Crazy Medical Updates!

On Tuesday, Adalie had her MRI

She was pretty excited by these warmers. Little did she know it was so they could find a good vein to poke!

My sweet baby girl was SO brave!! Here she is showing off her big purple bandage holding her I.V. in place. She went on to tell the nurse, "at least you gave me a purple bandage... cause thats my favorite color!!"

She did relatively well with the sedation. At first she quickly went limp. I thought to myself... "that was easy!" and then she suddenly started punching and kicking!! Crazy!! And then, went limp... again!

Is it just me, or do these photos look very familiar!!!

Since we had a few hours in between the MRI and the hearing assessment clinic, my sweet friend Erin was so good to let us come crash at her place! The picture above is so cute to me! Erin's daughter Quinn kept wanting to take care of Adalie!

Dr. Park, our ENT, told Addie that since she was so brave, she could have a sticker. He then came back and told Addie they were out of stickers, so he took her to get a bear!

After 11 hours at Primary Children's this is what we learned: Adalie's MRI was completely normal!!!! So, because of that, they had us meet with the Genetics specialists. They said they had done some research on Adalie's medical history and had found a genetic syndrome that consisted of 3 things. Malformation of the tear ducts, hearing loss, and kidney malformation. Well... I don't know if many of you know this, but Adalie was born without a tear duct on one side. She is now losing her hearing... so..... that leaves the 3rd bizarro issue! They asked me if anyone in my family had had anything strange with their kidneys. I told them that my dad was born with only one kidney and they both began to nod their heads! So there is a relatively good chance Adalie has this genetic syndrome. I have to take her back to Primary's on the 15th for an ultra sound of her kidneys. If it turns out she does have this syndrome, there really isn't anything they are going to do for her. They will probably just make sure she has routine hearing checks and kidney ultra sounds. You really can't get more bizarre than this!!!

Now, just when you thought you were done hearing about Carson..... Last week, when I was at the pediatricians, (Dr. Jopling) I was discussing Carson's progress. I mentioned to him "so you saw Carson's MRI was normal..." well... Primary's had never sent our Dr. the results! So I called them and had them fax Carson's MRI to him. Then, on Friday, Dr. Jopling called me at work and told me he had now seen the results. He then said to me, "To be completely honest with you Lizz... if he were my son, I would take him up to see a Neurosurgeon." Yes folks, thats right... someone who does surgery on the BRAIN!!!! Give me a break!! I thought my poor baby boy was done with this crap!! Dr. Jopling thinks there is something on the scan that is not right. So, tomorrow we have a trip to the Neurosurgeons back at Primary's!!!!!

Stay tuned...

A day at Dog Park

I've never been to this Dog Park before. I'm not sure my kids have even been this close to water that wasn't their Nana's pool.

Addie and Carson playing in the sand.

My dad Brad, sister Ali and brother-in-law Aaron, along with their dogs Joey and Romo invited me, Addie and Carson out for a little adventure.

Aside from getting splattered by wet dogs mixed with mud it was pretty fun. The kids got in the water and we skipped rocks.

Until one little grumpy pants demanded that we cut the trip short.

UUMG Summer Party

Today was my works Summer Party.  We had an awesome BBQ at Sugarhouse Park.  I got some great pictures of Addie and her new BFF Liliana.  SO CUTE!!

Tanner Park

Yesterday my sister Jenn and I took the kids and 3 of her dogs to Tanner Park.  The kids loved it, and were very happy to be out of the house!

"Cuddle-bugs"

Adalie & Chester

Carson & Keisha

Private...some more

I have sent out the email for those who wanted to be on my private blog.  If you did not get the email and would still like to be included, please email me your email address to lizzpizza@gmail.com.  The private blog also has a new blog address.  This one will remain open for Tony and his family!

Private

I am going private.  Please leave a comment or email me at lizzpizza@gmail.com if you would like to be added to list.

No news is good news?!

So we just got a call from the Neurologist about Carson's MRI. His brain looks great!! No stroke, no neurological problems. He does have what is called, a Developmental Venous Anomaly (DVA) which is an abnormally large (or in Carson's case.. significantly large) vein surrounding the brain. However, this has nothing to do with anything neurological, nor do they think it will cause any future problems. So, the only explanation for Carson's "left sided" issues.. is coincidental!

However, the Neurologist had thought he had ordered an important blood test (CPK) that could give us a little more in site to a neurological problem caused by enzymes in the blood. So I have to take him to have that blood test done.. and then he should be in the clear!!!

