Team Allison's Next Chapter

A New Adventure~ A new journey for us Allison's! I feel like it's time to tell friends and family that we are moving to Washington this summer. After 8 years in Gresham/Portland we are onto the next chapter. We are very excited and of course it's a bitter sweet move... It's bitter in that we will be a 6+ hour drive from Eugene -my forever home, and to John and Jake it's "our-gene." ( Side story- Jake told me the other day that there are 2 "You-Genes" he said, one at Grammy's and one at Megan's. See, to him Eugene is not the name of a city, it's the name of his 2 favorite homes away from home:) -And 3+ hour drive from Portland: our 2nd home. It will make visits with beloved family and friends less frequent; but I believe more special and for longer time spent, and if it's possible- more fun! It's already a party every time we are in Eugene because it's just how the Wilson's do it...but now we can party for longer!  And it's always a party at our family  in Gresham (Noyes') home...so now we will have to have more sleep-overs and stay-cations and maybe we can meet in the middle at Great Wolf Lodge for family fun!!!  This will be the first time I (and my boys) will live in a different state. It'll be strange to raise our kids in Washington and not Oregon?? What?? It's weird! They will grow up as Washonians. Is that what they're called? At least we will remain in the Northwest. I never thought I would head north to more rain and snow and gray skies. However, if we moved somewhere hot and sunny, it would be too far away from the ones we love. Here's the deal-Michael was hired as a coach for a fabulous institution. He loves his co-workers and has many good friends in Washington. He's having a blast and I'm thrilled for his new career move. I love to see him happy and in his element. He deserves it so much.  If you know us well, you know what we've been through the last 3 years. It's been a long and winding road full of pot holes and speed bumps. Mike has remained positive and full of grace and forgiveness and his strong faith in God the entire time. I, however, have been psycho and pessimistic and depressed. Not the entire 3+ years...but I've had my many crazy-feel-sorry-for-us-moments. I don't know how he continues to rise above and display massive integrity and strength. He is the epitome of an honorable man. His first priority is his faith in God. Then me and our boys. He is so in love with all of us. He has taught me how to focus on all we are blessed with. It's easy to feel down-and-out when your financial situation and the lifestyle you are used to takes a 180 turn. But we have amazing friends and family and children. We have our health and a home and freedom. Wow I sound so cliche and cheesy. But it's true! My cup runneth over.  Now, bear with me this will sound like an acceptance speech. It must be said. Out loud. First, thank you Jesus. The dog days are over. The dog days are done. Can you hear the horses? Cause here they come! Amen. I want to say thanks to my parents for the unconditional support and love. You're always there for us. There are hardly words to express how grateful we are for your love, help, support, advice, and listening ears. Get ready to drive to Everett a few times a year!  Thank you to Mike's Dad and Carol who have kept us afloat for 3 years. Your generosity is mind boggling.  Thank you to my grandparents who have shown amazing support to us in several ways. They surprised us many times with their love and support; it usually came after another horrible hardship and a night of prayer. Mike would say "See, Hun, God is on our side." They always made us feel thought of and prayed for. We admire you and love you both immensely.  My whole family has been a source of comfort and support. I have the best family ever! Shout out to my siblings.  My friends are crazy awesome. It's during the tough times you find out who your true friends are. When you're climbing a mountain, some folks just can't make the climb with you. And that's ok. But it sure makes you appreciate the ones who love you for who you really are. Linda Noyes-I'm talking to you. Your love and generosity and Team Allison mentality has been a savior in my life. Your family is the best and we love you guys immensely. Not only did you bring us what we needed, you never doubted the truth. You became our best friends. All the days and nights of making memories with wine and beers and BBQs and decks and patios and fires and dinner theme nights and birthday celebrations and queen for a day and stay-cations and laughter and listening to me complain and just being you being a good friend to me. You really have taught me what a good true friend is. You and Dan and Grandma and Laurie and Kyle too. We love you all dearly. We will miss you. I'm going to make you visit me. :) LYLAS.  And lastly, thank you to my boys Johnny and Jakey for staying strong. You're the best kids ever! The lights in my life. I hope you love our new home and don't worry we will ALWAYS remain loyal Duck Fans. (That's their biggest concern...not switching schools or being far away from family, it's that we aren't supposed to live where Washington college teams do:)   

Cuddle Bear

My Sweet Boy
Asked me to give him a back scratch before he falls asleep. His feet are so sweet.

