Phoenix's Diagnosis

     We finally have some answers for what has become known far and wide as "Phoenix's Poop Problems"  On Tuesday he underwent an endoscopy in which Dr. Harnsberger took samples of his intestines, stomach and esophagus.  Phoe was found to be "profoundly lactose intolerant".  This was determined by measuring the amount of an enzyme called lactase that breaks down the lactose in food.  A normal person's lactase level is around 25.  A lactose intolerant person's level is usually around 8 to 10.  Phoenix's lactase level is 1.6.  He is going to be lactose intolerant for the rest of his life.  The reason why we saw no results on our week dairy free is because he has been having trouble for so long that he has a large amount of bacteria build up from the fermenting, undigested lactose in his system.

     The plan now, is to give him a special antibiotic to clear up the bacteria and feed him a completely dairy free menu.  Hopefully, we will start to see improvements quickly.  I feel totally overwhelmed by this daunting diagnosis as I realize how much dairy we eat as a family.  I'm trying to look on the bright side and remember that this is in no way life-threatening.  If we do mess up and he gets a bit of milk or something, the worst that will happen is a bit of diarrhea.


           We can do hard things!

The Grotto

When I was growing up, and in fact, still today we had a tried and true, kid tested, easy enjoyable hike that was close to home.  We call it Tarzan's Bathtub or just The Bathtub for short.   It is up Battlecreek Canyon in Pleasant Grove.  We loved it and still do.  Luckily, when we moved down to the southern end of Utah county we found another perfect hike that would meet all the same criteria.  It's called the grotto.  It's short and easy, has a few bridges to cross, and ends with water and plenty of rocks to throw in the water.  The boys and I decided to go on this hike today, even though Daddy was working.  We got our lunches packed and headed up.

We took Juniper, because she is Phoenix's best buddy.  It also doesn't hurt to hand the little one the leash and have Juniper half pull him up the trail.  

My three little guys.  Aren't they the cutest?

This is a rare moment.  Sometimes it seems that all these two do is yell at each other.

Cougar sitting and enjoying his lunch by the waterfall.  We love this hike!  Gorgeous!

I love this picture of Phoe.  He is actually eating something!  It's a miracle!  All in all it was a great afternoon and we had a blast.  Too bad Daddy couldn't come.

It's been a long time!

It's been way too long since we've had a blog post.  Here's a little family update.

Phoenix is 3 years old and full of spunk.  He talks constantly and has quite a witty sense of humor.  His latest, most often repeated phrase is "I kidding".  He got a hair cut today and Mommy got it cut short!  His curls are almost gone.  I'm pretty sure they'll grow back.  We got him seated in the chair and the stylist started to brush his hair when he started yelling "I'n a boy!  I'n a boy!"  I translated for him and he settled down, I guess he just wanted to make sure he was getting a boy hair cut.  

Mark continues to work at AutoZone and enjoys it.  He comes home and works on our house and does all the things I was unable to accomplish during the day. What a great guy! 

Cougar is Cougar, what can I say?  He's in first grade and is reading like a maniac.  It's so fun to see him actually reading and enjoying it!  He's getting tall, he's almost up to my shoulder!  He's got lots of friends at school and in our new ward.  It's fun to see him confidently interacting with kids his own age.  He reminds me a lot of David, my little brother.

There's no picture of me, I'm always behind the camera.  I'm 33 weeks along with our third little one.  I'm getting really anxious to meet this little person that is bruising my insides.  I'm feeling good and going strong!

Spiderman is a Jedi Knight

Cougar convinced me to get down the dress up box today. Boy, did they have fun.

Cougar asked me to take this picture so that it would look like a storm trooper had walked in our house. How many storm troopers have cute little toes poking out of their boots?
We have an abundance of lightsabers at our house. They come out to play mulitple times a day. This picture was taken right off our front porch. You can be jealous of our view. :)
Phoenix was so excited to see this Spiderman costume, he about jumped out of his skin before we could get it on him. We had to go show Daddy at work. Okay, we didn't have to, but it was a fun reason to get out of the house. In the car Phoenix kept saying "Ee! I Spy!" ("See I'm Spiderman!")

I'm so glad when Daddy comes home

Mark's been gone on a little business trip to Las Vegas the past couple days. He's back now, and I'm not the only one who missed him.

By the way, Phoenix is out of his crib and now sleeps in a toddler bed. I wonder how this picture would look if he was still in the crib?

Like Pulling Teeth

These pictures are a little out of order, but you're tough, you can handle it. My little monkey has to do everything his big brother does and big brother was getting his picture taken. If his face isn't dirty he looks like a girl, I keep it dirty so people aren't confused. ;)
Giant gaping whole in a freckled face. Does it get more Norman Rockwell than this kid?

Cougar lost his first tooth last night by tying a piece of floss to his tooth and the other end to the bullet of a nerf gun. Then he shot the nerf gun. It came out on the first try and he was so excited about it! My little brother pulled a tooth out this way and Cougar thought it was the greatest idea ever. Of course, he had to pull his out just like David did, he does everything David does. Today, the second tooth was hanging by a thread, but it was STUBBORN. We made several tries at pulling it out.

We tied it to Nike, our dog and made her run.

Cougar tried the trusty Nerf gun again.

We tried to get Phoenix to run while holding the string, that didn't work. (He hates clothes. I hate the fight dressing him causes, so he's naked most of the time, deal with it.)

Cougar tried running while Daddy held the string. This pulled it enough to make it bleed. The blood freaked him out a little bit and he let me pull it out. Poor little guy was just getting so frustrated he was on the verge of tears. We kept telling him, "It doesn't have to come out tonight. We can stop if you want, this is all up to you." He would have none of it. He was bound and determined that dang tooth was going to come out tonight!

Dinner

How do you know it's almost dinner time at our house? Daddy's not home, yet. Phoenix can be found IN the snack cupboard. Cougar is grunting, stomping and pouting all around the house. And last, but not least, Mommy is sneaking chocolate of some kind between chopping, mixing and stirring. :)