Life is good. :)

I am so sorry I haven't had time to blog.  We have been super busy in the desert and enjoying the last of our Spring.  Temps will reach near 100 this week and then it's nothing but heat for the next six months.  I really need to do better about taking more photos as well.  My house is clean and my family is happy so I guess I'm doing something right. :)

Owen had a rough couple weeks.  He had inflammation in his bladder causing horrible UTI symptoms without the infection.  We spent an entire Sunday in the ER running tests and all they came up with was Hemmorhagic Cystitis but no source and no treatment as it's viral.  Stanford looked into it a little more and he came back positive for BK Virus.  Not sure if we need to treat as the bladder issue cleared up after a week on it's own and his kidney levels seem okay for the time being.

On a positive note... no more labs for TWO weeks!!  After a good six months of twice weekly labs, we finally got his levels where they need to be and hopefully they will stay there.  This little break in labs makes for a happy boy.

This week a mouth full of canker sores is wreaking havoc.  Mouth ulcers are a side effect of the Sirolimus medication he started last month.  Thanks to the advice of other transplant moms, we got him a script for magic mouthwash and it seems to help temporarily.  Pray those little monsters heal up quickly.. he is in pain and eating is not fun. 

We haven't done much with HopeKids lately but we did sign up for Bumble Bee Ranch this year.  We have gone in the past and Owen loves it.  This year was no different.  We spent a few hours on the ranch and enjoyed the Hummer ride, took Old Time photos, ate lunch and met some real cool families.

Kam has been super busy at school!  I can't believe they only have 5 weeks until they graduate from 2nd and 10th grade.  Kam has had multiple projects and next week is her dance concert week. She has lots of auditions coming up in the next few weeks as well.  She has been driving more and I think she may actually get her license this summer. 

Owen has been kicking butt in PT and OT.  His teacher is working him hard at home.  He doesn't want to go to 3rd grade at school so we are exploring options in addition to his teacher coming to the house.  We are trying to convince him to try out BoyScouts because Carson loved it as a kid.  Can't you see him in his little cubscout uniform?  Mostly Owen is looking forward to his biopsy in two weeks.. he just loves them!

Logi is growing up way too fast!  He is on the go 24/7.  He is doing animals sounds:  chicken -"bak bak", dog "heh heh heh (with his tongue out)",  cow - "moo", pig - "oooo ooo".  He loves to read books all day long.  He is the best helper around the house.  Vacuums, helps with dishes, mops, sweeps outdoors... he loves to help.  He eats like a champ and only refuses sweet stuff.  We seriously love this little man. Here is a little video of him dancing the other day.  He loves to get up and dance anytime Kam is choreographing... he is now addicted to Panic at the Disco. He mouths the words (no sound) and that means he wants us to put YouTube on. Enjoy...

Sorry I have been so bad about blogging.  Adding a 3rd child into the mix has totally changed my life.   It went from a little crazy to total chaos most days.  I enjoy spending my days at home with these two monkeys and I love my husband for allowing me to do it!  Life is good. :)

Easter .. Eggs, Pageants and Cardio

This last week has been another busy one, but we had a wonderful time celebrating Easter.  We kept all our family traditions of dying eggs, treasure hunt with the Easter bunny, egg hunts and time with family.  The kids love dying Easter eggs so I suck it up and let the mess happen.

Logan did not understand the concept and smashed all his eggs, attempted to eat them (gross) and then he squished egg yolk all over the floor.  "Messy babies are happy babies".. Owen's OT used to always encourage him to get messy.  It always failed. 

On Friday night, we took the Sister Missionaries to the Easter Pageant at the Mesa Temple.  We haven't been in like forever, or maybe never.. there were SO many people there.  There are about 10,000 visitors each night of the pageant and we were super lucky to have reserved seats.  Owen wasn't feeling well (more on that later), so he stayed home with Carson. 

We met my parents and Uncle Rog there.  I'm so glad we stopped for loads of chocolate treats on our way.  We also got a killer parking spot thanks to my mad parking skills. It was such a fun night and the pageant was better than expected.  It was a celebration of the resurrection of our Savior. 

Sunday morning came early when all the kids woke up at 5am.  They went on their Easter scavenger hunt to find their baskets and we had a quiet morning together.  We spent the afternoon with my family and Nana.  Owen felt pretty awful all day and laid on the couch the entire day.  Poor guy.  Overall it was a great weekend and Daddy even convinced Owen to get out to see Batman vs. Superman on Saturday morning for a few hours. 

