Back to School

Brooks was so excited to go back to Miss Denise’s! He LOVES her. I have to do a little bragging about how some of the other pre-school Mom’s wanted to make sure their kids were in the same class with Brooks. It will be sad when he goes to kindergarten next year. None of those kids will go to his school since we live in a different area. He asked me about it and if her would go to Miss Denise’s still and when I told him no, that he’d be going to a bigger school. He began to cry and told me how sad he was about it. But I reassured him that he would make lots of new friends and he eventually settled down.
Their 1st day they learned about being special and individual. Miss Denise asked them all what color their eyes and hair are and what their favorite foods are. Brooks said his eyes were blue and his hair changed from brown to blonde and his favorite food was Olive Garden Salad.
Brandon told him that his hair color was called dirty blonde; Brooks said “I should wash my hair so it can be clean blonde!” He loves Dinosaurs and his favorite shows are Dora, Diego, Phineas and Ferb, Max and Ruby, I Carly, Wow Wow Wubzy and pretty much any other cartoon on Disney or Nickelodeon!! He had his well check up and his vision is perfect and he’s very healthy. We decided to get his 5yr immunizations out of the way. He is such a baby when it comes to pain, they gave him two shots in the arm and the whole rest of the day he cried. He thought they left the needles in his arm and that we needed to go back and get them removed. I tried to explain to him how it worked but he insisted they were still in his arm. He continued to baby his arm until all the soreness was gone. We did our back to school photo shoot and this year I found this really cute letterman type jacket for him and it gave me some fun ideas to take them at the high school and use the football field. They turned out really cute and he’s such a ham! You know I love it.
SAFETY:
They went to the firehouse for their safety week field trip. They got to watch the fireman get in his protective uniform and tried to find any parts of him that weren’t covered that could get burned. He put on his helmet and let all the kids bang on it to make sure that it would protect his noggin’  They got to see all the tools on the fire truck and go through it while they told them all about safety, what to do in case of a fire and how they put the fires out. Then we went to the ambulance and then inside the firehouse and they showed us where they stayed and they got a call over the intercom that lets them know when there is an emergency. It said “test for ___ station only…Denise Jones pre-school, remember kids stop drop and roll” They all thought that was pretty neat. After that we went back outside and they got to spray the fire hose. The EMT talked a lot about making sure that the children know 2 ways out of the house and that we practice the escape plan with them and that we have a meeting place outside the house. They went over the importance of not going back in the house and how it takes away from all of them saving your child/pet to dividing their efforts and having to look for both of you, so you cut their chances of getting out safely in half. I think that would be the hardest thing, and it got me thinking about how we’ve never really talked to Brooks about where to go. He knows to get low and all about stop drop and roll but we need to go over what to do in case of a fire or earthquake! They also talked about when to call 911 and the importance of having our address posted where he knows it’s at or have it memorized. So we put our address on his level on the fridge and planned our escape routes and meeting place. I think he’s got it down pat! We learned a lot and made good use of our new knowledge!

