Brotherly Love

It's funny how perspective changes with time and experience. When Andrew was a baby (and the only child) Paul and I used to muse that none of our other kids would be as loved as Andrew. How could we love any other children as much as we loved Andrew? He would be the only child who would get undivided love and attention from his parents. Surely all of the proceeding children would get the shaft. Like I said before, it's funny how perspective changes with time and experience.

While Andrew was the only one of our children to receive undivided attention from both parents, he never had an older brother dote over and love him like Drake does. Paul and I often sit back with much contented smiles on our faces as we witness the love and affection shown to our youngest little boy. We are constantly pleased at the attention Andrew, Barik and Cooper show toward Drake. And now I wonder if Drake is the most lucky of all the children--not only receiving love from his parents (the kind of love that hasn't been divided, but multiplied), but also receiving unconditional and full love from his 3 older brothers.

Andrew loves to carry Drake around. He has found much joy in being able to get Drake out of his crib and play with him when he is fussy. He loves introducing new games (like peek-a-boo) to his littlest brother. He loves sharing his food and toys with the baby and finds as much joy in Drake as Paul and I.

Barik, who isn't quite as hands on with Drake, still gets a kick out of Drake wrestling with him.(I don't know why this picture keeps going sideways when I upload it)

And Cooper just can't seem to get enough of Drake (unless Drake's taking his toys). He loves to hide under blankets with Drake. Loves to be swung in the blanket with Drake. Loves to chase Drake around the house.

In the morning and after naps, as we round the corner of the stairs, Drake is anxious to see which of his brothers is there to greet him. And he greets them back with a toothy smile and a flick of the wrist (his wave) and dives out of my arms to reach them.

Of course Drake isn't the only one to give and receive love from his brothers. They all love each other and are "bes frens" (Cooper's lingo). They wrestle, sword fight, dress-up, swim naked, and sleep by each other. They are sure lucky to have one another.

Brotherly love is a wonderful thing:)

Pizza, anyone?

The first Friday of school, french toast and waffles were on the school lunch menu. Andrew decided he wanted school lunch (a rare occasion--I think he's had school lunch 2 times in 3 years), so of course I gave him the $2 to buy himself lunch. Barik chimed in, wanting breakfast for lunch too. AND Andrew asked if I would go to lunch with him (another rare occasion). So, Cooper, Drake and I made the trek to have lunch with Barik and then Andrew.

Barik was such a big boy--standing in line, holding his own plate and chocolate milk. He really enjoyed this new experience.

A few days later, as I was going through Barik's backpack, I noticed his lunch still in his lunch box. I was shocked! "Barik, are you starving? Why didn't you eat your lunch today? What did you eat for lunch?" To which he matter-of-factly replied, "Pizza." "Barik, I have to pay for that pizza." "No you don't, I just stand in that line and they give it to me." "No, Barik. I will have to pay $2 for that pizza. You don't get it for free." He seemed to understand. So I forgot about it. A couple more days go by. We had some left over pizza in the fridge that I asked Barik if he wanted it in his lunch. "Sure." Normally I pack the boys sandwiches for lunch, so when he came home from school and Andrew casually asked him what he had for lunch, and the answer was pizza, I was a little miffed. But then I remembered that I had packed him pizza in his lunch. With a new awareness, I responded, "Oh, you mean you ate the pizza I packed you in your lunch?" So casually, he replied, "No, I got pizza at school again." Obviously, our discussion didn't stick. I had to take the next level of discipline. "OK, Barik, you're going to need to pay me the $2 for that pizza. If you want to eat school lunch without my permission, and I've already made you a lunch, you'll need to pay for it." Sadly, he paid me his $2. That night during prayers, he asked Heavenly Father to help him remember not to buy school lunch anymore so he doesn't have to pay mommy again.

The next day on the way home from school, I asked Barik what he had for lunch that day. He proudly responded that he had eaten the lunch I had packed him. "Way to go, Bear!" He then asked if he could have his $2 back. Ha-ha! I told him that I was sorry that he couldn't. Life lessons...

Seriously?! A level 2?!

The past two Tuesdays have been a bit rough. I haven't quite pin pointed the source of angst, but let's just say I have to count to 10 several times to get through the day. Last night, after putting the boys to bed, (Paul's been out of town since Monday) all I could think of was my beloved incline machine at the gym. If you've known me for very long, you might think you just misread that I was actually excited to go to the gym. I have not enjoyed going to a gym since I was a teenager. The gym has always intimidated me--the perfect bodies, not wanting to look like I don't know what I'm doing (which I don't) and having to drive to work out (seems a little contradictory). But when one of my best friends moved away and handed over her awesome gym membership, I threw all caution to the wind and decided to check it out (knowing that I could always cancel the membership). Adrienne held my hand the first several times to help me feel comfortable, and then I was hooked! I have discovered that I am a bit of a cardio addict. I love to sweat--hard! I feel like I'm accomplishing so much more if I am dripping with sweat (gross to some, but awesome to me!). I can burn more calories on the incline and stair stepper than any other machine I've tried.

