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12.28.2010

"its christmas man!"










a slosh of pictures from the last several weeks up until saturday..... mostly self explanatory. the best was that we were surprised to have santa come visit on christmas eve. claire wasn't a huge fan, and was only near enough to get some candy from him, but when he was leaving (her favorite part) she waved and said "bye christmas man!" she has been singing, talking, and dancing to herself, talking about "chwiss-miss" non-stop. she definitely has her grandpa wrapped around little finger. she goes around on her toy phone talking to him all. the. time. bubba continues to be a dream..... except for the teeth. one has majorly popped, and has at least two more trying to make an appearance.

christmas has been perfect! being all together, talking to my bro in BRASIL, games, wii games, sitting around the fire, shopping, eating and more eating, cirque dreams holidaze, and the list goes on. mostly just being together has been amazing. love my family! we still have a few more fun things coming.... i'll grab some more pictures and throw them up later.

12.24.2010

its a christmas miracle!

oh how excited i am to be home for chirstmas this year!!! little "miracles" have been happening since yesterday:

mom's present was in my hands at the very last possible moment
the stand-still two hour delay on the freeway was headed the opposite direction we needed to go
we all made it on time
joe didn't get arrested at the security check point
flights took off and landed basically on time
snow storm waited til we got here

and....

its snowing now! my dad has been waiting 55 YEARS for a white christmas, and the snow fairies have FINALLY granted his wish. :)

this just might be one of the best christmases ever. so many, many blessings. so much to be grateful for.

we just went to see the cirque du soleil holiday show and it was fab-u-lous. had a yummy breakfast. on the schedule for tonight:

traditional dinner
talent show
minute-to-win-it games
christmas stories

and general good cheer. or "use of the christmas spirit" if you're lindsay. :) off to eat my pre-dinner burrito. oh, the joy. merry christmas all!

12.20.2010

bum day


it has been pouring snow all day. (yes pouring, because its a little slushy. a good kind to play in so it sticks together for snowballs and snowmen) sometimes a fan of snow, sometimes not. would much rather have summer. lindsay requested snow on saturday. so.....



here's my text convo with linds:

me: You got your wish for snow. You happy now?
linds: no. because i'm at work and it's snowing. i wish i could be at home watching it from my bed :)

maybe if i could watch it from MY bed i would like it? maybe with a good book, and some hot chocolate? ha. 

just STOP by thursday, k? pretty please? i would REALLY like to fly to st. louis without any hiccups, delays, cancellations, etc. please and thank you. which, bytheway, i am stoked about. only three sleeps away!!! and then just one and a half sleeps til christmas day! (because we get in real late thursday. gonna be a loooong day) i just love my fam. and i really can't wait to all just be together. 

haven't gotten out of my pj's. i have changed clothes, but i went from one set of jammies, to another. there is no way in HECK i am going out. i'll stay cozy thanks :)

sorry i'm so boring today. we'll spice things up later maybe. 

12.18.2010

so i don't have a gallbladder

one might ask, "how does that feel?"

i don't know. i've got too many pain meds pumping through me to really give you an answer. but i have since learned laproscopic gallbladder removal is one of the more common surgeries performed. whew. i'll spare you the nasty pictures of the stones... some of the nurses were even surprised at the number squished in there. 

so joe and i had some time before i was to be wheeled in, and we were talking, and lindsay texted me telling me that i better have something funny to say when i come out of it..... welp she hasn't blogged any of the stories so i guess i shall. first, a picture:
i was treated to a "leg massage" for about 7 hours. to keep that blood pumping. more like a blood pressure cuff going on every other leg constantly. speaking of, i happen to have "low" blood pressure, so they kept putting more IV fluid in me, and then increasing it even more. i have just barely stopped having to pee every ten minutes.

Story #1
the above picture is the ONLY picture taken, because you can't wear any makeup in surgery. absolutely none. or metal. so no wedding ring. i was looking HOT in the gown, those leg massagers, surgical hat, especially with no makeup, sleepy and puffy eyes. tubes sticking out every direction. i was half asleep before we even got to the surgery part. get the picture? so i'm out of it, my nurse is wheeling me down the hallway to the OR, i'm just minding my own business looking straight ahead, embarrassed as heck that a dozen people are about to see me nakey, and this row of orderlies is sitting there, waiting to go in with a patient. then one named Baden (i will never forget this as long as i live) gets up to help wheel me in. my nurse behind me says, "this is baden, he is going to be your orderly today," and i nod and see on his name tag that yes, his name is indeed baden. then one of the other orderlies shouts out "hey baden, are you gonna ask her out on a date later?!" 

