10 on Tuesday

1. We are finally adjusting to the grow button. We have mastered feeding in public and are on a good schedule. Ben is back to his old self. Will isn't wierded out by it all anymore. And, drumroll please... BEN IS SLEEPING ALL NIGHT!!!!

2. Will started karate class. He thinks he is a regular Jackie Chan now. I am just hoping it will help with discipline. It definitely couldn't hurt. It is a very structured environment, lots of "Yes sir". I see it being a really good thing for him.

3. We finally got some rain! We desperately needed it, not just for the grass but, it cooled things off a bit as well. Can I just say, I am so ready for fall! I am over summer and its heat.

4. School starts in 2 weeks!! I must say I am ready. I am a Type A personality. I thrive on structure and routine. I am looking foward to getting back into a routine. I am still having trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that my Baby Will is going to start 2nd grade! I can't wait to see what this year has in store for us.

5. I have been on a major de-cluttering spree. Yesterday, I went through the boys closets. I cleaned them out and got rid of a lot of things. Today, I am hoping to tackle the toys. This is going to prove to be a bit more of a challenge seeing that they are here. We will see how far I get with this one. This might have to wait until they are back in school.

6. Matt and I discovered yesterday that we have an infestation of army worms. They are these little caterpiller looking things that kill your grass. Our backyard has these big brown patches where these little boogers have helped themselves to our grass. I am now grossed out and while they can't hurt us, I don't want the kids in the backyard until they are gone!

7. I took Will shopping to get a few things for school the other day. You will never guess what he picked out. The child wanted to get skinny jeans and a vest! There just isn't much to say about that. I mean some guys, older than 8, can pull that off. We just aren't there yet.

8. Ben has been dressing himself lately...

9. I have been with Ben all day and all night for 3 weeks straight. As much as I love the kid, I would like just a few hours alone. Maybe soon...

10. I have realized in the past few weeks how very blessed I am. I have a wonderful family and great friends who really care about us. They have all been so helpful. It is just sad that somethimes it takes a struggle or a very difficult time in life to see how blessed we really are.

Have a great Tuesday!

The Grow Button

WOW!!!

We have had an exciting and stressful past few days. Most of you know Ben had his feeding tube placed on Thursday. He did pretty well. The surgery went great. He had a bit of trouble with his first few feedings but, we figured it out. We have gotten the hang of it now. He gets three 133 cc feeds over 30 minutes 3 times a day. At night, he gets a 320 cc feed over an 8 hour period. He is almost back to his old self. There are a few things he has tried to do that he couldn't- like jumping and bending all the way over. Other than that, he has adjusted quite well. He is still very insecure about it though. I had planned on posting pictures but he will not let me take a picture where you can see his button. He doesn't want to show it to anyone. Even in the hospital, he kept the covers pulled up to his chin. Maybe later...

The plan for right now is just to continue what we are doing now. We go back in two weeks so the doctor can look at the sight. In a month we go back to endocrine to see if any progress had been made.

It is definitely an adjustment. We have to plan our outings much more carefully. If we are going to be gone at feeding time, we have to be sure to bring the pump, bag and formula. it is like packing a diaper bag every time we leave. I just thought we were past that stage.



This is what Ben's button looks like. This is not a picture of his but you get the idea from this. And that is it. When it is time for him to "eat", we just lift the little flap up and insert the tube. Not too big a deal! His pump is portable. We can stick it in his backpack and he can play and do normal activities during his feedings. Unless you are looking for it, the only strange thing you will see is a small child wearing a backpack.

I hope ya'll had a past few days. I feel like I have missed so much. I am slowly catching up on what ya'll have been up to. I promise I will get through all eventually.

Mom of the Year

http://thingsicantsay-shell.blogspot.com/2010/07/not-mom-of-year.html

Can I just say that I love this post! I am guilty of wishing I was more "mom of the year". I am so not perfect and this post is such a good reminder that most moms are more like me than I ever imagined. We do what we need to do to make it through each day. Some days are better than others. Some days, we make it out the door all clean and matching. Some days, we stay in our pj's until it is time to put on new pj's for bed. But, at the end of each day, our children are loved and that is all that really matters.

A few thing that knock me out of contention for mom of the year...
My children have had cookies and candy for breakfast on more than one occasion this year. My only requirement, they drink milk with it. Milk makes everything healthy.

