Lucas needs ear surgery as well

Lucas has been seeing the ENT since he was a newborn. First it was failing the newborn hearing screening test, then repeat ear infections and needing tubes in his ears. Now he has a pearly keratin growth on his eardrum possibly a cholesteatoma. We have gone back to the doctor since finding out about his ear for another check up. We had hoped that it would be getting smaller or would be gone. The fear is that the growth will get larger and affect his hearing eventually breaking the bones of the middle ear as it grows.

The ENT said that we can wait two more months and will know for sure when surgery will be required. For logistical reasons I would prefer to wait until the fall so that we can get through this year's swimming season. The surgery requires removal of the affected part of the ear drum and then patching it with harvested tissue from behind his ear. This means that he could not get that ear wet at all. He would have to wear a custom fit earplug to even get a bath. If there has been growth when we go back for a recheck then the surgery will be sooner than later.

Poor kid! Two surgeries in the same year. He is doing well after his last surgery but wants to wear diapers still. He still uses the potty for all of his business but seems to see the diaper as a "band aide" to make him feel better. I think we met his out of pocket max for the last surgery so I guess it won't cost much.

Upcoming trip to Tampa

I love going on trips. I love researching, planning and thinking about going to a new place. E is going to South America this month, Ireland in April and Tampa, Florida in May. He mentioned that maybe we could go with him. I jumped right on it and started planning.



We are going to drive there. It only takes 17 1/2 hours!?! We will break the trip up and spend the night somewhere along the way. We always fly and have only taken one road trip since we have moved to Texas. I am excited to be able to load the car up with as much stuff as we would like to bring instead of our one suitcase per person usual.



I have asked my parents to fly and meet us there but they are not sure yet if they are going to. I want to go to Fort De Soto beach in St. Petersburg and Busch Gardens in Tampa. I would like to try the zoo and aquarium. The hotel will have a pool so I am sure we will spend some time there. E will be busy the whole week with the class he will be taking but I am sure I can keep the kids busy with all kinds of activities. It is going to be so fun and I love to have something to look forward to.

Yellow Fever Anyone?

E is traveling to Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay and seemed really uninterested in preparing for his trip. I decided to search online for "travel tips to Brazil" and what did I come up with? The Center for Disease Control highly recommends that all travelers be vaccinated for Yellow Fever before traveling to Brazil and Argentina...specifically the cities that he will be visiting. Not only is this freaking me out, so is the fact that this is summer for Brazil and also the rainy season. Apparently the mosquitoes are out in full force between the months of January and March and that is how the virus is spread....through mosquitoes.

He also should be vaccinated against Hepatitis and Tetanus. I asked E last night when he was last vaccinated for Tetanus and he said "Probably when I was 10." Great! That is only about 25 years too long ago! E leaves tomorrow so it doesn't leave much time to work on getting him vaccinated.

Not only am I worried about the things that can be prevented by vaccinations, I am also worried about all of the parasites that you can catch in South America. I studied parasitology in college and recently watched the show on TLC called "Monsters inside me" which is all about parasites. I don't think he is worried about the risks as much as I am so I will have to send him a sheet of rules to keep in his pocket. I am the worrier in our relationship and a little pissed that he didn't think of this stuff a little sooner.

3rd and biggest snow of the year!

Lucas just had surgery so he wasn't in the mood to play in the snow.

Logan and I played in the snow for a while. I over dressed and started sweating. I had to lay in the snow for a while to cool off. Making a snow man is hard work!

Snow much fun!

Here are some pictures of our girl's weekend at a ski resort in Virginia.


Our view off of our balcony.

We spent two nights for dinner and live music at the Lodge which was within walking distance.

See the men above us behind the railing? They were checking us out. Apparently 21 men approached our table for one reason or another throughout this night. I had too many drinks to notice!

The three of us went skiing together. We all had a great time. They called me "Speedy Gonzales" since I would zip down the mountain. I didn't mean to...just didn't seem to be able to figure out how to slow down.

This was our lunch break the day that we skied. What is the point of makeup when you are being pelted with snow the whole day?

All five of us arrived at the resort at the same time. We checked in and had two rooms. We decided that one room would be our closet and the other would be our sleeping room since we all wanted to sleep together. We went out for margaritas and Mexican food for dinner and it was like old times again.

The resort was already covered in snow from a previous snow but on Friday it started snowing. It snowed all day on Friday, Friday night, and all day Saturday. We had planned to leave on Saturday but the roads were impassable so we stayed another night. Fortunately I had not planned to fly home until Sunday but I had to ditch the plans to visit with my parents. It snowed like crazy all over Virginia.

The snow was so beautiful and it was awesome to ski in the powder. There were no injuries, no frostbite, no hangovers....just a few sore bodies the next day.

Lucas is doing well

Lucas is doing as good as can be expected after surgery. The surgery went perfect and he was doing well today. I thought with 4 different medications (including narcotic pain meds) to take he would sleep the day away but he has not taken any naps. He is not happy about having a catheter in but I am trying to distract him with snacks and movies.

I am trying to keep track of his every 4 hour, three times a day and as needed meds without over medicating him. E was able to go with me today since he took the day off and has been a great help in running errands for us all day.

I am going to be having lots of snuggle time with my baby this week.

Lucas is having surgery

No parent wants their child to go through surgery no matter how minor. Without going into many details since it is of a personal matter, we recently found out about a congenital birth defect Lucas has and he will be having it fixed. I am very anxious about it, especially the recovery. He is at an age where he communicates very well but doesn't reason very well yet. I think this will be a challenge in the recovery period. Anyways, if you don't mind keeping Lucas in your thoughts on February 8th, we would appreciate it.