Ian's Swim Lesson

During the last week of swim lessons Ian finally stopped crying. Once he got over his fear of the water he was a natural. Hopefully we can keep it up so he has more fun in swim lessons next year.

Happy Fathers Day

What A Cutie! Ian singing "Daddy's Homecoming". He usually sings "Daddy" but he often will sing the same song to "mommy", "Ty", "Barbie"?(apparently this is my pretend name) and even to himself. I hope all who wish are able to enjoy. Happy Fathers Day.

summer fun

Swim Lessons-Life Lesson

Swim lesson have been challaging . The first week (at least for my boys) is the hardest (I hope : >). Ty and Ian both cried the first day -- Ian cried so hard he throw up. Day two was a little better. For the third lesson Ty said he was going to be brave and try his best "if" (as some know with Ty there is always an "if") I bring my camera and take his picture. I took pictures and he was great ! He even voluntarily jump off the driving board. Day four of swim lesson Ty was couching Ian about how swim lesson are "so much fun" and that he "loves it". Ian and Ty play "swim"- Ty is teacher and Ian is the "learner". As for Ian-- I have not been able to take any picture. My hands and lap are full with a wet, crying "scared" little guy. He throw up again on day four. It just breaks my heart to see him wet shivering and saying in his little mouse voice.. "Mommy, I too scared" Yet, he also says "I be your brave boy" and he jumps in--I hope next week goes better. I am in awe at how brave my boys are. We had a FHE lesson on courage and perseverance. They both agreed that they will be brave and keep tiring. It is so cute to hear them talking about how they can be courageous.

Waiting for "Humpty Dumpty"

My brave boy. :)

"Bubbles"

"Airplane"

We have finally buckled down and starting having regular family scripture study. Josh and I have struggled with exactly how to read scriptures with two very busy little boys. We know how important it is to begin teaching the gospel from the very first. The boys love reading time just before bed so we now read a chapter from Book of Mormon Stories. Ty and Ian love it- they love learning about the Nephites and about the prophets. Ty thinks all Lamanites are mean and make bad choices. In fact anytime he is frustrated and chooses to push his brother he says he is being a Lamanite. Ian thinks Ammon is his friend from church--a sweet little guy named Ammon- after we read part of Ammon's story , Ian asked me several times , if Ammon's misses his Mommy when his is on a "missionary". He was also concerned about Ammon having a sword..."they are not safe" . So.... despite a few misconceived notions we continue on each night, hoping, knowing that it will only get better as we persevere.

Book of Mormon Stories( One of the rare moments when they are actually sitting still.)

Update

Here is the quick update I promised several months ago. The last two weeks of April were rough here for Johnsons Az. Or maybe just rough for Mom(me). All in the same week we found out my Mother has thyroid cancer. Her doctor find two malignant tumors on her thyroid. They have removed one and will be doing an additional surgery in a few weeks to remove and test the other one. In addition, my step-mother passed away. She had been fighting emphysema for several years. I know she is now able to talk and sing and run, in ways she was not able to do here on earth for a long time. We also begin taking Ian for multiply tests and check ups. He still is not growing as he should be. The doctors have determined (through blood tests) that he may have a growth hormone deficiency. As many of you know he is a little guy. I have been a little concerned. Each time we saw his pediatrician I would bring up how little he is. The doctor was not concerned-- until his 18 month appointment (Ian weighted 18lbs) At that point the doctor had me start him on Pedisure and I started keeping track of his caloric intake. At Ian's 2 year check up the doctor became concerned. He only weighed 20lbs. They did blood work and ruled out any malobsorbtion issues. They determined that it is not a nutritional issue because his intellectual, social and (other then growth) physical development is normal , in fact the doctor said that Ian is quite intelligent. But the biggest concern is he only grew 1 inch from 12months to 2 years. ( "normal" is 3-5 inches)I looked at his growth charts he has never been "on the chart". To make a long story short, Ian will be having a growth hormone stimulation test on the 26th of June. Then the doctor believes Ian will need growth hormone replacement therapy(shots---ouch-- everyday---yuck) until he reaches about 12 years old. I have been spending a l0t of time studying GHD. It is complicated yet interesting. I feel like I need to be as informed as possible yet I don't want to worry needlessly-- once again it is all about balance.One thing I think is interesting about GHD is they have found a lick between GHD and Type One Diabetes. At first I thought "so, He is going to be little, so what is the big deal" then as I study I realize that our growth hormones are not only about height or weight. If his body is not growing then his heart, his brain, his immune system etc etc is also not developing and this could cause some pretty scary issues as he gets older. GHD is a lot more then him just being short. Yet it is great to know that if this is the issue that it is now easily fixed. Thank goodness(and Our Father in Heaven) for modern medicine. :)
So we trudge along.
More recently we have had a lot of fun---going to the zoo, playing in the sprinklers, watching movies and eating Popsicles-- everything that makes summer, summer-- YEAH! we love it.
Next week Ty and Ian start swim lessons-- I will defiantly post pictures of our brave little guys learning how to swim.