My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Last week was all about easing back into our routines slowly. We started off slowly with homeschool, Wyatt attended OT, went to the library, had a play date, and even a small party for his birthday Saturday. Baby steps!

Read Last Week:

Oh my gosh did I love this book! Cozy fantasy is obviously the genre I need right now. I have been reading so much of it lately and loving every word and story. This book was particularly beautiful and well written.

Reading This Week:

I am starting The Grace of Wild Things this week as part of Middle Grade March, and I am super excited about this one. It is marketed as a “an inventive and fantastical reimagining of Anne of Green Gables—with magic and witches!—that explores found family, loss, and the power of a girl’s imagination..” Um yes please! I would have definitely grabbed this book off the shelf as a kid, just as I did now as an adult. We will see if it is as good as it sounds! (Fawcett also wrote Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries so I have high hopes!)

Posted Last Week:

Last week, I shared some of our favorite picture books featuring magical creatures, which was pretty fun to write. I also posted my book review on The House in the Cerulean Sea, as well as a Coffee Catch Up.

Watching/Listening:

We are watching mostly old comfort shows right now – When Calls the Heart, Hamish Macbeth – and also started watching Ted Lasso again. Wow, that show really surprised me! I did not want to watch it, because sports, but Billy convinced me and now I love it so much. Ted is such a positive force, and I can’t help but love Roy Kent, who is my favorite.

On ye old YouTubes, I have been seeking out favorites there too – The Cottage Fairy, Dainty Diaries, Roots and Refuge, Gold Shaw Farm, but also have added in a new favorite Cecilia Blomdahl. I found her channel (I think) thanks to Joy at Joy’s Book Blog. Life in Svalbard is fascinating! It must be absolutely exhilarating in some ways, in other’s an introverts dream, but.. those polar bears are a big drawback. I love polar bears, yet find them terrifying, like I would not want to run into one while running errands.

As for listening, I’ve been listening to a lot of Casefile this week.

And that is it from my little corner of the world! I hope all is well with you all.

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

The last eleven days have been a lot. Wyatt had three brain surgeries within seven days, with lots of recovering in between. He is sitting here now eating breakfast and talking like the chatterbox that he is, and I couldn’t be happier to hear it. I posted about his surgeries here and here if you want to read about this amazing kid of mine.

Reading:

I am reading The House in the Cerulean Sea, although admittedly I haven’t had much opportunity to read lately. What I have read so far though I love. I am also reading The Wild Robot to Wyatt at night before bed.

Posted:

Hello March!

Book Haul

Book Review: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies

Wednesday (I think) Coffee Catch Up

A Little Window Shopping Serotonin Boost – Garden Edition

Wednesday (I think) Coffee Catch Up – Part 2

Watching:

Not a lot. Billy and I haven’t been able to concentrate well lately so we are rewatching When Calls the Heart. It is just a really easy show to watch. Before the surgeries we had started Ted Lasso though and were loving it!

And that is it from our corner of the world! How is it going in your world?

Hello March!

February sure ended a lot differently than I had planned! We had planned to be on our wolf vacation in Indiana at the end of February but obviously that all had to be rescheduled due to Wyatt’s surgeries. I just want to say that the Airbnb rental owners, Airbnb, and Wolf Park were all wonderful to deal with and helped me reschedule very easily. We are now planning on going in May fingers crossed!

Today is Wyatt’s 8th birthday!! He shares it with Dr. Seuss which I thought was super cool the day he was born. It’s still a pretty cool day to be born. We will celebrate very small today, just him and Billy and I, and then hopefully next week have a very small party. He wanted a pirate party this year, but I have had no time to get anything together, except a few presents! We will have an easy day today – and he wants to paint so that will be happening this evening. My little artist. He was telling everyone at the hospital about how much he loves Bob Ross.

My new niece will be born sometime this month too! We are so excited. I actually went to a very small sprinkle shower right before Wyatt started showing symptoms the first time. It was a very nice wee shower for a wee little baby. This will be niece number 4 for us, and I can’t wait to meet her!

