Baseball, Baseball, Baseball

Baseball is what our week consists of.  Each day our schedule revolves around JBS or JLS' baseball practice or games.  JBS has more practices and more games, so I would say we have roughly 7 baseball events a week...and WHS hasn't even started the game! 

The boys love baseball so much.  Each day after school (and before practice) they head out back to play catch.  Both boys are pretty good little players, but JLS is way ahead simply because he has a big brother to teach him the game.  We often tell JBS that he has taught JLS everything he knows and how grateful we are.  JBS didn't have the opportunity to watch a big brother and be ancy to play on his own team. 

While I am watching JLS hit and run every time he is up to bat, I have discovered Babe and I are watching different things.  I am watching JLS' funny faces and his intensity in hitting and running.  I am watching his funny socks that he pulls OVER his baseball pants for some reason.  I am 100 percent entertained by watching his tiny little body pretend to be a big ball player.

Babe, on the other hand is watching his swing and how he "loads" and where he hits the ball the most....all mechanics.  I am fully aware that JLS is one of the more competitive 4 year-olds on the team.  Every game JLS says, "I am going to get a home run."  This means he wants to be the last batter, as the 4 year-olds play thru each player and the last hitter gets to run all the bases.  That, my friends, is the prime spot in the batting order for little JLS.  Babe, on the other hand, has aspirations of the pros already.  "Did you see how hard he hit that ball?"  "He hit it to the fence every time!" Daddy gets really excited and really proud.

The boys played catch after school again today.  When they came running in, JBS exclaimed, "Mom!  JLS did really good at catching!  He caught one of my big ones!"  So, this evening as we tucked the boys in, JBS turned to Babe and said, "Dad!  JLS caught one of my super famous pop flies!"

I love the world little boys live in...where everyone believes they are "super famous!"

Please take note of JLS' pants.  Every other player on the team wears their baseball pants to their ankles be it for their short stature or the style of the pants.  However, JLS very deliberately tucks his pants into his socks.  Every. Single. Game.  Why?  It took awhile to figure it out.  Then, we looked at the picture in his room of Big Daddy playing baseball many moons ago...Sure enough.  Big Daddy's uniform was the traditional short legged baseball pants.   And, by golly, so are JLS'.

Cute little toot...

Trailer Trauma

Way back in the first week of school, I had a lot of ambition, and rode my bike with JBS to school a mile in one direction and then rode JLS immediately to school 4 miles in the other direction.  It was hot and I was sweating bullets.  Gambo and Poppy were here so, gratefully, my trailer didn't have WHS in it on our return home.  BECAUSE, my trailer flipped as I was riding home.  It scared me, but no harm done because there was no child in it.  I was "soakin' dirty" with sweat, rolled it back on its wheels and headed home.

It wasn't for another month or so that I discovered that the zipper was broken on the sun shade.  I couldn't take the trailer in to be fixed because I had to ride the boys to school every day.  So, when Babe took his two weeks off (that turned to four), I immediately took it to the boot and shoe repair for some serious zipper repair.  Unfortunately, to repair the zipper, the entire trailer had to be dismantled.  Dismantling something like this would have typically been my job, but my knee was still bad and I couldn't sit on the ground to do it.  So, Babe did.  For the record, this is NOT up his alley.  But, he did it and I was proud of him.  For two weeks, the dismantled trailer sat on the floor of our garage so I couldn't pull my car in  for fear that a piece would be out of place.  When we finally got the repaired trailer cover back, Gambo was here....gratefully.

Unfortunately, with all the nuts and bolts, Babe didn't replace them in their original hole.  So, they had a mess of bolts and nuts and screws.  (I told you this wasn't his thing!)  Fortunately, putting things together IS Gambo's thing.  Eventually, they got it back together and WHS is a happy camper back in his trailer with a little protection from the sunlight and dirt.  The funny part is that we have a few spare bolts with no place to go...hmmmm....

Sweet Baby Yake

It seems like so long ago when G2 couldn't say JBS' name and resorted to "Yake."  JLS has finally learned to pronounce his brother's name after several years of "Bake."  My sweet baby "Yake" is in Kindergarten and this picture brings a tear to my eye.  I can see a young man's face beaming from inside this little boy. 

