Smiling!

I have been waiting for this! Dallin started smiling last Friday! When I was in the hospital I was so worried that I would miss it; it is one of my favorite milestones. But Dallin waited for me to get home and I finally caught in on camera this morning.



Last Thursday he turned 6 weeks old and, do I dare type this? He doesn't have colic! He definately has his fussy times in the evenings. But overall he is a calm baby, he sleeps well and is good natured.

I think of the first year with Blake and Kyle. It was so amazing to have them in our home, but they were both difficult babies. I don't ever remember having dinner together for months after Blake was born. One of us was always holding him while he screamed. Every video I have of Kyle had Blake's cry in the background. Sometimes I will just put Dallin in his bouncer and he just sits there, happy! While I rock Dallin, sometimes he will just drift off to sleep. I used to envy moms that had that experience. Now I have it and it is amazing.

It can still be difficult having three boys, but I wouldn't trade them for the world. They are awesome and I am blessed. Now if we could all stay healthy, that would be the icing on the cake.

By the way, Blake is awesome now. He sleeps good and is a happy boy. I just love this picture-

No More Kindergarten

Kyle graduated from kindergarten on Friday! Wow, he is going to be a first grader.
Time is flying by so fast! He is 6 years old, so he is 1/3 of the way grown. It doesn't feel like that to me.

He had so much fun in his class. I think he will be bored around here all the time. But we will have a fun summer.

My Husband Saved my Life

We had an eventful weekend around here. It has a good ending though.



All last week I was having bad headaches. So Brian took me in on Friday but we were told just home home and let me sleep it off. The next day, Saturday, I had trouble moving the left side of my body. I couldn't walk or use my left hand. Then, I couldn't see. I had white sopts in my vision, like I had been staring at the sun. Brian was worried and took me to the ER. What an andventure that turned into.

At the ER, the admitting nurse was asking me tons of questions. That is when I lose the ability to speak. I could not make the words. I could think them, but I could not form them and speak them. The nurse looked at Brian and said,"Don't be alarmed by what I am about to say," then she radioes for assistance, and says, "I need a consult for a possible stroke patient."

So the doctor comes, hears headache and assumes I am having complications for an epidural from baby a month ago. Only problem, I didn't have an epidural!! He gave me some sedatives and I was given migraine medications which didin't really help. He again told us to just go on home. By this point, Brian was over it. You don't just lose the ability to speak for no reason. He insisted the doctor run some more tests. The doctor told Brian it would be a waste of time. Brian said a few choice words to the doctor, who finally agreed to do the test, a spinal tap, while making sure that Brian knew he thought it was unnecessary.

I was given more sedatives which were supposed to help me with the pain and to help make me a more cooperative patient. Unfortunately all it really did was remove my censor. I was apparently not more cooperative. I was a good girl about having an MRI and CT Scan. I was not nice about the painful spinal tap. Can you blame me? However, Brian felt responsible to make me agree to it. So he balled me up on my side so that they could stick a NEEDLE between my vertebrae. Thank goodness they did that because I had VIRAL SPINAL MENINGITIS. The nurse who was with us heard the results and started bawling, saying to Brian, "You just saved her life." And she and the other nurses had a sideline conference and all were teary. Next thing I know, I am being admitted and taken to the ICU in the hospital. Apparently this was serious enough that they almost life flighted me to Salt Lake.

Two days of IV's poking out of me everywhere they realease me and I happily head home.

Sometimes when I am having a rough patch with the kids, or really lacking in sleep, I think of how nice it would be to just have no responsibilites for a while, a couple of days solid nights of sleep and someone else to cook and clean. I got exactly that, but I missed my family so much that all I could think about was coming home. Lucking Dallin took formula just great while I was there and has switched back without problem.

All of this has helped me feel so very grateful. I was so happy to see my boys, my healthy baby and my cute little house. I once again feel grateful to my husband for all he does for me. He is my hero. He ran the house perfectly and ALL the laundry was washed and put away. How does he do that? And I am grateful for my good neighbors, friends and family. I feel like I would have to cook dinners for each of them for a week to make up for it.

And of course gratitude for my Father in Heaven who gave me this life and who shows his love and patience.

THANK YOU!

Happy

I went to pick up Kyle from school this week, just waiting in my car like all the other moms. I see his teacher come out the door and behind her all the kids following like little duckies, single file on the sidewalk. All the kids that is, except Kyle. Kyle hits that door and says to himself, heck with single file. Running through the grass, jumping around the light pole and kicking rocks looks so much more fun. So while every other kid is waiting by the fence, Kyle is having fun. After a minute, he looks around, sees me waiting for him, and gets so excited to see me! I love it! He waves, big happy smile, and even though I can't hear him yet, I see him saying "HI MOM!" Then he says goodbye to his teacher and skips happily over and gets in the van.

Sometimes you appreciate your kids for things that are different that yourself. This is definately one of those times for me. I am very much a by the book person. But Kyle is an out of the box thinker and I just love it. Sometimes I let it frustrate me, but I can see that it is such a blessing and an amazing talent to have.

Kyle is also very sweet to his brothers, both of them. In fact, every day Blake's greeting to Kyle is, "Whatcha got Kyle?" because if Kyle ever gets a treat at school, he always saves it for his little brother. How sweet is that? And of course he is loving the new baby. What a wonderful big brother he is.

I love you Kyle!