What a full day I had today! We sprang into action first thing this morning, on a hunt for our GPS unit to loan to Michael’s mother. Even though we didn’t find the GPS, we did sort through a lot of boxes and got lots of things straightened up. Then I decided to take advantage of Michael being home today so I could visit my grandmother. I invited Isaac to go with me, and we headed out. I dropped several boxes off at the local mission (for their second-hand store), dropped my wedding dress off at the cleaners (only 15 years after the wedding), and then headed to see Grandma. But on the way we stopped at a garage sale or two and had fun looking around. Isaac spent some of his money on a pogo stick that caught his eye. He couldn’t try it out properly since he can’t really bounce up and down right now, so I hopped around a little on the pogo stick to make sure it really worked. I must have been quite the sight, because the lady running the sale couldn’t stop giggling at her odd customers.

We had a nice visit with my grandmother and then hurried on to our next stop. We discovered that our old neighborhood (containing the Bobwhite house) was having “subdivision sales”, so we decided to explore there. Isaac needed to use the bathroom, so we stopped at the Bobwhite house to say hello and take advantage of the hospitality there. We got there just in time to say goodbye to Michael’s sister, Natalie, as she and her children headed back to Georgia.

We continued on our way, trying to direct ourselves toward a McDonalds (at Isaac’s request), but we kept getting delayed by garage sales. At one sale I asked if the lady had a dresser for sale, and she did! She lowered her price a little to $25, and that was good enough for me. While we were there at her sale, one of her dogs chewed through is leash and ran off. When we left, I told the lady I would be back later to get the dresser, since it wouldn’t fit into our car. She said that was fine, and she jokingly said that if I found her dog to bring him back too. Much to our surprise, as we drove away, we did see her dog! So I pulled over and attempted to coax the dog to come to me. He wasn’t interested in me in the least, but when the homeowner whose yard I was invading came out to see what I was doing, I explained and he helped catch the dog. I told him that it belonged to a lady around the corner whose sale I had just been at, and that the dog had chewed through his leash. When the guy heard that, he asked me to wait a minute while he grabbed something from his truck. He came back with a tie-out of vinyl-covered cable and he told me that his Boxer puppy was getting too big for such a short tie-out, and that I could give it to the lady so her dog couldn’t escape again. I thought that was such a generous thing for him to do! So we drove back to the sale and delivered the dog, along with his new tie-out, back to his very surprised mistress.

Then we were off again to get a snack at McDonalds. Both Isaac and I purchased the 2-for-a-dollar pies, and I handed Isaac his pain pills at the same time. Then we were off again in pursuit of a certain sale I had heard about that had lots of wonderful children’s books. We found it, and I spent a long time looking through all the books, being as careful as possible to only purchase books that would really be appreciated on our shelves at home. I’m trying so hard to not acquire too many books, while at the same time having a nice selection of books available to the children.

After that I was down to my last dollar, so I decided it was time to head home. When we got there, Michael was napping, so I left him asleep, told Isaac to take a rest for a while, and then invited Luke and Miguel to go back with me to get the dresser. We tootled back across town where Luke helped me load up the dresser. Back home again we went, and it was time to head to the county fair to see the bird rescue folks at their display table.

I encouraged Isaac to stay home again, since we had been out for so long earlier in the day, and I took Laura, Luke, Amelia and Miguel, along with two parrots (Chico & Bambi) off to the fair. We had tickets given to us to get in for free, so that was nice. The folks at the bird rescue table were happy to see us, and the birds seemed happy to see them, too.

After visiting there for a while, we wandered around looking at the interesting animals, but finally we had seen enough and we went home to eat corn-on-the-cob for our supper. After supper Michael and Isaac went to see the latest “Mummy” movie. While they were gone, I worked hard, doing miscellaneous things, but also worked specifically on getting all of my clothes out of the laundry baskets I’ve been using for the last month and into a much better situation. By the time Michael and Isaac got home, our room looked so much more tidy, and I was ready to stop working.

Now I’m heading to bed, and I have a great feeling of accomplishment. What a busy day!

But before I go, I want to say that I’ve really enjoyed the comments people have left recently. I feel like I should answer some of them. So here goes:

First, I made sure to take Isaac to see his great-grandmother so she could stop worrying about his appendix troubles. Thank you to Aunt Pat for letting me know Grandma was worried!

