Happy New Year!

Wow, time really flies. I haven't posted to the blog since October. School has been crazy and has kept me very busy. Unfortunately, the blog suffers when I get busy. Now I've been on break for a couple of weeks, and even though I started school again last week, I'm catching up on some of those things that have been put on the back burner for too long.

First, an update. The kids loved Halloween this year. Skylar dressed up as the red Power Ranger Samurai, Jasmine dressed up as a princess, and Aiden was a frog. They all looked so cute in their costumes. Since the weather was so warm, we stayed out until the kids got tired rather than until we froze to death, which is usually the case. As a result, the kids racked up quite the collection of candy. They had such a great time.

Amaraa had been working at JoAnn's clothing store, but she got a new job at the Gap outlet at Traverse Mountain in late October. She really likes her job there. For a while, she worked at both jobs, but JoAnn's wasn't giving her very many hours, so she decided to quit her job there and try to get more hours at Gap. As they were preparing to open, Gap gave her as many hours as she wanted. This continued for some time after they opened, but now they aren't giving her many hours, either. She really likes the job, so we hope they will start giving her more hours. Now that Christmas is over and school is starting again, they may lose a few employees, which will free up some hours for Amaraa. We'll see, I guess.

As I mentioned in my last post, Amaraa's mom came to live with us again. I always have mixed feelings about this. It drives me a bit nuts, but she is really good to help out with the kids. I don't know what we would have done without her when Aiden was in the hospital. And now, having her here gives Amaraa complete flexibility with work, and allows me to spend the time I need studying. All in all, I guess the benefits outweigh the frustrations.

We had a pretty good Thanksgiving. Amaraa had to work, so she stayed home with her mom and Aiden while I took Skylar and Jasmine to my parents' house for a couple of days. I was able to work there for a few days since I had a break from school, and then we had the big Thanksgiving dinner with my parents and my brother's family. My other brother's daughter who is attending BYU came, too. We don't get to see her that often, so the kids had fun playing with her.

I finished my finals on the 12th of December. They went really well. I'm really going to miss my Biology and Physiology classes. I learned a ton in those classes and I had fantastic teachers. My Physiology class almost made me want to go the medical school route instead of dental school, but then I came back to reality and realized I'm too old to do four years of med school and another four years of residency. I think four years of dental school will be plenty, thank you. And I may even graduate before I'm ready to retire. :-)

As I mentioned above, school started again last Monday. I wasn't really looking forward to getting back into it again quite yet, but I guess it's time. I have been working on a remodel of the commercial building my parents own in Lehi (where my insurance office used to be). Now that I'm back in school, I have just had to work on it at night after my classes are over. It has been a pretty big project, but I have really enjoyed doing it. This remodel is for the tax guy. He is expanding into my old office and into an area the Baptist church used for their nursery. I finished a different area for the church's nursery and then knocked down all the walls between my old unit and the tax office. This week I will work on getting the project finished up. By the end of the week, I should be nearing completion, just in time for tax season to start. Whew!

In my last post, I mentioned that Aiden would be walking soon. Well, he's now walking around like a pro. He started taking steps at the end of November, but he didn't really start to walk around until the week before Christmas. Now he's charging around the house like a crazy man! He's such a happy little kid and a joy to have around. His latest thing is to put two chairs together and hang on the chairs while he lifts his legs up. It cracks me up.

A couple of weeks ago in church, one of the sisters in our ward gave a talk. Her husband had some really serious health problems at the beginning of last year and for a while, they weren't sure he would even live through it. One of the things this sister said in her talk was that when we go through a crisis, we get an eternal perspective that we usually don't get otherwise. She said that you realize that certain things in life just don't matter, and that other things that we have maybe put on the back burner or not paid as much attention to as we should have, matter a great deal. I remember having that happen with Aiden. Here's what I wrote about it in a blog post just after Aiden had a major setback:

"As I was talking to the neonatologist today, I told her that I couldn't believe how fast a preemie's condition can change from stable to extremely critical. Life can change in the blink of an eye. One thing I have learned through all of this is that you just have to make the most of every single day. I almost lost Amaraa in a day. You never know what is going to happen tomorrow. Pettiness, anger, jealousy, etc. are not worth wasting your time on because in the end, you're the only one it hurts. I'm not saying that I'm all of a sudden a perfect person. I still have a lot to work on. I just now realize what a waste of time negativity is. The first step in recovery is realizing you have a problem, right? Ha ha."

