from s + h

the anniversary

2012-04-30T15:39:00.001-06:00

4.16.12. Downtown Salt Lake. The Garden Restaurant with an amazing Temple view.

Walking City Creek. Walking Temple Square. Fried Pickles. Fresh flowers on the table.

Great company.

delish dinner.

did I mention we had fried pickles...um amazing.

the view from our table, it doesn't get better.

love city creek mall!

It was a great night out just the 2 of us!

Basketball and botox

2012-04-10T11:37:00.000-06:00

Last Wed night we went to the Suns game...who played the jazz and won! Spence got a bunch of people to go, we sat in the cheap seats and had a great time.

Blayke had botox that morning but did great at the game, she clapped and got excited when we did, you wouldn't have even known she was a little drowsy, she did great.

The injections went well, but she did have a hard time waking up. They don't let me go back until she wakes up, so she wakes in a strange place with a bunch of nurses around. But then I get to come back and hold her for a little while. She had some Gatorade and goldfish while they checked her vitals one last time and we were ready to go!

I took her to Wendy's afterwards to eat since she wasn't able to eat that morning before the anesthesia. She was so happy to eat, and I think even more happy to be done at the hospital!

Conference

2012-04-02T15:53:00.001-06:00

There was a talk Sunday morning given in General Conference that really hit home for our little family. It was given by Elder Ronald A. Rasband.

"For reasons usually unknown, some people are born with Physical Limitations..."

Elder Russell M. Nelson

It was one of those where I felt like he was talking right to me. It was exactly what I needed to hear.

On Wednesday, Blayke is going in for her 3rd round of Botox Injections at Primary Children's. Our therapy schedule is once again full with at least one appt almost daily until we decide with the therapists/Dr's to decrease.

Last October, we had our first "therapy break" or any type of break for that matter, since finding out about her stroke. We had never experience a break before. During that time, I didn't realize it, but without the constant appointments and therapists making me face our new reality, I went into denial.

I literally told myself (and others) that the PT's OT's, ST', and the dr's were probably exaggerating the care that Blayke needs, because you know how some (only some) can be, they want you to keep coming back for any little thing. I went to a Chiropractor one summer when I was young for a bad roll over car accident my family was in. I remember at the end of the summer how the dr said I needed to keep going for all these different things that I didn't need. I felt like, or maybe I was trying to convince myself, that that was where we were with Blayke. Not that I wanted to end her care, but I just thought that we didn't need to be doing all of it.

When she had Botox done last Dec and we started up our 'intense' (as they call it) therapy sch again, it was really hard for me to get back into it. I was fine going and doing all of the appts, but I was just so tired of being told how she is delayed, what we need to work on, what we needed to be aware of, and how her future will be so different than what we imagined. We were also hit with new realities such as possible arthritis in her left knee at a young age. It's exhausting. It's emotionally draining. I was so tired of facing reality.

So, I'm planning (not hoping, definitely planning:) that this talk that was given on Sunday will bring me back up to where I need to be, strong.

"A perfect body is not required to achieve a divine destiny, in fact, some of the sweetest spirits are housed in frail frames.
Eventually, the time will come when each spirit and body shall be reunited again in perfect form, both limb and joint shall be restored to it's proper frame...."

Elder Russell M. Nelson

Recently

2012-03-15T12:06:00.001-06:00

I had a little birthday last month, Speney spoiled me for the whole weekend. We went to Park City and stayed at Zermatt Resort with our friends. We went to the Olympic Park and watched the skeletoning, which is pretty intense! So cool to watch something like that in person.

This was our bed, holy smokes, I felt like a princess! We all laid on that bed and watched TV all Friday night then finally went to get some dinner at 11ish in Heber, which is hard to do, dominos stayed open for us :) (our girls were staying with their grandparents)

The next day we went downtown PC then headed home, Blayke was still at my parents and we went to see the Vow! We went to get missy the next day. I had a great weekend, thanks for spoiling me speney!

Last week, Spencer came home from work with a big smile on his face, and surprised me with an iphone! I was totally surprised, and super excited. I love that it syncs with my calendar on my macbook so now I can schedule everything on my phone calendar and sync it with my computer so I stop double booking us! Seriously, I know it's lame, but we schedule so far ahead, we're already scheduled thru May.

The winter this year has been sooo nice! We've been able to take out B's tric and go for walks. [notice her left hand and foot-they have koband [like and ace bandage] to hold her hand open and holding on and to keep her toes on the petal. The tric is awesome for OT and PT for missy. We're trying to help her to lift her foot up correctly when she walks (lifting her toes aka: flexing her foot), she gets that motion on the tricycle, so it's awesome! I love when we're doing something fun for her, but it is also therapy.

Speaking of therapy, Blayke had a 'dream day' at therapy a couple weeks ago, she got to wear all those necklaces and bracelets!

We had kineso taping done.

[it's also like an ace bandage but it is sticky and provides some stretch, so it encourages a certain movement]. She had her arm and leg done, it's easy stuff, stays on for about 5 days and we take it off in the bath.

The godfather came for a visit bearing chirstmas and bday gifts. He does too much, he totally spoils her!

One of the gifts-new vans! Seriously, adorable.

wearing dad's hat :)

It may be hard to believe but yes, she did have a hair cut, (those blonde locks are really hard to see in there), her hair looks much thicker now and we can still do piggy's :)

We went to a trampoline gym with some friends. I was hesitant to take B, wondering how she would do, but it was only $2 so I figured we'd try it. She actually did really well, I was so proud of her.

And get this....Bentley from the Bachelor is part owner! I walked in holding Blayke and saw him, then he looked at me....I honestly think I froze. I don't know what to do when I see someone who is famous (or had their 15 minutes), I kind of freak out! I was pretty proud of myself for holding it together though. I used my friends baby as a decoy to take this picture, [haha] ugh, i need help!

