New Home

We are moved into our new apartment. Now we are just trying to unpack. Landen has been doing really well with the move. He is a little overwhelmed with everything being packed up and not being able to touch anything. Dade has been having a hard time. He hasn't been sleeping very well. He just wants to be held all the time. I haven't been able to get very much done because I have been trying to hold Dade and spend time with Landen. Drew has been in school for a week now and is liking most of his classes. He will be on vacation for 2 weeks starting tomorrow. It will be nice having him home and his help with unpacking and to help with the kids.

Dade had is Doctors appointment last Friday with the specialist. He has Vesicoureteral Reflux in both kidneys. There are 5 stages of Reflux. 1 being very minor and 5 being serious where he would need surgery. Dade is a level 3. The Doctor said that Dade should grow out of Reflux by the time he is 5 or 6. We are starting him on antibiotics which he will probably have to stay on until the Reflux is gone. The goal of the antibiotics is to prevent a UTI and kidney damage, while growth and development allow reflux to disappear with time. Dade will have to get an ultrasound every 6 months to check up on it. We also found out that Dade has a possibility of a blockage in his left urethra. One of the tests they did counts how long the medication they give him takes to pass from the kidney to the bladder. Up to 10 minutes is good, 10-20 minutes is a gray area and more then 20 minutes means there is a blockage. His right side took 7 minutes, which is good, and his left side took 13 minutes so we don't know for sure. But that would explain his left side being dilated. Because he has reflux and the possibility of a blockage Dade will have to get an ultrasound in 3 months and if everything looks good we will start going every 6 months. If there is anything wrong then we will have to do the test again. I will keep you updated. Once we have more put away and organized I will take some pictures of the apartment and post them.

The boys and our camping trip

Dade is a very messy eater. I cut his hair the other day because it was looking funny with the top so long and the sides short. You can see what it looked like before the haircut in these pictures.

And here is Dade after his hair cut. He looks so much more like Landen now. I cut all the darker color out so now his hair is as light as Landen's. I miss his longer hair. I really liked it long, now he just doesn't look like Dade anymore. But his hair is growing fast so hopefully it will be long again soon.

Dade is starting to sit up on his own now. He is doing really good but still falls over sometimes.

Landen was suppose to be in bed but fell asleep in his time out corner. No he was not suppose to be in a time out but when he is suppose to be in bed he likes to put him self in a time out.

We went camping on the 12th-14th and Dade loved being out side. He had a huge smile on his face the whole time especially when we went for walks.

Landen got really dirty. He couldn't walk properly at all and kept tripping all the time so he got dirty very quickly.

He wasn't watching were he was going and walked into the grill and burned his leg. This is right after it happened.

This is what it looks like now. You can tell how big it is in this picture.

Landen had a lot of fun throwing rocks into the river. We had a really hard time keeping him away from the river when we weren't with him.

Daddy and his boys. This was on our last day, we went for a hike before going home.

Like I said Dade loved when we went for walks.

4 years

Drew has one more day of school then he is done at Salt Lake Community College with his Associates Degree. He will be starting on his Bachelors Degree at the University of Utah on August 24th. Then on August 28th we will be moving into our new apartment at the U of U family student housing. I am so proud of Drew. I love you so much sweetie.

On August 11th we will be married for 4 years. It feels like the time has gone by so fast. But it also feels like we have been together for so much longer. We have had our tough times but we have made it through them all and we are so much stronger because of them. I love you so much Drew and I am so thankful to have you as my husband. You are a wonderful man, a great husband to me, and the best father to our kids. I am so happy that I have you to spend eternity with.

Fun at the river

We went to American Fork Canyon today. Landen had a lot of fun throwing rocks into the river. Dade slept most of the time. Here are some pictures we took.

