Catch Up

Alright, I'm going to attempt to do a little catching up, however, our computer recently died and so I don't have any pictures from before December. We should be able to get them but have not had time to mess with it yet.

In August was David's 2ND birthday. I can't believe he is two already. He had a Disney CARS theme birthday party and I would say at least 75% of his gifts were cars. He is such a sweet boy and his sense of humor is similar to either my brother Nate or Austin (haven't decided on that one yet). He is so proud of himself when he does something himself. He LOVES Cars, Thomas the Train and Buzz Light year. Climbing is something that is natural to him because I catch him on top of or jumping off of everything he can get onto. Good thing he is pretty steady. We love him so much and are so grateful to have him in our family.

McKenna has been doing really well going to Nursery all by herself. For those of you who don't know, we have struggled with separation anxiety for almost two years. But one Sunday, Eric took her to nursery and something clicked. Ever since then she has been excited to go. YAY for Kenna!

Near the end of September, David got really sick. It started out as diarrhea but we ended up spending several nights in the hospital. Some of you have already heard the story but for those of you who haven't here it is...

He got sick on Tuesday , September 14Th with diarrhea and occasional vomiting. A few days later I took him to an on call doctor who told me that it is just a virus and not to worry. Well, after 10 days of severe diarrhea I took him to his pediatrician. He was getting very bloated after he would eat and especially at night. He had really bad gas as well as the diarrhea. I think that is when he started to connect the stomach pain (bloating with gas) to eating because he all of a sudden refused to eat and drink. It was all I could do to get him to eat in one full day what he usually eats for breakfast. His pediatrician began running tests because he didn't think that a virus would last this long. The night of Sunday the 26th he began throwing up and his belly was VERY bloated and painful so we decided to go to the ER. After spending most of the night there they just said "it's a virus. Give him Pedialyte only for 12 hours and check in with his pediatrician." They also did x-rays, gave him fluids and took more stool samples. By this time it had been two weeks and he was having anywhere from 3-7 diarrhea diapers (liquid essentially) everyday. My normally active, go, go, go boy was spending all day cuddling with me or curled up on the floor in the fetal position. He was hardly eating anything so he was loosing weight fast. He looked like a malnutritioned little boy because he was skin and bones except his belly was severely bloated.(Sometimes it felt hard like a basketball.) On Wednesday the 29th we went to the pediatrician and he had us go get an ultrasound done that day. On Thursday we got the results and everything was ok with them. The doctor called me and asked if I thought he would be ok through the weekend and I said yes because I was watching him pretty carefully. By the way, all this week Eric was in Chicago for training so I had been staying at my parents house. I am so thankful for their help because this was a pretty stressful time for me. Thursday night he started acting like he was going to throw up some more. He was very bloated again and in pain. He was sleeping in a little teepee in my parents basement and I was in the same room watching a movie. Normally I would go to bed around 10:30 but I stayed up because he was acting kind of funny. At about 11:30 I heard him making some funny noises so I ran to him and he was face down in the tent. I thought he was throwing up but as I pulled him out he was rigid, jerky and making a weird noise. This lasted about 15-30 seconds and was the scariest moment of my life. I kept thinking this could not be happening! At the time I didn't realize it (probably a good thing) but he was having a seizure. My screaming brought my sister and parents down to me and I yelled for someone to call 911. I sat there holding hm in my arms and after he quite jerking he just went limp. Kaitlynn called 911 and handed the phone to my mom and my dad went out to wait for the ambulance. The 911 operator told me to try to keep him awake which was really hard. I couldn't get him to move or keep his eyes open. Less than 10 minutes after calling the paramedics arrived and began treating and monitoring David. They took us to St. Al's in Eagle where they did a CT scan and more x-rays. They decided he needed to be admitted and transferred him to St. Lukes in Boise. Another ambulance ride and we got there around 4 or 5 in the morning. At this point Eric is still in Chicago but was arranging a flight home for Friday morning. At St. Lukes they ran tests, gave him fluids, monitored his vitals and his fluid intake and out. We ended up being there for three nights and got to go home on Sunday, October 3rd. His diagnosis was that he had a virus and it damaged his digestive system enough that he couldn't absorb anything so everything was just going right through him. They told us to get some probiotics to help him heal and within the next few days he was much better. The diarrhea stopped and he began eating everything in sight. When I took him back in to check in with his pediatrician his weight was were he had been the previous April. Today he is back to where he was before and maybe even gained a little more. He is happy and healthy.

