Waiting

Right now it feels like my life is all about waiting for....

• Jay to hear back from Border Patrol.
• Masen to be born.
• Fall to start.
• Jessica to be old enough for kindergarten.
• Anna's medicine to work or not work so we can move forward or adjust.
• Disneyland.
• the kids to give Cubby a bath.
• Thanksgiving.
• motivation to start my next sewing project.
• bulk trash pickup so I can clean my yard.
  

Yes, I'm just waiting. I guess it gives me time to smell the roses.

The end of Summer but not the Heat!

Weeks 9 and 10 of Summer brought as much fun and busyness as the first weeks did.

Week 9 had us coming back from vacation and attempting to get our home and lives pulled back together. There were several end of summer play dates and the beginning of some shopping trips. Grammy (my mom) took us to the mall one day and the girls enjoyed going to Justice to pick out earrings from Grammy. I also surprised them with lunchboxes from Justice. I couldn't help myself there was a sale and the price made it completely comparable to Target's prices. I regretted it as in the car on the way home the comments from the back were "Do you know what I really like about it? It says Justice with a cute heart on the back." My girls have never been treated to making purchases such as these from a mall. Until now they believed all things come from Target, Costco, Ross, TjMax or Walmart. Then all afternoon Sarah went through her cloths and proceeded to bring out items with the "Justice" label claiming how much shes always admired them. (Justice cloths are sold at Ross.)

The meltdown occurred a few days later when Sarah's BFF Mary Jane had purchased a lunchbox to match Sarah and also acquired the matching backpack. Sarah now knew she had to have one as well. I made it a point to stop by Justice to check it out and discovered it was more than twice as expensive as any other backpack I'd been looking at. To make matters worse it would never hold up for more than a year. I was trying to help explain to Sarah the importance in making wise purchases. Nana came to my rescue, she especially took Sarah out shopping (to Ross) and bought her a far better backpack for half the price then spent the remainder on extra accessories, showing her that when you shop smart you get much more for your money. Thankfully Sarah came home excited to tell me all about the bonuses her backpack afforded her.

For fun Friday the girls were able to create their own 3D rings. I had saved this project as one of our last because I knew they would enjoy having them to wear at school.



Week 10 was to be quite and pretty laid back with only a few items left to buy and everyone settling into the routine of a school schedule. Daddy always takes the girls to buy supplies and I must say I really enjoy that tradition. My contribution is to spend the evening separating and labeling everything.

We also went out this week and did family pictures. I know it's crazy to make the end of summer our family picture time, but I like to try and get it when we are all looking tanned and refreshed after a vacation. Jessica has become more cooperative and I was able to keep Jarom in a good mood all day so he wouldn't be too crabby. I think they are our best family pictures ever and I wasted no time in getting them hung around our home.


You'll never guess, but our Final Fun Friday was to have the girls make photo albums of their many summer adventures. It was my hope that they will appreciate the many bonding memories we've built.


2011 was a summer I know I will always cherish. We spent countless hours working and playing together as a family. I was able to spend the time getting to know each one of my daughters on a deeper level. I truly feel that my summer goals were reached.

One Last "Surprise" Adventure....
The Monday before school started we drove out to Surprise to spend a last day with my family and celebrate Papa's 61st birthday. To every ones complete happiness my brother, sister in-law and their 3 beautiful children came down from Utah that morning. We only get to see each other a couple of times a year so this was a great treat and rearranged my schedule for the better. We were able to relax, play games, go swimming, snuggle the kids and just enjoy being together. They left on Wednesday and the girls started school on Thursday. It was truly a perfect end to our summer break.

VACATION with the MACKS!!

By far one of my favorite Summer Memories was spending several days at Wright's Lake (near Tahoe) in the Gade's cabin. The drive took a really long time but the girls have been looking forward to this all summer so they behaved very well. We didn't have a single fight or disobedient moment on the way there. Jessica (who will now be referred to as Spunky to avoid confusion with Aunt Jessica) had a difficult time comprehending just how long this car ride would last. I wasn't feeling very well that day so Jarom was stuck doing all of the driving.
Arriving in Sacramento we were greeted by Kim and Justin and got to spend a night in their cute apartment. Aunt Jessica joined us during the night so when the girls woke up they were very excited to see her. After picking up a few groceries we all headed for some time away from it all in the mountains.

Just a few of the highlights....

Much to the girls pleasure Aunt Jessica opted to ride to the lake in our van. It was fun to hear them all in the back laugh through "Megamind", taking pictures and catching up.