Last night, I gave them each Benedryl for "allergies" they had before bedtime. I don't know how the fell asleep so early and so fast. Note the extreme sarcasm.

I did not have a working lighter to light Will's birthday candles.
I had to send my husband next door to get one so that we could sing "Happy Birthday". Picture all the families standing around looking at me... not my finest moment.

Once again, an event has gone by and I have one picture.

Have a great Monday. We finally have much needed rain here and I am loving it!

Happy Birthday Will

Yesterday my baby boy turned 8! I can't believe it. The years have just flown by. I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday.

I clearly remember the day I went into labor. I had gone to work with my dad. I just needed to get out of the house. So, I rode around with him that day. I had a doctor's appointment where my induction was sceduled for the coming Friday. (It was Wednesday.) I came home from the doctor and was making plans for my last day before I became Mommy. I was going to get a mani/pedi, go to lunch with my mom and finish the day with a date with Will's dad. I was home with my dad and pretty excited about the next day. It was the first time in a while I had not minded being pregnant. The end was in sight. I knew I just had to make it one more day. I was hoping the pain I was having was just from the exam I had earlier. Daddy could tell something was wrong. He finally asked and I told him, "I think I am having contractions." After a long pause he said, "Can you wait until your mom gets home? She will be home soon. I am going to call her right now. Just, umm, right down the times and we will wait on your mom." My sweet daddy helped me time the contractions until my mom got home.

21 hours, 2 epidurals and lots of tears later, we welcomed William James into the world.

I am so proud of the boy he has grown into. He is really a great kid. He is definitley still a kid though... there are times when he annoys me to no end but, I would not trade it for the world. I was young when I had him. His raising have definitely been a team effort. Let me tell you I have had a great team. I can't wait to see the man he becomes but, for now, I am enjoying right now.

Randomness

I must confess, I let my children have chocolate chip cookies for breakfast. I did insist that they have milk with them, which makes it sort of healthy, right? I just did not feel like fighting that battle this morning. Ben only ate once yesterday and woke up asking for them. So, of course I caved. Then, I couldn't let Ben have cookies and make Will eat breakfast. Thus, we had cookies for breakfast.

I just feel emotionally drained these days. As we get closer to the 15th, I am facing a huge reality. It is taking much more of a toll on me than I thought it would. I keep telling myself that this is nothing compared to what others deal with but, I am still having a hard time.

On a lighter note, we had a great weekend! We were able to hang out with our family and our friends and have a family day! Three day weekends are wonderful! For this next one, I need a drum roll...

BEN IS COMPLETELY POTTY TRAINED!!!!

I am just a little bit excited about this. No more diapers, not even at night! He is in big boy pants 24/7! Now, we just have to work on the peeing outside thing. I am having a hard time getting him to understand that he can't pee anywhere he wants just because he is outside. To him, any place outdoors is fair game.

I hope ya'll have a lovely day. I can't believe it is already Wednesday, another beautiful thing about a long weekend.

Whew...

Whew... what a week. I am so happy to see a long weekend! I have been through just about every emotion imaginable. We have seen more doctors these past few days than we have seen in a year. The good news is, it is over! Ben's surgery has been scheduled for July 15.

Just to give you a recap...
Ben does not eat. There is no medical explanation for this. He just doesn't eat. On a good day, he will get about 500 calories, which is not enough. He has stopped growing and is now losing weight. The doctors and his therapist decided that he would benefit from a feeding tube. This will get him the calories he needs in addition to helping his body recognize hunger. The goal is for him to gain 10 pounds and begin to eat. In the end, our hope is that he will be able to eat enough to sustain himself. So, feeding him through the tube will eventually help him eat by himself (kinda backwards huh).

We will check in the 15th. The surgery will be preformed and if everything goes well, we should be home the 17th. We met with the surgeon and the GI (love him). I learned the details of the surgery and what we could expect. As far as surgeries go, this one has a low risk of complications. I also spoke with a nurse that told me that most children are not in much pain after this surgery. She said in most cases, Tylenol is all they need to give to control pain. So, now we wait...

I hope ya'll have a great holiday weekend. Be safe and remember those that fight for our freedom.

In Honor of COHEN

To see Cohen's story click here.