Bookish boy and other things

We've made a thing of going to the library once a week and getting a huge stack of books. Peter adores having his new books to read every week. He is much more careful with books at this age than either of his siblings were. I read a lot more with the kids now than I did when the bigger ones were little. I think I was so absorbed with my own school work that I never got into the habit with David. Now I'm getting into the habit!

Peter is much the same has he's been for the last couple of months. The swelling in his belly comes and goes in intensity, he's pretty consistently swollen. He woke up Saturday morning with a normal belly for the first time in weeks! But Sunday the swelling was back. And we celebrated a solid bm twice about two days apart. But then everything else has been the nasty diarrhea. Just another day and we'll be seeing a specialist. We'll get this taken care of, I know we will.

My visiting teacher stopped by on Sunday. Tina has become a good friend here, and I'm grateful for her perspective and support. After I told her about a blessing Peter received, and how it was NOT what I wanted to hear, she mentioned that maybe this experience will be a testimony builder for my kids. She suggested that maybe my children will need to be able to testify to others of the power of prayer, of the strength and support of a ward family, of faith... and that this experience would be that seed that would sprout that testimony. In the moment it was exactly what I needed to hear. In that moment it was nice to be reminded that Heavenly Father has a plan and that I can trust in that plan, even if I don't have the course mapped out for me.

So more prayers. More thoughts. The bishop stopped by and offered some very comforting words regarding little Pete. All will be well, I am confident of that.

In the mean time we got some wonderful news. The May family will be adding another son to its clan on August 16th! Jonathan's little sister is engaged to be married. They are having a destination wedding in Nauvoo, so we all might actually be able to go. We also received word that we are getting another nephew this summer! That makes seven grandbabies for my in-laws. How happy they must be. It is funny, I get so wrapped up in Peter and my kids I forget that the world keeps turning elsewhere. Ha!

Less than a week until Holly and Henry come visit. Little more than a week before my parents and Emma come up. I am so unbelievably excited!

Easter weekend

I ran the Easter Dash 5k Saturday morning. Not my best time, but it was still fun. I like getting out with a big group of people and running/walking and feeling that camaraderie that comes with running these races. I'm looking at another one at the metro park we keep visiting that is run at the end of June. Looks like fun.

 Funny note: the man who took best time for the 10k race ran the race in 32 minutes. That's a five-minute mile. He was also wearing tiny yellow shorts and a yellow tank top in 34 degree weather. I was impressed.

After the race I quickly finished frosting a wedding cake I made and got it off to the church.

The bride doesn't like cake, so the bride and groom got a matching ice cream cake. My first time making an ice cream cake. I don't like making them...

But it turned out well. I was pleased. I came back to help serve the cake and watch everyone dance. It was a fun little wedding, lots of people, and everyone enjoyed the cakes. I am sick of frosting and cake. Sugared out, that's me.

After leaving the reception (early) I stopped at 5 Below to get things for the family Easter basket. Up to that point my weekend had been wrapped up in making the cakes, a basket was the last thing on my mind. But I knew the kids would appreciate something. Everyone got a sock monkey and a plant kit. We got a jar of jelly beans to share and a set of sidewalk chalk for everyone. Threw it all into one big basket and TA-DA!! Slacker Mom comes out on top! Next year I will try not to take on a cake the weekend of Easter when the week has been filled with one doctor appointment after another. Maybe then I can make Easter something special and not just need a massive nap Easter Sunday.

Definitely not going to miss the Easter Dash next year, though. :)

Easter

Big day at church this last week, it being Easter and all. I played piano for the choir then sang in the women's group. Jonathan actually got to come to church! Mostly to keep an eye on the kids since I was going to be up in the stand so much.

 Three of us wore our new church outfits. I'm still working on David's outfit. Hopefully I'll have it finished before Mother's Day.

When we got home we fed the kids a quick lunch and then assembled baskets and went out for our egg hunt. Unfortunately we couldn't find Andi as we were trying to get outside. Fortunately we found when we stepped out the door. She'd found all the eggs.

