The Cards We're Dealt.

Night 5 & 6

2012-01-31T12:13:00.000-08:00

Well, sorry I have not updated the posts recently. Night 5 and 6 were between -10 and -16. Sleep was good but as always woke up sore.

Then a crazy thing happened. L, explained there were bennefits of sleeping inside as well and I kind of got side tracked and started sleeping inside again.

I weighed the pros and cons of each sleeping arrangments and "inside" won, for the time being......

Other than that, not much happening around here. We are all getting sick of winter, it is either below zero (which stinks and no one wants to go outside), or when it gets above zero it starts snowing.

I tried to cut some trees down, figured I would lay down about a 1/2 acre, but after about 6-8 trees I was exhausted. I was up to my waist in snow and couldn't move. When a tree would not fall the direction I wanted it to, I realized I couldn't move out of the way very fast. So maturity is sneaking up on me and I decided to wait till either the snow melts or blows away.

Speaking of maturity, have you seen all the gray hairs on top of my head recently, Well you missed your opportunity, cause I'm gonna shave em off again. Anyways it's not old age, just high mileage.....

Someone recently asked me why I shave my head, they said I looked mean and grumpy.......

I'm not sure they knew me very well. Maybe I like the mean and grumpy look.

3 more months of winter..............

Sleep Study Continued

2012-01-03T16:00:00.001-08:00

NIGHT #3 - -8 below zero, sleeping with a pillow in the bag with me, the pillow seems to take up more space and keeps the bag warmer with less cold spots. slept like a baby, only 6 hours (couldn't hold it any longer), not sure if I mentioned this before but I am using a -25 sleeping bag, on a cot, in the open wood shed (roof, no walls except one side against the stack of wood as a wind break). One big difference is that when I wake up in the morning, although I am stiff and usually a little sore, I feel I have much more energy.

Lesson learned, if you need to lighten the load (#1) don't waste your energy trying to hold it till morning it's much better to just get out of bed and hurry back which brings me to a question, why do you haft to go pee more when your outside sleeping in the cold? In researching why I learned that when your in cold weather a change occurs. Typically most of us spend most of our time in climate controlled homes/buildings/cars and as such our bodies are usually producing sweat at varying levels, in order to control the body temperature. When you leave that climate controlled environment for an environment that is colder where your main heat source is your body, then you almost completely stop sweating, since you are now focused on heat production and preservation. Additionally being exposed to the cold causes your blood vessels to constrict and thus less blood flow to the skin surface. Cause and effect, the effect of not sweating and less blood flow is an increasing the blood pressure and more fluid in the body (usually expelled through sweat and evaporation). Thus you need to dispose of the fluid in the form of urine.

NIGHT #4 -14.9 below zero when I woke up. Very deep sleep. Very cold night, felt warm in the sleeping bag. I am thoroughly impressed with the sleeping bag. I am not sure how they determine the rating on sleeping bags but even without a tent this sleeping bag kept me very warm and not at all uncomfortable in terms of temperature.

How to De-Wuss-ify yourself

2011-12-30T10:17:00.000-08:00

J- I just finished reading about the Shackleton Expedition to the South Pole. If you are not familiar with this expedition I would suggest you read one of the many books about it. Basically it began around 1915, an expedition attempt to reach the south pole. Unfortunately the expedition got stuck in ice and over the course of a few months their boat was crushed and sank by the ice flows. The crew then went on to survive almost a year and a half floating on ice flows, through the Antarctic winter in sub zero temperatures with little more than the wool clothes on their backs and reindeer hide sleeping bags. They survived on what few rations they were able to save and a diet of penguins and sea lions. They eventually had to take to the water as their ice began melting into the sea the following summer. They crossed hundreds of miles in open life boats in the worst ocean in the world. They landed on a remote uninhabited island of rock and ice where most of the crew remained while 6 men boarded one life boat and continued 800 more miles crossing the Antarctic ocean finally reaching a Whaling station where they organized and later rescued the rest of the party.

So over the last few years I have come to slowly slip into the pit of being a Wuss. For those of you who do not know, a "Wuss" as I see it is a weak, lazy, or cowardly person. You see in the last 6 years or so I have been focused on things like building a house (now 2), work (the never ending, go so you can get a paycheck kind of work), family medical issues, and general laziness(not that the first 3 items listed are not important). In fact even though we have chosen for personal reasons not to have television/cable in our home, I somehow convinced L to let me buy a flat screen TV which I told her would be great for SKYPE but really it was for the MOVIES I like to watch on almost a daily basis.

Well to get to the point, a good friend called me last week inviting me to go dig ice caves and go camping in them. I declined the invitation knowing with the holidays I could not get time off work. I declined saying I wanted to but couldn't, due to my work schedule. As I got off the phone I asked myself if that was true, not the work part but the "wanted to but" part, and I took comfort in thinking about my warm bed and flat screen TV (for SKYPE right?).

It was at this point I realized I had hit the bottom of the Wuss Pit. 6 years ago this was not the case, a person would haft to be careful what they invited me to do.

So my decision came slowly, I have not been sleeping well for the last couple years. Not-so-much insomnia just never seeming to get enough sleep, and always waking up tired and sore. I asked myself, J when and where have you had the best sleep of your life? To myself I replied, while camping duh! For some unknown reason regardless of the sleeping conditions, when I go camping I sleep better than anywhere else. This does not mean I don"t wake up sore while camping, but I cannot remember a time I went camping and at least didn't sleep well.

Why is this? Any Ideas? Why is sleep that much better when your camping?

So I decided to give it a try and experiment. Also this would serve to De-Wuss-ify myself.

This morning I woke up to -8 F, my second night sleeping outside.

Night 1 - 6 hours, sleep woke up to -2 degrees F, sleep was good, slightly sore muscles/stiff no more stiffness than sleeping in the house in bed. Need face mask or cover for head, thick frost built up around head of sleeping bag. Didn't know we had SO much traffic in our dead end neighborhood late at night.

Night 2 - 8 hours sleep woke up to -8 degrees F, Sleep good, again stiff and a little sore, probably because I try not to move all night cause when I do I discover new parts of the sleeping bag not kept warm by my body heat. Found a use for old baby blankets! used one to cover the head opening to my sleeping bag, this worked well tempering the air for ease of breathing, only down side, the baby blanket gets heavy as frost condensed from my breath, the blanket then drips, only a few drops, but very cold drops on my face.

Not sure how long I want to keep this up. I believe the better sleep derives from cool crisp clean air, and maybe the body focuses on keeping warm and may allow a deeper sleep(better sleep) so it can focus on just staying warm. Not-Sure, I believe more experimentation is necessary, furthermore, I need to know if it is just the "new bed phenomenon". To rule the "new bed phenomenon" out I need to do it a while longer until the sleeping conditions are not "new".

I am welcome to suggestions or theories. At this point the sleep is nice.

Just to clarify for those who might have seen how long this post was and skipped parts, essential parts required to understand the main plot......

L & J are not having marital problems, L thinks J is crazy but L knew this when she married J and therefore says she will support J in this sleep study experiment.

Catch Up

2011-11-10T12:49:00.001-08:00

Our Computer has been on the fritz, so now I'm playing catch up, four posts in one day :)

And I have been really bad about taking photos of the new house as everything goes up... so here, after it's all framed up...

The dinning room... taken from the door into the house via the garage

And the kitchen...

And the out side look...
with out the main entry way
which includes a nice deck and covered porch :)

....to be continued as windows, doors, and such are installed.

Henry

2011-11-10T12:31:00.000-08:00

A quiet Sunday afternoon

Henry fell asleep on the couch..

..in a some what standing laying position. I think he was either trying to fight off sleep or couldn't decide which position would be most comfortable.

Crazy kid!

Lydia!

2011-11-10T12:24:00.000-08:00

Can't get enough of this beautiful girl!

She can make me smile even when I'm in the worst mood!

Halloween

2011-11-10T11:28:00.000-08:00

We carved pumpkins for Family Home Evening a week before Halloween. We were going to have the kids carve one, but they decided to pick the picture and had Mom and Dad carve it out. We had tons of fun!

Then we roasted all the pumpkin seeds, YUMMY!

She's such a beautiful girl!

And our other precious little lady bug....

didn't seem to mind one bit wearing her costume.

We went to E's classroom for the Halloween party

These two boys are such good buds!

Eating some ice cream and watching Charlie Brown.

It was pretty low key compared to other classrooms, but I LOVED it.

E and her friend Spider Man!

To begin the month E wanted to be a princess for Halloween, so at an early Halloween party she dressed up as a princess. For school we created the "ballerina" costume. That night she wore kitty Cat ears and orange leggings with the ballerina outfit. Thus she was a witchy ballerina kitty cat. So easy to please. Love this girl!

There was a parade of costumes at noon and we got to see all the awesome creations. My all time favorite, which I tried to get a pic of but couldn't do it fast enough, was a little girl dressed up like a paper doll. It was sooo cute. Tabs on the dress and everything.

Hope you all had a fun Halloween!

2011-10-17T13:38:00.000-07:00

My first attempt at making Mom's bread

Only mistake I made was putting one loaf in the rubber pan... burned on the bottom.. oops.

And I'm still working on getting the loafs equal sizes.

But the fam loved it! I think we went through six loaves in a week and a half.

Nothing quite like homemade bread and freezer jam!

Signs of Fall

2011-09-26T18:17:00.000-07:00

The air is crisp and smells wonderful! I am surrounded by mostly yellow trees and red bushes, my garden is almost completely harvested and my yard needs raking. All things considered, I do believe it's FALL!

I have adjusted rather well to a house that sits at 65 degrees all day. If it's too cold in the morning I just bake some more zucchini bread. It warms the body and the senses. However, that being said, I finally broke down and had a fire. So cozy and inviting!

Every morning Elizabeth runs across the street to the neighbors to hitch a ride to school. As she's running down the path Henry yells "Bye Elizabeth!" She yells back "Best friends, right?!" Henry responds "yes, I Love you!" And she yells back again that she loves him. It's wonderful!

Leaf piles

Fall isn't complete without them

Some people complain because Alaska doesn't have the "fall" colors that other states boast. And while that may be true I believe that we do get the brilliant reds and oranges and yellows on the ground, not in the trees. So watch your step or you'll miss AK's beautiful fall colors.

Another sign of fall around here, our dear pet Squeaky the Squirrel, who lives in this tree, spent the summer and into fall collecting food from us, food from the trash, and an assortment of yard variety mushrooms. He's been fun to watch, and I do love his abode.

I LOVE Fall in AK!

Grandparents!!!

2011-09-23T17:13:00.000-07:00

So here are some pics from our surprise weekend. It was awesome! Elizabeth cried when I told her it was time for Grandpa and Annie to go. Remedy: "tomorrow is school." No more tears only cheers! Instead of being sad about them leaving she said to me, "It's okay, they had to go back to their mission." She is so proud of her Grandparents being missionaries. We Love you and Miss you two already!

On Friday we played hookie, well Elizabeth did. I had to FORCE her to stay home. She was really upset about missing school and perhaps I should have let her go, however, we only had two days with Grandpa and Granny Annie so I made her sacrifice a little.

Beginning to prefer the back side of the camera. Was NOT excited about getting his picture taken.

Showing off for the grandparents. I am sure she loves wearing headbands!

Mostly we talked, played games and enjoyed family time. Really I should have more pictures of the entire weekend, however, I'm really good at forgetting my camera. Most of these pictures are candid snaps from our family photographer: Henry.

Surprise Visit!!

2011-09-22T10:41:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun weekend! My Brother and his wife were sealed to their baby girl and my Mom and Dad received special permission to be here. The kids were sooooo excited!

Lovable, Huggable, squeezable kids!

2011-09-02T12:49:00.001-07:00

Almost 5 months old! I can not help but smile! She has so much joy to give, what a blessing she is to our family.

This one just got his tonsils out on Wednesday. The Doctor and Anesthesiologist called them "impressive." His adenoids were almost completely blocking the back of his nasal cavity and his tonsils were "kissing," a technical term.
The recommended recovery says for the first day, Liquids. What did Henry want everything! He got popsicles but was really ready to eat. He's been hungry every five minutes since he got his tonsils out. I am pretty sure they were hindering his ability to swallow. He usually doesn't eat very much at all... not anymore, I can't seem to feed him fast enough.
They call in a few prescriptions for you before hand, some Tylenol with codeine and antibiotics. First of all Tylenol and codeine don't do anything to him, he's a little too used to the hard stuff! And secondly it burns his throat so he always says, "Mom my throat hurts I need some medicine, the pink one." (Pink one being antibiotics) What a crazy life he leads!
We have success! We had his tonsils removed because he was having issues snoring and not breathing at night. Wednesday night he slept with out snoring but woke up a few times needing some pain meds. Thursday night he slept wonderfully! I am pretty sure those dark circles under his eyes are going to disappear quickly. And he may start to gain a lot of weight at the rate he's eating! All good things.

While Elizabeth is in school these days Henry impatiently waits for her to come home. It has been an adjustment for him, which has lead him to strongly desire Lydia's mobility and greater qualities as a playmate. When E IS home, they play and play and play!

I just LOVE them!!

Birthday & Parade All in One Day!

2011-09-02T11:48:00.000-07:00

Since Elizabeth's birthday fell on a Monday this year, I decided to celebrate it on the following Saturday. And because it was such a big year, 5 and starting school, I thought I would throw her a big birthday party with friends, cake, games and such. As it turns out I am NOT a birthday party expert, I am on the opposite end of the spectrum. I am truly impressed by my neighbor and her ability to throw multiple parties (some including 30 children) and have them turn out wonderfully! So while it was fun, it may be a while before I throw her another party, unless I solicit some help the next go round.

On top of a birthday party, we had the Alaska State Fair parade in the morning on Saturday. Such fun! I truly believed there would be multiple melt downs by the end of the day, however, my dear Elizabeth just had a wonderful day!

Brad & Madilyn! I can't get enough of her, she's too cute for words!!!

Getting extra time with Auntie Stephanie. I can't believe how fast this little red head is growing! She brings me such joy... even during moments of pure frustration with my other kids, all I have to do is look at her and she warms my heart.

Place candy here...(he was so adorable everyone gave him extra!)

Then seal it off so no one can snatch my candy...

Okay too long of a break in the parade, whats in here anyways...

It was LOTS of fun! I love parades not only for the goodies, but for the time we have to spend with family! I love this tradition and I hope it never stops!!!

Okay here are some birthday pics.

We began with coloring and painting some wooden dolls

Then we had games outside, it was cold so we didn't stay outside long. And the games weren't very successful... but they seemed to have fun. (Most of them were more interested in the wood pile, climbing it, and the tire swing in the woods)

Then after some "cake walk/prize walk" we ate cake and opened presents.

I love how excited everyone gets and their great desire to help in the present opening phase.
She went through everything so fast I wasn't sure what she got or where it came from.. well not so true, but she did love all her gifts and was sooo excited!

And here are some finished products (wooden dolls decorated at the beginning) Those girls are so cute!!

S0 next time I'll solicit more help and I'll definitely have a larger house, or location where everyone can run around like wild Indians! When the next one will occur... I don't know.. give me a few years to recoup from this one.

School!

2011-08-24T15:11:00.000-07:00

For the next however many years... my life will revolve around the school schedule...no more weekend trips in the middle of the week! No more lazily enjoying the day...life is structured once more. I was having a bitter sweet morning, watching this sweet girl get ready for her first day. I am excited for her to begin school, the learning, playing and making new friends. But I am wondering to myself, did I really take the time to enjoy having her around all the time? Did I teach her enough... well no!... but I guess I can still work on that. E is more than ready to be in school, she LOVES having friends and she loves learning (just not when Mom is the teacher!). I guess I'm realizing that even though most days I wish she would "grow up a little" it happened all too fast. I am not going to be there for the fun moments when she learns something new, or discovers she's really good at something. Separation issues for poor ol' Mom. hahaha
I'm waiting anxiously to hear how her day went.

After going through a million and one outfits she was determined to wear this. It was actually the first choice, I thought I would talk her into something different, but she was not having it! She really wanted to wear one of the necklaces Laci gave her for a birthday present.

It was a quiet morning with just Elizabeth and I, reading and getting ready.

Couldn't leave without saying good bye to Henry! He SOOO loves his big sister. He's anxiously waiting for her to come home too!!

She didn't even notice I was there anymore. Found the coat hanger, put her stuff away, said hello to the teacher and sat down to color with the other kids. I wish I could just sit in the class and watch her excitement! I had to get her attention to tell her I was leaving... more for me than her... but what can I say?!

5 years

2011-08-23T16:31:00.000-07:00

My memory usually is pretty good, however, when it comes to Elizabeth, pictures are necessary. Not, mind you, because I forget what she looked like, but because on hectic days I seem to forget the great JOY she has brought into my life. These are just a handful of my favorites. She was born a couple days early and has been RACING through life at full speed. She started walking/running with my help at the age of 5months, walking on her own at 7 months, running soon after, riding her bike at age 4 and would really like to be driving by now!

Her first words were apple, cookie, please and thank you. She was the sweetest little thing! I never had to tell her to say "please" or "thank you." And she LOVED her baby dolls.