I am so proud of him for who is now and for who he is going to be.  I don't know exactly what he will become, but I know what I pray for him every day.  I pray for him to be strong and courageous in his faith, for him to grow in to that "mighty man of God" Dr. Paschal proclaimed at his baptism.  I pray for him to be a good role model and leader among his peers and I pray for him to have a positive Christian role model in his life as he grows up to lead and challenge him.  I pray for his dynamic personality to lead his peers to do the right thing and not the wrong thing.  I pray for him to make good choices and for it be a cinch for him to say, "No!" to things and people that can hurt him.  I pray for him to love his little brothers with his whole heart and that their bond is strong and grows stronger every day.  I pray for them to love each other and hold each other accountable to their faith.  I pray for his wife, wherever that precious little girl might be, that she is being raised in a home that loves the Lord and that she is learning and growing in all the same ways that I pray for my sweet JBS.

This baby can light up a room the minute he enters it.  His giggle finishes off those who couldn't see him by spreading to everyone who hears him.  I have witnessed just this year, little girls running away in giggles when JBS says, "Hi!" to them.  He can work a crowd like none other his age.  These things thrill me to no end knowing he is a well-adjusted kiddo with lots of friends.  What an amazing gift, to have the gift of friends.  I just pray for God to continue to bless him and his brothers and use his magetism for His purposes and to not ever take that responsibility lightly. 

So, I don't know who he will become exactly, but I know that little man that I see shining through is going to be a great man.  He is definitely going to be a great man someday.

Walk to School Day



The last I saw of my little toots.

Last week or maybe the week before was National Walk/Ride to School Day.  The idea was to get kids out and exercising and no better way to do that than walk or ride your bike to school.  Living in The Woodlands is Utopian.  On top of that, our neighborhood is Utopian within Utopia.  People always say, "Oh, you live in Winterra?  Everyone lives there."  We do have a great street with lots of fun people.  We all pull out of our driveways at the same time in the morning to ride our bikes to school.  Our caravan is so large that we stagger a bit with the younger kids so we don't cause too many wrecks along the path.

Being the social neighborhood that we are, our social leaders organized breakfast at the park next door to our house.  We all brought donuts and fruit and drinks and had breakfast before we set out for "National Walk to School Day."  I didn't get many pictures, as corralling three boys at a neighborhood party alone at 7am is work.  However, you can get the gist of the masses.



I finally found my JLS!

A lot of people already ride their bikes to school every morning, but this morning, the buses were driving by empty.  And every parent and child that wasn't on those buses, was on our path.  Forgive me Lord, but I was ready for those bus and car riders to get back in their bus and car as it was way too crowded on the paths for me.

About ten feet from our neighborhood was the last time I saw JBS and JLS, as I was pulling a double-wide trailer through mounds of people.  I kept thinking they would stop at the points where they usually stop and wait for me, but the crowds kept them moving.  I finally caught up to JBS...after he had parked at school!  Then panic set in when he said JLS wasn't with him.  Our usual "grassy knoll" where we drop the kids off in the am and younger siblings can run and play was packed with people shoulder-to-shoulder and no JLS in site.  While we live in a safe area, I kept thinking, this would be the perfect chaos to snag a child and I went through all the worst case scenarios in my head while yelling at the top of my lungs for JLS.  I finally caught site of him making circles in the grass on his bike like he usually does.  It was hilarious, as he was pushing people out of the way.  This was his turf any other day.  Why the heck were all these crazy people here?

Try finding your bike in this mess at 3pm!

Pha-ew.  It was much more chaotic than expected.  But the kids loved it, we survived it, and we don't have to do that again for another year!

A Hard Knock Life

Man, I have had some good helpers in my house of late.  The boys set out to clean the kitchen, the windows, floors, and all wood surfaces.

JLS took it a step further and bathed his baby brother.

If this is what's going on in my house, why am I so exhausted every day?

The Time Has Come



WHS in the Red Car

We literally have a museum of rolling stock in our garage and attic.  We have so many things that roll, but each boy has loved all their scooters and trikes and rolling whatevers so much that we have saved them through each of the boys.  The time has come for WHS to enjoy the red car...and enjoy it he does.  Again, he still won't walk, but he will crawl at high speeds across the dirty garage floor to climb in his red car...and he's off!  He can get anywhere he wants in that red car.  Of course, his favorite thing to do is shut himself in the car by closing the door.  This must mean he is "big!"

I am pretty sure the red car was actually given to JLS by Gambo and Poppy, but at the time both JBS and JLS enjoyed it to its fullest.  Now, WHS has arrived.  His time has come!

