The wrong kid

Apparently I took the wrong kid to the doctor yesterday. Blaze woke up yesterday morning sounding a little croupy. I have dealt with croup before and knew exactly what the doctors would tell me. It wasn't that bad so I wasn't too worried about him. As the day progressed it got a little worse. By the time I picked him up from Aunt Telly's house after Kaia's appointment he was miserable. He sounded like a little goose. We came home and he layed down on the couch to watch Spiderman. I was cooking dinner and Blaze came in and said, "Mom, I don't feel very good." I told him to go in and lay down and I would be in to check on him. I went in and he was struggling to breath. I went in and woke Mike up and told him we needed to take Blaze to the ER. I called my mom to see if she could watch the girls. She wasn't home yet so I loaded BLaze in the truck and took him over. He didn't want to go because he didn't want to get a shot. I promised him he wouldn't have to get a shot. He just sat in my lap with his head on my chest and wouldn't talk to anybody. He didn't want them to do the pulse/ox thing. We had to fight him. When we got into the room they took his temp it was 101.6. The nurse gave him some Tylenol and the doctor came in to see what was going on. When he lifted up Blaze's shirt you could see his little lungs struggling. Poor little kid. Then the doctor tells me his plans for treatment. They did an Epinephrine blow by and a steroid SHOT! I felt so bad because I promised Blaze he wouldn't have to get one. He was brave though and got got the shot. Within 5 minutes he was back to his old self. We raced cars on the bed, and did magic tricks. The doctor wanted to make sure the medicine was working so we didn't get out of there until about 10:00. He is doing much better today, but I have to keep a close eye on him just in case he rebounds from the epinepherine.

100 Days!

Today marks the 100th day of Kindergarten. They had a party at school, and Jercie had to bring a bag of candy. We were also asked to decorate an article of clothing with 100 items. She was so excited. All week she asked if she could wear her shirt. Is it Friday yet/ Mom, my party's tomorrow and we don't have my shirt done!! Last night my mom came and picked her up and they went to her house to decorate her shirt. Here she is with her 100 things shirt.

It's not the best picture, but I can't dowload pictures on my new computer yet. I will post some better ones when I can.

Kaia is sick for the first time. I am taking her to the doctor today. I am sure it's just whatever Jercie and Blaze have had, but I don't know how much medicine to give her to make her feel better. I will probably have to do some breathing treatments on her. Other than this nasty cough she is doing really good. She is motoring around. She can't crawl YET, but she is well on her way. I am constantly after her for getting into stuff. I don't remember having this problem with the other two. If there's paper on the floor, she will find it and eat it. She choked the other day, and I had to give her some back blows. It scared the hell out of me. Everyday I have Jercie and Blaze find all the paper and little stuff on the floor before I put her down. After 3 years of not having a crawler around I forgot how much stuff they put in their mouths!

Adventures in the Prison Van...

Here are some sweet pictures of our trip up to Salt Lake.

Here is Alexander. He looks so good!!

The SWEET Prison Van

The birthday girl Emily

Kaia & Ada

Crazy kids!!

Where a kid can be a kid...

Today marks the second birthday of my niece Emily. She is Colby's youngest daughter. Emily is a very quiet girl, she doesn't say much. I think I only heard her say Mine and Daddy. She looks just like her Grammy Gull. Well, we decided to load up and go to Chuck E Cheese's to help her celebrate. We rented a 15 passenger van to fit, me my 3 kids, Shantel, her 4 kids and my mom. We called it the prison van. We met Colby, Marsha, Isaac, Ada, Dimick, and Emily at Chuck E Cheese's. I think we might all be a little crazy! 11 kids and 5 adults you do the math... The kids had a wonderful time so I guess it was all worth it. After Chuck e's we went to the park where Emily opened some presents. After her presents were opened me Colby and Jercie headed to the hospital to see baby Alexander. We took Jercie because she worries so much about Alex. Every night she asks to pray for Alexander, sometimes she cries because she is so worried. she has such a big heart.
Once we were at the hospital we all scrubbed our hands and put sanitizer on. I suited up in a gown and Colby handed me Alex. ALL the alarms sounded as soon as he was in my arms! Oh great I freaked him out. His heart rate sky rocketed and his respirations went crazy. I just gently rocked him and talked to him and pretty soon everything was right with the world again. He is such a cute, sweet baby. I could have held him all day! I got some really cute pictures that I will post when I get a chance to download them. For now know that all the prayers are working! We know that this is what has pulled little Alexander through.

Six things

I was tagged, but I don't want to tag any body. If you think you might want to do this go ahead, I don't mind.

