Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Krew's Hike

The kids had been looking forward to our big camping trip all summer.  My husband Symen had been in school all summer and was not able to enjoy summer break.  This camping trip was time to relax and play.  We loaded up the kiddos and off we went, 4 days, just the family.  No iPods, TVs, or computers.  Just us. 
We got to Bear Canyon Lake around 2 in the afternoon.  Symen and I were unloading and setting up camp.  The kids headed off to collect rocks for the fire ring and burn some energy from traveling for 3 hours.  After about 10 minutes I went to go check on the kids.  I called out to the kids, and they came yelling “Ya, Mom!”  As I counted kids, I noticed Krew my adventurous almost 3 year old was not with them.  No, big deal we will find him.  Symen, the kids and I went back to where the kids had been and could not find him.  As we started searching 5 minutes turned into 20 then 40.  Every camp we came upon the people would help us look.  Finally, after an hour of 40 people searching and no luck, we called 911. 
The forest service, sheriff, and fire chief all showed up.  The sheriff instructed me to stay at camp, while they searched.  My thoughts were simply “You want me to sit and do nothing, while my baby is out in the woods by himself!”  With out any cell phone signal it was not easy organizing the search.  Then, three and half hours into the search, they found one of his shoes and the football he was caring.  Symen (his dad) jumped into one the trucks heading out to the shoe site and once again, I was told to stay and wait.  At the shoe site Symen found a sock print in the dirt and headed off in that direction.  He hikes about a half mile when he heard the sheriff helicopter tighten his search, and finally the helicopter calls out “Stay where you are”.  Symen takes off running up and down a couple hills, he stops when he sees Krew and yells out his nickname, in a very playful voice “Krewman”.  Krew starts to run towards his dad with his sock in hand yelling “Dad, Dad, I can’t find my shoe!”  Krew was found at 6:06, right before it got dark. 
The little guy had traveled about 2 miles in the forest in 4 hours.  I asked him “Krew, where you scared?” He replied; with a puzzled look on his face “No Mom, I didn’t even cry.”  Silly Mom, why would you ask such a question?  The kid had no idea he was lost.  We decided to stay and finish out our trip, for the kids.  

Monday, July 23, 2012

So, I see that I have not blogged for awhile.  I was going to back up and give you a summary of everything we have been up too, however, I decided that would take to long.  So, instead I am just going to start here....The first day of school.

Miss. Emilee, started her first day of middle school today.  Yep, that's right.  She is in the 5th grade.  She has a schedule, after school sports, and dances to look forward to this year.  She is very excited to be part of the "big kids" this year.
Mr. Garrit, started the 3rd grade.  I have no idea where the time went.  I was ok with Emilee being in 3rd grade, she is the oldest.  However, now that Garrit is a 3rd grader he seems so big and grown up.  Maybe because I now know how much will change this year.  After school, his teacher said she just loves him already.
 Today was a big day for this guy.  He started kindergarten.  He is so excited to start school and be with Emilee and Garrit all day.  He did great today.  I took him into school and helped him find his class and put his backpack away.  Then we headed out to the playground where he stayed close to me for about 5 minutes, then off he went.  A hug and a kiss and he was off.  Now for me on the other hand...I cried like a baby.
So, here you have it...3 kiddos in school and just me and Krew at home.  I am very excited not to have any pre-school schedule to break up my day.  So for now, I take 3 school and get to hang out with my animal.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Pictures from Zane's ordeal...




This is all the kiddos at the corn maze. About 30 minutes later we would be at the ER.

Zane in the first ER, after having an IV placed and a shot of Morphine. My heart still breaks when I see this picture. Post surgery, waiting to see the big blue eyes again.

Still not feeling the best the day after surgery.Feeling better and ready to eat. This boy had sausage and eggs for breakfast every morning. Some mornings, I had to order seconds.Heading down for x-rays.

