Pee Wee Baseball

As a family, we are BIG fans of the Pee Wee Sports program the city of Bryan offers. Elizabeth and Micah both played soccer. This fall, Benjamin tried his hand at baseball. It was a huge success!

Tonight, they scrimmaged for the entire "practice". Benjamin had a blast, and actually did a really good job.

When he went up to bat, Benjamin hit the ball the first time! That was an improvment over last week. :-)
My favorite part of the night was when Benjamin went for a catch in the "out-field".....
... and the ball bounced off his face. He quickly recovered, and threw the ball to first.

Towards the end of the scrimmage, the coach let all the kids "hit a home-run". It was so cute! Here's Benjamin, heading home.

With a slide, he's SAFE!!!

One of Benjamin's favorite things was that one of his best buddies, Will, was also there. Will is three days older than Benjamin. These two are so cute together.
And really, they love each other. :-)

Benjamin loved playing baseball and he was such a joy to watch. I have a feeling this might become a big part of life at the Krajca house.

What a week!

I am thrilled to report that we lived through a very rough week.

Monday, Curtis had 13 planters warts removed (lasered) from the bottom of his foot. Very, very painful!

Tuesday, Micah had an asthma attack during co-op. We skipped the park that afternoon, and opted for a trip to Rosa's and then the new HEB. While driving Elizabeth to dance, Micah had another asthma attack which led to him throwing up everywhere. Poor guy! And poor Elizabeth who was sitting next to him. Once I got the boys and I home, I realized that Micah, Timothy and I were all running temps. Super.

Wednesday, everyone, except Curtis were coughing, temperature running messes. I took Micah and Timothy to the doctor. Timothy was diagnosed with a cold (which of course you can do nothing about in an 8 month old!) and Micah received several new medications to help with his asthma, and we were able to make a place to help control his asthma.

Thursday, Curtis went into work in the morning. By the afternoon, I was running a temperature again, so he came home.

Friday, day 4 of me running a temp, I finally went in. My only symptoms were the temperature and a killer headache. Turns out a I have a nasty sinus infection in my upper sinuses. No fun!

We're all doing okay now. Curtis is still having a lot of discomfort, I'm still running a low grade temp, Elizabeth has a special cough, Micah is high on three different steroids, Benjamin is snotty and coughy, and Timothy is snotty.

Here's hoping for a healthy week next week! Pass the OJ!!

Fall!!!

Fall is my favorite season. Which is a bummer, since we don't really have that season here in Texas. So I make up for it by decorating!! Remember all the decorating I did last year?

This year, since we have the house on the market, I don't get to go all out on fall decorating. But, our realtor did say that we could put a wreath on the door!! So, I'm going ALL OUT on this wreath! I've done some looking on line, and found these cute wreaths. Leave a comment, and let me know which one you like. (The numbers are under the picture)

#1 (I would make this one less Halloweenish and more fallish)

#2 (I have the wreath for this one, and would just have to buy the stuff. Too bland?)

#3 (rather than a "31" I would do a "K")

#4 (I was thinking that I could use this design with Aggie paper, making a cute Aggie wreath for football days)

#5 (YUM! Candy corns! Too Halloweenish?)

#6 (I think how this one is very elegant, and I have the wreath already!)

8 months (then and now!)

Craniofacial Awareness Month (a day late!)

September, Craniofacial Awareness Month, quickly slipped away from me. But I didn't want to not talk about my sweet cleft baby! So just pretend it's yesterday.

We had no idea that Timothy would have a cleft. Sometimes, you can tell on the ultrasound. Since his was and incomplete cleft, and because we didn't get any full face shots, it was impossible to tell in utero.

You can imagine our surprise (and that's a nice way of putting it!) when, immediately following his surprise birth, the first words we hear are, "He has a cleft." Though this was about the time I got some really big drugs to keep me from totally freaking out, I believe I looked at Curtis and said, "Are they kidding?!" Surely, I hadn't delivered another baby with a birth defect! I felt totally overwhelmed. A large part of that was because of his surprise delivery at 35 weeks and the very tough c-section I was in the middle of. Just minutes before I had been worrying about his lung development. Now I was worried about that (he had quit crying and was turning some fun shades of blueish gray) AND the cleft.

