March Madness

I am so sorry to all, I have been meaning to post this for days and days. So instead I just keep adding on and this post gets longer.

Oh and as for my last post, Thanks for all the prayers in regard to Alli, Kyle and Grant. I can't believe the outpouring of support and prayers from those of you who don't even know my dear friend. Grant was born on Friday March 20 after 26 hours of labor. Yes, Alli is amazing! He has had some ups and down ever since and is in surgery this morning (3/24). If you would like to watch for updates you can check Grant's Blog. Feel free to leave a comment for them I am sure it would make Alli happy to know how many people are praying for her little family.


As for our little family, we are all wonderful. And just for Grandma, here are lots of pictures. We have had a busy couple of weeks here on our happy little Hill-Top! But things are going so well. I am so happy its spring. Every time I look out my windows I feel like singing "June is Busting Out all Over" from Carousel. Yes, I know its not June. But it just seems like the right song for the weather. And because of the weather we have been spending a lot more time outside. Luke has really enjoyed it. It might sound funny, but Luke has not spent a lot of time outside. Its just kinda happened that way with the timing of things. But we are trying to change that. We have been taking him to the park a lot and walks to the store. He likes the sun and I think the baby swings are his new found passion. Another great thing about the park is he has lots of space to try out his new skills. Because.... Luke got his braces!!!! Yeaah! He has low muscle tone and because of this it has cause some complications with hisancles and feet. So we had some orthotics made to re alin his feet and help him stand and eventually learn to walk . They are super cute braces with little reen and blue dinosaurs on them and come up to right under his knee. Here is a picture of them on. Its crazy they make him like 3 in taller(because he can stand up straight) He has done realy great transitioning into wearing them and they don't seem to bother him at all. We put them on when we get him out of his crib in the morning and then we take them off right before we put him to bed. The only draw back is he has to wear shoes on top of them all the time.(to protect the brace) This is less than fun because we have to go two sizes up in shoes to get them on top of the braces. So its like he is learning to walk in clown shoes:-)
So know we will go in order, The next night we went up to Syracuse to spend the night with the Andrew's family. Andrew's sister Liz and her Kids were up from WY along with his sister Mel and her son Bronco. Luke has had a lot of respitory problems before that week but was perfectly healthy at that point:-)

Unfortunately it didn't last, the next night we woke up at 3 am and Luke couldn't breathe. He sounded dry and horse but the worst was the strider that accompanied each breathe. So up we went to the Out-patient Suction Clinic. They he didn't improve enough and his oxygen was low so they admitted him around 4:30 am on Friday the 13 for observation. I was really upset because I was scheduled to be a "fairy" at the public library that night. But since he had not had any problems breathing in a few hours I had my brother Kevin come to the hospital and sit with Luke so I go. By the way it was fabulous! My friend Ali (cori's BFF) is the public relations coordinator for the public library and was planning the wonderful annual Fairy Teaparty and needed people to help. I was so excited to do it and we had so much fun. If you look closely at the picture you can see my hot pink hospital bracelet. But I had a lot of fun (thanks Ali) And it worked out perfectly becaus Luke was dischraged a couple hours after I got back to the hospital that night. Don't feel bad if you didn't know he had been in the hospital, we didn't tell many people and didn't want people to worry. (thus no archival hospital pictures)
So after that night some meds and a couple of shots we haven't had any problems since. We are crossing our fingers that RSV/croup season is coming to the end. And then we went to our PT apt this week and........................ Tada.... Luke walked around the office with a push toy!!! We had though Luke might need a walker to hep him after he got his braces but he did so well it is looking like all we will need is a push toy and lots and lots of practice:-) This make me happy.

So that is most of the major events we have been up to. We had a chance to see my family last night as they prepared to fly out and see my sister Cori and her family in Chicago. And basically we are happy and excited to be at this fun point in our lives. The job hunt continues strong we have had a few more bites but not the big catch. But we are so incredibly grateful that we are able to be so blessed in the transition.

Today is Alli-day

Hey all, a while back I did a little post about my best friend Alli and her son Grant. Grant is coming into the world tonight or tomorrow with a congenital heart defect called HLHS. She is one of the most amazing people I know and really means the world to me. We have been friends ever since junior high and pretty much inseparable through high school. She is that friend that it doesn't matter how long it has been since the last time you talked you pick right back up again where you left off. She has been there for me through pretty much everything and I love her for it! If you could all keep her and little Grant in your prayers I would greatly appreciate it!
Isn't she the cutest pregnant lady ever. I stole this picture off her blog (hope you don't mind Alli) I just love it. She always had the prettiest hair out of all of us, even in high school. Yep I love her:-)

I have lots of other news and picture to post but this has been on my mind all day.

Lil' Man

Look at this kid? I can't get over it, he is so funny. I realized it has been a little bit since I posted Luke pictures so...... Surprise today's the day!:-) First, Luke has grown completely out of all his church attire. So rather than the multi-colored collard shirts and jeans we went to Kid-to-kid and got him a real church outfit. Isn't he hansom? He looks so grown up.
Life has been pretty fabulous for us lately, despite the frequent recurring respiratory virus Luke can't seem to shake. But he has been a trouper and has braved the frequent suctioning and nebulizing like a champ. It is funny how routine it become after a while. But despite the virus he hasn't slowed down. He is enjoying a new sense of mobility with his mad crazy pull up and cruising skills and has learned to open bags and pull things apart. (thus the following pictures) Needless to say he keeps us on our toes. But it doesn't seem to matter what he does he looks up at you with that impish smile and you can;t help but love him!







