Wow! It's been awhile!

Sorry everyone! I haven't posted for quite some time. Our family has a lot going on right now with a new venture! We are launching a website called www.boutiquefrenzy.com!!! Check it out and then you will know what we've been up to....also go to our blog at www.boutiquefrenzy.blogspot.com to really see what we've been up to. A lot of boutiques and a lot of meetings, but well worth it! We are seeing great progress and can't wait until we can finally launch this. Oh, and don't forget to add our button to your blog or site so that continue to spread the word. Thanks! I promise I will fill you in more on the fam when I get a second to breath. Take care everyone...we love you!

Coupon Madness!

Okay, so Jamilla, my sweet sister-in-law taught me how to "pinch pennies" and use coupons when I shop. I have been doing it for a few weeks now and today I was so proud of myself when I went to smiths and bought all of this for $55.90. I saved $81.75!!! I had to take a picture and post it. It really is quite fun to clip coupons, especially when you see the benefits. Thanks Jamilla, my coupon guru!

Nacho Libre, Ninjas, and Soccer!

Dylan is going to start soccer next month, so we got him all the gear, he's been wearing it all week!


Bella and Dylan doing their Ninja moves!


So, we watched Nacho Libre the other day and this is what happened! My kids are nuts!

Dinosaur Museum

Happy/Sad!


It was a great day at the museum, look at those smiles!


Daddy looking studly in his awesome 3-D glasses!


Bella with her new lizard toy from the gift shop.


We spent a Saturday a couple of weeks ago at the Dinosaur Museum with Jason, Liza, Jasper and Teddy. We had a good time seeing the dinosaur bones, digging in the dirt and watching a 3-D movie. Good times!

Itty Bitty Ball

I signed Dylan and Bella up for the Itty Bitty Ball at the Lehi Legacy Center. Dylan has done it before but this was Bella's first time since she is now a big 3 year old. They got to learn about and play basketball, baseball, soccer, football, and tomorrow they will be learning volleyball. They are having a blast! Audrey and mommy are having a blast watching!

Update on Bella

We are still working on getting Bella's medication dose right, but no more seizures since the last time I wrote, so things have been great! They have now upped her dose twice and she should now be stable. We have to go in for another blood test next week to see if we have finally gotten there. They want her to be on the medication for 2 years with no seizures and then they will do another EEG scan to see if her tendency is gone. Things have seemed to normalize. Ahhhhhh!

Spring is in the Air!

It was so lovely today, so we decides to go to the park. It felt so good to be outside and to let the kids run around and play. Audrey loves being outside...this will be her first real Spring and Summer and she is excited. Her favorite thing was swinging.

Playdate at Jump On It

We had so much fun at our play date last Tuesday with all the cousins! We met Chelsea, Jamilla, Charise, Stacia, and Diane at Jump On It. The kids had a blast, and so did the moms! I'm so glad everyone lives so close so that we can get together and so our kids can get to know each other.

I Love My Silly Kids!

Dylan has become quite the photographer over the past few months. He loves taking pictures (of anything). I usually get a lot of pictures of things like the tv or his fish tank, but here are some of his best over the past week. By the way Grandma Brendan, thanks for the cute jammies! The girls look so cute in them!

Update on Bella

Bella has been doing really well on her new medication. They put her on "Depakote" and she reached the full dose this last Wednesday, so she had to go into the hospital to get her blood tested to make sure her liver was doing fine and to make sure the medicine levels weren't too high or too low. Well, unfortunately that morning at about 7am, Bella had her 4th seizure:( She sleeps in Dylan's room and so he was the one to run in and tell me. Dylan was so awesome...he knew exactly what was going on and what to do. After Bella's seizure ended he sat by her and patted her and rubbed her head! Moments like these tug at a mother's heart strings. I must say that although this has been a very hard struggle for our family, it has also been a bonding experience. I have been able to spend some quality alone time with Bella running her to and from the doctor and being able to be her comfort while she goes through tough things. Also, Dylan has been such a great big brother to her, making sure that she is always safe. And Audrey has learned her 3rd word, "Bella."

