My Blog

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The poor blog has been neglected for a long time.  I even had a couple of updates started but now I’ll actually post.  This post will be the random updates from the summer through now and the next one will be picture overload.  The picture titles should help with what’s going on but feel free to ask if you aren’t sure.

Peter is officially a preschool student!  He loves school.  Peter goes Friday mornings.  I brought him the first day.  We dropped Thomas at daycare and then got to hang out for a little bit before going to class.  He was so excited and wouldn’t take his backpack off.  He bounced off the walls trying to get in the car to drive there.  He even told me to stop taking pictures because we had to get inside.  Everything was wonderful until I went to leave.  That’s when the tears started streaming.  Of course there were a whole slew of crying kids so he wasn’t alone.  I know from past experiences that it’s better to just assure him I’d be back and then leave.  It did the trick and the smile on his face was so huge when I came back to pick him up.  He couldn’t wait to show me the art project and tell me all the fun things he did.

Now he goes to the neighbor’s house on Friday mornings.  Gordon is awesome and plays with him until it’s time for class.  He drives him in and then picks him up afterwards to go to daycare.  Peter looks forward to going to Gordon’s house as much as he likes going to school.  In fact he would rather go there most every morning but we discuss each time that Gordon is probably either busy or still sleeping.  –Gordon, if you’re reading this… we talk about that all your lights aren’t on and your curtains are closed.  You clearly aren’t around to play if that’s the case.  He notices when your curtains are now open-

Thomas just figured out walking!  He’s still cruising around by crawling but one day he just started to take steps.  Everyday he walks a little more confidently but once he falls, he reverts to all fours.  My favorite thing is when he’s excited.  His smile includes the full nose and face scrunch.  It still makes me laugh when I see it.  Thomas is going to be our musical man when he gets older.  He loves music and has to at least wiggle, if not full on dance, whenever he hears it.  He is also our resident foodie.  He has outgrown the bottle and is now onto real food.  He is very particular about how he eats though.  He must have a variety of flavors and textures.  It’s the mystery as to what order it should be in though.

As far as my medical drama goes, I’ve started medicine.  I went in to the doctor’s office to learn what I am supposed to do.  She had a fun fake chunk of skin to strap on to my leg.  I got to practice with fake medicine until I was ready to do the real deal.  Injecting the fake piece was no big deal.  I thought I was pretty smooth and awesome until I had to do it on my actual leg.  I think it was the mental part that I was about to stab my leg that got to me the worst.  I have an injector pen thing to help so I don’t have to actually see the needle going in.  I still know that it’s going to happen though.  I’m getting better at it each time.  I have to inject the medicine every day.  I do it in the morning so I don’t forget.  I have to rotate where I stab.  I know what day of the week it is because of where I poke.  Monday is right hip, Tuesday the right thigh, Wednesday the left thigh, Thursday the stomach, Friday the left hip, Saturday and Sunday are the flab of the arms.  I can tell even if I’m not with it in the morning because I get a sweet big red bump from the injection that lasts a couple of days.  I just have to feel for where the bumps aren’t and that’s where I get to stab.  Other than the bumps that are tender and not so pretty looking, I haven’t really had any side effects.  I have noticed that I get worn out a tad faster.  I was tired the other day so I laid down when I got home from work at4pm.  Dustin woke me up to go to bed at10:30pmand I was still able to sleep through the night.  I’ve also noticed that my capacity for remembering has gone down some.  I used to be able to find things no problem.  Now I have a bad habit of putting things down and then they are gone until someone finds something in a completely random spot.  Also, if you tell me something and I don’t write it down, don’t be offended if I forget until after the fact.  It’s all just a learning curve that I have to figure out but I’ll get there.  It’s just my new normal.

I feel like I should update for Dustin but really there’s not much new to say.  He’s working hard for the man.  He spends time in the cave of a basement.  He brewed a new batch of beer.  He’s doing pretty well.

In October we went to the sculpture garden in Minneapolis with Grandma.  The boys had a lot of fun running around and looking at the different art.  It was nice to be out and about and get a little culture as well.