Somehow everyone overlooked packing bug spray and unfortunately the mosquitoes were so thick that I was literally breathing them in on my attempted hike with the girls. So priority the next day was for Jarom and Justin to head down to the Ice House small store to purchase it. All us girls entertained ourselves with time in the canoe. About an hour later the guys come back and no bug spray. They got lost and just drove until they found their way back to the cabin. Aunt Jessica was already covered in bites as were Sarah & Justin so we really couldn't just rough it. This lead to a girls trip down the mountain. Mission accomplished we saved the vacation with our $12 cans of bug repellent.

At night the grownups wanted to spend time together and play games. The only dilemma is that we were staying in basically a one room cabin. The girls would go to bed in the bunks and I would hang blankets to try and keep the light off them so they could sleep while we ate junk food and tested our skills at Pass the Popcorn, Hit or Miss, Outburst and Shanghai. Spunky could fall asleep quickly but Sarah especially had a difficulty with being left out of the fun so she would continually peak out at us. I can't really blame Sarah it was a lot more fun then sleeping.

Anna's favorite part of our trip was the hike to the waterfalls. She did a great job of keeping up and not complaining even though it got hard in a few places. Every time I looked to check on her she would give me one of her beautiful smiles and a thumbs up.
During one part of the hike I looked ahead and noticed Justin walking with his long legs and Spunky sprinting to keep pace, she would take almost 3 steps to his one. She was attempting to leap over rocks he merely stepped over. I took the opportunity to catch up with them and offer a turn holding onto Spunky's hand. (She could be exhausting to hold hands with as you do tend to support her a lot). Spunky agreed to the hand off but kept saying "Uncle Justin, does this mean I can still be your best buddy?". It was really cute.
I was proud of how determined Sarah was to enjoy the freezing water. We actually passed patches of snow on our hike up to the waterfalls; that water was freshly melted sow!

Kimberly took the girls out a couple of times so Jarom and I could rest. They climbed boulders, gathered flowers and talked Kim's ear off. I'm sure that by the end of the trip Kimberly was looking forward to some restored peace, but the girls would never have guessed it.

Meals were excellent. We were eating better than we do at home, the best part was that the guys would do the dishes without even complaining. (I got it on video, it certainly was something to be remembered).

The outhouse was a surprisingly decent experience. It was actually much better than using a public restroom. Spunky said her favorite time with Aunt Jessica was when she'd take her to the outhouse, don't ask me why.

When it was time for us to head home there were tears of good-by and hope that we would get to visit again soon. For me the best part of this vacation was the time spent with family!

Enjoy the pictures ...and please ignore the typos and misspellings I put the slid together at around 1am.

Picture slideshow generated with Smilebox

Summer week 7

Well, I know I'm really behind now, but I just really want to finish what I started. So here is Week 7...

We finished Sarah's diving lessons. No pictures sorry, but as I've mentioned it was really fun. We missed one lesson because there was fecal matter in the pool. They had a make up session on Saturday but we were unable to attend because we already had plans.

Fun Friday

Jessica unfortunately missed out again. It worked out for me because the activity I had planned was a bit beyond her age. Anna and Sarah enjoyed making stylish dresses out of paper. They were hesitant to get started, but then they really ran with it and I must say they turned out so cute.

Note the girls are sporting their pink hair. We put it on that Thursday. They've been waiting for a turn with it since March when Aunt Kristy & Harley came from Utah with some in. They weren't able to have colored hair at school.

Jessica took not participating really well. I found out why when her sisters were showing off their work. Jessica admired them all politely then asked me, "Was I a good girl?" Yes, she was being particular good that day. "So, would you please use your Mommy Magic to turn the one of these into a real one I could wear." Honey if I had magic powers I'd sure do that and so much more. I love how little she still is.


Saturday visit with Aunt Monica & Uncle Ken

The girls had a fabulous time swimming and playing at Ken & Monica's house. I was babysitting Hayden so he got to come along and I must say he was sooooo well behaved. We all got a little too much sun but it was very worth it! We don't get to see Monica very often and the girls really love them so it was a special treat. Ken is so funny and Hayden couldn't get enough of him shouting "cannonball" as he would jump in and splash us all.

Hayden watched a couple of the kids jump in and immediately followed them. He was so cute going off the board.

Jessica was afraid to jump from the board and settled for right beside it.

Sarah enjoyed paddling herself on the huge raft.

Time to leave. Having too much fun is the best way to get tired.

Sunday we went out to Surprise to visit with my family and drop off Cubby with my parents. It was fun to spend the afternoon and evening visiting. I knew as we left a bit late that night that I was going to miss the carefree way we can just stay out there until late, the start of school does have its drawbacks.

