Everything Broke

We unfortunately had one thing break after another for about a week, the same week Nathan left and my mom came.

A couple of days before Nathan left, he decided that my computer's fan was running too much and needed to be cleaned. I was pretty surprised to wake up one morning and see my computer scattered across the floor.  Unfortunately, after he cleaned it and put it together again, it didn't turn on. Eventually, Nate determined the problem was beyond his skill set and remembered that a old student of his who also serviced the Math department's computers might be able to help. Luckily, he has his own business to fix computers and was able to upgrade ours.  It took about a week and a half to order parts and fix it up. Nathan had a spare laptop that I borrowed so we could still have Internet access while he was gone. I guess the lesson to learn was stop relying on technology so much and that it's okay to get outside help when it comes to computers.

Then on Friday, after we picked up Hailey from school and finished off at a store, we went through Jimmy John's drive-through for lunch. Leaving the shopping area, I turned right onto Yellowstone, which is Pocatello/Chubbuck's main road, and we all felt a huge bump then heard air rushing out. I thought that I somehow ran over the curb and popped my tire. I was kind of embarrassed, and tried to keep going so we could pull into Grease Monkey which was right in front of us and get off of the busy street. Mom told me that I can't go anywhere and that I just have to stop.  Within seconds, the men from Grease Monkey ran out to see if they could help. Even though my hazards were on, since it was day light people had a hard time seeing them and Grease Monkey put cones behind me. They also handed my a phone book so I could call the tow truck since my tire completely fell off. The recommended two people I could take the car into. Another guy stopped by to see if he could help. After looking at it he said it was the ball joint or the axle and recommended one of the people Grease Monkey already told us about, so with two recommendations we went with Todd's Automotive. We were also able to get a tow truck to come, which was covered by my insurance ($91 saved!). I was going to have my first quilt lesson by Carol at 1:30pm so I called to cancel and instead Carol and her husband came with both cars to take us home. I was really at a loss on what to do and was very fortunate that my mom was there to help me know what the next steps were.  The kids were fine and we even had lunch for them.  Another car stopped by and offered us a ride home since she saw we had kids in the car. That was a very nice offer and I probably would have taken it if we didn't have things already arranged. The situation got handled very quick which was great because it's not good to mess with Hannah's nap. After things settled down, I even got the quilting lesson in that day too.

Our plans were to go to the Temple and have fun in Idaho Falls the next day, so having the car in the shop was a huge blow. After talking to Todd's and finding out we won't get the car back until Monday, we decided to rent a van. It was a 2012 Dodge Caravan with 3 DVD screens, automatic doors, and a backing up camera. I really liked the car though it wasn't the most friendly car for car seats since it was difficult to climb over Hannah to buckle Robert. 

Since my sewing was on the kitchen table and we had a stressful afternoon,  we got Papa Murphy's Pizza and ice cream and had a picnic downstairs while watching a little show. The kids really enjoyed that.

On Saturday, I was able to go to the Temple as planned and to the Adult session of Stake conference kid free, expect Rachel.

On Monday, we went to pick up the car. Ultimately, the ball joint just wore out and there wasn't anything I did that caused it to fall apart on me. We are pretty luckily that it happened when we were going slow instead of on the highway going to IF and causing more damage. Since it was going to happen anyways, it happened in the best way.  The mechanic also talking about how our timing belt was wearing out and needs to be replaced soon. He also looked at why our AWD light was on to make sure it wasn't anything he did. On our invoice ($250), it said they recommended getting the car realigned. Since, they didn't say anything about that in person, I just assumed that didn't do that kind of thing and we just left to get it done at Les Schwabs. They however, found another part in the front of the car that was wearing down and needed to get fixed. So that was $300 more towards the car.

On Tuesday, I decided that I wanted the belt replaced since we were going to go to Utah on Friday and I don't want the car to break down on me again. I wish I would have gotten it fix all at once but what is done is done.