Here are 6 things you might not know about me:
1. I am OCD about my bottles and sippy cups. Lids and rings MUST match the bottle. If they don't I will switch them around.
2. I love stupid reality T.V. Like Rock of Love, Real World, Sober House, Surreal Life...
3.Farting is Funny!
4. I knew I would marry Mike over a year before we started dating.
5. I laugh at the kids when I shouldn't.
6. I am a horrible housekeeper. Why clean it when it's just going to get dirty again?

Modern Day Miracles

If you don't believe in them here is some living proof for you. This picture was taken just after open chest surgery last week. He is doing GREAT!

This is from the Carepages today...

well, things coulnd't be going better!!!! Alexander has been steadily improving over the past few days. He is off the ventilator...and in fact off oxygen altogether. He is slowly being weaned of some of his drugs(which will take months). He is now off TPN (I.V. food) and completely on breast milk through a tube directly to his intestines. Over the next few days they will check to see if he can swallow (after being on a ventilator so long) and they will gradually work into feeding him by mouth. It may be a bit of a bumpy road though because he hasn't had anything in his tummy for 1 1/2 months. He is currently on blood pressure medication, as well as 3 different antibiotics; he had a fever and they are not taking any chances on infection anywhere. Today he was awake and smiling the whole time I was there (almost 3 hrs.) He does get cranky alot, especially if they scrimp on his anxiety drugs. His creatinine has gone up just a bit from the contrast dye they had to use for one of his surgeries last week, but hopefully that will work its way back down. In talking to the surgeon today, he said that Alexander right now has more issues than many kids, but typically the repair they will do on his heart is a curative surgery (most heart repairs are NOT curative). So if Alexander can get through some of these other problems he has(ie:kidneys) then he will be a pretty healthy normal kid if he can make it through! SO, to sum it all up, he is great great great and we are so greatful for continued prayer for him. We have seen such miracles in his life and we are just enjoying him "waking up" after such a long time.

There is another post under this one if you are interested.

Mama Mia...

I am so excited! I am now posting from my very own computer in my very own kitchen. Though I will be even more excited when it will be from my NEW very own kitchen. A few more weeks...
You are probably wondering about the title to this post. No worries, I have not gone ABBA crazy. I haven't seen the movie nor do I plan to. I am pleased to announce that my sweet Kaia now says mama. It is only when she is upset, but that is heartwarming in it's own right. At least I know she knows who is taking care of her. She also says dada and baba. She was scooting last night. I think she may be dyslexic though. She was going backwards. Funny kid.
Speaking of funny kids. Last night our home teachers came over to visit. The lesson was on faith. Brother Dowdle asked if Jercie knew what faith was. No. He said, "have you ever been to Disneyland." Jercie replied, " NO, but we are going." B. Dowdle, " Do you think your mom and dad can get you there?" Jercie," Yeah, Tom Tom will help them." I about died!! Kids definately say the darndest things! That's all for now.

What was I thinking?

I am not a planner. Anybody that knows me at all knows this. I have always been a fly by the seat of your pants type gal. That doesn't work well when you have children. I had to learn the hard way on this. I never have had a set schedule, and since I have been staying home with the kids it has just gotten way worse. I was near insanity when I finally sat down and wrote down a schedule for the little turds that I call my children. What a huge difference it has made. Blaze has napped 2 out of the last four days. A huge improvement from the 0 naps he has taken in the last few months. I can't even remember the last time he took a nap before now. I don't yell as much and the kids aren't in as much trouble. Granted it is a lot more work, but work well worth the outcome. It works out well because now I can spend some one on one time with Blaze. Kaia takes a 2 hour nap in the mornings and Jercie is in school, so me and Blaze get to hang out. He is such an awesome, smart little boy. I often forget that he is only 3. I'm so glad I FINALLY pulled my head out!!

In other news, I moved Kaia into her room. She was ready, I was not. She spent her first night in there last night and did really well. She slept all night until about 8:00 this morning. I will miss sneaking her into bed with me in the mornings.

What's Up!

Here's the news with our family. We got Jercie, Kaia, and Blaze's rooms almost finished. Jercie and Blaze have moved in. They love their new rooms.

Blaze's Room

Jercie and Kaia's Room

Because we got the rooms done we were able to move the washer and dryer out of the kitchen. We have also torn cabinets out and framed around some. I love having a laundry room. Now I don't have to have laundry piled in the kitchen any more!! I think that by spring I will have a whole new kichen. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

There uses to be a cupboard there

Where the washer and dryer used to be

Kaia thinks she is a big kid and get up on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth. The kid is a turd though, everytime I try to take a picture of her smiling she stops as soon as the flash goes so I miss it. Here are some pictures.

Here's a smile!!!

Trying to be a big kid