Recipe for a Great Summer

Take 4 cute kids who are ready for some summer fun

Add in a early summer dose of Baseball, T-ball and freezing cold swimming lessons (next year we won't be doing the first session of the year).

Follow with one FABULOUS family reunion filled with TONS of Karaoke... (Go Mom and Dad!!)

Lot's of fun games...

And Loads of all over family fun! We LOVED getting to visit and the kids enjoyed every minute with their cousins. It was the first time in a very long time that my whole side of the family was able to be together. Love them all so much!

No fun summer is complete without a family evening at the local county fair:

The kids held their noses through the entire hog barn! haha. It was the perfect night for a fair! We enjoyed the rides, along with your typical fair food. Bryan even had to try a deep fried twinkie!

For a great summer you also need to have one 2nd annual family trip to the Nauvoo Pageant. I love that we are able to take the kids there and let them see the Temple and learn about the History of Nauvoo. (For some reason I can't find the pictures I took. I know I took some!) The kids LOVE the singing and dancing of the actors and they LOVE all the pioneer games before the show. It was HOT that night (I felt bad for all those dressed in their costumes), but that didn't stop the fun!

Mix all these together and you definitely get a summer to remember!

I wasn't ready to see the summer end. I love having my kids home during the day and making memories with them. The last few weeks before school started we were able to just take it easy and enjoy the time we had before school started. One day towards the end of the summer Ethan said to me: "I had a really fun day. Yesterday was fun too. I'm having a lot of fun days!" It made me so happy to hear him say that. I feel like so often our schedules are packed and we are running here and there all the time. I hope my kids are also getting the time to just be kids. To play and have fun!

Evan's Eyes

Evan had his second cataract surgery the very beginning of June (less than a week after the first).  I thought I would be able to handle everything better because I knew what to expect, but the opposite was true.  I was a wreck.  I think because I knew how miserable the surgery, drops and plastic shield (with all it's lovely tape) made Evan, I hated the thought of him having to do it all over again and make the "torture" last even longer.  He didn't bounce out of the anesthesia nearly as well the second time around as he did the first. He was cranky and groggy and downright sad (and so was his mommy!).   I don't have any pictures of him at the hospital (told you I was a wreck, I even forgot the camera), but here's the little guy a couple days later:

Couldn't get any sweeter!



Lot's of eye drops to keep track of!

Next step? Contacts.  2 Tiny contacts +1 Nine month old baby = One Total Nightmare.  When I took Evan to his first contact appointment mid-June I was overwhelmed to say the least. Getting those contacts in and out of his little eyes was so hard.  The nurse at the office had me practice over and over while Evan screamed and screamed.  Evan was crying and I was crying. I wished so much I could just get it right and it could be all over for him. Then came the time when the contacts were in and I knew that Evan was seeing ME for the first time in a very long time.  More tears.  I left that appointment still very overwhelmed, but very, very thankful.  My baby was finally going to be able to see.  

Learning to get used to the contacts has been full of ups an downs.  The first morning that I ever got one into his eye on the first try, I called Bryan at work to tell him how excited I was!! The next time I put them in (or especially if I was taking them out) it could take me 20 minutes or more.  Right now (end of July) I feel like we're finally in an okay place.  Evan still fights it almost just as hard, but I'm more comfortable with handling the contacts and that seems to make a huge difference. 

Here's one more tidbit of information for you.  Take one of these:

Have it pop out somewhere unknown on something like this:

Can you find it?

And what do you get?  One very stressed out mommy! For a while I thought we were going to average one lost contact a week. Not okay.  At Evan's last appointment a couple of weeks ago they checked the fit of his contacts and slightly altered the one for his right eye (the one we were always loosing).  We haven't lost one since!  Yay!  It is still the right contact that he seems to rub up on top of his eye or down in a corner (makes it hard to get out!), but it is so much better than it was.  Hopefully it will stay like this and we won't be spending as much time on our hands and knees searching (in a state of panic) for what gives our little guy vision.

