Feeding the Ducks

Thomas, Elin and I were joined by a few friends at the University of Washington’s Arboretum to feed the ducks and go for a nature walk.  Thomas really loved feeding the ducks his noodles and asked if we can do it again.  In fact, the whole way home he wanted to go back to be with his friends.  There were so many ducks and they know the routine, so when the kiddos got to the ledge they eagerly came over.  

Thoughts…

This was written on Monday night…posted on Tuesday

For several months now Thomas has had swollen lymph nodes.  Nothing note worthy at first, but that was initially.  We first noticed them in his groin and thought they could be a possible hernia.  We showed them to his doctor at his 2 year appointment and she said lets keep our eye on them and see what happens.  They have continued to remain enlarged and I have also noticed a new swollen node in his neck.  So at Elin’s appointment on Thursday I mentioned it to the doctor.
The doctor said she isn’t overly concerned because he looks well, his color is good and he has an abundance of energy.  Then his doctor checked to see what other lymph nodes she could feel and she was able to feel 4 areas of distinct enlargement, his head, neck, armpits and groin. Therefore she suggested we take him over to the lab at Children’s for blood work. 

This is when the large baseball bat to the gut hit and remains. There is an endless list of questions.  There is also an equally large range of possibilities between this is normal and this is very very bad.  What if my seemingly perfectly healthy son, is not?  It is a question I have never wanted to ask.  It is also something that sends gut wrenching emotions, raw, unspeakable, emotions through my body.  On Thursday night, as I laid with him and he was falling to sleep I prayed extra hard for this all to be a quick blood draw and then a memory of the past.  But what if…

The weekend has been filled with extra hugs, kisses and squeezes.  Mike and I have tried to talk a little about our thoughts, but it is admittedly too painful to really let ourselves go there.  The what ifs have us paralyzed right now.  No parent wants their normal to be anything but normal.  We don’t want our normal to be hospitals and tests and trying to comfort Thomas (or Elin) through pain.  I still can remember learning about Josie being diagnosed with Leukemia.  Doesn’t this only happen to one child in a family?  Hasn’t our family already lost enough?  Please don’t take us down this path.  I don’t want this to be our normal. 

Shortly after my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer she said that “all she wanted to do was run, but she knew she needed to stop and fight it.”  That is how I felt all weekend.  I wanted to run and not have the blood test.  I wanted to continue to look at Thomas as being normal, which he quite possibly is, but I surly don’t want to hear he has something, that will drastically change his and our lives.

We had prepped him both Saturday and Sunday by nonchalantly talking about how he would need to have a quick poke to check his blood.  We talked about how they would do the poke in his arm, it would be fast and then we would go do something fun.  Thomas had his blood drawn this morning.  It was fast and thank God it was "easy.”  We had been told to ask for Hector and so I called on Friday and found out they were open this morning and Hector would be in at 11:30. 

As we drove in the car, we didn’t talk about what we were doing.  Both Mike and I could see how nervous the other was.  We silently held hands and squeezed.  I was careful not to look at him or talk to my mom or mother in law and let the true emotions out.  I had a gut wrenching stomach ache that I forced into the back of my head.  We checked in and he was off to see Hector.  We sat down told him again quick what to expect and before he could even get too excited about his new crocodile flashlight the blood was being drawn.  Thomas watched the whole time.  Even when the vein was missed and Hector had to do a few seconds of looking for the vein.  Thomas had a semi surprised look on his face, and so did Mike, Hector, and I.  I took a picture to send to the worried grandparents at home and to show them how Thomas didn’t make a peep or shed a tear.  He was glad when it was done and I pulled out the “hun-ra” (candy) to reward him for being so brave.  We were then off to the park to ride his bike. 

We called the lab and the results are in.  We now wait…to hear our new normal.   I go to bed praying that when the doctor calls tomorrow our normal will not change.  That this can go down in our record book as a super scary thought that the what ifs never have to be answered. 

