Baby Poopy

The first part of June, I took Owen shopping to pick up Liv a birthday present. He really wanted to get her a new doll. We wandered the aisles and I would be lying if I didn't say it was a bit creepy that all the dolls babble and move as you walk down the aisle. Owen picked out the Baby Alive that comes with a stethoscope, a spoon with disappearing medicine, band aids and a shot. Imagine that.

As we were walking out of the store, Owen said "Where's my baby?" The next day, when I ran back for the forgotten sunblock, he insisted we go back down the baby aisle. He really, really wanted the baby boy doll with the bottles of disappearing liquid and diapers. Owen had some money from Grandma stashed away so I let him buy his doll.

He immediately named him "Baby Poopy"... such a boy thing to do. He fed him, burped him, took his clothes off, sort of changed him and then back in the bag he went for a few days or weeks. I lose track of time around here.

While I was making lunch this week, I heard him talking to Baby Poopy and I came in the room to find him feeding and changing his baby. It was too sweet, so I grabbed my camera.
While he prefers to crash cars, throw balls, and fight with his swords.. it's nice to see him pretend play daddy. His wife will thank me one day.

Our summer has been a busy one and I am so sad that today is the last day of June. The time just flew by! We've been to the movies, swimming with friends, going out to lunch, cleaning house, watching netflix and just enjoying our quiet time together. It's been amazing!

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The air in Carson's car died, so I have been trying to find days for him to take my car to work and we just stay home. Those are turning out to be some of our favorite days. No where to go, no money to spend, just playtime with the kids and getting our house in order. It's the simple days that are becoming the best ones.

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I went with Carson to the urologist yesterday and the stent will remain in his Ureta for another two weeks. On July 14th, he'll have another surgery to remove this blasted kidney stone. I'm sure he's going to be thrilled to have it gone for good!

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We leave for Stanford in four weeks!! I am so anxious to find out what's going on in Owen's heart. He has been doing so fantastic lately!! Carson and I watch him in awe. He is up and playing all day long, takes a short afternoon nap and is up until bed. He plays hard, he eats a ton and he is just a new boy. I can't even imagine how great he will feel after having the Fontan.

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I am going to follow in other bloggers' footsteps and do a week full of blog posts on our everyday life. I think it would be so fun to look back in 5 years and remember how we spent our summer days. Unfortunately, today is not one of those quiet days at home so I need to get a move on.

"Gymbtastics"

Bright and early on Friday morning, Owen started "Gymbtastics!" We arrived at the gym at 7am and were the only people there, along with Owen's new PT. We went into the preschool side of the gym and Owen was in heaven! I brought the 50 foot oxygen cord so he had freedom to roam and explore.

The first thing that caught his eye was the long trampoline. He ran across it about 4 times before he was just exhausted. Then climbed down and went towards the foam pit to check it out. I never expected him to jump in, but he couldn't get in there fast enough! If you've ever been in a pit of foam, it's hard to move around and get out. He was all over the pit and jumping on Kamryn in there. Such great work for his little muscles.

There was another trampoline, this time square, that Owen sat on while Kamryn bounced him. His PT was trying to get him to cross his legs "criss cross applesauce", but he had no idea how to do it. It was so cute. He'd cross his ankles and say "triss tross applesauce" so that Kamryn would bounce him so high. He giggled and giggled hysterically for about 10 minutes.

We was soon in need of a water break, but he didn't rest for long. He headed over to the uneven bars and decided that it was a feat too extreme. So then found the rings. He grabbed them, flexed his little muscles and said "eeerrrrgggg uuuuhhhh" like he was doing something pretty awesome in his mind. It was so sweet. He loved rolling around on the mats and his PT got the wedge out. We tried to get him to somersault, which he is pretty amazing at, but he decided he wanted to "sllliiddeee" instead. It wasn't long before he made his way back to the long trampoline to jump. He then found the big cheese wheel, the one they use when kids are learning back flips. He wanted to be rolled around on it. The giggling continued!

