2012 In Review

We are wrapping another fantastic year and we cannot wait to see what's in store for 2013!  I love my little yearly wrap up posts because it gives me reason to go back on all my previous blog posts for the year and reminisce.  That is the whole reason I blog.. to journal.. to preserve these memories for my kids. So fun!! 

January

Kam celebrated her 12th birthday and Owen turned 4!!

We celebrated with a weekend in the snow at the cabin, the first time my kids have seen snow.
Kam got an entire bedroom makeover!


We all caught a nasty respiratory bug that forced us to reschedule Owen's cath.

 

February

February was a quiet month around here.

Owen was staying indoors getting healthy for his March cath.

 Kam danced at the Globetrotters game with Gi Monster.

It was an overall relaxing month, which was needed seeing as March was jam packed!!

 

March

Kam kicked off the month with a new hairdo and a lesson in make-up 101.

We traveled to Palo Alto for Owen's cath, where it was determined we needed to start looking at Transplant options.

Kam traveled to Oceanside with family and we met up to spend the week on the beach in Oceanside with both our families.  Spring Break Fun!!

April

Kam and Gi performed at the Suns game.

Kam got the rest of her baby teeth pulled out.. TWELVE teeth in total!

We had several Easter celebrations!

We had many conversations with Stanford about transplant evaluations.

 

May

Kam wrapped up her Elementary school years!

Daddy, Owen and I made a trip to Stanford for heart transplant evaluations.

The desert heat came fast and harsh... we lived in the pool!

 

 

June

The girls ended their dance year with a weekend full of dance recitals.

We spent a super fun day at the water park celebrating!

Owen had his cardiac CT scans to prepare for transplant listing.

Carson and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary!

I celebrated by 33rd birthday!

Oh.. we discovered and killed our first {and last} scorpion.

 

 

July

We spent the 4th of July in Carlsbad, CA

Took a free trip to Legoland and then up the coast to Stanford

Spent time in San Fransisco with Uncle Rustyn and Janesa

Owen had his GI consult and the final transplant evaluation testing

Owen lost his 1st tooth!

We visited several water parks and had way too much fun in the sun.

Kam fell down the stairs and broke her ankle... yikes.

 

 

August

Kam started Junior High!!!

Owen was listed for his heart on the 23rd!!

Owen also started his first two rounds of IVIG.

Then lost his 2nd tooth.

It was a busy, busy month around here.

 

 

September

Kam and Gi kick started the new dance year with a Dbacks performance.

Owen continued with IVIG treatments and we got word that his antibodies were dropping!

Owen and I attempted our first one day trip to Stanford.. there and back in twelve hours. Ugh.

Owen potty trained himself.. YAY.. then regressed... oh well.

 

October

Kam had her first orchestra concert for Jr High

She also wrapped up her first quarter with perfect grades!!  Go Kam!

We had way too much enjoying pumpkin patches and Halloween festivals.

 

 

November

Owen had his 5th round of IVIG.

We voted!

We had the best Thanksgiving ever and counted our blessings.

Baby Bridgit wrapped up the month with her arrival. ;)

 

 

December

We started the month with the girl performing in the Chandler light parade.

Kam wrapped up her first semester in Jr High with finals.. she did fantastic!

Owen, Daddy and I traveled to Stanford for his cardiac catherization and IVIG.

We had a ton of fun Holiday parties and loved the Christmas season!

We finally had updated family pictures taken.. thanks Jeanette!

We ended up the year with Owen falling down the stairs :(

 

I am sad to be wrapping up yet another year... 2012 has been a great one.  We are looking forward to 2013!  I don't like to make resolutions, I will just say we have many hopes for this year.  A new heart for Owen tops our list!  I hope you all have a safe and fun evening bringing in the New Year.  HAPPY 2013!!!

