Day 1305 - Dec 25, 2011

Bunches of pictures tonight. Before I do that though - I would like to ask that everyone keep Kevin's and Breezy's grandma Louise in your thoughts for a bit. She is VERY ill and is in critical condition in the hospital. She made it through today though so I feel confident she'll be ok!

We did have a very nice Christmas other than worrying about Louise. I cooked a massive meal and Breezy, Chris and Christian came and so did Chris's brother and his girlfriend. They came down from Houston for the day.

We really just had a hectic week trying to get everything done for Christmas. Kevin and I did go to a Christmas Eve party at our neighbors' Bill and Melissa's and we had a great time. It's nice getting out and getting to know some of our other neighbors even better. Here's a pic I took of Kev on the way out the door and one he took of me:




Kevin's antlers had little flashing lights on them, lol.

And here are some of our Christmas photos:












I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Day 1299 - Dec 19, 2011

Yikes! I so forgot to write last night! Yesterday was one of those super-productive days where you get so much done and I just plum forgot to finish the day with a blog posting.

I think, in all honestly, I am just going to start writing once a week. We just don't 'do' enough to justify boring you all twice in one week, lol. I guess the lucky day will be Monday mornings. I will try to always write on Sunday nights, but don't panic if I just forget.

So we had an appt at the gait lab again at the VA on Friday. Kevin is hyper-extending again and we are trying to fix it. We had the Bioness rep there to help us figure out if it will help if we use the stimulator while walking or if we should just return it. We did decide to keep it and see if it makes the difference, but now we need to get his body accustomed to the electronic stimulation again. It never made sense to me that we got the things (one for his arm and one for his leg) and then both new therapists told us not to use it. I'm glad we got the go-ahead because I do think these machines might just make all the difference in the world.

We also finally had an ENT appt last week to check out Kevin's ears because they still hurt really bad. She found no reason and thinks it could be allergies. So she thinks that, the dentist thinks it's TMJ and the oral surgeon thinks it's his wisdom teeth. I guess we'll see in the long run, but he's not getting his wisdom teeth out now til February and I think we are supposed to see someone about the TMJ too. We are waiting on some nose spray to see if that makes any kind of difference too.

We also finally have our dates for our trip back to Pittsburgh in Jan to see the surgeon. This will be the final leg of the study. Bummer. It was so nice being able to go home so often.

Anyway, the dates are Jan 16-19. As of this moment, we will not be renting a car so everyone will have to come see us down in Oakland. It's gonna be a rough couple of days, for sure.

And that's about it so I will catch y'all next week. In the interim:

HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY!!!

Oh - and here's a quick photo of our little guy:

Day 1295 - Dec 15, 2011

We have had a pretty busy couple of days. We were having a cookie exchange in our neighborhood and I have been working on that and Kevin and Efren went out last night - giving me a chance to get it all finished without bother.

So while they were out, I guess the boys picked up a couple of chics! Kevin called and kept telling me "HOT". I had no idea what he meant so I had Efren get on the phone and he told me that they were clubbing with a couple of really hot girls! Kev sounded pretty darn happy on the phone, lol. So did Efren, hehe.

I am just so happy Kevin gets to do these things more often. He really needs to be going out like a normal 23 year old!

And in other news, I wish there was a way you guys could see how well Kevin is talking now. He surprises me every day with new words that he comes up with on his own. Last night Efren started speaking in Spanish to Kevin and Kev jokingly said "America. En-guh-lish." I cracked up and when I asked him where he learned either of those words he said "I don't know". He really just says stuff all the time now and it's coming naturally. Do I think he will ever really fluently talk - probably not - but considering I was told he would never be able to speak a word because the whole language center of his brain is gone - we will take it!

That's pretty much it though. My dad is home from the hospital and doing well. They took him off the chemo for a bit to see if that helps. He's been on it for over 3 years now and it's just rough on a person's body.

