Interesting things

Today a few interesting things have happened. First, Kai ate 4 ounces of baby fruit!!!!!! I couldn't believe it. He has never eaten that much. His tube feedings aren't even quite 4 ounces (just a few mls less then 4 ozs). I was very excited that he took that much and that was interested in taking that much!

Second, I accidentally ripped Kai's Mic-Key button (his port where his feeding tube gets hooked up to) out of him. Good thing I knew the process of how to put on in back in, I just have never done it. Just a little scary at first! He didn't even cry or anything. The balloon inside that holds it in was still inflated. I couldn't believe that that whole thing came out through the hole on Kai's tummy, the balloon is almost an inch in diameter, but it's flexie. Below is a picture of his button that was ripped out. You can see the size of the balloon compared to the quarter sitting on next to it. The long skinny stem that goes through the balloon is about the size of Kai's hole that goes into his stomach.

Kai's appointments

On Monday, Kai had a few appointments in the cities. The first on was a gastronenterology appointment. Kai's dietitian also met up with us there. We talked about several things. The main thing was about why Kai is not gaining weight. We talked about his digestion, his diet and feedings. They took a stool sample to check for fat malabsorption. They started him on a low dose of erythromycin. He will take this three times a day. This is to help move things through his system. He seems like it was taking a lot long for Kai's feedings to move through his system. If he tolerates this, then the idea would to increase his volume of feedings. She had also suggested for him to see an endocrinologist. We are actually in the process of getting that set up for a different reason. So hopefully he will tolerate this medicine and we will be able to increase his volume of feedings. We have tried several different things, and so far he hasn't tolerated those other options. He weighed 15 pounds on Monday as well.

Then we had Gillette appointments. Kai had x-rays done of his hips again. His doctor again does not recommend surgery any time soon to put his dislocated hips back into place. It's too big of a surgery for little Kai and then chances of the his hips actually staying in place are low. He would probably be worst of if he had this surgery (right now anyway). We got the order for Kai's AFO's (leg braces) and he got molded for his AFO's. He will be getting them on September 14. This will be so nice since he wants to stand. These will give him the support that he needs. His doctor seems pestimistic (at least I think so)about him being able to walk. Time will tell. Kai is a very determined little boy! We also meet up with the rehabilitation doctor and had a cranio cap adjustment. It was a long day!

Farm Festival

Today we went to Grandma and Grandpa Selly's farm festival. The boys had a lot of fun!

http://www.farmfestival.blogspot.com/

Gavin (yellow) and Jace (blue) in the train ride around the field
Train ride through the field....Gavin in the last car

Great Grandpa Robert and Jace

Gavin

The day that changed our lives forever, August 24, 2006

You never really believe that something like this can happened to you, but it can. On August 24th, 2006 our life was flipped upside down in a matter of seconds! A F3 tornado ripped through here and basically left us with a hole in the ground and the clothes on our backs. Our house, my family and I were in the heart of that tornado. One of the hardest parts of all of this was that we lost a good friend of ours, our dog, Belle. We will forever miss her!

