Lately

Life at our house is crazy as usual.  Between sick kids and school and new schedules- we hardly have  chance to breathe.  But just because that wasn't enough- we have some other news!  My Grandma Henriksen has come to live with us!  I really don't have a cute picture of her- I should fix this- but for now, here she is eating her dinner the other night.  She recently lost a few people and was feeling pretty lonely so we invited her to stay with us and our crazy family.  I hope she still likes us...  I know that going from a house that was super quiet to our house would be a shock for ANYONE- so hopefully the fact that she loves us prevails against the chaos.  

 Kate is entering a rotten stage.  I hate it when kids start to really want to feed themselves.  It's such a mess!!  And I hate not knowing exactly how much and what they eat.  I want to know that they are full, because full means a happy tummy and a happy tummy means a happy baby.  As you can see from the picture below- I think that more pizza is on her tray (and probably on the floor) than went into her mouth.

 We are still trying to get settled into the new house- somedays it feels like I'll never have everything put away but we are working very hard to get everything in it's place.

 We have a HUGE backyard that all the kids are in love with.  There is a gazebo (where the boys set up a "trap" to catch the neighborhood cat) and a playhouse (that has lights and a working doorbell) that they run back and forth from.  Kate loves that she can run around with her big brothers back there- and I love that it is totally fenced in and nobody can get out!  It's fun to watch them from the kitchen window as they play.  I'm pretty impressed with their ability to play together.

 Life for me is still a little up in the air with my new found illness.  I'm still struggling to kick wheat to the curb, but I am finding more and more resources out there that have been helping me along.  I recently mixed my own flour blend and am excited to try experimenting more in the kitchen.  I love to bake and I really miss it- so hopefully this is my road back to it!

The Dentist

So...  Ryan is three and has had a rough go of it so far.  He started in the NICU when he was born, where he spent two weeks.  When he was about 18 months, he fell and broke one of his front teeth.  When he was 20 months he lost a fight with a truck.  And now at three, his two front teeth are completely dead and are full of infection.  Lovely right? 

Our little Ryan is a trooper though- he kept telling me that he didn't feel very good- but I couldn't figure out what was wrong with him.  He kept telling me that nothing was wrong with his ears, nose, throat, tummy, or head.  Where else do you look??  One morning he about went through the roof when I was brushing his teeth and I found an abscess above his left front tooth.  So I took him into the dentist, where we found out that Ryan had two options.  We could either pull the teeth and he would have a space for a few years, or we could do a baby root canal on both teeth and it MIGHT save the teeth.  Though if we decided to go with the root canal, Ryan would have to sit in the dentist's chair for 3-4 hours.  Do any of you have three year olds?  Would yours sit through that?  I know mine wouldn't.  Anyway- I couldn't justify spending the money for a root canal on a baby tooth that was going to fall out anyway.  Maybe I'm wrong.  But I told the dentist to pull the teeth.  

Ryan laid back in the chair and the dentist pulled out his little gas mask (I couldn't believe how tiny it was- it was so cute!).  Ryan balked a little- but once we decided that it made him look like an X-Wing fighter from Star Wars- Dr. Marberger was good to go.  Ryan thought it was so cool and he spent the rest of the appointment trying to shoot the dentist with his "Missiles."  

 And about a half an hour later- Ryan had no front teeth.  I was a little afraid that he was going to look like a hillbilly... but it's actually kind of cute.

 He was stoked when he found out he could put his diseased little teeth under his pillow for the tooth fairy that night.  Ryan was so jealous of Ty when Ty started losing his teeth last Christmas- now it was his turn.  Admittedly the Tooth Fairy wanted to give Ryan more than the dollar she usually gives just because Ryan had to have them pulled, but her office manager reminded her that it probably wasn't fair to the other kids in the house.

It has now been a few days since we pulled the teeth and I cannot believe the difference in Ryan.  He is finally acting like his old self.  Even his color is better (like the whites of his eyes and the color of his skin)- he  looks and acts like a healthy (albeit a little skinny) three year old.  Woohoo!!  And it is kind of nice not to look at those front teeth any more!

Little Utes

Saturday was a kind of a big deal at our house.  It was the Utah v. BYU game and my boys (all three of them) were super excited for it.  We dressed in red and waited impatiently throughout the day for the game to come on TV.  

