What does Pudding & a Salad Spinner Equal???

It equals Braden is bored. Yep, today was one of those days. Every chance he had to get hold of something he shouldn't have, he did. First, while I was putting Berk down for a nap, I heard the sound of my fridge being slammed shut, so I figured he was getting a snack or a drink or something. Unfortunately, I was right. Even though we have pre-made Chocolate milk in the fridge, Braden decided to make his own. This apparently required several containers for the choc. syrup, from cups to measuring spoons to bread pans. It was at this point he must have remembered that yesterday he had used all the milk and we were out. So I found trails of dots of syrup from the bar stools back to the fridge. Ah, classic Braden. We discussed not making chocolate milk by himself for a few minutes as well as not wasting food (yesterday's milk) and I cleaned up the kitchen, and changed my clothes (his hands were chocolaty when I hugged him after our talk). I had to lay down on the couch for a while to put a heat pack on my neck. Yesterday, while brushing my teeth I tweaked my neck and pinched a nerve. Dang oral hygiene. After a trip to the chiropractor, ice and heat it actually felt better, but stiff. But I digress...

After Berk's first nap Braden decided he wanted Taco Time for lunch. he loves that place cause they will put chicken in his cheese crisp- tons of places won't. But that involved about a thirty minute round trip but he had been pretty good, so I figured why not. Why not? Oh, because for one, Berk hates his car seat these days, I can't wait to flip him forward. Two, because Braden nearly fell asleep and I promise you, a near nap is SO much worse than NO nap. As a result he was Uber cranky and our good day just went downhill from there...

I really try to make sure Braden gets a snack and either an activity or a new show turned on when I put Berk down for naps so he will be quiet. Today it worked like a charm. A little Tom and Jerry, classic I know, and Berk was down without any interruptions. So, I thought to myself, I am going to take a shower. I called Braden into my room to check on him and he said his movie as not over and he was going to have some pudding. Sure, sure, fine with me. After literally a 3 minute shower, I found him back in my room playing under my bed in some bins I use for storage. What a flashback I then had as I realized he had changed into my biker shorts from my high school track days...who knew I even still had them...scary. As I was chuckling about that I realized he had some pudding on his arm and asked him what happened, "Oh, I'll just show you" he said. Gulp.

The mess was staged in three, no four areas. 1. The kitchen table. Where he had gotten my salad spinner (from who knows where) out and filled it with an entire bag of baby carrots, some cereal and, I am guessing, two chocolate puddings. Area 2. The kitchen counter. Where he had several "drinking" utensils including a medicine syringe and a straw as well as that lovely (half gone) bottle of chocolate syrup. Area 3. The bar stools. Which were neatly arranged in a train formation with pudding on honestly everyone of them. And finally, area 4, which I found about ten minutes later, the guest bathroom. This is my 'pretty' bathroom with cream towels and shaggy rug, and about, again I am guessing, a cup of pudding and/or syrup from floor to ceiling. Deep breaths. Begin counting to 10 in my head while quickly dialing my M-I-L's phone number (she lives close and I needed help holding Berk while I cleaned-I explained) Now, in his defense, the mess in the bathroom was a result of trying to clean up himself from the mess in area 3. It was everywhere though, including the toilet lid & bowl, and since that seemed to gross to touch, when he needed to pee he went in the tub. No biggie, right? Unless you remember from an earlier post, that we "grow 'spearaments" in there. It really couldn't have gotten any better.

So now as both boys are in their beds asleep, I am thankful that for one, I am not picking beads out of the carpet again and two, that chocolate smells really good when you are cleaning it up.

Braden boy, I love you, but I think you and I both are ready for preschool to start on Tuesday.

Oh, great more books to read...

