Week of March 14-18, 2010

Sunday March 14- We didn't get to sleep in as much as would have like but oh well because I never did my lesson for church so I had to do that this morning. Church was good. My class was so loud and hyper today. Wow I had one kid that was driving me crazy. I like the Sundays that they all seemed drugged. In the evening we had amazing stakes for dinner. Once again Enoch out did himself. It was awesome. I finished my book running with Angels finally. It was a really good read. I suggest everybody read it. In the evening Enoch and I watched the newest Terminator. It was so fantastic. I loved it. I couldn't believe how good it was. I loved that it was PG-13 as well. Oh too bad on going to bed early. It was another late night for us.

Monday March 15- Today I polyurethaned my bathroom cupboards. Wow does that stuff ever stink. It is so toxic. It was really warm outside so I was able to open windows in the bathroom. I am so excited to get it all done. It has taken a lot longer than I have wanted it to. In the evening for family home evening we went and all delivered Scentsy invitations for my Scentsy open house on Saturday. After we went to Sub Zero for ice cream. Yum it was so good. The kids really enjoyed hanging out and eating ice cream together. After we put the kids to bed Enoch and I watched a free movie that we got from Redbox. We rented 2012. Wow that was by far the dumbest movie I have ever seen. It did nothing for me. Also it was supposed to take place December 21st. Well I have never seen Yellowstone with grass and campers round in December. Yellowstone is closed and open to only snowmobilers. Wow that to me made the movie so stupid. Who ever did the movie did not do their homework. Heck even the special effects were stupid.

Tuesday March 16-I worked on the supboards some more today. I did my second coat on most of them. In the evening Rachel and I went to the districts maturation video for girls. We then after went and talked about everything. She was a little freaked out and there was a lot for her take in at times. We didn't talk about everything but all that happens to girls as they get older. I enjoyed talking to her like that. I can't believe that we are already having talks like that. She is growing up too fast. I am not read to have a teenager in a couple of years. Wow.

Wednesday March17-We all wore green today so nobody got pinched by the leprechaun. I finished my last coat on my cupboards. I went and got some visiting teaching done today. I am excited to get it done this week. I was so tired all day today and so when all the kids got home from school I had them watch Kaelen so I could take a half hour nap. It turned out to be an hour and a half. Wow. It was much needed sleep. This evening was my RS dinner. It was really fun with lots of awesome food. I am amazed at how much I can eat at things like this. I guess food made by other people taste so much better than if I had made it myself. I then after ran to the store to buy milk. We go through so much milk in our house. Kaelen drinks at least a gallon himself a week. Wow. It was so awesome to come home to have the kids in bed and dinner dishes done. What a nice treat. I love coming home to a quiet house.

Thursday Match 18- First thing this morning I went visiting teaching again. When Kaelen took his nap today I was hoping on painting my bathroom. Man I was so sad when I realized that I had no paint rollers. Oh well I guess I have to wait till tomorrow to get paint. After I picked up Jacob I went and got paint rollers. I am tempted to start painting but I have to make dinner and I have bookclubv tonight so it looks like I will really have to wait for tomorrow. Enoch is home though so he can help me with Kaelen and I can get it painted and done. I want it all painted and clean tomorrow. I am tired of having my bathroom a total mess for a month now. I need the sanity again until next week when I repaint my hallway and baseboards. Kaelen colored all over my walls and it won't come off not even with a magic eraser. Oh well I have wanted to repaint it even if it was the same again for a while now. Now I really have to do it.

Week of March 7-13, 2010

Sunday March 7th- Church was good. I love teaching primary and I love the class I teach. I feel the spirit every week in sharing time. I love it. I have felt the spirit more since in Primary than I did last year in Relief Society. I just love primary. After church we all went over to Grandpa and Grandma Heileson's for the best stake dinner we have had in forever. So good. All of the kids eat a whole stake. I guess we are officially Idahoan's. We love our meat and potatoes. After dinner we played some games which is always fun. I lost, Enoch won, no surprise there. After we got home we watched the readers digest version of the Academy awards. I love tivo. Went to bed way too late. So bad for us.

Monday March 8th- What a day of appointments. Rachel had an orthodontist appointment that was supposed to be 20 minutes but was over an hour. They had to change some brackets since her teeth have moved so much. She also got colored elastics on the four front teeth. She did purple and pink. She was so excited. Jacob had an appointment for braces for his ankles. When we got there they said that he didn't have an appointment. They had accidentally booked it in February for the same day. Luckily they had an opening an hour later. After Rachel got back to school we went for Jacob's appointment again. His feet were too swollen to do anything so we have to go back at the end of the week. Nice. It was early release today and so I figured it wasn't worth it to take Jacob back to school for an hour and a half, especially when I spend 20 minutes or more driving. He stayed home. Early release days are hard because the kids come home early and it messes my day up. It was really messed up today but I did get bedding washed and 2 loads of clothes. I guess I did get some things done today.

Tuesday March 9th- Jacob stayed home this morning because the 1st grade classes were going swimming and he can't submerse his feet yet so he had to stay home. He actually wasn't sad. I was so impressed with how he handled it. He got to play the wii so he was happy. I spent the morning doing my new basket testers for Scentsy's new scents. That took a while and man was my house a mess. When you do other projects your house takes about 5 minutes for the tornado to go through it. I should have take a picture of it. Wow I was so glad nobody stopped by. I was glad when I was finished so I could clean up. I was able to vacuum and clean the kitchen. I got a bunch off of my list I needed to do. It's amazing how much you get done when you don't have a lot of time and you have to rush and go fast. Rachel today made cookies for the first time all by herself. She messed up the first time though. Instead of 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder she put in 1 1/2 T. She had no idea that there was a difference. After I explained it to her she then started over. She did everything including putting the cookie dough on the sheet. She did fantastic. I was so proud of her. The cookies were fantastic as well. Now I need to teach her to clean and do dishes after she cooks. I am excited for her to get to where she can cook for us. I love it.

