Friday, August 31, 2012

Our Maci-CAT

I just don't want to forget- My favorite thing Maci does right now is yells "Bubba" and then whacks Beckett.   Usually it is if he is taking away her bib or pulling on her or heaven forbid ignoring her.  She loves her brother.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

PT

The babies had their a PT visit this last Wednesday.  It was scheduled late enough that if I went into work early I could get meet Christian at the appointment and go with him.  It was potentially their last one and I had questions so it was nice that I could go.  Christian is actually really good at asking detailed questions and reporting back to me.  But it is still not the same.

I know I have mentioned this before but I love our PT.  He is awesome.  If anyone has to to PT in our area for their kids, Kelly is incredible.  Really what I love the most is that he is real.  He tells us how it really is and is straight forward, yet is very understanding.  

Today was a big day in Maci's little world.  She graduated PT.  She is doing fabulous.  She can now look both ways great.  We will continue her exercises for the next 2 months and there are a few other things we will need to do with her indefinitely.  But this is great news.  She is doing awesome.  She is still delayed but is improving.  Better yet, she is striving to improve.  Kelly will continue to work with her when we bring in Beckett but will not chart on her as she will no longer be a patient.  YEA MACI!!!!

The only thing Beckett doesn't like is PT.  And he more than dislikes it, he HATES it.  It makes him into the biggest grump and it will last all day and sometimes all night.  So you would think he would hurry up and graduate already.   Nope instead he will often times refuse to even do his exercises.  Poor kid hates it that much.  Kelly calls it, "giving him his swears"  when Beckett yells at him.  His head motion and strength is much improved.  But it seems to take almost nothing to give him a set back.  He is not close to crawling or even scooting.  I think his smile is good enough.  He has had improvements on his head shape.  And when force, he can have the best posture.  Kelly says he lacks motivation probably for 2 reasons.  First, it is just his personality.  He is just a laid back easy kid.  He is happy and smiley.  He is a lot like Landon.  If it isn't a game Landon really doesn't see a reason to do things.  Beckett is kind of the same.  The second, is because he has so many helpers.  All he has to do is squawk and there are so many there to do things for him.  That's funny because I am certain he looks at Maci and is thinking...Hey will you get me a snack when you are in there...or......why are you moving? You know they will bring it to you if you yell loud enough.

So we are trying some new things with our little Bubba.  We went to DI to get the bright, loudest most obnoxious toys.  Did you know that's where those toys live?  And they work!!!  When mom's find out how obnoxious those toys are they send them straight to the DI.  It works for us because we got 3 of them for about 5 bucks.  And these special headache toys only come out during PT time.   

Also we are looking at getting both Maci and Beckett getting evaluated by Kids on the Move.  We don't think Maci will qualify.  We are hoping Beckett will and then by doing both Kids on the Move and out patient PT, maybe we can make a little more improvement. 

Wish us luck! 

Monday, August 20, 2012

Maci Crawls

Maci crawled for the first time yesterday.  The best part. I was there to see it.  I have really been fortunate that I have been home for many of the firsts.  Yeah for Maci and yeah for me. 

That is so EPIC!! 8/10/12

My very first big race was the EPIC.  And it was just that....EPIC.  I loved it.  It was so hard but it was worth it.  And I can see myself doing it again.  Next time I hope to be a lot healthier.

The hardest parts of the race:
- I was so sick from my episode earlier in the week.  I could still only eat 600 or so calories a day which is not near enough.
-It was so hot.
-Some of the hills were so hard.
-Absolutely no sleep at all.  Ok maybe like an hour or two.  But I am WAY too old for only an hour or two of sleep in two days.
-Being ran off the road by Semi Trucks!
-Broke my iPod

The best parts...some of the surprisingly:
-Running in the middle of the night.  Who would think that running at 4am would be refreshing?
-Hanging with my girls!  Seriously my running team is some of the best people out there.  People die never having friends like this.  We are blessed.
-Lots and lots of laughing
-The support of other runners.  Even other running teams. It was so AMAZING
-I ran 21 MILES people.  I did it.  I have a new found confidence in my running and I love it.  My body isn't yet where I want it but my running is getting there.