Summer Weeks 5 & 6

Week #5 of summer is the one that I savored, and must admit indulged myself some with much need relaxation (this was the only week I knew I could count on for any Mommy down time). Sarah, Anna & Jessica capitalized on my lazy ways because I felt bad that "Fun Friday" was kind-a lame as I had several errands I'd put off all week. Each stop meant some attention for them. We spent time reading and playing while at the library and walked out with several books for them but not the one I wanted for me. We bought a movie to watch while at Target (love the $3 movies there). Then Sarah & Jessica enjoyed Churros and Anna a Slushie when we stopped at Sam's Club (we also hung out with Daddy on his lunch break). Finally, we came home for the real fun; which I must admit was just making beaded jewelry with sparkly pipe cleaners while watching their new movie. The real shocker for me was that instead of complaining that it was a bit boring or silly all three of them were overjoyed with everything we did. I received heartfelt thanks several times throughout the day. It was nice that on a week I was feeling bad for sleeping in and playing on the computer they were still very appreciative and felt rewarded for keeping the rules.

Week #6
This was the week of July 4th. I don't have any pictures to document it, but we spent the night in Surprise playing games with my family to celebrate Bernadette's birthday and of course the Independence of our nation. It is really neat because the Surprise fireworks show is literally 1/4 a mile from the end of the Redmonds' street. We get front row seats from their front yard. We enjoyed a birthday breakfast with Auntie Bernadette before coming home for 2 days in a row with Daddy off work.
This was also the week Sarah started diving lessons at the Paradise Valley Pool. Her instructor was not good, but Sarah being very athletic took to diving really well. Despite her poor instruction she was doing great flips and tricky dives by the end of just 6 lessons. Sarah surprised us by taking to the 9 meter board without much hesitation. Her back dives are more graceful then her front ones, but they are all great.
Anna spent a couple of Sarah's lessons talking really big about how she could go off the high dive too. We decided to give Anna her chance during free swim one evening. She looked so tiny and frail climbing the ladder that the life guard actually slipped off his flip flops and grabbed his rescue float. Anna wouldn't have noticed as she showed us her determination by marching right to the end and jumping off like it wasn't a bit daunting. She couldn't have been called elegant, but it was a success!
Not to be forgotten Fun Friday this week was making glitter pens. We had one extra so we invited Dylan to join us.

To me the best part of this Friday was watching Jessica and Dylan in the pool. Jessica tends to follow Dylan's lead more than her sisters. I think this is largely due to the mere 7 months that separates them. So, when Dylan was swimming and jumping around actively something clicked for Jessica and she has become a fish! You have the understand that at the beginning of the summer Jessica clung to my neck and screamed like crazy just because she was in the water. Jarom and I both knew she could swim fine but she didn't have the confidence in herself. I now get to watch her play and keep up with her sisters instead of standing on the stairs telling everyone to stay away from her.
On Saturday the girls and I went to the new Jumbo! indoor play place. Dylan was celebrating her 5th birthday so we had a mini party with her there. The girls all had a wonderful time playing laser tag, mini golf, mini bowling, arcade games, riding on the rides and playing in the soft play area. I get overwhelmed with the crowds and turning in tickets for prizes, but overall it was really neat.

Living with a chronically ill child.

Anna

This is a more personal blog entry for me. I'm only writing it because I don't keep a journal anymore so this blog has become my journal of sorts. I have really been wanting a place to express my feelings. Maybe it will help stop my subconscious from giving me bad dreams.

Anna has been sick since her first month of life. She was hospitalized for about a week because she wouldn't eat and was projectile vomiting anything I managed to get her to take. They said she had sever reflux and put her on some medication which did help. For a while...

By her 4 month check up she was loosing weight instead of gaining it. None of her doctors could tell us what was wrong. She was poked and prodded almost daily. Being so little they would take blood samples from her tiny heels and they could only take a certain amount each day so we would go back several days in a row let them stick her baby foot and squeeze blood into the tubes drop by agonizing drop. The only comfort I could offer was her pacifier so she has been my only baby to keep a pacifier past 9 months. Trust me it is much easier to break them from it at around 6 months.

At 10 months old with still no medical answers Anna began to thrive again. The answer we were given for this delightful development "Sometimes babies just go through those stages and we don't know why". Nice!! However, I was prepared to enjoy a normal life now.

Anna's life has been anything but normal unfortunately. She has continued to have these "stages" where she looks too thin and has never had a normal appetite. She needed physical therapy at age 2 because she couldn't run. Anna had frequent tummy troubles and was diagnosed with a sever peanut allergy at about age 4.

