Random Stuff....

We finally received Denver's official diploma in the mail. Needless to say we were very excited about this and proud of Denver for his accomplishment. 3 more grueling semesters and I will have my own to brag about :)

Addison is so excited to start Kindergarten. We bought this funky new curling iron and she loves the way it makes her hair look. She has decided that she wants to grow it out, much to my dismay, and therefore we have to find new ways to do her hair while she is letting it grow.

We took Addison to meet her teacher for the first time the other night. She was soooo happy to be in her classroom and see her name every where she looked.

We got to watch little Jude the other night. Poor thing had to escape Addison trying to play mommy at every turn. She was so upset that he wouldnt let her hold him but he is at that age where running and exploring is more fun than being held.

We went school shopping for everyone at once. Due to my surgery, it ended up being put off until this weekend. I knocked everything out in one day: clothes, shoes, haircuts, backpacks, and school supplies. Needless to say we were beat! The picture above is Addison modeling one of her new outfits. She made me take a picture of her in every single thing we bought her.... silly girl :)

School starts Monday for me, Wednesday for the kids....even though I am sad to see the summer go, we are ALL ready for school to start!

Happenings....

Sorry for the lack of pictures on this post. This is more of an informational post :)

A few months ago, I was told by my doctor that I would have to have a partial hysterectomy due to the fact that my uterus was prolapsing....falling out. Also prolapsing was my bladder -- so that's why I couldn't laugh or cough without peeing -- At first, when he told me this, I was fine. No big deal right? No more birth control, no more monthly cycles....and I get to keep the ovaries so NO HORMONES! Win win. Oddly enough, a few weeks later, I went through this weird, albeit short, mourning moment. Like "wow...I really cant have anymore babies" (as if I actually wanted more...NOT). I felt like I was going to be less of a woman or something. It was weird and thankfully short lived and replaced by extreme anxiety over the surgery itself.

A few weeks before the surgery, I went to see my endocrinologist to get my annual thyroid tests done. I had been feeling extremely tired every day in the afternoon to the point where just the thought of getting off the couch made me want to cry. I was even nervous driving....falling asleep at stop lights is never a good sign. The results of the tests were inconclusive really but she decided to put me on thyroid medication anyway....a small dose...just to see if it would help. So far, I think it is helping. That afternoon fatigue seems to have gone away significantly.

Unfortunately one of the tests that measures blood protein and is a good indicator of future heart trouble came back super high. She was concerned enough that she put me on Lipitor to help bring the number down. What that test did for me though was send me into a tailspin of anxiety over the upcoming surgery. Considering my family heart history, this was not good news. Also one of the nodules that I have growing on my thyroid grew large enough over the past year that they want to do a biopsy on it. Talk about everything hitting me at once. Welcome to the 40's I guess....

To make this long health saga short(er), the week before my surgery was spent doing more tests and more tests to make sure my heart was OK. Turns out it is just fine. No signs of anything that would cause problems. I did reschedule the thyroid biopsy however, because I simply had no time to get it done and it was lower on the priority list at the time.

August 3rd came and I had the hysterectomy and bladder repair. (picture of my liquid meal after surgery...haha) Surgery went great and I spent a night and day in the hospital. I've been home for 4 days now and am doing well...still a little sore of course but on the mend! The kids have been great to wait on me and help me out around the house. (secretly I think they are really ready to have their old mom back though)

School starts in a few weeks and I think we are all ready for it! It has been a nice summer but due to me being in school we haven't been able to do much and the kids are kinda going stir crazy. It will be nice to be back on a schedule. I only have 3 semesters left until I graduate! Its feeling so close now....I can hardly wait!

Musings....

I just got done browsing and boo-hooing over a bunch of blogs about kids with cancer. I know... seems like a strange thing to be doing but there is an acquaintance of mine here in the Village whose 7 month old baby was diagnosed with Leukemia last year. She has just come home and is finally in remission. She had a blog about the experience with links to other blogs of families that she met at the hospital during her daughters fight. It was sobering to say the least. Some of the kids didnt make it. Some did and are still fighting. It gives me such perspective to read things like this occasionally, even if it is difficult. I have 3 healthy, beautiful, children. Aside from some stitches and a couple of minor surgeries, my kids rarely see the inside of a hospital.

I am so grateful for that fact. Cancer is no joke. It has devastating affects both on the person who has it as well as on their families who fight along side them. I pray that I dont have to go through anything like that with my children. Also, yesterday and old high school acquaintance had quite a scare. She got a call informing her that her 15 year old son was lost in the high Uintah mountains. He was there for scout camp. That mountain has claimed the lives of many a scout who found himself lost. It is not a place you want to get lost in. I was so worried for her and thought it must be a mom's worst nightmare. Of course there are many events that could qualify as "moms worst nightmare". We cannot keep our kids sheltered and within our loving grasp at all times, unfortunately. All we can do is hope that they are watched over by a power stronger than a Mother's love and that we teach them what they need to survive in the big bad world. Thankfully, they did find my friends son, unharmed although probably a little shaken. He had hiked 20 miles out of the way after taking a wrong turn on the trail. Yikes....but what a relief that all is well.

So what else? I had lunch with my hermanos the other day. We went to Ruth's Diner up in Emigration Canyon. Great place to eat if you are in the area. I only got a picture of Nathan though...sorry Jeff!

