Christmas

Christmas was fun this year. We spent way too much but this was the first year we had the boys open a bunch of gifts that were wrapped under the tree. Other years we have gotten them just one big gift. It was really fun but at first a bit disappointing. Jake arranged the tree and presents all perfect so when they came out Christmas morning they would all light up and open up their gifts. You know, the way we remember Christmas. Well Brody wanted to play the computer and Ryan wanted to watch a movie in the playroom. So they looked in the living room at the gifts and then both cried when they couldn't leave to do what they wanted. Then Jake and I decided to do our gift exchange until they were ready to open gifts like all the other children do! In the end they all had so much fun. This is the first year Ryan sort of started to act like he understood the whole Santa thing. Maybe next year we'll try more with baby Jesus being the real meaning of Christmas.

I got a couple videos of the boys opening up their presents and being cute but Blogger has NEVER been good about videos so I am not even going to try

As you might be able to see we moved all the toys up right with their names on them and nothing was in the back so they could see all the gifts. Guess in the end they really didn't care.

I feel I have been cheating. But in a bad way. Not cheating like those women and men who pretend and lie to prove they aren't. I feel I have cheated and haven't made an effort to seem like I am not. Between all the busy life that ensues in this time of year PLUS my new iPhone and Facebook, I have severely neglected my first marriage with Blogger.

I love Blogger and it is a true love. But the cheating has probably made Blogger feel betrayed and unloved.

I think partly is that I have had very little pics lately and sometimes my iPhone takes better quality pictures (which is so sad when you think that our camera is pretty new). It is just so easy and convenient to use the phone to pose on Facebook. More so, this holiday season we have been having so much fun that we haven't stopped to take pictures. Understandable but I know we'll regret it later.

But I am powering through and posting on Blogger!

Holiday Party

I have already posted some pics on Facebook but not everyone is on Facebook plus there are some photos that I took that I feel more comfortable posting on the blog.

I didn't get any pics from the actual party. There were like 800 people at the party and it was fun to meet all of Jake's co-workers but I would have felt weird to snap a bunch of pictures at a party like the one they had.

It was a fun excuse to dress up and go out to downtown Phoenix and eat a nice meal at a hotel.

Thanks to Becky for doing my hair and helping me pick out an outfit. My hair is always so straight, straight, straight so it was lots of fun to have it curly. I hated taking all the pics of myself I was was trying to capture how pretty my hair looked and the rest of my outfit!

New Toy

I might have been the last in the world to get a 'smart phone' but I got an iPhone last week and I can't seem to stop playing around on it. To re-sign a 2 year contract at AT&T, we were able to get this phone for $0.99! Couldn't resist that great deal.

So between the iPhone and newly joining Facebook I feel I am finally part of our advanced Society!!

Now I can understand conversations or jokes about apps and Angry Birds!!

Thanksgiving

After the meal and some visiting the Parker kids wanted the uncles to teach them how to play Halo on the Xbox (just like the pilgrims you know)!
Not much of decor and sadly I only had a before shot and not with all the food

This year it was decided to not have turkey so Jake spent a couple hours smoking a pork shoulder (strangely called a Boston Butt)

It was juicy and extremely yummy!

Every year I tell myself to take lots of pictures during Thanksgiving. I mean one of the main reasons we take pictures is because we are trying to capture a moment and remember it for years to come! This was a goal, especially this year I wanted to take lots of pictures during the Miller Thanksgiving so that Donna and Dennis could see some pictures cause they are serving a mission in Italy. BUT, as always, I got caught up with hosting, children and talking with family. As you can see I only took 4 pictures. As for not taking any pictures at the Hatch family Thanksgiving - I blame that on my kids. Ryan was chasing rabbits most of the time in the backyard of my Uncle Kirk's house. With Brody we had to be weary of the pond. He would occasionally sneak over there and look around to make sure no one was noticing. Ryan had lots of fun though. I think Ryan was very confused that the rabbits did not stop as he was yelling, "hey, hey rabbits. Stop. I coming. Hey, hey rabbits, come here"

Both family meals were lovely and very enjoyable because they were not only with wonderful family and yummy food but they were on different days. This year the Millers celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday night. It made for more enjoyment cause there was no trying to balance time with both families or rushing off to another meal.

I am thankful for my beautiful and amazing little boys.

I am thankful for a husband who truly strives to make me happy. I hope I have made him half as happy as he has made me.

