Surprise Snow not Rain

Well, today we were told it was going to rain. Well, I think Mother Nature had a different idea. Since is late this is just going to be mainly a picture post.











This was the best picture I could get of Gavin.
He was so excited to play outside to sit still for a picture


The boys working on a snowman.



Jason is learning that snow/rain with
glasses don't work too well.




Matthew was too tired to play
No nap.


Catching snowflakes

All done snow. He was cold
especially when he took off the gloves.

Cyclical vomiting syndrome

In my last post I wrote that Matthew has been diagnosed with a condition called Cyclical vomiting syndrome. I am going to call it CVS it is so much shorter. I thought I would share with everyone what CVS is. Now, I am not a doctor so all the information I have is either what I have read or experienced.
CVS is when a child vomits in cycles. Matthew and many other children that have this illness usually vomit at night time. He starts around 2am and it usually goes for 2-3 hours vomiting every 10-15 minutes. Because it comes in cycles he is not vomiting every night usually a cycle starts every four to five weeks and last from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.
CVS is linked to migraines in teen and adults. So, Matthew is not having migraines yet(they usually come during the teenage years), just the vomiting that goes along with them. It has taken us over a year and half for the doctors to figure out what he has. I feel lucky because most cases take 2 years or more to be correctly diagnosed. There are no test that doctors can do so it goes misdiagnosed all the time. During the time we were looking for answers, I spent many visits to our doctor. He ordered all sorts of tests. We also took him to the ER once and no one knew what was wrong with him. Each time they seemed to try to tell me it was either a viral, bacteria, or some other thing. It was not until the last time I went in that I told the doctor I knew there was something seriously wrong with our little boy. After a visit to the Pedo GI she suspected he had CVS. It kinda stinks because she really does not know a whole a lot about it except the symptoms. There are no specialist here in Oregon or Washington in fact the closest one is in Wisconsin.
Just like migraines there are no cures for his illness. Either he will out grown them or they will get worse as his hormones get more crazy. As symptoms arise then the doctor will prescribe medicine to help calm them down. We are also trying to find out what triggers his cycles. I have no clue. Right know he is on some medicine to help with the nausea which seems to be helping out some.

I'm back!

Okay so it has been almost two month since I last posted something. A lot has happened over the last few months. With the help of my husband and my two good friends I realized that I need to get caught up. Instead of writing a huge set of paragraphs I have decided to break it down into what each of us have been up to. So, here we go.


Jason:

• On Jason's last report card he scored above grade level on almost every category. His teacher told me that he is one of the smartest students in her class. We are very proud of him. He loves to learn and wants to know everything.
  
• He has become such a wonderful helper. Every morning he helps Matthew get dresses and ready for the day.
  

• One of Jason's big accomplishments is teaching Matthew how to pee standing up. Every time he sees Matthew doing it he let's us know he was the one who taught him.

Matthew:

• Over the last few months he has been working on potty training. Matthew is doing really well. We still have issues, but he will get there. Whenever he is awake and we are home he wears his underwear. We have only had a couple of big accidents, usually he just wets himself.
  
• After a year and half we are so close to finding out what disease Matthew has. The doctor thinks he has a condition known as cyclical vomiting sydrome. We are currently waiting for the results of the blood tests.
• Matthew has learned how to spell his name. It is so cute to hear him spell it. The other day I gave a cup that Jason's name on it. He told me, "Mom this is not my cup it says Jason my name is Matthew". I thought that was pretty advanced for a two year old but also really cool.

Gavin:
Gavin has grown up so much over the last two months. Here are some of the things he can do.

• Crawl up and down the stairs without any problems
• He recently learned how to climb onto the booster chair and turn the lights on and off. ( this is my favorite :-)
• The other day we were shopping and I took something away from him and he started to cry and a nice lady told him that one of the most fake cries have every heard from such a little guy. So, he now has the fake cry down and he has learned to use it to his advantage. Something we are going to have to work on.
• Unfortunately he has decided that he does not want to take a morning nap. So now he goes down to nap around 12ish and will sleep until 3 instead of taking a nap at 9 and sleeping for an hour. It is actually kinda of nice because of Have a whole 2-3 hours all to myself.
• He had his first donut the day after Thanksgiving. He loved it.
• Fake Christmas trees are not for climbing and they will break.
  
