Bear Comes Home!

On Sunday (February 16th) our dear friends from Plano, the Nails came to visit.  It was so nice to see them and Jackson loved, as he put it, “feeling normal again.”  They were sad to miss Bear but it was still a really fun afternoon.

Dylan and Jack have been buddies since birth and were super close in Plano.

Jackson also loves Mr. Chris!

All of us were very sad to see Nana and Freckles go home that morning (again with the out of order pictures!).

Monday the 17th was like Christmas because Baron came home!  We were all so very excited to see our sweet little guy.  I just wanted to hug him for the entire day.  He’d had such a wonderful time and was telling us all about what he had done at Nanny and Paw Paw’s house.  With the complete craziness of the concussion and salmonella and insane number of doctor visits combined with two hospital stays, I was so glad that he had been making happy memories in Beach City.  A huge thanks to Nanny and Paw Paw for keeping our precious boy for so long.  Of course, by the end of the visit they were so happy and used to having Bear there, I was a little concerned that they wouldn’t ever bring him back.  Paw Paw teased me many times that they’d be fine with just raising him the rest of the way.  Such a God thing and a huge help to not have had to worry about him in the midst of everything that had happened.  Not to mention that time is now full of special memories for him.  God really did so many things that showed me His love and provision during that time.  It’s amazing to look back and see all of the things that worked out just perfectly!

And, Jackson had been so very helpful to me during Lincoln’s sickness that I don’t know what I would have done without him.  He is such a loving and kind guy (when he wants to be) and was so very sweet with Lincoln.

Lincoln was getting stronger and stronger each day and I was so happy to see him getting back to normal. 

Unfortunately, normal for Lincoln involves a lot of frustrated screaming and crying.  But, none the less, it was far preferable to his poor little self being sick and weak!

Just having the boys all at the same table made my heart leap.  Ahhh, the delight of normalcy.

They were all pretty excited to watch the shrinky dinks shrink.

I never have many days without being brought a flower with 3 sweet sons.  And this guy, man was I glad to have him back.

Lincoln had been absolutely loving a delicious chili that Nana made for us when she was here.  So, when he quickly finished his bowl and asked for more I gave him more chili. . .because that was what he was eating and loved.  However, when Lincoln says “more,” he could mean more of what he just devoured 5 seconds ago or he could mean more of anything that he’s ever seen or tasted in his entire life. . .including in utero.  And if you chose poorly when you respond to “more,” well, me might just scream and throw the dish at you.  It’s really lovely.  Cleaning chili off of so many surfaces gave me a great excuse to try out some new cleaning products.
The silver lining is that at least he was eating some.  He’d eaten more in the 2 days since he’d been released from the hospital than all of the prior days of his life. . .combined.

And then sometimes he is really happy with what he has in front of him.  He likes to keep us guessing.

The non-family person who Baron had missed the most was definitely Clara.  He was thrilled to let her know that he was home and they had a lot of play dates in his first days back.

Then on the third week of February, Jackson was cleared to play (some) outside!  He couldn’t run or play on anything with wheels, or a variety of other things but he could be outside with friends for extended periods of time.  That was HUGE.  His first venture out brought several neighborhood kids to play in the backyard.  I had to keep a loose eye on him so it was great that they all wanted to play on the swing set.

All was great and I had removed the nerf guns and toys that I thought might encourage the boys to get too rowdy.  Apparently some kids had brought a few things to play with and of course they got a bit out of hand.  One neighborhood kid was (according to him) just playing and accidentally banged Jackson right in the forehead (right on the incision) with the blunt end of a hard plastic light saber.  Jackson then instinctively punched the kid in the nose. 

Yes, little boys are a bit like primates and I’m quite out of my element but I will say it felt like a major mommy fail to call the brain surgeon who runs the concussion clinic and let him know that in day 1 of playing outside Jack had been attacked with a light saber.  Mom of the year right there.  Oh well, I’m sure he’s seen and heard worse and surprisingly CPS didn’t show up and take me away.

The “incident” very quickly ended the play date as Jackson had a massive migraine from the hit. 

Luckily a bath with his brother helped him to feel a bit better.

His head had started bleeding at the top right after he was hit.  Thankfully it stopped after the bath but you can see the goose egg at the top of his scar.  Poor buddy couldn't catch a break with his head.