He gets a great amount of joy in his two new favorite games. "Can I have it" (give a toy to mommy and then she gives it back) and "Peek-a-Boo"(he holds a book in front of his face and pulls it down and we yell Peek-a-Boo). Peek-a-Boo is super funny because most of the time he tries to do it fast and just end up hitting his face with the book. I laugh every time. Throw that in with book reading and a tantrum and you have got our daily routine. Its fun to see this little personality begin to blossom.
He definitely knows what he wants. He always keeps me on my toes. Last night before I put him to bed I was sitting on the couch typing. He came up and stood next to me and the next minute I look over and he had fallen asleep. Standing Up! I had to document it. He was snoring and everything.
And the next movie is of him singing along to American Idol. I had no idea what he was doing with his tongue but I thought it was hilarious and had to share. (Sorry the videos are dark)
But he's my favorite little person and I love the time I get to be with him. It is amazing to watch him change and grow. I can't believe he is 15 months.

Learn to like it!

So I have never been an exercise buff, not something I really enjoyed. I remember vividly in the six grade track meet, I was chosen for Shot Put. Not because of my massive arm strength or because I could actually through the metal ball. But because of my total lack of ability on the track. I remember I never got the "Presidential Physical Fitness Award" Most years it was because of the mile, but 6th grade I lost that honor because of my lack of PullUp-ability. GRRRRR! So I have always had a little aversion towards running. Many of my friends run but I always just considered them more athletic than myself. But in the past year many of my friends have taken up running. So when Andrew got me a gym pass for Mother's Day last year I began by going only to cycling and yoga classes which I have always loved. But about two months ago I was inspired by so many of my running friends and I came to the realization. I am not always going to have a gym pass, athletic equipment, or a work-out class with a teacher yelling at me to push harder. I decided if I wanted an exercise I could do whenever and no matter the economic situation. So... I should learn to like running. So treadmill and I have started spending quality time together.
Now this is the point where I make a confession. I don't really "run" It's more like speed-walking with intervals of running. But I feel good about it. I have to start out with something I can do and work my way up. So last night I did my best Quazi-run ever. 8 miles!!!! So maybe the majority of it was speed-walkingness with some intervals of running. But my personal best up to this point was 5 so I thought I should document the accomplishment. Now if I could only be better about going everyday. Its funny I think my main motivation for going is to have "me" time. I have never needed "me" time before in my life, it has always been the more people to talk to the better. But I think the fact that I stay at home with Luke makes me cherish the time I don't have to look after anyone but myself. I am able to watch TV (which we don't have) and watch totally nonsense shows that make me smile:-) To be truthful, the 2 hour premier of ANTM helped me to attain my 8 miles. Its just important to take time for myself and since my only real option is the gym it helps my body too!

Andrew's parents got a running stroller for Luke for Christmas. We thought this would be good motivation for us to run. Also.... we are planning to run a "hypothetical half-marathon" that will be run at a yet undetermined time. We aren't sure where we will be this summer so it is hard to plan an official date. But the long and the short of it is I think it is good for me to try something new. I am a creature of habit and love to stick to things I know. After running my next goal is to conquer my fear of weights:-) But I have been making a little headway with that too. Just not quite as much as with running!

Grateful.

I like days when you have realizations or when you get perspective. They are days you change for the better! My best friend from high school Alli is pregnant with her first child, Grant. She is due in just a couple of weeks and her son has a heart defect called HLHS, Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. I can easily say she is my super hero. It basically means that the left side of her son's heart is severely underdeveloped and without treatment, it is fatal. Her and her husband are amazing and are anxiously gaining information and making preparations to give Grant the best possible situation for when he enters the world on March 18. I follow her blogs daily and can't help but think about her often. She really has helped me so much. I would never in the world want her to go through such a difficult trial, but I am grateful she has shared her experience and perspective with me. It has helped me in so many ways. Life can be so easy to take for granted. It is so easy to live each day comfortably without thanking my Father in Heaven for the opportunity to live each day. And in my case, to live each day with an amazing husband and a wonderful son. But as I have checked her blog, I have also had the opportunity to read some of the stories of others who have had a similar situation to Alli. As I was reading one today I was moved to tears and blessed with one of those "perspective moments". This friend has been sharing her "mommy wisdom" with Alli ever since Alli and Kyle learned of Grants condition in Nov. But as I read her post about how she had to let go of her beautiful little Gracie yesterday, (who was just a few weeks shy of her first birthday) I was just so grateful. Grateful for my family, for my many blessing and my religion. I am so grateful for the knowledge that this life is not all there is. The knowledge I can be with my family forever. It made me want to go and do recreational things with my family. It makes me want to go out and make more beautiful memories.

It reminds me of a quote from one of my favorite plays, Our town. (It think this was in a conference talk not to long ago) But in the third act, one of the main character's has a chance to go back and look at a moment of her life after she passes away. Emily asks the stage manager "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?—every, every minute?" I remember how this quote inspired me when I had an opportunity to help with this play at Davis High during my student teaching. I made an effort to more realize life. And today as I was reading Ali and Michele's (Gracie's mom) blogs I had those feelings again . I am going to make greater effort to appreciate the simple moments in my life. It's a great life to be living:-)

As for Alli, my super hero, she is going strong just like she always has. But I am sure she would appreciate your prayers as she goes into this exciting and uncertain time. They are going into Primary's on the 18th and leaving sometime in the months following- depending on Grants condition. I am getting a Visa Gift Card to help them with some of the expenses after Grant is born. If any of you want to contribute just email me or let me know . You can also donate directly to their meal card at Primary Childrens. There is more info here on her blog. As for Gracie and Michele I have never met them but I am sure their family would also appreciate prayers during this difficult time.

But as for me it's been a good day, a day I have laughed more and complained less. I like days when you get perspective.