Packing up.....Happy Early Turkey Day!

Well tomorrow we are heading to the in-laws for a nice long Thanksgiving break. We spent the evening packing and getting ready. You know, I hate packing when it's winter. I mean the clothes are thicker, take up more room, need to have extra cause I'm sure we will be outside in the snow. Oh yah, don't forget the boots, gloves, hats, snow pants - that's a whole other bag. But for the most part we are packed.

I hope everybody has a great Thanksgiving. I am ready for some turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, and don't forget the deserts. YUM! The boys colored turkeys at school today and listed their favorite treats. Dylan said Turkey....Cody said Lollipop. Um......OK.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday Connor

Today was my nephew's birthday. He turned 2. Ah...the terrible two stage. I have to say though he entered it about 6 months ago. I always thought 2 was tough but Tyler is in the horrible three's and I am thinking this is worse. Can't believe Connor is 2. I remember when Karly called me and told me "my mom's gonna have a baby". I was stunned silent - and that doesn't happen often. :) I always thought my sister was just going to have Karly - and honestly they did too. Connor was their surprise baby. Those surprise babies sure do have a way of sneaking into your heart. Connor had a John Deere birthday party on Saturday. He loves tractor's, footballs, telling people that his grandpa cut down a tree, beating up his cousins (while they sit in awe because he is the baby and we are gently with babies), he cracks me up as he tells me "shut up auntie" with the cutest little grin on his face. He of course gets in trouble but it's still cute.

The very yummy birthday cake!

Happy 2nd Birthday Connor!
He loves his football!

Today, Jack also turned a month old! That's hard to believe too. He is recovering well after surgery. Taking his bottle without all the fuss afterward. You hate to see the kids spit up but I can't imagine seeing them vomit the way he was.

Mom mom is on the mend. She stayed in bed all day and got some more much needed sleep. Tonight as I left Tanya's.....Shaun wasn't feeling well. Tanya confirmed tonight - he is the next to get this. Knocking on wood that we don't! Time will tell. I just hope we get to enjoy Turkey!

It stopped raining...

Ok, I'm not really talking about the rain. :)

Both Jack and my mom were discharged today. Jack has kept his bottles down and is doing well. He had laproscopic surgery so only 3 small incisions and no stitches. So that is a good thing. My mom got discharged last night. She came down with a flu bug and was dehydrated. So I guess rather she had been in NY or in MD she would of ended up in the ER. Just wish it had been NY so Tanya or I could of been there with her. Sorry to any of the men out there but they just aren't compassionate. I do have to say I am very impressed with my husband and how he took care of my mom. Something about a Mom - they just want to be there for family when going through a hard time. She hates she got sick but there is nothing she could of done about it. She didn't plan it or want it. Brett let her sleep the whole ride home and she had 3 little boys very excited to see her when she got home. The flu is a wicked thing and now we are just waiting to see if any of us get it. If so, I hope it's before we get to Cuba this weekend. Time will tell.

We have a nice short week this week. Tomorrow is Connor's 2nd birthday so we'll go have cake again. Yum! Tuesday night we'll be packing (although the boys were packing their toys today - they can't wait to go to grandma and grandpa's) and Wednesday we travel. Still wondering if I am going to hit the Black Friday sales. Looking forward to seeing family over the holidays!

When it Rains it Pours!

The events of the last 24 hours seem to be some what of a blur. It all started last night, I took my gang up to bed around 8 and was hoping for everyone to fall asleep fast so I could have some time with my husband. Instead it was 10pm and Tyler had just fallen asleep when my phone rang. Odd! It was my sister. She never calls that late. Something is wrong.........

She informed me that my brother had called and Jack was needing emergency surgery. OMG! Your kidding right. No. The poor little guy had a pylorus valve blocked in his stomach and has been the reason for his discomfort. So they were being transported to another hospital for surgery. I of course had a million emotions run through me as pediatric surgery is not new to me. But man did I feel so sorry that my brother and Kristie had to go through this too. My mom wanted to go and because my children took forever to go to sleep - Brett got a nice 2 hour nap in. So he offered to drive my mom down so she could be there. They left after midnight.

To top it off - today was Connor's 2nd birthday party. To be honest we went through the motions but were thinking about Jack and my Mom the whole day.

