I was released as the Young Womens President after almost 5 years of loving this calling. Instead of getting a breather for a while, our bishop asked me to serve as the 2nd Counselor in the Relief Society Presidency. I was so excited and thrilled to work with such amazing women and to come to know the women in our ward (FINALLY). I love it so much and get to plan activities, visiting teaching, and the transition with the Laurels.
What a blessing it is to be so involved in my wonderful ward. I am so grateful for Andrey and his support in this next step in my life.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
DiGeorge Syndrome (Ethan)
So much has been going on in the last few months and my blog has not been cooperating with me.
In July, Ethan got really sick and we had to take him to Primary Childrens Hospital for a few days. We never found out why his white blood cell count and heart rate were so high. But what we did find out was that he has a genetic disorder called DiGeorge Syndrome. We were shocked, heart broken, scared, and didnt' know what to think.
We had so much support from family members and ward members and friends. Since then, we have taken him to specialists to find out exactly what was wrong with him and how this disorder would affect him during his life.
A little background:
It is a deletion in the 22nd chromosome.
The features of this syndrome vary widely, even among members of the same family, and affect many parts of the body. Characteristic signs and symptoms may include birth defects such as congenital heart disease, defects in the palate, most commonly related to neuromuscular problems with closure (velo-pharyngeal insufficiency), learning disabilities, mild differences in facial features, and recurrent infections. Infections are common in children due to problems with the immune system's T-cell mediated response that in some patients is due to an absent or hypoplastic thymus. 22q11.2 deletion syndrome may be first spotted when an affected newborn has heart defects or convulsions from hypocalcemia due to malfunctioning parathyroid glands and low levels of parathyroid hormone (parathormone). Affected individuals may also have any other kind of birth defect including kidney abnormalities and significant feeding difficulties as babies. Disorders such as hypothyroidism and hypoparathyroidism or thrombocytopenia (low platelet levels), and psychiatric illnesses are common late-occurring features.[8] Microdeletions in chromosomal region 22q11.2 are associated with a 20 to 30-fold increased risk of schizophrenia.[9]
After reading all these details and symptoms, my greatest fears were his heart and kidneys. Everything else, we can work with.
So the appointments began every week.
We are so happy to see that his heart and kidneys are just fine. His hearing is great. The only issues we have run into is he has a submucus pallet. He will go back and meet with the cranial team in November and they will plan a surgery.
His cute ears that stick out (my favorite) can be pinned back at age 5 if we want. He is just starting to walk, but his progress is great. We are working on his speech with him, but will have to wait till after his surgery for more progress.
He is so loving, no boundaries with strangers, and loves giving hugs and kisses.
We are so blessed to have sweet Ethan in our family and are so grateful for doctors, spcialists (DDI) who come to our home each week and work with him. I love the programs that are avaiable (HOPE KIDS) where we can still have happiness among all the driving to appointments and harships that Ethan may face as he gets older (possibilities of deppresion, bipolar, etc.).
Our Heavenly Father has entrusted us with this sweet boy and we are eternally grateful to Him for letting us have him as part of our family.
In July, Ethan got really sick and we had to take him to Primary Childrens Hospital for a few days. We never found out why his white blood cell count and heart rate were so high. But what we did find out was that he has a genetic disorder called DiGeorge Syndrome. We were shocked, heart broken, scared, and didnt' know what to think.
We had so much support from family members and ward members and friends. Since then, we have taken him to specialists to find out exactly what was wrong with him and how this disorder would affect him during his life.
A little background:
It is a deletion in the 22nd chromosome.
