Bentleys endoscopy

Poor little bentley has had GI problems since he was born.   When I was nursing him I could not have dairy or it would upset his tummy.  He had major acid reflux to the point that he would puke all day long- require several outfit changes a day, etc.  

Then when I had to stop pumping because it was taking over my life- we switched bentley to formula.  Then he would scream and scream and not sleep.  Eventually we switched to alimentum formula- very expensive and does not have milk in it.   Then once he started eating real food he would scream and scream again, so we took him off of soy.  Soy is a nightmare because it is in almost everything that comes in a package.   His food choices were very limited and he had no teeth so he couldn't chew a lot of things.   On top of all this he was not gaining weight or sometimes even losing weight.  He was weighed every month or so if not more often starting at about 8/9 months old.  He got down into the 2nd percentile.   

At one point we took him off gluten too but that didn't seem to fix anything and that's when his barfing started.  He would just puke randomly and then be completely fine.  He also was pooping 6 times a day.

Finally in June we got into dr kaddu who specializes in GI issues in kids.  

He recommended doing an endoscopy and colonoscopy to try and figure out the multiple problems 

Here is bentley the night before the procedures.  He could only have clear liquids and nothing red.  Try giving clear liquids to a baby who doesn't want anything to do with broth, jello, or Gatorade.  He does like Popsicles but not so much this night. 

He was a sad kid because he was hungry and did not want the yucky stuff we were feeding him.  

He was also supposed to drink miralax but no matter what we tried he would not drink it.  

He did however like the chocolate laxative!

The next morning we had to be at the hospital around 630 am.  

Bentley did not want to wear the gown and he did not want to sit in the crib 

He got some versed and wow he was funny.   He was acting drunk.  He was blowing kisses to everyone.   The nurse carried him away and he didn't really seem to mind. 

When he woke up after the procedure he was not happy at all.   He was starving but also just really irritable.   We took him home pretty quick and tried to get him down for a nap but he wouldn't sleep in his bed.   He would only sleep in our arms.   He was very irritable all day and couldn't walk straight until the next day.   It took until the next afternoon for him to get back to usual as far as behavior, but then he was throwing up 1-2 times a day for several days before he finally got back to normal

Brynlee wanted to draw a picture for her aunt Suzanne.  She did this all herself in her room (she was supposed to be going to sleep) 

It says "Brynlee" and "suve".  She often gets her "v"s and "z"s mixed up.   

When I first saw it I asked Brynlee who helped her.  She told me she did it herself, 

"I just sounded it out "suzie"" !!!!

I was majorly impressed for 4 1/2 years old

Father's Day 2015

An attempt to get both kids to look at camera... Fail

John got an awesome homemade card from Brynlee and a griddle plus homemade ocean water and Reese pieces 

Brynlees broken arm

Brynlee was swinging in johns parents backyard on June 22.  She fell off the swing.  We can always tell when something is really wrong because she won't stop screaming.  We took her to the after hours clinic and after an X-ray it was confirmed that she had broken both the radius and ulna near her wrist.   Thankfully it wasn't a bad break ( I can't even see it on an X-ray) and was not near the growth plate.   Due to swelling she had an ace wrap for a couple of days before they put the pink cast on. 

Lucky for us they have waterproof casts now so she could still go swimming.  It would have been a long and miserable st. George summer without swimming.  She got her cast off about a month later.

Brynlee's preschool graduation -may 2015

There were strict instructions from brynlees preschool teacher to not bring other kids to the graduation.   John was working and my mom had to stay home with bentley.  Grandma miller was at Jaxons kindergarten graduation which was at the exact same time.   So it was just mom at her program.   I was excited!

It's too bad Brynlee wouldn't participate at all!!  She refused to sing any of the songs they had worked on all year.  She even refused to walk up and pick a song from the board like every other kid did.  When it was her turn to have miss Keri give her the diploma and say all the great things about her- she wouldn't do that either.   I had to get up from the audience and walk up with her.   I wasn't expecting her to act like that but she does get quite nervous when there are a lot of people around  

With her teacher miss Keri.  Brynlee always had good things to say about her teacher and miss Keri truly loved Brynlee 

Bentley's first haircut

Bentleys long hair was getting out of control.   I thought john was just going to trim it but before I knew what was going on all of his curls were gone!  I was very sad.  

Before

After

He looks so much older! 

The end of an era

I said goodbye to my job for the past 6 years.   I started at Mohave community college a few weeks after john and I got married.   It was the perfect job all these years because I only had to be away from home 2 days a week and could work from home the other days to make it a full time job.   It allowed john and I to have opposite schedules so we didn't require full time daycare (family helped).  

I had a lot of great students (and some not so great) and enjoyed what I did.  

I was getting a little burned out and the constant attention my students needed (texts, phone calls, emails) really started bothering me.  I couldn't ever "clock out" and that was hard to juggle with kids at home that needed me.  

There were a lot of not great things about that job (commute, out of state travel 5 times a year, horrible technology, bugs, not so great coworkers, weird city to be in, Saturday clinicals,), but every job has some negative things.   My time there was overall very positive. 

Disneyland- may 2015

Bentley did not go with us on this Disneyland trip.   Hopefully next time ( if he ever learns to sleep at night)

Me and Brynlee on the jungle cruise

Johns face is the best!!!

Brynlee was so excited to meet the princesses!    We got in line for Tiana earlier but right when it was our turn they had to leave.   So later when I saw her again we were excited.  But then when it was brynlees turn she wouldn't even go up there.   I practically had to pick her up and she refused to smile even though tiana was very sweet to her.   Everyone around was laughing and as we left Brynlee said " I wanted to see Ariel", at which point everyone laughed harder.

Buzz light year ride

It's a small world!

John waited in a long line with Brynlee to meet Mickey Mouse.  

Toon town

We had a fun day!   There were tons of people even though it was the first week of May and the low season.   We were petty lucky to go on pirates of the Caribbean twice and didn't spend too much time in line