Saturday, August 29, 2009

Texting While Driving

I thought this was very important to post!!!

I have to admit, I was one of those people who texted while driving. After viewing this horrific accident that took place from a driver texting, I have changed my mind!

I am part of the HCD Survey Panel and have been participating in MediaCurves.com studies. MediaCurves.com conducts many surveys testing TV commercials. They just conducted a study with 300 viewers of a Public Service Announcement (PSA) from the U.K. illustrating the dangers of texting and driving. Results showed that majority of viewers (80%) reported that they are less likely to text while driving after watching the PSA. The study also found that 85% of American viewers reported that the PSA should be aired in the U.S. The majority of viewers (87%) believe that the PSA is appropriate in nature, and 86% also indicated that the PSA was extremely effective. More in-depth results can be viewed at http://www.mediacurves.com/NationalMediaFocus/J7508-PSA/Index.cfm

Click here if you would like more information on this commercial.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Ifly

Have you ever wished you could fly? Well you can! It's fun for all ages.The innovative sport of bodyflight, it's new and always exciting. In an iFLY wind tunnel you are able to fly your body in a controlled manner within the safety of our wall to wall air flow chamber (Ifly website.)

You only live once right? I decided it would be fun to celebrate Aaron and Abbie's birthday in a new and exciting way. Several years ago when they were opening Ifly in Ogden I saw an episode on t.v. advertising Ifly. Ever since that time I have remembered that episode and could not wait till the time when I decided to share and show my family this experience.

Aaron had no idea what I was planning so it was fun to see his facial expression when we walked in to the ifly room and he saw the wind tunnel. In fact when we saw the ifly tunnel, I was ready to book it out of there without giving the kids a chance to fly. I was very nervous for them. After seeing others fly I felt better about the situation and decided it would be fun for them to try.

Here are some clips of Aaron, Ellie, Savannah, Abbie, and Uncle Jon's experiences.

ifly and Aaron

This was Aaron's Birthday gift. I asked him the other night what dreams were on his "bucket list" knowing he would say flying or skydiving. I hoped this would accomplish the task or at least let him see if he would really like to go skydiving. He had a blast. I think Aaron really liked the idea of doing something different but also that he was able to share the experience with his kids. He caught on rather quickly during training and did well during his flight time!

ifly and Ellie

Ellie was so scared to go skydiving...she was practically crying. I explained to her that in life sometimes the scariest things are actually the funnest things to try. I also explained that if she lets her fears get the best of her she won't experience anything new. (Maybe good Mother's advice but I didn't go because I was scared. Don't tell Ellie.) Ellie ended up being the best of the children. This is why the instructor let her fly with him. Ellie also had a great time at ifly and wanted to go again!

ifly and Uncle Jonthan

Uncle Jonathan is the only one with us that had really been skydiving. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to go because when they gave us the forms to sign where you sign away your life...Jonathan actually edited the form to say what he wanted it to. The guys who saw the form didn't say anything so it's a good thing that nothing happened or they have been in trouble. Jonathan had a blast and said that it was a lot of fun!

Friday, April 17, 2009

ifly and Savannah

Savannah was so exited to go skydiving. She practiced her form before we went in. As she was stuck in the wind, she struggled a little bit in ifly. She looked like a swimmer the way she kicked her legs. When she came out she told us how much fun she had! She loved skydiving.

iFly and Abagail

Abbie was so fun to watch at ifly. She didn't really understand what was going on but had a smile on her face the entire time.

Monday, April 6, 2009

A Smile

Nothing can make your heart melt quicker the a baby's smile!

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Thursday, April 2, 2009

April Fools

I wish Aaron had decided to put this moment on camera, or include me in the experience.

Savannah and Ellie lost their computer monitor/flat screen t.v. that is in their room a few weeks ago. The reason for this loss was not keeping their room clean. They don't understand why mom hates going down to their room to clean it every few days...at five and eight I think they are old enough to pick up the toys that they played with on their own.