I'll admit, I was a little star struck. Sad, but true ;)

That's him in the middle, if you can't tell, he's going for the grunge look. :)

Our ward put on a 'night in paris', Spen was part of the 'tour de france' he's on the far right end...

We got our faces painted.

Spencer spoke in a french accent all night after getting his mustache!

Good times!

bring on summer

2012-03-06T16:07:00.000-07:00

We're a little excited for summer around here!

[which really means that mommy got a little excited at Target and started buying summer clothes]

In 2 months we'll be back in sunny California where Blayke can wear those cute sunglasses all day long. :)

we live with a princess

2012-02-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

like i said, princess.

The Birthday Girl

2012-02-01T21:50:00.001-07:00

My baby is 2!

It seems like just yesterday I was like this..... and you were like this.....

Where does the time go? Seriously.

To celebrate her birthday, which was last Saturday, we had a small little party on her birthday. How could we not, when the big day was on a saturday?

Her mini cake!

We had pizza, salad and treats

pink zebra cookies, how does one resist making their for a baby girl's birthday?

gotta love pinterest for all the ideas ;)

Blayke was SO happy to have everyone over, she loves playing with everyone. When she sees her cousins, she does this little scream of excitement and runs around the house. Seeing her so happy makes it so fun.

Her brand new birthday present from grandma and grandpa flake- a red radio flyer tricycle!!!!

this thing is awesome! I love love that it has the handle so we can push her and steer. We are going to have some fun walks in the future. And best part is, it's therapy approved, both her pt and ot suggested it would be a good gift. Grandpa even put the bell on the left hand side so she has to use that hand to ring it...always thinking!

Blayke got some cool new presents, we got her some new shoes that she needed anyway and a fun bath toy.

Grandma made blayke an ivory and pink minky pillow case, it is soo soft. She sleeps right by it every night!

Showing everyone her pillow. [tanner and lindsay even came down from pocatello and stayed with us for the weekend, we had so much fun staying up late, playing games, and sledding]

her own mini cake

pushing her best little friend on the tric

In our neighborhood/ward there are 6 cute kidlets that all have birthdays within a few months of each other, so we had a combined party for them at our church

[shan-the invite, so cute]!

The birthday cake!

There was even a bounce house!

All the kids eating cake!

They had a great time!

I love you baby cakes, we try not to spoil you too much, but let's face it, we can't help it, you deserve everything and more!

ice skating & sledding

2012-01-26T21:31:00.000-07:00

Before christmas we went ice skating in downtown salt lake, it was so cool! There is an outdoor ice rink in the middle of tall buildings, it was like a mini central park in nyc, okay maybe not, but it was so fun!

the girlies :)

Spence had to work, so my mom was my skating buddy! Blayke stayed with grandpa and played with her cousin.

by the end, lindsay and I were pretty much professionals :)

[okay, i was holding onto the wall, hehe ;)]

We played tag while we were there, and crack the whip, haha. It was fun until I was soooo close to tagging tanner, we were both booking it, and ate it on the ice. My toepick [cutting edge anyone?] caught the ice, and i fell flat on my stomach. My right hip and left knee took the fall, and i had the wind knocked out of me. A little blood, [from my hip, it sliced open from the fall], 2 huge bruises, and a painkiller later I was up and playing dance kinect later that night. As for the ice, I was done after that, i'm not going to lie, it hurt!

i think ice skating should be a new tradition, yes??

A couple weeks ago it finally snowed on MLK day. Spence had the day off, so we went sledding at sugarhouse park. The snow, obviously wasn't that great, people had been there all day sledding so it was worn down, but still fun for us.

We finally know how to dress warm, yay us! We're pretty happy about it.

my little peanut butter in her snow gear!

dada and miss b going down the hill

B and mama going down!

uncle mad dawg and blayke going down!

We're excited for more snow [or as Blayke would say, 'no' while pointing to her nose]

Hopefully the sled that the grandkids got for christmas holds up for us big kids ;)

tea party for 1?

2012-01-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

before church last week miss b had a mini tea party.

[love her face in this picture, does it get any sweeter?]

Close Call

2012-01-12T23:09:00.000-07:00

My girl, my macbook, got a little sick. Well, not really sick, she just got the 'x' in the battery icon, which is no bueno. Basically, the battery doesn't charge and every time you unplug, it goes black or like mine started doing, shuts off. Basically it means its time for a new battery.

My computer did this a year and a half ago, I like to say she was on life support, but then one day I unplugged it and it stayed on, it was fixed.

Then it started again a few months ago so speney ben got me a new battery for my computer for christmas [which btw, apple sells them for $120...which is insane, especially since you can get them on buy.com for $35. :)]

Long story short, the new battery was not taking care of the 'x'.

We tried some different things, cleaned up some space, etc. The thing is when it was getting 'cleaned up', ALL, I mean every single one of my pictures was deleted. GONE. iphoto...empty. Trash can...empty.

I tried not to thing about it, they had to be somewhere right?

After a call to apple didn't help, I took her into the genius bar in the store. Things weren't looking good. They had to keep her "overnight" which ended up being the whole weekend to run tests, and that was just for the battery, which was either a $70 wire fix or a $500 logitech board problem.

At that point i told that apple 'genius' that he was killing me.

Oh and as far as the pictures, they were gone.

I felt like I was back at a dr appt, waiting to hear the prognosis. The thought of losing all of our pictures, pictures of us before we were married, our wedding, me being pregnant, and all of Blayke's pictures, it honestly made me feel sick.

I tried not to think about it.

Monday, i finally got to pick up my macbook, it was the $70 fix, which still sucks, but not bad. If it were $500 there's no way we would have paid for that, we would have used it as a desktop and always left it plugged in.

