Oct 2009

My younger sister Traci, got married Oct 10, 2009 in Saint George Utah. We all took a trip to be there. This was the longest car trip that we had ever taken the kids on so far but we wouldnt miss it for anything. I was dreading the drive but we borrowed a portable DVD player from my father in-law and it was not bad at all. I was a Brides maid and Kaden and Gavin were Ring Bearers. When it came down to it I walked down the asile with two of the best looking boys there. Gavin held my had and Kaden got a little shy so i had to pick him up.

This was a great time. The boys had a good time and i also got to see two very special people that have helped make me who i am today. Jeanne Merritt and Karen Starks who were Young Womens Leaders of mine and i cherish so dearly. I love and miss them so much.


Congratulations and Best Wishes Traci and Dan Valadez!

Let The Potty Training Begin

Gavin has been showing much interest in the potty and telling me that he needs to go. Most of the time it has been right after he went in the diaper. So i decided let the potty training begin. Im not sure if I'm ready for it but i would love to not have to change two sets of diapers when our new little guy joins our family in May. So here is how the day has gone... 1st accident I'm getting laundry ready to put in the washing machine and hear "Mommy poo poo". I stop what I'm doing and go to him and he takes me right to where he peed on the floor in his room. (good thing its wood and easy to clean up) So we clean it up together and change into dry underpants. 2nd accident Im folding laundry and when I'm done, go out to take him into the bathroom. I see him with a rag wiping up the chair. I asked him what happened and his reply is "I accident. I clean it up." I'm so proud of him for cleaning up after he had an accident. I hope that he doesn't think that he can pee anywhere and then clean it up and be ok. I guess i need to be more on top of it. Lets see how the rest of the day goes.

Its almost bed time and i have to say its been a 50/50 day. Tomorrow will be better for sure. We have been using M&M's as an incentive but I'm thinking that $$$$$ may be a better idea for him.

Baby Stephens #3

So I got a call a few days after our ultrasound that was on 12/23/09 from a Genetic Counselor. She informed me that something came up on the ultrasound that needed to be addressed. She explained to me on the phone that the baby had a brighter spot on his intestine which is called an echogenic bowel and that sometimes it is linked to downs syndrome, cystic fibrosis, or other mental retardation. We set a time to meet with her in person the next day and go over options that i had and to find out more. This was a very emotional time for me. I started praying that the baby would be healthy right away and went straight to my parents house for my Dad and Brandon to give me a blessing for comfort and strength. I immediately felt peace that i would not be given anything i couldn't handle, and comfort that He was right there with me.
After meeting with the counselor this is what we knew. My AFP test came back negative which meant the baby didn't have downs so that brought that possibility to a 10th of a % of a chance. Cystic Fibrosis I tested negative to being a carrier so the chances of that was only 1.5% of a chance. Then there were 2 other infections that could cause mental retardation so i got blood work on those and that came back negative for both also. We scheduled an amnio to be done but then after going to the Temple much thought and prayer and talking to the counselor one more time i chose not to because of the risk of harming the baby or miscarriage was more than it actually being anything. We made an appointment with a Genetic Specialist Dr. to do another ultra sound. I had the appointment and she said that she did not see the echogenic bowel and that everything looked great and normal. I really felt that this would be the outcome. She did tell me though that ultrasounds aren't always 100% and can pick up or not pick up thing. So as of right now everything is great and normal. Ill have another Ultrasound done in a few weeks just to measure the babies growth.
I am so thankful for my friends and family and the love and support they have given me through this time. I am also thankful that as sad as it might seem... this circumstance has brought me closer to the Spirit and a stronger person spiritually.

Why cant i get this thing started?

So for some reason i don't make the time or effort to get this blog thing started. I love looking at my friends and seeing what is new with them and their families. I talked to a friend last week and her husband turned hers into a book for her so that the kids would have it to look at no just on the computer. What a great idea. I really hope for my kids sake that this will be the turning point for me and that i will journal things that will be fun for them to look back on and say... i remember doing that, or i didnt know mom and dad went through that. So my plan is to try and blog something everyday so that i get use to doing it. Then trying to go back and remember things that i want the boys and us to never forget.