Some Of Our Angels

We have so many "angels" that are helping us all the time. Again I can't thank all of our family and friends enough for all that they do. I know I can call any number of people at any time and I would have the help I need. We are really blessed to come from the families we do and to have made so many GREAT, AMAZING friends in the few areas we have lived.

 

We also have been blessed to have therapy "angels". These ladies come into our home every week or a couple of times a month and have become family to us. We love them and could not do all the things that Easton needs without them. I know it is their "job", but I also know that for them it is more than that. They treat Easton and all of us like they are part of the family and we LOVE it!!! Thanks for all you do our therapy family!

 

Karen is Easton's Hearing Therapist. We work on
his listening skills and communication with her.

Kim is E's Physical Therapist. One week she
comes to our house to work with him and the
next we go to the pool for therapy. As you can
tell, Easton LOVES the pool!

Holly (on the left) is E's Equipment Specialist
(There is a better name, but I can't think of it!).
She is in charge of keeping track of all the
toys and equipment they lend us and also thinking
of new ones that would be good for E.
Mary (on the right) is his Occupational Therapist.
She works on feeding and fine motor skills with East.

Donna is Easton's Speech Therapist. We are working with
her on figuring out the best way for Easton to communicate.

Blue Eyes Like His Daddy

 I am always getting comments about Easton's beautiful blue eyes and I always tell people that he is lucky because he got them from his daddy. He does have beautiful blue eyes, but I think more than that is that his special sweet spirit SHINES through them and you can't help but notice.

Sleep? What's That???

Easton is a horrible sleeper. He has been for most of his life. I think we had a good couple months around 6-8 months, but it has been so long ago that I can't even remember for sure. I think he wakes up alot because he loses his bink and can't get it back in himself. So most of the time he just needs to be "re-binked" as we call it and he will go back to bed. Not too bad except he does this 2-5 times a night. I decided that most nights aren't good, but sometimes he has really bad nights where he will wake up and stay up. Yuck! He will sleep through the night if I spike his bedtime bottle with some Benadryl, but that is obviously not my first choice so I try to not do it much. I've always prayed for patience and this is something that has given it to me (or at least helped in this instance). How can I get mad at a cute little boy like Easton, even if I am going on 2 hours of sleep. (I know I am not alone in the lack of sleep category so just to let you know I am feeling for you!)

So Many People

We have an amazing support group. There are SO MANY PEOPLE who love and help us. Family, friends, therapist, doctors. We could not do most of the things we do without the help. I've come to accept that fact, but I still don't love accepting or asking for that help. Especially asking. I've told a couple friends lately that I feel like a charity case. Not because others are making me feel that way. I think just because I am CONSTANTLY asking for and receiving help and I am not giving much in return. I read an amazing talk from President Uchtdorf about being a grateful receiver and have been trying to use the principles I learned from it. I am so grateful for good people who surround us!

First And (Hopefully) Only Hospital Stay

Like I said in our family blog about Christmas 2012, none of us were feeling too hot. Easton had been sick starting Thursday nightish into Friday morning. Cough, congestion, not eating well, vomiting, fever, lethargic, etc. Poor kid! I was taking care of him the best I could while working, getting ready for Christmas and then getting sick myself. Thankfully, I have an amazing husband who is pretty smart. Tuesday and Wednesday night I has slept downstairs in our recliner so that I could kind of breathe and get a little sleep. Apparently, East slept okay Tuesday night, but Wednesday night he didn't do so hot. Bad enough that when I was able to drag myself upstairs Thursday morning the first thing that Eric said was that we needed to get Easton to the doctor. So I called and made an appointment. The earliest they could see him was 11am so we got ready and headed to Orem.

Yeah, Easton's pediatrician is in Orem. He started in Provo. Moved to SF/Payson and now is back up in Orem. I would find someone else, but he knows Easton so well and he knows me and I trust him so I HATE the thought of starting over with a new doctor. Thus, we drive to Orem to go to the doctor. I didn't trust myself to describe what had been going on with Easton over the last week so I asked my sister to watch the other kids so that Eric could be at the appointment with East and I. Good thing too, because he pretty much decided to send Easton to the hospital after just a quick glance. I probably would have just started crying had I been alone, but luckily I had my rock ERIC there to help me think things out.

We headed over to the Peds floor at UVRMC, where the started and IV, drew some blood, and sucked out some boogers for testing. Poor baby boy was so tired he didn't even put up much of a fight. They started an IV fluid bolus and then tapered them off after and hour or so. He also got a dose of antibiotics because he had a double ear infection. His temp spiked after a couple of hours and his oxygen dropped and he started breathing fast so the suctioned him out, gave him some ibuprofen and started him on some oxygen. Eric left eventually and got the other kids and took them home, while Easton and I settled in for a long night. He slept better than he had in a long time besides the nurses checking on him all the time and by the time he woke up in the morning he was a whole other kid. He was alert and talking and moving and SMILING and eating. It was so nice to see. We did fluids for a few more hours. His booger test came back positive for RSV and Influenza B so we made sure he did okay off the oxygen and by 5pm we were ready to go home. He has been a superstar since he has been home. You can tell each day he is feeling better and better. He is almost completely back to his old self. So GLAD!!!

Chapstick

With Easton being sick and not eating well, his poor little lips have been really dry. I have been putting chapstick on him constantly. The first few times were kind of weird because I kept thinking this might be something I have to do for him my whole life. Not that it is a bad thing, but it is just one of those things that I take for granted that I can do myself and that he may never be able to do. Let's hope I am wrong and one day he will be putting on his own chapstick.