September 11,2001

Ten years ago I was working as a pediatric nurse in Fort Smith, AR.  I had arrived at work around 7:45 and remember doing my normal morning routine to get ready for the day ahead.  Dr. Whitaker had a tv in his office and we were in there watching the news and they were showing the first tower smoking.  We were speculating that an airplane must have been way off course when the 2nd tower was hit.  I remember being shocked and upset--I wanted to run and get Caleb from daycare and just head home. He was only 4 months old at that time.  Shon and I talked about whether or not we needed to get gas and keep things stocked up at home--we remember a lot of lines at the gas stations that day, even in our small town of Lavaca outside Fort Smith.  We kept watching tv and saw the towers collapse--such disbelief.  I don't remember much else about that day--I think we were all in a daze.  I can hardly believe that it has been 10 years--every image of that day brings tears to my eyes. I am thankful they have completed the memorial in New York and really want to go and visit that someday.  I hope we never take our freedom for granted--I can remember thinking that I would really like to go and help somehow in New York but that I couldn't leave Caleb.  I just wanted to post my memories as hazy as they are about that awful day.

Quick update

I just wanted to mark this occasion--Will has decided he is done breast-feeding:-) I am mostly relieved and a little sad as this is definitely the last baby I will do this with:-( He is doing pretty well with a sippy cup of whole milk. He also started school on Wednesday this week--can I even tell you how nice it was to run errands ALL BY MYSELF? He goes from 9am until 1pm Wednesday and Friday--I think it will be great for both of us--he came home and took a 2 1/2 hour nap afterwards:-) We are in the busy season with football practice 3 nights a week and ballet twice a week (and they are on the same days of course). There is also school and doctor's appointments and I have started a Bible study at church on Thursday mornings. It is a good but busy time for us--more later!

What a week!

I just wanted to write down everything that has happened over the past few days--I hope this doesn't come across as complaining--we have just had a bunch of stuff happen to us in the last 1 1/2 weeks. So here goes:

Tuesday (16th): Emma gets stung by a wasp/bee/something after going across the neighborhood to the park (where she is not supposed to go by herself). It was also open house for Caleb and Emma (Jake's was the night before). They found out who their teachers were. Caleb also had football practice.

Wednesday (17th): Will runs 101.4 temp off and on all day and is really fussy. Caleb has football practice.

Thursday(18th): First day of school for Caleb, Emma and Jake. Will is breaking out into clusters of spots all over both arms and is still fussy. Washing machine locks and will not unlock while I have Caleb's football clothes in it. I have to take off the bottom panel and manually unlock the door, then hand wash football clothes. Kids arrive home from their first bus ride with good reports on the first day of school. Caleb has football practice.

Friday (19th): Washing machine repair man is supposed to come between 12-5pm today. Will and I make a quick run to the grocery store since we are out of diapers, milk and bread. Will is breaking out even more in spots--they are now on his legs, bottom, and around his mouth and on his wrists and fingers. I debate whether or not to take him to the doctor but ultimately decide to wait. Kids have a great 2nd day of school. Washing machine repair guy arrives at 4:53pm. Says we need a new control unit board. It will cost $600--we opt to get a new washer instead as this problem has been ongoing for over 2 years.

Saturday (20th): We decide to go look for a washer today at Sears. Since Will was up a ton last night, we get a late start to the day and have to wait until Will wakes up from his nap to leave. While waiting after lunch, Jake rolls off the couch and starts crying about his arm hurting. He cries for 15 minutes straight and asks to go to the walk-in clinic. Emma decides to go with me. Caleb is playing at his friend Christopher's house, and Will is asleep at home with Shon. We get to the urgent care clinic and there is a bit of a wait. Once back in the room we wait even longer. They take us for an xray and we wait some more. The doctor comes in and to my shock says the elbow is broken and that we need to go over to the Women's and Children's hospital to await the ortho guys there. We receive a copy of our xrays and they put a fiberglass splint on Jake. I take Emma back home and Will is still asleep (3:30 pm at this point). I get Jake a stuffed animal to take with him and grab my ipad for some entertainment. We head to the ER at the hospital. There we wait some more and are taken back to a room. We have more xrays done. Jake is examined by the ER doctor, a peds resident and a peds med student. He is then examined by 2 orthopedic residents. After much discussion they finally decide to send us home after re splinting his arm. We are told they will call on Sunday about his surgery appointment for Monday. Jake is given pain meds (Fentanyl) via his nose before they splint him. He is very happy after this:-) We arrive home around 8 pm after getting McDonald's to eat.

