The Kayzee Adventure

And what an adventure she is!  I love her so much and I am so blessed to have her in my life.  She has had a rough two weeks (or should I say we all have) but the good news is...she is finally sleeping through the night!  After 2 1/2 years (yes, you read that right...YEARS) I am finally getting sleep because she is finally sleeping.  But it's weird because my body doesn't know what to do with all this extra sleep so I still feel so exhausted!

I first need to post a bunch of pictures of Kayzee.  I was finally making our blog into a book and I noticed that I posted pictures of Memphis growing up each month and I never did that for Kayzee so here it is now so I at least have it for the journal/book blurb thingy I am making.  And who doesn't want to see pictures of beautiful Kayzee Lynn...I know the grandma's will enjoy it:)

Birth

2 weeks

1 month

2 months

 3 months

 4 months

5 months

 6 months...so stinkin' cute:)

 7 months

 8 months

 9 months

10 months

 11 months

1 year

2 years

This may have happened a long time ago but I realized I never really gave an update on Kayzee these past few months.  When Kayzee turned 2 back in September she came up to me one day and said, "Mommy, I am talking now."  That was definitely a crazy day because the day before she literally only said maybe 4 words and then BAM she started talking in sentences with a million new words!  Right after she said she was talking now she then starting rambling and I will probably never forget what she said because it was so random but definitely so cute and I loved hearing that she had been learning all this time...this is what she said:

"Mommy that's a deer (pointing to a painting in our room), penguins waddle, and in the winter it's cold."

Seriously where did all that come from?  And she hasn't stopped talking since (except when she is shy around strangers).  She was also obsessed with size and families.  One night at dinner she put her broccoli in order by size and then pointed to each one (biggest to smallest) and said, "Daddy, Mommy, and baby broccoli."  SMART GIRL!

Kayzee is my healthy eater and it is definitely all her because she chooses to eat healthy.  If you offer her junk food or fast food or healthy food she always chooses the healthy food.  She always goes to the fridge and picks out apples, yogurt, carrots, lettuce, green peppers, broccoli, etc to eat for a snack.  And she will eat anything put in front of her.  She is not afraid to try new things.  So unlike her brother who is so picky and will only eat like 3 things.  

Kayzee is also obsessed with books.  I always hear about other little girls that have to take a million stuffed animals to bed with them...well with Kayzee it's books!  She always has a stack of books in bed with her.  Doesn't look comfortable to me but she loves them. 

She has also lost some weight.  She grew out of her summer clothes which were 3T so when winter came I got 4T.  But slowly she has grown taller and skinnier and really turned into a little girl and her bowel problems haven't really helped because sometimes she won't eat.  Now her clothes don't fit.  Which is annoying because I really don't want to buy 3T winter clothes.  Oh well, time to buy some belts.

Here are some more cute pictures of Kayzee these past few months...

 Kayzee drew a picture of a kitty all by herself!

 I love that she has long hair so I can play with it!

Now for the long awaited update on Kayzee's visit to the GI specialist.  I know you have all been wondering and sitting on the edge of your seats the past few weeks.  HA just kidding and...WARNING: Potty talk--->We headed up to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake city.  I got a sub and took the day off of work and Kayzee and I had a fun mother daughter date of shopping, going out to lunch, and finally seeing the specialist.  HE WAS WONDERFUL!  He listened to me and my venting of the past 2 1/2 years of dealing with Kayzee and her bowel problems and her not sleeping and then examined her.  Kayzee did really well through it all too.  

He said that she just didn't transition well enough from formula/nursing to real food.  She became constipated all the time and eventually got afraid of pushing through the pain so she just held it all in and she became blocked and she has been blocked for a very long time.  That why she hasn't been sleeping because she has been so uncomfortable and in so much pain.  Putting her on the laxative just made the new stuff she made runny and that just leaked around the blockage and that was why she would be constipated/diarrhea on off every week.  Gross YES sorry! AND THE PEDIATRICIAN WAS WRONG!  You should have seen how mad the specialist got when I told him the dosage the pediatrician told me to give Kayzee and how to wean her off.  The specialist said it just made things worse.  He told me he would call the pediatrician and correct him so he didn't do it to anymore kids.  GREAT!

