Life today

I am ashamed of myself, it has been almost 5 months since I last wrote a blog. I am sorry. Life has been relatively good here. I finished school in August with a 4.20gpa and best of all I started a job even before I graduated in July. I am now working clerical at a Medical Health Centre in a town 10 minutes away from home. I have never worked in such an amazing environment before, the people are so wonderful and understanding. I was really questioning when I had the interview whether to explain about Reiko and his health issues that could effect my job or to wait and see if they even hire me, I decided to tell them the truth right away. I was hired a few days later! I do tons of different jobs there, I can make appts and sign them in when they come for their appts, I do scanning, paperwork, taking pts blood pressure  (the old fashioned way, no machines for me :) ) and height and weight checks, I do tons of other stuff to. I love going to work. I work 3 days a week for the moment but hopefully will be fulltime at some point. I graduate from Fanshawe in November and I am so excited for it!

Derek has some exciting news too, in August he did an event called TOUGH MUDDER, Which is where he and 17,000 other people who did this insane event, they had to climb up Black Diamond ski hills 6 times and do 18 obstacle courses along the way that included getting zapped by 10,000 volts of electricity. The top 5% would go onto to do the WORLD'S TOUGHEST MUDDER, Derek and my brother in law did it in 3 hours and 20 minutes, so he didn't think he even stood a chance at the top 5%, especially with how many people were there that weekend. But 2 weeks later he found out that he and my brother in law did make the top 5% and they now head down to New Jersey in November to compete in the World's toughest mudder, which means they have to do the same event as many times as possible in 24 hours to win a grand prize of $15,000!  He is super excited about it! Derek also has another boxing match this weekend and its in our hometown 15 minutes away from here so all our family and friends will be coming to watch!

Kai started school again and the teachers have been so impressed with him, he is much more grown up this year they said, and alot happier! I am so proud of him! He is not interested in reading though yet and I hope he can find the confidence to do it at some point this year. He is turning 5 this november and I don't even know how the time flew by so fast! He is a wonderful boy and even better big brother!

Now onto Reiko, my crazy little 2.5 year old! He has had a bit of a rough couple months, his arms are breaking weekly now, kind of how his legs were before the roddig but they won't do rodding on his lower arms because the rod has no where to grip onto and so it would migrate in his bone, which would require more surgeries, I guess they don't do that surgery to many people at all. So unfortunately he/we will just have to deal with these fractures weekly and hopefully they will ease with time. He has his treatment in Montreal in August so Derek took him since I didn't want to ask for time off work so soon after starting there, it went well he said and thankfully his bone density finally went up after a year of doing nothing! They agreed with us to allow him to get his treatments every 4 months instead of their the 6 months we tried, it was just to hard on his body.  I was very upset last week though because Montreal had sent us a letter stating all their findings from his OI conference he attended the day he got his treatment, and it told us he has scoliosis with a 25 degree curve at the L3 spine. It also told us all his vertebrae were crushed again, so much so that he has lost about 40% of his already tiny stature. so I cried..but you know what? he is still smiling through it all, I had no idea he was even going through that because he just smiles and laughs and is a happy child. So I made him an appt with his pediatrician for 2 weeks from now to talk about the scoliosis and have talked to his ortho specialist and they are waiting on some spinal xrays that showes the scoliosis. But better news, Reiko is really talking up a storm now, alot of people have to ask me what he says, but its clear to me haha.  He is getting better every week says his speech therapist! He is a smart little guy and really stubborn which is good and bad haha. We also finally got him off the bottle, which felt like it would be forever that was done, but he did it no problem! So I will try to update more often, I have no excuse.

Before I log off, we had some family photos done this week and they have turned out absolutely amazing! check out her site to see the pictures at http://www.hopephotography.ca/?p=3982

Take care everyone.
Jessica

Can't get any better..