While the neonatologist was working on Timothy in the OR, he told us that his palate was unaffected. I knew that was a good thing, but I wasn't even entirely sure what that meant.

After Timothy and Curtis left to head to the NICU, I remember feeling very nervous about seeing him. Though I had a quick peek at him before he left, I couldn't remember what he looked like (thank you drugs!). As they wheeled me to the NICU, I remember feeling like a really bad mom. Would I immediately fall in love with him? Would I only be able to see the deformity? Would he be okay? What would all this mean for my family? I was scared.

The moment I saw him, I don't remember seeing the cleft.

The love of a mother is an amazing and mysterious thing. The moment you see the child you've been carrying, there's an overwhelming and overpowering love. Though you've only just met this little person, you've known him for months.

The love of a mother of a child with an obvious deformity is even more mysterious and amazing. When I see pictures of other cleft babies, there's always a moment of shock. I see their cleft first. But that's not how it was with Timothy. I saw him. The cleft was just part of him, kinda like the fact that he had 10 fingers. Without a second of doubt, fear or hesitation, I was madly in love with this little person. Our immediate concers for Timothy had nothing to do with his cleft. There was the concern of his preemie lungs, the blood in his stomach and stool, the horrible jandice that almost kept him from leaving the hospital with us and almost put him back in the hospital. I just about forgot about his cleft lip.

I do remember having a conversation with Curtis while we were still in the hospital about his cleft. Though there were a lot of unknowns and I didn't like the thought of surgery, we quickly decided that we would repair the cleft when possible.

When Timothy was a few weeks old, we started seeing a plastic surgeon. With him, we learned so much more about Timothy's cleft, and made a plan to repair it.



Though I wouldn't choose to have a cleft baby, I quickly fell in love with his wonky lip! This caused lots of emotions when it came time to "fix" it. I share some of these thoughts in this previous blog.

While Timothy was in the NICU, we heard lots of different scenarios for what would happen during the repair, including one that involved a couple stitches, that's it. Timothy's surgery lasted three hours. The doctor not only repaired the cleft, but he also moved the base of Timothy's nose. There were layers of stitches in his lip and up to his nose. The surgery and the recovery were hard, and painful for Timothy. But God was so gracious! We left the hospital less than 12 hours after Timothy got out of surgery. We had been told to expect to stay in the hospital for 24 hours.

Timothy has continued to see the plastic surgeon in the months following his surgery. As of his last visit, it looks like he won't have to have any more surgeries! There's a possibility that we'll have to redo the surgery when he's 5, and we won't know till then if that's going to happen. It all depends on how the scar extends as Timothy grows. Then, when he's 13ish, we'll look at the possibility of rhinoplasty.

As with Benjamin, we are so thankful for how God guided the hands of the surgeon in Timothy's surgery! It's easy for me to look at the things Benjamin and Timothy (and Curtis and I) have had to go through with these deformities, and get discouraged, frustrated, and annoyed with the plan of God. But it's impossible to feel that way when I look back and see how tenderly and graciously God has cared for the boys and us during those tough times. Though it hasn't been fun, and I wouldn't have chosen to walk the roads we did, I'm thankful for them.

Micah's first football game

This past Saturday, Micah had his first football game! After several practices, his team, the Penguins, were excited and the parents were a little nervous. Curtis, who is one of the assistant coaches, predicted crying and maybe blood.

Thankfully, our son didn't cry, and there was no blood at all!

We're doing flag football with Upwards. The fact that it's a Christian organization is wonderful! Rather than promoting winning, being the best, and doing whatever it takes to win, the attitude is one of having fun, helping your team, and doing your best. And for 4 and 5 year olds, that's perfect!

