Extra! Extra! Mom wins!!

So Christmas brought us the sickies. J. has pneumonia, S. has an ear infection,cough, snotty nose and is back on oxygen 24/7, N. escaped with the least bad cough and snotty nose, I have some bronchitis somethin somethin. Needless to say I am thankful Santa brought us a Wii. It has provided some good couch time entertainment.
Here is the funny story for the day: I am NOT a gamer, Johnathen likes to take full advantage of that fact. He continuously "forgets" to tell me how to pay the game. We are playing Mario Kart- at my skill level. I'm doing pretty good. Just tailing Johnathen. Who by the way is Princess Peach driving a motorcyle, because he likes her outfit when she drives the motorcycle. Then we start talking trash. And in the final seconds of the game I PASS JOHNATHEN!!!! Ok so I was 9th place and he was 10th but the most important part is I BEAT HIM!! Idon't know if I will ever let him forget it. All the games played I will remind him of this one and I'm sure only time I beat him.

FLU FIGHTERS!!!

Pretty dramatic - 4 shots, 3 flu and one Synagist November 28

First lost tooth!

December 8. Johnathen was just brushing his teeth and it just fell out! Then Mom had to hurry and make a ToothFairy tooth pillow!

A Very Merry "Quist"mas Christmas

Here are a few of their favorite things- not pictured the Wii, which is the MOST favorite thing Johnathen and his BB gun
Neleh gets her very own scriptures
Morgan got a framed picture of the Draper Temple- that is the temple she was sealed to us in

Severin just wanted the candy canes

Q&A & soultion

How did Severin get a bruise on his (fill in the blank with any body part)????


The ANSWER:


The only SOLUTION: push in everything- even though he does know how to pull it out- it just makes him work harder and buys me some time to get to him.
then he is smooshed, that really ticks him off. He is such a climber! Notice he is in the same clothes in every picture. I would get him down and he would find something else to get into. No wonder I have given up on making dinner! Fun Toddler Days!

Cardiology Appointment Dec. 12, 2011 The Blessings are abound!!!

We were able to go to Cardio clinic in Riverton today (blessing #1) My amazingly awesome cousin, Jeni, watched Neleh for me. (B#2) When I dropped Neleh off at her house in Lehi, of course I was running a little behind, Jen had printed driving directions for me so I could get to the hospital in 21 mins. (B#3) She is so great! Not to mention she just had extensive dental work done and her wisdom teeth pulled 10 days ago!!! It's hard not to get a little teary eyed when someone sacrifices so much for you. A million Thanks to YOU Jen! We made it on time to the clinic. (B#4) I talked to Dr.Su a few weeks ago so I was prepared for what he might say. (B#5) Severin's heart is starting to fail again... He needs the Fontan proceedure.


I knew this was a 3 part surgery. I knew the day would come. I know Severin must endure another open heart surgery to survive as long as he can. We have had a really great year, with a normal baby. I allowed my worries to be pushed to the very back darkess corner of my mind. And now here they come forward with a blazing force!


Here are the statistics from the appointment, and the plan. Severin did not like the chest Xray, but all was clear.(B#6) Severin weighs 23.7 lbs,(B#7) Blood pressures are great,(B#8)Oxygen saturations 68% at 1st check then 75%-80% after he calmed down some more. I had a gut feeling he was going to be back on O2 all the time. Dr. Su said he is ok- for now- just to be on O2 at night (B#9) Do you know how hard it is to keep a nasal cannula on an active toddler? eeekk! Dr. Su thinks his low saturations are caused by collaterals. They are common in heart kids. It is when the body makes more blood vessels to try to make better blood flow, for Severin his heart is trying to make better oxygen saturations. The body is so amazing at compensating. (B#10) The bummer side is they are not good vessels. They have a negative affect on him and they need to be "coiled" off. Like when you prune a branch or vine to make the rest of the plant grow better. They can coil the collaterals during his heart cath. We will see Dr. Su in 3 months. At that time we will check his oxygen saturations and weight. Then schedule him for his heart cath. This will also be a pre Fontan surgery cath. We expect Severin to need his next open heart surgery in August 2012. So for the next 6 ish months Severin has "goals" to meet again. He needs to be at least 30 pounds for surgery. I really want to get some solid communication skills; signing or verbal. He will need to tell us what is going on, how he feels, understand what we are saying, ect. On the way home he was telling knock knock jokes with Neleh. He was repeating what she had said to me. S-notnot,N-whos there,S-nana. You know the one. They keep saying banana until finally they say orange, you say: orange who, they say: orange you glad I didn't say banana again! Overall I think Severin is doing pretty good, and will be on target for the August surgery date.(B#11&12) I am so thankful for my son being born at a time when the Lord has blessed us with knowledge.(B#13) These knowledgable Drs. are so close to our home, and they know what the next step is to sustain his life.(B# 14&15) As you can see my cup runneth over! We are so very blessed!