 

JLS in the Red Car



JBS and JLS squeezed in the Red Car
(JLS 1, JBS 3)

The Red Car has seen us through some pretty good times!  Now, WHS, it is high time for you to make some Red Car Memories...Truth be told, Babe is chomping at the bit to eliminate things with wheels from our garage.  Red Car, this is your last hurrah in our household.  Enjoy it!

On the Move

This little toot still doesn't walk at 13 months, but don't believe that he doesn't get around.  His first option is to lay on his back on the hardwood floors, hold a foot in the air, and wait for the big boys to grab it and run with him.  Complete hysterics ensue, including coming from myself.  The next option is to use the furniture.  He is a big furniture walker.  Now, he has started pushing furniture to walk.  The funniest thing, though, he will not use his "Go-mobile."  The other two boys liked the heck out of that Go-mobile and started using it early...like 9 months old.  I remember JBS running with the Go-mobile.  Of course, that Go-mobile bit the dust, as it went thru both of Vin's kiddos and two of mine.  I bought WHS a brand new one for Christmas last year and he won't touch it.  Typical.

WHS in enrolled in My Gym here, which we love.  It is our time together, just Mom and WHS and he loves it.  He knows it's his time, as he gets so clingy on those days.  Sweet boy.  He, like the others, is such a Momma's boy.  I love it, of course.  However, in those classes he is allowed to climb and play freely in a wide open gym with lots of fun climbing equipment.  Considering he doesn't walk, the toot can scoot.  He climbs up the wall, the slide, the stairs.  I know he has it in him, he just doesn't want us to know.  This free climbing has translated to free-climbing at home and it is not good.  I was in the pantry yesterday, walked to the fridge and heard something.  I turned around, after a mere two minutes with my back to him, and WHS was sitting on top of the bar, eating a banana, no less!  His method:  climbed the kid chair onto the kid table, then climbed the kid table to sit on top of the bar.  He has been a repeat offender ever since!  So, I moved the kid table, but there is no stopping him.  Now, he just sits atop the kid table and chews on crayons.  The kid table might be disappearing for a few weeks soon.

The toot is a toot, put a precious angel of a toot.  He is so happy, loves his Momma and follows me everywhere, even if it means out the door.  He loves his big brothers so much and follows them everywhere.  They run around the house playing hide-and-seek with him.  Moving at rabbit speed in the crawling world, but turtle speed in the running world he keeps going and going and going.

All pacifiers have disappeared...literally.  WHS is a thrower.  Evidently, he has thrown all pacifiers out the window, I guess.  Thus, they will not be purchased again.  It looks like we are now, officially over the pacie.  Hallelujah!!

Back in the Saddle

Just yesterday it hit me how good I feel.  I know everyone is telling me to rest, which I will still do for the sake of all the remaining stomach issues.  However, I am 2 pints of blood stronger and I cannot tell you what a difference it has made!  Over the last year, I kept thinking, "How do other moms do this? I cannot keep up!"  I felt exhausted all the time.  Some days, I just had to sit and rest...far too often.  I had no idea my hemoglobin levels could impact me so.  While I am still below normal, I feel like I can conquer the world.  Just yesterday, I sanded and painted my "great find" of an ice cream table and chairs from our church sale, I worked in the garden, cleaned up the back yard post patio project, bought pumpkins/hauled pumpkins to decorate outside, made strides to organizing my new desk area, played with the boys, went to church, helped with homework....My friends, I haven't been able to do all that in a long time.  It is sad, I know.  But I am SO grateful to know that it wasn't just me turning lazy and old.  I actually had a problem to remedy!

In the midst of the last two weeks, my boys, all four of them, have been amazing.  Each time I get sick, which has been far too often in the last couple years, I hate letting the boys know.  But sometimes, I just can't do it all and need the help from them.  This time, when I arrived home, JBS and JLS had made me beautiful drawings that sad, "Get Well Soon" and "I hope you feel better, Mommy."  Wow.  Those sweet words carry me the distance.  They pamper me and take care of me and love me.  Sometimes it's just too much to fathom and I find myself tearing up with complete joy.  My boys are amazing boys and I love them so much!

These past few weeks have not been without the usual humor and funny incidences in our house.  JLS walked up to me out of the blue and said, "Mommy, do you know who's da best?"  When I asked, "Who?"  He said, "You da best. I wuv you."  Melt. My. Heart.

