An Update

A quick update...I have a much longer blog entry that I need to write and post, but as usual...there just aren't enough hours in the day.

And as usual..the drama with the little Miss continues.

We have a spinal tap under general anesthesia scheduled tomorrow to test for more big, scary words which our neurologist calls the "worst-case scenarios". Blech.

The last time we attempted a spinal tap a month ago, Bella managed to get it cancelled due to her coarse lungs sounds and the determination by the anesthesia team that she was/is an "anesthesia risk". Grrreeat.

I'm a tiny bit anxious, may be having a few heart palpitations, and really just want this over with. Do you remember Bella's last experience with general anesthesia?

Well, she decided to stop breathing.

Honestly, the child is a drama seeker.

So...prayers please for our sweet Bella, and this anxious mama's heart.

Thanks. :)

In other news with the drama queen, it looks like we are heading down the gtube path. I have so many mixed emotions about the gtube, which deserves it's own post. We've avoided it for a year, but Bella's swallow is getting worse, and I'm not sure we can avoid it at this point.

Everything we've been through with Bella, and I'm falling apart about a little gtube.

Sigh.

The pool is open, the boys are out of school, Alex turned six, and summer is here. Not to mention, the fighting between the boys is going full force. Some things never change.

At least it's normal. We really, really like normal around here.

I'll be back soon with more pictures and a longer post. I'll leave you with one of the many Alex quotes that have made me laugh in the last few weeks.

Alex: "You know how Drew and I always fight?"

Me: "Oh yes, I know".

Alex: "You should go to stop bullying speakup.com and report him".

And you, Mr Alex, watch too much TV.

Just sayin'.

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Valentines Day

So...I'm tired of having words like epileptic encephalopathy (boo, hiss, yuck) swirl around and around in my brain, zapping my joy and making me an anxious mess. I'm tired of wondering what impact all this will have on my sweet girl and her future/development. Frankly, I'm just tired of being awake at 3am with a thousand unanswered questions and big old panic attack.

Life goes on...whether I'm sleeping at 3am or not. Let's move on too, shall we?

Since Bella was in the hospital on Valentine's day, I was a little bummed she wouldn't get to wear her Valentine's outfit. Hey, there's so much I can't do with Bella, but I CAN buy her cute clothes. Don't judge me.

We did manage to wear it to physical and feeding therapy on Wednesday though. A little over the top for a therapy session, but oh well. The feeding therapist didn't mention the word g-tube one time during Bella's appt, despite her only gaining 3 oz. I'm totally giving credit to the outfit.

Before all the drama with Miss Bella, I had signed up to help with the 2nd grade Valentine's party and bring sweets. (Yes, I do have 2 other children-they just have been a little left out of the blog lately). I really wanted a cute yummy snack to bring. Now, you should know, I am NOT creative. I hate scrapbooking, doing crafts, etc. In fact, just typing the word scrapbooking makes me feel all hot and a little,well, twitchy. Is that a word?!

Thanks to Heather though, I was able to come up with a very easy, creative snack. Cookie lollipops! Thanks, Heather!! They were so simple, and were a hit with the 2nd graders.

Ahh...I can check off "make something instead of cupcakes to class party" off my bucket list now.

Looking back over my pictures of the last few months, I noticed I have very few of Drew and Alex. Whoops.

Here's what I have (someday they will be thrilled to see these): Here's Alex being, well...Alex.

And here's one of Drew sporting a beard and glasses. They were drawn on him with makeup for a challenge in the game "You've got to be kidding." Let's just say, he was not amused.

In fact, I think he may have refused to finish the game. It probably didn't help that his brother thought it was hilarious.

Two of my friends gave me these verses this past week. I love them, and I'm trying to remember their promise:

"Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

"Those who live in the shelter of the most High, will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty." Psalm 91:1.

Thanks, Tammy and JoEllen!

Now, if only I can remember this during my 3am panic attacks...sigh.

I hope you all had a great Valentines day, filled with lots of love, and of course, cookie lollipops. :)

Happy Fall!

Happy Fall from Mario, Spiderman, and a ladybug!!!





