Some of you know we have sporadically had trouble with Granton throwing up all night. We have not put it on the blog too much because he always seems fine in the morning and it seems like such a little thing after all the stuff many of you are used to reading about with the little man. Also, I am more focused on praying for the correct B cells to come back then a little throw-up. Even though when he does this, it is a lot of throw-up. In addition to that, my last blog was about not sweating the small stuff. I must admit I joked with Jenni about being put to the test on that post. In the evening of the very day I posted that blog, I was taking a shower, completely covered in soap suds, and the water shut off. On top of that, we had family in who I hardly ever get to see and not being able to flush the toilets was kind of a downer. Things got worse at about 1:00 a.m. when Granton started his puke fest that lasted until morning. That little story kind of got me off track. In short we got the water flowing again and we are still working on not sweating the small stuff. But back to the throwing up, last week my grandma noticed the little beggar was continually chowing down on some cookies Jenni made. We ruled out the cookies a wile back because he has eaten them before and not thrown up. In fact Jenni has a list of everything he would eat the day before his all night throwing up events. We could not find a pattern. Nothing added up. However, grandmas have been around the block on this parenting thing so I paid close attention. Grandma was not talking as much about WHAT he ate but HOW MUCH he ate. I have watched Granton eat more then me and be fine, but it is always healthy food. We don’t let him have very much junk food. Also, I assumed if his stomach was too full he would throw up once and be fine. When Granton does this he keeps on throwing up and has the dry heaves real bad by the morning before he finishes. However, I did take note of what Grandma said. Well, yesterday our Track and Field team had a BBQ to celebrate this season. Granton loves the track kids and they love him. Some of the track kids fed him and I watched the little begger go around sweet talk kids out of cookies and chips. One girl made him eat grapes. I am proud of her and she will be one of the first I call for a baby sitter. On the way home I thought about all the Oreos and Doritos this kid consumed. If he puked that night, we would know why. Well, I think we have figured out the puking problem. It was not fun sitting up all night with a kid who throws up all over everything but at least now we know why. Granton can eat a lot of food and be fine. Granton can eat junk food and be fine. But, Granton can not eat a lot of junk food and be fine. Hopefully, now we can keep him from throwing up at night. I think we over fed him through his G tube back when he was staying in KC because, he would puke all the time and had real bad diarrhea. Oh yea, I forgot to mention Granton always had bad diarrhea when he pukes all night. Anyway, I think his body simply learned to say ENOUGH! When it feels overloaded it gets everything out, literally. Now we will just try to keep him from overloading his system. That is about all for now. We are still are praying for the correct B cells to come back and we appreciate you joining us in this prayer. Thank you so much for the love you have shown Granton and our family.

What a difference a year makes

Well our lives must be getting normal because we have been in such a whirlwind I haven’t had time to blog. I a not complaining; I like to be busy. I always say the alternative is boredom. Our experience last year has taught me to enjoy the little thing in life and not to sweat the small stuff. Here is an example, On Monday Granton had an appointment in KC and a friend watched Kaylynn for us. I left practice a little early to get her. As soon as I got home Jenni’s sister came out to tell me Granton was having trouble with his IV and they would get back latter. She knew I wanted to cut the grass which was at least a foot high so she offered to take a baby to her friends house to watch her as they studied. Great I finally get to work on the yard. Five minutes on the lawn mower and I had a broken belt. I knew I was short on time because I need to go get Kaylynn about two hours after her aunt took her. I raced back to town and barely got the new belt before they closed. Actually, they were closed and let me in anyway. I raced back home to work on the mower. Of course there were a bunch of safety guards on the mower deck so I took a long time to put the new belt on. I got it going and went back to mowing. The new belt broke after ten minutes and I noticed a bearing was now out on the mower. No problem I have another mower that just doesn’t cut the grass as nice and as fast but I works. Well it only works when it has gas and I put all my gas in the first mower. By now it is obvious I won’t get the grass cut so I drive back into town to get Kaylynn only to find out she is not there because Jenni’s sister had brought her back to me and we missed each other on the road. This kind of thing used to tick me off but I didn’t seem to mind because I kept thinking this is nothing compared what we were dealing with this time last year. Jenni didn’t get back with Granton until about 10:00. I was starting to get a little worried and said a prayer for them on the road and I actually herd the garage door open five seconds after I finished. However, the day ended on a good note. Granton was taken off one of his meds and will probably be taken off another one next time. This will only leave his hydrocortisone and he is being weaned from it. So we can actually look forward to a time when he doesn’t need any meds. He is so much fun and has turned into a ham. He loves to joke around. We enjoy playing every night. We have come so far. I actually cried the other day in front of the track team. The girls won their first ever district championship. As we presented the plaque, we told the kids how proud we are of what they have done, where they came from, and what they have been through. As I was standing in front of them I remembered Granton seemed to be slipping away this time last year and I could not even be at the district meet. What a change our lives have taken. I was so overcome with emotion I actually cried. God has showed me my life is a blessing. He is so good. By the way I did get the yard mowed.

