crowded house!

Oh joy of joys...today I feel so tired that I have seriously contemplated just going to bed for the day...but alas, I'd pay for it in the morning if I did.
Our house is crazy this afternoon. As I type, I have frozen shark thawing out in the sink. How to cook this shark...no idea....all of my kids are home from school including our babysitter Arne who comes over most afternoons to hang out for a while and two of Drew's frineds. The two friends here visiting Drew are none other than his "ex girlfriend" and his "current girlfriend." They are all playing with the new puppy. Some kids are trying to do homework, Sydney is crying and Arne is thankfully holding her. Brandon is attempting to write a story and at the same time tell me an unrelated story while Jackson is trying to obtain permission to go outside. Brice is running through the kitchen waving his pants in the air yelling "mommy help me! Help me!" I beleive he would like some assistance redressing himself.
Albert is not home yet because he went to talk to a college kid about getting life on the right track so he can play football in college...okay, now Brice has thrown himself in my lap wailing "Mommyyyyyyy...Mommyyyyyyyy" Oh wait...he's just moved on.
So far the housetraining with Zoe is going awesome...lets hope it doesn't change because I wrote that.
Well, time to go find out how to make the shark for dinner.
Gotta run...

Locked outside in the snow!

This afternoon, as I was trying to work with Zoe on house training, I noticed that she seemed to be sniffing out a spot to use the bathroom. I quickly threw on some shoes and darted outside with the puppy and set her down. Sure enough she successfully pottied outside and I grabbed her up and praised her. It was snowing out and definatly was chilly out and when I got to the door to come back in, I noticed that the knob wouldn't twist. Why, do you ask, wouldn't it twist??? I was wondering that myself when Brice's face appeared in the window portion of the door and gleefully exclaimed "Ficey lock door!"
I thought my heart might stop cold in my chest! I put on a nice fake smile (so he wouldn't think he was in trouble) and said in my sweetest voice "Brice, let Mommy back in. Please" Fortunately, he immediately unlocked the door. Thank Goodness. Sydney and the twins were inside too.
In other Brice news...we had an appointment this evening at what I thought was 4:30. Our insurance company was sending a nurse out to draw some blood and do a few tests and some paperwork for the insurance policies we are taking out. So, at about ten till four, I ran upstairs to shower and wouldn't you know it...we were wrong about the appointment time and it was really 4:00. Lovely. Albert was still not home and I was in the shower. That left my kids to entertain Nurse Betsey. Of course the kids came banging on the bathroom door yelling things like "She's here!" and "Mom...Company!!!"
I scrambled down the steps and discovered.....Brice had apparenltly not been pleased by Nurse Betsey's arrival and had uttered a few choice words at her. The words he chose are so bad, that I can't even repeat them here for fear that blogger will kick us out of their site but let it suffice to say that we've had yet another long talk with him regarding his frequent use of foul language.
I think last time I posted I said that Brandon was sick. He remained sick throught the weekend, but Dr. Bob said we could keep him home unless he worsened. Otherwise we could wait till Monday. So,yesterday we went to clinic and Dr.Rob took a look at him. He was already feeling better so we just grabbed a round of counts and did the usual Pentamidine that we were due for. Counts still looked good despite his being sick. Platelets were 167K, ANC was thru the roof at over 7,ooo due to his illness and hemaglobin was 12 so we were of course really pleased. His CRP (the count that measures the level of infection in the body) was eleveated at 8.5 (normal is less than 0.5) but Dr. Rob felt that it probably had been higher than that and was on the way back down. So, all in all, a good day.
The great news is that we got the green light to start the weaning down of cyclosporine next week. So right now he is on 300 mg's per day of cyclosporine. That is given in two doses- 150 in the morning and 150 in the evening. The first step of the taper schedule will be to drop him to 125 in the morning and keep the 150 at night. We'll do that for 1 month, then go to 125 in the morning and 125 at night. After a month of that we'll go to 100 in the morning and 125 at night...you get the pattern... (Mom, if the pattern is confusing you, call me and I'll explain better...Katie...just don't worry about it...just kidding....really, I'm kidding)
Okay, I'm going to try to make a Zoe video. I'll post it as soon as its ready.

Announcing Zoe Elizabeth Fontenot...

OUR NEW BABY!!!

We have adopted a new family member today. We added Zoe to our family this afternoon. Zoe is a purebred Rotweiler, though not AKC registered. We aren't looking for a showdog or a dog to breed, just a pet and a family member, so she's perfect for us. Zoe was bred by a family with two small children and the children were a big part of the puppies care so that is really a plus. I had been wanting a lab puppy but when I saw a sign posted in our local grocery store I decided to go have a look. The puppies were so cute, I couldn't resist. Albert just shook his head. He claims he's not excited but he was a big participant in the name debate (the candidates were Izzy, Zoe, Egypt, Augusta, or Brooklyn...Zoe was the clear winner) Then I added Elizabeth as her middle name. Corny I know. But I hate when animals don't have middle names. Isnt that weird!

Zoe Fontenot Zoe in her box that Daddy put together to make her feel safe

Here are some other pics from the last few days. Last night before our date...

Mommy & Sydney Mommy & Daddy Mommy & Daddy

Here are some pictures of the babies and of Shannon's visit

Shannon & Alexandria Ethan Aidan & Isaac

And finally here are some of the babies:

Alexandria Isaiah & Alexandria Sydney

My First Outing Without Sydney...

As most of you know, I will as a general rule, NOT leave Sydney. Everywhere I go, she goes and everywhere she goes, I go. I have made a few quick runs to little places here in Mascoutah, such as the pharmacy or the post office or to grab a loaf of bread at the store alone, but I've never been away from here for more than 20 minutes. Until tonight. My husband wanted to go out on a date, and when I accepted his invitation, I had every intention of bringing Sydney with us. We had a perfectly good babysitter, Arne, who had volunteered to stay the night at our house so we could stay out as late as we wanted. But when Drew came into our room while we were getting ready and said "Are you taking Sydney?" I heard my husband reply "No." He was very simple and matter of fact about it. I paused, set down my curling iron and popped my head around the bathroom door.
"We are taking Sydney." I responded, I'm sure sounding more than a little lost and confused. In fact, it probably sounded more like a question than a statement.
"No." Albert said again. "There are places I want to go that would be too loud for her."
"No," I protested. "I don't want to be away from her. I've never left her before..." on and on I went. Albert looked a little dejected and looked at Drew and said "I guess we're taking her."
Well, that made me feel bad. I don't want to be not available to my husband...and it was freezing cold outside, maybe it would be better to leave her in the toasty, cozy confines of our house. We had a great sitter plus Drew knows how to take care of her. The boys can make bottles, change diapers...do everything we can do. I was running out of excuses not to leave her. I hemmed and hawed over it in my mind for a few minutes and then struck on a compromise. I told Albert that we could leave Sydney if we stayed home until after the twins and Brice went to bed. That way we wouldn't be leaving Arne with quite so many little ones. So thats what we did. It worked out perfectly too, because Brice hadn't napped today so he was ready to sleep.
So we put the twins and Brice down at 7:00 (much to Alexandria's angry protests. Spa day had to be rescheduled. Sorry Alex, but I gotta snag your dad when I can! Tomorrow we'll catch up on spa day) Then we left on our date...and what was our hot date you might ask....a trip to Panera bread company where we looked up different dog breeds on our laptop as Panera offers free WIFI. As if that weren't exciting enough, we then drove across the parking lot to Target (anyone who knows me knows that this is a fabulous date for me, as I am obsessed with Target...I dream of working there just in exchange for baby clothes). I found these things called NotSox for the girls. They are like thick winter tights ony without the toes, so they are more like leg warmers. So freakin cute! A little pricey- $11.00 per pair which is wayyyyyy more than I would generally ever pay for tights, socks or a combination of both, but I splurged this once.
Then we headed back into our little town and topped off our night with a quick stop at "The Juicy Peanut" a little hole in the wall bar down the street. We just got one quick drink (well, Albert did. I just sat there and enjoyed the conversation.) By now I was getting a little desperate to get back to Sydney. I just don't enjoy being away from a small baby. I don't mind leaving the older kids so much. The big ones are capable of understanding where we are and the older babies are going to sleep through the night anyway, so as long as we're there to put them to bed and then there again in the morning to get them out of bed, its all gravy as far as they are concerned. But the little babies, I detest being seperated from. I think its partially biological. A mother is hardwired to be near her newborn. Hence why they are so completely dependant. Additionally, I practice attachment parenting with Sydney (to the extent possible with so many other babies, so really I geuss its a "modified" attachment parenting) I wear her in a sling so much that to be out without her attached to my body or not in my arms or near me somehow feels very ackward. Not that I didn't have fun. I enjoyed my husband quite a bit, it was just good to be back home with my daughter. And apparently, my daughter had the same idea. When we arrived home and walked upstairs to the loft, Sydney was sleeping, though fitfully, in her swing. As soon as she heard my voice saying hello to the boys, her eyes snapped awake and she's been wide awake ever since. She has been lying in my arms smiling and laughing at me. I've tried two or three times to lay her down in her basinette beside me, as it is time for her to be in bed, but she won't have it. She cries and longs to be picked up again. And when I do, she buries her head on my shoulder and is quite content. At the current moment, she is doing the same on her Dad's shoulder and is a happy and contented as can be in his arms.
I am definately up for another date night with Albert, but perhaps next time Syd comes with us!