The specialist then gave her a suppository and gave me a 3 day clean-out procedure schedule, a 10-day maintenance schedule, and a 6 month weaning schedule with a scheduled x-ray on day 4 to make sure the clean-out procedures worked.  

For the 3 day clean-out we had to give her an enema each morning and a laxative in her drink at every meal and an ex-lax chew at bedtime.  The first day nothing really happened.  Day 2 was a Sunday and we knew we didn't want to attempt church not knowing what to expect and I am glad we stayed home.  She cried for 2 hours but finally got the blockage out.  She then had 8-10 poopy diapers the next few days.  And the mineral oil from the enemas would disintegrate her diaper so fast we also went through a lot of clothes and laundry.  It was a very hard few days for everyone. She was such a trooper when we had to give her the enemas though.   

We then went and got her x-ray and sadly we got the call that it didn't get it all out so we had to do the 3-day clean-out procedures all over again!  By day 6 of enemas she would just lay down and give me the look of...just get it over with!  And the 2nd time around Kayzee got really bad diaper rash and she would just cry every time we changed her diaper.  Poor girl.  Now we are on the 10 day-maintance schedule of a laxative morning and night with an ex-lax chew every weekend.  After the 10 days she will just have a laxative every night and an ex-lax chew 3 times a month.  In 3 months we go back to the specialist and he will reevaluate.  If he deems her back to normal then we start a 3 month weaning schedule to get her off the laxative so it doesn't do more harm.  If she is still not back to normal then something else is wrong or something else is causing her problems and we will have to figure that out.  Hopefully it doesn't come to that.  

The best news through all of this is that she is sleeping so much better.  I am so glad that we figured all this out and that I trusted my mommy instinct and sought out a specialist when my pediatrician wouldn't really help.  

We LOVE our sweet Kayzee Lynn so much.

Raising him right!

Everyday I tell myself to update my blog and everyday it doesn't happen.  This month has been a crazy one.  I had two weeks of health so I had to grade 2,400 health assignments, my PE grant study with 20 students had to be done this month, Memphis and Kayzee had dentist and doctor appointments, we traveled (or attempted too---annoying weather), we had family visiting, we did our taxes, we are trying to refinance our house, I had parent teacher conferences, Valentine's day, no sleep because of Kayzee (see below), very sick kids, trying to entertain kids inside since it was too cold to go outside or the air quality was terrible, etc, etc, etc.  I am definitely looking forward to Spring Break in April but NOT for my birthday...HA!

Memphis had his 4 year well-check-up.  Last year at his 3 year he was 36 lbs and 36 inches tall.  This year he pulled the same number scheme again but he is definitely bigger!  He is now 44 lbs and 44 inches tall!  Grow Memphis Grow:)  I forgot to mention in his birthday post that he is our prayer monitor.  He never lets anyone go to bed without saying prayers first.  I love that he remembers that.

I have had a rough month of being a working mom and something happened recently that was a great compliment to me as a mother.  Me and the kids stopped by a gas station to get a treat and I let Memphis out and told him to stay right by me to go get Kayzee out.  He looked at me and said he wanted to go wait on the sidewalk.  While I was getting Kayzee out I looked up as a group of men were walking up to the gas station.  Memphis quickly stepped in front of them and said, "Let me get the door for you!"  Memphis then opened the door and held it open for them, he also waited there while another group of people came out.  Every single person said thank you and Memphis would promptly reply...your welcome:)  Some of the people did a double take (wow, a little boy holding open the door!)  I then walked into the store and a group of teenage boys came up to me and told me that I was raising my boy up right.  That was the best compliment coming from those teenage boys. It made me feel so good.  Danny and I try to teach our kids polite manners and opening the door for others has been one we have had Memphis practice.  Memphis is always the one to tell me first that he loves me and he tells people his favorite thing to do with me is give hugs and kisses.  I LOVE my Memphis and his hugs and kisses always cheer me up.