I'll be back later to update more (really, I will!) Right now, Bella is crying because she is hungry (She gained ONE pound in a month & is on the growth curve again. WHOOP WHOOP! Praise God for thickener), and Alex is wanting me to set up pbs kids for him on the computer.

It's a good day. No Therapy, No doctors, Just Alex and Bella and their mommy, wearing cozy pants and relaxing at home. These days happen about once a month, and I LOVE them!!!

Ok, gotta run.

Alex: "Daddy why do you do all the work, while mommy sits around and reads a book?"

Me: "WHAT IN THE WORLD?!!!!! I haven't read a book in a loooong time!! Ok, fine Alex, I'm not doing laundry anymore, you won't have a clean bedroom, and good luck with your lunch getting packed tom."

Alex: "Um....whoops. I mean, mommy, why do you have to do all the work around here?"

Seriously.

Yes...Still Here

I know I've abandoned this little blog recently...but it's been quite the month. We went from vacation to 2 hospitalizations for the little princess, and numerous doctor visits in between.

*Sigh*

I think we are finally getting back to normal. I hope.

So...I have a few posts I'm working on that hopefully I will post in the next few days. I'll leave you all with a quote from Alex (who is 5, going on 15 btw).

Last weekend, Bella was extremely fussy-I think there may have been 1 hour when she was awake that she wasn't crying. Cutting 3 molars will do that, I guess.

Alex (in a disgusted voice) "Bella is the owner of cry land."

I have to agree, Mr. Alex.

Be back...with vacation pics...soon. :)

T-ball

Yes...yes...I'm still here. (Hi mom, I know you've been hinting for a new blog post).

Alex had his last T-ball game last night. This was his last year before he gets to play (in his words), "real baseball." Apparently, park district baseball is "real baseball".

Alex's "bwest fwiend" Kenadi

Heavy discussions at first base

Kenadi: "How old are you? I'm five."

Alex: "You're cute. What's your phone number?"

Alex had three hits without the tee for his last game. Let's just say he was a little proud. According to him they were "whammers".

And one of Bella on her first birthday (She's one!). I plan to post a separate post on her party, but I need pictures off my mom's camera first.



I have (another) prayer request for Bella, if you think about it. We are waiting on insurance approval to switch her therapy to a pediatric based facility. The pediatric facility is 50 minutes away, but they have so many more resources which Bella would benefit from. Pray that the insurance would approve it, without us having to go through lots of appeal processes. Thanks!

Quote of the day (from who else-Mr. Alex).

Me: "Alex you're so stinking cute!"

Alex: "What does stinking mean?"

Me: "It means you are so, so, so, so, cute!"

Alex: "Mommy, you're so stinking pretty."

Yes, I'm Still Here!

Goodness.


I'm not sure anyone is still reading this blog...it's been forever since I've posted. But since I use this blog as a way to preserve our family memories and because I enjoy blogging I'll keep updating-even if I'm the only one reading it!


If there are still readers out there-God bless you for hanging in there!


What's been going on in our family? Where to start?


Let's begin with Mr. Drew, shall we?


Drew:







-is loving first grade!


-had a birthday since I last posted and is now seven. SEVEN!!! Time flies.


-notices everything-and I do mean everything. He always knows exactly what everybody was wearing in school, which boys had on the "cool shirts" (cool shirts to this 7 year old boy are those with planes, monster trucks, or construction equipment on them), and while driving in a car notices anything unusual going on outside. Hmm...wonder who that sounds like? (Craig). His poor wife someday if she is a passenger while he is driving.


-played football this year (flag football with 6 & 7 year olds is very entertaining).



Alex:







-LOVES preschool!!!


-Although he loves preschool, he still thinks life is moving waaaaaay to slow. He has told me many times just this week that "Drew is older, but I'm almost as tall as him. Soon I'll be big just like him."


-completely adores his daddy and anybody else he considers "a big guy".


-is still entertaining, completely charming and exasperating all at the same time.





Bella:

Where do I even start? To say she is our drama queen would be an understatement. She has caused me to worry more and pray more in five months than any of the other kids did in five years.

