"No..Key...It fur BIG KIDS....BIIIG KIDS"

Not too much has been going on over the past week. David has been doing very well and hasn't had any episodes since last Thursday night.

A couple of days ago we set up the toddler bed for Jacob. He is not crawling out of the crib, but the crib is literally falling apart and is probably becoming a hazard. Truthfully, it probably has been a hazard for a while. It has had bungie cords keeping it together since Christopher was using it! It was a hand me down for David and so we have definitely had our use from it. This is the same crib that we have many pictures of with all three of the boys confined to and jumping in. It was a great "playpen" while I was trying to clean up or vacuum. They all loved to sit and play in it at the same time.

Jacob has done great transiting to the big kid bed. When we first set it up, he was climbing on it and Christopher told him NO, It fur BIG Kids. I guess Christopher remembers sleeping in it. He wasn't too crazy about Jacob getting into it. Tonight we'll have a ceremonial removal of the crib :) David wants to have a bonfire - so maybe we'll have a celebratory bonfire that the "baby" is now walking, starting to talk and in a "big kid" bed. I must admit, I am a little sad - but looking forward to them getting a little older.

David had his last t-ball game last night. For the past couple of months he had games two nights each week. It doesn't sound like a lot, but when it is soooooooooooooooooooooo hot and you have to carry two kiddos on your hip, camping chairs and all the gear that comes with kids (diapers, sippy cup, toys to play with...). The alternative is to stay at home with the little ones while Brad helps coach David. As much as I hate to pack up the little ones - I LOVE watching David play. He is a good hitter, fast runner and so excited to see us after he runs to first base. He does the two thumbs up. At last night's game Christopher, Jacob and a few of the other sibling kids were on the sidelines playing Ring Around the Rosies. I wish I had my camera with me to post a pic. It was sooo cute. All of the kids that were suppose to be playing ball were distracted. David screamed from his first base position. "Mom, Can you please get them to stop?" All of the other moms started laughing.

Not too much going on. While most people are down sizing and buying more fuel efficient vehicles - we took advantage of the opposite. We upsized to a humongous Toyota Sequoia. The boys love it and we have plenty of room in it. I am however sad to get rid of the Acura. Several years ago, Brad asked me if I could have any car what would I want. I told him the Acura MDX - never expecting to get one. A few months later, he got the MDX for me. We looked into getting another one this time and even kept one over night. I loved it, but it is really too small with all three of the boys still in car seats. The next night we borrowed this Sequoia and we all agreed that it is the best choice for us. Christopher and David love to sit in the "way far back". When Jacob tries to climb back there. Christopher says, NO Key...It fur big kids...BIIIIIIIIIIIIG Kids!!" He loves to say that now. The other day we were at the neighborhood park and we was telling a boy that was much bigger than him....No...It fur big Kids!!

Still No Update on David

On Tuesday, the pediatrician never called with Monday's test results. I called her on Wednesday and she is off on Wednesdays. On Thursday morning, she called me to say the colon scan was inconclusive again and that the blood work was not showing anything abnormal either. He missed his t-ball game Wednesday night from being in so much pain. I was aggrivated (due to lack of sleep from the past two weeks!!). I feel so bad for him - especially to see him in so much pain that he doesn't want to play t-ball (or see what the toothfairy brought him). I told the pediatrician that I would like for her to be more aggressive and we need to have him "fixed" before school starts. He can't fall over in pain in the middle of school, much less stay up all night and expect him to get up for school!! She wanted to schedule an abdominal ultrasound for that same day, but you have to fast eight hours prior to the scan. David already had breakfast by the time she called, so we did it today.

David was very worried and scared to go and get the ultrasound. I explained to him that it was just a little camera thing to see in his tummy like they put on my tummy when I was pregnant with Christopher and Jacob. He didn't remember so I reminded him that it is the same thing Christopher gets except they'll do his tummy instead of his heart. He quickly replied are they going to have to cut me open and take my tummy out??? I assured him that they were not going to do that, but Cow ended up going anyway and comforting him throughout the scan. The Scan Tech Man (don't know what he is called) was very thorough and checked everything from the Aorta Valve to the Vena Cavena (sp?) and everything in between. He said he didn't see anything alarming, but would pass it on to our pediatrician and have her contact us. She called us this afternoon and suggested that we go to a pediatric gastrointernalogist. They only have one in town, so I am not sure how long before we'll be able to get in. Thankfully last night was the first night in two weeks that he did not wake up complaining and all day today he has not had any episodes. Maybe it was an intestinal problem that passed??? The Ultrasound Tech (who made sure I was aware he is NOT a physician and can not diagnose) mentioned that it may have been a gall stone. Just from the symptoms he mentioned that is what it sounded like.

I will call the Gastrolinternatlogist (sp?) on Monday morning and see how long before we can get it. If he continues to be in pain, we may send him to a different one in New Orleans. I'll update soon!

David...my, my, my ...what am I going to do with that boy!?!

