She is doing great (considering…) out of the hospital. She LOVES to play with her cousins and LOVE LOVE LOVE’S her Aunts. Seems like the second Kristin, Suzanne or I walk in the room she is leaning and pointing and smiling, she'll say ZANNNNIIIEEE with a squeal!!! She is so precious.
Right now H and Brit are working with the doctors on her treatments. They are trying so hard to get ACTH (thats a link) for her. It's a somewhat rare and EXPENSIVE drug, It's 30k a box and one box will probably last about a month. It's also a daily injection rather then an Oral pill. They have to wait for the Neurologist to get back from vacation on Monday to get him to write the prescription. Lets all HOPE he writes it.
The community of people with OMS kids is a very small one, I found this website a while ago, chaseawayoms.org and had been e-mailing with Brenda the founder and mother of Chase who had OMS. We were going back and forth for a few days then all of the sudden she said, "I am driving right now AND e-mailing you, can you just call me?" So I called her, this random lady in Michigan, we spoke for about 40 minutes and she just pumped me full of info! She is the NICEST lady and she told me all about her son what worked, what didn’t work, what her foundation does and so on. She said GIVE YOUR BROTHER MY NUMBER! So they called her and she talked to them about ACTH. They were struggling getting her to take her oral Steroids (Prednisone) with out her yacking like I said in the last post so they jumped ship on that all together and are fighting for ACTH.
Today a WONDERFUL reporter from KSL, Shara Park, interviewed H and Brit and they are doing a feature story on Baylee and her OMS. Since it is so rare H and Brit are excited to get the word out about OMS. Shara did a ton of research before coming and even shocked us all about how much she all ready knew. She will also be interviewing Baylee's neurologist at Primary Childrens on Monday as well. The story should air next week sometime at the 10 o'clock hour. I will for SURE post a link or embed the story when it airs for all of you. SHARE IT WITH EVERYONE! Please! So many have been praying for her that don’t even know her, hopefully it will help.
Baylee has had troubles sleeping since the onset of her OMS. She’ll sleep for about 2-3 hours then want to be awake. Turns out that is just another thing that H and Brit will have to discuss with the Docs and get a medication to solve. Hopefully that can be fixed with meds soon because H and Brit are both running on fumes having only slept a few hours each night for the last 2 weeks. A very kind couple that are not even friends with H and Brit (friends of mine) booked them a hotel room for New Years Eve so they could have some alone/get away/sleep a ton time. Mom and Kristin GRACIOUSLY offered to give up their sleep and be with Baylee through the night. We are all praying that goes okay.
All in all Baylee is on the mend. All her little pokes and prods are healing, slower then normal because of the Chemo but none the less healing. Hopefully she can get the ACTH soon so she can be back to the Baylee we knew a month ago.
If anyone has PRE OMS videos of Baylee let H and Brit know, we would LOVE to have it on the news story. Also I think Brit is getting on track of blogging too, their blog is hdbrit.blogspot.com.
Keep the prayers coming, we have started the marathon of a race… hopefully the finish line is CLOSER then we think!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Year in Review
A friend of mine did this and I thought it was great. I'm thinking it will have to be a tradition even...
2009 Year in Review
Matt and I frequented BYU Basketball games kicking off the New Year! We also found out that we were having a BOY, we were so excited!
In February I was actually starting to show. I wasn't too excited about it all, but I sure did a good job of faking it. Being pregnant is not fun! This month I got Kidney stones as well, that was ROUGH. We found out that Jordan and Michaela were expecting a baby as well. We went to the Draper Temple Open house on Valentines Day with Suzanne and Lucy. So much fun!
Both Matt and I get a little stir crazy come March because the weather is still crummy here. Matt filled a need to build something by making this work bench. He was so proud! It was also Suzanne and I's birthday so we had a family bowling outing. I was looking like I had a HUGE bowling ball under my shirt by then.
By April we had an inkling that this Preston guy my sister had been dating was wanting to stick around :) He and Matt worked hard on getting everything ready for our little guy. They also hung out with us on Easter, good thing the easter bunny knew they were going to be with us!
The weather was starting to look better in May so Matt took a 20 something mile bike ride down to the Wu's one saturday. He got stung by a bee and his ankle swelled up to a huge club ankle. I was pretty much DONE being pregant and woke up every morning PRAYING that "today would be the day"
Finally our little Ty was born, on June 10th. He had a rough start but ended up being totally healthy and HAPPY! It was also Matt's 1st Fathers Day and his Birthday on the 29th so he bought himself a new TV, Blu-ray player and surround sound system.
The first weekend in July, Matt blessed Ty and we enjoyed all of the family that came! Matt also ran a 5k and I ran only the mile fun run on the Fourth of July. It was great fun, all though I think Preston almost died. Will and my mom were steady and sure both made it in good times as well.
In August my darling twin sister got married to our favorite Preston ever! It was a great wedding and we all went back to Oregon for a week of FUN and another reception. Also, Jordan and Michaela had their little guy Calin on the 29th.
We had to go meet our new nephew so in September we surprised everyone by coming up that first weekend! BYU also kicked of the football season right by beating Oklahoma at the Dallas Cowboys brand new stadium.
In October we went up to Rexburg again for Calin's blessing, we had tons of family visit and we enjoyed the Halloween festivites with the Wu's and Readings.
November brought in a ton of fun when BYU beat Utah in their final regular season game. My parents had made the Wu's home their second home by this point because they came to all the games too! We had a FANTASTIC Thanksgiving with tons of good food and family.
December brought new family challenges with our little niece having awful health issues arise. We all prayed hard (and are continuing to pray hard) and felt great joy and love for our entire family and felt the love of our Savior during the Christmas season.
There it is all, and can I tell you how stinkin hard it is to pick just ONE picture each month? I was struggling to keep each month short a sweet too! I love all the details...
Bring on 2010... we're ready for you!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Tender Mercies Tuesday: Cousins make the greatest friends
If you all out there in blogger land, who follow my blog couldn't tell, the family I have is pretty tight knit. I think we all like it that way. We have tons of extended family around here and we all get together often enough whether it's a holiday or birthday or just to hang out. We all get along great and I won’t speak for others, but I often think about my close relatives and hope to always find ways to help out and show love and kindness.
Of course, if you follow my blog you also know of the rare disease my niece was diagnosed with, and the way our family has rallied together to support my brother and his family. Also, I have a cousin, whom I have mentioned, that has a daughter that also landed in the hospital at the same time. Her problem has been found and both my cousin and her husband have been dealing with it pretty well helping out their little lady with her severe milk allergy.
Where my tender mercy lies this week is with my cousins. We were talking about our babies, and I was telling one of them that Ty has to be on specific formula's too (not as specific as my cousins baby that rings in at about 50 bucks per 14 oz. can) but different then any sort of less expensive Costco/generic brand. She inquired as to which types and I told her it had to be a 50/50 mix of two specific types. She said that while they were trying to figure out the issue with her daughter they acquired quite a few cans of the types that I needed and she was about to take it to the food bank.
She told me that I could have it for Ty. The amount of formula she gave me added up to about 100 dollars worth, enough to feed him for a month or so. WOW, WOW, WOW! Yes I was stoked, then my mom called last night and said that another cousin of mine just dropped off about 50 jars of baby food more formula and some rice cereal and oatmeal that her son didn’t need any more. We'll divvy that up between Laycee and Ty, but considering Laycee is not a huge fan of baby food I believe Ty will get the bulk of it... can I just tell you how AWESOME that was!
I was pretty much jumping up and down in joy when my one cousin gave me that formula then for the other one to drop off more stuff is AMAZING, the cherry on top! Thank you, Thank you cousins! I love you all and I am glad to have you all as some of my closest friends. I hope that I can give back to you, what you have given to my family in Charity.
This Christmas season has been wonderful, even with the difficulties our family has had. Never have I felt more the camaraderie of family and friends and the love of my Savior during this time. Thank you to all who have helped us through 2009, it has been tougher then we thought it would be, but we made it and are optimistic for what is to come next year. I have a feeling that 2010 is going to be a spectacular year full of Family, Friends, Changes, Challenges and Triumphs.
Of course, if you follow my blog you also know of the rare disease my niece was diagnosed with, and the way our family has rallied together to support my brother and his family. Also, I have a cousin, whom I have mentioned, that has a daughter that also landed in the hospital at the same time. Her problem has been found and both my cousin and her husband have been dealing with it pretty well helping out their little lady with her severe milk allergy.