What's a blog post without any pictures?  Here are my cute Valentine's!!!!

I am planning a big post about Kayzee since I just did one on Memphis but I wanted to wait until after Kayzee's appointment with a GI specialist.  For those of you who didn't know Kayzee has had bowel problems since she was born and it is just getting worse.  It has been a long 2 years of no sleep and lots of crying.  I know that is why she is still not sleeping well at night because she is in so much pain some nights and she is just so uncomfortable.  Her pediatrician just kept telling me that it was her lot in life and she would just need to be on a laxative for the rest of her life.  SERIOUSLY!?!?!?!  Even though I was repeatedly calling him and asking for help or for other ways to help her other than a laxative that was all he would tell me.  That is not the life I would want to live so I definitely don't want that for my daughter.  And the laxative is not working like it should anymore.  Poor Kayzee is so miserable. 

I found a GI specialist in Utah county and they told me I didn't need a referral from my pediatrician (which I was grateful for since my pediatrician wasn't helping at all) but then I found out my insurance wouldn't work with them so I would have to pay way too much out of pocket.  Then I found out about some specialists at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake and yeah! my insurance would cover them.  BUT I needed a referral from my pediatrician.  That was disheartening and it made me nervous but I went and spilled my guts and all my concerns to my pediatrician again and he told me YES!!!  Definitely an answer to a prayer.  Soooo Kayzee and I are heading up to Primary Children's for her specialist's appointment on Wednesday so we will see if we can't get her help so she can live a normal life and maybe we will all finally get some sleep.  Hopefully...

Celebrating Memphis!

I first need to post pictures of Memphis growing up these past 4 years...such a cutie!

Birth

8 months

1 year

 2 years

 3 years

 4 years

My son is 4!?!  I still can't believe my little Memphis is so grown up.  He is the most charming, sweet, smart little boy.  He has all the girls at his preschool swooning over him;)  And the high school girls too!  He LOVES Sunbeams and Primary.  He is almost a year older than everyone in his class so he is the best at sitting still and following directions.  Going to preschool all day helps with that too.  He gave his first talk in Primary and did so well.  He always wants to go up and bear his testimony too.   He is so smart at everything and figuring out things on his own.  He surprised me one day and wrote his own name all by himself.  

His 4 year well-check-up isn't until next week so I will update you later on how that goes.  He is so excited and asks me everyday if we are going to the doctor.  He gets complimented on the fact that he LOVES the doctor and he does so well.  Such the opposite of his sister who HATES going.  An interesting thing when I was asking him his birthday questions (see below) he said he wants to be a doctor when he grows up and he wants to help babies.  SO COOL!  We did go to the dentist (which he loves too) and he had no cavities.  But the dentist did say the backs of his teeth are eroding and he is worried about reflux.  The dentist put him on flouride tablets and we will find out what the pediatrician says about that at his check-up.

He likes to joke around and say, "Just kidding!"  Whenever I ask him what he is doing he likes to say, "Nothing!" He is also getting better at playing with Kayzee without fighting.  Kayzee LOVES to copy her brother so I can see those two being trouble makers in the future.  We also finally got rid of the dreaded sippy cup.  He wouldn't go anywhere without it so I finally just threw it away and I told him big boys don't need sippy cups.  He was fine with that which surprised me but I am glad he didn't fight me on it.

His birthday was January 30 but we celebrated for a few days.  We went to TGIF's to get his free birthday meal.  On his birthday we went to Kangaroo Zoo.  It's a BIG blow up bouncy play place.  Memphis was in HEAVEN.  We will definitely be visiting again this summer.  We invited my cousin and her family.  Memphis loves to play with her boys.  We also invited my friend and her family so Kayzee would have a friend to play with too.  Thanks for coming Aja and Allison!  The only thing about the place was we couldn't bring in presents or any food unless we paid $150 for a party room.  YA RIGHT!  So we just ordered their overpriced pizza and opened presents on our way out the door.  Memphis loves his presents and he ran around giving everyone hugs.  THANKS!  Here are some pictures from that fun night...