The features of this syndrome vary widely, even among members of the same family, and affect many parts of the body. Characteristic signs and symptoms may include birth defects such as congenital heart disease, defects in the palate, most commonly related to neuromuscular problems with closure (velo-pharyngeal insufficiency), learning disabilities, mild differences in facial features, and recurrent infections. Infections are common in children due to problems with the immune system's T-cell mediated response that in some patients is due to an absent or hypoplastic thymus. 22q11.2 deletion syndrome may be first spotted when an affected newborn has heart defects or convulsions from hypocalcemia due to malfunctioning parathyroid glands and low levels of parathyroid hormone (parathormone). Affected individuals may also have any other kind of birth defect including kidney abnormalities and significant feeding difficulties as babies. Disorders such as hypothyroidism and hypoparathyroidism or thrombocytopenia (low platelet levels), and psychiatric illnesses are common late-occurring features.[8] Microdeletions in chromosomal region 22q11.2 are associated with a 20 to 30-fold increased risk of schizophrenia.[9]
After reading all these details and symptoms, my greatest fears were his heart and kidneys. Everything else, we can work with.
So the appointments began every week.
We are so happy to see that his heart and kidneys are just fine. His hearing is great. The only issues we have run into is he has a submucus pallet. He will go back and meet with the cranial team in November and they will plan a surgery.
His cute ears that stick out (my favorite) can be pinned back at age 5 if we want. He is just starting to walk, but his progress is great. We are working on his speech with him, but will have to wait till after his surgery for more progress.
He is so loving, no boundaries with strangers, and loves giving hugs and kisses.
We are so blessed to have sweet Ethan in our family and are so grateful for doctors, spcialists (DDI) who come to our home each week and work with him. I love the programs that are avaiable (HOPE KIDS) where we can still have happiness among all the driving to appointments and harships that Ethan may face as he gets older (possibilities of deppresion, bipolar, etc.).
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles....
Ethan's first bubble bath with his sisters.
"What is all this white stuff everywhere?" Ethan seemed to say.
Other fun moments of 2011
Ethan's sisters are so mean...or so nice, to include him in their dress up sessions. He loves the attention.
Our handsome 1 year old.
Cousins playing with all Ethan's new toys...and Ethan goes for the necklaces. He's our manly man.
Cousins playing with all Ethan's new toys...and Ethan goes for the necklaces. He's our manly man.Ethan's cake was so amazing. Our friend, Julia Dyches made it for him. He wasn't sure what to do, but had fun tearing it apart.
What a fun time he had opening presents (or playing with tissue paper, eating the wrapping paper, and getting mad when we would take a toy away to open another).
Happy First birthday Ethan!
Our big boy all grown up in his high chair doing what his loves most-eating.
This is Ethan's girlfriend, Sophie. He loves to hug and kiss her at church, and make her scream. They are so cute to watch.
Ethan got his first hair cut with his daddy. He is such a stud (and Ethan is too of course).
Happy First birthday Ethan!Our big boy all grown up in his high chair doing what his loves most-eating.This is Ethan's girlfriend, Sophie. He loves to hug and kiss her at church, and make her scream. They are so cute to watch.Ethan got his first hair cut with his daddy. He is such a stud (and Ethan is too of course).Ethan's aunt, Robyn, made him this sock monkey and it is his favorite thing. he HAS to have it with him when he goes to sleep. She has had to fix it once already because he just loves it to death.
Ethan's favorite thing (next to his mom of course) is water. He loves bath time and whenever he hears the shower/tub turn on, he is right in there,watching and waiting for it to fill up so he can splash away.
Ethan's 1 year old pictures
Travis Green (our brother in law) took some fun pictures for us of Ethan for his 1 year old pictures. Take a look at a few of them:
Saturday, March 24, 2012
City Creek
My family and I had such a fun time at the City Creek. We loved watching the magician, the human statue that scared everyone when she would reach out and touch them, the water falls and fountains, all the fun samples and performers, and the Eclipse session we got. 
They were so sweet to take pictures with their #1 fans, me, Bailee, and Kaycee (my sisters). It was so fun to hear them perform and scare them with our stalker-like qualities.
We had such a great time and I will for sure be visiting again.
