'Tis the Season

ONE week long wilderness first-aid training for Todd (out-of-town)

ONE new calling (RS activity coordinator)

ONE midnight call to the doctor/breathing treatment

TWO kids with fevers

THREE days of missed school

FOUR croupy coughs

FIVE new prescriptions

SIX quilts that need to be quilted

SEVEN long days for a "single" mom

{THIRTEEN pound turkey thawing in fridge and THIRTY TWO days 'til Christmas}

SIX hours between Motrin

FIVE dropped calls on a dying cell phone

FOUR hours between Tylenol and ear drops

THREE trips to the clinic

TWO times a day antibiotics

ONE ear infection

ONE sinus infection

ONE HUNDRED TEN ladies to feed at the upcoming RS dinner

I was up for several hours with a sick baby last night, and Todd let me sleep in today. He got one kid off to school, and did his first phone call from home. I got up just after he left for work, and found the following:

A candy bar on my nightstand, empty garbage cans (today's garbage day), and milk in the fridge (we were out).

He also made dinner tonight.

I am THANKFUL that Todd is home.

I'm not happy, Bob...NOT happy

Our carpet installer cancelled today because of bad weather.

Todd and I stayed up 'til 2:00 AM getting ready for the carpet install...then Todd got up at 5:00 to finish cleaning up before work.

We had to take everything out of the boys room and stack it in the livingroom.

I'd take a picture...but I think my camera is at the bottom of the pile.

The kids have nowhere to sleep.

The laundry room is stacked full of stuff, too.

We have no clean clothes.

Now we have to spend Caleb's birthday putting our house together.

I like to do fun stuff with my kids on April Fool's, and Easter, and birthday's, and Spring Break, and Conference weekend...

...but all the spring "fun" has been rolled into ONE crazy weekend where I don't have access to any of our stuff.

I'm not happy, Bob...not happy.

Happy Birthday Todd!

Todd's birthday was yesterday, and I'm not gonna mince words. It was a flop. Luckily, he took it like a man.

Since we didn't take any pictures, I'm including this picture that shows what a fun Dad he is.

Our day started by discovering that there was a crack across the ENTIRE windshield of Todd's truck. After that, we discovered that Swimmy (one of Caleb's fish) passed on. Oh, and did I mention that there was no school? The poor guy didn't even get to enjoy some peace and quiet on his day off.

We spent the entire day mudding and taping sheetrock, and then when we realized we would need more corner tape and the local hardware store wouldn't get any in until Thursday, I made a "quick" trip to Home Depot (an hour away) to get more.

Todd and the boys stayed home, since Todd's friend was going to come help him tile around the stove, but we think he forgot because he didn't show up. I got home in time to throw some frozen Taquito's in the oven and open a can of applesauce for dinner. Wal-Mart only had carrot cakes left, which wouldn't do for Todd, so he didn't even get a cake. I DID manage to give him a cake MIX, but it's not quite the same.

Thank heavens our Netflix arrived, so after the kids went to bed we watched three episodes of Smallville, which turned out to be the highlight of the day.

Did I mention that it was also my brother's birthday? Happy Birthday Ben! I heard that his wife made him homemade stuffed shells, and triple chocolate cake with chocolate chips. I think we'll have to spend Todd's next birthday in CA with them...

Todd, I promise I'll make it up to you. You deserve it. Thank you for all the work you've done on our basement. It means so much to our family. Thank you for stepping up and doing the housework and laundry while I've been sick, and sleeping with 42 pillows on our bed. Thank you for playing monopoly with the boys yesterday, and for teaching them important things like how to light fires, and what it means to "pull your finger". They adore you...and so do I.

Three little monkeys...

Dillon's latest injury: He and "his boys" were jumping on the trampoline when he bumped his head and needed 3 staples. He was super brave, even though it hurt a little when the doctor took them out.

It got me thinking about raising little boys, and all the injuries/illnesses we've had in the past 9 years. We've been through:

stitches (4 times)
glue (between nostrils)
staples (once)
broken arm (two casts because one got wet)
broken elbow (this one required an x-ray every week while the cast was on)
x-rays (too many to count)
RSV (required oxygen and a nebulizer)
Croup (required oxygen and a nebulizer)
IV for dehydration
ear infections (way too many to count)
poison control calls (three)
911 calls for ambulance (tw0)
seizures (too many to count)
EEG
trip to Primary Children's
throw-ups (way WAY too many to count)
OCD
Pinworms (twice)
asthma
pulmonary tests
allergies
cavities (at least 10)

And this is just off the top of my head. I was about to write that we've never had pink eye...but I know better than that.

