Christmas Dinner Donations

I was looking for a charity event that our family could volunteer at this holiday season. With my kids being so fortunate in life I really want them to know why it is we donate our money, gifts and food and our time during this time of the year. We try to teach them in our own ways but until they experience it around them I don't think they will get the full experience of Christmas. So I found an organization that will be hosting a Christmas dinner in Nampa on Dec 20th from 11 to 2. I called her and they are still in desperate need of food and toys. They are also still looking for people to help and a santa with the costume that is willing to spend 3 hours with the kids and handing presents. Our family is very excited to be a part of this and is wanting to put the word out there to you all to help if you can. If it is food, or a toy, used or new, or your time to help. Let me know if you can help or know others that would be interested in it as well. Thank you so much.... you can email me at codyandamber3@hotmail.com or comment on this post. God Bless you!!

Academic Award

Katelyn got te academic award at school.... We are so proud of her!! They had an assembly of all the kids that got awards and so here are a few pics of her at that!! The lady next to her is her teacher, Mrs. Redifer. Katelyn has the best teacher this year!!! Through all of Katelyns medical problems the last month Mrs Redifer has helped me so much watching Katelyn and making sure she wasnt doing pe or climbing around at recess or running... She is a wonderful lady!!!

Halloween

Bryce is on the left and Austin is on the rightin the picture above...

Halloween this year was very warm. The night before we carved pumpkins. The boys loved doing it but Katelyn was being girlie and didnt like it on her hands... But it was fun to see what faces they wanted on there pumpkins this year!!! Then on the 31st, That morning we went for the last day of hunting season to find my buck but that didn't happen. Then we came home and got ready for trick or treating... The kids got so much candy. I can't stay out of it!! Both the boys wanted to be the blue ninja turtle and so that is what they were. Katelyn was a cute lil' pirate. She had pink eyelashes adn she was adorable.... Here are few pictures before trick or treating.

Bryce again on the left and Austin on the right!!

The diagnosis

So we went up to Primary Children's in Salt Lake because the Boise neurosurgeon never got back to me after the 3000 phone calls I made to them.... So we went headed up there last week. Cody wasn't able to go with us so my mom went. We laughed the whole time up there... My mom is a blessing to me and my kids... Life without her wouldnt be the same... Thats an understatement. Anyways, We got lost finding the hotel because by the time we got to Salt Lake it was dark. After finding the hotel, it was about 8 30. It was a nice hotel and very close to the hospital. My mom and Katelyn laughed that night till about midnight and they got into trouble because I wanted sleep. I know I am a party pooper!! Anyways, The next morning, was her appt. and we got great news. They said that her spinal cord was a little dialated and there was a little fluid but it could be very normal and everything looked great. They took some more xrays cause her last ones were messed up from Nampa and those looked great as well. He said her neck muscle was torn and repairing as he could see in the xrays. We have to go back in 3 months to make sure there is no change and nothing has grown. This next mri in january they are doing it from head to bottom. She was released to normal activities and we are excited there is no surgery needed... God again has blessed me and my family!!

Still waiting....

So I wrote you on Tuesday, giving you an update on Katelyn's orthopedic appt. Guess what still nothing from them.... I have called everyday about 20 times and they have not sent over the refferal yet to the neurologist... Talk about frustrating... I also have called Mercy to get her MRI and Xrays and her charts from all the doctors and they have not gotten them to me yet either.... So if there is no word but tomorrow at noon then I am going to the hospital and getting all of it myself.... It is so frustrating to know there is something wrong with your kids and they dont care enough about the patient, only about their paycheck..... I will update you as soon as I get some more info....
But keep the prayers going for her.....

Doctors get paid to make you wait and to guess what is wrong...

