Redecorated!

I have been wanting to recover my couches and paint our front room for a long time. My mom had made slip covers a few years ago, and did an awesome job, but didn't like the fabric once we had it together and they faded pretty fast.

So with part of our tax return I bought myself new fabric. I used the old slip covers as patterns and put these together. I am pretty proud of my work! I learned a lot in the process and really like these. The fabric is like micro-suede.

I searched and searched for the fabric to do pillows. I found this and loved it, looked more, but came back to this one. So I taught myself how to make the covers for the throw pillows. Ryan helped me make cornice boxes to go about the windows, and then I recovered my cedar chest.

I got a really big mirror to put above my piano. I am planning on hanging family portraits above the love seat, but need to get some new pictures.

Our land lord paid for the paint. (My first time painting too.) So now we have a room that Ryan and I both really like.
Ryan and I saw this cute sand box a few months ago, and knew that we wanted it for the boys to play in this summer. We almost couldn't find it at the store, but they had just moved it and apparently the sales lady didn't know they had these. Today we drove out to the desert and got sand to put in it. The boys had a great time playing in it, until Ty got a little too excited and ended up throwing a shovel full of sand into Andrew's face and open mouth. Once Ty learns to not throw the sand, I'm sure they'll be spending a lot of the summer in the sand box.

Tyler climbs into Andrew's crib more and more lately. Andrew loves it, and I usually know when Tyler's in the crib when they both start laughing. Tyler still can't get out of the crib by himself, so they both play in there until I go haul them out.

Andrew is shadowing Tyler more and more. I'm pretty sure he thinks he's 2. Tyler is getting more into the oldest sibling role and letting Andrew know how to do things, and what he can and can't do (according to the rules of Tyler).

I can hardly believe that Tyler will be 3 in just two weeks! And it's almost been a year since Andrew came home from the hospital. I'm sure I'll reminisce on that next time I post, so I'll leave it alone for now.

So what have we been up to? Hmm. . . well. I just posted the pictures from our Oregon Trip last month. We really enjoyed the trip. Oregon is so beautiful! I loved the mossy trees and watching the waves on the ocean. We made a lot of stops just to watch the ocean. We also went to the Tilamook Cheese Factory, the Hadfield Marine Science Center, an aquarium that was kind of like a water animal zoo, and an air museum. Even with all the driving the boys did really well, and had a good time too.

When we got back from Oregon, Andrew had another appointment to check on his esophageal stent. Unfortuneately it had moved down past the stricture, so the surgeon pulled it out. (We got our statement from Primary's a few weeks ago and just the stent was nearly $5k). (Oh, and Andrew was approved for disability medicaid last month. Hooray!!) The surgeon did some x-ray test while they were in the OR and was concerned that they may have been a tear in Drew's esophagus, so he had to stay in the hospital overnight on IV anti-biotics. They next morning we did a dye test under x-ray that showed there wasn't a leak, so we got to come home.

The stent had been difficult at first because it really irritated his reflux and was uncomfortable, so Drew was pretty miserable for about a week before he got used to it. He did great after that was able to eat whatever we fed him. The idea behind the stent was to hold the scar tissue in place and let it settle, in hopes that when the stent was removed the scar tissue would stay open. However, once it was removed it wasn't long before he started having trouble swallowing foods again.

So yesterday Andrew had dilation #14. I asked the surgeon about any other options and he said at this point we just keep doing dilations. The only other option is to do surgery and cut out the scar tissue, basically redoing the sugery. That's a pretty extreme measure though, and our surgeon said he's never had a stricture that didn't eventually give in to the dilations. So we'll just keep doing them.

Andrew is getting better balance and is able to stand sometimes, when he doesn't think about it. As soon as he realizes he's standing he sits down. He will hold on to supports with just one hand now though. He's getting closer and closer to walking.

We were really enjoying the warm weather that we had for a few weeks. We started going for walks and playing at the park again. Both the boys really like it. It's been stormy this week, so we've been staying in more. Next week should be nice again though. Tyler loves to be outside every chance he gets. I'll really have to keep an eye on him this summer.

Mostly it's just life as usual around here. We are so blessed.

