Backyard Campout = Worst Night Sleep EVER!!!

One of the things on my 'To Do' list this summer was to have a backyard camp out with the kids. We had plans to have one in August, but then Owen got really sick so we canceled it. Since September has turned out to be so nice weather wise I figured why not have a do over.

My mom and dad let us borrow their fire pit for the occasion.

I think this is the first time I've ever set up a tent!

The air mattress was a hit with the boys, but Ella was freaked out by it.

Time for a fire! It was actually SO hot on Friday that the fire didn't really feel good at first, but as the sun went down more and more it did feel nice. Owen LOVED the fire...he is our little pyro!

Ella wasn't at the party for long...she hung out in her chair, ate a couple marshmallows and then it was off to bed for her. She slept in her toddler bed and not the tent.

We invited our friends and neighbors from down the street to come hang out with us. Lance and Rachael are really fun to hang out with and they have 2 precious girls, Kendra & Lilyann.

All day the boys had been talking about sitting around the fire and drinking hot cocoa. Seriously it was like 80 degrees outside and we had a fire and were drinking hot cocoa!!!

The boys said they were tired so we headed into the tent around 8:50pm. We were snug in a 3 person tent sleeping...and I say that lightly...on a queen size air mattress. I ended up only making it until 1am and then I headed inside...mainly because I just wanted the guys to have more room so maybe they could sleep better and because it was the second time I woke up to go pee! When Michael and the boys came in around 7:30 he informed me that it was the worse night ever and in his words, "Never again!" Oh well...you win some, you lose some!

Row Row Row Your Boat!

Jack's Occupational Therapist taught us a new way to singing Row Row Row Your Boat and I turned it into a game of chase. The boys LOVE running around singing this now!

Row Row Row Your Boat Gently Down the Stream....If You See A Crocodile Don't Forget To Scream!

Where's Ella!

Precious Girl playing Peek-A-Boo!

Harvest!

Look at what I harvested from my garden today!

5 zucchini and 1 cucumber!

Ella Praising Jesus!

While we are camping I always turn on the CD player that Michael's Dad has in the trailer and there is always the same worship CD in it. For me it's a comfort knowing that it's going to be there and I love the songs. They make washing dishes and cooking dinner more fun since you can dance and praise Jesus to them. One of the times Ella and I were in the trailer together she decided that she should praise Jesus too! That is until she saw me filming her and then she didn't want to cooperate she just wanted to eat!

Best Camping Trip!

This Labor Day weekend we packed up Michael's parents trailer and headed out for our annual camping trip with friends at American Heritage.

This year Jack wanted to ride down in the truck with Daddy and Owen. That means it was just me and Ella in the van and it was marvelously quiet!!

After getting the trailer set up and the site all ready our first place of business was going to the petting zoo that's on the campground.

Since Ella had and has been more cranky and in an effort to not have her fall as much I decided to wear her. I still love wearing her and she doesn't mind it either.

The campground has two goats...Bonnie and Clyde. Bonnie was all over eating the weeds and such that we picked for her...Clyde on the other hand was a super picky eater!

Ella was quite curious about that animals!

Every year we go camping with our friend Fred & Jen and their 5 boys. There oldest son brought along 2 friends...teenage boys at that. They also invited another family along so that was 18 people in total....lots of mouths to feed. Jen and I ended up splitting the responsibility for the meals and then the other family filled in the gaps. It worked out great and no one went hungry that's for sure!

We stayed in a different campsite than we did last year and it was awesome in size and privacy. The only downside...to us moms...was the dirt! There wasn't any grass it was all dirt! Of course the kids LOVED it! They were filthy messes the entire trip!

After lunch it was time to take the kiddos over to the pool and use their new toys that I bought them. Owen was pretty excited about his ring!

Jack was excited about his ring in theory!

Ella being a lazy girl...lounging around! Click here to check out what she looked like last year sitting in this same chair.

Super swimmer!

Jack was nervous in the beginning, but Daddy finally got him to go in when he brought out his cool froggy goggles.

On Sunday Michael needed to run to the hardware store to find a part for the trailer, Fred & Jen took their kids to this maze and John took the rest of the kids fishing so it was just me and the kids at the campsite. Ella was sleeping, but she woke up early so I decided to take the kids out on an adventure.

Owen got to use his new shark helmet from Ga-Ga & Pa.

Then I borrowed Fred & Jen's bike trailer and took the kids for a ride to the camp store for a treat...hence the reason Ella's face looks all funny, she's chewing her treat! On the way back to the campground I decided to sing a song for our adventure...if you watch The Cat And The Hat Knows A Lot About That you'll know the song....Here we go, go, go, go on an adventure, the thingamagiger is up and away. Here we go, go, go, go we're riding bikes with Mommy today!

Early in the evening on Sunday while Michael was making dinner I took the kids on the hayride. Ella was NOT having it in the beginning. She wanted off, but I just held her and she quieted down. Of course everyone was staring at her and I had to explain why my baby looked so bad.

