Grandma has left the building so nobody move!!!

This is a little old now but crazy things have happened as of late, and I think I can regroup and finish what I started last week.  Anyway, I've had the most perfect recovery from little Mase and I attribute it to the amazing help that I've had.  I know I'm sure I've given the run down before in other posts but I'm doing it again, so bear with me.  Right after she was born, Randy's parents happened to be here for the 4th of July holiday so my MIL stayed throughout the weekend and the day she left my lil bro came till my family's reunion in which he took the oldest 2 with him.  Then my sweet MIL took the younger two for part of that time up to her place leaving Randy and I alone with the babe for a few days.  When those 2 came back there were just a couple of days left before the older came home.  I was by myself with all of my kids for about 4 days before my mom was able to come down and help for a week.  She needed to go home that next week to make sure James was ready for his mission and since we had so much time off (from Randy not having to use vacation time after the baby was born) we decided to make the drive up to MT for 10 days and then come home after in which my mom would stay till the 2nd day of school. 

I can't believe that I ever got that much help and I'm an indeed so grateful.   So, thanks to all of you (you know who you are) for giving me this amazing opportunity to bond with our new addition.  It was heaven.  So I finally had to put my big girl panties on and take care of my family. . . by myself.  Well all was going well till the day after Malia started kindergarten and I went and played volleyball for the first time in years (btw, I'm not good, nor have I ever been good), and right before I was planning on leaving I jumped up for a hit and landed on the side of my foot and did this

Kinda gross eh?  Apparently I can't take care of myself, but I have some amazing neighbors/friends who helped me the couple of days that I was down.  Oh and it's not broken, just sprained . . . badly.  I've iced the snot out of it and kept it elevated and wore a compression sock for 2 days and I have to say, as long as I'm wearing the air cast, I'm doing good.  Not even using crutches anymore.  And seeing how it's Morgan's birthday today, that's quite an accomplishment.  So we are off to celebrate, another post to come on that.  Here's to hoping I don't hurt myself anymore.

Tired

I just need to vent a little bit.  I am soo tired of everything going on in our lives right now.  I'm getting really excited for baby M to join our family and I'm just dying cuz I have seriously been sick for 4+ months.  Just when I thought morning sickness was going away I get an awful cold now going on 3 weeks that resulted in a sinus infection and last night during the Caucus meeting I started getting a tickle in my throat that has turned into incessant coughing.  I give up.  I can't keep up with it all.  My only saving grace is that my kids are old enough now to entertain themselves and are more self-sufficient to take care of themselves.  Oh wait but there's more.  This week, 3 more of us got sick with fevers and congestion and aches.  Today is the 1st day all week where there is only 1 other body here with me during school.  Hopefully this weekend will bring some "well" thoughts.  

So you think that's all eh? There can't possibly be anything else that is going wrong in KT's life, Not even close.  We were planning after Randy gets a job to sell our mini van and get a suburban just for the sake of room.  The van is tight with the 6 of us and adding a 7th was just going to put everyone over the edge.  Randy walks in graduation in the middle of April and will be completely done the beginning of June.  I figure oh we can last till then, well we can but the van may be another story.  Wednesday the check engine light came on and so we took it in.  Randy and decided that if was  going to cost a lot that maybe it was time to sell it and beg his parents to drive their "burb" around for a few months till we get everything figured out.  To fix the minimum in the van to get the light to go off was going to be $500 and if we wanted to do every other little thing that was not as important was going to be $1000.  Now that may seem like not a lot of money considering it could be $2000 but when we've already replaced the breaks, a brake light cover and the alternator within the last 8 months that puts us way over what we were expecting to put into this van of ours.  So we decided to fix the minimum and have cleaned it up to start preparing to sell it, (ya know find all of the documents and get things in order).  We got it back yesterday and drove it around a bit then this morning on my way to take the kids to school the dang light comes on again.  I almost started to cry.  WHY WHY WHY.  I just want to be done with this thing.  So I took it back in and the guy checked and said "well now instead of a major leak it is showing a small leak.  You'll be fine through the weekend but if it comes on again, just bring it in on Monday."  I DON'T WANT TO PUT ANYMORE MONEY INTO THIS THING!!!!  Just a few more months till our lives were going to settle down (at least from a school/financial aspect).  It's been a great little van, we've had to fix a few hoses throughout the past couple of years and until this year we've never had any major problems with it.  It's been through a lot, and been good to us, but it is time to let it go.

