Jogathon Time Again

Kyler's school had their jogathon fundraiser on September 28. They were raising money for new bleachers for the gym. I didn't know how many laps he would do but they had two hours to do as many laps as possible. Last year they only had one hour and Kyler ran 11 laps. He was one lap short of doing three miles. I wasn't sure he would be able to keep going for the whole two hours this time or not and I put his goal to be 12 laps.

The kids in Kyler's class were very amped up and ready to run! They did some exercising and stretching before the starting siren went off. I was a “counter” and assigned to count the laps of 11 kids in Kyler's class.

Kyler got off to a slow start but soon he started running with his cousin, Mason, and his dad, who is the school's PE teacher. They stuck together until the very end when Mason tired a bit. But Kyler kept on going and he ended up running 31 laps! He was one lap short of running 8 miles! I could hardly believe it! In fact, Kyler won a medal for running the most laps in his 1^st grade class. I know it is because of running with Mason that enabled Kyler to run so many laps. It's much more fun to run with a buddy.

I am so proud of him for keeping going even when he was tired. He even opted not to eat the snack provided until after he was done running. He just got on a roll and kept on going. Next time I need to do better about getting him more sponsors so he can raise more money. :)

Field Trip to Martin Airfield

Tuesday, September 25, I went on a field trip with Kyler's class to Martin Airfield. This is a small airport about half a mile from Kyler's school. Several parents came along and we all walked with the students down to the air strip.

 

There is a man who lives at the airport and he gave the kids a short tour around the airplanes and told them about the differences between them. Then we went inside the hangar where the kids all got to take turns sitting inside one of the planes. Both Kyler and Caden loved that!

It was a fun field trip and the kids all had a good time.

Chiropractor

I finally did it. I finally decided to try going to a chiropractor to see if he could help my chronic back pain. I have lived with some form of chronic back pain since I was pregnant with Kyler so it's been 7 years now. Things got exponentially worse when I was pregnant with Caden. Bed rest did not do my body any favors. I ended up with two bulging and herniated discs as well as arthritis in several of the discs in my lower back.

Thankfully I have a good friend who has seen many chiropractors over the years in various places she has lived. So she was able to give me a really good recommendation for someone she trusted. And she said of all the chiropractors she has seen, he has given her the most help for her pain. I decided that was good enough for me and I called to make an appointment.

My first appointment was September 24. I think it's too soon to say if it's going to help or not, but I am optimistic. I was pretty tired and a little sore after my visit, but hopefully that will get better. He also warned me that the pain could get worse before it gets better because I have been in pain so long. It's not going to go away overnight. :( Darn! I was really hoping it would. Time will tell if this will really help me or not. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Sunriver

If you have never been to Sunriver, Oregon, you should really considering planning a vacation there! It is such a beautiful place to go, and so many fun things to do with kids. There are miles and miles of bike paths, an amazingly fun aquatics center, playgrounds, horseback riding, golf, and much more. It is used a lot by various organizations and groups for meetings as they have great convention and meeting centers. And since there are so many other fun activities, there is never time to be bored.

Greg's work had some meetings scheduled for the weekend of September 21-23 so we decided to head down on Thursday night so we could take full advantage of the time we had there. We brought bikes for Greg and the boys and I planned to rent one while we were there. On Friday the kids and I rented my bike and a trailer for Caden when we went on a family bike ride. Then we met up with a friend of Kyler's from school who was there with his family for the same meetings. We went to the aquatics center and played together. It was so much fun!

Saturday morning after a wonderful breakfast with the whole group, we headed out to do some biking. Caden enjoyed his ride in the bike trailer while the rest of us roasted in the sun. Most of the time we all did really well. I, however, am horribly out of shape and when we got to some hills, I had a pretty tough time keeping up! Kyler on the other hand, did amazing! I don't know how many miles we rode, but it was a lot and he was such a trooper. We rewarded the boys for doing so well by going to a really fun park to play for awhile toward the end of the ride.

Riding down the path of happiness

Such beauty along the ride

Taking a little lunch break

Then, just as we were on our way back to the condo where we were staying, Kyler lost control of his bike while going downhill and had a nasty crash. Greg and Caden were in the lead and didn't see what happened. Kyler was next and I was bringing up the rear so I got to see the whole thing happen. I could see what was going to happen before it actually took place but there was nothing I could do. :( Kyler's bike is a single-gear bike and we were going downhill at approximately 15 miles/hour (according to Greg). Kyler was trying to pedal his bike to keep up with the speed, but because he didn't have gears, he couldn't keep up and the motion of him trying to pedal so fast caused his handlebars to move too much from side to side and he went down. He went down hard.

I screamed as I saw his head (inside a helmet) hit the ground and bounce up. I stopped immediately after he fell and ran over to him very worried about what I would find. However I was pleasantly surprised to find he only had bad road rash on one leg and on one elbow and some sore hands. His helmet did its job protecting his precious head from any major injury and he said his neck didn't hurt at all. By this time, Greg had come back to find out what happened.

I kept hugging Kyler and telling him I was so glad he wasn't hurt worse. I think he was a little concerned about my reaction because he kept saying he was fine. He was okay. It didn't really hurt. We still had about a 15-minute ride back to the condo so we decided we would all ride back together because Kyler said he wanted to do that. A few minutes down the road, the adrenaline started to wear off and Kyler began to become aware of the pain he felt. We made it back to the condo before he couldn't take it any more.

