Babies in a Nest

So a few weekends ago (yep .. I'm still catching up) we headed over to the zoo.  I think we have a pretty decent local zoo.  We hadn't yet been to see the new part they opened up with a polar bear, seals and a grizzly bear.  Since we had Jeramie's kids that weekend Jackson was more interested in being "cool" and staying home to play with J'Von instead.  So I ended up taking Baylee, Wyland and Oliver.  Well and we went with my mum of course.  I was thrilled to see that Oliver really enjoyed looking at the animals.  It seemed like a perfect age.  I do believe that the monkey's were his favorite while the polar bear scared the crap out of him.  Okay, not literally but you know what I'm saying.

Kind of cool to see the owl up close like that.

Oliver and Baylee wouldn't go near him/her.

The wagon felt like a good idea.  But Oliver was not good about staying in it.

Wyland on the other hand will always be willing to be given a ride rather than walk.

Oliver did a lot of this.

He was very interested in seeing the animals.

Awe .. my babies in a nest.  

Not surprisingly Oliver didn't want to stay still for a photo. But I love this one.

Big sister helping Oliver see the seals.

The polar bear was VERY active.

We stood at the glass and he came out from under the water right in front of us.

This is wear Oliver squealed like a girl and ran in the opposite direction.

Good sized Grizz.

Train is always fun too.

Oliver loved the "choo choo".

Days like this one make me so excited for our big trip next year.  I can't believe we are now less than a year away.  I cannot wait, it's going to be so much fun!  Thanks for the zoo pass mum .. the kids loved it.

Oh and needless to say when we came home Jackson wished he'd come with us.  Figures.

Bribing your kids isn't bad right?

So a couple weekends ago we headed down to Yuba for a quick trip.  We lucked out with another beautiful weekend.  Better water than we've ever had at a local lake I think.  We arrived pretty late and ended up setting up in the dark.  Not ideal.  It's tough when we have to drive a little bit further and then we stopped for dinner on the way.  We were back on the grassy side of Yuba which is really nice.  It meant the kids had lots of room to run around and play out of the way of cars passing through.

As we were getting breakfast underway they played for awhile with the giant Frisbee.

Wyland's first wakeboard ride!

I'm so proud of him.  There is no way Jackson would have done this two years ago.

I had to bribe him with a big toy.

He didn't love it, but didn't hate it.  He was happy to be done though.

This year Jackson has REALLY been loving jumping off the boat to swim. I think the warmer water we've had has helped a little.  I do believe it's his favorite part of our weekends.  The kid is just loving swimming.  He thought it was pretty funny to see my dad throwing Jeramie in.

Baylee being a good helper with Oliver.

Wyland lives on the ladder. He'll come out into the water with me for one second but that's about it.

We named this "Wyland Island" after he kept saying he wanted to go back to his island.

It was nice to beach the boat for a little while and just let the kids play.

Oliver doesn't love going in the water too much but doesn't entirely hate it either.

He did however dig the watermelon.

We had to get Jerm onto the roof of the trailer to tape down one of the air vents that was broken.

What an ordeal that was.

Lastly desperate times call for desperate measures.  Oliver was SO SO dirty.  We resorted to a sink bath.

Only for him to go straight back outside to get dirty again.

Then on Sunday Jackson wakeboarded some with Jeramie.

He didn't want to be left out without a "big toy".

When we went to the store the next week for their big toys he thought he was gonna get

a $50 Batman lego set.  Boy was he wrong!

We had a really good weekend.  So far we're 3 for 3 with EXCELLENT camping and boating weekends.  Feels funny typing this now knowing that the 4th weekend (blog to come) was anything BUT!

Always a Trooper

I'm not sure if some of you already knew this but Baylee used to get shots of growth hormone on a daily basis.  Then about a year and a half ago her growth plates officially closed and therefore she no longer qualified for it.  Growth Hormone stimulation therapy is a really good therapy for kids with Prader-Willi Syndrome.  Kids with PWS tend to be pretty short height wise, which doesn't help with the distribution of the weight.  So when Baylee went on the GH she drew a little taller which also in turn helped to slim her down a little too.  It also helps with energy levels as well as for some unknown reason helps to balance their tantrums.  Boy do I miss the tantrum balancing aspect of the GH!  Tantrums these days seems to be at an all time high.  Which is a drag.  Not to mention incredibly frustrating for her and us.

So after the growth plates close you have the option of doing what they call the extended growth hormone stimulation test.  Basically you go up to the hospital and they hook you up to an IV.  Then they use that IV to take blood out as well as deliver meds in.  She got be blood drawn first thing to establish a baseline and then she got her first medication.  From that point on they drawn blood every half an hour. Getting the IV itself was the usual frustrating experience. We had the "IV Team" which consisted of two girls.  The first girl tried to get it in in two different sites.  Then the second girl gave it a go next on her hand where she got it on the first try!  This was by far the hardest part.  But Baylee of course was a total trooper.  She just kind of watched TV and talked to them while they did it.  I think that they were beyond amazed that she was so good. I guess they didn't believe me when I told them she would be.  I think they were way more stressed out about the whole experience than she was.  Thank goodness!

