Catching Up....Again!!!

So I've fallen behind again!!! I promise I will try to do better. It's been such a busy month and a half!!! We've reached our half way mark with Baby Girl Carpenter...yes, I said girl! Little Ry is sooooo excited....Bryson it took a day or two for the news to set in, but he's excited now! In fact, it's him that wants to touch my belly everyday and ask..."How's little sister today". As I'm writing this we are actually 23 weeks along...however this picture below is at 20 1/2 weeks. Here's our sweet little miracle...she's an active little thing! I can feel her kicking everyday which I love!!! It's a nice reassurance that she's growing and doing well. Ultra sound looked great! Now it's just the waiting game for that lovely blood test after she's born to see if her muscles are healthy as well...

We finally made it to Temple Square with the kids this year...it's the first year we been able to take the kids and they loved it!!! Not only the lights but both of them loved walking through the visitors center and the tour of the conference center....the spirit was definitely felt!

On December 5th, my handsome Bryson turned the big 12... I can't believe I have a 12 year old. What an amazing birthday this was...not that the party was huge or anything...it's the responsibilities he has taken on as a 12 year old. He was ordained a deacon and received the priesthood...what an emotional/exciting/proud moment that was. I can't express the feelings of watching your son pass the sacrament for the first time...and to watch the other young men/ward members take him under their wing to guide him through the process. A truly humbling experience. Bryson now attends YM too...and he loves it!!! I can't get the lift up in the van and say good-bye fast enough...he's already headed for the front door of the church!

Another year of Tavaci...Rylie was soooo excited to be in the older group this year. She was given a speaking part at this years Christmas Concert and did amazing!!! I am so proud of her!

Christmas 2010!!! Spent lots of time with family and friends!!! Love this time of year!

Wishing you all wonderful Holiday Wishes and a Happy New Year!!!

Buckle up for some CRAZY adventures with the Carpenters!!!

Well, since I haven't blogged all summer, I have a lot of catching up to do!! So many fun and exciting adventures to share!!! The summer flew by...but I have to admit, we had a lot of crazy fun!!! Like I said....CRAZY fun!!! (Talent show at one of our family reunions...sang and danced to "The Dancing Queen")
What a handsome man!!! My grandpa dressed up in his uniform to do the flag ceremony at the "Child" family reunion. I sure admire the love he has and shows for our country!

More time spent hanging out with the fam at the "Yates" family reunion...sitting around the fire.

fishing...

Swimming...

and playing until you just can't keep your eyes open any longer!

Swinging at the "Carpenter" family reunion... Rylie loved it! Bryson, as tough as he is, didn't want anything to do with it...so no pictures of him :(

BBQs with the family...this has got to be one of my most favorite things to do in the summer!

Burley Spudman Triathlon with my sis...

Getting ready to start....

That's us out there somewhere...I'd have to say the swim was probably my favorite part this time. No pictures of the bike or run...Erik had to put his EMT training to work due to a terrible biker vs. spectator collision. Oh well...glad he was able to help, but I think it traumatized Bryson (he witnessed the whole thing)...poor guy!

Little Red Riding Hood ride...My sister and I went for the 80 mile distance this year. We had such a great time riding for a wonderful cause!!!

First day of School...both kids were so excited!

Bryson's first day!

Then we took a fun drive to Colorado to visit my brother and his family. We had a wonderful time spending time together and enjoying each others company!
Took the kids to the temple...
Mom and Dad!!! What a cute couple!

And now for the biggest adventure of them all.... Ready???? Are you sitting down???? Ok, here goes...

Yes...the picture below does belong to us...this beautiful little spirit will be joining our family around April 28th...

Yes...crazy adventures happening at our house but we are buckling up for a roller coaster ride that will far out way anything else!

Now that you've heard the news....and have brought your mouth up off the floor...we want you all to know how excited we are to share this ride with you!!! So for now....buckle up...here we go!!!

