Pumpkins

We picked up pumpkins for the boys the day we went to the Harvest Festival where all the tractors were. I thought it would be fun to take pictures of the boys with their pumpkins. I tried to take a picture without Ben's nuk. However he decided to try eating the stem since he didn't have a nuk in his mouth. He is on tooth #6 which came thru yesterday!! Ben is cruising around and looking for all sorts of trouble.

Grandma Pat and Grandpa Tom's House

We had a busy week last week. It started off with Josh's doctor appointment mentioned in the last blog. Tuesday was the MOPS group at our church. It was our first time. The boys did great with the childcare. Trying to get them packed and back in the truck was another story. Thankfully Aunt Becky was there to help us out a bit.

Wednesday evening was AWANA at church. Jacob loves going to Honeybees. He always is saying "buzz, buzz", which is part of the Honeybee song. He also has been able to tell us a little of what stories they talk about in Honeybees and in Sunday school class. The first time was about Noah building the ark. All week we talked about Noah, the ark, the animals and the rainbow.

Saturday morning was swim class. Jacob and Benjamin started to get runny noses on Thursday, Jacob actually sounded horrible on Thursday. However, on Saturday he started to sound better, so we thought we might be able to go to swim class. The boys love swimming, so they get very dissappointted to miss a lesson. So, we went to swimming. Ben was a little fish in the water. Even the instructor commented on how comfortable in the water he is. Jacob swam very well also. He gets in and acts like a pro, especially since he has an idea of what they are going to do since he watches Ben's class first.

After swim class we rushed home, packed the truck up and Jacob, Ben and I headed up to Grandpa Tom and Grandma Pat's house. Josh stayed home and put tons of insulation in the attick on Saturday. Sunday he worked on AWANA stuff. Tonight he went to basketball and hurt his ankle. We shall see how he is doing in the morning.

So, we got up to Grandpa Tom and Grandma Pat's house for lunch. Jake took a nap and Ben, Grandma Pat and I went to a baby shower for one of my cousins. Jacob got to go outside and play in Grandma's garden, he prefers it over the sand box. It must make him feel like he is in the field with his tractors. I was able to get some work done for work and Grandma gracously got the boys a few outfits and did quite a bit of laundry for us. Aren't moms/grandmas great!!!

We have also had our share of excitement while at grandma and grandpa's house. Ben started crawling forwards on Friday and has mastered it while at grandma and grandpa's house. Watch out world here comes Benjamin. Sunday Grandma noticed that Ben had gotten another tooth, so he is up to 5 teeth total with another one just about ready to pop thru. I have also had the challenge of having two very mobile and independant little boys. Ben got ahold of Jacob's sippy cup. Jacob was not happy and took it away and started to hit Ben on the head with the sippy cup. Let's say mommy was not very happy. Jacob recieved a 5 minute time out, which he cried the entire time. You could tell after I told him not to do it, he felt bad about it, but he was still responsible for his actions. It is difficult because Jacob thinks Ben should get time outs and be as responsible for his actions as he is, however, Benjamin is only 8 months old and doesn't understand. So, we are working on sharing and not taking toys out of our brother's hands. We are also working on not getting so upset or throwing tantrums when things do not go our way. Jacob is getting really good at counting from 1 to 10.

Waiting....

We had another doctor appointment for Josh today. I was not planning on going to this appointment, but then thought maybe I should. The boys and I decided to meet Josh for lunch at Noodles and then we went to the doctor appointment. The doctor pretty much told us what he had told us at the last appointment. It is a Bosniak 2F renal cyst. Typically 2f's they watch to see if there is any change or not over time. If there is change they remove it, if not they leave it as is and assume it is a simple cyst. So now we wait for six months and then they will do another CT scan and an ultrasound. The doctor was going to do a MRI, however since Josh had such a reaction to the one last week, he is opting to do the CT scan and ultrasound. I was having a difficult time with the thought of waiting and with having the surgery. Now it is time for me to put my faith into action and trust that God has it all worked out. To remind myself that He is in control. God doesn't promise that life as a follower of Him will be easy. However, he does promise to be our rock and fortress.

Psalm 18:2
"The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."

Psalm 19:14
"May the words of my mouth and the meditiations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."

Psalm 20
"May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion.
May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings.
May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.
We will shout for joy when you are victoriousand will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the Lord grand all your requests.
Now I know that the Lord saves his annointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.
O Lord, save the king!
Answer us when we call!"

This prayer is David's prayer for victory in battle. I find great comfort in the verses above and I claim them as my prayers. As Josh and I face the battle of the unknown, we have comfort that God has it all worked out. It will not be easy, but there is hope.

