Memories

I need to write down a few things so that I can look back and remember them.

On Christmas Eve Kadence and Shelby ran into bed because they knew they needed to go to sleep or Santa wouldn't come. Shelby surprisingly went to sleep immediately. Kadence....not so easy. At one point she ended up calling for her daddy by saying, "Daddy my cheeks hurt....Daddy my cheeks hurt..." When he got in her room he said she had the biggest smile on her face and told him how much her cheeks hurt. He told her she needed to go to sleep and so she closed her eyes (with a GIANT smile) and tried her best. After about an hour she finally went to sleep.

Today Shelby told us that she wanted to go to the North Pole. We asked her how she would get there since it was so far away and she said, "I'll follow Santas footprints." She is one clever little bugger.

The other day I was telling Kadence she'd be going to the dentist soon. She always takes some prepping before any sort of appointment or else her anxiety gets the best of her. We talk through all of her concerns and answer all her questions and it seems to make it go better for everyone. As we were talking she asked what the dentist's name was. I told her that it was Cam. She then said, "Cam? I don't get it." It was really funny. It was like she thought I was telling a joke or teasing her. I then had to explain that the dentist's name was Cameron and he liked to be called Cam, Dr Cam or Dentist Cam. It was funny that Cam was confusing considering her preschool class has a kid named Rowdy.

Shelby has a cold and with the cold she has a cough. The other morning she woke up and climbed in bed with me. (At like 9 am) As we were laying there, she started coughing. Then she told me, "I have a yucky cough....a really yucky cough." She coughed again and said, "See there it is! I need a popsicle." No matter whats wrong with her all she needs is a popsicle to make it better.

We went to the movies today with a giftcard that our Aunt Barb gave us. While we were there the girls did GREAT! For a 2 hour movie I couldn't have imagined better behavior. Toward the end Shelby was doing the up and down in her chair that she does when she's having a hard time sitting still. She eventually decided to steal her daddy's coke. He went to take it away and she said, "You need to share." Smart girl!!

Kadence is ALWAYS singing. If she isn't singing, she's humming. She loves music and anything to do with music. She knows the words to many songs and surprises me all the time with new songs. Christmas I think has been her favorite time of year for singing. She learned: Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, We Wish You a Merry Chirstmas (2 verses), Jingle Bells, Up On the Housetop, Away in a Manger, Silent Night, Hark the Harold Angels Sing (Not too clear for most of the song), A Song About Santas Twinkling Eyes (From preschool), and pretty much any other song she heard she would hum the tune for the rest of the day. It's amazing how she just soaks up music.

The girls were both so cute to watch whenever we would talk about the story of Jesus' birth. They would go straight to their Little People nativity and act out all of the scenes. They knew so much about all of the characters and even put together that Santa brings gifts just like the wisemen did. Their favorite pieces were the angel, Mary, Joseph and Jesus although Shelby was really fond of the cow. We tried really hard to focus on the true meaning of Christmas this year. If you asked Kadence what the angel told the Shepherds she would say, "Do not fear, baby Jesus is here." It was really cute.

When we took the girls to visit Santa we tried to prepare them for the occasion by asking them what they would ask for. We told them that they only get to ask for one present. Shelby immediately said she wanted a gingerbread man. Seriously? It took me forever to even understand what she was saying, but a gingerbread man?! Kadence put much more thought into hers on our drive to the mall. She would ask questions like "Can Santa make Barbies?" I told her he can and she kept on thinking. When we arrived at the mall, Shelby was sleeping so I figured she for sure would have a different request when I woke her up....NOPE, she still wanted a gingerbread man! Kadence decided she wanted a doll. We weren't sure if Shelby would sit on Santas lap, but once it was their turn they both took of running and jumped right onto his lap. It was really fun and I was so happy that both girls sat and talked with Santa this year. It was hard finding a gingerbread man gift, but I found a gingerbread man figurine, notepad, and book which made Shelby VERY happy. Kadence got two dolls, a Cinderella Baby and a Toddler Belle.

I have an inflatable Snowman in the front yard that struggled occasionally when we'd turn it on. It just took longer to inflate and stand up some days which meant for a while it would lay face down in the snow. One time we turned it on as we were leaving the house. Kadence could see it from the driveway and said, "Mommy somebody killed your snowman!"

These are a few things that I don't want to forget and I'm sure there will be many others throughout the next year.

