Rain, Rain Go Away!

We've been cooped up again due to rain. So I busted out the sewing machine and worked on some projects I'd been meaning to get to.

First project was an art smock for James' birthday. We ordered an easel and art supplies for him. I'm pretty sure he's going to love it!

I used some sweet blue pleather. Ha ha, never thought I'd use that.  I started out tracing a shirt and adding a little over an inch to make sure it was big enough to grow a bit with him. Then I made up some bias tape binding the whole thing, added a pocket and hammered on a snap. Ta da!

Then came the blanket. All he's had are his little baby blankets, and twin sized are just a bit big for him. So I used my coupons and got some cheap fleece. It ended up slightly crooked (I don't have any sort of measuring mat and it was bigger than my table). Anyway, besides the slight imperfection, James loves it and has been snuggling up in it all day--it being rainy and all.

Then James went down for a nap so I brought out the train set that he hasn't been able to play with. It's one of those little wooden ones that really needs to be nailed down to be played with or otherwise it just falls apart. Anyway, Paul and I talked about it and a train table was out of the question since we live in a really small apartment. We don't have the tools to cut and sand down a board, so we decided to go cheap. I went and purchased a few thick poster boards and hot melt glued the whole thing down. I know I'll probably end up replacing the boards at some point, but he has had a blast playing with for the first time since Christmas.

Then I decided to make a patriotic bunting for Memorial Day (and realistically, the entire summer). I love it! I was needing something to decorate with after the Easter stuff came down.

After James woke up we decided to paint something for Grandpa Robert's birthday. I pointed to where he should paint next and he did all the work. He loves painting.

And then I cleaned the apartment. And watched an episode of Caillou that I'm pretty sure I've seen at least 50 times already.

And now I have nothing to do and we are expecting rain for 2 more days.

New Teeth!

When James' first baby teeth came in we noticed that they looked sort of funny. We took him to the dentist right away and found out that his new teeth had enamel defects. Apparently there are a few risk factors that cause enamel defects in primary teeth. Some of these are:

• birth difficulties
• chronic ear infections
• chronic illness during the first year of life
• mother's health during pregnancy (such as pre-eclampsia)
• critical jaundice
• taking antibiotics for extended periods of time

Just one or two of these could cause enamel defects, but every single scenario rings true for poor little James. His four top front teeth broke down as they came in. We had a very strict brushing routine, even when he was was only 7 months old. Every time I would nurse him I would have to brush his teeth. Even in the middle of the night. After brushing his teeth I had to take xylitol wipes and wipe out his whole mouth (to kill bad bacteria). Luckily he liked the taste of the wipes and would frequently request to chew on one during the day.  The kid loves brushing his teeth and does a really great and thorough job for his age.

When he was 7 months old the dentist told us that the teeth would eventually need to be capped but that he wanted to wait as long as possible. So every 3 months we have gone in for fluoride treatments. Last month we decided that it was time to get this taken care of. I might also add that I have been freaking out about this since he was 7 months old (a year and a half...but who's counting!).  At the same time I have really been disturbed about how some people look at him. Some people will say he's so cute but then when they see his teeth you can see a look of disgust on their faces. Like he has improper hygiene or something. It's irritating. If any of you have ever seen his teeth you'll know just how sad they've made me. You always dream of these perfectly cute little teeth coming in, and when they are rotting out of their mouth upon arrival it's devastating. I felt guilty for so long, as if I had done something wrong.

On Thursday night we stopped giving fluids and food to James.  We arrived at the hospital at 6:27 in the morning to fill out paperwork and get admitted.  Shortly afterwards the anesthesiologist came in and gave me a run down of risks, at which point I pretty much lost and started crying. Every nurse and doctor that came in that room had to deal with my bawling. I'm sure they thought I was a basket case, but...whatever.
I got James all dressed up in his little gown and socks and they let him play with some toys to pass the time. When they came in to get him he started yelling, "Mommy, help!" I totally lost it.  The nurses were great and they got me a warm blanket, a diet coke and left me alone in a dark room with a tv to wait.

playing with toys before

duck feet!

my waiting place

I'm pretty sure they had to strap him down to sedate him. He has some bruising on his forehead and arms that makes me think the poor little guy was tied to a table. Everything went well, but it took a little longer than expected. In the recovery room his oxygen levels dropped and he turned blue. As a result he got strapped up to monitoring equipment. They were having a hard time stabilizing him so they brought him to me to hold. It took four people to keep him from ripping off the monitors and his IV.  After he was stabilized they took off all the monitoring equipment and said we could leave when he was drinking. He was so wiped out that he just fell asleep in my lap for about 45 minutes. It was quite the ordeal. Start to finish it was about 4 hours.

