Joined By Our Heart Strings

A this and that post

2012-02-02T14:37:00.001-07:00

Things in our household seem to slow down at this time of year.

That is, until I really look at we have going on and then I realize that we have actually sped up... Maybe gone into early warp speed, when everything around you looks like it has stopped... Yeah that's it!

Daddy has been to and from a trip to install cabinets. He is busy with work and church as always.... He has a gym pass and has been using it a ton.... 5:30 A.M. comes really early to me, but he gets up to do that spin class. Whew! He is just 8 pounds away from his goal weight!

I had another ultrasound to determine the size of those pesky cysts... The techs couldn't diagnose, but things looked different from last time and I think it is different "good". I won't be able to chat with my Doc till she gets back from a vaca. I am assuming that things look stellar enough not to worry for now! I have had a few weird side effects, I just bring them up to her when I get a chance.

Choir started back up for Ry and she loves singing, she is not yet sure she wants to perform... Silly, all that work at rehearsals to not even be in the performance....I know she gets that stage fright thing from me! I am a total Shower Diva, don't ask me to sing in front of anyone! Ry Ry has one more basket ball game this Saturday and her season is over. She has a natural ability and plays hard. Being her first year she has really improved over the past couple of weeks. Unfortunately it is not her love. Dang-git. She thinks she would like to try an art class next. I will have to see what is available. She also started piano lessons. She really loves this and can't wait till she is playing little songs. We got a beautiful hand-me-down(pretty much perfect) piano from Daddy's wonderful Grandparents and the kids love having it in our home! I took lesson's as a child, not enough to play for anyone but enough that I sat down and played a couple of the Primary songs and Hymns that don't have sharps or flats. That shocked Daddy who asked if it was me playing? I guess after ten-ish years of marriage he never knew I could play a little. I am kinda sneaky sneaky like that! Hehehe!!!

Gator told me today that he learned about Ground Hogs in preschool and we are having six more weeks of winter. Then he went on to ask if that was when we actually started winter or if that was from this day? We have had such a dry winter that I am sure he is confused on that matter. He has this gnarly scratch on his nose from a carpet burn that I have wanted to pick the scab off of. I left it alone...... He got in the tub and it soaked right off! I was so thankful I didn't have to tie him to a chair and take it off! I am not usually a scab picker, I am more of a sunburn peeler... can't really do zits on others either!!!EEEEWWWW. This scab was right in the middle of his face and I am sure it was right in his line of vision. It was bugging me on him, I am sure if it was on me I would have had a melt down.

Munchie is full of life. She is a climber. She found out how to climb onto our blanket chest and throw herself over the side of the couch and then slide off like it is a a gymnasium or something. I can see this summer being very busy for a certain little person and her momma (the chaser). We have levers for door handles and she is so tall that she can now open all the doors in our house. I have to make sure that we are locked in, or I am sure she would escape to find some other house to play at. Munchie is extremely stingy with her smooches. It has to hit her in just the right mood to pass one out. She almost never offers one. The older two are always determined to plaster the little thing in kisses and she doesn't like to be held down for that business; I tell you what! Recently, she will wag her finger at them after one of these attempts and tell them..."NO NO NO!" Munchie loves her pink blanket! It is one of those silky on one side, super softy the other... Just like yours Gracie! She carries it around all day long. I guess I am going to have to buy a couple more for Valentines day for her. She carries it through hair piles and other yucky things and I have to wash it a couple of times a week. The hard part is that she wants it for naps and we have to borrow Gator's green snugly blanket until hers is washed and back to her. I thought she would love a stuffed animal, NOPE it's this hand-me-down blanket that she fancies.

Next week is heart week! I am taking Gator and Munchie to Taylor Andrews tomorrow for a fundraiser kick off !!!! Go TA! It should be a busy week.

The no shoes rule

2012-01-24T10:58:00.000-07:00

I love it when people take off their shoes when they come in my house! The bad news is, not everyone will! I made a cute little sign that I thought would help get the message out!
Yeah, it's way too small.
So armed with my camera and some photo's of my shoe-less brood I am gonna make a "how can you miss this" sign... I am purely selfish about this because I just got new carpet and I don't want the vacuuming to be more than once a day! I don't mind once a day.... I used to have a big paper sign on the outside of the door, covering the doorbell. I took it down cause of the hub's OCD or in his case CDO(all the letters in alphabetical order).

I'm too sassy for my hair, so sassy it hurts

2012-01-23T15:12:00.000-07:00

Gator loves having options. He loves having control over some things and some things I totally let him have control over. His hair styles are one thing I will let him choose. He has six options which he has mostly named himself.

His most used and most known "Faux Hawk" this style done on him since he was a babe in the hospital.

This is the "Monster Truck" Style. He figures if he were driving a Monster Truck with his head out the window this is what his hair would look like.

This is the "Diber Do". I named this style clear back in high school. The "Diver Do" looks as though a scuba diver stepped right off a boat and the water pushed the front of his hair up like this.

This is the "Ubba Dubba". This style is half "Diver Do" and half "Bishop Hair"... He doesn't wear this style often. But he sure looks cute sporting it!

This is "Bishop Hair". Gator named this style after becoming tight friends with our next door neighbor and Bishop. Gator loves having chocolate milk and eating chips like sharks with his buddy. Our Bishop wear his hair like this, which is why Gator insist on wearing his hair like this each Sunday!

This is his last and newest look "Justin Beiber Hair". He loves to be called Justin and dance around. Now, he has a hair style to sport too. He thinks it looks like JB because there is no part and nothing sticks up... Funny Kid!

Lady Troubles

2012-01-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

Not in detail or anything, just trying to document a little here. When this is published in our little family book I will have it for record.... My female organs are sort of a mystery, or were a mystery for a while. See.... I have trouble getting a baby and keeping a baby. Ry and Gator are Cholmid babies and Munchie was just plain us(nothing short of a miracle). I have had a couple pretty nasty miscarriages. Four; with one set of twins. I am glad when I am back into mommy mode because my heart can heal a little too. ANYWAY! I was having some issues about two weeks ago that landed me in the ER and not-to-my-surprise I had a cyst. I have had these before so nothing to worry about. But finally, I have a little diagnosis of why my body has never wanted to shed pounds that I try to diet and exercise off. Why I do struggle with the whole get the babe, keep the babe... PCOS! Something to hang my hat on and start researching to make my life easier. I go back in six weeks for another ultrasound to check the cyst and the little nodule that resides inside of that! Walllahhh! Wanna know something crazy? I totally bought a book from the library book sale on PCOS! Let the research begin!

Man, I feel more like myself now; then I did when I first got here!

And then...........

We got the letter back from Cardiology for Gator and school. It is always interesting to me to see things like procedures and surgeries listed like it was in this letter. The list seems so long on paper. Yet to see Gator boy, all totally worth it! That day we also filled out the pre-screen to have Gator tested. We have a date to see the teachers! I was so fascinated by what I learned about my little son. He is very great at communication. He has an amazing vocabulary. He even has decent motor skills... But his ability to sit still, even for short amounts of time and to use fine motor skills, like holding a pencil, buttoning and zipping are still out of the question. He can follow a few instructions. He can't remember things well. He doesn't know any of his letters or numbers except "A" and he can't even tell you the letters in his name... We have been working on these things for two years! I feel like it takes ten times to teach him something new! It is going to be work.... But we are going to do it! I was feeling very nervous about having him tested. Now I feel very blessed, because I know that I don't have the skills necessary in helping him be confident in school. I am grateful that there are teachers who will help him be a good student. Not the best student.... I do not require this of any of our children, but a student who works hard and does not act entitled. I was not the perfect student and so I cannot push that onto my children. What will be hard is teaching them/him to work beyond the frustration both of us will be feeling. To keep trying even when it is hard. I still have to learn that.

I don't need easy
I just need possible
-Soul Surfer

The sipper

2012-01-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

The sipper isn't so bad!

She seems to manange her morning milk fine.

She has the most rock'in morning hair! I would like to know what this kid does in her sleep?

Time in a bottle!

2012-01-17T10:14:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast time seems to fly! With each week our little family slips into a routine and other crazy things that are happening and I forget to record those moments or funny things that go on. Dang it!

Life after the Monster Truck visit and show did not slow down as anticipated. Munchie had a doctor appointment that proved she is still growing. I was sort of hoping she would STOP and be my baby longer. She was in the 97% for her height and 61% for her weight... Tall little thing already wearing 24 month clothes at just 16 months. She was also weened from her beloved Ba Ba (bottle) She was by far my longest to get to keep it. As with the other two kids, we just take them all away cold turkey. DONE! It is by far easiest for me to have one miserable week than to cling.... then take away.... then cling... So goes for self feeding and potty training. Just go all the way for one nasty week, then it is over. I am glad we have never had a Binky lover or a thumb sucker. I just have snugglie blankie lovers and of course Bensi/Didi who has been safely tucked into the ceder chest. I would have let Gator have Bensi longer but Daddy gets a say too and we finally decided together that it was a good time to put him away.
Munchie also gets to go to nursery!!! We normally would have to wait till she was 18 months. But with my two callings and Daddy doing his bishopric thing it makes for a hard spot with her. We often had to pawn her off onto someone who could help. Yesterday was her first attempt and she loved it! I think she liked the toys the best.
Gator is doing great health wise... Have I mentioned that his appetite has done a 180? It was a constant battle to have him finish a meal. Now he is usually done first and asking for seconds. He also wants snacks throughout the day... always needing something in his face. He drives me nuts with the cups he leaves around the kitchen half full of drinks. He can also write his name all by himself now! This whole ordeal was almost more than I could take. But.... Papa took it upon himself to teach him and be patient with him. Something that I could not. He usually ended up in bed if I was helping him. He would tell me things that made me mad "I can't do it, I am just not smart enough, my brain doesn't work like that" Then he would cry, throw a royal fit and try to get out of it. He is smart enough he just didn't want to do it. Now I am finding his name written all over things. I started working with our awesome principal to get Gator ready for Kindergarten.... This has been more work than I thought! The first thing to happen was a paper that came home stating that the school needed to know of any up coming students. That was Gator, so I filled out the paper and before I sent it I made a little phone call that would alert them to Gator's medical needs. I am not sure how many other heart kids out there have IEP's VS 504 but this is our big debate. So then I had to call the school nurse who then had me call the district... I chatted with the gal from the district who wanted me to call and see if Gator could be tested in order to see if he was behind. I know that he would be extremely behind if he hadn't been in Miss Joey's wonderful preschool for the last two years. I also emailed Gator's wonderful Early interventionist and got some ideas from her... I love that gal. So at this point we are waiting for a packet that will help us decide if Gator should go to another preschool before kindergarten and then we will also know if we need to have an IEP or a 504(health plan) one thing I am requesting is an AED. I hope we can get one for our school. If not I have big plans for a fund raiser. I also heard about this cute program called monkeyinmychair.org from Daniel's mom. It is for kids with cancer and not heart babies. I plan on adapting it to fit our circumstances. I think this would be a wonderful way to keep Gator involved but not freak out his new little friends. We are also in the process of securing letters of recommendation from both his Ped and his Card. This has to be done per requisite of the district. I think it helps with actually getting a meeting with all the educators/health staff scheduled. I got a call this morning that his Ped's letter is done and now we wait on his Cardiologist. I may need to phone that in as I only emailed before. My suggestion for others is to start very early. Almost a year in advance if possible.
Ry has been doing her thing. Playing some Basket Ball and actually going to a Jazz game with Daddy. SHe made a basket during her game on Saturday. She has such a natural ability with anything she does. Her classes switched places. French is first and English second. She seems to be doing okay. I think she may be trying to cope with all that goes on in her life and sometimes has stomach aches. We have been trying to fix them but it is hard to be the big sister and deal with so much. I ask a lot of that little girl and she holds up pretty darn good most of the time.
We have today off and we have been doing laundry like crazy and we ran over and cleaned daddy's shop! We think we are going to hit the Car show tonight for FHE!!!! I am going to sit in all the Mini vans and drool... Someday I tell ya!

Smile Box Movie

2012-01-10T15:47:00.001-07:00

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The KSL story done on Gator and Make A Wish Post

2012-01-10T14:06:00.000-07:00

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13 pics»WEST JORDAN -- Alex Homer may have been born with only half a heart, but it is a heart "full of happy," according to the 4 year old.

