lauren's hospital adventure :: part 1

So I started writing a 9 month post about Lauren this week, and I was planning on posting it after we went to her nine month check-up and had her most recent stats. But then we went to the appointment and the stats weren't good. She had lost weight and currently weighs less than she did when she was 4 months.


I had a feeling she had a dairy allergy. On several different occasions when I had given Lauren food to eat, I had noticed what looked to be hives. Every time this happened a dairy product was involved. I am not a doctor and have never had hives myself, so I wasn't really sure what to make of it. I figured we would just stick to a diet that didn't include dairy until her next well-child visit, because she is nursing, so she was getting milk from me.
 
Obviously, that wasn't enough. Our pediatrician sent us to get some of Lauren's blood drawn so she could run some tests to determine if she did have food allergies and/or other issues that could be preventing her growth. 

Some of her hormone levels were off, and the endocrinologist at Children's Mercy requested that she be admitted to the hospital downtown for further testing and observation. The first day we were here was pretty awful, for various reasons. Luckily today has been better. We have been getting some answers and thankfully most of the scary stuff has been ruled out. She is nutritionally deficient and has several food allergies, but those are things we can work with and fix.


I probably sound like a broken record because when I talk about Lauren I usually say something about how she brightens up the room with her smile and that she is always happy. But now I know it's true, so I don't feel guilty for struggling to find better words to describe her.  This past week she has been under the weather and we have missed her bright smiles and happy babbles. She hasn't been difficult, just sleepy and lethargic.


I was so frustrated because the first 12 hours we were here she was being weighed and poked and picked up over and over by various doctors and nurses and all she wanted to do was sleep. Today she got to catch up on her sleep a bit, but she was still not quite her sunny self. I got all choked up when Will visited and she instantly perked up. She kicked her legs and smiled the biggest smile I have seen in days when he rolled down the hallway. 

I'm glad they have each other. And Will has been telling people he is Doctor Will and he is going to fix Lojo so, you know, there's no reason to worry. :)

weekly picture post

Sometimes church is just too much. Also, looks like we need to invest in longer pants for Will. And in case you are wondering, Will is just pretending to be asleep in this picture.

Hanging out on the couch watching Word World. Lauren was a bit under the weather this week, teething as far as we knew at this point. So we did a lot of lounging around. This picture gives you a nice view of the raspberry Will got on his forehead Sunday night when he was running around my dad's truck and tripped.

TJ is the window specialist. When we work on projects together we have found we usually specialize in different things. I am a good taper. I also prefer to paint the areas that are relatively easy, like the wall. Anthony does a good job with the areas that require more precision and patience. One of the many reasons I keep him around.

One of the many things I love about where we live is that we live within walking distance to the pool. Wednesday afternoon Lauren had a slight fever so when Anthony was done with work Will and I walked to the pool. Without fail, every time we walk to the pool Will picks up a stick. If you are ever at the Bluejacket pool you should check out the pile of sticks I make Will leave just outside the entrance.

Will is really into Lego Duplos right now. It is fun to see how creative he can be. His favorite things to build are trucks, temples, and towers.

Lauren was admitted to the hospital Friday afternoon, so here she is with her dad, watching the Olympic Opening Ceremony in luxury. I will do another post on her hospital stay and health situation, but when we were at her 9 month check up her doctor was concerned because she had lost weight. She has been classified (is that the right word?) as failure to thrive and we are working to get her to gain some LBs.

I had suspected that Lauren had a milk allergy, and  and I was right (one of the times I wish I was wrong), but it turns out she has several other allergies too. It's going to be fun getting her to gain weight when she can't eat any good stuff. :)

weekly picture post

Lauren is such a sweet and smiley little girl. She really is content and happy most of the time. Will actually took this picture of Lauren after church, so I really like it, even though it is kind of blurry. She is getting more and more curious about the things he does and gives him some of her biggest smiles. She isn't crawling or scooting yet, but she stretches, reaches, and rolls all the time.

We play a few rounds of memory with Will almost every day. He is starting to grasp the rules, namely that you take turns, which is making it much more enjoyable for me.

Tuesday afternoon we spent a little time a the children's museum. I got Will to dress up like a fire fighter, but when I tried to take a picture he started jumping around, taking the costume off and yelling, "No pictures of Will," at me.

On Wednesday TJ returned home from his second trip to DC in two weeks. This time we decided to park and come in to greet him. We were all pretty excited to see each other again.

I bought Will a puddle jumper and it has been the best $20 I've spent all summer. He was really resisting the pool for awhile, and I thought it was mostly a power play with me. Turns out, he really did feel insecure in the water. In the three times we have gone to the pool since we got it, he has begged to stay. Lauren is getting so good at sitting up. She likes to sit on the side and watch me help Will "swim. She also loves to float on her back. I love how she laughs when I sway her back and forth and I love how her hair dries straight up afterward.

This is Will's first taste of chocolate milk. The school district we live in has what is calls a "summer lunch bunch" where free lunches are provided to all kids aged 1-18. Will thinks it is a great treat, and feels like such a big boy when we go. I like it because not only does he eat the cafeteria food better than he eats what I make him at home, but he also gets to try a variety of foods I don't usually buy.

