STV: Summer has officially started

The sisterhood of the traveling van has reunited once again for a summer of (mis)adventure.  Alright, this summer we may not be too adventurous.  For some reason throwing child number four into the mix has slowed me down.  Hopefully we will be able to have some fun this summer and maybe a few adventures.  We will at least have some sister time every week. 

We kicked off our summer with a trip to, well, lunch.  We had lunch at the Pizza Pie Cafe.  They have awesome gluten free pizza and my kids love the all you can eat pizza and pasta.  After lunch we stopped at a park with a fishing pond and a beach.  We'll have to take a trip there another week when we're better prepared to swim or fish.  Then we ended our day at Rotary park.  The kids wanted to go to Cabela's and Camille and I just didn't have the energy.  My poor kids are just going to have to be disappointed this summer.  Hopefully soon I'll get my energy and drive back.  Next week's outing will be the princess festival.  Stay tuned for more STV outings this summer.

Memorial Day

Sydnee pointing out her namesake

Playing hide and seek

Silas in front of his namesakes grave

I've always loved Memorial day.  It may seem weird, but I love to go to the cemeteries to put flowers on family graves.  My children enjoy it too.  I think they enjoy running around with their cousins and hiding behind the headstones.  This year my mom had a quiz for the kids to fill out.  It had questions about each of our ancestors whose graves we would be visiting.  My kids loved it, what a great way to find out more about their ancestors. 

First Smiles

Okay, so this isn't a smile, but it's still cute!

2 Months!

poor little red eyes, Silas has an eye infection.

Penny

The other day I was upstairs when Addy came to tell me that Maren just ate a penny.  I asked her if she saw Maren do it, and she didn't.  I asked Maren and she told me she ate a penny and that it was yucky.  She was breathing fine (flashback's from a bad experience working in the emergency room) so, I turned to google.  Most of the results on google said to make sure they're breathing, no tummy aches and just wait for it to pass.  If it doesn't pass in a few days or the child stops eating, call the doctor.  I also checked with a few of my nurse friends and they said the same thing.  I had the fun job of checking diapers for pennies, I even started wondering if maybe she really didn't eat one.  Sunday afternoon I caught a whiff of something foul.  I'll spare the details, but it was disgusting.  Just when I was about to give up, I saw something shiny.  Jackpot!  All I could think of was "find a penny, pick it up, and all the day you'll have good luck."  I better have lots of luck after picking that penny up!  And yes, that is the actual penny.

Tantrums

Maren is deep into the terrible two's, hopefully she'll be better when she turns three right?  Tantrums occur daily at our house.  One night Maren was in a terrible mood and ended up in her room for a time out.  I waited until she calmed down and went in to check on her.  When I walked in, she was asleep on her bed.  Poor kid.  She still needs naps, but refuses to take them.  She doesn't eat much and doesn't get enough sleep which leads to a lot of weeping and wailing.  Only 40 more days until her birthday, it would be nice if she turned human again on her birthday, but for now we live with the Tazmanian devil. 

Acorns and Islands

I have to share some funny things that I've remembered from when Silas was born.  After I told Ben that the doctor thought that Silas had achondroplasia, he went home and researched it that night.  When we were talking about it the next day, he kept calling it acornplasia.  He then told me that someone that has achondroplasia is referred to as an acorn.  I laughed and told him I was pretty sure that wasn't right.  He insisted.  We joked about it and said that Silas needed a onesie with an acorn on it.  Recently I was reading on a blog about a little boy with achondroplasia and his mom kept calling it achons.  I think that's where the acorn thing came from. 
We told Ben's mom about Silas when she came to visit us in the hospital.  She said she was kind of struggling with it and went home and prayed about it.  She said that she felt like everything would be okay and that Silas had a special mission to go out and teach the little people of the world.  Ben and I talked about it later and wondered if she something we didn't, is there some special island where all of the little people live?  Later she told me more and said that she knows that he will go to one of the little people conventions and share the gospel, this might be true, but it came across as pretty funny.  This is probably only funny to Ben and I.  I guess it's one of those things where you had to be there. 

