We Are The Bennett's

New Arrival:

2011-05-18T17:22:00.000-07:00

We have decided to add to the Bennett Family.

Introducing:

Andee (Andalicious) Bennett

Born: March 27, 2011
Weight: She's probably around 3 pounds now.
Breed: Shih Tzu Maltese Mix

Andee has been a great addition to our family. After a strict family contract, Mitch finally conceded to us (meaning Ness, Peyton and me) getting a dog. She's the cutest thing ever. She looks like a little, fat Ewok. She likes to grab onto our pants and be dragged around (she is just barely getting her teeth). She likes to wrestle, and has the cutest little growl. She likes to snuggle up to her people. Anessa has fallen in love. To be honest, I think Mitch loves her too. It's been fun watching my kids take care of her and participate in everything that involves taking care of a puppy. On Friday and Saturday nights, Peyton and Ness both get up and take care of Andee's needs at night. She's almost sleeping through the night. Not quite. She's doing EXCELLENT on house training. Seriously. I'm very impressed. It's like having a newborn again, but it's been fun. She's a hybrid dog meaning she won't have the same health issues that a fullbred Shih Tzu or Maltese would have. Also, she doesn't shed AND she's considered hypoallergenic. ;)
Can't ask for anymore than that!

Happy Birthday to My Handsome Man!!

2011-05-01T13:22:00.001-07:00

Cohen is 5 today! I can't believe it. He's such a special guy in so many ways. He's overcome so much and has so much to offer. The world is lucky to have a boy like Cohen in it. I remember holding him in my arms right after he was born and just feeling his sweet spirit. He didn't scream. He just kind of squeaked and then calmed right down and stared at me. Not much has changed. He's definitely an observer. Content to explore in the little worlds that his imagination takes him to. Things about Cohen.

* He looks EXACTLY like his dad. I love how everybody always says "Here comes the mini-Mitch".

* He loves to cuddle me and kiss my face no matter where we are at. I could come home from the gym a sweaty mess and he will run up and kiss me all over.

* I love how he calls spiders "si-bows" and how he's changed up a bunch of different words. He's definitely got his own way of saying things and it's so cute.

* His favorite night of the week is Friday because that is the night he gets to sleep in bed with me.

* He still cuddles with the lovie (blanket) that I bought before he was born. Can't go to bed without it.

* He is so inquisitive and is always asking questions and trying to figure out how things work. Such a smart kid!

We were in Seattle for Easter and Cohen was upstairs with our friend Loren and they were looking out the windows at the mountains and this is the conversation that transpired. It makes me cry every time I think about it.

Loren: There is so much that is beautiful in this world. Mountains are things that are very beautiful to me and flowers are things that are very beautiful to my wife. What's beautiful to you, Cohen?

Cohen: My mom.

We are so thankful for Cohen. He has taught us so much in the short time he has been here. He has taught us patience, unconditional love, forgiveness and enjoying the small things that life has to offer. He is truly a blessing. Love you so much Cohen!!

Frustrations:

2011-04-27T10:32:00.001-07:00

Lately (okay so like the last three days) I've been feeling very frustrated. Not only with myself but with my children. I hate saying that, but I can safely say that all of us as mother's have have been there at one time or another. If you're saying that you haven't, then you're a big fat liar. Anyway, back to what I was saying. I wanted to just type out what I've been feeling lately and maybe I will get some feedback that will be helpful.

1. To go to school or to not go to school. This has been a question going through my head for about a month now. I'll be honest with you. I'm scared as hell to go back to school. I still have a semi-young child who needs me, I don't want to be gone all day long right now stuck in a class room, and with me suffering from depression/anxiety is it the "smart" thing to do right now or will it just make things worse? Then again, I need something to fall back on to in the event that Mitch got sick or died (ugh..the thought). So what do you do? Do you grin and bear it and do the best you can and possibly fail or do you wait until you're ready? The problem with "waiting until your ready" is that you could NEVER be ready.

I found this quote and I've read it a lot and I believe in it. I just need to have faith. But do I have faith that I will find a job that I can do without going to school or do I go to school? I don't know.

"The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety."

2. Anessa. Peyton. Cohen. Aja. I wish I could list them from greatest problems to least, but to be honest...they are all equal. I don't want to get to greatly into each of their problems; it's enough for me to say that all of them are giving me ulcers and I don't know what to do. It's not behavioral either..well except for Aja. Hers is behavioral. Cohen's is a mixture of behavioral and his disability.

3. I want a puppy. Badly. I've read that dogs can help a person with depression/anxiety. I don't think it would be a cure, but I do think it would ease a lot of the tension I feel on a daily basis. Mitch is against it. It bums me out. To the point of tears. The last time we had dogs I wasn't able to take care of them the way they needed. Reasoning behind it is because I was either pregnant or nursing all the time. Also, Mitch wouldn't let the dogs in the house and so I couldn't work with them like I wanted to. He says that it would just be adding another thing to my "stress list" and I can see where he is coming from, but I can see my point as well. Besides, how can you say no to this?

Anyway, those are the three biggest things that I'm dealing with right now. Any tips, advice, texts and emails are appreciated. Love to all!

Trip to Seattle Part Deux:

2011-04-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

I think Mitch and I are addicted. We LOVE Washington. Love it. Seriously there is no better state, and the fact that we live so close to Seattle is a serious bonus. Also, the fact that we are in the same STATE as some of our closest friends again is another bonus. AND said friends just moved to Yakima! Sweet! We have the best friends here in Kennewick, the best ward, the most beautiful sites so close to us and there is just so much to do. I feel so blessed.

This year for Easter we decided to head up to Seattle and spend one more weekend in our friend Loren and Tamara's house before they are out of it for good. It was completely empty, but we just took along a bunch of blankets and sleeping bags and camped out. It was awesome. No computers or TV for 48 hours. The best. We left Kennewick at around 5:30 on Friday and didn't get into Seattle until midnight. Freaking traffic. Totally worth it though because the next day we got up and went to Skagit Valley and went to the TULIP FESTIVAL! Oh my gosh. Beautiful. And it was the most perfect day. It was in the high 50's low 60's and the sun was shining. Amazing. Here are a couple of pics I took. I took a couple hundred billion, but I will just share a few.

I actually shared an Easter message using these tulips. They were so beautiful.

Thank heavens for Benadryl. Aja was a dripping mess, but thankfully cleared up and so she was able to do plenty of sniffing!

So beautiful!

Yeah, that would be a girl who is officially taller than me.

Only two dudes who are totally comfortable with each other could do this.

Peek-A-Boo!

I loved all the pinks and reds. It was just breath taking!

EASTER!! All the kids waiting. Aja and her wonderful habit of picking her lips...Just like her mom. Sigh.

Nothing better than doing an Easter Egg Hunt in a completely empty house!

I love this little squat!

After a breakfast of candy and Subway (HAHA!) we got ready, cleaned up any evidence that we were at the house and headed to Pike Place Market (yes, again) but first. A picture of the fam showing the view that the Parker's got to enjoy every day.

Pike Place is cool. We saw this boat being dragged along by a teeny tiny tug boat. Crazy!

There were a couple of these silver men holding lights around the square. I'm not sure the story behind them, but they are way cool. Most of the shops were closed so we didn't spend too much time. Also, we were way tired and anxious to get home so we got some t-shirts and stuff to munch on and of course made plans to come back!

Autism:

2011-04-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

Dear Autism:

Tonight I really hate you.

Sincerely,

A Mother who is at the end of her rope

A Trip To The Coast:

2011-04-06T16:59:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we had the AWESOME opportunity to head up Washington State's amazing and beautiful coastline and visit a few places. It was a complete last minute decision and I'm so glad that we did this. The kids had so much fun and experienced so many new and beautiful things. They didn't complain ONCE about the drive (of course there were the potty break whines). I was so proud of them!

So, I've never used a map to get...anywhere. Honest. Mitch made me the map person. I insisted on being the driver, he said "No". So here is a picture from our 44 mile "out of the way scenic drive" of a cute little chalet up near the pass that was...closed. I'm happy to say that I'm a PRO map reader now!

There were SO MANY waterfalls to see and they were just on the side of the road! It was amazing!

The first place we stayed was called Ocean Shores. Since it was off season (meaning freezing cold and raining) we were able to get a room with a view of the ocean! It was beautiful. We got to eat at a really good restaurant. I'm still dreaming of the shrimp and crab melt (minus cheese so not technically a melt but it was GOOD!) that I had. YUM! We went to a couple of the beaches. The first one was blowing sand all over the place so I just snapped a few pictures and ran back to the car with Aja and Anessa (yes, we are chicken's). The next part of the beach was protected from the rain and wind a bit so we spent some time there. It was fun! And WINDY!

After leaving Ocean Shores we found this neat little town. WARNING: Adults Only! HAHA! Seriously. I'm sure there was another name on the ballot. What happened?!

Here we hit up another beach. It was beautiful. It was made up entirely of little rocks that were perfectly round. Loved it!

Yes, my husband and kids were freezing. We didn't plan very well with the packing, but we had fun! Just froze and wore the same thing..over and over. HAHA!

Mitch was in awe over the trees. I have to admit. It was beautiful and it smelled amazing! He was totally at home. I think one day he's going to buy a cabin around there!

A bad case of hemorrhoids or some knots that fell off a tree? You decide.

Yep. We went to Forks. Forks wasn't much to look at, but La Push was absolutely beautiful!

We then went to Port Angeles and spent the night. We didn't spend any time there but we did take this semi cute family picture. If only they would all look at the same time *sigh*

It's FERRY TIME! My kids were SO EXCITED about riding the ferry. I kid you not. They were bouncing in their seats. Our ferry's name was PullYaUp. Cute. It was a lot of fun for everyone..but me. I got seasick once it started moving. I didn't recover until we hit Seattle. Mitch and I are both afraid of heights and deep water. Not a good combo when you have kids that are daredevils. We quickly took our pics and then ran back into the boat.

SEATTLE! Oh my gosh! LOVE Seattle! It's AMAZING! Our friend Loren and his wife Tamara graciously housed our crazy family of 6 and Loren took us around to see the sites. We got to see a fountain that I of course forget the name of and...

We then went to the Seattle Aquarium and got to pet a whole buncha stuff! It was slimy. The kids loved it..all but Aja who is still afraid to touch anything. We got to feed sea urchins, pet starfish, see an octopus and pet a sea cucumber! Fun!

After the Aquarium we hit up Pike Place Market. Did we get any pictures there? NO!!! How lame is that!! I just have to say that Pike Place Market is so COOL!! I could seriously spend all day (and all my money) there. So many neat things to see..A man dressed completely in silver. All types of musicians. Beautiful flowers that you can buy for CHEAP! Amazing. Anyway, we obviously had a good time, can you tell? I gained 6 pounds but promptly dropped it 2 days after getting home *phew* but it was totally worth it!

I heart our new neurologist!

2011-03-28T19:36:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Spokane to establish care with Aja's new neurologist. Spokane is about two and a half hours away. The drive is beautiful. Washington is beautiful. Every day that I wake up I look out the window and think about how grateful I am to be here! Anyway, back to our little trip. Thanks to my awesome memory skillz, we were there a whole hour early! Mitch was so GRATEFUL for getting up 45 minutes earlier this morning for...nothing. So we decided to check out Gonzaga University, one of my favorite schools of all time! Not only do they have an awesome basketball team, beautiful grounds, they are home of two of some of the funniest guys ever. Barats and Bereta.

Chickity Check them Out!

After some initial confusion with the elevator (Boy were there a lot of buttons!), we found our way to the neurology floor. It was decorated so cute! We didn't have to wait long at all and the doc came in and here is what we found out!

1. Aja won't have to worry about her children having hydrocephalus. It's hereditary in boys the majority of the time. Hers came about because of my traumatic pregnancy and birth.

2. Her issues with being overly scared and stuff does not have something to do with anything going on inside her brain, it's just her :) (we were worried about her having equilibrium problems and depth perception issues).

3. This is the best part (even though it's a small chance, it's still something to hold on to). We love Aja for who she is and we will help her with her shunt for the rest of her life if need be, BUT she may just have a blockage that they can essentially "clean out"! YES!! So what they would need to do is have her go in and do an MRI under sedation so they can pinpoint the exact problem and then from there they can determine exactly what type of hydrocephalus she has. All we do know is that she does NOT have a tumor there. We chose to not have them "explore" when first placing her shunt as she was so young and everything happened so fast, it was hard to decide what to do. We just needed to get her taken care of first. But this means that maybe in the future Aja may be completely shunt-free! If not, that is fine, but it would definitely be a bonus.

4. Doctor who listens to me = a happy Monique!! He was so nice and so helpful!

After wandering around the hospital, and for all you Scrubs fans out there it's called The Sacred Heart, we went to lunch and headed home. All in all...A good day!

Updates!

2011-03-08T09:15:00.001-08:00

WOW! It's been so long since I have blogged. I can't believe it. Sorry about that folks. Life has been a bit crazy since moving to Washington so I haven't had time to really update. I know you all have been foaming at the mouth for a little look see at my house so I guess I will let you see it.

This was right before we moved in when it snowed here in Kennewick. It's not everything we want (houses move FAST around here), but it works for right now and we couldn't be happier.

Anessa and Peyton have both started at the local elementary here and have really enjoyed it. Of course there was some apprehension about starting at a new school, but both have found great friends and that's what matters. Schools in Utah were a lot more behind than here in WA so the kids have had to play catch up since being here, but they seem to be doing okay. Anessa will be starting middle school in the fall! Hope we survive. She is now officially taller than me for all of you wondering. She's raiding my shirts all the time and has started wearing a bit of makeup. She's getting so big. Peyton is pretty much the same. Hasn't grown much, but is a big hit with the ladies! He says he gets chased around the playground a couple times a week by a couple different little girls. Funny how they show "affection" at that age.

Cohen has started at the Discovery Center here and he is thriving. He makes us laugh all the time. I can't believe he will be starting Kindergarten soon! It brings tears to my eyes. I'm happy to say that he has earned his title of "The Kennewick Pimp". He certainly has a way with the ladies and always talks about his "girlfriends". Yesterday, while I was teaching Zumba, a friend of mines daughter and him were ballroom dancing around the gym. It was pretty funny.

Aja is a running, dancing, sneaky little girl. She recently got her first hair cut (pics to come soon) and looks SO SO CUTE! She's in love with her daddy and has him wrapped around her finger. She's always saying something funny that she's overheard from one of the family. She's still as tiny as ever, but getting a little bit tall. We have the best pediatrician here and she's been really good on keeping up with Aja and her needs.

Mitch is enjoying his job and recently got a bit of a promotion. We are happy about that. He really loves Kennewick and he really loves living in Washington. I'm so glad he's happy here. He's been hanging out with a good group of guys and goes and plays poker and basketball often. He recently got called to be Assistant Cubscout Master and he's really excited about his calling. He's been really involved in helping Peyton get his badges and passing off things. He's gotten back into running which makes me happy. He has always loved running and the weather here in Kennewick is AWESOME.

I've been doing really good. I've settled here in WA a lot better than I thought. I just decided that even though I'm far away from a lot of great friends, that it doesn't mean I can't make great friends here and keep the ones in UT too! It's been so fun to hang out with different groups of awesome ladies! I couldn't ask for a better life right now. I've been teaching Zumba for free at my church, but recently got a subbing job at a local gym here. I'm really excited about it. It's a great opportunity. Also, I've been training for a body competition in July. I've been working out at Gold's for about 1.5 hours daily and then come home and either teach Zumba or participate with my friends doing P90X six days a week. Everyone calls me the workout queen. HAHA! It makes me laugh. Some days it really wipes me out (like today), but I've really enjoyed the changes my body has made and how it makes me feel. Mitch has been 100% supportive the whole time and helps keep me motivated.

Anyway, that is a quick update. I will post more pictures in the future. I just had a minute to update. I hope all is well with you and yours!

Hard Times:

2010-11-14T09:34:00.000-08:00

This post is very personal and actually really hard to write, but I kind of wanted to let people know what was going on with me so they could understand.

About 4 months ago, things at Mitch's work were not going well (not any fault of his own) and it started looking like things weren't going to last. Now most people who know me know that I can roll with the punches pretty good, but for some reason I was not bouncing back from this one. I started to have a lot of headaches and crying spells. I had been having a lot of problems with my sinuses so I went to an ENT who diagnosed me with an enlarged turbinate and eustacian tube dysfunction. Yay. It was easy to deal with although having a constant stuffy ear is never any fun. They did a CT of my sinuses and all was clear.

A few days later I started having a pain in the back of my head that wasn't going away, and the crying spells were getting worse. As in, I couldn't get off the couch and could barely take care of the kids worse. So I made an appointment with one of the local doctors who told me I had an anxiety disorder and put me on 20 mg of Prozac. The first night I was on that drug I was walking the house until 3 a.m. crying, scratching my skin until it was bleeding and not sleeping. So Mitch sat up with me and helped me to try and calm down.

I was on that drug for three weeks until it got way worse. I had lost 7 pounds, was very shaky and had even more anxiety than before. Then the "itch" started. It felt like an itch in my brain and it was driving me crazy. I couldn't function. The "itch" was basically consuming me. There was a day when Mitch had to come home and take care of the kids so that I could lock myself in my room and sleep it off in a Xanax induced coma. I called my doctor and he told me to just stop the medication cold turkey. Not smart. Less than a week later it happened again, this time I was on the verge of taking a knife to my head so that I could get the "itch". It scared Mitch enough that he ended up taking me to the emergency department. They did a full check of my blood and a CT scan of my brain. All normal. I was going through Prozac withdrawl AND on top of it all I am "allergic" to it.

I finally had had enough of this, so I made an appointment with a doctor in SLC who had done a lot of research on SSRI's and the like. He spent an hour with me. Read my CT reports said I did not have MS or a brain tumor (thank heavens!) and told me that I needed to get on something else. He also had me do a type of test that showed that I had a very high suicide risk and needed help. So he tapered me off Prozac while putting me on Lexapro and then gave me Klonopin to help with the constant anxiety I was feeling.