Reiko's surgeries have changed his life, very much for the better. Before his surgeries he was unable to sit unassisted, he was breaking every week sometimes a few times a week, he was depressed, he was in alot of pain, was on pain meds almost consistently for 4 months, he seemed more like a baby then a toddler, After the surgeries, Reiko is sitting unassisted and even started turning himself in a circle while sitting, one step closer to bum scooting, we are working on standing up in his KAFO's and his stander from Shriners should be in this week,i'll attach a picture. He is happier than ever, he laughs all the time, he is also becoming a toddler which means terrible two's. He goes from happy to pissed right off in seconds when things don't go his way. I am so proud of how much he is thriving, his fractures have slowed down tremendously since the surgeries. The surgeries were the best decision we ever made for Reiko to date. Life has been good here, we had 2 other visits to Montreal since my last post, both were post op appts, he is starting to heal nicely, and we had 3 days of therapy 2 weeks ago with Stephanie his PT, she was absolutely amazed with how well he is doing, she said that he is so determined to get places and she see's him getting mobile very soon.

Reiko in his stander at Shriners in Montreal

Kai saying his goodbye's to Daisy May 1st 2012 :(

This last week has been hard on the Quinlan family, we put our beloved cat Daisy down, she had a severe skin allergy that made her so uncomfortable that the minute we touched her she started biting and licking herself uncontrollably, she also had arthritis and was in alot of pain, she had even started biting Derek and Kai when they touched her sometimes. So sadly on the 1st Derek and I brought her to the vets, in the morning before Kai left for school he said his goodbye's and begged me to not do it, but as much as we loved her this was the best thing for her. So sadly while kai was at school my mom came and watched Reiko, Derek stayed in the waiting room while I went in the room with her, I cried the minute we took her out of the crate, I cried as I told her that I was so sorry and that I loved her, and just as fast as we had walked into the vets, she was gone, very fast, very peacefully. I have only seen Derek cry that way a handful of times and it broke my heart even more. We cried for about 45 minutes after, even while I picked up Kai and we went to his uncle Darcy's to bury her, we all cried even Kai, it honestly surprised me to see him so sad that she was gone, I didn't expect him to take it so hard, I guess he really is growing up. We meant to wait a while to get another cat but the next day we saw a free kittens sign at a farm just outside of town and we fell in love with our Lola.

Lola our new addition to the family..Roger hates her..

I start my last 3 courses in the next few weeks, by the end of the month I will be staying at my bestfriend Tracey's for 2 nights/3 days every week to finish my schooling, I am really looking forward to girl time and finishing my courses so I can do my co-op this fall. I am hoping my marks will be just as good as my other ones cause so far I have a 4.20 GPA! Life has otherwise been good, Kai has been growing up so fast and he starts soccer soon to, unfortunately it seems like I will miss all his practises since I have school the nights they do them, hopefully I can at least watch one of them! We haven't done a whole lot around here other that Reiko's trips to Montreal every few weeks, thankfully we are done til August now. Take Care, here are some more recent pictures!

Look he is standing in his braces!

Look at me, I didn't need a carseat in the airplane this time! I'm such a big boy now!

Daddy and his boys! <3

Kai's first time at the dentist! No Cavities!!

He has one of the best pouts I've ever seen!

Looking not to shabby!

Reiko broke his arm in Montreal 2 weeks ago, but all is good now!

Lola and I

I love my cat - Daisy! R.I.P sweet girl!

Kai and Lola



Kai loves Lola but misses Daisy so much!

me posing away

Reiko couldn't sleep one night so he watched Titani with me for a bit, he loved it!

My big boy and I <3

4 going on 14...

Don't bug me ma, I'm watching Dora!



Leg 2 done!