Carson's MRI

Carson had his MRI today. It was a little different than I expected. They had me a little more involved with this than I have been in any of his surgeries. I think I actually like to hand him over to the professionals instead of helping! I had to hold him while they gave him his IV and while they gave him the first dose of his sedation. They said to hold him tight because its possible he could start to wig... and wig he did!! He was flailing all over the place. Then they took him and strapped him to the table and continued to sedate him.

Not quite asleep

This was only about 30 seconds later and he was out cold!!

My poor baby boy after the 45 minute MRI. He slept like this for about 2 hours! The sedation was much worse than any of the times he has been put to sleep! He was very wobbly and crabby all day! I am really looking forward to Adalie's MRI!......NOT!

American Idol!

My sister-in-law Kami and I went to the American Idol Live concert!  It was so much fun!  Here are a few of the pictures we took!

Chikezie

Ramiele

Michael Johns

Kristy Lee Cook

Carly Smithson

Brooke White

Jason Castro

Syesha Mercado

Kami and I had pretty good seats!  

It was so funny when David Archuleta came out!!  The crowed went from screaming pretty loud, to absolutely killing my eardrums!!  He was so sweet and even got a little teary!

Ah yes.... David Cook!!! Yes please! ;-)  What a great musician.  Obviously a great choice for The American Idol!  He also did a phenomenal job!!

Rockin out to David Cook!

The Encore!

Hearing loss.... and girlfriends!

On Friday, we took Adalie to Primary's for her hearing tests. They did about 4 tests, all of which she was a champ!! The first 2 tests consisted of her sitting on my lap with these earplugs in. She had to hold extremely still for them to get an accurate reading. I have never seen anyone hold that still before!!! On the second test, she had to hold still and not make any noise!! She did great on the first ear, and on the second ear, it was so funny.... she looks over at Tony and says "Dad, what time is it?" Everyone quickly put their fingers up to their mouth with the "Shhhh" face! It was just so cute, and such a random question seeing as how she has never asked that before!!

For the last 2 tests, Adalie and I were in a small sound proof room. There was one of those windows that Adalie and I couldn't see through, but they could see us from the other side. Tony and the Audiologist were on the other side. They hooked her up to a few different ear pieces, boxes and wires. Then, another Audiologist would hand her a little plastic toy, and have her hold it to her cheek. They would play a few different noises in her ear piece, and as soon as she heard the noise, she would throw the plastic toy in a bucket. It was incredibly frustrating for me to be able to hear those noises through her ear pieces and have her just sit there because she couldn't hear it!

These 2 pictures are of Adalie in the sound proof room all hooked up!! The pictures didn't turn out very well because Tony took them through that weird window. The second picture he tried to use the flash.. but that didn't work either!!... but you can get the idea!
Diagnosis: The hearing loss she has thus far is permanent. They are anxious to find out what is causing it, so now she has to go have a Genetic Screening done and an MRI. Since they want her to have an MRI, I figured.. when Carson has his MRI tomorrow.. I'm just going to have them look for the same thing they are going to look for with Adalie!! Couldn't hurt...right?!

*********

I am such an idiot for not using my camera this weekend! I did however, get a few pictures of Val and Anne-Marie. We had such a great weekend!! We had two Citrine gigs... one Friday night, downtown, and the other on Saturday, down at the Payson Scottish Festival! Anne-Marie patiently waiting for our name to be called for dinner!!

Anne-Marie & Val

Memories!

Memory Lane...I got this from a friend's blog. I thought it would be fun! I hope you will play along. Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.

Citrine!

Many of you have asked me about the group I am in called Citrine. I thought I would let all of you know of our upcoming show this weekend! We will be performing at the Brigham Young Historical Park (Concert in the Park) this Friday the 11th @ 8:00pm. The park is located on the southeast corner of State Street and North Temple. It is going to be a lot of fun.... and its free!!!

4th of July!

Every year for the 4th of July we have my dads family over to swim.  

Adalie was a fish this year and did NOT want to get out!!.....

.... except for a delicious chocolate chip cookie!

Adalie with her Great-Grandparents Clayton

Even Giddion (the paralyzed chihuahua) was dressed for the occasion!

The bubble blower was a huge hit this year.

Nana jumped right in with the Snapper fun!

This was Carson's reaction to his first firework!  Although you might not be able to tell by this picture, his face is pure excitement! He loved them!

This, however, was Adalie's reaction.  For some reason the fireworks really scared her!

She did like the sparklers though!