Memories

The second week of October holds a lot of memories for me.

Way back in 5th grade two of my close friends were seriously injured in a bus accident during this week.

Nine years ago I became a mother. I think it was the happiest month of my entire life.

Five years ago I had my appendix out while I was 20 weeks pregnant with Dillon.

Three years ago I was in Washington saying goodbye to my father-in-law, who was suffering from cancer.

A year ago I found out that my pregnancy wasn't meant to be, and I was going to miscarry. Again.

I never thought that a year later I would still have empty arms, but "Aunt Flo" showed up today, right on time.

I got emotional about it all tonight, and set out to find the perfect song. I wish I could play it, but the lyrics will have to do. It is called "Just Let Me Cry" by Hilary Weeks.

I believe that everything happens for a reason.
We're not just tossed by the wind and left in the hands of fate.
But sometimes life sends a storm that's unexpected,
And we're forced to face our deepest pain.

And when I feel the heartache begin to pull me under,
I dig my heels in deep and I fight to keep my ground.
Still at times the hurt inside grows stronger,
And there's nothing I can do but let it out,

So just let me cry
I know it's hard to see
But the pain I feel
Isn't goin' away today
So just let me cry
'til every tear has fallen
Don't ask when
And don't ask why
Just let me cry

When I agreed that God could put this heart inside me
I understood that there would be a chance that it would break
But I know He knows exactly how I'm feelin'
And I know in time He'll take the pain away

But for now just let me cry
I know it's hard to see
But the pain I feel
Isn't goin' away today
So just let me cry
'til every tear has fallen
Don't ask when
And don't ask why
Just let me cry

I've felt joy, the kind that makes my heart want to sing
And so my tears are not a surrender--I'll feel that way again
But for now, for this moment...

Just let me cry
I know it's hard to see
But the pain I feel
Isn't goin' away today
So just let me cry
'til every tear has fallen
Don't ask when
And don't ask why
Just let me cry

I believe that everything happens for a reason.

"Cantar Oaxaca" or Pukefest 2009 - apparently a year long event

As if we didn't have enough of the throw-ups this past winter, that horrible bug has surfaced again.

Dillon was hurling two weeks ago. Brayden blew chunks last Thursday. Todd spent all day Sunday wretching at my parents house, and Caleb just spewed a few minutes ago. I feel like a ticking time bomb...

And, it gets better. Todd's brother Michael (and family) were tossing their cookies all last week too.

And, it gets even better. Todd's brother Larry (and family) flew down from Washington in time to "share the love", and when it was time for them to fly home, they were barfing and had to stay an extra day. In a hotel. With 7 people. And one bathroom. They were lucky enough to fly home this morning, and arrived at their house just in time for two more kids to practice the technicolor yawn.

I just called all my scouts to cancel our cub meeting tomorrow, and found out that two of them were praying to the porcelain throne this past week as well.

Now I'm just hoping that my parents and my brother Tyler (and family) avoid the kohler cough.

It's JUNE for crying out loud! I thought the vomit season was from Halloween to New Year's and each family only had to get it once.

I guess I was wrong.

Oh, and did I mention that our upstairs toilet is out-of-order until Saturday, when Todd will have time to fix the floor underneath it and put in new bolts?

Yes, it is.

Yes, it's a black widow.

Yes, that's my baseboard (it's behind the fridge...cut me some slack, I wasn't about to clean it before taking the picture).

Yes, it is "the last straw" and we WILL be having our house sprayed today...inside AND out.

We've had a TON of spiders this year...other bugs too.

Last week, when the boys were supposed to be going to sleep, Dillon came into the livingroom and asked, "Mom, do spidows hunt at night?"

I answered, "No, spiders don't hunt at night." (What was I supposed to say? I needed him to go to sleep)

He went back to his room and told "his boys", and I heard them saying "Yes they do! It's in our spider book. Wolf spiders hunt at night." (curse the day I bought the spider book)

Then Dillon came back. "Mom, awe dwown-up's always wight?"

I said, "Yes, buddy. Grown-up's are always right."

And he finally went to bed.

The next night, Dillon came running out of his room saying, "Mom, you awe doe-ing to fweat-out if you woot at my ceiwing." (translation: you are going to freak out if you look at my ceiling...where does he learn this stuff??) "Thewe is a spidow on it."

