Guess the disease?

Medical Tip of the Day...This is an easy diagnosis. Hand, food and mouth syndrome which is a viral infection that consists of a rash of blisters and tiny ulcers on the hands, feet and in the mouth accompanied by irritability, decreased appetite, fever and sore throat. It is caused by the coxsackievirus. We thought at first Scott was teething, but soon realized it was hand, foot and mouth. There is nothing you can do to treat this since it's a virus and it is very contagious. We haven't been bringing Scott around children or to nursery at church since it is a germ fest. He has been hanging out with us, but we decided to bring him to nursery last week instead of sit through Sunday school with mom and dad. We think this is where he picked it up. Serves us right. The virus is not a big deal for Scott but anything is a BIG deal with Tyler. They told us to separate the kids, which is next to impossible or find a friend who owes us a favor. How can you just drop your kid off somewhere to infest other kids? This week Tyler has been really irritable and decided to not eat one day. We brought him in and they said they were signs of a virus. Our cardiologist happened to be there because he was called in for another patient, which he was irritated by because he claims it was nothing. He said he was sitting in his office, knowing there was a reason he came into the office and in came Tyler. He did an echo which looked fine and decided to send him home since the hospital is filled with germs. Our doctor calls to check up on us which mean so much to our little family. How we love all the doctors and nurses that take such good care of Tyler! He seems to be doing better and eating better. He isn't gaining much weight but that is ok. We are giving him Zantac to see if acid reflux is the reason for his constant crying. Danny and I are pretty physically and mentally drained and hoping for easier months ahead. I know we are being refined though this process, have gained empathy for parents with sick or irritable babies and learned to deal with one thing at a time. On a better note, Tyler was up for over an hour in the middle of the night and I realized that in a couple of weeks all I will want to do is hold him in my arms when he is hooked up to all his machines again and realized I should treasure this time instead of wishing I could be sleeping. There really is always a positive you can find. Sometimes it is just so hard to focus on the positive instead of the negative.

Tis The Season of Work Parties

Went to Scott's Seafood in Jack London Square with Dr. Wu's staff. It was so beautiful with the christmas tree lit up and the restaurant on the water front. We had a great meal and a great time getting to the know the staff. Everyone was so friendly! One of our greatest Christmas presents is for Danny to be settled into 3 great practices. He was working for an office that was "interesting" in many regards and happy to be in a much better setting. From left to right..associate dentist in Oakland & his lawyer wife, Dr. Wu & his missing wife who was at a gig as a professional singer, dentist & her endodontist boyfriend who works with Dr. Wu, my cute hubby, assistants and their boyfriend & husband. I can't remember anyones name. That is what happens when you marry a guy who never forgets a name.

Have you missed food shots from the didge? Well, we forgot to a get a picture of Dr. Stirm's staff but did remember to take a picture of the meal. Steak with prawns...yummy!! Out to dinner without the kids. What a TREAT! get it...referring to the food being a treat, the office being on Treat and dinner without kids being our little treat.

Walnut Creek on Ice

It should be called WC on Ice on a tennis court. Celebrating Lukes birthday we hit the downtown Walnut Creek Ice rink. Oh-so-FUN!! Laurel, one of my best friends from high school came to town and of course we needed to go ice skating to see all her impressive moves..she is semi-pro from her lessons. We headed to Walnut Creek on Ice, a temporary ice rink set up from November to January, which is a couple of blocks from our home. It was so fun. We skated from 9-11pm. Tyler slept in his car seat all bundled in blankets and Scott watched all the ice-skaters. The most humerous part of the night was seeing skater one minute and the next they'll have hit the wall directly in front of us and drop....They definitely need lessons from Laurel. Scott will be on the ice next year. Great night. This is what life is all about....fun times with the fam.

Do they look alike??

Scott's bath.
Tylers Bath/
Scott sleeping.
Tyler sleeping.

