Monday, September 30, 2013

Still here!

I am still here! My blog posts have been sparse in the past few months. It was a busy summer and even busier fall. The kids are doing great. 

Lauren just celebrated her fifth birthday but she insists she is six. Why you ask? She had two parties therefore she had a fifth birthday party so her second party had to have been her sixth birthday party. I'm not sure how we are going to fix this snafu. She is so stubborn and my tactics have yet to change her mind! Oh well. I guess we will skip being five and have to explain the mathematical error to her when she is older and we can embarrass her! This is one of the fun reasons to write a blog, memories are logged forever!

As for Logan, life is good. I have to knock on wood when I say that. Lauren was sick with a fever last week and I was sure that Logan would catch it. So far so good. I thank that trach every day for the improved quality of life for Logan. It's seems odd to say but it is true. He is doing great at preschool. His nurses say that they keep him busy the entire time. It sounds like his school has some awesome adapted equipment. I am jealous! I want spin art hooked to a switch for Logan! I guess that is what makes school so special for him. 

Soon Logan will celebrate his third birthday. Wow, he is getting so big. There were many days that I didn't think we would be celebrating his third birthday. As we creep closer and closer to November, the memories of his last illness rush back like it was yesterday. We almost lost him. Wow, what a blessing we have been given. Life is so fragile yet Logan powers through it like a body builder! I can't wait to blog about his party! 

So for now, updates may be few and far between as we adjust to having both kids in preschool, tons of family fall birthdays, and mommy starting a full time job. Thanks for keeping Logan and our family in your prayers. We are coming up on flu season. It is a scary time of year for families like ours so make sure you think long and hard about immunizing yourself. We cannot live in a bubble but we can do our part to not pass germs like influenza and pertussis with the help of vaccines. It is a very personal choice but please think of those in your community with compromised immune systems when deciding to vaccinate or not. 

Ok, now off my soap box! Can you blame a momma for trying? Hope to write again soon...


Friday, September 13, 2013

Back to School

Logan and Lauren started preschool this week. This is Lauren's second year and Logan's first. We started with orientation last week. 
   
Here is Logan scoping out his new class at open house
Logan's school has a lift like an elevator to get him down to class. The lift was a little scary at first!


This is Logan's locker (a little obvious I guess!)



Lauren's first day of preschool was Monday. This year she has a new teacher and a new crew of classmates. I think she will do well. 


I

Waiting at the curb for the school bus. 


Here it comes!

What a lucky kid, he gets his own special door onto the bus. He is a little king. Plus he is the cool kid that sits in the back!


See you later bubba! 

This is when I lost it in tears! Lauren was almost in tears as well. She wanted to go with him to help him at school. She is the best sis ever! 


Here are some play by plays from Logan's nurse. She said he stayed awake almost the entire time! 


The day has come to an end! Little man is exhausted. Mission accomplished!


Welcome home Logan. If he only knew how much Lauren missed him. She pestered me the entire time he was gone asking when he would be home. It was a new and confusing experience for  her. Normally Logan stays at home with Joel or his nurse while Lauren and I go out. Otherwise he is with us. Today he was not at home and not with us! 

We all survived. I pulled it together after he left for school. Lauren finally calmed down when he came home. I don't think I have ever seen her give him so many kisses. Those two have such a special bond!

The rest of the preschool week was smooth. Lauren is making friends and Logan is supplying us with endless amounts of artwork from class! 

















Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Minnesota Twins

I am very behind with blogging. We have been a busy family over the past couple of weeks. As summer winds down we have seemed to go into high gear with activities. Two weeks ago our family had an opportunity to attend a Minnesota Twins baseball game. Logan's physical therapist hooked us up! We were put in touch with Lizz at the Twins who made bucket list item #1 come true.
 
Lizz and a few others at the Twins made our wildest dreams come true and I hope Logan was as excited as we were. We were able to attend batting practice on the field, meet a few players, and watch the game from some great seats. It was a blast!
 
