We're MOVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, that's right we're out of here in just 2 weeks!! Out of the cold snow into warm, sunny Arizona! If you know us, I'm sure you're not surprised we're moving....AGAIN! We have been married 5 years, and this will be our 6th time to move (however, a couple of the times were only for a few months and most of our stuff was in storage). I think this time will be longer though. Justin accepted a new job as the manager of the Arizona State Credit Union. We are moving back to the little town he grew up in, and where we actually met and dated. It's what we have always considered "home" and so we are really excited to go back!! Of course we are still going to miss a lot of things here, but mostly our family and friends. I'm sure we will be back to visit. Anyway, I better go pack...not our boxes, but our suitcases. Pax and I are headed down to AZ for my grandpa's b'day party this weekend. So many things to do, so little time. I can't promise to keep my blog updated, but I'll try to give you all more information later. I appologize if this post is really all over the place, but that is indeed how I feel!!

Snow Day!

I know we live where we get snow all the time, but very very rarely do we go out and play in it. I'm sad to say that Paxton has never gone out in the snow to just play. I have a lot of excuses for it though-- Last year Pax was just a tiny baby and couldn't go out, Kaybri always seems to get a cold after freezing in it, Kaybri's been having a lot of seizures already and I don't want to cause her to have another one by getting too cold, and well probably the most important reason...I just don't love it. I'm a mean mom I guess.

Justin had Monday off, we had 5-6 inches of new snow, and it was sunny outside, so we thought we better let the kids experience playing in the snow. They were all bundled up and walking out the door when Paxton face planted it on the porch. ouch! Luckily he had a fuzzy beanie to protect his forehead! He just stood in the snow for a little while, not sure if he should move. Once he decided he should go for it and run, he face planted again! This time he couldn't get up by himself though, all you could see was his little bum in the air! Justin picked him up and his whole head was covered in snow except for his eyes and mouth (which was screaming bloody murder). It was hilarious! Justin was nice and brushed him off before I could snap a picture, so all I got was the after-shot. He hated the snow for the next 10 minutes, but once we let him walk on the sidewalk and decide for himself when he should or shouldn't jump in the snow he liked it a lot. He actually threw a major fit when we brought him back in the house, so I guess we'll have to play again. As for Kaybri, she loves the snow too, but for different reasons. She loves to eat the "cold ice". She would just sit down in the snow and shove handfuls into her mouth. I know, probably not the best thing to let her eat, but I checked and it wasn't yellow!

The kids now have nasty colds, but we now have pictures and memories to last a lifetime!

News from the doc

Kaybri's neurologist finally called back yesterday and basically told us we need to do some more tests. The video EEG in December showed that most of her seizures are coming from the left side of her brain. This still puts her as a "maybe" candidate for epileptic surgery. They had thought/hoped that her seizures were coming from her right side of the brain (where she originally had surgery for the cyst) because that would've explained why they couldn't see any abnormal brain tissue in that area on her MRIs. But since it's from the opposite side they looked back at her last MRI to look at the left side really good, but it turns out that there was some movement artifact on the MRI so they couldn't see it clear enough to say whether it is normal or abnormal. So, we are going to do a higher resolution MRI soon. If it shows abnormal then there is a higher probability that she will have surgery. She is now having an average of 4-5 seizures a week. Anyway, that is the update, so now I'll add some of the latest pictures to satisfy all your cravings!

Kaybri's totally fake laugh. She's trying to be funny, and of course we fell for it.

My little cutie pie has been such a whinner lately, it's driving me crazy! He's also learned to throw fits when he doesn't get what he wants. He falls to the floor and will begin to bang his head, I try not to laugh. Anyway, when I see these sweet pictures I forget all about the things that drive me crazy.