Well, St. Louis City schools did the noble thing- the safe thing- and cancelled school today which gives Albert and I a wonderful head start on our weekend. Mascoutah, is apparently less concerned with safety than with ensuring their state funding for the day so school was on for the boys. I gave them the choice, as looking outside my bedroom window, it was obvious to me that I wouldn't bring myself outside today, so why would I force my children to go out into the cold? All but Jackson opted to go to school. Brandon weighed his options for a moment but upon finding out that a few chores were on the days agenda for any stay-homers...he chose to go to class!
I must say, although a tad bit of cabin fever is begining to set in, its wonderfully cozy and warm and toasty being all settled in the house with Albert and our little ones. The twins are eating a very late breakfast/early lunch in their highchairs, Jackson is lounging comfortably on the couch watching television, Sydney is dozing in her swing and Brice is cruising around the kitchen table drinking the remnants of everyone's soda's. The house is a beautiful mess with beds unmade (and thus ready to be jumped back into for a warm nap) baby toys scattered on the living room floor, and a load of laundry ready to be folded and put away upstairs.
It feels very satisfying today, being here with the freezing temps of the ice storm outside our front door. This is exactly how I imagined my life when I was a little girl. This is exactly what I've always wanted and though so many of our days are filled with more than an ample share of stress and chaos, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have been blessed in more ways than I am probably even aware.
Today is spa day for Alexandria and I. We have started this little tradition that someday Sydney will join in on as well. Once a week (usually Friday) we have a spa day. We take a bubble bath together (Alex hates the bathtub and will only get in if I'm in with her) Then we get out all of the yummy smelling lotions, powders ect and we have a great time putting on lotions, purfume, painting toenails and getting in warm pajamas. Then we read a few stories and sing a few songs and have a little talk where I explain to Alexandria how special it is to be a girl. I tell her all the things that are amazing about being a woman. I tell her how one day she will be a Mommy herself and that it is quite a blessing to be the conduit through which God brings about new life (at least most of the time).
Yes Mom, I even things up by spending time in the rocking chair with Isaiah reading and singing with him. Sometimes during the songs, I even refer to him by name!

winter storms and a visit from Shannon

Today we woke up to winter weather..but not the typical snow. Instead it was ice and sleet. The roads were terrible and people were having accidents all over the place. Albert called into work to tell them he'd be a little late and they told him that all the teachers living in IL had already called off and not to worry about comming in as school was probably going to be dismissed early anyhow. I promise the only freaking districts that were in session were Albert's and the kids. The boys were dismissed by lunchtime and came home.
Also today, my friend Shannon from my twins group came to spend the day with me. She has a little boy named Ethan who is 4 and then twins that are 16 months old (same as ours) and she is expecting a girl in May. We had quite a nice time talking and reading posts from our twins group. Her twins (Aidan and Issac) sleep just as much as Isaiah and Alexandria do, so we actually did have enough time to chat and hang out, though Brice and Ethan never did take their naps as they were just having too much fun.
Now, Albert and I are watching movies together and I'm looking forward to a sound sleep! Hopefully we will wake up tomorrow and discover that there is no school and our weekend will begin on a great note! Although I wouldn't put it past either St. Louis city or Mascoutah to keep school in session despite the conditions.

A few pics of yesterday!

Here are some pics of yesterday. The first two are at the cardiology appointment. Look how big Sydney is getting. She was 13 pounds 2 ounces yesterday! The bottom two pics are Alexandria's new big girl hair syle. Poor Alex only has curls on the bottom and sides and her hair is short on top! But, using Tonya's advice of getting the little dollar store micro hair bands, I can at least turn her sideburns into piggy tails! LOL!

Sydney's Official DX "Aorto-pulmonary collateral"

Okay, So, we went to Sydney's echo this afternoon and it was, as expected, a nerve wracking event on many levels. I had to bring all the babies and Brice with me. My good friend Ora, was going to watch some of them for me, but her kids have the flu (poor them!) So I took them with me, afterall, they are my kids and I have to get used to having them with me, if Albert is going to get a second job. The kids were hidious though. So bad in fact, that at one point that, two nurses came running in to see in if everything was okay.
So, we did an echo and an EKG and all during the echo, Sydney was screaming and the tech was trying to calm her down. I couldn't make out anything I was seeing on the screen but I could tell by the tech's face that she was seeing something. I tried asking if all looked well, knowing of course, that the tech is never allowed to disclose info anyhow. She had a really thick Bosnian accent and said "Don't worry about that. Doctor talk to you." Alrighty then. Finally, two and a half hours after we arrived, Dr. Rahimi comes in. Albert had by now gotten off of work and come to the hospital to help me with the babies.
Dr. Rahimi asked several questions and then told us that basically she has something called aortopulmonary collateral. It's really no big deal and should have no impact on her life at all.
Its apparently something where there is a valve present when you are a fetus to shunt blood away from the lungs (as a fetus doesn't breathe through the lungs) Erin, is this right??? If not, let me know. I don't understand it too well yet. Anyhow, at birth this valve usually seals off. Sydney's is still there though it is small. Thus, the murmur is from blood rushing quickly through a small vessel. The doctor said it would probably close by itsself and wants to see her back in 6 months to check. There is the possibility that it will never close on its own and if that is the case then they reccommend surgically closing it sometime down the road. Hopefully it will be gone in 6 months as it is small now. So, not the innocent murmur we were hoping for, but all in all, a releif as this is no biggie.
Also, I talked to Dr. Rob today about weaning Brandon from the cyclosporine. I told him about the study I had seen showing that severly slowing down the taper schedule can dramatically decrease rates of relapse. Dr. Rob had already seen the study and agreed that this is what we should do for Brandon. He reminded me that the study was done on patients who were on cyclosporine for the 1st time, and Brandon has already exhibited that he is a relapser. But, he thinks this is his best shot. So, starting in a month or two we'll begin by lowering his dose by a 12th every month. I'm very hopeful that this new study may prove to be the key for him and so many children like him. Okay, well the relative few children like him.
Today is Jackson's 6th birthday. We took him to dinner to celebrate. O'Charleys has free kids meals and you get two kids free per adult! I know they hate to see us comming! So we buy an adult meal for me, Albert and Jackson and then everyone else eats free. They charge $2.00 per kids drink so we make ours drink water. I know, I know, we're cheap. I tell them water is better for them anyway, and I'll get them a 12 pack for the weekend for a fraction of the cost. Aren't we frugal!!!
Well, Sydney is screaming her head off now, so I guess I'd better go. Night everyone.

click on "our friend Kailee's website" Please

Just wanted to tell you that there is a wonderful update on Kailee Wells' website. Please check it out. It's linked on our blog under "our friend Kailee's website." I'm sure many of you know the story, but those that don't, here's a quick re-cap. Kailee Wells is a little girl, adopted from China who has the same disease (aplastic anemia) that Brandon has. Unfortunately, as she's adopted from China, there are no known siblings to test, and she didn't respond to the same immunosuppression therapy that has helped Brandon so much. So that left a non-related donor transplant. But when they looked on the national registry- she had no match. She was dying and had no match. Her parents, went on a misson to increase awareness of joining the national marrow donor program and were successful in adding thousands to the list. They quit jobs, sold thier cars and downsized their lives in order to move to Wisconsin where the best known aplastic doctor could take care of her. They then went to China (you are more likely to match people of your own heritage, though not always) and added thousands of people to their registry as well. Still, they were loosing their battle to save their daughter and finally out of desperation decided on a long shot attempt at traveling back to China, to the town where they adopted her and begging someone, anyone to come forward if they were the ones that were her biological parents or had any info.
They had their suitcases packed and by the door and were preparing to leave the next morning when they received a phone call saying that a match had at last been found for Kailee on the Chineese registry. All thier years of work had paid off, when a doctor from China had walked in and added himself to the registry...he matched Kailee perfectly...after 10 million others had not.
Just a couple of months ago, Kailee and her family flew to China and were able to meet the donor who donated marrow for her not once but three times (after she rejected the first two transplants) Her story is miraculous. Please click on the link and read this incredible story. What a blessing from God. Her story brings tears to my eyes each time I read an update, whether the news be good or bad. Please check it out. It's very inspirational.

