I knew I needed to get this kid potty trained before the next baby comes so when I texted Hali and asked her if she was on board for potty training Tillman, I didn't expect her to jump at it! We both started it a couple of weeks ago and the boys did great. They obviously were ready for it more than we were.
Then this week rolls around and Benny's been struggling with his ears since birth. He got tubes in a year ago and they fell out recently so we were going to see how he did without them. We went to the ENT on Monday and he said there was already fluid building up behind them which makes Benny hear like he's underwater. I said let's just do another set of tubes. We set up the surgery for Thursday. Over the next couple of days, Ben started getting a runny nose and I knew it was a result of his ears. But I knew if we could just get to Thursday, everything would be fine. The doctor's office called and said our insurance hadn't been approved so we couldn't do the surgery on Thursday. He napped from 10 - 2:30 that day. He clearly wasn't feeling well. So we shot for Friday. However, if there's a fever involved, you can't have the surgery. Sure enough, he started running a low grade fever on Thursday. I'm stressing. It's a big ordeal to have surgery because they can't eat or drink after midnight the night before surgery. So John & I devised a plan that he would give Benny a dose of Ibuprofen right at midnight so it would last through the surgery. It worked! Of course, Benny woke up so thirsty and I had to distract him with a movie but when we got to the surgery center, his fever was only at 99.2. We were golden! So now he's got his new tubes in and they sucked out all of the fluid and infection in his ears and magically his runny nose went away! I'm so glad he can hear clearly now and you can tell he's been a much happier boy.
When we got home, all Benny wanted was his dad so John stayed behind a few more minutes and just held him. That's all it took and he was up and running in no time. After John left, we opened all of the doors and windows because it was such a nice day and soon Benny came running in to me and said, "Mom, bird!" I went in the living room and looked up and sure enough there was a hummingbird flying around. What a weird day we're having! Lucy, Benny, and I sat on the ground and just watched it for a good hour. I love hummingbirds ("honeybirds" to Lucy). We sat on the ground for an hour and just watched it and talked about it. I couldn't figure out how to get it out so we just let it fly around until it got stuck in our blinds! AND DIED! I had to use one of John's drumsticks to poke it out and let it fall on the ground. Yes, this is the picture of the dead honeybird. There was no way I was going to tell the kids that it was dead so it was just 'tired.' We got a cup and scooped it up and put it in the rocks for it's mom to find him. It's still there right now stiff as a board, but only I know that. (Cams - I know you read this, and if you tell anyone, you're busted!)
At the end of the day we went to the temple with my family. I said a million prayers of gratitude for helping me get through Benny's surgery and that everything went as planned. I'm a little hungover today but grateful for the day-to-day challenges we have. What a week and what a day!
