Week 30 in Pictures

We're home!!!!  Alex (and I) got released from the hospital on Wednesday.  We had to wait until Doug got off work to come get us, so we still spent the better part of the day at the hospital, but most of it, Alex wasn't hooked up to anything.  So we had lots of fun playing.  He was actually a little disappointed when Doug showed up because the hospital was hosting a fun Luau starting at 6:00 and Doug got there at 5:40.  Alex wanted to stay for the party, but we were anxious to get home.


He got his PICC line out in the morning, which was traumatic, as expected.  Although the IV nurse was really great.  She let Alex do most of the work which made it easier on him.  He felt more in control.  Removing all the adhesive is what freaks him out the most.  But she let him do almost all of it.  And then he didn't even feel the line being taken out.

We are so glad to be home.  Alex is doing great.  Eating and playing and fighting with his brother and sister.  Just like we never left.  :)   We're trying to get back to normal now.  I'm still trying to get caught up on sleep.  I told the kids to give me a week to sleep in in the mornings and then I should be okay.  We'll see.  :)  I managed to sneak in a chiropractic adjustment on Friday.  Man, did I need that after sleeping on a couch all that time.

Anyway, I am excited to be home and have the opportunity to photograph non-hospital stuff.  Here's what last week looked like ...

{Sunday}

Alex and I really enjoyed spending time in the hospital's healing garden.  We went there quite frequently ... when he felt up to it.

{Monday}

Alex was allowed to have clear liquids today!   He was so excited to have apple juice and a popsicle.  I tortured him by making him wait for the popsicle while I photographed it.  :)  Not the greatest photo but I was quite limited in my set up capabilities.

{Tuesday}

Jello for breakfast (and lunch)!  Must be more fun to eat it with your fingers.  He was watching TV and doing his best to ignore me taking his picture.  :)  Poor guy's cheek is all broken out where the adhesive was holding the NG tube in.  The other side didn't do that the first time we were in the hospital, so I don't know why it happened this time.  It is clearing up now though.

{Wednesday}

Shiloh, one of the therapy dogs that visits the hospital, stopped to see us before we went home.  He's such a handsome dog!

{Thursday}

Lots of flowers blooming at home including these liatris and sunflowers.

{Friday}

After so much hot, dry weather, we have been getting quite a bit of rain lately.  At dinnertime we noticed a rainbow in the sky and decided to try to find the end of it - leaving dinner sitting on the table.  While we didn't find the end, we did find this nice clearing where I could photograph the double rainbow without the usual trees in the way.

{Saturday}

I finally got to spend some time enjoying the hummingbirds that visit my feeder.

     


My favorite photo from July ...

If you recall, we got to watch the fireworks from our hospital room window ... one of the bright spots from our stay there.

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Week 29 in Pictures

If you recall from last week's post, we are back in the hospital again.  Alex had another surgery on Friday to remedy a bowel obstruction caused by adhesions which were a result of the appendectomy.  He's doing much better now ... improving daily.  We hope to get to go home on Friday.  He had his NG tube removed this morning and was allowed to sip some apple juice this afternoon.  We're taking things really slow to make sure we don't take any steps back this time.

He had lots of fun today, playing in two different play rooms, and riding the elevator.  Now he is snuggled up on the couch with his Grammy watching a movie on his DVD player.

Since we are in the hospital again, many of my photos this week are of Alex.

{Sunday}

This sweet little lion was given to Alex in the Children's Hospital ER when we, unfortunately, had to return after having just left on Friday.

{Monday}

Our first full day back in the hospital and Alex wasn't really allowed to get out of bed and off the suction for the NG tube, so we had some toys brought to us instead.  Otherwise it would have been an incredibly long, boring day.

{Tuesday}

We waited all morning for Alex to get called down to have his new PICC line put in.  And, of course, they called us down right after this gentleman came to play drums and bongos with the kids.  We got to spend about 10 minutes with him at least.  And Alex enjoyed playing the bongos while he could.