Here she was warming up her arm with a heat pack hoping to make

the IV insertion easier.

Ever smiling, proud of her IV.

Drawing some blood.

They told us that the drugs could make her sleepy and of course they did.

All in all we were there for the predicted six hours.  It's a week later and we still haven't heard anything about the results.  Basically what we're hoping for is that the test shows that her body doesn't naturally product enough growth hormone and therefore we can put her back on the supplements again.  This is pricey medication but it really does seem to make a difference and so we're definitely hoping to qualify for it again.

Funny because this really goes to show how times have changed.  When we first started the process of getting qualified for GH the first time I felt so much trepidation.  I was very anxious about having to give Baylee shots on a daily basis. But once we got going we all soon realized that it wasn't a big deal and she would actually ask for them at nighttime.

Again, I am so grateful that Baylee is such a trooper through these kinds of things.  Sure makes my level of anxiety drop down.  Really the only anxiety is how much money it will all cost.  It bugs me to no end that they don't tell you how much medical and dental procedures will cost before you have them done.  Like NO CLUE!  It would be like taking your car to the shop and just having them surprise you with a bill.  It's ridiculous to me.

Unpleasantly Busy

Last week was an unpleasantly busy one.  I did take a day off of work which was kind of exciting.  So far I've taken a day off for Wyland's dental surgery, Ragnar and now my own dental work combined with Baylee's hospital visit.  I had to have some pretty hefty dental work done.  I was not looking forward to it at all and had been putting it off.  But the time had come that I couldn't run and hide anymore. 

This is where I had a bit of a reality check .. epiphany if you will?

See I've read so many times about how regular exercise is a stress reliever.  But I never really bought into it.  I was really active my entire childhood.  So I didn't really know a time back then where I wasn't really physically active.  Then as I got older and life got busier I became much less active.  I often hit that 3pm drop off in the afternoon where all I wanted to do was take a freaking nap.  Well my lack of stress and panic over the impending dental appointment had me thinking.  I no longer feel a desperate need to take a nap at 3pm anymore.  Like seriously hardly ever.  I guess since I hadn't really taken the time to think about it I really hadn't really noticed of this benefit I was getting from my regular running routine.  It's a shame really because I realized that I didn't really look back and see if anything like this had disappeared since I started running.  I really wasn't the least bit stressed about having to get this dental work done.  Even though I know the future holds a whole lot more with regards to visits to the dentist to get additional work done, still I'm not stressed about it at all.  Other than perhaps how much it's all going to cost!

I know I probably bore people with all the writing I do about running and all but it's such a huge part of my life right now.  Until you've experienced the absolute gift that it gives to your life you just can't possibly understand why I talk about it so much I don't think.  I am such a goal oriented person. I get a lot of personal satisfaction and sense of accomplishment out of working really hardy  towards a goal and accomplishing it.  Timpanogos Half Marathon was a prime example of that.  I am so honored when people come to me for advice about running.  I've only been at it for about a year and a half now.  But I have definitely learned from some mistakes and read A LOT on the subject.

I digress.  I went for a four mile sanity run the day of my appointment .. it helped to settle some nerves.  Those endorphins you get from that kind of exercise cannot be faked that's for sure.  Then off to the dentist I went.

Before

After

Don't I look lovely?  I'm not sure how much of that was actual swelling.  I had a mouth full of gauze at the time.  My mum was nice enough to be my chauffeur and drove me there, picked me up to take me to get my prescriptions filled, then kindly delivered me back home again.  She's no nice.

Another epiphany I had this day.  But really not so much.  I know I have a great family.  But my cute sister in law Rachel sent me a text that morning wishing me luck.  My Dad sent me a text that morning also telling me it would be over before I knew it.  My mum of course drove me there and back and called first thing the next morning to see how I was feeling.  Then in the evening after my appointment Evan dropped by with my favorite ice cream (Rachel's idea he tells me).  I felt so loved and cared about.  Like I said, I know I have a great family but this definitely reminded me of how great they really are.

I have to admit the healing from the appointment hasn't been too bad at all. I went this week for a quick follow up and everything looked great.  I am grateful that I finally got the appointment taken care of.  And also that it was a positive experience (you know as positive as a dental appointment can be).

What wasn't excited about was having to get up early the next morning to take Baylee up to Primary Children's to get a medical test done that was going to take the entire day.  That post will be next!

P.S.  If you've ever questioned whether there really are noticable stress relieving effects as the result of regular exercise.  Don't be a pessimist!  I'm here to tell you it's TRUE.  And I would never have believed it would be something I could actually notice a difference with.