ImaginEve

Slippery, treacherous roads were the three words spoken repeatedly on the news today. Ice had thickly platted the roads creating an invisible danger. The fire department was advising everyone to stay safe in doors yet the car crashes kept unfolding. It was estimated there was approximately 100 car crashes around our city today. Isaac headed out to the auto parts store to get new windshield wipers and he said even with our four wheel drive things were bad.
Disappointment was setting in with the kids because it looked like we would have to miss out on ImaginEve which was a free family event taking place downtown. By early afternoon the roads were getting better and we ventured out to pick up a cake for my parents' church event tonight. We realized at that point the roads were clear and we could safely get to ImaginEve. We loaded the kids and made it safely to the event.
We arrived ten minutes early and there was a huge line but luckily this line was inside a nice warm building. Isaac looked tempted to turn around and forget the entire notion but he knew the disappointment it would bring so he decided we would stick it out. As soon as the entrance was opened the line flowed in pretty quickly. In under five minutes we were standing inside surrounded by about 30 or so inflatables. The kids mouths hung wide open unsure of which inflatable to take on first.Isaac always being the man with the plan directed them over to a jumping inflatable. Shoes were removed and they went to town. Jadzia's princess radar kicked in when she spotted a pink/purple castle inflatable that was located clear on the other side of the large room. The boys didn't seem too keen on jumping in a princess castle so Isaac took them over to Landon's favorite (a tiger jumper).Many inflatables later we took on the carnival games. Bean bag toss, basketball, horse shoes and many more kept the kids entertained and gifted them with prizes. Time arrived to leave and we headed back to the car with three happy, tired kids. Tonight we bring in the New Year with movie night, popcorn, m&ms, and homemade cookies.Goodbye 2010! This year brought with it a graduated husband, a new baby, a mobile Ronan, a talking Jadzia, a more comedic Xander and a school boy Landon. I'm looking forward to the new adventures and blessings that await our family in 2011.Happy New years, Everyone!
Oh and Behold the first ever Fullmer kids New Years Eve Laundry basket derby.

Boys vs. Girls!

The Return Of Taloki

Taloki. What's there to say about good old Taloki. You can read the origins of Taloki here in my old blog. The blog I only ever made four posts in and then gave up on. If you just read "Somewhere in Taloki land" you know all about Landon's imaginary friend and all the trouble he seems to drag along with him.

Shortly after Landon turned five I read an article about children and imaginary friends. The article said for most children's imaginary friends fade shortly after their fifth birthday. The article went on to say usually the child says the friend moved away. This proved true for Landon about two months after his fifth birthday Landon stood on a chair and announced Taloki was indeed moving away. Taloki's family was taking their bus on tour.Over the next few months the havoc Taloki reeked ceased. A few months later Landon was playing a game talking to himself. "Who are you talking to?" Usually I assume he's playing an imaginary game but the way he was carrying on a fluid conversation peeked my interest. "Taloki of course!" Landon seemed annoyed I didn't realize. "I thought he went on tour?" with a sigh Landon continued "That was his dad. Taloki had to go with because his parents said he couldn't spend the night for six months." "oh ok. Is he going back?" "Yes, they have to go to Africa then Egypt." I felt the mom need to point out Egypt was in Africa but I let it go.

As the weeks and months passed Taloki came to visit randomly and each time he brought souvenirs of antics and trouble. Now we arrive at tonight with my son shooting his hot wheels gun in the air. "What are you doing?" "Taloki and I are shooting monsters ." "Is Taloki visiting?" "No! Mom he's back. His parents said he could move back now their tour is over."

Now what will this mean? I have no clue. Will Taloki's parents suddenly be called back on tour or will the crazy adventures of Landon and Taloki carry on into the far reaches of Landon's childhood?

That Dry Skin

Ronan still wasn't doing to well so under orders of the doctor he saw on Monday I took him to see his regular pediatrician. They ran blood work which indicated he has a virus. There is more blood work out for something but that won't come back for a few days. This is going on his fourth week continually sick so hopefully he'll find relief soon. His breathing is bothering him enough that he's having trouble sleeping at night.Since we were headed in I brought Xander along to discuss his extremely dry skin. The doctor prescribed him a cream and set him up with a Dermatologist. They are going to allergy test him since he's had chronic skin and tummy troubles. Isaac and I both had these problems when we were little so it's no surprise at least one of our kids has allergy problems. His appointment is scheduled for next Tuesday and I'm not sure if they'll test him right there or if it's just a consultation.

Now some cute pictures of Inara. Just because I needed more bath time pictures for her scrapbook. So here is before and after. I'm sure you can see a difference.I had the slightest inclination that as a mother I had an obligation to warn Jadzia that if she continued to make this face it just might get stuck this way.

To have therapy Or not to have therapy.

Today was Ronan's new therapy evaluation. I'm going to have to seriously considered if I will go ahead with the whole thing. I love the entire concept of helping him with life skills. The problem is the place is about a half an hour away and they want to see him three times every week. This would mean I'd have to squeeze an extra six to ten hours into our week. That may not seem like a lot but between his other appointments and everything else I'm finding it hard to make it work. I need time for the other kids too plus he already gets Early Access therapy 1-2 times a week here at home.I liked the ideas within this type of therapy though especially the communication aspects. I'd love to be able to communicate better with Ronan. I'm thinking I need to find a better way to fit the program in or Ronan and the rest of us are going to burn out on therapies. The way I see it is it is important for me to give Ronan the best start possible but if he looses his childhood in all of it what have we gained? We need to find a good balance. I'm praying for wisdom.
As for the rest of the crew we really haven't done much today. The boys were excited about their new sports drinks and the fact the drinks were actually shaped like a baseball and soccer ball. Jadzia didn't care for the sports drink so she got a Strawberry shortcake drink instead. Yes, drinks were the excitement of the day. Oh that and Inara has begun to babble ma ma.Tonight I organize the living room and try and make all the Christmas toys work. In case anyone is wondering about the challenge my husband gave me a few months back I'll have more on that New Years Day.