Tonight we had an impromptu girls night at the movies. My sis-in-laws Kelcie and Jill are headed back to Provo this weekend so we wanted to see a few movies before they left. Luckily, my friend Heather was able to join us as we went to see Becoming Jane. I have to confess, I have never read a Jane Austen book before. I know, I know, those of you who have are crying out in disbelief. I am a very avid reader, but for some reason I have never ventured to this author (or even seen the movies-oops). This movie is about the back story to why Jane Austen writes the kind of novels she did. It took a little bit for me to get into the movie since I really knew nothing of her work, but let me tell you, by the end, I was weeping. It is such a beautiful movie. I highly recommend it, (although I doubt any guy is gonna want to sit through it) as would the others that I saw it with. Anne Hathaway was great and all the other characters were good too. The only downside to this film is that now I have tons of books I am dying to read!!! So get a group of girls together, bring some tissues and prepare to be thrown into a great story. Next up on our list to see is Nanny Diaries. Thanks for a good time girls! And more thanks to Rusty for getting the boys to bed! I would gladly take any opinions as to which of her books I should start with- Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Emma or one of the others!

Jam Packed Weekend...

Whew. I am glad tomorrow is Sunday, I am ready for my day of rest! We have had a fun weekend but a busy one. Friday the boys and I played most of the morning until I busted out the sewing machine to make a couple dozen burpies for orders I had for Saturday. Rusty surprised us by coming home after just a half day and we did a little shopping and some organizing before Jill & Jaci came over to bake. On Thursday, Braden, out of the blue, asked if we could make a "Damie Nut Pie" (macadamia)? Um, okay kid that was random... After I told him I didn't know how, he asked me to call his Aunt Jill- who can make anything. So she came over and Braden helped her prep the pie crusts and crush the nuts.
While they were cookin' Rusty and I left Berk with my parents and headed out to visit the Burkinshaw's new baby Olivia, and take them dinner ( I cooked In-n Out). I hate Queen Creek, we got all turned around and I even knew where I was going, I thought! So after a visit we headed home and spent some time with the boys before bed. We got a ton of rain last night, our pool was nearly overflowing. I have heard we got hit harder than most places and I believe it.

Today, since the ground was soft-ish from all the rain Rusty decided it was finally time to take out the dead trunk of our Ficus tree from the front yard. We lost a lot of bushes to this winters freezes and I was especially sad to see this tree go. After digging and digging he finally was able to remove it by tugging it out of the ground. He has some nice blisters to show for it. Braden loved it, his favorite things were involved- tools and dirt!

This afternoon we got a chance to take a tour of the newest hospital in the valley Banner Gateway Medical Center. We have been waiting for this to open literally for a few years. The practice that I work for recently relocated to be nearer this site since they would be closing Banner Mesa. Rusty's dad Russ is the Chief of Staff of the new facility and he, along with Dr Layton (from the office), got to help design a lot of the Women's and Children's area (Labor & Delivery). It seemed like not so long ago I was at the ground breaking, hard hats, gold shovels, bamboo and all. I know it is a big accomplishment to have it open next month and we can't wait! The tour was amazing, we took both kids so I didn't get pictures, but I am going back Tuesday with my work so I will try to get some then. (Ami -Peds was AMAZING!) It is a state of the art hospital, everything is done with such thought, it is kinda amazing. The labor rooms are enormous, pediatrics is so cute and fun and the OR's are so cool. We got to go in the ER, an OR, a CAT scan room, the PACU, ICU as well as through all of Peds and all of the women's center. There are flat screen TV's in every room, room service and pay-per-view movies. I could go on and on, did I saw amazing??? But I won't, since it is boring for the non-crazy ones... The bestest-est (I made that up) part is that it is literally 4 minutes from my house, so if we have more kids I am super close and added bonus that whenever all my friends deliver I can visit often!

Then finally tonight after a swim in our cooler pool - thanks to the rain-- we went to dinner at Sautee for Kelcie's 18th Birthday. This is one of my favorite places, so if you have never been there you have to try it! Yum Yum Yum, I am still full! So you can see why I am ready to have a day to take it easy, go to church and take it easy again!

Happy Birthday Kelcie- We LOVE you!

Faster than a speeding bullet...

So Berkley has been crawling for about a month and a half now and all of a sudden this week he has just taken off. You turn your back for one second and he is in another room! He has started independently walking to get places rather than just walking to someone and my least favorite advancement, the stairs. I would like to pause for a moment and thank the creator of the baby gate for allowing me to raise boys without additional concussions resulting from falls from the stairs. Berk has decided that since Braden can freely go up and down he should be able to as well. Up is not a problem, down however, well, down is a problem. He wants to WALK down. Not even crawl forward superman style. And no way he is gonna let me teach him how to back down. Nope, he has to be a big boy. Oh, I see urgent care in our future... Another fun thing for us is that he finally cut his top teeth, really just one but the other is SO close. After an ear infection, pink eye and a bout of the flu he should finally be feeling better...