-she continues to be our little night owl-preferring to go to sleep anywhere from 12-2am. Maybe someday I'll be able to get 6 straight hours of sleep again. According to Bella, I am asking for way to much.

-is a little snugglebug. I LOVE this!

Bella's vision is still not great-there are some concerns about this-among other things (that would be an understatement) and she has some developmental delays because of the vision problems. If you could say a little prayer for Bella we would so appreciate it! As a mom, I would do anything to be able to "fix" this, and it's completely frustrating that there is nothing I can do at this point. We have an MRI scheduled for next week. The last attempted MRI was completely awful and am hoping this one goes much, much better. Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up though.

So we wait....and pray...

I LOVE being Bella's mommy and feel so blessed that she is part of our family. When she smiles at me, it completely and absolutely melts my heart. NO MATTER WHAT I will always, always, always love her and be so thankful that God blessed her with us

.

I hope to be better at blogging (hmm...think I've said that before). If you are still reading-Thank you! And now...Bella's finally sleeping...I think I should do the same!

My Least Favorite...

This summer I was much more relaxed in the housekeeping department than I should have been, mostly because I had a newborn and well, I was overwhelmed just trying to survive some days. (Anybody else ever been there?)

Unfortunately, you can only play the newborn card for so long. It's high time to whip this house into shape!

I should say that I LOVE having an organized, clean house and actually I tend to get a little grumpy if things aren't picked up and the house at least LOOKS presentable. The problem is, cleaning isn't my favorite activity.

I mean, honestly, there are sooooo many more fun things that I could be doing.

So, in the spirit of procrastination I thought I would list my five LEAST FAVORITE chores: (I'm sure everybody is on the edge of their seats).

1. Emptying the dishwasher. Ugh. Hate it. I suppose this would be a great chore for Drew, but I usually empty it in the morning when he's eating breakfast, and I'm not sure it would be worth all the fussing I would have to endure. I guess I could just hand wash them all (right, mom?) ha ha.

2. Cleaning the shower. Blech. Enough Said.

3. Ironing. Boring, boring, boring. This list is making me depressed.

4. Cleaning the hardwood floors. I LOVE how the floors look when they are done, but the process...not so much. I suppose if I didn't insist on cleaning them by hand, it wouldn't be so bad.

5. Packing Craig's lunch. I know this technically isn't a household chore, but I. DREAD. THIS. CHORE. It's such a pain to me-usually I have the kitchen all cleaned up from dinner and then I have to remember to pack a lunch, AND I have to remember to have food to put in the lunch. Yep, that helps if there's actually food to pack. Craig and I did make a deal that if I pack his lunch he'll make coffee for me in the morning. I'm starting to think he got the better part of that deal...

Anybody else have things around the house they hate to do? Please tell me I'm not the only one! I'm off to pack a lunch...sigh....


Quote of the day:

Alex: Daddy is so, so, so cool!!!!

Me: What's mommy? Boring?

Alex: Well, you may be boring, but I still love you.

Words that will melt a mother's heart.

Preschool!

Where to start? I am a blogging failure anymore.


I'm behind on blogging and reading blogs. If I haven't commented on your blog lately, it's not because I don't love you, it's because I'm just...tired...so very, very tired....



Enough about all that. Sheesh.



Alex started preschool last week. To say he was excited would be an understatement. When Alex was two, he would go with me twice a week to drop Drew off and pick him up. Every time he would ask "when can I go to preschool?"



Finally, finally, finally it was his big day. He is an afternoon class, and I can't even tell you how many times that day he asked me if it was time to go yet.



The plus side to having afternoon preschool is that lunch is not a problem. No longer do I have to keep saying "eat, take another bite, eat, stop messing around, eat, five more bites, eat, keep your hands to yourself, eat.....(am I the only mom that has to say these things?)



Nope, last Tuesday Alex's lunch plate was clean in about 5.2 seconds.



Here is the big preschooler all ready to go:









The most exciting part of preschool? He finally gets to carry his VERY OWN backpack (with his name on it no less)!