 Ryan was pretty upset that he didn't get to go to the game.  He has his ticket stub from the U game we took the kids to last week and he brought it to his dad.  He kept trying to tell dad that he did indeed have a ticket to the U game, so we needed to go get in the car and go.  Shaun had to explain (several times throughout the day) that the ticket was for a game that was already over- not for Saturday's game.  Ryan was still pretty irked about the whole situation.  Apparently we've spoiled him!

 I tried really, really hard to get a picture of the three kids in their U of U gear- but they absolutely refused to cooperate.  Though- I don't think it was really on purpose.  First- we couldn't get Kate and Ryan to look at the camera...

 Then Kate ran off...

 When she did come back- she sat and hit Ty and Ryan fell of the step...

 Then we got really close to having a good picture!  In fact- it ended up being the best one.  Too bad Ryan's eyes were closed.  Maybe he was afraid he was going to fall off the step again...

 And Kate started rushing the camera...

 Check out that cute little ponytail!  It finally fits into one!

And congrats Utah!  It was a fun game to watch!

New Piano

It may surprise many of you- but I finally decided to trade in my beautiful oak piano.  It was a 5 foot baby grand that I loved.  It was gorgeous and the sound was incredible.  But the practicality of such a huge instrument was well... not practical at all.  It costs around $500 to move the piano and since we are currently renting a house in Salt Lake- we obviously have another move or two ahead of us- and it just seemed like such a huge amount of money to spend every time we move.  So I went into the local piano store with a picture of my piano in hand, and I found a beautiful little upright that I purchased instead.  

They brought it to me on Monday...  It was such a fun delivery!!

 Kate was the only one home and awake when the boys brought the piano in and she was stoked!  She loved pounding on the keys on our old piano and I think she was super excited to see a piano in our new house.  My kids all love to "play" the piano, and Ty is taking lessons- I just love to hear music in my home, so I am so grateful to even have the instrument sitting in my living room.

Kate's 1st Time Out

I refer to Kate as our own Tiny Tornado- a title that she lives up to every single day.  She is into EVERYTHING all the time.  She loves to empty any container, drawer, backpack, purse, etc.  and throw the contents all over the floor.  She loves to climb.  She loves to push buttons.  She loves to drag blankets and table clothes into rooms on the opposite end of the house where she found said objects.  She is, quite frankly, a holy terror.  Most of the time I can make my peace with it- she is after all- only a one year old.  But the other night- I had finally had enough.  She dumped the contents of my purse on the floor and when I tried to stop her, she tried to bite me.  So I put her in time out.  I don't know how effective it was- other than it REALLY made her mad- but she settled down a little bit after that- so maybe she was just stunned that we did something other than just tell her no.  I hate disciplining.   

Anyway- she was so mad that it was kind of cute as she sat there in her little corner- so I snapped a couple pictures...  Too bad these don't really do her mad face justice- in fact, she looks relatively calm here...  Maybe I'll get a better one next time (because inevitably there WILL be a next time).  

Celia- What Now?

I don't know if this is the appropriate outlet for this subject- but I'm not really sure where else to put it.  So for those of you that check this merely for the pictures and stories about the kids- please skip this.  This is more of a post/ journal entry for me.  

For those of you that talk to me regularly, know that I have been feeling sick for a long time now.  I teased my family about calling in sick on our moving day so that I could get out of moving all of our crap- but it turned out to be true.  I still moved everything- but it wasn't without some serious effort.  I can remember going to my Dr about three months after Kate was born and complaining about how tired I was and how crappy I felt.  He chalked it up to having a newborn and had my thyroid tested- but when the test came back clean, he just told me to bear with it and eventually it would get better.  Days, weeks and months went by and I still didn't feel any better- if anything, I started feeling worse.  The fatigue got the the point that doing anything required major effort.  I got sick every time I ate anything.  And anything that I did eat, exited quicker than slick shit through a tall Sweed.  

Once we moved to Salt Lake- I felt as though I could make one more last ditch effort to see if there was something else wrong before our good health insurance ended.  I scheduled a Dr's appointment on Thursday and went in and told him everything.  He told me he was going to try a few more obscure blood tests to see if his hunch was right...  When I got a phone call from the lab, they told me that the tests came back "abnormal" for celiac disease, and that I needed to schedule an Endoscopy ASAP in order to confirm.  Well, I scheduled said Endoscopy for the next Wednesday, and did all the reading I could on celiac disease.  It didn't sound like anything I wanted- so I hoped that the scope would show nothing abnormal and maybe they could diagnose something that the drs could fix.  

