Happy 3rd, Daniel

He's only 3, but a lot has happened in those three years such as 5 ER visits, two hospital stays (RSV & NICU), 2 broken bones and 2 months of oxygen. Happy Birthday Daniel!!

Corny

This weekend we were pretty busy. Friday morning Daniel had an appointment with the Allergist. They did a lung function test and it looks like Daniel doesn't have any obstructions due to asthma, yet. Unfortunately, this time we had to get blood work done. He was quite cooperative even though it took them two sticks to get some. We should find out the results by the end of this week, but it still looks like he hasn't outgrown anymore allergies, yet. The next one should be milk, but it is taking longer than expected.

Saturday Matthew had to get some blood drawn as well. That was not fun, but he is getting better. It had to be a fasting one so Aaron had to take him first thing in the morning before breakfast. This time it only took three people to get some blood--two people to hold him and one to draw the blood. It is just a maintenance check to make sure everything is normal. We aren't expecting any surprises there. After that Matthew and Josh had soccer at the same time so Aaron and I divided to conquer. Aaron took Matthew along with Daniel to Matthew's special needs soccer clinic and I took Sarah and Josh to Josh's soccer game and soccer pictures. At the soccer clinic they paired Matthew up with a helper and went through a variety of stations to learn soccer skills. He seemed to have fun. Josh's game was pretty much the same old thing.

After soccer we went down to Thanksgiving Point to try out the corn maze to celebrate Daniel's birthday with Grandma and Grandpa Terry. We had a lot of fun doing a lot of the activities in the courtyard and then trying our hand in the corn maze. We even went on a hay ride around the courtyard which the kids liked. We made sure we were prepared for this corn maze better than last time which was two years ago. Josh had been potty trained for 6 months so we thought we were safe. We were really wrong when Josh went to the top of the slide and never came down. When someone went and found him it was one of the biggest poopy accidents I have ever seen. Aaron was the nicest guy and took Josh into the port-o-potty while I ran to get the wipes out of the car. Much to my horror we had the wipes package, but it only had two wipes in it. I took it to Aaron in the very hot and very smelly potty to see what he could do with it. Unfortunately, the underwear was not salvageable. We had to toss Scooby-Doo into the depths of the potty below. I didn't have any spares so Josh had to go commando until we could get home. It took over 15 minutes to clean him up using every spare millimeter of the two wipes Aaron had. We are really glad nothing like that happened this time.

After the maze we went to G & G's house for spaghetti and vegan cake. Daniel got to blow out his candles on his orange bat cake--that's what he's going to be for Halloween so he is pretty excited about bats right now. Then he opened presents.

On the way home we got to stop and see Aaron's sister for a few minutes because she was up visiting Utah County. It was nice to see her and her family for a bit and to show off Sarah. By the time we got home everyone was asleep except for Matthew and me. Since we had such a long and busy day it didn't take long to get everyone to bed and asleep :).

SARAH 911--AKA "HOLY @#$%"

Here is the much anticipated 911 call from Sarah's birth. I must say I have never heard Aaron more terrified in my life. I guess I was quite upset as well since...well I guess you can just listen. The long tones are where we gave out our address and personal info. No offense, but we just don't want to give everything away :). Even listening to the actual call it seems surreal and like it never happened. Enjoy--as much as you can. We are hoping this brings some comic relief to everyone. Thanks to the Sheriff's Office we got the tape for free. I guess after listening to it they felt sorry for us! WARNING It is a little intense, but since everything turned out fine we can look back laughingly and say I can't believe that actually happened.

Grass is Always Greener...

This year we planted a pumpkin plant along with various other things in our garden. This pumpkin plant turned into the longest vine with no pumpkins on it. I finally noticed a small pumpkin nestled behind the leaves on the huge vine. I thought it was the only one until our neighbor showed us the huge pumpkin growing in his yard. He has the biggest pumpkin on his side of the fence. Our agreement is that he gets to keep whatever grows under the fence which means he gets to keep that huge pumpkin that he didn't do anything to get while we are left with the smallest one. He also got a few cantaloupe and maybe a cucumber or two. I think that is the best way to garden--for him, anyway. He was pretty excited about it. We still have lots of tomatoes, but one of Aaron's friends at work loves them so he is getting all of our excess.

