Carisa graduation pix

So proud of her!

My grandma

My grandma is in a care center now and is on hospice, which means she has less than 6months to live. She has Alzheimers and doesn't recognize very many of her family anymore. It's very sad. I miss my grandma, the way she used to be. She has pneumonia, or at least did last week when this picture was taken. She keeps falling down also. She is so sweet and we all love her.

Ri Ri's first month home

I can't believe it's been almost a month since Rielly has been home. He is doing very well still. He has a few issues that have come up. He has an umbilical hernia, quite a big one. We are hoping it will resolve on it's own. The nurses at the U said this was most likely caused because he grunts alot of the time, which put pressure on his belly button.
He has thrush, a yeast infection, at the roof of his mouth. He also has a very high palate, it sort of looks a little bit like a small cleft palate. It is very weird. We showed his pediatrician and he said we should get it looked at by a specialist. It also could have been caused by the ventilator tubing that was constantly rubbing on the roof of his mouth for quite a while. This is when we noticed the thrush in his mouth.
He also got a little cold, he had a stuffy nose and a cough. We freaked out, ha ha. Took him to the doctor. He's fine. He did lose some weight during the week he was sick though so the pediatrician wants us to put extra formula powder in his bottles and keep a hat on him. We will see today if he has gained weight this past week.
He loves bath time. He lays in the tub and looks like he is in heaven when we pour warm water over him.
We aren't supposed to take him out for a whole year, no stores, no church, no public places. With this whole swine flu deal, I'm even more paranoid about him leaving the house.
He is such a good baby. Doesn't cry very much at all, although when he got his shots 2 weeks ago, it was so sad. He cried and had the biggest frown on his face. It made us all cry.

aaaahhhh!


Going home from the hospital

Angel

It's not looking pretty out there. Look at all that fog.

I finally got my money back, it took my dad having to call them and threaten them. Oh how I get sick when I drive by their store or even see their name somewhere.

Just a Warning

I know that sometimes I am an idiot and am somewhat naive. I think I can trust most people and that I am immune to identity theft. I have never been a victim of identity theft or any kind of theft for that matter. I am extremely mad at Walgreens Pharmacy right now and want to shoot a woman by the name of Kami Miller that lives somewhere in this valley. She has used my debit card to charge $1600.00 worth of merchandise at two different Walgreens. It started when Walgreens took my debit card number to keep on file for prescriptions. When they did this, they applied it to my name but also to another person named Kami Miller. Well once this Kami Miller realized she wasn't being charged for her purchases at Walgreens, she has slowly increased the amounts of items that she buys. The total right now is about $1600.00 over the past month. There was even a charge for $356.39! What she does is takes all her items to the pharmacy counter and buys them there along with a prescription or two. If you have a prescription to fill, you can take all your other items to the pharmacy and just have it charged to your card that they have on file. Well since Walgreens accidentally put my card under her name, she has gone hog wild. I've cancelled my card and talked to both Walgreens. They are cooperating and have agreed to refund the charges and will go after the other Kami Miller, although I am worried that if they do find that it is fraud, it won't be so easy to get my money back. (According to Draper Police, who I just got off the phone with) SO, DO NOT give Walgreens or any other store you account number to keep on file. I will be much more cautious in the future. Wish me luck!

Selfish Gramma?

I thought once Rielly came home, I would be able to hold him more but no, I still have to beg and plead, and downright bribe Morgan to let me have some time with him. I have offered to come and pick him up, suggested that Morgan and Austin get some alone time, even offered money for them to go to dinner, just to create an opportunity for me to hold this cutie
What does a gramma have to do to be able to hold her grandbaby?

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Braden
Happy birthday to you!

Wow, Braden is 19! This tells you that I am getting REALLY old! We had a birthday dinner for him and cousin Brandon on Sunday at Grandma and Grandpas.

Top six reasons why we love Braden
6. He still acts like he's about 5, teasing his siblings, and his mother, relentlessly.
5. He is very smart, having a job in computers that most people would need a degree for.
4. He can cheer up Breanne when she is sad. (Not an easy task)
3. He is a great friend.
2. He will give you the last penny in his bank account if he sees you are in need.
1. He is very sweet, giving me flowers and chocolate covered strawberries on important days.

We love you Braden! Happy Birthday!

As if there wasn't enough excitement going on...


