And we are off to another Doctor with Josh

Just as soon as we get through with one doctor, we are going back to another! Can anyone see a bad pattern developing here?

So Josh had his tubes on March 31st. He had another ear infection two weeks later (in April)while healing from the surgery. Then he had another one in May from a cold he caught. Then I took him in June 9th for yet another ear infection, and this time he didn't even have a cold! On June 19th he had his 12m appt and his pediatrician looked at his ears and said they looked clear and wonderful. So guess what? It's June 29th and I had to take him back in again yesterday to the after hours clinic. Diagnosis? Another double ear infection and one eardrum has possible ruptured. One ear has a blocked tube, the other is partially blocked. So we were only off the antibiotics 10 days and we are back on them again. So I am calling the Ear, nose and Throat specialist on monday morning to get him in asap. This can't go on like this anymore! He is miserable, I don't get any sleep and we are paying on an expensive medical bill from the hospital and it hasn't helped at all! I don't know what else they can do, but something has to happen! I do feel bad for not getting him in any earlier than I did. He had a fever for four days, but I kinda thought it might be from the shots he had at his checkup last week. I feel guilty for waiting so long to get him in. Sigh..... we will see what the E,N,T doctor says now. Poor little guy!

Family Pictures

We had our family pictures taken this past thursday. We wanted to have updated pictures of our family since Amy and Luke are moving in a week and won't be living here for a few years. It was fun, and the kids had a blast. We took the pictures at Layton Park so the kids could play and feed ducks after we were done.

Trevor while feeding the ducks..... and laughing alot!

Jordan was so excited I could hardly get him to hold still.

Josh wasn't feeling well so I am surprised we got one of him not crying.

Josh's trip to Primary Children's

We took Josh down to see a Doctor at Primary Children's Medical Center yesterday. I am glad that I can say for the time being, we can watch and see still. But the Dr was in a hurry and didn't really look at him as well as we thought he would, and didn't ask why our pediatrician sent us there. So I don't feel like this problem is completely resolved, or feel sure that something wasn't missed. But I have to trust that if there was a huge problem, he would have caught that. I just don't to find out 6 months down the road that there was a problem that wasn't caught. If that happens, we are looking at extensive Cranial Surgery with a long recovery. So I will take him back in for his next checkup in a couple months and we'll see where his head falls on the growth chart.

But even with a long day, long wait and long drive stuck in traffic, Josh did wonderful. He is so much easier to take out then the other two! He continues to amaze us how laid back he is. We sure love him!

Something new for Josh!

Since you already know that Josh has many food allergies, and eating delays.... it's very rare to get to do new things with him.

Last time his therapist was here, she suggested trying to find some dairy-free ice cream. Since cold facilitates a swallow, it would pull double duty here. A new food for him, and something cold to help him swallow. So tonight I decided to try it. I know that this could have gone very bad, since he is not feeling the greatest and was not happy. But sometimes you can just distract him and he is happy. So I thought we would give it a try. I never knew he would LOVE ice cream this much! I think this will be his new treat. It is very healthy and organic so he can have it more often.

This is after the first bite....mmmm..... I think we have a smile starting!

He had a little bit of difficulty keeping it in his mouth, but got the hang of it pretty fast!

Sorry the pictures is a little blury, but he was so excited, I couldn't shovel it in fast enough! He would get his mouth open so wide for the next bite... which is very unusual for him. I have to usually coax him to open even for things he really likes.

So I think it is safe to say he LOVES it, right? Maybe I can use this to my advantage!!

A day in the life with Trevor and Jordan

Today was one of those days that you wonder why you got out of bed. With three boys that are very active, I have days like this every once in a while. This afternoon we went outside to play baseball, even with it being so hot. I had to get them to burn some energy off. Jordan was insistant that I take pictures and put them on the computer, aka our blog. So here they are!

Jordan is still learning how to hold the bat....

Trevor is getting so good at hitting... he does his daddy proud!

I have no idea what Jordan was doing in this picture, but I let him help me pick out the ones to post.... so this is what we are posting!

Recipes

I am looking to get some more crock pot recipes for this summer. With the heat, it is much easier to use a crock pot, that heat up an oven. Also if you have any good ideas for grilling, that would be great too. I have a few I already use, but anything new would be great. If you are interested in anything I have, let me know and I can get you some recipes! Thanks!

