Matt's physical therapy

Matt has had a physical therapist coming in twice a month to help him catch up on the day to day things that most of us take for granted. Matt just finally mastered the art of going from lying down to sitting up on his own. Before you may have noticed that he can sit, but he was unable to sit himself up from on his back. The poor guy couldn’t lie back down either. So this week he finally figured it out. Yah!
Marissa has added another 2 gold fish but one died yesterday. I also moved Marissa out of Lillian’s room into her own room. Sorry guys, no more guest room. The toys have been moved from the basement and playroom/study to each of the kid’s rooms. The study is now where Philip works when he is at home.
Lillian gave a talk in Church on Easter Sunday in Primary and did a great job. Next week she needs to bring in a poster about herself to school. I am amost finished decorating her room. Philip put up the picture molding on the walls on Saturday.

Marissa is Three

Marissa turned three this past week. She got a two wheeler with training wheels that she rides around the house. Marissa is also getting bribed to start sleeping in her own room. Last night was the first time she stayed in her own bed all night and was rewarded with a gold fish that she has named 'fish'. We tried to get her to pick an actual name but 'fish' it is. I guess all her creativity goes into the messes she makes. Lillian is singing or humming all day long and driving us crazy. Matthew has started to stick out his tongue constantly. He is acting like a puppy dog and is enjoying the attention he gets.

March Madness

So I understand from several sources that my last post 'Merry Christmas' just doesn't cut it anymore. Here is a short re-cap of Jan. Matt was in the hospital for a couple of days the first week and all of the second week of Jan. The docs discovered that his conduit that is around his pulmonary arteries (pa) has expanded and now is too large. This has created a few problems. First: Matt's trachea is crushed from the bearing weight of the conduit when he lays on his back. He is on 8-10 liters of O2 blow by at night. Second: It crimps a little on the right causing his right lung to receive considerable less O2 then his left. Yeah Jan.!
February...RSV. You with small children probable knew that this was the worst year yet for RSV. On the 2nd. Matt was air lifted from our home via helicopter. It appears that RSV combined with a overly large pa will be life threatening. We were at Children's hospital for two weeks.
Between these two visits too the hospital and since then I have been sick with vertigo, the flu and now a cold.
Marissa has completely lost all sense and now squeezes toothpaste in shoes, around the toilet seat etc. I would hide the toothpaste but that would just mean that she would find something else to make a mess with. Lets face it...toothpaste is easier then cleaning products, hair dye or food to clean up. The one great...super great thing she has done is to potty train herself. No more diapers for Marissa. Even at night she stays dry.
Lillian has been an angel. She is trying to take on more responsibility through making her bed and trying to do the dishes. Lillian is a good helper.
Philip is busy with work. He has landed a few new accounts and has been traveling to Twin Falls and all over Utah.
So how have the Baskett's kept some sense of sanity? We haven't. But several people have stepped up to help us out. My sister Leah flew out for Feb. stay at the hospital. Kim clocked in a few days here and there. My Mom came between visits to the hospital. Many friends: Ervins, Christensens, Coopers, Platts helped bring in dinners and take kids at a moments notice. Other Friends have been their for a shoulder to cry on.
I will post pics soon. Any guesses on what our helicopter bill came too? Keep in mind that their are two paramedics and a pilot.