8 Years Old

8 years ago today I was the most terrified I have ever been.  My body was giving up and could no longer support the little person it had been growing for 31 weeks.  Cougar came into this world a lot sooner than we had planned and at 2 lbs 13oz smaller than we knew a baby could be.  He seemed so frail and breakable, but quickly began teaching us what it means to be strong.

This little boy changed my life in ways that I never imagined.  Because of him I became a mother, a cherished and honored role that brings more joys and challenges than anything else I could aspire to do.  He has taught me in quiet moments to pray to a Heavenly Father who loves me much more than I am capable of comprehending.  Cougar has helped me to understand how one can give a life for another, just like my Savior gave his for me.

Through great pain and suffering Cougar grew and developed better than was expected.  He did not once look back at his difficult beginning and make excuses or give up.  He moves forward every day of his life.

 Cougar turns 8 years old today and continues to be an example to me.  He is a tenderhearted, kind child who loves to serve those around him.  He is helpful and thoughtful and patient.  He is creative and smart.  He makes people laugh and learns quickly.  He could tell you more than you ever wanted to know about Star Wars and Legos.  He loves his little brothers and is an example to them.  I look back on all these years and wonder how we got to this place.  I haven't known what I am doing as a mother and still haven't messed him up yet.  Maybe, that alone, speaks volumes of his resilience.  

Cougar has made the decision to be baptized which makes my heart sing with joy.  He will continue to be an example to all around him as he makes choices and grows to be a young man.  I hope that he always keeps his tender heart and the ready smile.  He is a wonder and to me he is wonderful.  Happy Birthday!

The Ingredient List.

Here it is, because I know some of you are interested.  This is the list of ingredients that Phoenix cannot have.  It is not enough for the part of the label that says "Contains: Wheat, soy, peanuts, milk," to not include milk.  His food also has to be free of these ingredients.  Fun post, right?


Acidophilus Milk, Butter, Butter Fat, Butter Oil, Butter Solids, Butter milk Powder, Casein, Caseinate, Cheese, Condensed Milk, Cottage Cheese, Cream, Curds, Custard, Delactosed Whey, Demineralized Whey, Dry Milk Powder, Dry Milk Solids, Evaporated Milk, Ghee, Goat Milk, Half & Half, Hydrolyzed Milk Protein, Lactalbumin, Lactoferrin, Lactoglobulin, Lactose, Lactulose, Low-Fat Milk, Malted Milk, Milk, Milk Derivative, Milk Fat, Milk Powder, Milk Protein, Milk Solids, Natural Butter Flavor, Nonfat Milk, Nougat, Paneer, Pudding, Recaldent, Rennet, Simpless, Skim Milk, Sour Cream, Sour Milk Solids, Sweetened Condensed Milk, Sweet Whey, Whey, Whey Powder, Whey Protein Concentrate, Whey Protein Hydrolysate, Whipped Cream Whipped Topping, Whole Milk, Yogurt

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. :)

For Mom

My mom got this for Phoenix for Christmas. We finally broke it out the other day when I decided the floor needed to be mopped. We don't have a bathtub, Phoenix is desperate for one. It wasn't long until somebody left a surprise in his diaper. We had to change the diaper, dump the water, sanitize everything and refill. It's not uncommon now to hear him ask in his sweetest voice, "Mommy, wawa, peas?" I am especially grateful for the drain in the middle of my kitchen floor. :)

Watch closely and you'll see that he's wearing his socks still.

Merry Christmas!

Cougar and Action would like to wish you and yours a very merry Christmas!

It's All Fun and Games....