Where my tender mercy lies this week is with my cousins. We were talking about our babies, and I was telling one of them that Ty has to be on specific formula's too (not as specific as my cousins baby that rings in at about 50 bucks per 14 oz. can) but different then any sort of less expensive Costco/generic brand. She inquired as to which types and I told her it had to be a 50/50 mix of two specific types. She said that while they were trying to figure out the issue with her daughter they acquired quite a few cans of the types that I needed and she was about to take it to the food bank.
She told me that I could have it for Ty. The amount of formula she gave me added up to about 100 dollars worth, enough to feed him for a month or so. WOW, WOW, WOW! Yes I was stoked, then my mom called last night and said that another cousin of mine just dropped off about 50 jars of baby food more formula and some rice cereal and oatmeal that her son didn’t need any more. We'll divvy that up between Laycee and Ty, but considering Laycee is not a huge fan of baby food I believe Ty will get the bulk of it... can I just tell you how AWESOME that was!
I was pretty much jumping up and down in joy when my one cousin gave me that formula then for the other one to drop off more stuff is AMAZING, the cherry on top! Thank you, Thank you cousins! I love you all and I am glad to have you all as some of my closest friends. I hope that I can give back to you, what you have given to my family in Charity.
This Christmas season has been wonderful, even with the difficulties our family has had. Never have I felt more the camaraderie of family and friends and the love of my Savior during this time. Thank you to all who have helped us through 2009, it has been tougher then we thought it would be, but we made it and are optimistic for what is to come next year. I have a feeling that 2010 is going to be a spectacular year full of Family, Friends, Changes, Challenges and Triumphs.
Monday, December 28, 2009
CHRISTMAS!
Christmas Eve Grandma and Grandpa got all the Grandkids their Christmas Pajamas, and children ALPACA SLIPPERS! Yessssss.
Santa dropped off a gift for Sierra and Jason that required some SERIOUS ASSEMBLY work from mom and dad.
The Christmas Tree on Christmas Eve at my sisters house (we spent the night there)
It's CHRISTMAS MORNING and Sierra is READY TO GO! But first we read the Christmas story out of the bible, then we say a family prayer BEFORE we go see if Santa came...
Sorry Dad I didnt know your eyes were closed, here are the boys right after we finished praying.
Here is little Laycee, I dont think she knew what was going on... she was just excited for some CHEERIOS
Ty got to open up his present first because he was the youngest (we go youngest to oldest) Jason insisted on helping.
Here is the group during the festivities, Edward and Joanna Wu came to visit as well. It was great that they could be there!
The other side of the room, we can't forget Ty and Laycee!
Here is Jason opening, more like unveiling his new BIKE! So exciting right... hmmmm not so much... he just liked th unveiling part I think...
Here is Sierra playing with her new Mickey and Minnie Mouse, she was having a conversation with them both. It was cute, hopefully Mickey and Minnie speak fluent "Sierra" because I know I sure don't.
Grandma and Jason were checking out his new marble set!
Ty LOVES his new hat and gloves that we got him! How could you not LOVE those chubby cheeks... I swear he is getting chunkier and chunkier each day!
Here is all three of us on Christmas Morning. So precious, and yes I really am that short, Matt is almost a foot taller then me.
Preston and Suzanne did the shared Christmas thing, they got to the Wu's house just in time to talk to COLTON on the phone who was calling from Colorado on his mission. They got there so fast they were even pulled over on the way! Matt, Preston and Jason were getting everything set to play some Wii Resort games.
Here is Suzanne and Preston speaking with Colton, Preston and Colton have never met. My guess is they'll be buds... easy. Oh and Suzanne ordered some new DVD's in November on Kristins Disney account... thats what the "You owe me money" is all about haha.
Typical Dad fashion... reading the newspaper with his glasses on... that is AFTER he finished his yummy Christmas cereal. I believe this year he chose Honey Combs.
We had a fun and busy Christmas, complete with visits to the Gundred's home for MORE delightful breakfast and the Maxwell’s for a delicious dinner! Most of our families went up to Primary Children's as well to visit H, Brit and Baylee. It was a FANTASTIC Christmas and I am so grateful for my parents who spoiled our little family with WAY too many gifts! The REAL Christmas gift that my parents gave us all is a family trip to Lake Tahoe the second week in August, Colton will be home then and hopefully Baylee will be done with her chemo treatments too. We are all VERY excited for it!
Baylee Update
Baylee was released from the hospital yesterday! On Saturday they did a quick surgery to put in a port for her Chemo not a PICC line like originally thought. A port is under the skin so Baylee can’t mess with it, they go into it using a needle. (Yeah yuck! But its better the Baylee ripping the PICC line out of her neck, arm, leg where ever) She began Chemo yesterday then she was released. H and Brit are now at Kristin and Will's house camping out until their next appointment which I think is next week sometime, but are OVERJOYED to be out of the hospital. We went over yesterday and scrubbed poor Kristin’s house to the BONE because we have to make sure that Baylee doesn’t get sick! So if you go to visit Will and Kristin’s house don’t be surprised if someone meets you at the door with Germ X and Lysol!
Baylee of course is a little sick, but that is to be expected with the Chemo treatment. What they are trying to figure out now is how to get her to take her Oral Steroids. She will swallow it but the second it starts to go down, she will puke... and a TON. They tried putting it with Ice Cream they tried crushing it up and putting in her chocolate milk they tried mixing it with a spoon full of sugar. They aren’t sure what else to do there. Hopefully something can be figured out quickly because that is supposed to help with her OMS a ton.
She is still shaky, but she is the happy to be out of the hospital and be around tons of family who just wants to help!
There have been many of you who have shown your love and support whether it be with little gifts, big gifts, thoughts, prayers, and little kindnesses. I promise they have been noticed and my brother and his family are VERY thankful.
Baylee of course is a little sick, but that is to be expected with the Chemo treatment. What they are trying to figure out now is how to get her to take her Oral Steroids. She will swallow it but the second it starts to go down, she will puke... and a TON. They tried putting it with Ice Cream they tried crushing it up and putting in her chocolate milk they tried mixing it with a spoon full of sugar. They aren’t sure what else to do there. Hopefully something can be figured out quickly because that is supposed to help with her OMS a ton.
She is still shaky, but she is the happy to be out of the hospital and be around tons of family who just wants to help!
There have been many of you who have shown your love and support whether it be with little gifts, big gifts, thoughts, prayers, and little kindnesses. I promise they have been noticed and my brother and his family are VERY thankful.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Pictures and Video of Baylee
When Matt and I got there Baylee was a bit out of it, and not a very happy girl. (We snuck Ty in too, the nurses said Heck it's Christmas, he can come in :)
After my Dad held her for a while, she let me hold her too! Notice the shifty eyes, that is part of the OMS. Then we started to play a little bit. She was having a really fun time. We played with the plane, then we blew bubbles and she was trying to pop them, then we played patty cake. She did SO WELL.
She hadn't eaten anything for a long time and hadn't kept anything down since the morning. So someone suggested a popsicle, she could eat it slower. SHE WAS LOVING IT!
She was playing with me and almost army crawling over him to get the toy from me, which apparently was more then what she had done previously. She was still shaky as you see in some of the videos. She also started to try and sit up on her own. Since I have nothing to compare it to I was thinking it was typical, my mom, HD and Britany we all just shocked an amazed at what she was doing. It was GREAT! H.D. just called and said that Baylee was even trying to get up on her hands and knees to crawl this evening. What a blessing! I have a gut feeling that Baylee doesn't have as much as a severe case of OMS as the Doctors think that she has. I still maintain that she will be walking again by next Christmas, if not WAY sooner.
Merry Christmas everyone! :)
After my Dad held her for a while, she let me hold her too! Notice the shifty eyes, that is part of the OMS. Then we started to play a little bit. She was having a really fun time. We played with the plane, then we blew bubbles and she was trying to pop them, then we played patty cake. She did SO WELL.
She hadn't eaten anything for a long time and hadn't kept anything down since the morning. So someone suggested a popsicle, she could eat it slower. SHE WAS LOVING IT!
She was playing with me and almost army crawling over him to get the toy from me, which apparently was more then what she had done previously. She was still shaky as you see in some of the videos. She also started to try and sit up on her own. Since I have nothing to compare it to I was thinking it was typical, my mom, HD and Britany we all just shocked an amazed at what she was doing. It was GREAT! H.D. just called and said that Baylee was even trying to get up on her hands and knees to crawl this evening. What a blessing! I have a gut feeling that Baylee doesn't have as much as a severe case of OMS as the Doctors think that she has. I still maintain that she will be walking again by next Christmas, if not WAY sooner.
