Taking a break

Jeff happened to have a business trip that was in Utah and I decided I wanted to go with him even if it meant hanging out in the hotel with the kids and swimming all day (rough, I know). We took the kids out of school for three days (yikes!), but it was oh so worth it. Plus, I don't think they've missed but one or two days all school year anyway. For some reason when I justify it like that, it makes me feel better.

Here we are waiting on Jeff to grab some things from the office before we hit the road. I think this picture is so funny. For some reason, London had to wear this hat from an old Tavaci concert and you'll see it on her through out these pictures. It reminds me so much of Jeff's younger sister Melanie. Every time we watch slides of his family, or look through their pictures it seemed to me that Melanie always wore these goofy hats as well.

We noticed they had several of these new signs out. If you knew anything about me, you would know how happy I was to see them.

Sullivan loves hide and go seek. The girls play with him often when we are at home. He usually hides right before Jeff goes to work and Jeff has to find him to say good-bye before he leaves and he find the most hilarious spots...mostly under blankets, curtains and dirty clothes in the laundry room. We were getting ready to leave the hotel room and so he hid again. Funny kid!


After we checked in and after Jeff set up for the show, we took the kids to the church history museum where they have a new exhibit of art work from kids across the world. I'm a sucker for things like this! It was our first stop!


Here are my favorite ones that were displayed...







They have a little computer area for children to make their own art work to be displayed on a big screen and my kids were loving playing with it.


London was the only one to finish one though. It is a picture of her reading the Book of Mormon.

I tried to get a picture of her standing in front of the big screen when her picture rotated through, but this was the best I could get with the lighting. At least you know it is her because of that orange hat!

Jeff and Sullivan riding the escalators...or "alligators" as London would say. I think this was Sullivan's favorite part of the museum.

Have you seen the new one by Walter Rane...I LOVE IT! Hands down, he's one of my favorite artists.

After we were done with the museum, we quickly ran across the street to Temple Square...my old mission stomping ground. So much has changed! I think this is the point where Jeff was ready to go...too many activities that were "best behavior" places for a 2 year old.

I'll post more of our Utah trip later...I've got some things that need to get done ASAP!

Surgery

We stayed the night in a suite the night before and got some major swimming in. My goal was to wear Sullivan out as much as possible so that he wouldn't realize that he was fasting. He's also learned to say "whim" (swim) and "ool" (pool). I love when he learns new words and tries them out.

Here are some before pictures.


They had a nice waiting room with toys, so again he was distracted and didn't ask for food or water (yay!). They called us back and asked a bunch of questions and then told us that a quick good-bye was best. Immediately, I start getting nervous...this is what I didn't want to happen. I thought they'd give him some sleepy juice or something before they ripped him from my arms. Well, the Doctor came in and made some marks on his neck (see pic below) and then tells me that he doesn't want him to have a waddle and that he is going to have to leave some of the tract, but that it'd be very small. Okay...I'm thinking that this is something he should have told me before I put my family up in a suite for the night, make my kid fast, pay for gas and food. Weird that he'd never mention it before. But, I figure he knows what he's doing and just hope that he does his job right and that everything will be okay. So, after he leaves, two very sweet nurses come in and Sullivan goes right to them...what!? Not what I was expecting, but I'm so grateful because it would have been the longest 2 hours of my life if he went away from me crying. Anyway, these two nurses are lovin on him and he waves good-bye to us just like that and we leave. I thought I'd hear him cry, but nope.


Towards the 1 1/2 hour mark, I start to get antsy. Before I know it, they call us back and the surgery is over. They have Jeff and the girls go to a small room while I go get Sullivan. The first thing I see when I see him is that he's got his hands behind his neck just relaxing and though he's a bit pale and not smiling, I could tell he was happy with his medication and enjoying the attention from the nurses. They transfer him to me and it doesn't even phase him what he just went through and that it was all over. No crying at all! He did get really irritated and grumpy after awhile of waiting though, he kept attacking his bandage and wanted it off.

The doctor came to see us, told us he had to leave a little bit of the stripe. Told us to take the bandage off in two days and then he was off. Seriously, this doctor does not like to talk, he's all business! Here is Sullivan on our way out the door.

It has been 4 days since his surgery. It has been a long 4 days. They have codeine and an antibiotic for him, but the taste really nasty and he won't take them. We've tried mixing them with bananas and yogurt, but after one taste he knows what we've done and won't eat the rest. Poor kid is in pain, keeps saying "owie mama." Jeff has been very helpful with getting him to take his medicine. I don't know what it is, but Sullivan likes to please him and will basically do anything Jeff says (Not fair!). So, we've had to "force" medicine a few times and the other times Jeff convinces him to do it.
(Though he is wearing the same outfit, I promise that it was washed between wearings...he likes them that much!)
This morning Sullivan pulled off the steri-strips over his neck. It looks okay though, I'm wondering if their are some internal stitches or something. Anyway, here is the end result...

