Happy Birthday Boogie Boy!

Today's Nate's birthday. I love him. I'm glad he's getting old so I can love him even more!

Love you little brother!

PS. It was Dave's birthday, too, a couple weeks ago. I really love him a lot, too. He just never reads our blog (I don't think) and was all la-tee-da in Mexico for his birthday, so he didn't get a picture shout out on the 18th. I'm glad he's getting old, too (not that it means he's grown up or anything . . . just old!) Love you, Doobie :)

I can move on now!

Alright. I have finished my book. It was good. It was really good. I recommend it. I know I already said that. But I do.

I kinda feel like this week has slipped by me. Tomorrow's Friday and there's only one more week of track break (a little hellelujah would be appropriate about here!). I found out yesterday that my girls' school is going from year round to 9 month, so I am trying to envision surviving three months vs. three weeks with all my kiddo-s home. At least it's not this summer with a new baby, etc. By next year I'll have this family of five thing down, right!

And speaking of the baby. Is anyone else captivated by the dwindling number on the 'ol sidebar? I'm starting to feel all nest-y (well, not too nest-y since I spent a week primarily reading), but am getting urges to pull out all the tupperware and wipe down my cupboards, wash my walls, and reorganize the pantry. I'm looking at frames hanging on my walls that haven't had pictures in them forever and feel the need to have them filled. I need to have my carpets washed, order a dresser for the baby, and get our room ready for the bring-home. Since I was so sure we were done, I got rid of all my baby stuff as Brock outgrew it. (I do still have the crib, high chair, some burpies and blankets and our basinet and my sister's great friend, Jeannette, has loaned me a bunch of baby play gyms and a swing, and Mindie passed on her activity ring thing.) But every time I go to Target or Wal-Mart I have a hard time buying the necessities all over again: ya know, bottles, binkies, bath wash, etc. I have bought some newborn diapers and some pad-dage for el mama (since birth means leaking from every oriface - gross, but true!) And since I have no baby clothes until this ones about 18 months, I have started a collection of onesies and outfits. I told myself the restocking would be fun IF it every came to that (when I was giving away all the stuff), but I am definitely dragging my feet on it now that it's within sight. I guess I figure the stores aren't closing the day he's born, so we can manage one day at a time. The last time I took my kids to the store I thought I am definitely going to splurge on a Baby Bjorn and possibly a stroller since I am totally out-handed. With a stroller I can leash Brock to it and still have two hands to keep the older three in line.

So, obviously I have enough to do with just baby prep, but I am totally keeping myself busy with activities, too. Of course we have our normal agendas, but youth conference is the first weekend in May and I'm performing with the choir in The Savior of the World production the second week of April, so that means meetings, meetings, meetings these-a-days. We got the hallowed invite to Coral Pink, so we'll be taking the kids there the third week on April, which I'm excited for even though the thought of gritty, sandy kids at 8 1/2 months pregnant does not sound so "fun." I figure we'll wash them at the end of the day and let them wallow in their dirtiness during the day.

Anyway, busy as normal and hanging "out" there with my ever-growing belly. The doctor will be checking my cervix (or so she said last visit) on Monday at my appointment, and as sick as it sounds, I'm pretty stoked about that. I'll try to check in more often now that I don't have any immediate book reports due :) Hasta!

Easter Phase II

Saturday dawned a little chilly and breezy; perfect for the ward Breakfast with the Easter Bunny. We took the Petersens (don't we show our visitors a great Vegas time!) and headed to the park for the games, an egg hunt, and breakfast.

Mackenzie was all in the spirit:

So were John, Tyler, and Carter

And can you tell how excited Tyler and Brock were?

Of course, Brevin's on board if he's getting eggs of candy.

And then there's Caylee. Before we ever left the house I asked her, "Are you SURE you don't want a jacket, it's pretty chilly this morning." She assured me she'd be fine and off we went. Shortly after arriving was the egg hunt and this is what her reaction was to that:

Apparantly NOT the most successful hunt-er, but not to worry, breakfast and games to follow, right? Oh no! This is the beginning of the end for her. She seriously whined and cried and moped for an entire hour while we were at the park! It was so infuriating. She was cold; she didn't like her candy; the blanket Sister Galvin brought her from her car wasn't Caylee's own blanket; the jacket Kenzie loaned her was too big; she wanted more bacon; her friends were all playing; the Easter Bunny is a fake, dressed up one; and on and on and on! FINALLY we went to the play thing and she spent the last 15 minutes running around with her girlfriends. I swear she's imbalanced sometimes!