{Wednesday}

I think I told you before how Alex is getting terribly spoiled while in the hospital.  Well, today we went to the gift shop so he could pick out a toy and came back with a music set which included this xylophone.  I'm sure our neighbors are just thrilled.  :)

{Thursday}

Alex got to play doctor today during a Teddy Bear workshop hosted by the hospital.  If the train engineer gig doesn't work out, he could always become a surgeon.  :)

{Friday}

Second surgery day.  He was pretty tired afterwards so he slept most of the evening.  Doug and Grammy came to be with us and I was able to enjoy a little of the Parent Only night the hospital hosted.  I got a mini massage and had a few refreshments while my little man slept off the anesthesia with his pal, Woody.

{Saturday}

While looking for something other than hospital stuff to photograph, I found this bumble bee in the hospital's healing garden.  I wondered why he wasn't moving at all until I noticed the rain drops on him.  He was probably just waiting to dry so he could fly away.

          
Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week!

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Week 28 in Pictures

Well, the good news is we got to come home from the hospital on Friday.  The bad news is we are back again.  :(  I didn't get to finish my blog posts about our great hospital adventure, but let me just quickly summarize the past few days.

Alex was doing great on Thursday and Friday so we got to go home.  All tubes, IVs, and PICC lines were removed and we were so excited to be leaving Hotel de Children's Hospital.  Everything was swell until Saturday evening when he started vomiting.  He vomited 4 times between 7 pm Saturday and 11 am Sunday, so I called the hospital and they wanted to see him.  So we drove back down, had X-rays, an IV, another NG tube, an a CT scan.  He was admitted Sunday night around 8:00 and here we are.

The word is that he has an abscess in his belly.  Tomorrow we are supposed to go to IR (surgery) to get another PICC line and possibly have the abscess drained.  He will be started back on TPN (nutrition) and he's also getting more IV antibiotics.

Boo.

Not sure how long we will be here this time, but we are definitely hoping it won't be as long as last time.  We do not want to spend the whole month of July in the hospital.  Minus those 45 hours we got to spend at home over the weekend.

Anyway, having said all that, most of last week's photos were taken at the hospital again.  And it looks like this week's photos will be also.  :(

{Sunday}

Daddy and Alex had fun looking at an Eye Spy book.  Alex is really good at Eye Spy.  (The tube in Alex's nose is the NG tube - used to drain fluids from his stomach).

{Monday}

Alex loves to watch the marble machine that is in the hospital clinic's waiting room.  We were there several times during our stay just to see the train and the marble machine.  And I'm sure we'll visit it again now that we're back.  (When we would go walking, I would tie his NG tube inside his gown's tie in the back.  That way no one had to hold it and it wasn't pulling on him.  The nurses thought that was the neatest idea.)

{Tuesday}

Doug brought our last chrysalis to the hospital so I wouldn't miss when this handsome fellow decided to join us.  This was the magical day.  We set him free in the hospital's healing garden.

{Wednesday}

Some Pittsburgh Penguins players came to the hospital to play games with the kids.  Grammy and Alex wanted their picture taken with Iceburgh, the Penguins' mascot.  Fun times!  Except for the whole being-stuck-in-the-hospital part.  :)

{Thursday}

Alex and I did some spin art in the playroom.  It looked prettier while it was spinning.  :)

{Friday}

The day we came home!  Honey was so excited to see us, she nearly knocked me over.  Once I got her calmed down, I decided she needed to be my POTD.

{Saturday}

Nick and I went for a walk down to our neighbor's pond.  There were plenty of dragonflies buzzing around.  This one was nice enough to sit still for me.  :)

     
If you are doing a Project 365 this year, be sure to stop over at Inspire Me Photography and link up.  Tracey will be featuring a photo each week from someone who has linked up.  She has themes for each week, but you are not required to stick to them.  Otherwise I would have been booted out a long time ago!  :)  Oh, and you will LOVE her photography!  She's awesome!

