A Hardy Update

This morning our alarm clock went off at 4:45am. Did I really only get 4 1/2 hours of sleep and now I am up for the day? I threw my clothes on, put on a minimal amount of makeup (come on...I know it's early...but I'm not going out of the house feeling naked lol) and brushed my teeth. We loaded up the car and then Gregg went upstairs to get Hailee and carried her out to the car, pj's and all. We were hoping she would fall back asleep in the car, but she didn't. I think she was pretty confused to what was going on.

We arrived at CHOC Hospital a few minutes before 6am, valet parked our car, and walked across the street to the outpatient center. As we were walking, I was looking up at all of the hospital windows wondering who else was awake, how many kids are there, and then I was thinking of those who will never be leaving. I looked at Hailee and truly felt blessed (I always feel so blessed to have such amazing children) but I felt extremely blessed knowing that we would be leaving the hospital the same day.

We checked in, and then were taken to her room. She was very nervous, and wouldn't even let the nurse put on her wrist band. They said its okay, and they will take care of everything after the Versed is in her body.

The pink cup of medicine came, and Hailee did not want to take it. I told her it was either that medicine or a shot, and she instantly gulped down the medicine. (Amazing how well that worked). With in 15 minutes Gregg and I were laughing hysterically! She became the silliest little girl ever! She saw her Dora flip flops on her feet and took them off and then started having them sing and dance to each other! She was saying the funniest little things! Once the medicine was in her, we were able to go back with her to the "operating room." The anesthesiologist put her under anesthesia, and we were able to stay with her until she was completely asleep, which only took about 30 seconds.

We were taken to the waiting room, and about 20 or so minutes later, the doctor came out with the pictures that were taken as they did the small intestine biopsy. Everything to the eye looked normal, but nothing can be determined until the biopsy comes back next week. The doctor said that there was something else that she discovered; a hiatal hernia. I had never heard of this, so of course, she explained. What it is: a portion of the stomach protrudes upward into the chest, through an opening in the diaphragm. She ended up doing an esophagus biopsy too to see if any damage has been done. If there has, she will be put on reflux medicine.

We were then taken back to the recovery room, and sat next to Hailee for at least 45 minutes while we were waiting for her to wake up.

Once she woke up, she ripped the oxygen tube out of her nose and then started taking the tape off her hand to take her IV out. She was so ready to leave! She was extremely emotional, which they warned us would happen once the versed and anesthesia wore off. About an hour later, we were discharged and on our way back to Grandma and Grandpas!

We are so proud of what a brave girl Hailee is. It is really heart breaking to see such a young child to have to go through such scary things. I know this doesn't compare to what some people have to go through with their children, but this is alot for her, and for us. I pray that nothing serious like this has to be done again. But we are so truly blessed that we have been able to take the right steps and figure out what was causinh her pain, and even more blessed, its just a simple diet change.

Now that we have been back, she only remembers bits and pieces of this morning, but overall, has no clue what went on. Thank goodness! We are sure proud of her and love her so much!

Now, while we were gone, Grandma and Grandpa babysat Jake for us. He decided he needed to wake up at 5:30am! (So sorry!) Grandpa went and got him while Grandma made him a bottle. Grandpa rocked him, watched tv, tried getting him back to sleep, but I guess Jake was ready to be up for the day! That stinker! LOL. I know that Jake had alot of fun with them. He really loves them! Thank you Mom and Dad for taking care of Jake for us!

I have been horrible at updates, but I am trying to be better....

Jake is now 11 MONTHS!!! He will be turning ONE on the 23rd of this month! He is our VERY, EXTREMELY, ACTIVE and BUSY child! He is into EVERYTHING! It's alot of work, but so much fun. It is so fun seeing what his little personality is developing into! He has been trying so hard to get "walking down". He can walk about 1/2 way across a room now. Yeah! It is so fun to see him learn! He also loves to color/draw with Hailee. I was so amazed the first time when I saw him pick up a marker (about a month ago) and scribbling it on a piece of paper.

He is also a great eater and sleeper! He wears 12 month clothes, size 3 1/2 for shoes, and I think he is 22 lbs. He's loves playing with balls, cars, anything that Hailee has, and LOVES being outside. We took the kids to the pool last week and he wanted to jump right into the water. It was hard getting him out of it! Such a water lover just like his sissy! He loves giving kisses and hugs and has a smile that just melts your heart. His laugh is so contagious and his countenace is so sweet and pure. He is such a blessing in our family and we love him so much.

