Update

It has been a while since I last posted anything, not because there isn't anything to say but because I have been doing the FaceBook thing. HA HA

We have had our tough times, from health issues to me losing my job. I was laid off December 4th. The boss I had was well....a crazy chick. She is really nice but crazy. So here I am at home taking care of my girls. The girls go to daycare two times a week because I didn't want them to get used to being home with me every day since eventually I will be going back to work and I also need to keep the spots.

I feel that thing don't just go from bad to worse but from worse to worser (if that were a word). I know there are others out there that have problems too it doesn't make me feel any better BUT I know we are not the only ones and sadly I am sure there are others who have it much worse. Thank goodness for our loving parents to help us out when we need it! They have been there for us through everything and I don't think we could ever thank them enough.

The kids are doing well except Shannon and Ellie still haven't gotten used to their Step-dad even after three years and we don't even want to go there with Christopher. The other day Ellie was saying that she wanted to live with us, Todd told her that she would miss her mom too much and her reply was "well, I can visit her every other week". Sad really.

Elena is a wild child! Not sure how to control her she has been getting better thank goodness but she has her "monster" days. Alexia is 6 1/2 months old now and I recently took her to get pics done, they are super cute! These kids are just growing too fast!

I went to visit my brother in Vernal over the holiday break with my parents and sister I had Elena and Alexia with me as well. We had a good time it was good for me to get away for a bit. Elena was able to play with her cousin Aubrianna who is just 8 months younger than she is. It was great seeing them play together! My brother is out of a job and they are struggling he is very stressed because they have a baby on the way in March. I wish they would live closer....I would really like that.

I know that people who blog usually talk about all the good stuff that is going on but once in a while you need to vent, right? You can't just let people assume things are perfect. That is being fake.

Well that was a summary. I will post more often!

Scary Stuff

On Wednesday September 2nd 2009 at about 4:30am I am up and I had just finished nursing Alexia and putting her back in her crib when I hear Todd's phone get a text message. I thought to myself who in the world would be texting at this hour. I grab his phone and see that it is a text from Christopher (which was weird because he is just down a bit away from our room) so I read the text and it says "I feel sick, like really really bad". I go to wake up Todd and show him the text so he gets up and checks on Christopher he comes back to tell me that Christopher says he has a really bad headache and feels like vomiting. Todd ends up giving him some Tylenol and goes back to bed. The next day he stays home and off to our routine of going to work.

The end of the day I am getting ready to leave work when my sister calls and tells me my dad wanted us to go over for dinner. I call Todd and tell him about it and we decide to just meet at my parents. While we are there Todd says "I don't know what Christopher is going to eat I haven't checked on him." I was a bit confused as to why he would say he hadn't checked on him, I had totally forgotten that he didn't feel well. I tell Todd that he should call and check on him. He does and when he hangs up he tells me that Christopher said that he didn't feel well at all that he just didn't feel right. I tell Todd that he should take him to the doc but by this time the after hours clinic is closed. I suggest that he take him to urgent care (at this point I am thinking Swine Flu). He calls Christopher back and asks him if he feels bad enough to go to urgent care. He says no and so we leave it at that. We are still at my parents' house but Todd had to leave for an appointment so the girls and I just stayed with my parents.

Later after Todd's appointment he calls me and says that Christopher now wants to go to urgent care. So off they go and it is about 8:30pm or so. They get to the urgent care and Christopher says that his head hurts and that his neck and back are sore. The doc there decides that he might have Menigitis but they didn't have a way to check for it so he says they need to go to the ER. I freak out about this news because of the girls so I decide to just stay at my parents longer.

They get to the ER and they start asking questions by now the doctor wants to know how much of it was just drama and begins to tell Christopher that they will proceed with a spinal tap.....suddenly his neck and back aren't as sore. They do some blood test and realize that his white blood cell count is low. Todd calls me to tell me all this and I just find it odd. Why would his white blood cells be low if he is fighting off something? I could tell by Todd's tone that it could mean very bad news. LEUKEMIA! With his cell counts so low he had to be admitted to the hospital. I didn't know what to think!

Todd got home and I gathered up the girls and headed home at about 2:00am I couldn't sleep the rest of the night! We didn't go to work but I took the girls to daycare and Todd went to the hospital early and I met him there a bit later. The doc was going to come in at around lunch time to tell us what his counts are and what might be going on. The doc comes in and says that Christopher's white blood cell count is at 1 meaning 1000 per cubic mm of blood a normal range is anywhere between 5 and 10. No one with even just a sniffle could visit.