The phone call came this morning and after the doctor ended her call I called Mike to relay the information to him.  The results are within normal limits and do not lead the doctor to believe that we are looking at a leukemia or lymphoma.  Thomas’ lymphocyte number is slightly elevated, which could be from the cold virus he just had.  The white blood cell count and the immature white blood cell count (the 2 they were really looking at, along with the lymphocytes) are normal.  So we now continue to watch the lymph nodes for any change, any enlargement, and if they stop being wiggly.  We also watch to see if Thomas has a loss of appetite or energy and then we readdress the situation.  When he needs blood work again, his doctor said she will have the same test run again, just to make sure we are staying very “on top of things.”   Mike and I couldn’t be more elated.  After we could breath a sigh of relief we let our family know and then kept saying we were just so thankful.  I am so very thankful, because I know that not every parent in the same situation gets the same phone call.  Our extended family has been there, I know how unfair the world can be, I am so grateful our world today remains “normal.”  Utterly blessed beyond words, thank you God for answering all of our prayers.

It is apparent that when something threatens to shake the life that you knew to the core and then shake it again…you become very appreciative of the little things in life.  I am so glad that our normal has remained today…because I wouldn’t change it for the world.  Today I am gratefully blessed beyond words.  Today is just another “normal” day. 

Except, on this day, I held my baby boy and cried tears of happiness and relief.  Knowing that I/we are truly blessed to be his parents and so thankful that his blood is “normal.”  Today my husband and I held one another and shook knowing that we were both just as scared as we have ever been in our entire lives.  Today, I held both Thomas and Elin and asked God to continue to let us have them in our lives to love and raise.  Today, both our families let out sighs of relief that our little guy can continue to live a “normal” life.  God does answer prayers, and today we said a huge THANK YOU to him. 

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend this year was spent as a family.  Trying to keep ourselves having fun and busy to keep our minds off of everything. 

Mike got a morning of golfing in while the kids and I stayed at home and made a mess.  We painted and then I wanted to let Elin in on the fun.  BUT everything on her hands goes into her mouth, so it was time for foot/feet painting.  I then made a bunch of foot prints.  Not enough hands to take pictures of the mess involved, but both kids went into the tub right after.  I did get some foot paint prints of the kiddos, and that is all that mattered. 

We went swimming and both the kiddos had a great time splashing and playing.  Everyone was exhausted after the pool fun so I snuck away to the grocery store while everyone napped.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

We also went to the Evergreen State Fair to see the animals and fulfill Mike’s dream of going a rodeo with us. Let’s just say he and Thomas had a good time, I won’t say what I really thought about going.  Max and Amy met us at the fair and joined in the “fun.” Thomas and I loved seeing all the animals.  It made me want to have “our dream non productive ranch” even more.  Funny though, the rodeo made me realize that even with the boots I am not a cowgirl.  I can’t wait to have my petting zoo ranch and hope that one day this dream of mine and Mike’s does come true.  Thomas rode a pony for the first time as well.  The first 5 minutes he was excited but then that 6th minute he was about ready to melt down in tears when we asked to take him off.  The little dude looks good as a cowboy!

After Monday’s trip to the doctor, we took Stella to the dog park and let her play.  Then came home and made homemade tomatillo sauce and enchiladas for dinner and we relaxed. Mike and I started to catch up on Season 6 of Dexter.  We go to bed way too late and wake up with the Littles way too early.  It was a great weekend even with the impending blood draw hanging around in our thoughts. 

Elin 4 Months

Hard to imagine what our lives were like just over 4 months ago, waiting for our little peanut to enter the world.  Fast forward to now and we have a bubbly, smiley little girl who we all can’t get enough of (well Thomas might get enough of her).  Although we love her name, Elin also goes by many other names in this house: Baby E, “E,” Princess, Baby Girl, Peanut and Sister Bear. 

Her personality comes out more and more each day.  She is dramatic, very vocal and typically a very happy baby.  She loves watching her brother play and move around the room.  She can’t keep her eyes off him and smiles and giggles whenever he is around.  He too, has been a great big brother and is helping Elin learn to move and play.  Thomas is eager to have “Baby E” as a play mate and not just as someone who Daddy or Mommy have to hold.

Elin is wanting to be upright or on her belly for most of the time.  She is rolling from her back to her stomach and then will occasionally go from stomach to back.  She likes to stand up if your holding her hands and loves to be held in a sitting position.  She has realized that there is far to much in this world to just lay on her back! 