Here's Kenzie and Brock with the fake, dressed up Easter Bunny:

There were a lot of fun games (mostly for the kids), but the potato sack races were the best. Mackenzie full-out DOVE for the finished line and won by a nose. She was sore the next day, but I was pretty proud of how hard-core she was; she went all out. So, Tyler, not to be out-done, worked his fanny off in the 19-34 year old heat (which ended up being more like 16-34) and took a note from his daughter's playbook and went for it at the end. He was pretty proud of his grass-stain for the whole day.

The rest of Saturday was pretty full with the ham pick-up (thank you Honeybaked store), our nephews nd niece's b-day party (thank you Amy for yummy food), and a basketball game (thank you for UNLV for LOSING - not!). And whoever wrote the song "Saturday is a Special Day" knew that we should be grateful, no matter how hectic Saturday is because Sunday is gonna be worse, probably, and you should get as much of your stuff done ahead of time as possible! That'll be in the next Easter installment.

Easter Phase I

Let's hear it for Easter! Woo. (Did you feel my enthusiasm?) I told Tyler on Sunday that I was pretty sure Easter was one of my least favorite holidays, which, yes, seems kinda sacriligeous. I do enjoy the time to think about Christ's ressurection and all, it's more the bunny business that I get fed up with. And holidays that last forever (like a week of preperation and party-ing) have a way of turning me off. Well, except Christmas because that's supposed to take forever to get things all together, but Easter? C'MON! We celebrated a joint St. Patrick's/Easter/March birthday party with the Barlows a week before Easter (which is very efficient and multi-tasky of us.) It was fun to have everyone over to our house, but I wasn't really feeling too much better from my attack of the CRUD, so I didn't bust out the camera for that party. Later in the week our great friends, the Petersen family, decided to escape the snow and visit us for a few days of Spring Break. They got here Thursday and we dyed Easter eggs:

Here's Brevin and Kate stuck on the same color. If we couldn't swap their mugs fast enough the next egg went right into the same color:

Carter Petersen

And here's Amy with their youngest, Tyler. When they had Tyler they told us we'd be getting a package in the mail, but were all cryptic about the baby. When we got the package we found out they had named their newest after Tyler. (Okay, not so much AFTER him; they liked the name, but at least Tyler hadn't ruined the connotation while John and Tyler served their missions together. The conversation could have been: Amy saying, "I like the name Tyler," and then John saying, "No way! I served with this dork of a guy named Tyler." Instead John was able to say, "Yeah, the Tyler I know's pretty okay.") We love 'em all.

We all really enjoyed the nice weather and great conversations during the Petersen's visit. We pretty much hung out Thursday night (Tyler got Amy up to speed on the Big Foot addiction he's developped). Friday we went to the park and had a water fight and then the adults went to Grand Luxe Cafe. It was a great time for all of us; crazy at times with 7 kids under the age of 8, but they all played really well and there was no drama. Of course, I made a couple trips to Target that week to fix some of the Easter Bunny's previous shopping mistakes and to finish up some necessary purchases for the rest of the weekend's events (to follow in the next phase installments on the blog!) Boing! Boing! Bounce, Bounce.

Did anybody else see . . .

Frontline: Bush's War on PBS?
Wow.
We're a mess.

To Do Tuesday (this week and last)

Alright, alright! I know I haven't blogged much. We had some fabulous company last week and then all the Easter festivities, but in my spare time I have been busy with some serious reading. I have always loved to read; will stay up late to get a chapter further or pull my current book out to read a few more lines at a stoplight, etc. I just love a good story. There are few books I haven't finished because once I start I HAVE to know how it ends, even the ones I don't particularly care for. Some people ask how I have time to read, and I think my little bits of book at a time must add up because then I finish a honking novel in a few weeks. Well, this week I have hardly even checked blogs or accomplished much else since I started this baby last week.

The book club I attend sporadically with my teacher friends picked this book for the meeting next month. Now, I can't go to the meeting, but have heard the book was pretty intriguing. So, I started the 971 page historical fiction-ish book last week and have really been into it. Tyler keeps asking "When's your book report due?" I imagine my reading time will be really cut short when the baby arrives, so I am soaking it all in now. And let me say 723 pages have not disappointed yet. I highly recommend this book!

Right before I started "Pillars" I finished this puppy:

It was really interesting, apparantly popular in the 60's, and I wouldn't call myself a HUGE Leon Uris fan, but the information was quite enthralling. I would recommend this book for the educational (although completely slanted) point of view about the conflict in Israel. I would say I cried at the end of this novel, and felt pretty drained, but am glad for having read the book.

