The Spencer Family

Independent

2011-03-30T00:38:00.000-07:00

Lately, Zoey has been very interested in her clothes, especially shoes. She LOVES shoes. She has also decided that she should be able to dress herself...all by herself! The first day this happened, I wasn't prepared to give her choices of what to wear. I got her shirt on her, but she was going to do the bottom half--ALL BY HERSELF and there was nothing I could do about it! This is what she looked like when she was done!

Isn't her outfit adorable! Ha ha! I thought for a minute that wearing sweaters as pants might just catch on and be the new style, but it turns out that having to hold up the sweater so it doesn't fall down gets tiring! She decided after about 10 minutes of wearing this fabulous outfit that she would let me put on the real pants I had gotten out for her to wear that day!

A Few Pics

2011-03-09T00:26:00.000-08:00

I know, I know....I am a terrible blogger. I admit. So tonight, I am fulfilling a promise I made to Shelese to update! :) I have more pics, but my card reader isn't working tonight, so these are pics from my phone.

Zoey LOVES cooking! She always wants to be the one to put the ingredients into the bowl. Then of coarse, licking the bowl is always a plus too!

This is her begging for a brownie, the next day!

She has became such a girly girl lately! I have to bribe her by painting her nails in order for her to sit still long enough for me to cut them! She loves jewelry too, and likes getting her hair done. Ok, let me rephrase that, she likes it when her hair is done, but doesn't like the process of getting it done. Afterwards, she will go look in the mirror and say, "Pretty!"

She has become quite the little mommy lately. She got 5 baby dolls for Christmas, and she makes sure all of them are being taken care of. It is so cute to watch her take care of them!

We babysat a friend's baby a few weeks ago. Zoey LOVED it! She insisted that she was the one to take care of him. I let her hold the bottle, but that was about it. She wanted to pick him up, pat his back, change his diaper, etc. She would get upset when he cried, and I wouldn't let her be the one to pick him up to love him better!

Zoey is going to nursery now, and LOVES it! Mommy and Daddy are loving that too! No more trying to chase her during Sunday School, Preisthood, and Relief Society! Ahhh....so nice!

Zoey completed her last dose of medicine from surgery this week. She will be going in for an echo at the end of the month to make sure her heart is working well without the meds! Yippee! Hopefully, we will stay off of them!

Well, that is it this time around! Hopefully I can get my card reader to work and I can get all the pics off my camera!

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T22:50:00.000-07:00

We had a great Halloween! Zoey loved her costume and was constantly saying, "baa." We went to our ward's trunk or treat Saturday morning. She caught on to it pretty quickly and loved going to each car and picking out candy. I made her costume and am pretty proud of it since it is the first project with a pattern I have ever finished without my mom or a home economics teacher's help!

She had a cardiology appointment on Friday, October 26th. It was a very good appointment! She was taken off oxygen during the day and only needs it at night now! The cardiologist was not happy with her weight, but we are working on it! Currently, she is not on the charts and is 18 lbs 2 oz last time she was checked. If she hasn't improved by the end of November she will be getting a feeding tube. At first this news upset me, but it has had time to sink in now and I am ok with it if it becomes necessary. There are much worse things in life than a feeding tube! We will go in for an echo the first part of December.

Tomorrow....A little late!

2010-10-12T02:12:00.000-07:00

Ok so in my last post, I said i would post again "tomorrow." Well, "tomorrow" has finally came! :)
Zoey is doing really well! We struggled for several weeks with super bad separation anxiety. For the first week, separation anxiety meant if I was further than arms reach. We worked to in the same room, and finally now I can leave her with a babysitter. She had separation anxiety at night too. She slept in our room in her pack-in-play for about 6 weeks after getting home. She started to sleep in her own bed just last week! :) Exciting day!
Having the oxygen hasn't been NEARLY as bad as I thought it was going to be. Zoey does very well with having it on, and actually gets mad when it comes out. It must make her feel tons better to have it in. The one thing I am not quite used to yet about the oxygen is going in public. Before, no one could even tell that there was anything wrong with Zoey. She looked like a normal baby. It is different now that everyone can tell just by looking at her that she has had problems. People make funny comments too, and I am getting used to all of that! I am glad that she isn't any older than she is, some comments I am glad she doesn't understand they are talking about her.
Zoey does so well about taking her medicine! When we open the fridge and she sees the meds, she will even reach for them! So funny!
We have really struggled with Zoey's weight and appeitie. I know that this is a normal "heart baby" thing and eventually, maybe, we will get her back on the chart. She still lost weight even after we got home. Then one week she gained 9 oz! We were thrilled. She has lost some of that though, and now weighs only 7 more oz than she did when we left the hospital. We add whipping cream to her whole milk, put butter on EVERYTHING, and try to get her to eat ANYTHING! I never thought I would feed my kid as much junk food as I do, but sometimes it is the only thing I can get into her mouth! Sometimes she even refuses all food including the junk! I give her a sippy with whole milk mixed with cream and chocolate carnation instant breakfast. It is SO GOOD! She hardly touches it! She has no idea how good she has it! :)
She really regressed after surgery with walking, but she caught back up to where she was last week. She is now walking all over the place! She talks a lot too, although it is difficult to make out any words of what she is saying. One of my favorite things she does is put my cell phone to her head and walks around the house just jabboring like crazy! So cute!
Well, we have a check up next week! I am very anxious for that! I need to post some pics soon, but I don't have my camera with me right now to do that!

WE ARE HOME!!!!

2010-08-29T19:54:00.001-07:00

We got home today at about 2:00 PM. Zoey was especially happy to be home! All morning, we had been talking about going home and Zoey just kept reaching for the door with this attitide of "Well, why haven't we left yet?!?!" It is so nice to be home! Zoey has already done so much better here!
I am exhausted from our 12 day stay at the hospital (including surgery day). It is only 9 PM, but I am going to bed! I will post more tomorrow! In the meantime, enjoy these cute pics! All pictures were taken on Saturday, except the last one was taken today!

Post Op Day 10

2010-08-28T20:51:00.000-07:00

Today has been a great day! We had a good night sleep last night (a full 6 hours straight)! During the morning rounds today, the doctors discussed Zoey's weight. She has lost quite a bit here and has continued to loose. Zoey hasn't been eating too much which has been a big concern. The doctors decided to see how today went, but that she would probably eat much better at home. The hope is that we will go home tomorrow!
We have spent a lot of time today eating! Well, at least trying to eat. I am really hoping that tomorrow morning she will have gained and then they would for sure send us home! We had a lot of fun today eating and playing!
I see so many sad stories up here, that I think I often forget about how much good is done at this hospital. There are a lot of sad stories, but there are also so many very happy ones! I am so grateful we live so close to such a wonderful place!
I have some very cute pictures of today to post, but for some reason my card reader isn't working right now! I will have to post them tomorrow.

Post Op Day 9

2010-08-27T22:42:00.000-07:00

Last night was a long night! After Zoey fell back asleep after vitials, she had a 2:00 AM feeding. That wasn't bad and she did fall back asleep afterwards. At 4 AM a lady came in to take her blood! Are you serious?!?! It is 4 AM and you are waking her up to poke her?!? Well, after that she was very upset and I couldn't get her to go back to sleep. At 5:30 AM I gave up on trying to get her to sleep because I knew she had an x-ray at 6:00 AM she would wake up for. As soon as I gave up on trying to get her to sleep, she fell asleep. It didn't last long because they were actually early coming to get her for her x-ray. We were done with x-ray by 6:00 AM and slept until 8! It was the longest block of sleep we got all night!
Zoey threw up her breakfast, but started keeping food down in the afternoon! She hasn't thrown up since! :) Eating has made all the differance in the world! We even got a few smiles today! They did take out Zoey's NG tube today. Not because she was eating well enough to take it out, but because they thought that she might not have been eating and drinking because she didn't feel like she needed to. I also felt like she was becoming to dependant on it. About an hour after they took it out Zoey started drinking!

I had friends from work come to visit today! Thanks Shannon and Nicole for the visit and thank you my team for the nice gifts!

Post Op Day 8-The Floor

2010-08-26T22:40:00.000-07:00

We were transferred out of the ICU this morning! Wahoo! We are now on the third floor, Surgical Unit! Exciting!
Zoey has had a hard time keeping her formula down for a few days now. She has been able to keep down clear liquids, but beyond that she has thrown up. They tweaked a few things today with her formula, gave her a new NG feeding tube, and she has been set! She hasn't thrown up yet! Knock on wood! She has even had her first solid foods since Tuesday the 17th! She didn't have more than a few bites here and there, but it is improvement! She did seem excited to eat today for the first time. They did give her the choice of ice cream though, so who wouldn't have been excited?!? She had a little of yogurt, bananna, pudding, applesauce, crackers, and ice cream throughout the day.
She has been sleeping well today! Another thing to be happy about! She slept good last night and has taken several naps today as well. She did fall asleep at about 11 PM tonight and then the nurse came in at about 11:40 to do vitials. Ugh. She did fall back to sleep afterwards though so it was fine.
Zoey had some friends visit today! Randi brought up Garrett and Embrie! Zoey loved seeing them, but was frustrated she wasn't feeling good enough to play. Thanks for coming!

Post Op Day 7

2010-08-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

Zoey is a fighter that is for sure! She has fought and fought going to sleep. She only slept 4 hours last night and didn't take a single nap today. They even did a "sedated" echo today. They gave her a full dose of morfine, and a double dose of a sedation medicine (and I can't remember the name of that med) and she still never fell asleep for her "sedated" echo. She was calm and loopy though with the meds. After the echo was over, I was rocking her on my lap and after a few minutes she looked up at me and with the most suprised tone and look on her face she waved to me and said, "Hhhiii." It was so funny!
By 7 she finally gave in and fell asleep. She had gone 37 hours with only 6 hours of sleep. She was exhausted!
We were supposed to be transferred out of the ICU today, but we are still here. They just don't have enough beds upstairs, otherwise we would be up there. There is still a chance we will be transferred later tonight though.
I did find out today that she will come home on oxygen. This will be a long term thing. I will admit, I was disappointed when I found this out. It will be ok though, it will just take time to get used to. It is a small sacrifice to have her on oxygen for a year or more to have a two ventricle heart. We are so grateful for our miracle.

