Coburn Kids

Caden has been the biggest pill with eating!  Gets 2 oz.’s down him and he believes he’s done.  In other news though, on June 17th Caden is going to get his Mic-Key button!  Which will be so nice not to have this tube hanging out of him all the time. He’s doing really well on solids though, taking about 3 tbl.’s at a time so that’s nice.

Gena and Adessa are now in the same karate class together, which makes life so much easier.  It’s coming to the end of the school year, Gena is out on June 6th and Adessa’s last day is June 19th.

I’m so glad it’s warmer now too!  I take Adessa and Caden to walk to pick up Gena from school and they love it.  We’re getting our front yard redone as well.  We had a case of grubs last year that ate up our grass.  We didn’t catch it as it was happening of course because that was when myself and Caden were in the hospital and there was just literally no time to worry about a lawn at that point. So I decided we are just going to rip up the entire front.  We’re putting in nice grass, I’m going to redo our planter beds.  Get some new plants that I actually might like (the ones we have now just make it look like we constantly have weeds).  I’ve decided I hate ground cover as well, impossible to weed in and around so I’m excited to get started on that.

I’ve been on a cleaning spree as well.  Throwing out clothes, toys, furniture, everything.  Daniel must stop me soon or we’ll have nothing left.   I just have too much sitting around the house and I really want to get organized.  I plan on staying very busy this summer!

Caden is a little stinker.  Ever since his surgery he has been taking every single bottle.  EVERY ONE! We have tried doing trials without his NG tube before and by the end of the day he was frantic, hungry, crying and more. Either he’s finally “gotten it” and how to eat or he realized (just a tad too late) that we are serious about the eating thing! He can now down 4 oz. in 20 minutes. Which is beyond excellent for him. It’s still not the 8 oz. on a regular 20 cal. formula he should be taking of course, but this is good news. To answer a question I’ve had over the last couple of days, yes we are still glad we got the surgery. We were told from the start that it’s better for Caden to get the feeding tube and not need it, then to remain on the NG tube.  While the PEG tube is a hassle, it requires 2 of us to change his dressings at night, and he can’t lay on his tummy right now, he doesn’t seem to mind it. He’s been very fussy the last 2 days though, crying and whining.  Not really sure what may be bothering him.

In other sad news, Daniel’s Grandma died today.  She was 93 years old and we’ve known for a few days that she was not doing well. She led a good long life and I am so glad that I had the chance to meet her and get to know her. What a wonderful woman and mother. She did manage to squeeze in her last trip to Las Vegas though! She goes every year and was put in the hospital the day after she got back. The viewing is Sunday – Monday and the funeral is on Tuesday.

So I made the trek with Caden to the Doctor again today. He has a rash all over his face and forehead that I was soooo worried was impetigo or something of the sort. Thought I had better be sure if his surgery is just a few days away. Turns out to be nothing but his face is raw and red and it looks so sad! He’s also back down to 15 1/2 lb. So he lost about 3/4 of a pound in a week. He’s still a chunky little guy so it’s not that big of a worry. I’m sure he’ll lose a bit of weight this weekend as well with the surgery.

He’s being an absolute pill with eating. His nose was raw, so when he pulled out his NG tube today I decided to give his nose and face a break and just work my hardest at feeding him. He’ll only take 3 of his 4 oz.’s and it takes over an hour to get even that in him and then he’ll just fuss and arch his back and cry. It just confirms that this G-tube is a good move. I have days when he’ll do decent with eating, take maybe a full bottle or 2 in a day, that I wonder if we are really making the right choice. Then there are days like today where I just want the surgery now!

In other news, I got a new digital camera. It’s pink. It’s the only color they had! But I love it, it’s a Panasonic, 8.1 mega pixel. Sooooo easy to use. Yeah!

I’m also having a serious argument with myself over our tax refund. We need new flooring. I hate carpet. So I’m considering taking the leap to just get some nice wood floors installed. Just pricing things out right now. I need a good installer because quite frankly, laying down about 2000 sq. ft. just by ourselves is too much of a daunting task. If it was a room or 2… maybe. I know a good place to get the flooring I want at a good price, just not someone who can lay it for a reasonable price! So we’ll see what to do there.

