On the mend!

I am happy to report Dylan's face is much cuter than it was the other day. One dose of each of her 3xD meds for it and I could tell a difference. They were like sores, so they will need time to heal up but they are far less raised and red. Phew. The culture came back staph so who knows what she rubbed her face on but it's great no Herpes because that would be re-occurring. We got to pull one of the antibiotics.

Dylan had PT this week and I really thought she would be fine but she flunked. We haven't has PT since Novemeber since she has the house pretty mastered and it's too cold for playing outside but Mike wanted to see her new braces and everything so we set one up. She wasn't all about it. BUT it did give him a chance to see her walking and he was very impressed. Like... Very. He has never seen this type of brace used on a child as light as Dylan is and he basically ruled them out entirely for her just yet and all be, they figured it out. He was admiring how they put them together and how good they looked compared to the other ones like them he has seen. We go to Hanger Orthotics and they fabricate them right in the shop, many places send them out, often out of state, to be made but not these guys. As a result we have fewer choices when it comes to prints, but we won't complain. They have been awesome... Which reminds me, we have been in a few times and each time we get a service card that I never do but given the chance they took on these braces for Dylan, and how well they work, I need to send something in. I keep forgetting. Need to put it on the to-do list!

Anyway... He was very impressed and said that this opens up a whole new world of options for him when it comes to treating other kids. Seeing how they work well, and now for a lower weight.

She definitely is able to use the base and heel of her foot more and we do see some flex in the ankle whereas before she would walk a lot on the front of her feet and keep her heels lifted. She would kneel to stand and it would thrust her body forward where she could catch her balance as she stepped forward but because she can kneel to stand on the base of her foot now, rather than her toe, it looks much more natural (Mike's words) and she is able to stand straight up and get balanced rather than having to take a couple steps to do so.

We also got some new larger Bamboo Braces for Dylan's arms too. These are Mike and his wife's brain child and they are pretty incredible. We have been using them, primarily in the mornings and at school, to get her to stop putting so many things in her mouth. They are typically for support for kids that don't hold their arms straight, not used for this type of thing, so this is a new use for them and we are working out the kinks so they can better be used for this in the future. She was in the infant version but she graduated to the toddler one and she got some new stays in them that are more durable for the constant motion that they have when being used for this. (Stays are plastic strips of various thicknesses inserted into the brace to allow for whatever flexibility you want. We need enough stiffness for her to overcome and put her binki in if she wants, but too much to shove every little thing in her trap.) We have laid off wearing them the last couple of days because she has been sick but when she feels well, game on with the wider toddler ones!

We finally got a bench seat at church the other week and it was great. The family in front of us kidnapped Duncan for the entire time and I am not sure how they managed to keep him entertained but it worked, whatever it was. They have three boys and all three boys pass sacrament. They offered to save us a bench behind them every week. Woohooo! This is precisely what LouAnn suggested, having one of the kids Matt used to teach save a bench for us, so when the dad offered we were so excited! So, yay. Gets better and better.

I think what we will do is have one of the Young Women take Dylan singing time in Primary and then drop her off in Nursery where she can just play with the two year olds. Should work well, I talked to one couple in Nursery about her and they were great, I just have to catch the other couple on the off week and make sure they are comfortable with her too. This week she was NOT about church (the face, and the puking) so we were lucky enough to make it through the first meeting before we called it good. Either way, I don't really plan on making it all three hours as even on a good day she will need to get hooked up to the food before church will be out. One step at a time. We are making progress.

I also have a freshly stocked church bin. I looked all over the webz for ideas on quiet church toys and activities and came up with a bunch of ideas. I spent some cash online and compiled some things from home that the kids will only be allowed to play with at church. There is enough in there that I can grab like five activities each week and keep things rotated so things don't get old. They went a little hog wild this week since everything in the bag was new... They just kept trading things, but eventually they will choose and play.

A typical conversant with Duncan :
"What do you want for dinner? Pizza?"

"No, I am gonna tell you what I want. Crispy cheese."

"Crispy cheese? What is crispy cheese?"

"They are granola bars, and they are my favorite kind of granola bars. And they have (counting on fingers) one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, sixteen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty chocolate chips. And they are very spicy for me, and they are spicy chocolate chips, but the granola bars are not for you, they're for me."