This was Adalie in an argument with Tony.  The argument was that we were going to do one more firework for Carson before he went to bed.  Adalie felt that the fireworks should just be for her.... even though she doesn't even like them!! So Tony told her we weren't going to do any fireworks if that is how she was going to act!

This was Adalie's reaction to that comment!

Sweet Carsy boy!

So cute!

My Addie Grace Bug!

My sweet little Addie Grace Bug!  I wanted to share a few quick things about Addie.  Last night we went to Blockbuster.  She HAD to rent Micky Mouse Musketeers!  As soon as the movie was over, she came running around the house in this lovely Musketeer get-up! 

She had on everything from gloves, a cape, a hat...WITH feather and her sword!

I wanted to throw in these pictures because they are so cute!! On Sunday Adalie let me curl her hair.  She sits incredibly still and always tells me "I look beautiful don't I Mom"

Now we just need to work on that posed smile!

Now for her update.  We went back to the ENT today.  There was some good news and some not so good news.  The good news is, her tonsils looked much better.  As of now we do not need to remove them!  The not so good news.... her hearing has gotten even worse.  So we are off to Primary Children's!!  Does anyone have a daily supply of Valium they could share with me?!  No, I'm just kidding.  I'm just feeling like it is one thing after another!!!  However, it could be much worse, so i should be grateful!

8 Years!

So, I know I am a day late, but I didn't have any of these photos with me yesterday! Although we no longer "celebrate" it, yesterday was our 8 year anniversary of being together! Not married... but when we started dating. I especially wanted to post these pictures because we look like we are 13 years old and I think they are hysterical!!! We were 18 and 19 years old when we started dating.
We dated long distance for 6 months, seeing each other twice in that time period. Then, Tony came home for Christmas and we packed up my little Saturn and I made the move to San Diego! We got engaged on our 1 year anniversary and married 4 months later!
There is no doubt that we have had our ups and some very dramatic downs, but we always manage to pull through. We have been given something very special!
I love you Tony!

The Kids

Adalie's Update: We went back to the ENT last week. Her hearing in the one hear looks like it has improved slightly.. which is great news! They did a different kind of testing this time, which might not be as accurate, but still?... However, her Eustachian tubes are malfunctioning???? and her eardrums are retracted???? and her tonsils look awful! So, they put her on an anti-biotic for her tonsils to see if that will help at all and she goes back next week to have the hearing checked one more time and discuss if she needs tubes (Yes, although she has only had 1 ear infection in her life, they are "malfunctioning"????) and also see if she needs her tonsils out.. so once again, you will be getting another update next week!

Carson's Update: We went to the Neurologist up at Primary's today... by the way, if any of you need a pediatric neurologist.... Dr. Filloux is fantastic! They did a physical evaluation and said that they do not think it was an intra-utero stroke... but possibly he threw a small blood clot?? Either way, he has made many dramatic improvements over the last few weeks, so no one is overly concerned. We are going to do an MRI in 2 1/2 weeks to see if and what damage was done. All I can say is.... THANK GOODNESS FOR GOOD INSURANCE! Haha! Happy Friday!!

Fun Filled Weekend

This weekend was very packed, and very fun!  We started it on on Saturday morning attending the Highland Scotland Games at Thanksgiving Point.  It was very different from anything I had been to, and a lot of fun!  I took Addie and Carson with me.  

We went with Anne-Marie and her boys who Adalie is in love with by the way!  Her favorite thing to do was go through this blow up obstacle course.

(Adalie & Cian)

Citrine

Then Tony came and got the kids and I had a performance with Anne-Marie and Citrine.  It was great!  (pay no attention to the Ocean's Apart banner behind us!)

That night we took off to watch a Scottish Band.

(Christine and myself)

(Anne-Marie, Val & Christine)

We had an absolute blast!  I LOVE these girls!

Fathers Day

Last year we did a big surprise breakfast in the canyon for Mother's Day, and my dad was out of town.  So we decided this year we would surprise him!

Our group gift was this cool fire pit for the back yard and this incredible gift basket my sister Jenn put together!  It included: camping chairs, roasting sticks, all of the ingredients for Smores, color changing flames... etc!

I just love this picture of Caroline and Liam!

Jenn holding her paralyzed dog and Carson!

Addie & Papa sharing flowers they picked on their nature walk

Carson was making the most hilarious faces all morning!

Later that evening we went to my grandparents Smith's house. I tried to get some pictures of the kids, but they weren't going to cooperate! So here is what I got!

