Lab results

We received conflicting results with the blood tests. This could be a bad thing, but maybe not. The items that he showed no reaction to on the skin prick (eggs, peas, pears) showed a reaction on the blood test. The peas and pears were marginal and the egg was similar to the peanut. Tree nuts are showing a mid-range on the blood test and skin prick, so she does not suggest even challening them. She said we could try to peas and pears to see how he does with them. The egg is really confusing, since the skin showed no reaction but the blood test shows a severe reaction. She said we could try a challenge over a 3 day period and see how he does with them. Typically we do the challenge over a 3-4 hour period, but she does not advise that for him with egg. We would have to do it seperately with the yolk and whites, each being 3 days.

Right now, Ethan has an upper-respiratory infection/possibly pneumonia (again) so we cannot start anything until that is completely cleared up.

When I told Ethan that the dr called with his results, he was really excited to try eggs. When I told him the results, he was really disappointed and upset by the conflicting numbers. He really wants to live a somewhat normal life and be able to eat things that other kids eat. Please keep Ethan in your prayers over the next couple weeks so that he can get over his illness and that he will be able to pass his egg challenge. It would mean a lot to him!

As a side note, here is a sneak peak into what's new in my life.

We're just waiting on the lens now. It should be here any time now. Once I get to know my camera, I will be doing 2 months of free photo shoots (in exchange for advertising, of course) ...  I might have to bring it to SF in June and take family pics for anyone that wants one... give me a heads-up if you think you might be interested in a free family shoot so I can be sure to bring my equipment.

Ryan and his dad have been more giddy over it than I have. Ryan's dad is letting me borrow a lot of his equipment until I can afford to buy my own.

allergy test

Ethan's test was much improved today over the last 4 years of tests. Usually, every scratch has at least a small (but usually very large) wheel, meaning that he usually reacts to everything in some degree or another. In the test today, there were only about 10 that had reactions. Most of them had no reaction at all. We know for sure that some of these are false positives, b/c he can eat the foods just fine. We also did blood work on a few foods, just to compare results. We should have the final results within two weeks, so we will keep you all updated. Thank you for all your fasting, prayers, and for putting his name on the temple roll. I know that miracles truly happened because of it.
Love,
Heather

Look what I learned today

I was playing around today while the kids were vegging in front of the tv (since it is a rainy day, right?) and this is what I learned how to do:

Change this

into this

And this

into this

Now I just need a better camera so I have a better quality image to work with.

A few weeks ago Ryan took the boys up to wind cave. They actually made it to the top. I was so proud of all of them!

Hiking

Stop by a wash for a pose

halfway point (where we turned around last time)

Made it!

Enjoying the cave

The view from the cave

And unrelated blackmail photos :-) taken the day after the hike.

Aren't they so cute?

Meet Jayke, the inquisitive little explorer

This man is so curious and helpful. He is wise beyond his years. He learns and remembers everything. His mind amazes me every day. He will do great things during his lifetime, I am sure of it. He is an incredible person. I am humbled to know that I am his mother.

Meet Kate, the little mother

Oh, how I love this sweet little woman! She is so beautiful and so compassionate! She is so perfect in every way! I am blessed to call her daughter!

This week has been absolutely heavenly!

We received a very generous donation over the weekend that allowed us to buy a yearly pass to the maricopa county parks. They offer several classes a week about various desert topics. For those of you who learned about scorpions from Jayke, this is where he learned his information. He just LOVES those classes! All of the park rangers are so impressed that Jayke knows so much about the desert already. (We studied the desert in homeschool last year and he still remembers most of it.) They all joke that Jayke will grow up to be a park ranger someday b/c he can spout off so much info about most desert topics.

So far during the week, we have been to one class about desert trees and how they adapt to the harsh desert environment, one nature walk looking for signs of animals and one toddler cruise where they learned about different desert animals and how to stay safe when you encounter them. They have a few shaded playgrounds throughout the park and the kids love to play in the perfect weather after we finish our daily classes. It has been so relaxing and the kids are so excited about learning information about the desert. I am even justifying all of it by using it as our science curriculum. They are learning information that is very similar to what I learned in elem school.

