Day #314

Today was my selfish day. I put both boys down for morning naps so I could get some rest. Mrs. Suzanne kept the boys for a few hours so I could eat lunch (all by myself) and I got myself a massage. It was so great. I definately feel a little more relaxed now. I needed some quiet time to myself after our day yesterday.

I won't go into all the details, but here are some of the highlights.

• Adam had several meltdowns yesterday. One of which included crying hysterically as I buckled him in the carseat as he was saying "I want my Daddy in my car. I want to go to Iraq to see Daddy."
• We had a horrible time at the doctor's office. I didn't get my referral, but the doctor did manage to tell me Alden's heart "sounds funny" without agreeing to get the testing done. I spent 2 1/2 hours running up and down the hospital floors trying to jump through lots and lots of hoops.

The good news for today is that the dental office from Ft. Wainwright called today. The Sergeant was so great and got the oral surgeon to agree to look at his mouth in the morning. Technically they are not supposed to see civilian patients. So let's pray that the appointment goes well in the morning and we start on the road to getting some answers.

Adam feeding Alden tonight 

Day #312

We had a really good day today, despite the freezing (I mean BELOW freezing) temperature. We got up late because we had a rather rough night, so we ended up going to a later church service. That was actually nice because Adam got to sit with his friend, Lauren, during church. We then went to the PX and commissary. Both boys were great! Adam got his hair cut. He sits up in the chair like such a big boy now. I was so proud of him. He even talked to the lady cutting his hair.

We got home just in time for naps. I was able to chat with Abrahm for a little while on the computer. We hope to have some good news about redeployment in the next couple of days. He is flying his last big mission tomorrow, so please pray for him and his soldiers' safety.

Tonight we went to our church's Advent party and Hanging of the Greens. Adam had a great time. Once again, he got to play with Lauren. He really loves playing with her. They made ornaments together and sang songs and played. What a fun night for him. Even Alden had a great time being spoiled by Mrs. Suzanne. She was such a sweetie and watched Alden so I could spend some one on one time with Adam.

Speaking of my little daredevil. I spoke with a lady at church who happens to be a pediatrician. She really wants me to see a pediatric dentist and have it looked at. She is concerned he may had damaged the root and it could eventually abcess. She said it may be just fine, but it should be checked out just in case. Then another lady from church called this evening. Her husband is a dentist on post and she had him answer my questions and help me out. He also felt he needed to be seen this week to make sure there was no permanant damage. So I guess I'll be calling the local pediatric dentist in the morning. Please pray that we get some answers and that all will be okay.

The temperature gauge in my car this morning. It was actually all the way down to -36, but that picture didn't come out. I guess winter is officially here!!! 

Tonight at church we had an Advent party and the Hanging of the Greens. It's a time where the kids get to make crafts and then everyone decorates the church. While people are decorating the sanctuary, everyone in the pews watch and sing songs. As you can see from the picture Adam and Lauren had trouble seeing so they sat on a stack of song books. Silly kids :) 

Alden with Mrs. Suzanne. She was such a sweetie and watched Alden while I did crafts with Adam.  

Adam making his gingerbread ornament 

Making his candy cane ornament 

Making a fingerprint tree 

Adam making a handprint napkin  

Day #310

Well an update on our little daredevil. He is doing okay. His mouth really started hurting this evening. He cried until 9:00 and finally fell asleep rocking in my arms (very unusual for him). The pain must have really started this afternoon because he cried all through dinner. I think it burned his cuts. He didn't really want his bottle and he didn't really want his paci. But he's sleeping peacefully now, so hopefully he'll sleep the rest of the night without incident. The bleeding finally stopped for good this morning. So at least we didn't have to wait the 2 or 3 days the doctor said.

I was able to talk to Abrahm today, so that made me feel much better. I know he gets tired of hearing me fuss, but it does make me feel better. It's just nice to share it with him and get his opinion. I'll probably try to get Alden an appointment on Monday so we can get a better X-ray and make sure there is no permanant damage.

