Week of Illness

Last week was a long long week. Started Monday with both boys having small fevers. By the time Tuesday morning rolled around, both boys were "back to normal" and we thought life was a-okay and sent them on to daycare. By the time bedtime rolled around, boys still were fever free but looking a bit run down. Due to my nasty cold, Josh had been sleeping on the couch and therefore heard Jack before I did. I woke up around midnight and found Josh downstairs with a crying Jack. He shushed me away and had things under control so I went back to bed, thinking Jack had a nightmare. I awoke Wednesday morning to find out Jack had a fever, starting at that midnight awakening, of over 103. Thus our week of fevers began! Wednesday both boys had fevers--Jack's was high and Luke's was around 100.0. Thursday both boys ran fevers around 100. Thursday night, Jack's bumped back down to normal and Luke's bumped WAY up. The poor baby went up to around 103 for most of the night--needless to say, it was a LONG night. After visits to the doctor on Friday, Luke got an antibiotic for the start of an ear infection and a steroid for croup. Jack had been put on an antibiotic earlier in the week for a lingering ear infection and so by Saturday both boys were feeling a bit better and were fever free. The lingering affects that we are now seeing.....TOO MUCH ENERGY. The boys have been cooped up for so many days that they are stir crazy and having trouble coping with this! Today was day 1 back at Daycare and we hope that tomorrow goes a bit better...today was not bad there, they just had EXTRA energy they wanted to expel! We did spend some time in the garage tonight (heater on) playing with moon sand (newbie parents or non-parents....moon sand is NOT a great gift for those you love...MESSY and definitely a garage toy) and trying to get some of that wonderful energy out :)

On a side note, poor Josh is now sleeping on our bed with a NASTY nose and cough (and extremely loud snoring as a result)....and I am on the couch.....

Eye Update

A few weeks ago I took Jack to the Pediatric Ophthalmologist to get a check up for his wandering eye and to address some tear duct issues. I am updating it a few weeks after the appointment because it was an emotional appointment and I am just now feeling up to it.

Let me start with the good :) With his glasses, Jack's eye is not wandering and his vision has improved! I am soooo happy with that update!

The not so good.... A few months ago we started noticing tear duct issues with poor Jack again. He was getting "gluey" eyes and they were sealing themselves shut on some mornings. There was definitely a correlation between "gluey" eyes and ear infections/sinus concerns, etc.... We took him to his regular pediatrician and he suggested that the tear ducts were not functioning correctly and to have his specialist take a look...which in our hearts, we already knew. So that brings me back to Jack's appointment a few weeks ago. Dr.Piippo did a very simple test in the office to see how they were functioning. She swiped a dab of yellow dye in each eye and waited five minutes. In five minutes, both eyes should have cleared completely and the dye should not have been visible. When Dr. Piippo came back, the left eye was mostly clear but the right eye still glowed yellow.

The short of the long is that tear ducts should function correctly. You should not have gluey eyes and except a few "sleepy bugs", your eyes should not get goopy. Blocked tear ducts is not life threatening but it is a nusicance and it does lead to other complications. Many of you know this already, but we have a long history with tear duct issues. Jack, right from birth, had clogged tear ducts. As with many newborns, it was recommended that we use tear duct massage and some drops. Most newborns clear up within a few months...not Jack! The next step was to have a probe completed of his tear ducts to clean them out (we had to wait until he was 12 months to have this done). The probe did not work and we moved on to a tear duct specialist at Mayo. Jack had stents put in (and left in for 2 months) and then removed. This was successful until just few months ago!

Clogged tear ducts have led to many difficulties for Jack--increased ear infections (tubes in ears helped here too), increase in sinus infections, gluey eyes, etc. He is definitely aware his eyes are "special".

He has now had one ear procedure, and three eye procedures. We have scheduled eye procedure number 4 for April 8th. He will have a lakicath procedure completed where a catheter will be put in his tear ducts and a small balloon will be inflated to stretch out the tear ducts. We also are fairly sure they will put back in stents for a few months. Jack has asked us to have Dr.Piippo fix his eyes and that melted our hearts. We hope this procedure is successful and his tear ducts start to function properly again.....and that all leads to a decrease in his infections!

A Classic Jack-O Story

Here is a funny story that goes along with my roses.

I was admiring the roses on the counter Friday evening and asked Jack, "Aren't the roses Daddy gave me beautiful?".

He looked up with HUGE eyes and responded by saying, "Those aren't from Daddy Mom. A man brought them today".

I smiled and said, "Well I hope he was handsome."

Jack's response to that was, "I don't know; I only saw his coat Mom!"


PRICELESS! He was so concerned about the random man giving his mom flowers :)

More Dancing

We are dancing fools! Even Grandma Tractor got sucked into dancing with us. The artist you are listening to is Dad's new favorite--Eric Hutchinson!

Enjoy Your Loved Ones Today

Enjoy your loved ones today (and this weekend)--we certainly are! Our day started with sleeping in :) This is HUGE for us--Jack and Luke didn't wake us up until 8:05! What a great way to start our day. We headed down to Alpine to have lunch with Aunt Lynda, Uncle John, Grandma Woo Woo, Grandpa Dan, and Cousin Ben at Applebees. We then headed back home for nap. Tonight Grandma and Papa Tractor will come over to have a Valentine's Dinner with Jack and Luke while Josh and I have a dinner out and go ice skating. (oh and yesterday we had an awesome--pre-Valentine's dinner with Uncle Aaron, Aunt Sarah, Grandma and Grandpa Tractor). It is important to take the time to tell the ones you love how important they are to you!!!!

