We all have a different opinion...

...about the end of naptime.

What my two boys have been up to lately...

I love progress!

The thing that has made my life so much easier lately is that after two long weeks (three times a day) of forcing him to hold his own cup, Mister Benjamin is now holding it almost completely by himself! Which makes mealtimes so much better for me! And it is one more step toward independence.

What a cute boy. We're so proud of him!

A Three- Five-Hour Tour Hospital Stay

When Benjamin had his open-heart surgery last October, we drove up to Nashville on a Tuesday.

And came home the following Friday.

When he had his intestinal surgery in January, we checked into Children's (here in Chattanooga) early Monday morning.

And came home the next Monday.

But this surgery?

Small potatoes.

We got there at 8:30.

Surgery started at about 10:40.

And we were walking out of the door at 1:20.

Wow.

I have more pictures than words to share about this, and that's saying something.

'Cuz I like to talk...err...type. Or whatever.

Here we are the day before the surgery in the doctor's office. We actually made this appointment in February. She wanted to see him in six months to see about scheduling his surgery.

Playing peek-a-boo (his favorite) in the waiting room. Mommy is especially waiting to get out of the "no-food-or-drink-waiting-room." Can you guess why? ;)



This boy loves his daddy.





So she looked him over, said he looked ready for surgery, and we started talking dates. Matthew starts a new job (same company, different position) the week of Labor Day, and we really wanted a Friday (so Matthew would be home to help on the weekend). She looked over her calendar and said, "How about tomorrow?"

So Matthew, who has been working insane hours right now anyway (busy time of the year for him), worked until about 3:30 in the morning, got home, showered, and got about two-and-a-half hours of sleep until it was time to take Andrew to my mom's and for the three of us to head off to Children's yet again.

Matthew working on spreadsheets and other math stuff (Can you tell I'm an English person, not a math person????)



No, Matthew wasn't asleep. Quite.



A little man-to-boy talk



"Hey, what is this thing and how can I get it off??"



Mommy and Benjamin snuggling with the giraffe. This giraffe has been with him through all his surgeries, as you will recall here and here.



Again, Matthew isn't asleep, he just doesn't know when to open his eyes.



This picture seriously makes me laugh. Look at Benjamin's face!!!



Right before going to the OR. He is completely loopy, and it was so hysterical!!



So while he was in surgery (about 90 minutes), we chilled in the room.

I ate the wedding favors from my cousin Marianne's wedding.



And Matthew tried to sleep.





Until I made him go to the van to sleep.

He was down there about 45 minutes when they came in and said they were about to bring Benjamin back to us. So I called Matthew to come back up to the room.

I took this picture of myself (obviously). The intent was to show that I was actually getting to read my Real Simple magazine when the issue was actually current, but just as I was about to snap the picture, my goofball husband said something corny (I honestly can't remember what), and I laughed. So I kept it.



They brought B back and said we needed to stay until he woke up and had something to eat and/or drink.



He slept for about an hour or so and then woke up a groggy mess. It was really cute.





He had no interest in crackers, and since he can't drink liquids, we thickened some apple juice with Thick-It and he downed a 4 oz container of that mixture.

Here is his only bandage. We go back to the doctor tomorrow for a post-op appointment.



Ready to go home!



On the way!!



He honestly was back to normal in like a day. He is just so amazing!

Surgery Schmurgery!

I am up to my neck in laundry, straightening, cutting tags off new clothes (the boys', not mine), taking care of both boys as Matthew tends to the lawn, and trying to figure out if I will have time to shower today.

Basically, normal life for me.

The life that I love.

Benjamin's surgery yesterday went wonderfully. He has some steri strips on his stomach, and absolutely nothing but some internal stitches in his penis. He is slightly fussy but getting less so as the day progresses.

We were only at the hospital for five hours yesterday.

Five hours.

As opposed to ten days and seven days (his prior surgeries).

I kind of didn't know what to do with myself!

I will post more details and lots of silly and cute pictures later when the rugrats are in bed and my work is done. Plus, I think my mom and I are going to go shopping later, so I have to find time to shower!

Here is a sneak peek...



Just wanted to let you know that Benjamin Braveheart continues to amaze us with his resiliency and his determination that nothing is going to stop him from being happy and content.

And God continues to amaze me with this little person He has entrusted to me.

Drive-By Posting

Real quick. Not much time.

