Upcoming Surgery

Our #1 little man is getting his nose cut off.


Well, not quite.

Though sometimes I feel like I'm going to wipe his nose off with as many times I've used a tissue on it. The boy has a yucky nose.

And smelly feet.

And a sweaty head.

And lots and lots of laundry.


For the last 2 winters, we had been in and out of the doctor's office so much that Mallory and Ethan would start adding it to the list of "fun places to go" because at least they get a sucker along with an antibiotic once a day for 5 days. We finally went to see and ENT back in February. He tested Ethan's ears and saw that they have fluid on them and that his adenoids were enlarged. Now, 4 months later, he still has fluid in his ears and his adenoids are still enlarged and his nose seems to get runnier and runnier, even on a daily regiment of Zyrtec.

It's just gross for me and it must be extremely annoying to him. And I know it's not good for my 2 year old to have sinus infection after sinus infection.

So, after much research we've decided to get his adenoids removed. The fluid in his ears are not causing him to have severe ear infections and his ear drums seem to be fine. But since he's "going under" for the adenoidectomy, the tubes are going in, too.

The surgery is for July 22.


I wish my boy wouldn't have to have general anesthesia, but I feel the surgery would help him out A LOT because enlarged adenoids are most likely the culprit of a very stuffy nose, so the he can breathe only through his mouth; snoring and trouble getting a good night's sleep; and ear problems. There is no guarantee that the surgery will improve these things, but there is a very good chance it will.

The ENT told me that Ethan's speech should improve quite a bit after the tubes are in, which doesn't make sense because the boy has a very impressive vocabulary and speech quality for a 2-year-old. I asked the ENT if Ethan will naturally turn down his volume with the ear tubes and he unfortunately said no. He also said that Ethan would have bad breath for about 10 days after the surgery too.

Great.



Bad breath and smelly feet. Such a lovely combination.

Tonight's Prayers

Today has been one of those days...tiring, long, never-ending. And on days like today, when Patrick isn't leading our evening devotions, I tend to want to hustle through them because I'm just plain tired. Tonight, though, I didn't. We read a few fun books, then we spent time reading I John 4:7 and following, which is what they're are currently memorizing. We read from the Jesus Storybook Bible. We sang "And Can It Be" and "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". And then I asked the kids to pray:

Ethan:
"Dear God, thank you for sending your Son to be the propitiation for my sins. Create in me a clean heart, Oh God. In Jesus name, Amen."

Mallory:
"Lord Jesus, Dear God, thank you for sending Jesus to rescue me from my sins. Teach me to love others. In Jesus name, Amen".

These words are verbatim to what they prayed.

Oh God, how you lift up my soul through my children! I had to write these prayers down so I won't forget how he uses little children to glorify himself the most. Thank you to my sweet husband for teaching them to pray.

Our first unit study is finished!

We just wrapped up our Home and Family unit study. I can't believe this month has already passed and I'm just so excited about what we have ALL learned in this first month of "school".

Kids:

Topical Learning:
- Relationship between Mommy/Daddy, Child/Parents, Parents/Grandparents, Child/Child, etc.
- Other familial relationships
- We have another brother who's coming very soon!
- Jesus is God's Son. We can be children of God through believing in Jesus.
- Our address
- Details about our home
- Our heart is Jesus' home when we believe in Him
- Being good stewards of our home and things
- We need to be thankful and kind to our neighbors

Practical Learning:
- Sitting and listening
- Cutting (greatly improved Mal's Fine Motor Skills!)
- Gluing
- Following a pattern/instruction
- Following a schedule
- Creating art

Me (and Patrick)
- Patience!
- Schedules cannot always be adhered to, but are very, very useful
- Little things can make a BIG difference
- Persistence is key

There are definitely more things I can add to this list!!! This week, we're going over the days of the week, calendars, seasons, etc. in preparation in talking about our unit study in October of Fall and Harvest. We'll have lots of hands on activities this month, like looking at apples and pumpkins, disecting both, how things grow, how leaves change, etc. I'd like to do more nature stuff, but we'll see how much my overly-large-and-pregnant self can take. We're all having a great time and I'm thankful that God has given me the desire to do this...and Patrick the desire to support me and be interested in what we're doing. There's little else more beautful than watching the mind of a child learn.

Pictures from September:

The Party

We had a great time at Ethan's birthday party a few weeks ago. I had asked a friend of mine to take pictures for E's party, and pictures he took! About 1200+! It's taken me a while to go through them and put finishing touches on them, so please forgive me for the delay.

We had a hay search (inside the hay were letters with candy taped on them), personal pizza's with each child's initial outlined with pepperoni, chili and fixin's for the adults, and a deliche chocolate cake shaped as an uppercase E and a yellow caked shaped as a lower case e. I couldn't have pulled it off without the help of my mom and mother-in-law and almost everything turned out just like I had hoped. It was such, such fun.

Happy Birthday buddy-roe.

Ethan eats some cake!!!

