CrAzY Hair Day...

On Tuesday the kids had their first ever crazy hair day at school. It was pretty fun. Steve was home for a bit in between clients so he did Maddy's cool do and then I did Avery's. I loved how they turned out! The kids thought it was pretty cool too...

I already had the little butterflies for Avery's hair and I got all the spray paint, skateboard and crown at Partyland.

Tuesday 5/24/11

Maddy's Preschool Graduation...

Tuesday was Maddox's Preschool Graduation Ceremony. I'm amazed every day how smart he is, he has learned so much this year. He is already a great reader and is starting to write small words. Would somebody please figure out a way to slow time down! Once again the kids did great singing several cute songs and Maddox is coming out of his shell a bit and sang a lot more. We also got to watch a slide show of the kids during the year and then watch them receive their diplomas.

Maddox is on the top row, third from the left.

Maddox's awesome teacher Miss Rebecca gave him his diploma.

Love this picture of the kids throwing their hats!

Maddox is in the middle row, second from the left.

Here are three of the songs I video recorded (such fun songs!) Maddox is on the top row, third from the left... 

Here is the video of the slide show...

The two Professional School Pictures taken Thursday 4/21/11 by Astle Photography

Graduation Ceremony Thursday 5/19/11

Last day of school Thursday 5/26/11

Avery's Preschool Graduation...

Although school doesn't get out for Summer until 5/26/11, Tuesday was Avery's Preschool Graduation Ceremony. I can't believe that it is already the end of the year and how much she has already learned. She is growing up way too fast! It was such a cute ceremony with the kids singing several cute songs, a slide show, and of course the kids receiving their diplomas. Avery was so focused on the singing and did such a great job. She actually sang quite a bit and we really enjoyed watching her.

Avery is on the bottom row, third from the left.

Avery's cute teacher Miss Erin gave her her diploma.

After everyone had received their diploma they all lined up on the "red carpet" and tossed their hats at the count of three. Avery didn't catch on though and didn't throw hers, but it was still pretty cute to watch how excited the kids all were.

Avery is on the bottom row, first on the left.

Here are the three songs I video recorded (they are all so cute!) Avery is on the bottom row, third from the left...

I also video recorded the cute slide show of pictures of the kids throughout the year...



The two Professional School Pictures taken Thursday 4/21/11 by Astle Photography
Graduation Ceremony Tuesday 5/17/11
Last day of school Thursday 5/26/11

Just Watching Some TV...

Friday 5/13/11

Cowabunga Bay...

My sisters and I scored some free tickets to Cowabunga Bay on Facebook last week. The kids have seen it while driving on the freeway and have wanted to go so we were finally able to go check it out. We all had such a great time and we are so excited for the upcoming Seven Peak's season! It is a small park but very nice and decorated so fun and beachy. Everything is really convenient and compact, making it easy to keep an eye on the kids. They have lots of chairs sitting out with shade, which is a plus. The water was so warm which was perfect since it's still not super warm yet. I picked the kids up after school and so we got there a little early (we couldn't go in until 4pm), so we were one of the firsts in  line and so the kids sat on their chairs and anxiously waited...

Maddy was all over the place having fun with his cousin Dallin and always loves slides. Avery is still pretty scared but I made her go down one with me (can you tell she was pretty scared?)...

Jamie's cute 27 week baby bump shadow.

Cute Stacy!

Jamie and kids.

Stacy and family.

Afterwords we went across the parking lot to Pizza Pie Cafe for some dinner. Thanks girls (and Justin) for a fun outing! Bring on summer!

Thursday 5/12/11

My Little Reader...

Maddy has been learning how to read in preschool. He caught on really quick and is doing awesome! I'm so proud of him! He finished all the Kindergarten Saxon books and is currently reading the first grade books. He is reading number eight in this short video...

Tuesday 5/10/11 

My Mother's Day...

I had a great Mother's Day this year. I woke up to really sweet cards from Steve and the kids and then Steve made yummy french toast. I was also able to get a nice nap in after church. Here is a snapshot of the treasures the kids made me at school, home and church (I just love this kind of stuff)...

The hand print mitt thing is Maddy's. Avery also made one but has since lost it.

Sunday 5/8/11

Post-NICU Follow Up Appointment...