When I'm sad...
Jake tries to make me laugh by being silly.
John expresses his love for me.
I'm very lucky

Cartoons are to blame

Jakes been naughty today. John said that the "cartoons have got to stop! because they're making jake act that way and rotting his brain out!"

John- 6 Years Old and a Kindergardener!

Johnny started Kindergarden this year at Deer Creek Elementary in King City. It's a beautiful school and John is proud that the mascot is a Buck. Dad likes that too:) His teacher, Mrs. Espy is fabulous! She is super fun and cool and kind and when I talk to her I just can't stop talking I want to hang out with her. She is a huge Duck fan which is awesome. She's been teaching for 20 years and has taught K through 8th grade. She loves teaching Kindergarden; she loves the kids so much and it radiates from her.

John loves school and his teachers; he is learning a lot. He goes 5 days a week for 2 1/2 hours. He catches the bus at 11:35am which means he still sleeps-in everyday and gets to play for awhile before we get ready to go. We pick him up at the bus stop at 2:45pm so I get 3 hours and 10 minutes with just Jake and me.

After school, John is excited to see me and Jake; he hugs and kisses us both and holds my hand immediately. About 20 kids pile out of the bus at his stop and me and Jake are the only people waiting for a kid. When we walk back to the house John always tells me he has "cool stuff" to show me. It's usually a lot of art work. He loves to draw pictures of football players and skateboarders. When homework is sent home in a packet monthly (they don't return it to school) he wants to do the whole packet at once and usually will finish it before I even know he was working on it. He loves to count to 100 or 200 or more as fast as he can. He loves to try and read . He loves to write his name and names of things he loves like Vikings Football or Super Mario or Star Wars and Anankin.

John is growing so fast. He has his dad's long legs. The size 6 jeans he got for school clothes this fall are now high-waters (growth spurt!) so we are onto size 7s. But he still has the waist of a skinny 5 year old. No fat on his wirey body. He loves to wear Jerseys: Ducks and Minnesota Vikings. He is super into Ducks Football and the NFL. He'll say he is "John 'LaMichael' Allison" He will sit and watch football with Mike and is learning a lot about the game. His favorite Wii and DS games are Madden Football, Star Wars Lego and Harry Potter Lego. His favorite movies/shows are Harry Potter movies, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 1 & 2, A Christmas Story, Charlie Brown Cartoons, Looney Toons. He still loves to quote movies and immitate voices.

John is very wiggly and can hardly ever sit still. Even when I'm reading to him he is moving all around and fidgeting, but he is listening to the story because he'll comment on it. He loves to wrestle and dance and flip around and show me his gymnastics moves. He loves to play tag and catch. He is athletic and good at sports but he is also very clumsy. He always knocking things over and running into things and tripping over toys. "Whoops! I didn't see that there!!"

John turned 6 years old November 2, 2011. Had a Power Rangers theme surprise party at Papa's Pizza in Beaverton. Grammy and Grandpa, Wilson Family, Farkas Family, Waples Family and Leslie came. John was surprised to see everyone and get lots of gifts. The kids had fun and John was very thankful. On the ride home he said, "I sure had a great birthday party!"