Karin, has it really been ten years since I came to visit you in the Netherlands??? I think of that trip often. Thank you for keeping in touch here on the blog. I’m flattered to think that I have an international audience!

Mother Dear, even though we live in the same town, it’s nice to have this forum for keeping you updated on our family details.

Chris, I’ll try to get the camera out and take some photos. I’ve gotten out of the habit since it was gone to the cleaning and repair shop for so long.

Lisa, thank you for praying for Isaac!

The Other Lisa, you’re right! Pineapple and brownies are wonderful remedies, as are fresh strawberries, blueberries and oranges.  Yum, yum!

Amy, I got some of that non-slip stuff and will try it in the high chair.  Lilly keeps sliding around!

Aunt Barbara, how generous of you to send a card and ten dollars to Isaac!  He used that money that came from you in today’s mail to pay for his movie ticket tonight.  It was a movie he really wanted to see, so it was a treat to have the extra money for it.

And to all of you who read but don’t post comments very often, thank you for reading! (I’m thinking of you, Aunt Carol!)  Thank you for caring about our family enough to make us part of your day.

Love, Christie

This morning Isaac was able to get up out of his chair without help.  He was still in pain, but at least he could move.  I gave him a medium dose of pain medicine, and that really helped him.  A little later, when I was getting ready to run an errand to the grocery story, he asked if he could go along.  So he had a nice outing and a walk around Aldi.  He’s looked a bit pained now, but has refused more medicine.  I’ll leave that up to him for now.  

Today is our regular pool day, and Isaac really wants to go.  I hope it will work out for this afternoon or evening.  

Update:

We had a wonderful time at the pool.  Isaac enjoyed sitting in the water, and he didn’t try to overdo the activity.  He also was able to get a shower, which was good, since he hasn’t had one since his appendix adventure started.  

Isaac took his money along and bought himself an ice cream treat at the snack bar.  He seemed to thoroughly enjoy that.

The rest of us enjoyed the pool as well. Michael’s sister, Natalie, is visiting from Georgia with some of her children, so they joined us there, along with Michael’s brother, Roy, and two of his daughters.  It was quite the family reunion right there at the State Farm Park.

When we got home from the hospital, Isaac claimed the couch and then fell asleep for a nap.  When he woke up about and hour ago, he was asking for pain medication, so I gave him some Tylenol.  Then I insisted he get up and head to the bathroom.  He was in so much pain he just sobbed.  I noticed that he seemed warm, so I took his temperature, and it read at 102.3 under his arm.  We called the doctor, and they said to give him some Motrin, and if his fever doesn’t come down in half an hour, he is to go back to the hospital.  So, we’ll see what happens.

Update:

Isaac’s fever came down below 100 by the time his half hour was up.  He was also acting much more perky and talkative.  He even had the gumption to go to the Bobwhite house for supper and socializing.  Everyone was glad to see him and had nice things to say to him.  I was grateful that Isaac was civil and responded politely to his loving family.

Now we’re home for the night.  We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Our family is reunited at home once again.  The whole gang came to the hospital to spring Isaac from his confinement.  It was hard for Isaac to walk away from the wonderful place where he was waited on hand and foot, with his own personal t.v., game system, and no one to pester him.  He liked ordering his meals off the menu.  He poured over the menu at great length this morning, and finally picked up the phone, called food service, and asked very politely for some Rice Crispies.  That was all.  They offered milk to go with it and he accepted that.  Several hours later Isaac was ready for another bit to eat, so he again looked at the menu and then called and asked for some bacon.  Just bacon.  I can’t help but wonder if the folks in the food service area are giggling at the funny kid in 412.

Tonight we’re hoping to go over to Bobwhite to enjoy a meal with most of Michael’s extended family.  All of his siblings will be there, so it’s almost like a reunion.  Isaac says he feels like going, so that will be nice.

Thanks again for your prayers and concern for our family.  Another appendix is taken care of!

A quick update on Isaac’s situation.

I (michael) spent the day with Isaac today. I started out a little disappointed that he hadn’t made much progress from the last time that I saw him, but by the end of the day he had exceeded my expectations.