For the past few nights Anthony and I have been painting the trim and windows in our kitchen. Through the entire house we have dark brown trim, which we don't really like. So we are s l o w l y working on it. We are about half finished and already the room looks a lot brighter.

drowsy driving is impaired driving

We were getting a bit stir crazy this afternoon so we decided to take a leisurely Sunday stroll. About 5 minutes into our walk I noticed that Will was starting to get a glazed look on his face.

We tried to engage him in a conversation by quizzing him about various things and asking questions, but he was too far gone.

This is what happens when you refuse to take a nap for several days in a row. You crash.

I felt a little guilty filming him doze like that, but it was too funny to resist. And this is the SECOND time this falling asleep at the wheel thing has happened, so it needed to be recorded for posterity. My guilt was relieved when Will watched the video and smiled and laughed the whole way through.

Oh, Will. When will you ever learn to sleep? Mom and Dad aren't lying when they tell you your body needs rest.

weekly picture post

We played a lot with bubbles this week. I substitute taught a class in Primary and brought the bubbles for an after-the-lesson treat. When Will saw me carrying them after church he insisted we play with them as soon as we got home. Things I like about bubbles are that they are less messy than a lot of other "outdoorsy" things and take almost no prep work. Things I dislike include the amount of  manpower required to keep the bubbles coming at an acceptable rate for certain 2 year old boys. Also, it is hard to both blow bubbles and take a picture of the bubbles at the same time.

Will's hair was getting kind of long. I didn't do the greatest job on his last haircut, and as it grew out my mistakes became more and more obvious. After talking about cutting his hair for about two weeks, I finally took the plunge. As you can see, Will is holding a package of cars in this picture. We have to bribe, restrain, praise, and reward Will if we want to give him a haircut. He hates the noise of the clippers, and he is deathly afraid of having scissors near his head, so it is always a good (read: stressful and labor intensive) time when we chop his locks. After we finished I swept up his hair and told him the birds were going to use it to make a warm nest for the winter. Since then, he has told anyone who has mentioned anything to him about his haircut that birds are using his hair to make a nest.

I have a serious sweet tooth. But in an attempt to eat better I am trying to substitute real fruit for the artificial flavors I have grown accustomed to consuming. Turns out real fruit actually tastes pretty good.

This is Will's Hitch ear. He got some sort of bug bite on his ear Tuesday night, and when he woke up Wednesday morning it was quite swollen. A little benadryl and calamine lotion and it was back to normal in about 24 hours time.

We have this hanging plant that I pretty much left for dead in the hot summer sun. For weeks I've been meaning to just throw it out. But I've been too lazy to actually do it (I'm avoiding all supurfluous trips outside these days). Early in the week Anthony started watering it again, even though I told him it was a waste of water. And what do you know, a couple days later green leaves began to appear. On Thursday it rained a bit for the first time in weeks and our little plant blossomed some more. So the moral of the story is, never give up on life.

The marketing team at HyVee play Will like a drum. Car cart? Check. Free cookie to any kids under the age of 12? Check. Will loves it. Seriously, if I say we are going to the grocery store, he doesn't bat and eye, but if I mention HyVee he starts walking towards the garage. He is a simple man, with simple pleasures, and HyVee gets him. I like Lauren's face in the picture. It looks like she is eyeballing the cookie, dreaming about the future day when she get's an M&M cookie too.

Lauren loves the water. She has been my water baby this summer. I love the way she laughs when I play with her in the pool. She loves to lay on her back (while I'm holding her) and sway back and forth. I noticed today when we were playing that she finally cut her third tooth (front top right). My baby is growing up! It's much more fun to have a baby to play with instead of being 6 1/2 months pregnant like I was at this time last year.

a day at the farm

Will has been asking to go to the farm for weeks, but it has just been so hot I couldn't muster up the energy to do it. Because the forecast wasn't in the triple digits this week I told Will I would take him. So late yesterday morning we headed to the farmstead. It was a little overcast, and at times I thought it might rain, but it never did. The conditions were almost perfect when we got there--no school tours, relatively few people there, and even a slight breeze.

On the way to the farm I asked Will what he was most excited to see. He told me he wanted to see the windmill.

Posing with the beloved windmill. 

Since it wasn't very crowded, Will could wander at whatever pace suited him. We were able to take in the entire farm this trip, which I don't think we've ever done before.

 Lauren was very impressed with Will's cowbell.

Lauren did great. Lately she has started to fuss when we go for walks at ridiculously slow speeds (Will is our pacesetter), but Monday, she seemed content to just take everything in at half a mile per hour.

 Smiley girl.

We stopped for a break and quick snack on this bench near the praire dogs (another one of Will's favorites). The kids looked cute sitting together on the bench, so of course I wanted to take some pictures.

 I think this one is my favorite.

 Done with the picture taking.

At this point Lauren was starting to get fussy. She wasn't pleased when I put her back in the stroller, so I made Will pick up the pace.

 Very pleased to be a caterpiler.