So, that's pretty much what's been going on (other than the normal house cleaning, errand running, child rearing). I do have more to post from the weekend, and it'll totally fall way after the fact, but the pics are too cute to not post. Maybe I'll finish the last couple hundred pages and can get back to the norm again.

Let's Get Real!

I enjoy reality TV. I think everyone does, to some extent. Tyler would argue with me since he thinks the reality shows I like are lame, but doesn't mind watching Animal Planet or Food Network. He seriously rolls his eyes when I get excited for a new episode of my kind of reality. Now, here's the thing. I am fairly intelligent enough to realize I am not being stimulated mentally, that there's not a ton that makes a difference in the world showing on reality shows, and then it's pretty appalling at what some people will do on national television. And yet, I LOVE IT. I am totally voyeur-istic (hello! blog lurking much?!) and find it an interesting study of the human condition on HOW people handle interactions with others, WHY people say and do the things they do, and WHERE IN THE WORLD they come up with the stuff they come up with to actually broadcast. Tyler's beef (well, one of them about reality) is that it's not really reality; that there's so much of it that's fixed and fabricated. And, I am totally okay with that. Especially when I don't really have to engage in a serious plot or follow some dynamic character development.

And pretty much I am not discriminating. I like all sorts of reality shows. With the writer's strike, I have been able to keep up a little more religiously on the shows I like with the help of my DVR. So, let me point out some of my shows and what I find most interesting about them. Like, do y'all watch Jon and Kate + 8. They are this family with twins and then sextuplets. They have the whole camera crew thing follow them in their day-to-day life, which is interesting to me since it's mostly whining kids who fight with each other and a lot of laundry. But what I really love is the parts where just Jon and Kate speak on camera. They're, like, squeezed onto this loveseat and then you can tell how dry and sarcastic and drained the dad is, while the mom is controlling and over-bearing and opinionated. Last week she is talking and turns to the hubby mid-sentence and says, "Gosh, do you have to breath so loud?" [She turns to the crew] "Can you guys hear how loud he's breathing? It's gross." [Back to him] "Stop breathing." So, the husband just looks at her and then over-exaggerates his breathing to be really loud and then turns to the crew and without saying anything takes a big gulp of breath and holds it. He's just looking at the camera, like, GEEZ! Cracks me up. Look at the mom's face in this picture:

I love that I can semi-relate to this family. Even though they have an amazing amount of kids, they still go out in public (albeit, I'm sure with a cache of nannies behind the camera), and the kids are all color-coordinated. I love that!

Okay, and let's hear it for BRAVO! I don't even know why the network was created, but I am sure the reality shows have brought it into it's full potential. I mean, can we even have blog room enough to talk about how FIERCE Project Runway is? And yes, I am not above Make Me a Supermodel every now and then. Bravo's great because they show these marathons of their reality shows, so you can totally catch up on an entire series in an entire Saturday. My current can't miss shows running on Bravo are Top Chef (airs show #2 tonight) AND The Real Housewives of New York City.

Last week Nimma (I think that's how you say it) had to "Pack Her Knives" and go home, which I concurred with the judges decision. Now, this show's definitely more high brow compared to Housewives, and I do feel like it's a bit more legit to watch a cooking competition filled with HUGE egos and tons of skill compared to a bunch of socialites who are catty, frivolous, and seriously deluded about reality.

And, of course, for the water cooler conversations (well, not so much in my life, but for social situtions nonetheless) I have to catch American Idol here and there. I'm kinda over the whole Beatles thing, not to diss the Beatles, but I do like some diversity. And while I enjoy the commentary from the judges, I love Tyler's reactions to the commentary and bantering. He cannot stand Ryan Seacrest and he totally cracks up when Simon makes fun of him. My personal favorites are Brooke, little David A, and Seyesha (just cuz I think she's really pretty). I'm not much for the rockers, love the ballads, and can't stand the cheesiness they're working through the past couple episodes.

