Happy Thursday.

Caleb went to his VBS today. He said his verse and jumped right in to participating. It has been interesting to see how he's bloomed each day. Monday he walked in and had to hold my hand and cling to me and hide behind my leg and crouch and cower. The next day he held my hand and quiet, but not cowering. Yesterday he ran in and accepted his VBS Tshirt and name badge with gladness only getting shy while saying his verse. Today, he rushed in excitedly well before I could catch up. Got to where his group meets, did a little jump twirl and hopped as I put his shirt on him and again only getting shy during verse recitation. I've love seeing him adapt. It gives me confidence in his adaptability and that he will handle the newness of kindergarten just fine.

During VBS, Mommy went to work. It's a time consuming and physical assignment, but one that I'm actually beginning to enjoy.

Daddy picked Caleb up from VBS and then took Joshy and Caleb fishing. I guess it is not the easiest thing to take two little guys (one of them just past a toddler phase) fishing. They got the lines tangled, and a little bored. Threw rocks and scared the fish, etc.

While they fished, I went to the Dr., a urologist this time. Blessedly, this time this Dr knew what he was talking about. He was thorough, logically, factual, and dealt with statistics. He confirmed that I have a left side ureter stone (hence the pain!), he noticed a left side stone IN the kidney (very small, most likely next year's stone problem), and he determined that there are NO right side stones. He discussed treatment options. For the moment, he's recommended waiting for it to pass. He's put me back on Flomax, which has shown to increase stone passage by 66%, he's put me on two different pain meds, one of which was a easing effect on the bladder (which will help the desperate problem with urgency/pain), and he's ok'd my continued use of Pyridine. From here on I'm to grit my teeth and bear it, and strain RELIGIOUSLY (to prevent an unnecessary/unwanted CT in the future). When the pain goes away it should mean the stone has passed, and straining should mean I have the stone in hand... if not then the stone hasn't passed and ignoring it all could cause major problems with the kidney (i.e. losing it.) BUT, if I don't strain it would mean having to have another CT to confirm it is gone. So a straining I must do with absolute 100% consistency. Also, I must watch for fever over 101.5... an indicator of distressed kidney, compications, infection etc, because it could mean life or death, per the doctor, and I must call regardless of time of day and get help. I go back next Friday for a check up, and I hope to pronounce good "passing" news so that I can go on vacation with a clean bill. Most likely after the vacation, if I haven't passed it, we will have to discuss the alternatives to just waiting, which basically there is only one choice... actual going in and retrieving it. (Lithotripsy is NOT an option, my stone does not show up on a regular x-ray, which is a requirement for the lithotripsy procedure. ) So that's the scoop. Wait and good luck.

Mike's still not feeling good, dizzy and chest pains etc. So I think we are going to lay low this weekend. How I feel is so unpredictable and he's feel strained so it's time for a recoup all around I think.
Caleb has his last VBS day (at Cascade Community) tomorrow. And I work. Then Sunday, Caleb's buddy Alan has his birthday party at Noon. This is enough as far as plans go, dontcha think?!

Keep your fingers crossed, Joshy has morning potty success, but it went down hill from there with all the running around and being away from the house. I guess taking it easy this weekend (and having a largely naked summer) will be a benefit to Joshy too.

Ok, that's it for now. Have a great weekend. I might be able to update with a few pictures. Joshy insists on dressing up as Buzz Lightyear at least twice a day.. and then runs around yelling "to finity" (aka "to infinity and beyond.") I have a couple buzz pictures of Joshy worth posting.