You ask why about my Mom? Well at some point of this afternoon my mom became very ill. She thought she needed something to eat but as they got to the cafeteria she got sick. A doctor walked past and went to be with her in the restroom and ended up taking her to the ER. She was dehydrated and very ill. So they hooked her up to IV's and ordered blood work. She feels horrible and is miserable knowing that she went there to be with Jack. So tonight they are both in the hospital - except on different floors. Ugh. Brett is there with her and we are hoping she gets discharged tomorrow so she can come home. I am at a loss as to what to do. I really can't do anything but hope for the best come morning.

So tonight as I close my eyes I am hoping to get some shut eye myself. I just would like to be in MD right now.

Update from today

Cody and I went to Syracuse today for our 6 month check up with Dr. Tatum. We went to check his ears and discuss his adenoids at the request of our ortho. His adenoids are large but at this time Dr. Tatum does not want to do anything about them. Our ortho is concerned due to growth. Cody is a mouth breather and when you breath primarily out of your mouth it can affect the way your jaw grows. However the adenoids give him extra tissue in the back of his throat to help with his speech. Dr. Tatum said he can "fix" a jaw much more easily than he can "fix" his speech. I agree. And there is nothing saying he will have a jaw growth problem. Only time will tell on that one.

He checked his ears and he said they are just full of wax. So what he could see was limited. He had the nurse do a tympanogram on him and the ear drum didn't move much. He believes the tube in the left ear is out and there is fluid. The right tube is either out with fluid or there is a hole in the eardrum. Right now he just wants to watch for infections. If we should get any then he wants to see us back and he'll have to do surgery to replace the tubes. If we don't have any infections then we see him in July for the team visit.

I did get great news though while there. Back a couple months ago, Cody went for a photo shoot. The team was interested in putting his picture in their brochure. I was very honored that they wanted to use it. After all though his smile does show off Dr. Tatum's handy work. So we did the pictures and was told they would see what looked best. Well today I was shown and then handy their new clinic brochure - and on the front cover is a great picture of my smiling boy! Here it is:

We were thanked for allowing them to use it. I contribute his smile to the wonderful hands of our surgeon. He "fixed" something that almost 5 years ago I never thought could be "fixed".

Meet my friend

While at work today I happen to be checking my emails - I know not supposed to be doing this at work - but I was! I got an email from a dear friend. A friend I met for the first time at the conference in Vegas. He spoke for about an hour and I just thought he was fantastic. So did Brett. Just this past July he came back to the conference and we got to "meet" again. This time it was different. He remembered me. I was amazed and shocked. He is a dear dear friend of the cleftAdvocate organization. He tells a story like no other. Your cheeks hurt when he is done talking.

Meet my friend - David Roche.

I'll share something from his website........
" make my living as a performer, speaker and author. The time has come for me to blog. For more info about me, please visit my website. And, oh yes, I have a facial disfigurement. And I am very funny."

The email you may ask.......the email was that David has a blog. You all know how I love to blog. Well now I am so excited that I can read David's blog. I've read his book - he amazing. He is an older gentlemen, like he said that has a facial disfigurement, he is married, he leads a truly fulfilled life, he is my friend, he will rather he realizes it or not teach me how to prepare Cody for the world.

As I read this post of his, I closed my eyes...I was sitting on the chair in the Ballroom at the Tuscany, David was talking....I was laughing - this is what he was telling us: http://davidroche.com/myface/2008/10/at-middle-school-2/#comments

Relaxing Sunday

Well our weather did a complete 180 from yesterday. Yesterday it was almost 60 and warm. Today it was very, very cold and as I type my car is now covered in snow! I knew it had to come sooner or later. We had a very relaxing Sunday. We got to see my brother as they headed back through to MD. Sad when they left as I am not sure when we are seeing them again yet. I'm thinking a trip to MD is in our plans shortly. After they left, we all vegged out. The boys played, I did what I normally don't do and sat on the couch and watched TV. Just didn't have it in me today. I did a little bit when I had to but all in all it was a very relaxing day. Which is soooo nice! But I had to get out the camera and take a picture!!!! I think this is my new favorite!

Dinner and a Movie

After the Bakugan tournament our afternoon quieted down for a little bit. We got some house work done, Brett went off to Walmart to get groceries, it was a very rainy yucky day out so we just chilled. Brett left around 3 as the football officials all got a bus and headed to Syracuse for the football game tonight. While I am sure the game won't be "wonderful" as SU isn't doing very good at all this year - it's still a fun night out with the guys! I am sure they are having fun.