My baby girl and Me!
Then tonight, I went down to Lehi to spend the evening with my friends Greg & Cynthia Dean and their two kids!  Adalie and Elli were playing SO cute together!  I love this picture of them blowing bubbles in their water and laughing their heads off!! SO CUTE!

Updates (Yes, this has been the title of my last few posts!)

So, I know that I have titled my last few posts as Updates (of some sort) but that is because there are so many events in each post, that I can't really give them a specific name!

The first picture is of my darling baby girl!!! She is growing up SO fast! She is the love of my life and my absolute angel!! It is so crazy to think she will be turning 4!

This picture is pretty funny, but has a great story! So my friend Anne-Marie (she's on the far right) is a fantastic musician. She played in a concert at Carnegie Hall in NY with Bobbie McFarren and a few other talented musicians a few weeks ago. One of the musician's she met was Shola (standing next to Anne-Marie). Well.. Shola is a member of STOMP... so naturally since STOMP was in town, she called up her friend Anne-Marie. Shola came to one of our Citrine rehearsals and we got to hang out for a bit after that. So Saturday we went to the show and got to hang out with Shola and meet the cast afterwards! It was a BLAST! The other two in the photo are my sister-in-law Kami and Anne-Marie's sister Karen.



LIAM!!! Oh my word! My newest nephew Liam is 5 weeks old now and is such an adorable baby!! In fact, adorable doesn't even cut it!! You can not get any cuter than my nephews!!

The Greatest Thing Since Easy-Mac

At least that's what my kids think! This is the new play house my Mom and Dad got that the kids are obsessed with!!

Carson's Physical Therapy
How does this look? A dream come true to any 18 month old! This is Carson's physical therapy room. At first he was a bit skeptical, but by the end he was loving it! They started out checking a few different range of motions and noticed that his entire left side is significantly weaker than his right.
She did a ton of exercises with him using his left side.... including making him blow bubbles using his left hand.


My mom was really good to come with me and helped him with his exercises so I could take pictures!!

Carson LOVED the ball pit!! It really had nothing to do with his appointment today, but we let him play anyway!

Diagnosis: ... none! Don't you love how that goes! They did note that his left side, like I said before, is significantly weaker and mentioned the possibility of it being caused by an Inter-uterine Stroke (so a stroke while he was still in the womb) But we don't know for sure. We will see if and how much he improves in the next 2 weeks before his next session. If there has not been a dramatic improvement, we will go up to Primary's and see a neurologist!

Carson's Parting Gift....

This lovely new ankle brace...thingy.... haha! They noticed that he definitely rolls his ankle in when he drags his leg, so they are starting here and trying to strengthen it. He actually doesn't mind it too much and I think was walking better yesterday!!!! So here is to dramatic improvement??!!!!

Last but not least, a picture from my friend Heather Biesinger's wedding reception! In the photo... Alicia, myself, Jenn Best (I don't know her married last name) and... I actually don't know the girl on the ends name!... but it was fun!

The Kiddos

Update on the kids:  I took Adalie back to the ENT yesterday.  He looked in both ears and sure enough... the infections were gone!  But he looked a little confused.  He said her ear drums were an unusual color and shape.  So then we went and did the hearing tests.  One ear is almost completely better and the other still has over a 20% loss.  So, now what?...  Well, since the next step (Primary Children's.... something about audio..blah blah and hearing aid blah blah) is a bit more intense, he asked that we come back one more time for one more test before he sends us up to Primary's.  So you will all have to wait for 2 more weeks for the next update!!

Now Carson:  We had to be up at Primary's at 6:30 this morning!  It was just me and the boy!  He started out pretty happy playing with the toys.

Then they took us back to a patient room and had him change.  At this point he started getting hungry and just cried "ba ba!  ba ba!"

The procedure itself (tear duct probing and ballooning) only took about 35 minutes, but Carson had a hard time waking up.  They also said he was doing a lot of "breath holding" so they had to keep him on oxygen.  This was Carson when they first let me back to recovery.

He kept tearing out his I.V. so they had to temporarily cast it on!

He is home now and doing well! Just really sleepy. I'll be sure to give an update in the next few days. Thanks for all your love and support! We've needed it!

Huge Update of Randomness

My computer is broken and I haven't been able to get a lot of these photos off my camera until today! So excuse the long random pictures... but here are a few things that have been going on in the last 3 weeks!

I'll start with the most recent. Yesterday the kids and I went down to Lehi to play with their cousin Gage and my brother Pete and sis-in-law Kami. We took the kids to the park and they had a blast!