Sunday (21st): Shon stays home with Jake and Will (who had a 3 1/2 hour nap total on Saturday and has no more spots thankfully but the ones he does have are more red/blistery). Emma, Caleb and I go to church. We drop off Jake's prescription for Tylenol #3 and go get some lunch. We pick up the prescription and head back home. After lunch everyone rests and then we decide to grill out steaks for supper. I head back to the store. We get a call that Jake has surgery scheduled for Monday. We need to be at the hospital between 6:30 and 7 am. Everyone goes to be early. My cell phone decides today is a great day to completely quit working.

Monday (22nd): Jake and I leave the house around 6:25. We arrive at the hospital and after a few minutes are told the right area to go to. We get him signed in and get back in a room around 7:30am. He gets into his hospital pjs and settles into the bed in the room. We watch tv and watch tv and watch tv. The anesthesiologist arrives to talk about what he will be doing. We watch a lot more tv (Phineas and Ferb). Finally around 10:15 they arrive to take him back to surgery. The peds ortho doctor says they will try and do a closed reduction (meaning no surgery necessary) but if they can't then he will have 2 pins put in his arm. I head out to the waiting area. Around 11am they call me back to the consultation room and let me know the doctor will be there in a minute to talk to me. Shon's cell phone, although fully charged when I left the house, is now almost dead so I cannot update that way anymore. The doctor says they were able to do a closed reduction. He is in recovery and I will be able to see him soon. About 20 minutes later they let me back into a different room while I wait for Jake. He starts crying as soon as he sees me:-( He is most upset about the fact that he has an IV in his foot. He is able to eat a popsicle (orange) and drink some Sprite and they take out the IV. We leave the hospital around 1pm. Jake falls asleep in the car after receiving morphine immediately after the reduction and then oxycodone before we left the hospital. He sleeps at home while I run to the store (Shon is home with Will after taking the older 2 to school). I get soup, Jello, and Sprite at the store, along with a few other items. Jake does well most of the afternoon. He falls back asleep around 4:30. When he wakes up at 6 he just wants to go back to bed. I feel his forehead and he is really warm. Temp is 101.6. I give him Tylenol along with some sips of his Sonic orange slush. About 10 minutes later after refusing supper I help him sit up and then go grab his pjs. He stands up for me to help him and immediately throws up everywhere. I hustle him to the bathroom where he throws up again. We get his clothes off and get him into the bath after wrapping his cast in a Walmart bag. After the bath I help him into pjs and then off to bed. He does well for most of the night--no more throwing up.

Tuesday (22nd): Jake is staying home today. He continues to run fever off and on. I call the ortho office and they say to let them know if it gets over 101 again. So far so good. He has a great day for the most part and is able to keep down everything. No complaints of pain. Emma and Caleb have a good day at school. Emma starts ballet today and Caleb has football. Shon and I divide and conquer:-) Emma wakes me up in the middle of the night saying she feels sick to her stomach:-( Hopefully things will get back to normal soon! Jake is going to school on Wednesday and Emma is probably staying home since she felt pretty warm to me.

I am impressed if anyone other than my mom is still reading after all of this:-)

1 year old!

Will you are 1! Mommy cannot believe how fast this year has flown by. You have been doing so much over the past few months (mommy missed posting your 11 month old post--oops!) You are rolling over from your back to your stomach both ways and love sleeping on your tummy now--you are sleeping without anything covering you other than a blanket. However, your sleep has not been great--you are only taking 1 nap and we have been struggling at night to get you to sleep for more than 4 hours at a time. You are crawling everywhere and are pulling up on everything. You also will cruise along the couch (just to the left) and love banging on the windows in the kitchen and the sliding glass door. You are eating about the same but we have introduced more crackers, american cheese, turkey from the deli, biscuits, and chocolate/whole milk. You are not too sure about the sippy cup with milk in it and absolutely do not understand the bottle concept.

You are wearing size 3 diapers and are wearing Huggies overnight diapers in size 4 at night. You are wearing 12-18 month clothing. You still love going to the pool and splashing. The last time we went, you tried to crawl into the deeper water and got a faceful before mommy rescued you. You like going into the deep end with mommy holding you but you try to get me to let go:-) You enjoyed going to Meme's for the 4th of July--mommy almost wanted to leave you there because you slept so well--you took 2 five hour naps and slept most of the night because we stayed in the safe room there, which has no windows:-) You still take a pacifier a lot of the time. You have been to the doctor a few times--once for an ear infection and once for croupy cough. You also started therapy this past month after your evaluation for the early childhood program through the state, which you did qualify for. You are receiving physical therapy once a week and speech therapy as well. You also are wearing orthotics in your shoes to strengthen your ankles, which you really don't like. Both therapists come to the house so that is very nice for mommy.

