Life as we get close to the New Year

Life has been crazy here. We went in for Kaden's 5th eye exam in a year...counting his school eye exam. Our of all exams it has shown Kaden's eye sight to be very different. The first test was (20/50, 20/60), the second showed (20/30, 20/30), the third showed almost perfect, the fourth showed (20/50, 20/60), the fifth showed (20/100, 20/200). So huge difference causing major stress as well as lots of prayer. Kaden has gotten his second pair of glasses and one min he will wear them and say he sees better but then a little while later he takes them off. This leads us to believe that maybe his eye sight comes and goes. The dr said that would be very rare but that she is not going to rule it out so we head back in to the eye dr in Jan...which will possibly lead us to a childrens eye specialist. We are just praying for answers so that if there is something going on that we can begin to fix it or work with it. Kaden is such a tender-hearted little boy and is such a help to me with his brothers.

Onto Ashton...he is so much like me, and NOT in a good way! =) He has attitude and has definitely been my biggest struggle. I remember my mom telling me that payback will be when I have a kid that is strong-willed like me. I would tell her that I was praying to have a kid like me because I would know what to do with them, and that I didnt want a quiet, shy kid because I would be bored with it! BOY was I wrong, I wish I had a quiet kid! I have really understood what I put my parents through! Sorry dad and mom! On the other hand Ashton has this funny sense of humor and brings so much laughter to our family. He is always dancing funny, laughing at himself, cracking jokes, and making funny faces . He has learned to use these tools when he is being punished because he knows Josh and I start laughing. Ashton is also very sweet and loving and is always ready to give a hug to those in need.

Brennan has been such a joy...but I have a feeling he is going to be a very busy boy! He gets into EVERYTHING. It is the first time that I have actually had to use child locks on doors and cabinets. He is a good eater except for the fact that he wont touch veggies or anything healthy. He is such a happy little boy though. He is beginning to walk some but likes crawling more because he can get from here to there a lot faster!

Josh is doing good and is staying busy at Purina as they are in the middle of their busy season. He is still hoping for a different job, one where he can actually use his degree. As of January he is no longer stuck at Purina and he will begin looking into other companies for other jobs. We are just praying the God will direct us to a job which will be stable and with no risk of being let go, even if that means staying at Purina in the same job and crappy shift. If this is God's answer I pray that Josh and I become content with Josh's job and schedule.

I am just enjoying the 4 guys in my life and feeling blessed for the family that God has given me. I just recently had my gallbladder removed and was reminded of my families love by all the love and care they gave to me while I was recovering. I am so grateful for my wonderful husband who loves the Lord, and works hard to support me and the boys. He is such a blessing to me.

We are excited to see what the new year will bring and we look forward to seeing where God will lead us.

Some answers for Brennan and frustrations AGAIN!!!

We got a call from Brennan's Dr the other day letting us know that she received his test results. He had quit a few areas where his numbers where either too high or too low. They said that they feel it is due to his fever and dehydration. One of the numbers which was higher then normal was his white blood cell count. Once the doctor told me all the numbers, I asked if she was concerned. There was a long pause and she said yes we are concerned with the numbers and that they are going to keep a close eye on Brennan as well as most likely testing him again. We go back in on Monday to weigh him again and to determine where we go now...If he is not gaining weight then they will send him to a GI specialist as well as send him to get some more tests done. I am hoping to get some more definite answers on Monday so that I can find peace and not have to worry about Brennan.

Now to the frustrations!!!! There is a job at Purina which was the reason Josh even started school 4 years ago. We have been waiting and waiting and waiting for them to post it. They usually post it every year in Aug (it is an internship)...it is still not posted so Josh talked with the HR lady at his work. Well he heard back from her today and they only offered that job to people in house and they had already hired the people for that position. We are so frustrated that Josh wasn't even given the opportunity to get the job...now we feel stuck and see no end to the night shift or his current job. We are so mad with Purina and frustrated that they are not even willing to help Josh in moving up especially since they put over $30 thousand into Josh's schooling. At least we got the schooling out of them...but it seems like the 5 years he has been at Purina is down the drain!

More patience!!

I have decided that I am NOT a patient person...yet I keep praying for patience and God keeps giving it to me or testing my patience. Once again I am being tested and I always think it is the hardest when your kids are involved. Brennan has been sick off and on for 1 1/2 months now with: fever, not eating, not drinking, throwing up, diarrhea, sleeping all the time, cranky, screaming in pain, not peeing, losing weight, and just acting different then his normal self. We have taken him to the Dr a few times and nothing, well we took him in again today and they decided after him losing another pound in 2 weeks that it is time to run tests. So they attempted to give him a catheter which he HATED. I had to use ALL my weight in order to hold him down, he is a strong little boy. Well the catheter didn't work because he had NO urine in his bladder so they had to bag him so that I could collect his urine. He ended up not peeing for over 8 hours, it was pretty scary for me, but he finally did it. Now I have to collect his bowel movements which is NOT going to be fun. They also drew lots of blood in order to do lots of tests on him. They are testing from bladder infections, to cancer which is a scary thought for me. The poor guy did pretty good getting his blood drawn it did take three of us though, me holding him as tight as I could, a nurse to hold his arm straight, and the nurse to draw the blood. I felt so bad for him though because you could tell that it hurt, and he screamed the entire time. Anyways.....most of the testing is over and now it is a waiting game. God is giving me strength though and helping me to not worry about the unknown. It is the first time ever for me not freaking out and I know that God is giving me this peace and will help us through anything that is going on with my little man. I know that my littlest man is in God's hands and that God has his hand on anything that maybe going on with my little boy.