Aaron made a deal with the girls that if they kept their room clean for seven days, they would get their computer and t.v. back. The first week we approached day five and the girls decided not to clean their room, so we started the days over. The second week they approached day four and didn't clean their room, so we started over. The third time is the charm, right? The girls went the whole week with their room clean, April Fools Day was day seven. (We couldn't have planned this better.)

While the girls were upstairs brushing their teeth, Aaron went down to their room. He threw all the stuffed animals off the top bunk bed, through their blankets on the floor, and knocked off the books that were piled on their desk so nicely. He called them down and told them he was disappointed that the room was such a mess.

Savannah gave her normal nonchalant attitude and said she didn't care. Ellie was so upset. She swore that she had made sure the room was clean. When Aaron announced April Fools, Ellie was more upset about the joke then she was the room. When Aaron told me about the experience I was upset that I would have to go clean another mess...April Fools, Mom. I did not want to me included in any April Fools jokes. Luckily he told me that he helped the girls clean.

Congratulations Girls. You finally get back your t.v.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

St. Patricks Day

It's a little late but I hope you all had a great St.Patricks Day...
I know we did. Ellie and Savannah slept over at Grandma Wendy's
so they missed out on our Delicious breakfast.

We had green juice, shamrock bread, and green eggs.



Abbie loves eggs but she was not thrilled with eating green eggs.
In fact after just a bite she decided she wasn't going to eat anymore.



Savannah joined us for lunch when we had green salad, green
noodles with chicken, green milk, and peaches.


Like Abbie, Savannah was not thrilled with eating green food
and decided that she didn't want her lunch.

To tell you the truth, I was going to make a green dinner but
after not eating all day (I couldn't stomach green food either)
I decided that we all needed a good meal.




Savannah was so cute this year. She was sure the she was going
to catch a leprechaun. Her Kindergarten teacher had told her all sorts
of stories about leprechauns and how they drink root beer. During
daycare leprechauns stole our green cookies we had bought and we
had to follow Shamrock clues to find the hidden cookies. Savannah
loved this. She was sure she would finally find her leprechaun. To bad,
all we found were our cookies, some necklaces, and a coloring page left
to each of the kids by Lucky leprechaun. Savannah can't wait till next
year when she says that she is going to build a trap to catch the leprechaun.

Happy past St. Patrick's Day.

Becky
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The Baby Bed

On Friday night Aaron and I decided it was time to upgrade Taylon from the bassinet to the crib. The crib has been sitting in Dayton's room vacant since we moved Dayton from the crib to the toddler bed last November. Dayton was downstairs playing while Aaron took apart the crib and moved it into our room. We put all the stuffed animals that were stored in the crib back into the crib along with the few blankets that weren't being used. We put all Dayton's huge trucks and toys were the crib had been in his room.

I went and grabbed Dayton from downstairs, excited for him to notice the change and the added space to his room. Aaron and I had no idea that we would be opening a huge can of worms.

Dayton was so upset with the change. He ran into our room and went straight for the crib. He pulled out the stuffed animals that he hadn't touched in months and the blankets that he had never used and took them back to his room. Dayton threw all the toys that we had just moved were the crib was to the other side of the bedroom. After that was done he ran back to our room and tried to pull the crib back into his room.

I did not understand why this was happening. He hadn't slept in his crib in months yet he was so attached to it being in his space. We talked to Dayton about Taylon needing a bigger bed and asked if he could share his crib. He still was not having it.

If you remember the sleepless nights we had when we moved Dayton from his crib to his bed, we've had the same sleepless nights moving the crib out of Dayton's room. The other night Aaron stayed up until 11 p.m. waiting for Dayton to fall asleep.

