Thursday, February 25, 2010

Long overdue......

We just wanted to drop in and say hello to everyone. I have been without a computer for a while. My computer has a virus on it so it is in the shop getting fixed.

So what has been going on???? Well most exciting news is that Carson is POTTY TRAINED!!! I had a lot of errands to run Tuesday and went ahead and put him in a diaper. We were gone for over 5 hours and the first thing I did when we returned home was take his diaper off. It was DRY. He has been doing awesome and to reward him, we went to Wal Mart and picked out some new underwear. He choose Cars and Thomas the Train.

Carson went to the doctors a couple of weeks ago and we found out from the scales that he hasn't gained one ounce in 5 months.....sigh..... So they are really starting to push for the feeding tube through the tummy. I guess I have been in denial thinking that we would get over this hump. He did grow a couple of inches taller so he went from 20-25% to about 12%. So I have surgery scheduled for after his 4th birthday in April but it isn't 100% certain that I'm going to follow through with it. I just have a lot to think about and a lot of praying to find the right answer.

He also had some blood work done. The first one is for his iron level. The iron went up which was great news but his ferritan level was still very low. The way it was explained to me is that Ferritan is a protein that stores iron and releases it in a controlled fashion. 30% of your iron is stored in either your spleen, liver, or bone marrow. So we had a follow up and did a CBC to check out his counts. This has been kind of scary. This could be a sign of something very serious or something simple like a vitamin C deficiency or restless leg syndrome. So please keep Carson in your prayers over the next few weeks while we make sure his organs are working correctly and rule out the bad things.

His other blood work was to test the gases. I'm not exactly sure what this one was. I know that if he scored between 250-300 it meant his Nexium was working well. The good news, he scored a 268. So that means that we will probably rule out the Fundoplacation. YEA!!!!

He is still going to OT. We have missed a few weeks here and there because of snow, ice storms, and there was a couple of weeks where we were sick one week and the therapist was sick one week. Apparently the road Nancy lives on never gets plowed so every time is snows, she has to cancel because she cannot get up her street.

We have also just recently discovered that when Carson does eat, he is storing his food in his cheeks. We also discovered that he has a under sensitive gag reflux which doesn't help with the vicious cycle of his aspirating. So we are still working with his sensory process disorder as well as his oral for eating.

Coltan has been having a rough time with driving. He turned 15 in Jan and we have had a rough winter. I'm not ready for him to learn to drive, let alone, drive in crummy weather. He has done the simple going out to the parking lot and pulling the warm car up for Carson and I. LOL He hasn't been very active with soccer. They played futsol for the winter and he is just now getting into the Mon/ Wed practices.

Cody hasn't done a whole lot either. He has his indoor soccer league and one day a week practice. Thursday is the only day that I have all three boys and we don't have any soccer, so we try to have a nice family dinner or movie night or do something with all of us.

I have taken lots of pics and as soon as I get my computer back, watch out. Haha We did have an ice storm over the weekend and I took some pictures. It was a challenge to drive in but the next day the sun came out and the ice was still in the tree branches. It really was pretty to LOOK at. But again, this has been one of the worse winters that I can remember and I'm so ready to Spring to get here!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Meeting a blogger!

Okay, I'm so behind on blogging but hey, what's new? Haha After the new year I was so happy that I got to meet a blogger buddy and her husband. Their names are Ryan and Lindsey Ebright. They are such a cute married couple and are always having fun.

I was googling something one day on a card game called Canasta and her blog popped up. Not only does she love to play the game, she also grew up in a suburb of Kansas City. I left her a comment about canasta and we have been blogging buddies every since. Her husband and her have actually relocated to Texas so I was really honored that they took the time out of their family time to come meet us.

So we decided to meet at my mothers house and have a Canasta showdown. My mother has played the game for about 30+ years with 7 other woman and currently they still have 6 of the original ladies playing. I have been brought in to sub when one can't make it. So just to be fair, we split up with Ryan and Lindsey and of course Ryan wanted my mom and her 30+ years experience to be HIS partner. It's okay cause we ended up losing but not that far behind.