Spring has Sprung!

We went to Oregon with Ryan's parents and Lisa's family. We stayed in a very nice condo on the ocean and had a great week, despite it raining everyday. Just wanted to get the pictures up for now. It's a beautiful day, so we're going to the park.

Tejia and Tyer loved playing on the beaches.

Ty got sunglasses for Easter. Now he can be like daddy!

Ahoy!

Cute kiddos

Spring is coming!

March has flown by! I think I was busy, but I can't really figure out how I filled an entire month. I'll try to pick up where I left off.
Andrew was scheduled for another dilation on Feb 22, but we ended up taking him to the ER the night before because he'd got another cold and couldn't breathe again. Because the hospital had been overwhelmed with RSV cases it took us 3 hours to see the doctor. That was after our 3 hour drive, and after those 6 hours Andrew was doing better and they sent us home. Glad we didn't have to stay that time.
Because he was sick they rescheduled dilation for just a few days later in hopes that we could avoid possible complications with anesthesia. The nurse practitioner who examined Drew before dilation seemed concerned, but when I told her that Andrew hadn't been able to eat for more than a week because his esophagus had narrowed so much, and that we wanted to get the bronchoscopy to find out why he was having trouble breathing she seemed to understand.
The procedure went well. The surgeon said that Andrew's lungs took normal, other than the scarring in the lower lobes that we already knew about. We're happy for that. Plus Andrew has gained weight!!
Ryan left the next week for business in Texas. He went to a training on how to test pressure relief valves (PRV's). Nielson's is going to start a new division doing this testing for Conoco. Ryan was one of 3 guys selected to go. They are now in the process of building a shop, and will still have to get more certification before they can really start. Ryan has noticed his vision getting worse from the light , and has had 2 tests show that his lungs are suffering from the smoke, so he's looking forward to moving away from welding as much.
While Ryan was gone Tyler decided that he'd had enough of wearing diapers and started wearing underwear instead. He's proved that he can go on the toilet, but is still not consistent. I have been rewarding his successes, but haven't actively put effort into training him. One of these days. I'm not in a rush.
I started redoing our living room while Ryan was gone too. I painted the walls tan. Then started making slip covers for the couches. They are blue microfiber. Ryan helped me make some cornice boxes for the windows. I love it so far! I still have plans to make throw pillows. When I'm done I'll post pictures.
We also got bunk beds for the boys room. They are hand-me-downs from Grandma Nina and Grandpa Mel. Ty loves them! When I got them put up, he climbed up the ladder, came back down and got toys, then hauled them to the top. He plays "up a top" a lot. For now he sleeps on the bottom and Andrew is still in his crib. We're waiting until Andrew can get off the bed by himself before we move him into the big bed.
Andrew had another dilation Mar 18. They also placed an esophageal stent. The hope is that it will hold the scar tissue open and that the tissue will not shrink again when the stent is taken out. The down side is that they don't really make them for infants. The stent is about 3 inches long. It's irritated his reflux, and he's had a hard time adjusting. It's been almost a week and he's just barely starting to eat again. He'll take small bottles, and stole my cookie today. The first day he barely could handle a 24 hr continuous feed. He was fussing and throwing up a lot, and slept as much as he could. He's made a little progress every day though, and is now ok with a 3.5 oz feeding every few hours and is playing again. He still fusses randomly, but we so glad for the progress he's made. He was still the same weight this month (8.4 kilo's). He is getting more active and trying to keep up with Tyler these days. Andrew pulls up on almost everything now, and has even discovered how to get back down. He still needs more muscle in his feet (catch-up from being in the hospital so long) before he'll be able to balance on his own. He's pretty content crawling around for now though.
We are headed to Oregon next week for a family vacation with Ryan's parents. They are renting a condo on the beach for us all, along with Ryan's sister's family. It's our Christmas and birthday presents, and we are really looking forward to it.

Settling Down?

Daddy spiked my hair!
Ty loves these jammies and always wants them both to wear them. They like to play with Dad's hats too.

Tyler and Andrew both really like books. Tyler will occasionally read to Andrew.

They're so cute together!