Braden meanwhile, has grown sick of life without preschool. He and I both cannot wait for it to start. Luckily we only have a few more weeks. But to kill time we have been doing some 'spearamints'. Braden loves anything that you can add water to and make it grow. Earlier this summer I found these magic grow creatures at Michaels (for only $1.99)and they have given us endless hours of fun. Most of them start out the size of Braden's palm and grow to be, well, huge. Others start off as small as quarter and can grow to be 6 or more inches. My poor cleaning ladies nearly had a heart attack when we were growing the alligator and crab the first time, because they look and feel pretty real. That's the other good thing, you can take them out of water and they shrink and you start all over again. Oh, raising boys sure is fun, huh.

I've been tagged -again and again...

Ok, I am going to end the madness. I have been tagged several times and chosen to {polietly} ignore it, but no longer. I finally figured out if I do it then I can't be tagged anymore so HA!

4 Jobs I've Had
1. Barro's Pizza (first job, started the day I turned 16)
2. Foothill Place Apartments
3.Robinson's May Department Store (gotta love the employee discount)
4. Dr.'s Beck, Tutt, McNeal & Layton (the best OB's in the Valley)
4 Movies I could Watch over and over
1. National Treasure
2. Any of the "Bourne" movies
3. All things animated
4. Anything with Audrey Hepburn
4 Places I have lived
1. Sandy, Ut
2. Mesa, AZ
3. Holiday, Ut
4. Gilbert, AZ
4 guilty pleasures
1. Online Shopping
2. Blogging
3. reality TV shows
4. Dr. Pepper
4 Places I have been on vacation
1. Hawaii (Maui and the Big Island)
2. Miami Florida
3. Anywhere in Cali
4. Lake Powell
4 Favorite Foods
1. Any dessert made by my Sis in Law Jill
2. Costa Vida chicken salad
3. Coldstone- Birthday cake remix
4. Sautee (in Mesa, TRY IT)
4 places i would rather be right now
1. Sleeping
2. The Lake
3. Our cabin
4 Somewhere cooler
4 Websites I visit daily
1. Blogger- about 50 blogs, unreal
2. MSN
3. my bead suppliers
4. Amazon
6 Authors I love (there are too many books!)
1. Nicolas Sparks (I own them all)
2. JK Rowling (of course)
3. Dan Brown (read Da Vinci Code? Try Deception Point, his best ever book)
4. Claire Poulson (My Uncle, these are great LDS books)
5. Stephenie Meyers (newest Fav)
6. John Grisham (I am a sucker for his stories)
4 Things I would like to know how to do
1. Play the Piano
2. Be better with money
3. Digital Scrapbook
4. Keep my boys from tearing apart my house daily
4 things I worry about
1. Losing weight
2. Braden's lifelong health
3. Balancing my business and my kids
4. Doing a good job in my YW calling
4 happy moments
1. Marrying Rusty
2. Having my boys (mostly because the pregnancy part as OVER)
3. Seeing the reaction on clients faces when I make something for them they Love
4. Bringing Braden home from the NICU
4 Things I want to do in the next year
1. Go back to San Diego, I love it there
2. Go on a cruise
3. Build my business more
4. Add on to our house
4 People I am tagging
1. Jill P.
2. Kim S.
3. Addi R.
4. Brooke H.

I'll be watching your blogs...

Our fun weekend away...

So this weekend we decided to get out of town, the Town of Gilbert that is, and so we headed to nearby Scottsdale. We got a room at the Desert Ridge Marriott for the weekend and had a great time. We relaxed, swam, swam, some more, relaxed in the lazy river, swam, ate...it really was so much fun! For those who don't live in grand ole AZ, the resorts here realize that in the summer no one sane wants to come stay at their place, so they offer these great rates to the locals, who are crazy enough. Ours included things like free in room movies, free room service, free drinks for Braden by the pool, ect... They really make it fun for the whole family though with live bands that play at night and great restaurants and tons of near by shopping. Braden's favorite part was the lazy river, but there were like five other pools we played in too. The landscape was breathtaking and you could almost imagine yourself somewhere cooler--almost because it was still 115 outside. Big yum yum for the breakfast buffet as well as the pizza we ordered from room service. All in all, we can't wait to go back. Here are a few pictures from our brief time there. I know we were sceptical of our friends who swear by going "out of town" in the valley, but they were right, it was a definite mini vacation!