I am also thankful for family. Extended family with all the aunts, uncles and cousins. I love them all and it is always wonderful to visit with them. I am grateful for marrying into a family and having such an easy time having such great friends in all my brother and sister in-laws.

This Thanksgiving more than most, I realize that I am blessed beyond words and I feel that I can't thank the Lord enough for all that I have been given.

I hope everyone else had a fantastic and very Happy Thanksgiving!

Funny, cute children

Of course every parent thinks their kids are the cutest but I thought I would post some pictures of my adorable boys

Dressed for church!

Ryan is wearing the polo because his dress shirt was wrinkled and I realize (first time since the move) that we don't have an iron or ironing board!

A very dressy and cute Brody
Wearing Daddy's shoes - Ryan is always entertaining me during the day

In this new house there is an Arizona room (enclosed patio) we use it as a playroom. It has been wonderful for the boys. There is a sink in the room to. I thought at first it would be great but then I realized the flaw is that they would constantly mess with it. So the water is turned off but that apparently doesn't stop the kids. With where the entertainment center is situated with the cable and all the best place to put a couch is right by the sink. Which in the end has become their stepping stool to the sink. So everyday at least once this is what I see

It is cute but dangerous so Jake and I are constantly telling the kids to get down off of the sink. We have silly, risk-taking boys!

Recently Brody has started playing games on the computer. It is just some games on Nick Jr. but it is neat how just within a week's time he went from not being able to use a computer to being able to navigate on Nick Jr's website and use a mouse really well.

The downside is the fixation and always wanting to be on it. Oh and not going potty cause he is so into his computer games. But I guess it is good for Brody to learn to transition and also have something he loves to motivate him when he needs to work on something.

I caught Brody this way the other day

I guess he had got a hold of some candy and this was the scene when I caught him!

I thought it was naughty but pretty funny

This was just a funny pic I had to include. This is the door to the play room. I turned a movie on for Ryan. I guess he didn't want to be too close to the television and/or didn't want to fully commit to the movie. So until he could decide he sat like this for (not exaggerating) 5 full minutes watching from the doorway.

Children sure keep a person busy but definitely make life interesting

Halloween

Halloween is always interesting with a child with autism. Brody hated his costume this year. Refused to wear it more than a minute or two. I didn't necessarily love the costume for him either but apparently someone his size and age doesn't have much of a choice if they don't want to be a superhero or character. He loved being Tigger last year but they don't make costumes like that for someone Brody's size. I even looked all over online. So that is why I went with the Buzz Lightyear costume and now I am kicking myself cause he hated it so much.

He also refused to say Trick or Treat, Happy Halloween or even Thank you. He was too focused on being mad that he couldn't go into the people's houses when we went up to trick or treat. Brody assumes we are going to someone's house to play and there is a possibility of toys in the house. So he was so mad last night after the 5th house and we didn't go inside to play.

Last year we went to a Trunk or Treat and now I realize why it is probably better to go to that.

This was part of the scream-fest while at home before we gave up.

Ryan was cool and ready to go as Tigger (he doesn't really know Winnie the Pooh characters so he always corrects me and says he is tiger)

This was the ONLY picture of both boys dressed for Halloween before I gave up forcing Brody

Halloween costumes that are too small

This picture was from a couple weeks ago when Brody saw this in Ryan's closet and he got so excited but as you can see it is way too small and I wanted to buy Brody a costume because it would be something Ryan can grow into for another year instead of buying Ryan a costume. FYI - Halloween costumes are SO expensive!

Speaking of too small this was a costume bought last year that was too small for Brody but didn't realize that till we were at home. I saved it hoping it would fit Ryan but he was too tall for it and it was stretched on this torso making it too small on his face.

Too bad though - would have been adorable!

