Black Eye Firsts

A few week's back we went to grab some lunch. On our way to grab a seat Khloe slipped on a wet spot on the tile floor and immediately burst into tears. I grabbed up my sobbing baby and instantly saw the following:

She is such a tough little girl though. Just a few minutes after the fall she asked for her sprite and was as happy as can be, swollen eye and all!

Here is what her eye looked like the next day:

 

 



There are firsts for everything.

Summer 2012

I can't believe summer is already over! I would think to myself like a zillion times I needed to get some posts going to document our happenings and for one reason or another I never followed through. Huge FAIL on my part. I did take pictures although not as many as I should have. HA. I'm horrible. I always remember to take my camera. I just never remember to take it out.

So without further ado....

We went to see fireworks for the 4th of July. Khloe wasn't so sure about them! She held my hand over her ears the ENTIRE time. We are now in October and she still is saying "Fireworks go BOOM!" 

 

4th of July pool party at Grandma Shirley's house. As you can see she is super excited!



My cute little family at our 1st camping trip of the season. We actually stayed up in the pines and took a nice little 4-wheeler ride down to this awesome little lake.

Playing on the swings at Aunt Char's house. I love this picture more than words can see. Pure happiness!



1st State Fair experience for Khloe! She had so much fun seeing the animals, riding rides and playing in the Down of the Farm for littles. Thank you Grandma CoCo and PaPa Casey!

Khloe started swimming lessons! She has only been a few times but I am already seeing amazing differences with how comfortable she is getting in the water. Perhaps a future Olympian? :)

Park fun with Cristie and Tayla. I wish I would have gotten a pic of the two cuties together. See, I'm horrible with getting pictures!

 

 

We are sad to see summer leave, but we have lots of fun things coming up! 

September 11th - 11 Year Anniversary

I have been lazy with blogging and I have so much to catch up on! I feel so guilty. However, I did want to take a minute to remember those that were tragically taken away 11 years ago. And also document where I was and what I was doing with as much as I can remember from that day.

I was a sophomore in High School. My first period class was Aerobics and we did not have a television in there so while the rest of the nation was frozen in front of the news, or actually seeing these horrific events take place right in front of them, I was working my tush off, oblivious to everything.

After class I was walking through the main corridor of my school and it was packed. Students were hugging, crying and in complete disbelief. I found some friends (for the life of me I don't remember who told me) and asked what the heck was happening. The words of planes had hit the World Trade Centers did not register. It did not seem real. For sure this couldn't be as bad as everybody was making it. Everybody was overreacting, right?

I made my way to Biology where the news was playing. I could see the damage, but the buildings were still standing. Nothing some firefighters and a bit of remodeling couldn't handle. I now realize how naive a thought that really was. Hindsight, maybe? As we were sitting there the first tower fell. Then the next. Things after that point become a blur.

There was a bomb threat called into my school. We were evacuated to the back near the football field. Was this really happening? Teachers and staff  were trying to calm everybody. But they wouldn't let us leave. Parents had to physically come pick us up. My mom comes.

I am scheduled to work. I call my boss (which happened to be my step-mom) to see if the craft store would remain open. It was. How could I possibly work? The store was a ghost town. I remember feeling afraid. Should it really be this quite in here? Were we safe?

I was only 15. I don't think I could really comprehend the severity of these happenings. I knew it was bad. Really really bad. But we are Americans. This is the United States. Thoughts of terrorists weren't in the forefront. Now they are. Our people are dying daily because of the events that took place 11 years ago today.

God bless America. And thank you to our Soldiers who risk their lives daily to keep us SAFE and FREE!

It's A Truck

Setting: Driving home after picking up Khloe from the babysitters house.

K - It's a truck! (Pointing to a city bus)
M - Close. But that is actually a bus.
K - No! IT'S A TRUCK!
M - Hunny that isn't a truck. That is called a bus. Can you say bus?
K - IT'S A TRRRRUCK! (Getting upset).
M - Okay baby, it's a truck. (Realizing there was not a way to convince her otherwise, LOL).