Merry Christmas everyone! :)
She's Back! ~ish
(I realized that some of you dont even know what she looks like so I thought I would post a picture of our Baylee Kay)
My mom told the doctors and nurses that she thought Baylee needed to get off the morphine and they said ohh okay... but she has to have something for pain.... So they didn’t really worry about it. Mid-Morning yesterday they tried to do a new IV for Baylee and they tried to put it in her arm. They missed the vessel and starting dripping the fluids and morphine into her arm rather then her blood stream. .Her arm started to swell up and she kept saying “ouch ouch” and trying to grab her arm. They pulled it out quickly and they were going to go back in and do another one in a little bit. Baylee was off morphine for about 30 minutes and went from crabby, grouchy Baylee to the smiling, playing Baylee. It was a blessing in disguise that this happened so my mom could go get the nurse again and say LOOK she is happy and smiling now compared to the Baylee an hour ago. PLEASE get her off morphine! So the nurse believed her and he weaned her off of it all day.
Now she is just on Tylenol for pain, which doesn’t do much, but she is MUCH happier with out the morphine! They did however have to put that IV back in and it took 2 teams of specialized IV people and an ultrasound machine to do it. They have had a VERY hard time finding a vein big enough to support the IV. Baylee gets restless too, after too many pokes. It took the staff 45 minutes to get the new IV in her, they even had to take a break in between because it was such a struggle. Poor little lady, my mom says that all though she has lost her motor skills, she hasnt lost her strength.
Last night and today so far have been MUCH better then the last few and my parents are feeling more comfortable leaving sooner and they will be able to do some traditional activities tonight and tomorrow for Christmas Eve and Christmas with the rest of us.
We are so glad that Baylee is back to her happy self, even though she still has all her OMS symptoms at LEAST she is happy! She also got her tube out of her nose and the drainage tubes out of her sides, so now all she has left is a catheter and an IV, Hallelujah!
Thank you for your thoughts, love, prayers and support. All of us have really felt them and we are hoping that this time next year Baylee will be running around and all this will be a distant memory.
MERRY CHRISTMAS to All!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Post Surgery Days
Now it's to the point where the doctors are trying to give her a tiny bit of pain medication and an mild tranquilizer so she doesn’t go crazy. The poor little girl has tubes everywhere, 2 for drainage, an IV, a catheter, and one up her nose that goes down her throat. The last one mentioned is the worst one for her, she tries to pull it out all the time. She is unhappy and very picky on who she wants to see and not see. She had a few more blood tests done yesterday and it has gotten to the point where a specialist has to come in with a UV light to try and find a good blood vessel to do it from. They had to test it to make sure her white blood cell count was up to confirm her body was healing it's self. Also, we found out it will take THREE weeks for the biopsy to be tested, not sure what that means for Baylee as far as chemo goes, I dont know if they will start it or not with out the results of the biopsy tests.
My parents have been spending everyday all day with H and Brit in the hospital and Baylee all day yesterday kept saying... "No gam-ma, no gam-ma" apparently she wasn’t too excited to have my mother in the room! She received her first treatment of IVIG 2 days ago, we think that is what made her sick and have a fever. If that type of treatment will work for her OMS though we wont know for another 8 days or so. What it looks like right now is she may potentially be released from the hospital around the first. If the IVIG treatment does work she'll continue having that treatment every 3 weeks, about 4 more times we think. Best case scenario is she will be doing a ton better, maybe walking in about 3 months.
They are HOPING that today she can get the tube out of her nose and that she is a bit happier! The omsusa.org website that was found by others is really helpful. If anyone is wondering about OMS at all take a few minutes on that website, it's very informative and interesting!
In other recent news, my cousins baby girl Gwen just may be joining Baylee up at Primary Children's because she is loosing weight rapidly, throwing up a ton and has blood in her stool, she is only about a month old. Poor little thing has been in the AF hospital for 2 nights. Our knees are getting rough in this family, but what else are knees for but to pray!
Also, today is my Dad's 50th birthday, and he'll be spending it in the hospital...allll day. Happy Birthday Dad! Oh and Merry Christmas Eve, Eve...
My parents have been spending everyday all day with H and Brit in the hospital and Baylee all day yesterday kept saying... "No gam-ma, no gam-ma" apparently she wasn’t too excited to have my mother in the room! She received her first treatment of IVIG 2 days ago, we think that is what made her sick and have a fever. If that type of treatment will work for her OMS though we wont know for another 8 days or so. What it looks like right now is she may potentially be released from the hospital around the first. If the IVIG treatment does work she'll continue having that treatment every 3 weeks, about 4 more times we think. Best case scenario is she will be doing a ton better, maybe walking in about 3 months.
They are HOPING that today she can get the tube out of her nose and that she is a bit happier! The omsusa.org website that was found by others is really helpful. If anyone is wondering about OMS at all take a few minutes on that website, it's very informative and interesting!
In other recent news, my cousins baby girl Gwen just may be joining Baylee up at Primary Children's because she is loosing weight rapidly, throwing up a ton and has blood in her stool, she is only about a month old. Poor little thing has been in the AF hospital for 2 nights. Our knees are getting rough in this family, but what else are knees for but to pray!
Also, today is my Dad's 50th birthday, and he'll be spending it in the hospital...allll day. Happy Birthday Dad! Oh and Merry Christmas Eve, Eve...
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Tender Mercies Tuesday: Strength in Prayers!
To make this short and sweet, I wanted to say that my tender mercies this week can probably not even be typed because I feel like I couldn’t even list them all.
So many of you have been praying for my niece and my family, my brother says he feels those prayers and draws off that strength. The Lord has blessed his and our family so much in the last week it's been a miracle to see. It's amazing to hear of those far and wide saying a prayer for her, my guess is the number of people has been in the thousands. THANK YOU!
We are so happy Baylee is at Primary Children's, the best hospital and place she could be right now.
I also wanted to say how glad I am that my husband is here for all this too. My family has benefited from his experience and knowledge of this type of process too, having gone through it with his mother. He has been very optimistic and hopeful this entire time, reminding others that there is hope. He says, We had none with my mother, so it is nice to hear the doctors say that she will pull through this and that they are figuring it all out.
I have been thinking a lot about the long term effects of this situation and I know recently I have been asking for things, but then again people are always asking me how they can help! Britany and H will need a double stroller. They have gotten by with out using one simply because Baylee liked to walk anyways. Now that Baylee can't walk, nor will she be able to for at least a couple weeks if not months or even a year, they will need one desperately by the time they get out of the hospital.
Does anyone have any ideas on how we can get them one? Does anyone have one they don’t need any more?
Just brainstorming with all of you, let me know if you have any thoughts.
We love and thank you all.
So many of you have been praying for my niece and my family, my brother says he feels those prayers and draws off that strength. The Lord has blessed his and our family so much in the last week it's been a miracle to see. It's amazing to hear of those far and wide saying a prayer for her, my guess is the number of people has been in the thousands. THANK YOU!
We are so happy Baylee is at Primary Children's, the best hospital and place she could be right now.
I also wanted to say how glad I am that my husband is here for all this too. My family has benefited from his experience and knowledge of this type of process too, having gone through it with his mother. He has been very optimistic and hopeful this entire time, reminding others that there is hope. He says, We had none with my mother, so it is nice to hear the doctors say that she will pull through this and that they are figuring it all out.
I have been thinking a lot about the long term effects of this situation and I know recently I have been asking for things, but then again people are always asking me how they can help! Britany and H will need a double stroller. They have gotten by with out using one simply because Baylee liked to walk anyways. Now that Baylee can't walk, nor will she be able to for at least a couple weeks if not months or even a year, they will need one desperately by the time they get out of the hospital.
Does anyone have any ideas on how we can get them one? Does anyone have one they don’t need any more?
Just brainstorming with all of you, let me know if you have any thoughts.
We love and thank you all.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Post Surgery News
Baylee is out of surgery and she did AWESOME! She didn't even need a blood transfusion. They took a sample of her bone marrow and they took out much more of the tumor then they originally thought they would. They went in to take the small sample and HD said "It just kept coming". They said that most of it is removed and she will still do Chemo to hopefully get rid of the rest of it, which is a small amount. As of right now we aren't sure if she'll need to have another surgery like earlier thought. She’ll probably start Chemo in a week or two, and they are still unsure as to how long she’ll have to stay in the hospital.
They did a urinalysis during the surgery and found that it was NEGATIVE for any sort of chemicals that would be present if cancer was in the blood (meaning the bone marrow). They are STILL checking the bone marrow and getting the biopsy tested.
H.D. wants to say thank you to all of those people who have been praying for Baylee. They have felt those prayers and they have been blessed. Whenever it seems like the problem is getting worse, it gets better!
