OH MY...

Now how do you child-proof this???

 

Sam's first day of Kindergarten!!!

Today is Sam's first day of Kindergarten.  He still attends school at Laremont, which is a special school that is better able to provide him with the assistance he needs.  Sam is soooo excited.  After I got him dressed I told him that he looked soooo handsome and he just beamed.  Sam loves school.  I get to go and meet his teacher today and see his new room.  We have high expectations for Sam this year... as I assume he also has for himself.  He loves his new found independence that comes from being able to walk at bit more.  He is starting to follow directions a bit more and is learning to keep his hands to himself and wait his turn.  I think this will be a good year for Sam... oh the places he will go.  More later... the bus comes at about 8:05.

TA-DA

UPDATE.... can you believe it... we were waiting, waiting, waiting for the bus to come and no bus in site.  I just got off the phone with the bus driver and Sam's first day of school is tomorrow.  Don't you just love typos!  She said that yes, I was correct and she thought today was Sam's first day too but over the weekend received a call that he would be starting on Tuesday...not Monday.  I am so glad that they bothered to call me and let me know that.  Well Sam is all ready to go... I will be taking him to meet his teacher today (hope they haven't changed that too) and we will start all over tomorrow.

post-op update...

Everything went as planned and the surgeons were even finished up early.  Sam only needed one ear tube replaced but the ENT did clean out alot of wax and mucus from his ear canal and from behind the ear drum but everything looks great.  We have high hopes that he will pass his next hearing test.  Then on to the hydrocele.  This surgery took a bit longer due to excess scar tissue (Sam has had several abdominal surgeries and this is the second time this surgeon will be going in the exact same spot) but there were no complications.  The doctor's trademark heart shaped gauze covers the incision site... obvious a sign that he closed Sam up with a little extra TLC.  It always makes me feel good when docs do a little something extra like that... I know they care.  Sam's tummy and testicle are a bit swollen and bruised (as is expected) but he does not appear to be in any pain.  Then the dentist/oral surgeon stepped up to the plate.  Sam had 5 teeth removed... the tooth fairy will be busy tonight!  Sam also had a Frenectomy.  The Freneum is the bit of skin between the top front teeth that connects the upper lip to the gums.  Well Sam's was really short... really really short... so the doc snipped it allowing more freedom of movement to the upper lip.  To finish things up he got a really good cleaning and his back teeth sealed.  Sam did really well and we were home by 2:00 today.  He is moving around well but still seems a bit tired.   I am exhausted... and I can only pray that everyone is ready to go to bed early!  Thanx for all our prayers and well wishes.

Update on Sam...

Well as most of you know, Sam is having surgery bright and early tomorrow morning.  Due to the construction we will be leaving the house around 5:30am... that will give me about 2 hours to drive the normally 35 minute route to the hospital.  He will undergo 3 procedures done by 3 different surgeons.  He will be having wax build up removed from his ears (boy there is a lot in there) and ear tubes replaced.  Then he will have his hydrocele repaired...again.  A Hydrocele is when there is too much fluid around the testicle...it is not painful but very enlarged.  In most cases there is a less than 1% chance of a hydrocele re-communicating (coming back) after surgery... so wouldn't you know it... Sam's came back... of course.  Finally he will be having some dental work.  He will have x-rays to determine just how many extractions he will need... on initial exam the dentist is guessing 4-6, then he will have a really good cleaning and his back teeth sealed.  All three procedures should take about 3 hours (not including pre-op and post-op recovery) and we hope to be home by dinner.  Typically Sam does really well recovering from surgery and I pray that this time is no different.  He starts school on Monday and I hope that he will be in attendance on the first day.  So if you could, say a little prayer for Sam.  

And... his foot seems to be healing nicely and he is walking on it again.... yay!

On another note...

I often times struggle with finding rewards for Sam.  Being that he is 100% g-tube fed, a McDonald's Happy Meal, M&Ms or other tasty treat that would please most children is lost on  Sam.  There are things he likes... like taking baths or going to the pool, but those things are not immediate rewards and although he likes them he does not understand the cause and effect... If I behave well in the store we will go to the pool... If I don't we will just go home.  So I try to find things that please Sam that give him an immediate reward and satisfaction for behavior  that I want him to continue, such as hugging, kissing, high 5's and so on.   Well I think I found something even better....  So I walk into the kitchen today and Sam is sitting in the middle of the floor with a rubber stamp.  He obviously plucked it from somewhere.  Well there he was stamping his hand and arm (no ink) and then throwing his arms out and saying "TA-DA"  as only Sam can.  At school they stamp the kids hands for doing well in gym class and I never realized how much this meant to him.  So he continued to stamp himself and then he put the stamp back on the table.  After seeing this I think I am going to start carrying a little stamp with me and stamp Sam's hand when he does a good job (keeping his hands to himself, taking turns, not throwing his toys etc) because it is clear that he associates the hand stamp with a job well done.  

Happy Birthday Sean!

OMG... my baby is 1 year old!!! (August 17th) I can hardly believe it.  He is an absolute delight and a very good baby indeed.  He is happy and bright and loves blueberries.  He has a mess of blonde curls at the nape of his neck that will NOT be cut off any time soon.  At his 1 year well visit he has proved to be my largest child yet... he is 31 1/4 inches tall (90%) and 22.8 pounds (50%).  He says "Hi" and "that" and signs "all done".  He knows how to call the cat and how to get his way. He knows that the quickest way to get the bath tub all to himself is to stand up and pee in the water...dirty baby.  He as been walking since about 10 months and that is now his main mode of getting around...he is getting faster and will be running very soon.  He gives the best wet slobbery kisses and has a quick laugh and easy going personality. So happy birthday my little man!  