PS-I keep getting worse, I didn't even take any pics today!

Post Op Day 6

2010-08-24T21:58:00.000-07:00

Zoey has been awake most of the day today! The nurse woke her up at 6 AM for a sponge bath and she has only taken two, one hour naps since. Even now, at 11:45 PM, she still isn't asleep. I guess she is making up for sleeping all day for 6 days!
Entertaining a one year old in a crib all day long has been interesting! I thought it was hard entertaining her on the drive home from Southern California--I guess that was just my warm up! She has colored, played with all her toys and then some more, read books, played with all the stuffed animals, played patty cake, played peek-a-boo, played her smelly feet game, sang songs, baa'ed like a lamb, tried pulling off all iv's and everything else attached to her, and about everything else I could think of. I need suggestions! How the heck do you entertain a 1 year old who has to stay still all day?!?!?!?! All she wants is to get on the floor and crawl around or walk and that is quite impossible in the ICU because of everything she is still hooked up to.
Good news! We are hoping to move out of the ICU tomorrow! I am not holding my breath, but that is the hope! We will be transferred up to "the floor," which is almost like paradise in my book. It reminds me a lot of a 5 star hotel--ha ha! It just seems like that anyway going from the ICU. :)
I was so bad about taking pictures today! Grandma and Grandpa Jacobs, Grandma and Grandpa Spencer, Great Grandma and Grandpa Willard, Great Great Grandma Bawden, and Uncle Calvin all came and I didn't take their pictures! I was terrible!
Here are the few pictures I actually took from the day:
Sponge Bath Time!

Zoey in her crib

And she is still in her crib...

Great Grandpa and Grandma Spencer came to visit--and I took a picture :)

This picture I took a few days ago and forgot to post it. This is a picture of the left over material of what they used as the "patch" in Zoey's heart. The missing piece is the patch inside her heart. It is pretty small, but considering her heart is only the size of her fist...it is actually a pretty big patch!

Wonderful Day-Post Op Day 5

2010-08-23T20:39:00.000-07:00

Last night after I posted, Zoey had some serious sedation issues. She was kicking and thrashing around like crazy and we couldn't calm her down for anything. She was given 2 extra doses each of Versed and Fentanyl. She was also given 2 other types of medicines (but I have no idea the names) and she was still crazy! After the 3rd extra doses of Versed and Fentanyl she finally fell back asleep. Normally after any extra dose of any of the sedation meds she goes right back to sleep, just not last night! Finally at 1 AM we left our sleeping baby and went home.

I slept in this morning and got back up here at about 11:30. Thanks Mom for getting here so early so I could sleep in! When I got up here they had taken out the other 2 drainage tubes! Yippie! She was once again awake, kicking and going crazy though. I talked to the nurse practitioner and she said they would be taking out the breathing tube in about an hour. Adam came up right away so he could be here when she was extubated! They took her off the sedation meds (well most sedation meds) to extubate. She was extubated at about 2:30! They also took out her NG tube (which was the tube helping to drain the air in her stomach). She is now on high flow oxygen and doing great on that!

Once she was extubated, they kept her off the sedation meds and she is still only on very small doses of them. It is so fun to have my little girl back! We were told she would regress after having this surgery, so I wasn't sure what to expect. At home, she loves sticking her feet in my or Adam's face and watch us give a very dramatic response in telling her how much her feet stink. She thinks this game is so funny and will often stick her feet in our face to watch our overly dramatic reaction. One of the first things she did when she woke up was put her feet in my face! It was so refreshing and relieving to me that my little girl came back so quickly. She didn't laugh or even smile with our game, but she kept doing it to me and also to Adam so she must have enjoyed it still. When her surgeon, Dr Kazza, came in she even tried sticking her feet in his face! Ha ha! Funny little girl!

When she was extubated she got mad and her heart rate would go between 200-210 bpm. Her heart rate stayed really high and stayed between 190-200 bpm for about 3 hours. At this point we were all getting very concerned (think about it....that is like running full speed for 3 hours!) and the nurse asked us to leave so that she wouldn't be over stimulated and would go to sleep. It worked! After we left she fell asleep and her heart rate went down into the 180's. We came back at about 8:30 PM and her heart rate was in the 170's. She fell asleep again and her heart rate went down into the 150's! Yippee!

Mommy getting to hold her baby for the first time since Wednesday!

Zoey started climbing out of my hands to get to her Daddy!

Zoey loves coloring and was trying so hard! Even with her boarded and taped hands!

We had a few visitors today! Mine and Adam's families come everyday but I still haven't gotten pictures of them! Bad me! We are very grateful to them for coming so much though!
Our friends and neighbors, Daniel and Natalie

My cousins, Mark and Katie
This is a picture Adam just took! Doesn't she look TONS better than she has all the other days?!?! She loves playing with her new stuffed dinosaur!

Zoey loves playing patty cake! She was trying so hard even with her boarded and taped hands!

Also, the Walk for Healing Hearts is on Saturday, September 11th. Check in is at 8:00 AM and it starts at 9:30 AM. The location is in Provo at the Riverview Park (4620 N 300 W). It is a one mile event to raise awareness for Congenital Heart Defects, the number one birth defect. Pre-register at www.intermountainhealinghearts.org before August 26th. Pre-registration cost: Individual $10 and Family (immediate only) $50.
Day of Race: Individual $20 and Family (immediate only) $80. Pre-register to ensure your shirt size!

PS- Happy Birthday Shelese! I hope you had a great day!

Post Op Day 4

2010-08-22T20:32:00.001-07:00

Not too much to report today. It has been slow, and that is ok! They have been cutting down on the Nitric Oxide and she has been tolerating it well. She will be off of it by 2 AM. Last time when she was taken off of it is when she crashed so hopefully this time it will go better. If she tolerates being taken off of it then they will extubate (take out the breathing tube) tomorrow. We are hopeful that happens!
I do need to apologize to all those who have sent me texts. I can't have my phone on in the ICU and I actually don't even get service until I am outside the hospital so I am really bad about answering my texts! I am sorry! I truly do appreciate all the texts and comments I receive and I am sorry if I don't respond!
Here is a picture of her today, she doesn't look much different, but I like to compare the pictures of her from day to day.

Good Day-Post Op Day 3

2010-08-21T21:11:00.000-07:00

Today has been much better! We are almost back to where we were before the problems yesterday! They did take out one of the three drainage tubes. She does have a new tube today down her other nostril. It goes into her stomach and helps to drain her stomach of air and stomach acid. She seems to feel much better now! She has gotten up to goal on her feeds. She is getting 25cc of formula every hour, which is about 5 teaspoons. As small amount as that is, we are very happy! This goes straight into her intestines, so she does still feel hungry. Zoey is very thirsty, but obviously can't drink because of the breathing tube. She keeps sticking out her tongue trying to get something to drink. I am sure she will love the first bottle she gets! Oh a couple of things I wanted to clarify... We only slept in the parking lot one night. The other nights we have left. I still have the mattress in the van though and everyday I go take a nap in the van for a little bit. Back about a year ago I was asked lots of questions about the stuffed lamb in Zoey's bed. It didn't mean anything a year ago, so I never said anything about it. Now, you can see she has 3 lambs in her bed with her. This is because she LOVES lambs! She says "Baa" all the time! It is so cute! They are defiantly her favorite animal, although she loves dogs too. I can't wait until she is better enough to hear her say "baa" again! Uncle Clint and Aunt Alyssa (Ok, well almost aunt...their wedding date is November 18th!) came to visit. I haven't done a good job about taking pics of visitors but I am going to try to do better! Perfect! It didn't last long, but they were very good all day! This is a video of when Zoey was awake a little bit. She kept sticking out her tongue since she is so thirsty

Roller Coaster Ride-Post Op Day 2

2010-08-20T20:57:00.001-07:00

Today has been hard. As soon as I got here I saw about 10 people around Zoey's bed. I knew that wasn't a good sign. Apparently they had taken her off the Nitric Oxide and she crashed. She also woke up and was a mad (who wouldn't be with all that stuff hooked up to her?!?). Her blood pressure and heart rate went up and her saturation levels went down to the 70's. They put her back on the Nitric Oxide, raised the oxygen back up to 100% and gave her more sedation meds.
Unfortunately, she hasn't been responding to her sedation meds as well today and she is even on higher doses than she was yesterday. She has woken up a lot when she isn't really supposed to be. It has been hard to watch her wake up and try to scream and cry, but nothing comes out. She is just silent because of the breathing tube. It breaks my heart.
The plan was to take the breathing tube out today...obviously that didn't happen. It won't happen until at least Sunday. She just needs more time. The left atrium in her heart has a lot of pressure right now, this is causing her lungs to be wet which causes her to need the breathing tube. Sigh.
She got a new addition today, her feeding tube. This tube is an NJ tube meaning it bypasses her stomach and goes straight into her intestines. She still feels hungry since her tummy doesn't have anything in it. At least she is getting nutrition :)
Positives about today:
1. She is getting nutrition
2. She is peeing better
3. Oxygen did go back down to 40
4. Heart rate and blood pressure is stable
5. She no longer needs the brain and kidney monitors. (This was the sticker on her forehead.)
5. She is passing gas. She had a lot of air in her stomach that was causing a lot of discomfort for her. She didn't start passing any of it until after feeds were started.
6. No fevers today
7. I don't think she looks as swollen and she did yesterday.
Oh that list does make me feel better! I had to ask the nurse for it cause it didn't feel like she had a good day, but maybe it was better than I thought. :)

Post Op Day 1

2010-08-19T21:24:00.000-07:00

Not too much to report today. Last night she came out of sedation more than they had wanted her to. I heard the nurse had to wrestle her back down because she was trying to roll over. They gave her a high dose of sedation meds and she has slept soundly since.
She has warm toes and fingers! Woot Woot! Hooray for warm fingers and toes! Zoey has never had warm fingers and toes.
She is more swollen today, but that is to be expected. She has also had some problems with her kidneys today, but right now she is doing well.
There were 4 goals for today:
1. Increase one of her meds (Mirinone) to 0.75 MCG per hour
2. Try to wean down on sedation meds
3. Schedule Lasiks (another med) 3 times a day
4. Wean down on the Nitric Oxide (a gas that she inhales as part of the breathing tube)
All goals have been successfully met! Yippee!
Here is a picture of our camping experience...ha ha! We didn't want to go home last night so we slept in our van out in the parking structure. It wasn't bad at all and we slept pretty good...minus being woken up by life flight twice. :)

After Surgery Pics

2010-08-19T08:57:00.001-07:00

Two Ventricle Heart

2010-08-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

No words can describe how I feel tonight. Zoey has a functioning two ventricle heart! Can you even believe that??? Such a miracle!!! She is doing awesome! The doctors and nurses keep telling me how great she looks...I realize this is from a medical, just after heart surgery stand point. Looking at her with that in mind I am sure she does look great...from a mother's stand point, she looks sad. As a matter of fact when I first saw her, I nearly passed out. Luckily I found a chair before I fell over. She will stay sedated tomorrow and possibly Friday as well.

