Spring Break and the rest of April

For Spring break we went ... sledding..and not in the mountains, just down the street at a park. We got about 1/2 foot of snow in one day, so we went sledding. It was really fun to have it nice enough to take Ammon and Brynn. Brynn was the one begging to go outside and had a great time before we left the house. Once we got to the park she just wanted to be held and cried.



Ammon had fun being outside and went down the hill a few times.


Coleson was so glad to go sledding again because we had only made it once during the regular snow season.

Our other spring break activities included going on a tour of the Sweet Candy Factory-chocolate covered orange sticks, chocolate covered cinnamon bears(my fav.) lots of taffy-check your candy label next time.

Coleson was so excited to be with his friend Baylor, they have been friends since they were 1.
We also went swimming-inside. All three kids love to swim. Brynn is ready to be on her own, if I would let her go. Ammon loves to splash his hands. I think he prefers to go outside, though, it's pretty noisy inside. Coleson wanted a break from lessons, so we just go for fun.

We got a new addition to our home.. a piano.



I found a used piano at a good price. I am so excited. At church I am the Primary children's chorister. The internet has been my best resource for practicing and listening to music, but it is so much nicer to be able to practice and play at my own pace. I am very rusty, but it will be great to practice with my children. I started giving Coleson lessons and he has surprised me with how much he has already practiced. Ammon can raise his arms up and play. He gets excited when he hears the piano.
Ammon is doing so much better. He has had a great month. I almost don't want to write about it because I'm afraid I'll jinx it. I'll post more about him later this week.

This last Saturday, Coleson and I went skiing and had a great time.


We were a little rusty the first run, but then got the hang of it. I usually go snowboarding and had only been skiing once before in high school. We went to a skiing only resort with his cousins, so I thought I would just be able to pick it up. I think I did pretty good considering it was my second time. However, you are always a little embarrassed when your 7 year old has to wait at the bottom of the ski lift for you, to go again.


Coleson is in the gray jacket. He was trying to beat his cousin and went a little too fast this turn.

Crazy hair and hockey

Coleson started the weekend with crazy hair day (creatures in the grass) on Friday for finishing the read-a-thon. He got to dunk his principle for reading so much. Then we went to the Grizzlies Hockey Game. We left Brynn with a babysitter and had a lot of fun with Ammon and Coleson. We love Brynn, but she tends to take over and has a hard time sitting in one place. Ammon hadn't been out for fun in a while, so he deserved it. I hope he had fun. He seemed to be excited with all the lights and commotion, but I made him (and Coleson) wear earplugs, so I don't know if he could hear anything. We cheered, ate junk, and had a fun family night.

We made it!

We made it through the month of February without having to go to the hospital! We broke our yearly curse. I know we are not through March yet, but to get past Feb. 15th was wonderful. We have all had our share of sicknesses, but everyone is well right now. No noses to wipe or suction, no coughs in the middle of the night, etc. We are so grateful for everyone who asks and worries about Ammon. He is actually doing really good this week. He has been doing his shout-outs, smiling, rolling over, and an occasional laugh again. It's so nice to hear noise from him. From the time he was sick in January his awareness and abilities started to decline again. I was starting to give up. He couldn't drink, he would barely eat, he would barely smile, he just seemed out of it all the time and his myclonic jerks were happening all the time. I just felt like holding him and saying Ammon Ammon-like when you watch on TV someone loosing consciousness and they say their name over and over and try to get them to snap out of it. I would try to talk to him and he wouldn't respond. A lot of times you could see his eyes light up for a second or two and then drift away. One day when he came home off the bus, the bus driver told me how cute he looked with his glasses on and that he kept them on the whole way. My first thought was what is wrong with him. It should have been -Oh that is great maybe he finally listened to all the times I told him to keep them on so he could see better:)J/K So I knew things were really bad if he wasn't even reaching to pull his glasses off. I feel like he forgets how to do things when his seizures become really bad and that he is just in a daze. His health(not being sick) has been good, so we continue to go through the motions of life even through the seizures.

Well, our neurology appointment finally came the third week in Feb. I was in tears telling the doctor how hard it was to see all of his skills and interactions gone. The more I read about seizures, the more I realize that the cure is trial and error with medications or diet and everyone responds differently, there is not a set cure. This is hard to understand because it's not a disease, I feel like the knowledge of seizures has been around for a long time-there should be a cure. So my crying didn't help and Ammon was put on a new medication. The side effects to this one is still the myclonic jerks, but higher risk to the liver, so we have to get his blood drawn for a few weeks to make sure his platelet counts are still good. Tonight while I was putting his pajamas on, his eyes were getting droopy and I said "Is Ammon getting sleepy, beepy(another phrase that makes him smile occasionally)" and he laughed. I was glad Brian was holding him to witness this. It's a moment we treasure now. He was doing a lot of shout-outs at church (he's the only kid in church that you encourage to talk anytime) and on the phone to family members also tonight. It is wonderful. I hope it will last.