You are growing and learning new things almost everyday. We are so proud to call you ours and love you so much Will! Happy Birthday!

Vacation Daze

Well, the youngest 2 and I are back from our vacation in Branson--oh my. I think this is the only time mom and I will try to go without the guys and with all the kids. I loaded up and arrived last Sunday with all 4 kids in tow. We met mom at her time-share and went to check-in at the place we were staying--Wyndham at Branson Meadows. It was very nice--we had 2 adjoining rooms that both had their own kitchens and bathrooms, and a nice balcony as well. We unloaded our van and went and ate at Steak and Shake for supper. Then everyone went to bed after baths when we got back to the room. Caleb was able to stay with mom in her place ( his choice). The next morning we had decided to go ahead and get shopping done in the morning so the kids could swim in the afternoon (mom's time-share has a neat zero depth entry pool that is about 1 ft in a lot of areas so I knew Will would enjoy that). We went to the "blue-roof" mall (Tanger) and shopped for a little over an hour. Then we decided we would go back to where I was staying and eat lunch and then go to the pool at mom's. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans? On the way to where I was staying, my van locked up and completely died--no power steering, no air conditioning--I could barely get it over to the side of the road. I had no idea what was wrong--we had no warning and then 4 different warning lights came on. I immediately started to panic--I had literally no idea what to do. Then I decided to call our auto insurance--who were no help whatsoever. They told me the soonest they could get a tow truck to me was 60-90 minutes but if we were in an unsafe place, it would be better for us to call the police. I admit--I wasn't very nice--I just hung up. Then I had to look up the non-emergency police and call them--I had just spoke with a very nice dispatch person when a police car pulled up behind us--thank you Jesus! The officer was extremely nice and called the dispatch back and told them since we were not completely off the road he would stay with us until the tow truck arrived--which ended up taking about an hour. So, just imagine--all 4 kids plus me in the back of a police car (since his car had air conditioning he very nicely let us sit in his car and kept it running). Police cars have no comfortable rear seat--it has no cloth or leather--just the molded form, not to mention no way out with the bars and no door handles. Then the kids started whining--I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, etc. Thankfully my mom brought 2 apples and 3 bottles of water with her so that sated them for a little while. Caleb was very impressed with the 2 guns and the taser kept in the console area of the front seat:-) After about an hour the tow truck arrived and got the van ready to tow to Springfield to the Honda place there. I forgot to get the base of Will's car seat out of the van (important for later) and I also forgot all of our shopping bags. We had to call a cab to take us to the place where we were staying because the police officer was going to but after talking to his sergeant he was not allowed to ( he said some do and some don't'--it just depends on who you talk to). My mom rode in the cab to get her car and then came back and picked us all up. I asked the police man if it was going to be a problem for us riding the way we were in her car--he said--I'm going the opposite direction you are--so I won't see what you are doing:-) Like I said, a very nice man. We finally made it back to the condo and ate some lunch. Then mom took the 3 oldest to her condo for some swimming and I had a few hours to myself after I put Will down for a nap. We decided to eat a simple supper that night and tried to put the day behind us. Caleb ended up staying with mom again that night.

Tuesday: By this morning we were waiting to hear from the Honda place on what was wrong with the car--it turns out that the engine had completely shut down because there was hardly any oil left. I always went by the light in my van that showed how much oil life was left, and it showed 30%, so I'm still not sure how that could happen. SO, we would need a new engine. A brand new one is $9500 but they were sure they could find one or two at a salvage yard that might be cheaper if we wanted them to look--um, yes please. That was not a pleasant conversation to have with Shon. We were quickly determining this would be our only vacation this summer with the cost of an engine obliterating our trip to Williamsburg this summer. Shon was on his way to Branson so that we could drive to Fayetteville later on that day--we really didn't know when he would be arriving so we decided to find something to do other than swimming and ended up going to the Butterfly Palace. It was a pretty neat place--you went in and the butterflies literally would land on you--we told the kids repeatedly to be careful not to step on any:-) There was a maze they could go through, a (LONG) movie about the butterflies that we decided not to watch, and an outdoor climbing area that we did not go on because of the heat. We decided after that to go to Olive Garden to eat lunch. The kids did really well and when we got done there, Shon had made it and met us in the parking lot. We went back to the condo for a few minutes and then piled in 2 different cars to head to Fayetteville. We made good time there (I was in the car with mom, Will, and Jake, and Shon took Caleb and Emma). Will cried a good portion of the way there--not much fun for either of the adults in the car. We made it to our hotel in Springfield and since it was right behind Marketplace, that is where we ate supper (it didn't hurt that kids ate free:-) After supper we headed back to the hotel and watched tv and the kids ran from our room to my mom's (thankfully we had 2 suites and were on the end of the hallway where no one else was:-) Everyone slept really well and at a good breakfast at the hotel the next morning.