 I remember having that realization and having everything about it seem so clear at the time. And yet, can I honestly say now that I don't waste my time on pettiness, anger and jealousy anymore? Not really. I mean, I have changed some, but I can't say that I have had a wholesale change of my behaviors or attitudes. It's just so easy to revert to bad habits and simply react to life rather than to change permanently. It's like for that one moment in time, the heavens are opened and you have a perfect understanding of that one concept, but after the "download" has taken place, the connection closes. You still know, intellectually, that the concept is true, but for some reason you don't know what to do with that, or how to apply it to your everyday comings and goings. In the times when the "download" is happening, you have that feeling that's described in Mosiah 5 after King Benjamin spoke to his people. You "have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually." I guess this happens any time you truly feel the Spirit, but it's more poignant during a crisis. And I think that's one of the ways God comforts us during our times of need -- by leaving that "download port" open for a longer period of time to give you the understanding you need to make it through the trial. The difficulty comes when the knowledge has been "downloaded to your hard drive" and then you have to apply it on your own, without that continuous, two-way, open connection. Life's just a constant, tough learning process. I have thought about this a lot lately as I have two friends who have recently struggled or are currently struggling with a child's difficult medical problems. One of them was blessed with more time with their little boy, and another just made the tough decision to let their little guy stop suffering. I can't imagine how difficult that decision must have been to make. I will be eternally grateful for all three of my kids, and especially that our little Aiden is still with us after all he's been through. Sure, he still continues to have issues, albeit fewer than before, but I can't imagine my life without him in it.

Sorry for going on so long about this. It's just something that has been on my mind recently. I hope to write again soon.

November 18, 2011 - 258 Days Old

Wow, I can't believe how much time has passed since I last wrote. My new job and school has me so busy that the days pass way too quickly. A couple of people who are regular followers of the blog have contacted us and asked if we are alright, so I figured it was probably time to post again.

Our little Aiden has been fighting off sickness for about the past month and a half. He caught a cold from his brother and sister and it took him a long time to get over it. Then, just as he was getting over it, Skylar and Jasmine generously passed along yet another cold. I swear, Skylar is like a walking petrie dish! He gives it to Jasmine and then she promptly coughs or sneezes in Aiden's face. We do our best to keep them away from Aiden when they are sick, but they sneak in while we aren't watching and pass their germs along. Aiden struggles so much with colds because his immune system is so weak and it takes him a long time to get better.

Aiden is still on oxygen. His breathing doesn't seem to be getting much better. Hopefully he will gradually improve and we can get him off of oxygen before long.

Halloween was fun for the kids this year. Skylar dressed up as Iron Man and Jasmine was a butterfly. They were so cute. I dressed up in my typical Halloween costume, my traditional Mongolian clothing, for our work Halloween party. Amaraa brought Skylar and Jasmine to trick-or-treat around the office and then they had cupcakes and drinks. I took the kids around our neighborhood trick-or-treating. They were so excited. They tired out after only a handful of houses and wanted to go home, so that suited me fine. We still accumulated quite a lot of candy that we had to promptly ration to prevent rotten teeth.

Skylar has really been enjoying school this year. He loves his teacher and comes home saying he had a great day at school every day. Jasmine still misses him when he goes to school, but I think she is getting used to the idea. We have our little morning ritual we go through. Jazzy eats breakfast with Sky and I and sees us off to work and school. She then takes her warm milk in a sippy cup and goes downstairs to watch the latest episode of Sesame Street. She is at such a cute age, but she can be a "terrible two".

Work has been okay. I am still looking for other opportunities that are a better fit for me, but until I find one, at least I enjoy the work I am doing. It's not ideal by any means, but it is a job and I am grateful to have it for now.

Amaraa and I have both caught the cold the kids have had and it has been miserable. Luckily, it affected me pretty lightly, but the dry throat and coughing has not exactly been pleasant in a job where I have to be on the phone all the time. Amaraa has been hit much harder with her cold.

Well, I'll try to be better about writing on the blog. If you hear of any great job opportunities, send them my way.

September 15, 2011 - 194 Days Old

Well, today has been a crazy day. I am into the groove of things at work and have started consulting with my clients. That has been going pretty well so far. I'm grateful that my supervisors are letting me start off slow. Normally, I would have about 55 customers to work with each week, but I only have about eleven right now. I'm sure they will give me more soon, but I'm glad I am able to ease into it.

After work, I went to my two on-campus classes at UVU. Both of my teachers are really good, but it makes for really long days. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I leave the house at 7:30 AM and get home at about 9:00 PM. While I was in class, I got a text from Amaraa that said she didn't think Aiden's baby formula was working for him. We have been giving Aiden preemie baby formula a couple of feedings per day to help him gain weight. The Enfamil for preemies has been working really well, but today Amaraa got some Similac formula from WIC. I texted back that I would pick up some more Enfamil on my way home.

