Cardiology Visit

Jack had a cardiology appointment yesterday. He screamed the entire time and kept saying "all done" and "home," well, at least until he finally fell asleep exhausted in my arms while we were talking with Dr. Puchalski. Then we were finally able to get a good blood pressure reading and Dr. P could liten to his heart without trying to hear past the wailing.

His xray and EKG looked great and even with all the screaming his sats were in the low 80's so we don't have to go back for 6 more months. Dr. P still thinks we're on track to have his Fontan sometime next summer or fall.

Keeping busy

Hardy has been out of town a lot for both play and business the past three weeks so Jack and I have been working hard to stay busy to avoid going crazy.

We went to Lagoon with my parents and sister and her family on Stake Lagoon Day so we got in free to walk around then paid a few dollars to go on a few rides. Jack LOVED the boats and could have happily stayed there the entire night.

Then last week my sister Heather called and said her husband was leaving town for a few weeks and that it was too bad Jack and I couldn't come to visit while we were both husbandless. Well, we found some skymiles and Jack and I flew to Seattle for a few days. It was so fun to see my sister and Jack loved playing with his 2 year old twin cousins, Breydon and Bethany (and 10 year old Brienna too :)

One morning we went to a rocky beach where the three little ones perfected their rock throwing skills and got to watch a real train go by.

They had so much fun together at bath time playing in the water. Unfortunately for the twins though, Jack discovered their bath tub basketball hoop and it was all over. While the kids splashed and played, Jack shot hoops (as you can see in the background, he's just like his father, very focused). He did not think it was very funny when they put other toys in the hoop or tried to cover it. No, he insisted that he only use the orange ball and made shot after shot. He was in heaven and requested a bath morning and night while we were there.

Group hug.

We had so much fun, but it's good to be home. I'm not a huge fan of flying with a 1 year old all by myself.

This past Saturday Jack and I went with his buddy Caroline to the South Jordan parade and festival. Here they are catching candy on the sideline.

Then Jack conned my friend Tari into holding him up so he could shoot some hoops for a while. Can you tell he's into basketball these days? She was his new best friend.

He also got a pony ride and a few other rides at the carnival.

He even got to go to the fireworks that night after he surprised us and decided he needed a 5:00 nap. It was great. We let him sleep for a while then got him up, went to the show, came home and he went right back to bed and slept through the night. What a good boy.

Memorial Weekend

This Memorial Weekend Jack and I went to my parents cabin in Heber City while Hardy was off coaching at a basketball tournament in Reno. My sister was there with her 5 kids so Jack was in heaven following all his cousins around, learning lots of new tricks.

We had a marshmallow gun fight, which Jack wasn't too sure about until he discovered we were shooting marshmallows. He spent the rest of the time filling his mouth with ammo and asking for more.

He was in absolute awe when he discovered that Grandpa is really Handy Manny in disguise and Jack got to "help" build a new stair railing.

Jack loved feeding the "skirrels" (squirrels) and "mitmunks" (chipmunks).

We went on lots of rides on the four wheelers. Jack loved it and would refuse to get off once the ride was over, staying to push the buttons and pretend he was driving.

What began as dipping his fingers in a little puddle...

Soon turned into standing in a deeper puddle...

Which became sitting in a big, wet, deep puddle.

He was so wet we had to strip him down so his pants could dry before we rode the four wheelers home. Look at those cute chicken legs. :)

We came home from the cabin on Monday and Jack was very excited about all the flags that were out for the holiday.

Monday evening Jack and I went over to our neighborhood BBQ where Jack had a grand time with his buddies.

Lately

Just a few things we've been up to lately.

- We went sliding at the park with daddy.
- Jack's found plenty of trouble to get into.

- We went to the Dinosaur Museum where we played with crazy blocks,

and splashed in the dirt and water.

- We went to the Renaissance Festival thanks to HopeKids and got to watch real live jousting.

Jack was inspired and found a stick to poke at things the rest of our visit.

He LOVED the guinea pigs.

He did NOT love Captain Jack Sparrow (unlike his cousin Josh).