Also, we are going to go back and print out these recent blogs and print out the comments tomorrow. If there is anything particular you would like to write to them comment and we'll get it to them.
Oh and we are still working on getting them a laptop, if anyone local has one let me know, we have some family members ready to mail one to them if needed.
Side Note: Matt and Preston wanted to say HI… sooo…. Hi.
They did a urinalysis during the surgery and found that it was NEGATIVE for any sort of chemicals that would be present if cancer was in the blood (meaning the bone marrow). They are STILL checking the bone marrow and getting the biopsy tested.
H.D. wants to say thank you to all of those people who have been praying for Baylee. They have felt those prayers and they have been blessed. Whenever it seems like the problem is getting worse, it gets better!
Also, we are going to go back and print out these recent blogs and print out the comments tomorrow. If there is anything particular you would like to write to them comment and we'll get it to them.
Oh and we are still working on getting them a laptop, if anyone local has one let me know, we have some family members ready to mail one to them if needed.
Side Note: Matt and Preston wanted to say HI… sooo…. Hi.
Surgery News
She is currently in surgery right now. They have now decided (yes seems like a lot of mind changing but we don’t worry about that) that this surgery is to only take a biopsy of the tumor and the bone marrow. They will FED EX overnight the biopsy sample to wherever they look at those and we will wait to hear back how aggressive of cancer the tumor is. During this surgery they will also put in a pick for her, so she can start Chemo. They will do Chemo starting around the 1st, the delay is so that her body can heal from the surgery first.
At this point we aren't sure if she will remain in Primary Children's the entire time during the Chemo. From what it sounds like it will be a few weeks of treatments in hopes that the tumor shrinks then they will remove it, my guess is maybe about a month? This is all preliminary talk, we will know more once the surgeons come out and discuss the situation more with my Brother, SIL, Mother and Father.
Like I keep telling my family, "this is a MARATHON NOT A SPRINT"! Yes, I know it is stressful, but we all need our strength so little Baylee can draw off of it. She is in for a rough couple more weeks. Keep those prayers coming :) Thanks to all who have prayed for and helped our family thus far, we love you all.
At this point we aren't sure if she will remain in Primary Children's the entire time during the Chemo. From what it sounds like it will be a few weeks of treatments in hopes that the tumor shrinks then they will remove it, my guess is maybe about a month? This is all preliminary talk, we will know more once the surgeons come out and discuss the situation more with my Brother, SIL, Mother and Father.
Like I keep telling my family, "this is a MARATHON NOT A SPRINT"! Yes, I know it is stressful, but we all need our strength so little Baylee can draw off of it. She is in for a rough couple more weeks. Keep those prayers coming :) Thanks to all who have prayed for and helped our family thus far, we love you all.
Baylee Today
They took her in for the MRI at 9 a.m. and instead of bringing her out of the anesthesia they kept her under and wheeled her straight into surgery. She should be in right now, say a prayer! I'll let you all know as soon as I find out, how the surgery went.
Thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers and help.
Thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers and help.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Baylee update
Sorry for all of you who check my blog for entertainment value, hopefully soon we can be back to our fun regular posts for now its all about the updates to the friends and family who are praying for my niece!
After a rough night last night, Baylee is doing better today. She is currently sleeping in my mothers arms while my Brother and SIL are doing a little bit of Christmas shopping. They will be spending Christmas in the hospital and don’t feel like the next few days will permit them to leave.
Baylee developed a fever last night and the concern was they can’t perform the surgery if she is sick. Her fever has gone down today so they are still on course for surgery tomorrow to remove the tumor and get a sample of some bone marrow to test to see if the cancer has spread to her bones. She will also go in for an MRI tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. This will give the Doctors one last look beforehand to check for anything else and orient themselves better on the location of her nerves etc.
They stopped giving her a certain medication to help with her OMS because it wasn’t helping and in fact it was just making her SICK. She was able to go on a ride through the hospital on a wagon and she LOVED it. She was also able to see Laycee for about 20 minutes yesterday and she was laughing and smiling the whole time. She really misses her baby sister. My mom and dad watch her when they are home. But while they are gone at the hospital, Matt and I watch her. I must say I am getting pretty good at a baby on each hip!
Tomorrow the surgery will hopefully be at Noon. Take a second to think and say a little pray for her around then. Things are looking good as far as removing the tumor and deciding which type of chemo to give her. Before the thought was that some of the tumor may not be able to be removed because it was in her spine, but the surgeon had been looking at her most recent full body CAT scan for some time in he is confident that he can remove it all. We are REALLY hoping that the tumor isn't an aggressive type of cancer and that it HASN'T spread so it can be a really really mild form of Chemo they treat her with. After that is taken care of they can resume finding a good treatment for her OMS.
My aunt had a good thought and I am hoping some one can help us out with this. H and Brit have to go up stairs and use Primary Children’s public computers to post any sort of updates and check e-mail, they have time restrictions and no privacy. Is there anyone who has a laptop lying around that would so kind as to let them BORROW it for a week or so? It would be so nice if H and Brit could be able to stay in the room with Baylee and stay connected with the family on the internet. Please let myself or my mother know if that is a possibility. It would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thanks again for all the prayers, I feel like at this point we should see her health start to improve and hopefully tomorrow is a good day for her!
After a rough night last night, Baylee is doing better today. She is currently sleeping in my mothers arms while my Brother and SIL are doing a little bit of Christmas shopping. They will be spending Christmas in the hospital and don’t feel like the next few days will permit them to leave.
Baylee developed a fever last night and the concern was they can’t perform the surgery if she is sick. Her fever has gone down today so they are still on course for surgery tomorrow to remove the tumor and get a sample of some bone marrow to test to see if the cancer has spread to her bones. She will also go in for an MRI tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. This will give the Doctors one last look beforehand to check for anything else and orient themselves better on the location of her nerves etc.
They stopped giving her a certain medication to help with her OMS because it wasn’t helping and in fact it was just making her SICK. She was able to go on a ride through the hospital on a wagon and she LOVED it. She was also able to see Laycee for about 20 minutes yesterday and she was laughing and smiling the whole time. She really misses her baby sister. My mom and dad watch her when they are home. But while they are gone at the hospital, Matt and I watch her. I must say I am getting pretty good at a baby on each hip!
Tomorrow the surgery will hopefully be at Noon. Take a second to think and say a little pray for her around then. Things are looking good as far as removing the tumor and deciding which type of chemo to give her. Before the thought was that some of the tumor may not be able to be removed because it was in her spine, but the surgeon had been looking at her most recent full body CAT scan for some time in he is confident that he can remove it all. We are REALLY hoping that the tumor isn't an aggressive type of cancer and that it HASN'T spread so it can be a really really mild form of Chemo they treat her with. After that is taken care of they can resume finding a good treatment for her OMS.
My aunt had a good thought and I am hoping some one can help us out with this. H and Brit have to go up stairs and use Primary Children’s public computers to post any sort of updates and check e-mail, they have time restrictions and no privacy. Is there anyone who has a laptop lying around that would so kind as to let them BORROW it for a week or so? It would be so nice if H and Brit could be able to stay in the room with Baylee and stay connected with the family on the internet. Please let myself or my mother know if that is a possibility. It would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thanks again for all the prayers, I feel like at this point we should see her health start to improve and hopefully tomorrow is a good day for her!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
The Latest news
Turns out they know the tumor is cancerous. It is larger then they originally thought and it is in her spine so they can’t remove the entire tumor. They will remove what they can on Monday and start Chemo after wards. Once Chemo is done then they will start treatments for her OMS. Again it is so rare of a syndrome that they are doing a mini documentary type thing on how she is doing with her different treatments. I guess she has had a film crew in and out of her room! They will most likely be the recipients of a ton of grants to help further the research of OMS. Which is AWESOME because I don’t even want to try and guess what their bill is totaling by now. She has about 6 or 7 doctors, speech therapists, oncologists, neurologists and the list goes on. She has all the help she needs thankfully.
Sounds like a long stay for my little niece in the hospital. In a few days, maybe after the surgery, they would like to see visitors. It is getting pretty monotonous there. With the recent changes in diagnosis, it's strict again with no visitors under the age of 14 and no more then 3 guests at a time. My brother and SIL will not leave her side, so food may be an issue in a couple days. Let me know if you have a free night and we'll all try and coordinate at least a special meal for the holidays and food the rest of the time they stay there. Right now they are covered by Britany's family but they will be leaving soon.
Keep the little lady in your prayers, she has a long battle ahead of her, but the doctors and all of us are optimistic.
