October 14th

Are we the most boring couple or what? First of all, I didn't even realize we had been married 7 years. I thought it was 8. And second, Matt was in a different state for our anniversary. Oh well, we've never been the type of couple that has to do something big and exciting for our anniversary. We had a really fun get away to Park City last year. This year, I hung out and had some much needed "me time" once the kids were in bed. Well, that's what I did at night. During the day I had to take Jackson back to the hospital for more x-rays on his foot. After he got his cast off he was perfectly fine. Then out of nowhere he started limping again. I still don't know what was wrong, the x-rays were clear and now he's walking normal again. Fun times, let me tell you. Matt spent the night in a motel somewhere in Colorado.

But we did finally at least acknowledge it yesterday. My mom and dad watched the kids and we used a gift certificate that we have had for 2 years! No expiration on it, thank goodness. We ate at Christopher's downtown. The food was good but the peace and quite was WONDERFUL!

I brought our camera because usually couples take pictures of each other celebrating their anniversary, right? I forgot all about it. So we have no anniversary pictures but we had a nice, quiet dinner and that's all we really wanted. :)

We've had a great 7 years! I feel lucky to have Matt. He's a wonderful husband and dad. We'll have to see how exciting we can make our 8th anniversary....shouldn't be hard to top!

Family Pictures 2011

We have not had family pictures since Jackson was a couple of months old. I was so happy to hear about Fotofly from some neighbors! It is a fantastic place! Jackson was a PILL (he would have been even without the broken foot) but they did their best and I'm really excited about the way they turned out. Here are some of my favorites!

Jackson

Jackson has had quite the summer. Since July I think we have spent over $200 just in copays and seen at least 4 different doctors. That's not counting Matt and his appointments and surgery. The pediatrician, the Kids Care doctors, the ENT, and a podiatrist. That's all I can think of off the top of my head, there's probably more.

On Labor Day we had a get together at my parent's house. They have a big, fun trampoline which is great. They also have 7 grandkids who all like to be on it at the same time. They have always said only two at a time and the big kids can't be jumping the same time as the little ones. Well, you know how it goes... They were all having such a good time and Jackson was laughing hysterically at being bounced around. Then he started screaming out of nowhere. Now, this isn't unusual for Jackson so we decided it was time to go anyway and carried him to the car. When we got home he wouldn't walk on his right foot. I actually thought he had gotten a sliver because he was barefoot. I looked all around and didn't really see anything. So we put him to bed and thought maybe we'd see something new in the morning. He slept great but still wouldn't walk normal in the morning. As the day went on we decided we better take him in. The doctor told us there was definitely something wrong but it wasn't obvious what or where. Jackson didn't cry when the doctor pushed on his ankle or foot or up his shin. He told us to go to the hospital to get x-rays in the morning.

The next morning we had family pictures scheduled. I had already had to cancel them once and I wasn't about to do it again. So we did the pictures and then took him in for x-rays while they got the photos edited. When we got back to the photography studio our pediatrician's office called saying Jackson foot was BROKEN. How did we not know he'd been limping around on broken foot for two days?! He didn't really cry very much. I felt SOOO bad. At least now I can blame the lack of smiling in the family pictures on that. Even though he probably wouldn't have cooperated anyway.

We drove back to the pediatrician's office and got his foot casted. It's not too bad. The cast goes up to mid-calf and he only has to wear it for 4 weeks. He refused to walk on it for the first day or two but now he's getting better at it.

THE VERY NEXT DAY was his tube and adenoid surgery. I was completely overwhelmed with everything he had been through and was just dreading the morning. He was such a champ. He screamed his head off when the nurse took him away for the surgery but they let him bring his Clifford dog with him so that helped a little. The surgery was quick and he seemed to recover from the anesthesia faster than he did last year. Our ENT told us that it was such a good thing we did. His tubes were completely useless and had to be cut out. He said the crusting and scarring around them had made it nearly impossible for his ear drum to vibrate. The new ones will hopefully heal correctly. He also told us that Jackson's adenoids were extremely enlarged. So taking them out will solve a lot of his ear pain and hopefully help him not have many infections in the future.