My first leg was a little over 9 miles.  It was so hard for a few reasons.  First, it was in the middle of the afternoon.  It was seriously about 100 degrees out and no shade.  I had not been able to eat much so my energy was low.  And then It was more up hill than I felt it was supposed to be.  It was so hard.  But I struggled through it.  After about 7 miles a storm came through and I thought oh great it is going to cool off and it did.  What I wasn't anticipating was the wind that was to follow.  It was literally blew me sideways across the street.  This was so hard.  I felt like I was running in place.  And I had sent my van up ahead so our last girl could get ready.  To my surprise an Utra team van was pulled over (Ultra team is a team that is running double what everyone else is.  We had 2 vans.  The Ultra team only has one)  One of the guys had gotten out and brought me water and ran with me for about a 100 yards.  How cool is that.  That is just how people are on this race.  We sprayed other runners with water and other vans doused our runners with water.  It is a joint effort on the road.

My second leg was a little over 7 miles.  This was by far my favorite run.  I was really surprised.  I am not a night person.  I thought I would struggle not sleeping and then trying to run so far.  But I did well.  It was a low grade down hill so that was awesome. There was ZERO wind.  And it was nice and cool.  It was great to be able to see my breath.  It was perfect.  It was cool enough that I could wear my calf sleeves so my legs felt awesome as well. There were a couple of hard parts with this leg.  One was that the semi trucks were not happy that there was a race going on.  They did not move over and there was not a shoulder of the road.  I would move over but there was not much of anywhere for me to go and I was dodging pokey brush.  When they would go by, I would feel the big woosh and they laid on their horns.  I was told later that the trucks were honking at all the runners.  I'm not going to lie, it was a little scary.  Also, there was some rather large road kill on this leg and it was smelling rank.  It was bad.  I figure that was to help me run a little faster on that mile.  :)  Right at the end of this let it started to rain and to thunder.  The thunder was so loud it was a little surreal.  It was pretty cool.

My third and final leg was a little over 3 miles and was by far my hardest most sucky run.  It was so hard.  I think it was the hardest mentally.  I thought I would be able to fight through it mentally thinking I have already ran over 17 miles I can easily do another 3.3.  But instead my mind said..... you already ran 17 miles, quit now you have passed the line of crazy.    It was another afternoon run, so once again it was really hot.  And still I haven't been able to hardly eat.  My whole run was on a bike trail this time.  At least it was paved so that was good.  But the first half I was completely isolated.  The cars couldn't follow and actually there were no runners by me either.  It was rough.  I felt very much like I was at home going for a run in the most torturous conditions just for fun.  It was everything in me just to keep running.  It was the best feeling when I got to the point of the trail when my team could meet up and give me water.  It also meant that I had just over a mile left.  So helpful.  This is also when I saw a moose crossing sign.  My thought...If I see a Moose, I quit.

I did it though.  I finished.  I was nervous that I would struggle so much more than I did.  I can't wait until next year when I can do much better.

Awesome pictures of me looking sweaty and gross to come.......

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Torn Esophagus

The other night was a rough night to say the least.  I had felt a migraine coming on for a couple of days but really I felt I had it under control.  Monday I went to work and I felt totally out of it.  My back was so tight I couldn't breath deep.  Tightness is normal for me when I get migraines but this was so much worse.  I learned early on with these migraine business that you just can't let them get you down.  Just keep moving through them.  So I did.  I finished work and then I met up with Christian, and we had to go to Midvale to sign closing papers to refinance our house.  And then we had to go straight to softball double header.  At this point I wasn't really feeling it but oh well too late to get a sub.  So I played and not very well.  I guess I fielded well but I batted horribly.  I even struck out. 

So after the game our team usually goes out for ice cream...Kind of a treat for the kids since they were good while we were playing our game.  We were going to go but then everyone else got held up and that is when I decided I needed to go home.  So we bought the kids milkshakes on the way home and we left.

We got almost all the way home when we realized that we had forgotten my car that was at the park n ride lot by the freeway.  grrr.  So we had to turn around. 

By the time we got home, I was dead.  Christian took care of the the kids and everything else.  I took a shower and then started puking and puking.  Then I was puking up blood.  That isn't usually a good sign.  This lasted the entire night.  Then I was dizzy so every time I would move or roll over I would puke again.  I know attractive right.  Finally about 7 am it stopped but my head was pounding and my throat was killing me.  I was too out of it to move let alone call into work.  Finally I made my way downstairs around 10 and I crashed out there. 

