Daniel is FINALLY feeling better & is back to being Daniel. Last week we had Pizza Hut Pizza for dinner & a bit took off his scab on his tonsil, that was PAINFUL! I gave him his strong meds right after dinner & that made him comfortable enough to fall asleep...on my bed...playing the Leapster...face first...butt in the air!
He used to do this when he was a baby, but I haven't seen it in a long time. I had to grab a camera, too cute :) I went in & flipped him over, but he didn't wake up & slept a LONG time sideways in my bed.
Halloween has arrived...a VERY exciting time at our house! We went Trick or Treating at Grandma Rose Ann's church Friday Night, which was lots of fun. Saturday morning Boppa & Grandma Rose Ann took the kids for "trunk or treating" at our Church, Saint John Neumann, where they got TONS of candy!
Rachael was a beautiful little Rapunzel, from the movie Tangled. She loved her LONG blonde wig, I couldn't get over how different she looks blonde! Daniel was an ADORABLE puppy dog. Everyone thought he looked so cute, he was pretty proud of the costume. I love how sweet he looks...won't be long until he wants to be a Ninja or some other rough & tough boy costume...thought I could get one more year of my sweet little guy in a cute costume!
Saturday Morning was my first day at work. I started @ 730am, which was an early morning for me. Of course the minute I started moving, Rachael was up & ready to "help me" get ready. Slowed everything down & that made it harder to leave! Work was good, just a LOT to learn about the building itself, including air pressure for the dome so that it doesn't deflate! I am also learning how to Manage High Schoolers, as most of the workers under me are that age. Some are hard workers, others need you to tell them what to do, or they just stand there. I'm not used to bossing people around, so that is going to take some getting used to.
My first class I taught was girls grades 1-3. That was interesting because I had no warning that that was the class I'd be starting with. I also had a high school girl "assisting me." She did nothing unless I directly told her to do something, so I was truly on my own. After about 10 minutes I got into just coaching & threw out what I thought were the expectations from parents. SInce no one told me what to do, I just jumped right in. Everything was good & the Parents & Girls were very pleased with class.
Now that I know what the expectations are, I will be prepared for next class. Literally the guy in charge told me 30 seconds before I was to start "your girls are heading out onto the field now, you'd better get over there." I didn't even have a chance to change into Soccer Shoes! I think I'm going to LOVE this job, just going to take some time to learn everything & to get my legs & back used to standing a lot & moving all the time. I realized I am 30 now, and my legs, knees & ankles don't like standing on the hard floor like they did when I was a teenager @ my jobs back then!
Last Friday, October 14, Daniel had his Adenoids & Tonsils removed, his right ear tube removed & a new tube placed into his left ear. The picture above is after surgery, when we finally got back to the short stay unit.
We were to be there by 1030am, and they finally took us in at 1235pm to the Operating Room. I was able to go back with him & hold him while they placed the mask on to put him to sleep. Once asleep, I gave him a kiss & was ushered out to the family waiting area. That walk, leaving your child behind in the Operating Room is one of the worst walks, feels like a punch in the stomach. I knew he was in good hands and felt confident in our surgeon.
At 1pm exactly, surgery began, and at 2:11pm, I was taken to a family conference room to wait for the surgeon to come talk to me. He said that his Adenoids & Tonsils were huge, much larger than any other 3 yr old he has seen. He also said that he couldn't put in a new tube into the right eardrum because there is a big hole in it now, from infection. We have to wait to see if that heals, and if it does he will insert a new tube in the spring. If it does not heal on its own, Daniel will need another surgery, one I've had, to repair the damage. That surgery is HORRIBLE & I pray to God he never needs that.
He was out of recover around 3pm & we were taken to the short stay unit. The above pictures were just outside our room. I didn't get a picture of the dump trucks that were going down a ramp, directly next to our window. being filled with dirt & then hauling it out. Every few minutes we'd feel the floor shake, hear the dump truck beeping for the backing up, and then a few minutes more it would pull out. Normally this would be Daniel's dream, having "diggers & dumpers" right outside the window, but waking up from surgery, this was NOT a pleasant sound.