And last, but not least, THE BACHELOR has returned. Daniel TOTALLY gave a good recap on his blog yesterday (which, was gratifying on so many levels that we have truly converted him to this piece of slop and it was SO noteworthy some of the stuff that went on). Some shows can be justified as semi-educational or entertaining, but this one (like Housewives) really has no redeeming value. I mean, 25 women on National TV lusting and competing over this random stranger, who this season happens to be from Britain. Of course we had our Bachelor party and Erin, Stacy, and I were picking our favorites and doing a lot of "Oh No She Didn't" as they were vying for Matt Grant's attention. I get a kick from the catty-ness and stink eyes, but the embarrassing antics of some women are REALLY why I tune on. Like this week, homegirl Stacy full on stuffed this pair of underwear (presumably the ones she had been wearing) into the Bachelor's suit pocket. He was totally disgusted, she was so drunk (and even passed out on a mattress mid-party), and NO! she did not get a rose. Too much.

Doesn't she look semi-hoochie anyway? Oh, poor thing. And there's something about the Bachelor that reminds me of my cousin, Greg. I mean, minus the British accent. Okay, and minus the cute Aunt Clo in front of him and not so 1990s, but does anyone else see it?

Anyhow, for those of you who made it through this, you're probably pretty disturbed that not only do I watch that stuff (our friend Tom would say I'm in the"Thick of Thin Things"), but have spent my 200th post writing about it too. I'm okay with that part of me, and do rationalize that I can DVR it and have it as my house-cleaning/blogging background. We can't all be tuned in all the time.

Holy Bloggage!

I'm just sayin' I have hooked y'all up for some morning blog reading. Keep reading because I have posted 5 times tonight!

Rascal Flatts Facts

Firstly, just a quick shout out to our good friend Derrick Stewart who TOTALLY hooks us up with good concert tickets all the time. When I heard Rascal Flatts was coming to town again, I asked Tyler to see if we could double date with Sherry and Derrick (since we also LOVE them as people even without their fun tickets!) cuz they're one of my favorite groups. AND Derrick was another guy who took his girls to the Hannah Montana concert, so that let's you know what kind of a guy he is, sooo, HOLLA Derrick!

Here's the facts:

I was still SOO sick. Seriously, don't I look green? I was able to function, but I was coughing and had a runny nose the whole night. You can tell my nose is raw in the photo and how thrilled Tyler is that I'm making him pose for a picture, huh!?

Derrick ended up going hunting the weekend of the concert, so we missed the double date with the Stewarts. While that was a bummer, we found some worthy replacements, and we took my sister and Kevin. They're fans, and we all had a good time.
Kelly Pickler opened for Rascal Flatts and she was cute and pretty good. She's teensy tiny and was POUR-RED into her clothes. She was having a hard time keeping her microphone pack in her back pocket. And she took her cute shoes off after the second song. I kept getting distracted by how dirty her feet must be throughout her set. She talked a lot, too, but was cute.

The set for the main show was pretty amazing. Probably one of the best I've seen in a while. There was a mini-stage in the middle of the venue and a bridge that lowered and raised so they could get out "with the people."

The boys put on a good show. We had heard a couple different things going both ways about the show, so we were pleasantly surprised about how good it was. They said something at the beginning of the concert about wanting to win fan favorite at the Country Music Awards, so maybe they were working it harder than they normally would.

Pretty much we had a great time. Other than the chic who spilled beer down Kevin's back, the people around us were really entertaining. I did enjoy all the songs they sang and thought the whole show was awesome. There was even a guy who proposed to his girlfriend on stage; which was cool. So, thanks again, Derrick. I'm glad I didn't die that week so I could make it to the show. Rock on Rascal Flatts!

Have I mentioned I have a 2 yr. old BOY?

I thought I'd give a visual representation of what a typical day does to Brock. We started the morning all clean-faced and bright-eyed.

Then, we went and got donuts (first day of track/spring break tradition), ran a couple errands, cleaned the car, went to the park with Grandpa Bruce where Brock scored a huge Spiderman ice-cream treat from the ice cream man, rode bikes/scooters outside, and VOILA. This is Brock this afternoon.

All boy, FOR SURE! And why did I even think white was so cute for this t-shirt? I should have thought that $5.99 purchase through a little more!