Brynn has been such a joy. She definitely has a purpose here on earth and in our family. She is Ammon's second mother and friend. The first thing she does in the morning is go to Ammon's room, if he's not already up. She has to go out to the bus with him everyday and wave goodbye. She has started to get wipes when he spits up and yells Mom Mom. She gives him a new toy when he has dropped one. At some point during the week we will turn on dance music and I take turns holding her and Ammon and dancing with them. She always starts pointing at Ammon when I'm holding her to let me know it's Ammon's turn. She babbles all the time and tells you everything you ask her. The hard part is you can't understand what she is saying. It might be Russian. I have started using picture cards with her, to try to expand her recognizable vocabulary, so we can understand a few words now. She still signs a lot so I usually always know what she needs. She loves following Coleson around and is just starting to get on his nerves and started to want the same thing and have little fights. I have been lucky in that regard to go all these years without having our own children fight or argue with each other. Even though she knows how to make a good mess, I love this age when they are generally happy all the time and just a silly look can make her laugh. She is full of love.




Coleson is having a great time in school. Playing soccer at recess is still his favorite, but he also likes math and reading. He has always loved books and loved to read, but now he is really bitten by the book bug and will finish a whole book in one night. He has also been such a good help to me with Brynn and Ammon when I need an extra set of hands. I could go on and on about Coleson, I love him so much!

Fun with grandparents

In January we went sledding one day with grandpa, grandma and cousins. Coleson and I had a blast going a 100 miles per hour down the hill. At the top you feel like an irresponsible parent sending your kid down hoping he finishes alive. Brynn would not smile or move. We determined it was because she had to wear blue boots. I could not find any pink ones the week before in her size and thought she'll be fine in Coleson hand-me-downs. She had this little attitude until the very end.


When we went to California, the kids had fun with "Maga" and "Paki" Coleson made up these names when he was learning to talk- they are a lot easier then grandma and grandpa. Ammon would call my mom Maba and Brynn has changed it to Ma-be and pa-pe. The names have stuck. It has made it easier to identify which grandma or grandpa we are talking about. When Coleson was born he had 12 grandmas/pas. Here are some of their favorite activities:

Ammon "walky walks" with Paki


Paki and Coleson off-roading


Brynn doing to dishes-we couldn't keep her out of the water



When Ammon was feeling a little better, Maga took us to Incredible Johns Pizza. It reminded me of the Pizza Galaxy on the movie Toy Story. It was way fun. They have a pizza buffet with toppings like PB&J, Macaroni and cheese --kids favorites. It had all the games that you get at Boondocks or Classic Fun center, but the atmosphere was a little bit better. Coleson loved the giant screen cartoon room where we ate. Brynn and I showed our skills at Dance Dance Revolution.






Then my mom came out for a week to help me while Brian was out of town. I was so excited. I didn't even have to have a baby for all that time with her. I imagined getting my whole house organized, huge shopping trips, fun activities with the kids, etc. Well it was still daily life, Ammon had a few appointments, Coleson got sick, kids woke up at night, however I had very little stress the whole week. It was so nice to have an extra set of hands the whole day. Thanks mom!

Have I told you lately that I love you ...

My husband turned 35 last month. 35! It seems so old, it's a good thing I have a few more years to come to terms with that, 30 was hard enough. Brian doesn't seem to mind. I guess his older maturity has always been attractive to me. There's something about him being a little older, being able to handle life's situations well that is comforting to me. I'm still trying to grow up. In Brian's own words, he had an "awesomely fantastic birthday."

I traveled with the kids to visit my parents in California for two weeks in Jan. while we were off track from school. I'll spare you all the details, but flying with three kids by myself with a delayed flight and connecting flight was not the ideal start to a break/vacation. I guess I can laugh about it now, but it's taken me a month and half to get over it and I've vowed never to fly with the kids by myself again. I was saved by some very nice passengers--and Coleson was an amazing help-especially when I bribed him with a Happy Meal. For some reason I thought since Brynn can walk now I wouldn't have to hold two kids at the same time and that I would be able to do it, I forgot about the sitting and holding still part that Brynn does not do well now.

Brian was working long hours and traveling, so I did not expect to see him for his birthday. Well, he was able to get a last minute flight and come for the weekend to California. I had to pull together a last minute birthday celebration with Ammon very sick, my parents gone to my Uncle's funeral, and with the storms and sickness keeping us all inside. So, we had a crab feast, a yummy icecream cake, and watched many HGTV shows and On Demand movies. We had fun! I thought what I did for him was pretty nice. What Brian really did though, was give up his free time to come help me. He knew I was trying to have a little break. The flight was hard. Ammon got croup really bad, every day was a challenge. I think the thing that saved us from a hospital trip was his feeding tube. He never got dehydrated. I was still trying to make Coleson's time off fun everyday. It was cold and rainy so we had to stay inside. I was up every night between all the kids sleeping in a different place, suctioning Ammon's nose and still recovering from my sickness. My parents were a huge help when they came home from work. Brian knew I was wearing myself out. He could have done whatever he wanted by himself, but he wanted to be with his wife and children for his birthday and to help me.





I didn't realize it over that weekend, but I have now. I kept thinking, I would love to have a weekend to myself, read, go shopping with friends without kids, clean the house without someone undoing it, catch up on projects that I've been trying to finish for the last 5 years..I guess I am still trying to grow up, I'm still selfish when it comes to finding time for myself. Don't get me wrong I was so happy to be with Brian on his birthday and so glad he came out. It just took me a while to realize that he really didn't care about getting for his birthday, and really just gave. So I love you Brian! Thanks for all you do for our family and Happy Belated Birthday, Valentine's Day, everyday!!!