This one is for Hillary, she looks so much like her cousin in this picture! You can't really see it, but there was a mirror in front of her and she would sit and make faces at herself for hours! And yes, today she is still very much infatuated with her reflection.

Yeah I know, looks crazy right?! She was 8 months old.
I'm not sure there has ever been a day in her life that she hasn't been trying to HURRY and learn something.

She has always managed to surprise me with her secret abilities. On the way to Grandma's house one day I accidentally left a glad Tupperware container on her lap, that happened to be full of cookies. In the few minutes it took to get to Grandma's she had opened the container and eaten a few cookies... and covered herself in CHOCOLATE!

She was so proud of herself and I couldn't stop laughing.
Hangin Out with Uncle Jake. So sweet and fun and adorable. There are times that she fills my heart with joy! I guess that's what having kids is about... some days are good and some are tough, but truly the joy outweighs the hard days... That's what the pictures help me remember!

And now she's 5, starting kindergarten and COMPLETELY independent. I asked her what she wanted for breakfast on her birthday and she said "MOM! I can have whatever I want, sorry but I can." I forgot that the age of 5 was the age of Independence. I have so much to learn. :) I have thoroughly enjoyed all five years. They haven't been easy on her, but she has taken everything in stride and grown into a strong and confident girl! She has so much love to give and I am so blessed to be her Mom. I am very curious to see what the teenage years hold!! I know I'll be eating my words soon enough.

Law of the Harvest

2011-08-19T14:52:00.000-07:00

"While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." Gen. 8:22

"The harvest truly is plenteous"! Matt 9:37

This is where my garden & greenhouse began, remember how GREEN it is when the leaves finally come in! And a few months later this is what we have received from our "plenteous harvest."

Cucumbers never tasted so good!

Some heirloom tomatoes, these are called Striped Roman's and are definitely my FAVORITE!

And these are called Purple Mauri's (I believe)

This one is called Pink Accordion, so far I haven't seen the "pink" but isn't it a crazy lookin' tomato?!

And here is my garden today! Growing in abundance.

We have potatoes, peas, lettuce (a few varieties), spinach, swish chard, arugula (which I LOVE), cabbage (red & green) radishes, carrots, celery, zucchini, and green beans.

Zucchini!

Not as many plants as last year, but still LOTS!

Which leads to....

Zucchini Relish! YUM! Thanks to Aunt Di for the recipe!

Two Years!!!

2011-08-03T07:44:00.000-07:00

Two Years ago today Henry had his Bone Marrow Transplant.
We Celebrated with Red Velvet cupcakes, a bit of morbid humor :D

It was quite a day. We were disheartened by the fact that we were facing our "last resort" to rid his body of the LCH. We lost the first donor, but ended up with a really good "cord blood" donor. The room truly smelled like creamed corn, while you may think that's not bad... it was!

A day or two after transplant, our super hero was hangin on!
Playing with the doc's tools and tape to entertain himself.

By the end of this day things started to get tougher.

His calming "blow-by" (providing the needed oxygen because his little lungs couldn't get enough on their own)

I won't post any more pics from transplant days because they break my heart. (You can view them in the blog aechives) It's a bitter sweet bunch of memories; hard for me to see because of the pain he had to endure and yet they bring me joy because he made it through.
Some days I take for granted that he's a "normal" healthy kid.

We still struggle with smaller issues but NOTHING compared to what we've already been through.

Love you Henry!

Happy Transplant Day!!

Alaska the beautiful!

2011-07-22T20:19:00.000-07:00

The beautiful view! I love climbing the butte.

I have been dying to go climb Lazy this summer, any one want to go with me?! Guess I could just suck it up and go by myself. It's calling to me.. every time I drive down the mountain.

This time Henry hiked the whole thing himself!

He didn't really have a choice I was carrying Lydia and the backpack. He followed Elizabeth, up all the crazy rock parts with out a problem and really loved it.

He was so excited and proud of himself.

THE TOP

And Lydia is beginning to enjoy the Johnny Jumper...she's growing too fast!
She is acting much like Elizabeth did when she was little. She would scream every time I put her down. Unless I was helping her stand and walk she would scream. (Elizabeth started walking at 7 months! I'm hoping Lydia takes her time! hahaha)

Sick Days?!

2011-07-18T12:55:00.000-07:00

Pink eye, runny nose, gross goop from ears...cough... etc. etc. etc.!!!!

And that's the fun we're having in this house. Don't be too jealous!

Can't believe how big she is getting. Mostly she cries if she isn't being fed, or sleeping or being held... pretty much ALL the time.

Not her fault though, she's got a heat rash, runny nose, upset tummy and not enough mommy time. She needs her Auntie to come and hold her all day!

And that's what's happening in our household these days.

Scriptures & Prayer

2011-07-16T23:33:00.000-07:00

My dear sweet children remind me every night before bed that it's time for "scriptures and prayer." In our house we are reading the Book of Mormon, from beginning to end. We are currently beginning the book of 2 Nephi. Those of you familiar with the Book of Mormon will realize we're not very far. Some nights are more productive than others.
Tonight we read the words of Lehi, a prophet that lived in Jerusalem. He warned the people to change there ways or the city would be destroyed. The people wouldn't listen, so the Lord told Lehi to take his family away to the wilderness... from there they traveled by boat, a boat that Nephi built with direction from the Lord, to the promised land(the Americas). Now Lehi is getting old and knows his days are few, and these are the words he speaks to his children:
"Awake! and arise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling parent, whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent grave, from whence no traveler can return; a few more days and I go the way of all the earth.
But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.
And I desire that ye should remember to observe the statutes and the judgments of he Lord; behold, this hath been the anxiety of my soul from the beginning...
Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence.
And now that my soul might have joy in you, and that my heart might leave this world with gladness because of you, that I might not be brought down with grief and sorrow to the grave, arise from the dust, my sons , and be men, and be determined in one mind and in one heart, united in all things..."
My daughter is only 4, however she acts like a 14 year old. We battle back and forth about "obedience." If Mom says it, just do it. Perhaps I have unrealistic expectations, I do recall my own youth and my inability to "just do" what Mom said. Although afterwards I was always blindingly aware that my Mom had been right. At some point I was supposed to "learn" my lesson; I was supposed to finally learn to trust my Mom and "just do" what she said. I don't think that ever happened. I am pretty thick headed because it takes me a LONG time to "learn my lesson." My past would have been a lot different had I listened to my Mother! Not because Mom is always right, but because she was attempting to teach me a greater lesson. She was trying to teach me what Lehi was trying to teach his sons. Obey the Lord and you'll be happy, you'll prosper. Don't live your life realizing, after you've already made the wrong choice that the Lord was right. At some point in our lives we have to learn to trust in the Lord, trust that he knows more than we do, he can see the outcome of our choices, he knows us better than we do and if he says do it, we should just do it. I find myself being compared to my 4 year old daily. The Lord is trying to teach me that I too should listen and obey. When the Lord tells me to do something I should "just do it!" And yet I fail to do it. I expect so much from my daughter and my son, and yet I am unable to accomplish the same thing.
So perhaps my running and never accomplishing anything is my own inability to learn and grow, and my fear that my daughter won't learn what I'm trying to teach her. There is a great responsibility as parents to teach our children what they need to know, so when they are left on their own, they will "arise from the dust...and be determined..." to do what is right. I am not a great Mother, I'm still learning and figuring out what works, but I do know that ultimately the anxiety of my soul is as Lehi said, that they (my children) will remember to follow the Lord, that they will trust Him and "just do" what he says. I know there is happiness in doing what's right. I know that we can trust the Lord and I know that as we do He will bless us with great joy and prosperity. And before I leave this world I pray that my daughter will know it as well, that she will be happier in her own life because she has learned the greater lesson.

Auntie Robyn!

2011-07-10T15:55:00.001-07:00

Robyn came to visit in June for a week, and we had so much fun!

The kids were so excited that she came all the way from "HonK Honk" to see us. The argued about who's room she would stay in. (We decided to give her Henry's room so she wouldn't have to climb the ladder.) I'm pretty sure she was grateful for that.

While Robyn was here we took her out in the Bronco to Jim Creek. She about had a heart attack, not really something she "enjoyed" well driving out there and up and down the dunes. What we did enjoy was playing in the "sand/silt".

If you look closely that's Elizabeth sliding down on her stomach. She wore "sand leggings" most of the day.
And back up for more!
It took Henry a while to get into it... but he had so much fun!
We ran into friends out there and the kids had a blast!

I LOVE the Dunes
Alaska's "beach"

I cannot explain why I get so excited, but I do! I love it! So much fun.

I understand that I look silly.. but it was so fun, I even ended up falling on my face and rolling backwards down the hill for a while. haha Can we say "sand in the pants!"

Lydia really Loves her Auntie!
Now Lydia cries when we put her down, Robyn spoiled her!
I was trying to catch them sleeping and scared the jeepers out of Robyn... but she was a good sport and pretended to sleep while I took another one.

I LOVE my sister so much! I miss her and although she's having fun in Hong Kong I secretly hope she comes back to AK to stay. Although she would freeze to death... I still hope she comes back. Henry prayers for her every time it's his turn to pray. :) We look forward to the next visit from Auntie Robyn! Sending Hugs your way Robyn.

Colony Days Again!

2011-07-10T15:24:00.000-07:00

I feel as if I just posted last years pictures of Colony Days. Time is flying by so quickly. For a few years time didn't seem to exist, the world went on while we sat in a hospital room trying to think of something other than time. Now we seem to be making up for lost time, and enjoying every minute of it.

Elizabeth remembered last years carnival and was so excited for this years fun!

It was Henry's first, and they both thoroughly enjoyed it as you will see from the pictures.

Both kids were so excited to ride the horses. They have farm/cowboy in their blood. :)

"What is that smell?"

I Love this picture of Elizabeth!

There were little holes in the side of the blow up room, I stuck my camera in (about knee height) and snapped this. Turned out awesome!

The parade... Henry says, Mom look a camel!

Yes my children are well cultured! LOL

We had so much fun with family! Home town parades are the best.

Thanks to all you "parade makers" that took time to hand out candy and make the parade so much fun!

Tractor Fun

2011-05-16T11:35:00.001-07:00

So as many of you know, last year Henry was able to go visit Grandpa in Idaho and actually drive the big tractor. It was the highlight of his year I think! haha He talks about it all the time, and his favorite book is of course a farmer book. So we thought Henry would LOVE to ride on the mini John Deere rototiller with Daddy.

He seemed to be really excited about it. However he soon realized that riding this tractor had some serious differences. Grandpa's tractor is enclosed, and there is a seat just for Henry. And M&M's to snack on while driving. Grandpa's was not so loud either. Turns out he's a bit spoiled because of Grandpa's really awesome tractor... and this one wasn't as enjoyable. In fact after a few rounds of the garden area he was falling asleep and or fussing because he wanted off. :) Guess buying a small tractor isn't gonna work here... we have to get the GPS, enclosed cab, REAL DEAL in order to appease our son. Thanks Gramps!

Elizabeth on the other hand really enjoyed it... she was making sure Daddy was keeping it straight. Although Elizabeth also got to ride with Grandpa, she didn't seem to mind the "small" time Deere. It was a fun afternoon.

We live in AK not ID but I'm thinking both our kids might turn out to be "cowboys"! Maybe I should start looking for some cowgirl boots. She would love it. Although she's pretty attached to her rubber boots. Just like her Mama.

I have pics of the garden area, once I get all the rows done, and ready I'll do a before and after of our garden/mini farm?! (Rows are about 100 ft. long and there's about 10-12 of them. :) I'm excited, I think. Lots of canning this fall and awesome veggie dinners this summer.

Sunny Day Fun

2011-05-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

They really are the best of friends most times.

We went walking the other day and hit up our favorite spots.

The "Moose" Park

And the Train...

this pic is for Auntie Robyn

(She painted the No. 5)

Can't wait to see you!

ALL ABOARD!!!

Related Maybe?!

2011-05-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

GOING....

GONE!

Mothers Day

2011-05-08T19:50:00.000-07:00

My beautiful three!

Oh how I love them. Although every day we struggle and have our ups and downs, I thoroughly enjoy being their mommy. They teach me far more than I have been able to teach them. She scares me to death when she holds her and picks her up, but she SO loves to be a big sister, to hold her baby and cuddle her.

Me and My girl

Can't get enough of that smile!

I am so grateful for my wonderful Mother who sacrificed so much for our family. She always went with out so we could have what we needed. She never gave up on me, regardless of my choices, she was always there teaching me and helping back to where I needed to be. Showing me that there was a Savior who loved me and was waiting with open arms. I DO call my mothers name blessed! I hope to be just like her some day... crazy and all! (LOVE YOU MOM!)

SUNSHINE!

2011-05-03T17:36:00.000-07:00

We have been out enjoying the beautiful sunshine every moment we can!

Our favorite thing to do (besides sitting on my deck soaking up the sun)

is running/riding bikes to the park.

I run and push Henry and Lydia in the stroller

(Henry needs a bike! I need to get back into shape!)

And Elizabeth cruises on her bike.

(Soon to be a two wheelin' fool...hopefully)

Always our first destination is the A-Moosement Park

Henry thinks it's oh so funny to kick mommy when she's trying to push.

I love when he giggles.
Makes my heart smile!

Can't get a good smile out of this girl!

Always takes about fifteen pics before the smile is natural and cute... so instead we have smirks!

Henry's new rubber boots
Boy LOVES his dinosaurs!

And as long as they don't frighten him, I'm good.

Elizabeth prayed last night that she would make more new friends at the park.

She wants to be friends with everyone. She did find some friends to push on the tire swing the other day, and as you can tell having a friend brings her endless joy! :)

Growing

2011-04-30T12:29:00.000-07:00

She just keeps growing and getting cuter!

Still has reddish blonde hair, and still wonderful!

Spring=Day Trips

2011-04-30T11:55:00.000-07:00

We have the "camping, day tripping" bug.

Every weekend we have been hitting a new trail in the bronco.

And LOVING every minute of it.

Breakin' down a bit,

but not for long.

Eating S'mores

or marshmallows

taking in some beautiful Alaskan views

(View from a trail at the end of our road)

driving through mud holes and creeks and over rocky terrain.

With the melting of most the snow we have been going out in the bronco every weekend! We spend a day or two working on our property, working hard and then one day playing hard.

Elizabeth and Henry are loving every minute of it!

Lydia sleeps most of the time, but I'm sure she's just used to being bounced around. haha

Yesterday was our anniversary! 6 Yrs! Although I think we've actually only lived together for half of that! Either way we've been through fun, exciting, sad and hard times, and I am SO grateful for a loving, awesome, handsome husband. Yesterday while watching him go through some crazy trail I said "He is such a maniac." And Elizabeth very defensively said "No he's not! He's AWESOME!"

And she's right. He is awesome! I could not and don't want to, imagine my life with out him! Thanks babe for six wonderful years together!

We wanted to celebrate out at Jim Creek where he proposed, but alas the winds were not cooperating. So we headed out to King River trail, Ruby Lake. SO much fun! (And No wind)

All in all a wonderful day! I wouldn't have it any other way! (Sorry Grandma I know you wanted to hang out with the kiddos. Another day, I promise!)

And that's what we have been doing this spring! April has been wonderful so far, I'm crossing my fingers for an even more wonderful May!

Our little Lydia

2011-04-08T19:48:00.000-07:00

He so loves to hold her!

And so far she seems to love her big brother and sister We are still trying to figure out where the red comes from... but it's so cute! She seems to really love the burp rags. haha

She's quiet and sweet and calm.

We are so IN LOVE with her!

Welcome

2011-04-06T21:43:00.001-07:00

We just wanted to welcome our beautiful baby GIRL!

Her name is Lydia Katherine

7 lbs. 10 oz.

20 3/4 in. long

Healthy and beautiful.

We aren't caught up on sleep or pictures yet, but more will surely follow.

She has beautiful red/blonde hair and is quiet and wonderful!

We are so blessed and excited to have her in our family!

H & E are constantly wanting to hold her and say hi to her. They are so in LOVE with her.

Birthday Boy!

2011-03-28T10:47:00.001-07:00

6:30am my little boy wakes up with excitement! He can't wait to see his cake!! J and I sat down the night before and made the cake together. We had grand plans in our heads, this is what we came up with... A farmer theme because Henry loves farms, tractors, animals etc. And currently his favorite book is called "Story County" by Derek Anderson. A book about farmer, dog, miss cow, chicken and pig. Together they make a farm. And so the farm theme.

Yes farmer planted Jelly Beans. Also in the book the animals plant their favorite crops, chicken plants corn, dog plants dog bones, and farmer eats his, jelly beans... yummers! He was so excited, and that's all that we cared about.

Singing Happy Birthday!

We made it to 3!

Uncle N gave him what we like to call "crack!"

Not really crack, but sour drops. The kids LOVE them.

Henry doesn't even flinch when he tastes it, I'm pretty sure his taste buds are still dead from Chemo! haha

LOVES his BOOKS.

The whoopy cushion was a hit!

