Holy Crap... it's been 6 months!!!!

So in case you haven't noticed, I kinda suck at this whole blog thing.  I have great intentions of updating and posting lots of pics and keeping the masses entertained with our family-happenings.  And then the happenings get going and the family has no time leftover.  :(

My other excuse is a big one --  DRUMROLL PLEASE..........

We are expecting baby #2!!!!!! After years of praying and trying, we finally are having another sweet gift from God! Seeing as I am almost 27 weeks along and have announced it to the world in various ways (everything short of leaflets dropped from a prop plane) I'm sure you already knew this. But for those who are slow to news - we are having a BOY and are due on December 15th! Needless to say, we are thrilled and excited and freaking out all at once!! It's just been the three musketeers for over 6 years now and we have gotten used to that routine! But Peyten is so excited to be a big sister!!! Can you tell????

All the sickness is gone and now I'm just tired!  And getting big.  But so far he is healthy and moving like CRAZY!!  We had to have two ultrasounds cuz Jr. couldn't stay still. ;-)  He is an active little thing and that makes me nervous.  I hear boys are GO GO GO anyways, but to have already been this active in utero kinda makes me even more nervous!  Ah well - we'll adjust! ;-) 

Beyond baby news, quite a lot has happened in the past six months!  I'll try to give the Readers Digest version with only the best of the best pics!! ;-)

Peyten's school has a Field Day at the end of each school year and I think it is AWESOME!!!  The kids had so much fun and the parents had almost as fun watching!  The PE staff was in charge and they have it down to a science!  Bascially there are stations each class rotates to with different games/obstacles/challenges and they work together as a team or compete boys vs. girls and have a BLAST!!  Since I read to her kinder class once a week for almost the whole year I really got to know these kid-o's and it was so sweet watching them!  PLUS, Auntie Lisa flew in from Cali and Hannah Banana drove down from OSU for the weekend so needless to say we had good times!!!

Peyten's class with her teacher Mrs. Moss who we love and miss like crazy!!!

They got a little bit wet!! ;-)  Which is fine cuz it was wicked hot.

  

Total dorks!! ;-)  They got some pretty NASTY looks wearing OU threads in Texas.  Rebels!!!

Hannah Banana and munchkin partaking in popsicle goodness! ;-)

 

Grandma and Grandpa were able to come out the end of the school year to celebrate her graduating from kinder (though the school did not have any formal ceremony - LAME!!!)!  They were able to come to the last storytime I did (Oh The Places You'll Go by Dr.Suess) and the little awards ceremony that her teacher did!  Peyten got the "Spunky Spirit Award for exhibiting a spirit full of life" in the classroom!!  That is sooooo her!! ;-)   I was really grateful that Mrs. Moss did her little ceremony so we felt like we had something to participate in!!!

The last day of school with her teachers gift!  (I love our backyard!!)

Her "Welcome to Summer" poster she got to run through when she got home!!

 

During their visit it was so hot that we hardly did any sight-seeing or exploring. :(  They were able to stay for munchkins rainbow-themed birthday party though, which was too fun!!  She turned the big 6 and we had such a fun swim party with family and friends!!  We spray painted Twister on the lawn and had a huge marshmallow war!!  Good times!

           

 The rainbow skirt I made for the party!!!              The dress my Grany Kathy gave her with

                                                                                some of our fun decorations! 

*** WARNING ***

 If you are prone to motion sickness I do not reccommend watching this video!!  It is

2 minutes of sheer crazy marshmallow war goodness!!  You have been warned!! ;-)

 

 

We FINALLY were able to replace our garage door!!  It was the saddest sight I'd ever seen, structurally speaking.  See for yourself:

 

Nice, huh??

 

  

Snakes could crawl through that crack - and they have. :(

Way too much clearance. :(  The thing had to go!!!