So JBS stole the story of the week.  We were driving in the car and he said, "Mom.  Can you believe I play baseball with a vampire?"  I was not getting what he was saying at all and immediately moved to "Twilight-thinking" wondering where he saw it and who he saw that with?  I said, "A vampire? Who is a vampire on your team?"  With total seriousness, he said, "You know that guy.  The guy that stands behind me when I play catcher.  He's a vampire!" 

To which I replied with a giggle, "UM-pire, sweet pea, that's an umpire!"

Transfusion Day (s)

After we got the boys to school Friday morning, Babe and I headed to the hospital to get my much needed 2 pints of fresh blood.  Gratefully, Babe's parents were still here and we left WHS in good hands for what we thought would be a few hours.  The hospitalist had told us, "Just call this number when you get here and we will admit you on an out-patient basis to receive your blood."  Boy, do doctor's not know what it really takes to get admitted.  Hours, my friends.  No one knew I was coming, my orders were only partial and the "admitting" doctor was not my doctor at all.  He was a hospitalist and no one could find him. While the search for this doctor begun, my stomach started hurting again, out of the blue.  The same pain that took me to the ER just a few days earlier.  Gradually, over the couple hours of waiting to be admitted, it got worse.  By the time I was admitted and taken to the out-patient infusion center, I was near tears because the pain was so great.
The nurses looked at me and said they couldn't give me blood if I was in pain, they called the ever-fleeting hospitalist and admitted me, once again.  More tears.  I am not afraid of the hospital, I worked in the hospital, but I can't stand being away from my family.  I cannot stand the thought of the boys hearing that I am in the hospital and worrying.  We had a full weekend of activities and I was being admitted to the hospital and I couldn't hold the tears back. 

This time, at least, I got to walk to my room.  I crawled in the surprisingly comfortable bed and let them admit me for the second time in the week.  I went to the hospital at 10am and finally by 4pm they had started an IV and started my drip.  First, my mother-in-laws blood ran through my veins.  Four hours later, Babe's blood began to be infused.  Gratefully, I had none of the potential side effects and the transfusions went smoothly.  My parents are convinced I will acquire Babe's chronic allergies, but other than that, no side effects.  By 2 am, the last of the 2 pints was in my body and I waited for the fabulous effects.

During the time I was getting blood, they had me drink contrast for a CT scan that was later cancelled.  Thanks for that extra barium in my body.  Babe took JBS to a baseball lesson and they dropped by to say, "Good-night."  They rushed home so they could make it to our neighborhood movie night on the cul-de-sac and I settled in for the night. 

By 8am the next morning, I hadn't heard from Babe, so I called to check on him.  His barely audible voice on the other end of the line told me it was bad news.  While he sat with me at the hospital around dinner time, he ate a hospital sandwich....the culprit.  He had been up all night with food poisoning and I could hear the desperation in his voice.  Once again, grateful that Gambo and Poppy were at my house taking care of my children, I called our doctor's office to get something to stop the throw-ups...from my hospital bed.

That day was picture day at for both boy's baseball teams.  I am team mom for JBS' team and everything the team needed was sitting on my kitchen counter...all the photo money, photo forms, banner they hold in the picture, line-up cards and time was ticking away.  The nurse wasn't particularly sympathetic to my situation and no doctor had been to see me.  When I realized I just wasn't going to make it, I managed to steer Gambo to our coach's phone number and I was gratefully able to reach him. He graciously drove across town to pick up everything and gave us a sympathetic laugh and said, "It can't get worse!" Funny.

Once that was handled, I moved on to trying to get both boys to their baseball games with Babe hugging the toilet.  Ultimately, Gambo and Poppy took all three boys to the family wedding they were ultimately here to attend.  They loaded everyone up and drove two hours to the wedding for the day. About this time, the nurse gave me Reglan.  It is a stimulant that moves food through the stomach, as the previous night's X-rays told us something was wrong.  Within minutes, I started to have an anxiety attack.  I have had this once before...after I was given Reglan.  It is now confirmed, I will not take Reglan again.  That is a very unsettling feeling with no control over my body, constant anxiety and everyone I wanted to see was somewhere else.  It was a hard couple of hours. In the midst of all this, I had an upper GI scope which revealed bigger problems:  my food wasn't leaving my stomach because it was inflamed and I had a huge ulcer at the exit.  This is my man-made exit s/p surgery ten years ago.  Really?  I thought it couldn't get worse.

