January 16-22, 2017

We made grand plans to go to Mt. Hood for some sledding with the Sunderland’s for Martin Luther King Day.  But this is what happened on Monday instead.

Poor Isaac.  We were all disappointed!

By the end of the day Grace was feeling about the same.

They both got another day off school the next day.  Between snow and sick days I was about to go crazy!

Emma had a swim meet on Thursday.  I love to watch her do her thing!

One of the ladies I visit teach gave the twins these awesome sunglasses. 

Isaac and Grace got to wear their pajamas to school on Friday for a class party.  They spent some time reading under the stars.  Mrs. Johnson put sheets over the desks and the kids got to read books in their “tents” by the light of the “stars”.  So fun.

Grace was also awarded a Terrific Kid that day. 

While they were at school I watched the inauguration of President Trump.  Listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir made me feel better about the whole thing.

Being sick earlier in the week and all the fun afterwards zonked Isaac out.  He was snoring pretty loud on the couch after school that day!

On Saturday our ward unburied the plates and testimonies that we buried last January. 

I spent the rest of that day cleaning out a part of our closet that had gotten way too messy.  I also ended up going through pictures.  I found some good ones.  Like this picture of Kristin that she sent me while I was at BYU with the nicest sentiment on the back.  Ha!

I had to send this picture to some of my roommates from a group date when we were all newlyweds.  We were so young!!

And how is it that my Emma Mae is 17??  I remember these days like they were yesterday.

Saturday night it was Grace’s turn to fall asleep on the couch.  It was a tiring week for them!

The Appendix That Wanted Out

Emma came home from school on the Friday afternoon before Thanksgiving complaining that her stomach hurt.  She could pinpoint exactly when it started hurting—right as she walked out of school.  I just figured it was a stomach ache and didn’t think too much of it.  We had a belated birthday party planned for that night with two of Emma’s friends.  As the afternoon wore on and the stomachache didn’t go away, we started worrying that we would have to cancel the party.  But she started to feel better and thought that she would be fine.  Sure enough, she had a great time at dinner and was able to eat with no problem. 

After dinner and a visit to Critter Cabana, they came home for cupcakes, ice cream and a movie. 

About half way through the movie the stomach ache was back.  By the time her friends left Emma was in pain.  We were a little concerned at this point, but still just thought she might have a stomach bug or something.  The next morning she woke up in tears and was in even more pain.  We were suspecting appendicitis and decided we better take her to the doctor.  The doctor agreed and sent us to the ER of the nearest hospital so they could do an ultrasound.  Emma and I got to the ER at about 10:30 in the morning, and we were there until almost 5:00!  It was a very long day and poor Emma was pretty miserable…as evidenced by these pictures.

Most of her pain was managed with meds, but the poor thing still didn’t feel well.  They had a really hard time getting her IV in and had to try a few times.  She was extremely nervous about he IV to begin with, so to have complications with it made her just a little upset!  The IV specialist finally got it in, but it wasn’t quite right and it hurt a lot.  Lee had given her a blessing of comfort before we left, but now she needed a blessing for the sick.  Lee was home with the twins so he arranged for some friends that lived close to the hospital to come give Emma a blessing.  That helped to calm both of us!  How grateful we are for the priesthood.

When Emma finally got the ultrasound they knew that it was definitely her appendix.  Unfortunately they don’t do pediatric surgeries at that hospital so they needed to transport her to one of the local children’s hospitals.  We chose to go to the same hospital that Isaac had gone to for his allergic reaction, but I quickly asked if I could transport her myself since we still hadn’t paid off Isaac’s ambulance ride.  They agreed that would be fine.  Phew!  Emma and I had quite the adventure getting there.  I got lost at one point and my phone that was guiding the way was just about dead.  We made it though and we were very relieved!  Lee and my parents met us there.  Legacy Emmanuel Children’s Hospital is a very nice place.  It is new and has posh rooms, much better than the ER at the other hospital!  Even better, the nurses were WONDERFUL.  Emma was immediately put at ease and was laughing with the nurses.  It was good to see her smile again even though she still wasn’t feeling great.  They gave her a cute, comfy blanket which helped even more.   Lee was also happy to learn that one of her nurses was a student nurse from Linfield.  He peppered her with questions and she was happy to answer them and offered some good advice.

The surgeons at the hospital wanted to look at her ultrasound pictures themselves before they performed the surgery so we had to wait awhile until they got them.  Once they got a look they came in to her room and said that Emma’s appendix definitely wanted out, so she was in surgery at about 8:30 that night.  It’s pretty amazing how they do appendectomies now.  Instead of the big scar, or even the three small laparoscopic incisions, they only do one incision in the belly button!  Emma was happy that they redid her IV that wasn’t working well while she was under anesthesia.  It didn’t hurt nearly as bad anymore, and she was totally out while they did it!  After her surgery Lee went home and I stayed with Emma all night.  It was an interesting night but she was mostly comfortable, and again the care there was so good. Lee came to get us in the morning and she was released a few hours later.  Oh boy was she happy to be going home.

