Bad, Bad Blogger!

I know I've been really bad at blogging lately, but I have really good excuses (or at least they sound good to me!). With finishing up my research class, packing and getting ready for the move to Hurricane I've been swamped. Plus, I received the gift of a very nasty cold over the weekend that has brought my life to a screeching halt. I'm glad to be upright! At least I got it now instead of a week from now when we will be doing the big move.

In other news to tide ya'll over until I can get back to more normal blogdom (including unpacking the cord for my camera which I accidentally packed already), the kids are doing great in school. Ashley loves 2nd grade and Gavin and Cierra absolutely love kindergarten. The only thing that we don't like is the bus driver. He is really mean! He yells at the kids constantly and if they get loud he pulls over to yell at them. They were 10 minutes late getting home yesterday from all of the yelling! I'm so glad they won't have him much longer. I think he is in danger of going postal. I'm not kidding.

Anyways, back to packing.....

Bryan's New Job!!

Bryan accepted an offer yesterday from an awesome company. We are so happy and relieved and excited! He starts work today even! The biggest thing about his new job is that we will be moving back to the Hurricane, UT area! Woo Hoo! The kids are so excited. So are we. We will be moving on Saturday, September 26th (loading the truck Friday night/Early Sat. morning). We will miss all of our friends up here, but we are excited for this next phase in our life!

Update on Gavin's Boo Boo

He's doing pretty well. One of the hardest things is to keep him from trying to walk on his bad leg. He is such an active little boy! We can definitely tell when the ibuprofin wears off, but we try to not let that happen. He and Cierra start school tomorrow. Riding the bus will be postponed until Monday after he gets his cast and he can walk again. Until then, I'll be taking them to school and picking them up afterwards. Gavin's teacher said that she will assign him a helper for Thursday and Friday to help him with the things he needs. Poor guy!

When It Rains.....

You know. We seem to be in a downpour!!!!! First, Bryan loses his job, it's taking longer than we thought to find a new one, and now.....wait for it.....Gavin broke his ankle this afternoon. The only thing to do is to laugh maniacally and raid the ice cream!!!!!

Grateful

With everything going on right now, it is really easy to get down in the dumps, so I decided to list all the things I'm grateful for. I started thinking about all the things that Heavenly Father has blessed me with, and I am grateful for so much.

-I'm grateful for a wonderful husband that is a worthy Priesthood holder.

-I'm grateful for three beautiful, smart, healthy children whom I am sealed to forever and ever.

-I'm grateful that my kids are great friends and love to play with each other (most of the time!).

-I'm grateful for the gospel in our lives.

-I'm grateful that I'm able to go back to school (and have something to occupy my mind).

-I'm grateful for my wonderful parents who always support us and give us love.

-Just everything that Heavenly Father has blessed us with. Which is everything!

Did I Mention How Much I Hate Research Papers?

I've been in school for a whole 17 days now, and I'm knee deep in medical journal articles. I'm also preparing to take my first "real" final on Thursday, which is also Ashley's first day of 2nd grade. Busy day! In the meantime, I'm gathering the sources that I need to write a 10-15 page research paper for a different class that I'm taking (LAT1, although I'm sure that doesn't mean anything to any of you!). I haven't had to write a research paper for over 10 years, and I will be so glad when this particular class is over!! My official opinion is: Research Papers Suck! Hey, maybe we could make that into a bumper sticker.

The Time Has Come

The time has come for us to consider moving out of state. He hasn't been offered a job outside of Utah or anything, but we need to open up our options. We really need to find a new job for Bryan in the next 6 weeks - For Real. That is essentially how long we have until we are really in trouble. So, we are now applying for jobs outside of Utah, and hoping that Heavenly Father will lead us wherever we are supposed to be. *As I am trying so hard to give up control (since I have absolutely none) and not freak out*

School Time.....

...for ME! I am officially enrolled in school! I started August 1st (just an orientation class) and I officially enrolled today. I'm so excited!!!

Yet Again....

Well, it has happened again. Just about every 6 months for the past year and a half, Bryan has had to look for a new job. It's just part of the recession. The company wants to keep him, but they just plain run out of work for him to do. So, yet again, he is looking for a new job. If everyone could keep us in their prayers that Bryan can find a GOOD, STABLE job soon, we would really appreciate it. Ugggghhhhh.....

My Genius Little 7 Year Old

I have decided that Ashley is a genius (I'm biased, though!). But listen to this - I was quizzing my kids on rhymes (to combat summer brain atrophy) and was asking Ashley harder ones than the twins, of course. So, to try to trick her I asked her what rhymed with superkalafragalisticexpyaladocious (the Mary Poppins word). About 5 seconds later she said "ferocious"! I couldn't believe it! It really rhymes! Genius I tell you!

Back to School

It's official! I just talked to my entrance councilor with WGU, and she said that financial aid should go through, which means, I'm in!!! I'm going back to school to finally get my degree in Accounting on August 1st. It should take me between 2 and 3 years to finish, depending on how fast I can get through the material. I'm so excited!!

Caught up. Again.

Okay, I'm now pretty much caught up with my posts.  There are quite a few so just keep reading to get them all!  Oh, and they are in chronological order, too.

