summer time

Outside time- We're lovin it!!!

mamma's happy highchair helper

so one of Caylinn's happiest moments during the day is while I am cleaning and cooking in the kitchen. she is so content to sit in her high chair and watch what I am doing. sometimes she even get to help and taste test! I love my little angel so much! I hope and pray I can be a great example to her.

Mamma Kitty lovin

a cute video

so this is a video about a week before caylinn went into the hospital! I love the connection my kids have!

Cyle had his end of year program for his preschool. they has biscuits and juice and then performed 4 songs for us on their outdoor stage. It was awesome to see how much Cyle has overcome some of his fears, and grown into being a little man!

so sad

this is what she would do everytime mom wasn't holding her after coming home from hospital- thankfully she has calmed down a lot now after being home for almost 3 weeks now.

in good hands

It is always a relief to know your children are in good hands:

This picture is at the end of Caylinn's hospital stay. she was starting to feel better by this point.

The above two pictures are of Cyle playing with his friend Landon who he stayed with for the night while LaVon and I slept out with Caylinn the night before she came home. He loves the Babot family and always enjoys his time with them!

Home

So while Caylinn was in the hospital they had diagnosed her with Haemopholous inlfuenza Spinal meningitis type F and thrush. She was on the antibiotics for 10 days, 20 doses for the infection and she had 5 days of the treatment for thrush. she went from only laying in her bed and dazing off to laying in bed and playing peek-a-book with mom and dad. her favorite thing to do on the last two days of being in the hospital was to go for rides in the wagon. She loved being free. she sat up most of the time in the wagon but also was able to lay down if she needed to. she was elated to go home after 12 days in the hospital with Dr.'s, nurses, and techs poking and prodding at her 24/7! We got home from the hospital on Friday, May 04, 2012. A week ago tomorrow. It is great to be home but I will say it has it's challenges too. I often found myself fretting over Caylinn because she was fussy or maybe a little warm. I would say a prayer and almost instantaneously she would be okay. The first few nights she slept in her pack-n-play bassinet downstairs with me. She was so used to having us right by her bedside in the hospital. I wanted her to transition on her own- and knew she would in her own time. She is now sleeping back in her own bed at her normal times. I knew she would get there and I am proud of her. she is still having anxiety around people and places. She has become the mamma's girl and has her mamma wrapped around her tiny little fingers. Even dad has a hard time getting her to come to him- which is hard for him to accept- he loves her dearly. IT makes it hard for me too, because when I do take a break I know she is screaming and throwing a full on tantrum for her dad- which makes me feel guilty for taking a break. Cyle has now shown symptoms of all this traumatic experience and we are working on giving him the extra positive attention and love he is in need of right now. It is a challenge- but the Lord is helping us to be more sensitive to our children's needs at this time- which is a really neat experience. Caylinn has now seen her speech therapist and her physical therapist. Speech therapists seems to agree with us that her speech and language skills seems to have gotten better, not worse and that she has not regressed at all since all this has happened. Physical therapy is back into full throttle. She is pretty much right back at where she was at 6 month old. this is heart breaking as a parent. especially since she was just weaning off of physical therapy and doing so well. we know and hold on to the fact that she will get back to where she was with time. Caylinn can sit by her self with close monitoring for about 30-45 minutes and then she tires out. she gets frustrated because she wants to do everything she used to do but doesn't have the strength and confidence for it. This is what 2 weeks of laying down and being knocked out by an infection will do to you. she has started to crawl a little bit but is still having a hard time holding her head up. when she does tire her head is the first thing to hit and so we are going to pursue getting her a helmet to help prevent any head injuries on the road to recovery for her. She will also be getting a walker to help support her in learning how to walk again. honestly, she has taken some huge steps back but nothing that wouldn't be expected and nothing that can't be helped. we are feeling so blessed that the infection didn't take a worse toll on her then it did. we try to stay as positive as we can and are finding that often times we hear things, read things, or are told things by friends and family when we need it the most. In our weak moments when fear, doubt, and worry fill our minds we have found our strength through inspired words. Please, if you are prompted to say something, share something, call us, e-mail us, etc...please listen to your prompting and know that you are one of the Lord's messengers. We love you all so much and really appreciate all the love, support, concerns, help, service, fasting,and prayers you have offered in our behalf- we can only say thank you but know that it is an understatement for the gratitude we have for you!

