Life and Times of The Johnston family: Playing Catch Up!

Okay I'm going to attempt to catch up this here poor neglected blog one week at a time, so here goes! The week of November 12-17: Tuesday Devin had his last music group class and had a lot of fun!, that evening was his tumbling and Elizabeth's piano class. Wednesday Devin had OT in Bountiful in the morning and Thursday, he had home ot, and that evening Elizabeth had tumbling and we had scouts. Friday the kids had what we call "playgroup" at Bravo's daycare, and I went out and did some shopping! Saturday Ketty watched the kiddos for us while we went to the Christmas show at Desert Star, which we of course thoroughly enjoyed! Then we stopped by Build a Bear and used a coupon and gift card we had to get Elizabeth Clarice from the movie Rudolph and we got Devin the most adorable Santa!(they both love them to pieces!) We did some other Christmas shopping then picked up our kids. And that's pretty much it for that week!
November 18-24: Monday Devin had OT in Bountiful, on the way home he threw up several times. when we got home I let Shadow out to do her business, while I dealt with getting Devin cleaned up and taken care of. That evening when Tony got home I realized Shadow didn't follow him in like she usually does, so Tony looked in the back yard and that's when we discovered she was missing. We spend hours that night in the car going all around the neighborhood calling for her but there was no sign of her. Tuesday Devin had Play therapy, which went horribly as he wouldn't do anything but hide and scream at us. Tony alerted local shelters that Shadow was missing(and chipped) hoping she'd been dropped off, but no such luck. Later that morning we had an appointment with the pediatrician as Devin was having a fourth reoccurring vomiting/diarrhea episode in a month and a half, and I was concerned about his hydration(as he lives in a constant state and mild dehydration) she wasn't sure what to think, but told me what to look out for and when to take him to the ER. I went out that afternoon with the kids in the car and searched the neighborhood for Shadow some more, but also had no luck. That night was Devin tumbling and Elizabeth piano. Thursday the kids had Bravo daycare, and I went out and got Hallmark's "Belle" dog(that interacts with her books, we already have the Jingle dog, so this way each of the kids could have their own) I did some other shopping as well. When I picked up the kids from daycare Devin's teacher told me he didn't eat or drink anything, and that he didn't put anything in the potty either, so she was kinda concerned about him. He slept for nearly 4 hours and when he woke up he still had nothing for the potty, and had no color in his face and he had dark circles under his eyes, so my dad kindly watched Elizabeth and took her to tumbling while I took Devin to Primaries ER. They tested his stool for bacteria and such, did an x-ray of his bowels to check for blockages or other problems but came up with nothing, to explain the reoccurring bouts of "bowel dysfunctions". He was very dehydrated, but they were unable to get an IV in him(he's a strong little boy and he put up a good fight!) but we did eventually get water and apple juice to stay down, after giving him an anti-nausea medication, they wrote me a prescription for more of it then sent us on our way. Oh they did send an order to his GI to be evaluated again, we see him in January(as he's on vacation for the last half of December). Tony fulfilled our responsibilities at scout pack meeting that night and it was nearly 11pm by the time Devin and I got home, mostly because this was the day of those 70+ mph winds so we took it really slow. It was way scary! Friday Devin had developmental therapy but Devin was pretty comatose still from dehydration so we just chatted. That night we decided to postpone our family Christmas pictures at JC Penny since Devin looked like a zombie, and I wasn't feeling great myself...and it turned out as all part of our loving Heavenly Father's plan to answer our prayers. You see Saturday morning since we didn't have pictures Tony decided to do some work cleaning and organizing in the garage, and while he was out there he could have sworn he heard Shadow bark, he came and told me this and since I had pretty much given up hope of finding Shadow(and was extremely sad about it) told him it was probably just one of the other dogs in the neighborhood that we wanted to sound like Shadow. When Tony went back outside he was prompted to go across the street and down in to a horse shoe sub-division across from our house, and there in someone's back yard standing on their back porch was Shadow!!! He called me and told me he'd found Shadow and I dropped and ran outside, he explained what happened and that when he knocked on the door their was no answer....long story short we went back over with my mom and thank goodness we did because the nice elderly man who was there didn't speak a lick of English and my mom was able to communicate what was needed and we got our wonderful Shadow dog back!! We surprised Elizabeth and she was so happy she nearly burst and didn't let Shadow away from her for a second! I didn't sound like Shadow was eating at the neighbors house so we gave her plenty of food and treats and of course water. That afternoon Tony and I went and saw Hunger Games 2 with a gift card we had been holding onto, as well as to dinner after, also with a gift card. We stopped by Petsmart and made Shadow a new tag, and got her a few "welcome home" gifts as well, we found as is so true that you don't appreciate what you have until it's gone! It was a fabulous day! We talked to Elizabeth about the Holy Ghost and how He helped Tony find Shadow, and how Heavenly Father had heard all our many prayers, especially Elizabeth's to bring Shadow back to us. It was a great experience!!
And finally November 25-27: Monday Devin had OT in Bountiful, after that the kids and I walked Shadow down a few houses to our wonderful neighbor who does dog grooming in her garage(and does a great job of it!) to get Shadow cleaned and pampered. Tuesday was just tumbling and piano. Wednesday was Bravo daycare and this may actually have been the day I got the Belle dog...but does it matter....really? That evening though I completely forgot about it Devin home OT, and all we managed with her behavioral feeding program was one bite of malt o meal...such a struggle! And that is the end of this post!

Aunt Ketty gave us this bubble machine(since it doesn't work well for her in nursery) and the kids had a blast with it! She also gave Elizabeth the Elmo pj's...best aunt ever!