just stoppin' by...

We are BAaaaaaaaaaCK...from another FUN FILLED Disneyland Vacation...this time we brought the kids!! I have LOTS to do and MORE to unpack...I'll be back to update everyone!!

OH...my BABY IS GOING TO BE ONE ON SATURDAY...WAaaaaaaaaaa!! So sad! :(

My mom is blogging this...

Okay...how many of you that thought you'd NEVER get into blogging are now TOTALLY and COMPLETELY obsessed?! Oh yeah! I am in that bunch also. I have a friend who runs his own T-shirt making business...if you've seen or own one of the shirts we got for our "Leaping for Logan" March of Dimes team, you know how good he is! Well, the other day I came across a shirt that said,

"My Mom is Blogging This"

That has GOT to be the cutest thing I've ever seen, and I've GOT to have one. Well, Richard can make them, any style or color shirt and lettering. Of course, they are MUCH more affordable if many people buy them.

SOooo, here are my questions...If I have him make the screen to fit child shirts and even onsies(I think), would you buy them?! I am thinking I would like one for Keat AND Lilee. Do we do a girl color shirt with black lettering AND a boy color shirt with black lettering, or go neutral with a white or grey color shirt and different color lettering?

Post in my comment box if you would like one, the size and your ideas for color! If we get enough people to get the shirts down to a doable price then I'll let you all know and I'll get the order in.

*I am NOT making a profit from these, just so you know, I just am trying to get the price of the shirt down a bit by having more people order the same shirt.

**Remember, these could be a great Christmas/Birthday gift for fellow blogging addicts that we all know!!

Our "buddy"

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Whenever Keaton and daddy get together you can be sure two things are happening...lots of FUN and lots of the word "BUDDY"! Since Keat was born, Seth has called him buddy when they are goofing around or whatever. "can you get such and such buddy"..."Thanks, buddy"..."I'm gonna get ya buddy"!
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Well, lately, Keat has turned the tables and calls both of us BUDDY all the time...it's so cute!! If you ask him for something or if you do something he has asked, he replies, "Here ya go, buddy"..."Thank you buddy"!! I catch him all the time and say, "who am I"...I have to remind him that I'm MOMMY, not BUDDY!! He really is our little buddy though!
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So much more independent and SUCH a dare devil. The kid is not afraid of anything...except a dark room or tunnel!! He's the first to concoct some krazy scheme of "flying" or tumbling or just about anything. Luckily(did I just say that) for us, Lilee is the same way, so the two of them can spend hours together laughing their heads off as Keat dances around the room falling into any and everything!! When she is sturdy on her feet, we're gonna be in trouble.
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Yep, that's right...Lilee is STILL NOT WALKING!!
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The little goof has been standing up and "walking" around furniture since she was SIX months old...she can TOTALLY walk if she wanted to...and she has even taken as many as 4 steps (1st step taken on September 4th) and can stand alone for however long...BUT SHE JUST WON'T WALK!! I know I'm gonna get about a dozen posts about how it's a good thing and it's better that she not walk now...blah blah blah!! I want her to walk. She's at the point where she doesn't want to crawl, she wants to hold onto my fingers and walk, so just get 'er done already!!
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I really wanted her to be walking by her 1st birthday, so we've got less than 2 weeks!! tick tock tick tock!! She's so stubborn, she could be crawling when she is 16!! We love her though...she's just the sweetest little lady. And she's still cute as EVER!!
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I love my kids...how did I get so blessed?! What did I do to deserve such wonderful little people in my life?! I always knew that motherhood was something I wanted to experience, but who knew it would be "THE" experience of my life...the most important thing to ever happen to me.
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I'm so grateful for my little family...so grateful for the chaos(it means we are healthy and happy)...so grateful for the tight money(it means we have LOTS and are able to share)...so grateful for the headache(it means I get more kisses from my kids and I can appreciate life more when it's over)...and so grateful for my role as a mother(of course, it helps to have the most supportive man in the world by my side encouraging me each day that this is the greatest calling in the world...I love you Seth)!
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Why it's best to talk to the Doctor...

I have a tendency to freak out, overreact, jump to conclusions...and it has only gotten worse since having my children. I want only the best for them and when I feel as though they (or myself) have been cheated in any way, I attack!!