What??? No Puppy???

Alas, we are at the end of our weekend and is the house organized and in top condition, ready to meet the challenges of life with 10 family members??? That would be a big 'ole HECK NO!
We have made progress, but there continues to be 2 refridgerators sitting in my kitchen. Albert and Drew have yet to move the old one out to the garage (our garage has never actually seen a vehicle...its rather more of a holding tank for a various assortment of crap.)
We do have clean bathrooms, clean bedrooms (except Drew's) and a clean loft, a reasonably clean kitchen and living room but still a messy dinning room and laundry room. I hate the messiness of both of these rooms and and hopefull that they will be clean soon. Very soon. But probably not tomorrow. Tomorrow is a busy day for us. It's Jackson's birthday! He will be six and as I type, I have muffins, his favorite breakfast in the oven. Thank God his favorite breakfast isn't eggs, bacon, sausage and grits. Then, I have to be somewhere at 8:00 in the morning and to add to the chaos...Sydney's long awaited heart echo is in the afternoon. So, I have to go to the school and arrange for the boys to be in after school care since I won't be home in time for them to get off the bus.
This afternoon, instead of doing all the things we should have, we went and ran errands. We had to pick up a few things for Jackson's birthday, including the muffin mix. while we were out, I talked Albert into taking me by the humane society to look at puppies (okay, so I want a lab puppy...most of the time...until Raja does something really dog-ish then, I say NO MORE DOGS EVER!) Anyhow, they had the cutest little lab mix puppies! I wanted a girl, and they had girls! They were 6 weeks old and precious! They were all black ( I love black labs, and in fact only want a black lab). Albert would not let me adopt one!!!! I begged and batted my eye lashes (this ALWAYS works on him..but not this time.! All of you that know us can attest to the fact that Albert NEVER tells me no....at least hardly ever, but he stuck by his "no" today. He was totally logical about the fact that puppies chew and tear things up and we need to wait until our yard is fenced. I know he's right, but those puppies were so darn cute. Their Dad was a black lab and the mom was a border collie mix. I have known a couple of border collie mixes and rationally speaking, yes we should wait for the fence! The puppies were marked like black labs and looked just like the lab we had growing up (named Chelsea) Oh, I wanted to adopt one so bad! Yes, I know we just adopted out our cats. So, the bottom line is NO PUPPY FOR ME! Maybe if I bug Albert enough, one will show up for my birthday in April????

This is the weekend of home repair hell. Seriously, I know this will be good for a laugh (just not from me quite yet) We started the weekend with the very real intention of not doing much at all but staying in and getting caught up on everything in the house. And that's a lot of stuff. We planned that other than Manny's basketball games and church, there would be no other outings, as otherwise we just keep putting things off.
So, yesterday we go to Emanuel's games. He did awesome, despite being injured in the second game. He was limping around the court, and I of course wanted to run out to him and make sure he was okay, but my husband said that if I did, I couldn't come to anymore games! Something about boys being tough and that it would embarrass him if I stopped the game to check his knee. Sure enough, though he was still trying to shake it off at halftime, he played hard and when at the half, he came over to us and we asked him about it he shrugged and said "It hurts, but no big deal." He plays really aggressive, and in fact fouled out of the game in the 4th quarter. To his defense, because he's a good defensive player, they match him against boys that are twice his size, which forces him to play more aggressive and sometimes too much contact gets made. Plus, add to that that he plays all sports with a football mentality (I mean American football Tonya, in case you're saying "Huh?")
Anyhow, we get home and notice a burning type smell in the houes. We search everyone, but can't figure out where it's comming from. When we check the laundry room, the smell intensifies so we're pretty sure thats the origin. But, there is noting we can see. Nothing sparking, nothing hot. Nothing. We finally determine that the smell is comming from the wall or the light fixture. oh joy. Then last night we decide to switch out our old fridge with the new one we bought last month that has been sitting out in the garage (we didn't buy it new, but from someone who was moving to an apartment that already had one and she needed to get rid of hers since she couldn't store it) So, we take all the food out of the old one, clean out both fridges, start to load up the new one- and notice that the new one was feeling...rather hot. Burning hot in fact. Okay, so Albert unpluggs it and we re-pack the old fridge and now have two fridges in our kitchen! Oh joy again. When we wake up first thing this morning, we discover that #1 the sink is clogged on the non-disposable side, #2 the dishwasher is clogged (the older kids loaded it after dinner and I swear they dont even bother to rinse food off the plates...they would load a Thanksgiving turkey in the dishwasher if they thought they could get by with it). And #3, the downstairs toilet wouldn't flush properly. Our family (and Debi's) have more toilet problems than I can count. I don't think we ever have 3 cosecutive days without their being some type of toilet issue. Ever.
Often its related to what toy (or whose toothbrush) Brice has attempted to flush. Or perhaps a bathroom was out of toilet tissue and instead of getting more, our little darlings just shrugged and wiped with paper towells, baby wipes, or newspaper. I have no idea. But we have LOTS of toilet problems...
So, Albert fixed the plumming issues, cleaned out the fan in the new fridge (new-to-us fridge) and so far so good. It's a lovely day outside (though windy) so cleaning has been suspended so the boys can play outside for a bit. Then its back to the pits! Hopefully at the end of the weekend (we're off tomorrow as well) we'll have a decent house again!
Today is my Mom's birthday!!! She had a party last night with several of her friends. She sounded a bit "tired" this morning! LOL. I think my sisters were taking her out to breakfast.Did I mention how it stinks to be here, away from all of them. Albert and I talk all the time about how if we won the lottery, we'd move to Tennessee to be with them. Then get a vacation house in California so we could visit Albert's Dad all the time. And a vacation house in Florida just because...oh wishful thinking. But the reality is, since we're going to have enough chidren to field a major leage ball club, we probably need to stay right here where we have a decent size house with a reasonable mortgage that we actually have a shot at having paid down by the time we retire.
Anyway, Albert is cooking ribs on the grill right now. His ribs are the best ever! Sorry Dad, your's are pretty close! Since, I'm pretty sure my Dad isn't reading this, I think I'm in the clear.
Mom, that doesn't mean for you to instruct Dad to log on now. Ha ha. For those of you who are wondering, the joke is that I called my Dad (who is only in the country a few weeks out of the year and is very busy at work) to tell him about the blog and when I told him that I updated it all the time so he would always be able to see pics and read stories about the kids he said "awww, hon, I won't have time to look at that when I'm at work...too busy" This is so typical of my Dad. Not in a bad way, just the way he is. Shall I mention that during football season he wakes up in the middle of the night and has a driver bring him to the office to watch football on his computer??? Okay, now before you all think badly, my dad is a wonderful person. He loves all of us enormously, he 's just funny with stuff like that. And sometimes he says stuff without realizing how it sounds (and my Mom and sisters and I laugh it off becuase we know its just "him).
Okay, off to go watch my boys play Wii. It sounds like they're having a blast...then we must return to CLEANING!
love,
angela

Our Valentine's Day (hilarious story)

