Oh Mr. Sandman...

1 Truck + 2 Enthusiastic Boys + 3 Hours of work + 4 Sno Cones + 5 Tons {10,000lbs} of sand + 6 Railroad ties = Hours of endless fun in the brand new sandbox!!!

Chase and I and the Boys had a blast building their new sandbox yesterday! Hmm...Come to think of it I haven't seen much of those boys since...

Here are some of the highlights and the finished product!

Noah today...

Weight: 8lbs 7oz

Length: 21.5 inches

Head circumference: Large! {37.4 cm}

Doctors assessment: Developmentally he is on track for his "corrected" age. He is holding his head up, smiling, cooing and babbling, "standing" on his legs, tracking sights and sounds both side-to-side and up and down.

Mommy's assessment: Opinionated, Thrives on a schedule, Loves to eat, Fantastic sleeper, Loves his binky {mommy does too!}, Loves interactive "conversations"!!!

I think we'll keep him!!!

Top 6 indications you are probably a mother of 3 boys...

6) The word "poop" {or any variation really!} manages to find its way into every conversation.

5) On any given day there are hundreds of farm animals {complete with realistic sounds} roaming throughout the house.

4) The "shock n' awe" effect is always in full-swing.

3) Everything is climbable {counters, couches, trees, doorframes, me}

2) The toilet cannot stay clean for more than one trip to the bathroom! Grrr...

1) EVERYTHING is a competition {I can do it faster, I am stronger, I am bigger than you, etc.,etc.,etc.}

Sweet Ridge...

During "relax" time {NOT nap time}, Ridge fell asleep, which happens about 80% of the time!

The guitar lesson & the cat lady...

Sounds like it could be the title of a really awful horror movie or something right? But it happened... A couple of weeks ago, Ryder expressed an interest in taking guitar lessons. So Chase and I were super excited about it and rented a guitar, found a teacher in our area {the cat lady}, and his first lesson was last Monday. Mrs. Cat Lady lives here in Pingree and seemed to be a pretty decent teacher but...her house smelled like pet presents {you know, the brown and yellow ones} and I kid you not, Chase had to keep shooing the cats out of Ryders guitar bag the entire lesson-NOT COOL! But in a half hour lesson he learned about frets, directions, and the notes E, F & G. He has been practicing everyday. So maybe we should try Mrs. Cat Lady one more time!? What would you do?

Happy Birthday Ryder!!!

Today was Ryders 7th Birthday! Where does the time go? Sitting here reflecting on 7 years gone by, 7 YEARS!!! No, that can't be right, there is NO WAY I am the mother of a 7 year old...but I am.
Well, we decided to split up his birthday into two parties {yes, TWO!} a family birthday party and a friend birthday party, as he is Mr. Socialite these days. So today we celebrated with the fam. Lots of swimming, pony-play, chillin' by the fire, and dutch-oven cooking! Mmmmm...
Ryder went 100 miles an hour ALL day long, and is now deep in slumber...Sweet dreams handsome!

Would you look at those toes!!!

Noahs' toes are one of my favorites parts of him! I am not sure where they came from, but they look like they were thrown on as an afterthought. When he was 3 months old, one of his nurses made some footprints for me on a cute little shamrock {being St. Patricks Day and all} but... it would appear as though he only has 4 toes! Nevertheless, I think he's a keeper!

Welcome home Grandma Grape!!!

The boys and I {and grandma Sheri} loaded up and drove to Idaho Falls to surprise Grandma Grape at the airport today! She was coming home from a 5 month stay in sunny California. This was the first time she was able to see Noah outside of the NICU! So sweet...

Look who's beginning to smile!!!

Wow, he's so...........................BIG!!!

That is the reaction that people tend to have when seeing Noah for the first time. We are starting to venture out more and allow more people into our home to see him. It is so funny to see how people respond to him. I don't know why, but time after time it's always the same, "He is so much bigger than I thought he would be..." He is getting close to 8lbs!

Where do I draw the line?

I realized this morning that I haven't given anyone an update on how Ryder is doing with the Minimal Change Nephrotic Syndrome. So here goes...the plan is to keep him on the prednisolone {steroid} for 2 months, and then take 1 more month to wean him off of them, for a total of 3 months. Even though at his appointment last Friday he no longer had protein in his urine and the swelling is 100% gone and he is back to his normal weight. His pediatrician is working with the nephrologist at Primary Childrens Hospital {thankfully his pediatrician is confident we can treat him locally and we don't have to go to SLC} and they see the best success of this condition never coming back if we stay the course of steroids for 3 months.
I am so thankful that we have seen such great success with the steroids, but...I am beginning to see the side effects that everyone has been asking about. The first appointment with his pediatrician he asked me how Ryder had been? Not just like you would ask someone in a friendly conversation, it was a loaded question! Like he was expecting me to say something to the effect of "A monster has taken over my sweet Ryder and I want to hit him over the head with a frying pan a trillion times a day!" At the time of the now infamous question, Ryder had been on the steroids about 10 days and was handling himself quite well, NO LONGER! I am seeing the things I had been hearing about all along...so my question is, "Where do you draw the line?" Do I accept behaviors I normally wouldn't because they are probably from the steroids? I am so uncertain! So we are just doing the best we can for the time being. Did I mention he eats like a 15 year old boy these days??? {another side effect}
To be continued... :)