the name game

The newest development in Brecken-World: Full names. He will now tell you that his name is Brecken Sandlian. In fact, he just saw a picture of himself and said, "That's Brecken Sandlian!" And I am now "Mommy Kara" and Josh is now "Daddy Josh".

What a smart kid we have. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

i'm sick of sickness

We had to take Brecken to Laramie today, to see a "real" pediatrician since we don't have any in Saratoga. He just hasn't been able to kick the illness that put him in the hospital, even though it's been almost a month. Last night, he was breathing SUPER fast (76 breaths a minute!) and could hardly catch his breath. And Amy said at her house yesterday, he was saying his chest hurt and she could feel his heart POUNDING. So Josh called the Laramie Children's Clinic as soon as they opened and got an appointment for this afternoon. We both went.

Dr. Horst, the pediatrician, is almost positive Brecken has the virus that is identical to RSV, called the Human something-something Virus, but there isn't a test for it yet. But he's almost positive that's what B has. He thinks he got it a while ago, before the hospital stay. With this virus, it hangs on for a long time, and magnifies all other small germs, which totally makes sense because I keep wondering why my kid has the worst colds ever!! He's never been 100% since the hospital stay. Dr. Horst also thinks, based on our reports about the hospital stay, that B might have had a bit of pneumonia, but since he wasn't there, he can't say for sure. Anyway, since B has had this human something-something Virus for a while, the only treatment he is going to do for it is continue the nebulizer treatments 2-3 times a day and as needed. After a few days, we can cut back to just as needed. And if he doesn't have a healthy day by the end of February, we can come back and we'll talk about a steroid inhaler. Brecken has a bit of a wheeze in his lungs, but Dr. Horst doesn't want to classify it as asthma yet. I asked how he knows WHEN to say it's asthma (because I've always wondered if B has it...) and he said after a 3rd round of nebulizer treatments, he is "safe" to call it asthma. This doesn't count as a "round" though, since it's treating the virus. We told him he's been on nebulizer treatments before, and he said then sometime down the line, asthma might be discussed.

Anyway, he sent us to the Lincare place with a prescription to buy our own nebulizer machine since we seem to need it so much and I anticipate needing it more in the future. :) Cost us $150, but we can submit it to insurance. Plus, it will pay off because we won't have to pay a rental fee each time we need it now! We borrowed Amy's that she owns, last night, but now we can send that back to her house and have albuterol in the diaper bag so if she needs to give B a treatment at her house (like if a heart thing happens again like what happened yesterday), she can.

About the heart thing- Dr. Horst said in this age of kids, chest pain is always breathing related and not cardiac related. That makes me feel better!

We really liked Dr. Horst. He spent a long time listening to the lungs and doing a VERY good history. Asked a ton of questions. He was awesome with Brecken while looking in his ears (he was looking for french fries!) and nose (he said, "I want to look at your boogers!") and stuff. We have decided that we can go to the clinic here for shots, but anything more than that, we will be taking B to Laramie. Bummer that it takes so long to get there, but worth it for the care. The clinic has not been impressive to us lately. Today if we had gone there, they would've spent 2 minutes with B and not done anything.

We think he gained a half a pound since the hospital stay. He wouldn't stand on the scale but we weighed me holding him, and then just me. It read 23 pounds. He was 22 lbs, 8 oz. in the hospital. Yay for a good weight gain! But 23 pounds for a 2 1/2 year old makes me giggle. :)

While waiting for Josh to check out, B was playing in the kid area. There was a little guy playing there too, and it turns out his name was Brecken, too! Crazy!

So there's the update. Maybe soon this thing will go away and my boy can be healthy again!

full of love

Brecken has this thing now where he'll say "I love you more", to which we reply, "No, I love YOU more!" and he says, "No, I love YOU more!" and so on and so forth. I think that's what he meant this afternoon when he looked at me and said,

"Mommy, I love you too much!"

I laughed so hard I cried. :)

some pictures

I went to send out my January pictures, but realized I only took a few of Brecken last month! I took lots of photos- for middle school basketball teams, homecoming, basketball, but I guess I didn't get much of my little guy. So I'll just post them on here.