However, being only 1 dollar, it didn't last through the evening,

but it provided some great laughs.

Why Mommy decided a musical instrument was a good idea... I'm not sure

But HE gets so excited when he can make noise with it!

Just have to keep it away from big Sister!

For Christmas Henry got, Buzz. So I hoped he would love getting Woody... And of course he did. He was sooooo excited! Last night he had to sleep with his Buzz and Woody. So fun to see his face light up with excitement!

It was a wonderful day

Henry assured me he had a great birthday &

this morning he woke up wanting more cake!

Simply Love it!

2011-03-24T18:15:00.001-07:00

Okay here is the Nursing Cover, aka Hooter Hiders! A little privacy while baby nurses. Only took me an hour to do! And I don't know how to sew... so pretty excited it turned out so well. I added some muslin cotton to the back, and a pocket for little necessities. Can't wait to test it out. AND I have more fabric for another one!! So fun. Figure I better get as much sewing done NOW, while I still have the time. :)

My Preparations

2011-03-24T13:04:00.000-07:00

Some baby projects I've been working on...

More to follow as soon as we figure out what baby 3 is going to be.

Some cute burp rags, wash cloths & hooded towels

The kids helped me pick out all the ribbon, fabric and thread.

JoAnn's is loving our family!

If you don't get dizzy looking at this upside down....

It's my favorite so far!

Yep, a black hooded baby towel.

I think I love the penguins most.

ICE FISHING!

2011-03-17T21:19:00.000-07:00

My little marshmallow man! LOVES the snow and the outdoors! Although he was sorely disappointed this morning when the snow came again. He was ready for playing outside with NO snow pants. Has to be hard moving around as a marshmallow. :) He stayed awake for most of the fishing trip, well about half maybe and then while we all sat inside the tent to fish, he slept in the nice warm bronco for a few hours. He was so excited to fish after he woke up though so for a few minutes he held a fishing pole and teased the minnows. Exciting day!

One of our friends brought their dog out to play, and hitched a sled up to her harness so she could pull the kids around. It was her,the dogs, first time trying the whole harness and pulling people around thing. She did great and the kids LOVED it!!

Our other activity was "sledding" behind the bronco. Tied a sled to the hitch in back and pulled everyone across the snow for a while. Such fun! I was really tempted to try it with the kids, then thought better of it, as I am well known for my prone-ness to accidents. Rolling around on a big belly isn't such a great idea.

The Six man tent, we fit four couples and two kids into, five or six holes 10" wide, with the awesome auger R got for his birthday. Back by Mud Lake it was calm and sunny and beautiful, the rest of the Valley was windy and miserable!

One of my "big fish! There were tons of minnows going after our bait, and a hand full of these guys that would get snagged every now and then. There was one actual good size fish we all saw but never caught. It's alright he was ugly anyways! Although we didn't take home any "eating" fish, it was such a blast! Wonderful company and tons of fun watching "fish."

On our way out we stopped at a look out spot, a quick hike and you get this view! It was incredible. To the left you could look up the mountain range to the glacier and then to the right was the inlet. SO beautiful out there.

Potty Training

2011-03-06T15:11:00.000-08:00

I am a lazy mother when it comes to potty training. I attempted to teach Henry to use the toilet, and implemented the use of "pull ups." He got pretty good at telling me when he needed to go #2. There are books that tell you to train them in a weekend and they should be trained. It requires the mother to get the child on the toilet every hour or more. Too much "time requirements" for this momma. Not that I'm busy, but I have a hard time just remembering my own medicine every day. So we stalled out at "pull ups." Not so great when they are more expensive than regular diapers. I got fed up and decided being thrifty was more important so went back to diapers, and Henry went right back to acting like a child in diapers. Serves me right I guess.
One friend recently suggested the "naked" training. I guess some kids just won't pee if they are naked. Put the diaper or whatever on them and they will forget and pee. So I thought maybe we should try that out. Turns out my son is too modest. He does NOT like being naked, threw a fit until I would put something on him. So I compromised and we moved on to underwear. So far the weekend has been some what successful. We actually went to Wasilla shopping for a while and back home with out any incidents, as well as the three hours at church today. He gets really excited when he "keeps his pants clean," so does Mommy. I am still mastering my frustration when he has a slight set back. I don't think getting mad at him helps much, just makes him feel worse, one day I may get better at this whole thing. We'll see. But that is our progress so far.
I am sure all of you reading the blog were interested in potty training a 2 yr old, but that is what consumes my life right now. That and preparing for baby number 3! I'm getting really excited and into the "preparation" mode. This time being a bit more crafty in the process. I want to make as much as I can, we're even talking about using cloth diapers. We shall see. The only draw back to being crafty and not knowing the sex of the baby is that green and yellow get really boring after a while. So I may have to postpone some of the "crafts" I have planned.
Better find something else to occupy my time for a while.

St. Valentine's Day

2011-02-15T13:23:00.001-08:00

A day to celebrate Love.

I had to improvise a bit since I didn't have any white or red table cloths.

I am not a great artist, so feel free to chuckle at the drawings.

It was fun to draw and have the kids add color.

I always love Elizabeth's color scheme's.

(Notice the colorful birds!)

One of my hubby's favorite meals is ribs.

So I cooked up a bunch or ribs & mashed potatoes

with home made dinner rolls.

Our awesome neighbors came to dinner as well,

and brought along fixings for an awesome spinach salad.

We just have more fun celebrating with them.

On Sunday Elizabeth and Henry made valentines for R & L

On Monday, Mommy cheated and bought sugar cookies to decorate.

So everyone got Valentines and decorated sugar cookies.

It's difficult for some reason to convince them NOT to eat the candy as they decorate!

Oh well it was fun.

I truly believe in celebrating a day of love and thoroughly enjoyed making something delicious and fun for those I love. I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines day with your loved ones.

RMH Family

2011-02-06T19:07:00.000-08:00

"What?!"

Can't quite eat it fast enough!!

Totally giving me the "DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT MOM!" look.

This weekend we had the most wonderful time with some friends, more like family, from the RonDon House. We met Jimmy and Joy at the RonDon house, their grandson was going through treatment with Seattle Children's. With the recent trip to Seattle and being able to spend the weekend with them has made me miss my RonDon family oh so much. People filter through all the time, but you always bond with them in some way, and I constantly find myself wondering about how they are doing. A hard thing to explain, but when we fly into Seattle we drive to "our area" and feel like we're home. I understand there are some that may have the opposite feeling, a negative feeling towards the memories or their time at the house, but all of the people we met and became close to will forever be part of our RonDon Family.

So the Palmer Moose played the Kodiak Bears this weekend in basketball and our friends daughter was playing. We went and watched bball all day Friday and Saturday and it was wonderful! Elizabeth and Henry immediately adopted them as Grandparents. Elizabeth even cheered all weekend for the Bears. And today has been asking to go watch more games.

At one point, Jimmy took Henry to get some Cotton Candy. At first he wasn't sure what to do with it, after being encouraged to taste it, he couldn't eat it fast enough. And continued to ask for more. Didn't help the group selling it were walking around the gym trying to sell more of it. We couldn't help but get some pics of his experience with Cotton Candy. Oh too cute.

Thanks so much Joy and Jimmy for a wonderful weekend, for spending time with us. You and your family are in our prayers as is the rest of our RonDon family.

Weekend Escape

2011-02-06T18:49:00.001-08:00

We drove up to Fairbanks this past weekend (J's weekend) to see the family. Elizabeth LOVES to see her cousins! We thought with a six hour drive the kids might sleep, but nope! They stayed awake and played the entire drive. I read a book to J which made the time pass very quickly. Along the way we saw a nice heard of Caribou by the road side and had to stop and take pictures. I don't know exactly where this is, but some where around Cantwell I think, but it's one of my favorite parts of the drive. SO beautiful!

One of the perks over the weekend was the hot tub. Set up in the garage, with lights out and glow sticks to play with, the kids loved it! (The temp is only set at 99 degrees, so not too hot for kiddos) Always the first thing to do after dinner! We have to thank M, she cooked up some AWESOME meals for us. The kids even played outside, because it was actually in the single digits, not -35. :) And they had a blast! We were reminiscing about when we were young and could play outside all day long and have a blast, and now we get too cold and can't seem to find as much to do! Oh the joys of youth!

It really was a fun weekend get away and much needed. So fun for the kids to see each other. They always cry when it's time to leave, forgetting all the petty fights and ouchies they had during the weekend, they are simply sad the cousins have to part. Thanks M&T for allowing us to crash for a few days and hang out. Elizabeth and Henry can't wait to see their cousins again!

Seattle Pics

2011-02-06T18:36:00.000-08:00

At the Ronald McDonald House A, saying Hello to an old friend.

A hug until next time "Donald"

We didn't get many pics during our day in Seattle, because after the appointments Henry slept the whole time... well up until we got on the plane. Anyways, we went to see some one very important to Henry and his memories of Seattle.

DAY in Seattle

2011-01-29T19:00:00.000-08:00

Henry and I went to Seattle for the day on Wednesday. We flew out of AK at 2:30am and got back home 9:30pm. The weather was wonderful, sunny warm winter day in Seattle, couldn't ask for more. The flight down was easy, Henry slept, I didn't. Being prego and sitting on an airplane for three hours doesn't really go together.
We walked around the hospital for a while to kill time, then checked in for all his apts. He had an ultrasound scheduled, then anesthesia, followed by a CT and Dexa scan. Now the CT and Dexa require you to hold absolutely still. The last trip to Seattle I tried to convince them he didn't need to be put out, I was WRONG! This trip however, Henry skipped the anesthesia, I was a bit hesitant, but he did wonderful. I couldn't be in the room obviously, but I sat him down and explained exactly what was going to happen and that I would be back in the room when it was done. He said OK. And then held perfectly still. Mom was WRONG again. The Dexa lady was "concerned and worried" all morning about how he was going to do. I explained everything again, they needed a full body scan and legs and what not. He didn't even move. Easy as pie! The lady was so excited he got a bag full of stickers, every sticker she had I think, and a stuffed Beany Baby.
Since he was such a super star we got some good grub from the cafeteria, and some candy from the little store. We tried to play at the play ground for a while, but it was closed down. So we just sat outside and read books for a while. We did get to see some old friends that we stayed at the RonDon with. It was great to see some of the "Fam."
Nurses kept peeking into the room to see him, Doctors stopped in the hallway after recognizing who he was. ALL were excited beyond measure that he was doing so well. He has grown so much and he politely said "hello" to everyone and told them he was "good." As we walked away from the nurses who gushed over him he yelled " I love you!" I don't know if they heard it, but I about cried.
Technical update, as much as we know, things are good. His spleen is still funny shaped, looks like a boot. His other organs all look good. No change in his CT scans, head lesions look about the same. He is now in the 3rd percentile for height and weight, better than the "zeroth percentile" as the Doc put it. :) His iron levels are still too high, and the Darbo is making his blood levels dangerously high, so we have to amend the dosing. By high I mean that the nurses put in an IV to get blood and his vein clotted after putting out 2mls! (That happened twice) He's like one of those super hero's you could watch heal. haha But it's not a good thing... Something to fix.
Then we walked down to the Mall and enjoyed the weather and the old stomping ground. The other day Henry saw a McDonald's golden arches in Anchorage, he told me he saw Donald, and then he said " Henry miss Donald." The kid was so young I thought he wouldn't remember! Mom is WRONG again! So we stopped to say hello to Donald. I do have pics I will post them. He was excited, and even knew where we were going as we walked along the path that leads to the houses.
The taxi drive took almost and hour and we both slept the whole way. The flight lasted three and a half hours, Henry talked the whole time. Oh and FYI, 2:30 am and 6:30pm flights to Seattle are PACKED!!!! UGH! At least he didn't scream. Then home to bed. And oh yeah, the whole prego and flying makes for VERY swollen ankles and legs! But we survived and can't wait to head back in June for more check ups.

Just Do it...

2011-01-10T19:34:00.000-08:00

I feel some obligation to post only when something monumental happens or I have some picture to accompany my thoughts. However, I feel that leaving up a Christmas card post is like leaving up the Christmas tree... time to move on.. :)

Henry and Elizabeth and I have been going to Monday swims, and loving it! Elizabeth wears the floaters on her arms and swims (well flails around) around the pool. Henry stands on deck and yells "To infinity & Beyond!" and then jumps at me. He continually asked me to let him go today while we were in the deep end, I had to explain he would drowned if I did, he didn't believe me. Oh well. He's fearless!

We FINALLY got Elizabeth and Henry a sled, and they endured the freezing temps today to sled a bit. Maybe I'll get out more and pull them in their sled. I have become a hermit this winter, wimping out and not running outside. My sweet husband bought me an elliptical so I don't have to. However, I am sincerely missing it! Can't wait for warmer temps and a body that can endure it again. Oh running I dream about you often! Curse me for being a wimp! I am an Alaskan!!!! I must do better! haha

We recently purchased a new "family bogger" and I am anxious for some family fun in it! Can't wait to go camping and sloshing through big mud holes. I am slowly learning that the getting stuck and the breaking down is some of the best parts of the adventure. Thank goodness I have a patient husband!

Christmas Letters

2010-12-23T16:34:00.000-08:00

I am destined to be a seasonal blogger...As much as I enjoying getting online and checking everyone elses blogs you would think I would return the courtesy. Perhaps my new years resolution will be to blog more diligently. Only time will tell. I also appreciate and love the Christmas cards from friends and family, one day I may be motivated to actually send one of our own out. I thought to myself, there are so many people out there I want to share our year with and Holiday Greetings that it would be easier ( okay laziness set in) to blog about our year. No I won't bore you with the entire year just the last few weeks.

J has switched employers and is enjoying work. He is finally driving his "company car" and that makes life a bit easier. Although he stalks me sometimes, he can't wait to utilize his new power to write his wife a ticket! And the best change of all, DAY SHIFT!!!! We actually have a some what normal schedule. Our weekends are not the same as everyone elses, but that's alright with me. Daddy's home at night and we wake up together in the morning. It may only last for a few months, but for now I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

I have just been busy keeping up with two kids a husband and a home. We are anxiously looking forward to building a new house, as we are quickly out growing ours. After a summer of raising animals and a huge garden, I'm in my hibernation mode. Being an Alaskan really requires an outdoorsy lifestyle especially in winter. The kids and I have been cooped up for too long! I'm determined to pick up cross country skiing or snowshoeing or something! The thermometer has been low and the winds high... makes for a not so fun winter. We've tried a few times to get out and walk, we don't make it very far before we quickly run home for hot cocoa and a warm fire. J bought me and elliptical so I could at least keep up with a bit of physical activity! Wonderful man!

Elizabeth is growing all too quickly. A typical, tall four year old that spends ALL DAY testing limits. One day she'll grow out of it right?! Mommy got rid of the TV recently because movies were becoming an every hour thing! Everything in life relates to a movie. "Oh that was on such and such a movie." I know by writing this you'll all know how terrible a mother I am, but I'm trying to improve. E can't wait for school, she tells everyone she's 5 because she knows that's when she starts kindergarten. Lately she's been going through toys deciding what she likes and doesn't and wants to give them away to kids that don't have any. I appreciate her sweet spirit and that she is so willing to give to those in need. She loves to hear stories of Jesus still and prays for him every night, expressing her love for him and her family. Inside that trying and curious little four year old is a giant spirit that has sooo much love for everyone!

Henry has been progressing so quickly! His speech is developing wonderfully! He has been seeing Ms. Evelyn every few weeks for ILP and LOVES it! He has caught up to his age level in everything and is passed it in some areas. At the age of 3 kids transition out of ILP into the school system for further speech development and such. But Henry is doing so well they didn't recommend any special education or early development work. He LOVES Buzz Light year and runs around the house yelling "to infinity and beyond." Another favorite is Signing Time. Video's that teach sign language. They have really helped him pick up quite a bit! After visiting Grandpa and Granny Annie in Idaho he is infatuated with tractors. He always has to have a turn talking on the phone when family calls, most people can't understand him, but he tries. A day trip is planned in January for Seattle check ups and then June will be the finish of bone medicine infusions. We are daily reminded of what a blessing it is to have him with us still.

Baby number 3... oh yeah, I'm five months along. Baby #3 will be here April 16th-ish and while I was tempted to find out the gender, we so enjoy the surprise in the end that we're waiting again. Elizabeth is convinced it's a girl and her name is going to be Cinderella. Henry doesn't really care, but likes to think he has a baby in his tummy too! Ultrasounds show a healthy baby who likes to suck on his/her thumb. That was fun to watch on the ultrasound! Such a precious gift. Can't wait to meet this sweet spirit!

Okay that was really too long.. but that's whats new and changing in our family. How very blessed we have been this year! We look forward to new changes next year and the adventures to come.

