Vacationing at Saint Vincent's Hospital?

We thought we were on vacation to visit with our family... however in the last 48 hours we've spent more time with doctors at Saint Vincent's Hospital than we have with our family in Portland!

Zac's has extreme abdominal pain. His abdomen is distended and his right upper quadrant is tender to the touch. Several of his organs are swollen. The is pressure building in his right shoulder blade area that is coming from the pain and pressure in his abdomen. For two days, the doctors have been unable to determine what the problem is. They've tested him for everything. Yesterday they called in a specialist to perform a 4 hour nuclear medicine test... trying to determine the function of his organs. The gallbladder came back okay... and the other organs (kidney's, liver, intestines, bowels, etc) were inconclusive.

Last night the doctor even consulted with a surgeon to talk about doing exploratory surgery... which they decided not to do since we're not in our "insurance network" (meaning it would cost us a lot of money).

They ended up deciding to let us go home... and they put Zac on a heavy narcotic until we can get back to Boise. Basically he's pretty much stoned when he's taking it. But it does seem to be helping him get through the pain and he's finally getting a little rest.

We have an appointment set up with a specialist next week. Hopefully Zac can make it until then. Please keep him in your prayers.

In the meantime, enjoy these picture of our vacation at St. Vincent's Hospital....

You know men... they're big babies. Even though I love him, Zac's one of the big babies I know when he's sick. I think the staff figured that out and thus they put him in the children's unit (so they could give them extra attention he needed). He's looking pretty happy with himself here (maybe it was the pain meds?) Also notice that even on his death bed he has that damn tv remote control in his hand!

The nurses were keeping us entertained by telling us about different *things* they'd seen come out of certain body orifices when they worked in the trauma unit. The most horrifying to me was an opened jar of Grey Poupon in the Anus. OMG. You've got to give those nurses props. I thought I'd seen a lot as a social worker... but luckily I'm not seeing stuff like that!

This picture was after the Gery Poupon story. Zac was so medicated he just couldn't quite "get" what the nurse was saying. As you can see, he thinking everything is so good with the world (I think I need some of those meds).

Here's Bryant with Daddy. Our second day at the hospital Bryant and Ganny went with us. Bryant wanted to see what they were doing to Zac and wanted to see his room. He was scared once he got there. He left with Ganny right after I took the picture. My mom and dad (Ganny and Grandpa) took him to a WHL Hockey Game to keep him entertained.

Yesterday was by far Zac's worst day. Notice that he's not looking nearly as chipper as he was the day before. The pain medicine wasn't working nearly as well either.

Zac is TERRIFIED of needles. He passes out almost every time he sees one. It's funny to think of a big ole' football coach being scared of something like a tiny needle... but he is. Because of his need for "extra" attention... as I said before, they put him in the Children's unit. They used special medications and an IV therapist to help get an IV line, bloodwork, etc from Zac.

Poor guy... not only is he terrified of needles but he's a "tough case" for the nurses. He has fleshy (another word for fat?) arms and deep deep veins. His veins roll too... so they don't stay in one place. They had to try 13 times to get two lines in him.

Here's the end result of what his arms look like from all their needles and jabs. He's bruised from head to toe. But he'll take the bruises any day over the pain in his abdomen.

As I said before, please keep Zac in your prayers. Pray that they figure out what is wrong with him so he can feel better soon.

The BEST gift a mother could ask for...

I received the BEST gift a mother could ask for... pictures of my two kids together.

As most of you know, I had a baby that I relinquished for adoption at birth (I was 18). That baby (Hannah) is now 16 years old! I have been so very very blessed to have an open adoption where I've been allowed to have contact with Hannah and her adoptive parents for the last 16 years. Her parents are the best... and I consider Hannah's mom one of my best friends.

One of these days I'll tell the whole story in a blog ... because it really is a miracle and shows the power of adoption when people are willing to work together in the best interest of the child.

Anyway, on Christmas Eve I received the best gift... a studio appointment to get new pictures of Bryant and Hannah together. And not only that, but a picture of me... with the two of them!

Unfortunately, when the photo's were developed, the photographer learned there had been a lighting malfunction. Most of the pictures didn't come out and the ones that did have funny shadows on them. Since it was Christmas Eve and we were all trying to get home to our families, we weren't able to re-shoot the photos. However, if our schedules allow, we're going to retry another photo session this weekend.

