2 Brothers Layne

Today was a small victory for our Jonah man. It was the last day he gets Diuril (one if his diuretics). Dr. Null started a systematic ween of both of his diuretics about two weeks ago and if all went well then we could discontinue the Diuril! If he continues to do well he will be off the second one on my birthday (October 14th) and off of the oral steroid by the first part of December! I'm so excited to see this kiddo making progress toward fewer and fewer meds! Today our big excitement was taking Jonah to Portsmouth Naval Hospital to meet his new pediatrician. The visit went well and he handled my list of requests very well. Jonah, of course, was not terribly excited with the whole process but did fine. Dave has the Friday through Monday off work and when he returns on Tuesday he will be working 10pm-7am. This should help us manage with just one car. I don't know what I'd do without having my mom here to help unpack and to play with Jonah. Tonight Jonah got to miss...

I think Tanya is nuts. One of the most aggrivating events ever to exist upon this earth is unpacking, lead only by a few millimeters by packing!!! I guess you have to be female to appreciate setting up a new house. Maybe it is one of those childhood fantasies that girls have, or maybe it is just soley a reason to redecorate. Anyway, Tanya and Loraine are doing a good job with it. When I left this morning the garage was mostly full. When I arrived home this afternoon the garage was mostly empty. I am going to owe them a nice dinner after all is said and done. My tasks for the day were pretty simple. I had to take the boxes to the dumpster. After two full car loads the boxes were finally cleared. We bought a bookshelf and a computer desk that I had to put together. For the first time in my life. I opened up the box and looked for the instructions before attempting to put it together. I guess the Navy is rubbing off in all areas of my life. A good thing!!! Jonah is starting...

Take a close look at this picture. Notice anything different? Here we are a little closer. Have you found it yet? Look at those cute chubby cheeks... No TAPE... No TUBE... No OXYGEN!!! That's right, being at sea level seems to really agree with Jonah's lungs! We've plugged him into his monitor numerous times today to reassure ourselves that it's for real. Jonah is at 95% oxygen or higher all day. It has been so strange to have a cordless child. Jonah has struggled with the fact that he can't tear off his canula when he is mad or needs attention. As for Mamaw and I, we've stayed really busy today unpacking box after box. My personal victory was navigating around Virginia Beach and Norfolk today (with a LOT of help from the GPS). Jonah will visit with his new pediatrician on Thursday, and he maybe in for a surprise when I hand him a list of things that need to be done. Prescriptions to be written, orders for various medical supplies and equipment, doctor...

This may be a little corney, but hey what do you expect? It was told that Jonah was a trooper on the plane, and that he said, "Hi" to every one he came into contact with. It was a chore to keep him awake until 8 pm with no nap today. Trying to help him adjust to the time zone changes may be a rough deal. With a couple trips to the car, and two cars, we finally made it home. As a family. Now trying to get everything the way Tanya wants is going to be fun. Being a one car family may prove to be difficult and take some careful calculations, but we will get it done. We are very grateful for all the blessings we receive from our families! Here starts our new adventure.

I can hardly believe that it is actually here... we are leaving Utah to join Daddy in Virginia! It will be an early morning for all of us. We plan to be loaded in the Van and on the road no later than 5am. It is going to take some time for us to get through security having Jonah's meds and equipment. The plane will leave Utah at 8:25 (Mt. time) and arrive in Virginia at 4:30 (Eastern time). You should see all the luggage we'll be toting along! good thing the 3 big bags are going under the plane and we've decided that it would be too much to bring Jax along this trip. We'll work on getting him out with us as soon as we can. (Come to find out the Navy reserved Jax's place but didn't pay for the ticket so it's no loss... other than we will really miss him.) Well it's getting late and I need at least a few hours of sleep tonight! Wish us luck and say a quick prayer that things go smoothly tomorrow!

