Mini Album

Liams tonsillitis mini album is now finished.....after talking to mum yesterday and how little motivation I have got to do scrapbooking at that moment decide its best to focus on one project at a time. So I thought I would start with this mini album which I have had made up for a few weeks now. So here is what ihave been doing in between playing with boys and cleaning and cooking today. Yesterday I printed off all the journalling so that was done and out of the way. I wanted this to be a simple album to just record the toulbe with Liam's tonsils that we had so its just a basic photo, journalling and some mini titles on most pages.
I dont really like the cover anymore but this was done awhile ago when I made the album up.

the rash from the first lot of antibiotics

The mini chemist of antibiotics liam had, which I forgot to put the ones after his op on thie list...bummer might have to pull that bit off and re do it.

The cost of all his doctors visits.

This lot of journalling was about the doctor who sent us home with no antibitoics for us to only come back later that day when liam got worse and then they tried to charge us for the doctors visit again.

The first page is about seeing the specialist and told she would have him done in about 4 weeks and then the more waiting is about getting the letter that we may have to wait 3 more month and about Liam getting tonsillitis while on antibiotics.

Finally is aobut getting Liams op date, that was a good day

Because I had so much I wanted to write about from his op day, I made a little pocket for about 6 journallling cards to slide into.

for the pre op post op and lure photos they are what liam wanted to have showing on the last couple of pages.

Journalling bout the day.

ON the back of the journalling cards I put some of the other photos from the week of his op on them so that they were still included in the album.

So there is one scrapbooking project finished and it feels nice ot have it done. Will be back again soon with another finished project to show.

Liams visit to hospital

Warning this is very long post...again for my record of journalling for future pages.

The night before Liams op I thought it would take awhile for him to go to sleep as all day he had been asking me lots of questions about it. But he didnt fuss much at all when it came to bed time and went to sleep lying across his bed with Blue Piggy close by.

We had a early start with Liam not being allowed to eat after 7am, so i set 3 alarm clocks, one for 6am, 6.10 and 6.15am(yip you did read that right 3 one in Liams room and the one in mine and the one on my mobile phone in my room) jsut to make sure there was at least one that woke me up. As it turned out I didnt need any of them as I didnt have a very good night sleep and was awake on and off from 2am and by 5.30 i was wide awake so got up turned the computer on and did some interneting for a little bit before Liam woke up at 5.52am. Since we were up early I thought I would get a photo of the sun rise, it was a very bright yellow, although it doesnt show very well up on this photo...but proof that I can get up before the sun if i have to,lol.

Stevne went down to his dads at about 8.30 as Liam was getting hungry(already)and Stevne was wanting to eat, so we took him down there so that I could get liam to focus on somethign other than his hungry tummy. Before going to the hospital we went over to the warehouse to buy the dvd Up for the boys and get some up& go drinks for liam for after the op. Mum took us up to the hospital and we got there with lots of time to spare. Waited in the car for about 15 mintues before going up....LIam asked all his questions over while we waited. It didnt take to long from when we arrived in the waiting room till Liams name was called out by the nurse. We went into a small room of the next waiting area. The nurse checked that all the details were correct, weight Liam and then gave him some pamol. Put on his name bracelet and also an extra red one to say he is allergic to Augmentin.

Got him a gown to put on and then put cream to numb his skin with plaster over the top of it.

