January's Trial.

I have been working on this journal entry for months now. It is really hard to write about...so I think I've been avoiding it. But! I finally finished it! So here is the story of what Emma had to go through in January.

(January, 2013)

I have this unhealthy tendency of bottling things up inside of me. I just go about everyday life like nothing is wrong. And it’s not that I’m pretending to be ok…I’m pretty good at actually feeling ok in times of stress. Until, eventually, I have to just let it all out. I have to let out everything that I have just pushed to the back of my mind. And for me, oftentimes “letting it out” means writing it out. I have been keeping a journal since the second grade, and writing is very therapeutic for me. My sister also insists that my recent sugar and spending obsessions aren't healthy coping mechanisms. (What?) I think I will stick to writing. Much easier on the waistline and the wallet. It has certainly been a while since I have written my thoughts down, so bear with me. You may be in for a ride. ;)

Oh geez…where do I even begin??

 Have you ever heard of acute Cerebellar Ataxia? Yeah, neither had I…until almost four weeks ago.

Casey and I were in Moses Lake helping with his little brother’s wedding reception. The night before the reception Emma tried to get out of bed and come see us, which is normal for her. I know. She’s three years old and she still gets up at night. Ahh!! But anyway. This was different…she was laying on the ground crying, and super upset. In her own toddler way, she explained to us that she had tripped trying to walk over to us. (“I stepped on my foot and fell on my head!” You can laugh, it’s ok. It sounded really funny to us, too.) Thinking nothing of it, we sent her back to bed. The next day she was a little clumsy. She kept falling and running into walls. Still, we thought little of it. During Emma’s nap I went with Brittany and Lacy (sisters in law) to run errands and set up a few decorations for the reception. As we were finishing up with that, Casey called me. I figured it was one of his usual, “what the heck is taking you so long!?” phone calls. Looking back now, I wish it had been.

“I’m taking Emma into the Urgent Care. She can’t even walk.”

As a mother, these words are enough to make your stomach sick. And I wasn't there, so I was just really confused. What was going on with her!? The drive home was short, but the entire time I felt terrified…obviously anticipating the worst. Who wouldn't? Lacy and Brittany tried to comfort me, telling me that it probably was something as simple as her equilibrium being thrown off due to an inner ear infection. Which made a lot of sense to me. I could only hope that’s what it was!

Not too much later, Casey called me and told me that we need to take Emma to Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital in Spokane to meet with a neurologist. The urgent care doctor (a little insensitively, in my opinion) told Casey that in his 27 years of working there he had NEVER seen anything like this. And I thought I had felt sick before…

The moments following that are just a blur of shakily packing an overnight bag (just in case) and being comforted by Lacy while I couldn't hold back my tears anymore. The drive to Spokane seemed so quick. Sitting in silence we just stared at the road ahead of us and the snowy fields around us, both of us so scared. Emma slept.

We arrived to the hospital and getting checked in didn't take very long, they were expecting us. They put us in a room where we waited to see the doctor. One of the many that we would be meeting with.

Emma was in good spirits, aside from not being able to walk or control her hands. Her speech was beginning to slow down and become a little shaky. Ryan and Cristina (Casey’s brother and his wife) were actually in Spokane because Cristina’s basketball team was playing there that day. They met us there at the hospital. What a comfort it was to have them by our side. Ryan was so sweet with Emma, playing with her and trying to help her feel calm and happy. It was so touching. They are both so good with our girls.

(April 30, 2013)

                The doctor came into the room, and Emma absolutely made her day. She asked Emma, “Now, do you know why you are here?” to which Emma responded, “because…I think I might love you!” It was so sweet. The doctor was so flattered, and she bragged about it to everyone for the next week. J She talked with us a bit, discussing a few possibilities, such as brain tumors. We had so many questions. Is this permanent? Is it going to get worse? Is it going to damage her brain…or take her life? The fact that nobody had any answers is what caused the most terror. That, and having to watch this sweet, happy little girl have to endure such a traumatizing experience. It just hurt me to watch her.

                We checked into a room and began our week long stay at the Children’s Hospital. Doctors ran tests. They monitored her vitals and her behavior. She had a couple MRIs, which came back clear…meaning it was not a tumor! That was great news. But still…no answers. Meanwhile, Emma’s condition was progressively worsening. She lost her ability to walk. She lost her strength to stand! She tried to stand, but her legs would wobble uncontrollably. This was so frustrating for her. She would cry and cry. My poor little baby girl. She had no idea why her body wasn't working. She could not speak clearly anymore. She developed such a stutter that we could hardly understand what she was trying to say. Her hands shook so badly that she could not control them. She had to have help to eat, and she even had trouble keeping her food down. It was scary that she couldn't eat!

