Oh, Where to Begin?

So much has happened in the last three weeks (is that that all it's been since I last posted?), somehow I don't know where to begin. I guess I'll just start with where I left off.....where were we?

Oh yes, Oregon...Harry was lighting things on fire with blow torches, and Charlie started throwing up. And kept throwing up, and kept throwing up. For over two weeks, Charlie was throwing up. I took him to the ER in Oregon TWICE, and TWICE had to subject a three year old to the insertion of an IV, just for them to tell me that they didn't really know what was wrong, and that they were sure he would just get better on his own. He wasn't getting better on his own, and I had to make the next leg of our trip to Utah to pick up Joe at the airport. By the time we got to Utah, Charlie had lost about 5 pound (he only started at 35 pounds), he wasn't eating or drinking anything, and he just laid around everywhere we went. Finally, on Monday the 14th, something else happened and we took him back to the ER. He started getting this weird rash-like thing on his hands, feet, and hips. The is the best picture we could get.

When we took him to the ER in Utah, they said it wasn't a rash, but rather the blood vessels and capillaries under his skin bursting. Usually, this is a sign of some sort of infection. The Dr. ran several tests and finally brought us a text book with a picture of a man whose rash and symptoms exactly matched Charlie's. Apparently it's pretty simple. He had a strep infection (I had always thought you could only get those in your throat), and his body was allergic to it, and couldn't fight it off on his own. So, with the miracle of good ol' antibiotics, Charlie was back to normal within a few days. It was very frustrating to have to have waited so long for such a simple diagnosis, but I was so grateful that it was so easily fixed. Also grateful that we had already reached our maximum out of pocket with our insurance, so everything was 100% covered! :)

So, moving on, we were able to have a good time in Utah, visiting Grandma and Grandpa Simmons, seeing Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Friends. We got to catch up with the Dupaix Family, and Joe IV and TJ got to spend a few days together before leaving for opposite coasts again. We hit up a few of Utah's best water parks, got to visit the Church History museums and see the view from the top of the Church Office building. We had a great time, but needless to say, after three weeks, (two of them with a very sick child) I was ready to get home. We left on Saturday the 19th, stayed over in Vegas, and rolled into SLO on the 20th.

When I got home, Joe had a fantastic surprise for me. He had had my kitchen cabinets and banister painted for me while I was gone. This was at the top of my wish list for my house, and it was so nice to come home to it done, and to not have to have been in the house while it was being done. Here are a couple of pictures....

The following weekend, I got to take a couple of days and go to see my sisters who were together in San Juan Capistrano. We had a great couple of days of shopping, eating and just hanging out. It was the vacation I needed after the vacation I had just taken!

And finally, as most of you already know, I'll have to be re-naming this blog soon, as we will no longer be the BrundageFive. While visiting my sisters I had a "mall-ultrasound" (another experience entirely), and learned that we will be blessed with another boy in January. Seeing as this will most likely be my last child (I'm just getting so tired), we of course were thinking a girl would be nice. But after some time to reflect, I'm so excited to have another son. Having five sons is a pretty cool thing I think. Now, if we can just figure out what to name him!

Now, we're just killing time, waiting for school to start (Only 22 more days!), filling our time with swimming, bike riding and tree-fort building. I'll leave you with this last picture of my children in the "tree-fort" they built. Harry said, "it's really more like a tree-bench", but when your only tree is only 10 years old, this is what you get!