Also on that Monday, my washed stopped working. Nathan was able to drain it but we need a repair guy. That was fixed on Wednesday. The problem was that Rachel's tiny sock went up and over the cloth barrel and got stuck in the pipe. So, we spent $55 to get a sock removed but that was an easy fix and cheaper then a new machine. The repairman was very nice and told me that my machine was built well and should last a long time. The washer that we have is an easy one to take apart and to fix it.

About two weeks later, the ABS (anti-lock brake system) light went on which happened because the wire was resting on the hub and was shorting out. The hub had to be replaced and we decided to get the AWD repaired at the same time. (Another $800 on the car). I hate car problems! I might scream if we have to fix another thing with this car with in the next year. By the way, we have a 2003 Chevy Venture. It's our free car that we got together and it was completely paid for within a year of us getting it. We have had it for four years now and until recent we haven't needed to do a lot for it.

Gramma's Back

On Monday Jan 2nd we went to Utah to drop Nathan off and to pick up Gramma. Nathan went to Boston for a week for a National Math Conference. It was a huge conference and a great opportunity for him to interview and network for a job. He had one interview with Georgia University and an unexpected interview with The University of the Virgin Islands. He put his application out to one of the math boards and the Virgin Islands contacted him. With Hannah needed to see a neurologist, we don't feel like we should move to the Virgin Islands but it was a little fun to think about it.

Luckily, I wasn't left only with four kids and my mom was able to come out. We still stayed with our normal routine but it was fun to share it with my mom. We did some form of exercising almost everyday. Mom taught me two weigh routines to do at the gym. It's intimidating to try to lift weights and do lunges with all the guys around who are into serious body building, but the more I do it the easier it gets. The kids love to play at the gym.

In the afternoon, the kids got some Gramma craft/game time. They love the one on one time as gramma helped them individually with a puzzle or craft. It also reduced their tv time significantly.

On Saturday, we went to Idaho Falls so I could go to the Temple. Gramma took the kids to play at the mall. I really enjoyed the break and don't make it to the Temple very often.

Unfortunately, Gramma got pretty sick on Sunday and had to go to the doctors.

Nathan came back around 1:00am Monday morning and gramma stayed around to go to Robert and Hailey's dance recital Tuesday night. We then took her to the bus on Wednesday which it is always hard to see her go. 

We were running errands yesterday and Robert asked where we were going. I told him JoAnn's. He promptly told me he didn't want to go to JoAnn's and wanted to go to Gramma's house. After I tried to explain that we couldn't because we need to take an airplane to get there. He decided he wants to be a pilot so he can fly the airplane to Grammas house.  He was very bummed that we couldn't go right then.

Happy New Year

I'm just starting to branch out and celebrate more holidays then just Christmas, Easter, and Birthdays. We did more for Thanksgiving in 2011 then any other year. However, New Years still went by without a party or any celebration expect for talking about it and watching fire works on YouTube at 6:30pm.

Robert has been coughing the past couple of days, so when Hannah had her seizure that Friday in the shoe store, I wonder if she might be getting sick and if that was affecting things. Well, by Saturday it was pretty obvious she wasn't feeling well. She got the same nasty cough Robert has.

We were up until 11:00pm with Rachel. After putting her down, we got ready for bed.  As were about to go to sleep, I heard Hannah really starting to cough and wheeze. I told Nate that I was afraid she might have a seizure (wheezing and seizures generally go hand in hand with Hannah but not all the time). Nathan asked what I was going to do about it? Was I going to sleep in the room with them? Well, I really didn't want to do that because I needed my sleep and will still need to take care of Rachel in the middle of the night. However, I still didn't like how she sounded so I went in their room to observe her for a little bit. When I was there, it seemed like she know I was there and kept trying to keep her eyes open. They didn't seem to focus on anything but I thought that was because she was tired. The real reason for her behavior is because she just had a seizure, this unfocused gazing and fluttering of eyes happened after another seizure when she was tired from it but fighting sleep. So, I was sitting by her for a minute or two, then she started her seizure. I called Nate in so her could watch her while I got frankincense oil for her. Nate picked her open and took her out of the room so we could tend to her without waking up Hailey. Then before the seizure was over, we heard fireworks going off marking the start of the new year.  I think it's a bad omen to start with year with a seizure.  It only lasted a minute or two and she had very little shaking. It still tough to see her go through this when her lips turn blue and you know she is having a hard time breathing to begin with.