My dr. office is awesome and got me in the early afternoon.  My main concern was that I have the EPIC relay race this weekend.  I needed to feel better.  At the dr. office, I had lost 6lb in a couple of days.  Not Good, even though I would love if that was real weight loss and not just water weight.   The verdict is....I had a migraine that went really bad.  So Migraine made me nauseated and I puked but then acid came up into my ears (I have already been having ear problems so this added to it) and made me more dizzy....more puking. 

Very Violent Puking = torn esophagus.  I mean really who tears their esophagus.  Torn esophagus= very sore throat. 

So at the dr office they gave me two bags of iv fluids, anti nausea meds, some steroids, and some pain killers.  Two hours later I left. 

Now I am taking previcid to make sure no acid gets into my throat so it can heal.  Which will take about 8 weeks.  But I should be doing much better in a few days.

And as soon as my race is over, I go on a new migraine prevention medication.  We will see how it goes.  Wish me luck!!!

9 months

My little cuties just had their 9 month check ups.  They are the best little babies.  Beckett just laughs or growls at the doctor the whole time and Maci has finally smiled for him.  They are still just the tiniest little things.  But they do eat well.  Becket is very excited for any and all "real" food.

Their torticollis is much better.  Actually it is gone for both of them and they have had huge improvements on their development in the last month.  We are hoping that they will go to PT again next month and then we can be done.  They still have flatness to their heads but it is much better so they don't qualify for helmets.  We are hoping with time they will continue to improve.  Their heads will continue to reshape until they are 5.  One nice thing about all this therapy is that we can't let them just lay on the back of their heads and haven't for a long time now.  That means no bald spots.  I love that.  My kids usually get giant bald spots. 

Beckett claps and gives fives.  I was really excited that I saw him clap first.  So exciting.  I know that sounds silly.  But really feel like I miss everything.   It is those little moments when I finally get to experience something first that I can go to work another day.  He talks and plays and talks and talks.  He is loud.  As he grows he is more and more like Landon.  He is all about the game.  He rolls over now both ways and he is starting to scoots on his back.  He can stand along furniture but not on his own and doesn't pull himself up yet.

Maci loves attention.  Just like Cait.  They are girl through and through.  She doesn't clap or anything yet but she does get all over the place.  She rolls over and can get up in crawl position.  But no crawling yet.  She scoots all over on her back and is starting to on her stomach.  She loves to stand up at furniture and does well.  But she doesn't pull herself up or anything like that.

The doctor has suggested we contact kids on the move to help them with their delays.   Looks like I will add that to my to do list this week.



Maci has passed up Beckett in weight.

Maci weight 15.43 lbs  2%   26.2 in 7%  head is 9%
Beckett weight 15.15 lbs 0% 27.25 in 12 %  head is 12%

Saturday, August 4, 2012

West Rim of Zions

The Tradition:  When Christian was a kid, it was tradition in their family for each of the kids to go on an overnight hike with their dad after they turn 8.

The Tradition continues:  Christian told me a week before our planned trip to Kolob that he wanted to take Brenten on his first overnight hike one of the nights we were down there.

The misunderstanding:  I thought....my kid is only 8 and has never really hiked so Christian will start at the cabin and hike for a couple of miles and then set up camp and then hike back in the morning.  I guess I was wrong.  When packing, I told Brenten to grab some shoes that are pretty worn because I wouldn't care if they trashed them at the cabin.


The trip:  The hike they really went on was the West Rim of Zions.  The other kids and I dropped them off at the top one night and then the next day we picked them up in zions.  My little Brenten carried his own pack on a 14 mile hike.  They did 9 miles on the first night and then 5 on the next night.  Christian didn't like the area where they were supposed to camp.  There was no shade and they were in sand.  He wasn't to go to the next site that he knew was better but Brenten said that was not what they were supposed to do and they had to follow the rules.  It was killing Christian but they stayed at that camp.  Brenten had a great time trying to catch lizards.  He also liked a part of the hike called Walter's Wiggles.  What he didn't like was waiting for Christian while he took pictures of Zions.  Brenten was really a trooper.  Christian was impressed at how well he did.  He said he didn't complain at all.