I decided to use this to my advantage, by telling him that spiders like messy rooms, so if he didn't like it there, he needed to keep his room clean. (like that would've stopped them...)

Instead, he's been sleeping on the floor in OUR bedroom for the past three nights...next to the giant laundry pile...that's probably home to a couple of spiders.

Hoping for a better week!

What a weekend we had!

On Thursday I took Brayden to the doctor because we were supposed to leave town, and he had been having the same symptoms that Caleb had last week with his sinus/ear infection. The doctor looked in his ears and throat and said it was just a virus. It was such a weird thing they had. Each of the boys threw-up once, then they were fine, then they had a low fever, then they were fine, etc. It went on for days. Brayden was acting fine, and since there wasn't any infection, we decided to keep our plans.

We left that night to go to Park City for Todd's annual UAMFT conference. It started out pretty good. We ate at Magelby's (YUM) and sat at a table next to Merrill J. Bateman. Friday the kids and I got some shopping in, before coming back to the hotel where we ALL took a 2 hour nap! Then we went swimming, and met up with Todd for dinner. Brayden did really well, aside from coughing here and there, but I gave him some Mucinex and all was well.

I rented "Marley and Me" (nobody told me she has a miscarriage :o( and we were watching it on the day that our baby would have been due) and when it was almost over, we heard someone puke in the dark.

Ugh.

We fiddled around with the lamp and finally had enough light to see that Brayden was the "winner". Todd headed to the front desk for new sheets, while I got the *lovely* job of cleaning up the mess.

On Saturday, we stayed in the hotel for as long as possible, but we had to check out at 1:00. Brayden coughed ALL morning long. His stomach was fine, but I've never seen a kid cough so much. As soon as we checked out, he threw-up in the van from coughing so hard. We still had four more hours to kill, so I went to Wal-Mart and bought wet wipes to clean him up, and then we went to a playground. Brayden and I sat in the car while Caleb and Dillon played.

I really needed to get into Old Navy to buy Brayden a couple T-shirts without skulls (have you tried to buy a boy's shirt lately??? They ALL have skulls on them). Anyway, I left the boys outside because when you cough in Park City these days you get some pretty crusty looks...
I had only been in the store for 2 minutes when Caleb and Dillon came running into the store screaming, "Mom, Brayden threw-up".

So, the shopping ended (no shirts) and I texted Todd in his meeting and told him we had NOWHERE to go, and he ended up leaving the conference early.

We stopped at Sonic on the way home to get Brayden a Slushee, and because there were tables outside (in case he threw-up again). By this time he had dark circles under his eyes from coughing so much.

When we left, Brayden went to right to sleep so our drive home was quiet, but that night Todd got food poisoning. His chicken sandwich from Sonic was cold (the cheese wasn't even melted) and he knew he shouldn't have eaten it, but we were in a hurry so he did.

Brayden didn't cough near as much yesterday, and he spent a good part of the day sleeping, so I think he's on the mend. I was going to send him to school today because he didn't cough once all morning, until it was time to leave. Then he was hacking his lungs out, so I took him to his class, picked up his homework and brought him home again.

Todd is alive and kicking (with his good ankle).

Next year we are getting flu shots.

Crazy week!

We've had a crazy week at our house.

I'll start at the very beginning. Last Monday was my 31st birthday. When did I get that old? Caleb started the day by throwing up, and then acted fine all day...until bedtime, when he had a fever.

Brayden made my birthday cake (with Dad's help) and unfortunately the picture got deleted. He made my favorite: chocolate molten cake with vanilla ice cream. Thanks Brayden!

On Tuesday, Caleb seemed better so he went to school, but came home with a fever. I think he has either a sinus or an ear infection.

Todd spent the morning building the floor of our new shed.

Wednesday was insane. We started by renting the tiller from the local hardware store. I ran to the farm store and PAID MONEY for turkey manure, and we got the garden ready. For those of you who already have pea's flowering...stop laughing. We have hard frost until June 10th here.

After we tilled the garden, I spent the morning helping Todd work on the shed, then I left to go visiting teaching, and then straight to Scouts. After scouts, I got home in time to help hold up the shed in the wind.

You really haven't lived until you've tried to build a metal shed in the wind.

Todd was cussing like a sailor, while the kids and I did our darndest to hold up the sides. Finally, we deemed it unsafe for the kids and sent them inside to say a prayer while I watched the wind bend that metal like a straw.

