Health

It all started because I forgot to give Lynnlee her prophylactic antibiotic before she went to the dentist. She had a teeth cleaning and she always gets antibiotics before no matter what. Thursday she came down with a fever and my first thought was Endocarditis because she didn't get her antibiotic. Watching her day after day with a fever, not wanting to leave the couch, and not eating was hard. Then James and Kaden got sick but James and Kaden just seemed like they had a cold virus but I was still worried about Lynnlee. Marshall and I came down with colds but we just pretended to be fine so we could tend to our sick kids. Sunday I read a news article about a 24-year-old who died of complications from endocarditis and then I felt worried even more. Monday I took Lynnlee to the pediatrician and he brought up the story from the news. He said sometimes Endocarditis fatigues some people more than others. He said he would draw blood cultures if she still had a fever Tuesday. Then Monday night Lynnlee seemed worse and was acting more fatigued. So we went to the ER at Primary Children's Medical Center. They examined her, she had a chest X-ray, and EKG. Thankfully the cardiologist thought everything looked good. She just has a bad virus but her heart is ok. Peace of mind at last!

The weather has been so cold that I haven't wanted to go anywhere the past few weeks. I'm not going to lie, it was kind of nice to have an excuse to stay put in our warm house and not have to go out in the cold.

One blessing is that I won a gift card to Rumbi. When I won it they told me it was a $100 gift card. When I picked up dinner Friday night it had $200 on it! Needless to say we haven't had to cook too much and Aunt Lisa brought us dinner one night too. Thanks Aunt Lisa!

This is what we've been doing since Thursday.

At the ER getting checked out.

30th!

We celebrated Marshall's 30th birthday last night. Since his real birthday is tomorrow it's fun to spread it out over a few days. We went to Red Lobster and the workers were really great. They took out a lobster and let the kids touch it. It's always a little crazy taking these three out to dinner but it actually went pretty smooth with no major mishaps.

                           
                                Happy Birthday Lovest!

Snow Buddy

Kaden is my outside child. He always wants to play outside, more than the other kids. He brings me his shoes and points to the door. We finally dug out all of the snow clothes yesterday. It has been a blizzard toady so I suited Kaden up and took him outside while I shoveled. He was pretty dramatic. He would walk through the deep snow and get stuck and then scream until someone came to get him out. He would at least keep his mittens on which surprised me since he couldn't do anything with his hands with them on.

Easy Bake

I found this at my parent's house this week. Lynnlee and I are going to test it out this week. I'm pretty excited about it!

Stuffed

I love stuffed crust pizza but never thought about making it myself. We make pizza about once a week and I finally decided to try making stuffed crust pizza. Turns out it is so easy and very good. All it takes is about 7 string cheeses. After the dough is made you roll the crust around the string cheese. Then bake it like normal. So yummy!

Kaden and stuff

Sometimes things just don't go as planned and one day I'll figure that out. We will always have medical bills. We saw the specialist today. Kaden's tear duct is definitely clogged. He will have surgery again next month. It will either be a simple probing and stent placement or depending on his anatomy they will cut his bone and reshape things. The specialist won't know until he starts the surgery. I was really hoping Kaden would be able to get the surgery before the end of the year. With the deductible met already this year we would save a lot of moo-lah. The specialist only operates once a month. Tomorrow is the day for December which is booked so January it is. I really had my hopes up because we were able to get in to see the eye doctor and specialist so fast. Usually it takes weeks to get into both. So it's been a little disappointing.

On a side note, it's funny how I've changed from when James was a baby vs. Kaden. It's extremely difficult to keep Kaden contained and happy in a small exam room. I would never let James and Lynnlee play on the floor in an exam room. With Kaden its more like, sure, whatever keeps you happy. It will build your immunity! I can always give you a bath after.

 

 

Animal Whisperer

We took a trip to the local pet store. James has a new obsession with turtles so he couldn't get enough.

Kaden is our energizer bunny that never stops. He was so excited at the animal store. He was running from tank to tank and cage to cage. He would only stop for a second and whisper and jabber at the fish and animals. It was so funny to watch. Apparently we have an animal whisperer in our family.

Eye Problems

Well, we got to enjoy a clean, goop free eye for about a week after Kaden's surgery. Then it started to get goopy, red and crusted over. Ugh! So we saw the eye doctor again today. She said he definitely needs surgery again. She's referring him to a specialist who will do the next surgery. We will see the specialist tomorrow so hopefully that appointment goes well. We are crossing our fingers he can have surgery before the end of the year. Stay tuned for updates.