Duncan also had a picture that he had gotten at church of baby Jesus and his manger. It's a rather common illustration hat I see more around Christmas... But it must have been part of their lesson. He said he wasn't done coloring baby Jesus and he needed the colors. While we were talking he pointed to the manger and called it "baby Jesus' nest" which, now that he mentioned it, is exactly what it looks like!

This is her new "Cooooot!" shirt from our friends, not only is it coooot, but I was doubly happy because I had just a few days earlier made these bows without having a shirt to go with it! She's a little speckly here, but on the mend!

The good, the bad and the ugly

Dylan's got a messed up little face right now! It's really, well... Ugly. She woke from her nap Friday completely broken out all over her face with these big red bumps, like 10 of them, big, ugly, bumps. Over the last three days they have progressively gotten worse with her getting new ones and some of the old ones getting bigger and uglier! The bigger ones even open. This sounds so bad, but it is bad, so... Well, it is what it is.

I wash her face with a warm cloth and put Cetaphil on it which I know doesn't sting, and Cetaphil lotion, and they look better for about 45 minutes, but then they get big and red and ugly again.

They are no where but her face, not her mouth, not her scalp, not on her torso. Just face. Random!

So I do one of the first things I always do and I take a picture and send it to all the sisters to ask if they have ever seen anything like it. This method has worked for me well in the past. You never know right? Turns out they hadnt seen anything like it either so it was a good thing that at the same time I had called the doctor and made a morning appointment.

Thankfully there was a small gathering at LouAnn's today and I was able to drop the boys off there and take Dylan to the appointment by herself.

Oddly enough, when we were at Asher's well-child check on Friday I made a comment about being frequent flyers. Dr. Ped said that for patient to appointment ratio we weren't the worst by far. But then there we were again! Good thing he seems to like us!

Dr. Ped said he wasn't quite sure what the issue is, it looks like an infection of some sort. He said likely Staph or Herpes and asked if she had been around anyone that has had cold sores recently. Nope! He is leaning more toward staph because of the way it looks, herpes has a red bed with a sore on it (Yuck!) and this is more like bad acne! He also semi-ruled out shingles because of the location. Typical shingles tend not to be in big break outs like this on the face.

He wanted to culture a sore, and the largest ones are on her nose. He said "I was looking for one that was a little less... On her nose." Cute thought, but no such luck.

He put her on two meds, one for each type of infection bacterial and viral and depending on what the culture shows when it comes back he will pull the one she doesn't need. If nothing cultures out he will leave her on both. We will know Wednesday on that.

Meanwhile, she is vomiting too, same time frame, since Friday, but he thinks it's unrelated so we are dealing with that too. It is not as, well, violent as my illness, and seems to be lasting longer. Baby girl is on an ounce and a half of Gatorade an hour on a drip for the day today and we will start giving her some food later. Hopefully the tether won't be too bothersome for her or I might have to work it differently.

And there you have it, I will spare you, and her little ego... The pictures. Cross your fingers for us!

Mama got the flu

Holy moly was I sick! Wow. I mean wow. Sicker than I have probably been the entire time Matthew and I have been married. Probably all added together! There's some sort of stomach bug going around and, while it's short in duration, it certainly makes it's mark! Matthew couldn't stay home from work the entire day on Thursday but he came home to take calls at about 2:30 or so. I went to bed at about four and woke up at 7:30. I helped get the kids bathed and in bed and then I was off to bed again. When he came home the house was a disaster as I had just done the very minimum all morning. Food, clothes, dishes, everything was all strewn about. maybe he will appreciate what little I do daily! ;)

Needless to say, Friday I was 100%, starving and two lbs lighter (mostly water I am sure!). Wow.

The most amazing thing happened! (Again!) when I went to get the kids from school on Monday Ms. Connie opened the school door and, there she was. Dylan was being led by the hand, and she walked all the way to the car! I was just telling Debi I was excited for when she will walk to the school herself and walah! Ask and ye shall receive. Debi said she led her all the way to the bathroom too! Cute!

Apparently the little gal is warming up nicely to her new sporty shoes. She apparently walked ALL day at school. They said she literally never sat down. Ms. Connie also said "You didn't warn us she can open doors! We had to keep an eye on her!" I told her I didn't know! They have the handle type doors and she said she kept walking to the door, opening it, and then shutting it. Rinse and repeat. She does like doing that with our doors, but thank goodness we don't have handles! Baby girl would be wandering the house in the middle of the night.