Look at that beautiful work! Isn't it amazing? I am soo pleased with how straight they were able to make it! I am so excited to see him without the casts in 2 weeks! I saw his right leg the day before his surgery and I kept looking for a bow in the leg while bathing him and it was so beautiful and straight and now a bow in site! Dr. Fassier is an incredible surgeon. This surger is alittle harder on Reiko then the first one though, he sustained 2 femur fractures and 1 tibia fracture in this surgery compared to the 1 tibia fracture in the Right  leg, so he is still on morphine round the clock, I have tried to wean to even 6 hours apart instead of 4 but he ends up hurting pretty bad when I do that. Both his legs are wrapped together right now, they are splinted and then there is  some tape that are holding the legs in a position where the kneeds face the ceiling, the legs aren't really taped together but its still hard to change diapers and such, a pain in the ass really, but it keeps his legs out of the frog position while he heals. So the 29th we head back and the casts will be removed and he will get his KAFO's which are braces that will go up to his thighs then as he gets stronger with standing we will only have them go to the knees, then ankels. They will help him stand and it is crazy to think in a few weeks we will be working on standing for the first time in his life! What an amazing time it will be.Reiko's birthday is in 10 days! In 2 years we have been told he wouldn't make it 4 times if I include the time we were told for 2 months he wouldn't survive birth, he has had 100+ fractures and xrays, been hospitalized 10+ times for pneumonia, had rods put in his legs and 4 surgeries. WOW! we never thought our lives would be like this but I am so happy it is because he is amazing and perfect. Take care everyone.
Jessica

P.S Here is his right leg without the cast! before and after

Reiko's right leg in on top and you can see how bowed it was

Reiko's right leg before surgery, hard to see cause of the foot.

 Reiko's awesome straight leg 2 weeks post op!

Look how straight it is!!! 

Ecstatic!

So Reiko had his surgery last Tuesday on the right leg and everything went smoothly.  Dr. Fassier said that his bones were soft so the rods just slid right in with no osteotomy(fracture) in the femur and only one osteotomy in the tibia, but otherwise the surgery went perfectly, he had little blood loss so no transfusion was needed either. They gave him something called a cottel(??) block that blocked the feeling in his nerves in the leg, it was supposed to last 24 hours but lasted about 8 hours, we spent the night and most of the next morning trying to catch up to his pain, but by the afternoon he was finally comfortable and he was back to his normal self. I was quite surprised how amazing he handled everything. I still have him on his pain meds every 4 hours on the dot so that we don't get behind his pain again, and we have been back in the hotel for 2 days now, so only 2 days in the hospital after surgery! He is already getting around like normal in the hotel, when we first came in to the hotel I put him on the floor with a pillow under his leg, assuming he would stay there while I put some things away, well I turn around and to my surprise he was moving around the floor, not evem 48 hours after surgery!! He has been such a good lil guy, he was pretty grumpy yesturday but nothing to unusual for him. We go back to the hospital Tuesday and his left leg surgery is Wednesday, I expect him to take alittle longer to bounce back and I also expect him to be very pissed off that both legs will be casted at once, but after seeing the xrays of his right leg, it is so worth it. So here it is, the amazing work of Dr. Fassier on the right leg!

Surgery postponed!

Reiko started getting a cough at night 2 days before surgery and so the surgery has been postponed til the 21st and 29th of this month, so 11 days away and hopefully the cough will be gone, he didn't cough last night so hopefully that is a good sign. He still had his Zole infusion and for the first time he had the energy burst I always hear people talk about, he was absolutely crazy hyper in my arms! I talked to Dr. Glorieux about switching treatments and he explained to me that until Reiko's leg's aren't bowed from the surgery he will keep fracturing them, and once the surgery is done we will really get to see how the treatment is working for him, so I agreed that after the surgery we will continue with the Zole for another year, and see if it makes a difference, if not then he agrees for us to try the PAM. It was a great time down there though, the first night around 9 another OI mom named Kyra came to our room and we finally met after a year of talking, she is a wonderful person and I hope to have a great friendship with her even if she does live so far away in B.C. Her Daughter Clairesse is soo cute! We also met the family from Nepal we have talked to for so long Durga and her son Animesh and he finally got his leg rodded. It was nice to have company while down there, it made it much more enjoyable! I hope that there will be more people there when Reiko has his surgeries. Reiko is so happy and comfortable since having his treatment, he just seems so much more lively right now, its wonderful. I was happy to be able to come back home to Derek and Kai early and now I think I am prepared for next time we head down, but I am not bringing nearly the same amount of stuff  lol, those bags were heavy! And we figured out that next time we will be taking the train home so his hippo carseat will for sure fit. Things are going to run smoothly, I just know it.
Jessica

Almost Ready.