                Ryan and Cristina stayed in a hotel the first night, and they stayed by our side as long as they could. They helped us so much by being there, I can’t even express how much it meant to me. The first couple days were just so emotionally draining. I remember that I kept thinking, “I can’t handle this any longer. I have to get out of here. This needs to be over; we need to wake up from this horrible nightmare. I am too tired to stand this any longer.” We tried to be very strong for Emma. We did not let her see our fear. We watched Beauty and the Beast, and Ice Age with her so many times. She loved it. She was actually in really good spirits for what she was going through! She was so strong! I was so proud of my girl.

                Each night I slept I slept with Emma in her little hospital bed. At night I couldn't be strong anymore. I cried. I sobbed…and pleaded with the Lord. I just wanted things to be back to normal. I would give anything to see her dance again…to hear her sing. My heart literally ached. Every night she woke up crying, and assuming it was because she needed to use the restroom, we would carry her there each time. She had to go several times because of the constant liquids from her IV.

                She had terrifying episodes in the middle of the night when she would sleep talk, and try to sit up. However, because she could not control her movements or her speech, it was very much like she was having seizures. She convulsed and just filled the room with senseless chatter. It was terrifying.

                There was a physical therapist that worked with Emma. We would walk her down the hall to the play room and her job was to just play. She especially loved playing with the pretend food in the little make believe kitchen. She had so much fun feeding us and her face lit up when we would pretend to eat her food. (She enjoyed this so much that we bought her a set when we returned home.) Her therapist worked with her every day.

                They had a little “family room” on a lower floor that I was able to go to and wash laundry. It was nice to be able to get away for a couple minutes, and just breathe. It was a nice little walk to that room, with a hallway of windows, a bridge, which overlooked Spokane. The ceiling of this hallway was covered in beautiful fish mobiles that brought a smile to my face…because I knew that Emma would have loved that.

                Casey’s parents brought Grace to visit on day 3! Oh I had missed her so much. I had never been away from her for so long before! It was unbelievable how Emma’s demeanor changed the second she laid eyes on “her” baby. She was just beside herself!! She was happier than I had seen her in days. She yelled “G-ggg- raaaaccceeeeyyyy!!” with her little stutter. It is amazing how much she loves her baby sister. Grace ran around the room laughing harder than she ever had at that point. We put Grace up on Emma’s bed, and Emma was suddenly herself again, tackling Grace and making her squeal. Right then, we knew that she needed to be home.

                Through tests and careful evaluation, they narrowed Emma’s condition down to “acute Cerebellar Ataxia”.  I could try to insert the scientific explanation, but I think it would make more sense if I just simplified it a bit with my own words!

                So around Christmastime Emma had a slight fever, runny nose, you know-just the typical wintertime sniffles. Well, apparently her body never stopped fighting it. Her antibodies went into overdrive and attacked her body. The antibodies attacked the nerves surrounding her cerebellum, causing a lot of swelling. Since the cerebellum is the part of the brain that controls motor control and balance, she lost all of hers. We had never heard of this before…it was a little hard to believe at first. So according to the doctors, it was only a matter of time before she would most likely make a full recovery. With the help of therapy. Six weeks.

(August 3, 2013)

                So Casey had to go back to Ellensburg so that he wouldn't miss any more school. So there I was. In a strange place…alone with my sick little girl. I was really scared. 

                When the doctors finally reached a consensus that her condition would be manageable at home…and when she was no longer throwing up…they let us leave. My sister in law drove up to Spokane to pick us up from the hospital. I was glad to be able to finally go home…I knew that she needed to be around family, that she would recover faster this way. Somehow we managed to pack Emma, still unable to walk, and all of our bags downstairs and into Brittany’s car. We made it back to Moses Lake, where Casey’s family would help to take care of her for the next little while. Nobody anticipated an easy recovery…especially with Casey in school and little Grace needing my attention as well.

                When we entered the house and Emma was delighted to see her cousins and Maymee and Papa Jer waiting to greet her. Uncle Dee had set up an adorable little princess bed in the corner of the front room so that she could lay there with everyone else. Dee isn’t always extremely sentimental…so this absolutely melted my heart. (thanks, Dee. J…I needed it.)

Grandma and Grandpa Marlatt were visiting from Canada as well. We all spent a few days trying to help Emma cope with all of this. And then came the frustration.