Alex was born with hypoplastic left-heart syndrome, a rare congenital heart defect seen in only 1-4 of 10,000 live births. The dangerous condition led to four open-heart surgeries, one of which was a repeat because the first one had failed.

His life has been spent in the doctor's office, but his heart lies with the sights and sounds of a monster truck rally.

"We took him to his first monster truck rally when he was two and he just loved it," said Brynn Homer, Alex's mother. "It was so loud, but he loved the noise; he loved the smell. He loved every minute of it."

So much so that he named his pet frog "Monster Truck" and has dressed up in the past as a monster truck driver on Halloween. He will wear a monster truck T-shirt until it cannot be worn anymore; his mom said he says he is thankful for "monster trucks and family."

Such is Alex's love of monster trucks that when Brynn Homer got the phone call from the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Utah offering Alex a visit from a real truck, she could not contain her excitement.

"I screamed into the phone," she said. "I knew this would mean the world to a little boy who has had a rough life. As his mommy you get so humbled by people and the things they are willing to do to make kids they don't even know happy. It's those happy memories I hope he remembers instead of being sick."

This type of joy and selflessness that people offer to our family, there are no words to describe how wonderful, how kind it is.

–Brynn Homer

The Make-A-Wish foundation had already granted Alex his true wish: he got to visit Disneyworld in August 2011. The monster truck visit was what the foundation calls a "wish enhancement": an opportunity to participate in an additional activity or event, which is often provided by members of the community.

"When a child is referred to us, we invite them back to these activities for five years after their wish is granted," said Christine McAttee, the foundation spokeswoman. "We keep track of kids' interests, and it's always a surprise when they go and say we have something extra. It's fun and exciting for us to be able to give that child something they're interested in."

"Families just want another day with their child," she continued. "They just want to put a smile on their kids faces, whether they wish for Disneyworld or a room full of Legos. They just want to forget about illness and be a kid for a day; that's what wishing does for these kids."

The wonderful KSL Story:
When the opportunity arose for a child to be visited by a monster truck and attend a rally, Alex arose as the perfect candidate.
His reaction did not disappoint. He "freaked out" when he heard of the visit, according to his mother. Not quite able to grasp how many days were left until the big visit, he repeatedly asked, "how many sleeps?"
After inviting his preschool class to attend, he often asked strangers on the street if they wanted to see the monster truck that would be visiting his house.
"Even though he has a broken heart, it's pretty full of love and excitement," Homer said.
That excitement spilled over when a monster truck called Bigfoot arrived; clapping, squealing and jumping up an down, he finally spilled into his seat in a rush of emotion, beyond words, to wait for the driver, Larry. Starstruck, he shook hands with Larry and rushed back to hug his mom, saying, "thank you."
Neighbors came outside to see what the ruckus was. After an impromptu block party with plenty of Mrs. Field's cookie cake and during which Alex got to sit in both Bigfoot and atop a police motorcycle, he lay on the floor, looking at pictures of himself with the truck.
"My heart is just so full of happy," he said.
As was the heart of Brynn Homer.
She said people do not realize that when Alex is struggling, it is this type of experience he will remember, instead of thinking about the pain he is in. He will remember it, and he will learn from it.

"People are so goodhearted and I think for him to see that take place, that goodheartedness, is just so amazing," Homer said. "This type of joy and selflessness that people offer to our family, there are no words to describe how wonderful, how kind it is."

"As a parent, you want to give your child everything," she continued. "You want to fix everything your kid might experience that would hurt them."

"This was one thing I just couldn't give him, and they gave it to him … they mean the world to me."

Email: sgrimes@ksl.com

The Awesome Post By Christine:
Thursday, January 5, 2012

Bigfoot Monster Truck Visits Wish Kid Alex
When Checkered Flag Productions called and said they wanted to take a monster truck to a wish kid's house I didn’t have to think twice, I knew the perfect kid for this enhancement. Alex is a 4-year-old boy who was born with a diagnosis of hypoplastic left heart syndrome but you would never guess this as you watch him run around! When Alex was referred to us his mother mentioned how much Alex loved cars and especially that he liked Monster Truck Shows; I made sure to add this info to our database. Alex has a cute little personality and showed up to our Halloween Trick or Treat dressed as a “monster truck driber,” as he says it. Anyone who knows him knows that he goes by "Gator" so his Halloween costume fit him perfectly!
When I called his mother to see if they would like a monster truck to come to their home she screamed with excitement; I knew I had contacted the right family. As the date got closer Alex continued to ask his mom how many more “sleeps” until the truck would arrive. This morning when Alex got up and went to his preschool class, he continued to ask how many hours till the truck would be there? As I drove as fast as I could to get to his house on time, thinking I was going to be late, I pulled up to a police car, 2 motorcycle policemen, two tow trucks with banged up cars on them and I thought I had come across an accident that was being cleaned up. As I looked ahead a little I saw BIGFOOT on a trailer up ahead of the police and two trucks and realized I had come upon the caravan on the way to see Alex.
As we arrived in his neighborhood the police lights and sirens came on to let Alex know we were almost there. Neighbors that were along the way came out of their homes wondering what in the world was happening in their small neighborhood!
Alex lives in a circle so the trucks all stopped on the road in front of the circle and the party began. Mrs. Fields from Southtowne Mall donated a large sheet cookie decorated with a monster truck on it. Alex’s garage had a big banner thanking Checkered Flag Productions and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the policemen handed out sticker badges to all the children and anyone and everyone got their picture taken with BIGFOOT.
Alex was in awe of the whole situation; he met BIGFOOT's driver Larry and they because buddies. He let Larry pick him right up and put him on the trailer, this little guy even fit in the wheel of the truck so he had his picture taken there and then jumped on one of the police motorcycles and honked the horn and ran the lights.The kids in the neighborhood wrote their names and drew pictures on the cars that BIGFOOT will smash tomorrow night at the Monster Truck Show at the Maverick Center. Alex and his family were also given tickets to attend this show and watch BIGFOOT crush the cars.
Alex likes to give "knuckles" and then "blow it up." He loved doing this with all the special people that helped make this day possible.

written by Christine McAtee, Director of Community Outreach

I don't know why the pictures didn't come with but I almost have the movie finished... Stay Tuned!

Better than Christmas presents

2012-01-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

We knew about this event before Christmas. Even though presents are awesome, Gator could not wait until Big Foot the Monster Truck would come to our house. He would tell strangers on the street that a monster truck was going to come and would they like to come and see it too? He did not understand how far away or close the date was so we had to count down in sleeps. For some reason kids get that. Just..... more sleeps until the day! We had also been on the phone with Debbie (a total sweet heart) at Checkered Flag productions. She was totally getting us pumped and excited. She also let us know that CFP had set aside some tickets for our family for the Friday night show and that we got to sit very close!!!! It was going to be awesome. To help Gator understand who was coming and what to expect he spent many hours watching Youtube and looking at the Checkered Flag Productions Website. I read the stories to him but he loved every minute of it. The night before he had a very rough time falling asleep. He was way too excited. Even that morning as we were getting ready for school he asked me a million times how many more hours? Was that a long time? We decided it would be fun to invite his preschool to join us and also we called Christine at Make-A-Wish to see if she wanted to come too! It was such a beautiful day. I had been so worried that it would be freezing and there would be tons of snow but it all held out perfectly and we had the best weather. The kids played while we chatted.
Gator ran to the end of the circle with Grandma to see if they were coming. Sure enough he saw the convoy and ran shrieking "here it comes".... He huffed and puffed up next to me and squealed!!!! Then we heard the sirens from the escort!!!
The kids were so happy to see two motorcycle officers, then a crush car, then BIG FOOT, then another crush car.... All hauled in by Wasatch Towing. (Thanks guys.) WT had to do all the hard work, they had come the day before to map the route to make sure they were going to get into our neighborhood. Then they had one of the best drivers drive Big Foot in. BIG FOOT was sooooo good looking. This was the all black truck! I think Gator was star struck cause all he could do was have a silly grin on his face. He met Larry and Chris. Both drivers of Big Foot. Gator also met the police officers that helped make this happen, the guys at Wasatch Towing company, and Mr. Steven Kun from the Maverik Center. Gator got to sit inside Big Foot and all the kids wrote their names on the Crush Car that would be smashed at the show the next night. We had our friends at Mrs Fields in the South Town Mall make us a yummy cookie cake, which they gave to us at no cost. We Love you Howey's! Cookies make everything better! When it was time for everyone to leave, Gator stood on the side walk to watch them pull away and wave. We walked back to the house and Gator grabbed his autographed picture of Big Foot and flopped on his belly to look at it on the floor. I was cleaning up a bit and he looked up at me and said. "mom, my heart is just so full of happy"!
The next day we got to go to the show. Gator invited both Papas to come with us. Gator wanted to wear his monster truck shirt! It is getting a bit small, but I thought, what the heck! We were seated on the second row! Gator was in heaven. I wished I would have asked more questions about the tickets because later Larry told us we had been invited to the pit party. Dang it! In my excitement and Gator's too, I completely forgot that was happening. In my defense, it wasn't printed on the tickets, and we all know I have 'Some-Timers'.
The Show was Awesome, we cheered loudest for Big Foot. Monster Trakker was there too! He lives right in our very town and so we had to cheer just a little for him and his driver Ron. When the show was over and we were all full of nachos, popcorn and slushies we went up to have all the drivers sign their autographs. We forgot to get something to have them sign so that almost too small shirt came in handy and they each took a turn signing Gator's shirt.
It has been what Gator calls his "special days"! I am sure he will never ever forget it!

The Leanardo

2012-01-06T15:39:00.000-07:00

The kids got tickets to The Leonardo museum for Christmas. I thought it would be similar to the children's museum but it was geared to a little bit older kids. Gator still got a kick out of it.

We spent a bunch of time at this station. We really need to go back because we needed more time to explore!

Ry and Gracie stitched these into a big map of places they would like to visit. For Grace, a coconut and umbrella for Hawaii. For Ry, Mickey in Cali. She loves herself some Disney land.

Papa and Gram watched Munch

Not without injury

2012-01-06T15:29:00.000-07:00

Munchie finally learned how to manage stairs. Unfortunately, not without injury!

This kinda looks like the third eye. It made me feel a little better when it was explained that even though it was big and out there, it was better than if it was dented in.

It sure looked bad

Family Pictures 2011

2012-01-06T15:21:00.000-07:00

We got our family pictures done by the amazing Amanda Bishop!!! I took my camera and shot a few, I can't wait to get some made up for the frames on our walls.

Munchie is Daddies girl. She loves it when he comes home from work, running to the door when she hears the garage door go up!

He likes her too.

My Gator boy is sure a ham for the camera

She is such a funny girl

My Ry is darling

We hit Crown Burger after and Munch had a few fries with her Fry Sauce. I hear Fry sauce is a Utah thing... That is a same, it is down right Delicious!

The fry was just the tool to get the sauce to her mouth...

Soon she gave up and decided to go at it full!

Auntie LOVES it too... She is pretending to drink it down. In the background Gracie is looking a little frightened at the sight of her sauce chugging momma!

Christmas Highlights

2012-01-06T15:08:00.000-07:00

I took my camera everywhere and didn't ever end up taking it out. Sorry for this long-"informative"-minus-photo-post. Christmas was amazing yet again. We try so hard to focus on the real meaning of Christmas and the Savior's birth but presents, family, and parties are so fun too! The kids had such a fun week leading up to Christmas with our little cousin Grace in town from North Carolina. The girls are pretty much joined at the hip if they are allowed. Gator really wants to be part of the party too considering there is only Gracie... I try and make sure that Ry, Gator, and Munchie share her. Gator tried to play dolls and do some things the girls like. Mostly he was frustrated that he couldn't paint nails and get his hair done.. Luckily the girls were inventive and did come up with other games that he could be involved in so he wouldn't feel completely left out. Munchie loved the additional attention of Auntie and Uncle(pickles).
Christmas Eve is traditionally spent with the Clawson side. I love traditions and wait all year for this night when we come up with a theme for the meal which we eat by the downstairs fire while we wait for the elves to bring our Christmas Jammies. This was my favorite tradition as a kiddo and Ry told me this year it is one of her favorites too. Those sneaky elves leave the jammies out on the porch for us to find. I have tried a bunch of times to spot one but never have. They are pretty quick.
Christmas morning We opened presents and enjoyed each other especially with daddy. On a normal Sunday would have to leave early for meetings. Then we went to church. I think it was wonderful to be able to Celebrate our Saviors birth at church worshiping Him. Then we headed over to The Homer's for our other tradition of brunch. I also look forward to this every year. We really only get Cieche'(sp?), tea-ring, and slush this one day a year, so I never want it to go away. If we ever move I will have to learn to make these things to that we can keep the tradition.
We were all spoiled, even though we said to keep it light. It was an amazing day!

