walking

I am excited for tonight, I guess there is this group of ladies that take a 5km walk every monday and wednesday nights here in town, so tonight I am going to go and it will be so nice to get out and talk to some adults. I'm on a roll lol, mon, wed and thurs I have me time!! WOOHOO!! This way I am guaranteeing a 3 days a week work out. Plus I have been thinking about going on the bike 10 minutes every hour during the day, Derek brought his mom's bike here, so it would be a good idea so I get off my butt more! It can't hurt thats for sure, well maybe my butt, but that it something I will just deal with.

Kai had preschool today, he woke up hyper lol, and I was glad to get him to school, or else it was going to be a long morning, well when we got to the school he was clinging to my butt and almost pulled my pants down in front of his whole class, he did not want me to leave today, but the teacher distracted him with the water table, so I left the room, but I saw they have their own little books so I was taking a look at his, when he saw me about to leave and flipped out and cried, I felt so bad. But I am sure he is still having a good morning, he usually does. He is only is school til 2, so its perfect for some quiet time for us, and gets him out of the house and kept busy. Reiko is doing good today so far, I had to take off his femur splint because there was pee on it, it leaked all over it, but he seems comfortable without the splint, so hopefully he can do without it. He is just laying on the floor right now watching Rachel Ray, and playing with some toys, he is quite talkative today and full of energy, so I cannot wait for his chair to get here this week!

Derek still has the flu, so he is in bed again, I went to bed last night at 8 and still did not sleep well at all, thankfully Respite care is here tonight. I need my side of the bed, but when Derek is home I give him my side of the bed since he finds the other side uncomfortable, hence, why I did not sleep last night! hmm, Rachel Ray is making me hungry and now I am trying to figure out what to make for supper today, there is left over shepards pie for lunch, maybe make some burgers tonight with salad, ill try to make something light at least.

Today is Rare Disease Day http://www.globalgenesproject.org/  , so wear your Jeans and blue's today, I am for Reiko. If you could wear it for Reiko that would make me super happy!

I have been doing my makeup everyday now for almost a week, it is making me feel better about myself. I have gotten so sick of just wearing my pjs and looking twice my age. I forget that even though I am a mom, I am still 24 and quite young, and should enjoy my youthful looks while I can. I already feel like I have aged 10 years this year alone though with everything we have gone through. But the nice thing is, looking at that picture I don't think I look to bad right now, my stomach has gotten smaller..or is that me just wishful thinking lol.

This week we have NOOOO appointments! YAY!!! I think this is the first time since his montreal visit, I love when we have no appts, especially with the gas prices being 1.21 litre right now, which is freaking insane! I really hope that the prices go down soon, I don't know how people can afford this right now. Luckily the Mocha Shriners reimburses us for our trips down to Reiko's appointments, the gas and parking, so that helps big time, especially since some weeks we can have 2 or 3, I always try to get them to happen on the same day, but of course everytime I have appts in a week, none of them work on the same days, soo annoying.

I am hoping that today I can take a nap at some point, I am freaking tired, but I will see how Derek feels better first. Have I mentioned men are babies when they are sick?? lol. Ok time to play with the baby and get on the bike. Take care everyone

Jessica

Breaks, Breaks Breaks..I need a break...

I think Reiko is breaking something daily right now, his screams definitely tell me pain, he goes whitish purple, screams bloody murder and is inconsolable for a few minutes, and it always comes out of no where. It is incredibly heartbreaking and hard to watch him go through this disease. I haven't gotten him xrayed because the limb test doesn't show him needing one, aside from the already splinted femur he has. Last night he woke up about 7pm and was screaming so hard, and he would not put any pressure on his left side of his back, he was so upset and wouldn't stop crying, so I put a few of Kai's pillows in his bed for him to sleep on with some blankets on top of it and with the pain meds he calmed down and slept pretty well, and today when I was picking up Kai at Oma's, we were about to leave and he started flipping out and it was out of no where, we couldn't understand why or where something broke, but pain meds kicked in and he was eating a cookie within a few minutes and happy.

Kai and I are cuddling right now and it is really really nice. We watched Casper earlier and Babe, I made some Shepards Pie and we are watching some cartoons now. Derek has been in bed all day, he went to work last night and all the residents had the flu, I asked him if it was possible to get someone else to go in, so as to keep Reiko from picking up whatever he brings home, well he said no, and this morning he came home, KISSED ME and then said "ohh I don't feel so well"! I was like "GET OVER TO YOUR SIDE OF THE BED!!" I cannot believe he kissed me knowing he wasn't feeling well, and now he is sick in bed...I will not be impressed Mr. Quinlan if I get the flu because of you!