Tag

Ok, so I never do these, but I thought since we bailed on seeing you last weekend Becca, that I could at least fulfill this request. :)

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 years ago: It was my grandpa's 70th birthday, so we probably had cake or something with him?? I have no idea?! Umm...I was 15 and a freshman, so I was probably passing notes in the hall to my old crush, bringing a ton of books and homework home every night and staying up late until it was all done (yes I am that much of a nerd/perfectionist), going to basketball games, and being involved in a lot of extra activities-BPA, FHA, Student Council. I think I got my first email address when I was a freshman too-I know, random.

5 things on my to-do list today:Well, since the day is nearly over I shouldn't have any to do's, so I'll probably carry it over into tomorrow.
1.) catch up on blog
2.) go to bed before 12 am
3.) fold laundry
4.) take care of my sick, whinny kids
5.) try to be nice to them :)

Things I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire:Find the best doctor out there and have them study and study until they can fix Kaybers. Go on lots of vacations/travel the world. Buy a home in AZ and visit our families more often. Help out family. Pay off any debts. Invest. Give money to the church.

3 of my bad habits: Being late to everything (although I've been doing way better this year-so far), Staying up too late, Eating way too much sugar!

5 places I have lived: New Mexico, Arizona, Utah (3 different cities), California

5 jobs I have had:Waitress, Admin. Assistant at EA, car hopper for Sonic, Admin. Assistant at BYU, MOM

Things people don't know about me: I am such a sucker for "good deals" while going shopping; I am super indecisive and over-analyze things; I swear I used to be kinda smart, but most of my brain left when I had babies!

I tag: Karli, Mel, Nicole, Jennifer, & Brooke

Goodbye Curls

As you've probably noticed, Paxton's hair is getting really long. I LOVE all the little curls, but Justin has been saying he looks too girly. I agree that he did need some cut off; his bangs were constantly in his eyes, and I was having to comb his hair as much as Kaybri's. I was too afraid to try to cut his hair all by myself, so I decided to have my mom help while she was here.

Here are some before shots:

The cut:

I tried to keep him entertained while my mom cut. Suckers worked great. He had 3 because the sticks kept getting so soggy.

And when all else fails, pick your nose. It seemed to keep him occupied. :)

The finished look:

It took a little bit of getting use to, but I like it. And it's just hair, right? I'm sure I will let it grow and get curly again though!

Christmas 2007

Well, we did manage to get our tree decorated, despite the flu that took over our home. I think it was decorated for 8-9 days and then we took the decorations off the day after Christmas because the tree was so dry. Paxton loved the "balls" on the tree and was constantly asking for them. And Kaybri would go up to the tree and point to the lights and say "hot, don't touch it".






Paxton started feeling better and was back to eating a lot of food about 5 days after he got sick with the flu. He even managed to climb up into the chair and finish Kaybri's breakfast one morning. However, by the end of the week he was sick again, running a high fever; I think because he was cutting his bottom molars. Anyway, I missed church....again. Kaybri and Justin did make it though; she looked so pretty.





My parents drove up to Utah and got here on the 23rd. We got to keep them here for a whole week!! Justin's mom, dad, and brother were also planning on coming here for Christmas Eve/Day. Those plans changed a little bit when Britni (Justin's sister) went into labor Christmas Eve, so his mom didn't make it here. But, we got a new little niece for Christmas! Congratulations guys!!

We were just about to do our Christmas Eve tradition of reading about the birth of our Savior and opening up one present (Christmas jammies), when Kaybri had a seizure. She had been doing so good; we were a little surprised. She had gone 10 days without any, so we thought she'd probably make it through Christmas. We had to give her diastat to come out of it, so she was knocked out for the rest of the evening.



BEDTIME!! Paxton now lets us know when it's past his bedtime by asking over and over for his "ba ba".

POKER TIME!! The boys have a tradition of playing poker when they all get together.

Kaybri woke up early the next morning and was still out of it and very irritable for the majority of Christmas. The smallest thing would set her off and through her into tears. I did manage to get a few pictures of her with smiles though. Kaybri opened up a couple of presents, but we opened up a lot of them for her because she would throw a fit if we tried to get her to open any. On the other hand, Paxton was full of grins and giggles. He loved opening his presents (and hated sitting still for pictures)! They both got lots of toys and clothes; they're two very loved/spoiled kids! (Sorry for posting so many pictures, I have a hard time making decisions!)

