Summer Camping!

Warning: Picture OVERLOAD in this post!

After Asher came home from the hospital and everything was A-okay with him, we decided we needed to get the heck out of dodge. So, Saturday we (I) loaded up the van, and right after church Sunday we took off to go camping in Moab. Happy Father's Day! Who doesn't want to spend their day driving for 4 hours with 3 kids?

Actually, the drive wasn't bad. We got to Moab and set up camp just before a thunderstorm hit. We had dinner that night, then settled the kiddos in for bed. Adam and I listened to the rain and talked until we knew everyone was asleep; then he went to bed, and I attempted sleep. However, sleeping in a cot while almost 8 months pregnant is not an easy thing to do! I was up most of the night- yuck.

Monday we headed to Arches for a fun day of hiking- we did 3 miles that day. Above is Tay and Adam, taking a break while we hike the Park Avenue.

Tay and Jon playing on rocks

Look at that belly!

Tay and I on the hike to the Double Arches

Roasting marshmallows that night, after having a dinner of hot dogs and roasted corn. Yum!

I think I have a pic like this from all of my pregnancies! I love roasted marshmallows, and am quite the expert at roasting them.

Tuesday, more hiking at Arches. We did another 3 miles this day. As you can see, I wised up this day and wore my workout clothes. I was roasting to death hiking on Monday!

Lu Lu playing on rocks.

My pretty kids. This old cabin is near the trailhead for Delicate Arch (which we didn't hike to this time. A 3 mile strenuous hike is not my cup of tea while 8 months pregnant!).

Daddy, Ash, and Tay. I have a very similar pic to this when Jon was Asher's age!

Asher cheesing it up for the camera.

A pooped Jon, resting in the railing.

4-wheeling in the van! WHAT?! You don't take your van 4-wheeling? Well, we didn't plan on it. It's a long story, so I won't get into it. But it involves Mexican food (Fiesta Mexicana in Moab- yumm), a scenic drive trying to see Fisher Towers, a wrong turn, and poor planning on our part. We didn't make it back to camp until 10 pm!

We woke up early Wednesday and headed back home. It was a really fun trip- however I was very grateful for my bed when I came home! And I am glad this is my last pregnancy- camping next year will be much more comfortable!

Off topic- Asher saw his pediatrician today. In the last week he went form 8.28 Kilos to 8.75. Yay! Weight gain! I also had the pediatrician check out Jon. He's had a cough for several months now, but it's been worse since we left for Moab. Well, I'm glad I had him look at Jon! Turns out he has bronchitis- his oxygen is down, and there's some crackling in his right lung. He's on antibiotics now- and I feel like the worst parent ever making him hike so much in Moab! No wonder he was dragging so much and kept telling us he was sick. Oops! He thinks whenever someone coughs, they are sick, so we just ignored him. Poor guy! Hopefully he starts feeling better soon; he certainly isn't acting sick- he's been running around with Taylor all day.

Yet Another ER Visit!

SO, I realize I have been less than stellar at updating the blog. Sorry! The latest with Asher is this:

Last Wednesday he woke up purple. Now, Asher usually wakes up with purple feet, which goes away in 30 minutes or so. And when he gets a little cold, like after a bath, or swimming at the pool, he turns purple, but that will go away also (usually 1-2 hours of warming him up). But he woke up Wednesday, not cold, and purple. Which lasted 2 hours. And his capillary refill was over 5 seconds (normal is less than 2). So, we decided he needed to be seen by the pediatrician. I headed in, and although his oxygen saturation was great, his doctor was concerned. He called cardiology, and they had us head to Primary for a chest x-ray. In between leaving the pediatrician and having the x ray done, Asher also became very lethargic and kicked up a fever. I came home from Primary at 1pm, and he had a fever of 101.4. So, I called the pediatrician to let him know, and see what the x ray looked like. The x ray was fine, and he had me start Ash on Tylenol for the fever. Asher slept most of the afternoon. By 6 pm, he had a fever of 103.2 (no other symptoms AT ALL), so I called the pediatrician AGAIN (yes, I have his home number also). At first he wanted to see Ash in the morning, but then decided we should head to the ER and have them do a blood culture and blood count. Fun. We packed our bags, left kids with daddy, and headed out. One of the perks of a heart kiddo, is you don't have to wait at the ER, they get you right into a room! But, you still have to wait for tests and what not. By midnight-ish, they felt they should keep us overnight. Ash's white blood cells were low, and there was a high turnover of immature blood cells, which signals an infection in the body. We didn't get settled in until 3 am- and then we were up at 6:30 am. Uuggh. And sleeping on a hospital cot while 7 1/2 months pregnant is not fun. Thursday consisted of more tests, and an echo cardiogram. Oh- and Adam and the kids visited for a good chunk of the day. The echo was much the same as his last one in April- still a severe leak, but not much more. His main pulmonary artery (the part they replaced in September) is stenotic (narrowing), which is new. But none of this would cause his symptoms. So, they also ordered some blood tests to check for infection in his heart (which an echo wouldn't show). We discussed his purple spells, and the cardiologists felt that it had to do with his poor circulation, and the fact that when Ash had his surgery, they left a hole open in his atrium (didn't know that!), which allows his blood to mix more than normal, resulting in more purplish blood. However, they would like us to get a pulse oximeter for home, so we can monitor him when he has these spells.