Wednesday March 10-I finished putting the labels on all of my basket testers. I didn't like the labels so I made all new ones and had to replace all of the other ones. I am glad to be done with all that. Now if I could get people to take them. I spent a lot of the day cleaning and getting some things done around the house. I watched American Idol tonight. Wow what is wrong with me I am like all these people that diligently watch these shows and I make fun of them. I guess that I can't make fun of people anymore. At least I watch it with Enoch so that makes it good.

Thursday March 11- This morning I took Jacob into get fitted for braces for his ankles. He was still swollen but nothing like Monday. They said that if his foot changes in the next while they will make another one for that foot. Jacob enjoys getting fitted for braces because he gets to have casts on his feet, they cut them off before they get too hard they have to use the saw and then he gets a full size candy bar. Pretty fun. He also likes Bruce the guy that does them. We have been seeing him every few months for 4 years now. I spent the rest of the day doing Laundry and cleaning up around the house. Wendy and Ainsley came over tonight to spend the weekend with us. Wendy's niece is getting married and Wendy asked his she could spend a couple of nights at our house. You bet. I would never say no to that. The kids were so excited to see them. We haven't seen Ainsley since Thanksgiving and so it was nice to see how big she was. Wow she has changed. She actually shows different emotions now instead of staring at you like your an idiot. She also talks so well. She can say all of our names and I love it.

Friday March 12- I babysat my friends daughter while she went to the temple and I also babysat Ainsley while Wendy went to the sealing. That was pretty fun. For the most part the kids got along well. They really wanted to eat all the time. I think we spent most of the time eating. Ainsley eats so much. I can't believe she doesn't weigh more than she does. I cut Enoch's hair today. I really hate doing it but I hate it when he goes other places because they really butcher it. Blahh. I am glad I only have to do it once a month or so. At 1 PM I went to Austine Kade Academy to get my hair done. Lindsay teaches in the Aesthetic department and so we get a good deal at the school. Thank you Lindsay. I got my hair highlighted. I got a weave/slice. A slice is with bigger strips. They were so excited to be working on natural hair color. They kept saying how excited they were to do it. I got a caramel color and a dark auburn color done. Between those two and my natural hair color it looks awesome. I have never had my hair done like that before so I was so excited. I feel so much prettier now. i was there almost 3 hours so when I finally got home Enoch had to get ready to leave for his scout camp out. When Enoch left we all went to Craigo's for all you can eat pizza and pasta. It was really good. It was our first time eating there because Enoch can't eat anything there. We had fun until Kaelen and Ainsley decided they wanted to run around. We made it through most of the dinner though with out them going crazy. Today was a good day.

Saturday March 13- We got up this morning and had breakfast together. We then went to Melaluca and the cosmetology store. Thank goodness for DVD players because the kids were happy in the car while Wendy and I ran into places. we bought some new nail polish colors and I splurged on a nice curling iron. I am excited to have a nice one. We then said good bye to Wendy and Ainsley who were heading to Wendy's families for the day and night. I spent the afternoon shopping and getting things done around the house. It really rained during the day. We lost power for a few hours in the afternoon. It's amazing how little we can eat when we don't have a stove and microwave. I bought new rugs for outside the house and inside. It was so exciting to have rungs that hopefully will keep dirt outside more. People are not good about taking their shoes off in the house and I hate was is brought in so hopefully this will illiminate some of the dirt. In the evening we went to a suprise Birthday party for Mark, Jacob's therapist. That was so much fun. There was lots of food and tons of people that we knew. We got home late from it. When we got home there was snow all over the ground. So sad. Wendy stopped by in the evening and we talked with for a while. Because of the time change we stayed up way too late. We have got to stop staying up late. It was really fun to see Wendy though before she heads home tomorrow.

Casts Came Off

On Thursday February 25th we went to Salt Lake City to get Jacob's casts off. Yeah. They x-rayed his ankles and saw that they were healing great. In the x ray you could still see where the bone was cut but the edges of the bone were all fuzzy looking meaning that they were fusing back together and healing well. They have not fully healed internally so Jacob has to still take it easy. He can start walking on it and also bearing weight.

Getting the casts off were such a challenge. The poor medical assistant had to cut and cut through the casts and finally had to call Dr. Klatt in to help get his left leg cast (orange cast) off. Somehow when the doctor put the cast on he put a sock on over the padding and it was sticking to the fiberglass cast. They had to come in pull the cast apart and then cut the cost off in order to get the cast off.

So when the casts came off I was so shocked at what it all looked like. Not what I expected. Jacob's incision in the inside side of his ankle was a lot larger than I thought that it would be. It was over 2 inches and then he had his cut in his legs on the sides and then the pins in it. Wow not what I thought. Then they grabbed the pins and literally just pulled them out. They came out very smoothly. I could not believe how long they were. They were over 3 inches long. They were completely inside of his leg and bone. They were skinny with sharp ends like a nail. I asked how they got them in and the doctor said that they have this skinny drill that they just drill right up into the bone and drill the pins directly into the leg. The pins are about 10 inches long and once they have them as far as they want into the leg they cut the ends and bend them over. So crazy.