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Week 27 in Photos

Despite being in Children's Hospital all week with Alex, I managed to get a photo a day except for one.  We are still here ... day 11, I believe ... and are looking at possibly going home on Friday.  I haven't had much time to blog the rest of our great hospital adventure story, but I hope to soon.  In the meantime, these are the photos I captured last week ...

{Saturday, June 30}

I was short one last week since this photo was on my phone and I couldn't get to it - no cord and unable to connect to my email here at the hospital.  Alex and I both got to share this first ... riding in an ambulance.  Not that it was a bad experience but once was enough for me.

{Sunday}

I'm totally cheating on this one.  This was Alex's surgery day.  And the last thing I wanted to do was take pictures even though Doug brought my camera down to the hospital.  This photo was originally taken for Sunday's Scavenger Hunt prompt "mosaic", but I ended up using something else.  This is part of a pillar in the play room down the hall from where we've been camped out.

{Monday}

We got to watch the sun setting from our window.

{Tuesday}

Monday we had a visit from a Child Life specialist who offered to sign us up for a dog visitation program they do here.  This was one of the dogs that visited us this day.  Her name is Crackers.  She, like our dog Honey, likes to sprawl out on the floor and make herself comfortable.

{Wednesday}

We had a great view of Pittsburgh's fireworks display from our hospital room window.  I layered a few photos together to get this grand finale type photo.

{Thursday}

This is Ike.  He's the ugliest dog I have ever seen ... a hairless Chinese Crested.  He was a sweetie though.

{Friday}

Today was a rough day.  Alex had a tube inserted in his nose to drain the yucky stuff from his stomach.  (He'd been vomiting for the past few days).  Since he didn't feel like going anywhere, we stayed in the room and played games, watched movies, and read books.  He kicked my but at Candy Land, but I got him back with Connect Four.  :)

{Saturday}

Doug and the kids came down for a visit today.  The kids got bored in the room so I took them down to the play area.  They had fun trying out the Xbox Kinect.  I'm sure they'll be begging us to buy them one now.  :)

     


Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you have a great week!

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Week 26 in Photos (minus 1)

Hello there!  We're still hanging out at Children's Hospital while Alex is on the mend from his appendectomy.  He's still pretty sore, but we were able to get him up and walking around this morning.  In fact, we visited the play room down the hall.  He really enjoyed that but it seems to have wiped him out for the rest of the day.  We're hoping he'll feel up to going again tomorrow because the man in charge of the play room promised Alex he could feed the fish they have in a big tank.  Alex is excited about that.

Everyone is so incredibly nice here.  They really go out of their way to make us feel welcome and comfortable.  Even the ladies who take my food orders over the phone are wonderful.  I'll probably gain 5 pounds while we are here from lack of activity and having my meals delivered.  Hopefully that will change tomorrow and Alex will feel like walking more.  I finally got to leave the room for a few minutes today while my mom stayed with Alex and even went out in this nice garden they have right outside the play room.  I saw a huge bumble bee that had buried himself inside a butterfly bush blossom.  (Say that three times fast!)  :)  He dug himself out and flew away, but hopefully he'll be there again tomorrow when I am prepared with my camera in hand.  :)

This post of last week's photos is minus one because, although I did manage to get a phone photo of Alex while we were in the ER on Saturday, the photo is still in my phone and right now I have no way of getting it off.  I can't seem to access my email from the hospital so I can't email it to myself, and the cord that connects my phone to my laptop is at home.  Doug will bring it to me tomorrow.  So Saturday's photo will be included in next week's recap.

Last week was pretty much all Vacation Bible School.  Every morning, Monday through Friday, from 9am til noon, we were at VBS.  Some days we were there later helping with clean up or prep for the next day.  Then most afternoon/evenings were busy with more VBS stuff, like putting together a slideshow of some of the photos I took.  It was crazy busy and exhausting, but fun and rewarding too!