This month coming up is so full of birthdays, March 1st is Jeff my brother, March 2nd my Mother in law, March 4th Derek and my sisters husband Kevin and March 24th is Reiko's first birthday. Makes for an expensive month thats for sure lol. For Derek's birthday this friday his mom is taking both boys for the night and we are going to have a night together, it is going to be really awesome to just have some time together. I am getting so excited for Reiko's first birthday party on the 19th, I hope it will be a good day for him, hopefully no breaks or anyone hurting him, its always alittle scary when you get a big group together and around a fragile baby. But we cannot keep him in a bubble, and he deserves to have a wonderful first birthday after this year.

I am out of things to talk about lol. Take care.

Jessica

Best news in months!

Ohhh today I got this wonderful gift, Derek, Reiko and I went to Bartliffs for breakfast this morning and had lots of people come over to ask us how Reiko was, everyone was fawning over the lil guy and I couldn't believe just how much people care about him, us. Well we got home and I checked my facebook and had a private message waiting for me, it was from a photographer called Hope Photography http://www.hopephotography.ca/, she has been following my blog and is on my facebook and because of the month that we have had she wanted to give something back to us, so she is giving us a free family photo session!!! OH EMMM GEEEEE!!! This is freaking fantastic news, especially after the month we have had with Reiko's break. So this is exactly what I needed to get myself into the losing weight again, for these photo's. Because I want to badly to look at these photos and say "Damn! I look great!" I want to for once not look at the stomach bulge, or double chin..for once I will be incredibly proud of myself. So THANK YOU  Trish for not only offering us this beautiful, wonderful gift, but to also get me back into the swing of losing weight again. Derek and I figure we would like to get these photo's done in the fall and so that would give me 7 months to lose about 60lbs, which is more than doable. Trish, I do not think you realise what this gift means to us, you have made us feel absolutely amazing and we feel so blessed that so many people out there really do care about us. Thank you again Trish!!

This morning Reiko woke up at 7, then 830, right away he was crying very hard and I was able to pinpoint the pain to his right femur again, it must have rebroken again, for the 3rd time this month. So I resplinted him all the way up to the nipple again after giving him some codiene and advil for the pain, and he is much more comfortable now. It truly is amazing how splinting can completely take most of the pain away. So if anyone out there breaks something, you can come to me and I can properly splint ya so you don't have to go to the hospital ;) actually better be safe and get the break checked out first. Right now Reiko is talking away in his bouncy seat and playing with his toys, he is very happy and it is so hard to believe that he does go through this tremendous pain and still can smile and laugh. He is amazing. Kai has been at oma's since last night and it is nice to have a break, it was really nice not to have the fight at bedtime last night. But I miss the little guy, the kisses and hugs, and how he is with Reiko. But I will enjoy the peace and quiet for now, well semi-quiet, Reiko is quite loud today lol.

It's mom's birthday today so I got her a mocha square(looks like chocolate cake) from the bakery for her to take with her to work tonight. I hope she has a wonderful birthday.

Time to get Reiko down for  a nap and there its Derek and I's turn. Take care,
Jess

Appointments

So yesturday and today were full of appointments!

Yesturday Reiko had his Orthopedic Dr's appt in London, we got there about 1030ish and we got his first xrays on his legs done at 11, Reiko was in a tremendous amount of pain throughout them, but they had to be done, then about an hour later his dr finally got in to see him and they said his left tibia/fibia is healed great and so is his right femur, but his femur is still really tender, so keep it splinted. I also found out his femur had broken in 2 places! ughhh. Then we noticed how Reiko was not using his left arm, I was worried it was broken, but nothing showed up last week on xray, and they were mainly worried it was dislocated, so we did another set of xrays on his arm, and unfortantely they broke his arm while maneuvering it for the xray. We ended up leaving about 230ish, then drove out to Oma's house where Derek and Kai were. Once I got there, I was invited to go out to supper with my mother in law and other relatives and then go to the movies. So we went to Crabby Joe's and had a nice meal there, I held my little cousin Ronan who is almost 6 months old, it was crazy to feel how different him and Reiko were, he was soo strong and heavy lol, Reiko is only 13lbs and Ronan is 19lbs lol, quite the difference. Then we all went to see No Strings Attached, it was a good funny movie, but felt like it was way to long, but that was me tired. After that Derek was waiting with the boys to pick me up, then he dropped us off before he went to work. I put Kai right to sleep in my bed to stop any tantrums from ensueing, and poor Reiko was in so much pain, but codiene and Advil together let him be comfortable, he actually slept til 3am then slept til 830 after that!! Best night in a long long time!