She is reaching for and grabbing toys, hands or blankets and then putting them directly in her mouth.  She has found that her fingers are also really fun to suck and chew on.  There is a lot of drool that made us think she was cutting teeth, but we have yet to have any come through the gums.

She is also a chatter box of squeals, screams, coos, tongue trills and many other vocalizations.  Her talking is adorable and I can’t wait until she starts adding sounds and we can figure out what this little lady is really saying, then again we might not want to know! 

Elin had her 4 month well baby visit and all is “well” with her.  The doctor is pleased with her developmental milestones and her sleeping and eating patterns.  She sleeps at night for 10 hours (waking up to eat 2-3 times) and then is up for a quick hour, takes a nap again for 2 or so hours.  Wakes up and plays then sleeps and the cycle continues!   She eats every 2-3 hours.  I have to be honest, I am really not bound to the clock (or expectations of what she should be doing) like I was with Thomas.  She has her “routine” and we just go with it.  So the above is what is a pretty typical day.  She like Thomas does not want to miss a beat, so if something is going on she prefers to take a quick power nap and then join the party.  When Elin falls asleep, unless nursing she falls asleep with a huge smile on her face staring at you.  She wakes up and starts talking right away.  She is just so bubbly and full of contagious smiles, hard not to smile when she is around.

She weighed in at 14 lbs even (50%) and 25 inches long (75 %).   We looked back and she is just 6 oz less and 1/4 of an inch shorter than Thomas was at 4 months.  It was amazing to see just how close they were as to us they seem so different.  Thomas seemed stockier and “shorter” while Elin seems petite and lean. 

Some things Elin really likes right now are: watching Thomas play, talking, standing up with your help, bath time, rolling onto her tummy.

When trying to think of dislikes all I have is being being too far from Mommy or Daddy, being left alone and long car rides.  She is a pretty content little peanut!

Thomas Funnies

Mike and I think Thomas is pretty funny.  He has quite the personality on him, and now that he is actually talking more when others are around, it if funny to hear what he has to say.

Some of our favorites are…

“Ohhh Wow”  He says this for about anything.  Thomas do you want to see what I did….”ohhh wow”  Thomas would you like to go outside “ohh wow.”  Thomas look at that leaf….”ohhh wow.”

If he sees anything funny or silly he will say, “Mama/Dada What just happened here.”  

“Mama/Dada/Baby E/Stella I wuv wu so much.”  This one I never get sick of, never ever ever.

He has also been dancing and singing to I’m Sexy and I know it, which comes out “I’m Sexy and I no no.”  He will sing along with the “show it show it show it” and “wiggle wiggle” parts too.

And last but not least, when I went grocery shopping while he was sleeping the other day I got home and he said “Mama I was crying for you, I was missing you.”  I told him that I went grocery shopping and he said “no Mama I want to you stay.” I told him I had already gone and he said “ohh wow.”

On our daily walks he is now waving cars on (to pass so that we can safely cross) and if a car stops he will wave and say “thank you.”  He will talk to anyone we come up on, and tell them what we are doing.  His favorite is to talk about his new bike and his big puppy. 

He likes to give me presents right now.  They could be a flower, or a twig, but he hands them over and says “Mama I got this for you.”

When Skyping with my parents or Mom, which we do mostly right before Mike gets home from work he will immediately say “ok bye Dama/Dampa, Dada home.”  He can’t wait to get downstairs and play with his daddy!

He’s a pretty good lil stink.  I know that just writing the above doesn’t do it justice, but again this is for a record book in our world.  So if you have made it this far, thanks, if not, oh well then too!  I know at some point the above will be replaced with new and these old memories may not be as present or even remembered.  He is growing and changing so quickly!

A rough week

As a mother (a father too), I want to protect my children from everything, full well knowing that no matter how hard I try, I will not succeed.  This past week we, was rough and Thomas took the brunt of things.

After arriving in Denver the two little ones and myself quickly caught colds.  Being on vacation and being sick is no fun.  It was the first trip where Thomas was like where exactly are we and he kept asking to go home to his bed and his house.  He also kept saying he missed “my Stella puppa.”  So the colds had us all feeling a bit crummy and tired on our trip. 