Micah did really, really well for his first game. He made a touchdown!
Another thing that I like about Upwards is that they let every kid play every position, every game. It's a wonderful learning experience!
At the end of each practice, each child gets a green start for participating. At the end of each game, and Offensive Star and Defensive Star are handed out. Micah received the Offensive Star this week!
We are very proud of our little football player!

Tie-Dye Tuesday

Last weekend, we went to a friend from co-op's birthday party. We made tie-sye shirts for all the kids! Such fun! Since there were several kids from co-op there, we all decided to wear tie-dye shirts this past Tuesday.

(My little monkey, Benjamin, hanging on Ms. Hannah)

I'm bummed I didn't get a picture of Elizabeth and Micah with the birthday boy, Michael. And now, I have matching outfits for my kids, which means I need to get a picture of all 4 kids together. Oh boy!

It's not fair!

Earlier this week, a friend of mine introduced me to her infant daughter, who passed away 2 years ago. Her beautiful little girl passed away when she was only nine days old.

Yesterday, I learned that a friend of mine who's been struggling to be come pregnant for years is carrying twins!

Today, I was asked to pray for a family I used to know, who lost their son/grandson at birth.

Talk about a week of highs and lows.....

As I was sharing my sadness with a friend, I found myself saying the words that I know so many of us think. "It's just not fair!!" It's not fair that a mother, father and sister should have to say good bye to a nine day old baby who was so very wanted. It's not fair that my friend had to try for four years to become pregnant. It's not fair that a family should be brought to 39 weeks in a pregnancy, to then lose the baby that they were all aching to meet.

I've shared before how earlier this year, after Timothy's premature birth and cleft lip, I struggled with life not being fair. I felt picked on by God. He has the power and ability to spare me from what I was going through, but he didn't. And though God has brought me through those emotions and feelings, I still sometimes struggle to see the hand of God in the situations that I've seen this week.

Today, as I was getting in the shower to wash the spit up out of my hair, it dawned on me that my life hasn't been fair. It's not fair that I was covered in spit up, while other mothers have empty arms. It's not fair that I got to snuggle with my babies, reading books to them, while other mother weep over the void in their life. It's not fair that I have been blessed with four children and other struggle to have one.

So today's been a reminder that life's not fair. But I have a God who loves me. And he loves my friends who are broken hearted and struggling. I need to be thankful for what I have, and not question the hand of my Father. He works everything out for my good and His glory. This week was also a good reminder that there is little I can do to help, so I need to turn to the Father in prayer.

Sell this house!

What three things get potential buys into your house?
#1 a good price
#2 good advertising
#3 curb appeal

Our house goes on the market TOMORROW (gulp!). Curtis and I have been working all weekend on getting things ready. Hopefully, the in the next few days, I'll show you a few of our projects. But for today, let's start with CURB APPEAL!
(I wish I had a picture before our awesome friends the Haileys helped us with our landscaping) Just picture a whole lot of nothing and two over grown bushes.)

Last Conversation

Me (trying to leave the house for lunch with a friend): Where's Benjamin?
Curtis: I don't know.
Me: BENJAMIN!
Curtis: BENJAMIN!

Not in the house.

Curtis: Check the car
Me (upon finding Benjamin in the car, buckled into the driver's seat): Found him!
Benjamin: I'm going with you!

More Conversations

Me: Micah, I'm going to love you forever.
Micah:
Me: Are you going to love me forever?
Micah: I'm not so sure about that mommy.

and later....

Me: I'm going to love you forever, Micah!
Micah: Me too.
Me: You're going to love me forever?!
Micah: Yes! You, and Daddy, and everyone in the whole wide world, except Elizabeth.

Conversations

Elizabeth: I don't like this cheese on my lasagna.
Me: You don't? It's called ricotta cheese.
Elizabeth: Yep, I don't like it.
Me: Hmmmmm. It's very fancy. Is it too fancy for you?

Pause

Elizabeth: Are you saying I'm not fancy?!?!

Gasp of horror from her, chuckle from me.

