All Scheduled for Surgery

I just got off the phone with the surgeon's office nurse. We went ahead and scheduled the surgery for Travis for next Monday Nov. 3rd. I have to call the Friday before and find out what time we have to be at the hospital. It will for sure be an outpatient surgery, so we will be able to come back home the same day. So..... it's for sure. I was hoping we could get it done and over with this week so I don't have to think about it anymore, but oh well. Poor little guy. The nurse told me though, that the little kids like him really aren't all that affected by the procedure. They tend to bounce back pretty quickly, and his pain should be able to be maintained by infant tylenol. So that was good to hear that he won't be in too much pain. I think it is probably going to be harder on me than on Travis. At least Aaron will be able to be there with me, and thanks to Jennie, we won't have to worry about Jenna because she offered to take her for the night. Thank you Jen! Your the best!
And thats that for today. We are just looking forward to Halloween. Jenna talks about it every day, and I'm not a hundred percent sure she quite knows what is really going to happen. She is going to be a pirate, and has the ARGH! down pat. :) Travis is going to be a clown. We have a little hat that ties under his chin. He doesn't like it at first, but then forgets about it and leaves it on. It should be fun. I have to work at four thirty, but maybe we can get a few houses in before I have to go. We'll see what Aaron feels like doing.

May Baby

We did decide to go ahead and have surgery for Travis. I just haven't been able to make myself schedule a day yet. It's not going away on it's own, so we know for sure that that is the best way to make him a hundred percent better.

Also, I had an ultrasound on Friday. I was really feeling overwhelemed over everything that has been going on lately, and was very close to canceling it, as it was just to see how far along I am. I knew, but the Dr. wanted to make sure. I was thinking I'm due May17, but they gave me a due date of May 15. I think that is Missy's birthday..... so we'll see. :) But I am glad that I didn't cancel the ultrasound. It was so awesome to see that little being that is growing inside of me. I was all prepared for it to look nothing like a baby yet, but it did, it was actually facing right at us, and was waving it's little arms and legs at me. I also heard the heartbeat for the first time. It really made my day.

Here are a few pictures from our color tour a couple weekends ago. A little late, but better late than never right?

operation Travis

Well, we went for our consult today. He recommend surgery. He thinks what Travis has is a non-communicating hydrocele, which is a hernia sack filled with fluid. They don't usually go away on their own, so he said a simple operation would take care of it. Also, there isn't much pain associated with it. The doctor actually said infant Tylenol would take care of any discomfort he'd have and it shouldn't last more than a few days.
But it is so much to think about. He would have to be put out completely under anesthetic so he'd be totally asleep. The operation itself takes about a half hour to forty five minutes and the incision is only about an inch long, and has minimal risks of infection or complications. He would probably be able to come home after recovery that same day, but that will depend on the anesthesiologist. So..... it sounds like it is pretty basic, but he's just so little. I know he's not in any pain, but it has a chance of causing more problems as he gets older so the best option right now is surgery. I didn't have to make a decision today and the Dr didn't have the ultrasound report from the hosp. he was going to take a look at it later today, and if he saw anything urgent on it he will give me a call here at home. Otherwise it's our call. I know we are really leaning toward the surgery, but it all happened so fast! One day your baby is a perfectly happy normal healthy baby, and then in a matter of hours, he gets this hernia/hydrocele thing, and needs surgery! How does this happen?

late night ER visits

I wonder why whenever one of my kids gets sick, I immediatly wonder what I did wrong. Never mind that maybe it is just nature, and not a test on what kind of mother I am. Same thing popped into my head last night when I got home from work. Aaron was just pulling the kids out of the tub as I was walking into the door. He told me to look at Travis's scrotum that it was swollen. I did look and indeed it was swollen and hard. It didn't seem to be bothering him, but nonetheless it wasn't normal.
I've never had a boy, so all of their anatomy is new too me, I'm still learning whats normal. But his dad thank goodness had the thought that it was a hernia. So, thank goodness for the internet, I did some research on hernias. Travis had all of the symtoms. From what side they are usually on, to what they look and feel like. I also found out that if there is a history of hernia's in the family boy's are more likely to develop one. They do run in Aaron's family. Another notch in my worry belt. So I called Janet, and she said she'd bring him to the ER, as he might need surgery if it was strangulated. (I found out there are several diff. types of hernias) So, at nine thirty at night, I took my 13 mo. old son to the hospital.
It's so hard being in a new place. It means you have to find new EVERYTHING. From grocery stores to a hospital and dr. We went right here in town as it is only a few blocks away from our place. We were in the waiting room, and there were people coughing all over the place, and Travis isn't acting sick at all. The though kept crossing my mind that he's going to catch influenza or a bad cold just from the waiting room! to top that off, some guy with his sick little boy ( he had a nasty whooping cough of sorts) kept wanting to bring his son over to play with Travis. Would it have been rude of me to say, excuse me, but could you please not come near us? I'd rather my son not catch what your son has.
Finally after an hour of the waiting room, we were able to register to be seen in the E.R. That took all of two mintues, and we were brought to an express care room. Needless to say, it was NOT express care. It took an hour to see the nurse, then a half an hour to see the P.A., who then proceeded to say yes, it's a hernia, let me go get the real dr. Who then came in and said it might not be a hernia, but a hydrocele. They decided to do an ultrasound. By this time I gave up on gettin home by midnight, as is was ten to.
So, we waited and waited and waited and waited for the darn utlrasound tech to come in. And when he did finally show up ( an hour later at one a.m.) all he could do was grumble about how he was still doing ultrasounds! I was not impressed. He just couldn't stop complaining about how he was there til all hours of the morning the night before. Then to top it off, halfway through the ultrasound, the machine died, and Travis decided to pee all over himself. Grrrrr!!!!!
We somehow made it through the ultrasound portion of the evening, and even was able to catch a few zz's on the cot they call a bed. At two a.m I woke up and realized we were still there. It was 2:30 by the time we got the ultrasound results, and they still weren't one hundred percent sure what it was. They told me " we think" it's a hydrocele. So, we now have a surgical consult on Thursday. We'll see I guess. I'll keep you posted.