We are again contemplating the pyroform aperture stenosis repair for her. We can't at all make up our minds here. She is not sleeping swell she absolutely cannot breath and it breaks our hearts. Can two weeks of misery remedy every night of discomfort and far from great sleeping? The risks of spinal meningitis, the odd lower spine requiring a neurosurgeon's help to tap? The stints and the long tube they stick down to drain it every little while. Eeeep. I just don't know but I tell you every time I hear her struggling to breath or waking long before she should because of it the thought crosses my mind. I think Matthew is ready, I am a hold over, I just can't decide, we will need major family help if she is in the hospital for a week or weeks. Maybe Matthew can take a vacation. I just don't know. Big sigh.

Tracy and Shannon came over last weekend and I finally (FINALLY) got to meet their new baby Asa. He is so handsome! I am in love! We haven't seen them since before Christmas so we exchanged gifts as well and mama got a cotton candy machine!! Wooohoooo! Not only can you use the flavored sugar for it, which they also me the standard yummy pink vanilla, but you can also use hard candy! All be darned if butter rum cotton candy isn't the best thing I have ever tasted! EVER. I would be lying if I said I hadnt pulled it out and whipped me up some fluff while the kids were sleeping!

The first night we used red hots, butter rum lifesavers, fruit lifesavers (holy sour, my mouth is watering thinking about it) and candy canes (which bits of fly all around the air!). I just went to the store and got root beer barrels as well and I can't wait to try them. I just haven't been feeling well enough to think about eating candy since I got them! Best. Present. Ever. YUM! Now we need a dentist in the family more than ever, can't wait for Jared to get out of school! Holla!

Asher had his one year well child check today and he is so skinny! Like, off the charts skinny! He is 18lbs 13 oz and 30 inches long. His height is 50th percentile and his weight isn't on the chart. His weight for height is even lower off the chart! Other than that doing fine of course. He's easy and delightful. He got a few shots and he was TICKED. Poor guy. He napped well but is still pretty mad. He likes to put his legs up and hook his toes on the edge of the high chair tray while he eats and now when he does it it's a reminder of those pokes he got. He yells, I hand him cookies, we will see how the rest of the day goes!

Asher is my little baby, Ian is my big baby. Duncan told me the other day that we need a new big baby that doesn't hit. Ian does hit, he does anything to get a rise out of Duncan and boy can he make him mad! "I am SO mad at you Ian!!" is frequently heard around here!

When I was dropping the kids off at school Duncan said "Is Ms. Debi here yet?" I told him no, that we should call her and she will come. So he said "OH MS. DEBI!??!!" He called her I guess! I found this pretty amusing because I call her on the phone, the same way, every school morning. I can't say I have ever leaned out and said "Ms. Debi!?" and had her appear! Silly boy.

Also last night Duncan was throwing a major flip out. Four has been a rough little time for us, he has just been pretty wonderful and obedient that he is just now majorly testing his boundaries I think. Yesterday it was lying. He lied a couple times during the day. I put him in time out and every time I asked why he was there he got it wrong. I explained, waited a few minutes, came back and wrong again. Lying, not telling the truth, that's why you are in time out! Sheesh, I finally just let him go after I talked to him. But then he lied to his dad that night and WOW. out of the tub he went, straight into his room and he FREAKED. Kicking, yelling, crying. I was sick right? So just listening and waiting in case Matthew wanted me but Matthew got him all ready for bed early and it was over, early bed time. While we were calmly watching TV we hear Duncan come out of his room and he said "Dad, we forgot to brush my teeth" (voice cracking a little) "are they clean?" He had a big cheese so we could see his teeth and his eyes were squinting from the light, it was freaking cute. Matthew said "you're right buddy let's go brush them." Cute end to a somewhat stormy bed time!

Tracy and Shannon left without Dylie or Asher opening their presents because they were in bed but the next day when we opened Dylan's and I held it up Ian yelled "Cooooot!" Haha! He approved!

Our Velentine's this year. Duncan's "You make my heart glow" Glow sticks, the teacher's (including Shelley and Ms' Debi's brownies) and Dylan's ring pop's sporting a 3elove.com card with the cool wheelchair heart. Funny story about the glow sticks, I wasn't sure how to transport them but I found the perfect box, The boxes Dylan's catheters come in, PERFECT! Except, it's clearly labeled catheters. So a I briefly laughed with Ms. Debi about it telling her "Oh well, it's no secret we have bowel and bladders issues in our house!" She was amused.