Thankful hearts

2010-11-26T12:25:00.000-08:00

I was overwhelmed yesterday as I thought about everything I am grateful for. Most especially for the opportunity to be TOGETHER as a family. For the prayers that so many offered in our families behalf, in Henry's behalf, that brought us to this point. I know the Lord hears and answers our prayers and I am in awe of how many people, as I slowly begin to realize, were praying for our little man. My heart is full of JOY! We have been blessed with great prosperity, peace and love. Most importantly we have been blessed with the gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. My little Elizabeth sings her primary songs where ever we are, the store, the doctors, she loves the songs and shares them with anyone who will listen. I wish I had the strength to share with those around me the wonderful message of joy that the gospel has to share. We have a Savior who gave his life for each one of us so that we could live again, so that we can be families for eternity, so that the mistakes, heartaches, sorrows and trials we face here can be forgiven, softened, comforted and endured. My favorite part of this season is the music that sings and testifies of Christ and his birth and his greatness! What greater blessing can we have than to know WHO we are, WHY we are here and the PURPOSE of this life. I believe greater than knowing, is sharing! To share the gospel with others and than witness the joy that it brings to them is far greater than just knowing for ourselves.

(Stephanie, I meant to get more pictures of our family dinner, but alas, I was running around getting dinner ready... here are the few we got)

Can't get enough of this kids smile!

I TOLD you he's growing fast!

SOOO strong!

We had a SEAFOOD feast last night with family.
Seems a bit easier than cooking turkey all day, and much more delicious!

Shrimp appetizer platter with wheat thins
Fondue and Rosemary bread cubes
Roasted shrimp & Special Cocktail Sauce

Live dungees that were cooked and cleaned for us... we simply reheated them in the oven

AND

Most delicious in my opinion... King Crab Legs

I did try to slip in a little turkey with some Wild Rice & Turkey soup.. alas I was the only one to eat it. ;) Can't blame me for trying

Our Trip to Idaho!

2010-11-11T09:30:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite pictures, our first day there we went out to the fields to meet Grandpa in his tractor. They loved the open fields, although Elizabeth's poor legs were scratched up for days. Diggin' up the fields for winter. Provided many great dirt clumps to throw.

One of the many tractors Grandpa gets to drive. I learned all about the GPS systems and how great it makes farming these days.

Henry got to drive, I have some really cute video that I'll get posted one of these days. He was a natural. On our walks through town, every big rig or tractor-ish looking vehicle was "Grandpa's Tractor!" according to Henry.

The fire pit. Henry is stoking the fire, he thought it best to throw them in from a distance. What an arm! We had hot dogs and marshmallows. Henry really only wanted to marshmallows.

The park in town

Rather than climb across the monkey bars, she crawled over them. I had just made a comment to my mother, very quietly, about walking across the monkey bars as a little girl...she must have really good ears!

Elizabeth was very excited to help Henry into his swing and then to push him as hard as she could. Most of the time he enjoyed it.

You can't really see it very well in the picture, but Henry had just face planted in the sand... his mouth and nose and eyes were full of sand! Poor guy! And he has a big red mark over his left eye.

Bed time for the kids...a rare occasion to find Henry IN his bed, he usually slept half way under my bed, or on the floor and every time I tried to put him back, he screamed until he was back on the floor.

Easiest time putting kids to bed... Annie just read to them until they both fell asleep. Grandparents are wonderful!

Each week we walked over to the Library and grabbed as many books as we could. The kids LOVED it!

The ladies in the Library were so excited to see Elizabeth again, and to meet Henry.

In fact the whole town, almost, knew who Henry was. They all prayed for Henry during his time in Seattle and could hardly wait to meet him.

We got to drive over to Idaho Falls to see Grandpa and Grandma Great P. Both kids were instantly attached and wished they could have stayed longer. It was so wonderful to see them and to have Henry meet them. I am amazed at the many lives Henry has touched through his many set backs and triumphs. He has grown so much and is in such great health that you would not know he had been through chemo and a bone marrow transplant. What a blessing for so many to witness the power of prayer and the miracles that continue to surround us daily.

Looking for the airplane....

It finally started to snow the day we left, I was worried we wouldn't make it out. We were only shortly delayed and made it home safely. Although they were a bit for me to handle they did fairly well on the three plane rides we had to take.

I LOVE my TWO angels!!!

Oh technology....

2010-10-27T15:25:00.000-07:00

I have some amazingly cute pictures of the children on the tractor with Grandpa, Henry driving, kids holding hands running through the fields... and alas I am unable to post them because for whatever reason the card isn't compatible with the scanner, and then mom's camera hooked up to the computer wasn't working either, I think the battery is dead. One day I may be able to post them I hope.

Elizabeth and Henry are having a blast with Granny Annie and Grandpa, they are being spoiled rotten who wouldn't love that?! Elizabeth insists that she is staying her for a long long time. J was a bit concerned and saddened that she wasn't missing home. However, after looking through the last two years of pictures I discovered that Idaho is as much home for her as anywhere else... maybe more than anywhere else. I believe she spent about half her life here at Annie's house and LOVES it here. So I get why she wants to stay. I've never actually lived in Idaho, but I feel like I'm home. It's because family is here, but the beauty here is amazing and there is no smell like Idaho, the hay the animals it's just wonderful... even the skunk smell from the road is wonderful to me! Brings back wonderful memories from childhood.

My Mom's ward had their primary program this last Sunday, Elizabeth stayed sitting next to us, but sang along with every song! I was telling her to be quiet at first but everyone around thoroughly enjoyed her. I was almost the emotional momma watching my baby on the stand singing. I'm not sure why it pulls at my heart strings but it does. The spirit was so amazing! What a wonderful sacrament meeting!

Although it was warm and sunny when we got here, I actually got a sun burn on Thursday last week... we got snow the same day Alaska did. It didn't stick really, but we had an entire day of snow storm. The kids were so excited the next morning to see some snow on the grass they ran outside to make snow angels. They will be thrilled to get back to Alaska to play in more snow with actual snow gear!

Hopefully the pictures will come soon.

Fall Excursions

2010-10-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

Amidst the wind and cold temperatures there have been some nice days up here on the mountain, and we have tried to get out and enjoy them. We usually just walk to the end of our road and back, searching for the perfect "walking stick" and spotting moose and squirrels. The last walk we went on brought Elizabeth great joy! She saw snow on the top of the mountain! She can't hardly wait for the snow to get here. I on the other hand don't mind waiting! Missing two Alaska winters was seriously AWESOME! hahaha I do look forward to the snow and sledding and the winter wonderlands... but I'm not a fan of cold... so we're focusing on the positives.... warm fires, sledding, hot cocoa, rosy cheeks, snow ball fights etc, etc.

Elizabeth has her bike, and Henry has his shopping cart, neither one last very long, I'm usually pushing the stroller, carrying the cart and dragging the bike too!

Why two hats you ask? I don't know, but he HAS to wear the green hat and so I put the winter hat on and he INSISTS on wearing the green hat on top!

They really are so much fun! What a blessing these beautiful children have been in our lives.

After a major wind storm we counted all the trees that had fallen down. There were A LOT! And they needed to stop and play with all the ones they could reach.

We are escaping for a few weeks though...not to warm Hawaii or anything... but to Idaho for a much needed visit to Grandparents. Henry and Elizabeth are SOOOO exciting to see Granny Annie and Grandpa! Elizabeth is filling Henry in on all the fun activities and where he's allowed to sit on the tractor and much more. Grandpa is excited to teach Henry how to DRIVE the tractor. Every time the phone rings they are sure it's Granny Annie. It will be a fun few weeks for all, well maybe except for Daddy who's having to stay behind. But I'm sure he'll appreciate the quite days of sleep.

3 Going on 18!

2010-08-27T16:11:00.000-07:00

This beautiful little girl of mine just turned 4!

My camera was on the fritz so our neighbor took pictures, I'll have to down load those as soon as I get them! But she had a really wonderful birthday! We had ice cream and candles as a family on Sunday (her actual birthday) and then a party on Monday evening.

What I love most about my sweet daughter:

She wants SO much to be good

Her favorite movie is "The Testament"

Always asking me to tell her stories about Jesus

She can recite movies after watching them once

She LOVES her friends

Her competitive attitude

Every thing happened yesterday

She thoroughly enjoys riding her bike or hiking

Her love for her baby brother, and helping him learn

and her resilience to the chaos that usually surrounds her life.

She has been such a blessing in my life! What a privilege it has been thus far to be her mother. She spent a lot of time in the back ground during Henry's ordeal, being tossed around from home to home, but has grown and learned from it all. She continues to amaze me each day. And I thank the Lord every night for allowing her spirit to be a part of our family.

Happy belated birthday my spunky Elizabeth Anne!

Movin on Up..

2010-08-17T12:41:00.000-07:00

Our neighbors graciously gave us some new furniture for Henry's room.

And yes, the walls are still periwinkle.. we're working on that.. one step at a time though.

Elizabeth got moved up stairs to the loft, and is really enjoying it. I will have pics of that soon. Her favorite thing to do... read books on her bed.

I though Granny Annie and Grandpa would appreciate this picture. I don't know how many days we would sit around and watch Henry climb in and out of the cabinets in the Ron Don.

The set included a head board, night stand and dresser with a mirror attached. Pretty awesome! I am not sure which of us is enjoying it more!

LOVE posing for the camera.

Well they both do! I love these two little kids! They brighten my life and bring such joy into our home. Elizabeth's favorite movie right now is "The Testament." A movie of Christ and his life and ministry and his visitation to the people in the America's after his resurrection. We talk a lot about the movie, about why Christ died and that the greatest blessing of all is that Christ was resurrected, so that one day (Elizabeth says two weeks) we will be able to return and live with our Father in Heaven. My children truly bring the spirit into our home, and inspire me to be a more devoted disciple of Christ.

1 YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-08-05T10:25:00.000-07:00

We celebrated this MONUMENTAL day with Red cupcakes again!

Last year on Aug. 3rd, Henry received his bone marrow transplant!

We celebrate the day even though his transplant technically failed. Henry's marrow grew back rather than the donors, but it eliminated the disease and that's all we could ask for! What a blessing it has been to be home and healthy and enjoying life as a family! I want to thank all of you that prayed for our family, for our little Henry! The Lord does hear and answer prayers, in his own way, in his own time. I find it amazing to look back at the way things worked out, how the Lords will becomes more clear as we see how and why things worked the way they did. I am grateful for the Lords mercy and love and patience. And I am grateful to have my baby boy with me today!

This was the outfit he started in... I think we ended up changing a few times! haha I know he may not look excited and happy... but he was! He was a bit tired at this point, he only downed a portion of the cupcake frosting and was about to crash...but we livened him up and forced him to stay awake longer! Such fun!

I made Ribs for the first time ever! Great Success! We had Ribs, pulled pork, veggies from the garden, fruit salad, crackers & hummus, sweet corn and corn bread. I think it's funny that when we want to celebrate we think about eating a big awesome meal!

Trying to decided which is better cupcakes or corn?!

Eating cupcakes without hands leads to frosting/cake up the nose!

(Man! He looks JUST like my brother Jake!)

Making googlie eye with Grandma!

Shirtless because his dinner ended up ALL over his shirt!

Henry and his friend, Sawyer who lives next door, enjoy eating cupcakes with out their hands. Less Mess?!

After cupcakes...MORE CORN! Thank you Grandpa for bringing the sweet corn! Henry LOVED it, I think he ate about two ears.

Tuesday Henry, Elizabeth and I went swimming with the neighbor girls to celebrate Henry's Transplant day. Afterwards we went home and made Red Velvet cupcakes with coconut frosting. However, mommy's cupcakes didn't turn out very well... the frosting was good though, and that's all that really matters right?! We sang "Happy Transplant Day" and played with friends. It was really a wonderful day. And I am definitely making it a tradition to have Red Velvet cupcakes every year on the 3rd of August. What joy fills my heart!

New Doo

2010-07-29T09:54:00.001-07:00

This was where we started...

Then Daddy got started shaving his head... and Mommy thought "Maybe I should just buzz Henry's too.

And this is what we got! Too cute!

My Little Ones

2010-07-18T10:42:00.000-07:00

Our hike up Hatcher Pass

AMAZING

That's the only word to describe it... I love being eye level with the clouds and mountain tops!

Our Hike back down, the wind literally almost blew us off the mountain side. And that small dot of a building is where we started! It was really fun though.. and yes Elizabeth is in J's back pack! Lucky!

Elizabeth's very first BIKE!

She's a dare devil like her father! Already trying to ride with NO hands... lucky for us there are still training wheels.

He doesn't look very happy but he DID enjoy the sparklers...

Elizabeth enjoyed the s'mores... you can almost see them all over her face!

Not a good s'more unless it's all over your face.

She wasn't quite sure about riding it at first, but now Mommy pushes Henry in the stroller and Elizabeth rides her bike. It is wonderful!
(pics little out of order.. sorry)

No, we did not get a dog. And especially not a small dog. This is the neighbors dog. Elizabeth LOVES it to death...almost literally! She is obsessed! And while the dogs like the attention at first, eventually they are pleading for help to get away! She means well... she just loves them a bit too much!

BOB the Builder @ the Library

The kids got fun hats, coloring books, treats and got to do fun activities.

As you can see, the hats were the best part!

I think this is one of my favorite Henry pictures! What a goof ball!

I am so grateful to be their mother! Some times they are cranky and crazy and well, act their age, but I DO love them sooo much! They are such wonderful children! We are reading "Who's your Hero?" A book of stories from the Book of Mormon, about Nephi, Abinadi and Ammon. Every day Elizabeth makes good choices and then says, "Look mom I'm being just like Nephi!" It's so cute and I'm so grateful that she enjoys the stories and is actually learning from them. What sweet joy the gospel brings into our lives!

Not a day goes by that we don't think about where we have been and how grateful we are to the Lord for bring us through the struggles and into a time of rejoicing!

Hope

2010-07-07T12:46:00.000-07:00

As life continues here in Alaska for us, our hearts and thoughts are still very much in Seattle. Last night another sweet little girl lost her battle with leukemia. My heart aches for their family. Although I am far from them, my prayers and thoughts are with them.

Through our own experience in Seattle there were times when we wondered why one family got "the miracle" and another family didn't. Why does one child survive while another loses the battle? The thing we came to really learn and understand was that no one wins or loses. We are ALL children of a loving Heavenly Father, who provided a plan that would ensure our return to him. We are ALL brothers and sisters to an Elder Brother who made life after this possible. Our Savior endured the Cross so that we might all live again. He won the battle over death, so while we may think that a child has lost the battle to cancer or leukemia or whatever, they have not lost the ultimate battle. Through our Saviors atonement we will all live again, it is an unconditional promise.

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints I believe, and know, that we can be sealed to our families for eternity. We have temples built all over, wherein we perform marriage ceremonies that not only bind a family for life, but for ALL ETERNITY. This knowledge coupled with the promise of life after this through the atonement provides an everlasting peace in my heart. I do not assume that knowing this makes the loss of a child easier. I only know that as we have struggled and faced possible death, I knew in my heart that we would meet again. What a blessed day when we shall gather together again with our loved ones in heaven, and meet again our Elder Brother who selflessly made it all possible.

Life goes on...

2010-06-17T21:34:00.000-07:00

What have we been doing? Well... Henry has learned to climb the entire height of our garden fence. He is also learning several new words every day. Our teacher, Elizabeth, quizes him daily on new words and old words and gets very excited every time he says one correctly.
There are not enough mountain trails for Elizabeth to climb. After climbing Lazy, and both our legs shaking to the point we could hardly walk, she asked to climb another mountain. A true billy goat! She LOVES the library and the playgrounds around town. Anyone around her becomes a friend. One day she was playing tag with two girls at least double her age, and all were loving it. We have been dog sitting and playing with the neighbor dogs a lot lately and she LOVES it! The neighbors little weinerdoodle is her very favorite toy! I say poor dog! If and when we get a dog, it will be a very big dog that she cannot pick up and tote around.
We spent last Saturday at Colony Days parade and carnival. Both kids loved it! And Henry slept through the carnival rides, so Elizabeth was able to run around and enjoy them at her pace. There were two large inflatable rides she enjoyed the most, a big slide and an obstacle course. She always cut in line, and while most kids slowly bounced through the obstacle course she went through as fast as she could and then ran around to go again! She never waited in line for the slide (worst case of cutting ever!), and she passed all the kids climbing the ladder ahead of her. She's amazing! Then Henry woke up, we enjoyed some kettle corn and cotton candy and went home. She is still asking for the big slide!
I am trying to keep up with the weeding, feeding, watering, teaching, cooking, cleaning, you get the picture. But still making sure to take time to "Be still and know that I am God." This afternoon we played in the trees and grass by the library for a while, and played at the Amoosement park. While a bit crazy and busy sometimes, life is wonderful! (Will be better when J gets home in a week!) Henry's counts are normal, and he's growing like a weed!
There are more pictures from the parade I just have to find them on my computer. And buy a new card reader. It has been an eventful and fun summer thus far. We are praying for more fun and excitement! Such joy fills our home and our hearts most days. Every day we have to spend together and play and learn and grow is a bonus!