This morning we woke up and went on a hike on wind cave trail. We got about halfway up and everyone needed to use the bathroom, so we turned around. We still had incredible views at that point. 

(at our turn-around point, halfway up the mountain)

After we finished, Ryan and the older kids went to a model-size jet airshow (which was also in Usery Park). The kids had so much fun. They spent most of the day there.

(at the air show)

After they came home from the airshow, Ryan went to the demolition derby with his brother. Not just to watch, might I add, his brother is in it and Ryan was part of the crew. So while Ryan did that, I got the kids all ready for bed and we had a pajama party. They watched a movie and had root beer floats. They were in heaven!

After such a long and busy day, not a single one of the kids had a hard time falling asleep tonight!

Earlier this week, I have found the kids sneaking oreos out of the pantry. Kate only eats the filling and leaves the cookie part alone. She was trying to hide the fact that she had been sneaking them, so she left the cookie portion on the floor in the family room. Aimee found them and gobbled them up. When I found her, she looked up at me with a huge grin. I think she likes oreos. At least they could have waited until we introduced solids to her and ruled out any allergies!

(no one can eat an oreo and stay clean!)

Update for Oct until now

It has been a very busy month! I’ll try to keep it simple and just give a picture summary of our month.

The kids doing school in the reading corner while Aimee plays on the floor.

Boys making masks out of tortillas.

Jayke had a b-day party. He is now our big 7 year old!

Ethan and Kate playing in our front yard. We definitely need to mow soon!

The kids learning about the properties of matter with oobleck!

Getting ready for Halloween.

Sweet baby

Love the face (mess)

My little vampires

Trying to crawl

Her tongue is always out of her mouth.

Does he look like Ian?

Kate had a birthday. Happy 3 years!

The Hottest man alive!

Aimee crawled backwards under the couch.

She crawls backward a lot…

All her best traits. Her hair sticking up in the back (it never lays flat), the drool, and a silly face.

Jayke is such a good babysitter. He walked her through the bike trail until she fell asleep.

Aimee is crawling now and she had both of her bottom teeth pop through on her six month birthday. She is 20 pounds and still right about 26” long.

I can’t believe Kate is 3 years old now. She is almost the same size as Ethan. They weigh the same, but Kate is just a little bit shorter than him.

Ethan and Jayke both have a part in the primary program coming up on Sunday. They are excited.

Whatever you do, don't try this at home, or What was I thinking?

I decided that we are going to have more picnics around here, so I went out to buy lunchboxes. I thought they were too expensive, and didn't look that complicated, so I thought, 'Oh, I can just make some.' Ha. That was really funny. They are really worth every penny they charge for those stupid things! Maybe I should have been smart and actually got a pattern for them instead of just trying to eyeball everything. I have 2 almost done (meaning done enough- I don't know if I'll ever finish them) and I have 2-3 more to go. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if my sewing machine actually worked. The tension is all messed up, and the feed dogs don't work anymore. They definitely move, but no matter what I sew, I always have to pull it through. And the little turny wheel on the right gets stuck all the time, so I have to give it a spin each time I start sewing. So you can imagine what I look like when I sew. I'm pushing the pedal, getting only the groaning sound, trying to spin the wheel and pull my fabric through at the same time. Not funny. I'm ready to buy an industrial sewing machine. I think I just sew too much for the machine that I have.