And about the park trip with Grandpa Bruce. What a blessing! I was at my wit's end with my kiddos (I KNOW IT'S A RE-OCCURRING THEME!) when we stopped by G & G's for a potty stop before the park. We were trying to steer clear of Paula's cleaning magic at home for the day and I was spent after everything else we had accomplished. BUT, to use a little more of their energy up AND because they really helped clean the car, I told them I'd take them to the park. However, once I sat down on the couch, I was really hoping the kids would change their mind and want to hang out for a bit. No so such luck, BUT, my wonderful father-in-law told me to go lay down for an hour and he'd take the kids to the park. So, I crashed on the couch for an hour. The good, 'oh-I'm-stiff-from-not-moving-a-muscle', kind of a nap until they all came back home. What a tender mercy, seriously. He's a wonderful man in SO many ways and I'm so grateful for him seeing me on the brink and sparing my sweet kids from the carnage :) Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I may not be Irish, but I am very LUCKY!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Water Boarding

Isn't water-boarding a form of torture or something? I don't know the details 'bout that, but I thought I'd update y'all on last week's rock-throwing/ceramic-frog-smashing incident at our house. If you thought I was upset, you should have seen Tyler when he got home that night and saw the carnage I was unable to pull from the spa. In Tyler's defense he almost always has to get the rocks off the bottom of the pool (or the cars or balls or whatever else has been launched in) and he was DONE with it. We were sitting down to dinner when Tyler got home, so he went and looked at what had been done (cuz you know that day I had called him at work to complain about the situation) and when he came in he announced to Brevin and Brock, "When you're done with dinner, you'll be stripping to your underwear and getting in the spa to pick up all those pieces." Brevin immediately protested, the girls started to get upset FOR the boys because they knew how cold the water would be, and I looked at Tyler with a are-you-really-gonna-make-them-do-that? look. Tyler just reiterrated the punishment and explained it would be cold, but they wouldn't die.

Sure enough, after dinner, the boys got in their skivvies and Tyler dropped him in the spa. It was freezing. I opted to get in the shower so's not to be involved and the next thing I know both the girls are bawling at my door for their brothers' plight. (Kinda sweet, in a way.) When I came out, Tyler had them in the warm tub and the tears had mostly dried. Brevin was SURE that night that he was never even going out back again cuz he didn't want to have to get in the cold water again.

Brock? Yeah, he littered the pool with about 15 rocks the VERY NEXT DAY! What are we gonna do with that kid!

Somethin' to chew on

Last Wednesday I gave the kids a fifteen minute warning that it was time to get in the car to take Brevin to soccer and then the girls to gymnastics. They were supposed to clean up their mess, change their clothes, and get shoes on. Then, get in the car. Not that complicated, right? Oh, I did throw in a reminder to go to the bathroom so we could avoid the always urgent plea AS SOON AS we pull out of the driveway of "I gotta go." So, the 15 minutes pass and none of the four kids are even ACTING like they're on their way to the car, so I picked up myself and told them I was leaving. Brock was the only one to follow me, so I thought, "Great, I'm leaving with the only one that doesn't have any place to go, but that's fine by me." However, once we get to the carseat, I realize he's poopy, so BACK inside we go to do a change. (REALLY, what is it about that we're leaving announcement and my kids' bowel movements??? they seem really related.) Now I would imagine the scene inside is pure panic at the thought of being left home from their activities, but OOOOHHH NOOOO, Kenzie, Caylee, and Brevin are lounging around like they didn't even know I was leaving them. And then I was a little bugged that they had totally not even heard my threat. So, as I am changing the diaper, I yell again, "I am leaving you guys home if you are not in the car by the time I am done changing this diaper!!!!" Out walks Caylee NOT in her gymnastics outfit. OH, I was so frustrated. At this point, she was a little panicked and I got a little rise out of that, "Oh, crap, I should have listened 15 minutes ago!!!" freak-out. So, by the time I got Brock buckled in his carseat, the other kids are racing out to the already running car and rush in as I am backing up. Cuz, I was seriously ready to leave them. So, with all that hubba-baloo NOW we're late and I am ready to read them the riot act and I launch into this mom-tyrade about listening to me when I tell them to start getting ready, and not farting around watching TV instead of picking up their mess, and taking responsibility for being where they're supposed to be, and on and on and on. We had gotten quite a way out of the neighborhood when I realized I was droning on and on and what I was saying was probably not resonating with any of them, so I said, "OKAY?! Ya got it? Have you had your butt chewed enough?" So, what do I get back? Brevin's little voice asking, "Mom, why do you wanna eat my bum?" I'm so glad all my energies are making a difference! Yet another reminder about how I am molding the future people!

When killing your kids is not an option.