March is actually Cerebral Palsy Awareness month, and I had planned on blogging a bit about Wyatt and our experiences with his cerebral palsy, including his birth story. I know that my knowledge of CP was absolutely zero before Wyatt came into our lives and I hope that by sharing our story, to help break down barriers, to show you what a kid with cerebral palsy can do.

I had planned on reading all middle grade this month, as part of Middle Grade March, and I am so excited that I made that choice. I know that my soul needs the comfort of a middle grade book. There is just something about them. I read online that many adults enjoy reading middle grade fiction, and perhaps one reason is that elementary school is the time we fell in love with reading, and we get a cozy, nostalgic feeling by reading them. Plus, I just want to add that they are just fun and whimsical and full of imagination and wonder. Middle grade (and all books) can be used to help kids through difficult times and emotions as well, and I think by reading them as adults we can stay tuned in to what it is like to be a kid so we can better understand our own children.

We are also going to sort through our seeds, organize them by when we should plant, and then start our seeds that we can start. It is such a hopeful thing, isn’t it, to start a garden? Wyatt is super excited to plant the pumpkins and watermelon this summer; I am looking forward to the tomatoes. I am thinking we should be able to start some seeds this week, and that will be a fun activity to do while Wyatt is recovering.

And that’s where I am at today! How about you?

Hey all. Soooooo…. poor Wyatt’s week went sideways again last week. All week following our return home, he was getting stronger and making improvements everyday, then Saturday he had a fantastic day, seemingly at 100% himself. Then Sunday morning happened. I woke up and Wyatt’s hair and shoulder were soaked and I was so confused at first. I woke Billy up to tell him something was wrong, and Billy mumbled something in his sleep about it just being slobber, but when I was adamant that it was not sleep drool (WAY too much) he became fully awake, looked, and was like yeah, this is no good. So, back to the ER we went.

Wyatt was leaking spinal fluid from his sutures. We both kind of knew that but it was still terrifying to hear. Wyatt on the other hand was acting completely normal and fine, his normal goofy charming self. Thank goodness, at least. They did an X-ray, and yep, this time the tubing for his VP shunt had broken off from his new valve, causing the fluid to not drain since the system was broken. And, as it built up, it sought the easiest way out – his sutures. This meant more surgery for little man. They moved very quickly, and got Wyatt right in. He came out of surgery pretty feisty as usual, and up to the room we went. We had them skip the morphine and narcotics this time, and he had a much much better recovery in that respect.

This next part is harder for me to type and might be hard to read.

Wyatt was not really seeming better. He threw up twice over night, and then the next morning was extremely lethargic and difficult to rouse. His heart rate was very low. They checked the X-ray they took after surgery the night before to see what his valve setting was at, and learned a terrible thing. The surgeon made a mistake and put his valve back in the day before backwards, so that it wasn’t working. I was in shock. I still am. This meant more surgery for my boy for it to be switched back the right way. Wyatt’s normal doctor was called in and he took over from here, which made me much more comfortable, although, I still wouldn’t say I was relaxed. This surgery was much quicker at least, and the anesthesiologist was the same as the day before, and so was his post-op nurse, which also was good because they were familiar with Wyatt. In fact, after surgery this time when we entered the room to see him, his nurse had her computer turned around so she was facing the hall, and had one hand on Wyatt’s shoulder, because Wyatt wakes up a bit grouchy and tries to escape the bed. She told us she knew his game! He was a bit happier honestly after this surgery, as he probably felt a lot better, despite having only tylenol as opposed to morphine or hycet.

From there it was back to our room, and amazing nurses, who watched him like a hawk. We had neurology popping in constantly all day, and the next day, his regular doctor came in to see us to give us the all clear to go home. By this point Wyatt was making the staff all laugh with his toot jokes and making them smell his “stinky” armpits and was in good spirits, eating and drinking. And so here we are, home again.

This kid teaches me daily how to keep smiling.

Billy and I are not ready to think about or discuss what happened in the hospital at this point in time, our focus right now is getting Wyatt back to Wyatt and we don’t need the distraction of that right now. I just want my boy to recover and heal and be back to normal. So if you all could send your continued prayers and good healing vibes, we welcome them, most definitely, my friends.

