BABY #3

I went to the doctor last week for my 32 week appointment to find out I am not gaining as much as I should be and the baby isn't either. The baby only gained an ounce in 2 weeks and should have gained near a pound. The doctor has been paying close attention to this baby, because of my pregnancy with Sawyer. They took Sawyer early because he wasn't growing and we spent some time in the NICU. If the baby doesn't start gaining weight by my next appointment then I will be headed to a specialist that will decide a date to induce me as early as 34 weeks. I have upped my food intake along with my protein. It has been a lot more difficult than I thought it would be, but I'm doing my best. I don't want to live through what I had to live through with Sawyer again. Ben gave me a blessing after the doctors appointment and I have been feeling like everything is going to be okay. I know my Heavenly Father loves me and is watching over me and my family. He will only give me what I can handle.

New Carpet

Merry Christmas to the Jeppsen family. We finally got new carpet. I should have taken some pictures of the before off white carpet with nasty stains all over it. As if Christmas time couldn't be busy enough for us with 2 birthdays and and anniversary. Why not add a huge project to it. It took a lot of time and preparation to make this happen. Ben finished the room in the basement and painted. Of course we had some help with that from my dad and Kathy. Then it was on to moving everything out of the house. Gerald and Michelle came up for a full day to help me move everything. Aaron and Phil came over to help with some big furniture in the basement. Next is was onto pulling up carpet and Skyler came to the rescue on this one. Helping Ben out and pulling a late night to get it all done. While all this was happening I stayed at my moms house with the kids. It was so nice of her to cater to us. I felt like a kid again living at home. THANK YOU to everyone who was so willing to help. I couldn't be more grateful.

We finally got the house back together and got the Christmas tree up. Now Santa can come!

Santa

This year Sadie has been wanting a doll that goes fishing for Christmas, but after hearing her cousin Chylee ask Santa for a guitar she changed her mind and surprised us by asking Santa for a guitar at the Jeppsen family Christmas party. I hope Santa and his elves have enough time to make her a guitar.
This year Sawyer did much better with Santa. He wasn't screaming the whole time and held still long enough to get a picture.

Young Women

The Young Women in our ward are working on their personal progress. I talked two of them in to helping with Sawyer's therapy for one of their 10 hour projects. They have been amazing. Sawyer has really warmed up to them. It's also nice for me. I get a break and I know Sawyer is getting the therapy he needs. It looks like this is going to turn into more than just a project. I have arranged for the girls to continue coming and I will be paying them for their services. They will be coming 4 times a week for an hour to 1 1/2 hours each time. I think this will really help out when the baby comes along.

I have also gotten very aggressive with Sawyer's therapy and diet. I know this is the most crucial time in his life and I don't want to have any regrets. I have started him on a gluten and dairy free diet and some very intense ABA therapy. It took lots of preparation to start his new diet. I spent a couple of weeks researching and then I finally went shopping and got everything I needed. I spent a couple days making several different meals and freezing them so we would have something available when we are not home and we need food for him. The ABA therapy is amazing too. I have also done a lot of research on this and the psychologist told me about the website rethinkautism.com. It teaches parents how to do their own ABA therapy with the child. So I am Sawyer's very own therapist. We do this therapy twice daily it takes anywhere from an hour to 1 1/2 hours each session. At first this was all very stressful for me, but now I am feeling really good about things. I finally feel like I am doing everything I can for Sawyer at this point in his life. It feels so nice to know as a parent I can give my child the things he needs.

Happy Halloween from the Jeppsen Farm

This year I decided to make the kids costumes. It took a lot of time, but it was worth it.Grandma Llama had some overalls she let me borrow and we found Ben some at the D.I.
Our little spider boy. I crocheted the vest part. The legs on the side are pairs of paints stuffed with the gloves on the end. He didn't mind his costume at all.
Sadie loved all the attention she got in her chicken costume. It is a hooded sweater with white boas attached. The feet are cleaning gloves stuffed. I'm pretty sure she is the cutest chicken I have ever seen.

Happy Happy Birthday Sawyer Dear

We celebrated Sawyer's birthday by having cake and ice cream at Grandma Carr's house. He loved his presents and had such a fun birthday. My little boy is now 2!

I spent way to much time making the cake balls and cake, but they seemed to be a big hit.

Sawyer's not so fun day!

Sawyer finally got an upper GI endoscopy done this last week. In this procedure they put a camera down his throat and took pictures of his upper GI track. They did blood work, removed tiny pieces of his stomach and from his colon for a biopsy. All the pictures looked good, but that is half of it. We haven't received the results from the blood work or biopsy as of yet.

Canning Season

This is the kids helping daddy pick apples at the neighbors house. Ben has spent several hours and late nights up past one canning, dehydrating, and juicing. He has canned pears, tomatoes, salsa, peaches, grape juice, apple sauce, and plum juice. He has also dehydrated peaches, pears, and plums. He is more than obsessed!

Some of Sawyer's Therapy

These are some fun activities we do with our little guy every day. With S.P.D. (Sensory Processing Disorder) kids need and seek for sensory input. Every child prefers different things and these are some of Sawyer's favorite sensory input activities as of lately. We move like crazy on the exercise ball. Bouncing up and down, rolling on top of it on his belly, and rolling upside down on his back.

