Great news just in time for Christmas! I had an ultrasound this morning and Brayden is doing great! He is measuring in the 75% for size and is approximately 5lbs 12oz already! I am 34 weeks and 3 days today so with 5 and a half weeks left, they think that he is going to be between 9-10 lbs at 40 weeks! Yikes! So here's to hoping that he comes early!

Graduation

I graduated with my associates in medical assisting 

and now I am a certified medical assistant.

 WAHOO!!!

Thanksgiving-Gobble Gobble

This year for Thanksgiving, we spent it with my family. We all meet in Blackfoot at Grandma and Grandpa's farm. We had Thanksgiving dinner at a church building with the Lyman's and Dave and Christy's family. We had so much food; much to be thankful for. We all had too much to eat and played lots of family games and planned our traditional Black Friday Shopping. We got everything on our list. We had tons of fun shopping with all of the ladies. Thanks to the guys for watching and taking care of all of the children for us. On Saturday, the guys went snow shoeing and the women slept and took care of the children. We had lots of fun and tied Whitney's quilt that I have been working on for quite some time...like 2 years. All that is left is binding the quilt then I will be done. Grateful for Thanksgiving but I am looking forward to Christmas. After Christmas then we have New Year's and then Brayden will be here. Crazy to think that he is almost here. Happy Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas!

Great News All Around!

First piece of good news, found out last week that Carlei will not need surgery! HOORAY!! We had the overnight oximeter on her all night and she only had a few brief episodes where her sats dropped slightly. So the doctor is comfortable saying that she will out grow it. We just need to keep an eye on it and if she starts having severe symptoms then we need to go back to Salt Lake; if not then we don't need to go back.

Second piece of good news, I had my doctor appt. yesterday and Brayden sounds great! I am measuring on time and he is very active. More so than the girls ever were. They said that as long as I am not having contractions, bleeding and I can feel him every day then I will be back in 4 weeks!

Third piece of good news, Justin got the Electical Apprentice job on campus and is now officially an employee of BYU-I, complete with affordable health benefits. He is working 30 hours a week on his own now. He got a nice raise, the school pays for his 6 credits on campus and then also for his education and supplies at EITC. They also gave him a work truck that he drives down to Idaho Falls on Tuesdays and Thursdays for class from 7pm-10pm. Which is not too bad. The only down fall right now is that he is gone for most of the week but he only works until 2pm on Fridays, which is nice because then he is able to help with the girls a lot.

I am feeling so incredibly blessed from my Heavenly Father. All the worries that I had a month ago are all gone. My family is heathly and has never been better! For that I am grateful.

Carlei turns 1!!

*Warning: this has been in the drafts since July! :) Oh and I can't find the video now*

Carlei turned one on the 29th! We celebrated with my family and then we went up to Salt Lake to celebrate with Justin's family. She was very spoiled. She started to walk on her birthday too! Here is a video of the cake...

Laryngomalacia

When Carlei was born we noticed that she was a noisy breather and got worse with excitement and such. When she was 6 months old we went to a local ENT (ears, nose and throat) Dr. He diagnosied her with laryngomalacia. "Laryngomalacia is a congenital softening of the tissues of the larynx (voice box) above the vocal cords. This is the most common cause of noisy breathing in infancy. The laryngeal structure is malformed and floppy, causing the tissues to fall over the airway opening and partially block it." (http://www.chop.edu/service/airway-disorders/conditions-we-treat/laryngomalacia.html)

(http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/normal-vocal-cords)

  Laryngomalacia. The epiglottis is tightly curled and omega-shaped, with short, tethered aryepiglottic (AE) folds. There is redundant supraglottic mucosa overlying the arytenoid and accessory cartilages. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043181009000852)

We would take her in every 3 months for a check up and the doctor said that it was a mild-to-moderate case. At 12 months, he said that he is not comfortable saying that Carlei is going to be fine so he referred us down to Primary Childrens Hospital in Sakt Lake City. There we meet with a pediatric ENT. We described her symptoms and he said that it will probably be fine but he wanted to make sure, so Carlei got her 4th scope; down the nose to the throat. Poor girl. The doctor told us that she has a severe case of layngomalacia. He said that he is very surprised that her symptoms are not worse than they are. He kept asking us if she ever stopped breathing at night and of course, like most parents, we told him that she sleeps in seperate room and that we don't stay awake watching her every night. He chuckled. He then reassures us that she can still out grow this condition but it is going to take her years to do this. His biggest concern is that her oxygen levels drop at night so he wants us to do an overnight oximetery test. A local company will bring a small device to our house that has a finger probe on it that will record her oxygen levels at night. If she can keep her levels up at night then he is comfortable saying we will just watch it. However, if they drop at night then we will have some decisions to make on her behalf, surgery being the best option.

