playing catch up

Well it has been a while since Have had time to sit down and write and keep everyone up to date on life. Well for starters...

Rhett is actually in summer school and loves it. he told me one day that summer school is fun but regular school is boring and not fun. LOL! I couldn't help but laugh from him saying that. They have been wonderful remembering to change his oxygen and making sure that he can still do things like the other kids. He is still getting to the point that if he is off of his oxygen for even 10 minutes he is feeling like he needs it and has to stop and make sure he is on it. Often times he is the one adjusting his oxygen and making it so he can breathe better. He has an appointment coming up this next month with the pulmonologist Which is the lung doctor and we will find out if anything has changed since his last surgery. We will also find out if he can to scout camp since he will be about 5000 more feet above sea level then he already is. He is really wanting to go but i am still not sure. He has asked me and my husband a few times if it is bad to marry ones sister. WHAT!?!? Where did he come up with that one? Of course we told him that yes it is bad to marry your sister and then told him why it was bad. makes me wonder who is putting stuff into his head about that.

Nikole is also in summer school and is really enjoying it. She loves being around friends and playing non-stop. :) I can not believe it... She comes up to my shoulders! She is so tall! For sure she is going to be taller than me before she is in 4th grade. I am only 5'4" but I know she will be taller than me and she is enjoying that thought, I mean really enjoying the thought about her being taller then me. She is doing so well and loves reading and just learning, so I am always wondering what she is reading but lucky for me I know what she is reading now since she is in the middle of Harry Potter. She is really getting into those books. I am grateful that I have them and she is able to read them and understand what she is reading. She enjoys helping Rhett when he needs it with his oxygen and his wheelchair. She loves her new bike! I was able to find it on KSL.com and she is so happy and loves going fast. It is a 24 inch bike surprise, not really but her last bike was a 16 inch. LOL She jumped sizes like crazy. But now I have to have a bike to keep up with her. :) Not a bad thing just fun.

Gavin is loving being a big brother! He hangs out with me and Dylan while the other kids are at summer school. We love going to the zoo and walking around and seeing all the animals and just having fun being together. He loves doing fun things with Dylan and making funny noises with him. He has gotten to a point where he loves tickling mommy and daddy. It cracks me up to see him giggling while he is either tickling daddy or when I have to get after Dylan for playing in his food. It is so hard to keep a straight face while he is sitting there laughing thinking it is a funny. :) He loves playing in the water and with his friends. He tells me all the time how much he loves that water. He found my goggles in my room and put them on and then came and asked me "How do I look?" Of course I told him that he looks like my little swimmer. and he just loves swimming. :) Love his cute smile and blue blue eyes! Grateful he is here to have Dylan follow him around and do what ever he is doing. It makes my life a little crazy.

Dylan is not enjoying being the baby. He wants to have a little bother or sister so bad. He loves being a big helper and help his "little" cousin Levi. even though Levi is bigger then Dylan is a year younger. It is funny to see them together since Levi doesn't think that Dylan should help him ever they fight often but that will change as they get older. It is funny to see them eating lunch and play at the table and laugh at or with each other. He is still getting therapy from the school for the deaf and from early intervention. They are only working on communication and trying to get him to talk or sign with us so that way we will understand him. But I am not liking any of the options that we have for when he turns 3. We are still debating on what to do. He is finally getting better from a sinus infection thanks you doctor for the meds that have helped get the infection almost gone. He was very not feeling good while he was sick but now that he is feeling better he loves playing and following Gavin around all over and doing what ever Gavin does. He loves being a big kid even though he isn't that big. LOL

Some fun videos

Here are some fun videos of the boy from U-fit. These were taken in April but I just didn't have time to post them until now.

Gavin understands how this works. :) Glad that both of them are happy and ok with everything. Sorry it is a little blurry but it is better than nothing right?


Gavin has sure gotten this down! I love how he is enjoying it as much as Dylan. What a great brother!


Rhett just can't seem to get it going the way Gavin did but hey, Dylan isn't complaining. Glad that Gavin was willing to trade Rhett even if it was only for a little bit.


Love my boys!