It will be interesting to see what happens when Dayton faces the next change which will be the crib moving back to his room with Taylon in it in about six months.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Jr. Jazz Champions

Ellie's Jr. Jazz team were the Champions in Tooele for their
age group. Ellie had a once in a life time opportunity when they
were able to wait in the tunnel as the Jazz players came out
to practice. She was a little bummed when she was not tall
enough to reach any of the Jazz players hands to give them high 5.
Aaron and I were so proud of Ellie for not giving up during the
basketball season. She was not sure she would like playing but
at the end of the Jr. Jazz season she said she loved it.
She has one finale game when the kids play against their parents
and then a banquet that her coaches set up. I will be a little glad
that I don't have to run her and Savannah around town but I'm glad
they had fun!!!!


Ellie's team with Thurl Bailey
Thurl Bailey getting ready to sign Ellie's shirt.


Elli'e trying to high 5 Memet Okur



Ellie's team getting ready for the players to come out!

Friday, March 6, 2009

Off Oxygen???

We went to the Doctors tonight and the Doctor took Taylon off
of his oxygen. (Hopefully for Good!!)

Taylon weighed in at 10.4.

When Ellie saw Taylon she explained this as seeing someone who
has glasses with their glasses off.

She says he looks completely different!

I love looking at my little boy with no cords coming out his nose.
He's not so happy in this picture but he is so adorable!


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Monday, February 23, 2009

Baby Bed

Just some fun pictures!

We found Dayton in the baby bed.


Here's a pictue of Taylon...They're almost the same size, right?
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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Just thinking!

I love this picture of Taylon taken today. It was
left off the following blog.

Due Date

It's hard to believe that Taylon will be six weeks on
Friday. This little boy was supposed to be in my tummy.
Taylon was due today.

Today Taylon is getting stronger. We had him weighed
on Friday and he is 8 pounds even. He is still being a
stinker and won't let us get him off his oxygen. We tried
last week but the night we tried he had 9 apnea episodes
within four hours. We (the Doctor and I) decided he isn't
ready. Taylon will probably be on oxygen for at least
one more month.

Taylon is starting to hold his head and look around when he
hears familar voices. Taylon is awake more often, unfortuntly
this awake time usually happens in the middle of the night.
Some how I need to figure out how to get him on a "normal"
schedule.

I usually catch Dayton trying to suck Taylon's toes. (I'm not sure
why.) However, when Dayton sucks Taylon's toes I get a little nervous
because Dayton is a little bit of a bitter. I'm afraid one day he
is doing to snap down on Taylon's toes and we'll have a serious
problem.

Here are some pictures taken today of Taylon.



I hope all is well with everyone. We love you all. I feel bad that we've missed all the visits from family living out of town. It's been hard being cooped up that last six weeks but I know it's for a good purpose. Hopefully we will be out and about sometime in March.

Becky





Sunday, February 15, 2009

School break...Ellie break!

The last couple weeks my Mom has been driving to Tooele to take the kids to school so that I don't have to take Taylon outside. It's sad to admit, but I have only been by myself (with the kids) a couple of times since Taylon has been home. The kids had no school on Friday so I told my Mom that she didn't need to come.

The day had gone well. At 4pm I looked around the house and told myself what a good job I had done. I had cleaned the whole upper level of the house, put away all the piles that had accumulated around the upper level, washed and put away 4 loads of laundry, and my kids were taken care of...yes, all five of them. (It may seem funny to some that I have to remind myself of all the things I accomplished in a day...but wait till you have five kids.)

Ellie and Savannah took Dayton out in the front yard to play, Abbie was in the living room watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Taylon was sleeping in the living room in his bassinet. I decided I had a free minute to go downstairs and reset my Internet. Within in 5 minutes I hear my neighbor inside my house saying, "Becky, Ellie is bleeding." I took a minute to plug in the last cord (thinking it wasn't that big of a deal) and then I went upstairs.

I hear Ellie screaming and I see blood gushing. It's quite amazing that I took care of the situation because usually I run from the bloody messes and I let Aaron take care of them. But what do you do when he's a work...you work out the uneasiness. I noticed after a second that this was not something that I could take care of at home. I hurried and got all five kids ready and rushed the kids out the door. This was not an easy feet... but some how I did it.

