Merry Christmas!

I know I have been pretty quiet lately.  We have been very busy this holiday season.  We have also had a case of the stomach flu spread through our house and Matt was in Brazil for ten days.   I think at this point we are as ready as we can be for the holiday season.  Not sure what Jadon will do after Christmas when Mommy puts away the three dvd collection of Sesame Street holidays shows.  There might be a few meltdowns.  We have seen Elmo's World-Happy Holidays, Elmo Saves Christmas, and Christmas Eve on Sesame Street at least 20 times each!  Ugh!  Jadon loves Sesame Street! 


Wishing Everyone a VERY merry Christmas! 

Day 6

Day 6

Wow, have we have stayed busy! Because our tractor was on the moving
assembly line on Friday and production numbers were behind, they
decided to run the line on second shift. That forced our tractor to
need support until midnight. Support from from us, until midnight.
We ended up working 17 hours on Friday and then getting about 4 hours
sleep and heading back in for 12 more hours on Saturday. Luckily, we
had Sunday off though.

On Sunday, after sleeping 12 hours, we took two taxis to the mall
(there are 6 of us here). When we got there, the taxi I was in
dropped us off at the back entrance, and there we waited for the
second taxi for about 15 minutes. Just when we were starting to think
that they ended up at a different mall, they came walking out or the
mall. The second taxi had dropped them off at the front entrance.
That was one of those times that it would be nice to have a couple
working cell phones in the group.

After lunch at the mall and some shopping\people watching, we walked
the 1.5 miles back to the hotel, taking advantage of this nice 85
degree weather. Back at the hotel, we borrowed a monitor cable from
the free access computer in the lobby and hot wired the big screen
lobby TV to a laptop so we could stream NFL games. We watched games
from 4 to 10:30 pm with all kinds of strange looks from the locals.
We also ordered pizza's from a local place, and enjoyed a few beers
from the hotel bar. We only really had two complaints; One, it would
be nice if the hotel lobby was air conditioned, and Two, when we leave
the doors open to the pool area lots of little bugs and lizards come
in. Not a bad way to spend our day off.

Today (Monday), was a much more normal pace. We worked from 7:15 to 5
and enjoyed dinner from the hotel restaurant outside by the pool.
After dinner, Derek got out his guitar to practice a little so we
played some "name that tune". Tomorrow evening, we are going to the
Cat Club so that we can listen to music by Derek and the two local Cat
employees that we met on the last trip. Derek has been working with
them over email to set up a song list so that each of them could
practice ahead of the big show. It should be fun. We plan on
ordering Pizza, having a few drinks, and some international fun.

From Matt

Where In The World is Matt? Brazil 2nd Edition-Day 1

From Matt-
After a long 10 hour flight from Chicago to Sao Paulo, we met up with
our taxi driver and crammed all four of us along with our luggage into
a small Fiat van for the 2 hour ride to Piracicaba. When we got to
the hotel, we found that our Cat contacts at the factory had cancelled
our taxi ride from the hotel to the factory this afternoon because
this is a local holiday and not much was going on at the factory. We
didn't mind, since it was already 3 pm here and we could all use a
shower and some food.

We regrouped in the hotel lobby at 6 pm and waited for the steakhouse
next door to the hotel to open for dinner at 7:30. Now, I am
extremely full. One extreme to another!

Tomorrow, I have to transport all of the items that I brought along.
I have a few small parts for the build that had to come from the US
because of some late changes, a part to keep one of the machines we
built here in July running at a local mine site and the items that I
was asked to bring as a personal favor. Someone wanted some organic
babyfood so I am hauling 12 jars of that around. I know someone that
like plain Pringles and so I am traveling with 3 cans of those (to be
fair, I was not asked for these. This will be a surprise). And last,
but certainly not least is the toilet seat. This is by far the
strangest and most unexpected item that I have been asked to bring. A
friend here had knee surgery recently and wanted a raised seat with
handles to help him on and off. I ordered it from Walmart for $63 and
he is happy to get it because the closest thing he could get in Brazil
was $700! I think this is due to nothing similar being made locally
and the shipping and import taxes really add up.

Tomorrow, we meet for breakfast and head off to the factory. It is
taxi's all the way this trip! Last time, one of the guys got an
international license and rented a car which really made each day a
new adventure (in this traffic), but 3 months later, he received a $50
speeding ticket in the mail! They have radar and cameras set up, but
we had no idea when or where we got caught. We were also a little
surprised that since we travelled the same route each day, it did not
happen more than once.

