Family Portrait

As portrayed by Tyler...
Notice anything out of the ordinary?

One day last week while Robert and I were getting ready for work and Tyler was having his asthma treatment, he was drawing pictures on his magnetic doodle thing. I soon heard, "Mommy, come see. I drew our family!" This is really the first real stick figure picture he drew that actually had a purpose, and he sure was proud of it! When I saw that there were 4 people in our family picture, I asked him who was who. He explained that one was him, one was mommy, and one was daddy...and one was "The Baby." Sometimes they say that kids can predict the future. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking on his part and the fact that he really knows we want to have another baby. Either way, I really hope his portrayal of our family portrait comes true someday!

Apple Hill 2008

We took our 2nd annual fall trip to Apple Hill last weekend with the Smith family. We had a good time, and the kids really enjoyed hanging out together. Tyler gets along great with their girls, especially the two older ones, Kelsi & McKena...and I think there's a little crush going on between him and their 6 year old McKena (an older woman, LOL!). I know our family had a great day and really enjoyed picking apples, driving around to the different places, taking pictures, and just enjoying the start to fall! This is really a fun tradition that I hope we can keep doing with them for years to come!

Robert and Tyler taking a break from apple picking to pose for a picture.

Ben & Kody apple hunting and eating.

McKena & Tyler - they pretty much didn't leave each other's side the whole day!

Tyler with his bucket of apples.

Tyler enjoying an apple - look at that beautiful view behind him!

The kids.

The kids - gotta have an annual funny face picture!

Relaxing by a fishing pond as the day comes to an end.

We also took some family pictures for each other, so check out more pictures from the day on my photography blog:
Kelly Williams Photography Blog

Just Keep Trying!

Today was Tyler's 3rd soccer session. Since he is only 4, they don't really play as a team, but focus more on learning the basics of the game. The first session we went to, he did pretty good taking direction from the coaches and doing what they told him to do without too much hassle. Last weekend, however, he was terrible and pretty much spent the entire hour on the sidelines complaining that it was too hot, or he was too tired, or he didn't like soccer, etc. Granted, he did just get out of the hospital the day before, so I guess I couldn't expect too much out of him (his Dr. wanted us to take him to soccer to help loosen up the fluids in his lungs and help break up the pneumonia). Needless to say, I was a little concerned that we would have to go through the complaining every time. Despite his wish to stay home this morning, we went anyways. And he did so much better! He only came over to me a couple times, but pretty much stayed in the game the whole time with only a little bit of complaining. He even got the ball away from the other kids a couple times and was so proud of himself! Although he wasn't heading toward the right goal, I didn't care because he was kicking it and out there playing, so that was more important. We'll work on the rules another time! Guess there's hope afterall!

Taking a water break.

In the game - chasing the ball!

In the game - kicking the ball!
(Ty is the one in the front with his arm up in the air)

Not again!?!?!

Well, looks like pneumonia will be a common occurrence with Tyler. We went back in the hospital again on Wednesday, 9/3/08 just a little under a month after the last time! Seems like the pneumonia is definitely asthma induced, so now they have put him on a 2-times a day asthma medication for at least the next 6 months. Hopefully that will keep him out of the hospital and will eventually bring his lungs back up to normal capacity so he won't be as susceptible to pneumonia!

Man, I can't tell you how boring it is to be stuck in the hospital for 3 days when you're not the patient! I just about went crazy! At least we were close to home this time and didn't get sent out of town to the other hospital. Our local hospital is soooo much nicer...and WAY cleaner! And the nurses were way more attentive to him than the other hospital staff was last time.

Curious to see how much insurance actually picks up since they haven't actually paid for the last visit yet. At worst, our portion of the hospital stay is $200 per admission + the $100 ambulance ride last time. That would be 2 admissions + ambulance for last time ($500) and just the 1 admission for this time ($200). Hopefully our secondary insurance will pick up the copays that the primary requires. Oh, and the new asthma medication is ridiculously expensive! A 15-day supply for $30 our cost after insurance. Again, thank goodness for insurance because the pharmacist said that the medication is over $180 a box without insurance. That's over $360 a month...YIKES!

Now, we have to follow up with a pediatric pulmonologist for the asthma and an allergist to see if the asthma is allergy induced. Just watch, the kid will end up being allergic to cats and dogs...that could be a problem! Anyone want 2 free cats???