Surgery? Check.  Contacts?  Check.  Patches? Check.  At Evan's last couple appointments the Dr. noticed that Evan wasn't using his right eye at all.  It had started to turn in pretty bad and needs to be strengthened.  We patch his left eye to force him to use his right eye (so he doesn't loose vision in that eye all together).   The biggest challenge with the patches is finding one that will stick well enough that it stays on (and Evan can't pull it off), but not so well that his poor little skin gets pulled off with it (so sad!).  We're still working on that one.

Check this out

Here is a link that shows you what the vision of a farsighted individual might look like at varying degrees.  This tool only goes up to +9.  When they measured Evan's refraction today in his left eye (after his surgery) they had him at around a +22.  I can't even imagine what that would be like. 

Schools OUT for SUMMER!

I'm glad that summer has finally arrived. We are loving the sunshine and warm weather and we are managing to keep very busy.

We've been going to a lot of baseball games.



It's so fun to watch Ethan play this year.  It's his first year where they use a pitching machine instead of a T.  He's really getting the hang of it and having fun. 



Allison has fun too, but her T-ball attention span is pretty short (as it is with most of the team, these are 5 year old girls after all).  It's fun to see her learn the game and she is so proud of herself when she runs around the bases.  She was thrilled that she got to be on the "Pink" team. 

 

We've been working in the garden.



We have potatoes, onions, lettuce, carrots and sweet peas coming up already. I'm really excited about it. We have green beans and cucumbers planted, and I need to get some tomato plants.  Not too bad, right?  

 Having a fun cousin sleep over.


I love that we live close enough to family that these two buddies can get together once in a while.  They had been playing outside for hours and you can just see the dirt on their faces.

Just enjoying the outdoors.

And of course, we've been spending lots of time cuddling and taking care of this little guy.

  

 Evan had his first cataract surgery (on his right eye) just two days ago.  From the way Evan had been acting I KNEW that the cataract in his left eye had gotten much worse.  When the Dr. examined him he confirmed what I knew, and we go back to the hospital tomorrow to do everything again for the left eye.   

Overall, Evan is doing really well.  The surgery went great and I'm thankful he came out of the anesthesia well and didn't react badly to it.  Let me just say, that little guy is amazing.  I am so thankful for him and his sweet temperament. 

I guess I've always taken my good vision for granted.  I don't think I'll do that anymore. It's been so hard watching Evan's eyes get worse and worse.  Many times I've looked into his eyes trying to get him to SEE me, to look at his mama, and he couldn't.  I am so thankful to live in a time where through the miracles of modern technology, skilled doctors are able to do something to help my baby see again.  If he had been born at a different time he would have lived his life blind.

I am so thankful for the prayers of friends and family in behalf of Evan and our family.  Despite Evan being so hungry and being picked on every few minutes by many different nurses he remained so sweet and calm before his surgery.  I was amazed and thankful, and I know it's because of prayers and the blessing he recieved before his surgery. 



Right before they came to get him and take him back.  See what I mean about him remaining calm? He was so, so hungry and still practically fell asleep in my arms. 







Just over a couple hours later.

This is what he'll look like for the next week. After tomorrow we'll add a second shield on the left side. I'm not even sure how we are going to fit them both on his poor little face. 

The challenge for now is to keep the shield over his eye so that it can heal.  I cringe whenever I think about how my baby actually has stitches in his eye! They should dissolve sometime in the next 6 weeks.  We put drops in his eye pretty much every two hours throughout the day.  The worst part of that is untaping the plastic shield so we can get the drops in.  He gets so upset when taking the tape off that getting the drops in his eye can be quite the challenge.  I have a hard enough time getting drops in, I have no clue how I'm going to get contacts in his eyes in a little over a week. I'm sure we'll figure it out and get a system down. 

