Lucky

Feeling pretty lucky I get to spend my days with these three little ones.


Here's a picture of Fisher last week (9/22/10). I took him today for his one month checkup. He weighed 11 lbs. 1 oz. and measured 22.5 inches long. He's in the 80th percentile for both height and weight. I couldn't bear to do shots after the ordeal yesterday. He had an ultrasound on his spine for the sacral dimple. Diagnosis: normal. And then he had a VCUG. In simple terms, he had a tube inserted through his penis to his bladder and then had a balloon blown up inside and filled with dye so they doctors could see what's going on with his bladder/ureter/kidneys. Diagnosis...grade 5 reflux on both sides, although left is worse. (1 being mild, 5 being severe). We see the urologist next week to see where we go from here. Fisher did great. I was a stress case.

Anyway, I will try to blog soon and post more pictures! All the boys are getting so big! Jake had his 15 month checkup today as well. He continues on his own growth curve. 5% for weight and 60% for height. :) Gotta love the drastic difference between the boys. Corbin and Jake...skin and bones. Drew and Fisher...break-my-back solid. :)

Lost Treasures

Ahhhh...mystery solved. Throughout the years, I have had to replace some valuable items because my dear sweet children have seen fit to throw them away. Cell phone, brand new retainers, shoes, clothes, silverware, whatever!

Well, my brain just made sense of this secret little past time. Lately I have been teaching Jake (15 months) to throw away trash. Dirty diapers, empty food packages, and all sorts of garbage. Then I pat him on the back and tell him what a good job he is doing to help pick things up. As I was reading emails at my desk today, he was playing with my mini I-pod, pushing the buttons for fun. I picked up a dirty napkin on the floor and threw it in the trash. He quickly threw away my I-pod and looked up at me expecting approval.

That's all. Kid's just want approval. Acceptance. Love. The funny thing is, as I am typing, Yo Gabba Gabba is playing on the T.V. singing the song, "Clean it up, clean it up, pick up the trash now. Clean it up, clean it up, pick up the food now!"

HAHA! They are getting messages from various sources to help clean up. What I want to know is how you break the double standard? A 15 month old cannot decipher the difference between garbage and treasures. And as hard as I try to keep things picked up, "treasures" seem to find their way into toddler-sized hands quicker than I can blink!

Now, where's the song that sings, "Do not touch, Do not touch, White rolls are NO-NO's! Do not touch, Do not touch, Pee water's gross YO! (Every week, about 4-5 toilet paper rolls are lost through the adventures of Jake.) Must be pretty fun to unroll. Or dunk, or shred...dry or wet! Jake seems to never grow bored of this game.

Surrounded by Fire

There was a fire in Herriman, Utah yesterday/last night. I don't know many details. One of my friends posted this picture on Facebook. Thought I would share.

I love the picture. The temple stands strong illuminating through it all. Definite sign of the times.

Making Messes is SO MUCH FUN!!!

During the last month of pregnancy, the messes around the house got a little out of control. And now that Fisher is here, I can't say they are going to stop, because I still don't have the energy or time to stop them from happening. So, the best way for me to cope? Laugh and take pictures. Besides, Jake, my newest little mess maker who has really come into his own, is just so darn cute!!!

Wonder if I should safety lock my cupboards? Or perhaps move the cleaning supplies to higher ground.


Not long after I scooted him out of the kitchen, I heard some squawking in the backyard. Jake manuevered his way on the lawn mower and got stuck. Although with the camera in my hand, he has become quite the poser and knows the flash means smile!!!


If I had to pick one thing that Jake LOVED to do, it would be to dig in my flower pots. If ever he escapes to the front yard or is left to his own devices in the backyard, I have black dirt all over the concrete. Usually his mouth is covered as well.


Corbin brought him to me "red" handed, trailing dirt of course. Off to the bathtub - Jake's second love!


Drew is doing better to not be so destructive himself, but he's jumped on the band wagon to let me know when someone else is making the mess.