I stand corrected.. and other Neleh funnies

So I called Neleh "buddy" the other day. She informed me that SHE is a "gill" and gills are not buddies they are honeys. So mom you say honey. And then she made me repeat my sentence I had just said only replacing the word buddy with honey. What a crack up!
Second funny: let me set the visual up for you.. We are eating icecream, Neleh wanted all free (3) flavors-free is her favwat numba. As she is munching away, she asks me which one has the cookies in it. I point to the cookies and cream ice cream in her bowl. Then I tell her the other one has the peanut butter in it. Moosetracks has little peanut butter cups. I noticed she didn't have any peanut butter cups in her bowl. So I fished her out one to taste. I gave it to her and told her this was the peanut butter kind. She gobbles it up and then sits there with a concerned look on her face, she was really thinking about something. So I wait for it... she looks up still mulling the peanut butter cup around in her mouth and says " Where's the jelly?" I busted up laughing!!! Then I pulled myself together- I didn't want to upset her, and explained not all peanut butter has to be with jelly sometimes it comes with chocolate! She whyikes shocolate!

Happy Halloween!

Severin the OWL in the tree- he is really liking the candy idea, and the people at the door
Morgan as ... I have no idea. She is trick-or-treating for PCMC- her school club FCCLA donates the candyJohnathen as a vampire (NOT Dracula!)- I don't like him looking so scary, but he thinks its pretty cool
Neleh as the Fairy- this is her "hurry up mom and take the stupid picture I have candy waiting for me" look

15 month well baby check Oct.10, 2011

Severin had pretty good numbers. He was consistant with last visit.
Height: 30 1/4 inches-25 %
Weight: 21.3-10%
The thing we do not want to see is a dip in weight. That is an indicator his heart is not doing well. Severin has been having trouble maintaining his SATS lately. We went to Gma Sue & Gpa Freds for an overnight, and he kept turning blue. He is doing it at home too. Sometimes this is just how his blood is mixing. Sometimes his heart pumps a little more of the unoxygenated blood. Sometimes it is an indicator that his is getting sick. Sometimes it is just because he is cold. I know lots of "sometimes". But thankfully I have the past year to pull from. It makes me only slightly less crazy. Severin had his immunizations and flu shot. He always fevers and is SUPER grumpy for the next 48 hours. So last night was not the most restful for either one of us. Hopefully we can squeeze in a good nap!
As the cold weather sets in, we again ask for Severins sake, if you ARE sick, HAVE been sick, OR around anyone who has been sick in the past WEEK, Sevie must stay away. So let us know. When most people are getting excited for the Holiday Season we are reminded that this is the begining of the "lock down" season for us. For this guy to get sick it is a one way ticket to ICU, and chances of him surviving something like RSV is slim. So please, please be mindful of our little one this holiday season.
All our Love!

MMH Homecoming Dance 2011

Morgan and Kyle

Good -bye Mary. See you in 3 months!

This is Mary. She is the Occupational Therapist with the early intervention program for our school district, Kids Who Count.

