Dominic's fortune!

Okay, so I promise to be over this potty training kick soon. Dom is doing "pretty good" but does not seem to understand how to control the urge when his rear sphincter says PUSH!! Needless to say, he is pooping his pants. He does pee on the potty almost always though. He also immediately says.. I'm poopy... GROSS! after he poops so at least isn't running around the house squishing it everywhere as he plays. In light of the current events in his life, I thought it was very appropriate when he cracked open HIS fortune cookie on Wednesday night. IT read:

Be patient - think, listen and heed signs for personal gain. :o)

Life is beautiful and I am so proud of my little guy for his quick progress!

And the fun continues.

So potty training day 2 was not nearly as breezy as day one. Dom peed his pants more times than he didn't and by the end of the day... I was EXHAUSTED! I did however, heed the words of my mom-in-law who said that once you start potty training boys, you can't stop. I put the diapers away where he can't find them and persevered! I think the whole day was a tester to see if I was going to give in and even though it was a rough one... I WON!!

Day 3 has been wonderful with only one half accident where he proclaimed his need to go to the bathroom when he realized that he was going. The timer is awesome and, although he sometimes throws fits when the song goes off, he sits on the potty and pees EVERY TIME.

So here's to tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that. Hopefully it can continue to go smoothly even with the boys and Darin home. Either way... I'm in it to win it! :o)

Potty time!

So... we have been trying to figure out the potty training thing. You might think that I should be a pro at this by now... but to be honest, I've never REALLY potty trained any of my boys. Damon was older than 3 when he potty trained and it was really thanks to my mom-in-law watching him a few days in a row while I worked that he ended up potty trained. Jaydin was also past 3 and the daycare promised to get it done if I brought lots of pairs of underpants and pants with him. Well, Dominic shows LOTS of signs of being ready. He wakes up dry in the morning and the other day he told me he was poopy, proceeded to push.. then said "never mind, I just fart!" That's when I knew I just needed to buck up and get 'er done! So we started out with a "potty train"! I bought this train and some big boy underpants and just displayed them on the piano. Any time he asked we would talk about the potty train and how he could earn it from going potty on the pot. He showed some intrigue and so... I sort of "tried" the other day with underpants and he did OKAY! My mom-in-law swears by the timer. She used it with all 7 of her boys. I am horrible at the timer! Ugh!

So... I was talking to my mom and she told me I should go to kid-to-kid and get the "potty time watch." I was a little confused but my mom said it's a timer that they wear as a watch that goes off to remind them it's time to go potty. This sounded like a grand idea so I stopped in and picked one up. I have also heard people say to let the kid run around in just their underwear so you aren't fighting pants to get on the potty. I promise that normally Dominic is dressed! Running around without clothes is a very RARE occurrence in my world! :o)
Here is Dom displaying his potty watch. I actually decided to watch the timer and record it going off so everyone can see what it does. Basically, you can set it to go off every 30, 60 or 90 minutes. When time is up, a song plays and lights flash. It then resets itself and voila... it continues to go off at intervals as programmed!

So he sits on the toilet and doesn't fight me and goes PEE!! YAY!! Unfortunately we missed the poopy by a minute or two but maybe... he will figure out the joys of pooping on the potty! The only downer I've found so far with the watch is that the stupid face comes off way too easily. Dom doesn't like wearing it all the time but carries it around when he's not wearing it. I think I will take this one back and get a new one and hopefully we can get one where the face stays on! Otherwise... so far... I think it's worth the 10 bucks!

Bad mom award!

So today I got my "bad mom award" from some lady who caught me in my evil ways. Damon was finishing up at Tae Kwon Do and I ran inside to ask the instructor something leaving Jaydin in the car with Colton and Dom. It was cold outside so the car was running. Jaydin decided to sit in the front seat to be near the heater and "the queen of the universe" saw him. I have never met this woman before but she exited the restaraunt next to the tae kwon do place and happened to be parked next to my car.

She looked at Jaydin (who had rolled down a window cause he could) and asked him where his mother was. He told her I was in Tae Kwon Do and in she walks with all her glory! (The kids have been in the car alone for approximately 3 minutes at this point!) The tae kwon do place is set up in such a way that parents can observe and talk quietly without interrupting the class but as the woman walks in she looks in at the instructor and very abruptly yells, "Excuse me, but who is driving the red car with the 2 babies and the small child in it that is RUNNING?!?!?" I very politely and incredibly embarrassed like, raise my little hand from my spot right next to the door. As I walk outside I very quietly say something like "my son is 8 years old" to which she begins yelling at me again! "I don't care how old he is, you have two babies in the car!!