So we just sat on the couch to help her breath better before laying her back down. About 20 minutes after the first one, another seizure started. This one was a grand mal and lasted 2-3 minutes. She had a high fever of 102 degrees. So we gave her an extra dose of Keppra and Tylenol. I stayed up with her for about an hour to make sure the fever was going down before we put her back to bed. Most likely one of us was going to take her to the ER if she had another one.

With the next day being Sunday, I kept Robert and Hannah home because they were sick. I also had Rachel since she's a nursing baby. Nathan went the first two hours then we switched for the last hour so I can do Primary things.   Hannah was missed in nursery and it was too bad Robert couldn't go to his first day in Primary.

However, by the end of the day everyone was fine. Here are the first pictures of the year, taken on Jan 1st during story time.  Generally the kids want me to read to them, so I thought it was cute when they were all around Nathan.  

Odd Hannah

I am so far behind on blogging and I have a lot about seizures to update. However, we had an interesting experience that I can't stop thinking about and I want it on record.  Hopefully later on it's come handy.

Hannah did great when her Keppra level was 0.5 in the morning and 0.5 ml at night. She had no side effects and was seizure free for a good two months. However, for some reason they turned into weekly and we felt like the best thing to do was try an increase in her meds again. Unfortunately when she is at .5ml am and 1.0ml pm, it got harder to put her to bed and she woke up in the middle of the night more.  So two weeks ago I changed it to 1.0ml am and 0.5pm. Bedtime is still difficult but it still takes up to two weeks to adjust to medicine changes.

Yesterday, Hannah did not want to take her nap and since I still wanted to do some cleaning, I let her stay up until close to 1:00pm. Generally she goes down around 12:30pm. While I was busy upstairs, I heard tons of whining downstairs.  Hannah was just hysterical and I decided to put her to bed right away. She fought me and it was difficult, especially since the battle was still going on downstairs between Hailey and Robert. So I marched downstairs, unplugged the TV and sent everyone to bed. (Hailey gets my room since I still need her separate from Hannah). Then I was able to calm down Hannah. I then talked with Robert and Hailey and after a 5 minute nap they were able to play downstairs. The fight quickly started again and after another 5 minute nap, they had to help me fold cloths since I wasn't getting anything accomplished.  Hannah woke up around 3:00pm and for the most part everything was fine.

That night was also very difficult to put Hannah down. She just goes hysterical on us.  By 8:00pm she was asleep but woke up around 2:00am. And since I was with Rachel, we had a little party on the couch until I could put Rachel back in bed and focus on Hannah's needs. She woke up the next morning at the usual time (7:00am).

Today we went to the mall before lunch and so we had a later lunch. Hannah didn't go to bed until 1:15pm but went to sleep right away.  Rachel also fell asleep around 2:00pm, so I put her in her crib. As I walked by Hannah's room, I noticed movement. She moves a lot in her sleep, but as I checked on her she was actually in a seizure. I could visually see her shaking so she was in a grandmal seizure. I looked away to inform Nate that Hannah was in a seizure and by the time I looked back, she was done and still asleep. I don't know how long the seizure really was since I noticed it at the end but it almost frustrates me. 

