April 2014

We decided to test Jackson on some of his food allergies.  He has gotten MANY MANY false positives and the only true way to know, with him, is to try the food.  We tried Wheat.  It started out very promising but with more than a couple bites, this is what happens....

 Doesn't he look miserable?  Scared me to death.  A dose of benedryl and some lotion cleared it up pretty quickly.  But Wheat is a definite NO for him.

Carter has a journal he writes in for his teacher.   He is getting more creative as time goes by.  This was by far my favorite entry.  Translation:  "I like Lego Ninjas.  The black ninja is the best.  I'm the ultimate spinjitsu master."  And he really is.  He practices his Ninja moves constantly, and so does Jackson.

April has brought the new Soccer season.  Carter was very excited to play.  He is much better than last year and is showing a hint of aggressiveness.  Still needs more but is making great progress.  And he's having fun, which is the most important part.  That's what I keep telling myself at least:)

He's scored 2 goals so far this season.

He absolutely loves to play Goalie and Defender the best.  And it's actually where he's the best at.  But I don't think the mom in me could handle my son being the goalie at a higher level.  Too much stress.  It's like the quarterback of the team, everyone blames them for the loss.  

  

                                           

We have been debating for quite some time about buying a swing set for the boys for the backyard.  We finally quit debating and just did it.

 Neil's dad was nice enough to spend an entire afternoon helping Neil set it up.  He spent 7 hours over here and we were only half done.  Neil and I went back out that night, with head lamps and worked more, and Neil went out the next morning and evening to finish.  Took about 12 hours total.  Totally worth it though.  The boys love it.

 And it makes a great hiding place on Easter for Easter Eggs!  Both boys were very into finding and hiding eggs this year.  The weather was cold and grey but the rain didn't really come.

 Jax preferred to use his arms instead of his basket in gathering eggs.

 

Checking out what the Easter Bunny brought them.  Bubbles were a hit for Jackson and a new chapter book was Carter's favorite.  

 We dyed eggs for the first time ever and it was a success.  Both boys loved dunking their eggs in the dye and then decorating with stickers.

We made deviled eggs out of them that night and Carter actually enjoyed them.  We are coming up on our 1 year anniversary of Carter being able to eat eggs!

We went to the grocery store as well that day to get a picture with the Easter Bunny.  I was hoping for another gem like this photo from last year:

                                              
But Jackson obviously remembered the trauma and as soon as the Easter Bunny came into view he started crying and yelling "I'm scared of the Easter Bunny. No No!"
                                              
So I had to hold him in the picture and he had a death grip around my neck.  I can't wait for Christmas and the picture with Santa:))

Easter Sunday:

 Handsome Boys in their matching Suits.

Carter insisted on having his hair spiked for the day.  

We sure love these boys of ours.   

 The best part of the month involved Jackson and his Tubie.  He got his central line removed the week before Easter!  We have been hoping and praying for this for his whole life.  It still seems surreal.

A couple weeks before his line was removed we put a dressing on his kitty KoKo and he was thrilled with that.

The day we went to Primary Childrens was just a normal clinic day for us.  The Dr. said he was good to get his line removed and I figured, we were already down here we may as well wait around and get the line removed, instead of another trip down.  They were already a little full but a persistent mom goes a long ways and they found room for him in the OR about 2 pm.  Only bad part was that he needed to be fasting for 6 hours and the breakfast he'd eaten in the car was small.  It was a long LONG day for a little boy who is use to eating every 1-2 hours.  

Aunt Linsey met us there and we did our best to distract him.  First up, Toy Ground.  

 He loves this place.  And always remembers everything about his last visit and what he wants to play with.

After the toy ground I decided to get out of the hospital for awhile before surgery and so we headed to the park.  An early morning made for a sleeping Jackson before we got to the park.  It was actually a good thing though because it killed almost 2 hours and he forgot how hungry he was.

 The only bad part was that once he woke up, he left off where he was before and was very upset that we weren't at the park and that he wasn't eating or drinking.  We needed to be at the hospital at this point so he had a sad breakdown.

The train running in the lobby helped for a few minutes.
But once we got back in our room and prepping for surgery he was a sad, sad little boy.  He kept begging for his sausage patties that I had bought him for breakfast, but only took 2 bites out of.  

 He had the saddest face and voice I'd ever seen.  Last picture with his Tube in!!  The same Doctor we had with his last surgery was also the Doctor we had again today.  She kept asking if he was done with his chemotherapy and that's why we  wanted his line out.  It's a good thing she left quickly because my patience was about as thin as Jackson's at this point.

 Occasionally we could distract him with watching Frozen or playing a game.  He'd watch for a minute and then start crying again for food.  His surgeon and anesthesiologist, upon seeing how upset he was thought that maybe some Versed(a relaxer) would be a good idea for him.  I agreed and about 25 minutes before surgery they brought this medical magic.  It instantly relaxed him and he forgot about food and his anxiety.  

 He could barely sit up and couldn't hold his head up by himself and was slurring his words.  It was the best part of the day seeing drunk Jackson:)  Once again, Linsey was able to be the one to carry him down the long hallway to the OR.  Sadly, she is moving next month and we will no longer have the luxury of her help.


Surgery went great and fast.  Before I knew it, they were calling me back to see him in recovery.  Gone was my relaxed, happy little boy.  In his place was an angry, angry monster (and I mean that in a loving way).  Jackson does not come out of anesthesia well, or quickly it seems.  And he sure makes me pay for it:)  ( Neil was out of state on a business trip and was sad to miss this, but we decided to go ahead with it all.)  Jackson was screaming and trying to climb out of his crib and screaming some more.  He wanted nothing to do with me, or anyone really.  I tried everything, movies, food, drinks, stickers, ipad, etc etc.  It would just anger him more.  Finally I just left him alone, with the crib sides as high as they would go, and sat down.  After about an hour of screaming and clawing, he fell asleep and slept for another hour.  I was anxious to get home but did not want to wake a sleeping monster.

 Here is the Devil himself, fast asleep.  Luckily the nurses understood and left him alone as well.  He never seemed to be in any pain after the surgery and I only gave him one dose of Tylenol that night.

He was back to his charming self once he woke up.  He quickly proceeded to make up for lost time and ate an enormous amount of food on the way home.

Here he is the next day with his little bandage over the sight.  That lasted 2 days and then had steri strips for 4 days.  When you ask him where his Tubie is he says "It's in the garbage.  I don't need it."  

 Being Tube Free is wonderful.  For all of us.  Most immediate perk for Jackson was being able to bathe in deep water, with no splashing restraints.  And we decided to celebrate with a bubble bath.  He can no longer take a normal bath, it must be a bubble bath.  And I can't blame him.  Making up for lost time.

He is discovering new positions in the bath now that his Tubie is gone.

We are very thankful for Tubie, he kept Jackson alive for almost 3 years.  But we aren't sad to see him go.  Jackson is a very tough little boy, and a fighter.  Medically, it should be impossible to live with such little intestine but miracles do exist and he answers to Jackson DoodleBop Etherington.