Updates on us

In the kid world Alex is doing pretty well for potty training the last few weeks. I've taken the plunge and let him wear undies full time which is going pretty well. He doesn't have the bowel movements under control but the other is doing really well, he's not wet his pants much at all this last week compared to where he started at. I am so relieved that he will probably be done by this summer, we have him trying to get into Preschool this August and I am so nervous and excited! Ariana is going through some stage right now and we've just put her back in diapers, she will get it eventually and has gotten too stubborn right now. Definitely not worth it to fight her.

Camden is great. He's still not crawling yet but that will change soon, we can see signs that he wants to and know that he's still on track. lol. Alex had a really odd scoot/back arch thing he did to get around because his legs were so tight, he crawled at 16 months (right at the same time he walked) so we totally aren't worried about Camden. Camden has actually gotten good at rolling/scooting around so he's happy with that for now. (I think it frustrates him though because it's so slow...) He's still got no teeth yet too (thankfully for me) but eats all kinds of foods, some of which I didn't think he should eat but he thought otherwise. (Today I came in and he was chowing on a mini pancake from his older brother, and Ariana was sneaking him goldfish the other day too). He's sneaky that one, he'll shove it all in his mouth so mommy doesn't know. Ugh...

Anyways, nothing else going on really. We wanted to go to Renaissance Faire this weekend to see my dad's (Grandpa's) new costume but have been warned it's going to be hot. I wanted to go to a Relief Society thing next Saturday but it looks like I'll have to cancel that, it's the only Saturday we have available to go and I need to get Camden down there to show off. (Short story, Camden was actually named after a Herald from the 1500's or so that was named William Camden... it's the same man everything named Camden is named after. lol. My dad portrays him at Faire and has for years...) Here is some more information about the man Camden was named after, it's really interesting...

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=762507966

Here is a new layout of Camden today, I really liked this page:

My hardest mommy moment

I have thought about it lately and wondered what has been my hardest mommy moment over the last 4 years. Has it been getting shots for my kids? The time I gave my baby girl a black eye (totally on accident, she fell and it was my fault... I still feel bad). Maybe when I accidentally locked a 4 month old Camden inside the house when I went to get his brother and sister out of the car? (He was in his car seat and thankfully not hurt...) No, but I did get thinking about some difficult times and, oddly enough, they all revolved around Alex (poor guy).

For some it may be a shock that my first response is not when he was born but honestly it was not the hardest thing I've ever done. Yes it was very difficult but I knew he'd be okay, he'd survive the ordeal and come home with his daddy and I as soon as he was allowed. I did have my moments of course where I cried and wondered why me but I had the Spirit with me reassuring that my son would be fine. Some people didn't understand that and even claimed that I was *too* optimistic, he could die at any minute and I needed to be there with him at every second. I did the best I could and don't regret it.

The second that came to mind was when he had the surgery on his cleft palate. I admit that was really difficult. We had to allow complete strangers to wheel away my darling boy. He was to tiny on that bed and his hospital gown swam on him. The worst part of that day was when I got to go see him after the surgery was over. He was laying in a huge room, iv in his arm, feeling terrified, confused, in pain, and wondering where mommy was. It took a long time to calm him down and the screaming was something no mother should ever have to deal with. One of the male nurses commented that "no one that size should have to be in here" and I couldn't agree more! I was however grateful, we had waited 2 years dreading that surgery and here my boy was doing so well. After he calmed down that helped a lot too, although it did take a long time.


No, it dawned on me after not long which was the worst. The worst was the day I thought that Alex was going to die in my arms.




It was June of 2006, Alex was 2 and Ariana was 1. He had fevers in the past but something was different about this fever, it spiked quickly and was hot. I had put him down for nap like usual but was worried about how hot he was. He was soon awake, moaning and not moving much. In desperation (the tylenol and motrin weren't touching it) I decided I had to give him a lukewarm bath. Did I mention I was desperate? Ariana was following us into the bathroom and Alex was hysterical, screaming and throwing a tantrum as I tried to take his clothes off of him and running the bath water. Thankfully he was quite small at the time.