• He loves his brothers and they love him so much

The Parents:

• Brian received the NHSC scholarship. This means our medical school will be paid for over the next three years along with a monthly stipend. In exchange Brian will have to work for the government for three years to pay them back. This is a wonderful blessing not only will our debt be smaller, but he will have a job when he is done with school. I am so proud of him.
• We have joined a gym which is also wonderful. We really like it. I usually wake up by 4:30 to go work out and Brian stays home with the boys. Then, after school Brian will go to the gym and work out and sit in the hot tub. I would totally recommend LA Fitness to anyone.
  
• I was recently called to be in the young women program I love it. They are such wonderful girls. They are a true example to me.
• We are learning how to juggle family, school, work and play. Sometimes it is hard but worth it.

Helloooo....

Does anyone out there even read this thing anymore?
I'm just curious since we haven't updated in a while...

;)

Halloween.

I have been such a horrible blogger. But I have three and sometimes four excuses. My family has kept me very busy these last few weeks. Here are some things we have been up to.

• Today we had a Halloween party with our cousins. The boys had so much fun. This is an event that they look forward to every year. The boys really enjoy trick or treating with all the kids. Sometimes I wonder what the people think when 14 kids stop by a their door looking for candy. Jason went as Aniken Skywalker since the costume still fit from last year, I thought he could wear it one more year. Matthew was Superman. Gavin was our duck. We have had our dear duck costume for seven years now. It is a tradition t everyone has to wear it at least once. (this was not the best picture, gavin was super tired)

On Friday we celebrated Gavin's birthday. It was just a small family party.(due to exams) We will have a friend and family party later. This is last time I will make a Red Velvet cake, well at least until my kids are older. Red stained the carpet and was all over the place. The cake was pretested by a certain toddler so I had to re-frost it and the top looked so red.
The older boys and Brian carved a pumpkin. It turned out really nice, even though the pumpkin was green it did not look too bad. While they were carving the pumpkin I was trying to keep Gavin entertained. For some reason he decided that he was going to go crazy. I guess carving pumpkins is not his thing right now.

Gavin 1st birthday

I can't believe that Gavin is one already. Time goes by so fast. He is growing up along with the older boys so quickly. He has been such a wonderful blessing in our family. I am truly learning that I need to treasure every moment with them. Also, my boys have taught me that parenting is hard but sometimes I make it harder then I need to.
Here are somethings that Gavin has been up to.( I just love his name)

• Gavin loves to go outside. Whenever I open the door he comes walking as fast as his little body can go. Sometimes, I have to close the door before he gets there. He usually cries, but the weather does not permit him to go outside all the time.
  
• About a month ago I started giving him cow milk. To my surprise he has taken to it pretty well.
• Gavin's loves sandwiches his favorite are PB&J and Grilled cheese.
• I started having the boys watch "Signing Time" videos mmainly to help the younger boys learn to communicate better and hopefully help Matthew with his temper. Well, Gavin has caught on to some of the signs which is pretty incredible for me. He can sign "baby" and "all done". I know this is not a ton, but it is a start. We will still have to work with Matthew on his temper.
• He loves to grab Jason's glasses. Two Saturdays ago I had to get Jason's glasses repaired because Gavin grabbed them Jason tried to grab them back and it was a big fight and the glasses lost. So we had to get the glasses unbent. We were home not even an hour and they were fighting again. So, I guess I will have to back to Costco to get them fixed. Sheesh who knew a one year old could be so destructive.
• He has learned how to go up the stairs. Now all we need to is work on going down without hurting our self in the process. Face first is a big no-no.
• Gavin enjoys looking at books but when it comes to me reading a book he only can stand may be a minute then he is off and running.
  
