Catching up...

I am so behind!

Back in March we made a weekend trip to Logan to stay over night with my grandparents and to go see Danny's grandparents in Brigham City.  We also went sledding at a park by my grandma's house in Logan.  It had the biggest hills so it was a lot of fun!  Kayzee would not go but Danny, Memphis, and I all went a few times.  Memphis the most...he LOVED it!

After we got back the real fun began.  I missed a couple days of school because of some PE trainings and then I thought I got food poisoning so I missed some more days of work.  Then I realized it was not food poisoning but instead the stomach flu because it went through Danny, Memphis, and Kayzee.  YUCK!  Then Kayzee ended up in the hospital so I missed more work (mentioned in my last post), then I got strep!  Seriously so annoying that it was just one thing after another.  I missed a lot of work and then it was Spring Break so it was really hard going back to work after all that. 

But I did have a great Easter and Spring Break which totally made up for the horrible weeks before that.  And I was spoiled for my Birthday that week too:)

First came Easter.  We woke up and the Easter Bunny brought us fun gifts and candy in our Easter Baskets.

 Then we drove to Logan to my grandma's and grandpa's house and SURPRISE...my parents drove down from Washington.  YAY!  So fun to see my mom and dad and Memphis and Kayzee had fun with their grandma and grandpa:)  We went on an easter egg hunt in my grandma's backyard...and we had a yummy Easter dinner and my Aunt and Uncle came and my cousin and his wife.

 One of the many reasons my parents came to visit was so they could watch our kids overnight so that Danny and I could go to Anniversary Inn in Logan.  Danny wanted to surprise me for my birthday and my Dad spoiled me and upgraded our room...THANKS DAD!  We stayed in the best room.  So nice!

 The jetted tub was the best part.  Wish I had one in my own bathroom at home...oh well.

 The next day (Monday) I got to sleep in...it was really nice.  Then we went back to my grandma's house and back to our kids.  My mom said they did great without us.  They usually do:)  All the women went shopping and the men stayed behind to watch tv and read.  Then we had lunch and then us and my parents drove to Farmington to see my aunt and uncle.  Then we finally headed home.  That night for dinner we went with my parents to Buffalo Wild Wings so they could try it.

The next day (Tuesday April 2) was my birthday!!!

I woke up to some yummy chocolate cake...

 flowers...

 balloons (that 30 is wrong...I am really 29 AGAIN!)...

 presents...

 and more presents...THANKS MOM!

 and another present...Danny surprised me and got me a bike!  (see below for pictures of that one)  I have been talking about wanting one for the summer so I have been saving my money but Danny beat me to it.  THANKS BABE!

Then my mom and I drove to Springville to The Retreat to get my hair done.  I always chop off all my hair and get highlights for the summer.  My cousin does it and she always does a fantastic job!

I LOVE Brick Oven Pizza in Provo so we got a big party room and invited all my cousins and aunts and had a party!  We had so many show up we had to move to a bigger room.  The manager was so nice to accommodate all of us.  We definitely had a party and it was fun to see everyone!  Thanks family...

 All the little ones...

 Blowing out my candles that night...

 My parents left the next day...and then I had fun just staying home with my kids for the rest of the week.  I love my family (ALL OF THEM!)...thanks for a great birthday and to everyone who sent me cards and gifts.  Turning 30 wasn't so bad:)

We like to go on walks and Memphis has always ridden his bike while I pushed Kayzee in her stroller.  But Memphis started getting way too fast and our jogging stroller broke so I also got a new bike trailer to go with my new bike.  Now Memphis can ride his bike really fast and I can keep up with Kayzee in the trailer.  But first Memphis had to go for a ride too:)

 I first took my bike out for a ride.  I use to ride a bike and go on 20 mile bike rides all the time back in college (2001-2005!) so I knew I needed to try out my bike first to get use to it.  I went 10 miles easy.  Then another day I added the trailer and took that out (added 16 lbs) so I only made it about 6 miles.  Then the next day I added my two kids (add another 75 lbs!!!!) and man that was tough but I made it 2 miles.  My goal is to go for a bike ride everyday this summer with my kids.  It is going to be a great summer...I can't wait.  Only a month and a half left of school!

