With the Good Comes the Bad...

We'll start with the bad. Poor Richard is having massive complications from his recent vasectomy. Not good, not good at all. He will most likely have to surgery to hopefully correct all the problems and pain he is experiencing (though that is not guaranteed!). He is not able to work much, if at all, so it is a stressful time for us right now. If any men out there are planning a vasectomy, I suggest you do a little research on possible complications as we did not know that this was even possible. It doesn't happen to everyone, but if you are the unlucky minority...it STINKS!!!

Now to the good. There is a lot of good lately too! First and foremost, are you ready for this...I made a really good friend! I am so excited! We are having tons of fun and I am actually getting out of the house either with the kids or just us girls. Awesome! Maybe this was the reason we felt impressed to stay in the ward. Richard thinks I am such a dork because I am so excited about this new development, and maybe I am, but it really has made life a whole lot more fun for me and it's been great for Dakota too since her daughter is the same age. Good times!

Another fun thing...our little Coopy-man is starting to walk! So cute! He is doing it more and more and is improving rapidly. We also finally got his hair cut again so he looks like a total little stud. He is such a love bug and I enjoy my little man so very much!!!

He got a balloon during his haircutting expedition! He is so good and actually likes the clippers :)

Bath time!

Taylor is doing GREAT in school! She absolutely love it! Her teacher is fabulous and she is learning so fast. Her reading skills are amazing, she is one smart cookie! I actually have been able to help out in her class this year. I am the book chain mom. The kids pick out a book on Monday, practice reading it at home all week long. On Friday they bring their book and read it out loud to me. We make a little chain link with their name on it and they also get a treat. With each kid, the chain gets longer and longer and by the end of the year, it should zigzag across the whole classroom. Very exciting stuff! She also started cheer leading which is just plain adorable!

Dakota has been a bit coo coo again. Very frenzied and throwing the kind of tantrums where she acts as if she is trying to crawl out of her skin. We try to remain patient...some days are better than others. She is such a cutie though. So full of personality and silly as can be. As exhausting as she can be sometimes, I love my little Koko-loco and couldn't imagine life without her. Hopefully, with time, she will begin to work on her impulses and get some more control. Poor little thing! She had decided to be done with naps, but ends up falling asleep at some point in the day.

Sleeping Beauty

Just a couple of pictures for your viewing pleasure...

Taylor is so good with her little bro. He is so heavy, I think his internal organs are made of lead, yet Tay still tries to carry him around. We'll see how much longer she can do this as he seems to get heavier every day!

I always check on the kiddos before I go to bed at night. I always go in Koty's room first. As I began my rounds, something was missing...Dakota! She was not in her bed or on the floor anywhere. After a bit of searching, I finally found her...in Taylor's bed. She is so sneaky, Taylor didn't even know she was there. So cute, they definitely look like sisters when they sleep. I love these girls!

Never a dull moment...

Dakota, Cooper, and I had a great playdate this morning with our new friends. When we got home, I put Cooper to bed and Koty was sitting on the couch. All of a sudden, Dakota started screaming and freaking out. I was having a very difficult time figuring out what the heck was wrong with her. She kept sticking her finger up her nostril and saying, "It's bweeding, it's bweeding!" Then she said, "There's a bee up my nose, I put a bee up my nose!" It didn't make any sense at all. I thought maybe a fly had landed on her nose and that she thought it flew up there. Then I thought that maybe she stuck a dead bug, that she could have happened upon, up her nose. Regardless, she was screaming and something was up her nose. I tried to get her to blow, but all she did was inhale. I didn't want whatever it was to get lodged up there further, so we stopped that and headed to Urgent Care.

She had calmed down significantly, so I wondered if whatever it was had gone away. Then I pushed on the side of the bridge of her nose and she freaked out again. While waiting for our turn, it occurred to me that she wasn't saying, "bee," she was saying, "bead." Then it all made sense. She had found a bead in the car that she and Taylor had been playing with the other day. When we got home from our playdate, she picked it up and brought it in the house. While I was putting Coop to bed and filling Richard in on my fun morning, I totally forgot that she was playing with that bead.