Homecoming Weekend

My in-laws returned home from their mission to Argentina the week before Thanksgiving. James and Lynnlee helped make signs to hold up at the airport. We are so excited to have them home. Kaden wasn't born until after they left so it's fun for him to meet them. We got to spend the weekend with them. Lynnlee warmed right up and followed Grandma Dellene around her house wanting to be her helper. James is so excited to have both Grandmas close by again. He thinks it so cool that we can drive up the canyon and see both grandmas in one day.

Heart Girl

Lynnlee is our heart girl. With her heart defect I think of her whenever I see hearts whether its clothes with hearts, toys, jewelery, blankets, etc. A few weeks ago we went to Riverwoods. They had face painting and hair stylists doing hair. Lynnlee and her cousin Katelyn each wanted their hair done. We didn't say anything to the hair stylist about what to do with Lynnlee's hair or what we wanted and she went about about doing her hair. When she was done I was so touched that she had done a heart in her hair. If she only knew how much that means to us.

 

Kaden's CTD

Kaden and I got an early start to the day. I got him up at 6:30 and took him to the Primary Children's outpatient surgery at Riverton Hospital. He has had a clogged tear duct (CTD) which he has had since birth. We thought it cleared up when he turned a year but a few weeks after his first birthday it was green and goopy again.
Kaden was happy through the whole check in process thank goodness. You never know since he couldn't eat or drink anything but he was distracted playing with all the toys. 

He had the same Anesthesiologist that Lynnlee had for her heart caths so that was fun to see a familiar face. Kaden didn't want to go with him when it was time for surgery but I handed the Anesthesiologist his blanket and Kaden went right to him.

They put a probe down his tear duct and flushed fluid through to make sure it opened. The doctor said his passage is really narrow and its possible it could close up again and he would need surgery again. I hope it just stays open. This surgery is a walk in the park compared to Lynnlee's surgeries but its so much money every time and its one more thing to deal with. When you go through the check out line at the grocery store and they ask, do you want to donate a $1 to Primary Children's today? I want to say, no, because I pay a mortgage payment to them every month.

Kaden woke up happy in the recovery room. He cuddled with me until it was time to go home. He guzzled 3 sippy cups full of juice. When we got home he took a nice long nap. When he woke up he was back to himself, climbing on everything and playing with toys.

Thanks everyone for your prayers!

Cougars and Lightning Dinosaurs

James and Lynnlee each played on a soccer team this fall. James ended up on a team with boys from his preschool class last year so it was fun for him to play with them. Their team name was the Cougars. He had some games where he was totally focused and played really well. Other games he was distracted by a hang nail or his jersey. He had fun going each time to get a snack and drink at the end of each game.

It was Lynnlee's first time and I didn't know what to expect. She gets tired more easily but there really isn't a lot of running involved with little league soccer. I found out that Lynnlee is not aggressive and likes to avoid physical contact. She was really good about following the swarm of kids around the soccer ball without actually touching anyone or the ball and all while wearing a smile and giving us thumbs up every now and then. She did enjoy playing goalie and was fearless at jumping on the ball no matter how many feet around. Her team name was Lightning Dinosaurs which was chosed by all the kids. She didn't put up a fight going to games each week but at the end of the season she said she doesn't want to play in the spring. That's alright with me. It will be fun to see her try out other activities.

Halloween Festivities 2013

*Here is an update on the voting from the last post.* Thank you to everyone who voted. We had votes coming in over the last week and it was neck and neck the whole time. It's been a tie since Thursday so we will just end it there and everyone can be a winner! :)

Now onto the post about all the Halloween festivites. I was super tired the night we were carving pumpkins. I wasn't sure I would have the energy to help each kid cut, clean out and carve their pumpkin. When we were at the store the week before we saw an amazing tool called the Pumpkin Gutter. It's basically like a beater that goes on a hand mixer except this one is huge and made to go on a drill. It was worth every penny. Marshall used a saw to cut the tops off and then gutted them with the Pumpking Gutter. James and Lynnlee traced the faces they wanted on their pumpkins and Marshall used the saw to cut them out. We had the pumpkins completely done within 20 minutes. It was definitely the fastest ever. Thanks to Marshall for doing all the work. I got to relax and separate the seeds. Our friends the Tibbs came over to carve pumpkins with us and I was so glad I got to sit and chat and it was a much more relaxing night then I thought it would be. The kids had lots of time to play together since carving went so quickly.