Adalie learned how to "spider" is on the swing and would not let Kami get off!!

He looks like such an old man in this picture! I love it!!

With everything at the park they could have played with, Gage and Carson picked the rocks!

Anne-Marie Hildebrandt

I got to go hear Anne-Marie record one of her new arrangements. It was very cool! She is absolutely AMAZING!

A few weekends ago Anne-Marie and I took the kids and her boys to the Gateway Fountains. Adalie loved it!! Carson... not so much!

Hair Extensions

A lot of people have asked me how Tiff does my hair extensions. Here are a few pictures of the process!!! She is FANTASTIC!!!!

Last but not least...

Mother's Day Weekend Girls Night

I am definitely the last one to get this post up! For Mother's Day weekend Tiff, Kat, Brooke, Keelee, Melissa & myself spent the night down town! It consisted of EVERYTHING! From pillow fights....

to drunken men on the streets on huge bikes???......

To running the "Race for the Cure" 5k.

These girls are incredible!!! Thanks ladies... I had such an awesome time and can't wait to do it again!!!

Adalie's Update

So I took Adalie to the ENT today to have her ears checked. Sure enough, she has a pretty bad ear infection in both ears. She also has a bit of fluid in both ears. That was a huge relief to me... until we had her hearing tested. Normally, kids with ear infections as bad as hers will test with a 5% hearing loss. Today Adalie tested a little over 20%. Therefore, he is not completely convinced that this is because of the ear infections. He put her on an anti-biotic and wants to have her hearing tested again next week once the infection has been taken care of. If it is the same and / or is not mostly better, we will continue to have her tested regularly. In the event the hearing gets worse we will look into different hearing aid options if necessary. I am going to try to remain positive and optimistic that this is all because of her ear infections and her hearing will be back to normal next week!! :D

Oh ya, she also has swollen tonsils, so we will check those again next week and if they aren't any better after the anti-biotic.. they are comin out!! So pull out your umbrella's people... cause this rain storm isn't over yet!

When it Rains.... it Pours CONTINUED!

So we have skipped passed when it rains it pours and gone right too when it Rains it pours, and then the temperature dramatically drops and everything freezes over!!!! Let me explain....

So, our new situation began Friday morning when Adalie woke up. She came into our room and laid in bed with us. When I had to get up to get in the shower, I was whispering for her to stay in bed with Daddy and to be quiet. She kept yelling back to me, "What?" and I kept saying it over and over until finally I was shouting it to her!

That continued all day! So Saturday, Tony and I did a few experiments with her and discovered if you talk to her in a "church voice" or softer, she can't hear you! Even talking right in her ear! At first we thought maybe it was selective hearing, but you could ask her if she wanted a bag of M&M's and she still would not respond. Every once in a while she will answer you right away when you talk softly to her, but I can't tell if it was because she was watching me and anticipating the question, or if the hearing comes and goes. I am praying that she has an ear infection and some fluid build up or something! The worse part about all of this is.... last week my mom and I watched a show on Lifetime (I know.. pathetic) that was about a mother and her son who both went deaf at the age of 3!!!! AHHHH! So I called our ENT today and they told me that he was out of town today, but that she needed to be seen first thing in the morning!! So I will take her in tomorrow and they will look at her ears and do a hearing test.

Wish us luck!

So cute!

So here are the pictures of Carson in his adorable new glasses!!!  So far he has done great! He has only tried to take them off a few times!  The first few pictures are kind of blurry cause he kept moving, but you can get a good enough look at how cute he looks!

When it Rains.... it Pours!

At least that seems to be the case with little Carson! Yesterday we had a series of appointments up at Primary Children's. First we had to have his hips x-rayed. I guess it isn't normal to not be walking by 18 months! HAHA! I was anxious to learn the results of these x-rays because if it was hip dysplasia, more than likely he would need to be in a cast! They told me they couldn't give me the results because they had to send them to our Pediatrician. So then we walked up stairs to the Pediatric Ophthalmologist where he needed a simple "lazy eye" checked. Which by the way, has never looked lazy to me!! 2 hours and several painful eye drops later we left with a surgery scheduled and a beautiful new pair of glasses!.... which I must add are ADORABLE on him!! But how do you get an 18 month old to wear glasses you ask?..... Let me know when you find the answer!! As for the surgery, he needs to have his tear ducts probed (which actually is the same surgery Adalie had when she was a year old). Not too bad of a surgery, but a surgery none the less! I think Carson might possibly hate doctors!