The memories begin. It was supper time. My daycare kids (I only had one family because I was just coming back from maternity leave) had left about 45 minutes beforehand (thank god). Levi was putting his dishes in the kitchen and just happened to look out the window and noticed a tornado (this was probably about 10 minutes before it hit). He told me to look and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. So I get things ready, and dummy me, turned on the tv to see if we were under a warning. What was I thinking?! Of course we are under a warning, there’s a tornado coming our way. I brought things down stairs, got the boys and our dog down stairs. In the mean time Levi is outside, videotaping the tornado (yes, we still have the video). At this time, it was very calm outside (the calm before the storm). I’m trying to keep a 17 month old entertained in unfinished basement that has a lot of stuff just being stored. I had Jace (who was 5 weeks old) just sitting in his car seat. Our dog was just running around all anxious. Levi finally comes downstairs (probably minutes before the tornado hits) as it was starting to get windy out. I had the kids kind of in the middle of the basement by the extra bed that we had. Levi said that we should get under the stairs. Of course we stuff under our stairs (we were remodeling our house at the time). I was barefoot and we were trying to move to stuff around so that we could get under the stairs. Levi said he could run upstairs and get me a pair of shoes….thank god I told him I was fine. Right after that we both felt pressure in our ears and looked at each other. I was hanging onto Gavin and Levi grabbed Jace, who was in the car seat and tried to get under the stairs. Within seconds, the tornado hit! It was the longest short period of time ever! I tried to hover over Gavin as he is crying. Levi was in charge of Jace. At one point Jace was sucked up and flew up towards my husband, luckily he was able to get Jace. The stairs that we were somewhat under got sucked up and this homemade shelving unit that Levi made fell over and pinned us in. Thank god for that. Levi says he remembers hearing the nails being ripped off the roof. I remember screaming, crying, being scared, trying to protect everyone, the suction and trying to just push ourselves down. After all that, came the rain and our faces were covered in mud. We looked up our house was completely gone. It happened so quickly, which it is a good thing it was quick, I don’t think we would have survived if it would have lasted longer. I remember just crying and looking at Levi wondering if the tornado was done. Was there more to come or was that it? What should we do? How are we going to get out? We were pinned in and had a hard time moving. Then all of a sudden we heard gas. We had to get out of there. Levi pushed against my legs and pinned me in even more in order to get himself and Jace out. He got out and climbed out of the basement. He was going to go lay Jace on the seat of his truck, but there was glass everywhere. He came back and told me that I had to get myself and Gavin out of there. Levi was unable to help. The adrenaline kicked in. I climbed up this shelving thing holding onto Gavin and then I had to step on this very wobbly shelf in order to climb out of the basement. I just prayed to God that the shelf was going to hold us and that I wasn’t going to slip. We got out. Levi put us arms around all of us. I remember looking out at the lake and it kind of reminded me of the titanic. There were so many pieces of our house just floating on the surface of the water and then eventually sinking into the lake. Our whole house pretty much ended up in the lake. We were so lucky to be alive. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that any of us survived. We ran to the next house that wasn’t so damaged (which was a few houses away). We ran over glass, live wires, branches, debris and whatever else that was on the ground. I was barefoot and Levi lost a shoe somewhere. We got to our neighbors and got the boys situated a little. Then Levi left to go look for Belle (our dog) and minutes later, I went back over to check things out. Our house was gone! Everything was gone! We just had a hole in the ground. Moments later someone had found Belle down on the shore of the lake. She did not make it. It wasn’t fair….she was taken by that darn tornado! This was when one of the biggest life’s tests was given to us. How much could we handle? What were going to do now…we were homeless, I was jobless, we had no vehicles, we had no personal belongings…we had nothing! Needless to say, things improved, we are back on our feet. It was a tough few years and the horrible memories are still there. We have to face that every day and it has impacted our lives forever! We definitely are always aware of what the weather is like and we are more prepared. I could go on and on about the tornado, but I don’t want to bore people. Some days are still difficult because of it, it doesn’t just go away. I know some probably think, “just get over it and move on”. But it’s hard when you look back and realize how close we came to losing our lives. Like I have said in the past one second later or one step over, we may not have made it through it. I just wish everyone else would take bad weather seriously. It can happen to you….it can happen quick….it can happen without a warning…..the weather can take a turn….IT CAN HAPPEN!

***Thank you again to everyone who helped us!!!

Facts about this tornado:
NICOLLET AND LE SUEUR COUNTIES. RATED F3. IT WAS ON THE GROUNDFOR 33 MILES. IT TRACKED FROM FOUR MILES WEST-SOUTHWEST OFNICOLLET... THROUGH THE CITY OF NICOLLET...THEN TO THE SOUTHERNOUTSKIRTS OF ST PETER... ACROSS THE NORTHERN PART OF KASOTA...THENTO LAKE EMILY... AND FINALLY DISSIPATED FOUR MILES NORTHWEST OFWATERVILLE. THE TORNADO KILLED ONE PERSON AND INJURED 37. IT WAS ONTHE GROUND FROM 530 PM TO 625 PM.AT FIRST...THE LONG TRACKED TORNADO WAS NO MORE THAN A FEW DOZENFEET WIDE...THEN EVENTUALLY GREW TO ONE HALF MILE WIDE. AS ITNEARED DISSIPATION... IT WAS BACK TO A COUPLE HUNDRED FEET WIDE.THE TORNADO WAS DISTINCTLY MULTIPLE VORTEX. IT OCCASIONALLY VEEREDEAST-NORTHEAST AND EAST-SOUTHEAST. IT TURNS OUT THAT THE REPORTS OFTORNADOES NEAR KILKENNY... WATERVILLE AND MORRISTOWN WERE ACTUALLYMULTIPLE REPORTS OF THE F3 TORNADO THAT WAS ROPING OUT FOUR MILESNORTHWEST OF WATERVILLE. THIS TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND LONGER THANANY OTHER MINNESOTA TORNADO SINCE THE OUTBREAK OF MARCH 29 1998.
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mpx/?n=24aug2006

