celebrate the resurrection

[he wanted nothing to do with pictures, but tried so hard. bless his heart]

 

 

[[at least we had one who was in the mood for photographs today]]

 

 

we all have 'em

So, I recently read this post over at Faith&Samuel, and thought it was a great idea. Why not let others in on some of our little secrets that might classify us as ca-RA-zy.....

 

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if i am singing along with a song and miss a word that has an "s" in it, i will have to go back and sing it again, making sure i hit the "s"

 

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socks, of any sort, freak me out. i am very fussy about socks. and if they are twisted (on you or me) my anxiety is through the roof

 

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my dream job is a labor/delivery nurse. that might sound normal, until you hear that there is absolutely nothing about being a nurse that i would be able to handle. i hate blood, needles, pain, and overall gross-ness in general

 

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i can not go to bed with the toilet seat up. i will actually get out of bed to double check this

 

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i always check behind the shower curtain, every.single.time. i walk in to the bathroom

 

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before i had children i was very organized and ocd clean. since kids, i absolutely can not get myself back to that place

 

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strings. this is a difficult one to explain. i don't know what it is about strings, but have never been a fan.

 

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i am a very picky eater and i hate all kinds of veggies. if there is a veggie on my plate, i will pick around it making sure not to get even.one.tiny.piece of a vegetable in my mouth

 

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i am terrified of answering the phone or making phone calls

 

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my niece is only 4 months older than kenley and they have always been pretty close in wearing the same size clothing. if my sister and i go shopping together, i have wicked anxiety thinking about her beating me "to the good stuff."

 

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i can not drink out of a straw without biting the end

 

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i type with my toes. not actually, but my toes are always moving as if i were typing them on a keyboard.

 

 

so there ya have it....weird, i know.

 

how about any of you? willing to share some of your crazies with the rest of us?

time to swim

Paxton was super excited to start swimming lessons last night! We registered him for the Parent/Child class that takes place on Thursday nights. We got to the YMCA, put on his swim suit, took him potty, and then I went to put on my own suit. I ended up calling my husband and asking "are my suit bottoms still laying on the bed?"   UGH!!  What parent takes their kid to their first swimming lesson and doesn't remember all of their swimming suit?!?  Thankfully, the instructor took him in the pool for me.  I would have been heart-broken to have to tell that little boy that we had to go back home :(   There were only 4 children/parents in the class, but it was so much fun!  However, Paxton was NOT a fan of someone else telling him (after only 30 minutes) that his time in the pool was up.

Because lessons end and our drive home is about the time he would be getting ready for bed, I decided that we would just do a shower after and put him straight into his jammies. I think this was a good decision, he was tired....

Overall, his first "fwimmin' yesson" was a success!!  Can't wait to go back next week :)

TBT

how do you stop them from growing?


time to say bye-bye from Holli Finke on Vimeo.

all in the head

In February, Kenley had an appointment with a pediatric neurologist. This appointment had been scheduled for many months (during the deep dark trenches of her nasty behaviors). Because it took so long to get in, we decided we would keep the appointment and see what came of it. When Kenley was born, she suffered a brain bleed as a result of using the vacuum for an assisted delivery.

After only 6 days in the NICU, her brain bleed resolved and we were able to take her home.

Because the delivery/recovery of the twins and myself in the hospital, we really felt we had no closure from this "brain bleed."  So when we were referred to neurology because of Kenley's behaviors, in the back of our head we were hoping to get some answers. For four years it has haunted our minds to wonder if there were some lingering effects of this bleed.

When we met with Dr. Kruer, he was able to put our minds at ease. He was able to pull up her scans from when she was born and compare the brain bleed to that of when she was discharged. He felt confident that it should not have any current impact and did not see any problems "neurologically."

We can't tell you how relieved we were just to have someone take the time to give us some answers that we were never given in the hospital.

adios pampers

Big news in our house that I haven't shared.  We have traded in these:

 

for these:

exciting right?

