If It's On T.V. It Must Be True...

Zach: Is it bad to put milk in the microwave?
Me: Why?
Zach: To have warm milk.
Me: No
Zach: (Goes off to make warm milk)

Dave and I look at each other. Okaaaay....

Later-
Me: Did you get your warm milk Zach?
Zach:  It was gross.
Me: What made you want it?
Zach: From watching t.v. and movies.  They all talk about warm milk and my friends at Breakaway said they drink it at night to help them sleep.
Me: (Doubled over in laughter) Good night, Zach.
Zach: (Smiling a little) Good night.

First Day of School

It's hard to believe but this guy is a sophomore this year. Where has the time gone? I swear just yesterday I was sending him to Kindergarten.

It has been nicer this year because he drives himself to school so he doesn't leave until almost 7 and we have been able to see him more in the mornings. Wait...did I just say he is driving himself to school? I did. Yikes. He has his school permit so he can drive to school if he has sports or other school related activities. This is a huge deal for us to not have to get him to cross country every day. It's awesome.

And he still let me take his picture. I'm loving it:)

Cross country has been kind of a bummer for us this year. He was cleared to start running on his knee that had surgery. He is supposed to take it easy for a few weeks to see how it does. But he has been having pain in both of his knees and now he rides his bike while the others run. We will be returning to IC on mon. to make a decision on what to do about it.

That's alot of Metal

Health problems run in families. It's called genetics. I have a good friend with three children in glasses. None of my children need glasses. They have great eyesight. But what they don't have is great teeth.

I posted a picture of Trey and his braces.

But look at Zach's teeth. They are really crooked too. His word to the orthodontist was jenke.

He gets braces too!
He's not very happy about it.

So just for kicks, let's look at Lexi's teeth. She has two permanent teeth that have absolutely no space to come in.

So she gets braces too!

Three kids in braces. What were we thinking?

I was asking myself that tonight as I was scouring the grocery store for food they can eat. They are in some serious pain:(

What's that you say? I have another child? Might as well look at her teeth too.

Today she asked me"Mommy, when I get big, I get braces too?"

Probably, Leah. Probably.

Salad

Zach's last orchestra concert was tonight. There was a potluck, awards and then the concert. We were supposed to take a meat dish and a salad (which I learned at 4:45 today) so we ran to Hy-Vee and I grabbed some chicken and the ingredients for Ceasar salad. You may remember my surprise that my family even liked Ceasar salad so it may seem wierd but that's what I decided to take.

Well let me just say that I was surprised again! I filled my Tupperware That's A Bowl with salad and it was gone! A bunch of high schoolers and their parents ate my salad! It makes me so happy:)

Oh, and the concert was really good too:) Zach is an amazing bass player.

Hero Worship

Leah loves her brother Zach. She really loves him. She idolizes him.

So when Zach had surgery on his knee, Leah decided she had an owie too:)

Zach

So Zach's surgery went REALLY WELL yesterday:) We were happy to hear that the doctor had no problems at all. He actually said it was better than he had expected once he got in there. He was able to clean up the lesion and hopes that Zach will heal completely and maybe not even need to do the other knee. Yay!
Zach was pretty funny in the pre-op room. Everyone who knows Zach knows that he is not shy and not afraid of talking to adults. The nurse asks if there are any final questions and Zach says "yes, I have two". He wanted to know if he could get a dvd of his procedure and he wanted to know if he could get a handicapped parking sticker for school. Say what?? Dave and I knew he was going to ask for a video. But the handicapped part? No. No we did not know that. The nurse looked at him like she was trying not to smile and said "you need to ask the doctor that". So he did. And he told him they don't do video but he would get some pretty cool still photos. And you want a handicapped sign? Sure! Dave and I just cracked up. He was very groggy coming out of anesthesia and slept most of the way home. We got him settled at home and got his cold pack machine hooked up. This thing is cool. It looks like a heating pad that you wrap around your knee and it's connected to a machine with water in it that cycles through and keeps it at a constant cold temp. It's cool! Dave and are wondering when we can snag it for our knees:) After he rested and slept awhile, I heard a thump, thump, thump on the stairs and who should appear but Zach. Here I thought he would be in the bed for a couple days and totally out of it and totally in pain. But never underestimate the power of youth and strength and good health. He has been up and walking around and we have stretched his pain meds and he is in almost no pain. Amazing. Of course, this is only the first day and I'm not naive. I know he could get worse and I know he needs to rest. So I've been the mean rest police. But he'll get over it. We are very pleased with his progress so far. And very, very thankful for all the prayers and well wishes. We have the best family and friends ever!:)

Zach's New Room

We are making a new room for Zach in the basement. Help me paint, Leah! Look at all those boards. Orange! And look at all those outlets for Electronics Boy. This is where his built-in desk will go.His room's going to be great. He is also going in for surgery on Tuesday. Yikes! Pray for us!