She really has already made great progress though! When we first saw her she was on 100% oxygen and right now she 60% oxygen. They have had to tie her arms down because once her sedation meds would start wearing off at all, she would try grabbing the vent out of her mouth.

I don't have a way right now to post pics but I will tomorrow morning! Goodnight!

2:00 Update

2010-08-18T12:59:00.000-07:00

Surgery is officially over. Zoey's chest is closed and they are now getting her stable in the ICU. She was on the bypass machine for 74 minutes and her heart was stopped for 32 minutes, which is awesome!!! We met with the surgeon and he is amazing! I am so grateful to him! Her saturation levels is in the 90's (before her saturation's were between 78-82 usually). Dr. Kazza isn't happy they are in the 90's and wants her at 100%, but he said that over time she should go up. Right now her lungs have more blood in them than they ever have had, so they are wet and once they get used to the blood flow her saturation should go up.

We should get to go see her at about 2:30. Can't promise another update for a while after that! I just want to see my baby!!!

12:00 Update

2010-08-18T10:54:00.000-07:00

All the repairs are done! She is off the bypass machine! Her chest still isn't closed. We still won't see her for a while, but that is ok. It is such a huge releif all the major stuff is over. Adam, my mother-in-law, my dad, and myself went and donated blood at the blood drive they are doing here today. Zoey is getting blood today so we felt it appropriate to give back. They actually marked our blood for Zoey, incase she needs another transfusion in the next week. Thanks for the prayers! We have been so blessed!

Surgery Day

2010-08-18T07:46:00.000-07:00

Yesturday we had to come to the hospital for pre-op. They did x-rays, EKG, and blood work. They had to poke her 3 times to get her blood. She was quite tramitized after that and cried and cried the rest of the time we were here--which we did the blood work first (not very good planning on my part). By the time I got her to her carseat, was so tired she literally fell asleep before I even turned on the van!

This morning we had to be here at 6:30 AM. She remembered here from yesturday and upon realizing where we were she cried and screamed. They gave her medicine to calm her down. We said our goodbyes at 8:00 AM. We won't see her again until about 2 PM. What am I going to do between now and then....go crazy! I know she is in good hands and I actually feel very peaceful. I have hardly even cried today....so far!

She loved coloring before they took her. It was so cute to watch her color when she was drugged. She was trying so hard to keep coloring even though it was hard to just keep her head up!

9:00 AM UPDATE: We just got our first update. Surgery has started.

Surgery and California Part 1

2010-08-13T02:48:00.000-07:00

I have a lot to blog about, but I haven't had much time and I still don't now either! :) First of all, surgery will be this coming Wednesday, August 18th. They will be closing the holes in her heart and moving the wall that separates her right and left ventricle over. Currently, her aorta is connected to her right ventricle and it needs to be connected to her left. Instead of moving the aorta itself, they will move the wall that separates the ventricles over so that the aorta will then be connected to the left ventricle. This will be an open heart surgery, so she will be on a bypass machine.
We will be having a special fast for Zoey this coming Sunday. All that would like to participate are welcome. We really appreciate your support and prayers on her behalf.
We went to California the last week of July! We had a blast! I was a little nervous that Zoey wouldn't have much fun since she is so little, but she loved every second of it! We went with my family and we all had a blast!
On the bus to Disneyland!

Walking into Disneyland

Eating icecream on Main Street USA-one of my fav traditions!

Waiting to ride Dumbo

Riding Dumbo!

Eating at Rain Forest Cafe in Downtown Disney. Zoey loved it and seriously ate like this the entire time!

Mickey!

There was so much to see and do that she wouldn't fall asleep until she was so exhausted she couldn't handle it anymore

Zoey's first Minnie Ears! She wouldn't wear them unless she was getting plenty of attention and compliments on how cute she was! She is such a ham!

Zoey's favorite ride- It's a Small World

The Beach!

Miracles Do Happen

2010-06-17T11:20:00.000-07:00

It is with more gratitude in my heart than I thought my heart could even hold to give you the results of Zoey's MRI. Zoey's heart has grown! It has grown enough that she will be able to have a double ventricle heart! She will have a normal heart! This is the best news we could have ever wished for. I have had tears of joy all day today streaming down my face.

We have been so blessed and I thank my Heavenly Father for blessing Zoey so much. She is such a joy and a blessing in our home. I know I have said this 100x or more, but I am truly thankful for all of your prayers and support. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for all those who have put her name in the temple, who have prayed for her, fasted for her, who have kept her in your thoughts, who have checked our blog, etc... thank you!

Zoey will need surgery to repair her heart. Her surgery will be in the end of July, but we don't have a date yet. I will post more details about this surgery as I get them.

This is truly a miracle from our Heavenly Father. A year ago I would have never thought this was a possibility. I am so grateful for Zoey and for her heart miracle.

Waiting for the Phone to Ring

2010-06-16T21:56:00.000-07:00

Today Zoey had the MRI and echo done. We were hoping to get the results back today, but we didn't. I am not sure when we will get the results, but her doctor will call me with them-when he gets them. Who knows when that will be...but until then my phone will be glued to me.

Here is the pic of Zoey before they came and got her. Adam and I thought her little hospital gown was so adorable-lol you know you go to the hospital too often when you start thinking hospital gowns are cute!

Update with lots of pics!

2010-06-11T10:42:00.000-07:00

Here is my much needed update! We have been busy these past 2 months and Zoey has grown up so much! We did go to primary childrens for a check up and we were so happy to hear the doctor say that we wouldn't need to come back until August. When the person called to setup our appointment with me, he said that cardiology had changed the time frame of our appointment and that we needed to come in mid June. We will be going next week for her appointment. In this appointment they will sedate her. She will be getting an MRI and a echo. The MRI will be able to show us exactly how much volume the left side of her heart can hold. This will be the appointment when they decide if her heart has grown enough to have a normal heart. Can I ask for prayers that everything will work out and that the doctors will make the best decision? Thanks! I will be sure to post after the appointment to let everyone know the results.
Zoey is starting to talk a little. I need to get a video of her talking, but it is so random that it is hard to do. She says momma, dada, and hi. She has imitated other words such as shower and keys, but doesn't use them on her own. She also walks with her walker toy. I will need to get a video and post it later.

Here is what we have been up to the past few months!

Going to church for the first time as a family!

Playing with McKenna!

Bowling!

I Want YOU!

Fist time eating solid food! Spaghetti! She loved it! I think spaghetti is still her favorite!

Finding the wipes and pulling them all out one by one-and then eating them! Yuck!

Now for the box of Kleenex! She was not happy that she got caught!

Our LOST finale party! We had pulled boar, mango, pineapples, biscuits shaped like fish (to represent the biscuits Sawyer and Kate ate while they were in the cages), Dharma Root Beer, and homemade oreos (to represent the dark and light/good and evil theme). We had fun with our little finale party! Farewell LOST! Oh and by the way, I know a lot of people hated the ending, but I loved it! :)

Zoey waited until she knew mommy and daddy were not watching and stole an oreo cookie

We went to Bear Lake over Memorial Day weekend. We had a great time! We brought our bikes and rode them around! Zoey loves bike rides!

Went to the man made beach at Bear Lake

The wind started to blow as soon as we got there, so our picnic was moved to the back of our van

Zoey riding some rides at a resturant in Bear Lake

Swimming at the condo! Fist time Zoey had been swimming! She LOVED it!

Went to Grandma Mills wedding! Got a new grandpa! Congratulations you love birds!(Mom, will you email me the pic with Adam in it please? I don't have one)

Sleeping

Crawling

2010-04-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

She decided on Monday night that she was interested in crawling. Guess it is time to baby proof the house!

Easter!

2010-04-06T02:31:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter weekend! Here are some pics from Zoey's first Easter!

Easter egg hunt at Grandma's! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Willard and Grandma Bawden!

Finding Zoey's egg with her name on it

Eating the plastic carrot! Yummy!:)

Grandma and Grandpa Jacobs Easter gift! Thanks!

Zoey also recieved a play cell phone from the Easter bunny in her basket. This is because she LOVES phones, and ate mine so much that she broke it. I got a new phone and decided to let her keep the phone she had already ruined in hopes that she would not ruin my new phone. I knew old phones could call 911, but I didn't think it was likely that she would...well, she managed to! One day I heard a women's voice coming from the phone when she was playing with it. I went over to see what was going on and saw she was on the phone with 911. I paniced and hung up. After I hung up I realized that was dumb because since it was an old phone, they wouldn't even be able to call back. I called non-emergency dispatch, and they canceled the officer that was already on his way to our house! Needless to say....the Easter bunny knew what to bring!