At this point things at Mitch's work had basically ended and he was able to stay home with me and help me with the kids. He was such a huge help during this time. He was just letting me sleep as much as I needed and was very understanding. Unfortunately, the Lexapro made me act like a zombie. I showed no emotion, I felt no emotion and I just sat there on my couch not doing much of anything. So back to the doc we went. Luckily, with the Prozac out of my system and the Lexapro doing it's job, I was no longer a high suicide risk although it's always there. He diagnosed me with "situational depression". He took me off the Lexapro and put me on Celexa which seems to work very well. Now if any of you know my life, you know we have moved...a lot. I guess it had finally taken it's toll. It's hard to admit this, and it's hard for me to "see" myself like this, but I'm glad that I'm getting "better". Situational depression can last anywhere from 3 months to a year. He told me I'm probably going to be on this medication for a year.

I've received many blessings and have been on my knees a lot and I know that I'm not alone during this trial of my life. I'm so thankful for my husband (who at this moment is mooning me and dancing around) who stepped up to the plate and played Mom and Dad for a good two months all while trying to keep his own emotions in check and trying to find a new job. I'm also thankful for my Zumba class and all my students and boss who were there to support me and helped me forget about my problems three times a week. I'm thankful for the Pilates classes that helped to get me out of bed every morning and get going on my day. I'm thankful for supportive friends who stood by me and offered a listening ear and would take my kids any time I needed them to. Most of all I'm so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who helped keep me going even in my most darkest moments. I know this trial will just make me stronger and more sensitive towards those that are going through something like this. Lastly, I'm thankful towards both my moms, my dad and step-dad who all called me daily to check on me just to see how I'm doing.

The Last Supper:

2010-11-09T08:36:00.000-08:00

A few days before we moved some of our friends threw us a good-bye dinner. It wasn't very long (I had Zumba to teach), but that 2 hours that we spent together was so much fun. I miss all of them so much. I miss Lisa and Doug and our Hand and Foot nights and dinners we would always get together for. She usually hosted since we have no table. My kids loved playing over there and we always had fun.

Here is my Lisa:

My friend Ginger and her husband Kevin are such a crack-up. It's great when you can be yourself around someone and they don't judge you. For some unknown reason (I'm thinking it's because Ginger finds me unbearably HAWT) we were always grabbing each others butts or doing something off the wall. I also loved to give Kevin, her husband a hard time....Can I get a little WHAT WHAT???

We had just started hanging out with the Hilton's, but man...they are a funny couple. Mitch home taught them and they both would come to my Zumba class. I loved to give Brent a hard time at class and Mindy would just sit there and laugh. Again, it was just awesome to get together with them because we would do nothing but laugh. They had such awesome personalities. I'm going to miss all of our friends, but not to worry we are planning some fun vacations this summer and the laughter will start again.

The Group:

Happy Birthday/Baptism Peyton!!

2010-10-18T08:08:00.001-07:00

I'm really late in posting this. Life has been crazy, but I wanted to say a big Happy Birthday/Baptism to my boy Peyton!!

Peyton turned 8 on September 23rd. Eight years since that little boy entered our lives. He was such a cute baby, but definitely hard. I'm happy to say that he has turned into the most sensitive, cute, funny little guy ever.

We had a party for him that Saturday. He wanted to have a Star Wars themed party. I want to thank the following vendors for having what I needed to make this a galactic, wet day. Walmart: For having Star Wars EVERYTHING so I could decorate our backyard. Dollar General: For still having water noodles!!! We cut them in half and made them look like light sabers. They also had water guns that were pretty stars wars-ish looking and water balls for "bombs. Then finally to Family Dollar: For still having water balloons!! Thanks to my friends for the slip n slides and pool. Mitch and I filled and tied over 300 water balloons. They were gone in 15 minutes. We had 5 little boys and 2 girls over here and water was flying everywhere. They had a blast. Then a lunch of hot dogs (*gag*), chips, grapes and of course his favorite drink of root beer. We then did presents and of course he was stoked about everything he got. Then of course we dug into the Star Wars cake that took me 9 hours to make and was devoured in 30 minutes. Oh well. It is how it is. Then of course they trashed my basement (oh well) and home they went. I think he had a fun day. I'm actually positive he had a fun day because he couldn't stop talking about it.

We gave him a Nintendo DSi for his birthday. Boy, was he ever excited. He also got 4 new games to go with it from family members. Thanks! Those games are expensive.

On October 9th Peyton got baptized. He was the ONLY one in our stake getting baptized that day, so we had to arrange EVERYTHING! It was insane, and to be honest I wasn't too thrilled about it. As if I haven't been going through enough stress as it is, but I'm happy to say that it went really well. I want to thank my friends for bringing food and helping me out with prayers and standing in the circle. My grandpa said a talk on the Holy Ghost and I gave one on Baptism. Then came the dunking. It was such a beautiful experience and I'm so proud of him. He was baptized and confirmed by Mitch. What a great day. He looked like such a stud in his suit. I wish I had pictures of it, but of course I still can't find my disc.

Here is one of Peyton from when we got our family pics taken. So handsome.

We love you Peyton and are so proud of you and your decision to get baptized. You are such a wonderful boy.

Never Again:

2010-08-23T10:04:00.000-07:00

Price doesn't have much to do. Seriously. So when we moved here, we had a lot of people tell us a bunch of free things that could be done around here. One was heading over to the local museum and watching them feed the snapping turtle, alligator and big lizards. So a few weeks ago, I asked the kids if they would be up to it. I will admit, I was a bit hesitant because...well...I know what they feed them.

So off we went. I felt pretty lucky in that there was only one other set of people there waiting to see the action. I did explain to the kids how they fed the animals and they seemed intrigued. What came next will forever haunt....all of us. Except for maybe Cohen. He thought it was cool. Weird kid.

First on the menu: A hamster. Apparently the pet store couldn't sell this particular hamster because it kept biting people. Fitting end for said hamster? I'll let you decide. Anyway, he tossed that sucker in and my kids literally gasped. The snapping turtle came right up and snatched it and took it way down into the murky depths of the tank. All you saw was sand billowing out everywhere. Next were a couple of mice. I don't think I have ever seen Peyton more terrified. He sat there with his hands over his mouth, trying not to scream as the alligator attacked each little mouse. The last mouse took a bit to get eaten and we watched the poor thing climb onto a rock...trying to live. Needless to say, my kids were quite well traumatized by the time they started feeding the lizards.

Here are a few of the lines from Peyton that echoed throughout the museum during this display of...nature:

"PLEASE!! We will take the mice home and take care of them if you don't want them!"

"NO! No! NOOOOO!"

"Mom. This is horrible. Will you please take us home?"

Me: So...uh..What did you think?
Peyton: I think I never want to see that again!
Me: Agreed.

So thanks to all of you who recommended this "activity" and said that it was actually pretty "cool". My kids have not forgotten it...and neither have I.

Age Old Question:

2010-08-10T09:33:00.000-07:00

The battle has been going on for many years. Man vs. Woman. He-Man vs. She-Ra. Superman vs. WonderWoman. Batman vs. Catwoman.

VS.

I don't know when it happened. I don't know how it happened. But lately Cohen has been very aware of his gender. Not only have I gotten a line like this: "I will do it the MAN way!" but I've gotten a line like this "I want a burrito from a man!".

Seriously?

I'm still here!

2010-08-02T09:52:00.001-07:00

It has been a really busy month! First of all my computer died SO SAD! but my awesome hubby surprised me with a new laptop! SWEET! So when I find my little disc to post pictures...I will.

Anessa has started Level 5 of swimming lessons and she's doing really good at it! She's going to be trying out for the swim team here in a few weeks. She has been working hard on her multiplication facts, reading and writing. I can't believe she's going to be in 5th grade!!

Peyton will be starting gymnastics here in a few weeks. The adventures in our house have not ended. Him and Cohen are constantly making up a new story line to entertain us with. He has also been reading up a storm. He reads so well. I'm one proud mom.

Cohen of course has been making us laugh with his quick wit and funny personality. We have been working on sight words this summer and he's catching on quick. He has been helping his dad out with the garden, and when I say that I mean he's been eating the peas out of the garden as quick as we can pick them. I can't get him to eat veggies that I make, but whatever works I guess!! Right?

Aja is doing really good. She's a little actress. She sings songs, dances and bowls us over with those pleading eyes every day. We. Are. Suckers. She's been having fun running around outside trying to keep up with her brothers. The poor girl recently had a run in with a spider or something, but she woke up with bites all over her face. She looks rough. I'm hoping they disappear soon. For now, she's sleeping in our room while we deep clean and hopefully kill whatever has gotten to her.

Mitch and I are doing really good. Just busy with work and raising our kids. I recently had the opportunity to do a Zumba demo here in Price. It was a lot of fun and hopefully will get more people interested in it. Mitch has been really busy at work, but he's managed to keep up on our garden and I'm happy to say that we have some fine pumpkin and squash plants growing and an endless amount of peas. Hopefully we get some tomatoes before it gets too cold. I was excited to hopefully get some raspberries, but the stinkin birds keep getting to them! I curse the birds! Life is good. Price is a great/interesting city. We are trying to learn to sleep through the hours of 2-5 in the morning when it seems that people like to come home or go to work. It's really weird. Price is a whole other world I tell ya!

Born on the 4th of July! No..Seriously.

2010-07-09T07:14:00.000-07:00

My Grandma Moore was born on the 4th of July. Sweet. So we decided to pack up our bags and head to SLC for the weekend. Man. It was busy. We got into SLC on Friday and OF COURSE had to hit up our favorite Mexican restaurant, La Puente. Seriously. When you live in a teeny-tiny microscopic town and you head to the "Big City" you need to plan where you are going to eat because in your teeny-tiny microscopic town...there is NOWHERE to eat. Anyway, back to what I was saying. Saturday morning we managed to get my Pop out of the house and see the Last Airbender with us. Great movie! The kids loved it! Then off it was to my grandmas for swimming and birthday celebrations. Didn't get any pictures of kids swimming as I was in the pool too, but trust me..they had fun. After getting sufficiently wet, we went to the SugarHouse fireworks show. We hadn't gone for a long time and they had actually stopped doing it, but had managed to get funding to do it this year, so we decided to go. The kids had so much fun. I just love watching them because it makes me feel as if I'm getting some high parenting points.

Daddy and Aja waiting for the magic to begin. Hey..Nice garments, babe!

My mom and step-dad, Jim. He thought I wouldn't be able to get him on camera. Did I mention that I've got 4 kids? Yeah...I've got the picture taking skillz down by now buddy!

Peyton and my cousin, Chase, hanging out. Yep. I said cousin.

Ness with my cousin (far right) and a friend. They had fun and most DEFINITELY acted like girls. Aja kept trying to keep up with them. She would sit by them and gossip in her little toddler voice. So cute!

The birthday girl herself. She's having FUN! Whee!

We rarely ever get pictures of us together and I thought this one was cute.

So Aja was with the girls being girly, and Cohen was with the boys doing what boys do best, fighting with swords, but when the fireworks started it was a HOLY CRAP! DUCK AND COVER! moment and they dived into mine and Mitch's laps. Pretty funny. Aja wouldn't let Mitch un-plug her ears and she wouldn't do it herself. So this is how Mitch spent his time watching fireworks.

Cohen has the cutest profile. We make the best looking kids ever!

Sunday we headed off to Grandma and Grandpa Bennett's house. It was pretty chilly up there and my kids didn't want to be outside too much. So we played inside, looked at the garden and OF COURSE no trip to Idaho would be complete without Mitch burning stuff down. We had fun visiting and catching up with Grandma, and she got herself some laughs from my kids shenanigans. Unfortunately grandpa was sleeping when this picture was taken, but my kids sure do love him and grandma. They talked about them all the way home.

My Supreme Dislike of Autism.

2010-07-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

This week has been tough. I won't lie. I won't sugar coat it. I've escaped into the recesses of my room more than once this week to find some peace. Ugh. Regression. BIG TIME regression. I've been noticing it more and more the last couple of weeks, but what do I do? Cohen seems to be having some sort of reaction to some type of food, but can I figure out what it is? Nope. I don't even know where to begin.

It's heart breaking. It's so hard to hear his swimming teacher say "Cohen...Cohen...COHEN". I can't even get his attention. She's had to save him more than once because he just jumps right in the pool all because he's gotten away from me and I couldn't catch him in time. Even getting his attention at home is impossible. Lately we will be walking, and he will all of a sudden stop, contort his body and scream "LOOLOOLOO!" at the top of his lungs. The constant repeating of the same phrases from SpongeBob over and over again. It's as if he can't talk about anything else. His life and experiences are all compared to what he sees on the TV. Then of course there is the flexing. I have tried so many things to get him to stop. My last resort now is a weighted vest. That is the only thing I can think of that will help him.

I've been reading a book called "Tilt" by Elizabeth Burns. There are some really good passages in here that really explain what I'm feeling lately. My first one is found on the cover actually. It says:

"every family spins on its own axis"

There is so much truth in those words.

"Listen. We're wrestling with a God who asked us to step onto the mat. We're bargaining with a deity who's pulled aside the curtain and peered right into our souls. There are no secrets left. We're just here, breathing or gasping. We have no Doctor Spock for the Disabled. We have specialized hand-books depending on the syndrome; we have grief manuals; we have missives of inspiration. But nothing sticks, nothing solves, nothing answers the big questions."

I cried when I read that part because it is SO TRUE.

"And then when I was leaving she said to me, 'I think those of us whose children develop normally never know what it's like to love the way you do. Your heart has to stretch.' Mother, I just cried and told her she made my day."

Seriously.

I know we will get over this little bump in our road of life eventually, but as of right now, I'm worn out, but there is a peace in knowing that through all this Cohen and I will emerge just that much stronger to face the next hurdle.

Two Years:

2010-06-23T11:13:00.001-07:00

Two years ago yesterday, Aja received her VP shunt. I am so thankful for modern technology and that Aja was able to be born during this time so that she could have a chance at life! I'm so thankful that I followed my "mom radar" and did not accept what her previous pediatrician was telling me (who I promptly fired after hearing her diagnosis). I'm also thankful that Little Miss has not had any major set backs from her condition. We have been lucky.

So as we have entered her two year mark, there were some things that we had to get arranged. First time shunts don't normally last more than two years, and hers was actually recalled last summer. Yeah. That was a lovely letter to receive. You should seriously NEVER have faulty hardware for A) The Heart B) The Brain. Luckily, after a CAT scan, hers remains intact. Anyway, back to what I was saying. Since Price is more rural than Logan, I felt really compelled to get Life Flight completely arranged so that in the event of her malfunction we are prepared. Man..Was that the hardest call EVER. I don't get to ride with her in the helicopter. I have to hand my baby over to complete strangers and trust that they don't crash and then she goes into surgery without me. All while I'm racing through the canyon which has...guess what?? NO cell reception. Nadda. ZIP! I cried. The poor gentleman on the phone tried really hard to calm me down, but it was no use. I don't know how people who frequent Life Flight do it. Seriously. It scares the dickens out of me! It's a 30 minute ride from here to Primary Children's. We take her in and they dispatch Life Flight, they immediately get her in to get her CAT scan, by the time that is done the helicopter should be there and they whisk her away. Terrifying. It will seriously be a test of faith not only in God, but in the people who take care of her. I'm lucky to have family that is willing to meet her at the hospital when she gets there and keep me updated. And luckily that person is my dad who Aja ADORES. The reason why she has to take Life Flight is because she no longer has soft spots to give her brain room to expand. The bones have now fused and any amount of pressure can cause problems. Even surgery is a risk. I could have my baby going in functioning at a "normal" level and have her come out with a mental handicap.

Anyway, enough about the scaries. Did I mention that this little girl LOVES Zumba? That is her new thing. She says "Momma! I do Doomba!" (she can't say her Z's yet) and then she puts her hands on her hips and rocks back and forth. Cutest. Thing. Ever. She also dances with the ladies when she comes to class with me. They think she's adorable...Uhh..Who DOESN'T?! She has the cutest little personality and the sweetest voice you will ever hear. I'm so thankful that she is here with us and that we were chosen to raise this little girl!

Little Miss turns 2!

2010-06-08T06:27:00.000-07:00

WOW! Time has just flown by since Aja was born. I can't believe she is already two. My baby is growing up. How sad!

This past weekend we got to celebrate her birthday with not just one but THREE parties. I will admit, I'm one tired mom. But we had a lot of fun! Here are some highlights:

Aja in her cute little party dress. It was of course still too big for her (everything is) but she looked like the princess that she is anyway.

Here is Aja's cake. It was a white chocolate cherry almond cake. I think it matched her girly personality really well. She kept saying "Tute!!" when she saw it.

Funny story about this little stuffed dog. Remember how I've told you Aja doesn't like animals? Well that is true about stuffed animals as well. When she opened the present, as soon as she saw the fur, she bolted. She would not come near that present for a good 20 minutes! It was so funny! I'm happy to say that she loves that dog now and won't put it down. Except for when it barks..then she doesn't like it again.

Each of my kids has burned their little nose on the candles at their second birthday party..Except Aja. Make a wish!!

After a long day of partying..Aja is tuckered out. She fell asleep in my grandpa's lap. It was super sweet.

Aja definitely completes our family. She has done so much this past year!

* Aja started walking at 14 months old*
* She has been potty training for a bit now and is getting better*
* Aja loves babies (the fake ones)! She will hold them, carry then around in her little pretend car seat (can't leave home without them. It gets a bit hectic but we make it work for her), cuddle them and rock them to sleep. It's so cute. She will make a good momma one day*
* She has started talking consistently and has the sweetest little voice ever*
* DEFINITELY our little fashionista!*
* She is so polite. She says "please" and "thank you" all the time*
* She can shoot a Nerf gun as good as any little boy. The bonus of having two older brothers*
* Cutest bum wiggle when she walks. Definite attitude in her step*
* Aja LOVES to dance and can't resist a good beat. Her fave song to dance to is Low*
* She's a little mommas girl. I call her my hip leech because that is where you can usually find her*
* Most beautiful eyes ever*

WE LOVE YOU AJA!!

