Orlando Trip

At the beginning of December we took a trip to Orlando to see the Gaylord Ice Exhibit.  The morning after we got to Orlando we had breakfast with Pluto and Goofy at the hotel where we were staying.  Everett was super excited and loved the characters.  Anderson was terrified and screamed any time the characters came toward him.

Later that day we went to the Gaylord to see the ice exhibit.  The ice exhibit featured Madagascar portrayed in these amazing ice sculptures.  It was SO cold that I don't think I could properly take the time to appreciate the incredible detail.  Everett really liked all of the characters.  After we went through the exhibit we walked through the Gaylord and saw their alligator exhibit.    

That evening we planned to go to downtown Disney.  Instead, Chance ended up taking the boys to Downtown Disney alone because I was having a gallbladder attack.  At the time I thought it was food poisoning, though.  Everett wasn't feeling great that night either, but we figured he was just overtired.

In the wee morning hours I rolled over and felt the heat radiating off of Everett.  He was BURNING up with fever! I had a thermometer in the diaper bag, and took his temp and it was 104.5.  I called the nurse line for our insurance company, and they said that with his heart history we needed to get him to the ER ASAP.  I called his pediatrician's office and left a message for the doctor on call to see if they could call ahead to the ER so they he didn't have to wait amongst all of the germs.  I was actually at the ER by the time the doctor on call got back to me, but she said I did the right thing and to make sure they checked him for the flu.  He was tachycardic and his respiration rate was sky high, both from the high fever.  He tested negative for flu, but had a double ear infection and a sinus infection.  They gave us drops for his eyes because they were weeping, an antibiotic for the infections, and when his fever came down they sent us on our way. Despite the way the trip ended, we had a fabulous time!

Halloween and Thanksgiving

For Halloween 2012, Everett decided he wanted to be Luigi from Super Mario Brothers.  Naturally, I decided Anderson would be Mario to match.  The only problem was that I couldn't find a Mario costume small enough to fit Anderson.  I looked on Etsy and found several, but they were SO expensive.  I ended up finding one that was more affordable so I ordered it, and ended up with an adorable Mario and Luigi duo.  Chance had to go to NYC to cover Hurricane Sandy so he was gone during Halloween.  He was supposed to be gone for four days, and he ended up being gone for nine days!  It was awful.  We missed him SO much!!  I don't know how military wives cope with their husbands being gone for long periods of time.  We went to a Halloween party on the Saturday before Halloween with their playgroup, on Halloween day we went to Everett's Halloween party at school, went to Chance's work to trick or treat, and then on Halloween night we were invited to have pizza and go trick-or-treating with the Close's.  We had a great time!

Chance had to work on Thanksgiving Day.  I decided not to cook a feast for the four of us, so we met our old neighbors (they moved away recently) at the Cracker Barrel for a Thanksgiving meal before he had to go to work.  We had to wait well over an hour, but the food was good and we really enjoyed catching up with Karen and Kelly. :)

Everett's Fifth Birthday Parties

Because Everett is in Pre-K this year we did a party at school, and another party for his friends that aren't in school.  For his party at school he wanted to do Angry Birds.  We brought Angry Birds cupcakes and juice boxes for his classmates.  We took him to Red Lobster (his favorite restaurant) for crab legs for lunch.  Then, that evening we had his party for his friends that aren't in school at Little Javas, an inflatable jump place in Weston.  His Little Javas party was Iron Man themed.  He received lots of wonderful gifts, and I think he had a great birthday!

Anderson gets hearing aids

The day after his big brother turned five, September 14th, Anderson's hearing aids came in.  When the audiologist put the aids in his ears his face lit up, and when she took them out to let me try to put them in, he cried.  He wore them almost the entire day that day and almost the entire day the next day.  I breathed a sigh of relief as I thought it wasn't going to be a battle to keep them in as I had thought it would be.  Day three he decided he didn't like them any more, and began taking them out of his ears every time he put them in.  Things only escalated from there as he began fighting us when we tried to put them in.  He shakes his head no and screams and pushes us away.  It's heart breaking and frustrating at the same time.  He has had them for three months and finally wore them for three hours the other day.  This was the longest stretch he has worn them since the first couple of days he had them.  We also switched from the Oticon Safari to the Phonak H2O's because his Safari's were eating batteries way too fast and were defective.  The audiologist decided to let us do a trial with the H2O's and we decided to keep them once we found out that the technology used to make the H2O's was superior to the technology used to make the Safari's.  He has been doing better about keeping them in, but it's still a daily battle and he still fights us putting them in his ears, and if given the opportunity, takes them out and throws them (or puts them in his mouth to chew on them).

On Everett's birthday we switched Anders to a big boy (convertible) car seat.  We kept him rear facing, of course, but were hoping that him being in a convertible car seat would help him not hate being in the car so much.  No such luck, though in the last few weeks he has done tons better with being in the car, too.  Usually you can just walk to the car with him and he starts crying as soon as you get to his door.

After we received the official hearing loss diagnosis we began trying to figure out what caused it.  He had a sedated CT Scan, and there aren't any bone malformations in his ears or anything abnormal at all.  He also had a full developmental evaluation.  He passed with flying colors!  Even so, he has a teacher for the hearing impaired that comes once a week to work with him to make sure that he stays on target for everything since he does have the hearing loss.  He also had a kidney ultrasound as many times hearing loss and kidney abnormalities are linked.  That, too, was normal, thankfully.  He has also had genetic testing to rule out any gene mutations, genetic links to hearing loss, etc.  All of that came back normal as well.  He just had another blood draw to check for the Connexin gene which is a gene that has been found to cause hearing loss that is usually progressive.

