Filling in the holes

I can't believe how quickly the last couple of weeks have gone by.  It seemed that the first three months of this year were looooong and somewhat stressful and difficult.  The last few weeks have been so different.  Really, they've been nice.

While Playing at the park Finn made these cute handprints in the snow.

Kai doing some reading homework.  He reads to me and Finn quite often.  See his alien finger?  His teacher sends it home with every book so he can have a finger to point to the words.  (He doesn't need it, but I'm sure there are many kids that do.)

Finn discovered the climbing rocks at the park.  And unlike another child of mine, he can scale it all by himself in no time at all.

Did I mention there are two climbing rocks?  This one is even bigger and still not a problem for him.

A somewhat common napping position for him these days

For Easter this year, we had our egg hunt and morning fun.  I was glad that church is now at 1pm so we had time to really enjoy the morning.  The night before Easter, Kai complained at the dinner table that the Easter Bunny made the eggs too easy to find.  Apparently, the Bunny heard him because this year the eggs were not easy at all.  It made the egg hunt last longer and was a lot of fun.  When all was said and done we were still missing one egg and it remained the "Mystery of the Missing Egg" for several days after that--until I happened to stumble across it later in the week.  Kai actually got a kick out of it and it was fun to have a mid-week reminder of Easter.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any Easter pictures.  I have a lot of video footage of the egg hunt, but neglected to take pictures.  Finn did steal my camera after the egg hunt and snap a couple of pictures for me, so that will have to do.  That morning Finn had woken up with a runny nose and started in on a cold.  So, he stayed home from church with Reid while Kai and I attended church by ourselves.  I love Easter Sunday because the music can't be beat and this time was no exception.  I currently serve with the Young Women of our ward and they did a beautiful musical number.  And the ward choir sang one of my favorites--Consider the Lillies of the Field.  Great Sunday!

The Easter Bunny brought the boys some Angry Birds in their baskets.  This one is Kai's.  Finn took this picture.

Finn's Easter self-portrait

Since Finn was sick that first week in April (and off of his Periactin) his sleep schedule was still a bit messed up and unpredictable.  But it was better than the previous week.  He restarted his Periactin the following Sunday (General Conference Sunday) and we have had virtually no sleep issues since--hallelujah!  Finn also ended up starting antibiotics on the Monday following Conference as his cold had progressed to a junky cough.  This, too, turned out to be a good thing as it seems his cough has responded and he is doing much, much better.  However, Kai came down with this cold just 3 days after Finn and he is still fighting it.  What I find interesting, though, is that for one of the first times that I can remember, he has had a green runny nose for two straight weeks but has not developed a cough and has not had a vomiting episode associated with it either.  I'm not sure if it's coincidence or if it has something to do with the reflux meds we started him on last month, but either way....I'll take it.

Last week Finn had a follow-up visit to the GI doctor.  His original appointment on Tuesday was changed to Wednesday because of a blizzard warning.  I was very grateful to the doctor for doing that for us and I was happy with his appointment on Wednesday.  What I found interesting was that she said that kids who are prone to reflux (as she believes Finn is) are also prone to having episodes when constipated.  The exertion and pressure associated with constipation can lead one to throw up apparently.  Finn is definitely prone to constipation.  I asked her if she thought any of his medications would be contributing factors to that and she studied his list and did not think that was an issue.  She also understood my concerns about all of his medications and agreed to help us come up with a plan to get him off some of them.  Unfortunately, the plan is all about diet changes and I have no idea how we can even think about getting him to take several tablespoons of flax seed every day.  If any of you have suggestions.......   Other than that, he doesn't have to go back for another follow-up with her until the end of the summer at which point, if he has had a good summer, she would like to take him off of his delayed emptying medication for a short time and have him retested to see what we find.  I like that idea a lot, so we'll see what happens.  I did ask her to review the test results with us, as we have never done that with her (her nurse just called us after the test and told us he was delayed and they were starting meds).  So, she pulled out test results and let me know that he was at 33% digested in an hour (he should have been at 50%) and then 50% at two hours (and should have been at 75%).  In her opinion, this put his delayed emptying at the severe end of moderate delay.  That surprised me that she would consider it that way.  And I'm glad I asked and got her opinion.  It somehow makes dealing with his issues easier.  For some reason, the more I understand about it, the easier it seems to adjust, anticipate, and be ok with his random episodes.  I guess it just helps to know that it's not his fault and it's not always mine either.  The poor kid is dealing with something difficult, and for being as "severe" as it is, I'm happy that we don't have more problems.  It seems the occassional episode is inevitable and instead of beating myself up over it, I need to just learn and move on.  There will be plenty more episodes in the future, I'm sure.

Finally at the end of last week we had an air conditioner installed.  Yippeee!  We also had a new furnace and humidifier put in at the same time.  I'm looking forward to not roasting in our house this summer and actually being ok to cook and run laundry without raising the temperature another 5 degrees!

While all of this has been going on, I've slowly been checking items off of my baby to-do list.  I have written thank you notes for gifts, bought last minute needed things like a baby book, socks, and diapers, and I have even cleaned out the refrigerator.  I've run my first load of pink clothing, cleaned out the diaper bag, and packed bags for both me and the baby for the hospital.  I find myself cleaning the house nearly every day hoping that I'll go into labor at just the right time when the house is clean and that somehow, magically, it'll stay clean for the day or two that I'm gone and the 3 boys are home alone!  Maybe I should just give up on that notion all together!!

The start of the girl clothes in the closet.  It's grown a little bit since this picture and it's so fun to open the closet and see these cute clothes!

Bows for baby girl

I can't believe we're in the final countdown.

My kids are so independent.  Sometimes I feel guilty that they don't need me to play, but I'll admit, most of the time it's wonderful.  This is what Finn was doing to entertain himself the other afternoon.  He cleared out all of the "scoops" from my kitchen drawer and was trying to pick up his toys with them.

We went to Gymboree to spend our GymBucks and Finn kept putting on the girl hats.  So, I helped him find a hat just for him.  It's cute, don't you think?!

Kai's birthday present from Grandma arrived early.  It took quite a bit of time to blow up, so I had the boys do treatments while they waited.

Dad's almost done blowing it up and they are so excited!

Kai got the first ride.

And then he shared with his brother because that's just more fun.

I think I need to take some more pictures of Kai!