worried sick

Last Tuesday (4/16) I noticed that Caylinn had some drainage coming from her left ear. we got her into her normal ped's doctor (Dr. schwartzlow) on Wednesday (4/17) and he said she had an ear infection and prescribed some ear drops for it. The next day Caylinn was starting to throw up and fevering which Dr. Schwartzlow had said would probably happen. so we just gave her some Tylenol and hoped she would feel better sooner then later as LaVon wasn't even home from his Air Force training yet. Friday (4/18), Caylinn was very tired and was sleeping on our couch all day. she wanted me near and if i went into the other room she would get up off the couch if she really wanted to and would follow me around as she whimpered. She was still fevering and throwing up but we just figured the infection was running it's course. we did the best we could to get her to keep down fluids and foods. Saturday morning (4/19) we woke up around 6:30am and by 9am she had taken 3 naps already. we met LaVon at Cyle's soccer game and had some other errands to run so she slept in the car and in our arms. she was still super tired and moaning a lot but we just figured she was just letting her body take care of the infection- at this point I was terrified of her ear infections and was hoping she wouldn't get another any time soon. Sunday (4/20) was the same as Saturday but now she wasn't holding her head up very good, wasn't holding her own body weight when I would hold her, didn't want to sit up or stand, and wasn't responding to us saying her name, wasn't tracking people as they came in the room, wasn't startled by noises. she also started getting very pale and as you can guess I was pretty scared of this ear infection. I really didn't want to take an hour car out to Children's emergency room for them to just tell me that it was just her ear infection and that i was over thinking her symptoms (this has happened a lot to us). I called my mom for motherly advice and she said to take her in. without doubt I gathered stuff together scooped up my little angel and we headed out to children's hospital. I can honestly say there are angels working here in this hospital who know exactly who needs help and when. the minute we walked through the security metal scanners (yes, they have them here- sad, i know) and entered the sign in area a lady noticed that I was holding a very pale, dead weight baby girl who needed attention and fast. she requested that a room be ready right then and took all the info so quickly (maybe 5 minutes) and then helped us back into our emergency station. within an hour of being in the emergency station Caylinn had a team of 5 who were helping her in every way possible. they got her into a CTscan, a chest/ lung x-ray, blood labs drawn, urine samples collected,an IV put in, re-hydration process was started, etc (mind you, this is all within an hour of being back in the station- which is pretty amazing in and of itself for an emergency room anywhere)...because of her health history which is why we come directly to children's and don't mess with the other two hospitals that are closer to us they knew something was going on. they thought maybe her hydrocephalus had gotten worse or her chiari malformation maybe. they checked for a UTI...nothing came up to say this is wrong- or at least right away. It was a relief to know that I wasn't the only one noticing that the symptoms she was having were drastic and that something was seriously wrong with her. They decided that it must be an infection so they admitted her into the hospital and a general antibiotic was started through her IV while we waited for the next day to bring us the results of the blood work that had been done in the emergency room. The rest is still kind of a blur because we are still going through it but this is what has transpired. From her blood work they found out that she has Haemophilous influenza. It is a blood infection basically that not many kids get. Because I felt like she was in pain every time i lifted her up or lifted her legs they did a spinal tap in which they found she had some spinal meningitis because the blood infection had spread over into her spinal fluid and then caused inflammation. Later on her face was showing signs of asymmetry which is one of the things that tends to happen with meningitis because of the inflammation pushing on different nerve endings. they are not sure if this will be a long term or short term thing but we are hoping for the best. Because of the asymmetry and her spiking fevers they decided to do a sedated MRI scan of her brain and to put a PICC in. From the MRI they know she has not had any strokes and there is not any abscesses (an area where the blood cells have blocked off the infection so the antibiotics can't get to it). this was a huge relief! The PICC that they put in her is like a long term IV. they use it for when patients are going to be receiving medicines for more then 5 days. she will be on her antibiotics for 10 days at least and they are going to keep her in the hospital the whole time. we should be home from the hospital the first week of May. We think she may have Thrush now. we are waiting for the Dr. to come and take a look- this little girl can't seem to catch a break. we are asking people to keep praying for her and sending good thoughts this way. Cyle has come down with impetigo and has had to stay home from school- which just adds to all the craziness. I will say I am so glad that we are in the Air Force, that we have free health care, and that LaVon works under some amazing people that truly are our family away from family and have made it possible for him to take off the time he needs to help out during this trial. I am so touched by all the people who have reached out and know that God is truly taking care of us. I wish there was more for me and others to do but right now to make everything better, but praying and fasting is all we can do. I know I have truly felt the Lord by my side and that he is here carrying Caylinn and our family through this. Honestly we all have our emotional moments but overall we are handling this okay- given the circumstances. I keep repeating to myself- "this too shall pass, this too shall pass." and I know it will and that we will endure to the end with the help of the Lord. Lots of Love to all and much gratitude to you and your thoughts and prayers!

