Overcome

Graesen overcame his fears today...I took him to a McDonalds playland so he could get some exercise and burn some energy.  Well, it just so happens that Graesen is a little afraid of heights.  For 45 minutes he would climb up the first step or two then start crying and climb back down.  Then he would try to climb up the slide, but start crying because he couldn't get up.  He wanted to go down that slide sooo bad, but he was so scared of climbing to the top of the play structure.  He finally did it :)  And was so proud of himself :)

Playing in the snow

I took my students out to play in the snow today.  It was our first time going out as a class and they were very excited!

Christmas and "tummy tests"

We woke up on Christmas Eve to some new snow :)

In the afternoon we headed over to my parents' house where we would spend the night.  The family all came over for dinner and church.  Graesen was getting a cold and seemed pretty miserable.  I was worried about him getting sick with his colonoscopy only a few days away.  He fell asleep in my arms and my dad was very nice to offer to stay home with him so I could go to church.

When we got back from church Graesen was awake and looking much better.  We had some fun putting reindeer food out on the lawn, hanging out with cousins, and opening the Christmas Eve present (the older kids got pajamas, but since Graesen already had his Christmas pajamas he got slippers).

The kids' elves joined together to write them a note for Christmas morning:

Christmas morning was so exciting for the kids.  Aidan and Addison were in town, so the three cousins got to experience Christmas morning together.

For months Graesen asked for a guitar for Christmas.  He just loves the guitar players and church :)  He was so funny, because he fully believed that since he asked Santa for a guitar he would get one.  Lucky for Graesen, he did :) *Although, on Christmas Eve Graesen sat up in bed in a panic because he didn't put cars on his list.  Good thing mommy and Santa both know he loves cars :)

We spent a great day with family, and had a big brunch and family dinner.  We did our second round of gifts in the afternoon with Zack and Phoebe came over.  It was pure chaos with all the kids opening their gifts :)

Yesterday Graesen and I spent the day at home preparing for his colonoscopy.  We watched movies and Graesen got to play with his new toys all day while drinking LOTS of fluids.

Today was Graesen's colonoscopy.  It went so much better than I expected.  He was super excited about all the toys in the surgery center and willingly let the nurse take his vitals and put on numbing cream for his IV.  He did fight us big time when the nurse tried to give him the Versed, because he didn't like the way it tasted :(  After two tries we got enough in him to make him a little loopy and calm enough to place an IV.  He didn't cry one bit (other than when we tried to give him Versed) and was so silly until right when he fell asleep-they let my mom and me stay in the room until he was asleep.  The procedure was pretty quick-maybe 30 minutes.  The doctor gave us good news.  Everything was normal other than this bump (it has a really long technical name that I can't remember).  He said the "bump" is something kids get when their immune system is going into overdrive.  Usually it is due to a food allergy.  Sometimes the "bump" gets rubbed too much and bleeds which is likely the cause of the blood I saw.  The doctor thinks the allergy is likely minor and we don't need to do any further testing unless he has more bleeding.  I'm fairly certain the allergy is to tomato products and oranges.  Those foods make his cheeks turn bright red right away, and then they are super dry and flaky the next day.  For now I will try and eliminate those from his diet and see if it helps.  The doctor did take some biopsies which I will hear about later, but I am pretty certain they will come back clear.  Such a relief that all went well.  I will always have to watch Graesen closely for GI symptoms due to my diagnoses, but for now he is doing great :)  He even woke up from sedation without screaming and thrashing like the last two times.

I took a few videos of Graesen the last few days.  They make me smile :)