So, with a frustration hangover, I began my day. Of course, it didn't help that Barik couldn't find his shoes right before school and to add to my irritation, several cars cut in line while dropping the boys off,which makes the drop off process even longer (follow the rules, people!). I got Cooper and Drake dropped off at the gym's day care and could almost breath again, only to find that my favorite machine was all taken up. There are only 4 of them--one is being fixed, so only 3 can be used. It's ok, I'll just jump on the stair stepper and wait. The lady that was on the incline machine right next to me (using up one of my precious incline machines) had it inclined to a 2 (this in a machine that incline 50%). You're using this machine at a 2?! Are you kidding? Why not use one of the 28 treadmills and take it up to a whoppin 2! This did not help my frustration!

After 10 minutes on the stair stepper, little miss "2" finally got off, wiped it down (like she was even sweating). FINALLY it was my turn. I love being able to release that adrenaline! I hit it hard! I reminded that machine what it was made for pushing it to 45% at 2 minute intervals! Sweat dripping! Breathing hard! Listening to my tunes! Loving every minute of it! By the time my work out was over (did another 15 minutes on the stair stepper after 35 minutes on the incline) I burned 1100 calories. That's what a call a work out! The day will go much better now. Whew...

School days...

Last Monday was the first day of school for 3 of our little boys. Paul went into work a little late so he could walk Andrew and Barik to their first days of school. We read them all "The Kissing Hand" and hurried off to school. Dropping Barik off at Kindergarten (Ms. Kerkel) was our first stop. I wanted to make sure Andrew knew where Barik's class was (just in case). Barik was super excited! He sat at his table and immediately started coloring. Never was he intimidated. Never did he think about crying. He had been looking forward to going to Andrew's school for a long time. We snapped a couple pictures of Barik, and then rushed to drop Andrew off at his class. We were cutting it pretty close to the tardy bell, which stressed Andrew out quite a bit. He doesn't like to be late (even if it is the first day of school, and no one really cares). Of course I had to snap a picture of him in front of his 3rd grade classroom (Mrs. Olsen). He was not impressed to use up more time (all at the risk of being late) to take his picture. You can read that expression on his face in the first photo. After being told that I would wait as long as it took to get a smiling picture of him, he relented (he knew momma meant business).

And the last stop (an hour later) was at Cooper's preschool. He asked me if I was staying, but was fine with the idea of staying without me. He started playing in the kitchen area, went outside and gave me a big hug good bye.Cooper's buddy Austin has helped him with the transition and LOVES going to school in Austin's car.

I had a very quiet day. It was just Drake and I in the morning. Cooper came home, ate lunch and then went down for a nap. The boys all came home super excited--all of them having had a very good first day of school. And as tradition, I made brownies for their 1st day of after school snack. It was a good day.

Surgery

This is Danny (Dr. Vaughan's assistant) who took all of Andrew's casts off.

Yesterday Andrew had surgery again to remove the pin that had been placed in his radial. On the way to the hospital, I looked back at Andrew who had a very concerned look on his face. I asked him if he was ok, to which he responded that he didn't want to have the surgery. What do you say to something like that? We all remember well the last surgery 4 months ago--it was painful. Not only was his arm broken, but the doctor had to drill a hole in his radial bone to insert a rod/pin to get it put back together so it would heal properly. The radial bone is the one in the arm that has a bit of a curve to it which makes it possible to twist the wrist--it curves over the ulna. I had expected him to be groggy after his first surgery--and just sleep. But that was not the case. He was extremely agitated--screaming and appeared to be in pain. I thought the drugs they had given him would have prevented any pain, so I was not prepared for this reaction. We went to Walgreen to get his prescription filled, tried to get some food in him (he had been fasting for 10 hours by this point, and because the tylenol had codine in it, he had to have something in his stomach). I had been fasting as well, and definately had a hard time trying to console this unconsolable child. He continued to scream and moan for a good 30-40 minutes. It was rough for all of us. But then when he finally fell asleep (without any food or medicine), he slept for several hours. So with that experience in the back of our minds, we met this next procedure.

Of course he didn't want to go through with it, but that wasn't an option. As we got to the hospital, Paul took Andrew off to a quiet place to give him a fathers blessing. When I saw him next, his spirits were high. He and Paul were joking and continued to joke until the surgery.

We got him in his hospital gown (he was not thrilled to be sitting in a dress, but made the best of it anyway) and then Dr. Vaughan came over to go over the procedures of the surgery with us. He had noticed on Andrew's chart that he had just turned 8 and asked him if he had been baptised. I LOVE that our doctor is LDS. Of course his religion doesn't make him a better surgeon, or maybe it does. I don't know. But I know that we have that common background with common values and that gives me a lot of peace. The poor doctor found out my religion when I passed out at Andrew's first follow up appt. after the first surgery--he had to pull my shirt back down after it had lifted as the doctors caught me and lowered me to the chair. A bit embarrassing. Anyway, I digress...

I got suited up in the little "bunny suit" (I think it looks more like a space mans suit) to take Andrew back to the OR. I held his hand as he fell asleep. One minute he's joking around with me, and the next, his eyes get real heavy, his face scrunches at the stink of the sleeping gas, and he falls asleep with lips parted and drool at the corner of his mouth. And then it's back to the waiting room for the doctor to give the good word. "All done and he's doing well."