Andrew had a random fever for five days and missed the first night of AWANA at church, where he was supposed to start Cubbies.

He also missed his first day of preschool on Tuesday.

I thought perhaps Benjamin caught the virus, but I am 99% sure he is just running a fever and is slightly snotty because he is cutting yet another huge molar. He has been waking up at 5:30 each morning and crying. But thankfully Motrin and Mommy have been able to soothe him back to sleep for about an hour, when he wakes up his happy self.

So I took Andrew this morning for his first day of preschool. It wasn't really hard to leave him. Maybe because it's only twice a week for five hours (Tu/Th, 9-2), or maybe it's because I had things to do today, and it was tons easier without him. Or maybe it's because he was sick this past week and was driving me nuts a bit of a handful.

Either way, after I took him to preschool, Benjamin and I headed downtown, picked up Matthew, and went to Children's to see Dr. Smith, his surgeon.

Long story short (too late), he is going to have surgery TOMORROW! (It's not a critical problem; it just happened to work into everyone's schedule.) He will have two procedures done, and we will only be there for the day. The procedures are a hypospadias repair (he has a secondary urinary opening) and a ventral hernia repair (there is a slight hernia--it looks like a raised button under his skin when he gets mad or cries--under where one of his chest tubes was on his stomach after his heart surgery).

I am still not sure what time the surgery is; I am waiting to hear back about that.

Matthew has had to work a LOT lately b/c this is just a really busy week for him. He didn't even come home one night and worked until 1:30 p.m. the next day. I made him go to my mom's house and sleep in her Sleep Cave (her cool, dark, den) so we wouldn't disturb him. So because he's going to come with Baby B and me to the hospital tomorrow (my mom is watching Andrew, who will be over-the-moon with excitement when he finds out), he will have to probably work really late tonight, too. Poor guy.

ANYWAY....time to go get Andrew from preschool. I am so excited to see him and hear all about it! Maybe he'll even take a quick nap when he gets home. We'll see...

Wordless Wednesday

All I have to do is look at him

As I think about what encourages me, I first have to think about what discourages me. I don't know if it's because I tend to be a glass-half-empty kind of person (thanks, Dad) or if it's just by nature of defining the word. Either way, what discourages me has definitely changed over the past several years.

In high school, it was discouraging to get bad grades. I was an A student, and academic excellence is what I strived for. So in order to be encouraged, I would study hard and make good grades.

In college, it was discouraging to not have a certain boy interested in me. I was finally interested in a social life, and it was awfully disheartening to realize it was a lot more difficult than it looked on Beverly Hills, 90210. And a lot more painful. So it was encouraging when God finally sent me the man of my dreams.

When I was a teacher, it was discouraging when students didn't or couldn't grasp the concepts I was trying to teach. Or when the students were disruptive. Thus, a bright, well-behaved class (you know who you are...) was a wonderful encouragement to me.

Being newly married, it was discouraging when Matthew and I would have small spats, so making up and trying to see the other's point of view was always encouraging.

Being a new mom, it was extremely discouraging when Andrew would not breastfeed well. Sadly, the only encouragement offered with this one was the hope that the next baby would take to it well. (And he did, thank God!)

And then Benjamin was born.

And discouragement took on a whole new meaning.

Because being discouraged about weight gain or finances or a messy house or even a spat with my husband seemed really petty things to be discouraged about.

I had a son with Down syndrome.

He would always have Down syndrome.

No matter how much I tried to wish it away or solve the problem, there was nothing I could do about it.

He had heart defects, an intestinal blockage, and aspiration in his lungs. Thankfully, the first two of those have been fixed, and the third one is continuously being monitored.

But he still has Down syndrome.

Sometimes the words still haunt me. I know many of you other moms can relate. Some days, even months and months later, all I hear in my head are "downsyndromedownsyndromedownsyndrome."

And so what is discouraging for me now is the thought of the future. And what it holds. And what he will become. And what I will become. And what we will become.

I see adults with Down syndrome, and sometimes I have to take a deep breath. Because part of me just hasn't come to grips with the fact that that will be my son. That is my son.

And I think about the Orange Grove Center here in Chattanooga, a non-profit organization that employs adults with disabilities. Part of me wants to scream out, "I don't want this!!!!"

I wonder if Matthew and I will ever be able to travel like we had planned after the kids are grown. You know, because he'll never truly be "grown."

I wonder if he'll graduate from high school, get a job, live independently, get married....