We are so blessed to have been given this opportunity. Family time for us normally consists of hanging out at home in the yard with family, friends, and neighbors. We tend to stay close to home out of comfort and habit. Taking a child out and about with a tracheostomy and feeding tube can be challenging.
 
Lizz, who works for the Twins bent over backwards for us. She had the gate attendant ready when we arrived and she quickly came to meet us. We were given fun game memorabilia. Lizz also had a bag of goodies including candy, a game ball, and a scorecard.
 
She gave us a tour as we walked to the field entrance. We learned fun tidbits about the stadium along the tour. It was overwhelming walking onto the field. It was so big, clean, and green! The weather was perfect. Sunny and warm with a little breeze. The players were just starting batting practice. Lizz had us stand behind home plate next to the dugout. It was amazing to stand there and look out at the field. It was beautiful!
 
Lizz introduced us to some of the Twins staff members, an FSN newscaster, and she pointed out some of the game announcers and even a former Twins player that made it to the World Series. Bear with me, I am doing my best to describe this in baseball lingo and trust me, this post may have been better from Joel's perspective!
 
Next we met some of the players! They were all so kind and took the time to meet Logan and our family, talk with us, and sign the game ball and a Team Logan shirt. After being starstruck we headed to our seats which were on the main concourse behind home plate. We had plenty of space for the wheelchair and were not squished into bleachers! Lauren loved being able to watch the game and run around in our little space too. She was such a good girl! I hope she remembers it!
 
To follow are some of the photos highlighting our experience. We had such a great time and Lizz and all the staff made us feel so special. Lizz helped us make memories that will last a lifetime. Logan may not remember it someday but we will. We will remember the look on his face as he met the players, flirted with the ladies, and cheered the players on. 
 
GO TWINS! 
 
 
On the way to the game, probably the only picture you will see of our nurse Cora. We couldn't have done it without her!
 

 
Our version of a family picture! Lauren wasn't in the mood for posing. She preferred Logan's chair, the team yearbook, and candy!
 

This is one of my favorites!

 
 


 
Lizz gave Lauren a previously used game ball. She acquired a ball hit in batting practice too!


 
 
Logan was a total flirt! Lizz is in the red jacket.

 
Joe Mauer getting ready to hit. What a view we had!

 
Logan met Josh Willingham. He was so nice and had Logan's attention immediately.


 
Logan met Kyle Gibson (pitcher)

 
Kyle shook Lauren's hand. We missed the photo. Here she is getting her ball signed. He also asked if she wanted to put on his glove. She became shy Lauren and hid behind Logan's chair. I think she had a crush on him! He was so sweet to her.

 
Justin Morneau was over visiting the kids seen in the right of this picture in the chairs. He turned around and saw Logan and came right over to say hi.

 
Justin was so nice and just a "normal" guy. He talked about his family and asked us questions. He offered to sign our ball and take a picture and Joel did a great job getting all the players we met to sign the Team Logan shirt. Justin wrote, "To Team Logan, all the best, Justin Morneau"

 
I swear I didn't mean to be the only one in the photos with Logan and the players!

 
Joe Mauer didn't have a chance to stop and say hi right after he left the field as he had a cut on his finger that needed to be taped. Josh Willingham noticed Joe hadn't signed the Team Logan shirt so he told us he would get him to come up. Ten minutes later and no Joe so we started to plan on heading to our seats. Lizz's boss was so kind and went to the clubhouse and asked Joe to come meet Logan. As you can see he came and was very kind to take the time to meet Logan. Thanks Joe!

 
A tuckered out little boy! This was one of very few moments where he closed his eyes. He tried so hard the entire game to stay awake. At first it was too loud and he was upset but after a while he became accustomed to the noise and it did not bother him.

Our bat girl!


 
The view from our seats!







 

 

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Noise making

Logan had another try with the passy-muir valve this evening. The respiratory therapist came over to trial it and after a short period of restlessness, Logan again became accustomed to it. We will trial it one more time on Monday and then get official doctors orders directing how and when we can use it. I have attached a short video with some noise making. He was pretty relaxed at the time and was cooing at me. He continues to melt my heart!

http://youtu.be/sOGRnZEc0Jw