Last Thursday will be one for the book....
To start off we had Horse Therapy. That means getting the kids up and dressed and fed and out of the house by 9 am. It's not too bad but it takes a bit of effort. It's almost an hour drive there then about two hours there and then an hour drive home. Well I was dying for a drink so we stopped for a Big Gulp! It was a good one.....
As we are driving down the road, I notice the tire light was on..... then Shad said he thought he heard a pop as we were leaving the convenience store... I stop at another convenience store-this time to check the air pressure- only 15 pounds!! We fill the tire up and head for Walmart. I'm praying that the tire doesn't go flat on us and leave us on the side of the road.
We make it to Walmart. I called Jon to meet us because Shad had to go to work He comes and picks him up. The nice man fixing my car said it would only be a few minutes so I decided to stay with the kids. Well it took a bit longer than a few minutes. We tried sitting in the automotive waiting area but it was small and Sam kept lightly touching an older lady who was sitting by us. She did not like it. So I thought I'd put them in buggies and walk them. Thankfully our respite care worker was with me or I would have never gotten them into the buggies
See those Big Gulps.... they cost alot of money!
Of course I had to get a new tire and had no warranty left on that particular tire. So while we were waiting, I walked through the toy section It made me think I seldom take the kids with me to the store. With Sam I'm paranoid about germs and with both of them, particularly Sarah people stare at her too much. I'm not an anti Walmart person but I've had some of my worst moments in Walmart with people staring at my kids. It's not good for me-I'm afraid one day I will really get into it with someone. When people stare at my kids, I usually get a bit obnoxious. Other people say to use such moments as a 'teaching moment ' for the folks who stare- I do - I teach them NOT to stare-believe me they remember my "teaching moments" So in light of the fact it's not a good thing for a pastor's wife to end up in jail I just don't take the kids there. Believe me they don't care! It's probably been a year or more since they went with me to a store.
Anyhow I handed Sam a toy as you can see him holding. I've done that before, no biggie.....until I tried to take it back! Sam decided he liked it!!!! It was so funny and so good developmentally that he understands when something is taken away. I almost bought it for him UNTIL he took one of those expensive Big Gulps and smashed it.... yep.... I had to clean it up. He did not get that toy!!
Sarah only likes certain types of toys so she pushed away everything I handed her.
Anyway my cheap little Big Gulps cost me alot that day!
We finally got home around 3 pm. I gave them a late lunch and baths. That's another thing I'm very particular about how they look when we go out in public. I've always been about all my kids but for my little ones, they are completely dependent on us to help them be clean and presentable. They had helmet hair, Sarah had horse poop on a shoe....they looked pretty grubby!
That afternoon, Sam kept gagging himself. He would put his hand in his mouth, he even stuck his straw down his throat. Years ago he swallowed something tiny so I started thinking he'd swallowed something. By that evening I was convinced something was wrong so I took him to the ER. Jon stayed with Sarah and Shad came with me.
So with Sam's immunity issues (never got a real diagnosis but we all know to be super careful) I didn't want to take him into the ER. So I went in and filled out the paperwork. The staff was very obliging. Then I went out to wait with Sam. When he was called for triage, he began throwing up terribly so I figured he probably was sick and was trying to tell us. The staff were so kind to us, they didn't want us to wait outside, it was cool but quite comfortable, so they found us a private area to wiat until we went back. I couldn't get over the kindness of our local hospital. But as they were taking us back to the small private room, I saw the sign on the outside said Bereavement Room! I literally balked and came to a dead (no pun intended) stop! Honestly I had rather wait outside but they were so kind and I felt it would be rude. So we sat down and waited in there.
Other than being in the Bereavement room It was one of those rare amazing ER visits where you get the best doctor and nurse and staff in the world. The doctor did X-ray him and saw nothing. Sam was so good, the nurse did an IV and he just sat there. She looked at me very doubtfully when I told her he'd let her do it. Afterwards she was full of praise, she said he was her best patient of the night including grown ups!!! So it was just a little fluke I guess. He has basically seemed fine every since. Maybe that's his new way to tell us his tummy hurts. Although he will gag himself if he gets mad so it's hard to tell!
That was a long day!!!
