lots of stuff

I finally got on the internet to check out everybody else's life and to give an update on mine. It's good to see all the pictures and to read about how everyone's doing. I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks and that's pretty unusual for me...but I finally took the time to sit down and do it. The boys went to bed early tonight because they were absolutely pooped from playing today so I have a little bit of extra time. I have to admit though...I've been going to bed early myself the past couple of nights, so I haven't taken the time to write.

I forgot to download the pictures I wanted as I was typing this whole entry...so I'll have to download them tomorrow...it took me so long to type everything and it will take even longer to download all the pictures (dialup is to blame) I want so I will just edit this entry tomorrow...pictures to come :)

We went to the park with Shannon and her kids today and there was also another girl there who I've heard a lot about but never met. So it was fun to get out and interact with adults. I read Shannon's blog and she was talking about how fast 2 hours went by and it sure did. The kids had a blast though. It took Spencer about 20 minutes to warm up to everybody but after that he was running after Eli and doing everything he was doing. He had dirt from head to toe...but he defintely had fun. The cutest part was when we got there and Eli comes running up to us and says...HEY BUDDY!...in his cute southern accent. How adorable!

This past weekend on Saturday, I had a Stake Relief Society Enrichment meeting I went to and it was absolutely wonderful! It was one hour where I could just refill all my empty spiritual pitchers and be uplifted enough to think I could make it throughout the next day. It was titled, "Women of Destiny" and truly gave me a more positive outlook on life, thinking that I could make a difference. The songs were beautiful! It was great...

After I got home from the meeting, Shaun was finishing up giving the boys some lunch and I asked Spencer what he wanted to do the rest of the day. He said..."animals at zoo" in his broken language... That was the first time I had ever asked him what he wanted to do and he actually had a response to give me. So I told Shaun we should take him to the zoo. When he said "animals", it almost sounded like "Elmo" so Shaun had to give him a hard time and keep asking him if he wanted to watch Elmo movies or Elmo tv or read Elmo books...aggravated him almost to the point of real tears. Poor Spencer...he just kept on saying "no...see animals...zoo" Finally I had to intervene and tell Shaun to give it up. We did end up going to the zoo and had a pretty fun time. It was the most crowded I've seen it...but what did I expect...it WAS Saturday.

Sunday I had meetings before church, had to teach the lesson, meetings during and after church, so when I got to Grandmother's to eat, I was ready to get my belly full and was hoping the boys would be absolutely pooped to the max so we could all take a long winter's nap (well...it was a little on the chilly side on Sunday and rainy... so I guess it could be considered a winter's nap) And that's what happened. We all took about a 2 - 3 hour nap and that's just what I needed. Then Ethan (my cousin) was celebrating his 18th birthday that night so the fam had cake and ice cream at his house. I can't believe he's already hit adulthood. He got accepted at an awesome art school so I'm assuming he will be going there in the fall. He's so talented.

From here on...a lot of you have already heard the hospital story, so feel free to skip over it...I guess I'm just recording it for me...

We went last Tuesday to get Andrew's MRI done...that took a few hours...then we had an appointment with the orthopedic doctor that afternoon, where he was to read the xrays and tell us what he thought might be bothering Andrew's knee. He saw a black spot behind his knee that had a ring of white around it. This is what he said was something he just didn't know what it was. He called a bone specialist of 30 something years to come down and look at it and he did and said it was an area of infection and inflammation. They were going to have to do a biopsy, sedate Andrew and stick a needle in the infected area to draw out some fluid to determine what kind of infection it was. Then it would be a few days before they could determine what the infection was and then the next step would be to give antibiotics for the specific infection to clear it up. Alrighty then...we had a diagnosis and a plan to help Andrew get better. I felt better. They were going to admit us to the hospital overnight and set up a CT scan and a biopsy for the next day. Well...the next day rolls around and we wait...and wait...and wait some more and they tell us that the scheduling just isn't coming together with everyone. There's 4 different teams that they were dealing with and they couldn't get coordinated for a time to get everything done. Andrew had to fast at least 6 hours before the CT scan so he fasted all Wednesday morning until about 11 or so and that's when they came in there and told us they couldn't do everything that day so he could eat. OK...the poor little guy was starving to death and they wait till almost lunchtime to come in and tell us he won't have it done that day...come on... So basically Wednesday we just sat around all day and wasted a lot of time. I asked the nurse if we could just leave and come back and she said she didn't see why not but when we came back, we would have to be readmitted and pay another $150 copay. Nevermind...we just sat tight and just about went crazy. Shaun had asked for the day off work so he was there to keep me a little bit of company. He had to be at work at 1:30 in the morning Thursday though so he didn't get much sleep. He got off Thursday around 12 and came straight to the hospital. Andrew had his CT scan done on Thursday "morning"...more like early afternoon. Poor baby had to fast again until they came and got him to take him down to do the CT scan. This was about 11 when they came and got us...Andrew ended up losing a pound or so just from having to fast...maybe also because he wouldn't eat much of the yucky hospital food. Ashley was funny when she came by to visit on Thursday night because she said she loved hospital food...I told her she could have whatever was on that plate because he wouldn't eat it. It was really gross that night so I don't even think she would have eaten it. We enjoyed so much having visitors!! Thanks Ashley and Emery and Junko. The balloons you brought were adorable too...Spencer found the little monkey that had held the balloons today and kept on saying...Balloon...Balloon...

Anyways...getting back to the story...Andrew had the CT scan done... and around 6 that night, our orthopedic doctor called us and said that there were about 30 people, experts included now, that just couldn't agree on what exactly it was that was causing him the pain. The most probable cause they came up with was that Andrew had a piece of cartilage growing on the back of his growth plate on his knee...causing some inflammation...and definitely causing him pain. One of the experts was going to send the xray results to his mentor in VA to get his opinion about it. He said they thought we could go home because there was really nothing else they could do there at the hospital! That was the best news ever! So many prayers have been answered on Andrew's behalf... Thanks to all of you that have prayed for him and for our family...and Janette thanks for your family doing a special fast for him. I definitely believe in divine intervention. If the experts would have not had a "stupor of thought" and held off the biopsy, Andrew would have gone through a whole lot of pain he didn't have to. I feel so humble...when something happens to one of your children, that is the first emotion that is felt...humility. But thanks again to all of you that have said prayers for our family!

We've been giving Andrew Motrin around the clock to help with the inflammation and we go back to the doctor tomorrow to see if there's been any changes of opinion and to see what the next step is. He's been a little better though. Only a handful of episodes where he seems to be in a lot of pain. We'll keep everybody updated.

Take care everyone and have a great Thursday...only a couple of days until the weekend!! Yeah!