Christmas Eve, 2010

This year for Christmas Eve we bought a TON of Mexican food from the Mexican Costco (Rancho Market) including tamales, salsa, tortillas, rice, guacamole, etc. Then we headed to our house for a party! We had a fire pit and told stories, etc. Brandon put all the parts of the nativity into a bowl and made us draw our part. He then gave us any costumes he had planned. Lucky grandma got camerman and narrator.



The shepherd and narrator

Mamo was the angel

Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus

The three wisemen

(side note: I am having so many problems with blogger lately! Anyone else having issues?I can't center the text or anything!)

Like you know she's my daughter...

Last night I was having a conversation with Alexa that went something like this:

Alexa: Mom, I like went to my room and the doll was like on the bed. So I was like, "Baby, why are you on the bed? You like need your pajamas on!" And she was like, "I'm cold." So I like put on her pajamas.

Does this demonstrate that her mom is from California or what?

Our Christmas Miracle (Well, ups and downs)

I wanted to share our experience at Alexa's burn appointment last week.

First of all, two weeks ago when Ryan and I went we were told it would be around 3 more months of Silver treatments and twice a day cleaning. We weren't expecting much more than that this time, as well. But when the Dr. looked at her face she said it was amazing! She said we are now all done with Silver and are now only using Aquaphor on her. Ryan and I were shocked! Alexa has been telling everyone who asks her about her burn that Heavenly Father is healing her, and she was absolutely right! We were thrilled to have this miracle, we knew it was due to faith and prayers.

Unfortunately, a couple nights before she was complaing aboout a stomach ache. Well, not exactly complaining. More like screaming and writhing in pain. All night. Every night. They suggested calling her pediatrician because it could be caused to the ibuprofin usage.

I called Dr. Duke and she aggreed, thinking it was due to her sensitive stomach and the ibuprofin. And just so you know, it was only once a day and she hadn't had it for about a week! So we put her on prevacid, but it takes days to kick in. We tried every kind of immediate help - pepto bismal, tylenol, rolaids, tums, restricing fatty foods. Guess what - nothing worked. At all. For around a week I got no sleep. One night I actually sternly told her that I was sorry she hurt but if mommy didn't get SOME sleep she would die. Finally, at that point, Ryan took over. It was crazy! She has a really high pain tolerance and never complains, but this was different!

After 5 doses of prevacid and no relief, I spoke with my friend, who is a pediatrician. He said she shouldn't be in so much pain still and suggested some other causes. She also said to call the Dr. back and have Alexa checked out. But it was Christmas Eve. I put in a call with the answering service anyway and talked with her on the phone. It was so upsetting to me. She said the problem may be psychological, like PTSD or something. She also suggested that Alexa may not know what hurts and it may be something else all together. Well, that is just silly. I agree that some 2-year-olds may not know their body parts or how to communicate, but Alexa is exceptional. She can communicate it all!

I was so frustrated. But (oddly enough) she stopped crying that night. And hasn't since. I honestly don't know if the meds finally kicked in or if it was some stomach virus, but it made for a nice Christmas Eve!

Santa Clause is comin to town

Ahhhh, the perfect day

Today was one of those perfect weather days. I woke up in a bear of a mood because I didn't get any sleep. Alexa was up all night crying about her tummy hurting. Roar!!!

But the weather was SO NICE! I couldn't stay grumpy for long. We went to the park and played for a while and just enjoyed the sun.

Alexa started to chase the ducks, but when she scared them and the started flying away it scared her to death! She turned right around and ran back to me!

I have to enjoy these days of winter because before we know it I will be whining about the summer. :)

Barf-fest, 2010

This is how the night began. Nice, beautiful, warm.

We invited some friends of ours to visit the Mesa Temple with us and see the lights. We were having a lovely time until we walked into the visitor's center.

We decided to see the 6 minute long movie Luke 2. We walked into the theater and sat down. As soon as the sister missionary began talking, it began. Alexa's weeks worth of undugested food. It just kept coming and coming. And coming.

Ryan was holding her. What does a dad do when a kid upchucks? He holds her out, so as not to get dirty. It worked, but I saw the vomit projectiling towards the ladies head in front of me.

What does a mom do when a kid pukes? She holds her in. So I grabbed her and ran out the door. Barf everywhere. down my shirt, on my leather jacket, all over my feet (I had flipflops on), my pants, my hair. You name it. Of course, the Visitors Center locks all public bathrooms during Christmas time. As she was STILL throwing up in the hall and I was obviously covered, a sister ran to get the keys. Wow is all I can say. We had to leave our friends at the temple and drive home with a naked baby wrapped in a leather jacket and mom completely covered in barf.

Did I mention it's a 45 minute drive to our house?

After a night with no sleep (It continued ALL night), we woke to a sick Ainsley. Her turn. I can't tell you how much barf we have cleaned up this week.

Anybody jealous?

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

Todays Mama and Gamestop are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I am sharing this meme with you.



1. What is your holiday wish for your family?

I am hoping for a peaceful Christmas where there is no fighting and lots of happy children.



2. What is your Christmas morning tradition?

We make some yummy breakfast the night before and pop it in the oven first thing. Then it cooks while we open presents from Santa. We eat, then open the rest of our presents. Not too exciting, but we like it!



