Yeah, It's Been a While

Hey, remember how I have a blog? Remember how I used to update it fairly regularly? Yeah, me too. So I'm back, but I'm not going to promise the [blogging] world. Things are busy and facebook tends to be fast, but kind of more a time suck when you add it all together. I don't know, I'm torn and apparently in a stream of consciousnesses kind of mood....moving on.

Thought you all might enjoy an update of what's been going on. One child is off to school and the other three are still asleep, so I'm going to listen to vicious wind outside and ruminate and reminisce.

So we've been up to a lot of things. I'll start in December...

Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis....We had so much fun at this event! I am continually impressed with all the wonderful work that the Arthritis Foundation does in this community and the events that they put on are amazing! Siobhan was the youth honoree for the event and she did a great job! She gave a speech that was very articulate and moving. Video will come soon-it's on Carson's phone. We had a misshap of illness though. Right after the kid's run, she had a spell of violent throwing up! So sad on her special day! But she was a trooper. We had a great time that day-vomiting aside!

Festival of Trees....Audrey and I both performed in the Festival of Trees with our Irish Dance school. We had a blast! As a result of her adorable performance, Audrey was even picked to dance on a kid's DVD which should be out in the next few months.

Christmas happened and so did my birthday-the Christmas post at least will be at another time when I can post all the pics and videos. Christmas really should be it's own post anyway, not thrown into the mix of a run of the mill update post, don't you think?

Jr. Jazz....Siobhan played basketball this winter. She had a great time and no problems with the JIA! She was the only girl on her team, but totally held her own! She was also the tallest. Favorite memory of the season, after a girl on the other team stole the ball from her, she came over to me on the verge of tears because someone 'just took the ball' away. I told her to steal it right back. She did!

Preschool for Mr. Will....Mr. Will started speech therapy back in November. He has been very delayed in the his speech and vocabulary and after a lot of testing we found out that he has concentration/attention issues and memory problems as well. So we started having a speech therapist come into our house twice a month to work with him. Now that he's three, he ages into the school districts preschool program. He goes to a 'special needs' preschool two mornings a week and he loves it! He gets to ride the bus which is the high light of his day! Oh, and he's improving so much with his speech! It seems like everyday he has new words that he can say. We are so happy! I plan another post about this very soon!

Standing Man...So Ethan can stand against anything and it's so cute! He's starting to cruise too which is so fun to watch! He still won't crawl on his knees though. The other day I put him down on the floor of the living room to play and went into the kitchen. About two minutes later, i couldn't hear him. Yeah, he was upstairs. So I put him back in the living room with more toys and turned my back. Two minutes later, he was upstairs again! Fast little guy!

Carson's Amazing!....Carson has been working out a lot over the last year and has lost 40 pounds! His BMI is down to 16.9!!!! I'm so proud of him! He's been working hard! He's also kept busy with his responsibilities in the Elder's Quorum presidency.

Vegas...We took a short trip to Las Vegas on New Years Day and stayed overnight at the Excalibur. The girls loved being able to stay in the Castle! It was nice to get away and do something fun as a family! Carson's mom met us there and stayed with the kids so we could go out. It was a very quick trip but lots of fun!!!

I'm doing some fun work with the Arthritis Foundation which is keeping me busy. I'm helping to organize the upcoming walk in May and Siobhan is helping also. We are planning on attending the Foundation's gala in a few weeks where Siobhan will present an honoree with the platter that she made. We're super excited for that! Siobhan and I were also chosen to attend to Arthritis Foundation's Advocacy Summit in Washington DC in mid April and we are really looking forward to that! Well, I'm looking forward to that, Siobhan doesn't know. We're surprising her at school on Weds at their weekly assembly!

Soccer....Siobhan just had her first soccer game on Saturday and scored 2 goals! But then she got wicked hurt and couldn't play the rest of the game. It's all good though. She's excited to keep playing!

St. Patrick's Day....Me and Audrey both marched in the St. Patrick's Day Parade down town and performed in the Siamsa. It was so fun! We also had a super fun party the night before with all the kids friends! It was so much fun!!!

So there you have it, a comprehensive update of what's going on in our family. I hope you enjoyed the read and lack of pictures. I have a reason for that. I got a new phone for my birthday and the camera on my phone is better than our digital camera so I use the phone for all of my picture taking needs. I just don't know how to get them from the phone to the computer. I know there are ways like emailing them to myself and then copying and pasting them into my picture library. But that's a lot of steps and I'm kind of lazy. I need to find an easier way. Love ya'll!

