Updates

I suppose since I haven't updated in a while and people are asking.....

We have slowly started to settle into things here in Pierce.  It's a big change from Berthoud in many ways, not all of them bad either!  We were supposed to buy a house, but, as most (if not all) of you know, it fell through just before we were supposed to close on it.  We had already registered our kids for school up here, school had started already and things were well underway for them, we didn't want to disrupt them, so we scrambled to find a place to live within the district boundaries.  We found a modest home for rent that allowed pets, so we moved in immediately.  The house is about 1000 sq ft smaller than where we moved from, but the yard makes up for that.  The kids LOVE playing outside most days.  We still have many boxes (because of the smaller space) to go through, but we're getting there slowly.

I'm expecting again, it was quite the shocker for us, but we're pretty excited about a new little one coming in April!  We had an ultrasound to check my dates because I was measuring big and they didn't have to "dig" for the heartbeat at my first appointment.  They also mentioned "more than one" in passing, but I brushed that off immediately, but then started having nightmares about it.  The ultrasound day came and we went in...only ONE baby is in there and he/she is measuring right on track for the April due date we originally thought.  I just have "big insides" (I think that's medical slang for, "you're fat"). One thing was found at my ultrasound, however, that wasn't the best news ever.  I've got another subchorionic hematoma (same thing I had with Aralynn).  Aralynn's was right behind the placenta and was threatening her viability.  This one is near the cervix, so I'm more likely to bleed, which isn't great either.  Since its not threatening the baby directly, I"m not on modified bedrest like I was before, but I'm still on pelvic rest (no hanky-panky and no heavy lifting).  When they first called, they just mentioned bedrest, then they called back to clarify.  Frustrating still the same, I can't do everything I'd like to do, or normally do, but as long as I don't have to lay down all the time, I think I can handle this!

A few weeks ago, we got a phone call from the Spec. Ed teacher at the school.  She had concerns for Tyler and wanted to do more assessments on him, including an Autism assessment.  It shocked me and completely took me aback.  When you discover you have a special needs child, you go through a sort of "mourning period" where you mourn the "perfect child that will never be" but then you realize just how perfect your child really is and you move on, trying to help others see this perfection too.  I never thought I'd go through that process twice.  Does this make me a bad mom for feeling that way?  No.  It's normal, but it's how we react to it all after its said and done that makes us good/bad parents.  I finally realized after letting out some frustrations that he's still going to be Tyler...at the end of the day, that's not going to change.  The only change that will happen is how *I* (and his teachers) can help him and further his education.  They're not going to send home a completely different child, complete with helmet and wheelchair, and say "Here's your new kid, deal with it, lady!"  Once I got that out of the way, I started doing research and talking with a few people I know around here to help me with local resources.  After all the evaluations were done, we had a 2.5 hour long meeting to discuss all the findings.  It was concluded that he's in a new school, new home, new environment entirely, so they are going to put the Autism thing on the back burner for now and let him adjust.  He has new hours for his therapies and new techniques that will be used to help him out.  If, in a year's time, we decide he still is "out of sorts" then we'll further the Autism assessments, but for now, we'll just stick with SPD with a speech impairment.  There have also been a few things arise this year that have thrown us for a loop and we've become well acquainted with the Spec Ed teacher and the school counselor over this.  It's just another bump in the road to overcome.

Also recently we lost a member of our family.  Our beloved dog, Shadow, had to be put down.  Her quality of life had diminished, she was very sick and it was a very difficult decision that we came to.  The kids saw Chris load her in the car and take her to work...the kids think she fell asleep in the car and didn't wake up.  We figured it would be easier for them to deal with thinking she had passed on her own.  They're not at an age that they understand fully assisting pets along with that part of life.  They struggled with it then, and still do.  There are times when they will come up in the middle of the night crying because they miss her.  It's going to be a long road to deal with, but we'll all survive.

