Breakfast

Breakfast is important for little boys. Carter, as always, ate a great breakfast. During the rest of the day his eating habits are up for debate, but he is solid at breakfast. Spike, well, when I asked him what he wanted for breakfast, this was his response: "clouds and mountains and snow and rainbows." Coming right up!

P.S. Yesterday he told me that the "trees eat the rain and mountains eat the clouds". Beauty and perspective really are in the eyes of the beholder. I love hanging out with these kids.

Signs...

Sunscreen. Flip flops. Yard work. Dirty kids. The absence of coats, hats, and gloves. Running outside. Zoiee stretched out asleep on the lawn. Hot dogs on the grill. Birds in the field. Water running in the culverts. The threat of rain. Feeling like I've had a thousand pounds lifted off my shoulders when I breathe in the warm air. Ahhhh yes, SPRING IS HERE!!!

It's a good thing to, because this is what is happening inside the house

Yep, that is just what you think it is....Spike, in underwear only, jumping on his hippity hop ball on the mini trampoline.

In unrelated news...voles. I went golfing with Jeff yesterday at Soldier Hollow. Apparently, they have had a severe infestation. There were dead vole bodies all over the course! AWESOME. Jeff golfed, I hunted for bodies. A great time was had by all.

Day 48 of My Captivity ( I actually counted)

If you haven't seen us much this winter, be glad. If you have seen us, condolences. We are the plague. Honestly, the plague. The fall was good to us. We stayed out of busy public places, we washed our hands, we waited in line for vaccinations, we used bottles of hand sanitizer. We were hermits. I declared victory on disease. Call me mother of the year, my kids were staying healthy. God laughed at me.

I went on a girl's weekend in January. I felt so refreshed. I came home to the beginning stages of captivity. Carter had a cough, maybe a little fever. Generally not on the top of his game. He was sick for a week. Carter perked up and Spike got sick. Jeff got sick. I got sick. Ashley got sick. Gil got sick. My how we spread our love. Spike's little cough quickly turned to pneumonia. I waited too long to take him to the doctor. Three weeks of breathing treatments, antibiotics, steroids, supplemental oxygen, and three doctor's visits later he was better. We met our insurance deductible. We decided we were safe to leave the house.

Mom and Dad had a tragic fight with the weather that resulted in a missed cruise, so they took each of the boys for a couple days for "vacation." I swear I thought Carter was healthy when I sent him to Bear Lake last week. Again, I was wrong. When we picked him up last weekend, he was lethargic. He had a cough, a stomach ache, a little fever. He felt better by Tuesday, but Mom started to feel sick. Spike was getting sick and his breathing was a little off. At my mom's urging, I called the doctor Friday afternoon at 3:30 to ask what to watch for in case the pneumonia was coming back. I was told to bring him in immediately. Great news, it isn't pneumonia, he has H1N1. No worries though, it can easily turn to pneumonia again.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!! I asked the doctor three times if she was sure. Apparently she is. I told her it wasn't possible, because Carter had been sick and he'd been immunized. She told me that is why he only had mild symptoms. We have to stay home. We get to go to the doctor again tomorrow and, sadly, I'm just excited to leave the house. Spike is back on breathing treatments. How I hate "dinosaur breathing".(It has this name because the mask is the shape of a purple dinosaur). I'm sleeping in Carter's super bed to be by Spike. The super bed sucks. Mom and I missed my cousin's baby shower. I sulked. I've acted super grumpy. I've worn only sweats. I've eaten chips and candy and diet coke exclusively. I'm still not sure that he has H1N1. He isn't super sick. The fever is mostly gone, the wheezing has started. We are still captive and contagious.

P.S....the insurance plan year ended 1/31/10. So we get to meet the deductible again. Fortunately, it looks like with a job change and an insurance change, we'll meet the deductible for Spike 3 times this year. Awesome.

Post-it

So this is not really a post...more of a post-it note. Carter was sick this weekend and this is how it went down. He entered my room about 6:00 AM, looked at me with a total "deer in the headlights/panicked face" and yelled, "Mom, I don't think I'm healffee (Healthy)," and then he threw up. It cracked me up. Only Carter would announce sickness in that way.

In other news, Spike is now obsessed with monster trucks. He asks for "ucks.." (trucks) as soon as he wakes up in the morning. Between reading the monster truck program, watching Monster Jam recordings, and sending his trucks down the slide, he has as full schedule. As a note, Carter has had the same Gravedigger monster truck for the last three years. It was in perfect condition. Until this week when Spike started playing with it. It now has lost the body and has a bent axle. Go Spike.

