Been awhile

Seems to have been awhile since I last posted. Things have been a little crazy here with Noah's surgery and then just adjusting. Noah was in a lot of pain for the first 5 days or so. He is doing so much better now. Now we are just adjusting our schedules and for the last two days I have made it to the school with time to spare. By the time he is out of the wheel chair my arms will be so toned ;) you wouldn't imagine the workout you can get by pushing a 100 or so lb. boy around and loading and unloading him and the wheelchair several times a day.

OK now that I have posted and don't feel quite as guilty about abandoning my blog I can move on to the rest of my to do list..... which includes enjoying these ;) (photo to come)

Hope you all have a blessed day.

:(

Noah was running a fever of 102.6 degrees and complaining of a sore throat so we took him to an Urgent Care facility. His rapid strep test was negative but his throat was really red as well as one ear so the doctor wrote an Rx for antibiotics.

I have to admit that this getting up in the middle of the night is not as easy as I remember. I have been getting up with Noah every 2 hours to give alternating pain meds. Usually by 6 I start begging Heath to get up with him. All of this lack of sleep has us both ragged.

Hoping that tomorrow will be a better day for us all.

The good, the bad, and the ugly

The Good: Noah and Makenna played on walkie talkies and Makenna took the dinosaur bingo game in the bedroom to play with Noah :)

The Bad: Noah was in pain all day even with the pain meds that he is taking.

The Ugly: I am sleepy, grumpy, and not a very patient mommy to my daughter today :(

Really seem to be struggling with her. I know she is having a hard time seeing her brother hurting and a lot of it is because of that but I am going to have to have some boundries with this girl or I am gonna pull my hair out. Sounds like she and I need to have a "big girl" talk.

Valentine's Day Surprise!

Heath and I usually don't do much for Valentine's Day for each other, usually we just do a card with a handwritten message. So imagine my surprise when he comes through the door with this.

He picked out the vase and all of the flowers himself...he did GOOD...REAL GOOD!

I'm just sayin'

(Photo of Noah and Makenna watching Zach and Cody on the Disney Chanel before surgery.)

Thank you all so very much for the prayers you have been sending up for Noah and our family. They are being answered. God is so good!

Noah is doing really well today and just had his first meal since 6pm on Wednesday. He did have some trouble yesterday/last night with nausea/vomiting, but nothing that a carpet cleaner can't handle.

We were originally told he would be in walking cast and that he would be able to walk from his wheel chair to the toilet. However, last night upon discharge from the hospital we were told that there was to be no weight bearing on his legs what so ever. Thankfully I talked to the doctor a few today and he said after about 48 hours that Noah could go to the restroom on the casts but the rest of the time he needed to be in the chair and have his legs elevated.

The heel cord/Achilles tendon is made up of several vertical strands which connect the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles in the calf to the heel bone. The surgeon went in and made several cuts halfway into this tendon alternating from one side to the next. He then casted Noah just below the knee with his toes peeking out. His feet are flexed upward to enable the heel cords to grow back together lengthened.

Noah picked red casts, and he is very excited that Bruce Joy (Heath's favorite local tattoo artist) is going to draw some artwork on them. Noah will get these casts taken off in 4 weeks, they will do mold impressions for his braces, and then he will go immediately into a second cast for 2 more weeks. Following the casts he will wear the braces for 6 months.

Please continue to pray for peace and a quick recovery for Noah, that his heel cords will have lengthened sufficiently and that the procedure will not need to be repeated again.

PLEASE remember not to give your child a full hershey's chocolate bar .....even if they really want it .... and even if you feel bad that they had to have surgery.... and even if the doctor says he can eat whatever he wants

because you just might end up having a car that smells like hershey's flavored puke ..... I'm just sayin'

Surgery

Noah's surgery is tomorrow and my stomach is starting to turn. Nerves I guess. He will be having surgery on at 3:15 to lengthen the heel cords on both legs. He will be in a wheel chair for 6 weeks (casts on both legs)and then braces for 6 months. I am not sure how we are going to keep him from getting antsy being restricted for so long. He is like any other little boy I know -- FULL of ENERGY ;) Nicole suggested a few new video games and I am thinking that might do the trick LOL. He loves to draw so I am thinking a cool sketch pad and some new pencils too.
Any suggestions?

Neighbors and a little NOT ME!!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.
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Neighbors can be a blessing and a curse it seems.
Now that I am dwelling in an apartment I have come
to realize that I have some of both kinds of neighbors.

these yummies were from Kat and Summer.

and no I DID NOT let my kids eat them for breakfast.... nope not me ;)

Blackberry

Heath got me a blackberry curve and I must admit I love it. I already feel more efficient. Plan to get a fun bright case for it soon.

orthopedic

Noah had an appointment with a pediatric orthopedic today in OKC. The appointment didn't go exactly as I had expected. We found out that Noah will have to have surgery to lengthen his heel cords. He will be in a wheel chair for 6 weeks and braces for 6 months. Hopefully with successful physical therapy he won't have to have a repeat surgery.

I am feeling a little overwhelmed - feeling guilty - remembering all the times I told him not to give up, to try harder -- and coming to realize that it wasn't that he wasn't trying. He couldn't help it.

He can't even put one of his feet in a neutral position (think making a 90 degree angle out of your foot and leg).

I am hoping this surgery will give him the flexibility he needs to be able to do basic boy activities such as riding a bike.

Love that lasts

snapped some photos of my great grand parents who have been married for over 70 years. My grandma is in the hospital with cancer and she had just had surgery. My grandpa woke up at 2 in the morning and decided to drive to the hospital where she was (over 2 hours away).

earlier today he was talking to a gentlemen in the sun room who was up walking around with his iv (my grandpa has never met a stranger) anyway they were teasing about walking the hospital checking out the ladies and then my grandpa told the his new friend that he had long since realized that he could search to the ends of the earth and never find another like Betty (my grandma).

I love them, and I love that even after all these years their love for each other is strong.

As a child I loved spending time with them watching birds or working in the garden (not so much working but eating strawberries just as quick as I could pick them)