Belated Easter from Grandma

Vidal's mom sent the kids some Easter stuff but it got here a bit late. I told her they wouldn't care what day it got here, they would just be happy for stuff to open.

The kids and their baskets from Grandma. click to see bigger. And they really do own clothes, they just don't like wearing them.

Logey and his basket and stuffed animal that Jaden has proclaimed his and is now named "Cutie Cuddles."

Homeschool

Want to know what a typical day of home school looks like for us? Well, not completely typical since 75% of the time Cristian does his work at the table but still.

Cristian doing school work while I cook.

What the little ones do while Cristian does his homework and I cook.

And just because it's cute, this is what Logan has learned: to crawl up onto the couch. The world is his now.

His brothers are quickly finding out that their toys are no longer safe with baby on the prowl.

Sweet big brother Cristian

On Monday my sweet big boy Cristian put his baby brother down for a nap while I was making a million and one phone calls related to Logan's health care.

Don't they look sweet together?

Tummy bug for Logey

Poor little guy has a low grade fever and what looks like a tummy bug. Hopefully it will disappear soon.

Easter pics

Yesterday was Easter and we had a great day! We went to church at 8:15 am. Yes, it is amazing that I got all of us there on time. Well, 10 mins late but I always say " 10 minutes late is the new on time." Well, at least for our family. After church we came home and had brunch which was bagels with salmon, cream cheese, and fresh tomatoes. YUMMM!!!! We did our Easter egg hunt quickly. Then we reluctantly sent Vidal off to work and the littles and I went to take a nap. It was such an awesome nap. I haven't gotten them both to nap at the same time in such a long time. It usually requires me lying down with them and that doesn't normally happen. Afterwards Mimi and Nana came over and we made lunch. It was a vegitarian meal and it was so good. We actually got everybody to bed at a decent hour. Another yay me!

Oh yeah, and at some point between all that the Easter bunny came to our house and dropped stuff off. : )Easter baskets in the morning.

The boys at church.Before they started hunting. double click for bigger pic.Jaden with his new dancing bunnyCristian finding an egg.

Logan hunting for eggs. Not sure why but I LOVE this picture.

Jaden crying because Cristian found more eggs than him. Can you tell who needed a nap?Jaden swinging.Logan relaxing on his Mimi and looking mighty ready for a nap himself.

Easter egg dying

The boys had a great time Easter egg dying and I think that I have perfected not letting them make a huge mess while doing it. Yay me!Jaden dying his eggs

Cristian dying eggs--Yes, he does own clothes.What Logan was doing while they were dying eggs.

Sleepy baby.

=What happens when babies forget to take their naps?
This.

And just because it's so cute.

And one more.

Of course, two seconds later the dog walked over him and nap was done. Awww... but the peace and quiet was so nice for those 5 minutes.

Easter bunny pictures

I haven't downloaded them yet but I wanted to leave a space for them so I don't forget.

Jaden's head.

After we left Corpus we went and took Easter bunny pictures and had dinner. Then we came home and I tried to get the big boys in bed. Since they had taken a "nap" in the car they were a bit hyper. After I tucked them in I told them to lie down and then I left the room for a minute to get online and update. About 3 minutes later I hear a thud followed by a "waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa." So of course I run in there and I see Jaden on the floor face down so pick him up and put him on his bed and I'm looking for any injury and finally I see it, blood. One of every mother's worst sight. So we debate on taking him in for stitches and finally I win out because it looks like a hole still can't figure out what it was he fell on-- a toy of some sort. Use this as the perfect opportunity to say, if there weren't so many toys on your floor....... We get to the emergency room and we wait and wait. We got there about 11:00 and we left at 5:30 am. Not that I blame them, this wasn't a true emergency just that if we had waited it would have scarred worse. Jaden did amazingly well in the ER. He was in full cute mode. It's probably because he knew mommy was tired and couldn't have handled him being extremely fussy. He even got a CT scan and just laid there really still. I was so proud of him. The little boy next to us had a similar injury and he cried all night. I would think the judgemental "My son is so much more brave." But, I know in reality that it was totally the mood of the child. Had Jaden have gotten hurt and been in a fussy mood he probably would have wailed all night too. Well, here are some pics of his injury.

Jaden's "hole"

On his way to the CT scan.Laying so still.All smiles from this boy. And I can't believe I have yet to get a picture of him after his staples were put in. I'll have to take a picture and add it later.

Logey Nephrology Update

Well, we had a visit with Dr Al-Akash in Corpus on Tuesday. Nothing changed much. His Suplena has been increased to 2 cans and the pediasure discontinued. I'm so excited about this because it should mean better weight gain. He increased his Aranesp injections to once a week (which reminds me......). I really dislike this shot. It is painful to watch myself give it to him and painful for him. Even with the EMLA cream. He doesn't even notice the growth hormone injections but the Aranesp makes him howl. Must call Jessica and see if she has any tips. I told him I knew he couldn't give me an exact period of time on when he would get his transplant but I asked him if he could give me a round about answer say 2-3 months, 8 or 9 something more specific than "in the future." So, he said he would feel comfortable activating him on the UNOS list at 9.5 kg. So that's about 21ish lbs. And he is now about 19 1/2. So, we're getting awfully close. He said from this point on he would feel comfortable transplanting him if he wasn't tolerating dialysis well. This makes me incredibly happy as it lowers our chances of having to do hemodialysis. I've been worried about this from the start but now I feel I can breathe a bit easier. Now I'm not in nearly as much of a rush. I feel peace and I know it will happen in God's time.