We can not say how much we LOVE Mary! She came into Severins life right before his second surgery. We worked on feeding, strength, and mobility- as much as a 4 month old can. The real challenge came after surgery. Severin could sit up but not bend his legs, reach, bend at his waist, rotate from side to side. He hated tummy time even on my chest. He skipped rolling all together. Mary had great ideas to get Severin on task developmentally. As you all know he did it. The sad news is once you are not in "need" anymore you go to a tracking program. So OT was once weekly visits now is every 3 months. Severin is doing AWESOME!!! I can not thank Mary enough for her insight and experience to get my guy to where his is.

It is Official... Walking is more fun then crawling

and yea me for posting a video!

Our new Heart Hero- Michael

I met this amazing young man yesterday.Michael is 19, High School Grad, with his Associates Degree, all from a PUBLIC school, he is looking forward to receiving his mission call soon. Michael has had the Glen, Fontan, Pulmonary valve replacement, Aortic valve replacement, Pacemaker. When he was born they treated him as a Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome ( Severin is Hypoplastic Right) It was discovered at age 6 his Left ventrical had grown, and he was able to be "replumbed" to a functional 4 chamber heart! Michael was super sweet as I drilled him with questions. Litterally I don't think I stopped for over an hour! I have so many unknowns about Severins future. He answered so many of the "what ifs". He is an awesome young man. He has a bright future, I hope to be his friend for a very long time. My heart is so full of gratitude for this boy, he has given me HOPE for my son. Hope is all I can ask for at this time. I can not put into words how much it meant to me to be able to ask the hard questions to someone who could tell me an honest answer. Thank you, Thank you Michael, May God bless and keep you through your life journey, You are the BEST! And thank you Tyler for bringing us together.

Our Dads Swankie Signage

Yes, it is true Thom is running for City Council. He has wanted to do this for some time but school kept getting in the way. Now he has graduated I wanted him to find a hobby to occupy his time, he choose city council. Which at times is more work for me then him. He made it through the Primary Election with the 3rd highest votes. Now we campaign until the General Election on Nov. 8. That means I put signs up all over and walking around the city again passing out flyers.
Many thanks to my friends who helped pass out flyers for the Primaries, and please do not call screen me when I call again-hee hee We do WELCOME any volunteers!

Yes, I know I'm crazy...... Thank you very much!

I have NEVER let Severin play on any public play place. Until yesterday. We were waiting at the Mall for his photo shoot, and had some time to kill. Johnathen and Neleh were playing and jumping around on the foam toys. I knew this day would come, when Severin was no longer content with "watching" his brother and sister play from my lap. We made such a great cheerleading team. He wanted DOWN!!!! Or he was going to SCREEEEAMMM!!! I was without my normal to go pack of Clorox wipes. All I had was hand sanitizer! What to do , what to do? So I sprung into action, grbabed a handful of sanitizing wipes ( I think they were for the car strollers you can rent) I crawled beside Severin sanitizing each spot before he put his hand there, following one hand "step" ahead him on all the squishy toys. I know the other mothers were thinking "Crazy lady in the play area!" but they didn't say a thing. (thankfully) I almost thought of telling them the "barf" of the past year and how they have no idea what he has been through, and if they did they would be doing the same thing. Then I thought, no, it is not my job to tell everyone (including total strangers who probably do not care) Severins story. For that moment he was a one year old. Not a Heart Baby, Not the little boy we didn't know if he would ever survive. Not the baby who has a scar, who has to wear oxygen at night, who has a different skin color. He was NORMAL ( even, yes, with his abnormal Mom)
He played like a crazy man! Smacked and drooled on the bunny and then the butterfly. Crawled in the fake log. Climbed on the slide, he loved it even though he could not figure out what he was supposed to do. He watched the other kids sit so he tried that-nothing. He tried to stand-oops good thing mom was there to catch that attempt. Finally he decided to turn around and lay feet first and "give 'er 'ell" sliding on his belly. He was so proud. Of course no camera.

Washington Part 2

Oh yes the deceit of photography! I turned around to get a pict of the kids on the way home and this is what I got. Look even Johnathen "looks" to be peacefully sleeping. Morgan is showing a few signs of crazy land. Neleh is all dimples. Even Sevie was in on the gig. "oh look at me I am so happy I have been trapped in my car seat for the past 16 hours!" Yeah right the truth came out!