Please tell me I'm not the only one...

Let me start by thanking all you bloggers for your kind words on my last post. And I apologize to everyone I made cry! That wasn't my intent - I think of it as a happily ever after kind of story! We really feel so lucky to have Braden in our lives and we are so happy to have such great friends who love us! Moving along...

So I was going to blog about this a while back when it was happening to me nearly everyday, but lo and behold I actually got a small reprieve and started feeling better about it so I decided not to share my experiences. Then, on Tuesday I went to a bow making class (for my business) and it happened again. {Groan}

"Oh, you must be having a girl!" says the stranger sitting across the table from me... "No, no ,no." I reply, "I had a baby 9 months ago and haven't quite lost that baby weight." AGH! Seriously. Seriously!? Back in May/June comments like this were a running gag around our house, I was even making Rusty give me a dollar every time it happened. "Caryn, is there something you're not telling us?" asked my brother. "Oh, when are you due?" Asked several strangers. And the best I have heard, "Oh! Hello in there!" complete with belly rub! Even tonight at the grocery store the bagger girl asked me! COME ON!!! Let's face facts. I am nearly 28, I have 2 kids, I pretty much eat healthy and I am active. I go to the gym and love to do pilates as often as I can, but darn those genetics-- we Rasmussen women carry our weight like a belt. Now, now, I am not looking for you to say, 'oh, you aren't fat' and 'oh, you look fine'. Reality check. I see myself in the mirror everyday. I realize I am not a size 0 anymore, and I really am quite okay with that. Frankly, I think I was too thin in high school. And yes, I am still holding on to about 20 pounds from my pregnancy with Berkley, and while I hate it, I don't hate it enough to give up my Dr. Pepper or bread. (And in my head I still have 3 more months till the justifiable year post baby mark).

So, it's not for me to say that I wouldn't love to have another baby. Having struggled with infertility I would welcome any child into my life, my body, my waistline. My complaint is NOT with being able to carry a child either. No, I am grateful I can have kids having seen SO many friends and family who cannot. So I don't want to sound like I am complaining about the 'sacrifice' of what having kids does to a person's body.

Instead, I am more curious what gives a total stranger the audacity to comment on my pudge??? Seriously! Seriously!??

So, please tell me I am not the only one who gets asked this. And I found this t-shirt online and I am really considering ordering it, but I guess I would need 7, one for each day of the week, huh? Maybe I am overly sensitive to it having worked at an OB office for nearly 6 years. I would NEVER ask even if I knew they were, unless it was obvious...I'm taking last trimester obvious.

Our Million Dollar Baby

This week marks the Fourth Anniversary of Braden’s second and final open heart surgery. I thought it would be good to write down my thoughts as I look back on this miracle child of mine. For those who don’t know the story here it is in as brief as I can --after all I am quite a talker. For those who were there with us every step, every doctor appointment, every ounce of weight gain, we still thank you from the bottom of our hearts. The first year of his life was full of ups and downs but I know Heavenly Father had a plan for him, as well as our family and we are so grateful for the outcome we were blessed with…

October 4, 2002. After a normal pregnancy, labor and delivery Rusty and I welcomed our first baby, Braden Russell. He was 7 lbs 3 oz and cute as a button. After a few hours of meeting all his new family he was taken to the nursery for shots and the normal newborn testing. Around 1 pm, nearly four hours after I had him, Rusty came in to my recovery room to tell me they thought something was wrong with his heart. Fast forward 9 hours later when he was Air Evaced to Phoenix Children’s Hospital NICU. He spent 8 days there being closely monitored and tested. He was ultimately diagnosed with Double Outlet Right Ventricle with Transposition of the Great Vessels. He also had 2 holes in his heart, a VSD and an ASD as well as a bad Mitral Valve--- (Trying saying that five times fast, or anytime anyone asked you what was wrong… )In other words his heart looked like this. It was not caused by our DNA, instead when the cells were dividing to create the heart it was just formed wrong.