Anyway, the pictures.

There is a $70 program that restores all of your pictures. Everything that was a .jpg is restored, so even these little favicon things that are not pictures are restored...which is a little annoying to sort through when there are thousands of pictures.

And all the pictures are totally out of order, i have major work to do...

BUT, they're back!!!!!

I am soooooo happy and relived, even if it did cost $70, those are memories people and we all know memories are priceless ;)

Moral to the story...back up your pictures.

Don't learn the hard way like I did.

I was too cheap and didn't have the patience to do it, luckily spencer does and saved all of our pictures.

All of our pictures are on a external hard drive now, such a relief!

I am so happy.

While this whole thing was going on, there was one picture that kept standing out in my mind.

I knew I didn't have it anywhere else but on my computer,

all i wanted to do was see this picture....

Blayke at 8 months, right after we moved into our townhouse and right before we found out about her stroke.

Speaking of, I wish I could go back to that time to see what life was like.

I can't even remember.

I'm so glad our pictures are back, life can continue now ;)

Christmas

2011-12-30T22:12:00.000-07:00

We had a great Christmas this year with lots of pics to show for it.

We had Christmas at my parents, we ended up packing our bags and staying the whole weekend!

We even had an early visit from Santa on Christmas Eve night...the kids loved it.

Blayke got an early gift from Spence...an Ellen hoodie!!!

You better believe she is rockin that thing like there is no tomorrow, she loves it as much as i do!

[oh that thing hangin out of her mouth won't be there for long, in fact there wasn't much there in this picture, i've been cutting off the tip and cutting a little more at a time, she is quickly losing interest in the pacifier...just as we hoped!] :)

[see she's excited about it]!

Her Christmas dress!

Having a kid at Christmas is so fun!

Finally...Christmas Eve dinner :)

We were downstairs when we heard the bells and then a ho ho ho....

Santa came early!!!

He had a special treat for everyone and he had our OCE gifts! [open christmas eve ;)]

Blayke wasn't scared, he was giving out candy, of course she wasn't scared!

Each of the kids sat on Santa's lap and told them what they wanted...

Even Mad sat on his lap and asked for an iphone! Then santa said okay, check your pocket and there was his iphone he wanted. [which btw, he has siri, and i cannot wait for my upgrade and my bday coming up for that reason, because we all need a personal assistant on our phone right. Right.]

I think Blayke recognized Santa....

Weird. Maybe that's where Blayke got her blue eyes...Santa Claus ;)

And how appropriate that she wore a shirt that says "Santa's Favorite"

So if you haven't gotten the hint yet, Spencer was Santa, he was awesome!!! It was all his idea to get a Santa suit and surprise everyone with Santa coming to visit. It was hilarious, we were all dying laughing, Santa kept saying he was going to have heat exhaustion in that suit, but seriously he did so good, I was a proud mrs. claus!

We got an early Christmas present from my parents, Dance Central 3 for the kinect, it is SO much fun! [spence and i got it too from my brother who had our name...my new workout?...i think yes]

Even Blayke had to get in the dancing action with her cindy loo who hair. She actually even scored points dancing :)

4 grown men laughing and dancing, what else can do that?

Blayke in her Christmas pj's ready for Santa to come back :)

Santa brought Blayke a play kitchen!
Now hopefully mommy won't trip over blayke in the kitchen because she wants to help all the time :)

[apparently she likes her coffee first thing in the morning]

what happened to the rest of my face spence?

i made a little something for spence to hang in his office someday...

he's obsessed with george so i took the quote from one of his songs

Blayke got a special I am a Child of God book from mommy and daddy with pictures by Greg Olsen. She was kissing one of the little girls in the picture :)

Guess what...momma got a new Ellen hoodie too! B and I match, you better believe we wear them out at the same time!

[BTW, don't look close at that pic we both literally just woke up]

Every Christmas my parents would take a picture of us and all of our stuff, I love looking back at those pictures to see what we got, how old we were, etc, so that's something I started with Blayke last yr. So here is Blayke's picture with her and all of her Christmas stuff...

[i'll leave out mine and spence's because, well, that's just weird]

December [Temple Lights]

2011-12-22T12:26:00.001-07:00

I cannot believe it's December already. Even better Christmas is in 3 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this time of year!

Last Saturday we went downtown again to see the Temple Lights. It was packed!

[like I said...packed]
We started a little tradition last year with some friends by going downtown to eat at Iggy's then we jump on the train and go to the temple. My brother and sister in law came to eat with us this yr :)

My little eskimo, she could hardly move!

At the lights...at least we were able to take a pic!

Our friends gave us AZ folk some gloves for Christmas this yr! Our hands stayed so warm! We're still trying to figure out this whole dressing warm and layering thing, but I feel like we finally might be getting it. I wore 2 pair of leggings, one was fleece lined and 2 pair of socks and a beanie, oh and my new gloves, that's pretty good right? I felt good about it and stayed warm which was even better :)

I love downtown :)

We had fun but we decided for next year that we should go on a tues or thurs the very beginning of Dec, that way it's not fhe night, mutual or the weekend.

In other news....

Miss B Ava had her second round of botox injections last week. Everything went well, it went exactly like it did the first time except she was under a little longer, apparently she decided to take a little nap.

I always feel so bad when she has to go through something like that, so I took her to breakfast afterwards, actually it was more like lunch, at Kneaders!

If she has to get botox injections then she should at least get to go out to eat afterwards right?

I agree!

Though, some people would view botox and going out to eat as a win-win. ;)

Notice the empty highchair, apparently she is too grown up for that now, she wanted to sit in the big chair.

the rest of the day she was supposed to take it easy so we went home and turned on Tangled.