                Emma was angry. She was impatient…and frustrated. Who wouldn’t be? She couldn’t walk by herself…or feed herself…or even talk without a stutter! She was so upset…and very hard to deal with at times. But I tried my best to be patient with her. I knew this was not something she had chosen…and I can’t even begin to describe the pain I felt to watch her go through this. She was so little. She was so confused.

                Finally we took her home to Ellensburg. We tried to get back into our routine, and she attending her physical therapy. One week passed and I was feeling somewhat discouraged that we couldn’t see any visible improvement.  Oma (my mom) came and spent some time with us. She played with Emma and helped her out a lot. One of the sweetest memories was of my mom sitting with Emma at the kitchen table making a collage out of magazine pictures with her. Emma loved that.

                I was called to be the “sunbeams” teacher at church during this time. I taught the little kids…3 and 4 year olds. Yes…this means I taught Emma’s class. Let me tell you…this was NOT an easy task. I know it would have been difficult anyway, due to Emma’s naturally “spirited” personality…and the fact that she was almost a year younger than any of the kids in there…but with everything else going on, it was borderline impossible. Her anger…her defiance…my stress, fear, impatience, and anxiety. It wasn't a good combination. But we made it through.

                Following this frustration stage that Emma went through came the “baby” stage. Her therapist told me that because of how difficult this had been on her, she was reverting back to a time in her life when everything was much easier. So she began to act like a baby. She just mimicked Grace basically. All the time. I didn't do well with this phase…I just wanted her to act like herself again.

                Time passed, and slowly but surely Emma made a full recovery. Now it’s as if nothing had ever happened. She is the same spirited, playful little girl that she was before the Ataxia. Looking back, I have to say I am beyond ecstatic that there weren't any lasting effects. While we were going through it I was convinced that there would be some lasting repercussions.

                Sometimes when things like this happen, you wonder why, as cliché as that may sound. However, I will testify to you that hardships do make you stronger. The Lord allows these things to happen so that we can become better and spiritually stronger. I look back at how scared I was at that time...and how the Lord never left our side. He helped us through it. I am so grateful for my girls, and for their health. I am so thankful for their happy little spirits and for their energy. These two little girls bring so much joy into our lives!

                On New Year’s Eve I threw a fit because Casey wasn't able to spend that evening with me. He had to chauffeur a youth dance that night. I wasn't thrilled about bringing in the New Year without him. It turned out to be kind of nice, though, eating ice cream and watching TV.  A few minutes before midnight I started to think about what I wanted to be doing at midnight…how I wanted to bring in the New Year. Anyone that knows me will probably think that this doesn't really sound like something I would do…but I decided that I wanted to be reading the scriptures. So I opened them up and began reading a random scripture. A scripture that I would read daily for the next month. One that got me through something that I never could have anticipated. A scripture that, to this day, is set as my screen saver on my phone.

2 Timothy 1:7

                “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Coincidence? I think not. I even remember calling my parents to wish them a happy new year…and telling them about this. I told my dad “I’m kind of worried…I wonder what the Lord has in store for me this year?”

                These words have brought me peace throughout that trial…as well as this move we have made across the country. It’s kind of comforting to know that we’re not alone in this.

 So there you have it...Cerebellar Ataxia.  Now I can finally start posting about our new Southern adventures! 

Dental School. To be or not to be accepted...

It has obviously been a while since I have logged into my blog, because I am blown away by all of the changes that have been made to Blogger! I am a little lost trying to navigate my own blog! Well, hopefully I can figure this out. ;)

Well, friends, I am still alive. And we have had a lot going on since my last post! It's hard trying to find time to update the blog when I have to rely on the use of Casey's laptop, which is with him at school the majority of the time. But today is Saturday, all three of my sweeties are napping peacefully, and I find myself with a little thing you would call "me" time. Very rare. ;)

I guess the biggest thing that has been preoccupying our attention is applying to dental school! Dental school is not easy to get into. It is more competitive than applying to Medical School, even. Not only do your grades and Dental Admissions Test scores have to be top notch, but you have to excel in many different aspects of life in general.

The Dental Admissions Test is a huge factor in whether or not you will be considered for dental school. The test consists of several different areas, including Math, Reading Comprehension, and Sciences, etc. Each area is scored and averaged together in the end. The score is out of 30. The average accepted dental student scores a 19 on the DAT. A 20, 21 is exceptional. Casey scored a 22!! Sloan, our dentist and close friend, told me that a 22 is just unheard of and that I should be really proud of Casey. I certainly am!!