My Attempt at Gardening

I've never planted a vegetable garden before.  I don't know how successful I will be with vegetables seeing that there are only two house plants that I have managed to not kill since Bryan and I have been married.  Because of this, I didn't want to dig up part of the backyard to try my hand at gardening, so I decided to do it in containers on the deck.  We (the kids helped) planted tomatoes, peppers, carrots, and green beans.  The first three are in the above picture, and the beans are below.   I'm really pleased with how they are doing!  We planted right after Mother's day, and we even did seeds instead of plants!  (Ignore the dead plant towards the middle.  Yet another victim of my house plant murdering spree.  I haven't disposed of the body yet.)

Our New Dining Set

This is our new "dining set".  It's this cute little picnic table that I found at Costco, and it is perfect for the kids!  We keep it out on the deck and they love to eat outside now.  They also paint and play with their play dough on it.  It's great for me because then the mess is outside instead of inside!  Last night they ate watermelon until they exploded.

UP in 3D

I took the kids to see the movie "UP" in 3D after Ashley got out of school for the summer, sort of like a "Congratulations!  You survived first grade!" kind of thing.  They liked the movie.  They liked the glasses even more!

Fathers and Sons 2009

Gavin and Bryan went to the Fathers and Sons campout at the end of May.  They even stayed overnight this year!  This is Gavin all set and ready to leave.  He gave the thumbs-up all by himself.  He was so excited!  Bryan took a bunch of pictures while they were out.  Enjoy!

This is a little boy from our ward that Gavin hung out with that day.

I swear this boy cannot keep his tongue in his mouth!  He always has it sticking out!  But he's a cutie anyways.  I'm so glad we have this little guy in our family.  He may be our only little boy, and he sure is a little guy, but he makes up for it with a HUGE personality!  Love you Buddy!

Turning 5!!

Gavin and Cierra turned 5 years old on May 14th.  We had a small celebration at home on their birthday and then had a little party in Hurricane when we went down there for Memorial Day weekend.  They had so much fun with their cousins and friends in Hurricane!!  Thanks everyone that could come!  It was great to see you.  Hopefully we can see everyone else next time.

Sorry it's sideways.  This is Gavin and Cierra's "5" cake made from cupcakes.

This is when the twins saw their birthday presents as Bryan was bringing their new bikes down the stairs.

Gavin and Cierra on their new bikes.  I told them to smile and this is what they did!  Cute!!

Blowing out their candles.  They each had 5 candles on their half of the cake.

The party in Hurricane.  Everything was soooo great!  Thanks to everyone.  Thanks to Sweetheart for making the cupcakes in the shapes of a "C" and a "G"!  It was great!

Update...

So, I'm doing much better.  My thyroid hormones (which had gotten extremely low) are now "approaching normal" again and I'm off all the meds.  Hopefully my thyroid is healing from the viral attack sooner than they thought and everything is leveling out already.  I go back in for another blood test to check my levels in 4 weeks.  Which, by the way, is very nice because I've been going in every week for the last 3 weeks for blood tests and all of my veins are blown now.  Hopefully they will have time to heal before I go in again in a month.

In other news, I'm also doing better with the whole "we're not adopting anymore" thing.  My kids are awesome and I can be a really good mom to the three of them.  Another thing that is helping is that we're working on something for me to focus my OCD brain on so I'm not obsessing over not having a baby.  I'm going to go back to school to finally get my degree.  I've been accepted to WGU (a really cool, totally accredited online university that Bryan and Matt got their degrees from) and start the first of August.  The last hurdle is financial aid, which I should find out if I'm getting any soon.  But it's looking good and I'm really excited.  I should be able to finish in 2-3 years depending on how much I remember from my previous college classes (that were at least 8 years ago, I feel soooo old).  Wish me luck!

Explination

So a bunch of you probably came to my blog over the last couple of days because that handy dandy little sidebar feed that a lot of you have told you that I had a new post up called "I Wish..." but once you got here there was no such post.  No you are not crazy.  Neither is the handy dandy gadget that told you about the post.  I really did write a post called "I Wish..." and posted it on Saturday night.  It was up for all of about 7 1/2 hours before I took it down.  It was a little poem venting my feelings.  It was kind of sad and depressing.  So I took it down.  No need to depress all you wonderful people with my I'm-in-the-4th-stage-in-the-5-stages-of-grieving-AKA-depression-post.  So, just know that I'm trying to work through it, and the good news is that the 5th stage of grief is acceptance - I'm just one step away!  BTW - the 4th stage isn't fun.  I hope I can work through it quickly.

Ashley's Future "Job"

Ashley just told me that when she grows up she wants to be a "Vegetarian" (she meant to say Veterinarian).  So cute!

Sorry No Posts Lately

I'm sorry that I haven't posted any cute stories lately.  Between our trip to Hurricane, school getting out, my thyroid problems sapping my energy, and trying to work through my grief that we won't ever have another newborn, I just plain haven't done it.  I hope to post again soon, though.  

Thanks For Support

I want to thank everyone who has supported us in the decision to stop fostering and everything.  The decision was so hard, and I'm still grieving the idea of ever having another baby.  But a few people on here and IRL have been incredibly supportive of us.  Thank you so much.  It really has made it easier to try to move on.  Thanks again.