She watched about 7 minutes total...she is not a movie or tv watcher at all, she'd rather play :)
[i guess i should be glad]

I was on the phone with one of her therapists when I saw Blayke was 'on the phone' too, or should I say camera? That's my old camera she's holding and talking on. It made me laugh, she was walking around and talking just like I was.

She is likes to do what mom is doing....
and wearing...
[my scarf, necklace, and bag]

Our own little Cindy Loo Who :)
She has turned into such a little helper lately, helping me with laundry, unloading the dishwasher, its awesome!

We went to the Grand America Hotel the other day, they have a little scavenger hunt and then you get a free cookie at the end!free cookie at the end!

K, the Grand America.....GORGEOUS!!!! Holy wow, it's so fancy!

the kids and their cookies at the end

My mom, sister, sister in law and I went to the Tabernacle Christmas Concert with Jane Seymore. It was really cool! I love having a night out too! We went downtown before to eat, then walked downtown in the freezing cold to the train which was packed! Then ran to to the conference center, it was so fun!!! My brother even watched Blayke until Spencer got home from work, thanks Mad-dog!

Sleep Study and the Results

2011-12-07T21:53:00.000-07:00

Miss B Ava had a sleep study last week. Which means, her and I spent the night at the hospital.

Real fun, I know.

[actually, the whole time I was laying there, I couldn't help but be grateful we were only there for a sleep study. I kept thinking about the kids upstairs and their families who stay at the hospital all the time.]

We checked in at 8pm last monday and they immediately started hooking her up and getting her ready. I was totally nervous on how she would do having everything put on, she did surprisingly well. She didn't try to take them off, she didn't shake her head, she didn't cry, she did awesome. They gave her a stick with stickers to play with, that kept her busy.

There were 2 people hooking her up and prepping her and it still took 45 minutes! There was a lot involved...obviously ;)

She had wires under her shirt, on her neck, all over her head and on her foot. They put this net on her head to hold all the wires so she can sleep. You can see the wires in the top of the pic, and of course on the bed.

I called it her ponytail of wires.

And, there was one more thing...the nose. They put that on her face with that thing going in her nose. That monitors if and how much she is breathing in and out of her nose. She did not like having that put on.

Saddest face ever, right? :(

Finishing up with even more wires.

They gave blayke a new fleece pink blanket. They put that on the bed to cover the wires and for her to sleep with. We got to take it home with us.

Our room for the night. That was my bed on the left.

I laid in bed with Blayke until she fell asleep. She did fall asleep pretty quick, I think the poor girl was so tired after all that. Once she was asleep I would climb out of the bed onto my chair/bed. Overall, the night went pretty well but the wires in her nose kept getting clogged, so a machine would start beeping. The girl would come in, try to fix it and would have to have oxygen blown into the wires, so blayke was getting oxygen up into her nose, which could not be comfortable. Every time someone came in Blayke would sit right up, she was such a light sleeper that night. I climbed in and out of that bed so many times.

Finally at about 2am they changed the size of her nose thing to a large size. She did not like that at all, she was trying to climb on me while I was trying to help her lay down so they could get it in okay. After that I told her I would stay with her in her bed the rest of the night, I pulled my blanket in and we actually slept. No machines beeping, and no one came in until 6am when it was over and they started taking everything off of her. We made it!

I got 3 hours of sleep that night but it was over!

Blayke had a ton of gunk in her hair and all over her so instead of coming home at 7am and going back to bed, she needed a bath. She had therapy at 9 at our house, but after that she had a nice nap! Even I took a nap, 45 mins, and I felt worse afterwards so I resorted to caffeine and kfc to get me through the day, it worked :)

[see her masterpiece on the wall from her bath crayons, she loves them!]

So, we had a sleep study done because Blayke tends to breathes loudly, snores sometimes, and well, sleeps a lot! Not that we're complaining about her sleeping 13 hours at night and usually another 5 in the day, it's just a lot. Spencer had sleep apnea and his tonsils, adenoids and uvula removed when he was in high school.

I mentioned a few things to her Pediatrician last month, he told us about having a sleep study done and referred us to an ENT.

Blayke and I went back to the hospital this morning to hear the results. I thought for sure they would say everything was okay, maybe a little something but nothing to worry about.

I was totally taken back when the Dr told me that she does have a mild case of sleep apnea.

The good news is that it is mild.

They consider 'mild in children' is stirring 1 time per hour. Blayke stirs 3.5 times per hour.

Her oxygen levels, which should be around 92%, drop to 81%, and basically she stops breathing for a few seconds each time.

[isn't it crazy how they all this?]

I don't like that she stops breathing that many times, but that is considered "mild".

Blayke isn't getting enough "quality" sleep each night and during her naps which is making her more tired throughout the day and is why she sleeps so much.

The only thing is...the Dr is worried with her history of her stroke, that it could be weakness in her throat causing this. He is a little apprehensive to take out her tonsils and adenoids when he doesn't know if that is 100% the cause. She could have the surgery and it could do nothing.

Basically, we have to decide and weigh our options....to do surgery or not.

In the mean time the Dr is going to talk to another Dr who usually reviews the sleep studies but is out of town for 2 weeks, then he'll call me and we'll go from there.

I wish I could at least bribe her with shakes and watching movies but she's just not into that stuff yet.

So, we'll see.

If this is interrupting her development, you know, maybe she would be more productive in the day if she wasn't so tired, then I do think we should do it.

I just don't know yet on this one.

I think if we did do surgery, we wouldn't do it for a couple of months at least, next week she is having her second round of botox injections.

So for now, I just have to keep this girl healthy for the next week, botox and sickness, any kind of sickness, do not mix.

At all.

