Christmas Adventure

We had quite the Christmas this year. It started out with Jenny Mcmuffins at my mom's house in the morning. It was a blizzard there so it was quite the adventure getting everyone up the hill. It was wierd because the snow storm seemed to only be in my mom's neighborhood. We went down to Marc's family's house in the afternoon to open some more gifts and to talk to his brother who is on a mission. Riley got some fun gifts. His favorites are his glown worm and his love sac!
 
 
 
 

MERRY MERRY

It's finally Christmas day! I am so excited! I haven't been this excited about Christmas in a long time. Maybe it's the snow...maybe it's the presents...maybe it's just the feeling of the season. I can't wait to get off work and head over for Jenny Mcmuffins at my mom's house!
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Playing with my beads is hard work!

YEAH I'M ONE!

Last Friday Riley turned ONE! We can't believe that it has been a whole year. The weather of coarse was terrible. It was the same weather we had that day last year! We planned a party and met at Training Table for some good eats and some cake. Everybody came except the people from Utah County because of the weather. It was really fun. Riley got lots of great stuff for his birthday. He is growing up so fast and is looking like such a little boy.

Picture Day

A little while ago a friend from high school, who had a baby pass away, told me about this photography that volunteers her time to take pictures of terminally ill kids. Most of her photos are done through the organization As I Lay May Down to Sleep. Her name is Miyo Strong and we had the wonderful opportunity to have a sitting with her. She was so much fun. She took some amazing pictures of our family and Riley for his FIRST birthday! There were so many pictures it was hard to choose. Here are just a few of the ones I liked.

Must Be Santa

We took Riley to see Santa Clause the other day. He just loved it. He was talking the whole time in line just so excited. He smiled and laughed for Santa. I'm glad that Riley is just so easy going and lets anyone hold and cuddle him.

Rockin Riley

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Fw: riley clause

soup's on

Growing up during the winter months we could always count on my grandma Dolores to bring down some of her homemade soup. I like to call it "Depression" soup because I'm sure it's what they lived on during the Depression! I know that you all know what I'm talking about...that soup with the stew tomatoes and every kind of bean that could be found in the cupboard. It didn't really matter what was in the soup because it was masked by the taste of salt, pepper and about 20 giant basil leaves. Of course as kids our comments were always the same..."Grandma it's too spicy and it has leaves in it!" Grandma's comments were always the same..."You damn kids! It's not too spicy it's fine!" The soup has become a comfort to me over the years and I tend to seek it out whenever there is an option for soup. I wandered down to the cafeteria tonight and there it was. The bean soup! I got a big bowl and savored every bite wile contemplating soup days past.

My new hat

Riley and I ventured to the mall to do some Christmas shopping. There were some really great sales going on and I had to contain myself, but there were somethings I just couldn't resist...like this hat. I've been looking for a new hat for Riley. One with some sort of ear covering and I found this one at the Children's Place. I just had to get it. This was my first year Christmas shopping with a baby and stroller. There is NO store that is stroller friendly. You would think that in the kid's clothing stores they would try to make more room between the racks...but NO. There I was trying to maneuver through racks of clothes and 20 other moms with strollers and kids. It was rough, but we survived.

What NO peanutbutter!?!

In these tough economic times everyone is trying to find ways to cut back and save a little. Including the multi million dollar hospital for which I work! They have taken away the supply of peanut butter in the units! Yes, it's true...no more late night PB and J sandwiches to get us night shifters through the night! For now I'll have to rely on the supply of Lorna Doone cookies and Diet coke. At this rate we might have to start telling patients to bring a sack lunch when they come to the hospital!

SYNAGIS

For the past few months Riley's team of doctors have been fighting for Riley to recieve Synagis injections. Synagis is a medication that helps fight RSV. It is a once a month injection for the entire RSV season which goes from about November until sometime in the spring. The Synagis vaccine is very expensive and insurance doesn't find it necessary to cover it for kids that where born full term babies. Because of Riley's muscular status it makes it very hard for him to fight respiratory infections. Thanks to the letters that our amazing pediatrician, Dr. Lindgren, and Dr. Swaboda's team have sent in to the insurance Riley has been approved for the injections and will be getting his first shot today! I am so grateful that he has been approved. I have been so worried that he is going to get sick with RSV and won't be able to fight it. Thanks Dr. Lindgren and Dr. Swaboda and Abby you guys are awsome!

Happy December

I can't believe December is here. The past few months have just flown by. Thanksgiving was a whirl wind. I worked Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and got about 2 hours sleep in a 24 hour period. Thanks to my mom and grandma jackie helping out with pies we whipped up some delicous pies and had an awsome pumpkin cheesecake from the cheesecake factory. We ate dinner down at Marc's family's house and then came home friday night. Christmas is comming up and I'm sure that will be another whirl wind day. I hate dragging Riley all over the place. He has so much equipment. We always go over to my mom's house for Jenny Mcmuffins for breakfast. I'm half tempted to stay over there for the day and who ever wants to come up and see Riley can meet us there. We'll see what happens.