Can you tell Owen was super happy that the wagon is towed by a tractor!!

After dinner we took the kids swimming again...this time I went in so that's why there aren't pictures. Ella had lots of fun in her floating turtle and it felt great to cool off. Afterwards it was a bit cold so it was time to warm the kids up in the bath. I love that they all fit in the teeny tiny bathtub in the trailer!

On Monday we got up had breakfast and then packed up. We did have some rough spots such as bee stings, interrupted sleep and broken trailer parts. Overall this was our best camping trip ever...surrounded with fun, food, family and friends!

My Dress!

A few years back my mom gave me a box with all my old clothes that she had saved and this little dress was one of them. Since we finally had some summer weather in August I took it out and put it on Ella. It's so cool to think that I wore that about 30 years ago! I love that my mom saved those favorite things of mine.

Guess What....

Remember this post! They actually did fall asleep!

Although...Owen did come into our room in the middle of the night because his throat was hurting and Jack was bugging him. The next night he also said, "Mommy I want to sleep in my bed all by myself!" I guess I shouldn't expect to see them snuggling in bed anytime soon!

Mercies In Disguise!

Here's what our cute prize fighter looked like this morning. Her black eye has now spread to include her left eye. In fact tonight while I was changing her diaper I noticed that her whole right temple and forehead are a strange shade of green. Healing is so grizzly as my mom put it!

And yet she still smiles!

So today was her appointment with the Neurosurgeon and her prognosis is she has Hydrocephalus. It means "Water On The Brain". We all have CSF (Cerebrospinal Fluid) around and in our brain. Our brain produces it and then it drains down the spinal column. Well Ella's brain isn't draining her correctly. Below is an illustration of what a normal CSF level is and then a person with Hydrocephalus. I've seen Ella's scans and this looks just like hers.

So what does this mean....she has to have surgery to have a shunt put it. They will drill a hole in her skull, insert the shunt then thread the valve under her skin and then the catheter will go down to her abdominal cavity where the fluid will be deposited. Here is an illustration of that.

From what the Neurosurgeon said this is a pretty "typical" surgery and he told me not to worry and to let him do the worrying....hahahaha...yeah right! They are going to drill a hole in my baby's head!!! The two biggest complications for Ella will be infection and a blockage of the shunt. Thankfully we did find it early...the doctor said it wasn't emergency surgery and it will happen in about 1-2 weeks. If left untreated though the fluid would build up and cause brain damage or death. This is one of those situations where now that we know she has it we are putting the pieces together and seeing things clearer. For instance she is clumsy, has a larger head (at 12 months old her head measured the size of a normal 20 month old), sleeps a lot (still is taking 2 naps a day) and has unexplained vomiting. These are all signs of Hydrocephalus.

With all this going on you would think I would be freaking out....of course I'm concerned, but the thing is none of this surprised God. He knew we were going to get this news. He knew that Ella's brain wasn't functioning properly and the awesome thing is she has something that CAN be fixed. It's not like an inoperable brain tumor or something else. She will have this her whole life and it is something we will have to keep an eye on and know the signs for a blockage and deal with it appropriately, but still it's fixable!

The day before we got the news I was literally praising God in the entry lifting up my hands singing this song. Then today after the news this song came on so many times during the day and I know it's God again singing over his promises to me. His mercies can be disguised....like Ella falling from that slide. What a pain in the butt to have to deal with the ER and then medical bills and of course my poor baby looks like she's gone 17 rounds in the ring, but without that fall we wouldn't have known about this condition as early as we do and there might have been more damage done. I love the way He looks out for us!

Like Mother...Like Daughter!

Me circa 1982 stealing my mom's iced tea from her special cup.

Side note: Check out Tom Brokaw on the TV Guide....he's got brown hair!

Fast forward almost 30 years to Ella stealing my iced tea from my special cup...like mother like daughter!

Mmmmm.....

Obviously I scheduled quite a few posts of Ella prior to her accident. I can't wait until her face is all back to normal...poor baby!

 

It may not be KFC, but it certainly was finger lickin' good!

Update On Ella!

The below picture was taken of Ella this morning at breakfast. I wanted to document how colorful her black/purple eye is. Once I brought the camera out she couldn't resist "cheesing". She really has been her normal self just more lovey and wanting to be held most of the time. We've been giving her Ibuprofen to help with the swelling so she's been taking 2 long naps during the day and sleeping her normal 11 hours at night.

The picture below was taken on Tuesday when Jack was playing with his stamps and Ella got into the red ink. As you can see she was NOT happy that I took the ink from her. Doesn't she look like she's been in a slasher film? Her tears were even coming out red! Thankfully it wiped right off.

The below picture is from the disc they gave me of her CT Scan. It's crazy to look at your child's skull. If you click on the picture you can see the crack(s) right above her right eye socket.