David seems to be the center of attention a lot lately - and is LOVING it. Not that I blame him, there are days I'd love to have some attention :) His stomach is still seriously bothering him. He has quickly learned that when he falls down in pain - I try to comfort him. He has since tried to use this tactic to prevent him from bending down when it is time to clean up (or anything else that he doesn't want to do). Thankfully his acting skills aren't that great and I can tell when he is faking it!

He is still having a lot pain episodes and went back to the pediatrician yesterday. They redid the same abdominal scan that was done on Thursday and things haven't changed. Even after being on an adult laxative three times a day for three days in a row. He is still "backed up". He had some blood work drawn yesterday and hopefully tomorrow we'll have the results. I'll post on here as soon as we know what is going on.

In other David news, the tooth fairy came by Friday night. David ended up sleeping with Christopher in the playroom. The tooth fairy had to search under two sleeping kids for a tooth. Shouldn't it be the other way around?!?! Why is the tooth fairy having to do all of this work for a silly little tooth!!?? Anyway. It was obvious we had a rookie tooth fairy. She left a "fairy dust" trail from the front door to the playroom and under the pillow. Five minutes after she left Christopher woke up with confetti/glitter in his eyes and about ten minutes later David was up. All day Friday he was so excited to see what the tooth fairy was going to leave. He even went to bed early!! When he woke up and went in my room in the middle of the night (in pain again), I tried to get him to go and see what she left. He was in so much pain, he wouldn't even walk back to the playroom. It is really sad to see him in so much pain and not be able to do anything for him.

We went and took family pictures on Sunday. The package we purchased included six free post cards - so I'll try to get those out in the next few days. I have a CD with the pictures, but for some reason my computer is not opening the disk. I'll try and upload them from my office the next time I work. I haven't worked the past few scheduled days I was suppose to. David has had doctor appointments those same days. Thankfully I have the best boss in the world and she doesn't make me feel bad about missing work for my kiddos!!

The tooth fairy money has been burning a hole in David's pocket. He has been wanting to go to the Disney Store in the mall. Since the mall is one of the easiest places for me to bring all three of them, we went today. Maybe I should rephrase that -- since the mall WAS one of the easiest places to bring all three of them... As soon as we got into the store David started asking if he had enough for this ...for that....I reminded him that he only has $2. He found everything that was over $30!!! As he was running around looking for his item, Christopher was looking at the huge pile of Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Pluto stuffed animals. Jacob was sitting in the stroller screaming to get out. I am sure everyone in the whole mall heard him. I finally let him get out of the stroller. As I was doing that the whole stack of stuffed animals that Christopher was playing with fell! So as I was trying to quickly pick all of them up - Jacob ran to a display of a of cups (thankfully not breakable). He pull two shelves of them down before I could get to him. David is still running around the store screaming across is "Mom, do I have enough for THIS?' ...NO, I am not making this up!!!! I ended up having to call Brad from Chick-fil-A to come and help restrain the kids so I could put the store back together. It was one of my more embarrassing moments. I always get the "you've got your hands full" comments. day - IToday I got the "Controll your kids" looks!! I just wanted to crawl under a rock and cry. I guess we are back to being home bound until school starts! Thankfully that is only 22 days for David and 42 days for Christopher and Jacob. It will go by quickly...won't it????

I'll update as soon as we find out what is going on with David!

Another Update

The past week or so has been crazy. Our landscaping was infested with torpedo grass and every type of weed killer we used has not worked. Brad did a lot of research on the internet and spoke with some people at the LSU Ag Center - he found out the only way to get rid of it is the dig it up and start over. So that is what he has been working on. It is starting to look really good. He put a new brick border out, has new dirt and just returned from Forrest Hill with the new plants! Today I am working and he and his Mom are planting. I can't wait to see it. I'll post some pictures after he is finished.

On Monday, David went to the dentist. The hygentist asked me if I knew about his loose tooth. Well of course I DIDn't... David told me last week that while he was at camp he "broke" his tooth on a corn dog stick. I never even thought about him having a loose tooth. The dentist looked at it and said it probably would be coming out in a few weeks, so I scheduled an appointment for the boys to get their pictures taken on Sunday afternoon. I wanted to have one last picture of all of them with all of their teeth. On my way to work this morning, David called and said his tooth fell out. He is super excited about the tooth fairy coming tonight. I've checked all over the internet to find out what the going tooth fairy rate is.

On another note, David has been having some severe (very severe) pains on his side for the past few days. So severe that he didn't even want to play in all of his t-ball game the other day and he would rather sit in the car instead of staying in Cheeburger Cheeburger with his friends! The pain comes and goes. He'll be fine playing and then all of a sudden he'll lay down in the fetal position. We brought him to the doctor yesterday and had some scans done on him. We are having to "clean him out" (he's on a laxative all weekend) and they are going to run some more test next week. Please keep him in your prayers. I'll update later next week once we know what is wrong.

We haven't had any other exciting stuff going on - Brad has been the landscaping man and I'm the momma (practicing to be the tooth fairy).