It's Official

I officially informed our RFC of our decision to stop fostering this morning.  It was so hard, and it was hard to make the decision.  We really wanted to help kids that needed it, and I really wanted a baby!!!  But, our kids reacted really badly to fostering, and they are our first and foremost responsibility.  We need to concentrate on them for the time being.  I'm glad and so thankful that we have 3 healthy, happy, well adjusted kids.  I am going to be satisfied with our perfect little family of 5.

Calmed Down

I'm better now.  Now Adam can make the kind of music that he is good at instead of being packaged as the "American Idol."  That's probably good.  Can't wait to hear it.

"OH...MY....GOSH!!!!!!!"

Those were the first words out of my mouth when the winner of American Idol was announced.  I can't believe that Adam LOST!!!!  No offense to Kris, he was good.  Really, he was.  It's true that there really wasn't a bad choice this year.  But ADAM SHOULD HAVE WON!!!!!  Guy-liner and all, I loved him!  If he isn't signed by a label I will be extremely disappointed in the music industry as a whole.  Simon!  Sign him!!!!!!!  I'm just shocked.  I want to hear more music from Adam.  NOW!!!  Okay, my rant is over.  Maybe.  We'll see if I can calm down.

Update - Going to bed now.  Still very upset.  :(

Update - Awake now.  Still upset.  LOL

Go ADAM!!!!!!

Tonight is the finale of American Idol, and I have to say, I'm rooting for Adam all the way.  I have ever since the hollywood rounds.  I'm also not at all embarrassed (okay, maybe a little) to admit that I was on the phone for two hours last night (sometimes with two phones) voting for Adam.  I think in that two hours I got through only a few dozen times, but hey, at least I did my part.  GO ADAM!!!!!!

My Babies are Five!!!!!

Five years ago today two little, teeny, tiny babies were born, and our lives were changed forever.  Gavin, the most resilient fighter ever, came into the world first at 6:09 am and weighed a whopping 3 lbs 14 oz and was 15 1/2 inches long.  One minute later at 6:10, Cierra silently followed and weighed 5 lbs 2 oz and was 17 1/2 inches long.  They were beautiful.  They bundled them up, gave me one peek at their faces, and whisked them away to the NICU.  After I recovered from my C-Section and was moved to my room, they handed me two polaroid pictures of my gorgeous babies.  This was the first real look I had at them.  Gavin was so tiny, but had so much red hair that stuck up in all directions.  Cierra was a little chubbier but in the picture she was in an open warmer with an IV and nasal cannula for oxygen.  I got to touch Cierra about 12 hours later, and Gavin that night.  All in all, Cierra stayed in the hospital for 7 days, and Gavin came home just 2 days later.  

Gavin

Cierra

Cierra with all her tubes

The first time Mommy got to hold Cierra.  She was one day old, and it was wonderful!

Gavin and his wires

This is Gavin holding Bryan's wedding ring.  This shows just how small he was.

Ashley helping Bryan feed Gavin his very first bottle.  She was thrilled!  He ate about a quarter of an ounce, then was too tired to eat any more.

Now, it is five years later, and what an adventure it has been.  These two little spirits have enriched our lives so much, provided us with laughter, love, and so many hugs and kisses.  Gavin and Cierra, we love you so much, and we are so, so happy that we have been blessed with you.  Happy Birthday!!

Getting back to Normal

Our life is better today, all of us.  Cierra isn't barricaded in her room.  Gavin isn't screaming.  Ashley isn't feeling like she has to protect her stuff (and her brother and sister and.....).  Mommy doesn't feel like the world is falling down around her.  Yes, that's how bad it was.  I'm so grateful for the awesome kids that I have, and I think I'm going to be satisfied with my perfect little family of five.  And sanity.

Way too much

We couldn't handle it.  We had to ask for them to be removed.  I felt horrible about it, but I knew that it wasn't going to get any better, and we needed to think about our kids.  It was just short of traumatizing for them.  I don't really want to go into details (and can't in some instances) but I the behaviors were effecting the kids WAY too much.  I couldn't do that to them.  Our first and foremost responsibility is to them.  It was so hard, but we just couldn't do it.  We're going to take some time to process and think.

It's a Boy!! And a Boy!! And Another Boy!!

Yep.  We are officially insane.  We are expecting the placement of three boys on Tuesday morning sometime.  They are 4 year old twins and an 18 month old.  So we will have 6 kids in the house - 7, 5, 5, 4, 4 and 18 mos.  Wish us luck!  Pray for us!  We're going to need it!

Mothers Day

I had a pretty good Mother's Day.  I got to go to Relief Society at church instead of teaching primary, took a nap in the afternoon, and Bryan is taking me on a date Saturday where I get to pick where we eat and what movie we watch (can you say Angels and Demons!!!!) without feeling guilty that it may not be what Bryan wanted to do.  So excited!!  I hope all you Moms and future Moms had a great day, too.

Ashley: Master of the English Language

Ashley has been saying some really cute things lately.  It seems like she is really trying to get her tenses correct when she is talking.  A few weeks ago when Cierra had croup I told Ashley that we couldn't go many places because Cierra was contagious.  Later that week we were walking home from picking Ashley up at the bus stop and Ashley asked me, "So, has Cierra contaged anyone yet?"  Then, last week Ashley was telling Bryan all about how earlier that day Cierra had been freaking out about something (how unusual for her), but she said that "Cierra froke!"  It was so funny and cute.  I love that little girl so much.