I still can't believe what his legs looked like. I was freaking out when the pins came out. I was so excited to take pictures of it and film it but my camera batteries died. From now on I will always have extra batteries in my camera. I just did not expect that Jacob's legs would look the way they did and that they would take the pins out the way they did. Jacob didn't feel anything either. He just laid there and had no idea what was going on. I think things looks worse too because his skin was just falling off everywhere from not being able to breath very much for a month and then there was blood on his bandages still and not all of his stitches had dissolved.

Jacob was given a removable boot to wear for the next while. Jacob can't start therapy for a few weeks and also he can shower but not take a bath. The doctor wanted the holes where the pins were to heal before he submerses himself into water and have his leg get infected. Jacob was so excited to get all of his casts off. It will be nice to see him walk and walk straighter.

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March 3rd. So Jacob walked on his leg this weekend quite a bit. He still walks with his legs out because of his hips. If we tell him to concentrate on walking he can walk straight . It will take a while for him to train himself to walk straight. Well because of the walking his right ankle has started to really swell up. It is so large. We called and emailed the doctor pictures of his ankles. We were worried that he broke it again. Because he really had no feeling in his ankles it is hard for him to feel pain and tell if something is wrong. Dr. Klatt's said that he probably just walked on it too much and needs to stay off of it for 2 more weeks. He needs to always wear his casts and to elevate his foot a lot and take Ibuprofen for the swelling. They said that in a week if it doesn't look better than we needed to call them again. We were worried too because when I took Jacob's casts off in the evening today his toe next to his big toe was sticking straight up. When we put his cast on in the morning we accidentally pushed his toe up and probably dislocated it. So all day it sat like that with his toe dislocated. He had no clue because he couldn't feel. I called for Enoch and then push the toe in place. I probably should have waited for Enoch to see it but I freaked out and put it back in right away. It is a little bruised but not swollen or anything. So scary. So yes we need to be really careful. I want Jacob to heal properly and with out problems. We are happy though with how he is handling it all. His skin is looking better. I think that he has lost 20 layers of skin in a week. It is crazy. Jacob still doesn't like looking at his foot because of the bandages and the scars and all the dead skin falling off. We are hoping that things will heal quickly.

You can see how swollen his ankles are in these pictures.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

To honor Dr. Seuss and his birthday Rachel (her whole school was supposed to do something to celebrate as well)made herself look like a Who from Whoville. She is Rachel Lou Who. It was pretty fun doing her hair. We put a cup on her head and pulled her hair over it. We then put colored circles on her head. They didn't stay on with the hairspray we used so when she got to school her friend helped glue them on to her hair. Thank goodness for non-toxic washable glue. She had fun with her hair today. Her principle took a picture of her as well for the year book. Pretty fun for her. Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss.

Friday Pizza Night

We love pizza but because of Enoch's celiacs we don't eat it unless he is gone. Well I decided to do something fun as a family. We all made personal pan pizza's. I made Enoch his own pizza dough and then us one that we would enjoy. The kids rolled out their own pizzas as well. We had tons of toppings and and cheese's and we just let everybody do what they wanted. We had this amazing pizza sauce from one of my new favorite cooking blogs. It came from Our Best bites. Below I will add the pizza sauce recipe. So fantastic. We had so much fun making them and then eating them. I loved how many toppings everybody did. Kaelen's favorite part was eating olives. He is definitely related to his sister Rachel. Those two will eat a can of olives together. Kaelen loves to put them on his finger and then pop them off into his mouth. It is so funny to see how big his cheeks get when he has them all in his mouth. It was so much fun doing this as a family. It was a lot of work on my part but I enjoyed hearing the kids talk while making and eating their pizzas.

Best Pizza sauce ever:

Pizza Sauce

1 6-oz. can tomato paste
6 oz. water (just use the empty tomato paste can)
3 Tbsp. garlic bread seasoning
1 Tbsp. sugar or honey
3/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)

Empty tomato paste into a bowl and add water a few tablespoons at a time, stirring constantly until combined. Add remaining ingredients, stir to combine, and allow to stand until ready to use. Covers two average-sized pizza; freezes extremely well.

I used garlic salt and powder instead of garlic bread seasoning because I didn't have any and I used sugar instead of honey. We also put in about 1/8 tsp. of red pepper flakes. I froze the pizza sauce as well with the left over gluten free crusts. When we do pizza night again I don't have to make Enoch's crusts. Yay.

Many visitors

Jacob has had many visitors and friends come over since he has gotten his cast on. We had my friend DeAun's girls come over with another girl from the ward. They all made him cards. They came the night we got home from SLC.

The next day Lindsay, Josh and Lucy showed up. Jacob really liked that. Every time anybody came over they signed his cast. It didn't take long for his cast of be full of signatures.

Our Relief Society president came over with Candy bars and a cute card to go a long with the candy bars. She even brought enough for all the kids.

Rachael, Carter and Collin brought Jacob and I spy book and came a played the wii with him. He really loves having his family come over to play with him.

Mark his therapist brought fuze art. Fuze art are these beads that you place on this board to make a design and then you iron them and they melt together to form what you made. He was so excited about that. The kids have wanted them forever and so it was really nice to get them. Mark came with his kids as well. We are really good friends with his family. They live just around the corner from us and are in our ward.

Two girls Siena and Olivia from down the street came over and brought him a balloon that ended up being Kaelen's favorite toy. They brought a large coloring poster and a shark that grows 600% more than it's original size. Then they made these amazing peanut butter rice krispie squares with chocolate on top. We loved that part. They were so excited to come and see him. They came in the evening one night just the two of them. It was so sweet.

