Home

You would look this way too if you spent three hours last night crying and fighting bed time.

Unfortunately being home hasn't been the easy break I thought it would be.
I've been spending time readjusting the schedule of three little boys who were aloud to do things like sleep for four days straight (in Caleb's case), stay up until eleven watching movies and play in the dirt all day without bathing or napping.
Back to real life this week, and it hasn't been easy for anyone here.

Here are some hospital highlights:

The good times-playing with the many cords attached to his body.

The bad times-having a new IV put in.

Seeing big brothers for the first time on Thursday.
Collin & Tom & Caleb.
Caleb & Talin.

Two big boys insisting on holding the little one.
No fear.
They totally handled it well, tubing and all.
Tubes coming out of bodies don't seem to phase even the youngest of us Chambers.

A gentle reminder to Collin to "watch out for his owie", made him reconsider if he really wanted to hold Caleb any longer.

So Talin took over.

And Caleb enjoyed being read to.

We were released on Saturday and Caleb has been doing okay since then.

He is a little uncomfortable still and healing up, but it gets a little better each day.

This has been our "break-in surgery".

By the time we're all emotionally and physically recovered from this "small" operation and hospital stay, we'll be ready for the big heart surgery at the end of November.

Is it really only a month away??

******

On Sunday we went on safari after church.

Talin loves Africa but constantly refers to it as African. I've tried to explain the difference between the two words to him, but it hasn't sunk in yet.

So on our safari we found African leaves,

an African dog,

an African dirty diaper on an African front porch,

which we threw away in the African trash can,

and you get the picture...

But the most exciting find was-

the African insect.

This little guy got his own photo shoot for like half an hour.

We're glad to be home.

12:00 P.M.

Surgery was a success!
So, we have our baby back! He looks absolutely thrilled to be alive. I guess he wasn't very happy so they gave him some drugs to calm him down and put him to sleep. In case you were wondering, that is a thermometer on his forehead. Just in case anyone was wondering what his temperature was. I guess there is problems with post-op patients getting too cold.

I personally think that this is the most precious boy in the world.

They only ended up making two incisions. One was in his belly button where you see the red, and the other was, obviously, where the big tube is coming out. I guess that we will get accustomed to that.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers.
We will continue to keep you posted on the upcoming situations.

9:00 A.M

They took our baby after being at the hospital since 7:15 the morning. It was so difficult to let him go. As you can see, he is the most beautiful baby in the world. Especially without his nose tube in.

Here is Caleb first thing this morning after we took the nose tube out. So Cute!

Here is our family right before we dropped the kids off so we could go to the hospital

Here is our cute little "BOY"! Yes, believe it or not he is a boy. Despite what every nurse and doctor thought he was. It was even worse when he had his hearing aid head band. We can not believe how big he is getting!

How cute are these two boys together.

Here is the mean nurse that stole our baby from us. She was actually nice but she stole our baby.

We will try to keep everyone posted on the updates throughout the day.

Today was yours, even if you didn't want it.

7:00 am- You woke up today needing a bath from your regular morning puke.
8:00 am- We took your older brothers to school and then headed home to finish the morning routine.
Medicine.
Your tube is quite handy in administering it.

9:15- We arrived at Methodist Hospital and found radiology to get an upper GI for you. Here you are in the waiting room. All the adults love you, except the ones that decide to stare with that confused expression.

You don't smile at those ones.

Neither do I.

9:30- They had the best toys for you to play with while waiting for the radiologist, and you looked smokin in the peach nightgown.

It was a good time until they held you down for the x-rays.

You hate being held down.

After awhile you tired out and relaxed.

It didn't take long and everything looked great.

10:00- The nurse sent us up to Dr. Irish (a pediatric surgeon). He sat and talked to us about putting a g-tube into you. Your dad and I discussed the pros and cons of each one and decided on the mic key. We made that choice because it was the less painful to change out. It feels like the right choice for you.

We also decided to do the surgery this Wednesday. You'll be in the hospital for 3-4 days. They'll put you to sleep in the morning and make an incision into your belly button where a camera will go and direct them where to insert the mic key. Afterwards you'll get all your drinks through an IV for 48 hours until we can feed you with your new tube. I think you'll like it a lot, it won't be nearly as annoying as your nose tube is.

After our decision we noticed that your nose tube was pulled out quite a bit. So dad had to put it back in. You hated that and screamed until dad rocked you to sleep on his shoulder. You really like him, even though he's the one that puts the tube in.

11:45 - We went and picked up Collin from Lisa's house. You slept the whole way. You slept for a long time, cause we drove out to Sam's Club afterwards and you never woke up once, unless you opened up your left eye slightly to glare at me. Then I would take my finger and gently close it and you'd be back to sleep. It was an exhausting morning.

2:00 - Once we were home for a break you snuggled up with dad and Collin on the couch for a bit. I snuck away upstairs to play spider solitaire and contemplate the organization of babysitters I'll have to figure out for next week. I also just zoned out for a bit and thought of nothing. Sometimes your mom needs that.