Rhett's Famous Entrance

On a dark night in October of 1998 I decided to take a pregnancy test since I was really sick and I wasn’t sure why I was sick. It came out positive and I was so excited! I laughed, cried, and threw up again. It was a very long 5 months since I was not able to have very much to eat. The doctor threatened to put me in the hospital if I didn’t start keeping food and water down. Finally at my 20 week (on my birthday) visit I was able to find out if I was going to have a boy or a girl. IT’S A BOY!!! Yeah we are so happy. There were some worries that they wanted to double check at 32 weeks since some of the bone lengths were off a little. A week later I was at the doctors because I ended up with the flu too. It was very hard to deal with all the vomiting but got through that and just waited until my 32 week appointment in April.

As the day approached to have another ultrasound to double check a few things I was feeling great. There was nothing to worry about. We went in ready to get great news and that everything is looking perfect. Well that wasn’t what we got. We did get a lot of ohs and hummms. GREAT, now what is going on?? Well after the tech was done taking the ultrasound he left and told us to wait. OK not a good thing. The doctor and the tech came back and double checked some things and then the doctor took us to a room and explained that we needed to go over to the high risk doctor across the street ASAP. Great trying to absorb all that info it was really hard. Finally I got it. All the long bones are short.

So we went over there and I have never had so many people being stumped and wondering what was going on. Great just not what I wanted! I finally understood why they kept bringing me in for more and more ultrasounds. They couldn’t get an exact chest circumference. They were able to get a great heart measurement and it was normal for how big the baby was. On top of which I had way too much fluid. Great this is not looking good! They took so many ultrasounds and stress tests. They also took a few amniocenteses to see if the lungs were developed. The doctor said that as soon as the lungs were developed he would induce me since I was having contractions for at least a month. Knowing that the baby would have problems he wanted me to make sure I didn’t deliver the baby at home.

The day came that was June 4 the doctor told me to come in and that they would induce me. I went in and stayed almost all day having contractions and there was nothing happening. The doctor came in and told me that they needed to send me home since the hospital was getting very full with women coming in to there in full labor. So he gave me a shot of morphine and sent me home and told me that they would call me tomorrow. The next day he called at 6:30pm and told me that they could take me then and promised that they would break my water. He asked how fast I could be there; I guessed and told him in an hour. He told me the sooner the better for me. Great! I had no transportation since my husband was at work with our only car and I was 20 minutes away from the hospital as it was. I called my wonderful friend and said that she could drive me. As soon as I was off the phone with her I called my husband and told him that the doctor called and I had to leave ASAP. I told him that my friend would be willing and able to take me and to meet me there. As soon as I got off the phone she was there to pick me up, she drove me to the hospital and stayed with me until he could get there. He got there just in time! In less than 2 minutes after he arrived the doctor broke my water that was at 7:45pm.

In no time the contractions were actually doing something and hurting more and more. They finally came and place an epidural in, after that the pain subsided which made it so much easier. Finally in the middle of this night the nurse came in and put me on oxygen since the baby needed it, because the heart rate would drop every contraction. On top of that the epidural had numbed my left lung. It felt like I couldn’t breathe. I struggled through the night and slowly progressed. By 7:45 in the morning he was almost here or so I thought… Little did I know that it was going to take more pain and strength than I thought I had. When 8am rolled around I got the best news every for a mom to be… you can start pushing! Yes it is going to be a piece of cake! YEAH RIGHT!! Started that process and by the time the doctor came back it was 10:30am and he told me that if I didn’t get that baby out myself he would be slicing me open at noon. CRAP! GET OUT OF ME!!!! By 10:50am he was called in by the wonderful nurse that I had and was told that the baby would be here very soon. Thank goodness. With almost no sleep and the epidural was just boosted so it hadn’t had time to really kick in for at least 5 minutes I was having such a hard time. The doctor came in and informed us that there was a NICU nurse right outside the door waiting. At 11:01am Rhett came into our life and world. That had to be 3 of the longest hours of my life. I was worn out. As soon as Rhett was born the nurse came in and the doctor handed him over to her. I was able to catch a glimpse of him as she whisked him out of the room to the NICU. He looked very blue and purple. There was nothing that I could do or my husband so we just waited. The doctor was helping me with the nurse and as soon as he was finished he left to check on Rhett. The nurse stayed with us and still cleaned up and got me something to drink since I hadn’t had anything for over 12 hours. Of course it came up and I was just drained.