Where O'where is Zaner?He received lots of fun stuff. Cookies, baskets of toys, balloons, dinosaurs, and all kinds of fun stuff.A bath and a spike hair-do is a good reason to smile.Making crafts. They had the best crafts at PCH. Once he was feeling better, the kid didn't want to leave. He got food any time, any place, and any thing he wanted. Crafts, games, movies, people waiting on him, and he even got to see....Goofy. Goofy came and performed a magic show for the kids.This is the way we roll... On our way to have a PIC line put in. I spent the first few night sleeping like this.Had lots of visitors, Brother Andrew even came from Tucson.After a week eating out, Grandma brought family dinner to us! Nothing like a home cooked meal in the hospital cafeteria.Doctor Wade removing the wrappings.Zane had the best nurses and Doctors, they all loved him. Each time they came in and asked how he was doing he would respond with a great big smile, bright eyes, and his thumb up announcing "GREAT!"Zane had to receive antibiotics through a PIC line for 2 weeks after we came home from the hospital. It made me so nervous. The line was a direct IV line to his heart and it had to stay clean...very clean............. on a four year old boy. Yeah, it was not fun.And lastly, Zane got to sport really cool moon boots for 4 weeks after. He even still loves to wear them around.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Zane's Ordeal.....

After spending a few days in Disneyland we loaded up the kiddos and headed off to Utah. The kids and I were going to spend a week visiting friends, going through our stuff, and packing the trailer. (We finally got our own little house to rent). We got to Utah Tuesday afternoon and Symen was on a flight that night back to Mesa. The poor guy had to work while we played. We had a great week. We spent time with friends, hung out with grandma and grandpa, and got the trailer all ready for Symen to come pick it up at a later time. Friday night after packing the last few things into the trailer, the kids and I headed up to Heber to have dinner with Leah and the boys.

We had dinner and the kids went off to play. After a few minutes, Zane came back. He said he didn't fell good. So, he cuddled on the couch with Leah while we chatted. By the time we left Zane was doing ok. He had a little fever, but nothing too alarming. We got back to Grandma's house and I put the kids to bed. Zane did not want to sleep. We stayed up and watched tv. Around 4 a.m. he started to complain his legs hurt. I simply thought that he was getting the flu with achy legs. About 2 hours went by and he started complaining more and more. I tried heating pads, Motrin, every thing I could think of and nothing was working. I put him in the car to go get some Tylenol so I could rotate with the Motrin I was giving him. He fell asleep and slept for about an hour when I got him home. I had a full day ahead, a sick kid, and no sleep to go on. Emilee and Garrit went with Grandma and Grandpa VanderLinden, and I took Krew and Zane to pick up Grandma Becky at the airport. When I told my mom that I was going to drive home from Utah by myself, she insisted to drive home with me. Her maternal instinct was hard at work. I tried to convince her that I am a big girl and that I could handle it, however, moms always wins. Looking back, this is the first of many personal revelations that came out through this.

I put socks on Zane and loaded him in the car since he wouldn't walk or let me put shoes on him. We got to the airport to pick up Grandma, I moved a bag in the back seat that bumped Zane's foot in the process. He went into a tail spin, screaming and crying which he had not done up to this point. I told mom about our night and what was going on. Mom's first thoughts were, "Let's take him to the doctor." But I shrugged it off and agreed to see the doctor on Monday when we got home since this was just the flu. We continued on with our day. We met up with the other Grandparents and also the other kids for lunch. Grandpa carried Zane since he wouldn't walk and he ate a good lunch. After lunch we went to finish up some last minute packing. We were to meet Leah and her boys at a corn maze to celebrate Krew's birthday. We had some time to burn and I really wanted to go see Symen's cousin. They just had a new baby. So, Zane went with Grandma Tracee and we went to go see Ryan and Amy. It was a quick 15 minute visit, however, I just felt like I need to stop in and say "hi". We had our quick visit then we went and picked up Zane and headed over to meet Leah. We were running late, so Leah was already waiting at the gate for us. I loaded Krew and Zane into the stroller and was collecting my bag. Grandma Becky was wrapping a blanket around Zane when she took off his socks to see way he was complaining about his feet. To our shock his feet looked bruised with red and black marks and were starting to swell. His feet were definitely not like that when I put his socks on in the morning. The kids played at the park while we figured out what to do. I tried calling our family friend, Wade who is a pediatric surgeon. But no luck, so I left a message. I decided to take him to our old family doctor in Heber. I called Symen to let him know what was going on. He agreed, just take him to the doctor. Less then a minute went by and Symen called me back. "Jen, I don't have a good feeling about this. Take him to the ER." ALRIGHTY THEN!