The very kind GI doctor that was from my doctor's clinic, came to see me after he did my scope.  He knew I wanted out of there, albeit almost 4pm on Saturday.  He told me I had problems, he would agree to let me go home if I agreed to schedule another Upper GI scope and colonoscopy in a few weeks and take the medicine he was discharging me with.  No doubt I agreed and told him to, "Get the discharge papers started!"

Then, I realized Babe was passed out from Phenergren at home and my in-laws were with my boys two hours away.  I called Gambo and Poppy to swing by the hospital and pick me up as they passed by on their way home.  As it worked out, I was escorted to the curb as they drove up.

The end.  Over and Out.  I have been praying for TOTAL healing every since.  I believe it can happen.  I know it can.  However, for those of you with good health, never ever take it for granted.  It is truly a gift and a gift I would do anything to  have.  Good health for me so I don't have to leave my family again.

Bringing You Up to Date

So, it's been a crazy two weeks.  I had no intention of alarming anyone last week when I posted my gratefulness for my family members who were donating blood to my cause.  I had to be crazy to think that wouldn't cause alarm and I am so sorry.  So here's the story...

Three weeks ago, Babe had a stomach ache for three days with no other symptoms.  As soon as his was over, I acquired it.  No other symptoms other than pretty excruciating pain.  Thinking it was just a virus, I tried to focus on other things.  On Day Eight of my pain (Sunday night/Monday morning), I woke up for the last time in the night with pain.  I couldn't take it anymore.  It was intense.  I told Babe I was driving to the ER, as he and the kids were in bed and I could get a doctor visit in without anyone's schedule being disrupted...ha!

When I arrived at the ER, they immediately took blood and did a CT scan of my belly.  These things I am no stranger to with my history.  If a girl walks in to the ER with a history of Crohn's disease and abdominal pain, everyone assumes the pain is Crohn's and shoo's you on.  This is not what I wanted.  After a few hours of being in and out of sleep, the doctor came in and said, "We admit you, Mrs. S".  I barely understood his accent. I shot up in bed and said, "But why?"  He looked so serious and said, "You need blood transfusion now.  It is serious."  This was not part of my plan.  On top of messing with my plans, I was at a satellite ER.  They would not let me drive to the hospital.  So, I had to take an ambulance.  It was so embarrassing.  Awake, talking and walking, but they strapped me to a bed and hauled my hiney to the ER in the main hospital via ambulance.  My boys would have been in heaven for that ride.

There were lots of tears, I will not lie.  They went from thinking that I had a GI bleed, to finding more peace that my Hemoglobin, which was a 6, had not gone from the normal 12 overnight.  When they were able to see my blood records, they were able to see a gradual drop over time, but they still had no idea how I was a functioning person.  Everyone kept asking, "Aren't you tired?"  Heck yeah, I'm tired!  I have three boys, including a baby.  I am EXHAUSTED!  But the red flags my body must have been throwing up were confused with being a busy mom.  It was pretty serious and I was scared.

They wanted me to get two pints of blood immediately.  When they put the form in front of me to agree to all the risks, I burst in to tears.  Did I tell you it was a tearful morning?  I was about to sign a paper that said it would not be the hospital's fault if I got AIDS or HIV or Hepatitis or a whole list of awful things.  I know the risk was low, but it was an unknown and the risk sounded huge to me.  Since we discovered that I had been sitting at a "6" for awhile and the need for blood was emergent, but not necessarily a need in the next few hours, we chose to wait for Babe's blood to be processed for me.  He was a match, as was his entire family.  They are all O+ should you need blood at anytime.  They have rich blood.

Babe's parents were already coming down on Friday for a family wedding, but when they spoke with Babe Monday morning, they sensed that Babe was freaking out a little and loaded up on a moments notice and swooped in for the rescue.  I was thrilled as I worried less about Babe and the boys and more about figuring out my crazy health.  As it turns out, I needed another pint of blood and both Babe's parents were O+ as well.

By the time they arrived, Babe had already donated his blood for processing.  The next morning, I took them both to the blood bank to donate blood for me.  It was a surreal feeling to be sitting in the waiting room with them behind closed doors donating blood...for me.  Very  humbling, very scary to be facing the imminent need for blood and I was very grateful for my family to donate more familiar blood with fewer risks involved.  The only red flag Babe had was that is was a little unsettling to him that his mom's blood would soon be running through my veins.  Yes, it is a strange thought.

Blood takes 3 days to be processed.  So, we enjoyed Babe's parents being here with us and the kids and waited for Friday to arrive.  Friday was blood day.