Austin's Surprise from Papa

My Dad had a big surprise waiting for Austin when we arrived at the farm on July 17th, a little ride on John Deere tractor. Austie absolutely loves it and right away said "Thanks Papa, now I can be a farmer just like you!" So sweet. All weekend he was saying he had to get back outside and get his work done. Priceless! He got the hang of it right away and is probably a better driver than half the population. lol. He was reversing and driving in second gear in no time at all. He had fun hauling wood to the firepit, taking the carrot tops to the horses, hauling the vegetables from the garden over to the house and having races with Papa &

Uncle Kris who took turns on the quad.

Such a lucky little boy!

Home from the Hospital

Well what a month this is turning out to be...

Austin started to show signs of a cold Sunday morning and by supper time was coughing, wheezing a bit and complaining of a sore throat. He fell asleep on the couch before supper which is very unusual for him. So we started him on his Flovent to help with the inflammation of his airway and gave him his Ventillin as needed to help loosen the muscles constricting his airway. None of it seemed to be helping so after a sleepless night we decided to take him to the Strathmore ER 6am Monday morning. His oxygen was really low and he was using every muscle in his chest and neck to take a breath. Right away he was given oxygen and ventillin nebulizers one after the other which helped bring his O2 up a little. A chest x-ray showed that it could possibly be viral pneumonia so Austin was given an IV and antibiotics were started. After a couple of hours of monitoring the doctor decided that Austin needed to be admitted and since there were no beds in Strathmore (again) he would be taken to the Children's Hospital in Calgary by ambulance. So off we went. John had since gone to work since we thought that Austin would just get a couple neb treatments and we'd be home by noon so he then met us at the Children's. Well, he had 5 treatments in the ambulance alone and then I lost count after that. He was started on an oral steroid once a day and was getting meds at least every hour and throughout the first night every half an hour. Plus he was getting his vitals assessed before every med treatment and every 15 to 30 mins after depending on the length of time between treatments. Austin wouldn't let the nurses give him his puffer, only Mommy. Another sleepless night for Austin and Mommy. John would've stayed as well but he had to go home and take care of Saxon.

They ruled out viral pneumonia as soon as we got to the Children's so that was good but took a nose swab to make sure it wasn't the dreadful H1N1, which we later found out it wasn't, thank goodness. It was definitely a viral infection though that brought on this asthma attack and there are thousands of them out there. The results of the nose swab took awhile so Austin had to be in isolation and the doctors and nurses had to wear gowns and masks when they came into the room just to be on the safe side.

So the second day was better, was still on O2 for most of the day but they started stretching out his med treatments, first to every hour then every 2 hours then to every 4. It was hopeful that we'd get out that night but that unfortunately didn't happen...Austin was still a bit wheezy, sounding better though. Night #2 was much much better. Austin was off oxygen and his IV and was only needing his meds every 4 hours so we got some much needed rest.

Wednesday morning we were given the great news that Austin could go home! Austin was getting so antsy and bored by this point that every 2 minutes he was asking if we could go home now. Poor little guy. It was early afternoon by the time he was discharged but we were all just happy to be going home. The doctors and nurses were all amazing and took such good care of our little boy and made sure we were comfortable as well.

We are very lucky to live so close to such an amazing facility.

Here's a couple of pics from our stay...these were taken after he was taken off O2 and no longer needing his IV. He was looking much better at this point.

I do have happy things to blog about as well I promise! Hope to get to them soon.

Saxon

This week we found out our dog Saxon has cancer. He's been a part of our family for almost 9 years now and we are going to miss him dearly. Cherishing our last few days with him.

Not too sure how I'm going to get through this...

We love you Saxie!

Some videos from our holiday

Here's a couple videos of Austin on the boat . Haven't had a chance to go through them all yet but hopefully soon.

He didn't even notice when we started to go faster. I thought he was going to be scared, but nope, proved Mommy wrong once again!

Austin is naming all of his Thomas Trains for Senta. She got such a kick out of him and how smart he is, especially when he started naming all the different dinosaurs.