Hypothyroid Now??

My thyroid meds did their job....Too well.  Now my thyroid has gone the other way and I've become Hypothyroid.  We were expecting this, though.  I just have to cut back on my meds from 3 times a day to 2 times a day and we'll see if we can balance it out.  Maybe I can lose some of the 5 lbs I've gained since going on the medicine!

Decision...

We weren't picked.  I'm glad these two little guys found good families to go to, though.  I just wish we had been one of them.  I'm pretty down. 

Staffing Tomorrow! (For sure this time. We think.)

Our RFC said his supervisor told him that the staffing is going to be tomorrow.  This is pretty reliable information since his supervisor is the one who is staffing the case.  So, hopefully by the end of tomorrow we will know if we were picked for one of these little boys or not.  Continued thoughts and prayers would be appreciated!  I'll update as soon as I hear.

Staffing Update

I talked to our worker and they are staffing the case on Tuesday.  They have also narrowed down the list of families to six, and we are one of them!  We would appreciate continued prayers and thoughts for us and these boys.  I will update you as soon as I find out on Tuesday whether we were chosen or not.  Fingers crossed!!!

Swine Flu Perspective

Everyone is talking about swine flu right now it seems.  It's the first thing that you hear about on the news and even in regular conversation lately.  Panic seems to be setting in, even though I personally don't think it's warranted as of yet.  I'll tell you why.  While there has been one death from swine flu in the US so far (a Mexican citizen that came to Houston for treatment), the CDC has reported that 13,000 people in the US have died since the beginning of the year from the regular flu.  That is 3,250 people per month, approximately 758 people per week, or over 100 people per day just from the regular old flu that we live with every single year.  What would be happening if every single hospitalization and death from the regular flu was on the news?  Just trying to put it in perspective for you.

Here's the story on CNN if you want to read it.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/28/regular.flu/index.html

No Staffing Today

The case wasn't staffed today.  The next chance is Thursday.  Fingers crossed!!!!!

Going Insane

I'm waiting to hear the decision that the committee came to on the placement of the little boys, or if they even had the staffing this morning or not.  I'm fine with whatever decision they made (whether we were chosen or not), but I would like to know what the decision is.  I'm going nuts!

Staffing Tomorrow!

I just found out that the staffing for these two boys that we are interested in is going to be staffed tomorrow!  We would appreciate any prayers/good thoughts for us, the committee making the decision, and these little boys!

Need Prayers!!!!

I was just contacted about the possibility of getting a placement next week of a little baby boy with some special needs due to prematurity.  I am really excited about the possibility of him being placed with us, but right now it is just a possibility.  I told our RFC, the shelter worker that sent out the e-mail, and the RFC supervisor (who will be making the decision I think) that we are very interested in him, now it is just waiting time to see if we are chosen.  If you guys could pray for us to get this placement we would really appreciate it.  Thank you!!!

Bryan's "New" New Job

Interestingly enough, Bryan started a "new" new job this week.  Truthfully it is actually his old job with a promotion!  Last week his old boss called him and practically begged him to come back to work with them.  We negotiated on a few terms, and now Bryan is back to work with Aculis!  They just un-canceled our insurance and everything and we are all good.  It was sort of weird the way it happened, but I know everything happens for a reason.  We are in an even better situation than we were with Bryan's old-new job (confusing, I know).   I'm just so grateful for all of our blessings!!!

Musings on Life in General

I just have to say that I am feeling totally content with my life right now.  I mean, sure, there are things that I still want to happen, like getting a long term placement and maybe adopting, but for the most part I am really content and happy.  Bryan has a great job that he likes and that allows me to stay home with our kids.  We have a beautiful house to live in and cars to get around in.  I have 3 healthy and happy kids.  Life just seems really good right now.  I am still hoping that a placement comes sooner rather than later, and truthfully I am feeling that it will happen that way.  That is probably contributing to my feeling of well-being, but I'll take it however it comes.  And then tomorrow I will probably be back to being totally impatient for a placement.  So, I'll enjoy the contentment while it lasts.

Congratulations to Sarah!!!!

My SIL Sarah had her baby girl!!  Welcome to Khloe.  You're a big brother now Kolton!

T Is Gone

The kinship placement came through today, so we said goodbye to T today.  I'm glad we got to help such a special little girl in her time of need.  I talked to our RFC and he said that it will be easier for us to get placements now that we have had one under our belt, so that will be cool!

More About T

We are starting to get used to each other, and T is starting to get used to us.  It is really different dealing with a 2 year old after having almost 5 year olds as my youngest kids.  T can say a bunch of words - Thank you (Gan-koo), Mine (MINE!!!!), Mom (not mama, mom), No (of course), etc. I have to watch her while she is eating because she likes to put food up her nose.  Tonight I had the extreme pleasure of digging chicken out of it.  She goes down for a nap without a whimper, at least she did today.  She just said "Ni-Ni" and I didn't hear from her again for an hour.  I'm hoping tonight goes a little better now that she is more used to the house, but I'm not counting on it.  I'm sure it will be a while before everything gets to "normal" or at least a new version of it.  The kids have been great, all things considered.  I have a feeling that she will be going to kinship soon, but I won't get a better feel on the situation until I talk to her case worker, which I hope to do soon.  Thanks for all the well wishes!