The Verdict

The pediatric GI called this afternoon and the verdict is in...Eosinophilic Esophagitis. If you are curious, here is link http://allergies.about.com/od/foodallergies/a/ee.htm After talking to the doctor, I've decided that this sucks, but we can deal with it. The plan is to elminate soy from his already restricted diet. That means no soy, gluten, dairy, eggs, or peas. I'm sure there will be a learning curve to this, but I hope that the main change will just be from soy milk to rice milk. Fortuantely, he already eats very little processed food, so maybe this elimination won't be as hard as the others? Keep your fingers crossed. In addition, he will begin with a systemic steroid for the next few weeks and then move to a topical steriod. The hope is that this will clear up the inflamation so that he can handle food better.

Thank you so much for all of your concern and support over the last week. The process of waiting and worrying was overwhelming, lonely and draining . Your support and love made the process easier. Often, I find myself worrying that I've done something wrong, something to cause Spike suffering. Your sweet comments and emails helped me to find confidence in myself and my ability to be a good mother to my boys. Thank you for being our friends. Thank you for loving us despite all of our shortcomings. Thank you.

So I was Wrong

Yesterday morning, we braved terrible roads, early morning hours and a 17 month old without a bottle/breakfast, to take Spike to his endoscopy at Primary Children's. This test was ordered in the end of October and we just got in this week. (As a strange coincidence, it was on this day two years that we saw the first extensive ultrasound of Spike). I've been dreading this test for a number of reasons. First, I am just a nervous person and the thought of putting my baby under general anesthesia and handing him off to people I don't know is scary. Second, I have been convinced there is nothing wrong with Spike and this is a waste of time and money. It seemed ridiculous to spend a fortune and put Spike through an ordeal to find out what I already knew, he is healthy.

Well, after two chats with the pediatric GI, a trip to the "consultation room" and a long time in the recovery room, I can say it, "I was wrong." There is something wrong with Spike's esophagus. We are still waiting on some biopsies to make a final diagnosis, but most likely he will have a course of treatment that may involve limiting his diet further and introducing steriod therapy. Honestly, when the doctor was talking, I felt like I couldn't even listen because I was so shocked there was actually something wrong. To be even more honest, I'm still not sure I believe there is anything wrong, even after seeing the pictures, reading the literature, and talking to the GI. Spike has been doing so much better lately that I just can't get my arms around it. I guess I think the pathology will come back that all is well....although the doctor's comment to that idea was, "it is highly unlikely." Whatever, just because he's been to medical school and in practice for 25 years he thinks he knows more than me. :) j/k. I feel like the guy in Dumb and Dumber...."so, you're saying there's a chance".

Anyway, the best part of the story is Spike. Even under icky conditions, the child was 100% spunk. While waiting for the anesthesiologist, he was throwing toys and being wild (while I recieved dirty looks from all the other parents). When he came out of surgery he was "agitated" to say the least. He held his breath for 30 seconds and turned blue, requiring supplemental oxygen, because he was so mad. Every time a nurse would come he'd hold up his arm with the IV and scream "ting, ting". Meaning, "TAKE THIS THING OFF MY ARM!" What can I say, the kid knows how to win friends and influence people.

I had a picture of Spike in recovery to post, but for some reason it won't load...maybe I'll try again later. In the meantime, I realize what we are going though is NOTHING in comparison to what millions of parents endure every day. Even so, if you have any extra time in your prayers, throw in a wish for Spike.

How Can Someone so Cute be so Bad?

I had planned to write a post about our vacation today, but Spike just trumped it. I took him out of the bath this morning and put him down for a nap wearing just a diaper. Bad move. He has taken off his diaper a few times before, but it's never been a big mess. Usually, it's just been kind of funny to walk in on a kid with a bare bum in his bed. That said, I should have learned my lesson. I didn't.

I heard him fussing and went in to get him out of his bed. I opened the door and the smell hit me. You guessed it, poop. I quickly assessed the situation, disaster. He'd taken off the perfectly dry, clean diaper. Peed his bed, pooped his bed and then played in it. POOP EVERYWHERE! Everywhere but the diaper that is. I looked at him and screamed, "You didn't!" He looked back at me, pointed at the poo pile and said, "uh oh". Yeah, uh oh.

I thought about taking a picture. Then decided that was disgusting and he would be forever mortified. So, we took another bath and cleaned his room. Spike has now lost "diaper only" privileges and will be wearing a onsie at all times.