Who doesn't love a good rocking horse?
This is his sensory brush we use 3 times a day. With this brush we rub his arms, hands, legs, and feet. This puts Sawyer in Heaven.

Baby #3

I guess there is something important I should post about. We are expecting baby #3. Due February 7th with a sweet little boy. I wasn't planning on getting pregnant as soon as I did, but when you are not on birth control and just watching your cycle things happen! Finally at 24 weeks I'm feeling like I have some energy back. I haven't been very sick just extremely tired and irritable all the time. I need to thank my sweet little children for letting me take a nap everyday. This usually happens when Sawyer is down for his nap. Sadie entertains herself while mom takes a nap. I also need to thank my amazing husband for being so understanding when things don't get done around the house like they usually do. Also for helping so much with the kids. I couldn't go through pregnancy without my sweet little family. As for the baby itself things look great! I'm working on gaining weight this pregnancy in hopes that it will give me a healthy and strong baby. I know most of you would think why would you want to gain weight. Well, with Sawyer I only gained 15lbs and he had several complications. I'm a very picky eater and it is hard to find things I like to eat. Most of the time I would rather just not eat anything. At my last doctors appointment I had only gained 6lbs and I should have gained double that. So here goes for gaining some good healthy weight!

Such a Big Boy

Sawyer can now walk with his walker. We are so proud of him. We have now ordered braces that fit up to his ankles in order to stabilize his feet better and hopefully have him walking in time for the new baby arrival. One of his new things is saying the sound "aaaaaa". You say it to him and he says it right back. He also loves patty cake. Life has been extremely busy with this little man. We currently have a occupational therapist, physical therapist, speech therapist, and developmental specialist working with him. It is nice that they come to our home to work with him. We have about 6 appointments a month. We also are starting yoga again once a week. We have now completely weaned him from his medicine and he will be receiving a upper endoscopy on the 18th of this month to see if their is anything effecting him in his upper GI track.

Black Island Farms

Sadie got to go on her first field trip with preschool. All the kids had so much fun.

They all got to ride on a big trailer and go see how the farmers grow their crops. Then when we got to the pumpkin patch they got off the trailer and went and picked their very own pumpkin.

Pop Up Trailer Adventure

My Dad Gerald bought a pop up trailer and has been nice enough to let us use it. We decided to make one last trip up to the property. I will never camp any other way again. It was so nice to have heat and be able to cook meals in the trailer. The weather didn't cooperate as well as we would have liked it to, but we still had fun!
Shayna came with us to join in the fun. For the hour that it wasn't raining the kids insisted in putting there feet in the river.
You know Sawyer really likes something when he stick his tongue out.

You have to let a boy have fun once in a while. We let Sawyer play in the wet sand and he enjoyed every minute of it.

Sadie Singing Praise to the Man

Sadie's favorite song is Praise to the Man. We listen to it in the car over and over. They are also learning it in Primary. The other day she started singing the first verse and chorus all by herself.

Sadie's First Day of Preschool

Sadie was so excited to start preschool. She had to let everyone know she was going to go to school. It made me sad to say goodbye to her, but she had no problem with it. She gave me a kiss and was on her way. After she said "Mom, I like school".

The Property (Blacksmith Fork)

Cousins having fun together.Uncle Danny helping Sawyer go down the slide.

Sadie of course could not get enough of the slides and water.

Willard Bay

We went boating with my sister Heidi and her family at Willard Bay. The kids loved it! Sadie rode on the tube for the first time and Sawyer was so relaxed that he fell asleep. Come to find out boating is great therapy for the kid. I also got up on the water skis for the first time.

My Sweet Kids

Couldn't resist these two cheesy kids!

Hidden Meadows

This last week we ventured out to go camping at my dads property.

Mandi and KaLaya joined us for the adventure. This is a picture of the packed vehicle. There wasn't much room for anything else.

On our way up we had to stop and play in the snow.

Grandma Kathy helping Sadie go potty in the outdoors.

There is nothing like the made up portable potty. When I was a kid my dad made one of these and we would take it with us every time we went on a vacation. This brought back some memories!

Big Boy

Sawyer has been cruising the furniture for a few weeks now. The other day he pulled himself up to the couch. We were so proud of him. I think working on the stairs with him has really helped him get to this point. He also started signing in the last couple of weeks. He signs more, please, and drink. He amazes us every day with his ability to learn.

First Pickings

Sadie and Ben love to go and pick the fresh food out of the garden. This is the first squash of the year.

Sadie Tumbling

Sadie took tumbling for the first time this year and loved it! She can now do what she calls a "Tuck & Roll". It is so adorable.

Willard 4th of July

Our Family

The Parade

It wouldn't be the 4th of July without a ride in the airplanes.

Sawyer Learning

We have been working really hard with Sawyer lately. He amazes me every day with his ability to learn. We have several different therapist that come in to help us out. We have put him on a very aggressive sensory schedule and he is showing tons of improvement in his ability to focus and learn new tasks.This is him focusing on his toy and putting the ball in it.

When we first started with this star toy Sawyer would get so frustrated and scream and cry, but after a few weeks of working with him he does awesome! He will put the stars on several times in one sitting.

Enjoying Life

This is Sadie's very first bike. She is a little unstable, but I'm sure she will get used to it.

Sadie and Dad picking pees in the garden. Pees our like a summer treat for these two. They eat them right out of the pod all day!