In 24 hours Reiko and I will be at our hotel in Montreal. the first few days will be easy, it will be the usual, go to the hotel, drop of bags, go get some food and then have an early bedtime, next morning wake up at 6, have something to eat before Reiko wakes up, get him ready and out the door to Shriners by 730 am, where they will give me some cotton balls to catch his urine, they will access his port, have a DEXA scan done, xrays, meet with PT and OT, meet with his doctors, get his treatment and then eventually go back to the hotel after meeting with 15 different people. But the next day we don't go home like we usually do, the next day we will pack our bags and bring them to the hospital where he will be admitted for his surgery the next day. The surgery day I don't know what to expect, they have it scheduled for 12pm, but who knows if that will be right. But my sister will be there to help me so that is so important. I am kinda ready, I am ready for the surgery to be done and over with, but the hardest part I am in no way ready for is to leave Kai and Derek. I look at Kai today and get emotional looking at him thinking that for 23 days I will only be able to hear his voice, no cuddles, no kisses, no playing, just his voice. I hate leaving Derek to, he is my husband and don't tell him I said this but my best friend (he doesn't believe in spouses being best friends lol). I will miss his companionship, his love, his kisses and hugs, his funny personality and just being with him. Talking on the phone just does not do any justice for the real thing. Reiko is due for his zole and you can tell he is in pain right now, and he is getting a cold now, I just hope it goes away before thursday. There is so much on my mind right now, so many things running through it and is overwhelming. I am ready for the stress and anxiety about the surgeries to be over with. I will update you all as soon as I can. xoxoxo Take care!

Breakdown..

I had one of those days today. It was my nephew Drakes' 4th birthday party today, as well as a birthday celebration for my nieces Shelby and Alyssa. Reiko's right leg has been sore, fractured somewhere in the tibia I am thinking, no point in an xray now since tuesday he will have xrays and a Bone Density Scan. You see everytime there is a family event, derek and I really don't get to truly enjoy them, there is the constant worry someone bumping into Reiko, someone tripping and hurting him, something breaking. just a constant worry. We live on eggshells just waiting for the cry, and Reiko doesn't understand why he can't go on the floor like he does at home and he gets very angry with us. Not to mention he is also due for his Zolendronate treatment and he probably is in a crazy amount of bone pain. Well we were trying tp put him in his seat to eat and of course he lets out the cry, and honestly I just lost it, I went to the car to get some morphine and just couldn't hold it together, in front of the family as well, first I made derek take over with Reiko while I went into the bathroom and just cried for about 5 minutes before someone knocked, then I went out tried to pull myself together but couldn't so my sister told me to come out to the garage and I just cried hard into her shoulder. Its so hard some days, so badly we just want to have a normal day, I wish we could have the days we had before, where we went somewhere and didn't worry, we felt at ease and could just enjoy the time with family, but now its constant stress and worry...and sadness for me. I wish I could see him play with his cousins, and just enjoy his time with them, but instead he is stuck being held or in a seat watching the action. No one understands the heartache I feel seeing him want to play with them and he can't, and to see him fracture all the time just kills me. I just love him so much and would do anything for him, its just really really hard. I'm just talking out my ass right now. I don't even know how to end this post tonight. so I'll just say goodnight and please pray or send some good thoughts to Reiko.

Nerves....

