Well, it seems as though Gabe may have a hernia too. Ladan had surgery to repair a hernia when Gabe was just 3 weeks old. I noticed the same swelling that I had detected with Ladan, so I took Gabe to the doctor today to have it checked out. She definitely felt a larger hole on one side than the other, so off we go to the pediatric surgeon. At this point, it's probably just fluid coming through, so it's not super-bad or painful for him (he probably doesn't even notice it most or any of the time yet). And it's not an emergency at this point either. Our appointment is scheduled for March 17 to visit with the surgeon, and if he does have a hernia, we'll likely schedule the surgery to take place a couple of weeks after that.
If he ends up having surgery, we'll just have his re-circumcision done at the same time. I've been debating the necessity of the recirc and have been unsure of whether or not I felt like it was worth it to put him through anesthesia and all that just to even things out. I had also been debating whether or not it was worth the cost, etc. However, our insurance is SO MUCH BETTER this year than it was last year, and we wouldn't likely pay more than the doctor visit copay ($10) for the surgery. Anyway, I was a bit torn. The money issue seemed to be resolved, but I still wasn't all that excited about putting him under to cut a little piece of skin off. It looks like the Lord may have brought some clarity here. Not that I am all psyched about the possibility of him having surgery for any reason, but if we can get it all done at the same time, that would be great!
The Lord's timing is definitely perfect! Ladan's hernia didn't show up until he was over 2 years old, which could have been the case with Gabe. Most of the doctors say that now is the time to do the recirc if we're going to do it (not that you can't do it later, but it's LOTS harder on them), so we may have scheduled that and then ended up having to put him through surgery again in another few months. Isn't He gracious!?!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
A Bunch of Random Miraculous Happenings and One Simply Random Happening
I went grocery shopping tonight, and I was finishing up at the last store. As I walked out the door, the greeter guy said to me, "You all have a good night." It was 11:00pm, and there was no one within 25 feet of me, so I'm certain he wasn't addressing me along with another customer. Basically, I've decided that either I appear to have three heads when I haven't showered in the last 24 hours, or his eyes were blurring a bit. Anyway, it struck me as pretty funny.
Ladan has been pretty hilarious lately. Within a few seconds tonight, the stack of pillows on my bed went from being a ship that was saving us from drowning to being a snowman that was about to melt. Any blanket, sheet, or box can instantly become a barn for horses or a tent to protect us from bears. His imagination is getting really wild, and it's lots of fun! He's learning more and more about how the world works, what death is, how God protects us from certain things and sometimes decides that He's not going to stop all the bad things and helps us through them instead.
We've been working on some preschool activities very informally, and now he knows his capital and lowercase letters. He can identify numbers and do some simple addition problems. He really seems to enjoy the time we spend doing these things and regularly says, "Mom, I want to learn some math." He's trying to read more and asks me to tell him what words say when he sees them. His favorite book is Are You My Mother? from the Dr. Suess set. He's practically got it memorized and "reads" it with such expression! Not bad since it's 60 pages long. Given that we don't do anything formal and I'm not legalistic about doing something every day, I think he's doing really well. It's been a bit encouraging as I consider the possibility that I may end up homeschooling him at least for a while.
He loves to help out with things and is super-encouraging. Whenever Chet or I leave without him, he likes to help us shut the door. And as we're heading out, he says, "You be careful and don't fall down/crash." When it rains and Chet leaves for work, Ladan instructs him to put his hood on his head so his hair doesn't get all wet.
Gabe woke up in a pile of his own very chunky puke the other morning and was covered literally from head to toe. It was so disgusting! I've never had either of them do anything like that. He also had the Hershey squirts (only it was yellow), so he's eaten LOTS of bananas to stop him up a bit. All this on top of the fact that he's got about 6 teeth coming in has provided a combination that makes it difficult for him to a be the happy, content child that he normally is. Hopefully, he'll be back to normal soon. He does have periods of time in each day that he seems to be himself. During these times, he loves to draw and attempt to copy all of Ladan's athletic feats... mostly all with his left hand. We'll see if he ends up as a lefty or not. He's very affectionate and is saying new words all the time. He's getting bigger, but I will probably see him as my "little man" until he's taller than me.