I had no idea what had been going on that prompted the text message...

Amaraa mixed the new formula for Aiden early in the afternoon. After giving it to him, Aiden got a lot of phlegm in his throat. He started coughing and couldn't clear the mucus. A few minutes later he threw up. With all of the phlegm in his throat, throwing up just aggravated the problem, and everything seemed to get caught in his throat. He started choking and couldn't breathe. Amaraa turned him face-down and slapped his back to try to clear the garbage out of his throat. Aiden started turning blue and his monitor was alarming as his blood oxygen saturation began to drop. After trying everything she knew how to do to get him breathing again, she finally called 911. She kept working on Aiden as she waited for the ambulance. Aiden began doing a little better and his color started to improve. By the time the ambulance arrived, he was breathing much better. The EMTs wanted to take him to the hospital, but Amaraa wouldn't let them. By then, he was breathing normally again and was not in distress. The EMTs were worried because his breathing appeared labored, but Amaraa knew that was normal for Aiden due to his reactive airway disease. She explained that to them and they left. The ordeal was pretty scary for Skylar and Jasmine. Amaraa apparently handled it like a pro. I didn't find out about all of this until I got home from school. Anyway, everything is OK and Aiden is doing well tonight.

Well, that's about all the excitement for today. Here's hoping for a little less excitement in coming days.

September 11, 2011 - 190 Days Old

I haven't posted for a while. I have been pretty busy over the past couple of weeks. I started a new job and I started school, so I don't have a lot of extra time.

Aiden is doing well. He picked up a cold from his generous older brother and it has been a rough couple of weeks with some pretty scary moments. With the lung problems he has, a cold could be fatal, so we were pretty nervous. Fortunately, he seems to be mostly over it now. He is finally sleeping better, and that makes us all happier. Amaraa still has to spend most of every day by his bedside, which I'm sure isn't easy for her. Aiden has been home for more than a month. He's six months old now.

As I mentioned above, I started a new full-time job. It started as an entry-level customer service position at Crexendo Business Solutions, but after being there for four days, I was promoted to Account Manager. I found the job listing on Monster.com and applied from there. When I went in for the interview, I found out that the interviewer was a girl from my ward! Anyway, my job is to work with business owners to create and optimize their business websites so they show up on the first page of Google searches. I have loved it so far. The account manager position is very similar to what I did as a consultant with insurance agents -- helping them to establish a web presence and utilizing Web 2.0 to increase business and traffic for them. I have been in training for the past couple of weeks. Training is now over and I will begin working with clients this week.

I also started school again. I am taking two online courses and two evening classes on campus. My teachers seem to be good although the classes themselves are not my idea of a good time. Skylar started school, too. Last year, we sent him to a charter school in American Fork, but this year we decided to send him to an elementary school a block and a half from our home. We have heard good things about the school and it will be much more convenient for us. He loves his teacher and is doing well in his new environment. He loves being able to ride his bike to and from school with his friends from our neighborhood. Jasmine really misses having him at home during the day. I think Amaraa misses having him home to help with Jazzy, too.

Well, I'll try to be more consistent with writing. Hopefully as I get into the groove of the new job and school, I will be able to find the time to write more.

August 9, 2011 - 157 Days Old

It's nice to have "En-ay" home

Well, Aiden has been home for a week now. It has been a week of adjusting. Aiden is adjusting to his new surroundings, a new bed, new toys, etc. We are adjusting to his 24-hour care, giving his medications and treatments, having his monitor alarms go off every two seconds, not getting much sleep, etc. We are thrilled to finally have him home, though. It's so nice not to have to drive for an hour to see him. For the most part, he has done really well at home. He still requires a lot of care, but hopefully as he grows older, he will get easier and easier to care for. We are still trying to get used to all of the new noises. Aiden's oxygen concentrator (the piece of equipment that makes oxygen for him from room air) is quite loud. It also creates a lot of heat, so I had to install a ceiling fan to keep from having to freeze out the rest of the house just to keep our room at a reasonable temperature.

I've been applying and interviewing for jobs for the last couple of weeks. I've had two interviews so far. I feel like they have gone well. I hope to find something before school starts.

We had a family reunion for my Torgerson side on Saturday. I went and took Skylar and Jasmine with me. It was a really great time. We haven't had a family reunion on that side of the family since the mid-90's. I haven't seen a lot of my cousins for a really long time. One of them I hadn't seen since I was just a little kid. It was neat to be able to get reacquainted with them and meet their families. Since we can't take Aiden around crowds or kids, Amaraa stayed home with him. Everyone asked about them and wondered how they were both doing. I really missed having them there, but we planned another reunion for next year, so hopefully by then our family will all be well enough to attend.

