I'm not dead!

I've been asked if I'm still alive, and the answer is YES! Aren't you so glad?
So much has happened since my last update, I don't know where to start.
Maybe I'll do the short version! Wait, there's no such thing!
Ok, so Matt's parents came to visit the third week of June. We had such a great time! It was sad to see them go. We did all kinds of fun things like the Alamo, and Sea World, and even a mission or two. Unfortunately, the day we did the Alamo and Riverwalk it was sooo hot. It was pretty miserable. But we made the best of it anyway. Then a couple days it poured! Phooey! We never did make it down to the coast. This was a huge bummer. When we lived in Ohio, Matt's parents came to visit and we were going to go to Niagara Falls, but we had a blizzard! This time the rain ruined things. Oh yes, and a baby who HATES the carseat! Maybe next time they come we'll make it down there!
As for said baby...she is doing great! The night Matt's parents got in we got a new to us couch and love seat. Suddenly, Em's breathing got better! Then there was a definite pattern to her crying. She cried when her meds for the reflux wore off. But we quit the breathing treatments and she has done great. We know we are dealing with an allergy for sure now. She has started to roll over now, but I don't put her down too much because when she is down on the ground (even on a blanket) her face is breaking out.
Stupid dog, I seriously cannot get rid of her. No one will take her. The humane societies are all full. I have no idea how to get rid of her, short of taking her to the country and dumping her...which I wouldn't do! She has to go though. We are on the waiting list at a couple humane societies, so pray for an opening for us!
Emily sees the pulmonologist on Monday, and we are going to keep that appointment. We just finished up VBS, it was a wild west theme and we had hay and all sorts of horse stuff in the chapel. Em's breathing was bad then. So, we need to see how to control all of this.
She saw the gastro who said it sounded like we were doing a good job controlling the reflux, which I agree about.
We also saw a new ped for her four month check. I really liked her, even if she wasn't that pro breastfeeding! Oh well. Can't win them all.
Matthew finished up pathfinders and was awarded pathfinder of the year. YAY MATTHEW!! So Matthew was pathfinder of the year, Dill was adventurer of the year, and Collin was Eager Beaver of the year. All their hard work paid off for them, and we're so proud!
In August we are headed to Colorado Springs for 6 weeks. It will be so nice to have a break from Texas for awhile. They needed a temporary audiologist, so Matt volunteered to go. Fun times!
Let's see..what else? I don't know. How abot some cute poop stories??
Zachy insists on getting naked to poop, and we still have to wipe his bottom. So he called for us to come wipe him. When Matt walked in, Zachy was sitting on the pot, in the classic meditation stance...heels together, elbows resting on his knees, middle finger and thumb together..chanting "ummmm..yucka yucka yucka..ummmm..yucka yucka yucka yucka" So funny!
The week of VBS, Collin was having some intestinal issues. He was in the bathroom when I heard, "oh no..I pooped a little in my pants" Then a horrified, "OH DEAR" I asked what was wrong, "it's melted" he replied!! It was just a tad in his pants, by the way.
The melted poop carried on for several days. I had to stop by Family Christian Book store on my way to church one night. And Collin said, "I have to poop, and I know it will be melted" So we hurry to the bathroom. It was one with just one toilet and sink. It took awhile so I was standing there nursing Emily. He is pooping, while someone is rattling on the door. I hollar out that someone is in the bathroom. It was Zachy. He had to go. He had to go now or else he was going to poop his pants! His had melted by this time as well. So, I'm standing there, nursing Em, telling Collin to take a break and let Zachy sit down so Zachy doesn't poop his pants. Collin freaked out that he would then poop his pants. I'm trying to plead with him to get up so Zach won't poop his pants. It was mighty comical I'm sure. But no one pooped their pants. When I opened the door, there was a line of people waiting to use the bathroom! HOW EMBARASSING!
Anyway, that's it..my poop stories, and my update. Have a great week!

Creative Memories

Hey all! I'm having a creative memories party at my house next Thursday. I wish you all could be there. I have never used creative memories for scrapping, but it looks like they have really expanded their products. Go have a look. You can order for my party on the internet. Just let me know if I can help you!