Flashback Friday AND Craniofacial Awareness

The moment you first meet your baby, face to face. Those first few snuggles, and kisses. Trying to soak in every detail of this sweet little person. He's perfect!! He's beautiful!!That's how I felt right after seeing Benjamin for the first time. Had there ever been such an amazing baby?! How blessed we were!
Then the screaming started. He was about 3 weeks old, and had just finished a hospital stay for viral meningitis. No matter what we tried, no matter how much he ate, no matter how many times I took him to the doctor, he kept on crying. My mommy intuition told me something was wrong. I would hold him, pray over him, and cry, knowing something was wrong but not knowing what.

When he was about five months old, we finally started putting some of the pieces together. Maybe all this crying was due to his oddly shaped head. A doctor at our pediatrician's office told us that perhaps Benjamin had craniosynostosis.
We learned that his oddly shaped head was caused by the premature fusing of one of his soft spots. Only six days after his official diagnosis, he had surgery.
A month after surgery, Benjamin went into a helmet to protect and reshape his head. He spent 6 months in this helmet, and our family spend a lot of time in the car going to and from Austin every two weeks to have the helmet adjusted. Looking at Benjamin today, you would never know that this lively three year old once had a rare birth defect, causing a rare head deformity. We are thankful for the care of the doctors and the orthotist who cared for him. We're even more thankful for grace that God showed us and Benjamin during this time.

Recently, I read an article about parenting children with special needs. It likened the journey of parents with special needs kids to a journey to Italy. You get on a plane, prepare to head to Italy, learn Italian, and buy books about the cities you'll be visiting. When you get off the plane, you realize that without warning you are in Holland. It's a nice place, but it's not what you were prepared for. You are suddenly learning a new language, and rapidly trying to adjust to your new culture. The article was written for parents who had children with long term special needs. And while I am SO thankful that I'm not a parent who is in Holland forever, I can completely relate to some of the author's points.

As a momma, I was so in love with Benjamin, even before he was born. The moment I saw him, I knew I would do anything for him. He was beautiful. Then I was told that no, my son was deformed. His deformity would only become more and more pronounced the older he got. His brain was being squashed, and we could face some very severe medical problems because of it. I had been in Italy. Then suddenly, I was on a plane, having just landed in Holland. Rapidly, I had to learn a new medical language, I had to prepare myself for my son's major skull surgery, and a PICU stay (which was hell). And one of the hardest things was that while I found myself in Holland, my other children were still in Italy.

Little research has been done on how or why children are born with craniosynostosis. We've recently learned that Benjamin might have had this birth defect because of some medication that I took during my pregnancy with him, but we're not sure. And we may never know. I do know that everything we went through, and everything that Benjamin went through was for a purpose. I hope that while we were on our journey, we glorified God, and showed His love and the hope we have in Him to others.

Parents who face having a child with a craniofacial issue face some hard stuff! Which is why I want to take some time talking about it this month. There was an emotional drain on us, it took a toll on our marriage, our family suffered, it was a financial burden that was are still trying to recover from. But how very thankful I am that all is well!! And that's what really matters.

Dear Mommy

Because I'm such a sweet baby, I'm sure it's easy for you to forget that I'm just a baby. I still like to sleep in my bed, eat meals in my highchair, snuggle a little after nursing, and have a predictable, quiet day.

After today, I've had enough!!!!!

Today has been way too crazy for me. I tried to be a sweet boy by sleeping at co-op for you. But how did you pay me back? You dragged me to the park, in the heat, and stuck me in a stroller that was crawling with ants. I held it together for you. I even fell asleep for you in the car on the way to take Elizabeth to dance! But was that enough? NOPE! Rather than taking me home, you dragged me somewhere else. And though I had fun playing with my friend, I really wanted to just be at home, resting in my bed. We left the house at 8:30 this morning and didn't get home till almost 4:30. That's just crazy, momma!

Being baby #4 is hard. Really hard! So that's why I had my meltdown this afternoon.

You're lucky Benjamin distracted me and made me quit screaming.
Let's take it easy tomorrow, okay?