Chris is still super busy with work, traveling around and working long hours.  I am busy with kids, boxes, morning sickness and other household chores around here.  I got a couple new callings at church too, that keep me on my toes.  Chris and I teach in primary and I am on the RS planning committee and am a visiting teacher. Terra got reading glasses over the summer, and is LOVING her new class this year.  She's starting to be at the top of the class again, with the current teacher she has giving her praise everyday!  James is still...James.   He keeps trying to outsmart and out-whit us with his antics, but he's still such a joy and a happy kid!  We must be doing something right!!  Tyler is progressing and is off the charts in math and reading/literacy.  Smart kids we have here!  Celeste is loving preschool and it has helped her rid some of her "bad habits" that she learned from her older brother, already!  The teacher said she's so much more mature than the other kids, that she has to keep reminding herself that she's still not quite 4 years old!  Aralynn loves getting into mischief and going for walks to explore this new area we're in.  She loves to try and torment the kitties and they just look at her like she's crazy for trying. LOL

Blessings

We were very blessed this week.  How, you might ask?  Well, I'll tell you.  We had been fasting and praying for rain for our dear state because of all the devastating wild fires, and boy, did we get it!  It looked a little something like this at first:

Then this:

As you can see, we were a bit carefree in that video.  We hadn't yet noticed that the window wells were filling up.  The bark that was laid right next to the house, by the end of this storm, ended up in the grass and we had rivers running through different parts of our small yard and down the driveway.  Almost immediately following this video, we decided to go place the pans downstairs (there's a leak that comes from the front porch and drips in one of the bedrooms downstairs - the one that was being used as our "storage unit" for all our packed boxes).  Chris went to go do that while I watched the kids for a minute longer.  I told them to all come inside and turned to go inside myself and noticed the window well below the porch.  It was filled all the way to the bottom of the window...and the rain was still pouring down.  I ushered everyone inside quickly and grabbed a larger bucket and a smaller one that I could scoop water and dump into the larger one with.  I grabbed a few towels and dashed downstairs.  Chris was making sure the pot was under the leak just so and I pointed out the window well.  He immediately checked the floor.  It was soaked, the wall was wet.  We started moving as many boxes as we could to the opposite side of the room and then opened the window and I started bailing with the small bucket.  We quickly realized that was NOT going to help at all.  Chris put his phone and wallet on a box and jumped out into the well with the larger bucket and started bailing out onto the grass.  Within less than 2 minutes, he was soaked and dripping wet from the rainfall.  He had to bail the window well 3 different times before the rain let up enough for him to come inside and change out of his dripping wet clothes.  This picture does NOT do it justice at all, because he really looked like a drowned rat!

After he got out of his wet clothes, we went back downstairs to try and soak up the water out of the carpets.  Queue the dirty blankets/towels that I hadn't washed yet.  The kids would bring Chris a blanket, he'd lay it down, they'd all jump up and down on it and do "pow-wow dances" on it and then the kids would drag it back to the laundry room, dripping water the whole way, grab another and run back....repeated until there were no more blankets or towels to do that with.  Then we just put everyone to bed and prayed that things wouldn't get worse.  We got up the next morning and went to church and came home to survey the damage.  I ended up going to the store and getting a fan so we could dry out floors.  Terra's floor got wet too, so we dried her room out first.  I've been doing laundry for 2 days and have finally made it 2/3 the way through the pile of "mopping materials".  This is what my laundry room looks like at the moment (and I still have my regular laundry to do too).

I switched the fan over to the other room (the one where all the tragedy and most of the action happened) and decided to scope out the damage to the boxes and all our belongings in there.  The miraculous blessing in all of this?  There was only ONE box that got damaged, and most of the damage was to the box, not too much inside.  The books can be dried out and are still usable!

 Here is a pic of all we had to get out of the way:

The rest of the blessings that happened?  Things could have been so much worse!  Our family is still in tact, our belongings are safe, and the kids have a very memorable experience of dancing in the rain and then on the blankets downstairs with daddy!  I'd say we have it pretty darn good, right about now!

Turning Flat Sheets Into Fitted Sheets (Twin size)