Todd had the brilliant idea to use 2x4's to prop up the sides (inside and out) which saved our shed.

On Thursday, we started early (before the wind) and got the roof started. Things were going well until about 11:30 AM, when a HUGE gust of wind came up and nearly took the roof panels with it. Todd was at the top of a ladder, putting a screw into a panel, when the gust came, and in his hurry to get down and tape the panels to keep them from flapping, he sprained his ankle.

His ankle is twice the size it should be, and he has a nasty bruise that goes all the way around and down to his toes!

So, the shed progress stopped there.

We were on our way to the clinic, to have an x-ray on Todd's ankle, when I remembered that Dillon's preschool graduation was starting in 15 minutes.

So, I dropped Todd off at the clinic, wiped the snot of of Dillon's face, and took him to the high school for his graduation. (Dillon's "preschool" was actually the child development lab at the high school. He went two days a week for 45 minutes).

His teacher said that he was "the best 4 year old artist she'd ever seen".

On Friday, I left at 7:00AM and drove to Salt Lake for the annual Home Machine Quilting Show. I met my friend, Cami, at her apartment and we went together. Thanks Cami!

Here's a sample of some of the AMAZING quilting I saw:

It was on Friday that I realized how "old" I've become. It started when I put on my most comfortable shoes (they didn't match my outfit at all) to go to the show.

Cami was free for the evening (after a meeting she had to attend), but I was worried about the deer in the mountains and opted to leave "the big city" early.

I did some shopping to avoid rush hour traffic, and as I passed Spanish Fork I briefly considered stopping at the Macey's grocery store there. The problem, is that I was just as excited at the thought of going to Macey's, as I was to go to Tai Pan, IKEA, and Target. Does anyone else get excited when they walk down the food storage aisle?

The kicker was the last hour of my drive, when I turned up the volume on my music, and sang along at the top of my lungs.

It was a Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD.

And I listened to "How Firm a Foundation" three times.

On Saturday, we had one of those "If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" mornings and after a *small* amount of nagging, and weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth (mostly me), we got the house cleaned up. It was completely clean on Wednesday morning...what happened people???

Then I got a free piano lesson by phone from my brother (Thanks Ben!) and discovered that my fingering is terrible. I have a lot of practicing to do, but I think because of his help, I might actually be able to add a few hymns to my 10 song repertoire. Wah-hoo!

We spent the evening in Richfield. I got new shoes, a wax warmer, some fabric for a new quilt, and my boys surprised me with roses! I told them to pick out a new movie to watch on the way home (for being so patient while I was shopping)...after all, I couldn't be a mother without them!

Today has been a wonderful day. Todd made me an omelet for breakfast and "surprised" me with a pie bird (I love pie birds). I say "surprised" because in the middle of my ranting yesterday about how nobody puts anything away, I found a receipt on the counter that I read through to see if I could throw it away...and saw "pie bird" on the list.

Maybe next time they'll clean up their stuff!

After church, Todd made homemade tortilla's and chicken salad with grapes. It doesn't get any more "girl food" than that. It was delicious. I have to admit that my favorite part of the day was when the table was all set and Todd looked at the tortilla's and chicken salad and said to himself, "What else are we having?" How could I have just spent that much time in the kitchen and all we have is that???

Now the boys are playing electronic battleship while I blog, and I think I'm going to take a little nap.

What a coincidence...

Remember when I said that running into doors and getting stitches runs in our family?

We were just leaving ToysRus in Orem (yeah, three hours from home) when Caleb and Dillon decided to fight over who got to get into the van first. Caleb was pulling on Dillon's shirt, and then suddenly let go...I'm sure you get the picture. He hit his forehead on the van door and popped it open.

I called my friend V, who used to live in Provo, and she gave us directions to the hospital, where we spent our next two hours.

The triage nurse AND the doctor both thought they were going to have to use anesthesia to put Dillon to sleep, but I asked them to please try to stitch him up without it because I didn't want to stay overnight. They tried it, and Dillon did AWESOME! He didn't budge. The nurses and doctor were amazed, and I was SO grateful. A trip to the ER is going to cost enough already.

Dillon's "battle wound" is exactly the same as Brayden's, just on the opposite eyebrow. The doctor gave him 6 stitches, as well as two suckers, a sticker book, an old-maid card game, a bendable toy, a dinosaur ring, and a whistle. He was one happy kid leaving that hospital, and we were one happy family listening to that whistle all the way to our next stop...