Who Do You Jingle With?

We're nearing the home stretch on the fundraising for the Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis! All things seem to be in order as we prepare for Siobhan's big day...practicing her speech, getting out costumes together for the costume contest, gearing up our legs for the run, lot's to be excited about!
We're doing our best to make Siobhan and our team the top fundraisers. So have you donated yet? Are you planning on joining our team? Click here if you would like too contribute. If you would, please make the donation directly to Siobhan-just click on her name!

Whenever the Arthritis Foundation has a big event, they always choose a child with JIA to be an honoree-sort of the face of Arthritis and 'voice for hope' to show that life can be normal. Back in June, we were able to meet James Light who was the honoree for the Arthritis Walk. He was super sweet and very inspiring. You can read it here. Siobhan even sees the same Doctor!

Well, we were given the opportunity for Siobhan to be the honoree at this years Jingle Bell Run/Walk so we jumped on it and we just got word last week that it's official! How exciting is that!!!! We're so happy and excited to be able to share her/our story with everyone who is struggling with arthritis and to bring awareness to the fact that there is a huge need for more research, but ultimately, what we need, is a cure!

For this event, our family will be able to help in some of the planning of the event, work with local media, share our story with the community and Siobhan will be able to start the race. We also started a team just like we did for the walk back in June.

Now, I really don't like to solicit people for money or ask a lot from people, but this is obviously something that is really close to our family so I am going to put it out there. So here's where you come in....

1)We need team members to fun with us! There is a $25 reg fee which goes toward our fundraising goal of $1500.

2)If you don't live close, you can still donate to our team. A lot of very generous people donated to us for the last walk and I definitely don't expect that again. But the option is there. If you've never donated before, just know that any amount helps.

3)Come and cheer us on! There is going to be a lot of fun stuff going on at the Jingle Bell Run/Walk so come and get into the holiday spirit and cheer on 'Siobhan's Secret Weapons'. Through this whole arthritis journey, the moral support has meant just as much to us! Surrounding ourselves with people who want the best for Siobhan has been awesome!

If you're interested in helping us one way or the other, here are the event details:

When: Sat December 3

8.30-10am : Registration

9.15am : Holiday Costume Contest!

9.40am : Kids 1k Run with Elves

10am : Timed 5k Runners Begin

10.10am : Untimed Joggers/Walkers Begin

5k Results + Awards Ceremony to follow.

Where: Trolley Square-Southwest Plaza

How: You can run or walk, timed or un-timed

So if you want to join our team head on over here and find our team. This go around, we've called our team 'Siobhan's Secret Weapons'.

Monkeys and Elephants and Dinosaurs, Oh My!

A few weeks back (well, like a month ago) we went to the zoo! We don't venture out for things like that very often because Carson and I are seriously out numbered by the amount of kids we have. But we went with Grandma and Grandpa so that helped a lot-a few extra hands.

We've been looking forward to going to the zoo for a long time because Carson's company installed a bunch of air compressors for a dinosaur exhibit. The air compressors made the dinos move and some of them even sprayed water. Since we have a little boy in our family who adores anything of the dinosaur persuasion, it was bound to be a big hit!






We also saw elephants, and I didn't know this, which are apparently Audrey's favorite animal. We spent a lot of time there listening to the one of the zoo people (docent?) talk all about the elephants they had there which were a grandma, a mommy and a baby girl. So fun!

This is a big elephant outside the habitat. It does a little bit of moving and water spraying which Carson's company also did.

We also saw the monkeys which is always fun! There was this one baby monkey (I can't remember what kind-black with big, white, long tails-sort of look like a skunk) who kept bouncing all around the habitat and he had fun jumping up to the window and making faces at the girls. So cute!!!

We had a great time at the zoo!

Take a Look

If you're not a regular reader of our arthritis blog A Stint in Juvy, head on over there and take a look at our great news about Siobhan and her arthritis!

First Day Of School

Siobhan had first day of kindergarten on Monday. She was so excited!!!! She goes to a charter school called American Preparatory Academy where she gets to go to all day kindergarten and wear a uniform. She thinks the uniform is super cool! We're not sure if she's more excited about taking her lunch to school, having three recesses or writing in cursive! But she's loving every minute of it all the same!

