Sleep in Heavenly Peace

It's amazing how our feelings about sleep change as we get older. I for one, and I'm sure most of you mommies out there will agree with me, feel like I have been sleep deprived since the moment I found out I was pregnant. It suddenly becomes such a big deal how you sleep, how much you are sleeping, where you sleep ( I spent the last month of my pregnancy and the first three months of Chasey's life on the couch. I do NOT recommend it!) and so on. Babies get to sleep as much as they want. I've realized lately that I have a ton of pictures of Chasey sleeping. So much so that I can't wait to do an entire segment in the scrap book, just of him napping in various places!

Obviously the carrier is a popular spot!

And again, something to consume us, is baby getting enough sleep at night? Are they taking naps during the day? Are they on their backs, not covering their face with the blanket, warm enough and not too warm, oh and are they breathing??? As we get older it seems the desire gets stronger for sleep, but the amount of time left over from a gagillion other things makes the actuality of sleep harder. I guess that is just what mommies do. So I will take one for the team! I will continue my depravation for the greater good! Here's to my men sleeping in Heavenly peace. I'll catch up someday!!

My "little" man as he gets bigger and bigger...

Milestones

You know how when a baby is first born and till they are about 3, once they've been potty trained, you keep track of every milestone? Everything is a big deal and the dates are jotted down, you take pictures of them doing all the new things they do, and cherish every memory. Then once they get to where they aren't doing as many new things so often, the milestone memories slow down. There is the first day of first grade, losing their first baby tooth, and a few other things, but not as many new, exciting things as when they were a baby. Well, yesterday marked a huge milestone day in my family's life. Our little Audrey, first born grandchild, and niece in the Christensen family, was baptized.

I compare that to the milestones I am watching my son accomplish. Right now we are anticapating new teeth, and trying to get him to sit up for more than a minute before his heavy head makes him fall forward. It's amazing to be an observer of babies as they grow, and older children as they start to become litlle adults. Being a member of the church is a big responsibility, and one that I am excited to watch Audrey discover. Just like sitting up is a big deal too. I'm so proud to be a mommy and an auntie who has such precious babies in her life. So cheers to my Auj and my Chasey who are such fantastic little people. I sure love you both!!

The Yard Sale Queens

It is official. I have an obsession. This summer I have discovered how fun it is to go yard saling. I have found some awesome deals, and due to my incredible powers of persuasion, or other peoples incredible desire to get rid of their crap, I have yet to pay the marked price on anything. But even more fun than going, has been hosting. I have done three this summer. The last two have been with my good friends Amy Hawkes and Becki Jones. The three of us are becoming quite seasoned. We've even gotten our husbands and kids joining in the fun, most of all Adam Hawkes who has become a yard sale king. He even has hung up "Used Car Lot" flags for us to draw more attention. And it has definetly worked. All said and done, we made over $1500 during the two that we've done. We've decided infact, to make it a biannual occasion, having one at the end of the Spring and another at the beginning of fall.

The most interesting thing to me in observing the frequent yard saler, is what is junk to us, is so useful to other people. We often commented that it is always interesting to see what people find to buy at yard sales. At our first earlier this summer, we sold a lot of clothes, at the second hardly any. At the second we sold about 25 board games, with the help of another friend who joined us for the second, Andrea Baugh, and at the first we didn't even have games. But, you know what they say, one womans trash, anothers treasure! Here's to a new tradition that will keep us in the money for years to come!

The "Eyes" have it!

When Chasey was about 2 months old we noticed a film on his left eye that came and went. It seemed he could blink it away, so we didn't think much of it. As he got a little older, it seemed the film got more persistent. It looked like a tiny piece of Saran Wrap right in the center of his eye. At his 4 month Doctor appointment Caradon pointed it out to our family doctor, who seemed concerned and referred us to a local pediatric optomotrist. We went and saw Dr. Abrams (who Caradon might refer to as Dr. Knows Nothing) later that week. Over the course of a month, we saw Dr. Abrams 5 or 6 times, with him providing no more information, yet making us feel stupid for our concern. He did however have us take Chasey to Primary Childrens Hospital for a MRI, which turned out to be the scariest, and most relief-filled experience of our lives! Relief came by way of a nice doctor who told us Chasey did NOT have cancer. Caradon was so happy, she hugged him :). Finally, Dr. Abrams recommended we go see a specialist, which Caradon's mom will tell you until she's blue in the face, she suggested all along!

Drs. Warner, Hoffman and Mifflin have been heaven sent for this little boy! Although every time we see them, the medication regiment seems to change, usually in the way of us adding more! We have been through 3 eye drops, 2 ointments and an oral medication, all of which are given more than once a day. But Chasey is such a trooper! He lays there and lets us put things in his eye all day long! One of the doctors told us, Chasey is the first baby he has ever seen allow him to put their chin up on the device they use to look into the pupil! Yay Chasey!!

Our latest development in this saga has been to turn our little boy into a pirate for an hour every day. But he looks so darn cute with that patch over his right eye. There is concern that his brain is telling his left eye not to bother since whatever he sees out of it is blurry. So, in order to prevent lazy eye later, we are working his left eye now. Our adorable neighbor boys make sure to talk to Chasey whenever he has his patch on, so we can all make sure he is sufficiently using the left eye when it is patched!

The final diagnosis is that Chasey has herpes simplex. Apparantly everybody is born with the herpes virus in their body. For some people it will manifest itself as cold sores or something similar. Most people never have to deal with it, it just stays dormant in their bodies. But there are the few who get it in their eyes. I guess it is just something he will learn to live with.

Thank goodness for modern technology. Though there is a chance Chasey will always have a blurry spot in his left eye, with lasers coming as far as they have, there always seem to be ways to make eyesite better. We are just hanging on to our faith that this boy has an important mission on this earth, and it will require his good eyesight. Heavenly Father is blessing us so much. Chasey has such a positive demeanor, and doesn't stop at all, even when obstacles are thrown in his way. What lucky parents we are!!

Getting started....

I don't think I have many talents, but I can write. The queen of BS, I can't recall a paper for a class in my life that wasn't at least tolerable. It is something I enjoy, and this seems like a great way to channel that ability, and hopefully provide a way to keep in touch with everyone. To let you know the goings on of the Bowen family, as we are literally Chasing Chasey!