July Fourth Weekend Fun! Part 1

So today was the fireworks show in Bountiful for July 4th,  naturally we had to go! I love fireworks! Anyone who knows me  knows that I love them! Plus Wesley is old enough to get all excited for them this year so I had to go to take his pictures for his awe inspiring facial expressions he gives! They were pretty awesome! I will post more pictures of the entire weekend as it comes, cause let me tell ya this weekend is a full one!  At first he wasn't too sure, then he would get real excited and look around to see if we all could see em too, then he just got bored of the shpill and laid down and drank his juice. But not before I got some cute pictures. I will have to make sure I add some pictures of more than just Wesley to these pictures of our weekend. On another note did I mention that my BIRTHDAY is Monday? Cause it sure is. My big 2-3! :)I love birthdays. Not just mine either. Then Lexi's, my niece, is the 10th. She will turn 10! Which is amazing to think about! She is getting so big! I think she might earn her own post later on when it gets closer! But here are the first set of pictures of this FABULOUS weekend! Oh yeah, I almost forgot! John and I, well me and my entire family, got our pictures taken last weekend. John and I got some taken of just us two, so if any of you want a copy just let me know! I will be soon posting them all on here so if you do you can choose which pose or one you want and what size. So keep an eye out for them too! Okay I will seriously stop blabbing now and just let you look at my serious photo taking skills! :) 

Wesley The Day After

Wesley on Sunday. I have pictures and you would never know with these pictures that the day before he gave us all a heart attack and that he was rushed in an ambulance to the hospital! These are actually really great pictures.  Enjoy :)

Wesley

Hey everyone!

Wesley had a very sad day on Sat. the 5th. He just wasn't feeling all that well all day, He wouldn't eat, drink, barely slept. John and I took him to Matt and Mary's baby shower and he still wasn't having it. Later that day after the shower was done Lisa, Tyce, Rod, Wesley and I were downstairs letting the boys play when Wesley just dropped for no apparent reason. He wasn't running or moving. He was just standing there and he fell straight down and laid there for a moment before he started to cry. I really wish I would have just taken him to the doc then but I didn't. I wasn't sure what had happened. Just like Lisa we were dumbfounded. It was super weird. Well later on he just wasn't feeling quite right, he was definitely running a high fever so we left M & M's and went to my mothers long enough for a short BBQ meal and while we were there he did it again with the falling. This time he was running and I was chasing him, playing with him since he hasn't been in the mood the whole day, then he stopped and was turning to look at me and he just dropped again but this time  I didn't hesitate. I grabbed him got him cleaned up and dressed again( I took his clothes off so he could play in the mud in his diaper) then we left to take him back to his momma. By this time the day is just getting worse and worse. We make it back to his house, kristi his mom wasn't home just yet but would be shortly. So we went outside with him to sit with my Dad and Step-Mom and Amber and Jared until Kristi made it home so I could tell her about his day and how he was acting. He was running around playing a little, but still not with his normal Wesley energy and he went and stood on this mini scooter that was on the patio. Well he fell off, we don't know if he fell or fainted again or what so John goes over and grabs him and as soon as he picks him up he started having a really bad seizure. :( He was really tense and shaking, his eyes were rolling in the back of his head, he was drooling and he stopped breathing and turned as blue as my blue jeans! It was so awful. I called 911 immediately and they sent an ambulance. While we were waiting he finally stopped seizing and started taking breaths but he was super out of it and his skin was a pale grey. The ambulance arrives with Kristi pulling up just in time to leave with him practically and rushes him up to Primary Children's. Well we all went up there. Kristi's dad came up too. I tell you this kid is loved! He had a huge support system there with him and we all took turns going in to see him with kristi. We still are unclear on what happened with him sat. They let Wesley go home after being there for almost 5 hours. but the doctor(s) kept telling us different diagnosis's. Its like they all forgot to talk to each other about there theories before they opened there mouth to us. One said he had a seizure cause he fell, another said he had it cause they found an ear infection and he was really dehydrated, then the last doctor came in and said, " well he is really fussy (mind you that it is 1 in the morning and he hasn't slept in 24 hours and they keep poking him with needles and he just had a seizure) so I would like to test him for Meningitis." WHAT? Wouldn't you be fussy if you went through all that too? I sure would be! They tried to get an IV in him to hydrate him but they blew through one vein then couldn't find another one .Well they didn't end up testing him for that but they gave Kristi an antibiotic for his ear infection and told her to watch him and come back if he doesn't seem to be getting better or still refuses to eat or drink and if he has another seizure. HORRIBLE! That was the most horrible night of my life! All I could think about was I should have taken him to the doctor as soon as he passed out the first time or what ever that was Lisa and I witnessed. Then I started getting all these images off all these people you see on the news that just died because the fell and hit there head. Not even hard hits. and they  died! It was so awful. He is doing a little better. I seen him yesterday and he seemed a little more like himself but not completely. He still wasn't eating or drinking like he should other than a few sips here and few sips there. I have some pictures of his brief happy moment on sat. at my moms right before he collapsed, when I let him play in the mud.