A Quick Update

Well.. Owen's elbow has significantly less swelling today.  It's the magic healing of youth!!  He hasn't complained of pain at all today, but he also won't move it from the bent 'L' position.  I gave him a long bath, we cleaned the wound and put a fresh bandage on.  The old band aid was clean with no leakage, so I'm not worried about infection.  I am concerned about it, so I will get him in first thing tomorrow (Monday) for an xray.  He's also complaining of his ankle hurting and won't walk on it, so I think I'll have them xray that as well, just to be safe. 

Owen found a parking spot on the couch today and hasn't moved yet.  Usually 8 hours in front of the TV/Wii/Laptop would concern me greatly, but today has been an exception. 

As I was switching over my December calendar for my January one today, I realized that in just four days, my baby girl will be an official teenager. I can tell you that time has just flown by!  We are so blessed to have such a sweet girl who acts nothing like a "typical" teenager.  She is just sweet, helpful and so fun!   We are still trying to decide the perfect gift for her.. she is tough to shop for. 

Owen is already planning his party for the end of the month as well, can't believe my boy will be 5!  He has defeated the odds over and over again... we can't wait to celebrate this big milestone of a birthday!

But first.. we will enjoy the last day of 2012.  We have bottles of Martinelli's sparkling apple cider and champagne glasses from the dollar store.  I am planning candle light dinner and movie night for four.  The most perfect way to ring in the New Year! 

An Elbow Disaster

Owen took a spill down a few stairs tonight.  I immedietly cleaned it, bandaged it, iced it and gave him some tylenol.  He laid on the couch a little cranky for the next hour while I iced it off and on.  Then I took the bandage off to check out the wound and this is what I saw.  Like a baseball under his skin on his elbow. :( 

I called PCH Urgent Care and asked if I should bring him in, but my other concern is that it's an Urgent care and full of nasty germs!  The receptionist transferred me to a nurse, who transferred me to a doctor and said they are slammed and in overflow, so they don't have any isolation rooms.  He would be in the waiting room for a while.  The risk of getting sick, does not outweigh the benefits in this case.  It was the exact same scenario at the PCH ER.  Ugh.  The most disturbing was when all three doctors I spoke with asked me "so when is he scheduled to get his heart transplant?"  Seriously?  As if it's something scheduled.  I guess not eveyone 'gets it'.. even those in the medical field.  I just replied with 'he's listed for a heart, no idea when he'll get an offer.'  Oy.

I am so grateful to have such fantastic friends in the medical field.  I talked to his pediatrician, Dr Jean (also a pediatrician) and Dr Danny (an orthopedic surgeon) and they gave me some great, knowledgeable advice.  I am so thankful for them!! :)  I am going to continue to ice it, keep it immobile with an ace wrap/sling and stay on top of the Tylenol as needed.

 I called PCH Urgent care to see if I showed up before they open tomorrow, if they can get him right back to xray and out of there.  No sitting in the waiting area, no sitting in a germy exam room.  Surprise.. no can do.  They said they have to follow protocol, but if I show up an hour early, there is a good chance they can get him back quickly.  But then again, I'd have to wait outside in the cold line with people coughing and sick.  I'm going to call the transplant team to see if they have a better idea.

Wish us luck. :)  Hopefully Owen willl wake up feeling like a million bucks and the swelling will be gone!!  He doesn't seem like he's in pain and he can move it as much as he can with it swollen.  He's sound asleep now, and I just keep icing it off and on. 

Poor guy.

***Two days left to SAVE at The Art of Shaving.. go here to find out more.

New Layout for 2013

I was not loving my old blog design, so I took advantage of our lazy day at home and changed it.  I love the chalkboard look on everything lately.  What do you think?

The last two days have been spent relaxing.  Today we ventured outside for a few errands, but came right back home to relax some more.  Owen has been busy playing his Skylanders Giants game and Kam has been using all her art supplies.  I bought a new couch on Christmas Eve at Costco and LOVE it so much!  They only got six in stock the morning of the 24th and by the evening, they were sold out.   Carson bought the 2nd to last one with a lady in line behind him picking up the last one.  I have to give a big shout out to my bro in law who brought his truck and helped Carson pick it up! 