I wish I would have taken a picture of the strutting that was happening on the way into the classroom.

Yes, oh yes, there was some major strutting going on.



The good news for Alex is that the majority of his class is girls. And we all know how much Alex likes girls...



Maybe we should all say a few prayers for his teacher, Mrs. Rennie.



Oh, my dear Alex-
you are growing up so fast! I just want to freeze time and keep you four years old. You make me laugh everyday. I love your zeal for life and your energy. I'm so glad you finally get to go preschool-you've been waiting so long! I love you forever and ever and ever, and to the moon and back.
-Mommy.

Drew/Alex Quotes

Two posts in one day? I know, I know.

It's shocking to me too. I think I'm going through withdrawal. Thank goodness for sleeping babies. (Although, I think I need to type faster, I hear lots of rustling behind me).

For those of you who don't really know Alex, let me fill you in a little. Alex is four, going on sixteen. He loves girls already. (Remember, at basketball games he liked the cheerleaders "the best"). He is a complete flirt (esp with teenage girls), and after he is done doing his little "charm routine" will literally strut when he walks away.

I wish I was kidding.

He's very concerned about his clothes, and how he looks, and loves to "primp" in front of the mirror.

The thing is, he IS charming. And those eyes-I'm such a sucker for those baby blues!

I'm already having nightmares about the teen years with Alex.

So, it came as no surprise when I picked Alex up from his class after church that he was all excited that he was at a table of ALL! GIRLS!!!

Me: "Wow, Alex! All girls! I bet you liked that. Were they cute?"

Alex: (with a dejected face). "Nah, there weren't any cute ones. Well, wait there was one....but she was only three".

Apparently, Alex likes much older girls, and I can't believe I'm having these conversations with my four year old son!

Moving right along....

The other day my sister stopped in at our house wearing this skirt:

Me: "Aww...Trina, you look so nice! Doesn't she look nice, Drew?"

Drew: "She looks like a zebra."

I think maybe Alex should be giving Drew charm lessons.

Alex Quotes

Overheard at breakfast this morning:



Alex: "Man, I sure hope God isn't up in heaven making another baby for us."



Apparently one little sister is more than enough for Mr. Alex.

Monster Trucks & Bob The Builder

I've been wanting to post these pictures for about two months now...better late than never, right?


This winter (besides looking for fun things to do with the kids), I wanted to do something special with each child before the new baby comes. For Drew, this was a no-brainer. He's been talking about going to the monster truck show since he went last year.

Guess who got two tickets in his stocking at Christmastime for monster jam?! Yes, I said TWO. Alex doesn't like shows with lots of loud noise and I was more than happy to let this be a special daddy/Drew event. Monster trucks, crushing cars, extreme bikes: Wow. That's a lot of testosterone.

Here are some pics of their night. (Notice I really don't have any of the two people who actually WENT to the show. Maybe mommy should have gone along).

Oh wait, I have ONE picture. Don't they just look excited beyond belief to be at a monster truck show?

Apparently, Grave Digger and Bounty Hunter were the big hits. Drew's favorite part was "when Grave Digger crushed old cars. Whoo-hoo!"



Wow. Maybe I will go next year. Maybe. Probably not.



Alex's special time was a Bob the Builder Show. I heard about the show about three days before the event. Surprisingly, I found tickets online in the fourth row. (I think it's because I only wanted two tickets together).



I had every intention of taking Alex, since Craig and Drew were going to a high school basketball game that night.



Who knew it would be the night of the biggest snow storm of the season? It happened to be the week after I fell on the ice at church (shudder), so I was still paranoid, PLUS the thought of driving an hour each way with bad road conditions was more than I was up for.



Thank goodness for Craig giving up the basketball game and sitting through a Bob the Builder show! (Although the basketball game ended up being canceled due to the snow). Still, I hear, he endured quite a bit of teasing at work. I'm sure all the teasing only helped develop character...Ahem.



Alex, had a great time, and still talks about it.

These pictures are blurry and difficult to see, because somebody forgot their camera in the car and only had his cell phone. (But it's really OK, because I did not have to brave the road conditions that night).

