The Cathcarts

We found out today that my brother, Brandon, has an anterior cerebral aneurysm.  That is a weakening of the artery that runs along the back of the neck up to the brain.  I guess I should say that this is what the doctor is thinking that he has at this point.  This whole ordeal started a month ago when Brandon was thrown from his horse and was evaluated for a concussion.  He got a CT scan which showed a significant concussion, but it also showed something else on his neck, so it was recommended that he get an MRI.  He got the MRI and they really couldn’t tell what this thing was on his neck.  They were thinking that it was some kind of mass or tumor.  So today we went and saw an orthopedic surgeon that said it is not a tumor, but he’s pretty sure that it’s an aneurysm.  At this point we think it’s pretty small, which means that there is less of a chance of it rupturing anytime soon.  So on Thursday, Brandon will be seeing a vascular surgeon here in DM for further work-up.  Please keep him in your prayers. 

I hope everyone is having a fantastic Halloween.  We started our festivities on Tuesday night with carving pumpkins.  I was hoping that Jaxson would be all excited to help and get messy, but he could have cared less.  At least Brad and I had fun getting messy.  I have to say that I am quite impressed with how they turned out.  I bet you will have a hard time guessing who carved which pumpkin.  Tonight was trick-or-treat night in our neighborhood.  Jaxson started off very hesitant and didn’t quite get the whole concept.  At first he was scared to go up to the houses and get candy, but then when he did get candy, he had to stop and show everyone what he got.  After a few houses, then he was all about it.  He kept saying "more."  Uh-Oh, I think we have a candy begging pro on our hands.  I was worried that he wouldn’t want to wear his costume or not want to keep it on the whole time, but that wasn’t a problem at all.  Now our problem is going to be trying to get rid of all of this candy.   Now going to an off topic.  We went and checked out a part time daycare center today for Jaxson.  I am looking for somewhere for him to go on Monday mornings so that I can get some sleep in after working Sunday nights.  We both really liked the place and it turns out that Jack, Jaxson’s BFF, also goes there on Mondays.  He was there today when we went for a tour, so of course Jaxson jumped right in and started playing.  He seemed to fit right in, so I hope that it will work out for him to go there. 

My pumpkin, it’s a spider if you can’t tell.

Brad’s pumpkin

Ready to go trick-or-treating

Jaxson with his buddy, Miah.

They might as well have been two peas in a pod.

We can’t forget the sleepy dalmation (Baby Ben).

Handing out candy at Miah’s house.

Gosh, I’m starting to realize that I don’t post as much as I used to.  I’m sure I’ll get back into it more when I’m done with daycare this next week.  So it looks like I left off with last weekend.  Last Friday, Grandma Pam came down to watch Jaxson while Brad and I went to the Holy Spirit Retreat for our Alpha class.  It was held at a church in Johnston and it ran from Friday night and all day on Saturday.  It wasn’t a sleepover, so we did get to come home on Friday night.  We had a wonderful experience learning more about our Lord and had a great time connecting more with our small group.  Grandma and Jaxson had a great time playing at the mall and going to story time at Barnes & Noble.  On Sunday, I worked at the hospital and G & G Cathcart came down to go to church with Brad and Jaxson.  Then we had our regular Alpha class on Sunday evening, so to sum up this weekend, it was pretty much a church weekend. 

His new favorite thing is to jump off of his toybox.

I know that I haven’t posted anything for a while, so I am going to put it all into one.  Our big news around here is that I am closing the daycare.  I have been thinking about it for a few weeks now and I think it’s the best decision for my family and me.  I can honestly say that I gave it my best, but I just don’t think that it was enough.  I have high regards for those that do daycare for a living and that do it well.  My last day with the kids will be on November 7th.  I will be returning to the hospital on the weekends again, but it will be on the night shift.  I have never worked a night shift before, but I am ready to do so.  We have a very good and fun night shift crew at the hospital, so I am excited about that.  I will be working two nights a weekend from 7 pm-7 am.  This will still allow me to be around for family events and to be home with Jaxson 95% of the time during the week.  We will find somewhere for him to go on Monday mornings so that I can sleep for a little while.  I feel very good about this decision and I’m excited to get back to the hospital part time.

Last Friday night, we went up to Ogden to watch Prairie Valley (Brad’s alma mater) take on Ogden in football.  They have a very good team this year and it was nice to see them add another victory to their record.  On Sunday, Brad and Jaxson went back to Gowrie while I worked at the hospital.  Our good family friends, Nels and Cindy Lindquist, were back from North Carolina, where they just recently moved.  Jaxson also got to spend some time with Papa, Grandma, and Chester, which was his new word of the week.

Jaxson LOVED watching Papa peel the apples and then he ate them.

"Hi Chester"

Last night, we made some homemade pizza because my dad and Brenda were coming down to pick up Jaxson for a sleepover.  They took him back to their house and watched him all day today so that Brad and I could go to the Iowa vs. Wisconsin game in Iowa City.  Jaxson was so excited to go; he couldn’t get out of the house fast enough.  Dad and Brenda sure kept him busy.  I called at 9:00 this morning and they were already up and out of the house.  Dad had taken him out to the farm to see all of the animals.  They also spent time at the park.  They made cookies together.  Grandma took him for a ride on a school bus and Grandpa took him for a ride on a real train at the co-op, which Jaxson is still talking about how Grandpa drove the train and I’m sure we’ll be hearing about it for at least another week.  He was so tired when he came home that he went to bed over an hour early with no hesitation.  The Iowa game was great.  I was worried that it was going to be a little cold, but it turned out to be a perfect day.  The hawks played a great game and pulled off an easy victory. 

Jaxson is helping Daddy put the pepperonis on the pizza.

Yeah, Jaxson’s first homemade pizza!

Here come the Hawks!

On Saturday I went out and got Jaxson a fire truck bed that I found on Craigslist.  I didn’t know how he would handle being in a big boy bed, or should I say that we don’t know how we would handle him being in a big boy bed.  We considered just converting his crib into a single bed, but that’s pretty boring.  I thought that maybe if we got him a fire truck bed, then he just might want to go nap and go to bed.  It is so adorable and he just loves it.  He did perfect the first night and slept in it all night.  Monday morning at about 5:30, he woke up and was calling "daddy."  I went in and explained to him that it was still bedtime.  He hopped right back in bed and slept in.  Then today at nap time, I tucked him in at the usual time and he came down to the basement about 10 minutes later.  We marched right back upstairs so that I could put a childproof thing over his door knob so that he can’t open it and he laid back down.  I heard him playing around for a while, but he eventually fell asleep laying in front of the door. Oh well, whatever it takes to get a nap.

Yeah, it’s been a long progress and we are glad to have it done.  Our basement was completely finished on Friday.  We spent most of the weekend cleaning and arranging it.  We are so pleased with how it turned out.  Thanks to Heath and Josh for all of their hard work!  I was able to have daycare in the basement for the first time on Monday.  The kids loved it and I did too because it is almost 100% childproof.   

On Wednesday, two evaluators came to see Jaxson again regarding his speech.  This was more in depth than the last visit.  I am pleased to report that he tested so well that he is too good for their program.  He is actually testing in the three year-old range for his communication skills and even into the four year-old range for physical skills.  This shocked me because he isn’t speaking all that well, I think. They reassured me that they just aren’t evaluating his speech, but how he communicates overall.  He communicates well by signing a lot of things or acting things out (which is usually pretty funny).  So I guess that I can quit worrying about this for now.  Now what am I going to worry about??