Here is Brecken after he decided to ditch the spoon and eat the yogurt with his hands:

He really has gotten interested in my iPod lately. He has a playlist of his songs on there, and he listens to them over and over. He dances and sings along.

It looks like he is in pain on here, but he isn't. He is totally digging the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes", and is doing the "head" part in this picture. He gets into his songs. :)

a boy and his buddy

It sure is fun to watch my child grow into a boy. Makes me sad because the baby stuff is gone, but at the same time, this stage is a blast. Amy (our daycare lady) has a little boy about 5 months older than Brecken and they get along fabulously. Dylan told Brecken when we left the other day, "Bye, Brecken! I love you!" Today she told me that Cooper, her 1-year-old, was trying to get Brecken's milk today and Dylan told his little brother, "NO, Cooper! That's my best friend!" Awww....

We had a good weekend. Saturday morning, I did photos for the middle school basketball team and then B and I stayed home while Josh's team went to Hanna to play. They lost by one, and should've won pretty easily, so it wasn't a good day for them. Sunday, we had some people over to watch the Superbowl and had a good time. Brecken is very much into piggyback rides, which he calls "Tigger-back" rides. It's quite cute. He can't get enough Tiggerback rides.

finally! a win!

Josh's team finally got a win last night! First one of the season. It was a big win, too- it was against Encampment, in Encampment, at Encampment's homecoming! It was very exciting. They won by 4. Phew! His JV was close- they lost by 1. Encampment boys won by 1.

They are in Hanna today. Brecken and I didn't go. Hopefully Josh's team will come home with another win!

my friend

Totally out of the blue tonight, Brecken gave me a HUGE squeeze around my neck, and said, "Best Friend."

I swear, I didn't know my heart had anything else to melt!

oh, no.

Here's what started last night:

"Why, Mommy?"

I was dreading this stage. And here it is.

Wish us luck.

:)

welcome home

I beat Josh and Brecken home today. I was standing in the dining room when the door opened, and in comes Brecken, shouting, "MOMMY! MISSED YOU!!!!" before he even saw me. What a nice way to be welcomed home. :)

what an historic day

I'm here in Casper for the All-State Conference. I have been since Sunday, but we get to go home today! I'm glad, because I miss my two boys at home.

I was afraid I was going to miss one of the biggest days in history, because we were in clinics and the kids were in rehearsals, all day long. But the guest choir conductor, from the University of New Hamshire, had a great idea. He stopped rehearsals for his choir at about 9:30 yesterday morning and had the inauguration projected on a HUGE screen in the auditorium so the kids could witness the event. So I skipped one of the clinics and joined them. I wasn't the only teacher with that idea- there were several rows of us in the back of the auditorium. :) And WOW. What an amazing event. Not only did they have one of the most beautiful arrangements of "Simple Gifts" that I've ever heard... (Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Pearlman, and two of their friends, playing the arrangement done by John Williams!!!!!!!!! Could it get any better?!?! It brought tears to my eyes!) but just the historical significance of swearing in Barack Obama was incredible. No matter who you wanted to win the election, you have to admit- this is a HUGE day in history. One that will be written down in our history books. And a day that shows that we as Americans, have moved in a direction that shows that everybody is EQUAL. And that's a wonderful direction to be going.

a visit to the rawlins hospital

I finally got to ride in a wheelchair with my baby- I never got to when he was born since he left in an airplane- but I got to on Tuesday morning!

Brecken has had a fever since Friday. We thought it was another molar coming in- he had a fever over Christmas and when it went away, we found a molar. So we kept alternating Tylenol and Ibuprofen and trying to keep the fever down. Monday we decided we better get him to the clinic to get checked out, so I stayed home with him. Dr. Jake thought his ears were pretty red, but not infected, and that his throat looked terrible. Brecken had a good cough too, so Jake thought it was the same crud that has been going around. He prescribed us antibiotics and we went home. Brecken had some energy back that evening and we went to bed as normal.