Just a quick update

ok real quick like...Em saw the dr on Monday. He agreed with the other dr that she needs to be seen by a pulmunologist and a gastro doc. She is scheduled to see the gastro doc on July 3. Still waiting on the pulmunology appt. He also ordered allergy testing, but I'm not holding my breath that they will be conclusive. They did a nasal wash to rule out RSV as well. It was negative. They upped her breathing treatments to twice a day.
So now we just wait, I guess. *sigh* It's really pain, I wish we had answers, now.
OK, off to clean, must get ready for the in law visit.

I feel like I'm running on one brain cell

OK, so a few people have emailed me and asked me to update.
I realize it's been a long time, I just have a lot happening right now.
First and foremost is Emily.
What is wrong with my precious baby?
As you all know, she has been very congested, for...oh..ever.
The last time I posted, I said that she had her upper GI and did not have reflux. Well, the dr called me to tell me these results. I was so upset. I said, "then tell my why she is so congested and wheezing so badly!" He said he didn't know, but he could tell I wanted her to be seen again, and since it was going to be memorial day weekend, I could bring her in on Friday.
I was all prepared for this meeting. I took video of her breathing so he could see that she was really retracting and trying hard to breathe. It wasn't needed. When the nurse called us back, she freaked. She pulled the dr out of the room he was in and said he had to look at her NOW. They immediately started a breathing treatment. After two treatments, she was still wheezing, but not so bad that she needed to stay there. He told me at that point that the upper GI had said she didn't have reflux, but based on what I had said and her symptoms, he was going to treat her anyway. So we left with meds and a new nebulizer to treat her every 4 hours.
Over the weekend her cying escalated. There was no consoling her. It was awful.
On Tuesday when we went back in, the dr hung his face in his hands and said, "something is wrong with your baby, and I don't know what" He then told me she would be sent to a pulmunologist and gastroenterologist. Finally, we'd be getting somewhere.
That Saturday, we got a letter in the mail announcing the drs retirement, stating he'd be seeing no more patients.
Now, I had been fed up with him because this has been going on so long and he really hasn't helped much. In fact, I was ready to find a new dr after this ordeal was over. This put us in a pinch.
I decided to make the specialist appointments and work on switching her provider. Little did I know that that would be impossible. The gastro dr is booking in March! March folks. She'll be a year old. The pulmunologist can't see her till the end of July.
Thankfully, I was able to call Tricare and tell them what is going on. They got her a PCM immediately, and she has an appointment on Monday. I didn't like our former military dr experiences, so I'm praying it goes better this time.
She is still on breathing treatments daily, and still wheezes and is horribly congested.
Through all of this, she tries very hard to be a happy baby. She smiles and I just know a laugh is in there somewhere.
Dillon and Collin had their ending program for adventurers last Saturday. Dillon got Adventurer of the year. We were pretty proud of him!!
Last Sunday, we took Dillon to camp. He was there for the week. I missed him terribly. He had a great time.
We picked him up today and dropped Matthew off for his week. He is totally excited because he gets to do waterskiing this year. Fun times.
Last week I spent dejunking the kid rooms. Everything is nice and in place now. We'll see how long that lasts.
Also, on Thursday, Collin lost his first tooth!
This week my in laws are coming to visit. We are very excited about it, and plan to do lots of fun stuff with them.
In our free time, we are busy working on VBS. It is going to be a huge success this year. We are holding it the last week in June.
I'll be so glad when July hits. No plans, so far. It will be nice to stop being so hectic!
So there you have it, a big long entry from me...you asked for it!!

More Emily Cuteness

First off, let me say that Em had her upper GI this morning and she does NOT have reflux. Which is oh so frustrating for me. It puts us right back at square one. Something is wrong with my baby, and I don't know what. GRRRRRR
Anyway, here are some pictures from last night, Matthew and Dillon were playing with her trying to get her to smile.

An answer...finally..and some pics

So Emily just seemed to be getting sicker and sicker. She was constantly choking and gagging. Starting last Wednesday, she was throwing up every morning. On Sunday, her breathing got pretty labored. I decided it was time to see the dr. So we went to the ER yesterday. And the dr said, "she has reflux". He said that she would need an upper GI but that he could tell it was reflux. He started her on pepcid yesterday, and already she is improving. Still really congested, but not nearly as fussy.
Today, we followed up with the ped and she now has an upper GI scheduled for Wednesday morning. I hope it is simple. And I hope we get the answer to all of her misery, once and for all.
I was asked to put some more pictures of her up here, but the reality is, we don't have many. Why? Because she is constantly crying and in our arms, or sleeping. But you've seen lots of sleeping pics. So tonight we got some other pics. And here they are, along with some of Collin, just because he suddenly seems so grown up to me.





