Soccer, Derby Races and More.....

Whew!!! I can't believe another week has flown past us! I feel like in retrospect looking back on the week is a complete blur. I can't wait for summer when we can really enjoy our days. Today has been SUPER crazy as well. Jacob had a soccer game this morning and it was the first I was able to go to since this season started (his last game was when WIll was in the hospital). It was so cold, but he won and with only one score throughout the entire game he had the assist.


Here he is in action!

From the soccer game we had to go straight to Boy Scouts where he competed in the District Pine Wood Derby Race. (See previous blogs on the first race). It too was a lot of fun. He ultimately won 2nd in district and we are waaayyy proud of him, although he took it very hard. He was not happy with not winning first. We had to do some serious talking that second place was not losing. Here are some pictures from the race. The last one is definitely no the face of a second place finisher.



This is during the race when we were still having some fun.



...and after getting our trophy and the sad face after defeat.



And here is Will rooting his brother on in true "Will" fashion. :)

From the derby races we went back to the fields for another game and this too was a winner. THe boys had a lot of fun and won 10-0. I think Jacob ended up with 3 goals. He was starting to feel better from the events of the day. While there Lauren gave us a call because she was out here with our neighbors and let us know that the stray cat that had adopted US had just has kittens of her own. Yes, she too had kittens- six I might add- so if you know any out there looking for cats, in about 6 weeks we will have 11 up for adoption.



NOW we're finally happy with our days work!

Finally last night (I went out of order, sorry, stay with me here) we went to our nephew's birthday party at The Rink. WOW what an eye opener. I couldn't believe that parent would jsut drop off their young children (10 and up) and leave them there. It was hard to enjoy the party becuase of the way these children behaved. I will never go back there again, especially on a Friday night. Other than the profanity and vulgar behaviors by these kids (not the ones at the party)our kids had a really great time. Here are some pictures from the night.



Our kids absolutely loved to skate, but let me tell you they have abosolutely NO balance whatsoever!



And lastly, here is Will looking over the edge wondering how he can get a pair of those cool shoes with wheels!

Well, there is our week in review. I am sure you are all bored to tears by now so I will leave you with a Will update. He started antibiotics on Monday, and so far so good. There has been no more drainage. I ask that you keep praying though because when he stops the antibiotic his where it will be the true test.
Love you all.

Kittens

dr's Appointment

We just got back from Dr Sawyer's office and Will has a sinus infection and of course ear infection. Apparantly Dr Huchton had a skiing accident over Spring Break so we won't be seeing him. I think everyone involved is a little baffled and unsure what the next step should be. We opted to try regular antibiotics (Augmentin) for 3 days and if there is no change then we will go for the Levaquin. He just doesn't know of a study showing the effects of multiple/long term use of quinalin antibiotics due to the child's growth plate. If that too doens't work then he will be readmitted to the hospital for more IV antibiotics and CAT scan. This is what he said he would do if it were his child, so I trust that it's the right thing to do. Please pray that Will gets better and won't have to be hospitalized as well as no bad side effects from the drugs.

I was on my way out this morning to the dr when I heard out cat meowing very loudly. I listened carefully and found her in the corner where she had given birth to three little orange baby cats. I moved her and the newborns into a large tupperware with old sheets and left. When I came back just now she now is the mother of 5 precious orange cats. (I hope that is all!) I will go and take a picture and post it later.

Thanks for all of the prayers. We love you all.

The Morning After

Well, it's the morning after Easter and the kids are back in school. Although yesterday seemed a little more low key than our usual Easter, I can't help but feel less prepared than I have in the past. I don't feel like we spent a lot of time really discussing this most important holiday like we should have. In years past we have made the special cookies that ultimately display the empty tomb of Jesus as well as read the scriptures leading up to it--that wasn't the case this year. I did talk to the big kids about it not being about bunnies and all about out risen Lord and Saviour who died on the cross in order to forgive OUR sins, but I'm going to have to do better than that if I want them to fully understand. It is my goal now to make sure that we don't get wrapped up in the commercial side of these holidays and spend more time really understanding what the holidays are REALLY about.

On a different note, for all of you Will watchers wanting to know about his progress, we spent most of this last week rejoicing because he has clear ears, (although he did have fever off and on for several days), yesterday was very disappointing when we were at church and looked in his left ear to find it covered with drainage. This of course means infections and was probably the root of the fever last week. ( I knew I should have taken him in!) So we go to the dr this morning for the two week post-hospital visit and it couldn't have come at a better time. I'll post this afternoon with what the dr says. Keep your prayers coming that Will gets better and we can resolve this infection quickly.

Surprise!

We woke up early yesterday morning and threw the kids in the car (in their pj's) and told them we had a surprise for them. On the way they started reading the road signs and figured out that we were going to Sea World. They were sooo excited. We got their right when the doors opened and left around 5:00. We were pooped!! The kids absolutely loved the roller coasters (the ones they could ride) and I think Preston really enjoyed the shows. It started getting really crowded and for those of you who know Preston, he doesn't do crowds. We left before it got super frustrating to get around with the stroller and two other kids. We went and had dinner at the Red Robin and then went next door to the Bass Pro Shop. They had so much fun there-it doesn't matter how many times we've been. The big kids did the rock climbing and Jacob made it all the way to the top! Lauren made it half way. They did great. We finally got home aroung midnight and Will screamed the last 15 minutes of the drive--he had had enough. Jacob is still sleeping despite the chaos of Will and Lauren playing in every room. Enjoy the slideshow.