As I was finishing this I got a call from Randy telling me that one of the students that works for him just called him and said that he wasn't going to be back to work for a bit.  Randy, being the sarcastic boss that he is started giving this guy a hard time, (jokingly) and comes to show that his wife who has had 5 miscarriages in the last couple of years (1 just a few weeks ago) just found out her father collapsed at work and was unable to be revived. Wow.  What a wake up call for me.  Here I am complaining about being sick for what feels like forever and having to take care of my sick kids. . .
1) I have children of my own that are healthy (relatively) and growing well who I love.
2) I can get and stay pregnant relatively easily (almost too easily sometimes).  And although I feel like crap right now most of the time, I am not on bed rest and my baby is not in distress.
3) I have parents who are still around and although they have some medical issues to deal with, they are still here and I love them and I can't wait till my mom comes next week to visit.
4) I do have a vehicle that gets me from point A to point B that doesn't die unexpectedly and though it needs a little work is still a great car and I'm sure has a lot more miles to give.
I need to stop complaining and be grateful for all the things that do have and still have.  Sometimes we just need a reality check and get us back in line.  I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for me and right now is not the time to be complaining and whining, I need to be happy where I am at and realize that this all to shall pass.  We are given trials and tribulations for a reason and it's what we learn from them that make us grow.  Man I feel like I'm giving a talk at church. . . AMEN!  Now if I could get this cough to go away so my head doesn't feel like it's going to explode I'll be good, lol.

Aren't things suppose to happen in 3's?

At least that is what I've been told.  We've a crappy past couple of months.  It just seems like it's one thing after another and it's never ending.  It started in March when Randy sprained his ankle really bad (which still hasn't completely healed, but it's slowly getting better).  Then we had a break until May when. . . wait for it (deep breath in)
2. I broke my curling iron and almost started a fire
3. Malia's bike finally kicked the bucket which in turn cost money to get McKenzie a new bike (long story)
4. My washing machine's warranty was expiring so I got a maintenance check to make sure everything was in working order (which it was by the 1st technician) only to find out a month later that he missed something pretty obvious had he taken off the front panel off, which would have been fixed, and in turn would not have made my frontelectric panel short out requiring another technician to come and fix it.  Ya, I'm in a big dispute with Sears right now.
5. Right after the washer broke (literally that door) One of my children clogged the toilet so bad that it flooded the bathroom.  Ya, gross.
6. I totally slammed my index finger in the car door, it really hurt for a couple of days and even typing now it's still sensitive.
7.  I tweaked my elbow while doing push ups on P90X and it still hurts. 
8. Our AC went out, luckily we rent and the weather is not blazing yet, so it was fixed fast and with a bigger unit, can I get an AMEN!!!
9. McKenzie landed on her foot wrong and we really thought she broke it. We were so sad cuz it was the beginning of Summer break and  thought this is a great way to start of the Summer.  Luckily she was only in a splint and crutches for about a week and then she attempted to walk on it.  It took a few minutes for her to get her "footing" (ha ha get it?) back and she hasn't had a lot of problems since.  It hurts every once in a while but she not letting it slow her down.

.

But during all this mayhem, I'm trying to see the good in everything.
1. The kids are out of school, so I don't have to be everywhere all of the time.
2. We get to take the kids' report cards to Krispy Kreme and get a dozen and a half of donuts. Yummm
3. We have a home where most everything works and when it doesn't, I have the best friends and neighbors who are always willing to help me out, even let me wash stinky poo towels in their washer.
4. I have my family who are for the most part healthy.  I have friends who have husbands leaving on deployment next week. I have other friends who have cancer or who have children who are fighting cancer.  I have a sister who is pregnant who can't stand for very long cuz her varicose veins are so bad it sends shooting pain all over.  I really shouldn't complain about ankles and feet that will heal themselves over time.
5. My husband has a job, even though it's not his ideal job, it pays the bills, and his schooling and it's making it possible for us to excel. (ONLY 1 MORE YEAR)
6. I have lost 17 pounds (and counting) doing P90X with my buddy, and jogging with more buddies, and Zumba-ing with even more buddies.  I still have more to lose, but I feel like now my goal is more achievable.
7. Randy's and my callings at church, although stressful and time consuming, are a huge blessing for us.  I have grown and learned so much in the last 3 years.
8. We have realized that when and if we move next year, we are going to probably have to move ourselves and so we are starting now to get rid of, sell and reorganize our "stuff."  We sold some nightstands this week, yippee, and have a few more things on KSL.  My bedroom is starting to look like a bedroom opposed to the kids' dumping ground.  I actually want to be in there again.
9. I have the knowledge that there's more out there than just what we do here on earth.  I know that everything I do, or learn or am forced to put up with is only going to make a stronger person.  So even though there has been a lot of bad things happening to us lately, I know that my Heavenly Father has a plan for me and is watching out for me and my family.  I know that one day I'll be able to be with him again if I can just endure this earthly life and do what he asks me to do to the best of my ability.  I know that when I'm having poopy days, I can pray and know that he is listening.  my first list are things that are not going to kill me or cause me to question my faith, they are just there to help me remember to rely on the Lord.

