Hunter is Hunting....or Fishing!

My Hunter was appropriately named. He is ALWAYS hunting for something to do or to get into. The other day, I came into the living room to find Hunter "fishing" in our little fish aquarium. My sister, brother-in-law and nephew gave Hunter this little fishing pole for his 1st birthday. It's supposed to be a bath toy, but in Hunter's eye, a fishing pole is a fishing pole. After seeing this, I had to flush the fish down the toilet because I was afraid he was going to pull the aquarium down on top of him because he loved to hang on it. No more fishies until Hunter and Paizlei are a little bit older and maybe can take care of them themselves.

Ice Cream is so YUMMY!!!!!

Paizlei had her first ice cream cone last week and LOVED it!!!! It is written all over her face!!!

I snapped this picture at the right time. Paizlei was talking to her ice cream cone!!! It was so cute!

Need I say more?

Halloween 2009

Now that Hunter is finally over his asthma issues (for now anyway) and Paizlei is over the piggy flu, here are our Halloween pictures. I was having a really hard time trying to decide what to dress Hunter up as. As soon as I saw this chicken costume at oldnavy.com, I HAD to get it! This last summer while Hunter's grandma and grandpa Black were camping, Hunter and I went to their house to feed the horses and chickens. Hunter is fascinated with the chickens. I LOVE LOVE LOVE how he tells us what a chicken says! And Paizlei, or course, had to be our little princess! Since birth, she has always been our "Princess Paizlei", so I thought it was fitting to dress her up as a princess.

Isn't he the cutest little chicken you have ever seen?

The sweetest little princess!

Our little chicken and sweet princess!

Day 4 Piggy Flu Update

It would seem that every day that goes by, Paizlei seems to get better and better. Other than being really fussy, having a really bad cough and a really bad runny nose, she seems to be shaking this nasty stuff.

I was talking to Zane about it the other night, and we are both surprised that Hunter hasn't shown any symptoms of the piggy flu. I thought for sure he would get it where he seems to get everything else that seems to go around. We certainly didn't think Paizlei would get it for the opposite reason as Hunter; she usually doesn't get any of the nasty viruses that go around.

I feel bad because I haven't said anything about my buddy Hunter. He started getting asthmatic on Saturday night/Sunday morning. I have been giving him 6 breathing treatments a day. He gets 2 treatments of Pulmicort Respules and 4 treatments of Albuterol. If you have given your kids Albuterol, you would expect it to make him bounce off the walls (no, I don't need any more of that with him, he does enough of that on his own). No, with Hunter, it is the Pulmicort that makes him bounce off the walls. It's a really good thing he only has to have it twice a day. Anyway, enough rambling. Hunter is starting to finally sound a lot better and breathe a lot better. I'm so grateful that there are medications available for treatment of asthma in children. I would be in serious trouble if there wasn't this medication available.

Day 3 Piggy Flu Update

Today was kind of a rough day. Paizlei woke up very fussy, she had a runny, goopy nose, still sneezing, still has diarrhea AND her cough is horrible today. But, the good thing, she is starting to get over it. She doesn't have a fever and she is eating and sleeping better. Tamaflu is a wonderful drug!!!! It has done wonders with my Paizlei.

Day 2 Piggy Flu Update

You would never know Paizlei was even sick. She is her happy, normal, playful, giggly self. After giving her the Tamaflu, she gets really fussy and gags a lot, but I think that's from the medication. She still has a horrible runny, goopy nose and a really bad caugh. She started getting diarrhea today, just because I finally got rid of the horrible diaper rash she had for over a month. She started eating better today. Yesterday and the day before she has not wanted to eat her solids, which she gets 3 to 4 times a day.

I want to thank all of out friends and family who have kept our Paizlei in your prayers. I know the prayers have helped Paizlei, Zane and I get through this trial.

It's Hit Our House

My little Paizlei tested positive for the piggy flu (I had to use your term for it Megan, just because it sounds a lot better than the Swine flu or the H1N1). I took both kids to the doctor today mainly because Hunter has been asthmatic the last couple of days and I wanted to make sure it wasn't anything serious. The doctor did a seasonal flu test on Paizlei as well, which came back negative however, he wanted to do some other tests on her to make sure she didn't have pneumonia where she was a preemie. At the hospital they did an H1N1 test on Paizlei and it came back slightly positive. The doctor said she has a VERY mild case of it and that it has probably been incubating in her little body for a while. My little Paizlei is on Tamaflu twice a day. The doctor is pretty confident she will be feeling better in about 4 days. I will keep the blog updated as to how she is doing.

