Elf Attack

A six year old Paulding County boy is recovering from an apparent attack by one of Santa's elves. Jonathan Arwood, who resides in Dallas with his parents and three siblings, received "The Elf on the Shelf" book and elf on Friday of last week. The elf is said to stay with a family for the Christmas season. During this time he "watches" the kids during the day and will then fly to the North Pole every night to report to Santa. Jonathan was very excited although apprehensive about the presence of this elf.

As part of the tradition the elf was to be named, and the Arwood family decided on the name Elfis. One of the important rules to be followed while hosting Elfis is that he must not be touched, or he will lose his magic and not be able to return to Santa. Heather Arwood, the victims mother, describes the events as they unfolded. "Jonathan was already very nervous about having the elf in our home. He was innocently playing in front of the entertainment center where Elfis was perched on the top. All of a sudden Elfis appeared to leap off the top of the shelf and land on Jonathan's head. Jonathan, knowing that the elf could not be touched, was terrified. He screamed and jumped onto the couch. I was trying to figure out how to get the elf back on the shelf while Jonathan continued to scream and the poor elf was laying lifeless on the floor. I finally checked on the website and was able to convince Jonathan that it would be ok for me to pick up Elfis with a blanket and place him back in his spot on the shelf. It was horrible, imagine seeing your child attacked by something that was supposed to bring him joy." The mother states that Jonathan is now scared to be in the room alone with Elfis and has become obsessed with the elf.

The victim sustained no physical injury, although the full extent of his emotional trauma will not be known until a psychiatric evaluation is completed. The parents have set up an account for anyone who wishes to donate to Jonathan's future therapy bills. Phone calls to Santa for comment have not been returned.

Breakfast with Santa

Every year Jonathan's school has a breakfast with Santa where you can get your pic made with Santa, make some crafts, oh yeah, and have breakfast. Well this year we made quite a scene! We had just gotten there and had the two youngest in the double stroller. I had taken the big kids across the cafeteria to the cookie decorating station. Now keep in mind the cafeteria was very crowded and LOUD! While I was getting the kids seated I heard Justin's monitor go off. I looked across the cafeteria and saw Nate get up and start to mess with Justin. I expected the alarm to stop any second. Well, it just kept going and going and going. . . After about 10 to 12 sec I started walking toward them. Another lady got to Nate before I did, and it turns out she was a respiratory therapist and "recognized" the sound. By the time I got to him the alarm stopped. Seriously, it was his longest alarm ever!! Remember, the alarm won't stop until you fix the problem with the baby. Normally some mild stimulation usually gets him going, but not this time! Nate said that Justin was very pale and moving his head from side to side. Nate rubbed Justin's face and chest, and was in the process of unbuckling him when the alarm stopped. Once the alarm stopped and I looked around I could tell everyone around was looking at us. Oh well, I made no apologies!!! Justin seemed fine afterward. Once he got woken up enough he was looking at us like "what, did I do that?"

So here are a few pic of the day. Jase just LOVED Santa, not!

Jase with his Santa hat, right before the big alarm.

Poor Jase, why do we do this to our kids!

Jase was begging to be rescued!

The kids asked for all kinds of things from Santa. You know, things they hadn't put on the original list, things that santa can't get now. We are going back over the original list and reminding them how much they wanted those things!

Justin at 11 wks

I took a few (about 75) pics of Justin. I was trying out my new photo backdrops and wanted to get a pic of Justin in the blue outfit. The little blue outfit is the same one that Jonathan and Jase wore for their first pictures at about this same age. Justin is getting big! At his last appt he weighed 10 lb 2 oz. I sing a little song to him. "Chunky man, chunky man, what are they feeding you." And yes, it is to the tune of "Smelly cat"!!

Little man in his "hand me down" outfit!

His hair looks so red in this picture! Its so cute! Jase's hair also looked red at this age, then changed to brown. I wonder what Justin's will do?!?

Sweet baby face! I could just eat him up!

Cutest feet ever, and I don't like feet!

Holding Mommy's thumb.

We are so blessed to have Justin in our lives! Alarms and all!

I'm soooo behind . . .

I'm so ashamed. I have been so slack in updating the blog. I will try to catch up quick!

So, Thanksgiving. We had a great week. The kids were out of school that week and we managed to get a lot of decorating for Christmas done. Justin was sick that week, but it did not result in any increased alarms or a hospital visit, thank goodness! We had Thanksgiving breakfast on Saturday before with Nate's family, it was good! Then on Thanksgiving day we went to Cumming for Thanksgiving with the extended family. The food was great and it was good to see everyone. Then after a fun day of Black Friday shopping with Mom and Krista we went to the Wynn family Thanksgiving. Here are a few pics from Thanksgiving Day.

Jase doing his stunts with Marc.

Jonathan and his baby brother Justin.

How many pictures does it take. . ., in this case about 15!

Angela and Malachi, cute!

It's always like pulling teeth to get a picture of everyone!

Here is our update . . .

I know, I know, I am way behind on my posts. After Justin got home last Sunday we have spent the past week trying to recover. I will give a quick update on the whole family!

Justin: doing good! Of course we are watching him very close and analyzing every little symptom. He has had some congestion with mild cough, not sure if this is left over from the first virus, or something new. He has to stay home most of the time. No crowds, and no sick people are allowed to visit. We are trying to keep the other kids out of his face as much as possible, especially since they can't seem to stay healthy! He has not had any alarms this week, except for one apnea alarm today. Nana was keeping him when it happened. He was asleep, but we are hoping maybe it was a false alarm. I plan to get a monitor download this week, so we will find out then. Justin has his 2 month check up on Wednesday!

