Christmas

This year we tried to keep the presents to a minimum however there are always more presents than we expected.


The kids got pillow pets from Santa. Santa also brought the family some holiday movies and a roller coaster.


Lizzy got a Christmas dress and Travis got a Christmas suit for church.


Grandma Tina and Grandpa sent the kids a flashlight and nerf guns. The kids (especially Eric) had fun playing with the nerf guns all day.


Nana got the kids a basketball hoop. The kids opened this gift first and then had to play with it for about 30 minutes before we opened anymore presents.


We ended up going to Eric's parents house for dinner. It was nice to visit with his parents. All of his siblings were at their in-laws for Christmas this year. It was a nice change to just stay home most of the day and do nothing.

Christmas Eve Dinner

So we decided to start a new family tradition for Christmas Eve. We are going to have a formal dinner with the family. We made cordon blue, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, green beans, and salad. We even got the china out that Eric got from his grandmother this year. The whole family dressed up in Sunday clothes. I forgot that I had a Christmas table cloth so I will have to remember that next year. The kids had a lot of fun dressing up for dinner.

Finally updating the blog

I have been a little stressed lately and been sick with the pregnancy that I have slacked a little. I have updated finally so you might have to go back to August for all the updates.

Fertility problems and the pregnancy

Now that the shock of being pregnant has worn off and morning sickness has pass I decided to blog about the last 3 years. So 3 years ago we decided that it was time to start trying to get pregnant. There was only 1 problem. I didn't have a period for about 10 months after making that decision. After Travis was born I got put on Depo Provera for birth control. I didn't realize that a common side effect of the drug is not having periods for up to a year after getting off of the drug. When I did finally have periods again they were irregular for another 7 months. When they became regular again I tested myself to see if I was ovulating and it was a negative. I got an appointment with my doctor and he finally gave me some medicine. He had refused in the past or wanted to put me on birth control to start my periods. He put me on clomid for 6 months with no success. We even did 1 month of IVI. I then had to take 4 months off of clomid before I could start it again. We started with clomid again for 4 months without success and that is when we found out about my hole in the heart. We stopped the clomid until we saw what the cardiologist wanted to do. It was that next month that I got pregnant. I figured that my body was being stupid again and not having regular periods so I didn't even test myself for being pregnant until 2 days before my doctors appointment and possible surgery. I was completely shocked to get a positive result and realize I was 6 weeks pregnant. Now surgery is on hold until after the baby is delivered. I won't take Depo Provera again.

Nutcracker 2011

Last night Lizzy and Travis performed in the Nutcracker. Travis and Lizzy were mice and Lizzy was a butterscotch princess. They had a ton of fun. They both were really excited that Grandma and Grandpa come to watch them do their dances.

Ultrasound

I had my second doctors appointment for the baby. The kids went with me this time. Dr. Beckett is a great doctor that he wanted to get an ultrasound for the sole purpose that the kids get to see the baby. He had the kids help him listen for the heart beat too. The kids had so much fun.



I also get my prescription for Heparin. I guess I get to start taking shots twice a day everyday until this pregnancy is over. Now I just have to wait for it to arrive in the mail. When the medicine arrives Dr. Beckett wants me to go to the hospital for blood work. Then he wants me to go upstairs to Labor and Delivery so a nurse can show me how to give myself the injections. I hope 5 months fly by.

Lizzy's 5th Birthday

I can't believe that Lizzy is 5. Time has flown by. Lizzy had a couple of friends come over for a birthday party the Saturday before her birthday. They had a lot of fun playing. I didn't have time to make her birthday cake this year so we bought a cupcake cake at Walmart.

Halloween

This year we went to Boo at the Zoo for trick-or-treating. We went as a family and meet Michele and Serena. The kids had fun looking at the animals and getting candy.

We went to Grandma and Shon's houses on Halloween.



Travis wanted to be a crocodile and Lizzy wanted to be a fairy.

Cardiologist visit discussing my hole in the heart

So this is the easiest way of letting everyone know what is going on. I have had vertigo episodes since January this year. I finally went to the doctor at the end of June for it. Dr. Beckett said to keep tract of how often they occur and if they go up in frequency then he would order some tests. I called him 2 weeks later because I had 3 episodes in 1 day and a total of 6 episodes in 1 week. He first ordered an EKG. That came back normal. Next he ordered a Echocardiogram with a Bubble Test. The bubble test determined that I have a hole in my heart. They gave me the test results on August 10th and it took until Oct 4th to get in to see the Cardiologist. I also had an MRI done but that came back normal. September 15th and 16th I had two periods of vision loss in my left eye. Apparently that is a sign of having a mini stroke.

