LONG OR SHORT

Its the debate that everyone seems to be having... short vs. long hair. I have seen it on several friends blogs and now I am running into the same dilemma. I have a hair appointment in 2 weeks and I have to decide by then what I want to do.

I chopped my hair right after I had Kaden. I kept it short for a couple of years and then because of Chris's incessant begging I decided to let it grow. It has now been growing for over a year. It has gotten pretty long. But with summertime coming and my need for something fun and new I find myself itching to cut it off. Chris would be heartbroken. Sadly that is not enough to keep me from doing it.

SO PLEASE give me your opinion... cut it short... or keep it long?

PROS FOR LONG

1. Chris loves it

2. It is easy to pull up when I don't want to get ready

3. I think it might make me look thinner

4. It gives me more variety for hair styles

CONS FOR LONG

1. It take more time to actually do

2. It doesn't stay in place as well

3. Its hot and in the way during summertime

PROS FOR SHORT:

1. It is fun

2. It is easier to do

3. It feels more put together ( does that makes sense?)

4. It would satisfy my need to change something

CONS FOR SHORT:

1. Chris would go into depression

2. I don't know that it is flattering

3. I can't do a pony tail

Basically I can't decide... so will you all please do it for me? If you took the time to read this, please please please leave some input. :D

Bridal Shower

Kelseys bridal shower was last week.

Just a few fun photos from the day

some of the more "fun" presents

Kilie came down from Wyoming and made this cake for the bride.

What is a shower without Yummy food?

The 2 preggo sisters... we are only 3 weeks apart! And we are both having girls.

Kilie, Julie, Kathy

He wasn't really part of the shower but he is too hott to be left out.

Yea for fun parties.

Engaging Sisters

Both Chris and my sister decided to get married in April... within one week of each other! This had made for some busy weekends and lots of fun planning. I get the privilege to be both of their photographers, which has also made for lots of pictures and editing and announcement designing. Here is a sneak peak from their engagement sessions. I will post up some of the announcement invites later after they have been sent out ;)

Heather and Evan

Kelsey and Ben

New Do

Since we cut out all the straggles of Taycee's Hair I decided to try and straighten it. I have never done this before for 2 reasons.

1. her hair is super super thin and fine, like baby hair still

2. it was always way to uneven to have it be straight

and it looks super cute with all her natural curl so I never bothered.

I blew it dry with a round brush and WHALA...

Can someone tell her to stop being so big?

So what do you all think? Straight or curly?

No more snoring please

Our little man had his first big surgery on Monday. About a year ago he started snoring, about 6 months ago I noticed it was getting unusually loud and started to disrupt his sleep and breathing patterns. I scheduled an appointment with the ENT who did his tubes in his ears a few weeks ago and off to Salt Lake we went. When we got there he said something to Kaden and as soon as Kaden replied he said "I don't even need to look at his tonsils, by the way he talks I can tell his tonsils are too big for his throat." The poor kid has had everything in the book against him when it comes to talking normal. :S So the appointment was set for March 7th at 7 am in the morning.

This is my guy right as we checked in to the hospital, he was SO happy and excited to be there. Especially considering we got him up at 5:30 and he hadn't had anything to eat or drink for almost 12 hours. He thought his new bracelet was pretty cool.
Once they took us back he got to change in to this awesome little gown. He was so interested in everything in the room and kept asking all sorts of questions about the equipment and the doctors.
We were waiting for quite a while for all the nurses and doctors to come back and check us in, and Kaden decided he wanted to take his own pictures. He took loads of them but I will share the 2 that were most in focus.

One of the nurses had to take his blood pressure and heart rate. He was a little nervous at first about the cuff squeezing his arm but then he held daddys hand and he was fine.
They also came in and gave Kaden some "happy medicine" they told us he would get a little loopy and we should not let him walk. OH MY WORD, he was hilarious. It took about 15 minutes and then all of the sudden he went into silly mode. I have never seen him even close to this before. He looked high or drunk. He was saying the funniest things and banging his head on the chair. He kept repeating the name of our cute neighbor girl "Stella". At one point he looked at me and said "hey mom do you see my crab right here" holding out his hand. We took a short video but it doesn't do justice to the state he was in!