We had lots of people in the ward stop by and drop off treats or just see how he was doing. I think his favorite person was his girlfriend Makenna. Well she isn't really because she is 16 years old. She and Jacob are good buds. Jacob will go to her house and play the wii with her. At church he always stops to talk to her or will draw her a picture at church and give it to her. For his birthday she stopped by and gave him a present. Well she stopped by and gave him a box of 20 Valentine fruit roll ups. He loved it. She also brought two other friends. He was in heaven to be getting attention from 3 girls 10 years older. If it was up to Jacob he would marry her. We really like MaKenna. She is always so nice to Jacob. Today she stopped by as well and played the wii with him for almost an hour. It was so nice of her to take time out of her day to see him and do something that he loves to do with her.

We feel really blessed to live where we do with such great neighbor and friends.

Jacob has been doing really great. He went back to school a week after surgery for half days and then eventually full days. That has been a bit of a struggle not because of pain or anything but because he wants to go and then he doesn't want to. We fight most mornings to get him out of the door and then once he is there is he happy.

Jacob has done fantastic with his casts on despite not being able to put any weight on them. There have been many times where he got off of stuff and on things and us wondering how he did it with out putting weight on it. Jacob has figured out how to climb off and on the kitchen chairs, go up the stairs and move around the house with out putting weight in his legs. I am impressed with how well he has adapted to it all.

Jacob enjoys his wheel chair and almost too much. The first and only time we took him to the store was crazy. He was pushing himself all over the store, running into things and then running out the door. After that we decided he would stay at home.

When I go and pick Jacob up after school Kaelen is always with me and having to get both of them out to the car and almost impossible so Kaelen now will climb on top of Jacob's lap and I push them both down the hall and out the door together. They both love it and I think it's the cutest thing ever. Kaelen does it now as well when we go to church. We stop at nursery to drop off Kaelen and then Jacob heads to church.

It's been a challenge too. He has only washed his hair once and so we are really looking forward to getting the casts off soon. Jacob also gets bored. He has played tons of wii. So much that I think we might just sell it. (No not really) He loves the wii because it is something that he can do easily with his casts. He also has enjoyed doing crafts but he only lasts a little bit with that. I think that he is looking forward to being able to move around a little more and watch.

Oh wow how nice will it be to see him walk with straight legs. No more replacing shoes every few months because the soles on the sides have holes in them and no more sores on his feet from his braces. So excited.

Rachel's Party with Friends

On Saturday February 13th Rachel had her birthday party with her friends. Forever I couldn't think of what to do and I wanted something with little to no work. We decided to take her and her friends to the cheap movie theater here and rent out one of their theaters. We were able to take up to 20 people and they had a movie theater reserved just for us. We also got to pick any movie that they had available. The only thing was that we had to be at the movie theater at 9:30 AM. It was an early morning party. We had all of the girls show up at 9 AM. We went then drove to the Paramount (cheap theater) where everybody was given a popcorn and drink. We watched The Princess and the Frog. It was a very cute movie. Rachel invited 12 girls from church and school. We only had 7 show up. It was a fun group though. The girls all sat in the back row. So funny. Of all the places they could sit in the theater they sat in the very back row.

Enoch had something with scouts that morning so I had my friend help me drive. Her daughter who is good friends with Jacob came as well to hang out with Jacob. Kaelen loved sitting in the theater eating popcorn and watching the movie. He was great for the first 45 minutes and then he got tired and ran around the theater the rest of the time. I loved it because he ran around and I didn't have to worry about other people being bothered by it. The girls enjoyed the movie, well the parts they sat for. At one point they were all out of the theater but 2 of them. They all seemed to have to go to the bathroom or need a drink at the same time. What is with girls.

After the movie we all came back for presents and cake. All the girls were so generous and nice. Rachel got some awesome presents. Rachel spun an empty pop bottle on the floor to see which present she would open. She loves doing that. I did it one year when she was smaller and now she wants to do it every year.

For her cake I made it look like popcorn coming out of a popcorn box. It was an amazing cake. Enoch helped me make it the night before. It was so fun. I loved it. I made the popcorn as if they were rice krispies. I made them and formed them on the top how I wanted them to sit on it. I had decided that the girls would not eat the popcorn and it would be thrown away. I was wrong. They ate all of it. Enoch helped me with the stripes and he did the writing on the cake. The stripes were made from fruit roll ups. We were supposed to use fruit by the fruit but of course Walmart didn't have plain red at the store. It turned out great though and I was so grateful for his help. All the girls loved her cake as well.

After cake most of the girls went home. A few stayed to play for a while. I loved this party because it was over by 1 PM and I had the rest of the day to get stuff done. The girls had tons of fun and we didn't even play any games at home and I had such a minimal mess to clean up. This was such a nice change for me. I love doing parties but after I am so tired. This year too I had no desire to do a party so I was really excited when we thought of this. Rachel loved it as well. For hours after she kept saying it was so fun and she loved every minute of it.

Stuff does not belong up the nose

So today while I was getting Rachel's birthday cake and stuff ready for her family party tonight Kaelen was off playing. I was just getting ready to leave to get Jacob when Kaelen came in rubbing his nose. He is really good at telling at us when he needs a tissue. I went to see if he had boogies. I looked up his nose and noticed a FuzeArt bead up his nose. FuzeArt are these beads that you put together on a tray. You make a design with it and then iron it and it melts together. It was just a little ways up there. I ran to get tweezers and laid him down to get it out. Well just him being laid down made him really mad. I left him alone and called Enoch and asked what I should do. He suggested I take him to the doctors. Kaelen kept rubbing his nose. I looked into it and noticed that i couldn't really see it anymore. I asked Enoch if I should still take him. He said yes because it could get infected if still up there. If he hadn't of kept rubbing his nose I would have assumed it had come out.

