Easy as pi. Pie. A fraction of a pie. Whatever.

On Sunday I tweeted this direct quote from Dale, speaking about math:
"I don't like hard stuff like addition or subtraction. I like fun stuff like geometry and fractions."


It is true that he whizzes through his multiplication exercises, while moaning and plodding through addition/subtraction (gasp! word problems! borrowing!).


On Tuesday he backed up his proclamation by unintentionally (and unknowingly) besting me at mental math.


I was doing something in the kitchen when Dale came along and asked me, "what is 3 1/5 divided by 2?


I began doing some mental calisthenics, and at the same time I had arrived at 1 6/10, he answered his own question. "It's 1 3/5!"


I was dumbfounded, really.  Not that what he figured up was that hard.  But we have only covered basic fractions.  Colored in pieces of the pie.  Stuff like that.  We have not talked about how to add, subtract, multiply or divide fractions.  I don't remember ever teaching how to reduce fractions, and I am certain he's never even heard the phrase "lowest common denominator."


I won't even begin to go into the way he came up with 3 1/5 in the first place.  Sometimes I really don't understand how that boy's brain works.  I just know he keeps mine spinning!

Life: bad and good, mixed and stirred

As is often the case, we had other plans for last Monday, when Greg and Alan ended up spending all day at the pediatrician's office and in the er.  Greg had the day off and there had been talk of a fishing trip or other fun stuff early in the day.


Our mid-way sonogram was scheduled for that afternoon.  Dale had been asking if he could come this time.  Both Brooklyn's and Tyler's had been scheduled early in the day while Greg was working, so my Mom (and sister, once) came with me for those.  But we had decided this time - why not? Let's bring the whole family!  The plan was to leave Tyler and Brooklyn with a sitter and the rest of us go in together to find out if we'd have a new baby brother or sister.


And then plans changed.  There lay Alan in the emergency room with an iv in his arm, awaiting transfer to Children's.  


It may have been a stubborn, forge-ahead approach, but Greg and I decided I should keep the appointment.  Even though problems with Alan are few and far between (thankfully!), they are a fact of our life.  


We went ahead with the plan to leave the littles with a sitter, and Dale and I went alone to the appointment.  


Dale loved seeing the baby move.  He was thrilled he could recognize those black and white blurs as a baby!  Little baby arms up next to a little baby head.  A little baby foot.


The tech was careful to avoid any nether-regions, because we had requested not to find out while we were there in the room.


Instead, per our request, she handed us the printed still shots of our new little one, folded to the inside so we couldn't see them.  She warned us that the very first one was the one we were most interested in.


Dale and I got to the van and called up Daddy and Alan.  Moments before they headed toward Children's, we each got on speakerphone (medical team witnesses and all).


Dale got the honors of being the very first to know.  


He unrolled our strip of baby pictures and without fanfare announced quite loudly to the rest of us, all at the same time....


"IT'S A BOY!!" :)


And now you know... the rest of the story. :)

Alan's Home!

He was released from the hospital late yesterday.


It was been so much fun watching him and Dale catch each other up on what the other has missed over the last 4 days.  All three boys had a fun day playing together again.

Greg was able to go to work today and now we are settling in for the long weekend.


Thanks again for all your prayers and well-wishes.  We are thankful, and God is always good.


Have a great weekend!

In which we get medical and slightly technical

1. Thank you all for kind messages and prayers.  They are very encouraging and much appreciated!

2. Our nephew/cousin Logan is home from the hospital and doing much better. 

3. Alan:

The short version is this: Alan woke up Monday morning with a fever of 104.3.  We took him immediately to our pediatrician, where we found out his white blood count was over 24,000.  (Average/normal is 4,000 - 10,000).  From there he was moved to the local er to be treated while waiting on a transfer to our Children's hospital.  The fever responded very well on Monday to iv fluids and an antibiotic injection.

Greg and Alan spent Monday night at Children's.  That evening and much of the day Tuesday involved a lot of tests and a lot of visits from specialists.  

The bottom line seems to be fairly uncomplicated, as far as medical things go.  

 - Alan has had a cold/junky cough (we knew that).

 - He has pink eye.  We suspected that on Saturday / Sunday, and figured it would mean a dr. visit on Monday.  He got it from Tyler, who had a mild case and recovered on his own in just 2-3 days.  We don't know where Tyler got it.  It is viral, as opposed to bacterial, which means no meds to treat it, just let it run its course.

 - Alan has an infection in his ear canal.  More commonly known as: swimmer's ear.  No, we haven't been swimming.  Alan has had mounting issues with his ears in the last couple of months.  Since December, we have had an appointment scheduled with an Ear/Nose/Throat dr for the first week of June.  Things just came to a head (ha! Alan's head!) before we could get there.  We will be keeping that appointment, because...

 - Alan's tonsils are about as big as a kid's can get and will need to come out at some point.  Here again, this is something we were aware of, hence the ENT appointment next month.

To recap: it was the incredibly high fever and the high white count that landed Alan in the hospital. After evaluation we know those were most likely caused by the ear infection.  I think I will always laugh when I look back on this admission: my kid was hospitalized for pink eye and swimmer's ear!

In truth, however, my kid was hospitalized because he has a compromised immune system.  Infections are never a thing to be taken lightly with him, because we can never know for sure how well he will - or will not - be able to fight something off on his own.  Sometimes, a little thing can turn to a big thing way too fast.  

We are thankful for God's blessings and care.  We are thankful for cautious doctors that stay on top of things.  We are thankful for the simplicity of pink eye and swimmer's ear!  We are even thankful for the compromised immune system.  It protects the beautiful gift of life Alan was given on December 30, 2007.  As always, we are thankful for that gift, and the courageous family that gave it.

My little karate kid....

...isn't feeling so well.

My mom's blog has a bit more info on why mine is so quiet.

Thanks in advance for your prayers.

Introducing...

... my brand new, incredibly sweet and handsome nephew...

Logan!

The whole buffalo herd is excited about their new cousin and can't wait to meet him.

We tend to be pretty pro-baby around here, and all is right with the world now that Uncle Matt & Aunt Kristin have one too. :)

Welcome to the world, Logan!

We love you already!

Feeling Blue

Alternatively titled:
A Little Mother's Day Gift to Myself

I mentioned in my previous post that I was home with a feverish kid on Sunday.

For better or worse (worse, I'd say) I decided to do a load of laundry while my other peeps were at church.  "Do" laundry as in dry a load of laundry.  Our washing machine kicked the bucket about a week ago.  We've been washing at my parent's house and hauling things back home to dry.  

So, in my defense, my laundry routine is all messed up.  

Otherwise, I probably wouldn't be doing laundry on a Sunday morning.

Otherwise, I probably would check pockets before washing or drying a load of pants.

Oh yes, I did.  

I was a bit dismayed when the first pair I pulled out of the warm dryer (one of my maternity capris) had a spot.  Then I noticed it was more like .... a lot of spots.

As item after item came out of the dryer smeared with blue, I really started to panic. 

All in all, 14 pair of little boy shorts, pants, and mama capris, and 2 pair of Daddy's work socks looked like they've been tie-dyed.

Four or five of the darker denims came away unscathed. 

There was nothing left of what I'm guessing was once a blue crayon.

Any tips? (Other than the obvious check pockets.) I could use 'em!