Life is finally slowing down!

I can't believe I went so long without blogging... Oh well, such is life. I'm doing it now so I guess that's good.  This post will be overloaded with pictures, I'm sure...

I never posted that I was pregnant, so for those who weren't aware, I was pregnant... until 11 days ago when I gave birth to a beautiful baby GIRL! (there will be a whole separate post on that one).  When we went to the ultrasound, we were all convinced that we were having another boy, and were perfectly happy with that- I'd accepted that I was going to be a "boy mom" and was LOVING it. We joked with the US tech that it would definitely throw our life into a little bit of a frenzy if it were a girl, but we were sure it was a boy, so no problem! Then she said "Looks like some big changes are coming to your home...It's a girl!" I didn't believe her and made her show me a couple of times to be sure. Adam's response was "Well, this baby just got a whole lot more expensive!" How true that is, but it's been so fun already!

 (The boys drew my outline on the sidewalk- baby and all)

Our summer was relatively uneventful besides just spending a lot of time playing outside and enjoying our relaxing life with a little side of morning sickness all along. Ritter ended up having 2 more seizures in May and June, both accompanied by Croup. He hasn't had another one or croup again since, so I'm a little nervous how this winter will treat him, but he has had a couple of fevers that did not cause seizures, and I'm hopeful that maybe he's outgrown it?! It is not fun to watch your child have a seizure, and it only got slightly easier the 2nd and 3rd time. It keeps me on edge anytime I leave him or if he feels even the slightest bit warm.

 Adam and I made a quick impromptu trip to Colorado for a weekend to celebrate 9 years of being married. It was fun to go back "home" and show Adam all around where I spent the best and worst of my teenage years!

Kickball for Griffin

 

After the kids were almost approached by a sexual predator at the park this summer, and our sheriff's dept. was so helpful in finding him, we took cookies to say thank you and let the kids see the jail.

In early spring, we decided we wanted to get chickens for our backyard. Each of us picked out a chick and it has been a lot of fun to watch them grow and to gather eggs from the backyard. The kids (Griff especially) love to play with them and chase them around the yard.

In August, Adam and I flew out to Illinois to interview for a job in a town called Bourbonnais near Chicago. We were both excited and nervous about the idea of moving (right before having a baby too). I spent the day driving around and exploring to get a feel for the area and see what kind of homes were available while Adam spent the whole day interviewing, touring, etc. Shortly after lunch, I was getting a little discouraged because I felt really uneasy about the area and the whole thing just seemed like it wasn't right for us. I got a text from Adam about 20 minutes later when he had a short break between meetings and he told me that he was feeling like this wasn't the right place for us. There was nothing undesirable about the job, the area and the pay was almost double what we make now, but it just felt wrong. It was such a relief that we both got the same answer without even having to think twice about it. We feel really good staying in Cache Valley where we know it's a good place to raise our children, we have a lot of support around us and Adam has a good job. Until that interview, we were both a little antsy to move somewhere new, but I think both of us are pretty set on staying here, or at least in northern Utah for a long time.

First day of School pics

We have continued to homeschool and Griffin has been teaching himself to read and write (with just a little help from me, but not much because he's still young and I don't want to push until he's older).
Deegan is doing really well and working a grade level ahead of where he should be. He's become a major bookworm. If he has a book he is interested in, he'll read for hours. We try to get to the library every week because if not, he's bored with the books already since he's read them all at least once in the first few days.

 I hesitate to say this, because it always brings trials to my life, but right now life is just good! Today is the first snow of the winter and the kids are LOVING being outside in it while I am loving snuggling my sweet baby girl!