AND YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH ME?!?!?!?!?."

(She says this last sentence as she stands with her hand on your chest as if she wants me to punch her or something!) At the same time her husband is yelling something about how my son nearly drove away with my car and killed my babies. I look up at her and say very firmly and borderline sweetly. "No, I don't have a problem with you! Thank you so much!" And I get in the car with my boys as she and her husband drive off with their heroes badge!

So this is to you "Queen of the Universe"

THANK YOU!!!!

You rescued my children from sure destruction and put me in my place. I hope that the tale you tell of your triumph resonates to all you know and that I punched you are spit in your face. And that you think of how you should have called the cops on my white trash ass!

Honestly, you were right! I shouldn't have left the car running and I shouldn't trust Jaydin to not drive the car. I probably shouldn't have even run in (I never would have if Jaydin had not been in the car!). But I promise that very few people will learn lessons from a "Know-it-all" like you! Maybe taking a more polite approach will actually help people see the error of their ways. Luckily for you I will take my "BAD MOM AWARD" and wear it with pride. Because I, of all people, know how obnoxious it is when people are so busy being butt hurt that they can't see their own fault!!! I did have another lesson resonate while you were strutting your stuff: Being a bitch makes you really ugly! And if you are trying to embarrass others while being a HAG, people just see you for what you are, A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BITCH, and instead of being outraged by the outrageous situation, they are outraged by YOU!!

Dr. Karilynn Prescribes you Ativan or Whiskey, whichever you choose! Take one or two tabs (or shots) PRN any time you think you know everything or want to scream at total strangers instead of communicating like a rational human being. Either way, you know what happens when you assume? ;o)

Snowboard fun!

So since my boys are pretty much guaranteed to grow up in Utah, we've been talking about snowboards a lot lately. Darin picked one up from his friend the other day and he has another one he bought from his cousin last year. We had some fun with the boys and the snowboard... here are a couple of pics of the boys on Darin's old (my) board. Can't wait for Christmas! This is the first time in a LONG time I'm actually hoping for snow! ;o)

Damon and Jaydin think they are SUPER FLY! And what blog of mine would be complete without a Dom video? Here is Dom and his daddy... "scapin'" in the living room!

Family pics!

So I got my pics back yesterday and they are SO cute!! It's hard for me to choose favorites, but here goes!

All pics were taken by Nicholette Adams www.nicholettedawnphotography.com @ the American Fork, Utah Ampitheatre.

Panda Fu and laundry....

So... today I spent a lot of time doing laundry and cleaning. I needed a good distraction for the boys... thank goodness for Red Box and Kung Fu Panda -aka- Panda Fu. Dom loved it and I got some stuff done... here is a little video of Dom talking about his Panda Fu.

Dom recorded another similar video... I was trying to get him to hold still but it didn't work... Panda Fu is just too mobile for him to not move and still show us what he does! :o) Of course Colton is just hanging out in the background. He's been rolling over lately but getting it on video is pretty tricky. If I ever get it I promise I'll share it. :o)

New Kids on the Block

So... the girls got together and went to see NKOTB for Vicki's 30Th birthday! It was a lot of fun to go out together and it was also fun to hear stuff from the good ol' days! Seriously.. we are talking about an arena full of women ages 20-35. It was WILD!!! I thought I was going to lose my voice. Opening acts were Lady GAGA and Natasha Beddingfield. I did know ONE of Natasha Beddingfields songs but for the most part I was baffled! Anyway... here are some pics from our adventure.

Angela, Whitney, Cristina, Vicki, Karilynn, Jessica!

I know I look retarded but Ange looks cute! :o)
Cristina thinks she looks super fly in this pic! ;o)
Cristina trying to be a tease? ;o)
Jess... was not so big on pics... but I had to post some of her... does she looks super excited... or too pregnant to be too excited?
Little blurry but so cute!

NKOTB!!!
They came down to a different stage that was a lot closer.. unfortunately this was the last pic I got before my battery died! I was so bugged. I even had my camera bag in the car with extra batteries!!! UGH!!!!