I am SO upset with my boys right now. The weather has been beautiful the past couple days and they love to play outside. However, every time they have been out back lately we find within 5 minutes they are throwing stuff into the pool: rocks (mostly), golf clubs, cars, whatever they can find and [today] my decorative frogs that are in the flower beds. Yeah, that's right, the frogs are SHATTERED at the bottom of the spa. Not only am I pissed about having to throw away meaningless pieces of yard art, but also I have no idea how to get the shards of ceramic off the bottom of the spa without getting into the freezing water and pulling the little pieces out. We have just spent over $250 getting the pool sweep fixed from rocks being sucked up and jamming the mechanism. EVERY time I catch them (which takes them maybe 3-5 minutes unsupervised) they have to come inside and are kept inside for the day. WHICH really feels like punishment for me! Their punishment is to sit on their beds, but unless I sit in there with them, Brock climbs up the ladder to Brevin's bunk and within minutes Brevin is bawling because Brock is beating the crap out of him USUALLY with the wooden blocks. I'm thinking "You're 2 and 4, the instructions EVERY TIME they go outside are SO simple. . .don't throw anything in the pool." I told them they couldn't come out of their room for the whole day. I really am ready to follow through with that threat too. Otherwise I may seriously freak out on them. UGH! I am just mad.

DETOX

Let's be glad that blogs don't have our voices recorded because y'all would be fa-reaked out with my manly-sounding tone today. It's an improvement, though, cuz yesterday I hardly had any sound coming out. Oh, yeah, can you say HEY DAY for my boys? I would be yelling at them in a whisper and it had NO effect on them whatsoever. I am feeling better every day and REALLY want to thank everyone for their good thoughts, comments, phone calls, etc. I think the new antibiotics are really working and now all the junk is workin' it's way out. I have to admit I have asked myself a few times this week, "WHY? I would have to get SO sick when I DO NOT have time for that in my life." Here are the two conclusions I have come to. Right before ScrapFest last month I woke up with scratchy throat and stuff, so I bee-lined it for Dr. Wahab who told me I had the beginning of sinusitus, she gave me a prescription, but then told me if I felt better in a couple days not to take the antibiotic unnecessarily being pregnant and all. So, being on a high from the festivities of the St. George weekend, I felt fine and never took the prescription. I am beginning to wonder if this "infection" has been brewing for the entire month of February. It could happen, right? And when I had my migraine on Saturday my defenses were down and BAM I got knocked OUT by this infection. I know, I know, I am not medically trained, but it sounds pretty smart to me and logical, medically speaking. Right?

Okay, but here's the illogical version that I keep wondering about. Since I was having the doosie of the headache on Saturday, I figured it would be a good day to give up my beloved Coke cold turkey. Come Sunday, when I started to get the funky starts of this "infection explosion" I began to wonder if a little sumthin' sumthin' in a sweet red can would alleviate the icks. BUT, I was resolved to not give in for the benefit of baby #5. My theory of why nursing was so painful with Brock was because I was so dehydrated. I hardly ever drank water because I was always nursing a Coke to stay awake on minimal sleep and to maintain the busy schedule of life. SOO, I knew with this one I'd have to make the break before he makes his appearance. Yeah, it's taken me 7 months, but I have committed to not have Coke (or any caffeine which means pretty much soda in general since the sugar is not worth it to me without the zip of the caffeine) until this baby's 6 months. We'll see if that works out. BUT, all that is a digresion from my medical relation to my sickness this week and my no coke zone.

I have found myself, a couple times this week, wondering if my body was retaliating from taking away it's FAVORITE beverage and as part of the detox gave me this sinus and respiratory infection. I mean, I am sure that somehow Coke soothes my nasal passage and keeps my sinuses running better. You know, all those nerves that are psyched out by caffeine influx were probably a little perturbed at the immediate cessation of their daily Coke fix and rebelled a bit by giving me body aches and head aches and a hacking cough (which, I might add, would be soothed VERY well by a Coke.) I am kinda wondering if just the simple, daily sipping of a straw kept my throat active enough to fight off all infections. I know medically this would probably be hard to prove, but I still wonder if I caved to my craving how much more quickly the crud would disappear into a sweet, dark, bubbly bliss. I know, I know this addiction is probably more mental than anything, but you never know. I'm just sayin' I could have had this infection for a bit and it just got too much for my body to fight (I am growing a baby, too) OR it may be a rogue version of detoxing. Watch, this will be on Celebrity Detox with Dr. Drew next season. Don't laugh at me too hard. Oh, well, I'm off for another glass of water. Sigh.

