Rambo's Rampages...

You know the saying "No news is good news." And that's the reason things on the blog have been quite quiet. I am happy to say that there isn't anything to report! 2014 has been pretty good to us. Theodore continues to thrive, and with the exception of one bloody trach incident (well 2 actually), there have been no hospital visits or illnesses worth mentioning. He is LOVING school and has a wonderful nurse to care for him there.  And he is so smart! He is signing more and more and putting multiple signs together. For instance he'll sign "time to eat" or "all done please". He is also learning colors and animals, and really learning them! Tasting things has become quite common for him - he'll take my spoon or fork with the tiniest bit of broth or sauce on it and put it in his mouth and taste the food and, on a whole, he really likes it all. He is also starting to swallow. He's never done that before!!! He is certainly nowhere near profic

   Oh look! Oh he's so sweet! His smile is so great! Peek-a-boo, Theodore!! Is he sleeping with a package of wipes in his hand? Yes he is....isn't he adorable? Isn't he just the most precious thi- NO!! No he is not.  He is an egg breaking, stair climbing, freezer and stove opening, walking disaster. He's been home all week thanks to a GI bug that whilst not leave. Thankfully his mood is good; he doesn't have a fever and everything overall is going well.  Actually, things are quite well.  He is totally loving school and he is learning! Really learning! His nurse almost made me cry the other day when she was talking about some of the things he is now doing. Let me share. They have a bag in his class filled with a few items such as a pumpkin, a leaf, an apple. They have corresponding posters placed around the room for each item.  When someone pulls out one of the items the children have to find the correct poster

The rest of the back to school photos are now on "The Fam" tab  if you'd like to take a peek :)  

A.k.a. Rambo the Destroyer A.k.a. Theodore None of these are a good thing. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Yes, I know. Climbing the steps is technically a good thing but the living it out part is not going to be fun. As far as the glass...... I'm none too pleased. It's like the dog bowl situation. It doesn't matter how many times you tell him 'no' he is going to do it anyway. He broke the glass by throwing a wooden block because he. throws. EVERYTHING.  Ugh. Both of these happened before 10am this morning. I can't wait to see what the rest of the day has in store. (Yes I can. I can definitely wait.)

I woke up this morning to a call at 7:01 (Yes I was still in bed. I decided to forgo my morning run and stay in bed for an extra hour.) from one of Theodore's nurses telling me that she was in the parking lot I showed her and she didn't know where to go from there. Uh................................................  You know as much as I do. She tried several times to get me to understand, even after I told her who she was talking to, until she finally looked at her phone, realized who she called, laughed, said sorry, and hung up.  Anyway. We are getting ready to start school. Theodore's first day was yesterday and I think he had a good time. I'm really trying to keep my outlook up this year. It's interesting to me how much I fight homeschooling. I wouldn't want to do it any other way.... I just don't want to do it. But this year I have decided to accept my calling and get organized. I have a schedule for everything. EVERYTHING. Each child has a sc

The past 6 months or so we have expanded our territory a little more. Out of necessity we have been taking Theodore with us to the grocery store or Walmart or any other place we need to pick something up. This is not the easiest thing. But it at least opens the door to be a *liiiiiiiiiiittle* less dependent on others. Stopping by a friends house or going to church have all been possible as well, and those are nice perks.  And this: This is also a nice perk :) Watching him enjoy the fish at the store for the very first time. He totally loved it. And he all too quickly figured out that the top opens and you have direct access to the water. No fish were harmed in the taking of these photos. I can not speak for what happened before or after.   

I thought I was tired of saying "No, Theodore."  (10 minutes later)   "No! Do not touch the dog bowl."  (10 minutes later)   "Theodore! No sir!"  (10 minutes later) "OH.MY.SOUL. Theodore. Put the dog bowl down!"  (10 minutes later) "You have got to be kidding me! NO SIR." And I am. I am completely tired of saying that. I wasn't really going anywhere else with this.   

