My housekeeper

Josh is home (finally) from a week long work trip to Maryland. He is trying to help a Momma out by doing some house chores for me (whata guy). But he is totally cracking me up with his lack of cleaning sense.

He is trying to mop the kitchen floor.

First, he asked if we had a mop, mmmm, yep.

Then he asked what he should clean the floor with. I told him pinesol, but that I am all out.

He then asked if he could mop the floor with comet, mmmmm, nope.

I told him that he could use a little bit of bleach and water if he wanted.

Then he asked where the bucket was, above the washer. He went and got the bucket and found some Murphy's Oil Soap. He asked if he could use the Murphy's on our tile floor, mmmmm, don't think so.

Then he asked which one was the bleach, mmmmm, white bottle that says BLEACH!

Then he asked if the bleach would fade the trim mouldings, mmmmm, nope.

All of that said....

You just got to love a man with a mop in his hand! Thanks Honey!

Funny thing happened today

while we were shopping at Target. First, let me start by saying that I probably only shop at Target about once a month. We don't go there often. So today when we were checking out the cashier (who I did not remember) started talking to Will. He was being fussy while sitting in the cart and she said "well, where is your smile little one? You are always smiling when I see you!" And she continued to talk with him until we were getting ready to walk away. Then she said "Bye-Bye!". Then I remember her!! She was the cashier that I started crying in front of when Will started waving at her!

So either I made a lasting impression on her with my blubbering or Will is just so darn cute that no one can forget his precious face!

One year ago today...

William had his g-tube placed. Today is the one year anniversary of Will's last surgery. We have been hospital stay free for a year today!! I can't believe that it has been a year. During the first year of William's life we were what you would call a "frequent flier" at Cardinal Glennon. We knew the nurses on each floor and we had our favorites. But we haven't seen our friends is a YEAR!!!!

So much has been different during this year than William's first year of life. During the first year, I constently lived in fear. Fear of the next illness, the next doctor appointment, the next surgery, the next therapy session, the next... It seemed like every doctor appointment lead to a new problem that needed to be corrected. Now doctor appointments are easier, less stressful because they are all just follow up appointments. All of the major stuff is over, been dealt with before.

Since William has been born he has had 7 hospital stays and those 7 occured between August 2006 and June 2007. I am so grateful that we have had an easy year. Will has been healthy and making strides in his development. If someone would have told me that we would have a hospital free year back in early 2007 I would have laughed in their face. I just never thought that it would get easier, that Will would be healthier or that we would not have any surgeries.

We made it through the winter with no hospital stays for illnesses either! Woot Woot! My boy is getting bigger!

Don't get me wrong, there are still struggles but we have settled into this journey that we are on and life is good.

Pix from ballet class on Monday

I was able to get a few pictures during Caroline's ballet class on Monday. It was really hard to get a picture of her face because they face the mirror but I managed one (you can see her face in the mirror on the first picture). Sorry no pictures of the other she-devils, I know, I know, you are disappointed. Can you tell that I am still bitter?

He Did It!!!

Will weighs 20 POUNDS!!!!!! And we got to turn his car seat around! He could have cared less but it was a huge thrill for Josh and I. He did enjoy getting to watch the DVD even though Caroline has been watching Cinderella 3 for months!! He also like looking at his wonderful Momma during the ride! Here is the little guy getting ready for his first ride.

Good Grief!

I can not believe some people. Today Caroline had dance class, which she completely loves. I signed Caroline up for ballet classes because I wanted her to not only learn the art of ballet but to also learn to follow directions, listen to elders, be polite, etc. Is this too much to ask? I would think not, but it seems that other parents do not have the same goals as I.

There are eight little girls in her class. Today's class was completely out of control. It was ridiculous. I can not believe that parents would allow their children to behave in the manor in public or a ballet class nonetheless. Ballet is intended to be a graceful, beautiful, gentle art but there were children acting like rabid monsters. A few of them stopped short of their head spinning around but it would not have surprised me.