Here is my before surgery oh so happy boy...
This is my after surgery hating life miserable boy. IT. WAS. AWFUL. Kaden does not do well coming out of sedatives. He screams and cries, they had his IV in his foot and he kept trying to rip it out. They put him in my arms and he kept crying "mommy, it hurts, it hurts mommy." I wish I could say I had it together, but I didn't. I cried and Chris gave me the "you aren't making this easier" look. So I toughened up and just rocked him til he calmed down.

After about 2 hours he was Mr. Happy man again. He was drinking everything we gave him and asking for crackers. I was not expecting this at all. The hardest part of the afternoon was actually trying to get him to sit down and not run and yell and be a crazy man. He just wanted to play wild like he does most days but the doctor told us he had to stay down for the nest 5-10 days so that he doesn't get his heart pumping and cause a bleeding problem in his throat.

The Claytons were so sweet to drive up to be there for Kaden and we decided to come home with them for the week and spend some time in St George. Chris is working crazy hours right now ( last night he didn't even leave work he worked straight through the night) and I wanted to have some company and help if Kaden needed lots of TLC this week.

We left Layton around 2. We had a few stops to make and really got on the road about 4:30 in Provo. We hit Filmore about 6:30 and at 7:15 we came to a stand still in Beaver. It was a blizzard, the snow was coming down really hard and traffic was at a dead stop. In December when Chris and I went to St George for Christmas we hit similar conditions and ended up stopped on the road for about and hour and a half in the same spot. I was hoping this wouldn't be a repeat of that night.... it wasn't..... it was WORSE.

We were at a dead stop for almost 4 hours. With two kids in the car, hardly any food and full bladders. Kaden peed his pants a little and started crying because he needed to go potty so bad so we stood him up and opened the door in the middle of the blizzard and he peed onto the road. Poor kid was freezing, eventually we did the same with Taycee. The rest of us "adults" ( mostly me and Claudia) sat in the car and did a potty dance.

To be honest we were very blessed that nothing happened with Kaden that would require immediate attention, we were lucky I was feeling relatively well and didn't need too much in the way of food or drink. We weren't lucky to be parked directly next to a diesel truck whose exhaust was pouring into our car and giving us all carbon monoxide sickness. By the time we started driving we were all nauseous and had bad headaches. I got pretty nauseous and had to make use of Kadens vomit bag from the hospital. But we made it home only 11 hours and 30 minutes from when we left Layton. Yikes.

Kaden decided to make use of my camera again while we were waiting. (It was one of the ways I bribed him to take his pain medicine while we were waiting)

He again took loads of pictures but most were too dark and blurry to see. Here is a taste of what we sat in for 4 hours.

Grandpa in the front seat
the blizzard outside
Strawberry shortcake playing on the TV
Luckily we made it safe and are now enjoying some relaxation at grandma and grandpas house. Here is my little patient on day 2. Still doing really really well and drinking a LARGE cup of green smoothie... remember these? What a great way to make sure he is still getting his nutrients and not irritating his throat. I have heard day 3 is when it starts to get hard, so we are not out of the clear yet, but I am so proud of my little guy for doing so well with his first surgery.... and hopefully his last!

Faith and Prayers

Last week we went in for my 20 week ultrasound. We already knew we were having a baby girl but we had not had the full "head to toe" check up. My doctors appointment was first and everything went well as expected. The babies heart sounded strong, my belling was growing and I had even gained a few pounds back. After the hour wait, and 15 minute checkup I was send over to get my ultrasound. I told Chris he didn't need to come if he didn't want to. He had been there for the ultrasound we found out the gender and I expected this one to be uneventful. He decided he still wanted to be there and met me at the hospital after my doctor appointment. We were pleasantly surprised and actually got taken back EARLY for our ultrasound and didn't have to wait at all. The ultrasound started and went much like my other 2 had gone. The first thing that looked a little strange was my placenta which is really really low in my uterus it actually appears to be blocking my cervix right now and they explained that if it doesn't move up when my uterus starts to grow and stretch the baby would need to be delivered by C-Section. This is not ideal for me because I have easy vaginal births, but it is do-able and didn't give me great cause to alarm. The ultrasound tech was taking a very long time looking at things and I remember thinking "this is going longer than I remember my other ones going" she spent an especially long time trying to get pictures of the heart and looking at my cord. Before she left she told us that the doctor would be in to talk to us and that I has something called SUA, which means I am missing an artery in my umbilical cord. Then she left the room and we were left to wonder what that meant. The doctor came in 5 minutes later and gave us a rundown of SUA, what it is, what it means, and what we needed to do.

