The Puddles

Ben had his name drawn from the entire school for a PTA award. Look what he won. I can’t believe it! He had a yucky day yesterday and then an awesome today!! From the canyon to the mountain top in 24 hours!! What a great day he had!

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Direct quote from Ben. He told me what to write.

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So today we finished our second appointment in two weeks at Texas Children’s Hospital.  Today was our visit with Dr. Schwartz at the hypertensive clinic.  Last week’s visit made me bone-weary that i procrastination until this week to update the blog with ALL of the new news on Ben’s health.

Our visit with the Heart Clinic . . . 

The morning did not start out the way I (or anyone) wanted it too.  The traffic was horrible.  The tech was rude (rude enough that we are considering writing a letter to TCH).  The ultrasound tech didn’t say two words to Ben or us during the entire exam.  The nurse who did the stress test was fabulous (almost made us sad that Ben doesn’t have to do that test for awhile).  She told Ben that she knew he was going to be one of her favorite patients.

The end result  . . . no surgery at this time. The leaking in Ben’s aortic valve has increased.  But it is the difference between the elevation of Galveston and Houston.  There is an increase, but it is incremental.  The same goes for the rest of the “watch” areas of his cardiovascular system.  Ben’s stress test went stellar.  He soared on this test!  The only issue was the nurse kept trying to ask Ben questions and he was so focused on the tv show that he wasn’t answering.  I told them that when Ben zones like that, I will put my hand in front of the tv and that will break the concentration. She did it and it worked!  In the end, the restrictions haven’t changed.  Ben still has to pace himself.  Ben still can’t go outside if it is over 85 degrees. Ben still has to drink A LOT of water.  And goes back in six months.

Our visit with the Hypertensive Clinic

We met with Dr. Schwartz today.  His numbers are slightly elevated.  His blood pressure is above 109/60.  But only slightly.  The problem is that in his right arm his bp is around 110-114/50.  In his left arm his bp is around 107-109/50 which is good.  So he is slowly growing out of his current dose of medication.  The question is rather she ups his dose now.  She doesn’t want to make his blood pressure too low.   So now we have to take his bp at home every morning and every day at school.  I already have a hard time getting up in the morning and getting everything done in a timely matter.  Ugh. But we will find time to do it.

To top off the visit the doctor says, “And continue his low sodium diet.” What?  We were really suppose to do that?  Apparently, yes we were.  I don’t add salt to my cooking but I need to change the condiments that we use and be more conscious of the sodium in his diet.  Bad mommy.  Ok. we will do that too. And he goes back in three months.

Afterwards the doctor sent Ben for labs. He doesn’t like this part. The tech started the draw.  Ben got nervous.  The needle blow out of the arm while the tech was trying to reapply the tourniquet.  There was a “mess” everywhere.  Ben looked like he was going to pass out. It was bad.  The tech didn’t know what to do.  She still needed blood so she went to the other arm.  Ben was crying by now.  Then she got his arm, filled the viles, and then before she could pull the needle, he threw up.  We were in a little curtain area.  No room except a chair and a rolling cart. The tech didn’t even move.  I asked for towels and she told me not to worry about cleaning up the floor.  I said, “No. For him.  I need to clean Ben up.”  Geez.  It was a mess after that.  It took forever to get any help to clean up Ben, the floor, and we haven’t even started to worry about the fact that Ben is really  not doing well.  I know it was nerves and a combination of other things but he needed to lay down and he couldn’t even sit down.  I was proping him up.  Ok. ok. enough venting.  He’s home. He has a story to tell.  He has new bandages  for George to match the two on his arm.

In the end.

The visits were good.  He is ok.  We just maintain the current regimen and add a few others to the regimen.  And we will see Texas Children’s again in a few months.

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“Do you think there are toilets in heaven?”

“The Bible doesn’t say.”

“Maybe they go squat on a cloud?”

“I guess that’s where rain comes from!”

“Then I can’t wait to see the moon today!”

Poor Ainsley.  She had no idea that she made a funny.  But Dad, Mom, Madie, and Ben were laughing up a storm.  It took awhile to stop.  She never did understand.

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This scenario happened during church on Sunday.

Before communion my friend’s toddler came to join her family in the pew so she could participate in the blessing.  As she was settling into the seat, Ben was sharing some of his toys from his church bag with her.  He hands her the Etch-a-Sketch.  As she turns it over in her hand, she looks up at her mom and says,

“This won’t turn on.”