When I first got there, he had no desire to walk at all, much less up and down the hall twice.  Christie had him walking a little bit, but I thought he needed to do more.  When he got out of bed, I coaxed him into heading the opposite way first, then turning around and heading for his original goal - making his trek almost twice as long.  Well, not only did he do that, but he did it twice - surprising me and even surprising himself a little too I think.

After we got him situated back in his bed, we started to play against each other on the hospital supplied Wii.  I think Isaac was shocked to find out how many movements that he takes for granted involve using his stomach muscles.  He wasn’t to be deterred though and before too long he was creeping forward on his bed so that he could better swing his arm.  Next thing I knew, he was sitting on the edge of his bed, hardly complaining at all about pain in his side.

The doctor came in during our decathlon Wii tournament.  He wasn’t happy with Isaac’s fever the night before, and Isaac’s lack of appetite so far, so he suggested that we stay another night and get checked out in the morning again.  Chances are he’ll send Isaac home then.

After the doctor left, the nurse came in and released Isaac from his I.V. Flush with his new-found freedom, he asked if he could walk down to the nurses station and grab a carton of milk.  I think he enjoyed showing off and loved the fact that he come move a little more freely.

By the time Christie came to switch places with me, Isaac was ready to stay in his bed for a while.  I think I wore him out!

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers.  God has been very good to us, and Isaac seems to be well on the road to recovery.

9:00 pm, Saturday

Just talked to the doctor. Turns out Isaac might have appendicitis. We’re heading to the hospital now.

9:50 pm

Both Michael and I went to the emergency room with Isaac. They quickly examined him, but then told us that the emergency room is full and four people are in line ahead of us, so they would help us as soon as they can. Michael is tired, and I’m happy to stay with Isaac, so I came home to get a few things. I’ll head back soon and Michael will come home to sleep. We’ll update as we can.

10:50 pm

Michael here: The ER doctor came in and confirmed the preliminary diagnosis of appendicitis. They were going to talk to our pediatrician for surgeon recommendations. I’m going to try and sleep - we’ll see how that goes.

6:30 am, Sunday

I was able to sleep last night, slept well in fact. According to the updates from Christie, nothing is going to happen ‘until morning’. They gave Isaac a shot of morphine sometime during the night, and moved him to the pediatrics ward. Oh, they took his blood samples, lost them, and had to take them again - I’m sure that was lots of fun.

Shortly, I’ll be heading to Bromenn (Brokaw for all you old-timers) to allow Christie a break. Fortunately, this episode of appendicitis can be taken care of in town, so trips to the hospital don’t involve an hour-long drive.

10:30 am

Christie here, reporting again. Once Isaac was settled in his room around 2:30 am, I was able to get some sleep. There was a second bed in Isaac’s room, so I was very comfortable. I slept until 7 am and then decided to get up. Of course, I felt like sleeping until noon, but wanted to be aware of anything happening with Isaac.

It is interesting being the companion to an 11-yr-old, as compared to staying with Judah, a 3-yr-old. I’m so accustomed to helping the kid to the potty and helping with every little procedure, it was strange to hear Isaac talking to the nurse and to realize that I could just stay in bed with my eyes closed. Also, Isaac doesn’t fuss at every little thing, or cry when the nurse comes into the room, or throw fits when he’s tired. But he does look just as pitiful laying in bed, in obvious pain, with tears rolling down his cheeks every time his abdomen gets bumped.

Michael sent me a message shortly before 9:30 saying he had just dropped Isaac off for surgery. I’m glad Isaac will finally get some relief.

Surgery update:

Michael just called and told me he talked to Dr. Young, the surgeon. The appendix was ruptured, but it was contained, so they got it all out. Isaac will stay for a day or two, depending on how his recovery goes. He’s on the pediatric ward in room 412.

I’ll hang out here today, and then likely take some kids to see Isaac later this afternoon or evening. I know they’ll be eager to see where he is and how he’s doing. I doubt Isaac wants them to visit, but it won’t be for his sake anyway. No matter how prickly and obstinate Isaac is, his family loves him and worries about him. So he’ll have to tolerate a visit from his siblings.

11:30 am

Michael messaged me that Isaac is back in his room, but that he is in a lot of pain.

Here at home, I’m getting lunch ready for kids. Laura isn’t home from church yet. She is supposed to arrange for a ride home. I’ll be glad to have her back. She’s such a help when she’s here.

