New Year’s Eve Party

We celebrated New Years in a low-key fashion by having a video game party in the living room.  Here’s a picture as we neared midnight, as you can see there are two down…

Dallas Museum of Science & History

The Monday after Christmas we visited the Dallas Museum of Science & History.  We enjoyed the “Dinosaurs Unearthed” exhibit as well as an IMAX Movie ‘Sea Monsters – Prehistoric Predators”.  It was a great day!

Christmas Blessings

We had a very blessed Christmas in 2010.  John’s Mother, affectionately known as Grandma O., was able to spend the holiday with us.  On Christmas Eve we enjoyed a Christmas Eve service at the local Episcopal church followed by a ham dinner, with chocolate mousse for dessert.

We then shared a special Christmas story which helped us understand all the symbols of Christmas.  The boys enjoyed the tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve.  We then set out cookies & carrots for Santa and the reindeer.

Dylan had lost a tooth on December 23rd, but had decided to save his tooth and put it out on Christmas Eve as well.  So we hung his tooth in a tooth pillow right by his stocking and put out cookies for the Tooth Fairy as well.  Our house was visited on the same night by both Santa & the Tooth Fairy!

The next morning the boys woke up early and were excited to see that Santa had indeed visited. 

He filled their stockings and left them all a X-Box game.  Oddly though, we didn’t have an X-Box.  When Dylan opened his game, he discovered a message from Santa detailing a treasure hunt.  After following a few clues the boys were led to their treasure – An X-Box!  They were very excited.

John enjoyed getting a jersey for his favorite NFL team – The Rams.

Here are some pictures of our blessed Christmas day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Twas The Night Before Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all of the appropriate accommodations had been made…

Our trip to the North Pole had been made

 

Sugar Cookies Had Been Baked

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Eve Dinner Had Been Served

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The boys were snuggled down into their beds

Fire Hazard

Raising three boys is bound to be lively and riddled with danger.  One Sunday evening in December I kept smelling a strange burnt smell in the house, but couldn’t quite identify it.  This continued for hours and left me wondering where it was originating from.  Finally while brushing the boys teeth I looked up to find a wool hat on top of a light bulb above the bathroom mirror.  Yikes!  After fishing it down I realized just how near we were to burning the house down.  {SIGH}.

A New Ride

After driving a 1999 mini-van for 7 years (we bought it used in 2003) we got a new ride at the end of November.  We were able to take advantage of an awesome lease option available through John’s work (Park Place Lexus) and after trading in my van we are driving our new vehicle free for the next two years!  We bought my van for $7500 in 2003 and traded it in for $3500 in 2010 (one of the few advantages to having a spouse who works in the automobile industry – buy it for cheap and trade it in high).

We also opted to trade out of the Mom-van and go with a cool new ride.  It has been a lot of fun to have a new vehicle especially with all of the bells & whistles.  And for the color…I couldn’t resist Matador Red!

Broken Hand

The Saturday after Thanksgiving Dylan broke a bone in his hand.  His brother, Jake, had built a large skateboard ramp involving a small table (a ramp leading up to the top of the table).  Dylan went off the ramp on his bike, however the bike was longer than the table.  He came crashing off of the ramp and his hand hit the ground with the handlebar crashing into it.

The boys were afraid of getting in trouble, so they indicated that it was just a small crash on the ground.  Dylan came in with the knuckles of his hand scratched and bleeding a bit.  I washed them and bandaged them and didn’t think much more about it.  A couple of hours later he was still complaining of pain, so I started to evaluate his baby finger.  He couldn’t move it very well so when John got home from work we taped the last two fingers together.  The next day he still wore the tape, but didn’t complain a lot about the injury.  We were still thinking that this was probably just a jammed finger.

Monday morning he woke up and was complaining about his hand.  I looked it over and was surprised to see a large bruise on the inside of his palm.   I sent him to school and told him I would make an appointment for him as soon as I could and come and pick him up.

I picked him up and took him to an urgent care center to have the hand x-rayed.  It was indeed broken, but not the finger, the fifth metacarpal.  The bad news was that it was bent to nearly a 90 degree angle!  They put on a fiberglass splint and sent us to a orthopedic specialist.

We had to wait 2 days for that appointment.  We went to an orthopedic group and saw their hand specialist – Dr. Hahn.  He was great.  He said that in order to get the bone 100% straight you would have to do surgery and put in a pin, however that really wasn’t necessary with the this bone in the hand.  He felt he could straighten it to within 30 degrees of being straight and that he would have no pain and full-range of motion.  He also felt that over time the bone would remold itself.