And here is a little video for your entertainment... it was fun to watch them dance... nevermind the screaming in the background!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy ViCkI!!!!!!

In the words of the New Kids!!!
Happy birthday to you.
This is your day.
On this day for you,
we're gonna love you in every way.
This is your day, your day!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you.
You're still young.
Age is just a number,
don't you stop having fun!
This is your day, your day!
Happy birthday to you! :o)

Dad's precious grass!!

So this is not the best pic but.... for those of you who know how my dad feels about his grass... I took a few pics like this! My dad is constantly complaining about his grass... he sometimes gets mad when people park on the grass on the side of his house, which may as well be concrete... but tonight, my dad came home to no parking and HE parked my moms car right on the front lawn. NEXT TIME WE HEAR YOU COMPLAINING I'M BUSTING OUT THESE PICS DAD!!! :o)

Happy Birthday Cristina!

It's my lil' sis' 23rd birthday! I can't believe how quickly they grow up. ;) I remember when she was a tinie tiny baby and I would cary her around like a doll. Now I could probably still carry her around but.... it just wouldn't be the same!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy CrIsTiNa!!!

Hope this year RoCkS for you!

Mindy Lynn

Yesterday morning one of my dearest friends called me and asked me to go to my computer because she was sending me something. This isn't like a super common thing but she called me the other day and told me she was going to start e-mailing me cause she gets bored at work. So I hop on the comp.. check my email and NOTHING!! WTH? She tells me she is sending it and VOILA mail from Mindy... All I see is a thumbnail of a little pic! I open it up and....

(Miller is her last name! ;o) ) So holy cow I think I started crying. Mindy is going to be 29 next month and has no children. She has been married for a little over a year to an amazing guy... Mr. Jack Miller. She has wanted children for years but for whatever reason... has never got those 2 pink lines on a single test. (She was married previously for 3 or 4 years.) Jack and Mindy have been talking about this moment for years as well.. they've been together for 3! She is super intelligent and a perfect candidate for my childbirth obsessive nature. She has been talking to me about birth for years and now, finally.... she is going to be a mommy! All day yesterday I would laugh out loud at random things and when Darin asked "what" I would just say... Mindy is going to be a mommy!!! or My baby is having a baby! :o) I am SOOO excited for her.

Anyway... she took the cute little pic above (err the one with the prego test) and printed it. Then put it in 3 frames. She is mailing one to her in-laws (who currently have no grandchildren and live in Pennsylvania) and brought the other 2 over to her parents wrapped complete with bows last night. Her parents have wanted grandchildren for so long... they've even taken on a little girl (who's dad used to date Mindy's sister) and have spoiled her rotten since she was 3 or 4 (we are talking a good 6 or 7 years at this point!). So she hands her parents these little gifts last night and tells them to open them. Her mom cries and laughs at the same time and her dad gets teary eyed but says basically nothing. (PERFECT!!) She talks to me about how unbelievable it is and how impossible it is to think about anything else. I agree since it's hard for me to think of anything else at this point too! SO CONGRATS TO MINDY LYNN & JACK and to NANCY & PAUL who are finally going to meet the little someone they've been waiting for all their lives!! LOVE YOU ALL!!

This is just a little addition Mindy and Me in High school with a couple of friends... can you believe my waste fit through a childs floaty tube?

First Snow!

Jaydin had his Green Stripe test yesterday and my mom was kind enough to get some video for me. (Darin was working and it is impossible to take Dominic into that place. He jumps down and starts punching while yelling his "KIOPS!" Here are some tidbits from the big test! :o)

Jaydin is the 2nd from the left (smallest and best) if you can't tell! :o)

Breaking the board can be tricky if you aren't in the right position! :o)

I feel bullied.

I don't know where to go with that.

I wonder if I'm doing more harm than good by allowing it.

I don't know how to change it.

I don't want to fight it!

I don't want to run from it.

Maybe I want it to run from me.

I'm tired.

I want a change!

I NEED A CHANGE!

I'm helpless.

I'm scared.

I'm SO tired.

I want to rejoice in every moment.

I fear the day.

I change but it stays the same.

I am not strong enough.

So I sit...

and wait....

for it to get better

or for the bomb to go off.

What happens when?....

A 2 year old gets ahold of an ink pen and manages to break it undetected????

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

TADA!!!

