CHEEKS!

Aja was being kind of fussy yesterday, and noone could get a decent picture of her except me of course...



I had to mess with it a bit so you could get the full effect of the monster cheeks! So funny! Everyone got a kick out of this picture.

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I wanted to answer a few questions that a couple of people have asked me:

I work as a medical transcriptionist at home. I usually work at night. I do transcription for a radiation oncology doctor based out of L.A. He's a good guy.

Mitch does enjoy his job, but living in a college town is very hard because there is a lot of competition and they can hire people right out of college and pay them a lesser wage, whereas Mitch has a lot of years under his belt and the education on top of it makes it so he's pretty "expensive".

Cohen's blood work came out normal. The stupid doctor (the one I complained about below) had to run all these EXPENSIVE blood tests for stuff that I knew Cohen didn't have, but wanted to make sure. Basically, I went in there to get a urinalysis done, but left with a prescription to get useless blood work done. I read about my kids' conditions. A lot. I will admit it's insane the amount of information that I have gathered and I knew that we could have found out if Cohen had a glucose or casein sensitivity through a simple urinalysis, but the doctor of course poo pood me off and told me that I HAD to get these done. This is what he got done: CBC, Liver function study, Celiac profile and a thyroid function study done. All normal. ARGH! It pisses me off having to hear my son say "OW"..He doesn't process pain like a normal kid does and it was even more heartbreaking. I left there crying, and I'm usually pretty strong, but this just broke my heart.

Aja seems to be developing normally right now. She's trying to roll over and I think that is a good sign. HOWEVER, if Aja were to have a malfunction we don't know what kind of kid will be coming out of surgery. She could go in functioning 100% and come out mentally handicapped. She could hemorrhage and go into a coma. She could go in get a revision and three days later require a new one. She could come down with an infection and end up staying longer in the hospital. There are a lot of 'unknowns' with hydrocephalus, so it's a test of faith every day, and every day I thank Heavenly Father that we didn't have a malfunction. But just so you all know, I'm prepared. I've made a list of everything that needs to be done when the time comes, and I always have a bag out just in case.

Random thoughts...

I'm tired. I've been thinking way too much this week. I swear every day we have something "therapy-like" going on, and to be honest, it's wearing me out. I need a vacation. Right now these are the thoughts running through my head:

How best to tell my pediatrician that I don't find him a suitable doctor for my kids and that he's screwing up big time with me left and right. You entrust someone with your child's care and he has the audacity to COMPLETELY ignore you and basically do whatever he feels like. Yah, he's a real gem.

Work. I know I need to, but it's really wearing on me. I love my job, but with everything else going on...it's so not high on my priority list right now.

I have to think about ways to get Cohen to engage with me every day. I have to work with him on using his PECS (they are little pictures that he hands me to tell me what he wants to help ease all the temper tantrums I've been dealing with lately). I guess it's better than him standing in front of the pantry or fridge screaming because I'm not grabbing the "right" thing.

Jobs. Do we stay in Logan or do we move for a better opportunity? Do I really want to uproot my kids, AGAIN? There are so many requirements that have to be met. It has to be near a children's hospital for Aja, has to have decent insurance because we can't get insurance for Aja or Cohen now, and has to have a state-funded program that we can stick Cohen into so that he can continue with the help he requires.

House..Forget about it. It's never clean and it drives me nuts. I would kill for a maid just to take over for a month.

So that is just SOME of the things I've been thinking about lately. To "run away" from all of this..I have been reading. Granted, I don't get much time to read except for when I'm nursing Aja and the limited time during naps, but I've been reading a good series. I would recommend it to anyone. I'm not usually a fan of Dean Koontz, but his Odd Thomas series is great. It's not gory, sexual or over the top with deep thoughts..It's been a nice place to "get away" every now and then.

That is all.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEYTON!!!!

Today Peyton turns 6! Happy Birthday biggest, littlest man!! He came screaming into this world at 1:03 p.m. on a beautiful autumn day, and he hasn't stopped screaming since! He definitely adds flavor to our family from all the funny things he says. Ask Uncle Zach, he uses a whole bunch of his lines! LOL!