So I think I'll go scrap a bit. Catch ya' in a few days!

Day 1291 - Dec 11, 2011

Kevin and I thought we'd be brave and go shopping today. Hehe. We went to Penneys and pretty much turned around and left as soon as we got in the door. It was nuts in there.

Other than that we didn't do too much of anything this weekend. My friend Rene' was back in town for a conference and her and I got together for dinner on Friday night and we had such a wonderful time! Kevin was going to go to the movies with Efren, but I mistakenly took his car keys and we didn't figure it out until I was downtown (about 25 miles) - too far for me to just run them back. He was mad at first, but it didn't last long and I grabbed him a couple of Big Macs on my way back so all was well.

We also babysat Christian last night as Chris's brother is in town so the kids all went out.

I did talk to my parents too. My dad is in the hospital and has been for a couple of days now. We aren't sure what the problem is yet - hopefully tomorrow. They are assuming it's an infection of some type, but we'll see.

And that's pretty much it for today. I am getting a head cold and want to go to bed way early tonight. Maybe I'll feel better tomorrow! Catch ya Friday!

Day 1288 - Dec 8, 2011

Well my parents went back to Florida yesterday. We had a truly great visit and it was sad to see them go.

We were pretty busy all week - I can't tell you how much food was made; hard tack, doughnuts, fudge, not to mention some awesome dinners - the kind you just don't cook often. Kevin had a blast - it's always so much more fun playing cards with more than just the two of us. And we even took Christian and Kevin to a Christmas parade up in the little town of Boerne, where we live. Christian was just enthralled with all the floats and lights. He also really loved the marching bands. Kevin enjoyed himself at the parade too.

And last night Breezy and I took Christian to a photographer's to have his photo taken with Santa. It was a Groupon thing where you paid for 5 minutes of time and all the photos that can be taken with Santa you get a copy of. We got 52 images and man...some of them were so darn cute! Here are the best:







The photographer asked Breezy to sign a model release form while we were there to use some of the pics as advertising. Can't blame them - they sure turned out nice! (besides - he really is too cute - not that I'm biased or anything, lol)

So Kevin is completely addicted to "That 70's Show"! He found it on Netflix and is watching all 200+ episodes in a row. He is somewhere in the 150s range and I'll bet he's devastated when he sees them all, lol. They are funny though. He calls me in quite often to watch parts of an episode.

That's pretty much it for today so I'll catch y'all in a few days!

Day 1284 - Dec 4, 2011

I am going to skip tonight. It's been an exhausting couple of days with all the running around we have been doing, but we are having a great time with my parents being here.

Day 1280 - Dec 1, 2011

Kevin had another dentist appt this week and the dentist seems to think that his ear pain may be TMJ. I know Mary (W-FRC) has mentioned this more than once in the past, but nobody ever diagnosed it. This guy really thinks it might be it and it makes sense. Honestly, I just hope they figure it out soon. He is struggling with the pain something fierce at times. He is to have his wisdom teeth removed, but that's not until the end of the month.

I also had a VA inspection this week. A woman came to the house and made sure Kevin was being taken care of correctly and that all is well. She was very nice, but I still have trouble trusting the VA. I think our relationship has gotten better, but I still think that when anybody (or any entity) has total control over your life and yet they don't know you at all - there are always going to be problems and trust issues. Probably on both sides. but it's always the veteran that suffers - never the VA.

Oh well - enough of that. My folks are here and we are enjoying their company. We also got some Christmas lights put up on the house - yahoo! No tree yet, but hopefully soon!

Alrighty then - I think I'll sign off and get some work done. Goodnight all!

Day 1276 - Nov 27, 2011

There's not a whole lot to say today. We didn't really do anything all weekend. It's been kinda cold here so we just stayed in.

