Dinosaur Pajamas

I caught this picture the other day.  The boys woke up and just started playing toys.  Max is very territorial with his stuff, but he's getting better little by little. 
 Dexter is already trying to stand up on things!  I can't believe it. 

I love the pajama tops, no bottoms.

Wrestling with Daddy.

Epstein Barr/Hepatitis A/ Cytomegalovirus

Last month I wasn't feeling well.  I was getting these awful headaches constantly, I was extremely tired, and some days I just felt off.  My first inclination was depression.....I've never had it, but because I wasn't feeling well I was getting frustrated and started to feel sorry for myself a lot.  I kept putting off going to the doctor because I thought it was all in my head and that my mind was making me my body feel icky.  I was raised that you shouldn't go to the doctor unless something is broken!

I finally just went to the Madsen clinic by my house.  You can usually get an appointment there the day you call, unlike my family practitioner who told me that we couldn't get an appointment for a few months since it didn't sound like an emergency, so we are currently looking for a new doctor.  When I talked about my symptoms, I felt dumb the whole time just because I was tired doesn't mean something is wrong?  At least that's what I though. I had a bunch of tests done over 2 weeks and they determined that I had a friendly virus called Epstein Barr, also known to many as Mono.  It sucks to know there is a virus in you that you can easily pass on to your children, but I also felt a little bit of satisfaction knowing it wasn't all in my head.  There was a little concern that maybe I had liver damage.  For about a week I was having the same symptoms I have when I'm Pregnant that cause my liver to make my body itch and raise my bilirubin levels, but then it just went away.

But in the process they also determined that I had Hepatitis A at one point in my life.  Hmm I wonder where I got that, I'm sure it was from living in a third world country for 16 months.  And that I also had CMV virus.  What that actually is I don't know, I haven't bothered to research it too much.  All I know is that many people have it and do not show symptoms, but that it is bad to have when you are pregnant.  So I have to brag that my immune system is pretty amazing.  I have had multiple parasites including skin bugs and roundworms, dengue fever, and Hepatitis A that all went untreated. Except for the roundworms, who knows how long they were in my body before the internal medicine expert at the University of Utah I visited 5 months post my mission treated them.

So you can have Mono for like 3 months.  But I think I licked it in 1 1/2.  I had to stop working out because it was sucking the life out of me for the rest of the day and some evenings I was ready for bed at 6 30.  So I started walking instead of running and I had to say goodbye to Jillian Micheals for a few months, I'm sure she would call me a pussy.  I was going at a really good pace of losing a 1 lb a week until I got sick, unfortunately I didn't lose any weight since I contracted the virus, so those people who have lost 20 lbs because they had mono and didn't eat anything the whole time because they were too tired to walk to the kitchen I wish to tell you that "you suck".  I had to deal with the symptoms and still had to do my normal day to day routine, except for maybe some dinners that I skipped and Jake took over.  Did I not say I have the best husband ever?  Well I do.  When your sick it's nice to have someone to take care of you and change a poopy diaper without making a bid deal out of it.

Honduran Templo!

I was serving my mission in La Ceiba, Honduras when ground was broken for the Tegucigalpa, Honduras temple.  After so much time the temple was finally dedicated today.  This is such a huge blessing for the Honduran members of the church who would have to travel to Guatemala, El Salvador, or even Nicaragua so that they could attend the temple and do everlasting ordinances for themselves and their families. So many people would save their money for years so that they could afford to leave the country and stay near the temple for a few days to a week so that they could serve there.  

I'm so excited for "Mis Catrachos"!  It's amazing to me to see the progress that has happened since my departure.  In one branch I was in they met in an apartment building and now they have their own chapel.  I knew a group of boys whom I taught early morning seminary to (ughhhh) who are now serving their missions.  It's so awesome to witness the church growing and to know that the gospel will continue to be taught and testified until the work is done.

Cheque!

My Little Men

I love this one so much, prolly my fave. 

He can't help but smile.

I love those eyes, not sure where they came from.

Max had a hard time smiling this day, he just kept trying to stick out his tongue. 

I think this picture captures Max's personality. 

Starting here the pictures were taken 2 months after the first group of pictures, you can tell by how huge Dex has gotten. 

What a cutie!

March

It's March.  I'm actually way excited for Spring and Easter this year.  Max will get his first bike, he will actually really understand what an Easter Egg Hunt is, and most of all we will be able to get out of the house. We decided to put max in swim lessons.  He was really excited about it and even jumped right in the water, until he accidentally fell in and it was all over after that.  So I'm hoping next Saturday's class goes better.

