Just the two of us

Oliver and I don't get to spend a lot of quality time just the two of us.  Any together time usually happens if and when Henni decides to nap.  Given her naps are fleeting we don't really get to undertake too big of a project together nor do we get that quality mommy and Rocket time we'd both like to have.  Because of this I decided that Oliver and I should carve out some dedicated us time.  This past Friday morning Oliver and I headed off to Boat Camp - just the two of us.  Oliver had been anticipating the day for over a week - each morning asking if today was the day and each night asking if the next day was going to be the day.  When he awoke Friday morning and asked if it was Friday and I answered yes, he was so super excited.

At Boat Camp Oliver held my hand the entire time (which made it tough to do some of the activities) and I loved being able to devote all my attention to him.  Being able to focus just on Oliver I was struck on the one hand by how big he has gotten, but on the other how he is still my little Rocket.

Oliver is already asking how many days until our special day - I too am looking forward to our morning together.

Roller coaster

The last 30 hours or so have been an emotional roller coaster.  Last night at 5:15 the phone rang; it was the doctor from Children's.  The moment I heard her voice I panicked - when we left her office on Thursday afternoon we were told we'd receive a letter in about a weeks time letting us know the results - that is, unless the results were such that we needed to talk.  Faced with two children who were bouncing off the wall and a doctor who had news, I turned off all the lights in the house so Oliver could flash around in his Pumas and I handed Henni an item she covets -- the iPad.  Seconds later Davis walked in and I vanished up the stairs, leaving Davis utterly confused and the house in mayhem (understatement).  The doctor said that a couple of Henni's labs came back looking not so wonderful, to say the least.  We discussed several of the possibilities (scary words a parent never wants to utter), and then the doctor promised to call back over the weekend with more information.  Last night was not a fun night.  Davis and I tried to limit our research to academic papers, but even those did not give us an sort of reassurance.

This morning the doctor called and gave us some good news.  A pathologist reviewed a smear of Henni's blood and the cells look normal.  While this is good news, this does not mean everything is ok.  In fact, we are still at a point where we need to monitor Henni's temperature and if it gets to be 100 or more we are to head directly to the ER.  We are also suppose to be vigilant hand washers and try to limit germ exposure.  That being said, my understanding is that we are no longer stuck in the deep end of the pool with cement blocks tied to our ankles.  So where are we then?  We are not yet out of the pool, or even in the shallow end.  At this point we are awaiting another call from the doctor on Monday, follow-up lab work, and appointments with at least one more specialist at Children's Hospital.  We also are still no closer to addressing the issue of Henni's hives - as these test results are not hive-related.

In the meantime Henni is Henni.  She covered herself in maple syrup at breakfast, required a full change of clothes after throwing herself down the slide and into the mud at the playground, she road her bike with abandon, she stomped in mud puddles, she fed the llama, mooed at a cow, massaged her head with spaghetti, ate another dinner which just consisted of broccoli (this child may actually turn into a piece of broccoli)...

For next next however long I may not take a full breath, I will jump at the ring of the phone, and I will snuggle both Oliver and Henni that much closer.

Party or panic?

Our little Henni has been breaking out in hives.  It started out with one here and there and only every once in awhile, but her hives have become more widespread and have shown up more often - as in she has recently more often been covered in hives than not.  This morning Henni had one huge hive that covered about 99 percent of her back and then several others that, together, took up a good majority of the rest of her body.  She was scheduled to go to Children's Hospital next week, but one look at her little body and her discomfort and I called to see if we could get in earlier.  Luckily we were able to get in today.  The good news is that Henni is not allergic to the most common allergens, the bad news is that we don't yet have an answer.  Following the skin test Henni had blood work (mad, mad, mad).  The blood work will let us know if there is any autoimmune issue or "other health issue."  I decided it best not to ask for specifics about these as I didn't want to stress about something if it is nothing - and nothing it may be.  The doctor said that the majority of hives like Henni presented with turn out to be nothing - chronic hives that show up for awhile and then disappear.  Right now I am caught between happiness and panic - we aren't going to have to become a nut-free, gluten-free, fun-free (as Davis says) house, but are there other obstacles we will have to overcome?  Or will these hives just go away?  I am already looking in the mailbox and checking my phone for the results from the doctor (even though I must wait a week).  The good news is that I was very impressed with the people at Children's and feel we are in good hands as we try to figure out what is going on with our little Henni.

