Chad Update

Chad’s doing well. He’s been going to work for a few hours at a time the last 2 weeks. He can’t read computer screens well because it makes him nauseous to track things with his eyes. But it’s slowly getting better. And his bosses have been so willing to help him with anything he needs.

As far as physical therapy, he’s working hard at teaching his body how to balance again. He’s got a nice case of motion sickness that won’t go away until his body figures things out. He’s been on a Dramamine patch for the last month which makes him tired, a lot. He’ll take a driving test sometime this week so that he can drive himself again.

We’re just so grateful that he’s doing so well and that he only has to re-learn how to balance.   It is a little frustrating how many people come up and explain to us how it could have been so much worse.  I know how devastating strokes can be. My grandmother passed away from one. Chad's grandmother is still recovering from a stroke she had 3 years ago.   I just don't know how to handle it other than nodding my head politely in agreement.  

We’ve been so blessed the last few weeks with so much love and support from everyone. Our ward has been amazing.  They brought over meals and when I felt ready to get back to cooking my Relief Society President told me they still had 5 more meals signed up and to let them help us.  Someone has mowed our lawn every week the last month.  Our neighbors who aren't LDS (Mormon) have gone out of their way to bring treats or just to stop by and see if we needed anything.   It's been amazing to see how many people love us and want to help us.

We really have been blessed with so much.  And I can't express my/our gratitude enough to the people who are helping us and especially to my Father in Heaven. 

The Stroke

On Thursday, July 19, Chad had had a headache all day.  He called in sick to work and spent the day at home.  We actually made it to the Bountiful Temple to do some sealings.  He continued to feel off.

At around 8 PM I got the kids down for bed.  While I was upstairs, Chad popped his neck immediately felt dizzy and laid down on the floor. He made his way to our front door so he could try to cool down. He sat in the front doorway and proceeded to throw up for the next hour.  

He only threw up when he moved his head so I figured he just had an inner ear infection. I told Chad he either needed to get up to bed and rest there or we could go to the ER.  He chose the ER.  I called a family friend , ChiCho, and he brought his son over to babysit in case the kids woke up. ChiCho had to all but 

carry Chad to the car.

We got to the ER they started an IV and meds for the nausea. The Dr ordered a CT scan. (He told me later he wouldn’t usually order it, but for some reason he did). The CT showed an abnormality. So they sent him to get an MRI.  The next hour was probably the worst hour of my life. All I could do was think brain tumor.  I cried and prayed a lot.

They weren’t sure what the abnormality is but the Dr said it looked like he’d had a mini stroke. They did another scan with the dye to figure out what is wrong. They saw something wrong with an artery on the back of his neck.   They weren’t entirely sure what was going on so they transferred him down to U of U’s Neural Critical Care.

At U of U they explained that Chad’s vein had actually torn. Which actually happened on Wednesday night. It then clotted which is what caused the stroke on Thursday. At least that's what we think happened.

Chad’s parents came down Friday morning. Sherry took care of the kids while Wes, Chad’s dad, and I drove down to see him. Our Bishop and his first counselor came and helped give Chad a blessing.

Oh and did I mention that my basement started flooding in the middle of packing to go down to Salt Lake? Yeah that was awesome. Thank goodness ChiCho, AKA Superman, came over and fixed and cleaned everything. Seriously I don’t know what I would have done without he and his family helping us.

Family Update

Cowboy is loving school.  He is reading like a champ.  He's gotten so he can read scripture verses by himself.  He's loving playing outside and playing with his friends.

Sorry it's blurry but he was pretty proud of using the pizza for a moustache.

Mooch also likes being outside.  He was frustrated by his training wheels slowing him down so Chad convinced him to ride his old smaller bike without them.  Now he's riding his big bike without them and is starting to get hard to keep up with.

Little T is doing awesome.  With the new diet they put him in January he's gained over 7 pounds.  Which is amazing.  He's a totally different kid.  He's into everything and trying to keep up with his brothers.  He has oodles of energy and I have a hard time keeping up with him as he runs around.  We are now wishing we had a fully fenced backyard to contain him.

I'm SUPER busy with blog designs with LeeLou Blogs.  It's stressful but it's a good productive kind of stress.  It is very nice to be able to pay off some of the medical bills from Chad's surgery with the extra income. That and I can occasionally order pizza without feeling guilty for spending extra money on eating out.
Chad's doing well with the therapy for his shoulder.  One more month and he should be able to start playing basketball again which he's very excited to do again. 