Nonetheless, here are the photo's of my lovely children. They are so beautiful and fun to be around. I am blessed.

Christmas In Oregon

Merry Christmas to all of you!

We've been in Portland, Oregon since last week. My family all lives here... and it's where I grew up. So it's "home" for Christmas. Even Bryant would rather be here than at our own house for Christmas!

My parent's computer doesn't like blogger... so my pictures are going to be limited to a few highlights of Christmas.

Bryant started by writing a letter for Santa last night.

Bryant's letter read, "Dear Santa. I'm a good boy. Bring me rollerblades. Bryant." My brother, Travis, even wrote a message to Santa (see the upper right hand side of Bryant's letter). His letter said, "Dear Santa. Bring me money, a house and a girlfriend. Love Travis." Unfortunately Santa didn't grant Travis' wishes quite a well as he granted Bryant's!

Bryant also left Santa his favorite cookies and a piece of cheese for Rudolph. We didn't have carrots so Bryant decided that reindeer's probably liked cheese too.

Here's mom, Suzi and I on Christmas morning. We received matching pajama's. They're so warm and snuggly.

Santa brought Bryant a pinball machine. He's been entertained all day.

All of us received LOTS of great gifts. But here are some highlights of our "out of the norm" Christmas surprises...

Dad got a Pimp Daddy necklace. Do you remember the blog entry from this summer when we showed off some of his pimp gear (click here)? Well he got this new addition to his collection. It's all bling blinged out.


Austin received a velvet Playboy thong from an anonymous gift giver...


He also received a diaper... courtesy of Bryant. Honestly none of us knew Bryant has put it under the tree! Apparently he found an old box of diapers in the bathroom from when he was a baby. He decided to wrap up a diaper for Austin. It was hysterical.

Zac, Bryant and I are so blessed to not only have each other... but to also have our families. We're also thankful for Jesus being born today. Happy Birthday Jesus.

God Bless all of you on this Christmas Day.

What were they thinking?

My neighbor, Jen, and I walk every night for an hour around our neighborhood. (FYI- it's not helping in the weight loss department). So, for the last month we've been laughing at the Christmas lights/decorations some people in our neighborhood have put up.

Don't get me wrong... I love Christmas decorations... but sometime I just have to cock my head slightly to the side and wonder "what the heck were they thinking?"

Today I came across a blog (click here) that shows tacky Christmas decorations people have reported in their neighborhood. The blog is pretty funny if you read some of the "violations" they charge people with. For example take this house... Do you notice anything about it?

Well, do light up palm trees and family of flamingo's spell C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S to you? Talk about Random! This yard is something I would totally laugh about. I spotted the Christmas violations right away.

The blog officially charged this house with a W.T.H. (What the Heck!?) Violation. A W.T.H violation is described on the blog as random, non-holiday decor that has no place in December. Just because you were given a cool giant light up smiley face does not mean you should put it on the roof this month!

Check out the blog for other great decoration fiasco's... or turn in your own neighbor and write them up for violations. :)

The Break Up

I've missed you all. I've been super busy trying to finish up holiday projects. I wish I could share them with you... but then it would spoil the surprise for the people whom they're for.

On Saturday I babysat Krystel and Shyanne while their mom and dad were at work. Krystel is ONE of Bryant's girlfriends. They have a love/hate relationship... depending on the day. Saturday happened to be a day they were in "love."

So, I asked them what they wanted to do. Bryant wanted to paint. I decided to take all 3 kids to paint pottery at Fire and Ice Ceramic Studio. After getting them all buckled in the car (not an easy task... 3 booster seats don't fit well in my car) we were off. We were singing Christmas Carols when all of a sudden I realized I was the only one singing. I looked back in my rear view mirror and I saw KISSING... lip kissing... between Krystel and Bryant! Of course, once they saw me watching then they stopped.

But I was able to get this picture of Krystel sneaking a kiss on Bryant's forehead.

So, we get to the ceramic studio and the kids paint their ceramics and everything is fairly uneventful. As we're driving home Krystel starts crying. The conversation went like this:

Me: "Krystel, what's wrong?"

Krystel: "I'm going to have to break up with Bryant."

