a few thank you's

we are home!!! beckam and i made it back to our dust this week, and it feels so good to be back at it down here :) lace ended up driving home with darren a few days before me, and then beckam and i flew home a few days ago. this whole heart issue with beckam put quite the kink in our plans and took quite the emotional toll on us and our families along the way too. we had so much help along the way, and i just can't go without expressing my thanks. i think that lots of prayers were sent to heaven for me and for becks, and i know they were answered. i so appreciate everyone who thought about us and hoped for us and prayed for everything to work out for our family. you seriously don't know how much it meant for me to get little messages of encouragement and support, and i know that we are home and happy right now because of the prayers and faith of our families and friends. THANK YOU!!!!!


one specific big thanks goes out to grandma moj and grandpa peterson! this is my favorite picture of them and becks, and i am just so thankful for such amazing parents-in-law. darren helped my dad give beckam a blessing when dust couldn't be there to do it himself. they gave becks some little presents for the flight home, and they helped to ease the burden that came along with being away from dust for so long and dealing with some serious health stuff with beckam. they relieved so much of my stress and just really truly care about our family. i know they would do anything for me and for becks and for dust, and i just can't imagine life without their love and support and help in everything we do. thank you thank you and love you so much :)




i also need to send a shout out to my parents and kait. me and becks ended up staying with them for 3 1/2 weeks. we ate their food and took up their space and made a mess of their house with all of our stuff. my mom took off work to help with hospital trips. kait helped to keep my mind off of things and provided hours of entertainment for me and becks along the way. my dad helped give beckam a blessing when dust couldn't be there to do it and was that priesthood presence in our lives, and my mom, my dad, and kait all helped with beckam when i needed a break. they loved us through this little trial of ours - which is exactly what we needed. we had lots of fun while we stayed, and i just couldn't ask for a better family! we missed kris at the house but felt her love and prayers and faith all the way from korea, and it meant a lot krissy poo! a girl really couldn't be more blessed with the love of family than me!

anyway.....i know that what we went through is nothing compared to what many other people in the world go through with their kids' health issues, but thanks for understanding how big it was for us. beckam's heart murmer adventure isn't over, but i know we'll be ok with whatever comes because of the love of friends and family and because of our hope and faith in the plan for our family. thanks for keeping our stress low and our spirits high, and we will keep you updated :) gotta keep this little quirky smiling boy of ours healthy and happy!

trooper

so....d-day arrived today - ultrasound and verdict time on the little murmering wheezing man! last week's trip to emergency resulted in us staying in canada a little longer than planned for an ultrasound for becks, and we got in pretty quick. i was a little nervous cuz they said beckam had to be sedated so that he would hold still long enough for them to get what they needed, but it wasn't all that bad, and our little guy was a trooper! here he is with a nervous mom.........


he was so stinkin cute in his little gown :)


he was flirting with the security guards and smiling at everyone who walked by, so i guess i was the only nervous one! my mom came with me and was such a great support along the way. i swear becks likes her better than me after our 3 1/2 week visit!


the sedation came in the form of liquid medicine, and he just fell asleep in my arms. he was pretty out of it though!


here he is all gooped up after his ultrasound. he slept right through it and then woke up right after, but it took him a little while to hold his head up right and to lose the loopiness of sedation - seriously such a little trooper!


next stop was.......pizza hut! we came out of the ultrasound feeling a little doom and gloom with the hole in his heart growing in size, but our doc was top notch and called the pediatric cardiologist in calgary to consult about the results. he wasn't even supposed to be working today, but he went the extra mile and had us come to his office for the next step discussion. we needed food 1st though, so we filled up on the pizza hut lunch buffet (mmmmm!), and becks filled up on lemons! haha he loved them!


becks had to get a heart trace done at our doctor's office, and he was yet again - a super trooper! he looked at the 12 different cords and stickers stuck to his chest and kept his hands down just like he was supposed to! he even flashed the nurse some smiles along the way :)


didn't really love the getting those cords and stickers off part though!