Father's Day 2012

We had a fairly low key day. Dewey had to work the night shift so he joined us by the pool at Aly and Steve's house for a few hours before heading in. We had a small pot luck to celebrate the dads in our life while we soaked up some much need rays of sunshine!

I am heart broken that I didn't even get a picture of Dewey and Khloe! Guess we were to busy enjoying the day together. Seriously though, Dewey is an amazing dad! He has always been part of every aspect of Khloe's life. He has never moaned or groaned when asked to give her a bath, feed her dinner, change her diapers or play with her after a long day of work. We are so lucky to have him in our life. We love you babe! Hope you had a great Father's Day!

CaNcUn MeXiCo

First thing the morning following Khloe's 2nd Birthday Dewey and I were boarding a plane to Cancun Mexico! Here is our trip in pictures!

All Inclusive - Fiesta Americana Condesa



On the way to our room. Garden Room with partial ocean view. WOOT WOOT!

From our room. The ocean was too cool to be in the picture :(



Just a day at the beach. No big deal. :)



Mai Tai!

Perfect View!



The hubs and me in front of one of the ruins at Chichen Itza.



Seriously Chichen Itza. Absolutely amazing and only 110 degrees. Yeah. :)

 

The Cenote. INCREDIBLE!

Khloe Turns TWO!

Well I definitely do not deserve the mother of the year award! This post is almost a month late and I feel terrible.

On May 21, Khloe OFFICIALLY became a little girl. I know she hasn't been a baby for some time. But for some reason her second birthday really marked this as a reality for me. It's funny, when Khloe's first birthday came up everybody asked if I was sad or upset. They wanted to know if tears were going to flow and the answer was really "No". I was excited. Such a HUGE milestone! But, this birthday...I was still excited. But I really had a much more difficult time. I realized I will never hold her as a new baby in my arms again. I will never see her sit for the first time, crawl and take those first steps. Those are all great memories, all of which I cherish. But those are the thoughts that hit me in the week's before her birthday.

Wow! That makes her day sound like such a downer! It really really wasn't. And here are some picture to prove that :)




Amazing cupcakes Lindsey helped me bake! Chocolate and Vanilla cake. Vanilla frosting with red food coloring. Malt balls for the head, chocolate chips for the spots and melting chocolate for the antenna's. Yep that's some Martha Steward stuff right there.



Amazing decorations



She blew out her candle! MADE. MY. DAY!



Cutest cupcake face EVER :)

 

Khloe's new playhouse. Phone and all.

 

Must have picture of the little smelling the flowers.



Ain't she a doll? I'm one proud mama!



Swinging with Aunt Char. Love. Love. Love!

 I am so proud and lucky to be Khloe's mother. She is so amazing. She is so full of life. She is determined, stubborn and strong. I love you baby! HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY!!!

Mother's Day 2012

Perfect.

It was truly the greatest day. We woke up and made our way over to Colleen and Casey's house. Aly and I made the best breakfast/brunch of biscuits with gravy, breakfast potatoes and fresh cut watermelon and cantaloupe. It was simply delightful.

At 2:30 we headed to a BBQ at my cousin Mandy and her boyfriends house. I'll tell you what, Jesse is the BBQ master. There were chicken and steak kabob's, BBQ'd pineapple, baked beans, pasta salad, chips and cupcakes. So so good. My mouth might actually be watering just thinking about the deliciousness feast! From here on out I will be embarrassed to call my hamburger and hot dog BBQ's just that. A BBQ.

Usually with holiday's we are running all over the place trying to see everybody. This year was much more simple with only the two stops. Not only was it more simple but it wasn't nearly as stressful. We were able to visit. Such a foreign concept in a sense! This is the way this holiday worked out. Now to find a way to make this more of the norm without upsetting or offending others. Something to think about :)

Now a College Grad!