Josh's Head

Since I posted the last time about Josh having to go to Primary Childrens Medical Center to have his head looked at, I thought I would get some pictures to show what it is that is wrong. And the pictures don't do it justice! It is very noticable now.... even before I shaved his head. They told me to shave it so the Doctor can get a good look at it. It wasn't very long anyway! His hair is white/blonde now and very thin. So I shaved it and here he is. I couldn't get him to hold still to show you what the flat part of the back of his head looks like, but the Doctor will look at that as well. We'll see what happens now!

Isn't it a lovely little ridge??

We will keep you all posted on how it goes! Thanks for all the love and concern for Josh.

Another update on Josh

This isn't the clearest picture of Josh, but he was smiling, so I had to post it. I don't have alot of pictures of him standing up, since it's still a new thing for him.

I took Josh into the Doctor for his 12 month appointment today. It was a little late, but his pediatrician was on vacation the week of his birthday.

So, Josh weighed in at 19lb 15 oz, which is a loss from his visit last week. He is in the 20th percentile for weight. His heighth was 31 inches, and in the 50th percentile. He is barely maintaining his weight for now, so we are going to have to watch it close. His therapist is weighing him every week when she comes and it has been bouncing around a little. As long as we don't lose anymore, we will be OK.

His Dr is more concerned over his head again, and the ridge along the top of his head is noticably more pronounced. So next week we have an appt with a specialist at Primary Children's Medical Center to see where we go now. I had a hunch it was getting worse, but didn't want to think about it, so it still was a little surprising we are headed to Salt Lake. We don't know what comes next, other than probably a Cat Scan of his brain.

His eating is still the same and we don't really have any more news in that area. We are starting sign language with him since both the Dr and therapist have highly suggested it since he will be delayed in speech with his oral delays. So I guess it is time to break out the refresher on sign language.

On a more positive note... his ears are cleared up! So we are happy for that at least. He was given some shots today, so he will be whiney for awhile again. But at least we got rid of one thing! It was really good to hear.

So, we will keep everyone updated on our visit to the Dr next week, and in the meantime if anything exciting happens... we'll let you know!

Just playing around....

I babysat my nephew Parker yesterday, and got a couple pictures of him and Josh together. He is just a little bit under 5 months older than Josh. I think they will get along fabulous once they are a bit older. They are interested in what each other is doing all the time.

Josh was actually smiling! I never get a picture of him smiling since he is so camera shy. He always just stares at the camera when I bring it out. I couldn't get Parker to hold still very long though... so I didn't get a good one of them both looking at the same time.

I had to get a picture of all 4 kids since Trevor and Jordan felt left out in the whole picture taking session. It's not the greatest, but you take what you can get!

It was a fun day and Parker was wonderful for me. It also gave me an idea of where I still need to do a bit of baby-proofing for when Josh is walking. Fun stuff!

Just chillin' through the pain.....

the poor boy! I had to take him into the Doctor last night for another double ear infection! Can you believe the luck this poor baby has? He has his tubes in on March 31st... had another ear infection two weeks later, was given the all clear on April 29th.. and 6 weeks later, here we are again. And he has only had allergies going on! Good thing he is so good about all of this. I took this picture last night while we were out at the Dr appt and getting his meds filled.

He LOVES his carseat now that he can face forward. He weighs 20 lb exactly so we turned him since he gags alot in the car and I can never see how bad it is... I have to rely on Trevor and Jordan to tell me what is going on.

He is just a happy camper in the van now...he grins the whole time, it's so cute!

Just another update on Josh's therapy. I talked to his therapist today for a while (she had to reschedule from earlier this week since she was sick) and she wants Josh to join one of her group therapy classes on top of his weekly therapy. It will be a weekly class as well. She has a small group of 4-5 kids that are 12-18 months old on tuesdays. She works on textures, drinking from things other than bottles, trying new foods, ect. She thinks he really needs some additional support. She finally has told me a more specific way to explain to people what is going on with him. She said it is called, 'poor oral and motor skills, with a delay in motor skill planning'. Basically that means he is behind in those areas and the reason why is that he can't 'plan' how to deal with new things... like new textures, ect. Plus he also has the gag reflex problem that makes it worse. I'm not sure if it makes me feel better to have 'something' I can say to explain what is going on, or if it is just as confusing to explain the term. Who knows!! LOL!!!!