DISNEYLAND!

So...my family has a tradition. By family, I mean what I like to call, "my first family." You know, my parents, siblings and animals, (in my family, we love our animals. A trait all my sisters kept, but I didn't, for some odd reason.) This tradition is AWESOME, if I do say so myself. You see, whenever a family member graduates from high school, we go to the happiest place on Earth. That's right. We go to Disneyland, (woot woot!) We went other times, when my eldest sisters were young and before my baby sister and I were born. Then, a few times with our extended family, the Putnams. But, when I was set to graduate high school, (my 10 year reunion is this summer), my parents said we were going to Disneyland for 4 days and I got to choose what we did on the 5th day. In the past, we did 4 days at the Disneyland Park and one day at Knottsberry Farm. However, being the Thespian that I was, (keyword there is "was"), I chose to go to Universal Studios Hollywood and Graumanns' Chinese Theater, (fun fact: my dad's hands are bigger than Arnold Schwarzenegger.)

So, I had yet another reason to be ecstatic to be graduating. I was done with high school, done with rules, done with homework, (until college), and ready to party!  I was chosen by my AP English Teacher, (she will always be one of my favorites), to be the person to give my Senior Project speech to the judges as their practice rounds one evening a couple weeks before everyone else was set to do theirs. I jumped at the chance for a few reasons: 1. I loved public speaking and was good at it. 2. I was flattered to be chosen. 3. If I did it, I didn't have to do it when everyone else did, meaning I didn't have to go to school the last two days before graduation weekend. FREEDOM! So, I gave up an hour one evening to go to my high school, did my speech, got top marks and a compliment from one judge that always stuck with me, (she knew my dad when he was young and said I looked, acted like and had the same mannerisms as him. Anyone telling me that I emulate my dad is the biggest compliment I could ever receive.)

The Saturday before, my parents through me a huge, fun BBQ at our home with a cake that my mom thought fit my attitude about high school. It said, "Congrats Liz. You're DONE!" That night, I went out and celebrated, (the non alcoholic way), with my group of friends. The next day, we all met in the gym in our blue caps and gowns, our various tassles draping by our excited faces as we ought of the future. We listened to our peers and teachers speak, we heard our names being called, we shook hands, took that precious diploma and freedom had arrived. We switched our tassles to the other side, threw our caps and cheered. We hugged, cried, laughed and went home to prepare for our all nighter party, hosted by our high school. We had a blast, confessing to our peers of crushes, dreams and embarrassing stories. We exchanged phone numbers, promises to never lose our friendships and hugs. It was a blast and still a great memory.

That morning, I was picked up by my parents, exhausted but still barely containing my excitement. My sisters were with them, as was my niece and my brother in law. There was neverending luggage in the trunk. We were headed straight for Disneyland! I slept half the way, read, played with my niece, (10 at the time), and tried to contain my childlike anticipation. As soon as we saw the bright lights coming for the rides in Anaheim, we all screamed and laughed. Had I just graduated from high school? Yes. Was I going to college in three months? Sure. Did I regress to a five year old as soon as I saw the Disneyland sign? You bet!

Little ol' high school me!

Two years later, it was my baby sisters turn. I could venture a very strong guess that her excitement to be free, grown up and ready for lifes' adventures matched mine. I can also say with confidence that she became a little girl as soon as we headed for SoCal.

My incredibly beautiful baby sister!

And now, 8 years later, someone is graduating high school. I was there when this special person was born. I held her while she slept, helped her tie her shoes, brushed her hair, played with her, cuddled her, babysat her, gave her advice, bought her cute clothes, talked to her about boys and stupid girls and driving cars. I love this person so much, and she is so much more than a niece. She is my little sister. Brooke is one of my favorite memories of my childhood. She is a best friend and such an incredible woman. She is driven, smart, confident, an overachiever, a great friend and gorgeous inside and out. And she is graduating. I am still wrapping my head around the fact that she has a car and a boyfriend and now she's graduating high school?! This post was originally about Disneyland but I got a little sidetracked thinking about my amazing Boogs. Back to the point before I start crying!

My goofy and gorgeous Boogs!

Anyhow, since Boogs is graduating, our family has been planning our traditional trip to Disneyland! Brooke chose an exciting dinner and show at Medieval Times so that's where we are headed first. This is who is going to this awesome week long vacation:

The Robinson Family (Lonnie, Lydia, Brooke and Grandma Janice)

The Stuevens Family (Paul aka Dad, Jacki aka Mom)

My sister, Rebecca Hawke

Brookes' Boyfriend, Kody Hess

The West Family (Danny and Kristina)

The Mitchell Family, CA branch (Luke, Liz, Finn and Dietrich)

The Phelps Family (Chad, Aja and Dax! Aja is Kristina's best friend and just happened to plan their Disneyland vacation the same week! We love the Phelps family and are so excited they are coming!)

