Sunday Photo:13 & Easter Wrap-Up

Despite a late night last night, we managed a semi decent picture of the kids in their Sunday best before 9am church.  I wanted matching dresses this year since I finally have 2 girls.  And maybe even coordinating ties for the boys.  But the stars did not align for me this year -  I think Wade and all the boys were pretty happy about that. 

We had a fun Easter week this week.

Monday we read The Three Trees, read through some scriptures and put up the pictures of the Easter story (from the gospel art kit) on the wall.

Wednesday night we dyed Easter eggs with my parents.  We tried Kool-aid this year and I was pretty happy with the results.  I couldn't find all the colors I wanted, but the kids had fun anyway. Eli kept drinking the blue  kool aid.  It didn't have sugar, so I'm sure it was pretty nasty, but it couldn't have been as nasty as the vinegar color dyes.

Friday I attempted to take all 5 kids to the neighborhood Easter Egg hunt.  I don't think I'll ever take 5 kids to an egg hunt by myself again.  I was not very patient with my kids.  And I overhead my nice neighbor tell Wade later that night 'Yay, I've never seen your wife mad at the kids...but she was mad today."

HA!  He must not see me that often.  It had been just one of those days.  And somehow we all survived.

Sorry to anyone else who saw me lose it with them!  They weren't being that crazy - it was me - and I really should have just stayed at home.

Friday night we made our resurrection cookies.  And Saturday morning the "tomb" (oven door) was open.  And the cookies were empty.  Avery was SO excited!

Saturday evening we headed to Utah County and had the Christiansen Family Easter Egg hunt and BBQ. 

I told the kids, "put yours baskets in the car"  and guess what they forgot to do?  Good thing plastic bags worked too. We stayed way too late and had so much fun.

Today after church we headed to Utah County (again!) and stuffed ourselves with Easter dinner with my sister's family.

It was a great week spent with lots of activities and family.

We are thankful for Easter and the season it brings.  

He is risen!

Happy Easter!

Lucy's Heart

Finally after lots of waiting and rescheduling, Thursday this week Lucy had her appointment for a sedated echo on her heart.

Honestly, going into this I was more nervous about the fact that she couldn't eat for a couple hours before the test.  I wasn't sure how she would do with that.  I couldn't feed her after 5:30 that morning, and she usually eats at 7, so I was kinda nervous for her.  But she ended up being really good and not too grumpy till the very end.

Here we are right before the IV team came into the room.

She was such a trooper!  I couldn't believe how good she was for the IV team.  They had a therapist come with them and he had a baby app on his ipad that she watched the whole time.  She was mesmerized!   We downloaded the app too. (Baby View is the app)  It's just black, white, and red images, perfect for babies.  She really loves the one with little lady bugs crawling around the screen.  She didn't even flinch when they stuck her with a needle!

Some babies they can give just enough medicine to relax, but Lucy did not like the "in between" state at all.  She was pretty frustrated with it, and they had to give her extra medicine to make sure she was all the way out.

Sleeping away in post-op.

We got the results that day.  It wasn't good new, or really bad news.

Lucy has pulmonary valve stenosis.   We knew this information already. In January they measured the pressure going through that valve and it was a middle ground number - not too good, not too bad.  But she was upset, so her heart was working a little harder, so that was the reason we did the sedated echo.  With the sedated echo the number was a few points higher, but still middle ground.  So our cardiologist said we should do an EKG.

Good thing we downloaded that lady bug app, Lucy was now awake and we needed her to lay still again.  

After the EKG, we went back to talk to the cardiologist.

The muscle wall of her right ventricle has thickened a little bit from January and that isn't great news.  It means that her little heart is working harder than it should.  The right ventricle should have low pressure, but she has high pressure.

We got two choices.  Some kids do out grow this condition.  

So we could wait and come back in two months.

Or we could get an appointment with the cath lab and have a procedure to try and balloon the suprapulmonary.

Our cardiologist couldn't really say either way. So after a lot of questions, we decided to wait and have another echo done in 2 months.  If it's still bad then we can go to the cath lab.