I'm starting to get the nerves now, tomorrow is a week until we leave for Montreal. It's hard to think that after having such an awesome week with Reiko, so happy and pain free and moving around freely that he will have his first major surgery on one of his legs, followed by the other 12 days later. I hate to think that in a week he will be in a lot of pain and there is nothing I can do about it. I know he needs these surgeries so bad, hell I was the one emailing the doctor to get them done, but now that they are so close, its just scary to think of him being put under twice and laying his life in someone else's hands. I am also nervous about leaving Derek and my KaiKai for 3 weeks, when Derek works at night Kai sleeps in my room. Last night I went to bed and just watched him sleep for a while and fell asleep holding his hand. It breaks my heart to know he will not be with me for almost a month, thats insane. I know I am going to just feel so sad when I am away from my amazing husband and my lil man. No one tells you that you might have to go through things alone when you most need your family around. But I also feel awful for Derek because he will be away from his baby boy during a major surgery, I have realised I have kept talking about how I was going to be all by myself and I would be away from Derek and Kai for 3 weeks, but finally realised that its not just Reiko and I going through this, Derek and Kai will be going through this in their own way and it won't be easy for any of us. So I have been trying to enjoy the moments we have together and not get frustrated with Kai so easily over simple things, because in another week I will miss them so much.

I have been racking my brain over and over again about what to bring, what to expect, how will I do things by myself after his surgeries and at this point I am just ready to get everything over with so that I can just relax. I absolutely hate the unknown, I don't do well when I can't plan things. Even the day of the surgery is annoying me because I have to go to the Ronald McDonald House at some point to sign in and get the key for my sister to stay there and I don't know what time I can do it. I am hoping that the surgery will be around 2 because I can't get the key before 2pm, so if the surgery is in the afternoon I can leave when Reiko goes into surgery and be back before he is out of surgery. If not I have to leave my sister with him in recovery and go get the key, why can they not just let my sister sign in instead of me?! especially on the day of his surgery!
But it will all come together for us, it will, it has to.

I will try to keep you all updated about his surgeries.
Take Care!
Jess

daddy didn't bring him in the store!

chillin out and watching tv

People of Walmart - Cutest baby ever!

Kai and Reiko in their matching PJ's

bathtime tonight!

Reiko woke up in some pain tonight, gave him some advil and he passed out on me, and no I am not losing my hair, just a bad hair moment lol

Kai went sledding with his uncle Darcy pulling him behind the snowmobile, don't worry it was slow!

Life

Ohh today I am having such a hard time being awake, I took nyquil last night for my cold and it just knocks me right out! I don't mind, its nice to have something actually let me sleep while sick, but I feel so drained today.

Kai went to Oma's yesturday for the weekend, but he will be coming home today, for some reason he woke up at 11 and started crying about wanting to come home, he cried for an hour before they called here, daddy was awake and calmed him down but then he made Oma stay awake until 4am watching tv, then only slept til 8. So I will pick him up today, I have a feeling this is due to him knowing that Reiko and I will be leaving for a while in February. I have been telling him that mommy and Reiko will be leaving for a long time to go to the doctors. He has been good about it, but I think when the time actually comes after a week he will be wondering why we are not back yet and Derek may have a hard time with him. Kai had a bizarre week at school, he was awfully tired his teacher said and he bit a classmate twice this week. The first time he had a really hard tiring day she said, he thought that the boy was hitting another classmate and he bit him, he was sent to time out and I decided to keep him home the next day to just be lazy and hopefully be rejeuvenated for school the next day. Then the day he came back he bit the same boy again but this time the boy hit him first, but no one saw it, and then he bit him in retaliation. We had a big talk that night about going to the teacher when someone hurts him physically/emotionally and hopefully next week will be better. He is generally a gentle boy and has never had a biting problem.

Yesturday Derek was supposed to go get the "snip snip" done, well we went to the hospital and he was ready, but he didn't know he was not supposed to eat breakfast, he was then informed he could not have the vasectomy done because they inject adrenaline in and it causes you not to have a gag reflex, so now he has to wait again..I was not impressed, it was not in the pamphlet of what to do and he does not remember what the drs said at his pre admit a few months back. I was ticked that he couldn't remember that one thing about his stuff but I have to know everything about Reiko's. But later on we laughed it off and hopefully he can get it done in the next two weeks before we go to Montreal.