• I no longer need an alarm clock. Gavin goes to bed by 7:00 and wakes up by 6:00. If he goes to bed later than 7:00 he is a disaster.
  
• He loves eating with a fork. Well, I should say a fork or spoon in one hand and the food in the other. The food and spoon/fork never meet he just likes having one like us. His philosophy is no fork/spoon no eat.
• Gavin is like a tornado. When he is asleep our house a little cleaner. As soon as he wakes up there are pots and pans all over the place and if he can help it food from the pantry too.Sometimes I wonder why I even bother cleaning up.
• His favorite toy is a leaf. He loves to just look at them and walk all around with one in his hand.
  
• Gavin loves his older brothers so much.
  

Potty Training Break

Over the last few months we have been working with out dear sweet Matthew on potty training. We have tried everything. I started offering M&M's that worked for a little while. But, it got kinda expensive when other people kept eating them. Then, I tried the look at clues one. Well, that only works if we are always in the same room. Our new place has more than one room, so that got a little difficult. And there is no way I can be with him all the time. So, I thought well maybe I will try taking him every 30 minutes to use the potty. That worked for a half a day. Then, he went on strike. Every time I would take him to use the potty it was like I was taking him to timeout or something really horrible. He would scream and run away. And for anyone that knows Matthew his so stubborn, if he does not want to do something there is nothing that you can do make him. One example of his stubbornness. Every morning I offer him two outfits to chose to wear that day. After waiting for what seems for ever he goes into his dresser and picks something totally different out. And usually it is not weather appropriate.
So, I was reading my friends blog and she was explaining what they are doing with their wonderful toddler. She does not even say the word "potty" until he can wake up from a nap dry. Then, once they wake up she takes him to the potty. I think this is a great idea because you know their little bladders are so full. I have a feeling this approach will work. Now, all I have to do is remember to not say "potty" in our house for a while. I think that is going to be the hardest because we have been working on it for so long. I think this will be a good thing, I need a break from the stress and I also need to find Indiana Jones Underwear. I promised him I would buy him some when he was potty trained. I should have looked before I promised dang they are super hard to find.
Well, he may not be potty trained but he can sure ride his bike very well. (when his helmet is not covering his eyes) I was told he makes the best lego buildings in nursery. So, I guess he has those things mastered.

Bug Killers!!

Since I am such a good blogger I thought I would post something that happen a month ago. I meant to post it earlier, but just forgot. Kaylee, Caleb, and Ethan were over at our house playing with the boys when this happened. I had to run inside to grab something when all of a sudden I heard Caleb and Matthew screaming in the backyard. So, I dropped what I was doing and came running when I saw them stomping on this poor little bug. As they would stomp they would scream. They were not really screaming as much as laughing as the bug tried to run away from these wonderful toddlers. If our camera was not such a pain in the butt I would have video taped it, but oh well. Pictures will have to tell the story.Here they are examining the bug (it was a big bug)
Then they both started stomping on this bug



Then they had to double check to see if it was dead. Nope!

Then Matthew coached Caleb on where to stomp

Then they called me over to make sure they had killed it.
They did. It took like 2-3 minutes for this bug to die. It was so funny. By the time
they were done killing it Ethan was the only one that still wanted to see it. I think
he wanted to stomp on it too he even went to put his shoes back on.

Teddy Bear Parade

I have been a horrible blogger. But, I have a good excuse my three wonderful boys keep me so busy that by the end of the day I am beat.
The boys and I went to the Teddy Bear Parade in downtown Gresham. It was pretty fun. This is the second parade that I have taken Jason too. The other was in Iowa in November. The one here in Gresham was a lot warmer. The boys really liked watching all the kids walk by with their little teddies. We went empty handed. I guess ours are still packed away. Oh, well. Before the parade started everyone decided that they were hungry, even though they had eaten a big breakfast just an hour before. So, we all walked across the street to the Farmers Market and bought some donuts. I heard they were good! Gavin even liked them. To no shock after the parade they were still hungry an hour later.