I don't know if any of you have an Endoscopy- but I can think of a lot of things I would rather do with my morning.  I had to lay down on a bed, while the dr put a long tube down my throat, down my esophagus and into my stomach, where he took pictures and took a few samples to biopsy.  The dr sat me down afterward and showed me the pictures.  There was extensive damage and he told me that it was indeed celiac disease.  

Celiac disease is an auto-immune disease where your body cannot digest gluten properly.  Gluten can be found in wheat, barley and malt... and is unfortunately in most things that we eat nowadays- either through the wheat itself, or because our food is processed in plants that also process foods that contain wheat.  Either way- the result is the same- I can't eat any of it now.  The dr told me that this should be one of the best days of my life because this diagnosis would free me, and I would feel better than I had in years.   I had a hard time agreeing with him because I was having a hard time trying to grasp what this all meant for me and for my family.  Surely it wasn't going to be easy.  

I asked the dr what caused celiac, and he told me that it was because I had the gene.  It's hereditary apparently. But- a lot of people will go through life and the gene will never trigger and these people will never have a problem with gluten.  But for some of us- the gene gets triggered (the most common triggers are severe emotional distress and pregnancy- which when I trace my symptoms back- they started right after Ryan's accident- so it was either that and/or the pregnancy we think), and we then begin a new kind of lifestyle... a gluten free one.   I actually feel kind of lucky though- for most people- it takes about 10 years to get a correct diagnosis because of the nature of the disease and its symptoms, for me, it was only about a year and a half.  

I'm not excited about my new lifestyle... but maybe I will be.  Maybe one day, I will feel blessed that I was diagnosed and I will feel better.  For now- I'm so terrified of eating the wrong thing- a lot of the time I just don't eat- so hunger pains have become my constant companions.  I'm sure it will get easier with time, I only need to learn better what I can and cannot have.  I pray that it will get easier and I am grateful for the resources that are available to me... Thank goodness for the internet!!!  I'm sure I'll use this blog as a journal again in the future, so that I can remind myself of where I started, and hopefully- see how far I've come.  

First Day of Preschool

Ryan was beside himself when Ty went off to school last week without him.  Ryan LOVES his big brother- and one is rarely seen without the other around here- so when Ty was off to have a new adventure without Ryan by his side- Ryan was pretty sad.  I had to keep reminding him that his school started next week- but it just wasn't soon enough for him.  

Finally- Tuesday came and Ryan got up extra early because he didn't want to be late (we're talking 6:00- and school doesn't start until 9).  

Can you see the excitement?!

 When we finally made it to the school- he practically leapt out of the car and kept jumping up and down, telling me to hurry.  I giggled to myself- now he knows how I feel most of the time!  But, we did make it inside and Ryan wasted no time in finding the toys in his classroom.  He was mostly impressed by their vast collection of trucks.

 He was introduced to his teachers, who showed him around the room and most impressively, his bag hook and cubby.  He was assigned to the "Kite" cubby.

 Here he is showing off his new bag...

I'm glad Ryan gets a chance to go to preschool so that he has something that is just his- and something that he can share with Ty at the end of the day, instead of it always being the other way around.  I am extremely grateful for the opportunity that he has to go to this particular preschool- it is a fantastic facility with great teachers and I know he will thrive!

Labor Day

Since Shaun has gone back to a regular 5 day work week- we were pretty excited to have Monday off and decided to spend the weekend up at Bear Lake with my mom and dad, and Melissa and Jeremiah.  

We spent all day Saturday out on the boat- Kate hates the life-jacket, but finally accepted that we weren't going to take it off, and she was actually pretty good about it the rest of the day.  

 I only got one normal picture of Ty on the boat- I don't know why all of a sudden he can't take a normal picture...  

 And I guess looking at this picture of Ryan- we had some issues with a normal face here too.  Sigh.  Don't they know that these are what we are all going to be looking at for years to come?!  If they will take nice, cute pictures then I can give off the illusion that I have/had the perfect family!!  I guess I should just embrace the chaos and goofiness that is my reality...

 Ryan actually got in the water and went water-skiing with grandpa!  He cried when he first got in, but was all smiles when he climbed back in the boat!  Way to go Ry!