My First Golf Game

Brad and I just returned from playing golf. We had been looking forward to it for a few days. This was my first time and it was obvious! :) I am looking forward to taking some lessons and learning the proper way to play golf. Brad did a lot of coaching for me today and it was much appreciated since I had no clue what I was doing, but I'd like to learn from a pro. I enjoyed it even more than I thought I would. I think Brad took a few pictures of me, I'll try and post them later.

More sports tonight...David has a t-ball game in a little while. We are going to watch him and then head to Chuck E. Cheese for some games and dinner.

Quick Mid Day Post

Christopher saw his Diego potty this morning and wanted to tee tee - so I began potty boot camp today after all. So far, things have gone really well! No accidents...knock on wood (I'm hoping the medicine won't make it too difficult). Anyway, I have set the timer every 20 minutes and then he tries to potty. He jut tee teed and received his two M&M's. He wanted Jakey to try and tee tee so he could get some M&Ms. I told him Jakey was too little and that potties are only for big kids. Without being prompted (or Jakey even asking) Christopher gave one of his M&Ms to Jakey. I thought that was really sweet of him. I'm going to try and snap a picture so you can see Christopher and Jacob. They both have a pair of underwear on their head (and have all morning long).

Gotta go...Christopher is screaming for David. ...David is at camp right now.

Ok - I'm back! :) David is at a day camp for his new school. Yesterday was his first day and he had soooo much fun. I asked him if he made any new friends and he said yes. Of course, he doesn't remember their names. I too, am horrible with names. I guess he gets that from me.

Well gotta get back to potty boot camp!

Nothing Major...I told You sooooo! :)

So Christopher has had this knot on his neck since at least May (that's when his last cardiologist appt was and I asked the cardiologist about it). It never bothered Christopher and Brad has a lot of calcium buildups and it is nothing major. Last week when we were in Dallas the "knot" got really big and hard. It still was not bothering Christopher, it just looked painful and very odd. Cheryl called her doctor to see if we could bring Christopher in to get it checked, but her doctor didn't want to without his medical records and especially since he has an underlying condition. So Friday morning we headed home and it looked a little better. Saturday morning it all of a sudden looked like large pimple. I read about it on the Internet and self diagnosed it as a boil and then it burst. I assumed that it was it was suppose to do and didn't worry about it. So last night we had a BBQ with several of our neighbors. One of them is a Pediatric ICU nurse, one is a Neonatal ICU nurse and the other is a Physician's Assistant. They scared the poop out of me!!! They said a boil is a staph infection and since he has artificial parts in him...in his heart of all places...that he is at an EXTREMELY high risk of the infected blood going straight to his heart. I know that before we go to the dentist, have any type of procedure that we have to get him on antibiotics to prevent endocarditis. I didn't realize that this Staph Infection is same protocol. Anyway, they made me call my pediatrician immediately and she called in antibiotics and said we needed to go in first thing this morning. My friends told me to pack extra diapers and be prepared to bring him straight to the hospital after the appointment. They thought the pediatrician would send him to the hospital for IV drip antibiotics. The dr. looked at and said make sure he stays on the antibiotics for 10 days and watch the open wound. If it gets any larger or if he has any slight fever- we'll be heading straight to the emergency room. But he is OK!! I told you soo!! ha - I have been fooled so many times my medical professionals- I just follow my gut now. :) And I just wanted to brag, that for once I was right! :) But I am very thankful to have friends that are in the medical field!!! I probably would have never called to get antibiotics.

After our fun trip to the Dr. Our brave little boy who didn't even flinch when she poked at his beaux beaux went to the mall to tell Daddy. Daddy was having toddler days today and kids eat free lunch (my kids always eat free there :) Anyway, Christopher happened to spot the cow out of the corner of his eyes and had a kaniption fit. Christopher does NOT like the cow so we left quickly before the cow mascot got off of the carousel and headed to Target. Christopher picked out a Diego potty chair and ended up using it several times today. I was so proud of him. Then after working with him and being motivated for potty boot camp this week - I remembered that the pediatrician said the antibiotic she prescribed was very strong and would cause some major diarrhea. I guess I'll have to potty training off until next week (or maybe even the next).

Happy 4th of July!

The big boys and I are back from the Listi's. We had a really fun time. I was a bit nervous about driving that far with them by myself. Sometimes just the two hour drive to my parents house seems like eternity. Surprisingly though the eight hour drive went really well and quick.

It was great to see the Listi's. David and Carter just picked up like they saw each other last week. It has been a year since we saw them. Christopher and Gabe played pretty good too. Gabe has inspired Christopher to tee tee on the potty even more so than he has been. He used Gabe's Diego potty several times and then on the drive home today, he told me he needed to tee tee while we were in Subway. I was very tempted to say, just go in your diaper (I am not a fan of public restaurants...or public anywhere for that matter!) I went ahead and brought him and held him up - and he did it!! He has been showing signs (including telling me) - but it is so hard for ME to stay on task and for me to remind him to go. Last week he was wearing underwear and we were outside cleaning my car out and he told me "seat wet". Opps, I had totally forgotten that he had underwear on.

We had a good time and I am exhausted! I'll post some pictures and more info tomorrow!