I don't know if you can tell in this picture that she is trying to get her jammies in her mouth. Her hands are constantly in her mouth, and she puts anything she can get her hands on in it. It's awfully cute!


This is a picture from a mother's day tea that Collin's adventurers class put on. They sang a few songs for us and told us about their favorite Bible friend. Collin's was Jesus. No surprise there! :-)

Wilderness

OK, not really the wilderness, but at one of the missions, there was a short nature trail along the river. It was the prettiest place I've ever seen in Texas. There were millions of caterpillars, and if you stood still, poop would fall on your head. You could hear the poop hitting the leaves. It was really wierd.

Mission fun

I didn't bring the camera on our first day. So here are some pictures from the last two missions we went to. Unfortunately, they were the most rubbled of the missions. Someday, I'll get pictures of the other ones.
What struck me the most about these, is that they are still working churches. And in the one with the well, there are actually still francsicans living there.

Our usual night

Here are some pictures of our usual night. I don't know what we ever did without an exercise ball in the past!

Hail Storm

Awhile ago, there was a huge hail storm. It's been pretty stormy around here lately. In fact, a couple of weeks ago we sat through a tornado warning siren going off. We didn't know it was for a tornado, but heard an announcement saying to seek shelter. Now we know.

I'm having a bad day

I'm sure I've titled posts that way before, but it's been awhile!
Things here have been so crazy. We are still trying to find a home for Sadie. Who knew this could be so hard??
On Sabbath, we went over to some new friends' house, who have no dander. Emily did great. She didn't cry, and she wasn't stuffy, and she smiled like mad at their baby boy.
I honestly just want to move the heck out of here, and go somewhere with hardwood floors. I hate hardwood floors, but this house is probably packed full of dander and who knows what else. It seems nearly impossible to move though.
Zachy is acting up. I know he is still dealing with not being the baby, but he is being awful. Last night he flooded the bathroom with water and shampoo. Earlier today, he dumped the entire gallon of milk on the ground. *sigh* He is really testing me.
This morning I thought that Emily and I were soaking from a leaky breast, but no...Zachy had come into our bed this morning and his goodnight leaked everywhere.
It was super windy last night, and it uprooted our canvas gazebo thingie, bent the metal nearly in half, it's toast.
It's only noontime and it's been a rough morning. Hopefully things improve this afternoon.
In good news, Dillon finished all his math today. We are so close to being done with the school year. Matthew has one more math lesson. They are done with their grammar. There is no time limit on history, so we'll stop that soon. We've taken a detour from the regular history, and have started to learn about the missions here. We went to them on Thursday and Friday, and the kids had a blast. I was shocked, I thought they'd be bored.
That reminds me, I have some pictures I need to post from there. OK, no more complaining about the day..off to upload pics.

Sorry

I don't know when I'll be back in the swing of things.
Last night was awful. Crying. Crying. Crying.
In fact, at one point I was just ready to go to the ER. She finally stopped.
Something hurts.
Tonight is better though.
I think she is actually asleep in there with Matt..so I'm off to bed.

SHE SMILES!!

I am so happy!! Yesterday, while we were killing time, Emily started smiling huge smiles! Over and over and over! I was almost in tears. How sad is that? I was just so happy to see her look happy.
I'm thinking there may be something wrong with her tummy. I'm going to order some gripe water this week. She is really spitty, and when she burps, it makes her cry. I think her tummy just hurts.
In completely unrelated news, we now have a new dryer. Matt changed the heating element in the old one, and it worked long enough for me to get caught up on the laundry. So, we said to heck with it and bought a new one. We also bought an extended warranty, so we have a 4 year warranty now. At least that guarantees us 4 years of use, which is much more than we got with this one!

How will your obituary read?

