Father Daughter Dance

Behind again. The Indian Princess Father Daughter dance was back on February 13th. Kid-O was very excited to goo buy a dress and get all dressed up. A princess of course. I thought she looked beautiful; I might be a bit biased though.

Daddy was really excited. HaHa...

Kid-O picked the green dress with pink flowers to my surprise. She said it is because green is Daddy's favorite color.

Posing...

They finally got home at 9:33pm. Daddy looks tired, what do you think?

Getting closer...

Here is the most recent picture of Little Man's bedroom. I got it painted, and his new bed quilt came in yesterday. It is corduroy, like his red curtains. I have to plug Pottery Barn kids though. The quality of their stuff is great and the colors always match. Everything in all of the kids rooms came from there, ordered at very different times, but the colors match. Makes decorating easy, a bit expensive, but easy. I still have the red stripes to do in Little Man's room also. I will get to those after I get all the rooms painted.

Kid-O's rug finally came in Monday. So I can finally get her room painted. We went yesterday and got the paint for her room, rosewood pink and chocolate pudding is the brown. These are almost the exact colors of the pink and brown polka dot area of her rug. She is excited and I am ready to get started. Hopefully today, we will see.

What do I do with all these thoughts?

Little Man and I are back from UAB, for a while anyway. He has to go back in two months, but at least we have a break for a while. Today, the neurosurgeon asked, "So, what was the symptoms that brought you here again?" I said the sensation of bugs crawling on him. His response, "Oh Yeah, this will be filed under wierd or obsecure symptoms." The doctor, for the life of him can't seem to figure out how we got to him. We should never have gotten there, Little Man had no symptoms of a tethered spinal cord. I so tried to explain how God brought us there, but of course, he did not want to hear that. I am having a hard time dealing with such a thought process. How can you not see God?

To top everything off, I have been on a downward emotional rollercoaster since Little Man's surgery. It is almost like, God gave me all the strength I needed to get through this last year, and now I don't need the strength anymore, and I am falling apart at the seams. I look at Little Man and the tears start, I think about what God saved him from and the tears start, I think about a little boy with scoliosis, who had surgery the same morning as Little Man and the tears start, I think about what a blessing it was to have just a tethered spinal cord when there were so many children at the Children's Hospital that have much more serious conditions and the tears start, then today Little Man said the bugs aren't gone. Wow, what do I do with that? I believed with all my heart, and soul, that God was going to take those away after the surgery. Faith of a mustard seed, I had/have it, so why did he say the bugs are back.

I think about the mirad of questions that Little Man has asked over the last couple of days, and wonder, where do these thoughts come from. He has asked such questions as, when do you die, how big is God, what do you have to believe in Jesus, how do you get to live in heaven with God. My answer to when do you die was "usually when you are old", to how big is God was "so big we can't even begin to imagine or explain", to what do you have to believe in Jesus was "that Jesus came to earth and died for your sins", so on and so forth. Then today while we were eating lunch at Little Man's favorite place, you guessed it, McDonald's Little Man says, "I believe, I really believe in Jesus." The tears were back again. He is four, what do you do with that, especially when you are on a rollercoaster. Satan wants to use it, God wants to use it. I guess Little Man has decided four is old because he said he would die when he was four. Just thought that funny.

The thoughts are crazy, confusing, overwhelming, depressing, amazing, grateful, and too much. I need many prayers. This blog has become my journal, the place I get my thought out, my struggles, my fears, my life.

What do I do with all these thoughts?

Last Time I Hope...

Little Man and I are off to UAB for his follow up appointment. I will let you know how it goes. I pray this is our last trip for a very long time. Thank you again for all of your prayers. We have appreciated them so much.

Almost Done...

Mini-Me has been in Tennessee since Tuesday of last week. We thought it best for him not to be here while Little Man was recovering from surgery. How do you get a two year old to understand that you can't jump on top of the four year old laying on the living room floor. Anyway, he will be back Wednesday of this week, with a surprise. The Hubby and I bought him a bed this weekend, so his room is almost done.

I still have to put the red and blue strips on the walls in his room, but otherwise it is finished. I have to thank Going Goofy though. I have never been the consignment shop type of person, but I have learn to appreciate what you just might find in one. I found this set of bunk beds in a consignment shop here in town a few weeks ago for a good price and they are really sturdy; which I love. Anyway, we got the whole set, with mattresses and bunkie boards for under $500.00. The hubby and I thought it was a great deal. Mini-Me does not need bunk beds, but we thought having the one extra bed was a good idea.