No they don't. Scott had dark, think hair when he was a baby although he is blond now. Tyler has auburn hair. Scott has dark brown eyes. Tyler has hazel eyes. Scott has a square face. Tyler has a more oval face. Scott has darker skin. Tyler has more fair skin. Scott has concerned eyes. Tyler has big eyes. Scott has more masculine features. Tyler has more petite features. Scott has no scars. Tyler has warrior scars. Lillie did this on her blog to show how much her girls look alike. We don't quite have that in this family. We don't know whose genes go to who. I guess they are a mix of the McMillan/Lietz genes.

Scott & Tyler...Are they really brothers??

Scott 7 lb 15 oz....1 week early.
Tyler 7 lb 12 oz...induced on my due date.
Scott 1 month. Chilling at home.
Tyler 1 month. Just home.

Tylers Cardiology Update

Tylers Dr. appointment went well today. Tyler's o2 sats went from the mid 80's to low 90's which is much better than Monday and he weighed in at 10.8 pounds. We are grateful for how well his heart is doing. He is still pretty fussy (truth is he is very fussy). Danny and I are going on little sleep most nights and hope that he will outgrow this stage eventually. I think it is colic or bad gas pains. I feel so bad for the little guy. He is usually so uncomfortable and there is nothing you can do for him, but at least his heart is doing better. We hope for a better nights sleep.

Train exhibit

Danny, the boys and I went to the Blackhawk Car Musuem to see their european train exhibit. Danny has an HO train set that Scott and he love to play with and watch. Scott is also really into Thomas trains these days. The musuem was neat. We weren't too into the cars, but the train exhibit was awesome and I am not even that into trains. The tracks went around the entire room and represented different european countries with music, buidlings and people. There were bridges and tunnels, water ways and towers. Scott stood in different areas and loved to watch as the trains come by. It was a fun day. Afterwards we went to a cute little burger place and sat in the shade enjoying the beautiful day. I can't believe it is December and almost too hot for a sweatshirt. I am loving it!!! Scott loved the fountains, ducks and huge contruction site pouring cement. He is a true boy. It is fun to see him at the age that he is into certain things and enjoying himself so much. I really love toddlers. It was a fun date with my hubby and boys. They are soo much fun. Tyler is doing alright. He had a rough night and is still pretty upset. Time to help him.

December Cardiology Appointment

Scott, Tyler & I strolled into our cardiology appt about 15 minutes late yesterday which I will blame on Scott. Of couse if you read my last blog, you will know I have a hard time managing my time. Anyway, Scott got new shoes, which he isn't so fond of and throws fits because they aren't his old shoes which he is VERY attached to and misses dearly even though they are too small. I guess he isn't buying our stories about how super fast they will make him run. I think I might have a shoe man in training. The shoe store with Scott is worse than the doctors office. He will look but not allow anyone to take his shoes from him. Bazaar, I know. So he had a fit getting shoes on. So, back to the important stuff...Tyler had his appt yesterday. Got his synagis shot for high risk babies to fight RSV. He weighed in at 10.5 which is great, however, we thought he weighed that on Wednesday from a feeding study we do. It might be that the scales are off. He looks well. He has been really fussy with what we think is bad gas pains, getting up a lot, uncomfortable and sometimes gets irregular breathing patterns. Danny and I don't get much sleep at night which has been hard. I am so lucky to have a husband that puts in 150% when he is home. I try to take him as much as I can and Danny tries to take him as much as he can that somehow seems to work out each night. There are days that we wake up pretty tired. Anyway, his sats started in the high 60's which isn't good. After being there for a while, feeding him, he finally settled into 85-86. The sats were all over the place. Big drop from his last 2 appts where he was 95-96. We have another appt set up for this Friday, so we will see how they are and what we can do to correct the problem if there is one. Scott does great at the office. We were there from 1030-1245 and he played with my wallet, read a book, helped the nurses and poured his water everywhere...woops. So keep Tyler in your prayers. We hope our appt in a couple of days goes better. His cath is scheduled for January 21st and surgery 1-2 days afterwards. That is if there are no unexpected hurdles along the way which there might be. I LOVE our cardiology nurse who sets up everything for us and is like our personal nurse/assistant/mentor/friend for Tyler. She admired what a great kid Scott was and I told her he was born with that personality, which he was. She said she sees a lot of parents stress and it is passed on to their children and thinks Danny and I are doing an amazing job staying calm which is evident in our kids. As much as it felt so great to hear that compliment, I do know that it isn't all us. I do agree with her that when I am stressed it is passed onto the kids. Scott usually is difficult when he is tired or when I am stressed which is when I need to sit down, realize they are the most important, spend time with them and everyone calms down. What a great reminder from her that I want to remember in my own life! I really have felt an overwhelming amount of peace with Tyler and know that he is in the Lord's hands. How grateful I am for that.