I am so glad Wade was there with me.  I can never think of any questions to ask till I get home, but he started spouting off questions left and right.   I guess sometimes all that medical background can come in handy;)

Lucy is growing and acting normal, and our cardiologist gave us lots of signs and symptoms to watch for.  She has never had any of these.

I want to think that she will out grow it, since Gage has a similar murmur and we've never had to do anything for him but have it checked out every couple years.  It was also hard to make the decision to send her back in for another procedure, even if it was in a couple weeks,  after watching her be put to sleep that morning.

So we are kind in the same boat as before.  

Waiting for another couple months.  

And hoping she grows and her heart  and little body can fix itself.

~~

hopefully I described and explained things right.  I have to look at the diagram they give me and then it really makes sense, or have Wade explain it.  Sorry if I didn't do a great job.  Ask Wade if you really want to know.

Project Life - Week 12

This week's Project Life pages:

(click to enlarge)

Sunday Photo: 12

Wake up (a little later than we should)

Hurry Get Ready

Church

Lunch

Playtime

Naps

Ninjago

Hex Bugs

Fable Haven

Home Teaching

Dinner
(Ham, apasagus, mash potatoes, homemade bread)

Cheesecake Brownies

Baths

More Fable Haven

And bedtime.

Did you know all 3 seasons of Downton are on demand on Comcast this week only?  

Kinda loving that this week.

Taking a deep breath and getting ready for another week.

Bring it on.

{Project Life Week 11}

Last week was busy.  

Our last week off track.  

Field Trips.

Nice weather.

Appointments.

My birthday.

and life.

Project Life Week 2

Back tracking a little bit tonight.  I got week two done this week.

I am halfway done with last weeks pages, but honestly, 

I am going to be lazy tonight and go to bed.

Week two.

Sunday Photo: 11

The only pictures I took today:  Reading the fourth FableHaven to the kids in the car today. Can you read in the car? It never has bothered me. They are loving this series.  Even though they don't believe me (because I don't remember ever single detail) I read it a few years ago.  Great books.  I knew they (Wade included) would love them all!

After church today we drove to Utah county to visit Wade's mom. She is home recovering and getting her strength back. We are all so thankful she is home now.

While in Utah County we celebrated the March birthdays with dinner at my sisters. It's hard to say no when  her mint chocolate brownies are involved. The 6 weeks of birthday festivities at our house is finally over. Wade, Avery, Gage and then myself. Good thing mine is the last in the group, because I never have that much energy left when we get to this point. (I didn't even make or buy myself a cake this year.) Happy Birthday to us.

(And happy birthday break for our family until August. We won't forget, Eli likes to remind everyone, "me August")

And just like that, it's back to school for us tomorrow. We survivors another 3 weeks off track. It's not as bad as I make it sound. Just like everything I am finding year round school has it's good and bad sides.

Life never slows down around here, there is always, always, something to do, somewhere to go, something to be cooked, cleaned, someone to hug. It can get overwhelming. I really enjoyed this thought from the lesson today at church:


"Be better today than you were yesterday, and be better tomorrow than you are today." -Lorenzo Snow


Good stuff.
I'm trying.

Happy Sunday.

{4 Months}

Little Lucy May turned 4 months old last week!

My photography friend who took some new born pictures, came over and took some 3 month pictures of Lucy this month too.  I picked a handful of my favorites for this post.

We had her 4 month check up this morning.  

She was 24.5 inches long, and in the 50 percentile for height.

Her weight was 12 pounds 12 ounces, 

which put her in the 25 percentile for weight.  

She is tall and lean.  What a cutie!

At four months Lucy is a pretty good little baby.  She eats about every 3 hours. She doesn't sleep through the night, but she isn't a horrible sleeper either.  Her crib is still in our room.  Apparently the babies in families really do get spoiled, I kicked the other kids out of room way before 4 months.

(She was laughing at Noah in this picture!  What a cute face!)

Lucy loves to smile and talk.  She loves for her mommy to hold her, and she will let Wade walk her around occasionally.  We've got her to laugh a few times, but she is pretty mellow and serious.  She just likes to watch everyone around her and observe.  And there is so much to watch and observe at our house!

