Sleeping...Handsome?

Daniel is a pretty funny kid. Yesterday Daniel had playgroup. At playgroup they made crowns and Daniel thought it was the best thing ever! He did not take his crown off all day. He wore it to the store, at home, to his friend's house and we had to persuade him not to wear it in the shower. The picture is him sleeping in the car with it on. Because he is a boy he can't be called Sleeping Beauty so we'll just call him Sleeping Handsome. His crown has been repaired a couple of times because he got it within Sarah's grasping range so she has ripped a few spikes off. Good thing we have tape to fix it, however, I don't know how many more fix-its it will be able to handle. He started off today wearing it as well so we'll see how long it lasts.

In other happenings we got the kids flip flops for the summer. Daniel has been pretty excited about his and has worn them nonstop since he's gotten them. Unbeknownst to Aaron last night since he's the one that put the kids to bed while I was at class, Daniel chose to wear his flip flops to bed and wore them all night long. I guess you never know when you might need flip-flops in the middle of the night...

Who Needs Underwear Anyway?

Last night our Elementary school had a free family skating night at Classic Fun Center. They sent home a flyer about it last Thursday and Matthew has been so excited every since. He kept asking us what day it was because he was just counting down the days. We went last night thinking Matthew could use his skate shoes (Heely's), but when we got there we found out he couldn't use them. They did have free skate rental so I thought he could use the skates because in all reality what is the difference between skates and Heely's? Well I stand corrected. Matthew fell at least five times within the first 5 minutes of having them on and that was not even in the rink. It seemed more dangerous than it was worth so we decided to take the skates off. Luckily Aaron, being the thinking kind of guy, had brought his regular shoes just in case the Heely's weren't allowed. After Matthew took off his skates he was too excited to wait for Aaron to come back from the car with his regular shoes. He took off into the rink with the scooter in hand just wearing his socks. So if anyone saw the poor kid who didn't have any shoes--um, he belonged to me. Anyway, Aaron came back with his regular shoes and when Matthew saw him he got so excited he dropped his scooter on the ground right in the middle of the traffic flow and left it there to come get his shoes on. The DJ called Matthew on leaving his scooter right in the middle of the rink so Matthew ran back to his scooter and did a few more laps in his socks before we could coax him back to the side to get his shoes on. Matthew loved the skating rink, but Josh could have taken or left it. Daniel was too chicken to even attempt going out in the rink--maybe Matthew's multiple falls scared him... If you look at the picture you can see a shoeless Matthew.

In other funny things kids' logic is interesting sometimes. We ordered a pizza the other night and as Matthew and I were waiting for it to be done, He announced in his loudest voice possible, "Mom, underwear helps keep our peanuts warm." Hmmmm...How did he even get to thinking about that?!? Then it got me thinking why do we wear underwear, anyway? My kids could take or leave them. Daniel likes to get himself dressed in the morning, but he seems to forget and take his underwear off along with his pajamas so every morning I have to tell him to get his underwear back on. Friday morning I was really busy and didn't supervise them getting dressed. I didn't really worry about it until Daniel told Aaron at the grocery store he had to go potty. Aaron took him into the bathroom to help him out since he can't quite reach the urinal yet. Daniel pulled off his pants and low and behold no underwear. Aaron asked him where his underwear was and he started looking around the bathroom like they would magically appear on the floor. I guess Daniel just wanted to go commando. You can see a stylin' Daniel with sunglasses and a commando plumber's crack.

The other day Daniel was fascinated with the hail storm. He called Aaron to come look at the snow falling and Aaron explained to him that it was not snow, but ice balls. I came down the stairs about then and Daniel came running over to me and said, "Hey Mom, It's raining eyeballs!!"

2 Down, 1 To Go

I finally got started painting Josh and Daniel's Spiderman mural this morning and just finished tonight. I was surprised it only took one day. I only have Matthew's room left to do. I think I will take a few days to recover, however. Josh and Daniel are always up to being in any picture.

Family Pictures

We needed to update our family pictures, but I was hoping to do that after I had lost the baby weight I gained from Sarah's pregnancy. Seeing as it is taking a lot longer than I had thought (she is eight months old), I finally caved. I was feeling rather guilty looking at our current family picture without Sarah so we finally got them done. I found an awesome photographer who was willing to take the pictures on location and give us the copyright release with the CD so we can get them printed anywhere. She was really reasonable ($15) so we decided there is no time like the present. The hard part is choosing which one to use. Here are some of the pictures she took at Jensen Park in Syracuse:

Yes, she is trying to go to sleep.

