He Is Risen!

I love Easter.  I love the time spent during this season studying the life of Jesus Christ and remembering his sacrifice for us.  I spend my time at church with children ages 3-11 and I love teaching them that Jesus loves them and died for them.

Today we went to church and then went to Ogden for a family Easter dinner.  Nana organized her yearly Easter Egg Hunt and everyone had fun.  The kids had a Silly String Fight and we took our annual Easter picture of the cousins (minus a few who don't live in Utah).

We take this picture every year at Easter (either at this spot or on the back steps of Nana's porch) and so I thought it would be fun to look back and see the picture from just a few years ago:

This ^^^^picture was from 2007.  Tessa wasn't even a year old.  Henry and Olivia were 5.  William was 3 and Colin was 2.  Boston isn't in the picture because he was just a baby - not even 6 months old.  And Kate and Cameron weren't even born yet.

I actually have a super cute picture of Easter the year after Henry was born.  He was maybe 9 months old and Olivia was maybe 4 or 5 months.  We propped them on the couch and took the picture and it's adorable.  I should scan it in - that was before we had a digital camera but I love the hard copy.

My other favorite thing about Easter is spring.  Fall may be my favorite season, but Spring runs a close second.  There's just something about a sunny, 65 degree spring day that makes me happy.

Happy Easter!

Planet Henry

Only Henry can go to the doctor and have him say the words "I'd like to see you gain some weight."  Seriously, that was our takeaway from Henry's appointment with his pediatric endocrinologist.  We see him because endocrinologists deal with thyroid issues and since Henry is so young, we were/are concerned with how his growth is effected by his cancer.  I mean, he's clear and everything still and there is no sign of cancer, but he takes medication every day and he did have a fairly large dose of radioactive iodine a few years ago so we need to watch for anything that could be causing quality of life issues for him.

And he's skinny.  Like his BMI is barely on the charts and while his height has stayed on a consistent growth curve, his weight has dropped as far as percentages go.  So we are trying to help him out by changing his medication to allow his TSH to creep up a bit (his is currently 0.02 so there is a bit of room for it to go up and still be below normal, which is necessary for people with a history of thyroid cancer) and getting him to gain weight.  Of course Henry rubbed his hands together and started dreaming of milkshakes every day.  Jay and I are trying to figure out a way to add healthy fat and calories to his diet.

And, can I just say, wouldn't that just be the ultimate day at the doctor?  Having them tell you that you need to gain weight?  I'd buy a bunch of Cadbury eggs and a Slurpee and lay off the treadmill for a while.  No problem at all.  

Limitless

Today Henry attended the Young Writer's and Artists Fest at USU.   He, along with about 200 of his peers from middle schools around the valley, were recognized for their talents in the visual and written arts.  The theme was Limitless, as was the title of the short story that he wrote as an entry for the festival.   He was able to have a book signed by his favorite author, Brandon Mull (who wrote the Fablehaven and Beyonders series).  He read his story to a small group of students where it was critiqued by some guest responders and students at USU.  He got out of school for the day.  He had fun.

I went up for the program and went to the sessions with Henry, a couple of his friends, and a few of their moms.  It's interesting watching 11 and 12 year old boys together.  They are so silly about some things but so mature about others.  I can't quite get a read on what they are thinking.  I mean, Henry seemed OK with me being there.  He seemed happy to have me and Jay there to hear him read and have lunch with him.  I offered to stay and attend the final "celebration" with him and he didn't seem to care if I did or not.   I sensed, however, that he was ready to run wild and free so I left him to his own devices with the admonishment to please make his bus back to Cedar Ridge and off he went, without a word of goodbye.  

Lest anyone think that I labor under the assumption that Henry is such a super-special-snowflake that he has no flaws or faults, we should rewind to Tuesday afternoon.  Henry needed bloodwork done - again, like he does every 6 months.  He hates getting bloodwork with the passion of a thousand fiery suns but he typically takes it as well as I could want.  Not Tuesday.  He knew it was coming - which was a mistake but not one I could rectify since he has a doctor's appointment next week and it has to be done before we go to Salt Lake to see his endocrinologist for a follow-up.   By the time I picked him up from school, he was simmering and ready to boil over.  He was an absolute mess, blaming me for every ill ever inflicted on him.  The details of the drive to the hospital, the walk up to the lab and the actual drawing of the blood are ugly and not something I care to relive.  But that wasn't the end.  He was so worried about it that he had neglected to eat lunch that day at school, meaning he hadn't eaten at all since breakfast at 7:00 am.  By the time we got home, we was shaky and nauseous and started throwing up.  He fell asleep on the couch, woke up and started throwing up again.   He bounced back and was fine by about 6:00 pm but not after a long, messy afternoon - one that could have been avoided if Henry had A-eaten something for lunch and B-not worked himself into such a state that it took two people to hold him still so the poor phlebotomist could take his meager sample of blood.   

Guess who is taking Henry to get his next round of bloodwork done?  I'll give you a hint - it won't be me.

March Medical Maladies

I always look forward to March.  The warmer (albeit still cooler than I like) weather, the increase in daylight, the melting snow.  It's a good month to say goodbye to winter.

So far, this March hasn't gone too well.  Tessa had to have two teeth pulled on Monday and it was ugly.  Jay texted me to see if the "bloodbath" was going well and I can't tell you how appropriate that description was.  I honestly had no idea that baby teeth had roots - one of her teeth looked like an elephant tusk.  As I have a serious aversion to the dentist and it's all I can do do hold myself together when I myself am in the dentist chair, sitting on the edge of the seat while my daughter is crying and distraught and bleeding isn't my idea of a good time.  Of course she rallied quickly and by early afternoon was BORED with a capital B.  She goes back in two weeks to put in a spacer for her bottom teeth.  Let's hope there is less blood involved.

Today she is home again. With pinkeye.  She has had a cold (which she thoughtfully shared with me) and her eye was a little irritated Wednesday morning but I didn't think too much of it.  By lunchtime she came and found me at the school (I was working at the Book Fair in the library) and her eye looked horrible.  A quick trip to the doctor confirmed the diagnosis so we have eye drops and another missed day of school.  She feels fine.  She has watched a movie, read books, played on the computer and helped me clean the house.  She is now playing school with her dolls and writing on the windows with magic marker.  Whatever gets her through the afternoon.

Of course William and Henry don't want to come near her for fear of contracting pinkeye and she is teasing them mercilessly.  She actually backed William up against the wall yesterday, waving her hands in his face to threaten him with her germs.  When her teacher at school tells me what a sweet and wonderful girl she is, I just smile and nod, knowing that she saves most of the sassy for home.