Asa had to have at least one picture. It's cute... but the real life is cuter!


Ian got a new toothbrush from Tracy and Shannon which he though was...


The Best. Preset. Ever. But I think the cotton candy maker still wins!

AFOs hit the big time!

My little baby is sick. He has been sick for a little while now and it finally went to his little ears. I called Dr. Trina and between her stopping here and me running to her house we watched him for a little while and decided it wasn't going to get better on its own any time soon. After a whole month of no antibiotics, back he went. As much as it's been a great year for the D's it's been a hard one for the littles. Trina reminded me that the bigs probably got everything last year and are handling it well this year but they are still bringing things home to the littles. I didn't even think of that but yes, I am sure that's the case.

Dylan got her new AFOs on Thursday and they are pretty awesome. They aren't as flexible as I would think they need to be, I am sure flexibility and support is a careful balance! I cant wait to see them in action. Alas, I must wait, because she certainly isn't using them! She can only wear them for a few hours a day until they are worn in and she is used to wearing them, so I put them on for two hours on Thursday afternoon, she didn't walk. In fact, not only did she not walk, she didn't even crawl that much! She stayed in her room for the entire time!

Well, hmmf.

I was able to use these brown boots that her Aunt Melissa got her a long time ago that worked with her other ones and I think they work fine, but I am not sure. I went to the Wally Martz to go shoe shopping while she was at school and got some cheap loafer kind of shoes and some cute tennis shoes, but they are BIG. I am worried that along with the new braces being taller and heavier, the shoes will be a whole nother adjustment for her. She will have to relearn how to walk entirely!

Her old AFOs have an inside boot type piece that is tight, you put that on and then put on the outer piece that is a little bit bigger and then wrap the Velcro around them to hold them together. The new AFOs just have a shoe piece that you put on, there is a piece that you Velcro around it that also has the shin piece. The shin piece and the foot piece are connected with a carbon fiber strip. And it's the REAL deal. These are the prostethics that you see pictures of. Fancy fancy. I hope she grows to appreciate them and they do work for giving her some flexibility at the ankle. That would be a big deal!

In the meantime. Debi asked me if Shelley had mentioned the other day that Dylan walked with the class when they were in a line. How cool is that?! Awesome! I told Debi I can't wait until we can put her out of the car and Debi can take her hand and lead her into the school. No carrying, I think that tine is coming, I bet it's even this year. Yay. I feel bad for the gals who carry her around all the time. Getting her to go where we want her to go is the interesting part... But she is learning. Very very cool.

Our ASL class started this week but I didn't go in Tuesday. Asher wasn't feeling well and Matthew had a work dinner. First class is alphabet, some counting and names... So I think skipping out made more sense than probably any other night. We did go Thursday and there were a TON of people in the class. I expected more, the class gets smaller as the weeks go on, but this was ridiculous. They are splitting the class to a beginning and advanced and we were going to do the beginning but it was pretty clear after a little of the class that while the review is nice, we would likely be more challenged in the advanced class. That class is 7-9 (rather than 6-8), that's late for me! I am old!! The teacher specifically came over to us and told us to go into his advanced class so we will. Next class is on Valentine's Day, I assuming it's on since they said we would start the two classes deal on Tuesday.

Eden came and watched the kids and narrowly missed a pretty awesome near blow out from Dylan. (I am proud of how I managed her bowel this last week, but you don't need to know any more than that. It was PERFECT and I only ask for just that amount of perfectness every time she gets stopped up. not too much to ask right?)

This week Duncan went to the train show with his grandma and grandpa and saw more REAL trains and was in love. He had a lot of fun and it was a special treat to go. We broke down and got some trains. REAL ones, not toy ones. They said 8+ on the age so we are telling him to be sooo so careful with the trains and the tracks. We will work hard to keep Ian away from them as well. He was so excited when they came in the mail!

He takes this responsibility very seriously and was concentrating hard while playing with them.

My little baby turns one tomorrow!! And we will have to think of something to make it special as we aren't going to be doing the little party this year like we have in the past. My mom is going out of town (country) and we mostly do it for my family (and Michael and Megan who are also out of town). We did some presents at my mom's last week in conjunction with Shane's birthday. I am in denial anyway... So for our craft day Aunt Traci brought him his very own cupcake to eat for his celebration. He was super cute... A smash cake will be fun too, when we get around to it!

