Our Kitties

I've been trying to figure out how to write this post for some time. I can't help wanting to cry when I see the kids holding their kitties and being so happy with them. But here it goes.



The kids have been wanting a pet for a while, particularly Max who, despite acting nervous around dogs, has been asking for one. I finally convinced Tyler that a pet would be good for us, good for Max and Lia to learn a little responsibility and I'd have some extra company when 3rd Year started. So we headed down to the shelter to get some kittens. The kids were SO excited that they would each get to pick one out. Max had made his mind up about getting a "skinny black kitten" about two seconds after we told him he could get one. Lia picked out a cute little gray and white one.







We took them home and the kids were just beyond happy. Lia just lit up about her kitties. The little black one was a little more nervous around the kids, but loved Max so much! She would curl right up in his lap and fall asleep. The little gray loved Lia, despite her constantly picking up, slinging over shoulder, dropping, hugging, squeezing... you get the idea. Anyway, at one point Lia had to sit in time out in her room and the gray kitty meowed and meowed outside her bedroom door until Lia came out again.









Max named the black kitty Rainbow but called her "Bow" for short. Lia named the gray one Pink Penguin but we called him "Supercat" mostly. We sure did love them! They were ADORABLE!!









We'd only had them for a few days and when we had to head up to Orange County to have a mini family reunion. We left them with Danielle while we were gone. On Saturday Danielle called to say one of the cats was sick. So I raced back home after the Tough Mudder to pick them up and take them home. Early the next morning I woke up to check on them and it did NOT look good in the bathroom. It was a MESS and included some blood. So I found the closest vet hospital I could find and rushed them in. After waiting for what seemed like hours the doctor came out and told me that the cats had contracted feline distemper, most likely while in the shelter, and that it was fatal to kittens. Cats are usually vaccinated for it but the vaccination comes in two rounds and the kittens were so little, they had only had one round. I'm sure you can see where the story is leading.

Before I got back to the OC Tyler broke the news to the kids. Their reaction: "Awww!!" and 5 seconds later asked if they could go back to play with their cousins. Mercifully they weren't that torn up about it, mostly because I just don't think they understand what dying means. Anyway, it was a pretty rough experience for Tyler and I, one of the reasons we haven't gotten any new ones yet. I miss those cute little kitties! Maybe when we start residency we'll think about another pet. For now, I think we'll stick with FISH.

Dr. TYLER SEIBERT, PhD

He did it!!! On May 26, 2011 Tyler successfully defended his PhD in front of family, friends and his committee. I am so SO so SO SO proud of him!! We're one step closer to being done with school and moving on to the next part of our lives! He worked HARD. Like, SERIOUSLY hard. He completed 5 publications in a record 3 years, it's pretty much unheard of to complete that caliber of work in that short a time span. Of course there were bumps along the way, but Tyler took them in stride and busted it out, especially the last few months where he worked 18 hour days almost every single day to get it done!


About to start!

I snuck a picture during the presentation!




So when you see him, you can officially call him Dr. Seibert! SO proud of this guy!! Driven, smart and cute.


Tyler with his PI Dr. Jim Brewer.

Max Teaches FHE

Max taught us a wonderful FHE lesson thanks to an amazing gift from his Primary Teacher. It was a bucket filled with 12 or 13 objects with scriptures tied around each one to tell the Easter Story. Thanks to this amazing thing (that he's not allowed to play with because I want to save it!) he was able to retell the story almost perfectly! We think Sister Klaffs is awesome!! (He actually did soo much better the second time he did it for me, when I didn't catch it on video. This first time was the first night his hip started to really bother him. He was limping all over and in pain, poor kid.)



FHE: For those readers who don't know what it is -- we are counciled to hold weekly family nights, called Family Home Evening, where we have a short lesson that is Gospel centered and an activity. The point is to spend one night at home together (the suggested night is Monday, but you make it work for your own family). Max LOVES FHE. He asks about it all week and gets so excited for it! It's a great way to make sure we spend some quality time together learning about The Savior and his teachings. Also, games and treats are a BIG part of it!!

Trick Hip

We had a little bit of a scare with Max when he started limping around randomly one night complaining that his leg hurt. When he woke up the next day not being able to walk at all, we decided to take him in to the pediatrician who recommended x-rays and blood work. Poor kid couldn't walk at all, we had to carry him everywhere for a few days. Dr. Archie determined that it was his hip that was in pain (not his leg, sometimes kids can be confused about where the pain is coming from).

While waiting at the hospital for our x-ray we had to snap a picture with "The Donald" (as Max calls him). He was such a patient little boy. It was so uncomfortable for him to sit in the chairs while we waited but he did quietly and played his Leapster. Getting his blood drawn was pretty traumatic for him! But he got to pick 4 Ironman stickers and get french fries so it kind of made up for it I think. Plus, he was pretty excited to tell his friends at school about how he got his blood taken out of his arm!





We waited a few days for the results which showed some inconclusive results. The radiologist reading them said that one of his hips looked smaller than the other, meaning it could be the result of some kind of infection eating away the bone and joint tissue. Definitely NOT a good thing!! We were a little on edge waiting the few days it took to get an appointment for and MRI. Max was a trooper once again. At that point the limp was mostly gone, but we needed the MRI just to be safe. Poor kid had to be put to sleep for it.





Tyler and I pretty much thought he was hilarious while he was coming out of the anesthesia. I'm pretty sure the nurses and other parents in the recovery room were wondering who the terrible parents were that were laughing hysterically at their poor sick kid. (FYI, Max didn't even know). We took a video, I might post it later!

Thankfully the results of the MRI came back showing some inflammation of the hip joint which pretty much ruled out the much more serious diagnosis (we were thinking surgery and long term negatives for a little while there! Kind of scary!) and we're pretty positive he had Transient Synovitis, a virus that can present in the hips and knees of boys between the ages of 3 and 6. Such a random thing!! And we're so glad he's back to his crazy running energy filled self!!

We just had a follow up of appointment with another x-ray and he's got a clean bill of health! He was pretty excited they let him have a copy of the picture, too.