Happy Brithday To Me

I'm 46 years old today.  Another birthday spent at the hospital.  :)

I actually don't mind it and what has made it really sweet, literally, is that one of my super thoughtful friends brought me these:

Aren't I super lucky! That bottom box contains See's Chocolates and since I'm at the hospital by myself with a child who can't eat by mouth, I don't have to share.  That's cool, right?

I also have heard that my sweet husband sent me a beautiful red roses and more chocolates, but a picture of those will have to wait till I'm back home.  I've also received SOOOO many birthday wishes on Facebook, and text messages and phone calls.  I feel very blessed to have wonderful friends and family.

And, while I have a lot of gray hairs and my skin is certainly start to wrinkle, I'm sure grateful to be aging.  It's definitely better than the alternative.  

Update on Ryan

As you might know, I was a little nervous about having this surgery done at this hospital because I had never been here before except for a clinic visit with the Geneticist and a modified barium swallow.  It felt like an old hospital and it's farther from home.  More than anything I just didn't have experience with it.  Change makes me nervous, especially when it comes to Ryan.

I can only think of one doctor that Ryan has seen that we did not like and he's no longer on our team. He might be a great doctor, but his style didn't work for us. We have had good experiences at both of the other hospitals we have stayed at.  We have had great experiences at the two other PICUs we have been in.  One even served me warm chocolate chip cookies before bed.  Who does that?  A great team at North Central Baptist Hospital that wasn't very busy one night.  It's comforting to recognize and be recognized by so many of the doctors when you arrive on the unit.  Obviously it's not preferred to be at the hospital, but if you're going to be there, it's nice to already know at least some of the team.

The team here, including the PICU doctor, Dr. Tong, and nurse Gina were simply amazing!  Dr. Tong spent more than 30 minutes with me when we first arrived in the PICU yesterday.  Dr. Tong took plenty of time double checking all of Ryan's meds and he was really appreciative that I brought a small bag of Ryan's meds with me to the hospital.  (It's actually a one day supply of meds that I take with me everywhere.  They are in prescription bottles and so the labels tell the doctors everything they need to know for ordering the correct meds for Ryan.)  I usually bring with me a list of his medical team, but in an effort to only bring one bag, I left that list yesterday. Oh, how I missed it!  Trying to remember everyone on his team is quite the challenge.  I won't forget it again.

The anesthesiologist also spent several minutes reviewing how things went in the OR.  Ryan needed assistance breathing following surgery yesterday but was able to move to room air fairly quickly. Talking was a lot of effort and seemed to be difficult for him yesterday.  This was probably due to the breathing tube they used during the surgery.  He was vocal very little compared to his usual level.

Ryan and I were able to get some rest last night.  However, he ran a fever of 101 something and his blood count percentages went from 36% to 27%.  His oxygen saturation levels also dropped into the 80's which isn't really that unusual for him.  The fever is not really an unexpected thing for someone who has had such a major surgery and they have started an antibiotic.   They have restarted iron for him due to the blood count changing.  They will be keeping an eye on these issues today.

They are also going to start introducing some foods.  They are going to start with 1/2 of his usual volume of food, but they are going to try Pedialyte first.  If he tolerates it well, then they will move to Neocate Jr, also just 1/2 of the usual volume.  By end of day, hopefully, we will be up to normal volume of food.

He is more alert today and seems comfortable until we rotate. Any movement of his lower body seems to make him nervous and a little uncomfortable.  We rotate him every 2 hours round the clock.  He is really enjoying listening to music from Pandora this morning and likes it when people wish him a Happy Birthday today.  When the Doctor asked if he could sing happy birthday to him, he said, "Yes!" (with his eyebrows) and smiled.  It's the only smile I've seen from him since Sunday.

So, happy 6th birthday to Ryan!  I cannot even imagine, nor would I want to imagine my life without him.  He has brought so many blessings and gifts to our family.  It is truly a joy to be his mom!

Anchors

As many of you know, I am taking a couple of college classes through Brigham Young University Idaho.  This past week for my Foundations of Religion Course 122, we studied the Book of Ether from the Book of Mormon.  It's one of my favorite sections of the Book of Mormon.  If you've read my blog for a while, you've heard me talk of it before.  It is the story of the Jaredites.

Each week we are required to participate in a discussion board.  This is meant to simulate the classroom discussions that we of course miss out on when doing an online classroom.  When I first started the classes, I thought the discussion boards would be rather lame.  However, I have found that they can be really wonderful.  Some people put more effort into their contributions than other people.  Of course, that's true in an actual classroom as well.