Here's Siobhan right before leaving.
Kindergarten-2011
And yes, we're that family who makes our kid bring a gift to the teacher on the first day. I just think that teachers are some of the most unappreciated people in the world, so we wanted to make Mrs. Neidig feel special. She (Mrs. Neidig) is from England and has the cutest accent. We're told that sometimes her students end up having slight accents at the end of the year which is fun!

With Carson just before leaving.
Siobhan's school is a little bit of a drive and she has to be there early. Fortunately, it's not too far from Carson's work. So he goes tot he gym in the morning (which is just down the street) comes home to pick her up, and takes her to school. It works out perfectly and they get some fun daddy/daughter time!

Me and Siobhan right before heading off with Daddy.



Audrey started pre-school on Tuesday and she loves it!!!!! We were planning on homeschooling her for pre-school but then decided at the last minute that it wasn't going to be right for her. Luckily, I found a great school just up the street and around the corner that had some spots open. She loves being in Miss. Lynette's class and she gets to have recess too!

Audrey just a few days before school started. I'm not sure why, but this pictures reminds me of a mean school teacher.

Audrey on her first day just before leaving. She's wearing her bee necklace. She also gave the teacher a gift-not to worry, the teacher gifts were nothing crazy, just some yummy smelling hand sanitizer.

Me and Audrey just before we left. Love this little girl so much!!!!

Back To School Feast

On Sunday we started the tradition of having a back to school feast (yes, I totally stole the idea from Nie Nie-I make no apologies). We let Siobhan pick the food because she's starting kindergarten this year and that's a really big deal. Next year when Audrey starts Kindergarten, we'll let her choose. We chose a theme for the school year of what our family is going to focus on and we decorated accordingly. Our theme is this year is.....

To go along with the theme, at least once a month, one of our family home evenings will focus on President Hinckley's 'Bs'. If we live by those, it will help us 'Be the Best [We] Can Bee'.

Oh yeah, on the menu was:
Carbonarra (Siobhan's personal favorite-the girl could eat her weight in it)
Rolls
Lemonaide
Potato Skins for an appetizer

I had fun decorating the table. The centerpiece was a bunch of sticks that have bumble bees on them and I wrote out all the Bs on tags and hung them off the branches. Then I put framed pictures of the girls growing up-it happens so fast!

I made both of the girls a crown in the black, yellow, white color scheme which they loved!

Mr. Will was sad that he didn't a crown, but he enjoyed wearing my Jazz hat.

Later, the girls modeled their first day outfits. No real fashion show this year. Siobhan's going to be wearing a uniform everyday, so there's not much to see. She didn't even end up wearing that jumper. She wore a navy one instead.

Right before bed, Carson gave each of the girl beautiful, inspiring blessings for the new school year. Then it was time for a visit from the 'Back To School Fairy' (another idea I stole). She brought each of the girls a necklace that has a bumble bee charm and a heart so they can remember to 'Be The Best You Can Bee'. Unfortunately, the Back to School Fairy has never made jewelry before and both necklaces have broken a few times. I'm working on a way to attach the jump rings so they don't fall off anymore.

Coming up....First Day of School Posts

Today

Today was particularly hard with Siobhan. I seem to be saying that a lot and then blogging about it. Not sure if that's the best thing or not. Anyway, I think when school starts things will be better. I think the hardest part was actually the last hour or so. And since I just put her to bed and am now cooling down from the shenanigans, I'm going to list some things that she did today that were great.

*She fed Ethan his dinner while I put Mr. Will down for sleep and she actually did a good job of it.

*She helped me get the plates ready for dinner. Anything have to do with helping prepare dinner and she is all over it! It also helps if allowance money is involved.

*She colored an awesome picture of a lion this morning. Seriously, it's really good! See!




*I needed someone to carry some important papers when we were at her school this afternoon and she willingly helped me out.

*She requested my favorite place for lunch...Taco Bell.

*She told me that she loves my homemade gravy!

*She loves Mary Poppins!

The girl knows how to push every button that I have, but I think I'll keep her around!

Iamges From The Fourth

Mr. Will, Kate, Audrey, Siobhan, Caroline, and Lindsay...all the cousins (who were present) waiting for the parade in Grandma's neighborhood.