Little Goblins:

2010-06-02T06:16:00.000-07:00

For Memorial Day we decided to pack up the kids and head to Goblin Valley. I'm not quite sure, but I think they had fun. There were endless rocks to climb on, sand to play in and lizards to try and catch. Also, there was the joy of keeping track of Cohen, who not only thinks he's Jay-Z, but thinks that he can climb anything that his brother can and scared the living crap out of me...many times. Also, everyone we walked by Cohen would say "Hey! What's your name? My name is Cohen!" I think six different people told us how cute he was. I'll have to agree with that one.
Aja was super brave, and after a little coaxing from me, was walking around on her own and getting dirty just like the rest of them (which my back was eternally grateful for).

Cohen keeps pulling all these funny moves whenever we try to get a pic of him, so he has been dubbed Jay-Z.

Mama with her kids. I'm so proud of them.

Mitch and the boys managed to climb this really slick rock..without killing themselves.

Ness and Aja looking for rocks. Ness had been studying rocks all during her 4th grade year so she was fascinated by what she could find.

Aja wanted to wear that hat (don't ask me why) and she kept adjusting it into all these funny positions. She was a riot to watch!

And a little view of the scenery. It was a beautiful day.

Fun Times!

2010-05-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

Last weekend the boys got to go to the Father Son's camp-out with our church. I wonder if they had fun??

Mitch with his two little boys and their pocket knives. He's such a proud daddy and loves his boys more than anything.

Who knows what Peyton is scared of, but his face cracks me up. My boys are just like their father. They love being outdoors and they love sleeping in tents. It was a bit chilly that night, but I don't think they could have been happier.

The next morning. I don't know why Cohen felt the need to flash his pimp
signs, but I guess he slept good??

Climbing is fun! Peyton and Cohen are always climbing something.

I'm so glad that they were able to go. Mitch was lucky enough to NOT have to sit up all night long with a fever-ish baby. As he was walking out the door, he hugged Aja and said "she feels a bit warm" and then left. Later that night, she decided to break out with a 103.5 fever. Scared the living TA-WAPP (crapp in Cohen language) out of me. I had a lot of fun things that I wanted to do with Ness, BUT this is how I spent my day:

Apparently Mitch got a kick out of how Aja and I were sleeping. If I moved she moved and she would move into the same position as me.

On another note. Cohen recently had his last day at pre-school! They had a cute little program. I will admit though..It made me cry. Cohen's autistic behaviors really come out when he's in front of people. So while kids were singing songs this is what Cohen was doing:

He did, however, get an award for being the "Letter Guru" since he knows almost all of his letters and sounds:

Four Year Old Euphoria:

2010-05-24T07:35:00.000-07:00

Cohen turned FOUR on May 1st! It was such a fun and special day for our little guy! More than anything in the WORLD..he wanted to go to Chuck-E-Cheese. Seriously?? I would have rather taken him to DISNEYLAND than there, but he chose the Chuck. So We headed off to Salt Lake on Friday for a weekend of fun. First stop was the toy store to pick up a new BIKE and some other toys that he got to open the next day. On Saturday, I made him his favorite breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon. Then we got ready and headed off to the Chuck. We met up with some friends from Logan and Salt Lake there and had fun for FOUR hours. FOUR hours at Chuck-E-Cheese. I wanted to die. Every parent there had the same pained look on their face. The look that says, I would rather be getting a colonoscopy than doing this, but I love my kid so I'm..doing this. I don't think the Chuck lived up to his expectations because he hasn't asked to go back. That night we went to Cohen's favorite restaurant..APPLEBEE'S! I don't know what his fascination is with this place...we've eaten there with him like what..five times? After dinner it was time for cake and presents!

Don't hate. My cake was hard to transport and started leaning. Oh well. Plus, it's super hard to make a fabulous looking cake when you aren't at your house and your fondant just doesn't want to work. Lame. However, Cohen was so excited for his Toy Story cake. He loved it and it was super yummy. The waiter told me that it was the most "kick A$$" cakes he ever tasted. Why..Thank You!

It was so much fun to celebrate this special guys birthday with family. We are so thankful for Cohen and love him so much. Here are some highlights of Cohen:

~He was potty trained a week after he turned 3! I was so happy.

~He says some of the FUNNIEST things out there. A few of our favorites are "Mom..You are annoying the TA-WAPP (crapp) out of me!" and a wonderful little gem busted out during sacrament: Me(whispering): Cohen, get your hands out of your pants. Cohen(yelling at the top of his lungs): MOM! I HAVE TO FIX MY WIENER! Congregation: *snicker snicker*

~Cohen stepping out on the back porch many times to...take a pee.

~Kisses on my arms and face and whispering over and over again.."I weawwy (really) wuff (love) you Mom"...melt.

~The funny positions he pulls while sleeping.

~Many mornings we are lucky to see Cohen eat his breakfast completely nude. The boy isn't shy!

~Big blue eyes.

We love you Cohen! Hope you had a wonderful day!

Clean Eating:

2010-04-22T07:30:00.000-07:00

I wanted to tell a little bit about what I've been doing lately. I'm pretty excited about it and SO happy with the results that I had to share. A couple of months ago I noticed that my weight was "stuck". I had lost a lot of my baby weight, but there was 10 pounds that just didn't want to leave, and I was getting really frustrated. Also, my family has a history of high blood pressure and high cholesterol (thanks Hispanic genes! HAHA!)

Now I know I'm not ever going to be what I was in high school because I've had four kids and bodies change over the years, but I at least wanted to be less than where I was at. So I started reading, evaluating my diet and talking to one of my friends (who has been one of my best friends since 7th grade) and she kept mentioning "clean eating". So I looked it up online. Basically what you do is you eat 6 small meals a day, but you make sure to eat a COMPLEX carb (oatmeal, REAL whole grain/wheat bread, quinoa, couscous..something along those lines) WITH a lean protein (tofu, chicken breast, tuna, salmon) and then of course your fruits and veggies. Also, you drink 2 cups of water (8 oz) before breakfast, lunch and dinner and then a cup of water before your snacks. HOLY CRAPP! The first week (and I wasn't exercising yet because I had a lame-o head cold) I lost 4 pounds! I was pretty excited. Also, I felt really, really good and I had a lot of energy. I've been keeping up with it for a little over a month now and eating like this and doing Zumba has helped me lose 6 pounds AND 2 inches! Also, I didn't feel hungry and more importantly I wasn't craving sweets like I used to.

Clean eating isn't a diet. It's a lifestyle. It's eating natural foods using natural spices. So a day for me looks like this:

Breakfast: 2 glasses of water, piece of whole wheat bread (I make it myself) with almond butter and honey on top, two egg whites and half a banana. Then I sneak in a cup of milk for my calcium.

Snack: Apple with almond butter or I just eat it plain and water.

Lunch: Usually tuna or chicken in a wrap with tomatoes and lettuce and avocado. Water of course and the rest of my banana.

Snack: Handful of nuts.

Dinner: Chicken. I either throw it on the BBQ, crock pot, or bake it and eat it with sweet potato and salad and of course...water.

I'm not usually hungry after dinner, but if you are you can have an apple or some nuts to tide you over. I just keep drinking water or I have a glass of green tea.

Seriously not hard, nor do I feel like I'm lacking in anything. I also add a lot of flax seed to my diet because it's like super healthy for your body and heart. Up the fiber! It helps! You should also make sure you drink at least 8 cups of water a day to keep your body hydrated. It also helps your skin look a lot better!

I've been teaching Zumba for 3 weeks now and I seriously LOVE IT! It's so much fun, and I have a lot of regulars. I really miss my group from Logan that I used to go with, but it has been fun getting to know people around here and teaching them to shake it! It's funny. The other day I was subbing for the other Zumba teacher, and one of the ladies said to me "I've heard about you. You're the one that can really shake her butt". HAHA! I've actually had a lot of people say something like that to me. Yes, you shake your hips in a lot in Zumba. It's how Latin people dance! Seriously, if there is a Zumba class that is offered by you, go try it out! I promise you will have a lot of fun!

Breakthroughs!

2010-04-19T06:41:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have those times when you are just so proud of your kids that you want to shout it out to the world? Yeah. I'm totally feeling that right now. Aja has made SO MUCH progress lately that it completely blows my mind. We usually never go to the park. We always play around the yard at home (and even that is tricky at times with Aja). Reason being is that Aja HATES the park with a passion. She usually will just sit there and scream and cry and cling to me (wait she does that already. Hence her nickname Hip Leech). I think it's because the kids are moving around so fast, it's loud and she's terrified of the big toys. Makes going to the park no fun. I don't know why she is like that. I don't know if she's overly cautious or if her perception of things is off because of her condition. Either way, we take things slow around this household.

With limited things to do around here in Price, UT, we decided that going to the park is something we HAVE to do not only for our sanity, but for the sanity of the older kids who actually love the park. So we went. Of course, we get there and Aja immediately starts screaming. So I told Mitch to go off with the older kids and keep an eye on them and I would work with Little Miss. We went to a "quiet" part of the park and just sat on the bench and talked. Then Aja climbed off the bench and played in the wood chips for awhile. I took this opportunity to just talk quietly to her and kind of scooted my way backward so she would have to walk towards me. She followed (always keeping a hand on me I might add). I then went and sat on a step in the big toy and she again followed. We played there for about 15 minutes and then she said she wanted to "walk". So she held my hand and we walked to the toddler side of the park. There she walked across the little bridge they had there, she crawled through the tunnels AND even tried the balance beam! Seriously. I was so happy I was jumping up and down hooting and crying at the same time. I'm sure other parents thought I was nuts, but who cares! We both got dirty (because I had to do it first to show her that it was okay) and we both had a lot of fun! Also, Aja has been super brave and has been running around in the grass here at the house! She used to just sit on the sidewalk and scream.

Now this might not seem like a big deal to many of you, but when you have a child with special needs EVERY accomplishment is a big deal! I try not to read into everything that Cohen and Aja do/say because I know every kid is going to have their off days, but Aja does have something going on in her little head and we can't figure out what it is (we know it's not autism), but I'm SO HAPPY that I was able to break her out of her shell and get her to act like the almost 2-year-old she is!

So give a big WHOOT! WHOOT! for Aja!

Love this girl!

Easter:

2010-04-12T06:18:00.000-07:00

Easter is seriously one of my most favorite holidays because everything is starting to get green, it's semi-warm and the beautiful sun is out. Every year I try to do something fun for the kids to teach them that Easter isn't about the Easter Bunny at all but about the Resurrection of Christ. We do this all on Saturday since I think it's torture to kids to sit there with basket in hand while you try to tell them about the Resurrection on Sunday.

This year we made "cave Cupcakes". The chocolate cupcake represent the cave that Jesus was placed in and to represent Jesus we used a marshmallow. Then I decorated them with "grass and flowers". The kids had a lot of fun, and I'm happy to say that all (except for Aja) when asked Easter morning remembered what our lesson was about. Parent points to me!!

Then came the decorating fun!

I'm proud to say that Anessa no longer thinks that eggs will explode when dropped into the cup o' dye!

Mitch, who recently found out that a future stunt-man position is not in his future, has a lot of fun decorating eggs with his kids. I always find interesting messages written on my eggs..like..."Mommy is HAWT" and "You have a nice bum". This year I asked him to not write suggestive messages on my eggs so he wrote "Mommy is SMART" which is a joke to me complaining one day that he never told me that I was smart or something like that he just always told me I was sexy. So now whenever he wants to say I'm sexy..he says I'm so smart. Nice.

Peyton, who is obsessed with Link right now, drew Link "symbols" all over his eggs. He cracks me up. *no pun intended*

Cohen, who is a PRO at writing his name and is ultra proud of it, wrote his name all over his eggs.

Poor kids. Aja barreled into the front room and totally pillaged everyones basket prior to going to her own. Then she wouldn't hunt eggs UNLESS she had an open box of nerds in her hand. Such. A. Stink.

Cohen was proud of the eggs that he found, but he was more interested in the Sea Monkeys the Easter Bunny left in his basket. I'm proud to say that we are now the proud owners of Sea Monkeys which are now hatched and swimming around. *full body shiver*

Then of course..Easter outfits. My boys..are not cooperative when it comes to getting pictures taken. Peyton does okay, Cohen likes to make things "interesting"and I say that in the most loving way. Not in the "I'm kind of ticked off because I couldn't get a decent picture of you" way...not at all. HAHA!
This is as good as it gets.

My girls do a bit better although Aja is getting to be a bit difficult. Proof here. Looking at the camera and NOT poking and pinching Anessa in the face so she can look decent proved to be a challenge for Aja.

And the proud parents of it all...Us. Excuse the wind. The wind is never ending in Price.

Shine a Light...

2010-04-02T06:25:00.000-07:00

Today is World Autism Awareness Day. Today you will see the Bennett Family wearing blue in support of our little guy Cohen (I should say BIG guy. He hates it when I call him my little guy) and other children and adults affected by this life altering condition.

While Cohen is making HUGE strides, we have our struggles every day. I just don't write about them. During the day Cohen feels so overwhelmed by things that he will sit there and flex. This happens every day. I have to put him on my lap and squeeze him for about 5 minutes every couple of hours so that he gets that input that he needs. If I didn't do that, then he would probably flex all day long. I don't know why he needs/does it, but after our "session" he seems to feel better and will run off and find something to do.

There are still times when Cohen would rather trace the same path over and over again in a room than go and play with the other kids. Also, he will get some thought or idea stuck in his head and repeat the phrase or action over and over until he freaks out because what he wants is not possible. BUT I can say that this is a completely different kid than the one you saw almost 2 years ago. We have words. We have smiles. We have laughter. And we have sparkly blue eyes that really LOOK at us instead of staring through us like they used to. And it's all because of the hard work of therapists, us and Cohen. And I'm so thankful. Cohen being diagnosed autistic was hard. Mitch and I cried. We cried because we had just been through hell with Aja, and we cried because we didn't know what Cohen's future held. But now we laugh. We praise. We get excited for what his future holds. We know that it could have been much, much worse.

Don't diminish...Be aware. That is the best thing you could do for a family going through something like this. You have no idea what happens behind closed doors. Be accepting. Listen. Because life with an autistic child is hard..and it's consuming.

Shine a light...

The Cutest Criminal on the Block:

2010-03-31T06:58:00.000-07:00

We have done time-out with all of our children. With some kids it works and with some it doesn't. I have NEVER had a child stand there (quietly I might add), think things through and come out having learned their lesson and not repeat the infraction for an extended period of time. Until Aja. We have started to do time-outs with Aja since moving to Price, and I have to say...It works wonders. Not only does she stand their quietly, she also stands there like I'm about to throw her over a police cruiser and cuff her for finding something in her pocket.

And when she comes out she gets a huge hug and a snuggle because...well..Who could resist someone as cute as this!

Things I have Learned about Price:

2010-03-25T06:34:00.000-07:00

We have lived in Price a little over 2 weeks now and while I have been here I have made some interesting observations.

1. I need a truck. Apparently I live in the "truck capital of Utah". Going to church it's like...truck, truck, SUV, truck, truck...van. Yeah. The van would be mine. Don't get me wrong. I love my van. It's economical, has an entertainment system, leather..seriously I think I'm one of the FEW people in my neighborhood that has a van.

2. It doesn't matter what my health was prior to moving I will ultimately get a cold wherever we end up. I've been sick for the past 2 weeks with a head cold. Lovely.

3. The sun does in fact exist. The weather here has been beautiful! I loved Logan and it had amazing scenery, but those of you who have lived or live there know what I'm talking about. The inversion is never ending.

4. Price is an older town which means I'm renting an older house. I think since Mitch and I have been married, I have lived in three places where the house was older and had been occupied prior to me. Call me snobby, I don't care, but I have a hard time dealing with other people's "goo". Needless to say, I have been scrubbing this house from top to bottom in order to feel like it's "mine". My only saving grace is that we have narrowed our choices down to a house plan and to two different lots. Then we can start building!

5. There is a reason why children have their own bathroom. We share one bathroom. Yes. ONE. Four kids plus two adults in one bathroom makes for a lot of cleaning for me. I scrub it down daily. Kids are gross. At least when we had two bathrooms I didn't have to see it every day and just cleaned twice a week. Now..daily. Tiring. We do have another bathroom here that we could use, but it's in the "creepy" part of the house and it's serving as my laundry room so there is just no possible way that anyone can use it. Also, see above.

Otherwise, we have been doing well. I haven't been able to start my Zumba classes yet because of this nasty cold, but I have classes scheduled for the first week in April! I'm really excited. Kids are adjusting to their new school and have already made some sweet little friends that come over just about every day. LOVE IT! However, I do miss all my friends in Logan. It has been hard because of that, but just know that I will be coming through for visits OFTEN!

Farewell Logan. Hello Price!

2010-03-02T13:51:00.000-08:00

I'm wanting to get this post in because I KNOW I'm going to be very busy the next couple of days.

The time has come for the Bennett Family to say goodbye to Logan, UT. Mitch got an AWESOME job being the Controller for a company in Price, UT, and we will be moving down there this Sunday/Monday. It's such a bittersweet move for me. Mitch is the type of personality that when he makes a decision he moves forward and doesn't really look back. It's a good thing. He can separate himself a lot better than me. He has buddies that he will talk to, but he knows that this is the direction that he needs to go in so he's not having that hard of time. Okay..He's having a hard time. Dealing with ME! My days have been filled with last lunches and dinners with old friends, visits to the nursing home visiting a wonderful neighbor of mine and emotional breakdowns. He always says that I make friends so easily and that they end up being friends for life, and I KNOW that I will be up here visiting often, but not being a quick walk away is going to be so hard! So to all my friends here in Logan..I love you! It has been an amazing three and a half years. Thanks for all the laughs and fun times that we have shared! And all my Zumba ladies, keep it shakin'! I'm going to miss going to Zumba with you. I'm SO GLAD that you all came and tried it out. I knew you would love it!

On the plus side, Price isn't going to be that bad. Sure..They are a small town (12,00 people in Price, 20,000 total in Carbon County EEEP!), but I have an already established, demanding group of awesome ladies there that I will be leading in Zumba! I'm excited to start my own class! Also, I can FINALLY finish up my degree and go full-time instead of here and there. My biggest excitement though...WE GET TO BUILD A HOUSE! SWEET! We've found a couple of areas that we are interested in. We are trying to decide between 5 acres or just 1 acre. So here in the next couple of weeks I will post a picture of our lot and hopefully a couple weeks after that they will start breaking ground on my new house! For now we will be renting. This next week I'm going to be taking a look at the schools and see if Anessa and Peyton would do better in the Charter School they have there, or if they will do better in one of the elementary schools they have. I'm really excited because they have a center for Cohen kind of like the one they have here except that it's a facility TOTALLY dedicated to children with special needs. Also, Mitch has a super-amazing boss who amazes me all the time. Actually ALL the people Mitch has talked to have been really nice and I guess they are all very anxious for me to get down there so they can finally meet me. It's kind of nice when people already like you and they don't know you. HAHA! To be honest though, I have heard nothing but good about Price. I've heard that a lot of people wish they could go back. I'm looking forward to it. I'm always up for a new adventure.