Fun On The Farm

This Mother's Day has been very special for our family. We got to spend time at Mimi and Papa's farm with Granton and Kaylynn. Daniel and I have not been to the farm together since Granton was taken to the hospital over a year ago in March. And, amazingly, this weekend all 12 family members were together again including the 5 grandchildren for a total of 17 today at the dinner table. The babies gathered near in their bouncer seats on the floor. So, of course, we got our family picture worked in, as well.

Granton got to ride Mingo the Paint horse with his cousin Addison yesterday. Then, I wheeled him around in a wagon for the first time, and Uncle Dave took him for a ride on the four wheeler. He has definitely enjoyed the farm! When we showed him the baby puppies he treated them about like he would Kaylynn. He gave them a three second pat and then pushed them away. Besides seeing all the animals I think he has enjoyed all the people and his buddy Addison even more. They really liked the slide and swings out back and they played with the blocks inside that Uncle Dustin made. Granton also cooked in the play kitchen this morning.

As for Kaylynn, she tried her hand at making my first Mother's Day card. Daniel had her handprint made inside with Granton's scribbles. He said they both used different art forms...watercolor and pastels. :)

Here's wishing all the Mom's and Grandma's reading a Happy Mother's Day! We love you.

Jenni and the Gang

I know a lot of you must be wondering about Granton’s B cells. Well the new news is that we don’t have any news. We got a call that the last test they did on Granton’s blood did not work for some reason. No big deal, we are just going to do it again. In fact Granton got blood work done today. He has already finished. He is having fun today. Jenni has all of them outside on a blanket. She and Granton are soaking up some sun. Granton is also chowing down on pizza. I guess two big jet bombers just flew over. They were probably from Whiteman AFB they fly down here sometimes. Anyway, they were flying pretty low and he and his mom thought they were amazing. Actually, his mom thought they were a little scary. Well, I haven’t posted anything in awhile. I have been so busy with the new baby and the Track and Field (the ladies are conference champs this year) team on top of my normal teaching job I let this get behind. I just want everyone who reads this to know we are doing well and, as always, we appreciate your prayers.

Granton had his check up yesterday. It all seemed like good news. His blood count was 11.1, holding steady. Other than a nasty diaper rash, nothing seems to be bothering him. As you know, we are praying for the return of the donor’s B cells and not his. They did a test to see if any B cells (the donor’s or his) are coming back. We don’t have the results of that yet. Of course, this means nothing to Granton. He has been more concerned about playing with cousins who came to see him. They came to see his little sister too, but; Granton doesn’t acknowledge this fact. It is nice to see him finally get to be around kids his own age. This is the first time in over a year he has had any real exposure to his peers because it was simply too dangerous before. It is great to give him more freedoms and he loved it. Outside of trying to knock his cousin upside the head with his guitar after a disagreement they got along great. His little sister is getting along great also. She had her first checkup today and has already gained a pound. Thank you so much for praying for us.

Finally, some pictures

I know it took awhile but I finally have some new pictures on here. I'm sorry I can't seem to turn that one the right way so I guess you will just have to look at is sideways. They are all going great. Granton has an appointment next week. Please pray for the right B cells. I will give more updates later.

aiw & Gig

Well, I wanted to post some pictures today but it doesn’t look like that is going to happen. I will keep working on it. We don’t have any new news to report. Granton and his little sister, mother, and father are just fine. Granton is basicly indifferent towards his little sister. He is nice to her most of the time we make him analogue her existence. However, he loves the new faces her arrival has brought. He is so used to being the center of attention he just assumes these are new members of his fan club and he always enjoys entertaining his audience. He has added “Baaaaba” (Baby) to his vocabulary but he would rather show you his pirate or lizard than talk about that new kid. She doesn’t seem to care if he acknowledges her or not. She is quiet and happy as long as she is full. Due to her huge apatite, this task has kept her mother very busy. Anyway, please keep praying for us, specifically the return of Granton’s correct B cells. In closing, all is well and God is good.