Christmas Letter 2011

2012-01-06T14:45:00.000-07:00

Photo collage created with Smilebox

Season’s Greetings, 2011

I can’t believe it is time for the holidays already! I love this time of year to reflect on all of our family’s past successes, growth, and blessing. Here are a few of those:

Daddy- The business Copper Canyon Design was officially open an entire year in May. We are thankful many of our family and friends have supported him with projects and referrals. He was released as second counselor in the bishopric and then called to serve as the first counselor. This is three years for him serving our ward. He does a fantastic job. I know he really loves his calling, especially working with the youth. (He is super excited that rechartering is done for Scouts) He took up running when he has a spare minute which is usually on his lunch break or when he can drag Ry with him. He also made time to build a shed and remodel our family room, spent time with the kids and helped me with my projects.
Momma- I am still the RS meeting coordinator and I also teach the Sunbeams B primary class. Sundays are super busy; thank goodness we have an amazing ward family that helps out. I still do a little hair out of my home…. Other than that I try and keep up with the Jeff and the kids’ crazy schedules.
Ry- Ry Ry has done so many new and exciting things…. She finished Kindergarten then went to visit her cousin in Charlotte NC. She played soccer and scored some goals. This fall she started first grade and with that, the French immersion program. Her French sounds amazing and she is doing very well in school. She was even given an award in front of the whole school for being a good friend. She sings with her school chorus and is starting Jr. Jazz basketball. Her absolute favorite things are crafts, play dates, and sleepover dates with grandparents.
Gator- Gator has kept us on our toes and our calendars full. He fought off a couple of sickie bugs with oxygen last winter but recovered nicely and completed his first year of preschool. He declared his wish to visit Disney World in the spring. He went to his first Demolition derby and loved it! He got to ride in a real Army truck in the Days of 47 parade with some amazing soldiers! We love those Army guys. In August we had the most magical trip for Gator's wish. Our memories with Gator are priceless. Two weeks later Gator had his Fontan Surgery. His recovery was record time thanks to all the visitors and friends. He returned to the hospital four days after discharge with a staph infection. We did heavy antibiotics at home with a PICC line. He finished treatment six weeks later. We celebrated at Lagoon!!!! Gator was able to start preschool again. He is growing and playing like crazy.
Munchie munch- Miss Munchie is growing so fast. She speaks many words and is walking all over the place. She is curious, smart, and loves following around the big people. She is still a fantastic eater and sleeper. She will go to just about anyone but is super stingy with her smooches. She went on her first airplane ride, had her first sleep over at grandparents, cut 8 teeth, knows how to deal with her sibs and is a complete joy to our family!

Above all we feel so blessed this year by so many that have stood by us, prayed for us, and have given of their time, talents, and resources to help our family. We have been so blessed and wish to give thanks to Our Heavenly Father for all those blessings and trials that we have received this year. Thank You all for your love!!!

We hope this finds you happy and healthy! We wish you a Very Merry Christmas!

LOVE,

Us

Jr. Jazz

2011-12-12T22:41:00.000-07:00

With the additional four inches she has on every boy, Ry Ry is giving Basketball a shot to see if her height is an advantage. This is her first year and she likes learning about it. The goal is to teach the rules and to have fun. They don't even keep score. If they did we killed the first game and got killed ourselves the last game.

This gives you a better idea of how tall she is compared to all the kids her age. I love that she is so tall!

She needs her tongue out to concentrate. Daddy promised some practice time to help her out!

Here are the side liners.

She looks like an athlete. I wonder if this is something she will want to stick with or try something else?

Getting into the spirit!

2011-12-12T22:27:00.000-07:00

With twenty minutes before the Ward Christmas party, my kids reminded me that I needed to pull something together for a costume. They had a choice of either an angel, a stable animal, or a Shepard. I told the kids I would try my best with stuff I already had in my crazy craft stuff. I think they turned out pretty darn great.

My little angel also cut 8 inches off of her golden locks. The mommy wasn't really thrilled. She seems to be so excited to have this choice and change. I am a hairdresser and I must remember that hair grows. It is really cute on her. Daddy likes it short, and the littles love it!

Gator went as a donkey. He brayed like the best of them. He had to have a tail to shake, and he totally rocked his hat for all of ten minutes before the little performance and ten minutes after. I have to admit I was impressed with my mad-costume-making-skills. That was fast!!!

Gator also says the funniest things sometimes. I have to laugh at him. Like the other day I was working at the computer and I decided it would be fun to have a little music playing. Pretty soon Gator comes just a-bee-bopping in to the office. He was trying to snap his fingers and he was totally shaking his booty... He says to me. "Great tune mom, who sings this Katie Perry?"..... What the? Where does he get this stuff? I start to laugh and he runs out embarrassed and says..."double drat"..... Silly boy.

Then I asked him to please not wear his shoes on the new carpet (are you being raised in a barn or something?) and he told me..." I am'nt" I said to him "I'm not" and he sighs heavy and says "That is what I said... I am'nt"..... I didn't have the heart to fix it again.

On a car ride home we could smell a squished skunk.... "That is one p-ewwie stunk!"

Munchie loves the Christmas tree. I have to watch her pretty close when she gets near it!

It is just too tempting!

Family room remodel

2011-12-02T00:33:00.000-07:00

We painted this accent wall and our plant shelve! Got new, wonderful, carpet.

Created this artwork

Found new pieces of cool for the plant shelves

Re tiled the fire place surround... And got new accent pillows for the couches.

I love new house... Because we do all the work it saves a grundle!!!!

Ry's Christmas concert

2011-12-02T00:27:00.001-07:00

Pre-concert. Very nervous

Choir Buddy

Getting into it!

She did such a great job!

We tried to grab all the friends, but one of our friends rushed off or we couldn't see her to snag a photo!

Darling kids...

So Much to be thankful for!

2011-12-02T00:21:00.000-07:00

Munchie is thankful for treats and snuggles!

Gator is thankful for monster trucks and playdates

Ry Ry is thankful for movies and friends

Munchie and the Dorky hat

2011-12-02T00:02:00.001-07:00

Gotta love Munchie in her hat!!! The hat was Ry Ry's when she was little and I found it in a tote of hand-me-down clothes. Which Munchie is totally going to be rocking any minute!! Since when does my baby think it is okay to grow up? She can clearly say "Hold me" and "peeeeaaaassseee" and "Seasus (Jesus)" which is her newest word because I have all my Nativities out for the holidays. They are low enough that she can see them and she squats down and points and says "Seasus" I have to tell her not to touch... Or eat them for that matter.

A star is born

2011-11-23T11:16:00.002-07:00

We have been featured in a few things lately and I wanted to show you a few of the fun clips!

All of these clips are from the COOL SCHOOL!!! with Big Budah.
It was a lot harder than I thought. Budah is amazing at coming up with things on the fly that make things flow. He was also really cool with the kids! He would let them get a photo with him when he was in between clips which I thought was super nice.... It was an early morning starting at 5:30 A.M. The we were at the school at 6.... Ry did great except she was a little tired by the time school started. Good thing it is early out day!

This is a public service announcement that we also participated in....Our heart friend's mom is doing a film course. For her last assingment she wanted to do her PSA for Make-A-Wish. I am the female voice over and Gator and Ry are the last two voices. It was fun neat to be asked to help out!

ENJOY!

Project Family Room Remodel

2011-11-20T21:45:00.001-07:00

The first thing to be done is to take down the old tile and replace it with the new tile. We have since painted walls and we are getting new carpet in just that room tomorrow! I can hardly wait.

In Munchies attempt to help daddy she sat right under where he was working. She wanted to try everything out too so she also tasted the dry wall crumbles.
Before

After

Sink Baths

2011-11-20T21:25:00.000-07:00

As with all my babies, Munchie loves water. She loves to splash and shower, tub and swim....

She loves sips of cool water

She crys when we have to get out and dry off.

Paint A Wish

2011-11-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

We have had so much fun with our Paint A Wish art teachers. Our November Crafts were so fun.

Even though Gator's attention span for projects were he sits and follows instructions is short he manages to get his glitter on. My mom and dad are so awesome for letting us use glitter in their house.

Ry's finished turkey turned out so cute! She is really a great artist.

Munchie even got in on the art action with a little chalk art. She just wanted to be like the big kids.
Thanks gals for the fun and for teaching us about different mediums of art.

That's German

2011-11-13T10:09:00.000-07:00

This morning, Gator has been watching himself sing various primary tunes in the full-length mirror in my room. It is funny to hear him sing the same lines over and over. The best part is that he thinks the little boy in the mirror is his identical buddy. He also has conversations with his buddy. My favorite one went like this.... "pop corn popp'in on the apricot tray!!!! Tray? That his not how you say it, YES!!!! That is German for tree, see you say it like this Traaaaaaaayyyyh! What? No that is not right, I am gonna ask Pappa when we see him... Good!" then he makes a face at himself and runs off!

FAIL! and more

2011-11-07T23:27:00.001-07:00

I was driving my baby sister home after she helped us all weekend. Gator was playing games on my phone in the back seat when it rang. I had him hand it to me. I heard the last of the message which told me that my card was locked. I started to panic thinking Gator had done something to make my card freeze.... I followed the instructions and then hung up. I kept feeling weird about the call, so I called the hubs to see if he had had a similar phone call. As soon as he started asking questions about it I knew I had done something terrible. I had been scammed... Why did I give out that information, you ask? If I had realized what was happening I would not have done it. DUMB ME! I had to call and immediately have my card blocked and all transactions ended. It had only been a few minutes so the scammers would have only had about 15 minutes to use my information. I had to file with the police and today had to go to the bank and report everything in person and shred my old things. What a mess. If you get a call don't do what I did.... Don't give out any information. The bank will have all the information they need besides a few things to verify you are who you are!
AAAAHHHHHH!

Today Gator went to Cardiology. He weighed in at 33 pounds go buddy go! That is the 15 percentile! and he is 95.5 centimeters tall.... I can't think of inches right now, but it is the 5th percentile and on the charts! On the charts is better than not!
Dr Su said Gator is looking so great, he is glad that we are finished with all of the staph business and we can move forward to the healing portion of post-op. He allowed Gator to discontinue his oxygen at night and we get to drop his Aldactone... We are down to 4 meds a day! That is good news for this momma with the brain fog. We don't see Doc Su for six months! Gator does have to go to Immunology because of his globulin counts being kinda wacky and having received platelets they want to be sure that his body can handle his immunizations. Especially his MMR. So we will visit them in clinic in two weeks.

Ry continues to be a busy gal. She is in choir and loves it! The best part of that is that she loves to sing because it is a team effort not just her as the solo gal. She also signed up for JR. Jazz basket ball. Daddy said he would work with her. We gotta utilize her height. He also took her running the other day. They went 2 miles. Ry felt great after but there where a few parts that daddy had to hold her hand to keep her moving. Not because she couldn't do it but because it is harder than it looks to run that long the first time out.

Munchie munch is into everything. She is way messed up by the time change. She can't seem to figure out why her schedule just changed so much. She still gets up at her normal time, why can't the clock work the way she does? On Sunday she came to sharing time with me and she has a new favorite song. "Do as I am Doing" I have to get it on video it is great!

Life is busy and full! We love it!

Cuppy Cake

2011-11-02T23:11:00.000-06:00

You're my Honey bun, Sugar Plum, Pumpy-umpy umpkin
You're my sweetie pie
You're my Cuppy-cake, gumdrop
shnookems bookems
you're the apple of my eye
and I love you so
and I want you to know
I'll always be right here
and I love to sing pretty songs to you
because you are so dear!