The Robinson, Kody and West families are flying down. The Stuevens Family and Rebecca are driving down a couple days in the week and are only going for 3 days.  The Mitchell family is driving halfway the day before and the rest of the way the next day, (we are fortunate to live the closest to the Park. Thank heavens since we have a preschooler and a toddler in tow!)

The boys LOVE Mickey Mouse and Disney movies. I have been showing them YouTube videos of the rides and they, (especially Finn) seem SO excited, though I am not sure if they understand what is happening and when. I have been slowly prepping and planning for any problems that may come up with them, since this is the first vacation we will be taking with them that is not just camping or the beach. My family does Disneyland from the time they open until they are kicking everyone out so I am trying to prep and plan for every second of the boys' days to make sure they stay happy, relaxed, fed, hydrated and...HAPPY. I am so stinking excited that I often dream of the park and the boys' reactions to seeing Mickey and all their favorite characters full size and able to be hugged. I CANNOT WAIT!!!!

That concludes this seemingly erratic, off topic and random post. I hope you, (whoever YOU are), enjoyed this nonsensical post! Good night! :)

Finally, I am able to sit down and update.

(FYI: I am worn out and don't have the patience that I normally do to go back and fix punctuation, grammatical errors or run on sentences. I apologize ahead of time. ) This last month has been a doozy, let me tell you! I can honestly say that I have never felt as tired, worried, half crazed and at the same time grateful than I did for the last month. I will go back a bit so that those who don't know what was happening in this house for the last month will be up to speed.

Finn had his tonsils and adenoids removed on March 12th. Luke and I were both worried, mainly because he is so young and we were concerned about how he would do before, during and after. We also knew that it was the right decision because his tonsils and especially his adenoids were massive and were impeding on so many parts of his life. We arrived at the hospital at 5:30 am and were taken back to surgery prep by 6 am. They asked if he was an anxious child and would be really upset when the nurse had to take him out of our arms and carry back to the OR. Luke and I laughed sarcastically and firmly said that yes, he is going to flip. So, they decided to give him an oral medication that basically turned him into a happy drunk. He laughed lazily at everything, couldn't walk or stand on his own and sleepily grinned when pretty nurses came in. They let us carry him to large double doors and then a nurse took him and wrapped him in a warm blanket in her arms. He sleepily reached out, said "no" and was gone. I, of course, lost it. I have friends and family whose children have gone through major illnesses and countless major surgeries, so it may seem like an overreaction. But, that was my baby. I didn't care that it was a minor procedure and that he was in good hands. He wasn't in my hands and that felt wrong.

Anyhow, the surgery only took about 20 minutes and the surgeon came out to tell us he was done and that Finn did great. He said that he tried to push the gas mask away but gave up quickly and was asleep in minutes. He did have to be poked twice to get an IV because he was blessed with his mama's elusive veins, (poor guy.) He told me that the anesthesiologist was going to be out soon to get us and that we made the right decision because he had never seen tonsils and adenoids that large in a three year old. He also told us that he would be admitted and moved to his room once he was stable enough in the recovery room. The anesthesiologist came out soon after and told us she was going to remove his breathing tube as soon as she went back there. She didn't get the chance though because a nurse came rushing out to tell her that Finn was awake and was trying to rip his tube out. We were taken back and were surprised to find three nurses holding a very angry, very confused Finn. He was gurgling fluid and blood and trying to scream and rip his IV out. I went to the bed, laid next to him and lightly held him against me and talked to him so he knew his mom was there. That calmed him down for a few minutes at a time but the confusion from the anesthesia and the pain in his throat would get him riled up again. They had to suction out a lot of blood and fluid and his O2 levels kept dropping so they finally called the surgeon and he ordered more of the "drunk" medicine to relax him so he could breathe. We were in the recovery room for a long time before he was comfortable letting him go to his room, but Finn finally relaxed and loved being wheeled across the hospital in his bed with mom with him and dad walking alongside. He kept saying, "wow, mom" and "cool."

