Our little buddy

I was going through recent pictures and came across these and thought they needed to be added to the blog.

I asked him to stand by his tractor and say cheese This is what I got. Isn't he just so darn cute?!

Do you like where he put his screw driver?

These were taken a few weeks ago right after we moved in. Chase loves his John Deere tractor that Santa got him for Christmas. He pushes it everywhere around the house and fills up the bucket. Kinda like how Maeley would fill up her doll stroller and push it everywhere. But he's a boys boy and loves his tractor.

Can this really be comfortable?

This isn't the first time I have found her asleep in this position but it amazes me everytime. Zoe is a cute silly girl.

Silly kids

Lately the kids have been saying some pretty funny things. Here is a sample.

Maeley told me after I finished my last post that I needed to put a picture of her on our blog. I told okay I'll take your picture and then I will post it. She said, "No mom, we need to go to Target and get a picture of me, Dad, Chase Zoe and you. Then come home and post them on our blog."

Her newest phrase is, "How cool is that".

Yesterday while I was getting ready Derek found Chase using my large round brush as a microphone singing "Spiderman Spiderman" while swinging his hips. I guess Derek started laughing and Chase got embarrassed.

Chase is completely obsessed with Jeeps. While driving when he sees a Jeep he says, "I saw a Jeep" and then the next one he says, "I saw another Jeep". Each time you much say something back to him or he will continue saying it. It's amazing how many Jeeps there are.

Zoe may not talk but she has begun doing these high pitch squeals when shes really happy. And she does this while bouncing on her bottom. We feel like she is finally getting back to her old self, meaning herself before the hospital stay. She can sit on the floor for an hour or so and entertain herself. She's smiling a ton again. Even at church around strangers she was a happy kid. Zoe has begun rolling around. Before she could do it but hated being on her stomach so preferred not to. We are so happy to have her healthy again.

5 Happy Years

This past Tuesday was our 5 year wedding anniversary. Derek got the day off which he didn't tell me until that morning when I told him he was going to be late. That was a great surprise. Too bad we still had cleaning to do at the house. My mom was here helping us with the move so we were able to spend a couple hours without the kids and go to dinner. All in all it was a pretty low key day but nice to have the opportunity to celebrate our love for each other. This 5 year anniversary came fast. We definitely aren't were we thought we'd be, but we wouldn't change a thing.

I love you Derek!

We've moved

Too bad we are not done yet. It has been such a headache. Have I mentioned how I hate moving? Yet somehow we have moved into our fifth place in 5 years of marriage. That's just crazy! We were able to get into our apartment before we were initially planning on it. Last saturday Derek had a couple guys from work come help him move all the big stuff over. Thank goodness for them because I know it would have been harder on Derek had I helped him. It's very hard moving with 3 kids to work around. Sometimes they just demand so much of your attention you can't get anything done! I'm going completely crazy. We don't even have the kitchen moved over yet. I am sick of fast food. We have a few things here but not enough to make a meal. If I were to go over to the house and make food then I don't have everything I need either. Seriously I can't wait for this move to be done! Derek and I are going crazy! Luckily my mom is coming tomorrow and staying until Wednesday to help me clean the house and finish getting things put away here. Hopefully soon our lives will go back to normal.

Trying to look at the bright side

We are moving, probably starting this Saturday. The property management we are renting this house from wouldn't let us sign a lease shorter than 12 months. And the job site Derek works at, the main part finishes up in Jan. 2010. We aren't sure where we will be going after that.

Well we are moving into an apartment. It's just 1/2 mile down the road, within our ward boundaries. It's been a headache trying to figure out where to go. We initially decided on this apartment complex but Tuesday afternoon they said there was no chance of a downstairs unit. I don't want to risk our children's lives every time we go up or down stairs (mainly its Chase I'm worried about). Yesterday afternoon they called back and said one opened up and its ours. Lucky for us, well I should say lucky for them because we were on the hunt for somewhere else.

Reasons why it will be nice moving into an apartment:
-The gym, Derek and I want to start working out we have already decided on a schedule of who can go when. I guess we will have to see if it's busy there at that time.
-The pools, this is how we are getting the kids excited about the move.

I won't list the reason why it will be lame, because I know I can come up with a long list. We have never lived in an apartment (yes Derek did on his mission, but that doesn't count). So this will be interesting.

Speaking of trying to look on the bright side. Now Zoe is out of the hospital she can go much longer between feedings. I love it! She has been going about 5 hours between feedings. It's awesome! Before 3 1/2 hours was her max. The downer is it takes twice as long to feed her. I'm pretty sure her throat is still sore from the tube down her throat. She is still squeaky which reminds me of the chipmunk in Emperor's New Groove.

Zoe's week long hospital stay

I am so happy to be home! I'm completely exhausted, emotional, physically, mentally. In advance sorry for the long post.

