2 Years Ago

Two years ago Sam's best friend from High School, Brett Petersen, passed away. We took flowers to his grave tonight.



Here is my original post about his passing.

Torti-Therapy

Cameron had his first Physical Therapy session this afternoon for his torticollis. It was a great experience! The therapist took her time and made sure we understood all the exercises before sending us on our merry way. We go back 4 more times which takes us into September. After we're done with the PT then he'll get a helmet.

Basically Cameron needs to stretch his muscles in his neck that help him look to the left. Like this:


He also needs to stretch his muscles that make his head "cock" to the right. Imagine looking straight ahead...now move your right ear towards your right shoulder while still looking straight ahead.

Cameron's neck muscles don't allow those two motions very well. We have to do exercises to lengthen and strengthen those muscles 2 times per day, 3 reps each time, holding the position for 30 seconds with each rep. Piece of cake! Sam and I worked with Cameron tonight before bedtime and he didn't fuss at all with the stretches. What a good little patient!

Here's another fun picture. I think he's saying "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and gosh darnit, people like me!":


His head was measured from his flat spot to the bulge on the right side of his forehead. It measured 11mm. "normal" heads are 4mm and under. So his helmet was confirmed with that measurement.

By the way, I asked the therapist what her take was on the Bumbo chairs....she said they are great for babies until they are 6 months old. After 6 months you shouldn't use them because babies should start trying to sit up on their own. Also, the Bumbo chairs curve your back and sitting on your own teaches you to have a straight back. So there you have it, professional advice...free to you all! Go ahead and use those Bumbo's until your kiddos are 6 months old!

Having said that, I have a Bumbo chair and Cameron will only be using it for 1 1/2 more months. If anyone would like to borrow it, just let me know!

Now for a Parker story:
A few days ago Parker came up to me and said "Hey mom, girls don't have "pee pee's" do they?" I said "no". So Parker said "Well, do they just go to the bathroom out of their bum?" I said "kind of...." and I quickly changed the subject just because I'm like that. Well, Parker was over at my friend's house today. He walked up to my friend and said "Jene', girls only poop because they don't have pee pee's".
Isn't that just like Parker to put two-and-two together like that?? He figured that since girls don't have all the same parts, then they must only be able to go #2! Gotta love that kid!

My Mom Is Too Shy

I talked to my mom tonight and she refused to post these pictures on her blog so I guess I get to do the dirty work. I PROMISE this is a rock that nature made and as far as I'm concerned, nature intended for my mom to find it! You have to know that my mom is very proper so it was a funny turn of events when she picked up the rock because the conversation went something like this: "oooh, this is an interesting rock (she bends over, picks it up) *gasp*...Oh MY!" HA HA HA HA!



Here are some close up shots:



Like I said in my previous post: Nature must have a great sense of humor!

Pioneer Day Twenty Oh Eight

If you live in Utah you generally get July 24th off work to celebrate Pioneer Day. We started the day off kind of sketchy...no real plans. Nothing makes me into a cranky carrie like people sittin' around going "what do you wanna do? I don't know, what do you wanna do?...". After I got kind of short on patience we finally had some plans!

We drove up the canyon and went to a place called Hidden Falls. It was really fun.
The kids had a blast walking around in the stream and Cameron loved being on his daddy's back!


My guys!


Cameron couldn't handle all the excitement, he was asleep within 5 minutes of being packed around...


See the falls behind us?


I can see the writing on the wall, what do you think happens next?


Yep, he turns into an Egyptian....a soaking wet Egyptian...


After the falls we drove up Guardsman Pass and freaked out a little because everybody stood too close to the edge. You seriously feel like you are on top of the world!


We then drove into Park City, to the City Park, and ate lunch. We kicked around the soccer ball and played frisbee. Here's a cute pic of Cameron and his Grandma! Awww, precious!


On a last minute whim, we went up to the Olympic Park and watched the skiiers go off the ski jumps into the pool below. I think Parker was the most impressed. He would yell and scream each time another person landed in the pool. He also yelled and screamed when he tried climbing a rock retaining wall and scraped his shin....but those were of the painful variety of screams.



We got home, rested a bit, and went to the neighbor's house to light fireworks. Cameron was so embarrassed to be seen with us...


He did really good with fireworks, no cries at all! Carson and Parker used to SCREAM in fear when they were Cameron's age and would hear fireworks...here's hoping Cameron isn't deaf.




It ended up being a great day, not bad for having zero plans when we woke up! My mom found the most amazing rock when we were at Hidden Falls. I'll make sure she puts a picture of it on her blog. Let's just say nature MUST have a sense of humor! Stay tuned for THAT!