We got in to see the doctor and he shined a light up her nostril and something was sparkling up there. He asked Dakota what color the bead was and she told him that it was purple. She did not want him sticking tweezers up there and would not hold still for the doctor. He went and got another nurse to assist in holding her down and once we had her pinned, he was able to get it out in a jiffy! We were all surprised to see that it was indeed a purple bead! :) Dakota was thrilled to have it out of her nose and thanked the doctor over and over again. As we were walking out together, she again said, "Thank you, Doctor, for getting that bead out of my nose!" As we were driving home, Dakota suddenly started sniffing and breathing in and out her nose really fast. She exclaimed, "Hey! I can smell again!" She also made up a song that included the fast nasal breathing and the lyrics, "thank you doctor...sniff sniff sniff...thank you doctor...sniff sniff sniff!" She is such a cute little trouble maker!

(the dime is for size reference, fortunately that was not stuck up her nose too!)

Exhibit A:

Taylor's First Day of First Grade!

Monday was Taylor's first day at school.  She absolutely LOVES it!  She has a fabulous teacher and I think it is going to be a really fun year for Taylor.  She is excited to go to school every morning and is happy as a clam when she gets home in the afternoon.  She is getting way too big way too fast!!!  Wasn't she just born?

Sporting her carefully picked out hairdo and outfit.

"Are you guys ever going to leave?"

Ready to learn...I think Koty had to go potty ;)

Koty's reaction to the first day of school...she misses her playmate.

I don't think Dakota retained the whole concept of 'DON'T PUT THINGS IN YOUR MOUTH THAT YOU FIND OUTSIDE!!!'  At least this is only chalk.  Oh child of mine, you are something else!

Wash it down with a tall glass of...liquid wrench?!!!

Dakota's done it again!  We were at Gene/Millie's yesterday and the kids were playing outside.  Dakota came in with a look of panic on her face.  I assumed she just really had to go to the bathroom until she said, "I just swallowed something."  She was talking weird and coughing strangely and her breath REEKED of gasoline!  I freaked out, Rich ran outside and grabbed the bottle, and we drove to the ER in a flurry (I didn't even have shoes on!)!  Liquid Wrench is designed to loosen corroded metal or metal parts that are stuck together.  We got into the ER, they called poison control.  They wanted to do a chest Xray and observe her for 6 hours.  She also had to stay in an upright position.  By the way, this all went down at about 6pm.  The following day was supposed to be Taylor's first day of school.  Dakota and I hunkered down in her room and enjoyed a Scooby Doo marathon.  She was under the care of an excellent nurse who kept her entertained as well.  

Richard headed back to his parent's house to get Cooper and Taylor situated for the night.  Dakota was doing so well and her chest Xray was clear so they sent her home after about 3 and a half hours.  It was around 10:30pm, we decided to throw the kids in the car and head for home so that Tay could attend her first day of school.  We got home at about 12:30am.  Dakota woke up and said, "I'm going to be sick, I'm going to be sick!!!"  I ran her into the bathroom and she threw up (the smell of gasoline filled the bathroom).  We followed up with her pediatrician today and Koty received a clean bill of health.  Thank goodness!  I am so grateful that she is okay, it could have been REALLY bad.  Oh Dakota!!!

Birthday Boy

I'm such a bad mama, I didn't do a post for Cooper's birthday!  

(Pretend it's August 4th ;))

I can't believe that my little man is a year old already.  Time sure goes faster with each kid.  Cooper has been an absolute joy.  The world's best son.  He is so sweet, easy going, and quick to smile.  He is affectionate and his giggles melt my heart.  I have enjoyed my little fella so much and can't wait to see the man that he grows into.  Oh yes, and don't forget his dashing good looks, the kid is so stinkin' cute that I have to restrain myself so I don't gobble him up!  Happy Birthday Cooper!  :)

I cannot believe that July is over!  Time is flying...especially when I realize that my little Cooper-man is going to be 1 whole year old on the 4th!!!  That seems unreal.  He is such a good dude and has just been a real pleasure to have in our family.  I definitely love my boy.

I started taking the dog for a walk about 2 weeks ago when the kids would go to bed.  I had to squeeze it in before Richard would leave for work.  I decided that I would attempt running as well.  I could go for about 10 seconds at a time before I felt like I could die.  Well, my endurance began to increase and the dog's began to decrease.  She is incredibly lazy and did NOT want to run with me and would make things very difficult so I would know that she was displeased.  She made me so crazy one evening, that I took her home and continued the walk/run on my own.  I continued going by myself and continued to push myself a little more.  Over the next few nights, I got up to running 3 minutes straight, then 6 minutes and then a whole mile.  My route is a tiny bit over 2 miles, so the other day I jogged the mile, walked a bit, and then jogged the rest.  I was telling Richard about my progress and he said that he bet I could do the whole thing without stopping.  The next night I tried it and...I did it!!!  I was soooo proud of my accomplishment as I have never considered myself to be a runner or to be someone with much physical endurance in that department.  I cannot believe how much of it is in your head.  If you keep yourself going mentally, the physical submits.  I am totally pumped, especially as I am seeing my body become stronger and looking like I want it to look again.  It is also nice to have the time to myself, doing something only for me...very refreshing :)

Here are a few pictures from lately...  