Now this is more like it. Screaming. Severin decided on this trip he had a voice, and oh no not just any voice a high pitched, shrill! We said "no", we ignored, we catered to his every want. But he still is screaming!

Poor Morgan has had enough of being wedged in between Pain and Chaos. But after 45plus hours spent in the van together over the past week we were all a bit DONE with eachother. It's good to be home.

Washington trip Part 1

The Lighthouse in Westport, WA- Morgan, Johnathen and I hiked the 135 steps to the top! Johnathen was pretty freaked out about the height. My dream come true!!! All my family pedaling a bike around Ocean Shores. Ok after the first 5 mins we were done. Pedaling a Flintstone car with 6 people in it is hard work! The kids loved it!

I tried to get Severin to walk for the first time, but it was a no go. He did hold my hand and walk a few steps on the beach. Next visit I'm sure he will be running!

The kids were sooooo very excited to see the ocean! Neleh kept asking on the way"where are we?" (We would tell her)" where are we going?" (to Washington)" oh yeah sos Eyes can put my feetsies in the Oooshun"

Severin LOVED every moment on the beach. I even got him a shirt that says"future beach Bum". The water was cold but he wanted to join the kids, so out to the water he went. The first wave... SPLAT in the face, he gasped for breath and then took off after it. No fear, NO stopping this one.

Is this a form of child abuse???

These are pics of Severin.
First is on our Family vacation this past week to the ocean in Washington. Pink cheekies, his nail beds were even pink! Even when he got really cold in the freezing water, he maintained his color. AND no O2 the whole week.

The second pic is tonight eating dinner at home. Sure he is smiley and enjoying watermelon and canalope all over his face. But his color changed. He is more blue/grey. His little finger nails and toe nails look bruised- I keep thinking they are. By Idaho, Thom and I could see the difference in his coloring.
This breaks my heart! This is his life, and I will accept it because it is the only life we will know. Oh my precious boy, what life will this be for you!? Restrictions? Limitations? Surgeries? Too many Dr appointments to count? Please have a love of life, have a love for YOUR life! I pray always that I am making the same choices for you that you would make yourself.

Here we go again!!!

Croup... Yuck! I think it has something to do with when he was intubated before and after his 1st surgery, scar tissue or something. Lucky me I still had a steroid tablet from last time. Severin took it, shivered, gaged, and promptly barfed everything out. I called the Ped. to see how long I should wait before I have to get him a shot. Hopefully we will not be making our 3rd trip to the Ped within the week.

One year well baby visit July 19, 2011

Severin had his ONE year old visit with Dr. Paxton today. He weighs 20 pounds!!! This is what I was hoping for. Cristina the MA and I both cheered for Severin, he clapped for himself while sitting on the scale. That puts him in the 10% for weight. His height is 29 inches,( 27%). Both of which are VERY awesome numbers for our little guy. Our goal for this appointment is to SLEEP through the night. I am trying to stop nursing (one time at night) and packing his food/calories all into the day. Hopefully this will satisfy him for the night.
I love these great news appointments BUT I have that nasty nagging thought in my head- 10 more pounds before the next surgery. Just like with his Glen, I wanted him at 14 pounds, he did it right before surgery. I can't say this enough, "We are REALLY going to enjoy this next year"

Friends brought together by two special little hearts

Our Heart buddy Logan came to celebrate with us. It was so good to see Logan happy and doing so well. We were privileged to have not only one miracle Superman amongst us, but we had TWO!