RSV Shot

2010-03-17T16:34:00.000-07:00

Zoey's peditrition doesn't want me to take Zoey out yet until after RSV season is over, which hopefully will be soon. We went in today for her (hopefully last) RSV vaccine. The vaccine only lasts 28 days, so we have been going in every 4 weeks for this shot. Zoey loves playing with the toys at the doctors, but I think soon she will start remembering what going to the doctors means! Zoey usually does very well with shots and doesn't cry more than 30 seconds. Today, she screamed bloody murder for 20 minutes until she finally fell asleep! I couldn't calm her down, her bottle started to calm her down but then she decided she didn't want anything to do with it. It was sad. I am hoping RSV dies down soon and she doesn't need this shot anymore!

Reflection

2010-03-17T08:34:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Reflection

Last year on St. Patrick's Day, I went to Primary Children's for Zoey's first echo. I was scared-and it turned out I had reason to be. As St. Patrick's Day is here this year, I have spent a lot of time thinking about my appointment last year, and how I coped with the rest of my pregnancy knowing Zoey would have these problems.

I didn't know anything about how the heart worked before. It took forever when the Dr explained to us what her problem was just because it sounded to us like he was speaking a foreign language. Now I can understand the cardiologist perfectly! I remember throughout my pregnancy feeling peace, but I also remember worrying about the unknown a lot! I gained about 60 pounds during my pregnancy just because I couldn't stop worrying and then I would eat comfort foods! I remember on my break at work I would go to Harmon's and buy a package of Chips Ahoy. I did this everyday, and by the time I would leave to come home my cookies were gone. Of coarse, I can laugh about this now, but I really struggled then. I ran into an old co-worker at the store this week. She sat next to me during this phase of my life, and then quit shortly after I had Zoey. She asked how things went with Zoey. As I talked to her, I realized that I am a completely different person today than I was then. She told me that I had told her that my pregnancy wasn't exciting. I regret this. I let myself be too engulfed with worry about what may happen that I didn't ever enjoy the present. "Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy," ~Leo Buscaglia. If I could re-live my pregnancy I would try to focus more on my actual troubles than on my made up troubles of "what if."

I have learned so much about faith, prayer, and about trusting in God over this past year. God has a plan for each of us. I remember being pregnant and people would tell me that there is such things as miracles. I would think, "Yes, but that isn't going to happen this time. I know it is God's plan for her to have these problems." I still know that it is God's plan for Zoey to have these heart problems, but I also know that there is such things as miracles and God's plan can also include miracles! I am trying to live my life now with more faith and less worry. Zoey has done amazing! I had no reason to worry so much!

I write this post as a reminder to me because I know within the next few months as surgery gets closer, I will be worrying again. I had great peace once Zoey was here and I stopped worrying about the unknown. There will always be something unknown in our lives; something we can worry our self sick over and loose sleep over. The trick is praying and having faith in God's plan for us.

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27.)

Growing Up Too Fast

2010-03-14T00:56:00.000-08:00

Zoey is growing up so fast (as all kids do)! We had to put her rail up all the way on her crib today because she kept trying to pull herself over it. She has 2 teeth, the first one came in 2 weeks ago and the second one came in last week. She doesn't have any desire to crawl, but tries to walk all the time! She will walk along furniture and loves it when we hold her hands and let her walk around the room. She makes lots of noises in an attempt to talk, and will often say "num num" when she is hungry. "Num num" means she is hungry for mush, not the bottle. She tries to feed herself and often times grabs the spoon when I try to feed her. She sure makes a mess when she feeds herself though! Her favorite game is peek-a-boo, and plays it all the time with us. She used to like us to hide our face and say peek-a-boo, but now she likes to be the one to hide. She likes to pull the blanket over her head and hides and then pulls the blanket down so we can see her and say peek-a-boo. It is so fun to watch her learn and grow

Our Miracle

2010-02-05T02:35:00.000-08:00

I know what you are thinking..."What? She actually is posting something?!?" Yes, it is true! I am a terrible blogger!

Zoey had a sedated echo on Tuesday. It was such a great appointment. The left side of Zoey's heart has grown! Dr Mennon is very optimistic that the next surgery will be to repair her heart in order for her to have a double ventricle heart! So when is the next surgery for our little one? Well, it was suppose to be anytime between now and no later than April, but she is doing so well that she doesn't even have another check-up unil May! Dr Mennon thinks she will probably be 1 before she will need surgery!

Thank you all so much for your prayers, fasting, faith, and support. We truly have been so blessed. This is such a miracle! We are so grateful. I really can't express how very grateful and happy I am. I am truly grateful for the God's hand in our lives. I know that it is because of Him that Zoey has done so well.

Zoey has sure grown up since my last post! She thinks she is bigger than she really is and won't even let me rock her to sleep anymore! :( She likes to be put down, her gloworm turned on and for me to walk out of the room! I keep trying to remind her that she is only 6 months! She is sitting up and attempting to crawl! She loves to eat her mush and lately has felt she is too big for the bottle. I give her the sippy cup when she refuses the bottle, but mostly she prefers the mush. I can't believe how fast she is growing up! I need to post pictures, but I probably won't get around to it for another few months. Just kidding! I will be posting again soon! Here is a video of Zoey! She loves playing peek-a-boo with Daddy!

Halloween...better late than never!

2009-11-20T00:07:00.001-08:00

I decided that I need to learn to sew. I was determined to sew Zoey's costume without any help from my mom. I did however go to the store with my mom just to make sure I was getting the right things. I actually really enjoyed sewing this! I think this is the first project I have sewn with a pattern in forever that I didn't end up in tears from frustration! But...I didn't accomplish my goal. I ended up needing my mom's help for the hat. I was pretty happy with it overall though!

KSL Story

2009-11-18T21:53:00.000-08:00

Here is the link to our story! Click here

I am happy with the way it turned out! Thanks Jennifer and KSL!

Milk Allergy and Watch KSL

2009-11-17T14:05:00.001-08:00

Everything at the hospital tested for came back negative which was a really good thing. Since they couldn't find anything they told us it was a milk allergy. We don't know for sure if she has a milk allergy, because they just told us that by default. We go into her Pediatrician on Wednesday to find out what he thinks about what kind of a diet we should have her on. The downfall of trying milk products again is that if she begins to have bloody stool again we would need to go back up to Primary's because there will always be that risk of NEC since she has the heart defect. Primary's suggested we keep her on a non dairy diet for now, and then in a couple months try again. I am thinking maybe keep her on a non dairy diet for a couple weeks and then try again because our insurance is changing at the end of the year and I would rather take the chance of another visit to Primary's this year.
She is such a happy baby! All the nurses at the hospital couldn't get over how often she was smiling and giggling! Here is a picture of her playing with her monitors. Ha Ha!

Watch KSL Wednesday night at 10:00 PM! Jennifer Stagg (same reporter that interviewed Stacey and Angela about Twilight) from KSL came over to our house today to do an interview with us about the meth apartment we moved into and about Zoey! Of coarse since they have shots of Zoey it will be a hit! :) Not that I am biased or anything! :)

Home Again!

2009-11-16T14:12:00.000-08:00

I will update more later tonight, but I just wanted to do a short little post letting everyone know we are coming home. Details later, but they told us they think it is a milk allergy. So that is good news...I guess? At least that means she won't need another surgery!

Back up at Primary's

2009-11-14T22:41:00.001-08:00

Tuesday night Zoey started to not feel good. She woke up Wednesday morning with a diaper rash. Thursday came and her diaper rash got worse and started to blister and bleed so I took her to the doctors. They gave me a prescription strength cream and off we went. Early Friday morning she started to poop blood so we took her to the doctors as soon as they opened. They did some tests and said they thought everything would check out fine. They gave me a special non-dairy formula to feed her and sent us home. We weren't home for 30 minutes when they called back and said that her tests didn't turn out fine and that we needed to go up to Primary's right away.

We still aren't sure what is wrong yet. They are doing some tests, but we won't get the results back until tomorrow and some on Monday. There is a possibility she has Necrotizing Enterocolitis which is poor blood flow in the baby's intestines. This may lead to an infection in the wall of the intestine or bowel. It can cause a portion on her intestines to die in which case she will need surgery to have that portion of her intestines removed. They are also testing for a dairy allergy and infections.

Healing

2009-10-14T10:27:00.001-07:00

Zoey's scar is looking so good! This is a picture of what it looked like before we came home from the hospital.

Here is a picture of what it looks like now!

Doesn't it look great!

September Update #2 and Conference Weekend

2009-10-06T04:35:00.000-07:00

There were a couple of things I forgot to add on my September post, better late than never right? I went back to work at the beginning of September (right when I stopped posting updates...what a coincidence, right? ha ha) It is taking a bit of an adjustment to be a working mom, although I am very blessed to have the job I have. It is the perfect job for me! I work from home for 1-800-CONTACTS. I work from 4AM-8AM Monday-Friday and on Saturday from 4-2:30 PM. I am not a morning person, so it is taking some adjustment to go to bed early so I can wake up at 4:00 AM. Adam is able to take care of Zoey while I work, except on Saturdays she sometimes will go to my mom's if Adam has to work. During the week, Zoey takes a nap with me after my shift so that is nice!

We blessed Zoey on September 20th at our home. We had to limit the number of people we invited so Zoey wouldn't be exposed to too many people at once. We invited mine and Adam's siblings, all of Zoey's grandparents and of coarse our Bishop. Zoey is very blessed to have 13 grandparents, so even with limiting our guests we still had quite a few people!

The whole group!

Adam's side of the family

My side of the family

More pictures!

Here is a picture I have been really excited for! Our 5 generation picture! Here we have Great Great Grandma Bawden, Great Grandma Willard, Grandma Jacobs, myself, and Zoey! All girls! How fun and special is that!

5 generation hands

Zoey slept so funny for a few days in September. You can't really tell from the pictures, but her arms are not resting on the pillow. She actually has her arms in the air. Doesn't look very comfortable to me! If we didn't swaddle her, she slept like this every time for almost a week! Ha ha!

