Gracie has been waiting for today for some time now. Her cousin Lizzy, or as Gracie calls her Lilly,came to visit. Lizzy is visiting from Northern California for the next week with her mom and sisters. Gracie and Lizzy have big, big plans. They already went swimming once, and are going to the mall tomorrow.
Gracie has all her cousins here in town for the next week and will be enjoying some serious family time.
Mitch came home around 1pm or so. He has taken a shower and is enjoying all the attention. Thanks to everyone who helped us out this week and who was able to stop by. We know how hard that can be when it's summer time, but we really appreciate it.
My Mitchell is the bravest kid I know. He truly amazes me every time I turn around. He has been such a trooper through this whole process, but yesterday when he lost it, so did I. He no longer wanted to be there. He was done. Finished. Out of here. I can't blame him one bit.
He was taken off the IV saline so when he isn't getting his antibiotics he is free from the tubes. He was so happy when this happened.
He has been passing gas(which is a good thing after surgery) and then will look at me and say "Just what the doctor ordered". Mitchell you crack me up.
Christi, Thanks for bringing the kids by. My father in law said that Mitchell perked up 1000% when Josh came through the door. He was in better spirits for most of the day because of it.
I don't want to jinx anything, but there might be a chance he could be out of there by Saturday night. He has been responding to the meds so well that if he continues he may only need 4 days instead of 7. That would be huge.
Mitchell has not been feeling very well the last few days and we just assumed that he had a stomach bug and he would be fine soon. Monday evening he started vomiting and feeling really bad and had a restless night. Tuesday morning I called and got him into the doctor who referred us to the ER with possible appendicitis. Thankfully when we arrived at the ER there wasn't much of a wait so we were able to start his IV and for him to start drinking his contrast die for a CT scan. CT scan showed positive for appendicitis so we waited, waited and waited some more for an OR time. We finally were taken to the pre-op around 5:30pm(we were at the ER by 9am)and met our surgeon. Mitch is then taken into surgery and we had Justin, Chris, Mom, my sister Laura(who was just starting her kid less vacation), Jen (Toby's sister) and Cody our nephew wait with us. Grace was at home with her Grandma and Papa Jake who graciously came down on a minutes notice to babysit. The surgery took about 1 hour and when the dr. came out to update us he brought us pictures. I will have to scan them in later. Mitchell's appendix was near perforation but was also attached to his bowel and twisted around the bowel. The skillful doctors were able to remove his appendix with out nicking or damaging the bowels. The risk of infection is so great that Mitch will be in the hospital for the next 7 days on IV antibiotics. 7 days. Who stays in the hospital for 7 days? Poor kid is totally bummed out that he is going to miss two really fun birthday parties this weekend. All of his cousins on my side of the family will be here Sunday for a weeks vacation at the fun resorts with the water parks. I feel for him. So in a day or two if your looking for something to do come visit us at Desert Banner room 133-A.
Justin and Ben have been friends for a very long time. I ran across this photo the other day and knew I had to share it.
This was take back in 1994 when Justin was about 2 1/2...the age Gracie is now. Justin and Ben have been best friends ever since. It has been fun to watch these two boys grow up together. They do not go to the same school and don't have the same group of friends and I think that may be what has kept their friendship so strong over the years. These two boys have self taught themselves to fly fish. This summer is all about urban fishing. The two boys have made a little trailer of a movie they are making and hope to add to it all summer long.
Dear Toby,
This post is for you! You are an awesome DAD and have always been one. I wanted to share with the world what an awesome DAD you are. I love looking at these photos. We were so young. What the heck were we thinking having babies so young? Shh... don't tell anyone, but we still don't know what we are doing, but it seems to be working for us. I hope you enjoy your day with your kids because I know they love having you as their DAD. I also know that our boys will be great fathers because of the great role model you have been for them. It is true that girls, or least this one, marry men like their fathers. My dad was a great dad and Grace will marry a wonderful guy too someday. I love you and I'm so glad that you are the father of my children.
Love,
Jen
Ok, so I've been a little on the down side as of late and so a little retail therapy always works right? Well, let me show you what I got for a grand total of $3.48. 
I did 3 transactions today. I have never done that before and really I could have gotten away with only 2, but I didn't know that at the time. Usually one of the coupons that prints up at the end is a $3.00 off a purchase of $15.00 or more. That coupon only printed after my first transaction today. Oh, well live and learn right?
Transaction # 1
1 Nivea for Men Shaving Gel $2.79
1 Nivea for Men Extreme Comfort Shaving gel $3.99
1 Nivea for Men Extreme Comfort Shaving gel $3.99
1 Brut Deodorant $2.89
1 Brut Deodorant $2.89
1 CVS Nail Polish Remover $1.49
1 Orbit Bubble Gum $1.19
Coupons I used
.55 off Brut Deodorant
.55 off Brut Deodorant
$4.00 off 2 Extreme Comfort Shaving Gel
Extra Care Bucks I had
$3.98
$6.98
$3.00 off $15.00 purchase
for a grand total of .52 out of pocket.
For buying $10. of Nivea I got another $5.00 in ECB (remember that I had a coupon so I only really paid $6.77)
For buying the Brut I got $3.00 back for each one....wait it was on sale for less then that and then I had .55 coupons...THEY PAID ME to take it out of their store.
Now I had $11.00 in ECB and another $3.00 off $15 coupon. So off to do transaction # 2.
I got
1 Listerine Smart Rinse for $3.49
1 M & M Plain for $5.99
1 M & M Peanut for $5.99
1 Orbit Gum $1.19
Total
$16.66
Used $3 off $15. for a total of $13.66 and then used ECB to bring it down to $.22 out of pocket. I made $5.00 for purchasing the M & M's and $3.49 for the Listerine for a total of $8.49 in ECB. This time a 3/15 did not print....bummer.
Transaction # 3
4 12 Packs of Dt. Coke for $11.oo
1 package of CVS Cotton Balls $1.69
Total
$12.69
Used $10 ECB and paid $2.74 out of pocket. I was the printed up $3.00 ECB for the Dt. Coke.
I went in with around $22.00 ECB and purchased my merchandise and still have $ 12.49 in ECB for next weeks trip! I think I'm getting the hang of this.
I then had a coupon from Albertson's for $.25 off gas. I went and filled up and got $4.00 back in cash so that paid for my CVS trip. I feel a little better now.
I was looking back on the blog and realized that I haven't posted much about Chris. Christopher adds so much to this family. He is naturally funny and I think he might be funnier to other people then his parents. Christopher is good at heart. Solid. Kind. Loving. Right now he is stuck in the body of a 13 year old boy and that is very frustrating for all of us. Sunday he played kitchen with Grace. He was able to get Mitchell to play along too. I sure enjoyed watching them interact with each other. 
But really....this is what I deal with on a hourly basis....God help us all.
This
to this?
You all have been warned. There is a new driver on the road. Say an extra prayer for everyone.
Just kidding. Justin passed his written portion with a 93%. He was a little nervous about driving home from the DMV, but he got the hang of it rather quickly. Now, he wants to drive everywhere. To bad for him the gas is $4.15 a gallon. I'm proud of you J-Man.
My sister used this expression with me last week and I loved it. I feel like that is how life is right now.The ooey gooey stuff is just flowing out faster then I can handle it and I can't put it back in. I understand that this to will pass and hopefully more enjoyable times are coming. I don't want to discuss some of the things that are going on, but one thing I need to share is that Patty, my mother in law, is starting chemo again today....for the third time. Keep her in your prayers.