Pictures from Severin's First Birthday Party

It didn't even dawn on me until Tuesday that it might rain on Thursday. So all day Thursday I watched the sky. Things looked good at 4:00 I was on time and on schedule! I was so excited. My friend Megan is down from WA, and boy am I glad she was! By 5:00 we loaded the truck and both our vans. The clouds were rolling in. We got to the park and started unloading, the rain was a fine mist. As the rain increased, I had Thom go and open the church. Thankfully the clerk gig has its benefits and our church was right across the street from the park. Load/unload #3 everything back in the vans, to go across the street. The kids are LOVING this, no carseats, no buckles, no shoes. We unload #4 into the church in a down pour. The gutters are overflowing in a matter of minutes. We start setting up in the church. I am now an hour BEHIND my schedule. And what should appear? The sun! So back into the vans all the junk (and children) go. Thom didn't want to waste his 50 bucks he spent on the pavillion. By now I really do not care, I look like a drown rat, and I'm about in tears. Thank you Megan for reminding me to breathe. Good news is by unload #6 we had plenty of party goers to help. So the party got started an hour late (Quist standard time) It was beautiful weather. We were so blessed to have so many come and love our little Superman.
Daddy, Mommy and Severin
The whole Fam! Dad, Mom, Severin, Neleh, Morgan and Johnathen
Severin clapped for himself after we had sung "Happy Birthday"
CAKE EATER!!
His hair is getting so curly, he had a great time!
As part of this very special day I also wanted to honor the Angel Heart babies. Every year over 4000 babies do not live to their first birthday, because of their heart defect. I had 40 heart shaped balloons to represent these Angels. I also had 30 Angel names and their type of defect- if known. With a little work we were able to send them off to heaven.

Severin was spoiled by all who came. When we came home we put the older kids to bed and let Severin play with his toys until midnight. What an amazing day for an amazing little boy. Thank you to all who came and shared this day. Thanks to all who prayed for this day to come. Severin's life is truly our greatest gift!

Severin's First Birthday Party!

Yes it is true my baby is almost one! It has been one hell of a year and he deserves a big shabang! Please join us at the park on Main and Maple. He is truly our Superman!

Cardiology Appointment June 28

After our 6 month vacation from PCMC, it was a bit hard to go back. I always fear they will not let us leave. I fear the echo will say Severin is in heart failure. I fear he will need more procedures. I fear he will need to be sedated for his echo and he will have a reaction to the sedation. I fear fluid on his lungs. I fear decreased heart function. I fear high blood pressures,blood clots, & low O2 sats.


With all that being said. I loaded the bag- o- wonder with LOTS of entertainment, food, snacks, bottles, and suckers! First stop X-ray. Severin thought it was pretty cool, a bit too cool, he wiggled (what we call the worm) and had to have 4 pictures to get a good one-little stink! Next stop echo. Weight check 19.12 woo hoo! Our "Echo Guy"- Ernie was very kind. He was willing to do a dodge and move type echo. I did try to get a picture but it was too blurry. Thankfully this was a limited echo so it wasn't too long. Severin went through 1 bottle, a sucker, a bottle of bubbles, and 3/4 the toys I brought. Sweet Ernie's armhair was plastered to his arm with sucker goo. Good Times! Then on to see Dr. Su. The MA needed to get blood pressures from both arms and legs. Again more bubbles, toys, books, songs and a confetti spray of puffy snacks we got them all. A blood pressure on a crying kid is pointless, but they hate the "hug" of the cuff. Now we wait for Dr. Su to review all the test results.... Everything looked great! Normal heart function. Dr. Su actually said "normal" -it made me laugh. Lungs are clear! Blood pressures within range! His O2 sats were 73%-75% which Dr. Su didn't love but wasn't too worried either. Severin is still on O2 at night so we will just keep him at that for now. We ditched taking Lasix, kept Enapril with the intent he will out grow the need for it. He is just being a regular boy for now. See you in 6 months Dr. Su! All in all they only held us hostage for 4 1/2 hours! Half the time of an ER visit!
We stopped by the CICU to see our heart friend Evie and her Mama. We were able to see our fav. nurse Julie, Dr. Priddle -who took him into his last surgery, and Dr. Kazas NP Bonnie. They all Loved seeing Severin healthy and happy. He did all his cutieness for them. When I left I told them it was great to see them but I do not want to see them again for at least a year. They all totally get that!
Thank you for your prayers and faith this past year. I am watching my son play with toys at my feet because of it. Thank you!