When we were leaving Dr Al-Akash told Jaden not to fall anymore since he had a big sore on his head from falling. To be continued.

He is risen!

Happy Easter to all! What an awesome day to celebrate! Cristian has learned John 3:16. I really need to do a video and post it on here. But, the verse is especially relevant today as it reminds me why we Christian's are celebrating today.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

How awesomely amazing! Now when Cristian says it the words occasionally change a bit here and there. But, I like that even better because it means he understands the meaning of it.

Today I am also reminded of Easter last year. What a hugely emotional day that was. Today is the anniversary of the day Logan's health began to rebound. It was Easter, not April 12th but that just shows how much Easter varies in it's date. It's also the anniversary of the day we were able to start feeding Logan again and holding him and his brother's seeing him again after two days of not really believing us that Logan was still alive. As awesome as it was, it was not the best Easter ever. For me, it was second best. The best Easter ever is the first one ever where Jesus rose.

And now I had better get ready for church.

Irritated with Blue Cross Blue Shield

Just wanted to make an annoyed post at Blue Cross Blue Shield. We LOVED Aetna, despite the fact that they did not pay for Logan's birth. They paid everything else in good time and we almost NEVER received bills because they were slow to pay. Which brings me to Blue Cross Blue Shield. I VERY much dislike them. I will tell you why. They have paid almost none of Logan's claims from Jan 1st on. This causes my already busy life to be MORE bogged down in paperwork. Very irritating. It's not as if I have tons of time to sit and call them. Also, they have deemed Logan's peritoneal dialysis "not a covered expense." Ummmmm???? Okay BCBS what would you prefer? Would you prefer the 13 month old beautiful baby in front of me to just die. It's not as if we do dialysis because it's fun or something we enjoy. We do it to keep this wonderful "getting into dog food" child of mine alive. I think I've gotten them to cover the dialysis stuff and if not I'm sure Medicare will pick it up but it's a huge annoyance in my day. Then, they have decided that Logan's blood pressure machine will absolutely NOT be paid for by them. Smart idea BCBS. Save money by making it so we can't get a blood pressure on this child. Especially since if his blood pressure were to be insanely high and he stroked out it would therefore make him a dependant for life and therefore you would be paying his medical bills for his lifetime. Great way to save money there BCBS! I filed a grievance with them. Just wanted to make it clear that we do NOT like them. The lady I talked to seemed irritated at me that I was annoyed at BCBS. Now one, I made sure to tell her it was the company I was upset with and I was perfectly nice to her. Two, this is her job. Three, I can't think of anything else but I feel like I need a three. I really don't feel like getting up and doing the grown up things like making dinner, bathing kids, and setting up the dialysis machine but I'm going to. Not that any of these things are in anyway difficult just tired and I don't want to do them. Vidal's car broke down this week. Blah. It will cost over $600 that we don't have to fix it. Double blah. Just when I feel like we are finally getting out of a whole we fall back in. But, I have faith in God, he will make it all work somehow.

Trip to the Zoo with Baby Matthew

On Thursday the boys and I took a trip to pick up Matthew and Jessica. We all went to the zoo and we had a great time! We'll have to do that more often. Then we went and had some yummy sushi!All the kiddos.

Matthew and Logan: Friends ForeverLogan contemplating whether or not he can catch a bird.All the kiddos again. The babies at lunch. While at lunch Logan fed Matthew his first ever green bean that wasn't baby food. And Matthew learned to drink from a straw. What a big day for such small people! Just a reminder in case you don't remember who Matthew is: He's the only other infant on dialysis in all of South Texas. How's that for a bond? Though, I guess now they are both just about toddlers and not infants.

Basketball

Well Upward Basketball has come and gone and I can't believe I have yet to mention it on this blog. Vidal had a great time coaching and Cristian loved his teammates. I must say, it was an exceptionally good season. The kids really learned to work together as a team. And all of the moms are awesome. I can't remember such a group with such awesome moms. They gave Vidal a plaque at the end for coaching that he loves. I'll have to get a picture of it later to post here. AND two gift certificates, one to Applebee's and one to Barnes and Noble. Really, what awesome people! We all met on Friday for an after season bowling party. Unfortunately I forgot my camera but I did get one on my phone.The kids sitting on the sidelines before the game.

Praying before the game. Vidal would probably not like me showing his butt on here, LOL.
After the game! We're missing a few kids here. Cristian made his first two baskets this game! YAY!

At the bowling party!

Live stock show

The other day we took the little people to the live stock show. Poor Vidal wasn't feeling great and so we didn't stay a really long time. But, the kids got to ride enough rides to make it worth while to have bought their arm bands. And Logey had a good enough time watching.Cristian climbing up the wall climb. He was so scared because it was really windy. But, after two tries he successfully made it up the wall!

Logan's absolute favorite thing in the world: his sippy cup with water. He drank four sippy cups full while at the Live Stock Show.Where Logan took his nap, in the mei tai.Jaden riding the bear ride. He was so bummed that he couldn't go on the big kid rides with Cristian. Oh well buddy, maybe next year.Again with his favorite thing.I noticed Jaden putting the food on all of the animal's backs at the petting zoo. I asked him why he was putting it on their backs and not feeding them. He replied, "They're not hungry. I'm putting it on their back so they can have a snack later." He said this with a "duh mom" kind of attitude. Sure enough a little later I see this. Well, I concede