Here will be the new landscape we will be looking at. Pretty in a rugged sort of way.

Heroes:

2010-02-26T13:50:00.000-08:00

This week I have been thinking a lot about who my heroes are, or people that I really admire, and there are many, but there are a couple of people who really stick out in my mind.

I don't even know her, but she is the most strong, humble, spiritual and faithful person I "know". Truly, a beautiful person inside and out. Her name is Jess and last February she had to do what all of us parent's fear the most and that was to put her trust in the Lord and watch her beautiful baby girl pass away. Little Cora had been diagnosed with cancer and passed away just a little over two weeks after that diagnosis. It was the most heart breaking post to read. Seriously. I cry every time I read her blog.

But what I really admire about Jess is her unwavering faith. While Cora was in the hospital she would post praises of what good had happened that day and then at the end she would post a Bible passage and it was always so fitting. Simply amazing. Yes, she had posts about hard days, but they always ended with how she trusted Him and loved Him. Inspiring? I say YES.

If you want to follow her blog go here: Cora

Another person who I consider one of the best people I have ever had the privilege of knowing is Kelly Stoker. He was my dad's best friend. Kelly passed away Christmas eve due to a tragic accident. I've known the Stoker's for a very long time and at one point they were like my second family. Kelly was a very well respected ENT and just an all around good guy. He and my dad caused a lot of mischief around the neighborhood. There were a lot of practical jokes played by both parties, whether it was spray-painting a big 'Y' on our lawn when BYU beat Utah in football, to switching out BYU and Utah fan license plates to even ramming one of those tail-pipe whistles using a GOLF CLUB...you always knew who it was. Kelly was also the most kind man you would ever meet. He was always willing to lend a hand.

Kelly's funeral was truly a celebration of his life. It was amazing. I never cried so hard, but it also sealed my resolve to be the best person that I could be. There were a couple of General Authorities there to speak about Kelly like: President Eyring, Elder Hales and Elder Bednar. There were also a couple people from the Quorum of the Seventy. It was simply amazing. All of the Stoker's are amazing people. Kim, Kelly's wife, posted this little saying on her FaceBook along with some pictures from Kelly's memorial. I love it.

To Answer Some Questions:

2010-02-22T18:09:00.000-08:00

To answer some questions that I have been asked lately. The answer is

YES.

I did indeed have a tummy tuck and augmentation. Now, since having that done I've noticed that everyone has a different opinion on the whole "taboo" subject of plastic surgery. I've had some people express envy and I've actually had one person stop talking to me completely(someone who I thought was a pretty good friend too).

So in order to "clear the air" with people I've decided to blog about it.

Why did I get it?
Hmmm..I'm 5'0, had 4 kids, had no intentions of having more kids, and noticed that no matter how hard I worked out there was always going to be a tummy there. Also, I had a severely herniated belly-button so I figured while they are fixing that, why not fix what bothers me the most?

Did it hurt?
I can honestly say that it was NOT that bad. Sure, there were moments of discomfort, but compared to being pregnant..it was NOT that bad. I would say my only complaint is the fact that I had to walk bent over for 2 weeks before standing up straight. My back was killing me! Oh yeah..and getting your drains pulled out is not all that fun either but that is a short-lived inconvenience.

How much did it cost and where did you get the money for it?
None of your business.

How big is your scar?
It goes from hip to hip. You can't see it. The only people who have seen it are Mitch and people who I have shown it to.

Do you regret it?
Uhhh...NO! I thought long and hard about my decision to "go under the knife". I knew it was something that I always wanted to do once I was done having kids. I was not one of the "lucky" ones to have everything bounce back. Short people have it TOUGH when they are pregnant!! Only one place for the baby to go and that is straight out! Sure there were risks, but there are risks with everything you do. Luckily, I didn't have any issues and have healed up just fine.

Why couldn't you be happy with what the Lord gave you?
This is where the differences of opinion come in. I had one person straight up ask me this question. So here is my answer and sorry if it offends but this is how I feel. The Lord blessed me with four beautiful kids that I wouldn't trade for anything, but with those kids came a body that I was not happy with. I did not start out with a stretched out tummy. I started out with a flat tummy, no gastric reflux and no herniated belly-button. So I got it fixed. I have found NOTHING on the Internet, Bible, or Book of Mormon to suggest that plastic surgery is wrong.

So I say to you: If you don't agree with my decision then fine. We are different people and differences in people are what make the world an interesting place to be. I'm not going to think of you differently. In fact, I welcome people's opinions on it, but don't push your agenda on me because I'm probably going to see it a completely different way.

Buckle Fracture of the Distal Radius:

2010-02-09T08:01:00.000-08:00

In English now: The radial bone (one of the bones in your forearm) crushed, or wrinkled if you will at the point furthest from your elbow. We had the extra "TREAT" of having her ulna be cracked as well. So here it is. The full-arm cast. Yes, full-arm. She was just supposed to get one that went to about the middle of her forearm, but it was broken enough that they needed to do a full-arm cast. GOOD TIMES! This next Friday we get to go in and get some more x-rays (because I have endless amounts of money) and see if it has shifted or not. If it has not shifted then we change for the forearm cast, if it has shifted then we get to go in for surgery and get it pinned! YAY! (I hope you can tell that I'm being sarcastic) So all of you PRAY that her little bone stays in place. We don't need/want surgery around here. Luckily it did not affect her growth plate so she will not have problems with this in the future.

Now, for your viewing pleasure:

And our little man Cohen. Sleeping. Apparently this was a really comfortable pose because he didn't move for about 3 hours.

Finally, my new little (okay they definitely are NOT little but still..) lovelies. Gotta love Black Friday KILLER deals! Can I just tell you how much I love them? They get things SO CLEAN and are super cheap to run. My washer costs us $10 a year to run! Can't argue with that.

A long time has passed:

2010-02-03T09:14:00.000-08:00

So yeah..I know. I haven't blogged for a long time. I got threatened the other day that if I did not update my blog I was going to be in BIG trouble. Here you go Melanie..Just for your reading pleasure. :)

UPDATES (don't you just love them?)

Anessa turned 10 a couple months ago. Wow! I've been a mom for a decade. Can I just tell you it's been a ride? Ness has turned into such a great young lady. Her personality is changing (Heaven help us!)and her body is changing. Meaning..she's almost as tall as me. Not a great feat, I know, but still! She comes up to my eyes now. I can't even do her hair anymore unless she kneels on the ground. She's borrowing my clothes, she's wearing deodorant and she's getting into the "boys are kind of cute" phase. We're in trouble.

Recent developments are: Anessa broke her arm yesterday. WTF?? Shouldn't it have been Peyton, Mr. Let Me Run Across the Ground Like a Wild Animal or Cohen, Mr. Let Me Jump Off the Couch Yelling "TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!!" to break their arm first? Nope. It was my sweet daughter who worked so hard to get her reading counts points all so that she could go ice skating with her class. Someone has a sense of humor.

Here are some pics of Ness at her birthday party. Yes...I helped clean the girl who completely colored her face. At least they had a good time right? Right?

Peyton turned 7 in September! Those of you who haven't seen him for a long time would definitely see a difference. This boy has turned from a sword-wielding crazy man to Mr. Cool and Collected. Seriously. The difference from last year to this year has been weird/cool. Weird in that it happened just like that. Cool because he's one cool kid. He has such a big heart and ADORES his little sister. Adores doesn't even begin to describe it. He calls her "little sweetie" and he thinks playing with her is the best. He always tells me how good dinner is even if it isn't his most favorite meal, and he always has a hug and an I love you Mom ready for when he gets home from school. *insert melting heart here* He's doing awesome in school. He's reading at second grade level and by the end of the year should be at the third grade level. SWEET!

Here is Peyton eating a sour War Head (hehehe..I'm mean, but seriously..He wanted it!) and feeding the reindeer with Cohen.

Ah..Cohen. Where do I begin? The kid is SO FUNNY! Just an example. This is a typical shopping trip with Cohen. While sitting in the cart, Cohen says to some random lady, "I really LOVE meatballs". Lady looks a bit disturbed by the statement and says "that's great honey" then laughs and says "well at least he knows what he likes!" Fast forward about 10 minutes. A lady is standing in front of our cart trying to get to something and Cohen yells at her "GET OUT OF OUR WAY! YOU'RE STANDING IN FRONT OF OUR CART!!". She gives him a weird look and I apologize profusely for his behavior. I then turn to him and tell him that it isn't right and we don't treat people like that. His response?? "whatever, mom". Okay then. SAME shopping trip, we are standing in front of the ice cream waiting for Mitch (okay me) to decide what/if to get any ice cream. Cohen says to some nice ladies standing there. "My dad has a lot of money because he bought me Apple Jacks." She bursts out laughing and proceeds to tell me what he says. Yep. Needless to say, Cohen provides our family with a lot of laughs. I guess the one bad thing he does do is that he LISTENS to everything and stores that gem of either "good parenting" or something he heard off the t.v. for a public appearance. You can see us with our mouths hanging open often and saying "where the crapp did he pick that up?!?".

Cohen.

Aja is just the cutest little thing on two legs. She hasn't grown much. She's just a little squat, but she has the sweetest spirit of any kid I know. She wakes up every morning singing to herself. She's always quick to hug and give kisses. Seeing her run and walk is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen. Okay, it's second to her talking. She has the most darling little voice EVER. She seems to be doing really good. Her progress is slow, which is to be expected, but she has exceeded A LOT of expectations. We have been lucky enough to not have any shunt malfunctions yet, but we know it's only a matter of time before it happens, but we don't focus on that, we focus on our cute little girl who likes to play with her babies, sing, get her hair done, color, eat and eat, jabber, and look at us with her beautiful eyes that melt your heart.

Here are some cutie pics of Aja. She LOVES to find random winter hats and wear them around the house.

Mitch and I are great! He's busy with work and I'm busy with kids. I have a new found love as well. ZUMBA!!! Holy crapp! I'm addicted. I could do it every day. Hence why I'm getting certified. Those of you who haven't tried it SHOULD! Funnest workout EVER!

Hope all is well with you and yours!

A Life Changing Diagnosis..A Year Later.

2009-08-26T06:44:00.001-07:00

A year ago today was the day that we were told that Cohen is autistic. I remember filling out all the forms and feeling more and more helpless every time I marked a "does not do this" box. The diagnosis came in two parts. The first part was sitting with a developmental pediatrician and answering question after question for two hours. The second was an ADOS (autism diagnostic observation schedule) where he was "on his own" with an evaluator for about 2 hours to figure out "where he fell on the spectrum". No parent should have to go through this, but some of us do. It was such a sucker punch in the gut to us. We had already dealt with so much already, but I knew that it had to be done to benefit our little boy and give him every chance possible.

I remember after his diagnosis came in, being very angry for a long time. I was so angry at all the people who would try to make me feel better and say "he doesn't seem autistic". I had to hold my tongue a lot. I wanted to yell at them and say "nobody should sit there and watch their little boy stop talking, stack the same four blocks feverishly alone over and over because there are too many people around, lay on the floor and flex for HOURS upon HOURS and no matter what you do, you just can't get him to stop. No one should go through the pain of watching your child say the same thing over and over again because they just can't control it. Little boys don't trace the same path for hours in the back-yard and completely ignore anything and everyone. They show interest in things. They give their parents love. They smile. They cry when they fall down and look for comfort. They don't pick at random spots on their body until they bleed." These are just a few of the things that we were going through. I know that people were trying to help in their own way, but it just was so hard for me to accept that I didn't want the help. It took me a long time to get to an "acceptance" point.

We are so lucky that we are close to a center that helps children with autism. The amount of progress that Cohen has made is incredible. Aside from a few random quirks, he's just like any other child. It was about 8 months of going up to the University (sometimes every day) for a couple of hours figuring out ways to "help" Cohen. My house was a revolving door of therapist after therapist, but it all was worth it. The little boy I have now, although a talkative one at that, is completely different than the little boy of then. He sings songs, he will sometimes go up to kids to play with them, he talks and talks and talks, he goes to a special ed preschool and has adjusted really well. It's amazing. We have been very lucky with the amount of progress that Cohen has made. This has been an amazing journey filled with laughs and tears. I laugh more than I cry about this now. It has taught me so much about being a mom and has given me a great amount of patience. I know that I went through this not only for Cohen but for myself as well.

Here is one of Cohen's favorite activities. Hiding in the laundry basket.

Food Eating by Aja

2009-08-16T14:53:00.000-07:00

I really don't know what it is about my kids, but my boys are not very good eaters and my girls are the ones that like to chow. There is the cutest little hut/shack down the road that starts selling fresh produce around the beginning of August. You can find me there daily. Anyway, they sell the BEST corn on the cob I have ever tasted. Seriously..The best. My family really gets corned out during the summer because I serve it with every meal, but how can you turn down some rockin corn on the cob? YOU CAN'T! Here is Aja and her first experience with corn on the cob. She's such a funny chick!

She was giggling at me because I was wiggling the corn in her face.

First tentative bite...

Second little bite (YES, she finally got that fourth tooth..It kind of sucks. I was enjoying the nick name: Tres-Toof. Oh well)

Chewing slowly to see if we REALLY like it. The verdict: Not really. I'm sure next year she will be all over it though. However, she did eat a few bites of it, and being the mom of some picky eaters..I will take what I can get!

I also wanted to let you all know that Aja has started walking! It was such an exciting moment in the house. The kids were all cheering her on and I was squealing (yes, squealing) at the top of my lungs because I was so excited. And then of course I was crying at the same time. I get teary-eyed about it every time I talk about it. It has been so AWESOME to see her hit her mile-stones. It has been hard to hear from doctors that your child may never walk, talk, or be severely delayed. I've been so anxious to see if this day would ever arrive and I'm SO glad that it has. She is truly an amazing little girl and I'm so proud of everything that she has accomplished so far.

Bear Lake: Lessons Learned

2009-07-28T08:17:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, my wonderful friend, Becky(Yes, we do a lot with them. It's great when you find someone you have A LOT in common with), invited us to go up to their family's property at Bear Lake. Of course I jumped at the chance at getting away from responsibilities at home to spend time with awesome friends. Needless to say the kids had a blast. We didn't get up there until late, but the kids still managed to have some fun exploring.

Sunday we had breakfast and then headed down to the lake. I'm kind of bummed. All the pictures I took really were terrible. Which isn't something new. I'm horrible at taking pictures, but I did manage to catch these two cuties together. This is Cohen's future wife, Brighton. Isn't she a doll?? I just love her!

After a bit Becky and I grabbed our kidlets and went floating in the lake in some tubes. It was fun. Cohen just sat on my tummy and relaxed. I think he was almost asleep. THANK HEAVENS I wasn't around for what was to happen next. When you have a posse of 3 curious boys there are many unmentionable things that are bound to happen. APPARENTLY, the boys found a dead rat floating in the water. Yes. A. Dead. Rat. So who was the lucky couple to have their son grab said dead rat and cuddle it closely to their chest and ask if we could take it home passionately declaring that "he won't cause any problems!"? MINE! When I got back to shore and Mitch and Mark told me this, I about puked. WTF?!? (that was for you Becky) Needless to say, we booked it away from the beach and until Peyton got into a shower, he was treated like the town pariah. Lesson Learned: Be Prepared At All Times. Especially for something tremendously gross.

I'm happy to report that Peyton is bubonic plague free and seems healthy as a horse and we had no other incidents afterwards. We had a lot of fun though!

Hiking 101:

2009-07-19T19:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a 10 step plan for hiking with the Bennett's.

First thing you need is 7 kids and a plan to hike 6.6 miles at 2 in the afternoon on one of the hottest days of the year. THIS IS VITAL!

The second thing you need is an accident prone child who in the first 20 minutes falls flat on his face (thankfully NOT on a rock) and comes out looking like Robert Downy Jr. from Tropic Thunder. Honestly, he didn't even TRY to catch himself. I thought it was funny, he did not find the fact that I found it funny humorous.

The third thing you need is a posse of 3 boys who have NO fear and charge ahead at full speed along some steep cliffs all while you are hurrying up to catch up to them and not pee your pants because you just 'KNOW' someone is going to fall.

The fourth thing you need is a daughter who keeps asking: "are we there yet?", "can we stop and rest?", "it's too HOT!", "can I have a drink?" and "can we just go home?"..All the while trying to stay very patient and not yell at said child (it didn't work).

The fifth thing you need is a baby in a too small of hat to become a snotty mess because something has irritated the poor things allergies. Poor baby!

The sixth thing you need is an awesome friend who can laugh with you about some interesting topics that tend to come up on a long hike, all while trying to go down the hill at maximum speed because of said posse of boys and not biff it at the same time because you are carrying your 3-year-old son whose "legs are broken".

The seventh thing you need (you need a lot!) is a man with a GPS system who is such a champ because he did the Logan Sprint that morning! Way to go Mark!

The eighth thing you need is a family picture and to have everyone looking at something else.

The ninth thing you need is a picture with your husband all while trying to look fabulous wearing a dirty tank thanks to said 3-year-old, snot from said allergy infested child and your camera case. I'm such a dork.

And finally, the tenth thing you need after a 4 hour hike is...a bath.

This here:

2009-07-17T16:38:00.001-07:00

Is Tres Toof.

Yes folks, we are stuck at 3 teeth total. I've been waiting and waiting for that 4th tooth to come out, not because she's a screaming pile of hormones and endless snot of course, but because she's looking like the cutest little back-country hillbilly that has ever existed. I should enter her into some sort of spitting competition.

Or maybe a Mohawk competition.

Or maybe a bathing suit (why do they call them bathing suits?? They need to seriously rethink that term) competition. And of course we have to have matching hair bands to go with our cutie new SWIMsuit!