So I took Katelyn into the orthopedic specialist, yes a specialist and he asks me what was wrong, that is what I went in there for... So after I explained everything to him and he tells me that he never got the x rays from the ER so everything in her MRI looked fine, except there is some fluid in her spinal cord, not sure why. So he wants a second opinion from a neurologist. After waiting around for 75 minutes in the room for him, he tells me to be the doctor and everything was fine as he could see..... But he wants to see us back in 2 or 3 weeks.... Yeah, thats what I was wondering.... Why would he see us back and we is now out of the loop!!! I want answers so my daughter can go back to normal activity. She is out of her neck brace but still not able to go to gymnastics or PE at school..... I just paid a SPECIALIST to guess what was wrong and wait for him to do this... UGH!! The more I think about it the more mad I get.... And what is worse is he was rude when he came in the room.... I was not happy with this place.... But thats Mercy and Saltzer for you..... So we are scheduling her neurologist appt in the morning... I will let you know how it goes when we see him.... Hope fully I get some answers this time......

Doctors

So I took Katelyn back in to the doctors that diagnosed her with the virus and they checked her again and he was still sticking to his results, so e called over to the ER and they gave him the final results from the X rays. Her 4th and 5th vertebrae are not aligned correctly, so they called the orthopedic surgeon and called over to get a MRI. After her MRI they said all her nerves looked okay and they scheduled us to see the orthopedic doctor on Tuesday to find out what to do from here. She is in a neck brace and has to take it easy till then.... She still can not move her right side of her neck and still is in pain... But she is such a trooper through it all.... I am so proud of her and everything she has been through and accomplished.... She amazes me everyday!!!! Anyways, I will update you on Tuesday after her doctors appt. Please pray for her!!!

Nothing broken

Wow this week was a fly bye... I don't even know where it went.... Anyways, we had a busy week. I worked Mon, Wed, and Today. I am loving the studio and it feels so good to be back in there!!! If you need pictures give us a call!! So anyways, we had a cancellation on our babysitter for the week, thank goodness I have the best of Friends... Calise you are a life saver!!! But everyting turned out okay... I go to class Tuesday and Thursday but last night I wasn't able to make it due to Codys car brokr down again, this time its the radiator not the engine.... And Katelyn tore the muscle in the right side of her neck... I have no clue how it happened she woke up not moving it... I took her in to Quich care and they told us the gland in the neck was swolen and it was from a virus.... I thought it was weird so we went home and she took a nap and when she woke up the swelliing was worse and she was crying, which if you know Katelyn that never happens.... So I took her to the ER and they did some xrays, which made her cry some more and they said nothking was broke, it was a tore muscle probably a muscle spasm.... Which I think something is still wrong with the diagnosis still cause now it is all bruised and really tight and hurting her pretty bad.... I dont know what to do.... I thought if it wasnt better by Monday then I would take her in again.... I will update you on her condition as time goes on.... Crazy kid anyways... This weekend is going to be slow, hopefully we are having game night with some friends. Okay, so I will write at the beginning of the week...

Next Week....

I wont be on here this week cause I have long paper to write and I am finishing up a class... So there is a final on Thursday.

I will update you next week on the week and our anniversary night, it was super nice...

So see you all beginning of next week....

Suture and Autoclaves....

Last night I had class and it was so much fun... I went to class kinda bummed and down and just not wanting to be in class.. Once I got there, I was still rather mad but we got pizza so that made it a little better, Gotta love Costco Pizza and then we did labs all day. We learned how to do sterile fields and what a MA does as far as surgeries go. Thats was fun cause we also got to be the doctor. That also includes the machine that you put all the instuments in after use to make them become sterile, which is called an autoclave.....After we passed that test we got to work on a dummy's arm that was all torn up from a accident.... Ours was from a cougar :). We learned how to do stitches. It was like scrapbooking, addicting!!! After we got the 1 done we watned to do another and another. It was rather fun... I love doing labs because it reminds me that is more than just book work and I really needed a change besides book work.... Anways, I thought I would share my experience with you all and if you ever need stitches I know how, I will be happy to do it for you!!! :).

This picture looks like the dummy's skin that we used and he kit that is used as well.....

Catch up day

A few events of our lives.... Here it goes!!! I needed to update all the blog sites and fill everyone in our busy schedule. Sorry I am not on here more but there are other blogs that I do more often. But I will try to be on here more..... Today is a catch up day since I don't have much homework to do...... So...........




So I havent been on this blog in..... A long time.... Lets play catch up. School is great. I am in a medical asepsis class that is hard and the teacher is really hard but I feel like I am learning a lot and I really do enjoy this class.... I have to wear scrubs to this class cause there are a lot of labs that we are doing... So Cody decided to take a few pictures of me in the scrubs so here those are....