He is learning

Over the last few months I have been working with Matthew on some preschool stuff. We first started with letters, but he did not like that too much. So, we decided to do colors and play some color games with those paint samples you get at Home Depot. But, Gavin decided to eat them so now we just do it with crayons during Gavin's nap. Much safer. So I decided well let's do shapes. I started out with circles. Well, after a while I decided maybe he is just not ready for this type of stuff and we will stick with colors. Well, the other day Gavin was reorganizing my kitchen. This is a daily thing. Matthew decided to help him. Matthew would take out a kitchen tool and ask me what it was. I would tell, example a cookie, or a rack for cookies. Well, Gavin took out the Angel Food cake pan. Matthew took it away from him and asked me what it was. I was trying to think of an easy way to say it. So, I told him cake pan. He told me, "no mom, circle." He started to talk to Gavin and tell him it was a circle then he sang our circle song. I was so surprised he even remembered to show Gavin that it had no sides. He demonstrated it to him too. I was so excited he told Gavin look it is an "O". So, now everything is an "O" that is shaped like a circle.
I have been trying to have patience with him because I know all kids are different. Jason knew all the shapes and their sides by the time he was 3 1/2. Matthew is getting it he just is so stubborn. If he does not feel like doing something he won't. I am thankful, to have a different personality with each of my three kids. They make life interesting.

Fight For Preemies // Bloggers Unite

Fight For Preemies // Bloggers Unite

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First day of School

Last week was Jason's first day of school. He is officially a second grader. He is attending Hogan-Cedars Elementary. It is almost a brand new school. I say almost because it is only 4 years old. Jason was really excited to start school. I love having him home, but I know that he was ready to go back. He was a little nervous, but after the first day he was so excited to go back. Jason has a wonderful teacher. Even though homework has been coming kinda slow for me we still have homework among ourselves.
Matthew on the other hand has not been too happy that Jason is back at school. He loves playing with Jason. Matthew cries everyday when we drop Jason off at the bus stop. We have been having school at home here. He seems to like it. I hope he is this excited when it is actually his turn to go.
I took some pictures of our yearly tradition of taking Jason to school. Jason takes the bus, but on the first day of school I always drop him off.
Gavin came too, but he did not care if his picture was taken or not.

Gavin is Ten Months

Well, I have been a bad blogger the last few weeks. I hope to start up again. Starting with this entry. Our little Gavin is growing so big. He is now ten months old and can do so many things.
Here are a few:

1. Gavin can walk. He still likes to crawl, but he can get up on his two little feet and walk.
   
2. He has finally decided that he does not like baby food. Well at least the mushed stuff. It took him a while but that is okay.
3. He loves to crawl in the tub when his older brothers are taking a shower. However, he will not take a bath in the tub by himself.
4. He loves to play outside. We have a little play structure thing and he loves to crawl on it and play.
5. He thinks he is old enough to play with legos. Too bad they are so small.
6. I am thankful he is getting better at sleeping through the night. Well, okay myabe only until 3:30ish but he is getting a lot better ever since he is in his own room. I don't know how people co-sleep with their kids. I need my space.
7. He loves to read our favorite book "Goodnight Moon" just before going to bed.
8. Gavin can say mama and dada even though he has not said for a week or so.
9. He has one tooth and a bunch more coming in thank goodness for our teething pills. Our little heroes
10. He loves to go for walks. We live near a park and the boys and I go walking every day. Well, almost everyday.
    

We moved!!

We have finally moved out of the guest house. We enjoyed our stay there, but it was just a little to tight for a family of five. We now have a place here in Gresham. We are really enjoying our new home. We have a three bedroom with 1.5 baths and a large backyard. The kitchen is a little small, but that is okay because I am the only one that really cooks anyway. The boys love their new place too. Jason and Matthew are sharing a room. Gavin is in a room by himself. I really like that part. I love my kids but, it was driving me crazy having Gavin in my room. He seems to enjoy his room too. We are also using his room as our office as that is what it will be when he is out.
We had some wonderful memories during our stay in Oregon city. It will always be a big part of our family history.