A Snowy Day

Hi Everyone! Sorry it has been so long! Today we got our first snowfall of the year! Oh how I loved waking up to that beautiful scene. I absolutely love when it snows in my woods. I could just sit and look at the beauty of it all day long!

We normally would got out and play in the snow but this is the second weekend of our hunting season. A drawback to living in the woods and having your property back up to 1500 acres of state wildlife refuge is that you don't play outside when it is hunting season. Of course of first snowfall had to come this weekend! And it was so perfect for playing in. I did allow Jadon to walk around close to the house for a little while when we came home from dropping off Shelby at Teresa's house. He really was fascinated with the snow. It is going to be a fun winter!

 Can you see that smile?  He was LOVING it!  Just like his Mama!

 We have snow pants.....they were not on because we did not plan to stay out long.

I mentioned that Shelby went over to her friend, Teresa's house today.  She went over there so Teresa's mom could take some pictures of the girls.  She is up to something for Christmas I have a feeling.  Don't know what though.   The pictures turned out great.  Here are some of them:

 I may be partial, but isn't she just beautiful! 

Finally, I found out today that I won something!  I almost NEVER win anything!  Today was my lucky day though.  I got an email from the owner of the blog, Thanks, Mail Carrier, saying that I won the contest I entered for a Melissa and Doug Shopping Cart and my choice of TWO Melissa and Doug Food Sets.  Woohoo!!  I am so excited!  I love the shopping cart because it actually looks like the real shopping carts do!  And one of the food sets I picked out was a set where you can slice the food.   Perfect for therapy!  I can't wait until they come!  

 Here is a pic of the cart.  I did end of choosing the slicing fruit set in the upper left corner.  The other set I chose is not pictured.  It was a hard decision.  I love all these food sets! 

A Few Things

Yesterday in pictures.....

Jadon loves the birds that come to the window feeder.  He starts screaming in delight. 

Jadon and John used tongs to move pom poms from one container to another.  They love this activity!

 I finished my first scarf yesterday.  Here is Shelby modeling it.  Here is the tutorial. 

Jadon loved riding the horse at Meijer last night.  It was his first time.  He was watching the kids at the claw machine when I took the picture.

We did not see Mason last night but I had to share this picture.  He is so stinkin' cute and I think he is going to look just like his Momma.

Looking forward to Thanksgiving tomorrow! 

Look What I Made!!

 I just finished my first purse/bag...whatever you would like to use it for!  I am very happy with how it turned out.  The tutorial I used complete with pictures was so easy to follow!  I am putting it along with a scarf I am working on now in my family's gift exchange next week.  I really hope they like it! 

It even has pockets on the inside.

Is This Week Over Yet?

I am still feeling worn out today. It is funny how a day of doing absolutely nothing but sitting in various waiting rooms in a hospital can be absolutely exhausting. However, there is no rest for the weary! Today was therapy. I was a little worried about how therapy would go after such a long day yesterday, but Jadon had a great therapy session. He played and worked really hard. We came home with our own e-stim unit today. It may be only temporary. We will see. If our insurance is not going to pay for the unit them we can send it back no charge even though we have already been using it. Dr. Kozin says that he has a neutral position when it comes to e-stim. He has not seen a lot of benefits come from it but it does not do any harm either. Since each child is different and may benefit he lets parents try it if they would like to. Since Dr. Kozin feels that way we decided we are not going to stress about not doing e-stim if insurance say no.

Therapy was about the most exciting part of our day today. The evening was pretty low key. This picture of Shelby lounging with the dogs is proof of that. I though this was pretty cute. She said they were a little heavy but so, so warm.

I saw this on a blog today.  Just thought I would share. 

Always rejoice,
constantly pray,
in everything give thanks.

For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

What A Trooper!

I was a little nervous about how today was going to go.  They told me that Jadon could not have anything to eat or drink for 8 hrs. prior to having his MRI.  They told us to be there by 11 am so I figured he would not be able to have anything after he went to bed for the night.  However, for some reason he woke up around 1 am and could not fall back to sleep.  I decided since it was before the cut off time I would go ahead and get him up, rock him, and give him a milk tippy.  Maybe keep him from being so hungry in the morning.  It took me about an hour to get him back to sleep.  The whole time I was rocking him I was praying to God to please let the NOT be the flu!  One of my daycare kids did not come yesterday because he was vomiting.  I was worried that Jadon was up in the night because his tummy hurt.  I prayed over and over, asking for God to please keep Jadon healthy so he could get his test done today!!  Once he fell back to sleep I went to bed and crossed my fingers that he would not get sick and would sleep in a little!

