2/1 - Sooo tired & Nana is here

It's been a long time since I've updated the blog. That would be because I've been so stinkin' tired. Extremely tired. Almost non-functioning tired. Over the past few weeks I've seen a few doctors and got an MRI of my brain. The good news is I don't have a tumor. The bad news is that also means the doctors have no idea what is wrong with me now. I've just been trying to keep up with Aiden and Eli at this point and try and make them a meal every now and then. Aiden has been keeping busy doing some therapy/educational stuff that I've tried working on when I have the energy. He loves that kind of stuff. Below you can see him making patterns, putting little alphabet cards in order, and even tracing and drawing a train. 

Brad encouraged me enough to do a family trip to the gym one day on a Saturday morning. I was exhausted but went. I did a light/moderate workout (I'm out of shape at the moment) and then we let the boys play in the gym. They did a good job "waiting" for us to be done and then we let them run around the track and we all played basketball for a bit.

The boys have had to rely on each other a bit more than normal to have someone to play with because I've been so tired. The little energy that I have had I need to make a meal or do something for my College of Southern Maryland on-line classes. Here are the boys playing "grocery store." Little Eli is getting quite the imagination!! It's so exciting to see. He will play by himself and talk to himself for a long time. I love it. Aiden has never really done that. He is too concrete to make things up. It's so fun to watch Eli's imagination work and really take off.

Eli has also become very independent, very fast. He wants to "help" any time we are in the kitchen, is putting is own clothes on now, brushing is own teeth (although they don't get too clean), soaping himself in the bath, zipping is own jacket, and he's trying to put on his shoes. It's great to see him start to do so much by himself but it's also a tad frustrating because he will not let me show him anything. He wants to try it himself and doesn't want any pointers but there are just some things that need to be taught. Here he is with Brad making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

On Sunday, Brad went to meet Papa and get Nana. My dad was nice enough to drive my mom from St. Pete to somewhere in Georgia. Brad met my dad to pick-up Nana and Bronco. The boys haven't seen Nana in about 7 months so they are loving spending time with her. Here are Eli and Nana swinging together.

On Monday afternoon, we checked on the boys at daycare and let Nana see the Big Green Bus. I got to snap a picture of the boys learning how to do headstands. Aiden wasn't so sure about it but I was so proud of him that he even tried it.

Eli had a blast doing it and was laughing the whole time.

Aiden hasn't figured out how to do zippers yet and I thought it was so cute that Eli decided to help Aiden zip up his jacket. These boys love each other so much and I pray that continues.

Because of pure exhaustion on my part on Monday night, we let the boys have a "movie night." Aiden got to pick the movie and he chose Dolphin Tale. Even though he chose the movie and he's seen it before, he still gets scared. There are so few movies that he will actually watch. He is such an empathetic little boy. Not only does he not like scary things/surprises, but he also can't watch movies in which animals or people get hurt or have a chance of getting hurt. We are never going to have to worry about this kid sneaking in to a Rated R movie. I'm lucky to get him through a G movie. I'm thankful, to an extent, that Eli does not share this "scary" gene that Aiden has.

Nana's goal here is to see the boys and help out a little when she can. I've been so exhausted that even spending some time with the boys is oober helpful because I feel less guilty for not having enough energy to hang out with them. Her and Bronco have been enjoying the outdoors and quietness that Prattville offers.

On Tuesday, Nana came to therapy with us to see what it's all about. Nana played a game with him while we waited, then Mrs. Rusty gave Aiden a ride on the scooter board on the way down to her office. They then played catch for a bit with giant swiss balls and then Aiden had to do some grasping exercises. Aiden had a bit of a rough day at therapy and Mrs. Rusty decided that we start brushing him again. She went over the details of it and then we hurried off across town to a doctor appointment with my endocrinologist. Aiden and Nana stayed in the waiting room and Aiden just laid on her lap most of the time. I just assumed therapy was stressful and tiring today for him and playing so hard with Nana for 1.5 days was wearing him out now. We went home and Aiden ate lunch and then got his blankets and took them into my bedroom. He's NEVER done that. He said he was going to nap in my room (which he never done either). I was a little shocked but could see how tired he was so I just let it go. I spoke with my mom for a bit and by the time I came in the bedroom (11:45am), he was already passed out with 3 blankets on top of him. That was amazing because Aiden barely even naps these days. We both took a nap and when he woke up at 1:30pm, he was pretty warm but I kinda thought it was because he was covered with so many blankets. Rather than taking him back to daycare, I did some work and then went to get Eli.

Aiden seemed fine on Tuesday evening and even on Wednesday morning. He went off to daycare and didn't say a word about not feeling well. I even came to his daycare about 11:00am to brush him and he said he wanted to "leave early" but I assumed he meant after rest time. I texted his teacher during nap time and asked her to make sure he was okay because he seemed a little sad/not himself when I saw him at 11:00am. I didn't hear back from her so my gut told me to go check on him. I showed up at 2:15pm and he had just gotten up from nap and was till downstairs. He made eye contact with me and almost started crying. He broke my heart. He was warm and said he wanted to go home. Eli came home with us too. Aiden went from a little warm (100 degree temp) to very warm (103) within 1-2 hrs and became extremely lethargic. He would barely move. After some phone calls to his doctor and insurance people and Aiden falling asleep on me while making the phone calls (this child is lucky to nap more than 1 day all week and he already took a nap this day), I hurried him to the ER. You can see Pouncer curled up next to Aiden while we were still at home. We got to the hospital and they immediately did a flu test and put us in a back room. He continued to go downhill and was barely even responsive to the doctor. The doctor was concerned because he tested positive for influenza Type B (he's already had Type A) which is the lesser severe flus. That said, Aiden shouldn't be this sick because of Type B flu. It ends up Aiden was extremely dehydrated and he also had an ear infection. They started an IV on him and pumped him with some fluids and also had labs drawn to make sure he didn't have a bacterial infection. He did amazing well getting his IV for a boy with some serious sensory issues. He had more trouble with the tape holding the IV on than anything.

