Wacked! Jakie's Tonsils & Adenoids Are Gonners!

Jacob is now only a portion of the kid he once was. In a good way though. His adenoids and tonsils were wreaking havoc on his ability to speak, sleep and definitely breathe. I took him to the Dr. at the end of November and our awesome Pediatric E.N.T. Dr. Alpar said that there was no question that the adenoids had to go. The tonsils were not definite because the X-Rays could not tell us if they were problematic while Jacob slept.

We decided to go ahead with the surgery so, on December 2nd (since we already met the years deductible) we took Jacob in to have the procedure (maybe plural if the tonsils were going to come out) done at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. Jacob was actually pretty well prepared since we did not want to lie to him. We told him that he would stop gagging everyday on the mucus that could not escape past the adenoids and that he would be able to breathe. He was excited about that but unsure about pain. We promised him that we would be with him and that although it would hurt, it would not be terrible. He just kind of said okay and was fine with it. I think the prospect of gagging every day and no breathing was enough for him to be willing.

We got to the hospital on the 2nd at 6:30am and headed up to the sign in area. The staff was so nice and Jacob loved that they talked to him on his level. We hung out for a bit before being called back to get all changed and ready for his prep. He was excited to lay in a bed in his undies and watch TV (very normal for him). Then, all of the staff came in to go over things with him and unlike most children, he loved it. He talked to every person that came in and wanted to know exactly what all of their equipment did. Everyone was wonderful with him and it really made such a difference.

Thank came sedation time. Ever seen your child on a sedative? I did once when Jake broke his arm a few years ago and it is so weird to see them so out of it. I must say though, this time it was quite different. I can remember what they gave him but out of no where he immediately starts acting strange. He first started laughing in with his head scrunched into his shoulders that were shrugged up (kinda Grinch like). Then, he made funny noises and laughed about them to himself. Then he got really mellow and wide eyed and repeated everything we said. Finally, he started belly laughing about everything. We all laughed with him but as they took him down the hall to the OR, rick said that he got really super giddy and everyone laughed. The anesthesiologist said that she usually gives the red heads extra sedation (with a wink) but that Jake was a great patient that just laughed on the meds.

He was in surgery for about 1 & 1/2 hours and I figured that they had decided to take out the tonsils since the adenoids are only a 45 minute surgery. They called us back to see Jake after he had been in recover for about 20 minutes and he was laying peacefully sleeping. Most kids come out of anesthesia badly (they told us), but Jake just laid there quietly and drank juice when offered it. His time in the recovery area was spent quietly watching a show or looking at a book they offered him. Towards the end of the recovery time he was able to get up and go poke around a play area offered in the children's recovery wing.

It took quite a few hours to get cleared to go home, but we packed it up at about 5pm and headed home to get Ricky from our friends house. We were all glad to be headed home by then and Jake was ready for his medication.

It has now been 6 days since the surgery and he is doing really well. His throat still hurts when the pain medication wears off, but his combination of self taught sign language, ice cream and Popsicles help. See if you can guess these:

This one below is POPSICLES:

Ricky is loving Jake's surgery thought because when Jake gets a treat, he gets one. Gotta love little brothers! Ricky wants to say hi:

Back to Jake. So far, Jake is much better in the day, but nights are still hard for him. He wakes up in a lot of pain so I am looking forward to it all being back to normal at some point. He is out of school until next week and enjoying the movies and will, so I hope we can get him back on track at some point!

This is gross to look at, but here is a picture of what the adenoids look like. The circle is the passage way and the big ball in the center is the adenoid. These are the main reason for his snoring, apnea, constant congestion and gagging. The Dr. Said they were blocking between 90-100% of the passage flow. That means air and all. Poor Kid! Glad those suckers are out!

Getting Our Christmas Tree...Tis The Season!

We got our Tree! Yay. We have had fake trees in the past but last year we decided to get a real tree. I just love the smell of the real pine trees, the whole ritual of finding a tree that is just right, but this year we stepped it up just a notch higher. We decided to go to a real Christmas tree farm and hunt our own.

We went with our friends the Wilson's and sought out a tree that we could afford and transport back home. We did a tractor pulled wagon ride out to the site for trees and hunted the perfect one. Well, not perfect, but a far cry from our previous trees in the past purchased from a nursery and Wal- Mart. We felt like we were really getting into the Christmas mood since Thanksgiving is finally over. It wa

s FREEZING and of course, I wore flip flops (duh) so we were excited to get one and get warm. I think that we will make it a tradition to go and hack one down on our own (or get the cute little 16 year old with the hack saw to do it for us) each winter. Here's to December, Winter and Christmas! I love them all.

Snakes & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails

I just wanted to take a moment and record my feelings:

I had a great day and enjoyed my children playing with friends for hours. After hours of lunch, treats and playing outside, I surveyed my boys and had to laugh. Ricky was absolutely FILTHY because he dug in the dirt and kept his shoes off all afternoon. Jacob had managed to take his relatively new jeans and destroyed them by sliding on his knees and getting holes.
Dirty faces, dirty clothes, dirty noses. It never ends with little boys it seems. I get frustrated at times because I want to keep clean kids, a clean house and all, but the truth is that I love my little rough and tumble boys.
There is nothing like getting tackled and given hundreds of kisses, being pulled at for attention and spontaneous screams of " I love you".

There is NO femininity in these little guys. I love it, I love being their mom. I truly would not change a thing! I love you boys!