On May 5, 2012 at 10:00 A.M. Dewey graduated through the University of Phoenix with his Associates degree. I am such a proud wife. He is a full time dad, he has a full time job and somehow found the time to juggle all of that, which is no easy feat I might add, and accomplish receiving a college degree. I am full of envy! Because of this I am even thinking of trying to back to finish up mine.

He is now high on happiness and realized that college is something he can do, something that is completely within reach and he has now signed back up to get his Bachelors Degree! GO BABY, YOU CAN DO IT!

Easter In Pictures



All the fabulous goodies from the Easter Bunny!



First Easter Egg hunt! She is such a sweet little natural!

 

All the eggs Miss K found hiding out around the living room.

 

Easter basket round 2! Can't you see how giddy she is :)



Momma and mini me. She is getting to big. Way. To. Fast.

 

Infamous baby playing with flower picture. Everybody has one, right?

 

BuBbLeS!

 

Our perfect little family.

Happy Easter!

Smile for the camera!

Trying to get Miss K to smile for the camera has been hard. The girl gets camera shy! So imagine my surprise when I pulled out my iPhone and got the following.



Smile!

 

Silly faces :)



KISSES!

So Fashionable

At one point in the day this little one had her hair up and some cute jeans on. Next thing we know she is coming down the hallway whining because she has taken her pants off to put these very stylish green and white stripped tights on. She was able to get one foot in but for the life of her could not get the other in. After daddy helped her out she went and found a shoe to put on. One shoe.

If that isn't fashion I don't know what is!

*~*~* NORMAL *~*~*

Khloe had her follow-up ultrasound on March 5, 2012. For about a week prior to the appointment I kept reminding her we were going to go back to the doctors to get more pictures of her tummy. I kept telling her it wouldn't hurt and it might tickle a little bit. I was hoping to help ease her anxiety for when we got to PCMC in Riverton.

She definitely did A LOT better this time around. We were able to actually sit her on the bed. This was a hugely failed attempt last time. The tech was able to easily get the images needed from the backside. Once we laid Khloe down on the bed is when the struggling and tears began. It appears she is fairly traumatized from the catheter from January and all the shots at her well child check-ups. Again, it took both Dewey and I holding her down to get the images from the front side. She kept crying out Mommy, Mommy, Mommmmmyyyyy. That just broke my heart. I hate having to make her do things that scare her. All I could do was assure her we were almost done and that she wasn't going to be hurt and no shots were in her near future.

Amazingly, I received a call from Dr. Foster within a few short hours after leaving PCMC! Khloe's results came back NORMAL!!! I'm not going to lie, I teared up. This past month was so hard. I do not do well at waiting. I'm impatient and stubborn. Especially when it is something that concerns my daughter's.

As long as she does not get another UTI between now and the time she is three we won't have to go back in for anymore testing. For now we are done with all the worry!

WAHOO FOR NORMAL!

Ooh Tooodles

The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is a favorite in our house. Khloe will wake up, point to the TV, and say Ooh Tooodles! She sure makes us laugh. She want's it on but she wont sit still for more than 5 minutes to watch it. She sure is in control and knows exactly what she wants!

Watching Ooh Tooodles in Mom and Dad's bed.



Playing with her combs and brushes.



Happy Birthday To ME

I'm horrible on my birthday. I usually get very emotional, and I have no idea why. It must be the crazy in me.

This year I took the day prior to my day off of work to spend with the hubby and baby. With Dewey's absolutely insane work schedule it just worked out better to celebrate before the actual day. We woke up and got ready. I was only acting semi-insane at this point. We decided to head out to a few stores to find some new couch pillows, drapes and a rug for the living room (yes that is what I wanted). I couldn't get in the shopping mood and my attitude kept getting worse until I lost it. Waterworks, yelling, playing the everybody is against me game. It was bad. I'm a jerk.

After my not-completely-my-fault meltdown I sucked it up and decided it was time to go back out and try shopping again. Found everything I was looking for and now my living room is starting to come together!! YAY!

