OUCH!

It's so heart wrenching to watch your kids get REALLY hurt.  I'm not phased anymore by the "everyday" owies...but this one broke my heart.  I feel like this kind of stuff happens when my kids are in the best, most adorable moods.   :(

He was running as fast as he could down a hill of concrete, and ate it HARD!  It took a good 45 minutes to calm his down.  I should have thought to give him an apple, sooner.  Food always makes things better, right? 

Owen was wailing the entire car ride home.  I looked back, and Weston had the saddest look on his face.  He had his pant leg rolled up so that I could see an old owie on his knee (from months ago).  I almost burst out laughing.  He just couldn't let Owen get all the attention.


He showed me his knee again while I was playing nurse to Owen, and insisted on having a bandaid. 

 

 Oh, poor Weston.  Do you need an apple, too?

Grandparents Know The Art of Spoiling!

Grandpa Brian and Grandma Jannette were in Maryland on business recently, and added a couple of days to their trip to spend time with us.  Owen and Weston were in heaven!  My dad spoiled them rotten!  First he gave gifts; a hard had with a real, functioning light attached in the front (they thought that was wicked awesome).  Then the activities began:  Swimming, boat rides, train rides, restaurants...more swimming.  They had so much fun.  It felt like we were on vacation...but without the burden of packing. 

It was so great to see both of you!  Thanks for carving time out of your schedules to be with us.  We love you!!!

Funny Owen

Here are some good lines and conversations from Owen over the years:

Age 3

Owen woke up one morning and found some unfinished popcorn from his mom and dad the previous night.  He was delighted at the sight and exclaimed, "Oh!  It's popcorn poppin' on the apricot tree!!!"

Scott would call Owen "hotshot".  Owen likes to steal his daddy's lines, so often during the day, he'd call me hotshot...
Mom:  Owen, you need you to hurry and finish you food.  We've gotta go!
Owen:  Okay, HOTSHOT.


I had buckled Owen in and was checking something on my phone before getting in, myself.  I was apparently taking too long and Owen said, "Hey, Ponytail!  Get in the car."

Scott sings a lot of ridiculous songs, one of which is "Hello" by Lionel Richie.  It was so funny listening to a 3 year old sing to himself, "Hello...Is it me you were lookin' for?" ...while playing with trucks.


I'll start by saying that Owen has LOTS of grandmas (6 including greats)!  I'm not going to mention names, but one of them tooted and Owen heard.  He looked up from what he was doing and said in a laughing way, "I just keep doin' that, too."


Age 4


Owen:  Can I have a banana?
Mom:  A banana?
Owen:  Ya.
Mom:  No.
Owen:  Cause I have a dollar that says I can.

Owen says to Weston:  You are just doom and destruction!!!

Owen:  Hey, Dad.  Do dogs swim?
Dad:  Yes, they do.
Owen:  How?
Dad:  They doggy paddle
Owen:  But do they have any suits?  (He seemed genuinely confused!  I could tell he was thinking, "No one can swim without a swimming suit...and I've never seen a dog wear one???)

Owen was really excited about the picture he was drawing the other day.  He announced to us all, "So, I'm drawing Owen right now.  So that's why I drawed a big head."  (Scott & I could NOT stop laughing)

We were getting ready for bed and Owen asks us, "How do monsters go to the bathroom?" (SUCH a great question.  I love the things kids think about).
Mom: Uh, to be honest, I don't have an answer for that because monsters don't really exist.  They aren't real.
Owen:  Oh. (pauses for about 10 seconds)...so they don't have a bum and a penis?  (Proof that what you say is not always what they interpret.  He chooses to still believes in monsters, but now is under the impression they have no bum, etc.)

Owen:  I'm still hungry (after a bowl of cereal in the afternoon).  Can I have another little somethin'?
Mom:  Uh, like what?
Owen:  What do you have?
Mom:  Do you want a pita?
Owen:  YA!!!
Mom:  Would that be a good little somethin'?
Owen:  Ya.  Then I'll stop eating snacks and save room for some ice cream.  (I think Owen was reflecting on earlier that morning when I said we could have ice cream after dinner, but it sounded hilarious the way it came out.)

Owen jumped in to my bed to snuggle the other morning.  First thing he told me, "Your hair looks like a smoothie!"