Jackson has been wonderful since the surgery. I was planning on days of crying and pain meds but he's done great. He has only needed Tylenol and Ibuprofen. Not the Lortab they prescribed. Once we finish up the antibiotic and the ear drops, I'm hoping to see a new boy! My hope is that he will hear better and finally start talking. We'll see....

I love this boy so much. He is sweet and snuggly and adorable. I hope we haven't traumatized him too much. I think we would be wise to invest in football pads and a helmet though...

Again!

In July we decided we needed to have Jackson start speech therapy. When I took him into the school for his health and hearing screening, he did not pass the hearing test. He couldn't hear the lower frequencies. When the audiologist looked in his ears she said that his tubes were all blocked with wax. I thought, great...how do you get ear wax out of a two year old's ears? When I took him to our ENT his nurse said to put drops in for a week and then bring him back. I did and after a week there was still no change. So she said to keep it up for two more weeks and then bring him back on a day when the doctor would be in the office so if it was soft enough, he could suction it out. I took him in on Monday and it turns out the ear wax is not ear wax after all. Hmm...that would have been helpful to know about two co-payments and two prescriptions ago.

The doctor said that sometimes it can look like ear wax. I'm not sure what's going on but either his tubes have shifted or just healed all wrong and they are not functioning anymore. I'm a little confused if it's skin or scar tissue but something has grown over the tube opening. No wonder he can't hear and is constantly rubbing his ears! So Thursday we are headed in for round 2 of tube surgery. UGH! The first time was a nightmare and I'm sure it will only be worse this time. They are going to remove the old tubes and if there is any fluid in there, they will place a new set. And if his adenoids are enlarged at all they will remove those also! So I took him in thinking we were going to suction out some ear wax and left with a surgery date. I can not believe we have to do this again. They told me with the adenoidectomy he has to sleep with his head elevated. How in the world am I supposed to do that? He's not going to sleep in a chair. I can prop his crib mattress up on one end but knowing how he sleeps, he'll end up with his feel elevated. I think these doctors tell you things without really thinking through HOW exactly you're supposed to do it.

My only hope is that this FINALLY solves his ear problems and that he will start hearing better and speaking. Poor little guy....I hate that we have to put him through it again. Oh, and because it's never just one thing with this kid, he also has two ingrown toenails that will probably need cut out soon.

We actually got a letter from our insurance questioning all the claims on Jackson lately! Let's hope this is the end! For his sake and mine.

Duck pond

Last week we were looking for somewhere to go to feed ducks. A few weeks ago after a rain storm, our backyard would have been perfect but we missed our chance. We decided to go back to our condo in Murray. We loved living there. It was the first place we lived after we got married and we lived there until Eliza was almost 2. We had great neighbors and a wonderful ward. But we also had three flights of stairs to walk up and only 800 square feet of space. Still, there were a lot of good memories. It was fun to go back and show Eliza her old house. Our place was the top right.

This picture totally looks like Jackson is peeing on the ground. Haha!

We love where we live now but it was nice to go back and visit some of our old neighbors and see the swimming pool that we miss SO much. Wonder if the HOA would consider putting one in around here... :)

Tonsils

It has been a long time coming but Matt finally got his tonsils out on Thursday. He gets chronic sore throats, cankers on his throat, and strep. I FINALLY convinced him to see an ENT rather than a regular family doctor. Dr. Shah took one look in his throat and said, and I quote, "Look at those pus sacks! Let's get 'em out!" I like a doctor who is decisive. :) So we got it scheduled and he had a tonsillectomy and his adenoids out. He completely freaked himself out over it. Everyone we knew told us horror stories and then he found even more on the internet. It's an easy recovery for a child but as an adult it's much tougher. But we knew it would be worth it in the long run.