Yesturday Derek and I were able to give Reiko his first bath since the bad break in his right leg, we thought it was his femur that was broken, but turns out its his tibia. He is much more comfortable now out of the brace and in a regular splint. Plus its so much easier for us, I will bring him with me to pick Kai so that he can actually get out of the house for the first time in weeks! He hasn't been out in almost 3 weeks I think because of the fractures! This will be a treat for him lol.

Last night I went to my mom's house for a visit and we were looking at pictures on her computer and we came across some of Moxy and I just started bawling, I miss him so much. I would give anything to see him one more time, to have a kiss, hug and one last goodbye, I never got to say goodbye, We found a video I was hoping to find and it was so funny it was of me making high pitched noises and him howling...It brought more tears, it was so good to see him alive again for a minute. I just wish he was still here. But we felt him last night at mom's. I was saying "MOXY COME HERE BUDDY, GIVE ME A SIGN YOUR HERE!" and it started out my mom said her back felt really cold, and then all of a sudden the cold came right over to me, and was laying beside me, it was really cold feeling and it wasn't there before, It felt like alot of cold air movement beside me and it made me so happy. I really hope it was him.

That is all for now! take care. hope you all are good.
Jess

Moxy and I

Exciting and scary news!

First things first, Reiko had a bad fracture in his Right leg the other day, Derek was holding him and said all he did was switch hands, nothing unusal, and he heard a loud snap, not good at all. He had a rough couple days, lots of meds and very little movement, it was hard because changing his diaper was hell and even lifting him for any reason at all was pure torture on him. He is finally over the hump and last night he pretty much slept through the night and without meds, today he is doing great and hopefully that will be the end of the pain. Now onto the exciting news...

Reiko is getting both legs rodded in Montreal by Dr. Fassier Feb 9th and 21st (one leg each surgery) both his femurs and tibia's will be rodded. It is very exciting that he is going to finally get these rods and hopefully they can help him with the constant fractures he has been having in his legs, and its scary because we will be gone from Derek and Kai for 3 weeks. I am doing it all on my own and that scares the hell outta me. I am alittle frustrated that I have to pack for 3 weeks and then when he gets his surgery we have to pack up everything in our hotel and bring it with us to the hospital for the 3-4 day stay and then bring it all back after he is outta the hospital, and then I can't figure out how I will grocery shop since I can't buy the food before hand and then after, I have to somehow bring Reiko to the grocery store, post op, and in the snowy streets. Last year when we had his treatment in February I had to get groceries and I had Reiko is his stroller walking down the street and the sidewalks were completely snow covered and they didn't clear them off at all, I am scared it will be like that again and it will just put him in so much pain. I have no idea what I am going to do and I am stressed out to say the least. The hardest part about dealing with this disease when you have two children is when I need my husband the most, he can't be there, and that is hard, because these surgeries have me really scared about what to expect Reiko to go through. He is such a strong boy, but this is new territory. But at the end of the day, these surgeries are exactly what he needs, his left leg is so bowed and this is going to help him big time! I am also switching to the Pamidronate treatment after the surgeries, I do not know if the Zole has worked on him (slowing the degeneration of the bone, decrease bone pain, decrease fractures) because he is constantly fracturing, just last week 4 fractures in 10 days and 21 since October! He has had over 100 fractures and so I just need to try this other treatment and then if he is still this fragile then we know that its just his life and we have done everything we can to help him. I just pray that the other treatment will work. It's perfect timing for the surgeries to because this is Reiko's last treatment as part of the clinical study on zole for infants, so we at least finished the trial, we have to still go back in May for the final evaluation but thats it, then we go to Montreal once a year until he is in his 20's, we can get his treatments in the city an hour away now!

Kai and Daddy went to see the Monster trucks today with my brother in law and nephew, they left at 830 so they could go get their tickets and also a pit pass so they could actually go up to the monster trucks, I am sure they loved seeing them up close, the actual show isn't until 12, so I am sure the boys are driving them crazy lol. I hope they have a fantastic time. I have never been to a show before, but everyone says bring earplugs(they did) cause it is so loud.

This afternoon my best friend is coming over to watch Reiko for a while so I can go to another friend's house and get a psyhic reading, lol, I have been to lots before, maybe this one will actually get something right.

