Catch up

So we had a family over last Sunday for dinner and another one coming today - so those cut into my normal Blog time - so I will have to be brief today. 

Damon still makes some very creative Lego things.  This is the Optimus Prime from Angry Birds Transformers - note the beak for a mouth.  

 The boys still like to make forts.

 Damon reads Doug's old Calvin and Hobbes over and over.

 And pulling a Calvin face for the camera!

Chris and Tyler making Transformers:

 I love sleeping children :)

 I took some pictures for Tyler's upcoming baptism.  Crazy how they get older every year.

 These were the girls' spring dresses.  I didn't get any really frilly Easter dresses this year.

 They are pretty good sisters to each other.  They are good at sharing/taking turns and play pretty well together.  Though Kaylee is more of a tease and likes to run off with whatever Jenna wants.  I sure am thankful for my two girls.

 Jenna was not being a nice sister last Sunday and smashed Kaylee's thumb in the Primary door.  We have a doctor in our ward and he looked at it and said that the base of the nail bed had been lifted out - on top of the skin.  So, the nail will probably fall off as the new one grows in - or maybe it will just get pushed out slowly.  It looks pretty good now for being a week ago - nail injuries just take so long to grow out. Kaylee was pretty upset - with good reason.  I ended up sitting on a chair in the hall holding her (I was supposed to be roving for primary) and she fell asleep on my shoulder. She felt a lot better after that and even went into nursery for a bit.

 For play group we went to our local park which has a splash pad.  It was a bit chilly when it was cloudy but the kids had fun.

My mom had given us a butterfly kit awhile ago and I must have hidden it somewhere back in Colorado, but I found it again in the move.  So we ordered our five caterpillars online and have enjoyed watching them grow.  Three of them formed their chrysalis yesterday and the last one will today.  It is such an amazing process.  I'm excited to watch them turn into butterflies. :)

I can't believe I forgot to take a picture but Tyler started soccer yesterday.  It was a bit crazy getting out the door.  I had to wake up the girls and get everyone ready and I had just given Damon and Chris a haircut.  Anyway, we finally made it and he had a good time.  It had rained in the morning so the field was pretty soggy and muddy.  It was also I think our first taste of a Houston summer.  It was so hot and humid.  I felt bad making the other kids come.  We were grateful for the the shade and umbrellas we brought and the popsicles were a life saver.  So we'll have to see how we survive for the next 2 months of soccer Saturdays.  

I'm not one to post selfies, but I was excited to find a high-neck swim-suit that didn't just look like a Speedo (nothing wrong with Speedos, but I just wanted something a bit more stylish).  So when I found this one online at Kohls I ordered a couple of sizes to try it on and I think it will work out great.  It will be nice to not have to worry about bending over picking up kids.  I wore it yesterday and the one down side is that it started to get a bit itchy at the neck from the elastic, but oh well.  I think I will be at the pool almost everyday soon - so hopefully I'll get it worn in.  Maybe I'll get a tan this year :)

So a quick summary of my health.  The day pictured below (Wednesday the 15th ) I had another anxiety attack.  It was in the afternoon and I called Doug to have him come home asap.  He called our doctor friend and he happened to be leaving for work and he stopped by to check my blood pressure and pulse etc. It was so nice of him to come.  During all of my craziness Kaylee found my new iPhone and took this picture.  As soon as Doug came home I made him take the phone from Kaylee - I didn't have a case on it yet.  

I had a doctor appointment scheduled for the next day and P.A. Gilbert seemed nice and she gave me some medication to try.  The next 2 days were pretty good, then it got bad again.  I felt like I was constantly having an adrenaline rush.  I could feel my heart beating all the time and two of the nights I couldn't fall asleep until 3:00 am because I felt too jittery.  So I stopped taking the medication and talked to my doctor.  She said that the first two weeks were the worst with side effects but that it should get better.  I still just felt like we were treating a secondary condition and not the source.  I would get anxious because I couldn't breath well - so I hope we can focus on that some more.  

Since stopping the medication I have felt better over all but the initial problems on not being able to take deep breaths or yawn is still there sometimes.  Some days I feel perfectly normal and others I feel not as great.  I had a hard time in church today, but I don't think fasting helped.  

I have another appointment on Thursday so I'll see where I go from here.  Thanks for everyone's support.  I just want to get back to normal. :)

Easter 2015

We did most of our Easter stuff on Saturday.  The kids found their baskets and we went to the neighborhood egg hunt.  It was bad because kids and parents started early.  We got there 5 minutes early but just as someone decided to start - it was madness, so we didn't get many eggs - which was fine.  Lots of parents were upset and they'll probably do something different next year to prevent it from happening again.  Damon was sad that he didn't get to look for the golden egg that you could exchange for a prize.  He wanted the Big Hero 6 DVD that was displayed.  Coincidentally we had already planned on giving it to them that day anyways and he was happy when we gave it to the family later in the day at our egg hunt.  

I just did a pretty simple basket this year.  The girls got some notebooks, hair clips, bracelets, and bubbles.  The boys got a bouncy ball, punching balloons, and bubbles.  They all got a big ball that they like to jump with on the tramp.  They also got some Legos in their eggs that went to a new Spider-man set.  They were pretty excited about that.  We also put some money in the eggs too.  Chris really liked that.   

