Brendan is on the mend! 4 ER visit's later....

Well his elbow is finally healing! He had a staph infection and although he tested - for MRSA it seemed to be just that. It was the same type of bug that causes MRSA and it started healing soon after he begun new antibiotics that destroys MRSA sooo who knows. I am just happy his elbow looks better. It is scabbed over in fact. WOOT WOOT!

We missed my entire step daughter's birthday party because he was almost admitted at the hospital and put on IV antibiotics. We were at two hospitals from 10AM to 3:30PM. It was a long day! We switched ER's because of where his pediatrician sends her patients and instead of admitting him they switched his antibiotics and let us go home. We were both very happy to go home instead of spending 3 days in the hospital. :)It was a scary week. A spot started appearing on his leg and his arm had a tiny scratch that blew up so something was going on in his tiny body. I was starting to freak out but thankfully my mom is a nurse and helped me calm down by reassuring me he would be okay.

I am actually kid free for a few hours. My youngest stayed with my parents after we visited yesterday, Brendan is at school for a couple of hours and my step daughter is with her mom. So I spent some quiet time weeding the front yard and decided to prune a bush. I am snapping away when all the sudden I hear bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz so I RUN! They chased me and got me twice. :( I am glad I ran because they were mad! Who knew bees lived in bushes. UHHHHH!

It is never a dull moment in this house!

Life of a SAHM

Life has been a bit hectic around here and at times I can't believe how much I can do. My husband thanked me last night for being super mom ~ that was really appreciated and made me realize I WAS super mom yesterday!

Brendan came down with an infection in his elbow. He scraped it falling off one step a few weeks ago. I constantly cleaned it with proxide and it healed nicely so I have no idea where this infection came from. I noticed his elbow was not looking good Monday morning. I kept saying I didn't like the looks of it but my husband said it is probably just a bug bite and he has scratched it too much. I thought otherwise and my fears came to life the next evening. It looked worse and had puss coming out of it now. We went to a walk in clinic which I was NOT impressed with and they told me it was an infection and prescribed him antibiotics. I thought we would be in the clear until the next morning when it looked 10x worse! I new it was time for an ER visit. SO THIS IS MY SUPER MOM DAY:

Brendan woke us up at 5:50 am standing next to his bed and since he couldn't go anywhere from there and was calling us. I checked his elbow since we had it bandaged up and it looked really really awful. I didn't understand how it could look so much worse from 8pm last night. I knew I had to bring him to the ER so I got the kids up bathed, fed and ready to go and off we went. My AMAZING 17 year old neice came and picked up my youngest at the hospital at 8AM...She is beyond awesome! My stepdaughter was with her mom that morning so thankfully I could focus on Brendan. 2 1/2 hours, 4 x rays, and 30 minutes of my poor boy going through exruciating pain while they opened, drained, and packed his infection we got to go home! We raced home and I immediately wrapped my step daughters birthday presents because of all days TODAY IS HER BIRTHDAY! I quickly dirty iced a cake (that I had made the following evening after I got home from the walk in clinic), fed us lunch, and then we rushed off to the mall. We were meeting my niece who still had my youngest daughter and my stepdaugther with her mom because today she was getting her ears pierced for her 7th Birthday! I couldn't cancel or miss this and Brendan was up for it. She did amazing and they look so nice!
We headed back home so I could finish icing and decorating her birthday cake. My husband got home so we let her open presents and then we all headed outside to watch her ride her new power scooter. I then realized our kitchen trash can was still outside waiting to be cleaned from the previous day. I also realized that some outside table and chairs had to be cleaned with bleach for my step daughter's party on Saturday so that is what I did.
We headed back inside to make dinner and have cake and ice cream and then I was DONE! It was almost time to relax....we just had to get some kids into bed.

What a day! How did I do all of this working full time???...now that is the question. I have no idea! I am happy to be a stay at home mom.

Enjoying the Summer~

This past weekend we set up the blow up water slide and the kids had a blast! They played non stop for 5 1/2 hours. The neighbors were over all day long and really had fun. I had bought water squirters at the dollar store which were awesome amusement and they kept Brendan entertained for an hour. He could actually suck up the water and squirt it. He couldn't really aim at anyone but I bet he will in time. The kids created obstacle courses and my husband timed them. Brendan loved cheering them on and yelling ~ "ready set go"!!!!

Brendan started riding his power wheels again. He calls it his go cart. He kept asking for a go cart for his last birthay but we decided on something a bit slower and with two seats. When we surprised him with this he was so happy and yelled "A Go Cart"!!!!!... so at least we made him happy!
His driving is ten times better this summer. He was stearing it all on his own. He drove on the road and I barely had to help him. Even his step sister was impressed. Our mailbox is across the street and Brendan likes to drive to go get it but he ended up driving too far down the road and all the sudden he turned around perfectly in the middle of the road. I asked him what was he doing and he replied I forgot to get the mail and parked the car right in front of the mailbox. I was so impressed! I even let him drive around the yard without walking next to him and he did AWESOME! He did crash into lawn chairs once but with some yelling he didn't do it again. He drove over this huge rock we have in our yard which freaked me out. I was running towards him yelling Bren don't!!! I didn't make it in time but he drove over it just fine and I think he actually planned it because he yelled "I did it"! after he got over it. Derek would always drive him over this rock but he would be steering and walking right beside him!

This kid always impresses me. Seriously, he is growing up on me. He is becoming more independant. I am not sure if PERCS is the reason but he has changed so much since the procedure. I don't know if it gave him more confidence or if his brain can focus on other things now but he is a different child for the better.

How MY life is different

Running out to the store just to get milk with a child in a wheelchair is not as easy as it seems and is avoided at all costs!