Summer Fun at the Carpenter Home

Wow...summer is here and the busyness begins!!! Not sure where the time goes but I'm having a hard time finding it. I've put together some pictures to update everyone on some of the fun things we've done so far this summer...from family pictures to the Little Red Riding Hood bike ride, and last but not least MDA summer camp for the kids. FUN! FUN! FUN! Now on to July... for us that brings FAMILY REUNIONS!!! I'll keep you posted on all the fun!

Family photos

Took the kids up to Star Valley this last weekend to visit my sister and get family pictures. My sister's friend (Rebecca White) is a wonderful photographer and wanted to enter the kids into a photo contest (photo contest of children with special needs). We were able to sneak in a few family photos too. We had such a fun time!! Rebecca put together a cute slide show of our session. Good times!!! (See "Saturday Session" link below)
Saturday Session

Collin Raye - She's With Me

Very Powerful song....thought I would share it with all of you!!!

Special Day for Rylie!!

We had such a special day on Saturday...Rylie was baptized!! She looked so beautiful in white and she was glowing with excitement. It's hard to express my feelings as we prepared for this day...a little bit of anxiety, excitement, and most of all pure happiness!

To explain this a little more, let me go back about 5 years ago....

March 15th, the day before Rylie's 3rd birthday. The day had seemed pretty routine; respiratory treatment, bath, got dressed, and played with toys. As the day went on Rylie began to cough and show signs of respiratory problems. By 2:00 pm she had spiked a high fever and began struggling to breath. I ran her into the clinic...she of course was admitted. I spent the afternoon/evening with her until around 10:00 pm or so. Erik was there to spend the night with her. She had continued to decline. I hadn't been home long when I get the phone call that most of us hope never to experience. All Erik said was..."GET HERE NOW"!!! He wouldn't tell me anything else!!! But he had a reason...he knew that if I really knew what was going on, I may not have driven in a safe manner. I parked the car and went running. As I reached the pediatric floor it was full of hospital personnel. My mind was going a hundred miles an hour "what's going on...where's my little girl"...

Rylie had coded not long after 11:00pm. Her heart and breathing had stopped and CPR was administered. Erik tells me how he woke up to the nurse saying CODE BLUE. He jumped out of bed to our sweet little girl laying so still in the bed, a pale white color, with no life in her. The code team worked on her for what seemed like forever....then all of a sudden the sound of beep beep beep from the heart monitor began. Yeah...that's a whole other feeling that I can't explain!!!! The life flight team from Primary Children's arrived and she was quickly rushed off. It was a touch and go situation for the next 7 hours or so. After arriving at Primary Children's, she still wasn't stable...could not get her blood pressure stable and the ventilator was doing all the breathing for her. This event led to a 2 month stay in the ICU and another code blue while there. I strongly believe she is watched over, protected, and comforted by a much higher power. I am so grateful for my knowledge of this and the comfort it gives me as well.

One night in particular (1 month into her ICU visit from events above), as I again was called just minutes after arriving home from a long day in the ICU with Rylie. The nurse says "Rylie's crashing, we've had to put her back on the ventilator". So off I went ...another frantic drive back to Primary children's. This time it was different...Rylie had been struggling to breath for over a month now...her little body was tired and needed help. She was on 100% oxygen and still dropping. Options were limited. Multiple doctors surrounded her bed trying and hoping for a miracle. At the same time her oxygen continued to drop. I again turned to my Heavenly Father...I knew my little girl was slipping away. Her little body had fought long and hard with physical limitations to begin with. I knew she needed his help. Within minutes after, one doctor came up with an idea to switch a setting on Rylie's ventilator. Her words were "This is old school, but it's worth a try". Sure enough...within an hour after Rylie was stable again and continued to progress everyday after that until she was finally able to come home!

Rylie spent her first 3 years of life in and out of the hospital fighting through situations like the events mentioned above. So for this wonderful event to happen on Saturday...let's just say, it's a milestone we didn't know we'd get to experience....but so grateful we did!!!