Good times, noodle salad.

2009-07-06T20:12:00.000-07:00

I love looking in on my kids while they sleep. It reminds me how much I love them no matter how hard the day has been or how much they tested my patience.

Little turkey is the lightest sleeper ever!

On Saturday we went to the Rod Run here in Logan. I LOVE the Rod Run. It's so much fun to see what people have done to classic cars. I love the smell of exhaust, feeling my insides rattle and the roar of the engines. The kids also loved it and had a blast waving to everyone.

While we waited, the kids played around on the grass and stuff. Cohen was pretending to fight monsters here.

These poor people. Cohen has decided that rather than being interested in other kids, he would rather talk to any adult (scary or not)who is willing to listen to his wild tales. Luckily, these people seemed to have a lot of patience and thought he was pretty funny.

Aja was less than impressed with my step-dad's beard. It freaked her out and I think she just did not like the feel of it!
Before kiss:

After kiss:

Here are a couple pictures of cars. Might not be interesting to some, but I'm a classic car junkie! I could look at them all day long.

I'm a sucker for a beautifully restored truck!

There is only one word for this car...AWESOME.

This is my dream. To have a late 70's model Bronco. It was amazing!

Did you hear something?

2009-06-30T21:45:00.000-07:00

I'm so bad. We went to The Utah Museum of Natural History to see the frog display like..three weeks ago, and I'm just getting to the pictures now. We had so much fun that day! The kids were so excited to see the different kind of frogs.

Here we are posing with Prince Frog. I can never get a decent picture of Cohen.

This frog was so huge. I still shudder thinking about it. *blech*

I thought the blue frogs were the coolest, and they were little and smooth looking so the gross factor wasn't there as much.

You could crawl into a little hole that was in the middle of the aquarium, and the kids thought it was pretty cool. Of course it was with the big, ugly, warty froggy. Peyton really does love his brother and wasn't trying to shove his head down at all..not at all.

Ness was lucky and didn't have to deal with little brothers since they didn't fit in there with her.

Cohen is such a little pimp. He was following that girl all over the place. It was cute. Don't worry, he didn't fall in.

Ness has been in a summer math class and loves it. Peyton and I have been spending a lot of time together either baking, reading, or throwing the Frisbee outside. It's been fun. Cohen is back in pre-school. He had a rough first week, but it seems that he's getting back into the swing of things. Aja is still crawling around and being the ultra ham that she is. She is saying "Hi" and "Ma" now. She just went to her 1 year appointment and is apparently "too small". She's only gained 1 lb. in 3 months and so they are monitoring her. She's not even on the charts. I'm not too concerned, look at me! The girl doesn't stand a chance. As for me, I've been working out which helps me keep my sanity during these long days. I guess the change has been kind of dramatic. I don't see it but everyone else does and I guess that is all that matters right?

Also, I know I was going to unveil my recipe blog like..a month ago. Believe me, it's coming. I honestly don't know how my friend Melanie finds the time to pick a recipe, buy the ingredients, cook the food, take a decent looking picture and post it on her blog. I get to the "take a decent picture part" and that is where it stops. I've got like 15 on my camera right now. I PROMISE..It's coming. I hope you are all enjoying your summer and hopefully we can see some of you soon!

One year ago this Sunday:

2009-06-18T09:45:00.001-07:00

Aja was admitted into Primary Children's Hospital to get her shunt placed. This has been such a roller coaster of a year and at times very emotional. The day Mitch and I went to the doctors, I remember us holding hands as we waited in the waiting room both of us anxious to find out what was going on with our baby. I remember us holding our little girl and crying after seeing her CT scan. They wouldn't let Mitch and I both stay at the hospital so it was just me, and I remember wandering the halls because I couldn't sleep and I was scared. What a crazy experience!

After her surgery and she was brought home, I went through a really tough time. It was hard to just even function. Looking back, I think it was so hard because everything happened SO quick and there wasn't time to process anything. We hadn't heard any "good" stories of shunt placements and they told me that I had to hold her at a 45 degree angle for 2 weeks so her brain wouldn't collapse in on itself. I was a nervous wreck, and honestly I analyzed EVERYTHING. So there I sat in my rocking chair, not doing a whole lot until I finally took a look in the mirror (realized how horrible I looked) and told myself that being how I was wasn't doing anyone any good.

So here we are today, and I'm happy to say that both Aja and our family have come out of this stronger. Aja is the most amazing little girl. She acts like any typical toddler. As for me, I KNOW I've changed, and I know that it has been for the better. That little girl is my little hip monkey and I thank Heavenly Father every day for the opportunity to be her mom. We are eternally thankful to family and friends who have been there to lend a helping hand and a listening ear.

And of course a pic. This is one of my favorite pictures of Aja even though she's in the bath.

Baby Girl turns 1!

2009-06-08T06:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Aja's big 1st birthday! We had two small parties for her with family, and both were so much fun! The year has gone by so fast. She's such a fun/funny little girl. Most definitely our little diva. She has the most expressive face that cracks us up all the time. She loves to cuddle her babies, pose for pictures, pull out diaper wipes, read books, be outside, shake her little booty to music and play "chase me while I try crawling away really fast". This year has been so much fun with her. She's got her dad wrapped around her little finger and...okay, me as well.

Aja in her little tutu I made her (making one of those expressive faces I was telling you about). She was a ladybug.

OOOOH..What a pretty dress!

Her LadyBug birthday cake. This was so much fun to make and was super cute!

Aja's own personal cake.

Cake is good..Nom Nom.

Happy Birthday Aja! We love you!

Nadda..

2009-05-28T20:47:00.001-07:00

Nothing much has really been going on, but I felt I needed to do SOMETHING with my blog so you all didn't think I dropped off the face of the planet.

Things are good. Since Cohen has been going to his new pre-K, I haven't had to run up to the university at all. It's been nice. Actually..I've been bored. I'll take it though. It's been so long since I've actually been "bored". Bored meaning: I've been baking..a lot. It's pathetic. I was standing in front of my fridge, after making 3 loaves of bread and a banana cake, today thinking I have gone through a crapp load of butter! It's insane actually. I used my last package today. On Monday..There were 4 packages in there. Tell you anything? I've started my own little food blog for people who are wanting my recipes and such. It's taken a bit to get it off the ground, but trust me it's well worth the wait! I will be unveiling it next week. I'm pretty excited!

Also, going along with bored is a lot of reading. It's been heaven. I haven't read anything for the longest time and I've been taking full advantage of the Book Mobile that parks down my street every Monday. I've read 4 books in the last two weeks. I can't help it! I've been so focused on the kids and all of their activities that I had to take the opportunity to do something that I wanted to do. If I had my real choice, I would be going to school, but situations and timing is all off. I really miss it to be honest.

Cohen is potty training and we are pretty excited about that! He's doing pretty darn good. Aja will be 1 soon. Look for her birthday post here in the next week or so. I can't believe it's been a whole year! She's gotten so big and is doing so many funny things. Ness and Peyton are awesome and are excited for school to be out.

Other than that..I have nadda..Which is nice for once.

For some extra cuteness: FAT CHEEKS

Happy Mother's Day Monique

2009-05-10T15:09:00.000-07:00

So.....this is Mitch.....and I don't have a blog of my own. So, I have commandeered Monique's blog so I can wish her a Happy Mother's Day.

This week I have asked each of the kids to think about why they are grateful for their Mom. Below I have listed their responses.

Anessa.......
I love when she helps me with homework.
I love her awesome dinners.
I love when she lets me help with dinner.
I love when she plays with me.
I love when she helps me do my hair and nails.

Peyton.......
I love it when she hugs me.
I love her cooking. It is delicious.
I love it when she tucks me into bed.
I love to talk to her and have her listen to my stories.
I love it when she buys me new clothes.

Cohen.......
Cohen's answers are a little shorter than the others. So here are his responses.
I love Mom because.......
She's beautiful.
She's nice.
She gives me jelly beans when I go potty.
She loves me.
and...Mom can kiss my big, fat, hairy butt. (Cohen thought this was hilarious. He was watching Monster House at the time I was asking him these questions)

Aja.........
Aja can't talk, but I'm sure it would go something like...

She is the only person I care to see in the morning.
She is the only one who can give me what I want.
She is the only one who can console me.
All others are insignificant compared to Mom.

Monique,
You are the best wife, mother, and person I know. Thank you for everything you do. The kids and I love you very much. Have a Happy Mother's Day.

I'm gonna be a supermodel!!

2009-05-07T07:47:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure there's a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking. And I plan on finding out what that is. ~Derek Zoolander~

Aja doing her version of Blue-steel.

Cohen turned 3!

2009-05-02T07:46:00.000-07:00

So our #3 turned #3 yesterday. It was such a fun day for him! He got to wake up and eat his favorite breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes. He then went to the dentist (I know. Only time I could schedule it)and got a clean bill of health for his remaining 7 teeth that aren't capped. We then came home and he played with friends all day long. He had so much fun!

I can't believe he has gone from this:

To this:

So excited to open presents!! Yes, that is Christmas paper and yes that is masking tape..What can I say? What is funny is he kept saying "Oh my doodness" while opening his presents.

I like to have cakes represent what the kids have been talking about for the last year, and since Cohen LOVES AppleBees (why? I don't know. We have eaten there like 3 times since he's been alive)I decided to make him a cake that represented that. He also talks about the Temple a lot, but..The Temple didn't work out. If you want details..Call me. Thanks Becky for helping me out! She's the one who shaped it. I couldn't draw anything that resembled an apple..it kept coming out looking like a tooth. I'm so proud of it. It was amazing and super cute!

I hope your wish comes true!

Cohen is the funnest little boy. He's so loving and makes us laugh all the time. He has blossomed so much in the last couple of months and it has been so exciting for us to FINALLY see his little personality. What amazes me is that even though he was nonverbal, it didn't mean he wasn't learning anything. He knows his colors, body parts, animals and sounds, and can count pretty darn good. He has the most beautiful spirit and has truly been a blessing to us. We love you Cohen!!

The Fancy And The Not So Fancy.

2009-04-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

Fancy: Aja in her Easter dress.

The Not So Fancy: All kids climbing into my bed Saturday morning. Although, Aja cuddling her kitty is pretty darn cute.

Fancy: Aja in her pretty dress that Uncle Zach and Aunt Chalee gave her for Christmas. It FINALLY fits!!

Not So Fancy: Aja in the morning after her hair has been taken out of it's ponytail. Good thing it's bath time!

Are You Kidding Me?

2009-04-22T06:37:00.000-07:00

So yesterday Cohen seemed bound and determined for me to commit myself. Yes, he was THAT hard.

Here is a small list of "WONDERFULS" we encountered yesterday: The morning started out with a diaper shimmying it's way down his leg and it taking me AND Anessa to get him changed. Cohen dumped ALL and I mean ALL of Aja's toys out of her toy box, and proceeded to dump his cereal on the counter. He didn't eat lunch, but managed to slide my computer chair over to the pantry so he could sneak candy. I gave him a few Hershey Kisses with almonds in it..He didn't like the almonds so thought he would disassemble the kiss and pull the almond out so he had chocolate smeared all over my clean counter (that I didn't have time to re-wipe as one of his therapists was at the door) and he ruined one shirt so I had to change him. At Peyton's gymnastics class he took off his shoes and busted out the door. By the way, it's not fun running with a baby. I managed to get him back, but had to literally sit on his legs so I could get his shoes on, I'm sure I was a sight.

I got a pizza for dinner to make my day a bit easier. Cohen will eat pizza pretty darn good. I have no idea what his deal was, but he dropped the thing on the floor about 3 times (of course it was pizza sauce-side down). He was "dunking" his hand in his water and sucking it off and then proceeded to spill the whole cup on the floor. This picture will be the end of my rope. He was scraping the pizza sauce off of his slice-o-pizza and smearing it all over his body. Now this picture doesn't do the damage justice as I was putting him in the bath right then, but it was everywhere. His pants, shirt, floor, counter, me and so on.

Where was I you ask? I was at the table, reading the grocery store ads. I was SITTING right there! Why didn't I see this? Needless to say, I said "Are you kidding me!" numerous times yesterday. He's such a little devil.

And for good measure, I wanted to show you a funny picture of Aja and her sippy cup. The thing is bigger than her head. It cracks me up.

Anessa's Testing Results: In.

2009-04-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

Needless to say, I'm devastated. I was pretty stoked when I read the initial report and it said "No Dyslexia", but I didn't really know what everything else meant as they did many tests that I'm not familiar with. So I waited it out hoping and praying that the "other" scenario I was thinking of wasn't even an option. Boy, was I wrong.

What can I say? What do I say?

Anessa can hardly communicate. Of course she can communicate basic needs/wants, but when it comes to more complex things, forget about it. She can't even tell me a story. I have to try and guess what she's trying to say. For example: She was trying to tell my Grandma about the Grumpy Art Ladies (as Anessa likes to call them). She kept saying they have the "perfect time". Perfect time? So I asked her what she meant by that, and she couldn't tell me. She just kept saying they were grumpy and they have the perfect time and her class doesn't. The end result of this story was: The Grumpy Art Ladies don't give her class enough time to finish their projects. They, the Grumpy Art Ladies, get to finish their projects therefore giving them the perfect time. This story is a typical interaction between Anessa and me every single day. It's hard to deal with sometimes. Anessa can process what you are telling her on the inside, she can't get it out. She has such a hard time doing any type of homework because she knows the concepts, knows what she needs to do, but can't verbalize it enough to be able to do it. And school is such a "verbal" environment that she's always going to be behind.

I guess right now I'm wondering..Where did I go wrong? What didn't I do for her that she needed? But I have to remember that I did EVERYTHING that I could and knew how to do for Anessa. Before she even started Kindegarten, I met with her teacher and said "this little girl has a problem. I don't know what, but she has one" and got her signed up for testing immediately. Whenever we have changed schools, I have kept up on getting them all her paperwork and getting her back into Resource as soon as possible.

So I asked the professional who did her testing what Anessa's future holds for her. She recommended getting her into speech therapy and to get her evaluated by the Communicative Disorders clinic. Will she have this problem for the rest of her life? Yes. She's always going to be behind her peers and be immature for her age.

Anessa is the most accepting little girl I have ever met. She is compassionate and tries to be kind to everyone. That is one thing we have really tried to instill in our children. Is that they be kind and accepting of everyone regardless of race, religion, past behaviours and so on. Especially those with handicapps. She has so many good qualities about her, but those are the two that really stand out in her and the ones that people notice the most. What everyone needs to remember is that Anessa is the same little girl she always has been. Not even a "diagnosis" can change that. It just tells us that now we know what is going on and we can get her what she needs.

I guess yesterday's talks in Sacrament and Relief Society were preparing me for this day. They were both basically about our trials in life. In RS it was about dealing with our own Liberty Jails that we encounter on our way through life. It was about facing our trials and learing something from them. To quote the teacher "What a waste to recieve a trial and to learn nothing from it". That really stands out to me. I know that I have been given a lot of trials in the last couple of years, but I think that was to help me progress and to find my strengths and not to remain a stagnant person. I know that Heavenly Father is telling me that I need to have the faith to endure the frustrating and heartbreaking times and to lean on him when it seems to be too much. For some reason he saw fit to bless me with 3 children with special needs. And while I sometimes wonder what the heck he was thinking, I wouldn't change it at all. My kids do so many other wonderful things that are beyond "book smarts" that make them each unique and "smart" in my eyes and I love them endlessly for it. They have taught me to be a better person and a better mom.

Sugar Induced Coma:

2009-04-14T07:42:00.000-07:00

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. Easter and Halloween. The Saturday before Easter I always plan something fun for the kids to do. We then talk about Spring and the Resurrection and what it means to us. After our fun-filled activity day we all color eggs together and come up with some pretty interesting stuff. Welcome to the picture overload.

I made Easter shaped cakes and the kids decorated them. I really don't know what is wrong with Peyton. We are going to get him checked.

If it involves sugar Cohen will most definitely eat it.

So Anessa was totally paranoid about someone dropping an egg into the dye. Apparently eggs produce a nuclear mushroom when dropped from a height of 2 inches?

Mitch no doubt decorating the egg to follow.

The egg says "like ok". When we were at Macey's the day before I ran into a good friend of mine whose family was coming over for dinner that night. Anyway, we were figuring out the time and I APPARENTLY said "if you want to come over earlier just give me a call and tell me you are like coming over and I will be LIKE OK" and Mitch thought it was the funniest thing ever. He's been imitating me in his best valley girl voice ever since.

The kidlets with their Easter baskets:

Giving Daddy a snuggle while eating a York peppermint patty. I love this picture. Mitch misses the kids so much. He will hardly put Aja down when he's home on the weekends.

Ness and Cohen: Two accomplishments.

2009-04-08T06:39:00.000-07:00

Anessa had her school opera last night. Her class had been working on it all school year long. It was about karate masters who's class really stunk at karate. So the lunch ladies (Ness was one of them) fed them "magic" sushi. It was really cute. Unfortunately for Ness she had to hear the "Lunch Lady Land" song by Adam Sandler an insane number of times. We rock as parents! Anyway, here she is after her performance with some flowers I got her. She was so proud as was I. The only thing missing was Daddy of course. She was near tears because he wasn't able to be there.

Isn't she gorgeous!

Cohen really wanted to go bye-bye one morning so he decided he would take matters into his own hands and dress himself. Please forgive the full diaper, it was about 6 in the morning. I think he walked around like this, holding his pants up, for about 2 hours before he decided he needed some help.

April is Autism Awareness Month!

2009-04-01T06:36:00.000-07:00

*taken from medicalnewstoday.com*

Autism is the fastest-growing developmental disability in the U.S., affecting 1 in 150 children. Every 20 minutes, a child is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Autism is more common than juvenile diabetes, childhood cancer and AIDS combined.

Classified as a severe neurodevelopmental disorder with early childhood onset, the symptoms produce significant impairments in social, communicative, cognitive and behavioral functioning.

