Too many hot days makes an imagination spark!

It all started with a little mischievous thought coming from the mind of an imaginative girl.

The pictures tell it all... no words needed:

My Turn...

Well... it is only fair to give Elijah his place of honor too. Here he is at the children's hospital. We have waited months to get him in to one of the pediatric neurologist. Ever since he could lift his head he would have times when he would just scream, and take his hand to his head and hit it, rub it, or pull on his hair or ears. Once he could sit up he would all of a sudden just scream horrible painful scream, then roll around and try banging his head. He is completely happy and normal like any other kid his age accept when this happens. As a parent you can tell he is in so much pain, that what ever is going on really hurts him. His cry is not whiney more like an instant surge of pain. It will go on for until he falls asleep from exhaustion. If we give him ibuprofen or Tylenol he will calm down in about 45 mins. We kept telling our pediatrician and I suppose they hear all sorts of things... but I felt like she shrugged it off and said well if he is still having these at 18 months I will make an appointment for you to see the Neurologist.. I brought it up again at the next appointment  and she still wanted to wait. Well that was it, I wanted a second opinion - I mean our little boy is obviously in pain when this happens - and anyone that has witnessed it agrees he is in agony. 

Jason and I took turns recording the episodes onto our video camera. We made an appointment with another pediatrician showed him the video and he was shocked. He immediately made us an appointment with a Pediatric Neurologist at the children's hospital. 

We were told that infants can have migraines - so that is one possibility. It has also been discussed by our new pediatrician and suggested by both my Dr. Brother and my Dr. Brother in-law that he could have a form of Hydrocephalus - (his head tends to swell ). He has a pretty big head, but at the same time he is also placed in the 99th percentile for height, and 70th percentile for weight. 

I guess we will wait and see what the MRI says. 

Our appointment to see the DR isn't until August. And believe me that was a favor to our pediatrician. The wait time to see one of the 14 staffed pediatric neurologists is over a year! So we feel pretty lucky. 

We are not worried, we just want to help our little boy and find out what is causing these episodes of obvious excruciating pain. We are SO blessed to have the miracle of modern medicine. 

So here is our first part of Testing... Our little boy, cute as a button. 

Here he is coming out of sedation. He kept babbling pleeeeeze, pleeeeze.... 

He is so fun, this little one. I love that we have had a baby that loves to be babied. He won over every nurse and care giver. He is just so fun, he loves to laugh and be silly. He is always doing something, starts to laugh, and then says, "I'm Funny!" He is a giggler. The nursing staff was so impressed with his manners. He loves to say; please, thank you, no thank you, your welcome, and bless you if you cough or sneeze. So CUTE! We laugh because his first word was TANK OOO. Some children are just more polite then others. He is our polite child. We love you little squooshy! Thank you for being so much fun! 

Why you never stick anything up your nose!

Have you ever wondered what happens when your child doesn't fall asleep for nap time and finds a necklace in her bed? Boredom spells TROUBLE!

So... Here I am talking to my dear friend Mandy on the phone, all the kids are down for naps, its calm and quiet. Creeeek my door opens and here is my daughter with a bloody nose. She hands me some Q-tips and TP and says "Mom I can't get them out. I said, What can't you get out? "Beads Mom... Lots of beads!" So I try to have her blow her nose... some beads come out. I look... but I can still see a bunch in each nostril, and in her ears too. 

I'm thinking... Is this normal? Well my mom assures me it is, she had a few of her kids do this at ages 3-5. I was kind of laughing, I know that is horrible. 

Well, I knew we had to go to the ER. So we went to the Children's Hospital. Thank goodness for hospitals that cater to children. The staff there laughed too... and assured me that Cora was not the first child's nose they had to excavate that day. The nurse said they have about 10-15 cases a day of kids sticking things up their nose or in their ears. Maybe this is just Texas kids, but I was relieved. 

I think I can almost guarantee that Cora won't do this again. Believe me it was pretty traumatic for her to have the doctors stick a catheter up her nostrils and then balloon them with saline. She said "Mom, I don't EVER want to put anything up my nose again... That really REALLY hurt."

Now we just have to wait and see if she is okay. The DR said in a week or two if any were lodged into her sinuses it will fester and she will end up with and infection. If this is the case, then she will need surgery. Let's hope they are all gone!

BEADS!!! Who knew they could cause so much drama?

The following pictures are for you to share with any little kids who want to know why you shouldn't put things up your nose! The consequences really hurt!

Waiting for the procedure...

Listening to the Doctors try and explain what they are going to do... Fear sets in.
Still calm and trusting the doctors....
Screaming, telling the doctors to take it out. This was so hard to watch.

After the trauma I just held her and calmed her down.

Calm and starting to feel safe again.

Our Cora is back... happy again, and saying No MORE BEADS Mommy!

Two peas...

Mom-Mom and Cora… What a precious picture, a forever memory. This is the extraordinary woman that we named our little girl after, my mother.

Jason and I feel that a name is something that should have legacy, honor, and character. Each one of our children’s names was prayerfully chosen. My mothers name was always beautiful to me because she is my heart, my best friend, my tutor, and my hero. I love her so dearly. Our little girl has a lot to live up to, to honor this great woman, her name, her legacy, and most of all for our little girl to become an outstanding woman herself. Our little Cora Elizabeth and our precious mother/grandmother Cora-Beth whose name literally means “filled heart consecrated to God”. To know my mother is to know that she honors the very meaning of her name, she IS her name.

Cora – Greek – Filled heart

Elizabeth/Beth – Hebrew – Consecrated to God 

Learning to be self-sufficient

Elijah has learned to climb up the slide by himself and then turn around and slide down. He is so happy about his new found independence. When we put in the slide, we chose one that bent on the sides and acted like a railing/handle so our kids could climb up or slide down the slide. It is so fun to see the minds work when children discover self play. Our little boy who has not wanted to stop being the baby is inching his way to becoming the toddler that he is. It is a sad and happy day... our baby is not a baby anymore.

SPLISHIN AND A SPLASHIN

They was a splishin and a splashin! 

What little water babies we have. 

Isaiah 2 and so independent! He loves to jump off the side of the walls and make big splashes. I am sure with him swimming all the time this summer, that he will be swimming without any float-aids in no time flat. 

Elijah 1 is happy just putting his feet in and making splashes that way. All three kids really enjoy it and Mom and Dad too!  

Thanks to Paw Paw and Mi Mi Dombeck, our kids should have gills by the end of the summer! What wonderful neighbors to give us a key to their pool. Thanks Leonard and Eileen for an open invite - you are sweet to love our kids so much. We are sure grateful you are just next door!