J Cooper Photography

There is no doubt that the past few weeks have been pretty trying for our family.   We’ve been tested, and tested.  But we’ve also had the opportunity to do lots of PRAISING.  And today was a BIG PRAISE!  Anna had her appointment with the neuro-opthamologist this morning in Omaha.  My mom came over to hang with the boys and Mr. P and I headed up to the specialist with The Brainiac.

His diagnosis:  Pseudopapilledema due to chorioretinal atrophy

Which is a fancy way of saying:  God made her optic nerves a bit differently (smaller) which tricked us into thinking they are “swollen” when in fact they are not.  Those were the doctor’s words.  Pretty cool to have a specialist look you in the eye and say “God just made her this way!”

PRAISE GOD!  No treatment is necessary and we can check her off the list of “Kids to Worry About”.

So let’s talk about something NON-MEDICAL for a bit m’kay?  Cause I know the medical crazies at our house might be getting old for you too!

How about this little cutie I picked up a few weekends ago?  I’ve been wanting a small-ish desk to tuck into the corner of our family room for my lap top.  It was the perfect shade of bluish grey and had a distressed metal top which I presumed was zinc.  I hauled it home and set it up and “ooohed and aahhhed” for a bit.  Then my parents came over.  And my Dad said “WHY did you buy a lead top table?  Are you trying to kill your kids”  Those may not have been his exact words.  But the sentiment was similar.

WOOP, WOOP, WOOP.

We actually did some googling (and testing) and I DO believe that the table is ZINC topped.  But I couldn’t shake the nervousness so I opted to put this little friend to work.

This is a Ben Moore product that seals in surfaces and creates a “plastic coating”.  I applied 2 nice, even coats to EVERY surface of the desk (including that troublesome top) to make sure that the nice chippy paint stayed put.

It has an almost crocodile finish.  Not sure how that was achieved…maybe water or heat damage?

Now it is thoroughly plastic coated and I don’t have to worry about my children licking my table.   I don’t think there is anything that could possibly hurt this table top at this point.  It is a yummy mess!

{Cause I know you are gonna ask…the little cubby shelf is a PB knock-off from Gordmans}

SO what do you think?  Would you put something this grungy in YOUR house?  Or are you more of a formal furniture kind of gal?  I like to mix it up a bit…but I am definitely a sucker for anything with an old patina!

THANKS AGAIN for the many prayers for our family!

Danny has his EEG tomorrow.  He has to be SLEEP DEPRIVED so we put him to bed LATE and have to wake him up EARLY and then keep him awake until his 3:00 appointment.  Prayers appreciated!

We had a really great weekend together as a family just working around our house and playing.  We needed a quiet weekend to catch up from all the CRAZINESS from this past month!

So far the respiratory flu has made it through everyone in the house except Mr. P (you might say a little prayer for him!)

We’ve been working on our walking around here.  And a little someone is really digging being upright outside where he can check out the hood!  Check him out…he is going for distance this week!

Friday Danny had his PT, OT, and speech evaluations at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital.   He’s going to receive OT once a week and PT twice a week until our insurance runs out (or we can can convince them to offer us more coverage).  Danny didn’t qualify for speech therapy.  DIDN’T QUALIFY…cause he’s apparently right on track!   The therapists were instantly in love with him (of course) and were really complimentary of his progress so far!  I was shocked at how well he did throughout the 3 hour ordeal.  He was EXHAUSTED but was such a little trooper!

Tomorrow we head to Omaha for The Brainiac’s appointment with the Neuro-Opthamalogist.  And Tuesday I have to sleep deprive Danny for a EEG to check out his noggin following last weeks seizure.  And then Wednesday…I think I’ll get a pedicure

What did you do this weekend?   Would you be surprised if I said I cleaned my craft room, folded laundry, cleaned the bathroom, and went men’s suit shopping…and thoroughly enjoyed it?!?   AWWW…. normalcy never felt so good

I have a few projects I’m dying to share with you that are just about finished up.  If we can make it through this weekend without any medical emergencies…I think we might be able to wrap them up and post pictures next week!

There was a brief moment this evening when Miss Middle was screaming at the back door holding her arm like it was an alien where I became instantly panicked that we were indeed heading to the emergency room.  Thankfully, it was just her dramatic nature and a nice cement scuff and everyone is tucked into bed now without any more medical trauma!

If you think of us tomorrow, you might say a quick prayer for patience and perserverence as we have Danny evaluated for his physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy.  He has three back-to-back one hour sessions.  Lord, help me.  He’s gonna be a crab cake!