At midnight, I heard him wimpering in his sleep. So I went in his room and felt his head and almost burned my hand off. Brecken was BURNING. I got out the temporal thermometer and totally freaked out when it said 106. I tried several more times and got readings between 104 and 105. Josh tried the under-arm thermometer and go 102.9. He called the doctor on call, who thought we could probably give Brecken a half dose of ibuprofen since it wasn't time for a full dose yet. After Josh hung up, Brecken threw up all over me. That's when we decided it was time to head to the ER in Rawlins.

When we got admitted to the ER, they took his temp rectally, and got 105.1. It's so much more scary to get a reading like that from professionals. I was terrified. My first thought was "Oh my God, he's got meningitis." His heart rate was over 200, and his oxygen level was only about 72%. They started him on an IV, which was TERRIBLE. They only had to stick him once, thank goodness, but the look of terror on his little face is something I'll likely never forget. They drew blood, did a nasal wash to check for RSV (negative), and then we had to do two chest x-rays. Let me tell you how fun that was. It wasn't. He had to sit on a stool by himself. Josh held his head and I held his hips. At 3:10 am, when you are two years old and not feeling good AT ALL, it was a miserable experience. They said his upper right lung looked a little off. They asked if Brecken had ever had problems with his lungs that had hospitalized him before. Why, yes, he has! (click on "why yes he has" if you don't know the story!) By this time, Brecken had had a bag of antibiotics through his IV and was started on his second bag of fluids. They decided we better be admitted into the hospital. FINALLY at 5:30 am, we were given a room. (this is when I got to hold him and be wheeled up to our room!) Then they poked and prodded him and we got no sleep. (I forgot to mention that the hospital is under reconstruction, and at the dot of 7:00, the construction started. RIGHT OUTSIDE OUR ROOM, IN THE HALLWAY.)

So we got to hang out in the hospital bed all day yesterday. Couldn't go anywhere since Brecken was hooked up to the IV, and we had to keep an oxygen tube near him at all times to keep his oxygen up. Plus, Brecken didn't feel like going anywhere- he felt pretty terrible. He would cry every time a nurse would come in because he knew they were either going to mess with his IV in his hand, put a "sticker" on his foot or finger to check oxygen levels, take his temp, make him do a nebulizer treatment, or something else he wasn't interested in doing. Poor kid.

Early this morning, around 3:00 am, his fever broke. And you could tell- he was up and hyper! He was pushing the buttons on the bed I was sharing with him (Josh slept in the other bed in the room), making it go up and down and up and down. He channel surfed on the TV, watched movies on his DVD player, we walked the hallways, he put a million stickers that the nurse had given him on to his hospital mug, and the best thing- he asked for food! He hadn't had an appetite in 4 days so that was a wonderful sign! Finally, he went back to sleep about 6:00 this morning. Just in time for construction to start at 7:00. :) The doctor came in around 8:15 and said we could go home. Hooray! His final conclusion was that he thought Brecken had an upper respiratory infection, even though his white blood cell counts were in the normal range when we came into the ER. And he didn't know why exactly Brecken's temp was as high as it was. But he sent us home with a decongestant, the nebulizer machine, antibiotics, and tylenol.

So, we got home around 11:00 and after lunch, Brecken and I took LONG naps. :) Now we're hanging out and taking it easy. It's so nice to be home! I have to go to work tomorrow morning to work with my all-state kids before we leave on Sunday, so I will go and Josh will stay home with Brecken. Then we'll switch at lunch and I'll come home and Josh will go to work for the afternoon, since he has a home game that starts at 3:00. Josh doesn't have school on Friday so he can stay home with Brecken. Next week we'll get back to normal!

Thanks for everyone that threw prayers our way- they worked and Brecken's on the mend! I can't believe how brave our little boy was. We are very grateful that we have such an awesome kid. Throughout this whole thing, HE was kissing OUR owies. What a trooper.

chicken and nanny

Every single day since August, when Brecken started daycare, we ask him what we have for lunch.  And every single day since August, the answer has always been "chicken and nanny!"  (nanny means candy.)  Every day.  I KNOW that's not the answer because Amy always tells us what he has for lunch.  And it's never chicken and nanny. :)

I thought after 2 weeks off at Christmas, he might forget about that answer.  But Jan. 5, first day back, I asked what he had for lunch.  "Chicken and nanny!" was his answer.  Nope, he didn't forget!