This is Dominic standing next to our ink covered refrigerator door. It was obvious he was the culprit from the fingerprint analysis. And here is a video of him admitting his crime!!

Much to our dismay this was a tricky cleanup! Rubbing alcohol, grease cutter and finger nail polish remover combined, really did the trick! Dominic was dilligent in helping till the end and we skipped the community service for this one!

Community Service

On Monday, while walking to the park with my boys and Mason (Darin's cousins boy) my next door neighbor stopped me and asked me if he could show me something... without getting me mad at him! I was like... "OF COURSE!" So he takes me around the side of his house where we share the fence with him and hiding behind his garbage can is an adorable little skull and crossbones written in SHARPIE on his side of the fence. Fantastic! I immediately recognize the art as one of my boys while he's trying to explain that he doesn't know if it was one of my boys or not. I politely inform him that I am 100% positive it was one of mine and ask him to PLEASE not clean it off... that the culprit needed to learn a lesson.

I totally understand that parenting with Love and Logic is an amazing tool when you have time to think up great punishments and I had approximately 3 hours to come up with something. The boys arrived one at a time and I first started on Damon with simple questions... "Do you have anything you want to tell me about Vance's fence? Behind his garbage can?" Damon is obviously oblivious so I wait for Jaydin to get home. With the same questions on the table he starts out denying it but within 10 seconds admits his crime. He was not happy to hear what his punishment would be.



First he had to go over and clean it off the fence. Because it is a vinyl fence it came off (for the most part) with rubbing alcohol and this weird cleaner we got from costco a couple years ago. After the evidence was gone he had to apologize to Vance. Vance was a good sport and while telling him that he wasn't mad at him, he talked about graffiti and how it is bad. And last came the "real life consequence". In the real world, you do community service for vandalism so.. with the help of Nana and Papa and the slobs of Lehi Utah who like to throw crap on the ground, he spent 2.5 hours picking up garbage alongside the road, next to the field at their house.







So... will he ever vandalize anything again? I pray that this was a grand opportunity to teach a valuable lesson at 7 instead of when he's 15 and the cops bring him home! ;o)

And FYI... Jaydin picked up a total of 4 garbage bags of garbage on his own. Nana, true to her kind nature, started helping about 1.5 hours into it... together they picked up another 3 bags!

Adams Family Circus!

I decided to show you all what goes on in my house... these are my AMAZING boys doing their AMAZING tricks!

Damon is truly one of a kind... love the cart wheel and round-off! GO DAMON GO!!

He has been practicing walking on his hands for a while! Pretty impressive eh?

No one is surprised my 2 year old can do somersaults... he thinks he is just as big as his brothers. Seriously, he follows them around and does EVERYTHING they do! I also got him to say something.... which was the goal with the supercalifragilisticexpialidocious thing!

And of course... Colton's amazing trick is his conversational skills... although he does seem to be attempting a back flip don't ya think?!?!?

Sparkle Toes, Taekwondo and Colton speaks!

So... this Saturday I splurged and got myself some sparkle toes... it's sort of a new thing in Utah. Basically they put gel on your toes, then pour glitter on them and then bake them under the U.V. light then repeat the process. It's supposed to last like 2 months... we shall see! Here's a fun pic!

So Damon tested for his BLUE BELT on Saturday... I can't believe he is half way to his black belt. He really enjoys Taekwondo and works his but off. He's pretty dang good at it! Here is a video of his test... this is his one of the forms he was tested on. I had to record it in the mirror in order to see him without recording a million kids sitting on the floor.

Here's a pic of him getting his blue belt!

Okay so Colton is getting into the mode where he talks and shares amazing stories with you. I have been trying to catch this phenomenon on tape and was recording him talking during taekwondo so ignore the Korean counting in the back ground. It was the first opportunity I've had so I jumped on it!

Getting Fit!

I am excited to be participating in a fitness study at a local gym. It's a 21 day study where I get to meet with a PERSONAL TRAINER 3 times a week. (AND ALL OF THIS IS TOTALLY FREE WITH NO OBLIGATION TO SIGN UP!!!) Today was my first day which consisted of being weighed, calculating my BMI, taking my BP and resting heart rate and letting me know what the program entails. Basically I will be doing 30 minutes of resistance training and 3o minutes of Cardio 3 times a week! Then they take all the same measurements again at the end of the study. I'm totally excited about this because I had already planned to join this gym... I have got to exercise and the place is open 24 hours a day so I could seriously go after the kids are in bed! HOORAY!! I currently want to lose a total of 69 lbs. Wish me luck! ;o)

The truck

So the truck is officially back to us.. only $2416.95 later! UGH!! We seriously had to get a loan to fix our truck and now we will put it back on the market with a rebuilt transmission and a lot of new parts inside. Hopefully we will get it sold so we can pay off the loan, pay all the hospital bills, buy a USED 7 seater something or other and hmmm... maybe pay for me to go to nail tech school.