There were girls yelling, getting into each others faces, giggling, talking, fighting and not listening, "she is touching me", "she kicked me", "Ms. Tomi, tell her to stop looking at me" and on and on. The thing is, their parents were right there! Why did they not get their child under control? Why did they allow their child to completely disrespect Ms. Tomi (Caroline's Ballet teacher)?

Every time we go to the studio for class, I tell Caroline "you must listen to Ms. Tomi, you must act like a ballerina and you must use your ballerina voice". And if Caroline starts to act up during class, she gets the "you remember what I told you" look and she straightens up. It is that easy folks!! But then she looks at me with the "but why can they act like complete brats and I can't?" look. Hello!! Stupid parents, you are making my job real tough here!!!

Follow up

On Wednesday Will had an appointment at Cardinal Glennon with his neurosurgeon, Dr. Flannery. She is the surgeon that performed his tethered cord release surgery in November 2006. This was just a follow up appointment to make sure that his legs are working (mmmm, yep!). Sometimes nerves can be damaged during the surgery so they must follow up annually to make sure that everything is working right. She asked what all he was doing and I told her. She seemed very pleased with his progress and said see you in a year!

But then she told us that we would be followed by a different neurosurgeon because she is moving to Chicago. Boo! We really like Dr. Flannery but we are happy that she was given the opportunity to move closer to her family.

After she told me that she would be leaving, I got to thinking. Isn't it crazy how we as parents form a bond with these doctors and nurses? I mean really, Dr. Flannery has only spent short amounts of time with us a handful of times but I was so sad that Will would have to see someone else next year.

I think that my bond with Dr. Flannery is so strong for several reasons. One, she doesn't beat around the bush. She is to the point, no candy coating it. I respect that about her. Two, I trusted her with my four month old baby's life, that says A LOT. She did spinal cord surgery on my baby for goodness sakes. Josh and I had to hand over our poor, defenseless baby to an almost stranger and say "please don't let him die". And she took him and protected him in the surgery room and then gave him back to us, all safe and sound (plus a brand new bandage).

And when the kids pediatrician, Dr. Rahman moved away, I cried. Alot. I just could not image a medical crisis without him saying in his VERY thick accent, "Ms. Pillers, Willy is a strong boy" and helping me through my fears that he did so often and sweetly. During Will's first year, I saw Dr. Rahman and his staff on a regular basis, almost weekly. So they are like family.

We trust all of these doctors with our most precious possessions, our children and with that trust comes an instant bond. But I guess as Will gets older, doctors will come and go. It is something that I will have to get used to I suppose.

Where has this week gone?

We have been crazy busy this week. We had camp, Caroline stayed at Grammy and Papa's, Will had a doctor appointment in St. Louis and a few other things thrown in.

So let start with camp....

The kids had a great time. Here are some pictures from the week.

Remember me saying, picture 9 kids on 9 tricycles? This is what it looked like.

Caroline and her friends waiting for their turn to run the obsticle course.

During her run on the course

It is amazing to me...

to see other babies sit so nicely in their strollers.

Today my Moms Club group held a day "camp" for our kiddos. I volunteered to host today's camp so I was in charge of everything and running the camp. It was exhausting, but the kids had a great time.

Caroline was participating in the camp and I was having to man the camp (plus corral 8 other kids!) and keep William in line. God Lord, let me tell you...

I was trying to explain the Olympic Games to a bunch of 4 year olds (hello, not easy) with Will climbing my pant leg. Then I was showing them the craft project that we were going to be doing. Making the Olympic rings with modeling clay and Will destroyed it. Then we were having tricycle races, picture it 9 kids on 9 tricycles in an open hockey rink, Good Night!! Now picture me trying to herd them in while toting my hip tumor (Will). The other Moms offered to take Will from me to help me out, but he was not having any of that business!

Now, I am doing this while two other little kiddos sat so nicely in their strollers while their Mommies helped their sibling participate in the camp. One sat and chewed on his foot, the other talked to himself. Neither of them threw major fits or tried to wiggle out of their stroller. Two sweet little boys sitting in their strollers, having a good ol' time.

Then there is The Stitch. Stitch just will not sit still for that long! No, let me re-phrase that...Stitch just will not sit still!