You should hear him say "candy cane".  It's so funny.  "Mommy, I want a nanny cane!"  :)

he wants to go!

Josh and I were talking with each other tonight about how much we loved Marco Island and we wanted to go back.  The word Florida was mentioned and all of a sudden Brecken exclaimed, "SEE MICKEY MOUSE FLORIDA!" 

How in the world does he know Mickey lives in Florida???

He kept telling us he wanted to go see Mickey in Florida though!  Our arms might be able to be twisted.... :)

i love the age of two.

It's interesting, that's for sure.  B thought I was his slave today.  Everything was "Mommy get it." and if that didn't work, he'd shout it at me.  It was a long morning.  For both of us- for myself because I was being yelled at and for him because nothing he ordered me to do got done!  :)  The classic was when he tossed something off the couch and then said, 

"Mommy get it!!!"  

Me: "YOU get it.  You're the one who threw it and you have two legs."

B (in a snotty tone, I might add...): "Where?" 

Oh, my child.  Thank you for keeping me on my toes.

The afternoon was much better and by the time Josh got home from his poker run, B was hysterical.  He's really into pretending he is a horse right now.  He gets on his hands and knees and rares up saying, "Neigh, neigh!"  Tonight he found his stuffed toy horse and was "riding" it, neighing.  Yesterday while doing this, I said, "Daddy, we have a horse in the house!"  B goes, "WHERE???" (again, his favorite question.)  I said, "Right there!" and pointed to him.  He looks over his shoulder and exclaims again, "Where????"  Poor kid probably got very excited thinking we really had a horse in the house. :)

year in review

Most of you won't find this post interesting, but I eventually want to find somewhere where I can get my blog printed in book format, one for each year.  And since today is the last day of 2008, I felt some "closure" was needed so when it's printed as a book, it doesn't end with a random post.  So this is our Christmas letter that was sent in our cards, which I think reviews our year nicely.  I think this will be a good last entry in the future book.  We had a fabulous 2008 and are looking forward to what 2009 has to bring us.  Happy New Year, everyone!

Happy Holidays from the Sandlians!

 

We hope this letter finds everyone in the Christmas spirit, celebrating all that happened in 2008 and looking forward to 2009!  Our year was busy as usual but we wouldn’t want it any other way.

Our family had two graduations this year, and both were on the same day.  Unfortunately, Josh’s was in Montana and my sister’s was in Laramie, so Josh wasn’t able to attend his ceremony.  But yes, Josh graduated in May with his master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction and is now a full-fledged teacher!  My sister finished college and graduated with her nursing degree.  We had a great weekend celebrating those two accomplishments.

At the end of June, we, along with my mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew, spent some time in Disney World.  It was a great time.  Both Ryan and Brecken thought their first trip there was a blast.  Brecken enjoyed the rides and shows, and had a great time on the trip.  He wasn’t sure he wanted the characters to touch him, but had a good time looking at them from afar.  J  Josh and I had to come home on July 3^rd so we could attend the wedding of Josh’s brother, Jeff, to our new sister-in-law, Beth.  We were very excited to welcome Beth into the Sandlian family!  And what a fun wedding it was!  We had a lot of family at the wedding and it was fun to catch up with everyone. 

Also in July, we moved!  We grew out of our old house and were in need of a bigger one.  We found the perfect one and were able to move after we got back from the wedding.  We sure love the room we have- it is twice as big as our old house and has a ton of storage, which was DESPERATELY needed!  It also has a two car garage, and now that we don’t need the garage for storage, Josh and I can both park in there.  We sure love that, especially right now when we don’t have to scrape windows before we can leave for work!  It also has a built in kennel in the garage that goes to a fenced one outside for our two dogs.  Perfect!  We have a gorgeous view of the mountains out our picture window in the living room.  We also have a lot of bedrooms so if you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and visit!