We also celebrated Halloween.  We had a little robot and skeleton.  Peter loves to dance like a robot so I thought it would only be appropriate for him to dress like one.  He was a little sad that the switch on the back didn’t really work.  I would have been okay with an actual off switch too.  Thomas didn’t really know what was going on.  We didn’t realize that his skeleton bones glowed in the dark so when he came out in the living room in the morning, it was cute to see just bones crawling around.

November brought our trek toCanada.  Karthik actually tied the knot and married Deepta.  Dustin and I flew toNew Yorkand then met up with a few friends to travel north.  It was an interesting and very fun van ride.  The weekend would have been awesome except for the fact that I was very sick.  I had a horrible stomach bug that was sort of on its way out but it took its toll on me.  Everyone else had a great time though.  I have to say that an Indian style wedding is something everyone should experience some time in their life.  Everything was so very beautiful!  You may or may not notice in the pictures that all of the pre-party ones were not taken by us.  I went back to the hotel with a lovely fever and missed the whole thing.  I borrowed some from facebook.  There are a few of the reception that were borrowed as well.

November also was when Thomas turned one.  I can’t believe my baby is already one!  For his birthday we had a Very Hungry Caterpillar theme.  Since he is such a bottomless pit of an eater, I thought it was an appropriate idea.  It was wonderful to have so many people smashed into our house.  It was a very visible show of how blessed we are to have so many family and friends so close.

Now we’re at December.  Christmas means lots of family gatherings.  Peter was so excited to have more parties.  I think he’ll have a hard time going back to reality, going to bed at a reasonable time, and not sleeping in.  I think I might have a hard time getting back into the swing of things too.  Spending time with the ones you love is a good reason to have a hard time adjusting though.

During this last week of December we decided to have a little fun.  Peter loves trains of any kind.  The easiest way to let him experience one up close was the light rail.  We drove to Fort Snelling and walked to the station.  Both boys had the biggest eyes as the train came to a stop.  We actually got to get on and go for a ride!  They both loved it.  We thought we should actually ride it to something so we went on an adventure toMinneapolisand went to the Macy’s holiday display.  After going all the way to the eighth floor, we discovered that eskabators are super fun.  Thomas didn’t get as much out of it but Peter couldn’t point things out fast enough throughout the display.  We learned all about what goes on in a day in the life of an elf.  Did you know that when you ride the train to somewhere, you get to ride it again to get home?

And now we’re about to start 2012.  My wish is for this year is to be better, laugh more, listen closer, and have more patience.  I wish everyone a happy new year as well!

Random Man standing in our kitchen, shoe-less, holding one of our coffee cups- “Hey man, can’t I just sit down?”

Dustin- “NO! Get out of my house! How did you get in here? Get out!”

Random Man- “I just want to sit, can’t I sit around?”

Dustin- “Get out of my house!”

So this morning around 2:30am there were noises in our kitchen. Assuming it was Peter thinking it was play time, Dustin went out to tell him to get back in bed. Instead he was greeted by a drunk random man standing in the kitchen. He had taken his shoes off, helped himself to a coffee cup, and was going to sit down and relax. Dustin yelled at him and helped him walk out the door. We called the police and while on the phone with them, the drunk random guy came back pounding on the door. He just wanted to be let in. He was confused when Dustin yelled no. The police searched the area but only found a different random drunk kid. They took the shoes and told us it happens more times than you’d think that drunk people just wander into the wrong house.

Helpful tip of the middle of the night- have a buddy while drinking so hopefully the two of you can actually find your own house when you stumble home

The results of the spinal tap are in. I have a demyelization disease. The spot in my brain is not just swiss cheese, it’s actually something.

The brain is made up of neurons firing electrical signals back and forth. Myelin is a coating that helps the signal get to where it’s going without being corrupted or interrupted.

In my head, my body attacks the healthy myelin. The result is the lesion and dots they found on the right side of my brain. As of now, that’s all it is. Down the road it could be more though.