3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?

I Would ask Santa to paint my kitchen cabinets so I won't have to do it. Oh, and to maybe landscape my front yard. :)



4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?

We read a different Christmas story every night from a book our Primary gave us years ago. And the kids LOVE decorating.



5. What games did you play with your family growing up?

Growing up we played handball on the garage door, and Intellivision. Pitfall, to be specific. Yes, I am old.



6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?

We always had a program on Christmas Eve where we sang and read Christmas stories and read from Luke 2. We do a similar program now, but for some reason my kids won't sing.



7. Where would you go for a Christmas/Hanukkah-away-from-home trip?

I would say Utah. But I would want to throw some skiing in there. We miss the snow (but just a very little.)



8. Check out GameStop and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?

Just Dance 2, Just Dance for Kids, and Michael Jackson the experience. (That's for me, not the kids.)

Christmas Tree, and other musings

Last night as I was on my way out the door to attend a Relief Society Christmas dinner, I snapped this photo of our tree. Our sad tree that I can't get half the lights to work on. What is the point of "pre-lit" if it looks like this?

And what about that angel on top who doesn't want to man her post? She is constantly falling off.

Our third issue with this tree is the location. Since we have choir practice in our living room every Sunday, we couldn't put it there, so it is up against the window in our family room. It's kind of a weird spot.

Anyway, so I was one my way home from RS, thinking about this tree and my daughter, Ainsley. The two aren't related, that's just what was on my mind. :) I had this strong feeling as a gentleman was speaking about Mary that I needed to tell Ainsley how much her Heavenly Father loves her. I'm sure I've told her, but maybe not one on one serious, just pure love. It was a strong inspiration.

So I walked in the door and smelled something weird in my fresh, newly cleaned home. Couldn't put my finger on it.

Walked into Ainsley's room and did my thing. She was so happy and smiley. Then she said, "Brandon barfed."

Oh. That was the smell.

I went upstairs. Not only did he barf, but it was all over my brand spanking new, beautiful comforter. Dry clean only. Too big for my washer even so. I tried. And it was my side of the bed and carpet, too. Ryan did his best to clean it up. ~sigh~ At least it was on sale.

Merry Christmas! Have I told you lately that God loves you? He does!

Monday's Appointment

Just for the sake of documenting this whole burn process, I thought I would write a little about yesterday. As I stated before, Dr. Peck told us to email him a picture of Alexa's face every 3 or 4 days so he could check on her progress. Yesterday morning I sent him a picture and he is quick. He responded within 5 minutes. He said come in today. Call now. We need to do surgery.

Ugggh. I called and they said come now. So I called Ryan and told him to meet me there and hopped in the car with Alexa. The entire 45 minute drive to the Maricopa Burn Center I prayed. We have been fasting and praying, but this time I was very specific. I was praying that the doctors would be guided and led to make a good decision and that I would accept that decision.

I really didn't want surgery.

I felt as if enough time for a miracle hasn't past. I needed more time. So I prayed that they would be inspired.

After we arrived and started the check-up, Dr. Peck and Dr. Prathana began to waver on the surgery. They were torn. They explained that scarring would be less if they performed the surgery now, but the grafting would be more obvious. Waiting a year would have thicker, but more natural scarring. There was fatty tissues around the wound and they said it was more 3rd degree than they thought. It was not looking good.

Finally, Dr. Peck said he felt that we should wait. So did Dr. Pratha. They said to only see Dr. Pratha in the future, no other doctors and to keep sending them updates. (The other doctors may be a little more scalpel happy.)

I felt like this was really an answer to my prayers.

This morning there was so much blood. So much it was dripping. That's good! Blood is good!

So we are feeling confident in this choice, but worried about the thick scarring. I guess only time will tell.

An Update - looking much better

Ryan called and begged me to post a new picture of Alexa. He said people are grossed out by the last one. Well, I understand! I was too!
So here is one I took 20 seconds ago.

Hair still in face. You would think I would learn

As you can tell, her swelling is down. She is looking SO much better.

Yesterday after lunch she started talking about throwing up and her fever spiked to 101.9. I freaked out. I called the burn center but they were not nearly as concerned as I was. Well, let me rephrase that. The nurse was, but the doctor wasn't. They asked if it looked infected or red around the edges. No more than usual. So they suggested I call her pediatrician to narrow out the stomach flu. mmm? ooookay.

So I called the pediatrician. She asked how long she'd had the fever, etc. About 20 minutes. Yeah, she was nice, but was like, "how can I narrow out the stomach flu? She needs to be sick longer than that. Call me tomorrow."

About an hour later the fever disappeared and she was fine. But I was a nervous wreck all afternoon.

We also went to Kohls to spend some Kohls cash on some shirts that can easily fit over her head. She begged my mom for some little ride on toy and my mom was suckered into it. How can you say no to a little cute thing with bandages that never complains?

She is still acting wonderfully. She is happy and rowdy as ever. She never complains or cringes when we clean her wounds twice a day. Really, she is a blessing.

Thanks for all your well wishes and love. You have no idea how much it means to us.