 

During Christmas break, I was hoping to get the little man potty trained. But just like every plan I make, something comes in the way. With Kenley getting her tonsils out, besides the hustle and bustle of the holidays, there was no way I was ready to clean up accidents. But it wasn't long after break that our daycare provider was ready ;)  She put him in underwear and we never looked back. I think it took roughly four days to get the job done.

 

And we are no longer spending money on diapers!!! That's an amazing feeling.

 

He is not yet trained during the night (although there are many nights where he wakes up crying he has to go potty, and his diaper is still dry!)

 

As thrilled as I am that diaper money can be put elsewhere, it's just one more reminder that my baby isn't a baby anymore.

And that's rough. 

i ask of you a favor

So, I have these friends. And although they may not know how special they are to me, they both have a special pocket in my heart that they fit right into.

 

They've had a curve ball thrown into their life, that has and is causing great pain and heartache. 

I think about them constantly and I ask that you pray with me for them.

 

I found this poem that hit me in the stomach. I hope I can be this kind of friend.

 

"Don't tell me that you understand,

Don't tell me that you know.

Don't tell me that I will survive,

How I will surely grow.

 

Don't tell me this is just a test,

That I am truly blessed,

That I am chosen for this task,

Apart from all the rest.

 

Don't come at me with answers

That can only come from me,

Don't tell me how my grief will pass...

That I shall soon be free.

 

Don't stand in pious judgment

Of the bonds I must untie.

Don't tell me how to suffer,

And don't tell me how to cry.

 

My life is filled with selfishness,

My pain is all I see,

But I need you, and I need your love...

Unconditionally.

 

Accept me in my ups and downs,

I need someone to share,

Just hold my hand and let me cry,

And say, "my friend, I care."

 

                     J. Hendel

 

 

 

a little risky

Last night Cody had a crazy idea. He suggested we all, as in all 5 of us, go out for supper at Pizza Ranch and then attempt to get groceries. GASP!! What?!? What the heck was he saying?? Did he seriously just say those words out loud???  It gave me anxiety just thinking about it, but (reluctantly)agreed. Our family doesn't typically risk taking the kids into public.  The twins used to go everywhere with us when they were little. But as they've gotten older and we've added Paxton into the mix, we usually try everything in our power to do things without having to take the kids. It's a catch 22 really. They don't have a lot of experience because we don't take them anywhere. But the reason we don't take them anywhere is because they can't seem to keep their behavior in control. You might think I'm joking, but this is typically what an outing with all the kids looks like:

Do you get why I cringe any time I think about taking the kids with me when I need to get something done? But last night, for some reason I was willing to risk it.

And I'm glad I did. Because we had a great night. The kids did great!! We enjoyed our dinner and our grocery trip looked less like the above and more like this:

Ok, so maybe it wasn't quite this beautiful, but I would definitely call our evening a success.

Go us!  =)

catch up

I guess we better be playing a little catch up here!  Get ready, because this is going to be a L-O-N-G post.

Let's go back to mid-December...

*December 13th. We started our Christmas festivities with the Finke Christmas in Slayton.

*When you forget winter clothes, you gotta get creative if you want to play outside.

*December 16. The day of Kenley's scheduled tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy. Because Ken was having her tonsils removed due to sleep apnea, they required her to stay one night in the hospital to  monitor while she slept.

she did very well that first day following surgery

she was actually quite thrilled that she could eat whatever-she-wanted! She loved herself some popsicles and chocolate smoothies :)



a friend from preschool sent her balloons for a speedy recovery

 

Kenley had a rough first night in the hospital, but that was to be expected. They rotated pain meds every three hours. The next morning however, she was not drinking as much as they wanted her to be. The dr. said this was common, but wouldn't discharge her until she started getting some fluids in. We started a sticker chart for her. She sure put the liquids down when she knew she was going to get to pick a piece of junk prize from the prize box! We were discharged mid-afternoon. The dr. said to keep her home for the first full week. He said she would have ups and downs, but having your tonsils removed is not an easy surgery and she is going to be in a lot of pain.  I think they try to prepare you, but in my opinion we could have never been prepared for what the next two weeks brought.

lots of cold drinks!

