Recap

Its been a while since my last blog update, but now seeing that I have a brand new laptop (thanks mom) I don't really have an excuse not too. Its theraputic for me and I suppose the people who REALLY want a look into my crazy life, can have a peek :)

Okay, since my last post a lot has happened! I will try to recap as much as I can remember....

Isaiah turned 3!!! We celebrated with a Veggie Tales party and lots of family and friends! He got his very first bike and still has yet to fully accompish riding it :)

 

 

We had our first family of 5 trip to the zoo. Good times!

 

We played with rockets...

 

We celebrated Easter...

 

 

 

We took our first family vacation to Wausau Wisconsin to see Veggie Tales LIVE! It was an awesome weekend that we enjoyed with our friends.

 

 

We stayed in a hotel with a water park. The boys could have lived there. It was a total blast!

 

 

Brynna wore her first bathing suit :)

We climbed a mountain with double strollers (not pictured) Surely the highlight of the trip.

 

Its was a successful trip! And yes, that is me nursing in the back of the van :)

 

Good times had by all :)

 

 

In May, we played in mud....

We played in our food...

And we played in the pool...

 

We ate ice cream....

 

And played at the park...

 

And played in boxes...

 

In June, we played at the park some more...

 

 

We painted toes

 

And met family...

 

We swam at the beach...

 

And in the pool...

 

We went on a nature walk....

 

and had a picnic with friends.

 

We had fun at the farm...

 

 

And fun with our hair :)

                                                                We played music

 

And played with our siblings...

 

 

We enjoyed time with friends

 

and enjoyed time with our cars.

 

 

In July, we had lots of fun outside! We celebrated America by going to parades and seeing fireworks! It was the HOTTEST month ever....and the same month our air conditioning broke :(

 

 

 

 

In the beginning of July, Carsten came down with a nasty virus that landed him back in the hospital with febrile seizures. Thankfully, this time we were ready for it and kept him as comfortable as possible.

 

Despite being sick, Carsten had a super fun 2nd Birthday!

and he got a new ride :)

                                               We took a trip to the science museum

                                                             And had lots of smiles

 We went to a lot of garage sales this year, and we found Isaiah his first skateboard. Thankfully, we have yet to make a trip to the ER because of it :)
                                                    

                                                     And Brynna learned to crawl

 

 

So far in August, we took a trip with Grampa and Grama to the train musuem.

                                                       We did some more swimming

                                                               And some walking

 

And some napping...

 

 

Its really been an awesome summer. Despite the unbearable heat at times, we got a chance to do some really fun things. I definetley have been stretched as a mom. I've learned that I CAN do things with the kids on my own and still have a good time. The kids are growing so fast and I'm so glad that they are at the age that we can start doing so many fun things. This was just a glimpse into everything we did this summer. There were so many more fun days that were had. I'm looking forward to summer ending and beginning a new season. Not just in the weather, but in our lives. We continue to leave every step of our lives up to God and we can't wait to see what He has planned for our family over the next few months!

 

And now for something random...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

911

Finally getting the chance to process the past few days. Sometimes I have nightmares where I'm in an emergency and I'm unable to dial 911. Either I get the number wrong, my phone dies, something always happens. I've never had to dial 911 (thankfully) until this weekend. I never thought it would be for my own child.

Its all started Sunday morning, we packed up and headed to church for Sunday school. We usually let Carsten run around to get some energy out before the service, so he ran around church like any other day, feeling good, looking good. About the time the service started, I picked him up and he felt warm. I knew there was a cold going around so we left for home so we could get him down for a nap and sleep off whatever he may have. his fever was about 101 at that point so gave him some tylenol thinking it would be done and over with. He's been hitting a growth spurt and been pretty sleepy the past week, so I shrugged it off as growing pains. After only sleeping an hour, he woke up miserable. He didn't want to eat and only wanted to lay with me on the couch and sleep. I knew then that something wasn't right. Carsten usually won't sit longer than a minute on the couch, today he slept for hours. As the day continued, he got weaker and refused to walk. He sat or laid on the floor most of the afternoon. His fever continued to rise to 102.5. I told Chris that 103 was the magic number and we would be taking him to the hospital. Around bed time, we put him in his crib and around 20 minutes later he started screaming. It wasn't a scream he would normally make, so I ran to his room thinking maybe he threw up. He was laying very still in his bed, crying. I think he may have had a seizure at that point, but I'm not certain. He started to have the shakes a little bit, similar to what happens before you throw up. So we sat on the kitchen floor, waiting for something to happen. After a while, he calmed down and we fell asleep on my chest on the couch. Maybe an hour later, he started screaming again. I brought him into our room and he slept on Chris for maybe 30 minutes and woke up screaming again. Chris laid him on the bed and immediately I knew something wasn't right. He closed his eyes as his arms and legs started to violently shake. Chris laid him on the bathroom floor and I knew what was happening. "Turn him on his side, I'm calling 911!" I yelled to Chris. Thankfully, I was able to dial despite the fact I was panicking. I watched my little boy shake and jerk uncontrollably on the floor of the bathroom for about 2 1/2 minutes while the 911 operated asked questions. All I kept thinking was that he would have some kind of brain damage, be paralyzed or never wake up. Thankfully he was still breathing, but unconscious and vomiting. This was the day I knew that living 200 yards from the fire station paid off. I ran around gathering things and getting dressed so I was ready to go the hospital. Police officers showed up first, then firefighters, then paramedics. All in all about probably 8 people stood in my house and watched my son slowly fall asleep on the floor and moan in between breaths after an exhausting few minutes. I was trying desperately to speak to the paramedics and remember all the information they needed to know. I was fighting tears and trying to stay calm. Paramedics picked him up and loaded him into the truck. It was a cold night and he was only wearing a tshirt and diaper, so I was feeling a little guilty when we left. I got in the ambulance and Chris followed in the van. Chris' mom stayed back with the other too.