With Krew and Zane, we went to the hospital immediately. Leah stayed with the other kids. The new hospital was the closest facility, so we went there to find absolutely no waiting or other people. They took Zane back right away. By this time Zane was in serious pain. He was screaming and crying while they took his vitals and put in an IV to give the little guy morphine. The morphine allowed him to relax and get a few ZZZ's. Dr. Hyde was perplexed by Zane. His test for inflammation came back positive and his white blood cells were sky high. There was a definite infection, however they rarely see multiple joints swollen at the same time and his vitals were all pretty good. Dr. Hyde stepped out to make some phone calls. While we were waiting Wade (the surgeon) called back. He told me to leave the hospital and take Zane to Primary Childrens' hospital in Salt Lake. When Dr. Hyde came back he said that he did not feel comfortable treating Zane. He would possibly need an MRI, his ankles tapped, or even surgery. So he sent us off to Primary Childrens'. They let us take Zane, instead of by ambulance, and they also left his IV in. Before we left he swabbed Zanes mouth for strep. I called Ryan VanderLinden to meet me at Primary Children's to give Zane a blessing. Good thing I took a few minutes to stop and say hi to them earlier. We got to Primary and they were waiting for us. They took us back to a room: room 22 (Jason's old baseball number). Mom and I both sighed in a little bit of relief. Jason was with us. I told them the story and they took his vitals. The doctor came in to look at him and ordered a heart scan, which later came back normal. The doctors were not sure what was going on. As they were deliberating, I had to go to the bathroom so bad. However, I was afraid to miss the doctors. Zane looked up at me and said "Mom, you can go. Grandma will stay with me." My big guy was still looking out for me. Ryan came and gave Zane a blessing that filled the room with the spirit. I felt as though a tremendous weight had been lifted when Ryan told me afterwards, "He'll be fine, however he has a long road ahead of him." The doctors were delayed in returning back to us for what felt like an eternity, allowing Zane's pain to escalate even further. The poor guy could only cry in pain and there was no way for me to comfort him. I had to ask 3 different times for pain medication and finally I got them to give him some. They were hesitant because they were not sure what treatment they needed to use. The doctors came back and said that he had Rheumatic Fever. We were told that his other joints may start to hurt, however, we were cleared to head back to Arizona. Also, that we should follow up with his pediatrician on Monday. So, with prescriptions in hand we left the hospital at 11:30 p.m. We got home and into bed around 1 a.m. Grandma Becky and I slept for a few hours, then we got up, loaded the car, and tucked all the kids into their spots. And off we went, we had 12 hours of driving ahead of us. The drive was going pretty good. Zane's pain was under control, thanks to the drugs, and the other kids were just enjoying the ride. We got to Kanab and stopped for lunch. Poor Zane was still in his hospital gown from the night before. I took him into Subway, he ate his lunch, and just before I gave him his pain medication then started complaining that his legs hurt. Grandma Becky's first thought was we need to take him to a doctor when we get home, I reassured her that the doctors warned us that it may travel. So, I gave him his medication and he settled in for the next leg of the trip. Right before we got to Lake Powell, Zane threw up on his prized lion blanket. We stopped in Flagstaff and topped off the gas we were so close to being home. The kids had been doing GREAT up to this point and I just wanted to get home to my husband and relax. We just made our way out of Flagstaff when the doctor from Primary Childrens' Hospital called. She simply said "We got the culture back from the first ER Zane went to and shows bacteria in his blood. You need to get him to a hospital right away." I informed her that I was 3 hours away from Phoenix Childrens' and I would go straight there. She called ahead to let them now we were coming. Then chaos began. For some reason at this point everyone went into melt down. Krew was done being in his car seat, so he started screaming. Zane was in pain, so was crying. Emilee, has been listening to me talk to the nurse and is worried about Zane, so she started crying.

Grandma Becky started making phone calls, and I am driving with a mission to get to the hospital. I first called Symen and told him to meet me a PCH. (Phoenix Children's Hospital) Next we called our family friend, the surgeon, who was already at PCH working. I will never forget the calming but concerned words "Jenny, you need to get that boy to hospital quickly, but be safe." I can't even describe the panic that came over me. My nerves and mission to reach the hospital launched into full blown emergency. I had to stay calm and focus on driving safely though.


