SpRiNg iN tExAs

Spring and Fall in Texas is so amazing. The weather has been so great this last month. Spring and Fall here make summers bearable.

Jeremy took the kids to the park yesterday. They found some new friends there, catching Minnows. The kids really enjoyed that. Jackson and I have been on lots of bike rides and walks. Come this summer, the only thing we'll be doing outside is swimming.

5 1/2 weeks of school left. I can't believe how fast the school year went. Most of all I can't believe Makayla will be a 3rd grader, Isaac a 2nd grader, and Jackson a preschooler. I'll have MWF from 9-12 totally kid free. It will be really great, weird, wonderful. I'm sure it will give me anxiety just trying to figure out how to use that 9 hours a week.

Jackson is doing very well. He seems to be almost completely back to normal. If he would quit having major falls on his back, I'm sure he'd feel 100%. I took him to the Dentist yesterday and I could tell he was more scared than normal. The Dentist was wondering what was up. Then I explained that he just had back surgery two weeks ago. He said that made a lot of sense. Jackson needs a bunch of work done. His dentist would like to get it all done in one visit. So the first week in June their going to put him under and get it all done in one sitting. Sounds a lot better than 3 or 4 visits to me (maybe a little more expensive, but less traumatic). They said he has something called hypoplasia where the enamel on his teeth didn't form properly which makes him more suseptible to cavities.

Everyone is doing great here. Makayla and I are taking a karate class once a week together, Jeremy is in a flag football league, and Jackson will be heading back to gymnastics (once a week) in two more weeks. We're not keeping too busy and it feels good to be able to breath and enjoy life.

O.K.

Jeremy mentioned that I should go ahead and write a little about my experiences at the hospital.

Jeremy and I were both able to be at the hospital when Jackson went into surgery and when he came out. We weren't sure we'd both be there until they moved his surgery back a few hours. (Isaac also got a fever the night before, Jessica watched him for us because we couldn't send him to school and we both really wanted to be there. I felt really bad leaving Jessica with our sick kid, but it really meant a lot to us) I was so glad to have Jeremy there. While Jackson was coming out of anesthesia, he totally freaked out. Well he was doing fine- until he saw me and then he went crazy. It was really scary because they wouldn't let him be held, sit up or anything. So comforting him was a lot harder than his other surgeries. After Jeremy and I held him down and the nurses pumped him full of meds, I layed down with him and half-held him as much as I could. The next few hours were hard because he wanted to be held and we couldn't. He kept trying to rip his IV's and cords out. He also kept yelling to go home and yelling at everyone not to touch him.

Jeremy went home to get the kids to bed and see them off to school the next morning while I stayed the night with Jackson. I was so afraid for Jeremy to leave me alone. I layed in bed with him most of the night to keep him laying down and stop him from ripping anything out. It was a long hard night, but the next morning everything got a lot easier. Jeremy brought up a Kilan movie (the only t.v. he'll watch) and Bella (his very best friend) came to visit, both really helped raise his little spirits. He kind of had a big attitude so it was nice to have my cute sweet Jackson back.

His most favorite thing at the hospital was the playroom. He loves bowling. He loves bowling with my kitchen cups, on my cell phone, and at the bowling alley. The playroom had a Wii and of course our little bowling protege loved bowling on the Wii. It's all he wanted to do there. When it came time to go home, he didn't want to leave the Wii or the wheel chair. He really wanted to take them both home with us:)

Jeremy spent the last night with Jackson and I stayed at home with the older kids. When I was leaving to pick the kids up from school the nurses had him standing up and taking steps. I was so sad to leave and miss all that.

Now we're home and he's a little timid to do anything. He keeps wanting to do things but is afraid to stand and walk. I don't know what we'll do for the next 6 days. I'm scared to let him do anything also.




See the Popsicle I'm enjoying in recovery? They kept trying to give Jackson Popsicles in recovery while he was totally out of control. There wasn't anywhere to put it so I got to enjoy a Popsicle while trying to hold him down real good. I just thought it was funny, when they kept trying to give it to him and he was so ticked off.

EVERYTHING WENT FINE

I'm home for the morning, getting the kids off to school and now getting ready to head back to the hospital. Jeremy called this morning and said that the nurses think he'll go home today. So, I'm going to make this fast. I need to get back down there and get them home.

The doctor said everything went well. He fixed the problem with his spinal cord and he should be back to normal in a week. Just no trampoline for four weeks:( That will be hard to enforce.

Makayla and Isaac went to visit Jackson last night and Bella and Jessica came and visited yesterday during the day.

Jackson had to lay flat for 24 hours. That was the most difficult part of the after surgery experience. He was so mad at me mostly for making him lay flat. He took a few good swipes and kicks at me. Of course mom gets all the anger and all the loves.

I'll let Jeremy blog everything. He does such a great job at telling the stories of our family. He's able to add detail and interest where I'm just trying to spell everything correctly and use as few words as possible.

Tomorrow's the BIG day

Today is Jackson's Pre-op. I'm going to meet with his surgeon and see if Jackson's still on for tomorrow's surgery. I'm a little concerned, because he had a sinus infection that we're not sure is gone or not. He's been through two rounds of anti-biotics, but his pedi can't tell if it's gone or not. The only way we knew he had one is because it showed up on his MRI. I'll see what the doctor says.