Our Blessings

Jacob likes to make people laugh. He tells me he has to go to work and he takes his camera and takes pictures. Unfortunately, he forgot his camera in Grandpa Tom's truck. So, now he takes his cell phone and elmo pumpkin to work instead. - 2 years 3 months old

Molly likes to make everyone think she is a neglected dog. However, how can you feel neglected when you have two boys to watch out for. - 4 years 6 months old


Benjamin likes to make people laugh too. It is so fun to see Jacob and Ben see each other in the morning. Jacob always has to know where Ben is and then they see each other and get so excited. Ben also likes to pull hair and pound on things. He is a mover and a shaker and keeps me on my toes. He crawls backwards and is either getting at the DVD player or getting stuck by the couch. - almost 8 months old

What do they all have in common, they are loved very much by Josh and I, and they all love balls.

Ben has Four Teeth

I almost forgot. How could I when I got bit in swim class yesterday. Ben got his first tooth around September 11th, it was the bottom one on the left. Then he got three of them at one time on the first of October. He got the other bottom tooth and the two top teeth. So, he is well on his way to a full set of teeth. You can kind of see the bottom ones on the picture.

Pioneer Days

A co-worker of Josh's had given him information on Pioneer Days in Oak Creek. So, after swim classes on Saturday morning we headed down to Oak Creek to see tractors, more tractors and more tractors. It was a fun time seeing old tractors, a thrasher, and a planer that was operated by a tractor. Jacob was shy at first, but then he kept saying "Dad there is another one, there is another one." They also had toy tractors for sale, Jacob was in little boy heaven. There was one trailer we would go thru and then he would walk back in again to look at all the different toy tractors. Ben seemed to enjoy watching everything too. Really I think he wanted to walk around with Jacob and dad. I am not sure I am ready for that quite yet, he is only going to be 8 months old in 3 days. We also picked up a pie from the Elegant farmer for our evening with some friends.
Saturday evening we went over to our friends the Buntrock's house. They have two little boys, Casey who is two and Caleb is almost 4 months old. Our friends the Tulley's were there also. They have a daughter named Lauren who is about 4 weeks old. It was the first time we all got to see Lauren. What a sweet little girl.
So, Jacob and Casey are both 2 and they are both potty training. I took Jacob to the bathroom to go potty and Casey joined us. If you ever want to be entertained go into the bathroom with two little boys and a truck book. Jacob is not the quickest, so Casey sang us I Have the Joy in My Heart. Then they started to look at a truck book. they were naming the trucks and sliding the panels to see what trucks were below the panels. Then they came to a skid steer. Jacob insists to call them "bobcats". Jacob called it a bobcat, I called it a skid steer and Casey said, "No, it is a small escavator." I said no, it is a skid steer and Jacob said very seriously, "No mom, it is a small escavator." Like Casey knows what it is and mom you have no clue. So, I was outnumbered by two year olds.
Jacob and Casey enjoyed playing together, they were so fun to watch. Ben kept watching them and trying to keep up, but since he can only crawl backwords, he couldn't get very far.

Zoo Play Date

We headed to the zoo on Thursday 10/9 for a Play Date with our friends Amy & Isaac Gruetzmacher. We woke up early to take Josh to work after picking him up the day before from the serious reaction he had from the die they gave him during an MRI he had. We stopped by Kirk and Andrea Stache's house to see Andrea and Hannah. Then it was off to the zoo. It was more busy than I thought it would be, however it was a beautiful day. Jacob had fun with Issac as they looked at monkeys, bears and cows together. Issacc is about 16 months old, so he is between Jacob and Ben. It was fun to see the different stages.

Updates....

If only I was as up to date on my blog as many of our friends are. Unfortunately, I am not. A lot of things have happened in the last month and a half. We have had a couple of trips to Grandma Pa and Grandpa Tom's house and a couple of trips to Nana and Papa's house.