Tyler's new smile. He had a good fall last month and completely knocked out one of his teeth and chipped two others. He looked beat up for a few days, but is getting along fine without the tooth now. He'll just have to wait until the adult one comes in.

Well, the last month has been much busier than we anticipated. On Jan 18th, Drew went in for dilation. We've gotten pretty used to the process, at least I have, and don't think too much of it anymore. Ryan went with me this time. On the drive up there I kept feeling like this time was different, but ignored it as just wandering thoughts. I was wrong.

Things went the same up to the point that I get to go to the post-anesthesia unit and be with him after the procedure.

Usually when I get onto the unit I can hear Andrew screaming. That day he was quiet. When I got to his bedside, he had oxygen going and his breathing was very rattled. The nurse was on the phone explaining to another nurse that Andrew had refluxed during the procedure, and inhaled his bile into his lungs. (This was a shock to me, because the surgeon had just told me 20 minutes before that things had gone well, and hadn't mentioned anything of this. Maybe it happened after, I don't know.)

When the nurse got off the phone she explained more to me and said that we would have to stay at least 4 hours for observation. They were concerned that he would develop pneumonia, and wanted him off oxygen and doing well before we went home.

Andrew did great once he woke up and was off oxygen. We were about ready to go home when he fell asleep again, and his oxygen percentage dropped. He had to be back on the oxygen to sleep. When he woke up again, he did even better than before. He dosed a little more, and was holding his own. By this point we had been in recovery 8 hours. Ryan and I were very ready to go home, and confident that Andrew would continue to improve. I let the nurse know that we were ready to leave. She was hesitant, but with the approval of another anesthesiologist we went home.

Andrew did fine the first night and the next day home. When I was putting him to bed the next night though, I noticed he was breathing VERY fast. I counted, and he was breathing about 65 breaths per minute. I called Primary's (by the way we're talking 11pm by now) and the nurse said that 40 breaths was fast, so I better take him to the ER.

So I bundled him up and off we went to the hospital in Price. Of course, it was snowing and the roads were covered, but with my heart pounding, we made it there. I unbuckled him and realized that he was now breathing a normal rate. Ugh- now what? I went inside and sat in the waiting room without registering, just to watch for a while. I was eventually the only one there and a nice nurse came and checked his oxygen level. It was 96%, which is good, so we went home. The next day I could tell he wasn't feeling well. I had sent Andrew and Tyler up to Brower's while I taught piano, as I usually do on Wednesdays. Half way through lessons Lisa called and said that Andrew was having a hard time breathing again, and was throwing up. So Ryan and I drove him back to the hospital. This time we registered. Drew's O2 level was still in the 90's, but since it was our second time there the nurse recommened we see the doc. The doc ordered a chest x-ray, which showed pneumonia. She asked where we would like to have him treated at, and Ryan promptly said Primary Children's. I ran home and got Tyler and clothes for all of us, and then rode in the ambulance to Salt Lake. Ryan and Tyler followed behind, with Grandma Shell and Grandpa Steve behind them. It was snowing again, but we still went fast. Three hours is a long time in the back of an ambulance with your sick baby strapped to a gourney. Luckily he slept the whole way.

Short version: Tyler wasn't able to stay with me, because of H1N1 restrictions, so he stayed at Grandma Nina's. Andrew did not have bacterial pneumonia (which is what was initially suspected because of the problems during dilation). He had rhinovirus, which causes the common cold for most of us. Andrew received IV fluids the first night we were there, and then pedialyte through his G-tube. After two days, the doctors said we could go home. Andrew was still not his healthy self, but I was confident we could take care of him at home. He always has a really hard time with colds, so that part was not new to me. He didn't have any problems breathing while we were in the hospital, so we went home Friday morning.

They did do another test with x-ray and determined that he had scar tissue in his lung that was not letting the air back out of his lung. (Was it the right or both? I can't remember now.) But just said that they would use a scope to look at it during his next dilation. No pneumonia.