Sounds like a long stay for my little niece in the hospital. In a few days, maybe after the surgery, they would like to see visitors. It is getting pretty monotonous there. With the recent changes in diagnosis, it's strict again with no visitors under the age of 14 and no more then 3 guests at a time. My brother and SIL will not leave her side, so food may be an issue in a couple days. Let me know if you have a free night and we'll all try and coordinate at least a special meal for the holidays and food the rest of the time they stay there. Right now they are covered by Britany's family but they will be leaving soon.
Keep the little lady in your prayers, she has a long battle ahead of her, but the doctors and all of us are optimistic.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Another Quick Update
The full body CAT scan revealed a tumor deep in her lower abdomen. It is right where the Common Iliac separates into the right and left Common Iliac arteries. It is a tricky spot for surgery but the surgeons are confident they can remove it safely. This surgery will be either on the 23rd or 24th to give the doctors time to all get on the same page. She has been moved out of the PICU and into just a regular room.
This is good news for visitors, under the age of 14 can visit as well as having more then just 3 guests at a time. I believe she will start on treatments tonight to start combating her OMS diagnosis and they are hoping the removal of the tumor with dramatically help in this fight. She has gotten more shaky and her vision is still shaky. Read HERE for more info on OMS. H and Brit are calmer now and hopefully over the next few days things can get better as they learn more, rather then the route she has been on the last few days.
Thanks again for all of the thoughts and prayers. We know what we have on our hands now and are learning the full scope of things. Since this is such a rare diagnosis, we are still uncertain if 100% recovery will be possible or if there will be any lasting side effects.
This is good news for visitors, under the age of 14 can visit as well as having more then just 3 guests at a time. I believe she will start on treatments tonight to start combating her OMS diagnosis and they are hoping the removal of the tumor with dramatically help in this fight. She has gotten more shaky and her vision is still shaky. Read HERE for more info on OMS. H and Brit are calmer now and hopefully over the next few days things can get better as they learn more, rather then the route she has been on the last few days.
Thanks again for all of the thoughts and prayers. We know what we have on our hands now and are learning the full scope of things. Since this is such a rare diagnosis, we are still uncertain if 100% recovery will be possible or if there will be any lasting side effects.
Quick Update
So while in Rexburg the Doctors found slight hemorrhaging in Baylee's frontal lobe of her brain. They thought that was the cause of the loss of motor skills and it is NEVER a good thing to have bleeding on the brain. Apparently Baylee was born with a few blood vessels clumped together and one of them started bleeding because of it. In that case it was only a matter of time before that happened. So they life-flighted her and her mother down to SLC Primary Children's hospital. My brother then picked up his other daughter and drove down. The understanding in Rexburg was that she would be rushed into surgery to stop the bleeding.
Once they got to SLC at the hospital, a kind Cousin Michael, Baylee's Great Grandpa Coombs and Matt were there to give her a blessing. They did so and we waited for more news. The Neurologist said that YES the bleeding was a problem but NOT the cause of her loss of motor skills. I should say that Baylee is still functional, she knew who I was and who my husband and Grandpa were when she saw us, she can still smile and talk like nothing is wrong, she just cant walk or really sit up very long by herself. I will also add, having taken my own child to Primary Children's that the Doctors up there, know their stuff!
Today they are doing more tests on Baylee, the Doctors believe the cause of all this is a tumor somewhere. He tried to find it with out a full body CAT scan with no luck. The reason she is loosing her motor skills is because her body is releasing a chemical to fight to Tumor and it is affecting her neurons negatively. I guess this is very rare situation but the Doctor there reviewing Baylee's case has treated 2 other patients with the same thing. Things are very optimistic as this point for hopefully finding the tumor today, of course surgery to remove the tumor, and her recovery will be 100%. The Doc said whether it's a couple weeks, a couple months or a year, she'll be back. She will have to go through physical therapy to help her remember how to walk etc. but I have a feeling Baylee wont need much help there. My guess is in a couple weeks she'll be as good as gold.
As for right now, H and Brit are waiting for the team of Neurologists to come in and talk with them before the CAT scan. Baylee is in good spirits this morning.
Matt and I have been watching Laycee while her parents are up at the hospital with Baylee.
Thank you so much to everyone for your thoughts and prayers, she isn't "out of the woods" yet but getting very close and we are all hopeful for a speedy recovery!
Once they got to SLC at the hospital, a kind Cousin Michael, Baylee's Great Grandpa Coombs and Matt were there to give her a blessing. They did so and we waited for more news. The Neurologist said that YES the bleeding was a problem but NOT the cause of her loss of motor skills. I should say that Baylee is still functional, she knew who I was and who my husband and Grandpa were when she saw us, she can still smile and talk like nothing is wrong, she just cant walk or really sit up very long by herself. I will also add, having taken my own child to Primary Children's that the Doctors up there, know their stuff!
Today they are doing more tests on Baylee, the Doctors believe the cause of all this is a tumor somewhere. He tried to find it with out a full body CAT scan with no luck. The reason she is loosing her motor skills is because her body is releasing a chemical to fight to Tumor and it is affecting her neurons negatively. I guess this is very rare situation but the Doctor there reviewing Baylee's case has treated 2 other patients with the same thing. Things are very optimistic as this point for hopefully finding the tumor today, of course surgery to remove the tumor, and her recovery will be 100%. The Doc said whether it's a couple weeks, a couple months or a year, she'll be back. She will have to go through physical therapy to help her remember how to walk etc. but I have a feeling Baylee wont need much help there. My guess is in a couple weeks she'll be as good as gold.
As for right now, H and Brit are waiting for the team of Neurologists to come in and talk with them before the CAT scan. Baylee is in good spirits this morning.
Matt and I have been watching Laycee while her parents are up at the hospital with Baylee.
Thank you so much to everyone for your thoughts and prayers, she isn't "out of the woods" yet but getting very close and we are all hopeful for a speedy recovery!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Christmas Wish
So when I said a week and a half ago that I was excited to fast again for the benefit of someone else, I wouldn't have guessed it would be so soon, and hit so close to home. But I am glad to be doing SOMETHING, none of us know how else to help.
Two nights ago my 2 year old niece, was getting dizzy and falling over. My brother and SIL thought she may have an ear infection. They took her to the Dr. in the morning to find that it isn’t an ear infection and that slowly my niece’s motor skills (walking, eating, playing etc. etc.) were digressing. They became more and more concerned to the point where they took her in for a CAT scan yesterday afternoon. They told them to go home afterwards and they would call them as soon as the results came in (they were looking for a tumor, or different diseases that might effect the brain). The evening came with results of a negative CAT scan meaning, nothing there...they then decided to do more tests this morning, a spinal tap, and MRI and more blood work. But as the day grew to a close my niece got to point where she was trying to crawl, but couldn’t do it successfully. My brother called the Dr. again and they decided to take her in to the ER. They have been monitoring her all evening and she is getting slightly worse all the while.
Currently they are trying to get an MRI done, but they are having a hard time giving her an IV to put her under anesthesia and get her in. They did a spinal tap, the liquid was clear, but they are still testing it for other problems AND the results of MORE blood work will come in this afternoon hopefully. As this point it's just a matter of narrowing it down. An episode of HOUSE maybe? (I don’t watch that show really ever, I just know the premise... bad analogy?)
A special thanks to my other Spence SIL, for watching my little 10 mo. old niece, while both my Brother and SIL can be at the hospital with their oldest. As of now, there isn't much anyone can do but to fast and pray for a proper diagnosis and a speedy solution.
If any of you know this niece of mine, she is a ball of fire and doesn't know how to walk, all she does is RUN! Let's all hope and PRAY that very soon she can be doing that again. I was having troubles thinking of something I may want for Christmas... I think that this is my Christmas wish now, a happy healthy family especially for this niece of mine.
Prayers are appreciated on her behalf :)
I’ll let all know more as soon as I know it.
Two nights ago my 2 year old niece, was getting dizzy and falling over. My brother and SIL thought she may have an ear infection. They took her to the Dr. in the morning to find that it isn’t an ear infection and that slowly my niece’s motor skills (walking, eating, playing etc. etc.) were digressing. They became more and more concerned to the point where they took her in for a CAT scan yesterday afternoon. They told them to go home afterwards and they would call them as soon as the results came in (they were looking for a tumor, or different diseases that might effect the brain). The evening came with results of a negative CAT scan meaning, nothing there...they then decided to do more tests this morning, a spinal tap, and MRI and more blood work. But as the day grew to a close my niece got to point where she was trying to crawl, but couldn’t do it successfully. My brother called the Dr. again and they decided to take her in to the ER. They have been monitoring her all evening and she is getting slightly worse all the while.
