Monday, August 4, 2008

What Goes Down Must Come Up?

We are back home now. The drive back wasn't too bad. We drove from Wisconsin to Kansas City, taking a more western route back than what we took going up there. We stopped at a park alongside the Mississippi River at LaCrosse, Wisconsin. It's amazing to me how different this mighty river looks further north. I always think of the way it looks at Memphis (far less scenic and much larger). We passed through one corn field after another, and Jacob found the huge windmills quite interesting.

Jacob got a new atlas on this trip. His last one was literally tearing apart. He continually gave directions and information about the state we were driving through at any given time. I think John could get rid of his gps entirely and just use jps (jacob positioning system)!

To the title . . .what's the worst way a mom can be woken up during night? You guessed it - a sick kid. We woke up on our last night in Wisconsin with Jacob at the foot of our bed telling us that he had thrown up. I hate waking up like that, but unfortunately, that wasn't all . . . Hannah was screaming from the other bedroom. She had been sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor between the boy's beds. Jacob had thrown up ALL over her! The poor thing; it was in her hair, all down her nightgown, and on her toes! John took over cleaning up Jacob (and the small area of floor - Hannah got the brunt of it) and I took Hannah and stuck her in the tub (still screaming). Poor Jacob; I didn't really pay him any attention, and he was the one who had gotten sick. I just felt so badly for Hannah - - soooooo gross! Hannah spent the rest of the night in our bed, and Jacob went back to sleep and was fine in the morning. It must have been something he ate.

I didn't have much time after getting home to plunge into school. I started teaching a 3-day Pathwise Training session today. At least I've done this enough now that it doesn't take hear as much effort or preparation as it used to. I have fun working with Gail, the other trainer. My room is pretty much ready to go. I just have a little more work to do on it. I haven't done any of the work in the area outside my classroom. That will still take a chunk of time. I officially start my contract days on Thursday, and it's a day at my school. I'm hoping that we won't have meetings the entire time, and that I"ll be able to meet with my team, including my new team member that I have yet to meet. (Leah - - it's Ben D., the one you commented about).

Hannah started her new class at Montessori today. She seemed to have a really good day. The class isn't officially open for another two weeks, so she's in with another group of students for the time being, but it's in the room where she'll be staying. I hope tomorrow's drop off goes as well. If she's like the boys, the first day back is easy. The second . . not so much. The boys are staying with my mom, and of course, are having a blast!

John had his MRI today, and he's gotten some indication that all is normal. He also went back to the ENT. There hasn't been very much change. His hearing was tested again, and there's been no improvement with his tonal hearing, but he has improved in the area of speech sounds. He will be continuing to take prednisone for the time being. He has also been told about a doctor in Ft. Smith that specializes in this kind of problem, so he'll be deciding whether or not to go there. He's also considering going to an audiologist who worked with Jacob (and I know her from having her kids in school - - she's a neat Christian lady). He would like to consult with her about different types of hearing aids. If you want more information on his condition, and to see what he's hearing, he's going to put some links on his blog that demonstrate what his type of hearing loss sounds like.

6 comments:

Reba said...

So glad you made it back. Sorry that it was such a dramatic homecoming...I know about those sick kids in the middle of the night. I also understand why you tended to Hannah...I have a hard time with it myself. :) Glad the MRI went well. We will keep praying.
Reba

Ann said...

Katie reminded me of something that we think is worse than one kid throwing up on another. Years ago during a spring break trip, several of our family members got some bad kind of virus. One of the kids, (I think it was James.)was sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor and vomited and had diarrhea all in the sleeping bag. What made it even worse was that we were staying at the Parker's house and their toliet got stopped up during the night as we were dealing with all of this.

Katie No-Pockets said...

Yeah, in Jeremy's words, if you can live through the equivalent of The Night at the Parker's House, you can live through anything parenting can throw at you. The really worst thing as a parent is waking up to a kid puking (repeatedly) and having diarrhea in a sleeping bag at a friends house with a stopped up toilet. Pretty bad. Though, at least he didn't throw up ON anyone. Poor Hannah, I hope she isn't scarred by it - I for one would absolutely abhor being thrown up upon. Yuck!

Ann said...

Actually, Susan threw up on me one time when we were out camping. She was only two years old, so I doubt that she remembers it. We were sleeping side by side in a tent, and it was also during the night, so I was awakened by it.

Katie said...

Glad you made it back safe. I, too, can certainly feel for Hannah. Not that I've ever experienced it, but that would have definately scarred me for life. Hope not her.

Thanks for the compliment on the baby bedding. No, my mom didn't make it. She got it at Babies R Us. She did make Josh's bedding when he was a baby though, which was also very cute. I just really like this one though. It has much more detail.

Leah said...

I know that Ben is on your team!!! I emailed Kara to tell her to tell Ben to look for you and she emailed me back and said he was on your team! I don't know him that well, but I LOVE her and have heard wonderful things about him from other people I know.

I am still praying for John! Thanks for the update!