Your grades, of course, play a huge role as well. To apply to dental school you have to take extremely challenging classes, at an overwhelming pace. Casey takes more credits per quarter than average, still scoring high A's in all of them. This has been a huge benefit to him!

So Casey applied to 11 Dental Schools all over the country. He did some additional research on these schools, and he decided to only send in a secondary application to 5 of those schools. (It's just an excuse for these schools to suck more money out of poor college students. Makes perfect sense, right?) He heard back from all 5 schools, 4 of them invited him to an interview!! This is incredible!! The one school that did not invite him to an interview is a state school, and only accepts a painfully small percentage of out of state applicants per year, so this didn't discourage us. 

To give you a better idea of the interviewing process: The University of Washington (Casey's ideal school) had over 1,000 applicants. Only 150 people are invited to interview with the school. About 63 of these applicants will be accepted. 63!! 

So he has interviewed with Loma Linda, California, Louisville, Kentucky, the University of Washington, and may or may not choose to interview with Buffalo, New York. In all 3 interviews he has already completed, he did SO WELL!! The interviewers loved him, and every single one of them told Casey that he is exactly what their school is looking for!! Being a family man, a  nontraditional student, having several years of experience in leadership and in the workforce,  having served a 2 year mission for our church, and having the religious values that he has are all things that will work in his favor. 

I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm bragging. I just really am proud of how hard Casey has been working for his family, and how much effort he has put into accomplishing this dream of his. A dream that not too long ago seemed so intangible. A dream that even he wasn't completely sure could be achieved. A dream that seems more and more realistic every day! And definitely a dream worth chasing. 

Now we just wait anxiously until the schools are allowed to send out their acceptance letters. We have to wait until the beginning of December! And the interviews began in August. Such a long wait!! We are just praying to be accepted. It is SUCH an expensive process. The DAT, the flights, the hotels, etc. It is unbelievable. Not to mention the time Casey has had to spend away from home! We hope that we won't have to do it again.

Aside from all of this, we have been really busy! We have had a great summer filled with boating, swimming, camping, family reunions, a trip to Vegas, and so many fun memories with family. I have thrown a few parties, realizing a hidden talent/passion of mine...entertaining and catering parties. Someday I hope to make some money with it, but for now I just do it for fun. :) It's funny though, because it will kind of conflict with my other passion and future career in Nutrition. Ha! Oh well. 

Since my last post I have buckled down and lost about 35lbs. It feels great to be back to the weight that I was 5 years ago...when we got married! It took a lot of dedication, determination, and hard work. But it was worth it, that's for sure!

We also celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary in July. Five years!! I never thought that five years could be so full of adventure and joy. :)

I celebrated my 26th birthday in September. Casey took me white water rafting!! His cousin hooked us up with some tickets to raft the Tieton River. It was a blast! And we hope to do it again next summer. 

Casey hiked Mt. Stuart with the boy scouts. It was an overnight trip, and really intense. He had so much fun doing it though! Maybe someday I will do that with him, as well. 

My little Grace has grown up so much! She is 10 months old now. Starting to walk, and so smart. She plays games and she loves to dance and clap her hands. She adores baby dolls, and kisses the heck out of them! She is so curious and adventurous. She wants to see everything, to touch everything. She squeals a lot and growls all the time. She has a mouthful of adorable teeth and is always laughing. She is such a blessing in our lives and we just love her SO much!! 

Emma has grown a lot too. We potty trained her in July, and she caught on right away. She is such a big helper with her sister, and loves her do death. She loves to "read" her books, and can count to almost 20 in English, and 10 in Spanish. She is so smart and sounds like a 5 year old when she speaks. She is very independent and has SO much personality. Very sassy, but we wouldn't want her any other way. She brings us so much joy!! 