Then we had to wait for the anaesthetist and doctor to come and talk about the operationa nd what was going to happen. Between the nurse doing her bits and pieces and talking to the doctor Liam had me worried for a while. ONce the nurse had put the cream on he went very quiet, Im sure it was just his nerves getting the better of him but he curled up into me and almost went to sleep. He started to get the shakes in his hands and started to sweat, I said to mum he looks like how i feel jsut before im going to faint. We were told we could move out into the waitnig area so Liam could play with the toys, but he honestly wasnt in the mood for it and was still very cuddly with me. After about 15 mintues the anaesthetist and doctor talked with us and then another nurse came in and check Liams details once more before taking us to the operating theatre. By this stage Liam was chatty again and talking away to everyone. He was very brave and doing so well when we walked into the operation theatre, I was a little nervous when walking into a room with about 6 people in there. They were all very friendly and said hello to Liam. We lifted him up onto the bed and put the blanket onto him and then it was explained to him about the mask to help him go to sleep and he was fine with it all. I took his glasses off and they put the mask onto his face, he took one breath and then he started to scream. Right up to this point I had told myself I would not cry, well that jsut went out the window and he was not keen for this mask business at all. So they asked if it was okay with me for them to jsut hold it on and get it over with, to which i agreed to. I can tell you now its hard to see this happening and when he was looking up at me with those tears in his eyes I pretty much got tears in my eyes as well. I was told that this is for his own good and it needs to be done with having so much tonsillitis in such a short time and that once he woke up he wont remember this happening, and I know they are right I have told myself this over and over but it still hard to see your own child in that state. Once he was asleep I gave him a kiss and told him I loved him and got shown back to the waiting room. It was about an hour before a nurse came out and called me in, mum was able to come in also and wait in a different part of the recovery area. He was so anrgy looking when i saw him and in alot of pain. They had given him quite a bit of different pain relief and asked if I was happy for him to have morphine as he was still in a lot of pain. He does in and out of sleep while watching inspector gaget on a portable dvd player. After about half an hour he asked if he could have some food and then burst into tears. So off down to the wards we went so he could have an iceblock and some jelly. We were now here for 4 hours but with kidzone on the tv Liam was more than happy to lie in bed sipping away at his water. Mum went down tot he chemist and got liam lot of meds for him before it closed. At about 6pm the doctor came in and told us that the operation was straight forward, that Liam had small tonsils but they were very scared for his age. 6.30pm and we could go home, gave him some pamol before we left and then headed home.


Plaster where the lure was in

Once home Liam had his next lot of pain meds at 10.30pm then I headed of to bed with Liam in my bed so I could keep and eye on him we both slept very well but didnt wake at 2.30am wehn he needed more meds, so by 7.30 when we did wake he was quite sore. I felt quite bad about it but gave him meds and the difflam spray which helped alot. That morning he had a 2hr sleep on my bed.

I drew up a timetable so I knew which meds I was giving him and at what time. For the next couple of days it was meds every 4 hours and spray every couple of hours or when needed. This photo is Liam who fell asleep on his bed after not taking his meds and he was in pain I could tell but he wouldnt take it and went to sleep like this after crying...I just let him sleep for a couple of hours and then woke him at 9.30pm. He asked for the spray as well so he was hurting bad by this stage, I set alarm to make sure I woke in 4 hours.

Saturday night was Liams first night of no pain meds after 7.30pm which was great and we both had a very good sleep.

He has had a couple lots of meds today but not much and is starting to eat a bit more and drink lots more as well. I think his jaw is giving him more grief than his throat at the moment but we were told that was to be expected, but he is on the mend and is dealing with it alot better than I thought he would. Steven is a bit out of sorts with Liam having to keep quite for a few weeks and Steven missing his trampoline buddy but slowly accepting thats jsut the way things are at the moment. So now we look forward to a year with a healthier Liam.

Will be getting photos developed tomorrow to get a mini album made so watch this space. Also I will be back soon with a gerneal post about whats been happening around here, with photos of my project life kit some photos of my Daily December album and photos of 365 project that I did last year.

PS. Spell check isnt working and because its late im sure there is more than one mistake, I will come back tomorrow to see if i can get spell check to work...so sorry for all the mistakes

this little hippo

or this little piggy as he is called, has gone missing. Before I get to much into this post I will warn you its long...mainly because it will be my journalling for a couple of layouts i want to do but don't know when I will do them so want to have the journalling recorded.

A couple of years ago at the special children Xmas party Steven got this big yellow hippo(those of you who follow my blog will know who i mean and have seen many photos of this big yellow hippo who is called Piggy). Liam had a small cute grey hippo which he adopted as his a couple of years ago before Piggy came along. Liam then started to call his hippo little piggy(of course cause what else would you call a hippo). Little Piggy has been with us since Steven was 9months old from his first visit to Auckland Zoo.