I should mention that i saw the beads on the floor and went oh I should vacuum those. I was looking at my watch wondering if I had time to do it before I went to pick Jacob up from school. I figured I did. I was going to do it after i did a few things in the bathroom. Should have vacuumed first.

Because I was just getting ready to pick up Jacob from school I had to call a friend to pick up Jacob. I was so glad for this moment to have a good friend to pick him. I called Tonya. I had to call the school before to tell them that a friend was picking Jacob up. They were going to have Jacob in the office and wanted to make sure that Jacob knew who she was. Safety precautions.

I took Kaelen to the doctors and took an extra bead with me to show them what it looked like. When I told them what I happened they told one of the doctors and then told me it would probably be a 20 minute wait. Great. It acutally only ended up being 5 minutes. I was so happy about that.

They took us back where they weighed Kaelen (with only a diaper on ) . He was 25 lbs. 4ox. Yahoo. For a kid that seems to only ever want to drink milk I was so impressed. The doctor came in and had me hold his arms while she laid his head on her lap. We were both sitting on a bench and Kaelen was mostly on me. He screamed the minute she laid him down. At first she couldn't find the bead but I noticed it and was able to tell her where it was. It was so far up there that you could only see the edge of it. It was perfectly straight up in the nose. Once she spotted it she brought out the little tool with a small rounded end to it. She put it up into his nose and pulled on the bead. Kaelen was kicking and screaming at this point. I was starting to sweat trying to keep him still and calm. Once the bead came out blood just came out everywhere. So we had to still keep him calm to get the bleeding stopped. It took about 5 minutes to get the bleeding stopped.

Kaelen was so sad. Even after the doctor was done and I was holding him he still cried. We left the doctors office with him crying. The doctor mentioned that we needed to keep an eye on him because once kids put stuff up their noses they are likely to do it again. Nice thought. We met Jacob at home. I was so grateful to Tonya for picking him up. Kaelen was still so sad and I had to call Enoch to help me figure out how to help him. Lately Kaelen has loved racing down the hall. He will stand at the end of the hall with you next to him and then we'll say ready set go and he takes off. Enoch suggested I do that. It took me 2 times of running with him in my arms for him to start laughing and want to be set down and run with me. I was so happy to see him happy.

This incident caused me to run behind and so I decided that if the house wasn't perfect when people came over for Rachel's birthday I didn't care. What an ordeal we had today. I am glad that it wasn't worst and I am glad that I saw the bead when I did. I can't imagine what it would have been like if we didn't see it. Yuck. So poor little Kaelen had a tough afternoon and we learned that things don't belong up the nose.

Here is what the FuzeArt looks like. He put up just one of these small beads up his nose.

Rachel turns 11

So today Rachel turned 11. I can't believe how time flies. I can't believe that she is already 11. Wow. Today Rachel went to school and in her lunch got a colorful note (she gets a note in her lunch everyday by mom or Dad, she keeps them all too and eventually be put into a book) wishing her a happy birthday and a pizza lunch-able. I spent most of the morning cleaning and figuring out what her cake will be. Thank you Heather for helping me with that. We decided on a book because of how much she loves to read. The day went by way fast too fast. We bought Rachel a writing table/desk for her birthday and so I set it up in her room so when she got home she would see it. About ten minutes before I had to pick up Jacob from school Kaelen decided to put a bead ( a fuze art) into his nose. I had to call a friend to go pick Jacob up from school so I could take Kaelen to the doctors. Read my other post "things don't go up the nose" to find out more details about that. Once Kaelen was fine and we were all home Rachel got home. It took her a while to notice her desk in her room but once she did she started screaming and freaking out. It was so fun to see her react the way she did.

I had to rush and get her cake done and try to get some things cleaned in the house. We were going out for dinner as a family and then later in the evening we were having family over for cake and presents. We were late leaving to eat because of trying to finish the cake. Rachel wanted to go to Chuck a Rama for dinner. It was fun to eat what ever we wanted.

I had to leave early from dinner because one of my primary kids was getting baptized. I want to try to make it to all of their baptisms. I was really appreciative of Rachel for not being sad that I was going to go to the baptism. I asked her a few days before if I could go and if she would be sad. She was totally fine with it. What a good girl.

Once I got home we opened presents and had cake. Rachael, Collin, Carter, Lindsay and Gregorie came over to celebrate with us. Grandma Heileson was in Alaska watching Angie and Brett's kids for a week and Grandpa Heileson was in Boise. Rachel was so excited about all of her presents. From Carter, Collin, Rachael and Joseph she got a flashlight/ laser. They have one and she told them a month ago that she would love one for her birthday. She was very excited to get that.

Jacob got her the new Hannah Montana 3 CD. Kaelen bought her a new littlest pet shop turtle. He fed it to the dog during Christmas and so we figured it would be appropriate for him to get her a new one. She was very excited about that. I bought her a new series of books. It's the Princess and the Frog series. There are 5 books in the series. From her Dad she got a new waterproof watch. She was very excited to get a new watch. Enoch picked it out himself as well. We also bought her a warm sweater, a sweater for church and a pull over shawl. She was very pleased with her gifts.

After presents we sang Happy Birthday and had cake and ice cream. I was very happy with how her book cake turned out but I realized the next day that I forgot to put her fruit by the foot book mark in it. I went to the store in the morning just to get fruit by the foot and I was so busy earlier that I forgot to put it on the cake. Oh well. Rachel loved that cake and that is what is important. So for her cake on one side I put a little story about Rachel's life and then on the next page it said Happy Birthday Rachel. Here is what I wrote on the side.

