Noah has definitely turned the corner with the flu and bladder infection. He's remained very, very, very tired but yesterday he was perky and playful. It's a good thing since the tummy bug hit our house and I decided to evacuate all of the healthy ones for a loooooong nature walk and playtime at the park. Peace and quiet for sick sleeping teens + fresh air and fun for the healthy ones = a great plan! Please pray that Noah does not get this tummy virus and that it won't spread any further than it has.
Without further ado, here's some of what we've been up to lately:
In February, some of the children had a chance to meet Kevin Harvick (NASCAR driver) and get autographs/pictures.
William and Mr. Harvick
Timothy and Mr. Harvick
Noah and Mommy and Mr. Harvick
We are SO blessed with our private duty nurses. We have a nurse in the house 8 hours a day most days and our nurses really have become part of our family! Having those hours where I don't have to be Noah's primary medical caregiver frees me up to just be his mommy for a little while each day and also frees me up to focus on the other children, household projects, etc. Noah's room is in the absolute most central part of our home and he's in the middle of everything going on, even when he's in bed.
Nurse Amanda reading to Noah and Mary Faith. After she read to him, the two of them made Mommy a "kiss box" and Noah filled it with kisses for me. SO sweet!!
Noah had the chance to go bowling a few weeks ago!! It was a bowling party for a few of our friends and the five youngest Estes children were all invited. The bowling alley had a special little ramp for Noah. He could wheel up to the line then use the ramp to roll the ball down the lane. He was extremely focused on lining that ramp up JUST right and he did quite well. He got the highest score in his team and even scored a spare!! I was so busy helping Noah and cheering for Mary Faith that I didn't get any pictures of the older three, but I did get plenty of pictures of Noah and Mary Faith.
Hamming for the camera. :-)
Lining up the shot . . .
BAM! Making jet plane sound effects LOL.
Cutest bowler boy ever!! We are trying to figure out a way to get a second IV pole on his wheelchair. You can see that this one is pretty well overload (but this doesn't slow Super Noah down!)
Miss Mary Faith watching her ball. She was SO cute - it took forever for her ball to make to the pins. :-) She'd watch with baited breath the entire time then was always so pleased if she knocked down a pin or two .
She is getting SO big. It's hard to believe she's old enough to bowl.
Hanging out waiting for her turn to come round again.
Two thumbs up after bowling a spare. This was such a fun activity for Noah and it made me happy to see him able to complete on a level playing field with his friends and peers.
Right before Noah got sick with influenza and the bladder infection, Jeff got him a little kit to make a wooden pirate ship. Noah was far too sick to do it for a few days but it was the first thing on his mind as soon as he started waking up!
Pale and puffy but SO proud of his little ship.
Daddy's boy. :-)
Sarah's beloved hamster died a few weeks ago. She decided to try a
little fancy mouse and since her cage was large, Hannah and Matthew also
got female mice. My little Doctor Who fans named their mice Amelia
Pond (Sarah wants to teach to come when she calls "Come along, Pond!"
LOL), Donna Noble, and Stormageddon. :-) The mice were very skittish
at first but the children have worked very patiently with them and they
are quite tame now. They've found a channel on You Tube that shows how
to teach mice to do tricks and I'm pleased to see this new little hobby
unfolding.
The mice are perfectly sized for dollhouse furniture LOL. Amelia Pond on the merry-go-round (No, Sarah didn't spin it! She just wanted the photo.)
And Amelia Pond in the baby carriage. :-)
I spend lots of time cuddling up with Noah reading with him or just snuggling while he watches a movie. For about a week or so when he was feeling at his worst with the flu he was pretty clingy and I spent just about every waking hour in bed with him or sitting beside him holding his hand. I was happy to be able to do anything that comforted him and he always knows that Mommy is right there if he needs her.
Snuggling up with some good books!
Silly little Mary Faith who would LIVE in the bathtub if we let her.
Our family tradition is to color eggs, hunt for eggs/candy, etc. as part of celebrating the first day of Spring. This makes it easier for us to focus on the resurrection on Easter itself. We had to put off our spring celebration until the day before Easter this year because of Noah being too sick to participate. There was only ever one year that he was home and healthy and able to walk to get his own eggs without being carried or being in the hospital or being pushed in a manual chair. This year he was SO thrilled to zoom around the yard in his power chair finding his own eggs under his own steam. Jeff did a brilliant job of hiding the eggs a few feet off the ground so Noah could reach them and really be independent. While the other children hunted for bundles of chocolate bunnies and eggs filled with treats, Noah's special patterned eggs each held one or two Legos from a couple of packs of mini-figs. He also found a Jake treasure chest holding another small Lego set and a plastic Angry Bird egg filled with stickers. Fun times!!
Mary Faith could HARDLY wait to get out the door!
Noah was READY to go! (And is purple his color or WHAT?)
Who knew that eggs grew on magnolia trees????
