Conference and Fall

Has it really been 2 weeks since I have blogged?  Usually I can't seem to keep my big yap shut about little man, but there you go!

We had General Conference last week and it was AWESOME!  Why did I ever think that Conference was boring as a kid?  Well, Aiden thought it was all sorts of boring, so we did a few Conference things:

We made witches hats.  SO fun.  I think Aiden ended up eating more than we made, but that is the point, right?  

We also made this fun little fall thing.... his handprints as the trees.  He had so much fun ripping paper on purpose!  He kept looking at me like, "This is okay?!"

And we made a super swell fort for Sunday sessions.  He loved it.  We both had lunch in there and he really loved the idea of having his own little place.

Friday, we went to watch Kelle compete in a karate tournament.  She did so great.  She is amazing.  Aiden loves it and since it was close this year, we were able to go and have fun.

Anyhoo... we have our days planned and packed tight.  So, we try to do as much on the weekends as possible.  This weekend was the first weekend for the Halloween fun at Thanksgiving Point and HOLY COW it was cold.  So, we went to the dinosaur museum first.  They had some really fun things, but Aiden is really not into face painting or scary haunted rooms.  

Loved the sand and erosion table.  Didn't love that Mom wouldn't let him throw the sand.

Our obligatory picture at the huge shark.  Notice he is waving hi.  

And... the obligatory "sand in the eyes" at the digging part.  

Aiden got to color a wizard hat.

Oh, man he was so proud of it.  He wore it home.  And to bed.  It was awesome.

After the dinosaurs, we hot-footed it over the farm.  Not a whole lot of people due to the frigid wind, but Aiden didn't seem to mind.  He got to pet the ponies.

He kept telling me that the horse was eating his breakfast.   He would say, "Not eating yogurt.  Not eating cereal.  Not eating waffles.  Eating grass.  Yuck."  Can you tell what he loves for breakfast?

We did end up riding these ponies, but no pics.  I was too busy holding Mister!!

He had so much fun playing in this children's jail.  Hope he doesn't get too comfy in there...

"Met Me ouutt, Mom!"  Then he would SQUEAL!!

Harvest Time

Fall is here!  Jiggity Jig!!  I LOVE the fall.  It is without a doubt the most beautiful time of the year.  Yesterday I took Little Man and we went to a farm.  Black Island Farms is right by our house, so we took off and spent the most beautiful evening playing Farmer Joe.  The evening was lazy, the shadows were long and Mister enjoyed all of it.  So you can enjoy the pictures unhindered, let me explain that Aiden is no longer looking at the camera to say Cheese.  He refuses.  So the few shots of his face are pure luck.  Way to go, Mom.

My new plan of attack is to take Aiden to fun places and let him explore on his own time frame.  If he wasn't interested in the animals and didn't want to stay there, fine.  We did whatever.  I want him to learn however he wants to learn.  If he wanted to ride that barrel train 50 times, then okay.  I am along for the ride.  He is the driver.  It is his childhood.

And, yes, the farm is as beautiful as it looks.  I didn't get pictures of the huge hay slides, the tons of tractors, the llamas, the pigs, and the pygmy goats.  All super fun.  And when they say "hay ride" there is no hay involved.  It is a ride in a huge wagon looking at all the farm (it is a working farm, so people are out there plowing away...), trudging through the dirt and picking your own pumpkins.  All those suckers picked huge pumpkins that they had to haul all the way to their cars.  We picked a small one, just the right size for Aiden.  

My....Endless Love

I love being a Mom more than anything I have ever done or will ever do.  I love it, I love it, I love it!  I love the laughing, the tantrums, the "hold me's" and the overwhelming love I get back from Little Man.  I love that he is such a loud, messy, can't-stay-out-of-the-dirt boy.  I love that he pats the couch and says "hop up, Mom."  and that he really means it.

I love doing things for my boy that show him how much I love him.  He is not a good eater, but loves breakfast food.  I found a cute idea and thought "Hmmm.... Aiden would eat this!" so we made Rainbow Waffles.

And, boy, he ate.  2 whole great big large waffles with extra syrup and rainbow colored sprinkles.

That was on Saturday.  Since then, I took Mister to the train yard in Ogden and let him wander around, climb, and be a boy for about 2 hours.  It was delightful.  We watched ESPN together (I kinda phased out during this part, but Mister loved watching soccer) and played with his train set.

Today, Aiden was able to spend time with his cousin (who leaves on her mission soon... SQUEAL! To Rome - double SQUEAL!)  who gave him... well... this:

And this is what life is all about.  Eating an ice cream cone.  By yourself.  No questions asked.

Tonight, we had a Family Home Evening about nature.  It was a nursery lesson that we adapted with a fun game and a fun walk on the nature trail by our house.  We found:

• A rock.  Black and shiny.
• A sunflower
• A pretty maple leaf.
• Dog poo
• A flat bike tire
• A grouchy old man who didn't realize that we can stroll and look at stuff rather than walk at a brisk pace.  It is legal, pal!

Today I was on!