Tagged By Kerry

5 things I was doing 10 years ago

1. hanging with the GG's
2. swimming fast..those were the days
3. paging 70113 11 7075*143*823*47
4. watching Days of our Lives & A wedding story with my sister
5. homework

5 things on my to do list today

1. clean the house
2. get posters for a meet this weekend
3. think of christmas gift ideas..I am realistic and know I won't get the shopping done.
4. call in meds for Tyler
5. blog

5 snacks I enjoy

1. watermelon
2. yogurt
3. bagels
4. chocolate
5. green apples

5 things I would do if I were a billionaire

1. save..it's in our nature
2. buy a house
3. pay off dental school loans
4. start a non-profit for heart kids
5. do service missions

3 bad habits

1. don't manage my time well so I am always running to the next thing
2. I don't cook
3. I take my frustrations out on Danny

5 places I've lived

1. Clayton, CA
2. Walnut Creek, CA
3. Provo, UT
4. Spain; Madrid, Barcelona, Benidorm, Elche

5 jobs I've had

1. snack bar worker, Heather Farms
2. swim coach
3. commercial sales
4. swimmer...does that count? Hey, it paid for school & everything associated with it.
5. mom

5 things you probably don't know about me (this is for Kerry who tagged me)

1. I had goats, a horse, and many other animals who were all named Kerry growing up
2. I wanted to name all my children kerry when I was younger
3. I don't want to name my children kerry anymore
4. I would be happy being a mom to all boys
5. I really love living in a condo right now

I tag the first 5 people on my friends list. I don't know who that is so take a look & it just might be you!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!! Our family has so much to give thanks for this holiday season. Here are a few of the things we are giving thanks for:
Walnut Creek & our Condo...we love where we live. It is close to San Francisco, the beach, mountains and so much to do. Our little city has great parks, shopping, restaurants, wonderful weather and so much more. We are so lucky to live here.
We are grateful for the miracles of prayer, our faith in God and knowledge of eternal families.
Friends like you!! We don't know what we would do without our friends and family that have done so much for us these past couple of months. We love you!!

Our little miracle baby! We are grateful for our son that reminds us to be grateful for everyday that we have together, for our family, faith and hope. We love you Tyler. We are so blessed to have you in our family!

Scott & Binkies...Scott makes us laugh day and night. He is the sweetest most loving son any mom or dad could dream of. He is the best big brother and so much fun to have in our family. We love you Scott!

Danny & Motorcycles...I love my husband. He is a kid at heart, loving, caring and such a great dad. I don't know what I would do without you sweetie. I love you...you complete me!

Fun Times! We have been so blessed to be able to enjoy life. We love where we are and feel so fortunate for our many blessings and opportunities to have so many great adventures like going to Mazatlan and playing at the beach. I am grateful for memories of good times. They make me happy.

Danny the Dentist...Danny loves his profession. He loves working with his hand, working with others and has been so fortunate to have some great mentors and associateships in dentistry. I feel so blessed that my husband loves the profession that he chose. You realize how lucky you are when you enjoy what you do every day. This is a picture of one of his students work. Thank goodness for dental school.

I love my job. I get to stay home with my kids in the day and work at night. I love coaching kids, being outdoors, and having great friends. Scott and I are at a swimmeet. Go Aquabears!!
My parents. They made me who I am. They are two of the most generous and caring people I know. My boys and I are so lucky to have them so close!

Laughter...the cure for all.
My sister and the baby bjorn...I am so lucky to have a sister who is full of wisdom, love and so much fun to be around. The baby bjorn is the best invention for any mom with two kids. I don't know how parents did it before this invention!