His counts continued to drop a bit so they had to take him off the fluids because it can dilute the blood. He continues to feel pretty sick and feel very weak. The doc said they think it is some sort of virus. The last test they would do would be for Leukemia and they just kept checking his counts.

Finally his counts are going up! He get released from the hospital on Friday night. His counts are at about 3 so he still had to stay away from the public. They gave him some anti-viral medications and had to get his blood checked every other day. He was able to go back to school on Wednesday the 9th but he still needs to get his blood checked. No one is still quite sure what happened but personally I think he caught some nasty bug because he never and I mean never washes his hands! If he wants to play with the girls he MUST wash his hands and I MUST see him doing it. Something like that could be fatal for our little girls! Maybe even someone Ellie's age (6). He had been doing a lot better but sometimes he says that he doesn't feel well and he gets headaches quite often. We are happy that he didn't get any worse and that he recovery is going well.

Oops!

In my earlier post I said that Shannon was going to be in 5th grade but she is really in 6th grade now!

I also forgot to mention that Elena went to the dentist and didn't have any cavities! Totally awesome! I hope we can keep it that way for a long time.

More pics!


Elena having a "tubby". Awesome hair!
Here she is trying to blow bubbles.
Alexia and I. Not the greatest pictures of me but oh well she looks like a doll.
Elena and her spaghetti face.
so cute in Christopher's beanie thing.

Updates!

Alexia had her 2 month check up yesterday and that meant she needed some vaccinations......4 to be exact. Except one of them was something she had to drink for the Rota Virus thing. It was very sad when she got the shots. She cried quite a bit! She now weighs 11 lbs and is 23 inches long, she is sure growing! Later in the evening her little leg was so sore and she would cry when she would move her leg so we had to give her some Tylenol. Alexia "talks" all the time she has the cutest little voice. She has giggled a few times also, it is just the sweetest thing!

Elena is now officially 2 1/2 as of the 6th of August! She is doing well and I can't even believe she will be 3 soon! She loves her baby sister and loves to "talk" to her. Any time Alexia coos Elena says "she talking" and coos right back. She really loves to chat with her....

Ellie starts 1st grade on Thursday and Shannon goes into 5th grade. Christopher starts school on Wednesday and he will be a freshman. Hard to believe how fast these kids have grown!

I started work on the 10th....it sucked but it had to be done. The daycare the girls go to is great and I know they are in good hands so that makes it a whole lot easier. Elena is still trying to adjust to going everyday so in the morning she doesn't want to stay but when I go to pick them up she doesn't want to leave. I am sure she will adjust soon.

Todd is doing well and is just as great as ever! He loves his family very much and does all he can for each and everyone us.

Here are some pics for your enjoyment:

1 month

Enjoying her buzzy seat!
2 months

Alexia

The first two are when we came home from the hospital
She might be a little angry (finger)These are from last week



Alexia had her two week check up yesterday and she is doing well. She has gained an ounce more than her birth weight. When we left the hospital she had lost ten ounces so she is has gained quite a bit. She has also grown an inch longer. She wants to eat all the time! Maybe she will be as chubby as Elena was....who knows.

Another Sweet Girl

We have another sweet girl in our home! Her name is Alexia she came Saturday June 13, 2009 at 5:59pm, weighing 7 lbs 12 oz and 20 inches long. I was in labor for about 10 hours so much better than the 20 hours of labor with Elena! The experience I had with Alexia was so different. I began to cry because I didn't get that same experience with Elena, they had taken her away almost immediately after I had her because I had bled so much from my tear.

After they cleaned up Alexia a bit while on my belly and the doc was stitching me up ( I had an episiotomy) they took her away and he began to massage my stomach to help shrink the uterus. That is when he noticed that I was bleeding a lot and passing clots. My uterus was not contracting on its own very well. Once again I was bleeding profusely and this worried me very much. I didn't want to go through the same complications I had once before. I ended up getting a couple of shots to help stop the bleeding and one of them was so strong that it made me very sick to my stomach! After a while the shots helped and I was fine. They did however check my hematocrit levels to be on the safe side.

I was worried about how Elena would react to her new sister and I was worried about how she would be not having me around for a couple of nights (she has never spent a night without me). She did very well! When she came to see us at the hospital she was very excited to see her baby sister, it was very sweet! Since we have been home Elena tries to be helpful by handing me diapers when I am changing Alexia. When she cries she runs to see what is going on and asks "what happened?" with a worried look on her face.

Elena goes to day care a couple of days a week so that she can interact with other kids and so when I go back to work she won't think that being home with me every day is a permanent thing unfortunately I have to go back to work.

I will have to post pictures a bit later so check back soon!