Kolob








The second week of my break from work we went to Kolob.  I love it here.  It is so peaceful.  No cell phone reception, and no electricity.  At least one kid every time asks where the TV is or when they can watch a show.  It makes me so happy to tell them that they are just going to have to play.  They get dirty and run around.  We do little art projects and read and play games.  I just love it.  I'm glad we got to for 4 days.

Mystery Canyon

Christian and I lotto picked to be able to go through Mystery Canyon in Zions.  We were supposed to go with a couple of friends but the ended up not being able to go.  So we changed plans and Christian's two brothers and sister came with us.  This hike was very much out of my comfort zone.  I had never rappelled before and don't do heights.  Christian and I had to go rappelling so I could practice the Monday before.  It went...OK...

We all met in St. George and Christian's parents were nice enough to take the kids for us.  We parked in Zions and started our hike.  We had to first make our way up the East Rim.  It is 4 miles up.  We were sweaty but at least it wasn't scary.

Then we had to go down something called the death gulley. (I can't remember the exact name but death was part of it).  It was this loose rock with steep edges on one side.  My quads were sore for 3 days from this part.

After that, the rappels started.  We ended up doing 11, I think.  I only yelled at Christian before the first one.  Poor Christian.  I composed myself a little bit better after the first one.  Really the hardest part is stepping over the edge.  I banged myself up a little but I did it.  I did get better after each one.  The first 9 were just like 20-30 feet.

The next one I wouldn't look over the edge because every one said it was 50 ft.  I went out and didn't look down at all.  But then I had been going down for a while.  I thought I have to be almost down so I looked down and realized I was only 1/2 way down.  This is NOT 50ft.  Apparently it was about 130ft.  So big.  But I DID IT!!!  Then we had to go a little bit further before the last one.

This one was just short of 100 ft but it was slippery.  We were along side a small waterfall that ends in The Narrows of Zion.  It was funny because as we were going down people that were in The Narrows were taking pictures of us rappelling down and ending in the river. 

After that I finally relaxed.  Paula had said that I must be comfortable again because I started talking again.  After that it was easy.  Just had to get to the end of The Narrows.

It was a really good experience.  I'm glad Christian took me along.


4th of July

It is so hard to work and not be home with my babies (all five).  It is hard to see Christian struggle to find work.  If I do have to work, my work is the best.  They do things that really make working a little more bearable.  We just do online taxes so it isn't exciting.  But I do love the people I work for and with.  Anyway, this year they decided to shut down the company for the first 2 weeks of July.  It was great.   The 4th of July was the first part of our fun during my time off.  The kids were so excited when I was their every morning.



For the 4th, we had our softball friends over.  We all just hung out and the kids played outside.  We ate too much food and then did fireworks.  It was a good time.

8 months old

The twins are 8 months old.  The time has really gone too fast.  The babies are still in Physical Therapy.  We now know that Beckett has sensory issues.  Most babies like to stand on their feet when you hold them up.  Beckett will just pick his feet up.  It is kind of like people who don't like to walk bare foot on cement.  Except it is more than not liking it.  It is that he can't stand it at all and refuses to even try.

This means more work.  More exercises.  More things to worry about.  The Physical Therapist is confident that doing the exercises will get him back on track.

Other than that the babies are doing great.  And maybe I am biased but they are pretty cute.



Roo Party

May 25th, 2012- Caitlin had been potty trained for a little bit but then started to regress.   I am guessing because the babies came and life got crazier than before.  Anyway, some of the times we knew it was because she had too much to drink and she was too tired.  But a lot of the time, it was almost on purpose.  She was going to show us.  So we decided it was time to revisit the sticker chart.  First we just focused on nap time and then moved onto night time.  I told her we would have a party just for her.  This day  has finally come.  No more pull ups.  Wahoo!!!!  So glad this worked.  If it wouldn't have, I don't know what we would have done.  She picked the movie and she picked the food.  And then we put blankets out on the carpet and had a fun family night.  She was so excited that is was what she picked out.  I am hoping I will remember this for when the twins are bigger.  It really made it a positive experience.