The doctor came in from checking on Rhett and informed us that there were more things that were wrong with him then we first thought. He then explained all that he could to us and then let us just absorb everything that he said and he and the nurse left. We held each other and cried knowing that our little boy was going to have a very hard life and wondering how long he would live. After a little while they came to move me to a recovery room I was still unable to walk so they just wheeled my bed with me in it to a different room. My husband did go and check on Rhett as they were getting ready to transport me to the other room. After that the day just flew by since my husband and I just slept most of the day once in the new room. I did tell him before I fell asleep that I wanted to be the first to hold Rhett. As soon as we both woke up feeling like we had slept we called our parents and told them that they were grandparents. They both said that they were going to come up. We did tell them that only certain people were allowed in the NICU and that would be grandparents and parents and siblings. But seeing as Rhett was the first he didn’t have siblings to come and see him. So after we called them we found out that the shift was changing in the NICU so we had to wait until 8pm to see him. What a long day! I just really wanted my baby and hearing the baby in the other room cry would make me cry knowing that I couldn’t have my baby with me like that baby had their mommy. As soon as I could I got wheeled down to the NICU and washed and was able to hold my baby for the first time! I was overcome with joy to see him here and to be able to hold him and know that he was mine. Yes what the doctor said was right there were many more things that we didn’t know about with him before he was born.

After 8 days in the NICU we were able to bring home our sweet boy. Yes he had a feeding tube and oxygen but hey he was home I wasn’t going to whine about all those other things.

After year of therapy, education, doctor’s appointments, surgeries, and many other things I can’t recall he is still here with us. 11 years have passed and he is very aware of his body and what is going on with him. He asks me why all of this has happened to him and no one else, but now he has Dylan and the doctor tell us that Dylan has the same thing Rhett has. They now have each other to lean on. I am very grateful that the Lord has blessed me with such special spirits. We will see what their missions are on this earth.

What 2 weeks can do to you

Wow it has been 2 weeks since I last posted anything and I am kicking myself for now having to play catch up. Oh well that is what happens when life gets going faster than you can run.

The weather has been crazy! Maybe one day it will make up it's mind. :)

I helped my sister and her husband with a yard sale on the Friday before Memorial Day. We did pretty good. Too bad they didn't do it the rest of the weekend. They could have sold most of there stuff since the location is prime at that time. Oh well their loss.

Went on a field trip with Gavin's class to Wheeler Farm and the kids all loved it! Dylan was such a great boy and walked the whole time!!! I was sure surprised that he would do that, but I guess with this many kids having fun is not even a thought of being tired. Here are some pictures on the farm and fun.

We actually beat the bus there! If you can't see Gavin he is the little dude in the back in a red shirt. :)

Boy was Gavin excited to share this fun day with cousins!

Got to be one of my fav. pictures! They are all holding hand being so good!



While we were there we found out there they had a special guess visiting with some other animals! I would have never seen anything like this on any farm that I know of.
I about died when I saw this thing!


Of course all the kids ran up to touch it as soon as they had permission.

I can't believe that is Gavin touching that!!

I really don't like snakes, but thought you would want to see the head.

Thankfully that man was making sure that no kids got close to the head of the snake.

The Zoo animals were in front of the cow pasture. The cows were not happy about that. I can feel there dislike for the other animals.

I was sure that this was a slow moving animal.

Nope it's not it was speedy!

Furry bunnies! They were just sleeping away.

Horses sure look big to kids. :)

Dylan was very nervous getting to close to start since they are so big!

When the horse starting running all the kids were "WOW". at least the kids that were watching that horse and not the other horses eating.

Dylan did get closer as time went on.

Dylan stuck his hand through the fence and petted the baby goat. Then he turned around and grinned at me like, mommy I touched it! What a cutie!

Yep this is that baby goat.

Baby pigs sleeping in their food bowl. LOL! Lazy pigs!

Gavin really liked looking at the piglets. What a fun boy!



Look at how good he is about staying with his class and holding hands like he was suppose to. YEAH!

This is all the sheep I could see. LOL Didn't want to come out since he just had a hair cut not too long ago.

Gobble, Gobble!

They have 2 baby calves that are very cute! Sleeping in the shade.

Dylan and Levi being bribed by animal crackers. :) It works.

Sitting in the milking barn for a few minutes. It was great to get out of the sun for a little bit since it was pretty hot outside.

Getting ready to get on the wagon ride.

Oh ride for the wagon ride. Too bad they didn't hitch up the horses.

Say CHEESE!

Love the picture of Levi and his mommy. :)



Bawk! Bawk!

This has got to be one of my favorite pictures ever!