After lunch I’m hoping to take a long nap to recover from my short night. I think I’ll have the younger children take naps, too. Amelia is very weepy today, and Judah could use a nap. Maybe Miguel and Luke can stay up and watch a movie during rest time.

1:30 pm

The last brief message I received from Michael was that Isaac was sleeping peacefully. I haven’t heard anything for a couple of hours, so I hope that means that both of them are getting a much-needed nap. Now it’s my turn to sleep. Three of my fussiest munchkins are snoozing, so it’s a good time for me to grab some shut-eye. Thanks for your kind comments! It’s always encouraging to hear from folks in the comment section.

5:00 pm

I had a good nap, and now the children and I are getting ready to go to Walmart to buy a few goodies for Isaac, and then we’ll head to the hospital to terrorize the pediatrics ward.

7:00 pm

Wrangling six children through the flashlight isle, the toy isle and the candy isle at Walmart is most certainly deserving of a medal, or a certificate… or at least an admiring glance. Having a complete stranger tell you that your three-year-old is running around the parking lot is enough to take away that feeling of accomplishment though. (Judah can really move fast when I’m not looking!)

We found some fun treats and treasures to take to Isaac, minding the fact that we don’t want to add clutter to his life and that he doesn’t need piles of candy to aggravate his tummy. We found a cool flashlight, some glow-in-the-dark silly putty (that I hope will get thrown away soon) and we picked out some small packages of Isaac’s favorite candy. When we walked into Isaac’s room, each child presented one of the gifts. Isaac actually said a nice thank-you to each of his siblings. (Being sick always brings out the best in Isaac.)

Laura got permission to stay with Isaac for an hour or so while the rest of us came home. We’ll put some kids to bed and I’ll gather a few things for my overnight at the hospital, and then Michael will take me back and pick Laura up.

Isaac is still in pain, but I think he’s ok as long as he doesn’t move much. The nurse brought him a Wii game system to play with, so he’s really set up nicely. Since his release from the hospital depends on how he’s feeling, I think Isaac will be slow to recover. How could he be in a hurry to escape his own personal t.v., game system and his own private room???

1:00 pm, Monday

Isaac had a good night. He’s still in a lot of pain when he moves, but when he is still, he can sleep without trouble. Today the doctor’s orders were to get Isaac out of bed, so this morning I had him walk a little way down the hall. When Michael took over, he got Isaac out walking a couple of times. Any exercise he gets will really help him during his recovery.

Isaac is also allowed to eat some regular food now. Yesterday was jello and popsicles. Today for breakfast he chose yogurt, granola and fruit, and his Grammy brought him a strawberry smoothie as a treat.

We don’t yet know when Isaac will be coming home. It’s interesting to me that the other children are eager to have Isaac home, even though Isaac is often very hard to live with. Family dynamics are funny things.

Yesterday Isaac woke up feeling nauseous.  Turned out he spent the whole day heaving and miserable and not keeping anything down.  He spent the day on the couch, sleeping a lot, and being very easy to live with.

This morning Isaac was feeling a little better, and he has been able to keep food and drink down.  He hasn’t eaten much, and his energy level is still very low, and his gut hurts from so much “exercise” yesterday.  But he does seem a little better.  I’m getting spoiled having such a mellow Isaac around.  I’ll know he’s feeling better when his siblings start complaining and telling on him.

Michael has been fighting a tickly throat and some congestion for several days, so it wasn’t a great surprise when he woke up this morning feeling quite a bit worse with those symptoms.  He spent a long time in bed, but the noise of his rambunctious children (yes, his children!) finally drove him from bed.  By this evening it seems that Michael is doing ok, and is at least not any worse, so I’m hopeful that tomorrow will be better for him.

This morning I slipped away to the farmer’s market with Miguel and Amelia. We walked all around, and I bought some sweet corn, tomatoes and beets.  The sweet corn was especially for Michael.  The tomatoes were for me, and the beets were for Laura.  When I got home, I cooked 8 ears of the corn, thinking that Michael and Isaac wouldn’t be eating any, but Michael could not resist the lure of fresh, local sweet corn.  It was nice that he perked up at the sight of the corn.

Late this afternoon Michael decided that a little exercise would probably benefit both he and Isaac, so he dragged them both off to Walmart to walk around a bit.  They had a short list from me, so that helped direct their shopping a little.  Isaac finally begged off the exercise and went back to the car to rest, and Michael finished his shopping alone.