First Night

Well, we made it through the night.  T sleeps in a crib in Ashley's room, and unfortunately Ashley has a pretty bad cold, so every time she would cough/sneeze/move T would wake up.  Plus, T decided wake-up time was 6 am, so we have one tired 2 year old.  Which makes for an interesting house full of kids.  Hopefully she will take a nap this afternoon.

T is Here!!!

We will call her T because of confidentiality issues with foster placements, but she is here and she is beautiful!!  She is getting along with all of the kids really well and she is fairly easy going.  I had forgotten how "babyish" 2 year olds are!  She loves to talk and laugh and chase Ashley with the doll stroller.  We don't know how long we will have her in our family, but we will love her for as long as she is here.

Placement!!

We're getting a placement!  She's a little 2 year old girl and we pick her up this afternoon.  I'll keep you posted!

Such a Loving Child

I came downstairs and saw that Ashley and Cierra were out in the backyard on the trampoline and the door to the deck was open.  Nobody was on the deck so I started to close the door, but Gavin yelled from the kitchen that he was going to go out there.  I turned to look at him, and he was filling up a large glass with water.  I asked him what he was doing and he said, "I'm going to make them go AHHHHHHHHH!"  I'm guessing you also have just gotten the mental image that I did at the time of Ashley and Cierra screaming after being drenched from above by a hysterically laughing Gavin.  I informed Gavin that was not a good idea, and he said, "AwwwwWWWW!"  Good try though, Gavin.

Now That It's Official...

I can tell you all about Bryan's NEW JOB!!  We found out the beginning of March that there was a good chance that the company he was with wouldn't have any more work for him to do after he finished the projects he was working on, so he started submitting for jobs.  Only 4 weeks after he started looking he landed a great job with a company called Solution Stream.  We are so blessed with the timing.  We got the offer letter on the day that was pretty much Bryan's last day with his old company, because there was nothing left for him to do, and he started with Solution Stream this week!  As things fell together, we won't be out even one day's pay or health insurance benefits at all!  Heavenly Father sure is taking care of us.  Bryan's new job is closer to home (less time to commute each day), a stable company, great benefits, and he'll be doing JAVA programming (which is what he loves).  We have been so blessed.  Congratulations Bryan!!!!

Grumpy Kid

Wow.  Gavin is a grumpy guy today.  He is so tired.  He usually goes to sleep by 7 every night, but the last two nights he has stayed up until 8-8:30, and boy are WE feeling it.  I really hope he goes to sleep on time tonight, so we can get our happy little guy back!

House last night.....SPOILER ALERT

DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE TWIST FROM LAST NIGHT"S EPISODE OF HOUSE!!!!!!!!!

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I can't believe Kutner is dead!!!!!!  And Suicide???  Noooooooooooooo!  He was a favorite of mine.  He didn't really let House get to him, and he was funny, and I'm going to miss him.  I know that Kal Penn got a job with the Obama Administration, but Nooooooooooooooo!!!!!

Thyroiditis

That's what I have.  Something (a virus or antibodies that I am making) is attacking my thyroid and damaging it, causing it to swell and be overactive.  They did another blood test today to check for antibodies, which is what usually causes this.  The viral kind is rare, apparently.  I now take antithyroid drugs three times a day to reduce the amount of hormone released by my freaky thyroid.  I have to go in monthly for blood tests to check the amount of thyroid hormone being released to see if it is too high or too low and adjust my meds accordingly.  There is a chance that this will resolve on its own in 12-18 months (uggghhhh), but if they can't get my thyroid to behave and get the inflammation to go down (so I can swallow, talk, etc without feeling it) then we start talking about nuking it.  Hmmmmmm.....We'll see about that.

Don't....Wake....Up.....

I had a very nice dream this morning.  You know the kind that is so real that you don't know it's a dream until a few minutes after you wake up, and then you want to go back to sleep immediately to try to get back into the dream?  That is what I had this morning.  I dreamt that my life was pretty much the way it is now, except that I was 39 weeks pregnant with a boy.  The pregnancy was totally complication free and we were just waiting for him to be born.  It was wonderful, and I was sort of depressed when I realized it was just a dream.  Oh well.  Hopefully we will get a placement soon so that my subconscious (and fully conscious mind) will stop sending me baby messages.

Tests are Done...

...At least they are unless the doctor decides to order more.  So far, I have a nodule on the left lobe of my thyroid and it showed up cold on the thyroid uptake test (meaning that it wouldn't absorb the iodine), but the rest of my thyroid wasn't really "lighting up" either.  I'm just ready for them to figure out what to do about it.  I feel like I have a huge lump in my throat all the time now.  Yes, it is getting worse.  It is hard to swallow and I can feel it pushing on my left vocal chords.  That is more than annoying.  I hope we get an answer soon.

29 is the new 85

I was telling the twins that we would go to Wendy's for lunch today and that since we were going there they would get a little ice cream with their lunch.  Cierra then said that they would get a little ice cream because they were little kids.  And....here it comes....that I would get a BIG ice cream because I'm a big Mommy and because I'm oooooooooold.  I had to giggle.