I never ever thought that I would be telling someone to call 911. It was by far the scariest moment of my life. I still get shaking thinking about it. I was watching Pearl Harbor on TV at the time and I can remember the exact moment that it all started. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to watch that movie without thinking back to that night.

For Halloween, McKenna was Belle and David was a skunk (fitting because of all his diarrhea and gas). They had a great time. For pictures go to facebook.

November 1st we started moving into our new house. Still not completely done but all we have is to paint the trim. YAY! Then we can really get moved in.

Thanksgiving we had at our house. We had Eric's two brothers and their families and his grandparents. Our first big get together at our new house. It was a lot of fun. Sorry no pictures.

That brings us to today. Getting ready for Christmas! I can't believe it is less than a week away!

Here are a few pictures of the kids enjoying the snow we have gotten and decorating our Christmas Tree.

Kenna helped Daddy with the lights.

I'll be back.....after Thanksgiving....hopefully.

So I know that I have had a very long absence from blogging and my excuse is my children, my husband and my house. However, we have moved into the house and my goal is to have is completed and put together by Thanksgiving. After that I will hopefully spend a little time getting caught up or at least keep up with current stuff. We are all excited to be in our house and have so much extra SPACE!!

Cute Pics!

Just wanted to share teh cute pictures of my little boy who is about to be 2! We are very busy with painting our house and I will hopefully post more pictures this weekend but these were too cute to not post.

David and McKenna had swimming lessons for the last two weeks and this is David at his. He loves and is not afraid of the water.

Swimming

I love this video! David is running from McKenna because she is squirting him with her toy and he face plants it into the pool. So funny!

Updates

Wow! Summer is getting so busy. Our house is moving along nicely and the kids were in swimming lessons for the last two weeks so there really was not much time to do anything other than keep up on laundry and dishes. But here is a quick update on how things are going.

Our house has progressed A LOT since I last posted. Framing, insulation, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and roofing is all done. Here is a shot of what the back of the house looks like. (not now because stucco is 1/2 done)








This is my favorite part of the house. In the middle of the living room, dining room and kitchen we have a fireplace. It is MASSIVE! The fireplace goes in the center and on the right is a cabinet for paper and kindling and such. On the left is a place to put wood. On the back side, (the kitchen side) there is going to be a built in china hutch and a double oven. This whole thing is going to be covered in stone. It is going to look amazing!






This is what we do with the kids when we need to get things done on the house. They get to watch a movie. It usually only lasts about two hours and then they have had enough.
Insulation

Our sheet rock is all hung and they are currently working on taping it. By the end of the week it will be completely taped and textured! YAY!

We have the base coat done for the stucco. They do the final coat a week from today.

Now for the kids. Well, last sunday we were at grandma and grandpa's house and the kids were watching a movie on grandma and grandpa's bed. McKenna somehow fell off and hurt her wrist. She was complaining about it a lot after it happened and it was swollen so we tried to be really careful with it. On Monday she fell out of her booster seat and re hurt her wrist. Then she fell on it twice on tuesday. On wednesday I decided I should get it looked at because it was still pretty swollen. She could use her hand for most everything but every time she fell or I squeezed it at all she would be upset. Turns out she has a buckle fracture just above her wrist. So on Thursday morning we got a cast put on it. She chose the color green even though I tried very hard to persuade her to chose pink. I must say though, it is the cutest little cast on the cutest little girl I have ever seen! She will have it on for five weeks. Too bad it is during the hottest time of the year. No swimming for Kenna.

McKenna likes to help daddy on the house. Actually she likes to help daddy do anything. Sometimes before he leaves for work in the morning she will tell him that she is going to go to work with daddy and help him. So cute.

The kids both had swimming lessons the last two weeks. Here are some videos.

McKenna's THREE!!!

McKenna turned three yesterday! I can't believe she is growing up fast. The morning started off with her opening one present which was from Nana and Papa and was a beautiful dress that she wore to church. She loves to wear pretty dresses!

Eric and I had a little bit of a miscommunication that morning as you will notice the tights with the sandals. I got the kids clothes ready so Eric could dress them while I got ready and I forgot that her sandals went in between the toes. However I did take them off before we went to church.

After church we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for her party. Here is the cake I made her.

We had the party in my dad's new shop. It was great.

Singing Happy Birthday.

She blew all the candles out herself.

Opening presents! I swear she was in turbo mode. We had them all opened in probably five minutes flat. She just went from one to the next.

A BIKE!!! YAY! It was the first thing she asked for this morning. It's raining so I may have to pull the cars out of the garage so she can practice today.