There are no cures for autism, but pharmacological, behavioral and psychosocial interventions can change the course of the disorder. Some of the current treatment options include occupational therapy, dietary restrictions, sensory integration therapy and speech therapy, with most interventions featuring highly structured educational programs aimed at improving communication and social skills.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What an important month this is for our family. It brings back the memories of when I started seeing my "red flags" for Cohen. I can remember when he stopped talking completely,when he would sit in the corner and play by himself, how he would never cry when I left actually he showed no emotions whatsoever,when he didn't cry when he fell down. It was heart-breaking for me. It still is. Especially when we have our hard days. When Cohen can't do anything but sit there and flex, and I can't get him to stop no matter what I try to divert his attention with. Cohen's diagnosis has been such an emotional rollercoaster, but I am so thankful for this little boy. He has taught me patience, understanding and acceptance. I wouldn't change him at all. I'm so thankful for the many therapists that come to our home and "teach" both Cohen and me. I'm so thankful for the ABC class that we attend weekly. It has helped Cohen so much and has helped me know how to "play" with Cohen. What a blessing. I truly believe that we were meant to come to Logan and be close to the CPD for this reason.

Fun!

2009-03-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

Here is Cohen heading in for his first day of pre-school! He has so much fun while he is there.

Here is Aja hanging out with Aunt Chalee'. My kids LOVE their aunt and uncle and I think the feeling is mutual. We can't wait until their baby is here so we can love on it!

First taste of whipped cream!

And here is a picture of my new venture. I've always wanted to learn how to make cakes and my friend is teaching me. This is my first one. I'm pretty darn proud of it. Anyway, I need all the practice I can get so if you want a specialty cake for any type of event, please let me know! I will do them for FREE!!

Another view.

I feel bad because I hardly ever have any pics of Peyton or Anessa on here. I had some good ones I was going to take while up in Idaho this last weekend, but it was so windy they would have turned out terrible.

Yes.

2009-03-20T17:21:00.001-07:00

Yes, Aja is one of those to recieve the shunt that has been recalled. We are going down to SLC next week for a CT scan to make sure the tubing is not detaching.

There is a little tube that hangs down in Aja's brain, or ventricles if you will, and that is where the fluid is "sucked" out. That tube is what is detaching. It's kind of a big deal because it's right in there in your brain so if it wiggles around or shifts it can poke your brain a bit and cause damage. There you have it. I will let you know what they say.

I'm How Big??

2009-03-20T07:04:00.000-07:00

Aja had her 9-month visit yesterday and our stats are:

Weight: 14.8 lbs = 1% (yes, you read that correctly)
Height: 26.5 in. = 13%
Head: 16.9 in = 19%.

The above face is what she has been pulling a lot of lately. It cracks me up every single time. Here is a close-up for the full effect.

Some things that Aja is doing: Says "mamamamamamama" all. the. time., Pulls herself up onto her knees, it looks like she is trying to wave to people she knows, when I say Aja's hair she touches her hair, and melts heart every single day. We are so thankful that she came into our lives. We love you Aja!

La-Di-Da

2009-03-14T16:21:00.000-07:00

Aja HATES getting her feet tickled. So being the meanie mom that I am, had to get a picture.

Sensory play day! Aja had her first encounter with powdered sugar..Do you think she liked it? Cohen could spend hours playing with his colored rice that I made him. He loves to dig around and find the things I have hidden in there. This was such a proud moment for me. He actually was pretending by himself! That is a HUGE step for him because it's usually me that has to initiate everything. Way to go!

Sweetness has learned to get into a little bit of trouble.

On Thursday we went to the Draper Temple open house. It is such a beautiful Temple! My kids were so good during the whole thing and were very, very reverent. I'm so proud of them. Of course we couldn't complete the trip without a family picture. And what family picture of ours wouldn't be complete without: Anessa folding her arms, Peyton making a weird face, and Cohen and Aja looking away.

Cohen..What can I say. He is a constant crack-up! We went to a friends house after the open house and he got into the play clothes.

There are no words. Your guess is as good as mine.

Uh..I don't think any more is going to fit in there, buddy! Yes, my house is a mess. When Mitch is home, I could care less. I would rather spend time with him than cleaning. Please ignore it.

I wish I could have gotten a picture of this, but Peyton was playing outside and in August we put my cat to sleep, and she is buried in the front yard. Mitch went out and found him saying a "blessing" over the cat's grave! How cute!

A few random pics:

2009-03-08T18:12:00.000-07:00

So when Aja woke up for her mid-evening meal before going to sleep we noticed that she had quite the hair style going on.

We also had some friends over last night and I guess Cohen got a little tuckered out from all the playing he did. I just love his cutie red cheeks! He is totally the master spit-bubble maker when he's completely out. However, he had sucked them all back in by this point.

So, you remember when I said that Aja had tiny feet. Here is your proof. These Robeez are a size 6-12 months. Yes, I know Aja isn't quite 12 months yet, but I don't think she's going to fit into them anytime soon! I tried them with socks and they folded over the sides of her feet and were still way too big!

It's been quite a busy few weeks at our house. We still haven't gotten Anessa's results. We should be getting them next week after the USU's furlo is over.

Peyton is good. He's been such a good helper. He's doing awesome in gymnastics! I'm very proud of our guy.

Cohen had his six month evaluation with the Up-to-3 program. He graduated from Occupational therapy and only has behavioral therapy once a month! Yay! However, he's been placed into a group called LEAP Frogs. It's called Learn to Eat And Play. Basically, Cohen has a lot of food aversions. He's showing a trend of eating things that are crunchy and that is about it. SOMETIMES I can get him to eat softer foods but not very often. So hopefully this helps him and me (the frustrated mom) out. He is also going to start pre-school with the Little Aggies program. This is kind of what I've been waiting for. He goes for 2 hours twice a week AND I DON'T have to be there! I will have one kid for 4 hours every week! I'm excited. This will also help him to socialize with other children. So we are hoping that maybe Cohen will start to play with other children instead of avoiding them.

Aja is back into the Up-to-3 program. She's being evaluated by a physical therapist and nurse this next week. She is showing some delays, and as I have said before, she isn't using her left leg. Our occupational therapist checked her out and we are suspecting a condition called: Spina Bifida Occulta. Here is a quickie thing on it.

Occulta is Latin for "hidden." This is one of the mildest forms of spina bifida although the degree of disability can vary depending upon the location of the lesion.[5]

In occulta there is no opening of the back, but the outer part of some of the vertebrae are not completely closed.[4] The split in the vertebrae is so small that the spinal cord does not protrude. The skin at the site of the lesion may be normal, or it may have some hair growing from it; there may be a dimple in the skin, a lipoma, a dermal sinus or a birthmark.[6]

In order to find this out we are going to have to get an MRI done. This will mean sedating Aja so that they can do it. She has her 9 month visit in about 2 weeks. So I will keep you updated on that one.

Mitch and I are doing well. Just dealing with the day to day trials of being apart and missing eachother terribly, but somehow we get through it. We have been very blessed to have wonderful supportive friends and family!

Tubby Time, Sleep and Glasses!

2009-02-27T11:55:00.000-08:00

Aja is getting so "big". I say "big" because she's still a tiny thing. She's also about the cutest girl I have ever seen. Her new way to smile at us is to crinkle up her tiny nose. It melts my heart. She is doing well. She's not using her left leg hardly at all which is concerning me, so we will be asking about that at her 9 month visit. She's crawling around (still in her very uncoordinated way) and says "mamamamama" all day long. She's so sweet.

Here she is getting clean. LOVES bath-time.

Another big smile for mom!

Full eyelash effect. They are so long they about touch her eyebrows!

Of course..Sleeping baby.

Notice anything different? Anessa looks so good in her glasses! She can now see! YAY! We go in for our final test today (her 4TH!) to see what kind of delsys she has, so I should be getting the results in about 2 weeks.

Thankful:

2009-02-24T20:35:00.001-08:00

I know I promised pictures, but I just haven't gotten around to taking any! It's been wicked crazy in this house the last couple of weeks. On top of sick kids (February and March are killer for us), I've been dealing with some weirdo depression. Can't quite explain why, but I'm sure it's because there is A LOT going on. So since I've been in a slump, I thought I would post a list of things that I'm thankful for. These are in no particular order by the way, I'm just writing them as I think of them.

1. That the Lord has given me the opportunity to take care of 4 beautiful children.
2. My wonderful neighbors. I swear, whenever Mitch is gone..it snows. And luckily someone has always come over and cleaned my driveway (this is the time of year when I regret putting in an RV pad). I've been invited over to Family Home Evenings, dinner, visits and had anonymous treats dropped off and people offering to take my kids so I can get a break. I will miss them the most when we move. My friend Becky has been a saving grace! She makes me laugh a lot and she's been great fun to hang out with.
3. The people up at the CPD (center for persons with disabilities) that help me work with Cohen. He has made SO MUCH progress. It's amazing.
4. My wonderful husband who works very hard for us. I know it's hard living in an unfamiliar house, but he does it all so he can provide for his family. I love him so much!
5. My family who lets us crash at their houses when we head down to SLC and show us a good time.
6. My job. They have been so good in working with me and my wonky schedule. They are always concerned when something is going on and offer to help out. They are the best.
7. A wonderful neurology team up at Primary's. They have been so good about answering questions and easing my concerns. We aren't out of the woods yet, but they help me feel confident.
8. I am actually very thankful for the trials I have gone through. I have learned a great deal about myself and that I can face pretty much darn near everything. I'm not perfect and I have a lot to work on, but my inner strength has really come out and has helped me gain more perspective.
9. I'm thankful that we have family prayer over the phone every night. It makes going to bed a bit easier.
10. When Aja gets up and gives me a great big smile. It makes my morning.
11. Anessa. She helps me with Aja when I have to work, and I know she doesn't like to do it much, but she does it so I don't stress. She's a great kid.
12. Peyton. He's been making sure that he hugs me often. He also hasn't been complaining about doing his chores, and for that I'm very thankful.
13. Cohen when he tells me "I wub you bery much mommee"..It melts my heart.
14. For my best friend Anna who has been there and listened to me complain. She's been my shoulder to cry on even though she's all the way out in DC.
15. That I got to go to the Temple on Saturday. It was nice to go to a place filled with peace and love. I just can't even put it into words. It was wonderful.

IT CAME!

2009-02-17T08:00:00.001-08:00

My new camera came in the mail! YAY!! I will be posting pics as soon as I figure out how to use the thing!

Our Names:

2009-02-06T07:48:00.001-08:00

I thought it would be fun to post a little note about how we got each of our kids' names and their nick-names. Everyone is unique and has a special meaning behind it.

Anessa Jehan: When thinking of names for Anessa I really liked the name Anisa pronounced: A-nee-sa. My mom, Lynn, couldn't get it right for the life of her. So one day she said Anessa and I thought that was really pretty. It wasn't very popular and the only meaning I could find on it was BUTTERFLY. How fitting. I think butterfly's are very beautiful, but I'm scared to death of them (it's a long story, you can laugh..everyone has). I still can't find a real meaning behind it, but on another website I see that they have said it means CHASTE. I gave her my middle name of Jehan meaning WORLD. Her nickname is Bugaboo. She started crawling early and looked like a little bug.

Peyton Mitchell: Of course you can figure out the Mitchell part. It's a Bennett tradition to give the first boy the name of his father as his middle name. Peyton is NOT after Peyton Manning. Ew. He's actually named after Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears; he's Mitch's all-time hero. Mitch got a book from my sister, Wendy, this Christmas, and it's the Walter Payton autobiography and he hasn't put it down. He was an awesome player and a very humble guy. Peyton's nick-name for the most part is monkey. I think that one is pretty clear.

Cohen Marco: Marco is for obvious reasons. He's named after my dad! His name means: Dedicated to the God of Mars. Hmm..Wasn't Mars the God of War? Heh. His first name Cohen means: Priest. It's the highest order of a Jewish priest. We just really liked that name (although some really didn't) and it fits him. Cohen's nickname is Bubbie. Yet another Jewish name. I don't know why the strong Jewish theme for Cohen, but it works. :)

Aja Elise: Aja is a name that I have loved for the longest time! I thought it was a beautiful name. There wasn't even a contest in the running for her first name. Although, I LOVED the name Elise, Elise Aja would have sounded weird so we switched them up. Elise. Ahhh..Elise. Somtimes I feel like Mitch is too sneaky. APPARENTLY, there is a Cure song called A Letter to Elise. It's a beautiful song. So I guess that would be why Mitch agreed to it so quickly. Also, Elise is part of Fur Elise, which is the first classical piano piece I learned to play. So her middle name is pretty symbolic of both Mitch and me. Her nickname is: Sweetness. That was Walter Payton's nickname. I'm sure you can guess who gave her that one.

So there you have it. The history of our kids' names.

Yes, we are alive.

2009-01-31T17:31:00.000-08:00

To bring this blog back from the dead I will post about the recent things going on in our house. Heh. I WOULD post pictures, but lucky for me..My camera broke. Grrr!! But, it's also a WONDERFUL excuse to get a new one :).

Anessa got glasses! YAY! Welcome to the world of the blind young one. She looks super cute in them. Again, when I get my new camera *wink wink* I will post a picture of her. This last week she has been going up to the CPD (Center for Persons with Disabilities) building for her dyslexia testing. Yes, I said dyslexia. I knew Anessa had some learning difficulties since pre-school, and so she's been in Special Education for a learning disability since then. We've noticed that she can do really good at math problems when it only involves numbers, but when it comes to deciphering them..Forget it. She also has an extremely difficult time with phonics and reading. I've had 2 special education teachers plus her pediatrician mention this to me, so I figured we might as well see what is going on. Will let you know the results later. I'm not upset, it just means we have to work harder, and there is nothing wrong with that! She's super smart in a whole lot of other ways and I couldn't be more proud of her accomplishments thus far. She's a hard worker!

Peyton is doing really well. He's such a smart little guy. He's teaching himself to read. Everyday he will pull things off the shelves or books out of the closet and spend HOURS sounding out words and asking me questions. I LOVE it! He's been cracking us up too with some very interesting sayings. His new favorite one is to say "my tenders feel weird" or my "tenders" this or my "tenders" that. THANK YOU, Kung Fu Panda.

Cohen is doing pretty darn good. I've noticed that when he's super stressed he will either spin circles for a long time or lay on the ground and flex his muscles, and since his dad has been gone he's been doing it a lot more. He misses his daddy so much, it breaks my heart. The FUNNY things he's been doing is repeating EVERYTHING he hears..and not just once, but many, many, many times. Mitch, in the car today, said in the 30 minutes that we had been in the car he had heard mommy or daddy about 300 times. He also has learned some less than desirable things from the kids. Meaning the word "shut up". He mainly says it to Peyton. The reason it's funny is because, Peyton has this what I like to call "theme music". He sings it all. the. time. It gets old. So we were driving in the car one day and I guess Cohen got tired of hearing it and I hear this "shup, pee-pee" come from the back. It took me awhile to figure it out, but he was telling him to "shut-up, Peyton". He also had a humerous encounter with his speech therapist. She's trying to get him to say Peyton not Pee-Pee. Here is how it went:

ST: Cohen, say PAY.
Cohen: Pay
They then go on to repeat this many times.
ST: Cohen, say TON.
Cohen: ton.
They do this many times as well.
ST: All right, Cohen, say PAY-TON.
Cohen: PEE-PEE!! (he said this with emphasis as well). I had to walk into the other room and just laugh. It was great.

Aja is doing really good. She's crawling still, but not getting any more "graceful" with it. It's kind of funny to watch her. It's more of a get on her elbows, pull her self forward JUST using her elbows, flop forward on face type of move. It doesn't look pleasant, but it's how she gets around. She is so stinkin tiny! I bought her some Robeez awhile ago and they STILL don't fit! Once I get that new camera *evil cackle inserted here* I will post a size comparison picture. She's got a cold right now,and so of course I'm on full-alert. Anytime a shunted child gets sick the virus, bacteria or whatever is going on in their body, can attack the shunt and cause a malfunction. So she's on my radar right now, hopefully we will pass out of this one with no trips to PCMC. Her head isn't growing now either, which was a concern that I mentioned a few months ago and the sutures closing too early. It's remained 41.5 cm since she was 2 months old. I've got to make an appointment with her neurologist for her 9 month follow up, so I will keep you posted on that.

We just got back from a trip to Elko. Mitch had some work to do down there so we went with him. It wasn't the funnest trip of my life, but it was good to spend time with him. It seems that I have brought back a case of vertigo with me too. LOVE IT! I've gotten vertigo in January for the last 3 years. I'm SOOOOOO lucky. Hopefully it passes soon. Anyway, that is just a bit that is going on in our house. I will post pictures soon! ;)

A lot of emotions.

2009-01-12T07:47:00.000-08:00

So, last week as you all know, was a very hard week for me. Not only dealing with Cohen's teeth and the whole lame-o jury duty thing, but a few deep rooted emotional things as well.

On Tuesdays Peyton has gymnastics and I usually go there and sit and watch him while he does it. Last week there was a little girl with her mother there watching her sister. I observed her for a bit, and noticed that she walked with great difficulty. She eventually came over to where I was holding Aja and started to play with her. In talking to her, I could tell that she had some mental handicaps as well. Also, I noticed that her eyes were somewhat crossed. She was very sweet and played very well with Aja. The girl then started to examine Aja, and started to touch Aja's shunt site. She said, "what is this bump; does she have a shunt?" I told her yes. She asked if she was born with hydrocephalus, and I again told her, yes. She then began to tell me that she had a shunt and that she had hydrocephalus too. Now this caught me off guard because I had yet to meet anyone in Logan with a shunt. I have to admit, I started to cry a bit there, but turned my head so she wouldn't see.

After gaining some composure, I walked over to the little girls mom and told her what her daughter and I were talking about and showed her Aja. She has the same neurologist as us and we both kind of laughed about him as his bedside manner is quite "brisk", but it's a good thing because, and although he was very overly-blunt with Mitch and I when we were in there, I would rather have a doctor tell me straight up rather than sugar coat it. Anyway, I went on to ask her if her daughter had any malfunctions. She told me yes,she had had three shunt revisions and she said that her daughter went in normal one time and came out with some limitations. She also told me that her daughter had Cerebral Palsy and that I should approach my doctor about it because about 75% of children with hydrocephalus develop some sort of CP. Anyway, I chatted with her for a bit longer and then left.