The weekend went smooth and Drew was doing OK. Tues he had a pretty persistent cough, but it was dry. Wednesday it was a little more wet. Thursday it was more wet and bothering him more. He was coughing so often that he was having a hard time sleeping. Friday I took him to the doctor. She perscribed an anti-biotic, just to make sure there wasn't and bacteria growing in his lungs, and gave us a machine and perscription for breathing treatments.

Well, I did the first one when we got home, and he seemed pretty comfortable for a few hours. I was supposed to do the treatment every 8 hours, but after 4 hours he was having a hard time breathing. So I did another one. It helped for about an hour. By then it was 8 pm and he was breathing 60 breaths a minute again.

I called our surgeon, cuz he's really nice and gave me his cell phone number. He said we better get him back to the hospital. We risked it and drove ourselves there this time.

You can get into the ER pretty quick when you walk in and tell them you're child is having a hard time breathing. Once you're in it's still long though. They finally did another x-ray and put Drew on oxygen. Once again they took samples for testing to find out what was causing his trouble.

The x-ray just showed extra air in his lungs, thought to be caused from the scar tissue. This time he stayed in the hospital til Tues. It was confirmed that he had rhinovirus, again. He was on O2 all but the last 18 hours or so. Mostly he slept, and threw up occasionally. He always throws up when he's sick because of his reflux. It makes the nurses pretty nervous, but I assure them it's totally normal, and they let him stay on G-tube feeds.

Sunday Ty knocked his tooth out. Monday was my birthday and I woke up with the flu. I couldn't stay with Andrew while I had the flu, so Ryan stayed with him while I spent the day on the couch at my mom's with Tyler.

Quick version again: Tues we went home. Wednesday Ty had the flu. Thurs we went for follow-up and found out Andrew had double ear infections. We chose not to use anti-biotics, in hopes of keeping his immune system growing, and used essential oils to treat instead. It took another week, but Drew finally came around to his normal self again. He had the runs for 8 days, I think because he's also cutting teeth.

Ryan had the flu Super-Bowl Sunday.

Anyway, we are all happy and healthy once again. Hooray!!

Ryan has been selected to go to Texas for a training on a new area of work Neilson's is starting. He'll be learning how to test pressure relief valves. We're really excited for this opportunity for him.

Tyler is getting more anxious to get outside these days. We're all looking forward to warmer weather.

Andrew is starting to pull-up to stand and is starting to make sounds for words. He had lost his appetite for a while there. He hasn't gained weight for 4 months, and lost while he was in the hosptil. He suddenly has constant hunger now. Hopefully he'll gain weight now. His throat is narrowed again (it's been almost 5 weeks since dilation), so we're going for another dilation Monday. I'm hoping this time will be smooth. They will be looking in Andrew's lungs with a scope, so we should get some answers as to what is going on in his lungs.

Hope you and yours are doing well. We're glad to be home and feeling more settled again.

One year!

Me and my boys. The new toy for Andrew from Mom and Dad.
Tyler loves it when daddy doesn't have to go to work. He cries almost every morning when he wakes up after Ryan has already left. Last weekend he helped Ryan into this fashionable getup.

Tyler also LOVES his new 'fire truck jammies'. He asks to wear them most nights. Andrew has a matching one, so then it's really cool.

Andrew started crawling!! He has been very close for a while. A few weeks ago we were at a friends, and he saw another kid crawling. I could see the wheels turning as Andrew watched closely. The next day he started crawling. Took him a few more days to realize the distance that was possible, but now he's everywhere he wants to be. He has been so happy.

Andrew loves to play with whatever Tyler is into. Tyler isn't sure how to handle the extra hands helping him yet, but they enjoy each other for the most part. No one can make Andrew laugh like Tyler.

Tyler is having his first sleepover at grandma Shell's tonight. Ryan and I are leaving for Salt Lake with Andrew at 3:30 am, for another esophageal dilation. It's so hard to leave Ty every month and be gone for so long. He handles it very well though.

I am amazed to see how fast he learns. His thinking still blows me away. He suddenly is naming his colors correctly now. We've been talking about them for a while, but he's got it now. He still loves anything with a motor and Barney.

(Now for my reflection of the last year):

It's an emotional thing to think back through what our family has been through the last year. Ultimately it is a triumph for us, but the road has been long.