BIG NEWS!!!!

I have decided to go back to school at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh online division to get my bachelors in Interior design. I have had a passion for interior design for LONG time and it has been one of my life's dream to become an interior designer or to at least go and get more education for it.... I will be starting online schooling by the end of summer and I am very excited about it and look forward to it with giddy giggles :)

guiltless yummies

so as you all now we joined weight watchers and we have learned that yes you can eat what you have always eaten in smaller portions but if you switch things out and try to make it healthier then you can enjoy a lot more because it frees up your points a little bit more....so this is one of the treasures i found: a ZERO point cake. (here is the recipe and directions for those of you that want it, take it-take one sugar free cake mix. I found mine at walmart in the baking aisle. preheat your oven according to the box's directions. put cake mix into mixing bowl. add one can of any diet soda. (dark sodas work better for chocolate cakes and sprites or other flavors work well with yellow cake mix). Mix cake mix and soda can together until smooth. spray pan with non stick cooking spray and pour cake mix in the pan. bake the cake according to the box's direction on the time. (please note you do not use eggs or oil in the cake mix. only the soda and the dry cake mix). let it cool and then top it with fat free cool whip (found at walmart in the refrigerated section). slice strawberries and put on top. enjoy what you want and then cover and store in the fridge.)

soccer season

we signed Cyle up for soccer that starts tomorrow and he is so excited to be able to play. I must say I am excited too and can't wait to be right there cheering him on and gettig excited about him and his successes. Love that little man! pics will be posted later

crafty

so last saturday I was feeling the crafty bug so I put together a winnie the pooh themed diaper cake for a girl in the ward that is prego and I also made my first flower clips for girl's/ women's headbands. They were super easy and took very little time. I LOVE BEING CRAFTY!

spring time

One of the best things about living here is the beautiful season changes. As we enter into spring the brilliant color blossoms pop out and it is picture and blog worthy. Spring is also very sentimental for me as it often brings many memories of GG (my grandma Nelson) to my mind. She always had the most beautiful yard with Tulips and green grass and huge old trees. I love her so much and I am so glad that I have the tender mercy of spring to help me keep that memory of her so vivid in my mind and heart.

outside play

The weather has been so warm and enjoyable so we have been soaking it up a lot lately! here's a few cute pics.

hide 'n' seek

Caylinn has discovered the magic of our kitchen cupboards and closets. she loves sitting in them! It reminds me of when I hid under the bathroom sink once for hide n seek and the hiding spot was so good everyone gave up looking for me and I eventually had to come out by myself...never underestimate the power of a cabinet :)

weight watchers

LaVon and I joined weight watcher about a week and a half ago and we are loving it! It has been a challenge because it is truly changing our lifestyle and our eating habits which we realize now used to be very toxic to our bodies. of course we have a our rough days when we really dont like the program but i can say even after a rough week emotionally that i still lost weight and that i did enjoy some of my favorite treats- in a limited quantity but i still was able to enjoy them. LaVon to date has lost 5 lbs and Joy to date has lost 4 lbs. we are feeling great and look forward to keeping the weight off. we know this program goes right along with what the word of wisdom teaches us and know that the Lord is blessing us for taking care of our bodies the way they should be. I love that I am teaching my children by example and that they can look to me and LaVon as healthy role models.