This was the day I went into labor, I was so exhausted and miserable that the thought of carrying this oatmeal covered child to the bathtub was more than I could take. I called my neighbors to come help. Sadly, no one was home and I had to do it anyway. :) Although I did leave the cereal smeared on the table. I rationalized "it" was not going anywhere. The 15-month old? I've seen too many of his tactics.


Soon enough Jake will be telling on Fisher. :)

SIMPLIFY????

I knew if the kids were to have any type of EXTRA-curricular life outside of school, we needed to get them enrolled and going before baby Fisher arrived. Quite understandably, my opinion of tax-driving and game attendance is not high on my list of things to do between the demands of two wee-little ones with early bedtimes. My brain says to SIMPLIFY, but I have a small bit of guilt since we have not done any extra activities for more than a year. With the combination of a newborn last year (Jake) and a demanding school schedule, we never signed up or made time. SOOOOO, I told the kids they could choose an activity to participate in, with some limitations. :)

Audrey started up gymnastics and is loving it. She took gymnastics when she was 3 and 4, but this is a whole new ball game. At a toddler level, it was fun and entertaining. At age 9, she's in an accelerated class teaching her fundamentals to get her to a competitive level. (Eeeek! This is where the limitations come in...she wants to go twice a week, and I'm not willing to commit to that, or competition in the near future!) Although I do enjoy watching her flip and split and tumble in the house, yard, or wherever she finds room! She wants to get better and seems to really enjoy the new skills she is acquiring. Audrey is also attending Achievement Days every other week before her gymnastics class.

Corbin and Drew are playing soccer. Their first sport of choice was baseball, but Drew was not old enough, and again, the limitations came into play. Life seems more manageable with the boys in the SAME sport with a similar schedule. The soccer games are always on Saturday at the same place, usually within an hour of each other. However, our juggling act is on Thursday nights when they both have practice at the same time in two locations 15 minutes apart from each other. I had hoped to turn carpooling over to Brandon, but looks like me and the babes will be attending practice as well with one of the boys. (As I type...my wheels are turning...maybe Brandon could drop Audrey off with Drew at his practice and then drive Corbin to his...oh wait, he wouldn't be back in time to pick up Drew and Audrey. Aaargh!)

I know my taxi-service, carpooling juggling act is just beginning. We don't even take music lessons right now and I still have two others who are not signed up for anything but spending time with mom! Corbin wants to join cub scouts, but I think we will wait until after soccer.

Here's Corbin as goalie for his first game of the season. He did pretty good once he got the concept that he could use his hands and pick the ball up before kicking it away.


And then Drew demonstrating his kicking skills as he takes the ball down the field and scores a goal. (Feel free to turn up the music and ignore Brandon shouting, "OTHER WAY!") Fortunately at three years old, they don't keep score. :) Drew's pretty fun to watch. He's aggresive and goes after the ball. He's even learned to use his feet more than his hands! We laughed at the first time he tried to get the ball in the goal. He bent down and pushed the ball in. :)

Congenital Anomalies

It is no wonder when the fifth child joins a crowd of strong personalities that he would pull out all the stops to be unique. Little Fisher has done just that and we are in awe at his little anomalies. :)

According to Wikipedia, a congenital physical anomaly is an abnormality of the structure of a body part. An anomaly may or may not be perceived as a problem condition. Many, if not most, people have one or more minor physical anomalies if examined carefully. Although some minor anomalies may be clues to more significant internal abnormalities.

At one week old, we have found that Fisher has three.

ANOMALY #1
During pregnancy, the ultrasound technicians found Fisher has some issues with his kidneys. Upon birth the ultrasound showed his right kidney has healed and is working properly. YEAH!!!! However is left kidney has HYDRONEPHROSIS. Basically the ureter going from his kidney to his bladder is blocked. The ultrasounds in utero never showed proper connection to the bladder, thus the ureter and kidney are inflamed and enlarged.