It runs in the family...

I got a call from the school this morning, telling me that Brayden had hit his head on the door while going into the school and he needed stitches.

I ran over to pick him up and the secretary and principal were completely bewildered. They couldn't imagine what he'd possibly done.

I was able to reassure them that Brayden's grandpa Salisbury, and "uncle pianoman" had both done the same thing before (only they passed out) so it must run in the family.

Three hours, four Tylenol, and five stitches later, he's back in school.

I guess I'll start my day now. These are the times that I am so grateful to be a SAHM.

Plumbing

In my last post, I mentioned that Todd started plumbing the bathroom sink downstairs. It started out quite well. What man wouldn't love to play with a blow torch (and a fire extinguisher) on a Saturday afternoon?

This was his first attempt at cutting into an existing line, and I think he did a great job, but there is one pesky joint that still has a leak...which means that our water is turned off.

The bad part, is that I finally got the "bug". I've been throwing up all night. And we have no water. THANK HEAVENS we have water storage because I've been using 2 liter bottles to wash my hands, brush my teeth, and flush the toilet.

What I have found, however, is that we do not have anywhere near enough water in our storage. What if we'd been without water while the boys were sick?

Todd was up nearly every hour through the night, trying to fix that joint, but after turning the water on each time and still having a leak, he has to turn it back off and wait for the pipes to dry before trying again. If there is any water in the pipe, it turns to steam and tries to escape out of the newly soldered joint.

I cannot wait to take a bath...

Laundry woes

* You may want to read my last two addendums on this post to fully understand my laundry woes.

Somewhere amid all the poopy and puky laundry I've been doing for the last week and a half, a large white load went through that included...a purple crayon.

I immediately got online and found this recipe for just such an occasion, cleverly entitled "This is the one":

"This is the one"

2 maximum load scoops of liquid Tide (I used Tide w/bleach powder)
1 cup Borax
1 cup liquid Shout stain remover
1 cup white vinegar
2 scoops Oxi-Clean

Fill washing machine with HOT water and let the "recipe" dissolve. Add your crayon infested clothes and let soak for 2 hours. Finish washing the load. Wash again with Tide and vinegar (I just used vinegar because my laundry reeked of detergent...and vinegar will neutralize the soap). Finish with an EXTRA rinse cycle (or two).

I was skeptical, but after spending all day on this one load, almost all of the crayon came out...even after sitting for several days. (This load had to "take a number" behind all the puked-on bedding)

So, you can imagine my horror, when I went to get my white load out of the dryer yesterday, and there was a 1/4" piece of purple crayon sitting on top of the lint trap, and all our socks and underwear were once again COVERED in purple spots. It never occurred to me that a piece of crayon could still be lurking within the load.

A murm'ring word escaped my tongue.

I put the white load back in the washer, and proceeded to go through the same LONG process to remove the crayon. While this load was soaking, I took my last puke-load that I had just washed (a pillow, Todd's coat, and a mattress pad) and put them in the dryer.

Later, when I went to get the mattress pad to make Dillon's bed, I was again horrified, as the pillow, and Todd's coat, were now purple. (cue the murm'ring word...)

Too bad you weren't here to see the next part of the show...me, inside the dryer...looking for the offending crayon. And then I found it...a melted mess in a 1/4" space under the lint trap.

Todd had a great idea, to take a blow dryer and melt the crayon, and then use an old toothbrush, some paper towels, and De-Solve it to clean the melted mess. Too bad he was on his way to work...

My dryer is now clean, my original white load has been through it's fourth wash and the second rinse cycle, and I'm about to do the whole thing again with the pillow and Todd's coat. I'm down to one more load of poopy stuff (a blanket, a pillowcase, and a slumber bag...poor Dillon tried to clean this mess himself before finally waking me up at 1:30 AM on Wed. night) and then I can start on the mound of clothes that has been piling up while I've been busy with bedding and crayon spots.

If this happens again, I'm moving to Australia...wearing purple spotted underwear.

I'm taking back the award.

I got the call at about 12:30 AM (approximately 45 minutes after I had gone to sleep):

"Mom! Dillon threw-up!"

A murm'ring word escaped my tongue.