I'm going to be taking Cody to Texas in March and we are hoping to all get together while we are down there. Oh and Ryan, be ready, we won't be so nice to you next time. LOL

So of course Carson felt the need to be in the pictures with us. Lindsey and I
Aren't they the cutest couple you have ever seen? And not only do they have looks, they have great personalities. You two had me laughing the whole time.
I was upset that for some reason the only pics with my mom came out dark. So here is the best of the 3 that I had. :-(

Lindsey and Ryan, you two are welcomed back to our house anytime. Thanks again for sharing your limited time with us. I had a great time meeting you guys in person.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Scenes around Chicago

Here are a few more pics of Chicago. This was some of my favorite places to visit when I'm there.

This is the Navy Pier. It is a lot more fun in the summer when they have more outdoor things to do. It has a lot of specialty shops and unique restaurants. It is a great place to go to get a Chicago souvenir. It also has a very large ferris wheel and I thought I got a pic but did not. The all famous Hard Rock. I have eaten here but it was at least 5+ years ago.
This is a really cool McD's. It is 2 stories and has a oldies theme inside.
They have really good hot chocolate on a cold day.
The famous clock that my family stands in front of to get a pic.
This was inside the Navy Pier. This is the first time I have seen the Thomas the train there. It was 2.00 a ride and it lasted about 5 minutes. I should have brought a book because he stayed on there for a very long time.
All the times I have been to Chicago, I have never eaten here. But we had to take a pic cause of my little Pork Chop. Has anyone been here? Let me know if it was any good.
This is the famous Billy Goat's. It was always on Saturday Night Live because of their slogan. If you ask for fries with your burger they say "no fries, only chips".
I finally took a picture of Coltan.....Thanks Coltan. I wished I took more of him but he was never with me. He was shopping on Michigan Ave with my mom where it was a lot colder.
My two sweet boys. (Sorry Cody, you were playing soccer instead of shopping)

Thanks for taking the time to walk through our fun trip to Chicago. It is a fun place that we always enjoy going to. Hopefully next time I go, I have all 3 boys, and Carson has outgrown all of his problems. No tubes, no monitors, no oxygen......

Friday, February 5, 2010

Sky Deck AKA Sears Tower

The last day we spent in Chicago, Carson and I went our own way after breakfast with the family. First stop was The Sky Deck. We walked part of it and then took a cab the rest of the way. It was really cute, every time we got into a cab, Carson would tell the driver to go straight, take a right, then a left....and so and. He thought he was giving directions to all the drivers. Then I would have him pay the cab fare and he just thought he was soooo cool. LOL



These towers here were Coltan's favorite. If you notice the bottom part of the tower is the parking garage and the top part are the condo's. Depending on what floor, these condos were 300-1 million. At least that is what a cabby told me. A quick picture of Carson and I.

Every time that we go to Chicago, we always get a picture of the building with the clock. There is a bridge you can cross and we take the picture with that building in the background. For some reason, I tried several different pictures and they all came out dark. :-(

This sign is a landmark. This was about where we stopped for a cab. Carson was getting to cold and I didn't want to jinx it.

This is a picture of the Shed from the Sky Deck.

This was the Chicago Planetarium. It was okay. Not really for Carson so we ended up not staying very long. I think it would have been better for Coltan. I thought it was kind of cool though.


Another view from the deck


We went to the Planetarium Sunday evening before heading back to KC and this was the view from the parking lot.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Shed Aquariam in Chicago

Nothing really going on. I have been trying to get over a terrible sinus infection.

Coltan and Cody have just had soccer practice and nothing very exciting with them going on either.

Carson keeps having asthma issues. He was supposed to have OT yesterday and Nancy was out sick. So they rescheduled for today and she is still out sick. That is better for me so now I can nurse my headache from the comfort of my own home.

Here are a few pictures from the Shed Aquarium in Chicago. We went there just before Christmas. My parents took Carson, Coltan, two nieces, and myself. It ended up being very cold so Carson and I ventured off and did more sightseeing while the others walked up and down Michigan Ave.

Cody had a few soccer games in St Louis MO so he stayed back in KC so that he could go.

Here we were waiting for the water show.


This was the amazing view from the Shed.
Carson standing in the window in the cafeteria.
Those eggs were very popular. It was really sad because parents would try and grab them so their own children could play with them. I never seen anything like it.
On our way to the car. That is Lake Michigan behind us.