Oh Neleh, Neleh you make me laugh

I love it when the kids start to talk. They come up with the best words! Currently Neleh likes "mothz-a-well-a" cheese, & "bow-woha-nnie" sandwiches-which is any type of lunch meat. She always says "shura" when I ask her to help. She has great manners and always says "shank-oo" She made my day when she told me I was "puwr-fit" What a gal!

This is the way we feed the baby...

Severin is NOT loving to be spoon fed anymore. It is more like feeding an octopus then a baby! Mom score one baby score too many to count
I chase his mouth around with the spoon and when he opens his mouth to cry I shove the spoonful in!
I have even resorted to "showing" him that I eat it and then say it is his turn, this only works for about 5 spoonfuls, and then it is back to chasing.

What is a mom to do?...

Severin does a fantastic downward facing dog BUT.... This is not good for him. His last surgery rerouted the returning blood flow from his head to go into his lungs. It "flows" by gravity. So you see being upside down is not the best idea for him. He does it anyway, and his face turns purple. I guess if he does it long enough he will just pass out and then when he flops over the flow will equal out. He is just a crazy boy! He doesn't know he has a bummed heart- I hope to keep him in that mind set for life- no limits to his abilities.

and life goes on and on and on...

I have been so consumed by life I haven't taken the time to update. Well Severin is officially a crawler! And with crawling comes efforts to CLIMB! He has two bruises on his big noggin. He has fallen down the stairs, ran into numerous door frames, and even took a spill off the couch ( Johnathen thought it would be a good idea to have him sit next to him and watch cartoons). Have I mentioned his two little razor sharp, piranha like teeth? They are about half way in. He shoves Neleh away when she is bugging him. There is about a two pound difference between them. I think Severin will catch and pass Neleh up in size. We do not have any scheduled Dr. appointments until the end of June. We have loved getting out for the brief glimpses of spring so far. We plan on really enjoying this Dr. free month. Hopefully the weather hears schools out and it warms up!

I can't believe I forgot to post on Johnathens Birthday!

Johnathen turned 6 on April 3. It was Conference weekend just like the weekend he was born. We can't believe our boy is getting so big.
oops sorry about this one, you will just have to tilt your head to the side. Johnathen and Chuck- E- Cheese. This was a big deal. He has always been terrified of Chuck and all other mascots. At the end of our night Johnathen was finally brave enough to get a picture.
This is where Johnathen was when Chuck- E- Cheese first came out. Yes he is under the table-hiding.
Johnathen LOVES his new set of golf clubs "just like Dads!" now if we can get a little sunshine maybe they can go to the golf course.

Severins first Criminal Offense...

Everyone has been raving about the Carl Bloch Exhibition at BYU to me. Carl Bloch is an Artist from the 1800s. His paintings of Christ are well known in the LDS community. So I finally got tickets, down side they were for 9:30 PM! No worries I made sure the kids were fed, rested and we were off.
Severin being The Severin who hasn't been out much, was a bit "excited" to see so many people, lights, chairs, movies, wood, you get my point. I kept sushing him, giving him his bottle, in HIGH hopes he would fall asleep. No such luck. As I was reading about one of the large pieces of Art, Severin had had it and started talking in his loud voice. Personally I think he was looking at Christ and saying"I know HIM!, I love HIM, HE is my friend and my pal! I miss HIM so much!" Unfortuantly a Gallery Volunteer did not appreciate Severin talking to Jesus. She asked me to go stand in this cubby hole and calm my baby down, "We just can not have him being noisy in the Gallery." Well then they should not have made it so echoy! I went to the cubby hole and it smelled like farts. When I call people artsey fartsey I didn't mean it literally! But I was not going to stand in that stink hole! So we went out.
That's it Severins first criminal offense-disrupting the peace in an Art Gallery at 10:30 at night.
Lessons learned: The Artsey Fartsey really do stink, and they do not like children at their events, talking to their pieces.
Thom did trade off with me so I was able to see all the art. Carl Bloch did a beautiful job depicting the life of Our Savior.

Happy Easter! Love The Quists

Neleh had to jump in the picture too
I bought the boys matching ties. I wanted a picture, this is what I got before Neleh joined in. Severin is pulling fist fulls of Johnathens hair, notice the wincing smile.