Have You Started...

....Your Christmas shopping? Today, I counted how many weeks until Christmas....CHRISTMAS IS ONLY 9 WEEKS AWAY!!!!! It's time to start the shopping. I told myself after not having anything done last year when I got sick and had to have Paizlei, I was not going to do that again. I WILL be prepared this year.

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

We woke up this morning to a FREEZING house. Sometime throughout the night the gas quit running through our 1 year old furnace. I tried to figure out how to get it going again, no suck luck. I called Zane's friend Richard to see if he could get it working. Again, no such luck. As a LAST resort I called Hill's Heating and Air, the company that installed the furnace. The owner is supposed to be here sometime this morning to get the furnace going for me. Needless to say, I have my kids bundled up...probably more than they need to be.

Stand A Little Taller

Here is a progression of my little Smartie Pants learning how to stand and walk along furniture. She figured this out yesterday and she is SOOOO proud of herself!

My favorite picture. Hunter is ALWAYS copying things that Paizlei is learning. Standing is one of his favorite things to copy.

Fall Leaves

We are LOVING this beautiful fall weather! It is so nice to be able to take the kids outside instead of being cooped up in the house. Both Hunter and Paizlei LOVE to be outside. Today was no different. I put Paizlei in the stroller and Hunter and I raked up a HUGE pile of leaves. We all had a great time playing in them. Here are some fun pictures we took.

I LOVE this picture! Hunter will usually not sit and hold Paizlei.

Paizlei was a little unsure of the leaves at first (as you can see by the look on her face).

From throwing them in them in the air, to laying down in them, he had an absolute ball!

Some of my favorite pictures we took.

Just the 3 of us! I LOVE pictures with me and my kids!

How Does He Already Know?

My sweet little Hunter just told me he was going to "run away" because he got in trouble for being mean to his little sister. HOW DOES HE ALREADY KNOW ABOUT RUNNING AWAY? HE ISN'T EVEN 3. It was so funny, it was all I could do to keep myself from laughing.

Tietze's Syndrome

Most of you know I have been having horrible chest pain. I have been hospitalized for it 4 times since August 15. When I get these attacks, it feels like I am having a heart attack. My chest is compressing so bad, I can't breathe, talking hurts, my blood pressure is sky high, I sweat so bad, my clothes are soaking wet and my arms go numb. When I go to the ER for it, the doctor's do a total heart attack work-up on me. The first time it happened, August 15, my doctor originally thought it was esophageal spasms. He had me go see a surgeon for an EGD. That came back with a hiatal hernia and esophogitis. Then I had another attack on September 16. Same thing, go to the ER, have a total heart attack work-up, be hospitalized for 3 days, come back with nothing.
After this last time of having an attack, my doctor called a pain specialist and a cardiologist. I saw the cardiologist last Tuesday. Everything was okay. He looked at the Echo cardiogram I had done back in 2007, other than having a Bicuspid Aortic Valve (they should be tricuspid) and a murmur, he said I look pretty healthy to him. However, he wants to run more tests on my heart to rule out the 36 things that could be causing the chest pain. The next test I have to have is an angiogram. I was supposed to have that last week, but never heard from the doctor's office on the scheduling for it. Still waiting on that.
On Thursday of last week, I went to see the pain specialist. Let me just say, he was STRANGE!!!! But, very knowledgeable. He really knew his medicine. I started explaining the symptoms to him, and he said you have Tietze's Syndrome. Tietze's is a viral infection behind the chest wall that inflames the costral cartilages. It usually hits in your second and third decade of life (totally fits me), your chest is tender to the touch (again, totally fits). There were a couple other symptoms he said, but these were the worst ones. He said the best way to treat Tietze's is to do injections. So, in that same appointment, I had 12 injections. Four of the injections were Lidocane, four were steroids and the last four was a powdery substance, another sort of steroid. Talk about painful. Friday, the pain was incredible, I had to go to the ER. I almost dropped Paizlei getting her out of bed. I couldn't nod or shake my head, talking and breathing hurt. I called Zane at work in tears, because I hurt so bad. Thank you to his wonderful Sergeant who believes in "family first" and let Zane come home to take me to the ER even though they were short on Deputy's that day. Thank you to my wonderful mom, who came down and watched my rascally kids. I know they can be a handful (well, one anyway). Now, here it is Monday, and other than the injection sight being tender to the touch, my chest feels SOOOO much better.
We found one of the causes of the pain I get, but not all of the problems. Tietze's is obviously the chest wall pain that I have, but it isn't what is causing the other chest pain I have that feels like a heart attack. Keep your fingers crossed that the cardiologist has some tests to narrow it down to what IS causing the pain, so I can get on with my life and play with my kids. Trust me, this isn't fun. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

School Pictures

Even though Hunter and Paizlei aren't old enough for school yet, we were still able to take them to Gunnison Valley Elementary School and get their pictures done. They turned out SOOOO CUTE!