The Hospital Adventure

Yep, Kayzee ended up in the hospital.  The at-home clean-out procedures we tried didn't work and the GI specialist wanted to run some tests to figure out what has been causing her constipation.  It was a crazy day.  I got about half way to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City and found out the hospital needed a preauthorization number before they could admit her (which could take awhile) and they told me I could be there for a maximum of 3 days so I drove all the way back home and packed and waited.  Then we got the call that my insurance gave preauthorization but for only 24 hours so if Kayzee needed to stay longer than we would have a lot to pay out of pocket.  Dreading the bills but wanting to get Kayzee help we headed back up there.

The nurses were fabulous.  So kind, so patient, and very friendly.  Kayzee LOVED them.  She would do whatever they asked.  One hard thing was they would only let Kayzee eat jello and drink juice and I couldn't leave her side so they brought me lunch but I had to hide eating it in front of her so it took me about an hour to eat my salad;)  The hospital did have a play room for inpatients and Kayzee was in heaven playing with all the dolls and the play kitchen.

Here is Kayzee with her new yellow hospital socks.  She loved them.  She looks so grown up here too.

The GI specialist (a different one than we had seen before) came in and took her history then ordered a barium enema.  An enema with contrast dye so they could take x-rays of her intestinal tract.  The specialist was worried about hirschsprung's disease.  It's where a part of the intestinal tract is narrowed and missing some nerve endings which causes bowel problems.  So off we went to radiology.  This was the hardest part of the whole hospital adventure.  Watching my daughter being strapped down to a board so she couldn't move and then listening to her scream for 30 minutes while they did the enema and turned her strapped down body every direction so they could get good x-rays was heartbreaking for me.  All I could do was hold her hand and sing songs quietly in her ear.  Here is what I wrote on Facebook about this whole experience...

I have a new appreciation for parents who have to watch their children suffer through painful medical procedures...there is nothing you can do but hold their hand and wish you could take their place so they don't have to go through that.  And there are those who deal with it on a daily basis.  My heart goes out to them.  My daughter has been so strong through this process bringing smiles to all the nurses with her sweet personality.  She is such a good example to me to be happy through trials.

We headed back to her room and waited for the results.  The enema cleaned her out and she had diarrhea for 4 days.  I literally changed 9-14 diapers a day when normally I change her 2-3 times a day. She got really dehydrated so while in the hospital she had an iv with fluids.  The nurses got the iv in her really fast so Kayzee didn't really have time to cry.  

11 hours after being admitted the specialist came in with great news.  She did not have hirschsprung's and now that she was officially cleaned out we could actually go home.  They rushed her paperwork so we could leave before it had been 12 hours and that way I could claim out-patient procedures instead of in-patient admittance to help us save a lot of money!  YAY!  She was officially diagnosed with chronic constipation.  Basically we have to give her a fiber filled diet and she needs to learn to go to the bathroom on her own (which is hard because she is so young and doesn't understand the importance of going everyday or else she will be constipated again and have to be cleaned out.  We have to continue with the laxative once a day and the ex-lax chews every weekend until June when they will reevaluate and hopefully wean her off everything.  Since we have been home I was worried about the 4 days of diarrhea but knowing she was staying cleaned out I didn't worry too much but now she has not had a bowel movement in 5 days so the dr says if she goes 2 more days without one then we will have to do the 3 day clean-out procedures all over again.  UGH.  I wish there was someway we could get her to understand.  And I am going to start potty-training soon so we will see if that helps or if it will be hard with everything going on.  

After we got home life got worse for me (I had already had a horrible week so to have another week of being miserable was really disappointing) but then I had the best week and that made up for everything!  But that's another post:)