2006 Tornado Pics

This is an ariel shot. Our hole in the ground is outline in red.
Our neighbor took this picture from their yard looking at ours minutes after. The truck is parked in front of where the garage and house used to be. My car was parked next to the truck before the tornado and then behind after.

You can see our basement appliances all tipped over and block on top of the big chest freezer

Morning after, you can see the electrical pole that came through our basement. It knocked the one side of the basement wall over.

The red star is where we were just minutes before the tornado hit, right at the end of the electrical pole.

Another view of that electrical pole

The red star is where we were all pinned in. The green star is the homemade shelf that fell over and pinned is in...thank god for that.

Standing on the garage floor looking towards the lake

These tree were laid down by the tornado (Levi's mom's house in the background)

Debris in the lake, on the lakeside and in the trees

Levi's 4 wheeler that was parked inside our garage

Our lawnmower (that was just about 1.5 months old) ended up in our neighbors yard along with part of our grain bin

One of the trees that lined our driveway, that tree is still there just like that

Our neighbors pontoon wrapped around one of trees. I believe it was parked down at their dock

My wedding dress that was found in the lake. It wasn't torn or ripped. It was zipped up in the garment bag before the tornado. The bag was found unzipped and in a totally different direction than my dress was.

A lot of debris at the boat landing that washed ashore or that was found. The red star is on the door that was to our basement.

All the debris that was down at the boat landing. We think the pile of wood could possible be parts of our house.

Random

Kai loves sitting up in his swing, he will hang on and rock himself. It's great for him, since he is not very good on sitting up by himself. Hopefully he will be sitting up on his own before his 1st birthday.

Kai trying to get his nuk that fell under his swing....or maybe he just lean too far forward. Luckily he was buckled in otherwise he would have landed on the floor.

Kai working on sitting by himself....NOTICE his one foot (his right) turned around. Looks like it would hurt, but it doesn't hurt him.

Kai's newest thing is that he waves (hi/goodbye) at people. He's not just randomly waving, he knows what it means when you tell him to wave at someone. It is so cute when he does it. We are working with starting some sign language with Kai as well. The one that we work on the most right now, is "more".

Update on the rest of the Selly family members

A little update on the rest of the Selly family members: Jace is talking more. He is doing more 3 and 4 word sentences. We are still working on potty training with him. He loves to play outside. Gavin is doing good. He went to vacation bible school at our church the first week in August. He really enjoyed that. He is so excited to for school start and for Sunday school to start. Levi is back to his normal work shift and hours AND weekends. It was nice while it lasted! The boys have been enjoying bike rides with Dad as well. As for me, busy as usual. There's always lots to do, appointments to go to, therapy to be done, paperwork to do, household stuff, family and list goes on. It's hard to balance at times. These past few weeks have been a lot with everything and with Kai being so fussy. So I am really hoping that we figure out what is making feel so uncomfortable. Nothing new on the house. We have had 2 people look, but it wasn't quite what they were looking for. We hope that some day soon our house will sell.

Update on Kai

Sitting up in his swing. He hangs onto the sidebars and rocks himself. It's so funny!