Sea World

It's Spring Break, Baby!

I can't believe we made it to this point in the year. I can honestly say there were times when this was questionable. 8 weeks and counting until summer vacation and I am dying to be able to stay home with my babies. (as many of you already know)
We had a terrific weekend. The weather is absolutely beautiful and has allowed us to spend every minute outside with the kids and they seemed to have great fun. We took the kids to see "Horton Hears a Who" yesterday and they loved it. It was really cute except they said "shut-up" a few times which I can't stand. Other than that the movie was really good. It wasn't very long either which made it even better since Lauren gets bored of movies really quickly. I think she just goes for the candy and popcorn :).
We don't have any big plans for this week, although my mind is churning with all of the possibilities.
Will seems to still be doing good. His nose is absolutely pouring out si that makes me a little leary of his ears, but for now we are still clear. Praise God! I had to put a picture of Lauren here because I look back and I have very few pictures of her. Poor baby. She has a real problem with closing her eyes in every picture so I made a real effort to take as many pictures as I needed to in order to get at least 1 good picture. Minus the gum in her mouth I think they turned out pretty good.

Happy Anniversary

I can't believe today is our 9 year anniversary. So much has happened in such a short amount of time. I feel really horrible though. Periodically in the weeks leading up to today I thought about it, but with the hospital stay and everything, my mind has been somewhere else. I completely forgot about the importance of March 13 until late last night. I cannot believe I forgot our anniversary. If there is an upside to this event, he forgot it too. That makes me feel a little better :)
We have some friends coming over to watch the kids so we can go out to dinner. It will be a nice get away since we haven't been out just the two of us in a while.
Even with the lack of a card when he woke up I hope he knows just how much I love him. He is a wonderful father to our three kids and works incredibly hard to provide for his family. I know that in the day-to-day life I get caught up in the routine of things, I hope that this day, (though off to a bad start), he knows how very much I love him.

On another note, Will is always very concerned any time a cat gets in the house. He usually follows it calling "tat" "tat" then picks it up (legs dragging the floor) and tosses it outside telling it the whole time "outside". It is the cutest, most hilarious sight you have ever seen. Well last night I was able to capture this event with a picture and it is so cute. This cat-Scooby- mind you is pregnant and pretty heavy. Enjoy the picture of Will on "tat patrol".

Raising a Champion!

As you know Jacob is in Cub Scouts and he absoulutely loves it. Well this weekend was the Pine Wood Derby race where they have to make a race car form a block of wood. Jacob and Preston of course take any competition VERY seriously and set out to make the best replica of the Jimmie Johnson 48 car they could. Weeks went by with them working on it, more money to make it the best and Sunday was THE day. Mom stayed at the hospital with Will and the rest of us went to show our support. Well around twelve races later he is still undefeated! We couldn't believe it. He won the championship in his pack which qualified him for district, he won the championship in the whole den as well as the coolest car award. He was beaming. We are so proud of our little boy scout. Isn't he so handsome in his uniform?

Home Sweet Home

Will was released from the hospital this morning. It was a very long and hard stay. He ended up with 4 iv's since he was so wild and couldn't keep them in. It was very traumatic. I think we have fianlly ruined him when it comes to drs, nurses and even strangers. Hopefully that will erase from his memory in time. We continue to pray that his ears stay clear and we don't end up right where we started from. I am not sure really what the next step would even be....well we're not even going to think that way right now. AS soon as we got home he wanted to go outside, it was still too cold so I laid him down for a nap and 41/2 hours later! he woke up. I think he loved being back in his bed again. I think we all are glad to be back in our beds again. We want to thank all of you for your prayers and suppport as we go through this time. It has really helped us get through it. We love you all. here are some pics of the day before we got out. AS you can see he is literally climbing the walls. It really was hysterical.

Hello, again

Well it's been over a month since I last posted. I can't believe the place we are all in. Everyone seems to be doing better with Vickie's death and we are learning day by day to deal with her absence. The kids seem to be much better, althoug I think Jacob is still showing a lot of changes freom it.
I am writing today from the hospital room. This is day 5 and it has been very trying. He has had 4 different iv's and we pray this is the last one. He has no more veins left on his arms and in order to get this one in they had to call the flight crew for the hospital helicopter air med people to try. They said they are the best in stressful situations. Praise God they found one tiny little vein left in his arm. Having to do it in his foot would be absolutely awful.
We have had a lot of visitors and the care and concern of our friends and family is very humbling. We couldn't do it without everyones support. Please keep praying for Will and the drs and nurses to find what is causing these infections. We are still waiting on the dr to come in and decides if he will need a CAT scan tomorrow morning. From what I can see there is still drainage in his ears. But what do I know? Keep your prayers coming and I will post again soon.