MRI pains

so our daughter is supposed to go in for quarterly mri's to ensure her hydrocephalous and khiari malformation are not getting worse and it seems as though we have the hardest time keeping her healthy. because of her age she has to be sedated for her mri's which means if she is showing any symptoms of being sick the day of the mri or up to 2 weeks prior she is then rejected from her scheduled mri. she was supposed to have an mri in the beginning of february but got pretty sick with really bad wheezing and coughing episodes...so we rescheduled it for today and kept her home as much as we possibly could and tried to stay germ free but low and behold the day of her mri (today) she came down with a mild grade fever accompanied by a small cough and some minor lung congestion....the beginning of something great- i am sure. so we were unable to have her go into her mri and we are quite down about it. we try so hard and we feel that it just gets slapped back in our faces. I am really hoping that she can get better in about a week and then we can keep her healthy for another 2-3 weeks. I am putting it in the Lord's hands and I am letting him control it because it is obviously something we can't control along with many other things in life that are happening right now.

weight watchers

so LaVon and I have officially changed our lives by joining in on weight watchers. we are doing the internet tracking and not the classroom style and we are learning so much everyday. we are eating tons of fruits and veggies and supplementing with "main dishes" we have been doing it for 5 days now and we have both lost a little over 2 pounds so far! we don't have tons to loose but we don't want weight to become an "out of this world" issue...so we shall conquer now and maintain when we accomplish our goal weights. we love that we can still eat what we have been eating but in smaller more appropriate portions. the 2 major things we have learned thus far are: 1. that we have had a relationship with food and that needs to change...we are working on seeing and using food for its nutrition and not its taste/ comfort. We are both stress eaters and tend to turn to food a lot but we are now working on finding our other stress outlet.
2. you can still cook your own recipes but improve them with better ingredients and they provide that information right there on their recipe builder link. I am truly loving learning what foods are healthier for us and which ones i should be staying away from. they have put it in such lamen terms that it is easy to identify when something is healthy or not for our bodies. I can already feel the difference emotionally and physically and know that we are benefiting from this experience.

eating healthy

this is just one example of our many healthy meals we have been enjoying. We bought the Biggest loser cookbooks and I have loved their recipes. Not one let down yet!

these Kabobs had chicken, green peppers, yellow peppers, red peppers, onions, and sweet potatoes on them. yummy!

Love is in the air

Cyle had his arm around our neighbor friend, Chloe Spitzenberger. It was so cute and he did it all on his own several different times...good to know we are teaching him good things




Caylinn loves to say "Ilovu" and blow kisses. This girl has progressed leaps and bounds this month even with being sick twice and having some pretty crazy stuff happen to her. you go girl!

homemade valentine's day crayons

I got this idea from pinterest. you take broken crayons and make new crayons. they are super fun to color with and made great valentines for Cyle's friends.

daddy's girl

Caylinn Loves her daddy so much! her face lights up so bright when daddy comes home from work. even if Cyle says daddy's home Caylinn will turn and look over to the front door to see her daddy. it is so cute and they have such a great and fun relationship. they love each other so much and it is so precious!