Grace will be a year old next month, and Emma will be three. And the two of them have us feeling very fulfilled...and busy...enough for the next 3 or 4 years. :) 

We are looking forward to the next two months of Thanksgiving, flying to see my parents in Vegas, Casey's little brother getting married, the girls' birthdays, and Christmas! Oh, and finally knowing whether or not we will be spending another year here in Ellensburg...or beginning the next exciting chapter in our lives. 

baby blues

I've decided that after about 6 months of sheer neglect, I had better update my blog. My last post began on a similar note...and that was after I hadn't written since June. Of 2011. I'm realizing that before my last brief summer summery it has almost been a full year since I have been keeping the blog up. GEEZ! I need to do something about this! It's just been more difficult to spend time on the computer now that Emma only takes a single nap a day. And when she's up, there is no "me" time. :/ Okay so a LOT has happened. Let's start back in September, where we left off. Casey's baby brother got married. Sydney and I made the wedding cake which was stressful but turned out really nice. October was full of parties and trick-or-treat events...fun for the whole family. Lots of festivities. :) I have sooo many pictures that I am just going to have to skip them because the thought of it is overwhelming me...which is probably why it's taken me so long to get all caught up on this stupid blog. So actually we should just skip to November, when the action begins. In November we FINALLY got into our three bedroom apartment. What a blessing!! Considering baby #2 was to arrive only a month later, the timing couldn't have been more perfect. It's a great place. Brand new carpets, new light fixtures, everything cleaned up to feel like new. Not to mention an enormous amount of extra space compared to our little one bedroom! It's been nice. :) Still, the second smallest place we have ever lived in, but very nice. So then Emma moved out of our room, out of her porta crib (her crib never fit in our little room. Sad, right??) and into her very own room, and her very own big girl bed! She transitioned very smoothly. It was a beautiful thing.

Thanksgiving was relaxing. It was our very first one spent at our own home. Ryan and Cristina came and spent the day with us, which was fun! We drove up to the mountains and played in the snow. Cristina's first time playing in the snow!!

I was due to have Grace on December 21st. On the 20th I was going in to be induced. On the night of the 19th I was very emotional! I cried for Emma. I knew that it would be her last night as the only child in our lives. It would be a very big change for her. I worried how she would feel about it all...I worried about how I would feel. And I was scared. Because the next day I knew that I would have another child to take care of. How on earth would I be able to do it?

December 2oth Casey and I went in to the hospital at 4pm so that I could be induced. Emma was with a babysitter. The nurses got me all situated, explaining that there would be no baby tonight, but that I would be hooked up to Pitocin and monitored throughout the night. To everyone's surprise...I was already in labor! Dilated to a 5 and in labor. Within the hour I was dilated to an 8. Umm...how was this possible? I had absolutely NO pain whatsoever. Such a different experience than with Emma. Those contractions were pure hell. But not this time! The nurses told me that I would most likely get along just fine without an epidural. Well that's great, I thought. No epidural for me! Ha ha right. I decided I had better get one anyway because if it did ever start to hurt, I would be very sorry. So I got my epidural that evening and then the doctor broke my water and then the contractions slowed down because of the epidural. So they gave me Pitocin, which then caused contractions that could be felt through the lousy epidural (another difference in my 2 labors...epidurals are supposed to NUMB you! 100%! Oh don't give me that "you need to feel yourself pushing" garbage. I have pushed a child out before, fully numb mind you, and I guarantee you that I could do it again!!) Kinda frustrating and nasty to have to feel the whole thing. But it was over soon enough and the pushing only lasted 10 minutes. I'm forever grateful for my small head, contributing to my childrens' small heads....you know where this is going. Grace Marie was born at exactly 11:00pm at 7lbs 14oz and 20 inches long. My beautiful chubby miracle. Okay, not chubby, but compared to Emma, chubby. After she was born I bled too much, which made me nervous because I barely bled at all with Emma. And anyone would be nervous by the look of panic in my doctor's face...and the sound of it in his voice. A few minutes that lasted an eternity passed and all was well. I got to hold and nurse my baby and the only thing missing was my little Emma! But she came first thing in the morning to meet her new baby sister.

Christmas was magical. Kind of a blur, but it was just the 4 of us. I will never forget the lazy Christmas Eve meal of Big Macs and shakes, or the long soothing drive we took to see the Christmas lights. Or the happy morning we all spent together sharing gifts and just being together.

There were lots of scares with Grace in the beginning. Pretty severe jaundice, which was made out to be even scarier due to an unprofessional nurse practitioner who literally CRIED while explaining to me that "there is something wrong with Grace, we just need to find out what it is..." Yeah not a great moment for post postpartum mommy. She had to be under the lights for a while and poked and prodded daily. :(

And the NP cried yet again when Grace got a really bad infection in her belly button...which is extremely dangerous because of the blood vessels surrounding the area making the possibility of sepsis very high. Sepsis is a life threatening infection of the blood. In her case it would have resulted in a blood transfusion. At 2 weeks old. We didn't know if she'd make it. Several blood tests later we find out that she would be fine and the relief I felt that day cannot be described.