My Other Blog

A few weeks ago I posted about getting a new treadmill and wanting to get fit. I have so much to say on the issue, but I don't want it all mixed in with the family blog. So, I decided to start a fitness journal blog about what I am doing, how I am doing it and all that jazz. My hope is that I can chronicle my efforts and find humor and success as I go. If you would like to check it out, I am at http://gettingfithowimdoingit.blogspot.com/. I have it listed along the right column of this blog at the top under "My Other Blog About Fitness & Nutrition" . If you care to comment I would love to hear your thoughts as I go!

Our Ward- Pittsburgh 2nd, 2010

For years I have wanted to get pictures of the ward but never been able to do so. This year Bishop Haroldson took a large group picture for us and I thought it would be awesome to document it for us to remember. We have so many families that we love and with whom we have become great friends. Here it is, Pittsburgh 2nd Ward! Well, everyone that was there that day:

-PICTURE TO COME-

Sister Olsen followed suit right after and got the majority of the kids born around Rickys time all captured together. When it rains, it pours! Cant wait to get those guys into Primary! I guess if you can baptize them, you just birth them!

The kids shown are L-R (? Spencer, Olivia, ? Barrett, Zack Kimber (in the far back by his mom), Conner Waits, Ricky Shumway, David Rodriguez, Wynter Olsen, and Bella Garvin). We were missing Abby Machin, but we got most of them.

Here are just a few of the families that we have come to really enjoy spending time with and getting to know. They are in costume as they were taken at a Halloween Party by sister Wilson, but the families none the less.

L-R

1. Ben & Jamie Haner

Kids: Emma & Lilly

2. Josh & Jenn Olsen

Kids: Mia, Mckinlee & Wynter

3. Todd & Liz Waits

Kids: Connor

4. Brandon & Joyelle Turley

Kids: Jackson, Maddux & Capri

L-R
1. Friends of The Wilsons
2. Mandy & Brian Mancuso
3. Mark & Kelly Kimber
Kids: Josh, Bryant, Anna, Ethan & baby Zack.

L-R
1. Dan & Amy Spencer
Kids: Taryn, Hudson & Weston
2. Us

Kids: Jacob & Ricky
3. Neil & Mckinsey Lefler

Kids: Sofi & Kamber

Primary Program 2010 The ABC's Of The Gospel

Well, it is done! Our primary program wend wonderfully. I cannot imagine it going better if we tried. Each child said their parts in their own words and their pure little spirits just stole the show. I just love my primary kids! I just love my councilors and I sure appreciate my teachers! As time goes on I think that we have clicked and things run so well considering our small size and considerable challenges.

Barb and Dianne and Linda (councilors and Secretary) were awesome and found the format that we used during the program. Together we planned each child's part and I think we got it just right. Here is the outline in case you wonder what we did:

ABC's of the Gospel:

Intro: This year we have focused on our "Savior, Jesus Christ". His life. His ministry. His gospel. The children want to tell you what they've learned. The lessons taught by the teachers each week are sometimes have difficult principles for the students to understand, but we try to make it easy for them.......In fact, it can be as easy as the A,B, C's.

We have each child supplement the Letters meaning below with a scripture, experience, or testimony and an example or explanation of what it means to them. We interspersed songs that we worked on through the year as they matched the themes being shared.

A is for the Articles of Faith
B is for Baptism
C is for Confirmation
D is for Doctrine & Covenants
E is for Eternal Families
F is for Fun
G is for Goodly Parents
H is for the Holy Ghost
I is for Invite (others to hear the gospel)
J is for Joseph Smith
K is for Knowledge
L is for Love
M is for Miracles
N is for Nephi
O is for Ordinances
P is for Prophets
Q is for QUIET (this one was yelled at the crowd by a sunbeam-- it was adorable.)
R is for Redeemer
S is for Service
T is for Truth
U is for Understanding
V is for Virtue
W is for Wisdom
X is for eXample (this one was done by each Nursery child and parent holding a picture depicting Christs example for us. Lots of scenes from his life and they were announced what each picture was by the nursery leader.)
Y is for Young (I loved this one: "Even though we are young, there is much good that we can do.")
Z is for Zion (the whole primary repeated together: "Zion is a place where everyone is kind and fair and loves one another, just like Jesus taught." )

I closed the program with remarks that varied from thank yous, testimony, examples and finished by saying that "we learn a lot of important things in primary, but if we ever forget, just remember to go back to the basics, back to our ABC's.

I loved being a part of this program. It was rewarding to conceive of an idea, fill it in with the kids parts and watch it come to fruition. I love primary and I love my kids. I have thoroughly enjoyed this calling and really have enjoyed working with my presidency. I don't know how long I will get to serve in it but I sure do love it!

Hope yours was as cute as ours. Hope you felt the spirit like we did. Wish you were here!

Trick Or Treat!!! Happy Halloween Everyone!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

We had a great week leading up to the big day! Jacob and Ricky got to dress in their costumes so many times that when we got them ready to go for the real thing on Saturday night they were less than enthusiastic. They had already been to a Primary party on Tuesday, school on Friday and a party later that night. We were going to do some early trick or treating, but the kids were exhausted.

We met with friends at a Ward members parents house in Monongahela at 6pm and went until about 8pm. Monongahela is a super cute town about 15 minutes South of Jefferson Hills (where we live) that has one unique old home after another.

Kids roamed the streets with their parents and costumes were everywhere. I have seen more ferries and super hero's this year than ever! Jacob and Ricky were a Walrus and Super Mario and they looked adorable. They loved going door to door with our friends children and got bags and bags of treats. Mom and Dad appreciated the haul later that evening after the kids went to bed and the kids passed out cold.

Both kids had a great time and mom and dad loved seeing them play and laugh as they scored one great treat after another. Thanks Monongahela! Happy Halloween!