and i just had to add one more picture of our becks as his normal smiley self! he was so awesome today, and we get to come home tomorrow with some medication to hopefully shrink up that hole and with a few more appointments and exams to come. we're not sure how it will all end up, but for now, we get to be with our dust again, and becks is happy and healthy, and that's all that matters :) thank you soooooo much for your prayers and support. i know that the Lord's hand was in all of this and that i couldn't have done it without you and Him!!!

round #2

silly heart murmer - that was the title of my journal last night and for very good reason. lace and i were all packed and set to head home to portland yesterday to surprise the hubbies a day early and to get back to life as we know it, but that didn't quite work out as planned. my mom took becks in to see our family doc yesterday afternoon for a little cold that he seemed to have picked up - routine check up we thought, and it was until the doctor started showing some serious concern for beck's little heart murmer.......


he called the pediatrician on call to discuss the situation with him, and we ended up heading into emergency with becks after having both doctors advise against traveling and expressing concern for both his wheezing little chest and louder than it should be at his age heart murmer.


thankfully, my mom had the day off and was able to come with me cuz we spent 2 1/2 hours in emerg waiting for dr.chan to come see us. it was round #2 for us, but it didn't cost large amounts of money this time, so that was a relief! dr.chan was super nice but didn't have the most promising news for us. he said that beck's heart is bigger than normal and that the wheezing cold he caught isn't usually a good thing especially with the fact that it's his 2nd one in a few months. so, the plan is a rush ultrasound in the next day or two so that we can get home to portland. then, dr. chan thinks we'll have to set something up with a heart specialist in calgary, and then if the heart is in enough distress.......well we don't like to talk about it - open heart surgery?!?! are you kidding me?!?!? not cool


here's little becks getting a breathing treatment, and he was quite a trooper! he sure isn't feeling good, so hopefully the little puffer they gave us helps that, and then all fingers are crossed and prayers are said that the ultrasound shows a perfectly normal beating little heart on our boy :) if not, then the prayers are said that everything will work out as it's supposed to, and we know we trust that.


it's not all gloom and doom yet, but it was pretty scary to hear the words open heart surgery in accordance with my becks. we love him and his little heart murmer, and i'm sure it will all be ok. here's our little guy ready for bed after an adventure to emergency. his pj's were all packed, so he got to use some of his uncle carson's old ones! so stinkin cute and so happy, and i'm so thankful for that. his smile lights up the room and makes everyone smile around him :) such a blessing and such an awesome little guy! fingers crossed!

random fun

here are some random shots of our good times in canada :) beckam loves his grandparents and loves the extra attention he's getting, and i'm loving it too! we are having tons of fun but miss our dust tons and tons! here's some of what we've been up to!

here's my dad trying to keep becks happy in our little pool. he was tired and not so into it, but we made it happen for a few minutes at least!


at home, we put all of beckam's toys in a little basket, and he empties it out playing with his favorite ones as he goes every morning. we forgot the basket at home though, and becks loves the silver bowl substitute - makes way more noise and is way more fun!


grandma playing with becks in the backyard.....hard to believe he's old enough to throw in the air like that!


grandma with her usual overflow of popcorn on sunday night! we love our sunday night popcorn around these parts, and it's just not the same if my mom doesn't have to hover around the popper to make sure the popcorn doesn't pop all over the place :)


here's becks trying some of his 1st strawberry milkshake and loving it! hard not to love grandma's milkshakes :)


beckam LOVES nash! he loves animals in general i think, but nash can make him laugh like no other, and he just loves to watch her and have her lick his toes!


haha - love this picture of my nephew aj! such a mischievous little face!


beckam's new sleeping position. every night when i go down to check on him, this is how i find him - on his side with his feet resting on the side of the playpen - so cute!


grandma tolman reading becks a story - he loves his grandma tolman!


lately, becks has been freaking out when i turn on the vacuum at home, so i didn't think he'd go for a lawnmower ride this time around, but here he is loving his ride with grandpa hill :)


becks and cousin holli (2 days older than him) fighting over toys - i'm sure we'll have many more pictures like this in the years to come!


grandpa tolman giving the kids a ride and grandma tolman there to catch aj as he slipped off! they were loving it!


aunt kait is always sneaking becks treats, and i finally caught her in the act! looks like he likes grandma's chocolate chip cookies :)


haha - my dad likes to have the best in whatever he's doing, eating, etc, and we are always giving him a hard time about taking the middle pieces of our squares or cakes or treats of any kind! i caught him in the act this time though, and he even agreed to plead guility!