A few of the eggs I'd taken particular care to hide really well were left, David got those.

 I helped Peter to some eggs...

 In the end everyone was happy.

We divided the eggs evenly so everyone had the same amount. Thanks to Gran for sending the eggs and the dollar coins. Andi and David love getting those coins.

Then we had quiet time (naps for mom, dad, and Pete), and we had a delicious dinner. We really took it easy and just chilled. We didn't want to get too worked up, and it had been a really hectic weekend. I'll get into that later. :)

My favorite part of the new church outfits were the hats. Andi and I both got fascinators. Andi's is just a clip, a fancy hair bow if you will. It whipped together in ten minutes, which was my favorite part. And then there was my hat. Oh, I really think I could bring back hats...

I want to have one for every Sunday now. It was just too fun. And, again, really easy to make. I've got grand plans for several more... :)

Face

Peter... You have a face. :)

Where's your nose?

 Good job!

Where's your.... eye?

 Yep! Yay!

Now where's your ear?

Yay!! You're so cute. :)

School Picture

When did my kid get so big?

Peter's Follow Up

We got absolutely no answers from the doctor yesterday. They've got nothing. The stool sample showed nothing, and the doc is pretty stumped. He offered two suggestions: a severe food allergy, or the rotavirus. The rotavirus lasts 14 days, and he hasn't exhibited any of the other symptoms of the rotavirus. We're ruling that one out. We got a referral to a specialist, a pediatric GI. We're scheduled for May 1st at 8:00 a.m. I had Peter put on the list to contact if there is a cancelation. The gal who scheduled us told us to take him to the children's hospital ER where we can request a GI consult. I'm mighty tempted to go on Monday morning. If he weren't hydrated and acting so happy I would.

Peter's weight went up by a half pound. Yay. That was reassuring. However his belly has started to look bloated for the last week, and he has a couple lymph nodes on his abdomen that are really swollen. The doctor said his belly was full of air, which is confusing because he hasn't had any gas. The bloating will be bad for a couple days and then randomly go down slightly. My food-in/poop-out journal has not helped us find a consistent pattern yet. :(

So everyone understands, I am NOT just sitting back and twiddling my thumbs over this. I'm not dragging my feet, I'm not stalling. I want to get to the bottom of Peter's problems as quickly as possible. I'm bound by the medical constraints that are our health insurance, the doctor policies and procedures, and the tests we're running. I'm putting on a really brave face, but I'm really, REALLY scared. It is incredibly frustrating to sit and wait, to watch each day as Peter's diapers look no better. I've quit looking at Google because it always presents the worst case scenario. I'm not ready to face that worst case scenario until I have to. No point in worrying over it when we don't even know what is really going on with poor Peter's guts. In the mean time I am doing everything in my power to keep him comfortable, hydrated, and nourished. It is all that I CAN do at this point in time. My doctor did not feel that his case was so desperate that I needed to take him into the hospital immediately, but it is a very concerning case. And so we do what we are able to do, and then we wait. We will get answers, and we will help Peter get well again.

Prayers would be appreciated. For everyone.

Spring Break : Saturday

Saturday morning we took the kids to a Marshmallow Drop. We went last year and the kids had a blast. We definitely wanted to do it again this year. :)

And this year Jonathan was able to join us! Wahoo! It was nice to be able to get out and do something together as a family.

A lady went around handing out marshmallows that we could actually eat. The kids were very grateful for that. Ha!

 Peter was really fascinated by the helicopter. Every time it made a pass he got all excited and would yell, "Oh!!" and gasp. He wouldn't let it out of his sight if he could help it.

 And finally, the drop!!

We watched which way the crowd went and walked in the opposite direction to get our marshmallows. The kids only needed one but were able to pick up several.

Peter was very mad that we wouldn't let him eat his. He was quick and got it in his mouth at some point. We grabbed another one for him and hid it in the stroller.