Then as we were enjoying a BBQ at a friends on Saturday, Thomas was bit by their dog.  Mama errors are all over on this one. I should have...I could have... Ugh...thank God it wasn't "that" bad (read a dog SHOULD NEVER BITE-but it could have been so much worse) and there are no long lasting terrors of dogs in Thomas' eyes. It was a lesson learned for all of us.

The story goes as the ladies were in the house catching up, Thomas was outside with the guys and the dogs. The night was going great. We had been there for over 2 hours and all was well. Then it happened.  Thomas was petting the pup, a yellow lab, with his owner. The owner of the dog was showing him how to pet him on his rump so he would shake or do something and Thomas hit the dog on the butt. That is when the dog swung around and bit him.  From inside I heard a dog snarl and Thomas instantly scream.  The scream and cry that I instantly knew something was wrong, very wrong and makes your heart sink and your adrenaline go in overdrive. Before I could think, I took a deep breath and heading for the door. Mike and I met at the door and he was already cradling Thomas.  With trembling hands we switched babies.  After getting Thomas to calm down a little bit he said “mama the dog bite me.” Yes buddy the dog did bite you. There was not too much blood, but there was blood. 

A friend who was there and also a vet looked at it and said it was very superficial. Mike and I also looked and decided that it was not stitches or worthy of the trauma that would ensue if we went into the ER.  Back at “home base” after he went to sleep (he wouldn’t let us touch it before) we cleaned it up and put a band aid on him.  There was a couple bruises and a half inch slice on his cheek by his ear.

I wish I would have been there, maybe I could have seen it coming, or maybe not based on the account of Mike. I wish that I would have not allowed this particular dog around Thomas or any other child, but didn’t trust my gut, and I learned my lesson.  Reaffirmation, always trust your gut, ALWAYS!   Dogs are dogs and although I trust Stella immensely, she is still a dog.  I/we must always be careful with other dogs, even if they are good with kids.  This particular lab is off, he has bit puppies and now a child.   If he were my dog I would never have him around other dogs or children without a muzzle, to both protect him and others.  I am always telling Stella no matter what if she bites it is her fault, and I as a dog owner never want to be put in a situation where she hurts anything.  Lesson learned and we are now unfortunately even more skeptical of all dogs around Thomas (Elin too).  Thomas was so excited to get home to “his nice Stella puppa.”  This is how I found him Monday morning right after crawling out of bed. 

Fast forward to Wednesday.  Elin is inside sleeping soundly and Thomas and I are outside watering the plants and playing.   I have my back turned as I am putting bird seed into the bird feeder and I hear him scream.  I turn, see him swipe at his face and he yells through his sobs “a bee hurt me.”  We rush inside, I grab an ice pack, and rush into the bathroom. I see the stinger, I hold him down and pull the stinger out.  We then go and rock, while I frantically call Mike, my mom, and mother-in-law as my mind is blank and I am in a sheer panic.  I had been preparing myself for this, as Mike is allergic to bees, yet I always thought we would have time before he was stung (I was not stung until I was 28 years old).   Darn bee!  After calling his doctor and figuring out what to do/look for, Mike ran home and picked up some Benadryl for Thomas.   Before he got there Thomas had rocked himself to sleep.  A dose of Benadryl, the ice pack and some baking soda paste and all was well during his nap.  When he woke up Uncle Garrett or “the big guy” was here and that helped make everything feel better.  He also didn’t show any allergic reaction so that is also good news.

These 3 things made the little guy “tough” and prepped him for the next thing that was coming…but that is for another post.

Denver

Denver, oh Denver, how Mike and I love and miss thee.  Yet honestly after arriving on Wednesday by Sunday we were ready to head HOME!  What a quick trip to the place where we met, fell in love and started our family. 

Wednesday in true Laschen baby fashion we had a great travel trip on the airline, yet the car ride was a disaster for the Elin.  Thomas was so very excited to go on an airplane again and was such a big helper with his suitcase.  He is quite the mini walking through the airport next to Mike.  He always get a comment or laugh as people walk by. 

