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.
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?
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.
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.
It’s been a week all, with Wyatt’s surgery and recovery, an ice storm, a massive power outage, and I needed a bit of a serotonin boost. And rather than adopt a new reptile, go on a Target shopping spree, or make a dreadful error by cutting my own bangs, I opted to browse garden stuff on Etsy. Happy, joyful, hopeful, green, springtime garden things. So I guess this isn’t really a gift guide, but more of a brain dump of all the treasures I found and added to a wish list which is better than adding all to cart, right?
Gloves are pretty much mandatory for gardening in my world. I love those bee gloves, they are so adorable! I wonder how practical they are though? Maybe if I was do some light gardening or something they would work. The other gloves however look like absolute workhorses! I love them – I am forever scratching up my arms when gardening somehow, and these gloves with arm savers would be beneficial.
I ALWAYS wear a hat in the sun. I burn so easily and I have had family members with skin cancer so I try to go all in with sunscreen and hats. This hat is so cute, and I could see wearing it more places than just digging in the yard.
This shirt is also so perfect. I am all about this color right now, and I love the sentiment as well as the pun.
I have always said I wanted to add decorations to our garden. I don’t think I could choose between my beloved foxes and rabbits though. It would just be so fun to have a family of foxes or serious rabbit poking about.
So, I designed and uploaded this garden planner book to Amazon because it was what I wanted. Lol. However it is available for anyone to purchase.
If there is one thing I absolutely will buy off of this list eventually, it is this harvest apron. I have long huge baskets but they are not super practical for me. I just don’t know where to store them when I am not using them! This harvest apron would be perfect!
And these wind chimes are just so pretty and whimsical and happy. I find gentle wind chimes so peaceful.
And then these two just for fun, because they made me smile…
Is there anyone who wouldn’t want a hobbit hole in their yard? I mean it is cool for kids and all that, but I could totally read in there. And the little mushroom table and chairs…adorbs.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this burst of sunshine as much as I did. And thanks for helping keep me distracted!
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.
Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world’s first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party–or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people.
So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily’s research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.
But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones–the most elusive of all faeries–lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she’ll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all–her own heart.
My Thoughts:
I adored this book!! I have always loved anything faerie, my whole life, so when I saw this book I knew I had to read it. It also has an academic theme which is another of my favorites to read about.
Emily is a bit of a … hmm. Emily is all academia, all about her studies, very logical, very smart and sharp, driven, committed. However, she is a bit prickly as a person. She is perfectly happy with her books and her dog Shadow and her research, and as far as other people go, she needs them for research purposes but does not want to hang out with them or be like, friends. She sort of gets off on the wrong foot when she arrives in the village of Hrafnsvik, which is not great since that is where she plans to stay for an extended amount of time for research purposes. Despite having made contact with a brownie, her time is not going all that smoothly.
Enter Wendell Bambleby, a fellow academic full of the charm and joy that Emily lacks. He is Emily’s total opposite, and she doesn’t regard his work ethic in the highest esteem. However, he soon has the townsfolk wrapped around his finger, which does make the work and research easier. And Emily and Wendell do seem to have a little something sizzling between them, just under the surface.
Emily and Wendell soon learn about the the Tall Ones, a group of fae that prey upon the townsfolk, and Emily is resolved to learn more about these mysterious, dangerous fae. She also starts to put a few things together about Wendell too, while some delightful romantic tension builds between them.
My only complaint is the ending! I needed more story and now I have to wait for the next installment and I hate that! I am not good at waiting and I want to know more about Emily and Wendell and this world of faery.
I loved this book completely and if you like adventure, academia, or faery stories, then I highly encourage you to read this one.
I rarely buy books anymore for myself – or I didn’t for years. I decided that this year, my self-enforced book buying drought will be over. I miss having my own books. I will still use the library for the bulk of my reading, but I am going to indulge this year as a form of self-care. I deserve books too! Lol.
Since I am super excited and the people around me in my life, in person, aren’t as excited as I am about books – with the exception of my 7 year old son, who also gets geeked about books. He yells “Yay books” every time we go into the library and I am always like “Inside voice!” but I am always stifling a laugh because I feel that way too. The library staff loves him and they are also pretty tickled by his excitement. Anyway, Wyatt loves books too, but he doesn’t get super excited about MY books. Naturally. So, I am sharing with you all!
So grab a cup of something and let me show you my new book babies!
The Last Unicorn. This has always always been a favorite of mine. I love the book, and I also love the animated movie which is pretty much almost exactly like the book. I will admit that parts of the movie freaked me out as a kid! I’ve never owned the book before but this cover.. I had to.
My most recent read! I absolutely adored this book. The little blurb that says it is a warm hug of a book – 100% accurate!
I have heard so many good things about T. J. Klune and I can’t wait to read this one. Everyone who has read it has seemed to love it. I have it on my list for next month, when I am doing Middle Grade March.
I bought this entirely for the cover. And the title. I didn’t even really read what it was about, but, well, if you read here often you know my love of rabbits.
Another stunning cover, and another one I have heard a lot of praise for.
I am so excited to read this one! This is a supernatural retelling of Anne of Green Gables which sounds so cool to me! The author also wrote Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries which I loved! I will probably read this for Middle Grade March too.
