Falling into Winter

Joseph and I went out in the snow one recent morning. He had the best time and proved to me that a stick is still the best toy. =)

Here is Anna enjoying our huge piles of leaves. We could not believe how many leaves fell in our yard! What a beautiful time of year. Over way too soon.

Look who was in the hospital

Our little Eryn (5yrs) was in the hospital this week. She has been struggling for a long time with bladder problems and things have escalated recently. After constant daytime wetting, painful urination and a constantly overfilled bladder, we took her in again to see her urologist. About four weeks ago we started the first of a handful of tests to see why her bladder can't seem to empty. Through those tests we found out that her kidney's were not looking good.

So. . . the night before a urology appointment (Tuesday night) we found that she was having very bloody stool. We were concerned and called an on-call urologist and he thought we should wait until our regular appointment the following day. That morning the dr. decided it would be best to hold off on our regular appointment and send her directly to the emergency room. There in the ER we stayed the entire day running various tests and watching her bladder empty with a catheter (in large amounts). They almost sent her home twice, but luckily we didn't go before we found out that she was having high blood pressure, anemia and she was also beginning to become dehydrated from the loss of all of that fluid. We saw a kidney specialist there who was very concerned and believed that she might have kidney disease. So it was decided to place her in the hospital to help resolve her kidney issues.

After two days of keeping her bladder emptied her blood pressure went down, her blood levels improved and she seemed to feel better all around. The kidney specialist was very pleased and seems slightly more hopeful about her possible chronic kidney problems. We still have not resolved her bloody stool and have a long way to go dealing with her bladder problems, but we feel grateful to be finally getting the help and attention that Eryn has really needed for quite some time.

I am trying not to feel totally overwhelmed by the number of dr. appts I have to go to this month. Life is crazy for our family, but the blessings are all around us. Eryn received a priesthood blessing in the hospital that we feel really helped her health improve. And we have such a loving and supportive family and ward around us to support and help. I hope that this wasn't too much information. =)

Halloween 2009

Halloween was really nice this year. The weather was cold, but not bad. We got together with Emily's family, Becca and my parents. I decided to close up my house and give out treats at Emily's. She was giving out full-size candy bars!!! Needless to say, my little smarties were the backups. =) It is really nice to live close to family, it makes every holiday more special.


Lily struggles with swallowing textured foods, but one of the things she can eat well are puffy cheetos!! So that was her halloween treat.

Lily was a chicken for her first Halloween. She is pictured here with one of our favorite people. This sister in our relief society takes Lily once a week to give me a break. She was definitely inspired to offer me this service because it has been invaluable to me. Her support has given me an opportunity to focus on my other children and to do other things I normally could not do with Lily. Right now I use the time to volunteer in Eryn's class.

I also appreciate the loving support and care she gives to Lily. Lily loves her and gets very excited when we walk up to her door. What a great blessing!


Emily's kids were all Star Wars characters. Don't you love the Princess Leia hair?? The two-year olds especially loved the trick-or-treating. They started to run from door to door once they caught on to the whole candy thing. =)


This is the best pic of Anna's costume. We worked pretty hard to put it all together. I got the idea for this "Asian Princess" from familyfun.com. The hair is made of panty hose and bubble wrap.

Welcome Fall

Autumn has arrived and I am loving the changing colors all around us. Joel and I took the kids along with Aunt Becca for a drive around the Alpine Loop to see all of the pretty leaves. We ended the drive at Sundance and decided to take the ski lift for a fun ride and a better view of the beautiful setting. I think that this is going to be my favorite season. I do reserve the right to change my mind, though after all of the leaves fall off of the 11 trees around our house. =)



Becca and Anna rode on another bench in front of us.

Rolling Over is Hard Work!

I just wanted to post this video along with the one in the previous post. It shows how hard she has had to work to be able to roll over with out the help of her legs. It is so cute how proud she is of herself at the end of this clip. Enjoy.

Lily Rolls Over

Lily got her foot brace removed in the beginning of August. Now she just has to wear it at night. As soon as the brace came off she started to roll over from her stomach to her back. We have been working with her in physical therapy on rolling over for quite a while. So we are so proud of her big milestone. She amazes us all with her happy nature and her strength.

Summer Visitors

These are some of Betsy's girls sandwiched in the middle of my kids. They are gorgeous. Below is Elli, Betsy's oldest, holding Lily. Elli loved holding her and spending time with her.


We had a lot of fun this summer with visiting family. Early in the summer my brother Mike and his family came. I don't think I took any pictures of that visit. Joel's cousin Mikki''s family came as well. Then Joel's parents came on their way to and from Scotland. We love having them and always wish that they could stay longer. Hawaii feels very far away for parents/grandparents to be. Finally at the end of the summer we had Betsy's family. She has five girls, so it was just one big girl party. It is great to be living in a place with space for visitors. We hope to have more in the future!

A New Niece

She already looks so different from this picture. But isn't she adorable?


It was like 3am in this picture and the pic was taken after the cream was put in her eyes. So she is a little shiny looking. =)

I got to witness the birth of my new niece (born to Emily) this summer. My mom and I felt so blessed to be a part of this event which was extremely peaceful and sweet. We look forward to getting to know this cute little girl. We are also very pleased that Lily will have a girl cousin so close in age.

First Day of School

The girls are back in school as of a few weeks ago. Anna is in 2nd grade and Eryn is my kindergartener. Both are loving school so far and doing well.

Before sending Eryn off to kindergarten I took the opportunity to take her out on a little date. It was such a great experience being one-on-one with my 2nd child with no distractions. We bought some school clothes and a backpack. Then we went out to dinner. Now every time we pass Chilli's restaurant she reminds me that we went there together and that she loves that place. I need to take more opportunities to be one-on-one with my kids. It is always memorable and worthwhile.

Lily

This is an unusual moment with her shoes and brace off. She wears that thing all day long and only gets to take it off for bath time. I thought I would post this to show how great her feet look. They are nice and flat and positioned very well. She gets to stop wearing the brace all day at the end of the month. We are looking forward to it, although we have really gotten used to dealing with it.


Lily has finally started trying some baby food. She loves it all so far. She is sitting in her little bumbo chair up to the table here. I just love how only her nose and up are showing. Such a cutie.


Always hanging out with her brother and sisters close by for entertainment and fun. That boppy pillow has turned out to be a great tool for physical therapy and just for a comfortable way to elevate her head a little.


This Bumbo chair is going to be her good friend for a while, I think. It really supports her upper body very well, so that she can sit upright and enjoy that position for quite a while. Hopefully when she is older she will be strong enough to sit up on her own with her hands as help to prop her up.

Dr. visits have finally slowed down and we are just enjoying our little girl. She is a happy, patient, sweet soul.