Ongoing cold

Ronan's "cold" has been ongoing since The beginning of December. When he first started getting sick I decided to let it run it's course but after a little over a week he was worse so I took him into the doctor. They gave him antibiotics that he was supposed to be on for ten days. He finished those up on the 22nd but still was not any better. Then we had the ER trip early Sunday morning where they assumed it was just a cold that has been going on for three weeks now.

Last night he had a rough night so I decided we'd see his regular doctor who ended up being booked. They referred us over to another clinic with a doctor we'd never seen before. Turns out Ronan has a sinus infection and a bad bout of bronchitis. The doctor said he could definitely hear it in his lungs. The doctor said he was putting Ronan on the strongest dose of antibiotics he could. If Ronan is not better in a couple of days he needs to come back in and get x-rays and blood work.
Inara is growing up so quickly. She can sit for long periods of time. Also I think we may have a crawler soon. What do you think?I'm not sure what we will do with a completely mobile Inara. She will be very happy though because she gets very frustrated being stuck in one location. She scoots forward and can pivot around but isn't very fast so she gets mad pretty quick. She's a little dramatic. Now that she can sit up she can spend more one on one time with big brother Ronan. She loves talking with him and grabbing his arms.Tomorrow Ronan starts his new therapy and I'm pretty excited about it. This therapy will be unlike any other type he's received. This type of therapy will teach him life skills and how to be as independent as possible. Eventually they will even help him to learn to tie his shoes. Which reminds me I really need to work with Landon on that one. I've been slacking on the shoe tying area of Landon's life.

Asthma, Containers and Ws.

Around 1:30 am last night I awoke to Ronan's machine beeping. Usually the beeping indicates a false alarm ( the sensor fell off or is loose, or he's moving around too much). I checked his machine, the green bar was steady and he was completely still. I reapplied his sensor and his machine still read 83% oxygen level. I got a new sensor and it read the same. I turned on the lights and he was retracting a little so I woke him up and gave him a breathing treatment and suctioned his nose out. For the first 15 minutes after the treatment he was stating in the low 90s so I decided we'd just watch him for awhile, about 20 or so minutes his level dipped to high 80s.By the half an hour mark he was low 80s again. I decided he'd have to go in. I got him dressed and we headed over to the hospital. I'm grateful God gave us a home so close to the hospital. We live about five minutes from there. We arrived in the ER and I explained he was having an asthma attack. The nurse watched his breathing and we skipped triage. They ran him back and had people waiting (This is not unusual with Ronan).He was stating mid to high 80s so they gave him a longer treatment and cleaned his very clogged nose. Finally his oxygen climbed to 100 and we were able to go home. We crawled back into bed around 5:00 am with Ronan's pulse -ox once again reading in the high 90s. I'm going to talk to his Pulmonologist about being able to give him the extra long treatments like they do in the ER so maybe we can avoid the ER more.
Inara has been reaching into her toy cookie jar all morning and grabbing the toy blocks that are inside. This was another milestone I took for granted before I had Ronan. Apparently it is a huge developmental milestone for a baby to realize they can reach inside a container and pull an object out. I now know container play is very vital to a baby's development and Inara has picked up the concept pretty quickly.W. This is Jadzia's favorite letter and it is the first letter she learned how to write. My only guess as to why is that she likes the way it sounds. But she is obsessed with the letter W. Each of the kids got a new tote to put all their smaller toys in and we went to write their names on them. Jadzia loudly proclaimed she wanted a W on her tote. I joked with her and said "Maybe we should have called you Wendy or Willow so your name could start with a W." She responded "No should have named me Jadzia W." So that's what her tote reads "Jadzia W". She is very proud of it.

Merry Christmas

Bright and Early the kids were up and ready to open their gifts. They were jumping up and down yelling "It's Christmas!" as soon as they spotted the table decked out with presents. I gave them their stockings first and I think I could have stopped there because they were thrilled with those as much as any present. At that moment I was grateful my children were grateful for the little things.
Next we divided all the presents and then let them just start opening. I loved watching their eyes go wide with amazement as they opened each present. After each gift they would pause run over and hug Isaac and I and say "Thank you mom and dad!" They spent the morning playing with their gifts. By noon lunch was ready and family arrived. My parents had their gifts to the kids and my Brother and his family were there. My dad read Luke Chapter 2.
My parents got Ronan a push toy that his PT had been asking me to buy for him for weeks now. He was amazing with it. He walked all over the house pushing it and he was pretty quick with it. It really makes me wish we'd gotten him one sooner.

We talked, the kids played with toys and avoided nap time. By dinner my roast was done and we enjoyed a nice family dinner together then it was time for everyone to leave. My parent's Christmas gift to us was for Isaac and I to go out so we went and saw a movie together.We had a great Christmas. Before Isaac and I left for the movie I tucked the kids in. Jadzia piled all her Lalaloopsy dolls into her bed and made sure the covers reached to each one of their chins. I read them each one of the new books they'd gotten. I loved having my family around and reading the Christmas story. As I mentioned earlier I am thankful for my children's gratitude that they sincerely show to everyone who gives or does anything for them. Life is good.