Sleeping it off

Once I brought him home he was extremely upset and screamed and cried for hours. When I gave him his medicine he screamed so hard that he stopped breathing and turned blue.  I think it was equally traumatizing for us. He wasn't eating or drinking even though he kept crying about being hungry. It was so frustrating to see him go through that.

Kindy came by to see how he was and he perked right up. He ate and played and was back to normal by the time she left. Paul decided he had been through so much  that he deserved a toy. So we went to the toy store and he picked out this pretty sweet fire truck. I am glad it is finally over and that my little boy has the teeth to match his beautiful smile.

Before

After

I Love Being a Mom!

Earlier in the week I had read an article on ksl about a woman who had been a mother to 18 children and was waiting for her next two kids. She started adopting children when she was only 23 years old!  Something she said really impressed me. She said that while it's nice to get things for mother's day, we should focus on being grateful for our children, for without them we wouldn't be mothers.

This Mother's day wasn't anything special. We don't have money for cards and flowers right now. I know that in the future there will be lots of flowers and cards and little primary crafts on Mother's Day, but yesterday it was just playing with my son. I love him so much.

Easter!

I love the Friend (PS, it has it's own website now with fun stuff for kids!). As soon as James was born I got a subscription and have read it to him every month for nearly two years now. This month they featured a week of study following the last week of the Savior's life. It has been a real blessing in our home this week.

A little over a week ago, Paul's grandpa (who raised him) took a very bad fall. He broke all of the ribs on the right side of his body. He cracked vertebrae. He had a concussion and was bleeding from his ears. When he was in the hospital he was quite ornery and as a result was drugged up so he would sleep. There wasn't much we could do, but we have been praying for Grandpa and his name has been on the prayer roll in the temple every day. On Thursday they decided to try to take him out of his coma. On Saturday Grandma was told that there was no brain activity and that it was time to think about letting him go.  Grandma was strong and made the calls to her grandchildren to give them the sad news that Grandpa was dying. During church today we felt the love of the Savior and the peace that the knowledge of the resurrection brings.  After church we decided to go and walk around the Provo temple grounds. While we were there we got a call informing us that Grandpa had woken up and while he was in pain, he was responsive! We know he is not out of the woods, but we are overcome with the love of the Lord today.

We also had some fun! On Saturday we took James to the Orem Easter egg hunt. He won a ball and free bowling (which I'm really looking forward to!) and got a decent amount of candy for a 2 year old. Most of it was too hard for him, but he had fun!

Sunday morning he got to debut that sweet bow tie. Everyone thought he was just the cutest thing. Like I said earlier, we headed to the temple afterwards. There were hundreds of missionaries there and several were following him around and taking his picture.  A few of them even requested to have their pictures taken with him. It was pretty funny.  Then we went home, had leftover pizza and took a nap before heading over to our friend's for dinner and an egg hunt. I think the kids had a lot of fun. James loves B. She's 18 months older than him and he really looks up to her and tries to imitate everything she does. It's cute. And A. just has him whipped. She's only 10 months old but she's the only kid that can just take something from him and get away with it.  

Pointing out the yellow flowers

Farm Country

We took James to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point yesterday. It was so much fun. He had been last summer, but his personality and language skills have really exploded since then.

He called all horses, cows, donkeys, alpacas, ponies and other big animals "cows." And he made sure to shout it at them and let all the animals know that they were, in fact, cows.

feeling the wind on the wagon ride

"cow says 'moo!'"

there is a little kid's sized Jail house there. James didn't like being behind the bars at all. 

me and my not-so-little boy

feeding the goats

feeding the chickens

I wish that we had a family pass to Thanksgiving Point because I would be there ALL the time. We had a great time. I can't wait for when we visit the Detroit Zoo this summer. I think he's going to have a blast!

Spring!

While it currently doesn't look like Spring, It is!! Here is what we've been up to lately:

homemade pizza. YUM!

I don't know how he managed this.

Playing at the Park

New books from the library

I picked up this food tray from DI for 50 cents! And yes, he will eat all this food for lunch.

