Snuggling

Yesterday Carson started getting sick. Nothing serious, just your run-of-the-mill common cold. Thankfully. He was sneezing and blowing his nose all afternoon and evening. It was different compared to other times my big guy has been sick. Carson was acutely aware of his symptoms and trying to process what each of them meant. He is growing up!

Sneezing - "I need to blow my nose."
Fever - "I'm hot Mom. Can I have some Tylenol?".
Lethargy - "Can we please snuggle on the couch with your super soft blanket Mom?".

Of course we can Carson. I would drop everything to get some snuggle time with my almost 6 year old first born. How could I ever say no? We snuggled up on my queen bed wrapped in the blanket my little sister gave me for my birthday. He let me run my fingers through his hair and hold him close. Anyone with an almost six year old boy knows that this was nothing sort of miraculous and a special treat for me. He fell asleep on my chest and I carried his cold ridden body to his bed and tucked him in. I hope today brings less illness but allows me to keep the snuggle time with my big guy.

I'm a soccer mom

It's official....I'm a soccer mom. Well, minus the mini-van. Carson started soccer off with a bang this evening. His club had a special "Soccer Rocks" night with the local professional soccer team. The kids were able to perform drills with four of the teams stars, get a fun t-shirt, and have an autograph session with the guys. Even though it poured and was about 50 degrees, all of the kids had a blast. Carson was in heaven and ran around like a free spirit. He was one of the few kids who had not actively played on a soccer team before but for the most part, you couldn't tell he was a newbie. The parents probably thought C-man was in the wrong age group because he was a head taller than all of the other kids but was in the middle of the 4-6 year age group.

Carson playing keep away with Gino!


Carson and Crew Cat


I was a typical proud mama on the field (which by the way was super cool to be out on in the middle of the giant stadium). I took video and pictures on my camera and cheered for my Carson. The players couldn't have been nicer. They truly enjoyed interacting with the kids. Carson especially like playing around with Gino because he played keep away with Carson and made him work for the ball. Overall it was an amazing opportunity and I'm glad we didn't stay home because of the rain. Carson is rearing to go for practice on Thursday. Wish him luck....their first game is this Saturday!

Video of one of the drills-- Carson is in the lime green t-shirt

Quick Catch-Up

Busy is not even the word for our lives lately. Things are going great and I can't complain. Eli's upper GI and abdominal u/s went better then expected. He does not have gallstones but his Nissen is still intact, loose, and NON-FUNCTIONING. He went for an endoscopy with biopsies last week and his stomach and duodenum took fabulous. His esophagus had mild irritation from his GERD and some bacteria growing on the top few layers of tissue samples. We will continue his current med regime and try to treat his reflux with adjusting pump feeds during the day and at night now on top of being maxed on meds. A repeat Nissen is something we want to avoid if possible due to the high probability of him not being able to eat orally again post-op. His GI and surgeon are in agreement with us and so we will see how things progress from here.


Carson is doing well also. I was able to go to his school for career week and speak to the kids in his class about neonatal nursing. Carson was excited to show me off and his classmates loved seeing the tiny preemie gear from Carson and Eli's NICU stays. I brought along a few stethoscopes for the kids to play with and you would have thought they were gold! It's hard to believe Carson is going to be finished with Kindergarten and getting ready for first grade. He is not a baby anymore and every day he is asserting his independence more and more. His teacher went on maternity leave about a month ago and the permanent sub is having trouble reading Carson's signs. This has brought on a few behavior issues at school and home from frustration but we are working it all out. His reading is skyrocketing and Carson is incredibly proud of his increasing knowledge. It is really fun to watch this stage of development.


I'm back to exercising and dieting. Ugggh. No fun at all but I feel out of shape. I started on the Jullian Michael's 30 Day Shred 9 days ago in addition to putting in my food intake in www.thedailyplate.com to track my eating habits. So far I feel stronger, more toned, and healthier and it hasn't even been two weeks. The boys think it's funny when I work out and they always want to try and exercise with me. Crazy little turkeys that they are.

Al is almost done with his LPN program and will graduate on June 20th. I can't tell you how proud of him I am. He has really taken his education seriously and fought for each A he has earned. Graduating with a 4.0 is almost in his reach! He also finally made good on his promise to me to quit dipping Coppenhagen. It has been tough but on 4/1 he stopped and hasn't had a dip since. :)

Well, this update grew into more then a "quick note" so I better get back to studying for my CCRN-NIC. I take my test on 5/21 and can't wait! Wish me luck.