After writing the post about Lilee's surgery, and reading all the concerned comments, I realized that I needed to talk to a Dr. and figure out exactly what went wrong. SO, I called. I talked to a nurse. I felt like I was getting the run around. I panicked and went on defense mode. Another nurse called me. I told her I needed answers and I needed them now. Another nurse called me, "I have Dr. Argueso here right now, would you like to talk to him?" OF COURSE I WOULD!! I was a bit nervous at first. When Dr. Argueso handled Keat's surgery when he was a baby, I loved him. He was awesome. Dealing with him this time in the office for Lilee was a little less than desired. I already had a bad taste in my mouth and was worried he wouldn't be honest with me. BOY WAS I WRONG. HE WAS FABULOUS!! I told him what I had understood by what he had told me. HE APOLOGIZED to ME and said that when he gets in the zone of doing surgeries(they do a TON in a row right after each other on Monday and Fridays) he often forgets to give parents all the details that they need. He also told me later that 80% of his job is dealing with concerned moms and that he has been married 28 years and he KNOWS the mind of a woman and he completely understood my worry. He was happy to set the record straight!! It was great to get some better answers. So, here is what I know!

Lilee's "condition" did NOT get WORSE. It is still a level 2. When they go in for surgery, it is like another test that they can't do any other way than going in. During Lilee's surgery, they discovered that Lilee had no "branches" to her ureters. This is what he meant when he told us that "it went all the way up". What they do during a DEFLUX(which is what Lilee's surgery is called) is inject a liquid into the branches to inflate them and create a barrier to keep the urine from splashing into the kidneys. However, if you don't have the branches to inflate, it creates much more difficulty, which is what happened in Lilee's case. That is why we have to get her tested again for REFLUX in 2 months. If it has gone away, GREAT...the DEFLUX worked and we're good to go. If it hasn't, we will need to resort to open surgery to go in and actually CORRECT the problem. Dr. Argueso told me that you kind of have to look at the DEFLUX procedure as a stepping stone. It is just another "step" in finding out what to do. So, hopefully it works and we don't have to go back and put Lilee through any more.

Prayers are still very welcome! It's great to know Lilee is in good hands and that she is being cared for in the best possible way! There's the update!!

In other news, the migraine is gone...after 5 days of the yuckies, it is COMPLETELY GONE!! I got in to see a neurologist. We will be running some tests to figure out if everything is okay and the best way to treat me. Unfortunately, we'll have to put our baby making attempts on hold for the moment to get all the tests done. I know Heavenly Father has a plan and this is just part of it for us. It will happen when it is meant to happen.

Happy Happy Day

HAPPY 65th BIRTHDAY ROGER!!!

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Thanks for being such a great working buddy to my Seth!!

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ps. A little razzing never hurt anyone!!

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HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY SAMARA!!

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WOW, you are legal...a whole lotta good that will do ya!!:)

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Thank you for being such a great friend...one of my very bestest!!

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Here are some pictures from Samara's surprise party...which was a bust because we totally forgot to SURPRISE her...although she still seemed to enjoy herself and we all had a great time!! Happy Birthday again Samara!!

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Richard and Lilee

(L-R) Mike, Eddie, Samara, and BJ

Eddie and the birthday girl

Seth and Keat

(L-R) Lindsey, Amy, and Liz

The latest and NOT SO greatest!

The title is not really a great way to start a post off right, but we've been in a hole lately!!

Without going into EXTREME detail, I have had a SEVERE...TERRIBLE...THE WORST MIGRAINE OF MY LIFE since Friday. Sometimes it was worse than others, but come Saturday night and all day Sunday, I thought I was going to DIE! I cried for hours because of the pain. My kids didn't know me this weekend because I was in bed all day. Along with it I had fevers and chills and body aches. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. Also, this past month, my normal migraines of one a week or so, got to be as frequent as about every other day. SO, by Sunday evening, shoving EVERY POSSIBLE medicine I could think of into my mouth, and NO sign of even the SLIGHTEST relief, Seth took me to the ER. THANK YOU NANA FOR WATCHING OUR BABIES...we really appreciate it!! After urine and blood samples, having a LOooooooooooooNG Q-tip shoved through my nose to "swipe" my throat, chest X-rays, a CAT scan, and an IV with fluids and SIX, yep, SIX different pain medicine, I left with no answers(everything was clear) and no relief. I woke up at 4:30 am (an hour before having to be up for Lilee's surgery...more on that later) and I was in EXCRUCIATING pain. We searched all our "old" medicines and came upon some Tylenol with Codeine that hadn't expired. I popped the pills and woke up at 5:30 feeling the FIRST bit of relief I had in DAYS!! It was wonderful. Unfortunately...I had to keep taking the codeine all day yesterday to ward off the nasty migraine which was fine since Seth was home...but today, codeine will just NOT due. SO, since I STILL have this nasty thing and since I am nauseous beyond belief, I am taking Midrin, a prescription I got at the hospital, and it's "helping"! At this point, I'll take it. ANY advice out there on how to alleviate migraines I will TAKE IT ALL!!!