He piled up all the bedding and pretended to sleep. 

I love this kid

I picked up the wreath at DI for $1 and the flowers from Joann for under $2.  I just painted it white and hot glued the flowers on. SO much cheaper than pre-made wreaths.

My sister and I both made one. We blew the eggs ourselves and painted twigs from her yard. I love it!

James just loves this peeps bunny garland made from felt.

Michigan

Tuesday, Day 1:

We get to the airport just shy of 2 hours early. The lines are longer than I thought they would be and there is only one person running security. Walking in line with a toddler for 45 minutes is not fun. We end up having to rush to get seated and don't have time to get any breakfast (which I was counting on) so we're hungry the entire flight.  As it turned out, the flight was packed and we got to sit next to a rough and smelly fellow in a velvet camo shirt. 

The first 30 minutes of the flight, James slept. The second hour he spent playing with the activities I brought and eating fruit snacks. The remaining 2 and a half hours were spent wailing and trying to get away.

We finally arrive to Detroit and realize that our terminal is like 2 miles away from baggage claim. I had checked the stroller with my luggage, so we walked and of course J. wanted to look at every shop we passed. 

Grampa Robert didn't know how to install the carseat, so I had to figure that out in the freezing cold Michigan wind.  I might add that this carseat was a big kid booster so I was paranoid that he was going to die the whole time.

We go and check out the new place, pick up supplies and start working on this huge mess in the basement.

one corner of the basement

Wednesday, Day 2:

Basement, basement, basement! 

James was helping and kept repeating, "trash, trash, trash!" all day.

Thursday, Day 3:

We are really rushed to finish the basement and finish packing the upstairs because tomorrow is moving day! It was stressful and after 10 or so trips in the car we were finally ready.

Friday, Day 4:

Moving day! The movers showed up bright and early and moved fast! By noon we only had a few things left in the Detroit house. 

We all take showers and Robert notices swelling in his right leg.  After a long discussion I end up taking him to the emergency room to get it looked at. The ER was scary. Crack heads EVERYWHERE.

9 hours later: He has a blood clot and is admitted to the hospital. Laura (my mother in law) had to come and get me because I had no idea how to get home.

We get to bed around 1am.

one of our many hospital visits

Saturday, Day 5:
The dumpster is dropped off and I start moving the huge heap in the basement up the stairs.  After I finished I was ready to die. It was such a long day and I am still recovering.

20 foot dumpster, filled to the max

The doctor's  also find another clot this day.

Sunday, Day 6:
Back to the Detroit house to finish cleaning. Back and forth to the hospital checking in. Unpacking the new place...by myself.

Monday, Day 7:
Robert is told he'll be able to leave on Tuesday.  More unpacking. At this point James is just irate and livid and unhappy with his current situation. He's bored and doesn't mind screaming for hours on end for no apparent reason.

Tuesday, Day 8: Robert is finally released from the hospital around noon. We run a few errands (pick up prescription, get a few things for the house, etc.) Afterwards we go to grandma and granpas so they can meet my little James. When we get home we notice swelling in the same leg and head to the ER in the ghetto this time. I wasn't allowed in the back at all this time, so James and I got to hang out with a bunch of sick people and crazies.  At one point a lady was screaming that the hospital owed her an ambulance ride home and was removed by security. And there is a ton of security at this hospital. Not only do you have to go through a metal detector, but there are like 5 guards at the doorway.

Anyway, it turned out to be nothing. His body has to adjust to having thinner blood is all--which apparently includes pain and minor swelling. So we got home late and I packed. 

Wednesday, Day 9: first thing in the morning we head to the airport to go home. Another packed flight with one free seat...right next to me. James was fairly good the whole flight. He spent a lot of time sitting on the floor playing with his cars and didn't start screaming until it was time to strap down for touchdown. He wanted to play on the floor still and had a temper tantrum. Everyone around me thought it was his ears. I just let them think that he was in pain vs. having a two year old moment.

tv wasn't hooked up so we watched the Pooh DVD we brought over and over and over and over and ....

if I were an animal person I'd get James a puppy since he had so much fun. Unfortunately for him, I'm NOT a dog person.

one of the nights we were there the moon was really huge. I can't really remember when, but James was in awe.

eating pizza in his rocking chair at the new place.

It was a long trip and I'm glad to be home. I'm still sick with a wicked cough and am beyond tired. James was thrilled to see his daddy and all of his toys again :)