Summer Vacation

We had a wonderful time at my parents house in Utah for vacation! We left on Saturday the 15th and came back on Friday the 21st. It was a very short trip but we had non stop fun!! My mom picked us up from the airport and on the way to her house we stopped by Ryan's apartment to see his family. We ended up going out to eat at Zuppa's. It was so good! They have soups, salads, and sandwiches. I got the California Turkey sandwich and a cup of wild mushroom soup. YUMMY!!! After we ate we just went back to my mom's house and pretty much just went to bed. We were pretty tired!!

Sunday we went to church with my mom and dad and after church Ryan and Adrienne's families came over and we ate roast. The kids had so much fun playing together!

Monday we met Adrienne and the kids at McDonald's and ate lunch. After lunch we went to the Lehi pool. It is a couple of pools with some water slides and a lazy river. Cole was too afraid to go down the big slide but I took Leila down it and she had so much fun! Tristan and Ana came later to swim with us. We didn't stay very long because Adrienne had to go to work and the kids were pretty worn out from swimming! That night we went out to eat at NYPD Pizza with Ryan and Sandra. The pizza was ok and the service was horrible.

Tuesday I went with my mom to her preop appointment. (She had surgery on her knee again this last Monday.) We got back and waited for dad to get off work and then met Tristan and Ana at Costco for a hot dog. Then we took a drive to Cascade Springs in the mountains. It was so beautiful!! The kids had fun looking for waterfalls and looking at all the water made from melted snow. They liked looking for fish in the water too! That night I think all we did was eat chinese chicken salad at my mom's house.

Wednesday we dropped the kids off at Ryan and Sandra's house so we could go to the Salt Lake Temple. It was so beautiful inside!! I was so glad that Sandra babysat for us so we could go, but wish she could have gone too! After the temple we picked up the kids and went to eat at Mimi's with Adrienne and Ryan's families. The kids were soooo crazy! Partly because they told us it was a 30 minute wait and it ended up being more like an hour wait. Ryan and Sandra invited Leila and Cole to spend the night with them that night. It was such a nice break for us. That was the first time they had ever spent the night somewhere else besides Roy's parents house. They had such a fun time with Max and Luke! Leila just adores Mia too!

Thursday we met Sandra and ate at Iceburg in Salt Lake. They have the best milkshakes! After lunch we went to the outlet mall in Park City. Ryan met us there and picked up Roy and the boys to go play golf. We didn't know this at the time but the golf course doesn't allow children on the course. So Roy and Ryan didn't get to play! I felt really bad! Mom and dad left the outlet mall before Sandra and I. Sandra and I left the outlet mall to go to Quilted Bear. It is this awesome store that kind of reminds me of a flea market. A bunch of different vendors set up their own booths and sell hand crafted things. We got there a 7pm and they close at 7pm. I was so upset!! We just went back to mom and dad's and ate corn on the cob, watermelon, cantaloupe, salad, and some leftover stuff.

Friday, on the way to the airport, mom and dad drove us to Quilted Bear so I could take a look around. I was so glad I was able to go! I absolutely love that store!! Then they dropped us off at the airport for our 1:30pm flight. I really did not want to leave! We finally got home at about 9pm. Roy's parents came to our house at about midnight. We really didn't stay up because we were all really tired!

Saturday we woke up and I made bacon, eggs, and waffles. Then the girls went to Target and the boys went to Lowe's. That night I made chicken tetrazini (sp?) and a birthday cake. We celebrated Roy, Leila, and Madison's birthdays. Their birthdays are all really close together. Leila's is the 9th, Roy's is the 15th, and Madison's is the 18th of September. After cake they opened their presents. Leila was so excited to get new shoes, pajamas, a barbie car, barbie jeep, a Hannah Montana barbie, a shirt, a hat, and some money.

Sunday Roy had to be at church a little early to meet with someone about a new calling. He was called to be the financial clerk. He is really excited about this calling! He was the financial clerk in Slidell and thinks that it is the best calling ever!! We only stayed for Sacrament Meeting because Roy's parents were going to be leaving and they were watching Leila and Cole for us.