I do have a few pics to show you of Christian though. Breezy and Chris took him to get his hair cut today and the lady buzzed it all off. Breezy was near tears she was so upset. Yes, it was a shock to see, but he's still cute no matter what! Take a look (these were taken with Breezy's phone):




Honestly, he looks so grown up now, doesn't he?

Here are a couple from the other day. Notice his top tooth! It took forever for him to get them, but he got both bottoms and one top all in one day, lol.


You have to laugh at this one. He will NOT allow anyone to touch his teeth so Breezy had to make him laugh while I snapped the pic. It's how we figured out he got teeth in the first place, lol.



So this week my parents are coming for a visit. They arrive on Wednesday and will be here for a full week! We have some exciting things planned to do some of the days, but it's supposed to be kinda cold all week so we'll see.

And that's pretty much it. I'll be back on Friday!

Day 1273 - Nov 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I meant to come on here earlier today and post that, but I just never got to it. I trust everyone had a fantastic day? We did! It was just the 4 of us, but that was ok. Dinner turned out great and we all just kinda vegged out.

Johnny is here and he is spending time with Kev because Breezy and I went shopping. I am going to sign off early because we just got home from round 1 and are heading back out later today for round 2. I am hoping to get some sleep pretty quick so my feet can stop burning and I can do it all over again.

Crazy, huh? Especially as I don't really have much to buy - Breezy's gift is already purchased and Kevin's gift is something a bit different.

Anyway, gonna sign off and hit the hay. Catch y'all on Monday!

Day 1269 - Nov 20, 2011

We didn't really do much of anything this weekend. Yesterday we did make a run to Target and we did pop in to check on our little guy. Breezy ended up taking him to the hospital because he was running a temp of 105 the night before last. He had another ear infection so they gave him a shot of antibiotics and sent him on his way. Luckily the meds worked as he is feeling better today. I sure wish he would get past all these ear infections.

Today I scrapped most of the day and Kevin watched tv. He actually purchased the WWE PPV and I can't tell you how excited he was to watch it. He called me into his room so often to show me this part and that part, lol. I just wish he had friends to watch it with. It's so sad that he doesn't.

Oh - I almost forgot...the meeting with the oral surgeon went well, but he really can't get Kevin in until 2 days before Christmas. We took the appt, but Kevin is saying 'no' now because he won't be able to eat Christmas dinner. I guess I'll have to call back tomorrow and change it. I don't blame Kevin one bit - holiday dinners are the best!

That's pretty much it. We really had a boring weekend. We don't do much on Saturdays and Sundays because it's always so busy out there...

Day 1266 - Nov 17, 2011

Not a whole lot happened this week. Kevin had a dentist appointment yesterday to get some more work done. The new dentist is really a great guy as well. I mentioned to him that the oral surgeon never called, but sent a note to have an evaluation done at the end of December. I told him that I was concerned about Kevin being in pain that length of time and he apparently called the oral surgeon and asked him to move up our appointment. The surgeon called today and we now have an appointment tomorrow morning at 8 AM. Yay! But yikes!

We are also waiting on orthotics to call because Kevin's knee is hyper-extending again. He just came out to the kitchen to get his nightly jug of water and could barely make it back to his room. He had already taken his brace off and it's even worse when it's off, but he's once again doing it with his brace on too. I sure hope they call soon! We are thinking that orthotics might just need to adjust his brace and it will at least help while it's on.

I'm also hoping the guy comes soon with the remotes for his light and fan in his room. Also a soap dispenser for his shower. I try to always take care of turning his lights on/off when his brace is off his foot because I worry about him falling, but sometimes I am just busy or sleeping and he does it himself. I started this process for the remotes guy months ago - I honestly just don't know why this stuff takes so long.

It's the same with his shower chair. His cracked a long time ago and we are still waiting on a replacement. Kevin has been standing in the shower now and that scares the crap outta me. He has no brace on and he's standing on a slippery tiled floor. It's a recipe for disaster, if you ask me.

Please VA - please hurry with this stuff!