It shall give you experience

2010-06-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

Everyone faces trial, temptation, frustration, heartache, life; but not everyone is grateful for those experiences. While none of the above mentioned are a bucket of fun, they are, as the Lord promised, for our experience and our good. The trials we face can bring us closer to our Father in Heaven and if endured well, bring great joy. In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Alma says "And now, my son Helaman, behold thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me (every parent/teachers plea); for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.
I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him , and he will still deliver me."
As the Prophet Joseph Smith sat in Liberty Jail, the Lord tells him this; "And if though shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for they good."
Again he says "Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many; but endure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days."
What a blessing it has been in my life to experience and endure trial with the Lords help. I am not boasting in my own strength, left to my own, I would not endure them very well (I am the worst complainer!). However, through the last few years I have learned to put my trust in the Lord, completely trusting in his will and what he has in store for me. And as I tried to completely trust, the Lord poured out his love and peace upon me. What seemed insurmountable at first, became manageable. The Lord has filled our lives with love and joy and I repeat what Alma says, "I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day." I know because he carried me through and allowed me to learn and grow and draw nearer to him. I was too weak to face the trial alone, so he carried me through and not only carried me through but then blessed my family because we turned to him. The opportunity to learn and grow and draw near to the Lord cannot be accomplished any other way. He must test and try us, so that we have the opportunity to prove ourselves worthy. So that we may prove to the Lord that we love him and are willing to endure whatever comes.
I could not have endured sitting by my sons bedside, watching him endure great pain and continually fight for his life, with out the strength of my Savior, my Elder Brother, Jesus Christ. His mercy and love, his peace and comfort are the only thing that carried me through. He is the reason my son is here today, He is the reason I am able to be grateful for my trials and tribulations. Through Him all things are possible, all things can be endured, for he endured them all. He suffered ALL, so that he could comfort us in our trials and through our heartaches.
My neighbor asked if every day was like a bonus. Every day is a blessing. Every day I watch my son and my daughter grown and progress and I think to myself, I hope they know one day the Love the Lord poured out upon our family, I hope they know the miracles that have filled our lives. And I hope one day to teach them as Alma taught his son, to trust in the Lord with all their might, mind and strength.

Pics as Promised

2010-06-04T21:51:00.000-07:00

Our first trek up the Butte! Elizabeth and Henry did awesome! Henry climbed at least half by himself, and Elizabeth was so bothered by my slowness... that she was giving me "the look." It was sooo beautiful! I love Alaska!
Me and Henry at the top... Elizabeth refused to take a picture with us.. oh well.

Jumpin off the sand dunes at Jim Creek, this is our version of "the beach" or so Elizabeth calls it. And she loves it so much she asks to go back every day!

Sand everywhere.. in fact I think they both got mouth fulls at one point or another..

Henry didn't jump, but loved to start at the top and slide all the way down.. it was still 70 at least at 9pm on Memorial Day... and everyone was gone from Jim Creek by then. It was wonderful!

This is for J... he keeps asking how big the pigs are getting.. pictures don't quite capture it!

And this is my little "piggy sue". The one and only pig I have named, and the little pig that required me to give her the hymlic maneuver! Yes she was choking on a turkey dog...but we got it out and she's just fine and eating like crazy again!

Summer Lovin'

2010-06-01T18:11:00.000-07:00

For those of you who do not live in Alaska or have not been here during the month of May, let me just tell you...it's Heavenly! The best month of the year by far! Trees and flowers budding, planting and preparing gardens, hot weather and lots of good ol' sunshine!
I believe we are living in a period of bliss! The blessed life that follows great tribulation. I do not know how long this may last... but oh how wonderful life is! Henry continues to progress so much! Let me just recap for you...
Over New Years, Henry was in the PICU because he had fluid around his heart, a pericardial effusion.
February, Henry still had an NG tube in his nose and he didn't know how to eat on his own. Nor could he speak.
November, after being released from the hospital after what looked like serious sepsis, he was just learning how to scoot on the floor and could not stand on his own.
TODAY... Henry walks and climbs everything, eats anything you give him, he especially likes Mango Salsa, he's beginning to speak and best of all his blood counts are normal!
Consider if you will the beginning of his speaking life as Feb. Most children do not speak until the NG tube comes out, if they haven't already learned to talk. Bugs the vocal cords or something. Over the last few weeks he has progressed to saying "bubble", "turtle", "alligator", and much much more. We started using a website called starfall.com and it's wonderful. Both Henry and Elizabeth sit at the computer and learn letters and sounds and words. I think they will both be reading at the same time, or Henry will surpass Elizabeth. He's a sponge hungry to learn.
Elizabeth keeps our neighbors busy, rarely is there day that goes by when she isn't knocking on their door, questioning them about the mysteries of life. No they aren't kids, they are adults and she loves them SOOOOO much. Recently we purchased the movie "Matilda" and I'm concerned that one of these days she will provide me with adoption papers, asking to go live next door.
We have been so busy gardening and playing that we have rarely been indoors since our last post. We went to Jim Creek and played on the dunes and now Elizabeth asks daily to go back to the beach. OR to climb the mountain, a week or so ago we went and climbed the butte and then headed up to Hatchers and hiked the Mint Trail for a few miles. Elizabeth was not at all excited about flat trails, she simply wants to go UP the mountain.
We are beginning to see our seeds sprout and the miracle of growth. Our piggies are growing and being completely spoiled!
So much to write about, I know I should write more often... well pictures will be coming next and they are really fun! I do hope you all had a wonderful Memorial day, what a blessed land we live in, and how grateful I am for the men and women who serve every day to protect it!

"Normal Life"

2010-05-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

This is what "normal" life includes at the moment...

Henry, trying to get away with EVERYTHING!
supplementing our income... with veggies!

Play time with the cousins...

Rhubarb starting to show it's face...

Our awesome piggies.. the BEST garbage disposals!

A very LARGE garden... yes those are 80ft. rows... what am I planting you ask... I have no idea, and yes I'm planning to feed the neighborhood

From our perch (or deck as most call it) Our two greenhouses and the garden area.

And that in a nut shell is what we will be doing this summer.

Isn't "normal" life wonderful?!!

Life Goals

2010-05-02T09:44:00.000-07:00

I have successfully accomplished a life goal. Yesterday I completed a marathon, 26.2 miles! About mile 19-20 I wanted to give up, my legs hurt to bad to continue, so my sweet and supportive and loving husband got out of the vehicle and ran the last six miles with me so I could finish! And my cheer squad made signs, set out water cups, oranges and protein packs for me to eat along the way. And the last leg of the race they were there every mile cheering and helping and strengthening me! I prayed the Lord would give me the strength to finish this race and he no only gave my body the strength, he showed me his love through the number of friends and family I had supporting me. How blessed I have been in my life to be surrounded by AWESOME friends!
Thursday we celebrated five years of marriage, he was working so we decided to celebrate on Saturday instead. After finishing the race he gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers, and held me up so I wouldn't collapse on the pavement. What an experience! I have been blessed with the most loving, kind, supportive, fun, ingenious husband a girl could every ask for! We've been apart so often in our marriage we joke that although it has been five years, really we've only been together for two! haha But my life has been richer, happier and more fun than I could ever have imagined! He really is my greatest friend, he makes me want to be a better person every day. So thanks to my wonderful husband for five wonderful and amazing years!

On a side note, Henry and I are headed to Seattle this week to get check ups, line removed and of course to have play time with some more awesome friends! J is happy because it's supposed to rain all week, that way he thinks I'll miss Alaska and not want to stay in Seattle. hehe I really can't wait to post pics of our piggies and our garden area and man oh man the kids are growing. I was looking at pictures of Henry when we got home and he has really done a phenomenal job of gaining weight and growing into a little 2 year old. I love to see him climb around on the furniture and play outside in the dirt and LOVE it!! What a miracle it is to see him grow every day!

Potential

2010-04-25T11:33:00.001-07:00

The Hubby and I are thoroughly enjoying a marriage class at church each week, learning to be a better spouse and how to make our marriage stronger. A few weeks ago we talked about how each partner contributes to the relationship in some way. WELL! I get to thinking about what I actually contribute to the relationship.... and I have to think pretty hard... and for the last few weeks have been wallowing in self pity because I don't feel like I bring much to the relationship. My loving husband and neighbors tried several times to list ways I contribute to the marriage, however, a good self wallow-er doesn't allow others to boost them from their wallowing.
After creating a monster and making my family suffer through all of this, I turned again to my scriptures and the counsel from the prophets. Actually, my sister-in-law who is serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, aka Mormon church, wrote a letter to me and was expressing some frustrations she was having and it brought me out of my wallowing. (thanks a lot Stephanie!)
So I may not feel like I have any talents or qualities that contribute to my marriage but I do have the ability to acquire them. Elder Russell M. Nelson, one of the leaders of our church says this: "With us, education is a religious responsibility. The glory of God really is intelligence. Each person's chosen occupation is only a means to an end; it is not an end in itself. The end for which each of you should strive is to be the person you can become- the person who God wants you to be...much more important than what you do for a living is what kind of person you become. When you leave this frail existence, what you have become will matter most. Attributes such as "faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, and diligence"(D&C 4:6) will be weighed in the Lord's balance."
Yesterday was a gorgeous day, sunshine and not a cloud in sight! I got up off my wallowing butt and worked. I worked hard and LOVED it! Pounding posts, digging through ice, putting up fence and then digging some more to protect the base of the fence. At the days end we let the piggies out of their little dog run and into their new much larger fenced area. It felt really good. Hard work is our blessing not our doom, and a sure way to put a halt to any pity parties.
I take great comfort in the fact that I can continually grow and develop as a wife, a mother and a person. So rather than wallow in the fact that I am not reaching my full potential, I will work harder to develop "me" and the person I can become. Thank heaven that there is continual progress, if we seek it... I am not a lost cause yet! Some day I'll reach my full potential... or at least get closer, and I'll be an equal contributor in my marriage. For now, I'll just keep my self doubting to myself....

2010-04-20T16:24:00.000-07:00

Well I finally went into town and used some wireless... however it's not the fastest. BUT it's working enough to post pics! Here are a few quick high-lights..
Elizabeth's very first hair cut, decided to do it quick before church.. cutting hair as one who doesn't know how to do it, is not quick! But it turned out alright if you don't look too closely! Isn't she just a doll!

Elizabeth teaching Henry how to climb the ladder. haha Just kidding he's not there just yet! He is walking as you know, and loving it! I tried to post a really cute video but it wouldn't let me.

This is the shopping cart we bought for Henry so he could walk around the house and get more confidence in his walking ability. He showed Granny Annie and Grandpa that he didn't use it anymore by carrying it into the room while he was walking. (Happy Birthday to Grandpa!)

A giant Rice Crispy Treat, funny story... you'll have to ask about it. The kids went crazy over it, and he was so bummed out that I made him stop eating to take the picture.

And the other exciting thing was his 2nd Birthday. So many times I look at Henry and see him doing things I couldn't even imagine him doing six months ago! He has gone from not being able to stand on his own (in November) to walking (April). He's doing really well with therapy and makes progress every day. Sometimes he needs a little persuasion. I told him on Monday he needed to learn to walk on his own if he wanted to play outside. Tuesday he was walking on his own! The stinker!

We are soooo happy to be home and moving on to new adventures. We head back to Seattle the first week of May for check ups, make sure all is going well, AND to get the LINE REMOVED!!! HOORAY! Looking forward to Seattle and seeing friends again! Hugs and love to you all!

Slow...

2010-04-12T19:28:00.000-07:00

I know.. I know, You're all waiting, and I'm horrible at keeping up when I'm home. I greatly apologize! With two children, a husband, four piggies and a green house needing attention, on top of all the other house keeping stuff... I'm a bit behind. And there are many super mom's who have the time, I'm not one of them.. I'm working my way there.
Henry had another visit today with the Docs. And drum roll please..... his platelets were 88!!! An all time high, and his hematocrit was 39 (that's normal range!!!) He has been getting a shot called "Darbo" for short... that boosts the production of red blood cells... and this week he didn't need the shot. His red blood cells are doing awesomely along with his platelets! His weight was 11.4 kg. Which is ok.. I met with the nutritionist today and she's WONDERFUL! We talked about a schedule that will help stimulate eating more and I don't have to be so obsessed with fluid intake! Hooray! I am no longer held responsible for his food intake. Henry is responsible for that and I am responsible for providing a schedule to stimulate hunger and provide the nutrition he needs. It's up to this little man to eat all he needs.
He is walking! Today at the Doc visit he refused to hold my hand at all, some times held Elizabeth's hand, but refused to be dependant on me! It was awesome! Although this week was the first time he really didn't like the blood pressure machine. And currently is screaming at me because he wants more jelly beans. haha good nutritious value right?!
We are so happy to be home and together. We head to Seattle on the 4th of May and will be coming home with out the Hickman line! YEAH! We are waiting still to hear if hubby is switching jobs or not, and if he does, he will be gone during may and June. Mommy will be responsible for taking care of the garden and piggies. Something else to build life around.
The days are getting so light! Well for longer periods of time! And it's wonderful! Every day it's exciting to see how much longer the sun light sticks around. Oh the many reasons I love Alaska. They built a bike path that runs into town, so I've been driving to the bottom of the mountain and walking to town. People think I'm nuts! It's a rare thing to see around here because you have to drive so far to a grocery store. But I love it! I'm missing Seattle for it's wonderful bike path and the close proximity of everything, not to mention the number of parks around. But we're managing at home wonderfully! Seattle I love you, but I love being home WAY more!

Journals

2010-04-01T22:43:00.001-07:00

I've been reading from my journals in 2008, prior to us being taken to Seattle. My greatest concern then is still my greatest concern now. ELIZABETH. Her life has been nothing but change. We house sat for many people, lived in a trailer in the garage, and most recently she was uprooted from the only home she knew to Seattle, and Idaho, and back home again to Daddy's house for a few weeks. Nothing has been constant. When she finally did get comfortable some where, things changed again. While the adventure may seem fun at a young age, her behavior has shown the wear and tear of constant change.
I searched diligently for weeks for words from the leaders of our church, the Prophet and his apostles, about raising children and disciplining them. These are a few of the quotes I appreciated the most:
President Brigham Young, "Bring your children in the love and fear of the Lord, study their dispositions and their temperaments, and deal with them accordingly, never allow yourself to correct them in the heat of passion. Teach them to love you, not fear you."
President Gordon B. Hinckley, "There is need for discipline with families. But discipline with severity...inevitably leads to resentment and bitterness. It cures nothing and only aggravates the problem.
Behold your little ones and teach them, your example will do more than anything else in impressing upon their minds a pattern of life."
"Nor let us forget the need to respect these, our little ones. Under the revealed word of God we know they are children of God as we are children of God and deserving of that respect."
President Young also said, "Let it be your constant care... the children that God has so kindly given you.."
President Faust said, "There is no more important human effort. Being a father or mother is not only a great challenge, it is a divine calling."
President David McKay said "parenting is the greatest trust that has been given to human beings."
A lot I know, but it has been a burden on my mind. I know that I have been blessed with two beautiful children and they are wonderful and I am eternally grateful to be a mother. Some day I hope to have more children, but the problems I'm having with Elizabeth are weighing on me as a mother. I have not yet found a way to discipline her that works, she's too stubborn to threaten and she's too active for time out and when I try to talk to her about it, she screams at the top of her lungs so she can't hear what I'm saying.
All of you experienced mothers may be out there laughing at me, but my heart and mind are just at wits end. I understand she's been through a lot, and she's only three.. but how can I teach her obedience, which is important, how can I teach her love, how do I teach her the importance of good choices, with out losing my mind!!!
I think every night I pray for help, for strength, for guidance and inevitably I fail every day. What I have realized, as this Easter weekend approaches, is that I am weak, I am perfectly imperfect, I cannot last five minutes with out some how hurting/damaging my precious daughter, our Father in Heaven's daughter. And being so weak, I am so quick to forget who's daughter she really is, and what love and respect she is deserving. I am the dust of the earth, not worthy of anything. YET, my Savior endured all, gave of his own life, suffered every pain and affliction so that he could help ME, so that I could receive FORGIVENESS. So that my weaknesses may some day become strengths. He over came the world and every obstacle in it, so that I wouldn't have to do it alone. I hate that I am so weak and so quick to forget what he endured for me, so quick to forget what's important. My Savior loved Elizabeth enough to die for her, to pay for the struggles she would face, the heart aches, the frustrations, the changes she would have to endure. And I, mortal, imperfect I, cannot figure out how to teach her, to love her enough to show her the way.
I am grateful for a Savior who truly LOVED me, us, to endure all so that we wouldn't have to, so we could have to help we needed. I know he gave his own life, he freely died and conquered death. I know most importantly that HE LIVES. He is Risen and he knows us, he knows our hearts, he knows our fears and he calls to us to come unto him.
"Draw near unto me, and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me."
"Mine eyes are upon you. I am in your midst and ye cannot see me."
"I will be merciful unto your weakness. Therefore be ye strong from henceforth."

Over Due

2010-03-29T11:31:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from Henry's 2 Bday!!! He's so cute!!! I have tried to download like sixteen different pics... and I only got two. So here's what I have this morning. I'm going to Anchorage, hopefully I can find some wireless to post on the other computer. Had a wonderful birthday! Isn't he just growing into a little man!!! He is definitely acting his age.. here come the terrible two's.. but we're oh so grateful for it!