Currently they are trying to get an MRI done, but they are having a hard time giving her an IV to put her under anesthesia and get her in. They did a spinal tap, the liquid was clear, but they are still testing it for other problems AND the results of MORE blood work will come in this afternoon hopefully. As this point it's just a matter of narrowing it down. An episode of HOUSE maybe? (I don’t watch that show really ever, I just know the premise... bad analogy?)
A special thanks to my other Spence SIL, for watching my little 10 mo. old niece, while both my Brother and SIL can be at the hospital with their oldest. As of now, there isn't much anyone can do but to fast and pray for a proper diagnosis and a speedy solution.
If any of you know this niece of mine, she is a ball of fire and doesn't know how to walk, all she does is RUN! Let's all hope and PRAY that very soon she can be doing that again. I was having troubles thinking of something I may want for Christmas... I think that this is my Christmas wish now, a happy healthy family especially for this niece of mine.
Prayers are appreciated on her behalf :)
I’ll let all know more as soon as I know it.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
For Inquiring Minds
For those of you that are curious,
Ty is doing better but he's not completely out of the woods yet with his Hydronephrosis. It has gone from moderate when he was born to a very mild case as of today. The radiologist wouldn't mind seeing Ty again in about 6 months, but he forsee's that it will completely leave as he continues to grow. He hasn't had any infections or problems because of it so far and his kidneys are developing at a healthy rate. This means he probably doesnt need another VCUG! Hallelujah! (I still cringe thinking about the first time, poor little guy!)
(Here are my boys, tuckered out after the appointment today...Like Father like Son)
Tender Mercies Tuesday: Family Memory Picture
When you think back on times when you were young in a family, or have a young family yourself are there particular times you wish you could have taken a picture to remember that moment? I remember having this wish a few times when I was young and I had one of those moments last Sunday.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Ty videos and weekend Ice Skating
First up here are some random pictures from the BYU vs ASU game we went to on Tuesday night. It was a good game, we won! 
Geeks... for sure. HAHA
Here is a video of Ty WEAK SAUCE Jumping, usually he is WAY more crazy but he knew the camera was on. Sorry for the horrible videography (I need to learn to never turn the camera sideways...) then a quick one of Ty eating a puff.
Now on the the weekend fun.
This weekend was an interesting one, It started off Friday with a yummy Turkey dinner. We had the Readings over and something didn't go right with Suzanne. We went to see our cousin Kenzie perform in a Ballet and afterwards Matt popped in a movie that he and Preston wanted to see. Suzanne wasn't doing well and by the middle was upstairs yacking. Poor girl, she has a stomach condition called Gastroparesis. She wasnt sure if it was that or the Flu or both... all though she didn't get a fever. She was so sick they ended up spending the night and sleeping in Ty's room. We pulled Ty in with us in ours.Ty didnt sleep well, niether did we or Suzanne OR Preston...
This weekend was an interesting one, It started off Friday with a yummy Turkey dinner. We had the Readings over and something didn't go right with Suzanne. We went to see our cousin Kenzie perform in a Ballet and afterwards Matt popped in a movie that he and Preston wanted to see. Suzanne wasn't doing well and by the middle was upstairs yacking. Poor girl, she has a stomach condition called Gastroparesis. She wasnt sure if it was that or the Flu or both... all though she didn't get a fever. She was so sick they ended up spending the night and sleeping in Ty's room. We pulled Ty in with us in ours.Ty didnt sleep well, niether did we or Suzanne OR Preston...
In the morning Suzanne was really weak and it had snowed all night so they weren't in a hurry to go anywhere. Matt and Pres took a ride in his truck to test out the new beefy tires while I got myself and Ty ready. Then all of us besides Suzanne headed off to the Church Christmas party (where Ty was baby Jesus and did a SPECTACULAR job, Matt and I were just okay haha) and Preston and Matt ate a TON of morning munchy type food. (Every time Matt has a hat on Ty takes it off, then we remembered our friends gave Ty this hat, it fit perfectly and he loves it)
After we got back from the party Suzanne was finally good enough to make it home. Then all three of us took a mid afternoon nap.
When we woke up headed down to the Wu house for some great dinner, Ice Skating and watching a BYU Basketball game. You see, last year around this time Matt told Jason he wanted to take him Ice Skating. Jason of COURSE remembered and decided that it was time so he asked Matt a little while ago to take him. We found the time and went. Jason took A LOT of breaks but he told me that he really liked it. It was so much fun! They turned the lights off (thats why the picture is grainy) and put on a whole bunch of crazy lights on, Jason kept wanting to chase them. Thanks to Kristin for watching the Ty guy while we skated.
Sunday we went to church, talked to a few family members on the phone, then bummed around eating left overs from Friday nights BIG dinner and watched a couple of movies. We made brownies again and this time they turned out well so Matt could bring them into work this morning. Whew no essence of banana THIS time.
Friday, December 11, 2009
6 month stats
Here are Ty's current stats compared to his 4 month stats.
6 mo. weight 17.42 lbs 49th percentile
4 mo. weight 14.77 47th percentile
6 mo. length 27.76 89th percentile
4 mo. length 25.39 67th percentile
6 mo. head circumference 17.7 in 83rd percentile
4 mo. head circumference 17.1 in 79th percentile
I knew he grew but not that much! WOW Matt and I were way off on our guesses! Ty's Doctor as always told me what a STUD we have on our hands. The second he walks in Ty is smiling from ear to ear and was even chatting it up with him. Ty has another appointment next week at Primary Childrens for his kidneys and hopefully that is the LAST one. He is now allowed to eat any sort of baby food and little puffs. I bet Ty will dig those! He is still just rolling around he doesnt crawl yet but I am guessing next month he'll start going. His favorite thing was the paper that is on the doctor table thing, he practically went through the entire roll. He pulled it all while I wasn't paying attention and I look over to see him going to town with it! It crinkles and thats what he likes. Our doc said to give him a roll of wrapping paper for Christmas and he'll be SET. He had 5 shots today including the H1N1, I didn't get one myself but Heck, give him one while your giving him all the others I guess. He was a trooper and didnt even cry he was too busy playing with the paper!
6 mo. weight 17.42 lbs 49th percentile
4 mo. weight 14.77 47th percentile
6 mo. length 27.76 89th percentile
4 mo. length 25.39 67th percentile
6 mo. head circumference 17.7 in 83rd percentile
4 mo. head circumference 17.1 in 79th percentile
I knew he grew but not that much! WOW Matt and I were way off on our guesses! Ty's Doctor as always told me what a STUD we have on our hands. The second he walks in Ty is smiling from ear to ear and was even chatting it up with him. Ty has another appointment next week at Primary Childrens for his kidneys and hopefully that is the LAST one. He is now allowed to eat any sort of baby food and little puffs. I bet Ty will dig those! He is still just rolling around he doesnt crawl yet but I am guessing next month he'll start going. His favorite thing was the paper that is on the doctor table thing, he practically went through the entire roll. He pulled it all while I wasn't paying attention and I look over to see him going to town with it! It crinkles and thats what he likes. Our doc said to give him a roll of wrapping paper for Christmas and he'll be SET. He had 5 shots today including the H1N1, I didn't get one myself but Heck, give him one while your giving him all the others I guess. He was a trooper and didnt even cry he was too busy playing with the paper!
Watch out Sierra in a few months Ty will be bigger then YOU!
P.S. I was taking these pictures and this is what Ty looked like, Asleep right?
Well for this next picture I was going in for the close up so I switched the function on my camera and looked down to see this! 
Whoa! Wide awake! I jumped and almost yelped because he didn't move or make a sound so I wasn't expecting him to be awake! It was like one of those alien times... Kristin knows what I am talking about... Oh and I dont know why blogger wont load the photo horizontal, it will only go vertical. Dont get a crick in your neck looking at the picture okay? Again that was aimed at Kristin. Bobbie doesnt have time to work the tweak out of your neck, she has 2 kiddos now and is busy busy! Haha
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Christmas Survey and an Auction
Hey all, my cousin had this on her site and I thought it was worth filling out, so you do it too if you want.
1. What do you want most for Christmas?
Hmmm, nothing these days. Well really little things here and there... but nothing really exciting or big.
2. Do you believe in Father Christmas?
Sure.
3. What is your favorite food at Christmas?
Mmm Chocolate something
4. Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?
Yep
5. Have you finished your Christmas shopping yet?
Nope still need to pick up a few things for Ty and Matt , everone else is ready.