2:55 - Break over I packed you back into your car seat, which is becoming your second home, and we drove to Methodist Hospital again to see Dr. Boonstra for your pre-op physical. He checked you out and gagged you while trying to look inside your mouth. You then spent the next five minutes gagging repeatedly and throwing up on all their rough little blankets they lent.

Then you were given a flu shot.

You hated that, and were so sad.

4:30 - Where did our day together go? Once home you helped me make dinner. I put on the sling and set you on my hip (thank goodness for big hips eh?).

5:15 - After dinner we helped Talin with his homework and practiced spelling words, and then we went through Collin's school book with him and talked about his classroom. Then dad had to leave for the night so you helped me bathe the big brothers. You laughed and giggled at their splashing until it got too loud and we had to take off your hearing aide.
You thought it was very exciting to watch me rub lotion all over Talin for his eczema. Unfortunately you have the same skin as your oldest brother and will have to endure nightly lotioning as well.

6:30 - You laid on the floor and rolled around your big brother's room as we read scriptures and said prayers.

7:00 - Then we read stories. That was your favorite part.

7:30 - And after hugging and kissing everyone goodnight with me, I took you in my arms and kissed on you for awhile. I think you needed extra loving after your long day.

And then I gave you your nightly dose of medicine.

7:45 - And after singing you your lullaby I laid you in your crib for the night.

Tomorrow we don't have one appointment to go to. Just you and me. I promise I'll only put you in the car seat three times, just to drop off your brothers, pick up Collin and pick up Talin. Then the four of us can spend the afternoon playing at the park and I'll put you in the baby swing with your backpack and you'll think you're a big boy. It's going to be great.

Conference

General Conference was this past weekend, and it was amazing. I mean it's always incredible, but there seemed to be something extra special about this one. I don't know how anyone else felt, but I'd like to apologize ahead of time, because I'm pretty sure the Lord inspired each speaker to say things specifically for ME. I'm serious. I felt completely nourished by the end of the four sessions. My spirit was uplifted and edified. I can hardly wait until next month's Ensign comes out and I can devour the talks again. But to be honest I'm probably going to waste my ink cartridge and paper to print them up when they become available online this Thursday. There were so many talks that touched me personally, I wish I would have taken some notes, or better notes from Sunday's to share my favorite talks and lines. Right now it's all a fuzzy spiritual happy blur.
The kids were good as well. We let them roam in and out of the room on Saturday, them deciding if they wanted to sit and be quiet and listen or not. I figure at these ages I can't get them to sit through four two hour sessions in two days, so I picked my fights.
On Sunday we decided to dress up and go to the Stake Center for the first session. We've never done that before, and it was really nice. It made it more real for the boys to sit in the chapel and be reverent.
After first session on Sunday we went home, had lunch and everyone napped (well everyone six and under). Tom and I watched the second session in peace and quiet while the boys slept. Shortly after the second session ended Talin got up from his nap. He comes up to me and asks when the next conference is going to start. I tell him that we just finished watching it. And to my absolute surprise, his face crumples and he bursts into tears. Wow. I would have been thrilled to have missed it at that age! My sensitive little man. I took him over to the computer and Tom restarted second conference so that he could sit and listen. I mean he only lasted about forty minutes or so, but I was impressed with his interest.
And on the other hand we have Collin asking me if he can play video games. I respond with a no, it's Sunday and we don't play video games on a Sunday. He looks at me and says, "Well, I thought because it was a different kind of Sunday we could play." Ha! My extreme opposites.

On the other hand, in case you haven't heard, real men....

Wear Headbands!

So So Cool!

A family in our ward invited us to go to Walking with Dinosaurs Friday night, for FREE!!!

The show was AWESOME, as you can see.

T-Rex was the best. The kids loved it.
Sorry it's a little shaky, Collin was sitting on my lap at this time.

Collin, Anthony, Kevin, & Talin.

There were several other families in the ward that came as well.

Oh yeah, and we were in a suite!!

There I am enjoying the good life...Diet Coke, fresh fruit, chicken strips...need I say more?

Another view of our fabulous suite.

We had about twelve chairs in the front to sit and view the show, and then a bar to sit at where you could see the stage as well.

The layout of delightful goodies.

It's amazing how much you'll eat even when you're not hungry, just because you're there and it's free! I felt I had to indulge, I mean I was in a suite, did I mention that yet?

The only picture I have of Caleb that turned out!

I wasn't suppose to use the flash, so I was shocked and Tom is reaching for the camera and irritated. Ha ha! I didn't care, I mean I was in a suite!

The boys again.

Collin, Kevin, Anthony (ducking, you can't see his face), & Talin.

The four of them had an incredible time.