The rest of our day was pretty good. Adam's friend Christopher came over to play. We watch him on Friday's so his mom can take his brother to a gymnastics class. It's actually really nice to have Christopher over because I can get a lot of stuff done. Alden is usually napping and the boys sit on the floor in the living room playing with trains, trains, and more trains. Christopher brings all his trains over (I bet he has close to 50 in his bag). After gymnastics Tricia, Chandler and Christopher stayed and we made homemade individual pizzas. I made the sauce and crust from my Dad's old recipe. It's a recipe he had to have made 100 times while we were growing up. All of our friends used to love coming over and having Dad's homemade pizza. And as usual it cheered all of us up.

Then this afternoon the teens from church came over and shoveled our driveway. It was great!! We have had 6 to 8 inches in the last 48 hours. Unbelievable!! It was so sweet of them to do it for us. That's one more thing I can cross off of my to do list. Thank you!

One more Alden story. He is truly a little stinker. After their baths while I was rocking him and trying to feed him, we were watching Abrahm's reading videos. Well he heard Abrahm's voice and sat right up,, looked at the screen, and said "Dada". He then said it agian!!! Twice can't be a coincidence. That little turkey. He has only seen his daddy two weeks out of his life and his first real word was Dada. Mom's just get no respect. :) What's a girl to do?

Day #309

Okay. I am going to complain and vent here. I think today was the worst Thanksgiving ever. The whole day just stunk. The boys both woke up at 6:00 this morning. So by lunchtime, both were fit to be tied. They were just grumpy. I didn't get to talk to Abrahm. We just chatted online for about 5 minutes. When I got to my friend's house for dinner they were all almost done eating. Adam had a complete meltdown once we got there (by the time we left he was fine though). So I didn't really eat much and got no dessert. We then had to leave early because Alden pulled a chair over on top of him and busted him mouth and jaw. 2 1/2 hours in the emergency room didn't help, especially since I had both kids. The doctor looked at his mouth and didn't know what to do. It was bleeding and the jaw was out of alignment. He took an X-ray, but it wasn't very good and didn't show much.

So here's what the doc said. "I am not sure of the problem. Don't worry about the bleeding, it will stop eventually. It may take 2 or 3 days, but it will stop. I don't know about the jaw. It could have a fracture in the cartilage, but that happens all the time and it should heal just fine. I can't do anything to fix it. " Okay. Glad I wasted 2 1/2 hours of my life. So basically there seems to be some problem. He's not sure and doesn't really want to deal with it. He said to get it checked out again if it doesn't look better in a few days. But that they would then have to do a CT Scan and that means they have to sedate him. So not sure where that's going to lead us. So please pray it heals on its own and the bleeding stops.

So since today is Thanksgiving, I have tried to be thankful. I am thankful. I am thankful for my husband and my boys. My family and friends who are truly a blessing to us. I will be more thankful when I can put my arms around my husband and hand the boys over to him for a few minutes. Being solely repsonsible for their health and well being is so exhausting and overwhelming. Keeping them from hurting themselves before Abrahm returns seems impossible at times (espcially since we have two roudy boys). Not having someone there to lean on at the hospital or when things are tough is really difficult.

So all that being said, I hope the rest of you had a better Thanksgiving than us and enjoyed your day with your families and friends.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

The boys being silly (before the catastrophe) 

Poor Alden 

Happy Turkey Day Daddy!! We are most thankful for you. We can't wait until you come home. Be safe. We love you ~ Adam and Alden 

The Boys Christmas Portraits

Well we finally found a great photographer in Fairbanks. Here are some of the proofs. The colors aren't quite right but that's so we can't copy them. They were taken by Joyce McKenzie Photography. Enjoy!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The boys' shirts for Turkey Day. We made them with their handprints. I thought they turned out pretty good. The other good is it cost less than $10.00 to make both of them!! 

Alden's Thanksgiving shirt. It was quite the adventure making his. But that's his little handprint!