My first online video!

Thanks to Jenn for helping me figure out how to upload this. Evan has discovered balls this week and LOVES them. Enjoy watching our little boy!







Evan chases the ball-1 on Vimeo

American Girl Boy

Yesterday the girls were dressing Evan up in their dress-ups, and I could hear him getting more and more frustrated, so I finally I came over to see what was going on. I was trying to explain to the girls that he was not their doll--he's a real person and they can't just make him do whatever they want. So Megan responds, "But Mom, he's our American Girl Boy."

Funny.

The chicken pox look lighter on both girls today. Brooke's never developed into a full case. The nurse looked at her yesterday and said she looks like a classic case of chicken pox in someone who has had the vaccine--just a handful of spots, very light, and starting to fade already.

Megan's looks like a more full-blown case of chicken pox, but interestingly, hers are fading away rather than scabbing over, which is what they should do in a typical case. The only explanation the doctor and nurse can come up with is that because she's been vaccinated, her reaction is atypical. Kind of weird. We'll be glad to be done with this!

Evan doesn't have it yet, but I'll be anxious to see what the next few weeks bring and if he gets it. On average, the incubation time for chicken pox is 14 days, so he should break out around Easter if he's going to get it.

The pox continues . . .

Here are what Megan's legs are looking like tonight--they are probably her worst area, but she is essentially covered with chicken pox. Not many scabs yet, so I think she's got a few more days before she gets better. The craziest thing about this is that she absolutely doesn't itch at all. I know for anyone who has had the chicken pox, it's hard to believe an outbreak like this wouldn't itch, but for now, she is simply enjoying being home from school and having playdates with her friends who also have the chicken pox!

And yes, I did say "friends" plural. Tonight Brooke's chicken pox started appearing, and she definitely has about 20 just starting tonight and I'm sure will have more tomorrow, so she's out for the count as well. We also have seven other friends who I am sure have the chicken pox, and three more that most likely have it, but we're waiting till tomorrow to see if the small "suspicious" dots turn out to be pox. We can't figure out where we all got infected, but it's nasty and moving quickly.

I'm just praying Evan wakes up covered since I am sure he is going to get it, and I'd rather just get it all over with right now!! Keep checking back for the next installment!!

In the meantime, you can enjoy this cute picture of Evan scavenging for food on our kitchen floor. I took some cute videos of him today, so hopefully in a day or two I'll be able to figure out how to upload them so you can see them too! Enjoy.

Chicken Pox!!

I can't believe it, but Megan has the chicken pox. She started getting a little red rash yesterday, but her allergies have been so bad that i thought she had hives/rash related to her allergies, and I didn't worry about it. Today the dots were a little more red and she had more on her neck, but I DUMBLY sent her to preschool anyway, still totally convinced that she had bad allergies. I even called her allergist this morning to talk to them about it. By the time they called me back, her day at school had ended and she had even more red dots, that now had little pus-filled blisters on a few of them. It's been so many years since I've seen chicken pox, that even then I didn't know that's what she had because the dots didn't itch her at all. But then I talked to my friend Jamie this afternoon, and her son also had a strange rash and she thought it looked like chicken pox, and that was when I knew it was probably not just her allergies!! Jamie took Cole to the doctor this afternoon and she confirmed that he has chicken pox. I have an appt. for Meg in the morning, but the nurse basically told me to cancel it because they don't even want her in the office it is so contagious, and I'm sure that's what she's got.

So we are home-bound for at least the next week, and then we will just pray that Brooke and Evan don't get it too. The nurse actually said she'd be surprised if Evan didn't get it, because he's too young to have the vaccine, but still very suseptible. Brooke may or may not get it . . .

I thought the vaccine would prevent it completely, but apparently, it starts to wear off the older kids get and they actually are finding that kids need a booster around age 4--so ask about it at your next doctor's appointment! The vaccine bascially only prevents about 80% of kids for getting chicken pox, and apparently, Megan was not so lucky.

Thankfully, she feels pretty good so far. The dots have cropped up as the day has progressed, and she probably has around 200 on her back, stomach, legs, neck and a few on her arms. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Thankfully, I do think the vaccine helps the symptoms to not be so severe so she is feeling good and not itching. I think she's developing a low fever, but seems to be fine otherwise.

I'll keep you posted!! This is just a mess for us because Kara's family comes to visit next week, and the last thing I need is for Evan to come down with chicken pox while they are her! Then the week after that Mike and I are going to Florida for the weekend and my parents are coming to watch the kids, and I just hope if Evan is going to get it that he gets it before then and is better because I won't be able to leave a sick, miserable baby, and this trip is going to be awesome!!

Spring Break in Oklahoma

We had a great trip to Broken Bow Lake in Oklahoma over Spring Break. We went with eight families from our ward, for a grand total of 37 people and one dog. We rented three cabins really close together, and kind of all congregated at the largest of the cabins. We ate lunches and dinners together as a large group, since the purpose of our trip was to hang out together, but different people and families ended up doing some of their own activites during the days. Each family had one bedroom to themselves, and then we had one extra bedroom in the large cabins that we packed with lots of kids for a great big sleepover. The girls thought they had died and gone to heaven to have three longs days of constant friends around to play with. Thankfully, after the first exciting night, everyone slept pretty well, including the babies, and we all had a great trip. Evan loved the backpack and the little hikes we took him on, although much of the time when everyone left for a fun activity, we tossed Evan back into this port-a-crib for a nap while the cabin was quiet!

Matt Lohner brought his brother's boat, and while the water was still really chilly, a few people did wakeboard and the kids got out on the tube. Megan and Brooke loved the tube, until Brooke and her friend Caleb ended up in the lake! They kept wanting to go faster and hit waves, and after one turn we slowed down a bit too much and the nose of the tube hit the water and dumped them both in. They both came up crying, but then pulled themselves together, realized their life jackets would save them, and swam toward the boat. They were cold for awhile afterward though!

We enjoyed some boating, the kids tried to fish, we went on some hikes, and rode a cute train ride. Brooke cooked at least five s'mores one night, if not more than that, and overall, we had a great trip. Very fun to get away, and thankfully, none of us suffered too much from our allergies.

Broken Bow Lake is beautiful and clear, and was great for a place to get-away. It only took us about 3.5 hours to get there, so we were happy with the short drive.

We're starting a blog!

After watching all the cute posts about my nephew, Henry, I've been inspired to share more of our family's pictures and stories with those we love! We hope you will bookmark our site and come back occasionally to see what we've been up to.

I am also admittedly hoping that starting a blog will also inspire me to stop to take more short video clips and pictures of my kids as they grow and change so quickly! Evan is growing like a weed and will soon be a toddler and then a little boy, and I don't want those of you who are far away to miss the story of his little life, so I'm hoping to share it here.