My back, arms, and neck often hurt or are soar and it is just part of life now. I remember one of Brendan's PT's telling me that one day my body would start to feel it from lifting him and all his equipment. I didn't think that day would come so fast.

Weekly 45 minute one way commutes to therapy have become part of my routine and I don't even think about them anymore.

I have constant guilt when I don't exercise and stretch him everyday but sometimes the days get away from me.

Family vacations have to be thought about before booking because we can't just go anywhere. Not to mention there is only two of us and 3 of them! Maybe that will get easier as the girls get older.

I recently realized I need to start asking for handicap accessible rooms because recently we were placed on the 2nd floor and carrying his wheelchair up a flight of stairs should never happen again if at all possible.

When I had my first child I had no idea how many times in one week I would have to bring my kid to the bathroom and I honestly don't look forward to how many more times that count will become over the years.

Last night I wished out loud to my husband that 'he could get his own pajamas on'. I did not feel like doing it at all! I realized this dream is far off when he couldn't even get his shirt off.

Our library is NOT handicap accessible yet we are going today because all 3 kids signed up for the summer reading program. I don't feel right bringing the other two to pick out books without bringing him. Sooooo we go today which means I have to carry him down a flight of stairs and then carry his walker. Why not add to my soar neck today?

Wheelchairs effect everyday activities and decisions. Walkers effect everyday activities and decisions. Having a child with a disability effects everyday activities and decisions but I will continue to try and do everything I possibly can with him because I want him to experience life like every other child.

I think I will just have my husband go grab that milk for me! :)

Mohawks and Legos

Gotta love his Mohawk. His father was constantly buzzing his hair off and I could never do anything with it. I found a great place that can cut his hair without him freaking out. Snip-its is awesome. They have practically silent buzzers along with t.v.'s and video games to keep the kids occupied. So far he has not freaked out getting his hair cut there. I thought he just grew out of it and brought him to a barbor shop once and that was a huge mistake. He almost didn't get his hair cut and then almost had half a head cut so never again! His hair is finally long enough to spike, mohawk, or just do whatever. I think he is one handsome boy!!

Brendan loves legos. It is the one toy that will keep him occupied for an hour. It is great for fine motor skills as well. He used to only use one type of piece. The small square but now he is using different sizes and colors and building them in different directions! He has been playing with them for over a year now and he just started doing more. He loves when his sisters join in and play with him since they are usually off doing there own thing. He used to just build tall towers straight up and now he uses a little lego board and builds 'castles'. I am very proud of how far his lego skills have come. He has no idea it is great therapy too!

I can do it!!!! &&&&& Big additions going on here

I had two very hectic days with the kids. Thursday two people came to the house at 10AM to discuss a PASS program. Basically the state will pay for someone to come to the house for up to 20 hrs a week. I can hire the person and they work on three main goals with Brendan like self help skills, safety skills, and social skills. I have to be around 50% of the time but the other 50% they can do things with him. I think it will be great for him to spend one on one time with someone other than me! I can use the help at home too since he demands most of the attention. Afterwards we trucked it to visit my parents which live 1 1/2 hrs away. We spent a few hours there and headed off for Brendan's PT apt. Then home. I was EXHAUSTED but it was a great day and the kids were perfectly behaved even waiting for his hour PT session to end.

Yesterday I took the kids to a magic show which kicked off the summer reading program. Afterwards we headed to a playground for lunch and then the zoo. The zoo had free admission yesterday so it was mobbed and I could barely find parking. Thankfully I had my handicap pass and we found a spot about one mile from the playground. I sat Makayla on top of Brendan's lap in his wheelchair and off we went. They sat so well together. Brendan didn't bother her and held on! I was a very happy mama. We ate lunch and played for a bit and continued our walk to the zoo.

Why would a zoo have a carasoul and train ride as soon as you enter???? To make money! We had to go back into the gift shop to purchase tickets which was mobbed and really had no room for a wheelchair. Bren did awesome and stayed still in his chair and picked out lollipops for him and his sister. I couldn't believe it. We saw a few animals and then waited ONE HOUR to ride this pathetic train haha. The kids were amazing. I met a nice mom in line and she held my spot so I could bring Bren to the bathroom about 1/2 hr in. I couldn't believe the kids lasted an hour in a line without me ripping my hair out. They really wanted to ride and were find with the wait. We then immediately waited in line for the carasoul ride which went much quicker and some eye in the sky was watching over me and let the white horse be available with an empty giraffe right next to it. Makayla had been talking about wanting to ride the white horse since the hr wait for the train. I could NOT believe my luck. The attendant was awesome and even helped lift Makay on and buckle her so I could help Brendan. We walked around for a while to look at animals and then had to head back to the van which had to be over a mile away and Makay sat on his lap the entire trip. We had to race home to meet with a contractor at 4pm and made it just a few minutes late! I am so proud of my kids and proud of myself that I can handle two extremely chaotic days. It was exhausting but now I know I can handle anything this summer! I am excited. It was so much better than staying at the house all day.

We are adding on! Yup we are making this house perfect for Brendan. It is a great house and we had him in mind when we bought it. It was one of the only houses with a bedroom on the first floor with a large bathroom and a really open floorplan. The doorways are all wide so he can move around the entire first floor with ease. He needed a larger walker not long after we moved in and instantly could not fit through the bathroom door any longer. BUMMER. So we are changing his bedroom into a handicap accessible bathroom and adding on a bedroom and therapy room. I am pysched. It is overwhelming but it is something to keep my mind occupied and I know it will benefit him for the next who knows how many years!!! Why not just add more to my own plate!