First Steps!!!

2010-03-19T23:05:00.000-07:00

Henry has taken his first solo steps!!! He has been cruising... and I do mean cruising around the house with a little shopping cart, but yesterday he walked to Mommy with out any helping hands!!! He won't walk to any one but Mommy.. but he's making progress. And then, every night when Daddy leaves for work the kids give him hugs and kisses and then watch out the door as he drives away. Well tonight Henry parked his shopping cart in front of the rug and walked at least five steps to the door all by himself, with out mom asking him to or help from any one!!! It was awesome! So exciting to see him continually moving forward! Hooray! He'll be walking in no time! He so loves to chase around the house with Elizabeth and her stroller.
We went out in the jeep the other day, just bogging around in our yard.. with tons and tons of snow.... and Henry LOVED it! He wanted to sit as close to the windshield as he could so he could see everything! He was laughing and really excited... and definitely didn't want to get out of the jeep. :)
We are having so much fun being at home! And although Elizabeth is still checking to see if we're staying in Alaska every day.. I think she's excited to be home. Not really that excited about change... even when I moved the table around.. she got upset. Silly girl.
While life is wonderful for us right now, a lot of friends are still having lots of struggles, and my heart goes out to them, and they are in my prayers. I am so grateful for the experiences we have had over the last two years, and am even more grateful for the peace and calm we have enjoyed over the last few weeks! What great miracles fill our lives every day.

Still Waiting...

2010-03-11T16:15:00.000-08:00

My wonderful hubby has hidden the device used to load pictures on the camera. Not really it's in his other car, but for now all I can do is tell you what we have been up to.
Daddy hurt his back, thus he's home for the week, Hooray for us! :) We like having him around, but feel bad because he's in pain!
Mommy is enjoying being at home, and shoveling all the snow, seriously a foot at minimum in one day! The kids love it!
Elizabeth got all new snow gear and has been outside numerous times enjoying the freedom of being outside by herself and playing in the white stuff. Her attitude is slowly adjusting to being here, but still is as stubborn and fun as ever. She got sick and because she wasn't feeling well I let her watch TV, however, I have realized that it's coming back to bite me in the bum! Now she pretends to cough and says, "I don't feel good, I need to watch some TV." Yes she has everything in life figured out!
Henry is extremely jealous that Elizabeth can play outside and he can't... something about letting him scoot around on his bum in the snow seems harsh... so he walks around with Mommy and jumps in the piles of snow. Loving every minute! He inevitably caught Elizabeth's cold, but hasn't had any fevers, thank Heaven! He is getting his two year molars though, one has broken through part way and the other one is causing great pain.
Both children are very very slowly learning to sleep with out mommy. Probably because they are on meds! But for a few hours each night they sleep by themselves.
Henry is eating really well, his new favorite food of the moment is pancakes with lots of syrup. Oh and he's drinking his lactaid milk finally! Two sippy cups of chocolate milk today so far... we'll see how the night goes. His counts continue to climb and we are seriously talking about getting his Hickman line out soon. His Platelets are at 47 and his Hematocrit is 29, with an ANC of almost 3000!!!! All of his counts are slowly creeping up every week instead of down which is huge! We bought him a plastic shopping cart to push around the house. He doesn't need mommy's fingers anymore! Soon enough he'll be walking on his own! He desperately misses his Annie and Grandpa! Every day wants to look at their picture and talk to them.
His weight continues to stay low, but we're working hard at feeding him all the fatty foods he can handle like Donuts!!!! Which he also loves.
We're all adjusting to being home and hoping to get healthy soon so we can see some friends! Elizabeth played outside with the neighbor girls for the first time today and LOVED it!
Life is Wonderful! We are so blessed! The Lord truly compensates for the tears and heartaches we face in life, what joy fills our lives these days!!!!

Settling In

2010-03-04T20:01:00.000-08:00

Sorry i haven't posted in a while... I know many of you were anxious to hear about getting home. The flight was alright, Elizabeth was awake until we began the "final descent" into Anchorage. She was looking out the window for Daddy, she couldn't quite see him, so I told her to keep watching. (Good one mom!) So the wonderful flight attendants helped me carry bags and children out of the plane.
Elizabeth was so excited she ran up the ramp to the airport, and some how couldn't find Daddy even though he was standing right in front of her. I think the buzzed head didn't help and she may have been still dreaming or sleep walking. Uncle Brad and Aunt Sarah brought us home, I think they brought us home a year and a few months ago too.
Elizabeth and Henry have both been very excited about all the snow and Henry has to go outside at least once a day. Elizabeth is very sick, I think this happens every time she comes home. I don't mean to offend anyone by not visiting, but while I'm a nervous wreck about sick people being around us, I don't want to take my sick kids around you.
We are all so excited to be home and although Daddy thinks it's too cramped and is past ready to build another house, I am LOVING it! Home and safe, and our first visit went wonderfully! Henry did awesome for the nurses and felt right at home. His counts continue to go up! He's eating like a CHAMP! He loves taco meat and guacamole and salsa, and is eating whatever Elizabeth doesn't eat. We play games to see who can drink the most juice, so I'm pretty sure he's at or close to his goal liquid intake.
So the transition home has been wonderful! Easy and while I am sure there may be bumps in the road ahead I am so grateful the Lord has made this trip home so wonderfully easy.

Flight Simulation Class

2010-02-26T09:35:00.000-08:00

In our efforts to prepare for a flight home, Elizabeth and Henry are participating in flight simulation classes.
The initial excitement gone, and Elizabeth is wondering how long this is going to last and if she can get out. Henry as always.. is chill. However, this simulation didn't last the full three hours. Only about three minutes. :)

And our final aspect of training... take off... a bit extreme, but they wanted to lay down in their seats.

In all honesty I was just cleaning the seat covers and making sure the straps were set right. But a flight course seemed a good idea.

Sunday Best

2010-02-21T21:20:00.000-08:00

Cutest Suit at Target that I couldn't resist!

Showing Mommy that they can be quite and sit still, but only when they want to.

He is such a little man and the suit just makes him look so much older!

I make it look good, I know!

"Normal"

2010-02-21T21:00:00.000-08:00

This is a "normal" weekly routine for Henry.

Mommy used to have Henry wrapped tightly in a blanket to change Henry's dressing. However, I eventually learned that the screaming was due to the lack of movement in his arms, not the actual changing of the dressing.

1. Clean the area around the entrance sight.

(This is his Hickman line that goes into his heart valves)
2. Cleaning the actual line that is under the dressing.

Henry is awesome at holding still and helping. He loves to hold garbage and then throw it away for me.

3. Let area dry and then apply the adhesive "stuff"

Henry's thinking, "what are you looking at? Isn't this what every 23 month old does?"

4. Apply bio-patch and then coil the line up and tape it down with tegederm.

And yes, Henry is doing a crossword puzzle while I am changing his dressing. I must be getting too slow for him!

Aren't we done yet Mom? Seriously?

So, No, Henry is not "normal" but he's pretty used to this life style and he's pretty awesome in my book!!!

P.S. Nurse Katie if you are still reading this blog, a little man would like to come and see you before we leave for home! Some how we have to find out what days you're working. I know you're thinking I should already know what days you work... but I am not sure... so we're trying to get over there to say good bye!

Busy Busy Bee

2010-02-18T12:12:00.000-08:00

Well honestly we aren't THAT busy, but we've been working on cleaning out the apartment and ditching stuff that won't fit into the bags. I have four bags that I can take on the airplane with me and if it doesn't fit it can't come home... well except for the six boxes of essential things I had to send home!
I have so many fun videos that I want to post, but haven't had the time to sit and do it... soon hopefully. Henry is getting so big and doing so many silly fun things. For example, he was body slamming me and jumping on top of me at 1:3o am. Laughing hysterically and saying "uh-oh" when he falls down. Another evening he was playing hide and seek with a stuffed animal and when he found the bunny he would get excited and scoot around in a circle like a dog chasing a tail!! So funny! He's quite the character! He is now old enough to defend himself verbally against Elizabeth, and he is very good at tattling on her too. He doesn't talk, but he is very good at his body language communication. Silly kid!
So here's our home plan:
Weekly visits for lab draws and appointments with speech and physical therapy, as well as the nutritionist. Then as his counts do better he will spread out his visits to every two weeks and then three.
The Hickman line is staying in until May when we come back down to Seattle for a check up and meds. Then I won't have to worry about Henry getting a fever; with the Hickman line (a central line that goes to the valve of your heart) if you get a fever you have to get to the Hospital right away and get blood drawn to make sure there isn't an infection. And if there is you get antibiotics for a few weeks depending on the type of bacteria, or you get the line pulled if it's really bad. Anyways, after he gets the line pulled I don't have to worry about that anymore and I won't have to make a midnight run to the hospital if he gets a fever. I can do three months!!!
We'll go back to Seattle again in August for another three month check up and meds. We will probably make a visit to the Seattle Cancer Care place for Henry's 1 year post transplant visit. HOORAY! Although Henry is only 75% Henry and 25% Donor, it's working to keep his body strong and the disease gone! They say that children are allowed to go to school 1 year post transplant. So after that one year mark I won't have to be soooo much of a germ-a-phobe! And we'll get to go to all three hours of church again. Wow!
So that's what is happening here!... I am so sad to be leaving Seattle since it is completely AWESOME weather! Sunny and warm and green! The trees are budding and the flower are coming out and I'm NOT looking forward to winter again! Henry sure loves the outdoors he's learning to escape with Elizabeth's help and would spend all day outside even if his fingers froze off!

Video's to come soon...

clicking my heals three times...

2010-02-11T20:52:00.000-08:00

We are having a teleconference tomorrow with the Docs in AK. We decided that for a while longer Henry should go through the HemOnc Clinic at Prov. While we wanted to get his line pulled, the Docs and I decided it would probably be better for Henry if we kept it in for another three months. I can handle that. We have tickets I think, but I'm not going to divulge the date, I just don't want to jinx anything... I'm a little nervous that somethings going to happen and we'll have to change the ticket date. So I'll just let you all know we're coming home very soon!
It is very entertaining going through toys with Elizabeth, what should we get rid of what should we pass on what do we throw away... everything that we're giving away is usually Henry's and everything else is suddenly the most important toy in her life!!!! Luckily we have a lot of toys that can be cleaned and passed on to families here at the RonDon and the ones that the kids have trashed we can get rid of, it's a bit harder when it comes to stuffed animals, I'm a closet junky when it comes to stuffed animals. I have sentimental attachment to them, they remind me of certain trials through out our treatment, or times we were celebrating. I have tried to keep in mind the whole $$$ per suitcase and have done pretty well and passing on the stuffed animals. There are a few that I just can't quite part with yet, sorry honey!
We've been trying to get Henry to drink more, about 8oz of milk per day. We're still trying to figure out the whole allergy thing, like I mentioned in prior posts, but we're starting him on Lactaid to see if he can handle it. He isn't interested in drinking anything other than juice... but we're working hard on that. He's dropped some weight, but is still in a healthy weight range. (Although he looks sooooo skinny!) Tomorrow we'll weigh him again and keep moving forward with out the tube!!! WAHOO!
Mentally I'm freaking out!!! Trying to convince Elizabeth we live somewhere else, and that snow is a good thing... its spring in Seattle, I Love Seattle, why does everyone complain about the weather here?! But it's time to move on to another phase of life and I am looking forward with anticipation to what the future holds for us.

P.S. Elizabeth is trying to teach Henry how to do somersaults! They are so fun!!!

Confidence

2010-02-07T19:36:00.000-08:00

I am grateful that my Savior knows my strength and my own potential. The Lord promises us that we will not be given any challenge in life that we cannot handle, so I assume that every struggle is something that I must be able to handle, or at least the Lord knows I can do it! I'm glad someone does. I realize many times how blessed we are that Henry is getting stronger and healthier and that really there is no reason for me to complain. I am so grateful to have my mom and dad here helping. Mom has taken over feeding duty for Henry, because she's the only one with enough patience... I'm sure the Lord thinks I can handle it and perhaps I can, but for now I'm grateful I'm not having to do it alone!
Thursday Henry pulled his NG tube out, the tube in his nose that pumps formula into his stomach. Instead of replacing it, I decided we should try keeping it out. He's been doing great eating the last five days or so. He eats yogurt for every meal and baby cereal with honey, and yesterday he ate spaghetti and ground beef chunks and loved it. However, pretty much every meal we have to fight to get Henry to eat. Because he had the tube in for so long he has an aversion to eating. His body forgot how to chew or swallow, basic eating things, and truly I don't think he knows what 'hungry' means. He gets really fussy and you can tell he's hungry but he doesn't correlate the two..stomach is hungry I should eat... Not only do we have to fight with him about the foods, we have to worry about the allergy as well, and I'm still not sure exactly what the allergy entails. He can't handle milk, but can handle yogurt, somethings that are made with milk might set him off, others we're not sure about. And usually he wants whatever he's not supposed to eat and doesn't want anything to do with non milk products.
I know there are plenty of you mothers out there dealing with more than trying to get your child to eat, I'm just grumpy today and am venting.... You mothers are my hero's, you have great faith and you deal with great amounts of stress and trials and you inspire me to be more patient and loving with my own children. THIS TOO SHALL PASS!!!! I just have to keep telling myself, the Lord has confidence in me, therefore I can do this!

Really??HOME??!!!

2010-02-03T11:06:00.000-08:00

I was a bit depressed that J. was packing up yesterday and leaving and I couldn't go too. However, it won't be much longer. I read Pres. Uchtdorfs talk in the Jan. Ensign, "Hold On" and LOVED it!!! I told my mom I wish I had read that talk a year ago! It was very comforting, but when I thought about it, the Lord has continually expressed the same feeling to my heart and mind over the last year and a half. Always in my heart I felt the Lord encouraging me to just hold on a little longer. "If ever you are tempted to become discouraged or to lose faith, remember...Hold on a little longer. You can do this! ..Even when things look bleak. Know and remember this: the Lord loves you. He remembers you. And He will ever sustain those who 'endure in faith to the end."
Talked with the Doctor today about what we need to do to get outta Dodge....we scheduled a CT scan, ultrasound, no bone marrow (thank goodness) and some med tests to eliminate some more meds. Looks like we could be home by March. We're still discussing removing the line, but I'm hoping to get it out before we go home. I'll get to learn how to do shots at home for his Darbo med, and then we'll be returning to Seattle every three months for some bone medicine. We're starting the three month schedule next week which includes three straight days of 4 hour infusions. But it's only every three months, so less pokes every month if we do remove the Hickman line.
Henry's platelet count has been holding steady in the 30s and every few weeks it goes up a few points. His Hematocrit is still dropping, but ever so slowly which is great progress. Everything else has been just awesome! Although yesterday we did have quite a mishap at the park. Henry LOVES the slides, he scoots right off the end like he's gonna start running around.(He's close, but not brave enough to go out on his own) Anyways he went down this really steep one and leaned too far forward. Well Grandpa saw him falling and reached out to catch him, his fingernail sliced that little lip of skin between the lip and the gums.. ya know above your two front teeth. Well he bled and bled and bled and my white shirt was covered in blood! Henry's sweat shirt sleeves were covered and I was freaking out!!! But after much convincing, decided he would be alright. We watched him closely and after what seemed like forever the bleeding stopped and it's healing nicely. I was pretty rattled with so much bleeding, I thought he doesn't have that much to spare he's just gonna dry up!! Silly Mom I know! He recovered quicker than I did.
So I'm trying not to pack too quickly... but a few trial runs to see how much stuff we have will definitely occur.

Together

2010-01-29T14:29:00.001-08:00

J. I cant believe how big Henry and Elizabeth are. Henry is a little scooter and scoots his way on the floor everywhere. Elizabeth makes up songs and sings all day long. She is already tall enough to see whats on the kitchen counter without even climbing. Henry mimics everything Elizabeth does.

For the first time ever, I am able to read a book to Elizabeth and she stays for the whole thing. Henry loves to read. Even though he does not speak yet, it is obvious he understands what we are saying and shows us how smart he is all the time. It is hard not treating him like a baby anymore he knows what he wants and knows how to get it. He also gives the best hugs. He latches on and will squeeze for what feels like minutes.

Everyone is doing well. L. is hoping Henry will be well enough to return and continue treatment in Alaska in a few months. Hopefully by summer. I am hopeful but as a survival instinct not allowing myself to get excited just yet. Still a long way to go and many battles to fight, both health wise as well as insurance. I tell people who ask; I believe everything happens for a reason, the reason I may not know or understand, but that does not change the belief that they happen for a reason.

Knik Glacier Outing

2010-01-29T13:56:00.000-08:00

J. Last weekend we took a little winter excursion to the Glacier. We couldn't have asked for better weather, it was warm (for winter) no wind and clear skies. The drive out was fast and fairly smooth. Both rigs ran fine (except for a little overheating just before we made it back to the road). We had solid Ice all the way to the glacier and didn't break through once. Around dusk we climbed up near Wolf Point and caught a few pictures of the sun setting. Then on the way out we came across 2 guys about 6 miles out walking on the trail headed out. They had some how put a 4 -wheeler through the Ice or something (probably didn't help that they were drinking). The temperature was dropping and getting cold fast so we gave them a ride out (i.e. saved their lives and more importantly saved some friends some paperwork) and made sure they were not driving when we got back to the road. All in all a good trip. M&D got to see the Glacier up close, and S. even got to learn how to drive the Jeep. Next time N. will haft to take his Jeep out with A.

