Almost Easter

We made it through the rest of the weekend.

Thank you Mrs. Tuck for the things that you have done for my kids! Nikole just loved the dress and the kids loved their little goodie bags. She looked so cute in her Easter dress even with cat bite and scratches everywhere.

This picture was after church and she just loves posing. :)

Rhett's surgery is coming up and it is making life really crazy and stressing.
Trying not to stress too much since it is giving me a headache if I do.
We are just going to hope and pray for the best.

Nikole is to follow up with the doctor this week to check on her wounds.
She is healing great and taking her medicine like a champ!

Nikole's attack

These are the pictures that I got the morning after the attack. Nikole is feeling better but still sore. There are even more in her hair that I couldn't even get a picture of since she has so much hair. :)

A little blurry sorry.

Claw marks in the hair.

Puncture marks all over the head from the claws.

More cat scratches in the hair that are different from the first one.

Bite marks. OUCH!

This I think are bite marks and not scratch marks cine they are bigger than the scratch marks earlier. These bleed so much!

More scratches. Glad it missed her ear.

More puncture marks.

HUGE scratch marks. These were really bloody and she did say that this one spot hurt really bad, but not the worst. Missed this ear too, thankfully.

Bite marks and scratches so grateful that her eyes were not hurt.

Scratches all down this side also.

This is the one that hurt the most. A HUGE bite mark that thankfully missed her eye. This was the one that bled the most. Huge drops of blood running down her face. Thankfully didn't need stitches, since this was the one I was worried about the most.

Scratch marks on her back.

Bite marks on the left shoulder.

A nasty bite mark on her shoulder with some scratch marks too.

More bite marks and scratch marks.

Scratch marks on her tummy.

Nasty scratch marks they were kinda deep.

Lots of scratch marks on the other arm too.

Emergancy trip

We finished at the science fair and headed to get Gavin and Dylan from grandpa since he was watching them. I get there and they are eating lunch. I tell grandpa that Brandon (Rhett's science partner) had to get home and I will come right back. So I race to drop him off and then I had to pick Nikole up early from the after school program since I was going between the U of U and my house non stop, and there was no way to get her at the normal time I would have gotten her at. We come home to clean for 30 minutes. Then as we are headed to the car to take Rhett back to the science fair to collect his project and then be ready for the awards ceremony. Nikole asks me if she can pet the cat that lives across the street since she no longer has her cat. I go over there with her and was talking to main adult that lives there and you can hear kids playing inside. Nikole asked her if she could pet the cat. Of course it is ok. There is some little tiny kittens that are just super cute and knowing Nikole she just can't get away from them. :) Oh well.

As we were talking the 3 year old that lives there brought out a kitten that was meowing like crazy and what seemed like 10 minutes, but might be 5 minutes later I see Nikole crying her eyes out and walking to the door out of their house. I was shocked! What happened? I keep asking her... Her hands were covering her face and I was getting really nervous. She looked at me and said that the cat attacked her. WHAT!!! Oh my!!!

As I am looking to see how bad it is drops of blood are starting to form and increase. CRAP THIS IS BAD!!! Oh my I sent her home and told the lady that I needed to go and she was willing to help clean Nikole up. The lady did say over and over again that she is so sorry. She did feel horrible about what happened and was really worried about Nikole. Well I get home since it is right across the street, and Nikole is screaming and looking at herself in the mirror. I had to tell her again and again to calm down... She finally got calm as I get a pretty big washcloth and soak it. I get it wet and I notice that there are blood spots in her hair, ok we will start with her face since there looked to be a big gash there. Then I move back to the back of her head where the blood spot is forming. Then I notice that there are more and more... CRAP!!! I look at the side of her head and there are scratch marks all over by her ear and neck like that was used like a scratching post. HOLY..... I have to get her to the doctor!

I called the doctor and by now it is 4:15pm lucky me the doctors office is open till 5! I told them that I was coming and I didn't need an appointment. That was something that I couldn't handle at home. I wasn't sure if she needed stitches or not but there was one area that I was worried about. As we are leaving the lady comes over and the only things she can say is I am so sorry. I understand that and I am not even mad at them because things happen that are not anyone's fault. I was pissed at the cat but not at the owners. I have seen that cat and that cat has never hurt anyone before. Oh well.... Life does go on. She did ask if there was anything that they could do, and I just said I don't know but we are headed to the doctors and I will let her know when I get back.