39 Week Appointment

I had my appointment on Wednesday I am at a 2 and I got to have my membranes stripped again (yuck!). I will be getting induced on the 13th at 6:00am! (which is also my B-day) I hope that it will be shorter than the 20 hours of labor with Elena!

My co-workers got some gifts for the baby and they were just so great! They also got me a gift certificate at Royal Nails....I thought that was so awesome! They were very generous and I appreciate it very much.

So the next time I blog about something I will have pics of the baby so stay tuned.

38 Week Appointment

I had my appointment on Wednesday and well I am almost at 2....I knew it would be slow, I wasn't expecting to be at a 3 or anything. The doc stripped my membranes (so not cool!). We went ahead and scheduled to have and induction for the 12th but it all depends on how "ready" I am. I have my next appointment on the 10th so we will see what is going on and he might do that membrane thing again if I haven't progressed much. I am really hoping that he won't have to do that!

I am not totally ready yet I still need to clean the entire house and finish setting up the crib. These things are driving me crazy because I haven't been able to get to them. I have been so busy at work (staying late) and I don't get much sleep that at the end of the day I am just too tired or maybe too lazy to want to do anything but hang out with my family. I think I will for sure get everything I want done this weekend! I have to!!!

9 Months!

Last week I was officially at 9 months I wasn't able to blog about it because too many things were going on here and I just didn't get a chance. This week though I am at 37 weeks so baby is officially at full term! I had my 37 week appointment on Friday and things are well. I have gained a total of 20lbs! My blood pressure is awesome and I am measuring at 36 cm. I got "checked" as well and I am at......1. Doh! Better than not at all right?

When I went to see the doc at 36 weeks we talked about having an induction. He will only do it a week earlier than my due date and I have to be dilated at least at a 2 but preferably a 3. He was very positive about me being barely at a one and said that I would probably progress quickly so we went ahead and scheduled the induction for the 10th. I will have another appointment on the 3rd to see if I am progressing......I hope!

Here are some pics. Elena wanted to be in it too.
I look like I just woke up!

Check out these great pics of Elena! I finally got her two year old picture done. We had to keep postponing the date because the weather was never just right.

Big Girl!

Elena is becoming a big girl now! She sleeps in her own room (although she wakes up once in a while). We had a rough first few days but it didn't take as long as I thought it would for her to get used to it. When bed time comes around I say "Elena, lets go upstairs it's time for mimi" and she responds by saying "ma room?" Asking if she is going to sleep in her room. I answer yes and she starts heading up stairs. The first few nights I would leave the lamp on in her room thinking that it would help her be comfortable and feel safe but then I realized the light from the neighbors across the street came in the room and so I starting turning the lamp off after she fell asleep and she ended up sleeping even better during the night. I can say that I have definitely found a huge difference in my rest! Except for now I get up to pee all the time...

Now all we need is for her to be potty trained and then I think we will be set! She will then officially be a big girl!! Here are some pics:


She likes to wear her sun hat around the house. I think she knows how cute she looks in it!
She thought it would be great to wear Christopher's sombrero......so funny!
She was supposed to EAT the Oreo....
She is all clean and super cute!
Just the two of us...

8 Months!

We are getting so close now! I had my 32 week visit Wednesday and I have gained 16lbs so far which is almost the same as with Elena around that time frame. I am just hoping I don't gain as much total. I gained a total of 33 lbs last time and well it just seems like too much for someone my height. My blood pressure is great and my iron levels as well. The baby is in cephalic position so she is getting all ready for us to meet her. This time around I am getting impatient! I feel more uncomfortable than the first time for some reason but oh well I guess. Today I noticed swelling in my ankles so gotta stay away from the salt! There are still a few things we need to do before baby gets here like getting Elena in her own room. Yeah, she is still in our room and we pretty much have her room set up it is just getting her in there that will be the problem. She wakes up many times during the night for whatever reason and sometimes she ends up in our bed.

Here are some pics of me.
I wasn't quite ready for this picture but it was better than that others.

7 Months!

I am at 7 months already! Today I had my appointment and I had to do the awesome glucose test. This time it seemed that the orange stuff was really strong tasting but it still wasn't too bad. Later after drinking it I sort of felt ill.....it just made me feel sick. I got my sugar levels tested and it was at 151 I think the norm is like 120 so they had to do some blood work to do another test and see what the results are on that one. Hopefully it will be fine! They also are going to see how my thyroid is doing and I hope that is fine too. My blood pressure was great and I am measuring normal. So far I have gained a total of 12 lbs and I am hoping I won't gain as much as I did the first time which wasn't bad but I thought it was too much for me, I am only 5' 2"!