I guess all in all, I'm just a little emotional about it all. You always have your kids' best interest in mind and I've been wondering for awhile what Aja's quality of life will be like seeing as she will have some limitations (in the sense that she won't be able to participate in a lot of the same activities as other children), and after meeting that amazing little girl, I wonder what Aja's future holds for her. This might sound all doom-and-gloom, and that isn't where I'm trying to go with this at all. Mostly, I'm positive about Aja's future as well as Cohen's, but I can't help but wonder. They didn't realize that this little girl had CP until she was 3, so it's not something that we will notice right away is what I've gathered from reading up a little on CP. Also, malfunctions are quite common and I sometimes wonder if that is something that will happen. It's always in the back of my mind.

Isn't she lovely??

Our stats are:
Weight: 13 lbs= 7%.
Height: 25 inches= 14%.

Bought the kids dentist a new car yesterday...

2009-01-08T10:37:00.000-08:00

So, as I have mentioned before, Cohen has really bad teeth. He was born with no enamel and has pitted dentin. So no matter what I do, the kid will always have cavities. We waited until his two-year-old molars finished coming in and then I made the appointment. Since they didn't know the extent of decay to his teeth, they wanted to put him under general anesthesia and do all the work that would need to be done. I had to starve him of course, but what really sucks is he didn't get to go in until 2 in the afternoon! It's hard keeping a little munch mouth like him out of the pantry. I had to move all the food to the top two shelves so that I could ensure that he didn't eat anything. He was quite a pathetic sight all day long. He even begged me for water. It was so sad.

Since Mitch wasn't able to be there to give him a blessing, I told Cohen I would say a little prayer for him. He sat there very quietly and folded his arms and listened. He even said "amen" which was really surprising to me as he's never said that one before. Also, I was sitting there holding him before he left I said "I love you, Cohen" AND..I got an "love you, mommy" before he left!! I sat there and bawled. Those were the words I've been dying to hear from him for the longest time. The ones I was afraid I would never hear and he said them clear as day!

Are you ready for this? The poor kid got 8 caps and had to have a root canal done! I was so sad for him.

In the car ready to go! The kid has no idea what he is in for.

All dressed in his little outfit.

Coloring while we wait. He looked so little to me.

I don't think you want to see the after pictures. His mouth looks really gross right now. He seems to be doing alright though. His tooth which he had the root canal done on is bothering him a bit, so I'm hoping that here in a few days he will start feeling better.

One more time..UPDATED!

2009-01-07T06:43:00.000-08:00

I'm calling the court house one more time and letting them know just how difficult they have made my life right now. I will update and let you guys know how it turns out.

**UPDATE**
Court got canceled!! YAY!! Thanks for all of your offers of help! I'm so glad I don't have to worry about that one anymore. I have great friends!

SWEET!

2009-01-06T09:39:00.001-08:00

I DIDN'T get excused. Mitch CAN'T get off of work. I'm going to go sit in the bath tub right now and have a good ol' fashioned cry. Thanks very much.

So LAME!

2009-01-05T15:00:00.001-08:00

About a month ago I got a request from Cache Valley saying I had to register for jury duty. So Mitch got on the net and filled the on-line version for me and asked for me to be exempt due to the fact that I'm nursing, living here alone and am the primary caregive for our kids. Thought that would be the end of it right? For Christmas, Logan City decided that they would send me a SUMMONS! LAME! Don't they even read those forms? So today, in this lovely snow storm, I had to run all the way to North Logan to get a letter from my pediatrician (I'm trying to get as much help as I can) and I wrote a letter myself and then had to run that dumb thing in. Mind you I got this just a few days ago and I was called to serve on the 8th.

So what does the clerk tell me? The JUDGE has to approve it now. I really, really, really hope the judge takes pity on me. I have NO idea what I will do if I have to serve. It's from 8 in the morning to 8 at night, Aja won't go to anyone else, and I have a previous obligation that morning that I have been waiting for for over a month. I guess I'm supposed to call tomorrow and see if the judge is human and lets me off the hook. Will update when I know.

Whole lotta catchin' up to do!

2009-01-03T12:23:00.000-08:00

WOW! I can't believe how long it has been since I have blah-ged.

First, Anessa's party went really, really well. Thanks Lori and Maynard for coming down and just holding a baby for me! It might seem like little to all of you, but the girl won't let me put her down, and I couldn't have gotten anything done having to hold her the whole time. Since Anessa's birthday is in winter, we decided to have a Hawaiian themed birthday. First the girls made flower bracelets out of silk flowers, then they built "sand castles" out of sugar cubes, and while they did that I hot glued the rest of the flowers onto headbands so it would look like they had flowers in their hair. We then finger painted some cutie ceramic shells. Top it off with dinner of Malibu Chicken and cake and ice cream and of course..Presents. I was really sick, but luckily made it through.

Christmas was really fun. The kids got great toys. I'm happy to say that ALL toys have been played with. Nothing has been left out LOL! We then braved the storm and drove to Mitch's parent's house for a few days. It was nice to spend time in Idaho. It's a lot slower paced there and I feel like I can relax without having to get a whole lot of stuff done all the time. We then came home for one night, and since the kids were out of school for the week, we decided to spend the week in SLC so that we could see Mitch at nights. It was fun to see my friends from the West Side and East Side! It was also nice to spend some time with my poppa during the days. He's a good guy. For New Years we went to my moms for dinner and a competitive game of hand and foot. The girls got beat, and I think this was the first time in three years that I have seen Jim win a game! I was so excited for him HAHA!

Here are some pics of our HOLI-day (cue Madonna music here; that one's for you Anna).

A Math Equation:

2008-12-19T07:13:00.000-08:00

4 girls partying from 4-7:30 + one sick mom + 2 doctors appointments for 2 kids this morning + one "emergency" visit to said doctors to "discuss" results + NO ONE to help out = One stressed out mom who has no idea how the heck she is going to get EVERYTHING done when she is throwing up and is so shakey she can barely walk.

Results to follow.

Over-Exposure to Pure Awesomeness!

2008-12-15T10:56:00.000-08:00

Anessa will be turning 9 on Thursday! I can't believe how big she has gotten! She has gone from this:

To this:

She also got a new bike for her birthday! We gave it to her on Sunday because Mitch wasn't going to be able to make it up on her big day.

The reaction:

Proud new owner:

Happy Birthday Anessa! We love you so much!

Other things going on in the Bennett household:

Peyton is doing so well in gymnastics! I've had a couple of his coaches approach me telling me that he has a lot of talent, especially for someone who has never done gymnastics before *cue Olympics theme music here*. I hope he continues on with it.

Cohen is doing great! He's using a lot of his words in conjunction with sign language, so we are finally able to tell what he wants/needs most of the time. We still have a lot of melt downs when he gets frustrated, but they are few and far between. Great job, Cohen!

Married for 7 years.

2008-12-08T13:14:00.000-08:00

Today Mitch and I will have been married for seven years, and even though we have had our share of ups and downs, I wouldn't trade it for anything. He's my best friend and I couldn't have chosen a better father for my children. He's supported me through family troubles and listened to me when I've been an irrational mess. We have done so well with the hand that we were dealt; I don't think many other couples could have survived going through what we have gone through, and it has only brought us closer. We still love to wrestle and laugh at nothing. I love you Mitch. I would do it all over again!

Mitch loving on his baby girl this weekend..melt.

Mitch and I admiring our new bundle. Love my Pebbles hair? This was snapped about 3 minutes after she was born.

Mitch and I at Bridal Veil Falls Thanksgiving weekend.

Love you, babe!

Baby Slingin' and Family Picture: FAIL

2008-11-30T07:55:00.000-08:00

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my ring-sling. It's the best little invention in the whole wide world. Aja loves it too.

She especially likes to suck on the edge.

Until she falls asleep.

Ah, the family picture. I think we took over 60 pictures and not ONE turned out. Ugh..So I guess this next weekend we will go for round two. Our main problem was that little boy on the right...yah, the blond one.

Thanks Cohen for making this SOOOOO easy!

I could go on...

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-24T08:27:00.000-08:00

One November afternoon when my daughter was in kindergarten, I picked her up after school. She bobbed out to the car and crawled into the back seat.

"What did you do today?" I asked. She couldn't wait to tell me.

"We learned that boys are different from girls," she chirped.

Looking into the rear view mirror, I could just see the top of her head.

"My teacher told us that boys have a thing the girls don't," she added.

"Well, yes they do " I said cautiously.

I couldn't think of anything else to say, so we were quiet for a moment. Then she piped up again. "That's how girls know that boys are boys," she said. "They see that thing that hangs down and they know that he is a boy."

I mentally calculated the distance home. Our five-minute commute already felt like an hour.

"Did you know that when the boys see a girl they puff up?" My palms were beginning to sweat. "Um…well…"

I was still searching for something new to say, to change the subject, when she asked, "Why do the girls like the boys to have those things?" Well, I didn't know what to say. I mean, what woman hasn't asked herself that question at least once?

"Oh, well…um" I stammered.

She didn't wait for my answer. She had her own. "It's cause it moves when they walk and then the girls see that and that's when they know they are boys and that's when they like them. Then the boy sees the girl and he puffs up, and then the girl knows he likes her, too. And then they get married. And then they get cooked."

That last part confused me a bit, but on the whole I thought she had a pretty good grasp on things.

As soon as we got home and I pulled into the garage, she hopped out of the car, fishing something out of her school bag.

"I drew a picture," she said. "Do you want to see?"
I wasn't sure I did, but I looked at it anyway. I had to sit down.

There, all puffed up so to speak, looking mighty attractive for the ladies, was a crayon drawing of a great big Tom Turkey. His snood, the thing that hangs down over his beak, the thing that female turkeys find so irresistible, was magnificent. His tail feathers were standing tall and proud.

She was a little offended that I laughed so hard at her drawing, and I laughed until I cried. But when I told her I loved it – and I did – she got over her pique.

That was the end of that, for her anyway. But I'm not so lucky.

Every year I remember that conversation.
And to be honest, I haven't looked at a turkey, or a man, the same way since.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING

My take on the "Twilight" movie.

2008-11-24T08:08:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, I am disappointed.

There are no words. I know it's not humanly possible to fit the bill for Edward, but honestly, they could have picked someone a little more "good looking" than Robert Pattinson!! There were times when he really did it for me (when watching previews online before the movie came out), but after seeing that movie...Barf!! I groaned outloud at the "hang on little spider monkey" line..PUH-LEASE!! Honestly, if Mitch had said that to me while were dating I would have said "you know..Your nice and all, but this just isn't going to work". OY! The SUNGLASSES! Which ERA did you get those from buddy! He said a few funny lines, but all in all he was a great disappointment for me. I know some will disagree and that is fine. No hard feelings, ok?

Bella blinked WAY too much. I also didn't feel any "spark" between her and Edward.

Jasper, Alice, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Charlie were all great. The special effects..Need help. The baseball seen was terrible..I full body shudder at the memory of that scene.

The movie needed to be so much longer, it felt so rushed. There were some parts in the book that are supposed to be romantical and mysterious in a way and they totally hack-sawed it.

Meh..I would like to hear those who have seen it thoughts on the whole ordeal. Also, just got word from a friend..They gave the green light for New Moon..HOPEFULLY they will pick a different screen writer.

BUT, my Junior Mints were really good.

Cohen's name for Peyton

2008-11-19T13:13:00.000-08:00

Cohen's speech therapist was concerned because Cohen didn't have a name for Peyton. Here it is:

If you couldn't catch it, it's Pee-pee. Sorry I couldn't get it full size, I really don't know what I'm doing here. If anyone wants to help out with that part, great!

Enjoy!

I'm so tired.

2008-11-18T19:56:00.000-08:00

It's not even 9 and I'm about to fall asleep at the computer. I got up at 6:30 and the nights sleep was pretty decent even though Aja was sleeping in my bed and Peyton and Cohen were sleeping on the floor next to the bed. Also, I slept through Anessa cracking nuts (the girl grinds her teeth, BAD and someone else (I haven't figured out who) has taken to doing the same). I got in the shower and got ready (including blow drying my hair YAY!) got the kids out the door, got Aja and Cohen ready and then we headed off to thera-PLAY. Aja of course wouldn't stay with the "sitters" there and so I had to take her with me. It's not easy rough housing with Cohen while holding her.

There is a little boy there who is getting into the habit of hurting Cohen every time he sees him, and it's starting to piss me off. Today he kicked Cohen in the back and in the head. So I did EVERYTHING in my power to avoid another situation, I got side-tracked by another mom asking how I was holding up and the kid runs after Cohen and pushes him down, and Cohen knocked his head pretty good. UGH! I know that the kid has really no control over what he does and I'm trying to be patient, but any of you who know me know that I'm SUPER protective of my kids and I'm having a hard time with this.

We get home and I feed everyone, including inhaling a lunch of my own (I'm apparently not allowed to eat according to Aja) and then had to hold Aja for a few hours and finally got her to sleep. Then the Lord smiled upon me and made it so Cohen went to sleep too! I thought, YES! I can do a few things...Nope. I got a call from my work and I talked to my boss. She lives in California and her house and business (my work) burned down this weekend so she was giving me all the details on that. I feel so bad for her. Her mom died this year, she had to have back and knee surgery, then her two front teeth broke and then her house burns down. Wonderful year for her, huh? Anyway, I have made arrangements to send her some things since she now has no clothes. Then Aja and Cohen get up, Anessa gets home and it's time to run Peyton to gymnastics. We get home at 5:45 and yet again I feed everyone and I'm allowed to eat a sandwhich and that is all! LOL! Then it's off to take Anessa to basketball practice and we didn't get home until 8. I then tried to do a bit of work while Aja played in her saucer (not having it) and Anessa and Peyton go shower. Cohen did what he does best..wander. I FINALLY got everyone down at 8:45 and who decides that she needs to wake up? I'm hoping she will go back to sleep on her own, but I think that is a vain hope. Anyway, this was my day. This is how my typical day is every.single.day. Can you see why I'm tired?

My only saving grace is that I get to see this on Friday, and I can't wait!

My 5 month old baby girl, and Basketball Anessa!

2008-11-15T13:10:00.000-08:00

Aja is now five months! The time is just flying by, I can't believe it! She is trying to crawl, the little bugger! She rolls around everywhere making it very insteresting to change her diaper. She also growls, it's so funny! I can't have a conversation on the phone without her having to put in her two cents worth!

Here is Aja's first taste of some applesauce. She loved it!

And of course we have to be a big girl and try to feed ourselves.

Oh Mom, you want me to SMILE for the camera?? Too bad. I just won't ever do it.

Mini push-ups!

We just put Anessa into basketball. I'm so proud of her. She's tall enough that she could get pretty good at the sport!

Update on our trip to Primary's.

2008-11-14T08:09:00.000-08:00

I love Aja's neurologist. He's such a great guy. She actually has 2, but I can never remember the girls name. I love her too. Anyway, they told me that Aja's head is too narrow in the front and too "bulgy" in the back, but they want to wait and get more head measurements before they do anything. So, it's a wait and see thing right now. They aren't sure if it's the shunt that is causing all the narrowing in the front or what. So that is basically all that happened. Informative, huh? Other than that, she is perfect. I'm going to serial-post later on, but right now. I'm going to chill in my p.j.'s and do laundry. It was really good to see Mitch. Love that man more than anything.

P.S. Thanks Dad for helping me with kiddos during our appointment! You are a life saver!

Heading to Primary's.

2008-11-11T18:58:00.001-08:00

We have an appointment with Aja's neurologist on Thursday at 1:40 p.m.

After doing a lot of research on-line today with the small amount of information I have, the condition I think she has is called craniosynostosis. Fancy word for the sutures of the skull fusing too early. Looking at some pictures of it as well, I'm pretty sure that Aja has the condition. Her head is very oval, very long (meaning from her forehead to the back of her skull) and she has weird bumps all over the place.

Anyway, I won't be on-line much the next few days, but will be sure to update as soon as we get back Thursday night. We may visit Mitch while we are down there. I miss him so much.

Please keep Aja in your thoughts and prayers the next few months.

2008-11-11T03:32:00.001-08:00

It may get ugly. Really ugly.

As I mentioned a month or so ago, when Aja saw her new pediatrician he pointed out that her soft spot is super small. Smaller than my finger-tip and I have small hands. So I've been keeping an eye on it and just monitoring it. It's gotten smaller and it's really hard. I can't really push it anymore and have it spring back on me like a normal soft spot would. It feels like bone is growing in there.

So I called her neurologist and left them a message with the info and they called me back yesterday. Not good news. His nurse, who is really nice and super helpful, said that when this happens kids usually require craniofacial surgery. The reason being is that this could now be hindering the growth of her brain. So they would have to go in and spread the bones, again. So my daughter who had too much space now has too little space and needs to be monitored.

I'm so scared for my little girl. I'm also so frustrated. I feel like I have just been knocked down over and over again this year and it's getting harder and harder to pick myself up again.

The Brave Little Soul:

2008-11-06T20:10:00.001-08:00

THE BRAVE LITTLE SOUL

Not too long ago in Heaven there was a little soul who took wonder in observing the world. She especially enjoyed the love she saw there and often expressed this joy with god. One day however the little soul was sad, for on this day she saw suffering in the world? God paused for a moment and replied, Little soul, do not be sad for the suffering you see, unlocks the love in people's hearts. The little soul was confused. What do you mean she asked. God replied, have you not noticed the goodness and love that is the offspring of that suffering? Look at how people come together, drop their differences and show their love and compassion for those who suffer. All their other motivations disappear and they become motivated by love alone. The little soul began to understand and listened attentively as God continued, The suffering soul unlocks the love in people's hearts much like the sun and the rain unlock the flower within the seed. I created everyone with endless love in their hearts, but unfortunately most people keep it locked up and hardly share it with anyone. They are afraid to let their love shine freely, because they are afraid of being hurt. But a suffering soul unlocks that love. I tell you this it is the greatest miracle of all. Many souls have bravely chosen to go into the world and suffer to unlock this love to create this miracle for the good of all humanity.

