Motherly woes...

Wesley has been sick for two days now, poor guy. Baby puke is not only disgusting, but oh so sad. They just have no concept of what is going on with their little bodies. Even worse for a family with an EE child is the worry that every time a child pukes (even if it is not the one diagnosed with EE) they might be reacting to something. At one of the conferences I attended it was said that 60% of EE patients are boys, only 30% girls. How does that statistic work out for my family? I will soon have 4 boys so it stands to reason half (or more) of them will end up having EE. Once the retching or diarrhea begins I immediately run a mental list of what was eaten recently. I tell myself I am silly; kids just get sick sometimes. Then my mom called and when she heard Wesley was sick she asked if he might be reacting to something he ate.

This just confirms I am not the only one that fears more of my boys will end up having EE, since it is not always triggered in infancy. Some people don't have any symptoms until they are teens or adults. When Jaxon was diagnosed at 7 months another mother at church had a 16 year old son who was diagnosed. I counted myself lucky at the time since I could control what my baby ate, which is not so easy with a 16 year old I am sure!

Isn't the "what if" game wonderful? Now that I have vented a little I feel much better and I am sure after a long nap Wesley will wake feeling at least a little better too.

We made it!

Johnny's youngest brother Ben was married on Saturday to a beautiful girl named Stephanie in the Mesa, AZ temple. Due to work schedules we paid almost $500 for Johnny to fly out Saturday morning and return Sunday night. Too bad for me it would have cost almost $2k to fly all of us which left me prego driving from Fresno, CA to Mesa with the 3 boys by myself. I was able to break up the trip by stopping at my parent's house both ways, but it was still over 800 miles and 24 hours of driving in 5 days, one of which was the wedding. I now can tell you some fun facts about myself and my boys.

1. Jaxon has the smallest bladder of any child on the face of the earth.

2. Daniel thinks my underwear are "HUGE." He made sure to tell me at the top of his lungs in an extremely full rest stop bathroom. I of course defended myself by assuring him it was because they had to fit over the baby in my tummy.

3. My boys will never tire of watching Scooby Doo or Mater's Tall Tales.

4. If I accidentally let the "D" word slip under my breath in a moment of complete frustration when the top button came off my son's shirt right before an important family picture it WILL be repeated.

5. Pregnant lady feet and ankles swell at an incredible rate when driving for long periods of time.

Being there for the wedding was totally worth the trip. Ben was so nervous he was trembling. It was cute. Johnny and I think the world of Ben and we plan on naming our 4th son after him.

Of course I am a dork and never thought to take my own couple picture of the happy couple, but I did get some cute ones of my boys at the reception. The decorations were brown and blue in a shabby chic style. It was gorgeous.

The whole wedding day was amazing, but the trip was totally and completely exhausting. We are glad to be back home.

Fresno - we finally made it!

We were a little delayed coming to Fresno, but we finally made it up here on Thursday. Johnny was supposed to go to work last week, which he did, but then he didn't came home. I was stranded in Ontario while Johnny was taken (on his very first day back to work) all over northern CA with a storm work crew. They were gone for a week working 24/7 in a few feet of snow and sometimes sleeping in the truck on the side of the road. My parents of course were called and came to our rescue. They moved us from Ontario to Hemet then up to Fresno to meet Johnny when he got back. We are settled in an older mobile home park near the railroad tracks that is basically on the edge of the Ghetto. After moving in we immediately went looking for another place, then realized this was the best it was going to get without moving much farther from Johnny's work. Luckily we are also on the edge of a very nice part of Fresno. Shopping is close, the temple is in the same parking lot as our church building, parks and water pads are close, the boys are starting preschool this week, and t-ball in April. So far so good. Tomorrow we explore!

Not a REAL tree!

The following is a pure example of the difference between raising boys and girls.

This weekend at my parent's house I told Daniel and Jaxon to go get in the shower. A moment later I went in the bathroom to make sure my instructions were followed only to see a pile of dirty clothes, but no naked boys. I of course started looking for them when I hear Daniel say "do it Jaxon, do it." A naked Daniel ran out and told me Jaxon had peed in the fake tree behind the living room chair only to be followed by an equally naked Jaxon feigning innocence.

Of course they both were in trouble Jaxon for peeing on the plastic tree and Daniel for telling him to do it. I'll admit it was not funny at the time, but I could not stop laughing about it later when I tried to ask my parents how they would like me to go about cleaning pee out of the moss at the bottom of a fake tree. Suggestions?

Reassigned

We have officially been assigned to a job in Fresno, CA. Johnny reports tomorrow then we will move our trailer and the rest of us up there this weekend. Yeah for finally having some direction! I am a little sad the extended vacation is over, but very glad to know we will be having regular pay checks again. I have never lived anywhere near Fresno, which happens to be the 5th largest city in CA. I don't know what to expect, but that is all part of this adventure.

Trouble

I think I am going to officially change Wesley's name to Trouble. Daniel was a climber, but Wesley is taking climbing to a new extreme. The other night when my parent's were watching the boys they turned around to find him on top of the kitchen counter playing with the phone. Yesterday after church we turned around to find him like this:

He of course was so proud of himself. He can climb up to the top step of the bunk ladders now. Even more amazing, he can get down by himself, too. Luckily he has not figured out how to get from the ladder to the top of the bunk bed, but I am sure it won't be long. Too bad he is so stinkin' cute; I can't even be frustrated.

Mountain of Oranges

Johnny has found a new fetish to occupy some of his time. He likes to take the boys on walks or bike rides and give me time to make dinner or clean. It is a great arrangement for all of us and of course the boys love going. Johnny even rigs the wagon so he can pull Wesley in it while riding his bike.

I started noticing that we have been eating tons of oranges that I have not been buying. Not just regular oranges. These are some of the best you have ever had in your life! I didn't know where they were coming from, but without fail at every meal there were orange slices. Oranges for snacks, orange juice in the morning, and Johnny has been having a grapefruit every night before bed. Where could they possibly be coming from? When we went to Arizona we juiced two huge pitchers full of orange juice at his mom's house and I thought that was the end of it. I checked everywhere I could think and confirmed there were no more oranges, but the flow never ended.

Today I changed the sheets on Daniel's bed and was almost berried in a falling mountain of oranges! Apparently when they go on their walks and bike rides they pass many citrus trees in the mobile home park. Johnny was given permission to take as many as he wants and he is bound and determined to make the owners regret giving their blessing. There was a huge basket of oranges on Daniel's bed that I had believed to be Daniel's secret stash of toys he does not want his brothers to touch. Oh no, it is all oranges and grapefruit. The basket is constantly replenished!

Now all I need is to invest in a juicer!