I started laughing.

Krystel: "Don't laugh Jenny. It's not funny. I have to break up with him because I ran out of lip gloss."

She was pretty indignant when I started laughing so hard I snorted. Finally I got myself under control.

Me: "What does lip gloss have to do with it?"

Krystel: "I have to have lip gloss to kiss Bryant. We can't be in love and get married and have babies if we don't kiss."

Then Bryant pops into the conversation....

Bryant: "Mom, I think we need to definitely get Krystel some lip gloss for Christmas."

Me: "Oh really?"

I hear whispering in the back seat between Krystel and Bryant.

Krystel: "Actually Jenny, can we stop at the store for lip gloss on the way home."

Me: "Definitely not!"

Honestly, where do they get this stuff? I remember playing kissing tag at school when I was 5... so the kissing doesn't really bother me. It's all innocent. After all, Cinderella kisses her Prince Charming in the movie (as Krystel pointed out to me). But, really these two crack me up.

BINGO with the Grey Haired Ladies

My mom was here visiting last week. Whenever she comes we try to do something new... something we've never done before. Well this time I really succeeded. I surprised her by taking her to the Boise Senior Center for BINGO. Now that she's 60... I love to tease her!

Here's what most the people looked like... notice all the short permed grey hair. Why do all old ladies feel the need to geri-curl their hair? My mom was certainly a "stand out" with her sassy red hair. Here she is posing with the BINGO caller- Fred. She was mortified that I made her pose in front of all those old ladies. She looked like a BINGO groupie!
Although the ladies may look old and sweet... they're not. They are ruthless when it comes to BINGO. We're talking daubers, multiple BINGO cards, stuffed animals for good luck, etc. They do all sorts of strange things that maybe one of you can explain to us. When the BINGO caller calls O-66 they all ring church bells... when he calls I-22 they all toot train horns... and even stranger yet, when he calls B-6 they all yell "feed the pig" and they start snorting like pigs. Weird I tell you!

Mom and I are finished playing our first game. We suck. We're getting beat by a bunch of 90 year old ladies!

Suzi was there with us. Here's what she thought about BINGO... WEIRD game... WEIRD people. Based on the picture I think she's fitting right in!

Austin thought it was pretty funny too. At 22 years of age he was 7o years younger than most the people there. I'm not sure if he's concentrating really hard in this picture or if he's telling me to go lick a large phallic symbol... probably the latter.

By later in the night, Suzi was really into BINGO. Notice all the cards she's playing. Yep... she got hooked. She's ready to go back again this Thursday.

And here's what NONE OF US ever achieved... a BINGO or a BLACKOUT. 15 old ladies won between $20 and $200 per game. We played 15 games and never won a cent.

Any of you who want to go with us are welcome to come. We'll be going back. We have to win. Next time we'll take a good luck charm... maybe we'll fit in better too. Hail to the grey hairs!

The Gingerbread House

Every year we try to do a new Christmas activity. We've never built a gingerbread house before... but I thought it would be a fun for Bryant this year. For any of you with children near Bryant's age... it IS a great activity. I would highly recommend it (but expect a HUGE mess).

Bryant invited 2 of his friends over (Karson and Cooper) to help. We've had them over every year for a Christmas activity since we moved into our house in 2003. Today we put on the Christmas music and the kids sang while they built the gingerbread house. There was absolutely no help from me decorating the house... They did such a good job and they were so proud of themselves.

The first step was decorating the gingerbread men.

Part way through decorating the gingerbread house, Bryant thought he should take a bite. Luckily I stopped him... but I managed to get a picture of him getting ready to go in for the kill.

Karson, Bryant and Cooper... loving the fact that it was okay to make a mess while decorating the gingerbread house!

Just for your enjoyment... this is Karson, Cooper and Bryant the first Christmas (2003) we lived in our house. Bryant was only 1 year old. Cooper was 2 1/2 and Karsyn was 4. Aren't they cute?

This years finished product. Not perfect... but perfect to a 5 year old!

Can you imagine the sugar high the kids are going to have when they eat this thing?

FFF... Favorite Foto Friday

This picture of Zac when he was a little boy just CRACKS ME UP. As soon as his mom gave it to me, I knew exactly where Bryant got all his "personality" (you know I have none myself... LOL).

