Ok, so after being so disappointed, upset, stressed out and sleep deprived, I think I'm ready to post today's episode of our visit with the Ear, Nose and Throat specialist - Dr. Jannings.
We were to the Hospital on time this morning - 7:45am. Ready to take on the challenge of trying to get these crazy things out of Josiah's ears. We met Dr. Jannings and he is a very nice Doctor. He looked into Josiah's ears and tried to get those "things' out, but no luck. We were then forced to make another appointment when they would actually put him to sleep to take those things out. That is where my disappointment set in. I thought that's what we were going to do today. I misunderstood Martin. Talk about being disappointed. Josiah was such a trooper through it all, and laid very still for Dr. Jannings and his nurse. But Dr. Jannings said whatever is down in his ears is way up against his ear drum and he said even on an adult he wouldn't attempt to get them out without being put under. He said it would be too painful. So now we wait til Feb. 13th. In the meantime we have to get a pre-op physical done on Josiah to make sure he's healthy. We also need to make sure that he stays healthy, cuz even the littlest cold can make being under that anesthesia (spell?) miserable. So we're gonna pray that he stays healthy til then.
As for the 13th of Feb. - we check into the Hospital at 7am and actually go to the OR for this. Dr. Jannings' nurse said it will probably only take about 5 minutes to get done, so it shouldn't be too bad. My concern came when Dr. Jannings said there was a chance of scraping his ear drum. That wasn't something I wanted to hear from him.
Since this morning, I have been emailing a good friend of mine, and she has reassured me that having them go in the ear is not a big deal. That her son has had tubes put in twice and he's been fine. That in itself has made me feel so much better about this. However, now its the Doctor bills that we'll be getting after all of this - our health insurance sucks the big one (sorry, but it truly does). Our plan is for major medical only and our deductible is around $11,000.00 so you guessed it, we'll be paying for this whole thing out of our pockets. That's the upsetting part to me.
So after talking with my friend Tess, and now writing this on here, my headache is actually almost gone. That's what I get for being stressed out - I get headaches. Lovely huh?
From here until Feb. 13th, I will be praying for God to help get me through this, and I'll keep you posted on this crazy situation!
Thanks for thinking of Josiah today!
Michelle
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
My Josiah Wes
Ok, so its a nice, quiet and relaxing weekend at home with just Josiah and I here. Martin and Isaac are in the Cities at the Science Museum for Cub Scouts. The Museum was having a "sleep with the dinosaurs" event just for Cub Scouts tonight. They were to arrive at 3pm today and they leave tomorrow morning around 8am. The afternoon/evening is packed with lots of activities to do, an Omni film to see, pizza, late night snack and eventually lights out at 11:45. however, its 7:46 and Martin just called telling me he's so tired that he and Isaac are ready to crash now. Oh yeah, and they are sleeping on the floor. They said some areas will be carpeted and others won't be, but yet they weren't suppose to pack heavy (pack light) were the instructions, so how do you pack "comfortably"? I would love to have gone, but me and sleeping on the floor just can't be done. I'm sure Martin will be talking about it tomorrow too - maybe he'll even want to take a nap when they get home?
Anyways! I wanted to update you on Josiah. Last week Josiah missed the entire week of school because he had a very bad cough. If you know our boys, they get broncities and croop VERY easy. So easy, that I've been to the ER several times with them, knowing that is what they have and being very nervous about it. Isaac was never as serious as Josiah has been, but still. Croop is nothing to sneeze at. So anyways - I thought maybe Josiah had broncitis cuz he wasn't getting over the cough and it sounded deep and it sounded like it hurt when he coughed. So Martin brought him in, no he didn't have broncities (thank goodness), but he did have something in his one ear. The Doc. thought he had had tubes in his ears at one time. We assured her he didn't. She wanted Doctor Harder to take a look at them, but he wasn't in that day, so we made an appt. for the next day for Doc Harder to look at them, and possibly get whats in there, out. Well the attempt was made and was unsuccessful. So they forwarded us on to a "nose, ear and throat specialist". To me, those referrals always sound like A LOT of money. Great, there goes my flex plan for the year (and then some!). So we go in on Tuesday to the Hospital. The nurse told Martin that they will be putting Josiah to sleep (which I'm not too anxious to see). But that putting them to sleep would be the best way to do this - then there is no way Josiah can move and possibly mess anything up for them while they are trying to get this stuff out. Oh yes, and Doc Harder found something in BOTH of his ears. Like little beads or something? I'm baffled by this, as Josiah is almost 7, and when he was in the Clinic a year ago with croop, they didn't find anything in his ears then, so I am suspecting that this just happened this past year. I would think he's done with putting things in his mouth, nose, ears, etc. (he used to shove hamburger up his nose at dinner time). But then, just last week Josiah shaved part of his right eyebrow off (I'll see if I can get a picture to post on here). So his craziness hasn't left him (and probably never will).