I've decided that nail tech school is a great idea because it's only 300 hours and in my neighborhood I am pretty sure I could get lots of clients willing to come right into my home for their nail needs! I also think it would be a great service to be able to offer to my doula clients. Like a free pedicure and manicure when you get to 39 weeks. Just a perk of going longer than you hoped/anticipated! Jess is willing to help me with babysitting stuff and really... I could get it done in 3 months or less and be done! I'm just sick of having these times where we are dirt poor and all I can do is suggest my hubby get some side jobs. I would love to bring in a little extra cash of my own.

Hope all is well for everyone. :o)

BIRTHS!!

So I just wanted to let everyone know that I have 3 births to attend next month and I am SO EXCITED!! One will be at the hospital with my favorite CNM. One will be in a birthing center and one will be a home birth! Seriously... I love birth! I so can't wait to be a part of these magical events. :o)

Update

Mom is having surgery tomorrow to repair the break.
Truck is looking like it's going to cost around $2100 to fix.
Last time I checked, I don't fart quarters or poop nickels..... so no hope in even pulling the money out of my @$$.
Hooray for me!

In case I thought it couldn't get worse.....

We had the privilege of going up to "The Property" this weekend with Darin's family. It was a whole lot of fun and everyone got along really well. Lots of good times until we went to leave and Darin's AMAZING truck decided that it will not go into drive.

I couldn't believe our luck and we were forced to leave it up at the property with plans to come back the next day with a trailer and truck to tow it. Sunday I asked my mom to take the two older boys and Darin, Matthew (D's Cousin) and I headed back to the property (2 hours away) with both babies and a trailer in tow. Getting the truck down the mountain is a story all in itself but in short it involves STRATEGICALLY getting the truck on the trailer (a 2 hour process) realizing that we couldn't possibly pull his truck out on the dirt road in the truck we had. Unloading the truck, the truck and the trailer and the truck that was pulling them rolling down the hill, Darin driving his truck out of the dirt road in REVERSE (about 5.3 miles) and finally abandoning the truck at a gas station to be retrieved on a day when we had the equipment to pull the truck on the trailer front-end first.

After an exhausting 10 hours we finally arrived home to find my mom at the bottom of the stairs with a BROKEN LEG!!! Yeah... she went down the stairs, in the dark, with no glasses AFTER taking all her night meds. I had called and asked her to open the garage for me and she missed a step or two on the way back down. We took her to the hospital where it was VERY OBVIOUS that she has spiral fractured the distal part of her fibula.... seriously... it's a bad break and she will find out tomorrow if she is going to need surgery. After looking at the x-ray... my diagnosis is DEFINITELY!! Seriously it's a horrible break and the bottom 2.5 inches of the bone is detached, jagged and displaced from the larger part of the bone. YAY!!! I SWEAR CAN WE BE FRICKIN' DONE WITH FRICKIN' HOSPITALS ALREADY?????

On a lighter note... today was Haley's first day of kindergarten and even though I'm not her mommy... I do babysit her and I am in charge of making sure her hair is adorable every day... so here's a couple of pics of HALEY SUE on her first day of kindergarten.

This is just a view from the top... I'm trying to be cute/creative but don't have everything I need to be exceptional!

And this is just a cute smile... she was very excited and said that school was lots of fun... but she doesn't remember her teachers name so don't ask... she gets annoyed with that question! ;o)

Slacker!

So I have become quite a slacker recently when it comes to blogging. I really don't have much of an excuse. No one has been sick... dad hasn't been in the hospital. Boys have been fairly reasonable. Shawn got married.... that was an exciting event. Colton is smiling and laughing tons! I suppose I could blog some pics. Darin is...... Darin.



