A visit to the zoo

The kids and I went to the zoo on Friday.

First, we had to see how they measure up.

Riding a tiger.  Russell is not too sure about the wisdom in this.

Love the personalities here.

My vogue girls

Playing in the zoo playground.  My little hatchlings.

I couldn't get Russell and Krysta to face the same way.  So I took a photo from each side.

Krysta was not too happy about sharing her nest.

Even less happy about it here.


We had so much fun! Daddy had to work, and we missed him.  But it was fun to take Russell for his first time (that he was old enough to enjoy it anyway).

Being in the moment

Well, trying to be anyway.

Russell gets his 2nd cast on July 9.

 I get tears in my eyes every time I think about it. I know he needs it, but I don't want it. He's so happy again right now. We laugh and play every day. I am better at living in the moment than I used to be, because I know that cast is coming on again in less than two weeks. He is soooo much happier right now. We can do so many more things as a family. We've been loving the pool, loving water fights, going everywhere. And then we're going to put that cast on again, and he's going to be so sad. And mad. And not understand why. I hate that part of this.

I hate to complain. We are so blessed. And I know it. But I'm still DREADING that day.

However, the following are pictures of us trying to "Live in the Moment":

I had the idea to put the pool at the bottom of the slide.  That was fun.

Love the expressions here.

And here.

Mischevious brother...

A little apprehensive of what her older brother will do once she gets to the bottom of the slide.  See the picture above to get a glimpse of what he will do.

And I believe we have a fish in the making here.

A little blurry, but kinda shows his excitement of being in that cold cold water.

Russell's progress

I cannot believe how much progress Russell has made in the last couple of weeks.  Neither will you, once I explain.

I already told you that he started walking a couple of weeks ago.  That was just two days before the global assessment.  At that time, he still couldn't say more than 5 words total, and he didn't really babble at all.  He never repeated what I said either.  Really not normal for a 20 month old.  So when they did the global assessment, he was behind in both how he walked (he brings his knees up really high with each step) and his lack of speech.  I have been trying to teach him to name parts of his face (like nose, eyes, mouth, ears, etc) for over 6 months, and he has never once tried to repeat my words. 

I think you all must have been praying for him.  I don't know how else to explain what happened in these last couple of weeks.

He started last Tuesday, talking.  He added about 5 new words to his vocabulary in the next couple of days.  Then by last Friday, he could put 2-3 words together to make phrases.  On Saturday, he said, "I can see you now" over and over as I was putting him into bed.  He can say probably about 20 words now, on a regular basis, and has started just today repeating words he has heard us say.  Like today, he said, "It's slippery", when he was trying to walk all over a pile of unfolded laundry.  So cute.

And he is walking everywhere.  I'm so proud of him. 

The developmental therapist and the physical therapist came last week, and he passed the developmental tests with flying colors, and the physical therapist was worried a little about his high stepping, but they both think he's right on track with his speech now.  I do too.  The physical therapist talked to us about using a walker for him when he first gets his new cast on, to help him keep walking once the cast is on.  But we'll see; I wonder if he'll just start walking on his own.  He's made so much progress, that I think anything is possible at this point.

Father's Day

We had a great Father's day.  We had an awesome meal, of turkey burgers, sauteed mushrooms, mashed potatoes, and cream puffs that only slightly resembled normal cream puffs.   The cooking took longer than I'd planned, as did all the game planning and present wrapping (both done by the kids), so we didn't eat until late, and started the games even later.  Meaning that Russell had had it by the time dinner was over, so he gladly went to bed while the rest of us PARTIED!

The kids made a treasure hunt for Scott.  Just like they did for Mother's day, except it was "longer" and "way cooler" (as I was informed). 

Finding one of the clues of the treasure hunt

Finding the treasure at the end of the treasure hunt

 The "treasure" at the end of the treasure hunt was all of the presents and the huge card they'd picked out for him.



A Lotta Love

I am so blessed to belong to this family!!

A Lotta Love + Presents = A Happy Father

We had a great Father's Day! We love you so much Scott/Dad! 