Our Life

I am overwhelmed with the love and support from all of our family and friends that we have received on behalf of Hailee. These past few weeks have thankfully become much easier than I thought it would be. I am starting to get the hang of grocery shopping...just going around the perimeter of the store, since that is all we can buy, but thats okay! Its all such healthy foods for us! Also, I am sooo excited to try out recipes from the new cookbooks my Mom bought me!
Anyways, we met with the GI specialist last Wednesday and she asked me a gazillion questions. She definitely was not the warm and fuzzy make the Mommy feel better type of doctor, but that's okay. She was very thorough. We talked alot about Celiac Disease, and she also told me that just because Hailee's initial blood result numbers were extremely high did not mean she had celiac disease. I was thinking, "great....what else could it be then?" She sent me to take Hailee back down to the lab to get more blood work done (poor girl!) This time the test was specifically for celiac. If the results came back positive again, then Hailee would need to go in for biopsies of her small intestines for the final confirmation. (Amazing how many times they have to "Confirm" it to be celiac.)
This morning the doc called and told me that Hailee's blood work came back and that it has the high elevated levels for celiac and that she would need to have the biopsy's. Originally when I found out Hailee had celiac, I was completely overwhelmed and very emotional. This time I felt so much peace, knowing that we finally did receive an answer to our prayers and that we can get our daughter feeling better. So it looks like Hailee will be going in Monday morning for this procedure.
I am not looking forward to having Hailee have the biopsy, but they said it is not painful (Thank goodness!). Hailee already HATES going to the doctors so much and constantly tells me "Mom, I just want to get outta here!" But hopefully once everything gets settled, we wont be having to make doctor visits for a very long time!
All in all, things are going much better!
To give an update on Jake....
He is 11 months old now. Crazy, huh?? I still can't believe it! He is such a funny lil kid. He is so destructive (in a cute way...for now. lol) and is always so busy! He absolutely ADORES Hailee. He can say "Dadda" "Mum" "Baba" and "Dog" and tonight he added "Doggy"
He can also now take 3 good steps! I think we will be having a walker this month! So excited!
Jake is an incredible eater. He will eat practically everything!
He takes 2 naps a day, one at 1030am and one at 3pm. They usually last for an hour to hour and a half. He goes to bed at 8pm and wakes up at 730am. I love his schedule!
He is such a happy little boy and has so much personality. He cracks up about everything, loves playing games. His favorites are rolling a ball back and forth, playing chase (We will crawl and chase him or he will chase us) and he also loves playing peek-a-boo. He bring so much love into our home and we just love him and Hailee to pieces!
Now time to enjoy some pictures!

Jake loves his cars!
Grandma time!
Best buds
Hailee and Kylee
Jake and Tyler

Miss Karate girl!
Hailee's spider
Jake didn't realize he was supposed to put the chalk on the driveway...not in his mouth! lol
Jake's first haircut! So cute!!
Hailee had her bangs trimmed too!
Hiking at Santa Rosa
She is fearless!



Hailee was our guide. She kept telling and showing us which we we needed to go.

My Pictureless Post

So, I did it. I gave in. I swore I was over doing a blog. My pictures are all so out-dated, so many exciting events have come and gone, and then I decided there was just too much to try and catch up on. But now I'm back. Mainly for another reason. I need somewhere to write. To express my thoughts and get support from all of my fellow bloggers. So, here's to catching up on life.

The past 5 months have been hard over here at our house. Not the typical hard, but the hard that makes you cry. You ask why? Because we have had to see our daughter Hailee suffer in pain, and it seemed like each couple of weeks, she would have more pain and it would take longer for her to feel better. So, here is the story.

We started noticing about 5 months ago that something wasn't "right". My Mom and I had the kids out for a hike and Hailee was running around full of energy like any other typical 3 year old, when all of a sudden, she stopped dead in her tracks and said her stomach hurt really bad. That's all it took, she crawled up into the stroller and was wiped out for the entire day. I didn't think too much about it at first, but then we started noticing this was happening more frequently. I took her into the doctors and they thought it must be a UTI so she was tested and it came back normal. Hailee was then back to her happy self full of energy, and then, this time on Christmas night, it hit her again, HARD. She was up all night throwing up, diarrhea and in miserable pain for several days. She looked horrible, and just wanted to either be held or lay on the couch for the entire day watching cartoons. By end of the week, she was feeling better again, and then about a week later, it hit her again.
This same routine went on for several more weeks. Feeling good to being hunched over the toilet, throwing up, and wiped out for days at a time. We also noticed that she was bruising for no reason and was extremely pale alot. (Like seriously as white as a ghost at times) It was so hard to watch this, and whenever I was able to get her into the doctors, she happened to have a "good" day so I don't think the doctor fully believed what I was telling him.

