Slow Cooker Woes

I was so excited to finally buy a slow cooker on Saturday! I have been wanting one for a while, the idea throwing everything into a pot and letting it cook all day while I leave the house is quite appealing. Anyway, I put a few apples into it, along with walnuts, brown sugar and butter, I just knew that a warm and yummy dessert would be waiting for us this evening! The recipe said to cook it on low for 7-9 hours. After 4 hours, it was applesauce. BLAH. Maybe next time will be the great crock pot experience I was hoping for. If anyone has a trick or tip, let me know...

Scott left last night for his first golf tournament in a few months. The kids and I are holding up well-no major meltdowns (for me as well). Ava did end up in bed with me all last night-she was so snuggly! I'm hoping tonight is my night to sleep with Aden :) Scott will be home tomorrow night...I think we're gonna make it :)

Chase Update

Chase is safely home! He still has to keep himself very calm and take breathing treatments, but he is feeling much better, and we are all so glad he's home :)  Thanks for the prayers!

Chase's Adventure

On Wednesday of this week, my 5 year old brother Chase was admitted to Eisenhower for asthma. He had spent 3 hours in his family practitioner's office with my mom, doing breathing treatments, and he had a shot of prednisone (a steroid that helps open his airways). They were also sent home with a liquid suspension of the prednisone. As soon as he took that, he threw it up. Within an hour, they were back at the DR's office. It was clear at that point that he needed to be admitted right away. They did another breathing treatment, just to get him through admissions. His oxygen saturation was in the 8Os, and it needs to be at least 92. When I showed up at the hospital, he was is pretty good spirits, but he was laboring for every breath and would go into uncontrollable coughing fits. It was so sad to see him struggling to breath. Everything was so new and he was so brave! They did x-rays, IVs, bloodwork, and LOTS of albuteral (spelling??) treatments with a mask, and had him on oxygen when he couldn't get enough if it on his own. He has been the only child in the pediatric wing of Eisenhower, so he gets lots of attention and the nurses are just for him! The hospital also brought in puppies for him to play with in his room :)  Yesterday he was allowed to walk to the pediatrics playroom and play for awhile. The first night, his O2 saturation was still in the 8Os but he did well last night so we are hoping for a release today. He has been such a trooper through all of this, and only cried a little when they drew his blood and inserted his IV. Please send up a prayer for him and my family. My mom has been allowed to spend the night with him the entire time so that was a huge blessing. The day he was admitted was my parents 25th anniversary! They both said there was nowhere else they'd rather be :)  I'll update as soon as I here from them.

Babysitter....??

Last night Scott and I had family friends over for dinner. Their daughter is interested in babysitting for us occasionally...yes! So I make the house and children as squeaky clean and adorable as possible and Scott cooks a delicious meal. They showed up at 6:30, and the children turned into headless monsters at 6:45. I have no clue what happened! Ava was on the floor crying every five minutes and Aden was screaming at the table at the top of his lungs because Scott wanted to feed him his ice cream, instead of letting him spill it all over the white chairs in the dining room. I just kept looking at her and saying, "I swear they aren't normally like this". Aden went to bed at 8pm and kept coming out of his room to peak at us, so I had to lay him down over and over again. Ava was up until 9:20! This has never happened before. Then she woke up screaming 4 times in the middle of the night. Basically Scott and I just let her fuss herself back to sleep every time...she has been up in the middle of the night for about 4 nights now. What happened to my sleeping angel?! Anyway, I'm not sure if this poor girl will ever babysit for us, she is VERY shy, but at least we're trying :)

Random Updates

OK well Miss Ava has been sleeping through the night for about a month. I didn't want to say anything until it was a done deal. The only problem is that Scott and I are so used to getting up that neither of us sleep through the night! Someday :) She is trying to run now, and usually topples over because she has built up so much momentum and her little legs can't keep up!

Aden is becoming quite a chatter box. He can say almost any word you throw at him, and will repeat EVERYTHING you say (watch out!). He can count to 20, he knows all of his shapes, and lots of colors. So smart!!

Scott and I had our second counseling session...not quite as fun as the last one. It was a good thing though, and we have homework and new communication tools to learn. Feels like school...

I want to let everyone know that I will be making this blog private. I don't want anyone that I don't know looking at my posts, and seeing pictures of the kids. I will send out an email and you can all respond with your email address and I will add you to the list. Okiedokie...I have nothing interesting to say so I better start some laundry :)