Today Reiko had his first Dentist appt, we left at 11am since his appt was 1pm, I decided to quickly stop into his pediatrician's to see if she could fit in his RSV shot that was overdue, so they were able to fit us in right away, I had to call his dentist and tell them we would be alittle late, but we just made it on time and we still had to wait. But Dr.Lee was amazing, he was soo funny and awesome! I think he will be a great addition to Reiko's medical team. He told me it was to early to tell if he had Dentinogeneist Imperfecta, once the teeth come in alittle more we should be able to see. He also said his molars and top teeth seem to be coming through soon! We have another scheduled appt for 9 months from now! Hopefully we wont have any emergencies where we need him before hand. So we got home around 430 tonight, and I made Kai and I some homemade french fries, they were sooo good! I practised a new song tonight Rascall Flatts - I won't let go, and it's my new favourite song! It felt great to just belt out a song, and I recorded it to, so one of these days I will put it on here. I had Zumba tonight and it was good as usual, but I could tell that I haven't worked out in a few weeks, I got a stitch in my side and that was only happening in the beginning before..Tomorrow is Turbo and I am pretty sure it is going to kill me lol. Now I am finally relaxing with Derek, the boys are in bed, and we are watching some tv. Derek is getting up with Reiko tonight! YAY!! Ok time for me to go. Take Care!

Jessica

Happy Family Day!

So for family day today we all slept in til 9am! WOOHOO! Then Kai, Reiko and I picked up grandma and headed over to the YMCA where they had a kids indoor playground and bouncy castle for Kai to play in! He absolutely loved it! Kept him very busy and he was great for the most part with the other kids there, alittle bit of trouble sharing some stuff, but he eventually realised he didn't have a choice. We had one tantrum and I got smacked in the face, but he apologized and gave me kisses and hugs and went on his way. Reiko was good, but I think moving him I might have rehurt his arm again, so I gave him some pain meds and used safety pins to splint his arm to his chest, using his sleeve of his shirt and he seemed much more comfortable. He even nibbled on two french fries today and he loved them! It was a good few hours and we dropped off grandma and then headed home ourselves. Daddy was awake when we got home and I went to sleep, I had a bit of a rough night with Reiko and a big headache all day yet again, Even two advil and an aleve did nothing for it..soo annoying. Reiko took a nap as well, work up at 330 or 4 and then has been sleeping since 5 pm, with a few wake-ups since, but he must be tired.

Last night I pulled a big mommy no no! A Big Mistake on my part.

Reiko woke up screaming at 10pm, didn't want food and it seemed like pain, so I gave him codiene, but the problem was, I wasn't thinking and instead of the 1ml that he gets for codiene I accidently gave him 2mls, like I would with Advil...I can't believe I did that! So I called the hospital and the nurse talked to the doctor and she said he wasn't worried and that he would probably just sleep good tonight..Thankfully it didn't affect him, and he still got up like 5 times. I don't think it would be possible to make that mistake again! Awful Awful mommy moment for sure!

So I did what I said I would do yesturday, I got up and did my hair and makeup, felt really good today, and even was questioned by a tv station about the family day activities, I am so glad I did get dolled up today! Well later on when we got home, before my nap I gave Kai and hug and kiss and he feels my hair and says" ohh no mama, your hair is yucky, you need a bath!" hahaha thanks buddy! He doesn't usually feel my hair with mousse in it to make it curly lol..3 year olds are very honest! It was a good day all in all, and tonight is Respite Care! Have a good one, take care,
Jessica

Another splint off!

It truly amazes me how easy Reiko gets over his fractures. Yestuday I was able to remove his left fiberglass cast on his leg and today I was able to take his arm out of the splint and he was happy, he doesn't move it much, but he doesn't cry when it is moved at all. So now we have one more to go, but that one we will still try for another week since it is his femur, and those are awful bones to break. Reiko has been getting such a little personality now on him, and boy does he let us know when he is not happy with what he is doing now, he lets out this angry scream and gives you a look. I remember the days when Kai started that as well, and it was always so cute, 3 years later and it gets old lol, but right now it is cute to see Reiko actually show his moods. He is finally acting more like a almost 1 year old then a 3 month old.

