Yesterday, on Christmas morning I woke up and felt like I could breath again. It has been a crazy fall! First Owen got really sick at the end of August, then in October Bentley was gone for a week with his class to Yellowstone and then my Mom was gone for a week to New York. Owen hadn't been great so I found myself almost holding my breath. Then the holidays roll around and I find myself holding my breath again, hoping all will be well. I apologize for not keeping you up on all the adventures around here.
I will start with Thanksgiving and try to do a little catch up from there! The last few years Lenn has started putting up Christmas lights in September and October. This year all his time has been occupied with building new corrals and following Bentley in sports. On Thanksgiving while we were waiting for the turkey he and Bentley went out on got most of the lights put up. Good job boys!
Poor Owen has battled this fall with sickness after sickness. The majority have just been minor colds though and we can manage those pretty well just keeping up on suctioning him. He was doing okay and then Thanksgiving morning he had a fever and did not feel well at all. I was going to get him all dressed up for the day but after his bath I decided he could have a pajama day. It was a good choice because he pretty well slept the entire day. He is such a sweet boy, even though he didn't feel good he still gave a smile for the camera!! Love this little man!
We are all inpatient at our house so we decorated the Christmas tree before Thanksgiving. I used to think it had to be after but not anymore. I have decided it can be part of the Thanksgiving decor! After all who isn't thankful for Christmas.
The day after Thanksgiving Owen was much better, no fever and happy as can be. I got the bright idea to go to Preston and see the Festival of Lights. We went through Logan so we could stop and put candy canes on Landry's grave and then go on to Preston.
Bentley, Lenn and Abby at the Parade of Lights
We had a rental van that the kids wanted to keep, it had a tv, dvd player and power. We figured with power we would be safe because we could take Owen's cough assist machine just in case.
Owen stayed in the van with me and we watched the parade and fireworks from inside. The night was beautiful. It was cold but not too cold. Owen loved the parade. We have found his new love is firetrucks. He opens his eyes wide and makes his little face that says "I like this".
The we went to the amazing house in Preston that is decked out with all kinds of Christmas. The lights are amazing. These are two of our favorites.
Then we headed home. I was feeling like I was in a perfect dream, both Bentley and Abby were being nice to each, no complaining about anything, the roads were good, and Owen was happy. I had a feeling that I cannot explain. Then coming into Cokeville it all changed! We were still about 20 miles from home and Owen had a mucus plug that I couldn't suction out. We stopped to use the cough assist machine but again no luck. We couldn't pull the plug out. Looking back we may have done something different but we decided to hurry home. Lenn drove FAST, I continued doing sets of his cough assists and Bentley and Abby helped with whatever was needed. By the time we got home, which was in record time, Owen was just about gone. We hurried into the house, Lenn bagged him a few times because his heart was still beating, got him on more O2 then did his treatments. It wore him out, he was so tired. I told him he was a little fighter and he replied with a half grin. I could tell that's all he had in him. He is definitely our miracle boy. At the time I questioned myself as if we were doing the right thing, but I know now that we did.
The worst thing about all of this is that Bentley and Abby witnessed each and every second! They were so brave but so scared of losing their little brother.
It took a few days of recovery for Owen, but not one day went by without a smile! That's our Owen!!
Needless to say, Owen will be staying home with real power!!