One thing about Wyatt – he keeps us on our toes. Saturday night he started throwing up, one thing that strikes fear in my heart instantly. It is a huge sign for us that Wyatt’s VP shunt has malfunctioned, and while he could just be normal kid throwing up we can’t blow it off or take it lightly. We have a three time rule – after three times we go to the ER. So, at 2 am on Sunday morning, we found ourselves en route with a little boy who did not feel good at all. We spent at least 12 hours in the ER which was in itself difficult. At least the Children’s Hospital ER has private rooms for all patients which makes it easier but still, my son was uncomfortable and miserable.

While in the ER they did a LOT of tests. One of the first things they do is a set of X-Rays and a CT scan, and they got right on that. The results showed a slight enlargement in the ventricles of Wyatt’s brain, but not anything to definitively say, “Let’s go to surgery”. So, we were in a waiting game. They admitted us for overnight observation, and to get a new CT in the am to compare to the Sunday morning one. They said 24 hours would give us what we needed and they were 100% correct. The next morning they got him down to CT first thing, then ten minutes later his doctor was flying in the door saying it was go time. And it was seriously go time. Our nurse for the day got Wyatt all ready and cleaned up and boom, we were on the way down to pre-op. My family at home receiving texts could not believe how quickly it all happened when it was time. The procedure took about an hour or so and then we got to see our sweet boy in post-op. Apparently he wakes up pretty feisty! Then they gave him morphine and it knocked him out, again and we were up to the room in no time at all.

He did fairly well throughout the day, sleeping for most of it as expected. He had a good night sleeping (and so did Billy) – I however found myself curled up like a cat at the foot of Wyatt’s bed, within arm’s reach if he needed anything. He wanted me to sleep next to him but I couldn’t see his monitors so once he fell asleep I moved to the foot instead to keep an eye on him and catch little cat naps here and there. I was up most of the night, but in the morning when he showed a big improvement I traded spots with Billy and absolutely passed out for an hour. I think I had been running on anxiety and adrenaline for 72 hours and I finally relaxed enough to fall asleep! When I woke up the doctors were on their way to see us and we got the all clear to go home.

Our doctors and nursing staff were absolutely amazing. Wyatt’s surgeon was the most compassionate surgeon I have ever met, as was his nurse Simon. Seriously. Before we went down to surgery I asked the doctor if I could give Wyatt a kiss and the doctor, put his arm around me and said “Every day for the rest of his life, all the time, anytime. Always.” Both the doctor and Simon were the kindest people, and I could not be more thankful. They were wonderful with Wyatt, and patient with me. And Wyatt was so funny. He was having a strong reaction to the anesthesia and narcotics they gave him so they set a little oxygen tube thing by him, which my respiratory therapist friend told me is called “blow by”. She said that they do that when patients have a reaction to the drugs but not anything “wrong” with them respiratory wise. However, Wyatt also really loved playing with so they left him to it and even let him bring it home. Lol.

We are home now as the hospital feels that kids do their best healing at home, and we have some ways to go for recovery but he is feeling ok. Singing and dancing and laughing, being silly like Wyatt is. He is a little more tired than usual but the kid has been through the works the last few days! We are accepting all prayers and good vibes for little man at this time.

Much love everyone –

Erin

It’s time again for another fun filled 10 on the 10th! 10 on the 10th is hosted by Marsha over at Marsha in the Middle.

1. A color I like to wear…black. Does this count? If not, then green is my next favorite. As for a color I would never wear, I will say white or anything metallic colored. White I just feel so washed out or something. I am fair with dark hair and eyes and I just feel like I look weird.

2. A food I loved as a kid but wouldn’t eat now would have to be apples and cinnamon oatmeal. So gross to me now, even the smell. It is too sweet for me in the mornings now too.

3. A bucket hat. I used to never ever take them off and wore them everywhere. Now though, never again. Maybe.

4. Oo good one. Hmm. I would love it if Billy bought me white roses. I don’t know why, but I love white roses so much more than red ones. Although, he could totally buy me a David Austin rose bush in any color. That would be great too. As for a flower I am not a fan of, I will say orchids.