It has been an emotional but wonderful day. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives who love us so much! Breakfast was delicious and the company was fantastic! I was totally bummed when I realized that I forgot to take along the camera so I'll have to get a digital copy from Nana. I spent the majority of the day packing and helping Mamaw make salads for dinner. Dinner was really yummy and again, great company. I learned my lesson at breakfast and remembered to bring my camera! Here a few pics from tonight. The whole group! We invited Nurse Ally to the party. She is as good as an Aunt! Jonah was glad to see her and requested that she sing him some of his favorite songs! Nanny, Maddy, and Jonah singing "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home!" (if you aren't familiar with the Primary song the last line says to give Daddy a "Great Big Kiss!" Jonah just this week learned to say Papa! He was able to impress both of his Papas today! Jona...

This afternoon Jonah's Portable Oxygen Concentrator arrived! It came complete with 3 batteries all charged and ready to go! That means that tomorrow I will get everything packed up and sorted so that I have all day Sunday to stumble across the things I've left out. Jonah doesn't seem to be feeling the effects of the flu shot. He has been in pretty high spirits all day and has only had a minimum amount of Tylenol and Ibuprofen. Dave was able to get off work a little early so that he could meet our new oxygen provider at the house to receive Jonah's new equipment. Tomorrow Jonah and I say goodbye to our Layne Family at breakfast and our Selman Family at dinner. It is sure to be a very emotional day!

So the day hasn't gone quite as planned but it has still been productive! I got the car re-licensed, Jax had a check-up, Jonah went to the Dr., and I FINALLY finished my mom's mother's day gift (Yes it is 4 months late!) Dr. Stokes said that Jonah's ears still look sore, he has a raw throat, and lots of clear nasal drainage. She put him on a Z pack which we will finish up Monday morning and hopefully have a healthy boy to travel. Jonah also got his seasonal flu shot while we were there. That may make packing and getting things ready a little difficult these next couple of days... but I'm glad we've armed Jonah as well as we can to be in public for 10+ hours on Monday. There were a few tears shed today as we had to say goodbye to Nurse Ally. I hope I've got her convinced to fly out to visit for spring break! Dave didn't have any interesting stories to share tonight... and that is probably a very good thing!

I thought it might be nice to give a face to a few names that have frequented the blog lately. I hope these two don't hate me for it! This is Miss Kelly. She is Jonah's Speech therapist with the Early Intervention Program. She has been visiting us every Thursday morning at 9:00 all summer. As a result Jonah is pretty fond of her... that, and Kelly is soooo much FUN! Time for a new Portrait! What do you think? You can sort of see his dimple in his right cheek. And the famous Ally! Jonah is sure going to miss his Ally. Today Jonah stared to saying "My Ally" It is soooo cute! Below is a video we took of Jonah trekking across the front lawn this morning. Jonah's therapist has wanted Jonah to try this specific walker out for some time now but she had loaned them all out. So when she got one back last week she brought it right over. I'm so glad that she did. Jonah took to this walker (the crocodile) like a fish to water! This will be the walker that I ...

Finally all of Jonahs oxygen needs have been approved. Tanya is down with a major migraine. She will post more tomorrow.

So it seems that progress has been made in obtaining a portable oxygen concentrator (POC) for our flight. I say progress has been made and not that everything is set because Delta's medical team could reject our plan... At any rate the plan as of this afternoon is that IHC (our current oxygen provider) will loan us their POC and two extra batteries. Each battery should last 4 hours, giving us roughly 12 hours of oxygen. FAA regulation require us to have 150% of your journey's travel time in battery life. Our travel time will be roughly 10 hours which means technically we need 15 hours worth of battery time. So, Delta may reject our plan due to inefficient battery time. If they overlook it then we are all set. (Just to throw this out there we will be using a "Devilbiss Igo" just in case someone has access to an extra battery that we might rent should the need arise!) So I've not yet had a good sigh of relief but I'm hoping that I get to do just that to...

