We Are Home!!

Benjamin is home now....thank goodness!! His surgery went very well. The doctor said his tonsils and adenoids were very enlarged and they definitely needed to come out. He said his recovery would take about a week or two and he should be on the road to more restful nights. After surgery, Benjamin was wheeled back to his room in his little hospital crib and he was sitting straight up in the crib crying. His face and neck were swollen and he just looked pitiful. He slept all day long. He only woke up for minutes at a time and would NOT drink anything. He didn't start drinking any fluids until around 10:00 last night. The nurses were telling us that if he didn't start drinking soon that he would not get to come home today. Couldn't imagine that one! Benjamin started feeling quite a bit better around midnight and wanted to go to the playroom down the hall. I wasn't sure how he would do in the playroom since he was still very weak and had not even stood on his own two feet since before surgery that morning. When we got to the playroom he saw a little red wagon and wanted to pull it around. So, Mom held one of his hands while he pulled the wagon with the other. We went around and around the 4th floor what seemed like a million times. He finally wanted to go back to the room and get a popsicle. By this time he had already eaten a few popsicles and wanted another one! The nurse said that she thought he was hungry and the popsicles were just not doing the trick......so....she went and got him some chicken noodle soup and he ate it and did really well with it. She was right! After the chicken noodle soup, we all laid down to get some sleep. We slept about 1 and 1/2 hours and Benjamin's IV came loose at one of the ports and backed up and blood got on his pillow and sheets, so we had to wake up and get the nurse and deal with that. Benjamin never went back to sleep after the IV incident. He has STILL not went back to sleep! He is watching a show on TV right now. Since we got in the van to come home, he has not cried any and he has eaten a pancake. I told him it was naptime after his show. Hopefully he will get some much needed rest today. I know the next few days will be challenging and rough for him, but the Lord will see us through. He has so far. Thank you all for your prayers. Please continue to pray. I will try and keep you all updated on his progress. Take care!

P.S. The picture above was before surgery. Isn't his little gown so cute? He hated it!! He took it off before it was time to go back to surgery. He was reaching for the camera in this pic. He loves to take pictures. :)

Reminder

I just wanted to remind everyone that Benjamin has surgery tomorrow morning (the 5th) to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. We have to have him there at 8:15 a.m. Those of you who will, please pray for little Benji, that everything would go well with surgery and his recovery. He will be staying overnight at Children's Hospital and we will be home sometime on Friday. I will try and update everyone when we get home. Thank you all for your prayers. We appreciate all of you.

Happy Birthday Melissa!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR MELISSA.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!! WE LOVE YOU!!! HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY TODAY!!!

Another Family Birthday Dinner!

Aunt Lissy's birthday is next week on Feb. 4th, so Daddy took the whole family out for an early birthday dinner for her. We had lots of fun! Keith was there too, but didn't make it in any pictures. Poor Keith. Lissy's husband, Shane, wasn't feeling well, so he didn't make it. We missed him and we hope he gets to feeling better soon.

As you can tell in the first picture, Benjamin has been clinging to Aunt Lissy quite a bit here lately. He sat in her lap for the entire dinner. As you can see, he really enjoyed his dinner. I think he had just as much on him as he did in him. LOL! Jacob had a wonderful time also. As you can see in his pictures, he talked to his imaginary friend, James, the whole time on his toy cell phone. Jacob is quite the entertainer. He keeps us laughing all the time. We all just love family birthday dinners. It's a wonderful time to get together and celebrate another year of life, health and happiness. We are such a blessed family. Thank you Daddy for another wonderful birthday dinner.

Happy Birthday Lissy!!!!! We wish you many more wonderful birthdays to come. I am so blessed to have you as a sister. I love you with all my heart!

The Greatest Show on Earth!....(so they say)

Keith and I took Jacob and Benjamin to the Circus yesterday. Keith and I were really disappointed with the circus this year....especially after how much it cost for us to go! I hate to be so negative, but it just wasn't worth it this year. As you can see in one of the pictures above.....Benjamin got a $25.00 nap! $25.00 is how much it cost per person. None of the show times were good for us, so I just picked the 1:00 show yesterday and went with it. It was Benjamin's naptime, so he wasn't a happy camper. When we first walked in they had a fake elephant that kids could get on and get pictures made and Benji wanted to get on the elephant. When I looked at the sign and it said $18.00 for a picture, I had to tell him no. That started the attitude with Benjamin. He kept asking to go bye bye. After the show started, he finally got up in my lap and went to sleep. Jacob, on the other hand, loved it. He didn't take his eyes off of it the whole time. Hopefully Benjamin can enjoy the next circus we go to better. This circus had alot of magic tricks and acts that you really have to focus on and pay attention to. That was not something Benji (or any two year old) can do very well. Oh well, at least Jacob loved it.

Making Cinnamon Rolls

Here we are making cinnamon rolls from scratch. The recipe was in a Family Fun magazine I recently received in the mail. I thought it sounded pretty good and thought it would be something fun we could do together. The boys loved helping me! They loved helping beat the egg and pouring the ingredients into the mixing bowl and stirring it all up. The best part was playing in the flour and kneading the dough. We were kneading the dough in this picture. Benji was pretty clean in this pic. By the time we finished, his clothes were almost completely white! It was so fun! My kids have been sick for the most part of January and I was just so happy that they both were finally feeling better and I thought we all deserved a little fun. Of course, I had to clean it all up, but it was sure worth it. And to top it all off.............the cinnamon rolls were wonderful!!

Benjamin Is Having Surgery

Hello all! I just wanted to share with you what is going on with our little Benjamin right now. He has been having trouble sleeping for the longest time now. He snores deeply, gasps for air, and stops breathing for a few seconds all during the night. I know it sounds scary, but his pediatrician reassured me that it is not life threatning at this point. He referred Benjamin to an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist last week. After the specialist examined him, he diagnosed him with a classic case of Sleep Apnea. He recommended getting his tonsils and adenoids removed. He said that it would clear the obstruction in his airway and greatly improve his quality of sleep. Keith and I have scheduled surgery for Benjamin on February 5 at Children's Hospital. He will be admitted and have to stay overnight for observation since he is 2 years old. Anyone under three is required to stay overnight. I think that is a good thing. I will feel better about it that way. Please pray for Benjamin that everything would go perfect with surgery and that his recovery would be a speedy one. Thank you all in advance for your prayers and support. We love you all!!