This finger belongs to Tyson. Tyson is the only one of my kids to have ever needed stitches. To top it off, this is the FOURTH time he has received stitches. The other three times happened before he was 7. I guess you can officially say he is accident prone?

All ready to come home!

My first car ride and glimpse of the sunlight

Ah finally, some fat on those bones

Cute outfit from Cindy and Stacie, LOVE IT!

Exhausted after an exciting day

I'm so tired...

I had a hard time staying awake on my way home from work yesterday, and when I got home, I still had to drive the kids to school, two DIFFERENT schools. I took Tyson to school, fell asleep briefly at least 3 times on my way there, and gave up on trying to drive Breanne to school, which would have been another 30 minutes round trip. She got to stay home from school because I didn't have the strength to drive her. How pathetic is that?

That's one of the reasons why I haven't been able to post that Rielly is home! I've been so stinkin tired that I didn't have the energy to post it. He did great on his first night, actually slept 5 hours straight. Morgan is loving him home, he is such a good baby. Doesn't cry very much at all. We love him!

Oh My

I was hoping to post today that Rielly was home. When we arrived Thursday night for the discharge class, we noticed he was back on oxygen and they told us that when they put him in his carseat for a test run, his oxygen level fell, and they had to give him oxygen to get them back up. So, they will try and wean him off the oxygen and try the carseat test again. We were sad but realize that we would rather have him in the hospital if there is going to be a problem. I will keep you updated.

Woo Hoo!

I heard earlier tonight that Rielly is now off of the oxygen! Also, I don't know if anyone noticed in the last pictures I posted (you probably didn't because I just barely noticed!), but his feeding tube is also out! He hasn't had any bradycardia or apnea episodes for at least 6 days. They said he will probably come home this week (barring any last minute a's or b's). I am SO excited! I want to be able to hold him anytime I want to, and squeeze his fat cheeks, and kiss his cute little face. I might just have to steal him from Morgan!

The party continues

Ok, it's been 3 days since Tys birthday and we are still celebrating. Tonight he took two friends to Nickelcade for a few hours and then to McDonalds. Yesterday he went bowling with Dad and Grandma. He also went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner on Thursday night with Carisa and Breanne. I'm lucky if I get a "Happy Birthday". How is it that we are still celebrating?

Tired baby



Cutie pie


Compare the foot prints. The first one is at 3 months, the second is when he was born


I'm so hungry, I'm gonna eat this thingy here


Look at me! I'm 5 lbs 12 oz! Yippee!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TYSON!!!

Tyson is now a teenager, AAAHHH. I have 4, yes 4 teenagers now! That is just not fair. He had a good day. Best birthday ever, he says. I gave him the choice to go anywhere he wanted to eat, he chose Five Guys Hamburgers. We then went up to see Rielly, he hasn't seem him yet because it's RSV season and the hospital wouldn't allow him to because of his age. He was so happy to see his nephew and thought he was the cutest. On our way out of the hospital, he got a shake. By the pictures, I think it was the highlight of his day. I love the look on his face.

Rielly is 5 lbs 9 oz. He has issues with his heart rate slowing still, so I know he won't be coming home this week. He is super cute and is getting to be a chunk.

This little stuffed animal doesn't look quite so big anymore next to Rielly. He is 5lbs 2 oz. He had a grade 2 apnea and bradycardia Sunday which required the nurse to have to stimulate him to breathe. Now they won't consider him coming home for at least a week from then. I saw him drinking a bottle Sunday also. He was scarfing it down like it was his last one. The nurses have taught Morgan how to pace him, by tilting the bottle down so that he only gets air. This reminds him that he also needs to breathe while he eats. It's amazing how many things are different with preemies than with full term babies. I'll be a little scared myself caring for him when he comes home. They have him on a feeding schedule of every 3 hours which they said he will stick to when he leaves the hospital. It's also likely he will come home on some oxygen and moniters. Hopefully not for too long. We also need to get a car seat and bring it in so they can make sure it will work for him. We are excited for him to come home!

Funny boy

Conversation with Tyson after seeing a sign at Del Taco advertising Shrimp Tacos

Tyson: Mom, what do shrimp tacos taste like?

Me: I don't know, I don't like fish and have never had them.

Tyson: Oh, I thought they meant they were mini tacos.

I guess my boy takes after his airheaded mother at times

Rielly is one ounce short of 5 pounds. He still looks different every time I see him. Morgan is funny, every time I go to hold him, she gets worried and says "be careful", like I have never held a baby before. Typical mother.