Last summer was the first period of time that I was not working and around Anna every day, day in and out. It only took a few weeks for me to notice that her eating and bathroom routine were concerning. We began to see another specialist (at the recommendation and prompting of a good friend who's child is severely ill). You can imagine I was not very excited to go down this road again. I just really had no faith in Dr.s being able to provide answers, but Anna couldn't outrun children 2 years younger than her. Jessica (3 years younger) could out bounce her on the trampoline. This just wasn't right.

It has been agonizing again. Having to track every bowl movement, hiccup attack, tummy upset, headache and throw-up burp has just sharpened my awareness of how horribly sick my little Angel has been. It makes me feel like an awful Mommy. How could I let her live almost 7 years of her life feeling so miserable.

Unfortunately the answers were slow to come. Once again she was subjected to a battery of being scoped from both ends, blood work, stool samples, barium swallows, the list and medical bills go on and on. During the testing phase we knew she has a horrible reflux problem and an inflammation in her large intestine. So, she began taking medicine to help. When the meds didn't do much we were bumped to the next level, which means more expensive.

At the end of March despite all of her super drugs Anna came close to death for the second time. There was no reason to hospitalize her as there was really nothing more the doctor could do, but I watched, stressed and recorded daily as she lost weight, lost hair, lost her smile, grew heavy bags under her eyes because she would wake in pain several times a night, lost her appetite due to the 10 canker sores she had in her mouth and throat, she had blood in her stool and sever pain in her tummy.

Pic. taken at beginning of April while she was so sick. She couldn't even muster a genuine smile for pics and had visible bags despite the makeup.

The turning point came at the beginning of May. We asked for a family fast that first Sunday. Before the end of that first week we had some answers. Anna had her 3rd allergy testing and instead of coming back negative to everything again (except the nut allergy confirmed via blood work) Anna came back allergic to 35 things.

Our journey isn't over and I don't think it ever really will be. The reflux will need to be medicated her whole life. She was so sick that she is still on a steroid (though we have begun to lower her dosage and bring her off). Her little body has been nutrient deficient most of her life and long term consequences to that are something I haven't been able to bring myself to research. The latest blow came last week as we tried to refill her steroid, we were informed our insurance never should have covered it and it was going to cost us $1,000 a month going forward. After some stressful time spent on the phone I was able to get some samples from her Dr. I'm hopeful they will last until she can be off it.

I know things could be worse. I guess I'd just really like to say that things could be a heck of a lot better too. There are countless hours spent managing my daughters health and care. I'm sick and tired of people telling me "oh, it's allergies...she'll probably outgrow them". I'd like for those people to tell Anna that when she cries about not being able to eat at a friends party or our family dinner. By the way according to her specialist Anna will never out grow these.

I could and did go on and on with my complaints (thankful for a delete button). What I want to say tonight more than anything is that Anna is worth it. Her life fills mine with much more joy then sorrow. She is a strong, brave and wonderful person and I'm so thankful that she is mine.

Week #4

Our summer continues. Yes, I'm a bit behind on recording the events on my blog but that only means I'm using my time to keep the girls busy. Week #4 was not the exception as the full week was action packed. This was our first week without swimming lessons but we made up for the extra time with...

Play Dates:
It was so much fun having extra kids around. I know that might sound crazy but my daughters are much better behaved when they have friends over to keep them entertained. The trick is to provide a playmate for everyone. So we had six...yes that's right, 6 little girls for some swimming fun.

The girls did some extra yard cleanup which allowed them to have the slide brought over to the pool. It is like their own mini water park.

Later Papa joined in on the fun. He spent the afternoon racing Anna and teaching Sarah & Anna how to do a proper watermelon. Papa even demonstrated a couple to help them with their form. He finished the afternoon letting Jessica tow him around on his water chair.

I was really surprised to see how much my Dad interacted with the girls. Thankfully he does well in the pool, he only seems to have difficulties with pulling himself out and getting tired. The girls were understanding and helpful. I'm sure the memories Dad left them with will far out weigh his exhaustion.

Now we finally get to Fun Friday. This week we attempted to make candles. The project didn't exactly turn out the way the box portrayed it to be. Anna was especially upset that the candle didn't work properly, but I think it was still a neat sand project.

You can see in the background our summer rules and tracking system. They all start the day on green (yeah Sarah), but as they break rules (and have exhausted a warning) they turn their cards to Yellow (as Anna demonstrates) then Red (surprise Jessica provides this example) ending with blue which signifies that they 'Blue it". Two blues a week means no Fun Friday.

Is it over?




Have we covered everything?





But no, there was still one more thing....

We had a primary activity Luau/travel through Book of Mormon times thing. It was a lot of fun. The girls looked super cute and best of all Daddy got to join us!