Austin driving the boat

Royal Tyrrell Museum

Had a great day in Drumheller at the Tyrrell Museum last weekend. Austin loves dinosaurs so he was excited to go. He didn't stop talking as soon as we drove into town and he started noticing the dinosaurs everywhere. Once we got inside he didn't know what to look at first there was so much to see. He was definitely taking it all in. My parents and my brother met us there as well, so it was really nice to spend the afternoon with them.

A stop at the park.


At the museum they conveniently have you walking through the gift shop to exit the building so of course Mommy & Grandma had to spoil our little boy! lol Austin hasn't stopped playing with his new dinosaurs since. It amazes me that he can pronounce and remember the different names of them all!

Grandma & Grandpa got Austin a remote control T-Rex,
he loves it!

Summer Vacation

Finally getting around to putting up some pictures from our annual trip to Deep Lake, WA. We had a wonderful time. The drive down was longer than usual as The Ride to Conquer Cancer was taking place (which we didn't know about) on the stretch where we usually make up time. But we made it there safe and sound which is all that really matters. Had great weather the whole week we were there but decided to come home a few days early when the weather started changing and they were calling for rain. So we came home to some cold rainy days. I wonder if summer will ever truly arrive?!

Austin had a lot of fun at the lake this year. I felt more relaxed with him running around and stuff too which was nice. It can be nervwracking being around water with small children, but Austin understands a lot more now and is sturdier on his feet so it's a little less stressful.
The week went by way too quickly and I wish we were still there but we are so very lucky to have a wonderful place like this to go to every year thanks to Brian & Marilyn.

You would be amazed at how tame the ducks are down there. They'll come right up with their babies and eat the popcorn. Not too sure who gets more popcorn sometimes though, the boys or the ducks? lol

Austin loves being out in the kayaks. We usually only ventured out a little ways. Trying to find the turtles was always a highlight.


The awesome paddle boat that Marilyn bought last year.


Brian and Marilyn bought a new dock this year and it is wonderful. So nice to just sit and relax with your feet in the water.

They also bought this amazing floating "beach" as Austin calls it, with a flip up table and chairs. Definitely was one of my favorite places to hang out and relax.

Grandpa Brian built a rocket again this year for the kids to set off.

Austin thought this was pretty cool.

Austin got his cousin Conner a Transformer for his 8th Birthday this year.

Neighbors invited us out on the boat on a couple of occasions which was really fun. Austin had never been on one before and wasn't nearly as scared as I thought he was going to be. It was neat to see all the properties on the other end of the lake. There are some mansions for sure; one guy even has a helicopter landing pad!

Austin and Conner play really well together. This year it was all about the races. Every day you could guarantee that they ran some. Grandpa Brian made sure that Austin always got a head start since there is a 4 year age difference. It was amazing to me all the running Austin did and I don't think we had to give him his puffer once when we were down there. Must be all the fresh unpolluted air.

The boys had a lot of fun doing the pinata this year. It wasn't one that you have to bash open with a stick, they had to take turns pulling the ribbons until someone found the one that opens up the trapdoor. Brilliant idea!

John and Al waited patiently for quite some time for this bald eagle to take flight. I'm pretty sure they both gave up! John did manage to take some pretty nice pictures of it sitting in the trees though.

This was the first year that Austin would actually go into the lake. Hoping by the end of next summer he'll be jumping off the dock into the water!

Being in the States on the 4th of July can guarantee that you will see some amazing fireworks, especially if you are at Deep Lake, WA. I love fireworks! It's so amazing to watch all the fireworks going off around the lake. Ashley did a great job setting off all of ours. Thanks Ash!

Had a great day visiting with Austin's Nana & Nonno in Trail on July 5. Lots of giggles, hi-5's and wrestling took place. He is a very lucky boy to have so many sets of loving grandparents!

Wish we got to see them more often!

Another fun boat ride! Daddy wasn't golfing this time so he got to come too.

TOTALLY WIPED after a super long day.

So sad to say good-bye once again to the lake...