But, the kids really loved their picnic today in the green grass out back all by themselves. Food just tastes better when it comes in disposable packages (even if mom did just divide it into serving size containers). And I loved the quiet moments while they were away. Until...I heard rocks hitting the glass back door. I ran over to see what it was and the kids come to me saying it is raining rocks. I can hear someone weed-eating and see huge clouds of dust over the back fence. I quickly set Aimee down and ran with a chair to the fence and start acting like those stupid crazy ladies that yell at everyone for no reason at all, except there WAS a good reason and I felt good yelling at him. I was protecting my babies while they were playing in the safety (or what should be) of our own back yard. The guy looked at me kinda funny and said 'I can't control it, you see, we are working here' So I yelled back, 'then turn the other direction, you are hitting my kids with rocks!' He turned off his weed-eater and left. Poor guy, he was just doing his job and was attacked by a psychotic woman over the fence. Boy, did it feel GOOD!

I guess I can consider myself a REAL mom now that I yell at people that I don't even know just to protect my kids. :-)

Wow! What a crazy month it has been. My sister was diagnosed with malignant melanoma. She is only 23. She is expecting her first baby. I have spent countless hours researching cancer and the signs and risks. I have come across blog of people who have lost loved ones or are fighting for their life right now. I cried with them. I cried for my sister. I cried for me. I cried for my children. I cried for our parents. I cried for those dying. I cried for those having to live as widows. Needless to say, I cried a lot b/c my sister had cancer.

Then, last night we got an email from her saying that she did not have cancer. The lab had mixed up the samples. Someone else had cancer, not my sister. I had a flood of emotions at that point. I wrote this email to her this morning that describes it pretty well:

when I read this last night, I was livid. I was angry for all that you had to go through needlessly. Not knowing if you were going to be able to see your child grow to adulthood or possibly having to have some severe cancer treatment. Mad at the dr's office for screwing it up. Mad that you probably would have had another surgery and pretty heafty scarring needlessly, possibly a lymph node removed. I was mad that our whole family was worried so much about you and also about our sudden increase in cancer risk. I was mad that I had spent countless hours researching cancer and how to know when you should see a dr. Then I went to bed. Angry and a little relieved. Then I actually slept last night (which is rare with a baby). I dreamed. I was peaceful. I dreamed of being friends with people that I had previously disliked. I dreamed that I could see a different perspective. I dreamed that life was happy. That there is hope in life. I was happy. I woke up feeling peace. That suddenly turned to sorrow when I realized that b/c of your mole not being cancerous, that someone else's was. I was sorry for them. I cried for them. I hoped for them. I was saddened for their family and loved ones. I could do this b/c I have felt what it is like having a loved one with cancer. Not just any cancer, mind you, but the most deadly type of skin cancer. This experience has made me a better person. A little more aware of how fragile life can be. A little more aware that we are not invincible. A little more patient and loving. More open about my true feelings, not just the raging feelings of each moment. I'm sorry that you had a roller coaster of a month, but at least it is over and not just starting. Thank you for the lessons you have taught me.


I have always been the one to say that everything happens for a reason. There is a lesson to be learned in everything. Please, let us all live each day as if we will not see tomorrow. Let us love a little more. Let us show our love to others a little more often. Make someone happy today. Greet a stranger with a smile. Do a kind deed each day. Make this world a little happier. You never know if the person you meet at the grocery store is grieving the loss of a loved one or if the person who just rear-ended you on the street is on the way to the hospital to say good-bye for the last time to her husband (this really happened to someone I found on blogger).

Please also remember to do your cancer checks once a month. Get to know your body. Look for anything that is different. A sudden itchiness that won't go away. A new pain. A change in size or shape. An unexplained burning redness. Dimpling in the skin that is not the normal chunky dimples :-)  And for your moles: remember the ABCDE. Assymetry, borders, color, diameter, evolving. Basically if you know your body and suddenly it is different and there is no way to explain it (i.e. you were not injured running or bitten by an insect) then please go see your doctor. Cancer does not have to be a nasty word. Usually if you catch it early enough, your chances of survival are greatly increased or at least greatly prolonged. Don't ignore things just b/c you are afraid of hearing the word cancer. It is much easier to hear the words 'stage 1 cancer' than it is to hear the words 'stage 4 cancer'.

I am so thankful for all of you. I love all of you so much. Have a great day.