I don't know about most of you, but for us, it's a waste of money, almost, to buy a full set of sheets, because only the fitted half gets used.  My kids are just like their daddy.  They don't like the top sheet and will kick it off and it just gets dragged around the house, making everything a mess from there on out.  They're great fort-makers, but they're "not dark enough" according to the kids.  I don't know why I kept hanging on to the top sheets for so many years...maybe it was in hopes that the kids would over-come their crazy stage of kicking them off and I'd finally get to use them.  After pricing the cost of actual water-proof bed covers for a couple of my "still-night-wetters", I was taken aback by how much they cost!  Good grief! For the good quality ones that will last more than one night/one washing, the base price was about a hundred dollars!  No thanks!  I started to think back to the day when I cloth diapered one of my kiddos.  My sister-in-law had purchased some PUL fabric for a fairly decent price and that brought on the thought process of....how can I turn one of those large pieces of fabric into a fitted sheet?!  I started researching online and found a whole bunch of sites that had measurements that were needing to be converted (you know me and math) or were in an entirely foreign language.  No amount of "speaking slow while raising your voice" would make me understand that...especially since the pictures were sort of blurry.  I just wanted exact measurements.  I could muddle through the rest!  Well, I purchased the PUL fabric for 3 sheets (twin size) and brought them home.  The cost (as staggering as it was) was still cheaper than buying ONE mattress cover (plus, I got a 50% coupon so I could go back and get another cut of fabric to make a couple more extras).  Since I didn't have an exact measurement to go by, I guessed at the amounts I'd need.  I got 3 yards of each of the three colors.  I came home and started to stress out about cutting into this $12.99/yard fabric, because if I messed up, there was no going back and we'd be out that much money!  EEEEK!  So, I sat and thought some more and remembered the top sheets that were sitting in my cupboard collecting dust.  BINGO!  My practice materials!!! I got it out and.....

...it never fails.

I started off by cutting off the seams.  Then, I cut out the 10.5" squares from each corner (this much, I DID get from my online research).  I stitched those up to make it "fitted" and then found some extra elastic that I had here.  I cut that up into 8 equal pieces (I was planning on making 2 mock-ups before cutting into the real thing).  I stretched them out and stitched them on.  VIOLA......it was too big for the mattress.  So after a few quick recalculations, I went back to the drawing board and started over on another top sheet.  I finished that on up and.....IT FIT PERFECTLY!!!!!!!!!!!  So then I followed the same steps again:

Cut material to 58" by 92".
Cut 10.5 inch squares off each corner
Stitch them to make them "fitted"
Sew in 12" of elastic in each corner to help it stay on the mattress**

This is the end result:

Pretty!!!!!  If you want added protection, you can put layers on underneath this, but it fits like a fitted sheet should!  I'll let ya know how these work out.  This is on Terra's bed (since the cats sometimes don't seem to think their litter box is the place to "go").  We sprayed down her bed with citrus spray (since that's supposed to repel cats from "doing their thing" and put this on over top of it.  We'll see how it goes!  The real test will be for the boys.  When I get theirs up and running, I'll give an update!

**NOTES: Since I used PUL fabric, I didn't make a hem or a casing for the elastic....it doesn't fray.  If you're turning a top sheet into a fitted, you'll want to at least surge around the edges if you don't want to hem it up or make a casing.

Your Plate's Full? No, I Think We Can Add To That...

We are under contract for another house again.  WOOHOO!!!  There are stresses that go along with this process though, more than the last one, but we'll survive.  I thought I was strong enough, but today has proved otherwise.  I've had a hard time keeping my composure in front of the kids and just completely lost it after Chris got home and told me about his day.  He asked about my day and sat as I blubbered through it, listening patiently, rubbing my back.  I love that man!

I redid our budget for the rest of the year to accommodate the "added stresses" of this new house.  We're gonna be living like paupers for a few months, I sure hope we can get through it all.

Aralynn had an appointment check up this morning.  She's over 20 lbs (HOORAY!!!!) and is finally out of the 10%.....she made it to just below the 15%!!  WOOT WOOT!  But......

...there's always that big "but", isn't there?!

Her soft spot is still open.  Not just a little bit.  It's not getting smaller....it's WIDE open.  I can fit my index and middle fingers, side by side, up to the first knuckle.  It's been that way since birth.  If it's not closed up by her 2nd b-day, in we go to another specialist at Children's Hospital.  This poor child is going to really end up hating that place by the age of 5.  She's already got issues with doctor's offices.  She tries to hide and cries the whole time.  Not just normal "boo hoo there's stranger danger going on".  No.  Its more like "THEY'RE MURDERING ME AND YOU'RE NOT DOING ANYTHING TO STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!"  Yup.  That makes me feel awesome.  Anyway, it's not a "huge deal" but it's just "one more thing" to add to my plate right now.  I've been having a hard time coping with that, and of course, my mommy thought process is thinking the worst case scenario.  The sordid part of my though process is "I have window lickers already.  Now I'll have a helmet-wearing-window-licker to add to the bunch!"

It's Raining, Or Is It Pouring?