Unfortunately, I haven't been feeling well lately and I had some tests done today.  I have to wait a week until they figure out what's wrong with me, if there is anything wrong with me.  I'm worried they will say nothing and that the whole thing has been in my head, but then there is a chance something could be really wrong with me, but I'd like to think I'm healthy as a hoarse.

Everyone is leaving for Spring Break, it's going to be quiet around here for a week, I really wish we could go somewhere but I think that's not gonna happen, vacationing isn't as much fun with kids, it just seems to be more work.

February

Most days seem to go by fairly quick, but this week has been dragging.  But Yesterday I was doing the dishes and having an exceptionally long day (knowing it was just the kids and I all day and night) when I turned around and caught Dexter smiling at me while swinging in his chair, it seemed to make everything that was driving me crazy go away. So I took a picture to remember the moment. 

These little guys are getting so big and I can't keep up, I'm sick of having to buy clothes for them.  I've been wanting to buy Dex some overalls, but they are so dang expensive and I don't want to spend anywhere between $15-20  on clothes for a 6 month old who is now wearing 12-18 month sizes.  But I ran into a pair at the DI for $2....I was very proud of myself.  He is so cute in them. 

I took Max to the aquarium 2 days ago, he loved looking at the penguins and frogs, but most of all he loved the otters, that was the only attraction that kept him still for more than 30 seconds. Dex slept the whole time because they had music playing and the lights were dim.  It worked out very well taking the both of them by myself.

I love this picture.  It looks like he is talking to the little frog.

I'm trying to keep Max entertained throughout the winter months, so we have become use to making our own fun even though it seems so simple, it keeps him busy for a little while.  Anything that integrates learning with his cars works for me. 

We are getting closer and closer to graduation, I can't believe that we have been living here for over 4 years and soon we will be leaving.  It will be a dramatic change in our lives to leave Salt Lake City.

The Holidays Are OVER!

I usually think January can kind of be a depressing time, the holidays are over, and winter has set in.  This January has been completely cold and the smog has been irritating  and Jake started school again two weeks ago.  2013 has just begun and I'm already stressing out about being cooped up with the kids all day.  Max is having a hard time with not going outside, because of the cold and the pollution, so he's been acting up a lot! Max's way of getting attention is by acting out physically, hitting me and Dexter has become one of his favorite past times, but yet he never gets away with it so I don't understand the interest in doing it.  

I can continue to count all the things I'm not looking forward to this month, but every new year sometimes forces you to act a little better and try a little harder to be happy.  So I'm going to count my blessings, starting with health.  Max got a really bad cold last week.  He is fairly easy to handle when he is sick, but he is prone to getting an ear infection, and since he turned 2 he hastes taking medicine, so it's never fun to force him to take his antibiotics.  I was worried he had an ear infection on New Years day.  We switched insurances for Max and his new medical card hadn't arrived and I was worried that we didn't send the right paper work in which means his insurance would be on hold.  I told Jake that we probably wouldn't be able to take him to the doctor if he got worse for a few days until the insurance was all cleared up, so I asked him to give him a Father's blessing.  Max hadn't received one since he was sick in the NICU at birth. He was kind of confused but I'm grateful that Jake was able to do so.  Max was better the next day and we didn't have to take him to the doctor, and the insurance information was cleared up by January 3rd and I eventually received their medical cards.  Then  Dex got sick and I had to take him to the pediatrician that Friday.  I hate seeing him sick cause for a 5 month old there's not much we can do for him, The doc said that he is on the verge of having RSV, but that we should keep cleaning out his nose and trying to keep everything clear, but luckily tonight I believe he is starting to feel better.  So we are totally blessed for the ability to overcome these colds that have sneaked their way into our home.  

Our stake gave us a challenge today to read the entire Book of Mormon by may 30th.  I leaned over and told Jake that we don't have to rush since we are already half way through.  (Max and I started reading it last semester while Jake was at class and after Dexter had gone to bed).  but Jake said we should probably try to read it independently.  I was shocked to hear him suggest such a goal.  Jake hardly ever has the time or motivation to do anything privately like that.  But we will see how things go.  

Hopefully this year is off to a good foot.  I'm trying to be more positive, especially with Max, he knows how to push my buttons.  But I need to be patient with him.  He started Primary today, and has been having a really rough time with it.  I feel like if I didn't have a primary calling then he might be okay if I wasn't in the room but I think it's promoting his poor behavior while we are there.