Disney On Ice - Disneyland Adventures

Tonight, Theresa and I took the girls to Disney on Ice. Theresa and I have been doing this since I moved to NC five years ago. It started out with me, Theresa, and Madison (Delaney was still cooking in the oven). Then, I brought Ethan the past couple of years. He had zero interest. So, this year I was not going to pay the $35 for him to still not have any interest. It was just the girls again.

I have to say that this year's show is my favorite so far. It was Disneyland Adventures with The Incredibles. It was funny and had a great flow so the kids didn't get too ancy.

I ended up giving in to the temptation of those darn snow cones in the character cups. Then, the ice was so crunchy, I lost half of it to the floor. Oh well- now Ethan can have a cup to play with.

So now we have seen: Beauty and the Beast, Disney Princesses, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, and Disneyland Adventures. If you can go see it, I highly recommend it.

After the show, we went out for dinner at Logan's. Theresa and I both had the salad with shrimp. I didn't realize how long it had been since I had shrimp! Oh, how I love the lil' crustaceans. LOL!

Ethan was with Miss Mary while Scott went to the Wake soccer quarterfinal. More on that in a minute...

Which Christmas Movie Are YOU?

Stolen from McKenna

Your Christmas is Most Like: How the Grinch Stole Christmas

You can't really get into the Christmas spirit... But it usually gets to you by the end of the holiday.

What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like?

Yep. That's pretty much me lately.

Shelfari

To my google reader followers...

Take a minute to look at my cool lil' gadget on the right side of my blog called Shelfari. It's a virtual library of my favorite books. I have my sister's books in front and my new (WONDERFUL) bible, of course.

I thought it was pretty cool! I also have Gifts and Roadmap to Holland on there. Just thought I'd share. That's all.

POST-OP

Looks great! The incision is healing so well! Good job Dr. Fuchs! :-) So, what I thought was swelling is actually muscle. Apparently, since they use disolvable sutures, they overlap muscle and then when the sutures dissolve the muscle lays back flat again. Interesting, huh?

Dr. Fuchs feels that we should be seeing some amazing progress made over the next few months, especially once we can get him back into rehab PT.

Oh, and Ethan can have submerged baths again. That should make him happy.

Shoes for AFO's

CROCS! They are awesome for going over AFO's. I had some over the summer and loved them because of being so lightweight, and when you have to go a size bigger anyway, you want as less clunk as possible. So, now that it's winter- what to do? I ended up trying his braces in the Crocs Mammoth. Because they don't have the strap in the back, I didn't think that they would work, but his heel practically snaps into place and it doesn't budge! Ethan has been walking great in them since Grandma bought them for him the other day! (Thank you Grandma!!!)

So now, Ethan can wear his AFO's with a lightweight shoe that will also keep his cute little piggies warm too!

Your first official glance

Ethan's scar. The bandage finally came off tonight, just in time for post-op tomorrow. I think that it looks pretty dang spiffy. It is still slightly swollen at around the site, but overall looks great!



Can you see where they shaved the hair too? LOL!

Bye Bye Grandma

Ethan and I just got home from dropping Lynda off at the Raleigh/Durham airport. Apparently, there was a delay leaving for Philly, but the flight tracker I just looked at says that she should have just landed and that should give her enough time to get to her next departure as long as they are not sitting on the tarmac like I had to in Atlanta a few years ago, making me miss my connection to Los Angeles for Ang's birthday surprise. (Don't worry- I'm not bitter )

We all enjoyed her visit, of course. Ethan definitely did not want Grandma to leave. He was very "wide open" today and I think he was just acting out because she was leaving.

Grandma & Ethan at the airport before she left



























(Ethan signing "bye" to Grandma)

We will miss you.

Adaptive Swing

Ethan has an adaptive swing in his classroom that he loves. We also use one at therapy as a reward for completing a task. I asked Scott if he could make Ethan one since the ones in the catalog are a couple hundred bucks. He made one for Ethan in a couple of days and it cost a whopping $30! I love having a handy husband!!!

Ethan loves his new swing! He has already figured out that he can twist the ropes and then hang on to spin. Mr. Smartypants...


Swing spin

Finally!!!

I was finally able to buzz Scott's hair off tonight! I wish that I had before and after pictures! Let's just say that I have been begging to shave his head for the last month or so, but he kept keeping that God-awful ponytail. He promised me that I could get rid of it when his mom came. Thank GOD his mom is here!!! :-) It's G.O.N.E.!!!!!

Follow your dreams...

This little boy...oh my. What a true hero. Watch and be inspired.

Stuffed

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We went over to my friend Amy's house and ate around noon. We had to leave a little after 2 in order to go pick up Scott's mom in Raleigh. Her flight came in at 4:20pm. Ethan was a complete crab-butt at Amy's- he was up early and never went back to sleep. He did sleep on the way to Raleigh, so I was surprised when he continued being a major crab-butt. Luckily, once we got home he was much better. And, by nights end, he was snuggling up to Grandma on the couch.

Today was pretty low-key. We went out to Bethabara Park and walked around. Again, we had a Mr. Crab-butt on our hands from being too tired. We then went to lunch at Chili's. It was ok. Nothing spectacular. Then, it was time to get Ethan home for a nap. I laid down for about a half hour and Scott and his mom went out driving around.

One of my friends from our small group brought us a wonderful dinner tonight. We just continue to be blessed. Thank you so much! I am now so full it hurts!

From our home to yours...

Mix of emotion

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I have SO much to be thankful for:

* God. He has brought me through more than I can even begin to mention.

* Family. I love my family.

* Ethan. I thank God for trusting me and Scott to be his parents. We are the lucky ones.

* Being American. Complain all you want about government, but we still have the best country out there.

* Challenge Farm. I have witnessed the amazing work being done on Challenge Farm.

