Wanting to blog, but not much to write about.

Can you believe it? I'm almost speachless because there hasn't been much to write about. My Dad called me the other day wondering why I haven't been writing on here. Well Dad, because there isn't much going on this last month. So here is what's going on now and in the last month.

-Today, and all weekend...Mac (my well child) is pretty sick. He has a fever, and it's been getting high (103.something) and then low (99.something) This kid NEVER gets sick. He's really good about being "quarantined" to his room, from the rest of us, especially Mason. Last week Lee and I discovered that Mac is officially a teenager. I know I have said this before, he turned 13 in November-but his behaivors didn't change much, until last week. His grade in science had started to decline, and he was missing several assignments. Because our school district is on Skyward-I can check these things online (Yay!). And because I can check these things online-I saw what he wasn't doing in Science and e-mailed the teacher immediately and scheduled a meeting with her. Mac was there with us, and we got to the bottom of his problem. He wasn't trying hard enough, and....hold on to your seats folks! He's been very chatty with his friends at his table. So, his teacher allowed Mac to turn his assignments in, and...we moved him to another table. A table with girls. Oddly enough, one of his friends was missing the same exact assignments (because of the chatting) and was getting the same grade as Mac. As soon as Mac raises his grade, he will be able to sit with his friends again. In all honesty..I was also a student that couldn't sit with her friends because I was too chatty (the shock of it all!). I'm sorry to say that Mac inherited the gift of gab from yours truly.

- Mason has been doing well in School. He has issues with sitting down & not raising his hand to answer a question (he just blurts it out). He loves School. I'm not going to say "Mason hasn't been to sick this year", because I don't want to jinx myself with an older sick kid and all. Mason has an extended Spring Break because he is in 1/2 day Kindergarten and it's Confrence Week this week which means...no school for Mason on 1/2 days. So, I'll have to get creative this week. Maybe we will pop in and see Papa Dawson on one of those days. (I'll be getting a phone call in 5-4-3-2-1) Mason and I are going to Whidbey Island tomorrow to measure something for Lee at a Beach House he is replaceing doors for. Riding the Ferry is always a fun thing to do.

- Lee is busy working. Thankful for that. We know and have heard of people getting layed off in all industries. The company he is working for had a big meeting, and they don't want to lay anyone off. They are also not hiring anyone either. Lee has been working at a grade school remodel job this winter, as an expensive Carpenter. He will be Superising a small Key Bank remodel-where he might have to work nights (that is the way most Bank remodels are). When he is done with that (and it goes well), he will be on another Bank remodel job. He also continues to do "side" work with Andersen windows, and other small stuff. We pray of course, that the economy will turn around, and that our friends who aren't working will find jobs.

-I am looking into going back to school and/or going back to work. It will be a huge adjustment for our family. Mac was really young when I was working and doesn't remember be working. Mason has never known me to work outside of the home. Mason is a big homebody. When he comes home from school, he refuses to go anywhere with me. When I was working before, I worked retail with all of the crazy hours that comes with retail. The last year I worked, I was working in the Stock Room. It was great working Monday thru Friday and my hours being 6:00am-3:00pm. But it was tiring. I'm not looking into going back to retail-so I'm weighing out my options.

Well, that is it for now. Spring Break is coming and we will be spending some of it in Yakima-hopefully where the sun is shining and it is warmer. I am so SICK of winter. I'm ready for spring and summer! Going to Yakima for Spring Break has been a tradition with us. It's when Snoqualmie Pass has thawed out a little, and we get to visit friends and family. Mac has his Science Project to do and finish during the break, so we will spend part of our week at home until he's finished with it (it's due the Tuesday after he gets back from Spring Break).