This Christmas John asked Santa for "The new Lego Harry Potter Wii game, a Minnesota Vikings Jersey, and a Spiderman Lego Mini figure, and a Lego airpane." Santa was good to him. Jake gave him the Spiderman Mini Figure. Santa also gave John a Harry Potter Lego, a Pittsburg Steelers uniform, Skylanders Wii game, and Madden Football 3DS game. He got SpyGear walkie talkies and watch from Will, Halo guy from Aunt Leslie, Mario Galaxy Wii game and a book from Grammy and Grandpa, Harry Potter DS game and Star Wars Lego from Grandpa and Grandma Allison.

John is still a tender hearted little man. He'll sometimes cry because he misses his Dad or he's thinking about going away to college or me dying or something. He'll ask me if I will stay with him forever "even when I'm married?" So sweet. He loves Jake, John will look at baby pictures of Jake and tear up and say he misses "that baby Jake." He loves his kitties and treats them very special. He confides in them when he is angry with mom. He can also be a pill and I yell at him a lot for being naughty. Mostly John is silly and funny and happy and polite and respectful. He wants to please me and dad and loves the praise when he does well. He is a sweet boy who loves his family immensely.

John on his 6th birthday getting a happy meal

John's birthday party at Papa's Pizza

Carson, John, Will, Hudson, and Jake

John on Halloween at Linda's house-she bought him the Mario costume, he was so excited.

John 'LaMichael' Allison

John at Kindergarden with his buddies Sage and Jose and Jake

MY SWEET BOY THE LIGHT OF MY LIFE

It's Good To Be Jake Allison

It's been awhile since my last entry so a lot has changed. Jake is now 4 1/2 years old, as he calls it "the bigger 4." Jake still stays home with mom so he has the life. I mean THE LIFE. He wakes up around 9, 10 or 11...whenever he feels like rolling out of bed. He lounges in his jammies while breakfast is served to him on a tray. Then he plays video games, watches TV, has snacks handed to him, maybe plays in his room, and maybe a trip to the store where he gets a treat, hot tub, bath, more games, reading, back in the cozy jammies and cuddles up with mom when he feels like resting. It's good to be Jake...

He chooses his breakfast, usually eggs or pancakes or bagels, or cereal. He loves fruit too. He loves kiwis and blueberries. His favorite foods are bagels and cream cheese, Chinese orange chicken- he calls it "wet chicken"-chicken nuggets, vegetables like red peppers, carrots,pretty much all fruits and vegetables, orange juice, pizza, noodles, salami, lil smokies, and whatever is on my plate.

He loves to play Wii or his DS gameboy. He likes me to watch him play Wii. His favorite games are: Lego Star Wars, Sonic, Super Mario Bros. His favorite TV show is Wild Kratts. He also loves Batman. His favorite movie of the moment is "Diary of a Wimpy Kid Rodrick Rules."

For Christmas this year Jake asked Santa for a Nintendo 3DS and a Batman guy. He got both. He loves them to death. He also received a 3D Mario Land DS game, Star Wars DS game and big stuffed Mario (from Grandpa Allison and Grandma Carol), Sonic Black Knight Wii game, Skylanders Wii game, Broncos uniform, Minnesota Vikings Jersey, Pillow Pet & Mr. Freeze (fom Reese), Power Ranger Wii game and a book (from Grammy & Grandpa), Halo guy (from Aunt Leslie), Marvel Super Heroes magnetic dart board, Star Wars Lego and Hot Wheels (from Noyes family), a Robin Lego mini figure (from John), and lots of stocking stuffer toys and candy. We went to the Rooses' on Christmas Eve and several family members told me & Mike how impressed they were with our boys; how well-behaved they are. I got a card after Christmas from Aunt Pam and she wrote Uncle Tom was still talking about how impressed he was by John and Jake. That makes me proud of them. (It must be all the yelling and threatening I do at them everyday lol:)

Jake loves to go to the hot tub and jump in yelling "cannon ball!" And he holds his breath under water now. He likes to run sprints and show me how fast he runs. And he does run fast! He's got a lot of energy. He's always jumping around and doing gymnastics moves and he loves to dance. His favorite song is "Sexy and I Know It" by LMFAO. He demands it played in the car. Too funny.