LOVIN the Kiddos

bad luck

So lately it feels like our luck has been pretty bad. please excuse this post, for, it may sound like i am complaining...but honestly we are pretty done with this stuff happening and try to stay positive and humorous about it but i wanted to document it so we can read back on it and think to ourselves- whew! so glad that is over!
1. Caylinn's right thumb got burned on the outside of our stove and our housing maintenance people claim that it is normal for stoves to get hot enough for a person to be able to get a 3rd degree burn on them for touching the outside of it. needless to say- that didn't float with us and we are in a battle with them to get it fixed so it doesn't happen again....and they had the nerve to try and blame it on bad parenting skills...right, it would be one thing if she had burned it on the inside of the stove and i hadn't tried to get her away but, hello, the outside of an oven should be cool to the touch.....
2. Caylinn got bitten by our cat. it cut through the skin and we had to get her on antibiotics. thankfully that is completely healed now.
3. our van keeps having "problems"- first it was the wiper blades, then it was the back signal light going out, and then our front right tire went completely flat and is now completely out of use until we get our tax return in to purchase new tires. a couple days before the tire went flat i had filled the gas tank which is now useless because i can't drive the van with a flat tire.
3. since we were a one car family LaVon was helping out in the afternoon's by riding his bike to and from work so i could have the car to do school pick up and drop off for Cyle. on Friday, LaVon went to get his bike and his back bike tire was completely flat because a piece of metal had poked through his whole entire bike tire...so now we don't even have that to help out while we are a one car family.
4. our tax return date keeps getting changed and we could really use the extra money- it is so funny how they are so quick to take our money away but so slow to get it back to us.....
5. our last big thing that we barely escaped by the skin of our teeth was LaVon's computer dying on him....luckily that one didn't last for too long and it just took the touch of Joy's magical finger.
all in all these might seem like minimal things to other people but they are our trials and struggles right now and they seem to never end or at least not soon. this month has been full of bad luck and I am so done with it. hopefully March will be a better month for us. I know when this is all done we will be laughing about it all and we will be that much stronger as a family but right now- it sucks!

before and after

thanks to my lovely husband, who is also my hair stylist, for giving me a fresh new look. I love how it turned out!

Curiosity and skills

Caylinn has had a huge spurt in her curiosity and listening skills lately which has led to her discovering lots of fun things and doing lots of new things. some of my favorites are her making a smacking lips sounds, reading books and turning the pages all by herself, opening cupboards where food once was, sliding closet doors, throwing diapers away, cleaning up toys, putting her shoes away. she has also gotten really good at communicating with both sign language and vocalizing. she can sign: more, please, thank you, all done, and milk. she says momma, daddy, hi. I love this little fighter of a girl and I am so proud of how far she has come! I can't believe that next month she will be going into our church's nursery! also featured in the video is cyle's new found talent of singing jack and Jill went up the hill.

SNOW!

we got a pretty good snow storm in Monday afternoon/early evening. This is Caylinn's first experience with snow. She really didn't know what to do with it so I taught her how to throw it...by next winter she will be a pro at snowball fights :) Cyle on the other hand learned how to slide on the slush/ice like a pro so quickly from his dad just in the little time we played out in the snow before bed. it is so much fun to see him become a true boy through and through. I love my little family and I am cherishing the moments, for, I know now that the time we have with our little ones flies by so quickly!

Preschool

Cyle's first day of preschool was this past Monday. He is adjusting well and really has not struggled with it at all. In Fact, HE LoVeS it! He was so exhausted after his first day that he zonked out on the drive home. It was quite emotional for me during his first father's blessing for school. I really can't believe that my little man is going to school- BUT I know he would do well with it and I am right here to support him!

starting school

So many of you know that I have always thought about homeschooling my children due to the fact that we are military...but Cyle has different desires....there is a school bus that drives around our cul-de-sac daily and every time Cyle saw the bus he would say, "mommy I go to school?" I would ask, "don't you want to stay home with mommmy and learn?" and his response was simply said, "NO! I want to go to school!" so there you have it! Cyle is enrolled in preschool now and will start next Monday.

the cure for cabin fever in our home

we have frequent ball wars in our home. it often goes like this...mom starts it with cyle by calling dad over to the bottom of the stairs and we sneak attack him by throwing balls down at him....he then catches on and then the war begins....this time we even had a crib mattress up for our protection and because caylinn finally learned how to throw balls she even joined in on this last one. by the time we took a picture of this last war the matress "some how ended up at the bottom of the stairs with Cyle on daddy's side" :p I love my family and our pass-time activities :)