Finally, I did our taxes last week. We qualify for the Earned Income Credit. Basically, this is a tax credit designed to encourage people to earn income rather than drawing unemployment all year long. If you make less than a certain amount of money based on your family size, then you get a tax credit. For the last two years, the Lord has used this tax credit to provide for us in AMAZING ways! This year, we will be receiving more than half of what we brought home all year. It's like the Lord just said, "Here's an extra 6 months' pay." For all intents and purposes, we should be standing in a line saying that we can't pay our rent and that we need food, but we are doing neither. We are able to eat healthy foods, which tend to cost a bit more than cheap processed foods. We have clothing, LOTS of books, computers, a warm home, and so many other things that go way beyond what we need. And we pay all our bills on time every month and have no debt. Sometimes it's overwhelming to think about how good God has been to us, many times through the generosity of others, including our fellow-citizens. We definitely don't deserve it, but we are SO THANKFUL and will give Him the glory for it!
Ladan has been pretty hilarious lately. Within a few seconds tonight, the stack of pillows on my bed went from being a ship that was saving us from drowning to being a snowman that was about to melt. Any blanket, sheet, or box can instantly become a barn for horses or a tent to protect us from bears. His imagination is getting really wild, and it's lots of fun! He's learning more and more about how the world works, what death is, how God protects us from certain things and sometimes decides that He's not going to stop all the bad things and helps us through them instead.
We've been working on some preschool activities very informally, and now he knows his capital and lowercase letters. He can identify numbers and do some simple addition problems. He really seems to enjoy the time we spend doing these things and regularly says, "Mom, I want to learn some math." He's trying to read more and asks me to tell him what words say when he sees them. His favorite book is Are You My Mother? from the Dr. Suess set. He's practically got it memorized and "reads" it with such expression! Not bad since it's 60 pages long. Given that we don't do anything formal and I'm not legalistic about doing something every day, I think he's doing really well. It's been a bit encouraging as I consider the possibility that I may end up homeschooling him at least for a while.
He loves to help out with things and is super-encouraging. Whenever Chet or I leave without him, he likes to help us shut the door. And as we're heading out, he says, "You be careful and don't fall down/crash." When it rains and Chet leaves for work, Ladan instructs him to put his hood on his head so his hair doesn't get all wet.
Gabe woke up in a pile of his own very chunky puke the other morning and was covered literally from head to toe. It was so disgusting! I've never had either of them do anything like that. He also had the Hershey squirts (only it was yellow), so he's eaten LOTS of bananas to stop him up a bit. All this on top of the fact that he's got about 6 teeth coming in has provided a combination that makes it difficult for him to a be the happy, content child that he normally is. Hopefully, he'll be back to normal soon. He does have periods of time in each day that he seems to be himself. During these times, he loves to draw and attempt to copy all of Ladan's athletic feats... mostly all with his left hand. We'll see if he ends up as a lefty or not. He's very affectionate and is saying new words all the time. He's getting bigger, but I will probably see him as my "little man" until he's taller than me.