11 years ago to this day we welcomed a beautiful little girl into the world. She was so small and so cute. In the first 2 minutes of being born she rolled over and grabbed the blanket she was laying on and held on to it to help keep her warm. We all knew then that she was special. When this little girl got a little older she was so fun to be around. She talked so well and made us all laugh. She used to escape from the house and so the only way to keep her in (and deadbolts and chains did not stop her) was to put the couch in front of the door. She also loved vacuums. When you pushed it she would ride on the front of it. She was such a good help. She also would take the tools from the vacuum and they would become her swords. Her swords went all over the place with her. She also loved to watch Jurassic Park. She watched it with her Uncle and would laugh at all the scary parts. A few years later she was so excited to get a new little brother and when asking her what we should call him she yelled out “shoe”. He was not named that. This little girl loved to dance and at a young age, she could really groove with the music. We laughed all the time at that. She was and is such a great big sister. She can always make her brothers laugh. As she got older and started school she always did well in her studies. She is so bright. She also in the last few years has learned to love reading. She reads all the time. We can’t get her to get to bed early because she always wants to read one more page. This little girl has now turned into a bright young woman with a wonderful spirit. She is such an important part in our family and we can’t imagine it with out her. We love you Rachel. Happy Birthday.

I typed this out and printed it on paper and then stuck it to her cake. One day I will try the edible paper but it is so expensive to buy here. Maybe on line I can get it for cheaper.

Grandpa and Grandma Heileson gave her tons of molding clay a few days before her birthday when they came over before they both left. She has been asking for molding clay for a while now so she can finish molding her family. She was ecstatic about getting it.

Grandpa and Grandma Fisher got her some earrings to match the necklace she got at Christmas. She also got a watering can and shovel. She can water her little garden she has in the backyard with it in the spring. She will like that.

Rachel also got cards from Lopez's, Gehmlich's, Knechtel's (she loves the key chain), Daniels, and Longs. Thank you all for the gift cards and money. Rachel is saving up for a Nintendo DSI and is more than half way there for it. You guys are all so generous and awesome.

Thank you also for everybody that called to wish her a happy birthday. We are so grateful for family and the support you all are. You all make our kids feel so loved and special.

Jacob's surgery January 27th, 2010

So I have decided that instead of writing everything I would just post the emails I sent in the past while about Jacob's surgery and the updates I sent. So here goes.

January 26th 5:15 PM (Jacob's surgery)

So I just wanted to fill you all in on Jacob's surgery tomorrow. We are leaving here around 6 to SLC. We are spending the night at the University Guest Suite near the hospital. We are happy to be so close so we don't have far to drive. Surgery is not when we thought that it would be. We have to be at the hospital at 11 am and then surgery is about 12:15. I forgot to ask how long it will be. I will let you know tomorrow how long it should last.

Jacob can't eat after midnight and then no clear liquid after 9:30 in the morning. I am happy he can drink juice in the morning. Once we get to the hospital we meet with the nurses, the anesthesiologist and surgeon. He is considered day surgery so after surgery and recovery they take him to a room in the day surgery area. He is actually never admitted to the hospital. I will spend the night at the hospital with him while Enoch spends the night at the hotel. Somebody has to sleep well so one of us can drive home the next day. I was thinking that he would be released in the later day from the hospital but they said that we should be released around 7:30 in the morning on Thursday. Wow early. I am thinking that Enoch can take us back to the hotel where Jacob can sleep some more and I can shower before we head home. We should be home pretty early in the day it looks like.

Many of you have mentioned fasting for him and we really appreciate that. Those of you that would like to fast on Wednesday for Jacob would be nice. If you are unable to fast your prayers for him would be wonderful. We feel so good about his surgery. He also got a really nice blessing on Sunday from his Grandpa Heileson and Dad. Jacob is very nervous though. He mentioned today that he was scared to do it. We continually talk about what will happen for him and how it will be, it helps his fears a bit but he is still scared. He needs our prayers of comfort today and tomorrow.

I will send updates tomorrow. I will send a quick email once he goes into surgery and after in is out of the recovery room and stable.

You are more than welcome to email us. I can get email on my phone and we will have our computer with us.

Thank you all for your love and support.

Angelene


January 27, 1:04 PM (Surgery)

Jacob is in surgery right now. When we got to the hospital we were taken back to see the nurses to get vitals and changed into a gown. We then went to the surgical waiting room where he played for a bit and then got to make a surgical buddy to take with him. It's a stuffed person with no face and just in a gown. Rachel made one when Jacob was born and in the hospital. He had fun making it. He made it look like Obama. It was so cute. All the nurses loved it. He also got to play the Wii.

He was given medicine to make him loopy. It took about 10 minutes for it to kick in. I have not laughed so hard in a long time. There was a nurse talking to him about the stuff they will use and Jacob was just staring at her in a dazed look. At one point he said he was tired and his head just drooped down fast and he layed in his chair.
When the doctor came in to talk to us we spent half the time laughing at Jacob. His doctor is so awesome. I feel so good having him work on Jacob. We would ask Jacob some questions and he would answer them mumbling and wispering or he would just stare at the doctor in a daze. I filmed it.

Jacob's surgery is supposed to be 3 hours but his Doctor, Dr. Klatts said that he has amazing help and so it should take about 2 hours. They said that they would call us after about an hour and tell us how things are going.
Jacob is getting a blue and orange cast. The doctor said that he would make sure to find those colors for him.

Jacob is going to take a bit to come out of it all when it is over. He will be groggy for a while. They have slurpees for him they have said that he can have after and then later tonight he gets food. He will have his own room with a TV. When he was being wheeled on and loopy he was mumbling that he wanted to play the wii. They said that they would make sure tonight that he could.