So this week will be full of goodbyes for Jonah and I. We said goodbye to 2 of our therapists last week and this week we'll have to say goodbye to the rest and to our pediatrician's office staff. One of the most difficult will be when we say bye to Nurse Ally. It is hard but necessary in order to put our little family back together under one roof. I have a huge favor to ask all of you out in Blog world... we still have yet to secure Jonah's oxygen while on the plane. It is turning out to be a much bigger ordeal than it should need to be. Please lend us your prayers that we can get everything all situated by Friday. The airlines require 48 hours in order to approve the device Jonah will be using. If it's not all squared away by Friday then we will not be getting on the plane on Monday. Dave attended our new ward in Virginia Beach again today and was again amazed with how warm and welcoming the congregation was toward him.

8 days until we board the plane to Virginia! It is definitely bitter sweet, but I am very excited. Jonah and I spent the day in the kitchen. Once the dished were done, kitchen cleaned, and Mommy's hair done (yes that was Jonah's idea!) we started with a couple of new gluten free recipes. I realized the other day that we're going to be on our own for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year and I quickly decided I'd better start practicing. So today Jonah helped me with some GF Stuffing and GF Oreos. The stuffing needs a little work still but it's a good place to start. Jonah was super patient through the whole process today. He was obsessed with talking on the phone for a while and insisted that he get to call his Daddy. Dave tracked down a washer and dryer through Craig's list and has them both installed and working! He says he is at a total loss as to what to do with all the "stuff" laying around the house and that he will wait until I arrive to ...

Jonah and I attended music class and gymnastics for the first time in 4 weeks! We've had a lot going on lately and I was glad we got to attend again before we leave for Virginia. Jonah has changed a lot in the 4 weeks we've been AWOL. He attended very well in music and really participated! Then there were a few tears in gymnastics but nothing like it was before! He even walked the full length of the balance beam with out crying! I was one proud mommy!

I have a very silly little boy! We had a lazy morning and long about 8:00 we realized that Mis Kelly (Jonah's speech therapist) was due to arrive at 9:00 we decided to divide and conquer. So while Mamaw showered I bathed Jonah. Then Mamaw and Jonah played while I showered. Neither Mamaw nor I took the time to do our hair which for me isn't too out of the ordinary but Jonah has rarely, if ever, seen her without her hair done. So Jonah was sitting on my lap playing with a toy when he looks right at Mamaw and signs "do my hair". We tell him that we just did his hair and that we can do it again tomorrow. He Squaks at us telling us we didn't understand. Next he signs "Mamaw" then "Do Hair" then "Please" so this I asked him if he wanted grandma to do her hair and he was ecstatic that we finally understood. So grandma did her hair and he didn't mention it again! --Funny Boy-- Now for funny story number 2 Jonah played with Mis ...

So today Jonah seems to be really putting things together. First he was watching Mamaw pet her dog, Bandit, across the room and Jonah decided that he wanted to play with Bandit. So he looked at me then signed Mamaw-Dog, and looked right at Bandit! It was pretty impressive! We had two therapy appointments today and had to say our goodbyes to each of the therapists. We have another appointment tomorrow and I'm sure Jonah will in need of an outing since we stayed inside all day today. The movers delivered all of our stuff to our new house and Dave seems to have found the basics to survive until we get there to help sort everthing out and put it all away.

That's right folks, Jonah now hears the phone ring and puts his little hand over his ear and says "Hi!" It is the cutest thing! I think it has been all the phone calls I have made and received in the last few days that cemented it into his brain! Jonah had another "Nurse Ally Day" which he LOVED! Ally is definitely on Jonah's list of people he's going to miss. After numerous phone calls today I think we've got the oxygen for our flight arranged! What a huge relief! Now to iron out a couple more details tomorrow with the airlines... As for Dave he seems to be a little stressed. He got the keys to the house today, Tomorrow the movers bring our stuff, and Thursday Dave takes his advancement test. If you don't mind keep him in your prayers! It never hurts to have a few extra ones! As for the story in the local news paper, we picked up a couple of copies tonight from Riverside Corner and I was very touched. I feel that our story was told ext...

