Joshua pics

Just wanted to post a few recent photos of Joshua. I recently gave him a haircut and right afterwards wished I hadn't. :( Now I miss his longer hair. The good thing about hair is that it grows back! Here he is playing with the fisher price people. They are actually mine from when I was a little girl. We LOVED them when we were little and now Jorie and Joshua play with them too. Also, one of him looking at the laptop computer (my favorite I think) and a couple from playing outside. I love those cheesy smiles he gives the camera. :)

Spring Break

My sister, Heidi, and her family were in town the first part of the week for spring break. The kids played nicely together and even went in Grandma and Grandpa's hottub a couple of times. On Wednesday, we went to the High Desert Museum. It's something that everyone can enjoy. Here are a few pictures from Heidi and Bill's visit and from the High Desert Museum.

Ryan's birthday

Ryan turned 13 years old today! I still cannot believe he's that old already! Where has the time gone? We celebrated this evening with his favorite dinner, PIZZA! And we had icecream cake for dessert. Yummy. My mom and Aunt Karen (my mom's sister who is visiting from Chicago) came as well as Ryan's best friend from school, James. My dad was unable to come as he isn't feeling well. Ryan had a great birthday. Most of his gifts were clothes. What else does a teenage boy want? He also got a new pair of head phones for his ipod, some birthday money, and a new sketch pad and pencil. He LOVES to draw. Jorie made him such a cute card and even made sure to put his favorite football team's colors on it (green and yellow) for the Oregon Ducks.

Fire trucks!

I thought these pictures were too cute. Yesterday morning, a fire engine and paramedic vehicle showed up across the street. The neighbors across the street have a 99 yr old woman living there and I am sure they were there for her. The trucks had their lights and sirens on for a bit too. The kids were interested, of course. But, especially Joshua. He watched out the front window for quite a while. Finally, he decided he would go and get HIS fire truck and play with it while watching the real fire truck! It was pretty cute.

Three different kids!

I have often thought about how different raising each one of my kids is. Obviously, with Ryan, almost everything was and is different. I didn't know any other way of raising a child other than a physically disabled one for the first 6 1/2 years of being a mom. Of course, then I had a girl which was also a new experience. But, also a child that was not disabled and could do things that I only dreamed of with Ryan. It was an amazing experience seeing Jorie take her first steps or even crawl for the first time! Wow! Now, I have another boy. But, a boy that is NOT physically disabled. I often feel like I am a "new mom" again with each child! I am beginning the potty training process with Joshua and although he is child #3; I have never really potty trained a boy before. At least not a boy who could actually stand at the potty! It seems so strange to me. It was so long ago with Ryan and we just didn't know what to expect in regards to potty training with him. But, he did learn finally, just differently than most kids. I am thankful for each new experience with each one of my kids. And I am learning to be thankful for each thing they accomplish. :)

Phew!

Wow. What a week! It's a relief that we got through the week. Ryan is hanging in there. He's on the road to recovery as are the rest of us. We hope to stay well for a LONG time now. Maybe even until the next cold and flu season. Two doctor trips in one week isn't so fun. And these weren't even trips for Ryan as they usually are! If I don't see that doctor's office as long as I live I will be happy. ;) We must know every single doctor that works in that office and they know us; or at least Ryan. We are looking forward to this coming week as Ryan turns 13! And then spring break. We are hoping for warm weather and lots of fun!

Sunday evening update

I was thinking today about how long we've had sickness in our home! And it's literally been for almost 2 whole months now. There have been periods (like maybe 4 or 5 days) in between an illness. But, for the most part, there has been illness in our home for the last 2 months! Of course, it's always harder when Ryan is sick and this time it hit him pretty hard. Last night, we were really concerned when he started to get the chills out of nowhere and suddenly didn't want to eat his dinner. This is usually a sign that he is heading in the wrong direction and possibly even hospitalization. But, so far, God has been protecting him! We are so thankful that we can treat him at home. No matter how exhausting it can be with his routine sometimes even going on throughout the night, it is MUCH better than being in the hospital!! For those reading that don't know the routine. It usually consists of something like this. Ryan will get a breathing treatment through his nebulizer with medicine that he breathes in to help loosen things up. This usually takes about 15 minutes. After that, we cough him using his cough machine. After the cough session, we suction out his mouth. We then set him up for his percussion treatment AKA "The Vest". It's an actual vest that Ryan wears that shakes his body all over shaking loose any secretions that might be stuck to his lungs. After about 10 to 15 minutes of the shaking, we then place him on the couch for the postural drainage stage. This usually takes another 15 minutes or so. Throughout the entire treatment session, he usually requests the cough assist multiple times as we are bringing up junk out of his lungs. But, after everything is done, he usually improves quite a bit for a while until we start the whole thing over again usually about 3 to 4 hours later.

I know that any SMA family reading this will appreciate this. But, yesterday, Steve rigged up a way for Ryan to be able to suction himself! It's amazing really and will make such a huge difference for Ryan. Basically, having the suction machine for Ryan would be like having the ability to blow your nose or clear your throat. Since Ryan cannot do these things, the suction machine does them for him. However, when he is sick, he needs the suction machine sometimes every couple of minutes. (again, imagine yourself with a cold and how often you might blow your nose or clear your throat). So, Steve re-wired it so that it now has an easy push button for Ryan to push and suction himself! It's still a work in progress and we are working on positioning and finding a good spot to place the suction wand when not in use. But, just to have Ryan be able to do this is AMAZING and ,of course, helps us out too!

Thank you again for your prayers for Ryan. The prayers have been working and he is hanging in there. I know he is NOT out of the woods yet. But, he did have a better day today.

Attached are pictures of Steve re-wiring the suction machine with Joshua watching carefully. And also, one of Jorie and Joshua from the other day.