The Results are In...

The results are in from Jonah's growth hormone stimulation test. He will have to have the daily shots. Before he starts, he will have to have an MMR to have a better look at his pituitary gland, and another test similar to the stimulation test. Then we will have to submit all the information and test results to the insurance companies to get approved; which could take awhile because it is very expensive. After all that, I will go in to learn how to give Jonah the shots. I am guessing he won't start for awhile, but at least we know now why he isn't growing and can start fixing it.

Jonah's Testing

This is a picture of Jonah during his growth hormone stimulation test. He fell asleep watching Diego. The test took 4 hours. The first thing they did was put an IV in, then give him some medicine called 'Glucagon.' After two hours, they give him a second dose of medicine called 'Arginine', and it had to run for 30 minutes with an IV pump. Blood samples were drawn form the IV every 30 minutes. So basically, the medicines make the body think that the pituitary gland needs to make and produce growth hormone. If he does produce growth hormone, then more tests have to be done. If he doesn't produce any growth hormone, then he will need to have daily growth hormone shots. We will get the results in 10 days.

Happy Birthday Matt!

Monday was Matt's birthday and he turned 28 years old! For some reason the 20s all blend together to me, but I think when Matt and I turn 30, it will be weird. For his birthday, he requested pasta salad for dinner...and that's it. He didn't want a cake or anything. I told him he would have a cake anyway, so he decided on ice cream cake. The Knowles, Whites, and Keith came over for some birthday celebration. Happy Birthday Matt!

I have a pretty intelligent daughter also. She told me she knew how to sing the Little Einstein's tv show theme song in French, here it is:

She can also sing it in Spanish (she says) but since it sounds almost exactly like the French version, I just recorded one of them.

Mikelle's first day of School

Mikelle is in preschool now. I can't believe it. She goes Monday-Thursday from 12:30-3:15. She loves it. She carefully picks out outfits that she is going to wear and asks everyday if she is going to school. You have to bring your own snack, and she also plans hours (sometimes days) ahead what she will bring for her snack. Here are the pictures:

At the meet the teacher day:

She really wanted a picture with her new backpack

First day of school

Hanging her backpack up and getting her nametag

The classroom

Other random picture:

Mikelle and Jonah playing in the fountain

This is how they go to bed every night now; Matt has to give them a ride into the room

California Trip

Endure with me (if you want), this vacation posts are long. We had all been planning this California trip for over a year and I would have to say it was probably one of the best and funnest vacations I have ever taken. It was so fun to have everyone together and visit my Grandma (minus my brother Michael of course who is on his mission). I just love my Grandma's house. It is a tiny cute little green house and is just totally grandma-ish to me. Here are a couple of pictures just hanging out at her house:

On the way to California

We had a mini birthday party for Jonah, so he could open his second round of presents from the grandparents (my kids are the most spoiled). I just had to put this picture in because I love his expression.

Picking lemons in my Grandma's backyard.

They picked them, then brought them inside and we sliced them up and gave everyone a slice. Jonah didn't want his at all, and Mikelle was pretty funny to watch as she ate hers.

My Grandma's backyard

I thought this was so cute. Mikelle would brush Aaron's hair, then he would brush her hair.

nap time

My dad found an old dead stick that looked kind of like a hand and had a fun time teasing the kids with it. They couldn't decide if it was scary or funny or gross.

The Beach

On Thursday we went to Huntington Beach. We were expecting a hot day and brought all the stuff (a couple coolers worth) to cook hotdogs and make smores at the beach. It was pretty windy. The kids wore their jackets most of the time and I am really surprised Jonah ventured out to touch the ocean. Most of us did go in and jump the waves though despite the cold air and water. My Grandma Buttercup was a real trooper, walking all the way out to the beach, enduring the (probably freezing to her) weather, and waiting it out till we had all had our fill of the beach.

Matt

Our beach family picture

Mom and Dad, I love this picture.

Mikelle's extravagant sand castle, with the help from Grandpa

Kayla, Rachel and Aaron

Tyrel's first ocean experience

Mikelle and Grandpa

The kids

Matt, Aaron, Kayla and Rachel

Me and Jonah

Dad, Aaron, and Matt

Tyrel LOVED playing in the sand

Aaron and Ty

Kayla and Aaron

Jonah

Hollywood and Olvera Street

We went to Hollywood on Saturday. It was a little crowded. I took one picture of Mikelle at Grauman's Chinese Theater, putting her hands on Shirley Temple's hands, even though she has no idea who that is. She just thought it was cool to see "little girl hands and feet."

The 'Hollywood' sign on the mountain if you can see it

We also went to Olvera Street, which is the birthplace of the city of Los Angeles. It is a little marketplace where you can buy "wares typical of old Mexico." It was fun and my parent's bought the kids these little guitars.

Saturday was also Aaron and Kayla's first anniversary, and I managed to sneak this photo. Happy Anniversary guys!

I don't have the picture of it, but on Friday, we had a 'girl's day' where we all went to see Eclipse. That night we had a BBQ and made homemade ice cream.

Disney Land

Going to Disney Land with 3 young kids I expected to stay maybe six hours, and assured myself that if we made it that long, it was worth the money (everyone else's money of course because I got in for FREE). However, we ended up staying a whopping 13 hours and Mikelle, my Mom, and I could have totally gone longer. The best part was watching Mikelle meet the princesses (Matt had to wait in that line for us for 75 minutes by the way). Mikelle also was barely tall enough to go on the Thunder Mountain ride and loved it. Jonah loved seeing the princesses almost as much as Mikelle. They all loved the Pirates of the Caribbean, and when we got off that ride, Mikelle asked "Are we still on earth?" It was a great day and I appreciate all the help from everyone. It's so nice to have many helpers.

On the tram over to Disney Land

Our "First Time" and "Volunteer" buttons

Ariel

Belle

Tiana

Mickey Mouse

Toon Town

The Utah Surprise

As we were heading home from California on Thursday, we were about an hour into our 16 hour drive, when Matt said "Kylee, your parent's house is only about 2 hours out of the way, why don't we just show up on their doorstep and surprise them. We can stay there Friday and Saturday and drive home Sunday," and I of course thought that was an excellent idea. It was so fun surprising them. I don't know why I hadn't thought of it sooner; and we got to break up the drive a little bit. When we left on Sunday, we decided to go the Wyoming way instead of the Grand Junction way so that we could go through another state and make this trip a 6 STATE VACATION: (camped in Colorado, drove through Nevada and Arizona, Stayed in California and Utah, and drove through Wyoming)

On the way, I think he may have known we were heading to Grandma and Grandpa's house

The kids were super excited about going to Utah, and reminded about every 3o minutes that "it's a surprise, grandma and grandpa don't know we're coming, so don't tell them."

My Dad even took Matt 4 wheeling