[p.s. blayke you did so good that night, I was so, so proud of you for being such a good sport! You only cried once, and that was because they were changing wires and pulling tape off of your cute little face, unlike the little boy down the hall who cried almost all night! If you understood the fun in going out to breakfast, I totally would have taken you out for whatever you wanted! Maybe later huh? You pick the place! we'll get dad to go too :]

Results

2011-12-04T13:33:00.000-07:00

Last month when Blayke was 21 months, she had her annual testing done with Early Intervention, aka therapy that comes to our house. She was tested in every category, fine motor skills, gross motor, cognitive, communication, socialisation, etc.

Let me back up and tell you she had this same testing done 6 months ago. She was 15 months at the time, and was not yet walking. Because she wasn't walking, and everything seems to happen after they start walking, like talking, etc. Her scores weren't very good, she scored in almost everything at a 12 month level. Her speech was even at the 10 month level.

Then she had botox done, had a cast on her good arm, and it was basically like having an infant again for a week. She was 100% dependent on us for everything, I mean everything. From trying to eat a goldfish to trying to play with her toys. It was exhausting, the only thing that got us through that week was going on walks, it gave both blayke and I a break.

Soon after botox, at 19 months, she started walking! Then she started talking.

The results we got this week were mind blowing, even to her therapists in Early Intervention. She scored in almost category at 22 months! She is behind in the self help category, but her OT and I will be working on that, feeding herself independently with a spoon/fork, learning to dress herself, etc.

[thanksgiving day, playing with her cousins]

If that wasn't exciting enough, she scored in adult interaction at 27 months and socialisation at 30 months!

I was blown away. In 6 months she came from being about 4 months behind and is now caught up, even scoring higher in some categories! I couldn't believe it! Her therapists couldn't believe it! She met every one of her goals that we made, which they said rarely happens. We set new goals, I am so excited for her!

Blayke and I still go to musikgarten (music class) every week, and apparently, she is doing so well in there, they wish they could put her in their preschool right now!!! But...she has to be close to 2 1/2. So, next summer sometime, she'll be starting preschool!

My little bean will be going to school!!!

We are so so so so proud of her. 6 months ago I was beginning to think, this whole stroke, cerebral palsy, thing had us beat, and that she would always be behind, but now I am starting to believe again that we can beat it! She's not going to let that stand in her way.

the hawaii trip

2011-11-23T13:23:00.000-07:00

I HAD to share the parentals Hawaii Pics!

I mean this was a once in a lifetime trip you know.

Staying at the Four Seasons Resort, a completely paid for trip, including flights, rental car and breakfast, and it being from Ellen?

I still can't believe it.

There was a reason I wanted to send them to Hawaii in particular, you can read that HERE or my mom's post HERE. [which is a little more accurate in the details]

Now onto the fun stuff....the pictures!

The view from their room...

a welcome gift from the travel agency that set it all up.

[minus the wine, they gave that to the bellhop dude]

me madre

me padre

Their rental car was a jeep! How cool is that!

big sea turtles on the black sand beach

they're ginormous!

apparently there is a lot of lava on the big island

so pretty...

driving to the resort looked like this...

but then as you drive in there it starts looking more and more like Hawaii and gets prettier and greener...

and greener...

apparently this is the 'tranquilty pool' where you can't talk above a whisper.

Not to worry, if you do want to talk they have 5 different pools. :)

The hot tub. There was a live band playing to the right every night.

the resorts private beach, with the chairs "set-up".

Apparently, you can have a 'set-up', where they give you a towel, put a little mat/towel over the chair, and give you a glass of water.

walking path and lava

this is where they enjoyed their breakfast buffet everyday

this picture cracks me up...it's a classic case of menu price shock!

[good thing breakfast was included and they had a car so they could leave the resort for dinner]!

where they ate everyday... seriously, this looks like a scene from a movie.

another pool!

apparently they were pretty happy to find an ABC store. haha

Here is the Four Seasons office.

When you check in, you don't go to a counter, you sit down on these nice couches, they give you a lei, fancy coconut drinks in a coconut and fresh pineapple to eat.

That's just checking in people. OMG!

Then they take your bags, and they take you on a separate golf cart to your room and for a tour of the resort.

I guess every night, they come in and undo your bed, pull down the sheets/bedding for you to get in. Then they put a mat down on each side of the bed with a pair of slippers for you when you wake up each morning.

Spoiled, right?

The view of the pool and ocean

The kiddies pool! With tiny lounge chairs! How cute!

And of course, none of this would have been possible without our girl ellen...

They had an AMAZING time and were completely spoiled rotten!!!

They also said this was the nicest place they have ever stayed! YAY!!!

[holy view... i might have to frame this pic]

Our break

2011-11-11T14:40:00.001-07:00

So, we're on our official break from primary's therapy and oh my gosh, I could get used to this.

It is SO nice not having to wake up every morning and hurry to get off to appts.

I actually have blank days on my calendar, like this is awesome!

We still have early intervention come over every week, but that's easy when they come to our house. And we still do musikgarten every friday.

We saw the ENT, she had a swallow study done this last tuesday. Everything looks great!

(I love hearing that everything looks great! When we saw the opthamologist a month ago, and he said that, I totally almost started crying like a baby when I told him thanks, and that we didn't hear that very often. He was like oh...yeah, she's good, totally re-assuring me.

That's 2 everything's okay from 2 different specialists in a row people!

Really, I could get used to hearing that.)

Anyway, it was cool to watch the swallow study. I put her in a little chair, the x-ray machine came out to the left of her. I stood in front of her with a lead vest and fed her the foods they had ready for her. The monitor was on my left side and a dr and nurse on my right, (blayke's left), I could look up at the monitor and see her chewing the food and watch it go down her throat. It was SO cool! I could see all her teeth, her earring, it was awesome. When she drank you could see all the liquid going down her throat. They put stuff in the food so it would show up on the x-ray. I'm glad it's over and that she's good, but seriously, it was really cool to watch!