With sprinkles and a cherry on top!

Double fist'in suckers

Our creepy pumpkins... They were kinda fun to do this year. Papa C got us a kit that made it really easy. Ry even did the kitty all by herself!

Monster Truck Driber

2011-11-02T23:03:00.000-06:00

Outside of preschool! On his second day of preschool.

Check out these Moobs (moves) mom!

What can I smash?

We went to The Wishing Place to the Halloween party and when we walked in Gator saw Batman. He said to me! "Mom, I didn't know they have characters here! We need to do that first cause there might be a big line and everyone is a wish kid so we can't go to the front of the line."

Gator ended up ditching his truck for most everything. It was pretty bulky and because it had real lights it was kinda heavy. So it was mostly for show and he just Trick-or-treated in his jumpsuit. He was still not very fun to trick-or-treat with. His legs are short and he got tired fast.

Queen Frostine

2011-11-02T22:55:00.000-06:00

From the Original Candy Land

Grandma found the blue wig.

Her class

School costume parade

Youth conference

2011-11-02T22:44:00.001-06:00

We helped with Youth conference, The Amazing Race! I didn't score any pictures, just these two of munchie in the swing at the park. Dang-it. Daddy was on a team and raced all over with the kids. We helped with lunch. I love being involved with the youth, because of our callings we get to be involved with almost every organization in our ward.

Crooked little smile

Recognizing Ry

2011-11-02T22:38:00.000-06:00

Ry Ry has always been compassionate and sweet. She is very social and loves to make friends. When she was in nursery she would find toys for the kids that were crying. We said she was on the compassionate service committee. She has become even more aware of others and trys to be friends with everyone especially those that need a hug or a little extra love. Well, her teacher thought she deserved to be recognized in front of the whole school. We couldn't have been prouder of her.

Way to go Sweetie! We are so thankful that you are ours!

First Day of Preschool

2011-11-02T22:30:00.000-06:00

While others started months ago! Gator had to wait until he was well and done with treatment. So He finally started and was so happy he couldn't wait to be with his friends. He really doesn't like the "school" part but he LOVES the friends.

Treatment over! LAGOON!!!

2011-11-02T22:18:00.002-06:00

Gator finished up treatment about two weeks ago. Our HH nurse came over and pulled the PICC line. We saved the PICC because we thought it would be cool to show off later. I thought I should flush out the blood that stayed in the line and when I did I completely sprayed blood all over my face and white sweater. OOOOPSIE! To celebrate finishing treatment we went to Lagoon's Frightmares. We had so much fun. Part of our Amazing Make-A-Wish is getting a passport to the participating attractions. Amazing Lagoon is on that list! One of two in Utah! We Love love LOVE Lagoon. I was so excited to be able to go to celebrate with Gator and see his joy. Munchie stayed at Grandpa's cause she needed naps and we felt bad keeping her in a stroller all day. We really wanted to be able to have some fun with the two older kids. Ry is finally tall enough to ride all the rides so this was a very special trip for her too! She was stoked to able to ride even the scary coasters!!!

He is so happy to be free from lines and down time for meds.... He wanted to ride the Merry go round over and over!

Gotta love the chicken! He also sat on the giraffe and the tiger.

While Ry and daddy did the big coasters Gator and I did some of the things that were more suitable for his heart!

Ry would humor him and ride a few of the little kid rides. He wanted to be in complete control....

Some of the guys were kinda freaky! That is true concern on Gator's face, not just posed for the picture! But, the actor was really cool with him and would not totally freak him out to the point he cried. Notice Ry is not pictured she would not get within twenty feet of this guy.... His eyes did her in.

We can't help but be a little crazy... The sign says "Just Hanging around at Lagoon" Hahaha!

Paint-A-Wish

2011-11-02T22:07:00.001-06:00

We are so blessed by Make-A-Wish. Everything that they do is amazing. These are art students at BYU that volunteer for a program called paint a wish. They come out and do projects with the kids. We have done a whole bunch with an art teacher named Avery, she couldn't make it this time.

The projects turned out so cute!

Then we visited with cousins for a little bit....Even dried up pools are fun.

The Cozy Coupe is a fan favorite!

She loves to work in the garden.

He loves to chase the chickens.

Preschool and The Village

2011-11-02T22:00:00.000-06:00

I decided to take Gator down to Gardner Village with his soon to be preschool. He was so excited to see his friends. He can't wait until he can join them for reals.

Munchie gets to go on so many fun adventures!

This is the famouse big b**b witch. Gator can spot her anywhere.

Heart buddy get together

2011-11-02T21:56:00.000-06:00

I love getting together with heart buddies. It doesn't happen often enough. It was so fun to have the boys together and enjoy each other. They were so funny. As they get older, they are very aware that they have scars in common, and who is who's best buddy. Munchie was in heaven as the only little girl... The other little guys are from all boy families.

They are trying to make hearts.

I think these two are the closest in age. Perfect for wrastle'in each other. High-ya!

Ry's School Picture

2011-11-02T21:48:00.000-06:00

First Grade

Munchies First year Movie...It's a long one!

2011-10-17T22:24:00.001-06:00

This free slideshow created with Smilebox

Munchies Birf-day party!

2011-10-17T22:11:00.000-06:00

*Just so you know, piping cupcakes is harder than it looks on T.V.

Just waiting to get her hands on one of those cupcakes while we sing. She tried to blow out her candle. With a little help from Ry it was a success.

I think she was afraid to touch it at first.

Then she really got into the action.

YUMMY!

That was tasty!

She covered herself enough that she needed a quick.....

Bath in the sink.

Then it was present time....

We all got into the unwrapping....

Daddy got her a Wii. It is just what she wanted...Everyone has been loving it.

Her very most favorite part was the boxes and paper! We can't believe she has been with us an entire year..... We love you Munchie!

Munchie On her day

2011-10-09T22:12:00.000-06:00

Crazy little goof, is 1! We love you sooooo much!

The start of Gator's costume!

2011-10-09T22:04:00.001-06:00

Here is the start to Gator's 'Monster Truck Driber' costume... I made the truck out of cardboard, then covered it with paper mache'.

Getting ready to paint. It is going to be green!!! of course!

My helper man is ready with his paint brush!

My mom supplied some cool fabric so I can start sewing his jumpsuit. It is going to be awesome!
Munchie has the bottom portion of her cuppy cake costume. The liner.
Ry finally decided on Queen Frostine from the original Candy Land! I even found a blue handled broom at the dollar store for the scepter! I still need to find her fabric and sew her a big blue dress! I checked online but I am having a hard time finding a cheap long blue wig. I thought a saw a blonde one I can spray at Walmart, or we can always spray her hair blue.
I love costumes so much. I am a tiny bit sad that I didn't get to theme the children this year. I knew it was coming, I just thought I might squeak by one more year, but no such luck!

Ry and Gator says

2011-10-09T21:51:00.000-06:00

Friday night we had a date night. Daddy and I love to include the kids because we don't spend a bunch of together time during the week. Friday nights are fun for this reason and I look forward to them. I know that my little family does too! One thing that we like to do, is find a fun spot to eat out. We have tried many little "Hole in the wall" joints and that is what makes it memorable. This Friday we finally decided on a tiny Japanese restaurant. Ry ry was not thrilled. She wanted something completely different and was set on it. Now this little girl doesn't throw to many tantrums but I can tell when one is coming on. We were sitting in the booth waiting for daddy and Gator to get back from washing hands when I looked over to see her; head down, pout face, laying on the table. I told her...

"Ry if you are going to continue to put your head down and pout, you can head right out to the car and wait for us to finish eating".......

She quickly changed her mood, sat up, and said "Mom, I am totally fine... The reason I had my head down is because... IT'S BEEN UP ALL DAY!"

(No arguing with that one!)

Then in Church today, I let Gator use the restroom during sacrament meeting. One of my biggest pet peeves is my kids running in and out. I try to have them go potty, get a drink and chat with a few friends before it all starts, so that they are ready and have all those things out of the way. The problem with today was: as we were leaving Munchie needed her stinky diaper changed, the garage door would not close and so I had to get out and hold the button, and I was offering the opening prayer. Sometimes getting everyone there all by myself and on time is a big job. I told him that he could go if he was very reverent. He folded his arms and left. Coming back a few minutes later I considered it all to be a success. Gator came over and asked for something and while I was helping him tuck his shirt back in I noticed the end of his tie was wet...

"Gator boy, why is your tie all wet?"

"Well mom, I am sorry, but.... I just peeped on it a little bit" (also showing the amount by squishing his eyes closed and pinching his fingers together)

Dang that tie!

Post with out photos

2011-10-05T10:59:00.000-06:00

Do you hate it when I post without offering a photo?

I do too!

I promise to get something done about that.

Until then!

Monday was Gator's follow up with the Dr. Su..... We rode Trax to our appointment. Not sure if I will do that again. It did save time and head ache a little but it was extremely awkward to carry Gator's oxygen tank, the diaper bag, my purse, and the baby. I looked like a regular pack mule. It was fun for Gator, not so fun for Munchie, and so I think we will pass next time. Gator had to have an Xray, EKG, be measured and weighed, his saturation's monitored, blood pressure, and of course heart listened to. It was a pretty fast visit. Everything was awesome!!!! His x-ray looked great. He is weighing in at 34 lbs and is taller maybe? 3 feet 3 inches! He was looking so great that we decided he could stop wearing his oxygen during the day! He is so excited that he doesn't have a leash anymore. I am so excited I don't have to worry about the half-child (it seriously seems like I carry another child around with me when we have that tank. Plus there is worry involved, like if you have enough air in the tank) Things from a heart perspective look really good. Yesterday he wanted to run by the grocery cart instead of be transported around in it. It would be nice to report that his appetite is improving but it isn't yet. I would also like to think that he is somehow, magically, going to be able to do things that were hard before....

Take for instance his seat belt.

I have had it with his seat belt. He is big enough to manage his belt on his own. He gets into the car and plays around until we are out on the road and then tells me he needs assistance. GRRRRRRR! Why not sit in the car, work on the seat belt while I am strapping in the baby and then if he needs me, have me help, before I get seated and belt myself.... He waits... I was finally fed up yesterday. I had gone through all the counting, ignoring, and patients I could muster. I was trying I tell ya! finally we are about ten blocks from home and he is carrying on. I told him that instead of sitting there messinga round he should have gotten it on. If he didn't get it on then he would be put to the side of the road to walk the rest of the way home.
I got to three.
I pulled over and got out, making sure we were safe I walked him to the side walk and he was bawling. I knew he was scared.... I wanted him to know that seat belts are not games, and they are very important. I went and got back in the car and pulled out and told him to start walking. I had to flip on my hazards and drive in the turning lane but I started to follow him. He stopped crying and actually started to giggle... AAAAHHHH this was fun for him. This was not the message I was hoping to drive.... no.... walk home!(hehe) I said out the window. "Would you like to get in the car and try that seat belt again?" He looked at me and smiled "ummmm nope" My blood started to boil. This was not even going to work. I thought I had it nailed down. DANG GIT! I asked him again after a few more minutes... His answer was the same. Okay, time for a change. I stopped, held his hand back to the car, opened the door helped him in, and jumped in. I informed him that he would be going to bed when we got home. There was the punishment I was looking for. He was mad he would miss out on the evening and possibly dinner. I can't get him to eat why would I make him miss a meal. Making him eat it all was a bigger deal, he went to bed after. Only he played in his room until ten and I told him to knock it off and go to sleep. He is a turkey! He better be vigilant about that seat belt from now on, otherwise it is to bed with him.
Ry was freaking out about having him walk until he started to smile... This would have put her over the edge. I am totally going to have to parent each child differently. I can't wait to see how Munchie-munch is!

Speaking of that little Girlie!

Today is her BIRTHDAY!

I can't believe she is one!

Kaidence Followers

2011-09-30T23:00:00.000-06:00

Hey friends,
It has been a while since I had my link list erased. I still follow my heart friends in my reader. Recently I found out the our sweet heart friend Kaidence isn't doing well. I know that many of you have followed her story from our blog and would like to catch up on her. So I am posting her link under family because she is family now! They are in desperate need of prayers. I believe there is also a fast being held this Sunday. Thanks to all our friends and family who love them as much as we do!
http://4mykaidence.blogspot.com/

And how are you?