So the boys and I had plans to go to a benefit dinner. A guy I work with has boys in the cub scouts. They were putting this Spaghetti dinner on for two fellow scouts that have lost their parents. The kids are in the 3rd and 1st grade. I can't even imagine. A very young relative is now the sole care giver for these two boys. So we were happy to go tonight and have a great dinner. A bunch of us from work all met and no matter where we are - when we all get together we have a blast.

Driving home I remembered back to toys-r-us and Dylan really wanting this Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas DVD. So I decided we would go and get it. He was so excited! We got home, got our jammies on and made popcorn. Put the movie in and just relaxed. It was wonderful! Just to sit on the couch, cuddled under the blanket with my boys and watching a cute movie. Priceless!

Bakugan Tournament

Today was the Bakugan Tournament at Toys-R-Us. We got there about 10:30 and the tables were full. They had to bring out more. Cody and Dylan sat down to battle and had a blast. After a little bit Dylan got tired of it and wanted to just go look at the toys with Tyler. Cody moved on to another little boy and battled with him. He said he won "9 times".....I don't think that's true but he was very into it. It was so fun to watch him.

Here they are setting up to play!

Bakugan Battle.

We have Bakugan!

What a day today was. It actually started last night when Brett told me that on Saturday there is a Bakugan tournament at toys-r-us. He had already told Cody and we have to go. Problem is - we don't have the bakugan balls. So I figured hey, if toys-r-us is hosting this tournament then they must have some of these balls in the store. WRONG! Them along with every other retailer does not carry these things. They are all sold out. I spent all day calling all over trying to find these. My mom even went to a store called "Made in Japan" and they didn't have them. I had basically given up. I have a friend in Ohio and she said she would look for me. I found one battle set on craigslist and emailed them but was waiting for a reply. Any way I tried though - we were not going to have these things for tomorrow. WRONG again! I got home and my mom had called one more local store....one I never shop at as it's downtown but that she loves.....and they had them! Yeah!!! We got a 6 pack. We are battling tomorrow.

Apparently though these Bakugan's are being considered the top toy of this holiday season. Unlike most top toy's (in my era it was the Cabbage Patch Kid) these are actually within a price range for families. Starting around $3.00 and going up from there. And as my luck will have it my friend in Ohio went right out shopping for me (thanks Liz) and she found me a 3 pack. Santa is "very" happy. Then the seller from craigslist wrote me back and said the mega battle pack is still available. It's a steal of a price. Yeah! I am soooooooooooooooooo excited!

Tonight though we did another kid favorite. We had a birthday party to go to for a little boy in Cody and Dylan's class at Chuck E Cheese. The minute you walk through the door is instant craziness. They had so much fun though. It was an all boys party as the little boy didn't want any girls invited. And a big step for my kids, they actually like Chuck E. Giving him high 5's and everything. Surprised me. We left and Cody said "I wish we lived here". Yah, I don't! We will have to price a Chuck E birthday party. It's just so crazy there with no real organization. I've got a little bit to think about that.

So we are off to toys-r-us in the morning to have a Bakugan Battle. I will have pictures for sure!

Pictures

Tonight we took all the Grandkids to Sears for their Christmas pictures. Let me just say - "phew"...it's over! I wore a sweater and shouldn't have. I was dying. Everyone did great! Well, once Tyler got whatever crawled up his butt out. The first few pictures were um very interesting to say the least. But then the photographer got the idea to bring out the frog that falls off her head and that was all it took! Duh, I could of told you that. But we got them done and I think Gimmie and Papa will love them!!!

I really hate to "give them away" but I have to share just a few. Enjoy!!!

The group shot. This was our first photo and the one Tyler had an issue with. By this picture I had basically promised the world. Look at all of those BOYS! Poor Karly.

My very soon to be 5 year olds. Figured I might as well kill two birds with one stone! Not 5 till January though!My little 3 year old. I told him the other night he was "my baby" and he told me "no I'm not..I a little boy".......Plus I figure since he wouldn't get his school picture taken - this is it! I'll take that smile anyday!Baby Jack. It's still weird that he is here and we can hold him. He's such a little peanut and his big cousins just LOVED him! Ah...a sleeping baby is the BEST! Don't you just want to kiss those cheeks!