We have her on a higher dosage to stop the seizures but causes sleep problems. However, she has seizures on the weekends normally (on the lower dosage) because her schedule and sleep is messed up. I really thought that we have figured out the magic dosage and she shouldn't have anymore as long as we are faithful with it. Which has been true! She hasn't had a seizure since the medicine increase expect for being sick and us forgetting her meds one day. Now my greatest fear of her having seizures in her sleep without us knowing is true.  I thought about a infant movement monitor for her in case she stops breathing but that won't work since she is having grand mal seizures. I have thought about a baby video monitor, but I don't have time to sit and watch her sleeping.

If I didn't see the seizure, I would not have known one happened because she woke up around 3:40pm and was completely happy and normal. She didn't sleep longer then really expected and her attitude was typical Hannah. I worry about how many other seizures I have missed.

Nate and I went on a date tonight and was back by 7:00pm to put everyone in bed.  We were a little slow with picking up toys and getting ready for bed. Hannah and Hailey both have red bumps on them so it took time finding them and putting cream on it.  Ultimately, I was tucking Hannah in around 8:00pm. She usually likes her covers on, with her cup of water and doll, bear, and a sucking blanket close by. Then I sing the song she picks out (twinkle, twinkle (she wiggles her fingers in the air to pick that one) or itsy bitsy spider (she wiggles her fingers close together to pick that one)). Then she lets me know if she wants me to do the actions or rub her head, depending on where she puts my hand. After a song or two I kiss her good night and leave. Tonight after I told her we were done with songs (she wanted more) and gave her a kiss, she kept kissing me repetitively. It was actually really strange. She would lay down, smack her lips, reach up to kiss me then lay back down again. She did this repetitive motion 10 times or so almost like a compulsion. It almost seems like her forgot she just did this. I would turn my head so she would kiss my cheek, but she grab my head so she could kiss me on the lips. It was very strange and hard to explain the creepy, this-isn't-normal feeling that it gave me.  I read somewhere, that one type of seizure includes simple, repetitive movements. I don't think it was really a seizure or anything like that. It was just odd and when it comes to Hannah, it better to have a record and to see if a pattern exists then to dismiss it completely. Either way it breaks my heart to see her have these difficulties.

Shoe Store Seizure

These pictures were taken on December 28th. Hannah loves having her picture taken and then seeing herself. Hailey and Robert joined in on the second picture. Then Hailey and Hannah are dancing in the last picture. I love seeing the kids interact nicely with each other. However these pictures are unrelated to what I want to blog about. I just like breaking up a lot of text with fun pictures and it shows that Hannah is just a normal two year old most of the time.

 Nathan was getting ready for his big math conference in Boston, so we went to Shoe Carnival on Friday Dec 30th around 4:45pm. We actually had a fun time shoe shopping. Hailey, Robert, and Hannah ran around in the aisles but weren't making a mess. Rachel was just a little fussy but not too bad. The store asked some trivia questions so their customers can win prizes. Nathan answered one and got a Frisbee and I answered another for a $4 off coupon. As I was helping Nate pick out shoes, I checked the main aisle that the kids were playing in. I saw Hailey trying to help Hannah up but felt like the situation was strange. Generally Hannah bounces up pretty quick and whines when her siblings help her. I went to see how Hannah was and she was flat on her back with her hand stuck in the air in a petite mal seizure. Her eyes were rolling, her lips turning blue, but just a little shaking.

*Side note: A week later while at the library, Hannah was spinning around a pole and got herself very dizzy. When she went to walk away, she quickly lost her balance and fell down on her side with her hand stuck in the air. This is the same position we found her in at the store, so I believe the seizure caught her by surprised, made her dizzy, and she fell down. Her arm was still stuck in the air because the seizure makes her go rigid. This is unlike the seizure on November 13th when she sat down, laid down, and then was in a seizure. It was like she knew what was going to happen then.