With such a short trip there is never enough time to see everyone or do everything.  We tried our best and pushed ourselves all to the limit.  Even so we missed a lot of people this trip and that was a bummer.  We were grateful that, the Bennet family, opened their home to us while they were away in Minnesota.  It was so nice to pull into a familiar place and have stuff for Thomas and Elin as they have little ones too.  It was also so bittersweet as we missed them on this trip entirely.  Thomas kept asking “where my friend Lilli go?”  He did love playing with all her baby dolls and strollers!  He also fell in love with her trampoline and guitar. 

Thomas was able to see some friends that he “knows” from before and met a few new friend at the wedding.  Thomas always loves seeing all of “his friends.”   After each play date we get into the car and he would say “where my friends go?”   It was this trip that solidified for me that we would enroll him in a “preschool” type program, as he is craving “friends” more on that to come.

Wednesday after getting our barrings at the Bennet’s house we headed over to the old hood and met up with Deb and her kiddos Blakely and Remy.  Once Mike finished up work we went to a BBQ at Miller’s house.  We were able to see Miller, CJ, Bridget, Shenan, Ricky and meet Miller’s girlfriend Crystal.  Thomas was able to hang with the boys and play with Stella’s 1/2 sister Madison.  It was a great night of catching up with good friends.  Mike and I left and on the ride home we were both pretty bummed out that we still didn’t live in Denver, or have these friends out in Seattle (nothing against our Seattle friends).

Thursday Mike was off to the Denver Coke office for work and some meetings and the kids and I had a lazy morning before heading to the zoo.  What a fun time we had at the zoo.  Elin was up for 1/2 our trip and loved looking at the animals and Thomas.  Thomas enjoyed seeing all the different animals that he hasn’t seen before (or that he remembers at least).  When I asked Thomas what his favorite animals were from the day they were the rhinoceros, the rhinoceros horned toucan and the elephants. 

Then it was time to go home for naps and wait for Mike to get off work before going to Uncle Pat and Auntie Lara’s house for dinner.  Thomas met Maggie and Andy (their pups) and enjoyed being most of the center of attention.  It was nice to catch up with Pat and Lara on a semi chill level, as chill as it can be with an overly energetic 2 year old, 2 dogs and a baby!   I was not snapping pictures like I should have been again, sorry! 

Friday morning Mike and Pat headed up for some brother bonding and mountain biking.  We then met up with Candy and her kids for a quick play date and lunch.  Then my friend Piper came over to help with the kiddos while we scrambled to get ready for Donny and Katie’s wedding.  Then we were off to the wedding.  We arrived and both kids were sleeping.  In what we were finding is Elin’s new fashion, she was up and wanted to see what was going on.  Thomas slept through half of the full Catholic ceremony.  Big bonus was our kids were QUIET and were good through the whole thing.  Yay!  Then it was off to the foothills for the reception.  Mike and I were on full duty at the wedding so we were able to have intermittent fun.   It was a challenge, and we knew it would be, to rein in Thomas’ energy with the addition of Elin’s need to be held by one of us.  When we left at 10 were were all exhausted and ready for bed. 

It was great to be able to see two great friends celebrating their love and their new journey together.  Congratulations to Donny and Katie, Charm and Charmette, the Charm’s or Donaldson’s. 

Saturday morning came quick and we were up and off to get breakfast.  We then headed over to try to catch some of the US Pro Challenge.  After a bit too long of a pit stop we were 3/4ths of the way to the road and we saw the riders speed by.  So we turned around and back “home” we went.  Time for lunch and a family nap to try to catch up on lost sleep.  Saturday afternoon we headed up to Evergreen for a mini book club get together.  It was great to catch up with the girls, while the guys went on a quick hike with Thomas and then cooked dinner. 

Sunday morning Mike took the kiddo duty and let me sleep in, what a guy!  Then we got packed up and cleaned up the house and were off to meet Pat and Lara for lunch and more US Pro Challenge.  Shenan, Bridget and Nikki also joined us for lunch and then the bike race.  Before we knew it we were heading to the airport to fly home.  Don’t know how it happened but again we had a great flight with both kids, diaper blow out and all! 

