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| {welcome home} |
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| {frowny face} |
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| {broken blood vessels under his eyes} |
Enjoying... my sister and half her crew on Saturday when they came by for a play date. She and Milo, along with a baby she was doing respite for (his foster mama was gone) came over and we visited, organized and, perhaps most importantly, made cookies. ;)
I love having my boys around my sister's kids because they love on them so differently than their siblings. The twins took to that baby boy like nothing else, loving on him and asking to hold him. Logan even fed him a bottle.
Hanging... on to Ramona and hoping that she will keep doing okay. She had a bladder infection, which we treated to two rounds of antibiotics, but she still isn't 100%. A few weeks ago, I thought the end was near, but now she seems a bit more normal. So I guess we will see. Meanwhile, I am just enjoying all the snuggles I can get from her.
Laughing... at Wyatt's amazing frown face. I don't know anyone who can frown like that kid. It's incredible!
Also laughing at the cats love of boxes. With Christmas coming, there has been an influx of boxes at our house, and the cats are loving it!
Taking... Wyatt to the doctor on Monday to discuss these strange staring spells he's been having. He told me about one on Friday that set off my alarm-bells and reminded me of how Logan describes his absent seizures. He said he knows he is staring off, and wants to stop, but can't. He says they last more than a couple seconds and afterward he has to kind of "shake it off".
As he was telling me about them, I remembered him telling me about changes in his vision as far back as this summer, and now I'm wondering if even those visual disturbances were seizures of some kind. I am hopeful that this is nothing serious, but if it they are seizures, we want to make sure we get some answers and get them under control. So I took him to see his primary care doctor so we could get a referral to see neurology and get an EEG scheduled ASAP.
While we were there, seeing his PCP, Wyatt was obviously not feeling well, and his nurse suggested we test him for Influenza, as the symptoms had set in very quickly and seemed to hit the checklist. Sure enough, he tested positive for Influenza B despite the fact that he had a flu shot. sigh.
So we were sent home with six prescriptions for Tamiflu (one for every member of the house) and orders to keep Wyatt out of school the rest of the week. And the referrals we needed. We also got those.
Wyatt was pretty miserable throughout the week, and although he only threw up once, it was so forceful that he broke a bunch of blood vessels in his face.
Caretaking... as Influenza swept through the house from Wyatt to Carly to Jack, thankfully missing Josh and Logan and myself. I had a terrible cold, but not the severe symptoms the others had, thankfully. Fevers, vomiting, loss of appetite, coughing (so much!), runny noses and headaches to name a few. Every time I took Carly's temperature it was no less than 103.5 degrees.
Finally I got concerned enough about her breathing (she was flaring her nostrils to breathe, and also grunting lightly with every exhale) that I took her in to be seen as well. Because of Wyatt's confirmed case of Influenza, she had to wear a mask and thank GOD she loves our Orthodontist, because she HATED that mask! But when I told her she looked just like Dr. Feller she decided that it was okay. Phew!!
At that appointment the doctor agreed that her breathing didn't sound great, and put her on albuterol in the nebulizer as needed. She's been great during her treatments as long as we let her watch a show.
Driving... Logan to school one morning and leaving Jack home with Carly and Wyatt, who was sleeping. While I was out, he texted me, "Wyatt is still asleep. He is breathing fine." Jack reminds me so much of myself at his age. He is a worrier, a caretaker, a fantastic, responsible older sibling. After I left, he went upstairs, snuck into Wyatt's room and checked his breathing because he knows that I do that when Wyatt is sleeping, especially if he sleeps in longer than usual.
Bringing... home our dog from the shelter, finally! We went to see him last Thursday, but had to wait until this Wednesday to bring him home so they could neuter him first. He was overjoyed to see us and come home, and thus far is just the perfect fit for us.
He's a two year old German Shepherd who was found roaming near town about a month ago. Totally healthy and more of a blonde German shepherd, which is so pretty.
He's super well behaved. One time Josh told him not to go up the stairs, and he has listened ever since. It's incredible. He loves being outside, and learned to ring the bell to go out into the backyard within two hours of being home.
His first night home, we tried to have him sleep in his crate, but he cried and whined all night long, so for night two, we changed our plan and let him try just sleeping downstairs. When that worked out, we decided to slowly work him up to time in the crate. He's such a good, good boy.
