Another ER visit

Yesterday my sister called me and needed me to pick up her son from day care. Turns out her older son broke his wrist in 2 places and needed to go to Primary's to get it set. Sure, not a problem. So I go pick the kids up (and do manage to get all 3 of them in my little car all buckled in) and I immediately notice that I don't like the way Audrey's breathing sounds. So we went home, got Gene, and grabbed a bit to eat. We went to Urgent Care, and her oxygen sats were at 90%. So we go flying up to Primary's, traded Bryce and Jordan back to my mom and Jenny who were already up there with Tyler, and waited our turn. Turns out she has croup. They gave her some decadron and some Tylenol to bring the fever down, and she started feeling better after those hit.

Dang, I hate having an immune suppressed child! Gene's home with her today trying to sleep while she watches some TV until I get home. Gene's work hours have been cut again - we're only getting 24 hours a week. We're both so frustrated it's not even funny.

Pictures

Okay, here are the pictures I promised. Had a bit of trouble uploading them, so that's why they are out of order. Bryce is 4 1/2 and Audrey is 5 1/2, anxiously looking forward to being 6. As a matter of fact, she doesn't tell people she's "just" 5 - she's almost 6. It makes me laugh. The other day she was playing with her Little Einstein's piano - it's one of her favorite toys. It has a little quiz type thing on it that she loves to do. She answered the question correctly, and Leo answers "You're right!" I next heard this - "Of course I am." It just made me laugh.

Weigh in and life update

Today's weigh in was actually pretty good. I was down .8, so I'm pleased with that. I have to admit that taking the stress of reaching goal off has been wonderful. I'm still totally sticking with plan, but I'm not stressing if I don't lose 3 pounds in a week. As long as I go down something, I'm okay with it.

Today we went to the Draper Temple open house again. Gene went this time, because he was anxious to see it even though he worked last night. On a good note, he did have a job interview this week with a home health care agency that would bring his pay back up to what we were making last year. The lady he interviewed with was reading his letters of reference and she kept saying "very impressive" and then she'd read the next one, and said "very impressive". She said that with all the letters. Gene felt it went really well, and so we are VERY hopeful that he gets this one. The nursing home has cut hours again. I think what's making us the most angry is that we can never count on the number of hours he's getting. One week it's up, the next it's back down. How can you budget when you don't know how many hours you will be working? We're beyond frustrated with the whole situation.

The kids are doing fairly well. Last night we went to University of Utah gymnastics, and for once Bryce was VERY well behaved. But then again, we also kept him eating and occupied the entire time. So I'm not sure if that's the solution all the time or not. It worked last night, so who am I to question? Audrey lost another tooth - I'll post a picture later. She lost one of her top center teeth, so I have to admit that she looks kinda funny. But in a good way.

A tiny little star.....

Who would have thought that a tiny little star could hold such meaning and significance for me? Yes, folks, that's right - that's a goal award from Weight Watchers. I can't believe it's MINE.

I earned it on Saturday at my meeting. I have worked so hard to get it, and I am so proud of myself. I have lost 111 pounds. That's like, 2 1/2 of my kids. I can't even fathom that much weight! I feel good about myself and although I'm not where I'd like to be (I have about another 25 to go to get to where I want to be) I'm proud how far I've come and what I've accomplished. And no one can take that away from me.

The family is doing fairly well. Gene is healthy, except for a sprained wrist that is giving him fits. It's not really healing very well because he's using it all the time at work, but we can't afford for him to take the time off to let it heal completely. He really doesn't like his job because he's overqualified and everyone else knows it, but until something better comes along, he's kind of stuck where he's at. Audrey's eye doctor appointment went well on 2/13. The doctor said her eyes look great, and there's no sign of inflammation. We are to stay the course for another 3 or 4 weeks, and then he will re-evaluate taking her off some of her medications. Bryce is doing really well in speech therapy. I can't believe how far the little guy has come. His private therapist is very pleased with how well he's doing, and said that since his speech therapist at school is so on top of things, that we can cut back to every other week while he's in school, then take a short break, and hit it hard again weekly during the summer when he's not receiving speech in school. When he wants to he can be such a little angel - but there are other times.....

There was a wonderful article on Infantile Spasms in the March Ensign. As soon as it's posted online I'll post a link. I'm grateful that we've had a fairly good outcome, considering what could have been. On Sunday in Sunday School, we were talking about how the Spriit answers us. And sometimes the answer is yes, but that it doesn't mean right now. For example, we were promised that Bryce would be healed. But it still hasn't fully been realized. But I also know that if we wouldn't have had to travel down this road the last 4 years, I wouldn't have faced a lot of the things that I have. I wouldn't have learned how to navigate the special ed system to get the services Bryce needs. I wouldn't have learned how to be grateful for silly things - like a child learning to walk and talk. I wouldn't see how much struggle Bryce sometimes go through daily to tell us things, but that he never gives up trying. My kids are amazing, and I am so grateful for them!

Quick update

I think we finally have everyone one semi-healthy. Gene is finally over his nasty cold, but he sprained his wrist at work, and so that hasn't felt too good. But he finally got into a brace rather than a semi-cast, so at least he's able to work now. Audrey is pretty much recovered from her surgery on her eyes. Bryce is fairly healthy - although he has a cough that's getting nastier by the day, but we'll wait and see on that.

We had the neatest experience the Saturday after Audrey's sugery. We had tickets to attend the Draper Temple open house. It was really neat to be able to take the kids inside, and let them actually see inside the temple. The very last room you sit in is a sealing room. I picked the kids up and let them look into the "eternity mirrors", and by that time every body had left the room. I saw a teaching moment. I asked the ushers who were there if the kids could kneel at the altar. I was told they could, so I put one child on each side of the altar, and I kneeled at the head. I then told them that mommy and daddy were sealed in a room like this, except in a different temple- the Manti Temple. I also said that because of the things that happen in this very special room, families are sealed together forever. That this is where a forever family started - right here. Because mommy and daddy were sealed in a room like this, if they do their part and live righteously, then they can be sealed to someone in a room like this. But even if something happened to mommy or daddy or them, that we would still be a forever family because of the promises given in the temple. It was a very neat experience. I was so proud of them for how they behaved in the temple - they were very reverent. Audrey kept telling everyone about how they saw the baptismal font on the back of 12 cows. (FYI - for those that don't know - the font is really on the back of 12 oxen that represent the 12 tribes of Israel)