Neighbor Gift Idea

Ok, a few days ago I baked cookies....waited for them to cool so I could frost them....put some sprinkles on...and then realized it was 8:30 which was too late to deliver treats to the neighbors. So the cookies sat on the counter and went to waste until today when I threw them out. I don't have much time since I work almost every night until Christmas so I was so excited when my friend posted some amazing ideas for gifts on her blog. (Thanks Kym!) I figured I would tell people who might not live in my neighborhood an idea they could use.

The first is really simple. I went to the dollar store and bought tons of wrapping paper and scotch tape. (Yes, they sell the actual Scotch tape brand) You tie it together and put a note on it that reads, "Since November you've been shopping, barely sleeping, hardly stopping. Now it's late and you're in a scrape, out of paper, out of tape. Hope this wrap has saved the day, have a Happy Holiday!" I added a cup of hard candy that I made to go along with it.

The hardest part was keeping Shelby away from it all. :)

I had one neighbor who I know is done with all of her wrapping. I didn't want to give her wrapping paper that would just go to waste so I bought some Madagascar Christmas paper plates and coupled it with napkins, forks, spoons and snowman cups. I also put hard candy in one of the cups. I put a note with it that read, "A bit of 'disposable' Christmas cheer! What could be better? No dishes, my dear!" (I think all us moms know what a blessing it is to have a dinner mess free.)

Hope these ideas helped out a few others who are scrambling to find the time to do neighbor gifts.

My New Shelf

When David and I took the girls to see Santa, we walked through Quilted Bear. I always love looking at all the cute things people are able to make. I envy the crafty people out there because that isn't something I have been blessed with. I came along these blocks that spell out "Peace" and instead of an "A" it has baby Jesus. I fell in love with them. The problem was that they were supposed to hang and I had nowhere to hang them. I decided to buy them anyways because I loved them so much! I then realized I could buy a shelf that had coat rack pegs on it.

Here are the blocks

I put my "JOY" nativity on the shelf. (I love having Joy as a last name!)
I then added a picture of Mary and Joseph looking over Jesus

And finally I added a picture of baby Jesus in the hay

Here is my whole project....completed....without tears!!

I love my new shelf, and can't wait to change the blocks and shelf decorations with each holiday.

Ornaments

Every year growing up my mom would give me a new ornament. I have quite the collection that I have collected over the years. Imagine my delight when I found out that David's family had the same tradition! It was neat that we both received an ornament each year and that we are now able to pass that on to our girls. (Please ignore the Halloween PJ's)

Here the girls are opening their ornaments

Kadence got a Cinderella and Prince Charming ornament (Her favorite!)

Shelby got an Ariel ornament that had Flounder and Sabastian (Her favorite!)

Shelby hanging her ornament

Kadence hanging her ornament

David wanted a Navoo Temple Star

I bought a green M&M ornament when we were in Vegas at M&M World. It is made out of M&M wrappers which I thought was pretty cool.

Hanukkah

David and I talked last year about teaching the girls about Hanukkah, Kwanza, and 3 Kings Day. Well, we decided this would be the year we did it. I didn't have much time to prepare since Hanukkah was almost over and I work now. We did order a Hanukkah book from Kadence's school book order which talked about the traditions of Hanukkah. The girls liked the book and loved learning about Hanukkah. We have a movie called Elmo's World Happy Holidays that teaches about a lot of different Holidays and Hanukkah is one of them so they were already familiar with some of the traditions. We spent most of the day trying to find a menorah with no success. I did however find some dreidels.

Here we're getting ready to read our Hanukkah book

Here is my best attempt at a menorah with such little notice. I couldn't find one anywhere, but Kadence knew we were supposed to put candles in the window. (Thanks Elmo!) While I was at Joannes they had some suction cup candle holders. I figured I would just suction them into place on the window....wrong! The window was too cold so the suction cups wouldn't stick. Not to mention The candles that were next to the holders were too little and just fell right through. I had to hot glue each holder closed so that the candle wouldn't fall onto the ground. I then had to just rest the candles on the edge of the windowsill. Then out for fear of being offensive to anyone who is Jewish I had to find a way to put one candle up higher than the rest. (The shamash) This candle is the one used to light the rest and is supposed to be either higher or lower than the rest of the candles. Needless to say, I will soon be purchasing a menorah for next year. We used chocolate coins to put "in the pot" for our game of dreidel. The girls loved it and didn't mind giving their candy to the pile. I thought they would eat it.

Kadence's turn!