2010-01-26T18:59:00.000-08:00

I was studying in my scriptures and the only way Elizabeth would let me have a bit of peace, was if she could give me "a few" stickers. LOL

Then Henry discovered a new ride. It's actually Elizabeth's princess table, that's a much better use. I have video of him trying to ride it like a horse. I definitely should have bought him a little tonka truck to ride around on.

Elizabeth grew out of her old pj's so we bought some new ones, and she really loves them.

And finally, Elizabeth and I painted our toe nails today. Henry INSISTED that he wanted his painted as well. He really enjoyed the bright pink! Don't worry Daddy, we used some nail polish remover. HAHA He didn't want to be left out! He loves to watch Elizabeth and do everything she does, he even started trying to mimic her laugh today. Some times I wish he wouldn't because then after we get her calmed down, he starts screaming for no reason, just because Elizabeth did! ugh.

Henry is so silly some times

Life in the WA

2010-01-23T11:53:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth looks about how I feel this morning. We had a late night, well some of us, Elizabeth actually went to bed at 7:30pm, Henry on the other hand didn't want to go to bed until after midnight again! We woke up to a very foggy gray day.

The first thing Henry does when he wakes up, look out the window for squirrel friends. This morning we looked and looked and found none. This one was hanging out after both kids were in the other room. Smart squirrel. The neighbors feed the squirrels like they feed birds. Every morning a herd of squirrels comes running through with bread in their mouths. Crazy.

After I got back from my run, Henry and Elizabeth were spending some quiet time together. Henry LOVES to read books. Mostly books with dogs in them. This one is "Sam Sheep can't Sleep."

And Elizabeth who has grown legs that never end over night....is watching "Scripture Bugs" some little cartoon we found at Desseret Books. Since Henry's appointment's have been spread out, our days here have become, well less than busy. And with gray days that aren't so warm, we find ourselves in doors more often with not much to do. I built Elizabeth a fort today, I'll have to post a picture of that one later, and she really enjoys it, but it's not as fun with out a friend to share it with. (Henry isn't so into the tent thing yet, I think he's a bit claustrophobic, due to some nasty treatment he had about a year ago.)

Daddy is coming to see us in three days!!! WOHOO!! We are all so excited! Henry used to do this trick with Grandma... pass the pacifier through the web cam...He obviously figured it out because now he likes to play that game with Daddy on the cell phone. His picture pops up on the phone when he calls and Henry sneakily passes the paci through the phone and hides it behind the phone and then pretends he doesn't know where it is.... what a goof!

Silly Elizabeth!

2010-01-19T13:57:00.000-08:00

The bag from Aunt Di, the hat from Aunt Grace... put them together and what have you got.. one silly girl! She got all dressed up and danced around the room.
I couldn't pass up the photo opportunity! haha What a nut!

Quiet Time

2010-01-19T13:37:00.000-08:00

So a few things about this video; first, Elizabeth doesn't really take naps anymore, so we compromised and did quiet time on the bed reading for an hour or so. Some times Henry joins her, usually not. Get a bit too rowdy. Second, you will notice the two beds pushed together. Henry is far too big, long, to fit into the cribs here, so he sleeps on the bed with Elizabeth. I sleep in the bed close to the dresser, and two crazies sleep on the other bed. Henry sleeps at the bottom of the bed, which has been alright..(minus the fall two nights ago).. and Elizabeth sleeps cuddled with me or with her feet by my head so she doesn't kick Henry. It's a fun arrangement, I could sleep on the couch bed with Henry but I miss cuddling with Elizabeth, and it's the warmest room in the apartment.
Henry continues to do really really well. Tomorrow he has labs after going a week with out any checks. He looks really good and has made lots of progress. It's like Henry was born again and is going through all the baby stages that he missed. He has started to crawl a few steps and really enjoys walking around, chasing Elizabeth. It was really warm yesterday, mid 50s and sunny, so we went outside to play and it was wonderful! Henry walked, with help, all over the park! He stands by himself more and more. He's getting into the noise making stage too, we say "Henry what does Elmo say?" He says "Mama."
What a blessing these two children are in my life! Elizabeth is so wonderful and helpful and quick to teach Henry that Jesus wants us to share with each other, and that Jesus loves him too. And they are so fun to watch together. Elizabeth can make him laugh all the time, and she pulls him all over with the wagon. This year has been a wonderful blessing thus far! I'm so blessed to have two wonderful children bless my life so richly! (I know every mom feels that way!)

(PS Sorry the video wouldn't upload.. maybe another day..)

YEAH FRIENDS!!

2010-01-15T12:26:00.000-08:00

enjoying snacks with friends. He wouldn't ever eat those things when I fed them to him, luckily he loves to watch other kids and he picks it up pretty quickly.
She was really into his pacifier.

They played blocks together for a while.

Our friends from Alaska came to see us, on their way to Hawaii they had a long lay over so they stopped in to see us.

This is Saibree, the most adorable ten month old! Henry wasn't really sure about her, as you can see in his expression. :)

Elizabeth on the other hand was excited to have someone light enough she could pull around. She lifted and moved Saibree so much I know she'll be an excellent helper if we ever have another little one. And she's more into trying to help Henry get around, but he's a bit too heavy for her still.

Henry was ok playing by himself, he just checked on them once in a while to see what they were doing... and went back to what he was doing. (Didn't want to seem too interested...already playing hard to get!)

Elizabeth was loving David! She cuddled with him and he read to her, and she slid down his legs, she says, "make a slide". She really enjoyed having friends to play with.

SUPER H-TRAIN!

2010-01-13T19:53:00.000-08:00

We went to the Doctors today, Henry's counts dropped a bit, but they think maybe they drop the few points each time because they keep pulling blood several times a week. So they proposed blood draws only once every week, along with his Darbo infusion. (Thats the med that boosts your bodies red blood cell production) And since neither one of our Docs will be there next wednesday they also proposed doing Doctor visits every two weeks. So we only have to go into the Doctors once every week! hurray! Party! He's made so much progress physically in the last few days, as you'll see in the video... and I'm really really hoping this means we can go home in the next few months! I thank my Father in Heaven every day for the progress Henry makes and for his health! What a great blessing, miracle

Playing the DS. Well pretending to. He only enjoys watching Mommy play for so long. If it's electronic he's into figuring out how to work it.

He sees me give him medicine so much that he thought he would try it. Although I'm thinking it's because we switched all his meds to oral. (He drinks all his meds now) Maybe they aren't so tastey! Although he really really loves his Morphine.. he literally sucks that syringe dry!

I can do it myself Mommy!

Henry is also really excited to be able to stand up on his own!! HURRAY! So far only at the side of the bath tub, still figuring out his feet and knees. But he wanted to show every one. We're still working on getting him walking by the time Daddy gets here. Oh and he crawls short distances, but his legs are knotted indian style, some how that's more comfortable.

LABS

2010-01-09T21:00:00.000-08:00

Henry had his labs today, his Hematocrit dropped a few points, but his platelets went up from 25 to 33 on their own! :) WAHOO! Small progress I realize, but it's still progress! He had platelets while he was in ICU the week before New Years, so we're hoping that we can hold out longer than two weeks this time. He's cranky and funny and silly just like his sister. He gets really excited to try and crawl on Mommy's exercise mat. We think the floor is just to hard for him right now...but he's loving it, and he's really enjoying walking, he gets farther and farther each time.
We all went to Green Lake today, with the rest of Seattle, because it was a wonderfully sunny day. I ran a few times around the lake and Mom and Dad walked with Henry and Elizabeth. When I got done and caught up with them Elizabeth's hands were a little cold. I told her to put them in her sweatshirt pocket, you know the front pocket on the sweatshirt, and she gets her hands in and says look mommy they're friends!
She really is a joy! And with Henry being more mobile and active Elizabeth is really enjoying his company more. I'm not sure Henry reciprocates those feelings. Sibling Love. What can you do?!

A few Picture updates

2010-01-09T20:42:00.000-08:00

Mickey Mouse came to visit Elizabeth and Henry. He brought them two more mickey mouse dolls. Elizabeth was excited.
Giving Mickey Kisses

HUGS

Henry has begun to eat more baby food, however, he requires a drink of Mountain Dew between each bite, or a drink of some sort, and he needs some one other than Mommy to show how awesome an eater he is. It is incredibly frustrating because he's not getting enough calories in during the day. So we'll see, the battle continues. His other stipulation most meals is that he has to feed himself, which is great, it's just fun to clean up afterwards. And wipe his hands every few seconds because he doesn't like to be dirty. Silly Boy!

Mom! You try eating this!!!

Covered with food, and I wish it was as easy as sticking him in the tub afterwards, but I have to cover his Hickman line and all that mess first. So we're not so excited about messiness!

Coke and Mountain Dew Lover!!

And his new jammies! What a cute boy.

Bye Auntie!

2010-01-05T11:44:00.000-08:00

We just wanted to say Bye Bye to Auntie Robyn one more time! We miss you already! Henry is trying to give you knuckles. :)

Yesterday before Robyn left we went for a nice long run, and I do mean long, we ran from our house to Green Lake and around the lake and back.. a total of 9 miles. It was awesome! In the pouring rain. Minus the sweat in the eyes that was stinging so bad I couldn't see... It was great! I'm thinking about doing that every few weeks. So much more fun to run with someone. I'll miss you every day Robyn! LOVE YOU TONS!

2010-01-03T11:07:00.000-08:00

Watching Mommy play Yoshi World on the DS. He's a quick learner, pretty soon he'll be teaching me how to play.
Puppy Dog eyes

Wanted to show off our new outfits, and she actually smiled! (Well she was actually saying we love you Daddy.) Thanks Mahana! They are perfect.

Cutest smile ever, and we wonder why all nurses are in love with him?!

Daddy Look How Big we Are!!!

2010-01-02T21:26:00.000-08:00

Some times we play nicely together, most the time we are screaming at each other and not sharing! But we both love to color or draw.

(Mom discovered that Henry knows his colors!)
I can draw stick figures with really long legs. I really love to draw my daddy.

And I am loving food Daddy! I started eating jelly and fruit sticks and I had TWO bowls of cereal tonight! I'm thinking this is much better than a tube down the nose. (A GREAT ANSWER TO PRAYERS!)

And Look Daddy I can stand up on my own! I love my wagon that Santa brought me and I LOVE to stand. I walked from Annie to Mommy tonight holding onto their arms like parallel bars. I'm getting so strong. I'm trying to learn how to walk before you get here!

The saddest part about Daddy being gone is how much he's missing! These little ones are growing so fast, I'm so thankful for the Internet and the technology that we have that allows us to share the things these little two angels are accomplishing!

We love you Daddy! Hope you have a great week! You're always in our prayers. And Henry is working SO hard to get better so we can come home.

2010-01-01T16:26:00.000-08:00

We're back home for the start of the new year. We started the day in patient because we didn't think it would be appropriate to discharge him straight out of ICU. And he's great! Better than he has been for a while. The Doctors were so excited to see him doing well, they really gave him a scare. He is so loved!
His new favorite snack, humus! Definitely mommy's little boy! I LOVE to see him eating! While 2009 was a very very blessed year for us, I am feeling that 2010 will be exceptional as well. I do hope that everyone has a very blessed and joyous New Year! Much Love and Hugs to you all!

Puzzle Solving

2009-12-31T11:41:00.000-08:00

She looks so innocent and sweet I know..but listen to this one:

Elizabeth has this new habit of hiding things she breaks, however, she inevitably confesses. This time she broke a donated statue of Santa, one of a set of three... I really apologize Juliann...and my mom was very upset with her. All day Elizabeth asks, "Annie are you mad at me?" Annie says "I'm just unhappy with you." Dinner time comes and she sits in her chair with her eyes down cast and says "Poor George he doesn't mean to get in trouble, he's just a very curious monkey." LOL!!!!! Are you kidding me! Mom about fell off her chair and I think to myself how does a three year old figure those things out. And no, she hadn't watched George that day either! Too smart for her own good!
Henry is doing so much better! They drained all the fluid, took the catheter out and the echo's are showing that the fluid isn't coming back. There is still a pocket that didn't drain that they may go back in and drain. The best news, it's not LCH, it's not GvH, it's not infection!! So you say what is it?! That's what they are still trying to figure out.
Henry is just a continual puzzle to these Doctors, but they work so hard to take great care of him. I am so so grateful for the wonderful NURSES and Docs that help with Henry. They make the hospital stay easy and they always make me feel confident in their abilities. And they all love Henry. He's not needing any blow-by anymore unless maybe when he's sleeping, and he's back to his usual self, getting tangled in the mass of cords he is hooked up to.
His new favorite drink besides water...Mountain Dew
Oh and he ate all the jelly out of his PB&J sandwich. First time he's really eaten like that in forever! I guess some good comes of starving a child for 36 plus hours!
So we can all rest a little easier now, he's doing wonderfully.

P.S. Some of our friends are going home tomorrow and we're so excited for them! Yeah for successful transplants! And I just want them to know we will really miss them and they will always be in our prayers and thoughts! Good luck! And I hope the transition home goes smoothly. Please give H. Big hugs for us! Elizabeth will miss him tons!

Big Heart

2009-12-30T09:27:00.000-08:00

Henry made it past Christmas, but may be in patient for the start of the new year. Monday we took Henry in for labs, and asked to see a Doctor because for the last few days he was having a really hard time breathing, and pain. We assumed it was his back so we asked to have x-rays done of his back and lungs. The Doc looked at the x-rays and said everything look the same, his heart looked a bit bigger but was probably due to the position he was in. We went home, I went for a run and when I was half a mile from home Dad called and said the Doctor wanted us to come back in for imaging of his heart. The wonderful Doctor didn't feel right about the heart thing so he sent us in for an echo cardiogram. What they found was lots of fluid around his heart. We all have a sack around our heart and every day we produce a certain amount of fluid in that sack and every day it gets reabsorbed. For some reason, still unknown, Henry's wasn't being reabsorbed. So we went into the ICU and had an emergency heart procedure to stick a tube into the sack around his heart to drain the fluid.
This morning at 2am they removed the tube, and he's doing better, we'll do another echo this afternoon to make sure the fluid isn't increasing again. Not all of the fluid was drained but they feel that the fluid left will be taken care of when they figure out why it happened and treat it. One possibility is infection, though they feel that's probably unlikely because he has no other symptoms of infection. Second possibility is a common side effect of too many transfusions. The third possibility is LCH in the heart. Scary I know.
Sunday we went to church and heard a wonderful talk about Christ and the many roles we see him in and what they each teach us. She read from Luke 24, when Christ walked with two apostles on the road to Emmaus. Their eyes were unable to recognize him, and they explained to this stranger about Christ and "we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel" and Christ says to them "O fools and slow of heart to believe." These verses really hit me, and then the woman giving the talk said, we are so quick to curse the darkness, to curse the trials, the unknown and yet Christ is always there walking with us. I was blessed with a great chastisement and my eyes were opened to my lack of faith in Christ. I was then blessed with a peace and a greater testimony that the Lord has a plan for each of us, and if we will trust in him and seek His will, we will be blessed. And so when all this happened on Monday I was at peace, not cursing the darkness, not cursing the unknown. I was more able to accept what was happening and focus on Henry and what he needed and to celebrate the miracle of the atonement and the knowledge of the fullness of the gospel, eternal families and the power of the priesthood.
Henry has already endured so much and he has been blessed with great strength. We are still waiting to find out what all this means and we'll keep you all in formed but I'm trying not to loose hope or faith in the promises we receive from the Lord.

Christmas Day (for Daddy)

2009-12-25T12:02:00.000-08:00

Since we weren't able to be together for Christmas I'm posting pictures for Daddy to see his little ones opening presents. We sure missed you Daddy!

Santa brought Elizabeth and Henry a double seat wagon for Christmas! And they both LOVE it! We're gonna take it out on a test run later.

We have been so blessed by the kindness and love of friends and family and complete strangers! Every one has helped to make this Christmas day wonderful for these two little ones.
Juliann I told Elizabeth to laugh while Grandpa was taking the picture, like you did with Reese and as you can see... a cute smile!! Thanks for that!
The best thing this morning was that Elizabeth wanted to open one present and play with it, and check it out and then move on to the next one when mom asked her to.

A baby Cinderella, her new baby that gets sick and throws up just like baby Henry. Elizabeth's friends are gonna think she's so weird because her babies will be throwing up and getting their lines flushed and eat through tubes. Oh life is fun.

Henry woke up a bit cranky this morning, had a rough night, but eventually got into the new toys and presents. After opening the first one he made me open the presents so he could play with them.

I know I look a bit scary but doesn't everyone when they stay up all night and then get up early to open presents. :)

Maracas!!! He loves them! Singing and counting and noise.