It seemed that every 15 minutes it would get quiet, while one dump truck left & before the next one would pull in. Daniel would fall asleep, being on morphine & the anesthesia made him sleepy. But then, the truck would come back by & he'd jump & cry again. When 5pm rolled around I had never been so glad for a Friday! He finally was able to settle & get some rest.
We went home Saturday morning, with a fever. Saturday night we were back in with a much higher fever, and he was refusing his pain meds, wouldn't drink, was vomiting & was dehydrated. When they started his IV in the ER, he didn't move a muscle, not a tear, not even a little fight. He was a sick little guy. They gave him sugar water because his blood sugar level was low, and then just normal fluids. They were also able to get pain meds into him through the IV, so he finally took a popsicle.
We came home Monday night. It's been a rough week for the poor little guy. We've been watching tons of movies, well actually just CARS & Tangled a million times in a row. This surgery has sure taken a lot out of him, I definitely didn't expect it to be this bad. He had noodles this morning, which is good, one of the first "real" meals. He hasn't been able to swallow much.
Now we get to look forward to the 7-10 mark where the child is as sore as the first day of surgery, because scabs from their tonsils start coming off. He has been on pain meds around the clock all week & will continue to be until about Wednesday, then hopefully Tylenol will be all he needs. I'm ready to have my rough & tough Daniel back!
Rachael is on Fall Break right now! She is on a "year round" schedule for her school which is different than the public school calendar, so she started school in Early August, had a 9 week quarter, then gets 2 weeks off.
I got her report card today...she got a couple A's, which on their system is a number 4, and mostly 3's which are B's. I am very proud of her. The few things she needs to work on, we already knew because of conferences, so she is well on her way to improving those few things.
I am loving this fall break right now! It seemed like the perfect time for Rachael academically to take a break. They are moving very quickly & she seemed to just need some time to be 6. This has been that week. AND, we still have next week!
Friday, Daniel has his Surgery to remove the one tube that is stuck in the ear canal but no longer in the eardrum. At that time, they will be placing new tubes in, to hopefully help drain the infections so he won't have so many ear infections anymore (that's what they told us the first time!!!!). Friday they will be removing his adenoids & while it was clear to me before that he was also scheduled for a tonsillectomy, I am no longer sure if that is still the case. I've spoken with numerous people who are giving me different answers. No one from the ENT's office will call me back. Tomorrow we have his Pre-Op physical so hopefully our Pediatrician will have more information or at least could make a call down to the ENT to find out for me!
We've loaded up on every Popsicle imaginable, so I think we're ready :)
Sunday October 2, we had so much fun at a park in Lakeville with our friends the Olson Family! When Rachael was a baby, I watched their kids. My kids LOVE Taylor, Lauren & Nicky Bear.
Taylor, Lauren (Boo Boo) holding Daniel & Lauren their neighbor who I've known since she was in Kindergarten.
Boo Boo & Daniel, he was telling Lara (their mom) that he loves her, that's the goofy smile.
Rachael doing the Balance Beam...she had so much fun at this all wood park! It was so big & there was so much to do!
Big Boo Boo & My Little Boo. They have been so connected since Rachael was born. Lauren, even in preschool, would just lay on the floor next to Rachael's blanket and let her hold her finger & just talk to her. Rachael would watch her with her big brown eyes. Whenever we get together they're immediately drawn to each other. When Lauren was little she was OBSESSED with Strawberry Shortcake, just recently Rachael has started watching & LOVING Strawberry Shortcake. They just have a lot in common, it's fun to watch them interact.
The one in the black shirt is Mr. Nicky Bear, and the one in red is his friend. I had Taylor & Lauren the day that Lara went in for her C-section with Nick. It was a hot day, and the kids are all close in age, like 18 months apart. So, I took the girls in the morning to a park, then fed them lunch laid them down for naps. When they got up I got them in their matching Big Sister Shirts, put their curly hair in Pigtails (they get up at 6am now to straighten those curls!!) and brought them to the hospital to meet their new baby brother.