TURKEY TURKEY BIG AND FAT!

A happy Thanksgiving to all. Thanksgiving is such a great time of year. It's cooled down, the leaves have changed and everyone is getting stoked for black friday shopping. Yesterday I was at my mom's house scrambling to make pies (thanks to mom and grandma jackie for their help) and the smells of pumpkin pie and giblets cooking on the stove filled the house. We started to talk about past holidays when we were younger going to grandma jackies house, or to colorado or all the fun Thanksgivings we had at my mom's house. There are so many great memories of Thanksgivings past
-Aunt Frankie's homemade pies complete with homemade crust and whipped cream
-Grandma Jackie and Grandma Dolores arguing over how much salt to put in the Gravy!
-Playing endless rounds of Trivial Pursuit (Aunt Diane and Uncle John new every single answer!)
-Grandma Dolores talking to the Turkey "Hey in there...are you done yet?"
-One Dozen rolls for 20 people
-My mom's stuffing....yum
-Fruit punch with sprite, jello salads, waldorf salad
-Cramped in the car driving to Colorado

I am sure there are hundreds more memories but it would be a novel. I hope that some of you remember these and have a chance to look back and laugh.

SMA Friends

We have made a new SMA mom friend. Her name is Monica and she has a little Girl, Tabitha, with SMA. Tabitha is about Riley's age and they have been in the PICU together twice now. I have added her blog to friend links if anyone is interested in seeing her story and journey.

Another er trip

Riley got to take his first ambulance ride on Sunday morning. He has had a cold for the past few days and on Sunday morning his oxygen dipped quite low and I could not get him to recover so I had to call 911. So the ambulance and the police showed up and none other than Scott Schovaers was the policeman! Thanks schovy. Once we got to the Er riley had recovered and he was flirting with all the lady nurses. They kept him over night to do some more intense respiratory treatment because we were worn out from doing it at home. They released him Monday afternoon and he's doing well.

Go utes!

Riley was so excited to watch the UTES DEFEAT the cougars! This blanket actually has both a utah side and a byu side but we all now which side is the better side...GO UTES!

yes it's true i just paid 1.85 for gas! The last time I paid that was when Marc and I first got married. Now it just needs to get down to 99 cents again.

My Creation

This is my new wreath that I made. The picture doesn't really do it justice, but I think it turned out awesome! The best part is it only cost me about $7 to make! I can't wait for Christmas to make more.

baby blues

I actually took this picture a month or so ago. He just got out of the bathtub and we were playing around with his hair trying to give him another mohawk. he's such a cutie!

go ahead make my day

Tonight is my third night in a row of working so needless to say I am exhausted. A part of me wishes they just had sleep rooms here so us night shifters could just crawl into bed and wake up and walk back down the hall and start all over. The traffic was horrible on the way home this morning and by the time I got home it was nearly 9:00! I was tired and hungry and all I wanted to do was get my jammies on and crawl into bed, but when I walked through the door Riley greeted me with the biggest smile and giggle. It made my whole day! How could I resist that face!?! Well, I couldn't. I sat and kissed him on his chubby cheeks for 15 minutes and he laughed. He is just so sweet. I never thought I could love someone so much. Thanks Riley for making mommy's day!

just laughing

rainy day

It has been raining all day long. I love the rain in the fall. It smells so yummy. Here Riley is in his new jacket that Heather got for him. It is so nice and warm. The other two pictures I can't remember if I posted them or not, none the the less here they are. Riley loves to play with that little squishy baseball. Here's a list of Riley's top ten things to do.
1. Play with his wind chime that's on his jungle gym
2. Watch Elmo's world and Tigger and Pooh. He thinks they are so funny
3. Make smacking sounds with his lips
4. Talk and talk and talk...he chats all day long. We don't know what he's saying but he seems to know exactly what he's talking about.
5. Eat...when four hours has been up you better fill his tummy again or watch out!
6. Give and get kisses...he loves kisses
7. Watch sports with papa...he's is glued to the TV
8. Take naps with mommy on her bed.
9. BINKY need I say more
10. Sing songs. His favorite right now is twinkle twinkle little star.

Christmas or Thanksgiving?