He Has it All Figured Out.....

Gavin told me today that when he gets big ("As big as Mommy and Daddy") he is going to have 5 machines - A breakfast machine, a snack machine, a lunch machine, a dinner machine, and a treat machine.  Apparently these machines will be capable of getting him all of his food for the day.  I kind of wish I had those machines now for him.  Sometimes I just can't fill his little body up with food!  But, hey, he's got it all figured out!

Cierra's Dancing Feet

We decided to make cookies this afternoon (because the twins ate ALL of the ones we made on Saturday this morning, but that is a different story) and as I was mixing the dough we were listening to my playlist on the computer.  I was singing along with the song that was playing and Cierra was watching me.  All of the sudden Cierra started to dance and said, "Mommy!  You are making my feet move!"  I may not be good enough for American Idol, but Cierra likes my singing.

Such a Twilight Geek

Yes, I'm talking about myself.  It's sort of embarrassing, but I am extremely excited about being able to buy the blu-ray of Twilight on Saturday.  When I say excited, I actually mean bordering on giddy.  I get this funny little feeling inside whenever I think about it, and can't stop smiling.  I'm blaming it on the fact that they upped my OCD meds and put me on beta blockers for the thyroid thing this last week.  Yep, that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.

BTW - Team Edward all the way!!!!  And Jasper's pretty cool, too.  ("The guy who looks like he's in pain all the time" - Hilarious!)  Remember - It's the meds talking.

Dx

So ever since I got so sick in January/February I feel like I just want to sleep all the time.  It had gone on long enough that I decided to go to the doctor to see if I was anemic or something.  I had a bunch of blood tests and it's not anemia.  I have Hyperthyroidism, aka my thyroid is freaking out and releasing too much thyroid hormone.  This means that everything in my body is running faster and harder than it needs to.  I could live with my metabolism being extra high (bring on the m&m's!), but, I can do without the risk of heart failure, so we're going to figure out what is causing the freak-out and get it fixed.  I'll have an ultrasound of my thyroid sometime next week that will tell the doctor if I have nodules on my thyroid that are causing this and how big they are if they are there, then we will decide on a course of action.  We will do one of three things:

1 - Anti-thyroid meds to slow down the release of the hormone 

2- Nuke my thyroid with radioactive iodine that would target only the thyroid tissue and destroy a bunch of it 

3- Surgical removal of part or all of my thyroid 

It will be interesting to see what the doctor recommends after all of the tests are done.  I have reservations about the second two treatments, but I'll do what is best.  Especially if doing one of those will help me swallow easier.  I always assumed it was scar tissue from my Acid Reflux that was making it hard to swallow, but it might be my freaky thyroid.  I'll keep you posted.

My "Grown Up" Ashley

Ashley was being silly and scribbling all over a paper with a marker.  She showed it to me and said that was how she drew in pre-school.  Then she sighed and wistfully said, "I was so young!"   I just had to laugh.  She is so cute!

Funny Gavin

Gavin gave me a nice smile on Friday morning.  Gavin, Cierra and I were out and about doing our weekly food shopping, and on our way to the store Cierra said that we needed to get a baby (which sort of surprised me because she has been the one least interested in getting a new sibling).  I said to her that, yes, hopefully we will get a baby someday, to which Gavin replied, "Yeah....or a PUPPY!"  I just had to laugh.  

My babies are growing up!!

I registered my babies for kindergarten today!  I can't believe that Gavin and Cierra are almost in school.   It took me a while to fill out two different sets of paperwork to register them, but about a half an hour later, it was all done and turned in.  I just can't believe that they are going to kindergarten next year.

One Year

One year ago today we finished packing up the van and U-haul and left for our new home in Lehi.  That was definitely a rough day.  The battery on the van went dead that morning before we left, then the U-haul gave up on us on an off-ramp at Nephi.  You know the one with all the truck stops and millions of big trucks coming off the freeway?  Yeah, that one, right in the middle of the road we were stuck.  But, 12 hours after we left Hurricane, we made it to the new house.  Now it has been a year, and we are loving it here!  We really miss everyone in Southern Utah, a lot, but we have been able to build a life here and we really enjoy it.  Ashley is doing so well in school, Gavin and Cierra ask almost every day if it is their turn to go to kindergarten, and Bryan is doing great in his job.  We really couldn't ask for more.

Welcome M.J.!!!

I just found out that my cousin had her baby!!!  Welcome MJ!!!!!

How Do I Love Thee...

Since today is Valentine's day, I thought I would dedicate a post to my wonderful husband.  We've been married for 9 1/2 years today, and there are many reasons why I loved him then, but I want to talk about some of the reasons why I still love him all these years later.

Bryan is an awesome dad.  He isn't just a father, he's a dad.  He cares about them, loves them, plays with them (you should see him on the trampoline with all of them!), gives them hugs and kisses, teaches them, protects them, and so much more.  He is a great dad.

He is the Yin to my Yang.  I'm sure that he has had many times over the last decade where he asked himself "What did I get myself into????".  I have a habit of freaking out at every little thing, but he stays calm and tries to calm me down.  He is really patient with me.