She was much more smiley as we left then when we got there!

Emma got to lay low for a few days, was sore for a week or so, but otherwise did great.  We kept telling her that her timing was perfect, there was no school that week for Thanksgiving break, she didn’t have to miss a day of school.  Emma on the other hand was not happy that it ruined her vacation!  She got several visits and phone calls which lifted her spirits though.  Having it happen right before Thanksgiving helped us to be even more grateful for our health and for modern medicine.  We were also so thankful for family and friends who are always willing to help.  Granny and Grandpa were such good supports and Kaitlin dropped everything to stay with the twins.  We love you all!

As impressed as we were with the children’s hospital, we really hope not to be there again any time soon!

Ambulance Ride for Isaac

N was the letter for the first day of preschool and the kids got to taste some nuts.  The mom in charge that day asked us ahead of time if any of the kids were allergic to nuts.  None of us are allergic to anything and Isaac and Grace eat peanut butter on a regular basis, and we like nuts, so the possibility of an allergy didn’t even concern me.  In fact I remember thinking when she emailed us what a good idea it was check and that I probably wouldn’t have even thought about doing that.  When I picked them up from preschool Isaac was not feeling well and had just vomited.  I didn’t suspect an allergy and we just figured he was sick.  My friend Lanna was in town and my mom was going to watch the twins while Lanna and I had a fun afternoon.  I figured my mom wouldn’t want to watch a sick boy so I called Lee on our way home to see if he could by any chance work from home for the rest of the day.  He said he could and left right then to go home.  I am so glad he did.  When we got home Isaac was pretty miserable and said all he wanted to do was lay down in his bed.  I put him down and we waited for Lee to get home.  I could hear Isaac moaning and thrashing around in his bed so I went up to check on him.  His body was covered in hives!  That’s when I realized he must be having an allergic reaction.  Lee got home about then so we gave Isaac some Benadryl and Lanna and started to get ready to leave.  But then the hives started spreading, very fast, to his neck and face and he was holding his mouth really funny.  We started to get a little worried so I called the doctor.  The doctor said to take him immediately to the ER.   We live much closer to an urgent care clinic than to an ER so we decided to go there first knowing they could give him a shot of epinephrine if needed.  Lee and I hurried him to the clinic.  As we pulled up Isaac asked us if he could have a blessing.  He couldn’t pronounce his S’s at all, so we got really worried at that point, he was definitely swelling up.  Lee walked in holding Isaac and we told the front desk what was going on.  They immediately took Lee and Isaac back but asked me to stay to get him checked in.  About 30 seconds later a doctor came up and asked another worker about the procedure for calling 911.  I asked if that was for Isaac and the lady helping me said “yes, I think so.”  That’s when a little bit of panic set in!  I couldn’t believe they were making me sit there to do paperwork!  They finally took me back just after they gave him an epi-pen shot and just before the firefighters got there.  He didn’t look good and he was upset about the shot.  The doctor and the firefighters agreed that we needed to get him to the hospital.  The epinephrine works very fast, but it wears off fairly quickly and if it didn’t do the job then the swelling could quickly come back, so he needed to get to a hospital for monitoring.  They had me sit on the stretcher, they put Isaac in my lap, and they strapped us both in for a ride to Randall Children’s Hospital in Portland.  Lee rode in the van behind us.  About half way to the hospital Isaac started perking up.   The epinephrine had done the job and he was doing much better.  He was smiling again and asking a ton of questions of the awesome firefighter who was in the back with us.  He even smiled for a picture.  You can still see some swelling in his cheeks, but he isn’t nearly as red and the swelling was much better.

At the hospital he quickly improved even more, but he wasn’t as happy at the hospital as he was in the ambulance.  He wouldn’t talk to the nurses and he didn’t like the pulse monitor on his finger.  Granny and Grandpa were at the hospital with us and Lee and Grandpa finally gave Isaac the blessing he had been asking for.  We stayed at the hospital for several hours until they were confident the reaction was done.  They turned on the TV for Isaac which kept him occupied and they gave him stickers and two books to take home.  He was well taken care of.  We learned that that he had a pretty severe reaction.  Any time a reaction involves more than one body system, such as Isaac’s stomach upset and the hives and swelling, that indicates a serious response in the body.  We were blessed that it wasn’t worse than it was and that we were able to get him the epinephrine quickly.

