FISHER CATS

Tuesday Steve called me and asked if we wanted to go to a Fisher Cats game. It's a minor league baseball team that plays in Manchester, NH. He was given 5 tickets to a box suite. How could I say no? I drove down and met my mom at the Massachusetts border to pick up Kaleb and Stevie and we met Steve and Kayla at the ball field. It was a really fun night. Lots of food, fun and togetherness. As fun as it was, we missed having Benjamin with us. The Fisher Cat's Mascot came up to see the kids in the suite.

The girls filling their bellies.

Stevie and her crazy faces.
Kaleb enjoying his time at the game.
I think this is the fourth time I've seen my husband in 8 weeks.

Stevie watching the game from the outside seats.

Kaleb intensly watching.

The highlight of the night was Kaleb retrieving a foul ball.

Stevie was hoping to catch a foul ball but wasn't as lucky.On the way out of the park...the kids spotted THIS guy. His hair was unbelievable. It's the biggest afro I've ever seen in my life. I think the girls were mortified when we asked him to pose with them. It was a great night. It felt good to be back together again.

SET BACK

Ben failed his trach trial today.

He just wasn't ready.

Turns out we WON'T be leaving.

Atleast not tomorrow.

COUNTING DOWN...

Sorry I've been lazy in my updates...I guess you can consider NO news GOOD news. Ben is over the acute phase of his illness and now weaning from the vent. He's done progressively well that I anticipate a Monday departure. It's all up to him. I continue to give him all the cheerleading he needs to encourage him down that path.

Along with the encouragement comes LOTS of snuggles and LOTS of kisses. A few bribes here and there don't hurt either. I promised him a trip to see the fishies in Boston if he gets better in the next couple of days. His eyes got nice and big, he seemed to like that idea. Nothing like a good field trip to cure you. I hope to take a few of those this week with the kids since it's their school vacation.

THE RIDE HOME

My new (old) van acted up on the way home yesterday. The exhaust pipe fell off. I was too inpatient to wait for Steve to drive an hour to rescue me so I enlisted the help of my c0-pilot, (Kaleb)

Here's the lovely pipe - hanging
This was my first attempt at lifting the pipe off the ground. These lasted about 10 miles before the friction splayed them. What else to use? Hmmmm.....
How about some THAI WRAPS? Typically used for wrapping hands while punching bags...I found they came in handy for lifting pipes off the ground.
*****
As crazy as our day was...Kaleb and I LAUGHED all the way home. We were a "Motley Crew". We even got pulled over by the police, who was apparently concerned that I wasn't aware of our hanging pipe. Seriously? 3 hours later, we finally made it home.

BROTHERLY LOVE

GET WELL SOON BENNY!
LOVE, KALEB

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVE!

Thanks for making me laugh...

EVERYDAY!

(I LOVE YOU)

Birthday Cake coming soon....

PINK CHEEKS

See these CUTE, KISSABLE, PINK cheeks?

The pictures do not do it justice - but they are PINK!

Ben's having a rough day.
He's needing more vent support.
I'm worried that he's spiking another fever.

If he does, they'll be taking more cultures...

blood, urine, trach, etc.

This is not unexpected with RSV...

just not welcome. :(

PICC LINE

Ben had a PICC line put in this morning. It's a longer dwelling IV. He's such a hard stick and has needed lots of blood draws. Having this line will cut down on the amount of sticks that he has to get. Ben had a really rough night and morning of constant coughing. He was given morphine and versed for the procedure and so thankfully is finally able to rest.

FEVER BOY

Only Ben could make wearing a facecloth

LOOK GOOD!

RSV POSITIVE

RSV is a NASTY bug for kids like Ben.

He could use your prayers.

Still spiking high temps.

Thank you!