Where was I?  Oh yes.  Laying around in my jammies, on my new sofa, watching my kiddos enjoy their Christmas loot.  I think winter break is my favorite two weeks all year!!  The weather is an amazing 60 degrees and sunny, the kids are relaxed from busy Christmas celebrations and Daddy gets extra time off work to hang out with us.  It's wonderful in every way.

I did get a call from Stanford today and they received our Christmas card.  I figured if they got it, than most everyone should have theirs by now.  Aside from those cards I found under the passenger seat of my car, they went out in the mail today.  Here is my last minute attempt at Christmas cards and I think they turned out cute.

I can't believe we only have four days left of 2012.  I will do a yearly wrap up post this weekend because I love looking back on our year.  Happy New Year!!!

Christmas

Christmas was wonderful this year! Our kids were spoiled, as they should be, and we were surrounded with family all day.  It was perfect.  On Christmas Eve, we had a quiet family evening with just the four of us.  We went to The Keg for a prime rib dinner which has become our little tradition.  We came home early and let the kids open one gift, which is always Christmas Eve jammies.  We tucked the kids into bed early, but not before leaving Santa and his reindeer some cookies and milk.  

The kids woke early.  We headed downstairs to find many present from Santa.  Our kids are so sweet and open one present at a time checking to see what they each got.  Santa wraps everything around here, including the stocking stuffers.  It makes the morning fun last a little longer. ;)

The kids got everything they asked for, which wasn't a whole lot.  Owen picked out this cute jewelry box for Kam and when she opened it, she found little dinosaur toys that he hid in the drawers before wrapping it.

I always take the picture with my kids and their gifts.  It's fun to look back over the years and see what they asked for and really wanted.  I think it's fun to look back at the things we got as kids!  So here is Kam's gifts...art supplies galore, manga debut computer game, ds games, jewelry galore, and Owen had  custom ipod cover made for her from her own art work. 

Owen was so excited for the Spiderman Stuntacular toy, but Skylanders Giants has been his favorite so far!  I love to see the joy on their faces as they open and play with each gift.  So much fun!!   

We had monkey bread, eggs and sausage for breakfast before heading upstairs to get ready for a busy day of Christmas celebrations.  We headed to the Richardsons at noon for lunch and to spend Christmas with Grammy K.  As soon as we arrived, the girls ran outside to ride bikes and Owen headed upstairs to play XBOX with Connor.  We had a yummy lunch and then the fun began when Tate broke out her Cotton Candy machine. 

As you can see, it was a hit amongst the adults as well. Any hard candy goes in, it melts it and yummy cotton candy appears.  It got interesting when I tried my cough drops and made menthol cotton candy!

Owen LOVES cough drops and they are pretty much the only "candy" he'll eat. So I thought he might like cough drop cotton candy. Apparently, he's not a fan of eatting something that looks like a giant Qtip.  Looks like Sam would have eaten it.   

We left around 4 and headed to my parents house for the last Christmas party of the day. My family does Christmas BIG and just last year we started drawing names for the adults, which has been a huge hit!  We let the kids get started opening presents right away, mostly so they wouldn't ask all night when it was time to open presents.  I love all these little munchkins.

Owen got the super obnoxious toys, like Wreck It Ralph gloves, sling shots and uncle Rog stole the show with the light up machine gun.. all things that Owen loves!!  Kam got tons of makeup brushes, a make up lamp and gift cards. They had the most fun just playing together and as the night wore on, the kids were getting tired from their exciting day. 

Grandma snatched baby Bridgi from me, but most of the night she could be found in my arms on the sofa.  I love me some baby!!

After a fantastic prime rib dinner, I found Grandpa and Owen discussing the parts of his gun.  Grandpa is a gun guy and Gigi got her first bb gun for Christmas this year.  "You'll shoot your eye out."  Anyway... Owen loves his light up gun and can't wait until he's big enough to go shooting with Grandpa one day!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year!  We are so fortunate to live close to both sides of our family, but also to have the gift of health so we could all spent time together. Spending time with family is the greatest gift of all, simply being together.