Now, back to the nursery. I think I'm almost ready for this baby! The nesting stage has kicked into high gear at the Yoder household.

I'll post pictures soon!

Sleep Stories

See this child above? Cute and innocent, right?

Wrong.

Apparently, Alex has decided that his little life is far too exciting to involve sleeping.

I mean, come on, he has things to do and schemes to dream up. Here is Alex's sleeping schedule the past 24 hours.

Sat. night: 10:00-bedtime snack, stories, tucked in, kissed and hugged. Craig promptly goes into living room, turns on TV, falls asleep. (Trust me, he needed it-he spent the whole day cutting concrete, putting up a vinyl fence, trying to find a pool leak underneath concrete, and who knows what else).

-Drew promptly falls asleep in the bottom bunk. (He loves Alex's bunk beds, and only sleeps in his race car bed on school nights. Honestly, what little boy wouldn't want a race car bed? I hated sharing a room growing up-Sorry Kit-Kat! I'm ready to sell the bed, but that's another story, and I'm getting waaaaay off-track here.

-Meanwhile I go to bed, with hopes of watching "The Office" I had DVR'd (sorry Keetha), but keep hearing various bumping and jumping noises from upstairs. Decide to ignore the noises, and turn the TV up louder.

10:30-Alex comes downstairs saying he has to go to the bathroom. (Never mind that he just went to the bathroom, or that there is a bathroom upstairs right beside his bedroom). Stalls for about a half hour before I finally get him tucked in again.

11:30-Finally cannot ignore the noises from Alex's room anymore! There is one serious party going on up there! Go upstairs AGAIN, wondering the whole time how hard it would be to put an elevator in the house. Threaten Alex, cover him up, listen to his 5 minute tirade of "you're grumpy and I'm mad at you." (He soooo should have been a girl). Assure him I love him, but he NEEDS TO GO TO SLEEP. Meanwhile, Drew and Craig are snoring. (Interestingly, he told me the next morning he was walking around on his top bunk, that's why I heard "lots of noises". Now why wouldn't I have thought of that?)

11:45-hear more noises, decide it's not even worth it.

12:00-Fall asleep. Assume Alex fell asleep sometime during the night.

Sunday Morning: 7:30-Alex comes downstairs with bright, shining eyes. He is happy, cheerful, and in a great mood. Me: not so much.

2:00-arrive home from church and lunch, envisioning a warm bed and a long winter slumber. I won't even go into all the details, let's just say Alex spent 2 hours avoiding naptime, and I finally gave up and watched 3 episodes of Max and Ruby with him.

4:30-Craig takes kids outside to get rid of some energy, while I attempt to take a nap. Finally give up and work in nursery sorting baby clothes. BTW: Guess who got a nap AGAIN. Yep, that would be Craig. Don't worry I'm not the least bit bitter.

7:00-Alex is nearing melt-down stage. Turn on Horton Hears a Who in the hopes that with a full belly and heavy eyes he will fall asleep for the night, and we can carry him to bed.

8:30-The movie is over, and guess who is still going strong, and has more energy than ever?

9:30-repeat bedtime routine. Drew is asleep before stories are over. Alex is still completely wired.

9:45-I assume he finally gave up as there is complete silence in the bedroom. Is there anyone still reading this?

It's currently 7:00, and I still have two sleeping children-although probably not for long.

I wonder what it means if the mother needs more sleep than her three year old son?

I'm optimistic that at least a little bit of his energy will transfer to me today.

Still Here!

I think I've fallen off the blogging wagon, so to speak. I haven't been blogging or reading blogs much in the last few weeks.

It's not that I don't want to blog or don't enjoy blogging. It simply has to do with sick kids, doctor visits, sick kids, lack of sleep, sick kids, pregnancy, and did I mention sick kids??

The sickness, it has to end. Soon.

I'm optimistic we are slowly turning the corner. I have a couple blog posts I will try to post either later tonight or tomorrow.

So, faithful readers (all two of you), I will be back shortly. Don't worry, I haven't abandoned the blogging world for facebook.