He's just got the cutest eyes.

The coolest gift Grandpa found was a phone that you can record your own voice on, so we called Daddy and had him say something into the recorder so Henry could always have Daddy's voice.

Elizabeth requires a library of books prior to going to sleep, and the older she gets the more books it requires to put her to sleep.

Henry on the other hand reads to himself and puts himself to bed.

'Zoes Flower' is his favorite book right now, but I think that's just because it's small enough for him to read. But what a wonderful blessing to have a little boy who will read to himself and put himself to bed!!! I know it won't last forever but it sure is cute!

Up to Date

2009-12-21T20:22:00.001-08:00

Tried to upgrade Henry's formula to an age appropriate level, it was lactose free because of his sensitivities. However, it looks like Henry is actually allergic to milk. Different in the way it handles in the body. An actual milk allergy messes with the immune system, an over zealous response in sues and in Henry's case, bloating and severe cramping. The last few nights, well five or so, have consisted of Henry screaming non-stop. During the day he's much more content, it's just night time that he seems so uncomfortable. The Doctor gave us some gas medication, and we increased his morphine frequency, and so far so good.
We have made it almost two weeks with out a transfusion!! Awesome progress. We may end up in the clinic doing a transfusion on Christmas or Christmas Eve, but two weeks is such great progress!
Henry started Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy today. He's not really excited about some one else playing with him, or making him do things he doesn't want to but hopefully he'll get used to them and start making some great progress. He took a few steps on his own with the help of a walker, but then got mad and sat down. Baby steps...literally. :)

2009-12-17T16:25:00.000-08:00

I know I said I would post some pictures of Henry walking... I'm still looking for batteries, but here are some pictures from Mom's camera from this past summer and some more recent ones as well.

Our little Country Girl. She loved being at Annie & Grandpa's house.

Lunch time with Grandpa on the farm. Her favorite thing to do was ride in the tractor with Grandpa, oh and run wild through the fields like a true country girl.

Nap time with Grandpa

Elizabeth had to spend her 3rd Birthday with Annie and Grandpa because Mommy was inpatient with Henry and Daddy was back in AK. She didn't really care I'm sure and she actually got to celebrate when she came back to Seattle. And then every day was her birthday for a few weeks. At least she tried to convince me it was.

Getting ready for church. Seems like a silly thing, however, it has been about nine months since we have been able to go together. So we were pretty excited! You don't realize how wonderful and uplifting church is, until you can't go for long periods of time.

For some reason Elizabeth isn't sure what a 'smile' is... we tell her to smile and get the weirdest faces... oh well.. at least she's still cute. haha

This was the other day, sliding up and down the hall way. Elizabeth is wearing one of my shirts, it's her favorite new thing to wear for pj's.

A surprise for Mommy.

We had Elizabeth in there and almost taped it up and sent it to AK. Some days she's just too crazy and wild for me, but how boring would life be with out her!!!

So lucky to have her here.

This one was today... Reading the comics with Annie.

If he looks tired it's because he is. He was up most of the night and then took a five hour nap this afternoon, maybe he's just a night owl. Should have had a nap today too, another long night for mommy.

CELEBRATE!

2009-12-17T10:53:00.000-08:00

We have our results!

And with a generous bone marrow sample they found NO LCH!!!

Henry's marrow is creating all the new cells his body needs, they said his marrow is about 90% active and yesterday he even made some red blood cells!

The Doctor laughed at us because we had such low expectations, but really in the big scheme of things that's huge!!! He's got lots of iron deposits because of all the transfusions he's getting which can be dangerous. He's getting 'Darbo,' a booster for your bodies red blood cell production, every week now that should help reduce the number of transfusions.

We have been sooooooooooooo blessed!

None of us have gotten sick through these last few months, and Henry has continued to grow stronger every day. He's almost 13 kilos and 79 cm long.

Soon to come will be a video of him walking while I hold his hands. So much fun!

Auntie Robyn came in two nights ago and Elizabeth has been ecstatic!!! She loves her Auntie Robyn and all the extra adult attention.

Elizabeth has learned to draw stick figures, Annie is amazing at stick figures, however when Robyn draws for her, they are actual people... Annie and Mommy aren't gonna do anymore with their silly stick figures. :) Both Henry and Elizabeth enjoy drawing whenever they can, so maybe Auntie Robyn will give them some art lessons.

We ate ice cream last night to celebrate and today we're going to the park... Henry loves the slides.

Thank you all so much for your prayers, we are eternally grateful for all your support.

So everyone can do a little dance to celebrate with us!

"Shake your booty, shake shake shake... shake your booty!!!"

Such a Character

2009-12-13T09:17:00.000-08:00

Our silly little boy is growing up so quickly. I can say to him "Henry sit up straight," and his puffs out his chest and sucks in his gut and tried really hard to sit up as straight as possible! It's so cute!
He slept a long time yesterday afternoon, so was up late last night, and eating cookies with Mommy and Grandpa and Annie, and loving it. We were excited because he was eating something. H wouldn't pick up the cookie, because that would mean sticky fingers, but he would lick the cookie laying on the table. He was loving it!

Showing us how to sit up straight. He acts SO much like Elizabeth these days it's so adorable. He's making so much progress so quickly, making new sounds and trying to walk more with help, he's so anxious to actually RUN after Elizabeth. One of these days he's just gonna take off.

Eating his gingerbread man... well sugar cookie man... He has been such a blessing! Regardless of what he's been through or going through he remains happy and sweet and loving. I have been so blessed with two wonderful happy children and I am so grateful for the joy they bring to my life.

Very Brief...well it started out that way

2009-12-08T15:54:00.000-08:00

Henry's next biopsy is Friday at 9:30am, we won't have results until Wednesday next week. We're still getting platelets and red blood cells every few days, Henry has adjusted very well to being anemic! Can't even tell when he is low any more.

Not only is Henry enjoying standing up, he really likes to life mommy's weights. 3lbs starting weight... we'll see what he can do in a few months.

The Doctor laughs at how well trained Mommy is... all Henry has to do is point and grunt and I know exactly what to do... I'm trying to train Henry.. but I guess I'm the one being trained! haha

Seattle 3rd ward is wonderful, they have really helped with providing some nice Christmas decor for the apartment. While I was trying to teach Elizabeth about the Savior and his birth and the reason we celebrate Christmas.... she was watching Dora and Diego and told me that Santa's sleigh is stuck and it's full of toys.. "where's the present for me? and Annie and Grandpa and mommy?" Curse you cartoons.. I guess it's my fault for letting her watch TV. But she does love the nativity we were loaned and is really excited to celebrate Jesus' birthday.

We may actually be able to start going to church again. Henry's counts are good and he's doing well enough that he can be in a crowd.. just no sick people. So we'll continue with just Sacrament meeting. But oh what a blessing that will be!!!! I haven't been to church since March maybe. Wow... forced into inactivity!! haha

Goodwill is Awesome! Hit the jack pot last trip and found Henry an incredible coat and really cute Gap pants and they were all half off! Plus some really cute shirts. I know.. germ freak shopping at Goodwill doesn't quite fit.. but I do have a washer :) I Love meeting fellow Goodwill shoppers. So exciting finding the goods and at such great prices!

Thank you Cari for thinking of us! You are incredible and I am so glad you're home but wish you were down the hall too.. :) hope you guys are all doing well. Give Ben a big hug for me!

Although I'm finding it hard to get into Christmas mode this year... I am eternally grateful for my Savior. The Christmas Devotional was awesome! Our Savior, who created the earth and everything on it, born in a humble manger, lived a humble life of service to others, and gave willingly his life, to atone for the sins of all...something he didn't need because he was perfect. And yet he loved us so much, he willingly carried our sins and heartaches so we wouldn't have to, so we would be blessed with the opportunity to repent and receive forgiveness. My life has been blessed beyond what I could ever have imagined! The opportunity to be sealed to the man of my dreams and to be a mother in Zion! What incredible blessings! For every heart ache in my life I have received joy ten fold! I cannot see the pain and suffering without seeing the out pouring of blessings and love. My Christmas wish is that everyone knew their Savior, and knew about the great plan of happiness. That all could be blessed with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To know him and to know how much he loves each of us and is aware of us and our needs, to know that he would give us all that we need if we would but come unto Him.

Christmas Deco

2009-12-05T11:56:00.000-08:00

A really nice man said to Elizabeth, "Are you getting ready for Christmas?" And she says to him "we don't have Christmas!" So a few days later we got this... A pre-lit tree and a few decorations. A wonderful new invention.."non shatter" ornaments! WONDERFUL! I only had to tell Henry once not to touch the tree and he doesn't, however Elizabeth can't seem to keep her hands off. Oh well they are both exited about the lights. The Hospital has a bunch of trees lit up with lights and they both love them. We're hoping to go over during the evening to get some nice pics.

The chair plays a dual role, makes the tree and decorations a little country and it keeps little "scooter" as my Dad calls him, away from the outlet.

I asked Elizabeth to stand in front of the tree so I could take pics and she proceeds to play "pin the ornament on the tree" eyes closed.. dangerous game, thank goodness for the non shattering ornaments. We also have those wonderful cinnamon pine cones hidden in the tree and the apartment smells wonderful! A bit over powering at first, but at least we weren't smelling puke or dirty diapers. :)

Wait a While With Me...

2009-12-02T16:14:00.000-08:00

Our Doctor wanted to reassure us that she hasn't forgotten about us. She has been calling several Doctors about Henry, and what they think may be happening with his marrow. His marrow just isn't able to produce enough platelets or red blood cells, and the cells from transfusion go straight to his spleen and get chewed up and spit out! There are many theories, but none that seem to fit Henry. Some Doctors say his spleen could be large because of liver problems, but his numbers and liver functions are normal. MY theory is that his liver and spleen are trying to compensate for the lack of cells in the marrow. There is a technical name for that I don't recall what it is but our Doctor agrees that could be the problem as well. However, the only thing we can do with that is wait for the marrow to recover. We are getting another biopsy on the 11th and we're scheduling with someone who knows how to get a good chunk of marrow so we don't have to deal with the small sample thing again.
Henry isn't showing any signs of the disease at this point, his only problem is transfusion dependency.(Needing blood and platelet transfusions every few days) He is growing and developing much quicker and acts happy and normal. He definitely knows how to say Momma, thank you and please, when he's feeling nice, in sign language. Many times LCH patients reach a point in treatment where they have to just wait for the disease to burn out and our Doctor feels like we may be there. So while this info doesn't get us home sooner, I am very positive and hopeful for Henry's recovery and continued health.
There is still a possibility that he'll need a transplant simply because his own marrow is exhausted and scarred, and he may need his spleen removed (Transplant Doctors are arguing over that one) But if you could sit and watch him play you wouldn't even know something was wrong! We have been so blessed by the Lord's tender mercy and love. More recently I have reached the point when I didn't think I could endure any more. Not that I'm the one enduring physically like Henry is, but emotionally and spiritually I have felt exhausted and all I could do was turn to the Lord and lay it at his feet. I know that through life we are never alone and the trials we feel we're enduring alone, the Lord is there carrying us through. And yet I still become exhausted and feel over burdened. I don't understand exactly how the atonement works but I know it's real. I know the Lord endured all things, every pain and affliction that we would face in this life. He knows how to succor us, to lift us and comfort us because he's experienced everything we have. He also says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt 11:28) Through the atonement we can turn to the Lord when we feel we can't endure any more and he will rescue us. I have been blessed with an increase of strength and peace when I felt I couldn't endure any more and relieved when I couldn't go on any more. Truly he has born our pains and sorrows, and calls to us to come unto him. He who commands the heavens and earth calls to us, and asks us to come unto him.

I have to add that last night Elizabeth was saying her prayers, and prayed for the food and prayed for Henry to get better and then said "please bless Jesus" :) Only from the mouth of babes.

My Little ball of Fire!

2009-11-29T14:59:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth, Henry, Grandpa, Annie and I went down to Magnuson Park today. I went running down by Lake Washington yesterday and found that they had built some new wetland areas, and there were lots of birds and ducks and ponds and it was really beautiful. So I thought it would be really nice to go for a walk down there today, so Henry and Elizabeth could see the ducks. However, upon arrival Elizabeth headed straight for the Lake. She calls it a river, but she remembered wadding in the water with Mommy this summer and was ready to do it again. I had to explain and show her how cold the water was, and she was only allowed to walk a little ways so she wouldn't get water in her boots. She definitely loves playing in the water.

As hard as I tried to keep her dry, she got water in her boots, but didn't seem to mind. She wanted more.

She's so cute and fun! I was really bummed out because the camera batteries died after this picture, and I forgot to bring extras, so we'll have to make another trip to show off the new wetland areas. It was really nice and calm and beautiful. After reading a talk by Pres. Hinckley about Gratitude, I was more aware of the beauty that surrounds us, and the amazing creations that the Lord provides for us. I have thoroughly enjoyed being in Seattle all it's beauty.

We took a long route home in hopes that Elizabeth would fall asleep before we got home, and it worked until we got back to the apartment. She woke up and when I tried to get her back to sleep she screamed and screamed and yelled and kicked and refused to go to sleep. I have decided it's impossible to put her down for a nap when I'M tired and cranky! I was trying to explain to her that it was okay to take a nap, but she said she couldn't because she was a country girl. I'm convinced she's afraid of missing out on something. Most days she doesn't take a nap, simply because I'm too tired to try, or I just don't want to fight with her, I feel like all day long I'm yelling at her for something, and I just want to be a happy Mommy and have fun with her... instead I'm this angry monster that's always on her case. So instead of a nap we do early bed times which I'm totally okay with. She's independent and far too mature for her age anyways, I guess she can go with out naps now that she's 3! hahahaha Oh how I love her, and her crazy reasoning and explanations. She makes life interesting and fun and she is always able to remind me of the important things in life. Earlier I was trying to convince her to get dressed amid screams and tantrums... and trying to remind her of why we take the sacrament each week. We looked at pictures of Jesus and she said, "I miss my Jesus." I said oh yeah, what does Jesus do? She said "He gives me hugs, and holds my hand, and we sing." It was so sweet, and we sang some songs about Jesus and tried to bring the spirit back into our little apartment. Thank goodness for little children and their sweet spirits!

AGAIN?!?!

2009-11-27T19:01:00.001-08:00

Henry has decided that it's much more fun to be inpatient during the Holidays. On the 4th of July we were admitted before transplant, then after being discharged he went back inpatient the day before Halloween, and then yesterday he decided to be admitted again. We were scheduled for a blood transplant, but Henry reacted to the blood for some reason. His blood pressure was really high and he spiked a fever, even after getting Tylenol. On top of which they drew a CBC and found that his counts had all drastically dropped. Henry's ANC dropped from 1900 to 420, and all his cell development with in the marrow had dropped to ZERO. Which means that his marrow was no longer producing anything...which said to me the LCH was back and was rampant in his marrow.
I'm not sure why I get so upset when we have to be admitted, maybe it's the lack of control, whatever the reason I always get upset and with his counts being that low I was devastated to say the least. I was completely ready to face another transplant if his counts weren't coming back in, I was not prepared to have the LCH come back so quickly and so strong.
So we spent most of the day up in the HemOnc clinic, getting lasix and meds, before being admitted. Mom and Dad took Elizabeth, who was also upset by being separated from Mommy and Henry, to cook some sort of Thanksgiving dinner. Thank heaven for that, I was NOT going to eat cafeteria food on Thanksgiving!
I do have some good new though... after getting some GCSF, an immunity booster, yesterday his counts recovered to well over 2000. And everything else looks good too. That doesn't mean that the LCH isn't there, but at least his marrow isn't completely shut down. We did have one of our favorite nurses to greet us and she was wonderful and made sure we had everything we usually like! Thanks Megan! And he got to flirt with all his other girl friends. I figure he has spent most of his life with them anyway, so holidays with the family means being inpatient with his 'family' haha.
Elizabeth and Mommy got their flu vaccines today, H1N1 and regular flu shots. Elizabeth watched me get them and said "Mommy you didn't even cry!" Then it was her turn and she screamed so much every one in the hospital knew she was getting the shots. Poor thing needed her Daddy to help her, Mommy just tried with all her might to hold her still. She some how made it through two shots, scared all the kids in line behind us and cried all the way home. We took her to the park to help her feel better and she ended up falling down in the mud and getting soaked, so we went home for a warm bath. Juliann, I thought about sweet little Reece, because the band aids fell off in the tub and she said "mommy they're all better now!" And decided to rip my band aid off, because mine was better too. Silly girl!
Well Henry needs a bath before bed... he's back to his normal self scooting all around the floor and playing with Elizabeth. One night inpatient was enough for him. Although we were inpatient, I do realize how full my life is, how blessed we are every day to have Henry and Elizabeth, and to be together most of the time. We are ever so grateful for the medical staff that looks after Henry and does their best to care for him and help him get better. He looks amazing, and is growing every day... today he's 20 months old!! But more than anything I am grateful to my Savior, for carrying me through this trial, I could not have made it this far, and could not go on with out his strength and love. What a miracle the atonement is in all our lives!