Who's the Bully?

Can we just play nice?? How about a "nice" picture.....Thanks boys, that's better! :)

Fake

Lately, mostly to get my attention, Jake has been coming up to me and has been fake crying/blubbering. Usually he does this to keep me from doing something he doesn't want me to do.

Most times, I think it's funny....and I laugh at him. (Is that bad?) This happened last night.

It was late, and Jake was tired and for some reason he does NOT want me on the computer (I've been trying to cut back for him and Cameron too....I think it's made a difference....baby-steps...) So he came up to me, grabbed my arm....YANKED on my arm, and said, "Mama......" Then he proceeded to blubber and spit while "crying."

Hopefully once we get more words, the fake crying will stop....wait, Cam fake cries sometimes too. Um, never mind.

New Dimple?

You remember the cheek situation, right?

Well, today I noticed that because of that little fatty cheek (probably a tumor, but who knows...) Cameron now has a dimple....where one wasn't before.

Before (about 2 months ago):

After (taken today):

What do YOU think?

Cheek Update....Sorta

I called Cam's geneticist (the doctor that diagnosed him with NF1, and the one we see every year) and he gave me a little bit of good news.

First bit of good news: Cameron does NOT have to have an MRI on his next visit to the doctor. YAY!! No sedation, no intense anxiety, NO waiting forever for him to come around. The doctor said that after checking his past 2 MRIs and nothing has changed. So since there's been no change and Cameron hasn't complained of pain in his belly, that there's probably nothing to worry about.

Second bit of good news: IF he does have a tumor on his cheek (don't know for SURE, but I'm pretty sure....) then he should be fine as long as it doesn't cause him pain. He said I shouldn't worry about it.

*Phew*

Thanks so much for your concern and prayers!

A Little Worried...

For about a month now, I've noticed that Cameron has had a small bruise on his right cheek. At first I thought nothing of it, after all, he'd just crashed and burned on his bike, it's something that is TYPICAL of a bike wreck.

Well, after his other wounds have healed, including some pretty nasty scabs, the bruise is still there. Deep purple and sitting in the middle of his face.

I told him last week that if it wasn't gone by this week, I was probably going to call the doctor and find out if there was something we needed to do about it.

Today at church I noticed his left cheek isn't as full as his right one. While feeling his face, (can you imagine THAT in church?) I noticed his right cheek, right above the bruise is lumpy and feels "tumor"-like.

Oh, I hope it's not that, but I have a feeling that he's got some more plexi-form neurofibromas growing on his cheek.

More to come when I know what's TRULY going on.

Facebook Users....How to be Safe

I was completely unaware of the things I was setting myself up for when I signed up for this highly addicting, website.

Thankfully, a friend shared THIS website with me.

I feel so much safer.

If you want to feel safe too, please use the link. :)

Sweet Addiction

Cameron came home from school yesterday with a small package of smarties. He doesn't LOVE them, so he handed them to me. (Mostly Cam was proud that he'd earned a treat at school.)
Jacob saw the smarties and almost INSTANTLY began squirming and pointing and being noisy. He wanted those dang smarties.
He just barely finished off the package, and when I told him that they're all gone, he sticks his bottom lip out...pouting.
I guess I'm going to buy him some more....to fuel his habit. stop him from whining.

This Was the Year...

...that Cameron finally asked us about September 11th.

Since he was only a baby when it happened, I haven't really talked much about it to him. I figured he'd ask when he was ready.

Yesterday I was stuck holding a whiny, sick baby, so I was watching History Channel's shows that were about 9/11. They were fascinating and brought back so many of those memories. Anyway, last night we were watching a show called 102 minutes that changed history (actual footage taken from people ON that day...) and he began asking about it.

He seemed to handle it pretty well. He was a little upset that people died, but really, for Cameron, he handled it well.

It gives me hope for those OTHER big talks that I need to have with the boy. He CAN talk about serious things and be respectful.

It was the end of the age of innocence for us though.

Labor Day Camping and a Few OTHER Things...

We did a LOT of traveling this year. Usually we just go to the campsite, one day-trip to Salmon, and then home...but this year was a little different. We went from camping, to visiting Steve's family, back to camping and then on a side-trip to Meadow Lake before going home. It was a LOT of travel in the car, but we had a VERY enjoyable time.
Our typical side-trip to Salmon provided us with these funny, blue, sunglasses. Jake thought he looked funny, and we did too.

We went to a baby blessing for Steve's "sister." They were pretty much raised as siblings and we thought it would be good for the boys to see their grandparents while we were there. We even *TRIED* to get pictures of all three of the grandsons. They're pretty cute, even if they aren't all smiling.

A few snap-shots of the view from the inside of my tent. It was pretty, and NICE weather. Look at those GORGEOUS mountains!! I LOVE this place. I truly felt closer to God. (On the last night there I spent over an hour praying to Heavenly Father and telling him how GRATEFUL I was for everything in my life...how truly blessed I am! I don't think I've ever felt as close to my Heavenly Father as I do when I'm camping in his beautiful wilderness.)Steve's first visit to Meadow Lake. The lake is basically snow-melt...it's GORGEOUS, clear, blue, but FREEZING! As a quick funny, while we were there (on our way HOME from camping...) we saw my aunt, grandpa and cousins on their day-trip. What a fun place! Someday maybe we'll stay there longer than an hour or so. It could be a fun place to CAMP. (Although, being there at the end of summer, there was still a patch of snow. Still pretty...)

On the road down from Meadow lake I was FASCINATED by the view. We're nearly at the top of the mountain, and the valley just spread out in front of us. I HAD to share the view!

What a fun weekend!!

New Trick...

On one of our long drives in the last 2 days I turned around, squinched up my face at Jake and suddenly a new game was started.

Jake has been squinching his face back, but ONLY to me....not when he has an audience.

I did manage to get a few pictures of the new trick, and some FUN ones too.

Jake's squishy face:

Cameron being a good big brother/backseat rider:

My happy boys:

On top of the FUNNESS that is driving a lot for 2 days...we have a funny to share.

On the way to our destination, I was handing out goodies for the boys to snack on. I had also stashed a fun bag of rubber snakes for the boys to play with. (Yes, the toy of choice....*giggle*) Anyway, I thought it was obvious that what I'd handed back was a TOY, but soon we heard Cameron say, "Ooh, spicy!"

Yes, he BIT the rubber toy and was TRYING to eat it. Thankfully, he couldn't quite get past the "spiciness" of the snake, and handed it back, asking instead for a piece of licorice.