what to do, what to do

Well, Claire has another infection in her PD catheter (that's the one on her right side, just above the diaper line that is hanging down to the ground. We just can't seem to get the infection to go away. We think it's gone and then about a week or two later, it comes back. So now we're trying to decide what to do. The doctors have had her on antibiotics for the past couple of weeks and are trying to decide if we'll just need to remove that catheter and place another one in on the other side. That would obviously require another surgery. We may give it one more chance to clear up and take her off the antibiotics...and if it doesn't clear up this last time, then she'll for sure have to have the surgery and get it replaced. Poor princess. She's a champ through all the antibiotics and painful dressing changes...but it is hard to have her go through another surgery.

And for the exciting, really good news...OUR HOUSE IS OFFICIALLY UNDER CONTRACT!!! We are so excited and feel blessed to be able to begin moving forward with our plans to move to Minnesota to prepare for Claire's transplant. We are scheduled to close on August 28 and are also grateful to have the next 6 weeks to get our ducks in a row as we try to figure out living arrangements in Minn. and insurance issues for Claire. There will probably be some lapse of time between when the insurance will get accepted in Minn. and when we close on our home here...but we'll make it work the best we can!! We hope things continue to go well for the buyers of our home and that everything will work our according to plan!!

Claire is growing up sooooooo fast!!! Her language has really progressed over the past month and she is pretty much repeating everything we say!! That includes everything Benson says as well...which can be good and bad. She's picking up fast on his numerous 3-year old NOOOOOO's, and loves to say "Owie" not even when she's hurt, but it's her way of saying 'stop that please.' She gets the cutest little smile when she gets to say prayer (with us or Benson prompting her on what to say.) She's so proud of herself!! It's just amazing how much she is growing up. She loves to play pretend, loves her baby, and wants to take baby everywhere with her. We got the cutest little doll house at a garage sell yesterday and she adores it! ((Or maybe it's me who adores watching her play with it more than anything....so cute....and even better that it was a garage sell find!!!))

Duddy frog, as we sometimes call our little Benson boy, is most definitely a 3-year old BOY!! All BOY, that's for sure. I decided we can pretty much just count on a crying/yelling melt-down every day sometime between 4-6 p.m. It's just what we do around here. I'm thinking that's just part of being a growing-up toddler. Hoping he's not the only one out there melting down at least once a day, but trying to deal patiently with it none the less!! Gotta love all the different stages we get to go through with our kids. What I do love about his stage is that he's able to do things with us as a 'little kid' now....some of our favorites being badminton, baseball, and kick ball/soccer. And he is just so willing and yearning to LEARN right now. They're just like little sponges, soaking up any glimpse of information they can find. He loves to read, have me help him write his name, and watches like a hawk when you show him how to do something new so he can be sure to do it by himself next time. When we get frustrated or anxious about how long it might take him to do something all by himself, he kindly reminds us..."but Mom, I'm learning." Oh what fun it is trying to figure out this parenting thing, uh?!!!!

I just wanted to post one more picture of Claire. This is when she is getting her dressing changed at the catheter site (((which in some cases makes the "big kids" cry))). Claire sits (sometimes lays) there without any restraint from anyone and hold her hand up by herself, not moving it until she hears the words, all done. They take off the old dressing, clean it with some bleach/alcohol stick, and then secure it back up with a new dressing. She sits still as anyone possibly could during the whole thing. She's watching a movie while they do it which adds a great distraction factor into it all! I see it every day and am still amazed each time.

And playing tea-party at the hospital is one of her favorite daily activities!

Camping story...

So the 4th of July weekend, 2009, proved to be one the best! I seriously think it was one of my most favorite camping trips ever, simply because it was so NEEDED! There's nothing quite like the sound of pebbles and dirt beneath your feet, the memorizing spell of a camp fire, and sleeping in a tent with your whole family. The thought came to me when we were up there that it didn't really matter where in the world you were, as long as you're with your family, you're happy...you're home. Claire and Benson enjoyed every waking minute they had filling their buckets with dirt, moving logs in Benson's dump truck, searching for ladybugs and caterpillars, playing ball games together, and just being outside where it's okay to be dirty all day long! Claire was NOT so fond of the 4-Wheeler ride we went on. She patiently tolerated it (as she does many things in her life) but wouldn't crack a smile for nothing, nobody, no way. Benson was, of course, thrilled about the wheeler and would have ridden all day if it was up to him! We hiked a huge hike up Devil's Head mountain and had a well-worth-it view to behold at the top. It was 9,748 feet in elevation!

Benson and I went on a small hike by our campsite while Jared and Claire were at the hospital for dialysis Saturday morning. During our hike, we were looking for bugs and mushrooms in particular. I looked down and saw a grasshopper and quickly told Benson to come see. A closer-up look revealed that the grasshopper only had one leg. Weird, I know. He must have had some kind of grasshopper accident, fight, or amputation. He was trying to hop out of the path, but could only hop sideways because of his missing leg. As we noticed this one-legged-grasshopper, Benson came up with a great idea.

"I know, momma. Maybe while we're out hiking we can look for another grasshopper who has died....but whose leg isn't dead. Then we can take the leg off from him since he doesn't need it anymore and put it on this grasshopper so he can have a new leg and hop straight again. How about that?! That's a great idea, isn't it momma?!!"