If you would like to see more her website is http://sherrijamiesonphotography.blogspot.com/

Yep, They're Mine

I have heard the stories about the babies who were switched at birth and sent home with the wrong parents from the hospital. I know this hasn't happened to us because everyone says they all look like Aaron and also I know they are mine by the little crazy, quirky things they have "inherited" from me. These are just a few of the ways I know they are mine: All of my kids have inherited my sneezing trigger. Whenever they go from a dark room to a bright area, whether outside or by turning on a bright light, they sneeze. Aaron thought this was the craziest thing when he first met me since I do it and now all of my kids do it as well. When it happens Aaron just looks at me and says, "Yep, they're yours."

All my kids have inherited my love of all things pasta with tomato sauce. There has not been a type of pasta with tomato sauce we don't love. That is something I craved with all of my pregnancies. I couldn't get enough tomato sauce and that seems to have stuck with all the kids, too. They could eat spaghetti for every meal if I let them. Too bad Aaron doesn't like it as much as the rest of us.

Another inheritance my kids got was my splotchy faced crying ability. Whenever I cry my face turns red and splotchy and stays that way for a good 30-60 minutes even after I have stopped crying. Unfortunately, my kids have gotten that as well. Here is a good picture of Sarah after she has been crying so you can see her in all her splotchiness.

It's just funny to see what little things everyone's kids' "inherit".

Kids are Resilient!

I must say kids are pretty resilient. Matthew had a pretty rough night with breathing treatments and keeping his oxygen saturations up while on oxygen. The doctor saw him this morning and said he'd probably be there another night. Knowing this we just set up shop expecting Aaron to stay another night. Later on in the morning he started doing better. They were able to slowly wean him off his oxygen until around lunchtime he wasn't on any oxygen. With regular breathing treatments he was able to keep his oxygen saturations up and he quickly turned back into the very happy bouncing off the walls Matthew. To get out some excess energy we took some walks around the hospital. The highlight of his stay was whenever anyone came to his door and knocked. They all patiently waited for Matthew to excitedly open the door. The nurses told anyone who came you had to knock first and let Matthew answer his door. He got so excited he would wait at the window just waiting for anyone to come to knock on his door. The nurse called the doctor back and told him Matthew was not needing any oxygen and hadn't needed any for a big portion of the day. The doctor decided to let us come home. Upon hearing this Matthew was quite upset. That's when you know it's time to go home is when being in the hospital becomes too much fun. He cried and cried, but Aaron and I were relieved. We still have to give him around the clock breathing treatments as well as an oral steroid for the next five days and follow up with our regular pediatrician tomorrow. However, we are glad he is doing so well considering he was so unstable yesterday he needed to be transported by ambulance. Until our next crisis...
Matthew starting to feel better this morning.Matthew just waiting for someone to come knock on his door.

Matthew's in the Hospital

The last 24 hours have been pretty crazy! A cold has made the rounds at our house and finally it hit Matthew a couple days ago. He has had the runny nose and everything, but I didn't think anymore about it until this morning. He woke up at 4 am breathing very fast and saying he was having a hard time breathing. Since I have the nebulizer set up for Daniel I decided to give Matthew a breathing treatment. After the treatment I listened to his lungs with my stethoscope (one of the perks of being a nurse) and he still sounded horrible. I then made an appointment at the 24 hour pediatrician's office by our house. They were able to see us as soon as we got to the office at 5am. When we got there they placed a pulse oximeter on his finger and it showed he was saturating at 85% on room air (normal is anything above 90% preferably above 95%). They immediately put him on some oxygen and gave him back to back breathing treatments. After the treatments his oxygen sats got up to 91% on room air. They gave him a shot of Decadron (a steroid) and sent us on our way asking us to come back at 8 am to get a chest X-ray when the radiology tech was in. I came back to get the X-ray and his oxygen sats were still 91% on room air. His X-ray came back showing no infection so on our merry way we go again as long as I give him respiratory treatments every 2 hours. Matthew seemed to be doing fine even asking to go outside and fly his kite. The pediatrician did ask me to come back later in the afternoon to check his sats again to make sure he still was all right. Seeing as he had been running around all day I didn't think there would be a problem. I took him to get his sats checked to find his sats were 83% on room air. Um, that's really bad. They immediately started oxygen and a breathing treatment. They also deemed him unstable enough to be transported to the hospital by car so they called an ambulance which also brought the fire engine. We had a pretty cool caravan going on. Anyway, I got to tag along in the ambulance which brought back some not so pleasant thoughts of Sarah's birth 8 months ago... Anyway, our regular doctor was not on call this weekend. That meant the on call doctor did not know Matthew so he didn't feel comfortable admitting him straight away to the floor. That meant we had to sit around in the ER for hours until the ER doctor could evaluate him and agree he was sick enough to be admitted. They diagnosed him with asthma exacerbation. I am confused since he has never had issues with asthma EVER--the one who does is Daniel. I guess we will just see what happens. Matthew is having a hard time being at the hospital. He keeps trying to get up to go to the car so he can come home. We can't even mention the word home because that gets him pretty upset. There is also way too many buttons to push and trying to get him to leave the oxygen on is a pretty difficult task. This should be an interesting next couple of days.