I can tell the last thing on my mind was my mom's heartattacks last night because I had a nightmare that she died, and I was so devastated, I was crying so hard, I am surprised I didn't wake up crying like I have before. Ughh, I hate those type of dreams. I woke up a few times last night though with almost a heaviness feeling in my chest, it wasn't painful or bad but it was annoying, plus I have had headaches everyday since Montreal, so I think my body and mind are pretty stressed right now. I hope I can find a way to stop being stressed out, but being in winter, it doesn't help hardly getting outside. I hardly ever do my makeup anymore or my hair. But tomorrow I will wake up and do those things and maybe I will feel better about myself and therefore not feel stressed.

So I did something I used to see mom do all the time today, I got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed the kitchen, fridge, cubboards, doors, floor..and I actually enjoyed it..weird...but it felt good to do something other than sit on my big butt lol. Tomorrow I may try to attempt the livingroom or bathroom..maybe. I am wanting to go to the gym tomorrow to, just for an hour to workout and get things out of my mind. I realise I need that out time, as does Derek. we get to stir crazy in this tiny little house.

Kai was a good boy most of the day, Reiko, Kai and I went to Bartliffs this afternoon while on a walk and we sat down and had a treat, people were looking at Reiko so strange since it looked like he was missing an arm, but he just smiled at everyone...and Kai loves it at Bartliffs, so we had a good little visit. Its to bad I can't work there anymore, it was great while it lasted though. I haven't got anything else on my mind at the moment, so sorry for the boring post...
Take care,
Jessica

Poor Kai

Kai got himself a black eye tonight. He was picking up a big straw off the floor and slipped and hit his eye on the corner of his treasure chest. He cried and it surprised me how sad it made me to see him so hurt. Compared to Reiko this is nothing, but this was my Kai crying and this was for once him hurt, so I held him in my arms and iced his eye, and it sadly felt good that for once it was not a huge medical ordeal and for once it wasn't Reiko I was consoling...is that bad?

Today I started off the morning folding laundry and began to watch 127 hours and then Oma dropped off Kai because he missed me and wanted to come home, well he got home and his attitude changed completely, he was angry and yelling and he even purposefully woke up Reiko and scared him by doing so, which made Reiko scream so hard I thought maybe Kai had hit him, but he just doesn't like to be startled because of his pain. My mother in law and I could not figure out his mood change, it was so drastic and honestly awful. I instantly got my headache back from last night and felt stressed. But he finally calmed down after he was almost sent to bed and he cuddled with Oma before she left, and afterwards he was pretty good all day. I don't get toddlers, they are very confusing creatures.

So I finally finished 127 hours this afternoon while Kai watched Strawberry Shortcake and Reiko slept and it was a good movie, James Franco did a good job portraying the guy, at least in my opinion he did. I watched another movie last night, My soul to keep, it was a good horror movie, scared me a few times. I love horror movies to bits, I could watch Nightmare on Elm Street everyday, I love ghost movies anything scary. My mom stopped by before work again today and she had bought me some eye makeup, she gets me, she has the same love of makeup as I do, so it was very sweet of her to surprise me with that. the 26th is her birthday and I hope she likes her gift. I have never mentioned how close I have been to losing my mom, she had her first set of heartattacks at 37 years old, 3 in 24 hours, a doctor overdosed her on Estrogen, and he got away with it. about 5 years later she had 2 more heartattacks, this time she had to have a double bypass. It was horrible to see her go through that, especially since her and I are extremely close. I pray that she still has a long life a head of her.

I gave Reiko a bath today, he badly needed it, soo stinky!! But even though I did a plastic bag around his cast with waterproof tape, it still got wet, so I had to take it off and wouldn't you know it, he starting flinging his leg around with ease. this is the break he got in Montreal, so I am assuming it is pretty healed now, and he is enjoying having one less cast. I tried to see if he could have his other leg unsplinted, but he still cried with it. So I resplinted it and his arm is still splinted. But he did enjoy his bath at least. Tuesday we go to see his Orthopeadic Doctor, Dr. Bartley, I wanted her to see how he is healing with all these new fractures, her receptionist was going to try to set me up with her collegue, but I refused because he was the first ortho we saw and he had the worst bedside manner ever, almost broke Reiko's leg because he didn't care and did not have his best interest at heart what so ever. So thankfully, she was able to fit us in with her.