It was so great to watch him have such a great time and work his body without knowing it. He played so hard for the entire hour! When we were done, he came home and went straight to bed from 9 to 11:30. He was worn out. As soon as he woke up he said "Go to gymbtastics after my nap?" He's counting down the days til' Friday again!

His new PT was so sweet. She also does pool therapy and house visits, like Jessica always did. He'll probably only get to go to gymnastics for the first two weeks of July and then I'll have to switch to pool therapy at our house so that we limit his germ exposure prior to his cath/mri at Stanford on the 28th. I don't want to have to reschedule because he's sick.

We're working with insurance and through the state early intervention program to get PT approved twice a week instead of once. He's finally feeling better than he ever has and it would be so good to try to get him physically stronger before surgery.

It looks like my Friday posts will be "Gymbtastic Fridays" for a while. I'll post all the new things he's doing and some funny videos. I am so happy that he has this opportunity. I would love to put him in a regular gym class with other kids his age, but with the oxygen and his gross motor skills, the other kids would be running circles around him. I have no doubt that someday he'll be all caught up.. maybe with a little less energy than the other kids.. but he will hold his own!

My Birthday and Kidney Surgery

Today is my Birthday and it was a wild one. Not wild like a 21st birthday, but wild in like Carson had surgery. The morning started off with Carson running to Paradise Bakery to get my guilty pleasure.. a chocolate cream cheese croissant. Guess what? They replaced them with scones! Scones? I won't even go there.

I had a fairly relaxing morning, but we had to be at the hospital by noon. The kids and I dropped Carson off for his pre op testing and headed to Bahama Bucks. It didn't disappoint. Shaved ice with yummy juice and creme... you can't go wrong. We jumped in the car and headed to get some real food for lunch and I let the kids pick. In n' Out burger it was and Owen went to town on my burger. That was a happy mom moment.
I dropped the kids off with Auntie Sussy and Connor. Owen is in heaven because he loves to play Connor's XBox games... "Crash cars and Socter Ball". My favorite is when he says "E A Sprots.. it's in the GAME!" Anyway, my kids didn't even notice when I left and thanks to Larissa for feeding Mister Owen every 30 minutes and scooping the food out of his cheeks all day. That's love. Kamryn is easy to watch and just hangs out with her cousins.

I arrived back at the hospital in time to find my man. He had his IV in and was getting lectured on eating after midnight. Long story short... he was told not to eat after Midnight, but his surgery wasn't scheduled until 2:30. I told him Owen gets to eat up to six hours prior to open heart surgery, so what can it hurt. Well.. they gave him hell. Sorry babe. You can listen to the docs next time. It wasn't long before the surgeon came in and gave us a rundown of his plan, then anesthesia and then Heidi Skidmore dropped in! It was great to see her! After Carson was taken back to the OR, I headed to Sonic across the street because I needed caffeine and it was happy hour. Perfect! Only it felt like my skin was melting off because it was 117 degrees!! I love living in the desert, but not when I have to go outside in the middle of the day and there is no pool to jump into. Yuck. I got my icy cold Diet Dr Pepper and forgot all about the heat. I got back in time for the surgeon to pull me into a conference room. Bad news. He said that Carson's creantine levels were high, meaning his right kidney function was low. The stone was causing a blockage and his left kidney was picking up the slack. He couldn't be too aggressive in getting the stone because it was too risky and could cause renal failure or infection.

When he got in there, he saw the the Ureter was really narrow and his 4mm kidney stone was never going to pass on his own. He couldn't even get to it to break it up and get it out. To stay on the safe side, he inserted a stint to bypass the stone, so that the right kidney can return to it's regular duties. Carson should also be free of the side cramping and major pain.

The plan is to check his creantine levels on Monday and then see the urologist on Wednesday. He'll then plan a surgery date for two weeks from today to go back in and try to get that darn stone out of there.

When Carson woke up in recovery, I went back to share the news. It's my birthday so he has to be nice to me. Ha. He was bummed, but it is what it is. We were out of there in record time.

