Another Diognosis to Add to Christopher's Repertoire

Where do we start...All five of Christopher's therapists have asked, "Does he always sound like that?". Yep. The therapist he works well with and the one that I trust the most, asked me to make an appointment with an ENT. She seems to think he has vocal cord damage. Even after being asked dozens of times about his voice, I had never thought about vocal cord damage. It could have been damaged when he was intubated for his heart surgery. The more I think about it, I can vividly remember how "rough" I thought some of the nurses were handling him while he was in the coma after the surgery. When he had the chest infection they would sit him up and bang on his back with some special "physical therapy" tool to break up the mucas in his chest. Sure, he didn't feel it, since he was in the coma - but now I am realizing that damage can be done, even if he didn't feel it!!

As she was explaining what it could be, she kept telling me..."I don't mean to scare you, but I think you should get it checked out!" She is not fully aware of the medical issues we have gone through. After reassuring her that I am going to make an appointment, but I am not really concerned. She said, it could require surgery and they may have to shave his vocal cords down a little. I said, Ok...is it life threatening? Of course she said no. I said I'm OK with it then! It was just one of those days and I bet I have her thinking I am some crazy woman! Well, I am...but I have decided not to get concerned until after we meet with an ENT tomorrow. I won't lie - it is on top of my mind, but I'm not too concerned yet!

We had a fun fall weekend. Halloween festivities all weekend! Saturday, I brought the boys to Boo at the Zoo. Brad "worked" (that means he was at the LSU game "supervising" his employees as they sold Chick-fil-A sandwiches IN the stadium) so Nana (Stephanie Ray) went along with us. I thought since it was a home LSU game day, there wouldn't be too many people there. Boy, was I wrong!! It took us over an hour to get into the zoo from Thomas Rd. I was pretty aggravated sitting in traffic, but even more so when we finally got into the zoo parking lot and saw four sheriff's deputies standing around talking, instead of directing traffic or assisting people in parking!! I rolled down my window to let them know about the traffic situation out on the road. The said they were already aware of it and continued standing around in the parking lot!!! I was extremely aggravated. If you'd like to know the rest of the story - you'll have to ask Nana! ...I'd like for y'all to think I am a very patient and polite law abiding citizen! :)

Yesterday was our neighborhood picnic. That is what the pictures of Jacob are from. He had so much fun bobbing for apples. We are a really close neighborhood - thankfully! He would grab an apple, take a bite and then put it back in the water. Brad was completely grossed out. I am sure it was not the most sanitary game I could have chosen for them to play. But he had fun and I doubt it is any worse than him taking off his dirty Crocs and chewing on them. A daily task that Jacob participates in! By the way, everyone else was finished playing when Jacob did this! The first picture was before the "competition". That is why he has his game face on. After many tries and bites, he thought he would do better without his shirt on. Christopher and David had fun jumping in the bouncy and playing football, instead of playing in the chewed apple water. Hmmmm...that may have been why Jacob woke up in the middle of the night congested last night! :)

I worked all day today, so Brad picked up the boys from school and they headed over to Lafayette for the evening to see his parents and help out with the Chick-fil-A opening over there. I'm excited about having some peace and quiet. It is rare that I have a NO BOYS evening to myself. Usually when Brad and the boys are gone, it is because I am busy at a meeting or something myself. Tonight I can just sit at home, watch one of my girlie shows, post an update on their blogspot or just do whatever I want without having to get anyone a juice cup, fix dinner or change a diaper!! Wow...this is FUN!!!! :) I have been sooooo exhausted lately. I guess you can tell by my post today, I have been in quite a mood! :)

Yep..Those are the NKOTB (New Kids on the Block)

Last weekend was super fun!! I went to the New Kids on the Block concert. The concert was great and sooooo much fun. They did kind of disappoint me when they came out for an encore wearing the Boston Celtics jerseys. The concert was in the New Orleans arena (where the Hornets play). As a major Hornets fan, I thought that was a little disrespectful. Of course, since the whole arena was filled with women...no really there were not ANY guys there...they knew they could get away with it. The concert was great and long. After the concert, we met up with our husbands and hung out in New Orleans for the night.