Lara of course was in full makeup & looking like she hadn't just had a baby. Boo Boo was so little she didn't understand she just wanted her mommy & was in full meltdown mode by the time we made it to the room. Taylor couldn't wait to get in there to see Nicky Bear! He is such a sweet gentle boy, and so good with Daniel. He gave Daniel his CARS TV & DVD player when he heard that Daniel loves the Movie Cars! Daniel thinks he is so cool :)
We have neighbor's across the street from us, who admittedly I didn't know well until this fall. I knew they had twin boys who were about 10 or 11 and a daughter who was about 8. I also knew they had a dog named Obie, that Rachael had gone on a walk around the walk with the kids with. Rachael would always stand on our side of the street & yell "Hi Kora!" And the little girl would wave.
Well, this fall I had my first practice with my older girls team and then had a parents meeting after. Following that meeting I got all my equipment, got in the van & pulled out of the parking lot heading home. I drove then entire way home behind Kora's van & it wasn't until I was parking that I realized that she was my neighbor! So, her mom walked over & said that she couldn't believe either that she hadn't put it together at practice!
So, as we've gotten to know them better they've said that we can go over & play on their large playground set whenever we the kids want to, since we don't have one.
Can you tell in the above picture compared to her Winter Pajamas Picture, that she chopped her hair off? She was sick of fighting the snarls every morning (me too!), so she asked if we could go to Kid's Hair & get it cut back to a Bob Hair Style.
She loves being upside down! She used to do this at gymnastics & was so proud of herself for still being able to do it.
So, I have taken the kids over a few times & now, Daniel wakes up, peaks out his curtain & says "Mama, we go to Kowa's paygound today? Pease Mama?"
I am sure that Daniel is going to be some great Rock Climber some day. He loves a challenge, loves a rock wall & loves trying to figure out, ON HIS OWN (if you give him a hint or tell him, look out!) where is next foot or hand should go.
He is so proud of himself when he gets to the top. Then slides right back down to try it again, but always switches his "route" up.
We're lucky to have such generous neighbors to let us come over & play whenever since I could never afford to buy such nice equipment for the kids. It's always fun to go to the park, but it's tough when someone has a "potty emergency!!!"
Well, unfortunately Preschool for Daniel was short lived, as in 2 Fridays. I had high hopes for Friday school. We even went out to 4 stores for the "perfect Cars 2 backpack & lunch box" for him. We laid out his outfit on his train table the night before & were very excited.
We were told that it was fine that Daniel was not "fully" potty trained & still wearing a pull up. The Director of Friday School, who was Rachael's teacher the 2 years prior, told me to just pack extra pull ups & a change of pants just in case. So we did just that.
I dropped him off at 9:30am, and he didn't want to go in since the classroom of boys and one girl (his only friend) didn't seem very inviting. I wasn't familiar with his teachers so I just did as I was told, hung up his things, put his lunch box with the others, gave him a hug & told him he was a big boy and he would be fine. I told him that if he had to go potty tell them & if he had an accident, remember we packed more pull ups & pants. He said ok, and I left.
At 2:30pm, I picked him up with Rachael. As we came to the door, I noticed him on the far side of the room sitting on the floor with his legs spread apart, leaning against the wall. When he saw us, he got up slowly & waddled to us, like toddlers do when they have a stinky in their diaper. He looked so sad. Rachael hugged him and helped him get a coat on. I turned to a teacher who informed me that "We will not be changing him at all, so he really shouldn't be here if he's not potty trained." I told her what I had been told and she said "Well I am not changing diapers or pull ups and he's been wet since you left this morning."
I was so pissed. Excuse my language, but are you kidding me?! He was soaked through his pull up, and jeans, he had urine on his socks & in his shoes. When we got out to the van I stripped him down, pulled everything off & put a diaper on him. His backside was so burned by the urine he screamed as I put him in the car seat. Rachael rubbed his head & held his hand on the way home. I called my mom immediately & told her. She was not happy either. When we got home I showed my dad the pull up, his pants, soaked socks, shoes and backside. As I tried to give Daniel a bath he screamed from the water touching him! It was heartbreaking.