Sam did have surgery scheduled to have his adenoids removed to see if it would help his apneas. After discussing it with the specialist we have decided to see yet another doctor first. The ENT didn't think it would help enough to risk a surgery and we did not have a peace about it. He is on a pulse/ox machine at night that alarms if his oxygen level or pulse go too low. A few nights ago he had a really bad time. His heart rate kept dipping into the 40's for about an hour. We just kept waking him up and re positioning him. The ENT actually talked about doing a trach on Sam in order to put him on oxygen. I don't know what to think about that! I'm not even sure why she'd say that- his oxygen levels are great except for when he is asleep and then they can go in the low 80's with the apneas
There is alot of concern about him being on a CPAP machine because if he took it out of his nose and put it up t his eye, he could literally tear out the cornea implant because of the high rate of oxygen flow. Sam puts everything up to his eye. So we have to figure out what to do!
We had some family time last weekend-got together and went out to eat.
Steve is dating the sweetest girl! We all love her and think she is a Keeper!
Last weekend Shad went to the annual PK (preacher's kids) retreat. He had a great time. They stayed in Orlando and went to Universal one day. He has a group of friends that are PKs too. They are 4 other boys- 2 sets of brothers. One set lives in the northern part of our state and the other lives in near Miami. He gets to see these guys for all the activities in our district. They go to PK , youth convention, youth camp and missions trips together. It's really neat for him to have these guys that can relate to him.
Today was a busy day for me. Tomorrow looks even busier. Sam and Sarah have Occupational therapy and Speech therapy. Thankfully it's at home. Then Sam has a fitting for gloves. Occasionally he has to wear gloves on his hands/lower arms because he will bite himself. He'd done so good for so long but the other day I had to put them on him. He actually welcomes them and calms right down. But it had been so long they were too small for him! I just ordered him some "chewerly" it's wearable bracelets and necklaces that he can chew on if he needs to. Sarah doesn't do it. Selah did some before the accident. We will see if he will use them.
We have had a little "winter" her in Florida but it's supposed to warm back up. It's been great. The kids were out today for several hours on the swings.
Hope you are having a good week and no crazy days!
To start off we had Horse Therapy. That means getting the kids up and dressed and fed and out of the house by 9 am. It's not too bad but it takes a bit of effort. It's almost an hour drive there then about two hours there and then an hour drive home. Well I was dying for a drink so we stopped for a Big Gulp! It was a good one.....
As we are driving down the road, I notice the tire light was on..... then Shad said he thought he heard a pop as we were leaving the convenience store... I stop at another convenience store-this time to check the air pressure- only 15 pounds!! We fill the tire up and head for Walmart. I'm praying that the tire doesn't go flat on us and leave us on the side of the road.
We make it to Walmart. I called Jon to meet us because Shad had to go to work He comes and picks him up. The nice man fixing my car said it would only be a few minutes so I decided to stay with the kids. Well it took a bit longer than a few minutes. We tried sitting in the automotive waiting area but it was small and Sam kept lightly touching an older lady who was sitting by us. She did not like it. So I thought I'd put them in buggies and walk them. Thankfully our respite care worker was with me or I would have never gotten them into the buggies
See those Big Gulps.... they cost alot of money!
Of course I had to get a new tire and had no warranty left on that particular tire. So while we were waiting, I walked through the toy section It made me think I seldom take the kids with me to the store. With Sam I'm paranoid about germs and with both of them, particularly Sarah people stare at her too much. I'm not an anti Walmart person but I've had some of my worst moments in Walmart with people staring at my kids. It's not good for me-I'm afraid one day I will really get into it with someone. When people stare at my kids, I usually get a bit obnoxious. Other people say to use such moments as a 'teaching moment ' for the folks who stare- I do - I teach them NOT to stare-believe me they remember my "teaching moments" So in light of the fact it's not a good thing for a pastor's wife to end up in jail I just don't take the kids there. Believe me they don't care! It's probably been a year or more since they went with me to a store.
Anyhow I handed Sam a toy as you can see him holding. I've done that before, no biggie.....until I tried to take it back! Sam decided he liked it!!!! It was so funny and so good developmentally that he understands when something is taken away. I almost bought it for him UNTIL he took one of those expensive Big Gulps and smashed it.... yep.... I had to clean it up. He did not get that toy!!
