Paradise

 

This is where my husband is right now. I sure do wish I was with him, enjoying the beauty of the ocean. Maybe next year...

Justus

This little guy got to spend 2 nights in the hospital this weekend. It is our first time having a child admitted and was not a fun or enjoyable time at all. Justus has had chronic asthma for the past few years and it has been getting worse and worse. Jonah and I have been extremely frustrated with the way our doctor has cared for the issue(or not cared for it, actually) no matter how much we have said what we are doing is not working and have felt like they don't understand the severity of it at all.

This ER trip was very productive and we finally feel like someone is taking our son's health seriously. The doctor(in the ER, not our doctor) realized how many times we have been in to the ER over the years and decided to bring in a pediatric specialist to talk with us. The 15 minutes we talked with that doctor was amazing and he learned more about Justus' breathing issues than our doctor has ever listen to or asked. He told us Justus should not always be coughing like he is. Justus should not have to use his inhaler more than twice a week(he uses it at least 10 times) and he should not seem to always be working to breathe.

Basically, Justus has been in a chronic state of sickness and his lungs have been getting worse and worse instead of better. This explains why his asthma attacks have been more serious each time. We also learned that chronic asthma patients are usually diagnosed with pneumonia when they go in to the ER because their lungs look gunky. This is from the mucous build up and not from pneumonia. We are seriously questioning if Justus has EVER had pneumonia at all. He has been on antibiotics for pneumonia each time he's been brought to the ER, except this time. His lungs look the same now as they did when he was in the ER in March(and diagnosed with pneumonia).

Each time Justus has had an issue, Jonah has been able to use his medic skills to do what they would in an ambulance. Sometimes, he'll get better but 2 or 3 times a year, this does nothing and we rush to the ER to get some steroids in him. This is the only thing that seems to kick him into breathing better. What would happen if Jonah didn't have this knowledge and ability? We would be in the ER many more times than we are already.

This past weekend, his blood oxygen levels were VERY low and he was a bit delirious and not responding while driving to the hospital. We had oxygen on him the whole way but he was so sick, it was doing very little to help. The Mama in me was very worried, especially when my husband told me to let him know when he stopped breathing so he can pull over and intubate him. Jonah was worried to, obviously.

One thing the doctor mentioned is the possibility of Cystic Fibrosis. Justus has many of the markers that would make this a possibility but we are praying this is NOT the case, for obvious reasons. Once he is healthy, we will be having the test done to rule it out and move on with his treatment and care in the hands of a Pulmonologist instead of his pediatrician. Even though it has taken us 2 1/2 years for someone to take this seriously, we are glad that we seem to be on the right track to make Justus feel better and not constantly having issues breathing. The Pediatric specialist put Justus on some new meds and we are hopeful that with this and seeing the pulmonologist, he will be on the road to recovery soon.

As a side note, Justus came home to house full of sick kids so he has to wear a mask to protect himself from getting sick. The meds he is on make his immune system a bit compromised but he is doing well understanding why he has to wear it. Doesn't he look cute? He says he's a surgeon.

Mountain lions

  This past week has been a bit nerve wracking in the farm/ranch department. We have some neighbors down the road who found one of their sheep ripped apart, but still alive, by a mountain lion. These same neighbors have lost a total of 4 sheep and a llama from mountain lions over the last few years. They do not have dogs that live outside. The lion was found by Fish and Game and removed. Later that day our neighbor next door found tracks that he wasn't sure was from that same lion or another one. He set up his deer camera but nothing was found. We were very concerned about our calves and pigs since they seem like easy prey for a mountain lion to take advantage of. Jonah and I began talking about possibly getting a Livestock Guardian Dog (LGD) to protect our animals but, since we haven't had much luck with dogs, were not really wanting to go that route.

 On Saturday morning Jonah found coyote droppings in our front yard in 2 separate places and our guests heard them howling that night.

  On Monday night we got a phone call that another neighbor found a full grown female lion prowling around his backyard. This was/is a bit scary for me, honestly. Sarah and Kai are beginning to go out after dark to milk because it's getting dark earlier. Sarah is so scared she won't go out without me and I don't blame her at all. When you walk out in the dark, knowing a full grown mountain lion was spotted just yards from your house and it's eerily quiet around you... you get the idea, right?

  I found a few LGD's on Craigslist and I e-mailed to enquire about them and ask questions. Our biggest concerns were barking excessively, staying within the yard and being good with our kids in "their" space. LGD's are not like "normal" dogs at all and we wanted to make sure we knew what to be prepared for. We talked about it and talked about it until we realized that it wasn't IF a lion(or fox, coyote, etc.) would get one of our animals it was WHEN. Without a dog to alert us and protect our livestock, it is a given that one of our animals will be harmed.

 I found a sweet 2 1/2 year old Great Pyrenees/Anatolian Shepard mix who lived on a farm very much like ours with 6 children. The family is selling everything and taking an extended vacation for a few years of traveling. They needed to find a home for their dog. After many, many, many e-mails and questions Jonah and I decided to go forward with this beautiful girl and hope she will do well protecting her charges(the calves). I'm looking forward to having a guardian around that will alert me to a problem around the farm.

An adoption book release!

My dear, sweet, amazing, in-real-life friend, Hilary Anderson, has published her first book! Adoption friends, take note! This is for us and we will probably cry as we read this sweet story to our children. I am not a sappy person but when it comes to adoption I usually tear up something awful even if I don't spill tears.

 To pick up your very own copy(and let's be honest, there are never enough adoption books in our library, are there?) go here. When you have bought your family a copy, make sure to leave her feedback on her amazon page and tell her how you liked it! I can't wait for mine to come!