I'm not joking...

There is never a dull moment around here!

FYI...

I have recently changed the setting on our blog so that you don't have to have a Blogger account to leave a comment. You can click on "anonymous" and just sign your name within your comment.

I look forward to reading your comments and discovering who all reads Lilo and The Stitch!

Lilo says...

The funniest stuff sometimes! Today she watched an episode of Arthur on PBS. I would much rather her watch anything on PBS than to watch a show like this one!! Anywho, I didn't really pay attention to the show, I am trying to get ready for a summer camp day that I am hosting next week. After the show was over Caroline came into the kitchen and we had this conversation:

Caroline: "Mom, I am going to live the Amish way!"

Me: "Oh yeah, how are you going to do that?"

Caroline: "I am not going to use the telephone, or the TV and I am going to work with my hands."

Me: "Alrighty then"

Caroline: "I am going to go up to my room and play the Amish way."

Me: "How do you play it?"

Caroline: "I am not going to play with my play phone or turn on my lights."

Me: "okay, have fun"

About two minutes later Caroline returns to the kitchen as says:

"I don't think that I am going to play the Amish way today. Can I watch cartoons?"

So much for the Amish way, huh?!

Update of William's Feedings

It has been awhile since I have updated on how Will is feeding these days. So here is the update...

We went to GI (Dr. Brady at St. John's Mercy, Love her!!) on Tuesday. Will is weighing in at 19.5 pounds! Woot Woot! Go Will, Go Will! (insert mental picture of me doing a happy dance!!)He only has to gain a pound before we can turn his car seat forward facing!! That is going to be HUGE!! Will is almost two (in August) and he still has to be rear facing because he doesn't weigh the 20 pound minimum. Most kiddos get to go forward facing when they turn 1 year old.

We are still tube feeding William three times a day. He gets four ounces of formula (pediasure) mixed with applesauce (about an ounce) and one tablespoon of rice cereal in the tube three times a day. We use the cereal and applesauce because making the formula thicker seems to help it stay down (less vomiting). So he is tubed 12 ounces a day and he drinks the other 12 ounces. He is still taking a bottle (which I can't stand!) but he just hasn't gotten the whole sippy cup thing.

Each time that we tube feed Will we offer him food by mouth. We want him to associate the "full" feeling with eating food. He has never had any oral aversions (he will put anything in his mouth, seriously: EVERYTHING). So he has no problems putting the food into his mouth, he just can't seem to swallow it. He has been working with his speech therapist and his occupational therapist for over a year on trying to swallow.

At our GI appointment on Tuesday with Dr. Brady (have I mentioned that I LOVE her!??) I talked with her about Will's lack of swallowing skills and she brought up the possibility of a therapy called Vital Stim. VitalStim Therapy uses small electrical currents to stimulate the muscles responsible for swallowing. At the same time, trained specialists help patients "re-educate" their muscles through rehabilitation therapy. I had actually heard of this therapy before, Natalie has also had this therapy and it has worked wonders for her. I think that it may be what Will needs to get him eating real food and away from using his tube so much.

Children's Hospital has an OT that does the therapy, but I am not sure what her availability will be. There is also a women that comes to the patients home but she is located in Missouri so I am not sure that she will cross the river for us. I will have to start doing my research. I also have to make sure that our insurance will cover it. And we all know how fun that is going to be!

I am optimistic about the therapy, I have a good feeling that it will work. I just have to do the leg work first. I am very pleased about Will's weight gain. He gained over a pound in a month, and he has NEVER done that before! He is vomiting less, praise the Lord! He is vomiting, on average, twice a week (which is way better than every feed like in the past).

So that is it! Your Will Feeding Update!

Update on the puppy training

So life with Buster is certaining busy! He is a great little guy, but still very much a puppy!

Caroline has become "afraid" of Buster because she doesn't like it when he jumps on her so she has been keeping her distance. She doesn't realize that if she runs and scream then Buster thinks that she is playing.

Will, on the other hand, thinks the dog is a hoot! They can often be found chasing one another (Buster thinks that Will's diaper is a chew toy!). They sit and look at each other alot too.