SO, We get Lilee to surgery at 7:30, she goes in at 8:30, the Dr. comes out by 9 and says, he's done and it went well. GOOD. Then he says, "there was one little thing though". OKAY. Apparently, when they went in they were expecting to work on a level TWO reflux...what they found was a level SIX...only the HIGHEST it goes on the scale. SO, this is when I can either freak out or count my blessings. Blessing ONE...I am SO SO grateful that I pushed and pushed to have the surgery. Since Lilee's reflux affects BOTH her kidneys, had we chosen to do the medicine route and "hope" it corrected itself, Lilee could have had complete kidney failure by the time they figured anything out...by TWO!!! That is just insane, I am SO grateful that I persisted and made them listen to me! I am also feeling so blessed that it didn't cause more damage in the time that she has had it. Here is the bummer though. This particular surgery is only done for patients who have a low grade of the reflux. Someone with Lilee's severity would NEVER be given this surgery. SO, there is a 50-50 chance it will work. We'll go back in 2 months to test her reflux again and see if it's gotten better. If not, she'll need the full on super invasive surgery to heal everything completely. YIKES! I'm a little bit annoyed with everyone involved in this whole process. How could she have been misdiagnosed SO SEVERELY?! I'm also really upset with the urologist performing the surgery. It is HIS job to look over the films that the radiologist sends him and make sure for himself that the reading is accurate, not just take the radiologists word for it. OBVIOUSLY nobody took a lot of time with my daughter's tests, and unfortunately she is the one paying for it. Of course, everything may heal itself and we won't have to worry about any of this, but it is still all very frustrating for me. As for Lilee...she is happy as a clam!! I swear, she slept 4 hours, woke up and has been a DOLL every since!! I love that little girl!!! Prayers prayers and more prayers are asked on her behalf...especially that this surgery WILL work and she won't need to worry about anything more in the future!!

That's us! At least two of us. More to come on Seth and Keat later!!

Back to blogging!!

Can you say BLOGGING SLUMP?! I think that's what you'd call not having even the teeniest desire to blog or having anything to blog about for that matter. *sigh* Such is life.

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Two weeks ago, Seth and I had the WONDERFUL opportunity to head to California for a couple days. Thanks SO much to our GREAT friends the Laudies and the Goodmans for being so willing to take our twinkies for the 3 nights we were gone!! What a great time we had walking around Disneyland, not worrying about sleep schedules and monitoring what rides we COULDN'T walk by in fear Keat would want to ride but can't because he isn't tall enough and holding hands and riding adult rides TOGETHER...it was SO NICE!! OH, and not to mention sleeping the WHOLE night...that was a dream!! We FLEW out on Tuesday evening and flew back Friday afternoon. It was seriously SO MUCH FUN and such a great break for Seth and I. It felt like we were celebrating our honeymoon, not our anniversary...of course it helps that we look like we COULD be celebrating our honeymoon...the guy at the front desk gave us a suite because he thought we had just been married...sometimes it pays to look like you're 16. (of course it has recently been brought to my attention that SETH looks like he's 16, I am an aged 17 now!!! Dang kids...they sure age a woman!!) It was a great time and I think it was really important for Seth and I to have this time!! Here are some photos!! OH...and notice my HAIR in the photos...I haven't posted pictures since getting my bangs...ooh lala!!

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I have been working on my posture lately...but it just looks like I'm trying to stick out my chest in most of these pictures!! :)

Waiting in line...

HAHAHAHHA...look at our faces!!

My little ham!!

Had to get a shot with our buddy Buzz for Keat beat!!

As the guy was taking this picture, Seth said, "it smells like Pooh"

A running shot with the Goof...krazy guy!!

The quintessential Disneyland photo...there's that posture again!!

"N" is for NIKKI:)

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Now we just can't wait to go back WITH the kids!!!