On the upside, our Pediatrician called me to let me know his hips actually look good!! Which means it is probably muscular so he is starting physical therapy! Don't get me wrong, in general my kids are very healthy kids. I am grateful we haven't had to experience anything more traumatic than these few small surgeries which he will recover magnificently from! Thank goodness for my new job with great insurance!... and too bad I just started a new job and have had to take so many days off!! :-)

Sweet Carson!

Carson went in today for his second tympanostomie (tubes) surgery.  This time they also had to remove his adenoids.  Let me tell you how excited I was when they told me to have him there at 6:30 am!!!   Wake up a 1 year old AND tell him he can't have a bottle.... not a good combo!

You've got to love the Looney Toons gown!

Carson is such a cuddler!

This was as soon as they let us back into recover!

They had us sit in a Pediatric Recovery room until he was discharged.  Apparently Tony needed to recover from his lack of sleep as well!

My sweet baby boy!!  He was so groggy and his throat hurt so bad!!  (They removed his adenoids through his mouth/throat)  He's been a sleep most of the time we have been home, but when he's awake he is so upset!! Hopefully the tylenol with codeine will kick in for him soon!!!

Deja Vu!

Another Birthday celebration and another fabulous dinner at Tepanyaki!  Last night I went to dinner with my fantastic friends Valerie and Anne-Marie for Anne-Marie's and my Birthdays! It was so much fun!!!  I absolutely love these girls!

(Val, Me & Anne-Marie)

Thank you Ladies!

He's Here!!

He's here!!! My new nephew is finally here!!! Yesterday Caroline delivered a BEAUTIFUL healthy baby boy! He weighted 7 lbs and is 21 inches. He has an amazing head of hair and is SO adorable!!!!

William "Liam" Shephard Clayton

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

Proud Family: Scott, Caroline & big brother Lex

Happy Birthday Jenn!

Today is my older sister Jenn's birthday!! What an amazing lady! She runs a non-profit animal rescue organization while managing to somehow work 40 hours a week!

She has a way with animals and kids that is like nothing I have ever seen before! She can calm them pretty much by being around them!

She is brilliant, beautiful, strong and an amazing sister, daughter and aunt!

A few years ago I had the opportunity to live next door to her and what a blessing that was! Now that I don't live next door and I no longer work with her.. I miss her!!

Jenn, I hope you have a fabulous birthday!! I love you!

Also, Happy Birthday to my great friend Anne-Marie Hildebrandt!!

Randomness

I had a few pictures I wanted to post from my birthday, but I couldn't find my device to import my pictures! So now that I've found that device, here are a few of them!

I am SO proud of this birthday cake! Adalie decorated the whole thing by herself!!! She is absolutely amazing me with her drawing and writing!!

Busted!!!

Me and my girl!

Total random picture of Carson playing with my blush brush!!!

Carson's Version of Dancing!

Carson is so hilarious!! He is CRAZY about music!! Since he doesn't walk yet, this is his version of dancing!! He does this EVERY time my dad starts playing the piano!!

Only in Utah!!

For all my friends living outside of Utah... laugh it up!!

Are you kidding me?! Are you freaking kidding me?! It is seriously snowing right now! It is May 1st and it is snowing!!!!! Not only is it snowing... but wasn't it just 80 degrees 2 days ago?!!! Only in Utah!!! I swear... I am moving!!! :-)

Round 2!

So a few weeks ago, I was holding Carson and noticed that his ear was draining blood and puss! So I took him into his ENT and he put him on an anti-biotic for an ear infection. The day after he finished the anti-biotic, I noticed the other ear started draining blood and puss! So I took him back in and the Dr. noticed that one of his tubes had come out. He gave me some drops to use but Carson continued to seem in pain. So today I took him back in and we learned that the one ear that was missing the tube had completely healed shut which normally would be a good thing, except it trapped fluid behind the eardrum!! Then he looked in the "good" ear and it wasn't doing so good!! So they had to strap Carson down to a board, clean out the "good" ear and remove the tube because the infection was so bad! Then he told me Carson has to have another surgery next week to put in new tubes and to remove his adenoids! My poor baby!!!! All I can say is he has been such a trooper!! He is pleasant and a fantastic sleeper even with all he is going through!!

Lets just hope for our sake (and his) that the 2nd times the charm!!!

Birthday Weekend!

So ya know how in some cultures, wedding and birthday celebrations last for days?? Well.. I had one of those birthdays!!! First, during the week, I got to go out to dinner with my girlfriends Joy, Alicia and Holly! We were laughing at the fact that for the 4 of us to go out to dinner.. we have to get a table for 11 because we bring 7 kids! HAHA I love you girls!