I didn't take pictures but I made Shane an afghan in record time for his birthday. Woohoo for finished projects! And it has lots of toe holes, just like I knew he would want!

Her new bad boys! (Look how clean this velcro is!! It's the little things!)


She grewed!


Cute little guy and his smash (cup)cake




Someone got tired and rubbed his eye... Timing, oye.


Not a great shot of their new shirts from grandma, but what can I say? I was alone trying to work magic! The little one is the problem child...


Just the boys... (No it's not IN his nose, close...)


Papa Bob holding Duncan up for a better view.


The real train.


He is SO careful!

My long day

So, yea... I didn't blog yesterday, but since it was my biggest fan distracting me I figured she would forgive me.

In the morning I went over to LouAnn's to get Asher's picture taken with Lanie and Owen. Megan has really been pushing this for the last several weeks. I told her there was no way, ever, EVER, I would haul my crew somewhere to have Asher's picture taken. Shoot, I don't even haul them all there to get all of their pictures taken. Why in the world would I Asher? PITA.

But it's something that was really important to her. They will be leaving town and she likes that they were all born around the same time. So she worked the Eden angle and Eden came up with a brilliant alternative and that was for Eden to take their pictures at LouAnn's house.

Yes! This works for me.

Asher was not terribly cooperative because when we got going to was about the time he usually goes down for a short morning nap. He wasn't his cheerful self but we will see if we get something good out of it.

In the afternoon Traci came over for our craft day and we made more hairbows. We are making matchy matchy hair do's for all of the outfits in the world, errrr... that the girls own, and then we will move on to conquering Pinterest ideas. We already have some big ideas so this couple hours every week will help me be productive. In addition Abbi and Duncan have some time to spend together and be cousins. Right now it's working very very well.

And as a bonus my house ends up more clean after Traci leaves than it was when she got there. Nice right?

I was making our delicious and nutritious dinner of cayenne and pepper rubbed chicken with avocado lime salsa for dinner (thank you Shannon) and I had turned my back for a quick second and that was all it took. Dylan reached up and dumped my finely chopped onions and fresh squeezed lime juice all over the floor. Splat. Why oh why do I think of taking a picture AFTER I have the situation under control? Would have been a good documentation of the disaster. (It was BAD) Dinner cooking, mess in the kitchen and crazy no napped kids. Not a good combo. But oh yea, I keep my cool.

Matthew took the boys all down stairs while I cleaned and cleaned and finished dinner. I think my floor will always smell like onions and limes though. Not the best smell but somewhat appropriate for a kitchen I suppose. Something tells me that won't be the last time that will happen. I guess that's what you get when you have someone with the mind of a 9 month old but the reach of a four year old wandering around!

We managed, but it wasn't the last mess of the evening.

After dinner I was topping Asher off with a bottle and he drank, a lot. Too much. Can you see where I am going with this? Yes! Oh my word... It was like a newborn when they let it all go you can't even believe that much stuff fit in there. Yay for reliving the dinner mess (sans the already missing onions and lime juice) with the added fun of milk. Woot.

My neighbors drove by and waved to me as I was shaking off the towel, blanket, his clothes and my clothes of the porch and I thought to myself "It's never a good sign when a mom is shaking laundry off of the porch!" Good times.

End of longest day ever.

We got the insurance quote on Dylan's new fancy AFOs and they only quoted us ten percent which is actually good. We expected to pay 100% this early in the year but something tells me we must have already met our 100% out of pocket. Her new bad boys are costing $2500 which is up from her last ones that cost about $800 I think. Holy moly. They are made on site with molds from her feet and they will have a lot that has gone in to them since they will allow her ankle to flex, but wow.

Saying another HUGE thanks to insurance right now. Thank you for paying your dues, thank you, thank you, thank you and thank you. We definitely reap the benefits even though the rest of the family is fairly inexpensive.

We will be picking them up next week. Pictures to follow (of course!)

Duncan has learned the word "No" he is testing us I am sure. As long as he keeps filling us with Duncanisms like these we can deal with it.

"Dad, are you old... Or fat?"

"Mom? Is my brain turned on?"

I also should mention that Duncan came home with three pieces of artwork today. His along with some gorgeous pictures from Ericka and Dana who gave them theirs because "they are his friends". Do I need to be concerned? Ha! I think it's adorable!

And, pictures of his cool super fast hair! (No, they aren't always in these shirts... well, okay, yea they are.)