Anyway, she's having a sleep study done in dec, then botox a week later, then intense therapy. So we'll enjoy our break before dec comes and we start staying at the hospital!

Blayke and I have been taking advantage of our new found freedom by going to the park by our house or to liberty park downtown almost every morning, well, before it started getting cold.

She has turned into such a little helper. Ever since she started walking she has taken off with everything. Her Speech therapists always said once she started walking, her speech would come, since she wouldn't be concentrating so much on walking anymore, and it has. But even more than that, she understands almost everything! Spencer and I decided we basically went from having an infant, when she had her cast on, to a full blown toddler. We're blown away with how well she is doing.

She loves to take care of her babies!

Rock them and put them in the stroller, seriously how do kids know what to do?!

Apparently, she's also turned into a little thug with one pant leg rolled up :)

This girl is all girl.

She finds her necklaces and puts them on by herself, it's pretty cute watching how she does it with her left hand. She likes getting her toenails and fingernails painted.

In my defense, it is a written order from her dr to paint her nails. (wearing the nail polish brings awareness, so she can see and recognize her left fingers and toes)

And yes, she really was on the phone in this picture...cracks me up.

She likes to throw things away, which is nice, except when its her crayons box or flashcards box, i find those in the garbage almost daily.

She loves saying prayers :)

The other night after her bath, we put pigtails in her hair!

She looks so big right?!

We are having so much fun with her! Every age/ milestone gets better and better!

Oh and she finally started saying 'mama' this week!

(not that i'm biased, but she's been saying 'daddy' forever okay)

i need a little love too you know.

fall is falling away

2011-11-07T10:41:00.000-07:00

Before Halloween we went to Wheeler Farms to pick a pumpkin!

You get to do a 'hay ride' and a little maze too! Blayke loved it, especially the maze and the pumpkins!

cows :)

Blayke only wants to get down and walk now days, and she is getting quick!

i love that face!

feeling the hay with both hands, it's a great texture to stimulate her left hand ;)

(that's what we like, play and therapy at the same time)

uh-oh, dead end.

loving the maze!

peek a boo!

the pumpkin patch!

she loved picking up the pumpkins and moving them

spence and i were pretty impressed by her picking them up, she did it like it was nothing

"uh-oh"

she was going to give the cat a kiss...

until it's head started moving back and forth...

check her out walking down the hill like a pro!

We have been loving fall, but Saturday we woke up to snow!

[it's almost all melted now]

That's okay though, I'm just happy it didn't snow before halloween like last year!

With B walking this year, we're going to have fun in the snow :)

aloooha!

2011-11-03T12:01:00.003-06:00

Aloha!

That's what I said to my mom on the phone yesterday morning when B and I done at the dr.

Why you might ask?

Well yesterday, my deserving parentals flew to the big island of Hawaii to begin their amazing 6 night trip from Ellen!

I can't even tell you how excited I am for them, you would think I was going, but i'm not!

I'm just SOOOOOO excited for them.

It's like at Chirstmas, when you are excited to give gifts just as much as you are to receive them, you know what I mean, you just want to see how they react and hear how much they love it, you know!

I didn't think I'd be freaking out like I am, but I want to hear every single thing about their flight, their amazing room, everything! I've almost called them so many times, but I finally googled the time in Hawaii, when it said it was only 5:48AM, I realized I have to chill out! (though they could be up because of jet lag you know, oh my gosh...i'm not going to call yet)

So, why a trip to Hawaii you might ask?

I remember a couple years ago when I was talking to my mom, I think I was up visiting from AZ, I was pregnant at the time. Spencer and I had been married about 6 months or so and things weren't going as we had planned. I quit my job up here to move to az when we got married because we thought we had a job lined up for Spence, a great deal on a place for us to live, etc. Anyway, those fell through and nothing seemed to be working out for us.

Anyway, one day my mom and I were running errands together and I remember her telling me a story.

See when my mom was in her early 20's, she was in a bad car accident, like really bad. She was in the hospital for months, she had a lot of surgery's, etc. I can't remember what happened with insurance but the remaining balance was really expensive. My mom being a young college student didn't have the money to cover the remaining balance. My grandparents stepped in and helped her by taking care of all of her hospital bills.

It wasn't until years later, when my parents were married and had some of us young kids. They had saved enough money to do something nice for her parents for taking care of all of those hospital bills years ago.

She organized and booked a trip for 2 to Hawaii. She sent my grandparents to Hawaii on an all expense paid trip. I don't think she even told them about it, she set it all up and gave them the tickets.

My parents have helped us. They helped us when we were desperate and when we were put into a situation that we had no control over, but we climbed out of it, with their help.

Funny thing about parents is, I never asked my parents for money.

They knew.

They saw what I guess was pretty obvious, we were newlyweds who were pregnant and jobless.

I still look back and don't know how we survived, I would only spend $30 at the grocery store (no coupons), I don't know what we ate, I don't think we really did. (I couldn't keep anything down anyway).

We never went out, I remember one 'date' was to QT gas station to get a drink.

We lived over 500 miles away but they took care of us.

I hated taking money and they knew that, they always said don't worry about paying us back right away, just do this for your own kids when they need it.

I have literally dreamed of the day when I could book a trip to Hawaii for my parents, give them their tickets, and the remaining balance of what we owed them in cash for spending money. I thought about how we would do it and what it would be like.

I never dreamed it would come already, and they are there right now.

Maybe that is why I am so excited for them, even though I only had a small role in this trip, sending them to hawaii as a thank you is a dream come true for me.