I've started and deleted this post about a dozen times.  I've "written" it in my mind, but then when I get to paper and pencil, or computer and keyboard, I can't remember half of what I had (which was all good stuff, mind you) or, it just doesn't feel right to put out there.  So, after wiping the slate clean, I'm just sitting here, about to wing it.

We lost the house which we had tried so hard for, the other day.  All because the inspector listed an outbuilding as a "barn".  With the type of loan we're getting, we can't have a barn on the premises or it won't qualify for the loan.  We were 3 days away from signing the papers on it.  The sellers are livid, understandably so.  They are claiming that they will get a lawyer and take us to court over this so they can get "due diligence" or at least the earnest money.  That's a lot of stress to deal with.  There's nothing they'd be able to do to us (we were protected by a contract agreement that they signed, too), but still, it's aggravating. We're hurting too, but, when in pain, it's hard to see that there are others suffering as well.  I don't blame them, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't harbor feelings for the threat of law-suits. That's a hard pill to swallow, but I'm working on it.

Now on to the boxes in the house.  The bane of my existence (for more than one reason). If I could magically make them hide, that would be great.  We can live comfortably on what is still left out, but seeing them here is a big reminder and also a big trigger for poor Tyler.  It's frustrating.  He's acting out and being naughty, but a lot of it he can't help....so how should punishments go?  Do I punish him for his disability?  Because, in essence, that's the "why" behind the "what" that is going on around here. The boxes are also an eye-sore.  They're not pretty....even if I drape a table cloth over the top of them (not saying I've tried this tactic....ok, well, maybe I have)...that just makes it worse.  My house is starting to look like an episode of "hoarders".  I wasn't too worried about cleaning and house work, mainly because it'd be easier to clean it without all this stuff in here, including the furniture.  Yeah, well, now that all THAT isn't going anywhere, I'm left with a mess...it makes it look like I'm a terrible house keeper.  Shhh, don't tell anyone!

But, on a happier note, I have an amazing family.  My husband got home from his business trip and gave me a hug and a kiss, and then just held me for a bit.  I would have stayed there forever, but....piano lessons and life were calling, so...*sigh*.  We immediately started re-evaluating things.  Praying for guidance and then we looked on the internet for what was available.  it's slim-pickin's compared to when we started looking (over a year ago).  We're trying to not get disheartened and keep positive, but that's easier said than done.  Today I've had to make a conscious effort to stop the bad/negative thoughts from consuming me. So, 5 things that make me happy today are:

1 - Its Chris's and my 10th wedding anniversary!  Crazy to think its been 10 years, but they've been wonderful and I've loved it all!
2 - We got some beautiful family pictures done, and I'm loving them thoroughly!
3 - My brother-in-law dropped everything to come out and help us pick up the pieces...and to give Chris and I a break from the kids for our anniversary!
4 - My family, Chris's family - they're behind us 100% and I've felt their love and encouragement more these last couple of days.  Thanks guys!
5 - Prayer.  Just after we'd received the news on the house, I was crying and wandering aimlessly around the house.  My friend, Anna, posted something on her blog that brought on the thought "Sandi, just pray, trust me."  I went to my room and knelt beside my bed and prayed.  Even though it didn't take the tears away, or the hurt entirely, it brought peace and a feeling of "It's gonna be ok, you watch and see."  I trust those words, thoughts and feelings and cling to them now, more than ever.  We will be ok. We'll just paste a smile on and muddle through it all.  It's gonna be ok, you watch and see.

Day 1, Week 1

Getting in shape isn't tough, breaking old habits is the hard part.  Although today is far from day one or week one for that matter, I have not done as good as I could have today.  Chris and I have started cleaning out our food and replacing things over time to make it more healthy.  We didn't do a drastic "toss everything bad and replace it with good" clean-out, we spent money (and that's not something that is in excess) on all that was and is here, so we didn't feel that it would be wise to just drop everything.  We've felt a difference in our energy levels when we've eaten better as opposed to when we've eaten not so great things.  That being said, I still have my cravings.  I've lost about 10 lbs from the moment that I decided that I look terrible in pictures, but.....I still look terrible in pictures.  Case in point (this was taken last week):