6. What is your favorite Christmas song?
WOW way too many to count, Joy to the world, I heard the bells on Christmas Day, For Unto us a Son is given, Christmas Bells, The Carol of the Bells, I could go on forever.
7. What is your favorite Christmas movie?
Miracle on 34th Street
8. What is your best memory of Christmas?
Picking out presents for my siblings when I was REALLY little at the Dollar Store because thats all the money I had.
9. What do you look forward to most at Christmas?
Snuggling with my boys on Cold December nights.
10. What are you doing for Christmas this year?
Spending time with my family, probably going to my sisters house and talking to my brother who is on a Mission.
11. Who do you want to kiss under the mistletoe?
My GORGEOUS husband
12. What kind of Christmas tree do you have?
A whimpy Charlie Brown tree that Matt picked out... its still cute though.
13. Do you take part in a secret Santa?
Unfortunatley this year our theme is "If I had, I would give" We usually do though.
14. Do you go to any Christmas parties?
Yep
15. Have you ever had a white Christmas?
Oh yeah, I live in Utah last year it was about a 3 foot white Christmas, MISERABLE.
16. How early do you wake up on Christmas morning?
7-ish
17. Do you still get a stocking?
Nope, our family has boots. I guess they hold more stuff then Stockings.
18. How many Christmas cards do you normally send out?
About 60
19. What is your Christmas wish?
That all are open to receiving God's amazing Gospel
20. Egg nog or hot cider?
Hot Cocoa... oh wait that wasnt an option. Probably Hot Cider... Wassel is SO yummy.
21. Angel or star?
We have a Star but growing up we had an angel.
22. Decorating the tree or putting lights on the outside?
Both for the first time this year!
23. Warm cozy fires or sleigh rides?
Both!
24. Caroling or Christmas stories?
Caroling! Ty and I sing ALL the time and dance around.
25. Red or Green?
Not a huge fan of either, i'll go with "Silver and Gold"
And on a blog I follow done by some gals from back home, placetobloom.blogspot.com they are doing an auction to help some darling kids with Kidney issues. If you have time jump on over and check it out.
1. What do you want most for Christmas?
Hmmm, nothing these days. Well really little things here and there... but nothing really exciting or big.
2. Do you believe in Father Christmas?
Sure.
3. What is your favorite food at Christmas?
Mmm Chocolate something
4. Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?
Yep
5. Have you finished your Christmas shopping yet?
Nope still need to pick up a few things for Ty and Matt , everone else is ready.
6. What is your favorite Christmas song?
WOW way too many to count, Joy to the world, I heard the bells on Christmas Day, For Unto us a Son is given, Christmas Bells, The Carol of the Bells, I could go on forever.
7. What is your favorite Christmas movie?
Miracle on 34th Street
8. What is your best memory of Christmas?
Picking out presents for my siblings when I was REALLY little at the Dollar Store because thats all the money I had.
9. What do you look forward to most at Christmas?
Snuggling with my boys on Cold December nights.
10. What are you doing for Christmas this year?
Spending time with my family, probably going to my sisters house and talking to my brother who is on a Mission.
11. Who do you want to kiss under the mistletoe?
My GORGEOUS husband
12. What kind of Christmas tree do you have?
A whimpy Charlie Brown tree that Matt picked out... its still cute though.
13. Do you take part in a secret Santa?
Unfortunatley this year our theme is "If I had, I would give" We usually do though.
14. Do you go to any Christmas parties?
Yep
15. Have you ever had a white Christmas?
Oh yeah, I live in Utah last year it was about a 3 foot white Christmas, MISERABLE.
16. How early do you wake up on Christmas morning?
7-ish
17. Do you still get a stocking?
Nope, our family has boots. I guess they hold more stuff then Stockings.
18. How many Christmas cards do you normally send out?
About 60
19. What is your Christmas wish?
That all are open to receiving God's amazing Gospel
20. Egg nog or hot cider?
Hot Cocoa... oh wait that wasnt an option. Probably Hot Cider... Wassel is SO yummy.
21. Angel or star?
We have a Star but growing up we had an angel.
22. Decorating the tree or putting lights on the outside?
Both for the first time this year!
23. Warm cozy fires or sleigh rides?
Both!
24. Caroling or Christmas stories?
Caroling! Ty and I sing ALL the time and dance around.
25. Red or Green?
Not a huge fan of either, i'll go with "Silver and Gold"
And on a blog I follow done by some gals from back home, placetobloom.blogspot.com they are doing an auction to help some darling kids with Kidney issues. If you have time jump on over and check it out.
Lesson Learned
I was baking brownies last night for Matt to take to work and share with his co-workers. As I was making them all I could smell was banana. I have a COLD though I was hoping my sense of smell was just off. I had Matt taste the batter and he said it tasted "interesting" I said "does it taste like Banana?" He said "Yeah that’s what it is!" I said "ohhh I wonder how that happened... are they still worth baking?" He said "sure". So I baked them and frosted them and gave him another taste, he said "uhhh no I don’t like that taste at all.., Its a banana flavored brownie". I realized how it tasted like banana. Kristin gave me 3 "going bad" bananas and 2 sticks of butter to make banana bread. I left all of it in a bag in my fridge. I ended up waiting too long to bake banana bars so I had to huck the bananas and I kept the butter. That was the same butter I used to bake the brownies.
Note to self: Butter tastes like anything that it is stored with for an extended period of time.
The whole batch of brownies went in the trash and I’ll have to bake some more some other time... Dang there goes a ton of time and ingredients, but I did learn a lesson, never continue with the process if the BROWNIES you are making SMELL like BANANA.
Note to self: Butter tastes like anything that it is stored with for an extended period of time.
The whole batch of brownies went in the trash and I’ll have to bake some more some other time... Dang there goes a ton of time and ingredients, but I did learn a lesson, never continue with the process if the BROWNIES you are making SMELL like BANANA.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Superstar
So for the 4th Sunday in a row a member of the bishopric asked to speak with us, 1st and 2nd Sundays were "get to know you" visits, the 3rd was the extension of a calling to me, to be the YW Athletic Director...(knew that was coming) and what was the 4th Sunday you ask?
Well Matt is turning into the new ward superstar... that or they think if they don’t give him something to do he wont show... (the latter is highly improbable). He was asked to be the Narrator during the Christmas Presentation during Sacrament Meeting on the 20th. Reason why you ask? He blessed the Sacrament a few Sundays back and the YW in the ward thought he had SUCH A GOOD PRAYER VOICE. Here it goes again, the Young Women confusing Matt for a younger guy then he is...(He's not a young'n gals, he's obviously married to me and we have a child...)
THEN they asked US to be Mary and Joseph with our Baby Jesus (Ty) at the Christmas Party... I was NOT thrilled about that one. Matt was all sort of excited, for any of you that have seen the movie "Four Christmases" he has been saying "Red Leather, Yellow Leather" for days now as well as strutting around the house in his bath robe... eesh.
He says this is his big break! Narrator AND Joseph. Yikes. If anyone has some good acting tips send them his way or else it may end up just like the scene in the "Four Christmases" movie... haha
Well Matt is turning into the new ward superstar... that or they think if they don’t give him something to do he wont show... (the latter is highly improbable). He was asked to be the Narrator during the Christmas Presentation during Sacrament Meeting on the 20th. Reason why you ask? He blessed the Sacrament a few Sundays back and the YW in the ward thought he had SUCH A GOOD PRAYER VOICE. Here it goes again, the Young Women confusing Matt for a younger guy then he is...(He's not a young'n gals, he's obviously married to me and we have a child...)
THEN they asked US to be Mary and Joseph with our Baby Jesus (Ty) at the Christmas Party... I was NOT thrilled about that one. Matt was all sort of excited, for any of you that have seen the movie "Four Christmases" he has been saying "Red Leather, Yellow Leather" for days now as well as strutting around the house in his bath robe... eesh.
He says this is his big break! Narrator AND Joseph. Yikes. If anyone has some good acting tips send them his way or else it may end up just like the scene in the "Four Christmases" movie... haha
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Tender Mercies Tuesday: The Law of the Fast
Every first Sunday of the month, all members of my LDS faith are encouraged to fast. Fasting is a very common thing among religious folk, and has been since the beginning of time.
Daniel 9:3 states: "And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes"
or Joel 2:12 "Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning"
Whelp, I must admit that is about how it is for me when fasting, weeping and mourning. I have a very specific eating schedule and when I miss it I am one GROUCHY girl. (Yes I am my father’s daughter, he has learned how to deal with it, I have not yet) I have fasted for things before but it is always accompanied with prayer.
I have faith in prayer and believe it works but as far as fasting goes.... hmmm I don't think I have been doing it right.