MRW-Live*Laugh*Breathe Event

So as you can see from my last post I am helping my old friend whom I actually haven't even talked to since high school. But I read her blog almost everyday. She had a daughter named Makenzie Rye. She unfortunately was diagnosed with SMARD and it eventually took her life. I was completely heart broken for her and her family.  It is such a sad situation. Reading her posts everyday about the personal struggles she goes through is even more heart wrenching. However she has put together this great event to help honor Makenzie and others like her. I would like to ask if you all could help in anyway. She is also taking in fun kid socks with cute designs on them to make into leggings for the children's hospital. I felt it necessary to spread the word and do anything I can from a far. It really is a great cause and would help so much! The details of the event are on my last post, which I just copied and pasted one of her posts onto my blog. Or you can go to her blog and visit and read about her experience from her. I guarantee you will be forever touched by this.

Here is her website address: www.kendraandryanwebster.blogspot.com/

PLEASE HELP! For Kendra :)

July 18 2009 was perfect.
she came to us.
she opened her eyes, she took her first breath.
my world stopped.
everything changed.
she was my reason.
before she was even born i was planning trips, play dates, outings, summer parties, winter parties, birthday parties. i was going to have the perfect outfit for her. i was going to make sure she had a blast and it was something she would remember for a lifetime.
she lived 4 months 3 weeks and 4 days.
during her life it was a party everyday for me.
i celebrated every second of her life.
we had 1 month birthday parties, we had park days, we had spa days.
it just wasn't enough for an entire lifetime.
i need more.

while our muffin is dancing in heaven
on July 17th 2010 we will be here celebrating her life.
all 4 months, 3 weeks and 4 days of it.
we are giving her a 1st birthday party.
complete with the fairy theme i imagined.

and

You are ALL invited.
your friends, your family, your neighbors- all invited.
Makenzie's birthday will be an extravagant, out of this world, super cool, fun- fundraiser.
all money raised will be donated to the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation 
to help fund SMA research.
Makenzie had SMARD, however, there is currently no research being done solely on SMARD but through SMA we are hoping to find a cure for both these diseases.
no child should have to go through this.
no child should have to struggle to live.
no parent should have to bury their child.
this is what its about. to find a cure.

Now I'm reaching out to all of you asking for your help.
We are in need of volunteers.
I have some amazing entertainers offer to volunteer their services for our event.
I have some amazing people helping donate some food.
But we will need more.
For the amount of people we are planning (approx. 500 - 1000)
and to help raise the money I am hoping ($10,000)
I need all the help I can get.
Some of the events include but are not limited to:
*cotton candy machine
*An amazing bounce house
*Silent Auction
*A Clown
*The Magic of Timothy- the Magician
*Food
*A PRINCESS
*Kenzie Fairy Boutique and seriously--- SO much more!

Right now I am needing help with the following:
* Items for the silent auction.
* Sponsors- If you know someone or you are interested please let me know.
I have different sponsor levels and your business will have the proper signage and publicity for the level they are at.
* If you know any other entertainers that would be interested in donating their services.

You can contact me through email and I can give you my phone number from there.
kendogg1987@hotmail.com

I hope you can all commit to coming to this event!
You will not only be promised a fabulous time but you will be helping an amazing cause and celebrating an incredible little girl.

