A great date!

Well, last week on the day that Kies has school, Jaran said he'd keep Brensyn so I only had Kies and Ansleigh. So after I picked Kies up from school, I decided we needed some alone time, so we went to Old Chicago for a lunch date. Ansleigh pretty much slept the whole time, so we were able to have time for just the two of us. He got spaghetti and I got a mini pizza and a salad. We had a lot of fun coloring and singing and things of that nature. Kies wanted to take a bunch of pictures in remembrance of the occasion- so here they are!





Here is a picture of my neice, Taylin, and her crazy hair!


And Rose and I at MIXERS!

Not much...

I know that I've not been doing the best job keeping everyone updated- but there's just not much going on. Jaran hasn't had a job since the second week of January so we've been trying to get some odd jobs going. We went to Wyoming and do a small job for Kurt and Kim. He was working down in the basement doing some framing for them... and since then- we have had nothing. Right now, in fact, he's been working in our house- because he can't just relax and do nothing. So he's in our master bathroom, re-texturing and now re-painting. We decided to go with a little different color. Instead of gray with a brown texturized paint over top, we are now doing a nice blue/green/gray. It's quite a bit darker- but creates a nice contrast from the browns of the cabinets and tile. After we are done in the bathroom, we will do our bedroom... which means we will probably be staying in one of the boys rooms... either that or on the couches in the living room.
This weekend I acted as the designated driver for my sister, Cam, and a group of her friends. We went to Mixers, which is a club in Bozeman, to listen to a local area band- The Clintons. I don't believe there is any tie to Hillary- but you'd have to ask them. Cam and her friend Erin invited a few friends to go, as well as my other sister Steph and my sister-in-law Rose. Steph, Rose and I kept it pretty low-key, while the others were dancing queens, and frequented the bar for more drinks. I will not speak of much else... as I feel the Vegas rule must apply to this night. However, I will tell you that Rose and I won $8.60 at one of the slots in the casino while we were taking a much needed break from the craziness! Yay for me. For more details- you will have to ask me. For those who are in on the joke- SOMEBODY GET THE BACK!!!
I hope this is enough for all of you. The kids are healthy right now, no crazy visits to the ER to report. Doctor visits are a long way in the future(hopefully) and we will just try to keep to the job search... as well as a job for me. That's right- it's gotten to the point that in order to pay our medical bills and other things- I must abandon my post as a mom and get back into the workforce. My sister Calli will act as nanny... and I will try to keep myself from missing the kids too much. Wish us luck!

Busy, busy, busy

Do you all remember that week that we had 2 er visits and a ton of dr. appointments? Well, last week was comparative. Steph, Jason and Lane came for a visit on the 2nd of January and stayed until that Sunday. We had a ton of fun, and Steph and I left our babies- for pretty much the first time, and went and sang karaoke in Bozeman. It was a blast! Then Sunday came and they left. Lane got sick with the vomits Sunday when they got home, and I was thankful we didn't have it. WRONG! Monday night we took the kids to watch "Alvin and the Chipmunks", and while there, Ansleigh started puking. Actually, she puked a good one before we left the house and then again while I was in Gandolfo's getting sandwiches. But when we got the movie, it was every fifteen to twenty minutes. She would fall asleep and wake up to puke, and then go back to sleep. So I called the Doc. He said that he couldn't really tell if she was ok without looking at her, so he said if I wanted to go into the ER that would be ok. Jaran thought she was getting better, so we decided to just go home. On the way home she puked and when we got home she puked. So I called the doc again. By this time she was only vomiting bile... and the doc again said that he would- and I quote- "support my decision should I decide to take her into the ER." So I called my dad. For those of you who don't know- he was a medic for a bagillion years and knows about most things Dr.'s do anyway. So I called him and he told me that I should probably take her in. While on the phone- she puked again. Got her to the ER... and she puked while checking in. The nurse there- poor guy- felt bad for the poor little girl. So he hurried us into a room, and we got settled. The on call doc came in to look at her and, while she was puking, decided she definitely needed an IV. So the drama begins!

This is my poor baby just lying on the bed, awaiting the torture that now ensues.
The nurse comes in with his tray of torture and tries to find a vein on my chunky-fatty fat baby girl who is dehydrated to boot. He takes a look at the right hand and takes a poke:

Can't seem to get into that tiny little vein. So he decides to go for the left hand, get's it going, and the vein blows. For those of you who don't know what this means, it's when the wall of the vein gets too much pressure and gets a small hole in it. That's the best way I can explain it!

So he feels bad and gets two lady nurses to come in and give it a shot. They decide to try the right foot. They poke around and- yay- they get it, only to have it blow on them.