Ahh...a baby

Today I left work early and headed to my sisters for some family fun. Kevin and Kristie are home for a visit and I couldn't wait to get my hands on Jack. Of course he was sleeping when I got there so I had to wait - but the minute he stirred I was the first to get him. He is such a little peanut. I have missed him bunches. Such a good baby too. I fed him his bottle and he burped like a champ for me. Then I held him while he slept and did put him down long enough to eat dinner. He got his bath and of course didn't like it to start but then didn't think it was so bad. My boys loved him. Sat in the chair and held him and he just gazed up into their eyes. That first eye contact, like he is memorizing them and putting them in his memory bank. It will be amazing to see how much he changes as we don't get to visit with them all that often. I'm thinking that will get better though. I have some great pictures....BUT....wouldn't you know I left my camera at my sister's and won't get it till tomorrow. :( I'll post them later.

Tomorrow is picture day. I am hoping we are going to get a good picture. Time will tell.

Random Things

The weekend is coming to a close. While we had nothing "planned" the time still manages to go very quickly. Saturday I decided I needed a hair cut. I am trying to grow my hair out but it is challenging at times. I just got it trimmed to even it out and hope it keeps on growing. I took Cody with me as the other two were outside enjoying the fall weather. After that, we went and did our grocery shopping. Now wouldn't it figure - the one weekend I don't take all 3 of my boys to Walmart - it is the one weekend where SpongeBob and Barbie are at Walmart. Of course Cody didn't care about Barbie (Brett said he would of liked to see her :) - he did give Spongebob a high 5 and got a Ty beanie of Gary. Brett cooked us a nice dinner and then the boys got their own haircuts. We are gearing up for family pictures in a couple of days.

This morning, after a way to early of a start - the boys and I made chocolate chip cookies. There are no more left!!!! Then we did some re-arranging and cleaning. It was wonderful. We are slowly making room for where the Xmas tree will go. Then I got a little "treat". My neighbor took the boys for a couple of hours and I didn't know what to do first. It was like heaven! :) Her boys come over a lot so I am thankful she returned the favor. They had fun.

My brother and his family are coming home tomorrow. I can't wait to see Jack again and have him meet his cousins. I look forward to our few days with them. We are cramming into these days a photo op. All the kids are getting their pictures taken for my mom. She will LOVE it and it should prove interesting with 6 kids - ages 7, 4, 4, 3, 2, 2 weeks. Please pray with me that we get a "very" patient photographer. You will of course see the final outcome when they are done.

Happy Monday!

Not much planned

Well this is our first weekend of back to being a family for the weekend. Football games are coming to a close. Brett doesn't have any this weekend. It was nice tonight as I got home from work, dinner was all ready. Then I skipped out for a quick trip to Target. I was looking for some black cords for Tyler and the boys got invited to a b-day party next Friday night at Chucky Cheese. So now I need a gift. Tomorrow the boys need haircuts and we will probably need to get groceries. I am sure we will be watching football. A quite weekend that is very much needed. I hope everybody has a great weekend!

Trying to figure it all out

Well we have a new President. This should prove to be an interesting 4 years and I am very anxious to see what he is going to do for "me" - the middle class citizen. The family that has a child with special needs yet doesn't qualify for a thing because of it. The family that has mountains of medical bills - yet I pay a fortune every week out of my paycheck for health insurance. Folks - this is what I am interested in and what President Obama is going to do for me. Time will tell I guess - but I am not holding my breath. And honestly, I would of been wondering the same thing for McCain. I just hope that our president wasn't chosen because of the color of his skin but for what he can bring to us as a Nation. Again, time will tell!

Phew - now that that is off my chest. The other thing that has me puzzled is Cody. He's been on his pill since Saturday. Takes it every morning with no fuss. Today he said he just swallowed it but I'm not sure. However, I have noticed his mood swings to be interesting. Tonight he had an all out meltdown. I finally just picked him up, his eyes were so red and swollen and glossy, and I just held him until he slept. So not like him. So we will watch this. After talking with Brett tonight he has noticed it to so we'll write this down and keep an eye on it.