We had such a great time with all of our family! We wish we all lived closer together so we could spend more time with each other!

Olivia and Leila

Our view coming home from Cascade Springs
My dad, Ana and the kids at Cascade Springs

Tristan, Leila, and Cole on an abandoned tractor by my parent's house.
Cole inside the bucket.
Almost all the boy cousins. The only one we are missing is Timmons. Back row: Andrew and Cameron. Front Row L to R: Cole, Luke, Parker, Sawyer, Max, and Taylor.
Some of the girl cousins. Olivia, Mia, Leila, and Lilly
Waiting to board our airplane. Lilly was so hyper at that time!

Roy Update

So Roy finally got in to do his EEG that he was supposed to do back in May but the doctor's office canceled the appointment. He set up his follow up appointment and the earliest time they had open was in October so he went ahead and scheduled it. They called back the next day and said that his doctor wanted him to come in earlier than that. So we set up an appointment for August 31. This last Monday we got another phone call from the doctor's office saying they have an opening for the next day so we took it. We were very nervous for this appointment because they were so anxious to get him in. The doctor went over his EEG and MRI and said that the spots he has on his brain are called mesial temporal sclerosis. Which he said is basically scar tissue. The only thing that Roy can remember ever happening to him that would cause scar tissue is when he was 3 he hit his head on the coffee table and about 8 years ago he was in a car accident. The doctor said neither of those incidents would have caused the scar tissue where it is so we are still stumped. The doctor did say that if he continues to have seizures he can increase his dosage on his current meds and if they continue after that there is 1 more medicine they can try. If he still has them after that they can perform surgery to remove that area of his brain. He said that the scar tissue is in an area that can easily be removed or there is another surgery they can try. They would put something in him that he described would be like a pace maker. He said after the surgery about 70% of seizure patients don't have seizures anymore. We are very pleased that we finally got some answers on what the "spots" are on his brain. (even if we don't know how they got there.) We are also very happy to hear that he would be a candidate for surgery if need be.

Playing Catch Up!

The past few weeks have been kind of crazy around here. Our friends Mike and Lisa from Slidell came to visit for a couple of days. The kids had a really good time playing with Carson and Sydney. After they left the kids have been busy trying to keep cool in our 100+ heat. They go swimming every Wednesday and Friday at friends houses from church. We are so thankful to have friends that so graciously let us hang out at their pool for play group.

Lilly turned 1 on June 26th. I feel really bad that I didn't have a birthday party for her! Oh well! We went to Houston on June 23rd-25th and stayed in a hotel because Roy had meetings. I took the kids to Chuck E Cheese to sort of celebrate Lilly's birthday. Anyway when we came home from Houston we got Lilly an ice cream cake and let her open her presents. She got a Willa Nilla doll, a little puppy (when you pet its back it barks and wags its tail), and a stroller that will help her walk. She likes the box that the stroller came in much better. I could have saved some money by just giving her a box! At Lilly's 1 year doctor's appointment, the doctor told us that he wants us to go see the Pediatric Neurologist because when he checked her reflexes she over reacted with her right leg. She did the same thing at her 9 month appointment. He just wants us to see if this is something we need to be concerned about. He was very excited about all of the things she has accomplished since her 9 month appointment though. She has started crawling, climbing on things, pulling up on everything, and she is now starting to cruise along the couch. She also has started babbling alot. She can say momma, dadda, bobba, and a bunch of other babble sounds. She also sings when music comes on. She sounds like Ariel from The Little Mermaid. We are so thankful for these accomplishments! We were so concerned that she wouldn't be able to do anything since it took her so long to even sit up or crawl. Lilly has brought us so much joy in the last year and I don't know what we would do if we didn't have her. She is going to be such a good big sister! (I hope!) She will have to share all her toys and clothes when her little sister Laurel comes in November.

Here are some pictures of when Carson and Sydney came to visit and of Lilly's birthday. Sorry about the sideways pictures. I was too lazy to turn them the right way!