Then, on Friday night, my girlfriends Kat, Tiff, Brook and Keelee took me out to dinner at Tepanyaki!! It was fantastic!! This group of girls is hilarious!! I seriously never stop laughing! Its funny that we are all friends because I met all of them in completely different circumstances and yet they were all friends before I knew any of them!

(Me and Keelee)

(Brooke, Kat & Tiff)

Then on Saturday, my Mom, sister-in-laws Kami & Caroline and I went up to Park City for lunch and shopping!!! It was fabulous!! Sunday my family came over and we had a delicious barbecue and had a few Wii matches!!! Needless to say.. my weekend was wonderful! I have so many more pictures I want to post, but can't find my adapter for my memory card! As soon as I find it, I will post more pictures!

Thank you everyone!!

The Georgie Awards

I have been fortunate enough to join a fabulous group called Citrine. It is a Celtic group headed by a phenomenal musician named Anne-Marie Hildebrandt. I am playing the violin with them.

This weekend we played at an event called The Georgie Awards in St. George. This is an awesome group of girls!Angie, Brittany, Tricia & Tracie

Tanis and the Citrine sign!

On the left... Anne-Marie and to her right, Lena.

Valerie and her beautiful daughter, Monica

Zzzzzzzzzz

Aside from the fact that I have been "bobbing" all day, and falling asleep while sitting up working, I hit an all new low for tiredness today. It is 3:30pm and I have been here for 9 hours after only getting 4 hours of sleep. I decided to get up and walk around in attempts to wake up. During that time, I went to use the restroom. Does anyone know where this story is going yet??? Yes! I fell asleep while using the restroom in seriously 15 seconds!!!! I need more sleep!!!!!

Congrats to my Babe!!

This article was published in the Daily Utah Chronicle today...

"The Society of Professional Journalists recognized The Daily Utah Chronicle as the best all-around daily student newspaper in its region Saturday. The organization presented the award along with the rest of its 2007 Mark of Excellence awards.

The Chronicle competed in region nine, which includes universities and colleges in Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming and Colorado. Staff members collected 11 first-place awards, one second-place award and six third-place awards. First-place winners will now be entered in the national competition."

...And guess who 3 of the first place awards went to?..... MY BABE!!!!

Congratulations Babe!

Here is a direct link to the article. http://media.www.dailyutahchronicle.com/media/storage/paper244/news/2008/04/15/News/The-Daily.Utah.Chronicle.Recognized.For.Excellence-3325158.shtml

Typing Test

This is pretty fun!


99 words

http://speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com">Speed>

TAG: Where were you 10 years ago

10 years ago I was a Sophomore at.... well... it depends?! I started the first 2 months at Skyline Highschool, then transferred to Brighton where I got Mono and had to be home schooled. Then I was fortunate enough to need a major foot operation on both my feet at the same time where I was going to be in casts and non weight barring for 3 months!!! And yes... this includes OVER my 16th birthday!!!!! That is the worse thing I can think of for someone turning 16!! My dad was sweet enough to get me a new Rodeo and I just got to look at it in the driveway for months!! So I finished off the year being home schooled and that was that!

5 Jobs that I have had:-
Clayton Plastic Surgery (every position there! ;)
Selling Shows - trade show company San Diego, CA
S.C.P.I.E (Southern California Physicians Insurance Exchange) San Diego, CA
Stay at home Mom (and YES that is a job!!!)
University of Utah Medical Group (current)

5 Places I have visited:-
Mexico
Japan
England
France
Dominican Republic.

5 things on my to do list:-
Lose weight
Read the book of mormon
Get on top of my finances
Establish a workout routine
Do more activities with my kids

5 things you may not know:-
I'm not a private person, so everyone pretty much knows everything about me! But I would have to say I have a shoe, purse and jewelry fetish!
I have very poor self esteem
I am always hot! And therefore... I hate the heat!
I hate to read!

5 things that I am so thankful for:-
My husband and kids
That my kids are healthy!
My incredible job opportunity
My family
My friends!

I tag: Kami, Caroline, Cari, Cynthia Dean,

Happy Birthday Caroline!

Today is my sweet Sister-in-law Caroline's birthday!! She, Kami and I are all 26 this year!!! Getting old!! Caroline joined our family 6 years 2 months ago!!! I am so grateful to have her as my sister!! She is one of the most generous, loving, beautiful, brilliant women I know!!