Little Man gave his airplane quilt to Mini-Me for the top bunk, so that the room looks like what their old room would have looked like. Little Man opted for a solid navy blue corduroy quilt, with solid red sheets for his room. I will take pictures and show you after the quilt comes in. Little Man and I went yesterday and picked out his sheets. He got a set of red sheets for Mini-Me too. Their rugs finally came in as well. I ordered them at the end of December; they have been on back order. Kid-O's rug should be here today, so I can get her room painted now. I will post pictures when I get it done. I think it will look really good. We are going with brown and pink this time.

The Fifth Day...

Well, it is the fifth day and Little Man is allowed to get up and move around. He has gotten up and changed locations a couple of times, and went to the bathroom a couple of times. Other than that he has laid around most of the day so far. He is moving more and more though. It is amazing how quick kids bounce back.

God is Amazing...

I had said in a previous post that God had been amazing and I would tell you in another post. Well, I think I have a few minutes to do that right now. First off, Little Man is going great. He is ready to get up tomorrow, but I don't know that his body is ready to get up and moving tomorrow. We will see. He said he was getting up but not much. Other than that, he was been an amazingly great patient, no complaining, when he is in pain, he says very little about it; he tends to just ask for some medicine, etc. I have to say from my perceptive, not having to do house work all day everyday has been great. I have just sat around and done nothing but play games and watch TV with Little Man. I am not going to want to go back to work.

Anyway, so if you have been following Little Man's story, you know that this process started over a year ago. His symptoms had been going on since he was not quite two (i.e. leg pain, headaches, dizziness, and the bug sensation all over his body). Well, all along Little Man knew that we were going to all these doctors to figure out what was causing his bugs. Each different doctor and diagnosis told us this was not what was causing the bugs. The dizziness and headaches, were/are most likely caused by the heart condition. The leg pain and stiffness, along with the bugs, we were told they just did not know. Well, then we discovered the tethered spinal cord, only because I insisted on the MRI of his spinal cord. I had to take Kid-O to the doctor for strep throat, and Little Man began to cry, "but I need to go to the doctor, they still have not gotten rid of my bugs." That was when I insisted on the spinal MRI.

At that point, they sent us on to UAB for a consult with the neurosurgeon, who then confirmed the diagnosis of the tethered spinal cord. When the neurosurgeon began to ask how we got to him, I gave him the process and the bugs, and his response was that we had gotten there by serendipity. Serendipity, what a load of crap when you believe in God and that there are no coincidences in life.

So, that gets us up to date quickly. Then Saturday night, Little Man was getting in the bed and asking questions about his surgery, what they were going to doing, and why? I explained the surgery to him, and told him they were doing the surgery to get rid of his bugs. His exact words were, "but my bugs are gone Mommy." Wow. I knew in my heart that his bugs would be gone after the surgery. I truly believed that God had to use the bugs to get me to start searching to find out what was going on with his body. His bugs are gone. Let that sink in, I have been for days, it is still overwhelming. This has been a long and tiring process, but wow what an amazing one it has been. Little Man is a product of a miracle. Had there been no bugs, there would have been no reason to search for a problem. Otherwise we would not have known anything until the 100% chance of lose of bladder and bowel function and lose of male sexual function occurred. What an amazing blessing that God has given to us and to Little Man.

Serendipity...I believe not.

At Home...

We are here and Little Man is getting settled into his spot in the living room for the next few days.

At this very moment, he is watching Madagascar Escape 2 Africa.

We're Out of Here...

They thought the volume left in Little Man's bladder still a little high, but they are going to let him go anyway. The doctor said he thought that the volume would get better once Little Man was able to sit up. They give us very detailed instruction though, if anything changed, volume in, volume out, that kind of thing. So hopefully, the next post you will see is of Little Man laying flat in his own house. Thank you for all your prayers. We do so greatly appreciate them.

More updates...