I'm so thankful that my mom was here to stay with Eli. I ended up taking Aiden in at 3:30pm and Brad was still at school. Brad eventually came to visit us in the hospital and bring me some dinner. By about 7:45pm, Aiden was feeling much better and his temperature started to go down thanks to the drugs they gave him. We were allowed to go home after we stopped to drop off the prescriptions for Tamiflu and antibiotics. When we got home I checked on Eli who was already in bed and he said that he prayed for Aiden to feel better. What a sweetie. Needless to say, Aiden stayed home on Thur and Fri so he could get better and not spread germs. Eli and I took a special trip to Bass Pro Shop on Thursday afternoon to celebrate his health. I don't want Eli to think he's missing out on anything because he's not sick. Eli has been a great sport about not complaining that Aiden has not gone to daycare for the past few days. We are praying that Nana stays healthy. Since her immune system is already compromised, I'm so nervous she is going to get sick. She has faith that God will protect her though so I can't argue with that! Aiden went back to the doctor today and they put him on even higher antibiotics to get rid of the ear infection. I have lots of little projects I am working on at the moment that need my attention. I went for about 1.5 weeks with extremely little sleep at night. I was starting to get delirious from such little sleep. On Tuesday, the doctor said I should start taking Ambien again to at least get a couple nights of good sleep under my belt so hopefully my body and brain will start functioning again at a normal level.

I'm exhausted. Brad and I got to go on a date tonight while Nana watched the boys. After dinner, Brad and I went to Hobby Lobby to by some materials that I need to make Aiden a sensory fabric strip that I have designed. Hopefully it won't take me another 2.5 weeks to update the blog again.

9/29 - MIA

It's been a while since I've been able to post. I had a really rough week last week and wasn't around from Tuesday to this past Monday. That said, some of these pictures are a few weeks old. Here is Eli opening his birthday card from Nana that sings to him. He loved it.

Aiden got one for his birthday too and we saved it so they both played with their musical cards for a while.

As you can see from this next picture, little Eli was pretty worn out. He was so grumpy and almost falling asleep sitting on the couch.

You can see Aiden below sporting his new Awana Cubbies vest. It's supposed to last them 2 yrs but I think we ordered him the wrong size. I think it just might be a really short vest though too. He's excited about it. He's done a great job at trying to memorize his verses for the week. His memory verse for this week is "God created the heavens and the earth."

This next picture cracks me up because I was taking pictures and Aiden was insistent that I take his picture. He was saying cheese but he doesn't exactly looked too thrilled.

I have Eli and Aiden playing below with the hangers on video. It was too funny. Eli was belly laughing hard because he thought it was so funny to push one side of the hanger and watch it go around the knob on the closet door until it fell off onto the ground. The things that amuse kids are just amazing sometimes.

Grandma and grandpa Hoyt mailed Eli his birthday present and Brad waited until I got home from the hospital on Monday for Eli to open it.

Aiden did such a good job of being patient and realizing that it was Eli's present. Eli was really excited about his new truck and didn't want to share at all.

Tuesday was my first full day back at home and I had the boys. It figures that neither of them wanted to nap. Actually, Eli fell asleep in the van on the way back from a dr appt for Aiden and stayed asleep on the couch once I put him there while I went to make lunch. He looked adorable but he thought that 15 min was the same as a 2-3 hr nap. NOT! Aiden didn't nap at all. Needless to say, we had a difficult evening because both of the boys broke down at about 6:15pm from exhaustion.

Wednesday was my first day back at work. It was great even though I just administered an exam. I can't wait for Friday when I actually get to lecture again. I got home really late on Wednesday (around 6:30pm) so Brad picked the boys up from daycare. Eli got some stickers for his birthday from Aunt Pat and went a little crazy with stickers.

Brad and the boys have really bonded. He did such a great job of taking care of the boys while I was gone over the past week. I'm so proud of Brad. Becoming full-time daddy for a week wasn't what any of had planned but Brad did such a great job.

I just enjoyed sitting in Eli's room watching the boys play on Wednesday after I got home. These boys are so precious!

Brad is so good with them. Eli is FINALLY starting to like books and I'm so excited. He made me quite nervous for a while. He LOVES to sing songs (he tries at least) and do the hand motions. Here are the boys (Brad included) doing Itsy Bitsy Spider.

I have definitely missed Brad. My sleep is still crazy off and I'm not sleeping much but I'm so glad to be home.

This morning we had Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) but I had to drop Eli off at daycare because of scheduling problems with Aiden's therapy on Thursday afternoons. Eli was excited his class was out at the playground when we dropped him off. Aiden had fun at BSF although I was disappointed that he couldn't even tell me what he learned.

It's great to be home. Oh yeah. Eli broke my nose on Tuesday afternoon. Little stinker. It's very sore and kills to wear sunglasses. Life is an adventure. God is starting to do some amazing things in my life and I'm so excited. It's gonna be amazing - I can just feel it.