But I must admit that I am nervous about this procedure. I trust the Doctor. (a friend of mine's daughter just had her tonsils out by the same Doc., and really liked him), so that was very comforting to hear. And the fact that we only have to go to Windom (about 9 miles from here) isn't bad either. It could be a lot worse. We have to be to the Hospital at 8am. I'm expecting to be back to work around noon and Martin (since he's laid off) will stay with Josiah at home the rest of the day, unless we think I should stay home with him-(that will be decided that day).
One of my friends had also suggested trying these "ear candles". Have you ever heard of them? They are quite the thing to try! I found them at our local Plum Creek Coop (natural herbs, foods, etc.) You literally put one end in your ear (they are shaped like a foot long cone of gauze dipped in wax), and you light the other end on fire. Sounds crazy I know, but I was willing to try them out! Well, we got wax out of all of us, but no foreign objects came from J's ear. However, when Doc Harder tried to get the stuff out of J's ear, Martin said they flushed it and got a lot of wax out of there, so that was probably why there wasn't much left to come out with the ear candles. At any rate, it was a good try, and I am VERY curious as to what will come out of Josiah's ears on Tuesday.
I will keep you all posted, but in the mean time, do you mind saying some prayers for us? When I've talked to Josiah about it, he just tells me that he doesn't want to talk about it - and he probably doesn't really realize what will will be done yet, but he soon will when they put him to sleep. I am just nervous about the whole deal. I'm nervous about seeing Josiah put to sleep - he's my "vim and vinegar" little boy - there's never a dull moment when he is around - always on the go and never wanting to sit still. Not even for a second. I've heard stories from people acting crazy as they come out of the anesthesia (spell?) (some crying uncontrollably, or saying crazy things, etc.) So I'm not sure what to expect with this at all. And of course there's the Mother in me being undeniably afraid that they will harm his hearing and he'll be scarred for life. Could it be me instead? Why can't those crazy things have been put in my ears, and let Josiah have his ears be just fine. (by the way, he doesn't remember putting anything in his ears). I'm just plain nervous. Can't really put my finger on specific thing other than he's my son and they better do a great job on him. (Josiah told Doc Harder that he "better be careful" before Doc Harder went inside of Josiah's ears - cute huh?)
OK, enough rambling. I will keep you posted and yes, I will be saying extra prayers myself for this to be a smooth situation. That everything will be good, and that he'll be able to hear even better (which is also something he has never complained about - not being to hear very well). Strange isn't it? You would think he wouldn't noticed something had happened. I don't know.
But I will go now. Have a great night and I'll update this as soon as I can on Tuesday. In the meantime, send some more warm weather our way! Right now its 25 degrees and feels so good to be outside!
love to you all! ~
Michelle
Anyways! I wanted to update you on Josiah. Last week Josiah missed the entire week of school because he had a very bad cough. If you know our boys, they get broncities and croop VERY easy. So easy, that I've been to the ER several times with them, knowing that is what they have and being very nervous about it. Isaac was never as serious as Josiah has been, but still. Croop is nothing to sneeze at. So anyways - I thought maybe Josiah had broncitis cuz he wasn't getting over the cough and it sounded deep and it sounded like it hurt when he coughed. So Martin brought him in, no he didn't have broncities (thank goodness), but he did have something in his one ear. The Doc. thought he had had tubes in his ears at one time. We assured her he didn't. She wanted Doctor Harder to take a look at them, but he wasn't in that day, so we made an appt. for the next day for Doc Harder to look at them, and possibly get whats in there, out. Well the attempt was made and was unsuccessful. So they forwarded us on to a "nose, ear and throat specialist". To me, those referrals always sound like A LOT of money. Great, there goes my flex plan for the year (and then some!). So we go in on Tuesday to the Hospital. The nurse told Martin that they will be putting Josiah to sleep (which I'm not too anxious to see). But that putting them to sleep would be the best way to do this - then there is no way Josiah can move and possibly mess anything up for them while they are trying to get this stuff out. Oh yes, and Doc Harder found something in BOTH of his ears. Like little beads or something? I'm baffled by this, as Josiah is almost 7, and when he was in the Clinic a year ago with croop, they didn't find anything in his ears then, so I am suspecting that this just happened this past year. I would think he's done with putting things in his mouth, nose, ears, etc. (he used to shove hamburger up his nose at dinner time). But then, just last week Josiah shaved part of his right eyebrow off (I'll see if I can get a picture to post on here). So his craziness hasn't left him (and probably never will).
