Easter Festivities

For the first time in 4 years, I actually colored eggs with my kids.  The last time we did this was right before Mara was born!  I find that I'm a lazy mom and don't make a big deal out of holidays for my kids, so I decided to make a change and start being a fun mom instead of a lazy mom :)

My sister Karri came over to help us on Saturday.  The kids had alot of fun and didn't get too messy, thank heavens!

I didn't get a picture of the finished products, but we had fun anyway :)

Sunday morning the Easter Bunny came and hid the kids baskets. Xander found his with some fun figures from his favorite show Phineas and Ferb!!

Mara got a Colorwonder set of The Princess & The Frog, along with a new polly and jewelry.

We awoke to snow covered grass, which was really weird, but luckily it melted by the afternoon so my mom was able to do her annual Easter Egg Hunt for the kids.

Xander's basket doesn't hold much so we always have to get out a sack for the overflow!  The kids always have a great time finding their eggs (my mom labels them) and finding eggs for their cousins too.

My mom is really good about filling the eggs with change and the kids LOVE to get money, cause, really, who wouldn't ;)

She also made treasure boxes for all of them.

Xander decided that the best place to stash his candy was in the box!  Mom also got them all their own can of Pringles, which was a BIG hit!

After counting up their change, each of them walked away with over 13 dollars!!!!!  (Grandma Joan gave them each a $5, so that helped) They've already spent some of it, but will be saving the rest!

What a great day!

8 Is Great!

Happy 8th Anniversary!

I LOVE YOU!

Catching Up

I've been meaning to blog all week (I think I say that too much). But I've got a very quiet house with the kids asleep and hubby playing basketball, so I'm going to catch up a bit.

For starters, Xander had a little set-back with the HSP around the 21st of March (almost 2 weeks ago, see how far behind I am).  Poor boy got another head cold, just a cough and stuffy nose, and his legs went crazy again!!!  We noticed it on Saturday the 20th, kept him home from church on the 21st (because of the cough) and this is what he looked like on the 22nd.

I called the doctors office to see if this was normal.  It has only been 6 weeks since it all started, and he was looking 100% better.  But the cold just made it go crazy for a few days.  They said that it was normal for him to have a 're-lapse' (my words, not theirs) within 2-3 months if he gets a cold.  Luckily, he only had the spots for a few days and there wasn't much swelling with it this time.  So lets pray that he stays healthy for the next month or so until it's all gone.

Since Easter is on Conference Sunday this year, I had the kids wear their new Easter clothes (from my mom) on Sunday (the 28th).  We didn't have time before church to get a pic, so this is afterwards. We tried a few on the front porch but Xander was having a hard time looking at the camera because of the sunlight. So we went to the backyard to see if it was better (and it wasn't).  This is the only one we took back there and we told Xander to keep his eyes closed until my mom counted to 3, and this is what we got!!!

I guess it's better than nothing.

Lately Xander has been wanting to do chores for me like loading and unloading the dishwasher (which totally helps my back!) and taking out the garbage.  Our trash day is Tuesday, so Monday night we were talking about how we could all (me, Xan & Mara) take the garbage can to the street together.  So I gathered the last of the garbage around the house and told them to stay in the kitchen and wait for me. When I got back upstairs I couldn't see the kids anywhere, so I asked my mom if she knew where they were. She said she heard them talk about jackets and shoes and that was it. So I ran over to the kitchen window to see if I could spot them anywhere and this is what I found:

I guess I took too long getting the garbage and they decided to just take the can out by themselves.

Xander was so happy about helping out that he even brought it in from the street first thing on Tuesday morning (he put a jacket and shoes on while still wearing his pajamas)

Oh how I love my Xander!  He just surprises me all the time!

Bubble Time

My mom came home from the store on Saturday with a new bottle of bubbles, so of course, Mara pestered her for awhile until finally they went outside to blow bubbles.  I took more pics than this, but these are my favorite.  It just makes me wish I had a better camera and a smaller tummy so I could get those 'shots'.

American Heroes

Thursday night Xander participated in his first program while in Kindergarten.  His grade sang 'Yankee Doodle'. He knew all of the verses (I thought there was only 1, but there is at least 3-5!)  He did a great job and was so excited to be in the program.

He's on the top row, somewhat in the middle of the picture, with his head down.

