Clifton is 5!

Updates on Clifton -
He turned 5!  He woke up and asked if he turned 5 why he hasn't gotten bigger yet.  He sure is a great boy and we have love him so much.  This week we really learned what a great big brother and boy he is, Alex and I had to be gone for a day while we took Stanley into the doctors.  He told his Aunt who came to stay with them how the day was to go.  He told her how long they could watch tv and play on their phones.  He told her when McKay goes down for a nap and what they have for breakfast and lunch.  What a big boy he is!  A little OCD about his schedule (maybe a little like his mom an dad) but a great boy.  We also had to reschedule Clifton's party because Stanley was in the hospital and Clifton totally understood and did not complain once about it.  Love that kid.

Updates on McKay -
She was meant to be an only child, I am certain of it.  Whenever McKay is alone she is amazing.  And its not because she is getting more attention from me, because lots of the time she goes and plays all by herself for hours.  As long as no other child is around (excluding Stanley he doesn't bug her - yet).  This will be her challenge throughout life because she has siblings and most likely will have more.

Updates on Stanley -
Well he has had a rough week.  Wednesday we rushed him into the ER because he had bronchiolitis again but this time he was struggling to breathe and his oxygen count was down.  He is home now but still recovering.

For FHE we took part of the free ice cream cone day at DQ.

They were a lot bigger than we expected, I think Alex ended up eating three cones :) And then went to play soccer with all that in his belly.

Tuesday was St. Patricks Day

I know its probably surprising but I don't go big on this holiday.  We all wore green, did some St. Patricks Day preschool activities with the kids, and our friend had a St. Patty's party.  It was a fun and busy day.

Wednesday was Clifton's birthday.  Each year I let the kids pick the activities they want to do on their actually birthday.  And to my surprise Clifton didn't choose Chuck E Cheese.  He said he wanted to ride the ferry to Seattle and watch Sounders (yep that's my boy).  Sadly Sounders were not playing that day so he wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel instead.  And for dinner he requested cake but I said no so then he requested Costco pizza.

Off to Seattle we go!

And my kids were best friends the whole trip which rarely happens.

On the way to Seattle I thought it would be cute if they announced his birthday over the speakers on the ferry.  So I asked crew and they did it.  Which Clifton thought was pretty awesome.  Then they came back and asked Clifton if he wanted to be captain for the day.  Of course he said yes!  So up we went.  The crew called him Captain Clifton and everything. It was a pretty amazing experience for Clifton.  What a wonderful crew - they made his day.

 Ferris Wheel ride.  Clifton was ecstatic that the wheel went around 5 times especially cause they said it would only go around 3.  He was sure it was because he is 5 now.  Oh the simple things that make him happy.

 Carousel ride

Cotton candy - first time for my kids trying it and reviews came out negative :)

Clifton is one loved boy.  He had many people call and text him happy birthday.  Evan came over and took him out to Ice cream, and other friends stopped by with gifts.  Thank you all who helped make his day special.  I am huge on birthdays so it was nice that everyone helped make it a wonderful day for him.

Stanley was amazing during the whole trip to Seattle.  He slept almost the whole time.  When we got home he was getting grumpy.  The night before he seemed to be congested and didn't sleep well so I thought it was due to that.  But as the night went on he would only stop crying when he was sleeping.  So he slept most of the day.  About 7 we started to get concerned with his breathing.  We asked our friend to come help give him a blessing and then my other friend who is a nurse to come look at him. Just about a month ago I took him into the doctors for the same issue and they said it was Bronchiolitis and there was not much I could do so sent me home.  So I was afraid that would happen again and I didn't want to wait all night in urgent care if they were just going to send me home.  But my friend Sarah said he needed to go in.  So I took him in pretty sure they were going to send me home.  They took me back to triage and within five minutes of looking at him and checking his oxygen they had about 5 doctors surrounding me and giving him medicine and oxygen while calling 911.

They put us in the ambulance and off we went to Mary Bridge Children's hospital.  Once we got there he had been given 4 doses of medicine and was on oxygen the whole time.  His color and alertness was back.  So the doctors at Mary Bridge said they would just keep an eye on him for an hour and probably send us home.  After the hour his breathing became a little more labored but his oxygen level wasn't down too much.  However, they decided we should stay the night and observe him in case it dropped again.  That was a good decision because hours later his oxygen levels dropped down to 82.  So they put him on oxygen.

Broke my heart but he was so much better with oxygen.  The next day he pretty much slept all day.  Which the doctors said was good but I sure missed my wiggly and happy boy. By that night he still needed oxygen and breathing treatment to keep his oxygen levels up.  So we stayed another night. By Friday morning he was more alert.

I was so happy to see his smiling face!  We did one last breathing treatment and then they tried to take off the oxygen.  He dropped at first but then was able to hold his own without oxygen.  So by that night we were able to go home.  His breathing was good but he still had a virus so is still sick.  Now to stay home and recover fully.

During this process we had so many people help us and send love our way.  Sterling helped with his blessing, Sarah got me to realize I needed to go into the doctors, Trissa came and hung out with my kids late late at night so Alex could join me at Mary Bridge, and Aunt Andrea dropped everything drove to our house late or should I say early in the morning and stayed the night and day with my kids so I could have Alex.  Alex's parents came up to visit and help with the other kids as soon as they could Thursday.  Kathryn visited with me Thursday night and brought me clothes and things I need so Alex could go home and get some rest and help with the other kids.  Mary visited with me in the morning helping keep my mind from wondering.  Karen brought my family dinner while we were at the hospital. We are so very blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful family and friends.  Alex was also so helpful and calm through the process.  I am glad to say we made a good team through this all.  I am sure this will scar me and I will be pretty paranoid about his breathing from here on out.  I am not convinced it was all because of Bronchiolitis, because I've read only about 1% get hospitalized due to it.  So I am thinking there might be something else like asthma.  But we will see, at least I know what to keep an eye out for now.

The kids visited Friday and Stanley was most excited to see Clifton.  They already have such a strong bond.  Stanley sure loves him some Clifton and vice versa.

Home with some of my favorite guys!

Sunday was Stake Conference and I stayed home with Stanley but Alex went and he was sustained as our Stake Young Mens President.  I am excited to see where this journey takes him and our family.