I am kinda having a selfish day today, I am feeling sorry for myself and Derek that we did not wait longer to have kids, we never travelled, we never go out to have fun and looking at all our friends our age, our lives seem so miniscule..I love our boys, but somedays I would really really like to just be Jessica again, and be with Derek, not daddy. Someday we will get to do those fun things again, just right now is stressful and hard and we are still adjusting to being parents of a very special needs child. I wouldn't trade my boys for anything, but if only I could go back for just a day to highschool when things were simple and Derek and I had no worries. Ok the self pity is over with, just had to get it out. It feels pathetic and like I should be ashamed for feeling this way, but its the truth.

Time for bed, try to get some sleep and I will see if Kai stays in his own bed tonight.

Take care,

MOM, Laura(sister), me, DAD and Moxy, many christmas's ago, before kids.

mom and I Canada Day 2010, she was holding Reiko

Jess

Another break

Poor Reiko, pardon the pun, cannot seem to get a break. this morning I was changing his shirt and I heard a snap, his left arm is now broken. That means that every limb but his right arm is splinted. The child is just full of bandages. But he is still smiling and laughing somehow. I brought him to the Emerg to see how it bad it was and we spent 3 hours just waiting for another hospital to look at the Xrays and tell us what they see, but I took alook at the xrays with the doctor and we saw the breaks he has all over his body and I brought him home, there is no point in waiting at a hospital which will more than likely get him sick from being there.I have quite the headache today, so I wont write much, but just wanted to update you guys on my lil man. Hopefully the next few days will be break free and he will finally get some pain relief. Have a good day you guys.
Take care,Jess

:)

First thing on my mind, Britney(Spears) Britney Britney..what happened to your career? I just saaw your brand new video and it was horrible...I used to be so excited by you and now? Unfortunately you are disappointing.

Ok anyways lol...I had a busy day at home today, I completely went through the closets upstairs and got 3 big garbage bags of clothes to give away to good will. Baby, toddler and our clothes..someone will be very happy with them at least! I organized the bedroom and hallway closets and then folded laundry, and yet I think I have 3 loads of laundry to still fold tomorrow...it never gets done lol. Kai was his crazy self today, but enjoyed watching a few disney movies, Mulan, Hercules and played around the house. I found a old makeup box in the closet today that has a snap lock on it, so I gave it to Kai and he called it his treasure box since he was a pirate for the day, and filled it with all sorts of things..it was adorable. Reiko was happy but in alot of pain today, he is fine until his pain meds dont cut it anymore, then once they kick in full force again he is back to his normal self. I just wish he did not have to go through these breaks. It is absolutely heartbreaking to not be able to do anything to stop them from happening. I can't believe with how much pain he is in though he can laugh and smile all the time..he is such a tough little guy. Tonight Kai and I went swimming with Megan who is a friend and at first he was soo scared and held onto me soo tight, then once he realised he could touch the bottom of the pool he went back and forth walking to Megan and I, and it was soo amazing to see how happy it made him and he was laughing so hard, it was wonderful. I love seeing him just perfectly happy! It was a good time and we really enjoyed ourselves.

I called Fanshawe, Conestoga and Lambton College's today about Medical Transcriptionist and I decided to apply for Fanshawe, not only is it the cheapest but it makes the most sense. It will only take about 4 months I believe and if it takes longer its not a big deal. I am really excited to register next month and get started in April, I just hope that I can do this, not only for me, but to help our family out financialy. I can't believe in 2 months I will be a college student...that is crazy! I never really saw myself being a college student even in highschool, but now I realise just how important it really is. I am scared to death about the projects and stuff like that...ahhhhh...it will be great though.

Respite care tonight! WOOHOOO!! I love respite care, and only a half hour til she gets here and then I can get some sleep!! Ok have a great night everyone. xoxox

Jessica

Beautiful day..

Today was gorgeous outside, makes me wish Spring was just around the corner, but I do not think we are that lucky yet. I made a big decision today, I am going to do online college courses to work with Medical Transcriptions. I need to do something, I am not meant to be a stay at home mother. I don't clean constantly, I can't think of games to play with the boys constantly and I spend way way way to much time on the computer. Plus now that my maternity leave is done, we are down 500$ a month, and we cannot afford for me to wait another 3 years to get another minimum wage job. I have always wanted to work in the medical field, but have never felt smart enough, so I think that being a transciptionist would be great for me. I am nervous though, school is not to easy for me, English was great, Math ughhh, the dreaded Math..no word of a lie, I was so bad at Math my average was once 17%! It wasn't that I didn't do the work, its that I do not get math at all. It is so frustrating to me. A little over a year ago, before I got pregnant with Reiko, I was looking into becoming a nurse, but I had to upgrade my highschool math, well the day I got my mathbooks home, I read the page and just stared at it for an hour, trying to wrack my brain around it, and I cried so hard. So I gave up, and now look at me, I am practically my sons own nurse now! But I am very excited to get this started and I will be calling a few college's tomorrow to get myself set up.