Currently we're debating on buying a house and Chad staying at Hill AFB or whether we should apply for jobs at other bases that would improve Chad's career oppurtunities.  He still has 2 more years under contract with the Air Force.  Either way we'll be moving in August it's just a matter of where to and how far.

Tubes Glorious Tubes!

LIttle T had a number of ear infections last summer and fall.  Once we go him on heartburn meds the ear infections stopped.  Then this January and February had had 2 within a couple of weeks.  After the diagnosis of ear infection #7 in the last year.  We decided it was time for tubes.  We scheduled it in Tremonton so my Dad could do the surgery. 

He had a hard time coming out of surgery.  The gas made him dizzy and disoriented.  So he cried for about 45 minutes before he finally started to settle down. 

Grandpa and Little T

Between his weight gain and the tubes he's doing great now.

Easter Eggs

These boys love decorating eggs.  We waited until Little T was napping to do it.  That kid is a little too much trouble to have dye around him.

Trey's 7th Birthday!

Cowboy had a great birthday and we got him a "NEW" bike as well.  He had a great day at school and I was able to go into his classroom and hand out cookies.  Then they sang happy birthday and gave him pretend spanks for his birthday.  He was loving all the attentention.

He also go this from Grandma and Grandpa B for his birthday.

I wasn't sure whether to tank them or strangle them.  But the boys enjoy it and that's all that matters.

Instead of having a bunch of friends over fora  party we decided to treat the boys with a trip to the "Classic Fun Center!"  We told the boys they had 3 hours to party (AKA, get as many germs on them as possible). 

LIttle T loved the bounce house for toddlers and the boys went crazy on them too.

They did some mini-bowling and pretty much wore themselves out.

Then we went home and enjoyed some Gluten Free cupcakes and took bathes because who knows what was on that stuff.  It made me want to bathe myself in hand sanitizer just being there.

Is it just a 4 year old thing that Mooch CANNOT look at the camera for more than 2 seconds?

 All in all Cowboy enjoyed his birthday!

St Patricks day!

Every time I make pancakes for breakfast the boys want them to be any color but normal and asthetically pleasing.  So I went all out for St. Patricks day and dyed the eggs too, maybe a little too much. It made me want to yell, "SOILANT GREEN IS PEOPLE!"

Needless to say they were pleased with their extremely green eggs and ham.

Little T was not impressed.

Jack's 4th Birthday

We celebrated Mooch's birthday on Sunday instead of on his actual birthday.  He woke up opened some presents and had some blue pancakes.  He had to wait until he was ready for church to go out and ride his bike.

Mooch's present.

We've been in touch with 2 of Chad's roomates and have gotten together with them for dinner a few times.  We got together on Sunday at Abe and Marcie's and sort of threw a party for  Mooch . Yes, I cheat and don't actually arrange parties for my children.  This is what happens when you move every year.


Angeana made an awesome construction cake for  Mooch , which he obviously loved. 

Isn't this cake awesome!

 The Amazing Angeana maker of awesome cakes!

The Party

The Pinata said the maximum amount of candy is 3 lbs.  We went over the limit.  Chad had to get creative to keep it up.

Mooch

Little T and Cowboy

Cowboy

It's Official!

I love this man!

What we've been up to...

Chad has officially graduated. He will be receiving a diploma in the mail that says he has a Master’s in Engineering Management. And he managed to do it with a very good GPA. He’s currently looking for another position in the Air Force so he can get promoted sooner. We don’t know where that job is but we’re hoping by August he’ll be working in a new job, be it at Hill AFB or any other AFB.

Cowboy keeps losing teeth and Mooch is more than happy to help. During Sacrament meeting a few weeks ago, Mooch head butted Cowboy in the mouth and he started bleeding. The tooth that has been loose for a month became very loose. Chad and Cowboy went to the bathroom and yanked it out. Later that afternoon, Cowboy and Mooch were wrestling here at home. Mooch head butted him again (clearly his choice move) and out came another tooth. Cowboy said that it wasn’t loose before. But considering the lack of crying and hysterics it had to have popped out easily.

Mooch enjoys head butting.

Mooch also started Sunbeams.  I know he likes singing time but he'd rather be back in nursery with the toys and the snacks.  Poor kid.  He just doesn't realize we've all got to grow up sometime!