Everything is Coming Up Roses

My husband loves me very much. We are normally not a gift giving family except on Birthdays and Christmas. We certainly do not usually give V-day gifts. I mentioned to him this past week how much I love to get flowers and was sad that I usually do not get them. SURPRISE--today I walked in from work and found a GORGEOUS bouquet of long stem red roses. I don't need to get roses to know my husband loves me but it certainly is appreciated. I gave him a pillow ;)

RTI Paper

I have now typed up my RTI paper for my current grad class. If you have an unusual interest to read it, let me know!

"Fun"tastic times

My sister, Lynda, and I took my boys to the GR Children's Museum today for FUNtastic times! It was a GREAT way to spend a Saturday morning. Here are a few highlights:
--Jack exploring the stamp pads with his hands. He made some great pictures!
--Luke and Jack playing post office and sorting various packages.
--Being served by Jack in the diner and watching Luke eat his play food
--Jack fishing out of the paddle boat and catching "momma fish" (me...I wiggled my way up to the boat)
--Jack learning through cause and effect. He was making a maze for a ball to roll down (vertical board) and he was continually changing the layout so the ball would go where he wanted it to
--Luke exploring the magnets
--Jack and Luke sharing in the sand box

Luke did take a tumble on the sidewalk--fell into a snowbank, which pushed him to the ground, where he landed in a big puddle. Poor guy has a huge knot on his forehead, had a bloody nose and was soaked! That really was the only tough part of the day!

After the museum, we headed to Buffalo Wild Wings to have lunch and stopped in to see Uncle John we dropped Aunt Lynda off at her house! It was a great morning.

Roasted Sweet Potato/Potato Recipe

I love to eat.... surprise surprise :) My cousin Carrie reminded me today how much I love to eat roasted sweet potatoes. The recipe below is a combination I created from a dish my mom in law makes plus a recipe from a Rachel Ray cookbook. Warning...I don't measure.... I think it is ABSOLUTELY tasty!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes/Potatoes:
Preheat Oven to 500

Need
--Sweet Potatoes cut into little cubes
--Potatoes cut into little cubes
--Olive Oil
--Italian seasoning (I use a grinder...but could use any of them)
--Coarse Salt (or regular)

Toss the above together. Drizzle a splash of lemon juice over the mixture. Place on a cookie sheet (I spray with PAM first). Put cookie sheet on the bottom rack of the oven. Roast for 15-20 minutes. Enjoy!

**sometimes I add minced fresh garlic to the above before roasting
**sometimes I add fresh minced herbs to the mixture before roasting (rosemary, or thyme)

I HEART my Husband!

So many of you know, this has been a nutty week for me! BUSY BUSY BUSY week I had (yes this is a yoda-ish statement)....Wednesday my parents came for a SURPRISE dinner which was AWESOME. We had an amazing visit with them! Thursday I had p-t conferences (which went well). Friday I had Grad Class and Saturday I had Grad Class....needless to say I was pooped mentally, physically and emotinally. I had mentioned this to my mother in law on the phone Friday afternoon. Being the thoughtful and kind woman she is, she called up Josh on Saturday and asked if she could borrow the boys for the night so he could take his wife out for an evening. He agreed after emailing me in class (not for permission...just my opinion). It was such a thoughtful thing to do on both of their parsts. I almost let my anxiety ruin it for us....I felt like a bad mom for not seeing the boys the past few days but I really wanted to be with my husband. Both Josh and Tracy talked me through it and I went with the flow. I am so glad I did. I an amazing date with Josh--doing what we do best, eating, talking, laughing and just hanging out! It was a great night of reconnecting after a long week and allowed me to be an even better mom to the boys today. I am so in love with Josh!

Where did you get the seed?

Due to so many friends having baby girls (4 girls in less than 2 months), My friend Corrie has asked for one of my "boy" stories...my boys tend to do some pretty funny things so here you go Corrie!

The other day Jack and I looked through a scrapbook I finished. He noticed I was very prego in one of the pictures. The following conversation followed:

J "Mommy, How did Lukie get in your tummy?"
M "He grew in there honey."
J "What did he grow from?"
M "A seed honey"
J "But mommy, if he was a seed, where did you get the seed from?"
M "Daddy gave me the seed sweetie"
J "Where did Daddy get the seed?"
M "I think a friend gave it to him" **At this point I am thinking, oh Man I am not ready for this!!!
J "Hmmm... a friend?"
M "Let's ask Daddy later when he is home" :)

Oh dear Oh dear Oh Dear..... How do I answer the child who wants an answer for everything!?!

Josh told me later he had two answers...neither appropriate :)
1. He got the seeds from Mr. Testy and Mr. Cles
2. Let's go get ice cream!!!!

I am hoping my seeds have given Jack enough of an answer for now....not ready to tell him that he already has seeds ready to go..... :)