Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Tonsil Update

We are still having internet problems at home, so I have not been able to update.

Cade’s recovery is still going slow. I do not think any of us have been in this kind of mode ever. We aren’t doing anything outside of taking him to Sharon so we can go to work. In the evenings were still just lying around. There’s still a lot of rocking going on also. For the last two nights Cade has looked at me with tears in his eyes and says "I wish there was no such thing as tonsils".

Jay is staying home with him today, which should be interesting. Cade got out of bed today, stubbed his toe, yelled at Jay “thanks a lot” and then got back into bed. Could be a long day for Jay….

I called Jay on my way to work and he answered the phone “Tonsillectomy Recovery Services”. Yes, it is going to be a long day for him…

Friday, July 24, 2009

Post-Op Update

Cade came through the surgery just fine. He hasn't handled this one quite as well as his previous two surgeries but I'm not sure if it's because this pain is worse or because he's getting older. He was pretty cranky on Wednesday when he first got back to his room. He did get better as the day went on. I stayed home with him yesterday and we either rocked in the recliner or laid on the couch together. Our house has been extremely quiet because he doesn't feel like making his shooting noises right now. They told us that day's 5, 6, & 7 are the worse in terms of pain so we'll see how that goes. That would mean Sunday would be the start of the not so good days. We are keeping him well medicated...even setting our alarm to wake up and midnight and 4 to dose him again. We are really hoping once we get through the next couple of weeks we are through medicating his throat!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

4 adults, 9 kids, 2 little boys...

2 vans, 11 states, 3,000 miles, one speeding ticket, one near miss with a construction cone and a bottle of nerve pills later we are finally home.

While I'm off with Cade Wednesday and Thursday (and if our Internet decides to start working) I'll post some pictures. Tomorrow at 7:30 am is the big tonsillectomy.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Oh Snap!!!

I'll give the details of our trip later but I wanted to blog about our night tour of the monuments. It's one of those stories that we want recorded for our own memories so the rest of you will have to bear with us....

Monday night while we were in Atlantic City Cade wanted to learn how to snap. I don't know how many times Jay and I had to snap while Cade watched where we put our fingers and how we moved them to make them snap. He worked and worked and worked at it all night. Somehow he figured it out and woke up Tuesday morning with a newly acquired talent.

He has been snapping non-stop. He puts both hands up to his ears and snaps. It's like it's the sweetest sound in the world to him. It's been cracking us up because he walks around in his own little world snapping his fingers. Anytime we stop to eat or check in to a hotel or try to check out at a store he'll stand right beside us snapping just waiting for the clerk to ask him about it. If they don't he'll volunteer the information..."Hey I learned how to snap yesterday night".

Wednesday night we went on the night monument tour. We visited the Iwo Jima, WWII, and FDR before we got to the Lincoln Memorial. Cade snapped the whole time and told any adult who would listen that he could snap. The bus was so full that the three of us got separated and Cade sat in the back with another adult while Jay and I were stuck in the front. I can only imagine how that conversation went. The poor guy probably heard snapping in his sleep Wednesday night.

As the three of us were walking up to the Lincoln Memorial we could tell Cade was deep in thought snapping his fingers by his ears. Finally he looked at Jay and very slowly and carefully and seriously asked this question..."You know I've been wondering, do you think Abraham Lincoln could snap his fingers?" As seriously as possible Jay told him that since Abraham Lincoln managed to abolish slavery that the chances were good that he could snap his fingers. On the inside Jay and I were laughing so hard. Cade must've felt that this snapping thing was quite an accomplishment....like he had found the perfect alternative fuel source or something equally as big.

Last night, since he's mastered snapping, he's moved onto whistling. I'm not sure if I want him to accomplish this challenge quite as quickly. Either way you look at it it will be a long 19 hour drive home with him either whistling or sucking out air trying to whistle.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Vacation Time

We are leaving on vacation today. Our tentative schedule is....
Friday - leave about 12:30 pm and drive until 10:00 pm

Saturday - drive into New York and stay the night

Sunday - In New York

Monday - drive to Atlantic City

Tuesday - drive to DC

Wed thru Sat - In DC at the conference

Sunday - head for home

Some of the things were planning ...tour of the CBS studio...FAO Schwarz...Mount Vernon...Dinosaurs (of course)...and visiting Corey and Kristy to catch up with their growing boys and meet their newest family member Ben....