Aren't they adorable

It has been a while since I have posted. So I snapped a couple pictures of my adorable boys and one of our cute Mollie. Life is okay just lots of poop in our lives still. We had a follow up with the GI specialist. Brody's results were looked over by the doctor and an exam of his belly all pleased her. The follow up treatment from the clean out is that Brody has to be on TWO LAXATIVES everyday for the next three months. I don't give him the laxatives till after he comes from school so it is a long afternoon and evening of pooping from a child reluctant to go on a toilet. The issue the doctor says happens with a lot of her patients with autism is that they are not going poop when they need to thus being one of the reasons he had some retention. Also all the laxatives will force him to poop also helping potty train him. Brody wants to control and keep himself from going and sometimes the problem is he is not relaxed enough to go. Even now, a couple days into having him on the laxatives Brody refuses to go after I take him all the time. It should get better each day with him not withholding his bowel movements. So here is hoping tomorrow adds more poop to the toilet and less in pull-ups, floor, hands, bathtub and sink!! (With that last sentence I am pretty sure I just kissed goodbye any future visitors to our house :)

The good news is that there are two new babies in our lives. Two beautiful baby boys were born within days of each other. My sister Jada had Lorenzo on Sept 15th and my dearest friend Amber had Arlo on Sept 17th. Both women are amazing and we are all excited for the addition of two precious baby boys in this world.

P.S. Ryan is deathly afraid of newborn babies!

Weekend getaway....to the hospital

This is from Friday night around 11:30 after Brody screamed until he passed out.

Sunday morning. As you can see he has Dora and Boots as a comfort. This was because he threw up on his bear really bad Saturday.

This was in between all the throwing up and changing of clothes and bedding. As you can tell Brody is very much 'out of it'

Disclaimer: This story has a lot to do with poop. Poop is the main character practically. If this talk offends or disgusts then don't read.

What a weekend!

Jake and I accompanied Brody as he was admitted to Phoenix Children's Hospital for a bowel clean out to help clear out the fecal retention in his colon that he most likely has been suffering from for a while. Some may not know this but there is a huge percentage of children with autism that suffer from various GI problems. Brody is one of them. Granted, not nearly as serious as it could be.

We got there around 7:30 pm Friday September 9th and was discharged around noon Sunday September 11th. Though it was only almost 48 hours it was the longest hours of my life and I am sure the same for Jake and Brody.

Brody screamed and cried in agony as Jake and I, along with 3 nurses held Brody down and put a tube down his nose. As much as I tried to communicate and help him understand what was going to happen beforehand, Brody did not understand so it was a shock that we were all putting him through it. The tube fed fluid with the medicine to his stomach. 8 oz each hour starting around 11 pm. By about 8 am Saturday morning the poop starting coming out. But just before the first horrible poop came Brody pulled the tube out of his nose cause Jake was gone (getting more stuff at home) and I dozed off after a crazy night with Brody. So back to the procedure room and another scene of torture where I am sure Brody will be shaken for life and probably always have a distrust of Jake and I as well as any nurse or doctor.

Saturday was a day filled with lots of poop as well as throwing up constantly because the medicine made Brody sick. Between throwing up (nothing but the liquid medicine) and pooping liquid Brody was severely lethargic. He held his drink but no matter what we tried he would not drink anything. It might be like that with any kid but I also have a sneaky suspicion that Brody was so sensory aware that he did not want to drink because he was too aware of the tube going to his throat to drink. There were a few hours of worry that Brody would also need an IV but the stress lessened when the nurses told us they could hydrate him through the tube before it got to the point to use an IV. Brody kept peeing in the toilet and his diapers as well as other signs he was hydrated. We were blessed to not go through another ordeal of an IV being placed.

By the evening the other solution to the lack of fluid intake for Brody was the he could be taken off the medicine and put on pedialite for the night. This was great news, especially cause it meant that Brody had progressed in the clean out so much that we could wait till Sunday morning for an x-ray to know if the retention had been flushed out in the clean out. His poop went from the brown that poop normally looks like to completely watery yellow. Yes, it is sort of crazy.

Sunday morning came and they took the x-ray. We were so incredibly blessed that it came back positive enough that the doctor felt comfortable discharging Brody. Some kids are much more 'stopped-up' and it takes sometimes 5 days to get cleaned out. We got home by Sunday around 12:30 and by later in the afternoon and evening Brody was back to normal. He was running around and making lots of noise.

The weekend was so insane that sometimes I just experienced it instead of processing all that was happening to my child and what I was involved in concerning his care. Now that I have had time reflect and emotionally feel what I experienced I realize a few things:

• 
  
  I am incredibly grateful that Brody's health problems are minor. I was on the GI floor with a lot of younger children (some babies) who would scream and cry throughout the day and night. I have no idea what the health issues were but it could be much more than our little Brody's. I am grateful that my life for a weekend was a hospital stay and not my life. I will forever keep the parents of children with serious health problems in my thoughts as I can imagine the endless appointments, hospital stays, doctors, insurance and all the difficulties it involves.