 On Sunday, we drove over to Immigration Canyon and went Huckleberry picking- yes it's that time of year again.  We have exhausted my supply of Raspberry Huckleberry Jam, and I desperately needed help picking the berries so that I could replenish it.  Thankfully- everybody was up for the task!  Even little Kate helped pick a few- though I think she just ate hers...

 Melissa and Jer with their berry stained hands...

 Our hands were stained too...

 In all- we got enough to make two batches of jam and have enough left over for some Huckleberry syrup over ice cream for a treat on our next Family Night.  Thanks everyone!!  

There Aren't Enough Pockets in Kindergarten...

Yesterday was Tyler's first day of Kindergarten. I knew he was going to absolutely love it... and he did. He's the kind of kid that thrives on structure and responsibility- and has really really loved preschool. He was so excited- he hardly ate dinner the night before.

Remember your first day of school? It doesn't matter the year- but don't you remember painstakingly picking out your first day of school outfit? I remember laying it out on my bedroom floor the night before (with the appropriate socks and accessories), and jumping out of bed in the morning to put on the cute ensemble. I remember spending hours making sure that the outfit was fresh and exciting, but at the same time trying not to look like I tried too hard. Sounds stupid I know-but there you have it.

Having a 6 year old boy however- none of this matters!! We picked out the outfit that was on top of the clean laundry pile and away we went. He was pretty concerned about his hair though- he wanted it to lay just right. It was pretty cute.

He did get pretty antsy about what time class started. He started asking me at about 9 that morning if it was time yet. He has afternoon kindergarten and was super disappointed that he still had a few more hours to wait.

When I snapped a picture of him on the front porch- he wanted me to make sure I got a picture of his new backpack too- he's pretty proud of it!
And we were off! We actually stopped at McDonald's on the way so that we could have lunch. I told Ty that it was an extra special day, so we could have an extra special lunch. I even let them sit next to the playplace. If you know me at all- you know this is HUGE. I hate the playplace- it's filthy.
Then we headed to school. We parked the car and walked part of the way.
Ryan was convinced that he could go to kindergarten yesterday too. He ran right along-side Ty the whole way. I kept telling him that his school starts next week- but he wouldn't listen. He wanted to go with Ty.
They peeked in the doors by Ty's classroom...
And I snapped a quick picture of him in front of the building. I actually went to Driggs too- it's really strange being back as a parent now...
And look who I spotted spying on us from afar... Grandma Janet was making sure we got there okay too!!



Ty's teacher, Ms. Newman was so sweet and let the parents come into the classroom on the first day... So I got a few pictures in the classroom too...

We took a minute to find his name, and hung up his back pack (the pictures are dark because all the lights were off- the air conditioning units weren't up and running yet so the rooms were all dark)
They got to sit down for a story...

I stayed for a few more minutes- but Ty was super happy and listening to the story, so I left him to it.

As me and my little ones walked away, I was pretty happy. Ty was happy and I got to have a few hours with my little Ryan and Kate. Ryan was still pretty disappointed about not being able to stay- but kept his chin up and promised Ty that he would be waiting for him when he got home. Ryan kept checking the time to see if it was time to go pick Ty up. I'm glad they are friends- before too long they will be so busy with their own little worlds that they won't have as much time for each other- for now- I'm glad they can't wait to be together again.

Cassia County Fair and Rodeo 2011

I love this time of year- every August we head to Declo for the Cassia County Fair and Rodeo. Because of Shaun's new job and the move- we weren't able to go early like we have before- but we did make it on Friday afternoon, and spent Saturday night there too for the rodeo.

Before the rodeo started, Shaun took the boys around the back of the arena to look at the horses and cows that were going to be used during the rodeo.

Chase and Deja came too!
Chase, Dani and Deja waiting for the rodeo to start...
Grandma and Papa...
And our small herd... You know- we actually have a picture of us as a family every single year in approximately the same spot- kind of fun!
And here's Ryan eating my snowcone- he spilled his all over me and somehow he ended up with mine... How that worked out exactly is still a mystery.
Tyler with his snowcone...
Dani and Deja waiting for the "moooooos"
Kate was pretty intrigued too... And did pretty well during the whole thing. She got so worried about either the riders or the animals, because every time they opened the gate- she sat up straight and started waving her arm at them saying, "NO NO NO". I'm not really sure who she was worried about though...
But she was pretty attentive- this is what I saw most of the night.
Until the barrel racing and she zonked.
We had a lot of fun again this year and can't wait until next August!