The next few months involved visiting a Pediatric Cardiologist and our Pediatrician several times a week. Braden went into heart failure at 2 months old and spend his first Christmas in the PICU. After a successful cardiac cath procedure he was put on a feeding tube and we were able to get him stable enough to wait for surgery in February 2003. We made the decision to travel to California for surgery. We, as a collective family-mine and Rusty’s- decided we felt better about the program at Stanford than the one here. We also had heard great things about our surgeon Dr. Frank Hanley and his program there. Braden’s defect was rare, so the surgeon here had never preformed a full repair like what he needed before. Dr Hanley had done 6 surgeries similar to B’s.

The first week of February Rusty, Braden & I, as well as Russ & Cindi flew to California. Braden was 4 months old. His first surgery went great. It was the longest 10 hours of my life. We walked a lot of hospital halls that day. I don't remember a lot, thankfully but I do remember the 2 hardest moments of my life that occurred that day. First, was hugging my sweet baby bye and handing him to a nurse to go into the OR. Second, was seeing him directly after he was done. He was swollen; covered in bruises, wires and tubes and hooked up to so many medicines he needed multiple IV’s.

We had many ups and downs over the 14 day stay. We owe so much to the staff at the CVICU at Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. They literally saved our son’s life. Each day a few more medicines were turned off, a few more wires, lines bandages were removed. On Valentines Day he was finally taken off the breathing machine and I got to hold him (SEVEN long days since that hug). He got addicted to all the pain meds, and had to detox. Watching him go into withdrawal was so hard. I have the youngest recovered drug addict you have ever met I’ll bet.

There were also some good times. He laughed for the first time ever on Rusty’s birthday and we got to escape the confines of the CVICU (while he was heavily medicated) and spend some time in San Francisco. My parents and the Robison’s were also frequent visitors. He cut several teeth on morphine, which was nice. We were able to walk the halls in a red wagon and meet other parents who gave us support. We were so excited to head home when we were discharged, confident we had a brand new baby on our hands.

Unfortunately, after a brief time the repair to his Mitral valve did not hold up and we were scheduled to do anther surgery on it in August of 2003 at 10 months old. Again, we tried all we could to get him to gain weight and luckily he did, so we did not have to use the feeding tube any longer. August came much too fast --but this time we knew the drill. The pre-op day seemed to go quicker and we knew our way around Palo Alto by then. The second surgery was to focus on just repairing his Mitral valve, which was ‘leaking’ and causing him to go into heart failure again.

The second time we hugged him at the OR doors was easier only because they had given him a medicine that made him oblivious to his surroundings. He didn’t want to hug us; he wanted to play with the cord taped to his leg. When the nurses pushed the button to open the series of double doors that led to the OR Braden made an “Oooooooh” sound, he must have thought where he was going looked cool? This time the surgery only lasted four hours and we were moved from the CVICU the next day after his ventilator was removed. By late on the second day after surgery he was sitting up in his crib playing and looking at books. It was amazing. They say kids heal quickly, but when just four days after surgery they sent in the team that prepped you for home life, we were shocked! We were not going to fight the idea though and even surprised Rusty’s Mom at the hotel when we came in with him in tow.

Currently, Braden only has to see the pediatrician as often as any other child would and our cardiologist visits are now just once a year. Each visit involves checking his blood pressure, oxygen levels, doing an EKG and Echo and a few other things. He loves his Dr- mostly because he knows going there involves NO pain in any way- and he gets to take his stethoscope and listen to the doctor’s heart. Although they can't tell us that he'll never need another surgery, they are confidant that the repairs will hold as he grows.

“Modern medicine can fix anything, so hold your baby and stop crying.” Those were the words of my pediatrician on the day he was born. Although she was (is) abrupt about it, she was right. We live in a wonderfully modern society, and Braden was born into our lives to teach us patience, faith and the value of family and we am so grateful for him. Mostly, I am grateful that looking back on these pictures it really seems like it happened to someone else. Braden has no limits as far as sports or anything goes. We have to remind ourselves that he is a ‘normal’ kid now and we try to treat him that way. His “zipper” (the scar from the surgeries) is nearly invisible, you really have to look close to even see it and he will show anyone who asks to see it with great pride- - because he sure did earn it. Whenever he is super stubborn and hard headed I have to remind myself he had to be that way as a baby, so I shouldn't hold it against him now--- but man can he be opinionated!!!