I really enjoyed listening to conference this past weekend. During Saturday's second session we made sugar cookies. Zoey is usually happy if she can see what mommy and daddy are doing and feels like she is involved so we had her on the counter helping us!

My favorite talk this past weekend was President Monson's talk about service. It reminded me that I need to do better at serving others, but it also reminded me of all the kind acts of service we have received the past few months. Thank you all so much for helping us and supporting us. We really appreciate all that has been done.

September Post! Update!

2009-09-30T21:08:00.000-07:00

Well, a lot has happened this past month! Zoey is getting so big and is much more alert. She has started to smile and her smile just melts my heart! Here is a video taken earlier this month of her smiling.

Here is just a cute picture I took one day. Notice her little hair on the back of her head that pokes straight up. Ha Ha! It is so cute! I just love it! It always stands up like that! It reminds me of all the baby cartoons that you see where they have one hair poking straight up! That is my little Zoey! What a cutie!

For Labor Day weekend, we had planned on going to Adam's family cabin. A few days before we left I was talking to Zoey's Pediatrician and he said that he didn't suggest to take Zoey in any elevation above 5500 feet above sea level since the air is so much thinner up there than it is here. Zoey's oxygen levels were not very good that week and we couldn't risk them going any lower. We were pretty disappointed to hear this because we needed a vacation badly. We decided to go up to Lava Hot Springs. We went with Adam's family. It was so much fun! Zoey can't go in public so Zoey stayed the whole time in the house we stayed in, but it was still so fun! Here are some pics from the weekend!
We did get her picture by the sign that says Lava! Had to get a picture of something for her first vacation!

Going down the river!

We broke the rules once and took Zoey out in public and participated in a heart walk. It was a mile walk, so not too long since a lot of the people participating have heart defects. We had so much fun getting Zoey ready for her "walk." We gave her a sweat band and put on her walking shoes. Also, her pants are covered in hearts. She was just so cute! Grandma Jacobs and Aunt Marci (aka "Auntie M") also came along! Next year I will make sure I let you all know about the walk with plenty of time in advance so we can all do it together to support little Zoey! It was so cool to go to the heart walk and see lots of people who have been affected by heart defects. Not that it is neat to see that lots of people have been effected, it was just good to be with people who are in our situation, and to see older healthy kids with heart defects. Here are the pictures from the walk!

Because Zoey can't go out in public, we blessed Zoey at home. I don't have the pictures right now from the blessing because they are on a different camera I don't have right now. But, but I will post them later in the week.

Zoey had her 2 month well check on Monday. She is doing better with her weight! She weighs 10 lbs 3 oz and is in the 31st percentile. This is major improvement. Zoey was in the 11th percentile for her weight when we took her home from the hospital. She is 22 1/2 inches long, which is in the 53rd percentile.

We went today to Primary Children's for a clinic visit. She is doing really well. Here is a picture of what she looked like when they were monitoring her heart. She wasn't very happy when they started doing all the tests! I think she likes being home much better than at the hospital.

Welcome fall! I love the fall! It is my favorite season! Since it was so cold today, we put a hat on Zoey before taking her to Primarys. Oh! She is just so cute! Sorry the picture is a little blurry.

Just a little update on the nursing thing...yeah, that isn't happening. I talked to a lactation consultant and she said that Zoey was "ruined." So I kinda gave up on it, but tonight I got a recommendation from a friend for a different lactation consultant so I think I will try her and see what we happens. We will just keep trying. I hate pumping!

Well, there you have it! My long update with pictures of the blessing to come! I will try to do better at updating this thing more often! :)

You know you need to update when...

2009-09-28T12:46:00.000-07:00

You start getting comments on your old post asking for an update! Sadly though, this is not the update you are all looking for-BUT I PROMISE to do a BIG LONG update by Wednesday at the latest!

Pictures and Update!

2009-08-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

Zoey has done really well over the past week. On Tuesday we went to her Pediatrician and she weighed 8 lbs 3 oz! She is starting to gain weight! Yeah! On Wednesday we went back up to Primarys for her follow up visit. They said she was doing great and they were happy with her weight gain. They said that I didn't have to wake her up every 3 hours anymore to eat!!! THANK HEAVENS!!! That was getting old, and I wasn't even waking up to my alarm anymore. Zoey would wake up to the alarm before I would and then she would cry and I would wake up to her crying. So everyone here is getting a much better nights rest now. She usually goes about 4 hours inbetween feedings and sometimes she will even go 5 hours! Yahoo! They also told me I could start trying to nurse her every other feeding. There are some restrictions that go along with nursing her though. First off, she obviously still needs to gain weight. Secondly, she needs to still drink from a bottle since she will be going back up to the hospital for another surgery when she is 5-7 months old. Zoey hasn't shown much interest in nursing though. Has anyone tried to teach a 1 month old to nurse? Any suggestions? I know I just need to be patient, I am just not very good at being patient.

Wednesday night we went to Kiddie Kandids in South Towne Mall and got pictures taken! I love them!

My Little Zoey

2009-08-18T21:53:00.001-07:00

Today we went to another Doctor appointment for Zoey. This appointment was with her Peditrition. They weighed her there and she weighed 7 lbs 7 oz...only 2 oz more than when she was born! I had been telling Adam the other day that I thought she was getting so big so fast-but 2 oz in 3 weeks I guess really isn't fast! She is eating good, so it suprised me that she has gained so little. I guess that is what heart surgery and throwing up all weekend does to you though. I want her to stay my little baby-but it would be good for her if she started putting on the pounds!

Being Home is GREAT!

2009-08-17T22:12:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't updated for a week! Every spare moment I have had I have slept! :) Zoey is doing great! We have really enjoyed her special spirit here in our house. She is a good sleeper at night, and many nights she only has waken up twice to eat.
Wednesday we went in to her Peditrition. She had been eating well at this point and hadn't needed her feeding tube for the whole day. The doctor said that if she went 3 days without using the feeding tube we could take it out. Later that night, she pulled the feeding tube out herself. She must not have understood the waiting the 3 days part-she just knew take it out! We didn't put it back in because she never needed it!
Friday night she started to throw up and would eat very little. She slept very little that night, and wasn't doing any better Saturday morning. We took her back up to Primary's, they determined that she just had a upset stomach and they were just about to release us and then Zoey started breathing really fast and they were afraid that she had a respiratory virus like RSV. They decided she needed to spend the night for observation while they ran some tests. She did really well that night, and they released her Sunday afternoon. Since then she has done great!

Welcome Home Zoey!

2009-08-10T17:53:00.000-07:00

We made it! Zoey has done so well! We are so excited to be home! We were released from the hospital today at about 2:30 PM. It is so great to be home! We really have been so blessed. I cannot thank you all enough for the prayers and support each one of you have given. We wouldn't be home today without all the prayers, fasting, and priesthood blessings. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

So we were released from the hospital with only one prescription and Tylenol. Can you believe that? It is amazing! She does have the feeding tube, but she doesn't need oxygen! Our insurance is also paying for a nurse to come to our house 3 times a week to check on her and make sure everything is ok. We have to go back to Primary's in 2 weeks for a check up, but that is all our discharge instructions! She is just doing great!

Her shirt says "Follow Your Heart"

Our house was decorated so cute! What a surprise!

The nurse said "Home"

2009-08-09T21:44:00.001-07:00

Zoey really has done unbelievably well! It really amazes me how strong she is. She hasn't even needed any pain meds all day today-and she had heart surgery 4 days ago! Geez...I had a baby 2 weeks ago and I am still taking pain meds! She also hasn't needed oxygen today either. She makes leaps and bounds of improvements every day!

We are becoming more and more comfortable with her feeding tube. It really isn't as bad as it looks. Adam even took her old one out and put the new one in. It does make it easier for giving her meds! She has to drink 55 ml of milk every 3 hours. She drank 5 ml today at her 2:00 pm feeding(the rest goes in her feeding tube,) 21 ml at 5:00 pm, ALL 55 ml for her 8:00 and 11:00 pm feeding. If she keeps eating good we will be taking out the feeding tube soon!

So because she is way ahead of schedule, the nurse said they will possibly be sending us home tomorrow! If not tomorrow it will be on Tuesday! She has received such great care up here, but we are sure excited to go home!

They took the dressing off of her incision today. We were a little surprised of how big it was. She is going to have a nice scar! The little red mark on the bottom is from the drainage tube.

Proof she drank her bottle! :)

Mommy got one of Daddy holding her sleeping too!

She had to practice going home by sitting in her car seat for as long as it takes for us to drive home. They did this to monitor her oxygen levels to make sure the incline of the car seat won't harm her. She did great! Looks like she is ready to head home too! She is even holding the car seat straps like she is ready for takeoff!

A Room with a View

2009-08-08T20:42:00.000-07:00

Today has been GREAT!!! Zoey has done well enough that they moved her out of PICU! They moved Zoey to "The Floor." The floor is the 3rd floor of the hospital. It is like a 5 star hotel! (Ok, not really, but it is great compared to NICU and the U of U hospital.) We are in our own private room. The room has a good view of the valley, a couch that folds out into a bed, a TV, a Playstation 2, they bring us slushies, and best of all ZOEY!!! In PICU we had to ask for permission to hold her, and the nurses were in charge. Up here we can hold her when we want, we are in charge and the nurses are here to help. It is basically our training for going home! Zoey hasn't needed oxygen for most of the day!

Yesterday, Zoey's doctors came and talked to us about her heart. All of the pictures they have taken of her heart and when they did the surgery has shown her left side to be small, but not tiny. Her left side has seems to be growing. This means that when it is time to do the second surgery they will check again, but if her left side continues to grow she may actually be a candidate to have a double ventricle heart. At that time, she would have another surgery to correct her double outlet right ventricle defect and then she would have a normal heart! This would be such a miracle. We just need to keep praying and leave it in God's hands, but the fact that this is a possibility is a miracle in and of itself. Thanks again for your prayers, we really have seen so many miracles because of it.