When we arrived at the doctor he said that we needed to go to the hospital. We stayed long enough to get Taylon's oxygen levels checked and long enough for Aaron to arrive and then Aaron took Ellie to the hospital. Turns out she had a broken nose and a cut on the outside of her nose that needed stitches.

I'm pretty bummed out that this happened. For awhile I've had bragging rights. I've been able to say that I've had 5 kids without any major injuries except Savannah's stitches. At least I'll still be able to say that none of these incidents happened while I was around. (I'm not sure if that is good thing or bad.)

By the way, this accident happened over at the neighbors on their trampoline. I hate trampolines!


Ellie's stitches.


Ellie with her cute little band aid. To bad you can't see the swelling.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Taylon comes home...Again!

What a week. We thought we were bringing home Taylon for good
but as it turned out we went back to the hospital for a few days. There
are many of you who are waiting for the verdict...so here it is.

Taylon has stopped breathing several times during his sleep. Primary
Children's explained this as premature apnea. As I understand it, this
happens when a premature baby is still developing and learning how to breath.
For some reason Talylon forgets and we have to help remind him what to do.
We have a breathing monitor at home that lets us know when this is happening
so that we can stimulate Taylon and get him breathing again.

Taylon's echocardiogram showed one of two things is also happening. Becuase they are near the same area, the doctor's could not tell which one is taking place. I will cut and past clips from the internet that expain the two conditions.

1) PHO- Patent Foramen ovale. "The foramen ovale is a small hole located in the atrial septum that is used during fetal circulation to speed up the travel of blood through the heart. When in the womb,a baby does not use it's own lungs for oxygen-rich blood, it relies on the mother to provide oxygen rich blood from the placenta through the umbilical cord to the fetus. Therefore, blood can travel from the veins to the right side of the baby's heart and cross to the left side of the heart through the foramen ovale and skip the trip to the baby's lungs.

Normally the foramen ovale closes at birth when increased blood pressure on the left side of the heart forces the opening to close. If the atrial septum does not close properly, it is called a patent foramen ovale. This type of defect generally works like a flap valve, only opening during certain conditions when there is more pressure inside the chest. This increased pressure occurs when people strain while having a bowel movement, cough, or sneeze.

2) ASD- Atrial Septal Defect. "What It Is -->The septum is a wall that separates the heart's left and right sides. Septal defects are sometimes called a "hole" in the heart. A defect between the heart's two upper chambers (the atria) is called an atrial septal defect (ASD).
When there is a large defect between the atria, a large amount of oxygen-rich (red) blood leaks from the heart's left side back to the right side. Then this blood is pumped back to the lungs, despite already having been refreshed with oxygen. This is inefficient, because already-oxygenated blood displaces blood that needs oxygen. Many people with this defect have few, if any, symptoms."

In 3-6 months we will need to repeat the echo cardiogram. At this time they should be able to tell us which one is taking place. If it's the PHO is should repair on it's own. If it's the ASD, Taylon will need to have surgery to repair the hole.

As for right now we wait. Taylon is still on his oxygen at home and will be for several weeks. He is starting to suck his thumb and fingers. He is starting to cry a little more letting us know when it's time to be held and eat.

The kids love Taylon. Dayton loves to give him kisses. I can't wait to see Dayton and Taylon play in just a few short months. When I look at pictures of Brigham and Calvin and Asher and Hazen...I am so excited that Dayton has a brother.

Here are a few pictures of our Hospital stay.


Taylon in his crib. This crib made him look extra small.



Grandpa Bradbury with Taylon. Grandpa came and sat with me
while the Hospital ran all the tests.




Grandpa insisted that we take a picture of the EKG.
It was amazing to see all of these electrodes on Taylon's little
body. It took longer to put on the electrodes then it did to
run the test.