I dropped Carson off at home and ordered some Sushi takeout from Kona Grill. Then I went and picked up the kids. We all sat around the table sharing sushi and talking about our day. It was a great way to end the night. But first, we had to sing Happy Birthday because I only turn 32 once! It was a crazy, wild day but I enjoyed spending time with my family. I got over 100 birthday wishes on facebook and had a bunch of voice mails when I got home. I feel very loved so thank you all!

Sick in the Summer

I am sure last time I stepped outside it was summer, so why is Mister Owen sick?? It seems wrong that it's over 100 degrees out, but Owen is inside with a nasty cold and fever. Go figure. Yesterday morning he woke up feeling exhausted and I assumed he was tired from playing so hard at the resort and maybe too much sun. Then he woke from his nap with 102 fever.

I called the pediatrician and she had the day off so I saw one of her partners. He was a strange one and said there was nothing wrong.. just to allow Owen to ride it out.

He was awful last night. Gunky, couldn't breath well, fevers off and on, chills, and miserable. If his sats weren't so beautiful, I would have taken him in. We survived and today has been more of the same. He has been playing and super talkative but continues to wipe his nose like it's going to fall off and sounds painfully hoarse.

Carson still hasn't passed his Kidney stone so we returned to urology for a followup. We were a little too anxious to schedule surgery, but it's done. Pre-op testing is tomorrow.. CT scan (to locate the stone), labwork and an EKG. Then he'll go under the knife on Thursday. The doc will put him under, blast the stone and pull out the pieces. Sounds brutal to me, but anything to give the guy some instant relief from the stone.

That is just about all the excitment I can take this week.

A Weekend Getaway

We had an amazing weekend getaway at a local resort to celebrate our 12 year Wedding Anniversary and Father's Day!! We stayed at the beautiful Westin Kierland Resort in North Scottsdale and it was fabulous! We checked in early on Saturday afternoon and went straight down to the waterpark. There was a lazy river, splash pad for Owen, beach entry pool and waterslide.. it was great! My sister, Livvy, my Mom and Gigi met us at the pool for an afternoon of sunshine. Carson was in pain.. darn kidney stone.. so he stayed in the room and relaxed.

We got dressed up for dinner at the Spotted Donkey.. they had the best jalapeno shooters and nachos. So good! After dinner, we walked around the resort grounds and sat by the fire above and listened to a live band. The kids ran around and they had huge sofa's to relax on everywhere. It was so relaxing and the kids had a great time. Carson, again back in the room, missed out. I felt so bad for him.

They had a killer desert bar in the lobby so we devoured our chocolate mouse cake, cannolis and caramel apples under the moonlight. My mom took a bad fall in her hotel bathroom and missed out on the fun as well. I'm thinking there is another "stay"cation planned in our near future!!

Before calling it a night, my sweet loves cuddled in bed. It doesn't get much better than this! We slept in late and had a great Father's Day breakfast at the hotel. Kelli and Liv went home to be with Chris, and Uncle Rog joined us at the resort for the day. We made our way to the pool around 11 to our reserved Cabana. We had a fruit basket, water bottles on ice, our own waiter.. seriously great service! Kamryn and Gigi had so much fun together swimming from one pool to the next. Here's Gigi and Dad. I'm pretty sure he just relaxed here all day long.
Here are the kiddies. I'm pretty sure Gigi had no idea she was flipping me the bird.. I don't even think she knows what it means. She's just a crazy one, that girl.
Owen took a silly pill this morning, he was so crazy fun! He played in the splash pad, made friends with all the ladies, and then we spent the rest of the time floating around the lazy river. Here's Uncle Roger and Gigi being silly. Uncle Rog is my Dad's older brother and has been like a second dad to us since we were kids. He hasn't been swimming in years and I was so glad he took the plunge today. It was so fun to see him let loose in the water.
This is where you could find Owen and I. "Floating, spinning round and round, and plashing" He had such a great time!! It was after 1 when Carson finally made it down to the pool and we checked out of our room. He took this picture as Owen was getting ready to fall asleep. I seriously was in heaven today floating and playing with my kids in the water.
When we got done swimming, my dad had ordered some yummy food from the Cabana boy. Burgers, pizza, onion rings.. we were doing it right this Father's Day!
Owen loved sitting on Grandpa after getting out of the water and getting him wet.
Here is the one and only picture I got of my babe all day. He felt miserable. Kidney stones are brutal and I keep hoping he'll pass it on his own.. I don't want to know how they go in and get them. Happy Anniversary and Father's Day.. we'll do this again when you feel better. I'm down for another weekend of bliss!