John is still the center of Jake's world. When John is at school Jake asks a few times if it's time to go get him yet. "Now is it time??" When it is time, Jake stops whatever he is doing immediately and gets ready to pick John up from the bus stop. He hugs John BIG when John gets off the bus. Same thing when we drop him off at the bus stop in the morning. He hugs John and says "I love you" and waves and blows kisses til we can't see John through the bus window anymore. So sweet. Will they always love each other this much? I hope so. The boys get along pretty good. They fight and yell but they get over it fast and play constantly together. They like the same stuff.

The boys still love to wrestle each other. But they love to wrestle their dad even more. They team up on him and Jake says he rescues John from dad. He loves to climb all over dad and sit on his shoulders. He loves his daddy. Jake is over the infamous cold-shoulder stage but he still gets really mad at you for the littlest reasons. If you say something he wanted to say first or help him too much with something he yells and says, "I'm mad! Yew didn't wisten!" But he says it with a lot of rage. He'll stomp upstairs to a self-put time-out and then appear about 5 or 10 minutes later with the sweetest most infectious smile and say, "Mom, I'm sorry." And all is right in the world again and he is happy as can be.

Jake is still a tiny guy. I think he weighs 31 lbs or so. He's skinny with 6-pack abs, maybe 8-pack. He has a tiny body but he packs a mean punch. Watch out. We went to Big Al's a few weeks ago and dad bowled a terrible game. I was winning big and loving it so I made fun of Mike laughing and called him a "loser" (it's rare that I am better than Mike at something sport-ish so it was a glorious feeling) and it was as if a switch went off in Jake's brain. His smile vanished and his brows lowered and he came at me like a freight train. He punched me! And he said, "DON'T CALL MY DAD A LOSER!!" He was so upset. Then he got in big trouble because nobody punches mommy. But it was kinda funny because he was defending his dad and just lost his cool. Hmmm, sounds a little like stories from his dad's childhood...hence his nicknames: Mini-Mike a.k.a. Chachito.

Jake is very sweet and kind and happy and affectionate most of the time. He is the best hugger ever. He loves to hug. I can look at him when I'm stressed or tired or annoyed and he gives me the biggest eye-squinting smile and it makes me smile too. Jakey!

First Broken Bone

John broke his arm on June 6, 2011. He was hanging in a little tree in front of our neighbors house with his friend Daniel in the tree too. He fell out of the tree and I heard a crack on the pavement. I was weeding in the front yard talking on the phone with Stephanie. John started to cry a little and was walking toward me.
"I have to go! John just fell out of the tree!" I said to Stephanie.
"Oh my gosh!" She said.

I hung up and took one look at John holding his right arm with his left hand. It looked contorted because his humerus bone was sticking out above the crook of his elbow. He was saying, "Ow ow ow ow ow! It hurts! It hurts!"

I said, "Oh my goodness. OK. (breathe) We have to go to the hospital." As I'm dialing 911 with my iPhone. I calmly tell the operator that my son broke his arm. Our address. Within one minute we could hear the sirens in the distance.
John was in tremendous pain. "I want to watch a movie." He said as he tried to walk inside the house. He was confused. Maybe in shock. I held him on my lap and we listened to the sirens get closer and closer. Within 4 minutes from my 911 call the Fire Truck and Ambulance pulled up. There were about 6 men looking at John's arm.
One EMT said, "Ooh. Which hospital, Mom?"

"I don't know."

"We recommend Legacy Emmanuel Children's Hospital. They have the best surgeons."
I'm thinking, surgery??? Oh dear lord.

One of the Fire Fighters went in the house to find my purse to get my keys to open my car to get the car seat out for Jake. Our neighbor Pam came over to help.
They hooked up that car seat inside the ambulance in 5 seconds flat. Impressive. By this time John has an air cast on his arm, a Cat and the Hat stuffed animal that he chose out of 10 other animals, and he's on a gurney headed into the ambulance.