They were so sweet to take pictures with their #1 fans, me, Bailee, and Kaycee (my sisters). It was so fun to hear them perform and scare them with our stalker-like qualities.We had such a great time and I will for sure be visiting again.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
7 months later
Wow, I have not been updating my blog for a while, but have been great at posting pictures on facebook. So sorry to any followers (if there are any out there) for not keeping you updated with our little family. I have a hard time updating when the site just doesn't let me post pictuers. But i will do my best.
(our little cousin Keenan that we babysat for the year).
What a fun year it's been.
Emma loves kindergarten and is doing great. She loves her teacher, Mrs. Bennett. She got all 5s on her grades (0-5 grading).
She loves all her friends and shows me her "club" list each day. She has so many playmates and loves having her neighbor friend, Micaela in class with her at church and school. They are going to be out of school in 2 more months. i can't believe how fast it went this year. 
We love doing carpooling with Marshal's mom and it makes it nice for Ethan to not be woken up from his nap time to get big sister. Emma is reading now and is amazing at coloring, with doing math, making friends, and is
such a big help in her class.
I have loved serving on the PTA this year and being over the Reflections program. It was fun to see all the entries the students submitted and pu
tting on my first assembly. My favorite part though, is being able to help Emma's teacher in her classroom. I am so grateful to Andrey for making it possible for me to stay home with the kids so I am able to have these experiences.
Ellie is 4 and loves learning to count and do numbers and cut up anything i let her. She is really crafty.
Her and Emma are taking dance at Jazzle Dazzle, doing ballet, tap, and tumbling. They love it and are so good. We got to watch their Christmas recital and it was so cute to see them in there bright green and pink costumes dancing with their candy canes. It was so fun to have all our family there to support them. We are excited to watch their Spring recital.
The girls love riding bikes and playing with their new friends, Rebekah, Jamie, Anne, and Nick. They are my little social butterflies.
Andrey is working for his own company again and loves it. He usese the Franchise of At home services and has been very busy. I love being able to do book keeping for him and having some control over his schedule so we get to see him from time to time.
I am still the Young womens president and am excited to meet the new girls now that our boundaries have changed. Andrey was put in as the Scout Master again and is so excited. I love being able to see him at mutual 2 times a month. I made a drastic physical change and chopped off about 9 inches of my hair and then dyed it a red/black color. It's been crazy getting used to it, but I love the change.
Ethan is 1 now and we had a great time at his party watching him eat his basketball cake, made by Julia Dyches, and have loved watching him grow up. He has had it rough with getting Asthma, spraining his thumb, getting reapeted ear infections, but he is such a trooper and is so happy. He loves playing with his sisters and loves his daddy. He is a daddy's boy and just showers us with hugs and kisses all the time. He has such a contagious laugh and brings so much happiness to our lives. His favorite things to say are "Momma, Emma, and NO! NO! NO!" He is great at walking along furniture and crawling. He loves to do summersaults and race us (crawling) and playing catch with his sisters, while rolling the ball on the ground.
We had a great Halloween, with Emma being a Barbie, Ellie was Ariel and we made her hair red, which she loved, and Ethan was a monkey, and I was a bee and Andrey bought himself a Bee Keepers outfit. It was so cool. Poor Ellie got the flu but made it to some trick r treating and Emma was so nice about sharing with her.
Christmas was so much fun. The girls were so excited to get everythign and anything and Andrey and I did so good at saving this year. We made a lot of our gifts and had fun shopping on Amazon.
My goal this new year was to lose all the baby weight i gained with Ethan (which was about 50 lbs.) and I am so happy to say that I am back to my beginning weight before i was pregnant with him, so that was something I loved working on-jogging each morning, walking with friends, doing toning exercises, and now, I am ready for baby #4. No, not really. I actually am not sure if I am able to have anymore. The scary thing is I got 2 superficial blood clots on my legs and my back is so bad, Andrey (and my mom) are worried that I may not make it to raise my kids, so it's been sad and trying to think about our future and any other additions to our family. But we are so grateful and blessed for the ones we do have.