Mary Faith had so much fun getting eggs. She'd looked forward to this for a long time and enjoyed herself immensely.
Arrgh, me hearties! Noah found his treasure chest! (As a side note, I find myself compelled to kiss those cheeks about a bazillion times a day. Or more.)
Hannah Grace helping Mary Faith find even MORE eggs! So hard to believe that my baby just turned 5 and my oldest is nearly 20. Sigh.
As you can see, Timothy was quite successful finding eggs LOL.
Mary Faith didn't do too badly herself!!
Come to think of it, they ALL got as many eggs as their baskets could hold. :-)
"MOM!!! LOOK! Eggs on the grill!! For ME!!!"
Eggs grow on cherry trees too! I love how happy he looks.
If she thought the eggs were great, Mary Faith got REALLY excited when she found this bundle of chocolates. She was the last one to find her chocolates and had to enlist a bit of help from Daddy.
Matthew (L) and William (R). As you can see, ONE of my older boys has some dignity. The other, not so much. :-)
Mary Faith wasted NO time digging into that rabbit LOL!
My precious David. He had so much fun and smiled like that all day. (You'll notice that the boys all thought about looking sharp for the inevitable egg hunt pictures. The other three dressed up a little . . . David chose his favorite Doctor Who t-shirt LOL. It says "A big ball of timey wimey wibbly wobbly stuff and features a TARDIS. CLASSIC David!)
Aaaaand finally we get to yesterday at the park. :-) It was the most wonderful thing to see Noah so happy and active. It was by far the most active he's been in a very long time. (For example, even though he had a blast hunting eggs, he slept until about an hour before the hunt, got his eggs, got in bed, and slept until the next morning.) We were at the park about 4 hours and he went strong the entire time. It was an unexpected and delightful blessing.
Posing for the camera. :-)
Noah was absolutely fascinated by an abandoned bird's nest we found on our nature walk. (And yes, we used hand sanitizer when he was done checking it out!)
There was a lot of run-off rain water and Noah and Mary Faith spent a long, long time throwing rocks a and sticks in the water. This just never ceases to amuse . . .
This picture sums up our dear Sarah. Girly (fancy nail job), busy (nails all chipped), and ALWAYS happiest when she's around some kind of living creature (ladybug on the finger). Right after her 10th birthday a couple of months ago she started volunteering for a local animal rescue. She works with rescue cats twice a week and also works at the big adoption events outside the pet store. She just absolutely loves it and does a GREAT job.
Noah and Timothy laughing at the BIG splash from a BIG rock.
More rocks to throw . . .
. . . and even MORE rocks! I wasn't at all sure I could pull the little guys away from the nature trail and get back to the park for our picnic. :-)
I think Mary Faith spent about half of her time on the swings. She loved this.
My pretty princess.
And yes, MORE time on the swings. Between our mile+ nature walk and a solid 45 minutes or more of pushing her, I got in my exercise yesterday. :-)
Seriously, could he be any cuter?
He was SO happy to be outside in the beautiful weather.
He told me he'd only smile for the previous picture if I'd take a silly face picture of him and nurse Amanda. Fortunately Amanda is a really, really good sport!! (She even agreed to let me post this one!)
Playing catch with nurse Amanda.
Oh, how I love this picture. We got Noah out into a big grassy area and let him just ZOOM at top speed chasing Amanda and I. He got laughing and just couldn't stop. (Even better - it was the first time in weeks we've heard him laugh without a coughing fit!!)
Still zooming, still laughing. :-)
Completely cracking up because he'd just tagged me. :-)
We wrapped up the fun by blowing lots of bubbles to chase and catch. Such fun.
As I went through these pictures and chose the ones to post, I have to say how much I was filled with pride for Noah. He is such a little warrior and he lives life so very well. He never backs down from a challenge and always finds a way to have a great time even if he can't do just what the other kids are doing or if he can't do it quite the same way they do. It breaks my heart that the fun always comes at a very high price of such exhaustion but we are all happy to seize each moment we can - living and playing hard when he's up for it and snuggling in and slowing down when he can't go anymore. He is such a happy, loving little boy and I can't think of anything I'd rather do than be his Mommy. I was also struck with how proud I am for the other children big and small. They are such well-balanced, contented children and young adults and they are honestly just a DELIGHT to spend time with. There is the fun of playing with and cuddling the littles, of watching the middles learn and grow and explore the world, and of seeing the young adults spreading their wings. Some of the best parts of my day are when I find myself hanging out with my teens just laughing ourselves silly over something goofy or digging in deep on some questions they've brought me. Of course, none of that can really compare to ending my days with my sweet husband and very best friend. I am so, so, so very blessed.
Noah has several appointments coming up. He's getting his supra-pubic catheter changed out in the O.R. a week from tomorrow (we had to reschedule b/c he was sick) and he's also got another cardiology appointment coming up soon. As always, please keep praying for him - especially that he'll be spared the tummy flu!
Blessings,
Kate
