what? no photos?!

no photos... i know i said i would post some, but seems that my laptop has a virus. i've got to resort to using kevin's little "cheapie"; that means no photos. oh sure, cheapie is capable of photos, for the most part- i just don't have the energy and focus to mess around with it. that, and i've started shooting in raw format. cheapie won't take kindly to raw, AND lightroom is on my laptop. bummer. it kinda makes sense that a virus would infect the computer, since it's swept through the apartment and hit almost everyone else. the kiddos were sick- started with madison on thursday. very short-lived tummy issues, a fever, then just tired and cranky within 12 hours. cole woke up early sunday morning with the same thing, then remington followed after lunch. yikes! miss jennifer was SO sweet- she brought bananas, apples, crackers, pretzels and a few other things. i've been taking preventative measures since madi got sick, and i'm thinking it's just a mild case of influenza. apparently, even though it's not a gastrointestinal bug, it tends to disrupt kids' tummies. me, i'm fine- just exhausted, a little achy and stuffed up, but then again, i'm an adult. (sometimes. haha!)

mom is flying in this evening! while we're so excited to have her with us for a week-ish, we wish it was under different circumstances. remington goes to radiology tomorrow morning- bright and early. "be there by 8 am", they said. then it's over to the g.i. surgical clinic to meet with a doctor there, then an overnight stay with surgery to put in the "button" sometime on wednesday. that's the plan for now, anyway. i hope nothing gets delayed, changed or otherwise messed up... mom can't change her schedule, and i reallyreallyreally need her here this week! yes, i finally admitted it- can't do this without mom anymore. she's going to be free 24/7 while she's here, which is exactly what i need for the kids. anyway, the medical team pushed and threatened us, so now that we've got a plan, i hope they stick to it. i know i'm being a little anal and totally peevish about this, but given the run-around, i'm almost entitled. (almost. one is never really "entitled" to a bad spirit...)

in other news: not a whole lot of anything. oh, except for we're heading back home on the 26th! we have no idea what the plan is after that, but i'm going to try (really*hard) not to fret about it because i can't control the future. i've learned to sometimes roll with the punches the last few months, so why change now, right? i'll chalk it up to a huge, grand adventure. bumps in the road sort of go with the territory- and lucky for us, we've had some awesome family and wonderful friends just willing (crazy?) enough to hitch along with us...

so that's all for now. when i get the chance, i'll update on rem. happy monday to everyone... hope you all have a wonderful week!

update (again)

i've been just terrible at keeping up lately! i'd intended to post before now to share our good news: i got the official letter in the mail last week stating that the case with remington was deemed unsubstantiated and the case is closed! we had a celebratory dinner (of sorts...) with kevin, jennifer, aubrey and hayden on sunday and over the last few days, i've felt myself starting to relax.

that is, until today.

remington's follow-up visit was yesterday, and he's up to 13 pounds! while i was ecstatic about it, nobody else was. there was talk of putting in a "button" (direct feeding tube) and later, when the dietician called, she said we could try a high-calorie specialty formula first. she said to give it a week, touch base again with her and go from there. now in the past, rem's not tolerated any formulas except for the organic stuff we'd found. now it's not on the shelves anymore, and i expressed my concerns that he might not take to this new stuff. but a lot can happen in a week, and as he gets older, his taste buds are not as sensitive so who knows? i went to children's today to pick up the sample cans she'd left for us... he did tolerate (with a bit of protest) 3 ounces of this new stuff, so i was pretty happy! then, the hospital social worker called to tell me that either i consent to the feeding tube or he'd be taken away. there was a lot more to the conversation, but that's the jist of it. she told me i'd hear from a gastrointestinal nurse shortly to talk about the procedure and all; i didn't hear anything for over an hour, so i called the social worker back. this time, she said that the dr, dietician and a few others were going to wait, discuss things in the morning and call me then. they're thinking of hospitalizing rem again, this time using an ng (nasal feeding) tube, rerunning some tests, looking down other avenues, etc.. of course, i panicked a little because kelvin's doing 12-13 hour days now for the remainder of the job (7 days a week too) and what am i to do with one baby in the hospital and the other two at home? we've been lucky to have jennifer and the wife of one of kelvin's co-workers help us out the first time, but that's also when kelvin was working more normal hours. just when i thought this was all over, it comes back for round two. luckily, though, i have the world's best mom who may be able to come for a visit. if she makes it, i will be SOOO relieved. because let's face it: when things head south, mom's the one to call, right? of course, i've been so thankful for those that have already helped out more than they realize (ahem, miss jennifer!) and to be honest, i'd love for my mom to meet them.

so that's where it stands now. one of these days, maybe this weekend if madi's not sick anymore, cole or rem (or i!) don't catch whatever she has and i can sit down to load and edit a few photos, i'll post something vaguely more interesting.

again, thank you SO much to our family, friends both old and new and friends who feel more like family: you've been amazing. your support both outwardly and in the secret place of prayer has helped infinitely more than you'll ever comprehend. we love you all!!