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!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Little Miss turns 2!
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!!
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!!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Little Goblins:
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.
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.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Fun Times!
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:
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:
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$$" cakes he ever tasted. Why..Thank You!
It was so much fun to celebrate this special guys birthday with family. We are so thankful for Cohen and love him so much. Here are some highlights of Cohen:
~He was potty trained a week after he turned 3! I was so happy.
~He says some of the FUNNIEST things out there. A few of our favorites are "Mom..You are annoying the TA-WAPP (crapp) out of me!" and a wonderful little gem busted out during sacrament: Me(whispering): Cohen, get your hands out of your pants. Cohen(yelling at the top of his lungs): MOM! I HAVE TO FIX MY WIENER! Congregation: *snicker snicker*
~Cohen stepping out on the back porch many times to...take a pee.
~Kisses on my arms and face and whispering over and over again.."I weawwy (really) wuff (love) you Mom"...melt.
~The funny positions he pulls while sleeping.
~Many mornings we are lucky to see Cohen eat his breakfast completely nude. The boy isn't shy!
~Big blue eyes.
We love you Cohen! Hope you had a wonderful day!
Don't hate. My cake was hard to transport and started leaning. Oh well. Plus, it's super hard to make a fabulous looking cake when you aren't at your house and your fondant just doesn't want to work. Lame. However, Cohen was so excited for his Toy Story cake. He loved it and it was super yummy. The waiter told me that it was the most "kick A$$" 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!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Clean Eating:
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!
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!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Breakthroughs!
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!
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!
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