This weekend was also the Louisiana Pediatric Cardiology Foundation Family Picnic. I was charge of it so after being up all night and only two hours of sleep we headed back to Baton Rouge Sunday morning to prepare for it. The boys stayed at Brad's parents while we were in New Orleans so G'ami (Brad's mom) and Gran (Brad's grandma) met us at the picnic too. The boys had a good time jumping and playing. It was nice and so encouraging to see so many children doing well after such serious heart diseases, difibulators, pacemakers, heart transplants and various surgeries. The kids wore their Halloween costumes and we went with a fall carnival theme. At the end of the picnic, the "heart kids" let the heart balloons go that we used for decorations. It was really cool. They all headed toward the sun, so I wasn't able to get a good picture.

Later that evening, we had a Fall party at church. Thankfully, with such a full day - the boys were exhausted and ready for bed. Until we realized that Cow (not only what he is, but also his name!) did not make it home from Pop and G'amis. Those of you that don't know Cow, he is a member of our family (he even has a picture on this site!) Stevie and Jamie bought him for David's first birthday and he has slept with David EVERY night since. He used to go to little school with David, he travels with us when we go out of town, etc. Thankfully now that David is 5 1/2 he only "needs"him to sleep with. David was upset and after I created a makeshift "Cow" he agreed to go to bed. He then came out crying, "But G'ami doesn't have his food". Brad and I tried so hard not to laugh. I asked him what Cow ate and David looked at me as if I was the dumbest person on the planet..."he eats HAY". I must admit I was quite surprised, because for the past few years I had not been stocking the pantry with hay for Cow. We promised David that Cow would be OK for one night and that we'd go get him after school on Monday. Well on Monday, Brad picked David up from school but David didn't want to go back to Lafayette to get Cow. Today is Wednesday and David has not asked about Cow since Sunday night!!!

Our Fall Vacation....

Last week we packed up the boys and the Sequoia and headed for the "woods". David has been wanting to go camping - so we did the next best thing....rented a cabin at Beavers Bend (Oklahoma). We went horseback riding, canoeing, hiking, fly fishing and of course made a bunch of s'mores! We had to stay somewhere that would catch the sorry LSU game - so we stayed at the Dancing Rabbit cabin. It was super nice (nicer than my house!!) The closet was so big, we ended up putting Jacob's pack and play in there for him to sleep. David loved the pool table and the hot tub. Christopher's favorite part was the tipi. They had a huge tipi on the side of the house.

My parents met us up there on their way to pick up my Dad's new hunting dog, since hunting dogs aren't bread in Louisiana. Hmmmm...maybe just another excuse for them to travel :) My mom went horseback riding with us and Dad created a new hobby for Brad...fly fishing. Brad is on a fly fishing kick - looking for places in this area to do it. I am excited about his new hobby. I (like my parents) love to travel and maybe this will mean we'll have to go on more trips to the mountains where the "REAL" fly fishermen go! :)

One more quick note...this weekend is our LPCF Picnic. If you know of a family that has a congenital heart defect or disease, please pass the word out. We are meeting at the BREC park on Jefferson Hwy from 11-2 this Sunday. We have a clown coming, inflatable bouncing things and some yummy food! Check out our website for more details. http://www.lpcf.com/ Also, for those of you in Lake Charles - the AHA Heart Walk is November 8. I have set up a Team Christopher - Cardiac Kids since we had to miss the Baton Rouge walk (remember Jacob was in the hospital!). Even those of you out of Lake Charles can participate by making a donation. I won't get on my soapbox - but y'all know how I feel about kids with heart disease and the lack of research about it. It is afterall the No. 1 birth defect!!! More kids die because of heart disease than ALL pediatric cancers combined...Let's raise some awareness people!!! :)

We did not get the rookie toothfairy this time!!

Thank God we did not get that fairy dust leaving tooth fairy this time! Last Friday David lost his second tooth. This time he quite literally "LOST" the tooth. He came in from school and said, is my tooth still in? Nope. He worried that the tooth fairy wouldn't come since he didn't have the tooth. We left a note for her. David went to bed early (just in case she came early) and I ended up falling asleep on the couch - waiting for her. She never came. Thankfully another fairy sneaked in and left a note saying how great of a big brother David is and thanked him for doing so well in school. When David woke up, I panicked (since I was STILL on the couch). Brad told me that he thought she came and so we went to look and she had the note and money under his pillow. David was upset that she didn't leave a toothbrush or glow stick like she did last time. We quickly responded that she must only do that for the FIRST tooth! He pointed out that it must have been a different one than last time since she didn't make a mess. {See previous tooth fairy post}.