Thanks Cameron, My Vocab Is Getting Larger!

We went to Primary Childrens Hospital this morning and met with a doctor who specializes in young children's head deformities, their causes, and their treatments.

I must say, he talked so dang fast that he would put both Nalani and I to SHAME...and that's if we combined our speed, slang, and attitude! It was awesome!

Here's the diagnostic outcome:
Cameron has two issues...1-he has torticollis. 2-he has plagiocephaly because of the torticollis.

What does this mean?

Basically, the doctor thinks Cameron's head was kind of kinked to one side in the womb. Because of this, one side of his neck has a shorter muscle than the other side of his neck. I always could tell that Cameron turned to the right more than left, but if I say his name from his left side, he didn't seem to have a problem looking left...

I felt really bad when the doctor forcibly turned his neck from left to right because Cameron SCREAMED bloody murder and I could see the little tendons bulging up from his neck due to the strain.

So, because of the torticollis, he always sleeps in a certain position, even if we prop him otherwise, and that has caused the bizarre shift in his head, which is the plagiocephaly.

For the next 6 weeks we need to get him into a physical therapist who will work on his neck to lengthen the muscles and even them out. Once that problem is resolved, then Cameron will get a helmet. The longest he'll need a helmet is 3-4 months. The helmet will correct the shape of his head and realign his ears and get rid of the bulge on the right side of his forehead.

I specifically asked the doctor if everything will be totally normal at the end of this potential 5 month period and he said I will not be able to tell that he ever had a problem once we are through.

So to that, I say "IT'S ALL GOOD!"

When This House Is A Rockin'...

So we had a ridiculous storm come blazing through West Jordan today. I took a ton of video so here's a sample. Sorry about the retarded commentary...I realize that while I'm taking a video I can't logically talk at the same time. Sorta like chewing gum and walking. Anyway, it was a normal sunny day when I heard some distant thunder. I looked outside and saw these crazy gray clouds heading my way. Within about 5 minutes it started to rain huge drops and then the heavens opened and down came rain and hail for about 1/2 hour. I swear we got about 3 inches of rain in that time period. Truth be told, I loved every second of it! Unfortunately my kids were playing at a neighbor's house at the time so I didn't have anybody to enjoy it with. I kept calling Sam at work and bugging him until I think he was ready to find a friend for me. :) Other items "in the news" We bought Cameron a bumbo chair and he loves it! I wish I would have had one of these for my other kids. It's so nice for Cameron to sit in it and play with toys. Plus, I'm trying to keep him off his head so this is extremely handy. So handsome! On Monday we had a dinner at the park with the bishopric and their families. It was really fun. Sam put together a FHE lesson about Pioneers. He talked about what a pioneer was and had the kids sing a pioneer song. Then, he had filled a huge container full of random odds and ends. All the kids had to separate it into 2 piles: one pile was stuff the Pioneers probably brought with them across the plains (food, shelter, clothing, blankets, pans, tools, rope, scriptures, journal...) and the other pile was for stuff they wouldn't bring (hair dryer, Ipod, robotic dinosaur...). It was a hoot watching the kids figure it out. Sam always comes up with entertaining lessons, I love it! This morning my friend Natalie cut my boys' hair. All three kids were looking somewhat shaggy in the hair department. Before: After (smart alecks!): And just for fun, here's a few more shots of that crazy storm today! Tomorrow morning we have Cameron's doctor appointment that should determine how to treat his shifty head. Stay tuned for that....

Something Old, Something New, Parker With His Pants Off Too

So the other day the kids were playing in the back yard. Carson comes running in the house and said "Parker threw his pants over the fence!". Luckily Sam was home so I put my fingers in my ears, hummed a song off-tune, and pretended I didn't hear anything.

Apparently Parker's shorts are a bit big so his pants fall down easily. Carson (not one to pass by an opportunity like that) kept 'pantsing' him. So I'm sure Parker got mad (shocker) and threw his pants over the fence into the neighbor's yard. While he was hanging out in his underwear, he noticed that our other neighbor's were in their backyard. I don't know what caused him to think this was okay, but he "mooned" them, and according to our neighbor it wasn't the backside he mooned them with....so I guess he "sunshined" them. Sam went outside to take care of the situation. Parker was unsuccessfully trying to hide behind the basketball stand:


Parker's face was still dirty from dinner so Sam said to Parker, "let's wash your face". Sam grabbed the hose and sprayed a steady stream, directly into Parker's face. While Parker screamed, Sam said "quit taking your pants off!".

Problem solved? I guess time will tell.

Back in May of 2005, Parker was almost one year old. We went to a Park in West Jordan. Parker loved the swing. See?