Just then the little soul got a wonderful idea and could hardly contain herself. With her wings fluttering, bouncing up and down, the little soul excitedly replied, I am brave, let me go! I would like to go into the world and suffer so that I can unlock the goodness and love in people's hearts! I want to create that miracle! God smiled and said, You are a brave soul I know, and thus I will grant your request. But even though you are very brave you will not be able to do this alone. I have known since the beginning of time that you would ask for this and so I have carefully selected many souls to care for you on your journey. Those souls will help you create your miracle; however they will also share in your suffering. Two of these souls are most special and will care for you, help you and suffer along with you, far beyond the others. They have already chosen a name for you. God and the brave little soul shared a smile, and then embraced. In parting God said Do not forget little soul that I will be with you always. Although you have agreed to bear the pain, you will do so though my strength. And if the time should come when you feel that you have suffered enough, just say the word, think the thought, and you will be healed! Thus at that moment the brave little soul was born into the world, and through her suffering and God's strength, she unlocked the goodness and love in people's hearts. For so many people dropped their differences and came together to show their love. Priorities became properly aligned. People gave from their hearts. Those that were always too busy found time. Many began new spiritual journeys some regained lost faith- many came back to God. Parents hugged their children tighter. Friends and family grew closer. Old friends got together and new friendships were made. Distant family reunited, and every family spent more time together. Everyone prayed. Peace and love reigned. Lives changed forever. It was good. The world was a better place. The miracle had happened. God was pleased.

------------------------------------------------------------------
I've cried so much today. I have been so touched by many stories I have read lately. This one was pretty darn good.

Tagged by Shelly

2008-11-06T19:56:00.000-08:00

Rules:
1. People who are tagged need to post these rules, and 8 random habits/facts/quirks about themselves.
2. At the end of the post you need to choose 8 people to get tagged and list their names.

1. I'm the most cold person you will ever meet. It could be 8 billion degrees outside and I would still be wearing a house jacket. I dunno, a comfort thing I guess?? House jackets are so convenient becuase as I go around the house during the day, I stick stuff that is laying around in my pockets and put it away as I go.

2. Finishing a drink?? Never. According to my husband and my mom, I never finish a drink. I WOULD, but my wonderful husband never gives me the opportunity, he just finishes them off for me first now.

3. I CANNOT stand to watch my kids eat. It's gross. Anessa and Peyton sit at the counter for a reason. Cohen?? I kind of angle him out of my peripheral vision and I just keep my eyes on my plate or look around. ANYWHERE but where my kids are during the mastecation process. Ugh..I don't know what their deal is, but they incorporate both hands and have to TOUCH all their food..It drives me nuts and icks me out. I'm trying to work on that part of their manners, but man, when we are at home it seems that all manners go out the window.

4. Mitch used to take this personal until I explained it to him, but I'm not huge on kissing. I never have been. I get really claustrophobic and have to break away in order to feel like I can breath. Lame I know.

5. I know all the words to "Baby Got Back" and "Ice Ice Baby". Again, I know I'm lame.

6. I trip, a lot. Mitch finds it quite humerous. When I was pregnant with Cohen, I was waddling (see how I didn't say walking) and accidentally kicked one of Peyton's many swords under myself and totally biffed it. I was fine, but Mitch sure thought it was great.

7. I think I have had more flat tires than anyone. On every car I have ever owned (on #6 now) I have had either one or more flat tires. Mitch changed the brakes on my GOLD van once and I had 2 flats. Who knew??

8. When I get really nervous or stressed I bite my lips until they bleed. It's horrid. So if you see me and my lips look all funky and are super red, you know something is going down.

I tag Liz, Janita, Heather and Ashley!

Never Too Late For Pumpkins!

2008-11-05T08:11:00.000-08:00

We took these a few weeks ago at the Logan Pumpkin Walk, and of course I was a dope and forgot my camera so my sweet sister-in-law took some pictures for me and sent them.

Here is Yoda Cohen. His head fit so perfectly in the cut-outs it was so funny! I love his face in this picture!

Aja as our little Ariel. That hat she is wearing was a big hit! She looks like a mini Aunt Jemima.

Peyton as Winnie the Pooh. He wanted me to post him as Snow White..uhh..No.

Princess Anessa. So fitting as she is my kindest most loving girl.

Alrighty then...The boy kept running from image to image!

We had a lot of fun that day as you can tell!

Can I say this..

2008-11-03T15:29:00.000-08:00

I hate moving. I hate everything about it. I hate having to make sure my house is clean every minute of every day in case of a showing. I hate that Anessa has to leave her posse when they are so nice to her and she's feeling better about being at a new school. I hate that I have to leave all my friends that I just made. We have such a wonderful neighborhood and ward. I was really worried when we moved here because Saratoga was SO horrible with the whole Mormon mentality, but we haven't run into that here. We have had so much support.

I'm glad, however, that Mitch got this job. I was secretly rooting for it and he got it. It's an awesome offer, and it was one we couldn't pass up because it was so good. The health benefits, believe it or not, are better at his new place of employment than at the university, which ROCKS because, well, we have to have health benefits at all times. I know I should be thankful, and I am... I just am sad to be leaving everything. Logan is so great because it is in between both our families and the right size that I felt relatively safe. I'm sure things will be great when we move to SLC. I'm also going to miss my hubby very much. He's a good husband and a good father. He's worked so hard to provide for our family and I am so grateful for him.

Okay, my petty rant is over.

Some more randomness

2008-10-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some random pictures of the kids. Enjoy!

Peyton LOVES Aja. It's really quite cute. Of course, it's impossible to get a good picture of BOTH kids at the same time.

Oh yeah. I made bread. Finally. I can never get yeast to rise. So here is a picture of my success!! Mitch is convinced that I skip a step, but I never do!! So I'm so happy that I had some bread that actually worked! I made us some cheese bread and it was good!

The end result! I think my family downed one and one-half loaves at dinner!

Cohen went Trick-or-Treating at the CPD building today! By the end of it all, he was actually saying something that sounded a bit like Trick-or-Treat. It was so cute! They gave him a PECS card to hand to people this year, but I don't think we will use it as I'm sure they will have no idea what to do, so I've been working with him all day with it. Last year he ran into every one's house. It was really embarrassing.

That is Janelle, one of the MANY people who are helping Cohen. We LOVE her!

Everyone got a kick out of the Chicken costume! It was great.

And of course..Cohen "smiling". Our family pictures this year are going to be pretty darn interesting.

P.S. The new play list is dedicated to my kids. They all have different tastes, it's hilarious!

Updates..(I know I have updates all the time).

2008-10-25T09:20:00.000-07:00

To answer a few questions been asked:

Janita: Cohen is on a waiting list right now for a specialty pre-school called ASSERT. There is a 5 month waiting list for it and that is something that the developmental pediatrician has told us would help Cohen function in a normal school setting and may even help his social skills since they are basically nil right now.
Cohen is seeing the following: Occupational Therapy (for sensory issues), Physical Therapy (he's not very coordinated), nutritionist, Behavioral Therapy, Speech Therapy, and the lady from the ABC class comes in and works with him and me as well. Her main job is to help Cohen become more engaged with the family. He will be starting in a class soon that will be with other kids and they will help him engage with other children and we will see how that goes. He was attacked by a little boy on Tuesday and he shut right down, I couldn't get him to engage with me anymore.

The job hunt has gone well. Mitch got an offer! It's with the company I was secretly rooting for and they have come back with an amazing offer, so we will probably go with it. It means that Mitch and I will be separated for awhile while I try to sell the house, but heck SL is just an hour away, not a big deal. I will be cutting back on my hours from work drastically, but will still work to retain the account I have and what I make I can use for whatever I want. I have a huge list! LOL!

Heather: The pediatrician is up here in Logan. He's great! I'm sad now that I will have to leave him, but I'm sure I will get awhile with him as the housing market really is not doing good. Can buy a house, selling is hard.

Liz: My favorite dog is a Daschund (sp??). I don't know why my pictures aren't working! I want to make wedding cakes as my dream job. I want to visit Italy or live there even. I LOVE fast cars. Another one of my dreams is to fix one up, yah, dumb I know, but always been a dream!

I hope I got to every one's questions! I will be posting some fun pics later this afternoon!

I'm in love...

2008-10-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

With another man besides my husband. Okay, not love, but he's pretty great! LOL! We went to Aja's new pediatrician today and he spent one and one-half hours with me today!! I couldn't believe it! He looked up all her pre and post surgical reports, answered questions, told me what I should do in case of a malfunction, answered questions on her enlarged lymph nodes in her head, answered questions on her herniated belly button and then proceeded to talk to me about Cohen's blood work and what avenues we could take with him! It was awesome and I left there feeling confident instead of worrying that I would miss something and my child would die.

He did tell me that her fontanelle is closing faster than it should (it's barely the size of my finger-tip) so it would be harder to tell when she has a malfunction, but he didn't make me feel like it wasn't something that we (meaning him, me, Logan ER, and Primary's) couldn't handle, was very supportive of helping me arrange the helicopter in case of a malfunction and how he would contact the radiologist on call at both hospitals to get things going. He has 2 other kids under his care that are also shunted so he knows how to handle things. It was just a great bit sigh of relief!

Little thing:
Weight: 12 lbs. and 6 oz. (she's up 5 pounds since her birth)
Length: 24 1/2 inches.
Head Circ: 40 1/2 cm. (this is good. When she had her surgery it was 41.5)

He was very supportive of breast feeding and said there was no rush to introduce solids, which was very good for me as I believe in giving things a little time and not rushing it per se. So all in all it was a very positive experience and I left with a big smile on my face!

Tagged by Liz!

2008-10-21T18:23:00.000-07:00

My wonderful friend, Liz, tagged me. So here goes!

MY FAVORITE VACATION:

I would LOVE to go back to Japan. Mitch is actually interviewing with a company where he would be traveling there for business, so I'm kind of crossing my fingers for that one!

MY FAVORITE COLOR:

All pink..All the time.

MY FAVORITE TREAT:

I love brownies. They are my weakness.

MY FAVORITE FRUIT:

I love all fruit!

A LITTLE KNOWN FACT ABOUT ME:

I love punk music! I usually listen to it when I'm alone as it's not appropriate for my kids to listen to. Also, I used to have gauged ears. YUM!

WHERE I WANT TO TRAVEL:

I love Italy. I would very much love to visit/live there.

WHERE I GREW UP:
I couldn't find a picture of it. Bountiful, Utah.

WHERE I LIVE NOW:
No place too exciting. Logan, Utah.

MY MIDDLE NAME:
Okay. It's JEHAN. JE-HAN. JUH-HAN. Not JOHN..JUH-HAN. Everyone always gets it wrong. I'm named after a previous president of Egypt wife. He was Anwar Sedat his wife was Jehan Sedat.

MY FIRST NAME:
It's Monique.

MY BIGGEST PET PEEVE:
I really don't want to post a picture of this one. It's kids with boogery noses. I would much rather wipe my kids' nose on their shirt than have them sucking it in all day! It's so gross!

MY FAVORITE ANIMAL:

I want one of these really, really badly!

PAST LOVE:

I still love fast cars, but was very much obsessed with them when I was younger.

MY GREATEST WISH:

I really want to learn to make wedding cakes (I make a killer cake, just don't know how to decorate) and open my own shop! My wedding cake was so beautiful and delicious that it's something that I have wanted to do as a side thing since!

All right..I'm done! I tag Tasha, Shelly, Heather, Lacey, Janita, Ashley and anyone else who reads it.

I'm not looking forward to this.

2008-10-21T11:39:00.000-07:00

Oy... Cohen's got bad teeth. I mean seriously bad. Since the age of 1, when I first started taking him to the dentist, we've walked out of here with a 200$ bill or more. He has a cap on one of his front teeth and that little puppy cost us about 150$ after insurance. Well, we went to the dentist last week and the poor kid has the worst luck. He has to get 3 caps and have 2 cavities filled, and this is what they could see from checking into his mouth.They are going to have to take more x-rays because he wasn't being cooperative during that portion to see if there might be more cavities they didn't catch. The last time, when we got the cap, Cohen had a real rough time and they had to give him 2 shots in the arm to semi-sedate him and we were at the dentist office for almost 3 hours! This time, he gets to go into the hosptial to get fully sedated so they can work on him. I feel bad for him, he was born without enamel on his teeth and he has pitted dentin, so that means no matter what I do, he will always have cavities. As it is I brush his teeth with my electric toothbrush and give him fluoride pills. It's really bad when the first thing the dentist says when looking into his mouth is "I just want you to know that you aren't doing anything wrong, there is nothing you can do in this situation".

Dentist: 900$ (HOLY FREAKING CRAPP!) This could go up too because there might be things that they find while he's under!
Anesthesia: 300$
Operating Room: 500-700$.

As if there weren't enough little moths flying from my wallet. Like I said, I'm not looking forward to this.

Our ADOS Update.

2008-10-20T07:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry to leave you all wondering. We went on Thursday to get Cohen's final part of his diagnosis and it was so mind boggling, I really just don't know how to explain it. They score him on a few different things and give him a "final score". He's a 15 out of 24 with the cut-off being 12. So what you or I would normally think is, Oh, he's mildly autistic right? I guess that isn't how it works. See, his communication is mildly autistic (which was weird to me when the kid is just barely talking), but his social-emotional is considered severely autistic. That part didn't surprise me in the least. So he's all over the spectrum, hence the term autism spectrum disorder or ASD.

Anyway, they told me that he could go on to lead a normal life, just be "quirky". I think they meant that as a comfort to me, but still, I don't want the other kids in class (when he goes to school) to walk away going..That is one weird kid. They said, he just might prefer being alone the rest of his life, which is okay with me as long as it doesn't affect his self-esteem. I know I'm not wording this right, but I really don't know how to express how I feel about this whole thing.

So the new thing he's going through is called echolalia. It's where he will sometimes just sit there and repeat the same thing, over and over and over and over again. We were in Joann's and he saw Buzz Lightyear (loves him) and he repeated "Mommy Buzz" for the next 45 minutes. I finally had to just hurry and buy my stuff because it's drives you insane after a bit. He's still really violent with me and we are trying to work on that. I don't know why it's just with me though. He doesn't do it to Mitch and Cohen and I have always been extremely close. Who knows? Quirky.

Mitch wanted to know...

2008-10-17T17:26:00.001-07:00

Which gayA$$ he was and he is..

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Ladies of the world unite!!

2008-10-16T15:02:00.000-07:00

You know you love the book series and can't wait for the movie!

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Zach will like this one..

2008-10-13T16:47:00.001-07:00

Peyton writes pretty good for a lefty, and I think the Y in his name is very fitting.

Good, sweet, loving kid..Hard to deal with sometimes. He cracks me up!

P.S. Mitch told me I suck at making playlists (he doesn't like Portal), so I made a new one. I'm really not a huge geek, but these bring back fond feelings..I made it mostly for Anna. Love you!

What's going down..

2008-10-13T15:59:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to update everyone with what has been going on with us this last week. Mitch has applied for a couple of jobs. Some down in SLC, Idaho, St. Louis, and Washington D.C. He had 2 interviews on Friday down in SLC that went really well and he has a second interview with one of the companies next week. Then on the 28th he goes back down for another interview with a different company. Sometime this week he's also heading up to Idaho Falls for an interview. The boy will be traveling around a lot! There are some people who are concerned about the fact that Mitch is changing jobs when the economy sucks, but don't worry, we aren't making any rash decisions. Everything is being thought through very carefully. While I hate to move back down to SLC, if it helps us out and Mitch is able to get with a company that actually has growth, then it's worth it to me. He got his MAcc this spring and wants to be able to actually use the education that he has gained.

Aja has her first cold. YUCK! The poor, little thing has red, runny eyes and is producing copious amounts of snot. I FINALLY found a pediatrician to take her on!! This is the SIXTH pediatrician I have contacted. Everyone else was uncomfortable taking her case on, and while it's been a pain in the butt, it's better that they are honest with me than taking her on and not knowing a dang thing about hydrocephalus. Even still, I don't really expect them to be taking on that part of her anyway, she has a neurologist for that and if she has a malfunction I don't plan on taking her to the ER up here anyway. We will just fly right down to SLC.

On Thursday we are getting the final results for Cohen's ADOS (autism diagnostic observation schedule) testing. This will tell us where he falls on the spectrum or they might down grade him to PDD (pervasive developmental disorder). We are crossing our fingers for a down grade, but I highly doubt it. He attacked the doctor while they were doing the testing, which is something he does when he's had enough of you. He starts getting violent. He grabbed a toy threw it against the wall, picked up the table and flipped it over, and then grabbed a chair and was in the process of throwing it at her before I intervened. I wasn't supposed to because of how the testing process is, but she was going to get a chair to the head and I really didn't want to be liable for that.

Oh yeah, and that stupid little ticker up in the corner isn't moving for a reason. I'm not losing any weight!! It's infuriating. I could practically kill myself with not eating and working out and the dang thing still wouldn't budge. I have a really hard time losing weight while I'm nursing, and I guess this time is no different. I'm not going to stress it anymore. I'm getting healthy and that is all that matters I guess. The weight will come off eventually.

So anyway, cross your fingers for us and pray that something REALLY GRAND comes along so that things ease up on us a bit. It's been a rough year.

Aja is 4 months old!

2008-10-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that my little girl is growing up so fast! The time is just flying by and it makes me sad because she is our last one. She is so much fun. Unfortunately she won't hardly let anyone hold her without screaming. Hopefully it passes soon.

Here she is all bathed and prettied up ready to go to visit the gals at Mitch's work!

Sucking her thumb...and shirt. Her 3-6 month clothes are still a bit big for her.

Bath Time!! She loves taking baths. Yes, she is kind of going bald. She is my baldest baby, but she's still adorable. Where her incision is, she has blond hair growing in! Another blondie in the family!!

All cleaned up! This was taken this morning. Cohen wouldn't get out of the way for me to take a decent picture. This is as good as it gets.

And for all of you who were up in Idaho this weekend..a picture of the current bane in my life.

Cohen won't leave the bleepin stools alone!! Non-stop it's that horrible rubbing sound! What's worse is he especially loves doing it while I'm nursing and can't do anything about it! GRRRR! He's too stinkin smart for his own good. LOL!

CHEEKS!

2008-09-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

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.

--------------------------------------------------------------

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...

2008-09-24T21:39:00.000-07:00

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!!!!

2008-09-23T07:24:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-16T19:18:00.000-07:00

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!!

2008-09-13T12:08:00.000-07:00

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..

2008-09-05T10:51:00.000-07:00

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!