Oh Colorado how we love thee…yet we now call Seattle home.  In fact, Thomas has now lived more of his life here than in Colorado!  We now say we lived in Denver and we are from Minnesota/North Dakota.   We still also so we have no idea where we will be in 1, 3 or 5 years and we hope we can make it back to Minnesota at some point. 

Some things never change when we go back and others do.  Mike and I still miss the 9news team.  We both still check the 9news.com web page for news updates and you just can’t beat the newscasters and K Sab in the weather department. 

We were able to eat at a few of our favorite places, and noticed that a few of our others have closed.  Both our houses, the one in Wash Park and Arvada look the same(ish), yet the neighborhoods are continuing to change and develop.  As always, it is so hard to leave the great friendships and memories new and old we have in the area.  It is so nice to vacation in a place where you know where everything is and your not using google maps or needing directions all the time!   No matter how much we try not to miss it Denver and Colorado hold a big piece of our hearts.  So until next time Colorado…

Grandma Nancy Here

Grandma Nancy came to Seattle for a final hurrah before starting another year of teaching.  She came in on a Tuesday and before we knew it a week had passed and she was off to Minnesota again. 

In that weeks time we were able to accomplish a lot.  Many days we would look at the clock and ask ourselves where the day had gone.  With her help with the kids, I was able to catch up on some much overdue deep cleaning.  I emptied all of our closets and drawers of unwanted/needed clothes.  We also deep cleaned the kitchen and reorganized all the drawers.  I had more ambitions for the house, but to be honest after those 2 tasks I was spent. We also spent a lot of time playing in water as it was in the 90s the whole time she was here.  Thankfully there was still a good breeze that kept us feeling a little bit cooler, but when it is 90 here it is HOT!  We went to a splash park, had a pool in the front yard and went to the indoor swimming pool.  Hard to tell who had more fun between all of us!

I was also to make lots of messes with Thomas and corn starch.  Grandma enjoyed watching while Thomas and I got super messy.  Best part about corn starch is that the clean up is so easy.  It is also so much gooey fun.  If you haven’t tried it, you must.  When cold it is hard and breaks apart.  When warm it runs and oozes all over.  Mike was also able to finish the back yards fence that covers our staircase into the basement.  The yard has made such a transformation in the last 6 months and we are really enjoying spending time back there. It was so nice to have an extra hand around the house and the kiddos (Stella, Tucker and Itzy included) loved all the extra attention with Grandma, Mommy or Daddy. 

Long Weekend with Renee in Town

Friday afternoon Renee came into town and we hit the ground running.  Thomas took a short nap in the car on the way to pick her up at the airport.  Once home Thomas woke up and we made a change of plans for the day.  We packed up quickly and were off to try to make the elephant feeding time.

We rushed through the zoo and were able to feed both the elephant and giraffe before seeing other animals.  Once we had enough time at the zoo we went home and met Mike for dinner and chilling at the house.Saturday morning Mike headed out to mountain bike and Renee, the little ones and I were off to see the aquarium and waterfront.  We ran into our neighbor and “the boys” and walked through the aquarium with them.  After having lunch on the waterfront we headed home for naptime.  We were all exhausted and just spent the rest of the afternoon resting and relaxing.  After dinner we headed down to the beach to see the sunset and check out low tide.  The tide was low but there wasn’t anything fun to see.  However, we did see a guy bringing his crab pots in on his paddle board.   He had 2 crabs, 1 male and 1 female.  We all learned how to tell them apart and that the females are to be thrown back and the males can be kept.   Thomas had fun digging with the boys in the stream that runs down into the Sound.   As we were leaving Thomas met to police officers and got a police badge. He was so proud and excited.Sunday morning the girls headed to tour Pike Place Market and get dinner, while the boys went to play hockey.  First we stopped at the first Starbucks for a drink and waited in the huge line.  Then we were off to get cheese curds at Beecher’s. We then walked around the market gathering yummy food for dinner.   Then we headed over to the Fremont neighborhood to have lunch before heading home to rest and cook dinner.Monday before heading to the airport we headed down to see the Space Needle and play in the International Fountain.  Thomas and Elin loved having Auntie Ney around.  It was a great, busy and exhausting visit.  Hopefully we didn’t scare Renee about the work involved in having 2 little ones!