Who's the Man of the Mancation?

For those who don't know Danny does print modeling every once in a while. Danny's latest modeling gig...win a charlotte mancation! It was advertising some contest for men to come to Charlotte and have a "man-vacation" also known as a mancation. I will post other ads he's done in the future so stay tuned. This has been the most bizarre photo shoot that Danny has been a part of with a very interesting photographer. For all that live on the east coast, the ad is in several magazines like sports illustrated and esquire. If anyone sees a copy send one our way. This isn't advertised on the West Coast. The other day he met up with a really nice photographer to do a trade of head shots for modeling so they could both build their portfolio. Danny thinks the photographer als was looking for a date out of it. Too bad he's taken and straight.

Autumn & Dan-O's Wedding

just married....grooms side...Danny is in the far left.
bride and groom with the kids. Someday in the near future...

massive cake. Yummy....

Danny had a great time. They got married on Saturday at the Mount Timpanogos Temple in Utah. The reception was at Thanksgiving Point. The lucky couple is honeymooning on a cruise in the Riviera. I am jealous.

Pokemon

So some of my swimmers are really into pokemon. One of them spends the entire workout quizzing and awarding points to the other kids on pokemon trivia. There is a lot of trivia. I question where they find all this information and how much time they spend learning it. He remembers everyones points and writes them in a book at night for their running tally. Some kids have hundreds of points. I asked them when they were waiting their turn to go if pokeman live in families. He responds, "No, but they do lay eggs." I love that they linked my question about families to laying eggs. All of a sudden I felt like I had gotten into a converstion that was too much information. He then goes on to say they get dropped of at nursery and if they are compatable they lay eggs together. I always thought that nursery was where you dropped your kids off to play, not to lay eggs. I am not sure if I am going to let my kids play Pokemon. It seems a little weird to me.

Danny's Trip to Utah

Danny left for Utah on Friday to go to Dan's wedding who is one of his friends from middle school on. Of course nothing runs as smooth as possible lately. Maybe it's so we can entertain you on our blog or so that I can continue celebrating "Super Daddy Danny Week," for Danny's birthday. On our way out the door for the airport Danny remembered his temple recommend expired this month and he was still lacking an interview which he needed to go to the wedding ceremony. I dropped him off at BART with Scott, his luggage, camera bag and backpack for his trip to the Oakland Airport. It was 2PM and his flight was at 4:40. The stake president called Danny and told him that he could meet him at his office in San Francisco to receive his recommend. Danny went to San Francisco, found the firm, got his recommend renewed, hopped in a taxi (remember he has Scott) and makes it to the airport with minutes to spare. He checks his baggage outside, cuts in front of everyone, runs to the plane and made it to Utah. I was certain he would not make the flight, but once again my husband has been full of wonderful surprises this week. So Danny and Scott are in Utah and Tyler and I are in California. Tyler can't be in altitude because of his heart. I will keep you posted on the rest of his trip. Hopefully it isn't as eventful as the beginning. I am sure several people think it is a lot of work for Danny to go through all this to get his recommend renewed. We believe that the temple is a very sacred and holy place and that all those who enter should be worthy and understand and respect its purpose and holiness. A lot of people asked me questions when Danny and I got married about the temple, our marriage and who could enter. Hopefully this explains a little for inquiring minds.

Temples are literally houses of the Lord. They are holy places of worship where individuals make sacred covenants with God. Because making covenants with God is such a solemn responsibility, individuals cannot enter the temple to receive their endowments or be sealed in marriage for eternity until they have fully prepared themselves. Throughout history, the Lord has commanded His people to build temples. The Church is working to build temples all over the world to make temple blessings more available for a greater number of Heavenly Father's children. Temples are places of learning. Their principal purpose is to provide ordinances necessary for the children of God to enable them to return to dwell with Him. Temple ordinances lead to the greatest blessings available through the Atonement of Jesus.