To be honest the next 20 minutes of our appointment are kind of a blur of memories but basically this is SUA in a nutshell,

Normally, when the umbilical cord develops, it forms three vessels: two arteries and one vein. However, in some cases, just one artery develops. Precisely why this occurs is not entirely known. It is suspected, though, that one artery may simply stop growing as it develops or perhaps that the primordial umbilical artery does not divide properly.

This malformation of the umbilical cord has been found to affect between 0.5% to 3% of pregnancies and 1 in 100 live births. Caucasian women are twice as likely to experience this complication compared to Japanese and Black women. Additionally, women having a multiple pregnancy are three to four times as likely to develop SUA. Other factors that may increase your risk:

• Advanced maternal age (over 40)
• Having 3 or more previous children
• Diabetes
• Female fetal sex, this seems to be the only risk factor I have.

In babies with SUA, some studies suggest that about 45 percent have birth defects, including chromosomal and/or other abnormalities. These can include trisomy 13 or trisomy 18. However, the most common pregnancy complications that occur in infants with SUA are heart defects, gastrointestinal tract abnormalities and problems with the central nervous system. The respiratory system, urinary tract, and musculoskeletal system may also be affected. One in five babies affected by SUA will be born with multiple malformations.

Aside from these problems, between 55% and 70% of infants with SUA may suffer from intrauterine growth retardation. Single umbilical artery also has an increased miscarrage rate of 22% associated with it, and still births likely due to the increased abnormalities. Furthermore, there is an association between SUA and low birthweight and early delivery.

So what does this mean for us? Well we will get to have lots and lots of ultra sounds. Every 4 weeks we will go in to the doctor and monitor our little girl to see how well she is growing and how well her organs are developing. Who doesn't like ultrasounds. I am happy to peek at my baby more often than most.

I spent most of Wednesday night in tears and talking to both families. We are blessed to be surround by great families and friends who rallied around us and gave many words of support and encouragement. Since then there has been a quiet peace that has filled my heart.I am so grateful to have the knowledge of the gospel in my life. I do not know that the baby will be okay, but I do know that I will be okay. That this little spirit will be sent to earth exactly as she was meant to be. My testimony of our Heavenly Fathers plan has increased and I know with all my heart that he is mindful of the little details of our lives and our concerns do not go unnoticed. His hand is present in our lives and he is carefully and expertly guiding us with love down the path that will bring us to the places we need to be. Chris gave me a beautiful blessing and blessed me with strength and increased closeness to the Lord. My fears are slowly ebbing away to faith and I feel as if my ground is becoming more solid. The other good news is there are babies that are born completely normal with SUA so our little girl could end up being just fine!

Thanks to everyone who has said a prayer in our behalf it is so humbling to realize how much support you have. We love you all and we are hopeful and thinking happy thoughts!

Taycees First Hair Cut

It finally happened, Taycee had her first hair cut. I resisted it for months, Chris was always making comments about her straggly hair but I insisted if was fine because I usually pulled it up and you couldn't tell once it was in pigtails, in fact that was the main reason I didn't want to cut it, her hair was finally to the point that I could put it in 2 hight pigtails on top of her head. I also didn't want to cut it because it took 2 years to get it to this point. But the truth was evident, it was was too straggly and fine and uneven. So Sunday morning before church I sprayed down her bed head and the first hair cut commenced.

It really had gotten long, I was afraid that if I cut the bottom inch off I would lose her cute tight baby curls...

apparently I was wrong. It is still as curly as ever, and it does looks so much more healthy and even. I will just have to wait awhile til I can have my pigtails back.

Oh the attitude.