My prayers were answered!  Jadon never got sick and he slept until 9 am.  When he did wake up he was in a good mood.  Yes!!!  We cuddled for awhile.  We played with the dog.  Then I put in his favorite music DVD to watch while I finished rounding up everything I needed to keep him entertained while we waited.  Anyone who takes a child in for a test with no toys because they don't believe they will have to wait is setting themselves up for torture!  If there is anything I have learned through all of this is that things will not be running on time and you had better be prepared!  By the time the DVD was over I was ready to go.

Jadon and I picked up Daddy at work then made our way to the hospital.  We were signed in and then a nurse took us back to our own little waiting room.  Thankfully there was a little tv on a cart.  The cart underneath the TV was full of kids videos!  I knew they were going to be a lifesaver when the nurse said that the scan in front of Jadon's was running about an hour behind.  Fantastic!

Luckily Jadon loves Sesame Street and Blue's Clues.  He was so happy for a kid who had nothing to eat or drink for hours.  He played with some of the toys I brought but for the most part he just relaxed on one of our laps and watched videos.  He never cried.  We ended up waiting for three hours in that little room and Jadon never fussed.  I am being totally honest.  I was amazed.   I just love this kid!

He finally went to be put under general anesthesia for his scan at 2 pm.  They told us that the scan itself would be about an hour and a half.   The first thing we did after getting our beeper from the waiting room was hunt down some food!  We could not eat in front of Jadon so we were starving!!   At about 4:15 the pager went off to let us know that Jadon was in the recovery area.  One of us was aloud to go back to see him at this time.  Since I did when Jadon had his hernia surgery in July I told Matt it was his turn.  Finally at about 5:00 they paged me to say that I could join both of them.  When I got back to the room he was still groggy but was chugging apple juice.  He was draining the last little bit of is second tippy when I arrived.  They were trying to get him to eat some animal crackers but he was not interested.  Matt said that the first thing Jadon said when he woke up and saw the tape on his left hand that was holding his IV in was "Uh Oh".  LOL!  Once they check his vitals a few more times we were allowed to get him dressed and take him home.  We arrived at home around 6 pm!  Ugh!

 Cuddling with Daddy and trying to figure out what happened!

 So sleepy still!

Dinner was waiting for us!  Jadon fell asleep on the way home and slept right through it.  The last time he had surgery he slept for a long time afterwards.  He woke up around 7:30.  This time he was ready to eat!  He finished the animal crackers from the hospital,  some yogurt, grapes, and cheese.  Then he downed 2 tippys of milk.  Grandma let us borrow Toy Story 3 and we all relaxed and watched that together.  After it was over we did get Jadon in bed.  I was worried he would be to wound up.  We will see if he sleeps through the night.

Jadon enjoying some of his favorites after not eating anything ALL day!

The hospital sent us home with a copy of the scan.  We saved a copy on our computer and tomorrow will mail the disc off to Philadelphia. 

Hello!

Hello!  I am not keeping up with this blog very well!  Oh well.  No one is perfect.  Here are just a few things....

Just had to show off Daddy's first kinesio taping job.  When Ellen asked us last week at therapy who was going to learn I designated Matt as the official kinesio taper.  I think he did a great job!

 Today I found some cardboard to make ramps for the hot wheels cars that Jadon has been playing with a lot lately.  He really thought that was fun!

 Here is what we have on our table this week.  A musical toy that also teaches sizes.  You have to put the correct size bear in the right place or the bear does not play his instrumental part of the song (or light up).  Then of course the See N' Say.  Then a collection of simple foam puzzles.  Finally lacing spools. 

 We got outside today.  Jadon asked for his hood to be up.  His ears must have been getting a little chilly. 

 Today I busted out the window bird feeder.  Now that we will not be opening the sliding door anymore I could hang it.  Hopefully, the birds will find it and the kids can see some birds up close through the one way mirror.  The birds see their reflection and don't know we are looking at them.   I am just hoping the suction cups hold.  They are getting a little old.

We kept Jadon up a little later tonight.  He has an MRI of both shoulder at 11 am.  The MRI is with anesthesia so he can't eat or drink for 8 hrs. before the test.  So I decided to try and keep him up a little later tonight hoping that he will sleep in tomorrow.  The less time he is up begging for his milk tippy in the morning the better.  Hoping things go smoothly in the morning!