I will never forget what happened next, it still haunts me. His whole body suddenly went rigid and he had the most terrifying look on his face. His eyes got huge and panicked and in that split second he was begging for help, asking mommy to please help him because he no longer had control of his body. His body started jerking uncontrollably, eyes rolled up into his head, and he was foaming at the mouth. I have never been witness to a seizure but knew what it was... it was the most terrifying and helpless feeling. I rolled him to his side as he was still in my lap and trembling reassured him "Alex, it's okay baby, just come back to me honey!" I honestly have never felt so vulnerable, here he was okay one minute and the next I didn't know if he was going to come out of this. It was so scary and no warning. That was the longest 90 seconds of my life watching helplessly while my son had no control over his body. I remember praying "please don't take my baby!" Ray walked in at the end of the seizure and I yelled "he's seizing" without thinking about it. He dropped everything and as soon as he was back in the bathroom he was ready to give him a Priesthood blessing. Alex had stopped shaking at that point but was in a deep comatose state that they go into after these seizures. His body was no longer hot but he was very limp and lethargic. We couldn't wake him up and thoughts of brain damage raced through my brain.

I finally realized that Ariana was in the room and was surprised that she wasn't doing what I would expect her to do. Instead of the panicked crying or screaming she was calmly sitting there, watching everything quietly and staying out of the way. I have no doubt that angels were there keeping her out of the way and making sure she was taken care of. I also have no doubt that Alex was blessed that day and I had someone there making sure I knew what to do, and what not to do.

The evening went okay, he did finally come out of his sleep a few hours later. The night he had another fever spike and had yet another seizure, this time on his changing table. Poor Ray was there with him when this happened and was holding him on his side while it worked it's way out. We took him to the ER immediately that night where they helped take his fever down and sent us home late.

He has only had one other situation where we thought he would have yet another febrile seizure. That was scary, Ray left the room because he was so nervous and I lay there with him singing songs and trying to calm him. He *knew* what was going to happen if that fever got too high, his body was twitching and jerking anticipating the seizure that, thankfully, never came. (This was within the last year).


I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for making sure there was no permanent damage from that. Some may say "oh, people have those all the time" but honestly, there is nothing like it. I hope to never have to feel like that again and give sympathy to anyone who has loved ones deal with seizures... ugh. I am definitely blessed!

You know you are a preemie mom when...

Tired of me yet? I found this recently and really got a giggle out of it so had to post...

You Know You are the Parent of a Preemie When...

You use strange initials (C-PAP, CCs, NICU, NG) when discussing your child.

You actually remember how many CCs make up an ounce.

You count his weight in grams.

The skin on your hands is peeling from washing so often!

You hesitate when someone asks his/her age, but you know exactly how much he/she weighs!

The answer to "How old is your baby?" is a story 30 minutes long!

When someone asks his birthday, you reply, “Which one?”

You start to understand some of the things they say on ER!

You turn into Kung-Fu Mom when someone tries to touch your baby.

You attempt to measure just how much spit-up he/she just had before you clean it up!

You know how much he weighs before putting him on the scale at the doctor's office

You cry at Maternity Ward and get mad at Baby Story.

You see a 7lb newborn and say "Wow! She's so BIG!"

Your baby is months old before he can even go to the mall.

When some says how tiny your baby is, you argue that he is huge -- and to demonstrate, you whip out pictures of him in NICU.

You do a health check on people when they come to your house to visit .

You make people wash their hands before going near your child.

You want to scream when someone says that she just wants to have this baby now - at week 28, 32, or 34.

You are so amazed when someone actually tells you your baby is big for his age!

You tried to find a place to buy newborn size diapers in bulk.

You called half your relatives when the baby grew out of their first pair of pajamas!

You never take your child for granted.

You worry about RSV season and it is still weeks away… You know what “RSV” stands for.

You donate his/her tiny clothes to the NICU and marvel that they seem so small - when they were too darn large!

Your son gets a simple cold and her doc sees her within the hour!

People say, "He CAN'T be __ old...he's too little!"

It has taken them 5 months to grow INTO newborn clothes!

You pick up 2 pounds of ground beef and think that your baby was born at the same weight

You buy "Purell" in bulk

You can stare at your baby for hours when he sleeps

Beginner Quilter

Just wanted to share a little hobby of mine, I've only ever made three quilts. I have made one for each of my kids. I don't use a template, it's pretty basic, but I have a fairy/flower baby quilt for Ariana:

A dragon/knights quilt for Alex (I made the trim look like dragon scales, or so was the plan)

Camden's is a jungle theme. I added the trim to be a girraffe's mane but it looks more cowboy. I love to add trims that are unique...

oops, off to find a photo of Camden's!

