Ethan...

We had a scare this week with Ethan that landed us in the hospital Wednesday night. He's been struggling with his breathing again and so last week I took him to the Dr. extremely frustrated. I vented for a few minutes about how frustrated I am that he doesn't seem to be getting better and how difficult it is for me to know when and how often to actually bring him in and what to do for him. After a good talk and some reassurance we got him set up on another regimen of breathing treatments and all seemed to be going well. For a couple of days earlier in the week he was working really hard to breath (was breathing really fast) but I figured it was because he's working so hard to crawl around and since he's army crawling he's on his stomach all day which I thought might be contributing. Anyways, Wednesday he came down with a fever but I thought it might be teething and we went about our day. That evening we were getting ready to make a trip to Costco and while Brett was changing his diaper, Ethan's lips started turning purple. We immediately got in the car and drove straight to our Dr.'s office (15 min. before he closed) and they admitted him into the hospital overnight for observation. It's hard to even describe how difficult it was to even think about putting him in the hospital. I spent the night there with him and they've put him on an oral steroid as well as upping the dose of his regular breathing medicines. They had a respiratory therapist come give him treatments every 4 hours and hooked him up to a monitor to measure his oxygen level. When he was admitted he was breathing at twice the normal rate which is why he hasn't been gaining weight (has only put on a pound since Jan.) because he's burning so many calories trying to breathe. He responded really well and was able to go home around noon yesterday. It was a hard night- he really didn't feel good and didn't want anyone to hold him little less look at him except me. They have diagnosed him with asthma and are telling me that the next couple years could be really difficult for him since he has gotten it so young. It is possible that he will outgrow it but the next year or two will probably be similar to the last few months. I love this boy so much and it hurts me to see him suffer in any way. I worry about his happy spirit and hope to be able to find a balance in our home where this is just part of normal life and he can be happy and live with this. We were able to catch the one happy moment he had in the hospital, when my brother was able to get a laugh out of him. (Love the hat? The hospital receives donations for things for the kids and somebody had made it- they gave him the cutest teddy bear and even had a toy for Aidan).We'd appreciate you all keeping him in your prayers!

They're in the mail!

We are so excited for Brett to graduate in a couple weeks! The announcements and invitations to celebrate are in the mail! If we overlooked you in all the craziness, we're so sorry and would love to have everyone come celebrate with us that night. Here are the cute announcements we had made (note to those who receive them: we honestly didn't choose pink/purple text- the photo lab messed up and they were supposed to be white- like shown here!)
P.S. We love this website for all our announcements! http://www.announcingjoy.com

Happy (late) Birthday, Brett!

I'm a couple days late, but we celebrated Brett's birthday this weekend. Happy Birthday to you! We love you so much and are so grateful for the wonderful husband and father that you are! We hope this is a great year for you!

What happens in Vegas...

Brett won a free trip at work so we decided to leave this lousy weather and take the boys to Vegas for some fun in the sun. The weather was perfect and we had a great time. It was truly a learning experience for Brett and I as this was the first trip with just us and the boys. Since the trip wasn't one where we were going to visit anyone or with other family, we learned quite quickly how much work it is to take kids/babies on vacation and how important schedules still are! We finally learned our lesson by the last day, though, and that was our best day. Despite our few bumps along the way, we had a great time and really enjoyed getting away, just the 4 of us.
Day 1:

Ethan immediately fell asleep after we got settled in our hotel and hit the strip. We have quite a few pictures like this. Everyone sure thought he was cute though. :)


Aidan loved M&M world. He is a true chocoholic and loved every second of it.


We took the boys to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner, which was really fun for the atmosphere (note: food wasn't great and was horribly overpriced). This is Aidan telling Brett to be quiet so he could hear the gorilla better.


Now he's awake!


Aidan loved Excalibur, but by then was so tired he didn't get to enjoy it as much as he would've had he been more awake. He fell asleep on the way back and Brett had to carry him for over an hour while we walked back to the hotel (no where in the new stroller for him to rest his head).