Racing through the mountain and traffic into Phoenix, I was hopeful to avoid being pulled over. We made it to the hospital, by the grace of God. Symen was waiting, pacing. He grabbed Zane from the van and we headed into the hospital. Symen sat with Zane while they took his vitals, I was filling out the paper work and re-telling the story. It had been 48 hours since this started, two nights of very little sleep, and I just finish driving the most stressful 3 hours of my life. I finally broke down. The nurse was great; she let me cry it out then it was back to "I have everything under control."

We called Wade and he started to exam Zane along with a few other doctors. It was great to have a familiar face with us. After they got done examining him, they still were not sure what was exactly wrong. Wade had already booked the operating room for early in the morning, just encase we needed it. The plan was to take Zane in the morning and check his ankles for infection. The procedure would tap his ankles and test for the infection. A positive infection would require a surgical procedure to flush out all of the infection around the bone. Now with a plan in place, Zane finally received medication to help him sleep without pain. We were moved to an overnight room where Zane finally had a good night sleep. Symen and I... not so much. We shared a pull out chair and worried all night.

At 5:30 a.m. they took us down for surgery. The nurse talked to us and Wade came into talk to us. Fortunately, Zane was still asleep and did not even wake up before going into the operating room. Finally, we walked with him down the hall and gave him a kiss and said "see you soon buddy." A hour and half later Wade came out. Both of Zane's ankles were infected, so they cleaned them both out. According to Wade, Zane's liver was starting to fail and if would have waited another day he would have been in the PICU. Wade also told us, for a sick as he was, all his vitals were good. That is what was confusing them. Finally, Zane was going to get better. He was out of the woods, however, they still need to check everything else to make sure that the bacteria did not settle anywhere else.

The rest of Monday and into Tuesday Zane was pretty sedated. The next week was full of x-rays, echo cardio grahams, and IV's. It was a really long week. However, we are very blessed. We caught it early and were able to keep him out of serious trouble. His other joints, heart, and bones all came back clear. The doctors and nurses at PCH were amazing. One night Zane's IV had to be re-done. The kid was not having it. They worked with him and were kind and patient with him.

6 months later, Zane is doing fine. He has no side effects from his ordeal. He does have some cool scars, a new favorite monkey blanet that he got from the ER in Utah, and an amazing story.


Monday, January 17, 2011

I will try this again...

So, I got the first update done with the intent to have the second update done soon after. Well, things got a little busier than I thought. The last week of October I started working at Costco at night. I was working 5 nights a week and was not getting home until 10 p.m.. I was really not in the mood to blog. So, I have stopped working and things are getting back in order. So here is update 2. Enjoy.

Krew's Birthday Pictures.....

















Krew's 1st birthday...
We planned on doing a birthday party for Krew the day we got home from Utah on 10-10-10, however our plans were scrapped when Zane went into the hospital. So, we did not celebrate his birthday until the end of the month. He shared his birthday with Aunt Janette. We had a big family breakfast with lots of fruit and sausage for the little guy. Our traditional doughnuts don't work for him. He 0pened gifts and even had a cupcake made without egg and milk. It was yummy.
Krew,
This year has gone by so fast. I have enjoyed cuddling and snuggling you as long as I can. You love to sleep next to me and you are a big time mommas boy. At times, I get a little frustrated with it, however, most of the time I love it. You are a smart little guy and are into everything. You always try to do what the big kids do and you are just as big as the rest of them. You are my sweet angel and I love you.
Happy Birthday Krewbie
You Silly Boy....



I have no idea why, but ever since Krew was able to crawl he loves to put shoes on his hands. He loves to play with shoes. He will find any pair of shoes and put them on his hands and walk around.

Halloween 2010...


Halloween this year was pretty crazy. Zane was just finishing up his treatment and I started working at Costco that week. So, I was unable to go trick-or-treating with the kiddos. Thus, we have no pictures of the kids dressed up. Emilee was a dancer, Garrit was Indiana Jones, Zane was Jedi, and Krew was a fighter pilot.

