Phone Pics

Mark figured out how to download the pictures from my phone to our computer!  My old phone broke a year ago, so these are from April 2012 to present.

Love this picture of the girls.

 

 

Megan's little squish face, I love it.

Kendra and her friend from church. They had to practice their hula hoop skills for the talent show.

 

 

The primary kids did a song for the talent show.

Megan created her own doll.

Pink eye :(

All better!

The girls love to play around the table.  Something thrilling about walking around in a circle.

Kendra being Kendra

Kindergarten graduation

Mark's birthday cake 2012

Megan's first drawing

 

 

McD's in Gallup

It's a long drive to see family....

Grandma's house

Megan pretending to sleep

Ice cream

They're so cute

Kendra and our neighbor

Megan chasing our neighbor's dog while we wait for the bus

Galloping Grace Ranch

It's raining!

 

 

 

Mark playing with the girls

Hello Kylee, look at them cheeks!

Easter Egg hunt at Albertsons

Megan dresses herself.  Green, green!  They match!

Can you see the rolls on her legs!  Sweet.

Girls

Kylee 2 months

Kendra 2 months

 

 

Megan 2 months

Sisters

 

 

 

The Latest Visit

This week's doctor visit was to the radiologist.  At well child check ups the doctor pushes and straightens the child's legs.  Did you know there is actually a purpose to that?  Kylee's fat rolls aren't symmetrical.  They typically are so we had to take her in to get an ultrasound on her hips.  Basically to make sure she didn't have hip dysplasia.  We were happy to learn that everything is normal and looks fine.

When I called to schedule her appointment the earliest appointments were after Kendra was home from school.  So I waited because I only wanted to take two children this time.  Megan was awesome.  I brought a notepad and a pen and she sat and drew the whole time.  So much easier with two.

Easter

Sisters

For Easter we headed to Albertsons to decorate egg cakes.  When we arrived they had just begun the easter egg hunt so the girls were able to do that too.  Then we came home and decorated eggs...

  And had our own egg hunt.

 

Since we were a little late to the egg hunt at Albertsons the manager gave Megan a chocolate bunny.

On Sunday one of my old Mia Maids came over with a friend in a bunny costume. 

The only picture the girls would take with the easter bunny.

Our chickens have mites.  I love how Mark tries to be a farm boy.  He held the chickens by the legs to spray them down, then he gently placed them back on the ground.  When I was little we'd throw them and let them fly down.

What Would It Be Like

I'm looking forward to the week that I don't see a doctor...or have a sick kid...or have a kid on medicine.  When that week comes I'm breaking open the gingerale and celebrating.

Kylee had her 2 month well child check up today.  She STILL has thrush but I waited for her well child visit because it is free, otherwise I pay $100.   I asked the doctor for the strongest anti-fungal possible.  She gave me a prescription for diflucan for 2 weeks, and Kylee a compound prescription.  So help me if this doesn't get rid of it!  Previously I used nystatin, nystatin cream, gentian violet, 250 mg grapefruit seed extract 3x daily and an acidophilus/bifidus probiotic  (8 billion per capsule) 2 pills 3x daily.  And we still have thrush.  It just won't leave us alone! 

Kylee is in the 50th percentile for weight and height. 

Pox regimen:

Just in case someone needs this for Chicken Pox:

100% pure essential oils

Immunity blend (I used Onguard) with fractionated coconut oil.  Use a cotton ball (never your fingers because it can cause a secondary infection) and wipe on pox 3 times daily.

Skin blend (I used claraderm) spray on pox 3 times daily

Oatmeal bath - take a sock add regular oatmeal.  Let water run through it while filling tub.  Squeeze  the sock at the end.  It should look like a milk bath.  Use up to every 4 hours.

Lavender/baking soda bath.  Take baking soda, add lavender, and after filling the tub dump it in.  Can use up to every 4 hours.

That's it!  I read that Onguard would make the pox disappear.  Megan's are almost completely gone.  It's awesome.

And So It Begins

Yep.