Here are some pictures of today!
Zoey all snuggled up after her sponge bath that WE gave her!

Zoey's hands were a little blue after her bath. (This is very normal for HLHS babies)

Zoey had some visitors today, including Great Great Grandma Bawden!

Friday

2009-08-08T19:55:00.000-07:00

Friday was another amazing day. Zoey has just done so good it is unbelievable! It really amazes me how strong she is. She got her drainage tube out her side, and she also got her IV out that was coming from her belly button. She also needed a lot less oxygen than on Thursday.
After I did my last post, I realized that I had never mentioned that Zoey had never been able to eat. Up until Thursday she had received all her nutrients through an IV. She tries eating with a bottle, but she gets tired. They had to put a feeding tube in because she hasn't been eating enough. It is very common for babies with HLHS to be too tired to eat enough, so the feeding tube is common. They said that we will be coming home with the feeding tube.

Excellent Day!

2009-08-06T21:50:00.000-07:00

Today has been an amazing day! Zoey has done wonderful! At the beginning of the day she had 4 IVs, a breathing tube, a drainage tube (this comes out of her incision), and a catheter. Right now, she currently only has 2 IVs, her drainage tube, and is on oxygen! It has been a miracle! She is doing so so good! Now the big news....she also had her first meal today!!! Yep, that is right, she ate 1 oz of milk and loved it! We get to feed her again at midnight! We really couldn't ask for things to be better.

To answer some questions, we don't know how long it will be until we come home. We were told before surgery to plan on 2 weeks. Because she has done so great today, it may be shorter but we really don't know. The surgeon told us yesterday that she will probably need her next surgery when she is 5 to 7 months old. Her third surgery will be when she is 2 to 3 years old.

Thanks again for all of your prayers. The Lord has truly blessed us in so many ways. We are so grateful for the way things have happened.

She Looks Great!

2009-08-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

We just went in to see her. She looks amazing for just coming out of heart surgery. We really couldn't ask for a better outcome. They didn't even need to put the IV in her neck like they were planning. We really are so grateful for how this has turned out. Thank you all so so much for your prayers. We have been so blessed.

She is Out of Surgery!!!!

2009-08-05T16:55:00.000-07:00

The surgeon just came and talked to us. Everything worked out great. The surgeon showed us the piece of the auorta that he had to take out. It was the tiniest little thing. The surgeon said that she is very strong. We can't express our gratitude enough for all the support and prayers. We get to go see her soon.

5:00 PM Update

2009-08-05T16:04:00.000-07:00

They are done with the aorta coarctation repair. All they need to do now is put the band around the pulmonary artery. Things are going well, and Zoey is doing good. Our next update will be at 6:00, unless they are done before then.

3:45 PM Update

2009-08-05T15:25:00.000-07:00

She is in surgery now. She is such a brave girl.

2:50 PM Update

2009-08-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

They have taken her away now. They said that it takes about an hour to prep her for surgery. They will update us once the surgery starts. As stressful as it is, we feel very peaceful about things. On average the surgery should take about 4 hours starting now.

1:50 PM Update

2009-08-05T12:49:00.000-07:00

The 1st surgery is over. Dr Kaza (the surgeon) came and talked to us again, he said they will come and take her about 3:30 PM. They have to clean and steralize the operating room.

1:10 PM Update

2009-08-05T12:10:00.001-07:00

The 1st surgery today must not be over, because we are still waiting for them to come take her.

Surgery Day

2009-08-05T09:46:00.001-07:00

Today is surgery day. They will take her at about 12:30 pm into surgery. We met with the surgeon this morning. They will go in from her left side and spread her ribs. They will not break any ribs. She will not be put on a bypass machine. They will be able to clamp her aorta to do the surgery. It is best for her not to be put on the bypass machine. They also showed me a little boy who had surgery so I would know what to expect when she gets back from surgery. She will have an IV in her neck and tubes coming out of the incision for drainage. She will also have the breathing tube in. She will be gone from about 12:30-5:00. They will be giving us updates throughout surgery. I will put a new post on with every update. Also, our Twitter account dropped 90% of our followers, so we are not going to do twitter anymore. Please check back to the blog for updates. Thanks so much for your prayers and support. We really have been blessed and appreciate everyone. Here are some pictures of us this morning.

Tuesday

2009-08-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

Zoey was asleep all day. At about 9:30 PM she woke up and we had a lot of fun with her! We even did her first hand and foot prints. She found that torture, but we thought it was fun! Zoey-just wait until your hair gets long enough for mommy to do! That is when the real fun/torture will begin!

Monday

2009-08-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

Monday Zoey wasn't very happy. She had a new addition-an IV in her hand. I think she was just misserable all day. Once the night nurse swaddled her tight she was much happier.

Surgery Moved to Wednesday

2009-08-03T16:50:00.000-07:00

There were 3 surgeries that had to be done on Tuesday, so Zoey's surgery will be on Wednesday now. We are very blessed that Zoey's condition is good and she can wait until Wednesday.

Sunday

2009-08-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in the previous post, Zoey has been so sleepy since they have put her on the PGE. We didn't see much of her eyes all day on Sunday. She tries to open them sometimes, but she doesn't usually succeed. I don't think we saw her eyes for more than 60 seconds all day. Here are the pictures from Sunday!

Even Mommy was sleepy. This is a picture of what Daddy found when he got to the hospital.

Mommy's first diaper change! I just couldn't be left out! Zoey cried for me though.

Night with Daddy

2009-08-03T15:54:00.000-07:00

Adam spent the night Saturday night and loved it! I don't know who was spoiled more, Adam or Zoey! Adam got to hold her all night long (from 10:00PM-7:00AM). He even got to change her diaper for the first time! This was the first time anyone but a nurse had ever changed her. When she gets her diaper changed, you would think it was the end of the world by her scream! When Adam changed her she didn't cry! Daddy must have the magic touch! Zoey slept most of the night, and only woke up a few times. Adam went to the restroom and put Zoey down, she started to cry and kept crying until he got back and held her again. This is some pictures from Daddy and Zoey's night together.
I think this picture is so cute-she is holding her own binky in!

She did make some ornery faces, but she isn't crying!

She was awake and alert for about 45 minutes. She has been so tired and sleepy since they have put her on the PGE (medicine to open the duct in her heart.) Daddy was so lucky to have 45 minutes that she was alert and happy!

Needless to say, Mommy was pretty jealous of all the good times Daddy and Zoey had!

Calm Day

2009-08-01T22:34:00.000-07:00

Today was very calm. Zoey slept 99.9% of the day. She would only wake up when they changed her diaper. She hates it when her she is being changed, so she would wake up enough to scream and then she would go right back to sleep. They let Adam and I hold her today, which was a surprise because we didn't think we would get to hold her until after surgery. I held her for a few hours, and Adam is spending the night up there tonight and I am sure he is going to hold her all night long. It is so nice when we get to hold her! We love it! I left the camera up at the hospital with Adam, so I can't post pictures now. I do have some very cute pictures to post later though!

Friday's Update

2009-08-01T10:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didn't post yesterday...exhaustion won me over and I fell asleep. Zoey woke up from being sedated and was furious she had a tube down her throat. She was very fussy, and when she got too mad they would sedate her again. The tube goes down her vocal cords, so she would cry but no sound would come out. It was very sad. Fortunately, she started doing well enough breathing on her own that they decided to take it out. When they took off the tape that was holding the tube in place, Zoey turned her head really fast the opposite direction and the tube came right out. She hated that thing, and it is funny that she was smart enough to figure out how to get it out. She did much better after they took out the tube. She had lots of visitors yesterday; Grandma and Grandpa Jacobs, Great Grandma Jacobs, Great Grandma and Grandpa Willard, Grandma and Grandpa Spencer. I didn't do a good job taking pictures though, so I only have this one of her with Great Grandma Jacobs and the other picture is of her crying when no sound was coming out.

Thursday Pictures

2009-07-30T22:31:00.000-07:00

After I posted the MRI results I went back to the PICU and found the nurse had changed Zoey's sheets and blankets and cleaned Zoey up. She looked so much better than when I had left. Zoey didn't even have the tube they had put up her nose! She was an excellent nurse and I felt really good about leaving Zoey for the night. Zoey will be sedated all night, so there really wasn't a point of anyone staying up there with her. One more thing I forgot to mention in the last post, they put Zoey on a medication now that will make the duct in her heart stay open. Yes, this is the same duct we were waiting to close, but now that we know that she needs surgery it would actually cause problems if it does close.

This is a picture of Zoey's bed and all the machines and medicines she is hooked up to. Although this may look bad, most babies with HLHS are hooked up to more-so it could be worse. However, she will have many more after her surgeries.

MRI Results

2009-07-30T18:19:00.000-07:00

Zoey had her MRI today. They sedated her and then gave her medicine that paralyzed her. After she was paralyzed they put in a breathing tube down her throat, and another tube in her nose that helps keep air out of her stomach so she doesn't get acid reflex. Her MRI showed that she does have a narrowing in her aorta. The narrowing is enough to be concerned about, so she will need reconstructive surgery. She will have surgery on Tuesday. During this surgery they will take out the portion of her aorta that is narrow and they will also put a band on her pulmonary artory to restrict the blood flow and pressure to her lungs. They will have to stop her heart and put her on a bypass machine for part of the surgery. Because of the new tubes we won't be able to hold her anymore until a few days after surgery. She is such a brave little girl! I am at the hospital right now and cannot download any pictures right now, but I will post them later.

Meeting Results

2009-07-29T12:41:00.000-07:00

Our meeting went well with the doctor today. He said that they decided that it was too early to tell if Zoey will need surgery or not because her duct in her heart has not closed yet. They did another echo today and nothing had changed from yesturday. She will need an MRI tomorrow to determine if she will need sugery before she goes home or not. They did tell us we could start to hold her today! It was so good to be able to hold her! They said we could continue to hold her until she needs surgery...whenever that will be! We were so happy to hold her! It is so nice to hold her and give her lots of loves!