Not only are they there, but they are at the Four Season's Resort where the room they are staying in is $1,500 per night!!
They also get a breakfast buffet that is worth over $650.00. (I don't know what they serve at breakfast but it must be amazing, we joked they'll probably only be eating one meal a day if breakfast is over $100 each day!)

My parents have taught me so much by their example, I hope to be half of the example to my children that they are to me.

So, mom and dad, ENJOY HAWAII!

YOU DESERVE THIS!

You always put us kids and our spouses first.

You are the most selfless people I have ever known.

HAVE FUN THIS WEEK, DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO AND ENJOY EVERY MINUTE OF IT.

I think I can speak for all of us kids and our spouses by saying thank you, and please for once, think of yourselves!!!

I AM BEYOND EXCITED FOR YOU!

We love you so much and THANK YOU for your selfless example, and for everything you have done for us, we honestly don't know where we'd be without you!

Hil, Spence, Blayke

halloween!

2011-11-01T16:39:00.000-06:00

Blayke was a "good" witch for halloween!

I like how she's "modeling" her costume here! Thanks Blayke, that makes mommy feel good after making your tutu and painting the stripes onto your shirt ;)

We had a stake party a week ago, a truck or treat last weekend and we took her trick or treating with her cousins halloween night!

[and Spence and I went to Lagoon for Frightmare's Friday night with some friends, we got a 2 for 1 ticket, which was the same price if we were going to 1 haunted house, they had all the rides open and 5 haunted houses. We did it all! It was so much fun!]

Blayke and her friend London on Daddy's longboard at the trunk or treat!

Blayke, London, Emerson and River!

Hutch, London and Blayke!

We went to my parents house to trick or treat in their neighborhood halloween night!
All the kids, aren't they cute?!

They had a blast trick or treating, Blayke got too much candy! She knows it's in her pink bucket, she points to it and signs candy...we're in trouble. Someone gave out hot chocolate and kettle corn trick or treating, it was good!

We had a great Halloween, can't wait for next year!

1 year ago today...

2011-10-28T16:19:00.000-06:00

1 year ago today....

We got up early to go meet our new pediatrician for a 9 month well check up.

Little did we know what the next few days were going to bring for us.

I remember the rest of the afternoon, I had nurses calling me from our dr and from primary children's hospital.

The wait that morning for an MRI was over 3 months.

That afternoon we were scheduled for a brain MRI in 4 days.

The pediatrician called the neurologist and we got in, at that point we knew they were looking for something specific, we just didn't know what.

We had our halloween weekend, I remember driving to get candy and I lost it, I cried and cried.
What was happening?

We tried to stay positive by saying our dr was just being thorough but inside we were scared to death.

While Blayke was having the MRI done, I waited in a rocking chair and by a crib where she would sleep to recover from the sedation.

They told me once it was done if they have have time to review it before we left they would come tell me the results.
Once Blayke was asleep in the crib, I thought every single person I saw walk by at the front of the recovery room was going to come tell me everything was fine, nothing was found on the scan.

That didn't happen and we went home once she was awake and drinking.

The next day at home her pediatrician called, I will never forget that moment when he told me they found something on the MRI, there has been an injury to the brain, she has had a stroke.

Even then, I had no idea what we were in for this last year.

I thought maybe a few months of therapy, and we'd be good to go.

I never knew that the following year would hold countless therapy appts, dr visits, braces, referrals, specialists, tests, exams, casting, and botox.

I never thought the term cerebral palsy would be a part of my perfect little girl's life.

It's still hard for me to wrap my head around all of this.

Though it's hard and sometimes i just feel like screaming it's not fair, I am grateful.

Grateful for all the amazing people we have met over the last year,
how many amazing dr's we have
how I consider some of her therapists a part of our family (because without them I don't know where we'd be),
how lucky and blessed we are that this is only physical and didn't affect her mentally
how blessed we are that she survived this stroke
how glad I am that she is my one and only right now
how humbling it is when people tell you they have been praying for your child
how she can do the smallest thing like raise her hands above her head and we celebrate it!
how amazing it is to see her reach her milestones
Watching her walk is awesome, even her dr today kept stopping while he was talking and said 'i'm sorry, this [her walking] is just amazing'. We were starting to wonder if she would be able to learn to walk unassisted. She had botox done in her shoulder, relaxed those muscles, she was able to get her balance and took off walking and hasn't looked back. And we almost ordered her a walker...
Blayke has been on the local news as a model for the bamboo brace and as most of you know, she was on National TV on the Ellen DeGeneres show! We were on only 3 months after we found out, SO much has changed even since then.

So, I can only be grateful.
I am honored to be her mom.

So today when we met with her dr again for a 21 month check up, [he didn't want to go 6 months without seeing her] getting a referral to an ENT at Primary's doesn't seem like a big deal. We get a new referral at almost every appt now days from ears and eyes [those are both good for now, thank goodness] to a new therapist, PM& R, or to a specialist like an ENT.

We meet with the Ear Nose and Throat dr next week.

They already called me today to schedule.

Wish us luck :)

to read more about her story and how we found out go HERE.

Oceanside [part 2]

2011-10-27T07:02:00.000-06:00

While we were in o-side we had family pictures done on the beach...

Blayke and her cousin Zach having a sword fight, she had SO much fun with her cousins. When she gets excited now she does this high pitched scream/squeal that is hilarious, let's just say we heard that a lot over there. :)

dolphins!

lindsay and I surfing

[linds, left. me, right]

waiting...

the girls, i think they became bff on this trip.

my mom pulling blayke on a little boogie board

her uncle mad taking her through a "waterfall" by uncle tanner

she loved being pulled on the board sitting and laying but now she's ready to surf!

she loved it :)

Some of the girls, my mom, lindsay, heidi, and blayke on i on the right

at the oceanside sunset market :)

on the morning we were leaving to go home blayke found a Hershey's bar on the shelf, apparently it was open and she helped herself.