This weekend is the school fundraising fair. Brad and I have to work the ticket booth tonight from 5-10! I am not too excited, but if it is what helps keep our tuition down - I am there!!! Sunday, David is performing in a fair act. I'll take pictures and post them next week. In the meantime, have a good weekend!

Do good at church...Get a gun!?!

First let me say...if you read that last post, Sorry! I had just received the e-mail about the "hope" study and the comments got me wound up! I intended to inform you about what happens when you are are good in church, instead I got on a rant about the lack of "hope" our doctors had given us! :(

Anyway...several weeks ago during the hurrication, David got paid for picking up the branches from my parents yard. Last week he spent that money on a transformer thingy and had one dollar left. On Sunday morning, after we dropped Christopher and Jacob off in the nursery David went to "big" church with us. Brad was going to give him some money to put in the collection plate. (That is David's favorite part of church!) David pulled his own dollar out and said he wanted to put his in. Without being told or promted, he brought his last dollar to give at church. We are both VERY proud of him. When we got in the car Brad told David that since he gave his last dollar to church, we could go to Cabela's and get a gun! David has been wanting another gun for a long time. My parents got him one for Christmas a couple of years ago. He plays with it often and it is broken in two places. Brad and I are not big fans of guns (especially for little children) so I didn't think he would be getting another one. Brad totally surprised me by getting him a new one that shoots little pellets. David has played with it non-stop. I just think it is kind of funny that you get rewarded with guns for being good at church! :)

Warning: Venting TODAY!!

HOPE!?!...I am in a bible study group for "special needs" parents. hmmm, I'm not sure how or why one child is classified as "special". I never got that....implying that a healthy child is not "special"!?! I can't think of a better word for children who require more doctor appointments that the average child, but I'm not too sure if "special" is the best word.

Anyway... the bible study is lead by one of the neurologist in the office that Christopher visits. ...For those of you that may not be familiar with why we have "neurologist" added to our team of docs.. Christopher was delayed in most of his milestones (rolling over, sitting up, crawling and the most obvious ones were walking and talking). At two years old, the only words Christopher would say were"eat" and "dada". Christopher's neurologist (not the Bible Study Neurologist!) told me that because Christopher's oxygen saturation levels were low the first couple of months of his life (prior to his heart surgery) and since he had been in a coma for an extended amount of time - he probably has brain damage. At two years of age, he was operating on a 9 mth old level. Brad was not at the appointment with me and in order to do brain scans he would have to be sedated. Because of his heart issues, he is in a higher risk for having complications with anesthesia. Since I was alone and don't handle stress well - I voted no brain scan. The information from the scan would not correct the problem - we would just know...yes, the lack of oxygen has damaged his brain. Duhhhhh. After I refused the brain scan the neurologist proceeded to tell me that Christopher is mentally retarded... One may ask...hmmm...How in the heck does she know that if I just REFUSED the brain scan!!?????!!

This may also remind you of the time when I was pregnant with Jacob (just a few months after Christopher's open heart surgery in Boston!) and the Maternal Fetal Doctor told Brad and I that Jacob had Trisomy 18. Trisomy 18 is a fatal chromosome disorder. He went so far as to tell us that IF Jacob was born alive he would not live past his first birthday. Most children with this disease are stillborn. After Brad and I refused to do anything about it (other than pray and cry) the next month we were told...the chance of him having it was much lower (still high - but lower than the previous month). Of course our little Jakey did not continue to grow according to their standards and he was "taken" early. But look our Jacob now!! Healthy and 18 months old....hhmmmm, isn't 18 mths more than ONE YEAR??????