Friday night has to be in my Top 10 of worst nights ever. First off, as you may know, Adessa was sick on Wednesday and I foolishly made the comment that not one of us was feeling the least bit ill…. I shouldn’t say things like that. Friday I wasn’t feeling so hot, was kind of dragging and so was Daniel. Nothing serious though. I pick up Genevieve from school and she tells me she thew up twice at school and tried to call. It was at the end of the day though and I was all ready at the school waiting for her. So we go home where Gena gets sick every 20 minutes. I’m starting to feel sicker and sicker but am really writing it off that I’m just around it with Gena because Daniel and I have Grandma and Grandpa coming over that night and I am determined to get my night out! I was trying to convince myself it was just a little thing and that Gena would be over it in just a couple of hours like Adessa was.

Well, around 4pm that’s about it. I am officially sick and can barely take care of myself let alone Gena. Daniel makes it home a little after 5 and by then I can barely move out of bed. At 8pm Daniel now starts to get sick and I’m passed out in bed. Daniel and I were making comments that we were wondering if it was something we all ate but that the true test would be if Caden got sick as well. At midnight in comes Caden who is now sick. Adessa is the only one feeling good at this point. It’s a true test of endurance as a parent to be so sick you can barely drag yourself out of bed but STILL have to take care of your sick kids. All I can think about the entire time is that I’m so glad it happened this weekend and not this upcoming weekend, because I have no idea what we would have done with Caden’s surgery and all.

We’re all over it though, no lasting effects. Except the fact that it’s possible to lose 6 pounds in 24 hours.

All right, I was tagged and this is my first tag so I figure why not…

A- ADVOCATE FOR: Wow, a lot I want to get involved in with right now. Cleft kids, HELLP, tube feeding and prematurity. It’s interesting that after Gena & Adessa’s preemie birth it seemed to roll right off. Something I pushed aside. But with Caden I literally can NOT stop reading up on all these issues. I would really like to get involved with one exclusively and focus on it but I need to get Caden settled down first.
B- BEST FEATURE: My hair when it wants to cooperate.
C- COULD DO WITH OUT: Laundry. I despise laundry. It’s so tedious and NEVER goes away.
D- DREAMS AND DESIRES: I want to write again. I’ve been really thinking of it these last 6 months. It’s my passion and I’ve been neglecting it.
E- ESSENTIAL ITEMS: Mascara without a doubt. Then long hot bubble baths. I can not survive with them.
F- FAVORITE PAST TIME: Reading. Which happens in my long hot bubble baths. It’s the only time I have to read anymore without interruption.
G- GOOD AT: Making Caden giggle. I’m a pro. Also, and this one is kind of hard to put into words, dealing with all different types of people and personalities. Including irate people, it’s a strange gift.
H- HAVE NEVER TRIED: Swimming in the ocean. It’s on my list of “things to do before I die.”
I- IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS: Pay off bills, finish my basement, invest the rest.
J- JUNKIE FOR: Caramel and caffeine. They are addictions I DON’T WANT to break.
K- KINDRED SPIRIT: My brother Jason. We are very close and while we love the good argument we understand each other and can talk about anything.
L- LITTLE KNOWN FACT: When I was 6 my family moved to Georgia for a couple of months (dad was in the army) and I came back with a southern accent. No I don’t still have it.
M- MEMORABLE MOMENT: When Daniel first told me he loved me. My heart was in my throat and I couldn’t even respond! It’s a bit of a story.
N- NEVER AGAIN WILL I: Take the cheery tone a doctor is using and think everything is okay. You have to listen to what is being said and not the manner in which they say it. If a doctor is taking a long time with you and appears thorough… something is definitely, seriously wrong. Lungs collapsing are not “normal”, pulmonary hypertension is not a “hiccup”, no you did not take my blood pressure in the 2 seconds you had the cuff on my arm, no a baby coding is not something you can talk casually about and expect me NOT to be concerned.
O- OCCASIONAL INDULGENCE: Ice cream. Really, it was a hard habit to break.
P- PROFESSION: Website administrator, mom, appointment setter for Caden.
Q- QUOTE: “I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life in 3 words… It goes on.” ~Robert Frost and “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s learning how to dance in the rain.”
R- REASON TO SMILE: My family. Friends. Good times.
S- SORRY FOR: Whining or complaining. I hate when other people do it (or my kids) and I’m sometimes guilty of it myself.
T- TAG SOME FRIENDS: Everyone recently has been tagged so I have nothing to put here.
U- UNINTERESTED IN: See above. Whining or complaining.
V- VERY SCARED OF: People walking behind me in a hallway. There’s no reason for it, just gets under my skin.
W- WORST HABIT: Stress eating. I swear if I could only be one of those people that stops eating when stressed I’d be a stick.
X- MARKS MY IDEAL VACATION SPOT: Scotland. A trip we had to give up when I first got pregnant with Gena. Still want to go back there desperately.
Y- YUMMIEST DESSERT: Caramel. Caramel. Caramel.
Z- ZODIAC SIGN: Aquarius.