1. One ordinance received in the temple is called the endowment. The word endowment means "gift," and the temple endowment truly is a gift from God. The ordinance consists of a series of instructions and includes covenants to live righteously and follow the requirements of the gospel. The endowment focuses on the Savior, His role in Heavenly Father's plan, and the personal commitment of each member to follow Him.
   
2. Another temple ordinance is celestial marriage. In this ordinance husband and wife are sealed to one another for eternity. A sealing performed in the temple continues forever if the husband and wife are faithful to the covenants they make.
   
3. Children born to parents who have been sealed in the temple are born in the covenant. These children automatically become part of an eternal family. Children who are not born in the covenant can also become part of an eternal family once their natural or adoptive parents have been sealed to one another. The ordinance of sealing children to parents is performed in the temple.
   
4. People who have died without these essential gospel ordinances may receive those ordinances through the work done in temples. Acting in behalf of ancestors and others who have died, Church members are baptized and confirmed, receive the endowment, and participate in the sealings of husband to wife and children to parents.
   

I love going to the temple. It is a place of peace, away from the world, where you can hear the still small voice of Heavenly Father.

My question for my readers are what are some of your favorite places to be?

1. I love the beach or pool on a sunny day.
2. I love my cozy bed (especially when I am able to sleep).
3. I love going to dinner with my family for special occasions.

Root Canal Theory

If it were only as easy as kisses making the pain go away!! Last night after a long days work, my poor husband got a call from his most important patient. I know that he felt soo bad to hear that his favorite patient had a horrible tooth ache, so he went into the office at 6pm and started a root canal on #15, the farthest back molar. Do wives ever make things easy for their husbands? Anyway, I know why endodontists can charge $1200 for a root canal and get away with it. You go in with this horrible pain, claiming that you would do ANYTHING to get rid of it. It is just that unbearable and an hour later you walk away pain free, a happy man or woman, able to conquer the world and promising yourself that you will never eat chocolate or the kids leftover Halloween candy again. So my hero for the day is my husband. My sister was also my hero for coming over and watching the little rascals for the night on such a last minute notice. They are two of my favorite people in the whole wide world. I love you guys!! For those who have good teeth and have never had the joy of experiencing a root canal, it is actually quite a pleasant experience. What other horrible pain can you go into a doctors office for and come out pain free? Actually, this summer I went into the doctors office because I thought I had a bladder infection. I went in with a lot of pain, went pee in a cup and came out a happy woman! Any guesses. That is right, I passed a kidney stone right there in the office. So much for having to strain my pee for the next 3 days. I know how to make things easy on myself. I just go to the office to give them my stone. Sorry if that was too much information for you, but those have been two great doctor office experiences that I have had. Giving birth was also a great experience when the pain was worth it. You walk away with a cute little baby. Sadly, I can't complain about the pain (even though I do to my husband non-stop) since the root canal is due to my love for chocolate, the kidney stone was due to not drinking enough water during pregnancy and in my opinion people are just plain crazy for having kids without drugs....Even though I do it, I really don't know why or recommend it to anyone else.

Debut of the Mashoonga!

So our friends, the Bogners, have created an amazing game. The Mashoonga! It is a contact game like no other played with bo-staffs and sabers. They are excited to be debuting their game at The Sports Basement in Walnut Creek this Saturday. It will be a lot of fun, plus there will be free pizza, prizes and the Mashoonga Challenge. Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007 3:00-5:00pm, Sports Basement (across from Heather Farms Park) 1881 Ygnacio Valley Road, Walnut Creek, CA 94598. To find our more and see a video of the game go to http://www.mashoonga.com/

Happy Birthday Danny!!

The love of my life turns 29 today!! Wahooo. The entire family except for Danny is sick which saldy meant that Danny stayed up with the baby for most of the night since Tyler decided not to sleep much. What a way to start your birthday. We celebrated Danny's birthday on Wednesday with my parents, who left for China for 3 weeks, Heather, Jason, Betty & Bob. Danny got an investment book which he is excited about and started to read. He has started to invest in the stock market which is very exciting. It is fun to get our little families portfolio going. He is enjoying a new helmet for the VFR which looks awesome and got new brakes for his bike. We are off to a car show now. 10 reasons I am grateful for Danny:

1. He is the best dad. He plays with Scott non stop and teaches him all these new things including spanish. He takes the baby in the middle of the night so I can get rest and is so full of love for his two little boys.