Mommy holding Zoey!

Daddy holding Zoey!

Even Uncle Clint got to hold Zoey!

Our Adorable Zoey

2009-07-28T19:33:00.000-07:00

Here is an adorable picture of Zoey! She is playing with her Daddy when this picture is taken. She has been so much fun today. She likes to stick out her tongue and blow bubbles. We can't hold her, but we can touch her. She loves being touched and we love rubbing her soft skin. She is a very good baby, and cries very little. She doesn't even seem to mind all the medical attention and prodding they do to her. She hasn't needed to be on any medications yet. She isn't even on oxygen! All of her levels have been very good! Her oxygen levels have been especially good. They told us that her oxygen levels are as good as a healthy baby's levels. We got the results of the echo back today, but it didn't give them good enough pictures so she had another echo today. They will take the echo from yesterday and today into a meeting with all her doctors and surgeons tomorrow morning to discuss what surgeries she will need and what time frame she will need the surgeries. She may need an MRI before they know for sure, but they will discuss that in their meeting tomorrow as well. We have a meeting tomorrow with a doctor at 11:00 AM for him to explain their decisions. She is getting such great care! We are so grateful for everyone's love ans support. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
On a side note, I am going to be discharged tomorrow from the hospital.

Zoey's Doing Great!

2009-07-27T21:52:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to do an update on Zoey. She is doing great! After they got her stable both Adam and I were able to hold her for a few minutes before they transferred her to Primary Childrens. It was the lifeflight team that trasferred her. She is currently in the PICU at Primary Childrens. All of her levels are great. They did another echo on her heart. We haven't gotten the results back yet, but we will tomorrow morning. I haven't uploaded any pictures to the computer yet, but I will tomorrow. I just wanted to do a quick update because I didn't know when I would get another chance.

SHE IS HERE!!!!!!

2009-07-27T13:06:00.001-07:00

Zoey Ann Spencer
7 lbs 5 oz, 21" long
The nurse took these pictures of her for us. We haven't been able to see here other than the 10 seconds while they passed here through the window into the NICU. She was screeming, she is really cute. We can't wait to see her. Adam should be able to go over to the NICU within the next little while. Once she is stable they will bring her to my room for a minute and then take her to Primary Childrens. We love you Zoey! Welcome to our family!

There is no turning back...

2009-07-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

Today at 4am the nurse came and moved us back to room 10. By the time they got Rachel all hooked up and started on pitocin, it was about 5:30. Things look like they are finally going to happen. About 7:45 Dr. Bryne came in and broke Rachel's water. :) Now there is no way they can stop thing and make us wait for another week, not that they would but it gets rid of that worry, lol. Rachel is HAPPY to have an epidural again. I read this to Rachel before I posted it and she told me to take out the ":)" she said it makes me look insensitive, so I just wanted to clarify "I am not insensitive just excited for Zoey!!!"

The New Plan

2009-07-26T14:40:00.000-07:00

Last night I started to have very hard and frequent contractions starting at 3 AM. They still wouldn't give me any medication so I just had to endure them. The contractions went on for hours. At 8 AM I got a new nurse that found what I had been receiving as treatment "cruel and unusual." She was a great nurse. She went and told the doctors that I really needed some sort of paid meds. She did get permision to give me some morfine and some sort of sleep medication. I was able to take a pretty good nap. That was really good cause I was getting so tired and so was Adam.

They plan on giving me pitocin again tonight starting at 5 AM. The hope is she will be born tomorrow afternoon when all of the teams of people are here to help her! I am hoping they will give me the epidural at 5 AM or sooner as well :) I have had enough contractions without medication :) I know I have said this in almost every post, but I really am hoping I will have pictures of her to post tomorrow!!!!!

Back at it!!!

2009-07-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

Friday after noon Rachel was having contractions every 6 minutes and they were lasting 1.5 to 2 minutes, so we came back in. When we got to the hospital the contractions stopped. After we make it to Labor and Delivery, Rachel was checked for progress. We had spent 26 hours the day before and had only made it to a 1, 50% so we did not expect they would find a change. To tell the truth Rachel and I felt silly being there since the contractions had stopped. They did their exam and said Rachel was a 3, 90% so they had us spend the night here. They want Zoey to be born in the day time so there are more helping hands available to help Zoey after she is born, so they told us they would not do anything to stop the labor but they would not do anything to help it either. They said they would check Rachel in the morning and see if progress had been made, if progress was being made they would then give Rachel an epidural and help labor progress. It is now morning and we were up past 3:00 am with Rachel having intense contractions, so we were hoping that all of our work had made some progress. They did their exam and said 3, 90%. Now the plan is to keep us here until she is born but that might be Monday or later. If Rachel starts making progress they will still give her an epidural and help things along, as long as it is morning and there is time to have the baby today.

Coming Home

2009-07-23T16:57:00.000-07:00

Well, after being here 24 hours I only dilated to a 2. Our little Zoey just isn't ready to come yet, so we will be leaving the hospital soon and coming home. We will come back Monday at 6:00 PM. We are just waiting for the epidural to wear off some more before we leave.

Slow

2009-07-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

Well, things are moving slower than we had hoped. Actually, it is going so slow that they are talking about sending us home. :( Last time they checked me was at noon and I was still only at a 2. They are giving us until 4:00 pm, and if I am not dialated to a 4 we will be sent home and have to come back next week. Contractions have seemed to pick up so hopefully we will be having a baby tonight or tomorrow.

Update

2009-07-23T09:29:00.000-07:00

We started pitocin at 4 AM this morning and I got my epidural at around 9. I am on a high dose of pitocin, but things are just progressing really slow. They think we will still have a baby today, but not until evening.

Ready or Not....Here I Come!

2009-07-22T20:44:00.000-07:00

So, it has been a really long time since I have posted. I am sorry. I will do better! :) Here is the last picture of me that we took. (I promised you I would post it Katie!) I am actually posting this from the hospital. Since my last update in March, a lot has changed. (I know, what a shocker....it has only been 4 months!)

The big update: Zoey has been diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and Double Outlet Right Ventricle. The Double Outlet Right Ventricle has been a huge blessing so far. This additional heart defect has made it so that her aorta is connected to her heart on her right side of her heart instead of on her left side (the aorta is connected to the left side in a normal heart). The great thing about this is that the first surgery, the Norwood, is no longer needed. We actually have to wait until she is born to know for sure if she doesn't need the Norwood, but the Norwood is not in the plan as of now. In place of the Norwood, she will need a different surgery. This other surgery will put a band on her pulmonary artery, restricting the amount of blood that will go to her lungs. We are not sure when she will need this surgery. The other two surgeries, the Glenn and the Fontan, are still the same.

Right now, they have given me some medicine to thin my cervix. It is just a waiting game right now, but the hope is that I will be ready for pitocin by the morning. We are sure hoping we have a baby tomorrow afternoon to post pictures of!!! We are so excited!!!!

Also, we don't have any cell phone service here at the hospital. If you would like to contact us, you can leave a comment or email me at rachj909@yahoo.com. We have also created a twitter account if you would like updates sent to you via text. Go to www.twitter.com/babyzoey411 to follow us!

Learning to Dance in the Rain

2009-03-19T16:21:00.000-07:00

Tuesday we went to Primary Children's to have an ultrasound because our doctor thought there might be a problem with our little Zoey's heart. The ultrasound lasted an hour and the doctor didn't say much to us while he was doing it. After he got done he said, "We will meet in the other room to discuss this." We were then taken into a room that was very "comfy," well more comfy than a hospital should be. There was a big fluffy couch and two stands on each side of the couch. Each stand had a box of Kleenex's. There were lamps that provided dim lighting, and there were many other comfy chairs in the room. Each of the chairs were faced towards the couch. As soon as we walked in we knew we were not going to get good news. The room was way too overdone to give someone good news! A lady came into the room and asked how we were doing. Adam laughed and said, "By the looks of this room I can tell I am not doing good!" The lady laughed and sat down in one of the chairs directed to us. Another lady came in right after her, and the doctor came in shortly as well.

The doctor explained to us that our little girl has what is called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome or HLHS for short. This means that her left ventrical in her heart did not form. In order to understand what this means you first need to know how a normal heart works. First blue blood (blood that has been pumped through your body and doesn't have any more oxygen in it) is pumped into your heart into your right ventrical. The right ventrical pumps the blue blood into your lungs. Your lungs oxygenate your blood turning your blood into red blood. The red blood is pumped into your left ventrical and your left ventrical then pumps the blood throughout your body.

As you can imagine, your left ventrical is a very important part of your heart. Your left ventrical also determines your blood pressure. There is no cure for HLHS, and only a few years ago if someone was diagnosed with this they were sure to die shortly after birth. We have been blessed to live in a time where we have had great medical advancements. Zoey will have to have 3 surgeries on her heart. Although these surgeries will not cure her, they may allow her to have more time here on earth.

I will be induced and deliver at the University of Utah Hospital. Right after birth Zoey will be taken to Primary Children's Medical Center where they will stabilize her. After she is stabilized (this can take up to 5 days) she will have her first surgery. This surgery is called the Norwood. After surgery, Zoey will stay in Primary Children's for 6-8 weeks.Her second surgery will take place when she is 4-6 months old. The third surgery will be when she is 2-3 years old. By the time the 3rd surgery is performed her right ventrical will no longer pump blue blood to the lungs, but will pump red blood to her entire body. As the blood returns to her heart it will pass through her lungs oxgenating the blood before returning to the heart. The reason why this is not a cure is because her right ventrical is made to pump blood to the lungs and is not as strong as the left ventrical which is made to pump blood throughout the body. This being said, the right ventrical will eventually give out.