5. There were a ton of foods I didn’t like as a kid. Lol. I was a pretty picky eater. I now love Brussels sprouts where I once thought I would die if ate them, but now we eat them at least once a week. I won’t say exactly that I can’t get enough of them but I do really like them now.

6. This one is easy. My very favorite book of all time, Watership Down. I reread it every spring and have since like junior high. I have owned so many copies, as they get so well read and fall apart. I love how they are underdogs, yet have so much camaraderie, loyalty, bravery, and grit. Also, who doesn’t love a clever rabbit or two? As for a book I wish had never been written, Stone Fox. I actually think I talked about this with Marsha before! That book is so sad, and I hate it so much for making me sob.

Some Watership Down inspired art I have hanging in my office. The triple pic is by Alex Boone Art, the second by Rivulet Paper Co.

7. I am a person whose love language is gifts of time. I absolutely love when my husband surprises me with taking a day off mid-week and we have a family day instead. That always makes me so happy! As for what he does that drives me crazy – he has ten million pairs of shoes, far more than I have, and he will leave them to accumulate at the front door in our small home. We do not have available space for him to build a shoe mountain.

8. I absolutely love my linen overalls. I have them in black and khaki but I could use another color. The other day my stepmom told me I was the cutest hippie mom when I had them on, and had my hair in braids. I just adore them. I also LOVE the boots my husband gave me for Christmas. They are so comfortable, the most comfortable shoe I have ever worn, and they look like little elf boots!

9. We are big Halloween fans over here. It is just such a fun holiday, without much prep or work involved on my end, unlike the Thanksgiving and Christmas, which are fun but always give me a lot of work as well. Halloween, we can get a costume, get together with family, order a pizza, and just have fun. It’s so laid back, and Wyatt absolutely loves it. Me too. We don’t even eat a majority of the candy he gets. Billy will take it to work and let his coworkers eat it. For us, it is just about the good time. The holiday I could do without celebrating is New Year’s. I’ve just ever been a fan. It’s always so cold here, and now with Wyatt I think about all the drunk drivers on the road and would rather stay home. Plus, it has always made me melancholy. So I can skip it.

10. I guess my phone? It does so much, including take photos, connect me to information, to people. As for which I would ditch, my Kindle. I can read physical books forever.

And that is it from me today!

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

The week ahead feels daunting to me. Wyatt has two huge specialist appointments this week and to say I am feeling anxious would be an understatement. I am keeping the rest of my week easy to make it a little more manageable; however we are at the end of our specialist visit gauntlet run that we have been on for the last few weeks with these. Then I might take a breath. Hopefully at least.

What I Read Last Week:

Shores of Mercy by Lisa R. Howeler – I very much enjoy this enjoyed this book. Well written, with relatable characters, a story of redemption which is always uplifting and inspiring.

A Woman in the Polar Night: I am not finished with this book yet but it is really good! Ritter’s comments on her situations sometimes make me laugh – she seems like she was bit snarky and I am here for it. I will finish this one up probably this week.

Reading This Week:

In addition to A Woman in the Polar Night, I am going to start this adorable little cozy fantasy. I am pretty sure this is the genre I have been waiting for all of my life.

Posted Last Week:

Pretty in Pink: Literary Classics

Book Review: Shores of Mercy

Hello February!

Tuesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Watching and Listening:

We have been watching Poker Face and Lockwood & Co. We love them both! Poker Face is a television show but each episode is like a mini-movie, and we have loved every single episode. Rian Johnson (Knives Out, Glass Onion) is a genius in my opinion.

Lockwood & Co. (Netflix) is a really cool world – one where there is an epidemic of ghosts. One touch can kill someone, and only kids can see them and fight them. It takes place in London and we love the whole idea of this and the world building. They are based on books by Jonathan Stroud, which I need to read.

We watched Spirited Away from Studio Ghibli last night. I enjoyed it but it was not my favorite. I like the cozier ones.

As for listening, I have been successful lately with certain audiobooks. I started listening to a book yesterday and while I am only just an hour in I am fascinated.

And that is it from my corner of the Mitten state! I hope you are all doing well, and staying warm if you are in one of the Arctic cold states!