We have been doing the schedule that I read about online and it seems to be working. He has only had accidents in the house a few times within the past few days, which is a HUGE improvement. He is also still having accidents in his crate while we are gone. I am not sure what to do about that. Maybe he just needs time.

Sleepy

On Friday we had some pretty servere weather in our area. The tornado sirens went off and I had to take the two kids and the puppy into the basement, where we stayed for over an hour. When I was gathering up the kids to go into the basement Caroline started to cry and freak out (for lack of a better word) about the sirens. Caroline didn't want to come back upstairs. She was really scared about the sirens going off again. She was so worried that we would have time to get downstairs if they were to go off again.



I talked her through it and she was okay. But I think that her nerves wore her out because she fell asleep in the chair when we got back upstairs. She fell alseep in a really funny position, I thought that she might fall out of the chair. She never hit the floor.

Note to self...Caroline should not watch the Wizard of Oz for serveral more years. :-)

Potty Training....the dog!

I am knee deep in puppy training hell! Buster thinks that my house is his peeing paradise. I have been taking him outside about every thirty minutes for the past two days and when we get back inside he decides to pee. What gives Buster!!?? I was beginning to lose my ever-loving mind!

So I started researching online...

I found a website that states that my puppy will be potty trained in 7 days! The only catch is that I have to follow their rules. So I have been doing what they say since last night! The website said that I needed to put him in a crate. So I did. My wonderful friend Laura brought me over a crate that she was no longer using. I thought that I would have it licked! No luck. I put Buster in it last night and went to bed. Through the night he figured out how to get out of it (I don't think that I had it latched right) and I woke up this morning with little puddles in the bathroom (where I put the crate). Lovely.

I also read online that you need to keep him in the crate through the day (only while potty training) and take him outside every 1-2 hours to potty. When I take him out I put him on a leash (like the internet said) but the dog will not go! He bites the leash, plays with it, lays down. Pretty much does everything BUT pee! When he does go, I praise him and give him a very small treat. He has gone three times outside today so maybe Buster is turning the corner. I'm not going to hold my breath!

Oh, while Buster is in the crate he is barking, yelping, screaming (in doggie language). It is driving me crazy. Caroline thinks that Buster is sad and wants to get him out but I am only letting her take him outside to play (until he is potty trained). She gets bored and says that it is hot and comes back in after about 20 minutes.

I realize that we are at the beginning stages here and it will get better but I don't remember having this much trouble with my other dogs. Or maybe I have blocked out that torture from my mind.

So I am on the count down, 7 days!! We'll see! I will let you know how it works out.

Here is Buster in Doggie Jail. Poor little, peeing machine guy!

INTRODUCING... (Drum Roll, please)

Buster!!

Isn't he just the cutest thing you have ever seen??? He is the lastest addition to our family. He is a sheltie, just like Madi was. We went and picked him up yesterday and the kids could not be happier!


We didn't tell Caroline anything (we do this alot! Remember Disney?? It is all for my sanity really. I really couldn't handle answering the question "when are we going to go get the puppy Mom??" one hundred and fifty thousand times in a hour!) And when she saw the puppy her eyes were the size of half dollars! She kept saying "He is sooo cute!" Josh asked her if she wanted to take him home and that was it, she was in love!




Will is enjoying him too. When Buster gets close, William will pat him. It is really cute. Will is mostly enjoying the doggie bed right now. He climbs in it and sits with Buster, then climbs out and does it all over again.




The kids really enjoy getting into the doggie bed with Buster!


Caroline said this morning "Mom we are really going to need to take good care of Buster so that he doesn't run away to Heaven like Molly and Madi." Broke my heart. I hope that the Lord blessed us with a healthy puppy and Buster will be around for a good long while.

As I type this, Will has figured out that the doggie bed moves and is pushing the bed (with Buster in it) around the dining room like it is a walker. My word!

Ps. Will really does wear clothes!!! I promise!! It seems like the child never has clothes on when the photo opportunity arises!! He just got done eating lunch, which we usually have to take him out back and hose him down after!