But I must admit that I am nervous about this procedure. I trust the Doctor. (a friend of mine's daughter just had her tonsils out by the same Doc., and really liked him), so that was very comforting to hear. And the fact that we only have to go to Windom (about 9 miles from here) isn't bad either. It could be a lot worse. We have to be to the Hospital at 8am. I'm expecting to be back to work around noon and Martin (since he's laid off) will stay with Josiah at home the rest of the day, unless we think I should stay home with him-(that will be decided that day).
One of my friends had also suggested trying these "ear candles". Have you ever heard of them? They are quite the thing to try! I found them at our local Plum Creek Coop (natural herbs, foods, etc.) You literally put one end in your ear (they are shaped like a foot long cone of gauze dipped in wax), and you light the other end on fire. Sounds crazy I know, but I was willing to try them out! Well, we got wax out of all of us, but no foreign objects came from J's ear. However, when Doc Harder tried to get the stuff out of J's ear, Martin said they flushed it and got a lot of wax out of there, so that was probably why there wasn't much left to come out with the ear candles. At any rate, it was a good try, and I am VERY curious as to what will come out of Josiah's ears on Tuesday.
I will keep you all posted, but in the mean time, do you mind saying some prayers for us? When I've talked to Josiah about it, he just tells me that he doesn't want to talk about it - and he probably doesn't really realize what will will be done yet, but he soon will when they put him to sleep. I am just nervous about the whole deal. I'm nervous about seeing Josiah put to sleep - he's my "vim and vinegar" little boy - there's never a dull moment when he is around - always on the go and never wanting to sit still. Not even for a second. I've heard stories from people acting crazy as they come out of the anesthesia (spell?) (some crying uncontrollably, or saying crazy things, etc.) So I'm not sure what to expect with this at all. And of course there's the Mother in me being undeniably afraid that they will harm his hearing and he'll be scarred for life. Could it be me instead? Why can't those crazy things have been put in my ears, and let Josiah have his ears be just fine. (by the way, he doesn't remember putting anything in his ears). I'm just plain nervous. Can't really put my finger on specific thing other than he's my son and they better do a great job on him. (Josiah told Doc Harder that he "better be careful" before Doc Harder went inside of Josiah's ears - cute huh?)
OK, enough rambling. I will keep you posted and yes, I will be saying extra prayers myself for this to be a smooth situation. That everything will be good, and that he'll be able to hear even better (which is also something he has never complained about - not being to hear very well). Strange isn't it? You would think he wouldn't noticed something had happened. I don't know.
But I will go now. Have a great night and I'll update this as soon as I can on Tuesday. In the meantime, send some more warm weather our way! Right now its 25 degrees and feels so good to be outside!
love to you all! ~
Michelle
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Mr. Cool
Here is our "Mr. Cool". He definitely likes to look "cool" with his new fleece jacket he got for Christmas, his sunglasses and Dad's ipod. He loves getting his pictures taken and loves the attention. Oh yes, and did you notice the necklace he has on? He LOVES to dress up, and even got his Grandpa Dennis' bow ties that he used to wear when he was a little boy. Man is Josiah proud of those! He loves his tie and bow ties and will wear them every chance he can get!
Then there's Isaac who isn't near as happy to get in front of the camera like Josiah does. Sure he likes getting his pictures taken, but he's more to himself than what Josiah is. That's ok. Isaac has joined the chess club after school on Wed., (from 3-4) and then he's going to enter the Science Fair at school too. That should be interesting. Last year Martin helped him make a volcano that actually erupted and the kids loved it! (so did Isaac!). We haven't decided what we're going to do for his project this year, but now in 3rd grade he can actually enter the contest and the winners will go to Mankato in May for the "best". He's anxious to start it, and honestly, so am I. I'll have to keep you posted on that!
Must get going. I have a house to clean and laundry to do (if only someone would invent that to get done on its own).