Speaking of food.  Have you ever seen such a mess?  This boy loves his food and he’s all over the “Danny do it” phase.  He’s very insistent about learning to use the silverware.  And then he screams “DONE” a moment later and chucks his whole tray on the floor.  Good times, people.  Our puppy could conveniently come and lick up all that food except she has a sensitive stomach and seems to barf anytime we feed her anything other than puppy food.  I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.

{I really can’t even claim these as phonography because they are truly awful….but they are just too fun not to share}

I bet you are dying to have dinner at our house this week, huh?

Well there were lots of really great guesses on the front door.  Some of you had some great ideas.  Some of you have pegged me as much more adventurous than I really am!  Believe me when I say that I MISS my old yellow door.  I miss everything about the front of my old house…charcoal grey siding, new stacked stone, crisp white trim.   While I love the space of our new house…the front doesn’t thrill me.  But siding is expensive and unless we are “blessed” with another hail storm…its got to stay!

So ANGEL…you are the LUCKY DOOR COLOR WINNER!  Can we get a WOOT WOOT for Angel??

A number of you guessed hues in the bluish-aqua-peacock-teal category.  But she was the first to guess a color that was pretty darn close.  The actual color is “Cathedral” by Behr (of course color matched my Sherwin Williams because I have a paint crush on those folks).

I’m going to keep this short tonight because my SWEET Danny Boy was just so generous this week in sharing his respiratory flu with me.   Fever, chills, aches, sore throat, running nose.  Yep.  He shared it all.  Last night I was in bed asleep at 6pm.  And I’m now 3 hours late tonight and I can feel it.

But before I go.  This afternoon we were outside playing for a bit and Miss Middle asked me to take a picture of her.  She climbed up on the waterfall and posed like a senior wannabe.  After I clicked the picture and it popped up in the view finder I had such a giggle.  She’s such a cheese ball.  Plus.  If that background doesn’t look like one of the fake nature scenes at JC Penney then I’m my monkey’s uncle.

{please pardon my white balance…I’m too tired to fix it}

I swear that really is our yard.  It’s a jungle out there.  There are so many plants…I don’t even know where to begin.  I think I’ll grab my machete as soon as this fever breaks and see if I can thin out the forest!

Praying that this bug doesn’t spread through the whole family.  Because that’s just what we need at this point to round things out.  Two trips to the hospital for an MRI, the neurologist, therapy screenings, a ride in the ambulance, numerous prescriptions, an EEG (upcoming), a trip to the neuro-opthamalogist, and the FLU for everyone.  Good times!

Pure and utter exhaustion.  That’s where we are tonight!  5:00 am came much too early today!  The Brainiac and I headed out before the sun was even up for her appointment for her MRI.  She bounded out of bed talking a mile a minute.  The nervous energy was vibrating off of her at an alarming rate. We waited a LONG time.  I think the family before us missed their alarm as they were “detained”…pushing our MRI back to 8:45.  So glad we were at the hospital three hours early

Anna was a champ.  No tears.  No whining.  Lots and lots of talking.  And talking.  And talking.  And finally it was time for me to say goodbye and for them to put her under.  She was scared to death but never would have admitted it to me.  The nurses were all talking afterward about how entertaining she was.  Apparently, she had lots of stories to share!

The pediatric ophthalmologist called this afternoon with FANTASTIC NEWS!  There were no significant findings on the MRI showing a catastrophic cause for the optic nerve swelling.  No tumors or growths! PRAISING GOD!  I hadn’t really allowed myself to utter those words out loud (except to my husband and to my mom) but it was a very real fear.  Once again…God has shown us His great hand of protection and we are just humbled by His mercy.   The MRI did NOT show the cause of the swelling, however.  Which means we will be seeing a neuro-opthalmolgist at Children’s in Omaha to discuss next steps.   Her doctor here has a few ideas but wants to consult another expert before deciding which testing to do next.

Once again…I was blown away by the Facebook messages, texts, calls, and emails.

THANK YOU for taking time out of your busy day to show us your support.  It was ridiculous and lavish and we are so blessed to have people in our lives who care so much about our children!!

Tonight we were discussing the results with Anna and I mentioned that the MRI was “clean” which meant there were no tumors.  She looked at me with wide eyes and said “I could have had a tumor??”  I replied, “You could have…but you don’t”.   To which she added…”Hmmm….so there is NO excuse for my weirdness?  My brain is just is weird all on its own??”  That’s my girl.  Taking it all in stride!

