The Persistant Cough

Grant's cough is back. It disappeared for only a few days when taking the antibiotic for his pneumonia. Thankfully, we got in to see his pulmonolgist today. After listening to Grant cough and wheeze he was pretty sure it is asthma. We are going back for allergy testing in a couple of weeks to find out what Grant's triggers are. Most likely he's been dealing with this since back in October when he first came down with the cough. (He's been complaining that his stomach is hot which was probably the only language he could come up with for what was going on. Poor guy!) The many antibiotics and brief breathing treatments over the last 9 months have temporarily supressed the asthma but now we can actually deal with it head on. Grant will be on steriods for the next few weeks and then use a nebulizer as needed.

The pulmonolgist was a bit concerned by the chest x-rays that were taken recently at the ER. He wants us to repeat the x-rays again in four weeks to compare the two. Please pray that Grant's lungs totally heal and that the asthma would be gone!

Hearing God

Grant typically wakes up from his afternoon nap singing. I mean really belting it out. His joy continues to amaze me. When I go in to get him I always ask him what he dreamed about. Most of the time he says "salad." Weird. Today I tried something new. When he woke up I asked him to close his eyes and ask God to speak to him- to tell him someone to help or some way to obey today. At first he said "I can't hear anyone." Then I told him to listen with his heart. Then he told me that God told him two things. (1) that he was a soldier and (2) that he was never supposed to steal money from anyone. You can't really go wrong with either of those things!

Guitar Nudist

Today Jim took the kids to a park near our house that has a huge water fountain that they allow the kids to play in. They had fun splashing around trying to retrive pennies from well wishers. As you can imagine they came home soaked. Before I got a chance to put Kate's clothes on she bolted for the guitar. I had to snap a shot.

A Vist to Spring Lake

P.S. We moved back into our house last night. Air test came back all clear!!

Movin' Out

I took Grant to the doctor yesterday for a recheck on his lungs. The doc said that his right lower lung didn't look good and we'd need to see his pulmonolgist. I told her about the flood in the basement and she said, "GET OUT!" It is too dangerous with Grant's lung condition to be around that much moisture and possible mold. So, last night we moved in with my parents. The kids are enjoying it, although they are having a little trouble not being in their own bedrooms to sleep. Hopefully they will adjust tonight and we'll be back in our house before long. We are very blessed to have parents nearby that are kind enough to open their home. :)

Pneumonia round 3

Yesterday we were at the lake all day playing and Grant was acting perfectly normal. He has had a cough for a while so I had scheduled an appt with his pulmonolgist for later this month. After he got out of the lake he kept saying he was cold. We just thought he was being kind of wimpy (sorry Grant) and went on with the day. Soon his lips turned blue and he just didn't seem right. We got in the car to go home and his eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out. We woke him up and he did it again. I screamed, "drive to the ER NOW!" So, Jim went into racecar mode and we drove to Royal Oak Beaumont. The whole drive I was doing everything I could to keep Grant from passing out. His eyes kept crossing and he kept saying he was tired. Jim was praying continuously and Kate was looking on with curiosity.

At the hospital they quickly found out that Grant had an extremely high temperature. They think it was a febrile fever (temp rises extremly quickly and eventually causes a seizure). Yes, this is the same thing that happened to Kate a few months ago. It tends to run in families. After getting xrays and running a few more tests they concluded that Grant has pneumonia. They were able to get the fever down and then Grant was acting great. (While he had the fever he was moaning and crying.) I picked up the guys and we went to CVS for Grant's prescription. It was about 10:30 at this point and Grant was incredibly chipper for all that he'd been through. We pulled in the driveway at close to 11:00pm and Grant looked and Jim and said, "Dad, can we go ride bikes?"

Grandma's new hat

Potty Training Day 2

Lately Kate has seemed really irritated when she has a messy diaper. A few weeks ago Kate starting stripping herself naked in her crib before she went to sleep. This included her (sometimes full) diaper. We decided to start potty training this week. I think potty training is kind of like labor. Just as I forgot what a pain it was to potty train Grant I felt ready to take on Kate. What a chore. Here are the results so far:

Day 1:
Hits 0
Misses: 9

Day 2:
Hits: 4
Misses: 7

Soccer

Grant plays soccer at the YMCA once a week. He actually plays more of a form of rugby, diving onto the ball, picking it up and running. Regardless, it is a good way of getting him to run around. He adores the coach and is building a special relationship with him. There is a playground right next to the soccer field for Kate to play on so she always looks forward to soccer days too.