Today we are in a bit of a Christmas coma.  So exhausted from all our fun and Daddy is back to work already.  I'm trying to make room for all the gifts in our house.  I usually leave our holiday decorations up until New Years, but I'm thinking they are going back in the garage today.  I'm ready to prepare for 2013!

Christmas Festivities

We had a busy, fun-filled weekend celebrating our favorite time of year. Our shopping is done, our house is (almost) clean and we are ready for a wonderful Christmas with family.  On Friday night, we met my family at the new Mattas in Mesa for some delish Mexican food.  Followed by a visit to the Mesa Temple Lights, which never disappoint. 

We bundled the kids up because it was 50 some degrees out and that is freezing for us!

Owen loves the pond in front of the temple and he could have stood there forever looking at the reflections of the lights. There were also little nativity displays all around that the kids loved to stop and look at. 

Owen's favorite are the three wisemen bringing gifts to baby Jesus on the Temple lawn.  We went inside to warm up and see the Christus and then we watched a short video on the birth of Christ.  It was a great way to get into the real spirit of the season.

On Saturday, I rushed around all day delivering cookies, finishing my shopping, and crossing last minute items off my "to do" list. We spent the late afternoon, into the evening, at Grandpa Todd and Monicas for our family Christmas party.  Santa made a guest appearance too.  This is a rare picture of all the cousins, but we are still missing Jon and Kate. :( 

Owen has been a little nervous around Santa's friends (look a likes) lately and he is never nervous.  It's cute to see him get a little flustered because he normally is the boss and is fearless.  He was a little nervous around our mall Santa this week too and forgot what he was going to say. 

We are loving this Christmas season so much.  We have watched just about every Christmas movie classic out there, including all the Home Alone movies, The Grinch, Polar Express, National Lampoons Christmas vacation, A Christmas Story, you name it!!  We have big plans on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and will be surrounded by family.  We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!

Holiday Season

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So our shopping is (almost) done!!! I am getting ready to get my Christmas cards labeled and I realize it's cutting it close. Better late than never right?  Today is a day of baking goodies for our teachers, coworkers and friends. Both of these kiddos love to give out their gifts. 

This weekend we are going to the Mesa Temple lights, which is my favorite Christmas tradition.  I love all the music, lights and nativities set up everywhere.  It's always a bit chilly, so we bundle up and this year, we will stop at Starbucks for some hot cocoa on the way.

Kam has finals today and tomorrow.  She is pretty excited for winter break.. no dance, no school, no stress!  Owen won't have therapy for a couple weeks and we are going to have some long days of relaxing and snuggles. 

I love this season and the next two weeks are my favorite of the entire year!!  I can't wait to spend all my time with these two.  We are excited to have Daddy home most of the time as well.

On a side note... I checked UNOS last night and as of 12/14, Owen is the only B blood type listed in regions 5 and 6.  That means between, WA, ID, NV, MT, UT, CA,AZ, NM, HI, Owen is the only B blood type listed in his age range (1-5 yrs).  Since his antibodies are now at zero and he is a B+ and not -, an offer could come at anytime.  Nervous indeed.

I hope you are all enjoying this holiday season.

Home!!

After a LONG night of very little sleep, Owen's IVIG wrapped up around 5am this morning. He tolerated the anesthesia wonderfully and woke up calm and happy as can be. We spent an hour in post op recovery before moving to our room in the short stay unit for his IVIG infusion.  The rooms are not intended for overnight patients, but they were slammed last night!  So Owen and I shared a room with a little guy that just had his tonsils removed.  It was cramped quarters, lots of beeping and just outside the nurses station.  It's safe to say that very little sleep was to be had. 

On the upside, they don't mess around with discharge and we were out of there by 5:30am and back at our hotel for a quick bite of breakfast and an early morning nap.  Uncle Rustyn came by mid morning to see Owie and to give him his, much anticipated, Carnage toy.  Owen was so excited to wrestle and play, so clearly, the cath didn't get him down. 