We put up our Halloween decorations this week. The kids are pretty excited about it and keep asking me every day if it is Halloween. It is going to be long 6 weeks until it is Halloween. I still don't have costumes for Matthew and Josh, but we still have 6 weeks I guess. Nothing like waiting until the last moment!!

We have created a monster. I still can't say I know why, but Daniel still prefers sleeping on the floor. However, if he wakes up at night he gets pretty scared because he doesn't know where he is since he falls asleep in a different place every night. Last night we were awakened by the light turning on and him screaming. Aaron went and took care of him, but he didn't go back to sleep and tried sneaking back in our room--I stopped counting after about 5 times between 2am-4am. I finally got up this morning to find him asleep on the floor at the foot of our bed.

Birthday Playgroup

Today was playgroup and since Daniel's birthday is soon enough next week we had a mini birthday party. I love kids at this age. They are excited to do most anything. We had some vegan cupcakes and played some games. I actually found a good vegan recipe that you can't even tell it's without eggs or milk. The kids liked them as well since each of them had two. They all sang Happy Birthday and then everyone got to blow out their own candle. We then played outside for a little bit because it was a beautiful day.

In other news I started a tatting class Monday night. Tatting is kind of like crocheting, but instead of looping it together you tie tiny knots. It looks like lace. It did not come easy for me. I am supposed to practice this week, but I can't seem to remember how to do it. Maybe I can claim new Momnesia. Hopefully I can remember by next class time!

Sarah has found her thumb a few more times. I am trying to stop it, but she is fast!!

Funny Kids

Saturday Aaron got to coach Josh's soccer team. It was funny to watch him play crab soccer. He does the crab crawl while the kids try and get the ball past him into the goal. It must have been harder than it looked because he didn't do it for very long. Josh's team unfortunately lost quite badly, but they had fun doing it. We ended up skipping Matthew's soccer game so we could go to Grandma Terry's birthday party. The kids loved singing Happy Birthday and 'helping'--if you can call it that--her blow out her candles and open her presents. We had a yummy BBQ with hot dogs and lots of other yummy things. The kids had fun playing with the cousins.

Today at church Aaron ran into Matthew and Josh's PE teacher at school who happens to be in our ward. Since Matthew is a man of few words and we haven't met with his teacher yet, we don't know what goes on in that black void they call school. She was able to tell Aaron that Matthew is doing well. She even said she enjoyed him in class and that the aid that helps him really loves him and mothers him. He attends PE with the regular ed class and that it seemed the kids know him and help him. That brought me some comfort because I really wonder and worry about what happens at school. I just hope he is doing as well in his learning center classroom.

After church Aaron brought the kids home and got them out of the van. Josh ran into the driveway to pick up the Sunday papers when he saw our neighbors--who are not members--outside doing some yard work. Josh brought it upon himself to bring them to repentance by yelling, "HEY! IT'S CHURCH DAY!!" These neighbors I have never met and Aaron has only talked to them once or twice. I am sure they will want to get to know us better now--just joking.

The other day I was getting things ready to give Sarah a bath. She has a little bit of cradle cap so before her bath I grabbed the olive oil and rubbed some into her scalp. Daniel was watching me and became alarmed when I got the oil out of the pantry and poured it on Sarah's head. He said, "Mom, don't eat baby Sarah!!" He was quite concerned.

We have put in a request for the 911 tape of Sarah's birth. It should be ready tomorrow so if we can figure it out and there aren't too many expletives we might post it. I am curious to hear everything because I was a little busy during the original call :).

Health Insurance is a Good Thing

We just got our bill for the ambulance ride for when Sarah was born. They counted Sarah and I as two different patients thus we have two separate bills for over $1000 a piece. I wonder if a limo would have been cheaper :). That's one expensive 5 minute transport considering they didn't have to do anything for me and only had to give Sarah a little oxygen. We were hoping for a cut of the insurance for Aaron delivering the baby--just joking of course--but we aren't so lucky. The doctor still gets paid for the delivery whether he's there or not. I am just glad we have good health insurance!!!

Happy one month birthday to Sarah. It is surprising how fast time goes!! The kids still just love her. She is quite spoiled and loves to be held. She cries any time you put her down. We got a front pack, but she hates it. I guess I will get some strong arms!!

I cut everyone's hair today as well so that's why the boys look like they belong in the military. That way I don't have to comb hair in the morning for a couple weeks--Wahoo!! Our mornings are pretty hectic so any extra time is great.