While they were gone, Luke and I baked brownies.  This is my second attempt to compare homemade brownies with the Aldi box mix for brownies.  The first time I tried a recipe I found online called “Best Brownies Ever”.  Sounded promising, but in the final taste tests, the “best” brownies lost to the Aldi brownies.  This time I put up an older recipe I’ve had for a while called “Chewy Cocoa Brownies”.  These stood more of a chance, because they were a recipe I got from a friend years ago.  Sure enough, the contest is much closer this time around.  We haven’t yet declared a winner.  Aldi sure makes a good box mix!

Tomorrow only some of us will go to church.  Not sure who quite yet.  Depends on how Michael is feeling in the morning.

Today was a slower day for all of us, but it was nice.  I napped, cooked, and also sorted through a few more piles of things.  I sure am looking forward to getting our stuff all situated!

Based on Bethany’s comment about serving quick oats with milk, I decided to try an experiment this morning. I put some quick oats in a dry cast-iron pan and toasted them over a medium flame. Then I put them in a bowl, poured milk over them, and drizzled them with honey. Wow! It was delicious! It reminded me of granola, somewhat.

The only child I could convince to try this new treat was Judah, and he emphatically agrees with me that it’s delicious. No one else is even tempted. Laura’s only comment when she walked into the kitchen was that it smelled like popcorn. She also wondered if perhaps a person could put dried fruit on their toasted oats. I think that’s a fine idea.

Antique high chairs are nice for lots of reasons.

If nothing else, they help you understand why people invented newer chairs with the thing in the middle to keep kids from sliding out the bottom.

When I was growing up, milk and cereal was a rare treat. Money was tight, and there were more frugal options for meals than the expensive boxed cereals. As a child, I remember gazing at a bowl of cereal and milk and thinking it was a true luxury item.

Once, on a school field trip to the local jail, we were told that the prisoners only got cold cereal for breakfast. It took me a minute to realize that “cold cereal” was actually “milk and cereal”. I was in awe that prisoners got to have such a wonderful breakfast! I thought it would be more fitting if they were served hot oatmeal.

This attitude toward milk and cereal has carried over into my habits as an adult. Cereal is purchased only as a special treat, and milk is not dispensed freely. With a family our size, a box of cereal lasts for only one breakfast, if we’re lucky. So when a friend at church said that her children ate cereal every morning for breakfast, I asked in amazement how she could afford it? She replied that the children only get one bowl of cereal, and if they’re still hungry after that, they eat other things. What a concept! It never occurred to me to limit portion size. I always just stood back in amazement as the children consumed bowl after bowl.

With that plan in mind, I put on my brave face, steeled myself against the frowning price labels, and put a couple of boxes of cereal in the cart next time I was buying groceries.
“One bowl only!”, I told the children the next morning. They scarfed down that bowl and then looked at me with pleading eyes.

“But I’m still hungry”, they said.

“Sorry. Eat something else.”

Amazingly, they survived.

As you might imagine, cereal quickly became a favorite, easy, breakfast option. I think my grinch heart grew two sizes!

I’m a different woman now. Last night in the store, I picked up eight boxes of cereal to stock my bare pantry shelves. When we got home, I told Amelia to pick her four favorites to put out for breakfast. This morning, the kids excitedly got their bowls and made their selections.

And then something happened that has never happened before.

Miguel was sitting on a little step-stool, using the first step as his seat and the second step as his table. I don’t know how it happened, but halfway through his little breakfast, he tipped over backwards, and his bowl of cereal landed squarely on his chest. Milk and cereal was dripping all over his face, neck and bare tummy. His bowl was still sitting on his little chest, and there were puddles of milk and cereal on the floor around him. Faithful Mac was on the job instantly, licking up the milk and munching the cereal bits. I first scooped the precious cereal back into the bowl off of Miguel’s chest, and then wiped off the crying boy with a towel.

My children have made many messes in the past twelve and a half years, and there have been some interesting ones! But this one makes the record book for being the first of its kind here.

Now I’m left with the dilemma of how to get milk out of the cracks between the boards on the kitchen floor. Mac did the best he could with his pink tongue, but he couldn’t quite reach all the way down. Any suggestions?