Luke update

Should I start with the good news or the bad news? Let's end on a good note, so bad news first.

Sadly, Luke still refuses to walk. Any weight on his left leg sends him straight to the ground screaming. Diaper changes and clothing changes still prove to be a bit painful as well.

We are still waiting on a call from the Orthopedic Specialist. It's somewhat of a frustrating process. Instead of us being given any information on where we'll be seen and what doctor will evaluate Luke, we are left waiting for a phone call from somebody...somewhere. This is the frustrating part about being referred out on the economy. I don't even know if the doctor we are referred to will speak English. Oh well, hopefully we'll get a phone call in the next day or so.

Time for the good news! =) Luke has had a much better day today. Yesterday afternoon, he was able to start crawling and slithering around the floor, so that has helped improve his temperament quite a bit. It's amazing how quickly a child can adapt to their situation. I'm so proud that he's learned how to get around relatively well in such a short time with his injury. That being said, I do look forward to him being able to walk again. For his own comfort! His knees and elbows are already turning red from crawling and scooting around.

He still needs his pain meds - that seems to help a lot as well. I'm still holding out hope that it's just a bad sprain. I've been reading up on Growth Plate Fractures, and his symptoms do sound a lot like it. But maybe, just maybe he'll get lucky and there will be no fracture and he'll be walking again within the week. That's my prayer!

Alrighty, I gotta run for now, but I'll update more later.

The cloud found us again!

It’s been an interesting two days to say the least. Yesterday evening, Luke tripped and fell. He fell at a really odd angle and ended up hurting his leg. I tried to comfort him, but it became pretty apparent that he’d hurt himself beyond the normal bumps and bruises he normally gets. He would not bear any weight on his left leg – and screamed in terrible pain if I tried to get him to walk on his own. So I called the nurse advice line and they told me to take him in. I decided to take him to the Krankenhaus instead of Landstuhl (I knew a Friday night at Landstuhl would equal an 8-10 hour wait.) They felt his ankle, told me it was just bruised, wrapped it up and sent us home.

After we got back, he still refused to walk on it at all and cried and screamed if I tried to make him. So I gave him some Tylenol, put him to bed and figured we’d wait to see what morning brought.

This morning he wouldn’t even get out of bed. He just waited on his bed until I came in to get him. Bad sign. I tried everything I knew to get him to walk or stand on his legs. Nothing – and if I tried he screamed in protest. So, off to Landstuhl we went.

We were seen by an AMAZING doctor there. He had just gotten home from Iraq. He knew my husband was deployed and really took care of us. He was fantastic with Luke – even took him out to see his motorcycle! I have never had a better experience with an ER doctor. I just can’t stop saying how amazing he was. They did a bunch of x-rays and weren’t able to find a fracture. The doctor was afraid that he may have fractured his growth plate – which would be hard to find on an x-ray. So we have to see an Orthopedist. I should know about that appointment next week as we have to be referred out on the economy.

So they splinted his leg, gave us some meds for the pain and we’re back home. So Luke is on the couch ready for a moviefest.

Please just pray that God will heal Luke’s leg. If he shows improvement and starts to walk and play then we probably won’t have to go to the Orthopedist. Only time will tell.

So – the cloud still follows us…=)

I’ll update more later!

Carrots and Cake...

I know it’s a bit early, but I decided to try Will out on some baby food. I mixed a small amount of carrots with some rice cereal. He really seemed to enjoy it! He still has to learn how to "eat," but he was getting it down pretty good. I would put the spoon in his mouth – he would look a bit confused – then when he got a taste of the food, he’d give me a big smile! Luke was happy to see Will eat too. He’d keep saying, “more – Will…” meaning “Mommy give Will more food.” =)

I may hold off on giving him anymore for another week or so though. His tummy was a tiny bit upset last night. It calmed down quickly with a dose of Mylicon. Since he doesn’t really NEED baby food until he’s about 6 months, we can take our time getting there.