Since I was not expecting to go to the hospital I was very unprepared. I mean for crying out loud anyone who has sats at 83% on room air is usually very sick and tired, but not Matthew. Matthew was up and around asking to go outside and fly his kite as well as teasing his brothers. I guess he is not the typical person. Luckily, Aaron had the presence of mind to pack Matthew's blanket and bedtime books along with extra underwear. What a good Dad!! I am so glad to have good neighbors who are willing to watch my kids in times of crisis, too. My parents are also a huge help for all of our crisis which happen way too often. Anyway they came up and took Josh and Daniel to their house for an unexpected sleepover. This means it is just me and Sarah in a very eerily quiet house for now. Aaron is the one staying at the hospital since Sarah can't stand anything to eat but me and a few bites of oatmeal and I don't want Sarah to stay at the germ infested hospital--I am a little bit of a germaphobe. We are hoping Matthew gets feeling better quickly. Keep us in your prayers, please.

Finally Done!!

To the neglect of my children I am finally finished with Sarah's mural. As I was finishing Josh asked when I was going to do one in his room. Right now is probably not the best time to ask me that. I assume I will start something on his wall as soon as I get feeling in my arm again and can lift it above my shoulder--something I cannot currently do. I think Josh's will be a whole lot simpler...

I Can't Believe You Just Said That...

Well we had another couple I can't believe you just said that moments with my children. While we were at Matthew's soccer game Saturday, Matthew's soccer director walked by Josh. Josh looked at her and he said (rather loudly of course), "That is the most beautiful lady I have ever seen. My eyes just turned to hearts and I can see my heart beating." I think someone has watched a little too much TV lately.

The other event happened while we were shopping. We are getting our family pictures taken next week so we were out looking for clothes. I was walking around the store with my little shadows when we walked by an older woman. She was one of those older ladies that colors her hair those not so natural colors (like blue or orange). Her hair happened to be a very bright reddish/orange. Josh and Daniel saw it and said, "HER HAIR IS ORANGE. THAT'S SILLY!" I tried to ignore it hoping they would stop. That only made them yell it louder, " HEY, MOM, HER HAIR IS ORANGE. LOOK, MOM! LOOK, MOM! HER HAIR IS ORANGE. THAT'S SOOOOO SILLY!" I am still looking for some response to go with such situations. I keep drawing a blank so I just have to revert to smiling and pretending those shadows don't belong to me. I love my kids, I love my kids, I love my kids...

ALMOST DONE!

I am almost done painting the mural on Sarah's bedroom wall. I am trying to give myself a prep talk into finishing it because my hand is cramping and I am really getting tired of painting! I hope Sarah will like it. The scary thing is Josh really does...hmmm--Should I be worried ;)? Daniel is always up for a photo op so that's why he's in the picture.

Easter Weekend

We managed to keep ourselves pretty busy this weekend. Saturday morning we got up early and went to our city's Easter Egg Hunt. They divide up a huge field into different age sections. We were excited because this year they had a special needs section. This was what Matthew needed since he would have been eaten alive by the regular kids his age. Since there was just me and Aaron to supervise I went with Matthew and Sarah and Aaron went with Josh and Daniel. Josh ended up being in the five year olds because it was right next to the 4 year olds for Daniel--even though Daniel isn't 4 either. In Aaron's mind it averaged out and they both had fun and Aaron could keep an eye on both of them. Matthew had fun and was everyone's helper. He got some eggs for himself then he started loading down the other special needs kids' baskets to help out since some were in wheelchairs and weren't very fast. Can I just say how glad I am that they had a special needs section for kids like Matthew!

