Tyce's Endoscopy

This morning was Tyce's endoscopy. He was such a good boy all morning even though he couldn't eat or drink anything. When we got back to the prep room Tyce was super cooperative and cute. All the hospital staff thought he was just the cutest thing ever (his hair was a huge hit) so they kept on stopping by to give him stickers and dolls, too cute. He kept saying, my be brave mommy my be brave...

Then we went back to the procedure room where they started hooking him up to all sorts of things and he was NOT happy! He was scared and crying, it was so sad When I laid him down for the anesthetic he freaked out so we had to hold him down while he fell asleep, which absolutely broke my heart. I made it out of the room before I started bawling. About 15 minutes later they came and got me so I could be there when he woke up. Here's my baby fast asleep... He slept for quite a while and then his heart rate started racing and his oxygen level started dropping. The nurse got worried, hooked him up to oxygen, and started rubbing his back hard to wake him up. That lasted about 3-5 minutes, I was so scared. Eventually his oxygen level went back up and they took off the oxygen and he woke up. He was happy to cuddle his mommy... The results of the endoscopy? They didn't SEE anything wrong, but we'll get the biopsy results in a week or two. The doctor was a jerk, in fact, every GI doctor I've met with has been a jerk. I feel like they think nothing is wrong with Tyce and I'm just there for fun. My baby is waking up at night in pain, that is not normal!!!

When we came home Tyce was so excited to eat his oatmeal. He loves his yellow hospital gown, which they let him take home because he was so cute, and wanted to keep it on.

I was hoping he would nap this afternoon because we'll be out late tonight looking at Christmas lights but I think his snooze at the hospital was enough for him. He's doing pretty good now, although he's had diarrhea three times since we got back. I'm so frustrated, guess we'll wait for the biopsy results and go from there!

Basketball and Santa

I thought this was just too cute to not take a picture of.. Last night was the twins first basketball practice. They are on a city 4/5 year old league and Parker is their coach! It was hilarious to watch, poor Parker trying to teach 9 kids how to pass and dribble. He only made one kid cry! Hopefully he can get an assistant coach because its a big job. The boys had fun. Jack spent a lot of his time twirling around and being in his own little world...

Josh got "tired' and just sat down, hahaha, wuss!!!Their first game is January 20th and should be interesting!!

Today we took the boys to see Santa, Jack and Josh were so excited to be "brave" and go up alone for the first time. Here they are waiting in line, and by the way, they all dressed themselves this morning!!!

Joshy told Santa he wants a remote control truck...Jackson told Santa he wanted a batman set up...And Tyce had a death grip on Parker and wouldn't even take a sucker from Santa...Cute guys!!!After the mall we went to a used book store and let each of the boys pick out a book, they thought it was so cool to have their own baskets...

In other news, Tyce has his endoscopy scheduled for this coming Monday, the 19th, at 11am. It was originally scheduled for February but since his symptoms have worsened the doctor moved it up, and I am thrilled. I want to know what is wrong with my poor Tycee and how I can help him. I am nervous about putting him under anesthetic, it's always scary with little ones. Please keep him in your prayers!

The good news...in one week we will be PACKING TO COME TO UTAH!!!! :)

Tyce

Tyce is almost 2 1/2 so I thought I'd do a post on what he's up to these days. He is growing up so fast and is really getting some personality. Here are some things about Tyce:

*He LOVES to clean, organize, and help. He hates to leave the house if there are toys on the floor and is always happy to clean them up. He loves to organize things that are messy. He always clears the table if there's any remaining dishes on there after a meal. When he takes his shoes off he walks all the way upstairs to put them away in his closet rather than leaving them out like the rest of my boys!

*He is hilarious! Tyce is really developing a sense of humor. He loves to do silly voices and silly things and loves to make us laugh.

*He loves to read! He especially loves Brown Bear Brown Bear, Thomas, Winnie the Pooh, and dinosaur books. I'm amazed at his attention span for his age. I'm also amazed at his memorization skills! He can "read" many books by memory.

*He is no longer napping. Sad for mommy. He now goes to bed easier and sleeps later in the morning but I MISS that alone time during the day!

*He is very clingy. He's happy most of the day but he always has to know where I am and be close to me. I know I know, it sounds sweet but it gets annoying sometimes! How I long to go to the bathroom alone!

*He is talking very well. He also loves to sing songs. I love listening to him talk and sing, it's so cute!