 

Our NEW, beautiful, AUTOMATIC door - our first automatic opening door EVER!!  There are no cracks and no gaps!!  It is GORGEOUS!!!  And worth every stinkin' penny!! ;-)

 

 

Our last visitor for the summer before we went to Cali for vacay was none other than Sarah Georges, our friend from Lyon, France!!  She came to the US for a whirlwind country-wide adventure and we were lucky enough to be her next-to-last-stop, just before New York!! ;)  Since I was still super sick from being early in the prego phase we didn't get to do a whole heck of a lot, but we did RELAX!!  We went swimming almost every day, slept in, talked and talked and talked, and we made it to Johnson Space Center!!  SOOOOOO hot that day. :(  But fun!

 

Chilaxin in the pool with Peyten and Sarah!

         

Sarah and Peyten have a thing for hats!!                       At the Saturn V Rocket exhibit 

 

The OLD Mission Control - you can't tour the new one. :(

Replica of a shuttle on display at Johnson Space Center

 

 

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the last 6 months up until our Cali vacation!  That will be a completely seperate post cuz it's gonna be too awesome for words!! ;-)  And cuz I don't have pictures yet!  I promise that post will come as soon as my mom gets on the ball and uploads the pics from her camera!  Let me just say that it involves LOTS of fun, mayhem and Disney-type-things!! ;-)   Be excited!!

Cali

Peyten and I were lucky enough to be in Cali for Spring Break!  Ken insisted we go since he had to work and we still only have the one car, affectionately known as 'Don Juan Rodrigo', and because he's a frickin' rock star!! And I didn't argue - I'm smart like that!! ;)
We were there for 10 glorious days filled with family, friends and some of my favorite places!! The weather was awesome at first, then it got all spring-y on us, but what are ya gonna do? Especially when the rain is needed really badly?!

Our visit with Mel, Codes, Kambs and Hallie-bear!! Always so fun to watch these cuties play together! Such amazing personalities and sweethearts!! We really miss play-dates with these munchkins!!

Sandy and I.  This woman is a must-see stop every trip!  Unbelievable the amount of sanity and assurance she brings to me!!  Thanks 'mom'!!  Love you!!

Cowell Surf Shop in Santa Cruz.  As you can see, it was not the best of days for a beach trip.  But when you travel 2,000 miles to see the beach and you promise your kid -- you just make the best of it!  So, we went!!  We made sand castles, chased birds, carefuly stuck our hands in the ocean and ran away when the waves came in too fast (must have been quite the sight!), and just generally acted like 5-year olds at the beach.  Didn't matter it was sprinkling and FREEZING cold - we had a blast!!  Grandma and Grandpa were so brave and adventurous!!  It was seriously FREEZING!!!  They are just the best!!  I think my dad got some video of Peyten and I chasing seagulls, I'll see if I can get my hands on that video! ;)  There were people eating brunch at the restaurant overlooking the beach - they got brunch and a show, no charge!!  We were total idiots!! ;)

I love this kid!!  She is always so happy!!! :) She could have been upset and sad that the only day we could make it to the beach is was raining and freezing, but NO!!  She is still happy and so excited to be there!!  Wish I could say the same for me!! :)

Lisa and I!  Another must-see stop!!  Excuse my gum... such manners.  Sorry! ;)  Miss this girl!!!

Peyten and Auntie Lisa's boys Brogan and Vance!  They are getting so big... time is FLYING.

"Silly Face"

Ms Penelope!!  This is a cemented stop every trip to Cali!  Sarah and Penny are California staples in our house!!  We chatted, caught up, did some shopping at Joann's and they introduced us to Five Guys!  Pretty scrumptious!!  Always hard to say this goodbye. :(

Ms Penny and her crazy-eyes!! ;-)

Dorothy and I.  This woman -- ooohhhh this woman!!!!  I love her!!  She is such an amazing example of Christ-like love and kindness!  She is always so upbeat and happy!!  She had heart surgery a week or so before this visit - doesn't she look AMAZING?!?!?! She said the SWEETEST things to me at this visit and they made me cry like a blubbering idiot!!  Always nice to hear how your smiles and your attitude help and uplift other people!!