A High then a Low

On a postive note, I am going to LOVE my job at Target. I started today, was only at my register for an hour and i loved it! I even got a compliment from someone who said I was a great new team member! I can't wait until my shift on Friday morning. :)
But on a much crappier note, Loretta and Brad aren't renting our house anymore..... I guess they found somewhere else. We had someone who was possibley interested in our house, but haven't heard anything more, so we are assuming they don't want to buy our house. I guess I should have never gotten my hopes up about anything. Thats the way our life has been lately. Lots of let downs. It seems as if finally things might be looking up, they just come crashing right back down to the ground again. It sucks. Sorry for the lack of a better word, but I feel like bawling right now. I'm just so disappointed. Really. It was going to be such a HUGE help to not have to worry about our mortgage payments for the whole winter. But I guess we still will. I'm going to be working two jobs, while being a full time mom and wife. It won't be easy, but you do what you have to do when times call for it. I feel like a poor college student today. We get paid tomorrow, but scrounged change today for milk and bread. Both of which are half gone already. AAAGGHH!!!!! I'm so frustrated!!!! We have extra kids tonight, Jenna is fighting, and Aimee is shy and mad. Just bad timing, usually it's fine. I'm just having a s***ty night. On that note, anyone know of someone in need of a house to rent for the winter? We are looking for renters again.

Number 3!

We had a blast up north this weekend. We took the Bohemia color tour chair rides and went to the Harbor to go up B. Mt. and view the colors at the top of that. We went with all of my In'laws. Brian and Katie were up for the weekend so it was great to see them, if only for two days. the colors were absolutley amazing! On the way back home Aaron drove us through covered drive. I took lots of pictures from this weekend so I'll post some later on. I wish our fall weather lasted a bit longer. While I'm wishing, I wish that the weather was always as nice as yesterday was! We spent the majority of the day outside. We went for a walk with Jennie, and then stopped at a park where Travis spent the whole time crying. Then we went to a park later in the evening with Jill and Tessa and Stacey and Ian and Andrew. It was a great day.
I also have some other news to share. Aars and I are expecting baby number three! I am still kind of adjusting to the idea of three, but we are still very excited. I feel great. Not at all sick, just really tired. I am due sometime in the middle of May. Not sure when yet. I have an appt. on Friday so I'll know then. Other than that, we are just still doing the day to day same ol thing down here. Aaron's first semester has reached the halfway point, so we are excited about that. He has kind of gotten a good schedule down, and if he has some big studying to do he goes to the library for a few hours. I need to go put my kids down for a nap. At least Travis anyways. On a quick note, he's been sleeping through the night and going to sleep great! Finally! :)

Florida? Who needs it!

Who needs Florida when you have beaches down here with little shells on it? We were out for a drive tonight after we frequented one of the local parks, and noticed an ore boat loading up. To a local they might just say oh look, another boat and keep driving. But us still being new, still think it's kind of exciting. So we parked the van and got out to walk down the beach for a closer view. It was actually kinda neat. They must've just pulled in because they were just beginning to load all of the ore onto the boats. It must have been really loud on the boat as the ore was flying down the shoot because it was loud on the beach. We sat on a log for about ten minutes watching the boat load up, and then began heading back to the van. Jenna discovered little shells on the beach and began picking them up. I helped and was reminded of picking shells on the beach in Florida. And it got me to thinking. We have everything Florida does around here in the summer. Beautiful beaches, an ocean ( freshwater) and shells! So who needs Florida! :) We have it all right here. Aren't we lucky?