We are all just ridiculously in love with him, and he with us- the only bad habit he seems to have is that he jumps when he's excited to see us. So we're working on that one.
For the most part, the cats are just staying upstairs, but I think they will warm up eventually and come down when they are ready.
We named him Grady Lincoln Cunningham, combining the names that Wyatt and I love. I have wanted to use the name Grady for years (I would have likely named Carly Grady if she had been a boy) and Wyatt wanted to name the dog Lincoln (like the president) because our cat George is named after George Washington. The twins decided that he needed a middle name so Wyatt wouldn't be disappointed that we didn't choose Lincoln as his first name.
Grady is the name of a man I met on a plane in Alaska. He sat next to me and Logan, shared his jelly beans with four or five year old Logan and offered to buy me a drink (since Josh and I were traveling with three small children on four flights over the course of a 12 hour day- ha!). He just made an impression on me- he was so genuine and kind and easy to talk to- I never forgot him.
Now all these years later, he's on Alaska The Last Frontier, building a cabin on Perl Island, and I get to watch his dreams unfold on television. It's unreal.
Being... SAVED by my brother-in-law who fixed my dishwasher when I thought it was broken. He took it apart and found it full of stickers & gunk from the new Fiestaware my mom had bought me as a housewarming gift. (The boys loaded them into the dishwasher without removing them- oops!) So we set to work clearing it out, and now it runs again! I have never been so happy! I keep remembering that it works and feel a rush of joy. Hah!
Receiving... an early Christmas gift in the mail from my mom in the form of new shoes. They're Dansko booties and I LOVE them!!!
Playing... referee between the twins day in and day out, and feeling worn out imagining it will never end. Ha! I'm trying to involve myself less where possible, but sometimes that's not possible, and then I'm back where I started, breaking up our two giant, growing boys like they're a pack of wolves. #sendhelp
Setting... an appointment next week for Wyatt's EEG to see if we can find any seizure activity or if we're dealing with something else. I am working hard to keep from feeling anxious about it, trusting that whatever will be will be, and we will be able to handle it.
I love having my boys around my sister's kids because they love on them so differently than their siblings. The twins took to that baby boy like nothing else, loving on him and asking to hold him. Logan even fed him a bottle.
Hanging... on to Ramona and hoping that she will keep doing okay. She had a bladder infection, which we treated to two rounds of antibiotics, but she still isn't 100%. A few weeks ago, I thought the end was near, but now she seems a bit more normal. So I guess we will see. Meanwhile, I am just enjoying all the snuggles I can get from her.
Laughing... at Wyatt's amazing frown face. I don't know anyone who can frown like that kid. It's incredible!
Also laughing at the cats love of boxes. With Christmas coming, there has been an influx of boxes at our house, and the cats are loving it!
Taking... Wyatt to the doctor on Monday to discuss these strange staring spells he's been having. He told me about one on Friday that set off my alarm-bells and reminded me of how Logan describes his absent seizures. He said he knows he is staring off, and wants to stop, but can't. He says they last more than a couple seconds and afterward he has to kind of "shake it off".
As he was telling me about them, I remembered him telling me about changes in his vision as far back as this summer, and now I'm wondering if even those visual disturbances were seizures of some kind. I am hopeful that this is nothing serious, but if it they are seizures, we want to make sure we get some answers and get them under control. So I took him to see his primary care doctor so we could get a referral to see neurology and get an EEG scheduled ASAP.
While we were there, seeing his PCP, Wyatt was obviously not feeling well, and his nurse suggested we test him for Influenza, as the symptoms had set in very quickly and seemed to hit the checklist. Sure enough, he tested positive for Influenza B despite the fact that he had a flu shot. sigh.
So we were sent home with six prescriptions for Tamiflu (one for every member of the house) and orders to keep Wyatt out of school the rest of the week. And the referrals we needed. We also got those.
Wyatt was pretty miserable throughout the week, and although he only threw up once, it was so forceful that he broke a bunch of blood vessels in his face.
Caretaking... as Influenza swept through the house from Wyatt to Carly to Jack, thankfully missing Josh and Logan and myself. I had a terrible cold, but not the severe symptoms the others had, thankfully. Fevers, vomiting, loss of appetite, coughing (so much!), runny noses and headaches to name a few. Every time I took Carly's temperature it was no less than 103.5 degrees.