That was it. We jumped in our car and made a pit stop at Chipotle for Carson and Sprinkles Cupcakes for the rest of us. I am looking online for deals to plan our next staycation for the summer. We are so lucky to have so many great resorts to choose from so close to home. The rooms come cheap and the time spent together is priceless.

Happy Father's Day to all the men in our lives!! We love you.

Owen Walking -- Video

Owen started walking the first week of February. Then he had open heart surgery, and it was another 9 weeks before he trusted his spaghetti legs. It's been a couple months now and his walking has improved so much! He started out with a crunched gait and walked like an old man with a cane. He has progressed to "running" Owen style and it cracks me up! As you can see a quick pace to the front door and back has him winded.


I can't wait until he's climbing, jumping and running with all the other 3 year olds.

We are saying goodbye to Owen's Physical Therapist of three years and moving on. It is bittersweet indeed. We love Jessica, but Owen has the opportunity to go to gymansastics for PT. His new therapist has a contract with a local gymnastics gym and he gets to use the equipment for PT. We picked a 7am PT time slot so he will have the run of the gym and it will (hopefully) be sanitized from the cleaning the night before.

He is getting excited about the idea of trampolines, foam pits, uneven bars and balance beams. His sessions will be one on one with his PT, myself and Kamryn. I think this is just what he needs to motivate him to keep moving. His first session is next Friday!

Shoes for Owen

Carson is still trying to pass his kidney stone! He went to urgent care last Sunday and they gave him a good supply of pain medications. I took him for a CT Scan of his abdomen on Monday and the results are that the stone is 4mm. When he hadn't passed the stone by Wednesday, I drove him to the Urologist. He gave him a 60% chance of passing it on his own. He has until this Monday to pass it, then he'll go in for a renal ultrasound and abdomen xray. The urologist will blast and go after the stones in surgery on Tuesday if it's still there. I am so bummed for him! He is going stir crazy at home with us all day, the pain meds make him feel crummy and he has the pain of the nasty stone on top of it all.

It's our 12 yr wedding anniversary on Saturday night and Father's Day is Sunday. We have big plans and I don't want him to miss out! Praying this stone passes.

In other news..

Owen is walking all over the place. He has issues with his ankles rolling in and he needed good shoes with great support! I am probably going to have to break down and get him some orthotics for his arches to help roll his feet out, but I wanted him in a good shoe to hold him over. The biggest problem we run into is that his ankles and feet are so skinny, but the length of his food is long. Stride Rite's drowned him and we tried every single style and tightened them up!

After a week of searching every shoe store, trying on every shoe, we finally found some!! I was at Nordstrom's today and the kid that worked there said these are great. They are perfect!! His foot slides in easy and you can tighten the strap around his ankle for support because the back of the shoe is higher than most (without being a high top). The little elastics on top aren't just for looks, but I can pull them tight to narrow the inside of the shoe. He is stable in them and he said "look, I'm running mama!" He thinks if he swings his arms real fast and walks, that it's the same as running. Bless his heart! :)
These are the Keen Newports and they don't come cheap, but I'd buy a dozen pair if it is a good fit for Owen! Another cool feature is that they are waterproof!! He can wear them around the splash pads and to/from the pool to keep his feet from burning. We haven't tested them out, but I hear they dry super quick!

Kamryn is enjoying her summer break and we are happy to have her home! We are watching the entire Harry Potter series for the first time and loving them. We have been busy at the eye doctor getting Kamryn's glasses ordered, a second contact fitting and her eyes were due to be dialated. She is LOVING her contacts and can get them in/out within minutes now!