We hope you all had wonderful holidays and that this year has been great for you. We love you!
(our little cousin Keenan that we babysat for the year).What a fun year it's been.
Emma loves kindergarten and is doing great. She loves her teacher, Mrs. Bennett. She got all 5s on her grades (0-5 grading).
She loves all her friends and shows me her "club" list each day. She has so many playmates and loves having her neighbor friend, Micaela in class with her at church and school. They are going to be out of school in 2 more months. i can't believe how fast it went this year. 
We love doing carpooling with Marshal's mom and it makes it nice for Ethan to not be woken up from his nap time to get big sister. Emma is reading now and is amazing at coloring, with doing math, making friends, and is
such a big help in her class.I have loved serving on the PTA this year and being over the Reflections program. It was fun to see all the entries the students submitted and pu
tting on my first assembly. My favorite part though, is being able to help Emma's teacher in her classroom. I am so grateful to Andrey for making it possible for me to stay home with the kids so I am able to have these experiences.
Ellie is 4 and loves learning to count and do numbers and cut up anything i let her. She is really crafty.
Her and Emma are taking dance at Jazzle Dazzle, doing ballet, tap, and tumbling. They love it and are so good. We got to watch their Christmas recital and it was so cute to see them in there bright green and pink costumes dancing with their candy canes. It was so fun to have all our family there to support them. We are excited to watch their Spring recital.The girls love riding bikes and playing with their new friends, Rebekah, Jamie, Anne, and Nick. They are my little social butterflies.
Andrey is working for his own company again and loves it. He usese the Franchise of At home services and has been very busy. I love being able to do book keeping for him and having some control over his schedule so we get to see him from time to time.
I am still the Young womens president and am excited to meet the new girls now that our boundaries have changed. Andrey was put in as the Scout Master again and is so excited. I love being able to see him at mutual 2 times a month. I made a drastic physical change and chopped off about 9 inches of my hair and then dyed it a red/black color. It's been crazy getting used to it, but I love the change.
Ethan is 1 now and we had a great time at his party watching him eat his basketball cake, made by Julia Dyches, and have loved watching him grow up. He has had it rough with getting Asthma, spraining his thumb, getting reapeted ear infections, but he is such a trooper and is so happy. He loves playing with his sisters and loves his daddy. He is a daddy's boy and just showers us with hugs and kisses all the time. He has such a contagious laugh and brings so much happiness to our lives. His favorite things to say are "Momma, Emma, and NO! NO! NO!" He is great at walking along furniture and crawling. He loves to do summersaults and race us (crawling) and playing catch with his sisters, while rolling the ball on the ground.
We had a great Halloween, with Emma being a Barbie, Ellie was Ariel and we made her hair red, which she loved, and Ethan was a monkey, and I was a bee and Andrey bought himself a Bee Keepers outfit. It was so cool. Poor Ellie got the flu but made it to some trick r treating and Emma was so nice about sharing with her.
Christmas was so much fun. The girls were so excited to get everythign and anything and Andrey and I did so good at saving this year. We made a lot of our gifts and had fun shopping on Amazon.
My goal this new year was to lose all the baby weight i gained with Ethan (which was about 50 lbs.) and I am so happy to say that I am back to my beginning weight before i was pregnant with him, so that was something I loved working on-jogging each morning, walking with friends, doing toning exercises, and now, I am ready for baby #4. No, not really. I actually am not sure if I am able to have anymore. The scary thing is I got 2 superficial blood clots on my legs and my back is so bad, Andrey (and my mom) are worried that I may not make it to raise my kids, so it's been sad and trying to think about our future and any other additions to our family. But we are so grateful and blessed for the ones we do have.
We hope you all had wonderful holidays and that this year has been great for you. We love you!
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