I am a huge fan of Christmas music, but does it really need to be played the day after Thanksgiving? One holiday at a time people...come on! I really can't believe that it is November already. The hot summer months just dragged on and the then came fall and it's just wizzing by. Halloween was a ton of fun, despite the coughing, sneezing and migraine headache. We took Riley out in the wagon and Brady carried both his and Riley's pumpkins to each door. We are hoping that next year Riley can be in a chair and zip up to the doors with everyone else. Next up is Thanksgiving. We are going to have Turkey day with the Ogden's this year. I am of course in charge of pies. We haven't had Thanksgiving with them since the first year we were married. It will be fun.

riley in the picu

Colds and Coughs

We've had quite the adventurous few days. On Thursday afternoon Riley had a siezure and I rushed him up to Primary Childrens. When we got there he had a fever of 103 and was having a hard time breathing. They gave him some tylenol to get his fever down and put his bipap on and sent him to the ICU for the night. The next afternoon when all of his cultures and blood work came back negative they said that he probably had a siezure due to his fever and that it's most likely viral related. We came home later on friday afternoon and then I got sick! I've got your typical upper respiratory infection. Sore throat, ear ache, head ache, cough, etc...Everybody has been sick. First Lauren and Brady got it, then my mom, then Riley and now me. I just hope that Riley doesn't get it again, or worse.

When it Rains it Pours!

About a month ago Marc's mom went in to have her thyroid removed and it turned out to be cancer. She started her first round of radiation on Friday and then went in for a bone scan on Monday. Sadly the scan found more cancer in her femur bone, her spine and in her throat where the thyroid was. They can't remove the tumor in her throat because of the risk of nerve damage. They are going to try a very high dose of radiation to try to eliminate the tumors. Only time will tell.

THRILLER

I went to see Thriller last night at Kingsbury Hall. My Mom, Kristin, Sarah and I went and it was so much fun. If you haven't ever gone to see it I definatly recommend it!

rileys new friend

This is Riley's new kitty, Marley. They were giving away free kittens at the store so we let Riley pick one. He is super tiny. Riley thinks he's realy funny and loves to pet and push him. Marley loves to lick Riley and that's when Riley starts to cry and is done with kitty time.

all warm

Halloween Preview

All the cousins were over at grandma jenny's today for some Halloween fun and games. They went to the pumpkin patch (well Riley didn't go) and then they all dressed up in their costumes. So we've got Brady as Spiderman, Lauren as the ladybug, Nick as the dragon and Riley as the devil. Aren't they all so cute!

JUNK

Most of you know that I am not such a great house keeper. In fact I'm terrible at it. I am such a cluttery clean person. I just have piles of stuff every where. It also doesn't help to have a husband the exact same way! I could never keep my room clean growing up. Things would just pile up and then I would spend a whole day cleaning my room just for it to pile up again. I just can never keep on top of it. Well, back when we were selling our house we started boxing things up and so we've just had boxes and piles of stuff every where, including our front porch. People probably thought we were such trailor trash! Finally this week we got everything off our porch and into our storage unit! I actually got Riley's room organized along with the living room. It took all day but I did it! Now we just need to work on the rest of the house. It just seems that I move piles from one room to another. So now our bedroom is a mess! If I had the money I would totally hire a maid. I would have no problem having someone come to my house a couple times a week and just fix it! They can also fold all my laundry and make me dinner. Hmm... I think my mom just needs to come live with me.

brady and riley

Handicap

So we just got our handicap passes for our cars so when we are trucking Riley around we don't have to walk 9 miles. Because now we have the passes this means let's all go to Disneyland because we get to the front of every line!!! LET'S GO!

Organization

Last night we hung out at Aaron and Bethany's to watch the Utah game. I am always amazed at how organized their house is. I think that Bethany is the most organized "got it together" person I know. She has lists for food storage, bugdets and things to do. You inspire me Beth...Way to go!

papas chair

Riley loves to sit in Papa Greg's chair and watch anything that is sports related. His favorites are basketball and football.

Our little Family

About a month ago my cousin Aimee came out from California. My mom got her to take pictures of all of us with her awsome camera. Here we are. Too bad Riley has the dumb tube in his nose. Oh well, he still cute.

9 month check!

Riley is now 9 months old!!! I can't even believe it. He is growing so fast. We went today to his 9 month checkup. He weighed in at 20 pounds 12 oz which is in the 51% and he is 28 3/4 inches long which is in the 68%. He grew a ton because his height has only been in the 30% up until now. He is all body and no legs though! He only got one shot, a flu shot and he'll get a booster in a month. It was so funny because he sat and talked and laughed with the doctor the entire time and kept trying to grab him. He is such a funny boy.

Bathtub

Hair Cut!

Riley had his first hair cut! I was getting tired of the long baby hairs so we cut it off. Now there is no more baby hair but thick coarse big boy hair. He cried the whole time. I don't think he liked the sound of the clippers. He is starting to look like a little boy and not so much a baby. Also, do you just love his red marks on his face from his bipap machine...poor guy.

hello anyone home?

so silly