Easter Fun

 In the past, I've had a bit of a reputation of being a holiday Grinch.  I like some Christmas traditions, but I keep it very simple.  I haven't dressed up for Halloween for years, and have only carved a couple pumpkins in the last several years.  I usually wear a green sticker to prevent being pinched on St. Patrick's.  The list goes on, and I really have been slow to start any holiday celebrations with my kids.
Well, something magical came over me recently.  I get this happy, excited feeling when I walk down the holiday/seasonal aisle in the grocery store.  And I was filled with a desire to color Easter Eggs with the boys.  And not just to dip them in the food coloring I have in the cupboard.  I bought a kit.  We went all the way with dye, crayons, stickers, and wrappers.  The boys were so excited!  It was a fun little activity for our family.  I couldn't have done it without Ryan.  And I admit that I really enjoyed it myself. 

(You may be thinking, "Hey, Melis.  Why are your kids naked?"   I assure you that I do make sure they're dressed most days.  Ty got the idea tonight that he and Andrew should play 'swimming'.  So Ty stripped.  Andrew asked Ryan to take his shirt off, and Ty helped him get his pants off.  They had a great time and when we started dying eggs I thought to myself, 'Well, I won't have to worry about stained clothes if they aren't wearing any.'  Plus this is a good one for my embarrassing photo collection to pull out when they're teenagers.)

Happy Easter! Let the holiday joy continue! 

Creative Kids

 I love seeing all the creative ways the boys play now.  This one cracked me up.  It's a dump truck!  Couldn't you tell?  Look again, do you see it now? (And of all the things to sit on- the pink froggy potty gets the contract.)  The boys make me giggle everyday with little things they say and do.  It is a great mom perk. 

 Andrew is doing great.  We stopped having early intervention come to help him with his developmental skills.  He is making great progress on his own.  He speaks in sentences already, and I'm noticing his fine motor skills advancing.  He's thinking through things and figuring out how to build and put together or take things apart.  We are trying to let him do more and more on his own.  It's been so easy to carry him and help him with everything because he's so cute and sweet.  But I realize that he needs to opportunity to advance and with a new baby soon to be here, my hands will be full with someone else.  Mostly it's just letting him walk and climb places.  For example, he doesn't climb the stairs on the front porch because he doesn't like putting his hands on the cement.  He won't go up or down, so I've been trying to leave him there to figure it out.  Sometimes he'll use his hands.  He knows he can lean on the house for support and just walk up or down, but he's still pretty nervous about that. 
It's been a week and a half since his last dilation, and he's doing awesome.  So far only fruit snacks have got stuck.  Those are always tricky, because he doesn't chew them sometimes and they're super sticky.  That is great progress from where we were 4 months ago.  We'll see how far we can go.
We have worked more on potty training.  He's very good at telling me when he's already gone.  His bladder control is getting better and he's able to hold it for several hours in between accidents.  We've only had one successful time, but I think we can get there.  I just have to take a deep breath and put the underwear on him in the morning.  At least it's just 3-4 wet underwear a day instead of the 8 or so that we started with.
He is such a happy kid.  And so cute.

Tyler is the head of engineering operations around here.  I love that he soaks up everything.  He copies what he sees on TV.  He repeats things I say, and replicates things I do.  He's always building something.  He's starting to recognize alphabet letters and is so interested in knowing what they are.  He likes it when I open Word and let him type.  He types pages and pages of letters.  And he carries my cell phone around, so that he can type in numbers throughout the day.  Both the boys love story time every morning.  The last few days everything relates to dogs because the boys went and saw our neighbors puppies this week.  So now Tyler plays like Andrew is his dog.  Sometimes Ty is the dog and comes and licks me.  Or he's hauling dogs, etc. 

Ryan is training for a new position at work.  He's now a contracted Pumper for Conoco.  It's a great position and we are very excited about it.

I'm 25 weeks along now.  I'm definitely feeling more tired and the hormones get me down sometimes, but overall I'm doing good.  This baby is very active and reminds me of his presence and growth frequently throughout the days.  Sesame street comes on at 1, and is a my time for napping or relaxing.  I'm so grateful to be able to be home with my boys.   I am really excited to meet this new addition to our family.  Sometimes 15 weeks seems like such a long time, but I know it's going to go by fast.  Spring is almost here and I'm looking forward to playing outside and walking with my friends again.