Carson and Mr. Will

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge? Nope, just William and Kate

Audrey loved the parade! She and Siobhan received lots of compliments on their dresses from the parade participants.

Juvy

For an update on Siobhan and the arthritis, go visit our other blog, A Stint in Juvy. You can also get there by clicking on the link on the side bar.

Royal Wedding

I've been wanting to post about this for a while and I just haven't gotten around to it.

The girls and I were so excited for the Royal Wedding. We kept talking about Prince William and Princess Kate (even though she's not really a princess until he's next in line). And since it's practically a law in England for ladies to wear hats to a wedding, we decided that we needed have fancy, fabulous hats as well. The girls thought their hats were so fun and they were very specific about their color choices-purple for Siobhan, green for Audrey. (perfect timing by the way, right after Easter, we were able to get Easter bonnets at the dollar store and decorate them up with supplies from the dollar store). I had DVR'd the wedding so the girls and I could watch the wedding in the evening. We had a tea party (orange kool-aid) and pizza. It was a great time!!!!

These fabulous hats from the royal wedding...A-MA-ZING!!!

Audrey wanted Green for her hat. You can't tell, but there is a butterfly coming right out of the top of the hat!

Siobhan wanted Purple. We had lots of fun with hers!!! Thank you dollar store.

Ethan had a great time!

Mr. Will was obsessed with the hats!

My best snooty British face!!

First image found here.

Second image found here.

A New Blog

I started a new blog for updates about Siobhan and the Arthritis. It's called 'A Stint in Juvy'. There's actually an update there right now. I may put the posts on both blogs. Just FYI.

More About Siobhan's Knee

Not sure why, but Siobhan's knee swelled up really bad yesterday and hasn't gone down. We got her blood work done and all her x-rays and they found out that both of her ankles are involved now. Between that, the swelling, the stiffness, the tears and pain, our pediatrician has decided that we need to a rheumatologist sooner rather than later. We going to see her pediatrician in a month and then see the rheumatologist, but Dr. Wirkus now wants us to see the specialist next week. Hopefully we'll have more answers as far as what we're dealing with and have a clear plan for treatment. Thanks everyone for the positive thoughts!

Kind of a bummer because Siobhan was going dance in her first Feis (Irish dance competition tomorrow). Unfortunately we had to pull her out. We're thinking of getting her into swimming.

Some New News-The Story of Siobhan's Knee Part 2

Remember this post from two year ago (almost exactly two years ago, ironically)? This has nothing to do with this new news, but it's worth reflecting on.

I notice about six weeks ago that Siobhan had some severe swelling in her left knee. Here we go again. Well, immediately-because that's the way I am-I began to worry. Carson kept telling me not to worry because she didn't really seem to be acting any different (even though her left knee is about twice the size of her right) but I wasn't able to put it aside. Joints don't swell no apparent reason. She didn't tell us if she got hurt or if she had done anything. She only complained that her left knee was hurting which is not the one that was swollen. But after a few weeks, I thought it would be a good idea to get it checked out.

We went to see Dr. Wirkus on Tuesday. He's awesome and we are so blessed to have him as our pediatrician. In this case, I really consider it a tender mercy. We talked about her family history and recent illnesses and then he did some movement and flexibility tests. At that point, he told use that she has Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA or JIA) in both knees and her right ankle. As it turns out, our Dr. did a two year internship during med school at the arthritis clinic at Primary Children's Hospital so he really knew how to recognize it and the best course of action.

So we weren't really expecting that diagnosis, but on the spectrum of things that it could have been, I guess this is probably one of the better things that we could hear. We have a big to do list now so that we can find out the extent of the disease and how it will effect her. She is on a pretty powerful anti-inflammatory medication, we have to get X-Rays done, a bunch of blood work and we have to get her eyes checked for inflammation as this type of arthritis can cause her eyes to swell also.

That evening, Siobhan received a priesthood blessing and was told that this is something that will make her stronger and bring us together as a family. While this is not an ideal diagnosis, things could be a lot worse and I'm grateful for the comfort of the Spirit. She's going to be fine regardless! She's a strong little girl and she'll handle it all like she always does...with a big smile and a giggle.