Little T is doing alright. I just can’t wait until he is old enough to say the words, “Mom, does this have gluten in it?” This kid eats everything Mooch leaves out. So I have to lock  Little T  in his high chair anytime Mooch eats. Then I have to make Mooch clean up anything he spills or drops. We’ve got anything with gluten in it under lock and key so that Mooch can’t grab anything and leave it out for  Little T . We made Gluten free sugar cookies yesterday because I knew Mooch would leave some bit of cookie somewhere. He did.

Mooch managed to “poison”  Little T  with Gluten twice in a week. All it took was one little nibble from a roll Mooch left within reaching distance on the table and leaving a peice of crust from his PB sandwich. That was 3 weeks ago and he’s just starting to sleep better and eat better again.

This whole thing is a pain, but at least we are slowly figuring it out. We’ve been doing a lot of reading about it. We’re pretty sure  Little T  has Gluten sensitivity. I don’t know if he can/will grow out of it. The nice thing is that are quite a few stores who sell gluten free items and ingredients.   We've also discovered that probiotics and a supllement called L-Gluttamine help.  If he has an accident it only takes one night of discomfort instead of 3-7 nights. 

I'm keeping busy by helping coach a 14s volleyball team here. The 2nd counselor in our bishopric built his own gym and coaches club teams. It's also a 3 minute drive from our house. I'm having fun getting a break and using what little volleyball skills I now possess. I don't know that Chad enjoys having to parent his children 2 nights a week by himself or every other Saturday when they have a tournament.

I also just got called to the Young Womens. I'm now the Camp director for our ward. It's Stake Camp and they pretty much plan everything. I just do what they say. Which works just fine for me.

Family Pictures

So I forgot to post these a couple of months ago...

1 year old

Little T had a magical 1st birthday!  Okay really it was magical in that he got to eat Gluten Free Spaghetti for dinner and had a GF cupcake. But here he is in all his wondrous messiness.

Before

During

After

Thankful for friends

Just reading a few friends blogs and really missing them.  Mind you these friends live in Sacramento, Reno, Arlington, and a bunch of friends from BYU-Idaho who live all over.  The odds of me seeing many of these friends in person anytime are slim.  Which makes me sad.

We've moved a few times in our marriage.  Moving is hard.  I always miss friends and places.  I used to have a really hard time making new friends.   Fortunately, I've realized I need to stick myself out there.  I try hard to sit next to someone different in Relief Society each week. I've also realized life with 3 kids makes it difficult to talk to anyone at church. But I'm still trying!   

Can I just say how thankful I am to have met so many wonderful people? No, really. I've met some ridiculously amazing people.  I love that we get to stay in contact whether it's through facebook or blogger.  I love knowing how everyone is doing and seeing their bright smiling faces. I love being inspired by your creativty, your spirituality, your maternal amazingness, and everything else!

Chad's Surgery

Chad has been having shoulder pain for the last 6 or so months.  It was sore at first and gradually got worse.  It got to the point that he couldn't lift up the kids.  We made an appointment for him to get an MRI.   But the soonest they could schedule Chad to see the Orthopedic surgeon here in Ogden was late November.  Not until after seeing him would we even be able to schedule a surgery. 

That was a bit too long of a wait.  I was able to get him in to see Dr. Bitner, an Orthopedic surgeon in Tremonton.  He looked at the MRI and said that Chad had a lateral tear in his labrum.  We were able to schedule the surgery for the next week on the 16th. 

They went in and found that Chad had ripped his labram in half.  They had to re-attach it and add some tissue from somewhere else. I did learn that Chad does not handle anaesthesia well. It took him 3 hours to be awake enough to leave. He was totally out of it. They brought him in to the room and he looked at me and said "Hey Babe!" and then tried really really hard to wink at me.  Oh Chad on drugs is just too much fun!

He gets to be in a sling until Mid-December and isn't allowed to really use his shoulder for another few weeks after that.  I just hope it doesn't snow a lot. Guess who'll be out shoveling the driveway? Oh and did I mention he cannot help me with Toby at all.  No diapers, no laying him down in his bed, NOTHING!  He's literally one handed right now.  I get to help him do a lot of things.  It's like having another kid as I cut up everyones' meat at dinner.