Just felt like putting up pics

He's getting to be busier and busier every single day!
Travis seems to just adore his aunty Lia. Sometimes he won't go to anyone but her.
This one is one of my favorites
Every time I see Emma I can't believe how much she is growing into a young lady!
And then there is my Jenna. It's hard to get her looking at the camera lately. She's more than happy to say cheese, but will always look away and say cheese.

elevator alarms

I had fingerprints taken today for my job at the nursing home. It was at a hotel about five minutes from the townhouse. When we pulled up there was a little park outside. That caught Jenna's attention right away. At the front door, Jenna thought that we were at a restaurant and was pumped to eat. When we walked into the lobby she went whoa!!!! She was also very impressed by the "kiddie pool" which wasn't really a kiddie pool, but a five foot deep pool. Funny how kids get pleasure out of the simplest things. It totally made her day just to press the button in the elevator to go to the next floor. On the way back down though, she got a little too button happy and pushed the alarm button! I think it startled her more than me. :) Nobody noticed though so that was good.
We made smoothies for a snack after supper tonight... mmmmm..... they are so good! I pulled out some blueberries from this summer, some strawberries and bananas. Oh what a yummy treat. And healthy too!
I begin my orientation for Target on Thursday. I guess they said to plan on it taking five hours. I wonder what we will be doing for five hours. At least I'll get paid for it! :) I'm anxiously awaiting my first paycheck. I haven't gotten one since August! I'm ready to begin working again though. It'll be a nice break from the kids, and it will really help.

Hikes and Window Shopping

We went window shopping at the mall and Shopko on Sat..... we didn't spend any money except to go out for supper. It was fun. There were alot of sales that would have been fun to take advantage of, but we're poor college students, so we passed. It was fun just to look and hang out as a family. Aaron and I even got our wedding rings cleaned.... now they look like they did when we were first married. Sparkley! Mine were grimey and really needed a good cleaning.
Today we went for a hike with John and Stacey up Hogsback again. It was just as fun as the first time. Today though we followed the original trail and it was considerably easier going up. Travis fell asleep on the way down again.... must be something about the movement of being carried down a mountainside. I'm sure I'd fall asleep if someone carried me down too.
I made a creamy broccoli soup for supper. It was really good, but not as thick as I thought it should be. I as usual ate til I was stuffed to the gills. :)
This weekend we decided to let Travis cry himself to sleep not only when we first laid him down for the night, but every time he woke up during the night. Fri night was kinda tough, but last night he did pretty good, and tonight was a record. He only cried for five minutes! :) yea!!!! I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that this will last.

It's the Weekend

It's the weekend and we have no plans. Acutally, if it's not nose freezing cold we might take the kids to the football game here in town. Aars and the kids would get in free so it'd be a fairly cheap fun outing. We'll see I guess. I'm sure they'd love the chance to get outside. I did pull out winter stuff today and packed up their summer clothes..... kind of depressing, but fun to see new clothes. I was getting sick of their summer stuff. They don't get quite as dirty in the winter either so laundry stains are fewer. A small plus to winter I guess.
I've come to the conclusion Travis likes his mom TOO much. I have to stand next to his crib at night where he can see me so he will fall asleep. If he can see me he's fine and falls asleep in five min. If I move, he bawls. I hope this is just a stage that he soon outgrows...... I don't really remember Jenna being so shy and attached to me. I should go put Jenna into bed.... she keeps coming out with some sort of excuse not to go to sleep.

Flannel Season

It's October. Flannel season. Aaron has been waiting til we can put the sheets on the bed. He was even bragging to a coworker that we are going to put the sheets on the bed this week. If he had his way I think the only month of the year that they would really come off would be August. So, I pulled them out of the closet yesterday and put them on the bed. October 1st and the flannel sheets were on. I admit though, they did feel oh so nice to crawl into flannel. I just don't like what they represent..... cold. I wish I could find flannel sheets for my kids beds. I have never found them though. Maybe I could dust off my ancient sewing skills and sew some for them. How hard could it be? HAHA. Seriously though, the thought did cross my mind. Who knows.... maybe.
All this rain is getting old. I swear we have jumped right from summer to the end of fall. No beginning or middle. It is so cold! I knew last week when it was seventy and eighty that I'd better enjoy it, because soon the cold weather would be setteling in. October isn't one of my favorite months because it symbolizes the start of our too long winters. On our way home tonight it was 38 degrees at eight o'clock. They are predicting the "S" word for tonight. I'm not ready for that! I'm still waiting for one last day of summer! Last night I saw some kids in the parking lot here with winter gear on! I still haven't packed away our summer clothes! Did I mention I'm not ready?