Asthma Avery

I've figured for quite some time that our little Avey had asthma (her Dad and Papa both have it), but we were never given a diagnosis.  She has had respiratory issues and always has several visits to the doctor during sick season.  She's had "croup" so many times, that I finally asked for extra medicine so I could treat the symptoms myself.  I've sat in too many steamy bathrooms to keep count and my poor bathroom door wont even shut properly from all of the heat.  Anyhow, in February of this year it got REALLY bad.  So bad, that by the time I got her to the doctor, she was wheezing, weak and the edges of her lips were turning blue.   She didn't want to eat and only wanted me to hold her.  It was terrifying and I felt so useless, but I was grateful that the doctor would be able to see exactly how bad she was.  As soon as we walked in the door, the doctor said, "She has asthma" and got a nebulizer to treat her.  It was odd, but I was so glad to finally hear those words, to know what was going on with her, that I would be able to help her.  She was so limp and tired from trying to breath, that she didn't even fight the treatment.  She finally started breathing deeper and fell asleep in my arms.  We had to give her a treatment every four hours, using 3 different drugs for the next four days, then two treatments a day through the sick season (April).  It's been amazing to watch her resiliency and her understanding that we are helping her.  She actually loves her medicine and will ask for it if she is feeling a bit sick.  I'm so grateful for modern medicine and for promptings from the spirit.  I was ready to wave this off as another "cough" but couldn't shake the strong feeling that I needed to take her in.  I'm so glad I listened.

Soccer Star

Chloe's first game!

Avery was ready to be a part of the action!

Chloe had an AWESOME first season of soccer!  She's always played really well and shown some natural talent when playing with Ronnie, but per her norm, she was really shy around other people and had a hard time warming up to the idea of team playing.  Her first game was all tears and frustration and running to the side line in the middle of the game.  She wasn't sure where to go or what to do, and got very upset when she tripped on the ball and fell down.  Over the next couple weeks, Ronnie worked with her and they had actual practices and she gained a lot more confidence.  Finally, I think on her third game, she really got her game on and scored 5 goals!!!  You could tell that something just clicked for her and she went to town!  We felt a little bad (but mostly proud) that she was stealing the ball left and right and driving it down to the goal!  Nora, her team mate, also got what was going on and it was funny to watch them fight each other for the ball!  We'll work on passing next season!  After that game, she scored at least 4 goals a game and in her last she scored 6!  I am so proud of her and her hard work, but mostly I'm proud of her change in attitude and confidence!  At the end of the season, it did go a little to her head and we had to have a few chats about using our talents, but still being kind and helpful (especially with Avery).  Avery also go in on some practices and was dribbling like a mad man!  I'm totally down with being a soccer mom!!!

Pregnancy Update

Around 19 weeks

Around 24 weeks

My little sweeties, March 30th, 2014

Looking back at these pictures, definitely makes me wish for the 2 trimester again (I'm 36 weeks at the moment)!  I felt huge then, but I could walk and get around easy, bending over wasn't too big of a deal yet and the weather was nice!  HA!  I'm sure if I'd actually written when these pictures were taken, I'd have a few complaints.  Everything's better in retrospect!  Around 24 weeks is when I really started to feel little brother moving, so that was really nice.  Because of the position of my placenta (anterior) I didn't feel him very often, or at least not very strongly, so it was nice to hit that mark and have some peace of mind.  Once I started feeling him, I got to know his high energy personality!  The little guy has got some moves!!!  Always hiccuping and rolling around, which I love!  My girls were very gentle movers, so it's fun to feel the difference with a boy, even in the womb!

It's a......BOY!

                                   19 weeks                                                                  17 weeks

The happy big sisters!!!

Our little man!!!

Well, it's official!  We got the money shot!  We are having a BOY and couldn't be more excited!!!  I had my suspicions that we would be welcoming a little guy, based on my cravings and symptoms this time around, but I was ready and happy for either!  We took the girls to the ultrasound with us to find out and Chloe was fascinated and Avery was bored and busy!  The tech kind of gave us the run around and would make a little "oh" here and there, but kept doing the measurements and didn't indicate the gender at all.  My placenta is anterior (in the front) and he kept curling into a ball away from us, so it was hard to really see anything.  We didn't even get a good face picture!  Finally she said "Do you see that?"  and Ronnie (of course) responded with "is that a little man part?"  She didn't really confirm, so we kept asking and finally she wrote on the screen "IT'S A BOY!"  Looking at the ultrasound now, there's no missing it!  The girls and I baked cookies the day before, so we colored our frosting blue and delivered them to friends and family!  We're so excited for our little brother to join our family!!! 

Update

Just a few pictures of our sweet growing girls!  I can't believe how big they're getting, but at the same time, I have to remind myself that they are still so little and precious and to soak it all up!  They are so full of sillies and big ideas and dreams!  They love Ronnie and me so unconditionally right now and want to be just like us, and I need to take this time to relish in that, because I know that all too soon, this time will be gone :(  Every night, after we have scriptures and pray, they ride their "horsey" daddy to bed and he sings to them songs and tucks them in.  So simple, but so big.