When we arrived at the Cardiologist's office, they did some tests. They did a Transcranial Doppler, which determines the flow of blood that goes through the hole. Then they did another Echo and Bubble Test to determine the location of the hole. Then I got dressed and moved to another room for the consult with Dr. Sorensen. The hole is open all the time and when I stress my body it is really open. He said that the chance of blood clots going through is high. Dr. Sorensen determined that surgery should be done (which was scheduled for the next day) however there was a complication. I had just found out this Monday that I am pregnant. That complicated things. They can do the surgery during the second trimester however there is radiation exposure during the procedure so they prefer to do it after pregnancy and breast feeding is over. So I get to wait until after I deliver and finish breast feeding. In the mean time, Dr. Sorensen wants me to give myself 2 shots a day of Heparin for the duration of my pregnancy. Lucky me. If I have another sign of mini stroke and while I am on Heparin, he wants to do the surgery during my second trimester. I am supposed to take it easy and not stress my body as much as possible. That's the update.

1st snow of the year

Today it snowed. I hope this isn't a sign of an early winter. The kids had fun playing in the snow. We went to Lizzy's friends house and the kids had fun making a snowman. I enjoyed talking with Brooke (Lizzy's friends mom).

Mom's visit

My mom came to visit for a week. While we were in Utah we went to Ikea. I bought this clothes hamper so the kids could put their dress up clothes in it. Travis has thoroughly enjoyed playing in it.

You can hardly tell but Travis is in there somewhere.

We went shopping one day and to the zoo another.

We also went to a chucker's baseball game one night. After the game, they had some Polynesian dancers and the last dance was a fire dance. It was really cool to watch.

Julie's House

My mom came up to Utah and Idaho for a visit. The kids and I went to Julie's house for a few days. Tuesday afternoon and evening we relaxed at Julie's house. The kids had fun playing outside on the trampoline and hitting softballs with a bat. Wednesday we went shopping all day. It was fun. Then that evening Julie, Mom, and I went out for ice cream and Dan watched the kids. Thursday we went to Hogle Zoo with everyone. The kids had so much fun seeing all the animals. The Zoo still had a dinosaurs and Travis loved seeing them. Everyone went on the merry-go-round and on the train. Then Mom, the kids, and I drove back to Idaho. We had so much fun.

Helicopter Ride

Eric's work offered to give everyone a helicopter ride. The kids were so excited to go. We got to see our apartment, the temple, the snake river, and other fun sites. Lizzy's favorite thing to see was all the cars driving and the mountains. Travis' favorite thing to see was our home.

Turner Family Reunion

This weekend was the Turner family reunion. We left for Provo on Friday. We stopped at Hogle Zoo for a couple of hours. Then we went to dinner and then met Julie and her family for ice cream. The kids had fun playing on the indoor jungle gym while I talked with Julie and Dan.

Saturday we went to 7 Peaks water park for the family reunion. The kids had so much fun playing in the water. I wish I had pictures.

We left for home Sunday morning. It was a fun weekend.

Our 1st Camping Trip

So we finally went camping as a family. The kids had fun but our weekend was cut short. We stayed 1 night. When we got there, we tried to gather sticks to build a fire but a thunderstorm had just gone through and there was hail all over. So the kids didn't get to roast hot dogs or cook smores. On our way home, we stopped at a dam and took a little hike. The kids had fun looking at the water.

Swim Lessons

So I decided to put my kids in swim lessons. I was hoping that Lizzy would get over her fear of swimming. I even paid more money to get a smaller class so that they would have more time in the pool with their teacher. Lizzy refused to get off the steps the first day. Every time the teacher tried to get her in the water with him she would get out of the pool. So I decided to bribe her with ice cream for the second lesson. She got into the water with her teacher and has gotten in every lesson since without problem or bribe. Hopefully I can get her comfortable floating in her tube before our family reunion at the water park in a couple of months. Here are some pictures.

Park Time

Today has been a beautiful sunny 75 degree day. I decided to take Lizzy and Travis to the park with 2 of their friends. They had so much fun. In the first 2 picture I tried to get pictures of Travis sliding down. You can either see his feet or his head. I didn't get his very well.

Lizzy sliding down.

Lizzy climbing up the wall.

School Art and Singing Show

Lizzy had another singing performance at school. She did a great job. Then we went to look at the art work that she has done during the school year.

You will have to turn up your speakers to hear the song very well.