*He loves his brothers, "Gack" and Josh. He loves playing whatever they are playing and copying them. He also loves to be funny and make them laugh.

*He is finally very much into watching TV. He LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and could probably watch it all day, if I let him. He loves all the characters and is so cute singing the songs and doing the hot dog dance.

*He loves to color and build towers with blocks. He is always very proud of whatever he makes.

*He is very affectionate. He is always putting his hands on my cheeks and giving me kisses. He loves to give me hugs. He's very good at saying thank you mommy. He is sensitive and compassionate.

*He loves to play with his friends, especially Jake, Leah, and Sarah. He talks about them all the time and is pretty good at sharing his toys.

*He's tall! I don't know his stats but I do know he's as tall as most 3 year olds we know! He's also thinned out as he's grown taller. I have a feeling he'll be taller than Josh for sure, and maybe even Jack!

Here he is doing his "big job." Every morning he unloads the silverware from the dishwasher...


I love my Tycee so much! He is a special boy who is growing up way too fast!

Gingerbread Houses!

Tonight Jackson and Josh decorated gingerbread houses! Growing up I remember my mom spending hours baking gingerbread, cutting each of the pieces out just perfect, making the frosting, putting foil on cardboard for the bases, etc. Well, sorry mom, I was lazy and bought pre made houses! Haha, the boys didn't seem to mind and they had tons of fun.

Here they are just starting... Josh sure was licking his fingers a lot...

Jackson was very methodical about how to do his...Josh just loved squeezing gobs of frosting everywhere...Jack's finished product...I think he did pretty well!Josh's finished product...In his defense, I cut the hole of his frosting packet a little too big so the frosting came out pretty fast...Cute guys proud of their masterpieces...

I love this time of year, however, I've been feeling sorry for myself lately. I never thought I would be one of those people who lived far away from family, yet here I am. I want to have lunch with my moms, hold my little sister's and sister in law's babies, play with my nieces and nephews, let my boys have sleepovers at grandma's house, have free babysitters who love my kids, have family dinners, laugh with my dad, and be able to just "stop by." Rather, we visit twice a year and it's chaos. The flight is expensive and long. We are always exhausted. Then we cram as much fun as possible in a few short days with each side of the family, then back to Virginia, where the post-family depression sets in as we adjust to the time change and back to reality, lonely reality. I feel like my boys miss out on so much because they don't get to do all the fun stuff that other kids get to do with their grandparents and cousins. Especially because both sets of their grandparents are so great and would do such fun stuff with them! Why are we out here?

I guess now is where I should list off all the things I'm grateful for and try to focus on the positive rather than the negative. Focus on what I DO have rather than what I don't have. But, it's just not that kind of day.

Pajama Read

Last night Cougar Elementary had a pajama read at the school. The kids got to come to the school in the evening with their parents and do some activities and listen to stories. Before we left Jackson asked:

Jack: "Are you guys (Parker and I) coming too?"
Me: "Yes honey we are!"
Jackson: "Well some kids parents aren't coming,"
Me: "Well some kids don't have parents that go to stuff like this, but we do."
Jackson: "Well, I wish you didn't."
SOOOO sad!!!! Parker and I both looked at eachother like, how sad! I am so not ready for them to not want me around them! However, when we got there he was pretty clingy and happy we were there so that made us feel better. :)

Here they are working on their "Build a Penguin"...

Jack loved his...

Enjoying cookies and milk (which, of course, Tyce couldn't have because of his new diet! so sad!)...Daddy kept Tyce occupied working on his penguin, which he later ripped up...Jackson getting a penguin tattoo, that night during family prayer Josh said "we're grateful we got tattoos." Hahaha, I hope Heavenly Father understood :) Josh rocked the bean bag toss and got the high score of 20!Off to claim his prize...Tyce got to pick a prize too, mostly because he was so cute. Him in his jammies and cowboy boots gets SO much attention. I got at least 8 compliments on how cute he looked...After we listened to some stories in the classrooms we went to the gym to read stories as a family. At this point everyone was tired. Tyce was running around wired and Jack was throwing a fit because the pencil he got wasn't sharpened. Hahaha...
Tyce is becoming quite the little comedian, it's so cute. He loves to be funny and make people laugh. He thought it was hilarious to run and then fall onto my purse, with my new fast camera I could capture his cute smile!

It was a fun night. I continue to be impressed with the school. However, the kids didn't go to bed until 9pm, an hour later than usual, so this morning was NOT fun! Oh well, tomorrow is Saturday! :)