Now I see why I can never keep this sliding door clean!

Crazy teeth!

More teeth...Cooper's top 2 finally came in and they are adorable.

I Think We Are Experiencing a Miracle Here :)

I cannot truly describe how hard it has been trying to figure out what to do with my Dakota and her out of control, frenzied, wild behavior.  It has been constantly on my mind as I am constantly dealing with the bazillion issues that have come up every day for a long time.  She is the most beautiful and sweet (on her terms) little girl but her behavior has been down right frustrating.  I have had people tell me not to worry because she will grow out of it, or that I am looking too hard at things because she is just a normal busy 2 year old.  To those, I must say, that is wrong.  It goes beyond 'normal' 2 year old behavior.  We have been prisoners in our home for a long time because taking her places has been ridiculous.  Church is just a joke and I have felt so bad for the poor nursery leaders who have been so patient but have to put up with so much.  If she is around other small kids (and some of the more passive big ones) she is constantly showing aggression and acts totally mean.  I deal with countless tantrums on a daily...make that hourly basis.  It has seemed like she feels uncomfortable in her own skin, especially when she would get upset.  All in all, my precious child has been acting miserable and out of control for a long time and I have had no clue how to help her or make it all better for her.  

Obviously, this has been the focus of much thought and prayer.  I just constantly wrack my brain trying to figure out what the heck is going on.  So yesterday I was taking a shower and the thought came to me that a big part of Koty's problem could be her diet.  We know she has a 'lactose sensitivity' (if you would like to catch up on that saga, you can read back on my xanga) so maybe all dairy in any form is affecting her.  I also thought that gluten could be a problem because I had heard something about that affecting autistic kids (which Dakota is not, but she still has massive behavioral issues).  So Richard when online and looked up "special diet wild child" and found a plethora of info on casein (milk proteins) free and gluten (wheat proteins) free diets and the amazing affects that it has had on autistic, ADHD, and other problem children.  Well, what did we have to lose?  It definitely couldn't hurt anything.  Dakota has always bloated after eating, has had sleeping issues, doody issues, anxiety issues, aggression issues...the list goes on and on and on.  

For lunch that day I omitted all dairy and gluten filled foods (which by the way is EVERYTHING).  After doing some research and actually reading the ingredient labels on the food we eat, I was/am disgusted by the lack of real food in our "food."  I went shopping and have to continue shopping to figure out this new way of eating.  Basically eating the way our bodies were originally intended to.  I am telling you that Dakota woke up today a different kid.  She slept through the night for the first time in eons.  She would get upset at things, as any normal 2 year old would, but would never get into the crazy anxiety ridden out of control frenzy that would normally ensue.  She and Taylor were actually able to play for quite a while.  She listened to us and followed directions, she was more affectionate.  She went down for her nap and bedtime with hardly a peep.  Her whole vibe changed.  She is peaceful now.  All this change and only 24 hours off of the bad foods.  I have hope for the first time in a long time.  I am so happy for my little girl who has been so miserable for a very long time.  I cannot truly describe or paint a true picture of the change because I don't think people can really understand the struggles that we have been living with unless you experience it all day everyday.  I am in shock and totally amazed and can't believe it.  I am now even more motivated to really research and get my cupboards stocked with all good natural gluten/casein free foods.  Surprisingly, the food is really good.  Richard and I are enjoying eating this way too, Taylor (the pickiest eater on the planet) is still unsure about it all, but she does try. 

So to make an incredibly long post a little shorter, there is hope and Koty is happy and I am GRATEFUL.  What more could I ask for. 

On a completely different note.  The Coopy-man was playing outside with the hose faucet.  A bit of water sprays out the side when it's attached to the hose and he thought it was great fun.

Chillin'

I LOVE this face

Chewing on the handle

Drinking the water off the patio...yum

He liked squatting down so it would spray his face

He's such a fun boy :)