New Orleans

After a bit of craziness it was wonderful to get away for a few days. Gramma and Aunt Lindsey were presenting at SITE a technology conference in New Orleans so Grayson, Declan and I were lucky enough to tag along. The first flight down was our longest at two and a half hours and after ten minutes both boys were out!

I was also in luck that we had wonderful flight attendants and the plane had a lot of empty seats. They allowed Grayson to get his own seat and he slept the whole way. The second flight was a little over an hour and both boys did amazing. They watched their iPods and had a little treat. Once at the airport we had a bit of a fiscal with the rental car and ended up waiting two hours for Aunt Lindsey's plane to land and we all went to the hotel together.

After we took some time to relax, settle in to our room and make a plan for the night Gramma, Aunt Lindsey and the little guys headed to the conference to check in while I went to get our car finally. Turns out the conference was a bit further than expected. Which gave Declan time to explore on the walk. 

After dinner we headed out to find an ice cream shop. We found a good one even if it took forever to get there and Lindsey got pulled over by the police on the way back to the hotel. (she claims she did not know where to stop at the red light) Lucky for her the officer saw her shocked face as she went through the light and just gave her a warning. 

The next day Gramma and Aunt Lindsey headed to the conference and the boys and I had fun exploring the Children's Museum, the French Quarter, and the Aquarium.

Later in the evening we found Gramma and Aunt Lindsey for dinner, a walk through another part of the French Quarter and we ended the night with a little ice cream. 

Our third day started with a breakfast of beignets. We attempted to go to Cafe Du Monde however, that is where everyone else was going too. The line to get in was at least an hour long so we ended up a block down the road. The  beignets were delicious and there was little waiting!

After breakfast Aunt Lindsey and Gramma went to their conference and we spent the morning exploring the market area. These two little guys were thrilled I finally found them some bananas. They love bananas right now. I also found a few souvenirs to take back to the big boys. 

The afternoon we headed to Lake Pontchartrain. We decided to go across Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge. It is said to be the longest bridge in the world. This is what Grayson and Declan thought. (love the way Declan is holding Grayson's hand) 

We made it across the bridge, ate lunch then enjoyed the beautiful day playing at the park on the edge of the lake. Declan had a great time throwing rocks and sticks into the water. 

Our last day Gramma and Aunt Lindsey dropped us at the City Park where we walked the sculpture garden and toured Storyland. Storyland is a park with story book and nursery rhyme characters made into slides and climbers for the children to play on.  Gramma and Aunt Lindsey joined us for a bit at Storyland then we enjoyed lunch at a wonderful little place called Mandina's. It was a perfect lunch to end our wonderful trip to New Orleans.  Thank you Gramma for taking us with you! We had so much fun!!

Washington D.C.

March 19th - March 21st Tristan and Greg went on an amazing field trip to Washington D.C. with Tristan's fifth grade class. As you know from the previous post this was quite a crazy week for me. While I was in the hospital with Declan Tristan and Greg were here....

They were at the airport by 4:30 in the morning and touched down in DC by 9:00 am. They were lucky enough to get on a direct flight and did not have to spend all day flying. From the moment their feet hit the ground they were off and running. The first day included the Air and Space museum, National Archives, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, WWII Memorial, Korean Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, FDR Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Iwo Jima Memorial and DC Cupcakes.

Tristan at the National Archives

Iwo Jima Memorial

The second day was just as busy starting with a tour of the Capital building with Congressman Lee Terry including a ride on a secret metro rail that is for congressmen and senators. They visited Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Tristan had to give a report here), Library of Congress and  Arlington Cemetery. They drove two hours to Williamsburg to eat at a pub where people dressed in colonial clothes and acted like colonist. After dinner at the pub they went on a lantern tour of the town.

Congressman Lee Terry and the Crestridge group

changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Day three was spent in Jamestown and Yorktown. Where they visited museums and watched re-enactments of colonial times. Last a quick dinner in DC and it was back home. 

Tristan washing the laundry

a demonstration of using a musket

Tristan got in a little trouble :)

In like a lion, out like a lamb

In like a lion is how our March felt.

Declan has had high fevers on and off from mid December to the end of February. During this time we were in the doctor's office at least once a week and giving him four different antibiotics one of which was rocephin shots that had to be given every other day for a week at the doctors office. Not only was he getting fevers that ranged from 103 to 105 degrees with no or little relief from acetaminophen or ibuprofen he also had swollen glands and soreness in his right leg.  He was fever free for almost three weeks then it came back. On Monday March 18th his doctor thought it would be best to admit him to the hospital.  By being admitted he could have a variety of specialist see him while he had symptoms. Declan was in the hospital for three days. He did amazing.

We could not leave his room because he had an unknown fever. I was able to bring in some toys from the playroom as well as get him a movie to watch. Surprisingly, he never tried to leave the room.  The doctors came many times the same questions and to examine Declan. Each group of specialist would ask the same questions and I would give them the same answers. He was seen by infectious disease, oncology, heart doctors all of which would report back hours later saying what they tested for was all negative. Overall this was good news since they were testing for a variety of cancers and heart diseases however, I still had a sick boy with no answers.  Finally, the morning of our third day the rheumatology department saw him and knew right away that his symptoms were consistent with Periodic Fever, Aphthous, Stomatitis, Pharyngitis, Adenitis Syndrome (PFAPA).  The short version is that Declan will be getting fevers of 101 degrees and higher every two to six weeks from now until he outgrows the syndrome. If you click on the abbreviation it will take you to a link with more details. We are starting to track his fevers now and begin to understand his pattern.  On the positive side we know that his fevers are due to PFAPA and we can treat them with medicine which will make the fevers only last one to two days rather than ten or more. Declan will also have no lasting effects from the syndrome or the medication and he will outgrow it sometime in his twenties. This is what we know for now. We have an appointment with the rheumatologist on the 22nd of April to learn more. Since leaving the hospital he has now had one fever just two days ago. He was given his medicine and within three hours the fever was gone and did not come back. Yeah!!!

Day three Declan was feeling much better and began to explore his hospital room. 

Greg and Tristan had a class field trip to Washington DC during this week too. Which was a bit difficult for Greg not being there with Declan but on the other hand he was very busy touring DC. (more on that soon) 

We are very grateful to Gramma and Uncle Brendan for making sure the boys were taken care of.  Aunt Jasonea and Uncle Jonathan for taking Grayson overnight and throughout the days and the Truesdell family for taking care of the older boys during the day. It was more helpful than you all will know the relief I had knowing my boys were taken care of and I did not have to worry about any of them while in the hospital.