Family Pictures

So I love family pictures!!! I love how they turn out... it shows the "true" side of the family! :) Although I would love to have the perfect picture of all of us at the same time I understand that after a few minutes my kids have had it and I am just happy to get them all to hold still for 30 seconds to snap a picture!!

We have been having a grand summer! Kirt started a new job with American Family Insurance, that keeps him busy. We have managed to go camping, see lots of parades and firework shows, and just have fun being together! The girls played softball and loved it! It was so much fun watching them play!! I love my family and all the fun things they do! Wish the fun would never end...

Picture overload!

So here are some random pictures that I came across and thought were fun!

My Naters!! Oh how I love to squish this sweet little chunky boy!!

My sweet little Shaylee!! Love her smile!

Kaitlyn and Mom on Kait's 8th Birthday!

Dad on the hike!! He got extra exercise!!

My cute adventure full Kaitlyn!

The "usual" Jake picture... eyes shut, pulling a wierd face!

My absolute, very very favorite picture of Jake! Love those eyes!

The girls at swimming lessons

The Family at Kirt's sisters wedding

Kirt and Nate up camping last summer

Poor Little Jake...

So I have not updated this forever... but things have been a little more than crazy at our house. (If you want to hear the details feel free to keep reading. I totally won't feel bad if you stop cause it could be somewhat long and descriptive..) To start off the year Jake got a horrible case of diarrhea. In the beginning I thought he had caught a stomach flu bug and that was the cause but as the week continued the diarrhea turned mucousy which was not normal and he began to have horrible stomach cramps. It was a Saturday when the cramping got bad so I took him to the instacare in Logan and waited 2 1/2 hours for them to hand me a stool sample bottle and send me on my way... frustrating! So we headed home and 2 hours later he just started screaming because of the pain. Kirt's dad came over and they gave him a blessing. Right after the blessing I changed his diaper and it was bloody. So we rushed him to the ER. They did tests, put in an IV and couldn't find anything wrong. This poor little guy was in so much pain that 2 doses of lortab in an hour did not even touch him. As time is going bye the pain is getting worse and the bloody stools are getting worse. The staff in the ER gave us a few options of what we could do.. #1- admit him for pain control and wait for the stool studies to come back (which is a 4 day period). #2- Send him home and wait for the stool studies to come back. or #3-We could transfer him down to Primary Childrens and see if they could figure out anything more (which they said they probably wouldn't do much more then had already been done in this ER). Kirt and I felt so distraught and new that something more needed to happen. So we told them to send us to Primary Childrens. As I look back I am so grateful that the ER gave him the lortab cause it helped sleep the whole way down to Salt Lake. So we arrived at Primary's and an hour after we got there he prolapsed his intestines (which means his intestines came out his poor little bum). I keep thinking that if we would have taken him home and that happened I would have totally wigged. So after they pushed those back in they took him back to radiology and found that he had an Intussusception (which is when your small intestine telescopes back into the large intestine. They are figuring that with all the diarrhea he had his intestines didn't have anything else to send through and out so it started sending itself.. Isn't that lovely)! They were able to amazingly fix it with an air contrast enema (which is where they put a little tube up is bum and blow air and it pushes the intestine out and back into place.. absolutely amazing to watch). After this was done they admitted him for 3 days to keep and eye on him and make sure it didn't relapse. So right after they admitted him one of his stool studies came back showing he has C Diff (which is a bacterial infection in his intestines which caused the diarrhea in the first place). So we came home on some strong antibiotics and after those where done his C Diff was still there. So then they put him on a stronger medication for 20 days and 2 days after being off of that the diarrhea was back and he once again tested positive for C Diff. So on Monday they put him on something else and on Friday he spiked a high fever and was once again having stomach pain and cramping. We got him to his DR. and they did some testing and a CT scan that showed his colon was very enlarged. They told us that when you have C Diff for so long it can cause what is called Toxic Megacolon (which is where your colon will burst)! So they sent him by ambulance on Friday back down to Primary Children's because they didn't want him there when/if it happened. So we where on complete edge. Once he got down there they admitted him and wanted to keep an eye on him and see what played out. The poor guy kept spiking fevers between 103 and 104 and just seemed to be getting worse. Saturday afternoon we had a lady in our ward call and ask if they could do a ward fast for him on Sunday. Kirt and I were so overwhelmed with people's thoughtfulness and willingness to do this for him. Later that day the wonderful grandparents brought the kids down to see him and when they came his mood totally changed. He was so happy and excited to see his brother and sisters. He then wanted to eat (which he hadn't for 3 days) and started getting down and playing. We even had an episode of jumping on the bed! The Dr. came in and was amazed at the complete turn around that he had done in such little time. He said he had consulted with other dr.s and radiologist and they felt that he did not have the Toxic Megacolon and had probably picked up a virus that was in there fighting with the bacterial infection and just giving him heck! So they sent him home late Saturday night and we got home at about 12:30 Sunday morning. Ever since we have been home he has continued to do much better. He still runs fevers here and there, and we are still fighting the C Diff, but collectively he is doing so much better. We hope and pray that this round of antibiotics he is on will be the last and we won't have to worry about the C Diff again and have our happy and healthy little 3 year old back!
Kirt and I are so grateful for everyone who has kept him in their prayers and fasted for him. I am so thankful for wonderful priesthood blessings, promptings from the spirit and the gospel in my life to help us through such hard times. I don't know if my sweet boy would even be here if it weren't for the spiritual direction we have recieved. Our family, friends, and ward are the best ever and I don't know how I can thank my Heavenly Father, Savior, and the people we love enough for all they have done and still do for us and little Jake. How truly blessed we are. And with all the prayers, fasting, and blessings I know Jake will be completely healthy soon.. he is well on his way! So there is the long of it..