So yesterday was V-day and we had such huge plans to celebrate. The plan went something like this: we would get homework done with the kids early, make sure they they showered early and had their clothes laid out for school early...we'd excuse them from all thier chores (it's a holiday for them too afterall) and get them upstairs to bed early. The older ones could stay up in their rooms and play a game or read if they wanted but the babies were definately going to bed at 7:00.) We were then going to have a romantic candle light dinner and then head upstairs for, well you can guess.
The reality was a bit different. It went like this: Albert got home late. I ran errands and got home late. House was trashed. Brandon had too much homework and didn't understand how to do it. Babies were cranky. Didn't have half the ingredients for dinner and had to run to the grocery store. Got home and realized I was out of formula so had to run to the store again. Got home and realized I didn't have ice to make frozen mudslide...so just scrapped that off the list. Kids still yelling for "tuck ins" and prayers while I was cooking dinner for us. Brice likes his prayers in a specific order so often we have to stop and re-start. Lit candles for our candlelight dinner but realized we were both too tired so we ate our romantic dinner in bed, illuminated by the glow of Albert's snakes cage and its heating lamp. Laid in bed debating whether or not we had energy for "romantic time" and decided we only had energy for sleep! Ahhh, the joy of kids!
This was the first night Sydney has slept completely through the night! Yes! Unfortunately, Brice woke me up at 3:30 this morning trying to get in our bed...and I haven't been able to go back to sleep. No!
All in all it was a good day yesterday and listen to this story...when I woke up yesterday morning (at 4:30 a.m...thanks Sydney) to make a bottle, I found tulips and candy waiting for me on the kitchen table. So sweet. I love my husband. I knew he'd been wanting a rack to hang his weights on for weight-lifiting (why does that seem misspelled to me??) So when the boys got home from school, I grabbed some of the little ones and headed out to get it at Target. It's only $20 and he never buys anything for himself. After that I ran by the mall because Fredricks of Hollywood has some really nice massage oils that smell so good. We had been planning to pick some up but kept forgetting. So, I thought I'd grab them as a surprise. We head into the mall and make our way towards the store, when who do I see- ALBERT! We both did a double-take and laughed. I told him I wanted to get the lotion and he said "oh we don't really need that do we?" I grabbed him and pulled him into the store so I could at least look at them (seriously I love a back rub more than anything else in life, and that lotion smells wonderful). When we got there, I saw the lotion on the counter. I said to Albert "That's the one!" The clerk then scooped them all up and said "Oh, these ones are damaged." Okay then. So we left and when we got outside Albert started laughing. Seriously, behind his back was a bag from Fredricks. He had already been there and bought the darn lotion. That's why he was at the mall. So funny. We've been married too long. I teased him that I hoped he wasn't there shopping for his girlfriend, but if we was, looks like I got her present! Yea me! haha
We had a big laugh and then looked at a couple things in Sears and headed home again.
In the parking lot as Albert was walking me to my car, he complained that it was freezing and I never wear a coat. I was infact, not only NOT wearing a coat, but was clad in short sleeves. I swear it was warmer when I left the house. Albert gave me his coat and mumbled something to the effect of why after 12 years, I can' t learn to wear a jacket in the winter. Then, he shivered his way back to his car, hilariously enough, parked just feet from mine (how did I miss that?)
So, that was our Valentines Day...looking forward to my back rub tonight....and maybe the mudslide too???

All About Brice

Number 5 in the Fontenot lineup is Brice. Oh boy. I'm not even sure where to start with him.
His full name is Neyland Brice Fontenot. He is the only one without a family name, although his name is very special to us. As most of you know, we are HUGE college football junkies in our house. August-November is a revered season. Anyhow, I am a South Carolina Gamecock fan and Albert is Teneesee Volunteer (SEC BABY!) Well, in our search for "What the heck are we going to name a 5th boy!" after the ultrasound infact revealed yet another fetus with a penis, we struck upon naming him after our college football traditions. South Carolina's football stadium is "Williams-Brice Stadium" and Tennessee plays in "Neyland Stadium" So we combined them and came up with Neyland Brice. But we call him Brice.
His birth was probably my favorite of all the kids. We were able to have everyone there...and I mean everyone. At 6:30 on induction morning, we loaded Drew, Emanuel, Brandon and Jackson in to the van and drove to the hospital. We brought snacks, the portable DVD player and lots of games ect for them and kept them all with us. My friend Becky was also there and so was Alberts sister and her son. The hospital was so wonderful, they never once tried to argue that we couldn't or shouldn't have that many people in the room or that the kids may be better off not there. They simply asked who was staying for delivery and we said "everyone" and they said 'Okay" Even after Drew had turned out the lights while the Dr was breaking my water.
All the kids were gathered around the head of my bed when Brice was born and our OB let Emanuel cut the cord (I should state that at the time, like almost always, we were swearing up and down that this was to be the last baby). After Emanuel cut the cord, Brandon started whining about the unfairness of the situation so the dr. let him snip the opposite side of the cord as well (which was now lying in a metal bowl) Then Drew complained that he didn't get a turn so the Dr. let him take a snip as well. Then Jackson had to have a snip, then our nephew Jaylen had to have a turn, so the cord was in little snipets in the bowl by the end of the fiasco.
Brice was quite an ugly newborn. I say this because I see lots of parents with not so cute newborns exclaim that their baby is the most beautiful thing in the world and I just want it on record that I was completely and totally aware that my baby was slightly...okay seriously lacking in the "Cute" department as a newborn. He infact, remained lacking until he was about a year old. I'm mean, I know! He's adorable now, which is a good thing, otherwise he'd be in military pre-school...in Switzerland.
Brice is now almost three years old. He is full of energy and life and zest. He wakes up in a great mood and totally energized and ready to go. I've actually considered making him run 3 miles each morning on a treadmill to try to dissapate some of that energy from it (sure wish I could somehow channel it to myself!)
Brice is known to be a walking disaster in our house. If he spies eggs in the fridge, he gets them out and smashes them in his hand. HE WILL EAT MEDICATION if it is left lying around and in the past 12 months, I've had to call poison control 3 times (it should have been more, but at some point I just refused to call anymore for fear they would take him away) He's been to the ER for evaluation for eating migrane meds. He also chugged 42 ounces of hugo sized McDonalds poweraide with a couple of energy drinks mixed in. He's eaten Brandon's cyclosporine a few times too. He has also permanently clogged a toilet, ate the dog's treats, and once when Albert brought home math exams to grade (he's a teacher) and accidenltly left them on the table, Brice took a marker to all of them and then proudly exclaimed "Ficey do homework!" Ficey is the name he calls himself.
When the twins were 2 weeks old, Brice chucked a full juice cup at Alex's head, prompting a call to the Dr.
The list goes on and on. I'm sure you all get the point by now.
I secretely fantasize about sending him to full day pre-school 7 days a week. Even though I stay home.
I also secretly fantasize that he came equipped with a mute button.
But, he is a sweetheart and he is hilarious, just not when you are his parents. I'm sure one day we'll look back and laugh about all of his antic...but we're not there just yet.

All About Jackson

So now we have come to #4 in the series of "all about _________" posts. Child # 4 is my sweet little Jackson. His whole name is Jackson Kelly Fontenot. We like to pick family names, and all of our children have names that are after someone on the family tree, except for Brice, a lthough his name is significant as well. Jackson was my Grandfather's name and Kelly appears on Albert's family tree. I think it was Alberts Great Grandfather.
Our little Jackson was born on February 19, 2002. He weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces ( at least I think thats right). This was the birth where my epidural failed to take effect...or as least as much effect as it needed and I was not very nice duirng delivery to the resident that delivered b/c my OB couldnt get there in time. Also the birth where right before the baby was born, Drew sprouted Chicken Pox (in spite of the varicella vaccine) and the nurses wouldn't let him back toi see me or the baby. They also put us in a postpartum room wayyyyy at the end of the hall, in quarentine! Albert got food poinsoning that night when we ate our "celebration takeout" and laid on the other bed in my hospital room for the whole two days. The OB came in and joked that if he didnt move soon a nurse might come in and check HIM for hemmroids.
Fast forward to now. Jackson is getting ready to turn 6 in just a few days. He's in Kindergarten and loves it. He is the sweetest kid in the world with such a tender, naive heart. Though he also has a dreadful temper! He cries a lot. A really lot for a kid his age. So often in fact, that when he approaches us, we tell him to go away and come back when he isn't crying and we'll listen/help hm then.
He has decided that he loves cooking. Often he helps me make dinner and he is so proud of what he makes. When I say that Jackson "helps" what I really mean is that he stirs, pours and occasionally cracks an egg (but only if its a dish that hides egg shells really well). He also moves around the ground beef while its cooking. He is an excellent cheese grater! He loves helping in the kitchen. There is a little center that offers cooking classes for little kids. I think we are going to enroll him. He claims he's going to be a chef when he grows up (this is the apparent winner in his deliberations over whether he should become a chef, a doctor, or an elf!)
Jackson is often in a world of his own. Sometimes he doesn't realize the absurdity of the things he says. To him, I guess they make sense. Once while eating his after school snack I noticed him feeding bites to the dog. This is annoying because we have enough kids to feed without wasting people food on the dog. Raja has her own food.
So I said, "Jackson, I don't buy food for the dog t o eat it."
He looked puzzled for a moment and then asked "Is that because she buys it herself?"
I didn't even know what to say to that one!
He is an excellent cuddler and every night he asks me to make sure I tuck him in! He is my sweetheart (and was a super-cute little baby!)