Have you ever wondered that? What will your obituary say about you? Will it say you were an encouragement to others? Will it say you touched many lives? Or will it just state the facts?
So yeah, I'm having a hard time with Damon's death. He was just so SO wonderful. He was an inspiration. I often wondered how it was that he was so nice. And the only answer is that he was walking so close with Christ. He was becoming like Him every day. And it showed. I want to be like that.
The other day, we went to a pizza place, and I sat there and thought, 'this must be a christian establishment'. I can't tell you why I thought that, because I can't put my finger on it. But, I want people to look at me and think, 'she must be a christian'
I have so far to go. I am trying to think positive thoughts these days. I'd like to eliminate the negative influences on my life. I'm stepping back from some message boards that aren't that uplifting. Not that they are bad, they just aren't uplifting. If that makes any sense.
Damon's influence continues in death. My mom said that church was packed yesterday, and that testimonies of him were cut off at 12:30. The funeral isn't till Tuesday. I can't begin to imagine how packed it will be then.
They donated organs, and were able to take stem cells, bone marrow, skin, eyes, almost everything. They said at least 50 people would be helped by him. How wonderful.
Another wonderful thing is that his grandma was able to buy him a plot right next to the very woman who introduced him to Jesus. Can you imagine that reunion when Jesus comes back? How very, very wonderful.
And so here is how his obituary reads. It speaks volumes to me.

Damon A. Huhtala, 28, a resident of Hayden; died April 18, 2007. He was born Oct. 17, 1978, at Roseville, Calif., to Diana Howe Jewell and Kerry Huhtala. Damon grew up in Sonora, Calif., where he graduated from high school.

Damon moved to Coeur d'Alene in 2000, where he attended North Idaho College Carpentry program. Later he helped construct the Hayden Lake Seventh-day Adventist Church, where he had recently become a member. He was presently employed by Edwards Construction Company. However, he had already laid plans to enroll at Weimar College, a Bible College in California to get a degree in theology and become a minister.

He loved fishing, boating, hiking, camping and all kinds of snow sports including: skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling. He also loved children, but his favorite pastime was studying the Bible.

Damon's name means "loyal friend" and this describes him in the most accurate terms. Many people considered him their very best friend. He was a wonderful example, inspiration and encouragement to many others. His quiet, genuine and non-assuming ways were irresistible and made him the type of guy everyone wanted to be around. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him.

And I know it really doesn't matter

but Emily really isn't smiling yet.
She smiled that one time at Dillon, and once looking out the window at the sky.
Neither times were the type of smile where her whole face just lights up.
I looked and all the boys were smiling by now. She'll be 7 weeks old tomorrow.
When, oh when will I get those gorgeous heart melting smiles??

It only took two years

This last week, I joined a new homeschool group.
Yes, at the very end of the year. But that's ok.
These new neighbors are a little rough around the edges, and honestly, we don't really want our kids hanging out with them. Matthew is fine with this, they drive him crazy. But Dillon is just enamored by them. It scares me, because Dill is so impressionable, and I would much rather he be impressed my good kids than bad!
I went walking with a different neighbor last night and she said, 'you know, God either makes us a follower or a leader and there's nothing wrong with either one, we just have to help them to follow the right people" I think this is so true. I hear parents say, "well I've taught them right, they know what to do" I don't buy this for a second. I've taught Dillon well..and yet, in certain circumstances, he seems to forget what he's been taught!
Which led me to find a christian homeschool group. They also happen to be a military group. So, yesterday was park day. And we went. And it was great!
It was so nice to be around normal people! Normal by my standards anyway. People who enjoy having their kids around and aren't trying to get rid of them at every chance. People who also hated Texas when they first got here, but learned to like it while they're here. Just little things like that. I felt at home with them.
And the kids had a great time too. Of course it will take awhile to form real friendships. Dillon found someone he latched right onto. Matthew might take awhile longer. But it will happen. I hope.
Thankfully, they meet all summer long, so it really is of little consequence that I joined now.
I'm just so happy to finally be part of a group here. Finding homeschool groups was easier in Ohio and Idaho, which is funny, since San Antonio is much bigger than anywhere we were before!
Hooray for homeschool groups!!

Do your loved ones know that you love them?