Antibiotics: they're a really good thing.

I'll leave you with this humbling conversation Alex had with me just yesterday.

Alex: (laughing loudly), "Mommy!!!!!! Look at your be-wy (belly) button. It looks soooo funny. It's sticking out"!!!

Me: "Do you think that's funny"?

Alex: (continuing to laugh loudly), "I'm going to look at it and laugh everyday".

The "Boringest Store Ever"

Alex is most definitely not my little shopper.

I know, amazing is it not? Obviously, he did not inherit my shopping genes. I'm blaming it all on his daddy's influence.

I've tried making a game out of it (let's see who can find the milk first). I've tried all methods of bribery (the candy bribe is still by far the one I use the most), and I've tried threats (if you do not cooperate, there will be no MarioKart Wii the rest of the day), but really nothing is 100% or even 90% effective.

It's not that he is deliberately misbehaving. He's just so easily distracted. Good grief, I'm pretty sure the manufacturer's are marketing right to Alex's demographic group. Put a bright, shiny, colorful carton of something at his eye level, and it'll either be in our cart or he'll be admiring it long after I'm done in that aisle.

This is the store we frequent at least once a week (sometimes more). Yes, I'm pretty sure everybody that works there is quite familiar with us. He tolerates it for about 15-20 min max. I definitely try to have my list organized and have a clear idea of what I need when I get there-and leave QUICKLY.

In fact when I even mention grocery shopping I'll hear him mutter "boring old store". Clearly, he's quite enthusiastic about all our shopping adventures.

There is one store in particular that little Alex has coined as the "boringest store ever." I don't normally shop in this store, but this particular day before Christmas, I had a $10 off coupon. FREE! Oh, how I heart free.

In fact, I didn't realize this had made such a big impression on him, until a few days ago. This is how the conversation went:

Alex: "Mommy, wemember that store you made me go to with you, the one where we bought that backpoe". (backhoe).

Me: "Alex, what on earth are you talking about?"

Alex: "You know, that store that we had to walk and walk in, and my wegs got tiwed and I was gwumpy." Now, seriously Alex, that happens in every store.

Me: "We bought a backhoe????" Goodness, I think I'd remember that purchase.

Alex: "yeah, it was yellow, and I dropped it and bwoke it in the store, and we hung it on the Christmas tree. We bought Drew a wace car, and me a backpoe."

Me: "Oh, you mean the Christmas store we went to before Christmas?"

Alex: "Yeah, Man that was the boringest store ever."

Me: "It was?! It wasn't that bad was it?"

Alex: "I don't ever want to go back to that boring, boring store."

I realize, in hindsight, it probably wasn't the best idea to visit this store right after we finished our weekly grocery shopping experience.

But the "boringest store ever"? I think I may have scarred him for life.

Remind me not to take him with me when I go to Maurice's.

New Bunk Beds

The other week, we gave Alex one of his Christmas presents early. I really, really wanted to wait until Christmas, but he just didn't fit in his toddler bed anymore.

Alex is three and has been in the 100th percentile for height since he was a baby. His legs were literally hanging out of his little tikes race car bed. Not to mention, the covers didn't even reach halfway up his chest anymore.

Optimistically, I thought this was probably the reason he was waking up at 6:00 am every morning. He was cold, right?

Let's just say he now has a bed with lots of covers and STILL is waking up at 6:00 am each morning.

No, it doesn't matter what time he goes to bed. My kids are just naturally early morning risers. Thank you very much, Craig. That trait is definitely from you.

Here are some pictures of the new bunk beds. They are a definite hit to say the least. Alex has claimed the top bunk for himself, but is perfectly content to let his brother have the bottom bunk.

I finally had to establish some ground rules though. No sharing a room on school nights! Alex was waking Drew up (at 6:00 of course) , telling him it was morning and time to get up. Not to mention all the talking and chattering happening at all hours of the night.

Seriously, now.

I've been laying down with Alex at bedtime to read him bedtime stories. Hopefully, the top bunk will support a nine month pregnant woman. If not, well...

Let's not go there.