The amazing thing was that Dylan opted to have the bone reset without any pain meds (as numbing it would require a shot).  He just toughed it out while the doctor reset the bone.  The doctor even gave him a free ticket to cuss and he turned him down (a very proud parent moment :).  He put a waterproof cast on and Dylan picked green.

When we left the appointment John and I were talking about how pleased the doctor seemed with his work when he was done putting on the cast, when Dylan interjected “I was just pleased when he was done!”  We got a good laugh out of this and really appreciated Dylan’s bravery!

When we came back for our follow-up appointment a week later, the doctor wasn’t happy that the hand had moved back somewhat to a 50 degree bend, so they cut the cast off, reset the bone again and recast it again.  This time Dylan picked red.  He was so brave!

He wore the cast for 1 month and had it removed 3 days after Christmas.  When the cast came off his bone was still bent to nearly 30 degrees, but just like the doctor predicted he had no pain and full range of motion.  His right hand doesn’t really have a knuckle on the last finger when you make a fist, but the doctor predicted that within a year the bone will have remolded itself to the point of not being able to tell which hand was broken.

Giving Thanks

This year we enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at the Wahlstrom’s home.  The boys loved getting together with their cousins and the feast was fabulous.

"For each new morning with its light, for rest and shelter of the night, for health and food, for love & friends, for everything thy goodness sends." 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Backyard Camping

It doesn’t get any better than backyard camping during an unusually warm week in November.  Jake needed to pass off a cub scout requirement for camping with his family, so we pitched a large tent in the backyard, enjoyed a cookout complete with hot dogs & smores.  The boys had a blast sleeping out and even helped clean up the tent in the morning.  I particularly enjoyed the camping as well, as I got to sleep in my nice comfortable bed in the house!

Typical Fall Fun

What representation of fall would be complete without a traditional picture of giant leaf piles.  With our yard full of trees, this is a very typical fall scene at our house.

Preschool Performance

Ryan performed songs at his preschool.  He always has a smile and isn’t shy about performing :)

Peanut Monsters on Halloween

Halloween this year turned out to be much more eventful than we planned.  This year Dylan was an army guy, Ryan was a cowboy, and Jake dressed as himself with vampire teeth (scary, I know!).  John took the boys out trick-or-treating. 

With the boys allergies, we always cash-out their candy at our dentist’s office and then they use the money at the dollar store or for something they’ve been saving for.  I also give them some safe allergen-free candy which I have here.  However, they still like to dump out their stash and look at the pieces and count them.  John always has a few favorites from their candy which he keeps and takes to work, so we use this time to sort out the candy for John as well.

Ryan and I were alone in the living room and we had John’s candy sorted out.  I walked into the kitchen to get a ziplock bag for John’s candy.  When I came back into the living room I noticed Ryan was missing, and thought it was strange.  Just then he rounded the corner with a bit of a mischievous look on his face. I asked him to open his mouth and was dismayed to find a piece of candy in his mouth.  I fished it out and became alarmed to discover that it was a SNICKERS bar!!  Not a good thing for a boy with a severe peanut allergy! 

I immediately washed his mouth out in the bathroom.  He was complaining that his tongue was itchy, so I gave him a dose of Benadryl.  Then I watched him, not much was happening, so I thought we had it under control.  Over the course of about five minutes his back was itching a little.  I took his shirt off, he developed a few hives, but nothing serious.  A couple of minutes later his voice started getting a little hoarse.  I started to wonder if the Benadryl was going to be enough.  I began some tapping on acupressure points to help slow the reaction in his body.  A couple of minutes later he started coughing.  This was alarming, although he had been coughing for a few weeks (from a cold), so still not as alarming as it should have been.

I decided that the epi-pen might be in order so I went to get it.  I got back to him and all of a sudden he threw up, twice!  Now I’m starting to panic, it’s been about 10-12 minutes since we gave Benadryl, and about 15 minutes since he ingested part of the snickers bar.  I knew I need to give the epi-pen, but am a bit nervous about this as well.  What if I inject it in the wrong spot?  What if I don’t hold it in his leg long enough and the medicine doesn’t get in his system?  What if he has a reaction to the epinephrine?  What if it doesn’t work and my baby dies??  A million thoughts are running through my mind.

I take off his pants, position him on my lap and inject the epi-pen in his thigh.  He cries while I pray.  Within a couple of minutes all of his symptoms start to reverse and he relaxes completely in my arms. 