When we finally left the hospital Isaac was pooped and fell asleep pretty quickly.  When we got home he gave one of his new books and a sticker to Grace, he wanted to share his prizes!  He’s such a sweet boy.  Let me tell you, he got lots of hugs and kisses that day.  We realized how quick things can take a turn for the worse and how precious our little ones are.  We are so glad that we found out about this allergy when we could get help quickly, that Lee was able to be with us, my parents were there for support, and that Lanna was there to take care of Grace and be home for Emma and even get dinner going.   And our fun afternoon was not totally lost.  Once we knew Isaac was ok Lanna and I went to a movie and out for dessert that evening.  We were very blessed. 

Isaac wouldn’t let us take off his hospital bracelet for several days after his ambulance ride.  He claimed that it gave him special powers and helped him to be brave.   A little later we took a trip to the allergist to find out what nut made him sick.  He had a scratch test done and it was determined very quickly that he is allergic to cashews and pistachios.  The cashew was the culprit that day.  Bummer, those are good nuts!  The allergist confirmed that he had a severe reaction and the ambulance ride was definitely called for.  Now we are prepared and know what to do if he comes in contact with either of those nuts.  Isaac also is very adamant that he won’t eat nuts again.  That is fine, it’s probably safer that way!  A few weeks later we went to the fire station to drop off some treats and a thank you to the firefighters.  They took such good care of us and were so kind to Isaac.

Unfortunately right when we got to the fire station there was a call and we were told that the firemen that helped us in the ambulance went out on the call.  So we talked to the fire chief, dropped off our stuff, and the kids got stickers.  As we were leaving the fireman who was in the back with us came running out.  He was there after all and was so happy to see us.  We talked for quite a while and he remembered how brave Isaac was when he put in the IV.  We couldn’t have been more impressed with the Canby Firefighters.

Isaac was pretty impressed too.  He played firefighter for the rest of that day.  He would make a pretty handsome firefighter…as long as he stays away from cashews and pistachios!

How You Know They’re Sick…

Poor babies…it was a rough week!

We’ve Got Ourselves A Nodder!

So, Isaac didn’t want to be left out of the ear infection club. He came down with one shortly after Grace did. He took three longer than usual naps in one day during the worst of it (which is saying a lot for Isaac who thinks short naps are best). He even had a hard time staying awake for lunch and kept nodding off.

I was cracking up as his arms kept going up, and I love how he is kicking his legs to try and keep himself awake!

Our never-stops-for-anything little boy actually stopped for a few days. It was really weird to see him just staying absolutely still on the floor. Emma made him a little bed and he stayed right there without moving and even fell asleep for a little while. Poor guy!

We’re glad both babies are back to normal! Although, I wish the three nap thing had stayed…

Current Evans Events

December Randomness:

Bishopric FHE

We had a great time at the Third Annual Bishopric Christmas Family Home Evening.  After eating pizza we had a lesson (our family was in charge of giving it this year), then the kids played and the mom’s talked while the men signed Christmas cards for the ward.  We love being with the Perez, Sunderland and Casper families.  The babies were totally enthralled by the giant snow globe INSIDE the house!

Christmas Stories

  Reading Christmas books by the tree is easily one of our favorite Christmas traditions.  Emma looked forward to opening a book to read each night.  We found a new book this year that we loved, Humphrey’s First Christmas by Carol Heyer.  It was darling!  Too bad we got it from the library, I guess I need to buy it.

Ward Christmas Party

Another great Santa picture at the ward party.  Do you think the babies will be forever traumatized?

 The Bishopric sang Do You Hear What I Hear. 

Lee, Bishop Perez, Peter, Matt

Grandma Dorothy’s Birthday

The babies and I helped celebrate Grandma Dorothy’s 85th birthday.  I hope I look as good as she does at 85!  We love you Grandma Dorothy!

Popcorn Garland

Emma made a popcorn garland for her little tree in the family room.  It was a fun way to spend a Christmas vacation evening. 

Notice Emma is showing her loyalty by wearing a BYU sweatshirt on the BYU vs. OSU bowl game day.  That is saying a lot because when the Cougars aren’t involved, she is a definite Beaver fan.  It was fun to deliver a treat to our Beaver fan of a neighbor that night wearing our BYU gear…

Peppermint Bark Popcorn

Speaking of popcorn…I found my new favorite Christmas treat.  Peppermint Bark Popcorn.  I couldn’t leave the stuff alone!

  It packaged up perfectly for the neighbors and looked pretty in the bags. 

  I also stumbled on my new favorite way to make tags.  I printed our Christmas card in wallet size and attached them to gifts.  Extremely easy, cheap and cute!

Ear Infection

Poor Grace was the first of the twins to get an ear infection.  I’m surprised we made it as long as we did since Emma had a million by now.  She was so sick and just sat on our lap for two days.  Of course the extra cuddle time isn’t so bad, but we were all glad when she was back to her happy, sweet self.

Gracie being sick kind of put the kibosh on our New Years Eve plans.  Emma and I “partied” with the Russell Clan while Lee stayed home to ring in the New Year by himself with sleeping babies.

It’s hard to believe that December is over and we are already well into January!