We're excited and so ready for a break!!!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Happy Birthday Avery

Today is Avery's 3rd Birthday. Because of family scheduling conflicts her party was held two weeks ago so that everyone could be there. When Avery stayed with us last month I discovered that she loves Teletubbies and the poor girl didn't have a video of them. So Aunt Crystal searched online (they don't make Teletubbies anymore) and found her a video. I'm not sure that Charity and Justin fully appreciated my gift because Teletubbies are annoying. They may change their minds when realize they could get 30 minutes of quiet while she is memorized by the weird creatures.
Happy Birthday Avery

I didn't realize until I put the pictures here that they both have a crazy look in their eyes. I've always thought those crazy looks came from the other half of their genetics....maybe I'm wrong???

Cade and Avery with Kennedy, Avery's other first cousin


Here is a picture of the 3 year olds mesmerized by the Teletubbies. They even managed to suck Cade into it that night. I don't know what it is about Teletubbies but they have that effect on everyone....I'm big enough to admit that yes, I've been known to get sucked into the shows on occasion.

I thought this was a cute picture of Cade. He looks like he's already on vacation!






Frog Gigging

Jay and Cade went Frog Gigging for the first time last week. The FFA held a Frog Gigging Tournament the opening night of the season. Since it sounded like a disgusting sport to me I stayed home. Cade loved it. He managed to get a frog on only his 3rd try which really impressed Jay. Unfortunately Cade came home before the frog legs got fried up so he didn't get to taste his rewards. Hopefully someone from PETA won't accidentally come across my blog....

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Blogging Break

After logging on here today it looks like I took an unplanned Blogging Break. I'm not really sure what happened or what my excuse is for not blogging since June 16th....

Our summer seems to be progressing at warp speed. Cade's last baseball game was June 25th. The team managed to come out of quite a slump and ended up playing in the championship game during the tournament. Unfortunately we lost. If we'd had last bats we would've won, but it was a good lesson in losing for Cade. He didn't get a trophy and it upset him terribly. It was to the point of him sobbing uncontrollably and Jay getting very frustrated by the fact he would not stop crying. It was a hot, sweaty, dusty, tear filled scene at the ball field for a few minutes. It turns out that Cade's behavior really wasn't his fault. He came down with strep 36 hours later so that explained the ugly incident at the game.

Speaking of strep, which seems like all we've talked about since January, Cade is scheduled for a tonsillectomy on July 22. After the last round of strep even Cade was asking how much longer till his surgery. We are really hoping that taking out his tonsils will not only make him feel better but also improve his mood. The last few months our sweet little boy has been replaced by a grump. I'm sure that the bad mood is because he doesn't feel good and hasn't felt good for some time. He's been on antibiotics non-stop since May 16. He'll be off for one day and the sore throat will come back. This last time he was put on Zithromax and has managed to be unmedicated for 5 days and so far no sore throat. Keeping our fingers crossed that we'll be ok until his surgery.

On Friday we are leaving for vacation. This year we are returning to New York and DC with the kids attending WLC. This time we're spending two nights in NYC and one night in Atlantic City. We'll be gone from July 10th until July 20th. I'm really looking forward to the trip this year. Lyle and Jania are also going so that should be fun. Jania and I are driving a van with the luggage and Ty and Cade. I'm sure there will be lots of pictures to post once we return.

And if anyone of you is wondering about Charlie since I haven't posted much about him in awhile - he is turning into a somewhat decent dog. I think the "surgery" he had last December is finally working and he's calmed down considerably. Last Friday I walked outside to see him headed over to the neighbors cows. I yelled at Jay that Charlie was trying to chase the cows. Jay stood by the road and yelled at Charlie to come back and surprisingly he did. That was major progress considering this was the same field Charlie disappeared in with his blue leash fluttering in the breeze a year ago. I keep reminding Jay that it's baby steps, but he is getting better. Considering Charlie's almost 3 it's about time he starts settling down.