So they go back to the right hand. They have no luck. So they call up to the labor and delivery floor to see if the nursery can spare a nurse so she can come try. They are better at getting IV's on babies- seeing how they do it quite often. So luckily- one came down. She looks at all her options, and decides to go for the left foot. As soon as she gets in, she gets a good vein, and finally gets the IV going. It's sort of in the crook of her ankle, so they have to strap her foot onto a board.

So the fluid takes about an hour to get into her, and throughout the whole thing she's been trying to sleep. She only wakes up while being poked with numerous needles and while they have the rubber turnuquates on her. She was quite the little trooper! We entered the ER at 11:30PM and don't get home until after 5AM. So I end up getting only about 2 hours of sleep, because even though the fluid made her feel a little better, she was still puking. I keep leaving out details, such as her eating at 4PM and not at all again until after we got home. Also- no wet diaper since 5PM which is one of the reasons I took her in in the first place. So I had extremely sore baby-feeders and pumped as soon as I arrived home. Jaran had to work the next day- so I was a mess and so tired I could taste it. The next evening the Dr. wanted me to take her back to the ER as she was still seemingly dehydrated... but when we got there, they didn't want to put her through the same thing, and decided she was hydrated enough to wait it out. Now she is doing fine, and back to my pretty little happy girl! Thanks goodness for modern medicine... as she would not nurse at all, and trying to push the pedialite only made her vomit more. We would have lost her had it not been for the advances in the medical field! We are so thankful for it! I am on the recovery path now, trying to take a nap here and there to make up for not sleeping, but happy and healthy!

Small update

Well, it's been too long since I wrote, I know... and I apologize for that. Christmas was great! We went to Wyoming on the 23rd for Christmas and stayed at Cam's house. They were in North Dakota so we had the house to ourselves, besides Cal, cause she also inhabits the home on a daily basis. On Christmas Eve, Kim came over with Hailey and Kennedy and had breakfast. We then took off to Billings to take part in the rush of last-minute-shoppers. Kim thankfully kept Kies for us, but we had Ansleigh and Brensyn. We had quite a few stops to make- the mall, target, Costco, shopko, walmart and the $ store. We were supposed to be back by 5:00 but didn't make it until almost 5:45. It was a great time at the party, and the kids got a rediculous ammount of gifts from Mom and Bob. They loved it! We did the traditional Christmas Eve PJ Package opening and then... a very familiar-looking Santa showed up right before the kids went to bed and told them to hurry to sleep so he could bring them presents. So they did! After the stockings were hung by the chimney with care(laid down in front of the tv in the living room), we decided it best to go to sleep as well. When the kids woke up, they came straight into the room we were sleeping in... and they woke up at about 4... so there were five of us sleeping in the same bed. Then we decided to get up to see what santa brought. The boys got a home-made tool bench and a bunch of tools. They got clothes and all of the things they needed. Jaran got a massage coupon and I got a nice thing for my card-making. We cleaned up and went over to Mom and Bobs for breakfast, and hung out there for quite a while until nap-time. Then everyone came over to Cam's to play games that evening. The next day we went to Billings for the second annual day-after-Christmas $100 shopping spree. That's our gift from Mom and Bob. After that- we had a night at home and it was off to Utah. We stayed there until New Years day. We got to visit with all of the siblings, Justin and his girlfriend Amy and her daughter Baylie(?), Billy, Nikki and Ryder and Andy and Ashley- who we haven't seen for a long time! It was a great time. Jaran's brother, Jeremy, took us to the Jazz/Celtics game, and we had a blast. We played Rock Band at Billy's- the greatest game ever- and spent some money on some sweet clothes from Anchor Blue that we got for $5/item. You see, some of Jaran's family works for a roofing company... and someone didn't do a roof right over Anchor Blue in California, so they had to buy all of it, and we got to take advantage! We spent New Years eve at the Baker house and played games and drank cider and grape juice. Then we came home... and that's about it. Not a ton to report on since. I'll try and post some pics... but our computer sucks right now- hope you all had a great holiday!

Nonsense

I sort of feel an obligation to write more blogs. Why? Because people have been telling me that they check every day to see if I've written new ones. When I check people's blogs, and there's nothing new, it makes me sad. So for those of you that read mine everyday- I'll try and do better. McKie has been at his Grandpa Rand's house since Wednesday evening, so it's been a lot quieter around here. He love to visit there and play with the swords. Real swords- yes! He and my dad get a little sword fight going, and he could do it all day long. I went over to Gardiner Wednesday to get some vinyl done for Christmas presents, and since my sister, Steph, is coming over on Saturday, I asked Dad if he wanted a little companion for a few days, and he did. So it's just been Brensyn, Ansleigh and I for the last day and a half. I've been trying to clean up a bit, but with all the vinyl to peel, I haven't gotten much done. I will try harder today to finish with the laundry and the general clean-up that it seems like always has to be done. It never stays clean around here, wether it be the boys throwing stuff around, or Jaran getting home and just wanting to relax, so he throws his crap around too. So between the three boys- there's a lot of crap to pick up. Ansleigh is such a freakin' cute little girl. She keeps me entertained on a daily basis. And for all of you wondering- NO ER or Dr. visits this week(knock on wood)! So thanks to all of you praying for our safety and health!:) I hope that you're all having a happy holiday thus far!

