watched Anne of Green Gables.  I made a few phone calls for work and sent a few emails.

After the movie and his nap, Christian did some Chinese homework and Jessi did some of her off-track packet.  I dealt with the huge pile of papers that had accumulated on the kitchen desk.

I got my planters planted--an early Mother's Day gift.  I took a picture of Jessi with some of our tulips.  I love tulips and they are going to be gone too soon.

We took a break from the movie at 1:00 to have lunch.  I fixed tortellini with tomato sauce and cut up a few apples.  I made peanut butter bars for teacher appreciation tomorrow, but realized that I was out of cocoa, so I had to wait on the frosting.

At 3:45 we went to pick up carpool for Bev's tumbling.  I dropped the girls off and then ran home to get Drew's permission slip signed for his scout rappelling activity that night.  Drew practiced piano and then walked to piano.  I went back to feed the cats at the canal and pick up from tumbling.

I picked up Drew early from piano to get him to scouts, then ran Bev to soccer practice and to the store for a few groceries.  Christian played my phone on the way home and then did his reading. Jessi sang Primary songs.   I took a picture of the street I drive several times every day getting these children to and fro.

Mike got home from work and brought me a big Diet Pepsi--it's like he can sense when I have had a hectic day and really need one.  We had black bean and chicken enchiladas for dinner.

Drew got home around 8 and had dinner while doing his homework.

I listened to Jessi read and Mike listened to Christian read.  Then best part of the day was snuggling the two of them before bed.

Mike had a late soccer game and took Bev with him.  They got home around 11:00 and then headed to bed.  I did a load of laundry and then went to bed around midnight.

Today I was tired.  I sometimes tell Mike that I didn't get much, if anything checked off my to-do list.  He then reminds me that if I did the important stuff, I got the right stuff checked off my list. I did get some right stuff checked off my list.

Today I was grateful.  I got to be with my girls and my toothachy boy.  We had plenty to eat and a safe place to live.  We had flowers and comforts and each other.  We had opportunity.

The days are flying by and I feel these kids growing up at lightening speed.  I know that one day, I will look back and miss days like today.

While typing this, I hear the 10,000 Maniac's song in my head.

These are the days you'll remember
Never before and never since, I promise
Will the whole world be warm as this
And as you feel it,
You'll know it's true
That you are blessed and lucky
It's true that you
Are touched by something
That will grow and bloom in you.