The next few days went relatively well. We were actually able to take him that same night and Dietrich, though happy to be with Nana Jacki all day, was happy to see mom, dad and brother. The next few days, Finn was grumpy but took his medicine without a fuss and drank plenty of fluids. He kept asking for pizza and French fries, so I obliged by mushing up tiny bits of pizza and fries and letting him eat his special treats. We watched movies, slept next to each other and cuddled a lot, with tons of help from dad and Nana. Nana Jacki played with Dietrich, let me nap a couple times and kept my house in order. She was a Godsend. Unfortunately, she had to go back to OR that Sunday and this mama was back in charge!

That following Monday, I noticed Finn was breathless and getting winded quickly. When I put him to bed, I checked on him every few minutes and noticed his breathing was quick, shallow and his lips were turning white. I decided an ER visit was in order, (it was 11 in the evening) and when I came back with Finns' jacket, noticed he was panting like he had run a marathon and was barely breathing. I scooped him up and we were at the hospital in two minutes. He O2 levels were so low that the triage nurse yelled for a bed and doctor immediately and we were whisked back. After three Albuterol treatments, a Prednisone shot and an O2 mask, his level finally rose. A chest x ray revealed pneumonia from aspiration, (suspected blood and fluid from his surgery.) The doctor was prepared to admit him but allowed us to go home when he found out we lived very close to the hospital and I had another son that needed to be taken care of while Luke was at work. Finn was put on antibiotics and I was told to use his nebulizer as needed.

He seemed tired, but relaxed for the next couple days until Wednesday. In the middle of a nap, he stood up and threw up the entire contents of his stomach and then some until he was crying and dry heaving. I took him, (along with his hyper little brother), to the Urgent Care Clinic. After dealing with a quack of a doctor, (anyone who knows me, knows I hate confrontation and am very passive. However, on two hours of sleep a night, I became aggressive, grumpy and told that doctor where he could stick his attitude), I was told to give him more medicine and if he kept throwing up, to take him back to the ER. He then shut the room door in my face, muttering the whole way. He said all this without looking at my kid and while Finn was vomiting in a puke bag the whole time. I called my mom, and she told me she would come back down if I needed her. She ended up doing just that, when Finn woke up that night, throwing up until he almost passed out. The ER treated him for dehydration, told me they didn't know what it was and sent me home to ride it out. Thank God my mom arrived shortly after and again took care of Dietrich while I nursed Finn. That Friday, we discovered that the throwing up was the Flu because, while watching Frozen, Dietrich threw up all over me and didn't stop throwing up until the next day. Then, Luke began throwing up. 24 hours later, and I began feeling queasy. It was a blast, (insert sarcasm here.)

After two and a half weeks of breathing treatments, medications galore, puke buckets and doctors visits, Finn was finally on the mend. And he has mostly stayed that way. We had a minor setback this last weekend when he had an allergy/asthma attack on his already weak lungs and so his nebulizer has been pulled back out of storage for the time being. He is quickly recovering from that, however and is about 90% back to being Finn. Despite that roller coaster, I am so glad we did the surgery.  Finn is eating more and trying new foods, now that he can actually swallow. He isn't snoring, shows no signs of sleep apnea and sleeps quietly and soundly. His mood is so much more relaxed and happy go lucky. His speech, (along with help from his amazing speech therapist), has improved 100%. He is talking more than ever and we can actually understand him. I also want to add that he weighs 40 lbs and is 44 inches tall. :)

 

 

Now, I must fill everyone in on my ginger. Dietrich does. Not. Stop. Ever. That kid is moving, moving, moving from the moment he wakes, until the moment he is put to bed. He is loud, hyper, animated, sarcastic and goofy. He is always happy. Unlike his introverted brother, he talks to anyone and everyone and loves to narrate the day with one or two word anecdotes. He had his 18 month check up last week and is doing great. He is 34 1/2 inches tall and weighs just under 30 lbs. He is so big and stocky and masculine, (if you can use that word to describe a toddler.) He is definitely a mama's boy and will wake up in the middle of the night, yell "mom" and I will find him standing in his crib, holding his blanket, saying "up please." Sometimes I tell him no and lay him back down to go back to sleep, and he does. Other times, I pick him up, lay down with him and savor the snuggles that won't always be there. He is such a great, clumsy, loving, crazy little boy and he really does complete our family. We have Luke, my ambitious and aggressive leader of the pack. Then, there is me. I am the laid back, idealistic member. Next is Finn. Our introverted, passionate and contemplative three year old. And Dietrich. Our impulsive, extroverted and wild baby. I wouldn't trade any of them or any of their craziness for anything. They are all mine. And I am all theirs.