yep. he really did yell that in front of everyone. i was kinda just in shock trying to say something back, i didn't have my ring on so i couldn't just flash it at the guy. my nurse came to my rescue and just told them to back off, shes married. baden wouldn't look at me. kept his head down the whole time. i was embarrassed for him, so i closed my eyes and was asleep before they even got the meds going. 


story #2 (this one isn't as funny... but funny to remember it)
i woke up super confused from the surgery. i'm blinking in all the bright lights, and all i can hear is tons of moaning. i can't really move, or talk, and i still have the oxygen mask on. then i hear yelling and more moaning. there was a lady next to me yelling her head off, she was terribly confused. it was 9:54. for the next 32 minutes i had to listen to this lady ask where her husband was, what is going on, where is the doctor, how did everything go, and moan after agonizing moan. i just wanted to yell at her to shut up, but i could hardly talk. i was so close to asking my nurse to get me out of there, it was that ridiculous. being wheeled into my own quiet room was bliss after all that noise. 

*let it be known i HATE going to the bathroom. i hate having people knowing i'm doing my business. and i HATE that everyone has to know when and how much i've done when in the hospital. so this next story is that much worse.*

story #3
i had to pee, so i get the nurse to unhook me enough to get up and walk to the bathroom. joe goes in there with me, for moral support. after getting settled, he tells me to look at him, don't worry just look away from the wall. so naturally i look at the wall, and there is this ginormous white, nasty spider climbing everywhere. i start yelling at him to get it, and he calmly grabs a paper towel and gets it in the garbage. i HATE spiders, and the fact that there was one in a hospital was kind of terrifying. so naturally i was beyond freaked out at this point, and tell joe that it is going to get out of the garbage can and come back to eat me. (he is laughing to himself at this point, trying to stay rational with me) what possessed me to tell him that, i'm not sure, but i knew its real desire. sure enough, the next thing i know i am yelling as loudly as i can because the spider's brother was crawling next to my foot. joe took care of that one also, but it took some convincing that it was a different spider, with me whimpering about it coming to eat me.

i couldn't pee after that. and when i did, we used the other bathroom. 

*******

that was probably way TMI, but there you go. my surgery experience. 

12.12.2010

i love my church

and my ward specifically.

no one is perfect. and most everyone understands this. and everyone tries to help everyone, give comfort, improve the situation in every way possible, just be a good friend in general. its awesome. (of course there is drama, feelings get hurt, whatever. they are still human)

and when the word gets out that im having the gallbladder out, no less than five different women came up to me to tell me they too, have had theirs out, and gave advice, comfort and offered to help in whatever way they can (babysitting, more babysitting, meals, more meals).

and this really means a lot to me. my mom (bless her heart) really wanted to be here to help out, but its been kinda last minute, so that didn't work out, but tons of people have stepped up to lend a hand. 

in my mind, this is really what its all about. being a christian, having charity, sharing the love of christ. and i so appreciate that the people who surround me get that. i cannot STAND to miss church because of that. i love being buoyed up by everyone, to know someone else is going through the same thing. to hear someone say they love my child, or give some other genuine compliment. 

and those are my thoughts. happy sunday. 

12.06.2010

watch yourself

a snippet of my day-to-day conversations with claire.

scene: me, usually in the kitchen. claire, usually watching mickey mouse, maybe oso.

claire: mommy! i did it! mommy! dance! (grabs my hand and pulls me to the family room)

me: what do you need?

claire: shake your bum-bum mommy!

me: ....??? (me, wondering if i really taught her that. yep. i really did. three mommy points awarded)

we do lots, and lots of dancing round here. lots of jumping, spinning, twirling, and bum-bum shaking. arm flailing, rolling, and twisting gets thrown in as well. and when we do it well we get hugs, high fives, and kisses. these are moments of pure joy watching claire feel accomplished.

now if only she would pee in the potty.... and not next to it. that would worthy of a huge celebration.

pictures are forthcoming. our computers have gone kaput, and trying to adjust to a temporary mac (thanks linds!) for the time being. your patience is appreciated. also, should a temporary lapse in posting occur in the next few weeks, please excuse the absence. i could be dying. or in the hospital getting the gallbladder out. should be fun. hopefully before the end of the year, maybe not. but hopefully, because i feel like i am dying sometimes. like my back is being stretched out, and my insides are being twisted around like a fork twisting spaghetti. its great fun at 3 in the morning when that happens, caleb wants to eat, and claire wakes up yelling for milk and mickey mouse. it gets better when you can only find expired tylenol and excedrin and all you want is sleep. SO fun. husbands are really great for helping get the milk and convincing claire mickey is sleeping so you should too, and getting caleb to put off eating for a little bit longer. and then rubbing my back til i fall asleep again, even though hes been working like crazy lately.

have you seen my sister's new blog? it makes me smile. wish i'd thought of that.