Focus on the Good

Last week
Grant: (in a very whiney voice) It's so sunny out. It hurts my eyes.
Jim: It is important in life to to learn to focus on the positive. Let's focus on what is good today, like the fact that it is a nice, warm day.

Today At Lunch
Grant: I don't want green peppers. I only eat red peppers.
Cindy: Too bad. You are going to eat your green peppers.
Grant: I don't have to. Dad told me to only focus on the good things in life.

1st visit to the Lakehouse

We make our first visit of the year to grandma and grandpa Koss' cottage. (where there was no rain or snow) The weather was warm and the kids loved the water, rafts, and and boat.

Stabilized

Thank you for praying for Rhyer. He is stabilized and even coming off some of his medications!

Pray for our friend

If you've been following the blog a while you may remember that our good friends also had a baby boy born with a congenital heart defect. His name is Rhyer and he needs our prayers. His heart condition is exponentially worse than Grant's and today he had his third heart surgery. To sum it up he is not doing well. Not well at all. The doctors may have to go in and undo the surgery that they did earlier this morning. His parents have asked us to pray for a miracle. Please pray with us for Rhyer today.

Bee

Kate is cracking me up these days. She's become really attached to a lego recently. It has a bee painted on it and she takes it everywhere she goes. She even eats with "Bee", holding it in one hand. She still refers to herself as monkey and introduces herself as monkey to kids in the park. Today she asked for her milk (I took it away for throwing it) and when I said no she asked, "milk for monkey?"

She and Grant are the best of friends. When she runs into the middle of the field during his t-ball practice he gets all excited telling all the other boys, "this is my sister, Kate." Then he gives her a big hug and kiss. The other night Grant was crying in his crib for me and when Kate heard him she yelled, "It's otay, Bruder (brother). Mama back."

Snuggles

Welcome home, uncle Hal! Here's to our last summer together before you graduate and have to get a real job.

Florida Vacation

No new pictures of the kids this time. Jim and I spent 5 days alone in sunny Florida! We went to Boca Raton for a wedding and then stayed a few extra days in Delray Beach. As much fun as we had we were ready to come home and see the kids. They had a blast with grandma and grandpa Koss. Grant greeted us with huge hugs and kisses while Kate gave me the cold shoulder. I think it is pretty standard for kids her age to be "mad" at their mom for leaving them and Kate was no exception. After a couple of hours she was back to her normal self. I feel refreshed and rested!

Joy

Grant still explodes with joy on a daily basis. Yesterday when I picked him up from gym class I asked the teacher how he did. She responded, "he is just so joyful! I've never seen a kid joyful all the time." I'm so thankful. Ever since he was 6 weeks old, even through all the poking and prodding of needles and tubes, he's been joyful. What a gift.

What they're into and up to

Kate- Loves to put on chapstick, speaks in 3 word sentences, doesn't eat much during mealtimes but constantly asks for candy, can count to 10, is particular about the shoes she wants to wear, enjoys her weekly swim lesson with mommy, loves to hang from things and yell "Kate monkey!"

Grant-can put on his own shoes (hooray!), skins his knee every other day from falling off his bike, likes to "look for clues" and go exploring outside, loves library storytime, always asks for a hug and a kiss before mommy and daddy leave, when he hurts himself says, "shake it off, shake it off," through his tears.

Kate's great date

Tonight we had some friends over for a bbq and everyone brought their kids. We ended up having 7 kids ages 3 and under and Kate was the only girl. She marked her territory early in the night by putting on a tutu and strutting about the house. The boys mostly chased each other around. As the night drew to a close we were all pretty exhausted so we put on an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The guys worked on cleaning the kitchen while the moms went on a walk. All and all a great night!

Two Habits

Kate has picked up two new bad habits. The first is pooping in the bathtub. Poor Grant, he just sits there and counts them as they float up next to him. The second is calling me by my first name. She also yells, "Hal! Hal!" when she's at grandma and grandpa Koss' house.