 I felt so bad that I wasn't right by her side to catch her but it's also important for me to treat her like a normal two year. We probably got to her right after it started because no one else in the store really noticed. Since I was holding Rachel, Nathan came a picked Hannah up. The seizure lasted 2-3 minutes. Since Hailey found her, I explained to her what a seizure is and that she needs to get mom and dad whenever she sees Hannah like this. This is the first seizure that Hailey has actually seen or noticed. Since they are hard for me to watch, I was afraid that this would scare the kids a lot. However, I was wrong and Hailey handled it just fine. Hannah fell asleep after the seizure in Nathan's lap which made trying on shoes a little more difficult. Unfortunately, since Nathan had his feet ripped up as a kid, most shoes hurt his feet and we left only with some brown shoe polish for his church shoes instead of job winning shoes.

With this seizure, it confirmed that fact that her seizures are once a week now. We increased her medicine at the beginning of the week but medicine changes can take up to two weeks to adjust to. So we'll see in a couple of weeks if Keppra needs to be increased again. We know now that it is not good to increase Hannah fast. If we do it causes more medicine related seizures instead of "natural" ones. I'm glad that we can learn more about Hannah's seizure through each one, though I hope she doesn't have enough of them to turn us into experts. We also noticed that these once a week seizures occurs on the weekends, after noon, and outside of home. This could be caused by just having a different schedule then what we typically do during the week.

Christmas Dresses and Christmas projects

These are the cute little name plates that I made for Ryan and Kim's kids. It was helpful to have my mom describe how their rooms were decorated since I've never been to their house before.

 Then I made these capes for Lizzy and Jordan.

 Another fun things about the presents is that Hailey helped me write the names on the tags. So all the presents she did, Hailey wrote her own name as the person that the presents were from.

Here's my attempt at getting pictures of the kids Christmas outfits. We are still planning on getting them professional done but Nate's busy schedule makes that a little difficult.

 Hannah and Robert weren't interested in getting their pictures taking.

 Here is the completed nativity advent calendar that I made this year. The directions said to cover up the flowers with boring green buttons and to cover up the stars with boring blue buttons. However, I found fun star and flower buttons that matched well with the background. I'm happy with how it turned out.

Christmas day

After breakfast the kids opened a few presents. Hailey helped hand out presents since she can read the names on the tags now.

 Play food from mom and dad.

 A cool Thomas signal from gramma and grampa.

 Everyone got towels from Zeke which will be very handy when we go swimming the the summer. Last summer we had to use our bath towels as our swim towels and I was stuck doing a lot of laundry.

 I didn't know what else to get Rachel but thought she might like this toy in a couple of months. I don't think gift giving to babies gets easy until their 2 or 3 years old.

 Hailey made us presents at school.

 I think the best feeling is getting a surprise present from my own child at Christmas time. I'm glad the kids are getting older.

 I made this tag blanket for Robert. I came up with the idea and pattern myself and Carol (a friend from church) helped me figure out how to put the tags on and bind it properly.

 Eva made cute Book of Mormon covers for us.

 My parents got us an external hard drive that is super big. I love it because I already have 20GB of pictures that I need to store somewhere else. I have a hard time deleting pictures and now I don't have to.

 Each kid got these cool little themed books that has a story, a big fold out scenery, and miniature figures to play with. Hannah got princess, Hailey got Tinkerbell, and Robert got Thomas. This also came from my parents.

 Rachel's a very smiley baby.

 I've been waiting for this book to come out for a long time.

Soon it was time to go to church at 11:00am. We only had sacrament meeting and it was a very nice one talking about Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. It was simple and easy to feel the spirit.

Then we had a quick lunch and sent Hannah to take a nap. During her nap I put in another hour and a half putting together the kid's present from gramma Cherie. After Hannah woke up we had dinner then we opened the rest of the presents.

 We ended this the Ikea play kitchen that gramma Cherie got them. It was a big hit.

Christmas took all day which was good because the kids got to enjoy it more but was pretty exhausting for me. I absolutely love Christmas and the holiday season but I'm glad it's over because I had too many projects and not enough sleep. I'm thankful for all the presents that were sent to us by extended family. Though we couldn't have Christmas all together it was nice to know that they cared and were also thinking of us.