And in other news, Kevin bought himself the new Call Of Duty game for his XBox. He is actually able to play it and is having a blast. LuAnne - Kev mentioned that Mig must have it? When I asked if any of his friends did have it he clearly said "MIG". He is talking up a storm now and coming up with so many words on his own. It's just awesome!

And our little man is pretty sick again. He is just sick all the time, isn't he? Breezy took him to the docs today because he's been running a high temp ever since he got his flu shot. It's to be expected for a couple days, but it's been nearly a week and he is throwing up and just restless as all get out. I think his fever got up to nearly 104 today too. I feel so bad for him and I know it's exhausting for Breezy too. They actually ended up staying here last night because she started feeling sick too and I helped with taking care of him.

Anyway, the doc sent him for bloodwork and a urine test. So far everything's clear, but it will be days before all the results are in. Keep him in your thoughts, please.

And I guess this book is long enough for tonight, lol. I really started off with nothing to say...

Day 1262 - Nov 13, 2011

Kevin and Efren went out on Friday night as it was Efren's birthday and rather than take the night off, he asked Kevin to celebrate with him! They first went out to dinner and then one of Efren's friends is in a band so they went to the concert. It was right up Kevin's alley as it was screamo music and I am gathering they had a great time!

On Saturday we didn't do too much. We did hit Home Depot so that I could get my Christmas present for Breezy and Chris early.

And that's pretty much it for the weekend. Today we did absolutely nothing. Kevin watched movies and I scrapped. We're pretty boring, eh?

Day 1259 - Nov 10, 2011

Kevin, Breezy and Efren went to the Humor for Heroes comedy show last night while I babysat. I'm not so sure if Kevin will go again because Breezy told me he played games on his phone after a while. I know Kevin struggles sometimes when there's a lot of talking and when it's fast talk like comedians he starts zoning out. It's strange though because he has no trouble following if it's on a DVD or a CD, but I am guessing it's because there are too many other noises and things to overwhelm him when it's live.

So today Kevin wasn't feeling well and we had to cancel his OT appt. He was also to see the psychologist. It never dawned on me until now that it was probably because they went last night. Duh!

Other than this, we didn't really do anything this week so I guess I'll just sign off.

Happy Veteran's Day! Thank you to all for your service!

Day 1255 - Nov 6, 2011

We had a really great weekend! Yesterday our community had its annual "Fall Festival" which was basically a huge block party right in front of the house. They had a live band and tons of games for the kids. They also had a bouncy house and a local pizza company came with an old fire truck that had a brick oven on the back of it and they baked small pizzas for anybody that wanted some. I had a great time - Kevin so so. There really isn't anyone here that's his age - I guess it would be uncool to be somewhere like this if you're 23 so he was pretty much on his own. He did talk to quite a few of the neighbors, but they are mostly in their 30's here. It did at least got him out for a bit and that's a good thing.

Tonight made up for it though! Tonight Kevin and I went to see STOMP! and Mary went with us too! Kevin loved it - again! We saw it when Kevin was just a young'un - many years ago in Pittsburgh. He loved it then and when he saw it was coming to SA, he asked to go. We really had a wonderful time! AND Kevin learned the longest sentence yet in honor of the occasion. He can now say "I saw STOMP! a long time ago in Pittsburgh"!!!! Honestly, he usually drops the IN, but he gets the rest. This momma is so proud!

That's pretty much it for the weekend so I guess I'll sign off. Catch y'all on Friday!

Day 1252 - Nov 3, 2011

Halloween was a really nice night - both because of the weather and we sat over at Jen's (neighbor) with a couple of other families and handed out candy over there. Even Kevin did! I tried to get Kev to dress up but he just didn't want to this year. Our little guy did though:




He was one of the toys in the Toy Story movie!