Bryan goes to work every day so that his family is taken care of and I can stay home with our kids.  This means so much to us.  Plus, he is awesome at his job, and his boss knows it.

Every Saturday morning he takes care of the kids and lets me sleep in.  I can't tell you how great it is after taking care of the munchkins all week to get a break, and he gives me that break.

He really loves children and wants to help them.  This is one of the reasons we are doing foster/adopt.  He is passionate about helping kids who are hurt and need some stability while their parents get better.  To see him talk about it, you can see the conviction and love for these kids in his eyes.  It makes me love him even more.

The night before he went in for ankle surgery he brought me tulips and some candy for Valentine's day because he knew he wouldn't be up and around today.  It was just so sweet.

Bryan, these are just a few of the reasons why I am still in love with you after all this time.  It hasn't always been easy, but we have grown closer through those hard times and our love has grown stronger.  I'm so glad that you are the one I picked to spend eternity with.  I love you!

Doing Well

Bryan is doing well today, in fact, his foot is still numb.  We'll see how it is after the nerve block wears off.  But, I have to say, I am so impressed with his doctor.  Dr. Gibson just sent over someone from his staff to our house with a box of cupcakes (those really nummy ones from a bakery!) and a personally signed get well card.  I have never heard of a doctor doing that before! 

Update on Bryan

We are back home after Bryan's surgery, and it went really well.  He had 5-6 bone chips in his ankle that the surgeon removed (OWWWW!!), and he will have to wear a boot and use crutches for about a month.  Once he gets the stitches out, he will also need to do some aggressive physical therapy at home to get the full range of motion back in his ankle.  So, he is doing well so far, and we were even able to get him upstairs to take a nap!

Poor, Poor Bryan

Tomorrow at 9:00 am Bryan goes in for surgery on his ankle.  He broke a little piece of bone off of his ankle sometime last year.  We don't know exactly when it happened because Bryan has a habit of disregarding injuries unless something stops working.  This was evident in the appendix incident of 2002 where by the time he let me take him to the hospital he couldn't walk upright and his appendix almost burst!  Then there was the time in 2004 when he thought he had the flu, but no.  It was actually Crohn's Disease that had closed off his bowel.  Anyways, I digress.  So, this little piece of bone is floating around in his left ankle, and he is getting it removed tomorrow morning.  We should be back home about noon.  We would appreciate any prayers on his behalf that the surgery will go well and he will have a quick recovery without complications.  I'll update you all as soon as I can tomorrow!

Gavin's Reading!!!

Gavin has been able to read small words for a few months now, but today I brought out Ashley's First Grade reading chart and asked him to read the words in the first column (the easiest words).  He was able to read more than half of them!  I'm so excited!  I asked Cierra if she wanted to try, and she didn't want to.  Things have to be her idea, or she doesn't want to do it, and so far, doing more than a cursory try at reading isn't her idea.  But, I'll keep trying!  And Ashley is doing absolutely wonderfully at school.  I had a parent/teacher conference last week, and got an update on her reading.  Alpine School District uses their own scoring system for their reading, and I don't know how it compares to other scoring systems, but on their system when they come into first grade in the Fall they want them to be at a 3, and Ashley was at a 12.  For Winter (middle of the year) they want them to be at a 10 and Ashley was at a 20!  They only want them to be at a 16 when they LEAVE first grade!  In fact, her teacher said that they were only allowed to test the kids up to level 20 this time, so we really don't know how high Ashley would have gotten if she would have been allowed to test Ashley to her full potential.  I'm so proud of her!!

Forgot

I forgot to say that if you have Fifth Disease, once you get to the rash stage you aren't contagious anymore (Thanks Natalie!).  

Clarification

I've had a lot of people ask me what Fifth Disease is, so here is your medical lesson for today.  Fifth Disease is a mostly childhood disease that is caused by Human Parvovirus B19.  It is called Fifth Disease because it is the fifth in the list of five common childhood diseases observed by a French physician named Dukes around 1900.  The other four are Measles (First Disease), Scarlet Fever (Second Disease), Rubella (Third Disease), and a Fourth Disease that has no other name, and is now considered to have never existed.  Fifth starts with usually mild cold or flu like symptoms with a low grade fever and tiredness, and then those symptoms disappear and you develop a rash, usually starting on the cheeks, that resembles a lacy pattern.  The rash then spreads down the whole body, but disappears within 2-7 days and usually doesn't bother the child.  What the virus actually does is temporarily stops the body from making red blood cells, so you get anemic and develop the flu symptoms as your body is trying to figure out what is going on and fix it.  Then, you get the rash as your body starts to make red blood cells again and they reprofuse.  If an adult gets it, they don't usually get the rash, but they do get joint pain and swelling.  If a pregnant woman gets Fifth, so can the baby which can cause complications if the baby becomes anemic.

So, there you have it.  Now you know what our family had in great detail!