Life Insurance & Creating a Will (yuck)

So, last night was our trip to Allstate to meet with our insurance agent to discuss taking our more insurance on Albert and getting some for me and the kids. This came about after Albert realized that the policy he has at work would not pay enough to cover our mortgage and leave me able to care for our children. When we talked about it, it occured to us that if something happened to me, Albert would have no childcare and childcare is expensive. So, although I have no official income, we'd need to replace the money that we save by me being a stay at home mom. Then it occured to us further that since two of our children have health issues and at least Brandon is potentially uninsurable, we might want to get riders for our kids too so that if anyone else pops up with a health issue they will already be insured. This of course, led to the big discussion on wills. Now, we've had this discussion several times before and we never get anywhere because we can never come up with a suitable candidate for who would raise our kids. However, we also know that if we don't name someone...the state will do it for us. The tricky issue is, we have 8 of them and we don't want them split up. ever. period.
We know that when Drew comes of age, he'll be appointed the guardian of our other children if something should happen to us, but right now he's just 12 himself....so we need to make a plan.
This is so stressful. At least the insurance part of the issue was fixed last night. The other...well...the debate continues.
At the insurance office last night, we had a blast. It was kind of like a date even (if you ignore Brandon and Sydney sitting there!) I guess Albert and I acted a bit too silly though. Each time the agent would discuss coverage, one of us would tease the other by saying things like "sleep well tonight honey!" or "when we get home, how about if I fix you a snack!"
Albert made jokes about lacing my food with reisen (a poison that is difficult to detect unless you test specfically for it) and I teased him that I was going to poison him with puffer fish ovaries (also a deadly toxin). I think the agent thought we were crazy and looked at me and said "Mam, if he asks you to check the taillights on your car...make sure you have both sets of keys in your hand!" We got quite a laugh out of that! We continued to tease each other and were still trading comments and one-liners while the agent was telling us to expect a phone call from underwriting regarding our medical histories. Maybe he thought we weren't listening because he said
"people listen, this is very important because nobody can kill anyone until these calls are made!"
I swear this was the most fun date we've had in a while. Minus the sleet and 16 degree weather.

all about Brandon take 2!

Okay, so if you are wanting to read the first "all about Brandon" I would suggest you grab a cup of coffee or tea and settle in. What I basically did was realize at the end of the post that I hadn't posted much about my son, but had posted about his disease and that is not who he is...so lets start again.
Brandon is in 2nd grade this year. He's quite a charecter. I kid you not, he can aggrevate the daylights out of people. And he picks out the weakest links and goes in for the kill. Often, I guess I'm the weakest link because he sure aggrevates me. Like when I tell him he can't sleep in our bed only to find him hiding under the bed an hour later! Or when I tell him I'm pregnant (with Sydney) and amoungst all the other kids laughing and being happy, Brandon tells me (with a totally serious face) "Mom, people don't like when you have too much kids....and we have TOO MUCH KIDS!"
He also informed his dr. that "there aren't any good snacks today at clinic. Clinic is supposed to have good snacks." Usually there is a regridgerator and cupboards stocked with snacks and drinks for patients but they were running low that day. Such tact Brandon has!
Or my favorite. This past October when we were planning his birthday party and I told him we'd need to send invitations out to the whole class so as not to hurt any feelings, he replied "But Mom...I don't really like most kids in my class. Let's just invite some."
He is very honery! He also has a heart of gold burried somewhere inside there....way, way deep down. He is very sad if we have to miss church and always wants to have a family devotional time. He is his dad's sidekick. He wants to go everywhere with his Dad...and really loves it when its JUST he and his dad. I can' t count how many times I've heard "Mom, are you comming too?"and when I say yes, he says under his breath "awwwww" Gee, thanks Brandon!
He has a very tough shell but I think that is in part from all he's been through. He doesn't like to make friends, and at clinic, will rarely play with the other children. I suspect its because he doesn't want to deal with the fact that often, our friends from clinic pass away.
His sense of humor is huge. If he thinks he's going to get a spanking, he'll put on several pairs of pants! He LOVES family time more than any kid I've ever seen. Almost to the exclusion of the rest of the world. He doesn't really love doing things with extended family or friends unless its someone he hasn't seen in a long time. He doesn't like to invite people over because he claims "they're going to wreck my room and I'll have to clean it up." And indeed if you have him make his bed, he'll sleep on top of the covers the next night, no matter how cold he gets to preserve the "made-ness" of his bed becuase forbid he should have to take the 3 minutes to re-make it. The concept of re-making a bed each morning so that you'll have a comfortable place to sleep at night if foreign to him! Okay, so it is to me as well but I don't sleep on top of the made bed...I just hardly ever make mine! Why bother...there's always a kid in it!
Brandon is also really smart. He catches on very quickly to most things (though counting money in school is posing some problems) He is behind his peers acedemically though due to the tons of missed school that we thank his medicine for (it lowers the part of his immune system responsible for fighting virsus'...you can imagine then going to public school and having 7 siblings!)
He loves football and is so excited that he'll get to play this year. It's all he talked about last year. We can't wait. He was so sad that he wasn't well enough last season and now his dr. has given him the green lght (and told me that he actually probably could have played last season...but we'll just keep that between us!) So he is pumped up for August! So are we.

All About Brandon (all about brandon's illness really)

