Life of a Crazy Woman!

So, I last left off by mentioning that Ben had been sick. Well, as the weekend progressed he seemed to get better. He claimed to be feeling better on Monday, so against my better judgment I sent him to school. Well, about an hour after school started I got a phone call. It seems that while playing at recess, Ben had a seizure!!!! I freaked out, prayed for my car to start (my alternator is out!), and sped to the school. I took him straight to the doctor. A little past history, the week that Elaina was born Ben had 2 seizures. He had blood work done, at CT, and an EEG. The results were inconclusive, and since he hadn't had any problems since, the doctor told me it was probably something random and wouldn't happen again. Anyway, I ended up having to take Ben up to Primary Children's for some additional testing with this new event having happened. I won't have results back until after Thanksgiving. Then to make my busy life even busier, I was able to take Elaina to her cardiology appointment on Wednesday at Primary Children's. SHE IS DOING GREAT!!!!!!! Her cardiologist was amazed at how well she's doing. He said that her numbers were all in the normal range! Hooray! He told me that there still aren't many options for her future, but her present looks fantastic. He also gave the go ahead for her to have a nissen/g-tube proceedure! Yay! I think that the nurses at South Davis are almost more excited for that than I am! Just this last week Elaina has pulled out her NJ 5 times!!!! Little stinker, she's wiggled out of no-no's and pulled the tube out with socks on her hands, any way that she can do it! So now she's being watched VERY carefully and we're just waiting for the doctors to decide when the best time for the surgery will be. She'll go back to Primary Children's for the surgery and initial recovery, but her bed at South Davis will be saved. Hopefully I will be able to have her home some time this spring, if all goes well. It's getting there!
Oh, and did I mention that I caught Ben's gomboo? I've spent the last week in bed with a fever, sore throat and cough. I'm finally feeling better today, but I'm sure grateful for the friends that took me to their house to take care of me and Ben through this last illness. Well, I'm sorry for the short post, but I only had a few spare minutes and really wanted to post an update.
Life is crazy!
Hugs!
Hollie, Ben and Elaina

Update

Things are going well. Another INSANELY busy week for us. I've started working a 2nd job to help cover expenses, and I think I'm going nuts. Not because of the job, I LOVE IT! But because of the time that it is taking. Like my 1st job, it's something that I'll be able to do from home and do in my own time. But now, while I'm learning the ropes and getting started, it's taking up a lot of my time. I was able to see Elaina several times this week and she is doing great! Her sweet little personality is really starting to show, and boy oh boy does she love Mommy! :) Every time I go in to visit she is full of smiles, coo's and is just a wiggler! The last 2 times, as I've put her back in her crib when I'm ready to leave, she's started to cry. Talk about breaking my heart! I've stayed and played with her in her crib until she's happy and then sneak out while she's watching her mobile. The velcro strips on her no-no's have come off, so they have been putting socks on her hands to help her not pull at her face. Well yesterday, with her nurse at her side and socks on her hands, she pulled out her NJ again! Silly, silly girl. So she took a ride to Primary Children's to get it replaced. They told me that she was pretty happy to take the ride, and when she got back to South Davis she was exhausted and slept really well through the night. I was going to go in to see her today, but Ben woke up with a fever, cough and a tummy ache. After throwing up several times, he slept for a few hours, but he still isnt' feeling good tonight and I'm going to go and snuggle in bed with him and watch a movie. Poor kiddo. I guess it's the season. Well, please know that I check on all my blog friends all the time, but I haven't been able to post much due to how busy I've been. I will be able to move into my new place at the beginning of December, so hopefully things will calm down and I'll be able to post more often again. Elaina has her Cardiology appointment on Wednesday, so I'll be sure to let everyone know how she's doing. Hopefully this weekend will allow me to do some much needed catching up (on sleep as well as other things!)
Hugs!
Hollie

Prayer Request for Katie

There is a family that I've been following closely. Their sweet heart, Katie has HLHS, and is REALLY struggling. Their struggle closely resembles the struggle that I had with Elaina this past summer and my heart is filled with emotion for them. I know that prayers can be answered and would like to ask anyone that is willing, to join in prayers for this family as they contiue to fight this battle. Katie is not doing well, and is not expected to survive the next 48 hours. They are praying for a miracle.
Thank you SO much!
Hugs,
Hollie, Ben and Elaina

Still here!