Late afternoon we took Khloe over to Grandma LaRaine's house so we could enjoy a nice adult dinner out. We headed over to The Salt Lake Pizza Company/Fiddlers Elbow. I can't believe how much food I ate and it was fantastic! A huge garlic cheese burger, fries topped off with a Blue Moon. After that white chocolate cheese cake. HOLY COW! Calorie overload! All in all it was a fabulous birthday, once I had my expected pity fest.

Oh, and on a not so related note. We have scheduled Khloe's follow-up ultrasound. March 5th. Wish us luck!

Impatiently Waiting....

After my last post the information began sinking in and I began questioning what was really going on. Then I did what nobody should do. I used Google to see what lumpy kidney's could really mean. That was a horrible idea. Google is evil, yet I always seem to use it. I shouldn't do that. Every web page that came up had something to do with Kidney Cancer and/or Kidney Disease. Talk about enough to send this momma into a straight on panic attack.

After a day and a half of getting the nerves up to call Dr. Foster back to talk about what I found online, my worst fears were, in a way, confirmed. Really there are three things we will be looking at after the next ultrasound. The first and best result would be Khloe's kidney's look beautiful and smooth (normal). The next could be that they look basically the same but it is determined that is just her and they are fine. Not my ideal, but better than the alternative. The last would be that it is determined that she needs to have the MRI done to either confirm she does or does not have cancer. Wow. That sickens me to think about.

The radiologist that looked over Khloe's imaging thinks that the probability of her actually having cancer is minimal. Hence, the reason we are not going straight in to do the MRI now. Rather, we are hoping she has some sort of infection that will heal on it's own over the next few week's and won't be seen on the next ultrasound.

So, I guess we wait and see. And if you know me, I am not patient in the least bit. So this should be an interesting few weeks.

Intermountain PCMC

Today we had Khloe's appointment at the Intermountain Primary Children's Medical Center to have an ultrasound done of her Kidney's. Such a great place! The waiting room had computers with X-Box games set up, a table for coloring, toy cars and such. There was no way to get bored waiting for your turn back.

When back with radiology we had a hard time holding Khloe down to get the needed images of her kidney's. Such a fighter she is! I think she is mostly traumatized with her recent trip to the after hours pediatrician when they did a catheter on her to verify if she had a second UTI or not. The minute you attempt to lay her down on a bed in any doctor's office she will kick and scream and cry. It really is amazing how much strength this sweet little 20 month old baby has! After imaging her front the tech had me hold Khloe so she could get a look through the back. That was a million times easier!

Once finished the tech checked with the radiologist to make sure he had everything he needed. When they came back in the room he wanted another look through Khloe's back side. That gave me some major anxiety. What was he seeing?

Well, I just received a call from Dr. Foster (Khloe's pediatrician). Results came in a-typical. Basically her kidney's have a lumpy look to them (Can happen with a kidney infection, which she doesn't have). They should be completely smooth. So we are repeating the ultrasound in 4-6 weeks. From there we will see if this is something that is okay or if we need to have further testing, such as an MRI, after that.

So, I guess the anxiety will continue until we know for sure what is going on. That's my job as a mother right, to worry?

Weight Check FAIL

Yesterday was D Day. After two months of trying to get Khloe up to 20 lbs. 4 oz. we failed. Not so miserably, but it still felt like a failure to me. She weighed in at 20 lbs. 2 oz. TWO FREAKING OUNCES IS ALL WE WERE OFF! That's a small enough gap to drive one mad I tell you.

The peditrician wasn't to concerned. We were close enough to our goal. His orders are to keep up with the carnation instant breakfast twice a day with her milk. He feels that by her 2 year well child check up she will be back on track. A few things I've found the kid will devour are chicken nuggets, pudding, applesauce and baby food veggies. So we'll keep giving her as much of those things as she wants and hope she gets back on track.