Finally, I did our taxes last week. We qualify for the Earned Income Credit. Basically, this is a tax credit designed to encourage people to earn income rather than drawing unemployment all year long. If you make less than a certain amount of money based on your family size, then you get a tax credit. For the last two years, the Lord has used this tax credit to provide for us in AMAZING ways! This year, we will be receiving more than half of what we brought home all year. It's like the Lord just said, "Here's an extra 6 months' pay." For all intents and purposes, we should be standing in a line saying that we can't pay our rent and that we need food, but we are doing neither. We are able to eat healthy foods, which tend to cost a bit more than cheap processed foods. We have clothing, LOTS of books, computers, a warm home, and so many other things that go way beyond what we need. And we pay all our bills on time every month and have no debt. Sometimes it's overwhelming to think about how good God has been to us, many times through the generosity of others, including our fellow-citizens. We definitely don't deserve it, but we are SO THANKFUL and will give Him the glory for it!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
High School Girls
Well, Saturday night was a blast! We had a high school girls' sleepover at the Bloom house, and it was so much fun! We played some games, chatted for a while, ate raw cookie dough and pizza pockets (don't worry... the cookie dough didn't have raw eggs in it), stayed up late, and had an overall fabulous time. I'm more than a decade older than all of the girls, but I thoroughly enjoy every single one of them. It makes me smile just to think about them and all of their various interests, dreams, hopes, struggles, etc. Well, I don't really enjoy their struggles, but I am so glad to be sharing life with these gals. Here's a group photo from the party...
Aren't they GREAT!?! You might look at this picture and say, "Well, their youth girls don't represent much diversity! They're all skinny white girls!" And I'd have to promptly correct you on the first count (they ARE all skinny and white, so I could agree with those comments). The girls do have lots in common, but they have so much to contribute to one another and the rest of the world. I have so much to learn from them. There are three runners, an Irish dancer, an artist, an up-and-coming fashion consultant (or at least for this prom season), two actors, a few geocachers (I just learned about this and I can't wait for them to show me), an accounting apprentice, a birdwatcher, a few classic Star Wars and Star Trek fans (classic is the key), several Jane Austen fanatics, and seven who are well on their way to being amazing women of God. Man, if I could just catch on to the first two talents listed, do you know how buff my calves would be?! And if I had the skills of the geocachers and birdwatcher, I might have been able to find my way to the party a bit faster (as in, I may have avoided wasting an entire hour and a half getting lost) because I would have been able to keep my eyes open and follow directions!
Oh, on the far left is Beth Schakat, the other "older" gal in the group. Her husband is the youth pastor, and she's allowing me to team up with her to hang out with the girls. We're getting ready to start going through Lies Young Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Dannah Gresh. What a great opportunity to walk them through so many of the things that Beth and I wish we had known at that age! I'm seriously having so much fun with them and cannot wait to see how the year unfolds!
Aren't they GREAT!?! You might look at this picture and say, "Well, their youth girls don't represent much diversity! They're all skinny white girls!" And I'd have to promptly correct you on the first count (they ARE all skinny and white, so I could agree with those comments). The girls do have lots in common, but they have so much to contribute to one another and the rest of the world. I have so much to learn from them. There are three runners, an Irish dancer, an artist, an up-and-coming fashion consultant (or at least for this prom season), two actors, a few geocachers (I just learned about this and I can't wait for them to show me), an accounting apprentice, a birdwatcher, a few classic Star Wars and Star Trek fans (classic is the key), several Jane Austen fanatics, and seven who are well on their way to being amazing women of God. Man, if I could just catch on to the first two talents listed, do you know how buff my calves would be?! And if I had the skills of the geocachers and birdwatcher, I might have been able to find my way to the party a bit faster (as in, I may have avoided wasting an entire hour and a half getting lost) because I would have been able to keep my eyes open and follow directions!
Oh, on the far left is Beth Schakat, the other "older" gal in the group. Her husband is the youth pastor, and she's allowing me to team up with her to hang out with the girls. We're getting ready to start going through Lies Young Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Dannah Gresh. What a great opportunity to walk them through so many of the things that Beth and I wish we had known at that age! I'm seriously having so much fun with them and cannot wait to see how the year unfolds!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Beach Party Videos
I had to upload these to YouTube, so they're a little bit late getting on here...
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Beach Party!!!