3 Months

Paisley has passed her 3 month marker and is right on track for her development. She had her well check and is in the 75% for height and 50% for weight. She started to show excitement when Brandon or I walk into the room or talk to her. She’s smiling and giggling and I love it! She’s rolling from her back to her tummy and is still mastering the use of her arms it’s pretty cute to watch her try to reach for something! She still really enjoys lying under her activity center and bouncer. I don’t know if you remember when I was pregnant they thought she might have some kidney issues. Well when she hit two months old they had me take her in for an ultrasound and they found that her left kidney was still enlarged and there was fluid around them. So they sent me to a Urologist and told me that they needed to do some x-rays on her at Primary Children’s. So I scheduled the appointment thinking it was just going to be some simple x-rays and took Brooks along for the ride. We got there and they inform me that they would be giving her an IV and a catheter! I was pretty upset, if you know me you know I don’t do good with needles and I wasn’t really prepared for this. But I sucked it up and we went into the room. They laid her on the x-ray machine table and put these soft weights on her arms to hold them down  the Dr. said he saw a vein in her foot they could use for the IV. I let her hold my finger with her tiny little hand as they put in her catheter. She did ok with that, she gave a little grimace but wasn’t too fussy about it which surprised me because I know what it feels like. Then they stuck the needle into her itsy bitsy foot and she began to squeeze my finger and scream  I started to get queasy! She was crying her little heart out and squirming around and her little face was bright red. It seemed like he was digging around in there FOREVER! He finally stopped and decided that her foot wasn’t going to work. He proceeded to turn the lights off and shine a little flashlight under her hand to see her veins and again poked her. She tightened up again and kept screaming; I was stressing out so bad but trying to calm her down with kisses and running my hand through her almost non-existent hair. While Brooks was whispering to her “It’s ok sissy, it’s almost over” Both the Dr.’s were holding her down and complaining how wiggly she was being. I was thinking to myself.. ”You work at Primary Children’s Hospital. You think they would know how to put an IV in a baby and that she’s not just going to hold still for them to do it!!” After another eternity of them digging around in her baby hand they finally got it in. I think all the screaming wore her out because she fell asleep right after and they said they didn’t giver any kind of sedative. I had to lie down before I threw up or passed out and they brought me some juice and a candy bar to help my light headedness. They put some kind of fluid that has radioactive particles in her I.V. and put her under the machine. I was informed that the nuclear scan expose a child to about the same amount of radiation as a conventional x ray. At times, it can be even less. They said it was so that her body would try to flush it out so that they could see how her kidneys were functioning. She had to stay under the x-ray for 45 minutes and then they gave her something else that I was told would make her have to pee to flush out the remaining radioactive stuff. Then we had to have another test done. In the waiting room there were kids coming and going and one of the mothers who was waiting with her daughter to was talking to me and some of the other mothers about why we were there. There was an 18mo old boy that had a scar down his entire chest, his Mother told us that he had a heart defect and had already had 3 open heart surgeries; the first being the day he was born and that he still needed to have another. He also had a feeding tube in his abdomen that he kept picking at. I can not imagine having to deal with that! It was so stressful just hearing about it let alone being his mother it made me feel so scared and sad for her! There was another little boy that came in screaming as he went into one of the examination rooms with his Dad his Mother sat down in the waiting area and began to sob. We could still hear his muffled cries and screaming. She told us that he has a rare blood disorder and he had gotten into a basket of things and swallowed a tack. It got into his lung and they were trying to figure out what to do for him, since he would most likely bleed to death if they tried to surgically remove it. I felt terrified for her! It’s always a parent’s worst fear for something to happen to their child! And pretty much every parent there was living their worst nightmare. It made me take a minute and really thank God and count my blessings.
The next test they did was pretty short and sweet. They just filled her bladder with contrast and had her empty it out and took some pictures of the process. Then we went to meet with the urologist. Ultimately it was discovered that she has vesicoureteral reflux. Urine normally flows in one direction—down from the kidneys, through tubes called ureters, to the bladder. Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) is the abnormal flow of urine from the bladder back into the ureters. So this causes bladder and kidney infections. The goal for treatment of VUR is to prevent any kidney damage from occurring. So she was place on an antibiotic that she has to take every day until she’s one year old. To help prevent infections, then she will be re-evaluated to see if she has outgrown it. If she still has it then they might have to do surgery to correct it. I didn’t ask too much about the surgical procedure, I figured I’d cross that bridge when we came to it and I just hope that we don’t have to!
She’s a little trooper and just has the sweetest demeanor. She is just a happy little baby; her only fusses are an empty tummy and a messy diaper. She prefers to nap in a noisy room, like if the TV is on or there’s music playing. If it’s silent she doesn’t sleep as well. Brooks loves her to pieces; it’s so cute to watch him with her. And she loves him! She looks at him with such admiration in her eyes it is the sweetest thing! I know I will love watching them grow up together!