Frusterations

Sorry for the vent I am just really struggling AGAIN with Josh's job and work schedule. It seems to have gotten harder having a husband that works nights. It is lonely and depressing and I am SOOO ready for a change. Josh has been working nights for over 7 years now and it is getting harder and harder. Sometimes I feel like a single mom and I feel like I miss out on so much time with other couples and church. In Aug there will be a lot of new jobs at Purina and we are hoping and praying that God will have a day job (using Josh's degree) that will be perfect for Josh. I may never understand why God keeps saying no for the jobs that have previously popped up, but I pray that I will have strength to make it through until Josh gets the job that God has in store for him.

SUMMER

It has been a fun summer with lots of family around and I really enjoyed spending most of it with my brothers and their families. Dan, Leslie, and kids where here until recently from South Africa and we had fun swimming with them, having the oldest kids in school together, going to movies, sleepovers, playdates, plays, and most of all Lake Powell. It was sad to see them go back home and they will be missed.

Kaden is playing soccer for the third year and is really enjoying it. For the first time I am not coaching and I actually miss it! Ashton is still our little jokester, always cracking jokes, and giving us his cute, yet silly grin. Brennan is ALL over the place and rolls to anywhere he wants. He is getting close to crawling so it wont be long until he gets into EVERYTHING!! My boys are three of the best things that have happened to me...and I enjoy seeing their thoughts and ideas come to play.

Unreal....and.....sad

A few weeks ago my wonderful grandpa passed away. It has been so unreal and yet sad at the same time. I think not being able to go to his services has really made it seem unreal to me. My grandpa will be missed though by all that knew and loved him. I am thankful that Brennan, my mom, and myself were able to go and visit my grandpa and grandma about a month before he passed. It meant a lot to me to have them meet Brennan and gave me and my mom some WONDERFUL last memories of my grandpa. We enjoyed seeing my grandpa crawl on the floor to play with Brennan and got to see him have fun holding his great-grandson. I am thankful that all my boys have been able to meet my grandpa especially since him and my grandma have meant so much to me throughout my life. We love you grandpa!!!

Wow it has been awhile

It has been awhile since I posted...so I will give a brief update. Brennan, Ashton, and I have all been sick with Brennan actually having RSV and having to do breathing treatments in order to get his wheezing under control. He is doing much better now and we were so relieved that he never got so bad that he had to stay in the hospital. It was very scary with him sick though because he slept for over 22 hours a day and refused to eat. So glad he is better though! =)

We also just got back from a family vacation to California to Knotts Berry Farm and Midieval Times. The kids had a blast and it was so nice to get away and actually have a husband at night time! I think that is honestly my favorite part of vacations actually seeing my hubby for dinner and getting help putting my kids to bed. Brennan did really good driving to Cali but then decided he didn't want to be in his car-seat at all anymore so it was a LONG, TOUGH trip home. The boys were so excited to see Snoopy and they got to see snoopy every night at the hotel which was lots of fun too! Brennan was not too impressed with Snoopy and I think he cried every single time we saw snoopy! =) We went to Midieval times for Josh's birthday and the boys were just amazed with the dinner show...I dont think they took their eyes off the guys as they were fighting! The guy we were cheering for gave me a flower one of the times when he won and Kaden looked at Josh and said "Why is that guy giving my mom a flower??" He was very upset by that and we had to explain that they do that during their show and that it was just for fun! We had a blast though but we are glad to be home relaxing and getting back into a schedule.

Finally, Josh is still looking for a different job hopefully a day one or at least one which will begin the process of him moving up within the company. The only bad thing is that we are stuck at Purina until January of 2011 or else we owe them lots of money for Josh's schooling so we dont have many options of jobs which has been really frustrating. We are really praying for God to give patience to specifically me as I am desperately wanting Josh home at night.

I will try and post pictures soon of our trip and of the kiddos!

2009 is over!!!

I feel like God has really blessed us throughout the past year. He has given us 3 amazing and adorable little boys, and I feel so blessed to be chosen to have 3 wonderful little boys. I never thought that I could have so much excitement with having three boys, but through wonderful friends and the understanding that God is in control, I have been able to be content and excited with my boys! I wouldn't have it any other way! =)



This year has really helped us in seeing that God is in control and that he can do anything. This was especially seen through Kaden's eyes and thinking that he may have life changing issues going on with his eyesight! God helped Josh and I in being able to trust Him through this difficult time, which helped us in turning to God and letting him hold us as we dealt with all the emotions. We have also learned to become patient while waiting for another job for Josh.



Josh and I have been able to see many sides of God throughout the year helping us to learn more about Him. We have been blessed this past year in many different ways and have enjoyed growing in our faith with Christ! We are anxious to see all that God will do in 2010.