But, at least he could be outside.  With that freedom regained, not much could keep him down!

Dell Children’s Take Two and Valentine’s Day 2014

The day that poor Lincoln was released from Dell Children’s he was still pretty miserable. 

My sweet friend, Lucy, brought Jackson a gift bag of goodies to brighten his spirits during his concussion.  The concussion restrictions combined with the salmonella made our house a pretty crazy place.  I must say though, that Jackson was insanely helpful and so super sweet while Lincoln was sick.  He really was my partner in dealing with all of the hideous throwing up and diarrhea that poor Lincoln was plagued with.

Gaga was still at our house and despite being really sick with a random stomach bug, she still got a lot of Jackson time in.

These two are so very close!

Poor Lincoln couldn’t even stand or walk when he got home from Dell.  He was still too weak.  It broke my heart to see him so sick.

Lincoln had come home from the hospital on February 9th and mom had stayed until Monday, the 10th because she was too sick to drive on Sunday.  The night of the 10th I got a call from the hospital that Lincoln’s test results showed that he had salmonella.  WHAT?!  I had NO idea that salmonella was common and had never known anyone who had had it.  We determined that it *might* have come from the Austin Aquarium but really we have no idea.  Anyway, that completely caught both Jay and I off guard. 

On the 11th (which was Jay’s 37th birthday) Lincoln was having a really hard time.  He’d been up sick most of the night.  I was obviously getting up with him since he was nursing.  And at this point he was nursing around the clock.   I was a serious zombie.  Exhaustion had been passed days ago and I was just in crazy survival mode. 
So, I had great plans of a wonderful birthday for Jay, but sweet little Lincoln was just miserable and started screaming that morning.  He didn’t take a nap and basically screamed ALL day.  Something was definitely not right.  So, when Jay got home from work I took Lincoln back to the emergency room at Dell Children’s Hospital.  They immediately admitted him and did lots of testing thinking that he had a variety of problems and telling me that he might need an abdominal surgery. 

Our family and friends were praying like crazy for our teeny man.  Jenna offered to fly down and help out but I felt like things were very manageable.  Jay’s boss let him work from home so that he could keep an eye on Jackson and Baron (who I missed so badly that I almost cried thinking about him) was still at the Osby’s. 

My precious baby was still screaming after being given morphine and two other pain killers via iv.  It took 3 doses of morphine before he finally passed out.  Sleeping for 6 hours would have been amazing but I was thankful that he at least slept for 3.  We were put on a higher level floor at Dell this time because Lincoln had to get potassium via iv as well. 

My heart was breaking knowing that Lincoln was in so much pain that it took all of these drugs to get him to sleep.

The love I feel for this incredible little guy is so far beyond what I can express with words.   

The next day I was able to get Lincoln to drink some juice.  He stayed pretty doped up but was definitely improving.

I also put these two pictures together.  My little buddy, Bear Bear in the hospital, only a few days old and then again at 3.  Baron has taught me so many lessons and brought incalculable joy to my heart and  our family.  When I was pregnant with Baron I was afraid that I couldn’t love two children as much as I loved Jackson.  I just couldn’t picture how I would effectively divide that maternal love that Jackson had brought out in me.  Baron’s arrival instantly taught me that I would never have to divide my love between my (at the time) two boys.  God instead multiplied it beyond what I could ever have imagined.  This silly, sweet, affectionate and cherished little boy makes my days worth living.  He’s the little boy that all of the teachers instantly fall in love with and that people always comment on his adorable face and that crazy, curly hair.  I love this little boy and it was so hard to not be there for his birthday but thankfully Lincoln’s situation helped me not to dwell on it for too long.  And, obviously I was immensely grateful that he was so well taken care of and getting the full time and attention of TWO beloved grandparents.  It was a pretty special time for my middle man.

Back to the world of salmonella and concussions.  Jay brought Jackson up to the hospital because he had an appointment at the brain surgeon’s concussion clinic.  So, Jay stayed with Lincoln and I walked with Jackson, the concussion clinic was very conveniently located next door to Dell.  I clearly remember walking and holding Jackson’s hand and saying a little prayer.  I was just thanking God for the health of my children.  And thanking Him that to us, these two issues have been an enormous disturbance to our healthy and blessed lives.  I can’t even fathom what parents of truly sick kids go through.  I’ve thought of and prayed for those parents many times since this incident.