Yeah...the bulge.  It's not pretty.  My face, however, doesn't look as chubby as it used to a few weeks ago (although it could use a little slimming down too, still).  I still need a little push to actually DO my exercise.  I mean, I've taken the time to do research, talk with my chiropractor and doctor about my limitations with certain health issues I've got.  Those exercises look FABULOUS on paper, my stick figures are pretty awesome too, I might add.  So...why is it so difficult to actually DO all of it?!  I decided to put it all out here in the open....I need someone to hold me accountable.  Someone to report to.  I refuse to gain the weight back during this move we're going to be doing in a month or so.  I may not be able to get on here and post it all, but I need someone to check up on me, either via email, FB, or text.  Something.  The more people hounding me, the better off I'll be (in theory, anyway).  So far today, I've chased kids around the house, packed two boxes, talked to a few friends at various times today, sat in the car waiting for a baby to wake up and.....gotten kids home from school.  Not a lot of extra activity in there today.  There's still hours in the day yet, and tomorrow is another day.  I'll do better!  Any tips on time management? 

Shots: A Literal & Figurative Pain!

Recently our doctor's office had a change of policy.  Since my kids have CHP+ for insurance, this effects them.  Apparently Medicaid has been causing issues about payment of the shots received in this office (to my understanding) and so they will offer dr visits only, no shots at the office from now on.  I was a bit taken back by this but figured, we're moving anyway, I'll just find a new office to take them to that will do it all, until then I'll just head on over to the Public Health Nurse.  Aralynn's 12 month shots had been divided up between 12 and 15 month visits.  At her 15 month visit (during the time they were still doing shots there), she was sick so couldn't have the shots at that time.  She was only 2 shots behind, or so I thought.

I went to the PHN and the nurse there tried to convince me that she was VERY behind and that they were going to give her EIGHT shots before I left.  I refused and told them I didn't feel comfortable with that amount.  We argued back and forth for quite some time before I demanded to see the list of shots they claimed she needed.  There were shots listed that I KNOW she'd received.  I said as much and the nurse made a big deal about how he was looking at the state's records and she didn't have them and blah blah blah.  I said to check HER records (which I had given to him) again and compare the two.  He made a big fan-fare about it, bringing out her records and flattening them out (over exaggerated movements) and started comparing.  Lo and behold, I was right.  We whittled the list of 8 she would have received down to 6, with fewer times I'd need to come back to get "caught up".  I still didn't feel comfortable with that number.  He, again, made a bit stink about how neglectful I was being by "being so behind" in this and it was giving him anxiety knowing I'd leave without her being fully protected.  I lost it.  I let him know what I thought of him and the shots he was demanding and how I refused to over-load her system.  We knocked the shots down to 4, still not a number I was entirely comfortable with, but I felt pushed.  He got the shots, administered them and then started asking me if she'd had reactions to shots before.  Yes, she's gotten minor rashes on her legs once before.  From her hip to her knee was covered with a rash.  He then tried to belittle me and talked to me as if I was incompetent and started telling me the difference between a rash and redness/soreness/swelling at the injection site.  Again, I was pushed to my limits and cursed the man "LISTEN DIP(STICK), THIS IS MY 5TH CHILD, I THINK I KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO!"  To which, he left the room while mumbling what a brave woman I am.  I'm used to being told that, but the way he said it was rather demeaning and rude.

I left there holding back the tears until I got to the car and called Chris and relayed the story.  It was so frustrating!  I got home, put Aralynn down for a nap and then Chris told me to go get some air for a while.  I drove around until my dr's office was open from lunch.  I went in and asked to talk to the nurse about the shot records.  After looking over the records, it was decided that Aralynn was NOT behind and, in fact, she had received a shot she shouldn't have until her 5th b-day.  Again, the blubbering mess came up.  Our dr caught wind of all of this and immediately called up the PHD head nurse and filed a complaint.  He was none-too-happy with how I was treated and said as much.  He told them to never again treat one of his patients that way.  They called me at home and asked for my side of the story so they could officially file complaint and said they would take care of this first thing Monday morning.  This whole thing made me sick to my stomach, literally.  I don't handle stress very well.  Our dr and I haven't seen eye to eye on a lot of things, but he's never made me feel like I'm incompetent nor has he treated me so foul.  Its nice to know that even with our differences, he's got my back!

Evening of Fun

Hiding

Lately, I've been accused of being inconsiderate, mean (even controlling), unChristian, etc.  But truthfully, I'm hiding something.  Nobody wants to, or cares to, dig deep enough to see what it is.  There's a lot of hurt, turmoil, pain and confusion.  But, nobody wants to see that.  They just choose to see the surface appearance.  So, congrats to the person who thought to call to see how I really, truly am...because they could see past the word filter issue, the sarcasm, the forced smiles.  You won the prize of the blubbering mess of a conversational fail.  Here's my public apology to those that feel I've wronged them.  None of it was intentional.