Sorry for not posting more lately. I have been SO busy that I barely have time to sleep! I have tons of pictures, but I am having problems getting them downloaded to my computer. Ben has been coming along on several visits and I was able to get some good pictures of the two of them together. Elaina really loves her big brother. She follows him with her eyes and smiles at his goofy faces. She especially likes to be tickled. There have been a couple of times that I thought I heard a small laugh, but then I couldn't get her to do it again. She's getting there though! She's still congested with a small cough, but no fevers. It seems to be getting gradually better. I'm chalking it up to season change and reaction to the flu shot she got a couple of weeks ago. Her sweet personality is really starting to show and I am so pleased. She is such a pleasant, happy little girl! She is easily entertained by her mobile and colorful toys. The nurses and techs at South Davis actually fight over who gets to play with her! It is so nice to know that she is so well taken care of! I am very anxious to be able to move to Bountiful. I think I finally found a place near South Davis. It is about 5 minutes away from Elaina, so if I needed to get there quickly it would be possible! If everything goes according to schedule, I should be moved into my new place before Christmas! My fingers are crossed! I am going up to visit Elaina on Saturday, my Aunt Marney is going to be in town and Ben and I are going to visit with her when she comes to see Elaina! I am very excited! I will take more pictures and hopefully I'll be able to get the silly things downloaded for my next post!
Love,
Hollie

Elaina Bug and Jedi Ben

What a weekend we had! Halloween was a blast!
Thursday was super busy trying get costumes organized and sewn. A special thanks to Colleen and her super sewing skills! She made Elaina's costume as well as Ben's. We spent the afternoon planning and shopping, and then were up late making the perfect costumes for my kiddos!
Friday I volunteered as one of the room mothers for Ben's party. Since I was in charge of the game portion of the party, I decided to dress up for the event and went as a witch with purple hair. Ben was so excited that I was there and that I wore a costume! We played Halloween Bingo and I think that the kids liked the game. We played until everyone won, and I gave out some fun party favors and suckers to all the kids. Ben had fun giving out the leftovers to his friends at the end of the party. After school we stopped by Aunt Kathryn's and Uncle Don's for a quick hello and trick or treat and from there we went up to South Davis. We got there in time for a visit from my sister Liz and her husband John. Liz helped me get Elaina dressed in her costume before they left for another Halloween get together. They have a really neat tradition at South Davis. All the residents (including the Adult Units) dress up for the event. All month long the nurses donate candy. They have a contest for the department that donates the most. There were TONS of treats donated. Everyone lines up in the main lobby and down the hallway in their costumes and then the fun begins. Families from the community bring their kids for a safe trick-or-treat environment. Ben got SO MUCH CANDY! He was in heaven. After he'd gone through the line, he came and sat with Elaina and helped me hand out the candy. It was a lot of fun. I had Elaina in a small stroller and she really did well. I took her out a couple of times and held her in my lap, but people tended to want to touch her when I was holding her, so I put her back in the stroller where she wasn't getting touched. She was very interested in all the costumes and was happy and content. I didn't keep her downstairs for the entire evening, I was worried about exposing her to so many people, but it was fun to spend the evening with both my kids. After I got Elaina back up to her room, we spent a little bit of time playing with her, but the excitement of the evening wore her out and she was tired, not to mention that all the candy had wired Ben, so I decided to leave. We stopped by my Grandma's house and did a little bit of trick-or-treating on her street, and then we went to Colleen's house. I'd forgotten my camera at home, so she had been sweet enough to let me borrow hers. I've been spending the weekends with Colleen and her husband Najee. They live closer to Bountiful and so I don't have as far to drive when I stay with them. They are also so good with Ben and we have really been having fun playing games and watching movies at their house on the weekends. They are also helping me in my search for new living arrangements, so we keep pretty busy on the weekends.
Anyway, here are some fun Halloween pictures! Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Elaina Bug!

She was in such a good mood!

Ben was "Luke Skywalker" super Jedi!

Okay, now he's a Vampire Jedi. She's just a cute Bug!

Sitting up so well in her stroller.

She's a people watcher!

All worn out from our evening fun.

Elaina wasn't sure what to think about Mommy's purple hair and giant eyelashes. At least she didn't cry!