The kids had a lot of fun playing with Grammie and Papa. Thanks for coming to stay with us! Kaybri kept asking/looking for them for several days after they left! And Paxton learned how to say "papa"; we're still working on "grammie".

Several days after Christmas, the kids got a couple more presents. This time Kaybri was very into unwrapping the her present. I guess we should have waited a few days to let Kaybri open all her presents when she felt better.

Paxton HATES to sit still for pictures!

It was so funny to watch Paxton and her. She did not want Paxton to come near her while she was tearing off the paper. You can see in the picture that she's holding onto his arm, while she's unwrapping with the other!

Pax is a big boy now though, and can hold his own!!!

I'm Back!!

I know, I know....it's been quite awhile....and somehow, I'm going to try to cram an entire month and a half in one post. So this is what we've been up to:

*Early November: We were able to go visit Kaybri and Paxton's best buddies, Kinley and Kyle(their cousins in American Fork). Kaybri had a seizure within the first 5 minutes of being there, so she was asleep or grouchy for the remaining time we were there. But Paxton and Kyle got to roll around and chase each other for awhile. They are only 1 month apart, and both super cute, chunky boys.
*Thanksgiving: Cory and Dawn's family came to stay with us a few days before Thanksgiving. We had such a good time playing and visiting with them. The day before Thanksgiving we all packed up and went down to Justin's parents for the rest of the week. All of Justin's siblings were there except for his sister. We ate lots of yummy food, played games, did a little bit of black Friday shopping, shot off rockets, and the boys made race tracks to race some cars. It was lots of fun, but also a little bit of a stressful week because we had put Kaybri on a pretty restricted diet a week or two before to try to help her seizures. Of course she didn't understand why she couldn't eat the food everyone else was eating. Dieting during Thanksgiving is not recommended.
*December 3rd-11th: We went and got our Christmas tree for FHE night; it was so pretty and smelled so good. By the time we got it in the tree stand though, the kids were screaming/crying and it was time to go to bed. So we decided we'd decorate it the next night....WRONG! We found on Tuesday that there was a pretty good possibility that Kaybri could get in Wednesday (the 5th) to do a Video EEG, so I spent that night packing and trying to get everything organized for while we would be gone. They did get us in on Wednesday and we were there until the next Tuesday. The doctors wanted Kaybri to have 4-5 seizures while we were there, so they slowly took her off all her medicines. She had a lot of wires glued to her head, and then gauze wrapped all over her head. It looked like she had a major head injury. She was confined to her room the entire time and was supposed to stay in her bed the majority of the time so they could video her. That's a big challenge for a 2 (almost 3) year old. By the end of the week, Kaybri and I were both about to go crazy! She did have 3 seizures and quite a bit of abnormal spikes that showed up on the EEG. The doctors had to give her some medicine through her IV during her last seizure to make her come out of it. So after that, they decided to put her back on her meds and not risk having a seizure they couldn't control. The test should show what part of the brain her seizures start and whether they are focal or generalized, and if they are focal there is a possibility for surgery. We are so grateful that they got us in so quickly, and that the doctors are finally trying to do something besides giving her more drugs.

While we were away, Paxton stayed with Grandpa and Grandma Echols. I think he totally enjoyed having all the attention to himself! They came to visit us in the hospital a couple of times and it made our day! Kaybri and Paxton were both so excited when they saw each other.

*December 11th-Present: We were all SOOO happy to be coming home and to be together again, but that feeling has been overcome with TOTAL SICKNESS! Paxton got sick with the flu on the way home, and it got passed on to Kaybri, and now on to Justin. The kids still are not 100% better, but at least they're not throwing up anymore. Nevertheless, the tree is still not decorated and the majority of the "things to do" before Christmas are not done, but I am still semi-sane and hey, I finally got a chance to update my blog!