I think we'll skip next April

Adam and I have decided to cancel all future Aprils. All day on Wednesday the 2nd, all I could think about was that we were coming up on our 1 yr anniversary of Griffin's appendicitis ordeal in a couple of weeks. I kept feeling like something was a little off, but I blew it off as paranoia caused by Griffin. Wednesday night, after cuddling with Ritter for a bit, I went to put him to bed and noticed his forehead felt a little warm. I figured, maybe it's a little teething fever, or maybe he's just warm from snuggling and he's probably fine, so I put him to bed. Thursday morning he woke up at 5:00 like he does every morning (to have a bottle and go back to bed). He had a fever of 104.2, so I quickly gave him some Tylenol, a bottle and snuggled a bit with him. He was cranky and irritable, so he didn't go back to sleep for long. When the other boys woke up, Ritter wanted to go play with them, so I sent him downstairs to play. His temp was at about 102 at that point and I was a little worried that it had been 2 hours and was still only down to 102, so of course, I started Googling (is that a word?) toddler fevers and what to watch for, etc. Trying to decide if I'd take him in to the doctor, he came back upstairs whining and wanting to be held. As I tried to calm him down, he suddenly started twitching and went into a seizure. Fortunately and unfortunately my good friend and neighbor across the street has been in the thick of seizures with her little girl for the last few months, so I knew she could help me quickly. I have seen seizures before, but when it is your own baby, it's a whole different scenario. As I searched around me in a panic for my phone, I debated if I should call 911 or Briana, but my fingers couldn't figure out how to get to the number pad quickly enough and I have Briana on speed dial, so she was the one I called. I was so hysterical at that point that she could barely understand me and I was getting frustrated that I couldn't get the words out, "Ritter's having a seizure". She heard seizure and immediately ran over to my house, helped me set him down and called 911 for me. He was still breathing, but his mouth was filling with saliva and he was making a gurgling sound. I kept yelling at her that he was choking, but she reassured me that he was okay and this was all normal. It seemed like hours before the paramedics got there and he had stopped right before they did, but the seizure lasted about 5 minutes and he stopped breathing about half way through and was pretty purple. I was so sick to my stomach. The older boys were still playing in the basement, but of course they came up to see what was going on. I sent them back downstairs and Deegan went hesitantly, but Griffin didn't realize there was a problem and thought Ritter was playing a fun game so he stayed for a bit. When the paramedics got there, they checked everything imaginable and all were relieved that he had a fever since that gives us a reason for the seizure. Briana took the big boys to her house and the paramedics asked if we wanted to be transported. I was still in such a shock that I didn't know what to say, so I just said "I don't know". Ritter made a few movements that looked like he was getting ready to start seizing again, and I was scared. One of the men said, "I really think we better", so they carried Ritter out while I grabbed my shoes and purse. It was the bumpiest, longest ride of my life. He was still in the "coming out of it" phase and was crying non-stop. He stopped for just a second when I put the oxygen mask to his face, as if he was relieved, but then he started right back up. It took a good hour and half or so before he finally calmed down and fell asleep for a few minutes, but with all the poking and prodding at the E.R. he didn't get much time to rest. When we got to the E.R., they immediately loaded him up with ibuprofen and Tylenol to try and get his temp back down (it was back up to 104 at that point). After it came down  to 102 about an hour or 2 later, they ran some blood tests, urine test and x-rays to see if he had some kind of infection going on that was causing the high fever and everything looked normal except that his throat was kind of swollen. Truthfully, I was pretty sure they were going to tell us he had appendicitis. The doctor concluded that he had a little bit of croup coming on, so they gave him some steroids to help him breathe and sent us home after watching him for a bit.
My in-laws came and picked up the 2 big boys and took them to their house for a couple of days so we could just take care of Ritter. It was a huge blessing because neither Adam nor I slept that night. Ritter only slept when my hand was on his back, but if I moved he screamed really loud as if he was scared. Every little movement woke me up and my stomach was in knots. All day Friday, he wouldn't let me put him down. We napped together and again, every time I moved he screamed- not crying like a baby does when they don't want to be put down, fearful screaming. Saturday was a little better. He slept really well in his own bed Friday night and I think he needed that time to recover. Briana has told me that her doctors tell her that a seizure takes every ounce of energy your body has and it's like running a marathon when you've never trained for one.
For now, the doctor said this was only caused by his fever jumping quickly and that it's unlikely to happen again, but 1 out of 3 kids who have a febrile (fever related) seizure, have them again, and it can likely be just one of the triggers that causes him to have seizures. I guess we'll wait and see how he does. I'm a little less optimistic than I was when the doctors said everything was great with Griffin. That optimism seemed to cause me trouble, but I'll try not to be too pessimistic too.
I've had so many times that I knew we were inspired to move in to this house, but in the last year, that has been confirmed over and over again. What would I have done if I didn't have Briana? There's no chance a dispatcher would have understood me over the phone while I was crying and hysterical. I am so grateful that the Lord has watched over us and put the right people in my path at the right time.

Hello 2014! Good Riddance 2013!

Wow! This year has been a whirlwind that I just can't keep up with! I wont recap all the details because you've likely already read or hear all about them (if not- read back through the blog). I will say though, that through all the ups and downs of sick kids, job changes, and sacrifice, we have learned to rely heavily on our Heavenly Father to bless us and help us through tough times. The power of prayer, our own and those of others, has been such a blessing to us to help comfort us when we were going through struggles. We have been so blessed to have family, friends and neighbors to lift us up when we needed it and help us do the things we couldn't. I think the biggest lesson I learned this year is that life doesn't slow down unless you tell it to! There have been a couple of occasions when I've had to just look at my dirty kitchen floor and walk away so I could take care of a sick child or get some rest myself. I have learned to just enjoy being at home with Adam and my sweet kids and relish every moment. I'm finding that we don't need to go and do a lot of things or have a lot in order to just enjoy being alive. We spent a lot of time this past summer sitting outside playing with the neighbors and it was so great to just relax a bit and shift my priorities for a little while. I learned to appreciate just watching my 3 little boys spending time together and making each other laugh (and cry).  To  be honest, looking back at our year and all of Griffin's surgeries, hospital stays and the crazy life we lived for a few months to try and get him back to good health, I'm a little overwhelmed. In the moment, we did fine. People would tell me how hard it must be and how scary it was to hear about Griff, but I managed to hold it all together pretty well and feel pretty calmed about it. I think I had blinders on and was only focused on the few things I needed to be seeing at the time. Now looking back, I realize how much that impacted our lives and how much we've grown and changed because of it. I remember asking Griff's surgeon if there was a chance he had cancer or some other immune system problem and I was fully prepared to handle it if he did. Now, to even think about that would have me in a puddle on the floor! The Lord watches over us and knows when we need to be comforted. I know that if we ask Him, He will help us overcome trials and grow from them. Long story short, I am so very grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who I know has my family's best interest in his heart and will always be there for me when I am willing to let Him. I am grateful for the power of service and inspiration that has led our friends, family and neighbors to be there for us when we wouldn't have known how to even ask for their help. Although we had a wild ride, I'm not sure I'd take this year back if I had the chance because we learned and grew so much! I hope you all have a wonderful new year filled with lots of love and gratitude!

Here are some highlights of our year: