Where's Katelyn?

HERE SHE IS! After being left alone for about five minutes this is where I found her. She loves mandarin oranges and she found the bowl I left on the dining room table. Thank goodness it was a small bowl!

Family Night

   The kids had a blast this family night. I made chili dogs for them for the first time and they loved it! We were running a little late so we had to fly through things a little because Braden was about ready to go to sleep in his dinner plate! 

   For most of my life we've had a tradition of making "The Great Pumpkin Cookies." They are a hardy pumpkin, oatmeal, raisin cookie and have always been one of my favorites. We frost them and make faces out of candy. It's a lot of sugar but so much fun! That's the activity we did for our family night. I made the cookies in the afternoon and filled candy bowls so right after dinner I whipped up some frosting and we were ready. 

   You definitely need at least two  adults for this. They decorate them faster than I can frost them and someone need to keep an eye out for candy sneakers and frosting smuggers. Even though it is a mess it's worth it to see how much fun they have.

     After we made the cookies we went to a covered area in the living room and had apple cider with our cookies while we watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." They didn't eat much of their cookies after they had licked so much frosting and had a few candies. 

     It's a simple things but one of my favorite traditions and memories! I'm so glad to have my kiddos to enjoy it with!

Buddy Walk

On Sunday we went to Seattle for our second year of the Buddy Walk. It is put on by the Down Syndrome Community right beside the science center on the Fisher Pavillion. It's a chance for people with Down Syndrome and their families to get together and show support. There were activities, clowns, info stands, and live entertainment. This year we were blessed with gorgeous weather!

I am so thankful the Braden was born in a time were there is so much support for him with his disability. He is the sunshine in our family and we all love him so much!

New Baby Name

While I was fixing lunch, Marcel comments (out of the blue), "I figured out the name for the new baby girl."
"What baby girl?" I asked.
"OUR baby girl!" (Clarification: I am NOT pregnant)
"That's nice sweetie. What is it?"
"Rhonda!!!"

Sometimes You Desperately Need To Be Heard

Bluberry Jam

For years now I've wanted to make my own jam but never got around to it. This year I was determined! Trying to be frugally minded I first thought out the cheapest way to do it. We have some blueberry bushes in our yard- free. That was as cheap as I got it. Pectin and a few containers didn't cost much though.
Although I know how unhealthy freezer jam is, that's the one I went with because I didn't feel like standing over a boiling pot. I'm gonna search for a more natural recipe with whatever jam I do next.
I think I did everything right! I followed the instructions exactly so in 24 hours we will see!

Kate kept herself busy while I picked the berries.

That girl just loves dirt and rocks!

CHEEEEESE!!

The Nicest Mom in the World

Marcel: Mom, thanks for being the nicest mom in the world!
Me: Oh, Marcel your so sweet!
As I'm getting ready to say "I don't know abou the WHOLE world though", he beats me with-
"Well... maybe not the whole world. Maybe like the United states or at least Tiger Mountain!"
Hey! A whole mountain is still good for me!

HIPPO Therapy

Braden signing 'horse."

A perfect fit!

Today was Braden's first day of HIPPO theraoy at Camp Beracha. Don't know if I spelled that right. Anyway, Braden did really well. He wasn't allowed to ride on the horses today because there was some miscommunication and I was told yesterday that he needed to be evaluated by a specific therapist before he could be formally treated. He was allowed to visit though and play a few games.

He tried on helmets to find the one that will fit him, met his horse, who's name is Blitzen, and gave him a couple carrots. They're don't let kids hand feed them but he put them in Blitzen's food bucket and watched. He also gave him a pat.

He seemed to like being there and I think next week he'll like going for a ride.

Feelin' So Much Better

Except for still fighting with his high blood pressure, Giovanni is doing better than he has in months. His energy is up, he eats and sleeps better... We are so thankful that he is recovering fine. Now we are just trying to get him set up on a kidney waiting list. That will take some time but we are believing for the best!

Corn Shucking

I didn't know shucking corn would be such a hit with my kids. They loved it! We went onto the front porch where they were free to make a mess with all the "hairs" as Marcel called them. They diligently ripped away until it was done. I wonder if half the fun was the fact that Mama was letting them rip things apart. Bonus: Marcel used to gag when he ate corn but he tried it again and now it's his favorite.

Moving AGAIN

What an incredibly busy last month! I can honestly say it was the hardest I've ever had. We've ever had. As you can see from my last blog, we had moved and were loving our new apartment. However, even as we were moving Gio was feeling rotten. First we just thought he was sick then we thought it was the flu but it just wouldn't go. Next he developed a bizarre infection in his mouth. I'll spare the gross details.