Many people have asked me if I am worried or not. All I can tell them is that we have had a miracle in our lives the past 14 months that we did not know about. Since the doctor was so surprised that Carlei is doing as well as she is. He said that she should be doing a lot worse. The miracle is the fact that Carlei is doing so well. For that, we are so grateful. We have definitely since the hand of the Lord in our lives and in Carlei's. We know that the Lord will be with us and will help us make the best decision for our family. We have felt so much comfort through these last few weeks that I am feeling incredibly blessed and grateful for all that I have. One of my friends asked me how I am holding up. All I could tell her is that I am so happy with my life, even with these trials. I know that I am suppose to learn patience and rely on the Lord and that what ever happens is the Lord's will. I am at peace. There is nothing that I can do in either situation except stay strong for my family.

                                                                  Carlei at 3 months!

20 Week Update

So here is a current picture of me at 20 weeks...

 

 

Well, I went to the doctor today for my 20 week ultrasound. Everything looks good, except the fact that Little Boy is really a little boy. He is in the 28th percentile for growth. The doctor seemed a little concerned because at my 16 week ultrasound he was measuring 5 days smaller. Today though, he was measuring 10-14 days behind in growth. He said that if he stays at the 28th percentile then we are just fine, he will just be quite little. If he continues to decline and fall further behind (below 25%) then he is going to be increasingly worried and more concerned. He said that if he falls below the 10% then I will be diagnosied with IUGR (interuterine growth restiction) and be considered a high risk pregnancy. He may be coming early so we just need to be prepared for any outcome. So we just need Little Brother to stay where he is at. The doctor said that the best we can hope for is that he stays in the 28th percentile. If he gets bigger than great! but he does not think that he will get bigger, only because he is continually getting smaller with time. Little Brothers acitity level is great and heart rate and everything else looked awesome. The organs and systems are working like they should, he is well proportioned, he anatomically wise he looks awesome too, he is just really little. The best to hope for is that he can maintain the 28th percentile. He says there is nothing that I can do (just don't stress), it is not me it is him. So the plan is to check my measurements in 4 weeks and see where they are at. If I am still behide then we will do more ultrasounds and constant measurements from there.

Family Pictures June 2012

We had our family pictures taken in June by Taraphotographics! She did an amazing job and we are so glad that we got them taken before she moved! We also found out that we are expecting baby #3! We found out that we are have a BOY!! We are thrilled! I am due on Jan. 28!

It's been awhile...

Quite a bit has happened since Whitney turned 2. I am such a bad photographer, so no new pics. Well, since then Andrew and Anna have moved so we are here in the Burg without any family. Kevin and Holly got married on April 7th! They are in Missouri right now but will be moving back to Rexburg in September. I am so excited! We signed a lease on a new 3 bedroom apartment that is right around the corner from where we are now, which will be very nice in the coming future. We went down to Salt Lake for Memorial Day to visit Justin's family! We had a blast!! We also took family pictures at the very beginning of June, so those will be posted soon. I started and finished my Medical Assisting internship and I will take the exam to be certified on July 5th in Pokey! Justin started working again as soon as I finished my internship. He is thrilled to be back at work. While I was doing my internship Justin got to  be a stay-at-home dad for 7 weeks! The girls LOVED having there dad home. They have adjusted again to mom staying at home. I have decided to graduate in December with my associates degree in Medical Assisting and then I will continue to take 6 credits online every semester until I graduate with my bachelor's degree in Healthcare Administration. Right now I am set to graduate in April 2016. I know that it quite a ways from now but this will allow me to stay home with my girls and still be going to school to get my education. Carlei has 8 teeth now and is just about walking! Whitney can count to 10 now all by herself! I am one proud momma! She is such a great big sister! Carlei and Whitney get along great and they LOVE to be trouble makers together! Oh I also got a bike trailer so the girls and I go for a ride everyday! They love it and so do I!

Whitney Turns 2!!

It is still hard to believe that I am the mother of a 2 year old! Man has time just gone by. We had an awesome day and are so grateful and thankful for all of the friends and family that came to celebrate this special day with us and Whitney. We had some 'mock' Cafe Rio food and tons of fruit and cake with ice cream. Whitney got lots of great things! Thank you everyone!

The food...

More food....

and more food!

The gifts!

Her birthday cake made by her Daddy!

LOVES the horse!

Riding her horse! That was a hit!

Putting on her tiara

All dressed up

Whitney on her new bike!

ZUMBA!

I have a new goal in my life(again)!! I am going to start taking time for myself while juggling going to school and 2 kids and all of the other things that we need to do in our lives! I want to start slow and I going to try and go twice a week. I feel so good after I do exercise! I am going to put this out there for myself so I can look back and remember...I weigh...185! It is horrible but it is something that I never want to see again! I will report later on and let you know the updates.