* Health. Scott and I went 9 months without health insurance and thankfully, our health stayed well enough to not worry about it too much.

* Friends. I have some of the best friends in the world. And, they are around the world. Not just around the country, but around the world.

* Church Family. Our church family has taken care of us more times than we can count. Most recently, by praying for Ethan around the clock during his surgery and bringing us meals now that we are home.

* Job. I may have lost my job in January, but I gained so much more. Scott has a great job and works for wonderful people. We are so blessed to have them as our friends too.

* Insurance. Scott and I now have insurance. :-)

* Home. I have a home. Nothing extravagant, but it's comfortable and it's home, which is more than so many others around this country and abroad have.

* Clothes/Shoes. Never take these items for granted.

* United Airlines. They will be flying Scott's mom to us tomorrow. :)

* Forgiveness. To forgive is a rewarding act. I am so thankful that I have been given the ability to forgive.

Through all of this, I am sad. I should not be considering everything that I have to be thankful for. Thanksgiving was always my favorite holiday. My mom makes an awesome turkey. My sisters and I would fight over who would get to make the whipped cream or the fruit salad. I used to hate sweet potatoes and now I love them because of how my mom would make them. Before dinner, we always munched on black olives. There was always a bowl of black olives. Olive fingers = yum.

Last year, my little sister Kamrin, came to visit me for Thanksgiving. I am not sure I have ever looked forward to a visit more. I counted the days for her to come. I would cook a turkey for the very first time. We had a real Thanksgiving. I cried and cried the day she left. I cry now thinking about it. I miss my family, especially around times like this. Missing traditions. Eating, eating, and games. Lots of games and yelling (something my mom always says she can't stand, but I beg to differ).

I know this is something that we did. We moved. I get that. But, that doesn't mean that I can't miss things from home.

Back to school!

Yesterday, Ethan went back to school, much to everyone's surprise! Resilient is Ethan's other middle name. He continues to do really well. The only thing that still gets him is laying down to change his diaper. He doesn't seem to have any pain otherwise which we are very thankful for. The swelling is about the same and I am watching that carefully.

Ethan is such a little man of popularity at school. It is so cute. A few kids came up to him and said hello in sign language while being so excited that he was out of the hospital.




Last night, Ethan was all interested in playing around Shep. Shep is too old now to really care and he just wants to be left alone, LOL! Shep is such a good puppy. We have been so lucky to have such a wonderful dog. I hate that he is now really beginning to have arthritis issues with his legs and hip dysplasia. :( I love my boys.

What are you for Thanksgiving?

Thanks Renee!

You Are The Stuffing

You're complicated and complex, yet all your pieces fit together. People miss you if you're gone - but they're not sure why.

What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?

Baths = NO FUN

Today, Ethan slept in until around 7am! That was a nice change of pace for Scott. I say Scott because he is the one who gets up 99% of the time on weekends. I am not a morning person and if Scott sleeps in, he can't go to sleep at night, so really it just makes more sense for him to get up and allow me to rest on. :-)

We went to church and everyone was so surprised to see us there! Truly, Ethan does not act like he just had surgery. Neurosurgery no less. He's all over the place. I do think that is the reason for his increased pain, which Dr. Fuchs warned us about. So, we are back to giving him regular doses of oxycodone to keep him in as little pain as possible.

Tonight, I planned on giving Ethan a bath. He can't take a real bath yet- only sponge baths so his incision doesn't get submerged in water. I changed the dressing over his incision- which he totally protested. It looks so funny because they shaved his back so you can see the line. I will have to get a picture of that soon before the hair grows back! LOL!

I knew that I needed to wash his hair, so I wrapped two big towels around his waist and had Scott help keep the towels against his back so the water didn't seep down. Bless Ethan's heart- he just wanted to splash around in the water. It was a miserable experience for him. :( Plus, pain had kicked in, so it was truly miserable. He yelped in pain when I went to put on his diaper.

Ethan's lower back is definitely swollen and poofy. I am assuming that is normal at this point, but I am keeping a close eye on it.

I will let Ethan go to school tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes! I just know that his teachers are going to guard him like a hawk!!!

WE ARE HOME!

And, guess who's already been up on his tippy toes?!?!?!


I guess that Motrin kicked in pretty fast! His meds were starting to wear off when we left the hospital, but he fell asleep on the way home. Our Walgreens does not carry the formula of oxycodone that was prescribed, so now we have to drive across town to have it filled. We will do it, of course. The doctor says that Ethan will likely be in more pain over the next week just out of soreness and his increasing activities.

You wouldn't know that he just had back surgery by looking at him though. He's all over the place already! I think he needed it though! He had SERIOUS cabin fever going on!

Good to be home! Thank you for being so good about praying for Ethan. We love you.

No other sign of infection

They say that the blood and protein is due to the "trauma" of having the foley. :( We just took the cath out about ten minutes ago and he is definitely happy about that! A sample was sent to the lab to culture, but because he doesn't have any fever and is otherwise acting fine, they feel it is just trauma. We'll see...(Thank you to all of you who responded before! Tom- thank Michel, RN for me!!!)

His IV will be coming off/out soon. The IV is blown. But, we don't have to re-stick him since we have graduated on to just plain motrin versus the IV stuff.

We may get to go home this afternoon. An order for the PT to come by and work with him has been put in. So, it really depends on how he does with that. I think he's going to do fine. He has been a champion this entire procedure process, so I do believe I may be in my own bed tonight!!!

HELP! Blood & Protein in Urine

I just noticed stuff floating in Ethan's cath tube. Prelim report says that it is blood and protein. The blood could be from having a foley in the first place, but what about the protein? They are going to run a culture. This is not anything we have ever dealt with before. Any answers/suggestions???

Someone's got the giggles!