Caden’s blessing on Sunday went excellent.  We had my family along with some friends and some people Daniel works with at church. Caden was a little doll, didn’t make a peep.  He fell asleep when Daniel was blessing him too!  Daniel gave the most beautiful blessing though, he really did a spectacular job. Afterwards we headed over to our house for a light lunch and it was wonderful chaos.

I got plenty of adult time in there (thank you Andrea!) and it was great to just be able to visit, mingle, and make some new friends. I think at one point we had just as many kids as adults at the house, 12 kids and 12 adults. So it was a wonderful Sunday and I couldn’t be happier with how it all turned out. 

I’m sure everyone has them… those songs you can listen to a thousand times on repeat and never grow tired of them. I have some of those, mostly religious songs. Not really written by any LDS writers though, just songs that I have heard over the years that touched me and of course I had to go search them out and get them on my mp3 player. 

Growing up I can honestly say, I had no idea and never listened in my house to any religious songs outside those that sounded like the Tabernacle Choir, hymns or by LDS writers like Michael McLean or Janice Kapp Perry. Seriously, I remember the first time I heard a religious station in Colorado on spring break with my friend Racheal (hi Racheal!) and it was with her Uncle, Baptist I believe. It blew me away that there was really cool religious music out there that I wouldn’t mind listening to every day of the week, versus just ones that I had always thought of as “Sunday” only. (This statement should really show you the impact it had on me as a teenager since this was SPRING BREAK and I had this revelation.) So one of the things I try to do to remind me to stay focused during the week is listen to some of this inpirational music that just really uplifts me. I get my kids to listen to it as well, I really want them to know that religious music can touch you and be cool enough to listen to every day of the week. Here’s some of my favorites (you can hear any of them on YouTube and I provided links, I really have no idea what religion any of these bands are… but that’s not the point):

• Chris Tomlin – Amazing Grace, My Chains are Gone
• Mercy Me – I Can Only Imagine
• Mercy Me – Bring the Rain (this song is my Life Motto right now)
• Mercy Me – Homesick
• Mercy Me – Word of God Speak (yes, I really really like Mercy Me)
• Andrew Shust – My Savior, My God (Gena knows the words to this song)
• Mark Shultz – He’s My Son (box of tissues required)
• Big Daddy Weave – Every Time I Breathe
• Casting Crowns – Who Am I
• Casting Crowns – Lifesong

Small sampling of my mp3 player. Mixed in with songs covering every genre from country, instrumental, opera, pop, heavy metal, rap (embarassed to admit that one) because hey… we all have different moods and different songs that we like with those moods! 

I have to tell you about the sweetest and most inspirational family right now that live in Provo, UT. I was introduced to and talked with Jeanine Mack when she posted on the Utah Yahoo group for cleft children. Her son Kaden was diagnosed with a cleft lip and hydrocephalus at an ultrasound. Because the ultrasound was measuring the head size a number of weeks ahead of the body she was going to be having a c-section to deliver their little boy early.

Their little boy was born on Feb. 15th at 36 weeks early and is currently at Primary Children’s hospital in their NICU. He has a rare condition called (Lissencephaly) which is a smooth brain and results in an inability to move, communicate and think. Besides a wide cleft, the other problems are widespread and involves some of the other important parts of the brain such as the Pituitary Gland which is the control center for the essential functions of the body. His right eye did not form and his left eye is tiny and non-functional. His optic nerve also did not form. This special spirit is only with their family for short time. They are hoping to get the chance that he will be able to come home for a short time so that he can pass away there.

If you want to follow their story you can see their blog here: http://sgmackfam.blogspot.com/ This little boy has touched so many lives only being a few days old. Of special note is that this little boy’s great-great Grandpa was Spencer Kimball! Their strength during such a difficult time and their ability to truly see the big picture and rejoice in the days they have with their son will touch your heart.