Lately...

Well school has started again and life is busy as ever. I am in my last semester of the Medical Assisting program. After this, I am doing my externship, which is already lined up and ready to go. Justin has been offered a wonderful opportunity and so we are thinking about it a lot. Well I am not sure I can tell the happenings of the month in order, but this is what we have been up too. We drove out to Driggs and had dinner with my Uncle Delwyn and Aunt Loriann. The drive home was horrible. The weather was so bad. The snow was blowing and there were many times that we couldn't even see the road but we just kept praying and we made it home. We have had some fun times this month! Whitney has started Toddler Lab on campus and she LOVES it. She cries every time she has to leave. Whitney's birthday is in a few weeks and she is going to be 2! I can hardly believe it! For her birthday we are just going to have little family get together. Carlei is just growing so fast! She is going to be 6 months old tomorrow! It is so crazy! She is just starting to get into 6-9 months. Justin is working and going to school. He is still demanding as ever!! :] He has just so busy and wonderful! We split the chores and who changes diapers and such! Life is great!    

One more thing I forgot to mention! We got to go to California and attend my great friend's wedding! Nathan Anderson and Codi Keyser got married in the Redlands Temple and we were able to go to the sealing! It was wonderful! I am super excited for them. When we where hugging Codi, she asked who we were and we told her that we were the Foxes. She just says, I have heard so much about you! And we all just had the look of...oh crap what have they told you about us? :) It was really fun to see all of our old friends and family! We also go to visit with Kyle and Sherilyn, my cousins! It was wonderful to see them again and to finally meet their adorable daughter, Sydney, who is well over the age of 1. But it was really fun and we enjoyed seeing them!

End of the Year Festivities

*Warning: Super long post with no pics. I forgot my camera at home for both events. Sorry!*

This year for Thanksgiving we were able to spend it down in Salt Lake with Justin's side of the family. We had so much fun with the family. We had all of the usual foods like turkey and potatoes and what not. We then went to go and visit the extended family at Grandma Hansen's house. I then took several people's blood pressure for one of my medical assisting classes. Justin and I stayed up all night and went black Friday shopping all night. We were able to get everything that we had set out to get! It was awesome! We did not have any aweful experiences either. It was wonderful and we had so much fun.

We ended the semester on December 15. Well that was my last final anyways. Then I got the nasty 24-hour flu that has been going around. Then on Saturday, Justin came down with. Over the 3 days that we were sick Whitney had Croup and so she didn't feel good either and was super clingy to me. Some how Carlei and Whitney both were able to avoid the flu, which I am super grateful for.Anyways, I was able to get straight A's this semester! Which I am so proud of myself. Justin also did really well this semester! Good job Honey!

Well were went down to Vegas to hangout with my family for Christmas. We stopped at Justin's parents house and had Christmas with them! Whitney got some really awesome toys that she absolutely love! Then we headed down to Vegas! The weather was so awesome! It was warm and sunny and I was able to wear some capris for the last time in 2011. We went to the chocolate factory in Henderson to look at all of the beautiful Christmas lights that thye have there. We were able to teach Whitney what Santa says. It is Ho Ho Ho in case you forgot. :) Carlei grew out of all of the clothes that I had packed for her so she was wearing the same outfit a lot. Carlei ate so much food she definitely hit her growth spurt. For our Christmas present from my parents they took us all to the Transiberion Orchestra and then they also paid for a babysitter for all 3 of the grand babies! It was the we first time that we have left the kiddos with someone we didn't know. I am sure the babysitters thought that I was over protective or something. I am glad that we left the kids behind though! It was so AWESOME! One of my families traditions is to go to a movie together as a family. This year we went and saw Sherlock Holmes #2! I really liked that movie! We played tons of games like Uno and Hand and Foot. My mom also bought Whitney an airplane because she kept on stealing Jacobs. Uncle Andrew taught Whitney how to "fly" the plane and how to "shoot" people and make the noise too. We accidently left the airplane at my parents house and so Whitney has been flying her hand around in circles and making the airplane noise. I am super grateful that Andrew and Anna are going to bring it home with them.

When we got home we unpacked and cleaned the house. Then we put Christmas away and we are now ready for the New Semester to begin. For New Year's, we put the girls to bed at 10 (they took super late naps) so they got to celebrate the new year with New York city. :) Then Justin and I stayed up and played games (which I definitely beat him at every game, so he quit playing with me :)). We had some Martinellies and had our New Years Kiss and then we went to bed! We had a super fun time! So much has happened this year with our family and I am grateful for most of the changes, like having Carlei added to our home and family! She is such a mild child, we are definitely blessed! Whitney and Carlei love each other so much! I am super excited for when they can start to actually play together! We have much to look forward to in 2012 and I am excited for this adventure to start!