We got a bit of snow here in Louisville. Since we don't have any snow toys, and the sled that Gigi bought the boys is still at her house in Novinger, we decided to get out the beach toys and have a beach party instead! We had the works... shovels, dump trucks, sand castle mold buckets, and even a beach volleyball. Ladan and I played volleyball over the clothes line. What a great time! When we were finished playing, Ladan and I scraped off the van so it would be all ready to go to church tonight. He did a great job and even cleaned off the wheels for me! Here are some photos...
Friday, January 18, 2008
Dead Meat and Broken Bones
We had some mouse poop on a few of our things in the storage unit outside, so I had Chet set a couple of traps before we left for our trip to NE Missouri. We got back on Monday night, and on Tuesday morning, I needed something from the storage unit. So I went to get it but refused to look at the traps to see if there were mice on them. I sent Chet out later to examine the evidence. As it turns out, they were BOTH full of dead mouse meat!!!!! Disgusting! I nearly puked when Chet told me.
Let me backtrack... when I went to the store to buy the silly traps, I was just staring at the section of mouse traps with this ridiculously knarled up face when I decided I had no clue how to choose them. I had to ask one of the old ladies in the aisle what kind of traps I should buy (I deduced that most people over the age of 60 are at least likely to have encountered a mouse trap or two in their lifetimes). She told me to buy the cheapest ones, use peanut butter instead of cheese, and when the mice were killed in them, I should have my dad come and throw them out! Ha! Too bad my dad is dead, and even if he was alive, he'd live 4 hours away. Nevertheless, I decided that her gray hair and fur coat signified that she had probably learned a thing or two in her life, so I was going to follow her advice as closely as possible. All I can say is it's a good thing Chet grew up in an old farmhouse and knows a thing or two about mouse traps, because I certainly am not ready to handle dead rodents.
Back to the storage unit... Chet went out to set two more traps yesterday. After taking care of business, he walked back inside holding the jar of peanut butter with the spoon sticking out of it. I asked him if he put the peanut butter on the traps before or after he picked up the previously slaughtered mice. He said that he never touched the mice and that he only touched the very end of the spoon and didn't come near the peanut butter. Still, I cannot bring myself to eat from that jar of peanut butter or serve it to my family. So I'm labeling it "Mouse food". And until we know that there's a good chance these mice are gone, Chet will probably get some extra exercise walking out to that storage unit for me!
My name may mean "Country Girl", but there are certain aspects of growing up in a city that I appreciate. The fact that I have never had a mouse in my home is one of them. The storage unit 100 yards away is close enough, thank you very much.
-------------------------
Now, for the broken bones part... I keep forgetting to write about how I injured myself coughing shortly after Thanksgiving. I had a cold or something, and I was coughing quite a lot. Well, I guess I coughed enough to cause some trauma to my ribcage. Six weeks later, I'm still healing. I talked with quite a few people I know who've had broken ribs, and I'm pretty sure that I at least cracked one. My mom told me that they don't even wrap broken ribs anymore, so I didn't worry too much about having an x-ray. And since we don't have extra money to go throwing around just to find out something for the sake of knowing, I determined that the grinding and crunching when I move certain ways along with pretty intense pain when I laid down, coughed, sneezed, laughed, hiccuped, sniffed, or breathed deeply were likely evidence that it might be more than a simple muscle tear.
The only problem with this decision is that I tend to be ultra-curious, so I really would like to know if it's broken... you know, just for the sake of knowing (which, if you know me well, is why I ask many of the questions I ask on a daily basis). I sometimes drive Chet crazy asking questions like, "Who picks up your trash in the country? Is it a trash truck, or just a man driving a pick-up?" or "Why is a 5th wheel called a 5th wheel?" One year, to give me some new information to absorb, my mom bought me one of those crazy trivia books titled "Do Penguins Have Knees?" All that to say, the most difficult part about not knowing is not that it would have changed much of anything... it's just the not knowing that drives me crazy.