Last Sunday, for the first time in our Marriage, Matt asked what should WE fast for, I thought WE? Since when do we both talk about what WE should fast for? Usually we do that on our own, since I am such a bad faster. I have been trying to work on being happy when I go with out breakfast or lunch, But I’ll tell ya it's hard.
Last Sunday though I realized that maybe if I thought about fasting more as trying to be more spiritually fed rather then thinking about physical food, AND study my scriptures for stories about fasting it would be easier. So I did, and I learned a ton! It was all stuff I needed to know. I also listened closely to those that bore TESTIMONY of the power of fasting. That is when I thought back on times in my life where fasting has blessed my life. The most powerful and recent one that hit me was when I was pregnant with Ty and we were unsure about medical issues we were having. The Sunday BEFORE he was born, our entire family had a fast for little Ty. As you all know it was a rocky time but he pulled through. I had a little nudge from the Holy Spirit tell me "You don't even want to know what would have happened with out that fast, faith and prayers of your husband and family members"
SOOOO Now I know, fasting works, It works to help you feel the Spirit in your heart when you need it, it helps clear your mind to receive answers to your prayers, and it helps to fast on the behalf of others. I know first hand that it does! Like I said I don’t even WANT to know what WOULD have happened!
I have a new found appreciation for fasting and I am actually excited for the first Sunday in January when I have an opportunity to fast for the benefit of others AND myself.
Daniel 9:3 states: "And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes"
or Joel 2:12 "Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning"
Whelp, I must admit that is about how it is for me when fasting, weeping and mourning. I have a very specific eating schedule and when I miss it I am one GROUCHY girl. (Yes I am my father’s daughter, he has learned how to deal with it, I have not yet) I have fasted for things before but it is always accompanied with prayer.
I have faith in prayer and believe it works but as far as fasting goes.... hmmm I don't think I have been doing it right.
Last Sunday, for the first time in our Marriage, Matt asked what should WE fast for, I thought WE? Since when do we both talk about what WE should fast for? Usually we do that on our own, since I am such a bad faster. I have been trying to work on being happy when I go with out breakfast or lunch, But I’ll tell ya it's hard.
Last Sunday though I realized that maybe if I thought about fasting more as trying to be more spiritually fed rather then thinking about physical food, AND study my scriptures for stories about fasting it would be easier. So I did, and I learned a ton! It was all stuff I needed to know. I also listened closely to those that bore TESTIMONY of the power of fasting. That is when I thought back on times in my life where fasting has blessed my life. The most powerful and recent one that hit me was when I was pregnant with Ty and we were unsure about medical issues we were having. The Sunday BEFORE he was born, our entire family had a fast for little Ty. As you all know it was a rocky time but he pulled through. I had a little nudge from the Holy Spirit tell me "You don't even want to know what would have happened with out that fast, faith and prayers of your husband and family members"
SOOOO Now I know, fasting works, It works to help you feel the Spirit in your heart when you need it, it helps clear your mind to receive answers to your prayers, and it helps to fast on the behalf of others. I know first hand that it does! Like I said I don’t even WANT to know what WOULD have happened!
I have a new found appreciation for fasting and I am actually excited for the first Sunday in January when I have an opportunity to fast for the benefit of others AND myself.
Monday, December 7, 2009
The PERFECT Tree
We had a fake tree our first Christmas, it bummed me out big time. Still being a true Oregonian I wanted that evergreen scent as I walked in the house. Every year since our first year we have bought a real tree. Matt suggested that we should go to the mountains at least once and go cut down our own. Suzanne and I looked around to find out places and how much tags were. We both came to find that you have to get your tags in early Nov. Whoops missed that boat! So to Smiths we went, like we did last year. They have 7-8 footers and 5-6 footers.
Well not so much....
I had to make sure there was enough water in the tree stand... boy can these things suck up the water!
It was snowing lightly, and we went with the Readings truck (and the Readings of course) and we both picked out trees.
As I mentioned earlier Matt is a bit of a Scrooge so he insisted on a 5-6 foot.... whaaa? Well this is the one we picked, looks huge huh! (As Matt was picking it up he said, "Mick is this like sword in the stone?" as he tugged and tugged he said... "I dont think this one's it" haha)
Well not so much....
I had to make sure there was enough water in the tree stand... boy can these things suck up the water! Ty had a grand time playing with Aunt Zan while we set everything up. 
I put the lights on and the garland all ready but the hanging of the ornaments will be tonight for our Family Home Evening activity.
I put the lights on and the garland all ready but the hanging of the ornaments will be tonight for our Family Home Evening activity.OH and we put Christmas lights up too, for the first time :) I felt like a grown up with Christmas lights of my own on my house! I LOVE them. I think Matt's Christmas spirit is at about 30% now... yikes we better conserve! Luckily we had football games and basketball games going all day long, channels 2 3 and 4 all had good games on, we were both in heaven! So it wasn't TOO Christmas-y for him.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
3 Things to Note
1.Two nights ago, Matt and I went with Preston and Suzanne to see the play "A Christmas Carol", it was so great. I really liked it and it totally kicked off the Christmas season perfectly. Although Matt made me a spread sheet yesterday stating that listening to Christmas music so soon AND going to that play has used about 40% of his Christmas spirit and we are well on our way to a fast Bah Humbug attitude for the season. He is usually much more of a scrooge by this time to be honest. This is an improvement on years passed. I told him as we have more kids AND as Ty grows older his Christmas spirit capacity better grow... kids will be VERY EXCITED for Christmas. He said he was working on it, and I have actually noticed that he's getting better. Hopefully the First Presidency Christmas Devotional on Sunday and the MOTAB Christmas concert won't shoot his Christmas Spirit wad! (I doubt it will but we might be close)
2. BYU got their tails whipped last night by USU in Men's Basketball. I should note the horrific officiating (doesn’t it seem like when your team looses you always notice that?) but nothing was falling for our best guys. Even Jimmer was 5 for 15. That is HORRIBLE! I think over our best 3 offensive players they were 8 for 32, a solid 25% shooting. Hopefully we can rebound quickly and play well this weekend. Oh and especially at home against AZ St. on Tuesday. We will need that win.
3. I went to the Post Office a few days ago. In ours, as with most, there are doors that they keep open so you can see into the back. I was watching and listening while standing in line and this gal carted a big bin of parcels over to some separation bins. I over heard her chant "FRA JIL EH .... FRA JIL EH" as she walked over, (meaning fragile). Then she picked up her first package and I saw on the side that it clearly said fragile all over it. Then AWAY IT FLEW into a bin. I smirked a bit thinking “wow THAT is fragile care?” Then again and again I saw this happen ALL with FRAGILE written on the sides of the packages. Some I heard thud, others I heard tumble all the way down the pile. I must admit, she was tossing them softly to begin with... but it was a toss none the less. So I learned a lesson with the Post Office that day, anything fragile, I mean TRULY fragile of mine will be sent FedEx or UPS! Oh and from NOW ON, no matter what I am sending… it's “fragile”, I can't imagine what that one gal does with packages that DONT say fragile... oh no excuse me "FRA JIL EH" on the side. Hopefully your Post Office workers are kinder to your packages.
2. BYU got their tails whipped last night by USU in Men's Basketball. I should note the horrific officiating (doesn’t it seem like when your team looses you always notice that?) but nothing was falling for our best guys. Even Jimmer was 5 for 15. That is HORRIBLE! I think over our best 3 offensive players they were 8 for 32, a solid 25% shooting. Hopefully we can rebound quickly and play well this weekend. Oh and especially at home against AZ St. on Tuesday. We will need that win.
3. I went to the Post Office a few days ago. In ours, as with most, there are doors that they keep open so you can see into the back. I was watching and listening while standing in line and this gal carted a big bin of parcels over to some separation bins. I over heard her chant "FRA JIL EH .... FRA JIL EH" as she walked over, (meaning fragile). Then she picked up her first package and I saw on the side that it clearly said fragile all over it. Then AWAY IT FLEW into a bin. I smirked a bit thinking “wow THAT is fragile care?” Then again and again I saw this happen ALL with FRAGILE written on the sides of the packages. Some I heard thud, others I heard tumble all the way down the pile. I must admit, she was tossing them softly to begin with... but it was a toss none the less. So I learned a lesson with the Post Office that day, anything fragile, I mean TRULY fragile of mine will be sent FedEx or UPS! Oh and from NOW ON, no matter what I am sending… it's “fragile”, I can't imagine what that one gal does with packages that DONT say fragile... oh no excuse me "FRA JIL EH" on the side. Hopefully your Post Office workers are kinder to your packages.
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