Sabino Canyon

Last weekend we went to Sabino Canyon and did a six mile hike. We wanted to make it to the top, but I was only four weeks postpartum, and my hips couldn't take it. It was still a lot of fun. We've had a fair bit of rain this year, so the river that runs through the canyon was actually a river. It was high enough that it covered a lot of the bridges that you hike through. It was chilly water, but the weather was nice so our shoes dried quickly. At one point we stopped so I could feed baby Devin and the boys and Michelle (and Michelle's significant other Ivan) had fun throwing rocks in the river. I was kind of paranoid about Brayden because if he fell it could really hurt his broken jaw, but Ivan was really good about staying with Brayden and holding his hand. The actual hiking was on a paved trail, so we put the older boys in the double jogger and Michelle carried Devin in the bjorn. It was a great set up. I even took a jacket to put in between Brayden's face and the side of the jogger so that if we hit a bump Brayden's jaw wouldn't hit the medal bars on the side of the jogger. I really sound paranoid, but based on the comments the ENT made when we had Brayden's follow up appointment, I need to be this way. So this hike was really pretty and we actually saw green trees by the river. It reminded me a lot of Provo Canyon. One of the highlights was when we were near the end, all the bunny rabbits came out and we saw probably 10 or so in the last half mile of the hike. Thus far, it's probably my favorite thing we've done in Tucson. Thanks for being the camera man Mike!

Two ER visits and a near miss

The hospital gave Brayden several Thomas the Train toys that fortunately work with our train set.

This weekend has been a little traumatic for Braydo. Friday morning Brayden took a thermarest camping mattress and built a bridge between his bed and Caleb's bed and was racing matchbox cars on it. Than he decided he could run across it. I heard one of those crashes where you run, not walk, to find out what is going on and found out Brayden had smashed his face into the side of his bed and it hurt really bad. A couple minutes later his speech became really slurred and he couldn't shut his jaw and the right side of his face where he hit started swelling. At that point I got worried that he might have broken something and I knew I wasn't going to be great at handling it with the amount of sleep I had gotten the night before, so I called Mike and made him come home. We took Brayden to the pediatrician who sent Mike and Brayden to the ER. After an x-ray and a cat scan, they decided he had a broken mandible and a dislocated TMJ joint. They re-set the dislocated joint and said the broke bone would heal on its own. They discharged him the next morning, he came home and by the afternoon he was back in the ER because his bone had popped out again. We thought for sure they would have to wire his jaw shut, which freaked Brayden out, but they reset the bone again, and said they would try again to go without wiring it. We brought him home and this morning he started throwing up and couldn't keep anything down. We called the on-call nurse and she said if things didn't improve by the afternoon we had to take him back in. Fortunately after a little nap (and a priesthood blessing) he was able to keep down sprite and by evening he was back on his soft-food diet. Thus far his jaw is staying in place and feeling much better. We are grateful for priesthood blessings, prayers, family, good friends, and a really tough little boy who took this like a man.

One of the more tender moments this weekend for me was that the ENT we saw Friday night seemed annoyed to be there on a Friday night and not really wanting to spend much time or energy making sure Brayden was getting the best care. When we took Brayden back to the hospital on Saturday we prayed that the doctor that saw Brayden would feel a lot of compassion for him and would care more about giving him the best care than his personal time. We had the same doctor we did the night before, but the difference in attitude was amazing. At one point he flat out said that he was going to take a different route than most doctors because he wanted this to be the best for Brayden. He said it could take a lot more of his time, but he wasn't worried about that. I love that the spirit can touch people when they are not even aware of it.

Now I just have to try and keep a house full of boys calm enough that Brayden's jaw can actually mend properly. I think we might be investing in some new board games or something.

Cute boys

I took a couple pictures of Brayden and Caleb hoping to get something that would work for taking advantage of Shutterfly's 50% off canvas prints. I didn't end up getting pictures that would work for canvas, but I think they turned out really cute (especially after Jessica doctored them a bit). I think I might have to print and frame them even if I can't turn them into canvases.

Made in Michigan

Devin was born Tuesday and we saved a little Michigan hat from when Caleb was born, and we decided to use it for Devin since he is our last Michigan baby. I was really amazed how many people at the hospital recognized the M for Michigan. One guy even confessed to being a Buckeye. Who would have thought so many people in AZ follow Michigan ball. Go blue!!

Induction date

So I got a pleasant surprise at my 38-week OB appointment today. The doctor asked, "So, do you want to be induced?" Umm, yeah! So they set it up for next week, Feb. 23 first thing in the morning. So I'm counting on no baby this week so that next Tuesday I can get a good night sleep, wake up, drive to the hospital without having contractions for the whole half an hour drive, get my epidural early, and have my sister all set to watch my kids, and hopefully have a baby by bedtime. And I seriously think I'll need the whole week to get everything ready. Wash the clothes, do deep cleaning that won't happen after the baby is born, sterilize bottles, find a diaper bag, buy a nursing bra, etc, etc, etc. Should be fun!

Cutest nephew ever

So do I have the cutest nephew ever?? And the craftiest sister-in-law ever? This is the cutest thing I've ever seen. Maybe I can have this baby soon and copy their idea. Bring on the contractions.

Your IPod is my IPod if you don't listen up

Ever heard the mom song? Well, if not, google it and listen (I'm too lazy to give you the link). The title is one of our favorite quotes from that song/parody. The reason I bring it up is because my new favorite website has your own candy IPod that my sister has promised me she'll make for the boys for Valentine's Day. Having a really crafty sister in the house has been great for the boys. They really like arts and crafts right now and we've been able to do some really fun things. Another reason this little craft is so applicable to our family is that Michelle is a big time music lover and it has also rubbed off on the boys. Yesterday she was doing craft time with them and they were all singing Cowboy Casanova by Carrie Underwood. Often she'll bribe Caleb to go running with her by saying he can listen to her IPod while he sits in the jogger. Last time she took him he wouldn't get out of the jogger because he wanted to keep listening.