I took Skylar and Jasmine swimming last night for FHE. We had a really fun time. It has been way too long since we went swimming last. They both said they want to go again soon. The summer seems to be ticking by way too fast. Before long, Skylar and I will be in school and there won't be as much time to do things, so we're trying to pack it all in before school starts. Speaking of school, I registered Skylar for school today. We're going to send him to a different school this year. We liked his charter school, but we didn't feel like we would be able to meet the parental volunteer requirements this year with Aiden at home. We decided to send Skylar to an elementary school about two blocks away from our house. We have heard good things about the school from our neighbors, so I think it will work out better for us this year.

July 16, 2011 - 133 Days Old

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. I have a lot of news to share.

Aiden is still in the hospital. He had another little setback last week. He picked up a virus and has really been struggling to breathe. He has been wheezing and coughing a lot and had a pretty miserable week. He has been improving a bit over the last couple of days, but he is still having a hard time breathing. When his breathing was at its worst, he didn't want to eat much, so it was very frustrating. He still got plenty of food through his GI tube, but nursing wasn't going very well. Fortunately, now that he is feeling better, the nursing is going better too. The doctors wanted to put a camera down his esophagus yesterday to make sure everything looked OK. They had to anesthetize him for the test, so we were nervous about it. He did really well and everything went perfectly. They took a biopsy of his esophagus to run a few tests, but the doctor said everything looked great. When I came home from Price this week, I stopped to see Aiden. The occupational therapist was there doing exercises with him. After all he has been through over the past week, I was surprised to see him looking so good. It seems like he grows so much every time I see him.I just wish he could outgrow his respiratory issues and be a healthy little guy for a change.

We have decided not to move to Price after all. We are just going to sell our house there as soon as it's finished. We were really excited for the new house, but the move never really felt right. We feel like I need to just stay in Lehi until I finish my degree. USU-Eastern (formerly CEU) doesn't offer the degree program I want, so I would have had to do a lot of commuting and only go to school on a very part-time basis if we moved. By staying here, we will also be closer to a large hospital in case Aiden has problems after he comes home. When it was all said and done, there were more good reasons not to move than reasons to move. So, I guess that means I'm looking for a job. It would be great to find something in the computer field since that's what I'm studying, but I'm open to any good opportunity that will still allow me to go to school. Any ideas or recommendations would be appreciated. Oh, and by the way, I speak Mongolian, so that should help me find something pretty quickly. :-) I'm still building houses with my dad for the moment, but I need to find something before Winter hits, so please let me know if you hear of any good opportunities in the next couple of months.

I'm singing in church tomorrow morning. I haven't sung in this ward before, so I hope it goes well. It has been a while since I have done any singing at all (other than karaoke :-)), so I'm a little out of practice. I'm looking forward to it, though.

Well, I've already used two emoticons and it's getting late, so I had better quit while I'm behind. I'll write again soon.

July 1, 2011 - 118 Days Old

Well, we're at the beginning of another month. Crazy. I can't believe how time flies. This has been another week of ups and downs. It has reminded us that we are still on the preemie roller coaster and probably won't be getting off for a while. Aiden was doing really well until Wednesday when he had another little setback. His lungs weren't doing very well and they had to increase his oxygen flow rate to 4 liters. He had been down to 2 for several days, and we were very encouraged by that, so it was disappointing that they had to increase it again. He also didn't eat very well at feedings and the nurse had to supplement his feedings through his GI tube. He struggled for a few days and they kept him on 4 liters. Fortunately, he seemed to be doing a little better yesterday. Today, they felt comfortable decreasing his flow rate to 2.5. He seems to be doing well so far, but he still isn't eating like he should, so we're cautiously optimistic. Of course, all of this info is coming to me second-hand. I'm in Price working again.

We have mostly been working on our other building projects this week, so progress on our house has slowed. We did work there part of yesterday and all day today and we were able to get some of the exterior walls finished and stood. We will work there most of the day tomorrow as well, so we should be able to get most of the exterior walls up. This is a fun point in the construction process because daily progress is very noticeable. We have decided there's no point in rushing the project since we won't be able to finish in time to get Skylar in school anyway, so we're probably looking at getting in around Christmas. That will allow me to get a few more classes in at UVU in the Fall and will also keep us closer to UVRMC for a while, in case Aiden has any problems after he comes home -- KNOCK ON WOOD.

Well, I'll write more when I get back home this weekend. I don't usually write when I'm in Price, but I had a little extra time, so I thought I would post. I hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th of July!