Stomach Tests

Xander's big test day arrived. He was having and endoscopy and colonoscopy. Since he is older we didn't have to go in as early as we do when Ronan has the same tests. Ronan has had this done three times already. We arrived about ten minutes early but waited over an hour to be taken back to his room. They had him change into scrubs and then we waited some more.

He had time to color an entire ten page coloring book, run cars up and down a ramp and build the entire Mr. Potato head family from scratch twice. After all that activity the child life specialist and nurse took him and his new bunny back to the procedure room. My dad and I went back to the waiting room. My dad had gone along because Xander had wanted him there. My dad is a sort of security blanket for Xander. They are pretty close buddies.

The child life specialist brought out his bunny fifteen minutes later and let us know he was a sleep and everything was underway. 30 minutes more of waiting and the doctor met us. He said that Xander's colon spasmed alot. He diagnosed Xander with IBS but said we won't know if there is an underlining cause until we get the biopsies back next week. Everything looked pretty good minus the abnormal spasms.

When they lead me back to him I could hear him screaming clear down the hall. When I got there he was pretty delirious and kept asking for me. I kept having to reassure him I was there. For awhile he couldn't tell whether he was sitting or laying. After he was awake enough we headed home.My mom got him and the other two big kids shakes to help with his throat and what she does for one the others expect. He slept the majority of the afternoon but in the evening he started eating and drinking normally. He's still seems a little droopy but I expect to see him much improved in the morning.

Ronan got his jungle braces. His new shoes fit so well he didn't even need velcro extensions. The monkeys, lions and hippos look pretty cute. I will just not inform Ronan there are hippos present on them ( remember back to ominous hippopotamus). I think he's adjusted pretty well to wearing the braces and they weigh him down a lot less than they used to.I'm enjoying the sound of the rain hitting the house. I love the sound of rain. I always have. As long as we don't have a repeat of the 08 floods I think we should be ok.

Popsicle Diet

Today was the day for my orthopedic appointment about my wrists. The doctor thought maybe I had carpel tunnel but he wants me to try an anti-inflammatory for two weeks and then have me return. The only issue is he isn't sure if the medication is ok to take while nursing. He wants me to call my OB and ask if I can nurse while taking them. If my OB says no then I'll have to wait until I'm done nursing Inara and then make a return appointment which is still a few months away.

Inara got to go to the appointment. She doesn't get out too much so it was a treat for her even though she slept for more than half of it. She did enjoy a little time outside playing in the grass. Xander was on a strict clear liquids diet today. This consisted of basically 7up, Popsicle and chicken broth. The diet was in preperation of his tests at the hospital tomorrow. Maybe we'll finally get to the bottom of his blood work and stomach issues.
Xander liked the Popsicles and mainly the blue and green ones. For this reason he walked around with blue lips and a blue tongue. Overall he did pretty well and we only had one crying hunger episode and that was soothed with yet another Popsicle.
"What is this, Mom?" Inara's new favorite thing is to point at everything she sees. She will continue to point until I tell her what it is.

Ballerina Leaps

I had a dentist appointment today at a new dentist. This was the first dentist that wanted to pull my wisdom teeth simply because they are there and may some day get cavities. I told him I like them and since they fit fine they are staying where they are. I think this dentist was wisdom teeth happy because I heard him tell four other patients in the room with me that they needed their wisdom teeth pulled. I talked to Isaac about it and he was in agreement since they are not causing me any problems and as the dentist admitted they are fitting fine I'm going to keep them for now. I have to go back on Friday to get my cavities filled for other teeth.Ronan had his first big therapy day. This is a new type of session we are trying out. Instead of making him go to therapy four days a week he's going to have all his therapy in an hour and a half one day a week. His OT, Speech, and PT all overlap and work with each other during the session. This first part is feeding therapy followed by Speech. The therapist got him to sign "Ball" today. Next he has OT and she focused on getting him to push buttons on toys and shake a slinky.

The PT worked on standing and walking. She had him stand on a platform swing and hold onto the ropes as she gently swung it. He loved it and didn't want to get off. The swing also acted as a calming mechanism. When he was getting cranky from the therapy we would take a break and swing him and he would calm down and be ready for more therapy. I think this is going to work out really well and much better than multiple days. I really like all his new therapists. They really work well with Ronan and help to push him just enough but keep him from having a full out meltdown.When we got back Jadzia was begging me to dig her ballerina costume out. The day was beautiful so after helping her put on her leotard, tights and tutu I took her outside for a little photo shoot. My favorites were the pictures of her leaping into the air. She really wants us to put her in ballet class in the fall. She calls ballet class "Pink class". Her greatest ambition has become to be a ballerina princess when she grows up. I remember the wonderment of childhood dreams if only we were all able to hold onto those longer.

Baby Xander's Pajamas

Today the lead inspector came and he found what he was looking for. Our house is lead stricken. Obviously this is less than ideal and will mean a remodel of windows, door jams, the garage and the back porch. All of these things and perhaps a bit more I'm not remembering will need to be replaced. The good news is the kids' lead levels were all with in normal range. Jadzia's however was 2 points higher than the others but still normal.