Tuesday Kevin had two appointments. The first was with a psychologist. He is going to see this doctor on a sorta regular basis for a while. After him we met with our Polytrauma doc and just had a normal check-up of sorts. All is mostly well. We are still waiting on ENT to set up an appt and see if there is a problem with Kevin's ear or if it's his teeth or what. He has some pretty bad pain now and we are medicating every night pretty much. I hope they hurry.

We are also having OT appts both this week and next to coincide with the Botox treatment we had a couple of weeks ago. Kev is doing really well with it this time around.

And today while leaving the VA we saw Daniel (the guy in the attack with Kevin). I snapped a pic of the two of them:



And to end here are just a few more photos of both my boys:





Aren't they both just so cute? LOL!

Day 1248 - Oct 30, 2011

We had such a great time on Friday night. We attended a banquet sponsored by MOAA at Knibbe Ranch and it was so fun! I was worried about how cold it was and it being held outdoors, but it turned out that there was a building there and there was heat inside. There was still a BBQ though and let me tell you - the food was EXCELLENT!!!

They also had a band and they were quite good. I am not much into Country, but they still were really good.

So here are a bunch of pics. Mary (our wonderful FRC) went too and Rene' was giving back to Kevin as good as she was getting that night! Loved it!!









On Saturday Breezy ended up breaking her finger while unpacking. She broke it clean in half, but luckily the bone stayed in place. She has it splinted for the next six weeks and today she told Kevin she has a new-found respect for him. She is struggling without the use of one tiny finger and here he has no right arm/hand. He, of course, rubbed it in that yes, he has major wounds and she just broke a finger, lol.

That pretty much sums up our weekend so I guess I'll catch y'all on Friday. Happy Halloween!!

Day 1245 - Oct 27, 2011

My goodness is it cold here! It is currently 54 degrees - YIKES! It figures too - we have an outdoor event to attend tomorrow night and it's supposed to be in the 40s. Not sure if any of us can handle it - especially Christian. I think we are taking separate cars now in case they need to leave early.

And we got some company last night! My friend, Rene, is in town! I picked her up at the airport yesterday afternoon and we came back to the house and made stromboli. We had a great visit! Here are some pics:





Somehow we missed taking one of her with Kevin, at least with my camera. Kevin actually took the pics of Rene and I so I don't know how we missed it. It's ok though - we have more photo ops over the weekend.

And this past week we really spent time getting all our pictures on the walls. I put Kevin to work too:



I did all the measuring, but had him do all the hammering. He had fun with it as we were both singing "Hammer Time (U Can't Touch This)", lol. There are still 2 more to put up but they weight about 50 lbs each and it's too hard for Kevin to hold one up with one hand so they will have to wait.

Tomorrow we have a pretty busy day. I don't think I mentioned that the store I was working at closed down? I went to pick up my paycheck one day and it was locked up by the landlord. Tomorrow the rental company is finally letting me in to get my personal things - my layouts most especially. I think my pay is a wash, but if I can just get the layouts I have in there I will feel better. Bummer, huh?

So I guess I'll sign off and head to bed. Kevin and I just finished watching Captain America and movies/tv always make me sleepy, lol.

Day 1241 - Oct 23, 2011

Kevin went to the dentist on Friday and it turns out he needs his wisdom teeth cut out. We are thinking that might be why his left ear still aches because there is no ear infection present at all. The dentist mentioned that they are going to try to get it done before the year ends and I sure hope so! That's too long to be in pain. I hope to hear from the oral surgeon this week - wish us luck on this!

We got Boo'ed on Friday too! An anonymous someone left a plastic pumpkin at the door filled with all kinds of candy and goodies! I guess you are supposed to do the same to two other homes in the community and eventually the whole neighborhood gets Boo'ed. Such fun, huh?

