"Best, Birthday, EVER!"

(Birthday Boy)
What a great day. Jack woke up happy, excited for his birthday party that wasn't ALL THE WAY till 4 o'clock. We got some things done... spent most of the day together, having lunch at Chick-Fil-A and letting Jack play a bit. Then when 4 o'clock FINALLY rolled around we headed to Menchie's for his birthday party. He invited 5 friends: two from school, two life-long friends, and one from church. First, the kids got to color their very own Menchie's T-shirt, then get up to 10 oz of frozen yogurt. (No one exceeded 7 oz, and none of them finished.) Then after yogurt Jack opened his presents. He scored some building blocks, new Mario jammies, some Julius slippers and a Menchie Doll of his very own.. Then the kids got to go in the back of the shop and see where the yogurt is made, and have a tour. That turned out to be more interesting to them than I had expected. Then- as the grand finale, Menchie himself made an appearance. Jack was ECSTATIC. He run up and gave him a hug then the kids had a great time chasing Menchie around the shop. This was one of the greatest ideas ever. All the kids had a blast, the yogurt is mega-good, and who can complain about chasing a giant Menchie around. Jack had a terrific birthday. I'm SO glad he is here and amazed at where he is. Jack's last surgery was when he was three years old- which means in April, he will have lived as long with his surgeries completed as he had without-- so weird.

I love you with ALL of my heart, Jack. Happy 6th Birthday.

Picture-fest:

(The party scene)

(Coloring T-Shirts)

(A Willing Participant)

(Getting creative)

(Endless options..)

(Healthy Choices..)

(Wishing)

(Post-sugar intake)

(Almost getting locked in the deep freeze.)

(Josh chasing innocent children.)

(The crazies.)

(Gettin crazier.)

(Losing control.)

(Jack's hero.)

(Group hug!)

"What if my brain doesn't know it's my Birthday tomorrow?"

Last night I told Jack he needed to go to sleep so he could have "lots of Birthday fun tomorrow." He was worried about bad dreams and said

"What if the Zombies come to eat my brains when I'm asleep?"

and I told him,

"Zombies don't come when it's almost your birthday. It's a rule."

Then he said

"What if I have bad dreams about Zombies?"

and I told him,

"You have fun Birthday dreams the night before your birthday, EVERYONE does."

and he said,

"What if my brain doesn't know it's my birthday tomorrow?"

I think you're brain is the one telling YOU it's your birthday tomorrow....

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy.

Thanksgiving: We Thank Thee Oh God for Amoxicillin.

This was my third Thanksgiving away from home. The first was in Maui. No complaints, really, just that I missed my mom's stuffing and of course my family. But looking over the beach at a November sunset in Paradise was not too bad. The second was in Arizona at my sister-in-law's. It was nice to be with family, have other kids with Jack to play with and not have to cook anything, but Jack ended up with a BAD and persistent stomach bug that all the kids caught and we ended up at an Urgent Care late in the night, with a little boy whose oxygen was at 73. They almost life flighted us to the hospital.

This year my parents invited us to their new place in San Diego. I had been looking forward to it for months. There's nothing like getting out of the inversion and skipping over to California. Our first stop was to drop Dad's car off in the long term parking lot so when they returned they'd have a way home from the airport. So while loading our luggage onto the shuttle, Jack tripped on the stairs in the back of the bus and fell flat on his face, thus getting a bloody nose. These are a real concern with him, being that he is on aspirin and doesn't clot very well. Luckily... he did and we made it to the terminal blood-free. We checked in and made our way through security. As is my history with TSA, they stopped my bags due to bottles of liquid that were 3.7oz not the TSA requirement of 3.4oz. I wasn't about to take a loss on my ProActiv, so I went BACK to check my bag and had to go through security all over again. The second time I was lucky enough to be full body scanned.

Once on the plane, Jack was telling me it hurt when he swallowed. I was trying to pretend like it didn't hurt when I swallowed too. By the time the plane was descending, Jack was in agony and crying hysterically as the pressure built in his ears. We finally made it into Long Beach, and he kept telling us his ear wouldn't pop. We rented our car, and headed our way to San Diego. Being from Utah, we didn't know that the 805 was going to be a DISASTER when we got there. Traffic was at a stand still, the sun was setting. Jack was moaning and groaning in the back seat, I assumed he was tired and hungry. Out of nowhere, he threw up twice. We squeezed through traffic and got off near La Jolla to stop at a CVS. We changed Jack, cleaned him up and got him some Saltine's.

We finally arrived to the condo and probably looked like hell. Jack, however had gained a new found energy and was thrilled to be there and see everyone. It took us a little while, but we eventually settled in.

The next day we explored the new territory. Josh had a meeting in Irvine and Laura and I went shopping. I continued to ignore the itch in my throat, and assumed that since Jack's ear had finally popped, that he was fine. Thanksgiving Day was wonderful. Very relaxing, delicious food, good company, and a trip to visit the beach. That night Jack (who slept in the closet of our bedroom) kept complaining about his ears. So friday morning I figure we should nip this in the bud, and go to an Urgent Care. How great it would be, if I could just go to a pharmacy, say "My son has a double ear infection, can I get 400mg of Amoxicillin at 7.5ml twice daily?" But no, we had to go somewhere where they are sketched out at treating a kid with a congenital heart defect anyway- and we usually have to talk them into NOT sending us to a hospital. Luckily I called the University of Utah pharmacy, asked them specifically what Jack takes for these infections, and suggested them to the Dr. He OK'd them, saw Jack's ears and gave us a prescription. Sigh.

(Jack, being a zombie.)

Sadly, everyone else left that day. And I REALLY started feeling sick. In fact I don't remember a lot of the day from the point when we got Jack's prescription.

Saturday, our little family went to the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla. It was a beautiful day and Jack was thrilled to be there. He particularly liked touching the sea cucumbers. Then we got a pizza and took it to a park on a beach and let Jack. A family on the beach were building a HUGE sand castle and it was really neat to watch them put it together. We headed back home for some MORE turkey and stuffing.

On sunday it was really nice weather and we went to Mission Beach. Jack is blissful on the beach. He could stay there for forever. He loves the sand. This was the first beach he ever stepped on, so it was fun to see him have such a great time. We ate lunch on the boardwalk and got an ice cream cone. It was a wonderful day.

We woke up at 5:00am on Monday, after all, Jack had school. So we drove to the airport- it was much more pleasant this time, and we came prepared with our Afrin for the cabin pressure issues, worked like a charm. Then home again, home again, just in time to take Jack to school.

Happy Thanksgiving....