Next.... Bryce has been having some asthma attacks again.... Poor little man!!! I took him in on Monday early morning and they said more breathing treatments. I can't tell you how bad Bryce and I both want to throw that machine out the window and how sick of the treatments we are. He has been doing about 6 a day and is still doing pretty bad... I called his doctor and they are going to see him tomorrow at 1:30 so I will let you know how that goes....

Katelyn is in gymnastics and got invited on the competition team for level 3 ( the lowest level). It was pretty exciting to get asked for her to be on there.... She was super excited and she deserves it, Katelyn has worked so hard and I have never seen her more dedicated to anything before as she is to gymnastics. We are no sure if we are going to take the spot though due to the time commitment and the money. Maybe after this month we will decide. Plus she is playing basketball this winter and it is a lot for her to take on..... We will keep you updated n that though...

Austin is doing great. He is meeting lots of friends and doing good in school. I have seen him grow up a lot since school has started. He will be starting basketball at the end of October as well. He is so excited for that. He practices all time and he can't wait to get started....

Cody is doing good as well. He has been working out alot and studying for the ASVAB test to get ready to join the Air National Guard. He is excited about it and it will be good for him and our family.. He has been kid of getting in a slump at Wells Fargo and is needing some change. I am so proud of him..

I got a part time job at the photography studio at JC Pennies in Nampa. I am so excited to get started and something about 2 oe 3 days away from school. I am going to do it while the kids are in school and Bryce is going to got to Preschool and I will do it 1 day during the weekend. When I worked at Sears it was a escape from everything and I really enjoyed it so I am super excited to start at Pennies.

I think that is a good update on our family... This weekend is our Anniversary. Cody has plans all day after the BSU game cause we are going to a party for that.... I am super excited for this weekend and thanks mom for taking the kids!! What would we do without our moms???? I will let you know how that goes!!!

September 11 Tragedy

Please Remember Today!!!

May God Bless You today and Everyday!!!

Pleases watch this video.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDh_pvv1tUM

The beginning of school and the last week or so.....

What a crazy few weeks!!! As most of you know Cody's car broke down so we have been living life with one car... Luckily there are some co- workers of his that live down the street and he has been riding with them. School started for Austin and Katelyn and they are doing so well... Katelyn has a great teacher and she has been going to school with a great attitude. Austin went to school and has no problem leaving me. I help out in the classroom on Friday, which was nice because his teacher is a little crazy.... Bryce and I are having a lot of fun and he loves to sit by his brother in school when we stay there. School for me is a little crazy because I am taking two classes and and it is a lot of work. With the kids' schedule and mine it is a little crazy.... But we will get it down.... Katelyn just got signed up for basketball and she is back in gymnastics, Austin is signed up for basketball as well and Bryce is doing short sports which is hockey, basketball, soccer. That will keep them busy for the fall and part of the winter. It is funny, when i had kids I never thought of how busy it would be with school and after school activities.

Katelyn has officially lost 5 teeth. It is so cute... She is missing both of her front teeth and it reminds me of an old grandma. She won't be missing those teeth long because her adult teeth are coming in already. It is funny to watch her say some words like father and faster.

Also, the last few weeks we have done some major changes in the house. Getting new pictures, changing room around and just getting ready for a winter. They say there is such a thing as Spring Cleaning but I say there is a cleaning out day for all seasons of the year... And then some touch ups in between....

I hope everyone that is in school has had a great week and I hope all the moms that have kids in school feel refreshed and excited for a new year!!! I am loving it!!

Splish Slash!!

So the last few days has been a little bit chilly out to go swimming which is kinda a bummer, because it is great for the kids to go out when I am doing school work. But after all the practice the last few months of swimming, the kids are getting pretty good. We have had some really good times in the back yard and I hope that it warms up enough to get back in it for a few more weeks!! Anyways the kids wanted to show you these videos of them doing there thing in the pool. Austin loves to jump off the ladder and he doesnt have to plug his nose. He is always the first one in just so that he can jump. Katelyn is getting how to stroke with her arms. She is getting pretty quick. She is getting to the point where she loves to race Cody. Bryce is finally getting where he will swim with out his floatie. He is getting to be the brave one and loving to kick the water. So here are a few pics and a few videos of them....