Life went on, but I was barely coherent. Life after baby is tough. Especially baby number two. It is waaaaay harder with baby #2. Postpartum depression hit and I was a mess. Her antibiotics did not help with this depression...because it caused her to have the worst diarrhea meaning I had to wake up and change her, feed her, change her, feed her again and then rock her to sleep giving me barely any time to get any sleep myself and I could not help but to just rock her and cry. Not to mention the fact that there is no "sleeping when baby sleeps" when you have a toddler. Nor is there any sleeping in. Nope, no sleeping passed 6:30am no matter how few hours of sleep I had gotten that night. Oh my....looking back at that first month and I just don't even want to think about how overwhelmed and defeated I felt. And imagine all of this topped with an overpowering sensation of GUILT weighing you down at every moment. Guilt that Emma was no longer the only baby. Guilt that I had less time to spend with her. But also guilt that I had less time to spend with Grace than I had with Emma for her first 2 years of life. Guilt that I was doing everything wrong, and that my babies were just feeling neglected. It was rough. Emma loved Grace dearly, but acted out toward us in the worst way. It was miserable. It was exhausting. It was hard.

But it was all worth it.

The first month passed and I finally got a grasp on life once again. I adapted. Emma adapted, making life so much easier. And day by day we got back into a routine and now life is as "normal" as it is going to get. :) Everyone is happy and healthy and my baby girls are my life.

Grace is now 3 months old and in the 25% for height, 75% for weight! Emma was at 5% so this is a great relief to us. Since Emma was declared "severely malnourished" after 6 months of exclusive breast feeding we tried something new with Grace. Let's just say Grace is the most laid back, happy baby I have ever met. And after going through what we did with Emma...I am loving the "break".

Emma is doing great. She is in "school". It's an Early Children's Learning Center. She needed to be part of something to stimulate her active mind and to give her more interaction with kids her age. It has been great for her to have this outlet. She has been more well behaved and I know that she loves going.

Emma loves to sing, she loves to dance. She thinks she is hilarious, but who can really blame her? ;) She talks up a storm, tells me stories. Her sentences are getting longer and even more "mature" and she is very friendly and outgoing. She is very independent, as are most 2 year olds. She knows her ABC's, her 123s, her colors and most shapes. She can "read" us her favorite books, knowing exactly what each page is about. She asks sooo many questions all day long, and is soaking everything up like a little sponge! She helps me with all of my daily tasks, especially when it comes to mothering little Gracie. She puts such a smile on my face! As does Grace. I love that cuddly baby to pieces.

I apologize for how scatter brained this post has been. I just wanted to hurry up and type it all out so that I can go to bed. I have so many pictures. My next post will be full of pictures, and less writing. Because those are more fun anyway, right? :)