2. He loves me and would do anything and everything for me.


3. He works so hard for our little family, never gets upset and is always there for us.


4. He loves his job. He is honest, a great dentist and wants the best for everyone.


5. He loves the Lord. Our family revolves around the Lord, prayer and peace (most of the time) which I wouldn't trade for anything.


6. He can do or fix anything he puts his mind to.


7. He allows me to follow my dreams and encourages me to do what makes me happy.


8. He is a kid at heart. He gets excited about the littlest things, which makes me realize I need to stop being so serious sometimes and be a kid again.


9. He cooks for us.


10. He makes me happy..Is there anything more important??

For this I want to say happy birthday Danny. I hope you have a great 29th year!

Cardiology Appointment

Tyler had an EKG, echo and quick pediatric appt today. His echo looked really good. There is some leakage in certain areas which is alright and can even be present in normal hearts. There is a narrowing where they enlarged the aorta using a homograph. Overall, the heart is doing better compared to the last echo a month ago which is great news. The goal is to keep Tyler healthy until his 2nd surgery, which he will hopefully make him much stronger and more able to get through a sickness, which would be very hard for his heart now. He got his first Synagis treatment today which is a monthly medication protecting high risk children from RSV, a common winter virus. Scott and I have had a pretty bad cold for the past week. I was pretty scared that Tyler would get it and we are trying our best to wash our hands and keep the kids away from each other. Instead of worrying about Scott getting sick, we just worry about it getting passed onto Tyler since it could be devastating for his heart. If everything goes well in the next 2 months, Tyler will have his next cardiology check-up at UCSF during his heart cath at the very beginning of January. They are hoping they will also be able to do the second surgery, Glenn Procedure, which routes oxygen-poor blood from the upper half of the body (superior vena cava) by connecting it to the pulmonary artery—which then routes blood to the lungs, 1-2 days after the cath. That would be a great Christmas present if we get to that point. Dr. Azakie, the surgeon, and Dr. Title, who does the cath, will closely examine the results, and determine what can and needs to be fixed in the second surgery as well as doing the Glenn Procedure. They want to fix as much as they can of the smaller problems ie. enlarging the aorta, fixing any leaking valves, etc, since he will hopefully only have 1 more major open heart surgery that is done much later at 3-5 years. His sats were 96% which is great and very good for his brain. His blood pressure is also looking much better with the higher numbers being higher and lower numbers being lower, whatever that means. It has been explained to me but I forget. I am sure after hearing it for the 100th time, I will eventually learn everything. For now, we are becoming quite the experts in heart disease. I think I am going to take it easy these next two months to get Tyler to surgery 2. It is funny how you look forward to getting to the next step because that means he will be stronger if everything goes well. We are quite blessed to have these two little guys in our life. As Tyler was getting some shots today, I felt so fortunate to live where we do with such amazing medical treatment. There are kids all over the world that have so many struggles that we can't even comprehend. For this we are blessed!

Scott & Tylers

Does anyone else think the doll that they used for this picture is really scary?

Ok, so our new stroller is called Phil & Teds, but isn't Scott & Tylers a more suitable name for my stroller? I love the stroller! It isn't a true jogging stroller like our BOB...not as good of shocks, doesn't roll as smoothly, but in my opinion the best double stroller out there. It is so compact and creative. It can be a single stroller, a double stroller with an infant lying flat and later a double stroller with 2 seats when Tyler is big enough to sit. This picture is of my boys eating a jamba juice. Tyler is in the back, lying down, which later turns into a seat. These are the baby inventions that I wish I could think of and become a millionaire. When Scott was a baby Danny came in at 12AM with his million dollar idea. He said, "Heidi, I have a million dollar idea. A machine that warms wipes." "That's my hubby...it was a great invention!" I thought. I loved it and sadly had to inform him that we became parents a couple generations too late because someone had already invented his idea. So what are your million dollar baby ideas? Or are you smart and keeping them top secret?