My little sick baby

Dade had two tests done yesterday and we go see the Urologist next month. The first one was a Nuclear Kidney Scan. They put an IV and a catheter in him then put some medication through the IV to watch it as it went through his system. They had to strap his legs down and put weights on his arms and waist to keep him from moving around. The test took about 50 minutes. He really didn't like being strapped down. I was able to feed him with a bottle but that only took 20 minutes so he cried for the rest of the time then fell asleep for the last 10 minutes then had to be woken up to go do the second test. The second test is called a VCUG. They kept the catheter in him and filled his bladder up with water to make sure it wouldn't go back up into his Urethra and Kidneys. It did which means he tested positive for Reflux which means he is at higher risk of getting Urinary Tract Infections. He was doing really good with that test until they were trying to get him to pee and he wouldn't and they kept moving him around. I think he was getting really uncomfortable. He would not pee. They even poured warm water on him and he still wouldn't. They finally pulled out the catheter and then he peed a lot. He didn't like when they pulled the catheter out. It made him bleed. We will find out the rest of the results after they send them to his doctor. He slept the whole way home after the tests. When we got home he started getting fussy. He has had a fever since we got home and has not wanted me to put him down. He just lies on me all day either sleeping or just lying there whining. I can tell he is really uncomfortable and not feeling good. I think he might have a bladder infection. If he still has a fever tomorrow then I will be taking him in to the doctor. I hate him being sick. I don't like seeing him in pain and uncomfortable. It has also been hard on Landen because Dade doesn't like me to put him down so I am holding him all the time and that makes it harder for me to play or spend time with Landen. So he is acting out big time.

We just got offered an apartment at the family student housing at U of U. Its a 3 bedroom 1 bath. We are really excited. It will be available on August 28th. I really like that it has a playground for the kids right in front of the building so I know Landen will love it. It will be nice to be around so many other family students too. Drew only has 2 1/2 weeks left of this semester then he will be a college graduate. Then on to his Bachelors degree.

New Hair cut

I just got a hair cut and I like my new style so much. Here are some pictures. Here are a few more pictures of the boys that we just took a few days ago.

Landen helping me make cookies

Landen and Dade relaxing

Landen playing with Dade.

He is getting so big already.

A proud wife and frustrated mom

I am so proud of Drew. He got his acceptance letter from U of U and he also got his certificate for making the Dean's List. He has been doing so good working full time and going to school full time. I know I couldn't do what he is doing and I am so proud of everything he has accomplished. Keep up the good work sweety.

I have been potty training Landen for a little while now. I started about a week before we went to Arizona. Then while we were in Arizona he was doing so good. Hardly any accidents and he was waking up every morning with a dry diaper. I was so excited, I thought he was almost potty trained. We got home and for about another week he was still doing good. Then Drew went back to work and it all went down hill from there. To sum it up he is no longer going potty in the toilet. We are having to start all over and I am getting so frustrated because I know he knows how to go potty in the toilet he just doesn't want to. Potty training is not fun!!!

Landen is such a funny kid and comes up with some of the weirdest things. His new thing now is to come up to me and turn around so his back is to me, squat down a little and point to his bottom and say "Mom look, farted". Like I want to see that you farted. I have no idea were he got that from.

Dade is getting so big he is rolling over all the time now. As soon as we lay him down he is rolling over to his stomach. He found his feet the other day so now he loves to play with them. He is not gaining weight like he should be though so we are trying to figure out what is going on. One of his Kidneys is still a little swollen so we are getting ready to go see a specialist about that. That could be affecting his gaining weight. But he continues to get taller everyday.

We had a really good 4th of July weekend. On Friday we went to the Planetarium. Then on Saturday we went to the Hot Air Balloon Festival (we tried to go on Friday but got there a little late so we went again on Saturday), a wet land preserve (for one of Drew's classes), then watched fireworks that night. We all had a fun time. Here are some pictures. On June 27th Lehi had a parade for their Roundup days so here are some pictures from that too.

Waiting for the parade to start

Daddy helping Landen get some candy

We got to see Smokey the Bear on Friday at the Hot Air Balloon Festival.

Landen sitting on Mars

Landen and Drew walking on the moon

Landen playing with the toys in the gift shop

That was almost all of the balloons, I think there were 16 or 17.

We woke him up kind of early so he was still sleepy

The balloons flew right over us.

Having fun trying to find birds at the wet land preserve.

My three American boys getting ready to watch some fireworks.

Ready for the fireworks to start