This week I asked permission from one of my classmates, Shannon Lowman, to share her post.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  First, let me share with you the verse she references:

Wherefore, whoso believeth in God 

might with surety hope for a better world, 

yea, even a place at the right hand of God,

which hope cometh of faith, 

maketh an anchor to the souls of men,

which would make them sure and steadfast,

always abounding in good works,

being led to glorify God.

"A single word in Chapter 12 (verse 4) jumped out at me: "anchor".  It is such a visual word.  I live in San Diego, home to numerous shipyards.  If you've ever seen an anchor ... I mean, a real anchor .. not just a flimsy motor boat anchor, but one that can stop a ship, it is a memorable sight.  The USS Enterprise, an aircraft carrier, has two anchors, each weighing 32 tons!  But the strength and security of the ship is not just dependent on its anchor, but rather what it is anchored to!  "The anchor prevents a ship from drifting away due to the water currents or tide. A popular misconception is that the anchor itself acts as the main weight to "secure" the ship in its position. On an anchoring run, the ship would lay the anchor together with a length of its iron cables on the seabed.... it is not the weight of the anchor, but the weight of the huge iron cables connected to the anchor that "secures" the ship." (wikianswers.com)  Elder Richard G. Scott said in Conference 1993, "Anchor your life in Jesus Christ, your Redeemer.  Make your Eternal Father and His Beloved Son the most important priority in your life--more important than life itself, more important than a beloved companion or children or anyone on earth.  Make their will your central desire.  Then all that you need for happiness will come to you."  Our security comes, not from how strong we are, but from the immobility of what we are anchored to.  Elder Scott assures us that everything else will fall into place when we are properly anchored to the Rock of our Redeemer."

Thank you, Shannon, for saying it so beautifully and for letting me share it!

I hope we will all anchor our lives to Jesus Christ that we may enjoy the security and strength that will come from being anchored to the Rock of our Redeemer!  Happy Easter!

Happy 4th Birthday, Ryan!

This weekend we celebrated Ryan's 4th birthday!  Can you believe he's already 4 years old?

We enjoyed a great lunch and a fun party! 

 And, yes, Ryan even had a tiny taste of chocolate cake.  :)

The party was fun for everyone!

 About half way through the party, Ryan started to seem a bit apathetic toward the gifts.  We then noticed that he was a little bit tired.  So, we put the party on hold until he was better rested.   Then today we finished opening the rest of his presents.  I'm not sure who's enjoying his new CD player the most -- him or Deborah.  :)

It's been a great 4 years!

 A lady who doesn't know me very well once made a comment that was at once accusatory and apologetic to me that I had Ryan.  I was so surprised by her comment that I didn't even know how to respond to her.  I have since thought many times about her comment.  I have thought of the many things I wish I could share with her.  Things that she obviously doesn't know, about Ryan, about my family, about life.  I've tried a few times to share the joy that she obviously doesn't understand that comes with having Ryan as a member of my family.  But, it never seems to come out quite right.  So, tonight, I'll just say... knowing all that I know today, I'd do it all again! 

Happy birthday, Ryan!  I love you!

Mother's Day Flowers

In addition to the homemade soap he gave me, 

Jacob had flowers delivered to me for Mother's Day with a sweet note.  

Very thoughtful!  Very appreciated!

Happy Mother's Day!

I am one amazingly lucky lady! I have children who spoil me ... Thank you, all! And, a sweetheart who sets a good example for them.  I have a Mother who worked hard to be a good Mom. She sacrificed much for my comforts and to spoil me, even before I was ready to appreciate her sacrifices. I learned to serve others and to work hard because of her example. I have a sister who is strong and awesome. She has been my personal cheerleader throughout my entire life, believing in me when I didn't believe in me. I'm also blessed to have SOOO many aunts and cousins who were and are examples in life. I have always felt loved because of them. And, of course, I have more women in my life than I can count that are amazing examples of strength and courage. I am thankful to each of them for their friendships and the examples they are to me! Happy Mother's Day to each and every woman!

Mother's Day Gift from Ryan

 

Ryan made these gifts for me at school.  Aren't his hand prints adorable!  

He loves to finger paint and his favorite color is green, 

but someone went to a lot of work to get prints of his open hand!  

I'm so thankful for these!  What a neat treasure!!

Spoiled for Mother's Day

I was very spoiled this year for Mother's Day.  Not that it's a new thing.  I'm always quite spoiled by my family.  Or perhaps we should call it well loved.  Sounds better, doesn't it?  This year there were two really nice gifts that I received the family.  But, it's more than just gifts for me.  It's the consideration that is always shown.