Really chocolate for breakfast and before a 12hr drive?

she was pretty happy about it though, haha!

the front of the house we stayed at

the back..

and that view...

adios until next year my love.....

Oceanside, CA [part 1]

2011-10-25T09:54:00.001-06:00

the view from our beach house...perfect.

b in her juicy outfit from the best godfather out there.

Blayke loved the sand! I was SO glad.

[even more glad that she was walking by this trip]!

on the pier on the way to ruby's!

i love that beach

pelican :)

homeboy caught a stingray...yikes!

my dad was stung by one of those a few years ago, actually it was on the same day that Steve Irwin got stung in his heart and died.

you don't want to get stung by one, my dad was in a lot of pain, and he's never in pain. His foot was swollen, it was huge, and black and blue for weeks and went to the hospital/ dr a few times. [which he never goes to either]

some of the fam walking to ruby's

ruby's, how we've missed your yummy shakes and parmesan fries!

my sis in law, lindsay and i

last time we were here, my 2 brothers and I weren't even married yet, now we're all married and i have a kidlet!

our little fam

some guy drew this on the beach with a stick.

it's huge! it's hard to tell, but there is a bird standing on it towards the top, that helps to put into perspective.

Blayke fell asleep in her stroller, this never ever happens. I couldn't believe it

So sweet! She had been having so much fun at the beach and with her cousins.

my sister got the girls new purses, they loved them!

Blayke and my brother! She loves him, he did live with us for a year so she knows him pretty well

All the kids playing on the beach, blayke is with grandma, mad and heidi!

Mad and b

Mommy and B!

Did I mention how much she loved the sand!

and the water! She wanted to keep going back in!

that's my girl....a little beach bum at heart!

this might be my new fav picture :)

B with aunty terese and zach

mommy's hat!

her new sandals [on sale from zappos with our credit we had] just for the trip! Her pt said not to worry about her wearing her ankle brace, so she got to wear sandals!

Yay for Blaykey girl!!!

to be cont'd......

Sweet Water Frame Winner

2011-10-21T12:25:00.002-06:00

And the winner of the 4x6 frame from Sweet Water Frames is....

Cerrisse!

Cerrisse said...

I left a comment on their fb page.

October 13, 2011 9:21 PM

Congrats Cerrisse!!!! Email me to redeem your turquoise frame!

Thank you to everyone who entered!

I really wish you all could have won!

have a good weekend :)

Oreo Football Cookies

2011-10-20T07:02:00.001-06:00

Oreo football cookies.

Yum.

the mr did not want a birthday cake this year, remember? [i had planned on making him a football cake]

I was trying to decide what to do when I remembered he'd been craving homemade Oreo's.

So I figured I'd make the oreos into footballs!

Instead of rolling the dough into balls, I tried shaping them into footballs, but when they cooked, they flattened, and just looked like round cookies.

Then I used the palms of my hands, rolled them, like making a worm, and pinched the edges.

Grab your cream cheese frosting, now it's time for the laces.

I put the frosting in a ziploc bag, pushed it all to one corner and cut the very tip of the bag off.

easy huh!

look how cute they are!!

[okay some are messy but i was in big hurry]

that's better :)

Since the first batch turned out pretty round, I used all of them for the bottoms, then put the good looking ones on top

i could really go for one right now, you?

turns out it was a perfect alternative to a birthday cake! [which he wouldn't have eaten the cake anyway, so then I feel like i have to eat it so it doesn't go to waste, which I shouldn't be eating...anyway, it was a win-win]

Wouldn't these be fun for a football party?!

Superbowl in feb?!

Yeah, they'd be a hit!

Here's the oreo recipe:

1 box of Devil's Food Cake Mix

2/3 cup of butter flavored crisco

2 eggs

Cream Cheese frosting

Mix it all together. Roll into balls [or footballs]!

Bake at 350 for 10-12 Mins.

DIY Baker's Twine Pumpkin

2011-10-16T20:25:00.000-06:00

hi!

I'm back from my trip and I've been dying to show you this little guy I made for halloween!

I planned on posting more on my trip but the waves were calling my name, they were perfect, I had to get out there a boogie board my little heart out while I could.

[nerd, i know]

Anyway, since Halloween is right around the corner, let's jump into this little baker's twine pumpkin tutorial before its too late, mmmkay!

I got this little pumpkin at the dollar store and spray painted it white with some left over paint.

I wasn't quite sure where I was going with this, but I like the idea of white pumpkins. :)

I grabbed some of my diy baker's twine [don't buy the expensive stuff when you can make your own for wayyyy less] and mod podge to see what I could come up with.

I started with the stem and used orange bakers twine to wrap around it.

For the top of the stem, I went back and forth with the bakers twine.

Add mod podge as you go, you can even put some on the bakers twine to help it to stay down, just don't over do it, a little goes a long way. :)

the stem is done! looks better already, right?

Now for the second part, apply mod podge to the middle section of the pumpkin a little at a time and wrap the bakers twine around as you go.

Use as little or as much bakers twine as you want.

When you're done, put mod podge on the end of your bakers twine, tuck it in where you want it and stick on your pumpkin. :)

That's it! Easy right?

It really easy, and fast.

[just what we like. not to mention cheap, it cost me a whole $1, since I already had some diy bakers twine, $3.27, on hand]

[like that trick or treat sign? I know, its adorable!! Free printable HERE.]

Love the frame?

i knew you would! :)

that's because it's a a Sweet Water Frame.

Don't forget to enter my g iveaway for your very own 4x6 frame in the color of your choice!!!

enter giveaway here :)