Jousting with WHAT?!

Every couple of months, I go shopping for some pregnancy tests when they're on sale just so I can have them here for an.....uh...emergency purpose! *blushes*  I oh-so-carefully hide them in the back of the bathroom cabinet in a little cubby space that's there and I used to think it was quite the perfect spot to hide them from eyes that I don't want to see them.  Well, I learned today that my hidey spot isn't so great after all.  I came upstairs from doing some laundry switch-a-roos and what did my wondering eyes behold?!  Why...it was my beloved children...jousting with opened from the package, still capped (thank goodness), unused pregnancy tests!  Oh yes, they did!  So I confiscated them back (that took quite a bit of wrestling tactics on my part) and went to go put them back...only to discover the rest of them were opened and in a sink full of water.  Apparently its fun watching that dye line move across the window.  Who knew?!  So, I have the two that were used as jousting weapons left in my hand...they're not wet, so still usable...I hoped anyway.  I opened the caps on them and....see color marks on them.  They'd found a spot on the wall that had "artistic-ness" still present and "colored" with the tip of the test...cuz, I mean, it looks like a marker tip, right?!  Is it bedtime yet?!

Hello?

I have to say it's unnerving to be "alone" with 5 kids, especially at night.  I hear things and when I softly call out, no one answers.  What's even more unnerving is when you don't expect anyone to answer back and they do!  Makes me jump every time! LOL It's the kids that answer, I've never had some strange voice answer me before (and praying that won't ever happen!).

Chris made it home last night and it was SO nice having him next to me in bed again.  I sleep easier most of the time.  Last night, however, I had a dream that was rather unsettling.  I'm sure it's just the stress I'm under from all the news we've received this week.  Either way, it was a rather fitful sleep that I had.  I woke up and heard something, so I called out and no one answered.  I just rolled over but couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched still.  I got up and patted down the hallway and looked around the house....nothing.  So I went back to bed.  I still heard noises when I got in bed so I sat up and saw a mouse dart across the floor.  That would explain the noises I heard, but the feeling was still there.  After a quick prayer, I was able to fall back asleep for about an hour and then the kids started to get up for the day.

Parting thought - have you ever wished you had a handy man available, with endless resources/money, 24/7?!  Yeah, me too.  Especially after this last couple of months.  Whenever I need one, mine is off in another state working.  Harumph!

Pinterest Lover

I love Facebook for keeping in touch with people.  I also love blogs.  But, one of my all time favorites is Pinterest.  Although I know I probably won't accomplish a quarter of the items I post on there, it's still fun to day dream.  On days like today, I have friends that post the most hysterical quotes and cartoons, and I need them....oh how I need them!  I was having a hard time finding humor in much today, but, thanks to these wonderful friends, my evening feels a little lighter because I laughed.  It's true what they say - "laughter is the best medicine".  So, I love the dreams that Pinterest gives me to think about, the simplicity of certain things on there and the fact that it makes me smile and go "AHA" more than once in a sitting.

Hold Your Loved Ones

Today we learned another lesson of just how fragile life really is.  I received some news about a favorite person in Chris's life, a previous bishop who is in the Stake President position.  There was an accident and work and this dear sweet man, Mitch Shaw, was killed.  He was young, in his 40's.  Chris's family is having a hard time and I just had to call Chris and tell him so he didn't find out some other way.  I'd rather he heard it from someone he cares about.  Life is short.  Give your loved ones an extra hug, text, email, phone call, etc today and forever.  Hold them close in your heart.  I'm so grateful of the knowledge I have of eternal families and that this man, a virtuous and spiritual leader and a caring and compassionate man, husband and father, lived his life in such a way that he will be with his family again.  I KNOW this to be true.  I testify of it.

Not What I Expected

Today was Aralynn's follow up appointment. We had high hopes that this would be the very last one that we'd have to have at the Children's Hospital Denver with her. I was nervous about it, like I always am for these types of appointments. I helped Chris pack this morning to go on his business trip up to Wisconsin and through Kansas. I never like it when he has to leave, but it's part of the job, I suppose.