This is a picture of Caroline with Adalie

Caroline and Lex's first Halloween!

Scott and Caroline went out to dinner tonight, and when they came back we had a little surprise gathering and cake for her!!

Sweet Caroline is 8 months pregnant with baby boy number 2!! Caroline, I love you to no end and hope you had a fabulous day! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

WOW!

I just wanted to thank everyone for your offers to help my friend!! I was so touched to see how many of you responded within hours of me publishing that post!! Thank you thank you!!

Many of you are asking me where to send the money. Please send the money to me, but made out to Emily Taylor. Or you can make it out to me and I will cut her one big check?? If you need my address, please leave a message on this post with your email address and I will email it to you!!

Thank you again!! You guys are doing a very wonderful thing!! and I appreciate it more than you will ever know!!

A Sad Day

A very good friend of mine delivered some very sad news today. She and her ex husband recently divorced with two small children (2 & 7 months). This morning he took his own life. My friend is unquestionably devastated and doesn't know what to do! She has been home raising her two small babies with the help of child support. She now has to go back to work full time and try and figure out how she is going to support her family.

I am asking 3 things. First of all, please keep my friend Emily in your prayers. Second, could you all please keep your eyes and ears open for any great job opportunity. And last, I am going to try and raise some money for her. Whether it be through a fundraiser or some sort, or through donations. If any of you are willing and able, please let me know.

So Proud!!

Tonight I was in my room getting ready for tomorrow when Adalie asked me to come in her bedroom cause she wanted to show me something. When I asked her what she wanted to show me she said, "her drawing board" So I walked in expecting to see some scribbles and this is what I saw!!!

I could not believe it!!!! She did this entire thing by herself! Adalie actually learned how to write her own name!! Last week she couldn't even write a letter and now she can do this?!! I am SO proud!!! As you can tell... she even corrected her "d's" that started out as "b's" Good job baby girl!!!

Easter!

Okay, so usually I have a day where I take pictures all day and not one of them turn out. Well, yesterday I had the opposite happen and I have way too many pictures I wanted to post.. so... sorry!! :D

Carson's Easter Basket

Addie's Easter Basket

After I got Addie ready for church, she was so mad that I made her stop playing with her new things that she refused to smile for me!! But we got that to change, by saying if she didn't smile she wasn't going to get her basket back today! (I know.. I'm horrible!)

I only got one picture of the two of them together because right after I put Carsey up there, he head butted Addie!

Those of you who knew Addie growing up know that she LOVED the grass!! Carson curls his toes and lifts his heels up off the grass and can not stand to touch it!

Later on we went over to the Pizza's! Uncle Ajay and Aunt Ali were playing bubbles with the kids. This was Carson's first time with bubbles and he was going crazy!!! I have never seen a baby so crazy over bubbles.

(The kids with Papa Brad)

Addie finished up the evening with a game of basketball with her 6'3" tall Uncle Ajay.
Needless to say... she was pretty tuckered!

A Day at the V.A.

Yesterday, Tony woke up in so much pain! His foot had hurt the day before, but nothing like when he woke up! I know boys can be a little dramatic.. but Tony woke up telling he he thought he had to have his foot cut off!! I was a little nervous because my new insurance doesn't kick in until the beginning of April, and right now, he is currently not insured. So I decided to call the VA Hospital and see if he was covered. To my usually unlucky surprise, they told me he was covered 100% at the VA! So we took him in to have his foot X-Rayed. Luckily, it was not broken, at least not that they can see at this point. They told him he probably stretched his tendons in a few different places but if the pain and swelling didn't stop in the next few days that he could have a hairline fracture. So, while we were sitting there, I of course had to get my camera out!! When Tony asked me what I was doing, I replied "blogging duh!"
Thanks babe for being such a good sport!
(Yes he is in shorts in the middle of a blizzard!)

Update!

Well... a lot and nothing have been going on for the last while! I have completed my second week of being a full time working Mom and must admit I still LOVE it!! I do miss the kids, a lot, but work has been great. This is a picture of the building I work in, (and yes, it is the building that was just in the news for a stolen laptop) I work with the greatest people, and have the greatest boss!

Miss Addie has been so stimulated during the week, that on her down time, she is exhausted! She is loving "Pretty-school" and has already learned so much

Carson still is NOT walking... but has learned how to climb up and over ANYTHING!! The other day Tony and I found him climbing over the back side of the couch! And if you turn you head for 2 seconds he is up on the counter. I know most kids do that... but I just found it strange that he can climb everything but still doesn't walk?!!!