 

 



Pox Patrol

I have seen the doctor six times in the last month and a half.  Our last visit was Monday night.  I had thought Mark would be home in time to take Megan but he had to work late so once again I dragged all three kids with me.  We waited almost an hour for the doctor and when she came in she asked, "how old is your baby?"  Followed by, "I'm really sorry but you were just exposed to chicken pox in the waiting room."  It turns out that the kids who sat down next to us had chicken pox.  Kendra is the only one who has been vaccinated for it, but even then she could still get a mild case, (I have read the vaccine is anywhere from 70 - 90 percent effective, but in reality it is as low as 40% effective).   Now, normally chicken pox wouldn't bother me, but for real?  I have a little baby!  How could you do this to me?!?!?!  Now I understand how that mom felt when her baby under a year old contracted measles from a kid in the waiting room.  I was so concerned with Pertussis and Measles (that's what is more prevalent here) that chicken pox never crossed my mind.  I mean really, when is the last time you have heard of a kid getting the chicken pox.  Oh well, one less shot my two younger ones will need to get.  And for those of you who live near me I will be checking my kids every day for fever and rash for the next 3 weeks and will keep them home if they have any signs.

In other news:

Kylee in her blessing dress:

Look, we have church at 9:00 am and I'm slow to get out the door, so I took a picture super fast thinking I would take another when we got home but she ended up pooping on her dress. :(

We hired J & S Masonry to build us a cinder block wall:

Here's our old fence:

We have needed a new fence for the past year. Every time the wind picked up the fence would fall over in some spot and the posts had been eaten by termites.

This is our new fence:

Look how purdy it is.  I actually really like it.  Now I won't have to watch the wood sway back and forth in the wind waiting for it to collapse.

This is the side between our house and our neighbor's home.  They had to dig down and build a foundation first.

The girls enjoying the new chalkboard.  Kendra wrote Kylee's name on there as "killy."

Thrush Flush

Yep, I'm still dealing with thrush.  It is such a pain.  The gentian violet is amazing, but it just kept coming back.  Why?  It went into my breasts and I cannot even begin to describe the agonizing pain that has caused!  So now I'm taking grapefruit seed extract capsules (I tried drinking the liquid but it was too nasty) to try to flush the yeast out.  After taking just one capsule the pain subsided considerably.  It now only feels like I'm nursing with a sunburn.  I'm hoping that in another week we can get rid of it.

Kendra is on spring break this week.  I'm glad the weather is nice and we can be outside.  After cleaning up a bit the girls ate popsicles.  I love our weather.

Food Allergies

When I read stories about kids that are unable to eat like "normal" people I always think about Megan.

Here are two stories:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/02/23/three-year-old-boy-who-cant-eat-anything-is-running-out-of-time-parents-say/

http://www.krdo.com/news/Mia-s-Story-Girl-Can-Only-Eat-5-Foods/-/417220/14817502/-/vqk905/-/index.html

I wonder how Megan would be if we never took her to Dr. Chernoff.  We knew Megan was allergic to two things, for sure - dairy and almonds.  ( I tried giving her almond milk and she broke out in a rash; the dairy caused the coughing and vomiting).  According to Dr. Chernoff she was allergic to everything but bananas and white rice.  So we treated her for tons of stuff...and she got better.  She drank milk with no coughing or vomiting.  Every time we'd treat her she could eat the food after 24 hours with no reaction.  It was amazing. 

But after reading stories like the above, I wonder if that would have been Megan had we not done anything. 

Saggy Baggy

Here is a picture of me when I came home from the hospital after having Megan.

Notice the belly.  Can you see it?  It's a little flab of chub.  Two days people, two days after having her and that is all it was! ( I just realized that I wore jeans home from the hospital! Oh the glory days!)

Now fast forward - 5 weeks after having Kylee - and that is what I STILL look like.  It has to be the most irritating thing for me right now.  Now most of you are probably rolling your eyes because I'm still thin.  But I'm use to, and love being super skinny.  I pride myself on it.  I love my body.  So after 5 weeks and still having the tummy bulge, well, it's rough.  God is trying to humble me in the most devastating way possible.  Everyone who knows both Mark and I will tell you that  Mark is the humble one and I'm the proud one.  Sigh, maybe I should lose the pride, but it's just so hard!

That's Life

The girls put on a puppet show for us.  I thought it was funny so here are the pics:

Kylee has thrush.  We tried the nyastatin but she still had it all over her mouth.  I'm now using gentian violet which stains everything!  I'm so tired of dealing with thrush!  It's such a pain.  I have seriously contemplated not breastfeeding because of all the problems I've had.  The GV really works though.  After 24 hours her mouth looked so much better.  There is just a stubborn white spot on her cheek so I'm going to try grapefruit seed extract and see if that can kick it.