We went out to brunch at the Palo Alto Creamery and then back to the hotel to pack up.  We arrived to the airport and it was pouring rain.  We had a little time to relax before our quick flight home.  My dad, Kam and Gigi picked us up at the airport and we are home!!  I unpacked all our bags and now we are in bed.  Exhausted.  Ready for a quiet Sunday.  So grateful for an uneventful trip.  

Recovery

Owen is in recovery..sound asleep still from the effects of anesthesia.  We had a chance to  speak with Dr. Peng, the cardiologist that performed the cath.  All is stable with his little heart.  Nothing new to report.  His pressures are a bit higher than they were in March, but nothing that will affect his transplant.  He did have a few large arterial collaterals, but coiling those would cause his oxygen saturations to drop, and since his sats are already crummy, they didn't mess with them.  If post transplant, those collaterals cause an issue, they will go in and coil them.  Usually though, the collaterals will disappear post transplant as his heart will be working perfectly. 

Owen didn't need to be intubated for the cath, they just used the mask and oxygen therapy.  He is sound asleep and hasn't budged in recovery.  He has to lay flat with his legs straight for four hours, so the longer he sleeps, the better. 

He will spend an hour in recovery and then we will transfer to the short stay unit, where he'll get his 12 hour IVIG infusion.  Thankfully, he has a beautiful IV from the anesthesia team.. yay for no pokes!  I'll update again tonight.  I am hoping he wakes up feeling happy and ready for a big bowl of chicken noodle soup!!

Thank for all the prayers... we appreciate them.

Cath Number 8!!

We had an early morning in preop. Owen was fascinated by the frost on our windows as we pulled out of the hotel parking lot. As soon as we walked into the Ford Surgery Center at LPCH, Owen says "Ah.. I knew it.. NOT this place... I hate this place!" All of the memories of past surgeries came rushing back and this is how he feels about it.

All joking aside, he has been such a rockstar!  He patiently waited with Daddy while in preop and watched his Spiderman episodes on Netflix. He cooperated for his vitals and talked to all his nurses. Requested the strawberry gas from the anesthesiologist. Speaking of Anesthesia.. our favorite is on his case today!! YAY! She is so sweet with Owen and she is thorough. Owen woke up from his last cath very violent, had minimal trunk control and was biting/scratching/hitting. He was completely out of character and irrational. This was the only time he had a reaction like that, so I wanted his past records reviewed before giving him anesthesia today. Dr R. did just that and found that they gave him a high dose steroid during his last cath that was intended to help with his post cath nausea. No more steroids and we knocked his Versed dose in half.. so he hardly got any pre med.

After we gave his body a full scrubdown with sterile wipes, we had to gown up to escort him into the cath lab. Carson was joking that he looked like one of the guys on "Breaking Bad". If you aren't familiar with the show.. think meth lab.  We looked awesome.  If you know Stanford, then you know that you start in preop surgical waiting and the cath lab is about a mile away on the other side of the adult hospital.  So we rocked our outfits up the elevator and all the way across the hospital.  Owen thought we were HILARIOUS!!  But he also had happy juice.. aka.. Versed.

See?  The half dose was fully effective and he was a riot!  The nurses were laughing so hard as we escorted him to the cath lab.  Owen was so sweet when we walked in the cath lab.  There are a ton of doctors, anesthesia team and radiology techs around and it can be really confusing and scary.  Not for this guy!  He just chatted with them all and then when it was time for the gas mask, he requested to hold it himself and went right to sleep.  Honestly.. he didn't even need us.  He was so brave. 

One of Owen's anesthesiologists told him that they have many little elves that live in the hospital and they report back to Santa each night and tell him how brave they are. He thought that was amazing and so now I have a feeling we are going to have one very BRAVE boy!! He seriously is so amazing. SO the plan is to check pressures and do intervention as necessary. The anticipated time is "2 hours 23 minutes". I'll update post recovery.