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.