After about 5 minutes into the ride, Carsten finally woke up. I will never forget the way his face looks. He was so confused and scared. I tried to calm him and talk to him while the paramedic started poking fingers, giving oxygen, and hooking up monitors to check his pulse and oxygen level. Carsten and I had a major connection during that 15 minute ride. He had no words, he couldn't move and all he could do was lock eyes with me. He continued to moan and cry but never took his eyes off me. All I wanted to do was sob, but I knew that would scare him more. We got to the hospital with nurses and doctors waiting for him. I kept hearing them say how cute he was, and I was honestly a little upset because in that moment and I didn't care how cute he was, I just needed to know that he was okay. We met with the on call doctor and she told us he would need an IV because he was dehydrated from the fever which was now at 103. They left the room and Carsten fell asleep on my chest. Chris had arrived and came in and hugged me. I finally broke down. I sobbed and cried. That was possibly the scariest thing I had ever seen. There was nothing I could do for him. He was helpless and scared.

Once the nurse came back in to drawn blood and start the IV, I knew I had to leave the room and let Chris take over. I need to compose myself, take a breath and make some phone calls. It was about midnight and I had family up praying most of the night for him. I went back in a few minutes later. He had the IV in and they took the necessary blood to run tests. I got back in bed with him and he slept some more. I tried to close my eyes and rest but I was too worked up. We sat and waited for probably an hour for the results. His blood work came back fine, so they wanted to do a chest xray. After that traumatizing experience, they still weren't sure what was causing the fever. They thought maybe pneumonia or bladder infection. So they gave him some antibiotics through the IV and hoped it would kill any infection he had. We were finally released around 3:30. We got home and put him to bed around 4. I was so happy to be in my bed, mostly because I was exhausted physically and emotionally, but also because I knew my boy was asleep in his bed. He woke up around 8 with a little bit of a fever still, but after a long nap on the couch, he was feeling better. He finally ate some food and looked good. We took a trip to the doctor to follow up and get more antibiotics. Carsten slept the rest of the afternoon until 5:30 when I woke him up for dinner. His fever spiked to almost 105, but after pumping him with his meds, its quickly came down to 101. Thank goodness.

So, this morning he is doing great. He's back to his normal self. He's still tired he's eating and playing ;) I'm so glad this was only a minor incident, but it was incredibly scary. I'm so thankfully for the dozens of people praying for him this weekend. It was strengthening for me because I could barely get prayers out of my mouth.

I can't help but feel so bad for Carsten. He's struggled from the beginning. From months of treating clubfoot, to sickness after sickness, but he IS a strong boy. Even more so now. I remember sitting in the hospital when Chris said this was the day Carsten became a "dude." I'm not sure what that meant, but I think it means that Carsten had come through a lot that day and his daddy was proud of him :) If so, I agree. I think we all earned our "DUDE" badge that day.

Well, I'm back at it. I realized after looking at this blog that I hadn't updated since I was pregnant with Carsten! So, here we are now, Carsten is 19 months old and joining him is 3 month old Brynna, our princess in training. We thought after Carsten that we would wait a couple years to have another but once he started sleeping through the night, the baby bug returned, and a year ago this week, our little girl was conceived. After a complicated pregnancy, Brynna Leigh-Marie was born November 8th, 2011 at 5:43. It was an incredible water birth after about 11 hours of labor. I'm curious to see what her relationship with water will be now... She's a very sweet baby and loves to smile at her brothers.

In about 2 months, Isaiah will be three. He is a fiesty, talkative, humorous, smart, sweet, little man. He doesn't listen, picks his nose, hits his brother and talks back. He's the perfect 3 yr old. He has his sweet moments; usually at night, but he's very busy, very opinionated, and he's pretty sure he runs the house.

Carsten is slowly following his brothers footsteps. He's had a rough 18 months conquering clubfoot and he came through it with flying colors. He is a quiet boy, not talking a whole lot yet, but I can tell he will find lots to say once he finds his words :)

Its a busy house from sun up to sun down. The boys have started playing together like normal kids, and I spend the day breaking up fights, giving timeouts and cleaning mess after mess, while simultaneously nursing Bryn every 3 hours. Its gets stressful and chaotic and most days I look forward to the sound of the door handle that signals that "Daddy's home!!!"

Having 3 kids in 3 years has really stretched me. I've come to realize that I can only do so much and that Jesus needs to continually give me the strength to get out of bed every morning. God has shown me so much about myself the past 3 years; what I can handle, how much I can love, and how easily I can lose my cool if I don't consistently dive into His Word for encouragement and wisdom. I'm still learning and the Lord is showing me new things everyday. Its an incredible journey and I'm excited to continue documenting it :)