Funny story...Siobhan doesn't totally understand what's going on, but she decided for the first time to use it as an excuse. While we were kneeling down to say family prayer, she was goofing around because she didn't want to settle down for bed. When we told her that she needed to get on her knees for family prayer she said, 'But I can't, remember I have 'arthitis'.....' This coming from the girls who had just been jumping on the bed and running in circles!

The Grand Canyon...in Siobhan's Mouth

Well, the tooth finally came out! It's been loose for like a month (maybe longer). We've all taken turns playing with it and every time Siobhan ever met someone new or saw someone that she hasn't seen in awhile or spoke to a complete stranger in the line at Costco, she had to tell them about her loose tooth. We've been anxiously awaiting it vacating the premises. So we all decided that tonight was the night. Carson played with the tooth for about an hour! It took that long because she kept getting nervous and pulling away. But she was insistent that it come out tonight. Carson was so excited to pull it out for her (why, I don't know) but ultimately, I got it out. We can't wait to see what the tooth fairy brings her! Oh the reason for the title of the post? As soon as it came out, all I could think about was 'holy cow! That is a huge gap! It's like the size of the Grand Canyon!!!!'

She's so proud of her first 'loosed' tooth!

Why My Kids Rock!-Mother's Day Pt. 1

A post about the people in my life who make this day a reason to celebrate.....

Siobhan

*Siobhan is silly little five year old who loves to play outside and scares the crap out of me on a daily basis with her tree climbing.
*She frequently wants to bring worms inside to keep as pets.
*The other morning, she said, 'I'm glad you're awake!' It was the best way to start the day. I even wrote it down so I wouldn't forget that she said it to me.
*I think Siobhan has found her calling in the culinary arts. She loves to help Carson cook. She loves to bake with me. Maybe we'll send her to cooking school.
*Siobhan pretty much sell you on any product that she see's a commercial for. The other day she came to me and said, 'Mommy, there's a bed that eliminates back pain. It's call the Sleep Number bed. You should get that.' She's done that with Swiffer, Cedar Pro Steamer, and Packit. She might watch too much TV. Or she has her mommy's memory.
*She wants to be a big girl so bad! I'm content to keep her little!
*Siobhan got a pair of black skinny jeans with embroidery on the back pockets....very grown up! This is how she styled herself.


Audrey

*Audrey has a beautiful smile but whenever you pull out a camera, she instantly goes into serious mode. I think it's a trait she got from my mom.
*Always the jumper, we decided to put her into Irish Step Dancing and wouldn't you know, she's really good at it!
*Audrey is such a girly girl so, true to form, I get a bouquet of flowers almost every day from back yard. They're usually dandelions.
*Would prefer to wear dresses which is great since she owns a million dresses and skirts but not so good for the millions of jeans she has.
*She's the method actor of the family. Pretty much all day every day she is in character and, in her mind, you are too. Right now, she's Repunzel from Tangled. Siobhan is Flynn, Ethan is Pascal, Will is Maximus (sometimes Will and Siobhan are flipped) and Carson and I are King and Queen. When she decides to be Buzz, Carson and I are Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head. The thing about it is that we always have to refer to her appropriately and if you don't respond in kind, there are problems. The other night, she said the blessing at dinner and referred to everyone in her prayer by their Tangled characters. It was hilarious!

(In her fabulous hat while watching the royal wedding....another post to come)

Mr. Will

*I may have posted this before, but he loves toilet brushes, toilet plungers and brooms. Either he's trying to tell me to clean more or he's destined for a career in the janitorial services.
*He has the most piercing blue eyes!
*He decided that he wants to be potty trained. He pulled me over to the toilet and pointed and said please. I put him on there and he just went. I wasn't planning on potty training him for a few more months, but I guess we're doing it a little sooner. The boy can't really talk, but he sure can pee on the potty.
*The 'compliment' that I get from pretty much everyone is 'Will is so cute....he has soooo much energy.' I don't really know what to do with that.
*He's at that stage where he likes to put on everyone's shoes. Case in point, look at the pic below.
*There's a hilarious story about him going down for his nap, a problem with his diaper and boy parts and the word 'stuck'. Carson won't let me put it on the blog, so use your imagination.



Ethan

*Ummm, best.baby.ever!
*Ethan has been sleeping through the night since he was six weeks old. He seriously is such an angel!
*Sir Ethan is such a smiley guy!!!
*I don't have much to write about him because he's so young. But I'm so excited to get to know this little guy!