LOVE YOU BUGS!!! WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!!!

Rylie was baptized by her dad and uncle Mike
All of Rylie's wonderful friends came to share this special day with her. We sure love each and everyone of you and thank you for being apart of Rylie's life!!

Congradulations Rylie! You are such a special little girl and I am honored to be your mom!!!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!!!

So... I'm finally posting some of the fun pictures from Rylie's "Rock Star" birthday party. She had such a wonderful time hanging out with all her cute friends. What a great bunch of girls! They made guitar pic necklaces, got their nails done, decorated cupcakes, and last but not least...KARAOKE CRAZINESS!!! Rylie loves to sing...so we got her a karaoke machine for her birthday. Believe me when I say.... "It came into good use at the party"!!! With music blaring, girls rocking out with their blow up guitars, and yes...strobe lights, it was pure Rock Star fun!!!

Good Times!!!

Rylie turned 8

Wow...what a crazy month. Both kids taking there turn spending a week in the hospital, planned a "Girls Rock Star Birthday Party", trying to get things together for a baptism, and most importantly my little Rylie turning the big 8.
She has been counting down the days for the past 3 years to the big # 8 birthday. Once Bryson turned 8 and got to be baptized plus start the scouting program, she was constantly asking..."when do I get to go to scouts and be baptised?" I explained that she would get to do achievement/activity days instead of scouts and she was ecstatic!!!
When I think back on the last 8 years ..... so many things come to mind. A sweet little girl that struggled with health from the get go.... to a beautiful little eight year old getting ready to take the step of baptism. This was a birthday that 6-7 years ago we questioned would ever happen, but soooo glad it did.
Our sweet Rylie bugs is such a joy in our lives. Her personality just cracks us up. She's such a little spit fire, and not afraid to speak her mind (which can be scary at times), but good. It's what makes her the little fighter that she is, so full of determination and zest for life. Rylie just makes me smile and I am so proud of her the the little girl she has become. Happy Birthday Bugs and I'm excited to celebrate many more birthdays with you!!!

Love you!!!

Ms. Wheelchair Utah...

Rylie had the awesome opportunity of meeting Ms. Wheelchair Utah (Keli Babcock). What an amazing person! Her platform is "You are Unique. Accept it. Love it. Rock it!" Wow...how we could all learn from this simple statement!!! Rylie was in absolute heaven. We talked with her for awhile before she spoke up at USU and she let Rylie where her crown and hold her sash through the entire presentation. It was so neat to meet her and experience her positive outlook on life. "Happiness is a choice". One of Rylie's very good friends met her there and they enjoyed this great time together with their new friend...Ms. Wheelchair Utah. So Rylie's new saying from Keli...."This is how I "ROLL"... You are unique. Accept it. Love it. Rock it!"

Example-of-the-Believers....

My sister found this wonderful message that I wanted to pass on to others. It reminds me of how wonderful the youth are today. It is so reassuring to know my kids are surrounded by others just like this. Ones that are so willing to give of themselves to make dreams come true. I look at each one of my kids' friends and stand in amazement at how well they treat Bryson and Rylie. They overlook their differences and treat them just like everyone else. WOW...what great little people!! As a mom, this is very comforting!

To all the parents of these awesome little people....thank you for allowing them to be apart of my kids' world!
(Check out the link below..)


Example-of-the-Believers

Funny quote from Rylie

So I thought this was the funniest thing ever.... as I was getting Rylie bathed and dressed this morning, we were talking about her baptism and how we would need extra people to help...someone to hold her up and focus on her airway (cover mouth and nose) besides her dad doing the blessing. She turned to me and said... "Doesn't daddy say something like And the power invested in me". My first response was... ya, if you're getting married... ( I think she watches too much TV)

But I guess she's kind of close... in a round about way! We sure got a good chuckle out of it though.

Catching Up...