I’ll be back tomorrow to announce a door winner and share a few more things. {hopefully NONE of them will be medically related!}

Friday started out like any other normal day.  School run in the morning followed by a few errands with the boys.  Miss Middle went home with a friend from school and The Brainiac and Super Sam went to the neighbor’s house after school.  When I woke Danny up from his nap he felt warm.  He’s had a bit of a cold this past week so I wasn’t overly alarmed.  Once I got the kids settled with their friends I came in to check Danny’s temperature as he was feeling hotter and hotter.  103.  Too high.

I quickly called his pediatrician to see if I could get him in for an appointment before the office closed for the weekend.  I called my mom and she headed over to stay here while the kids played.  I called the Dr. back to confirm the apt. time and as soon as I got off the phone Danny started having a seizure.

Scariest. moment. ever.

I dialed my mom back (she was down the street) in tears of desperation.  Then I called 911.  The operator gave me directions…I could hear the sirens coming closer and closer to our house.  I have learned that I am not all that great in an emergency.  I was blubbering and crying like a fool.  I stopped to pray but all that would come out was “PLEASE…PLEASE…PLEASE!!!”

The paramedics burst through the door and straight through the baby gate.  They moved furniture out of the way and all five of them got to work.  They cut off his clothes.  Oh, the things we notice during a trauma!  I told the paramedic “don’t cut that…that’s his Mini Boden shirt!”  HA!  He cut it anyways…for which I am very grateful.  They administered some medication to stop the seizures and off we went with the sirens blaring and the horn honking.  He seized for over 30 minutes and my heart was breaking for him the entire time.

At the hospital they ran a number of tests and finally determined that he has pneumonia.  He had a complex febrile seizure brought on by the sudden onset of fever.  Apparently, not all that uncommon in little ones but scary and serious nonetheless!

We’ve had a couple of grumpy days and several sleepless nights….but he is definitely starting to perk up.

{how about a hint on the “guess the front door color” post}

He’s recovering today just in time for the Brainiac to head to the hospital at 5am for her MRI.

God has certainly been asking us to trust in Him.

This morning we sang a new song in church that is not a well known praise song.  I had never heard it before.  But I was in tears within the first 3 seconds.

“Saved me, held me, through my darkest hour.

Loved me, sheltered me, rescued by your power.

You are, you are the King.  Glory to Your name.

You are, the God who reigns, and forever I will sing.

You are the Lord of all. You are the Lord of all. You are the Lord of all, Jesus Christ.”

Regardless of the outcome…our God is ALWAYS there with us.  Even in the hard places.   Really glad to have Friday behind us…God’s mercies are certainly new every morning!

A couple of random thoughts.

I took a bunch of pictures of my chunker munker out on our deck about a month ago and promptly forgot about them.  We just moved our home computer upstairs to my craft room (it’s been unplugged for a few weeks now) and I stumbled upon these.  I don’t know what I love more…that adorable dimple right in the middle of his left cheek…or the crackers in the hair.  It is a total toss up.

Technically I’m not supposed to let him sit like this.  But it’s just so cute with his little piggies sticking out that back that I sometimes let it slide (don’t tell his therapist!)

I also came across the girls in a moment of proud sisterhood.  They were heading out for a movie date with Mimi and I snapped this one of them.  Look they are almost hugging!  They are actually complete besties.  But for some reason unknown to me…they stand a mile apart when I try to take their pictures.  I always have to holler, “act like you like each other!” and then they roll their eyes and groan even though as soon as I am finished they are scampering off whispering secrets like best buds.

Now that it has warmed up I was finally able to knock out painting our front door.  It’s been bothering me since before we moved in.  I think I may have lost sleep over it before the move.  Tan siding, beige trim, burgundy shutters (that had faded to pink), and a brown door.  Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.  We tore the shutters off the weekend we moved in and put up new shutters in BLACK (we added them to a few more windows too).  I believe firmly in shutters.  They are like eyeliner for windows.  Or mascara.  Either one.  The more shutters the better because..unlike mascara…they don’t clump and look trashy the more you add.

Anywho.   Our front door was pretty sad.  (when we moved in it was this color on BOTH sides…inside and out…weird!)

So I primed it.

And then I painted it.  GUESS WHAT COLOR?  Come on.  GUESS.  The first person to guess it right gets a prize.  For real.  Here is a really bad iphone picture of part of the front of our house.  Can you see it??

Be specific.  Don’t tell me “red”.  Is it jet black?  Indigo blue?  Mustard yellow?  What do you think?

By the way.  I’m going to need some SERIOUS landscaping help.  Who is coming to help me this spring??