After about a week he finally gave in and went to an urgent care center where the doctor was pretty stumped. He gave in Nystatin hoping it was some kind of candida but really didn't know. He suggested he take the 10 day RX course and then see a specialist. After 8 days there was not change in his mouth and he was getting more sick. He couldn't eat and was loosing a lot of weight. He could barely walk, had abdominla pain all the time and could only stay awake long enought to go to work.

I begged him to go see his doctor but he kept fighting it because he didn't want a pile if bills. After the his Rx failed to work and being misserable he finally went to see his primary care physician. She said he just had hear burn and took a swab of his mouth since she had no clue what it was either. She said the office would call in a couple days with the results.

The heartburn medication didn't work and the couple days turne into four so Gio called and they said part of the test came back and it definitley wasn't candida but somehow the other tests were misplaced so could he come in again for another swabbing. He was really irritated but went in and told the doctor he still felt like he was going to die. But they just told him to keep taking the heartburn RX and then gave him another RX for like a herpes treatment.

He was a little curious but they said that's probably what it was since it wasn't yeast. We couldn't afford it and didn't want to dump out a bunch of money on a guess. A couple days later it was Easter Sunday and He honestly loked like he was going to die. He couldn't stand, had lost about 20 pounds, was a white/grey color and said the pain was unbearable. I told him this was ridiculous and that he HAD to go to the ER. He agreed and I took the children to my parents for Easter. I ate real quick and was getting ready to leave when he called me.

I couldn't make out what he was saying but he sounded like he was vommiting or having some kind of attack. I flew home and when I git there I had to change his clothes and help him to the car. I was afraid he was going to die on the way to the ER.

Thank God there was vallet at the hospital and we went right in to a crowded waiting room. The nurse checking in said she'd prefer if he checked himself in but as he tried to she realized he was about ready to pass out and quickly put a wheel chair behind him. He stared throwing up fluids and sweat was pouring off his face. She wheeled him into the back right away.

Once there they were pretty quick about drawing blood and giving him fluids. They did an EKG which was okay and then we waited. We didn't hear anything for about an hour and I was going to put up a huge fight if they came in and said it was just the flu. But as I was going out to call and check on the kids, the doctor stopped me and said we needed to talk right away in Gio's room. He told us that his kidneys weren't working and that a specialist was coming in right away. We needed to plan to stay for at least a few days.
Part of me as terrified and yet I felt better knowing that someone finally found out what it was and didn't just brush him off. The specialist was there in about 2 minutes and told us a load if things that would be ahppening over the next couple days. He figured from the levels in his blood test that his kidneys were working at only 5%. The doctor, Dr. Brokenbrough, is the nicest guy ever and worked thoroughly with us.
So Gio stayed until Wednesday night. He had an IJ catheter put into his neck to start dialysis and we spend the few days there gathering tons of info about living with kidney disease and dialysis. There is a very specific diet (extra high protein, low potassium, low phosphate, low sodium, low dairy) and dialysis 3 days a week for 4 hours each time. He does this in the evening after work. There is a center just a couple miles from his work on the way home so that's very handy.
A lot will be going on and the biggest is a transplant. He's on a waiting list and we know of a guy who's willing to donate but our insurance won't cover a transplant until we've been with them over 12 months. We've only been with them 4.
So that's why we moved...again. There are so many appointments, mini surgeries, medications, dialysis (oh, our insurance doesn't cover that either) and we are not sure how it would affect his work. So we are living with my parents. They have two spare rooms and now my mom is thrilled to have her grandkids back.
Now that we've finished moving twice and we're settling into this new lifestyle I really hope to keep my blog updated. So don't give up on me!! Keep checking back. :)

We've Moved!!

This blog is late in coming--sorry! We have moved! The end of February Giovanni and I found a great apartment deal and decided to go for it. It has been hard for the boys but all in all it has been going well. We lost our camera's bettery charger so we have no new pics but here is our address:
17321 122nd Lane SE #OO-201
Renton, WA 98058

I hope to get blogging again soon!

Valentine's Day

   We had a fantastic Valentine's Day! I woke up to balloons, flowers, chocolates, and a card. It was such a sweet classic Valentine's! I also got a french press a couple days before. He knew I really wanted one so he couldn't wait to give it to me. 

   We got up early and went to Woodland Park Zoo. I love that place! We were able to get there on time and that rarely happens for us. The day was cold but the sky was clear so it was beautiful. The first thing we did was go into this activity building for kids. It has play structures and hands on stuff. I pulled out my camera and took one picture of Katelyn and when I tried to take another I realized that the memory was full! There were no picture's we could erase so I was bummed that we spent a wonderful day and had no pictures to remember it by. 