Back to the fever- it was still happening Thursday whenever the Motrin wore off, so we had to stay Thursday night as well. By Friday, they decided it was more than likely a virus causing it, since all of his blood work was coming back negative (no infection in the heart-phew!). SO, although a few tests results were still pending, they let us go home. He still had a fever Friday, but by Saturday all was well.

Also, the doctors noticed that Asher's height and weight have remained the same since April. With the problems in Asher's heart, his heart has to work a lot harder all the time. Basically, his heart is constantly beating the same as if you or I were out jogging. They decided we need to put him back on formula, and concentrate it more, and add more calories to everything he eats. As in, put butter on EVERYTHING. They are giving Asher a diagnosis of "failure to thrive". Yay.

Welcome to the world of heart kids- a simple virus with a fever lands you at the hospital for 2 1/2 days, and gets you a diagnosis of "failure to thrive" (I really dislike that term)!

On a side note, when the kids came to visit, Jon kept asking for Dr. Jen. She was the resident that was his Dr. when he was hospitalized with a staph infection. Thursday afternoon we found a cardiology resident who knew Dr. Jen, and she had her paged. Unfortunately, Jen was in clinic that day, and couldn't visit. Friday the kids weren't at the hospital, but Jen came to visit, camera in tow, hoping to see her favorite "batman" patient. She even gave me a big hug when she saw me. She said next time I'm there with Jon I need to have her paged so she can see him. I love Primary's soo much! Their Dr's and nurses are the best.

So, now it is almost a week later. Ash is doing well,no more fevers or mystery purple spells (just when he goes swimming) and we need to see the pediatrician to see if he has gained any weight since we've switched up his diet. We also just got back from a trip to Moab (we left Father's Day), which I will update on tonight/tomorrow.

Summer!

Summer is here! Kids are done with school, and the weather is (finally!) warming up.

The kids have pulled out the chalk, and are decorating all the concrete they can find! This is what Taylor did when I asked her to clean up the chalk the other day. Not quite what I meant, but a very artistic way of arranging them!
I had some work to do today, taking pictures of houses. But I just couldn't keep the kids in the car all day! It is far too gorgeous out, so we stopped at a park on the opposite side of the valley and had a picnic and played. Asher LOVED the swing!

Check out the hair! Blowing in the breeze- Daddy doesn't want to cut it. He says he lives out his hair fantasies through our boys.

South Jordan has some of the best parks! This one was full of different rope structures for climbing, right next to the lake. Parks were so lame when we were kids!

It was a great day, we even squeezed in a visit with Dad at work. Now it's time to do the mad dash cleaning before he comes home!

Grafton Ghost Town

On our second day in St. George, we decided to take the kids to a ghost town, before heading to Zion National Park. It was Jonathan's favorite part of the trip! On the way to Zion from St. George, you pass through several small little towns. One little town is Rockville. In Rockville, there is a small sign that says "Grafton" with an arrow. You drive down a small little road, through a neighborhood, and pass over a bridge. Then you take a dirt road for several miles, and you swear you must be going the wrong way. Keep going until the road ends, and you are at Grafton. It's a small collection of old homes, a cemetery, and a church/schoolhouse. It's all that remains of a town founded in 1859, and flooded twice. The last residents left in 1944. It was a really neat little detour!

One of the old homes. Unfortunately, you couldn't get inside.
The dirt road in.

Another home. We hopped the fence at this one, and since it was wide open, Adam and the kids took a peek around. Shh! Don't tell anyone!

The schoolhouse/church.

Cute kids!

Silly kids! This was the best shot.

Another home. This one had a large fence preventing us from poking around anymore.

Batman!

Screwed up the editing on this one. Oops!

One of the old wooden headstones at the cemetery.

A really neat old house, off the beaten path, on private property we TOTALLY were not supposed to be on. We're a bunch of rule breakers!

Lots of fun, and I got some really neat pictures (I think!). Next post: Our MAJOR hike in Zions.