I hope all is well with everyone. Let me know if you have any
questions or if you would like to stop by to see our little guy!

Becky

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Taylon

I have had many phone calls and it's hard to get back to everyone. I thought I would just put up a quick post. Taylon was having a hard time waking up, breathing, and being stimulated Wednesday morning. We took him to Mountain West in Tooele and they sent Taylon by ambulance to Primary Children's Hospital. At this point we are still running tests and trying to figure out what is happening and why Taylon is having a hard time breathing. I will let you all know when we have any news. Thank you for your calls and prayers.
Love,
Aaron and Becky

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Monday, January 26, 2009

Taylon Comes Home


Here is a look at our last two weeks.

I can honestly say that these last two weeks have been the
longest two weeks of my life. They have been full of stress,
happiness, excitement, frustration, worry, fear, and so many
other emotions. Aaron and I were so relieved when we
received the call from the doctor Saturday morning saying
that our little guy could finally come home!

Wednesday morning (January 21st) the nurses took Taylon off of his
oxygen hoping that he could do without it. He did pretty good
for a few days but Friday at 11 pm the nurses could not get
Taylon's oxygen levels up forcing the nurses to put him back
on the oxygen. Saturday night Aaron and I stayed up at the
hospital and learned how to use the machines so that Taylon
could come home.


Our first time dressing Taylon. He was not happy with us.



A closer look at Taylon.



Finally... Going home.


It took Aaron and I a little longer to figure out how to dress
Taylon with all his cords and wires going everywhere. It took

even longer to figure out how we were going to get him in his
snow suit and then into his carseat. With a little trial and error,
we figured it out and we were finally ready to go.

The kids were so excited to see their brother for the first time.

I am on baby schedule now...so after I take care of Taylon I will
post those pictures.
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Monday, January 19, 2009

Jr. Jazz

Ellie and Savannah started Jr. Jazz a few weeks ago.

Savannah loves basketball. She is the only girl out of
nineteen boys. She keeps up with the boys very well and
loves learning new skills. The last two weeks her coach has
taught the kids b-ball skills and next week they will start playing
games against each other.


Savannah makes several baskets during practice. She is
so funny because as she makes these baskets she walks
away as if it's no big deal.





At first... Ellie was not sure that she wanted to play basketball.
In fact, I was not sure why Aaron decided to put her in Jr. Jazz.
But after a few weeks of playing basketball, Ellie has really
enjoyed playing.









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Getting Stronger

Things have been pretty crazy this last week and that is why I have not put up an update. I have been driving from Tooele to Layton every day this week. Although it is a long drive, I would not miss this time with Taylon for a minute!!! I can see him growing and changing each day as he comes off things that have been helping him grow. Last Wednesday (January 14th) Taylon was able to come off of his i.v. and also the photo therapy. On Thursday (January 15th) he was able to come off of his feeding tube. I was so happy when this happened, all of these things seemed uncomfortable. On Saturday (January 17th) Taylon's doctor put in an order for the nurses to feed him as much as he wants when he wants. This is the last thing he needed to achieve in order to come home. I asked that Taylon stay a few more days in the hospital to see if he would be able to come off the oxygen, if he can't he'll come home with oxygen and also a CPAP machine that will monitor his oxygen. Here are some pictures of our growing boy.


January 15th
Taylon stretching, just waking up from a nap to eat.



January 16th
Sleepy Taylon.



January 17th
Enjoying some time with Taylon.



January 18th
It was so sweet, Taylon moved his head to look up at his Daddy.


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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Update on Taylon

The situation with Taylon changes everyday. I explained to Aaron that it seems like we take one step forward and two steps back. Once one thing gets better something gets worse. The encouraging news (I've heard from many) is that this is the "normal" for premature infants. Taylon is still on is feeding tube but starting to tolerate food better. He now digests most of his food with only a little left over. His feedings were increased to about one ounce. The i.v. was lowered but increased once again when Taylon's feedings increased. (I don't quite understand the reasoning for that.) He is still on oxygen and looks like will be for awhile longer. Taylon started photo therapy for his jaundice on Tuesday.