In October, he had a really terrible, awful, horrible stomach bug.  He threw up so much he started throwing up bile.  We took him to the ER and they gave him fluids and sent us home with liquid Zofran.  He was still nursing well, but wouldn't drink out of a cup or eat any food.  A few days later he was still throwing up and having diarrhea, so I called the pediatrician, and he had me bring him into the office.  From there he sent us back to the ER because he was dehydrated.  They gave him fluids, ran some tests, did an abdominal x-ray to rule out an obstruction, and sent us home a few hours later.  A few days later, we went back to the ER because he continued to vomit.  Finally, after two full weeks of vomiting, diarrhea, or both he finally got better.  Everyone's best guess is that he had Rotavirus even though he has been vaccinated against it.

Meanwhile, in non-medical news, he is an absolute doll.  He uses five words consistently and with meaning: mama (sometimes mom mom), dada, Bella, uh-oh, and hi.  We think he has a word he uses for Everett, but we're not positive.  He still adores his big brother and gets sad every morning when he leaves for school.  He runs all around the house now.  He climbs on the bookshelf, and in the kitchen chairs to get stuff off of the table.  He still loves Bella and torments her with his constant love and attention.  She is always so tolerant and loving towards him.  He loves to read books and will bring them to me, then sit in my lap for me to read.  He still has beautiful blue eyes, and sometimes when the sun hits his baby fine hair it looks red.  He loves being held and cuddled and hates it when I'm out of his sight.  When we have gone to playdates lately he either clings to me or stands back from the group taking it all in.  He does these things unless we're at the park.  At the park he runs around like a wild man, climbs on everything, and tries to keep up with Ev.  He's at the age now where he and Everett fight over toys, especially the shopping cart.  

Everett turns five!

It's half an hour before September 13th, Everett's birthday.  At this time five years ago I had no idea that my life was about to completely change with the birth of my baby boy.  James Everett Horner was born at 5:34 pm by a forceps delivery after a very long day of laboring.  He was absolutely pure perfection at 6 pounds, 3.6 ounces and 19 1/4" long.  I had never felt such love for another person before I saw his angelic little face. After he was born I was determined to breastfeed, but he was never able to stay awake to eat.  He was also choking every time I laid him in the little hospital bassinet.  I kept telling the nurse that something wasn't right, that something was wrong with my baby.  She was quick to assure me that I was "a new, overworried mom and that he was just fine".  I don't know how many times I called her in that night to tell her I was worried about him, that something wasn't right, but I do know that it was a lot.  I even went as far as getting out of bed and walking down the hall to the nurses station once when I couldn't get her to come when I pushed the nurse call button.  I didn't sleep at all that night because I was so worried about my baby.  Chance had worked overnight the night before and was exhausted and sleeping.  The next morning, Everett was taken to the hospital nursery to be circumcised.  Mere minutes after he was taken back the pediatrician walked into my room and I knew something was wrong.  He told us that Everett was oxygen deprived, that they suspected that something was wrong with his heart, and asked if I had noticed that his color was bad.  I hadn't, but I did know that something was wrong with my baby.  Oh how I wish that I had pushed harder for the nurse to address my concerns, for her to call a doctor.  Everett was intubated, and was in really bad shape in the NICU.  Dr. Capra told me that they were trying to stabilize him to transport him to Dallas Children's Medical Center.  In an instant what was the happiest time in my life turned into a horror show.  I will never forget how it felt to have my whole world crash down on me.  Someone called my Memaw and she went ahead to Dallas to wait for Everett's arrival.  There is so much about all of this that I don't remember, but I distinctly remember asking the CVICU doctor if my baby was going to be ok only to hear him reply that he was oxygen deprived for a long time and they were sure if he would be ok at all, much less cognitively.  During the days, weeks, and months that followed I had to lean on God more heavily than at any other point in my life.  I am so incredibly grateful that my sweet little boy is doing so well and will be celebrating his 5th birthday tomorrow!

Everett has such a sweet spirit and a kind heart.  He plays well with other kids and has been an awesome big brother to Anderson.  He is very sweet to his little brother and has rarely, if ever, exhibited any signs of jealously since Anders was born.  He is quick to share his toys with him, sing to him if he's sad, and celebrate when Anderson does something new.  He has been enjoying school, and has already been learning so much.  He already has a great sense of humor, and makes me laugh so much.  He is so intuitive about the way people are feeling, and it's very difficult for me to hide any kind of emotion from him.  Everett is one of the toughest people I know.  At his check-up last week he weighed 38 pounds, which means he has gained 5 pounds since December.  This is phenomenal for him!  He loves playing outside or with his brother or Bella, painting, wrestling with his daddy, helping me cook, reading, playing Wii, and going to church.  He adores his new pet turtle, Super Turtle.  His favorite color is yellow and his favorite food is Corn Dogs.  Everett has taught me so much about life and what is important in life.  I consider it a great privilege to be his mommy.  Happy 5th Birthday, my darling boy.  I love you more than you will ever know!!! 

Everett Starts School!

On August 20th Everett started Pre-K!  He has been looking forward to it since we toured schools months ago.  The night before school he proclaimed that he was "so he excited he was going to explode!!".  His teachers are Ms. Jennifer and Ms. Maritza.  He goes every weekday from 9am-12pm.  On his first day he did great, and since then he has had only had one bad day.  He has homework every day, and is learning to write "James" and "Horner" since he already knows how to write "Everett".  He is learning a lot and having fun.  On the first day of school he came home and told me that he told his teacher that he didn't learn anything that day.  I had been telling him that he would learn a lot at school, and I think that he was confused that he didn't learn anything that first day.  The other day I went early to pick him up and watched him riding a bicycle built for two with a little girl and it struck me how fast he's growing up.  I look forward to watching him learn lots of new things this year!