- And today we went to the Children's Garden at Thanksgiving Point where we got to hang out in a bear cave

and play in a caterpiller (among other things).

We also had the IHH Family picnic last Saturday (I totally forgot to take a single picture while I was there, but luckily I asked some of the young women who volunteered to help us to take some pics so hopefully I'll get some from them.) I was in charge so I've been stressing out about it all week (saying lots of prayers about the weather, people showing up and having enough food), but it was a great success. It is such a wonderful support group for families with Heart kids and is a great reminder that we're not alone in this battle. I met an awesome 8 year old girl with HLHS who is so smart and cute and completly normal and a total inspiration to me about what I hope the future holds for Jack. We had about 150+ people this year and it was lots of fun. Thanks to everyone who came.

Twenty!

kind of...

We still have a few gaps to fill, but what a smart boy!

Tulip Festival

This week Jack and I went to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point on Monday (with friends) and Tuesday (with family).

The highlights were:
- Feeding the fish (I should have brought more quarters. He could have stayed for hours)
- Digging in the dirt, usually not disturbing the flowers...too much
- Splashing in the water

He played so hard that he fell asleep both days before we even got to the car to go home. I didn't get very many great photos because if you could look close you would see a HUGE bruise on his forehead from running head first into the wall right before we left the first day, hence the baseball cap. Plus he's really into running these days, and definitely not in to posing so I have lots of pics of the back of his baseball cap streaking by. At least I got a few cute ones.

Heart Moms

Saturday afternoon I had the priveledge of attending the Intermountain Healing Hearts "Heart Mom Luncheon" at Gardner Village. It was such a great event. How wonderful to sit in a room filled with amazing women who have endured and continue to endure so much. I was reunited with friends who I met in the hospital as we sat by the sides of our sick children. These women who inspired me and helped me stay strong on sugery days and answered my frantic questions, who showed me the ropes in the pump room, who cheered the day we were sent home, and who taught me to trust in the Lord's plan. I embraced friends whose little ones have lost their battle with CHD and who inspire me with their faith and courage and example as they have found peace and happiness after such great loss. I made new friendships with women who I have only known through their blogs as I have followed and prayed for their children and feel like they are close friends despite this being our first meeting. And I met a new friend who is expecting a little boy with HLHS this summer which brought back so many memories of two summers ago and how scared we were of what the future would bring.

We were blessed to hear from Margaret Cardall, Paul Cardall's mother, a woman I have wished to meet and speak with ever since I started following Paul's story. What a pioneer she was as a heart mom. Her "Heart Mom" battle for her child may have begun a few year earlier than most of the rest of us in attendance, but her fear and love and strength to take things one day at a time were the same as every women there. When she told how she panicked the first time Paul slept through the night, worried that he had passed away, the whole room nodded in complete understanding. But her faith and hope carried her though each incident. Then Paul inspired us with his beautiful music, looking healthy and full of life with his new heart. It was great.

I feel so blessed to be part of such an amazing sisterhood of Heart Moms. Thank you IHH for bringing us all together.

Farm Country

Last night we went to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point for Family Home Evening. Oh my word. Jack was in heaven. He was really excited to find a sheep and enjoyed looking at the animals. Then the real fun happened when he got to go on a pony ride. I thought he might get nervous but instead he was in HEAVEN. He would gently pat the horses head held on real tight. Good thing we got two tickets with our admission so he could go again. He was so sad when it was time to go. The good news is that we got a membership so we can go again as much as we want.

He also really dug the sucker he got when we made his bunny ears and got his face painted.

Nursery, Blocks, and a Sunny Day

With all this fabulous sunshine and RSV creeping lower and lower on the charts, we are finally out of quarantine and took Jack to church for the first time since November (Hardy and I have been trading off each week since then). He wasn't too sure about nursery at first and I was sure that I would be stuck there the whole time, but soon his buddy Jenna arrived, and eventually there were about 11 kids running all over the place playing with toys and he completely forgot I was even there, so I snuck out. It was so nice to go to Relief Society again! I even missed attending Sunday School. And Jack had a great time without me. One of the women in nursery said he would occasionally notice I was gone and be sad for a minute, but was easily distracted and then was fine. When I saw him after class he ran up to me with a big smile talking excitedly about "bubbles" and his shirt was all wet so I could tell he had a good time. Hurray!