Here's a video of Ethan eating his first piece of cake on his birthday. Please excuse the accidental picture taken in the middle of the video. And please excuse my over-excited voice in the background, but I just couldn't get over the fact that Ethan was sucking his thumb while holding the cake...

My boy is one!

It was about this time last year when I held my baby boy in my arms for the first time. I love him so much...more than I did in those first moments when I thought my heart would explode with love for him. Happy Birthday, buddy. You're such a delight to me!

Thanks for sharing...

Ethan decided to share his cold with me. Thankfully, Patrick was here this weekend to take the "edge" off my care of the kids. Eventhough Ethan was still pretty goopy, Patrick took Ethan and Mallory out to Bojangles for breakfast on Saturday and then for a little bit of shopping. I had the morning to myself, which was just wonderful. I didn't start feeling the cold until yesterday afternoon, though I took it easy in the morning because I was just tired. I love quiet. I'm sure that when the kids are older and have left the house, which I'm glad is still a LONG way off, I'll miss the noise. But, for now I love quiet. And while the kids were napping I got to watch the Gators put Kentucky through the spanking machine. I love college football season.

Patrick had a great time with the kids and we planned on taking them out later in the evening to a fall festival down the road (more on that later). I took some cold medicine before we left and started feeling like a load of bricks hit me by the time we left the festival. We went to dinner at Cracker Barrel (a.k.a "The Barrel"), which is one of our favorite places to eat because the kids eat there so well. I had 2 cups of coffee, but was still feeling VERY tired and icky. When we got home, I realized I took night-time cold instead of day-time cold! No wonder I was draggin'! We got the kids ready for bed and Patrick watched a video with them before they were tucked in for the night. Patrick hung out with friends while I downed some probiotic and sucked on throat lozenges. Needless to say, I was out by 9:15.

I skipped church this morning since me and Ethan were both ick. E is doing better, but is still pretty goopy. I'm feeling better (I have great cold medicine!). Patrick is at church with Mallory tonight and E is already out for the count. I did vacuum today because my floors were so gross that I just HAD to vacuum! But, I'm on the couch after I fold the laundry...

Patrick and the kids:

Again? or shall I say STILL?

Ethan is sick again. I don't really know if he ever ridded himself of his stuffy nose last month, though it stoped running. Now, it's full blown runny-snotty yellow goop that has taken over his nasal passages. He's coughing, too. I just don't get it. Is it a myth that breast-fed babies rarely get sick? I heard it be true and as much breastmilk that my son has had, he should be well for the rest of his life! But, needless to say, he's been sick almost monthly. It's very sad and I just don't know what to do. I'll most likely sanitize EVERYTHING in the house, which will probably take a couple of days especially tending to a sick baby. Anyway, that's what's going on here. At least both kids are sleeping right now, which is unusual at 10am, but both kids need it. And so do I!

Ethan is 11 months

Ethan turned 11 months old while we were on our trip. I just got around to taking his pics and I just can't get over how much he's grown in the last few weeks. He's such a sweet boy and I'm so very thankful for him. Only 3 more weeks until I have a 1 year old!!!

Jumping on the bed!

Ethan has JUST started jumping in his bed when I come and get him from his nap/bedtime. Oh, he's just so darn cute!

Ethan's first haircut

Ethan was looking pretty motley when we headed down to FL, so I gave him a haircut on Friday. He looks like a little man. Since the "after" pics taken, I had to make some corrections to some of my uneven clippings. I was pleased with my first attempt to do an all-over-the-head trimming!

Before:














After:

Ethan is 10 months!

I took all of E's 10 month pictures before I left for FL and am just now getting around to posting them. For those of you who don't know yet, I weaned Ethan about 2 weeks ago and we're both used to our new routine. There are times when I miss nursing, but for the most part, it's SO nice to NOT be nursing. Anyway, he's a mighty big boy and lives up to the meaning of his name: strong and impetuous one.

Love ya, buddy-roe!

Our little monkey

More pictures from Dedication Sunday

You can see more pictures from Dedication Sunday here.

Abort! Abort!

Walking? Already???

Ethan's Dedication

Here are some pictures from Ethan's dedication. Gram and Pops were there, but I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of them. And these are from my dad's camera. I don't think I took any pictures on my camera...

And by the way, the shoes that Ethan is wearing were Patrick's shoes when he was a baby. Awww.

Here is the video my dad took of Ethan's Dedication this morning. What a special time for us! We pray God will shower his blessings upon our little boy:

A little cheer

I don't mean to be all gloomy in my last 2 posts, but I wanted to just share my thoughts over my loved ones.

But to add some cheer, my in-laws are in town through the weekend to watch our little E-man be dedicated to the Lord this Sunday. We're very excited about this little ceremony and are looking forward to making a public committment regarding our call to show Jesus to our son.

And by the way, E went the pediatrician today and we found out that he's 27 lbs and 31 inches long. Not quite off the charts, but close. Very close.