What happened:
Friday May 22nd, Zoe had a small cough before we left for Gilbert but didn't think too much about it. I figured she was just getting a cold. Later that night the cough got worse and we hardly slept that night. It still seemed to be just a cold, a cough and some congestion. Later in the day on Saturday is when she started wheezing. My sister-in-law Stephanie brought their nebulizer over so we could give her some breathing treatments. We had Marc, my brother-in-law who is becoming a nurse listen to her before and after a treatment. She seemed to respond well to the treatment. Again, Derek, Zoe, and I got little sleep. She was needing a breathing treatment about every 2 hours during the night.

Zoe getting a breathing treatment Saturday night

By early Sunday morning every breath she took was a struggle. We decided that she needed to be taken to the ER. We asked Marc if it was okay that we leave and if he could watch Maeley and Chase. This was about 6am Sunday morning. We went to the closest hospital which is Banner Gateway. We were impressed how quickly they took care of her. I knew she would be staying in the hospital after seeing her oxygen level at 74. They were trying to draw blood but were having a hard time. First they tried her left foot, no luck, next her left arm, then her right foot, back to her left arm. Finally a pediatric nurse came in and got a vein on her head. I was horrified. I stood up against the wall where a nurse was blocking my view. The doctor was good at keeping us informed. When they switched rooms (just for more space) Derek sat on the bed with Zoe lying on him. She looked terrible. She was a pale gray color. Shortly after that the doctor told us that she needs to be hospitalized and she needs to be air-vacced to Banner Desert. For me I felt like someone just needed to pinch me to wake up from this bad dream.

At 3 in the afternoon the nurse told us if she doesn't improve in two hours they will put her on a breathing machine. In my head I thought she would get better. Two hours passed by quickly and the nurse brought us in a paper to sign and said they were putting her on the breathing machine and if we wanted to we could stay and watch. Yeah right, like I was going to watch that. I couldn't even watch them draw blood from her head. We gave them our cell numbers so they could call when they finished.

Zoe Monday morning

It was pretty tough to walk away from our daughter knowing she was going to be sedated for 3-7 days. We went to our car so we could have privacy. We said a prayer and cried...a lot. I called our parents to fill them in on the details. Derek couldn't talk, he was having a hard time with all this. Plus we wanted to keep his phone line open for when the doctor called us. We finally got the call, an hour later (it seemed so much longer than that). It was difficult to see her lying on the bed, almost lifeless hooked up to even more machines then before. My parents came shortly after that and Derek and my dad gave her a blessing. I am so grateful for that.

I stayed the night. I didn't sleep much because of all the beeps from the machines and every four hours she was getting a breathing treatment and CPT, Chest Physio therapy. They use a small mask and pound on her chest to break up mucus. It makes a loud sound, but doesn't hurt her. It was so strange while she was sedated to not hear her cough. She would turn red in the face and you could tell she was trying to cough something out. They would push a tube down another tube to get the mucus out.

Derek had to be back to work in Tucson Tuesday. There were a bunch of things he needed to get done within the next few days. My mom stayed the night with Zoe Monday night. Derek drove home. Luckily when he went into work Tuesday morning his boss told him to come back and be with us. I'm not sure how I (and my mom) could have done it without him.

Monday night they started lowering how much the ventilator was helping her breathe. Wednesday afternoon they were allowing her to wake up so they could take out the tube that was going down her throat. That took longer than I expected. By 7pm they removed the tube and to hear her cough and cry was a relief. She had a horse squeaky voice. We finally got to hold her again. It's such a struggle to hold her when she has so many machines hooked up to her.

Wednesday afternoon while she was coming out of being sedated

looking miserable

Wednesday night after being taken off the ventilator

Thursday afternoon she was removed from PICU and put in pediatrics. At this point Zoe wanted to be held more often than normal. She just seemed so lethargic. They put a mobile on her bed which did help. She was so sick of being in the hospital. Seriously, every time someone came into the room she cried. Zoe was fed up with all the nurses touching her. I was hoping to get right back to nursing her but she had a hard time latching on. They say that's normal for babies to forget how to suck after several days on the ventilator. So she continued being fed through the feeding tube until Friday morning. After several attempts she finally got the hang of it again.

The pediatrics room with her mobile

We were extremely happy to be released from the hospital Saturday afternoon. She is nearly done taking her antibiotics. And she still needs breathing treatments but considering what she was like only a week ago. She is dong well. There was no diagnosis. All the tests came back negative on RSV, the flu, pneumonia and several others. They say she may have asthma when she's older but that can't be determined until after the age of 2.

One of the few smiles she gave while in the hospital

Good news on Zoe

Just a little update...

Last night Zoe was taken off the ventilator, the breathing machine and is doing well. It sounds like later today she will be moved from PICU to pediatrics. We are so thankful she is doing well. She sounds horse and a bit squeaky from the tube down her throat, but that will get better over the next few days. She is awake a lot more and doesn't cry but moans and is comforted being held. We can wait to see her smiling face again soon.