Jonah got to have a cousin day today! The Pali family came over to play while Morgan (my sis) gave me another digital scrapbook lesson. Jonah really enjoyed the quality time with Matt and Maddy. We are excited to get the Tremonton Leader in the mail on Wednesday so that we can read Jonah's story! As for "news on the move"... today the NAVY bought airline tickets for Jonah, me, and Jaxton (our dog)!!! I was also able to get in touch with our Tri Care case worker and she is tracking down a portable oxygen concentrator for us to use on the flight! I notified our home health care provider of our departure date and our new address and they are getting things set up with a company in Virginia Beach. I've also got people working on getting Jonah's respite nursing care transferred to a company in Virginia Beach. It has been a busy day! So officially we leave Utah September 27th at 8:30 am. I am so grateful that things are falling into place! We are so BLESSED!

It would seem that what goes around comes around... YEP it's my turn to be sick. I hope none of you have to endure this terrible stomach flu that has hit our family with some vengeance! Jonah does seem to be getting better but not yet completely healed. As a result of the flu Jonah and I skipped church and the Layne Family Dinner:( I was so looking forward to seeing all of our Layne family again before we leave... Bummer!

Today was our yearly family canning day! What does that mean... it means all of my siblings who live close gather here at my parents house. They each bring a camp chief (propane outdoor stove) bottles, and a few other important items and we spend 12+ hours working along side each other. It is a LOT of WORK but very enjoyable! Dave was really sad that he missed it this year! Jonah has not puked today! He does still seem to be under the weather though. Hopefully by tomorrow he will be feeling significantly better. As for me I got to go to the Logan Temple with one of best friends, Kara. It has been a while since I was able to go and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! I sure am glad Nurse Ally was here to keep an eye on Jonah for me!

Dave drove to our new place. It is a duplex and yes it is Handicap Accessible! We are so excited! Here is the floor plan for those of you who were wondering! We have a private back yard with a 4 foot fence for Jax! Dave and I are both working diligently on getting things ready for the big move and with each passing day we get more anxious to have our little family under the same roof! One of the major hurdles has turned out to be one that we thought would be so simple -- the airplane ride with Jonah's Oxygen. If anyone out there in BLOG land knows of someone who travels cross country with Oxygen via plane and could give me some advice I'm all ears! As for Jonah's day... well... he has definitely had better! We started with a puke session at 3 this morning! Jonah was completely miserable and puked again shortly. With a blessing from Gaga he slept until 8. Then we were off to the pediatrician's office for Jonah 2 year old check-up. The visit went well Jonah is g...

So it ended up being a pretty big day for us! First thing we went down to PCMC for a visit with Dr. Such-Neibar (she is our Rehab Dr.). The visit went very well. She was very impressed with Jonah's increased strength and balance. She said the the general rule of thumb is that kids who sit by age two will be walking by age 5. She said that she had no doubt that Jonah would be walking by age 5 and it's highly likely he'll be walking by age 3-4!!! Very good news! The other big thing was that we finally have housing in Virginia. We will actually be located in Virginia Beach rather than Norfolk. Dave will move in on the 17th and Jonah and I are looking for a flight somewhere around the 24th! It looks very promising that we'll all be together before the end of the month!

I can hardly believe our little angel is 2 years old today. I've spent the day reminiscing on this day two years ago and how very far we've come. I'm truly grateful for the lessons I've learned over the past two years and I wouldn't trade them for the world but I hope we never have to go through it again! Jonah started the day off at 6:00 this morning by yelling "Hi" over and over until I came to get him out of bed! Nurse Ally came today and spoiled Jonah with a huge bag of toys! I think his favorite today was the star stacker rings. Jonah loved to play with the Pali cousins and didn't want them to leave. It's a good thing they gifted Jonah a framed family picture so he can always have them close. We had an interesting meeting today with a reporter from the Tremonton Leader (our local news paper). The reporter called yesterday and made the appointment for today stating that they had received numerous emails requesting that they do a story on J...