I think Reiko is going through a break cycle again, so far left tibia, right femur, possibly broken ribs and anytime he moves he seems to be in alot of pain,....I think he is growing and that is causing all the breaks, its at least all I can think of. I am not as stressed out this time, I just splint and medicate and within an hour he is his usual smiley self. I just wish I could take away this damn pain that riddles his body.

Kai was wonderful today! He had school in the morning, and he was a very good boy all day. I love that boy soo damn much! He even brushed his teeth to like 5 songs tonight, so he brushed them very good!

So my eating has been hell, why is it so hard? why do I do this to myself? I am a 24 year old wife and mother who cannot control her eating? And the fact is, it's all selfishness..I do not need the bad food, my body does not even need it to survive, it is not meant to digest the crap, and yet I do it out of pure selfishness, but in the end I am being horrible to my body, I am not taking care of it and someday it is going to let me know loud and clear that what I have done to do it is horrible.

But now that the warmer weather seems to be coming we want to go for walks everynight, get Kai out of the house so he isn't so stir crazy, and get ourselves moving. this winter has just been to much idlying and its awful.

I feel good though, life isn't so bad, I am getting the hang of this disease now and my boys keep me forever happy and insane lol.

Oh and I set up Reiko's birthday party, it will be march 19th and it will be a pot luck,. I have invited some OI guests and of course our big family. I really want to celebrate our little miracle, a year ago we didn't know whether he would live and now he is flourishing into this wonderful little boy who is stronger than anyone I know. So this birthday party is going to be beautiful, for my beautiful snowflake.

Take care,
Jess

Happy Valentines Day!

Yesturday I bought Cinnamon hearts to put in Valentines for Kai's class. I was busy doing the valentines and Derek was with Kai in the livingroom. All of a sudden Kai runs up to me saying "OWWW MAMAMA IT HURTS!!" he was pointing to his nose..yup my 3 year old stuffed a cinnamin heart up his nose lol, thankfully he blew it out without any problems, and we all laughed like crazy. WHAT THE HECK MAKES A 3 YEAR OLD PUT STUFF UP HIS NOSE???! LOL

Today was a good day, Kai slept in his own bed for the second time in a row this week, which has been a blessing. Reiko was up alot last night, I think pain from his broken femur and tibia, possibly some rib fractures, he choked on some medicine last night, going down the wrong tube, and he was coughing so hard I would not be surprised if any cracked at least. Kai had pre-school today and he was super excited to get and give out valentines for the first time. Reiko slept the morning away and it was really nice for Derek and I to actually sleep in together this morning after Kai was dropped off at school, he slept til almost 12, then the business next door had some men breaking ice off their roofs and it felt and sounded like it was on our roof, I had to actually go outside and make sure no one was on our roof. Reiko wasn't feeling the best today, fever again, but no vomitting or anything, and by this evening he was a happy little man with adorable little giggles! After school Kai came home for a few minutes where he layed out all his valentines on the floor and pigged out on his candy before I dropped him off at Grandma and Grandpa's. Speaking of, on the way to goderich to drop him off he said "Mama I gotta pee" that was of course after I asked him if he had to pee before we left, so I pulled over and got him outside and pulled his pants down, of course with many cars passing by, and he goes "nooo I can't go its too cold!! " So I said, ok can you wait until grandma and grandpas and he says yes, not even 2 minutes later he says it again "Mama I gotta pee", so I pull over again, take him out of the car and he says the same thing "nooo mama its too cold" so I am holding his penis so he wont pee on his clothes and trying to block the air with my other hand, cares are passing by again and he just keeps saying "mama I gotta pee, but too cold" So I get him in the car, and take a diaper and cup it around his penis and tell him to pee, but since the door is open still he keeps saying it is soo cold...so I strip off his pants finally and get him in a diaper, and proceed to try and get in my door, of course the wind was crazy strong. Long story short, Kai finally peed in his diaper after our little adventure..it was at least funny. So Kai is spending the night with Grandma and Grandpa and having a great time. Reiko was feeling better by the time I got home and i gave him some yogurt with ground up calcium supplements, it sure would be easier if they made liquid calcium, but its not something you usually have to give infants. Reiko went to bed at 6 and has been sleeping since, and lucky me, its Respite Care tonight! Sooo love these nights. Derek and I cuddled,  and watched some tv, had some snacks and just enjoyed having quiet time to ourselves, it was a really nice valentines. I didn't want any gifts or anything like that, and honestly it was one of the best Valentines I have ever had with Derek. I didn't expect or want anything and I just enjoyed my wonderful husband. Happy Valentines Day everyone. xoxox