The one thing I did want to know is how long it normally takes for ribs to heal if they are broken. We were able to hang out with one of the guys who was in our wedding who also happens to have his doctorate in physical therapy. I asked him about it, and he told me it should heal within 5-6 weeks of injury. I'm a bit beyond that, but I've definitely been overextending myself. In the end, I've realized that I probably haven't been drinking as much milk or taking my calcium supplements as I should be. And I probably won't be needing to lift 60-pound suitcases anytime in the near future again. I'm trying to be more diligent in the hopes that I can sleep on my side again and sneeze without wincing sometime in the next week or two. I'm also looking forward to being able to do my Pilates video and going for my jog/walk with the boys. We'll see how it goes!
Let me backtrack... when I went to the store to buy the silly traps, I was just staring at the section of mouse traps with this ridiculously knarled up face when I decided I had no clue how to choose them. I had to ask one of the old ladies in the aisle what kind of traps I should buy (I deduced that most people over the age of 60 are at least likely to have encountered a mouse trap or two in their lifetimes). She told me to buy the cheapest ones, use peanut butter instead of cheese, and when the mice were killed in them, I should have my dad come and throw them out! Ha! Too bad my dad is dead, and even if he was alive, he'd live 4 hours away. Nevertheless, I decided that her gray hair and fur coat signified that she had probably learned a thing or two in her life, so I was going to follow her advice as closely as possible. All I can say is it's a good thing Chet grew up in an old farmhouse and knows a thing or two about mouse traps, because I certainly am not ready to handle dead rodents.
Back to the storage unit... Chet went out to set two more traps yesterday. After taking care of business, he walked back inside holding the jar of peanut butter with the spoon sticking out of it. I asked him if he put the peanut butter on the traps before or after he picked up the previously slaughtered mice. He said that he never touched the mice and that he only touched the very end of the spoon and didn't come near the peanut butter. Still, I cannot bring myself to eat from that jar of peanut butter or serve it to my family. So I'm labeling it "Mouse food". And until we know that there's a good chance these mice are gone, Chet will probably get some extra exercise walking out to that storage unit for me!
My name may mean "Country Girl", but there are certain aspects of growing up in a city that I appreciate. The fact that I have never had a mouse in my home is one of them. The storage unit 100 yards away is close enough, thank you very much.
-------------------------
Now, for the broken bones part... I keep forgetting to write about how I injured myself coughing shortly after Thanksgiving. I had a cold or something, and I was coughing quite a lot. Well, I guess I coughed enough to cause some trauma to my ribcage. Six weeks later, I'm still healing. I talked with quite a few people I know who've had broken ribs, and I'm pretty sure that I at least cracked one. My mom told me that they don't even wrap broken ribs anymore, so I didn't worry too much about having an x-ray. And since we don't have extra money to go throwing around just to find out something for the sake of knowing, I determined that the grinding and crunching when I move certain ways along with pretty intense pain when I laid down, coughed, sneezed, laughed, hiccuped, sniffed, or breathed deeply were likely evidence that it might be more than a simple muscle tear.
The only problem with this decision is that I tend to be ultra-curious, so I really would like to know if it's broken... you know, just for the sake of knowing (which, if you know me well, is why I ask many of the questions I ask on a daily basis). I sometimes drive Chet crazy asking questions like, "Who picks up your trash in the country? Is it a trash truck, or just a man driving a pick-up?" or "Why is a 5th wheel called a 5th wheel?" One year, to give me some new information to absorb, my mom bought me one of those crazy trivia books titled "Do Penguins Have Knees?" All that to say, the most difficult part about not knowing is not that it would have changed much of anything... it's just the not knowing that drives me crazy.