One of my favorite pics from our trip!  Their eyes say it all - happy, full of love, AMAZING ladies!!!  So so so happy we got to see her!!!!

Lucky Charm cucpackes at Grandma and Grandpa's! 

Peyten and Tristan loved them.  Talon was not feeling well so he didn't get to come. :( 

HUGE bummer, especially since this was our last night there. :(

Great big hugs for Uncle Justin!!  My brother is seriously the best!!!

Peyten and Tristan saying goodbye.  I can't believe how grown up this kid is.  Every time I see him now he's so much taller and amazing!!  Love my crazy boys, and miss them like crazy!!!

LOVE love L.O.V.E. this munchkin!!! ;)

Janet and I at church!!  I can't even begin to express how much this wonderful woman has inspired and blessed my life!  She was my freshman seminary teacher and taught me the most fundamental truths that helped make me the person I am today (far from perfect, but working on it!).  Her desire to show us how amazing we are and how much not only she, but Heaveny Father, loved us... you can't ever take away the overwhelming feelings of love and appreciation her class felt for her, because we knew she loved us and cared about us!  And now that I'm grown, she does the same thing for Peyten!!  It melts my heart to see Peyten on her lap, hearing how beautiful and amazing she is and how she can do hard things!!  She continues to be such a strength to me and a foundation for me!! 

LOVE this woman so much!!!!  Thanks for everything Janet!!

I can't believe I didn't get pics of Peyten with more family... such a dork!!  I don't even have one of my Grandma's in here.  I'm fired! :(  Next time!!!  :)

Well, we visited more people and saw more stuff, but I can't pssibly put all the pics!  Just know that we had a blast and it was so great to see family and a few close friends.  I wish so much we could have seen more people, but the time flies by so fast.  Growing up in the same place your whole life, you get to know a lot of people, all of them amazing!!  We miss your smiles and your hugs more than you can possibly know, but we know we are meant to be here at this time.  Still not sure why, but we know we're where we are supposed to be!!  So we're making the best of it!  I'm sorry we couldn't possibly see all of you - between all our school friends, church friends, those we've played sports with, volunteered with, neighbors - we know a whole lot of people!!  And we are humbled to have so many amazing people in our lives!!  I hope we have made your life better in some way - you have ours!! 

Love and miss you all!!!!

The BIG weekend!! (In a BIG post)

OK, a little bit of back-story is needed here!  The munchkin was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis in June of 2010.  Last September, Stanford clarified she does not have Rheumatoid because her RA factor was negative!  They also corrected her diagnosis to be Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (meaning they don't know what causes it).  Stanford increased the meds and showed us some additional stretches/exercises.  Now, we go to Texas Childrens Hospital in Houston.  Let me first say, the place is adorable!! Their waiting rooms have fish tanks and this cool pyramid the kids can climb into and slide down... it's WAY cooler than Stanford.  Anyhow, our appointment with her new doc was a couple weeks ago and they reclassified her arthritis to Juvenile Psoriatic Arthritis.  Which means, instead of just the joints being inflamed, all the tendons and ligaments connecting those joints are also inflamed.  Which translates into more inflammation, obviously, and way more pain. :(  She is such a trooper though!!

Anyhow, because of the new sub-class of arthritis, the teams (her doctor, the doctors 3 assistants, the interns, nurses, etc. henceforth referred to as 'the team')  recommendation was Methotrexate.  This medicine attacks the cells that cause the inflammation.  It is also used along with other meds to help fight leukemia so it's a pretty strong medicine.  It has been a tough decision and we spent a lot of time on our knees making sure this was the right call. The medicine she was taking was just not doing enough. It was helping with inflammation, but not decreasing it enough for her little body to continue to grow naturally without defect. So after a couple consultations and talking with our good friend Johanna (thanks again!), we felt Methotrexate was the right thing to do.