I'm still alive . . .barely

I am still here. Barely. Actually, after a better night's sleep last night compared to the past couple nights, I feel like I can make it through the day. Well, morning, at least. I cannot convince my boys to be less needy, more share-y, and to stop yelling. I suppose a good thing is all the gunk in my head is clogging my ears and I can't hear the boys yelling and whining and complaining. In the past few days of despair, I have to share some things I have made sure to be thankful for:

*A husband who took a 2 hour lunch on Tuesday so I could sleep
* Extra strength Tylenol EVERY 4 hours
* Angie Tanner for bringing in dinner on Tuesday night that my kids LOVED. AND for driving extra carpool. SOO above and beyond!
* Chris Jenkins for bringing dinner last night, which was actually dinner for TWO nights! My kids gobbled it down and Tyler couldn't stop eating last night. Also, thanks for the phone calls and other offers to help with my kids.
* Mindie Barlow for being AWESOME in every way, but mostly being patient enough to take my three kids to the park so I could go to the Dr. and get some rest yesterday. I'm grateful they were run around enough so they had little energy when they got home. And thanks for the slushie. You. are. wonderful
* Amelia Haycock for totally running my kids around to their activities and reminding me to get some rest every time I texted or called her the past couple days.
* Erin, Shawna, Donna, ElRae, Alexis, my in-laws, my mom (and others) have all been SO great to call and check on me; not that I answered many of their calls since it hurts my throat to talk, but I appreciate you checking on me and offering to help with the kids, food, etc.
* One remaining Dr.'s appointment to see my general practitioner at THE perfect time.
* That after a breathing treatment, I didn't, in fact, have pneumonia
* Dr. Wahab. Love her. She's SO up front and honest about things and doesn't mince words, but at the same time is compassionate about my situation.
* A humidifier blowing right in my face
* A baby that keeps kicking so I don't have to worry about him. (That's the nicest way of saying, "What the crap kind of gymnastics is this kid working on?)
* My K*Swiss water bottle that has kept me dehydrated
* Rice pudding. Thanks, Mom.
* Mentholatum.
* Really soft toilet paper . . . FOR MY NOSE! I've been just carrying around a roll for when my nose gets the drips.
* Antibiotics for the serious sinus and upper respiratory infection that I have
* For not having the official flu.

So, thanks for all the comments, too, on the 'ol blog. It's nice to check in online in the midst of my sick-stupor to find out what the healthy are up to. . . Erin?! Orange-licious, still?! C'mon I know you've had the crud, too, but a little sumthin' sumthin'!

People die from this

I'm pretty sure I have the flu. Like, influenza. Like, pioneers and others have died from this. Thank goodness for Tyler's extra long lunch, my SILs support, and my uber-friend/carpool mate Angie who took an extra turn driving today AND who's bringing us dinner tonight. At least I'll die knowing my family is not hungry. BLAH.

What the Crud?!

I knew I had company with the migraine thing, so, to continue with my health woes, I would like to share how I have NEVER been so sick with the cold crud as I am right now. On Sunday afternoon I thought my left-over migraine was taking a funky tone, so I figured I'd take a quick rest with the boys. By the time I woke up I had this annoying little tickle in the back of my throat and I could tell I had some sinus pressure starting to build. Sunday evening just got worse and worse and I went to bed thinking, "Crap, I got the crud." The crud is my medical professional term for the snots (or just sinus pressure) and phlegm that leave you all hacking and coughing and aching. Sure enough, Sunday night was not that restful and I finally got up at 6:15 yesterday cuz I couldn't sleep and I needed to clean my house. I figured I would soldier thru my errands and carpools yesterday, but by the afternoon I was a wreck. I was totally fever-y and could NOT stop coughing which is leaving my throat feeling sore and my muscles worn out as I have to brace myself everytime I hack away. Why would I have to brace? SO I DON'T PEE MY PANTS. Don't laugh, it's annoying. Nothing like childbirth to weaken the old bladder. Last night was even worse and so I have loaded up on vitamin C (thanks to my new juicer and fresh citrus from AZ) and don't plan on doing much today.

I don't mean to keep complaining about my health, so I imagine I will give it another day before I am back on the mend. Thank goodness for Tylenol and lazy days. I have studied my "What to Expect" book and will trying to gargle with salt water here shortly. Lovely. Any quick fix remedies?

Belated Birthday Wishes!