Today is the first day of school! Damon's teacher is Ms. Dietz. I would guess she is around 5'9". She has a reputation for being.... NICE! No really, she is the most requested 3rd grade teacher in the school. I just hope that nice doesn't translate into pushover. On first impressions, I would assume that she is NO pushover! Hip hip hooray... this could be the start of a beautiful year.



Jaydin's teacher, Miss Sorensen, is like 4'8"! Seriously... that might even be giving her a few extra inches! I don't know much about her as she didn't teach 2nd grade last year. In fact, she was a kindergarten teacher. The only thing I've heard about her was from a family friend who did an internship type thing at their school last year... she's says... SHE'S PHENOMENAL!!!! WOOT WOOT!!



We started Harry Potter last night. I figure that if I'm going to be reading to them every night, we should start with some fun chapter books. The first chapter of Harry Potter is 17 pages long and Damon couldn't get enough. I'm excited to read it to them... we could have a goal to read the whole series before the end of the school year or something. Wouldn't that be a blast?



I started watching Vicki's girls today. Haley starts kindergarten this year but for whatever reason, our school district always starts the kindergarteners a week later than the rest of the grades. Once kindergarten starts, I will be driving Haley to school every day. Vicki is trying to find the nearest bus stop so I don't have to drive her all the way to school, but we shall see how that all plays out! I am excited to do her hair everyday for school. She sits still because she desperately wants her hair to be pretty. (Seriously she would let me do her hair when she was 2!) Maybe I'll try to post pics of her hair on exceptional hair days.

If your bored.. now you understand why I'm trying not to pull my hair out!
Hope everyone is well!

:o)

School days

So... although I was really thinking that I wanted to homeschool... I'm counting down the days till school starts. I'm praying that my boys get sensational teachers and that I can just supplement their learning. Damon and Jaydin just don't like being together all the time and the fighting is becoming unbearable!!! So school starts in 15 days and I'm SOOOO excited!!!

Yesterday I put up my new "Adams" wall. A couple of Darin's siblings have walls like this and I was excited to get SOMETHING on my walls. Here is a pic of how mine turned out... I think it's kinda cute! ;o)

Basically it's just pictures of all the families in the Adams side of our fam. I love how it turned out kind of heart shaped even though that was not my intention... it's just the way it turned out for symmetrical purposes.

Hmm... kids are freakin out.... hope everyone is having happy times!

Photo Session

So I was trying to take pictures to make some sort of card for a couple of nurses that I really appreciated and a couple of AMAZING Docs. Of course... If I'm taking pics of Colton, I've got to take pics of my Dom and his oh-so-cute smile!! Love my sweet little guys. Still thinking about killing the older ones! >:o[ I swear they are evil!

Aren't they a cute duo? Dom insisted on holding Colton. Love the two of them together. They are both so mild mannered! How did the older two get so Evil?!?!!?

Colton just chillin'! Unlike his evil brothers!

Little crooked smile! So cute... not EVIL like Damon and Jaydin!!

Ugh!! Can you tell I'm super fed up with the two older kids? I would love to give them away... any takers?

Finally a break?

So the stent placement seemed to be successful for my dad. For now... he is doing well. Colton has also made a complete recovery. Still don't know what started it all but I'm so grateful that for now... things are normal. I also found out officially that my boys have insurance... so Coltons hospital stay will be covered by CHIP. We will end up paying only a couple thousand which is amazing in comparison to how much it will all cost! (I'll def. keep you all updated on the grand total. For now I only have $10,000 in bills for LIFEFLIGHT and the American Fork Emergency Room, I've yet to see my Primary Children's Hospital bill!)

Lately I'm feeling slightly homicidal as Damon tries to push me over the edge. Not sure what to do with that kid but I need to figure it out before he becomes a teen ager! UGH!!

Life otherwise feels fairly normal.

Hope everyone is feeling normal as well!
LOVE ME!

Heart Attack

No.... Really...

My dad had a heart attack today. 3 of the 5 bypasses they did during his open heart surgery collapsed. They want to try and bypass the bypasses and put stents in the original arteries they chose to bypass. If that doesn't work.. they open him up AGAIN and bypass the bypassed bypass.

UGH!!! When it rains it pours.

Home at last!

We are home! WE came home last night with him and slept beautifully. It is so nice to have our baby home... loved Primary Children's Hospital... hope we never have to go back!

And so it goes!