Wednesday: After breakfast Shon had a few things to do so mom and I decided we would head to Target really quickly to get a little shopping in. We met Shon at our house in Fayetteville and were greeted with a yard with weeds that were taller than I was--it looked really bad. We also discovered that some siding had blown off the side of our house from one of the recent storms in the area. I called the guy that was supposed to meet us at the house and he was not going to be able to join us for a little bit so Shon decided he would go ahead and go back to Columbia with Caleb and Emma (they were going to go back to summer school). Mom and I ended up sitting in a really hot house with 2 cranky kids for about 2 hours waiting on the guy to show up so we could sign the final paperwork on the repairs that had been done for the frozen pipe. After he came and went (which took all of 10 minutes) we headed to Red Robin for lunch. Will fell asleep on the way there, and was pretty cranky off and on during the meal. Mom and I then headed on to Rogers to do some shopping at the Promenade. I went to Williams Sonoma as Jake had fallen asleep on the way to Rogers:-) I bought everything I had on my list and used some birthday money. We also went to Pottery Barn and Sephora. By that time, it was time to head home--which was a disaster. Will cried the entire trip back, save about the last 10 minutes--we even stopped outside of Huntsville to see if he needed his diaper changed or what--he was just extremely fussy. So needless to say, mom was pretty much done at that point and dropped us off and went back to her condo for some peace and quiet:-) I bathed the kids and got them in bed and then just tried to have some relaxation time for myself. Shon and the other 2 made it home fine--they actually decided to drive through Joplin to see the damage for themselves and Shon said it was really really bad.

Thursday: We decided we needed to go ahead a rent a car for me since they were not sure when the engine would be available. We headed to Springfield and went to the car rental place (enterprise) and got a car, then we headed to Schlotsky's to eat lunch. After lunch we went to Krspy Kreme donuts:-) I had never had a hot donut from there before and the lady working was kind enough to give us the hot donut holes that were being prepared while we were there:-) We ended up getting some for breakfast the next day. After that it looked like a storm was heading our way so we loaded up in 2 cars and headed back to Branson. We decided to have mexican for supper that night and went to a little place in West Branson that was very good. After that, mom came by the condo and helped me get them bathed and in bed, and we both went our separate ways and collapsed:-)

Friday: This was the day we decided to go ahead and head home. Mom came over and helped watch the kids while I loaded the car. I was able to fit everything in except for the stroller I had brought, so mom took that with her. We decided to go to the Landing before we left. We went to Belk's first and got some Yellowbox flip flops. We then wandered around and decided to eat lunch at a burger place there. After lunch we went into Ridezmakers--Jake ended up getting a Lightening McQueen car that he customized:-) ( if you haven't been in one of these stores, it is like Build a Bear but for cars). We then headed home. Will began screaming of course as soon as we got on our way. I stopped in Springfield and bought a new car seat for him at Walmart, since I though maybe that was the problem (Shon had brought a new car seat for him since we left the base of the car in the van). It didn't help much, though. After spending about 40 minutes switching around car seats, I went to McDonald's and got Jake and I a Rolo McFlurry. We then got back on the road. The new car seat helped some but as soon as we got into town I went to the urgent care clinic for Will ( we didn't even go home first). He was diagnosed with an ear infection and was given an antibiotic. So thankfully there was a reason for his crying. I took the antibiotic to be filled and then we made it home. I don't think I will ever go on vacation with all four kids by myself again!

10 months old (a few days late)

Will you are 10 months old! We have had quite a month with you:-) At your 9 month doctors appointment, she recommended that we see a pediatric neurologist since your head was continuing to get bigger at a faster rate than what is "normal" and also due to some hypotonia, which basically means low tone of muscle in your legs. That means that you are not really pulling up to stand or trying to crawl very well right now. So, we went to get an appointment to see if you had any developmental delay, and they earliest we were told he could get in was July 11th. I don't know about you, but if you were told your child might possible be delayed, you really wouldn't want to wait until July to address the problem.