Another Update on Zach's Knees

We had our big appt. in Iowa City. Basically, this doctor is not convinced that Zach has OCD. However, whether or not it has a name is not the point because he still has a defect on the back of both patellas. We have some options to consider but basically it came down to-without surgery he won't recover enough to be able to run during high school. We have scheduled his surgery for his right knee (the worst one) on April 12th. They will do a laproscopic surgery which means they will make two slits and insert a camera to look at the lesion. Depending on what he sees, he has two options. Number 1 is microfracture which involves poking holes in his kneecap to cause bleeding and therefore scar tissue will build up and heal over the lesion so it doesn't swell anymore. This will be fibrocartilage and not the hyaline cartilage he was born with. You can't regrow that cartilage. If the doctor thinks the lesion is worse than that surgery could help, then number 2 will happen. They will cut him open further, pull back the kneecap and place a cartilage "plug" that they take from a different part of his knee. That is obviously more invasive but it is a good option to be able to do it right then and not have a separate surgery. He will have to miss about a week of school but then can go back with crutches. It was a whole lot for me to process and I'm still working on it.

Zach's Knees

If you read this post and this post, you know we were going back to the doctor to get the results of his second MRI and to see what else the doctor could tell us. We saw the MRI and it is almost a mirror image of the first one. The doctor gave us alot of information on OCD and was honest and forthcoming about the procedures that he performs and what they entail and how long the recovery time would be. He thinks that Zach should make a good enough recovery to still be able to run in the future. And then he said, "This is what I do but there are other procedures out there and it would be prudent for you to get a second or even third opinion before making your decision."
"Where do we go for that?" I asked.
He said, "There are few places here in the Quad Cities that do these kinds of procedures but the only one I would recommend for his case is Dr. Amendola at the Uof I Sports Medicine Center."
Dave said, "That's where we want to go."
Since you can't just run off to Iowa City and get an appt. to see this doctor, Dr. Hussain is sending a referal to his office and they will call us to set up a time when we can go and meet him. It's funny, my coworker said that we should go to him because she just had knee surgery, so when Dr H. said his name I was able to say I had heard of him.
In the meantime, while we wait, I am praising God for sending us to the right place and through the right channels. And to this doctor who is very knowledgable and gracious enough to recommend a second opinion. We were prepared to ask for one but it's good to know he did the right thing and we didn't have to.

Update on Zach's Knees

Well, Dr. Ellis recommended we see Dr. Hussain for Zach's knees. He's a surgeon so it's not surprising that he wants to do surgery. He said Zach has a disease called Osteochondritis Dissecans or OCD. You can look it up online but it is a disease that is rare but is found in teenagers. The cause of it is up to alot of speculation but the doctor has said that most probably, it is nothing he has done, it just happens. He ordered an MRI on his other knee so we did that last week. We go in this week to see the results and talk about the next step. He already told us that he wants to do surgery on both knees, first the left and then the right. The part that surprised us was that he doesn't think Zach should be involved in running sports. He says that when his knees are fixed, the scar tissue will be weaker than the original cartilage so there will be a chance for reinjury. This will be something we will discuss on Wednesday. Dave and I will both be there to ask questions and talk about other options and getting another opinion. At this point, nothing has been decided so we don't really know the next step, but we are hoping and praying that we have a good visit on Wednesday. We don't want Zach to never be able to run again so we will do what we need to do to get the right care for him.
More to come after Wednesday...

Zach's Knees

Zach has been having swelling and some pain in his knees since last summer. We took him to the doctor last week because it was steadily getting worse. We could tell there was fluid and his trainer at school recommended a sports physician at ORA. As soon as Dr. Ellis came into the room, I knew we were in the right place. She was full of knowledge and I was thankful we would have an answer quickly.



But I was wrong on the quick part. After examining him, she ordered x-rays. Which turned out to be normal. Good to know that structurally, all was good. Next step was to draw out fluid to be tested. Clear fluid would be best but she said it may be cloudy which would lend itself to infection. As soon as she started to draw it, my heart sank. It was red. She said, "This is not at all what I was expecting." She explained that at Zach's age, this should not be happening and she would order an MRI to hopefully get to the bottom of it.



So he had the MRI. On Thursday, we went in to get the results. Thankfully, all the lab work was normal which ruled out infection and juvenile arthritis. So thankful for that. Also thankful that the MRI showed the answer. He has a defect in the articular cartilage behind his patela. She explained it as a pothole in the smooth lining of the cartilage that was somehow disrupted and was causing blood in the joint. Because his knees are both having the same symptoms, she is certain an MRI on the other knee would show the same thing. More than likely, this has been caused by a fall on both knees that we just don't remember.

She has refered us to another doctor in her ORA group who specializes in cartilage damage in the knees. He just transfered here from his position as the sports physician for the UCLA (Bruins? I can't remember if this is the team she said). Anyway, he is a surgeon so more than likely, he will want to operate on Zach's knees to fix the cartilage. Although she's not sure, he might have some other things to try first, we just have to wait and see what he says. If he has to have surgery, it will be an outpatient procedure and it will be on the left knee first. Then he will have another MRI for the other knee and surgery on that one.
She seems to think that after we have it fixed, he will have a full recovery and be able to return to sports.