Will has been doing lots of push-ups, pushing himself to his knees, pushing himself on his hands and toes, and scootching backwards on his knees…this boy wants to move! It’s amazing how quickly he catches on to these things – I think it’s because he can watch Luke. I’ve heard that the second child will learn things so much faster because they can watch their older siblings. How true I'm learning this is! Will intently watches Luke constantly - he can't wait to be able to run around with him I think! Woe is me on that day!!! I feel like I have my hands full enough with one who can run and one who can roll...I can't imagine how exhausting it's going to be when they BOTH are running around!

Push-up!


"Now if I could only figure out how to move up here..."





Luke has become a bit camera shy…which is why I haven’t been able to post a lot of pictures of him lately. I’m sure it’s just a stage he’s going through. He does like taking the pictures though – of himself, Will, his toys…of course this has to be done with Mommy since the camera is WAY to expensive to let him take and run with. Here are a few pictures I've managed to catch of him here and there.





Luke has been really into the topic of Birthday’s. He sings Happy Birthday to everything – his trucks, himself, his toys, the bugs on the outside of the windows…you name it, he’ll sing happy birthday to it. (sounds more like, “happy toovoo”. ) I decided to make a cake earlier this week – and of course Luke thought it was birthday time! When I sat a piece of cake in front of him - he said, “mmmmm – birfday!” It was so cute!


"Can I have a bath now?"




Though the boys still have a bit of a runny nose, they are doing SO much better. I feel better as well. YAY! We’re back in our routine…which makes us all happier. Playgroup, walks outside, time with friends – yay! It’s great to have everyone well at the same time again! Please pray we can maintain our health.

Luke and Will "playing" together...



Speaking of playgroup, I need to run! Luke LOVES to go and doesn’t want to miss a single moment. I enjoy it just as much...but not for the toys, for the fellowship with other adults!

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday.

My Little Man...

I just had to post this picture of Will real quick! =)

The boys seem to be on the mend. They’re still a bit stuffed up, but thankfully they’re both doing better. I probably won’t take them to church tomorrow (the nursery is fairly small and I don’t want them passing along the virus to anyone else) but I think by Monday we can get back into our normal activities again. Yay! Please continue to pray for their health. I no longer assume this will be the last cold or virus – but maybe we can have more time in-between? =)

The Boys!

EDIT: There are 12 new posts - yes 12! You'll have to click on "Older Posts" at the bottom of the pages to see the rest (I think you'll have to cycle through three pages to get caught up completely)...only a few posts can fit on each page.

Here are the boys hanging out! Luke loves having Will sit on his lap.

"Bu-bye No-no"

I didn’t realize how far behind I was until I looked at my pictures! EEEK! So, instead of posting a million pictures to one blog, I split them up on different blogs. So this is the update blog with a few pictures and then scroll down for many more picture blogs. =)

Will is still sick – but the last two nights we were actually able to sleep in bed. We’ve been sleep-sitting on the couch since Sunday night. He’s been so stuffed up he was having a hard time breathing…so sleeping propped up in Mommy’s arms seemed to help a bit.

Luke has just started to mend from his intestinal issues…and of course has now caught Will’s cold. And I have managed to catch it too…woke up this morning with all the early symptoms. Blah. Ugh. I am SO sick of all the sickness. I’m not sure the last time we were all well for over a week and a-half. Oh well – it could be worse.

I know it may sound a bit silly, but Extreme Makeover Home Edition always puts me in my place. Most Monday nights as I rock Will or try to get something done around the house, I tune in. And then I’m humbled. There are so many people out there that have huge struggles in their lives – and though we’re dealing with a 15 month deployment, living overseas and constant sickness – it’s not even close to what a lot of other people have to endure. Chris will come home, we’ll go back to the states, and the boys will get better. We’re blessed and I need to remind myself of that. Many times I’ve had to check myself as I feel like shaking my fist at the sky – and then I’m reminded of how God has ALWAYS taken care of us and NEVER forsaken us. This may be the hardest thing I’ve ever done – but I don’t do it alone. God is my refuge – my provider – my everything!

Just a few cute stories on the boys – then I’ll let you move on to the pictures. =)

For the last few months, Luke’s been saying, “Bu-bye” to things as we leave the house. It’s really quite cute. Usually it’s to his toys – “Bu-bye puppy.” “Bu-bye twuck” – yesterday as we were leaving to go to Playgroup, he waved at the red scribbled coloring on the hall wall (I know, it’s sad that I haven’t cleaned it off yet) and said, “Bu-bye no-no.” Then this morning he waved at the dinning room table (where I had accidently left a bowl of grapes out after supper – then this morning he wanted some and I told him they were dirty so he couldn’t have any…) and said, “Bu-bye dirty.” He cracks me up!

