New Blog

I've started a new blog and will no longer be posting on here.  I will keep this blog up and active, so to speak, so you can look back at and reference older post.  Please check out the new blog -

 

My Happy Hectic Life 

 

See you there!

Making Progress...

On Monday, after Raymond was done at the clinic, we went to my cousin Gary's house for a little fun.  3 of his grandchildren were there who are the same age as my kids.  They had fun swimming and playing with each other. 

 

 

 

Gary stayed right next to Raymond because he was afraid Raymond was going to take a header into the pool.  Chloe, who is 6 like Isabella, was letting Raymond push her backwards into the water.  He thought that was SO funny.

 

Raymond does not like getting into the water but he does enjoy walking around the outside of the pool and putting his hands in the water.

 

Raymond really liked Scott, Gary's oldest son.

 

 

Scarlet decided to sunbath.

 

It was nice for Isabella to have a break from the feeding clinic.  She's also been wanting to swim so bad.  The fact that she had someone her own age to swim with (as opposed to her brother and sister) was a big bonus.

 

Raymond continues to try to learn to chew.  He isn't so resistant to chewing as he was at the start of the week, but he just doesn't seem to get it.  He likes being praised when he crunches down on a cracker but seems to do it by accident rather then on purpose.  The goal by using a cracker (I should say a tiny piece of a cracker) is to get him to associate the crunch (sound, feeling, texture) with chewing.  It's kind of like a physical cue.  Hopefully he learns to associate the two soon.

 

I spoke with the feeding therapist yesterday and asked her what there ultimate goal is for Raymond when he's done with this program.  She said that the hope is that he won't need to be tube fed at all.  She does not believe that he will be able to chew by the time we are done.  He also will not be eating independently.  Those skills will require more treatment (out patient, twice a month). 

 

He will continue to eat baby food and drink formula at home.  The formula is were he will get, and has been getting, most of his calories.  Raymond cannot pick up a spoon and eat on his own, or drink from a cup alone, but the fact that he's swallowing the baby food and formula is awesome!  Raymond's tube will not be removed until he is eating and drinking independently for 6 months with no weight loss.  That could be quite a while yet.

 

Thus far, I am very happy with Raymond's progress!  He loves the ladies here helping him and is happy to see them every morning when we arrive.  They call him "tank" because he feels so heavy.

 

 

 

Boy oh boy, does he look like Daddy!

 

The girls have been doing a lot of coloring.

 

Yesterday I had to take Lily to the emergency room.  Luckily it is right across the street.

I thought she broke her arm.

 

On Sunday, Lily fell off of her swing at home.  She showed me that her arm hurt but it didn't look swollen and she could move everything fine so I figured it was just a little sore.  She has been babying it a little since then.  Yesterday we were getting out of the car, and she started to scream and cry.  Her arm was just hanging down by her side and she wouldn't and couldn't move it.  I thought possibly it had been sprained from the fall and the way she moved it getting out of the car, broke it. 

 

The emergency room doctor was SO good with Lily.  After looking at it, he told me her elbow was dislocated and that caused her ligaments around it to be pushed out of place.  He popped Lily's elbow back into place, which caused the ligaments to return to the proper place, and within 10 seconds she was moving her arm around like normal.  He took an ex-ray just to be on the safe side since she fell, and told me her arm was just bruised.  He actually said he doesn't believe the dislocation and fall had anything to do with each other.  It was just coincidental that it was the same arm.  The doctor also said Lily is at high risk for her elbow to dislocate again since it happened this time.  We need to be careful how we pick her up and move her around; we should grab her under the arm pits or by the top of her arms.  As she grows, the area around her elbow will get thicker and it won't be a problem for her.  I must say, although Lily was in a lot of pain, she was a very brave girl!   

 

After Raymond was done yesterday, we went to Big Lots to buy some snacks.  This is how to tell you're really tired...

 

 



Right next to Big Lots is Hancock Fabric's and Isabella asked if we could go in.  Since Raymond had fallen asleep in the Big Lots cart, I said sure.  We made it about twenty feet inside the door to a clearance fabric area, and without touching or bumping, about 6 rolls of fabric (the tall upholstery fabric rolls) fell on top of Lily. They knocked her backwards and she slammed her head on the floor.  It was a rough day for her!!!

 

 

 

Scarlet finds everyday to be rough.  It's hard being so darn cute all the time! 

 

      I'll be sure to keep you updated!

 

Until Next Time!

Lots of Love, 

Remember Us?

Oh boy!  It's been awhile.  I have been so busy and haven't really had time to sit down and work on the blog.  To be honest, I haven't really wanted to either.  I just needed to work on some other things at home and prepare for upcoming events (which I will talk about below).  Where to start?  Okay, we'll start here...

 

Isabella had field day at school.  It was SO hot that day but I took Raymond and Lily over anyway to watch for a little.

 

This is the picture I snapped when she realized we were there.  I didn't tell her we were coming just in case something happened and we couldn't get there.  Arms up in celebration!  : )

 

ALL the kids came over to talk to Raymond.  I HAD to snap a picture.  It made this mama happy.

 

 

This is a picture of Isabella on her last day of kindergarten.  She cannot wait to start first grade!

 

Flashback and look at the first day of school.  What a difference!

The baby is finally here!  There were some unexpected bumps at the hospital (with the hospital, not the delivery) but we got threw it.

 

 

The delivery went smoothly.

Scarlet Abigail

8lbs. 5.5ozs.

20in.

 

My very good friend Drea came to see Scarlet right after she was born.

 

Her first bath.

 

Her extremely happy and proud big sister!

 

All the kids just love her to pieces.  Raymond constantly kisses her and Lily loves to sing to her.  Isabella is an expert big sister and great helper.

Scarlet will be three weeks old on Wednesday.  She is such a good and snuggly baby. 

 

We are currently at the Feeding Clinic in Hershey with Raymond.  The kids and I are staying at the Ronald McDonald House.  We came down when Scarlet was four days old and have been here ever since.  Raymond is doing GREAT!  He's picking up eating well.  They have been feeding him baby food and he's drinking formula out of a medicine cup.  All with the assistance of someone but non the less, fantastic!  Today they started trying to give him food he must chew.  The feeding therapist cut up chicken nuggets, French fries and peaches in tiny pieces.  He's not having it.  He actually wants no part in it.  They told me chewing is the hardest thing to learn.  I'm very optimistic though.  It's only the first day and he's unsure what is expected of him.  He doesn't understand it yet.  As soon as he makes the connection, I have no doubt he will excel with this phase also.

 

We do a lot of playing during the day here.  I have us barricaded on the one side so Raymond won't run out into the hallway (which he did - and got on the elevator).  We bring lots of snacks which keep my hungry girls happy.

 

Tiny and sweet!

We are forced to go home on the weekends.  It's a real pain having to pack everything up for one night.  I use that time at home to do the laundry and repack new cloths and snacks.

 

S..T..R..E..T..C..H

 

Scarlet is always looking for food!

She eats and falls asleep very quickly.

 

She likes to lay on the bed while I fold laundry.

She's even cute when she's sad.

 





Her sister's quickly come to the rescue!

 



 

But she's starving so kisses only hold her over for so long.

 

Tummy time.

 

My Sweet Girls

 

 

The Big Man Eating and Drinking

 



 

Yum! Yum! Yum!

 

I will update on Raymond's progress very soon!

 

Until Next Time!
Lots of Love,