The next day I called the school, talked to the Director & told them we would not be back. For as much money as we paid to go to that EXPENSIVE preschool, someone had better be changing him if they notice he is wet, whether he is in the "big kid room" or not. If you "won't change diapers" & there is a child in your room that may have a need for that at some point, maybe that child should be in a different classroom. I said we had never had problems like that all the time Rachael was there, it was so disappointing to have such a HUGE problem with Daniel. She agreed & apologized & said she would look into it. She said that if he did potty train soon & I wanted him back in they'd keep his spot open. Hmmm, no thanks.
When I took Daniel to church the next Sunday, he started crying as we went in & said Noooo! I explained we were there for church no more school. Next year we will be looking for a new preschool, and luckily he still has two years of preschool before Kindergarten so this year isn't such a miss. Hopefully at a new school next year it will be a fresh start & he won't remember how bad this experience was!
Rachael had a bump on her top lip for about 10 weeks, everything we did (we tried everything, including topical medications, salt water, bacitracin, etc.) didn't make it better. So our pediatrician finally sent us to a Dermatologist. She diagnosed her with some weird virus that from the brochure, I was 100% sure, she did not have. The pictures did not match the bump on her lip.
My sister is a Nurse in Dr. Crutchfield, a Nationally Recognized, Dermatologist. I told her the diagnosis we had received & the medication, and she said no, that's not right. So she called in (she is home on Maternity Leave) got us an appointment the next week. Rachael had gone to the Mrs. Minnesota Pageant with Becky last winter & gone to dinner with Dr. Crutchfield, so she wasn't apprehensive at all.
He came in, he checked a mole on her scalp, said that was fine (while we were there, I thought we should check!), looked at recurring bumps on her nose (said he's going to give us a topical cream to use) and then her lip. He said he wanted to biopsy the lip since it had been so long & he wanted a 100% answer as to what it was. I agreed. They had all these little tricks, like having Rachael hold her earlobe, count 1 banana 2 banana 3 banana up to 5 while the nurse held a buzzing bee near her ear while he injected the lidocaine into her lip. Then another trick while they removed the bump & gave her a stitch to close her up. It was so quick & easy. He was excellent!
He gave her a HUGE rubber duck because he told her she "quacks him up." She thought that was hilarious. Tomorrow she gets her two stitches out. The lip is perfect.
Rachael's Fall Soccer has been going well. She is loving it, loves her team, especially her coaches. We did get a great group of kids who are working together to pass the ball to each other, compliment each other when they do pass or score. Rachael has assisted (passed the ball to the scorer) on a couple of goals. One time a teammate picked her up in celebration, she was so surprised she looked terrified! It was pretty funny.
Her final game is on Saturday, she is pretty disappointed that this season is done. She asked if she could have the exact same team next summer.
My team that I'm coaching, the Purple People Eaters are older, so their in Playoffs right now. We were undefeated in the regular season, then lost our first game in the first round of Playoffs on Monday. Poor Rachael had practice then came to our game, it was raining, she was soaked & just wanted to go home. Luckily we had an umbrella so she sat under it until our game was done. We play Thursday night...if we lose again, our season is over.
I apologize...this fall has gotten so busy, by the end of the day, I think about coming into the office to post something to the blog, but then I crawl into bed instead. So Today I'll post a few right in a row!
Well first, we've had some unseasonably warm weather, so we've been spending a lot of time outside. We took some "Fall Pictures" at a lake not far from home. They turned out so cute!
She had just spotted some minnows that she was watching, and was trying to call Daniel over to see them with her.
Wish you all could hear his giggle as he played with the sand, he was laughing so hard!
My beautiful little girl, getting so big! Love this shot of her
These bottom two are definitely my favorite...The bottom is awesome because you can see the fall colors so clearly on the island in the lake, and I love how they always hold hands. The jumping one is too cute because that is totally them...doing everything with a big Splash ;)