Shelby watching it spin

The girls singing "dreidel, dreidel, dreidel"

Shelby's turn!

Time for Hanukkah presents!!

Here is Kadence carefully unwrapping her present.

Here's Shelby ripping right through her present

Shelby watched daddy open his present. I found him one of his favorite movies: Eight Crazy Nights. It was the only one Hastings had left and they had to hold it for me. I forgot how funny the movie is, but definately not a movie for the kids.

The girls reading their new books

To end our night of Hanukkah, David made potato Latkes. I was skeptical, but they are SO good. They are just potatoe pancake and so tasty. He did a great job!

We had tons of fun, and although I will be changing a few things for next year it seemed to be a success. Eventually we will celebrate more than just one night. Plus this experience taught me to start looking for my Kenorah now for Kwanza!

SNOW

The girls were so excited that it finally snowed enough for them to go out and play in it! We can't let them play outside very often and when we do it can't be for very long because of Kadence's asthma. She doesn't do well in the cold....especially when she is running around full of excitement. Getting them ready always seems like too much work for 10 minutes of fun, but it's totally worth it when I finally get around to doing it!

The girls mostly ready to go

Shelby jumping in front of the camera

Kadence

The first thing Kadence did was lay down to make a snow angel. She has been doing them for months on our carpet and was so happy to finally see the results in the snow.

This picture completely captures Shelbys excitement

The girls trying to build a snow fort. The snow wasn't the kind that packed, but they had fun trying.

Very own Christmas trees

Last year we bought the girls their very own Christmas trees the day after Christmas for really cheap. We finally decided to put them up in their rooms and they were ecstatic! First we had family night and we learned all about the importance of the star in the nativity story and read a book called, "The Christmas Star" that their Aunt Barb gave them for Christmas a few years ago. We painted a star to make into an ornament. The girls were plenty excited when they thought they would be hanging the star ornaments on our family tree. Then we told them they were getting their very own tree for their room.

Shelby painting

Kadence painting

Daddy setting up Kadence's tree

Shelby watching daddy set up Kadence's tree
Kadence's finished tree

It's finally Shelby's turn!

So happy to put her tree up

Shelby's finished tree

It was such a nice night, and the girls were so happy. I love that my kids are so happy and so excited about the smallest things. They are so easy to please and I love watching the enjoyment on their faces as we do new things and make new memories.

Time to play catch up!

I'm going to do my best to catch up since I haven't really blogged in months. Wish me luck, and enjoy looking at the pictures!

Pretty Proud

Ok, so I get a little bit of a high when I find amazing deals and save money on things we would be buying anyways. Here is what I bought today:

4- $20 Build-A-Bear certificates

3- Toy Story Mania Wii Video Games (Normally $40 each)

18 Books from our Scholastic book order

I paid $155 total...even after shipping!! That means I paid $6.50 an item....incredible!! I'm so proud of myself and yes, I know I'm bragging but I just can't help it!

City Deals

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Citydeals.com If you haven't shopped there before, you should start! I get tons of restaurant certificates for half off and also places like Sparetime Family Fun Center in Roy and Surf and Swim. Its a very affordable way to spend time doing fun things as a family or for fun cheap dates. If you haven't ordered from there before, use this link:

http://www.citydeals.com/?ref=CDUNTU4NTk

I will get credit for referring you...which I would LOVE. Thanks in advance, happy shopping!!

XTERRA

David had the brilliant idea to run in the Xterra race today. He registered for it over the summer figuring he would have plenty of time to train. Well, it sounded good in theory but didn't happen how he wanted. He would run a mile to 4 miles a few times a week and every now and again he would add a hill to his run. He also wanted to diet so that he was in better health overall....which didn't happen. He loves to eat and when he eats, its a large portion! He loves drinking pop and drank it right up until 5 days ago. So it seemed like the odds were against him. He decided to set realistic goals:

1- Finish the race alive

2- Finish in under 2 1/2 hours

3- Run the entire race

This is one of the most difficult races around. It features a 2,300 foot climb from pineview resevoir to Snowbasin Resort. Now I'll remind you that 2,300 foot climb is in 12.5 miles. David made me proud! He finished the race alive! He completed the race in 2 hours 5 minutes coming in 98th out of 225 participants. He did have to walk and said it was a gorgeous trail. He said that when he was walking it was more like he was hiking. He met 2 of his 3 goals which I think is absolutely amazing! I'm so proud of him and I know without a doubt I couldn't have finished if you gave me all day. I just found out that he actually qualified to run in the Xterra Trail Running World Championship that is held in Hawaii on the island of Oahu on December 5th. Too bad we don't have the funds to go, because thats an opportunity that doesn't come often.