We went to Washington in February, and this is when we realized that something major was really going on. The first day in Washington Hailee started throwing up and had diarrhea again. This lasted for 5 straight days. She was pale, tired, and lost almost 2 lbs. I called the doctors to get an appointment the first day we were back home from vacation, and of course, she was acting alot better. They tested her for UTI again, and this time it came back positive. She was put on antibiotics for 10 days, and those 10 days she was feeling pretty good. Day 11 was completely different.

Hailee was back to throwing up and the runs and I called and got her back into the doctors and told him I really want her blood work done and an ultrasound ( I had been asking for these to be done for over a month, and he kept denying me). But this time he agreed. We had her blood work done that same day. It was a Thursday.

Friday morning, I was outside my house, turned on Pandora and stuck my phone in my water bottle belt and was about to take off for a run when my phone started ringing from an "unknown" number. I usually don't answer if I don't recognize the number. But I felt like I should just answer it, and so I did. It was Hailee's pediatrician. He told me that her blood work came back and there was some major concern with her calcium blood serum count. He said it was a very serious issue and I needed to get her up to the hospital as soon as I could to have her blood test re-done. If the numbers came back the same, then he was going to send her to CHOC hospital to be admitted and if it happened to just be an error, than that would be wonderful. Of course, as a Mom, I was overwhelmed with emotion. This is my little girl. Things aren't supposed to be wrong with her. She's healthy. She's beautiful. She doesn't deserve to have to suffer.

So, I took her to the hospital, and was so happy my Mom and friend Wendy were able to come be a support and help with the kids. Once the blood work was done, we had to wait for an hour, which seemed like an eternity, for the doctor to call. Once he called, he told me her numbers looked great! We were all so relieved!
Hailee spent the night at my parents house, and the next morning they went out hiking, and maybe 10 minutes into the hike, her intense stomach pains returned and she was as pale as a ghost and had to be carried the entire way. (She didn't want to turn back, bless her heart, she still wanted to go hiking with Grandpa and Grandma!)
I called the doctor Monday morning and let him know how she was. Wednesday she had her ultrasound. (3/9/11) He was having an ultra sound done on her kidneys and rest of her organs to see if anything would come up to explain these intense stomach pains with the runs and pukes. Well, Friday night 3/11/11, our lives were changed forever.

Gregg was working and I was at Target with the kids. It was about 6:30pm and I was about to check out and head home. My phone rang from, once again, an "unknown" number so I figured I better answer it. Once again, it was Dr. Deterville. He told me rest of her blood work came back and he had a major concern. Actually, he said it just wasn't a concern, it was something serious. He told me that by the numbers, it shows that Hailee clearly has Celiac Disease. The normal range is from 1-19, and her number was 123. He told me to immediately take her off all gluten and wheat. He also told me that he had a major concern with her ultrasound (which we met this past week to discuss) but long story short, her left kidney is enlarged. He has another ultra sound scheduled for her next week and we will figure out what is going on.

But back to Celiac Disease. Before 3/11/11, I really had no clue what it was. I had heard of it, but never cared what it was. But now I do. For those who don't understand what it is, celiac disease is auto immune disease where the lining of your small intestines is damaged from gluten. Gluten is found in wheat, barley and rye. There is no medication to fix this, it is just a lifetime diet change. If the diet is not changed, it can cause even more damage to the small intestines which usually results in intestinal cancer. (And along the way, extreme sickness, horrible stomach pains, vomit, diarrhea).

After the phone call, I had mixed emotions. I was thrilled that it was something "curable" but unsure what it really meant having to change our whole families diet.

It hit me hard Saturday morning. We woke up and I went to make the kids breakfast and I started reading all of the ingredients, and practically everything we had, contained wheat in it! I started to cry, because I didn't even have anything "safe" for Hailee to eat, besides a banana. After she ate her banana, she told me, "Mom, I'm just starving! I want a waffle please!" It broke my heart. I knew she wasn't going to understand, and I gave in and made her a waffle. I knew it was going to hurt her stomach, but I didn't know how to deal with it just yet. We went shopping that day and bought a bunch of gluten free foods, and over that weekend, were so blessed with many gluten free foods from my family and friends.

