When life hands you lemons, to surgery you will go.

At the end of July we made yet another trip to TCH for the nuclear renogram with lasix test for Davis.  The purpose of this test was to measure his kidney function to see how the hydronephrosis was affecting it.  I will begin by saying that it was the worst day of my life thus far.  I know that sounds extreme but it was true.  It is the worst feeling in the world to see your baby helpless and in pain and not be able to do anything about it.  I just wanted to pick him up and hold him but he was literally taped to a table.  The worst part was getting the IV.  At one point he had 4 or 5 nurses all working on him and none of them could get the IV in.  They tried his wrists, the tops of his hands, his feet, and his arms before they finally got it in on his left wrist.  I have never heard my baby cry like that before and I pray to God I will never hear it again.  He wasn't a fan of the sugar water or pacifier and I wouldn't have been either.  After they got the IV in and working it was time to insert the catheter.  My poor boy was getting poked and prodded all over the place.  Once that was done he calmed down and eventually fell asleep on the table watching a Baby Einstein video.

The actual test took about an hour.  They inserted a dye into his system along with the lasix so they could see how his kidneys were working and draining.   Once it was over they unhooked him from everything and sent us on our way.  As soon as they took the IV and catheter out he was smiling and back to his normal happy self. 

The day after my birthday we were back at the urologists office to get the results of the test.  I was hoping and praying to hear that everything looked just fine and there was no need for any further tests or interventions.  The doctor told me that there was definitely something wrong and that we needed to fix it before it caused any permanent damage.  So my sweet boy is scheduled for a laparascopic pyeloplasty later this week.   While I am so grateful for modern medicine that will hopefully be able to 'fix' this problem and to live near one of the biggest medical centers with one of the best children's hospitals, I am also terrified.  We are talking about my baby.  I don't want him to know pain or fear.  My entire purpose is to protect him and I know that is what we are doing by way of this surgery but I can't help but be terrified.  I want to put a bubble around him and us and pretend like we don't know about any of this so we can just go on with our normal lives.  I know in my heart that he will be fine.  I have faith in the doctor performing his surgery and I know we are doing the right thing.  All of that said, I am still scared and I know that Luke is too.  We are about to face the biggest challenge of parenthood so far and one that I never anticipated.  I have done just about all of the 'googling' I can do looking up the surgery, the recovery, the possible complications, etc.  Now I know I have to put the rest in God's hands but I am struggling with how to do that.  Hopefully I will figure it out in the next couple of days.

water fun.

 it is august in texas and it is H-O-T. every year i like the summer a little less and want fall/winter to get here a little earlier. but i wouldn't trade summer afternoons splashing around with these two.  i love that a blow up pool in the backyard can make my kid(s) so incredibly happy.  i know they won't always be so easy to please.  truth be told, a blow up pool in the backyards still makes me pretty happy too.   you can't help but have fun with them splashing around and singing songs.

meet oliver.

oliver is the newest addition to this crazy house.  we adopted him from the animal shelter a couple of weeks ago.  at the time we were thinking of how we wanted a sweet dog back in our home.  colin named oliver.  i love the name and it was definitely the best of the 2 choices he gave us: oliver or poopy head.  

oliver is somewhere between 2 - 3years old according to the vet.  when we got him he had the sweetest demeanor.  i took him to the vet the day after we brought him home and found out he had a bladder infection and he was put on antibiotics.  after 2 days of meds, his true spunky personality came right out.  he is a handful to say the least, but he is a sweet dog.  colin is so happy to have a dog around and he pets him and loves on him all the time.  davis turns into a gigglebox whenever oliver is around.  i think he is fitting in pretty well around this place.  reecey, that cat would argue that point.  we still have to take him in the backyard on a leash because he thinks reecey is a play toy.  i'm sure she will educate him soon enough.  and now i am even more outnumbered in my own house with a husband, 2 little men, and now a little man dog.  i might just go crazy.  :)

30.