I did go back to the pharmacy today. After talking with the pharmacist, he said it was better to get the new script and start Cody on that. So I did. Still makes me very mad though that the office didn't call the script in correctly. Something I did not realize is by law a pharmacy has to fill a script generically unless it is specifically written as a "DAW". One thing for sure - I will double check this from now on. Almost like you have to before you leave the McDonald's drive-thru.

I voted!

Today was a first for me....I voted today. I honestly wasn't going to. I didn't think I was registered. I came home at lunch today so Brett could go and vote and when he got home he said - your name was below mine...you can vote. So I said "you know what - I should". So I did and it felt REALLY good. I didn't think it would feel like anything. So I voted and now am sitting with the rest of the nation to find out who the next president of the United States will be.

Not my mistake

So yesterday as I sat down to the kitchen table to read the drug insert that came with Cody's medication (you know..check it for signs of reaction that I should look out for, that type of thing) I read the drug name: Levothyroxcin 25mcg. Hm....that's weird - that is the generic drug. I read the next line........Name brands for this drug: Synthroid, Levoxyl, and 2 others. What the he!!. They gave us the wrong medication. Not freaking out as it is the right medication - just the generic form. And normally that isn't a problem at all. However, our doctor does not want Cody taking the generic form of this drug. I have been round and round with them.

At first he (the doctor) prescribed us Synthroid. Which was great till I found out it was going to be $40 a month. That was going to hurt. So I asked for the above mentioned generic and he told me in a kid Cody's age - he does not recommend the generic as we can't guarantee everytime we get this filled that we will get the same formulation of the drug. So it could mess with his lab results and possibly make this from a non-lifetime condition to a Lifetime condition. So - he asked if Levoxyl was a tier 1 drug for me - yes it is! So his office called it into the pharmacy and I picked it up. Apparently somebody (either the office or the pharmacy) didn't mention that it needed to be filled "as written". So the pharmacy filled it generic.

I called the doctor's office today and became very annoyed at the run around I got. Don't give me the run around. I know what I am talking about. This whole medical thing isn't a "new" thing to me. Been there - done that. I've even had a doctor ask me if I was a nurse. So don't talk to me like I'm an idiot. This wasn't MY mistake - you need to fix it. Finally after 3 phone calls - we got this straight, WITH THE OFFICE. I still need to go to the pharmacy tomorrow and see what they are going to do for me. At this point we aren't sure if I can get the new script (the right script) filled because I just filled the other one a couple days ago. I will be pointing out that my child is taking a medication that isn't prescribed to him and see where that gets me. I know it's not the complete wrong drug - but it is!

I do have to say though that the doctor called me back every time I have called. I appreciate that. Most offices you talk with his nurse or secretary. But he's the one that talked to me like I was dumb. So we'll see - my patience is short with the medical staff. If I don't keep that "feel good feeling" with an office - we won't stay. Time will tell! I am trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Not sure if it's to early to tell but I have noticed a change in Cody's appetite. He's actually eating food and not just goldfish, chips, etc. And he doesn't appear to be as moody. Like I said - this might be to early to tell exactly. Just starting to see a few different changes.

One down.......

One down (a pill) and who knows how many to go. Cody took his first pill today. It wasn't as horrible as I thought but we have room for improvement. He's taking Levoxyl 25mg and for the first two weeks the doctor has us cutting these in half. He only takes it once a day and it was suggested that it happen first thing in the morning. So after we got up this morning - it was time. We tried to swallow it but um yah that didn't happen. So he opted to chew it. Yuck! But as he chewed he drank so who knows really how much he did chew. Honestly, the size of a half a pill is probably as big as the mini m&m's. So it's not big. He'll get the hang of it for sure.

Brett had his last football game of the season today. He is thankful for a busy fall and even more thankful for the season to be over with.

Tanya and I tortured ourselves tonight. We took 5 kids to Toys-r-us! OMG - they want EVERYTHING! Santa's list is beyond full and I think I am still at a loss for what to buy. No one has come out with that "I have to have this" present yet. I saw some pretty ridiculous stuff though. A dinosaur that you can sit on and it moves, at $300.00 - are you kidding me! Then there is another dinosaur that moves via a remote control - yah that is only $120.00. Seriously! One thing I did realize is that Cody is as bad as a girl picking out shoes in the Pokemon section. I think I had almost all of them off the rack before he found "the one". And I 'still' can't pronounce their stupid names! Dylan and Tyler just want a variety of stuff. Let the shopping season begin!