Sweet Summertime...2011

Wow! I cannot believe how long it's been since I have merely logged onto my Blogger account...let alone have written a post!! This may have been THE busiest summer I have ever had in my life. We have spent months in Moses Lake, house sitting and babysitting for some freinds of ours. We have spent time in Kennewick, helped my parents move to Las Vegas, and Casey even took a trip to L.A. We went on a few camping trips, and made a very special trip to Seattle when my mom decided to go back to the temple after several years of not going. We've spent time everywhere...besides home! We were so looking forward to enjoying our first summer in Ellensburg, but that just didn't work out. We actually missed the entire summer here. We are home for most of September...until later this month. Aside from this month however, we may have spent (maybe) a week at home! It has been busy, but also fun. It's always fun seeing family. And it is always fun having things to do. It certainly makes time fly by...and before you know it, you're six and a half months pregnant!! People say that they can finally see my baby bump. Which is nice. I would rather look preggo than like I drink a little too much...if you know what I mean. And this baby is a MOVER!! And a hardcore kicker. I started feeling the baby move really early, the end of 14 weeks. And ever since then, he (or she) has not let up!! I have a feeling we have another crazy hyper-active one on the way. Oh well...we're used to that. Lol. Well this baby is going to be a true Christmas surprise. We went in to find out the gender when I was about 20 weeks along, and come to find out- the little rascal didn't want to reveal itself. It was a scary ultrasound, too, because the doctor freaked out that I was carrying the baby so unbelievably low. He had me go straight to O.B. to have my cervix checked for dilation...(already!?) and to be monitored for contractions (Really?!). So of course I panicked, and for the next few weeks I was super paranoid. Due to the baby being so low, I have had a lot of pressure that usually comes later on in pregnancy. Also, Braxton Hicks contractions. But now my doctor has concluded that there is nothing wrong with this pregnancy, and that it is healthy and normal. The baby is just low. And that's okay, I'm so glad it's not a big deal....but Casey and I were both incredibly disappointed to learn that we will not be able to receive any additional ultrasounds for the remainder of the pregnancy. My doctor doesn't have his own ultrasound machine in his clinic, he has to use the hospital's. Otherwise, he would give me one. But I guess in order to request another one, he has to have a specific concern, or condition to be checking for...otherwise my insurance won't cover it. That would be about $300 out of our pockets, which is a little much for college students. But... he doesn't. Believe me, I tried to think of things. Haha. Oh well, it's okay. I have come to a place where I can just accept it. I was SO upset at first though. I even cried a little bit...I just wanted to know if I was carrying a little "he" or a "she"...maybe to feel a closer bond to him. Or her. But it really isn't a huge deal, we can make this work. :) We are just really excited to have this baby!! And not knowing its gender makes the anticipation that much more intense!!
Also, good news. We could possibly be moving out of this one bedroom apartment and into a 3 bedroom...before the baby comes!! That would be nice. To say the least.
Fall quarter is starting up next week! The town has filled up with all those crazy college kids, and the streets have become a danger zone! So this quarter Casey will be taking a full load again, and he will be starting his new job as a biology/chemistry tutor. I think he will be so great at that job. He really excels in those subjects, and he is a very good teacher. Plus, he loves to teach others because it helps cement the ideas in his own mind. I think the quarter will fly, and before we know it we will be a family of four. :)
My 25th birthday is in one week. It's so weird to think that I will be a quarter of a century old. It seems like each year after 20 flies by way too fast. But at least each year has been fun, and I will soon have 2 beautiful babies to show for it! :)
We are going to spend a couple more weeks at the end of this month babysitting again. After that, we finally get to spend some much needed time with my sister and her family!! I can hardly wait! :) Then later in the month Casey's little brother, Ryan, is getting married. He is marrying the sweetest girl, Cristina, whom he met on his mission in Mexico. She is now in America for the first time in her life! She is so nice, and Emma adores her. We're so excited to welcome her into the family! She has already taught me how to make a few authentic Mexican dishes, which has been a lot of fun. Although she knows little English, and I know NO Spanish at all (yes, I took Spanish in college...and passed...but I retained nothing. Lol), we still are able to communicate really well, which is nice. Also, in October I have a few harvest and Halloween activities going on with my little "Mommy Group" here in town. :) October is my favorite month of the entire year. I love the feeling in the air, and I love the smell of Fall!! It is the best time of year. For the last couple of days it has felt like Fall, and I love it.
Casey, Emma, and I have been walking, hiking, riding our bikes, playing Frisbee, flying kites, playing tennis, swimming, and going on picnics during the few times we've been home. It has been so much fun. I have a lot of pictures to post, but I will have to do that later. I hope everyone has had a great summer, and is enjoying this cool, Autumn weather! :)

SO much to say...