Kai with messy face

Kai playing with his dishes

Kai trying to eat his plate

Kai is now 1o months old! I just can't believe it. I think it's so hard to believe because he does not look like a 10 month old. Last Thursday he weighed 15 lbs! I hope he continues with weight gain as he has not gain much in the last few months. He weighed about 13lbs, 12 ozs at the beginning of April. We have been working with a dietitian via phone. We have tried a few different things, but they didn't work. On July 22nd, we started amino acids with him. At first I thought he was tolerating it and was just fussy because he was sick. As time went on (3 weeks), he was still fussy. And he was fussy pretty much all day long every day! So we started to question the amino acids. We are currently taking a break from the amino acids to see if there is a change and we also have an appointment made with GI. At the end of July Kai had a feeding clinic appointment. We were still able to accomplish some things even though he had a sore throat. We have started some simple table foods with him, like crackers. Not too much, but letting him experience some different, stronger flavored tastes. I had found these rice crackers "Baby Mum-Mum" and they are just perfect for Kai. They are easy for him to hang onto, dissolves in his mouth and he actually brings it to his mouth. Kai is still doing some baby food. Not much an ounce to 2 ounces per feeding. We are also doing thickened liquid with him. He doesn't take much, but he does better with it than thin liquids. The thin liquids were too much for his mouth. He mouth inside isn't coordinated enough to handle thin liquids. So each day we work on oral feedings with Kai. He still gets his main feedings through tube feeding. He is now up to 118 mls (almost 4 ounces) and about every 3 hours (about 6 times a day). At the beginning of August Kai got his 2nd cranio cap. He out grew his first one. He will probably only be wearing this one for about another month or so. Kai is rolling all over the floor and is doing a little bit of pivoting when he is on his tummy. He still can't sit by himself (hopefully by his first birthday). He is a wiggly worm and wants to go. He doesn't like to be just set in a chair or bumbo. He is currently working on hands and knees positioning and side sit position. It's a lot of work for him and sometimes, he doesn't like it. He likes to stand, but the way his legs are right now, it's really not good for him. He has an orthopedic appointment on the 24th and I believe we will be talking about AFO's (leg braces) for him. Kai got his other hearing aid on Friday. It had to be remolded because it wouldn't stay in Kai's ear. They also added this wire to help keep it in place. He has been quite the trooper about them. So far he hasn't been pulling on them. I'm sure that day will come. Kai had a speech evaluation and he will be start speech therapy ( I believe in the fall). That's about all that is new with Kai. He has been Mr. Fussy Pants the last 3 weeks and hopefully we will figure out soon why. It's just not like him. He is normally a happy content baby.

A Few Days Away

Me, the boys and my great grandma Phyle

My boys with their cousins (my sisters' kids)

Gavin, Jace and Kai with my good friend, Berta

Visiting with my grandma Barb

We went away for a few days. It was a busy few days. We started off visiting my cousin and her kids. We all then headed over to visit my grandma Barb. It was a nice visit with her. I have not seen her in about 2 years. The boys were having a lot of fun playing with cousins. Then after lunch we visited my friend, Kayla and her family. We had a great time there too. The boys played with their kids. Then late afternoon we headed over to my good friend, Berta's. We decided to crash at her place since it had been such a long day and then it gave us more time to visit. It was so nice to see Berta and her husband, Brandon. The next morning we headed over to Hinckley. I dropped Levi and Gavin off at my sister's and the rest of us headed to Askov. We visited my friend, Melissa and her two boys. Jace had a lot of fun playing there and even wanted to take the John Deere Tractor toy home. It was another nice visit. Then I headed back to my sister's. We hung out and all the kids played. Tina then joined us in the afternoon. We headed back towards St. Peter that afternoon. Gavin was very upset, he wanted to stay and play with cousins. On our way home, we stopped in Edina to visit my great grandma Phyle. It was so nice to see her. Our visit was short, but nice. It's hard for the boys to be on their best behavior in an apartment. It was great to see everyone! We were happy to be as it was a busy couple days.

6 years!

On August 2nd, Levi and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary. Can't believe it's been 6 years already. It was a nice day. We went to church in the morning. The boys went to Angie's. Levi and I visited our neighbor who was in the hospital. And then we caught up on some sleep.

It's been awhile!

Well it's been awhile since I last posted. I need to try to post on a regular basis, then I wouldn't have to post a lot all at once. The past three weeks have gone by fast! The last few weeks of July, Kai had gotten sick. He had a cold, sore throat and goopy eye. Luckily, he was only sick for just about 2 weeks. I will update more about Kai in another post.