When Bella went to get her blood drawn, they had her sit on my lap and then 2 nurses held her so that they could put the needle in. Bella wasn't about to have it and somehow freed her other arm to grab the needle that was going in. She ended up poking her self on the finger causing it to bleed. We then had to hold her very tight while they attempted again. This time they got it. Bella was glad to be out of there. Then later that day, the neurologist called to tell me that they didn't get one of the tests, so we would have to go back in the next day to do it again! Oh man! I thought, there is no way! But Bella marched right back in there and this time held very still and it was quick and easy. From the results we learned that her medication dose is not high enough (which accounts for the seizure) so we upped the dose and we will have to go back in for a blood test again in another week. I'm sure once we get the dose right, the seizures should stop and less blood tests (thank goodness). I am getting used to the seizures, but that doesn't mean that it is not hard to watch. I feel so helpless when she has one. I'm just so grateful for all of the technology and medicine, I can't imagine dealing with this without it. Anyways, Bella is great...she a happy fun little girl and loves life! She's taught us a lot.

Audrey's 1st Birthday!

Our little preemie turned the big 1 yesterday and we celebrated it Valentine style. Audrey was spoiled and had a great day. Now that she is one, she decided she is big enough to pull up to the furniture, climb the stairs and get into all the cupboards! She keeps us busy and smiling. We are so proud of her accomplishments this past year! She was a little tired by the time the cake rolled around, but after she got a taste, she thought is was pretty great stuff.Bella and Andrew helped her eat it. We a had a good time visiting with Mike's cousin Dan Eves and his wife Rosalyn and their cute kids, Andrew and Evelyn. My brother Damon came over with his wife Jamilla and their cute daughter Miya. Thanks for all of the gifts and thanks Dan, Rosalyn, Andrew, Evelyn, Damon, Jamilla and Miya for celebrating with us! Also thanks to all those who called to wish Audrey a Happy Birthday, it means a lot to us! Here are some pictures of the special day:

Update on Bella

Well, we were hoping that Bella wouldn't have any more seizures and that we wouldnt have to worry about it anymore, but crap happens I guess! Bella had seizure #2 on Tuesday, February 3rd. It was very unexpected (of course it always is) we were headed to do some grocery shopping, just me and the kids at about 5:30 when she did it again. I was terrified, but calmly pulled over the car and monitored her. It lasted about 3 minutes, Dylan of course watched the whole thing too. It is not the funnest thing to witness for all of you out there that have seen one, but I least this time I knew what it was. She fell asleep when it was over and we went home, no grocery shopping. I called the neurologist that night and reported it to the dr on call, I was basically told that Bella's dr would call the next morning. So the night of anxiety began. We had her sleep in our room and every sound she made woke me up, so it was a very rough night. She ended up having another seizure that morning at 5:30 am. It had been a rough day and night and I was wondering what in the world was going on! The dr called that morning and immediatly called in a prescription for Epilepsy medication. So, now we are trying out the medication and hoping she can handle all of the side effects. So far so good and no seizures. I hope that she nor us has to go through that again and hopefully she will grow out of it. So, for the next couple of years she will be seen by her neurologist and monitored on her medication and then retested to see if her tendency for seizures is gone every couple of years. Pretty crazy stuff! Thanks again everyone for your concern and prayers. Bella has been so great through all of this and it's because she has a great support group!

The Test Results

Sorry I didn't post yesterday...I got a call from the Dr yesterday morning about Bella's EEG results and they did see "mis-fires" which means she does have the "tendency" to have seizures. They noticed it a lot while she was sleeping, so we are not sure if she's had them before, in her sleep, or if that was actually the first one, so....what does this mean? Not much really, just that now we know, and if she has another one they will put her on medication, if not, then I guess we are just lucky. They will test her again in a couple of years and if that tendency is gone, then that means she grew out of it. So, now we just wait and watch. Her greatest chance of having another one will be in the next 6 months...so no baths, swimming, anything that could cause her danger if she has one and then if she doesn't have another one, she can resume her normal activity. Pretty crazy stuff...I guess several people on my mom's mother's side (the Grimshaws) have had them or have epilepsy...so genetics prevail again! Thanks again for thinking of us...we love you all!

What an Awesome Little Girl!