One more story...When I was pregnant with Jacob, during the time we thought he had Trisomy 18, Christopher had an infected eye and was very congested. It was on a weekend and right after his heart surgery so I was concerned. I made an appointment for one of the doctors at his pediatrician's office (not our normal pediatrician) and she diagnosed Christopher as having neuroblastoma. A fatal pediatric cancer that attacks the spinal cord and stomach. She wrote down the name of the disease for me to start reading about it and told us to make sure we come back to see our normal doctor on Monday morning. I was too stressed to even look it up, so Brad did. He called me from to work to explain what it was. hmmm, after he read the symptoms we realized that Christopher did not have it. We went to see our pediatrician and she apologized for Dr. Fletchas ignorance and assured us that Christopher did not have anything more than a cold! hmmmm....one may ask..."How do you confuse the common cold with neuroblastoma?"

OK...so back to the bible study...next week the topic is Hope. In order to prepare for next week the comment was made, "I feel that doctors have an obligation to give the reality of individual situations, and not provide parents with a false hope or false sense of security that children will be fine or normal" I love that the Doctor is leading the bible study and I found it very ironic that she would not want to provide parents with a false hope or false sense of security. When I feel that many of the doctors (especially in our case) are doing just that! Don't get me wrong...I DO want to know the diagnosis for my children but don't put unnecessary labels on children that hamper their self-esteem and give them excuses to give up without any medical evidence that something is wrong. After hearing the murmur, performing an EKG and echo cardiogram, Christopher was diagnosed as having four complex defects in his heart. I kept listening to Dr. Brumund explain the disease and the whole time I was wondering...Is this life threatening? I didn't know how to ask him other than by blurting out "Is he going to die??" and I was too scared of what the answer would be. I love that Dr. Brumund has never given us a false sense of security or false sense of hope. He is by far the most trusted Doctor on our "team". He has been honest and given us the life expectancy of most children with this disease BUT also gave us hope and told us how fast technology changes and he has encouraged us to let Christopher live a "normal" life...just like any other child. You never know how long your child will live (healthy or not!) - but why not make the best of each day you do have? If they enjoy being active, let them. If they want to try something new, let them. Let him live!! I think by doing that we have seen how Christ lives in and through us. How blessed we really are and how faith (or lack of!) can change things!!!

It is hard not to believe in God, when you see my "nine month old level", "mentally retarded", cardiac defected, "cancer" kid that is running, climbing, speaking to me in full sentences and acting like any other 2 1/2 year old child. Sure a lot of it has to do with the incompetent doctor staff misdiagnosing things. But I think a lot of it has to do with our "Hope" and Faith. God has some created some very talented physicians, therapists and surgeons and for that I am extremely thankful!! And by the way...Jacob seems to be just fine too! ;) He does not have Trisomy 18!

Hmmm...How 'bout Jakey???

Today is Jacob and Christopher's first day of Mom's Day Out. I thought they would do better if Brad brought them. Ok - I can't fool y'all. I thought I would do better if Brad brought them. I ended up going to work before they left. He called to say they did horrible. Both of them were crying. Surprisingly, I am not too upset. Christopher cried a lot in the beginning last year and then LOVED going. I think it is just going to take a week or so for him to get used to it. Jacob on the other hand, has never been left with anyone else - other than the sitters at our house and church nursery. He may take a little bit longer to adjust. I will be heading over there shortly to pick them up and see how their day went. I attached a picture I took with my phone earlier today.

I just wanted to share a quick story. Yesterday while David was in school and Jacob was taking a nap. Christopher decided to dig through his new school supplies and take the crayons out. When I walked into the kitchen, the floor had crayon markings ALL over. I asked who colored on my floor and Christopher without even thinking said, "Hmmm, how 'bout Jakey?" I still didn't have it cleaned up when Brad came in and Christopher stuck with the story that Jacob did it. When I told Brad look how pretty Jacob colored and then I asked Christopher which one he did...he ran to one of the spots and said "THIS ONE!!". Ooops - Busted!!! :)

Do you all remember what happened seven years ago today? The World Trade Centers and Pentagon Tragedies, my boss at the apartment complex laid all the entire office staff and.....Brad asked me to marry him!!! I obviously said yes!!!! Four months later we were married and seven years later, we're living in Baton Rouge with three little men.

Evacuees...