This picture was of him getting a bath while in the hospital. He had an IV in his head so we put this little hat on him to help it stay in place. This was on Friday night before he went home on Sunday. You can see that he was feeling sooo much better!

Jase: getting into more and more trouble every day! My sweet, quiet little boy has turned into an active, almost 2 yr old tantrum throwing boy. His favorite thing to do is climb on top of the kitchen table while I am feeding Justin. He also has learned how to climb the baby gates I have all over the house. I'll be feeding Justin and all of a sudden I will hear little feet running around upstairs! Of course, he is usually just going to his room to get his paci and "ki-ki" (his silkie). And he has started the fall in the floor, screaming thing. It's really hard not to laugh! I want to get his "mean" look in a picture. He gives that look when he is getting in trouble, or when he just doesn't know what else to do. It is too funny!

Jase and Mommy!! He was making his "cheeeeeeessssseee" face. I can't even get the camera out of the bag without him making this face!

Jessi: had a great birthday! She had a lot of fun at her party with all her friends. Most of her presents were either princess/barbie or horses, which she loves!!!! She is getting sick again. She seems to keep a yucky nose the whole winter. She will be going for her 5 yr check up on Wed (same day as Justin) so we will see what the doctor says she needs. She is doing great in school. She loves to learn. The other day she wrote her numbers from 1 to 100 all by herself. She knows all her sight words from school and loves to write her letters. She is a sweet little girl and loves her family!

Jessi and Nana. We're still not sure who Jessi looks like. Any ideas?

Jonathan: is sick right now. He had a fever of 102 today and is complaining of a sore throat. He said he thinks he has "strap throat". I figure we will be going to the doctor on Monday. He just finished his soccer season and had his party today. The party was at a park and it was freezing!! We only stayed for about 45 minutes. Jonathan is doing great in school. He is reading more and more every day. He loves that he can sit down and read a book by himself. He got straight A's on his report card and made the honor roll. I had a hard time explaining to him what that was. He didn't understand how he was "on" the honor roll. When he found out it was just a list of names out in the hallway he was not impressed. He is a great big brother and loves his family!

Jonathan and Alex at Jessi's party.

Nate and I just do our best to keep up! I wish we had as much energy as the kids! We are so blessed! Now, we just have to keep the youngest Arwood out of the hospital.

Great day for Justin

I am back at the hospital after being gone last night and today for Jessi's party. Justin is doing great! He has been off the oxygen since 8:30 this morning! He had 2 low heart rate alarms early on but nothing since then. He stayed with Nana and slept good and ate really good. Then Granna came to stay for a while and he did the same for her. I am hoping he will sleep good tonight for mommy, and behave so we can get out of here! His IV did come out today so instead of trying to restart it the doctor ordered Rocephin shots for today and tomorrow. If all goes well we should be headed home tomorrow around 5 pm!! I am very excited, and I know if Justin could talk he would agree!

Now we just have to see how the next few months go. The doctor recommended that we not take Justin to any public places for at least a month. This includes shopping places and church. I also have to turn into a paranoid, germaphobic mom and say that no one who is sick is allowed to visit the house. I will also be standing guard over Justin with a bottle of hand sanitizer for anyone who wants to touch him. I know, it may sound excessive, but watch your baby stop breathing and struggle to take a breath and then we'll talk. I have never been one to sit at home, I like to get out of the house, but I guess I will have to adjust. The cold/flu/RSV season isn't really that long, right? Oh, who am I kidding? It's going to be a long boring winter. But I will gladly do it for my little Justin, it's a small price to pay.

Thanks to everyone that has been praying for Justin, again. Nate and I joked that he is such a dramatic little guy! I hope he's not one of those that whenever he doesn't get his way he holds his breath. We figure he is already competing with his big brother Jase. I can just hear him saying "Oh yeah, so you had 2 surgeries, well I stopped breathing. I can cause more problems than you can." Hopefully my two youngest will find something else to compete over as they get older. I'm thinking soccer or baseball is sounding good. Anyway, I know Justin has been on so many prayer lists all over the country since he has been born. I wish I could thank everyone personally, it just means so much to know that people care enough to offer up a prayer. I have no doubt that we have experienced the grace of God over the last 8 weeks, and pray that He continues to give us and Justin His covering and grace to get through the rest of the winter with no more illness. Thanks again! We love you all!

Not much change

I don't have any real new info to post on Justin today. He is still on oxygen. We tried a trial last night of taking him off the O2, and he didn't cooperate. He started threatening to have some true apnea spells by taking 10 - 15 sec pauses in breathing. His O2 sats, which stayed at 100% while on oxygen, began dipping in the 80's. So, back on the oxygen. Doctor said his body is just not ready yet to go without the oxygen, and we can't force him. Little Justin gets to call the shots, and right now he is saying he wants oxygen! So, oxygen he gets and mommy gets to stay at the hospital longer!

Tonight I am going home for some much needed sleep. Nana Sue is coming to stay with Justin through the night and Granna will come tomorrow to stay while I have Jessi's birthday party at Jump for Joey. I'll be back to my little man tomorrow night and hopefully he will be without the extra oxygen and behaving himself. Right now he wants to eat, so I will update tomorrow!

Keep Justin in your prayers!