Well, today was a long day at Primary Children's. We met with a Neurologist this morning to talk about Bella's seizure. He wanted to start doing some more tests, so we began with an EEG scan-a test that records electrical messages by putting small electrodes on the head. We got to watch Bella's brain's electrical activity while she open and shut her eyes, blew on a pin wheel and took a nap. She was so good about the whole thing, laid very still and was so tired she fell asleep! Which is exactly what they wanted her to do so they could see her brain activity while she slept. Now we get to wait until tomorrow (Friday) to find out the results. If the doctor sees any "mis fires" in the brain's electrical activity it could mean that she has epilepsy and we will go back in for some MRI scans. If not, than great! We will only have to be concerned about this if she has another seizure. So, I will post the news tomorrow! Thanks for all your prayers. Here are some pictures of Bella with her "Princess Hat" on. After putting the electrodes all over her head they wrapped her head so they wouldn't come off. The Tech called it a princess hat, he was very cute with her and she got a new purple blankey for being so good. Dylan and Audrey were also with us and were great supporters. Way to go Bella! You were awesome today!

Scary Saturday

Ok, so today was one of the craziest days I've ever had and one of the scariest. It started off as any other Saturday. I got to sleep in a little bit before my kids woke me up wanting breakfast and cartoons. After taking care of their needs, I went to the gym to do my daily morning workout. I returned home, no problem, everything was fine...in fact the kids were dressed and playing nicely together, bonus! I thought while I was sweaty and stinky I would clean the bathrooms, so I began with the bathroom in our kitchen. Bella was playing silly with daddy, Dylan was upstairs and Audrey was taking a nap. Bella came to see me while I was cleaning and starting cleaning the toilet. She was being her silly self and making more of a mess than helping me, so I told her to go play. Next thing I know I hear thumping coming from nearby. I walked out of the bathroom looking for Bella and walked into the laundry room saying, "Bella, what are you doing?" To my complete shock she was laying flat on her back, it took me a sec to realize she was not responding to me and her eyes were rolled to the top of her head, her body was shaking. I quickly ran and grabbed her, yelled "Mike!" and began panicking, crying and panicking. I told Mike to call 911 as I realized her lips were turning purple and she wasn't breathing normally. He grabbed the phone and told me to calm down because she WAS breathing. After talking to me, Mike knew it was a seizure. She was totally out of it for several minutes, her breathing slowly normalized and then she slept for a while. The ambulance arrived quickly, they checked her out and everything looked fine. Bella was pale and very tired. We rode in the ambulance to the hospital so that they could monitor her and perform tests. Bella was so brave and I was so relieved that she was starting to act like her self again. They did a CAT scan and blood work at the hospital and everything was normal. So at this point, the Dr. doesn't know what caused the seizure and we will be going to see the dr again on Monday to perform MRI scans to see if she has epilepsy or anything that couldnt be seen on the CAT scan. We feel very blessed that everything looks normal. She has been happy and playing, you'd never know she had the day she had! She is so sweet and tough! Thank you family, for all your prayers and concern! We will keep you posted. What a day it has been! Here is a picture of Bella with her new CareBear that she got from the EMT in the ambulance, it made her smile! and me too!

The Big 3 and 31!!!

Bella and Mikey shared birthday came once again! Bella got lots of great presents and wanted a Mickey Mouse Birthday, so we had a Mickey cake and decorations. We kept it simple and just invited family. Unfortunately, most of the family couldn't make it, but we were able to spend the day with Grandma and Grandpa Eves...we ate lunch at Pei Wei and went to the Mall, Cabela's and Ross, we finished the day with Pizza and Cake! Thanks everyone who gave Bella and Mikey such nice presents!

Bella and 2 of her favorite gifts...Minne Mouse dressup from Jason and Liza and the Growing, Talking puppy from Mommy and Daddy

Bella opening her present from Grandma Brendan-a Barbie with puppies!

Bella eating birthday breakfast-Mickey Mouse waffles!

Happy Day!!!

Bella got her ears pierced a few days before her birthday! She kept asking mommy if she could have her own earrings, so mommy thought it would be a great 3 year old birthday present. We took her to the mall and she was so excited. The lady that pierced them asked her if she wanted her to count to 3 before she pierced them or just surprise her. Bella said, "Surprise!" She had no idea what was about to hit. As soon as she pulled the trigger on the gun Bella jumped and her arms flew into the air, we had to hurry and get the other one in before she changed her mind. She was very tough though and didn't even cry, the girl that pierced them was very impressed. Bella just told me after, "that hurt" She has been very good about not touching them and letting me clean them 3 time a day. We did have one fall out and I had to put it back in..she wasn't about to let me, so I had to hold her down...that wasn't very fun. She sure does look cute and is getting to be so brave and big! Happy Birthday Bella!

The cute Birthday boy and girl!

Happy Birthday Mikey!!!

Mmmmm...yummy!