We babysat our little guy all weekend. Breezy and Chris were moving into a new apartment as they were only in a 1BR and now with Christian getting older they need a 2 bedroom. So they packed all day yesterday and moved today and are now ensconced in our guest room. The moving company moved all their big stuff today and when they got there the place had not been cleaned from the previous tenants. It was utterly FILTHY! After us being there maybe a half hour today, the baby was getting sick and I know my face/head felt full of dust and we agreed to just have them sleep up here until the apartment complex makes it right. I don't know how many years it's been since that place was cleaned well, but it was truly disgusting. Let's hope the complex gets it cleaned tomorrow.

And to end here are some pics. The first few are from back when we were in FL. It's the family:




The rest are Christian:

Day 1238 - Oct 20, 2011

Tuesday Kevin had another Botox treatment done at BAMC. It was a little bit rougher this time as Kev kept having spasms in his arm. The doc and I talked about whether it's because Kevin is no longer in occupational therapy and he says there's no way to know at this point, but that it could be it. We are going to see if it's any better or worse the next time and go from there.

So after we got home from the hospital Kevin and I were snipping at each other which is a sure sign that we need time apart. I decided to leave him with Johnnie and I went out with Breezy for dinner. We headed to a restaurant that should have only taken about 10 minutes to get to from where we met, but there was an accident and one of the major freeways in town was closed down completely. It was rush hour no less.

It ended up taking us an hour to get there and we then waited for our table, got seated, finally our drinks were put in front of us and I looked at Christian and he had blood all over the side of his face. It was coming out of his left ear at a pretty good drip. We hightailed it out of there and had to get across the city completely to her hospital and it took quite a while because all the traffic was still backed up. We even went on all these roads we had never even been on.

Anyway, when I looked in his ear at the restaurant I didn't see the tube he had just had put in (luckily), but I saw this blob of something that looked like fatty tissue. The doc at the ER said the same thing, but she didn't know what it was so she referred him to an ENT doc the next day and sent us home.

Breeze did take him to the ENT doc yesterday and he's not real sure either. They put him on an antibiotic thinking it might just be an infection and told her to wait a week and see if it stops bleeding when she puts the medicated drops in. I guess we'll know more in a few days.

In the meantime, here are some photos of my boys eating cupcakes:



Pretty messy, aren't they? LOL!

Day 1235 - Oct 17, 2011

We stayed home all day today. Johnnie and I worked on getting more of the garage organized so that we could pull the car in. It was so full of stuff that the car still wouldn't fit. Last night though, three cars in our neighborhood were broken into so it was imperative that we be able to pull the car in before they busted out one of our windows. I can be honest and say we don't keep anything valuable in the car, but still...you never know what they want.

Other than that, it was a boring day. Mostly they all are now, so I have decided to go down to 2 days a week in writing the blog. From here on out I will write on Sunday night (viewable Mon morning) and on Thursday night (viewable Friday morning). I know that many of you read daily, but there just isn't much to say anymore. Kevin is stable now and although things can still happen, it's not the norm anymore.

Understand that this was a hard decision to make. I have been rolling it around in my head for months now, but I didn't want to let any of you down and I wasn't sure if I could really 'let go' of writing daily. But if you have noticed, I have been skipping a lot lately - there just isn't much to say because life is settling down.

So, I am thinking my posts might be more substantial if it's not me sitting here trying to think of things to say. I am sorry if it hurts anyone's heart (like it's hurting mine right now and I keep thinking "no - don't do this!), but it really is a struggle to come up with things to say every day when we don't do anything exciting.

Anyway, to make it easier to follow, I created a 'follow by email' button that's on the top right of the blog. If you can remember to come and read on Mon and Fri - great! But if you would prefer to get an email when I post - go for it.

And last, I want to thank everyone once again for all the continued support and guidance. I have said it a million times that I couldn't have taken this journey without all of you and I really mean it. You guys all kept me going - especially during those really horrendous times. I have also made some FANTASTIC friends along the way via the blog and I really do thank (and appreciate) all of you!

So I guess I'll see y'all Friday morning!