Today, I feel like an awesome Mom.  Most days, I go to bed fretting about "did I spend enough one-on-one time with Mister?"  "Did he eat veggies today?"  "Did we read enough stories to make him smart?"  "Did I let something go today that I could have been more strict about? or Did I discipline when I could have let it go?"

But today I bought a freezer.  Not that it made me a good mom.  But the cool fort that I made out of the box made me a good mom.  And stapling dishrags on the cutout windows for curtains - well, that made me a girl.  Getting in and eating pizza in Tater's fort for our dinner... that was a double-point good mom moment.  Giving him a flashlight in his fort and turning out the lights, well, I just may be the coolest mom ever.  At least Aiden thinks so.  He kept saying, "Thanks, Mom!  Thanks Mom!!!"

We also went for a walk and he got to play in the dirt.  Cha-Ching.. cha-ching.  I am raking in the points today.

Honestly, letting him watch Tangled 400 times in the past 2 days - probably not the best mommy moment.  Oh yeah.  Mac and Cheese from Noodles and Co. for lunch and pizza for dinner - not the best mommy moment, either.

BUT I MADE HIM A FORT!  That has to count for something!  We had such a fun night!  It was SO fun!  He is boy - through and through...

Surgery

Lots of pics.  First off, I have to say that my family is wonderful.  My nieces, in particular, have been such a support.  Breanna and Jessica stayed over Wednesday night to help me Thursday morning early.  Shiree and Kelle and Breanna and Jessica have stayed at my house ever since helping me with a grumpy, naughty mister who is healing wonderfully.

So, Thursday morning, we headed out early to get to Primary Children's Medical Center.  We actually got there early, so we went for a walk.    Luckily, PCMC is THEEE kid-friendly place in Salt Lake.  They have colorful horse sculptures, gnomes and rainbow benches in the front garden.  Remember at this point, Mister does not know why we are here.  Luckily.

Next, we headed up to Same Day Surgery.  We sat there and waited.  Being PCMC, they have Thomas the Tank Engine toys.  And Mister, well, he just sat there and played.  Unfortunately, the only toys in our little area were the LOUDEST toys in the whole place.  Note that - even though the big cousins are smiling, they know what is to come...

Then we went in and helped Mister get ready.  He was royally bugged by the ID bracelet.  Then bugged by the white socks.  But isn't he stinking cute in the hospital jammies?  Check this post from last April...here.

But then Breanna got Mister and started to spin on the doctor chair and then we had this...

And it is heartbreaking that we really know what is happening.  Once again, PCMC is really the best place for kids.  The nurse practitioner knows how a 2 year old hates to have an exam.  He has had so very many in the past and it is so hard to do anything without screaming involved.    She was so cute and pretended to listen to everyone's heart - mine, Breanna's, hers, and Jessica's.  Then - almost as an afterthought, asked Aiden if he wanted a turn.  Well, of course!!!  

I made the decision that Aiden would do better during the hand-off with a little bit of sedative, so off we went to the next waiting room where they brought Aiden some Versed "juice".  We were able to talk to the anesthesiologist and discussed a change of plan due to him having so much nausea the last time after surgery.  She decided to give him an epidural to block all the pain from the waist down, and then give him a booster on the epidural right before the surgery ended.  That way, he would have pain control for an additional 6 hours or so.  

So - we also talked to Dr. Cartwright, his urologist.  We also decided to have a scope done up to Aiden's kidneys because he has struggled with kidney stones the last two weeks.    By the time we actually took him back to have his surgery, he was pretty calm and went to the anesthesiologist without a fuss.  

And then. ... We wait.  

The surgery was a little over 2 hours (longer than we thought) and then Dr. Cartwright came out to see us.  He pretty much had to do exactly the same thing that he did 17 months ago... read that here.  It was less time intensive since so much of the reconstruction was done last year and it was just re-adjusting it this time. Everything went well.  So, I was able to go back and help him out of anesthesia.  

Aiden fought hard.  Very hard.  Throwing up and not at all happy.  He fought and fought and vomited and vomited.  So, they gave him more nausea meds and a bolus of pain meds in his IV.  It knocked him back out.  He also struggled to keep his oxygen steady, but after about 30 minutes, he was asleep, but doing much better.  

Finally, the ladies were able to come and see him.  My camera - at this point- ran out of battery, so I will add post-op photos later when I get them from Jessica.

We held him until he woke up and was able to keep down some apple juice.  Then we were able to go home.  Aiden wore his new, super swell Spongebob jammies that were 2 sizes too big (on purpose) and we fed him popsicle after popsicle while we watched Thomas.  

I gave him his first dose of Oxycodone and he went WIRED.  Climbing, jumping, crazy!  It had to have hurt, but it was nearly impossible to keep him contained.  So, we just followed him around and kept him safe.

Again, my biggest thanks goes out to all the people who have helped - Uncle Dave for the blessing before surgery - Uncle Chris for all the support -Aunt Kari for all the love in prep for the Big Day - and his wonderful, wonderful cousins who have stayed with him and stayed by him.

We are so lucky that the surgery went well.  Last time, it took about 2 weeks for us to realize that there were problems.  So pray that we get through this.