Getting his IV in his hand was sad to see. His right arm hurt so badly while he's crying out about the pain of the needle too. The pain medicine worked well and fast and in no time he was closing his eyes and feeling OK.

"Is it feeling a little better?" EMT asked.

"No." John replies.

"Does it still hurt?" EMT asked.

"No." John replies.

We chuckle.

Jake was chit-chatting the whole 27 minute ride. He was having an exciting ambulance ride! At one point John asked if the truck was driving by itself. He was confused that the EMT was with him. Who was driving us? The other guy, we told him. He closed his eyes again.

The EMTs told me to start recording the ride because this was "serious scrap booking material." So I did. I called Mike and Stephanie and Megan. Mike was going to meet us in the ER.

In the ER, he was given Morphine which helped him sleep a little. He would close his eyes for a few minutes and wake up to cry or puke. We were waiting for a surgeon to look at his X-rays and then get the OR ready for him. We were in the ER for a couple hours.

His Surgeon, Dr. Barmata, was great. He said if he couldn't place it perfectly he would go in make it perfect. He was able to position his bone perfect and place 3 pins in his bone to hold it in place. By 9:30pm John was out of surgery but it took him til 12:30am to wake up.

John's nurse was super sweet and she loved John. She gave him goldfish and Popsicles and at 1am he watched Toy Story and Toy Story 2. We shared a room with an extremely sick little boy. The boy cried and wheezed and coughed and choked on his own flem the whole night. They were sad and very disgusting noises. I couldn't sleep through it. John slept OK but he did wake up now and then because of the boy's horrendous noises. John said, "Mom call the nurse, he's creeping me out." It was creepy. But I felt so sorry for him and his parents. They were non-English speaking and were unable to spend the night with their child. Whatever disease he lived with was obviously a huge strain on their family. It put things in perspective for me. John's ordeal was stressful but his broken arm would heal soon and he would be as good as new. The other little boy seemed to be in misery for his entire life. So sad.

The next day Grammy came to stay with Jake while Mike came to pick us up from the Hospital. John had 4 weeks with a cast for the first month of summer. No swimming, no sprinklers, no playgrounds, no bikes, no scooters. We made a calendar to count down the days. He X'd the days until his appointment for cast removal on July 5th, 2011. He was a good sport about it most of the time. He had some mental breakdowns throughout the 4 weeks-"I'm SOOOOOO bored! I want this cast off!" But he used his left hand and arm like it was no big deal at all. He never asked for help getting dressed or going to the bathroom or writing his name or anything at all. He was an instant expert at using his left arm only.

July 5th, 2011. Cast comes off, pins are removed. That's a whole other story...

Before the pain medication. He's in tremendous pain.

Jake's ride in the Ambulance. He was talkative the whole ride. "You know, I've never been in this truck before...I have a friend Noah..." and on an on.

"It hurts, it hurts!"

Johnny telling me he's scared. :( He just got his IV and it hurt a lot.

John wearing the EMTs sunglasses on his head

This pain medication made him close his eyes and he was loopy.

John getting his pain medication through his IV in the Ambulance.

Poor kid. He would wake up every 5 minutes and get sick or cry from pain.

John in the ER with his broken bone in an aircast. Waiting for the his Operating Room. He is in and out of sleep at this point from the morphine drip. He's holding onto his beloved Cat in the Hat that the Fire Fighters gave him.

Jake waiting in the ER next to John's bed. The Fire Fighters gave Jake a Cheetah to keep. He loves it. Jake was a brave boy too. He saw his brother in a lot of pain, watched John poked with needles in his hand, throwing up from the morphine, and being at the hospital for 5 hours...and never once did he act out or misbehave or whine or complain in any way whatsoever.

He was a perfect angel.

John's X-ray. Ouch

He doesn't know he has a cast yet

John sleeping after his surgery

Our Brave Boy