Finally I got concerned enough about her breathing (she was flaring her nostrils to breathe, and also grunting lightly with every exhale) that I took her in to be seen as well. Because of Wyatt's confirmed case of Influenza, she had to wear a mask and thank GOD she loves our Orthodontist, because she HATED that mask! But when I told her she looked just like Dr. Feller she decided that it was okay. Phew!!
At that appointment the doctor agreed that her breathing didn't sound great, and put her on albuterol in the nebulizer as needed. She's been great during her treatments as long as we let her watch a show.
Driving... Logan to school one morning and leaving Jack home with Carly and Wyatt, who was sleeping. While I was out, he texted me, "Wyatt is still asleep. He is breathing fine." Jack reminds me so much of myself at his age. He is a worrier, a caretaker, a fantastic, responsible older sibling. After I left, he went upstairs, snuck into Wyatt's room and checked his breathing because he knows that I do that when Wyatt is sleeping, especially if he sleeps in longer than usual.
Bringing... home our dog from the shelter, finally! We went to see him last Thursday, but had to wait until this Wednesday to bring him home so they could neuter him first. He was overjoyed to see us and come home, and thus far is just the perfect fit for us.
He's a two year old German Shepherd who was found roaming near town about a month ago. Totally healthy and more of a blonde German shepherd, which is so pretty.
He's super well behaved. One time Josh told him not to go up the stairs, and he has listened ever since. It's incredible. He loves being outside, and learned to ring the bell to go out into the backyard within two hours of being home.
His first night home, we tried to have him sleep in his crate, but he cried and whined all night long, so for night two, we changed our plan and let him try just sleeping downstairs. When that worked out, we decided to slowly work him up to time in the crate. He's such a good, good boy.
We are all just ridiculously in love with him, and he with us- the only bad habit he seems to have is that he jumps when he's excited to see us. So we're working on that one.
For the most part, the cats are just staying upstairs, but I think they will warm up eventually and come down when they are ready.
We named him Grady Lincoln Cunningham, combining the names that Wyatt and I love. I have wanted to use the name Grady for years (I would have likely named Carly Grady if she had been a boy) and Wyatt wanted to name the dog Lincoln (like the president) because our cat George is named after George Washington. The twins decided that he needed a middle name so Wyatt wouldn't be disappointed that we didn't choose Lincoln as his first name.
Grady is the name of a man I met on a plane in Alaska. He sat next to me and Logan, shared his jelly beans with four or five year old Logan and offered to buy me a drink (since Josh and I were traveling with three small children on four flights over the course of a 12 hour day- ha!). He just made an impression on me- he was so genuine and kind and easy to talk to- I never forgot him.
Now all these years later, he's on Alaska The Last Frontier, building a cabin on Perl Island, and I get to watch his dreams unfold on television. It's unreal.
Being... SAVED by my brother-in-law who fixed my dishwasher when I thought it was broken. He took it apart and found it full of stickers & gunk from the new Fiestaware my mom had bought me as a housewarming gift. (The boys loaded them into the dishwasher without removing them- oops!) So we set to work clearing it out, and now it runs again! I have never been so happy! I keep remembering that it works and feel a rush of joy. Hah!
Receiving... an early Christmas gift in the mail from my mom in the form of new shoes. They're Dansko booties and I LOVE them!!!
Playing... referee between the twins day in and day out, and feeling worn out imagining it will never end. Ha! I'm trying to involve myself less where possible, but sometimes that's not possible, and then I'm back where I started, breaking up our two giant, growing boys like they're a pack of wolves. #sendhelp
Setting... an appointment next week for Wyatt's EEG to see if we can find any seizure activity or if we're dealing with something else. I am working hard to keep from feeling anxious about it, trusting that whatever will be will be, and we will be able to handle it.
***
"I LOVE when The Little Nies walk in the door from school
and the house is festive, smells good, and is clean!
I remember loving that as a child too, and my mom was really good at it.
I always felt safe, and happy, and peaceful, and excited, and content.
And in my humble opinion, that's what homemaking is all about.
And that is a something I can give to my children each day,
and they deserve it too."