I'm biting my tongue right now. I just didn't expect that much of his tract leftover. Basically it looks like he got rid of the nub and that's it. I'm hoping he doesn't have to have more surgery. I'm kinda frustrated though because I was led to believe that this surgery was "easy" and that everything would be taken care of.
I look forward to chatting with the doctor next Tuesday though and hopefully I'll be able to ask the right questions so that I can get some answers.

Life

What I've been up to lately...

My old PC died finally. It had been croaking for a very long time and conveniently died a few days after we got our tax return money. Ha ha! I'm now the proud owner of a new Mac. Wow, what a difference and I like it! With the new computer I've been able to get back into digital scrapbooking which I've missed dearly!!

I decided in the new year that I need to be more constructive with the time I have with Sullivan while the girls are at school. I could be doing so much to help him communicate better. I've been having a mini toddler school time with him while the girls are at school and it has been a lot of fun. The resources online are ridiculous! I'm so blessed to live in this time where I can just copy other Moms who actually know what they are doing.

Here are a few activities that we've done recently.
Practicing tracing circles with a mason jar lid.

Practicing his lines. Soon those lines will turn into S's...I hope.

I gave him some blue water to squirt into a yellow cup, which made the water look green from the outside of the cup. I think teaching colors will definitely take some time.



Then I let him go to town and do what he wanted to do. Of course it ended up in a huge mess, but we had a lot of fun.


We are still working on consistency with toddler school. I'm sure once I get more organized it will be easier.

As if everything I mentioned above doesn't keep me busy enough, here is a taste of what I go through on a daily basis.

Ketchup on the windowsill. I just don't understand this one. He tries this multiple times a day.

I don't know if you can see this very well, I was trying to take a modest picture of it. He pulled my newly laundered and folded towels in the bath tub with him.

Helping me with the dishes.

Lately I've learned how different each of my children really are. If they were to want something they'd each go about getting what they want differently...

Kamryn can talk her way into getting anything. She's skilled with manipulation, logic and a memory that is almost as good as President Monsons.

London is my crier/whiner. It does not matter where we are at, she will not hesitate to throw a temper tantrum to get what she wants.

And, finally Sullivan...if he wants something, he just goes and gets it by himself.

Some examples...

Pours his own milk on his cereal.



When he is thirsty, he likes to drink from the bathroom sink. I do provide plenty of beverage in sippy cups through out the day, but he prefers it straight from the tap. ;)
So, as I walked by the bathroom with him looking like this I thought nothing of it. He's very polite, turns off the water when he's done usually.


Then I went by again and saw this...


Ugh, not again. He unrolled a brand new toilet paper roll and got it all wet in the sink and then flung it on the walls and ground. What a mess!

Orbeez! Have you heard of them yet? Kamryn LOVES her Orbeez. They are these tiny balls that when you soak them in water they grow to the size of a marble. She collects them in jars/vases and bowls and loves digging her hands into the slimy balls. I've been very clear that she is to keep them up high on a shelf in her room because I have this fear of needing to perform the himleck on Sullivan. Well, somehow Sullivan found a container and dumped it all over. Doesn't sound that bad, but their were literally hundreds of Orbeez squished everywhere. It was quite the mess! Looks like we'll need to put them somewhere else from now on.



We've learned to NEVER, EVER leave anything on our kitchen counters. It definitely helps us to clean up after ourselves. Still, we manage to leave something out that he gets into...The cinnamon/sugar mixture left over from morning breakfast and a block of cheese that I was going to shred and freeze. Look away for a second and he's a wild man with anything on the kitchen counters.


That's what I've been up to lately, hope you enjoyed!

We had the opportunity to go visit Jeff's family over a weekend in February and while we were there we stopped by for a visit to Grandma and Grandpa Brown. Honestly, I was worried that my kids would be too hyper in front of Grandma and Grandpa Brown, especially after being buckled in the car for the hour and a half drive before. But, we went and the kids did exceptionally well. Grandpa Brown had a lot of fun with Sullivan, it was so cute watching them together. I remember my girls being scared of his mustache when they were Sullivan's age, but Sullivan warmed up to them so quickly. It does my heart so good!

School Concerts

Kids had their school music concerts and I must admit that I enjoyed them a lot more than I have in the past...the music teacher must have been less stressed out or something.

Kamryn was involved in a little mini play. I'm amazed at how well she does, the confidence that she exhibits and definitely how well she speaks loudly and clearly.



All of the first grade classes got a chance to perform on the xylophone during a song.

All lined up and paired in colors. He loves to (though it is becoming rarer) line up his toys whenever he's playing with them.