Some information about SMA
-SMA kills more infants and young children than any other inherited disease!
-SMA is degenerative and terminal — often termed the “Lou Gehrig’s disease of babies”.
-Although born seemingly healthy, babies with SMA eventually lose the ability to walk, crawl, sit, eat, breath, and even swallow.
-1 in 40 people unknowingly carry the SMA gene. Few have a family history of the disease.
-There is currently no treatment and no cure, but the National Institutes of Health (NIH) selected SMA as the disease closest to treatment of more than 600 neurological disorders.
-Researchers estimate that a viable treatment and/or cure is attainable in as little as 5 years – IF provided adequate resources.
-SMA is considered a "model" disease already benefiting research into ALS, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, the muscular dystrophies and even some forms of cancer.
For more information about SMA visit the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation.

School.

Okay so I went to the UCMT on Thursday to see what I qualify for in Financial aid. Well it didn't go over so well. I didn't qualify for any grants, John makes to much and while I did get some, 9,455.00 , it's not enough. I need 12,626.00 and I would have to make up the 3146.00 difference while I was going to school. If I did that by myself, my payments would be 450.00 a month. YEAH FREAKING RIGHT! Not going to happen. So they referred me to look into a student loan through Wells Fargo, its called the Education Connection Loan. But even that we would have to pay back during school and right now I can tell you we can not afford to take on another payment to anywhere, no matter how much that payment is and probably not in the near future either. This really stinks. I was so excited and it just pretty much got squashed in 2 seconds.  The 2 parts that are even more frustrating are 1) If I did night classes, financial aid covers ALL of it!!! but I can't do night classes due to the lack of sight I have at night time. They said that they have carpools that run to and from class for the night class people but its not a guarantee that it will run every day. ugh. and 2) I have been looking everyday since March for a job, and I have yet to find one, so what if I hold off on going and 7 months go by and I still have no job? I could have been done with school and onto a career with this? We would be in the same predicament we are in right now. BROKE! Barely scrapping by, not having any play money, being stuck at home doing nothing with our selves. I seriously am completely discouraged. I feel defeated and like getting this done seems like its never going to happen. :(  I won't give up but I just don't see a good out come for this any time soon and that just down right sucks!
 I'll keep you posted. and if you have any ideas let me know! I don't know what you could say for an idea, I think I have exhausted my options. But I will still take it in and listen to any advice!

Problem Tests? Not for Me! :)

     I went on Saturday to the Utah College of Massage Therapy to take a test and guess what? I PASSED! I did quite good actually considering I haven't gone to school for 5 years! I had to do an English/Language test which I got a 100 on! :) I know I am just that good! Just kidding.... kind of. Then I had to do a math test, which I was thoroughly terrified of because math has never been my best subject. Actually I struggled with most of it all through school. I got a 95 on that one, which I still don't really believe and understand how I got it because I didn't even get all the way through the test and I just skipped over 4 of them. So how I got that score is still a mystery to me.
      Now this test was for the purpose that I still don't have my GED. I am definitely ready for it though. I have studied my little(well not so little) butt off for it. But we are extremely tight on money right now so the lack of funds has kinda put a restriction on me taking the GED test. So anyways this test was for them to pretty much just see if I am an idiot or not. Since I passed this will allow me to start May 24th for the massage therapy program with out my GED. Though I definitely will still be getting it. I have another appointment with the admissions guy named, Sam on Thursday to see what I qualify for in terms of financial aid. Hopefully it will be good. I am super excited for this! I can barely contain my self. I will keep you all posted on how it goes on Thursday. Keep your fingers and toes crossed that I qualify for a good chunk! I know we are!

Stupid People

So todays post is just gonna be a pure rant. I can't stand stupid people, I really can't. I really have no patients for them. I called our maintenance man at our apartments because our toilet is leaking water. So he comes in, looks at it, doesn't touch or move anything surrounding it to examine it just looks at it from a standing position, then looks at me and says, "yep there is definitely water coming out if this thing",then he leaves!!!! Doesn't even try to figure where and what part of the toilet is leaking, nothing! WHAT AN IDIOT!!!!! I asked him before he left, "So um what are we supposed to do about this?" His response," Just watch it" !!!?!!! Is it me or is he just a dumb man who stumbled across this position with no skill for this line of work. UGH!