 

Kenley absolutely refused to take the prescription pain medication because of the taste. But when she decided she was going to refuse Tylenol and Motrin as well, then we were in trouble. When her pain was not in control, she also was not taking anything orally. On day 6 post-op, all we had was horrendous screaming, uncontrolled pain, vomiting/nausea, and dehydration. After calling the nurse, she ended up in the emergency room.

I'm sure the ER nurses thought we were crazy when I told them "she's refusing meds." I'm sure some of you are thinking that too....Um, hello, she's only four, right?  But if you know our Kenley-girl, you have an understanding of what refusals look like.  I think the nurses agreed with me, when it took 3 of us to hold her down (and let me tell you, it still wasn't pretty) just to get her to take some medication. After a couple of hours, she started perking up, had a popsicle, went to the bathroom, and we were out of there.

 

Thankfully we were on Christmas break by this time, but it took a full two weeks before we could finally say we were "done" with recovery. I don't wish that on anyone :(

 

 

*December 17th. Preschool Christmas Program.  I was heartbroken that Kenley couldn't participate in her program, but even more heartbroken that I wasn't able to be there to see Kaden either. Daddy and the grandmas were able to attend, so he probably didn't even know I wasn't there :)



 

 

*December 19th.  My birthday.  After spending the week with Kenley, my parents offered to watch the kids so we could go out and I could have a break. So thankful for that!!  Me and Cody, my sister and my brother in law went out for dinner, followed by TheDistrict to watch the band Goodroad. I very much enjoyed my night :)

 

 

 

*The Larsons came home for Christmas.  For me, time seems to stand still in between our visits. However, even on the east coast, this little guy just continues to grow and changes so much.

 

 

*Cody's mom has always had Christmas on Christmas Eve morning. The past couple of years, we have spent the night there the night before. This seriously, is one of my favorite nights of the year. I love spending this time with Cody's siblings and then the kids get to crawl out of bed in the morning, still in their pajamas for the excitement of it all.



 

 

*Christmas Eve

 

 

 

*Christmas Day.  We had Christmas with my immediate family.



 

 

*December 26th. Christmas with Cody's dad.



I had a vision of new "pretend play" area for the kids. Cody and his dad were able to take my thoughts and build this fantastic farmers market. I couldn't have been more thrilled with how it turned out and the kids absolutely love it!

 

 

*December 26-28th.  As part of our family's Christmas present, my parents booked the weekend at the Ramkota in Sioux Falls. It was all about the kids, and they had a BLAST!   



 

 

*December 28th. Christmas at my Grandma's in Windom. It was a small gathering with pizza for lunch, but it was perfect nonetheless. 



 

 

After all of our Christmas excitement, we were able to be home for 3 days and try to get ourselves back together. But not for long :)

 

*January 1st.  Cody and I along with our friends, Marc and Jo, took a trip out to the Hills for a little snowmobile trip.  I'll be honest, I wasn't necessarily looking forward to this trip. Ok, I was DREADING it.  I hadn't been on a snowmobile since the winter before I was pregnant with the twins. My body has changed a good bit and my anxiety is also not where it was pre-mama. But the boys were great. They took it slow and it was a relaxing trip. I actually enjoyed it (shhh...don't tell Marcus).

 

*January 5th.  School resumed and it was back to getting that schedule into place...or so we thought. That week, due to weather, we had one early dismissal, two late starts, and a snow day.  In my opinion, it was an easy way to transition back into the routine :)

 

So here we are, mid January.  How did that happen?

 

 

***i told you it was going to be long.  hopefully you are all still awake ;)

 



we're scheduled

We finally were able to get Kenley's surgery scheduled.  Due to insurance purposes, we really needed it to get done before the end of the year.  Plus with Christmas thrown in there, the timing just isn't ideal.  She is scheduled for Tuesday the 16th to have her tonsils and adenoids removed. They will also keep her overnight for observation.


And a post just doesn't seem complete without a picture or two....