To tell you the truth, I am relieved to have an answer and to know that it wasn't something that showed in the lab work. That would have been trickier to treat the doctor agrees that this is better, even though it means possible surgery.

Thanks in advance for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

On Being Zach's Mother

Sometimes I am still surprised to have a child who is so exactly the opposite of me. Today was a perfect example. We are out and about for the day, just the two of us. Right now we are sitting at Starbucks because he is doing a homework project. Earlier, we decided to go to Chick-fil-A for lunch and low and behold, Zach runs into a friend that he met a couple of weeks ago at Breakaway. So he comes over to the table and says, "I just invited some people to sit with us". I'm thinking okaaayyyy. Granted, the place was packed since it's a Saturday. So this friend and his dad come over and sit with us for lunch. Can you say ackward? Of course, we were all very accomodating and got to know each other. Zach got quite a kick out of it afterwards asking me what I thought. I'm very happy that he doesn't have a problem meeting and talking to new people. Also that he is able to converse with adults. It's an important trait to have. The whole thing surprised me a bit but I have learned with Zach not to be surprised by out-of-the-box behavior. The kid's a nut. In a good way:)

Pumpkin Party Pooper

I have given myself a nickname. The Pumpkin Party Pooper. I usually take a million pictures of my kids at our church's annual party. This year I have none. Not because I forgot to take the camera, but because I took the camera with a dead battery in it. Bummer.

I did get a picture e-mailed to me. Thanks, Dawn!
Today Leah decided she needed to wear her costume so at least I have some pictures of her.

Homecoming

Zach and his friend Jessica

How many families can say DE JA VU?!

First Day

It has been a day of goodbyes for me. First Zach, then the others. Alexis was extremely nervous. She has been not sleeping well for about a week and when she finally told me what the problem was I was able to help her a bit. It also helped to visit the teacher for unpack your backpack yesterday. She seemed fine this morning. Just first day jitters.

Leah, on the other hand, was convinced she was going to school too. When I dropped them off, she got out of the car and started walking to the school. After Dave got her back into the car, she cried all the way home. Good thing she wasn't awake when Zach left today.

My Big Little Boy

Today is a big day. Zach's first day of high school! Where has all the time gone? And why don't I feel old enough to have a son in high school?

A better question is, how are we going to wake up at 6:00 every day?

Firecracker Run

Our family tried something new this year on the 4th of July. We ran a race together!

Well, together may be stretching it, but we were all there.

Zach zoomed ahead and finished in less than 24 minutes.

Dave, Lexi and Leah stuck together. Lexi was able to run the whole thing without walking! They finished in 36 minutes. Way to go Lexi! And Leah enjoyed her stoller ride:)

Trey and I jogged/walked our way to a 48 minute finish! I'm not sure he enjoyed it all that much but it will come with practice.

I'll tell you one part we ALL enjoyed. Going to Village Inn afterwards for pancakes and chocolate milk! That right there is enough motivation to make this a tradition!

Cousin Fun!

We are vacationing right now. We have come to visit my sister Laura and her family. They live close to Creston, IA on a farm. I love, love, love visiting them out in the country. It's beautiful and quiet and there's a ton of stuff for the kids to do.

Although sometimes it's fun to get off the farm too.

Today our outing was to the pool! The kids loved it.

Laura's kids have had swimming lessons so they did really well in the pool. Hi Thomas!

Last year, Trey clung to me and didn't really want to be let go. Maybe it's the growth spurt he went through this year and the fact that he can reach better. I don't know but this time he was happy to just walk back and forth and entertain himself.

Alexis had a bunch of fun jumping off the side.

And this one. I have no idea where she came from. She wanted to go straight to the big pool (which starts at 3 ft.) and was trying to swim. I don't remember taking her to a pool since she was a baby, so this was really surprising. She kept wanting to climb up on the edge and JUMP into my arms. Not shyly step into the water. Jump. Repeatedly. Even after she got her face dunked a few times. She enjoyed joining Aunt Laura and her girls in the baby pool for awhile but then she was right back to me in the big pool. Surprised doesn't begin to describe my feeling on the matter. It was a lot fun. Everyone enjoyed this trip!

cousins

My kids have great relationships with all of their cousins. I'm so thankful that they enjoy being together. They constantly ask about cousins near and far. Growing up, I was close with some of my cousins but certaintly not all. One of my favorite things to do when we are with cousins on either side of the family, is to watch the interaction of the different ages. I want my kids to be close to and be able to interact with lots of different cousins when they get older. Not just the ones closest to them in age. They have a great start!

These pictures are from Easter this year.

This is my side of the family and there are 13 more who don't live close enough to be home for Easter.

These are Dave's parents with all the grandkids. And one more will be added this summer!

This is the time of year when we start looking forward to the summer and trips we will be taking to see cousins. Our kids get so excited they can hardly stand themselves!