We are feeling good. It is strange to think that he is being worked on right now. I sure love him. He was telling us this morning that tomorrow he is excited to walk on the treadmill with Mark. I had to explain to him again that he won't be walking on it for 5 weeks. He is cute. He really thinks that he'll be great after surgery and right a way. I wish that it was that fast.

I want to thank you all for your prayers and fasting. He loved reading all of your emails. He would read them and say how nice they were. We feel so blessed to have such great friends and family supporting us. Thank you for all of your prayers, fasts, and support.

I will send updates when we get them

Love, Angelene and Enoch.

We are going to eat right now but if any of you want to call you are more than welcome to. We don't have details yet so we don't know anything about that but if you want to talk call.

Here is a video of Jacob after they have given him the stuff to make him sleepy before surgery.

January 27, 4:04 PM (Surgery is done:))

Jacob's surgery is all done. It took over 2 1/2 hours for it. The doctor said that everything went really well. The bone was cut and the pins were put in. They also moved tendins in his ankles to help keep his feet in the correct position. I didn't know that they were doing that as well until this morning. Both procedures will help him walk straight and will help him not have as many problems. The doctor gave us xrays of his ankles with the pins in. Pretty cool looking. So we had an appointment set up for 3 weeks from now but the doctor said that he wanted to wait for 4 weeks. We were going to see the doctor at Spina Bifida clinic but he wants us to just come to his office on a Friday get xrays and remove the pins. if things look good after four weeks they might just use a removable cast. They will see how things are in 4 weeks. They might just put hard casts on again. We'll see.

When I got to go back to the post op room he was very groggy and looked as if he was going to cry. He kept waking up when ever somebody talked or moved anything near him. He was happy to see me but I could tell that he was very tired. The nurse said that in surgery he was given stuff to keep him from throwing up twice but when he was in post op he threw up so he was given more stuff. It makes him very sleepy. It is used to help the stomach but also sedate you. He is definitely sedated. He is sleeping now and has not even woken up to see Enoch or when he was moved to a new room he never woke up at all. We are in a small room right now with a TV,VCR and DVD player. When he wakes up I am sure that he will want something to eat and drink. I am thinking he won't be up anytime soon. He hasn't moved at all in the last 20 minutes. When he was in post op they kept trying to have him lay on his back but he would right a way move to his side. They have pillows under his casts and in between his legs. His feet have to be elevated for the next 3-4 days. He should be on pain killers anywhere from a week to two weeks.

He is so cute. He is just sleeping so deeply right now. We have our door open and our room is right next to the nurses station. It is pretty loud in the hall and he has not moved at all. When they came in to get his vitals he didn't move either. He is out. I am happy though because the best thing for him right now is to rest.

I just love this little boy. It is hard to see your kids struggle but it sure makes me happy to know that life will now be a little easier for him and that he'll walk better because of this. What a blessing to live now in life. We are so fortunate medically now.

Thanks again for your wonderful emails. I have loved hearing my phone beep all afternoon and reading all of your emails. You are all so wonderful.

Love,
Angelene and Enoch

He is sleeping with his Obama doll. So funny.



January 27, 6:20 PM (Awake)

Jacob is now a wake. He rolled over about 15 minutes ago and looked at us. Within a few minutes he was talking and sitting up. He is having a Slurpee right now and loving it. He is extremely happy. I am so gald. I was worried that he would be really sad when he woke up. Not at all. the doctor just came in as well and said that things were good and that Jacob looked good. Jacob is so funny. Everybody loves him already. He is always joking with them and he loves the attention.

I can't believe how happy he is. He asked as well if he has only been sleeping for 10 minutes. We told him almost 5 hours and he was shocked. He was sure it had only been 10 minutes.

The doctor will come back in the morning to check on him again.

Our cell phones don't have great reception so if you want to call we can be reached at (801) 662-2855 and then ask for room 18. It goes to the front desk.

Love you all.

Angelene

January 28, 10:04 AM



We are leaving the hospital and heading to the hotel to check out. Jacob is doing

ok. His legs hurt a bit but he seems good.





Angelene

Thursday January 28 8:01 PM

We are driving home. Jacob was doing good till he said his tummy hurt and then threw up all over

himself in the car.  He is all cleaned up now and says he feels good. I sure hope so. It was a lot.  

I am hoping he will sleep the rest of the way home.  He was up at 5:30 this morning asking if it was

time to get up.  He also kept waking up wondering if he could get up and also get his IV out.  He

was sure glad when he got it out before we left.  He has eaten so much too which I am sure doesn’t

help him with his stomach. He went almost 24 hrs without solid food and now can't stop eating. Last

night and this morning when he started eating he went crazy eating everything. 



Jacob loved being in the hospital and like I said before he loved the attention.  He really enjoyed his

Doctor too.  We all really like him. He was so good to Jacob.  When the attending doctor came in this

morning Jacob was sad it wasn't Dr. Klatt.  An hour later his doctor showed up to check on him

as he came into work.  He still had his coat on.  Every time he checked on Jacob he would joke and

say that if his feet didn't look good Jacob's mom would be mad.  He only does what I say.  He's nice. 

He treats everybody great and he jokes around with everybody including the staff.  

I heard many times while in the hospital about how cute and funny Jacob was. Last night he was

watching honey I blew up the kid and he was laughing so hard that the nurses were all laughing. They

said that they never hear kids laughing in the area of the hospital we were in. Most kids cry and we heard

 a lot of it. We had to keep our doors closed most of the time.  Kids came to where we were after surgery and stayed

till they were stable enough to be released or taken to their rooms and were admitted. Kids have a hard time coming out of

anesthesia.  We were the only ones all night in our area except for those that came through for emergency surgeries. 

We didn't hear anything all night.