Little Piggy did lots of things with Liam and helped to get Liam to adjust when he had to have his eye patched not long after starting afternoon kindy and getting glasses. Every day before Liam got his patch Little Piggy would have his eye patched first and a couple of times went along with kindy to show the teachers that they both patched their eyes. There were a couple of days where Little Piggy was naughty at putting his patch on and Liam decided that he had to wear that patch for longer,lol.

There were days that Steven let Liam borrow Piggy for the day which Liam really enjoyed.

And Liam would also take some of his soft toy friends into my bed and line them up with his baby blanket i made him to tuck them in.


This is the last photo of Little Piggy, which was taken on Xmas day last year out side the boys dads house....Liam had gone to sleep in the car on the way home from our Xmas day at my mums holding onto Little Piggy.

The boys were at their dads for a week but Little Piggy never came home. Not sure what happened and where Little Piggy went but we had a few night of tears once Liam was home. He wanted to take Little Piggy to the hospital with him when he got his tonsils out...so we had two weeks to either find Little Piggy or buy a new Piggy. I started my search for a new Piggy......little did i know that not many shops have hippo toys. I thought that the warehouse was bound to have something suitable, but nope not a single hippo in site...so as last resort on the Friday before Liam's op we went into town and got a couple more books bout hospital out of the library and then went to Love to Learn to see what they had in the way of soft toys....we walked in and Liam saw a little blue hippo, he was muched loved and adopted by Liam straight away. So this is Liam new friend Blue Piggy....I personally liked Little Piggy better but Blue Piggy is cute and Liam loves him and that's what matters.

Tomorrow I will post about Liam and Blue Piggy's visit to the Hospital

Question and answer time.......

from Rochelle's blog

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
Put my trust in someone who isnt family to care for Steven after school once a week every week(this is a big thing for me to do)...after school care and he totally loved it.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I dont make any that way I dont get annoyed when I dont fillful them

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Friends had babies

4. Did anyone close to you die?
no

5. What countries did you visit?
Ummm....New Zealand

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Would love for the seperation settlement to be finalised and all over and done with. Also fingers crossed that 2010 will have work for me.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
lots of dates, birthdays and special events

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I really dont know, I guess maybe letting go of the boys a bit more, I find it very hard to do

9. What was your biggest failure?
Dont think I had any, nothing come to mind

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I had swine flu, dont recommend it to anyone, was a very long hard week

11. What was the best thing you bought?
New camera

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?


13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
No one

14. Where did most of your money go?
Nothing new and big jsut the standard rent, car cost, food and bills

15. What did you get really excited about?
How well Liam is doing at school, he is above his level and does really well. Also Steven had a good year at school and in the last 6months the change in his mid year and end of year report was fantastic

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
Stay by Ronan Keating

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

– happier or sadder? happier

– thinner or fatter? bit fatter but im told thats not a bad thing as im to skinny,lol...just need to get rid of the little jelly belly I have

– richer or poorer? much the same

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
exercise

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Stressing bout the little stuff that doesnt really need stressing over

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Out at my parents place with my sister and brother and their kids and my aunty...was a lovely day and the kids had soooo much fun

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
Love is SO OVERATED...lol but that just my opinion of course

22. What was your favourite TV program?
I watch too much tv but I do enjoy the masterchef and cooking programmes alot

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
nah

24. What was the best book you read?
DOnt really read books much and havent picked one up for a long time

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Umm.. pass

26. What did you want and get?
new camera

27. What did you want and not get?
Settlement...getting closer

28. What was your favourite film of this year?
pass

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
DInt do anything special, just another day, I was 31

30. What’s one thing that would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Settlement....lol

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Comfort all the way,lol....although I would liek to be able to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe, maybe this year

32. What kept you sane?
Every second weekend and listening to music

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
oh there to many lol....I do fancy Robbie Williams and Ronan Keating

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
I’m not a big political person

35. Who did you miss?
My gran.....she would be so proud of my boys but especially her special boy Steven and how far he has come and how well he is coping at school. Very much miss her phone calls and talk about autism and ways to get around what Steven does
...but I think she be watching down and could see that we are all well

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Havent met anyone new

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
LIfe is short and we need to make sure we make the most of it, every day is a good day. Gran always told me when things were tough to always remember that there is someone out there who has is tougher than you.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
not sure...might get back to you on that one