Escaping

We have yet to fully unpack from our trip to Man O War and have yet to fully assimilate everything from Christmas.  Faced with the task of getting the house under control, at about 3:00 on Friday we decided the best course of action was for Davis leave work early and for us to head to Maine for the weekend.

Oliver spent both Saturday and Sunday at the Snow Bowl and, despite the fact that the thermometer never went over 25 degrees, spent hours perfecting his skiing. By the end of the day on Sunday Oliver had not only perfected his form but had perfected the saying, "keep moving, keep moving...".  This phrase was directed at anyone who tried to prevent Oliver from going all the way to the bottom of the trail...from getting every last inch out of every run.

Another highlight of the weekend was watching Henni light up every time she saw Jon - when he walked in the room she would smile, drop everything and run to him and give him a big hug.  The two relived their time in the Bahamas by putting on dance party music and dancing Henni's heart content.

Back at home the house is a disaster, but that is ok.  I would rather have the kids remember skiing with their grandparents, dancing with their uncle, and having fun than recalling they grew up in a spotless house.  And I would much rather spent my time watching Oliver perfect his turns, watch his smile going down the mountain, be a part of the dance party, and having fun with Henni, Oliver and family than spend it getting things under control around here.

Forced family fun

Just a couple days after Christmas we packed the car full of people and luggage and headed to the airport - Bahamas bound.  The adventure we were embarking on included a 60th birthday celebration, five year anniversary, lots of work - and, of course, forced family fun.  The crazies on the trip included the four of us, Papa and Le Le, Elizabeth and Kevin and Marisa and Jon.

Oliver was so excited to head back to the Bahamas and check on the palm trees he had planted previously and to show everyone "our boat we take on adventures, the boat we drive fast and take to the dump, and our broken sailboat."  Once there I was surprised to see how much Oliver remembered - people, places, toys, names...it was as if we had been there yesterday.  Man O War is such a special place to Davis and to me and it was therefore such a happy moment when Oliver declared: "When I grow up I am going to move to here.  I love it.  And I am going to fix up that Whaler for me so I can drive it fast."

Henni managed to explore the ins and outs of all the places she should, and should not be.  She pointed out many hazards and had close encounters with lighter fluid (twice), Raid, and lots of small Legos, the interior of dirty rusty lanterns...  It is also quite possible that a certain 5 mile beach may now only have about 2 miles of sand - seriously, Henni consumed a ton of sand.  While not up to no good, Henni proved herself to be a fish in the water and loved the pail and shovel. 

This trip also brought about a huge change in Henni - for a year she has screamed bloody murder every time she has had to wear a life jacket.  She has screamed from the moment the jacket touched her body til the jacket was off and she was off the boat.  Part way through our trip we tried having her wear one life jacket and hold an identical one in her hand...no screaming!  A bizarre solution, but, hey...

The most wonderful part of the trip was enabling the kids to spend time with everyone.  Yes, they see everyone for weekends here and there, but they have never spent such a long time with everyone.  I loved watching the interactions and watching relationships develop.  Jon and Marisa stayed down a few days longer than the rest of the family - by the time we left the Bahamas Oliver had declared Marisa his BFF and Henni refused to let Jon out of her sight (and clutches).

The trip was so special.  I hope that it is not the type of trip that needs another intersection of big events so as to happen again.

I have yet to upload my pictures, and am still trying to figure out how to download pictures from Jon - here are some of the images of our trip which Marisa passed along.