I am not sure if Lucy is teething, or if she is just trying out her thumb, but every once in a while I will find her with her hand and thumb in her mouth and her sucking away.  She also is the drooling queen.  I tell the kids, that Lucy's super power is the power to drool.  I'm pretty sure she is teething - or at least thinking about it.

She is still in 0-3 month clothes for the most part, but she can fit a few of the 3-6 months clothes that we have for her. She is a lightweight that is for sure!

She has the most amazing eye lashes!

We still haven't made it to Lucy's cardiology appointment for her sedated echo.  It was supposed to be a few weeks ago, then we rescheduled.  Then last week, and they rescheduled.  Then this week, and they rescheduled.  It is currently scheduled for March 28.  Our primary care physician listened this morning and he said he could still hear it.  And then he listened to Gage, and he said they do sound really similar.  I would guess that the sedated echo will show us that she has a mild case of pulmonary valve stenosis, just like Gage.  But we'll get it done (someday) and see for sure.  She is growing, and acting healthy, so that is always a great sign.

Lucy still hasn't rolled over yet.  And that is totally my fault, because she is not a huge fan of tummy time, and honestly, I just carry her around all day long.  She loves to sit up in her bumbo seat!  If I lay her flat on her back she will strain her neck muscles and try to sit up.

She is growing up too fast.  

And such a cute, fun girl to have in our family.

We love little our little Lu-Lu May.

Project Life, Week 1 & 10

Well, life got busy this week and I wasn't able to make up as many pages as I would have liked, but I did get week one done.  And this week.

With them right next to each other on this post, they look pretty similar.  But they will be 9 weeks apart when I put them in the book.  So I'm okay with that.

3 weeks down.

49 to go.

Yay for Project Life.

Sunday Photo: 10

The photos are all from today.

Sometimes I just feel like rambling.  

So, sorry, in advance for the long ramble post.  

But sometimes I just feel better writing it all out.

A good friend, who's hubby is still in residency, asked me this week how life "after" was. We are only 9 months out, so I don't think we are considered experts, but I did answer her, and I don't think my answer was exactly what she wanted to hear. 

It's not all bubble gum and gum drops. 

It's still life. Life is still hard. I remember last year when we were in the thick of job hunting and had had it "up to here" with residency, that a dear friend posted on her blog almost these exact words. I remember wanting to cry! No! We didn't just sacrifice 7 (plus undergraduate) years of our life for "it's still hard."  But now I am giving the same answer.

(We had sunshine today and spent over an hour finally outside!  Avery was happy.  Lucy, not so much!)

And here's why.  I think, the true answer comes in learning to be happy wherever you may be, whatever state in life, whatever comes your way. That is the hard answer, it's not always what you want to hear, but I think it is so true.

If you have known us long enough, you might remember we (okay, just Wade) applied to dental school. Twice. Friends, my husband is not a dentist. We (ok, maybe just me) at times just wanted to give up on this Dr. dream hoopla and find a job with the degrees we had, buy a little house and call it good. (I don't have much faith!) And after those three years of trying we did a lot of prayer and fasting about podiatry school the answer we received was this: either path would work out just fine. Wade was accepted to podiatry school and we made the choice.  Off we wet for a seven year adventure.

And now? I wish I could say that life "after" is totally worth it. But it's still hard. We still struggle. And I have to have faith that all these years of sacrifice will be worth it. I have to have faith in that answer we received: "either path is just fine. Your family will be blessed and taken care of."  I have to have faith.

(Eli reading books tonight) 

I should not complain.  We are blessed. And have plenty to be happy about. Are we in our dream home yet? Did Wade get to buy those 4 wheelers he's been pining over for ages? Do we not have a worry in the world? Ha! Nope. Not even close. But we have been able to face what we have been given this past year. We were blessed to find the perfect house to rent. We love our neighborhood. Wade sits with us at church every week and eats dinner with us every night.  He puts the kids to bed.  He even comes home to eat lunch!  A year ago, we didn't have those things.  We are slowly, but surely, making progress.

The past couple weeks have been particularly hard. I haven't posted much about it, but Wade's mom has been very sick and been in ICU for the past 3 weeks. She was also there over Christmas. We aren't oblivious to the fact that we are the youngest in our families and something could happen to our parents.