2011-09-30T22:53:00.000-06:00

Great!!
So just an update.... Gator has been doing okay, we have been doing his normal troughs. These check the levels of Vanco in his system. The also do a CMP or The Comprehensive Metabolic Panel a test that gives important information about the current status of your kidneys, liver, and electrolyte and as well as blood sugar and blood proteins. Abnormal results, and especially combinations of abnormal results, can indicate a problem that needs to be addressed. We have been watching Gators Creatine levels. It seems those crazy antibiotics are messing with his Kidneys. Gator doesn't seem to be affected too much by all of this business except that he has to stop playing for nurses to take blood. That PICC is a blessing after all because getting this many pokes would be torture. I totally have a sweet/funny story to tell and I won't name names to protect the innocent, and I hope the mommy doesn't mind... It's just too good not to share.

Yesterday we had yet another blood draw. This time Gator had a little friend over! Let's call her "Tiana".... While Gator was having his blood taken, Tiana was worrying about her little friend from the other couch. The nurse was trying her best to get something out of that stubborn PICC and nothing was happening. It was very frustrating to Gator who wanted to play and not be bothered by this situation anymore. Also, he had just finished getting a dressing change due to some irritation that had caused some bleeding under the dressing and it looked pretty "angry". I was seated near Gator boy on the couch and asked Tiana if she would like to come and sit with me so she could see better. I thought for sure most kids would think that was kinda cool and she could see that her friend was in no real danger. It never even registered with me that she would be different from my own children who see these things ALL the time. She came over, hopped up on my lap and looked over... She said "oooooo that looks like it hurts!" then she sat straight up and clamped her mouth shut tightly. Her little cheeks began to bulge and her eyes teared up.. She could hold no more and barfed. Poor little thing. The nurse and I just looked at her, like that was a totally common thing to do. I moved my shoes out of the way, in case there would be a second episode. I covered it with a piece of paper and helped her to the bathroom. We stepped into the room and she made it to the sink. Her whole lunch. Bless her heart. She was probably starving later that day. She just kept saying "I am sorry".... I felt so bad for her. It was my own fault for thinking she had a stomach of steal. She stayed near the toilet the rest of the nurses visit while I cleaned everything up. Then the kids played again after the nurse left like nothing had happened. I love kids... Tiana certainly did not need to say sorry. It was a reminder to me that I should be careful of those sensitive eyes and stomachs. The best part was, her mom came to pick her up and the first thing she said was "GUESS WHAT?????? I threw up on the carpet" HA!

Well, the nurse was never able to get blood, so we had to do the TPA again. This time I was going to be in charge of removing it before administering the Vanco. For some odd reason I was a little freaked out by that. I had to write myself a note to remind myself to pull the TPS out instead of pushing it into his body with a flush. I did fine. Late last night the nurse came to get the CMP. Somehow we missed the order for the trough so we got to see Dillan again today. Infectious Disease called and said his Creatine was trending up and would chat with Dr Su to see if we could reduce his Lasix in order to preserve his kidney function. One thing I have learned is that this heart business is all about the tuning.... Once you tune one things you have to check all the other things and fiddle here and adjust there. It's all about the TUNING. Well Dr. Su didn't want to mess with his diuretics until he had seen an x-ray to make sure he still wasn't developing any effusions. We are so lucky to have the Riverton location. I only had to drive him over there for his "pictures" instead of all the way down town... AWESOME I tell ya! The x-ray looked awesome, and we lowered his Lasix to once a day instead of 2. Then we will do another trough tomorrow and we see Dr. Su Monday for clinic.

It may not seem like a lot, but between feeding, napping, bathing, diapering, school getting to and from, hair and other crazy mommy things my days fly by. Is tomorrow Saturday already?
Well then,
Happy Conference Saturday!

Catch up with Ry

2011-09-24T14:40:00.000-06:00

Oh how she loves to be Seven. It is amazing that I have a child that old. I miss her during her long school days, but she is having fun and learning so much. This week they had Green Ribbon week at school. It is all about safety. Her favorite day was crazy hair day. We wrapped her hair in blue and red perm rods the night before and pulled them out the next morning. I wanted to comb them out and have a pick, but I had to respect the diva and she wanted to wear them like this.

She was BOINGING them all day. When she got home she told me that nobody thought it was crazy they thought it was beautiful! By far better in her mind. We also had crazy sock day and a hat day. She is doing so well in french and can count to 29 without any help. We have a couple of apps on her ipod that make it fun to learn french. She is also reading so well. She can read so many books from our little library I am happy we have them and she is using them. I love children's literature. She is such a helper at home too. I can count on her for emptying the dishwasher, cleaning her room, a laundry folding party, scrubbing the toilets and the tub. This girl is amazing. I give her a list and she loves to cross things off. She doesn't like when I add to the list mid-jobs so I have to put everything on it I need done and when it is over it is over. I thought I had her convinced she should try out for a local play, just to have something she could be involved in, but I think it freaked her out a little and I still have to work on it a little bit. She wants to try tumbling, or rock climbing camp, or swim team, but it will all have to wait till we are more settled. We started plotting together on her Reflections entry. The theme is "Diversity Means?".... We have a couple of ideas that she wants to try. We will have to take pictures of the process.

I just love her.

I forgot to say!!

2011-09-22T22:12:00.001-06:00

I forgot to document two things Gator said that had me in giggles...

G-"mom I just love this dinner!"
M-"It's good right?"
G-"Yeah I am totally DIGG'IN it!"

G-"Mom, does this outfit look HOT?" scary outfit that totally doesn't match
M-"uhhh it looks alright" totally trying to be nice
G-"Yeah but do I look HHHHHOOOOOOOT?"
M-too busy covering my laugh to tell him otherwise

Gator Catch up

2011-09-22T22:04:00.000-06:00

Life at home with Gator has been busy. He was on so many medications needing time for each med to be distributed, making sure I was cleaning my hands and the tube and taking care of regular house things was a bit tricky.(why I haven't blogged) Here is Gator just a couple of days before we are discharged playing hospital bingo!
The best bingo ever cause everyone gets a prize!

We can call into the playroom with a joke and they will tell it on TV to the whole hospital and say the name of the child who gave them the joke. He is listening to his joke... Which happened to be, "If Frosty the snowman and lady Dracula got married, what would they name their child?".........Give up?........ FROSTBITE.....hahahhaha.

They can have the playroom bring things down to do. So he painted with his two favorite colors.

The whole primary wrote him that get well card, and brought him that fancy monster truck, Monster Mutt Lego's. Awesome. We love our ward family and would not be able to do this without you! His special treat that day is the Coke!

Here we are at home.... I wanted to have a little picture to document this for him. He amazes me. We have had so many mini miracles. Like the day we were discharged, I went down to pharmacy to get his oral meds, one medication we didn't already have at home. When the lab tech came back with the hugest bottle of Rifampin I had ever seen I handed over my insurance card. She ran it past her pharmacist and then told be that my insurance doesn't cover this med because of the new way they mix it... Okay, so it would be 156.95$ I must of had a look of complete horror on my face cause she walked over and chatted again. This time she came back with a smile. It looks like there is a waiver from someone upstairs, we can give it to you for 10.00$ can you do that? Totally!!!!. Right then and there my testimony of tithing grew. You can call it whatever you wish, in my heart I know that Heavenly Father was watching over my family in more ways than helping my son to be well and our family to be united. I know that it is because we decided that we would always make tithing our first priority; then have faith that things would fall into place. They did that day!

Another mini miracle. I was so scared that I would not be able to keep up with all that was necessary of me as a wife, mother and nurse. Without training other than just the day to day living I am not a nurse. But I have learned (and prayed) that I would know how to take care of Gator so that he would get better. He continues to improve everyday. He is so much back to his self that he hates being home all day and wants to be outside so badly. I let him sit out in the sunshine on the steps as far and his oxygen tubing will let him go. Play cars in the flower bed dirt and unplug for five minutes to visit his favorite big friends, Debbie Girl and Bishop for some chocolate milk and a squeeze/smooch. He loves them far beyond words. He starts talking about visits at 9:30 in the morning and doesn't stop asking until he has had his fix of his friends.

Another Mini Miracle. I do not have to change this dressing. Dillan our awesome nurse comes to do that. Gator saw him coming this Monday while we were in the office and closed the blinds and locked the doors. I was on the phone with Comcast disconnecting our services (except Internet of course) I asked Gator to let him in and he told be NO! When I let him in, Gator threw a huge fit with kicking feet and fists. Screaming and crying. I guess it hurts. He was brave after I explained that we have to do it, that it will be fast and it will be over. He has a forgiving heart because he gave Dillan some of his McQueen stickers for his ear beep beep (thermometer). Gator calls the little white part his Airplane.
That funny little bulb is his antibiotic medicines. They hook to his shirt and are distributed through a regulator over an hour of time to his body right through the PICC. He was originally on two antibiotics; Gentamicin and Vancomicin, as of last week he is down to just the Vanco and will need to stay on that for another couple of weeks. We will get some pictures of his shower thing cause it is funny. The trucks bandage you see is not as cool as we thought because it totally sticks to his skin and dries it out. So I bought him some socks that we cut the toe off of and it covers well and breaths so much better. We did have one issue where pushing anything through his line was really hard. We ended up needing TPA, or enzymes that safely break down clots so that the medicine can keep coming. It flushes beautifully now and we are back on track.

I thought he would be eating better by now, but I am sure it will all come in time. I also thought he would have more energy to run around. He still gets winded and tired. There are so many wonderful things that he is doing. His little popsicle feet are toasty warm and he has the nicest skin tone. I also gave him a haircut because nothing is scroungier(is that a word?) than a little man with rooster-fashion-sleep-hair. I think he feels better about that. I would. Those tubes pull his hair and it feels better to have it trimmed nice and neat.

Munchie and Gator VS Noodles

2011-09-12T16:15:00.000-06:00

I must make some mean Ramen noodles cause my kids love the darn things. I am fully aware that they have nearly no nutritional value. I also know they are pretty high on the sodium charts, but hey.... Gator will actually eat them without gagging. Munchie is clearly going to follow in her brothers Ramen path.

We made it HOME!

2011-09-10T23:06:00.000-06:00

We made it home yesterday evening. This time it was a good move. There was only little worry on my part if I was capable of handling the PICC. I was afraid of the air bubbles and the schedule that would need to happen. Things are falling into place and if I just follow my notes, schedules and listen for my phone to alarm me to the meds he needs I am gonna make it. I am sure this isn't hard for anyone but me. I am going to get on a routine and try my hardest to not mess up the old routine with the girls. It will be a ton of watch watching. Hehe! Ry's Birthday was a smashing hit. She wanted Zupas for dinner, lucky for us they were also giving out free desert. Plus we got to ride the train home from the hospital after visiting Gator. He got his sister a gift at the gift shop in the hospital. I can't believe I have a 7 year old. Where did the time go?
Everyone seems happy to be together. Today we did odd jobs and scrubbed the house. It is nice to have done. The shed is officially completed on the exterior. I am taking some photos tomorrow in the light. Also, I am looking for cleaning advice. So, should I wash windows now before the winter? Or, should I let the grime stay and build up through the winter and clean in the spring? See my dilemma? I am off to check his Vanco and dream of carpet. I can spot check and vacuum to my hearts content and it still looks dingy. Blehhh!

Ry's Birthday Movie

2011-09-08T16:36:00.002-06:00

Free slideshow made with Smilebox

A good day

2011-09-07T17:54:00.000-06:00

We have had a pretty quiet day playing in the playroom, riding the tractor, having a visit from Sister Francis and Carter R. I had a chat with the doctors this morning, there is really no change from what Dr Mart told me. So the plan is to have a PICC line placed tomorrow, then learn how to take care of it and discharge Friday. We feel lucky to have caught this so early and only had to stay a week, instead of finding it when it had had a chance to get stronger and be here months. Blessing I tell ya!