The one thing I did want to know is how long it normally takes for ribs to heal if they are broken. We were able to hang out with one of the guys who was in our wedding who also happens to have his doctorate in physical therapy. I asked him about it, and he told me it should heal within 5-6 weeks of injury. I'm a bit beyond that, but I've definitely been overextending myself. In the end, I've realized that I probably haven't been drinking as much milk or taking my calcium supplements as I should be. And I probably won't be needing to lift 60-pound suitcases anytime in the near future again. I'm trying to be more diligent in the hopes that I can sleep on my side again and sneeze without wincing sometime in the next week or two. I'm also looking forward to being able to do my Pilates video and going for my jog/walk with the boys. We'll see how it goes!
Friday, January 4, 2008
Quick Update
Well, we've had sick boys since Christmas Day. They both had a terrible cough with congestion and fever for several days. It didn't stop us from traveling to St. Louis the day after Christmas. We visited some family, but we didn't do much else while we were there. I did get to visit some friends, and I ran (actually drove) to a few stores while I had some time. I found a set of Lincoln Logs for the boys at Barnes & Noble for half off! I was so excited!
Ladan now just has a runny nose. Gabe has a new molar coming through, and he's been miserable for the last three days. Two nights ago he slept for 17 hours, woke up for about 5 hours, went back to bed again last night, and slept 15 hours. He took two naps today. I'm glad he's getting plenty of sleep, but when he's awake, we basically have to hold him the entire time. I'm hoping he gets better soon, because we have a visit to Chet's hometown coming up.
On a more positive note, Gabe is learning more words. He still needs some interpretation, but he's communicating more and more. He still loves to dance. His favorite move is to raise his left shoulder up and down a couple of times and then shake his hips around. He's also started trying to practice his place kicking just like Ladan. He sets the football up in Chet's shoe, stands up, and pushes it over with his foot. It doesn't go far, but he gets very excited about it!
New Year's Day we watched the Tigers play in the Cotton Bowl. When Ladan woke up, Chet told him the Missouri Tigers were playing football, and he was so excited. He had to put on his Missouri Tigers outfit. He basically played along throughout the entire game. At one point, he kicked the ball pretty well, and he exclaimed, "That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!" It was awesome!
Speaking of the new year, we were in the car driving by the downtown Louisville area (on our way back from St. Louis) when it rang in at Eastern time... so we unloaded our stuff, got out our party supplies, and rang in the new year at Central time! It was great! The boys really enjoyed the party hats, streamer kazoos, and confetti poppers.
And, probably the most exciting news of all... My brother and Amber found out they are having another BOY!!! His name will be Justus.
Ladan now just has a runny nose. Gabe has a new molar coming through, and he's been miserable for the last three days. Two nights ago he slept for 17 hours, woke up for about 5 hours, went back to bed again last night, and slept 15 hours. He took two naps today. I'm glad he's getting plenty of sleep, but when he's awake, we basically have to hold him the entire time. I'm hoping he gets better soon, because we have a visit to Chet's hometown coming up.
On a more positive note, Gabe is learning more words. He still needs some interpretation, but he's communicating more and more. He still loves to dance. His favorite move is to raise his left shoulder up and down a couple of times and then shake his hips around. He's also started trying to practice his place kicking just like Ladan. He sets the football up in Chet's shoe, stands up, and pushes it over with his foot. It doesn't go far, but he gets very excited about it!
New Year's Day we watched the Tigers play in the Cotton Bowl. When Ladan woke up, Chet told him the Missouri Tigers were playing football, and he was so excited. He had to put on his Missouri Tigers outfit. He basically played along throughout the entire game. At one point, he kicked the ball pretty well, and he exclaimed, "That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!" It was awesome!
Speaking of the new year, we were in the car driving by the downtown Louisville area (on our way back from St. Louis) when it rang in at Eastern time... so we unloaded our stuff, got out our party supplies, and rang in the new year at Central time! It was great! The boys really enjoyed the party hats, streamer kazoos, and confetti poppers.
And, probably the most exciting news of all... My brother and Amber found out they are having another BOY!!! His name will be Justus.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)