On Friday Avery had another post-NICU follow up appointment. All of her results were awesome! They are always so amazed at how well she is doing. She saw a Speech Therapist (Ann Sumner) who evaluated her auditory comprehension and verbal ability. She did really well in both areas and is exactly where she should be. I'm always amazed at the cool ways they evaluate these kind of things. I was quite impressed, she understood a lot more than I thought she would. I have noticed a huge difference just since she started preschool this year. They still base her results off of her "adjusted age" of about 3 years, 10 months (actual age 4 years, 1 month.) Her score for her auditory comprehension was 4 years, 2 months, which is actually even a little ahead of her actual age. She was 2 years, 5 months almost exactly a year ago (5/14/10) so she has improved 1 year, 9 months this past year. Her verbal ability score is 3 years, 8 months compared to 2 years, 8 months a year ago. She got bored and lost focus towards the end and I think she would've scored a bit higher if she hadn't. The therapist said it's normal for the auditory comprehension score to be higher then the verbal ability score, even for adults. We usually always understand more than we can verbalize. For example you might read a word in a book and understand it but have a hard time explaining the meaning.

She also saw a Optometrist. Amazingly her eyes have continued to improve and they are now at a point where they don't recommend her wearing glasses at all... awesome! One of her eyes is just slightly nearsighted (like only -0.5) and the other one isn't at all (0.0). She still has a slight astigmatism but the Dr. said it doesn't need to be corrected and that the slight nearsightedness and slight astigmatism kind of cancel each other out. He said to have her not wear glasses this next year and then they will check her eyes again before she starts Kindergarten. She had her eyes dilated so they could check them so she got to come home with some of these awesome (at least the kids think so) glasses...

Of course Maddy had to try them on too and was upset that he didn't get his own pair...

I promised the kids we'd stop for lunch but it was still pretty early so we stopped and played at a park for awhile. It was such a beautiful day...

Friday 5/6/11

Operative Hysteroscopy/Septoplasty/Factor V Leiden (Heterozygous)...

Just a quick (OK, kind of long) update on my Fertility journey...

The day before my surgery was scheduled I got a call from my regular OB's office regarding my blood work results. About a month ago my Dr. had a bunch of "specialized fertility" blood work done before referring me to Dr. Foulk who is a Reproductive Endrocrinologist at the Utah Fertility Center. I've never had so much blood work done... they filled up 8 different tubes. One of the tests they did was for Factor V, which has to do with blood clotting. Mine came back as Factor V Leiden Heterozygous. Which basically means I'm resistant to the protein that tells your body to stop clotting. So I'm at a higher risk for things like strokes and heart attacks due to blood clots. About 5% of the Caucasian population have this and we are 5-8 times more likely to develop blood clots than the average person. Women with Factor V Leiden have a substantially increased risk of clotting in pregnancy (7 times more than when they're not pregnant) and are also at higher risk for things like preeclampsia, low birth weight babies, miscarriages and stillbirths due to placental, umbilical cord and fetal clotting. According to both of my Dr.'s this Factor V issue combined with my Septate uterus (and incompetent cervix) are huge factors in regards to my complications and miscarriages. If I become pregnant I will immediately be put on Heparin (which is an anticoagulant medication) in the form of shots twice a day for the gestation of the pregnancy... ugh! So I will probably look like a bruised drug addict :( And I thought Progesterone shots once a week was bad... I'm just glad it's something that can be treated! Anyway, on to my surgery...

This past Wednesday I had my surgery. Dr. Foulk performed an Operative Hysteroscopy/Septoplasty. He was able to remove the septate wall inside my uterus as well as a polyp I had on my cervix. He was very pleased with the outcome. My recovery was pretty quick and I didn't have much pain at all. I had to go back in the next morning (Thursday) to have the gauze (over five feet long) removed as well as the balloon. It was the weirdest feeling ever! They compared it to when a magician pulls a handkerchief out of their pocket and it just keeps coming and coming... and it did, so weird, I don't even know how it all fit in there! Then I went back in Monday morning to have the medal triangle stent removed (which didn't feel good at all.) It has a tube catheter thing attached to the end of it that they basically have to grab hold of and give it a good pull to pull it out through an (almost closed) cervix... yikes! Talk about intense instant cramping :( It was put in there to hold the shape of my uterus (while I start to heal) so that the raw part on the top, where they removed the wall wouldn't drop down and stick somewhere it shouldn't. I'm on an antibiotic and am also taking Estrace (basically Estrogen) and then Provera (basically Progesterone) once I complete the Estrace several times a day for the next month to help aid in the healing/regrowth stage of my uterine lining. I have some pictures of my surgery (warning-they are a bit graphic if you are sensitive to that kind of thing) attached. If you're curious (or really bored) there is a video that I came across when I was Googling all these medical terms of the same procedure that another Dr. performed (not mine of course) that I have also attached...

Wednesday 5/4/11