I got the other kids ready after he and the older two left for school and work and then we just kind of lounged around the house until it was time to drop Tyler off at school. I then went and got lunch for Celeste and took her to Miss Lori's house and told her that the doctor usually ran late, since he is one of the best orthopedic surgeons and he also usually has students from the University following him around and he has to teach them. The drive down was nice and quiet since Aralynn slept a good portion of the way down there.

I found a parking spot and went to get A out of the car and realized she'd dropped her bottle beside her and left it...the nipple was pointing down so, naturally, her clothes were soaked and since I'm SUCH a great mom...and am TOTALLY on top of things, I didn't pack an extra set of clothing for her. "Well, she'll just have to air dry and let's hope the Dr doesn't pick her up" :/

We got checked in and the called us back pretty quickly, and got us in our room, then to the X-ray room. She had a bit of trouble holding still for the tech, so I had to be the "tech" and just have them tell me how to hold her hand and where to put the tongue depressor stick. X-rays were taken and we were guided back to our room to play until Dr. Scott came by. After a while, he knocked on the door, introduced me to his student and then sat right down beside the bed and put the copies of the x-rays down and covered part of her thumb up.

"The joint up here is lined up perfectly, it's the best we could have hoped for! Great job!"
*rotating his thumb slightly to show me the other joint*
"This joint is great too. Lines up perfectly. We weren't really worried about that one, but it still looks great."
*taking his thumb off the picture and pointing*
"This is a problem. She's got a bone deformity that we didn't catch before, but her bones were too small to really see it and since she's grown a bit since we saw her last, it's showing up more. She'll need another surgery, I'm 99% sure of that and I'd like it to be done before she enters school, but it could be before that. I'd like to see you again in 1 year. This will give her time to grow more and we can see if this part *points to the picture* is either not growing or just growing slower than this side *points to the other side of the picture*."

I asked about her mobility between now and then and if it would effect it greatly or if she'd just adapt until it was fixed. He said that she'd be fine, but if it wasn't growing (which he thinks is the case) that the deformity in her thumb would just get worse and would render her thumb pretty much useless.

This was NOT the news I had expected or wanted to hear. At. All. The perk was that he told me to throw away the braces we'd been using because it's not the joints we have to worry about anymore and that they (the braces) wouldn't help a bone deformity in the least.

I held it together until after I got off the phone with Chris. I called my mom and she didn't answer but I fell apart while leaving a message. I called my mother-in-law and cried to her for a bit and then started home. I called one of my sisters and cried to her, then my mom called me back and I started it all over again. I've come to the conclusion that I'm a blubbering boob.

I got back and picked the kids up from the sitter and came home and got them all situated. I fell apart again...trying to hide it from the kids. I fixed dinner and Terra came running in "MOM! I left my home folder at school...it has all my homework in it!" I explained that she was going to have to stay in from recess again and that she'd just have to work extra hard tomorrow to get it all done in time to turn it in.

When I called everyone to the table, Tyler was being hesitant and hiding. He'd messed himself and was throwing a tantrum when I tried to clean him off. Into the shower he went...he could do it himself then.

I came to sit down and hide the tears again and heard a commotion in the living room, then a scream, some pounding and the older two kids yelling at Celeste to open the door from the inside. James had grabbed her and pushed her into the closet and closed the door, and the handle fell off. Apparently she wasn't minding him about something he'd told her to do, so he was going to punish her. Not sure where he learned that punishment from since we've never done that to them! He got sent to bed...without finishing his dinner. I rescued Celeste and had everyone sit at the table to finish dinner. Tyler was still cleaning up, so I got him out of the shower and sent him to go get dressed. He came up claiming he had no clean clothes. This is false because the majority of the laundry got done AND folded this weekend, thanks to the help of my mother-in-law! I told him to go look again. He came back up, flustered and frustrated and wanted to look in my room...there weren't ANY baskets of clothes awaiting folding there. I went downstairs and asked James where the clothes were that he had put away...he'd dumped them out and divided them between under the beds and in the closet....not in the drawers like he was supposed to do.

I finally found a shirt for Tyler to wear and sent him upstairs to eat. By this time, the other kids were done with their dinner and had left the table. James was told to put all the clothes away unless they smelled...in which case they needed to go to the laundry room. This will be interesting to see what he accomplishes. I can already hear he's not doing what he's supposed to do. Terra also just came up to inform me that Celeste let one of the kittens out of her room and she can't find it. The back door is open, but kitty is scared of dogs, so...I highly doubt it got too far. I need to go help her find it, I suppose. Is it bedtime yet?!