Global Assessment

I just think that title is funny.  Sounds so ominous.  But no, we didn't actually assess the globe.  ha ha. I'm so funny.
We did a "global assessment" on Russell.  Turns out he's a little behind.  Which is what I already knew.  I just didn't know in what areas.  We were referred to Idaho Infant and Toddler program because Russell wasn't walking, and he's old enough that he should be (he's 20 months in four days).   So we set up this appt today for a development assessment.  Then, two days ago, he starts walking.  Really walking.  All over the house, and the yard, and the deck at the swimming pool during swim lessons...etc.  I can't keep up with him!  I was so happy, I thought, I wonder if they'll even need to do anything for him now...
So we did part of the assessment today.  We still need to meet with a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, and a speech and language pathologist.  You know, if certain family members would just move to Idaho already, we'd have an OT and an SLP available already. Hint, hint.  :)Anywho...
Yes, he's got some things he's not doing as well as he ought to.  I knew his language skills were coming along slowly, but it turns out he's more behind in that area than I thought.  Thus the need for the SLP.  And there are concerns with how he's walking, and the effects of what a new cast will be for him, thus the need for the PT and the OT.
I'm really happy we're getting into this program.  I think it will give us more support and better odds of this next cast going better than the first one did.  I wish we'd done this sooner. 
And then there's part of me that's wondering where I'm going to fit MORE in.  It feels like we're just so busy and we already have so much going on.  And all of this news is so overwhelming tonight.  Part of me wishes we'd been told that he's doing great and there's no need for any of this.  I'm so overwhelmed with thoughts of another cast, and more things that we need to work on with him.  And I'm trying to be there for my other kids too.  Wouldn't it be nice if everything else, and everyone else in life could just be put on hold when things like this happen?  You know, just until we've got a handle on it and we can take a deep breath and say, OK, life can begin again! ?  But life doesn't happen that way does it.  Life is about learning what we are really capable of.  Even when we're content with what we already know we're capable of and don't feel that we need to be more capable.

Ughh.  So stressful.  So not what I really want to think about tonight.

That's it.  I'm just going back to being happy that he's walking.

Joyful moment!

Russell's new cast date is the same day as the first day of summer science camp for Tyler and Emalyn.  That is awful, because it meant Scott and the kids couldn't come down to UT with Russell and I.  I DO NOT like surgeries.  Especially surgeries for my children.  They're awful.  I've done one by myself without Scott, and I hated it so much that I decided I would never do that again. 

What's funny, is that I had 4 weeks to choose from, with the science camp.  I could have chosen ANY of them, but I happened to choose the same week that ended up being the only week we could do Russell's cast.  But that's life right?  Just what happens in life.  There are 12 weeks in a whole summer, but the two things that we are only doing one time each during the whole summer have to be at the exact same time!! Yup.  That's life.

So today, I called the summer camp and they agreed to change the weeks we signed up for, so Tyler and Emalyn don't have camp until the NEXT week.  YES! Joyful moment at my house!! 

I called Scott to tell him the good news.  And he says, "ok so let me get this straight: In July, the first week we have a family reunion in Utah, the second week we have Russell's cast in Utah, the third week we have Science Camp, the fourth week I (Scott) will be gone to Scout Camp.  Then comes August: the first week we have Emalyn's baptism, the second week we have another family reunion in Utah."  Yes.  But we like to be busy!  And all of those things, except for one, are really good things.  In looking at all of that, I realize we're very blessed.  Blessed to have wonderful things filling up our life.

We had a checkup for Russell yesterday, and I talked to his dr about his not walking.  We're starting physical therapy with Russell this Friday.  They're coming to our house to do it.  How nice is that? We don't have to go to them, they are coming to us! They're doing what they call a "global assessment" this Friday, which is testing in all areas of development.  I'm happy we're doing this.  Maybe we can get him walking before all the craziness happens in July and August!

anticipation and walking

I'm home from church early today to be with Tyler who's sick with the flu.  So I'm getting caught up on my blog.

We finally scheduled Russell's 2nd cast.  It will be July 9th.  I'm not too happy about this day, because Scott cannot be with me at Shriner's, since he will be at home with the other three, two of whom have science summer camp that week.  But that was the best option they gave me.  The only good thing about this is my sweet mother-in-law who has agreed to come to the hospital that day to be with Russell and I.  I'm nervous about this cast again, because Russell will have been out of cast for 6 weeks by then.  I'm wondering how much of what we went through with his first cast will re-appear for this cast.  On the other hand, I feel peace about it too, that it will all work out, and he and all of us will be ok.  We'll get through it, and it won't be as bad as last time.

