Tayson Update

Well the day that I was hoping wouldn't come again unfortunately did. Tayson had his third major seizure last friday and once again was rushed to the hospital. This last seizure was the worst one yet. He had a Grand-mal seizure and 16 Petite-mal seizures that followed. He was admitted overnight at the Sacred Heart Children's Medical Hospital. They ran more tests and watched him closely and finally decided to start him on medication (Phenobarbital). We also were scheduled to see a Neurologist to be evaluated. The Neurologist made both Taylor and I feel extremely comfortable and for once we got a Dr. who sat back in his chair, answered questions, and explained things to us. We feel so grateful to finally have some answers, medication, and that Tayson is now a patient at the Child Neurology Center so we can call with any questions (I have called before but they wouldn't talk to me because Tayson was not a patient). For two whole weeks Tayson had numerous Petite-mal seizures. He was pretty normal but at times went into a blank stare and there was nothing you could do to pull him out of it. So, as scary as the seizures are I am so glad that he had one more big one so that we could get him started on some meds and get this thing taken care of. He will be put on the medication for 6 months and then be evaluated in July to see if he is ready to be taken off of it. We feel more at ease with the whole situation and pray that the medication works and that he doesn't have anymore. We want to thank our friends who watched the girls for a few hours while we were at the hospital and for the many offers from friends and family who offered us their help and kept us in their prayers. We especially want to thank Michelle (Taylor's mom) who flew up to our house to watch the kids, clean, cook, and spoil the heck out of us. We love you Michelle and appreciate all the love and support you are to Taylor and I and can't thank you enough for all the wonderful things you did. We love you! Thank you all for keeping us in your prayers and thinking of us. Things are ok at the North household and hopefully we can get back on the normal routine.

Baby shower

My friend Paige is due in a month and so a few girls decided to throw her a baby shower. It was so fun hanging with the girls and watching Paige open all of her cute new baby stuff. Call me crazy......but it did make me a little baby hungry! Don't worry..................I am not pregnant nor will I be anytime soon. I just love brand new baby stuff, especially little girl stuff!

Like father like son

These two could sit and hang out and watch sports all day if they could. So cute! Tayson LOVES his dad and LOVES to hang out with him and chill. If Taylor walks by or ignores him Tayson gets TICKED!

Never a dull moment

I put Brynlee to bed the other night and about 10 minutes later she came out of her room with her pajama's and diaper off, and Kamryn's panties and leg warmers on. Brynlee likes to be like her big sister and has to wear anything and do anything she does hence the leg warmers for dance class and the panties.

Once again she is in Kamryn's panties but this time she has got on my boots. I love these pictures of her because they show her TRUE character. SILLY!

Photo sesh 2 with Brynlee

We tried to take some more pictures of Brynlee for her second birthday and I don't like the white background as much. But they still turned out ok.

Photo session 1 with Brynlee

Every year around the kids' birthdays I go get their pictures taken at Kiddie Kandids. This year the budget is a little tighter and I decided to take them myself and I think they turned out pretty dang good (it helps to have many photo editing programs). So here is the first photo session and there will be a few more to come.

These next few are classic Brynlee faces. She is quite the little character and I love it.

I'm a big kid now

Brynlee is now in a big girl bed and loving every minute of it. She has done really well with it and I love that I don't have to pull her in and out of the crib. It's especially nice in the morning cause I no longer have to get up to get her out of the crib, she just gets herself up and comes and lays with me in bed. She has loved being in a big girl bed but had a hard time adjusting to the fact that she had to stay in the bed, but after a few days she got the hang of it and she had done exceptionally well with it. This is Brynlee's new "CHEESE" face for the camera.

Snuggle Time

The only time these 3 bugs will sit still for 2 seconds is when I pop in a Baby Einstein DVD. The all look so cute together all snuggled up in a blanket. Love it!

She has a mind of her own

Brynlee has a LOVE for shoes and her now found LOVE is her snow boots. She wears them any chance she gets.

Story Time

I LOVE these pictures! I found Kamryn reading Brynlee a story, and Brynlee sitting so peacefully enjoying the story. This just goes to show what great friends these girls are and what a GREAT big sister Kamryn is to Brynlee. They are best friends and the worst of enemies also. It is so hard to get Brynlee to hold still to read a story and Kamryn was able to get Brynlee to hold still for quite awhile. Too cute!

Best Buds

While we were in St. George for christmas break we had the opportunity to see one of Taylor's best buds Brad Sevy from his mission. Taylor and Brad have remained great friends since returning from their mission. Brad and his wife recently had a baby boy named Carter and we had to snap a few pictures of our boys (husbands and babies). It was good to see you guys and we look forward to the next visit.

WHAT A WEEK!!!!!!!!!