"Yeah, You Stink"

I remembered at 1 am that Celeste had a dental appointment at 9:30 this morning. O.O I had no idea where her insurance card was, nor had I filled out the pre-registration paperwork they needed (which is 4 pages long). I also rolled my ankle as I was getting kids out of the car yesterday, so it wasn't like I could just jump up and run around looking for this stuff. I decided to just get up early this morning to do it. The alarm went off at 7 am, I hit snooze...twice. Finally I decided I probably better drag my sorry bum out of bed and accomplish what needed to be done. I found everything relatively easily and got all the paperwork filled out. I got Chris and the kids out the door to school and appointments (he takes the kids to the dentist so I don't have to, bless his heart). I got Aralynn busy eating her breakfast and Tyler busy with a video game, just so I could have some peace and quiet in the shower. I let him know where I was going to be.

"Tyler, I'm going to go shower. Tyler?"
"What? Oh, yeah mom, you stink and need a baff."
o.O "Ok then."

I didn't think it was THAT bad! C'mon, I just showered yesterday! *sigh* Kids!

Most people know that we're looking for a house. What most people DON'T know is we've found one. We put an offer in and they accepted. This is a very long drawn out process because there were some things in the house that needed fixing before the loan would be approved. They accepted the responsibility of fixing them and we set a closing date of 60 days after they had fixed them and gave them 30 days to do so. That was almost 2 weeks ago. We got word they had accomplished a few of these things last night. We also had some tragic news from our broker that there was, yet another, issue on Chris's report that was there one week, but gone the next. Because it was there and there is paper documentation of it, we're having to scramble to fix it...even though there isn't really anything there to fix...or we'll have to submit the 30-day fix-it paperwork to the credit agencies and wait...and lose the house in the process. I'm beginning to really wonder if we're looking in the right place...or if this IS the right place and the Lord is just testing us. Either way...I can't say I'm all that happy about it. But, I do know this is all in the Lord's hands! Patience is not my best virtue, that's for sure! LOL

Glass of Water, Crust of Bread

You know those mornings when you wake up dreamily, sigh contentedly and think...."aaaaahhhh, Saturday, how I've missed you." And then you hear the kids talking about school that day and you realize..."IT'S THURSDAY!!!!!! WE'RE LATE!" It's been one of those mornings around here.

Last night, I had every intention of going to sleep as soon as I went to bed. Chris asked if I wanted to watch a movie, so I said yes, why not. After the movie, we stayed up and talked. I LOVE those nights with Chris. We make extravagant plans that will never happen because they're just plain ridiculous to start with. We talk about the kids, our worries about them, they're best assets, funny stories. We talk about our serious future plans and how people will react to them, then we fall asleep in each others arms. Sounds pretty awesome, right?! Well, it is.

My husband has a habit of either turning off the alarm after the first beep and going back to sleep, or forgetting to turn the alarm off on weekends and keep hitting the snooze button. This morning, he just kept hitting the snooze button, so you see the dilemma at the beginning of this post. Well, as we were rushing about trying to get kids ready for school, I kept offering breakfast items to my kids to eat.

"Cereal?"
No.
"Poptarts?"
No.
"Cream of wheat?!"
No.
"Well, you have to eat something, what do you want?!"
Two slices of bread.

Really?! Bread?! Ok, so they grabbed their two slices and headed out the door (since it was something they could eat on the go). I can just imagine what their teachers thought when they walked in eating bread.

"This is what my mom gave me for breakfast." (holding up the remaining crust)
"....." O.O

Yes, I just give my kids a glass of water and a crust of bread for breakfast, because I'm SUPER mean like that! *nods* (the sad thing is, I've had teachers call for clarification on what exactly it is I DO when the kids say some things....awesome)

I've Decided

I've decided...

...That if I don't blog everyday, I'm not a failure.
...That if I get upset with my kids for dumb things, I'm not a failure.
...That if I cry from being homesick, I'm not a failure.
...That if I don't brace my baby's thumb every. single. night. I'm not a failure.
...That if I don't keep up on the latest book, I'm not a failure.

I simply have room for improvement. And I don't have to work on them all at once. I just need to learn to prioritize and work on one thing at a time.

I'm doing alright, I've decided.

My kids are still happy.
My family loves me!
I'm needed by a few people around here (at least I think I am. They keep calling on me so that must mean something, right?!).