Multiple sclerosis is the main disease dealing with myelin in the brain. Usually someone has a neurological event first, meaning something goes wonky for multiple hours. Their speech could be slurred, a limb might stop working right, or anything random like that. After two or more of these events, then they would officially say multiple sclerosis is in play. The doctor said that most people are in their 20’s when the disease starts without them knowing. Usually someone with MS would have at least two events and then go in and find some lesions. I may have just accidentally done it the other way around

I go in a little while for a second MRI to see how the lesion and my brain are doing. Then I’ll go back to my brain doctor and talk about where to go from here. We’ll talk about which MS medicine I will start taking and get a game plan. The medicine will hopefully either stop any neurological events from happening or at least lessen or slow them down.

It’s a lot to take in but I’ve had a little time to process and I’m doing okay. It’s not the news I wanted to hear but at least it’s something to go forward with. At least I’ll be proactive with the medicine and I’ll know what’s going on if something stops working. It will be okay.

I guess we will just start to support the MS 150. I don’t remember the last time I actually rode a bike to actually participate but if we have any bike riders in the crowd, this would be a good thing to try.

My brain is still a mystery. I know that could be taken many ways but today we’re talking about the lesion. The blood they took at the first doctor visit didn’t show anything.

I guess the deer ticks haven’t gotten the best of me yet and I am good on my vitamin B12.

I don’t have lupus yet but webmd.com pretty much says you could have lupus no matter what symptoms you enter.

The next step was a spinal tap. I did that this morning. Let me tell you that the stories that I heard and made up in my head were WAY scarier than the actual process. The attempts at drawing blood hurt much more than the lumbar puncture. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not doing laps at this point. In fact I couldn’t lift anything today and I have to take it easy tomorrow. I got three new holes in my arms from failed attempts at drawing blood though. If anyone is in the health profession- it is never okay to just slide the needle after you’ve inserted it, try again!

Now we’re back to the waiting game. They said it will take a week to have the results. I am no medical professional and only sort of grasp what is going on so I’m not positive what they are looking for. I know that this still won’t be a 100% diagnosis of anything, just leading me in the right direction.

I have the chance at still having a host of different issues or I may just be a true fan of swiss cheese. All I know is that it’s a bit scary to have to wait and not know. I’m trying my best to think happy thoughts.

So here are some of my happy thoughts for all to see:

So in all of my fun tree/ hospital experiences this past weekend, I had lots of tests done. They weren’t sure if I broke anything or whacked anything. Then the second hospital had to repeat tests. Regions tests must be better than Spooner tests?

All of my bones passed but my brain is another story. I have a lesion on the right side of my brain. It has nothing to do with the fall. It hasn’t caused me any problems that I know of and we may have never found it if I hadn’t tried to wrestle the trees.

I donated lots of vials of blood to test for a whole list of diseases like Lymes or Lupus. The doctor doesn’t think it’s any of those but needs to rule things out at this point. By the look of the spot, he doesn’t think it’s a tumor. Of course he can’t say 100% but that’s not where he’s looking.

At this point he is thinking it could be the start of MS. I go back in 6 weeks for another MRI to see if there are any changes to my spot. Then if the lab hasn’t given us anything, I’m going to have a spinal tap done. This can help determine if I’m going towards MS. That can’t proof positive diagnose me either. It can just give us another clue.

I could have a random disease, MS, or a spotty brain. I have tests and appointments made but really I just get to wait and see what happens. I’m not so good at waiting but I guess I’m going to learn.

First off, I promise there is a real post coming.  It takes awhile when you get so far behind and then have two little helpers.

Second, the last post was from Dustin.  He’s still at Donaldson but has a new cube and a new job.  He’s excited to do something different.  I’m still at the same old, same old although I did get hired for summer school.

Lastly, the quote of the week would be from Peter… “FARTS ARE NOT FUNNY DAD!”

We haven’t done a lot since we’ve had an awesome round of colds and then a wonderful round of stomach flu come through our house.

I thought I’d just share a few pictures to tide everyone over until there is actually something to post about.

Happy new year!  Our family has so much to be thankful for as we start 2011.  It’s so wonderful to be a family of four.  So far it has been really tough but so rewarding.

Everyone was very generous for Christmas this year.  Peter is the pro at opening wrapping paper and is having lots of fun with his loot.  One of the gifts he received is a tent with a tunnel.  It will be great this summer when we can set it up outside with more space.  We had to try it out though.  Amazingly, we got Peter to clean all his toys so he could have the tent up.  He thought it was such a fun hide out.  Even Thomas got in on the action.  He wasn’t as big of a fan.