Okay, so moving on to # 3 in our "all about" posts. Yes, I know its going to take 8 posts to get thru everyone...luckily the youngest 3 can be summed up pretty easily...for now.
# 3 in Brandon. (remember in Emanuel's post, I said that some of our kids were a bit tougher than others? This would be one of those who fall in the "tough" category. The term "tough" should be understood as "pain in the neck." Ha ha.
Brandon's full name is Brandon John. It was supposed to be Brandon Michael but in the delivery room, my husband raised a last ditch campaign to make his middle name John after Albert's grandfather who had recently passed away. It sounded like a sweet suggestion so I gave in. So, Brandon John he became. He was born on October 29th (induced on his due date) and was our biggest baby at 9 pounds 1 ounce and 22 inches long. He was also our quickest birth. Pictocin was started at 10:30 a.m. with me only dilated half a centimeter and he was born at 1:53 in the morning. I dilated from 4 to 10 in fifteen minutes. I should have known then to buckle my seatbelt....
Brandon is such a paradox. He has the sweetest, most gentle heart in the world but has the meanest exterior of any kid I've ever met. He's the same kid, who, in one day will be sad if we don't make it to church, but push his brother down the steps 5 minutes later. He will cuddle in bed with me one minute and the next ask "how much longer will it be until your tummy doesn't look pregnant anymore?" Thanks, Brandon...the baby is 3 months old.
As most of you know Brandon has been through a lot in his little 8 years. Things were fine until he was five years old. Brice had just been born 5 weeks ealier and my mom was visiting to meet the new baby. I noticed a small patch of peteichei (I can sooo never spell this word, but its small red dots that are broken capilaries under the skin causing little bits of blood to come to the surface) I was interested, but not concerned. Our older son, Drew has chronic ITP and gets these when his platelets are low but I also know anyone can get them from time to time in small amounts and this was a really small amount. It was my birthday weekend, my mom was visiting, we had a new baby...so I just kind of waved it off and figured if it grew any, I'd make an appointment with our pediatrician. On Sunday, Mom left and we decided to go for a family picnic at this place called Elephant Rock State Park. Its full of hiking trails and rocks to climb. Awesome views. It's about an hour and a half away though. We drove down and just before arriving Brandon told us his mouth was bleeding. We figured he must have bitten his tounge and kept on, passing him a wad of paper towell to hold on his mouth (in our house, not much is taken too seriously) He kept complaining that it was still bleeding and we, again, figured he was making too much of something small. Until he passed the paper towell up to the front and it was completely saturated. Okay, mouthes bleed a lot. We gave him another paper towell and he filled that up too. We immediately pulled over and called him up to the front of the van. The thing was...there was no injury in his mouth. No scratch, scrape, blister or bite that we could find. But blood kept comming. Finally we got it to stop and arrived at the park. I was feeling uneasy at this point but not panicked. But then I thought of the little spot of petechie that I'd seen. I lifted his shirt to see if there was any more of it, and when I did, I discovered that his whole chest, and tummy were covered. I looked down his pants and there were more all over his legs. absolutely covered. Albert and I looked at each other because we both knew it meant he had low platelets but we didn't know why. Then the mouth started bleeding agian and again took forever to stop. At that time I only knew of two things that caused low platelets...IPT (like Drew) or Leukemia. I know the smart thing to do would have been to go to the nearest ER right away. But I also knew we were going to be admitted and needed to get back to St. Louis if we wanted to be with our own doctors (Drew's hematologists). We should have left immediately as our son technically could have hemoragged to death at any time and I knew this...but we didn't leave. Something inside of me told me that it wouldn't be as simple as what Drew had (though I still hoped) and that he needed that one last memory of doing something fun as a normal kid. We ate our lunch, we went on a hike, we let the kids play. Then we packed them up and drove to the hosptial in St. Louis. The mouth was still bleeding and now the patches of petechie were on his ears, covering his face and under his chin.
We got to the ER and got the dreaded CBC. Albert took the older kids home after a while and I stayed with Brandon and kept Brice with me. The doctor came back and told us that Brandon did indeed have low platelets (14,000) Normal is 150,000-350,000. I tried to ask questions but we kept avoiding me. He left the room rather quickly after mumbling that it was probably ITP (but not looking at me). Nurses kept comming in to see if I was okay. They said they were taking Brandon for an MRI of his head to make sure there was no bleeding in his brain. As soon as he left the phone rang in our ER room. I thought it was Albert or my mom. It was Drew's hematologist.
Immediately I said "Dr. Rob, I thought what Drew had wasn't genetic and our other children wouldn't get it...but now Brandon has it too."
Dr. Rob said "Angela, listen. Brandon doesn't have ITP. With Drew...he gets low platelets but that's all. His other counts stay normal. That's ITP. Brandon is also low on Red blood cells and white blood cells. That's not ITP. We are admitting him and tommorrow morning we will be in to do a bone marrow biopsy."
I suddenly felt the whole world change right then. I asked, "What are you looking for? What do you think he has?"
"We think he has childhood Leukemia. A.L.L. And if he does...we can treat it. It's not an automatic death sentence like it used to be..." I'm sure he said more, but that was all I heard. Or at least all I processed. I called Albert and practically screamed into the phone "Get here now. Dr. Rob thinks Brandon has Leukemia." This of course set my poor husband into a panic. When he still wasn't there an hour later I wondered what could have been taking him so long. It turns out he was in the parking lot crying, talking to my mom and trying to gain some composure before comming in.
The next day we did the bone marrow biopsy and it revealed that he didn't have leukemia. He had Aplastic Anemia which is a failure of the bone marrow to produce the cells needed to sustain life- red blood, platelets and white blood cells. Thus he needed transfusions of red cells (which I didn't realize was just a regular blood transfusion until later) and platelets. White cells only live 1 day in your bloodstream and thus cannot be effectively transfused so he was very suspeptible to infections as his body had no way to fight them. Dr. Rob's partner, Dr. Bob came by and sat in a chair beside Brandon's bed and laid it all out on the line by saying "You've been given a deadly diagnosis. We will do everything we can to treat him unless or until his quality of life no longer justifies the treatment. If that happens we'll keep him comfortable so that he can enjoy the rest of his life until he passs."
"But will we know, if that's the case?" I asked. "You will if you're honest with yourself." he answered.
We did a surgery to put in a tube called a Broveac (sp?) It was implanted in his chest with two tubes that hung out and down his stomach. This way blood could be drawn and meds and transfusions given without constantly sticking him. The hope then was that one of his brothers would be a sibling match and we could go straight to bone marrow transplant (which offers a cure) but as we all know well, no one matched. So option #2 was an immunosuppression treatment. This was not a cure. He'd still have the disease becasue he'd still have his own diseased marrow. The hope was that the meds could kick his system in the butt and make it start to produce something. If it didn't we'd go to transplant using a match from the national registry.This type of transplant also offered a cure but with one slight catch...the transplant process or the resulting Graft. Vs. Host disease kills between 20%-50% of recipients. A transplant with a sibling as a donor is less risky with a mortality rate of 5%-20%. (see now why we want a sibling match???) Also sibling transplants are far less likely to result in Graft Vs. Host disease while a non-related match transplant almost always does.
The medicine worked and Brandon's marrow slowly recovered. I'll never forget the day his marrow testing came back normal. I had anticipated that day and thought I'd be laughing and happy and calling everyone. But when the news finally came it was a different type of happiness. We sat silently in the van together driving home, Albert and I both unable to speak. We called my Mom and Albert's Sister because we felt we should but honestly, we only made those calls out of obligation. We really didn't want to talk...oddly, even to each other. It was like we were scared if we said it aloud it wouldn't be real anymore.
The remission lasted until we weaned him from his meds and then pretty quickly he relapsed. I will also never forget that day...the start of his relapse. Dr. Rob came out to the wating room, with Anne, one of the nurses. They both sat down on either side of me. I was pregnant with the twins (that we'd conceived still hoping for a match). I knew when they sat down there was a problem. Here's the deal. If the doctor stands while they talk to you...all is usually okay...but if they sit...look out.
So, Rob explained that platelets were falling. He hoped it was just a fluke but doubted it and said that if things kept falling we'd have to restart the cyclosporine. He reminded me that there was no guarentee it would work again and that if it didn't, we'd try to treat him symptomatically until the twins arrived and we could see if we had a match for transplant before resorting to the non-genetic match. Counts kept falling and we had to restart the meds. It worked again, praise God. Espicially since the twins weren't a match (though they didn't match each other either. so frusterating!)
We quickly got pregnant with Sydney. Again no match. But Brandon is doing beautifully. Weaning time is almost upon us agian. Many people, including us at times, have asked, "why not just stay on the medication. He's doing so well" The reason is that the medication he is on, cyclosporine has a whole host of side effects and bad things it can cause. Seriously, if you have time google Cyclosporine and look at the list of crap. Some people such as kidney transplant patients have to stay on it long term but its not good if you don't have to. So, this spring we start weaning. Success might mean "permanent remission" Failure means going to transplant or staying long term on a medication that is known to cause cancer, kidney failure, liver failure...and on and on... God has seen us through all of this, in his infinate wisdom and I know he'll take care of Brandon no matter what.
Okay so I just realized this post isn't all about Brandon. It's all about Brandon's Aplastic Anemia and that isn't who he is, its what he has. So, I'll add another post that is really all about Brandon since the point was to get to know him and not getting to know Aplastic Anemia! So, here I go to start a new post...

All about Emanuel...