Yellowstone

Since you last heard from me we took a little trip to Yellowstone. I had never been before and was excited to go. We were staying with my In-laws in their motor home. It’s a fairly roomy motor home so it wasn’t too bad but I’m praying that Brandon gets our motor home up and running for next year! It would be so nice to have our own place to stay for once. Especially with the baby (finding a place for her to nap and feed her) Brooks wanting to jump on everything and worrying about him breaking things, and getting a little privacy! There’s nothing worse than everyone knowing when you’re doing your business…I don’t care if we are family ;)
Brooks went up with his grandparents a couple days before us, while we finished up the work week. They ended up seeing a Momma grizzly bear and her cubs, he was really excited about it! I on the other hand was a little scared. It happened to be the same time that fugitives were supposedly hiding out in Yellowstone. So I was glad when we finally got up there to be with him. We were supposed to take the In-laws suburban up there so we could all drive around together. But I had to get my car door fixed and this was the only time I would be able to be without it for a few days since we’d be gone. So I drove it to the shop to drop it off and Brandon picked me up in the burban. By the time we got home, the overflow reservoir was way above the full line, boiling and there was antifreeze all over the driveway. I’m glad we discovered this problem before we were stranded in the middle of nowhere!! But now we didn’t have a vehicle. We had barley made it in time to drop off my car before the shop closed for the weekend and Brandon’s car still wasn’t working (Even if it was, there’s no way I’d take it on a road trip!) So Brandon’s grandparents let us borrow their truck and we were on our way. Upon arriving we found out that they (Brandon’s Mom, Dad, Brother and his wife) had been pulled over while driving around the park. Since they didn’t have Brooks’ car seat (You can imagine how pleased I was to hear this!) they hid him under a blanket while the police officer came up to the car. My brother in law always has a gun in his truck (He’s a manly man) so they informed the officer there was a firearm in the vehicle as you are supposed to. They all had to put their hands in the air or hang them out the window and the officer called for back-up. After the officers did their thing, they ended up giving them a warning and sending them on their way…all the while Brooks is still hiding under this blanket in the back seat. As they drove away and Brooks sat up he was so proud he had stayed so quite as to not get his grandpa in trouble. He said “I didn’t even chew my gum!” Now he is quite aware when there are police men around when we’re driving and always tells me to slow down or be careful. Poor kid 
The first day there, we went to Old Faithful. If you’ve never been to Yellowstone, it’s a lot of driving!! Everywhere you go is like miles away, it took us about 45 min to get there from where the RV park. Brooks had nodded off by the time we pulled in to the parking lot. I picked him up to get him out of the truck and he had peed!! He has never done that before, we had no change of clothes or anything we had just driven forever to get there and it was forever to get back. Plus it was overcast and chilly. Brandon ran over to the souvenir shop to see if they sold pajamas or sweat pants or something. He came back with these long winter socks; they went all the way up Brooks’ legs. We put one of Paisley’s diapers on him.(a size 1) Surprisingly it fit him haha scrawny boy  and just put his wet pants back on him. He was really upset that he had to wear a diaper and cried for a bit but got over it as soon as we go to the geyser. They have a webcam set up there so we called my Mom and had her log on to see us which Brooks thought was pretty neat. Right after old faithful went off there was a pretty rainbow in the sky and there was a cool view of all the steam coming off the hills!

The next day we saw the Mud Volcanoes and drove around the park some more taking in all the beautiful scenery! All the buffalo were fun to watch Brooks switched back and forth between our truck and his Uncles truck and we talked over the walky talkies. There was a lot of driving!! I’m not sure what we were thinking going on this trip with an infant but luckily she was an angel and pretty much slept the whole time we were driving. The last day in Yellowstone we got up a little early and watched the wolves running around in the morning, it was neat to see them even though they were very far away. We headed to the Grand Tetons in the pouring rain. We set up shop at camp and headed to Jenny Lake. Took a boat ride and hiked up to a waterfall. It was very pretty! The next day we headed off to Jackson Hole for dinner, did some window shopping and stopped in this really fun candy shop! Took some pictures at the Elk antler arches and enjoyed some really tasty ice cream cones. I think by the end of the trip Pais had had enough of being in the car, she was so good the whole trip and then she cried non-stop for almost 3 hours on the way home.  All in all it was a nice little family get away, but I don’t think we’ll do Yellowstone again for a while! I’m putting my $ away for Disneyland!






































(This is what I looked like the whole trip ha)