In The Garbage They Go

This morning when Hunter woke up, we took his diaper off (which he had only gone pee in maybe twice through the night, and he threw it in the garbage and put his Big Boy Underpants on. I told him he was going to "throw" all of his unused diapers in the garbage and that he is a Big Boy now and doesn't need diapers any more, that they are for babies. I grabbed all of the diapers and went to the kitchen. One by one he "threw" them away! I put a grocery sack in the garbage for him to throw them in. When he was done "throwing" them away, we had a BIG party and I took the bag outside. When he went down for his nap, I went and grabbed the bag and hid it in my house. No more diapers for my Hunter, he is a Big Boy now (just ask him, he will tell you)! We have been working on this for a while now and I got tired of changing his diaper when he knows when and how to go in the Big Boy Potty! Next time you see him, you will have to congratulate him on this BIG achievement!

And She Cried

So adorable...today, after Zane got home from work and was playing with Hunter, they decided to go outside. Paizlei saw her Daddy and Hunter go out the door. She did not like that and started to cry for her Daddy. BTW, she has never cried for her Daddy before. It was SOOO adorable! Is she going to be a Daddy's girl? Hmmmm, only time will tell.

My First Time Canning

This is my first year of canning. In the 4 years Zane and I have been married, I have watched his mom can most of her garden. I have always wanted to learn how to do it, so this year I decided to learn how to can. I was afraid it would be hard to do. Actually, it isn't hard at all. It's time consuming for sure, but I actually enjoy doing it.
This year has been a great year for harvesting our garden. We have had SOOOO many tomatoes, I don't know what to do with all of them. And, we are not yet. We still have green tomatoes in our garden. Of course they are being covered at night so they don't freeze. So far, so good. I have canned two batches of yummy Salsa with all of the tomatoes. I'm pretty sure there will be more to come!
In our cute little garden, we also had SOOOO many cucumbers, I wasn't sure what to do with all of them. I finally decided that they needed to be pickled. Today, I have been making pickles and relish with our lot of cucumbers. I have made two batches of pickles (10 pints) and 1 batch of relish (5 pints). I still have a bucket full of cucumbers. Those will probably have to be used in salads or whatever else.

Saturday Afternoon Ride

Because I have been so sick and have been a home body for the past couple of weeks, Zane decided to take the family on a Saturday afternoon ride. He was just going to take us on a ride up Salina Canyon, but when we got to the Gooseberry Exit, we turned off. I have never been all the way up that canyon, so we decided to go for a ride. This road takes you all the way to Fishlake. It was SOOOO BEAUTIFUL through that canyon! All the fall colors on the trees and the crisp air....fall is here! Here are some pictures of our ride.

Squeaky Shoes

When we lived in St George and Hunter was learning how to walk, I wanted to get him a pair of squeaky shoes. Everywhere I went down there they were selling them for $30-50. I couldn't justify spending that much money on shoes that he would only be in for a short amount of time. So, Hunter never got his squeaky shoes, this made me sad..
Now we have Paizlei and I wanted a pair of squeaky shoes for her. Although she isn't walking yet and is still a ways off from walking, I still want squeaky shoes for her. I found some!!!!! When we were at the Sanpete County Fair, there was a young lady from Mayfield selling shoes and flower clippies. Of course I had to look. I was SO SUPER EXCITED, she had some squeaky shoes for little girls!!! The best part, she was selling them for $6.00!!! $6.00!!!! I had to get them! Paizlei loves them! When she kicks her legs, the shoes squeak and Paizlei turns to try to find the squeak. It's so cute! And my Hunter, well he has just as much fun with them even though he can't wear them! I FINALLY found some squeaky shoes!!!!

Best Buddies

When I first brought Paizlei home from the hospital, Hunter was so unsure of her and a big bully to her. Now, as you can see, they are best buddies. They LOVE to play with each other. And now that Paizlei is mobile and can do more things, Hunter loves playing with her even more. I love this first picture! I can't help but wonder what their little minds are thinking about and what they are doing!