It's time for me to skip on over to Blurb to work on my blog books. I finished 2008 and now I'm working on 2009. In between that, I'm working on a blog redesign.. I'm getting tired of this look. My laptop is going to the shop tomorrow because the hinge broke and the charger port isn't working.. I'm sure it'll be cheaper to buy a new laptop, but I need the data off the hard drive. Ugh.

Thank ya'll for visiting even when I've got nothing exciting to say. Life will become exciting soon enough. I have learned to appreciate the quiet days. I will have many fun pictures from our upcoming weekend "stay"cation, including video of Mister Owen's mad walking skills. You will crack up! :)

Weekend

I spent the whole of my weekend working on turning this blog into a book. I decided to give Blurb a try because it allowed me so much flexibility on each page. Oh my gosh.. it took me so many hours to work on 2008 alone!! Here it is. All ready to be published. I just need to design a cover page, back page, and a little love note to my family on the inside.

Carson has a kidney stone and feels terrible. Grumpy, sleeping off the pain meds and I am just counting down the minutes until he passes it.

Kamryn and I watched the first two Harry Potter movies. I am not usually a fan of wizards, fantasy, sci-fi or anything of the sort. I will admit that I really like the Potter series. We are excited to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in December!!

Another movie my kids have never seen is one of my favorites, The Little Mermaid. Kamryn was a fan, Owen was totally not digging it. I guess we'll skip the long lines waiting to meet Ariel.

We have spent entirely too much time indoors this weekend so we plan to live in the pool this week and soak up some rays. This week is going to be a good one!

Contacts!!

Kamryn got her first pair of contacts today!! She started wearing glasses towards the end of her sixth year. From first grade to fifth grade, we have been to the eye doctor every six months. Her eyes have progressively gotten worse over the last five years and she has gone through at least 10 pair of glasses. She finally started hinting at wanting contacts, but wasn't too enthusiastic. I think it took a little convincing from me that she really would love them!

We met with the eye doctor on Tuesday for another exam and she took a lot of time to sit and talk with Kamryn making sure it was what SHE wanted. Today.. we went back for training!

Kamryn was hesitant at first. She would hold her eye open and then blink a billion times so the contact didn't stand a chance. It only took her 30 minutes to master putting them in and taking them out!! What a rockstar. I guess she has observed us with our contacts for so long, that it was second nature.

Yes... I took my camera to capture these pictures and I'm sure she was about 90% embarrassed. She'll thank me one day. Since her eyes have changed to a stronger prescription, and she's starting to develop an astigmatism in both eyes, we had to pick out some new glasses too. Cha ching$$. She picked out some super cute Juicy Couture glasses.

Kam has to wear her contacts for 4 hours today, 6 tomorrow, then up to 8. She loves them so much!! While we were out shopping yesterday, she picked out her first pair of shades... she was really excited to put them on. My baby girl is growing up and changing. She is such a great girl and has a heart of gold. I know that she will take such great care of her new contacts and she was so sweet about thanking me for getting her new contacts!!

Eye Exam and Photo Shoot

This week is proving to be a busy one. Kamryn had a seriously overdue eye exam and she needed it! Her new prescription is a few quarters worse than in September. We went to a new eye doctor and she was amazing! I loved that she took the time to talk to Kamryn about her eyes and discussed contacts with her. She really wants them, so she has contact "training" on Friday!! Meanwhile, we'll be buying new glasses tonight as well. Genetics are just not on her side for vision.

Owen was asked to attend a photo shoot for Make A Wish this morning. There wes a big donation check given to the foundation and the companies wanted a wish family in the photo. Owen got a ton of attention and loved everyone at the Make A Wish office.. they were so great!! There was a giant sorcerer Mickey in the lobby and trains on the ceiling. Kamryn got plenty of attention as well and she held Owen in the photos. Both of my kids are so excited for the big Wish trip to Disneyworld in December. We haven't heard a final "your wish is accepted", nor do we have dates. I was going to ask our wish manager details, but she is on vacation. I am excited to work with Make A Wish more and I would love to become a volunteer wish granter next year!