Here he is shooting me with his gun.


His first black eye. Kind of blurry.


Holding the rabbits at Baby Animal Days.


CHEESE!


First day of Kindegarten, getting on the bus! He was so excited. He LOVES school!


Have fun! I will see you soon!


He is such a fun little guy. He got a new bike for his birthday. He's been needing one. The one that he learned on is a wee bit too small. His legs will be going 90 mph and he barely moves, so we got him a new one. He loves it!

HAVE A GREAT DAY PEYTON! WE LOVE YOU!

U of U vs. Utah State

On Saturday we went to the U of U vs. Utah State football game. It was so much fun. We hadn't gotten to do anything like that for a long time, and it was good to get out. We have a split family going on. Mitch and Cohen were wearing USU shirts and Anessa and I were wearing U of U shirts. Peyton was wearing blue, but he was rooting for the Utes....He kept calling them the U's. Aja, since being in a split family, was wearing purple..Red and blue mixed together makes purple!

Here is the two Aggie fans. Cohen was not in a participating mood.


Here is Anessa rooting for her favorite team..As you can tell by all the blue around us, we weren't the favorites LOL!


Peyton rooting for the U's!


Aja didn't think it was all that fun. However, she was SO good. She didn't fuss even once. Here she is falling asleep..Plus a handsome hubby..


Me and Cohen messing around. I have so many bruises from him kicking me and pinching me..Pleasant.


Of course Universy of Utah won..No they didn't win..They annihilated them. It was a blast!

Aja is 3 months old!!

Here is the cutest little girl in all her glory!! She is doing so well, it amazes me every day. She has the sweetest smile ever, I love it! She is very much a fan of her mom. Whenever I pick her up, she grabs a little bit of my hair and holds on tight; she doesn't pull so that is good. She sleeps with me as well, and whenever I hear her squirming I just grab her little hand and she calms right down, LOVE IT!! She's attempting to roll over, but can't quite get over that little shoulder. She also loves to wrestle her blankets, it's really funny. I just put a blanket over her and she rocks back and forth and squeals.

Here is Aja with her SECOND favorite person, her dad. I love men who baby wear, it's so cute. Obviously, she loves to suck on the front.


A bit of tummy time. She usually hates it, but I guess I caught her in a good mood.


Here is another one..More drool..it never ends.


She is such a tiny thing. I think in the last two months she's gained maybe a pound. My grandparent's were up this week and they kept commenting on how "petite" she is. Most definitely NOT like her big sister!! LOL!

So Thankful..

Yesterday Mitch got a call from Primary Children's Medical Center saying that an anonymous donor paid off 2 of Aja's CT scans and her hospital stay bills for us!!

Whoever it was, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. Medical bills are hard, especially when you didn't "budget" them in. We had saved for Aja's birth, but had NOTHING left for what was to come afterwards and we have been stressing ever since. This has taken such a load off you have no idea. We have had so much help from family and friends with bringing in meals, taking the kids so they can have a good time, buying them clothes, and just plain being there for us when we need to talk and vent. Now this!! I'm amazed at the generosity we have experienced through this whole journey.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Yes, I'm trying to lose weight.

As you can see I've got myself a little ticker at the top. I've been putting off starting to exercise hard because I didn't want it to affect my milk supply, but since things seem stable, I've decided to dive right in.

Pretty much, I no longer want to be in a contest for the biggest butt with this person:


So, I've commited to lose weight. I'm really going out on a limb telling you all how much I've got to lose. I weight 139 right now; 140 when I started this whole thing (whoohoo I've lost a pound!). I don't plan on going carb-free as, according to Zach, I don't want to get the shredded rectum. So I do my elliptical 3 times a week and strength 3 times a week. HOPEFULLY, by Christmas I will be close to my goal of 115.

So from now on I'm going to be sweatin' to this...leg-warmers and all.