Great Deal

Ok, I usually don't post about things like this but this is a great deal! I was going to be buying Beauty and the Beast because it is Davids favorite of the princess movies...and we only have it on VHS. My friend let me know about a great deal on Freebies2deals. Go check it out:

http://www.freebies2deals.com/2010/09/tinkerbell-and-great-fairy-rescue-blu.html

It would all need to be done tonight or tomorrow in order to make it work right.

I'm not a huge fan of Tinkerbell, but the girls like her and why not when its so cheap?! I hope this has helped at least one person out there save money.

Babies

Ok, my girls are absolutely OBSESSED with the idea of having a baby. They have been this way for a week straight. I on the other hand am not a fan of the idea and neither is David. Kadence came into the kitchen the other day while I was making lunch and showed me her doll wrapped in a blanket. Then she told me, "Look at my baby mom, isn't she cute?" Of course I played along and told her how beautiful her baby was. Then she asked, "Can I keep her?" I was shocked and I have to admit I instantly prayed to never have that conversation again. She has said many similar things since and is just obsessed with having a baby. It's so obsessed that David has started to stress to her that she has to wait until she gets married. She asks all the time if she can have a baby. Now she tells us, "When I marry my prince I will have a baby and I will love it." (I love that she wants to marry a prince.) Shelby follows right in her sisters ways. She isn't as verbal because of her age, but she is also pretty fond of the idea of babies....and having one in "Shelbys house." Tonight she saw a picture of a baby and told me, "I hold it?" I told her that we couldn't hold it because it was only a picture. Then she told me, "We'll get a baby at the store." I told her the store didn't have babies. She then told me, "A baby at our house." Meaning she wants a baby at our house. Man, I really hope they aren't on to something because my oldest brother (or possibly sister I'm not sure) told my mom she was pregnant before she even knew. David and I are perfectly content and happy with our two princesses and wouldn't mind keeping it that way. I'm hoping this is just a phase and they will out grow being so insanely obsessed with wanting a baby. But for now I'll laugh about it and enjoy how cute they are when they rock, feed, and sing to their pretend babies.

Preschool!

Wow, I am now the mom of a preschooler. It's weird for me to say that! Kadence has been so excited for weeks now to go to preschool. Her Aunt Barb called yesterday (Because the 3 year old class started yesterday) to see how her first day was, and Kadence told her she loved it and had a lot of fun. When I told Barb that she hadn't gone yet, we both had a good laugh. I think Kadence was talking about when she went to meet her teacher, Miss Jill, last week.

Here are both girls ready for preschool. The other day when Kadence was talking about going to preschool Shelby told me she wanted to go too. I explained she had to be 4 to go, and that she was only 2. She was quiet for a second before telling me, "No I'm 5!" She has been insisting she's 5 since then and that's all I heard all morning. She wants to be big like her sister...ok, she is as big as her sister...she wants to be as old as her sister. :)

Shelby even insisted that she wore a backpack too!

Here's the big girl, ready to go to her first day of preschool!

David was able to talk a teacher into watching his class for 5 minutes before lunch so that he could use his lunch to come with me to drop Kadence off for school. He has always wanted to be there for the first day of preschool and Kindergarten. (What a great dad!) When we walked to the door she hung up her backpack and ran off to play. Then she ran back, gave us a quick hug, then went back to playing. She didn't have the slightest bit of hesitation leaving us. As some of you know, that is a BIG improvement from a few years ago. She used to barely make eye contact when people talked to her and never left my side. She really has come out of her shell.

I thought that I might have a hard time leaving her, but I did amazing! No tears from me. Although things like this make me so grateful that our sweet little miracle is attending preschool with other children her age and will fit right in developmentally. It blows my mind that she is so 'normal' compared to what we thought she might be at 4. I feel incredibly blessed!

Now, I didn't have a hard time and neither did David but her little sister Shelby did. She just kept saying that she wanted her Kay Kay. (She knows how to say Kadence, but calls her Kay Kay instead) I tried to distract her by asking if she wanted to go shopping with me, "No thanks mommy" Then I asked if she wanted to go get a drink, "No thanks" I asked if she wanted to get a book, "No" The poor thing is absolutely devastated by her sister leaving her. Luckily the preschool has a 3 year old class so Shelby only has to wait until next year. It will be nice for me to have 2 1/2 hours without kids two days a week so I can take a class up at the college....but lets not get ahead of ourselves.