My children gave me a new GPS.  When I first received my GPS, I thought it was an unnecessary thing to have, but I have now started to rely on it.  I love having it when I travel to new cities, or when we go to Doctors, etc.

Dwight gave me a new camera. YEAH!!!  My blog will once again be complete with pictures!  I won't have to wait for someone to let me use their camera nor will I have to wait to get the pictures off their camera.  YEAH!!

So ... the first picture from my new camera...

As I took out my camera and focused on Ryan, he covered his face with hands.  I said to him, "Ryan are you hiding?"  He then uncovered his face and gave me a big smile.  It was adorable!

Happy Valentine's Day

Ryan made this heart for me.  He glued all the little hearts on it himself.  He uses a paintbrush to put the glue on and then his teachers and/or Nelda helped him to pick up and move the little hearts on to the big heart.  It made my heart swell!  It took a lot of work for my Ryan to do this for me!  I'm the most blessed Mom!

Happy New Year

 Well, no one here can hold still even long enough for a quick picture.  But, hope you all have a happy new year!

Christmas

Remember when you were a child and it seemed like Christmas would never come? 

Christmas at my childhood home was magical.  I grew up in the wintery wonderland of Indiana where it seemed we always had the perfect white Christmas.  Even more awe inspiring was my parent's ability to weave the true meaning of Christmas and the childhood fantasy of Santa Claus into the everyday moments of the whole season.

I love thinking back to the anticipation I felt of wondering what I would find in the stocking each day.  I no longer recall whether a new present would arrive in the stocking every day, or just on random days.  I only remember that they were there.  Stockings hung with great care and tiny presents anonymously delivered.

One of my favorite memories was one of service.  I don't remember all the details.  I just remember that another family had lost their home.  My parents, having experienced the same before, gave us the opportunity to pick a gift to give to the family.  One of our gifts.  We didn't go to a store to buy something for the family. We went to our tree and picked a wrap present.  It was a sacrifice that was personal.  I didn't feel a loss.  I felt thankful to share.

Years later I am thankful to my parents for the magical Christmas memories.  I am thankful for the years of waking up to the sounds of Santa's reindeers and a house full of Christmas lights at the break of dawn on Christmas morning.  I am thankful for all the nights we drove around looking at lights throughout the city.  I am thankful for all the beautiful reminders of Christmas in every corner of every room of my childhood home.  Most of all, I am thankful for the example of Christlike service that I saw and continue to see in the lives of my parents.  It is the Spirit of Christmas.  I pray the spirit of Christmas will permeate in our lives.

Legendary Holidays

  One of our favorite holiday traditions here in San Antonio is Westin's Legendary Holidays.  We discovered it a few years ago and every year since several of the kids insist on going again.  

I'm so glad that at least some of the kids enjoy it because I love it! 

 

 This year we actually went on two different nights.  The first night I was mistaken about the time and so we missed the walk with the story teller.  Instead of just leaving right away, we visited with Santa, decorated gingerbread cookies, and made some wooden creations.

I'm so thankful that my kids are so patient with me and such great sports about things.  Even though things didn't work out the way we expected them to, we still had a great time!  Maybe even more fun than we would have had if things had happened as planned.  The best part:  we went back the next night for all the events!

Inside they have beautiful decorations that make for amazing pictures, like this one.

 At the beginning of the walk, they hand out bells and the children love the bells.

At one of the spots where along the trail, all the children gather up on the rocks and the story teller tells about the legendary snow fall.  Then he says, if we all believe there will be snow that evening.  Then the children walk toward the building and sure enough, there's a Texas snow fall. 

I won't spoil the surprise for you, but my children love the Texas snow fall!

After all the fun, there's hot chocolate and cookies to enjoy while we warm up by the fire

... and rest!

...

Gingerbread House Time

Today was the day.  We built the annual gingerbread house and I let Deborah and Johnathon take the lead.  I figured it couldn't go too bad, right?  Afterall, I bought a kit.  Actually, I bought 5 kits.  Target had them on clearance and Deborah was so cute.  (Dwight says I must have been feeling guilt about something.  A story for another day, perhaps?)

All was going well and Jessica and David were kind of helping them along.  THEN, one of the gingerbread men had an "accident" ... and it all went downhill from there.

I don't know what happened, but Deborah announced that the gingerbread man had "fallen to his bloody death."  Oh, boy.

Soon after that, there was another bloody mishap at the gingerbread house.

When I asked Deborah why all the bloodshed, she said, "You said we probably wouldn't be able to make it look just like the box."

 

 Hmmmm.... I don't think THAT'S exactly what I intended for her to take from my statement.