Going Under the Knife

The day finally arrived.  Big changes were coming to such a small little girl, and we were all excited for the end results.  For the last year and a half, Malia has had a lower than normal voice and been getting sick a little too often for our comfort.  After talking with her pediatrician at her last well child check up, he referred her to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor who scoped her and said her adenoids were almost covering her nasal passage and her tonsils were not much better.  She gave us the info we needed and we decided to get them both removed.  We knew something was wrong and it needed to be fixed or there could be serious repercussions later down the road.  So we scheduled 1 month ago for today.  We really didn't talk to her about it until about a week ago when we attended a "Pre-op Hop" to help kids who are prepping for surgery could get themselves acclimated with the surroundings and equipment that was going to be used on them.  Amy her helper was amazing.  She was really thorough, gave her a doll to decorate, instruments to test out and even gave her the mask that they were going to use on her so she could practice at home.  She was actually excited to go and use the things she had been practicing with.  Last night, we went out to eat at IHOP because it was going to be the last real meal she was going to be able to eat for a couple of weeks and she wanted hamburger and fries AND juice (go figure).  We wanted to have her voice on record to see if there was a difference after she healed so we videoed her at IHOP.  However, she had way to much sugar yesterday and so she was acting really goofy and making her voice higher for part of it, oh well, we tried.

She realllllly wanted juice. 

 Grandma was even able to come down to help out with the rest of the kids so Randy and I could be with Malia the whole day.  (can you see a theme here with the juice).

 We were scheduled to be at the hospital at 7 AM and since we weren't going to the one right down the hill from us, we had to be up at 5:30.  We were a little tired.  But she is still smiling.

Eah and Mom before surgery.

 

I just had to get one more vid. of her beforehand, cuz who knows what was going to happen after.

How quickly it can change though.  Here she is about 20 minutes after she came out of surgery, man that anaesthesia was not her favorite.  She was thrashing and wailing and gnashing her teeth.  It was sooo sad to see her like this.  Her doctor said that her tonsils were actually worse than what she thought.  That when she went in there, they were "kissing" which meant they were actually touching each other when she was laying down.  So it really was good we decided to do both.

Such a sad little girl.

 She didn't do well in recovery, she could not keep her O2 levels up above 88 and wouldn't drink anything.  The meds that were in her body was just making her act weird and she just wasn't really "there" for a long time.  So, because they needed beds for other surgical patients, they transferred us up to the Pediatric unit to finish recovering and try drinking juice and eating Popsicles.  It was nice to not have people on top of us and have a little privacy.  She slept a lot and whined a lot and ate and drank very little for a long time.  We watched Marley and Me and tried to convince her to drink something.  She eventually got her footing and walked around a bit and we found the playroom.  At which point we realized she needed more pain meds and gave her the option of drinking her meds and getting the IV out or keeping it in and getting the meds put into her IV.  She really hated that IV and probably would've done anything to get that thing out.  So she took her meds and proceeded to spit it out, so we tried a different med and she drank it up.  She was soo happy to be free of that stupid tube.  We went down to the playroom again and gave her a different juice and got a few sips out of her.  It wasn't until this person

 showed up and convinced her that the sooner she drank her juice the quicker she could get out of there (which she apparently didn't hear the 50 million times before that was said by me and Randy and every other nurse out there).  Thanx a million Andrea, you Da Bomb!!!! 

She had fun with the play room toys, especially anything she could push around.  The wagon soon became the big hit.

 And of course I had to get the backside hospital gown shot.  It was too perfect.

 Sorry I couldn't resist another one.

 So after 7 hours of absolute fun, we were able to go home.  She made out like a bandit.  In the surgical wing, Amy brought her a quilt made by the Project Linus group along with a stuffed duck (which by the way worked wonders in recovery, she loved having it rubbed on her skin).  Then in the Peds unit she had a fleece blanket, beanie baby bear, sippy cup and pillowcase waiting for her. Andrea brought a new baby doll for her.  Oh and of course Grandma had to spoil her a little get her a Fur Real puppy, Toy Story 3 and have the kids give her a new Barbie.  Maybe she'll want to have surgery again, hopefully not.

The crazy thing is, she almost seems back to normal.  Her post op instructions told her to be on bed rest the next 3 days and light activity after that, HA!  That's not going to happen.  She wants to eat real food sooo bad and has no desire to sit still, cuz she knows if she does she will fall asleep, and of course who would want to do that?  We caught her with a stolen bag of Cheerios trying to stuff her mouth.  This is going to be a trying 2 weeks.  I'm just grateful she has done so well, except for the little hiccup recovering.  I'm so happy we got it done now when she can recover quickly and not when she's a teen or older and completely miserable the entire time.  I'm grateful for amazing technology.  Which reminds me, I need to get my Grateful Turkey up and going for the month.