• 
  
  I saw the blessings and felt the prayers of family and friends. The whole process hurt my heart and I hated seeing Brody like that but things could have gone really bad in many different ways. I really felt the influence of well wishes and prayers.


• 
  
  I am grateful for the most amazing and wonderful husband. We were both there for the whole thing. We were both there wiping Brody's bum, helping him to the toilet, cleaning up the throw up, throwing away diapers, changing soiled clothes, sleeping in extremely uncomfortable beds that were more like chairs. We were both having to see Brody experience such pain and discomfort. But he was there physically and emotionally for it all. He didn't breakdown, he didn't get mad at me when I dozed off and Brody pulled out the tube and he didn't loose patience even though he had such a horrible headache the entire weekend (from uncomfortabl sleep). I know he would just say, "that is what you do when you are a husband and father". But it doesn't change the fact that having him there for it all being great helped me get through and, sadly, not all guys would have been so amazing.


• 
  
  The staff at Phoenix Children's Hospital. They were incredible, especially the nurses we had. They were happy, helpful and though their job is most likely really difficult, we felt very cared for. We were taken care of during some of the most challenging days so far in life.


• 
  
  I am so beyond grateful for an awesome family. Especially my three sisters, Jericho, Koria and Kinsey who made it possible for us to be gone for a weekend and Ryan be in good hands. It was wonderful that I didn't have to worry about Ryan cause he was in the hands of his fun aunts. You all three made it work despite homework and work schedules. Jake and I cannot thank you all enough.

We love our little Brody and our so happy to have him back to his old self. Though he will be on two laxatives for the next couple weeks which means a lot more poop, I am happy to be home and be able to care for him but be back to our everyday lives.

Lets hope we never have to relive this weekend again!

Just a few pics and update

I tried to take pictures of Brody's ready for school but he doesn't hold still very long and the camera seems to take forever to actually snap the picture.

5 years old and in Kindergarten

Since it is mostly Ryan throughout the day now and I was still trying to put stuff away he liked to get into stuff and play

So he got a hold of all of my bracelets

And had some fun!

This is just my boys in the car

being cute (and Brody is asleep I guess)!

So here is the built-in entertainment center at the Yale house torn apart.

boxes and boxes

and boxes

More to come on the new house (hopefully some pictures soon)



Delaina and Kris are visiting this weekend which we are looking forward to. We love seeing those amazing and wonderful ladies. We always enjoy their company.


Also the results of Brody's procedure on August 11th came back. Brody has acid reflux (which is most likely one explanation of why he doesn't eat much cause, if you have ever had it, it affects your appetite). Back in February an x-ray revealed that Brody had fecal retention in his colon. Since then we have tried flushing it out or cleaning it out starting with a 3 day clean out with lots of miralax followed by a daily dose of miralax. Well the morning of the procedure Brody had another follow up x-ray to see if the treatment has helped. As it turns out there is just as much fecal retention as the first x-ray. Just to give an idea of how much it must be - the night before the procedure as well as the morning of the procedure we had to give Brody an enema to clear out what we could. So even with all that there was still so much fecal retention that the doctor would like a little more drastic attempt to clear out his colon. She recommended Brody be admitted to Phoenix Children's Hospital for a 2-3 day clean out. There are some details better left unsaid since I have already mentioned too much about poop. It is a little drastic but in 6 months the problem has not gotten any better. Also his doctor is a pediatric GI specialist and 70% of her patients also happen to have autism so I trust her knowledge and experience. We might be going in starting Friday September 9th. Cross your fingers and pray for our little Brody that he can withstand it all and that it will help him.

We are alive

So we are in the new house and we are alive BUT everything has decided to hit at once:


Moved

Unpacked and settled (mostly)

Brody decided to not respond to melatonin anymore which means very little sleep at night

We all got sick (except for Brody)

Brody's first day of kindergarten

Upper and lower GI scoping procedure at Phoenix Children's Hospital - prepping was an enema the night before and first thing in the morning. The procedure also meant sedation through gas and IV

We are slowly re-cooping from being sick and Brody's body is still adjusting to a new sleep schedule

But we are in a cute home and we are alive and well - counting our blessings at times like this helps!