Love,
Timothy

"I put gum on my eye!"

First Grade Drawing

I got this in an e-mail. Hilarious!!!

A first grade girl handed in the drawing below for her homework assignment.


The teacher graded it and the child brought it home.

She returned to school the next day with the following note:

Dear Ms. Davis,

I want to be perfectly clear on my child's homework illustration.
It is NOT of me on a dance pole on a stage in a strip joint surrounded by male customers with money.
I work at Home Depot and had commented to my daughter how much money we made in the recent snowstorm.
This drawing is of me selling a shovel.

Cell phone pics

Benjamin, Micah and Elizabeth on our way into Rosas using their new umbrellas.
Benjamin at his favorite restaurant.
During the tornado warning.
Who does that super hero look like?

A day of firsts

This morning was our first day of co-op. Here are my adorable kiddos, ready to go!Excitement was running high last night as we sharpened penciles, and packed our backpacks. And this morning, that excitment continued as the three big kids wore their backpacks around the house all morning long.

By far, Elizabeth was the most excited about co-op, despite the fact that in her class of 7 she's the only girl. Again. I guess she's just getting used to it, and has accepted this "station" in life.

We left this morning at 8am, ran to the pharmacy, took Curtis to work, then made it to co-op.... ON TIME! I was so proud of my crew!

While I was in the nursery, helping out during third period, one of the moms came in and said, "We're under a tornado warning. We need to get to a safer place!" We rounded up our little group, I grabbed a sleeping Timothy, and headed to a room without windows and outside walls. Thankfully, it was the same room that my three older kids had been taken to. Elizabeth was very unsettled, and was relieved to see me. After the weather calmed down, we headed back to our regular rooms and finished out the day.

After getting good reports from all the teachers, we picked up Curtis and headed to Rosa's for Taco Tuesday! Despite several spilled cups, kids who wouldn't eat, and a bit of whining, we had a great lunch!

We made it home at 1:30, and I snapped this picture at 2:00.
Elizabeth had her first day of dance! I think this is going to be a really great year for her. Rather than being one of the younger kiddos, she is one of the older girls in the class. She has a little more experience than the other girls, and her teacher is awesome!

So we left the house this morning at 8am, got home at 1:30pm, and left again at 2pm. Poor Timothy was falling apart at this point. Every nap he's tried to take had been interrupted by a tornado or being put in the carseat. Being #4 is tough! And as pay back, he pooped out his diaper. I discovered this after dance, while getting everyone out of the car to go into Sam's to get dinner. I quickly decided there was nothing I could do, put a Wal Mart bag under his tooshie and headed home.

The older kids are now playing outside in the rain. Timothy has been bathed and is busy rolling around on the floor. I'm not sure what we'll be doing for dinner, but I am looking forward to a quiet evening after a busy day.

And the good times keep comin'

I know weekends like this are rare. And I know that days like this will become less and less. But MAN! GIVE ME A BREAK!

After our crazy day yesterday, we enjoyed a quiet evening. Just what this tired Mommy and Daddy needed. Despite all the craziness, we really had gotten a lot done around the house, and it was nice to just enjoy it. Little did we know that God was carving out some quiet time in preparation for another crazy day.

This morning, Micah woke up with severe ear pain. Benjamin's been sickly for a couple days. So we got everyone ready, and were out the door just before 8am. We stopped on our way to church at the clinic. I ran in with the boys while Curtis made a coffee run. We were able to quickly see the doctor, and discovered that both boys have ear infections. Benjamin's lung sounded iffy, so the doc ordered a chest x-ray.

I was able to run Micah out to the car to Curtis, who then took Elizabeth, Micah and Timothy to Sunday school. He got back to the clinic right as I found out that Benjamin doesn't have pneumonia... yet. But he's well on his way. Curtis, Benjamin and I headed to church.

We enjoyed a wonderful morning with our church family, and a fun fellowship meal afterward. We're having a little down time before kids' choir, and Covenant kids.