While Kadence was at school I tried to keep Shelby busy. We went shopping, went to get some lunch, and came home to watch Little Mermaid. (Her favorite movie) It didn't really work. I was hoping that I would be able to do some homework while Kadence was at preschool, but I'm thinking I will be paying 100% attention to Shelby.

On the way to pick Kadence up, Shelby told me "I missing my Kay Kay" She was so excited to go pick her up! Kadence was excited to see us too. She didn't have a lot to say other than she had fun. I asked her if they learned the rules, she said "Ya". I aksed her what she learned and she said, "I don't know." She made a foam visor that you are supposed to put stickers on, but it came home without any stickers on it. She said she didn't want them on there.

Kadence's MRI

Ok, so when we went in to get Kadence's brace adjusted we called ahead and asked Angie (Kadence's Care Coordinator) if she would mind asking the Dr what Kadence's MRI actually meant. I had called the Monday following her MRI and was read almost word for word what the radiologist had noted, but not much of it made sense to me. David and I tried to figure out what it all meant on our own and really don't want to wait until her next casting (November 11th) to figure it all out. Angie was nice enough to talk to the Dr, who said that there was fluid on the spine but at a glance he wasn't able to see it. He isn't a radiologist, and didn't have a ton of time to look. They did assure us that the fluid was stable which was great! They told us that we just will continue to do MRI's to make sure that the fluid stays the same. If it changes at all then we will be referred to a neurologist at Primary Childrens for treatment. Angie could tell we still weren't quite satisfied, so she told us she could print off the actual MRI report so that we could take it home and google our little hearts out. Not her exact words of course, but she knew we wanted our questions answered further. The printout has sat on our counter for the past 2 weeks. I think in the back of my mind I didn't want to know what else could be wrong and want to talk myself into being confident that everything is fine. Unfortunately, I got the paper out today. There are two things that they are debating between for a diagnosis.

"Stable appearance of linear fluid focus in the upper to mid ventral portion of the cord diagnostic considerations include a partial ventral cord schisis versus anterior localization of the central canal."

Ok, I know that sounds like a lot of medical jargon, but when I broke it down into sections it kind of started to make sense. The linear fluid in the upper to mid ventral portion of the cord is stable....GREAT!!! But then it is saying that she either has partial ventral cord schisis OR anterior localization of the central canal. I of course googled a bit and haven't been able to figure too much out on my own. All I have found suggests that the partial ventral cord schisis points toward a tethered or split cord. That would be absolutely devastating. It is actually what we have feared the most in all of this. We would most likely have to un tether her cord in order to move forward with treatment which is very risky. I hope and pray this is not what she has. I couldn't figure out what the anterior localization of the central canal means at all other than I know the word anterior means at or near the front.

I don't know why I wait to look these things up until I am at home alone. I just want to break down and cry....then I realize crying doesn't make it go away, nor does it make me understand it any better. All I can do at this point is wait until November 11th when we get Kadence's next cast put on and we can talk to the Dr's, and pray.....A LOT!

Fountains!

We took Kadence down to Shriners to get her brace looked at. It had given her pressure sores, and they needed to try to fix it. They took part of the pads out of it, and she has been doing great since. After the appointment, we wanted to waste a little time so that we didn't have to drive in rush hour traffic. We decided to let the girls go play in the fountains at Gateway. The girls had tons of fun, and it was nice to do something spur of the moment for once. I get so caught up in planning...and over planning everything that we don't ever do anything spontaneously. We all had a blast, and I even ended up in the middle of the fountains with the girls. When it was time to leave, Kadence told me "I think I got wet enough mom." So it was a success! Plus, I learned that I need to relax and have some unplanned fun once in a while.