This whole time Nikole kept the wash cloth on her head. I told them that we were headed to the doctor and then we would go get the project. They were both ok with that. Rhett looked worried for his sister and was helping me keep her calm. We talked the 10 to 15 minutes that it took to get there and as soon as we got there she said her shoulders hurt so we hurried in and the doctor saw us soon after we got there. We found even more then her neck, face, scalp, and arms. There were also bite marks on the back of her shoulders and there was a nasty scratch on her tummy. The doctor did ask her how the cat stopped and Nikole wasn't sure how to answer but then I was able to rephrase it by saying, "How did the cat stop attacking you?" her reply was, "I had to pull the cat off of me." That is when she started crying again. My sweet little girl that loves animals so much. This cat was trying to kill her! Holy cow!

The doctor came in and looked her over and YEAH, no shots required!! She needed some pain medicine and then they will wash out all the spots that we can find. My sweet little girl looks at me and broke my heart by saying, "My beautiful face will never be beautiful again." I told her that she has always been beautiful and always be beautiful. I gave her some medicine to help with pain that they gave me to give her. Then they told me that by law they needed to report this and I needed to do the same. So while I was waiting I called animal control and let them know even though I didn't even know their names or their address. As soon as I got off the phone with them the nurse was ready to clean up Nikole. So I helped her and as the nurse and I were cleaning off all the areas that the cat got to Rhett was there holding Nikole's hand. It was really sweet and it helped since her hands were really cold and his were really hot. :) But looking back at that moment between then I can't stop crying... They mean so much to each other.

We finally left the doctors at 5:15pm, then we had to race to the U of U to get Rhett's project. I ran in and grabbed it and as I was throwing it in the car the animal control officer called and had me feel out a bite report. We talked as I drove and come to realize that the momma cat reacted because she heard the baby cat screaming from outside and saw Nikole with a kitten that wasn't screaming and just attacked her, and when we came home the people came out to meet us to see if Nikole was ok. I told them that thankfully she didn't need a shot or stitches and she is getting medicine for infection and for pain. Nikole got out of the car and I asked her to come over to us and as did. They told her that they were really sorry and asked again if there is anything that they could do. I was able to show them her wounds from the cat and they did see that it was really bad worse then they thought. they did say that they are getting rid of her as soon as they can which is after the quarantine is over. I did go get her medicine that the doctor wants her to take to prevent infection and to help her sleep better. I will post picture tomorrow since I need to take some picture to make sure we can document this accident. Keep her in your prayers please.

Science Fair

Rhett is right now at the state science fair! I am stressing because I am not sure if he is keeping his oxygen plugged in and if he has used the bathroom like he should. I think it is just the mommy in me that is coming out. Wouldn't surprise me. :) He was so excited to come to this science fair and compete. He is going to be so sad if he doesn't win. LOL! Oh well it is just part of the process. I will have to post some pictures after the fair is over since they are judging right now and parents are not allowed down there unless it is a necessary.

Video of Rhett Motorcross

Rhett loved this! Thank you so much for you willingness Officer Clanton to ride along and make sure Rhett's oxygen is safe. I could only record half of the race since the video was a lot of memory. :) I have some pictures of the rest of the race.

Coming around the end of the race.

After they finished the race! Rhett is all smiles!

Walking on to the track to be honored ahead of everyone else. Nothing slows this kid down.

He has to see what everyone else is doing. What a cute boy.

Hey dude wave hi to your mom! She is over there taking a ton of pictures. LOL! :)

Rhett giving me a thumbs up. I guess that means he really like riding around out there in the dirt. :)

The whole group minus a few kids that are on wheel chairs that are facing the group. What great people this are to take time out of their day to allow these kids to have fun for one night that they would never be able to have other wise. Thank you to you all!!

He is being talked to and knows he gets to answer. All excited and happy.

Right before he got his metal. He was asked if he had fun or something like that. He loves being the center of attention. Cracks me up!

