4 month well check scare

 We had a little bit of a scare today. Kate went in for her 4 month well check and the doctor noticed some things that concerned her enough to order a stat CAT scan and a stat full blood panel. And she dropped the words Leukemia and Brain Tumor.  So we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening getting this tests arranged for and taken care of.  She was kind enough to call us tonight at 10:30 after we got back from the ER where we got the cat scan done to tell us the labs were normal except for a high platelet count.  Her CAT scan was normal too.  She weighed 15 lbs 10 ounces and measured 26 and 1/4 inches with a head circ circumference of 42.

Length = above percentile 95

Weight = between percentile 50 and 75

Head Circumference = above percentile 95

Josh had his iron test repeated today and it was normal too. So now we are going to wait three months and see what the level is like without the iron supplements.

Kate has pretty painted toes too. 

The End. We are so glad this day is over. 

Our life lately

Grant turns twelve next Sunday. And boy is he ever excited. We are excited too and can't wait to celebrate with him this year (we get him every other year on his birthday) 

 Everything is Awesome!  The Lego movie has taken over our house. Spencer bought a set from the movie that he loves to build and Josh is always asking to watch "more Awesome".  I love seeing Spencer building with his Legos and finding his creations all over the place. He is pretty pumped up that he got the teacher he wanted for second grade and that he will be in the same class as his best friend for the third year in a row. 

 I have been washing a lot of dishes lately since our dishwasher is still broken.  With everything else going I can't seem to find the time to schedule a repair.

 Kate has become a lot more interactive lately. She likes to blow bubbles and gets really excited when her Dad is around and tickles her or blows on her belly.  We love her soooo much.

 Josh continues to be full of life.  I nick named him "wild tiger" and he loves it.  He had an MRI on saturday to follow up after his abnormal EEG. We are not sure when we will here back from the Dr. about the results. Fingers crossed its good news.

We are in the last few weeks of summer and look forward to a lot of relaxing time at home.
Grant is feeling pretty nervous as we get closer to the first day of middle school. We are hoping that we will still hear back about wether or not he got in to the school he wants to attend. There was some sort of administrative mix-up so it's still pending.

Swimming

The boys are both taking swimming lessons this summer. Grant was not thrilled at this idea and claimed that he was already a good swimmer. He is in fact a pretty good swimmer, but, I just wanted to make sure they had a chance to learn all the strokes properly and understood water safety for sure. It's a little scary sending these kids off with out me every other week. Something I never thought I would be doing.

When we showed up for the first lesson Grant looked around with a little bit of horror as one six year old after another marched around the gathering spot for the lesson. He turned to me and said something like, "If this is full of kindergarten girls I am not going...I won't come back mom."  Turns out he had two other boys about his age in the class and his instructor is his dad's bishop's son. He seemed to really enjoy himself and told me that he loved it and that I was right about signing him up and even thanked me. WOW.  How is that for a pay day!

Spencer looked forward to his class and did quite well and enjoyed learning different types of floats. Matt took him and I was not able to go, I was getting a little sick.

Yesterday we decided to go to open swim prior to Grant's class starting at 4.  The water was ICY.  The lesson's are held indoors with walls that open up in the summer time. Josh and I were a little startled as we got in but the boys didn't bat an eye. Spencer used the kick board to get around the deep parts while Josh and I followed and Grant found a big mat to lounge on in a small patch of sunlight. After some time floating Grant came over to me and said, "I've been thinking about it and I'm gonna do it...Jump off the diving board."  :) So he did, and followed it up with a glance in my direction and a fist pump in the air as he made his way back to the board to go again. He is growing up and is still very much a boy and wants me to watch at the same time. I love it.

Spencer and I had fun too. I was impressed with Spencer's ability to remember in such great detail what he learned at his lesson and show it to me. His floats are spectacular.

Josh as usual loved splashing around and being around all the other people in the pool. He loves a crowd of noisy kids that's for sure.

9 months old

Josh had his 9 month check up yesterday. He measured 29 inches long and weighed 19 lbs 12 ounces. My doctor doesn't ever give percentages so I have to pester for them and this time I forgot.

He was looking a little pale so the doctor tested his iron levels. It turns out he was supposed to be getting more iron via iron fortified rice or oatmeal cereals. I wish I would have been told that. We saw another Doctor yesterday from the practice since the one we normally see was on vacation. That was a happy accident. He will now take a prescription to get his iron up over the next month and then be retested. Perhaps, there was some mention of baby cereal but there was never any talk of why and certainly not quantities. I heard about fruits and veggies. I thought it was a little weird since my other boys started cereals first. I have been giving Josh oatmeal since I eat it. But apparently it wasn't enough. I just feel bad that the doctor I trusted to help me never told me about any of this. :(

I remember giving Grant and Spencer Vitamins from the time they were about 6 months. Probably for that reason. I think I will stop seeing the pediatrician we had been going to and continue on with the one we saw yesterday.  I would like someone who helps me stay on top of my children's health and even though the other was super "nice" we have missed some pretty vital problems with her. I hate being the one who has to press for appropriate care and be paranoid I may be missing something.

Josh is doing well and hasn't had any more episodes of SVT that we are aware of. Other than his low iron levels and being slightly behind in fine motor skills he is doing quite well. The Dr. Seems to think that as soon as his levels get up he will have more energy to crawl, pull himself up and use his pincer grasp. He is doing an army crawl but not a more normal hands and knees crawl, nor does he pull himself up. He babbles like he should, saying mama and dada, waves, claps, plays peek-a-boo etc.
And he is a lot of fun. We love you so much Josh.

The "Music Man"

Last night we attended the "Music Man" up at Spring Mountain Ranch. It was really nice to get out of the house and do something outside. I didn't realize how much I liked this musical. I saw the Matthew Brodrick version most recently and was not a fan. The performers last night were very good, along with the set, costumes and music. It was a great night. 