We've been driving over an hour one way to visit her in Provo as much as we can. Sometimes 3 times a week. When we are tired and the kids don't  want to be in the car. The older three kids went one time to visit her, and yesterday we all were able to go in. She was on good spirits and it was nice to see her. But even so, the team of doctors still aren't sure what exactly is going on. So we'll keep calling every day, and driving to visit her.  We are extremely happy we are here and able to see her.

(Wade reading Fable Haven to the boys.  They are almost done with the 3rd book)

Yesterday, before we drove to Provo, I had a Relief Society activity. (This is the women's organization of my church if you do not know). I wasn't in charge, but I am in the presidency and felt I needed to be there. I have to be honest. I did not want to go. After months and months of trying to be the positive one with our "after residency not quite dream life" I was starting to wear thin. Then Wade's mom's illness. And so many other things not worth mentioning...I was just not feeling it. I just did not feel like going and serving.

Which, of course, means that is exactly where I needed to be, right?

So I went. And pretty soon sister and sister filed into the room. And you should have seen them work! I wanted to cry. In under an hour we assembled 24 freezer meals for those sisters in need in our ward. (We currently have 21 babies due!). In the past I've put together an activity like this in Washington, and we've assembled 10 meals in an hour, but we did more than double that!

(Wade made us sour dough bread today.  Recipe (excluding the onions) found here)

I assembled a simple meal and labeled it. And just stood there watching these amazing sisters gab and talk and give a few minutes of their time Saturday morning. (Some girls sent items too, even though they couldn't make it to the activity)

And watching them. 

Being in that room full of love and service. 

 It filled my bucket.

Yeah. Life after is not everything we dreamed. At least right now. And we still have challenges. We don't know what is in store for Wade's mom. But she is here now.  Life doesn't get any easier.  I am positive it never will.  But it's what you make of it.  How you look at it.

Perspective.

And I leaned yesterday, while assembling freezer meals, that this saying really is true.

(link)

We don't need any of those meals.  But there will be families that do.  I didn't go there looking for answers, but I found them.  My bucket was full.  My heart is full and I came come home happy and ready to face the next day, the next challenge.

and isn't that amazing?

Project Life

I love the idea of Project Life. (click for link) It's a great way to scrapbook everyday life.  I have one of Becky Higgins first Project 365 albums, I did in 2009.  It was fun, but taking a picture a day was hard for me (I didn't have an iphone yet) and paper scrapbooking took up so much time, space and money.  

Fast forward a couple years, I still love the idea, and now that I do actually take a picture (or two, or three, or four) every day with my phone, I thought a digital version of project life might be something I could try.  I am going to try to make the pages every Sunday night after the Sunday photo.  We'll see how this goes.  I started with this week - week nine.  And hopefully sometime this week I can go back and work on a few of the weeks that I've missed.

Tonight I just wanted to get the layouts done, so they are super simple.  But it's there.  

Hopefully this will be fun!
Here's to project life!

Sunday Photo: 9

Sunday Dinner at my sister Kathy's house this afternoon.

Good food.

Cousins.

A relaxing afternoon.

What else could we ask for?

random kid tidbits:

Lucy:  When she's happy, she's happy.  And when she's not...well, she's not.  We've been driving to Utah County and back quite a bit lately.  Lu Lu does not like her car seat.  At all.  She usually cries the entire way, there and back.  Ugh.

Eli:  Despite the child lock door handle I put on the pantry I woke up to find three empty fruit snack wrappers on the table and a little blue blankie in the pantry.  And a little boy with fingers in his mouth smiling at us saying, "not me!"

Avery: On the way home tonight she decided she was going to marry Eli.  When we told her she couldn't marry her brother, she got mad at us and said, "FINE.  I will just marry nobody and kiss myself."

Noah: Noah has the most contagious laugh.  Tonight we watched American's Funniest Home Video's at my sisters.  Noah was cracking up.  (as you can see in the picture)  He is such a joker.  His current two jokes are asking people to spell, "I cup" ( I-C-U-P) or random Noah-made-up knock knock jokes.  Anything that involves the words, "butt, fart, potty or pee" just crack him up.  I can think of worse things.  I love this age.