One thing I was hoping for was that the ultrasound to check her kidneys would still just be just in talks and a possibility if the future. Nope. We are scheduled for Monday, Jan 23rd at 9:00am to get that done. Dr Foster doesn't think we will find anything, but still would rather error on the safe side. Basically he said if we didn't check and something was there she ultimitely could lose a kidney in the future. Yeah, we most definitely do not want that. So we'll check just to be reassured.

First Haircut

I may or may not have shed a tear. Not because I was upset watching an inch or so of Khloe's baby locks being cut away. But rather, this is just one more milestone (if you can call it that) showing that she is no longer my little baby, but rather, a little girl. Any an absolutely amazing one at that. Now enjoy!

Before



After

 

You Can't Get It Past Me

We have all heard of the Words With Friends app. Dewey has a Windows phone which apparently is not compatible with that app. We were able to find another with the same concept called Words By Post, which BTW fails in comparison.

A few nights ago we were playing each other. I am sitting on one couch while he is sitting across from me on the other couch, supposedly doing homework intermittently. He needed to wake up early for work so when he was done with said "homework" he slipped off to go to bed. I decided I was going to stay up a bit. Hey... all my shows were starting for the New Year! While I am sitting here I decide I should update my blog as it had been neglected. When I picked up the computer and pulled it from it's sleep I saw the website: www.wineverygame.com (I doubt the securities on this site so visit at your own risk). Yup that's right, a scrabble cheat site. I busted out laughing!

I knew he had probably fallen asleep but absolutely could not pass up this opportunity to show him how NOT sneaky he is! I brought the laptop in with the site still pulled up and shook him awake. Through the laughter I mentioned to him that if he wanted to cheat he should probably close the site down when he is done. You know. To.Cover.His.Ass! He pushed out an embarrassed chuckle and told me he didn't know what I was talking about.

Moral of the story. You can't get these type of things past me. I will find out. Every.Single.Time. I WIN!

Coughs, Catheters and Super Baby

Remember that UTI Miss K had a few month's back? Well it came back to haunt us. Not only is her pediatrician more concerned about her weight (or lack thereof) than ever, but, now that it is in her chart, unexplained fevers pose concern that this little bugger could be the culprit.

When we were heading home Christmas night I noticed Khloe had a cough coming on. It stayed as just that until Wednesday, when a runny nose and fever stuck their foot through the door. Nothing to concerning, and certainly nothing a little Tylenol wouldn't fix. Then Thursday came. During Khloe's bath I noticed her hands, feet and lips were blue and immediately checked the water temperature. It was fine. I pulled Khloe out and dried her off and got her in the warmest jammies she has. Her temp had risen to 101.8. She obviously was not feeling well at all so I called the after hours ped and made an appointment. When we arrived and got checked in Miss K's temp was at 102.4 (The highest she's ever had, BTW). A quick check of her O2 levels, throat, lymph nodes, breathing and ears proved those were not the culprit of the heightened fever. Then the question above our heads. Could she have another UTI? She never had a follow up done but wasn't showing any of the signs as she had before. Regardless the pediatrician wanted to check. After 45 minutes with the bag we could not get a clean catch. The only option left was to use the catheter. My heart sank. It took mommy holding her hands and assuring her everything was going to be okay at her head, a nurse holding her legs back and then the ped cathing her. I have never felt like a worse mother. Here is my daughter wide awake with us holding her down while someone was doing that to her. She was just looking into my eyes with crocodile tears running into her hair. Although she couldn't form words I knew she was screaming in her head and wondering why I was not protecting her from this. As soon as we were finished I just sat in the chair rocking her and crying. I know, I am over-reacting. But it doesn't matter. She is my baby and to watch her be so miserable killed me.

*Note* The ped did say that Khloe was so strong which made that one of the hardest caths she has ever had to do. You go girl! Never give in. Stay strong baby!

After ALL that, no UTI. It was chalked up to a nasty cold. She seems to be doing much better now. Although she still has the damn cough lingering. Now we are back to stacking on the calories in hopes we can make the 20.4 lb mark the pediatrician is needing by Jan 18th. Crossing our fingers.