Tagged! 8 Things

8 Favorite T.V. Shows
1. Greys Anatomy
2. Private Practice
3. ER
4. 24 (thanks Lee)
5. Friends
6. Heroes
7. The Biggest Loser
8. CSI Miami

8 Things I did yesterday
1. Laundry.
2. Checked e-mail & facebook
3. Took Mason to School
4. Made some phone calls
5. Cleaned house
6. Went shopping a little
7. Not a whole heck of alot.
8. I really live life in the fast lane. (today was more interesting)

8 Things I look forward too
1. Going somewhere without my children
2. Spring Break (and visiting friends and family)
3. Another Girls Night Out
4. Working out at the Gym (notice it wasn't on my what I did yesterday list)
5. Mason's Pulmonary Clinic Appointment
6. Finishing a book I'm reading.
7. Going to bed.
8. Spring/Summer

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. The Cheesecake Factory (a new one for me)
2. Red Robin
3. Dicks Drive In
4. Pallino Pastaria
5. The Crab Pot (on the Pier in Seattle)
6. The Palamino
7. The Chinese Place we used to order take-out from when we lived in Seattle.
8. Mortons Steakhouse

8 Things I Wish For
1. The Economy to get better.
2. The wars in Iraq and Afganistan to be over.
3. All of our troops to come home.
4. Plastic Shopping bags would cease to exsist.
5. For everyone in the world to recycle
6. To travel around Europe with Lee
7. To go on a $100,000 shopping spree to Pottery Barn.
8. To be thinner (I'm working on it)

8 People to tag
1. Morgan
2. Sachiko
3. Becky
4. Lucy- An Ordinary Mom
5. 32 Flavors
6. Whitney and/or Derrick
7. Crystal
8. Whoever is reading this..considered yourself tagged.

Bowling with Mason and Uncle Wes

Things have been a little slow in the Bryant household. There really hasn't been much to write about. I went bowling with Mason and Uncle Wes (Lee's youngest brother). Wes was staying with us, and helping Lee with some side work. It was a Friday Night, and Uncle Wes wanted to go Bowling. I hadn't been since I was pregnant with Mason...and it was a little kids birthday party, and we used bumpers. We didn't use bumpers on this night (but we should have).

The little kid bowling shoes were sooooo cute! After I got them on Mason, he did a little dance on the hardwood. I wished I could have recorded it. It was sort of a little "Riverdance" thing.

I wasn't sure how Mason was going to bowl. Uncle Wes helped & I helped......then.........

He decided he was going to do it himself. He did this cute sqatting thing. The ball slowly made it down and he managed to hit a few pins. And he guttered it alot too. We all did. But, I did get a Strike with my very first toss, throw, or whatever it was. It went downhill from there. We had fun. Lee and Mac didn't want to go, so they missed out on all the fun. We left right when all of the cute girls were showing up. Wes wanted to stay, but I'm the one who drove. Ha! Ha!

There hasn't been much to blog about. Things have been pretty slow here at the Bryant household. I guess it's that time of year.

Honor Roll & Doctor Appointment

Last Thursday-February 12th, was a very busy day. The week before, I had received an invitation from Mac's School to attend an Assembly on Feb 12th in the morning sometime. I was going back and forth thinking to myself "Should I go? I have so much to do that day, well, we will see". I dropped Mac off to School in the Morning and he asked if I was coming to the Assembly-I blurted out "Yes"-and found myself going. Mason and Mac both had some immunizations the day before. Mason was a major crank, his arm hurt, etc. I took Mason to School and then went to Mac's for the Assembly. I was sooo glad I went. I was sitting in the Parents section, the Principal announced, "This is a list of students who made it on our Honor Roll for Fall Quarter". So, I had my camera out thinking, "Maybe Mac will be honored for something". I never in a million years thought it would be for the Honor Roll. He got really good grades Fall Quarter, despite being in Football (practices were 3 days a week for 2 hours a day). Mac has had Learning Disabilities, something he inherited from yours truly. I NEVER made it on the Honor Roll. Mac had struggled with reading in Elementary School, struggled with Writing, really struggled with Math. He loved Science, and always managed to keep up with his peers and do all of the work without making concessions for his IEP (Individual Education Plan). I saw his name on the screen, took a picture of it, looked at Mac (he was standing up from the crowd of 400 kids) and I started to tear up. I thought crying would be so uncool, so I held it together.

I am so stinking proud of this kid! So is Lee, we are both so, so proud of him. Not only academically, but, because he is a good kid, and not because we think so, but because other people tell us this. So, it must be true. Good Job Mac!! Oh, and I have started making him cook with me a little.