 The looks of Chris when he discovered the money:

 Damon excited for Big Hero 6:

 Kaylee has a sweet tooth and would have eaten all of her candy if I had let her.  She didn't want to part with her basket for nap time.  She pulled a huge fit when I made her leave it in the kitchen.

We listened to conference as best we could.  The kids do pretty well with Bingo on Sunday morning.  They listen close and get excited when they find a word.  We were very excited to hear about a Thailand Temple being built.  Doug and I both got a bit teary-eyed and Doug found out on FB that his mission president had been translating that session and had to leave the booth because he got so emotional when he heard the announcement.

I made a nice dinner with lots of dishes.  I did a bunch during the day, but Doug was good to do the ones after dinner.  We had ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls, creamed beans, carrots, cranberry jello, and fresh strawberry pie.

I am so thankful for Easter and the reminder it gives us of our Savior and the Resurrection.  He lives and because He lives we will live again.   I will be forever grateful for His amazing gift for me.

2 week review

Some of the things that have happened in the last 2 weeks:

• STAAR testing for Damon
• Birthday party invite for Tyler.  They went swimming in their back yard pool and Tyler almost drowned.  Yep, swimming lessons are in the works.
• Watched Interstellar with Doug- it was good.
• Easter - see next post
• Found a new park

• Dentist trip for Tyler to fix some old fillings.  He does really well - much better than Damon.  He just furrows his brow and doesn't like it, but at least he holds still and doesn't cry or wig out.
• Registered Chris for kindergarten!
• Tried a new hairstyle - thanks Pinterest. 

• Chris catches whatever sickness the girls had - he had a fever for a couple of days. 
• Youth Protection Training and Day camp training for Doug and I (3 hours of "fun" j/k).  I had to ask a mom to come put my kids to bed because it was YW night.
• Found Kaylee asleep in her closet.

• Presidency meeting - I've been working hard on our "Great to be 8" packet.
• Got to go to the Houston Temple for the first time.  I did initiatories.  It is a beautiful temple and I'm so glad I got to go.  I even was able to pick up some curtains on the way home, so that was a bonus. 

• Late night shopping at Walmart.  I took my time, and found some good summer things and other stuff we needed.  I left at 8:30 and got home at 11:00.  It was crazy busy in the store and we all wanted to leave at the same time it seemed.  They only had 2 regular lines open, besides the 20 or less line and self checkout.  Those two lines were long - I think I waited 15-20 minutes.  Nuts!
• Watched some more 24.  Doug and I watch an episode when we have a chance.
• Found a lizard and frog in our backyard.  We have seen others too.  The kids like it, I'm not so sure. :) 

• Went on a bike ride with the cub scouts on Saturday.  Doug actually dropped Chris and the girls off with me at the end and we were going to meet them.  But I waited too long and we meet up with them just a block after we started.  But we had fun playing at the park and exploring.  There were a little lake and some trails we followed.  I biked back to the beginning to drive the truck back to the end.  The bike trail is paved and goes through a green space.  It was just like riding through walls of green.  So pretty.  We were nervous it was going to rain on us, but it was perfect weather - not too hot and not too sunny. 

We had some excitement last night.  My breathing problems had started back up this week, around Tuesday.  So all week I was still having a hard time taking a deep breathe or yawning.  My chest would hurt sometimes and my neck and throat started to hurt as well.  So last night I was reading a book and my chest was still hurting.  As Doug and I were reading before going to bed I was just laying on our bed and really worrying about my chest hurting.  I was afraid that I was maybe having a small heart attack - if that's even possible to have a small one.  Anyway, my mind got really worked up and I started breathing too fast and then I got faint and my arms and legs got tingling and I started feeling really weird. So I thought that I was having some really big problem and things just kept feeling worse.  So I told Doug to call 911 - it was a pretty scary feeling.  But I was really afraid that I was going to faint or go unconscious.  

I had already taken some aspirin, but dispatch told me to chew another one - it didn't taste very good.  They got there pretty quick and we had called our RS president and she came over in case we needed to go to the hospital.  They took my pulse, blood sugar, heart rate and stuck some wires on me and checked my oxygen levels.  They told me that everything looked fine but I was just breathing too fast and needed to calm down.  By this time my arms were cramping and I couldn't extend my fingers very well.  But when they told me I wasn't having a heart attack, that helped me a bit.  I focused on my breathing and started to feel better.  I just rested there for a bit and I had to make the decision whether to let them go or have them take me to the hospital.  I was feeling better but I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to calm all the way back down in order to sleep.  I asked Doug and he said we could see how it goes and then we could call them back or just drive into the hospital ourselves later if we needed to.  That sounded good so we let the paramedics go and the RS president.  

I was still light-headed and dizzy, but Doug put on some Studio C and some Jimmy Falcon clips for me to watch.  Laughing solves everything :).  I slowing started feeling almost normal and I felt tired enough to fall asleep.  I slept well until the girls came in to wake us up around 6:00.  (we went to bed around 1:00).  Doug was nice and got up with the kids and let me sleep until about 7:15.  

So pretty crazy night, never had to call 911 before.  So I need to have a regular Dr. appt and see if I can fix my breathing problem so I don't have another anxiety attack.  I am doing ok today, still don't feel 100% - but I know that I'll be ok.