So, this is another one I don’t know too much about but I liked the look of it, and it also sounds like something I would enjoy. So fingers crossed!
These three were not purchased by me, but purchased for me by Billy for Christmas and my birthday, but I wanted to include them anyway because they are so cool. There was a time in my life when I would read Walden and Civil Disobedience every year. I haven’t read either for a long time, so I need to at least touch base with Walden again. And I have never read John Muir at all!
And finally these last three are books I have already talked about here. Two were books I had checked out from the library originally (Legends & Lattes, Emily Wilde). I ended up buying Legends and then my dad surprised me with the Heather Fawcett book! He said he saw and knew I would love it. And then of course, A Woman in the Polar Night that I just finished.
I also want to share this photo of my assistant today.
She was a huge helper!
Thanks everyone for giving me an opportunity to share my excitement!
This morning I am drinking Green Mountain Coffee, Nantucket Blend, and the sun is shining and it just giving me life these days. The coffee and the sunshine.
I’m a bit off of my game, so we are not doing much to celebrate Valentine’s Day today. Or really, anything. I got wrapped up in Wyatt’s appointments and then getting ready for our upcoming getaway that Valentine’s Day sort of got lost. I did make Wyatt special hot chocolate pancakes with whipped cream for breakfast though, so he had a little something different and happy today.
Last week we had our Full Snow Moon party with Wyatt and my little niece Mermaid Girl. I am enjoying our little monthly celebrations, and the kids are too. This time we were all about snow and ice!
We had homemade winter white cheesebread, sugar full moon cookies, snowflake cupcakes, and they each got a special gnome and rainbow bag to put their small treasures in. We made their hiking journey wands, read the full moon story, and then went outside where the kids broke open frozen iceballs with small toys inside. We had a fantastic time, and it was a nice way to start the week of specialist appointments we just went through.
After a very full week, we wanted a weekend where we just drifted and wandered and had fun. And we did just that. Saturday we ended up at a pet store that was more like a zoo! They had two giant Flemish rabbits that roamed the store, as well as a giant tortoise who was on the prowl as well. There was a parrot named Georgio, a green basilisk, a giant Burmese python, a huge iguana of some sort, as well as all of the smaller animals for sale, like baby rabbits and lizards and all sorts of fun pets. I got to hold a baby bunny and my day was made, y’all. Billy and I have decided we are going to do some research on those giant rabbits, and if we are able to house and take care of one properly, we are going to get one. But I have to do a lot of reading first to make sure it is a good situation for us and the rabbit. If anyone has any experience with Flemish Giants I would love to hear about it!
Sunday was absolutely gorgeous, with sunshine and warm temps, and we had some major spring fever! We went for a small hike, using Wyatt’s new carrier, and didn’t see any signs of spring yet in the natural world which is probably good since it is too early. We did have a really good time, and got to practice using the Freeloader before we hit the bigger trails.
This week is about getting back on track. Everything is topsy turvy and out of sync, but we have had a good start to righting things.
Thank you everyone for all of the kind comments about Wyatt’s appointments last week. It was a grueling week honestly but we made it through. For the most part they all went pretty good, but there are bits I am still processing. School was just the basics but we did read lots of Wyatt books. I however did not get a chance to read as much as I wanted but that is ok. We had a lot going on!
Read Last Week:
I finished up A Woman in the Polar Night which was a very slow read for me despite being only 200ish pages, and Ritter being an interesting narrator of her time spent in the Arctic. Wyatt and I also finished up Fantastic Mr. Fox, which he loved. All the talk about cider though made me want a glass too! I will need to pick some up in my travels this weekend.
I also finished listening to Cultish by Amanda Montell, which I listened to on Hoopla. Wow, this book was absolutely fascinating!! All about loaded language and the way that just about anything can be considered “cultish” (a constrast was made between a real cult like Jim Jones or Heavens Gate, and cultish groups like say Crossfit) and how language plays a huge part in making people act and feel a certain way. It was so interesting.
Reading This Week:
I had intended to start this last week, but it didn’t happen. It will be nice however to recover this week with this cozy fantasy.
Last week we watched Poker Face, which is so good. I can’t say that enough. We also started The Watcher on Netflix but we didn’t care for it so we just watched two episodes and never went back. Instead we started watching the newest season of Death in Paradise, and the few new episodes of Ghosts.
In movies, last night we watched The Pine Barrens on Amazon Prime. I love documentaries that involve nature and it was so interesting to learn about this area of wilderness within the most crowded region of the most crowded state. The people in the movie were quirky and full of stories and love for the area and their heritage of being a “Piney”. I was especially interested in the cranberry farm segments, and how there used to be 40,000 in the area and now there are 35. All of this beauty and uniqueness was juxtaposed against the introduction of a pipeline through the region. It was a very compelling documentary, slow paced and filled with stories and natural wonders. And of course, the Jersey Devil.
Tonight we are watching The Last Unicorn and I am so excited. It has always been a favorite of mine.
And that is it from my corner of the mitten state! How are you all doing? What is new in your world?
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.
The Emily Bronte Rose from David Autin. Take note husband.
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.
Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.. 