I can't believe its been so long since I last blogged. So much has been happening.
Nolan is now walking and is so cute. I will play peek aboo with both the boys and Nolan will cover his face with his hand and say Ba! It is fun to see his personality come alive.
In early November we took Nolan to the Pediatrician and he verified what we had been thinking. The cyst on his eyebrow did look like it was growing. So he referred us to a pediatric surgeon in the area. We went and saw her and she said that he needed to have it removed in the next year since as he grew it could etch into the bone. Meaning the bone would form around it. To my thinking that would be a bad thing since the bone would be thinner right there. Anyway, the pediatric surgeon isn't covered by our insurance, but since they are the only one in our area, we could get them covered 20/80 by insurance. They are with a hospital that isn't covered, so we would have to deal with that also. but we were going ahead with it. Until I called our insurance to make sure we could be covered and they happened to mention that we could go to Primary Childrens's hospital in Salt Lake and be covered 90/10 since they had a special contract with our insurance. We decided to look into this a bit since we have family down there and the weather was still great.
It must have been meant to be. We called and they had a doctor who had a clinic Monday and surgeries on Tuesday. The appointment they had was the Monday after we had to be in Twin Falls for a baby blessing/baptism. So we went to the baby blessing and then sent most of our kids home with Grandma and Grandpa. Milton's mom was kind enough to stay with them at our house. In the meantime we just drove straight down to Salt lake. My brother was kind enough to put us up for a few nights and we came back on Tuesday right after the surgery.
During all of this we really saw Nolan blossom. It was crazy. You see, Quinten is that Squeeky wheel that is always squeaking. Nolan is a quiet little boy. But while we had all this going on, Nolan was getting more attention. He loved it. He started talking more and in Salt Lake he took his first 3 steps. He is such a sweet little boy. Really a talker. He loves to growl and make all sorts of noise. But no screaming. YAY!
When we met with the surgeon on Monday we were really impressed. The guy was nice and seemed very competent. We felt confident in him. We came in early on Tuesday morning since they like to operate on the youngest children first since they can't have anything but clear liquids and apple juice. Nolan chugged an apple juice before we got in the car and seemed quite happy.
Primary children's is very efficient. You go in one room and sign in on a computer and get one of those flashy things like you get at Olive Garden. When it lights up you check in with a person who checks your data and makes sure your insurance and every thing is up to date as well as getting a payment of some sort from you.
Then you go back and wait for the thing to start making noise. This time we got to go back to a room where the nurse took Nolan's vitals and we changed him into some very worn looking pants, socks, and a hospital gown top.
From there we went into another waiting room where there were some toys. Lucky for us they had a corral type area where there were toys and a movie playing. Both of the boys were content to play in there and at one point I had a push toy out for Nolan and he was walking/pushing it around all of the chairs in the waiting area.
We met with our surgeon , who gave us a rundown on time and what to expect. Then we met with our anesthesiologist. He seemed very nice. He listened to Nolans lungs since he had just gotten over a slight cold. scared the socks off of us with all that could go wrong and then took us down the hall way where he took Nolan and sent us to the waiting room. Nolan was fine. I was a little sad because I didn't really get to hug him goodbye. That was probably a good thing since he didn't really know anything was going on. And Nolan was so easy going he just accepted what was happening. No crying or anything.
We got sent to the waiting room where there were all sorts of snacks and some water and an area to sit with about 50-75 other anxious parents. Quinten just toddled around and ate the cookies we gave him.
After about 30 minutes our surgeon came into the room and found us. He told us Nolan did great and that we should be called back to sit with him soon.
They called me back shortly after that. Just one parent since he was still in recovery? I went back and he was crying and being held by a nurse. They kindly brought me a rocking chair and I held Nolan and he was happy to see me. They brought him 4 oz of apple juice in a bottle (? he never drank from one before) which he promptly chugged down. They refilled it and he kept drinking.
