Snapshots

There are little rituals in our house right now that I want to remember forever. Scenes that are played constantly, yet I know they will only last a short while. Scenes that can't be captured by photographs for fear I might ruin the moment.

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I want to remember that when my boys get out of the bathtub, they put on their towels (one duck, one frog) and pretend to disappear underneath them. If I don't yell out, "Where oh where are my babies?" or "Where's Griffin and Grayson? I can't find my babies!" they get mad at me. They do this each and every time, and the giggles that ensue when I "find" them are priceless.

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I want to remember that Grayson plays every trick in the book to try and not go to bed. He leans on his hands at the gate and just chatters away to anyone (or nobody) until he thinks it is necessary to actually crawl into bed. Meanwhile, Griffin falls asleep INSTANTLY and doesn't wake up despite his brother's loud chatter and shouts.

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I want to remember nose kisses that are always followed by giggles and smiles.

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I want to remember all the times Griffin asks me to "stay for awhile" after we pray before bed. All he wants is for me rub his forehead for about thirty seconds.

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I want to remember their bursting imaginations. Both boys can talk to their action figures and animals for hours creating scene after scene of fun.

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I want to remember the tickle fights. The times I "eat" their toes or ears.

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I want to remember all the times Grayson crawls into my arms and says, "Sing rock baby." This is his way of asking me to rock him back and forth and sing the song "Rockabye Baby on the Treetop." When we get to the part "Down will come cradle, baby and all" I must pretend to drop him to the floor. Nine times out of ten, the minute he hits the floor, he begs, "Again."

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I want to remember all the times I see Grayson put his arms out and say, "I sit with you?" I want to remember all the times I say yes.

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I want to remember all the times Griffin goes to our printer, takes out paper, and makes me a card. Just today I received a card on my pillow that was an outline of his hand with a heart in the middle. (Copied from the book The Kissing Hand). He wrote all by himself, "Love You Mommy." While I can keep the card for as long as I want as a visual reminder, I don't ever want to forget that proud and loving look on his face when I open each of his creations.

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Too many snapshots. Too many fleeting moments. They grow up so fast, and I want to remember it all.

I Hate Allergies/Asthma

Griffin's allergies and asthma have been hard to control as of late. Twice a day we do something called a peak flow test, and Griffin's numbers haven't been stellar. As a result, the nebulizer has been frequently used along with a few other "rescue" meds. I hate making him sit for 15 minutes in order to use the neb, but it does its job fairly well. And hey, he looks pretty cute doing it, no?

Oak View Talent Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddl0S-0qSxI&feature=channel_video_title

No Words Necessary :)

Grayson Quotes

Whenever I ask him if HE wants to do something, he responds "Sure you can."

On the way to day care this morning he told me, "I no go Gail's house. I go to church."

He has also said, "I no go ______(insert any place we might be going). I go to beach." I will blame Mexico for that one.

Allergy Update

We finally had Griffin's re-check appointment at the allergy/asthma specialist today. I knew going into the appointment that something was going to get changed. While his breathing treatments seem to be working for the most part, he still has had a pretty consistent cough and/or cold. His eyes continue to be a little bloodshot, and the bags under his eyes weren't really improving. (His dark circles are from sinus issues not lack of sleep).

After some discussion and such, it was determined that Griffin is going to start Immunotherapy, which is more commonly known as allergy shots. While I am not thrilled that my five year old is going to endure four shots every week for a while, I am confident that the doctor is doing what he thinks is best. (Okay, I checked with the internet and Dr. Papa Tom before being 100% confident.) I can only hope that it makes more of a difference than the numerous medications he started back in September. Unfortunately, we won't see an improvement right away, so the doctor did change a few medications for some immediate relief. The interesting part will be how he reacts to one of the medications, as it is likely to make him quite drowsy for 1-2 weeks before his body gets used to it. If only I could send a video camera to school...

Through all of this, I continue to be thankful for good health insurance. Each time I pick up his medications at the pharmacy, I am reminded of how truly blessed I am to have a job I love that provides fantastic benefits. Griffin's one medication alone (he is on a total of 5 regularly and one extra for flare-ups) would be over $300 a month if I didn't have insurance. And when I checked with the insurance company today, his allergy shots are completely covered under our plan. I know how rare good health coverage is, and I couldn't be more grateful.

Thank You EBC

Last weekend at church, Kid-O-Deo started a Clean Water initiative with the kiddos. Griffin came home with a water bottle that he was supposed to fill with coins and such to bring back to church to donate. The money collected will be given to Healing Haiti and World Vision to support efforts to bring clean water to Haiti and the Horn of Africa. The kids were encouraged to consider donating some money from their piggy banks or to do extra chores to earn extra money to donate.

The next day, Griffin opened a card from Grandma Laurie for Halloween. Inside the card was a two dollar bill. I asked Griffin what he wanted to get with his money, and he responded, "I want to put it in my water bottle." I immediately told him how proud I was that he made that decision. He quite simply replied, "Mom, there are kids who need clean water, and I want to help them."

While I was so very proud of his decision, I was more overwhelmed with gratitude for our church. Brandon and I love being involved with EBC from an adult stand-point, but we are consistently blown away with the ministry for kids. We are blessed that our kids see caring adults each and every weekend who truly aim to help us raise our kids to be followers of Christ. For that, I am forever grateful.

Halloween 2011

Griffin's Allergies (Overdue)

Griffin went to the allergist in the middle of September. (That seems like forever ago. Really. You have no idea how long ago that seems to me. Okay. Back on topic.) After a few things that happened this summer and speaking to the doctor at his five year check-up, I had a sneaking suspicion he was allergic to dogs. Let's be honest. I knew he was allergic to them. Should have been a doctor.

Or not.

When the doctor walked in, he asked me to tell him "Griffin's story." I was about to get all long-winded on him before I realized that by story he meant, "why are you in my office with your five year old son?" I explained that twice over the summer I had to use Griffin's nebulizer on him after he was around dogs. End of story. To be clear, I seriously thought this was going to be an easy appointment. I figured we would find out he was allergic to dogs and maybe cats, get some medicine for when he is around those animals, and we would be set to go.

Um. Or not. Good thing I'm not a doctor.

After sharing Griffin's "story," the doctor responded, "Well, I can tell you right now he is allergic to more than just dogs." Oh really? How so? (I should have never asked). Basically the doctor rattled off numerous things about Griffin's appearance that I had been oblivious to. All signs that point to suffering from allergies. And not just animals you see every now and then. Gee. Thanks, doc, for making me feel like the worst mother ever. I'll put my award next to the one I got when I slammed Grayson's finger in the door, and he had to get stitches.

After talking to the doctor, Griffin had to go through pin-prick testing. That didn't work so well because Griffin wouldn't relax enough for the teeny tiny needles to poke through his skin. So guess what the next course of action is? Individual shots in both legs of what the doctor thinks he might be allergic to. You can imagine how fun that was. Not sure the nurses (or the people in the surrounding rooms) can hear perfectly anymore.

The results? My son is allergic to a lot of outdoor and indoor things. He is on multiple inhalers, Zyrtec, eye drops, and a nasal spray. We have steroids on hand if he ever falls into the "red zone" on a breathing test we have to administer every day. He has medicine at school and an emergency plan on hand if his allergies get out of control and affect his asthma. My house is the cleanest it has ever been (minus the week we left for Cancun), and our towels and sheets get washed multiple times a week.

Griffin is taking it in strides. The one medicine tastes absolutely horrible, but he takes it like a champ. There were many tears the day we had to throw away all of his stuffed animals, but he hasn't complained since. It's only me who complains...