This past week and a half has been a tough one for our family. It started off when we were driving back to Washington and we got past Cedar City when our car started filling up with smoke and leaving a thick black film on our windshield. We drove back down to St. George to get it fixed when we were then told that our car would not be fixed until monday (Taylor started school on Tuesday so that didn't work for us). So after much thought we decided to take Taylor's dads truck home and he would drive our car up in a week or two (he was planning on coming up anyways so it kinda worked out). So sunday morning we are packing up and getting ready to leave town when our plans were suddenly changed. In a worried voice Taylor starts calling my name to hurry and come look at Tayson. I run over to Taylor and I see his eyes well up with tears in fear of what was happening to our son. I look at Tayson and see that his eyes are rolled back, his hands towards his face and his body shaking. I immediately started panicking and pacing the floor not knowing what to do. I felt so helpless. I tell Taylor to call 911 and as he is calling he notices that Tayson's lips are turning blue and that he is not breathing. My emotions immediately take over my body and I start screaming and crying at the thought that the precious life of my beautiful son is now fading in my arms. Taylor then tells me to lay Tayson on the floor and open his airways (thanks to 911, otherwise we wouldn't have known what to do). Eventually Tayson slowly stops shaking and starts breathing again and the paramedics have come to the rescue. The paramedics check him out and Tayson was rushed to the ER in the ambulance. After many hours at the hospital, 4 tests, and 3 IV's later we are given the results of what has happened. Tayson had a seizure but unfortunately we were not given a reason why he had one but we were given the ok to head back home. We race home finish packing our bags and start heading home to be with Tayson's pediatrician. Tuesday morning we get to the doctors office, chat with the dr. and find that there is nothing he can do for us. He tells us to wait for him to have another seizure so they can run more tests and try to get this figured out. So wednesday morning my mother in law (she rode home with us to help us out) is holding Tayson when she notices that Tayson's eyes have rolled back, his hands towards his face and his body shaking. We immediately lay him on the floor open his airways and call 911. The second seizure happened to be much worse than the first and he had a harder time breathing his whole face was blue, his body sweating and his eyes swelled up. He had a much harder time coming out of this seizure and it wore his little body out. He again was rushed to the hospital. Tayson was scheduled to have an EEG test the morning of his second seizure so the hospital was doing their best to get us out of the hospital so we could get to his appointment on time. So once again we left the hospital with no answers. Later that day we decide to go talk to his pediatrician to see if there is something he can do or if there was something we could do. We were pretty much treated like a worried parent and he told us not to worry and to just call 911 if another seizure happens. I was TICKED and so was Taylor. We felt so uneducated and unprepared. His dr. didn't even want to see Tayson after he had the seizure, he didn't even care. So, the next day the dr. calls us and tells us that the EEG test came back clear and that everything is fine. WHATEVER! He keeps telling us that the seizure may have been caused by an illness that he has had recently, but we have told him multiple times that he HAS NOT been sick and has been tested for sicknesses. I was so annoyed that he wouldn't listen to us and try to comfort us. I mean come on, my son is 7 months old, shouldn't I be worried about the longterm damage or effects the seizures might cause? Apparently I shouldn't! Well to give you all a little background on Taylor's side of the family.....Taylor and his sister had seizures when they were babies and so did a few of his cousins. But they were all medicated so that the seizures would stop. So of course Taylor and I thought that was the best option for Tayson. But the dr. just didn't give a crap and really wouldn't listen to us. We kept telling him that this runs in the family and the seizures don't stop unless medicated. But once again we were told it was probably an illness. OOOOOHHHHH MMMMYYYYY GGGOOOOSSSSHHHH!!!! So Taylor and I decide that maybe medication isn't the best option, but what else can we do? I guess just sit, wait and watch him closely. So Friday morning I am on the phone when I notice that Tayson's eyes are totally glazed, his pupils small and he is totally in a trance (I guess they call this a staring seizure). I yell his name move his body, but no reaction. As this is happening I am thinking to myself....."This must be what happens before he goes into the seizure". I lay him on the floor and he comes out of it. A few minutes later my mother in law and I are getting him dressed and he does it again. FREAKY! We sit, wait and watch all day for something to happen..........and NOTHING. I don't know if I happened to miss his seizure while I was on the phone or if this was a different kind of seizure. I feel so helpless and worthless as a mother and I am worried and don't know what to do for my son. We have been watching him all weekend and have noticed him staring off a few times but nothing serious has happened. Monday morning at 4:00 a.m. I wake up to Tayson pushing him self towards the top of his bed his arms to his face and his eyes rolled back and I immediately sit up to see what is going and he then closes his eyes and goes to sleep. I am afraid to sleep cause I don't know what is gonna happen while I am asleep. This whole situation is frustrating cause we have no answers, we don't know what to do, we feel like we can't go anywhere in fear that he might have a seizure while we are not at home. This has been a scary, emotional, frustrating week for us to say the least. But I want to thank all those who have called, sent emails and who have offered us their help. I want to thank my mother in law for watching the girls while we were at the hospital and dr. appointments and just being a moral support. We couldn't have done it without you and we were so glad that you decided to come home with us. Thank you all for your support and for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers and we will keep you posted on how Tayson is doing.

Grandma's visit

Grandma Shelly came to visit us for a whole week and she had to leave today and we are all a little lonely and sad. We don't get visitors very often and it felt so good to have some company and some much needed help. Michelle, you were such a blessing to us and helped us out in more ways than you will ever know. The girls loved having you here and loved reading stories with you and playing puzzles with you. We are so sad that you had to leave and miss you a whole lot. You were so much help to me with the kids and household duties. I appreciate all you do for us and we miss and love you. Can't wait to see you in March (he he)!

First bottle

Tayson doesn't like the bottle very much and we have had a hard time getting him to take it. I wish he would take a bottle so that I can have a break sometimes but he refuses to take it and just gums on it. We decided to try a little juice in his bottle and he was loving it. He still gummed it quite a bit but he would suck on it too cause he liked the flavor of the juice. Hopefully he will get it down and start taking a bottle better.

Christmas project

This was one of my many christmas projects and one of my favorites. My mom and I made these for the kids and I love them (more than the kids I am sure). I saw them at old navy but didnt want to pay 16 bucks a piece so I made my own for about 4 bucks a piece.

Kaylissa's wedding

We had the privelage of attending my little sister Kaylissa's wedding while we were home for the holidays. It was beautiful and so fun to watch the ceremony. We enjoyed seeing family and getting to know my new brother in law Dant. Congrats guys!