It has been an emotional adventure so far. Now that its been 10 days since we found out, I finally feel like I can do this. I know that I was having such an emotional time with it because I kept thinking about her future, like, "Is she going to feel left out when she goes to school because she will have different foods?" "Is it going to make her sad?" " Are kids going to make fun of her because she has special dietary needs?" It was just alot to be thrown at with out talking to the doctor yet.

I am feeling so much better now and have been having alot of fun finding new meals that the entire family can eat that are GF, and also that Deterville and I have been able to sit down and talk about it all.

Hailee still has a hard road ahead of her. We meet with the specialist on Wednesday, and Deterville said that they will most likely be doing a biopsy of her small intestines to see how much damage has been done. We are praying that alot of damage hasn't been done, but we'll see. I am so proud of Hailee and what a brave girl she has been through all of her blood work and ultra sound and several doctors appointments. She is just amazing and impresses me.

I know that this is a huge blessing and answer to our prayers that we finally know what has been causing her so much pain. The news could have been much worse.

What really calms my heart when I am feeling overwhelmed, is knowing that Hailee is such a choice spirit, a daughter of God, and that she wanted to come to this earth so bad that she didn't care what kind of trials she would have to go through on earth. She just wanted to come. She is such a blessing in our family, an amazing daughter and an amazing big sister to Jake. We love her so much, and are so happy that she will finally be able to feel better and be back to her full or energy girl that she was.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May the Spirit of Christ be with you and may your heart be filled with joy!

Love, The Hardy's

Gregg, Laurie, Hailee and Jake

Yep... we had Halloween too!

October has definitely flown by! We have had such a busy month full of fun and spooky things!

Grandma had a Halloween party for her "Lil Goblins." It was seriously the cutest party ever! They all dressed up, took pictures, had spooky mac&cheese, a pinata, crafts and games!

Later this month, we had a girls "Fright Night" and went to the Haunted House in Lake Elsinore. It was by far not the scariest Haunted Houses, but it was still a blast to get together and have fun!

One of the days Gregg was at work, Mom went with us to the Pumpkin Patch in Corona. Hailee wasn't liking it and Jake was asleep, so this is pretty much the only picture I got! It was just one of those days....

We finally had a "Fall Weather" day! We were at the park, it was freezing, the wind was blowing and it started raining! And yes...my daughter does not have a jacket on....we tried, and she kept refusing. She is alot like her Dad....she is never cold! And poor Jake...he is like me...always FREEZING!

Don't let the fall weather fool you, because it didn't last. A couple days later we were back in shorts and flip flops!

Hailee is finally starting to love getting her pictures taken. She has gone through a spell where she hasn't been liking it...which has been so frustrating!

But on this particular day, she was hammin it up for the camera!

I took the kids to our neighborhood Fall Festival and met up with some friends. This was the only picture I was able to take before my camera died. I really need to get a back up battery! But here is Hailee with one of her besties...Kylee.



Hailee had her preschool Halloween party at the park. They planted seeds in pumpkin containers, made crafts, had lunch, pinata and treats. It was really cute! Most of the kids came in costume.


Now, I was really bad and didn't take any pictures of us at the Ward Trunk or Treat! I am so sad! But it was just me and the kids because Gregg had to work, so it was a little hard to get pictures. But the kids (mainly Hailee) had alot of fun. She participated in the costume parade, and even won an award for her costume! She also loved going around to the cars for candy. Overall, it was a really fun night and I'm really glad we went!

On Halloween, we took the kids Trick or Treating in my parents neighborhood. This is the first Halloween Gregg has had off in 2 years, so we wanted to make sure we could celebrate a holiday with him!

The weather was so perfect that night!
Hailee absolutely LOVED trick or treating this year! She would run up to each door and knock and most of the time she would say trick or treat, or candy please!! We had such a great night!

Afterwards, we went back to Grandma and Grandpas and looked at all of the candy the kids got!

And Jake got a taste of his first sucker!

And I was one tired Mommy by end of the night!

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! 2010

Happy Halloween from our little Alice in Wonderland and our blue fluffy bunny!