A few steps later after leaving the grasshopper, he then said..."Or maybe we could just go to the grasshopper store and buy him a new leg. Do you think they would have one for him at the grasshopper store?"

One more reason I've always called him my sweet boy!

Camping July 09

Lots of camping fun deserves lots of camping pictures!

simple update

Claire has another infection. I feel like I could just copy and past these posts now, since these infections just keep-a-comin'!! SO NOT GOOD!! It's in her PD catheater again and they wonder if the last one just didn't clear up 100% because it is the same organism as her last one was. She's on a different antibotic this time, Tobermycen, because she built up an immunity to the last antibotic she was one and it won't be effective anymore. Unfortunately, I think this new med makes her tummy hurt. She just doesn't seem to feel well/happy/herself since she's been on it....and her bowels have been rather loose. Poor princess. But something to be grateful for is that the infection site it starting to look better since they started the meds this past week...so that is a great sign that it is clearing up.

On a happier note...we get to go camping over the 4th of July weekend! I am so excited just thinking about it!!! We got permission to not do the night time/PD dialysis for 2 nights, but we will still have to come back to the hospital each morning for the Hemo dialysis. Can't wait to spend the weekend, in the woods, in a tent, eating out of a cooler, cooking on the camp fire, riding our 4-wheeler, and just being away from the normal routine!! SO FUN!

Still showing our hose...just about nearing the 100th showing! Claire is about 9.4 kg now so she's definitely nearing that 10 kg mark. Still at least a few more months down the road, but getting closer every day.

We're up to 93 showings on our house now! IS THAT NOT TOTALLY INSANE!! I guess we're just not supposed to move quite yet.

Randoms

Benson got a fish at a birthday party last Saturday. He named him Fubsee Me Benson. Fubsee for short.

Claire decided pulling out her hair is a fun thing to do. When she's board (driving in the car) she reaches up to her hair, pulls it out, and looks at it. Drops it and does it again. Not the elastic band in her hair...although she does that too if there's one in....but the hair itself! Hope she doesn't run out.

I'm getting over another round of strep throat. Feeling better after a little amoxacilin.

I joined facebook but have yet to decide the point of it.

It rained every day this week. Didn't mind it at all.

6 more showings this week. Every time we leave the house for a showing Benson asks, "are we moving today?"

Got some fabulous roll/bread/pizza dough/cinnamon rolls recipes from Enrichment Tuesday night and I can't wait to try them!

There's nothing quite like America's Funniest Home Videos for a good laugh.

My husband is amazing.

Back again

I've decided my posts are either feast of famine. Short or long. Not very often or often. Here's a feast.

So let's just be honest here. I'm really getting tired of leaving the house for over 70 showings...1-2 hours per showing!! Not that it's a bad thing...it's in fact a very GOOD thing, to have so many showings....but it's just hard being gone all morning at the hospital and most afternoons for showings!!

We did get an offer last Saturday night, but it was a low baller. We countered, but they didn't keep playing the game with us. We're hoping another one comes in soon. Our house has never been so clean...never been vacuumed so much (Jared is a mad vacuumer)....and the kids have never wanted to "just go home" so often!! It's hard to explain to them why we can't be in our own home. On the bright side, we've done a lot of things together as a family that we probably wouldn't have otherwise done. Good family bonding time. Lots of drives (so they'll sleep). Trips to the library. Parks. Eating out, which is very unusual for us. And parking down the street so we can spy and see when they're gone! Good times.

Claire is a happy girl. She is starting to talk a lot more. Almost to the point where you can have some-what of a 'baby-talk' conversation with her! We can't believe how much she learns from Benson...at times she's just a little mini-Benson because of how she acts and the things she says. They both Grrrrrrowl when they don't like what you're doing. She loves to call for Momma and Daddda in the same tone Benson does. So fun to see.

Benson is having a little bit of a harder time going to his friends house each morning. It's almost been a year since Claire's been on the hospital dialysis and we've had this type of schedule. I think he's just getting tired of getting up and leaving each morning. The little breaks he has when family comes are a life-saver for him. Some friends he's still okay with going to, but other times, he just wants to come with me and Clarie or stay home and watch movies while Dad works upstairs. I took him with me twice this week...and he stayed home with Jared once. We'll see how the upcoming weeks go. He's a trooper. He's a sweet boy. And as I've said before, he knows how to sacrifice for his sister.

And me...I got spoiled this week. A few weeks ago, The Oxford Spa in downtown Denver sent some girls to do pedicures and manicures for the patients doing dialysis. Claire would have NOTHING to do with that. And didn't really even want them near us at all. She's not so fond of strange faces. The manager of the kidney center had the fabulous idea to see if they would allow me to come to the spa at a later time to do a pedicure/manicure. After she explained our situation and to both of our surprise, the spa actually has a "parent of the month" program and they wanted to invite me to come to their spa as their guest!! Sweet. I'm in. So Wednesday was my spa day!! I got to have a Swedish massage, a facial, and the best hair cut and style I've ever had!! It was so fun!! Definitely spoiled...and all for free! Can't beat it!

Until the next feast....