I'm thankful that all the things we've dealt with have been minor. But boy am I ready for some peace, quiet and calm!!

Pictures from our busy day

Timothy's first Aggie game day! He had shorts on early, but there was an incident....
Benjamin's head looking much better after some ice.
Micah with his hair cut that I REALLY don't like. He kept telling me, while I was on the verge of tears, "It's just hair, Mommy. It will grow back!"
Elizabeth's first day of piano.

A busy day

Here's a list of what the Krajcas have been up to today.

• Located Aggie shirts for everyone. This is the first year we won't have to buy any!
• Got donuts at Shipleys, where we were reminded that it's game day in Aggieland! Crazy long wait.
• We got our storage unit!
• Packed up a bookshelf to put in storage.
• Got a reminder on how to check a 3 year old boy for a concussion when Benjamin fell out of the van head first.
• Loaded up the van with stuff to take the storage unit.
• Put the keyboard in Elizabeth's room for her first piano lesson!
• Curtis fixed the gate that KC had chewed and pulled apart.
• I dusted, vacuumed and cleaned the living room, now that we've moved out some of the extra stuff.
• Learned that Micah and Benjamin aren't allergic to yellow jacket stings and that being stung doesn't bother them.
• I ran to the store for hot dogs buns and left with $40 worth of stuff ($22 of it was coffee!).
• Enjoyed grilled hot dogs.
• Gave Micah a hair cut to hide where he cute his hair yesterday.
• Moved the kid scissors.

hope you all had a great Saturday!

Craniofacial Awareness Month

September is Craniofacial Awareness Month. And since I have two boys effected by craniofacial issues, I thought it would be a perfect time to talk a little bit about it.

What is a craniofacial disorder?

A craniofacial disorder refers to an abnormality of the face and/or the head. Craniofacial differences can result from abnormal growth patterns of the face or skull, which involves soft tissue and bones. A craniofacial condition may include disfigurement brought about by birth defect, disease or trauma.

Benjamin had craniosynostosis. That particular deformity causes the sutures of the head (soft spots) to close too early, leaving the rapidly growing brain squished. Benjamin's head was growing, but not the way it should. His head wasn't growing any wider, it was just growing out, causing his forehead to protrude.

Timothy, as I'm sure you all remember, had a unilateral incomplete cleft lip.

We were unaware of either of the deformities till after the boys were born.

Though the process of dealing with the deformities has been a tough one at times, our family has much to be thankful for. Not once were the boys in life threatening situations. Though Benjamin's squished brain could have caused a host of issues, it didn't. Timothy's cleft could have been so much worse, but it wasn't. Both boys have undergone major surgeries to fix these deformities, and have done very well through surgery and recovery.

While we are abundantly thankful for God's protection, it's been hard. It hasn't always been an easy or pleasant journey. So this month, I was to take time to share with you my thoughts and experiences in hope of shedding more light on these issues.

On your mark, get set....

GO!!!!!

Our fall officially kicked off this past Monday. Though we'd been doing school for a few weeks, our fall activities have now started. All our activities starting makes it feel more like fall, even though it's still almost 100 degrees here in the great state of TX.

Here's a peak at what our fall will hold:

• Pee Wee Baseball for Benjamin.
• Upwards Flag Football for Micah.
• More dancing at Suzanne's for Elizabeth.
• Piano lessons for Elizabeth (Micah tells people, "I'm playing football, Benjamin is playing baseball and Elizabeth is playing piano!")
• Softball for Curtis
• Our awesome co-op is starting up next week.
• Kids' choir for Elizabeth.
• Covenant Kids for the three big kids (a catechism class at church)
• Community group
• Lord willing, selling our house and moving into a new house.

I've been looking forward to the structure and routine that the fall brings. Last night, I enjoyed doing some shopping to get a few things for co-op and a new planner to help Mommy keep everything together. Since we live in a college town, the start of a new semester feels very much like a fresh start for our family. And even though this fall promises to be a very busy time, we're looking forward to lots of fun together as a family!