Kitchen cabitnets and drawers.  Hallway doors. Stove. Hutch doors. Desk drawers. What do all those things have in common? The same thing these do: Eggs. Potted plants. Tablecloths on the table. Piles of folded clothes. Glasses filled with water. Stools. Dog food bowl. Kitchen utensils. Ridiculously expensive air purifier. And anything, absolutely anything, that can be reached. Figured it out yet? The answer is Theodore. He is in full blown toddler-ville. If you walk into our house at any given time you will most likely hear the squeaking of cabinets being opened and closed, opened and closed, opened and closed...... or see raw eggs spilled all over the kitchen floor or see the dining room table that is now devoid of anything because the table cloth and all that sat on top have been pulled to the ground or towels randomly placed throughout the house because a cup was spilled or dog food strewn about the floor or, most recently, the stove being opened. And

There are a lot of ways to start the day poorly. On the floor would be one... sick... with a headache... in the hospital...   they all have almost a guarantee that your day is going in the wrong direction (and possibly the night before had already gone that way.) But nothing, nothing I tell you, is worse than a weak cup of coffee.  It's like a sign that the day, which up until now held so much potential, is going to be like this sad little weak cup of brown water.  At this point you may be thinking I'm a coffee snob, but I like to think of myself as a coffee hobby--ist--er....  (It's a real thing.) I like my coffee, it's true. Good coffee. STRONG coffee. Anything else is, as I said before, just gross brown water. And this morning, when I mistakenly made my coffee far too weak I realized how lazy I was when I refused to make a second better pot. Wait... my laziness could not have been where I was going with this. Actually, where was I going with this? I don't

feel sorry about....          - neglecting this blog and therefore all of you who read it to stay informed.  hate...         - being sick- both booger butt and myself :(  Thankfully we are working through it at home with no need for the hospital yet. However, last week did hold an overnight for us because of fresh blood and clots coming out of his trach. Which leads me to number 2....        - Not being trusted by doctors who think we are reactionary. ....because that looks totally normal, right? Anyway, we got it all straight and Theodore is fine. However, it got super old super quick when everyone kept saying that we "must have been scared" and "a little bit of blood when suctioned" and all of these other things insinuating that we were crazy. I'm glad I had the forsight to take a picture. The concensus was that it was a burst blood vessel in his lung that he was, thankfully, able to cough out without it causing any damage. But this leads m

Hearkening back to the warm wonderful days a few weeks ago. Park time with the kids :)  

And that's how Theodore spent a good bit of Easter. He did take part in the Easter egg hunt but lost interest after 3 eggs.  All in all it was a good day. I'd love to say I have a picture of all of us together, but it didn't happen :( With all the loading up and unloading and setting up and breaking down we totally forgot. In fact, these are the only pictures taken at all that day. Oh well. One forgotten (or not) Easter picture will not be what's remembered in 10 years anyway.

That is Theodore's new bed. His big boy bed that we have been waiting on forever. (He is just waaaaaaaay too big for a crib.) It came yesterday and we had a successful first night. He loves it. In fact, the other kids love it since they can actually get in it and all fit at the same time. The sides go up and down just like a hospital bed so it's super convenient. Yeah, Theodore fell out. Second night. He doesn't waste any time at all. I knew this was going to most likely happen since the sides don't come up near as far as on a crib. And he doesn't exactly go to sleep as soon as you lay him down.  He seems fine. Kids are resilient, right??  We'll see if he still loves his bed tomorrow.

Spring is trying so hard!! It's really really almost here. There have even been a handful of truly spring like days. Yay! And we are taking advantage of them. The kids and I have been taking walks and I even (ssshhhh, don't tell them) took Theodore to the park without them.  At first he wasn't sure if he liked the slide But then he decided he did.   The swing too! And just for cuteness sake, throwing in the picture of him on his first swing ride last year.