22 Weeks

Coming along.

Ty says, "I a pirate! 

All Aboard!

 The boys are really into trains lately.  Ty's newest play hobby is to take all of the baskets that hold toys, dump the toys in a heap, and then fill 3-4 baskets with books.  He leaves a few "carports" (that's the word for a train car) empty for he and Andrew to ride in.  The last few days he leaves the first one empty and nothing is allowed in it, because "That's where the smoke comes out."

 We took advantage of the warmer weather and went 4-wheeling a few weeks ago.  It's still chilly when you have the breeze from riding, so we were all decked out in winter gear to stay warm.  Papa Steve came with us.

The boys didn't care so much for the ride, but mostly enjoyed when we stopped and they got to throw rocks down the hill. 

Things have settled down nicely here.  Andrew got off oxygen on the 9th.  He had a dilation on the 11th, that went fine.  We are back to wait and see for what will happen next.  He also had his central line removed.  We are now back to just the G-tube, and we're so used to that it's really nothing. 
I had a prenatal check-up that day as well, and things are still looking good.
We spent the weekend with my family.  Ryan and I made it to the temple and out to dinner on Saturday.  Plus enjoyed a shopping trip at the mall.  The rest of the time we just visited.  I really enjoyed hanging out with my family.

Cold and Flu Season

We started the potty training business once again.  Andrew has caught on to at least letting me know every time he goes, even if it is still in his underwear or diaper.  He wanted to wear his boots.  We just did a couple days before we got totally sidetracked, but he is still telling me when he goes in his diaper.  When we do get back to it, I think he'll catch on pretty easily.

Last week Tyler started getting a cold, but it got pretty intense.  He ran a fever of 102-103 for a couple days.  Then Friday, while we were doing Dr appts, Andrew started with the cough.  And I started getting it.  Ty was having a really hard time breathing Friday night, and I was worried because his muscles around his ribs started sucking in (retracting).  He made it through the worst before too long, and was doing much better the next morning.  He just has a minor cough left now.

Andrew was getting worse, and by Sunday night I didn't feel like he could handle breathing on his own anymore.  He was breathing really fast and retracting, but worse than I'd seen him do ever before.  So, I tried every drug and natural remedy I could think of, or the home health nurse could tell me.  Finally I knew we needed to go to the ER. 

Of, course by time I got there the extra half an hour in the cool air had helped his lungs, so the Dr gave me an anti-biotic for the fluid he could hear in Andrew's lungs and sent us home.

 We made it through the next morning with walks outside, a car ride, and a steamy bathroom, but by afternoon nothing was working and I took him back to the ER at Castleview.  This time his oxygen level was at 87 when they checked, so he was immediately put on oxygen.  Then a chest x-ray, and viral culture were done.  His lungs had lots of fluid and he tested positive for RSV.  And they admitted him.
He was in the hospital 2 nights on oxygen, but was doing fine otherwise.  The pediatrician caring for Drew was very nervous about his medical history causing complications, but Dr. Barnhart was not too worried about that side.  On Wednesday they discharged him. 
He is still on a little oxygen here at home, but he's playing, eating, and very happy unless I'm suctioning his nose.  He also has double ear infections, because of all the mucous in his head, but they aren't bothering him enough that I would know if they hadn't been checking his ears in the hospital.  He'll probably be on oxygen a few more days and then be fine.
Ryan held out the longest, but even he is sick now.  On the upside he can take better drugs than a pregnant lady, but it's still a tough virus.

Ty has been soaking up extra mom time by just sitting in my lap for long periods of time.  It's really hard on him to be left behind.  This time wasn't as bad, because the hospital is only 30 mins from our house, we were all able to be together at the hospital each night.  Ty spent the days at the Brower's.  He really enjoys being there, but he is also a kid who thrives on a routine and being home.  It always takes us a couple days to re-settle after a hospital stay.

Ty has gotten really good at dressing himself now, and is very opinionated about what he wears.  Sometimes he changes his clothes 4 times a day.  I am always amused at the outfits he puts together.  This was today's choice. 

