Adam, Ortho and Frog

It's been a busy couple of weeks. My new calling has been keeping me busy and stressed out. So many people tell me that Primary Chorister is their favorite calling but right now I find it daunting. So many thingys to make and a singing lesson to prepare every week.

Update on Adam: Adam had to take a terrible barium swallow test. Talk about a 2 year olds nightmare. He had to be strapped onto a little board that would rotate him to the right position, then placed in the middle of a huge x-ray table where a giant machine hovered over him and made scary noises. Plus, some stranger force fed him and strange drink while his mother held his hands over his head and made soothing noises. "I'm done!" he kept saying. Poor boy. However, the results told us that he has reflux. What a surprise! This from a boy who didn't spit up much as a baby. The doctor believes the reflux is causing his pneumonias, so Adam is on medication to stop the reflux. What a relief! If this solves the problem, it is easy and cheap. So far it has been 5 weeks since his last pneumonia and 1 week since he started the medication.

Orthodontist - This was no fun at all. But if Adam stops getting pneumonia maybe we can afford it. I took Heidi to the orthodontist to have her teeth checked out (by her dentist recommendation). I had LOTS of orthdontia when I was growing up and my dad always looked at Heidi and said "there's not much room in there." The orthdontist concurred and also pointed out an amazing tongue thrust that is opening up her bite (her front teeth almost don't touch). She recommended an expander and tongue guard for 6-9 months and then a retainer until she's 12. Wow. It sounds so simple! I had expanders, retainers, the Frankle, braces on the bottom, braces on top and bottom, headgear (only at night, thank goodness), more braces and finally 2 permanent retainers including the one on top I still have. The only real problem is that Cortis will have to get a second job as the CEO of a Fortune 500 company to pay for it all.

Swimmy the Frog Died -
Phoenix's frog lived with us for 7 months. He raised him from a tadpole. We watched him grow legs and lose his tail. Phoenix was going to call him Hoppy when he grew into a frog, but the name Swimmy just stuck. He was about 2 1/2 inches long and spent much of his day hiding in the corner of his habitat. He ate live crickets (that I had to care for and feed. Fun!). He will be missed.
The video is blurry because I filmed it through the plastic tub Swimmy was in while I cleaned his cage.

Christmas Photos & Pneumonia

We took some Christmas photos on Saturday, thanks to Cortis's parents. So I'll get to make so Christmas cards...
...just as soon as the doctors appointments calm down. Yes, this smiling, happy Adam came down with pneumonia and "reactive airway disease" not 2 days later. We have appointments for blood tests, allergy tests, cystic fibrosis tests (just to be sure) and probably some other ones I'm not listing. Oh, and we have really lousy health insurance. Great.

Adam's Pneumonia

Adam got pneumonia again this week.  It is his fourth time this year!  I noticed it on Monday and took him to see the doctor.  He is breathing much better now, but still has the terrible cough.  I probably should take him in again, but I'll wait until Monday and see how his cough is then. 

It's so weird that he keeps getting pneumonia.  I'd have to describe him as ridiculously healthy. The pneumonia just keeps coming back. Our doctors keep asking us; Is he in daycare? No.  Do you have pets? No.  Does he have alergies? No. Why does he keep getting it?

Still, we've been lucky.  He hasn't been hospitalized with it.  I think we catch it early.  I'll tell you, I can just look at Adam and tell by the rate of his breathing that the pneumonia is back.