i have been 30 years old for nearly one month.  i do feel a little older this year.  maybe it is because there have been new levels of responsibility and because life has been a little more difficult than before, but i feel older.  everyone says that age is just a number and this true, sort of.  but our age is also a part of what defines us.  at least i think so.  at 30 years old, you can't pretend you are still a recent college graduate or a young adult or whatever you want to call yourself.  at 30 years old, you are supposed to be a legitimate adult.  nevermind that i have a husband (for the last 6 years) or 2 kids, a dog, and a cat.  30 just feels different somehow.  and it does feel 'old' to me but not in a bad way.  i love my life and am so thankful for every person in it.  i love my family and my precious boys.  i feel like '30' will be a good year and in some ways, a new start.  you know, since i have to really have my stuff together now.  :)

my sweet family threw me a surprise 30th birthday party last month and i felt so loved.  i really and truly was surprised and the party was amazing.  i have the best family and friends a girl could hope for.

the day after the party was my actual birthday and let's just say that i was definitely feeling my age after staying out too late the night before and drinking a little too much sangria.  :)  but you only turn 30 once and i made sure to celebrate the heck out of it. 

the evening of my birthday my little family of four went to my favorite hamburger place and then out for ice cream.  it was the perfect way to end my weekend of celebration.  and colin still reminds me nearly every day: "momma,  you are still 30 today".  thanks my love.  just in case i forget, i know he will remind me and anyone else listening.

davis tried his first sweet potato fry.  don't let the face fool you.  he would totally win a sweet potato fry eating contest if there was one. 

colin wanted to put ketchup on his burger.   we should have watched a littl closer.  he covered the top of his bun with ketchup and then was upset that it was difficult to eat.  :)  quick wipe of the napkin and he was good to go. 

for some reason i really love this picture.  colin really loves chocolate ice cream.  davis loves trying to sneak bites while i'm not looking.

happy birthday to me.  even if it means i have to be 30. 

july brain dump

ok so that is a weird title.  i always see other blogs with titles of 'phone photo dump' and whatnot and i figured that is the best way to describe this particular entry.  i don't know how july has already come and gone. 

after our fun trip for july 4th and our sweet time celebrating elijah's birthday things started to get a little dramatic around here.  i signed up to help with vacation bible school at our church and signed colin up to participate as he was finally old enough.   it did not go as planned and we ended the first night with a trip to the ER and colin came home with 2 staples in his head.  very dramatic.  this was the first serious injury for this family and it was traumatic.  at least for me it was - colin still thinks it was cool that he had staples in his head.  he is such a boy and will talk about blood and brains and poop all day long.  this is not the best picture but it totally grossed me out so i didn't want to spend too much time looking at it.  anyway - he had the staples in for a week and then didn't even notice when the doctor took them out.  he was way too busy watching kung fu panda on uncle doug's iphone to notice.  when i told him we were done all  he cared about was going to 'chik-a-lay' for a treat.

we had an impromptu playdate with elijah and uncle michael too.  colin thought it was the coolest thing ever that they came to his school to see him and then we all went to chick-fil-a for brother's favorite food. 

davis has decided he is tired of being a baby and wants to be able to get around like his big brother.  he hasn't quite figured it out yet and he lets us know when he is frustrated.  he is still pretty happy and smiley about 95% of the time.  his favorite activity is watching colin run around like a crazy person.  big brother can make him laugh from the bottom of his belly - it is the funniest and sweetest thing.

and davis is still a BIG fan of pulling hair.  look at the smile on his face when he sees colin's head full of hair just waiting to be pulled.  :)

colin has started picking out his own clothes and dressing himself.  most days i really love it.  if it were up to him he would wear his cowboy boot every day of his life.

mostly these little boys have just had so much fun playing together.  colin is still so sweet to davis and keeps talking about how he is so excited for him to walk and talk so they can play some more.  i love seeing them interact together and am so happy to see them loving on eachother.