Sorry...got a little distracted since we've been home from the hospital, but wanted everyone to know we are home!!!!! Rylie came home on Saturday with still work to be done as far as her lungs go, but making great improvements everyday. That's all we can ask, right? Doing respiratory treatments around the clock, but today she was able to sit up and go without oxygen for about 15 minutes before dropping....yeah! I'll take whatever I can get.
Bryson is back 100%...thinking his stomach problems might have been due to some new medication he was on for migraines...but who really know??? Just glad to have him feeling well.
Wanted to give a big shout out of thanks to all my wonderful friends and family members for all your help, love, concern, thoughts, and most of all prayers. We are so well taken care of and watched over by many....THANKS!!!!!

Another day at the hospital...

So Friday about mid day I get a call from the school saying Rylie had needed her cough assist machine multiple times...this immediately tells me "Great, Rylie's getting sick". So I ran down to the school to pick her up. She was supposed to go that night to a fun birthday party, but like usual...last minute change of plans. Fever came full force at 103, followed by Oxygen needs, and respiratory yuck!!! A special THANKS to the cute little girls for stopping their party long enough to bring it to Rylie. She loved the visit!!! Saturday, I ran her into the clinic because due to learned lessons in the past...Rylie can go down hill pretty fast. She was diagnosed with pneumonia and started on antibiotics. We continued respiratory treatments every 4 hours around the clock without much improvement by Sunday night. Given....while this was all happening, I get a call from my mom Saturday evening letting me know that now Bryson is fevering (Oh brother)!!! When it rains it pours...I guess. So I took Rylie back in on Monday....still fevering, respiratory issues were worse, and I wasn't feeling calm about the situation anymore. Let alone, I also had a little boy with fever and severe stomach pain causing him to vomit continuously!!!! Sure enough...we were told we needed to take the walk up to the 3rd floor. To be honest, I was actually relieved to hear the words. Sometime the anxiety of having the kids really sick at home is too overwhelming. It's actually comforting knowing they have direct contact with the doctor and they are in the right place if things were to get really bad. Bryson turned out to have an ear infection and told to wait and see what his stomach does. So far it's been a little better.

So here we are on Wednesday night, day 3 at hospital and things are going well. Rylie was all smiles today and had lots of wonderful visitors. She still has some work to do as far as her lungs go, but it's wonderful to have her in such great spirits!!! Bryson tried school today, only lasted half day...but I guess that's better then nothing!!!

I sure love my kids so much....every time they start with respiratory symptoms I get this big lump in my throat and I think to myself...ok, what's going to be the outcome this time. You just never know what life has in store for each and every one of us. There's been so many awful memories of nights we were unsure if there would be a tomorrow for them and as the kids get older the anxiety sets in a little deeper!!! I am so grateful for both of them and the joy they bring to Erik and I. What strong little individuals they are with lots of fight in them. They may not have much physical strength, but man....what spiritual strength they have. Like today as Rylie and I were talking after we heard a code blue go out...she says, "that happened to me once...but Heavenly Father helped me". Wow!!! I learn and grow from them each and every day! Thanks kids.....

On to tomorrow.... Hope for another great day!!!

Monster Truck Jam!!!

Last Friday night we loaded up the kids and headed down to SLC to the Monster Truck Jam. We had a lot of fun! My cute little nephew will be turning the big 4 in a few weeks and he LOVES BIG trucks. So my sister and brother-in-law decided this is what they wanted to do for him for his birthday and invited all of us to come along. The Big Birthday boy (Kanyon)!

I wasn't sure if Rylie would enjoy it or not, due to the fact that she's "All Princess"....but she hung in there! (After asking..."how much longer" every 5 minutes)

Gotta love her though!

...and of coarse, we couldn't leave the Energy Solution Center without Bryson grabbing a picture with his favorite Basketball star!!!

What a fun night...I always love spending time out with the family and enjoying each others company!!!

Thanks Jamie and Ryan for the great time!!!