Day Care

I know that most people have to send their children to daycare and it's not supposed to be a big deal, but it was really hard for me. I've been fortunate enough to have a mother in law who loves watching the girls for me so I can work, or go to school. Unfortunately the first week of class she wasn't able to watch the girls one of the days I needed her. So of course I asked my neighbor who does daycare....who is amazing with kids...who the girls absolutely adore if she would watch the girls for 2 hours. (Again, 2 hours shouldn't be a big deal!) It was really hard for me to know that they were going to daycare. I felt a little guilty for having to leave them, a little nervous because I was afraid they would cry, and a little sad because deep down I knew they wouldn't miss me at all. In the morning as I got Shelby ready I was trying to prepare her so it wasn't a surprise when I left her. I told her, "You're going to go to Brendas house and play, ok?" She said, "Ok." Then I told her, "Mommy is going to leave and go to school and then I will come back and get you ok?" She told me, "But mommy, I'll miss you!" When she said it I just about burst into tears. She said it with the sweetest, saddest little voice EVER! Of course when I dropped her off it she was completely fine and couldn't have cared less if I stayed or went.

The girls right before leaving for their first trip to daycare:

The Things Kids Say...

Recently my girls have been making me laugh so hard. They are at the age where they come up with some of the funniest things, and say things that you can't avoid laughing at.

The other day Kadence was looking at a picture that hangs in my front room. In it I am VERY pregnant with Shelby and Kadence is hugging the picture. (Although she calls it listening to it because her head is against my belly) She asked me if Shelby was in my belly. I told her yes. She then said, "Did you eat her?" It cracked me up!

Shelby walks around the house saying "Bibby bobby BOO!" (Bibbity Bobbity Boo) The way she says it makes me laugh every time.

Tonight David went to hand Kadence to me so I could bring her to bed. He bounced her on his knee thinking I would catch her. Instead he just rammed her head into the underside of my boob. He then asked me if my boob was ok. (Not worried about me of course, just my boob.) I told him, "Well it wasn't comfortable, but its not like it fell off." To which Kadence very quickly replied, "If your boob fell off mom, daddy would have to help you fix it!"

When Shelby wakes up in the morning she yells, "Mommmm, Mom, Mommy..." When I get in there to get her, she says "Here I am!!" Its like she thinks I can't find her which is better than the truth...I'm too lazy to get my butt out of bed.

These are just a few things they have been saying lately that crack me up and make me so happy that they're mine forever!

Kadence's MRI

I just called Shriners to get the results of Kadence's MRI, and there's some good and bad news. According to the radiologist Kadence has scoliosis. Ha Ha! We already knew that, but he had to note it. She does still have fluid on her spinal cord. I thought it was just in front of her vertebrae, but I guess it was on her spinal cord. She doesn't show any signs of tethering of her cord which is great and she doesn't have split cord. So I guess we got what we wanted. Of course we didn't want anything to be wrong, but we wanted the fluid over the split cord. So all in all we are pleased because she doesn't have both. Of course it starts my mind racing because I have no idea what the treatment plan is for the fluid, if it causes any complications, or if we just plain ol' leave it alone. We don't even see the Dr for a few months to talk about it. Her care coordinator is going to send the MRI results and images over to her Dr to have him review them. If there are any differences in the reviews she will call us back.


While on the phone I also set up Kadence's next casting. It will be on November 11th which means she has another Halloween out of cast!! I explained to the care coordinator that we no longer want Kadence in casts between May and August because she just gets way too overheated. David and I put a lot of thought into what was best for Kadence and felt that it was best. She gets so hot that we can't even go outside until after 7 on most days and this was the most mild beginning to summer we've had in a long time. Plus, Kadence gets a lot of correction out of her first casting and then just stays the same so we figure why put her through the misery. She even had to come out of an air conditioned dance room because she got too overheated. She usually goes backwards while in a brace, but quickly regains ground in her first casting....and then stays there. We don't think we'll get her curve any better than mid 40's realistically, but when she is a woman and fills out you won't hardly be able to notice. We just need to try to keep her down around the 40's so that she is at a safe-ish degree when we fuse rods when she is 13 or 14.

Also, a little update on Kadence's current brace. She ended up getting pressure sores from her brace which means she has to go back in to see if she needs to get remolded for a new brace or if they can just alter her current brace. Most kids keep their brace off completely while letting the pressure sores heal, but Kadence slumps over so quickly that we had to put it on for 4 hours a day. We ended up putting it on while she slept at night so that she would get about 10 hours a day. It's all healed now and she is getting a new sore in a different spot that we are watching. Until it is an open sore we put her brace on the same as usual. We have an appointment to go get it all figured out on August 18th.

That's the update, I'll keep everyone posted on any changes.

5 years?!

