Long 4th of July Weekend!

We headed to see the Burdorfs - both sets - over the long 4th of July weekend.  We started at Frank and Linda's and got there on the 4th since Aaron had to umpire the night before.  Once we got there things were great!  It was the getting there that made it L-O-N-G. 

 On our way into town, we stopped at Sonic for lunch.  Have you been there?  Do you love their commercials?  Jenna has been wanting to go so bad, but the one in Marshalltown closed, as did the one in Iowa City.  Bummer.  Anyway, we got a double dose as we went to Sonic on the 4th and also for Happy Hour while we were in Omaha!  Good stuff!

 Grandma had a ton of bubbles, so the kids loved those.  The twins also loved to dump them out.   Luckily, grandma was patient!  Aaron made bubbles and the kids were trying to bat them down.

 Also, the kids practiced their hitting and Jenna wanted to try to hit left-handed.  And did really good!  What the heck is that?!  Now we're all confused about which way she should hit...

 

 Grandpa and Blake were clearly having an intense conversation. :)

 I tried to do that whole 4 on the 4th thing.   Yeah... try number two.

 And try number 12 (approximately). FAIL. 

 Us.  On the 4th.  We were much more cooperative. Ha!  Photo courtesy: Miss Jenna.

 The night of the 4th, Frank and Linda took Jenna and Brody to an Explorers baseball game.  Fireworks followed.  Guess what?  The game went 12 innings!  But, Jenna and Brody both knew the Explorers won and how they won (walk-off HR). 

A quick snap before we said good-bye.

 Saturday we went to the Omaha Zoo, along with about 10,000 other people.  It was a busy place.  Aaron was sad to see this, all that remains of Rosenblatt Stadium after they tore it down.

 Brody and Addy were watching the bear.  The bear was watching Brody and Addy.

 Juice break.  It was hot.

 The goats at the petting zoo were a favorite. 

 Bowen was all about brushing the goats.

 As we were walking out of the petting zoo, we saw Aaron's cousin, Anny and her family!  Small world.  The kids also loved all the misting devices around the zoo.

 After we got home, Uncle Adam set-up the sprinkler and the slip-n-slide.  Lots of laughter!

 It got a little congested at times on the slip-n-slide!

On Sunday, my mom and Bill drove to Omaha and met us at I-Hop for breakfast.  It's been too long since we've seen them.  I missed my mama!  (sorry for the blurry photo.  Fingerprints on my phone.)

It was a nice weekend with family and it was nice to just get away from home for awhile.  Thanks to our family for having us!!

Just the five of us

Last weekend Aaron had a reffing clinic to go to Saturday and Sunday, so it was just the kiddos and me hanging out.  I knew that we all couldn't hang out around the house the entire weekend or we'd go crazy, so I tried to think of some fun stuff I knew they'd enjoy, like...

 Grimes Farm.  This was the first time I loaded up the bikes since Jenna and Brody are without training wheels now.  It was HOT, but I'm pretty sure we ended up going up three miles.  I just walked with the twins.

 

We needed some water and a snack. :)

 

 They actually have a conservation center that we never seem to catch when it's open, but we did Saturday.  The kids were so excited!

 They had a ton of "stuffed" animals.  Is that what you call animals that have been to the taxidermist?!  I'm not sure, but anyway, you know what I mean.

 

I pointed out the bison to Bowen and it scared him to death.  It was kind of funny how much he jumped when he saw the bison!  Jenna decided we should name the bison, "Frankenstein."

 

They had these mystery boxes on the table.  The kids were a little freaked out to stick their hands inside.

 

 

Brody was so excited about this moose!  When we headed to Iowa City last week we had a very in-depth conversation about if there are moose in Iowa, and where do they live, and why aren't they in Iowa...  He's very curious about moose!

 

 

 After a trip to Wal-Mart, a quick bite to eat, a Jenna birthday party and a nap it was time to cool-off!

 The kids love having the sprinkler on the trampoline!  Fun for hours! 

 Bowen's face...I just don't know...:)

Blake (below) was a little apprehensive at first, but then he loved it.

 Jenna is super shy in front of the camera, in case you can't tell. ;)

 And then bubbles!

 Blake, bless his heart, tried really hard, but didn't get too many bubbles.

 Bowen finally got the hang of it.

 I also cleaned out my bedroom closet.  Seven bags of crap - gone!  Woo-hoo!  For five seconds I feel organized - Ha!  We also watched a couple of movies, one of them being "Parental Guidance." Have you seen it?  It has Bette Midler and Billy Crystal in it.  The kids liked it and so did we!

This weekend looks like it will be another busy weekend!  I hope the weather cooperates so we can just sit outside all weekend!

Surgery Set

We went down last Thursday for our regularly scheduled appointment for Blake.  All in all, everything went well!  Dr. Jetton was very happy with how he looked.  No fluid overload or high blood pressure this month.  Plus, everybody kept commenting on how tan he is.  And, the dietician commented on his muscle tone. :)  I assured them he is VERY active!

We discussed dates for surgery for a new catheter and they were able to get his pre-op stuff done while we were down there, so that saved us a trip.  Blake has urology appointments scheduled for July 23rd, so we set his surgery for July 24th.  He will have to be in the hospital  for several days to a week.

That's about it.  I like uneventful, we don't get that to often. :)

My morning started like this...

So...I had one of those days.  Those days were something kind of sets me off a little bit and then I cry kind of a lot, kind of randomly throughout the day.   My day started with an email from our nephrologist that said this:

Blake's x-ray that we did in May when he was admitted showed that his dialysis (PD) catheter is much higher then it once was because he has grown so much, so here are your options:

 

1.       Go ahead and replace the PD catheter now – this will buy us some more time to work out the logistics of bladder augment and living donor. He would likely need to stay in the hospital for several days (maybe a week) after as we will have to dialyze with very low volumes for a while and gradually work up so that his new catheter doesn’t leak.

2.       Push ahead with bladder augment and possible conversion to hemo – maybe consider deceased donor? Not sure how the living donor situation is looking?

3.       Continue to limp along with this catheter as long as possible if it looks like there is a living donor on the horizon?

If I'm being completely honest, I can tell you that I was expecting an email like this.  I knew since Blakers has had that catheter since he was only a week or two old that the chances of it lasting much longer were very slim.  He hasn't been draining as well at night.  I just knew it.  I could feel it.

I just got frustrated with the fact that we haven't found a donor yet.  Option number two is just seriously not an option at this point.  Five days a week in Iowa City without a definite end in site would be just insane.  My full time job would be Blake.  And hemo dialysis.  I have three other children.  And a husband.  And a job. And other stuff. 

Anyway, the good news is that Dr. Jetton has emailed the surgeons about possibly setting something up for surgery for a new PD catheter in July/early August.  More hospital time isn't what we are wanting, but it looks like it's inevitable.  We head down tomorrow for a regular clinic visit, so I will let you know what I find out.

Also, another thing that made me cry this morning was this...

It's so incredibly perfect and was posted by another kidney mom friend of me.  I so needed to see that. :)