We decided to visit the zoo.  I had the bright idea of going on a Thursday so it wouldn’t be so crowded.  Apparently others had the same thoughts.  Also, it was raining and the zoo entrance is under construction.  After running through the rain, we got in and had a good time.  The warm tropic trail felt good.  We went on the monorail as well.  It was a fun way to see the outside animals while staying dry and seated.

Dustin, Thomas and I went to Matt and Mandy’s house New Years Eve.  It was fun to get together with everyone.  Thomas slept, or tried to sleep, through most of the evening.  I think that was the latest I’ve stayed awake in forever!  Peter spent the night with Grandma and Ya Ya.  I don’t know that there is a time he doesn’t have fun while there.  The next day we all laid low and relaxed, but Peter really did it in style.

Our final Christmas gathering was at Donna and Pop Pop’s house.  There was lots of snow so we thought it would be a good idea to go early and send Peter outside.  He could play hard and enjoy the snow and then crash until the gathering started.  The plan worked and he had a great time.  Dustin convinced Denis to suit up and go out with Peter.  I’m pretty sure Dustin thought it meant he got out of freezing outside.  I made him go out anyway and take pictures.

Peter took a nice nap and then when he woke up, the family was all there and ready to have some fun.  He helped Donna be Santa and pass out the gifts.  He was excited to find out what name was on each but way more excited to hear his name.  One of the toys he received was a truck with a drill to put it together and take it apart.  While the truck is awesome, the drill is great for lots of uses.

I thought I’d throw in a picture of Mr. T on the couch.  It was cold but after countless diaper changes, the pants just seemed like way too much work.

I was trying to take pictures of the boys and no one seemed to cooperate.  Thomas was crying so Peter thought he’d try to help by roaring him.  It didn’t help.  Then Peter found his measure and proceeded to measure things instead of putting his pants on.  Dustin thought he would give Peter some inspiration by putting said pants on Thomas.  Instead of getting Peter to want to get dressed, he thought it was hilarious and wanted me to take pictures.  So in the end I got some pictures but they weren’t what I had intended from the start.  Guess that’s how life goes now.

And finally, Thomas went in for his 2 month check up.  He is the chunker coming in at 11.7 pounds already.  He is healthy and doing well.  He wasn’t a fan of the shots though.

We are the proud parents of two boys now!  It’s amazing how different life is.  It’s a lot harder but it’s a lot of fun too.  If only we could get them both to sleep when it’s night, we will be golden.

Thomas ended up coming out via c-section.  I made it all the way dilated and then his heart rate started doing funny things.  They decided to just get him out.  That was a scary and exciting ride to the other room for surgery.  It was a little nerve racking to hear the doctors and nurses talking about how they had all just woken up to come though, being that it was in the middle of the night.  He came out completely healthy.  I was worn out but couldn’t be more proud and happy to finally see my baby.

Peter came with the grandparents to meet his new brother.  The first visit, he was more excited by the buttons on my bed.  We called the nurse a few times.  He did like seeing Thomas though and was very excited to see his mom and dad.

It was wonderful to be home and be able to sleep in our own beds but I did miss that nurse call button.  That would be the ultimate gift to have one installed in our house 🙂

Peter decided that he likes to “have it,” meaning hold his brother.  He’s really good until he’s done and then just gets up.  Poor Thomas will have to learn to fend for himself at a very young age.  Peter also likes to read to him and share cars with him.  Thomas doesn’t always appreciate as much as Peter would believe.  I think it may have something to do with the shared items ending up on his head.

Peter got a big bucket of letters as one of his first Christmas gifts.  He was so excited.  As he took them out, one by one, he would proudly say a letter name.  Of course it had no correlation with what letter he actually had, except for S.  He not only knows which one is S, but what sound it makes.  Also, X means stop.

Thomas got to have his first official bath just before 3 weeks.  The icky stump finally fell off so I filled up the little tub.  He actually didn’t hate it.  I don’t know that it’s his favorite activity but he at least didn’t hate it.  The getting out part wasn’t as fun but that’s cold for anyone.  He loved the big warm towel and smelled like clean baby.