Seriously. I have done ENOUGH laundry this week. But, after making Dillon a "snuggle bed" on my bedroom floor, I proceeded to rinse his sheets, pillow, and blanket in the bathtub before washing them for the third time in a little over a week. Then I cleaned the tub. Then I cleaned his bed (which has a wagon wheel with spokes...way too many spokes). Then I cleaned the wall. Then I couldn't sleep. I was afraid that if I went to sleep, I would immediately be awoken to clean up more bodily fluids. (I haven't even told y'all about the night I spent cleaning diarrhea off the bathroom floor every hour through the night...)

Dillon had the gall to wake up this morning and say, "Mom, I didn't really throw-up in the night." As if it were all a dream...

I hesitate to say it out loud, but I *think* that this was just a one time thing. When I returned from picking up his brothers from school yesterday, I found an open bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips sitting on a barstool next to the cupboard. Apparently, he ate a good portion of the bag himself. Too bad I have to be punished for his sin...


*addenDUMB: I just told Todd about the empty bag of chocolate chips, and he admitted that HE got them out of the cupboard yesterday...so yeah, the award is MINE.



**I should mention that everyone got the "bug" except me. Caleb was sick last Monday, Brayden on Tuesday, Dillon on Wednesday and Thursday, Todd on Thursday and Friday, Brayden AGAIN on Friday night, and then Dillon AGAIN on Monday night. I kept Brayden home from school this morning (Wed.) because of a stomach ache, but when he started playing video games, I hauled him off to school. Todd still can't eat anything...it was a very short bug (12 hours) but getting over it and actually feeling normal is taking days.

***I spoke too soon. On Wednesday night, Dillon had diarrhea. It included the usual: taking a bath in the middle of the night, and soaking a bunch of poopy bedding, pj's, underwear, etc. This was the first night since he's been potty-trained that I let him sleep in underwear, rather than a pull-up.

If you think your weekend was bad...

Poor Todd. He returned last night from a 3 day 2 night trailride with his team of troubled teenage girls, and some co-workers.

They went to the middle of nowhere. In January. Where it rained. Where they didn't sleep in tents, but in bedrolls under a tarp.

Doesn't sound so bad to you?

Now add in the fact that he ended up catching the "bug" that our boys had, and spent a good chunk of the time (no pun intended) throwing up.

Now I don't know about you, but when I imagine crawling out of a sleeping bag (that you're sewn into with a tarp and cords) several times a night, into 10 degree weather, to barf on the frozen ground while surrounded by a group of teenage girls (two of whom also got sick) and your co-workers...it just doesn't get much worse.

I guess Todd deserves the award.

I think I'll go make him some soup.

What do these things have in common?

*2 twin size quilts
*2 twin size fleece blankets
*2 sets of sheets
*2 not-so-waterproof mattress pads
*3 pillows
*2 pillow cases and 1 sham
*3 stuffed animals
*the side of one wall
*3 shoes
*Planet Heroes Solar Quarters
*the surface area of a mission style bunk bed with slats...way too many slats
*a portion of bedroom carpet


This is what Caleb managed to hit with ONE vomit yesterday afternoon. I think he deserves an award. No, wait... I think I deserve an award.

I. HATE. BUNKBEDS.

Random thoughts...

I put away my maternity clothes today.

I'm not sure why it has taken so long. After 2 1/2 months of hanging in my closet, it took a total of six minutes to take them off the hangers, fold them, and put them in the rubbermaid container under my bed.

There's not really any reason. I just haven't gotten around to it. They were only in my closet for two days before I found out that my pregnancy might not go well.

For some reason, the sting of miscarriage is bothering me today. The first thing I thought of when I woke up, is that we would have had an ultrasound sometime this week (I remember that it was going to be right after Christmas).

Maybe it's because my "baby" (Dillon) is wearing underwear today. Or because he is going to be a Sunbeam in primary now. Yesterday when I asked him to do something, he replied, "Mom, who cares?" (it starts young when you have older brothers...)

I've really been doing quite well. I haven't had any of the symptoms of the hormone imbalance that had plagued me since my miscarriage in '07. It's like my body was thrown "back into whack" and I've felt so much better. I can think better. I've had several people say, "We have our Felicia back" and I feel it. For that I am so grateful.

Perhaps that's why it needed to happen. But regardless of the reason, today is hard. Maybe it's because I have only opened two of the doctor/hospital bills that I need to pay. They were due last week and I just can't bring myself to deal with them. The rest are probably past due, too, so I guess I ought to open them. I will, don't worry. I just haven't...yet.

