Woah Nelly

I never really believed int he phrase when it rains it pours until the past 48 hours..... In the last 48 hours this has been our life...
1. The refrigerator broke! Everything was hot, so you should have seen me at 5:00 am running bags of groceries to neighbors and buying extra coolers at the hardware store for our necessities.
2. I fixed the refrigerator! My handy man dad walked me through the steps and 12 hours after the original panic we were already starting to fill it back up with the goodies. Yes I Nikki Johnson repaired the refrigerator on my own!
3. The fire alarms all started going off since they are interconnected. Eventually I realized it was a bad battery, but had to check them one by one to find the bad guy..grr!
4. The air condition was beeping like crazy, learned the filters needed changing..who knew it would go nuts to inform you of that!
5. We went to the Zoo on a Mommy playdate with our church and T-bone crawled under the bar into the giraffe cage. Of course there are multiple inner gates, but really buddy?
6. The general contractor is having trouble finding replacement cabinets similar to the ones we had in the bathroom, so NOTHING has been done since last week. Nothing, I still have no sink, no closet, no shower, no toilet. Yikes!
7. Our swim coach calls an hour before our next lesson and must have either been fired or quit. Because the message just explained she no longer works there and they will find us another coach. What?
8. Taft found a lotion bottle amongst the construction of the bathroom and opened it and ate some, results in a Poison control call, ended up nothing, but that is what the bottle said to do.
9. Wireless internet is broken, im not the web queen, but the satelite for our cell phone service runs through the roter as well. Therefore no internet no cell coverage.

Wow...wow...wow...I think God is thinking "high five Niki". You trusted me and found peace with me!!!!!

No God...please let us have a little reprieve from the Chaos!

HELP!

Other Mamas I need your advice!!!
All you ladies out there who read this and never comment now is a chance I want you to speak up.
We are really having a giant battle of wills when it comes to Taft's medicine routine. He must take meds several times a day in large disgusting doses. They are liquid, but he will not willingly open his mouth. Singing, distractions, toys, Ipod playing, bribing with an M&M, everything has not worked! Nothing short of me holding him down with my entire weight and prying his mouth open is getting the medicine down. We are both in tears by the time the meds disappear down his throat, the Mommy praying. We have had this problem in the past, and just suffered until the med cycle was complete. But this issue is going to be for several months, so a solution is required!
How do you convince your toddler to take medication?
side note: His vitamins are liquid, and he willingly takes them????????

Results for Big Guy

Let me start out saying SORRY for the multitude of people I did not call personally with the news, it is not very big news, and our crazy lifestyle has been very big lately, so I just didn't get to it. SORRY! and SORRY again!
Celiac..no!
Intestinal bacteria( the scary drug resistant type he talked about) overgrowth..no!
The doctor believes he simply had a giant over growth of good bacteria in his GI! The bacteria we need to break down food had a little party and made too many babies so that now instead of helping him to break down and digest they go nuts and ferment the food gassing up his tummy and making his look like e needs maternity toddler clothes. Strange! We are on a strict nasty cycle of 2 different antibiotics for a long while, and then probiotics to replant the good guys, just not too many of the good guys!
Thats that, no real life changing news! The nurse would beg to differ since I called several times a day all last week waiting for the results, but what the doc predicted was so bad stuff, and this answer isn't at all what we would consider bad!
God is good and so is Taft's blessed belly!

SSA

In filling out forms to have the boys names changed on their Social Security Cards the SSA has a link to enter your name and see its ranking in Popularity for the past decade. Well I was tempted..and yes I entered all of our names out of curiosity.

Nikki:Most popular year in last decade it was #585/1000!
** Nikki's middle name was not in the top 1000 in the last decade!
Tyler:Most popular year in last decade it was #10/1000!
** Tyler's Middle name was also in the top 250 as well!
Taft: Never in the top 1000 names!
Ezekiel: Most popular year in last decade it was #213/1000!...Grrr too common!!!
**Totally obvious..but neither of the boys middle names/Ethiopian names have ever been in the top 1000!

I love stats! I love names! I love nap time when Mommy can waste precious time looking this up!

Water Water everywhere!