We welcomed a new niece into our family on July 29, named Brooklyn Paige Winegar.  This is my sister’s 2^nd child and we’re loving watching her grow!  Brecken even named his baby doll “Brooke”.   He loves babies and pays her a lot of attention!

This fall was a bit rough on us.  Football season started and not too soon afterwards, one of my students, who was also one of Josh’s favorite football players, was killed in a car accident 4 days before his 18^th birthday. It was horrible.  Neither of us had ever dealt with the death of a student.  It hurt so bad to watch my other students be in so much pain.  The team struggled, too.  They never really got their momentum back and ended the season not making the playoffs.  If you text on your phone while driving, STOP.  If you don’t wear your seatbelt, START.  Got it?

Brecken turned two years old in September.  Not sure how he grew up so fast!  The age of two certainly is a lot different than the age of one… lots more challenges but a lot more fun, too!  He is a talker and can mimic anything you say.  He is very good at bossing the dogs and cats around, and is the most hilarious two year old I’ve ever met.  His favorite game right now is hiding body parts.  He’ll sit on his hands and say, “Mommy, where hands go?”  Then pull them out and shout, “There they are!”  He started at a new daycare this fall; the lady that owns it is the head coach for Josh’s basketball team.  She is FABULOUS and Brecken loves going there to play!  He also started pre-school this fall, Fridays for an hour and a half.  He is learning things at an alarming rate and brings home the best paintings and crafts.  I have a very smart child.  J

Another new niece was born in September, Josh’s brother and sister-in-law had their 3 ^rd child, Hailey Jo.  Brecken’s other baby doll is now named “Hailey”.  I told you the kid loves babies!

Brecken got to go trick-or treating for the first time this October.  He was dressed as a monkey and caught on to saying, “Trit-er-reet!” very quickly after he realized there was candy involved!  I’m pretty sure that was the best night of his whole life.  The kid is a candy monster. J

Josh is still teaching high school science, coaching high school football, and coaching high school girls basketball.  Basketball has started and Brecken gets to go to practice sometimes.  He loves practice.  He cried when football season was over because he couldn’t go to practice anymore.  He thinks basketball practice a good substitute for football though. J  Josh is also still running on the ambulance as an EMT-AI (Advanced Intermediate) and that keeps him very busy in his “free time” from school and practice.  He’s also still on the fire department but luckily they don’t get too many calls.

I am still teaching K-12 music in Encampment and loving it.  I love the diversity it gives me- I don’t have time to get tired of any one age group!  My free time is spent at home playing with Brecken!  We have a ball together.

We are leaving soon for a trip to Florida, to attend my cousin’s wedding in Marco Island.  I know, I know, visiting Florida in the winter while we have snow on the ground is a rough job, but someone has to do it!  J  We are going with my mom and dad, and after a very quick two days in Disney World following the wedding, we will fly home on Christmas Eve.   It will be a nice vacation. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,
Josh, Kara and Brecken

(along with Birdie, Hogan, Charlie and Ditka!)

where?

That's B's favorite question right now.  Converstions in our house take a while now.

Josh: I'm going to go see if the dump is open.

B: Where?
Josh: Out of town.

B: Oh.

B: Where daddy went?

Me: To the dump.

B: Where?

Me: Out of town.

B: Where?

Me: You can't see it from here.

B: Where?

Me: You have to drive on a road.

B: Where?

Me: Out of town!!

I can't wait until the "why" questions start!!!

only in florida would you see this...

who wouldn't love this wedding

with a wedding party that looks like this...
with a bride and groom as awesome as they are...

with the coolest little tropical boy in the whole entire world...
on a beach that looks like this...
and a band like this...
after waking up to this sunrise...
this one says it all.

stay tuned

We are leaving right after school tomorrow for our Christmas vacation.  Don't know when I'll be back on the computer, so until then, MERRY CHRISTMAS and we'll talk to you when we get back!!!