Micah Update

Micah is fine.  He was in the ER for only 2 hours.  They did a CT scan on him and everything came back clear.  The doctor gave him an anti-nausea pill and discharged him before 9 PM.  This morning the red line down his face is gone and he just has the scraped left.  I'm soo grateful things turned out the way they did.  I don't feel like a dork of a mother for taking him in, sometimes I do, (you the know the paranoid mother thing) but this time I don't.   I was really scared last night that something was wrong and that I he was going to have to stay and I would have to call someone to stay with my kids and he'd have serious issues.  I really was not going to get any sleep last night knowing that he could have a brain bleed and I wouldn't have been able to wake him up.  I was fully prepared to wake up every 2 hours trying to make sure he was ok, so that peace of mind was worth the ER trip.  This was kind of a wake up call for me.  I was not very sympathetic when we fell.  I picked him up, put him in the stroller and kept on going.  It wasn't until we got home and I saw how bad it looked and having him act a little weird for me start acting sympathetic.  I felt like I did when I was a kid and got hurt.  As a kid, I always felt bad when something  happened because I knew that it was going to be one more thing for my mom to worry about and she it always seemed like bothered her (nothing against my mom, cuz she is an amazing woman and I love her to death) but that was one thing I didn't want to inherit.  I need change my attitude and show my kids I care a little more, even if it seems like a little bump or scrape.  I really do love my kids and after last night I know I couldn't stand losing one.

Just One Rotten Day

My next post was suppose to be about Morgan's birthday since it's tomorrow, but we are getting a little crazy and posting something else a little more pressing first.  Isn't it so true that when something bad happens, it happens in 3's?  This all happened today

1). Micah was riding his scooter today while I was walking and he crashed and burned.  This shot is what it looks like 10 hours later.  I seriously think he has a concussion, and I've talked to our nurse and she gave me a list of symptoms to watch out for, for the next few days of when to bring him in.  He's actually a lot more active and alert than he was this afternoon.  Poor guy, I just hope it's mild and nothing more serious happens.

2).  After getting back from soccer practice (and no I didn't let him go), Micah crawled into grandpa's truck bed and got stung by a wasp.  Seriously.  (the pic is blurry, sorry, the spot that is circle is where it is swollen.)

3).  My double jogger, that I bought used on KSL, rusted out on the front wheel and snapped of.  So there is nothing holding the front wheel on anymore.  So I quickly got onto KSL again and found this single (which I wanted to downgrade to anyway) in Provo.  So I checked it out, got it for a great deal, brought it home and cleaned it up (dusty and just for peace of mind), and  will now be using this.   

Don't get me wrong I'm really excited for this, but it was just one more thing that went wrong today.

P.S. after I typed this up, Micah started to complain that he was dizzy and after consulting with my doctor's office again, they said to take him to the ER.  So he is there with Randy and we are praying everything is alright.

Pre Easter Craziness

Before Spring break, we had a pretty crazy week at school. So I'm just gonna do one post for it all.

I was in charge of Micah's Easter party. Very low key cuz that's I how I roll. They made baskets before Friday. Here's Micah's table eating snacks after their hunt. This is at the hunt. Micah finding his last egg.

McKenzie had a reader's theater. I was able to go and kind of listen, I mean as well as you can with a 2 year old crawling around everything. I couldn't video her, it was just too hard with the ruckus going on under my feet. I was lucky to get this shot.

Morgan also had a reader's theater on a different day about Lady Liberty. I Did get to video her, but it's long and very shaky because of the fore mention ruckus.

Morgan also had her 1st Rad Kids graduation. We were really proud of her and what she learned. It's fun having them come home after one of their classes, striking up conversations of what they've learned, reminding me to do things to be prepared. This is Morgan's teacher Mrs. Whitaker. I love this woman, she is amazing.

Morgan giving Hi-5's to all the instructors and her perpetrator.

With her gear on right after her simulation which you will see after this pic. Gotta love the helmet.

Here is her simulation with "Lobster Man". He is Big and Tall and can be kind of scary in these simulations, but a great asset to this program and is just a big teddy bear. I hope he never leaves. He's got a few daughters and uses experiences with them to help teach parents. There are a lot of scary people out there and the more knowledge and power we can give these kids, the better. Thanx Rad Kids.

Other fun that we were able to have was more work on the van, yet again. The check engine light came on Wed night, so I took it in the next morning thinking all they had to do was reset it, only to find out there was about $1000 worth of work that needed to be done on it. Arg! We are still waiting for a part to get in to finish the rest. Oh, and then Randy almost blew a tire out on his car and found out we needed to really replace all 4 tires and then, wait for it, while getting the van's studded tires off, they found that the front 2 tires (that were getting put back on) were good but cracking in the tread and so Schwab gave us a discount to get new tires since the tread was still good. So all in all we've spent give or take about 2 grand on cars in the last 2 weeks. Bring it on world, what else you got?