One last Cousin Visit

My sister Elizabeth and her family came one last time to our house in Redlands. It was so great to have them come and visit. It was a wonderful distraction for Abigail from her casts and everything. We went to the Orange County Train Museum. Her four boys had a great time. It was a fun day and a fun weekend. They are so excited to be living near each other very soon! 

Caleb's Birthday

For Caleb's Birthday we did the usual stuff. I made him breakfast, fruit pizza, and Banana cream pie. Joshua gave him a matching Batman shirt for his Birthday! He was so excited to be matching with daddy. It was a fun relaxing birthday, and we were very happy to be able to celebrate together. Caleb had to work a swing shift but at lest we had most the day together.

Abigail's Ordeals

Abigail has Metatarsus Adductus. It is fairly mild foot problem that causes in-toeing. We have taken her to the orthopedic surgeon several times since she was little and everyone told us that it is not a problem and she will grow out of. So before we changed insurance with Caleb's new job we decided to take her again just to double check things. There was not very much improvement since her last visit so the doctor decided to try a month of casting.  Basically they wanted to see if they could get her feet to stretch enough to hopefully give her a boost in the right direction. She got them switched at 2 weeks and then Daddy took her into his ER and took them off himself at 4 weeks. We took advantage of the casts and went to Disneyland so we could cut in line, which was a nice bonus. Overall though the casts were pretty terrible. We tried to live life normally but basically it was like having a gigantic 7 month old baby. We had to carry her everywhere and set her up with toys all around her. Amazingly by the last two weeks she was able to walk around in the casts! That made it a little easier, but by that time she was pretty much frustrated and done. That is why daddy took the casts off instead of waiting an extra couple days for actual appointment to take them off. The hardest part is after the casts were taken off she took about a month to get back up to walking normal and running. Even now her legs tire easily and her ankles are weak and roll in more than they should. So it was four weeks of torture with unfortunately not a lot of benefit. 

Abigail has always snored. I mean not just a little heavy loud breathing, it was like your 90 year old grandpa you could hear down the hall with loud gasping and all. She would wake up at least 3 times a night, and sweat profusely all night long...she and I were exhausted most days from the lack of sleep. So I started googling "toddler snoring". I found millions of sites hood sleep apnea caused by enlarged tonsils and adenoids. She had every symptom, and on all the sites it had a huge list of very serious side effects if the problems goes untreated into adolescence. I talked to Caleb about it and he checked out her tonsils to find that she had no more than a 1/4 an inch between them for air to get through. So we set up an appointment with the Peds ENT.  

The ENT checked her out and was amazed at the size of her tonsils. They were so large that he showed me how they were actually visible on her neck. I just figured she had kind of a chubby chin and neck, but apparently that was just all tonsils. He also explained how most of her speech problems were being caused by the tonsils as well. Basically we had no choice and had to take them out. we got her scheduled for the surgery. A few days before the Surgery daddy brought home a lot of hospital things. We played Doctor, and gave her baby dolls "Sleepy Juice" and stuff. I think all the prep really paid off because she was so calm and brave going into surgery. She did an amazing job. the results of the surgery have been wonderful! No more snoring, sweating or waking up. Her whole face and neck look totally different, her speech is improving, and even her temperament has improved. The surgery was quick and easy and recovery was only about four rougher days. I am so proud of her. She was so brave through her casts and surgery, and I am so glad it is all done. 

Chris and Grandpa's Visit

 So I know this was months ago now...but better late than never. At the end of April Caleb's brother Chris and his dad came to visit. It was a quick trip but very fun. Chris Just got home from  his mission from El Salvador in January so it was his first little vacation. We loved having him and the kids adored him, and luckily he was very patient with them wanting to be with him every second. 

We went to Chrystal Cove and boogie boarded and dug in the sand. We ended the day watching the sun set over the Ocean as we ate our dinner at Ruby's Diner right there. It was such a fun day.

 While they were here we had our Mormon Helping hands day and helped put in Heritage Park. It was fun to see everyone together in the community working on such a huge project.

The last night they were here we had Caleb's Great Aunt over for dinner, she is a wonderful lady and it was fun to hear all her stories. 

Easter

 We had a great Easter. We did our normal Easter tradition of reading scriptures of Jesus' last week, and having a little "Last Supper". Which I always love doing to help the kids understand Easter.  Don't mind Abigail's crazy hair, she is really into brushing her hair several times a day, which just doesn't work when you have curls :)

 

Friday we got "egged". Some one put a basket and plastic eggs all over our front yard for the kids to find. It was so sweet and the kids had so much fun. 

Saturday before Easter Grandma and Grandpa Bailey and Joseph came. The kids were so excited. For the whole week before they came Abigail would wake up and go check the guest room to see if Grandma came yet! Saturday afternoon we all dyed eggs together. 

On Easter Caleb's uncle, aunt and cousins came over. We all went to Church, then had a delicious Easter Brunch, and an Easter egg hunt. Caleb had to be at work at 4pm so we had the Brunch instead of a dinner. It was a wonderful day and we had so much fun being with the family and having them here.

 

 

 

Grandma and Grandpa stayed for a whole week! It was so much fun. Grandma and Abigail had a little tea party together. Everyone had to wear hats, and we had cute little dishes. It was really cute and fun. They are lucky to have such nice wonderful grandparents and a very patient fun uncle.

One of the days they were here we went to San Diego. We went out on Coronado, Old Town, and the USS Midway.

We also spent one day in LA. We went to the La Brea tar pits, and hiked to the Hollywood sign. I have lived in California most my life and had never seen the Hollywood sign or been to Hollywood, so it was pretty exciting.  It was a really fun day together. 

So all together it was a very fun and memorable Easter, and a great visit with Grandma and Grandpa and Joseph. The kids are already asking when they are coming again to visit.