My mom called me today, to tell me that one of our friends from Idaho had tragically died today.
He worked in the construction business. Today he was walking with a nail gun when he tripped on a cord. He fell down and the nail gun went off..shooting a nail through his head.
Such a horrible thing.
He was 28 years old.
And it made me think. Did Damon know how much he was loved? His life was certainly not easy. Not by a long shot. His dad and brother are in prison. I don't know anything about his mom. He had years of drug use behind him.
But he found Christ, and his life changed. He was a deacon in the church. He probably physically built more of the church in Idaho than anyone else. He was the type of person you could depend on. Over and over I heard what a hard worker he was. When Matt was in Korea, and we were moving..Damon was right there helping me. We had game nights at our house, and he was always there.
He was a quiet guy, but once you got to know him, he impacted your life.
I can't even tell you how much he will be missed.
And yet, I wonder, did he know? Did anyone actually take the time to tell him they loved him? Because we did. Anyone who knew him, must have. But with no family to tell him, did he ever hear it?
My stomach has been upset all night. You don't usually wake up and think you are going to trip and shoot a nail through your head. You don't wake up and think that when you go to class that day, you will be shot. You never know when your last day is.
Take the time to let your loved ones know you love them. Even if you think they know. And even if they aren't family, or the usual people you tell that you love. It could be your last chance.
Goodbye Damon. We loved you, and we will miss you so much. I only wish we had taken the time to tell you.

Ahh, the good (or not so good) ole days

So I'm washing lots of laundry, which I will take to the laundromat to dry later this afternoon.
Many years ago, before we had any children, Matt and I used to do our laundry at a laundromat. We had a great time.
There was an arcade next door, and we would set our clothes up to wash and go race each other on the car games. He always won, but it was still fun.
When the laundry was done, we would go across the parking lot to the movies and see a movie. Sometimes two.
I remember seeing the movie Nine Months then. And talking about when we would have a baby. We talked about having babies a lot back then. But we also talked about waiting until we could better afford it. Not that we wanted to. But we actually waited till we had been married two years before having Matthew. That was when we used to plan the baby!
It's funny, because I remember those times as good. But our marriage was also in a tremendous amount of turmoil then. I didn't think we'd actually make it. But somehow we did. It was at that time that we both got out tattoos, and there certainly was no church going to be had. Matt was working at Taco Bell, and I was going to cosmetology school. I have no idea how we survived. Times were not good, not at all.
Except for the weekly laundromat dates.
It's been 12 years since then. And we have come so far. Without the help of anymore laundromats!
Matt's now an audiologist, supporting us pretty comfortably. There isn't a doubt in my mind that our marriage will indeed make it. We've been through some terrible stuff and I figure there's not much else that could shake us. We have those babies we used to talk about all the time. More than I imagined? Nope, not yet! We are very, very involved in church, as a whole family unit. And I now wish there were no tattoos!
It's amazing to look back on those times. We were so, so young. God was hanging on to us when we were pulling away. He wasn't in our marriage at all, but He was going to try his best to be there.
Of course, I've made my trips to the laundromat since then. And it's always with fond memories of the early trips. I usually have someone to leave kids with, or someone to come with me. It will be totally different this go around. It'll be a whole new set of memories.
Maybe we'll even hit the movies afterwards.

This is not good

My dryer has died.
Starting Sunday, it would only dry on high heat. And it was HOT HOT HOT. Earlier today, it was drying on high.
Now. Nothing.
It rotates around, but absolutely no heat.
This stinks.
I have too much laundry to worry about something like this! Matt is out of town till Saturday night. What will I do??
*sigh* I told him it would be good for me to go it alone for awhile. To get back to not fully relying on him. I just didn't expect to deal with this.
I had really hoped our washer and dryer would last long enough that we could save up and get those nice new ones. You know, the ones that hold like three loads. Oh my, that would be heaven. I guess it wasn't in the cards though.
I was trying hard to save a good chunk of money for when my in laws come to visit, but that chunk is shrinking by the day. We may just have to sit at home and twiddle our thumbs when they come!!
I would put up a clothesline, but that isn't allowed here in base housing. I guess I'll be making a trip to the laundromat tomorrow to dry the clothes in the washer and dryer right now.
Stupid dryer.

I am so in love with this girl

I could stare at this little face forever. I feel like I have, actually, her face looks just like all of her brothers! These pics were taken last night, so you can see how much better it looks. I ate tomatoes last night, and nothing happened. One thing eliminated!
I think the top right pic is my favorite.
Put your cursor on the mosaic and click to start it. Then just roll your cursor over the pictures to see the big picture. If it stops, just refresh the page.