Since I posted a couple of days ago about Drew, I figured it was time for the next kid in line, and #2 happens to be Emanuel. First the basic facts: His whole name is Albert Emanuel Fontenot IV
Yes, he has the same name as his Dad, Grandfather and Great-Grandfather. And he is quite proud of that. If you are wondering why we gave the name to #2 and not #1 (and almost everyone wonders...usually aloud...) the reason is pretty basic- we weren't going to do to continue the tradition. Initially Albert felt that the chain had gone long enough and frankly, there were other names he liked better (such as Drew). However after Drew was born, Albert started to re-think his position on this and decided that to continue the tradition might be a pretty cool thing afterall. So, son #2 ended up with the family name. (don't feel bad for Drew, his name has a great story behind it as well...have you ever had that assignment in home ec where you have to pretend you are parents to a bag of flour or some other nonsense...well Albert had an assignment like this...he had to pull a peice of paper that was blue or pink out of a hat...he pulled blue...then he had to pick a "mom" for his child. He picked me. Then we had to do all this research on how much it cost to buy baby gear and get child care ect. Albert named our "baby" Drew Alexander and then stuck me with the whole rest of the project. I had to go and do all the research ect. Of course I loved every single second of stuff like that! ha ha! Anyway, a year later when we really did get pregnant...in spite of the assignment...we kept the name for our son!)
Anyhoo, back to Emanuel. He was born on December 26, 1996. Albert and I were 20 years old and had a 17 month old and now a newborn....
From the moment we brought him home from the hospital, he was (and still is) the easiest child to take care of. He never woke up more than twice in a night even as a newborn...he breastfed easily...I never had to mess with bottles for him. He rarely cried...he was just a joy to have.
He continues to be an easy child.
He's 11 years old now. I never have to ask him to do his homework. I never have to ask him to study for a test...in fact, I'm honestly never aware of when he even has a test. He never misses an assignment ( I think he's missed one all year and that was because he misunderstood the teacher concerning the due date) He always has excellent grades.
He loves sports. He's so into football and basketball. He's good at both of them. We're letting him do both to see which one takes off for him. He is mr. popular with his friends. He 's very into looking "cool" Once, when I was pregnant with Brice, he forgot something important at home. I threw on my house shoes and dashed out the door to take it to him at school. I caught up with his class as they were lining up for art class. I gave him what he needed and as I turned to leave I heard him mutter "why did you have to wear those shoes to my school..."
He is a great brother to the little ones. He aggrevates the heck out of Jackson and Brandon. He and Brice are buddies. He'll help with babies although not as eagerly as Drew! He is very loving and affectionate...as long as his friends aren't watching.
His newest love is the Green Bay Packers. We aren't really an NFL family...we like college football, but Manny has gotten us interested in the NFL as well. Brett Farve is his idol. He loves Brett Farve. He walks around the house quoting his stats and records.
We are so proud of him, as we are all of our children. I am secretly sooooo thankful that he is as easy of a kid as he is...considering that we have others that are a bit tougher!

Shopping sprees, puppy hunting and boneless buffalo wings

So, it's Saturday night and already our weekend has seemed..well..busy. Friday night, Albert had district wrestling tournaments which I was unprepared for. What I mean by unprepared is the fact that I wasn't aware that he would not be home until late into the evening. I called to tell him that I wanted to go to Target when he got home and of course he got home 20 minutes before Target closed...prompting a tearful discussion over the not so fun side of being a stay at home mom. Being alone with all the kids from sunrise to 9:30 at night would in fact be the downside..espicially on a Friday night...when I was looking forward to starting my weekend too. To make matters worse, Drew and Emanuel helped Brice get to the bathroom to potty and when they flushed the toilet, the contents of the toilet backed up into my bathtub!!! GROSS! I love my bathtub people, this was most upsetting. Albert wouldn't pick up his phone to tell me what to do about it. (sure hope he doesn't check his voicemail cause if he does, he'll find a few scathing messages!)Poor Brice thought he was in trouble and kept saying "Brice a good baby! Brice potty on toilet!" So, I kept having to reassure him that he was indeed a good boy andthat the mess wasn't his fault. Wow "the mess wasn't his fault" That will probably be the only time where those words are true!
Anyhoo, today was much better. We went to Target (my favorite place in the world next to the Mall and Babies R Us) and I got a new trench coat and a new wallet...plus a pair of jeans for Isaiah. We had a nice little lunch at Applebees (my favorite resteraunt) and then we went to the mall (I had lots of gift cards left over from the christmas before I got pregnant with Sydney) I got new candles, new room spray from Yankee Candle Co. and some new panties from Victoria Secrets! Yea, I feel like a new woman! Albert was like a kid in a candy store at the panty sale....he kept "making suggestions" Finally I told him "Why don't you give Sydney to me and you pick out the panties since you'll probably enjoy them more than me!" Ha ha!


I also got a pair of jeans from New York and Co. though I must say, it's so depressing to wear several sizes above what I'm used to. We also went to look at puppies as we've been thinking of adopting one. We found a sweet little liter of brown puppies but they seemed a little too aggressive. Plus, I think I really want a lab.


On the way home, we had a serious discussion about the whole "getting a match for Brandon" issue. It's become pretty clear that we can't afford in vitro at least not any time in the forseeable future. So I asked Albert "How long do we keep going before we say...we tried really hard, we gave it our best shot..we don't have a match and we have to depend on God to keep Brandon safe?" Of course I knew the answer but sometimes it gets scary to realize we may have a dozen or more kids at the end of all this. Albert looked at me and said...in all seriousness..."Until your uterus falls out...or we live in a cardboard box"


Yes, I know that's the answer too. But it gets so scary sometimes to look at a roomfull of children and know that you are responsibe for providing everything they need. Debi, I know you can relate. It scares me a lot. Albert reminded me that God has always provided for us so far and I know he's right. I also know, I wouldn't stop until we accomplish our goal....last week I came across a photo album on our computer that I hadn't uploaded to Shutterfly so I hadn't really seen it. In the middle of the slideshow, came up a picture of Maddie holding one of the twins when they were newborn. Maddie was a little girl who went to clinic with Brandon. She LOVED babies. Our twins were preterm and we were advised not to take them many places when they were small and not to let people hold them who weren't family. We tried to stay in, but of course Brandon had to go to clinic. When I got there one morning with my mom and the twins, Maddie asked if she could hold one. I didn't want to let any other kids hold them because they were so fragile and kids carry lots of germs. But then I thought of how sick Maddie was, how much she loved babies, how excited she was during my pregnancy and how she had looked forward to their birth along with us. It seemed a small thing to do to make her happy. I took that picture of her holding one of the babies, it was Alexandria actually. For the next couple of months, she would always ask to hold them as soon as she saw us come in the door to clinic. The twins loved her. No matter how much they were crying, they always calmed down when Maddie picked them up. I didn't regret the decision to let her hold them, even with Isaiah fresh out of the NICU. They were born at the end of September, and that next April, Maddie passed away. At the funeral home, her Dad told us he knew that she was watching over the babies that she had loved so much.


I guess the point of that rambling is that I know we have to do everything we can to give Brandon his best chances at survival. I know how I felt when I heard Maddie had passed, and I'm not going to go thru what her parents are going thru. But the reality of having baby after baby is rather freaking me out. In just a f ew months we start to wean Brandon from his medication. We are praying very hard for success. Failure means restarting him on the medication a third time. If it doesn't work, he'd have to go to transplant immediately, without the sibling match. That is what we dont want. I know we're doing the right thing, it just seems so crazy sometimes.


In more uplifting news, Lynn Worley had a new grandson recently!!!!! I don't know very much yet, but she said in the guestbook that she got to help in the delivery and that the little one was a week late!!!! How sweet. I am so happy for her. How wonderful that she was part of the delivery!
Emanuel had a basketball game this morning. He scored two baskets!!! Yea!!!!

all about Drew

Today has been a fairly smooth day! Yea for us! We had a lovely playdate with our friend Ora and two of her childre, Cody and Sara. Brice really loves Ora and her family. He gets so excited when they come over! They stayed for a little lunch and we had a great time playing.
We filed our taxes today and thats always a great day for us. It almost feels like a date, only we come out having made money instead of having spent it!
Last night, I got to see Manny play basketball with his team for the first time. Usually, I'm the one who stays home with the babies. It was so good to finally get to see him. I'm going to try to get there on Saturday as well. He rebounds really well, he's great on defense. Now, we just have to teach him not to be afraid to take a shot (and to use the backboard!)
So I thought I'd use these "slow" days to highlight an older kid...sometimes it seems that I don't get to talk about them as much with all the antics and news about Brice and the babies.
I'll start with Drew since he's my oldest.
Drew Alexander Joseph Fontenot is 12 years old. He turns 13 in July. He has the biggest heart in the world. He's so helpful with his little brothers and sisters. Since he's my oldest, a lot of responsibility falls on him, but he handles it so well. He rarely complains and always does what we ask. He can change diapers, make bottles and rock babies to sleep. He attended Brice's birth and accidently turned off the lights while the doctor was breaking my water. Hilarious. (the doctor said "that's okay...I don't need it!")
Drew really loves music. He plays the clarinet in the middle school band. This is his 4th year playing. He also has taught himself to play piano. We keep promising him formal lessons (something we really need to do). He also loves art and is beginning to be interested in science. He enjoys school and though we sometimes has struggles with his grades, he's made big improvements this year.
Drew is also the one who has chronic ITP which is basically a chronic low platelet count. He does really well though, usually only needing to be treated every couple of months.
What else can I say about Drew. He loves High School Musical and isn't embarrassed to say so! (this is unlike others of our kids who are "closet" fans) Ditto for Hanna Montana and all those little shows on Disney Channel.
So that's a little a little bit of info on Drew. Our oldest baby. I've been his Mommy since I was 19 and made all my mistakes, and "oops" on him! He's been the lab rat, like all oldest children are. I couldn't ask for a better kid though and he makes me so proud.