We took him to the bathtub and started washing out the road rash because it was filled with dirt and gravel. Kyler started screaming about how much it hurt. So I put on some Lidocaine cream to numb the area (we have this on hand thanks to Caden receiving daily growth hormone therapy injections—it helps him deal with the anxiety/pain of his shots). After we let it sit for a few minutes we came back and really scrubbed Kyler's wounds. He said it didn't even hurt at all so we were grateful for that. Whether the cream really works that well, or if it was all in his head, we don't care. We are just glad he calmed down enough to let us clean it out. In the end, he ended up with several band aids on his leg and a couple on some minor abrasions on his hands from where he tried to catch himself. But I think we were all lucky! He could have come away with broken wrists, broken collar bone, broken leg, or worst of all a severe head injury. But all he had was road rash and some bruises. Thank you Lord for watching over our sweet boy! We are truly grateful! Be sure to wear those helmets, kids!

Sunday morning, the boys and I loaded up our car while Greg finished up his meetings, then we hit the road back to Walla Walla. It really was a fun weekend, depsite Kyler getting hurt. I would love to go back and spend more time there where we can truly have a vacation.

Dental Cleanings

Both the kids had their routine dental cleanings on September 11. This was Caden's first appointment with our new dentist in Walla Walla and he did great! I am happy to report both of them had good check-ups and are both still cavity-free. :) Keep up the good work, boys!

Caden having his teeth cleaned

GI Referral

I decided to take Caden into his pediatrician because he has been complaining frequently about his tummy hurting. It is usually during mealtime so it seemed like an excuse not to eat. But I figured since he complained about it so much I really should get it checked out.

His pediatrician ordered several blood tests, all of which came back normal, so the next step is a referral to a Pediatric GI doctor in Spokane. The main reason for this is every time we ask him to point to the spot where it hurts, he points to the scar where they removed his g-tube. I wonder if there is some scar tissue that is pulling and making him uncomfortable when he eats. It's possible when the stomach expands while eating that there is scar tissue that pulls and hurts. So I want to get it checked out to see if they might have any thoughts. We'll see what comes of it.  We are scheduled to see them the week of Thanksgiving.

Caden's 1st Day of Preschool

What a big day! Caden's 1^st day of preschool was Wednesday, September 5. I knew before this day came that it would be a little difficult for Caden. He is very attached to me and doesn't like new things or situations. So I knew he would probably scream and cry when I dropped him off. I also knew that the sooner I left, the faster he would calm down and begin to enjoy his day. I knew if I stayed longer to try to help him adjust, it would only make it harder when I did leave. I figured it was kind of like taking off a bandaid: just do it fast. Give him a hug and kiss goodbye and then turn and leave as fast as possible. That way he doesn't have too long to think about it.

The morning started off well and I talked to him about it during breakfast. I told him he was going to start school that day and that I would be leaving him there but I would be back to pick him up when school was over. He was okay with that. Then we took some pictures in front of our house to document the milestone day for him. He even did well with those. When we got to school to drop him off, I got a picture by the school sign and he did well there also. 

It wasn't until I signed him in and got ready to leave that he lost it. I had warned the teacher ahead of time that I was afraid how he would react. So she was prepared to come and take him from me when he started screaming. I hugged him, kissed him, and told him I would be back to pick him up in a few hours. Then I turned around and left the building as fast as I could.

Caden with his wonderful Teacher Melissa!

When I came to pick him up later, he was all smiles for me and told me how much fun he had. I knew this would be the case so I wasn't concerned about it. And the teacher told me he only screamed for about 30 seconds after I left. Then he said he wanted to get down and go back into the classroom. From then on he did great! He even made a craft that day (it was supposed to be a house, but he stacked the shapes instead of making them into a house).

 Here is his "house"  :)

Such a big boy! I can't believe he is old enough to be in preschool. And, I can't believe his health is good enough for him to be there either. God is good and has provided for us in so many ways!

Shriner's Follow Up

Tuesday, September 4, Caden had a follow-up appointment at Shriner's for his scoliosis. When we saw the ortho doctor there in March he wanted to see Caden back in 6 months because of him starting on growth hormone therapy. The doctor said the growth hormone can cause rapid growth which can accelerate the curvature of the spine and he wanted to monitor Caden to see how it affected him.

We were really happy to receive a good report! The doctor said not only had Caden's scoliosis not gotten worse, it actually seemed to have gotten better. He said it was unusual, but it was good news, nonetheless. At this point, he said he doesn't need to see Caden back for another year. Yay! :) I love good reports like that! 

Caden by the statue in front of
Shriner's Hospital for Children in Spokane

Labor Day Weekend

We decided to spend Labor Day weekend at Wallowa Lake with extended family. Several people in Greg's family own cabins there and Greg's parents were going to be there visiting also. So we decided to take our tent and camp in the yard of one of the cabins. It's a great way to camp! You get the experience of sleeping in the tent and the fresh air, with the amenities of a warm cabin, kitchen, bathrooms and showers!

We had a great time! We went boating, tubing, jet skiing, canoeing, and just plain relaxing in the beautiful weather. What a weekend! Unfortunately I had to leave with Caden on Monday morning in order to get him to an appointment in Spokane the next day. But we thoroughly enjoyed our time at Wallowa Lake. 

Greg and Kyler with Grandpa Dan

Canoeing with cousin Clara

The boys with Grandpa Dan

Caden thinking about going fishing

We need to make that more of a tradition and go to the lake more often. It's only about 2 hours away from us in Walla Walla.