Zoey is a fighter though. She hates ultrasounds and every time we have one (we have had 4 so far and have many more coming) she kicks the ultrasound machine and tries to hide. Every ultrasound technician has complained about this. Adam and I find it cute, but apparently if you are trying to get the pictures of her you don't find this cute. :)

I have thought a lot this week about a sign that was given to me a few months ago that says, "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learning to dance in the rain." We are going to dance in the rain and treasure every moment! Looking back over the past few years and months, it amazes me how Heavenly Father has set us up and prepared us to take on this challenge. Although I don't know why it has to happen, I can see that it fits into his plan. Just one example of how he has helped us get ready for this is with insurance. Adam and I have insurance through IHC, however, back in September we felt very strong that I needed to go back and work at 1-800-CONTACTS so that I can get insurance through them. Right now, we are double insured. This is a wonderful blessing. By the time Zoey comes I will be working from home at a 24 hour call center. This means I can choose my schedule to best meet the needs of our family 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. How grateful I am for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the tender mercies I can already see God has blessed us with. If any of you are wondering if there is anything you can do, please just remember to keep Zoey in your prayers. We are truley grateful for all the love and support from our friends and family.

For more information on HLHS go to http://hlhsinfo.homestead.com/

If you have any questions, please ask me. I am definatley not an expert, but I am learning! :)

Free Homemade Gift Tag!

2009-02-25T15:25:00.001-08:00

This is what you do:
The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year.
4. You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a song. It may be a self portrait or maybe even some creation I haven't yet dreamed up. I may draw. I may bake you something and mail it to you. It may not be big or impressive. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure! So come on, sign up!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!

Eating for Two!

2009-02-20T20:16:00.000-08:00

Up until this week, I have been eating normal. This past week, I haven't been able to fit enough food into my mouth at once! I am constantly starving, and quite surprised at how much food I have been putting away! I don't even make it through the night without having to get up and eat. This has been the weirdest thing for me, because normally I don't let anything get in the way of my sleep! :) I am going to have to go shopping for maternity shirts really soon because my stomach has sure popped out this week too! My little girl must have hit some sort of a growth spurt this week...or maybe it will be like this for the next 5 months? I don't know, but there is no denying I am pregnant now! :)

In Loving Memory

2009-02-12T20:30:00.000-08:00

Bronson Willard, 20, returned home to his Heavenly Father February 7, 2009 after a long battle with cancer. He was born January 5, 1989. He loved life and lived it to the fullest. Brons enjoyed riding horses, working hard, wake boarding, driving his jeep, hunting, and being with family and friends. He is an Eagle Scout and enjoyed serving and helping others. Brons was the life of the party and knew how to make people laugh. He is a great example of faith, courage, strength and love. He made such an impact on all that knew him and will forever be in our hearts. He is survived by parents Brent and Carrie Willard; siblings Emily & Brian Ashton, Brandon & Candace, Amanda, Dustin, Jason, Jordan, Sarah Willard; nieces and nephews whom he loved, Chaz, Ayla, Payton, Gunner; grandparents Dixie & Jim Jones, Norm & Eldoris Fenn, Rex & Judy Willard, Carol Bawden; and many extended family members who were such a big part of his life.

Funeral services will be held Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 11 am in the American Fork Stake Center, 240 South Center. Friends may call Wednesday evening from 6 to 8 pm at the Anderson & Sons Mortuary, 49 E 100 N, American Fork and Thursday at the church from 9:45 to 10:45 am. In lieu of flowers a memorial fund has been set up in Bronson's name at any Wells Fargo Bank. All the money donated will go to help cancer research. Bronson's dream was to find a cure. Thank you to all for the prayers and concern in Bronson's behalf. Each and every prayer has been answered. Online condolences may be sent at andersonmortuary.com

Bronson is my cousin who was diagnosed with cancer 2 years ago. He was such an example to everyone he came in contact with. The last thing Bronson wanted to do before he died was to go through the temple. We had the opportunity to go through the temple with Bronson 2 weeks ago. The spirit there was amazing and it will be an experience we will never forget. His funeral was today, it was a very nice service. The church was packed; he had touched many lives. We love you Bronson!

We are having a BABY!

2009-02-05T20:19:00.000-08:00

It's a GIRL!!!!

Here is a picture of our little girl! We are 14 weeks along now. We went to Fetal Fotos tonight and had an ultrasound! My due date is August 2! So for those of you that have a hard time with ultrasound pictures her face is right below where it says face. Her arm is up by the face. She is almost upside down in the picture. The second picture is a picture of her little feet. I thought it was so cute!

I have been feeling pretty good for the most part! Morning sickness, has only been in the morning! I have been very grateful for this, since last time I threw up all the time. Since I have started my 2nd trimester I have felt so much better!

We are so excited!!!!

Family Home Evening Kits

2009-01-15T13:28:00.001-08:00

Since I work at a call center, I usually get pretty bored in between phone calls! I have started to color family home evening kits at work. I figure I have the time now, and might not when I have kids!
I found a website called http://hatchpatchcreations.com/ they have some great kits! These lessons have everything from the lesson/story, picutres, game, scripture, and a treat recipe! Check out the sample kit! I would like to put together a group! If anyone is interested in joining my group and placing some orders please let me know. We would get our kits for $3.00 a piece for the black and white ones, and $5.00 for the colored ones. They come on heavy card stock paper. I would be willing to color a few lessons for you too!

Christmas Shopping Procrastination!

2008-12-18T11:41:00.000-08:00

Here it is... 6 days before Christmas!!! This month has flown by for me! Normally, by this time I have all of my Christmas shopping done. Not this year though! I haven't even started! Not only haven't I started, but I don't have any idea what I am going to buy for anyone on my list. I thought my tree was looking so pathetic without any presents, I actually wrapped empty boxes to put under it!
Adam and I decided today would work best for us to go out shopping, however, now that we are in a blizzard....I should have just bought everything online last week when I was sick! What was I thinking?

Sick!

2008-12-11T07:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I woke up with a terrible cold! I thought I might have strep because the girl I sit next to at work came last week when she had step! I went to InstaCare last night to get tested...luckily it came back negative! But, the Dr did say that this cold will probably last about 10 days! I didn't get much sleep last night because I didn't feel good plus I kept having nightmares every time I closed my eyes! Now, I am trying to get someone to cover 15 minutes for me at work today....but no one will pick up! I am bummed! Sorry to vent...but I needed to!

On a brighter note....today is the last day of school! :)

UPDATE: As soon as I posted this, I checked my work email and workforce gave me all the time off today that I needed because we were so slow! Yeah! Now, I am not so mad, and maybe I can get some sleep!

Finally an Update

2008-11-09T21:49:00.000-08:00

Okay, so it has been a while since I have updated this so I decided I better give an update. We have been extremely busy! On November 1 we hosted the Willard Family 2nd annual cousin date night! All the cousins on my mom's side of the family who is over the age of 16 is invited to bring a date and we have a very large group date! It is a lot of fun! We do a murder mystery dinner party around Halloween time! This year we did a pirate murder. I wish I had pictures to post, but unfortunately my digital camera broke (yes Adam this is a hint for Christmas.)! Everyone's costumes were great. In the end we concluded that Troy was the vicious murderer!

On November 4th was my parents 25th anniversary. My sister Marci and I spent hours piecing a quilt together for their gift. Of course we had more help than just the 2 of us! Adam, Clint, Troy, Grandma and Grandpa Willard and even Kyle who is up at USU all helped. We did a picture quilt! We didn't have a clue what we were doing, but in the end it turned out very well. We are very happy with the away it turned out. I will have to borrow Marci's camera to take a picture of it and post it (Yes Adam, another hint)! While Kyle was in town for the murder mystery party, we had another party for my parents anniversary. We just did breakfast on Sunday morning before church, but it was really nice for everyone to get together to celebrate their anniversary. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Other than parties I have been so busy with school! It is getting towards the end of the semester and I can't wait for this semester to be over! I have my final projects coming due soon, so I am swamped with those.....so maybe you will get another update in December when finals are over :)

Hubby Tag

2008-10-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

Thanks Shelese for my first tag :) Here it goes!

1. Where did you meet? At Riverton High School in our debate class
2. How long did you date before you got married? 5 years
3. How long have you been married? 2 1/2 years
4. What does he do that surprises you? Sometimes he eats the weirdest foods!
5. What is your favorite feature of his? His big brown eyes that sometimes turn green depending on what he is wearing.
6. What is your favorite quality of his? He has a great work ethic. He works very hard to support us and he does a great job at it!
7. Does he have a nickname for you? Rach or Rachie
8. What is his favorite color? Blue
9. What is his favorite food? Pizza, it my favorite food too and we eat a lot of it!
10. What is his favorite sport? Golf
11. When and where was your first kiss? When I was a sophomore at his house
12. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Laugh!
13. Do you have any children? Nope
14. Does he have a hidden talent? He paints my nails! And he does a REALLY good job at it! His speciality is the french manicure.
15. How old is he? 24...TODAY! Happy Birthday Sweetie!
16. Who said "I love you" first? He did
17. What is his favorite type of music? Whatever My 99.5 plays
18. What do you admire most about him? His willingness to do whatever needs to be done
19. Do you think he will read this? Yes

I tag Katie and Holly

Birth Control

2008-10-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

I would like to thank Christy and Mark for their great post....but I think we have gotcha beat! After Jim showed up we imediately went out and bought birth control! The world isn't ready of Jim! I pray this site is way wrong! :)

Salsa!

2008-10-08T18:32:00.000-07:00

My mom and I decided to can some salsa this year. This was my first time ever doing it and it turned out great! We didn't start until about 8:00 on Monday night but it was all done by 2:30 AM! I went home at 1:00, but my mom stayed up and finished it. She is so sweet! The good news is it is all done and ready to eat and tastes delicious! Ymmm!

Welcome Blogging World!

2008-10-06T12:36:00.001-07:00

So....I have finally decided to actually start blogging. I don't know how good I will be at it, but I am going to try.
I recently started working at 1-800-CONTACTS again answering phones. Life has been crazy every since between working at our office, 1-800-CONTACTS and going to school. I have decided that I must really enjoy being crazy busy because I keep adding more to my plate! :)