Saturday night I could have sworn I heard something scurrying up in the attic, but of course I hear creepy noises with husband across the world and a sick baby all night. I washed my hands and saw water all over the sink. I assume I splashed the water while washing my face or brushing my teeth. Taft gets sick again and I find myself once again in the bathroom noticing water all over the counter top. I notice tiny drips are coming from behind the mirror and pooling on the granite....how is that possible? Behind the mirror? I then notice a few bubble in the pain near the light fixture. I then stand on the counter and feel the walls...at 2 am mind you....they feel damp??? I start pushing and my hand sinks through the dry wall a little bit in one place..
PURE PANIC SETS IN!!!!!
I call my Dad and turn the water main for the entire house off! Yes, no bathroom, no shower no washing hands...no water!
We call the base plumber and leave messages for a referral, and continue our regular routine off to bible study, church, Sunday school, etc. I get a call back from the base plumber with a reference for a reputable civilian plumber since my explanation to him seems way out of his league. The referral was able to be at my house 30 min after church! Whoop!

He can not get to the leak through the attic, so next thing I know..he has torn down my ceiling! The pipe has been chewed up my some sort of animal...I knew I heard something up there! The water leak is fixed, my now demolished bathroom is NOT!

The plumber calls a mold and restoration people who are there in moments to start removing the wet materials. Surprise..everything was wet. The dry wall,the insulation, baseboards, carpet, cabinets, counter top, sinks, everything! I guess it could mold quickly, so the faster everything is out the less the chance and quicker the drying starts?

Today the estimator assessed the damage to report to our insurance, who of course has a giant deductible, plus will cover the water damage but not the plumbing since it was "typical wear and tear"...GRRRRRR insurance!

Before repairs can be complete I am living in RAW FEAR of a little creature attacking! I bought rat traps and tons of poison and begged my neighbor to come put it in the attic and surrounding areas in case my friend comes back while the house is under construction!

So our life continues with no bathroom or closet, and a constant flow of construction/mold/exterminator/insurance people in and out!

First Water Balloon Fight

Giggle Monster

Happy Birthday Memaw

What better birthday present than to hear Zeke(who NEVER speaks, only signs) say Memaw for one of the first times!!!!

Silly willies

Taft is more than excited about tomatoes and me singing the silly Veggietales song in a crazy voice, he gets all giddy, too bad the video died as he was bursting with energy! Zeke is "dropping it low" and dancing like a true Ethiopian. His tribe told us their dance style is all in the hips in the South, as opposed to shoulders in the North, well somehow he must have learned that in the womb. He then of course must show me and kiss the photos of his Mama and Dada and then continue his little moves. He is such a light of sunshine! ****Before anyone gives me a hard time about the music he is dancing to, yes it is popular but it has ZERO curse words, or suggestive language! We are very particular about what the boys hear or we listen to around them, which 99% of the time is Ethiopian music, worship songs or nursery rhymes, not typical radio like this video shows*****

Ready for Friday

We have had in depth conversations with each division of the procedure on Friday. Uncle Tom is all lined up and prepped to be the Zeke helper, and continuous prayers are being sent. We are ready for the BIG Tummy procedure!and hopefully speedy diagnosis!

Mommy even spoke with the anesthesiology team about putting the IV in his right hand, so that when he waked up his left finger will be ready for some comfort sucking. Every past surgery they taped that hand all up and he could not get to his sucking finger which only made for a grouchy baby who turned scary psycho baby!

Our recent life!

We have been busier the past few weeks than I think I ever have been my entire life, and thereofre blogging fell to the bottom of the list. Here are a few photos and then the actual blogging should continue.

Our Hero

Taft health conerns

We are 100% reliant and certain of God's sovereignty and healing, therefore have failed to mention the following issues, but would love prayer support from anyone who reads this and follows Christ and our journey to love and serve Him.

1. Pediatric GI: after months on the waiting list we were finally seen by the only group of Pediatric GIs in all of Tucson. Before I could even get a word in edge wise the doctor reached for Taft's belly and claimed "it is Very distended"....well yes, hence the reason we are there. He gave me a host of causes, diseases, medical issues that could have caused his giant belly. He wants to go in immediately and see the cause and issues surrounding it. The surgery is scheduled for Sept 16, next Friday! Praise God for our Doc, the quick timing, his connection to and love for Ethiopia, and a great God who will provide and protect!

2. Orthopedic inserts and leg braces: Taft's therapy team met and after several months of "wait and see" have decided to go ahead and have him fitted soon for orthopedic inserts and super short leg braces that just come a small bit over the ankle. He has basically crushed all cartilage in his feet and his feet look like little meat patties. They believe if we act now his bones and cartilage will correctly take the shape of the inserts and prevent future issues.

Tyler in the news again

http://www.rc-east.com/en/regional-command-east-news-mainmenu-401/4901-g

Tyler in the news

Article written on one of Tyler's projects recently. Notice his quote!!!!

http://www.isaf.nato.int/article/news/giroa-and-paktiya-prt-help-waze-zadran-open-bridge-to-future.html