Not the Flu

You know that "flu" that I had a little over a week ago that I said was so horrible?  Well, it wasn't the flu.  A couple of days after the flu symptoms went away I started getting a rash.  Then the next day the twins both got a rash, and my rash was all over my body and every one of my joints hurt.  I took the twins to the pediatrician, and after they sent a nurse out to the car to make sure it wasn't chicken pox, we saw a nurse practitioner who diagnosed us all with Fifth Disease!  Apparently I never had it when I was a child.  We figured out that the rash Ashley had in January was Fifth, and that is where the rest of us got it.  The kids weren't bothered by it at all, in fact Ashley never even had a low grade fever!  But it is very different for adults, apparently.  Joint aches are common for adults that get Fifth (the stairs were killer!!!!), and although adults don't usually get the rash, mine was all over.  So, that is what was up with my "flu", and now we are all over it, and Bryan didn't get it (YAY!!).  And now I know what a "lacy rash" looks like.

Update...

So I was finally able to get a hold of the little boy's Case Worker, and the situation is not going to be for us.  This poor little guy has some pretty serious brain damage.  Half of his brain is non-functioning grey matter.  We know that there is a family out there for him, though, and I hope he finds them soon and they love and care for him his whole life.

Prayers Please!

As most of you know, we are licensed foster/adopt parents.  We are hoping to help some kids and hopefully adopt someday.  We are still waiting for our first placement, so I have been looking at other kids around the country that are already free for adoption.  And I found two that we are interested in, one little boy we are really interested in.  So, if you guys could find it in your hearts to pray for us that we will know Heavenly Father's will concerning if either of these little boys are supposed to be in our eternal family, and if so that we will be able to bring them home soon, we would greatly appreciate it.  Every little bit helps!!

Uggghhh...

I've been MIA for a little while because I've had the flu.  This was one of those kick you in the butt, knock you over, then kick you some more types of viruses for me.  Which is interesting because Cierra had it a week ago and snapped out of it pretty quickly.  I was not so lucky.  I think I'm finally getting over it.  I actually got into normal clothes today!  Yay!  Now, If I can survive a trip to walmart to get some milk (we've been out for 2 days!) then I will be grateful.

Caught up!

So so so so sorry for taking so long to post this stuff.  But, I'm caught up now.  I did it in chronological order, so you'll have to go down quite far to get to the start of the new stuff.  Enjoy!

The Perils of Winter

Having a trampoline in the winter is a lot of work, especially when you don't think about it and leave it under an eave so that when the snow starts to melt off of the roof it drips onto the trampoline and then freezes.  Then you end up with a huge ice mass in the middle of the trampoline that is threatening to end it's life!!!  So, we had to break it up to get it off.  Bryan lowered down jugs of hot water, and I poured it on the ice to break it up, then I threw the ice over the safety cage, or shoved it through the entry opening if it was too  heavy to throw.  Wow was that hard work!!!  Then we moved it out from under the eaves.

Christmas Morning

Cierra's Triceratops.  She has wanted one for so long, and it was her favorite toy of the day!

Woo Hoo!  Gavin got a train!!!!  He did a dance the night before when he opened extra train track from Ashley!

Ashley got baby dolls and a play pen and stroller for Christmas.  She loves it, and is such a little mommy!  The baby's name is Jakey!

Cierra got Ponyville stuff, too.

Playing with the mounds of stuff after it was all put together.

Here's Gavin's train set all set up.

Thanks Papa and Sweetheart!!

And for this, too!  And for Ashley's Tutu dog which somehow I didn't get a picture of!

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

And Santa dumped his sleigh!

Our Christmas Present

I was so excited when I got this.  We bought this present for ourselves.  I went to Costco about a week before Christmas, and guess who was there???????   Greg Olson!  So, I bought one of the smaller paintings and had him sign it, plus he even dedicated it to our family on the back.  I was so excited!!!!

The School Christmas Sing

It's really hard to see her because I was sitting so far away, but Ashley did awesome in her school's Christmas Sing.  She is in the middle with short blonde hair.  You can see her better in the picture below.  Great job Ashley!

Cookie Time

At our house, Christmas means Grandma Brown Cookies!  So, this year, after a couple of hours of shoveling snow, we got out all of the ingredients, and the kids helped me make them!  

"Helping" roll out the dough

Using our brand new cookie cutters

Adding the sprinkles

Enjoying our hard-earned cookies!

This year I tried something new as a topping - Crushed candy cane!  It was pretty good, but the icing topped ones were definitely the crowd favorite.

Snow....

These are some pictures of the first good snowstorm that we had this winter.  The twins love to "help" shovel the walkway.

Gavin has a rake!

Cierra "shoveling" the walkway the best she can!

They are just darling!

Ashley the Red Nosed Reindeer!

Gingerbread House

I've never made a gingerbread house before, so when I saw this kit at Costco I thought it would be a great activity to do with the kids.  

Finished Product

A day or two later after the twins got a hold of it while I was in the shower!

Ashley Turns SEVEN!!!

Sorry, the pictures are backwards!  But, I'm sure you can figure out the timeline.  Ashley had her birthday party the Saturday before her actual birthday, and boy did she have fun!  There were about 15 kids there.  The party had a princess theme (of course).  We started out with a treasure hunt with clues from all the princesses, then did presents, had Pocohontas dirt cups, then the kids all went outside to jump on the trampoline while they waited for their parents to pick them up.  All in all, it was quite a success!

The kids on the trampoline

The Pocohontas dirt cups!

Present time!

During the treasure hunt

Starting the treasure hunt