Updates

My boys were both worn out after our long day at Primary Children's

In the recovery room

Life is pretty crazy at our house right now.  I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water and it's hard to make it through the day.  Things are good, I'm just having a hard time adjusting to having a newborn again and 3 kids at home all day.  If we make it through the summer and still like each other, I'll consider it a successful summer.  Most days I'm doing good to get a shower, let alone get anything done.  My kids get fed every day and most days they get dressed and as long as they don't play outside they stay reasonably clean.  This too shall pass right?  Anyway, enough complaining.
We met with the ENT from primary children's at the end of May.  Silas has fluid in his ears which is most likely the cause of his hearing loss.  We will go back in July to see if the fluid is clearing on its own.  If it isn't, then he will have surgery to have tubes put in his ears.  We didn't have a great experience with the ENT, so in July we will try another doctor, this one was recommended by a friend of mine, so hopefully it will go better.
Friday Silas had his two MRI's up at primary children's. To keep him still enough, he had to be put under general anesthesia.   Ben and my dad gave him a blessing on Thursday night, which was very comforting.  Ben and I were a little worried.  After midnight I was only able to feed Silas pedialyte and after 8 a.m. he couldn't eat anything.  I fed him one last bottle at 7:30 and then we left.  Silas slept on the way and stayed asleep until the nurse started the check in process at same day surgery.  I dressed Silas in the cutest little hospital gown and socks, too bad I didn't get a picture.  Silas cried all through the poking and prodding, thankfully he only cried for about 20 minutes, I was able to walk around and get him to calm down and go to sleep even though he was starving.  The nurses and the doctor we saw were great.  Dr. Furst the anesthesiologist was very reassuring and nice.  We walked downstairs to radiology and were told where to wait after we got some lunch.  We kissed Silas goodbye and walked away.  It was really hard to kiss our boy goodbye and leave him with strangers.  Ben and I had lunch together and had just sat down in the waiting room when the doctor came to get us.  He told us that Silas did great and that they were able to get good pictures.  We were able to go in to the recovery room and hold him.  He was awake and doing great.  Soon afterward we were on our way home.  Silas slept most of the day and did good during the night.  I am so thankful that everything went well.  We should get the results in a few days and know whether or not he will need surgery on his skull.  We're crossing our fingers and praying for the best, we don't want to have to starve him or hand him over to strangers again.  Silas will have his 2 month checkup on Friday and we have follow up appointments with the cardiologist and ENT next month.  Things are good and Silas is doing well.  I'm grateful for all of the prayers on his behalf.  While we were at lunch and Silas was having his MRI's done, I started to have all of the anxieties and "what if's" creep into my mind and I started to feel like I was sinking.  I said a prayer and I felt a wave of peace wash over me and I was instantly calmed and I knew everything would be okay.  Everything will be okay, we just have to keep going and hold on.

Blessing Day

Silas was blessed on Sunday, June 3rd.  Ben gave him a beautiful blessing.  Silas was blessed to be able to have his health problems resolved, to be an example to others by sharing the gospel and to some day marry a young woman in the temple (these are the things I remembered).  It was such a nice day.  My dad had his hand under Silas's head and he said that he has a strong, sweet spirit.  He said that Silas looked as if he were paying attention and understood every word.  He also said that it seems that Silas has accepted and is at peace with his life and what lies ahead.  Silas is a super sweet boy, I am so glad that Heavenly Father sent him to us. 

School Wrap Up

We finished off May with the annual dance festival.  It started out as a cold and rainy morning, but the sun came out just in time for it to start.  I love seeing the kids dance, this is one of my favorite things to go to as a parent. Afterward, I got to show off Silas to Addy's teachers and the office staff. 

Birthday gift

My sister gave me this for my birthday, I love it!