The view from our room!  That's part of downtown in the distance,

and MD Anderson is about two blocks to the south.

So, there's some back-story.  On Friday, we went to TCH to meet with Ms Maggie (our Head Nurse) so she could teach us how to administer this puppy.  It's an injection once a week.  Ms Maggie scored so much stuff for Peyten it was unbelievable!  She gave her some new syringes, minus the needles of course, so she could practice on Bella and Fuzz, who were by her side for moral support!  She also gave her an empty vial, this cool stress ball, a sample from some company that looks and feels like skin so she could practice on that and a couple other small things.  She got the hook-up big time!  Which really helped distract her from the shot we were giving her!  Ms Maggie showed us our options for giving her the shot and taught Ken and I how to give it properly.  It kinda freaked me out - giving my child a shot.  Never done that before.  But I'll get used to it I'm sure.  She did so amazing!!!

Peyten, Bella, Fuzz and some yellow thing that made it past my 'inspection' when we left the car.

She still has to take the old meds because that helps decrease swelling.  So for now, she's on two meds. :(  But hopefully, over the next 3-7 months, we will start seeing a massive decrease in the size of her joints and an increase in her comfort level and range of motion!!

After that 'fun', we went out for some real fun at the Houston Childrens Museum!  All I can say is, WOW!!!  It TOTALLY rocked!!  So many fun things to play with, build, sculpt, paint, tear down, re-build and make a mess with!!  We have only ever been to the Stockton kids museum, which is nice/better than nothing!  Now, having been to Houston's, WOW!!  Just, wow!!!!!  So much fun!  It was three levels of pure fun and imagination!!  Here are some of our fave pics!!

Talk about hands-on learning about weights and pulleys!

A giant robot made from recycled telephones!!  Now THAT was cool!! :)

Lots of cool things teaching about irrigating, dams, ditches, water currents, creating energy from water, water pressure, measurements... It was so cool!!  When the big bowl at the top was full it would dump on the unlucky people standing in front of it!! :)

Face painting!

My little Monet!!  Ken was a pansy and didn't face paint.  Whimp! ;)

Architecture, foundation, sizing, math, creativity... and she loved the vest!  She's such a girl!!

The cafe.  They had a real touch-screen computer, full-on menus, pots, pans, fake food, flatware, plates, drinks, etc.  It was so cute watching her take our order and then bring us something COMPLETELEY different! 

This thing was AWESOME!!  They were discs suspended with wires and nets all around it.  It was seriously 3 stories tall with three entrances/exits!!  She absolutely loved it!!! 

Afterwards and exhausted!!

Bella and Fuzzy-Bear.  Bella looks especially exhausted.  Not even five minutes after getting into the car Peyten and her menagerie were totally out!!

That night we went to Huntsville State Park for our ward campout, though we only went for the campfire!  We were all pretty drained from the days festivities.  Singing those campfire songs really made me miss Camp Liahona and my awesome Manteca Stake!!  The songs here are 95% the same, but the tune was a little different, words were a little different and they don't get into the songs like we did at good 'ol Clarks Fork!! ;)  Then on Saturday we did some MUCH NEEDED yard work.  For about 2 months we searched for a new battery for our riding lawn mower and we FINALLY found one!! So to say it needed to be mowed is a bit of an understatement! ;)  See for yourself:

Ken is 6'5" with shoes on.  So just imagine how tall this weed is!! ;-)

So gross.  We pulled out the nasty weeds as best we could before mowing. 

Hopefully they don't come back!! ;)  Yeah right!!

Afterwards!  MUCH better.  Still lots to do, but it's better!!

That's our weekend!  Pretty busy and darn exhausting!  Peyten and I leave for Cali is 7 sleeps and we're so excited to Spring Break it without mosquitos!! ;)  Will post again after Cali!!