Isn't the snow suppose to stop in January?

So it seems like winter is never going to end. We actually had gone a couple of days, maybe even a week without snow and then last weekend, we got hit with a bunch of snow, of course on a Sunday morning, but lucky for us we don't have church until 1 so no biggie. So I dressed the kids and they came out and "helped" shovel the driveway. Really they just climbed on all of the piles of snow, but Keegan's little legs kept getting stuck so I would have to stop and rescue him every couple of minutes. They got pretty cold pretty fast, so they went in while I finished the driveway. After the snow, it seemed we might be done, but nope, this morning we woke up to snow again. Right now it really isn't sticking, so hopefully it will stay that way. We are planning on driving out to Iowa soon and I hope that we don't get stuck in the middle of Wyoming and have a huge storm come through and they close the highway down. That would not be fun with 3 little kids!

January Fun

Well not a lot as happened since the last blog, hence why it's been a couple of weeks since the last blog. The week of the 18th, we decided to do some sharing around our home, but not the kind of sharing you want to do. Wednesday morning, Mike woke up and had the full blown flu. So he just hung out in bed all day and the kids and I retreated to my friend Lauren's house for a little play date for 2 reasons...1. so Mike would have some peace and quite and 2. so I could keep the kids away from him as much as possible. Well that obviously didn't work too well because Thursday morning Mike was better, but Keegan was running a fever and showing signs of the flu. So Thursday I spent the day taking care of a whinny 2 year old. Then Friday he was feeling better for the most part, but lucky for me Reighlyn woke up running a fever. Well actually she started running a fever in the middle of the night, we figured that out when she came and got in bed with us around 3am and she was burning up. The good thing about Reighlyn being sick, is she just wants to be left alone for the most part. So I just made her a bed on the couch and left her alone and she just watched shows and slept on and off all day. The hardest part was keep Keegan off of her....he doesn't understand why Reighlyn would want to just lay there and not play. So being the typical little brother he is, he decided all day that he would try and get Reighlyn to play with him. He would steal her blankets and pillow, turn off the tv, sing "jingle bells"(his favorite song) very loudly right in her ear, or sit there and hammer her head with his play hammer. Needless to say, Keegan spent a lot of time in his room in time out that day. Saturday everyone was feeling a lot better and I made the comment that of course everyone else got it but me...I guess mom's don't get sicks days, only get to take care of the sick. Well I probably shouldn't have said anything because Sunday morning I woke up with it. The bad thing is I couldn't just lay in bed and sleep all day, the mom isn't that lucky. So I just camped out on the couch were I could still feed Kairington when needed & play referee with Reighlyn and Keegan. All I can say is at least this thing was only a 24hr bug. Also we were counting our blessing that Kairington didn't get it, but I think we were getting a head of ourselves. Little Kairington woke up in the middle of the night on Friday with a temp of 101, which is pretty high for a little 2 month old. And she was just screaming and nothing could calm her down. Then Mike gave her a blessing and I gave her some meds and she finally fell asleep and slept pretty good the rest of the night. In the morning her temp was gone, but you can tell she is still sick, she will be fine and then will just start screaming for no reason. And Yesterday she didn't want anything to do with eating and when she did eat anything it came right back up, or out the end usually all up her back. I think she went through 4 different outfits yesterday. Last night she did sleep from 8 - 5 and then ate and went back to bed and is still sleeping, so we will see how she feels when she wakes up. I am hoping we are all done with this sickness. Needless to say Kairington and I will be hanging out at home today...no church. I just want to make sure she is 100% before facing more germs and sickness. We will see if Mike is brave enough to face church with Reighlyn and Keegan by himself.