Well that’s his story, as simple as I could tell it at least…the pictures in the montage are just a few of probably hundreds we have from that time, but these are the ones that affect me the most. Just a warning, there are post op pictures in it.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Have you brushed your teeth today?

We just got home from the dentist with Braden today. He had to get 7 fillings! Gee, did someone inherit his mother's horrible teeth, I think so... Normally the dentist isn't fun but for Braden there is an added step that makes even cleaning visits not so fun. B already has to get sedated at the dentist for any work done because frankly he is 4 and hates to sit still. This is compounded by pretty much hating any doctor's office period as well as anyone in scrubs, a white coat and or latex gloves. But I have decided the very WORST part of the entire ordeal is something that happens before we even head out the door... the dreaded "pre-med." For the rest of his life, anytime B goes to the dentist he has to take a large dose of antibiotics due to his repaired heart problems. It helps fight away the tiny germs that are released into the blood stream during dental work that most of us fight of normally, but because of his Mitral Valve repair we have to be extra cautious. (I'm sure all you dental wives can get a better explanation of why he needs it). So that means the dose grows as he does. Today he is up to 4 teaspoons, yep, 4 teaspoons of yucky bubblegum flavored grossness. Try getting that down the throat of a kid who hasn't had anything to eat for 12 hours... Luckily I only ran into 4 people I knew in the waiting room while I was splattered from head to toe in ammoxicilian (not to mention my kitchen floor & Rusty's shirt too)... yeah my kid can spit pretty far when something gross comes his way. Luckily we were able to give him the sedative medicine and then he just didn't care what was going on and drank the whole yucky thing. Braden boy, you are sure a stinker for all the fuss you gave us this morning but we thank our lucky stars that this is the only side effect that remains from your special heart! Oh, and 'Mom Bonus', he took a nap today, first time in a year!!! SO, What do you do when both kids are napping at the same time??? Oh, duh blog of course.

So, What Did YOU Do Tonight???

Let me just start by saying, I love Berkley. I love how curious he is. I love how quickly he has gained confidence in his crawling and creeping abilities. I love that even when he is sick, he still giggles and smiles at me. But most of all, I love that he will never know how long I spent cleaning up this mess...

Most of you know I make jewelry as part of my little boutique business, this requires beads and various other small things. So I am so careful to work on my orders in my upstairs office when Braden and Berk play nearby. Berk usually is trapped in his excersauser I keep in here (for when I have to work when he isn't napping). But today, I got lazy. He has been fussing since we got back from all our trips and I let him play at my feet with his toys. Sure enough, not a minute later he grabbed up onto my desk (to get me to hold him) and crash, thousands of Swarovski crystals flew into my shag carpet.

So, now I will share with you a few revelations I had tonight... 1. Until this very moment I have LOVED my new shag carpet. It is soft, it hides stains, it leaves cool vacuum lines after my cleaners come 2. I do not love picking teeny-tiny beads our of shag carpet. 3. I especially hate picking out all shades of brown beads out of my shag carpet. 4. I will no longer be able to reason beading during Berk's awake hours. 5. I will have to find every last bead or Rusty will never let me live it down. 6. I like sparkly things and briefly debated leaving them in the carpet, 'cause it looked so pretty. 7. I love Berkley.

So, a hour (or two later), with help from Jessie, my Mom and Braden-Eagle-Eye-Beck, I now have the fun job of sorting them back into their nice, neat little compartments. Why is this such a hard job you might ask? Well these things are tiny. Most of them are 6mm, that's about the size of a karat diamond. I, however use even smaller ones, 2-3mm, for baby bracelets. Those suckers are small enough to fit a few inside this 'O'. yeah. Well, it's not all bad, I can do an inventory while I am at it. Yeah, right. So here are my pretties all in a pile, sad, they sparkle so much more in real life. Hopefully your Friday night was more exciting than mine...

And 'J. Whipp', in case you were wondering, I was working on your Bday gift when said incident occurred, so you better LOVE it! Ha ha. How can you not when you picked it out??? HA!