Along with the lead inspector we had an asthma nurse come out. She did an overall safety inspection of the house. She is going to meet with me in a week with a safety kit tailored specifically to our household needs. She said the cleanliness of the house was great. This is most likely due to the fact she missed seeing my 2:00 am baseboards and wall scrubbing.In preparation for Saturday's clothing renovation I have brought out all the hand me downs to make sure we are making full use of what we already have. In doing this I came across the one outfit that really makes me think of Xander. It is his red fire truck, dalmatian pajamas. From the time he was 18 months until probably around three these pajamas were his favorites. He wore them as much as I would allow. Now they are Ronan's size.

I had washed them and as I was folding them when I told Xander about how he used to love them. I had to find pictures of him in them to show him. He spent a good amount of time going through his baby Xander folder on the computer. All these pictures of him are when he was a little over two.Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment. I would mention the last time I had a dentist appointment but it's pretty bad so we'll leave it at that. At home I take pretty good care of my teeth, brush twice a day, floss, rinse and all. But I've neglected dental appointments. Mainly because I just get busy and then forget to make an appointment. So hopefully the damage isn't too extensive.

"More"

Miss Inara is a little smarty pants. I was trying to teach her to sign "More". I started last night with no success. Today at lunch time I continued the lesson on about the fifth try not only did Inara sign more but she said it aloud as she signed. I guess she thought that was the point since mommy both signed and spoke the word. Next she gave up the sign and just pointed at the jar and said aloud "More". Talking is seeming to be a strong area for her. She can now say about six words in the right context.The kids did well in church and stayed in green. For the afternoon I poured myself into the house. Spring cleaning for tomorrow with my mom's help I think we're ready for the lead inspector and asthma nurse. This week is going to be busy and I have something going on every day but Friday. I'm very glad to have the motivation to get Spring cleaning done.
Saturday is the annual sale I go to. Last year I was able to get all 5 kids clothes for the entire year for $130 including shoes. This is because on Saturday everything is 50% off already garage sale prices. I got a ton of stuff too. I felt bad because we had so much they moved everyone over to a second line until we were done. But when you have five kids it ends up seeming like a lot. But today I was able to go through everything the kids had and make a list of what exactly I need so I don't over buy or buy the wrong things.

Natural Living

Jadzia and I had a mommy, daughter morning. We went out to breakfast and then went to the natural living expo. The natural living expo is almost self explanatory it has to do with organic food, attachment parenting, and anything else that is considered a natural product. I found something rather interesting that I might consider in the future if we get a big freezer. There is a man who raises all his animals, kills them and everything. All the animals are pasture fed with no pesticides. He delivers the meat to your home or you can go to his farm and pick it up and it is about as organic as it comes.Jadzia's favorite part of the expo was the hula hoop contest she was the only girl and she got a princess book. Her and I looked around a bit more picking up business cards and sampling product. Jadzia enjoyed the large windows on our way out. She was a little leery at first, unsure if she would plummet to the story below. Once I convinced her the glass would protect her she thought it was pretty cool she was able to see out so far. On the way home we made a pit stop to pick up my new glasses. We had to hurry because my in-laws were going to meet us so we could go see Hop.Jadzia and I made it back in time to pack everyone up and head to the movie. Grandpa and Grandma Fullmer treated us to the movie and refreshments. The kids got their usual kid trays of popcorn, pop and candy. We came back home to clean out the garage. I have a huge cleaning schedule I have to complete before Monday since the lead inspector will be here late morning that day.Isaac and I had a little date out. We grabbed a bite to eat then we picked up Xander an E.B. stuffed animal from build a bear (he's the bunny from the movie Hop). It was from my parents so Xander would have something to take to the hospital with him on Thursday. We also got him a new pair of pajamas to wear to the hospital. Now I have to get off and let the cleaning and mass organizing begin. It truly was a blessing my in-laws came down last weekend to help clean up the porch since I had no clue the lead inspector would be coming out so soon.

Inara Standing

Once again all I have are Inara pictures. The reason for this is I'm usually with her the most. She's usually awake when the other kids are sleeping. Since the other kids are sleeping I have more relaxing time and you add a baby doing cute things that equals a baby photo shoot. My picture taking has not lessened the more kids we have. Inara is the fifth kid and we probably have a couple thousand pictures of her alone. I think the blog also encourages me to take more pictures.
We have a fun and busy weekend ahead. There is a natural living fair tomorrow that I'm wanting to go to. There are fun activities for the kids and I want to find a Venus fly trap for Landon. Also my in-laws are coming down to take the kids to see Hop. Then I have to do a massive Spring cleaning because the lead inspector is coming on Monday and is bringing a nurse with him. The nurse is going to review our house and tell us what needs done to improve Ronan's asthma.
Inara is standing for about ten seconds all on her own. She'll pull to stand, let go and then wobble in place until finally plopping down. We may have a walker soon. I'm thinking by her first birthday all five will be actively walking through the house.

My mom and I had a girls night out tonight. We went shopping for the kids' Easter stuff. We have pretty much everything for all seven kids' baskets (my neice and nephew too) and we have stuff to dye eggs. We'll also have the Easter play that day. I'm really looking forward to seeing the kids in the play. I found out Xander will have a speaking part as well.