happy to be home

Reiko and I had a good day Thursday with flying, everything went as planned and the day went relatively fast. No vomitting this time, thankfully! He has been much better YAY!! Our final flight got into London Airport at 430 and Derek and Kai were waiting for us, Kai ran up and gave me a huge hug and jumped up and down with excitement, those moments are the best ever! I was soo happy to have all my boys together again, can't get enough of this family I tell ya! Of course Kai started a big tantrum as soon as we left because he wanted to see all the big airplanes but we couldn't stay. So alot of yelling on the way home from him, but he was still happy we were home. That morning I was given a wonderful letter from another OI mother named Marie-Helene she has a 3 year old son named Kaleb, I believe I wrote about them last blog. It was such a beautiful letter and brought tears to my eyes. It is amazing how many thoughtful people are out there. I feel soo very very lucky to have these amazing people in my life. Yesturday was a lazy day for me, plus I can feel I am coming down with a cold, either from the airplane or children's emerg in Montreal, so I have been taking my vitamins and cold fx and sleeping extra to try and ward off this cold, so far I think it is working, I also slept from 11-330 this morning as well as going to bed last night at 9. I am really hoping this will work.

I was changing Reiko out of an outfit today, he had just had his first ever peice of toast (12 grain) and he loved it, but got so excited about it he ended up pushing to much in and vomitted alittle bit. So I was changing him and then he started 'The Cry', felt around, and found it to be the right femur(top part of your leg) don't think its a displaced fracture but it is either a micro-fracture or cracked, either way I did a cast all the way to just under the nipple, so now the poor boy is casted on both legs. I am really hoping this is not the beginning to a fracture cycle. But we will deal with it best we can, if he is not complaining then niether can we.

Yesturday we unpacked the base of Reiko's new chair and were setting it up, Kai was all excited and ran right into the pole sticking out and almost poked his eye out, it was a very scary moment and thankfully nothing happened. But keeping him away from it has been a challenge, cannot wait until the rest of the chair gets in and we won't have to worry about it anymore. Right now I am enjoying some cuddle time with Kai while he watches Caillou, if only all moments could be this nice. Derek had to work early tonight so now I am taking it easy with the boys, once Kai is in bed I will have a nice hot bath and try not to have a care in the world.

My sister is supposed to be getting a tattoo today, she loves tattoo's and she is getting one that says "UNBREAKABLE SPIRIT" with a snowflake, its going to be beautiful. That is pretty much a tattoo I would like to get as well, but very small and I don't know what kind of snowflake yet. I like tattoo's but I like them small enough I can hide them, I like them being private.

Yesturday would have been my grandpa's 98th birthday, he passed away in October 2002, we were always super close and I miss him alot to this day. On Valentines day my grandma on my mothers side passed away 20 years ago! crazy how time flies! Ok enough for today, just rambling again lol.

Beige cast was done in Montreal for his Tibia fracture, red and brown cast done by me for his fractured femur. When splinting a fracture you always splint the joint above and below the fracture.

Kai posing with Reiko

Carol- Thank you so much for your comments. Thankfully I have such amazing help from Derek, without him I would surely go crazy somedays. It may be hard, but it is so worth it.

this week in montreal..

Ohhh it's been another fun filled week......