The surgery itself was very fast. He has had one other surgery and did not do well with the after effects of the anesthesia. So they gave him something to help with the nausea but it was still a rough few hours waiting for it to be all out of his system. And then I inadvertently made thing worse. I was so worried that he would be in horrible pain I set my alarm and every 4 hours I was giving him a Percocet. All day and all night. I didn't know that that was making him even MORE nauseated. Oops! I was just concerned with controlling the pain. He decided to stop the Percocet and try just taking Tylenol. That has made a huge difference! He looks better and feels much better. I guess given the choice of less pain control but not throwing up every time he was vertical he chose to stick with Tylenol.

The kids have been so good for me which has been great. Eliza has been a big help and even brought home a bottle of water tonight for Matt from our neighborhood party because, "It's ice cold and dad can have things that are ice cold."

All in all, it's hasn't been too bad. I don't think the pain is too much worse than the sore throats he is used to. Let's cross our fingers our luck holds out! We'll see how the next few days go.

Big thank you to my dad for coming out at the crack of dawn and tending the kids Thursday morning. I don't know what we would have done!

The virus

Birthdays are okay these days, nothing to get too worked up over though. I love having a family dinner and Eliza giving me a home made card. I truly don't understand what people who hit a certain age (cough*their30s*cough) get all excited about. But, that being said, I don't wish for my birthdays to be a nightmare either.

Two weeks ago....Wednesday-ish Jackson was whinier than normal and was running a fever. Plus he was drooling like CRAZY. I thought he must be getting his last molars. But part of me was thinking it was strange since he had never been like that before when teething. He cried and cried that night even with Tylenol and Ibuprofen. Thursday morning when he was screaming I happened to look in his mouth and all I saw was cankers covering his mouth. I was able to get him into the doctor that afternoon. While we were waiting Eliza said that Jackson had never held still for that long. Haha! He was running a temperature around 102. He was so tired and worn out from crying and not sleeping that he just laid on my chest. And the child who can't go anywhere without his binky didn't even want that because it hurt his mouth. The doctor told us he had hand, foot, and mouth disease. It was only in his mouth but that was bad enough. The good news was that it wasn't serious, the bad BAD news was that because it's a virus, there was nothing we could do for it. Just wait it out. He said the sores should only last about 3 or 4 days. So we left the doctor thinking that we were probably already on about day 2 or even 3 of it. I thought we were near the end. Well.....

Jackson cried for 4 days. Seriously. He didn't sleep, he didn't eat, he didn't drink. All he did was cry. I got really worried on Saturday, which was also my birthday. He had only had one wet diaper in more than 24 hours. That is one thing our pediatrician asked us to watch out for. He said dehydration is the main concern with that virus because since it hurts to drink anything, some kids just don't. We took him to Kids Care and the doctor there basically told us what we already knew. He said we could take him to the hospital for some IV fluids or try to give it one more day and see if we can get some more fluids in him. Also he made a mixture of Maalox and Benadryl to swab in Jackson's mouth. That did not go over well at all. It made him scream more.

By this point Matt and I were spent. We were running on no sleep and just didn't know what to do for him. THANKFULLY he slept a little better that night and then Monday he did even better. By Tuesday he was nearly back to his old self. I never thought I'd be so happy to have our grumpy, gets-into-everything, can't-hold-still child back. I know it was only a week but it felt like it was never going to end. Now his little tantrums and whining seem like nothing.

Despite the awfulness of it all, there were some good things to come out of it. Most importantly is that Eliza didn't catch it. Also Jackson no longer wants a binky all the time, only when he sleeps. And we finally stopped giving him bottles at night since he didn't want anything to do with one for a week. Now we just have to get him to drink more than 2 tablespoons of milk during the day.

So, not the best birthday I've ever had but I'm just glad it's over. We're SO happy to have the old Jackson back!