While the rest of the kids made the gingerbread house, Ryan rested peacefully, he's not feeling very well this week.  But, the good news is that he hasn't had a seizure since the 13th.  FIVE full days of being seizure free!  Whewhoo!

 And, finally, this week at work, we had our Christmas party and did a gift exchange.  My Secret Santa gave me the most beautiful gift!  And, in it were the most wonderful pajamas and socks.  I think I'd like to live in these pajamas all the time!  The pants are SOOO soft and the socks are super soft and cozy. Thanks, DJ!  You are awesome!!

Santa came early to our house!

What a fun night! Some kind Santa dropped off a beautiful bag of gifts at our door tonight.  It was so fun to watch the kids pull the gifts out of the bag and place them under the tree.  :)  It was a very thoughtful act and very much appreciated.  The children were SOOO excited.  It's fun to see even the teenagers be excited about things. 

Whoever you are ... thank you!! 

Happy Thanksgiving

Am I the only one who is finding it hard to believe that it's already November?  And, not just November, but it's already Thanksgiving?  It seems just yesterday that it was June 30th.  It's hard to believe that almost 5 months have passed so quickly. 

In some ways I still feel like the child who wishes time would speed up so that Christmas morning will come when I open my eyes, and in other ways I wish I could just hold the hands of time so they would just almost not move.  I suppose it's good that I don't get to choose how to control time.

Anyway ...

I took the other children to see The Muppets Movie.  I love happy movies.  It's a happy movie.  I highly recommend it. 

I wanted to go see Hugo also since I had read the book "The Inventions of Hugo Cabret" to the children ... actually twice.  It's a great book.  But, when it was time to go I was just too tired and decided to stay home with the younger kids.  It was the wise choice for me to get some rest, but I'm disappointed that I didn't get to see the movie.  David, Jessica & Dwight really enjoyed it a lot.  (I hear that if you haven't read the book, you may not like the movie very much.)

We had a really yummy Thanksgiving day of food.  We choose not to overdo the food this year.  It was a nice choice.  Sometimes Dwight and I spend so much time cooking that we don't spend as much time with the kids.  We noticed in the past that the kids prefer us to spend more time with them.  It's more important than the food to them.  I think we found a really good balance this year.  Jacob commented that one of his favorite things about our house on Thanksgiving is how we graze all day.  We certainly did that again this year.  It was yummy!  I'm very blessed to be married to a good cook who loves food.

Ryan's spastic movements seem to be slowing down a little.  I wonder if it's like seizures that can come and go for no reason.  It makes me nervous.  I'm very anxious to talk to his Neurologist this week.  I should probably take a peace offering for interrupting his vacation so much during Ryan's hospital stay.  I know it's his job, but he could have just tried to call back once and then said, "Oh, well, I tried."  But he didn't.  I really appreciate that he kept trying.   Maybe some homemade toffee would be good?

That's just one of the many things we have to be thankful for at this Thanksgiving season.  I believe it's important to always have an attitude of gratitude, and know that in my life when I count my blessings, it helps me to remember my blessings.  I hope that you already know that I am thankful for you, my friends.  I hope you already know that I am thankful for my family, my faith, my God, and for all that I have. 

I pray that you,too, are safe and blessed this Thanksgiving season!

My Sister Rocks

 This amazing box arrived in the mail to me today.  It was filled with candies from the 80's and since it had been sitting on a hot truck the box smelled like warm sugar before we even opened it.  It was delicious!

The kids and I had so much fun going through all the various candies!  When I was a young kid, I would have eaten all this candy in a day or two.  Can you imagine that??  I was  truly a candyaholic.  So, this was the perfect gift for me from my sister & her husband and my amazing nephews.  Thank you all!  We'll have lots of fun sharing it over the coming weeks!

Merry Christmas!

I think was the latest we've ever officially started Christmas morning. Of course, Ryan and I were up several times through out the morning, but sometime after 5 he finally went to sleep. I didn't wake again until about 8.30 when Johnathon knocked on our bedroom door. The most surprising thing about that is it's usually me who can't wait to wake everyone up.

The morning got off to a slow start. We always have the children eat a little bit before we open presents and Deborah was lingering at the table. She said she wanted to go back to bed. The lure of presents didn't even seem to excite her. Eventually she said her tummy was hurting. I offered to let her go back to bed, but Daddy wisely suggested she just lie down on the couch in the living room. So she did.