My other reason why this day was busy....Mason had a Check Up with his Surgeon from Childrens. We hadn't seen him since he had his Tummy Tube removed 3 years ago. He has had the same Surgeon since he was born. His name is Dr. Ledbetter, and he is the best. Mason wasn't old enough to remember the "routine" that we go through when we have a Clinic Visit. He get's weighed-on the cool scale that is built into the floor (and he kept jumping up and down on the scale). He was measured for height. We go into the examination room, I was asked a bunch of questions, and then we wait........wait & wait & wait. Mason choose not to bring any toys, etc. So he got bored. "How long do we have to wait for my Doctor? When is he comin anyways?" those were just some of the questions Mason asked. I laughed at him, because when he was a baby, we had to wait for what seemed like an eternity. So in comes his Doctor. "Where is Mason Bryant? I don't seem to see him anywhere. Where could he be?" Mason looked at him like he was nuts and responded "Well, I'm right HERE!" His doctor told him it couldn't be because he was so big. He asked Mason to see his Tummy and he flipped his shirt up and then down quickly. I told him to take off his shirt, and he told the Dr. Ledbetter "Well, I have alot of lines on my body". His Doc then responded "Well, I'm the guy who made ALL of those lines on your body". Mason's mouth opened up. This was the first appointment that Mason really got to interact with him. It was really cool to see.

This is a picture of Mason with Dr. Ledbetter when Mason just turned 1. This was not the last time we saw him-and I forgot to take a picture of them last week. His doctor still looks the same. A very nice man. We will go and see his surgeon in another year. He likes to keep his eye on him, and his appointment went really well. He is keeping his eye on possible Scoliosis. This is something that could happen to him, as his left lung grows and fills into his chest cavity. His lung will grow until he is 8 or 9. He didn't see any signs, yet...But it could happen.

When we were walking out, Mason had to have his picture taken with Mickey Mouse, of course. We also stopped by the IICU (Infants Intensive Care Unit) to see of some of his nurses were there, and they weren't. They all had the day off. Mason also has a Pulmonary Doctors appointment in April, he will also see his Dietitian at the same time.

The weekend was Valentines Day, which we celebrated on Sunday. I made Steak, Baked Potatoes and I made these Chocolate Covered Strawberries. They were really yummy! I have gotten behind on my blogging...there just isn't much to say-but when there is, it's alot of stuff at once. I'll try to be better about it.

Remembering When...

Sorry this first Picture is so graphic. It's a picture of ME! I was "stalking" someone elses blog-and honestly, I can't remember where or how I got there. But the Mommy who was blogging has a little 1 year old boy, who has had heart problems. She has had to travel the same road I traveled when Mason was a baby. She was so thrilled about her little boy not being on oxygen during the day. She was so happy because she had a new found freedom-not carrying an oxygen tank around with her for her son all the time. I have always been grateful that Mason never had any heart problems. For those of you who don't know (but if you are a really good friend of mine, you do know). Mason was born without a Diaphragm. His condition is called Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia. He had a long, hard road to recovery. The first picture, is me holding Mason for the first time, when he was about 1 month old. He had a really tough day this day, and then got better in the late afternoon and I was able to hold him in the evening.

This was soon after Mason came home from the Hospital. This "scene" of Mason sleeping on Lee's chest was a common occurrence in the evening, for both of them. For a while, this was one of the only ways Mason could get to sleep. Lee hated it when I woke him up, but I managed to get Mason upstairs without waking him. Mason came home with a feeding tube in his stomach (because he couldn't suck or eat with out gagging) and oxygen because he couldn't maintain his oxygen saturation's. He ended up with 1 1/2 lung capacity and slight heart damage from his stomach being pressed against his heart in utero. The heart damage healed itself in time, and Mason was on oxygen 24-7 until he was 11 months old, and then only when he slept for naptime and at night until he was 2 1/2. He was really, really good about keeping it in his nose-I never had to fight him on it.