See you
Michelle
Here is the finished closet!!
Ok, so now we have our shelves in and man is it nice! The window you see in the picture faces the North and is about shoulder high, so its at a nice spot to look out and see our back yard. The doorway of the closet is all framed out now, but we have no door on it yet. We'd like to put a bi-fold door on there, but that will come. Right now its just nice being able to have everything up on shelves or hanging up instead of having 1/2 my clothes on the floor of the closet because I didn't have any room for them. (our house is a very old house with no closet space for anything, so the closets we did have were very small - we approached things as a need basis and closets were not on the top of our list when we first moved here 9 years ago!)
I hope you enjoy looking at the closet. I know the pictures dont' really show you too terribly much, but it atleast gives you an idea of the end result of Martins' latest project!
Hope your having a great day! We're gonna be staying indoors for the next couple of days if at all possible - temp. is only -8 degrees! with wind chill of around -25!!! eeeeekkkk
Stay warm!
The beginnings of our new 4'x 11' closet!!
Ok, so here are the beginning pictures of our new closet that measures approximately 4' x 11'. The closet was originally framed up last summer, but with Martin being gone during the week, it never got finished. Now, in January Martin has been laid off and is finally finished.
Josiah thought he had to help too on the weekends and the days that he didn't have school. He's a big helper to Martin and loves to do carpentry! Basically when you see the square window, that is in the middle of the closet. My side is on the right side and Martin's 1/2 is on the left. The shelves you see here are on my side of the closet with a rack for hanging clothes just underneath. To tell you all what I had before, was only about 24" of rack space and now it has increased to around 55" of rack space. Believe me, finding my clothes has never been easier!
Cadillac's favorite perch!
Isn't Cadillac just being goofy?! He loves this "perch" on top of our printer. He sits his behind down on it and goes to sleep. This day he was feeling lovey and wanted attention from the printer! He's a goofy cat, but we love him.Isn't he cute?!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Another beautiful snow fall!
Well, its another beautiful snow fall!! It came during the night last night - maybe an inch or so, enough to cover the ground and make everything look all white and beautiful. Today there is no wind out and its 28 degrees. A gorgeous day! As the boys and I headed out the door for work/school, Isaac commented that Martin hasn't even got the snowmobile out yet. Martin had said earlier (as he had cleaned off the vehicle for me and cleared the deck off of snow) that this is perfect snowmobile snow, but we need a few more inches of it. Underneath this beautiful white powder is ice (as we've have some really nice sunny days lately - in the 30's and even 20's with lots of sun). That has caused the nice snow that we did have to melt and become ice which is NOT the right snow for snowmobiling. For some reason this year, the boys have gotten ancy for snowmobiling. Don't blame them, if I loved it like they do, I'd want to be out there too.
The snow is still falling, so maybe we'll get enough of this lovely stuff for them to have some fun outside after school, even if its just playing in it! At any rate, this is the kind of snow fall that I enjoy. Although having blizzards isn't that bad providing everyone is safe and sound in their homes and not being caught in it! The days of school being cancelled because of a blizzard and being forced to stay inside I believe are gone. Too bad, cuz that sure was fun being locked in your house and having a good excuse to not go to work! Guess we can't have everything can we?!
Must go. Hope your days are enjoyable and everyone is safe and sound.
Love,
Michelle
The snow is still falling, so maybe we'll get enough of this lovely stuff for them to have some fun outside after school, even if its just playing in it! At any rate, this is the kind of snow fall that I enjoy. Although having blizzards isn't that bad providing everyone is safe and sound in their homes and not being caught in it! The days of school being cancelled because of a blizzard and being forced to stay inside I believe are gone. Too bad, cuz that sure was fun being locked in your house and having a good excuse to not go to work! Guess we can't have everything can we?!
Must go. Hope your days are enjoyable and everyone is safe and sound.
Love,
Michelle
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
New Years Resolution
Ok, so I usually don't make resolutions, but this year I have made 2 and only 2. Seems that every year I tell myself that I am going to lose weight, and this year I am finally making a resolution about it and writing it in here (is that dumb or what?). So maybe making it be a public thing will finally make it happen for me. But I also vow NOT to spread myself so thin either. Last July to the end of the year I did just that. Between full time work, being a mom, being a single mom (while Martin was on the road atleast from M-Th), being involved with Isaac in Cub scouts 2x a month, going to 2 other Scout meetings every month, plus selling Premier, there were some weeks that I was gone 3 - 4 nights a week. Uffda. That was way too much.