The first surgery Andrew was an add on. We had an idea that he would need surgery that day, but needed it confirmed by the Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon. There were many hours of waiting. I think we were in the pre-op room for more than 3 hours. We were in the lobby waiting for the surgery to be over for more than 1 1/2 hours (this was the longer end of the doctors estimated surgery time, which doesn't bode well with a worrying mom). We were the last to leave the lobby. We got up about 5 am to give Andrew his last meal, and didn't get home again until after 5 that night.

This time was so much quicker. Andrew had a scheduled surgery--the waiting was minimal. Paul and I were in the lobby for only 45 minutes (and yes, I was watching the time) before Dr. Vaughan came back to let us know the surgery was done and that Andrew was in recovery. What a relief to have this part over. Now we'd have to see what his waking up was going to be like. The anasthesiologist was aware of how difficult Andrew woke up the prior time so gave him some extra medicine to help him wake up slower in hopes that would help him be less agitated. It worked! He was tired, but not agitated. Although when we got home, he wouldn't go upstairs to nap in our bed--he insisted on being on the couch. And he wouldn't eat anything that would be easy on his stomach like the nurses has suggested. He insisted on chocolate. And he wouldn't just sit still. He insisted on having Nic come over. He never did take a nap after getting home. And Nic was able to come over around 3 pm, which at least gave him some time to lay low.

I am convinced that his ease of recovery had a big part to do with the blessing Paul had administered to him before his surgery. Of course it helped that he was under anasthesia for about half the time. But he's over at Nic's house playing right now and hasn't had any pain medicine since the ibuprofen he had this morning. We're all so glad to have this part behind us. Hope to stay away from an OR for a long time!

Baptism Day

It seems like more often than not, these special days have an overshadowing of stress--trying to get there on time, trying to keep everyone looking nice, trying to keep the spirit. But this was not one of those days. The day went off without a hitch. Saturday morning, I packed up the car (this was to be the last day of our nearly month long trip to Utah), showered, helped Paul and my parents get the kids ready, and while we were right on time, we stopped to have a family prayer and give Andrew the chance to open his baptism presents before hitting the road to head to the Stake Center. He was thrilled with his suit! He had been asking me if he could wear it for 3 weeks. And let me tell you how handsome he looks in it! I know I'm his mom, but that kid is super handsome! I wasn't sure what his reaction would be to the scriptures and journal Paul and I had given him. As he opened them, he curiously opened the scripture carrying case, took out the set of hard bound black (engraved w/ Andrew M. Boley) scriptures and proceeded to thumb through the pages. Not saying much, and never having been one to show much excitement, I just sat back and observed. As we loaded into the car to drive to the Stake Center, he wanted his scriptures and journal on his lap. Paul and I had both written a special message to him in his journal. As he got into the car, he said, "Mom, I read what you and dad wrote in my journal." "Oh yeah? What did you think?" "I liked it." (that's BIG for him to offer up that comment.) He wanted to have his scriptures with him in his pictures, took them with him into the baptism program and took them to church with him yesterday (and even remembered to bring them home again).

We stayed an extra long time in Utah so Andrew and Emma could be baptised together. It's much easier for us to travel to all the family than hope for everyone to travel to us. I loved sharing this special day with Emma. And she sure looked beautiful! She took my breath away when I first saw her--the tears that were already so close to the surface almost flooded over at that moment.

My Dad gave a talk about baptism--remembering how he was baptised in the Tabernacle (what an awesome memory!). He also spoke about baptism being the first essential saving ordinance to be entered into. He spoke directly to the kids who were being baptised (Andrew, Emma and 2 other boys from Emma's ward).

Emma was the first to be baptised, followed by Andrew. Paul and Andrew walked down into the waters of baptism together. As Andrew stood in the water, he looked out at his cousins who were kneeling just above him, watching him. I don't think I've ever seen that big of a smile on his face! He was so happy! The first dunk was a success. After Andrew and Emma's baptisms, we waited in the Chapel's overflow for the other two boys. Then Emma was confirmed, and next came Andrew. Paul confirmed and blessed Andrew to be a leader among his friends and to continue to be a good example to his brother. In the confirmation circle were: Paul, Mikel Boley, John Telford, Matt Boley, Brent Cooley, Brett Telford, Benj Skolmoski and Great Grandpa Telford. I mentioned to Andrew that he is probably the only one of his brothers to have Great Grandpa be part of the confirmation circle. He is getting very old and I can't imagine him making it to Barik's baptism. I think he recognizes how special it is that my Grandpa was able to participate in that blessing.

After the baptism, we went to a beautiful park and had lunch. I was so touched by all the love that has been shown to our family and the influences that have helped Andrew get to this point in his life. Family is what matters most.

When everything was said and done, I realized I had forgotten to get pictures of Andrew with too many people. It's too bad you can't go back and recreate those days to capture the memories on film. I would have loved to get a picture of him with me. I would have loved to have pictures of him with his grandparents, his great grandparents, his cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers. Live and learn. I'll remember at Barik's baptism. I hope...