The bad thing was the Easter Egg Hunt was at the same time as Josh's soccer game. As soon as the hunt got over we headed over to his soccer game. We only missed the warm up part and by watching him play it didn't seem to affect Josh. Let's just say soccer is not his forte with or without the warm up ;). However, he did score his first goal. After that we came home and did a frenzied house cleaning and then headed over to Matthew's soccer game. In the last year with me being pregnant and postpartum I haven't been helping Matthew out on the field so yesterday Aaron turned to me and told me it was my turn to help Matthew. I sure got my exercise in running up and down the field with him trying to keep him paying attention to the game. After the game we came home and had movie night. We got some Daniel friendly popcorn and watched Josh's new movie he got for his b-day. Matthew had a hard time watching the movie because he had been outside playing and evidently touched something and rubbed his eyes. When he came back inside his eyes were swollen shut. I gave him Benadryl and started him on antibiotic eye drops just in case. After the first 30 minutes of the movie he was ready to go to bed. Benadryl will do that to you as well as not being able to keep your eyes open. This is a picture from this morning. His eyes aren't nearly as puffy as yesterday, but they still look bad.

The Easter Bunny visited our house and brought some colored pencils, markers (washable of course) and some crayons. Josh was so excited. He has been working on multiple masterpieces this morning. I guess I will have to wait in clearing off the fridge of all the masterpieces when Josh goes back to school. Matthew's eyes were still pretty puffy this morning so he stayed home from church with Aaron and Sarah. I was a little sad because Sarah wasn't able to wear her Easter dress, but hopefully next week we can make it.

One last thing I am excited to say--SPRING BREAK IS OVER AND WE SURVIVED IT INTACT!! The kids and I are excited for school to start again tomorrow--Wahoo!

Chuck E. Cheese's

For Josh's birthday I gave him the choice of having a friend birthday party or going to Chuck E. Cheese's with G&G T. I asked him quite a few times to make sure he knew what he wanted and every time it was Chuck E. Cheese's so that's what I planned for. It was all great until he started playing with his friend the day before his birthday and she asked him when he was having his friends over for a party. He came home and then said he wanted a friend party. I told him it was too late for that since his birthday was the next day. He cried and cried, but, the next day he was pretty excited to go to Chuck E. Cheese's. He even got to pick out his own birthday cake. When we went to go get it, he told me he wanted a cake that Daniel could eat. So we checked all the boxes and found a Daniel friend cake and frosting. That was very nice of Josh. That was music to my ears when I heard him say that. Maybe he will turn out ok despite our parenting :).

Aaron had a doctor's appointment that morning down in American Fork so we decided to make a day of it. Aaron did have to work for a few hours that morning since it has been crazy at work this week. Since he had been up since 4 am he was pretty exhausted, but was glad to get a break for part of a day. After going to his appointment we headed down to BYU campus. For old times sake we ate lunch at the Cougar Eat since this is where we went a lot when we were dating. After that we walked around campus reminiscing about old times. I can't believe it has been so long since I have graduated from college. We visited the Clyde engineering building which was Aaron's home away from home while he was in school. After that we went over to the Monte Bean Museum to see all the taxidermied animals. As we were walking around there Daniel kept telling us we had to be super quiet because if we were loud the animals would wake up and eat us. It was hard to keep a straight face while he was telling us that one.

After that we met Grandma T at Chuck E. Cheese's. Grandpa had to work so we just got Grandma that day. The kids loved the rides and Josh loved all the birthday attention. I think he had a pretty good time although he didn't get his friend party that he decided he wanted at the last minute. He loved opening his presents and is already thinking about what he wants next time.

Josh's 6th

Yesterday was my sweet Josh's birthday. I can't believe he is six now. I still see him as my little two year old, but he is the first to remind me he is a big boy now. He is a sweet little guy! He is considerate, thoughtful and very helpful. He enjoys playing the Weed (Wii), helping me with housework (which I am hoping lasts a while!), watching movies, going to primary, playing with friends and going to Kindergarten. He has grown up so much so fast. We love him very much! It seems like it was just yesterday I was bringing home my 9 lb 8 oz baby from the hospital.
Happy Birthday to my little Joshy!!