Kairington 2 months old

My little baby girl is now 2 months old. Time seems to be flying by unless it is a night when Kairington decides she doesn’t want to sleep through the night, which means mom and Kairington get to watch some late night TV while everyone else is enjoying some nice, peaceful sleep. She has come to love Baby Einstein, which is great for me; means I get to have 20 minutes or so of her being entertained! Kairington is on a different path then my other 2 kids. She was the smallest of them all weighing in at 8lbs 4oz at birth, but that small size has not stayed around. She is growing a lot faster than the other 2 did. Today she had her 2 month check up at the doctor and weighed in at 12lbs 3 oz. To compare a little bit, Keegan didn’t weigh 12lbs until he was 4 ½ months old! Keegan was rather small though, until he hit 1 and then he shot up like a weed. Her weight gain is a good thing though because she has been had a lot of issues with bad acid reflux. She was put on medication for it at a month old after an ultrasound to make sure it wasn’t anything else causing her to throw up so much. The medication worked wonders until about a week ago and then the throwing up started up again, but not as bad, so the doctor today put her on an additional medication to help with the reflux….hopefully it will help, for her sake and my laundry’s sake. She also got a new medication for an eye infection that just wont go away… her left eye is always goopy and puffy and of course after a nap or in the mornings it is glues shut until I get a warm wash cloth and clean it off. So hopefully that will clear up in a quick hurry with these new eye drops. All of the above I was excepting from her check up today along with some vaccine shots, but we had a little bit more excitement than that today. So during the doctor’s examination of Kairington, she was listening to her lungs and didn’t like how wheezy she sounded. She then asked if she seemed to have problems breathing, ever stopped breathing, etc. I told her she was a very noisy eater, and even sleeper. She seemed to always be struggling for breath but had been that way from day one. Also sometimes she would stop breath while feeding and a couple of times would stop long enough her lips would turn blue. This of course worried the doctor, so she wanted to run some tests to start ruling things out. First they had a nurse come down and give Kairington a breathing treatment with a nebulizer to try and help her breathing. The nurse thought Kairington might fight having a mask on, but since I was holding her she didn’t really care…she actually feel asleep while doing the treatment. After the breathing treatment the fun began…so with Kairington stripped down to her diaper, the doctor sent Kairington and I on a little scavenger hunt all over the hospital it seemed. First stop was the 2nd floor of the connected hospital for an EKG. Since there is no pediatric Cardiologist, they took the images and then had to sent them to Primary Children’s Hospital in SLC,UT; then it was on to the 1st floor x-ray department for some chest x-rays. Well since they need chest x-rays which meant you need to be sitting up for them and Kairington is only 2 months, they had to squeeze her into this plastic tube contraption. It reminded me of the plastic tubes that are used in the drive through at the bank. Her arms were straight above her head and there was a little place for her face to be out. She screamed and all I could do was hold her little hands while they took the x-rays. The technicians said not to worry about her cries; it was way more painful for me to watch than it was for her to be in the tube. After the traumatizing x-rays it was back to the doctor’s office to wait for what I had originally come for, vaccine shots. After 1 oral dose and 3 painful shots, one of which the nurse went too deep cause more pain and a lot of blood, I thought we were done. Once I got her dressed the doctor came back in and listened to her lungs again, which sounded a little better after the breathing treatment and all the crying. Then she had the nurse test Kairington’s oxygen levels, which caused me to have to get her partly undressed again, causing her to cry again. We finally left the doctors office with a handful of prescriptions and orders to go to Praxair, were we would pick a nebulizer unit to rent and a sleep apnea monitor unit that we were also renting. It took an hour for them to teach me how to use both of these machines. I finally got home and tried hooking Kairington up to the apnea monitor, which she needs to wear 24-7 except for baths for 1-2 weeks. But of course I couldn’t get the monitor to work, so I had to call the company and they sent someone out to our house to help us get it hooked up. Come to find out it had a short in one of the wires, so the guy had to go back to the office and get another wire. By the time he got back and we had her all hooked up it was 7:30pm. But at least the monitor was up and running. The machine will monitor her breathing and heart rate and an alarm will sound if she stops breathing or if her heart rate slows down or speeds up too much. Then it was off to Wal-mart for me to get all of her medication the doctor ordered for her, including her nebulizer breathing medication, which she will need to do a breathing treatment every 4 hours. When I got home with all the medication and with all the equipment we have at our house it looks like we have our own little hospital here. Hopefully things will go smoothly for the next couple of days and we can get her wheezing under control.