I actually don’t have two sons.  I have one baby and one rabbit.  Peter has decided to be a slightly picky eater.  He goes in phases as to whether or not he’ll eat anything.  Vegetables are almost always on the not so much side.  Randomly, he’ll eat carrots if you give it to him whole.  He needs to hop while chewing but if it works, we’ll rock it!

We visited Santa at the Masonic Day with Santa this year.  Thomas didn’t care where he was but Peter had other thoughts.  He was very interested in that Santa guy but didn’t want to get anywhere close.  Finally when I held him, he would go by him.  He proudly told Santa he wanted an awesome airplane though.  He wasn’t too shy to put in a request.

Donna held her annual Christmas party.  The house was very full of kids and their families.  Santa visited that party too.  That Santa sang songs and even handed out flashlights.  Peter decided that he was maybe ok and got all the way to sitting on his lap.  He’ll do anything for a flashlight!

Dustin and Thomas had to rest up to get ready for all of the Christmas fun.

Peter had a Christmas party at daycare.  He got a neat foam bowling set from one of the other kids.  He likes to bowl but hasn’t quite got setting the pins back up by himself yet.  He also got a Buzz Lighyear from Sheila.  We happened to watch Toy Story on tv just before that so he came home so proud.  We heard “Buzzlightyear!” too many times to count.  Peter would make him fly and even say “to immmenty and yond!”

Christmas means getting together with lots of family.  It’s great to be able to spend time with everyone and catch up on their lives.

Christmas Eve is spent with Dustin’s family.  We go to mass in the afternoon.  Both boys did awesome this year.  I was nervous about either of them having issues but Peter had gummi worms, cars, and lots of laps to go back and forth.  Dustin took Peter with him to go for communion.  Peter decided it was his chance to escape and took off running the other way.  He happily came back and made it through the rest of the service.  Thomas only squawked once.  It happened to be right when the priest told us to give everyone peace.  I guess it was his way of giving peace.  After mass we went to Dee and Mel’s house for lots of good food and conversations.  My parents came after their church service too.  It was fun night but much shorter than in past years.  With lots more gatherings to come, Peter had to get to bed.

Christmas morning Santa had come!  We told Peter to go look under the tree.  He ran out and looked out the window.  When he finally figured out what tree, he was so excited.  Santa accidentally bought foil paper and it didn’t tear at all.  He won’t do that next year… oops.  Peter was so proud of his awesome airplane that he got.  Zoey got a gift too.  She liked it but maybe not the hood part.

Then we went to my parents house to have breakfast and open gifts from the immediate family.  Peter got little airplanes that were fun but the best was a little trampoline.  He loved jumping!  Thomas didn’t get to jump quite yet.

That afternoon was off to spend time with the Bjostad side.  It was a small crew this year but still good.  Jan has two of the cutest little dogs and I ate way too much.  Peter got a set of 20 cars!  I don’t think his eyes could have gotten any bigger when he opened that paper.

Sunday was the Sackett side.  That family has the tradition of opening gifts starting with the youngest and then going in age order.  This was the first and only year Thomas got to go first.  Next year his cousin will get the honor.  He didn’t even realize how sweet he had it.

We’ll get together with Dustin’s immediate family this next weekend.  We just couldn’t fit it all in one weekend like we used to before babies.  That just means there is more to look forward to.

With all of these occasions that we looked nice and were together as a family.  I thought a family photo would be nice since we are four now.  Well it didn’t go as smoothly as I thought it would.  Here are just some of the takes.

After the big weekend of family, we are trying to enjoy a little down time together.  Thomas discovered the joys of his vibrating bouncy chair.  His eyes got huge and he couldn’t look away.  Peter thought he should play too but we have been working on the concept that not everything is for him.  I think that is going to be a life long battle.

Not surprisingly, after everything that has gone on, we got the dreaded phone call from daycare this morning.  Peter came home with a fever.  His one request when he came home was the race car channel.  He and Dustin sat in the chair and played Mario Kart until Peter crashed.

And if you’ve made it this far, you are a dedicated fan of our family!  Thank you.  We couldn’t be more happy to go into 2011 with our wonderful family and friends.