Update on Zoe

Wow, what a weekend. We came up to Gilbert Friday for the Memorial Day weekend to spend some time with Derek's brother Phils family because they are moving to Colorado in a couple weeks. Too bad that's not really what's happened. Friday Zoe started coughing but didn't think too much about it because it wasn't bad. Friday night as Laurel put it she sounded like a chain smoker when she coughed. Derek and I had a sleepless night with Zoe between her coughing and a congested nose. By Saturday afternoon her breathing wasn't sounding good. Stephanie brought her nebulizer over so we could give her breathing treatments. We've given her these treatments before when she was in the hospital back in December, so we thought they would help her. After another long sleepless night Derek and I took her to the ER Sunday morning at Banner Gateway. They immediately took her back and 6 people were working on her right away. Her oxygen level was low, it was 74 when it should be at 100. Because she needed to be admitted to the hospital but they closed the Peds department back in February she was Air-vaced to Banner Desert. I can she how a helicopter ride would be fun but under the circumstance it wasn't. All day yesterday she struggled to breath so at 5 last night they but her on a breathing machine to help her breathe. She's in PICU and will be in the hospital for 3-7 days. We are lucky it happened while we were here because we have had so much family support taking care of Maeley and Chase while we've been at the hospital. Thank you to everyone who is helping us out and to everyone who is thinking about her and praying.

Maeley's art project

Last weekend I bought some foam cutout stickers for the kids. Wow, they sure were a huge hit. After covering a piece of paper Maeley peeled them all off and put them on the ottoman. She categorized them buy object and then separated them by colors. What a smart kid. The next morning she began putting them on Zoe's shirt front and back but then Zoe took some off and began eating them. Maeley then got the idea to put them on her head instead. What a silly girl.

Look at her face, seriously she is so freakin' cute!

Zoe's head was quite covered.

Fun filled weekend in Gilbert

Kari & Marc (Derek's sister and her husband) had invited Maeley to spend the weekend with them. After tring to figure out the best way to meet half way Friday then again Sunday we decided it would just be easier to come spend the weekend up there.

Kari, Maeley, Me, Zoe, Todd (he is Kari and Marc's brother-in-law)and Chase making cookies

Marc and Zoe

We went to a park in Chandler that had a splash pad. Maeley liked it, Chase on the other hand did not. I think he would do better in a pool verses water splashing on him.

Maeley was having a great time.

Kari trying to convince Chase to get in the water.

I think he looks so cute in his swimsuit.

Maeley rock climbing

Me and Zoe

This is a small fraction of what we actually did over the weekend. I wish I had our camera with us on Sunday afternoon at my parents. They got irrigation while we were there and the kids played in it. We've never before let them do that. They had a blast and were soaked afterwards. Maeley had such a great time she would jump up and land on her bottom in the water. Next time I need to bring extra clothes with me or at least their swimsuit.

Pictures of Chase and Zoe

About a week ago I found Chase standing on the front rail of the crib looking in at Zoe, who had been napping. Because she was smiling and laughing at him I put him in the crib too. I got some pretty cute pictures of them.

I love her big blue eyes. By the way, I can't talk about her pretty blue eyes anymore in front of Maeley. The other day Maeley pretended to switch eye balls with me. She told me she wants blue eyes like me and Zoe. It broke my heart. I felt so awful. I really love Maeley's eyes, they are just like Derek's. I tell her that but she still wants blue eyes.

Oh, and those cheeks. They are so kissable!

Of course, watching her birds. Sometimes we take the birds down so she can play with them. It's pretty funny because she will shake with excitement.

What a cute boy!

He is always hugging her and kissing her.

Zoe ignoring Chase and looking at the birds.

Zoe's 6 month pictures

Saturday I got Zoe's 6 month pictures taken. She is so darn adorable.

I love this picture.

She is laughing in this picture.

Then there are some funny pictures, like the following two.

They added the fairy, which I'm sure when Maeley sees she will love it.

Zoe and I

We bought a new flash for our camera over the weekend and Derek was playing with it and took some cute pictures of me playing with Zoe.

I love Zoe so much. She is a wonderful baby. She brings so much happiness into our family. I simply can't get enough of her.

100th post!

Wow I've made it to the 100th post. It didn't take as long as I thought it would. I don't have anything spectacular to say, but I'll list the reasons why I enjoy blogging.

-I've heard from several people that you can turn your blog into a book, so this has become my journal.
-I blog for the grandparents. We don't live near them anymore so I blog to keep them posted on what the kiddos are up to.
-It's fun to stay connected with friends and family and reconnecting with those I have lost contact with.
-I like reading comments you leave. Sometimes it gets pretty lonely here in Tucson without friends and family around.