Random Musings

Well recently I've been thinking of all the odd/absurd/crazy comments that I get from people so I thought I'd make a list to show people how *nuts* others can be. And no, I didn't make any of these up:

• "Wow, is that a *real* baby? I thought it was a doll!" (Yes, Alex really was that small!)
• "How old is he?" followed by bulging eyes and jaws hitting the floor... then "he's so small!" (duh)
• "Are they twins?"
• "Wow, you have your hands full!" (DUH!)
• "Aww, look at those beautiful blue eyes..." (ironically they all have the same eyes but they usually are referring to the baby)
• "Oh my gosh, your kids are beautiful!" (This makes me laugh because it's said in a very surprised tone...)
• "So Alex must be skinny like his daddy right?" (yes because his mother is apparently a cow... by the way I was scrawny until Ariana was born...)

"Are they twins" (yes, I know that was already on there but let me explain... they ask this and then it depends on which I go with. Usually I say no, just really close in age... this is followed by several remarks including:

• "Well I was going to say you had your hands full but..." implying that having two close in age is NOTHING like having twins despite not knowing our situation
• "Aww... well they're still cute!"
• "Oh okay..." with a dissapointed sigh... oddly enough my kids aren't nearly as cool anymore! It's really a riot...

Sometimes when I am feeling grumpy I say yes, they are twins. (Evil but hey, my choice to lie to people and I rarely do it). Then I get

• "How did you get pregnant with them" (makes me want to fall over laughing but you'd be surprised how often multiples parents get that, ask my friend Mindy who had triplets and therefore must need to share every moment of how she got pregnant... so rude! Not everyone gets asked that so why them? I guess we should ask normally fertile people how babies are made to get them to shut up!) I can't be too rude because, after all, I am lying..
• "Wow, you are so busy!" Gee, hadn't dawned on me.
• "They look so much alike!" (roflol...)

Not many comments on that one because, like I said, that rarely happens where I lie about it. It's gotten less lately and I get more people saying "I thought she was older" when they find out Alex is in fact the big brother. She is taller than him after all now.

The all time winner of the giant DUH award is a tie though (and once again I am NOT making these up!)

"So would he have had the cleft palate if he wasn't born premature?"

(I had to try really hard to not die laughing because this woman was totally sincere and meant it... last time I checked the cleft was formed at 7 weeks of pregnancy or so and not something that is affected that late in the game. If it was more babies would be born with clefts and surgery would not be necessary).

"If he wasn't born premature would they still have been twins?"

Oh gosh don't get me started... if that was the case that was the longest pregnancy *ever!*

So that is a glimpse into the insanity I deal with when going to a store with my kids. lol.

Just playing around

Just playing with my paint shop pro program (which is nothing new, I'm on that thing every day!) and thought I'd see what features it had for playing with photos. This new version is so cool! Had to share what I did... nothing much with the first two, just brightening them and making a beautiful photo stand out even more. The third I was just playing around...

Bathtime forCamden

Camden and mommy goofing around

In other news the kids are doing well with potty training. Both pee on a regular basis although we have to take them and ask them to go every 30 minutes or so.... They both still wet their pants a lot too but that's because they are learning. I look forward to getting this all done with! Well I'd better wrap this up.

Potty Time

This is what I have been looking at *all day* today. Potty training is back in full force (again) at our house and this time I feel really good about it. As some of you may know Alex just turned 4 and Ariana is almost 3, neither is potty trained and quite frankly 3 in diapers is a lot for anyone to afford let alone change! I have taken the plunge for the millionth time it feels into potty training, we've started and stopped many times these last several months by the way but only because they were feeling pushed. I've had enough so today we told them the diapers were all gone and that they have to wear underwear/panties like big kids because mommy and daddy know they can do it.

Well today we've made some progress, Alex is learning that wet undies is an uncomfortable feeling and has actually peed many times for me! (Granted this also involved wetting his pants and *then* running to the bathroom but hey, he peed on the potty so I'll take it!!!) Ariana is doing really well also and only wets a little before we make it to the potty. I'm definitely relieved to make any progress at this point and am praying that this works more quickly than not. I can't do this much laundry every day, holy cow! lol.

And for those wondering how we potty train two at once we have the royal throne above and a Dora potty seat on the actual toilet just so neither of them wets their pants waiting for the other to be done. Whew!