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. We left last Friday to run away from Gustuv. We packed up as much as we could in the Tank (including Mae Mae - the stinky dog!) and headed to Dallas. We never travel with a dog and so when it came time to check in the hotel - we were reminded that dogs can't stay in hotels. Oops!! Mae Mae (along with several other evacuee dogs) ended up sleeping in the truck. Please don't call PETA...we checked on her several times throughout the night and she was fine! While we were in Dallas, Matt and Cheryl were gracious enough to let us stay over there a couple of nights. The boys had so much fun. We ended up going boat riding with them and even Christopher ended up riding in the tube this time. I'll post some new pictures in the next couple of days. I'm too busy unpacking and preparing for Ike today!

The day after the storm hit, we met up with my parents who were also evacuating up there. We followed them back to Sulphur - what a LOOOOOONG trip back. The traffic was much worse returning than it was leaving. The boys and I ened at my parents until last night. Our area was hit pretty bad. Thankfully we don't have any damage, but many people around us do. I was planning on returning home as soon as the power came back on (Saturday) but when I informed David that we had power he was upset. He mentioned that we couldn't leave yet because he did not get to see Grandpa's tree stand. David LOVES anything that has to do with the hunting/camping or the outdoors. He didn't want to miss the opporunity to see a tree stand. We ended up having a fun week. The boys went boat riding, saw a duck blind, saw a tree stand, went to the beach (even though it was disgusting!!), rode a four wheeler.... We have a vacation scheduled for next month and hopefully it will supercede our evacuation trip! :)

This morning we watched the weather and it looks as if Ike could come here. I am not one that stays around for storms-so just in time for our return, I booked a cabin in Gatlinburg for this Thursday through Sunday. If anyone wants to skip town with us we have plenty of room. It has three bedrooms, two baths, hot tub, pool table, fooseball table and air hockey table. What more would you want??? I bought travel insurance for it so we don't have to go if the storm heads elsewhere...but it was so pretty and looks fun enough to go anyway!! I'm not too crazy about an 11 hour drive right now though! Hurricane season...good times!!!



I'll update soon. I have too much to do today...wash clothes, unpack, reschedule Chrisotpher's appointments that we missed... this iis just so much more fun.

David's First Day of School

David started school last Wednesday. Even on the way to school that morning, he told me that he doesn't like school and he didn't want to go. I was stressing, thinking he may throw a fit when it was time for me to leave. Quite the opposite though! When he and I walked into his classroom his teacher asked if he remembered where his desk was (we went earlier in the week to drop off supplies and meet the teacher). He went straight to his desk, put his nametag on and looked at me as if to say, "What are you doing here!". I asked if I could take a picture of him and he said yes, as long as I leave right after. So I did! He rode the bus home from school and loved it! I'll post the pictures later. He still doesn't know any of the kids names in his class, except a girl name Sky! He tends to gravitate towards the girls! :) He is enjoying his new school - still hates the uniforms, but likes the school. It is sooooo convenient. This Friday, is Banana Split day. Brad is donating the stuff for a big banana split party. David is super excited!

David has another loose tooth. He has been wiggling it since Sunday morning. He wiggled it too much in church and it must have hurt him - he let out a loud yelp! He cleaned his room up really nice yesterday so the tooth fairy wouldn't trip on her route to his bed.

Yesterday was Brad's birthday. David picked out the Spiderman cupcakes for him since they had the coolest rings on top of them. Christopher practiced singing Happy Birthday all day for Brad. It was the cutest thing. His vocabulary is increasing every day. I can't wait to bring him back to the pediatric neurologist that diagnosed him as being mentally retarded!!!! Of course, we have had his follow up appointment rescheduled four times now (by her!). I'm not concerned about his developmental disabilities much anymore and have put it on the back burner. His speech therapist is amazing and he really enjoys it when she comes over to work with him. In January, he literally could not say three words (not even Moma!) and now he is putting three and four word sentences together and counting to seven!!! We are still working hard on his enunciation, but he is defiantly catching up to the "healthy" kids his age. He is such a little trooper. ....oops, my ADD kicked in and I'm off on a tangent again...back to Brad's birthday! Last night we all went to the Japanese Hibachi Grill. It was so yummy. David loves going there just so they can throw food in his mouth. It is (well..was) one of the few nice restaurants that we could bring the boys too. They used to love to watch the chef cook on the table. Christopher went into terrified mode last night when the chef made a huge fire on the table next to us. He covered his eyes in fear the rest of the night! We came home and sang happy birthday to Brad and ate some yummy cupcakes!!