Jonah and I had planned on having a very productive day today . . . however, we got a phone call at 10 that said that Jonah's new DAFOs (his fancy foot/leg braces) were in and that they had a cancellation at 11. If we could be there at 11 they would make sure they fit! SO I dropped everything and went. I was more than wiling to take a cancellation since it took over a month to get our first visit where he was casted for the braces. The visit was a quick one and pretty painless. Now over the next few days Jonah will get to wear them for longer and longer periods of time until he wears them full time! I neglected to get a good picture so expect one to be posted here tomorrow! As for the goings on in Norfolk... well, if we wanted regular base housing we could move in on Friday but I feel very strongly that we need to get into Handicap Accessible housing so that Jonah can access the entire house via his adaptive stroller and his gait trainer (super duper child size walker). The ...

Today we celebrated Maddy's birthday! That means that in 2 days Jonah will be 2 years old! I can hardly believe it. It was time to update Jonah's photo on Mamaw's wall. This is what we came up with. I'm a little disappointed with the lighting but my subject was adorable as always! Dave is excited for tomorrow. He has hit a whole lot of dead ends as far as housing goes because of the holiday weekend. We are hopeful that things will go a little better tomorrow!

So it has been a very quiet day today. Nothing really exciting has happened. Jonah took 2 naps as he is still trying to recover from his ear infections. We attended church and played at Nana and Papa Layne's house and at 8:00 Jonah signed, "Jonah -- Night Night -- Bye Bye" It was pretty clear that he was done playing and needed some rest. What a great communicator he is becoming!

Jonah has been feeling much better today! We both got some much needed rest last night and he took a brief nap this afternoon. He was feeling good enough to insist that we go bye bye early this morning. We decided that Nanny and Papa's house was a good spot to crash. We played there all morning and came home to a house full! The Pali family and the other Pali family (Mitch's little brother and his wife) were here. They had just returned from picking 36 dozen ears of corn which they were going to cook, cut off the cob, and freeze! It was quite an undertaking but it seemed to go very smoothly! Jonah enjoyed some cousin time and he is getting a little bit better about being soft with the little twins.

Jonah and I didn't get much sleep last night. He was pretty miserable. This morning when I was getting ready to put him in the tub I noticed that he had crusty yellow stuff dried in his ear. I decided hurried and made an appointment with his pediatrician. When we arrived I told her that I thought Jonah had a ruptured eardrum. She checked him out and agreed adding that both ears were infected and his throat looked raw as well. We left with a Rx for antibiotic ear drops and oral antibiotics. He is already showing signs of improvement! While we were at the office our favorite nurse Hadi came and found us. Word had gone around the office that Jonah and I are leaving and she brought Jonah a gift to remember her by. What a sweetie! We have been so BLESSED with the medical staff that has had a hand in Jonah's successes over the past 2 years! Dave checked into his command yesterday. Hurricane Earl blew past them last night with no major effects felt. He isn't having mu...

It took just over 4 hours for 2 men to load all our belongings on a truck and now it's on the way to Virginia. I'm very relieved to have that part over with! This afternoon Jonah started to act like he is not feeling well and he started running a fever. I'm afraid he may have picked up a bug of some sort. I hope and pray that what ever it is it won't last long!

Today two men boxed up all of my little family's earthly positions, but a suitcase worth of items! It was a long day. I was sooooo glad that all I had to do was watch! The first half of the day I watched from inside the air conditioned house the last half of the day I got to work on my tan while I sat in my glider rocker (which I haven't seen in over a year) while I leisurely read one of my favorite books! I know what you are thinking... Tough Life!...Not! The absolute worst part of moving is packing in my opinion so I'm elated that someone else is doing it for me! Jonah wasn't totally neglected though all of this. He got to play with Nurse Ally from 8-4 then Mamaw dropped him off at the Pali's for some cousin time. When the packers finished up I went and had dinner with the Palis and played with everyone for a while! I'm beat but it's been a good day. Can't wait to get everything loaded up tomorrow and get it on it's way to Virginia! Dave i...

This one is going to be very short. It is nearly midnight and I almost ready for the movers to show up in the morning to load all our stuff in the truck. Thankfully I have wonderful family who entertained Jonah all day so that I could get everything done! THANKS EVERYONE!