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10.26.2018

Around Here: Week 43 {2018}





















Celebrating... my niece Romy turning one year old on Saturday with a party in Wenatchee.  It was surreal to have a pink party with little girls running around after a decade of All-Things-Boy.  The party was lovely and we were all so happy to celebrate this beautiful little girl.

Watching... Logan have another seizure Sunday with a bit different symptoms.  His eyelashes fluttered for a long time at the start of this one, which is different than his previous seizures, but after that stopped, the seizure resembled his others.  It lasted about a minute and afterward he wasn't very tired, which was nice. His lunch was about two hours late because he had been out at the land (his grandparent's land) riding the four wheeler, and I'm assuming his low blood sugar is to blame for the seizure.
A call to the neurologist confirmed that we're going to up his morning meds to 400mg as well, so now he's on that dose both morning & night.  Hopefully that will be high enough so that even if he has a trigger (a sleepless night, a late meal, a cold coming on) the meds will override his body's desire to respond with a seizure.

Hosting... my parents for a night following my niece's birthday.  We spent Sunday hanging out, visiting the park and shopping for toys.  Then Monday my parents stayed with the littles so I could get groceries on my own sans children, which was great.  I was sad to see them go, but my mom will be back in two short weeks for another visit, so that made saying goodbye easier.

Taking... Wyatt for a sleep study Sunday night.  In the spring he had three ear infections back to back to back, and while we were in to see the Ear, Nose & Throat doctor, I had a hunch to ask him to have a look at Wyatt's tonsils and adenoids as well.  He said they are definitely large, and suggested I talk to our pediatrician.  The pediatrician said that before I could request surgery to remove them, a sleep study would be best, to make sure they were impeding his sleep (which is what I thought, because despite sleeping ten to twelve hours at night, Wyatt often wakes unrested). 
The sleep study ran from 7:30pm to 5:30am and I got home feeling like I had basically been awake all night. I was exhausted!  We'll know the results soon, and my hope is that we get some answers about why Wyatt's sleep isn't restful, whether surgery would help, and if any of it is related to his constant asthma from colds.

Going... to see my counselor and really digging in to talk about some hard stuff.  Oh the tears.  I am still reeling from all we talked about and am hoping to spend some time this afternoon journaling about all the things we talked about.  I am so grateful that this is something I started in the spring and that I have been able to continue to make it a priority twice a month.  I can see how much it is helping me grow & change, and it challenges me to see things in new ways.  It's such good, hard work.

Riding... bikes all week with Wyatt, even in the rain (oops!) on Thursday.  I am so grateful that the weather has been so mild thus far and that we're not all stuck in the car for drop off yet!

Happy... that my broken toe seems to be a lot better this week!  I tried wearing a real shoe on Thursday and while my toe isn't fully ready, I can tell it hurts a lot less than it did, and that is positive progress!

Putting... Wyatt back on steroids only a month after the last round when he woke up one morning this week blowing 50% of what he should be blowing on his peak flow.  The steroids help his lungs, but lower his immune system, which sucks.  But they are a necessary evil.  The good news is that after only three days on them, he's already doing so much better!!

Hitting... my 2018 year long reading goal of 60 books nine weeks early! Woot woot! I am now hoping to hit 70 books before 2019 is upon us, and Josh and my boys think I could even hit 80 books if I tried really hard. We shall see!

Receiving... a scary call from the school Monday afternoon that Jack was bleeding from the head and I should meet him at the office ASAP.  Turns out he tripped over his own untied shoe, and caught himself by his ear on someone's desk.  The blunt force of the desk hitting his ear caused his glasses to crack his head open behind his ear, and as all moms know, head wounds bleed. A lot.  He was incredibly dizzy and tired, so between the bleeding and those symptoms, I took him in, unsure if he'd need stitches or had concussion.  Thankfully, he didn't need stitches or even glue, the doctor said that the laceration was perfectly in the crevice of the ear and would heal beautifully, so he just had his nurse clean it out.
As for the dizziness, that was because Jack had his his hear so hard, his inner ear had been kind of knocked out of whack. He had no other concussive symptoms. Phew!  Since then, Jack is okay, other than the fact that he can't wear his glasses, and his ear looks like we took a baseball bat to it. Boy, these kids keep me on my toes!

Enjoying... book club with my girls Thursday night.  We sat and ate and talked and laughed, and it was just what I needed.  When I think of how far I've come since I've moved here- how many friends I've made, how much I've grown, and how settled I feel- I am overwhelmed with gratitude and contentment.  I love this hometown of ours, and I love the village of women that surround me.  They are so amazing.

Reading... all.the.books! This week I finished Love Does on audio and have moved on to Lord of the Flies, which I am listening to again for the first time since tenth grade.  I started my Book of the Month book, Not That I Could Tell, which I am already halfway through (it's about a mom of twins who goes missing along with her kiddos & it's so good!)  I am also still wading through Grace (Eventually), which I am underlining every other paragraph of!  "I knew that no one comes holier than anyone else, that nowhere is better than anywhere else." Anne Lamott just speaks to my soul.

I am also reading my next chapter in "It's a Boy! Your Son's Development From Birth to Age 18" to prepare for what's next for the twins (gulp) and 52 Things Kids Need From A Mom, which is a fun, easy, breezy read that is reminding me of some neat ways to be a loving mom to my kids.  My favorites so far include: Linger around the table, Never stop touching them, Miss a few things they do wrong, Tuck them in every night, and Keep date night with their dad.  A lot of these I was already doing, but I am more motivated than ever to continue doing them, and doing them with a big heart.  Especially bedtime.  The boys cherish that time.  Which is hard, because by bedtime, I am kind of over being a mom.  Hah! (Truth!)  So I am trying to summon a little extra love & tenderness so that they get the best of me during those last thirty minutes.  They're worth it!  I also love the advice to never stop touching them, and I'm making sure I hug them first thing every morning, and give them hugs & kisses every day before they leave for school, and any time we're reunited. 

I am also working my way through The Whole Brain Child by Daniel Siegel.  The first step in this was acknowledging their feelings ("connect"), then give the consequence or teach the lesson ("redirect"), as opposed to jumping right in with "You're grounded, dude!".  My next step in implementing the ideas of this book is to get the boys writing in daily journals about their feelings.  I just wish there were more hours in the day!

And lastly, I'm working through The Lies We Believe, which I think I started when we lived in Alaska and have since picked back up.  This week I read the chapter about how Emotional Pain is Good, and it was epic.  Lots to work through.

{love this. so much.}

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