And it breaks my heart that I even have to wonder. Because those are just things that adults do. No one wonders if their children will do those things.

But we do.

Let's back up.

Adulthood might be too far.

Let's think about elementary school.

In a way, that is scarier than adulthood. Because I've been there more recently (as a teacher), and I know how cruel and heartless kids can be. I wonder not only how it will affect Benjamin but also Andrew and our other child(ren).

(((deep sigh)))

I just want to say before I continue that I *know* a lot of this is normal to worry about, and that *all* parents worry about their kids' futures. And it's not like I *always* worry about it, and I definitely pray about this and seek reassurance from God about these concerns.

And let me tell you how God calms me.

How He reassures me.

How He lets me know that He is in control.

That He gave me Benjamin on purpose.

That this is all a part of His master plan.

Better yet, let me just show you:











I am not kidding you when I say that I cannot look at this boy or hold him or smell his sweet skin and worry one bit.

You know that adult with Down syndrome? He is someone's Baby B, as we affectionately call Benjamin. And when my Baby B is the adult, he will still be my Baby B.

All I have to do is look at him.

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For more stories on what encourages women, go to http://www.incourage.com/ or http://www.incourage.me/2009/08/the-kaleidoscope-.html

Believe me, you'll be glad you did.

And the winner is....

Nikki O!!!!!!

First of all (Diana), I am a Huggies wipes girl. I can't stand those Pampers wipes, sensitive or not. They're just too flimsy for me. Maybe it's because I have boys, and their poop requires Huggies wipes.

So for me, Pampers diapers (Swaddlers and Cruisers) and Huggies wipes.

But unlike much of my reading population, I do not use wipes for anything other than, well, wiping butts. And since Andrew now potty trained, that would just leave Benjamin and his peanut butter poop.

And as far as tissues go, there is nothing for our family but Puffs Plus. Not Kleenex. Not generic. Not regular Puffs. Only Puffs Plus. Once you go Puffs Plus you never go back. Or something like that.

But the items I use all the time, for various purposes, are Q-tips!!!!! And not generic, and not Johnson & Johnson. Nothing but Q-tip brand.

I know there is controversy surrounding whether or not you should actually put Q-tips in your ears, but I am all about it. I have done it my entire life, and so does everyone in my family, as I am sure countless others do all around the country, nay, the world.

So all four of us use them in our ears after showers/baths to clean out the dirt. (Obviously the boys don't do this on their own...we do it for them.) And if you want to lecture me on the dangers of this, go right ahead. But it will just fall on deaf ears. Deaf from Q-tipping for 32 years...

Then I also use Q-tips when the boys have boogers in their noses that I can't get with a PUFFS PLUS. Because Benjamin can't blow his nose yet, and Andrew used to be able to but has now regressed and now sniffs everything in when I tell him to blow. Sooooo annoying.

Q-tips are also useful for cleaning the crevices of small items, such as the space between the glass and the wood on my coffee table, where all the crumbs accumulate. Or the unreachable holes in my liquid fabric softener dispenser in my washer.

Beauty-wise, I use them sometimes to remove nail polish when a cotton ball just won't work or is too big. I also use them to remove the remaining mascara from below my eyes when I wash my face.

Here are some related articles.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/109262/15_unique_uses_for_qtips_cotton_swabs.html

http://hubpages.com/hub/17-Different-Uses-For-Q-Tips

Man, I do love me some Q-tips.

What health/beauty product could you not live without, and do you use it/them for any other purposes?

Can you guess??

Tonight as I was getting ready for bed, I realized how much I LOVE a certain product that I use a lot. Can you guess what they are? Here are some clues:

--I use multiple of these a day, at different times of the day.

--Everyone in the house uses these; they're not age or gender specific.

--I am *very* brand loyal. Accept no substitutions.

--They are a cross between a beauty product and a hygiene product. (At least for me.)

Here are the rules:

--No one in my family can guess. Sorry. You just know me too well.

--Please, one guess per person.

--The first person to guess correctly wins, but I really have no cool prize. Sorry. Maybe next time. This is my first "contest" of sorts, and just b/c it's 12:30 a.m. and I can't sleep. And for some reason I thought my blog readers might actually find it amusing.

--Extra points if you can also guess the brand I use.

--I will post a pic of the answer once someone guesses correctly, along with that person's name.

Ready, set, GO!

Wordless Wednesday