The memory of the night Andrew was born is still clear in my mind. I remember waiting to hold him as they were cleaning him and such and having the feeling that something was wrong that the nurses weren't saying. I asked them, "Is he OK?" They replied that he was doing great, but their faces said that something wasn't right.

I remember Ryan wheeling me to the NICU where Andrew was already on his tummy, on oxygen, and had an IV. The next picture in my mind is Tyler and my family being in the room when Life Flight brought Andrew in before they took him to Primary's. Tyler seemed confused at why his parents had left him all day and what was going on now. Then being alone in my hospital room after my family and my babies had gone. I thought that was so hard. Good thing I didn't know what was coming.

The surgery unit was too busy with critical cases to do Andrew's surgery Sunday, so they scheduled him for Monday morning. I was released from the hospital Sunday afternoon and went to the hospital that night. I felt so detached that I told Ryan we could save gas and just go Monday. He knew it was important for us to go see Andrew though.

Monday came the next shock after surgery when we were told it would be 6-12 weeks before Andrew would be able to have his esophagus repaired. I cried and cried. My biggest worry was what would I do with Tyler for that long. I am so grateful for all the time and help my grandma and mom gave to take care of Tyler so that I could see Andrew daily. My grandparents were also very generous and let us stay with them. My grandpa had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and so it was a difficult time for them anyway, I'm sure. I knew that Tyler was well loved and well taken care of while he was there though. I am also grateful that I was able to build my relationship with my grandparents more.

I didn't know at that time the blessing that it was to have the surgeon that we did. Dr. Barnhart had trained under a doctor who is a leader for EA. He had the wisdom to know that we could wait and the esophagus would grow. He has been wonderful with Andrew and been so caring and kind. Not many surgeons would give a parent their cell phone number. I have been careful not to over-use that privilege, but every time I have called he has answered. I got voicemail once (while he was on vacation), but even then he called back within minutes. I am so grateful for all that he's done. And grateful for the Lord seeing that we had such a doctor.

Time actually flew somewhat after that. The days I remember are the days that were monumental in infections. Feb 15 was awful. I knew that something was wrong, but nobody seemed to know what to do. Finally Sarah, who turned out to be our Primary NNP and another blessing to us, ordered a scan. That's when they found the fluid, infection, and yeast that had been building in Andrew's right lung. Once we found that things seemed to improve. There were a few minor dips, but we were mostly headed in the right direction.

We had wonderful primary nurses (Laurel, Whitney, Tristen, and Gail), who loving looked after Andrew and cared for him.

Finally surgery came, after 12 weeks of waiting. It was perfect time though and a great outcome. The following week was very long. Andrew was medicinally paralyzed all week so that he could heal. He woke up a sadder baby. He had been so happy before surgery, and after he had such reflux and discomfort. It has taken time, but gradually he has improved. He is sooo happy now. He smiles and giggles and talks almost all day.

Tyler has been through quite a year too. I'm not sure how to even imagine he's felt about everything. He has been resilient and I hope will not remember the downs to this year.

The outstanding thought is the blessings and miracles we seen. My testimony is ever stronger of our loving Father in Heaven and his Son, Jesus Christ.

He's doing it!

Well, I'm a little frustrated, cuz I can't upload my movie.  Andrew is crawling!!  He has been so close for a while now.  Yesterday he saw a friends baby that's a month younger crawl, and I think it just clicked.  There's no stopping him now!!  I'm thrilled for him.  It's hard to believe it's been nearly a year.  He'll be a year next Sunday.  More reminising on that later.  For now I just wanted to shout out- Hooray!!

That being said, we had a nice Holiday.  Time with family is always nice.  Tyler really got into the un-wrapping this year.  Now he opens most any gift he see's.  He got his first bike and a toy drill that he uses on everything imaginable.  Andrew likes to play with whatever Tyler is playing with.  Tyler likes to play with Andrew's toys a lot, so it all works out for now.  I can tell we're going to have a lot more sharing lessons soon though. 

We hope you all had a nice holiday as well.  I will get the crawling video up as soon as I figure out how to.