As you can tell from this picture, Little Man is feeling better. He has been playing his DS more, talking more, and less tired. He wants to come home, but we don't know yet. The doctor came in and said they would do pictures of the bladder after he had peed, to determine if the bladder was emptying properly. If it emptied completely they will discharge him. The first one did not look hopeful, but they did not come in until about 25 minutes after he had peed. We are going to try again at about 12:30pm. So far he does not have to go yet. So as of right now, it is still in the air as to whether we get to come home today. We are praying that we get too.

Don't look at the next picture if you don't like details.

Here is the picture of Little Man's incision. I took pictures of it one of the times we rolled him to his side. It is about three inches long. It looks good though, nice and clean. I will let you know as soon as we know if we are heading home today.

Continue to pray for the healing of Little Man's body and bladder. Thank you.

Exhausted

Little Man did eat some of his food yesterday evening and was able to keep that down. However, at 9pm last night he had not been able to pee. The hubby and I worked with him for over an hour, with massage, heat, running water, the works we manage to get 100cc out of his bladder. However, that was not enough for the doctor so we had to have the Foley tubing put in to empty the bladder. Little Man did great through it, but he hated it. His urodynamics was just too fresh on his mind. Anyway, he has woke up several times through the night, five I think, and peed anywhere from 125 to 250 cc. So that is very good. Painful for him to have the Foley tube inserted, but with instant results.

Another question was asked: "What happen to Little Man's face?"

Well, he and his sister can tell the story the best, but here goes. In the back yard there was a stack of round concrete pavers. Well, they got the crazy idea to roll them to the swing set and put them from the base of the slide to the ladder, as stepping stones. Well, Saturday Little Man was trying to jump on the the slide, about midway up, and caught one leg and knee over on the slide, but missed the other. When that happened, he sled off the side of the slide rolled and hit is face on one of those concrete pavers. So his face has a nice circular stretch and knot on it. Kid-O's knee keep him from hitting his head on the paver a second time.

So, that is what happened to his face. Everyone here at the hospital has asked him about it too.

Back to the title, I am exhausted, Sunday night, I did not get off to sleep till just after midnight, sleep good until about 2 am, then proceed to wake up every 15 to 25 minutes, until 4 am. Then of course, any of you who have ever sleep at a hospital know you can't sleep here. They are in and out of the room all night long, Little Man needing to pee so many times, he was in some pain at 3am, so I asked then the give him is Motrin, which he had not had all day, just Tylenol, because Motrin, seems to make him a little cranky. This time it appears to just made him go to sleep. So all together, I have probably had 6 to 7 hours sleep for two days. The hubby is sleeping very well though, so if we get to go home, he will be okay to drive.

I will update after we see the doctor.

Updating...

First, the question was asked if Little Man has to stay over night and the answer to that question is yes.

Secondly, the doctor came in about 3:30pm. Little Man had just thrown up his Sprite, and he has not peed. They are going to give him eight more hours. If he does not pee, and keep liquid/food down he will not get to come home tomorrow. I ask that each of you pray for those two things to happen. We don't want Little Man to have to stay here any longer than necessary, but if it is not God's will for him to go home tomorrow, that is okay as well. God's will that is what we want.

Thank you.

Out of Surgery

Little Man has been out of surgery since 10:20 am. At 11:30am, they move him to a room. As of now, he is in pain, but doing well. He just drank some sprite.

As you can tell, he looks fabulous. I will let you know how he progresses through the day and what the neurosurgeon says later. The doctor said he would be in around 3 to 3:30 pm.

Thank you again for all the prayers. Many, many blessings that I will tell in detail properly after we get home.

There he goes, Mister America....

They wheeled him back to the OR at about 9:20am. We just received the call at 10am that he is under and they were just getting started with the surgery. From here the wait should be 45 minutes to 1 hour. Oh if you are wondering, he is coloring.

We are here

This is Little Man watching television this morning before we left our room. The Ronald McDonald house was full, so they did not have room for us; however, they gave us a voucher for the Medical Center Inn for $15 a night.
Here we are waiting in the room, to be prep for surgery. I don't really understand this whole be here at 5:30am, and yet they have done very little and it is now 7:20am. Go figure. Anyway, Little Man is doing great. I will let you know when they take him back for surgery, and when he gets out. If all goes well, I will update often.

Thank you for all the prayers.

Ronald McDonald House

The hubby, Little Man and I are headed to the Ronald McDonald house this evening. That way we don't have to leave here at 3am to be a UAB at 5:30am. I will try to post several time tomorrow to let you all know how everything is going. I have high hopes for internet around the hospital. I know there is internet at the Ronald McDonald house.