Not really a report

2011-09-06T22:15:00.000-06:00

So I caught the Doctor in the hall and we chatted for a minute because he really wanted to go over everything again. But, he said his findings were mostly positive. Gator didn't have any signs of vegetation (clusters of infection) or any clots. That is great news!!!!!! Although it doesn't really tell us much, except somehow he got staph in his blood stream and his body is trying like crazy to fight it off. He was really thirsty today, fasting for his TEE and it was hard. I did it with him and my own tummy was growling. He finally went down at 3:30pm and he was soooo thirsty when he woke up. He wanted an apple juice, some water and then caffeine free diet coke. After his rough day I let him have it. We will have more info tomorrow after the doctors round in the morning. I feel kinda bad it takes so long before I can update, it is super hard now that Gator can tell me he needs me for things. I spent a good majority of the day trying to distract him from his thirst/hunger and the other part of the day trying to get him to wake up and eat... Busy busy busy!

So what's happen'n

2011-09-06T16:32:00.001-06:00

Today we have been waiting most of the day to have his TEE, he had to be NPO since 10:30 last night. It is hard for my little guy to wait that long. He's back doing it now, so I really don't have an update yet. Dr Mart is doing his procedure. I had the opportunity to hear his wife speak at a RS meeting once. They have 19 children and most with special needs. I know Gator is in good hands with him.

Munchie says tickle

2011-09-05T22:37:00.000-06:00

Gotta love her! She is 10 months old.

Munchie's one year pictures

2011-09-05T22:29:00.000-06:00

She never wants to hold still anymore. So getting her One year pictures is a trick.

She is so fun to have, and an absolute joy!

As munchie as ever.

She thinks she should walk and talk... Seriously?

This look is how I felt... Just be done!

Hi!

Almost 7 years old

2011-09-05T22:24:00.000-06:00

Later this week Ry Ry turns 7!!!! She is the best big sister and such a help to mommy and daddy.

Love Her!

The TRACTOR!

2011-09-05T22:19:00.000-06:00

Daddy keeps up with Gator while he rides the Tractor down the hall.

Bensy (Didi) rides in the bucket.

He can do it no hands too!

So today!

2011-09-05T18:31:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I picked up the girls for some mommy time, it is about this time after a few weeks that Ry starts to have a hard time. We had dinner together and went on a little bike ride, followed by popcorn and m&ms in my bed and a movie! Daddy and Gator hung out together last night and this morning.This morning Gator's IV failed and he had to have a new one. I made it up to the hospital around lunch time. I took Gator to the playroom but we only got to stay for a little while until they paged us over the intercom. Infection control wanted to chat with us. It seems Gators culturs have grown out for a third time. We know for sure that it is there now. IC is called in to make sure we are treating it the right way. They have some ideas of what it is but are not 100%. We know it is staph but not sure if it is endovascular or endocarditis. So to begin they have him on some big gun antibiotics: vancomycin, gentomycin, and rifampin. The plan now is to do a TEE or trans esophageal echocardiogram. We hope this will try and find sources of infection and also see if his new conduit if functioning correctly. We will learn how to take care of a PICC line for meds for six weeks and then he most likely will be on antibiotics orally for six months. We will have to ask how this will effect things in the future like school and church! Gator got tomride the tractor a ton today which was really nice for him. He loves to laugh but it hurts. Daddy even took him out on the terrace for some sunshine. If you have to be in a hospital it is nice to have distractions like tractors, playrooms, and sunshiny terraces.

And now!!!

2011-09-05T09:49:00.000-06:00

Yesterday night/early morning the boys arrived had test run and an IV placed in order to start antibiotics. He slept pretty good and had a nice day Saturday. Gators hematocrit was low so they did a transfusion and continued to monitor him the rest of the day. He seemed to perk up a little and wanted to ride the tractor. The rest of Saturday was pretty quiet. Sunday they told us nothing had grown out yet and we would most likely go home Monday. He continued to have IV antibiotics and rested all day. We also made it to fast and testimony at the branch. The spirit is amazing there, I am pretty sure that angels attend that meeting. Also the hospital would be Our Saviors first stop. You testimony can either be shattered by Illness or it can grow immensely. I have decided the burden is too great for me and that the only way to go is to rely on Heavenly Father. He in turn can touch everyone else who is either watching over my home babies, or guiding the hands and hearts of the nurses and doctors. Another fun thing, Gator was moved from the ghetto in J pod to O pod which is practically the Hilton!! Who hoo!

Turned into something

2011-09-03T00:04:00.001-06:00

So last night around 7:30 we got a call that said something grew out in Gator's cultures. Off to the hospital we went. Taking every precaution to gather a clean sample. We were hoping his crp and CBC dropped as well. We found out they did and we got to head home then wait for the results of the cultures. Tonight, Daddy and I went on a date and after we called the NP to find out if anything had grown. Great news! We came home from our date to a very uncomfortable little man but willing to hit the sack. I thought he had really over done it today. About 11:30 tonight we got a call that his culture had grown something. Daddy is taking him up tonight and I will spell him in the morning. He has to have IV antibiotics to try and kill that bug.

Munchie is a mess maker

2011-09-02T13:56:00.000-06:00

I think she wasn't sure what to do with all of those tubies. It is taking some time but we are helping her adjust to all the equipment.

There will be some plants we will need to move for a while... Naughty!

She is super close to walking, standing in the middle of the room. She just hasn't figured out how to take steps.

She has figured out how to get into mischief!

I would pretty much have to carry my camera around all day in order to catch all her little "Tricks"

My First Grade Super Star

2011-09-02T13:49:00.000-06:00

Ry also had her first day of First Grade! She is so amazing to endure all that she has and yet she is excited and happy about her own adventures. Our little smarty pants will be learning French and going to lunch!!! How exciting! She is again one of the tallest in her class, if not the tallest! We are so lucky to have one of Ry's best buddies in her class, Ellie! Plus my little social butterfly is happy to meet new friends.

A little head scratch

2011-09-02T11:07:00.002-06:00

We went to the hospital for a follow up xray to make sure Gator didn't have Plural Effusions. These are common in kids who are post Fontan. The good news it that his Xray looked awesome. After chatting with Annie she was concerned about his fevers. With no other symptoms besides a little cough we decided he better have labs to check his cbc and crp. It took to pokes to collect the darn things. While we waited for those to come back Gator had his last stitch removed the stitch was from a chest tube. His incision is closed with Dura-bond so it doesn't have to have anything removed. The crp came back elevated. They like to see it at 4 his was 16. So we needed to do two more blood draws and a urine sample. It took forever to get that peepee, Gator slept in a wagon while I walked him around the hospital. Finally we collected it. It had to be sterile and that is hard for a little boy on oxygen who has a sternal wound that doesn't like to get on and off the potty very much. But there was no other way to catch it. Then it was off to the lab for two more pokes. It was miserable trying to get the samples. Gator would hide his arms behind his back and beg to "please stop!" The lab tech was so patient and really took time to find just the right vein, everything was pretty much shot. He ended up going to the feet. We don't even want to think about the head now that Gator is big. With mommy singing and talking about his WISH, and the Woody Wood Pecker ride we made it through. I was so relieved to be leaving the hospital. I got everything in the car and Gator all situated. I also went to return the wagon. Then came back and checked Gator's oxygen. His tank was empty, I got out the other tank I got and fixed it all, then went to turn it on and it LEAKED loudly... I undid everything and tried again, still leaking. I told Gator we had to go back into the hospital because something was wrong. He immediately started to cry. He was DONE and I really didn't blame him. I still needed to fix my tank issue to I went to the security booth and told them I was here alone with my little son who had had a rough day in the hospital and would not go back in. I needed help because I wasn't sure how to best fix this issue. The security guard radioed for another to help me. She wasn't really sure what to do so she radioed another, Two more came and then the smarty one came out of the ER with a respiratory therapist(who happen to be wheeling out a tank) I am sure we were a sight with four Security guards and the RT, one crazy momma, and a little boy who was not going back in the darn hospital.... Finally, we trouble shooted all we could and realized we had a gauge issue and we needed to go into the hospital and talk with CTS(Cardio thoracic surgery) Bonnie came down. A face we know and love. She helped us page discharge who was in a meeting and could bring us a tank in a little while. Finally she came down with a tank and we headed home. It was a L O N G day. Our appointment was at 8:15 am and we finally got home at 4:30 pm. Glad it is over! Now we have to wait and find out if anything grows out!

Home is where the heart is, and love and peace abound!

2011-08-30T00:04:00.002-06:00

Ry Ry made this nice sign for Gator, it isn't Danish, it says Welcome Home!

"Home is where warm, circling arms go all the way around. Home is where there's father with strength and wisdom true. Home is where there's mother and all the children too. Home is where our Father who dwells in heav'n above, guides us in the way we live and lets us feel his love."
Have you heard that primary song? I love it! We were discharged this morning and I have been going since we got home. He has complained of a tummy ache almost the entire time we have been home and had a low grade fever of 100.6, but he is responding to the medicine and hopefully he will be better in the morning.

Recovery Day 3

2011-08-28T18:49:00.001-06:00

We woke up at the bum crack of dawn to a nurse needing blood. One of the bad things about being moved to the floor you have to be poked to get blood taken instead of having it drawn from an existing line. Anyway the nurse could not get it after two failed attempts he said he would send in another in an hour so Gator could rest from the stress. We slept for a while till the next phlabotimist could come, she was fast and got blood the first draw. We snoozed for a little longer then went down for a X-ray. We came and snoozed until the doctors rounded. I nearly fell out of bed when they told me they wanted to send Gator home. WHAT THE? I started to stress out bad now and it was only 8 a.m. Daddy came up, Gator had breakfast, then we headed to church at the PCMC branch. I love the meetings, 30 minutes!!!!! Finally we came back for lunch and a nap. We woke to our home teacher and his wife for a visit! Gator had some awesome therapy on a pedal tractor. He drove it all the way down to the elevator where we road it down to see Auntie Lisa, Uncle Marc, Arli, Wells, and Ry Ry. We went to the hospital play room together then came back for dinner. We finally chatted with the NP about our stressed feelings. She is on board with us taking one more precautionary night in the hospital. So we most likely will be discharged tomorrow. This is completely different than our track record, making me totally scared that we will have a back slide. There are a few things that worry me. #1 he has a bump at the top of his incision. #2 his sats have dipped until we raise his oxygen to 1 liter. #3 he has complained the most that he doesn't feel good. Anyway just one more night and I am sure I will feel better all together. Thank you so much for the prayers, I have a testimony that those prayers are being answered I can see it manifest in my son and myself. Our whole family has been watched over. Thank you thank you! We feel the comforter so close when we are here watching others in their trials while we try to endure ours. We are better because of all of this.

Recovery day 2

2011-08-27T17:31:00.001-06:00

Gator had a very restful night. Nurse Chad said he slept 90 percent of the night. We like that guy, he wore his super guy shirt that is green just for Gator. This morning was very eventful.....Gator was able to get his chest tubes out, along with his pacer wires and art-line. It is almost easier to say what he has left rather what they took away. He walked to the potty and has been itchy because of the morphine they gave him before removing his drainage tubes. Then the best thing happened, 1SG Winn came to see us. He brought dart guns with him. There was the Gator I knew, up until this point he hadn't talked much, and was extremely zonie (is that even a word)finally he perked up and smiled for reals. We played dart guns till Gator got some lunch, then daddy and I snuck out for our own lunch. Nurse Pam took Gator on a walk and played games, then he took a little nap. We started to get some special visitors Grandma and Grandpa Groesbeck. They were with us when we walked up to the third floor!!!!! Yeah! Then we got to have a visit from the E babies! I bet after all the fun they are going to want to come back to the hospital too!Then Grandma & Papa and the Aunties came for a visit.... They played until Ry and Munchie came.... Oh they played! He is asleep now having a nice rest till we have more visitors later.

Recovery day 1 part 2

2011-08-26T22:36:00.001-06:00

We've had a pretty busy day. After all that talk about eating and drinking he won't eat. Well he will, just not that much. He took some good naps, rode in the wagon, we took out the catheter, and he rested. We had some fun visitors today. Heart mommy Diane, Annie Beth, Jen and Nate, a couple of our past nurse friends, Grandma and Papa, best of all Ry and Munchie. We miss those two girlies a bunch. They are so important and brave! Munchie wanted to dive on Gator and play like always but he is still so sleepy. We left him to rest and hopefully get some ourselves.