He just got his medal and is getting hungry after all that excitement of course anyone would be hungry. :) I don't think he knows I am taking his picture. LOL!

This was the last picture I got before my battery died. I know it isn't a great picture but it was also almost 10 pm too so I guess everyone was getting tired. :)

I think the next post will all be about a different child. :) One at a time for a few days and that way they are all included because they are all super special!

What a week!

Wow a week has gone by and things are a mess. I was able to go to training yesterday while I had someone watch my kids. It was nice to be with adults and feel like you can make a difference. :)

Rhett was limping not so nicely tonight after he spent some time outside tied to oxygen and on his feet for who knows how long. He says his ankles hurt so I get to once again call shrines to see if they have the inserts they wanted us to use that they never gave us. If they don't help then we will have to look at other options.

Nikole went to church with me today and it was wonderful to get the spirit rejuvenated for a week ahead. She wants to be baptized and has decided that May would work for her so now I just need to set it all up. She did find out that things are just up in the air with Rhett and we are not sure of anything with his health. She started crying and told me she didn't want Rhett to die and I told her that it was not in our hands and only Heavenly Father can decide that, but we are going to have fun everyday and just go day by day. I told her that she could call about Sara and Rosa but she never did so maybe tomorrow will be a good day for that.

Gavin is just running around like a wildfire. He is so funny... he got dressed for bed tonight and asked me "Mom do I look cute in this?" :) I told him that he did look very cute and I gave him a big hug and I told him that I love my cute little boy! Made him grin from ear to ear. He is planning on having a good week so he can play 4 swords with daddy on Friday. He looks at his calendar and gets all excited. I pray that this week will be awesome!

Dylan is such a daddy's boy! I can't believe it... I was going to get him dressed for bed and as I am trying to change his diaper he is screaming and wiggling away and just not being pleasant about it. Daddy was sitting there watching and was trying to tell me what I was doing wrong and I said "He is such a daddy's boy! Why don't you trade me places and we will see if he is a momma's boy or a daddy's boy." Since I was being told that he was so not a daddy's boy. So we did trade places and as Dylan was being turned over he was screaming and wiggling and after he saw who was doing the turning he stopped so suddenly that we just laughed. My point taken! Maybe daddy will get to change all the diapers when ever he is home. :) Wah ha ha ha ha!!! Sounds great to me. Dylan is super funny and is enjoying trying to get us to understand his signs.

I will have to post more pictures very soon since this blog is in dire need of pictures. :( Oh well I am totally learning.

Rhett's motorcross

Rhett has an amazing time yesterday. He was chosen to be honored at Utah Winter Cross with the UHP (Utah Highway Patrol) and Make a Wish. On Tuesday this last week we went bowling with the riders of the Winter Cross and the UHP. It was awesome! I will have to post pictures later. Then on Saturday A UHP super awesome officer came to our house to pick Rhett up and take him up to Heber from our house to watch the Winter Cross Games. Rhett was so excited! He couldn't stop grinning. It is nice to see him smile like this with the unknown in front of us and having to worry about so much all the time.

Looking at the pictures that I took makes me want to cry and I don't even know why. Not sure if something is trying to tell me something or not... I guess I hate thinking too much about the future since I can't stand having my heart stomped on more. Just take it one day at a time.

Nikole was not sure if it was fair that Rhett got all the attention but she did enjoy herself too. The only thing she said she didn't like was that it was after bed time when we got there. I can understand that since I was tired too. :)

Gavin had fun even though he kept loosing his ear plugs. He like the motorcycles and the four wheelers. Just like a boy should I guess...

Dylan was having a blast and enjoying it until he fell asleep in my arms near the end. He was squirmy and wiggly but I guess you would have to expect that of a 2 year old especially when they have to keep their coat on but not going anywhere. Poor kid! Oh well he enjoyed it to the very end and actually slept through some of the loud noise that those bikes were putting out.

My ears are still ringing since I had to give my ear plugs to Nikole. It was WAY LOUD!!! But it was fun to see. I was grateful that not too many were hurt and those that were hurt didn't need to be carried out on a stretcher. It was just so much fun to be able to see the kids have a great time and know that they are enjoying this time now.