Day 2:
We started out by going to a time share presentation (yes, we got sucked in by all the incentives). I'll never do that again- they were so rude at the end and after I let our salesman know how rude he was, I left crying. Nice vacation, huh? We let it go, though, and felt a lot better by having lunch at the Bellagio's buffet- so good! They had these really cool gardens where everything was made from flowers and over sized. After that we went back to the hotel and swam and then out again that night for more sight seeing.







Asleep again. We had to wrap the blanket in front of him because we kept loosing his pacifiers. Good thing he's such a good sleeper.


In front of the fountains at the Bellagio. I love this picture of the 2 of them- Aidan is such a daddy's boy. He was in heaven all weekend getting to spend so much time with him.

Day 3:
We finally got smart! Slept in and then hit the strip early in the day instead of later when the boys were tired. We went to brunch at Harrah's (part of our incentive for the time share presentation) and then went to Cesar's Palace so Aidan could go to FAO Schwartz, which he loved. We played there for a long time then came home and EVERYONE took a 3 hour nap. Heaven. After that we played in the pool for a little bit and then stayed at our hotel for dinner at a yummy Mexican restaurant. Then to bed by 9:30 p.m. That was a good vacation day.

At the entrance to FAO Schwartz


Aidan had such a good time on the piano- like in the movie "Big"



We bought a new stroller right before we left- it's a double but instead of having 2 seats, the toddler has a bench that he can sit on or stand in the back. It was perfect and the boys had a great time riding together.


This picture cracks me up. We were at the Gap and Brett looked over and Aidan had made himself part of the display. Brett thought he looked like he belonged there, so he took the picture.

Well- this is the longest post ever, but someday I'm going to get this blog published in a book, so I might as well be through! We had a great time and now I'm ready for a vacation by myself. Brett could come too as long as he's quiet. :)

Egg hunt at Grandma's

After the city hunt we drove over to my parents house and had an egg hunt with all of my family there. It was really fun because Jordan and her family came down for the weekend and we were glad to have McKay there with Aidan. They had a great time finding all the clues that led them to their final surprise from the Easter bunny. Afterwords Brett and Danny were nice to watch the boys while Jordan and I went out shopping with all the girls. It was a fun day- I'm always happy for any time I can spend with my family and especially when Jordan is here to be apart of it. On Sunday we had a really nice dinner at my parents house with everyone. It was a great weekend to end a really busy week/month. I am finally done with all my recitals/festivals and am happy to report that February and March have not completely done me in, like I was sure they would. I'm looking forward to less stress!



How many adults does it take to find an Easter egg?


Aidan loved "reading" the clues- it was so cute. He'd read them just like I had been only saying the places he had already been.


Aidan and McKay playing with Aidan's new play dough set


I love this picture. The boys loved Danny tickling them at the same time. They would laugh and scream until they were blue in the face.

City Egg Hunt

After the boys got their baskets, we walked over to the baseball fields by our house for the city egg hunt. Both our pediatrician and dentist are (or were) in our ward, and their offices sponsored the event so it was fun to go over and be apart of it. We had just got our new double stroller (the kind where the toddler can stand on the back instead of having 2 full seats- cool!) so I was excited to walk over and try it out. It was a sunny morning and didn't seem too cold so we just slipped on our jackets and left, but the weather was deceiving and it was freezing by the time we got there. The boys were so miserable. They were both crying and Aidan was begging to go home so we hurried and got our eggs and ran home. Maybe we'll skip that one next year if Easter is in March again. :)


This isn't a very good picture but their faces are so funny- not having fun at all. Poor guys- the things we make them go through. :)

Easter Saturday

Here's a few pictures of the boys waking up Saturday morning to discover that the Easter bunny had paid them a visit. Aidan was so excited and Ethan was more interested in putting everything from his basket into his mouth.