The entire row and the row behind us cracked up laughing.  Oh the next generation . . . I wish I could look at the world through their eyes.  How different it is!

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I was cleaning up the photos on my phone and I found these two. They are some of my favorite from our vacation. The view of the gulf that we got to wake up to every morning and our three beautiful kids at the end of the jetty with the village of Surfside in the background. The pictures will be a nice to have when I need to relax and think about simpler things. The day may come sooner than later!

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I saw this picture on my phone from vacation. Where is my head if my reading list consists of . . .
a book from the revolutionary war, a book from a World War II, a book from the civil rights movement, and two books from a post apocalyptic America.
The books were excellent but I didn’t realize until after the trip that my reading list was so heavy. I didn’t plan on it. I read everything that I brought with me. Then I read the two books that Madie brought with her and two that were already in the beach house (not pictured). I begged Chris to let me go buy more. He did and when I was on the last book he made me pace myself do that I didn’t finish before the trip.
Next trip I will plan on bringing a bigger library to chose from!

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Wow.  What a week. I am exhausted. It is 9:30 at night and I’m ready for bed.  The kids are tired.  Having the kids at two schools is going to take some time to get used to.  We haven’t quite figured out a schedule yet.  The mornings have been hard, but the nights have been worse.  I’ve had meetings almost every night this week and the kids had to go to all of them with me.  Which meant late nights for everyone!  We are using this three day weekend to get some sleep and rest up for the school on Tuesday.  Plus next week, we are starting Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Church on Wednesday and homework.  So I will have to start spending my weekends planning menus, grocery shopping, and cleaning the house so that we can start fresh and ready for the week on the first day.  I’m worn out thinking about it!!  If you add the three doctor’s appointments next week (one of which is at Texas Children’s Hospital again), it is going to be busy.  I’m making Daddy help with the doctor visits at least.  He is taking Madie for the removal of stitches!  At least I can cross that one off the list.  Although, I did try to convince the doctor this week to let us remove the stitches ourselves.  She said no. I begged.  She still said no.  So off we trek to the doctor for that too.

I know that I work from  home.  But as soon as the kids leave, I grab a second cup of coffee and go to work.  I am working until the kids get home.  Lunch is at my desk.  I try to utilize every moment while the kids are at school to work. When there are days that are busy at work, I have to restrain myself from laundry. Focus. Focus. Focus. Try not to let your household chores distract you!!!  It can be really hard on some days.  The upswing is that I can put my hair in a ponytail and wear pajama bottoms to work (Shhhh! Don’t tell anyone!).  And taking the kids to the doctor means you have to work after the kids go down to bed that night.  In the end, it is very positive.  So yes, most often my house is a mess even though I’ve been home all day.  And yes, sometimes we don’t have either milk or bread in the house because I haven’t had time to go to the grocery store because it meant that the kids would have had to go to bed later so they could go with me.  No, I don’t get to read anything for enjoyment unless I’m on vacation at the beach. And yes, I drink copious amounts of coffee/tea/dt. coke/any other caffeinated beverages that I can get my hands on to make it through the day with only 5-6 hours of sleep every night (on a good night!).

So thank goodness for a three day weekend.  Time to rest up, clean the house, spend some time with family and friends, stock up on groceries, get organized, do more laundry, get rid of all of the items that I purged from the house, and find that happy place in order to make it through the next week.  If I have time, I will try to be that more perfect mom and finish putting our family calendar together, make teacher gifts for the beginning of the year, and try to sew patches on all of the scout uniforms.  But luckily, I am ok not being that perfect mom this weekend, so I think I’ll just go to bed and try to pace myself this weekend.  A mom who dies from going insane is no good to anyone!

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After horrible Houston traffic that made it take an extra hour to get here, we are finally here. Ben put on his “fast” shoes today so that he would run fast on the treadmill. He and George are listening to his iPod and the world is good . . . finally!

Now we just have to wait.

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The kids’ rooms and the toy room have needed a major purge for several years. We haven’t had room for new toys! The new toys have filtered to their bedrooms.

So we purged all bedrooms and the toy room. And this pile was the end result (plus a few more nags of toys that hadn’t come down the stairs).

But from all of that comes order. And a real place for everything!

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