And one more thing, before we get to the photos ... my photo of my niece was chosen among the four finalists for June.  Would you please take a moment to go vote for me?  I'd really appreciate it!

Finally, here's what last week looked like ...

{Sunday}

If you saw yesterday's Scavenger Hunt post, you already saw this photo with a verse on it.  A pretty sunset taken behind our church.

{Monday}

Our church's Vacation Bible School started today.  Alex really enjoyed the craft time.  They got to primer their project today and then paint the next few days.  I thoroughly enjoyed my jobs this year.  I was photographer, points keeper, money counter, and registration person.  Some days were incredibly busy, like Thursday when I had to finish up editing and putting together a slideshow for Friday morning, but it was great fun.

{Tuesday}

This handsome little boy belongs to a friend of mine.  This was his first year participating in a VBS.  He loved it!

{Wednesday}

This beautiful lady joined the world today.  She actually emerged from her chrysalis while at VBS.  I took the container with me since I knew she'd be arriving today.  The kids thought it was really cool when I was walking around with a butterfly hanging from my finger.  We brought her home and let her hang out on our flowers until her wings dried and she flew away.  That's three down with one more to go.  I'm hoping we can find more caterpillars once we get home!

{Thursday}

I am totally cheating on this one as this photo was taken earlier in the week.  Thursday was consumed with photo editing and creating a slideshow.  I was up until almost midnight finishing it up.

{Friday}

All week our VBS Explorers discovered keys to help them open this treasure chest, but they weren't able to open it without all the keys.  Once opened, the kids learned what Jesus would do.  Love.

I apologize for not getting any photos of the themes for Project 366 Rewind (playtime) or Be Inspired (beach).  It just wasn't happening last week.  Although some play time at the beach sounds pretty good to me right now!  :)

    

Have a wonderful week!

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Week 25 in Pictures

By the time you read this, I'll be in the midst of our church's Vacation Bible School, which runs all this week.  This past week was filled with last-minute preparations so I don't think I managed to get any of the prompts from Project 366 Rewind, Be Inspired, or P52.  And I don't know that I'll get any this week either, although I'll try to make more of an effort.  

One of my jobs at VBS is to photograph the kids in the different areas and create a slideshow for Friday, so by the time I get home each day, I may not feel like picking up my camera.  So next week's recap may be all VBS photos.  You've been warned.  :)

We did finally get the back splash in the kitchen installed this weekend, so I'll try to get my before/after kitchen post finished up.  I can't wait to show you the transformation!

But before I even think about doing that, I'll show you last week's photos ...

{Sunday}

It seems that my attempt to get another great shot of all three kids together will have to wait for another day.  :)  I was hoping to get a good one to give Doug for Father's Day.  Nick wasn't really cooperating.

{Monday}

I was excited to finally capture a photo of a butterfly that I didn't raise and hold captive.  :)

{Tuesday}

While visiting my in-laws, this hummingbird stopped in at their feeder for a sip.

{Wednesday}

How cool that on the first day of summer our first Monarch butterfly emerged from her chrysalis.

{Thursday}

I took this photo for the Scavenger Hunt "glazed" prompt.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to get all the prompts and didn't participate.  Hopefully I'll get to play along this week.  I already have one of the prompts done, so I'm off to a good start.

{Friday}

Monarch butterfly #2, a petite little female, joined us today.  Her brother/sister should be along any day now.

{Saturday}

Doug finally had time to install the back splash in the kitchen.  Yay!  He wasn't done with it when I took this photo - still working on the grout.  It didn't go quite as smoothly as the instructions said it would but it is up now and looks great!


Last, here is my favorite photo from June ...

I just love this photo of my niece, Christy.  She's such a sweetie and hard to capture as she moves quickly as most two-year-olds do.  :)


If you feel inclined, please pray for our VBS this week.  That the kids that attend would really learn about Jesus and how much He loves them.  Hope you have a great week!

     

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