There were so many people there so it was hard to get pictures. But I was able to video tape it, eventhough it probably didn't turn out that great. Oh well, it was fun to be there anyway :)

Random Thoughts

First I'm excited to report that Xander is doing SO much better!!  He's still taking meds everyday, but only once! He doesn't swell as often as he used to, and his spots are getting few and far between.

These are his legs last week: March 9th  (4 weeks after it all started)

These are his legs tonight: March 17 (5 weeks later)

I was starting a bath for him tonight and took one look at his legs and they just look so AMAZING!! There is only 3-4 new tiny spots and the rest of his legs have faded ones.

It makes me so happy and relieved that he's doing this well.  When it all started, it was such a frustration that there wasn't anything I could really do to make it go away. But we've just taken it day by day and look at where we are now :)

Mara decided that she wanted to have her hair like Giselle's (from Enchanted). Meaning: she wanted flowers in her hair.  So she ran to the bathroom and picked out some flowers and bows so I could put them in her hair.  She was so happy to be like Giselle :)

I feel so, I don't know what the word is, that I have neglected to get belly pictures during this pregnancy.  I was so good when I was pregnant with Mara (since I didn't do it at all with Xander's pregnancy) at having my picture taken on the days of my doctor appts so I could see how big I got, but I just keep forgetting to do it this time around.  So here we are, at 29 weeks, and this is only my 2nd pic I've had taken.  Granted, I look HUGE, but I don't feel huge, at least not yet.  I know I'll be getting alot bigger in the next few months as we near the end. 

I'm only just starting to really feel the aches and pains with pregnancy.  She is starting to really have awake times and sleeping times, which, for the most part, I hope change once she's born. But I do love being pregnant. It's just so amazing that ones body can change around to accomodate another little life.  I love being able to get to know my baby by the movements that she makes.  So far, she really likes to have her feet in my right rib and has just recently started having hiccupps. Also, she thinks that it's 'play time' when I'm ready to go to sleep and is always fighting with the matteress when I'm lying on my side.

But I'm so excited to have another child in our family. It's been so long so it seems like everything is all brand new. I just hope I haven't forgotten how to take care of a newborn :)

7 Years

It's been 7 years and I miss you more and more each day.

I love you Dad!!

I miss the dog sometimes too :)

Sewing Projects

We all know that my love of sewing has blossomed in the past 6 months. I've made countless skirts for Mara, all 5 of my nieces, and my neighbors daughters.  I've also made 3 skirts for our upcoming addition along with a blanket for her too (I haven't taken pics of those but I will). 

But I've ventured into some new patterns in my past few projects.

First:   I made a new purse for myself!!

(I borrowed the pattern from my cousin)

I've been looking at the blue fabric for a few months and didn't know what to do with it, so I never bought it.  I took my sister fabric shopping for the purse and we found a great coordinating fabric to go with it!

It's bigger than my other purse and I LOVE IT!!!

And then just today I made a Colored Pencil Roll-Up!!!!

I've wanted to make a crayon one for awhile now, but realized that we could use one for colored pencils more.  I found a tutorial here but altered it for the bigger pencils. And what's even better is that I used some leftover fabric that I've had since last summer :)  I also used flannel instead of cotton so I didn't have to use interfacing.  And I made it pretty fast, so my pencil pockets aren't very straight, but they all fit!!!

I still have a few more projects that I need to finish up so that I can maybe put my machine away for a bit (yea, right!). 

But I need some advice!!!

I am a few years behind in my scrapbooks for my kids and my ultimate goal was to get as much caught up before the baby came, but I feel like it's such a daunting task.  And I'm starting to get more into digital stuff in photoshop, but I don't know if I'm ready to completely switch to digital. I have so much paper and tangible things and I love the realness of scrapbooks, so I don't know what to do!! I know it would be so much faster to do it on the computer, but I don't think I'll like it as much.

I need help deciding, so what do you think??