I clean him up (from the throwing-up), place him in his Daddy’s arms as he is now falling asleep from the Benadryl and probably the epinephrine as well.  Now my next task is what to do next…this is after all the first time having to use the epi-pen.  I knew that I needed to seek medical care, but wasn’t sure if I should call 9-1-1 or just take him to the ER.  A quick search on the internet informs me that the epi-pen can wear off within 20 minutes.  I place a quick call to the after-hours care at his pediatrician’s office, leaving my cell phone # as a call back and head to the ER with Ryan.  Thankfully my pediatrician calls me back right as I pull into the parking lot.  She felt that since I had given Ryan both benadryl and the epi-pen that it would be okay if we forego the ER trip and just monitor him carefully at home.  She suggested he sleep in my bed and if ANY symptoms reappear to immediately call 9-1-1 or go straight to the ER.

I brought him home and put him in bed.  I then did some additional research on anaphylactic reactions.  I learned that up to 20% of people have a biphasic reaction (or a second reaction) that can be mild, equal, or more severe than the first reaction.  It often occurs within 4-6 hours after the first reaction, but can occur up to 24 hours after the first reaction.

I stayed up until 4 hours after the incident, then crawled into bed with him by my side.  About 45 minutes after I went to bed, he woke up coughing & threw up.  I thought, “Oh no, he’s having a second reaction.”  I flew out of bed to prepare to take him to the ER.  He immediately fell right back to sleep.  I cleaned him up again (from the throwing-up) and then woke him up to assess him.  He was not coughing, his voice was not hoarse, he had no hives and was breathing fine.  I decided not to rush him to the hospital, but closely monitor him for awhile.  He had no further problems.

Monday, after school, we rushed to the dentists office as soon as possible to sell back our remaining Halloween candy.  We have a peanut-free home, and I felt so much better to restore it back to its peanut- free status.  While this was a frightening experience, I learned much.  I will now no longer fear giving the epi-pen.  I have a much better idea of how to train those who have Ryan in his care for symptom identification and treatment.  I hope Ryan has learned from this experience.  Needless to say….I’m already fearing next Halloween….not for the ghosts & goblins, but for the horrible “peanut monsters” that lurk behind every doorbell.

High Five For Ryan!

My beautiful babe….

…has turned into a handsome enlightened 5 year old!!

We celebrated his birthday with a family dinner where we enjoyed banana splits for dessert.  He opened gifts and we had family movie night, we tried to go bowling, but unfortunately it was league night : (.

Ryan is such a joy to have in our home.  He attends preschool three days a week and will start kindergarten next fall.  He is a big helper, rides a bike without training wheels, does lots of chores around the house and enlightens all of us with his bright happy smile. 

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Future Marine?

Dylan’s dream is to be in the military.  His favorite thing is camo, and this is where I found him as he was all dressed up ready to go to a friend’s costume party.

Saddle Sore?

This cute little cowboy has been out in the saddle all day…

Raingutter Regatta

Jake’s Cub Scout Raingutter Regatta boat did really well this year (special thanks to Grandpa O. for building it with him).  We’ll have to remember this design for next year!

A Lucky New Nephew

On 10/10/2010, my sister Michon & her husband Nick welcomed their first baby boy into the world.  He was born at 10:10pm and had 10 fingers and 10 toes.  I personally think that with all those tens, his middle name should be “Tennyson”, but they went traditional and his middle name is Nicholas after his father.  We’re thrilled to have such a handsome & lucky boy as our nephew!

Here’s the article featured in the local paper detailing the event:

The number ten symbolizes greatness in judged activities. If symbols are predictors, Braden Higginson’s life will be worth watching.

Braden arrived on October 10, 2010. He was not only born on the luckiest day of the century (according to some numerologists), but maximized his future promise by arriving at 10:10 p.m.

This day happens only once a century and is claimed to be one of the luckiest days. “We will always remind him,” said Braden’s father, Nick.

This good luck came to a mother whose son was born in the same place she works. Michon Higginson is a nurse at Dixie Regional Medical Center in the mom and baby unit. “It felt weird being on the other side, but while I was there I felt like I was with family,” said Michon.

Baby Braden brings good fortune to his parents, and to a mother who will help bring babies into lucky mothers’ arms for years to come.

Messages a Mother Will Never Forget

This year, on two different occasions,

I found two special messages created by Dylan. 

They were unexpected and treasures I will never forget!