Thankfully, with the field Shon is in, he had access to a neurologist and could ask a lot of questions to find out if it was ok to wait that long or not. The neuro doc Shon spoke with offered to help get us in earlier, and we took him up on it. So, Will was seen on May 23rd instead of July 11th:-) We met with Dr. Hoffman, who was wonderful. He fit us into his schedule and took a lot of time looking Will over and going over with us what he was looking for. He did not think there was anything wrong with he head, other than the fact that he always sleeps on his back--he never rolls over, so the back of his head is flatter, which make the sides larger, which accounts for the big head size:-) Plus, Shon had a big, big head as a baby:-) On the low tone issue, he did agree there might be some developmental delay, but though that an evaluation by a program in Missouri called First Steps would be the first thing to do--they provide therapy free of charge to kids 3 and under if they qualify for it. So Will might need some physical therapy to help catch him up with where he is supposed to be. Dr. Hoffman called it "delayed myelination", which basically means his nerves in his lower extremities are not as far along as they should be, but they should catch up by the time he is 2 years old. We were very relieved to hear this news, since being in the medical field you know all the worst-case scenarios and try not to think that direction but it is hard:-) Will was started in the program with all the paper work on Friday , and we should get together with a PT person in the next few weeks for an evaluation.

Will, you weight 19lbs 13 oz and were 29 inches long at your 9 month appointment. I took you to the walk-in clinic yesterday because we are leaving for vacation on Sunday and you had been up 5 times on Thursday night and also refused to breast feed, which never happens. I just wanted to make sure your ears were ok. You weighed 20lbs 13 oz at the walk-in clinic:-) The doctor said you had a little fluid in each ear but they weren't infected, and that your throat was red but it was not strep. He did give us an antibiotic just in case but I have not filled it yet--we are waiting to see how you do over the next few days:-)

You are sitting up extremely well these days and have just learned how to push yourself back up into a sitting position from being on your stomach. You are not crawling but will push yourself backwards across the floor--which of course makes you mad because you are not going in the direction you want to go:-) You still are drooling a ton and still have no teeth to speak of. We started you on Cheerios this past month and you love them, but not as much as you love the Gerber's Yogurt Melts--you get super-excited whenever you see that package coming your way:-) You have also tried the puffs and as far as table food goes, you have tried refried beans ( a few bites) rolls, deli turkey, guacamole, strawberries, and watermelon. You liked most everything you tried, but seemed like you couldn't quite figure out the watermelon:-)

You wear size 12 month pajamas for the most part--the size 9 month are too short:-) You are still wearing a size 3 diaper and wear 6-12 month and some 12-18 month clothing. You are still waking at night at least once but usually twice--mommy is ready for this stage to be over with:-) You go right back to sleep after eating, though. You are still saying dada and have recently started making a lot of noise with your tongue--sticking it out and in very fast:-) You also have really started to enjoy spitting at everything--always with lots of drool involved. You light up whenever you see your brothers or sister and are enjoying watching them play video games.

This has been a busy month and I expect the rest of the summer will be as well. You go on your first trip to Branson next week and I look forward to seeing how you do. We love you Will!

9 months old

Will, you are 9 months old today! You are wearing size 3 diapers and some 6-12 month clothing, 9-12 month sleepers and 12 month sleepers. You are also wearing some 12-18 month clothing. You eat 4-5 jars of baby food a day--the second foods. You are still not eating any solid foods yet, although we did give you bites of roll at Lonestar yesterday, and apparently I was not fast enough a few times because you helped me put the bite in your mouth. You are sitting on your own really well--but we still like to be right near you in case you lean back too far--which you have done a few times and fallen backwards:-) You are not crawling but will push up pretty far when on your stomach--you just can't figure out what to do with your legs yet:-) You don't have any teeth yet--but you are still drooling a bunch.
We went back to the ENT doctor last month and he said we could take you off all the medicine you were on for reflux, but that we needed to come back 1 more time to check you.
You are still not sleeping through the night, but we did manage to get you out of being swaddled thanks to a wonder product called the Peke Moe--it is a big blanket that looks a lot like a Snuggie except that it goes over your head and has an opening at the top and zips at the bottom--you really like it and have slept well in it from the first time your wore it.
We have an appointment for your 9 month check up tomorrow so I will blog about your weight and height then:-) I am sure you are over 20 lbs though:-)
You said your first word last month--dada, of course. You have been jabbering quite a bit--lalala, gagaga, and dadada are words I recognize. You have also taken to growling at people--you growled at Dr. Gov-Ari after he said you didn't neet to gain any more weight:-)
Will, you are really showing us your personality more and more--we can't wait to see what the next month brings:-) We love you!