After church went had dinner at my parents, then went to visit Hardy's dad where Jack and grandpa built fabulous towers out of blocks. The first tower he built all by himself was great big and he was so proud, but once it got too tall it tipped over. The look of shock and utter horror on his face was priceless. I so wish I would have had my camera. He was devastated the way only a 1 year old can be. That's when grandpa jumped in to help and soon he was proudly building and knocking them all over. He had such fun.

Today we took advantage of the perfect weather and went to the park for a picnic with our friends.

Jack's shorts kept falling off which made me laugh. They are even size 12 months. Poor kid needs to get some junk in his trunk.

Here's Jack and his girlfriends at the park. We LOVE spring!

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter. Jack got a morning Easter Egg hunt in the basement at home, but by evening the snow had melted so we got to do an outdoor hunt at Grandma's house.

He was too busy eating chocolate to give me any smiles for the camera. Good thing the Easter Bunny was smart at our house and only put a few M&M's in each egg or he would have been totally sugared up. He kept asking for "More chocate pleeeeease!"

In addition to a few treats and an illustrated Book of Mormon Stories book, Jack got these manly sunglasses. He thinks he's pretty darn cool.

All that plus a great LDS General Conference where we were spiritually fed and uplifted. And to top it off, Miracle Mason got a new heart on Sunday which added extra thought and meaning as we contemplated the true meaning of Easter, Christ's resurrection and what that means to his donors family. It was a good weekend.

A Trip for Two

Could I be any worse at blogging lately? It's not that we aren't doing anything, I'm just not in the mood to document it. Very unlike me. Maybe if it would stop snowing I'd get a little more excited to pull out my camera.

Last weekend Hardy and I took out first vacation without Jack and went to Las Vegas. Hardy kept asking me (before we left) if I was going to cry when we left the little fella. I wondered that myself until we dropped him off at Grandma's and I sprinteed to the car and was totally fine the rest of the trip. It was so nice to go out at night and eat my dinner all by myself and while it was still warm. We stayed out late each night and slept in each morning. Hardy golfed, I went to the spa, and we held hands everywhere we went. We saw "Blue Man Group" and "Jersey Boys" and I read a good long book. We went on the roller coaster in Primm and got $20.00 Lucky jeans at the outlets. It was great on all accounts.

The only bad part is that Jack is now getting back at me for leaving and will not leave my side. He wails if I walk into another room and close the door. He's even been waking up at night and refuses to go back to sleep unless he's snuggled happily between Hardy and I. And while I enjoy snuggling with my little man, it's really hard to sleep, plus his diaper leaked the other night and he totally wet our bed so I spent all day yesterday laundering bedding. Stinker.

But I must admit that I did miss him and I'm glad to be home. Vegas is a weird town. Fun for a few days, but not reality. I'll take my quiet little life in South Jordan with Jack and Hardy over the bling of Vegas any day.

Idaho Falls Fun

Lat weekend Hardy was away so my mom, Jack and I drove to Idaho Falls to visit my sister Erin. We hardly did anything at all but had a fabulous time.

Jack and his cousin Alex (who is just a couple of months older) had the best time together.

Bathing is so much fun with buddies.

Funny story on the way to Idaho. About halfway there Jack started grunting and pushing and I knew we'd need a stop in the near future to change his diaper. We stopped in Malad, but when I changed him he was clean. So again, just outside of Pocatello he starts pushing and grunting and working very hard, but nothing is happening. Soon he's crying and clearly suffering so I pulled over in Pocatello and got him out of the car. He laid his tear stained cheeks on my shoulder and said "stuck!" Oh dear, yes it is. Darn poop. I let him walk around in the parking lot for a few minutes and finally he managed to get "unstuck" and after a change we were on our way. Kind of gross, I know, but I thought it was prety funny.