Happy PAINT GUESSING!  Who’s gonna get it right and get something fun in the mail?

A few things to note before viewing the video.

1.  My kids do {sometimes} wear clean clothing.  Mr. Drools A Lot just happened to have a rough night.

2.  Pardon the boogers.

3.  Protect your ears.  I apparantly had the microphone covered with my finger and then let loose towards the end of the video.  Be warned.

4.  Be sure to catch the “MAAAAMMMMAAA” and note the adorable cheesy smile.

5.  Mr. P makes the most freakish face about 1 second into this video.  Be sure to rewind and watch it a couple of times for a good laugh.

6.  Feel free to click the video to watch his adorable face BIGGER!

He’s not choosing the walker yet.  But he isn’t throwing a fit with arched back and screaming either.  So we are calling it progress!  He can make it all the way across the room now without falling…although he does often need some help “steering”.

I’m spending the week interviewing therapists for his new plan:  physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech!

I feel like I spend too much of my day talking with medical professionals.  And this week has only gotten worse in that regard.  I took The Brainiac in for a routine eye exam (and to pick out her new specs) and ended up with a referral to the pediatric opthamologist.  Thankfully, we are already good friends with him due to Danny’s eye condition and he got us right in.  He confirmed that she has some optic nerve swelling.  Now we have to find the cause…which means she will be having an MRI (sedated) on Monday.  If there was an award for most often seen in the MRI unit I think we might just win this month!  Please keep our little Brainiac in your prayers as we try to find some answers!

Now go MOOOOVE IT!  I’m gonna move it to bed…exhausted…zzzzzzzzz.

We have been tearing things up this weekend.   I know I share a lot of “pretty” pictures here on the blog.  It is always fun to share projects once they are complete and I have staged the room and locked all the dirty, messy children in their rooms for perfect pictures.  But you have to know…there is A LOT of mess that happens here too.

And this weekend we had to create quite a few messes in the name of progress.

Sometimes I get frustrated by the perpetual mess.  Since we moved into this house in November there has been at least one room under construction at all times.  But I am trying to keep the end goal in mind and enjoy the progress as it happens.  Because life is certainly happening amid the mess and I surely don’t want to miss it.

When I loaded these pictures from my phone onto my computer my first thought was…”why on earth would I show those nasty pictures to the world?”  But in all honesty…they are just perfect.  As I was painting the hallway leading to our bathroom tonight, I was struck by how the ugliness of these pictures mirrors the ugliness of my heart.

I am a work in progress.

It is easy to think that God looks down on me from heaven and says “Well I certainly can’t use Jenn Cooper…look at her!  She’s just a mess…she’s one unfinished project after another!”  I am SO thankful that I serve a merciful God who accepts my faults and loves me through them.  And wants to USE me despite the ugliness I carry around.

So this weekend we made a mess.  I tore down the wallpaper in the bathroom (if you even THINK about putting up SOLID olive green wallpaper in your house…we cannot be friends).  I primed the walls.  I painted the hallway.  And Mr. P ripped out the fluorescent light box above the kitchen island.   All in all…it was productive…although our house looks worse on the outside.  But we know there is a plan that we are inching toward.

Just like God has a plan for me {and you}.

Some days I stand amazed at how far this little guy has come.  He is truly a miracle.  God spared his life and I’m telling you…He’s gonna do something great with it.  Some days I can see clearly the immense progress gained through repetition and hard work.

Some days I’m less positive.  Like the day his therapist brought over this.

She asked if she could bring a walker.  I said yes.  But in my head I had something more along the lines of THIS and was completely unprepared when she sauntered in with this medical device.  When she suggested I sew him a little bag to carry his toys along…I nearly lost it.  Throw in the tv remote while we are at it!  And maybe an issue of Sport and Leisure with his elastic waist pants already!

I’ve come to terms with it now.  {And he hates it anyways}.  I just don’t want you to think its all Sunshine and Rainbows here at the Cooper house every day.  The rainbows truly are waving high in the sky most days…but we have our fair share of cloud bursts too!

I’ve had a mental goal for the past year that Danny would walk by his 2nd birthday.  Folks…it’s probably not gonna happen.  BUT.  He’s gonna walk…and there is going to be a SERIOUS party going on when it happens.  And you are all invited!  You’ll all come, won’t you?  We are gonna party like it’s 1999.  Disco ball, tunes for our very own DJ (we thought about calling our Daniel Jimma – DJ but it never stuck), and plenty of TOOOO-KEYS (”cookies”) to go around!

And maybe God will surprise us?!  I fully believe he could!