So saturday night Kai, Reiko and I went to Oma's for the night so that Oma could drop off Reiko and I at the airport, well Reiko was up all night that night, maybe got 2 hours sleep broken up. Then we got up at 6, and drove to the airport. I checked in my bag and we waited an extra hour, our flight was delayed, and Reiko had a fever and was extremely grumpy, luckily when we got on the plane Reiko finally fell asleep. When we landed in Toronto we had an hour and half until the connecting flight, I figured I didn't want to spend any money so we went straight to our terminal to wait, I put Reiko on the floor to play but he wanted me so I picked him up, low and behold he vomitted all over both of us and the kicker? since I checked my bag for the first time ever, I didn't even think to grab extra clothes for us...well I went looking around the airport and finally found a little shop that had baby clothes, so I had to buy myself a sweater and Reiko some onesies plus a cloth just in case he got sick again, yea, his vomit cost us 80$ lol. He again slept the second flight and then we got to the hotel after a shriner picked us up and brought us to get some grocery shopping, they were wonderful people who went out of their way to pick us up on a sunday which they usually don't do. The rest of the night was uneventful, I unpacked and ate some chicken and veggies for supper, and Reiko and I both went to bed at 7, Reiko pretty much slept through the night. Monday morning we got up at 7 and headed down to Shriners to get his treatment. That is when the nurses and doctors noticed Reiko's new port was infected...ya...great! So they could not use his port for his IV, so they tried it in his hands, feet, ankles, arms everywhere...they got an IV in but they couldn't get any blood from it and they could not do his treatment until they got the bloodwork. After heel pricks and finger pricks galore, more IV's etc they finally got enough blood. So he finally got his treatment after a very very long day, and we got back about 4pm from the hospital..by the way his treatment only takes 45 mins, and we got there at 730am. It was not meant to take all day. So we get to the hotel and have some supper, and then I go to put Reiko in his pjs and change his diaper and that is when I realise, They broke his left leg doing the IV, he never complained through all the sitting etc, so maybe it was on the verge and me changing him broke it, but the nurse said on wed that she may have heard it break when they got his blood, the one time that day I left the room because I couldn't bare to hear him go through it again...So I did a makeshift splint and called Shriners so they would be aware of us coming in to get properly splinted. That night he was up awhole lot, the next morning he had a huge fever of almost 104, and was just miserable. So we got him to his seat clinic to get fitted for the custom chair, and then we went to Shriners where they casted him and then sent us over to Children's Hospital, I was very very scared he had an infection from the port and it was going to his heart. Thankfully the hospital was wonderful and quick, some resident surgeons ended up freezing his port area and removing the port with me in the room and told us that it was not infected, but they still did blood work and xrays to make sure he was okay, his bloodwork came back normal and good, he did not have an infection for good. The doctors assume he has a viral infection and just keep with Tylenol etc. I met some amazing people yesturday, first a mom named Marie-Héléné and her son Kaleb, he has OI as well and is 3 years old, him and Reiko look alot alike and he is soo tiny and cute! Later after the hospital I visited with a lady named Janice that I met in August her daughter has Scoliosis, we chatted for a bit then Reiko and I came back and then I got to meet another OI mom named Patricia, and OMG! she is freaking gorgeous, she looks like a 25 year old model and she is 40! Lucky Lady! Her daughter Taylor is a typical cute teenager, anything you ask she says "I don't know" lol, they were wonderful though and they loved Reiko, of course lol. Today was a nice easy day, Reiko slept through the night again almost 12 hours! WOW!! I could get used to this! Then we went for breakfast at Nickels and I ordered this breakfast that I usually enjoy down here, crepes with hazelnut sauce and banana's. Delish! Then we looked around the mall for a while then came back to the hotel, next up was his final chair fitting, and it went great, his chair is going to be soo awesome! And I picked out royal purple for the colour, soo nice! Now we have been at the hotel and had a great night, I put on a face mask, redyed my hair black, and packed our bags. Tomorrow we will go home and I will finally get to see my boys, I miss Derek and Kai so much. Cannot wait to get my hug and kiss from them! Now it is bedtime and I am hoping for another full nights sleep from Reiko..but I am not holding my breath lol. Have a good night everyone.

Almost Montreal time...

So we had another change of plans, after talking to Reiko's OI doctor who is a world renowned specialist in his disease, we decided to stick with the treatment that he has been receiving. Looking back now I can see that it has been working, he has stopped fracturing as much since his last treatment and he is getting stronger all the time, he has his head control and is moving all his limbs very well, so for now we will stick to the Zolendronate. We leave early sunday morning, and will be back thursday night. He has been grumpy though this week since he is due for his treatment now and he has alot more bone pain then usual, and the hard part is now he cannot have Advil until after his treament and advil is his main pain control when he isn't broken. Tylenol will just have to do I guess. Kai has been his crazy self and he is very excited for the birthday party tomorrow for his cousins Shelby, Drake and Alyssa! I am not much for writing today, headache all day, but I will update you all from Montreal. ttyl!