Oh, how I wish I were really good about remembering birthdays and special dates my doing something fun and/or creative and/or thoughtful. It is SERIOUSLY a New Year's Resolution ever year and I seem to blow it by the time the first date comes and goes with me behind on the celebrating. ANYWAY, I just wanted to sent a little shout out to my girl HEATHER MARIE who's birthday was this weekend. Heather and I were Chaparral Choir dorks together (actually, she was always very cool, but I was dorky), we graduated together, and roomed together at BYU our freshman year (which, unfortunately, was my only year at BYU). Heather was THE best roommate EVER and I love her to pieces. She is still so much fun to talk to and hang out with and is one of the best women I know. I mean, really, super mom? It's Heather. Super friend? Heather. Super sister, aunt, daughter, etc? IT'S HEATHER. I'm so excited to be having our babies (her 4th) close by each other again so when we're old and make our husbands and kids hang out together, they'll have people to enjoy while I enjoy my Heather-time.

This was our Christmas card picture (1995) taken outside of DT (which isn't gonna be there much longer). Yes, we send cards with a poem parody and this picture. I can't tell you what a great influence she has been in my life! What memories! Hope you had a great birthday, Heather! I love ya to bits! And one of these days I'll send ya something fun and/or creative and/or thoughtful to celebrate your turning 25 (again!) LOVE YA!

OH My Migraine!

When I in 5th grade, in PE, I had the wierdest sensation that half of my body was going numb. At first I thought it was just weird, but when half of my tongue, nose, and face "fell asleep" I was a little tripped out. Needless to say, I went to the nurse, who called my dad (who was teaching at the same school), who called my mom, who came and picked me up and took me back to her work (a day care center) until I could get into the Dr. I felt fine, for the most part, minus the half of me that felt like it was asleep, so I went outside to play some tetherball to pass the time until we headed to the Dr. My mom was not pleased with me. And, I spose, I looked like a bona fide faker hitting the yellow ball around and around the pole instead of writhing in pain on the day care center's nap mat.

Once at the Dr., a prompt evaluation led to this conversation with my mom and Dr. (sorta like this as I was eleven and the details are a little fuzzy):
Dr: I think we need to admit her to the hospital. There's a chance she may have had a stroke and we need to do more testing.
Mom: Oh, [tears] Sarah, I am sorry I guess you weren't faking.
Me: [In my head] Holy cow this is more serious than I thought; hospital? I wonder if I'll get a new nightgown like Erin did when she drowned??

SO, I was admitted to the lovely pediatrics unit at UMC for a few days and had some MRIs and scans and specialists' visits, etc. Bottom line, I was diagnosed with migraine headaches at the tender age of 11. We went to a special neuro-doctor for several years who was pretty educational and this is what I determined, after the first ten years, about my migraines. #1. They're debilitating #2. Most of mine are hormonally driven #3. I DO have a migraine "allergic" reaction to jalepeno peppers and strobe lights. Now, I come by headaches by way of my father, who has suffered for many years, and it runs in my family cuz some of my siblings get doosies. Imagine my suprise when I married Tyler and he told me he'd never really had a headache!! What a freak of nature that I fell in love with! (He's since had a couple bad headaches since we've been married . . . what does that tell you?)

Saturday morning, since Tyler was gone I decided I'd take the kids to breakfast and get donuts. We ended up at Dunkin' Donuts and as soon as we sat down I got my first symptom of a BAD headache coming on. OF course, I start to freak out because I know I will not be able to cope with my day and my kids if this headache hits as hard as it was indicating it was gonna hit! I was a little panicky cuz Tyler was gone, I couldn't take anything TOO serious being pregnant and all, and I still had to be mom for the day. As I was urging the kids to eat their donuts I was trying to figure out if I could see well enough to drive home (since one of the first symptoms is a light aura that blocks my vision) when Caylee said, "Mom, you don't look so well." AGH! I wasn't. I won't bore you with all the gruesome details of the day, because it was mostly PAIN nonstop, but thanks to my wonderful in-laws who took my boys for 7 hours, my GREAT girls who played so nicely together the whole day to the point that I barely knew they were home, my mom who came and rubbed my aching skull for an hour, three ice packs, and a couple Percocet to help me sleep off the worst of it, I made it through the day, BARELY. I am sure Tyler was thinking, "GREEEAAATTT, just what I want to come home to after a great weekend of fishing!" but he didn't complain once. In fact, he went and filled my gas tank up and got a few groceries before the Sabbath found us busting out the food storage dry milk and us walking to church.

And I'm working on the rebound from the migraine aftermath. I like to call it my hangover headache, that headache that feels like my swollen brain has shrunk back to size and now rattles around in my head any time I move too quickly or there's too much noise. I do take issue with people who throw around having a migraine like it's a cope-able, still run your life, normal headache, but I also know a lot of people know my pain. So a little "holla" to those who's brains are as abnormal as mine . . . one more migraine survived. Yay Hoo.