And the perks of being in a suite, making a bed out of the big chairs for Caleb.
This is what he was doing when T-Rex came out, sleeping!! Through the best part! That's okay, I don't think he would have appreciated it anyway.
The silver lining in having a child with a hearing loss, just take off the hearing aide and they can sleep through ANYTHING!

Oh yeah, did I mention we were in a suite? I now know why they call it a suite, because it was freakin' sweet!!

Sneak Peak into our Past Week

Candid: free from reservation, disguise, or subterfuge; straightforward.
informal; unposed (except for a few): a candid photo.

******************************
*************************
My kitchen might be minuscule, but it's my favorite place to cook and bake and create.
Especially with my little people standing on their chairs at the counter to help.

***************** If it weren't for the two little faces behind me, I would not have posted this picture.

Tom was camera crazy.

And apparently very happy.

You can't see it very well, but it's a large Book of Mormon he's sitting next to.
We start them early in this house.

New hair color, no surprise.
I'm off to Women's Conference.

Tom still hasn't put the camera away...

Talin moping the fact that he can't go to Relief Society and do crafts all the time.

"Why can't boys go and be in Relief Society?"

The first missing tooth for this boy.

He's been pleased as pie, especially when he ran into our room first thing this morning clutching a dollar bill.

He's been waiting for this day for forever.

Me and my big boys.

These are seriously the sweetest, most fantastic kids in the universe.

Couldn't do it without them.

Nasty Bug

Maybe Caleb's fever the other night wasn't just because of the shots...
Friday night I started running a fever in the middle of the night, but come Saturday I felt better and didn't give it much thought because it was the big Super Saturday and I needed to be there to help out all day (new calling is Enrichment Leader!). By one in the afternoon I was done, so I went home and napped and woke up with a fever.
I'm such a baby; I lounged on the couch and moaned the afternoon away.
Just ask Tom, I literally moaned.
Sunday I missed teaching my first Relief Society lesson that I was so over prepared and psyched to teach (second new calling, R.S. teacher!). Then I stressed that my last minute sickness might be viewed as convenient since it was kind of like my coming out weekend in new callings. I seriously hope no on thought that.
But worst of all, now that I'm all chipper and back to fabulous, the nasty little bug has invaded Tom and he woke up this morning with a fever. Unfortunately for him he has no choice but to get up and go to class and clinic this afternoon. I feel terrible for him, he won't be able to lounge on the couch and moan his complaints the way I did.

The latest and greatest on Mr. Caleb:
Saw the G.I. Specialist, Dr. Sloven on Friday. He decided that Caleb needed to go onto a drip feed system. He's only getting approximately 21-24 ounces of milk a day, and he needs 30 ounces a day to grow normally, so he eventually wants to get him drinking 45 ounces a day to catch up to normal growth. Geez!!! The plan is to drip feed him for 21 hours a day. So he has a nifty backpack that we carry around and he's attached to for 21 hours. It carries the milk and the drip feed computer to calculate all the amounts that go into him, a cord comes out that carries the milk and hooks into his NG tube that goes into his nose.
It's all fine and dandy until you lay your child down at night and realize that he's sleeping with a three foot cord that ends taped to his face.
I had a panic attack.
Talk about a choking hazard!
After standing over the crib and contemplating the potential death cord and what to do, Tom and I taped the cord to his upper back, lower back, down to his bum and ended with the cord taped to his foot. So in the event of rolling around the crib throughout the night, he really only manages to wrap his feet up in it. Well that's the hope...fingers crossed.
Now the interesting news with all of this is that if his body keeps throwing up the milk and he can't tolerate more food, then we're going to do a reflux surgery, where we take his stomach and wrap it around the bottom of his esophagus. And while he does that, we'll put a button into his stomach, which is the g-tube. That would be the end of tape and nose tubes, but not the solution to an agonizing problem that doesn't seem to have an end.
In the end I'm just grateful for all the many doctors that are helping my little boy to get as healthy as he can.

Burning

I'm sitting at the computer tonight holding my little man with a temp of a 101 degrees.

This kid is a first for everything with me in regards to parenting.

The first to get fevers at every three month check up when shots are administered.

The first to not make it on the weight charts.

And the list could go on, but it would sound sad, and having Caleb in our lives is anything but sad. And anything but boring.

His official 6 month check up stats are as follows:

Weight: 12 pounds 2 ounces

Height: 24 1/2 inches

And the latest doctor visit is scheduled for tomorrow with a gastrointestinal specialist. We are going to discuss the pros and cons of inserting a g-tube in Caleb. Feeding isn't improving and cardiologists are doubtful that the heart surgery will make a difference. So if this no eating thing is going to be so long term, we might as well consider the g-tube and save his face (and hair) the agony of tape rashes.

On a totally different note, Talin passed his first spelling test, yeah!!! I promptly took him to McDonald's for an ice cream cone. He worked really hard on his words this week and was super worried that he wouldn't be able to spell them well "without peeking". I assured him that he would, especially with all the work he put into studying, and then prayed fervently that my promise to him would come true. And it did.