This morning the nurses said to Dr. Klatt how cute Jacob was and Dr. Klatt right away said that he

just loved Jacob and loved talking and joking with him.   Jacob sure has a sweet spirit and everybody

around him knows it.



I want to thank you all again for your prayers and fast.  When I think about it I get emotional knowing

what you all did for us. I felt such peace yesterday and truly feel blessed. We were watched over greatly

yesterday. I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for taking such good care of us and also my kids who

were home. 



Thank you everybody.



Love,

Angelene





February 3, 4:54 PM



I have been meaning for days now to send an update on how Jacob is doing.  He is doing fantastic. 

He is doing so great that he actually went to half of school today.  I was so impressed that he wanted to go. 



We have really only had a couple of times where he was in pain.  The first night was not the greatest.  He kept saying that

he didn't want any pain killers.  Well about 5 AM he woke up just screaming in pain and with a fever.  He already

doesn't have much feeling in his ankles and so I knew that it was bad when he woke up like that.  We gave him both his pain

killers and Enoch slept with him the rest of the night.  Poor Jacob.  After that I told Jacob that he would take his medicine

when I told him even if he didn't want to take it and didn't have any pain.  He has had a couple of other times at

night when we were getting him ready for bed where he would get the chills and shake.  



He also has been getting nose bleeds in the middle of the night because of his Ibuprofen that he is taking. After this early

mornings bloody nose I have decided that we will stop and give him Tylenol instead.  I am thinking though that he really

doesn't need anything anymore.  He has only been taking anything just before bed and nothing else during the day. 



Jacob has enjoyed being at home because he gets to watch movies all day and play the wii.  He has colored too and done

homework but for the most part he plays the wii.  I think that he has lost millions of brains cells from that. 



I keep asking if he is board and he never says that he is.  I am sure he has  been because Monday he kept saying that he

wanted to go to school.  I was not sure if I was ready for him to go because he still has to have his feet up or his feet start

to turn purple and they swell up.   Today I finally let him go.  He like I said above only went for a half day and will go

half days the rest of the week.  Next week if he is ready he can start going full days.  He has his wheel chair with leg rests

on it so he can keep his feet elevated all day. 



Today when he went to school half way there he decided that he didn't want to go because school was boring.  I told

him that I was sure it was because he was nervous and not board.  I told him to try today out and if he didn't want to go

back then he didn't have too till he was feeling up to it.  Once we got him into the school and near his classroom all the

kids started running out saying "it's Jacob, Jacob's back".  When Jacob went into his classroom they all surrounded him

asking questions, joking with him and helping him get settled.  Jacob is sitting on the side of his desk so he can reach

into his desk to grab stuff.  He has a large clip board that sits on his lap for writing.  All of the kids love to help him. 

They fight over helping him.  I knew then that he was going to like school and be happy.  Today was the 100th day of

school so Jacob was excited to be there to celebrate it. 



After when we were leaving school so many teachers stopped and asked how he was and commented on how he was

such a great kid and example to everybody and that they worried about him and were so happy to see him back so soon. 

His P.E teacher talked to me for 20 minutes about Jacob is the greatest student.  She said that he never complains,

tries everything and runs so hard.  If he falls he gets right back up.  She said that if all of her students were

like him her job would be so easy.  She said that she is always going home and talking to her husband about him.  It made

me feel really special and proud to be his mom.  Jacob is loved by everybody.  He is a great kid. 



We thought that we were going to have to leave him upstairs all the time and that he would lay down all day.  He acutally

isn't too heavy to carry up and down the stairs.  It isn't too bad at all.  He sits up a lot of the day and will also sit in his wheel

chair.  He is same old Jacob but just can't put any weight on his ankles.



Kaelen and Rachel love his wheel chair.  They are always in it.  Kaelen loves to sit in with Rachel and have her wheel it

around or just sit in it and have her push him around.  All the kids have loved the wheel chair.



I am so impressed with how fantastic Jacob is doing and I have your prayers and fasts to thank for that. Now we just need

him to be healed enough that when we go back on the 24th everything is healed enough to take the hard casts off and

put on removable ones on.  If he gets that then he is able to start to put weight on his ankles.   I guess though that if he has

to have the hard cast on again then it is only for a few more weeks and I would rather have him better than hurt himself.

Thank you though for all of your prayers.  We have felt them so much.



We love you all.



Love,

Angelene



Jacob loves phone calls so call anytime. 

Kaelen playing blocks

Kaelen is so good at everything his does it seems. He can kick a ball so far. When he throws a football it is a spiral throw. Other than playing balls his other favorite thing to do is play with blocks and build things. He loves to take the Janga blocks out and build trains or towers. He is very accurate as well with how he places them. They are perfectly lined up or stacked. After he builds stuff though he always destroys his tower or train and then throws the blocks around the room or down the stairs. I love watching him play. When ever he plays with toys he lines them up. He loves to take his cars and line them up front to back. I am so amazed by him all the time. He is a smart little boy with amazing fine and gross motor skills.

Kaelen reading

Kaelen loves to read. He will run to his room and come back with a book for you to read to him. If his light is off he will grab your hand and have bring him to his room so you can turn a light on for him so he can grab a book. He will run to his room pulling you behind him. For Christmas Grace gave him some fun board books as well as flash cards. He loves them. He is always reading them. When I came into his room the other day he was sitting in front of his book shelf reading. He was still in his pajamas and his hair was a big mess. He was so happy. He was pointing at all of the pictures in the book saying what they were. I just love watching him do things and play. His favorite thing right now is to find 'nuns" (suns) in books. He knows which of his books have those in them as well as fish and moons. I love this age so much.