Mac was 6 years old when Mason was born and came home. He was the BESTEST Big Brother, who coped with his baby brother and his medical equipment. Mac was always careful, he made sure the oxygen tube was still up Mason's nose (and would put it back in if it wasn't), he let me know when Mason's machine was beeping-and a bunch of other stuff. Mac became an expert at washing his hands. On this morning, I had to take a shower (the nerve of me huh?) and I told Mac to just keep on eye on his brother. When I came downstairs, 10 quick minutes later (I learned to be fast)-this is what I found. Mac had managed to move the swing (Mason was in the swing before I took a shower) without kinking the oxygen tubing and without tipping his feeding machine over, causing it to beep. Mac told me that Mason wanted to watch cartoons with him, so he moved him.

This is Lee's favorite Pic of Mason. He was the happiest baby! He smiled like his ALL the time. He loved his swing! Yes, his little outfit coordinated with the color of the swing, no, I didn't plan it this way. The swing was one of the easier purchases of baby equipment I made. When I bought his stroller, I left him at home with Lee. I went to Babies R Us-because they had the largest selection. I had his small oxygen tank with me. I had to make sure that the little basket underneath the stroller could hold the oxygen tank without unsnapping or "breaking" through. It took me almost 1 hour to do this. The sales guy thought I was a little nuts. I was happy with the stroller we got and had it for a long time. Lee also got me a big "hook" to clip Mason's feeding machine onto the stroller. Just something he picked up at Home Depot and thought it would work, and it did. And when I went to Childrens for Check up's, all the other Mom's wanted to know where I got it, because they wanted one for their child's feeding machines too.

This is Mason with his little black backpack on. His feeding machine was inside the backpack. When I had to go to the grocery store, I had Mason in a Baby Bjorn, I had the small oxygen tank-also in a bag/holder with a strap on one shoulder and his feeding machine backpack on my other shoulder. I had the feeding tube and oxygen tube draped in front of me, and it looked like I was going to trip, but they weren't low enough for that to happen. I sanitized the handle bars of the shopping cart with a Clorox Anti bacterial wipe before I even touched the cart. I did this before Grocery Stores offered Antibacterial wipes to wipe the cart down. I like to think of myself as a "Shopping Cart Wiper" pioneer. I always had a small ziplock baggie full of them in my coat pocket. Simple tasks like going to the grocery store wasn't easy, but had to be done. It would take me 15 minutes to get Mason out the door. I had to: get his jacket and shoes on, make sure his feeding machine bag was full, hook him up to his portable oxygen tank, get him out to the car, put him in his carseat, and then go. I think I did this in 10 minutes once. One thing that was strange to me, picking up a normal baby without tubes and stuff at the time Mason was a baby. I had a friend who had a baby when Mason was 4 months old. So, if we were together and I picked up her baby without tubes, it was strange to me. I remember carrying Mason at Childrens for a procedure before he was discharged, he didn't have his feeding machine on-because he was going to be put under, but he had his oxygen on. A volunteer at the Hospital came with us and strolled his oxygen tank for us. I was in the elevator and I realized, I was holding Mason without having anything else on me-it was nice to just hold my little baby without all the other stuff on me.

Mason was 2 years old for this pic. It was Christmas morning, and no one wanted to wait for me to "disconnect" him from his machine. He has to have his feeding machine on and running all night long. When Mason woke up in the mornings, and if I didn't come as soon as he was awake, he would kink his white tubing and make the machine beep. The machine would beep if there was a kink in the tubing, if there was an little air bubble in the tube, when it was empty, or just because it felt I needed to wake up at 3:00am for no apparent reason. It rarely beeped when there wasn't something wrong with it. But there were times when I was sleeping and thought I heard it beeping, and then run in the bedroom, and found it not beeping at all-just my imagination or something in my dreams.

Now he is a fairly healthy boy. He still gets sick pretty easily. Looking at him, you wouldn't know how sickly his was. He has a check up with his Surgeon at Childrens this week. I guess that is why I'm thinking of his past. And, that I read that other Mom's blog. I remember when I didn't have to take an oxygen tank with me. It seemed strange at first, but I still had it in the car, just in case. But it did make outings easier. And I did feel a sense of freedom too. I'm excited about seeing Mason's surgeon, we haven't seen him in a few years, but this will be the first time Mason will get to talk with and interact with him. I'll post Mason's Check up later this week.