2011: the year of moving

Have you already moved this year? Or are you planning on moving? If so you should join the ever-expanding club. It mostly our families but friends can join as well:

Jake's other sister, Delaina and Kris moved to Kansas City, MO (okay technically it was in December of 2010 but they bought a house this summer and will be moving in soon so that is why I am counting it)
My brother Gabe and his wife got married and moved into an apartment
Donna and Dennis moved to Italy
Sarah, Jared and kids moved within the same city but about 15 minutes farther away
My sister Jada and her family moved a few weeks ago just across Val Vista from our neighborhood
Josh and Amy moved from down the street from us to Queen Creek
Jake and I are moving this Saturday
Becky and Trevor will be moving at the end of August (close by, thank goodness)
Jack and Melissa just found out they have to move and they will move at the end of this month as well

So yeah, lots of moving this year in our families. If you do decide to join the club there are many benefits. You are able to sort through and get rid of stuff you don't need. There are SO MANY boxes available (well after we are done with them) and tape guns (you will probably have to buy the tape) as well as a dolly and the number of a company that you can rent a moving van from. See half the work is already done for you!!

Well here is to a couple days of even more chaos than a home half packed!

Our Brody is a busy boy

Brody is starting full-time Kindergarten in August. His first day of school is Wednesday August 10th! We found out the school will be Jordan Elementary (pictured above with a cool picture of their school mascot - I guess they are the Jordan Jaguars). The school has a great program and highly trained staff for kids with autism. It is a little farther away from our house than we thought but there are only a few schools in the district with a program that will meet Brody's needs. I guess it just means a longer bus ride!

We got an augmentative communication device a few months ago (pictured above). We are finally getting me trained on to know how to program and he will eventually learn to use it in order to 'talk' for him. I was initially really excited, like the device could finally help me know how to communicate with Brody and for him to communicate with us but after the training and seeing how Brody is on the device it will take some time but then I am confident it will be a wonderful new advancement for him

Brody has been going to an afternoon summer camp at a therapy center. It is the same place he gets his other therapies. He goes on field trips twice a week. He has been having a lot of fun going to jambo park, museums, libraries and splash parks. The hab providers he works with are so nice and friendly to us and to Brody. They are all so excited to see him.

Brody has been taking swim lesson now for about a month, maybe a month and half. I cannot remember the exact day he started. With him, the way he communicates - or lack thereof - as well as short attention span meant we had to take him to a place that was capable of teaching children with special needs. So there is a great place called Swim Kids, USA. It is a little pricy for 30 minutes a week but I feel it is worth every penny. Brody LOVES the water but he has no fear and that is a big danger around water and pool, pond or anything he can drown in. He just passed the beginner level and moving right along into intermediate. His teacher, Mirabell is strict and does not tolerate not being safe or not listening. Thus, she is the perfect instructor for Brody. So he does not know how to swim yet but he is doing great.

Brody has been a busy boy this summer and will continue to be busy from now on with school and all the therapies. Though I will miss having him home, I know it is important that he does all of this because it all helps him improve and function better.

In the meantime we will cherish Brody's time at home and the time we have with him!

We have found a home

So after several months of looking on the Internet for homes and then seeing dozens of homes these past couple months, Jake and I have finally found a home we love that (unless there are some unseen hurdles) in about 30 days will finally be ours.

It is pretty cute (as you can see above). It fits our lifestyle really well. Even a extra room to make an office. Also there is an Arizona Room that will be the perfect playroom. Therefore, in this new house the boy's rooms will just be there rooms they sleep in. No more eating in their bedrooms, no more coloring in their rooms, no more puzzles and no more toys everywhere around the house. Well I am sure they will try to bring toys everywhere but at least in this house there will be a designated area for toys. It is only about a mile or two away from where we live now which is nice cause we like this area.

What is even better with this home is that we are buying it after the real estate bubble that occurred a few years ago. We bought our first home in 2006 and it was during the bubble. Needless to say because of the bad mortgages being sold at that time and how inflated the price of the home was, we didn't have that house for long. Just for an idea how bad the bubble made the price of a home back then - this home we are going to buy is going to have a mortgage payment of almost $900 less than the home we bought in 2006 and the actual price of the home is almost $140,000 less than our old home.

I am happy this home will be affordable and that we can make it a nice home for our family. Of the almost 8 years we've been married we have only had about 6 months that we had a place to call our own. Now we will hopefully be moved and semi-settled before Brody starts kindergarten.

Not only those positives but also when it comes time for someone to kick us out of this house we are in, we won't be homeless!!