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You have to write these things down FAST!  If I don't write it down, it's gone by that evening.  So sad.  They say some of the greatest things!!!

In The Words of Kelsey Hansen, "I ALWAYS KNEW HE HAD A GOOD HEART!"

Yesterday was Weston's first visit to the cardiologist.  It was so great having my dad in town (totally by coincidence) so that Owen could be entertained and I could give my full attention to the little guy.

The visit was surprisingly fast.  We were in and out in an hour.  He had an echocardiogram and an electrocardiogram.  He was SO patient and well behaved.  An adult could NOT have done any better...SERIOUS!  He had all these tags, with wires attached, sticking on his chest and tummy, and he was just "cool with it".  Thanks for being adorable, Buddy!

But the best news of all, is that he does indeed have a good heart.  The doc said that everything looked perfect!  We'll go again in 3 years to have it all checked again, just as a precaution.  But for now--what a relief!!!

  

My Mystery of Almost 10 Years, Solved

Rewind with me to 2003.  I was a missionary in the Carlsbad, California mission, currently serving in Fallbrook.  I was spending some time in "personal study" when I came across a conference talk that changed my mission.  It talked about consecration and giving your whole self to the Lord.  Even all these years later, I remember so vividly reading the line, "So many of us cling tenaciously to a particular part, even treating our obsessions like possessions.  Thus, whatever else we may have already given, the last portion is the hardest to yield."  
It rang so true.  Oprah would call it my "Aha moment."  Here I am, a full-time missionary.  I've sacrificed and given so much of my self just to be there.  I work 7 days a week following the rigorous schedule of an LDS missionary.  I love the Lord and I love his teachings.  Who would call this anything less than total consecration?  But I knew this talk was speaking directly to ME!  I was still withholding a portion of my inner self, and I knew exactly in what way.  But why was I holding back?  I remember thinking "I won't have anything left if I give it all!"   Matthew 16: 25-26 puts this silly fear to rest, "...whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"   
I decided that it was time to let go of my grip and do things the Lord's way.
It was the best day of my entire mission.  I felt the Lord's guiding promptings more strongly than I ever had.  I knew we had done some good!

Anyhow, I have needed that talk again and again to help me recommit and let go of those silly things I hold back--BUT COULDN'T FIND IT ANYWHERE!  I was positive that it was Elder Robert D. Hales, but had no idea which issue of the Ensign.  So I searched lds.org high and low.  Year after year.  All kinds of different search words and phrases.  Gone.

I recently attended our Stake Conference.  Someone from the Washington D.C. Temple Presidency was speaking, and quoted Elder Maxwell from a conference talk he gave in 2002, "So many of us cling tenaciously..."  All these years I had been searching Elder Hales!!!  I had to go up after the meeting and express my gratitude for answering my question of almost 10 years.

Today, I found it.  I printed it.  Reread it.  Highlighted it.
It's still just as good as it was in 2003.

There's just one more part I want to share.  He says, "Frankly, it is our prospective selves we betray by holding back whatever the 'part.'  No need therefore to ask, 'Lord, is it I?' (Matt. 26:22).  Rather, let us inquire about our individual stumbling blocks, 'Lord, is it this?'  We may have known the answer for a long time..."


I'm feeling like I need to ask that very question, "Lord, is it this?"  I will have a pen and paper ready because I think my list will be long.  Some obvious and some not so obvious.  All I know is that life invariably "gets good" after doing so.



  

SPLASH PARK!

Ouch!  Water up the nose!

All that play works up an appetite!

Good times had by all.  

We met up with some cute friends at the splash park a couple weeks ago and loved every second.  The only bummer was that this was the hottest day of the year.  It was around 95 degrees by 9 AM, and very humid.  Yikes!

Guest Bedroom

After 3 months, we've finally achieved some sort of order in the department of house guests.  It wasn't at all like this when my mom came out in June--and for that, I apologize.

This is Weston, your blind tour guide.  Here he's showcasing the guest bathroom.  It's so not what I envision for the final product, but it works for now.  It definitely needs a decorators touch.  I feel like the color I painted the walls is really stifling my creative juices.  I'm stumped.  Don't know where to go from here.  I can't even find a color of bath towel that satisfies me. 

I'm just so glad it doesn't look like this, anymore...