Ty is also starting to recognize letters and is so good at puzzles.  I'm amazed as I watch how he's learning and seeing him discover and create.  He's starting into the imagination creating.  The other day he was walking around with his hands cupped in front of him, as if he were carrying something.  He never would tell me what it was though. 

I love my little boys so much.  They are so cute and so amazing.  I am also so grateful for my wonderful husband.  We are so very blessed.

And It's a Boy!

That's right!  I couldn't stand the anticipation any longer and rescheduled my ultra-sound for this week.  I was soooo sure we were having a girl.  I was totally wrong.  I think Ryan is even a bit surprised.  We will soon have 3 busy little boys.  No barbies here.  We're all about dirt, trucks, and trains. 
The other good news is that he is developing completely normally.  His size is right on target measuring 19 weeks, which is exactly what I am today. 
He was very cute during the ultra-sound and kept putting his fingers in his mouth and wiggling around.  Either I just don't remember the other pregnancies that well, or this kid is very active.  I feel him moving almost anytime I'm holding still long enough to pay attention.  I know Andrew used to have a nice routine of sleeping in the afternoon, even in-utero.  This little guy is busy morning, noon, and night.  So far he's small enough I only notice when I'm holding still.  I'm aware that it will soon be that he will remind me of his presence more easily.  It's all good though.

We had a family outing today for Andrew's follow-up appointments and my ultra-sound.  Ryan was able to take the day off work, so I was really looking forward to the time together and going to see my family for the weekend.  Unfortunately, Ty started with the flu (coughing, sneezing, fever kind of flu) on Wednesday.  He's handled it pretty well.  He's laid around much more than usual for him, but he's been in descent spirits.  His fever had broke last night, but started up again this afternoon.  Then I started with congestion last night.  So far Andrew is just coughing some, but it's hard to tell if it's sickness starting or not because he's had a chronic cough since surgery. 
Anyway, although we were not at our best we did go out and brave the storm for our appointments.
Drew's esophagram went like usual, with him crying though it and saying, "I DONE!  I DONE!"  Things look pretty good, although there is a little narrowing.  We weren't surprised, because he's getting food stuck more frequently as the days go by.  It's still not nearly as bad as it used to be though. 
The surgeon said he'd like to wait a few more weeks for the esophagus to heal before we dilate, so the esophagus is less likely to tear.  So that's scheduled for Mar 11, along with having his central line removed.  We got to OK to switch his GJ back to a regular G tube anytime we want.  I was not sure if it was ok to do at home, but it is.  There's not a real plus to switching, as the GJ still is working fine, but the G tube is a little bit smaller and fits better.  We'll see if I get the drive to do that soon or not.
Because of the sickies, we decided not to visit my family this weekend and just came home.  Hopefully Ty and I will feel better tomorrow, and Andrew and Ryan can stay healthy.  We're excited for our new little boy on the way.

It's Snowing!

Tyler's had a big week of firsts. Sunday he went to Primary for the first time. With all Andrew's hospital time and the colds the boys have had, the only other week we've all gone to church and stayed the whole time was for Stake Conference.
Ty was pretty nervous at first, and Ryan stayed with him through most of sharing time. But after that he was ok. When he came out of his class he was beaming and sooo excited about all the fun things they had done. His teachers are the Johnson's in our ward. Tyler's class is pretty big. Last week they had 9 Sunbeams attend! He's excited to go again tomorrow.
Ty also went to the dentist this week. He did not cooperate to show them his teeth, so there was some crying involved. The dentist said Ty's teeth look good. No cavities. And they measured the gap from the tooth he is missing, so we can monitor if the other teeth are moving into that space.

We had our second big snow storm here this morning. We missed the first one while Andrew was in the hospital, so the boys were really excited about all the snow. It was really fun that Ryan was home for it too. We all went over to the school, where they have a little hill, and went sledding and made snow men. The boys still wanted to be outside when we got home, and so did Ryan.
Ryan made a plow to go on our 4-wheeler and got it all hooked up finally, so he plowed our driveway twice and also did the neighbors. Andrew rode along with him, while Ty and I shoveled and ate snow.

Andrew was sick again for most of this week. He was pretty uncomfortable for several days. I think it was one of the flu viruses that's been going around down here. He is back to himself this morning again.

He has another esophagram and check-up with the surgeon next Friday, Feb 25.

It's really nice to just be home and happy and playing as a family.