Stuck

Phoenix has developed the nasty habit of pulling his shoulders and arms out of his car seat straps while we are driving. I adjusted the entire car seat and finally got it to where he couldn't get out. We had to drive for 20 minutes with him yelling "Mommy! I GUH! I GUH!" Before he realized that I didn't care he was stuck and wasn't going to help. He tends to be a determined little guy, I wouldn't be surprised if he found another way out in a little while. :)

Shining Mom Moment

Cougar is outside playing a little t-ball with the neighbor boy, Junior, who's about 6. Junior hit the ball and Cougar was very complimentary "Wow! What a good hit!" Cougar's turn. He hits the tee and the ball barely goes anywhere. Junior says "Whoa, that was stupid." (Hey rude kid!) Cougar just laughed and said "I can't say that, but it was lame, I'll try again." He's not allowed to say stupid and all the thousands of times I've said "Use NICE words" may have sunk in!

I'm Sad.

Our big galoof, Theron has died. He was a big, lurpy, loving yellow lab and I'm going to miss him. We've had him since the first year of our marriage and I thought he had several more good years in him. Theron was a great dog, so willing to please. He loved standing next to me to get his ears scratched and his chest thumped. He helped Mark and I figure out our parenting styles and how to work with each other before we had kids to mess up on. He was the first pet we picked out together. He was a good pick. Goodbye, Friend.

The Injury

As you may know. Phoenix broke his leg last Monday. I didn't see what happened, but Cougar says he tripped and landed on Phoe-Phoe's legs. Sounds credible to me. He was miserable in his splint, but after they put on the cast on Friday, he's been slowing learning how to be a terror again.

This cast was actually replaced today. I took him back in because the cast was scraping his foot, causing a blister between his toes, and bruising his chubby thigh. Our doctor took one look at it and said "Let's put a new one on." He couldn't believe how worn the thing was after just a few short days. He put on the same color cast, but it extends past his toes and has more room in the foot to avoid all the previous problems.

Two crazy boys sitting on the bathroom counter. (Yes, I am still trying to train both my potty trained boys to put the seat down...)

If I had a girl, she would probably look a little like this. :)

Preschool Graduation!

Cougar had his preschool graduation last week. It's so strange for me to think that he is TOO BIG for preschool. It's on to kindergarten for him now. He's ready and excited. If we can only make it through the summer.

Here he is with his preschool friends putting on a play of the 5 little pigs. (Very similar to the 3 little pigs only with extra kids.)

A-too-ta-tah. A-too-ta-tah. A-too-ta-tay. (something like that) A very classic and very silly song and dance.

Miss Marilyn. This woman supplied sanity for me 3 times a week. She has taught Cougar (and me) so much. We're going to miss her!

Child Slavery

Cougar: "Mommy, what are slaves?"

Me: "Slaves are people who are forced to do hard work."

Cougar: "Oh, like me."

What have we been up to?

Soccer has started! What? That's the wrong kid? Oh right. Phoenix thinks he's big.

Cougar's just happy to be outside running around. He loves soccer.

Mark fixed the brakes on my car. Lots of fun for him. He got help from Phoenix who, like I said before, thinks he's big.

I made my first sewing project since I strained my back sewing back in October (I am paying for it. I hurt!) I made this super fancy backseat organizer. If you don't look closely you won't see the puckered seams and uneven lines. I already love it. My favorite part is the colored pencil holder pockets. I used those Crayola Twistables so there's no need for sharpening back there. Hopefully, this will help in my attempt to keep our car cleaner.

April Fool's Day

I like this day, but for some reason I can never remember it! I've been wanting to try to make yucky fake food desserts, but never remember. Cougar however looks forward to April Fool's Day like it's Christmas. I think I have a prankster on my hands. My favorite trick he tried yesterday was when he said "Mom! There's a enchilada on your shoulder" I gave the appropriate "Eww! Gross! (slight freak out)" response. Come to find out he didn't mean I had a large, cheesy, delicious mexican dish on my person, but a big, creepy, hairy spider. Ha! He'd gotten enchilada and tarantula mixed up!

For show and tell at preschool he was supposed to bring something to trick his class. He chose to take some gross pretend body parts (thanks Mom!). He had a tongue, hand, foot and eyeball. When it was his turn to show, he told his class he pulled them off his little brother! I'm going to have to watch my back as he gets bigger!