David and I will be celebrating 5 years of marriage on the 20th of this month. Unfortunately David has to go to workshops all day on the 20th so we celebrated early. That is the great part about Davids job. We will always be able to celebrate our anniversary together...even if we have to do it 2 weeks early. We haven't stayed at a hotel overnight for an anniversary before. Frankly I never let David book one because I figure it's a waste of money. I feel that we can still enjoy the night together, kid free, at home and avoid wasting the money. This year he told me he wanted to plan the entire date and surprise me and that he wanted to be in a hotel. I didn't want to at first but because it was our 5 year and it seemed really important to him, I told him how much he could spend and let him make the plans. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am an over-planner. I like knowing every detail of what is going to happen and then I start planning for the things that could go wrong. It's horrible, but hey its me. It was so hard to let David plan the whole date and not know any of the details. He did an amazing job! I made him tell me all the plans on the day of the date so that I didn't have an anxiety attack and I was so excited! We were going to stay at Alaskan Inn, and he even thought of me and checked Citydeals.com to save some money. He got the Alaskan Room because based on the pictures it was the least busy of the rooms. I like my bedroom to be plain and simple or else I find it hard to sleep. It was really really nice, and I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures. He paid extra for some chocolate covered strawberries, and drove up my favorite treats and my favorite kind of caprisuns the night before so they were waiting on the bed and in the fridge. Now for the date: He wanted to take me to see The Other Guys because it has Will Ferrel in it and the very first movie we ever watched together (As a group of friends) was Old School with Will Ferrel. I thought that it was so sweet of him to think that far back and remember that was when he started falling for me. We were very disappointed when we realized that it didn't come out until the next day. So, we went to La Ferrovia to eat because of our favorite places to eat it's by far the most quiet atmosphere. It was of course delicious. Then we rushed my left overs home to the fridge and snuck in a meal to a neighbor who just had surgery. Then it was off to bowling. David likes watching me bowl because I have to walk up to the pins and stand in front of everyone and it makes me so nervous. I hate being in front of people. He loves that he gets to stare at me and I can't do anything about it! I had a lot of fun and since we went on a Thursday it was pretty empty. Then we headed over to watch Dinner for Schmucks. I absolutely loved it! It was a great comedy (my favorite) with a good message. I died laughing and highly recommend it if you like stupid comedies or Steve Correll. After the movie we realized David's brothers, Jeff and Curtis, actually were in the same theatre with us! They enjoyed it just as much as we did. We then had to run to Davids parents and put Kadence's brace on so she could go to bed. After that we were off to Alaskan Inn! When we woke up we had the most delicious breakfast I've had in a while and then packed up to head to the dam. David wanted to have a picnic in a spot we used to go to when we were in High School. (He thought of it all!) Unfortunately it is now fenced off so we just came home to decide what else we could do. I remembered that The Other Guys was now open, so we decided to go see it. It was pretty good. I preferred Dinner for Schmucks, but both were very funny! To end the date we went to Costa Vida. I couldn't have asked for a better date. David put so much thought into it and even though it didn't work out exactly as planned, the thought was there. I loved it and I love him so much! We have been through a lot together and I know there isn't anyone else who could put up with me during it all! Even though I may seem like a tough person that is only my exterior, he has to build me up and make me feel like we can get through anything....often. He is my rock, and my everything. I love you David!

After our fantastic date I was slapped in the face with reality. I had to call Primary Childrens and pre register Kadence for her MRI tomorrow. I hate the MRI's the most! It doesn't make much sense, but I do. They are the simple, low risk, fairly quick, and by far the most least invasive thing she has to go through but I absolutely hate them. They will be checking to see if she still shows signs of split cord, and if she still shows fluid in front of her vertebrae. If she has to have one we're hoping for the fluid....we're praying for nothing, but it's not our choice. The split cord would complicate things in a big way. Most people with split cord are severely physically handicapped which is what has the Dr's stumped. It showed up on her last MRI, but it just doesn't make any sense to them. She hasn't ever made much sense to Dr's, and I'm starting to realize that can be a good thing sometimes. We're hoping for the best, and I'll keep everyone posted.

Wordy Wednesday

Ok, I actually am going to do this on a Wednesday! The word prompt today was Top 5.

Top 5 movies:

1. Billy Madison
2. Bio Dome
3. 50 First Dates
4. Anchorman
5. Cinderella

I love funny movies that are pointless other than making you laugh. I just love the silly stupid humor and always know I can watch them to cheer up on a bad day. Of the Disney movies, I have always liked Cinderella the best. Not so much because of Cinderella, but because of the mice.