I used to dress up for Halloween before I was married but Marshall and I haven't really gotten into that since we've been married. This year I hadn't really thought about it until the day of our ward trunk-or-treat. I decided I wanted to dress up but I didn't really want to spend money on a costume. I went through a box and found this Japanese robe so I decided to use it for my costume. I told my kids I was Mulan. James told me I didn't really look like her but then later that night he told me he loved my costume and liked that I was Mulan. Not sure what changed his mind. I didn't really want to wear that costume on Halloween because I would freeze in it. So I decided to make my own "Where's Waldo?" costume. I bought red duct tape and a white beanie. Then I put the tape on an old white shirt and also on the beanie. I was pretty happy with how it turned out for putting it together last minute.

Every year we find more Halloween activites to go. We went to Cornbellys with my mom, Ali and her kids and Aunt Betsy. It was great weather. I can't believe how much there is to do there. We were there for over 3 hours. Kaden forgot to take his happy pills so he was crazy and grumpy most the time we were there. Once in a while he would really like a slide or maze and play for awhile in between break downs. Unfortunately melt downs are beginning to be a normal occurance for Kaden these days so I wish there really were happy pills he could take to make them go away.

My work, Timpanogos Regional Hospital, had a Halloween party for the community this year. It was the first year and a huge success. My kids had a great time and it was another excuse to wear their costumes.

I took my kids to the String-town Express. It's a free activity that is fun. Usually it isn't scary but this year there were kids in costumes jumping out and scarring train passengers as they went by in the tunnels. I got a pretty good laugh out of watching James, Lynnlee and Kaden flinch in each tunnel.

I haven't been to Gardner Village since I was a little girl. We heard about the Witch Fest and decided to check it out with Beckie this year. It is a lot of fun seeing all the witches and there is a scavenger hunt to do while you are there. 

We went trick-or-treating at my parent's neighborhood. It's a tradition we started with James and I'm really liking it each year. We all meet up and eat dinner as a family. Then head out while its still light outside. The kids go to as many houses as they want and then head back to Grandma's to warm up and hang out with everyone. This year my kids lasted about an hour and then came back and watched a movie. I love spending time with my family and I'm so glad we live close enough to get together with them.

Kaden and I went to James's school for his Halloween Parade. I loved doing the Halloween parade when I was a kid and I was glad James was so excited for it too. I took this picture right before he saw us and he was in the zone. Then he saw us and jumped and was so excited that the pictures were really blurry, not to mention that the kids were walking by so fast it was hard to get a good picture anyways.

Hallo-Turkey Challenge 2013

Alright folks, we need your votes. Hallo-Turkey Challenge 2013 has officially happened. The teams this year were Marshall and Lynnlee vs. James and Rose. Kaden's role was the distractor to both teams and candy clean up crew.
 Here are the turkeys and you are the judges. Leave a comment or reply to the email with the name of the turkey that is your favorite.

 Turkey Transformer

Turkey Ballerina

So who is it going to be? 

Turkey Transformer or Turkey Ballerina

 

p.s. Please vote as soon as possible because James is very excited to find out the winner :)

Happiest Place on Earth

We have been planning a trip to Disneyland for a few years now. We were suppose to go last Fall but Lynnlee's surgery came up sooner than expected and we had to cancel all of our reservations. This year I was so paranoid that something would come up to keep us from going. Thank goodness we avoided that and were able to go.

We decided it would be best to leave in the middle of the night. That way the kids could sleep in the car for a majority of the drive and we could get a little sleep before leaving. So at 3:00 am on Saturday morning we started driving. My kids slept until we were driving through Mesquite which was about 7:30 am. Then at 11:00 we arrived at our hotel which meant only 3 and a half hours of entertaining 3 kids. It was easy peasy and I would definitely do it that way again. Betsy and I even got to sleep in the car too so thanks Marshall for sacrificing for the family!

That night we met up with my parents and Charlie's family at ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney. It was fun being there with family. We had a nice dinner and then the kids got to play games in the ESPN arcade. It was a late night and by the time we got to bed it was after 11:00 Utah time. We thought it would be no problem to have James and Lynnlee share a bed. The only problem is that James slowly moved over to Lynnlee's side every night. That first night it resulted in James waking up crying. We decided to put Lynnlee in bed with me and James in the other bed with Marshall. Right as he was almost done crying then Kaden woke up crying. Right after Kaden fell asleep Lynnlee decided to start crying because she wanted to go back in the same bed with James. Oh boy! It was a long night and all I could think was, this is not the happiest place on earth! Thankfully the rest of the nights were uneventful and everyone was so tired every night that we had no problems getting to sleep and staying a sleep.