To go with the marshmallow theme of the evening we decided to use our fire pit for the first time and makes s'mores. The kids had been looking forward to this all week!

We found the perfect gluten free crackers for the s'mores. They are a much better size than the Honey  Maids us gluten eaters used. They are also thicker and don't crumble apart. Believe it or not, Peter made less of a mess than our gluten eaters because of those crackers! And they tasted better. We might just have to make the switch for all of us, or I'll have to find a recipe.

Our s'mores night was a nice end to our spring break week. We also think it is something we'll do together as a family this summer! We're thinking of inviting several of our neighbors to a s'mores night so we can get to know everyone a bit more. I think we'll do it some time next month, and definitely have a s'mores night while my family is visiting. :)

Spring Break : Day 5

We started the day with an explosion. Did not bode well for the day. Good thing he is so happy all the time.

We spent Friday playing outside, playing games, and spending time inside. We wanted to be really calm because the days had been so busy this week. It was nice to be still for a day.

We did venture out to do some grocery shopping. We needed food. :)

Jonathan and I were invited to a dinner at Johnny Carino's with friends. We were excited for a free, nice dinner away and some time to ourselves. After the delicious dinner we went to a movie. Captain America was fun, we really enjoyed it. We're pretty big fans of the TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. After this last week's show we really wanted to see Captain America because so much happened that tied in with the movie that we wanted the clarification. Well played, Marvel. So it was nice to see the tie ins and figure out what was going on. And it was a fun movie, and I didn't call all of the twists before they happened (that always makes a movie more fun).

Spring Break : Day 4

We made it to a park!

 We went while Jonathan was at his doctor appointment. Fun fun for everyone!

Jonathan and I also got in to the dentist that morning. No cavities for me! But I have a spot that I've ground down on one of my teeth where the enamel is gone. I'm getting a filling so my teeth won't be so sensitive and so it can compensate for the shape of my teeth. He's going to file down the top teeth and fill the bottom. That way I won't wear away any more of my teeth. Hey, no cavities. Wahoo.

Jonathan goes back next week to lay out a plan of action for his mouth full of cavities. Poor guy. I don't know anyone who takes as good a care of his teeth as Jonathan, yet he inherited the worst teeth ever and has a cavity in almost every tooth. We're crossing our fingers that the kids inherit MY teeth.

We got home just in time for Peter's next blowout for the day. This one was pretty bad. I wiped him down and stuck him in the tub because he just smelled terribly. Poor little guy.

He's awfully cute, though!

Spring Break : Day 3

Wednesday did not go according to plan. We had planned on a picnic lunch at the park, playing on the swings and slides, and generally having a grand day outside. Instead, Peter woke up looking like this:

 With one eye swollen shut, and absolutely no clue how it had happened, we consulted Dr. Google and decided that, with his respiratory infection he'd had the last couple weeks, we needed to take him in to rule out crazy infections. Especially since Benadryl did NOTHING to help the swelling go down.

The kids were so thrilled to have make a last minute trip to the doc.

I wasn't terribly pleased either. But after playing in the cupboards while we waited they settled down some.

Peter had a fit over the doctor we saw. He tried cleaning Peter's ears out with some sort of solution. Peter want nuts. Wouldn't let the doc touch him again. With ANYTHING. He had to call in his attending and give him a few minutes before Peter would let her touch him. It was insane. But we finally got an answer: the swollen eye was due to the respiratory infection, just watch it. Peter's ears were pink, slight infection, but it would probably clear up soon so no antibiotics. The diarrhea was a major concern, so we're starting the testing. But you already know about all of that. So yeah.

We spent a couple hours in that office, and I was sure frazzled by the time we got out. I felt terrible, but I had to call and cancel our dinner appointment with the sister missionaries. There was just NO way I'd be able to get home and cook something for them by 5:00 when I was over an hour from home and it was 4:00. Yeah, not happening. So we're rescheduling and we'll have fun another night.

Everyone was treated to a movie and an early bedtime when we got home.