Addie was excited to get "bigger" earrings. Apparently the teeny tiny (fake) diamond studs just werent cutting it anymore so with her birthday money from Mawmaw she bought an assorted variety of "bigger" earrings. Haha...here she is in her hoops ;)

Friday, Ian had to go to the dermatologist to get a massive wart removed from his knee. He wanted me to promise that it wouldnt hurt but I told him I had no clue what they were even going to do to remove it. The wart was very large and thick and therefore required freezing, a shot of anesthetic (or two), burning, and then finally cutting it off. Wow. I could have never predicted that he would have to have all of it done. Poor thing. If you know my son then you know the kind of noise he made over it. VERY melodramatic...the doctor was laughing and saying "we know who to call if we ever need a set of lungs to scare off bad customers".... haha.

Let's just say Ian does not tolerate needles and pain very well....I tried my best not to laugh. Really I did. But the whole thing was rather comical. In the end I apologized by taking him to see Harry Potter for the second time. He also has a wart on his elbow but the doctor opted to just freeze it and put a little acid on it rather than repeat the fiasco he had just experienced. Unfortunately, if the wart doesnt go away from that treatment, Ian will have to come back and repeat the bad way....let's hope it goes away!

Addison has decided she wants long hair. I was hoping to keep it shorter for a couple more years so it could get a little thicker and not have as many tangles. But, if she wants it long then thats fine too. She got some headbands today and I thought she looked cute. Wonder how long it will take for her hair to grow? If its like my hair...forever!

A Visit from Marcy.....!

I was so excited to receive a call from my cousin Marcy a couple of weeks ago announcing that she was coming to Utah! She was taking her oldest son's to BYU for volleyball camp and going to spend the week here. The best part....she wanted to stay a few days/nights with me! It was just what I needed....having a girlfriend here to chat with and keep me company. She brought her youngest son, Camdon, with her and my boys were thrilled to have him as well.... Here is Camdon who is always ready and willing to take a great picture (wink, wink..)

We had a great time. We saw a couple of movies and of course we made the mandatory visit to Temple Square

*warning: a lot of pictures to follow....*

I was pretty much invisible for the entire time that Marcy was with us. Addison thought she had died and gone to heaven with Marcy here. She was spoiled and so infatuated with "aunt" Marcy....it was cute and I didnt mind a bit. She was pretty sad to see her go....

It is difficult to take a bad picture of this temple. Gorgeous.

The day after the temple, we went up the hill to Red Butte Gardens. This is another place where it is difficult to take a bad picture! So beautiful....

Thank you Marcy and Camdon for visiting us! We hope you can come again soon....it was so much fun!

Summer Randomness....

I cant believe summer is halfway over! It feels like it is just getting started here in Utah thanks to our wet weather and lower temps. Truly the temperatures have been wonderful, I am not complaining, but time just wont stand still and I am really perturbed about how winter seems to draaaag on and on but summer flies on by. Oh well. One thing that has been great about the slow start to summer has been the really cool summer storms. I have been obsessed lately with the clouds. We have had amazing sunsets because of them.

The sky cant decide what it wants to "wear" so we get an eclectic mix of blue sky, white puffy clouds, thin wispy clouds, and dark menacing clouds....all at the same time. Love it.

Another fun thing that has been popping up lately is Addison's sudden desire for domesticity. She has been a wonderful helper lately, setting the table for meals (she even takes my candle and flower from the piano and puts it in the middle of the table....)

and also doing the dishes. She is obsessed with washing the dishes. I often find her standing on the chair with the dish towel tossed over her shoulder...which is an important detail you know....scrubbing away. So cute. Im pretty sure it wont last once I start asking her to do it for real ;)

I wish I could say we have a bunch of fun stuff planned for the rest of the summer but unfortunately I am scheduled to have surgery on August 3rd which will render me semi-useless for at least a few weeks and then school starts for everyone again. I am going to try to take the kids to the Sundance Musical Theater production of The Sound of Music though....it will depend on how I feel of course. In the meantime, we are just enjoying what time we have left. Hope you are too!

More 4th....

Before I moved into student housing, we lived in my Grandma's neighborhood just down the street. We also went to her ward (church). I have missed that ward greatly since we moved and think I may go back. Every year this ward has a pancake breakfast on the 4th.

It's a pretty big deal and they encourage former members of the ward (like us) to come back and attend. We did just that. Bright and early we trudged over there for breakfast and a kiddie parade of bikes and scooters. It was a lot of fun seeing the familiar faces. It just felt like being home again... I miss going to that church.

Since we watched our fireworks early on Saturday night, I had no plans to go see any more fireworks on Monday the 4th. We decided on having a BBQ with some neighbors that we go to church with here in our apartment ward (church). Technically,fireworks are not allowed on any campus property, including family housing which I think is so lame (especially since the fire department is across the street). But I did buy some sparklers and thought we might go to the park and light them.

Our neighbor Seth had a different idea. He had bought some "baby" fireworks (smoke bombs, spinning flowers, etc) at Costco for his little kids and invited us to watch out on the basketball court.

Pretty brave considering the rules...of course someone did call campus police on him but they didn't show up until after he had finished. We walked out to the edge of the property and finished up our sparklers...

Sadly, the wind picked up and blew a chunk of sparkler onto Addison's foot.

I didn't realize just how badly she had been burned until we went inside. Kinda put a bummer on the night. But it was a nice relaxing 4th and I have to say one of my favorite holidays!