A whole lot of things this summer!!!!

This summer is going so fast. There are so many fun memories that we have made... I am so lucky that my sister got to come for a month and she stayed at our house for a week of it. Here are some of the pictures of each.

Austin and Cody and my nephew went bear hunting with their papa and they all got their first bear. It was so exciting for them. Congrats Boys!!!

We had a day in the park with the whole family.

Going to the horse races was a blast. My mom lets the kids pick the horses for her and she won close to 25 dollars. We won 16 dollars. Here are some memories of that....

We went to a Hawks game last night. We lost but It was so nice to do something different. The weather was great and the kids had a good time.

We went to the Caldwell Fair and Saw Kelly Pickler. My mom let Bryce go on the fairis wheel and I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I was so nervous for him. And couldn't wait for him to get off of it.

We were going through some old clothes and getting organized for the school year to start. So Cody was getting rid off some holey boxers and shirts and hats and Austin and Bryce loved this. So here is them trying on Codys stuff.

We also went bowling. Here are a few pics of that adventure.

I am sure going to miss my sister and the kids when they go but I am so glad that we got to have this memories with them. Jen, you are my best friend and I cant wait to make more fun memories with you guys. I hope to see you guys soon...... Time will go by fast..... Maybe we can get there next!!!!!

After so many great memories and the kids having a busy summer, we are ready to start school. We got all our school shopping done and ready to get back to the real schedule.

After Surgery...

Surgery went well. I went in a little early than scheduled. I felt tons better than when I went in. They had to put in a stent in because they were afraid that the hole would close. It has to stay in till the 29th and I am suppose to take it easy, no heavy lifting till then. Over all I am glad that the surgery is over and I had a lot of support through it so thanks for all the warm wishes.... Now here is the fun posts of the fun activity t o catch us all up to date!!!

A long Time

It has been such a long time since I have wrote on my blog. So many great things going on this summer. My sister is home for a month and she stayed at our home for a week and I am super busy in school. With all the fun activity I haven't had time to get on my blog. I will update you on all the activities for the last couple weeks but I want to do it when I am not on perkiset... It makes me loopy.....

But I wanted to inform you all that I am having an emergency surgery tomorrow because I have a 8 mm kidney stone and it is to large to pass and to low in the ureter to blast. It is really important that it comes out as soon as possible because it could cause kidney damage. I went in to Mercy medical in Nampa- never again. and I felt like I was dying on my death bed, it took them 2 hours to give me pain medicine and for the doctor to come in. Then after threatening me with a cathliter I finally gave a urine sample that they needed, come to find out the urology office said that they never even tested it. They diagnosed me with a serious kidney infection that I didn't even have. Cody even asked if they should do a CT scan to see if it was more serious, and they said no go home take antibiotics, that I don't even need.

So I have been in pain for about 3 days, but that will come to an end tomorrow around 2. I have so much to do for school and with the kids. I am very nervous about surgery because I have never been put under before. So wish me luck and I will let you know how it goes....

To be Continued...

Austin turned 5

This last few weeks have been kinda crazy in the herrmann' house!! There has been alot to got done with the house and just different tasks. With school going now, time is just flying by. I love this new adventure that we have been taken down!! So the last post I keep sayin that we would get piucs up of Austins birthday, so this is the post for him!! Austin turned 5 and I can not believe that he is going to kindergarten!! When planning his birthday I gave him the choice of 4 different things to do and he didn;t want any of them , all of the sudden he said I want to go bowling. So that is what we did!! The bowling alley even gave Austin a bowling pin for his birthday and announced it over the intercom, and the bowling alley was packed!!! It was so much fun and the kids had a blast!! Here are a few memories of the party!! Happy Birthday Buddy!! What a lucky boy he was with his gifts too. He got a new bike and the pool, from his gammy and papa and he got a bumper boat and his puppy from mom and dad and he got lots of cool toys from friends and money from the other gparents!! Thanks to everyone, he is still loving all the toys!!