Potty Traning Update & Brice's Gross Habit!

The twins colored for the first time (at least at home, I know they've colored before at church). they both enjoyed themselves, espicially Alexandria who spent quite a bit of time working.

So today was the second day of potty-training for Brice. He did excellent. He woke up dry this morning, went straight to the bathroom to potty and has had NO ACCIDENTS all day long. We are doing this totally cold-turkey. I think I said last time that I don't do pull-ups. I also don't do diapers at night (except with one kid). I know a lot of people have wondered why I haven't made a big deal of potty training before. This is exactly why. Not to sound uppity, but this is the 5th baby I've potty trained and I have learned a thing or two in the process. If you try to potty train before a child is ready, yes you can have success, but it usually means a lot of pull-ups, or diapers at night. On the other hand, if you wait until your child is good and ready then potty training is actually quite simple and you don't even need to mess with putting diapers on for when the child is asleep or the whole pull-up bull crap ect. I know all children aren't the same and some have special issues but by and large, its so much simpler just to wait until your little one is completely ready.

Today is Fat Tuesday and I'm sure that Albert and I have each gained about ten pounds tonight alone from all the jumbalaya we ate in honor of Marti Gras! Yummy! Debi, thanks for the idea!

Tomorrow we start living healthier. For lent, I am giving up chocolate (all candy in fact), Soda, and eating late at night. Debi and I had this discussion this morning. We will be Lent partners!

So, listen to this...and try not to laugh. Brice has a new toy...feminine sanitary products!!!! I am not kidding. He goes under the sink, gets out the tampons, opens them and plays with them. I keep finding them in all sorts of places...in the toilet (he's discovered that when wet, they inflate) in his bed, in my bed and my personal favorite, in the shower! I caught him today getting one out. I wonder what he thinks they are??? Anyway, I must say I find this habit of his a little gross. Espicially when he dips them in the toilet or the shower. yuck.

Get this...we have installed the third TV in two months downstairs. The first two died. This evening BRICE PUT A MAGNET ON THE TELEVISION!!! I'm sure most of you know what happens when you put a magnet on the t.v. For those of you who don't, it discolors the t.v. so now we have a big green and purple splotch on our set. It's actually quite hysterical. When you watch a program, peoples' faces are green and purple. Albert was a bit upset. In fact, so irritated he had to take a ride around the block to calm down. He got a beer and texted his sister for a few minutes until he could calm down. I, on the other hand, was howling with laughter! How can you not laugh...Brice is the biggest Denis the Menace I have ever met!

Emanuel Gets A Haircut!

After two years of growing the "fro" Emanuel finally got a haircut. He and Albert were driving to the recycling center in Belleville to recycle some soda cans (this is one of the ways the boys make a little bit of pocket change while doing something responsible for the Earth) and he asked "Dad, can I get my haircut?" He said the fro was getting too time consuming and difficult to care for. I have to say, I loved the fro, it was very unique and very "him" but I also must admitt, I really love being able to see that beautiful face, and honestly, the fro had become messy and uneven and he didn't devote the time needed to keep it up, so its probably for the best that its cut. He can always grow it back if he decides to do so later. The only regret I have is that had I known he was going to have it cut, I'd have asked him to see if it could be donated to a charity such as "locks of love" Although, I'm not sure it was long enough for that.

The difference in appearance is amazing, though the tough part is that from behind, I now have trouble telling if I'm talking to Emanuel or to Brandon! I need to see their faces to tell!

Well, as I said last night, today is Monday, so something interesting would happen. Well, Monday didn't dissapoint! At around 3:30 a.m. Brandon came to our room, howling in pain (this is no exaggeration...he was literally howling). He had a stomache ache. As I woke up to help him, I discovered that I too, had the same stomach ache. We laid there together in agony, both of us, with Albert up and trying to comfort us both! Brandon threw up all over our bedroom floor so by 3:45 I was scrubbing carpets. As sson as I finished, Sydney was awake for her bottle. By this time, Brandon, now relieved of his stomach pains, had curled up on my side of the bed. Exhausted and cranky, I found a spot at the foot of the bed (my own bed!) and curled up between Albert and Brandon's feet (much like a dog!)

Today is also potty training boot camp for Brice. We r eally dont suscribe to the whole "Pull-ups" philosophy (I feel they are just overpriced diapers) so we usuallygo cold-turkey with our babies. Although I think we did use diapers at night for someone..maybe Jackson...maybe Brandon...I'm not sure. Anyhoo, the way it works is this...we ran out of diapers...we simply arent buying any more. Alas, the day we have no diapers in the house for potty training purposes....Brice gets the aforementioned stomach virus and has filled up three pairs of underpants with...the runs. He is currently in for shower #3 of the day.

Also, he is fairly strong willed and isn't pleased with the new expectation that he use the bathroom like the rest of us. When I explained this morning that he would need to go potty in the toilet (and beleive me, he understands, it's not like we haven't had many "practice days") he told me quite frankly "No." When I repeated that he would need to "potty in the toilet" he again stated, very matter-of-factly "No, I potty in my pants." And so far...he's been true to his word.

More on Grandad's Visit!

Just wanted to post a few more pictures of the boys' taken by Grandad's camera. Grandad just left a few moments ago and already the kids miss him. It was a great visit. Whenever we have any compant we always wonder if they are totally overwhelmed by the craziness of our household...kids running all over, the loudness, the organized chaos of 8 little ones playing, the fact that someone ALWAYS needs something. Grandad always handles it really well though. He's not afraid to pick up babies and the older kids respond to him very well. Alexandria and Isaiah were a little bit unsure of him at first (they were just a few months old last time they saw him) but they both warmed up pretty quickly.

We went to church this morning. After the service when Drew and I went to pick up the babies from their classrooms, Drew and Brandon got into a bit of a scuffle which resulted in Brandon either running our being pushed out of the door marked "Emergency exit only- alarm will sound" And indeed the alarm did sound. This prompted a heated debate between Drew and Brandon regarding whether Brandon ran out the door or Drew pushed him out the door. Brandon was overheard muttering under his breath "How was I supposed to know the alarm would go off?" Uhhhh, maybe the sign posted in the middle of the door...ya think?

When we got home, Brice encountered some potty trouble and had to be carried upstairs to the bathtub (his clothes had to be bagged). Not a pretty scene.

Grandad took lots of pictures before he left. As he got in his car to drive away, many little faces were at the door to say goodbye. Unfortunately, one little face opened the door too wide and the dog flew out and tore off across the neighborhood. Albert had to drive around until Raja was willing to jump back in the car. Nice.

Now, we're gearing up for the SuperBowl. Emanuel is going to a friends house to watch it. I'm looking forward to lounging on the couch with Albert and enjoying the game. Stay tuned...tomorrow is Monday...something interesting should be in store.

Grandad Is Here!!!

Grandad arrived in town and the kids are thrilled. It's a short visit. Only Saturday thur Sunday afternoon but the kids had a blast! We went to church and had a lovely evening at home last night. Grandad finally got to meet Sydney. I'll post more later this evening, but wanted to get these pics updated.