   BUT, we all had so much fun! The animals that were out were in full view and very entertaining. We went into a bird house and I got a bird to land on my feeder stick. The kids were so excited! Braden didn't get a bird on his stick but he went up next to one and it would stretch out and take a bite. 

    We were there almost four hours and only saw half of the zoo. We had to stop several time to fix things or change things. We're are looking forward to going back in a couple weeks to see more. We purchased a seasonal pass last week so I think we'll be there quite a bit. Like I said though, I love that place! 

    After the zoo we went up to Lynwood to Giovanni's sister's house and had empanada. They are filled bread pockets. It's a traditional food from Chile. They're very delicious! They boys played with their cousin, Yara, and further wore themselves out. After we were there a couple hours I noticed Marcel looked exhausted. After a few minutes he laid down on the floor and was out.  By the time we got him home the poor guy had a fever. 

    We made so many wonderful memories. I love having a family! Here are the only pictures I was able to get!

A Happy Anniversary

Giovanni and I celebrated our anniversary yesterday. We went out (childless) to eat at the Claim Jumper then we rented the movie Fireproof. We had a fabulous dinner and really enjoyed the movie. 

We are so grateful that we are still together and that we have such a wonderful family! I'm grateful that I'm married to a man who loves me and tries so hard at everything. Thank you honey!!!

A Good Result

Braden had another blood test a couple days ago and it came back within NORMAL range. His doctor thinks his body was just fighting a really hard virus that was affecting his cell level and just wouldn't leave for a couple weeks. We are so relieved and thankful!

Laundry Soap

I tried something that I've wanted to for a while now- make my own laundry soap. Through another lady's blog I got the recipe and gave it a try. I love it!! It sounds daunting but it's SUPER easy and the money you save is unbelievable. Even with an all natural soap it will cost me about 2 cents a load. I haven't figured it exactly yet. 

So if you have a few minutes and want to give it a go here's the recipe:

1/3 bar of soap

1/2 cup WASHING soda (not baking soda)

1/2 cup Borax

Grate bar of soap and put it in a sauce pan (don't worry it cleans up very easily). Add 6 cups of water and heat, stirring, until soap melts. Then add the soda and Borax. Keep stirring until dissolved. Next, pour 4 cups of hot water into a large bucket with a lid. (It needs to be able to hold 2 gallons) Pour the soap mixture into the bucket. Stir. Pour in 1 gallon plus 6 cups warm water. Stir. Cover with a lid and let set 24 hours. 

After it has set there will be a thick layer of gel on the top and fluid underneath. Stir it up and use 1/2 cup for each load. The mixture is supposed to be clumpy  looking. 

Makes 64 loads. 

As I was getting ready to do this post our computer started acting funny so it won't let me post me pictures of my soap bucket. Bummer. Well, maybe tomorrow I'll be awake enough to figure it out.

Update on Braden

  Well, we got the blood test results back on Braden about a week ago and they showed that his total cell count was lower than it had been. There are different types of white blood cells and now he has two of them that are running low. The week before he only had one. His doctor did reassure me though, that it doesn't look like anything life threatening. But he wants us to do one more cell count and then we'll go from there. 

   Tomorrow I am taking him back to Children's hospital for the test. They get the results back very quickly so hopefully I'll know a little something more in just a couple days.

Prayer For Braden

Please pray for Braden. The poor boy has been so sick. He went to Children's where they took a blood sample. His white blood cell count is low. Now dangerously low but still low. Because he had a fever and broke out with tiny purple spots, they are hoping the low level is because of infection or bacteria. So they gave him and antibiotic through his IV then sent him home. He was so lethargic.

Today he went to his regular pediatrician. He's feeling a little better but they still had to give him the rest of the antibiotics. It was very painful as they had to use two syringes and push the fluid in slowly. Later he was so sore he could hardly walk and he cried and cried. Tomorrow his doctor is supposed to call me with the final results of his blood culture. Then after he is better I have to take him back to Children's for some more blood tests. They want to see what his blood cell level is when he's well and also to test him for celiac disease. 

He seems so miserable and there's not much I do for him. He's such a sweetie and I feel so bad that he can't tell me what's wrong. Hopefully these tests will give us some answers. 

Cat food...Again

I don't know what it is but she LOVES cat food. How awful is that? Every time I put food down for the cat I have to watch her because she'll quickly dive right in. She must like meat (is that stuff really meat?). It kind of cracks me up and makes me sick at the same time. NOW, when I give her baby food she shivers and gags and tries to keep her mouth clamped. What in the world?!

Just too cute!

There's no story behind this picture except that it's just cute! It's from about a week ago. Katelyn is now 9 months and loved the mirror. (Oh no)