It has been a long time since I've had time to blog! Get ready for a long, adventure packed post. ;) For those of you who don't know, Casey and I are expecting our second little bundle of joy! We are so excited! I am 11 and a half weeks along today. I just recovered from a nasty virus that really kicked my butt for 2 weeks. And, of course, pregnancy knocks your immune system down so that these things stick around for a little longer than usual. Not to mention the fact that you aren't able to take any medicine that actually works...no, Tylenol does NOT count. Take this awful cold, combine it with unbearable morning sickness, and what do you get? Extreme misery. All the coughing, puking, dry heaving, and everything caused a few complications (that I need not get into). So I went in because the doctor wanted to take my vitals and check on the baby to make sure all was well. I wasn't very far along, so he was astonished by how easily he found the heartbeat, and by how strongly it was beating! This moment was incredibly relieving to me. I was so happy. I was pretty dehydrated, and my blood pressure was really low, and I had obviously lost a lot of weight from being so sick. So my doctor prescribed me the most amazing anti-nausea medicine ever!! It's called Ondansetron (commonly known as Zofran). They give it to chemotherapy patients to treat the nausea. It is really good stuff! It's a tiny pill that dissolves on your tongue, tastes delicious, and works very quickly! I don't get any side affects from it either, so it's great. :) So life has been grand...besides the fact that Dr. told me to take a week off from running...which turned into over 2 because of everything that was going on. Now I have to start up really gradually again, but a little is better than none for sure. Casey and I were able to visit my parents for Memorial Day weekend. We had so much fun spending some time with them! Afterward we cruised over to Moses Lake and spent the night with Casey's family. Following that we babysat some friends of ours (the Jorgensen's) kids again for about a week, which is always a blast! :) They live on the lake and we were able to go out on Jerry's boat a few times. I LOVE boating. It may be because I was almost literally raised on a boat in Moses Lake. ;) Casey had to return to Ellensburg so he could go back to school on Tuesday. He accidentally took my Zofran with him!!! AHH!! That was the WORST mistake EVER!! I ended up getting pounded with one of my unusually devastating 3 day migraines, which always triggers some severe nausea. Just what I needed, right?? How I survived that mess, I will never know. But alas, I lost even more weight. :( My poor baby. A friend brought me some Phenegrin (another type of anti-nausea medicine) and let me tell you, it did nothing for me. Oh, besides knocking me out for an hour or so. But I am so grateful to my friend for bringing it to me, it was so thoughtful of her!! She even told me that she prefers Zofran, it's just much better stuff. Jerry drove me home on Thursday, and it felt nice to be home with Casey again. :) We have been spending so much time outside playing, and enjoying some perfect weather!! I am in love with this beautiful town. Yesterday my parents were able to ride their Harley to Ellensburg to visit us for the day! We grabbed some KFC, rode over to a nearby campground, and had a little picnic. How fun!
We finally bought Emma a little "potty pot" (that converts into a little seat that sits directly on the toilet for when she gets taller), so she can start potty training. She just turned 18 months, but she's been showing interest for almost a month now. I'm sure it will be a long process, but at least we're getting an early start. :) So Emma has gotten to the point where she will repeat ANY thing we say. (or if it's too hard, she at least gets pretty close. haha) She babbles allll day long, says tons of new words, and I swear is getting happier and funnier each and every day. She also LOVES attention, and tries to talk to anyone she sees. It makes me laugh.
We have a fun summer ahead of us! Casey is finishing up his quarter this week! It's final's week again. It's been just flying by sooo insanely fast. This weekend, and the following weekend we get to go camping! :) We look forward to a camping, hiking, biking, fishing, and just plain fun filled summer spent mostly outdoors.

Emma Lynn

So, Emma is 17 months old. She is growing so fast, it's unbelievable! Well, she still weighs 22 lbs, but she's gotten so much taller. But she is really growing up. Here are a few of her favorite phrases lately:

"Mama! A car!!"
"Mama!! Les go outside!!"
"A ball! Kick it! Bow bow!!" LOL...apparently that is the sound a ball makes when you kick it. ;)
"Hi, how are you?"
"Here you go."
"All done! Okay!"
"Aaahchooo!!" every time she or someone else sneezes. Lol
"Whoa! What's that?!"
She begs to go "nigh night" when she's tired. We lay her down between 8 and 8:30 now, (and she still rarely sleeps passed 6am!), but if it's getting too close to 9pm and she is really tired, she will seriously cry "niiiigghhh niiigghhtttt!" the whole time we are getting her ready for bed until we lay her down. Sometimes she tells me "I go nigh night." And when I repeat it to her she says "ok." As if it were my idea. What a silly girl! :)

And she has just been learning lots and lots of new words lately. She is constantly chatting our ears off all day long! She mimics every single thing we say, too. So now would be a good time to start paying close attention to what we are saying!! She makes us laugh. :)

Lately she lets us know when she has a dirty diaper, and sometimes she tells us when she has to go. It's so early still, but we see potty training in the near future!!

This week Emma and I have both come down with a nasty cold. Mine, like usual, has been topped off by a sinus infection. We are hoping to get into the doctor today since he was SO busy yesterday. But let me tell you...this has been NO fun!! I don't get sick very often ever since I worked for a year at the Royal City elementary school a few years back. When you work with kids, you catch everything possible! But now when I do get sick, it seems to hit so much harder than it used to. How miserable! Casey never, ever gets anything. He never catches a cold! I don't know what is going on with him, he's some sort of Unbreakable or something. Lol! Emma and I, however, have not gotten any sleep in the last two nights. And what makes it worse is that the weather has been amazing, and it's hard to enjoy it when you're not feeling so amazing yourself.

Ellensburg Flood (Pics!)

Sandbags that Casey and some other guys from church filled and stacked to protect this poor apartment complex from the water!

This picture (below) was taken after a lot of the water had already dried up. The water went up to the doorsteps!

Lots of water...but most of it is drying up now. Thank goodness!! :)