Kairington doing her nebulizer breathing treatment

Another picture with the nebulizer on...at least she doesn't cry when we do them

Kairington all hooked up to the apnea monitor

Kairington watching Einstein

Random Sunday Pictures

Reighlyn sporting her straightened hair...thanks to a new hair straighten I actually got her hair straight for the first time


Keegan trying to smile without squinting

No luck....squinting is all we get!

Yet Another Trip to the ER

So it seems that my sister’s family LOVES to take trips to the ER. Also it seems as though I am always around or close by when it happens. So not even 2 weeks after Ana takes a trip to the ER after passing out, they take another trip on Sunday, this time for Kileigh. Reighlyn and I went to Ana’s Sunday evening to borrow some baking soda so Mike could make some cookies. Well Reighlyn has been wanted to play with the girls for the past couple of days so I let them play for a little bit while I talked to Ana and Jonathan for a couple of minutes. Well the girls, being little girls, started running from room to room screaming at the top of their lungs chasing each other. Well it was all fun and games, until they went running through the kitchen and Kileigh’s head literally bounced off the corner of the counter top. This brought instant tears and high pitched screams which brought Addison and Reighlyn to a quick halt. After a quick look from Jonathan it was decided that it was pretty deep and a trip to the ER was probably the best. Well luckily for them I was already there, no need to call. Since I have left Kairington and Keegan with Mike thinking it was just going to bed a quick trip, I decided it would be best if I took Addison and Aiden with me to my house so I could help Mike with my kids at home. So I loaded the kids up and came home with a little bit more than baking soda. Luckily since Jonathan was on duty, they went into the ER through the police entrance, which helped speed things up. Kileigh came away with one stitch and a princess sticker. But I think she was most excited about having a bracelet with her name on it.

Reighlyn's a Sunbeam

So this past Sunday was Reighlyn’s first day of Sunbeams! There were some mixed feelings about this with her. She was excited because she knows that Addison was a sunbeam and that means that Reighlyn was going to be a big kid like Addison. But she was not very excited when I told her that meant she would not go to nursery, she wouldn’t be playing with toys, or having snacks. I think the snacks were the hardest thing to give up. So after sacrament, we made our way to the bathroom to make sure she wouldn’t have to go in the middle of sunbeams and we had to wait in line. I think all of the new sunbeams were in the bathroom at the same time doing the same thing we were doing….take care of business. After things were taken care of we headed to class…when we got to the door she just stopped dead in her tracks and wouldn’t go in. But her teacher was so good, came and took her hand and took her in and she went with no tears or anything. When it was time to go pick her up she was as happy as can be talking a mile a minute about how she had so much fun, how her new teachers were so much fun and how she had all the same friends in her new class. I was glad that she transited well into sunbeams. Sunday was also a first for Keegan….nursery without his sidekick Reighlyn. He actually went right in with no tears and has had no problems thus far….cross your fingers it stays that way!

My big Sunbeam

Snow Fun

So we thought it would be fun to go out and build a snowman as a family one day. So we got all bundled up, got all of the goodies needed to build a snowman and headed out. Well the snow was NOT snowman snow. It was hard enough that the kids could almost walk across the top without making foot prints. Well we decided since we were already dressed we would just play outside for a little while. The kids LOVED it...mom and dad were little cold and were ready to go in a lot sooner than the kids. Keegan thought it was fun though to go down his slide that was outside and to try and ride his bike around. He even found some sidewalk chalk and sat down and started drawing...crazy kid. Reighlyn thought it was pretty fun to have a snow ball fight with Mike. It was a fun, but very cold...luckily Kairington was asleep in the house were it was warm!

Keegan playing on the slide

Keegan trying to figure out how to ride a bike in the snow

Keegan not sure whats so wrong with sidewalk chalk in January!