While we were there Todd was seen as well (he sort of squeezed himself in) and found out that he has a sinus infection and the beginning of Bronchitis.....poor guy! I'm glad he was seen before it got really bad! He is on all sorts of stuff now. I have been sort of sick too so the doc prescribed some antibiotics so if I feel worse I can start them.

Here are some pictures of me.....again they are not so great but hey I was at work all day and I can't look gorgeous all the time! :)

The Latest News

A couple of weeks ago Christopher had strep throat! Yikes! Todd took him to the doc and got some antibiotics and everything to get rid of it. Well the doc had suggested a quick shot just to get it over with so that Christopher wouldn't have to deal with having to take pills for 10 days. He refused to have a shot even when Todd bribed him with $20! I would rather take the shot than have to take pills twice a day for 10 days. He got all better but then Elena had started a runny nose and she was doing ok because that is all she had. One of the days she had a really runny nose and had wiped it with her hand and she smeared it clear up to her eye. So then she had some nastiness all over her eyelashes.....sick!

Then a few days later she suddenly had hives on her legs (which she has never had before) and then some on her back and just in random places. She also had another rash that were pin like little things all over her back. The next day when she woke up I noticed that one of her eyes had more goopiness than the other but thought "well it is morning". When I went to pick her up at daycare after work the sitter told me that Elena's eyes had been goopie all day, so then I thought "uh, oh". I made an appointment for her that same day in the evening and we didn't get our regular doctor but instead some weirdo. We had told him everything that had happened and that she had the hives and this other type of rash which had now spread to her chest and a little on her forehead (the forehead ones were her skin color). He prescribed us some eye drops for the eye infection. Yeah, try putting eye drops in a two year old's eyes! He didn't say anything about her rash. He did check her ears and throat to makes sure she was fine there and she was. She never got a fever or anything, it was just some strange deal.

So then a couple days passed and Elena still had the funky rash thing going on and some hives now and then BUT THEN I noticed that she had all these weird bumps all over her tongue and they were huge. They didn't seem to bother her since she would eat fine but it really freaked me out! I took her to the doctor today and he said that it looked like it was viral and that it just had spread all over her body and it is just trying to get out I guess. He prescribed some sort of syrup type thing that should help it all get out. One of the side affects of the drug is that it might cause hyperness.....yeah she is already hyper so we can all imagine how she will be. I went to the pharmacy at Wals-mart after work today and they didn't have it! They did tell me that they had it at Smith's but at this point I just didn't want to go over there because I was just tired and too hot. So now I have to get it tomorrow and give it to her before bed time or we are all going to be way too exhausted chasing her around trying to get her in bed. My poor little girl always gets sick and she gets the strangest things!

6 Months!

It is hard to believe that I am already 6 months pregnant! Time is just flying by! I had my appointment today and everything is going well. My blood pressure is fine and I have gained a total of 7 lbs. The baby's heart rate is at 155 so that is great. Here is the latest picture of me and my growing belly.


Not the best pictures in the world but whatever.

Gender

For all of you who voted boy......you were WRONG! We are having another sweet little girl. We are excited and a little surprised, Todd thought we were for sure having a boy so he was really surprised. I thought it would be cool to have a boy but at the same time I thought if we had another girl Elena could have someone to play with and enjoy the same girly things. The ultrasound was really cool and I could actually tell what I was looking at. She let us see her little face and it was just awesome! She is healthy and everything looks perfect!

Our Baby Girl is 2!

I cannot believe that Elena is already 2! She is still my baby though! Elena is a cute, loving little girl who loves to play and can make a toy out of anything. She finds the most random things to play with and I find it so funny. I guess she has a good imagination! She talks quite a bit and she understands both English and Spanish which I think is great. Todd would like to learn Spanish as well and I keep telling him to just follow what she learns. :)

Elena knows all her letters she can read a letter (as long as it is a capital one) and tell you what it is. Sometimes she will say the sound it makes instead saying what the letter is but that is ok, she has been doing that for a few months now. I need to post a video of her reading letters so that everyone can see for themselves. Elena is very smart!

She loves to give hugs and kisses (mostly to me)! She loves to look out the window when it is snowing and she loves looking at the moon at night. Any time we go out in the evening she always looks for the moon and when she see it she points to it and says "luna!" She loves to sing the "Twinkle Little Star" melody and sometimes she will sing it and put names in it. She will throw in mama and another time Papi or sometimes one of the other kid's names. It is so cute!

There is so much to say about her that I could go on for days! Here are some picture of her over the last year.

February 2008

March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
She was falling asleep...so funny!
Bath time fun!
This one is so sweet!
February 2009
She loves that big ugly dog!