They brought us to another room where they then called Milton back. Quinten was sleeping in Milton's arms (thank goodness) and we just held and cuddled Nolan. The nurse kindly brought a fleece BYU blanket for Nolan to keep and a pillow for him to lay on while he was in my arms (for the arm of the chair, Nolan is getting long!). Since Nolan had drunk so much apple juice and hadn't been sick, he was able to be discharged very quickly (after watching his vitals for a little while longer)
The nurses, doctors, receptionists, everyone at Primary Childrens were so kind and caring. I would highly recommend them. They move you around so much that it would be easy to think you were just a number. But with all of the kind attention, you don't. You feel cared for.
The trip home from Salt lake was great. Nolan slept most of the time. Both he and Quinten did great.
We got home and stayed overnight and then Milton and I took off without the kids to a 2 night vacation in the mountains about an hour from our house. Again, Grandma was nice enough to stay with the kids.
It was so nice. We actually had conversations about life and challenges and all sorts of stuff. After this year it was much needed.
We came home and Milton drove Grandma home. He said that she was tired and almost fell asleep on the drive. We are so grateful she was willing to do this for us.
Milton's migraines have not returned which is great. He had been working out and watching what he eats. Trying to avoid msg and processed foods. Not much eating out, more veggies and fruit, etc. He has lost nearly 50 lbs in the past 3 months. He is feeling great. He gets to see his doc next week. They will try weaning him off the medication and we hope that his migraines won't come back.. If they do, he will go back on the meds. They will try weaning him every 3 months until a year. If they can't wean him at a year, he is on the meds for life. We are all praying that with all of the life changes he's made that the weaning will be easy and there won't be any problems.
Cecilee has got the most wonderful teacher for 5th grade. She is really blossoming and he really challenges her. It helps that she is in a fairly calm class since there are 34 kids in it. I talked to her teacher last night at a school activity and it sounds like he is really enjoying the whole class dynamic. Said that they were a great class and that Cecilee is really working hard. He said to keep challenging her because she was really bright.
Mia is doing better and better. She still has a tendency to always take the easiest route, but you can see she is a sweet girl who loves her little brothers. She wants to be like Cecilee. She is trying to find her way. She is very talented on the piano and loves to go to Grandma's for lessons. Grandma has been changing up the rewards a little this year and really motivating her.
She is still struggling with school since she loves the social more than the work, but we are working on this. She really loves to read.
Ned is really a 2 year old these days. He gets into everything. He recently ate a roof and about 1 1/2 walls of the 2 gingerbread houses I made for decorating. The same night he got at the Christmas tree and smashed all of the bulbs that he could reach. He stayed in the time out a lot that day. Luckily I regained my good humor after decorating the gingerbread house with the family. Ned couldn't participate as his punishment. But he loved watching.
The boys are fun. they are both walking. Quinten is running. He is fast! He is still a yeller and a crier. He is happiest when he is in Mom's arms. He has a sweet smile and a LOT of energy. If I'm not giving him enough attention he is sure to let me know. And no. Dad is not quite as good as mom. I wish he were. There are many times that I walk around the house with him following and crying behind me. I call him my entourage.
Nolan is a sweetheart. A shy smile and a quiet demeanor. He loves to growl and talk. I think he may be an early talker. He walks around and is getting better and better. He loves his brother Ned (whose favorite new trick is to push his brothers over) and has been carrying a stuffed cat around.
We love all of these kids so much!
I have been trying to keep up. Still in primary. In fact this is my month for Sharing time and I'm trying to put a live nativity together for next week. I've been trying to keep the house clean and laundry caught up and do some redecorating in our front room. Its a lot, but I'm doing well. Some days better than others (terrible 2's, ugh) The boys are all sleeping through the night for the most part, but lately one will wake up around 11 - midnight and cry at the top of their lungs which always wakes up someone else and can turn into an hour delay for sleep (like last night, I went to bed at 1am because Ned woke up and wailed). Oh well. Most nights I get to sleep and that is wonderful.
Merry Christmas everyone!