So I just thought that I'd add this photo- cause it's hilarious. It's probably kind of grainy, but you can get the point. Taylin, Kies and Kelden were on this ride, and it would whip them around the corner really fast, and they'd laugh so hard. This was in Billings this summer at the fair! ENJOY!

Yet again!

This has been the week from you know where! Yesterday at about 5:30AM McKie fell out of his bed. He has an ear infection, and it's making his eyes crusty and his eyes were crusted shut. I don't know if he was trying to climb down, or just fell out, but whatever happened, it resulted in blood. I ran in there, knowing after the thump I heard, that he was hurt in some way. I picked him up and felt something on my back, and my calf. I turned the light on and saw that his mouth and nose were both bleeding quite a bit. After calling Jaran in, I tried to clean the blood up, and get his eyes opened so he wouldn't be so scared. The blood didn't stop, so I focused on the eyes, and finally got them cleaned enough for him to be able to see. After the bleeding finally stopped, both Jaran and I had to change out of our garments, cause they were covered in blood. They are currently soaking in some oxy-clean, and I hope they will come clean. Poor little guy tore his lip away from his gums on the bottom. It's not severe enough to need stitches, so it'll just have to heal on its own. After one day, it just looks like one HUGE canker sore. He rarely closes his mouth, and his lower lip sticks out a little further than usual. His eyes are getting better now that he's on some anti-biotics, and I am hoping this is the last of the craziness for the week! In the last 7 days, we've been to the regular doc three times... once for Brensyn to get anti-biotics and to check Ansleigh, once for Kies to get anti-biotics and once for Kies' mouth... and two ER visits, Ansleigh wasn't breathing well, and also to have Brensyn's head stitched up. So please pray for us and our kids... it's getting expensive;) and it's quite sad. Until the next catastrophe- I'm out!

If you have a weak stomache, don't read this!

This weekend was interesting. Saturday, as I was doing laundry, and getting some corndogs cooked for the boys for lunch, I heard a wail coming from the living room. The boys had been playing with the wood by the fireplace all day, stacking it and "making houses." As I turn the corner from the laundry, I see Brensyn, standing in the bin that usually holds the wood, head up trying to cry, but can't cause he's out of breath. As I look at him, I see a dark mark on his forhead, and knew right away it was a gash that was about to start gushing blood. I ran over to get him, and when I got there, the blood started running down. I grabbed a tissue and held it on there, as I ran, with him in my arms, to get some gauze from my bathroom cupboards. He's wailing the whole time, not wanting me to push on it, but I'm trying to stop the bleeding. So now, I'm holding him while on my bed, pushing on his "owie" and trying to figure out what to do next. I knew it needed stitches because as I pulled the tissue away to apply the gauze, I noticed some of the "fat" was coming out. So I called my neighbor, Lori, and explained that I needed to take Brensyn to get stitches, and could she come over and help me really fast. She made it over in record time, and I hear the door come open, and running steps to get to my room. She held the gauze in place while I put Ansleigh in her carseat, and got shoes and socks for the boys. I had to try and find a way to keep the blood from getting all over the car, so I found a big bandaid, that goes all the way around the wound, and held the blood in quite nicely. I gave him a sucker, which stopped the wailing instantly, and got on the road. Lori kept Kies for me, so it was just Brensyn, Ansleigh and I on the road to Bozeman. Yes, all the way to Bozeman with a bleeding baby! Jaran met us at the ER and took Ansleigh for a while so we could check in. So they gave him some medication that was supposed to put him to sleep- and it didn't... but it did calm him down enough so he'd sit still. Then they put some numbing liquid on a cottong ball and taped it to his head. After about an hour and a half- two hours of waiting, he got stitched up, and we left. That's when the fun really started. Whatever drug they had given him to help him fall asleep, which he never did, made him go crazy. We had to go to Walmart to get some Neosporin for his head, and he kept flipping out crying and trying to bail out of the cart... so I had to put Ansleigh in the shopping cart part and put him in the seat and strap him in. He cried most of the way home and finally went to sleep when we got off the interstate. Then we stopped to get Kies and went home. He woke up and cried himself back to sleep. Let me clarify- not so much crying and yelling/screaming/crying. It was great fun. I don't recommend it to many people. But we're all good now! Here is a before and after shot!