new blog

yep, we're still here!!! just thought it was time to change things up a bit. so our blog is now:

(www.fieldfamilylife.blogspot.com)

fun-filled day

zac has kept me busy this summer. each night before bed, he'll ask what we're doing tomorrow. and each time i answer, he'll ask "yeah but what else are we going to do?" i'm constantly having to rack my brain for new ideas and ways to keep this boy entertained. so last monday we woke up and zac started choosing some popsicle sticks out of our little "boredom buster" jar...and he picked out a whole bunch of sticks and REALLY wanted to do all of the activities. really??? i thought? it would be so much easier to just say, "oh we'll do that tomorrow zac." tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow. i catch myself saying that a lot...and i'm realizing that tomorrow never comes. so we might as well just start doing things today. and so we did.

we invited our family over and spray painted our hair...then we had a pudding pie eating contest...

we painted our faces...well zac did atleast. emerson painted her body while kalle & grady watched.

we painted pictures...

we played with waterballoons...

we splashed around in the pool...

ate otter pops...

had a barbeque and enjoyed being together! such a fun day it was...

donut falls

on saturday, we decided to get some fresh air and made our way up big cottonwood canyon to donut falls. i can't believe that in the last 20 years that i've spent living in utah, i've never been up this canyon! it has got to be one of my favorites...and this hike was so great for our little family. the kids loved playing in the water, throwing rocks, and looking for chipmunks...and i savored every minute of our time in the beautiful outdoors. this will definitely be a yearly activity from here on out. :)

back to blogging...for real this time!

so here we are 2 months down the road and i'm feeling guilty that it's really been this long since i have posted. really, for the sake of documenting our life together as a family, i need to be better. life has been busy...and i'm pretty sure that's just how life with kids is. so i can't just sit around waiting for the calm to appear before i do a little catching up on this thing...otherwise it really would never happen.

to be honest, having three kids has thrown me for a loop. i don't know if any of it has to do with crew's situation & the underlying stress that has come with it...but it has been quite the adjustment for me. maybe part of it is that as i've been trying to "simplify" my life, i've stopped doing some of the things i love. i've decided that simplifying doesn't mean doing only those things that absolutely need to be done...it means doing the things i love in a simplified way. but i'm struggling with it because i like to do things well...i like to make things nice...but sometimes i feel like there's just not enough time for me to do it all...finding the balance between spending quality time with my kids, housework, laundry, shopping, doctor appointments, cooking, exercising, & my hobbies has turned out to be a challenge for me...and so i end up spending time trying to entertain my kids & keep the house somewhat clean...that i don't take much time for anything else. but i'm ready to snap out of it & start living a more balanced life! one day at a time... :)

many of you are probably wondering how crew is doing...and considering everything that he's been through, he's doing great! it's been so long since i've updated this blog, so basically here's what's happened since the last post: crew had gone over a month without any seizures, (this was back around the beginning of may) so we began to ween him off of one of the three medications he was on at the time, that went great. he was completely off of it, so we began to decrease a second medication & this time it didn't go quite so well. his seizures started up again & we spent a good solid week of adjusting and reintroducing the medications. he got back to being on all three medications & was still having seizures...as many as 20 a day. his seizures had changed from the twitching in his face, hand, & foot to twitching only in his face & then they'd cause him to gag & dry heave...which is never fun to watch. he was readmitted to primary's for 4 days until we got the seizures under control again...he left the hospital on some pretty large doses of three anti-seizure meds. once again, he went almost a month without any seizures and then they started to breakthrough again. so we started making adjustments again around the end of june...and that's what we're still doing. more blood tests have been done & everything is still coming back negative, which isn't a bad thing necessarily...seeing as how it's a relief to know he doesn't have any of those rare diseases. however, it still would be nice to have some answers as to why he's having these seizures, whether or not he'll outgrow them, and what we can do to treat them. a good thing happened this week though...we introduced a fourth medication called Keppra...and so far he hasn't had any seizures. you'd think that four medications would do the trick! we're slowly taking him off one of the other meds...and we're really really hoping that we can get him down to 1 or 2 medications. it's crazy, i tell you. this little boy is just so strong & he takes it like a champ. he goes in for another EEG tomorrow, hopefully it will provide some more information about what is going on his little brain.

we also just started working with the early childhood intervention program. we have a GREAT therapist coming 2-3 times a month to work with crew and help increase his strength. she is such a good lady & has been doing this for over 32 years. she's so good to focus on crew's strengths. seeing as how he's been on medication since he was 2 days old & some of the medicine decreases muscle tone, he requires some extra attention. he's doing so well though!! the last month he's started being able to lift his head up when he's on his stomach...it's been fun to watch him get stronger and stronger as we work with him. and he's getting more interactive each day...such a smiley boy, i can't get enough of it! i've always been a lover of my babies' smiles...but this one gets me all teary nearly every time i see it. maybe it's because i feel like it's his way of saying "i'm okay mom...life is good, really!" you just always want your kids to be happy and enjoy life and to know that you'll do whatever it takes to make sure that they're taken care of. how do you convey that to a sweet little baby? and how do you know that they're aware of the love you have for them? i get my reassurance from this sweet boy's smile...it's the best...

our life as of lately

believe it or not, we actually are alive! just too busy for blogging, that's all. :) crew is doing great...especially in terms of weight gain & i LOVE it! at his 2 month checkup, he weighed in at 12 pounds 2 ounces! woo hoo! everyone comments on his cheeks & i can't blame them...they're perfect for kissing!

as far as his seizures go...that's a different story. he came home from the hospital on 3 different medications plus vitamin b-6. they worked great...he didn't have any seizures for about 3 weeks. our goal was to have him weened down to 1 medication by the end of may. in the process of weening him off the 2 meds...he started having seizures again. so for the past 2 weeks or so, we've been increasing one med & decreasing another & seriously it's a good thing that i've been charting everything because i can't keep anything straight anymore. it's been crazy. he's back on all 3 meds now & we're really just hoping to get the seizures under control. we will...it's just a matter of time. i'm learning patience, that's for sure. :)

may 9th was quite the eventful day at our house this year. it was emerson's 3rd birthday, crew's blessing, & mother's day! it was a very memorable day...

here emmy sat on the stairs for a good 5 minutes before she decided that it was okay to come down and see what she got for her birthday. she's a stubborn little thing...cute, but stubborn! and this is emmy's way of showing how old she is on her fingers...pretty clever!

a few months back, emerson wanted a "yocca" (soccer) party...why, i have no idea, it was so random. but she was sold on having a "yocca potty". i wasn't too excited about throwing her a soccer party, but i would if that was what she really wanted. so, i was glad when she switched her mind to max & ruby...seeing as how it is the first thing on her mind every morning...and her show of choice whenever she has one, it seemed a better choice because she LOVES it!! the only thing about that is that there are no max & ruby party supplies anywhere which made it a bit more challenging, but we got a little creative & emerson was happy!

i was bad & didn't get many pictures of crew on his blessing day, but he made his little blessing outfit look good! chad gave him such a nice blessing & it really turned out to be a great day with family...