I took my breakfast (egg whites over arugula with lots of feta cheese & a little salsa and a cold glass of high pulp orange juice) into the living room and staked out a place next to Ryan on the floor where I could open presents. Unfortunately one bite into my breakfast & Daddy's big feet knocked my glass of orange juice over. Luckily most of it was on the wood floor which cleaned up pretty easily and the rest was on my plate. Dwight was going to throw it away & make me a new plate, but that seemed quite wasteful to me. So, I had him just pour off the juice & it actually gave a really yummy flavor. Hmmm... maybe tomorrow I'll add it on purpose.

Anyway ... we soon got started. Daddy always passes out the presents. One to each person. We opened up a couple of presents and then Ryan started vomiting. Stuff like that with Ryan is just kind of part of life around our house so Jacob grabbed some rags, Jessica grabbed the cleaner stuff, I cleaned him up, and the festivities continued. Hardly a beat skipped.

A few minutes later Deborah was standing next to Daddy when I noticed what looked like peanut butter on her pajama sleeve. I suggested to Dwight that it needed to be cleaned off. That's when we discovered that it wasn't peanut butter, but it was vomit. In between unwrapping her gifts, she had thrown up on the back of the couch, and just continued unwrapping gifts. Apparently, no one had noticed and she hadn't said anything.

So I took her upstairs to get her cleaned up while one of the kids grabbed towels to protect the couch in case of future problems, and Daddy cleaned up the couch. While we were upstairs she said to me, "Throwing up on Christmas is stupid."

We eventually made it through the rest of the presents and everyone seemed very happy. I'm sure Santa was very glad to hear of their gratitude.

The kids chose to have sandwiches and munchies for the rest of the day. It made for a very relaxing day for Dwight and I. We didn't spend the whole day cooking. I missed it ... oh, wait, no, I really didn't. :)

Overall it's just been a wonderful day with the munchkins! I feel so blessed to have such wonderful children.

I hope that you too are enjoying a very blessed Christmas and that wherever in the world you are this night that you are enjoying this season. I hope that in the busy-ness of the season that you have found a few moments to think of Him. I know not all believe, but I know without a doubt that thousands of years ago the prophesied messiah was born to a humble mother and father in a lowly manger. I cannot imagine being his mother. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to watch his life. I wonder how much Mary understood. But, I know without a doubt that I have a Savior who loves me, and who loves you. I know that the greatest gift I have been given has come because of Him. This I know. In your quietest moments, I hope you know these things too.

Merry Christmas!

Johnathon's Nativity

Johnathon has a great Cub Scout Den Leader. Ida Ewing is one of those rare gems who does something super fun and creative each week. Johnathon is always excited to attend and I always look forward to seeing what activity she did.

This week she sent the mom's an email asking for some help with supplies. It seemed she might be planning to make gingerbread houses. Instead she did something even better. Check it out:


Can you see the sheep are made from large marshmallows and black licorice? Joseph & Mary are in the stable? Of course, that's baby Jesus lying in the manger. There's a donkey made from snickers & tootsie rolls & black icing. And a shepherd with a cane. Isn't that clever?


Johnathon was so proud of it and had such a great time! Thanks, Sister Ewing for being so awesome (and patient)!

Halloween

There's a special excitement in the air at my house today. Maybe I should call it ... chaos. Chaos might be the better word. My kids are SO excited about Halloween. They love dressing up and have been planning for this night since last 10.31. It's interesting to hear the ideas they go through, and how many times they are absolutely certain they have decided on a costume. Yet, tonight all of them are wearing things that were just decided within the last 2 weeks or so.

Unfortunately, Daddy won't be available to do the makeup or to help with costumes. That puts the burden on the kids cause everyone knows that I'm really not into this holiday at all. I am a pretty good sport about it, but I could skip it altogether and be very content. Maybe buy a few new good books, spend the evening reading a mystery or watching a suspenseful movie. (Note that I did not say a thriller.)

It's really not the candy part that bothers me. I probably like the candy as much, if not more, than my children. I'm truly a candy fanatic. I just know that it's not that good for me and so I exercise a lot of self control.

Anyway ... I must get back to work. We have to go to the store. David was planning to be a transformer, but due to some unexpected stitches in his hip he can't bend over well. Thus, I'm off to buy a few last minute items. I'll be sure to post pictures later.

I hope you all enjoy your Halloween festivities, whatever they may be. Be safe!

In honor of...

National Taco Day!

Did you know that today is National Taco Day? It is.

To honor this special occasion we had tacos for dinner, of course. What else would you have on National Taco Day?

David also wrote this very special little poem, and repeated it dozens and dozens of times during dinner.

There once was a boy named Paco,
And for each and every meal
He ate a taco.
'Til one day,
He went crazy,
He went home to be lazy,
And that was
The last of poor Paco.