I think Zac gave his mom a run for her money when he was little! This is something Bryant would do... oh wait... he did do it just last week when we were trying to take our family Christmas photo's! Like father like son...

Have a great weekend! -Jenny

"Mom, I told a Lie... I was Bad at School"

In case you can't read a 5 year old's handwriting, the letter says, "Dear Mrs. Linda. I am sorry for being bad at circle time. I will be better. Love Bryant."

The letter was written tonight before dinner... at Bryant's own insistence. You see, every day when I pick him up at school I ask him how his day was. Then I always ask him if he got a star on his behaviour chart (his teacher gives the kids stars at the end of the day if they've been good. When you get 10 stars you get a prize. Bryant lives for the stars. Last month he got one every day!)

So today when I asked him my normal questions he said, "My day was good mom. I got a star." And I replied my normal, "Good job Bryant... I'm very proud of you." But once we were buckled in the car and on the way home Bryant said, "Mom, I can not tell a lie." I said, "That's good Bryant." He then said, "No mom, I told a lie. I didn't get a star today. I didn't get a star and Mrs. Linda actually (his new favorite word) took yesterday's star away too." He started crying and having a total breakdown.

OMG- I was shocked. Not so shocked at the lie. But shocked that he was SOOO bad that he had a star taken away. According to Bryant he was goofing off with his friend, Patrick, during circle time (are you reading this Katie?.) They weren't paying attention and Bryant talked back to Mrs. Linda when she aked him to pay attention. She doesn't take any flack (good for her) so she put him in time out and took his star (today's) away. Then he mocked her and said in high pitched voice "Bryant go to time out, you lost your star." He then lost yesterday's star.

But, because he's a first born... over achieving child... he's had an absolute meltdown over the whole incident. Zac and I were pretty tough on him too. I want to instill in him NOW that neither Zac or I will tolerate bad behaviour at school. Teachers deserve respect. So, we asked him what he thought his punishment should be. He said he though he should write Mrs. Linda a letter saying he was sorry and then he should go to his room. We agreed.

His letter was painstakingly written and he cried for about 20 minutes. I hope he learned his lesson. Honestly, I think it was probably harder on Zac and I to "stay tough"when Bryant was crying than any of it was on Bryant...

Any thoughts or suggestion from any of you more "seasoned" parents?

Christmas Card... From Us to You... Do you want one?

It's that time of year... Christmas Card time. I love going to the mailbox everyday to see if we've received any Christmas Cards. I also love sending cards out. I'm a big fan of the photo Christmas Card... and thus we always send out a photo card. I usually try to have a christmas letter too... even though they usually come off as kind of arrogant.

This year I think I have about 75 people on my list. Do you want to be one of them? If so, email me your address and I would be more than happy to send you a card.

To get a Christmas Card, Email me at jenny_boise@yahoo.com. Please put "Christmas Card" in your subject line.

Santa Came and Sat in His Recliner

I've told you before how cool our subdivision is. Remember this post?

Our neighborhood social committee plans some really great family activities. But then again, I guess they should since we pay them quite a bit in homeowners dues each year!

Today they had Santa come to our outdoor common area to see all the neighborhood kids. Bryant was really excited that Santa came to OUR neighborhood. He was bouncing off the walls all morning long (the two maple bars he ate for breakfast may have had something to do with it too)!

When we got there the first thing Bryant said was "Wow Mom, Santa has his own recliner." So I looked and sure enough... Santa was sitting in a Lazy Boy recliner. Bryant then looked at us and said "I bet he watches football in it too." I had to laugh. I guess Bryant must associate Zac sitting in his recliner with watching football. So if Santa has a recliner then he must watch football too. It seems reasonable and logical... if you're 5!

Santa asking Bryant what he wants for Christmas. Bryant can't remember. See the perplexion on his face?

Finally he remembers and whispers it in Santa's ear.

How sweet is this picture of Bryant and Santa? Bryant has his eyes closed while he tells a secret to Santa... and Santa has his eyes closed while he intently listens to Bryant's wish.

And in the end, Santa and Bryant are best buddies. Santa reminds Bryant to listen to his mom and dad... and magically... Santa then became my best buddy too. Gosh... a parent has to love this time of year when parental discipline is easily done by the magic words "Santa is watching."