We had to make a pit stop at cardiology to pick up a script for Owen's portable oxygen concentrator. While we were there, we weighed him and he has gained back the weight he lost from having his tummy bug. Go Owen!! Owen was excited to see everyone, including Dr Stock, and we headed outta there.

I got the script dropped off and we have a POC reserved for our trip to Stanford in July. The hotel is booked. Thank you for the beach ideas! I am thinking Santa Cruz or Half Moon Bay, but I figure we'll go and see what the crazy Northern California weather is up to.

I've been spending hours working on turning our family blog into books. I'm working on 2008, then 2009, then 2010.. you get the idea. I am only a quarter of the way through 2008. Either I blog too much, or I am just trying to make it too much work. Just so you have an idea.. I have over 200 pages in each year. I really want to get these books made for my kids .. because that is why I blog after all. I'm using blurb for 2008, and I think I'll try blog2book for 2009. I'll find out which one is easier and better quality and go forward with that for the rest of the years. Any suggestions??

Weekend Fun

We had a fabulous weekend! The weather was just tipping the triple digits and it was so gorgeous out. A little oven like, but not as bad as it's going to get. We have been spending most morning in the pool and it was one of the first things we did on Saturday. Here is the crazy twosome...
Kamryn has the cutest swimsuits! She is my fish that has been swimming like crazy since she was 2. No floaties, no swimming lessons.. she was born to swim. Good thing we live in the desert.

Owen, on the other hand, likes to dip his feet in and splash around. Give him 20 minutes and you can find him on a lounge chair soaking up some Vitamin D.

There will plenty more pool pictures this summer. We've already spent a few hours lounging outside today! I love, love, love summer!! Livvy's birthday party was on Saturday and I can't believe she's already 2! Here's Owen with loot from his pinata.

Here is the birthday girl! She was completely covered in pink frosting and there was food dye everywhere!! Liv got tons of goodies and we had a great time!

Today is a get'er done kind of day. I recieved a call from Make-A-Wish, but no news on Owen's wish.. it's just in the works. It was a friend that Carson used to work with and she wanted to know if Owen would take part in a photoshoot for Make-A-Wish of Arizona. We'd love to do anything we can for Make-A-Wish... so that'll be coming up this month.

I'm getting our trip to Stanford planned out for July.. does anyone have a recommendation of a good beach in Northern Cali? We'll be in Palo Alto, and flying into San Jose, so any beach within an hours drive to that area would be cool. Kid friendly beaches are preferred.. I googled and a few "clothing optional" beaches popped up. Ahem.. no thanks!

June

I can't believe it's already June!! Our first week of summer vacation has been a busy, yet relaxing one. I took the kids to our first movie fun and it was torture sitting through Clifford...we left half way through. Thankfully, the movie lineup for the rest of the summer is a bit more exciting.

Yesterday was Kamryn's six month orthodontist checkup. I am amazed that she has only lost six baby teeth! We did a progression xray and it shows a ton of her baby teeth just hanging out with almost no roots and the permanents ready to take their place. We're giving those teeth a couple months to fall out on their own, then we'll go in and help them out. I'm hoping for braces by January. I don't want to rush things, but I also want her to get her braces off before high school. She'll thank me later.

Owen has been enjoying his days with Sis at home. He continues to eat like I'm starving him and I love it! He is getting so much better with swallowing.. I don't want to jinx myself, but I think we'll be ditching the tube before preschool next fall.

I finally bit the cost and booked our airline tickets to Stanford in July. All four of us will fly up a day early so we can hang at the beach. Then he'll have cardiac clinic and his cath/mri. I left another day at the end of the trip so we can hang out in San Fransisco and play a little. I figured if we're paying that much to fly up there, we might as well enjoy ourselves a bit. Now I'm just working out logistics.. portable oxygen concentrator for the flight, rental car, RMH, ect.

Today, we plan on lounging by the pool and running a few errands. I had a good workout and now I'm off to blend some breakfast for Owen. Happy June!!