Friday September 12th, we received a call from Josh's sister Alisha, that they were told that Grandma Toepfer had choked on something and was without air for some time. I had called Josh to let him know and immediately made arrangements for us to head down to Illinois that weekend. We had talked about Josh going down on Friday evening to see his grandmother and then the boys and I would head down on Saturday after swim lessons. We were not sure how Jacob would do seeing grandma Toepfer in the hospital on life support. We received a call an hour or two later, that she past away shortly after Josh's dad got to the hosptial. So, we decided to go as a family down to Illinois after swim lessons. We were not sure if we should explain to Jacob what was happening or just see if he had questions. How much would he really understand? We answered a few questions, but really he was just happy to see Nana, Papa, Great Grandpa Toepfer, Great Grandma & Grandpa Schultz, Aunt Alisha, Aunt Trisha and Abigail. Abigail is Josh's sister's youngest daughter, she is about a month younger than Benjamin. I think it helped Josh's dad and grandfather to see Jacob, Benjamin and Abigail. After Josh's Uncle Vic had talked with Grandpa Toepfer, he really felt that Grandma had a heart attack while she was eating. God decided it was time to take her home. The family has comfort in the hope that they will see her again one day in heaven. Many tears have been shed, as she will be deaply missed. She loved her family dearly, the Pastor's words at the funeral focused around Proverbs 31. I think it is an awsome testimony to be spoken of in that way! She was a very dear Grandmother-in-law and reminded me a lot of my own Grandma Koenig, I look forward to seeing them again in heaven one day.
The following Thursday Josh had an appointment with a urologist to review the results from a CT scan he had done the first Saturday in September. I guess I should begin with the end of August. I had scheduled Josh to go in to see Dr. Amy the chiropractor. He had been complaining of pain in his lower back. Since he was having pain, she wanted to take an x-ray. On the x-ray there was something suspicous and she recommended he see his regular doctor. So he followed up with Dr. Misorski at the Waukesha Aurora Clinic, his regular doctor. Dr. Misorski thought it was justifiable to get either an x-ray or CT scan done. An x-ray would be cheaper, so my frugal husband opted for the x-ray. The radiologist said that it was still questionable and recommended a CT scan be done.
Dr. Misorski scheduled a CT scan and a follow up with a urologist. That brings us to the Thursday appointment with Dr. Mark Waples. Dr. Waples said there is still concern from the CT scan2F. They had determined he had a Bosniak 2F cyst on his kidney. He scheduled an ultrasound to get more information. On the Bosniak scale a 2F is kind of a greay area. For a 1 they do not do anything and just monitor it, 3's and 4's they automatically remove. A 2F they can remove or continue to monitor it for growth. The ultrasound was scheduled for 9/25 and the follow-up appointment on 9/29.
Josh's mom came up to take care of Jacob and Benjamin so I could go to the appointment. I think we both went into the appointment thinking he would tell us it was nothing and that would be it. However, he did not. Dr. Waples told us that he had a Bosniak 2F cyst that was very suspicious and he recommended having it removed to make sure it was not cancerous. He told us that if it was determined to be cancerous that there was a 90% cure rate, since it was caught so early. Josh took it all in strides, I however freaked out. I know God allows things to happen for a reason, but to tell me my 31 year old husband has a high chance of having cancer was a little more than I thought I could handle. We had dealt with the loss of 4 unborn children, was that to prepare us for this?
Then I was to come home and tell my mother-in-law that her son might have cancer. Josh's aunt is battling cancer right now and he had a cousin who had lost a fight with cancer in August of 2005. She was only 30 years old. I had a long talk with God and I called a dear friend to talk through things before I came home. Josh also came home early from work to process things and to spend some time with the boys, his sister and his mom.
Dr. Waples also recommended another specialized CT scan to determine were blood vessels where and to get a surgical plan. So that was scheduled for 10/1 with a follow up appointment on 10/7. Josh's mom again came up to watch the boys while we went to the doctors appointment on 10/7. We were hoping to finalize plans with the surgery, however, Dr. Waples thought he was bringing better news. He came into the room and asked if Josh had ever gotten hit on that side during basketball. Josh said no, but he had gotten a few memorable hits during football. He was the quarterback of his high school football team. Dr. Waples told us that one of the radiologist who is highly respected said that after he looked at the specialized CT and the previous ultrasound that maybe what they were looking at was a cyst on the kidney that had ruptured and the blood calcified and created the tumor. If that is the case, it was not cancerous. But there was no guarentee that is what it was. The only way they could tell, is if they removed it. So, doctor Waples recommended waiting and in 4-6 months scheduling an MRI to see if there was any change or growth. He also told us that he could order an MRI in the next week to give them an apple to apple comparison, instead of trying to compare the CT scans to an MRI. I should have been thrilled, but I was not. I felt like the waiting game was just pulling us along. On one hand I am not the best at waiting, on the other hand, the surgery is pretty evasive, there is risk of infection, there would be a long recovery period and etc.
So, Josh had an MRI scheduled the next morning. He had had two CT scans already, I was expecting my normal call after his scan. However, I did not get the usual call. Josh called and sounded horrible and he said he felt horrible. He felt sick to his stomach and thought maybe he should come home. I asked if he wanted me to come get him, and he did. That was very unusual for Josh. Then when I got to work, he asked me to come up to his desk to get him. That was even more unusual. When Jacob, Ben and I got up to his desk he had thrown up and was crouched over at his desk. I was ready to take him to the emergency room. The urologist had given us no warning this would happen, the MRI tech had not said anything. I was shocked they had let him leave the radiology department. So, we got home and I called Dr. Waples. He was pretty suprised with the reaction and told me to bring him back to St. Luke's to have some anti-nautia medicine given to him. So, we packed up once again and headed back to St. Luke's. They checked him to make sure he did not have a rash. They said he is sensitive to Gallium, but it wasn't an allergic reaction. When he has a scan again they will give him something before hand to prevent the same reaction. Needless to say it was a little crazy. Jacob and Ben were troopers and did great under all the circumstances.
Tomorrow he has another appointment with Dr. Waples. I will not be going to this appointment. Pray for clear direction and guidance. We will keep you updated on what will happen next.