Recovery day 1

2011-08-26T11:49:00.001-06:00

Last night Gator didn't sleep much. He wanted to eat and drink very badly. But this morning he is doing pretty good we have Adrianne again as his nurse, did I ever say how much we love some of our nurses. Gator's goals for today are to rest rest rest and to pull lines. They already pulled out his IJ in his neck and his RA so most of the big gun meds are off. When we ask him how he is he said, "I am a little bit sick and really itchy, and that is it". He had a couple of bites of watermelon and oranges for breakfast, also a few sips of raspberry smoothie. He has little naps here and there but says he wants to play and go home. We are trying buddy!

Update #5

2011-08-25T19:00:00.002-06:00

We are finally back with our man. I don't really know what I was expecting to see. Maybe I thought he would look similar to when he was a baby all puffy and such. He looked better than I imagined. He still needed to be intubated because of his blood pressure, but he worked really hard to get that tube out. One thing I really noticed was how twitchy he was. That was from the anesthesia. He has a ton of monitors still and as soon as I walked into the CICU it had the very same smell that I remembered. Not a bad smell, just a super clean-coffee-adhesive smell. Gator tried to talk to us while intubated. You can't talk with that big tube down your throat so he resorted to shaking his head to tell us yes or no. Finally we got to take it out and the very first thing he said is "where's my dad?" Of course it is cause daddies are the coolest! Now he is totally fixated on having a drink. He just keeps saying over and over "okay I am ready for that drink now!"
Well more later.

Update#4

2011-08-25T15:39:00.000-06:00

He's done! We just had a long chat with Dr. Burch his surgeon. I hope I remember everything.... He said Gator had a ton of scar tissue that he had to carve
out or around the heart, he also noticed he had a bunch of collateral veins, let me explain what those are for those who might not understand. Collateral veins are produced by the body when it thinks you are not getting sufficient blood supply from a certain part of the body. So it will grow other veins to assist in circulation. Unfortunately these veins are thin and not very organized. So that makes these guys unstable. So Dr Burch had to coteries these before working on his heart. Once he started the Fontan he attached a size 20 conduit and also was a little aggressive with his fenestration giving him a 4 instead of a 3.5 the bigger the fenestration the better his pop off is. He mentioned he was having dips in blood pressure which is part of recovery and also one thing he has never had an issue with before is his sinus. He dropped out a couple times and so we talked about a pacer in the sometime/not sure when future. We will cross that bridge when needed. They are working on getting him to the CICU and managing his pain. We will keep you all posted and I will most likely revise this when I my brain fog clears.

Update#3

2011-08-25T13:28:00.000-06:00

Daddy and I switched off going down to the cafeteria for lunch, while it was my turn Annie updated us and said that Gator had done well and the echo looks good, now they are working on closing his chest. We will get to have a conference with Dr. Burch in a bit.
P.S. I had the Salmon Bulgogi for lunch, and it was awesone!

Update #2

2011-08-25T12:27:00.000-06:00

We just heard from Annie who said Gator is doing well. They finally have him on bypass and are working on the conduit or the Fontan right now. Once they finish that they do an echo that will determine how good everything looks, then if it all is looking the way it should they will close his chest and then work on trying to extubate. It may be a while yet before we can see him but all is well so far!

Update

2011-08-25T11:14:00.000-06:00

Annie the NP just updated us and let us know that Gator hasn't experienced any problems. He does have a bunch of scar tissue that they are working on they have to carefully remove it from around each thing that it is attatched to, he hadn't even been placed on the heart and lung bypass machine. They guesstimate that it will be another hour before he will go on bypass. Annie commented that his sweet sleeping face is poking out from under the sheet along with his super white blonde hair. We have spent most of the time in the waiting room.

All set

2011-08-25T09:17:00.002-06:00

We got up and out the door bright and early this morning and enjoyed being one of the only cars on the road. We made it up to the hospital and checked in. Gator happily played with toys until we went back to be weighed and measured! He was a chunker at 34 pounds! We visited with Dr. Burch and Dr. Tani. We also got Dr. Hannon as our anesthesiologist which was nice to see his familiar face. It makes things not feel sooooooo.... Uhhhhh....raw. He took Gator back in the toy police car without any Versed and His happy little thoughts of bubble gum sleepy gas. We haven't heard anything yet but we are feeling good so far.

Posting a Comment

2011-08-24T18:21:00.000-06:00

I wanted to let our friends and family know that we love them and respect their privacy, with that being said sometimes the only way to get a message to our little family during this time is to leave a comment. We loooooovvvveeee comments, but sometimes they are meant for just us and there are those whose loving words are personal. SOOOOOOO! I have moved our comments to being moderated which means that if you leave a comment and you don't want it published for everyone to see you can let me know and we won't post it. If you don't mind that anyone can see them, then after reading them I will post them to our comments section..... Thanks everyone. REALLY!

Pre-OP

2011-08-24T17:04:00.001-06:00

While the girls stayed with Miss Jen and the rest of the E babies, Gator and I did Pre-op at PCMC. He was a total dream. He was so polite with nurses and Doctors. We had to do a Physical, take pictures (x-rays) and do a blood draw. He only shed tears when the needle went in. He was so brave and the tears quickly dried up when he got to pick a toy. We have been finishing our final prep, like getting the girls packed, cleaning up little messes, washing 'just one more' load of laundry, and getting Gator's things together. Tonight we take the girls to G&P H's house. We need to be at the hospital at 6 so we will most likely leave around 5:15-ish. Then surgery should start around 7:30. I am feeling really good about everything. Monday we had priesthood blessings, and we have felt the comforter as we know many are praying in our behalf.... WE FEEL IT! I have done all the pre-surgery nesting that I thought was necessary. So we are going to do great and plow through. We have a couple of heart friends up at the hospital right now, so we know it will be familiar. Thanks again to all our helpers, the love we feel, and mostly the prayers/fasting in our behalf's...

Happy Birthday Daddy

2011-08-22T00:21:00.000-06:00

Daddy shared his birthday with Gator's Wish. The day we came home no less. So we tried to make it up to him the next day.

Munchie is such a messy eater.

Ry built daddy a cake. Chocolate raspberry with blue sprinkles. How do you beat that?

Daddy we love you in so many ways. Thanks for all you do!

Wish Part 3

2011-08-22T00:15:00.000-06:00

The Magic Kingdom was amazing. There was a lot more for the kids to ride here. They could do almost everything. We saw Mickey and Mini mouse, Munchie wasn't sure of some of the characters and if they kinda sprung on Gator he would lash out and smack them... Sorry. The kids looked cute in there homemade outfits. I hate the thought of spending a gazillion dollars on things. It is also hard to find matchy matchy and we all know I love myself some matchy clothes.

There was so much to do at GK that we couldn't fit everything in, besides the pool and splash pad, they have put put golf, Fishing, basket ball, an all abilities park themed after candy land, an arcade, horse back riding and a carousel. Many of those things were rained out each time we had a chance to do them but we tried. We even fit in the cookie Kart which has cookies and lemonade come to your villa and we had pizza delivered one night.

This is Miss Mary, Mayor Clayton's wife. She came to tuck the kids in one night. The kids just laughed and laughed the whole time.... This was after they got home from Kids night out- parents night off.

We kinda missed the kids....

Gator cried a little when he found out we had to go home. It was hard to leave the magic and absolute joy! We are so humbled to have been able to have this trip. There is no way our family would have EVER been able to do something like this! The memories will get us through the hard moments.

Wish Part 2

2011-08-21T23:57:00.000-06:00

On the 4th day we went to the Ice cream Palace for breakfast. Gator thought that was pretty darn cool. Then we went to Universal Island. Daddy and I had mapped out the route the night before and we were excited to try some of the rides. In Dr. Sues land there were no straight lines. Even the trees were crooked, they came from around the area Katrina came through and wonkied them.

Ry was a dream of a big sister, ready to rock the coasters with dad or help mom with baby. She walked all over everywhere and didn't complain.

The kids loved seeing all the characters. Our neighbor made us signature books that the kids took around with them. They were such a hit that I had people stopping me to ask where I had purchased them. Thanks Miss Joey! My favorite ride at this park was at the Harry Potter area. Gator rode Huffle Puff three times. On the Dueling Dragon ride parents could switch off. Well when we got to the waiting area daddy noticed that munchie has something on her face and mouth. When he looked in her stroller he thought he saw a soggy cookie, but it was a little blow out she had found with her hand and had mushed it everywhere. I sent him on the coaster while I set to work cleaning up the mess. EEEEWWWW!

In that same day we made it to Universal Studios. Daddy's favorite ride was there along with Gators. He would say "That was my Fay-brit"

This is the Ice cream Palace. On Sunday we went to church at a fantastic ward. We met Diane who works at GK and she gave us the special privilege of seeing Mayor Clayton life sized stuffed animal... WOW! The first thing the second counselor whispered to the bishop as we walked in was."ooooh these guys need callings" we would taken them to if we got to stay forever!

This is the M family. What a wonderful family to know. Our kids were instantly friends and we just wanted to smooch those girls and there little man. We kept bumping into them, then after a while we couldn't wait to see them so we could ask them what they had seen and done in their day.

Gator's Wish

2011-08-21T23:39:00.000-06:00

On the first day of Gator's Wish it was considered a travel day! We had been planning and getting excited for weeks. The packing alone for this mamma was a week long project. That morning we couldn't sleep any longer. It felt a little like Christmas. We got to the airport and through "sec-ur-it-ee" (Ry pronounced it like Bon Quee Quee. The kids did great on the plane, one of the flight attendants found out Gator was a Wish Kid and gave our whole family Ben and Jerry's Cherries Garcia ice cream.. Yummy! Daddy also found a free WIFI to use on the plane so the kids watched movies on the IPad. Gator asked a bazillion times, how many more minutes? My standard answer because in lots more. When we arrived in Florida there was a special greater at the airport that was so nice, he took us to the car rental place and helped find our "Mini-Ban of Wonder" that is what Gator called it.

This is Jay our Greeter. We safely made it to Give Kids The World. This is a special resort for kids with life threatening illness. Everything is kid friendly-mother approved. We were starved and headed over to the Ginger bread house for a spaghetti dinner. Before we could enjoy dinner we had to bathe Munchie in the sink because she had a pooptasterphie. All of our first pictures there with her, she is naked because we hadn't unpacked anything for her change into yet. After check in we went to our "Billa" or Villa. It was a castle, with two bedrooms and two baths, a kitchen, and a family room. The fridge was packed with drinks and they even put a cake in there for us to enjoy. Each night at GK they have an event. Wednesdays is Village Idol. My kids were a little too scared to go up on stage but they had plenty of the free popcorn, drinks, and pucker powder.

The next day we headed to Sea World after a pancake breakfast at the GBH! We rode rides and fed the Dolphins!. That was amazing to feel their skin and be so close to them. Ry had an incident where they said over and over not to pick up the little white trays that the fish are in. Well I dropped one of the fish and she was trying to be nice and give me one of hers and she picked up the white tray and the dolphin popped right out of the water so fast, scared us a little but other than that we were fine... Wish Kids and fams got to sit right in front at the show and Shamu did belly spins and sprayed us with water. It was soooooo hot it felt really nice.

After Sea World we went to Aquatica to cool off. It is kinda like a Raging Waters or Cherry Hill. It has water slides and Laaaaazzy rivers... It was pretty fun. So exhausted we headed back to GK but didn't want to give up on the fun because it was Thanksgiving and Christmas there. We had a yummy turkey dinner and sat on Santa's lap.. Each child even got a Christmas present! Since we were in the center of the village we decided to go to the Castle of Miracles to place Gator's special star, so that he is a part of GK forever. Then before bed we ran to the La Ti Da Spa and Ry had a quick Pamper Session. Then just because it is open so late we had ice cream, Munchie had her second blow out so we headed home to take care of that. Daddy and I put the kids to bed, folded laundry and collapsed into bed so we could Rock it again the next day.

Munchie turned 10 months on our trip, but she still couldn't ride the coasters. Dang-git! We Went to breakfast at the GBH. I love that the kids have options to choose from. There was also a bell that the kids could ring if they finished their meals. Gator was so inspired by it that he ate better there than he has in a while. We went to Disney Hollywood studios. This was one of my fave places. The Toy Story Ride was amazing. I could have done it ten times. At each park we visited we turned the sit and stand stroller into a wheelchair so that Gator could have a place to rest. Also at the parks we had something better than a fast pass. Like a super speedy pass that got you to the front of almost every ride and Character. We even saw Lightening McQueen.