Since we couldn't bring in a cake for Memphis to blow out candles, the next night we had some other friends over for the cake and ice cream.  We had Danny's friend and his family over (his daughter sometimes babysits our kids) and we had our wonderful neighbors over.  I love our neighbors!  Thanks Layne and Smith family!  Memphis had to run around and give hugs to everyone this night too.  Thanks for the gifts!  Here are some pictures from that night.  Memphis got to pick out his cake.  I forgot to have them write a message on it so I hurried and wrote something with cookie icing I had laying around.  My writing didn't really turn out well, but it was delicious!

I had already bought the pirate ship for Christmas but since he had too many presents I just kept this one for his birthday instead.  Between Christmas and his birthday this boy has too many toys!!!  I have to post these cute pictures of Memphis and Kayzee eating dinner.  Before everyone came over for cake and ice cream I asked Memphis what he wanted for his birthday dinner at home (since we had pizza the night before) and he said cereal...this kid loves breakfast food.

Memphis got money from his great-grandparents...thanks!!!!  Since his Thorpe grandparents live so far away my mom had his birthday present mailed to our house and we skyped with her so she could see him open his present.  I love that we can skype with them!  Can't wait to see them in April!  My mom got him an Umi car from one of Memphis' favorite TV shows...Team Umizoomi.  It is a remote control car that actually follows whoever is holding the remote.  

His Royer grandparents sent him money too and he was so excited to go to the store and pick out a present and pay for it himself.  He did so good at making sure he got a present that was the price of the money he had.  Great way to teach him about numbers and money!  He picked out an angry birds car track.  

Thanks Thorpe and Royer grandparents!!!!!!  We all love and miss you:)

Starting when they turn 3 I ask them some questions so the last thing I am going to post is Memphis' answers to the questions this year compared to last year.  These are the exact words that came out of his mouth...

• Favorite color?
• Age 3: Blue
• Age 4: Blue
• Favorite toy?
• 3: choo choo train track
• 4: angry birds, jake pirate ship, umi car
• Favorite fruit?
• 3: nanas
• 4: boonanas 
• Favorite TV show?
• 3: Einsteins
• 4: Einsteins
• Favorite thing to eat for lunch?
• 3: Pizza and chicken knucks
• 4: quiesadilla cheese
• Favorite clothes?
• 3: clothes
• 4: not socks (he hates wearing socks)
• Favorite game?
• 3: game!
• 4: wii!
• Favorite snack?
• 3: goldfish
• 4: white and chocolate pop tarts (s'mors)
• Favorite animal?
• 3: puppy and kitty
• 4: ducks
• Favorite song?
• 3: doing, cockcorn, spider, twinkle star
• 4: Happy and you know it!
• Favorite book?
• 3: look find
• 4: Lightening McQueen book from Sam and Aiden
• Who is your best friend?
• 3: Kayzee
• 4: Kayzee, mommy, and daddy  (AWWWWWW!!!!!)
• Favorite cereal?
• 3: No cereal (he would never eat it)
• 4: magic milk cereal (Cocoa Puffs turning the milk chocolately brown)
• Favorite thing to do outside?
• 3: Slide at park!
• 4: Play in the snow and build a snowman (thought this was interesting because the year the winter he turned 3 there was literally no snow that year and this winter there has been a ton of snow!)
• Favorite drink?
• 3: Juice
• 4: Chocolate milk
• Favorite holiday?
• 3: Presents!
• 4: Halloween cause I get treats
• What do you like to sleep with at night?
• 3: Blue blankie
• 4: Tiger and Toy Story night night light
• What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?
• 3: poptart
• 4: cereal or egg (he loves boiled eggs)
• What do you want for dinner on your birthday?
• 3: pizza and ice cream
• 4: pizza and cake
• What do you want to be when you grow up?
• 3: Purple...game????? (I know he didn't understand the questions)
• 4: Ten...and be a doctor to help babies...and be like mommy!

This is a really long post...SORRY!  

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY MEMPHIS!!!  WE LOVE YOU:)