Delighted by the baby pigs splashing around in the mud.

Will really wanted to swing, so we stopped at one of the little kid playgrounds on our way out. I love playgrounds that have 2 baby swings.

Another group of kids was playing on this train as we walked in, and so when we passed it again on our way out Will insisted it was his turn.

All in all it was a fun morning. Will even took a nap that afternoon, which automatically makes everything better in my book. The "cooler" weather has been nice. The only negative side effect from this trip is that Will has asked me to sing Old McDonald approximately one hundred times in the past 24 hours and I have no idea what sound prairie dogs make.

weekly picture post

Lauren sits in this semi-tripod position all the time now. She isn't quite comfortable going from a sitting position to her stomach or back yet, so she just leans over and thinks about it for awhile. At least now she is working on the transition by leaning forward, as opposed to the backward freefall drops she was doing there for awhile. Those always ended in tears.

Will picked the library for our FHE activity, so we headed to the closest branch and participated in some of their children's activities. They just put out new activities, and Will really enjoyed being able to rub a crayon over the paper to make various shapes *magically* appear.

As previously mentioned, on Tuesday night we decided to check out the Flags for Freedom display. Will loved seeing all the flags, and we all agreed it was a beautiful display. A little hot, but very pretty. I may have mentioned this before, but we generally listen to the CDs of the LDS Primary Children's Songbook while we drive around (per Will's request). I feel like I know a lot of the primary songs, but there are many that are new to me. Some of the obscure songs are Will's favorite. Right now he really likes My Flag, My Flag. He would be content to listen to it the entire drive every drive, and he is constantly commanding me to "Sing with me, Mommy."

We had a fun 4th. I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to keep the kids up to watch the fireworks, but I'm glad we did. This is the best picture I got of all the fireworks (or fireworkers as Will calls them). I know, my photography skills are amazing. You would never know I use a point and shoot. (haha) I'm mad I didn't record Will chanting "U-S-A! U-S-A!" everytime he saw red, white and blue fireworks as Anthony instructed him. It was cute for the first 5 minutes.

Please tell me I am not the only one who spends a disproportionate amount of time on level one of the 30-day shred.

Our driveway is a reflection of the desires of Will's soul. Or at least, the things he likes that his parents are willing to draw. The BYU "Y," a trumpet, Christmas trees, Elmo, airplanes, 2 moose, dragonflies, a US flag, a biplane, the moon, the celtic clover to name a few. I actually get really annoyed by chalk drawings. I think I watched Mary Poppins too much as a child, because nothing either Anthony or I draw lives up to the standard Bert set in the movie. Curse you, Disney, and the unrealistic expectations you forced upon me! Lauren usually oversees things from her bumbo or stroller. I wish I had done a better job of getting her hair in this shot. Her hair dried funny after we went to the pool, and she was sporting quite the fashion forward 'do.

I know I have bemoaned Will's horrific sleeping a lot (too much) lately here on the blog. But I had to include this picture of him passed out on the couch after waking up at 5:30 this morning and then refusing to take a nap this afternoon. He has now fallen asleep 2 out of 2 times I have taken him with me to run an errand in the early evening. Maybe the solution to all our woes is to try to the trick parents of  young babies use to get their children to sleep and take him for a drive at bedtime each night? What is funny is that both times the two of us were having a conversation, and then all of the sudden he just got quiet. In the literally two minutes he was asleep in the car he was able to fall into such a deep sleep that I could get him out of his carseat, carry him into the house, talk to him and even change his diaper without even a flinch.

let freedom ring

We had a pretty fun 4th of July this year. We decided to take it pretty easy, being that it was in the middle of the week and that we are all tired. Later in the week we each spent a day or two dealing with a bad head cold, so I'm extra glad we didn't overdo things.

The only shot I got where both of them are looking.

On Tuesday evening we checked out the Flags for Freedom display in Merriam. They have over a thousand flags set up. Will loved seeing so many flags and it was fun to hear him try to count them all. We took a short walk through the flags and to a walking trail. When we crossed over the bridge Will wanted to stop and look for an octopus. Not a lot of octupi in the nearly dried up streams this summer.

The boys marching through the flags.

The girls laughing at how silly they looked.

On Wednesday we had some friends over for a BBQ picnic. Good friends, new friends, and delicious food. A recipe for success in my opinion.

Later that evening we decided to check out the fireworks. 

Will was pretty excited, but prefered the safety of TJ's lap.

Lauren sat on my lap once the show began, but before the action started she was content to sit on the blanket and chew on her glow stick. She usually goes to bed around 7, so she did great considering she was up 3 hours past her bedtime.

All in all a pretty fun day. And to top it off, Will fell right asleep when we got home and slept in until 8:15 the next day.

I've been thinking a lot about my patriotism (is that the right word?) lately. Several of the books I have recently read (Johnny Tremain, Destiny of the Republic) or am currently reading (Team of Rivals) have to do with various periods of American history. I'm grateful that we have a day set aside to remember the history of our nation because I get lazy and forget about the amazing events that occured in our past. Things that are important to remember.