We actually stayed to the very end but all of the UHP officers that were there had to leave early to get back to work. I understand but it was great of them to take time off while they were working to support these kids and families. Knowing that the are people out there that care about your family even though they have never meet you before means lots to me.

Can I scream please?

Well we had a few appointments today. Ok just one and then a drop on a doctor that didn't have the results for us when I thought he would. Wow am I jumping around??? Let's just back it up a little. Rhett and Dylan had an appointment to see the orthodontist this morning and we just made it but then the orthopedic doctor wanted to see us before he left the hospital at 11 am. What!!! It was only 10 am when I found that out as I was flying to get there for the appointment at 10 am. Ok so we get there and Rhett was seen as it was nearing 10:30 am... I am totally feeling under the pressure to get upstairs to see what the orthopedic doctor has to tell us that he should have told us a week ago. Great next it will be Dylan's turn and we will miss our shot at meeting the orthopedic doctor. :( All of a sudden the orthodontist had to go into the OR for a patient that needed something from him. YEA!! That means we can run upstairs and meet the other doctor. So we head out and make a break and let them know we will be right back. So we get there and have them tell the doctor and his assistant that we are there. She comes to get us and told me that we was just about ready to walk out the door to head the the lab or where ever he was going. Yes!! That means we get to see him and get the CT results that we were suppose to get like a week ago. Can't wait to let them know that the surgeries are not helping and then see where that takes us....
Uh NOT! We found out that they got the lung volumes for both Rhett and Dylan but,...
they don't have anything to compare it to since they don't have the results from Rhett's previous CT scans.

WHAT!!! Are you kidding!!!
This is a hospital you would think that they would have something that told his lung volumes since he has been having surgeries for 6 years and CT for about 3 of those year I do believe.

Holy cow now what???

Well he is scheduled for April 1st for now but I am researching to see if I can come up with the lung volumes that seemed to have never appeared or disappeared. I did ask him,

"If we do the surgery on April and you have to revise the left side and expand the right, than we will need to get some more PFTs and have another CT done in September to see if things have changed because if they haven't..."
he answered,
"We are no helping him. He has the biggest devise so he can't get a bigger one."
BINGO! He wins the prize...



So that is the plan for now but heck I am still trying to track down some paper work so that I might be able to spare us going through the hoops. He totally agreed to my terms on the surgery but the worst part is that Rhett was there playing around and so was Dylan.

After the meeting with that doctor Rhett turns and looks at me and says, "Mom what is going to happen to me?"

Even writing this now it makes me cry. I have no answers to give him and neither does the doctors.

How do you inform you child that the doctors can do nothing to help him continue to live and he will die? In my gut I have felt this way since October and now the doctors are finally starting to catch up with me. But there is nothing I can do until we can prove that the surgeries are not helping. So I feel like I have about 6 months to come up with a good way of letting him know and then just living life to the fullest.



After that meeting we headed back downstairs to have Dylan's appointment with the orthodontist and that came out as ok, nothing that he can do now but in 1 1/2 years he wants to start expanding Dylan's jaw.

My sweet boys! You go through so much to help the medical professional learn. I love you both with all my heart and as I pray to find peace and knowledge I know that there are many other there that love you too.

Frustration!

It has been a little frustrating here. There are so many things that I need to do but it just seems like I have not enough time to get everything done.
What to do what to do?
I want to help so many people and I cannot speak the language.
I want to do better and I am not sure how.
How come I feel like I am good enough?
I try so hard, but maybe I try too hard.
WOW! Many things flying through my head...
I need to make sense of it all and hopefully I can do that soon.

Help little Gavin

The first day of school! He was so excited to finally go!!!

At the school after lunch he was playing with my phone.

He almost always was a happy little boy but now something inside of him seems to be tearing him apart and he needs your help. Thank you!

Please pray for Gavin

I am in desperate need for prayers for my little boy Gavin. He is having such a hard time and is now might be kicked out of preschool for acting out. I am not sure what to do he has been talking with the school councilor. The teacher is at a loss and we as parents are at a loos on how to help him. I pray that we can find some way of helping him deal with life. I am not sure what is the reason behind all of this acting out but it has got to stop soon!!! Please keep him, in your prayers.