Sunday we went to my second cousin's house for dinner. They were so great and had their patio all set up for the kids. There were toys and a picnic table for them to eat their dinner on.The adults got to enjoy a nice dinner inside in their beautiful home.

Monday morning we arrived at California Adventure. I was a little surprised by the crowds since the crowd calendar predicted lower crowds but we tried not to let it ruin the day. We used the fast passes as much as we could and we got to go on all the rides we wanted to that day.

Kaden loved Bugs Life land.

James and Lynnlee were huge fans of the Radiator Springs Racers. If it hadn't been for the 75 minute wait they would have ridden it over and over again. The line for the fast pass for this one was 60 minutes and you weren't even guaranteed a fast pass since those ran out within a few hours.

Thank goodness for the stroller pass I was able to go on the ride with James after a short wait.

California Adventure doesn't have a ton of baby rides so Kaden spent a majority of the day in the stroller. By the afternoon it was hard to keep him happy but a bag of Cheetos to himself did the trick. We are great parents. What can I say, after all the money you spend to go to Disneyland, you do what you have to do to keep kids of all ages happy.

Lynnlee and James went on every ride they were tall enough for. Lynnlee loved Toy Story Mania and Little Mermaid. She went on Tower of Terror without a fight but didn't like it. James went on it and loved is so we went on that ride a lot over the next few days.

Tuesday was spent at Disneyland. We got to have a magic morning which means you get in the park an hour before opening, an hour before everyone else expect for all of these thousands of people who also got to have a magic morning. Ha ha! I couldn't believe the long lines to get into the park on this "special" early morning. Except for the 45 minutes wait for Peter Pan, all of the other rides in Fantasy Land were quick, thank goodness.

Kaden loved the tea cups and Finding Nemo.
Notice he is wearing a leash in the pictures. He earned it after the first day. I never thought we would be those parents but anytime we let him out of the stroller the first day he would make a run for it. So we bought a leash and it worked pretty well to give him some freedom without losing him in the crowd.

James and Lynnlee both went on Space Mountain. They said they didn't like it but James wanted to keep going on it after. He told me he was going to close his eyes the whole time. It made me laugh when I saw the picture after the ride. He is opening his eyes and barely peaking over the seat ahead of him. With his fair skin he looks like a ghost.

We don't really watch Winnie the Pooh much at our house but Lynnlee was still excited to meet the characters. She loved how soft they were.

We watched the parade and I sat behind Lynnlee. I had fun watching all of the characters wave to her and see Lynnlee get really excited and wave back.

All of the kids loved Its a Small World. It was cute watching their reactions to everything.

This little boy is obsessed with Iron Man. A few months ago we saw a commercial for Disneyland. The commercial said, "Disneyland, where dreams really do come true." James turned to me and said, "I know, when we go to Disneyland dreams really do come true so I can turn into Iron Man." I was sad to tell him the truth. If only he could be the real Iron Man for the day...

I love this picture of Lynnlee and my mom with their mouse ears.

We waited in line way too long to see Mickey and Minnie but it was worth it for the kids.

My sister Betsy was a huge help the whole trip and I loved having her there with us. The kids had fun going on all the rides with her. She is a wonderful aunt!!!

The Halloween decorations were fun.

It rained on and off the last day so we all were sporting ponchos throughout the day. Even Kaden.

The poncho was so big on him that Marshall put him in a Disney bag instead. People around us kept stopping and asking which store we purchased him at.

Chilling at the hotel. Trips are so much better with cousins. During one of the times we were in line I was standing with these four blondies and Kaden. A lady old me I had a nice family. Oh how crazy that would be if I had 5 kids under the age of 6 years old.

We got to go to the beach two different days. We went to Seal Beach one day and Newport Beach another day. I liked Newport Beach best because the sand was so soft. The water was cold but it was still fun to play in the sand.

James could have played all day. He kept asking if we could have our same house and toys but move by the beach and Disneyland.

The cold didn't bother Marshall. He got in and boogie boarded.

Don't let this innocent smile fool you. She was throwing sand at the other kids and destroying their sand castles and projects. Who knew sand brings the worst out in her.

Kaden wasn't a fan of the cold water but he didn't mind the sand. He had it caked on him on every inch of his body.

 

It was a fun trip and I was sad when it ended. I can't wait for the next family vacation.