Russell has started walking a little more.  He's been able to take 2-3 steps at a time without holding on to anything for a couple of months.  But a couple of days ago, he started walking across the room.  He still doesn't do it all the time, but he's slowly building his confidence.  It's about time, he's almost 20 months old.  The dr's at Shriner's at our last appt were concerned that he might have a secondary condition, because he wasn't walking yet.  They said that the cast doesn't slow any of the patients down, so it would have to be another factor causing his delay in walking.  Sometimes this watching, and waiting, gets really old.  Scott and I think he has had the ability to walk this whole time.  Something has made him not have the confidence to walk.  We've wondered about muscle weakness, because he is so small for his age, but after taking him to the park a couple of days ago and watching him do chin-ups (Seriously!!), I don't believe that's true either.  It would make sense to me that scoliosis causes a person to have less balance.  The doctors don't agree with me, but doesn't that make sense?  He is really wobbly, more than any of my other children.  He falls alot.  And so I think he's just been more scared to walk.
So there you have it.  That's my two cents.  And I'm no professional, so I could be totally wrong.  We'll just have to do more "watching" and "waiting".  Ha ha. :)

music day camp

Tyler and Emalyn went to "Music Day Camp" today.  When I went and picked them up, I overheard one of the instructors ask if they liked it, and I heard both of my kids yell, "It was awesome!".  That made me so happy.  They hadn't been too excited about it beforehand, but I felt like they would like it so I had them go anyway.  And now they "can't wait" to go again next year.  Joyful moment.

Today was so opposite of yesterday.  There was NO fighting in the car.  They were all in the car before I got there with Russell, just waiting.  Unbeknownst to me, Tyler had grabbed The Friend magazine (this is a magazine put out by our church.  To see a copy, click here.), and was reading it to Emalyn and Krysta in the car.  He read it the whole way to the camp (30 min) and they all talked and laughed and enjoyed eachother the whole way there.

Yesterday and today couldn't be more opposite in nature.  It's like my kids from yesterday were abducted and these nice, loving children replaced them in the night.

I LOVED it.  So nice, and calm, and you could feel the family love in the air.  Prayers are definitely answered. 

Aaahhh.  Got to go enjoy it while it lasts. :)

Grrrr...

The monster in me came out today.  The Mommy monster.

How bad is it when you call your husband, asking him to come home and carry out the threats that your children are making to EACHOTHER (in terms of bodily harm)?

Yup.  Did that today.  Luckily (for them) he works an hour away and can't just run home to carry out those threats.

I hate it when my kids fight and fight with eachother.  Still trying all the things we learned in our Love and Logic classes.  But today was the worst I've ever seen two of my children go at eachother.  WHY?

That phone call is the only thing I sort of regret that I did today.  I feel bad for calling and whining to him.  Other than that, I handled it ok.

Won't tell you what I did, but I feel ok about it, so it must have been alright.

Hopefully, the consequences will keep another day like today at bay.  Really hoping they learned.  If not, I got more where that came from.  Ha ha (evil laugh).

Just kidding (about the evil laugh part).  I really do love them.  And I'm really sad for them that they made those choices today.  Angry too, but sad all the same. 

Anyway...

Still loving my new bike.  So much fun.  And we still have no cast.  More fun.  And my kids started swimming lessons yesterday, and had their 2nd class today.  They're doing great!  And they're loving it.

I also have taught piano lessons to two of my children so far this week, and it's gone great so far.  I'm so apprehensive about this.  Patience is not one of my best attributes, but I did pretty good today.  They both came away from the lesson smiling.  :)

ready for summer!

Today we got officially ready for summer.  Did door dots (click here).  We've done these for a few summers now, and it makes it so fun.  My kids kind of expect them now.  We also do tickets.  They get a ticket everytime they do something above and beyond their regular jobs.  Things I would like them to do, but I don't actually require of them, they get tickets.  Then, when they earn enough, they can turn in their tickets for prizes, activities, money, or treats.  Whatever they want.  I got most of these ideas from the above website.  Makes my summer go better, and the kids do better too.  And of course, new job charts.  Last night, after going through all of this during family council with the kids, I was soooo overwhelmed.  I think all these things will make the summer go better, but it's always a bit tricky getting started out.  I think I get better at not making it more work for myself, and a bit better organized every year.  The first time I tried some of these ideas, it just made a ton more work for me.  Not a fun summer.  So hopefully I did better this year.

I also got myself a bike and a bike trailer at the end of last week.  Craigslist is awesome.  So the kids and I have been on at least one bike ride together everyday since we got it.  I'm loving it.  Exercise + fun with the kids = happiness for me and further ensuring that the exercise will really happen this summer.  Yay.  The bike trailer is for Russell and sometimes Krysta.  She can't go as fast as the rest of us, so sometimes she rides in the trailer and sometimes we slow down and she bikes too.  It's nice that it fits two kids.  I didn't think it would be as hard to pull though.  The first bike ride we went on, Tyler and Emalyn left me in the dust.  I am soooo out of shape!  But then we went on a bike ride just the 3 of us, so no trailer, and I kept up just fine.  So I'm still out of shape, just not as bad as I'd first thought.  Which is a relief.  And it means that it's a great workout to pull all 70 lbs in the trailer behind me. 

Here's hoping for a great summer!