Todd has had a pretty rough few months at work. It would have been so much harder on both of us if I had been pregnant through it all. I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for us. I know that He can see the bigger picture and knows what's best. I also know that the atonement is for sorrow, as well as sin. I have learned for myself the importance, and the significance of the power of hope, and the blessings of friendship.

Always, I will remember...

...The surprise of finding out I was pregnant,

because I am usually sick before it's even time to test.

...The excitement that always comes with a positive pregnancy test.

...Wondering how we were going to pay for a baby,
and wondering where to put you in our two bedroom house.

...Telling your dad that we were going to have a baby,

and watching his realization that we HAD to finish another room in the basement.

...The good feeling I had, like this time was going to be different.

...The fun of being pregnant at the same time as my sister.

...Grandma spending two weeks with us,

helping me organize the basement so we could finish another room.

...Seeing the ultrasound screen and knowing

immediately that something was wrong.

...The frustration in waiting two weeks to find out if you were still growing.

...The anxiety and paranoia of not knowing.

...The friends who prayed, and listened, and cared.

...Wondering why I felt so strongly you were meant to be,
and why you were taken so soon.

...2008 as the year that my friends got me through.

...The peace that only comes from knowing that
Heavenly Father has a plan, and that He knows what's best.

...those ten short weeks
last fall.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Bad: Waking up at 3:30 AM to the sound of my six year old gasping for air to breathe.

The Good: Living in a community with a wonderful doctor (who gave a great high-council talk on Sunday) and an on-call nurse (in our ward) who were willing to meet us at the local clinic in the middle of the night, since our hospital is so far away.

The Bad: Nearly hitting four bull elk in the middle of the next town over, while going 80 miles an hour, without contacts, trying to get to the clinic a little faster. (I should add that the speed limit is 65 going into the town, so I wasn't going too far over the speed limit...)

The Good: After a priesthood blessing and breathing the cold night air, Caleb arrived at the clinic still wheezing, but sounding a lot better, and able to talk.

The Bad: Throwing up during his x-ray (that would be Caleb, not me). Yes, the good ol' x-ray machine. I have issues with the x-ray machine at our clinic. I've sworn I'd never have an x-ray done there again because it's so fuzzy, I always have to pay to have it re-done in the hospital, but what do you do at 4:00 AM?

The Good: Finding the problem (Croup and tonsillitis) so it could be treated immediately with steroids and a breathing treatment. His trachea was so swollen it was nearly closed off. We are also very grateful that we don't have to pay for a tonsillectomy right now (and do it in a hospital that requires "permission" from Provo to do the surgery).

The Bad: All those payments I made two years ago on our nebulizer that Dillon used twice.

The Good: We actually HAVE a nebulizer and now we're getting our money's worth.

The Bad: The taste of the steroid medication that poor Caleb has to take for the croup, and the TEN DAY antibiotic for his tonsillitis.

The Good: I got out of making a quadruple batch of frosting for 19 kids to make gingerbread houses at school on Friday, AND I don't have to go to the school to help with the project... :o)

And don't forget The Ugly: Me, and the nurse, at the clinic at 4:00 AM with messy hair, bags under our eyes, and no make-up...it was NOT pretty.

Coming down with something...

In honor of my headache and sore throat, and Caleb's headache and nasty cough, I thought I'd post the "Mancold".



And now I think I'll take a nap.

Should've saved that last picture...

I should've saved the barfing pumpkin for this post, since thats what we're doing today. Dillon's been throwing up all day, Todd came home from work at 3:00 feeling sick, and I just found Caleb asleep in his bed. Brayden tells me that Caleb wasn't feeling well.

So...I guess Brayden and I will eat the chicken noodle soup that I just made for dinner, and pray that we stay well!

Whenever I finally get un-packed from our weekend (and find the camera) I'll post Brayden's baptism pics. Hopefully I got some better ones than my mom, 'cause she e-mailed one of me where I'm pretty sure I had about 42 chins :oP

Of course, I woke up that morning with my face all puffy...apparently I had a reaction to the medication they used to put me out for the D&C.

**Update:
Everyone (except me ) was throwing up last night. Until about 2:00 AM I was dumping puke buckets every twenty minutes. I finally slept from 2:00-4:00, and then it all started again. We're just resting today, and so far I am doing fine...and I'd like to keep it that way!
Perhaps I'll unpack from our trip tomorrow....or the next day.