So graduation from PICU becomes graduation from stabilizing to finding out why this happened. The pediatricians in the Infant Unit have called in a pulmonologist and a hematologist. Pulmonology came yesterday and ordered a million labs and hematology should come today. Basically pulmonogy ran tests for things that are very rare... so far... no answers.

On the bright side!
Colton is back to nursing beautifully. He never had to use a bottle. They removed the feeding tube yesterday. He is currently on room air... NO OXYGEN!! Really truly... they want to try an antibiotic given orally and if he tolerates it, they will take out the I.V. . This will be the removal of his VERY LAST LINE!!! We can't wait. The Dr.'s said that if he continues to stay the way he is that he will go home later on today or tomorrow. It kind of depends on the when the hematologist comes but I'm guessing it will be tomorrow. I would love to get home with him before the boys get home from camping.

I just can't wait to get out of here. Don't get me wrong.. this is an amazing hospital with amazing staff... I just wouldn't wish a child sick enough to be here on anyone. This has been the most trying experience of my life. There were times when he was on the vent that I would look at him and wonder what on earth I would do if he didn't make it. How could anyone turn off life support? How could I live without my little guy? I am SO incredibly grateful that he has done so wonderful. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers... and thank God for competent nurses and Dr.'s.

I would post pics of how handsome he currently is but for whatever reason, my memory card is being retarded!!! As soon as I can post them I will!

Graduation

Today we graduated to a new room on the pediatric floor! (GOODBYE ICU!) We are so excited! I'll post more after we find out what the care plan is!

no more tubes...!!!!!!!

We spent the whole day hoping that Colton would be extubated. During a.m. rounds the attending mentioned the possibility of extubation today but wanted to get more fluid off of him first. I was okay with the plan as he had a couple of spontaneous trials to do and pass before extubation. Unfortunately the nurse and respiratory therapist we had today were far from proactive. The day passed and it looked as though he would not be extubated because the nurse didn't follow through with the things she was told to do and the respiratory therapist had an excuse every time he was called as to why he couldn't do it then!!! When we got back after report (8:00 p.m.) we walked in to a very frustrated little guy. The sedation was completely weaned earlier in the day and now the tube was really irritating him. He was coughing and gagging. The nurse went to find the resident and see if he wanted her to intibate or sedate. Something had to be done. The resident told her to intibate. I saw her at the med cart getting meds and I knew what he had decided to do. I couldn't help it and started to cry. I just didn't want to spend tomorrow waiting for some nurse to get her shit together so he could finally be extubated. I couldn't hide my frustration and the nurse (who has come to know me well) could see I was frustrated and I just told her that we spent the whole day wasting time, that he had done everything they wanted him to do, and that I was nervous that the next day would pass like today. The attending physician came over and the nurse told her what was up. She asked a few questions about labs and output and said, "let's do it!" He has been extubated for several hours now and has been doing AMAZING!! Here are some pics of me holding him. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

Grrr... I deleted the cute pic.. I'll post it tomorrow.. I'm really exhausted. Here is a pic Darin likes.... look at Colton, not my ugly mug... Could that be a smile?

I see you!!

Here is a little video of Colton's little eyes! It's been a few days since we saw those little peepers so even if you can't see them... we are AMAZED!! When this bizarre thing first started he got so sick so fast! I was afraid I would never get my little guy back! It's fun to see him moving and showing signs of being a really STONED perfectly normal little guy. If all goes well (which it TOTALLY has been) he will be extubated today and I will be able to hold him! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! :)

When the nurse repositioned him, he decided to cross his legs at the ankles. We thought it was the cutest thing so she left him in that position. He slept like this for a while! :)

Just a few more little movements! :) We spent most of yesterday staring at him and delighting in this little toe and finger wiggled.

Pics from this A.M.

So I took some pics this a.m. and wanted to share! He is truly looking much better and is coughing and moving around. I will try to get some video of it and put it on here later. For now, here are some pics. For those of you who have been up here to see him, I'm sure you will notice the dramatic improvement. For those who haven't... even though these pics may look a little scary, he looks AMAZING!!!

I really love this pic! Notice the tube mustache he is sporting these days! One goes into his small intestine to feed him (NJ) and one goes into his stomach to drain excess acids in order to avoid aspiration.

I took this pic because I love that the chest tube is IN HIS HAND!! It just looks like he's ready to yank it out. It will come out today or tomorrow. YAY!