my handsome boy! i love this kid more and more with every smile he flashes :)

my new fav

thank you thank you! i finally figured out how to get videos on my blog thanks to a few hints from my fellow bloggers :) this 1st one has taken over as my very favorite beckam video! his giggles are to die for! my mom was holding him right after our surprise arrival, and he was watching the dogs chasing a ball. i don't even know if he was laughing at them though - i think it was the high of finally being out of his carseat, but whatever it was - pretty stinkin cute and hilarious!

here is our surprise at mona's work on monday. she was so confused to begin with but then celebrated by taking the afternoon off to spend time with lace and the boys :) darren was in complete shock and wasn't sure what was going on but was all smiles after aj gave him a big hug. for some reason, we forgot to video that surprise, but it was a gooder!

my mom broke into tears as expected and was soooo excited to see her little becks and to hear that we were hanging out for a couple of weeks. he was pretty excited to see her too :)

how the....

please help! i have the cutest little video of becks giggling, and i want to put it on my blog, but i can't figure out how! i try to just upload it using the top video button thing, but it takes soooooo long! like i mean, it takes hours and hours and still won't upload! please tell me there is an easier way to do this.......please! oh and there is a new post below this plea for help, so feel free to check it out :)

2 crazies and 3 cuties

so, early last week lacey brought up the idea of going home for a visit. she asked if i thought i might want to come, and my 1st thought was heck no! the idea of driving another 13 hours with becks to canada and then 13 hours back to portland did not sound appealing at all, but then i got to thinking......i'm going to be in portland for the next 2 1/2 years and then who knows where we'll end up, and i should take any chance i get to spend time with the fam. so, we decided to do it - 2 crazy moms and 3 cutie boys and a road trip home :)


we were very proud to leave only 10 minutes after our scheduled departure as seen here. we left our complex at 9:41pm, and both of us drove away with tears in our eyes at the thought of being without our hubbies for 2 weeks and probably a little at the thought of what laid ahead too!


our boys were such troopers, especially little miles. he slept for 7 hours straight with a few soother plugs! becks fussed every now and again, and i swear my shoulder almost fell off from trying to rock his seat to keep him asleep. aj did awesome, and the dvd player along with a sucker came in mighty handy when the other boys were still sleeping. he's so stinkin cute :)




here are us 2 crazies getting a little adrenalin boost soon after we crossed the border into canada! we watched gilmore girls - well lace listened and drove while i watched. we talked about how we were going to surprise our parents and how we thought they would react. we listened to music and sang some songs to keep the boys happy, and we snacked a lot to keep ourselves awake and all sugared up!



and here's our breakfast stop - mcdonald's baby! becks loved his little high chair, and aj was all about the pancakes with jam cuz they were out of syrup and we.....just loved being out the truck with 3 happy boys even if it only lasted for 1/2 hour!




thankfully, the border was easy, and we didn't run into any traffic jams, and the only deer we saw crossing the road was way ahead of us between fort mcleod and lethbridge :) we made it in under 13 hours, and we were soooo excited to drive down the hill into lethbridge! the boys all managed to sleep for the last hour or so of the trip which was super cute and very exciting for us!




well, beckam didn't really sleep for the full hour, so he got to take advantage of aj snoozin and not using the dvd player. he was loving it and held on to each side of his backyardigan show. we love portable dvd players!



finally - the surprised parents! grandma and grandpa peterson both the best shocked faces ever and just kept asking what we were doing there :) we surprised mona by just waltzing into her work, and darren was coming to get her for lunch, so we surprised him there too. aj didn't disappoint with his awesome hugs, and becks was smiling away so happy to be out of his carseat and so excited to see his grandparents again! they were so excited to see their grandsons and lace and i like to think that they didn't mind that we were there either! my mom broke into tears when she saw the boys all sitting on a blanket in the front yard, and she had scones freshly made like she knew were were starving and coming to visit :) we did a knock and run with her, and it worked out great. we loved the surprise factor, and the parents didn't disappoint us with their reactions! here's my mom and dad with their favoritist and only grandbaby!