Parent Panel

When Matthew was three he had the greatest opportunity to attend an all autistic preschool. That has been one of the biggest blessings in our life!! It not only helped Matthew a ton, but it also taught Aaron and I the base skills of how to best work with him. How I found out about this school is an example the Lord's Hand in all things. It is a rather long story so I won't go into detail, but it was and still is a testimony builder. While he was in the program it was required that parents attend a training session twice a month. These training sessions entailed different ideas and techniques to try and also it was somewhat of a support group for parents of autistic children. After we got the diagnosis of autism we didn't know where to go for help or who to ask for advice when this program fell into our lap. With a waiting list of over two years it really was a blessing we got the full two years of the all day preschool program. Anyway, after Matthew graduated they have asked us every year to be part of a parent training session to help the new graduates navigate the public education system. I feel deeply indebted to this program (if you couldn't tell) so I am more than happy to do this even though I'd rather clean my toilet than do any sort of public speaking--which is saying a lot. I just remember how nervous we were to move into the world of public education. Although I miss Matthew being in the program with all the security it entailed and with teachers that truly wanted him to succeed, we have had a lot of good experiences with the different people we have come in contact with. Matthew definitely is not like the "normal" child, but the public education individuals have given us hope of Matthew's potential. I must say that every day is not easy, but I just have to say the really bad days help us appreciate the good. We have grown tremendously through this so called trial and even though it is not easy I wouldn't change anything. So year after year I am more than happy to help anyone who has to bare this burden any way I can--even if that is sharing my good and bad experiences. In short we are thankful for Matthew and for the many people who have taken the extra time to get to know him and help him.

Week Long Spring Break???

This week is a very LOOOOOOONNNGGG Spring Break. It is going to be even longer since Aaron has to work a ton of overtime this week. Hopefully I will survive and more importantly the kids. Since I will be a single parent this week I am trying to find stuff to keep the kids busy and out of trouble during the long days. The kids have been quite creative in coming up with different things to do. They have come up with "Contortionist" Hide and Seek. Daniel and Josh can smash themselves up small enough to fit inside this box and be able to close it. They thought it was pretty funny when I could hear them, but couldn't find them. They think that's pretty funny to play the hiding game while we are shopping at the store too. I, however, don't think that it is quite as funny when I can't find them hiding in the racks at the store. Anyway, I don't think I could smash myself up like that without hurting myself quite badly.

Another way to pass the time is the "Bubble Wrap Hop". Josh and Daniel get pretty excited when I get a box in the mail. They are more excited about the bubble wrap than the actual box contents. The bubble wrap is the first to meet its demise and that usually happens within the first few minutes of it being opened. It's pretty funny to watch.

It has only been one day and 4 more to go. Any other good ideas to pass the time during this long spring break?

No Holds Bar Easter Egg Hunt

Today was our annual Birthday party for my Dad, sister and me and our Easter Egg Hunt at G&G T's house. I have been preparing for weeks for the Easter Egg hunt working up my endurance and sharpening my elbows for this event. Just joking, but it is akin to the Black Friday sales, only with family members. The kids got their turn first. They are finally catching on that you have to be fast and not want to open every egg you pick up as soon as you pick it up--hey it's only taken 7 or so years. They all had a pretty good time. They got candy, small toys, bubbles and chalk. Since Sarah was too little to participate she got some baby barrettes so maybe I can tame her wild mane. For the adult part it was no holds bar. I barely squeezed through the door with so many people pushing. The husbands did have proper manners and let the ladies go first, but we were the ones that got the most squished. We had fun opening the eggs to find lip balm, pipe cleaners, mints, bubble gum etc. We did get some Crazy Glue, but I traded that away because Aaron and Crazy Glue don't mix very well. During Aaron's last run in with Crazy Glue he accidentally glued his fingers together trying to just open the bottle. Aaron, after lots of acetone, raw skin from scrubbing and some few choice words he got them apart again and was not eager to repeat the experience. We also had some yummy dinner with Apricot chicken, tasty salads and some not very aesthetically pleasing rolls--for some reason I just can't bake Rhodes Rolls. Anyway, we were also able to catch Conference which is always uplifting--except for the sad real life stories; however, the main character always learn something tremendous from the real life experiences. It is always amazing how a lot of the talks seem just for you...funny how that works. We all had lots of fun--thanks G&G T!! Anyway, here are some pictures from the party:Here's everyone checking out our loot.I couldn't resist taking this potential blackmail picture of Josh trying on my old Jester costume from grade school while playing dress up. I can't wait to find this gem again in 10 years...