His recovery is going well.  He's doing Physical Therapy and slowly getting some strength back. Call me selfish, but I can't wait until he can change a diaper again!

Random pictures

Guess who got into the carmel dip?

Somebody loves spaghetti

Cowboy had crazy hair day for Red Ribbon week.  Mooch wanted to get in on the action.

Literally the best picture of Mooch I had.  He was a little excited to go Trick or Treating.

Bump in the road

I took Little T down to Primary Children's Medical Center on November 8th.  We went to their gastroenterology department where I was hoping they'd find out what is causing all the problems for  Little T .  They drew his blood and ran 8 or so tests to make sure everything is going okay.  One of the tests was an allergy test another was for Celiac disease. 

I finally got a call back from them and the Nurse said the tests all came back negative.  Which is great but it's also VERY frustrating.  He's not allergic to wheat and yet if he eats it he's up half the night screaming.  In the end is doesn't really matter that they came back negative, it just would have been nice to have an answer. 

He's on a Gluten Free diet and it's helping a ton.  He went from eating only 4-5 oz bottles to 7-8 oz bottles.  He's eating a lot more solid foods now too.  We're slowly figuring out what to feed this kid.  I've tried a few GF bread recipes and he gobbles them up. 

But I'm grateful that we've figured out that the Gluten was causing the pain.  I'm grateful that it's a "simple" fix.  Yes, it's been a tough year figuring all of this out.  But other than this little Gluten thing he's a very healthy and active boy. 

I've had a few things give me a little perspective over the last few weeks.  I was at Primary's to get some tests done and see a doctor, that's it. 

We have friends from college who are currently watching they're beautiful 5 year old girl fight cancer.  Reading their family blog is heartbreaking and inspiring all at the same time.  I just can't imagine having to watch your child grow through the things she's had to.  They are one tough little family. 
Walking through Primary's was also a smack upside the head.  I watched a little boy just older than Little T be wheeled down the hall in a hospital bed crying.  If that wasn't a slap in the face I don't know what is.  It seriously broke my heart to see so many sick children.  I just had a little prayer in my heart for them.
All of this is just a reminder to me that in the grand scheme of things, this gluten thing with  Little T  is a small bump in the road.

Little T update

Little T's reflux seems to be abating.  We've taken Little T off of all the medications for it and he seems to be doing fine.  YET the tummy aches at night and gas pains were still happening.
Chad works with a lady who has Celiac disease (a form of Gluten intolerance).  And she mentioned that it sounded like he might have some of the symptoms.  One of the symptoms just happens to be GERD.  So we decided to take wheat and anything else with Gluten in it out of his diet.  I mean what's the worst that could happen?  Little T doesn't get to eat the roll he'd been craving?

Guess who hasn't had any tummy aches the last 3 nights? Guess who slept from 9-6:30 last night?  Yep, that's right Little T.  We still have the appointment at Primary's on the 8th of November.  So he will actually get tested and we'll see what's really going on.  But I'm just happy we're no longer pumping him full of drugs.  I'm happy that he's no longer miserable.  But I'm especially happy that I'm getting 6+ hours of solid sleep a night.  Did I mention I'm happy?

Up ALL Night and I wanted to be

On Friday afternoon I got a phone call from a girl that Chad works with.  She played volleyball at U of U for four years.  She and Chad had talked about volleyball and he had mentioned I liked to play and coach.
Her co-ed team needed a third girl to play in an all night tournament in Layton.  I told her I would love to.

It was great and our team got 2nd place.  So I walked away with a T-shirt and a brand new set of bruises.  No really this is what my arms looked like a day later. There's even one at the base of my hand. The picture isn't amazing but I literally have bruises on both arms from getting hit by volleyballs.  Thats what happens when you dig hits from men who hit very very very hard.   

I had a blast playing until 2:30 in the morning.  It would have been a lot more fun if I was even remotely in shape.  Seriously, I had the reflexes of a sloth.  But then again who has quick reflexes at 2 in the morning?  I doubt they will ask me to play again unless they're desperate. 

Also I've been asked to come and help coach a club team here in Roy.  I'm just helping hit balls in practice but it would be nice to be able to keep up with some 14 year old girls!

SO.....now that Little T is sleeping better I no longer have the excuses to not exercise.  I would love to lose 10-15 pounds and be able to play volleyball like a used to.  I would love to look like I haven't had 3 kids.  Wish me luck!