...so true

Another milestone met!

We've wanted this for years and I'm proud to say that we finally have an eater! It took us breaking Kenny of his bottle and that cleansing of his digestive track, that last hospital stay, to finally get him to eat. He is now scarfing down blended/pureed foods, baby foods and even small pieces of non pureed foods! He was eating so much that I eased up on his tube feeds because I wanted him to want to eat and not be full from the liquid tube feeds. Yeah...in a real, healthy world that would be a good thing, which I thought it was...I mean, eating tons all day long means weight gain...woo hoo...right? Well, I made an appointment for him with the GI specialist as a follow up and also because I've noticed that ever since he started eating by mouth, he's had horrible diarrhea which I wanted answers to. So anyhow off to the doctor we went...with my hopes held high that my intuition of weight gain was right.

As we waited for them to call his name, I read several beginnings of books to Gina and Kenny...Boats, Planes and Trains, The Three Little Pigs, and an eye spy book, to name a few. They really weren't too interested in me reading to them...they were more interested in the little girl in the wheel chair and the Generation Doll that Kenny adopted as his own (ugh). Finally they called us. First things first...weigh and height. Dun..dun..dun...34.1 pounds...he LOST weight. Seriously? Ok...the award for Bad Mommy goes to...ME! How the heck did he lose weight? Was it the diarrhea? Was it the cutting back in tube feeds? Can you say I feel horrible that I let my son lose weight?!!! The doctor explained that because of the Pediasure that we stopped, the slowing down on the tube feeds and eating more foods by mouth that didn't have as much caloric value as the Boost Essential and Pediasure...could easily have caused the weight loss...then you add the diarrhea to the mix...bingo. So now we are back on all tube feeds and adding fiber to his diet to help stop the...well..messy diapers...several times a day. Did I mention that changing a watery stool diaper of a five year old is NOT the same as doing the same of a 2 year old...by far!

At least we have an eater and I am super proud of him for that!
...now back to a tube feed.

First Day of Fall...and a party to boot!

Today started off like any morning lately...my internal clock waking me at precisely 4:45 in the morning. Did I really want to get up...not really but I knew I had to get started on what was to be a very busy day. First things first, since giving up coffee due to gastritis that doesn't want to do right by me, I put my morning cup of tea on...then off to work. Baking 5 dozen chocolate brownies, 2 dozen cookies, one large bowl of death by chocolate dessert, a huge party bowl of my famous Italian salad, decorating, decorating and more decorating. Did I mention that at five in the morning when you have the hide-a-way bed open for the girls to sleep on...its always safe to make sure that your youngest (who isn't very good with her pee problems at night and still wears a diaper/pull up) child is wearing the diaper you asked your oldest daughters to put on her last night. Only to find the bed/couch soaked from pee, and no diaper on her...yeah, won.der.ful!
So after the pee episode, I got right back to baking...then, at 6:30, Kenny decides to wake up. Now when he gets up in the morning, he has lately been very, very demanding. Demanding on eating, playing, not wanting his diaper changed...just very challenging. So he didn't want his diaper changed right away...OK, I thought to myself, I could do it...sure...wait a while and just let him play...WRONG...ever since he's been working on eating solids (mostly stage 3 baby foods), he's had very watery stool. Were trying things to stop it, especially since I was thinking he actually gained weight because of how much he's been taking in by mouth...yeah...I win mother of the year award...he got weighed last week and lost another pound. WTF?! So you're probably wondering where this is all going...the talking of poop...well, yeah...you guessed it, he walked into the kitchen and BAM...the stench hit me hard! The dreaded "d" word! I walked him into the room to change him and, LET.ME.TELL.YOU...changing a diaper of a 5 year old with watery poop is NO FUN.
After changing him, washing my hands and spraying disinfecting spray...back to work I went. By noon, I got almost everything done. Enough time to just do the basics and relax for a half an hour until the food had to be put in the oven...for the party at 3. Did I mention I gave up caffeine and even wine? uh...yeah.
With this party, I have learned a few things...
1. I learned that you cant beg family to attend parties...especially because we have so many kids. Even though I keep telling everyone that the reason is not so my kids get gifts, we just want them to grow up around family...that's all. Its a great way for our families to get together and celebrate, talk..just have a good family get-together, I just have to say, thank goodness that I had a family/friend party for them...it turned out to be mostly friends.
2. That when you have a special needs child and a few teenagers, chances are the teens wont really want to help...the excuse of it not being their party so why should THEY have to clean or help take care of the little ones while I do it all...sucks.
3. Never....EVER think that large amounts of candy and sweets are a great party spread! Holy crazy farm, was my house loud with 40+ kids in our small 1100 sq. ft. house, a rainy cold day, and second & fourth grade boys scaring the cr@p out of all the little girls at the party.
4. I was glad I didn't scrub the house down before the party...esp. when one kid decided to shake and then open a 2 liter of red pop in my kitchen...yeah...does anyone know how to get the red stain out of woodwork, tile grout and counter tops? haha'
5. That with that many kids, they will eat and eat and eat! It was very comparable to when my kids get home from school, the amount they all consumed. Except...no one ate the two round birthday cakes we bought for the girls.
6. I really need to invest in overalls for Kenny (who cannot keep pants on for nothing)...the kid needs some butt fat!
7. 4 packages of Pillsbury crescent rolls and 4 packs of mini hot dogs makes all kids happy! Boy am I an expert at those appetizers!
8. Never drip hot chocolate onto a pinkie finger...ummm...ouch!
9. Living on a main road when parents are dropping off or picking up from a party...isn't very easy for said parents to do...due to lack of parking.
and finally...

10, Having a themed seasonal party is AMAZING...so much to do...thanks to Pinterest (yes, you can follow me and all of my great boards/pins)...and a good cup of decaf tea and a hot soak in the tub is very relaxing after an extremely crazy party...that is...until you hear Kenny starting the meltdown phase of a very over-stimulating day.

Finally starting up posting again...

But will take a few moments to talk about something that I found for my house that makes it smell as clean as a house with...uh...not so many kids...tee hee.



I chose to buy the lavender defusser for my bathroom and the Figi apple/spice spray for my downstairs! No more dangerous candles for me. The smell that these throw off are just better than plug ins, because you can spray the spray anywhere...and the pretty delicate design of the diffuser looks great in my bathroom! I also could not get over how long lasting the scent lasted! I spray In the morning, and my house still smells good by the afternoon! I am in awe of this product! There are 4 great scents to choose from so whichever one your store carries, i'd recommend trying any one of these!

...this is a great product that I really wanted to share with my readers!
I do have coupons for these that I can get out to you. Just e-mail me!

...and now, back to the Tomecko Ecko after a slight summer break!