I just ask for continued prayers for Little Man and the guiding of the doctors hands by God.

I Got too it...

I told you I would try to get to uploading pictures of the scrapbook room, now that it is organized. We have been back to the doctor twice this week. Once to the ENT to have Little Man's tubes removed, which they did not remove one, because it is still slightly attached to the eardrum. Then back to the sick doctor, as we call him around here, because Little Man spiked a fever of 103.4 yesterday evening with a sore throat. The quick strep test, and flu test came back negative, but his white blood cell count is high (indicating bacterial) so they proceeded on with chest x-rays, to make sure it was not pneumonia, due to his surgery on Monday. They would not proceed if, it was pneumonia. Anyway, those came back negative also, so we are waiting on the results of the overnight strep culture.

So anyway, back to the point of this post. Ah the scrapbook room, which I have yet to use. Too busy. Imagine that. So when you walk down the stairs, the first thing you see is the old desk with the kids' computer. The hubby still has to run phone line, so they can play webkinz. You ask about the door behind the desk. Well, the answer is that is the door that used to go our to the garage, but the hubby and I closed it off and put a new hole in the wall in the laundry room. You ask Why? Well, that door was in a very bad location. You could not park both cars in the garage unless you wanted heo one vehicle next to the door to be beaten to death by the door. So we changed the way you come in and out of the house from the garage. We still have to finish out the hole, and put in a nice door, not the bi-doors into the laundry, because of the heating and cooling. That is for another time. I digress again.

To the left is the laundry room, to the right is the scrapbook room, with the weight bench, which I love because I can get back to working out. It has been years since there was no room in the old house for the weight bench.

Then on you right is the scrapbook desk area. The desk runs the length of the wall, which is really nice. About six to seven feet. I have plenty of room to work.

Hope you enjoyed the tour, with the digression at the beginning.

At it again...

Monday, I got to finish up the kid's bathroom. I put up another scripture related thing up with the remaining letters in a set that I bought. The hubby came up with this one though. Then I put up several of these little wooden frogs that I picked up at Hobby Lobby for $0.59 a piece. The matched and look good.

I will post pictures of the scrapbook room hopefully tomorrow. I got to it Monday as well, organizing, setting up, etc. It looks good now and functional.

Just thought him cute...

I still have not been able to get a routine down for Mini-Me's nap time. So he sleeps whenever he can.

This evening it was on the chaise, while I was playing Mario Kart. He was playing with the tractor and fell asleep. Cute don't you think?

Chinese New Year

At Kid-O's new school, they cover all the subjects, not just reading, math, and a little science. They do handwriting, social studies, lots of science, English, all of it. Anyway, for social studies for January they learned about the Chinese culture. So the last day of January, they had a Chinese parade, and Chinese food.

The kids had a great time with it. I have spoken to Kid-O's new teacher several times, and on our first or second talk, she told me I needed to relax. I was too stressed out, because I was pushing Kid-O. She said, kids aren't going to learn if it is not fun. Wow, fun a novel concept. There was no fun at the previous school, no cupcakes for birthdays, no salt or sugar in the lunch, therefore no favor, and AR was pushed to no end. Kid-O and I love the new school, she is learning lots, and her handwriting has improved greatly.

Green Mountain

Saturday, the boys and I went up to Green mountain. We had been told by several people that we should venture up there. Since Kid-O and the hubby were gone on their cave trip with Indian Princess, the boys and I decided to venture. It was nice up there. Lots of trails to hike and walk on, a small lake, and a large picnic area. It was nice, and we spent a couple hours walking around and of course taking pictures. I thought I would share some of the best and funniest of them all. Here are our crazy boys.

We were having a hard time getting Little Man's hat straight. I have several pictures in a row where the location of the hat is slightly different, but never straight. Go figure, I can't get it straight.

I love this picture; however, I can't use it. I was off on my lighting a bit. If you look at Mini-Me's left cheek, you can see the flash mark.

Mini-Me looking serious, like the hubby.

He posed for this one himself. I did not set him up like this.

Getting a two year old to look at the camera is a difficult task.

Little Man is getting into the posing phase. I like it though.

Just being down right silly.

Adorable.