We went to that same park last night with our friends, the Sharpe's, and Parker still likes the swings. Well, at least I think he liked the swings...


It was fun getting together with old friends again. We were in the same ward with Jeremy and Marisa when we lived in the avenues. In fact, they lived in the house right next to our house. Good times!

Here's Marisa and myself with our newest additions. We look happy, the kids...not so much. Ashton is 2 months younger than Cameron.


Oh yeah, I got my hair colored. Don't I look 10 years younger? ha ha ha!


Here is Jeremy and Sam. Again, kids are not so sure what's going on.


And finally, Cameron fell asleep on Sam's shoulder. I don't have any words to express how weird I think his lips look here. He kind of reminds me of of Gumby. Does anyone even remember Gumby? Anyway, bizarre-o!

Dang Gina

I honestly don't think I've had two spare minutes to myself for the past few days and the rest of this week isn't looking to promising in the "relax" department...welcome to summer I suppose.

Here's a cute picture of Cameron. He was laying on Fern's lap. Fern said I'm supposed to explain that he looked so happy because he was with her. While I agree with this theory, I must point out something: Wasn't he looking at ME while I took the picture? Boo-Yah!


Our friends, Ryan and Natalie, are camping the entire week with Natalie's family. Of course when we found out about it, we rudely invited ourselves up for one evening, which happened to be tonight. We had a blast, Natalie's family is very tolerant of us and we always have fun with them. Natalie asked me to bring a salad to contribute towards dinner. Well, my last name is 'Sweet' so of course I did an unhealthy salad (oxymoron?), which is simple, yet divine!

First I cut up 3 Granny Smith apples.


Then I took 3 frozen King Size Snickers bars out of the freezer, put them in a ziploc bag, and used a hammer (and some pent up aggression) to smash the candy bar into little pieces. I added these to the apple pile.


And finally, I added a large container of Cool Whip and mixed everything up.


It seems bizarre and maybe kind of gross...but it's actually super good! See? Sam loves it so much he wants to marry it. Just try it and then you can judge it!!


Here's some fun pics from the evening in the canyon. OH yeah, Parker only got hurt about three times. Once when he banged his head on the side mirror of a truck, once when he fell over backwards on his camping chair, and another time when he tripped. Not too bad for him!





Two final thoughts:
I'm getting my hair colored on Thursday so we all don't have to look at my ugly gray hair for much longer. Phew! Let's all take a moment to thank Pat and Carl for passing along those genes from the dirty gene pool. :)

We had Cameron's 4 month appointment last week. He weighs 15 lbs 3 oz and is almost 25 inches long. His head is plain ol' goofy. We're going up to Primary Children's hospital on the 23rd to meet with a head specialist. He'll determine if Cameron's bone plates in his head fused too soon or if something else is going on...it will probably result in a helmet. I'm okay about it because I knew something would need to fix the off-center ears and bulge on his forehead. Luckily insurance has started paying for helmets! My pediatrician suggested we decorate the helmet like a hockey player and perhaps get Cameron a mouthpiece that looks like he's lost some teeth...not a half bad idea! I guess I'll just wait until the 23rd to find out what we're going to do for the little guy.

Whew, I smell like campfire so bad. I better go.

Memory Lane

Thanks for this idea Kimmy!

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Failed FHE Lesson

Last night I had a brilliant idea for FHE. Ever since Carson learned to ride his bike he has wanted to ride it from my house to my parents house, which is 3 miles away. Sam needed to help my dad build his deck so we dropped Sam off, picked up my mom, and came back home. Then Carson got on his bike for this adventure.

Here was my plan. Carson would ride his bike and I would follow along slowly in the van. Surely Carson couldn't ride the entire 3 mile trip since the only place he ever rides his bike is around and around the cul de sac next to my house!
I was going to let him get all worn out after about a mile and when he BEGGED me to stop, I would let him get in the van. Then we would talk about training and endurance.... you can't just wake up one day and run a marathon. You must train for it! Just like in the gospel, you can't just wake up one day at the age of 19 and say "I guess I'll go on a mission today.." You have to train for it by going to church, reading your scriptures, learning to pray, serving others........ It sounded brilliant in my mind!

So, here is Carson at my house:


Here he is along the way:








I couldn't believe he was still going! At this point, I thought "Phew, he is getting tired, my lesson will still work!"


Then all of a sudden he got a burst of energy and started double-timing it! Um, here he is... AT MY PARENTS HOUSE!


I'm sure I could have gotten creative and still tied this experience into the gospel, but I was too dumb-founded....I just told him how proud I was of him and left it at that! Happy FHE to all and to all a good night.