Happy Birthday Junior!!
We went up to Utah for Thanksgiving and while we were there we celebrated Junior's birthday. We order dinner from Wingers and had dinner, gifts, and cake at home. Just the way Dad wanted it to be. He loves things simple and doesn't like people to make a big deal out of him. However, he loves to make big deals out of everyone else birthday.
Happy Birthday My Love!
Merry Christmas 2010.....
We had such a great Christmas. On Christmas Eve we went over to Janette's house and had the yummiest dinner. Symen had put together a Mexican dinner that was to die for. I can't wait to do it again. We played games and ate. We brought the kiddos home, and they found a gift from the elves on the front porch. SUPRISE, it was... pajamas.
Christmas morning it was just the 6 of us, something we have not done since Emilee was a baby. We opened gifts and played with toys all morning. Emilee got girl stuff, clothes, wallet, jewelry. Garrit and Zane both got wiggle cars, books and toys. Krew got cars and fruit snacks. We enjoyed a Christmas dinner at Grandma Becky's. The kids all got movie cups, popcorn shirts, and movie passes. The fun did not end there. Grandma and Grandpa VanderLinden came over Christmas night and the kids got all kinds of fun toys.

It was so wonderful spend this time of year with the family. The Lord has blessed me with such a great family.



Shhhhhhhhhh....
SLEEPING KIDS... believe it or not this was all in the same night.

You never know what you are going to find...

When you have boys. One day lazy Saturday the boys decided that they were going to catch a leper con. The best part about it, was that Emilee really got into it and would set the trap leaving little toys or goodies.
Andrew and Makenzie's wedding.... Zane is convinced that Andrew is his brother. He loves Andrew so much. Every time Andrew is around, Zane is always by his side. Zane was the ring bearer for the wedding. He was the cutest thing ever and did a great job.
The wedding was beautiful. Watching the two of them reminded me so much of Symen and I when we got married. So young, so in love, the world was ours. The day we got married I thought love didn't get any better. I love Symen so much deeper and stronger now and I know it will continue to grow the older we get.
It is hard to believe that my sister is a mother-in-law!!
She looked great, she is one hot mother-in-law.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Holly Cow.....

Part One..
I have no idea where to even start. October had to be the CRAZIEST month of my life. It has taken me 2 weeks of November to get back on my feet. I keep putting off the blog, however, the blog fairy has not stopped by yet. So, that leaves me to do it.


So Here I Go....

September 28th...

Janette came home from Iraq. What a great day. Her flight was delayed and delayed again. It was like waiting to go into labour. You know it going to happen, you just don't know when. All the families gathered at the National Guard hanger at Sky Harbor. They opened the big hanger doors and the troops came in lined up in formation. Some big wigs said something. Really who cares, just release the soldiers. It has been great having her home. I forget half the time that I can call her anytime I need to. I missed her so much, so glad that is over.



September 29th...

Krew starts walking. He had been taking a lot of steps, however, he never took more then one or two. I keep saying, "he is going to wait until Janette gets home." And sure enough, he did.


October 1st...
The start of Fall Break. Symen and I thought it would be a great time to take the kiddos to Disneyland. So, we load up the kiddos and off we went to meet Grandpa Symen and Granny in California. We spent 2 full days in Disneyland and we had a BLAST!!







Going during October is so fun, it is all decked out in Halloween. My sister would love it, her two favorite things Disney and Halloween.



We spent the first day in Disneyland. We did it all. It was great, Zane was exactly 40 inches. So he was able to go on all the rides, except Indiana Jones. The kids loved the railroad roller coaster, honestly it made kinda sick. But I did it. Zane thought that space mountain was a little scary, but he did it! It was great we got there when the park opened, went on all the big rides before lunch, had a picinc lunch, and was back riding rides. Grandpa had us on a schedule for rides. He would go and get fast passes for us while we were on one ride, then send us off to another when we got off. It was great. The weather was prefect. On the second day it rained a little, not enough to stop us though. My favorite part, was the pineapple float. Pineapple soft sever with pineapple juice. YUMMY!!


We spent day two in Califorina. I keep telling Symen, Grandpa, and Granny how fun Toy Story is. We had to do it first, and of course it was closed. Emilee LOVED Screamin California, I think she went on it 4 times. I got to go on Soaring California this time, that was a cool ride. We had so much fun. Little Krew was such a tropper. He just went along for the ride. The kids want to do it again next year.