Top 5 restaurants:

1. La Ferrovia
2. Chilis
3. Famous Daves
4. Chick-fil-a
5. Costa Vida

Ok, none of these are very expensive but all are so delicious. No matter what we always end up at the same place on date night. In fact, tomorrow we will be celebrating our anniversary (early) at La Ferrovia. If you haven't been there....GO! It's a nice little cozy place with real authentic Italian. I love it and have been going since I was little. My mom knows the owner and its a family regular.

Top 5 treats:

1. Peanut M&M's
2. Haribo Gummy Bears
3. Peachy O's
4. Purple bags of Skittles
5. Pretzel M&M's

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a BIG sweet tooth. I can't get enough candy and actually end up eating it for lunch and breakfast most days. I snack on it all day long and lean more towards fruity than chocolate.

Here were a few of my top 5's, hope you enjoyed!

Kadence's Journey Pt. 4

This will be the happiest of "The Journey" posts, although it was almost the most frustrating point. After Kadence was on oxygen they were able to start using bottles to feed her and would let her drink a little from the bottle and the rest would go into a feeding tube. It was all up hill from there! She continued to make progress daily and was such a trooper. We were able to hold her like she was actually our new baby. I made another goal for her. I wanted her to be able to come home by grandpas birthday. It sounds like things were going perfect right, so where does the frustration come from? Almost right after we were able to hold her I got a fever. If you have a fever you aren't allowed in the NICU. It also meant another trip to U of U's ER. They weren't able to figure out why I had a fever so they just sent me home. My fever kept climbing and it got really scary. I had David and his dad give me a blessing and within an hour my fever started to drop. I was happy about that because it meant I didn't have to return to the ER. I couldn't believe that again I was having to miss out on seeing my baby. She was well loved and had tons of visitors, so I knew she was getting taken care of.

We got news that Kadence was going to be transferred to Logan Regional Hospital because she was just working on learning to breath and eat which they were equipped to handle. We were SO excited!! We would finally be able to sleep in our own beds! The day of the transfer we received a call that she wasn't being transferred. Then we received a call that said she would be transferred, but not to Logan Regional. One of the visitors of another baby had been exposed to the chickenpox which meant Kadence possibly could have been too. She needed to go to isolation and Logan Regional doesn't have isolation rooms in their NICU. So they told us she would be going to McKay Dee. We were ok with that because at least we didn't have to make the drive everyday. Before Kadence left, they did a vision test and also did a chromosome karyotype. The vision test came back that she couldn't see at all. She didn't respond to the test at all. The person who administered the test said that it was very apparent she could see and that her body must have been trying to rewire her connection between her brain and her eyes. He told us not to worry because infant brains are able to rewire bad connections very easily. Not worry?! Ya right! They came to talk to us about her EEG, and told us that she had two lesions in the white matter of her brain. They also told us that it showed she was brain dead at the time. Luckily we had a moving happy little baby in our arms while they told us. This would explain why her brain was needing to do some rewiring. Her chromosome karyotype was done to see if they could see why she got hydrops. It came back totally normal. She was getting better daily and we were wanting her to go faster so we could take her home. They would let her come home on oxygen, but they needed her to be eating well before they could release her. That is what took the longest. David used to sing Eye of the Tiger while he fed her and it cracked me up! The time finally came to do her carseat test. This is a test to see if they can handle being in the car seat. They keep the monitors on and see if it causes their oxygen to drop or their heart rate to increase. For some reason they took off Kadence's oxygen to do the test. We left to get our things packed up and were so excited we would be taking our sweet baby home. When we got back to the hospital they told us we couldn't take her home for two more days....Grandpa's birthday! They said that she did great without oxygen to their surprise and would be going home without it. They have to monitor them for 48 hours to make sure they can handle room air so she would need to stay in the hospital for 2 more days. We felt defeated, we were so excited to finally go home and sleep as a family under the same roof and now we had to wait. We knew it was best in the long run and were excited we didn't have to take home oxygen. She did great without oxygen and on August 5th we were able to take home our sweet 5 pound 9 ounce baby! During Kadence's month long stay in the hospital David and I learned more medical terminology than we thought we ever needed, how much family meant to us, and how much we meant to each other. It helped us to grow fast in a short amount of time and we learned how strong a tiny little baby can be!

Here's David feeding Kadence for the first time at PCMC

Here's how tiny her little hand is compared to mine

She used to just look at us the whole time she was awake

Her car seat test

Sweet little angel