Now I just need to do a better job of hiding candy.  I don't know where he keeps finding candy because there wasn't much to begin with.  Several times a day I find him double fisting suckers.  Crazy boy.

I never got around to posting Logi's 15 months post.. but I posted the photo on FB yesterday and everyone commented on how much he looked like Owen.  Here is their 15 month comparisons. 

Yesterday I ran Owen into cardio for a quick Echo and clinic visit.  He has been miserable since St Patty's day when we switched his anti rejection meds from CellCept to Sirolimus.  Ever since then he has had major stomach aches, mouth sores, and just overall yucky feeling.  He hasn't eaten much or moved from the couch.  His echo did look about the same .. no major changes.  His med levels came back really high so we made some changes and will redraw labs tomorrow morning.  I feel like there has to be better days ahead.  These twice weekly labs, monthly echos, yucky med side effects... Owen just needs a small break. 

He always finds something to keep his spirits up.  Yesterday he raided the gloves and masks in the office.  It seems like he is feeling a bit better yesterday and today so maybe his body is just adjusting.  I sure hope so.  We shouldn't need another echo until we go to Stanford on May 2nd for biopsy.  Hopefully we can catch a break from the lab.. we wouldn't miss it one bit.

Goodbye March...  Bring it on April!

Spring Break Wrap Up

Spring break is over and we are back at the daily grind.  I'm so happy we didn't travel for break and it was nice to just relax and spend time together.  Owen was so excited to have Gigi over for some Minecraft fun and they didn't move from this position for at least 2 hours.

The weather has been so perfect and I hate to be inside.. so we spent plenty of time at the park.

Owen had his monthly echo and visit with our AZ transplant team and everything looked the same.  His Stanford Transplant team have been talking about Owen the last week and a half and decided to put a hold on listing him for transplant.  So that's great news!!  We started him on a different immunosuppresent called Sirolimus and research has shown it can help slow down the progression of Coronary Artery Disease.  It's not a guarantee, but worth a try.  He has had some yucky side effects since the change and labs have been even more frequent... really hope it is worth it in the end.

A huge issue is his poor growth.  He hasn't gained a pound in well over a year and hasn't grown.  Despite my giving him 1800 calories of blended food in his Gtube and orally eating like a champ, he averages 2300 calories a day.  It's still a battle to gain and he gets tummy aches because it's just so much food! 

His liver is acting up and labs are very elevated.  We are going to keep an eye on them (more labs) every two weeks and hope they start trending down.  Otherwise.. we will be adding another specialist into the mix. 

Overall.. things are okay.  He is excited for his next biopsy on May 2nd and is always busy picking out his next lab toy. :) 

Owen had his dental cleaning/xrays last week and did great!  My kids are winning with a record of no cavities ever.  Thanks to good genetics I suppose. 

On Tuesday we met my dad at Barrio Queen in Downtown Gilbert for Taco Tuesday.  SO GOOD!!  It was fun to spend some one on one time with Grandpa Boom.

Daddy had a few days off midweek so we took the kids to Zootopia.  I was super worried this little monkey would be a crazy in the theatre.  He was so great and slept most of the time.  Afterwards we let them ride in those germ soaked kiddie quarter rides outside the theatre.  Owen was terrified in the back of this little plane and jumped right out.  Logi loved it! 

This was the fountain where Mr Logi fell, skinned his knee, smashed his lip and then did it again. 

There have been so many new restaurants built in Downtown Gilbert's Heritage square we have been wanting to check out.  So on Daddy's day off, we headed downtown for some fish tacos and ice cream.  It was fun to just sit on the patio and talk.  Kam is always super talkative, Owen says the most outrageous things and Logi likes to play with everything on the table.  Owen and Logi has never been to a library before (gasp! I don't like reading) and so we took them for the first time ever.  The last time I had used my library account was in 2006.  We walked around the kid section and Owen didn't want a single book.  He had already picked out a World of Warcraft book with Daddy and that was good enough for him.  Kam had to get books for Honors English (boring) and I was happy to check out with two book (less to take care of) and go.  Maybe we will be back in the next 10 years.

Owen had been begging me to let him go to a movie by himself.  I let him go with Kam to see Zootopia again on their own this time.  He felt pretty awesome going sans parents.  Apparently it's not cool to go to the movies with your parents at 8.  Glad he has a cool sister to accompany him.

That was a wrap on our Spring Break.   Only 8 weeks until school is out for this 2nd and 10th grader!