The good news...yesterday Taylon watched me for an hour while he was being feed. I was amazed that he was able to stay awake that long. You can tell that he recognizes familiar voices. He has a nurse named Nancy that he loves. When he hears her he turns his head to find her. This was hard for me at first, you want your baby to be familiar with you but I have to be glad that he is well taken care of. The nice thing about this situation is- is that this nurse, is friends with Lon and Diane (Grandma and Grandpa Elwood.) Lon and Diane didn't even know she worked there.

I am so excited that today Aaron will be going up to see Taylon. I know that it has been really hard for him not to see him everyday. This will be his first time up there since Sunday. We'll update you with any new information.



Tuesday, January 13th.
You can tell that Taylon's color has changed
from the pictures below. He starts photo
therapy treatment today.




Monday, January 12th.
Taylon starts to open his eyes more and more.

Taylon on Monday, January 12th.
Taylon has started playing and pulling on
all his cords.
Sunday, January 11th.
Daddy with Taylon

A gift to Dayton

I have to tell you that with all that has been going on lately, Aaron and I really needed a good laugh. On Monday we received a package in the mail from Uncle Rob. Enclosed was a letter that said:

DROP THOSE DOLLS RIGHT NOW!
It's not to late Dayton. Enclosed you'll find all you need to maintain you're manhood
till your chest hair comes in. Turn this over for a daily regimen.
1/2 Hour of Rocky
1 Hour Pro Wrestling
15 Minutes with spider. (Remote controlled.)
2 Times Daily. Once to wake up your sisters and once when someone is on the can.
Good Luck and God Bless.
Captain Rob

Every time I need a good laugh I think about that letter and the things enclosed.

Here are some pictures. Already Dayton loves to wear his Champion belt.













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Saturday, January 10, 2009

Introducing...

Taylon Stephens Elwood


(Picture of Taylon taken on the 10Th. My first time being able to hold
Taylon except for the few seconds after birth.)

Taylon Stephens Elwood was born on Friday the 9Th of January. At six
weeks early, we are all amazed that Taylon weighed in at 6 pounds 2 ounces
and is 19 1/2 inches long. He is a miracle.



(Taylon in the NICU.)

Most of you know that I was having problems with my blood pressure. On Tuesday
my doctor was debating on induction but decided he would give the situation
one more try. He increased my medication for the third time and sent me home.
On Thursday I went to check in with the my doctor and my blood pressure was at an
all time high. At that time he decided he could no longer risk the baby or I.



(First time holding Taylon.)

I was induced at 7:30 a.m. and had Taylon at about 4:15 p.m. The NICU
worked with Taylon for a few minutes in the room and then took him to the
NICU. I was able to see him at about 9:30 p.m. last night and was able to
hold him for the first time today.




Taylon is a fighter. The NICU took him for X-rays shortly after he was born.
At that time they knew his lungs were not quite developed. He struggled all last
night for breath. (I wish I knew all the terms.) He had a breathing tube, IV, oxygen,
and feeding tube last night. They gave him medication that helped with his breathing
and were able to take him off most these things by morning. However, at lunch
his respiration was rapid, again, and he had to go back on the feeding tube.
I'll be able to see him again at 3:00 p.m.

I have to admit that one of the hardest things I have experienced is not being able
to see my son when I want. I can see him every three hours for a half hour. I miss
him so much while sitting in my hospital room! The next hardest thing was trying to
explain to my others kids why they can't see their brother. They will not be able to
see him until he leaves the NICU which could be a few weeks. Abagail doesn't
understand that her brother has been born. We've shown them all pictures hoping
this will help.

I will keep you all posted throughout the next few weeks while Taylon is in the
NICU. Please keep him in your prayers.

Becky
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