We tried to go back to GK for pirates and princess night but Tropical storm Emily was rounding Florida and she brought huge amounts of rain. We bought umbrella's the day before which turned out to be a really good thing. We used them almost every night. So P&P night was cancelled do to rain. Bummer. So we went and got more ice cream, there was a volunteer from the space center there and he showed us the rocket launch from that morning and told us why stars twinkle, it was really interesting.

The kids were having the time of their lives.

Days of 47 Parade

2011-07-31T23:57:00.000-06:00

Our whole family got to ride with the 96th STB... Or... The awesome Army guys (and girls) as Gator calls them! Ry stood right in front.

Munchie waved a little

Gator and Daddy

There was a water gun fight going during the parade

Specialist M. was rocking the smooches from Gator...

This is a special soldier to our family. He gave Gator his medallion that is a protecting angel. We have so much to be thankful for!

These amazing men and women make it possible for our family to have the freedom to get the care Gator needs to live a happy life. They make it so that we can enjoy our little man!

After the parade there was a special gathering. Each wish child was given a certificate of appreciation as assistant soldiers during the parade. They also received a medal (wow!) and a huge goody bag filled with t-shirts and so many other neat things.

They promised to visit Gator in the hospital after his surgery. He is pretty darn excited to see them again...

Sit In

2011-07-31T23:28:00.000-06:00

Munchie helped me get my lighting for a little photo shoot the other day. Like I have said in the past I am no professional, just happy to give it a go!

The girls and their ruffle bums!

Abby and Munchie have been buddies since birth... Abby is a special addition to our friends' family. They have just finalized her addoption and she is officialy part of an amazing family!

One very Rainy afternoon....

2011-07-31T23:18:00.000-06:00

One very rainy afternoon. I thought it was time my children (plus one) experienced rain, puddles, and that yummy smell that comes from a summer shower. The girls decided to don swim suites although I would have let them play in their clothes. Ellie is such a fun friend.

They would squeal and splash!

This was so fun to watch

There was joy in every rain drop....

There was also joy in the biggest puddle....

The umbrella's were just to help keep the rain out of their eyes.

Who knows, maybe I will let them play outside in the rain again.

In the Circle

2011-07-31T23:07:00.000-06:00

We probably live in the best circle anyone could ask for. Our neighbors are A-mazing. One Monday evening we had a water balloon fight.

Gator laughed and laughed.

Munchie was weapons specialist. She made sure our supply looked good.

Ry was recovery and a front liner.

She is also cute as can be!

Then because we thought it might be a fun treat we had everyone to our backyard for smores and some people had hot dogs minus buns, ketchup, mustard, yeah.... they just had the cooked dogs....

Another Family Adventure

2011-07-18T22:52:00.000-06:00

Saturday was a busy day! We have been helping daddy build a shed. This shed is beautiful, for a cabinet guy to build a shed it means perfection. What he didn't know he figured out. There is just a little more to do until it is complete, then I will take a snapshot to add to our blog. We are trying to teach our kids that we can work on projects together and tasks will be done faster and mean more. So we put munchie on a blanket, Gator and Ry helped roll on paint, and they entertained their little sister while mommy and daddy painted. After the shed was painted we made our way inside to work on our jobs and do our Saturday chores. We finally finished everything around five and thought it would be fun to ride the train down town and have some dinner. Grandma and Papa joined us. The kids really enjoyed the fountain. Munchie watched the kids play and would squeal with delight when they came to give her a little smoochie and sprinkle water on her.

On the train we chatted with some wonderful gals from Georgia. A very nice man who worked at the ESA, and pretty much anyone else who was a captive audience.

There is nothing like warming up on the hot concrete.

By the end of the night we were all exhausted. But couldn't resist a stop at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.... Gator got play dough ice cream!

Lake side Beach Babes

2011-07-18T17:09:00.000-06:00

We opted to go with daddy to his install... But instead of helping carry tools and put up crown molding we played at the beach and enjoyed the water. Ry loves to swim, put her by water and she wants to be in it swimming... Gator likes the sand, he could play in it for hours... It was hard to find him sand because of the large amounts of water we received this year our lakes and rivers are full and fast. Munchie loved anything she could taste. I had to watch that girlie super close because she would grab handfuls of what ever and taste it. She had the craziest sunscreen hair. That little girlie is so brown, except in the chub cracks. When daddy was done working he met us for some swimming and snacks.

Later that night we found a grocery store and we each picked out a Lunchables for dinner. The kids thought that was such a treat. We walked the towns sidewalk sales then headed over to the demolition derby. Gator thought he was in heaven. It rained extremely hard right before the derby so we thought it might be cancelled. I asked the grocery store if we could have some garbage sacks for Ry and Gator to sit in and stay dry. We also bought an umbrella. The storm cleared up perfectly for the derby and the mud puddles made it even more interesting. Our little family adventure was so fun. I hope the kids loved it as much as I did.

couldn't think of a good title!

2011-07-13T22:39:00.000-06:00

Here is munchie while we take pictures....

She is also trying out the dandelions?

We scheduled Gator Fontan..... August 25th.... It is scary to have a date..

1..2..3... Blow

The Voice

2011-07-13T22:28:00.000-06:00

This is my little sister... She has got a set of pipes that she is going to share with THE VOICE! She is gonna give it a shot and we had to do a photo shoot to send in with her application. Not sure which to send in yet.... I think #1 OR #3......

Part 5

2011-07-06T01:32:00.001-06:00

There is nothing like a hometown parade. They even had huge balloons this time. Gator thought it was cool.

Then Gator went for a slip and slide in his trunks. I am not actually sure where he picked up that verbiage. But, he insists they are trunks and girls wear swim suits. Also.... He thought it appropriate to wear his pledge alligence trunks.

The women were working on dinner so to help out papa gathered up his little gaggle and read not-really-scary stories...

Part 4

2011-07-06T01:16:00.001-06:00

Gator hardly held still long enough to catch a photo or two. He was busy having fun. Then his little body payed the price. He took long naps in the day. I forced him to take them. I can tell he is getting closer to needing the Fontan. He gets winded just walking from the car to the grocery store. He usually gets upset and tells me his legs are tired. He pushes himself until he is exhausted and then asks in his misery to stay up later. I don't usually give in. Sparklers were a little nerve wracking because the "sparkle" gets close to your fingers. So Gator held it straight arm out until it dimmed. Too scared to wiggle it around or write his name...

Munchie is getting so great with her eye hand coordination. She eats almost anything we give her. She tried avocado, cherries, and mushrooms on this trip and loved them. I think she has the soft part of popcorn in her mouth in this photo.

Cheeb-B You are so fun! Thanks for playing mom so Gator could be the baby! His super favorite game!

Part 3

2011-07-06T00:59:00.000-06:00

Even Grom and Papa got into the Monster Snap action.

This was Gator's kind of Firework... Something that made a Gi-Hungus mess, some noise, and didn't get hot.

Munchie learned to crawl! Now I have to check all the down low stuff to make sure it is either taste-able, or move it out of reach.

Wells loved the Fireworks... He would get so excited he would clap then throw himself over on his belly and laugh and kick his feet. It cracked me up!

Part 2

2011-07-06T00:51:00.001-06:00

The cousins were delightful. Both of them loved on Munchie. Wells would say "Mooch" which was smooch and kiss her.

Arli and Gator played and played.

They even took turns in the most coveted Cozy Coupe. They gave this a car wash a couple of times...

Hey Preslee!!!!!! I think you are doing... atickdiggadigga! I love Munchie's hair. I took it out of the pony, which has about three hairs in it, and we got this awesome rooster tail...

Oh what a weekend part 1

2011-07-06T00:41:00.000-06:00

It was a glorious couple of days. The kind of visit to grandma and papa's that I had when I was a kid.

The aunties were there!

Papa to play, tickle and read to the kids.....

Contentment!

The flower head generation

2011-06-26T20:03:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, at the store I heard a women loudly say "This is the generation of babies with huge flowers growing out of their heads" Well I think it is cute, and I didn't say anything loudly about your baby. I will continue to keep that opinion to myself. Munchies teeth are almost in. The two on the bottom are poking up and there is another on the top about to rupture. Poor baby can't figure out why she feels miserable and why mommy thinks her nursing days are over soon.

I picked up five more dresses of different colors and styles all for a buck the other day! Score, love when that happens.

Gator isn't feeling well. It is time to start doing all the things I can at home to make him feel better and when that all fails he is off to see the ped.

I am always behind the camera... Thought I would snap this one.. You can't tell, but my hair is finally getting longer. I always cut it post baby because I tend to need the time it takes to do, it is hot, the baby ends up pulling/eating/barfing in it....... but I am always sad I do when it is at the ugly grow out stage... Hurry and come back hair!

The Game of Life(Latter Day Saint LIFE SIZE)

2011-06-26T19:49:00.000-06:00

I am the Relief Society meeting/activity coordinator... For this activity the bishop wanted the sisters to get excited about being self reliant and begin their storage. Also to be aware of how to use it and to put together some 72 hour kits. So we put together a life size Game of Life. Each stop had a little place to either use an item from their pretend storage or gain an item. The team with the most items was MOST PREPARED! I forgot to take a picture of the treat table, but it had the cutest H2o bottles embellished with a quote and little charms(which we give out in our ward) and dried fruit, granola, and trail mix. It was yummy and most of the sisters could have it because it was sugar free. I was the official spinner cause I was worried it would take so long to spin. It only took one hour to finish up.

8month Munchie

2011-06-26T10:51:00.000-06:00

Munchie Munch is by far my earliest speaker. Ry started with the exact same words at 10 months and Gator was my latest but most clear at 18 months. I have no doubt it is because she has two older siblings who consistantly speak to her. We have started signing with her as well, but she hasn't picked up any of those yet.

Some more of Gator

2011-06-20T01:11:00.000-06:00

I am mostly caught up on the happenings here at the H household. There are just a few things I wanted to remember...

I am one of Gator's primary teachers. His class is so funny and the things they say have me not being so reverent....Like two weeks ago I saw Gator with both hands down the back of his pants....

Me-"Gator boy get your hands outa your pants please!"

Gator-"MOOOOOooooommm I got exx-i-ma on my booty!"

Me-"You need to take your hands out though" (also giving him that look that means business)

Gator-"Why????? will I get STINKY Bum Finger?" (pulls out both hands and simultaneously give all fingers a sniff, just like on that movie with the girl... YOu know?)

"They don't even smell bad Mom!"

(Me and Sister M die laughing)

The other day I was fixing dinner. Gator walks into the kitchen grabs the handles to our fridge/freezer and begins to climb it...

Me-"Hey Sir, get down I don't like you climbing on the fridge that way"

Gator-"But, I am Magnet man.. I can climb fridges, walls..... uuuhhh post-est-es..."

Me-"Not a good idea!"

Gator-Storms off...."DANG GIT"

Sometimes when Munchie get tired in the car she hums loud to put herself to sleep... This just about drives Gator nuts. So I will turn on the radio to drown out the humming and take his mind off of it... She was having an episode of humming and Gator trying hard to be patient with his little sister says.

"Hey mom, how bout some tunes?"

(What the Four year old)

Catching our first summer sun

2011-06-20T00:52:00.000-06:00

It was fleeting and it sprinkled rain this day too, we braved it for a quick splash at a family reunion. Munchie spent about ten minutes in the water then she enjoyed the rest of the time sitting on a towel eating bath product bottles....

Ry was so excited to swim. She has been dying to get to the water. the deepest this pool got was a foot an a half. She had a great time anyway. Don't get me started on the front of this swim suit. It almost goes down to her belly button. at least the important parts are covered.

My children could be part fish! Gator could be a blue fish. He was cold after and needed a long rest to warm up.

Field day

2011-06-20T00:43:00.000-06:00

The whole idea was to get wet, not get shot in the face with a sprinkler! I love the little guy way out to the left. He is looking at everyone like "So what's your problem?

I volunteered to help.. Which means I also got to see Ry try out the slip-n-slide.

Here is Munchie enjoying field day too. She actually slept a lot of the time in her shade!