The Past Few Days...

...have been very interesting!

My poor boy Ethan had a difficult week last week. I was on the phone with the docs. most of the week trying to figure out how to help him with his stomach pain and lack of BM's. We ended up having an x-ray of his abdomen done and found out that he was about 3/4 of the way constipated... right down into his rectum. (graphic I know...but it is what it is) So, we had a choice, enema or 2-3 days of increased dosage of his laxative. The enema would be quick and uncomfortable, the laxative would be slow, crampy, gassy, and uncomfortable. We bribed Ethan with a Popsicle and did the first of two enemas on Thursday. It didn't clear him out as much as we'd hoped, so the second enema came on Friday...that one worked...boy did it ever. Poor kid! On, Saturday night, he started eating again. So far we've had two good days of eating, but tonight we were back to belly pain, and no BM at all. Still waiting for the appt. for his endoscopy...needless to say I'm getting impatient.

During all of this, however, Ethan remains a trooper. Thursday was such a beautiful day, that following his enema, I put a diaper on him just in case, and we went outside to enjoy the sun. I was hoping that the running around would help the medicine along a bit.

It was Rebekah's first time outside using her new skill of walking. She took to it like she'd been doing it the whole time. In fact, she joined the boys in throwing, jumping into, and destroying my leaf pile. They were all absolutely filthy when it was time to go in, which was awesome.

On Friday, we had a field trip. The homeschooling group I am a part of does organized field trips here and there. This one was to The Butterfly Place down in Westford MA. Ethan was very excited as he is a big fan of a video we have by Max Lucado called Hermie. It's about a very common caterpillar that asks God why he isn't special like other caterpillars. God always tells Hermie that He isn't finished with him yet. It's a great story, and Ethan really likes it when Hermie becomes a beautiful butterfly. With that in mind, he couldn't wait to "meet" Hermie and his pal Wormie.

Until we got there...

I've never had Ethan listen to me so intently...don't touch anything and stay next to me...and HE DID! He was curiously afraid. He wanted to see and be near everything, but he was afraid of what would happen should a butterfly land on him. For those of you who've never been to such a place...it's an atrium filled with beautiful plants and flowers, and LOTS of butterflies flying around in every direction. It is truly an awesome sight. If you think Ethan was afraid, check out Joshua...sheer terror. I've never seen him so truly terrified. He doesn't like anything in his face, so for him the thought of one of those unpredictable flying "things" coming anywhere near him sent him into a panic. Thankfully, they have bench's in there to sit on, and because they are away from the main source of plants and flowers, the butterflies don't come over too much. Of course, who was the one kid they kept trying to land on...??? So, I just sat down and held his hand and rubbed his leg, and calmed down and did fine, unless one came to close. I couldn't take him out of the stroller while we are in there because they have strict rules about children under 3 being in a stroller at all times. Towards the end, both he and Ethan were doing better, but still wary of those beautiful, flying creatures.

Then you have Rebekah...pointing, laughing, and say "butta, butta, butta" every time one would get close to her. She loved it!

We had a picnic there afterwards, and then bought the kiddos their very own caterpillars to watch grow into beautiful butterfly's. They are these tiny little things, and require very little care. Every morning the boys look forward to saying hello to their new little creatures. Can you guess what they named them....???? That's right...Hermie and Wormie.