Gage: Had his birthday party yesterday.  We played with Legos and did minute to win it games.  And ate a lot of junk.  We got out his baby scrapbook and looked at his pictures today.  Lucy looks just like Gage (but with more hair).  I can't believe I have a 9 year old.  It doesn't seem like that long ago he was a baby.  9 years until he can serve a mission.  Crazy!

~~

Happy Sunday.

{9}

Happy Birthday!  Today Gage is nine years old!

Gage is such a fun kid to have in our family.  The first year - year and half were pretty rough.  He was a pretty hard baby.  And he cried a lot.  I don't want to say it was colic, because colic is supposed to stop at 3 months, but Gage didn't stop crying for about 18 months.  I remember visiting doctor after doctor and switching pediatrician so many times.  I thought something was so wrong with him.  Until I found one that after playing on the floor with Gage looked at us and said, 

"He's fine!   There is nothing wrong with him.  I have a couple kids like him myself.  He is very directed and knows what he wants.  Channel him in the right direction and he will grow up to be a great successful adult!"

She was a great pediatrician, and we were sad when she decided to quit and stay at home with her kids.  (But I couldn't blame her.  I wouldn't trade these days for anything).

That being said - Gage is a fantastic kid.  He always strives to do exactly what is right.  He pays close attention to rules and always tries to follow them. (Unless, of course, I make them up).  His first grade teacher had a rule that they couldn't talk during lunch. (There was no cafeteria, so they ate in their classrooms).  I kinda thought it was a super silly rule.  But he always obeyed it.  Even in second grade when he had a different teacher it took me a couple weeks to convince him that it would be okay for him to talk at lunch time.

It didn't surprise me when I asked him what his favorite color was, he answered, black and white.  This totally fits Gage.  Everything is black or white to him.  

Example:  One time this year his teacher sent home some cursive handwriting homework and it had one letter that they hadn't gone over in class.  Gage just sat there and told me he couldn't do it!  He said that it had to be a mistake because they hadn't covered that letter yet.  I showed him that there was an example of the letter and I showed him how to do it, but I think he ended up skipping that word.  I couldn't believe it, but later that night when Wade got home, I related this story and Wade said, "Yeah, I remember one time in elementary school when a teacher sent home homework and there was something we hadn't learned yet on it yet too. I took it back to the teacher and showed her!"

Gage is just like his Dad - black and white.

This move has been pretty hard on Gage.  He says he likes his new school (except computers) but he still misses his old friends.  He wishes he could have both.  He's so quiet and serious I think it's hard for him to find good friends.  But he is such a loyal friend.  He is always trying hard to make everyone happy. (He gets that from me)

Gage is a fantastic big brother and he adores Lucy.  He loves to play with Eli and Avery (when they aren't touching his stuff) and Noah is either his arch enemy or his best friend.  They are perfect brothers.  I ask him every once in a while if he ever wants his own room and he always answers that he likes sharing with Noah right now and that he would miss talking to him at night.

Gage has been working very hard in reading this year.  His teacher has the Hooked on Phonics program and we have been able to borrow it and send the levels back as we finish them.  He is always good at working so hard on his levels and reading his stories.  He is finishing the last level soon.  I can see a huge difference in his reading this year.  He is reading chapter books faster and reading them out loud more to Noah.  Just last night as I was reading a picture book to the other kids, Gage would jump in and read a page or two for me.  Without me asking!  I was so proud!

If you haven't picked up on it yet, Gage LOVES Legos.  He can play with them all day long, day after day.  And at night, he reads Lego Magazines in his bed by flashlight.  He is pretty creative with them and can built just about anything.  He was super excited this morning when he opened his presents.  He got a set of the Narnia books and The Hobbit Hole Lego set.  He had it put together in no time and hasn't stopped playing with it since.  He is anxious for tomorrow, when we are having a little Lego birthday party for him and a couple friends.

He is such a good kid, we can't believe he is nine!

We are so proud of Gage and love him to the moon and back!