Back to busy!

So I really didn't take any pictures to post this week. It was a crazy week. I went back to work in full swing. The kids did daycare every morning. Jack did great. He really loves going to daycare with his brothers. It helped that his favorite worker Julia worked all week. It was nice to have that consistency.

Not too much to report this week. Jack did much better with sleeping. We sure hope that continues! All 3 kids and I were exausted by the end of the week. This is going to take some getting use to!

On a side note my friends and neighbors are currently in Moscow finishing their adoption of their little girl! Please pray for safe travels and smooth goings for them. They are special people who deserve an amazing and wonderful journey. Please pray that the judge will waive their 10 day waiting time. They have a 4 year old at home and I know they would love to get back ASAP. For the record this will be the 3rd International adoption in the past year in our 3 house stretch. First Norah came home from Vietnam, then Jack, and now one more! What an amazing experience for all of us!

I promise to do better with the pictures next week...I hope!

Our pictures...The end of summer:(

My Jack

Uh...what's he hanging from???

Loves Mickey

A rare smiling Ethan photo.

Our family.

Just thought I'd share some of the pictures that we had done. We loved them and had such a hard time choosing which photos to keep! The photographer we had took over 200 shots.

Oh, so sad that I must say good bye to summer. I go back to work this week, and in two weeks the kids start their sports, and in 3 weeks Ethan starts school. I'm always sad to see summer go. I have enjoyed my lazy times with the boys. I think it will be quite an adjustment for all of us. We have to be ready and out the door by 8:15.. Ugh, that should be interesting since Ethan and Jack haven't been getting up before 8:00! Well, will see what happens!

Headlines

"Fashion expert Cam Caton Declares that Pink is the New Blue (other experts question the My Little Ponies)

"The movie, Star Wars, Zaps the Minds of Two Young Boys"

"Family Eats Fried Manatee" (or mishapen crecent rolls)

"Naked Boy Destroys Home in Minutes"

"Soccer Star Makes His Depute" (Unfortunately, he's not that photogenic)

The nasal stints are out!

Before surgery. Left nostril is non existent. Look at that beautiful face.

After surgery with the lovely nasal stints. This picture pretty much wraps up his feelings.

After surgery without stints. The nostrils are much closer in size. My happy boy!

We still have some redness from the scars, but that will fade with time. Look at that beautiful face.

Recovering

Cam in the pink Barbie car to go with his pink princess toothbrush

My 3 boys on quads at the party.

Cam on a pink bike with a pink helmet (sigh). Do you sense a theme. On a brighter note he can actually ride the bike.

I can't say this week was real exciting. It was kind of just a week of recovery. Jack had a rough few days, but got better each and everyday. My mom was a God send helping out with housework and the kids. He's pretty close to normal now except he has the lovely nasal stints still in and we're still on soft foods. I have to say this has not detered his eating one bit. He now has a taste for Alfredo sauce (thanks Heather:). Today he had half a banana, some mushy cereal and milk, mac n cheese, watermelon, cantaloupe, noodles with alfredo sauce, more watermelon, ice cream, and mashed sweet potatoes with lots of butter. I don't know where it all goes! He is pointing to the roof of our mouths, so we think he understands on some level. He also goes around pointing at everyone elses noses. I think he's hoping someone will take out his stints. Sorry 9 more days:( I will be so glad when he's back to normal...and so will he!

This weekend was fairly busy. Friday we went to a book store for some birthday presents and then to McDonalds. The kids had a blast. On Saturday we had a birthday party. It was construction themed with all kinds of real trucks. They also had quads for the kids to drive. Needless to say my kids loved that. Especially since we don't have any motorized vehicles and probably never will! On Sunday I took Cam to church just he and I. He was so good and sweet. Sometimes it's hard to remember how easy it was with one. Of course when we only had one it didn't seem that easy. Then Nonna came to visit and we went to a church picnic at the pool and Ethan actually got in the water!!! Minor miracle! Later we had a small birthday party for Uncle Scotty equipped with ice cream cake. Overall it was a fun weekend, but I sure am tired!

We're home!

Jack's surgery went very well. He was able to have his palate corrected all the way to the gumline, which means we shouldn't need more surgery for a few years! He also had a small lip revision to get rid of scar tissue by the nose and round his nose out a bit. We can already tell that it's going to look good.

Okay, now I have to say post-op was terrible. In the PACU room we had the two best nurses ever. However, none of us could get Jack to calm down. They tried morphine and several other narcotics and nothing worked. He would sleep for 10 minutes and wake up screaming. Finally, they decided to transfer us to our private room, because we had tried everything.

The private room did not go any better. I also did not like the nurses quite as much. They were still good, but I felt like they did not listen to me very much. I could tell Jack was in a lot of pain, and all they gave him was .5 ml of tylenol, which is half the normal dose. They said this was standard on the floor. However, the kids who had their tonsils out got tylenol with codine. So basically the next 36 hours were spent with me rocking Jack until he slept, then him waking up screaming, me shooting liquids down his throat, so we could hopefully go home sometime, him screaming some more, ect.ect. As I sat there with him I was trying to hold back my tears. My poor sweet boy. I also couldn't help but think he had done this before, with no pain meds and no one to hold him. My poor baby. Overnight he would scream for 2 hours - no body checked on us, but as soon as I would get him to sleep, someone would come in to get his BP, give tylenol, or whatever, and wake him up. I totally wanted to scream. I was like "I just spent 2 hours getting him to sleep!!!" In the morning the nurses basically were saying he needed another night. When the plastics team came in I pitched my reasons for going home. I basically said he wasn't going to sleep while in the hospital, I'm already getting fluids in via syringe, and would have to force it even if we waited 3 more days, and the only pain meds he was getting was tylenol, which we could do at home. Thank God they agreed with me!

So they sent us home on Friday. As soon as we placed him in the car I knew it was the right decision. He went right to sleep. Then when we got home he took liquids with no force. We gave him a normal dose of infant tylenol, and he slept all night. He woke up at 7:30 drank over 2 glasses of Gatorade and some Pediasure and went right back to sleep. I think we are on the right track. We have a long hall ahead, but he's a trooper. I am so happy to be home and so is Jack. I'm so glad he feels like this is his safe place.