Jack loves to take silly pictures.

Jackson even got Lincoln to smile a little bit.

After Jackson’s appointment, which went well, Nana called and said that she was on her way to Austin to help out.  I was SO excited and thankful to have her at the house!  Not only could she take care of Jackson (so that Jay could go to work) but when Lincoln and I got home she could help me balance the current special needs of the two boys.

That night poor Lincoln could not sleep.  I walked the halls of the hospital for 4 straight hours just praying that he would fall asleep so that I could lay down.  Anytime I stopped walking he would pop up and start screaming. 

I tried getting him to go to sleep in his crib.  No luck.

The next day, which was Valentine’s Day, we were released, again!  Leaving Dell after our second 3 day stay made me very happy.  Lincoln was so sleep deprived and had only had one 3 hour stretch of sleep in 11 days.  He’d of course slept more than that, but not consecutively.

This was the first time that Lincoln had stood up by himself in almost a week.  Watching him get stronger was so encouraging!

He was pretty bummed that we had to leave the red wagon there, but I was just fine seeing it go.

Right after I got the news that we were going to be released on Valentine’s Day I got a text from my sweet neighbor that she was bringing us dinner that night.  It’s so amazing how God used a pretty stressful time to show us so much love from so many friends and family.  It really surprised me how many people (that we barely knew) from our Sunday school class brought us meals.  And Janie, the sweetest neighbor ever, who has been incredibly kind since we moved to Austin.

That afternoon I heated up some delicious and spicy Indian food that my friend, Supriya, had brought a few days prior.  Just for grins I put it in front of Lincoln and he went crazy for it.  He seriously ate SO much and then wanted more.  It was awesome to see him feeling so much better and also to see him EATING FOOD!  It seemed like a pretty awesome turning point.

Nana and Jackson love to work on projects together.  This afternoon they were making bracelets on the rainbow loom.  And I don’t know why I don’t have a picture of it (perhaps I was slightly distracted?)  but Nana and Papa had sent Jackson an awesome lego kit that was assembled this day as well.

I had made this plate for myself but was more than happy to keep refilling Lincoln’s dish with it.

Finally, he was a happy boy!

Being released from the hospital on Valentine’s day made it a little difficult to do much for Jay (and his birthday had been a pretty big bummer as well) but I did scour pinterest to find something that I could give him.  I ended up doing a “52 things I love about you” give with each quality that I love being written on a playing card.  At first (with my fatigued brain) I thought, 52 things?!?  But as I started writing them down I realized that I’d have to narrow my list down to only 52.  I’m a pretty blessed woman to have such a great man.

Lincoln’s arms were pretty bruised from his hospital stays.

Janie brought over 3 amazing bags of food for our Valentine’s dinner.

Yum!

Lincoln wanted nothing to do with anything other than the Indian food.

The rest of us really enjoyed every bit of the dinner!

I was able to briefly sneak out and get cards and little treats for Jay, Jackson and Laura.  It was so nice having Nana with us and I really appreciated my dad supporting her coming down to help which left him alone for all of Valentine’s weekend.

Lincoln was like a new kid that night.  Seeing him so lively really showed me how very sick he had been.  I’m still a little amazed that he was released from Dell (the first time) despite not even being able to stand up or walk.  Poor buddy didn’t have a chance without gaining back some strength first.

Lincoln loves Freckles!

A friend sent me this and it definitely resonated with me.

On Saturday, Nana got sick.  I mean, seriously, first Gaga comes and gets sick and now Nana.  It was a little disturbing and I was wondering what was going on with our house to make everyone sick!?
Lincoln however, was on the mend!  He had a ball playing with Emma in Todd’s car.  He was dancing and blaring the music.  Red head party was on!

Thankfully Nana started feeling better Saturday night because she had to leave fairly early on Sunday morning to get back and get ready for work on Monday. 

Praise the Lord that Lincoln just continued to improve after this and after 14 straight days of getting sick each and every day. . .on February 17th he wasn’t sick at all!  Thanks so much to all of our friends and family who called/texted/sent gifts/meals/etc.  We love you all and are so very grateful for each and every one of you.  And a huge thanks to Gaga and Nana for coming to visit and help out and also to the Osby’s for taking such amazing care of our Bear.