Reighlyn throwing a snowball at Dad

Keegan riding his bike in January

Reighlyn and Keegan playing in the snow

Reighlyn all smiles

Keegan loving the snow

Keegan's Second Birthday

It's crazy to think that my little guy is already 2! We decided to have just a simple get together for just cake and presents...nothing big. We also decided that instead of doing it in the evening and deal with grumpy kids, we would do it at 4 in the afternoon. It worked out great. We just invited family and some close friends, well you would think that would keep the group small, but not the case. We had quite a large group of people with a lot of little kids running around, and of course screaming at the top of their lungs. We had Grandma and Grandpa Ashton, Aunt Lish and Uncle Craig and their 4 kids(ages 10, 8, 2, and 9 months), Mike's cousins Joy and Jason and their 4 kids(ages 10, 8, 6, and 3), Ana and Jonathan and their 3 kids (ages 4, 2 1/2, and 9 months), Lauren and her baby girl,3 months, and then my crazy kids ages 3, 2, and 2 months. So needless to say it was very loud and crazy, but fun. When it was time to light the candle and sing happy birthday Keegan was excited and happy until we all started singing to him....then he had a TOTAL melt down! He started screaming and crying and Mike had to go hold him. It was kind of sad but funny at the same time....no worries we have it all on video! Then he was ok once he could eat his cake without everyone watching him. I guess he didn't like all the attention. I am sure that will change in a quick hurry. Then it was time for presents....this he was excited about and knew exactly what to do since we had just had Christmas and had lots of practice opening present. He got a couple of new car toys, a new movie, but mostly new clothes...a big need! He was pretty excited about all his presents, but one of his favorite things he got was a box of fruit snacks from my sister, but of course all of the kids wanted some, so they didn't last very long once everyone had some. For dinner we were going to take him to McDonald's so he could play, but by the time everyone left the kids were pretty tired and I didn't want to deal with another melt down in the middle of McDonald's probably at the top of the toys...which would have meant mom would have to climb through all the equipment not meant for someone my size to go get him down....unfortunately it has happened too many times and since Mike being a 6'5" guy doesn't fit, I am left to do it every time. So we just had a quick dinner at home and called it a night.

Keegan pretty excited about his new car from Grandma and Papa Ashton

Keegan enjoying his cake

Keegan's birthday cake

New Year's Eve Fun

So being the boring people we are, Mike and I put the kids to bed at their normal bedtime...7pm. Then we decided to watch a movie, which I think we both feel asleep while watching around 9pm. So we called it a night and headed to bed around 10. I figured we could toast the new year in the morning...no difference between midnight or 7am we figured. Well around 2 am my cell phone goes off and based on the ring-tone I can tell it is my sister, Ana's house. By the time I came to, I had missed the call. Then I heard the house phone ring. I figured it was Jonathan, my sister's husband, calling me to wish me a happy new year or something dorky. Well then he called again, so I decided I better answer it, figuring it was probably something important. Well the first thing he says is I need you to come ASAP, I need to take Ana to the ER right now. Well if that doesn't wake a person up I don't know what does. So I jump out of bed, throw on some clothes and I am out the door in less than 5 minutes. Mike was half awake and was kind of confused at what was going on so I said I would call him when I got there and found out what was happening. It's a good thing I only like 2 miles away from Ana. I get there and am worried at what it could be. Well I guess she passed out twice in a couple minute period. The first time she had Aiden, her 9 month old, in her arms asleep. Luckily she could feel herself getting dizzy, so she tried sitting down on the side of the tub, but passed out and ended up dropping Aiden. Another luckily thing was that Jonathan was home and came running in. A couple of minutes later, she passed out again, so Jonathan called 911 and had an ambulance come and check her out. Once they ran tests and said her vitals were good they left per Jonathan opting to take Ana in himself so it didn't cost an arm and a leg. So I spent my new years eve holding Aiden and listening to Addison, their 4yr old talk my ear off. She woke up the minute Ana and Jonathan left and stayed up until they got home around 5am. Then I chatted with them for a while until 7 when I headed home. They ran a bunch of tests and decided she had been dehydrated, so they pumped her full of tons of fluids via IV and sent her home. She did have to wear a heart monitor for a couple of days just to make sure everything was normal and it was. Scare thing to go through though especially holding a baby when it happened. I am so glad everything is OK.