Saturday night

The good news is that Adam got some sleep last night, I think. The nurses just came in to draw labs and do meds and then I got up for the day, but Adam was able to go back to sleep so that was good. We requested a sleeping pill last night so I think that helped...hard to get comfortable when you're 6'6" in a hospital bed and you have an iv in your arm! 

He was having some pain this morning before I came out to the lobby-and I noticed that the right side of his face is more swollen than yesterday. In the night he got out of bed and got so cold that they had to bring in heated blankets and give him an anti-nausea medication.

We'll be anxious to talk to the doctors this morning about how they think things are going...one of them said we might get out today, but the other one said Monday. Yesterday was such a good day but after last night I can see why they might want to monitor him longer.

We feel blessed that God has put a team together to take care of Adam's eye and Adam has thanked him multiple times for the person who invented morphine:) (His quote after we left the emergency room early Friday morning was "That.was.AWESOME." -talking about the morphine.  We're praying that God will continue to help him bare the pain and that his eye will heal quickly.

Adam in the hospital

It's a bummer that I'm finally updating the blog for the first time in two months with that subject:(

Adam was admitted to the hospital yesterday afternoon after being diagnosed with two different ailments: shingles of the eye and  pseudotumor oculi (or idiopathic orbital inflammatory syndrome.) Yes, that's the language we're speaking now after a week of hearing doctors use those terms and others like them! Here it is in layman terms: chicken pox in his eye,  and inflamed eye muscles that are squeezing his eyeball. Both cause excruciating pain and the poor guy has them on top of each other.

The opthamologist said that not only has he never seen these two conditions together, but that it may be THE first time it's ever happened.  Because of that, they wanted a more a team approach to try to decide how to treat him, since the steroids used to treat the pseudotumor could make the shingles worse. In addition his pain was completely unmanageable at home and he needed to be on a morphine iv for any relief.

No word on why this occurred- seems to be a freak thing; since he is otherwise completely healthy.

So far he is responding well to iv meds and is doing so much better than yesterday (or the 4 days before that!) If he keeps improving we'll be released tomorrow.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

Brevin’s First Day of School

For weeks and weeks you have been looking forward to going to school. You were so excited the night before that you were awake from 2 am to 4 am just talking to me:)  Made for a hard time waking up, but once you did you were ready to go!

Breakfast was pancakes and sausage and you chatted with Jaeley while you ate. You picked out your favorite purple polo shirt and your new Sketchers. (Whenever you put them on you say “Buy Sketchers!” from the commercial??) We went shoe shopping for velcro shoes last week so you would be able to do them yourself while at school and not have to ask the teacher to tie them for you.

It was a rainy day, so we took the picture on the front porch…you wanted Jaeley with you.

What a good-looking guy!

We went to pick Daddy up at work so he could be part of your first day and parked the car. You pulled out your Scooby Doo umbrella and sang “Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you?” all the way up to the front door. When we got there, you called goodbye to us, but I thought it would be better to escort you to your classroom…(may not have been the best idea as you’ll see in a minute.)

This is your Pre-K teacher, Mrs. Pettit! When we got into your classroom you put your name under juice for your snack later in the day and found your nametag at your table. Everything seemed in order, so all three of us gave you a hug and started out of the classroom. You must have felt it was not right to have your whole family leaving you in a strange place because you chased us down the hall:( I went back into the room with you and you cried for a little bit…and I tried to hold my tears back. It didn’t take long for me to know that you would do better once I left so we pried your little hands from around my neck and I left you to read a book with Mrs. Pettit. 

I sped walked down the hall and out of the building so as to get back to the van before the real crying started! I can’t believe how fast these 5 years went.

Luckily, I had a place to go:) A few moms got together for a cry-n-coffee. It was the perfect setting and just what I needed to get me through that first morning. There was the perfect combination between crying and dancing to have the kids starting/back to school!

Your good friends Joel Merschman and Peyton Meyer are in your class. When I picked you up at 2:30- Mrs. Pettit informed me that you did great and did not cry long at all after we had left. You talked about the lunchroom the most and loved the hotdogs. You were also mad that you didn’t get to ride the bus-too bad, buddy! As long as I can, I will be your personal escort to your new adventure!

Brevin

Today at your 5 year check-up you were 44 in. tall and 44 lbs! 71st percentile in height and 72nd percentile in weight- pretty much where you have been on the chart since you were born.

You LOVE to pretend and spend a lot of time dressing up  with Jaeley. You’ve recently earned the privilege to ride your bike on the street when it’s not busy and down to the cul-de-sac. You can just taste freedom. We have to remind you to put on your helmet all the time!

I asked about bedwetting at your appt. and they said it’s normal for boys at your age- you’re dry 5 nights a week, so that will keep improving:)

Brevin’s Bday party

We were lucky we were able to carry on with Brev’s bday party at planned with all the flooding! (As you can see here in the background.) I CANNOT believe that we were celebrating your 5th birthday!! You invited neighbors, cousins, and a few friends to swim at the Adel pool for the afternoon.

 

Grabbing a snack during one of the pool breaks

Because it was your birthday party, the lifeguards let you sit in the lifeguard chair…

and then jump out of it!!

Brevin and Joel

Pumped about the Backugons!!! Before the party you said to me, “So you mean that I’m going to be the ONLY ONE opening presents!?” Birthdays rule, huh Brev?

Brevin and David

Costco cake! Yum.

 

We had to pretend to blow out the candles because it was too windy to get them lit. You were a good sport about it.

Daddy was supposed to have come, but unfortunately got the flu and was miserable in bed with temperature. Good thing for pictures and video!

Sweet Corn Fest-The Big Day

The day began with the annual 5K run-Adam and I could both run it because of Erika staying overnight, and were both happy with our times…because we ran it together; holding hands. YAH RIGHT! Just checking to see if you were still reading…Adam’s last words to me before the race began were “Yep, I’ll run with you…until you see the tail-lights.” Thanks honey.  Jessie Zeigler and I set our pace and crossed the finished line in 26:40. Adam was 23:something.

Brevin, Jaeley, and neighbor Lexi watching the parade.

BAHAHAHA! Adam made his third appearance on the Rotary 10-man bicycle and armed himself with a squirt gun. Oh, the fun:)

Battle of the area fire departments. Felt awesome to get wet and cool off.

The day concluded with parents’ night out at a couple adult gatherings and the beer garden downtown featuring “Gimmick” as the band. No pictures to document this portion of the festival:)

Sweet Corn Fest

Adel’s sweet corn festival kicked off tonight with the corn shucking- 7 1/2 tons of corn needed to be shucked in order to be served up for FREE the next day, so we joined in. This year, Adam was in charge of organizing the event-so the kids got some special treatment and got help him…IN the truck!

Erika stayed the whole weekend with us!  We loved having her:)

Are they “sweet!?”

After the shucking we set up the fire pit in the standard spot between Seidl’s and our house. It was hot, but we NEEDED smores!

Neighbor Sarah playing tea party with the girls

Relaxing Friday night before the big day the next day-we were all in bed by 10:00:)