This is a plug for all our adorable friends and family to come visit us!  The bed is a queen and is extremely comfortable.  We're within 30 minutes of Washington D.C. and I cook every night.  We'll call our establishment a "Bed & Dinner" (I make breakfast and lunch too, but it's usually along more simple lines; no biscuits and gravy).  Come on...take the bait ;)  We miss you all!!!

Priceless!!!

It feels like just yesterday that we were in the hospital, and they put little Weston in my arms.  

Where has time gone?  I thought I had more of it ;)

Isn't she adorable!  Can you blame him for closing his eyes and freezing up like a statue?  I can't.   

He's in HEAVEN (hence the rays of sunshine, pouring out upon them;)

Party In Your Mouth!

Throw away the Bacardi.  

THIS is all you need! 

I know what you're thinking; "There's no way I could put SALT, and lime juice, on an already perfect watermelon!"  

PLEASE try it!  Pretty please!  You will think you're sitting on the beach, sipping back on an tropical delight.   

Just squeeze a little lime juice on each piece of watermelon, and lightly salt it.  I like the Redmond's REAL Salt (it's a fine sea salt).  That's it.  Enjoy!


*Give credit where credit is due:  I learned this from an old mission companion, Yuri Miramontes, from Tijuana.

Butler's Orchard--BLUEBERRIES!

Everyone said, "Go to Butler's Orchard and pick yummy produce for your family". So I did.   I knew I would LOVE the experience, but didn't know how beautiful it was going to be!!!

I'm really in to this sort of thing lately.  When Scott & I got married, I would express to him that I didn't want so much as a gold fish because of the "work" they require.  Now I want a giant garden...with a cow...and chickens (Scott hasn't agreed to the cow, yet).  So much for my minimalist work ethic. 

 

 

 They take you to the blueberry bushes via tractor ride.

I think the boys really had a great time.  They were such good workers.  Even Weston was staying focused on the task. 

However, below are some pictures from the second time we went.  Weston seems to be under the impression that the task was to eat the blueberries.  

There was a Butler's Orchard employee watching him POUND blueberries for probably half an hour.  When we finished, she said, "Wow, that was impressive.  Hunter/gatherer, that boy!  He will never go hungry.  I've never seen anything like it."  

I didn't know weather to laugh or APOLOGIZE...and offer to pay for the "goods" in his belly.  

Way funny, and way embarrassing, all at once.

 

 

 

They also had lots of fun activities set up for the kids all around the farm. 

 

 

 

 

I'm going to be crying for these days once winter hits.  Summer is so fun...yet so fleeting.

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

So...a bit of an update.  

Weston was seen by a geneticist this last week, due to concern from his new pediatrician--concern over his hyper-mobile joints (you really have to see it to believe it).  She was suspicious that he might have a genetic disease called "Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome".

...Sure enough.  

He has what she classified as "Classical Type" Ehlers-Danlos.  Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is a connective tissue disorder that, in some cases, can be life threatening.  Since it affects all of your connective tissue, there is concern for your heart, organs, and blood vessels.  People with the more severe "Vascular Type" run the risk of arterial or organ rupture (scary).  His doctor DOES NOT think he has this type, but all EDS patients need to be treated and investigated as if they do.  We will be seeing a cardiologist in the near future for an echo cardiogram, just so we know what's going on on the inside.

Concerns, looking ahead...

-Tissue fragility and easy bruising.  Wounds take a long time to heal (We've experienced that first hand; a little scrape on his knee took a full month to heal).  

-Complications from joint hypermobility (sprains, dislocations/subluxations, and flat feet)

-Low muscle tone, and delayed gross motor development.  He will likely need occupational therapy and physical therapy.

*A plus...the doctor was genuinely surprised at his strength and coordination, considering his extreme hypermobility.  I attribute it to his determination to 

keep up with his brother...and a healthy diet from his mommy ;)

   

 ...Always trying to escape.

They were so good at the doctor's.  It was a little over an hour each way, plus the time you spend in the office.  That makes for a marathon of a morning.  I was so pleased with their good attitudes.  The nurses and receptionists were loving them. 

  How are we doing?  

We're doing fine.  Really.  

It is what it is.  You can't change it, so why waste time wishing that you could.  We adore Weston, and everything about him.  He has taught us a lot and I'm sure will continue to do so.  

What a blessing he is to our lives. 

We love you, Westy!