Sarah only likes certain types of toys so she pushed away everything I handed her.
Anyway my cheap little Big Gulps cost me alot that day!
We finally got home around 3 pm. I gave them a late lunch and baths. That's another thing I'm very particular about how they look when we go out in public. I've always been about all my kids but for my little ones, they are completely dependent on us to help them be clean and presentable. They had helmet hair, Sarah had horse poop on a shoe....they looked pretty grubby!
That afternoon, Sam kept gagging himself. He would put his hand in his mouth, he even stuck his straw down his throat. Years ago he swallowed something tiny so I started thinking he'd swallowed something. By that evening I was convinced something was wrong so I took him to the ER. Jon stayed with Sarah and Shad came with me.
So with Sam's immunity issues (never got a real diagnosis but we all know to be super careful) I didn't want to take him into the ER. So I went in and filled out the paperwork. The staff was very obliging. Then I went out to wait with Sam. When he was called for triage, he began throwing up terribly so I figured he probably was sick and was trying to tell us. The staff were so kind to us, they didn't want us to wait outside, it was cool but quite comfortable, so they found us a private area to wiat until we went back. I couldn't get over the kindness of our local hospital. But as they were taking us back to the small private room, I saw the sign on the outside said Bereavement Room! I literally balked and came to a dead (no pun intended) stop! Honestly I had rather wait outside but they were so kind and I felt it would be rude. So we sat down and waited in there.
Other than being in the Bereavement room It was one of those rare amazing ER visits where you get the best doctor and nurse and staff in the world. The doctor did X-ray him and saw nothing. Sam was so good, the nurse did an IV and he just sat there. She looked at me very doubtfully when I told her he'd let her do it. Afterwards she was full of praise, she said he was her best patient of the night including grown ups!!! So it was just a little fluke I guess. He has basically seemed fine every since. Maybe that's his new way to tell us his tummy hurts. Although he will gag himself if he gets mad so it's hard to tell!
That was a long day!!!
Sam did have surgery scheduled to have his adenoids removed to see if it would help his apneas. After discussing it with the specialist we have decided to see yet another doctor first. The ENT didn't think it would help enough to risk a surgery and we did not have a peace about it. He is on a pulse/ox machine at night that alarms if his oxygen level or pulse go too low. A few nights ago he had a really bad time. His heart rate kept dipping into the 40's for about an hour. We just kept waking him up and re positioning him. The ENT actually talked about doing a trach on Sam in order to put him on oxygen. I don't know what to think about that! I'm not even sure why she'd say that- his oxygen levels are great except for when he is asleep and then they can go in the low 80's with the apneas
There is alot of concern about him being on a CPAP machine because if he took it out of his nose and put it up t his eye, he could literally tear out the cornea implant because of the high rate of oxygen flow. Sam puts everything up to his eye. So we have to figure out what to do!
We had some family time last weekend-got together and went out to eat.
Jon and his brothers and Shad:)
Steve is dating the sweetest girl! We all love her and think she is a Keeper!
Last weekend Shad went to the annual PK (preacher's kids) retreat. He had a great time. They stayed in Orlando and went to Universal one day. He has a group of friends that are PKs too. They are 4 other boys- 2 sets of brothers. One set lives in the northern part of our state and the other lives in near Miami. He gets to see these guys for all the activities in our district. They go to PK , youth convention, youth camp and missions trips together. It's really neat for him to have these guys that can relate to him.
Today was a busy day for me. Tomorrow looks even busier. Sam and Sarah have Occupational therapy and Speech therapy. Thankfully it's at home. Then Sam has a fitting for gloves. Occasionally he has to wear gloves on his hands/lower arms because he will bite himself. He'd done so good for so long but the other day I had to put them on him. He actually welcomes them and calms right down. But it had been so long they were too small for him! I just ordered him some "chewerly" it's wearable bracelets and necklaces that he can chew on if he needs to. Sarah doesn't do it. Selah did some before the accident. We will see if he will use them.
We have had a little "winter" her in Florida but it's supposed to warm back up. It's been great. The kids were out today for several hours on the swings.
Hope you are having a good week and no crazy days!
