Thursday, April 24, 2014

A rough few weeks and Easter...

After returning from Great Wolf Lodge, we knew Graham was not feeling well. We got back Monday night and Tuesday morning I had him in the doctors office. The doctor checked him out thoroughly but considered it viral. He fell asleep like this while there other two indians were running around the house making plenty of noise. 

I knew something wasn't quite right. By Wednesday night, we noticed his breathing was somewhat labored and no matter what we did, we could not get his high fever down. At 10pm, Dave took him to the ER. They were there all night getting blood drawn, an IV for fluid since he had not eaten much in about 5 days, a chest x-ray and various other tests. They knew pretty quickly he had pneumonia, but thought they could do a few breathing treatments and would send them home. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough. At about 6am, they admitted him and moved him into a room on the pediatric floor. No one slept much that night. I got the other two to school and got to the hospital Thursday morning. Honey and Papa had already planned to come for Easter weekend and they would be there Thursday night. Thank goodness! 

 G did breathing treatments several times a day. His oxygen level would sometimes drop and he would have to wear the oxygen tubes on his nose. Through it all, he never complained and just did whatever the nurses asked. He slept a lot and ate very little. We watched lots of movies he played on the iPod and kindle over and over.

 This kid was LOW on energy and was pretty much silent, which broke his mama's heart.
 We were only there for two nights, but we got pretty bored!
 Daddy entertained.
 Taking a very short walk outside our room bringing along our IV.
 Friday evening, we were so excited that they let us go home. Originally, they had said Saturday or Sunday. We got a little smile after we got home.
 My sweet friend, Amanda sent a basket of goodies to keep G from getting too bored.
 Meanwhile, back at the house, Honey and Papa were keeping the other two entertained. When Graham got home, it was time to open Easter goodies from H&P.
 Boone came down with an ear infection on Saturday, but this was weird behavior. We should have seen it coming.
 Anna Lou had a cold, but still was really wanting to do some Easter activities. So we dunked the eggs.
 We had plans to leave the boys at home with H&P and take AL to church on Easter Sunday. Well...this lovely virus the that had spread throughout the fam, had now taken a toll on me and I had quite the sinus infection. So we didn't make it to church and we were all very bummed. It was kind of a sad, bummer of a weekend, but we were thankful for being out of the hospital and thankful to be with sweet family.
 AL and Papa getting lunch ready on Easter Sunday.
 The Easter bunny brought a few goodies. A bubble machine for Boone!
 We hunted eggs and Boone did what every two year old does. Stop, inspect the egg, take a bite and then move on.
 G found a little bit of energy to find some over by the cacti. :)


 The Easter bunny brought G a new tee and bat.


 The breathing treatments continue four times a day. His attitude is better than mine, but we will do whatever it takes to get this guy better!!
 Honey and Papa cooked a wonderful lunch and we sat at our non-decorated dining room table.

 Not exactly the Easter pic I had envisioned, but so thankful for these people.

 We gave H&P one last hug before they headed home. G was totally worn out by this time. 
 This was later Sunday afternoon when we noticed Boone was not getting better from the antibiotics for his ear infection. 
 Monday morning I had Boone back to the doctor. He was waking up with a high fever every night and had a horrible cough. Well...what do ya know?! He had pneumonia too. Thank goodness, it was considered early pneumonia and it could be treated with THREE awful shots over the next three days and breathing treatments. This was after the first shot and we were over at the hospital for a chest x-ray. The shot was HUGE and slow and looked so painful! I wanted to cry with him. I actually did a little by third day. He was grabbing his leg saying "ouch" over and over. So, so sad!
 So much medicine taken over the last two weeks.

 Treatments with the almost two year old are not so fun. This kid will watch tv for approximately 15 seconds. He does not car about iPhone, iPads, or anything of the like. Some treatments are better than others, but mostly they are ROUGH.
 This was our 8th trip to the doctor/hospital in 8 days. At least there was some tickling going on.
 Today we got a snow cone, because we needed one.




Graham is slowly but surely getting his appetite back and gaining more energy. Boone is a few days behind him but is also starting to heal. We are so thankful for good doctors, medicine and God's healing hand. We are so thankful for friends and family that have prayed for our sweet boys and our entire family. We have wonderful friends that have brought us meals every night and blessed us immensely. God is good, all the time. Even in the difficult times, he is always able. He is worthy of our praise. Things could have been so much worse and by only His strength we have taken each day in stride. Even though our Easter looked a little different this year, we always celebrate the cross, the resurrection and our God who is alive today. 

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Surprise trip to Great Wolf!

We had more success with our garage sale last weekend then we had planned and wanted to spend the money on something fun. We had a few ideas for things around the house but decided our kids don't care about that stuff and for sure won't remember it, so let's spend it on a fun memory for all of us. We just finished up track season and spring football is quickly approaching and we needed some time with Daddy! We planned a last minute trip to Grapevine to Great Wolf Lodge and it worked out great that Boone could stay with Honey and Papa.  It would be easier on everyone if he sat this one out.  He had plenty of fun with H&P!!! We woke the kids up early on Saturday and told them we were going on a trip. We showed them pics on the computer which got them pumped! They opened a new swimsuit to wear on the trip.

 Somehow he convinced me to hold this cup of ice.
 We met Papa at Chick fila by our hotel to hand off little B.
 B was excited to ride in Papa's truck and could care less that we slipped out.
 We got to GWL, checked out our room, and headed to the waterpark.

 There is an outdoor pool that was freezing, but we did enjoy the sun on the patio.


 I don't know how they always talk their Dad into games at the arcade. And somehow she always wins some sort of jackpot of tickets. They we get to bring home an awesome prize.



 We went out to dinner to the nearby Grimaldi's. 
 Kids get dough to play with.
 Cheers to drinking Dr. Pepper on vacation.

We love Grimaldi's!!
parking lot cartwheels
 Everyone slept great and we enjoyed the morning in bed. 
 now that is a donut.
 The theme of the weekend was Happy and we listened to "Happy" by Pharrell Williams 500 times. This was some dancing to it before heading out the door. 

 Racing to the room.













 The next night we ate at Esparza's in Grapevine. It's one of our very favorites and goes way back with us. As you can see, Graham was NOT feeling well. He started running fever off and on that day. :(
 Meanwhile, back at H&P's, Boone was having a blast! He went to a birthday party for one of Honey's best friends. 

He ate good, played good, slept good and got LOTS of lovin'!!

 He also entertained them the entire time. This kid can work the crowd!
 Sweet H&P also kept the dog.
Overall, it was a fantastic weekend. Graham missed out on a few hours of fun on the last day because he felt so bad. Poor kid! We probably won't go to GWL on a Saturday again. Whew! Crowded! But Sunday was fine and Monday was awesome! The kids loved it and it was great watching them have so much fun. A memorable weekend in the books!