I think this video is so sweet. She has a sweet shy smile on while we sing to her and especially at the end when we all cheer for her!

I'm so glad that we have our little McKenna. We waited a long time for her and never gave up. We love her so much.

This picture of David was just too cute not to post.

Last night as we were getting their pjs on David ran away from me (as he usually does when it's time to change his bum or clothes) and so I said "David Eugene" and to my surprise he repeated me. It's the first time he's said his name. He did it a few times but of course by the time I got the camera he wasn't doing it as well. He had been saying the whole thing together but in the video you only hear him so them separate. So cute anyway!

House Update

So our house has changed a lot in the last few weeks. It will be completely framed this week. YAY! It looks so cool. Last week they got the roof put on it and it really made it feel like a house. Here are a few pictures. Enjoy!

Updates

Last weekend we built the rest of our foundation. We had some great helpers who made it go so fast. We really appreciate their help.

My dad and brother, Nate, filled the block in with concrete.

Josh and Terrance laid the block. Eric kept everyone supplied with mud.

David is becoming such a big boy and can feed himself pretty much everything. Here he is finishing off his soup.

I went in to start the bath water and came back to find this. Apparently his soup bowl became his hat. Crazy kid!

A couple days ago I set up our tents and let the kids play.

Here comes David.

Here comes Kenna.

There goes David. There goes Kenna. They had a lot of fun chasing each other.

Here is a short video of my little guy eating soup with his spoon.

Till next time!

Let it begin...

Hello everyone! Life at the Houdek house has just gotten a lot busier. We just started our house two weeks ago so we spend a lot of time getting bids, planning things out and also doing a fairshare of the work for the house. More on the house at the end of this post.

Easter and General conference all in one weekend. How wonderful could it be. I am so thankful for my Savior and the chance I have to repent when I make mistakes. Conference was wonderful with all the talks about families and parenting. It really was an answer to my prayers. I felt like it was directed at me. I am always looking for ways to become better as a person, wife and mother so I loved the talks. It's very different with kids though because there was a lot that I didn't get to hear but I felt the spirit very strongly and can't wait to be able to study all of the talks.

McKenna is growing up so fast. She loves to sing and can learn a song after just a few times of singing it. She has also become somewhat addicted to TV so I have to be careful how much I let her watch. Even if it is not cartoons she likes to watch. I have been making it a point to turn the TV off more. She also is getting pretty good at make believe play. She loves her doll and she is a really good little mommy. I often see her putting her baby to sleep or taking her potty. She uses the exact phrases that we use with her. It is so funny to watch. Tonight we took a big step in potty training because I ran out of pull ups so she is wearing underwear to bed. YIKES! She rarely has an accident at night but it still makes me nervous.

David is picking up new things everyday. He will sign to me when he needs to go poop or when he is poopy. He pinches his nose and says "stinky" or "pee you". We have yet to go poop on the toilet but tonight he went pee on the toilet. YAY! I am hoping to potty train him this summer before we move into our nice new house. David is also starting to talk a lot. He says several words very consistently. Up, please, help, momma, dadda, Bella, more, no, Kenna, shoes, bye, and bite. He also signs drink, eat and more. His excema is really bad right now. His little body is covered in scabs from scratching. We have to keep him in onsies as much as possible otherwise I will find his diaper halfway off because he scratchs his sides. Poor little boy. He is so proud of himself when he gets to do the things the "big" kids do. You can see it in his eyes and smile.

I can't believe I was lucky enough to end up with these two beautiful kids. Even though they test my patience on a regular basis I can't imagine life without them.

Here are some pictures of the kids. Enjoy!

Sometimes they do really good sharing but it usually doesn't last long. Kenna usually pushes David out.

McKenna loves to help mom cook or bake. Here she is helping me make cookies.

Before Easter, we made cookies as a family. The kids had a lot of fun.

We spent Easter at my parents and here are some pictures of our annual Easter Egg Hunt. At first the kids traveled in a pack.

(Please excuse the butt crack)

Here are our house pictures. The footers are in and hopefully this weekend we will lay the block and then start framing in a couple of weeks.

Well...not my kids and not my dog. (Our neighbor kids like coming over when we are out.)

Here are some pictures of our manufactered home being moved.

Yes they are pulling it with that truck you see.

Here is McKenna singing. Sorry that my voice is there too but I had to keep her going.

McKenna and I played a game of "find the bunny". She did her own hair that day so that is why she looks like rambo with a headband and a backwards and upside down crown. Crazy girl! I love the way she goes around with her eyes squinted.

Hope you all had a fantastic Easter!