Ok thats all for today, take care everyone!

Here are some pics!

Right leg broken, Left arm broken

A few days before breaking his leg, Reiko wouldn't nap and for the first time passed out at supper lol



Kai hanging out in a tree!



Reiko saying "CHEESE"

The boys hanging out!

the beginning of January, his right shoulder and left arm were broken, he was in a straight jacket, which did not last long, had to take one arm out at least.

Kai doing an arm bar on daddy!



Reiko doing an arm bar on daddy!



Sorry!!

Sorry for the hiatus! Not much has changed here since November, Reiko is still in his fracture cycle, currently his R shoulder is broken as well as his L arm, he has been in alot of pain and its been hard on all of us. But Let me go back and tell you all about Christmas.

Just before Christmas my dad was put in the hospital for pancreaitis, it was quite scary and he was told that he was very close to dying, Thankfully he pulled through and he is home now, he was in for 2 weeks, missing Christmas and he still isn't back to normal yet, he has lost probably by now 30lbs and you can really see it, he has no appetite at all, but hopefully soon he will be back to normal. So Christmas was definitely not the same without him at home being grumpy lol. We still had a Christmas dinner at my moms Christmas eve and it was hard on her, she was sad and was really missing him being at home. Next year will be better.

Christmas for our little family was actually fantastic! Reiko had almost 2 weeks break free so that was a wonderful present to him. Christmas day Kai woke me up at 730 and was super excited, we came downstairs and he was jumping up and down looking at the presents, but it was pure torture for him because he had to wait 30 minutes until daddy got home from school. And When daddy got home the jumping up and down started all over again and he was so happy to finally open his presents. Reiko didn't really care about opening the presents so Kai "helped" him open them all lol. After the presents were open daddy made breakfast and then we headed out to Oma's for more presents. But Kai did something so unlike him, he was so excited about the new toys he asked us to go home! So we left early. Over all it was a great Christmas, Derek bought me a pedicure and massage, which I go for Monday, my first Hot Stone Massage ever! I am excited for it. OHHHH and also of course when Derek was opening his gifts from me, he opened his new shirt and low and behold he is wearing the EXACT shirt I had bought him. The story with that is, I bought him the shirt on his wishlist, one of the many shirts on it, I forgot which one I bought and I wrapped it right away, later in November at  MMA fight he bought a shirt, he even joked he hoped it wasn't the same one I bought him. So for a whole month of him wearing that shirt I never realised he already had the same one. Now he has two shirts, lucky him lol.

New years was boring, Derek worked so it was just me and the little men, went to bed before midnight lol. This last week was hard cause the fractures started up again for Reiko, it started out with the shoulder so that was wrapped up so later this week his other arm broke, and so I had to let out at least one limb so he wouldn't go crazy in a straight jacket, he is using his arm with the broken shoulder but very limited. I have been having very whoa is me days this week, pitying myself and Reiko and this awful, stupid disease. Today was a hard day, because it seemed like everything I did was hurting him, and he was just giving me this look like "why mommy" and it just killes me to see him hurt like this. But hopefully things will finally calm down for him, he just needs this fractures to stop for a long time.

Kai has been on Christmas vacation the last 2 weeks, loved the first week, the second week I was counting down the days until school lol. He has been great but very bored, its hard on him when he is constantly being told "BE CAREFUL" "NO RUNNING" "QUIET" our house is just not meant for being crazy and its unfair to him, but its something he has to grow up with unfortunately.

As for me there isn't much different, I start another online course Monday, I finished my last 3 courses with A+'s and have a 4.20 GPA so far, and I am super proud of that. In February I have to get my L breast ultrasound because I had a lump but it changed from a ball to a long ridge, my dr says he doesn't think its cancer but because it changed shape he wants to be safe, and if the ultrasound is iffy then we will proceed with a mammogram. I am not nervous about it, but I will be if they do have to order the mammogram.

Thats life right now. Another boring blog entry, sorry lol. Take care everyone

Jess