Treatment: Antibiotics daily to prevent infection of kidney that can quickly spread to blood and brain. Appointment with urologist scheduled. Hope the condition heals on its own, if not surgery is an option to correct the issue.

ANOMALY #2
A few months back Brandon had a friend who sent him a picture of his newborn baby boy. He showed his hands had an extra digit. So with this picture fresh in Brandon's mind, when Fisher was born, he went straight to counting fingers and toes. And wouldn't you know, Fisher has six toes on each foot! It’s called POLYDACTYLY. We've termed him "magical." We are not aware of any genetic history and consider this presentation Fisher's way of saying, "NOTICE ME! I'm someone important!" :)


Treatment: Foot with the toe tag will have a tie placed around it and the tag will fall off. The toe with bone structure will require surgery for removal. If the toe would not cause shoe issues or problems walking, that may be a fun feature to keep! When Fisher is old enough to better handle anesthesia, he will have it removed. Appointment with Pediatric Orthopedic scheduled.

ANOMALY #3
When I shared with a friend the concern of Fisher's unique traits, she told me to watch for a third. Apparently the chiropractic school she attended believed "these things" tend to show up in threes. Hmmmmmmm. Maybe his broken collarbone incurred during birth? Nope. Has to be something developed in utero. When she examined him, she found the possible third, yet to be confirmed by the pediatrician, but I've noticed it and the characteristics match that of what I've seen and read on the internet.

It's called a sacral dimple or PILONIDAL DIMPLE. Present at birth, it's a small indentation in the skin on the lower back, usually located just above the buttocks. According to Wikipedia, more than 2% of babies may have such dimples; almost all of these are very minor. For Fisher, there is a tuft or nest of hair in the dimple that starting in adolescence may develop into a cyst and become very painful and require drainage and surgery (worst case scenario.) But what was most exciting to me when I researched the condition is a pilonidal dimple can be indicative of a possible kidney problem, which we know he already has!!! At least there is some rhyme or reason and consistency!

Still, it's craziness!!! Fortunately in the big scheme of things, neither Brandon nor I see any of these unique features as life threatening and definitely manageable. We have been so blessed to even have information and options. To us and a loving Heavenly Father, Fisher is perfect! We are all born with some sort of disposition that we have the opportunity to work through and learn from while here on earth. How grateful we are to know about these issues early on and choose to be proactive to improve his health.

Our Newest Blessing

My head still whirls that our family has reached the magnitude of SEVEN. And my heart is overflowing with feelings of gratitude, peace, and love. I wonder if this is what "COMPLETE" feels like?


Momentarily my fears and feelings of inadequacy, overwhelment, and despair have been set aside. "Just One of Those Days" is a great day. I love my life. I love my children, and I love my husband.

Last week Fisher Brandon Williams joined our family. He is perfect and I wonder how I got so lucky.


I don't know why my children chose me as their mother, but I am honored. I'm grateful for a Heavenly Father that doesn't give up on me and continues to prompt and support me as I try to be the person He knows I can be. To be the mother of one beautiful girl and four amazing boys. I pray that I may rise to the occasion and raise a righteous family. One that loves unconditionally and serves others as well as each other. I know I have great examples all around me to follow. My aunt Janet set aside her schedule to stay and help while we endured the last bits of pregnancy and then delivery. My mom was here for a week caring for my children, Brandon and I, and our home. And this week, my mother-in-law is caring for Drew and Jake in Idaho while I recuperate and bond with Fisher. A few quiet hours and a clean house. Perhaps that's why I'm feeling elation. :)

My friends continue to comment what an amazing family and support system we have. I could not agree more. My friends who are not members of the LDS church marvel at how Brandon and I are raising our children or how we handle the ups and downs. The gospel is such a strong base for optimism and a great life. It's rarely an easy life, but it's one filled with faith and a simple formula of promises and blessings.


And we consider each of our children our greatest blessings. Audrey, Corbin, Drew, Jake, and FISHER!