So my resolutions are this:
1 - lose weight
2 - be home more
They seem pretty feasible don't they? I think so. I know I"m not going to the Regional Rally or National Rally for Premier - that will help. But I'm also just not gonna make myself spread so thin. I will still do the same things, but limit myself to the nights I'm gone. Hopefully the boys will notice that and not tell me "Mom, you're always gone". That's hard to hear when you're leaving home to do something you enjoy.
Must go. Just thought I would share my resolutions so maybe seeing them online will help me stick them more. Feel free to check in with me about them too. I won't mind!
Have a great 2008!
Michelle
So my resolutions are this:
1 - lose weight
2 - be home more
They seem pretty feasible don't they? I think so. I know I"m not going to the Regional Rally or National Rally for Premier - that will help. But I'm also just not gonna make myself spread so thin. I will still do the same things, but limit myself to the nights I'm gone. Hopefully the boys will notice that and not tell me "Mom, you're always gone". That's hard to hear when you're leaving home to do something you enjoy.
Must go. Just thought I would share my resolutions so maybe seeing them online will help me stick them more. Feel free to check in with me about them too. I won't mind!
Have a great 2008!
Michelle
Happy 2008!
Ok, so I've been lax at updating this, but to be honest, I'm not sure who all reads this. But anyhow.
This year I decided not to take any pictures of the boys opening up their gifts. I have done that in the past, and have never used them for anything. However, that will probably change as I get into finally scrapbooking their later years and want to put some pictures in of them opening gifts and I won't have any. Maybe I'll have changed my mind by the time Christmas comes around this year again?!
All in all, our holidays were really good. The one thing I could've been better at is getting out our Christmas letter. For me, if I don't get that out right away in December, I have the hardest time getting it out at all. Infact they are at home sitting on my counter waiting to be mailed. And to be honest, I'm almost tempted not even to send them at all, but I feel that is rude. I like to send them out - that is how I have always been. So if you haven't gotten one from me yet, its not that I'm ignoring you, or anything like that, they are just still sitting at home waiting to go to the Post office.
And now that I am back to work, the boys are back in school, and Martin is at home by himself on unemployment, I still feel lazy. Martin is suppose to be working on our house. And you know the saying - the shoemakers kids have no shoes, well, a carpenter's house is never done either. And so he is presently working on making out closet a whole lot bigger (actually a walk in one). So I am anxiously waiting for that to be done so I can take my clothes that are crammed in my closet now and actually hang them up instead of just folding them and leaving them in a pile on the floor in my closet. Martin hates seeing that mess and I hate having that mess in there. He's had the closet framed up for some time, but hasn't had the time to do any more, and yesterday he got the sheet rock up, so we're getting there.
Hopefully soon we'll have it up and then I can show you pictures of it! Hmmm.. maybe I should take before and after pictures? We'll see!
Michelle
This year I decided not to take any pictures of the boys opening up their gifts. I have done that in the past, and have never used them for anything. However, that will probably change as I get into finally scrapbooking their later years and want to put some pictures in of them opening gifts and I won't have any. Maybe I'll have changed my mind by the time Christmas comes around this year again?!
All in all, our holidays were really good. The one thing I could've been better at is getting out our Christmas letter. For me, if I don't get that out right away in December, I have the hardest time getting it out at all. Infact they are at home sitting on my counter waiting to be mailed. And to be honest, I'm almost tempted not even to send them at all, but I feel that is rude. I like to send them out - that is how I have always been. So if you haven't gotten one from me yet, its not that I'm ignoring you, or anything like that, they are just still sitting at home waiting to go to the Post office.
And now that I am back to work, the boys are back in school, and Martin is at home by himself on unemployment, I still feel lazy. Martin is suppose to be working on our house. And you know the saying - the shoemakers kids have no shoes, well, a carpenter's house is never done either. And so he is presently working on making out closet a whole lot bigger (actually a walk in one). So I am anxiously waiting for that to be done so I can take my clothes that are crammed in my closet now and actually hang them up instead of just folding them and leaving them in a pile on the floor in my closet. Martin hates seeing that mess and I hate having that mess in there. He's had the closet framed up for some time, but hasn't had the time to do any more, and yesterday he got the sheet rock up, so we're getting there.
Hopefully soon we'll have it up and then I can show you pictures of it! Hmmm.. maybe I should take before and after pictures? We'll see!
Michelle
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