 The mountains were really pretty.

 I met a nice lady from South Africa who came alone. We invited her to sit with us and gave her a blanket to use. She was very kind and loved watching Josh's reactions to everything. During the show she sang happily to herself and seemed so content and peaceful.  I hope the way I live my life reflects as much gratitude as this nice ladies did for me last night. What a great example she was to me.

 Josh was so curious about everything. He tried to grab fists full of grass and eat it...we did not let him.

Luckily we brought a pretty big blanket.  Making it quite a journey to the edge especially when you are army crawling it.

 He stretched out on the blanket and rolled around grabbing his cute little toes and making lot's of adorable noises.

 Tyler tried to take a nap at several points during the waiting period and the show. I think he and Josh may have both got in a few minutes of sleep at least.

 At one point Josh engaged his dad in a rousing game of "peek-a-boo"!

 It was pretty adorable.

 He seemed pretty proud of himself.

 And happy too.

 We waited for about an hour and a half for the sun to go down and the play to start.

 Josh started getting a little upset while we waited so I was a little concerned that he might be loud during the show.

 But he seemed to calm down a bit with a lot of help and redirection from Tyler and I.

 And eventually enjoyed the show...A LOT

 He tried to dance and yell towards the end. He loved the music, the clapping, the rolling around and the crowd.

To top the evening off we were able to make our way back to the car in the middle of the "Tall club"  literally. There was a world "Tall club" that had come to the show in two charter buses.  We saw Miss Tall Universe.  These people towered over us...even Tyler.

Josh at 8 months

Josh has learned so much lately.  He has started to clap or at least his version of clapping. He is pretty comfortable with sitting now and even pivots to the side a little bit sort of doing a bum shuffle like Grant did as a baby. 

He is very insistent on trying to feed himself like his brother Spencer and loves nothing more than being together to have some "Ba"  We think that means food. He can say Ma, Mom ,Mamama, and Da, Dad, Dadada and Ba 

He goes to bed pretty easily around 7:30 or 8 and still loves his bed. He wears a size 3 diaper. I am not sure on his weight and height. We don't own a scale and his next apt isn't till he is 9 months. 

He kept sitting with his ankle up on his knee the other day. I missed seeing his arms up resting on the pillow like we has relaxing. He is a really cute little baby that we love so much.

Trivial Pursuit, carrots for the first time, the new school and Ellie after school

For family home evening this last week we played Trivial Pursuit. We have really enjoyed playing this game together. Spencer is a good sport to go along with it when we play (His favorite FHE always includes wrestling or pillow jumping).  I am the big scorer so Grant always wants to be on my team. That makes me feel good. I can't tell you where my cell phone is but I sure have a lot of useless trivia floating around up there.

Josh just likes to be where the family is. Whatever we do together is usually a blast for him.

Joshua tasted his first carrots yesterday. The pictures tells the story much better than I could

He is approaching the 7 month mark. How is this so?  My baby is getting so big. I look forward to giving him solids twice a day. This kid needs more food and NOW. He keeps me up way more than he should at this age because he is soooo hungry all the time.

Grant and Spencer are happy with the new school so far. Spencer said, "That he never wants to go anywhere else, because his new school is so awesome!" Grant is thrilled with the happy polite students and fresh start.  He opens doors for kids now and they say thank you. At Ober they either didn't notice or glared at him with a nasty remark.  He also likes his teacher a lot. So far this change has proven to be a tremendous blessing for my boys and even for me. It feels like a fresh start for everyone. Good bye to all the bad memories that occurred during the Ober years and months. My life, our life is so much more peaceful and secure. I am so blessed, and I hope to be able to bless my children too. 

After school we meet up with Ellie and she comes home with us till her mom can get her after work. She is so fun to have around and likes to help out a lot with Josh.

Spencer's teacher has been teaching for 20 years and seems to have a pretty good way with the kids. They seem to like him a lot. I am not sure who the kid in the picture is. He jumped in. :)

This is my after school bunch. I love them.

The arrow of light ceremony...Grant gets the "naturalist" badge.

After deciding that Grant would not go back to Mrs. Bermans class nor Mrs. Deveraux's class and after many lengthy head achy discussions with the administrations and sad bad feelings we had to head straight over to piano with Mrs. Jennings whom  we LOVE (more about her later) and straight to the Arrow of light ceremony.  It was hard to attend both. I wanted to just hop on a flight to Hawaii and then head over to Disneyland to escape the stress.  Grant did a wonderful job though concentrating on piano was a little tricky. He did it though. I am so proud of him.

 It was freezing out at the camp site up at Red Rock so Spencer wore my coat. I think he looked pretty cute too. Grant wore a few of the clothes we bought for next school year. I guess we bought a little big. :) This boys grows fast so I guess we are prepared.  

Grant was entertained to no end when he received the naturalist badge!!! He of course couldn't wait to get to our table and share his temptation to bust out laughing right as the award was handed out. He thought it was pretty funny to envision himself being some sort of streaker to earn the award. That boy loves a good laugh.

Tyler couldn't resist making a joke himself. He leaned over to me and said,"Can't you just see in your minds eye one of those guys racing around the house before the ceremony hollering..Honey, have you seen my brown indian suit?" Hahaha. 

Josh thought the whole thing was spectacular and stayed warm in his blue Tigger suit. 

It was a nice night that ended with donuts from Krispy Creme and a date for Tyler and I to Inn and  Out burger. The boys went with their dad for the night. 

I love my boys

I love the moments I have to just sit and watch my boys play.  I have so much to learn and fall short in so many ways but these moments feel perfect to me. Observing my kids who are experts at playing. They inspire me to do better and be better.