Update on Xander

It's amazing how much better he's doing this week.  He's had minimal swelling/bruising, the spots are clearing up and he's only getting a few new ones each day.  At night, if he's stiff, he'll just try to walk fast to get his muscles going (usually a few laps around the kitchen table or up and down the hallway) and he feels better.  I haven't taken any new pictures in the past week, but he's starting to look more 'normal' each day.  He's still taking ibuprophen every day, but not as often :)
I'm so thankful for his improvements each day. It makes us ALL very happy.
Thanks for all your well wishes, I know things get easier with a big support system :)

Henoch-Schonlein Purpura

What a mouth full!!  And a pain in the #%&

What it is: Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is a form of blood vessel inflammation or vasculitis. There are many different conditions that feature vasculitis. Each of the forms of vasculitis tends to involve certain characteristic blood vessels. HSP affects the small vessels called capillaries in the skin and frequently the kidneys. HSP results in skin rash (most prominent over the buttocks and behind the lower extremities) associated with joint inflammation (arthritis) and sometimes cramping pain in the abdomen. Henoch-Schonlein purpura is also referred to as anaphylactoid purpura.

What causes it: HSP occurs most often in the spring and frequently follows an infection of the throat or breathing passages. HSP seems to represent an unusual reaction of the body's immune system that is in response to this infection (either bacteria or virus). Aside from infection, drugs can also trigger the condition. HSP occurs most commonly in children, but people of all age groups can be affected.

My little boy has this. It's very frustrating for us and painful for him. He had a slight cough in January and this is what happened because his immune system was 'too good' at fighting off his cold. It's been almost 3 weeks since the first symptoms and it seems like it'll never go away. It all started on the 8th of Feb.  We've been to the Doctor's office 4 times, the hospital 2 times for 2 different blood draws and he's been on ibuprophen almost the whole time along with a 5 day perscription of steriods.  They (the docs) say it could last up to 6-8 weeks!!!  We are approaching the end of week 2, so hopefully it will be over before the 8 weeks. They say that he'll be 100% fine afterwards, which is very nice to hear.  He has had some good days and bad days, but mostly it's good mornings and bad nights.  He's been able to go to school for the most part (there have been a few days when he hasn't been able to walk, so he's stayed home). I'm just ready to have this all behind us.

I forgot to take pictures until after he got on the steroid and the spots were starting to clear up, but since then we have been taking pics almost everyday, depending on how bad it's been. 

First off: (Feb 12th) Here is a lovely smiley face we found on one of his legs.

(and yes, he has Star Wars sheets)

It all started with swelling in his right ankle, which you can see here.

After the ankle, the swelling moved up to his knee and he wasn't able to walk because of the pain. After seeing the doc and getting the diaganosis, (Feb 11th) the swelling moved up to his spine and we had to go to the afterhours clinic. The swelling was 4 inches up his spine and 2 inches across!!  (I wish I had a pic of this one)  That night we were able to get the steroid, and he was walking the next day and felt great.  At the end of the meds, (Feb 16th) he was clear of any spots and the brusing that came with the swelling was gone.  The nurse told me that it could come back very easily, but I didn't think that it would have been as bad as it has been.

This is 2 days after he finished taking the steroid. (Feb 18th) The spots came back and he was starting to feel pain again. He went to school that day (this is a before school pic)

After school the spots had made a fun design on his left ankle.

The next day, (Feb 19th) he did great in the morning and I sent him to school. But by the end of the 3 hrs, his calfs had swelled up and he could barely walk.  So he spent the rest of the day on the couch with his legs up and built a dinosaur lego set :)

The swelling started in his left ankle this time (Feb 21st)

Here he is enjoying some birthday cupcakes with is 'dinner tray'.

He had been really good and stayed on the couch most of the day, but after playing with cousins for a bit, his foot started swelling and the spots showed up too.

I kept him home on the 22nd and we went back to the docs to see if we could get the steroid again.  They said no, and to just keep doing ibuprophen and eleavation until it goes away.  I was very emotional that day and had a few crying fits.

Here are the backs of his legs (Feb 22nd)

Feb 23rd: more swelling in the left ankle along with the spots.

And swelling in his right elbow:

Feb 24th: more spots on his legs

And swelling in both hands!!

There are even spots and swelling showing up on the bottom of his feet!

The spots show up bright red, then they fade away after a few days. Some days the only way I can tell if he has new ones is to feel his legs because the spots are raised! 

Overall, for the past few days he has been doing great as long as we keep up on the pain meds.  But usually he gets stiff in the evenings and has a hard time walking.  I'm hoping that we've already been through the worst of it, but only time will tell.

***UPDATE: March 2015***

He has had NO other complications from his bout with HSP. He is a happy, healthy 11 year old boy. I hope this will help all those out there that are struggling with this in one of your children. It is so sad to watch them go through this, but it WILL go away. I am so happy that my son is healthy now.