Jacob is getting older too! He'll be eighteen months next week. He just hit a growth spurt and is looking less like a baby. He is starting to speak a lot (wordwise and timewise!) He loves to be outside, no matter how hot it is out there (or if it is raining!). Christopher opened the back door for him the other day in the middle of the afternoon showers and before I could run out to catch him, Jacob was standing out on the patio in the rain smiling!

Brad is at home with the boys today while I am working. He just mentioned that he has been on the phone with Dell (the computer people) for over an hour and he thinks the computer is fixed! I'll try and update the pictures this evening after David's open house at school.

I can handle FIVE kids!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. We are once again having computer issues. This is the third computer we've had in about two years, so as Dr. Phil would say..."what seems to be the common denominator?" It must be something we (or more specifically David, Christopher or Jacob) are doing. The week after we had the new laptop, three letters were missing off of the keyboard. Christopher did it and Jacob ate them...Well that seems to be the story David is sticking too! :) I'm going to try and get the guy that works on the computers at my office to take a look at it and see what is wrong. I'm only working one day a week this month (and I forgot to bring it today!) so it will be next week before we get to it. In the meantime, if you'd like to get in touch with us, just e-mail and it will go to my blackberry. I'm able to respond back from it.

Well the past couple of weeks have been fun. I'm trying to cram all kinds of fun activities in before school starts. Last week Jack and Cammie came and stayed with us. The boys enjoyed spending time with their "cuzes". The past few years they came during the summer and I bring them to Blue Bayou. This year we opted for something different so I wouldn't have to wrangle five little ones at the waterpark. I brought all five of them (ages 11, 10, 5, 2 and 1) by myself to the Aquarium of the Americas. Evidently Jack (11 years old) has been told horror stories of New Orleans. He told Cammie not to talk to anyone and to always stay right next to me! Which is good advice and seemed to have worked keeping them nearby. My boys on the other hand were running all around the place. We had a good time and it wasn't too difficult at all. They were actually a big help to have around. David enjoyed playing with Jack and Cammie is a neat freak. Something that we don't have at our house. She reorganized Christopher's closet and made the kids beds every morning. Maybe a daughter wouldn't be too bad to have around after all! :) I brought the older three (Jack, Cammie & David) bowling the first night they were here. Cammie did soooooo well. I asked if her she bowls often and she said no, I just play the wii. I was so jealous. I want a wii. Every time I think to get one at the store, they are out. So if anyone ever sees one for sale. Let me know - I want one! Oops- sorry to go off on a tangent... We had a good time and the boys really enjoyed having them over too.

This past weekend was the hot air balloon festival in town. We went with a couple of our neighbors and had a great time. They had a helicopter pass over and parachute guys jumped out. David thought it was "awesome - cool" so that means Christopher thought the same. I have a lot of cute pictures, but with the computer not working, I'm not able to download them. I'll try to get to it soon and post them.

Since this weekend is the last weekend before school starts, we spent it doing mostly kid stuff (well I guess that is how every weekend is now!). We bought an annual pass to the Children's Museum in New Orleans earlier this year and haven't used it too much. David has been wanting to go, so Brad and I brought the boys yesterday. I have some cute pictures of them playing, that I will try to post soon.

On Wednesday morning David starts kindergarten. He is not looking forward to it and I'm stressing!!! He wants to go back to Dunham. I'm wondering if I made the wrong decision switching schools. I just happened to read in a book this weekend that you'll know you chose the right school when your child fits in to the new school easily like a puzzle piece. Unfortunately, that is not the case this year! I'm not sure if it is his age, a phase or actually the school he is not looking forward to. Last week we went to drop off school supplies and meet the teacher. David wasn't impressed at all. He wanted to know where the tennis court was. Yes, that is my silly son! They didn't even play on the tennis courts at his last school but I guess he thinks that is a requirement for a "good"school. Brad and I are planning on having a kindergarten boys party at our house the beginning of next month so hopefully he can meet and quickly get out of being the "new kid". Many of the children at St. Johns already know each other from being in Pre-K together. Hopefully once school starts he'll enjoy it. I just keep playing it up and hoping he'll fall for it! "School is SOOOO much fun!"

I'll update again next week after school starts!

"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.