Leila, Cole, Carson, and Sydney
Watching a movie with Carson and Sydney
Lilly loving her birthday cake
Lilly climbed on the chair all by herself so she can relax.
Lilly got a walker/stroller but she would rather play with the box.
Lilly sneaking a bite of her cake while we were singing to her.

Misc. Pictures and family visits

I was going through my pictures on my camera and decided to post them. They are from the last couple of months.

Leila and Cole at the movie Monsters vs. Aliens. They really enjoyed getting the 3D glasses.

Leila and Cole with the Easter bunny at a mall in Dallas.

The only picture I managed to get when my family was in town. My dad decided to dress up as Hannah Montana for Leila.

Lilly's first time in the swimming pool. She really loves it!

Lilly sleeping. This is how she goes to sleep every night. Snuggled up to her baby.

We had a fun time with some of my family last week. I wish everyone could have come! We really didn't do much but catch up. Everyone left on Wednesday and Thursday we left to go to my sister Aidan's new house. We got there really late on Thursday night. Friday we went swimming at her neighborhood's pool, took the kids to the park, got ice cream at marble slab, and went to Walmart. Saturday we went to the outlet mall and ate at a really good hamburger place. That night when the kids were asleep, the adults played the card game Golf. We had a really good time! We left on Sunday to take my parents back to Houston to the airport. We were very sad to see them leave! I wish we lived closer to everyone! We had to drive back to Houston on Monday to take Roy to a meeting and then he left from there to San Antonio for more training meetings. He gets back tomorrow and I can't wait!! I definitely couldn't be a single parent!!! I am so worn out!

Kids say the darndest things!

The other day out of nowhere it started raining. Leila and Cole were watching out the window and Cole said look mom the house is peeing! I thought this was so funny! Today Leila wakes up to find that Cole put a cookie on her bed. (that he stole!) Leila came to me and said mom somebody put a dead cookie on my bed. I said, a dead cookie was it alive? She replied, yeah it was dancing around but now it's not. She must have heard Cole say, Leila here is a cookie for you. She must have dreamt that the cookie was dancing. She is so weird!

Could anything else go wrong?

Yesterday was a disastrous day! First, I woke up not feeling well. Then I was laying down with Lilly trying to get her to take her morning nap when I heard someone turn the bathroom water on. Usually this means that Cole is just playing in the water so I ran into the bathroom. I was very shocked to see peanut butter all over is legs, stomach, and arms. He also got it all over the sink and counter in the bathroom. I was very nervous to see what else he got it on. I went into his room and he smeared peanut butter all over his tv, door, and carpet. 4 1/2 hours and $200 (to buy a steam cleaner) later it was finally clean again. Then to top off my day Roy made steaks for dinner. He made 3 steaks. One for him, one for me, and one for the kids to share. I was too full to eat my steak so I was going to save it for later. We put the kids to bed and then I went to go clean the kitchen and put the leftovers away. Only to find there was no leftovers. Roy ate my steak. I asked him why he ate it and he said, "oh I thought you were done with it." I was so mad!! He must have felt guilty this morning because he woke up a little early for work and folded a load of towels. I was very surprised!!

Update on Lilly

The Physical Therapist and Occupational Therapist came yesterday to evaluate Lilly to see if she qualified for the ECI program. The way they see if she qualifies is they asked me and Roy and bunch of questions about Lilly. The questions consisted of can she do this or that. After so many no's Lilly was qualified. They said she only qualified for her motor skills though. They checked all areas and said she was at her level or above except for her motor skills which she was way behind. I have seen improvement in her in the last week though. She can now scoot pretty well on her butt, can get to the sitting position from laying down on her stomach, and can stand pretty steady while holding on to our hands. We asked them if they see any signs of Cerebral Palsy and they said she does have increased muscle tone in her right leg but they don't like to classify them yet until they have worked with them for a couple of weeks. They said they have seen babies with much more stiffness in their legs and after working with the therapists for 6 months you couldn't even tell they had anything wrong with them. They are going to come back on the 18th to work with her more.