At playgroup there is an Ambulance truck that he likes to play with. It has a button on it that will trigger a siren and lights when pushed. At home we have a small ambulance truck. It has no button. This morning while he was playing in his room, he asked me where the button was. I told him it didn’t have a button. Then he looked at the ambulance and said, “Dead?” Now I don’t usually use that word around him – but we’ve seen some dead bugs here and there. He’ll be curious as to why they aren’t moving so I’ve had to tell him they’re dead. I guess he doesn’t quite understand what the word means though! I didn’t know what to tell him about the ambulance. =)

Chris sent Luke a Grover doll for his birthday. It finally came in the other day (our mail has been running REALLY slow.) However, Will seemed to take a liking to the Grover doll. The second he saw it, his eyes got big, he started waving his arms around, stood up straight in his entertainer and started grabbing for the stuffed Grover. Soooo…Grover is now Will’s. He loves to gnaw on his bright pink nose and furry blue arms and legs. Luke has been such a sweet big brother and generously let Will take over his birthday present - even retrieving it from the floor when Will drops it. Is Luke a good big brother or what! =)




Will is becoming more and more mobile. He likes to roll around the living room and he’s even started pushing himself up on his knees and pushing himself backwards (here he is scooting backwards.)


He likes his toys well enough – but if any of Luke’s toys are around – he wants those more. Typical little brother behavior. =) So he’s learned to roll and scoot himself around the floor to get to Luke’s toys. Here you can see the story unfold…

Ah-ha! Luke's toys...I have found them at last...


Now all I have to do is reeeeeach in and get what I want...


I want this...


Well, maybe if I tip it over I can have them all...


They're mine! They're all mine - muhahahaha!


I have tired rice cereal and fruit flavored rice cereal a few more times. He has yet to become a fan. A few times I’ve given him a taste of applesauce – which he loves! I guess he just wants some flavor! I think I’m going to start mixing baby food into the rice cereal…I think he’ll gobble it down then. I’m just going to wait until he feels better and then we’ll give it a shot.

In other news, housing came and cleaned the mold. Let’s hope that helps with the air quality. From what I understand, the mold issues we have in our dinning room are the result of water seeping into the walls. I think I would be scared to see what is growing in these walls! Scary!

Well, I’m going to sign off for now. My eyes are watering from this cold, Luke is whining and squirming on my lap, and Will is waking up from his nap (for once he took a morning nap! IT’S A MIRACLE!)

Don’t forget there are more pictures below!

Luke and the Globe

Luke has taken after his father. He really enjoys knowing where things are on the map. Chris’s globe has been a big hit with Luke. He’ll say, “Gernamee” (Germany) – point to a location and say, “rye here” (right here.) Then he’ll move on to “rack” (Iraq) and so on. I’ll show him where everything is, and he’ll point to the right location after I show him – but if he tries to find them without me pointing them out - well - Germany could be in Africa and Iraq could be in Canada and Maryland and Illinois could be in the Atlantic Ocean…it’s pretty funny!

There's an ant on my nose...

Luke was playing with his sticker book the other day. Will was rolling around on his blanket. I look over and see an ant sticker on Will's nose! Luke and I laughed about it and removed it. Apparently Luke remembered the incident because the other day he went and put an ant sticker back on Will's nose...

Mr. Luke

Luke thought he was Mr. Cutie with Will's hat on. I had to agree - he's a total cutie!

Jackets in June

It's been cold here. So cold, in fact, that I've had to dress the kids in jackets to go out. Thankfully I think it's supposed to warm up again. It's been getting down to the 30's - eeek!

Basket Chill’en

This may prove how exhausted I am, but I thought it would be cute to sit Will in a basket. And as I type that out, I realize how exhausted I REALLY must be! HAHA! Anyway, he was cute - and loved to chew on the handle - so here are some pictures of my exhausted induced photo session!