I don't know why we even bothered with gifts... he had more fun pushing and flipping around this jumbo pack of toilet paper... (note to self... the kids don't want new shinny toys... they want the TV remote, the cell phone, boxes and toilet paper)

a young Jedi in training

started out the morning with a good breakfast

RIDE BABY RIDE!  

He got this strange little rocking horse creature from Grandma and Papa Moore.  It sings an odd version of Twinkle Twinkle little star but Sean loves it.  

Sean was not that excited about his first cake.  We had to sort of feed it to him first.  He smeared it around pretty good but was more interested in the blueberries instead!  This is about as messy as he got and he only got this messy because he was digging for blueberries... he spit most of the cake out.

After a long day of birthday festivities he was pooped out!  

hugs and kisses big boy.

Friends, don't let friends do cartwheels while intoxicated!

So this is the lastest edition of Rae's Oh So Not Very Cleaver Stupid People Tricks.  

So here is proof of my pulled my hamstring and a painful reminder that I am not a nimble and limber as I once was... funny thing is the ouchy part is no where near the bruise!  

Highlights of our most recent trip to Michigan

Wow... were we soooo busy.  Due to time restraints and the fact that any minute there will be some crisis that will need my attention... I will just touch on the highlights of our trip

Friday...The Wedding

We took all the kids to the beach in an attempt to tire them out before leaving them with the baby sitter (my cousin Jesse) in the hotel room.  They had a wonderful time and so did we.

It was a beautiful wedding with the the TC West Bay in the background and the sun setting on the beach.... perfect.  The flower girls gave their mom away (soooo cute) and you could tell that they were just as happy about this new union as the bride and groom were.  

Saturday...Collins/Zeile Reunion

We met some of the fam at Great Wolf lodge... they had one room left so we took it.  The kids played at the water park until they were so tired they couldn't see straight.  All the cousins had a wonderful time together.  

Sunday... more reunion fun

The kids attacked the water park bright and early and then we headed up to Mema's (Grandma Eddee) for lunch then back to TC.  We stayed at Jeff and Lisa's and the kids played Wii until they crashed.  At some point in the evening I was over served and a few of us engaged in Margarita induced cartwheels... I pulled a hamstring and limped around for the remainder of the trip sporting a huge bruise on the back of my leg.

Monday... yup you guessed it... more family stuff

We all went to Sleeping Bear Dunes... Pat pulled out Sam's g-tube while trying to get him out of the car seat.  Not a big deal... it happens... but it had to be put back in and I didn't have the right kind of syringe or any lubricant.  So here we are with  Sam on a towel in the parking lot... he is throwing a fit because the sun is in his eyes and he want to be up and running around with the other kids and we are huddled around him trying to get his tube back in.  Finally it goes in and all is well.  However my faith that kind strangers still walk this earth was restored when a very nice woman came up to us, announced that she was a nurse and asked if she could help.  After that we checked out he dunes and then headed to the beach.  Great Day!

Tuesday... 

We took all the kids to the one of the many Traverse City beaches.  We had lunch in the park and the kids rode the train. That night we had dinner at Habana Cafe for Jennifer's 9th birthday.  Good food, good company, really good margaritas!

Wednesday... Good bye to one side of the family and hello to the other...

Back to Great Wolf Lodge bright and early to see the Zeile clan off.  The kids wanted to play this Quest game so they all got wands and headed off through the Resort to find their treasures and Runes.  We said our good byes and then left to meet Grandma Moore at the Northwestern Michigan Fair.  After throughly checking our the livestock and other creatures we hit the rides and hit them hard!  The boys had a great time and Sean discovered funnel cakes...yum!  Andrew won 3 gold fish that were later released into Jesse's pond...which is currently stocked with previously won fair fish.  

Thursday...more cousins

We met the "boys in the woods" at the park and they played some made up game that seemed to keep their attention for quite awhile.  Andrew caught some tree frogs that unfortunately came back with us to Illinois.  One has survived capture and I hear whispers about making him a "home" in the terrarium that is packed away somewhere in the basement.  

Friday...headed home

We visited with some more family and then packed up the wonder van and headed back to Illinois.  There is never enough time.  We always wish we could spend more time with everyone.  Secretly I wish that everyone lived in a different state so that when we came to visit we could spend all our time and energy with them instead of hopping from house to house and only getting to spend snips of time here and snips of time there.  

Saturday... back in Illinois

Pat had his first soccer coach's meeting.  Later that evening we headed to yet another fair... Lindenfest.  We met up with some friends and the kids tackled all the rides for people 46 inches or shorter.  Once again my faith in man kind has been restored by a carnie.  Some of the ride carnies were very nice and gave Sam extra long rides when there was no line and were really sweet to him.  Then we let Andrew play 2 games of his choice.  Of course he choose the balloon dart game.  He actually hit a balloon both time which would have won him 1 mangy looking stuffed animal... but the carnie also gave Sam one.  It was very nice of him, but Sam thought it was a game and threw it back to him and clapped.  He held on to that little stuffed penguin all the way home.  3 balls for $1.00 gave you a chance to sink a cop in the dunk tank.  Now most of you know that Sam has a really good throwing arm but there was no way he was going to hit that target.  Well one of the cops pokes his head out from behind the target and asks if I was going to let Sam throw all three balls.  I said yes (both Sam and Andrew got 3 balls).  Well Sam threw that ball and wouldn't you know it ... he sunk that cop!  His other 2 pitches sunk him too. Sam was so proud and he clapped and laughed.  Of course his balls didn't come anywhere near the target but it sure made Sam's day.  

Sunday... our anniversary

Yup... 12 years of wedded bliss.  We are spending the day doing yard work, putting away all the stuff that we brought with us on vacation and spending time with the boys.  We will most likely hit the pool for a few hours and maybe, just maybe got out to dinner.