NINE month well baby visit

Here is Severins current Stats:
WEIGHT: 18.2 over all percentile 13%
HEIGHT: 27 inches over all percentile 10%- so he is a bit short, but have you met Neleh!?
HEAD CIRCUMFERENCE: 50 percentile!
There is a window of head growth that must happen for proper brain development. Severin was on the boarder of this growth when he had his last surgery. Thankfully his head growth has continued to make vertical marks on the growth chart. Good for the brain. The things I never have had to worry about before. We do not have to see the Ped. until after his 1st birthday! Cardiology is the end of June. We just may get to be Dr. free for a few months!
Severin was gnawing on my finger and I think I felt a tooth! Can it be? He is finally getting teeth! All this drooling is paying off.
Aside from being Dr. free it has been an amazing 9 months. He has been out for as long as he was in. I didn't know 9 months ago if I would ever have this day. I am so grateful for Severin. I am grateful for his heart. I am grateful for the growth this has given to our family. Everyday is a blessing. Too many times in life we say the "ifs". How lucky are we to be able to enjoy the moment and truly treasure it.

A beautiful Sunday

Thom and Johnathen are hitting golf balls in the back yard, with Johnathens new set of clubs. Neleh is crying in the kitchen because she doesn't want to eat- typical, dinner was over an hour ago. Severin is next to me on the floor trying to crawl. He does a great downward facing dog. Morgan is winding down her Nic & Carrie weekend- I will soon leave to get her. Yesterday was a beautiful Utah spring day. We worked out in the yard, and let the sun kiss our skin. I spent the majority of last week with the kids in Mt. Pleasant. It was so great to be with Grandma Sue and Grandpa Fred. The kids were introduced to "can hunting". Johnathen likes to collect cans and recycle them for money. My parents took us on a dirt road to "hunt". It turned out to be quiet the nature adventure. The kids learned a lot, maybe too much. There was a lot of dead things. Now I really need to go to the recycler. The best part was Severin did NOT need oxygen during the day! I was so thankful. He maintained as good as he does at home. He still needs O2 at night. He did start with croup again before we left. I took him to the Ped. and he gave me some steroid tabs for future croupie times, THANK-YOU! It saves on the ER trips. Back to the "normal" groove next week.

CROUP !!???!!

Severin woke up at 2am and couldn't breathe. He had a super "barky" cough. I know and I'm just going to say it, so those of you with virgin eyes, now is the time to advert your eyes...ok. SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HELL?! I have been indoors since October! How was my baby exposed to the croup? I have been so protective. I was just telling all my Bunco Ladies last night the good place we are in with him. I wanted to be hospital free this year. I'm not going to count the ER. I know this is just one of those regular childhood illnesses. He is a heart kid so my mind wanders. Is it his pulmonary veins, pulmonary artery, enlarged heart, diaphram, heart failure...on and on. We have tried so hard. My kids wash and wash and change clothes. They haven't had friends over for months. We just barely have been crawling out of our hole, and then this, SLAM! For the past three months he gets a cough, snotty nose, gooey eyes right before his Synagist is due. So on Weds. when he started with a snotty nose I just thought here we go again, his Synagist is due on Monday. It quickly turned into something more. Thankfully the ER Doc. at UVRMC was willing to treat Severin. If you remember back when his NJ tube was clogged they wanted NOTHING to do with him. The staff adored him, and he did all of his tricks for them to ooo and ahhh. The miracle of steroids and we were on our way. Boy do I need a nap!

Cookies and Milk anyone?

Severin kept screaming at me and reaching for my cookie, so I gave it to him to see if that was indeed what he wanted. Um... YES!
Severin takes his chocolate chip, with a few ounces of fortified mommy milkey, milkey to wash it down. YUM!

My little helper!

While I was in the living room working with Severin and Mary the OT, Neleh comes in and informs me she is doing the dishes. Yes she was, all by herself! It doesn't matter that she was rewashing the clean dishes,AND dirty dishes, her heart was in the right place! She was so proud of herself. She really is my Best cleaner. Look at that dimple who wouldn't love her!