After Evan's surgery the doctor let me look through a lens that showed me about how Evan's vision would be now that he doesn't have a lens in his eye.  Wow.  To me it just looked like big blurry masses of color.  They said he should be able to see that a person is standing there, but wouldn't be able to see what the person looks like. See a chair, but not see any type of detail on it.  What amazes me it that this is SO much BETTER then what he has been seeing (nothing but black/grey, darkness).

It's all a little overwhelming, but we are hanging in there.  I'm so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who I know has been watching over us and helping us through the ups and downs. I'm thankful for Bryan's parents who have been busy watching the older kids and feeding us all many meals as we stayed at their house before and after Evan's surgery. I'm thankful for their love and support.  I'm thankful for my fabulous husband who keeps me calm and is understanding and patient when I do melt down! I sure am a lucky girl.

The Garden

Hi, I'm Angela and I kill plants.  Not intentionally of course,  but I do just the same. Sometimes I feel like all I have to do is come close to a plant and it will immediately begin to wilt.  I even once managed to kill an aloe vera plant my Mom gave me (that was supposed to survive anything-Sorry Mom!). You get the picture? Plants and I don't mix, so naturally I thought it would be a good idea for me to plant and garden this summer......

Despite the dreary history I have with anything growing in dirt, I'm actually pretty excited about my garden.  If at first you don't succeed, try again, right? That is currently my garden motto along with the motivational saying "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.....".      

I've already put quite a bit of time and energy into our garden and I actually have a few things growing! Yay! That's a good sign!

I was going to post a picture, but for some reason my computer won't let me. For now,  I'll just have to keep you in suspense as to what the garden of a plant killer actually looks like.  Pictures coming soon!

Worries

Evan's already bad vision seems to be getting worse.  He's mobile now, so he is constantly crawling straight into things (table/piano legs, chairs, the wall) and hitting his head, especially on the right side.  It's so sad.  He also seems to be losing his depth perception.  When I hold a toy out in front of him he will generally reach too far with his hand when trying to grab it and can't seem to be able to tell exactly where it is.  I totally cried the first time I noticed this.  Allison came up to me and said "don't worry, Mom. Soon Evan's eyes won't be sick anymore."  I sure hope she's right.

We are anxiously awaiting his first surgery.  Its so hard to be told your baby can't see and then have to wait to do anything about it.  I don't think the end of May could come fast enough.   Two more weeks...two more weeks.....

My sweet baby and I.  If you look at his right eye you can actually see the cloudiness of the cataract in it.

8 years

Happy Anniversary to us! 

During the past 8 years we have:

Packed up our belongings and moved 7 times!  Looking back, I wonder how that is even possible!  After Bryan and I were married we lived in Houston for the summer and then moved out to Idaho to go back to school. When we moved we loaded EVERYTHING we owned into the back seat and trunk of Bryan's old Chevy Lumina and off we went!  We have accumulated a lot more stuff since then!

Have celebrated 3 graduations. I know a lot of people will say it's hard to get married before you finish College, but I'm so glad we did!  I have nothing but happy memories of our "student days" together! We were far way from family, broke, living in a one bedroom apartment with a baby on the way!  We learned a lot and grew closer together.  I wouldn't trade those days for anything.

Speaking of babies...we've had 4!  I always have known I wanted to be a mother, and I have also always known that I wanted to be a stay at home mom. I feel so blessed that I've gotten to do both.  I am so thankful I married a man who is 100% supportive of those desires. Our children have definitely provided the most challenges for us (and I'm sure there will be MANY more in the years to come!), but I know they absolutely bring the most happiness as well.

The night of our anniversary (the 10th) Bryan had a school board meeting to attend, Ethan had baseball practice and I had a church meeting.  Just proof of how busy our life has gotten, especially as the kids get older.  I celebrated by bringing Bryan home a DQ Blizzard after my meeting.  Romantic, huh?  We are hoping to get a "real" anniversary date in soon!

I am so thankful that 8 years ago I was able to be married for time and all eternity to my best friend. I am thankful we are able to walk side by side through the ups and downs (and craziness!) of life.