A bunch of Sick-o's

People in this family rarely see the doctor....that was until yesterday. My doctor visit had to do with this...No those are not my legs, although my veins are nearly as pretty (I would have taken a picture but I am without a camera since I was a genius and left it at my mother's yesterday). I had scheduled an appointment with a vericose vein place here a while ago for a consultation on my HUGE vericose veins. I had my first HUGE vein/bulge stripped when I was 20, and now I'm affraid it is time for round two. Upon looking at my legs they decided to do an hour and a half ultra-sound! That's right....1 1/2 hours!!! I couldn't imagine an ultrasound taking that long, but it did. I found out that I have vein disease. I never even knew there was such a thing.

Apparantly, I have more than just ugly, swollen veins. I also have lots of blood flowing in the wrong direction that will cause problems if not taken care of. I must admit that it was kind of cool to see into my veins with the ultra-sound. The technician was nice and let me see most of what she was doing. It was a bit alarming when I could see things happening that shouldn't be, but still cool.

I really panicked when they had me stand on a platform for ten minutes with out shifting my weight and then showed me what my legs looked like. My left leg was slightly red with a few light spots on it, which I guess is considered normal. My right leg, however, was almost purple, had at least a dozen light spots (areas not receiving blood?), and measured 3/4 of and inch around larger than my left leg. I was also delighted to find out that my legs are really swollen, not just fat like I always thought. I'm just hoping that treatments will take care of that problem too. So now John and I will meet with the vascular surgeon on the 11th and decide what course to take. Fun!

After my appointment I picked up my kids from my mom's and noticed that Owen had green "discharge" coming out of both of these....

I just wiped it off and thought it was strange at first, but the awful "discharge"(for lack of a more pleasant word) just kept coming. We got home, and soon after Ainsley started screaming about these...
So with both of my children freaking out, I was trying to get a hold of a doctor or a nurse after hours, not an easy job. I finally spoke to a nurse who told me that Owen's eye's were most likely just a symptom in conjunction with his current cold. I was to give him some eye drops and let the "discharge" take it's course. Ainsley on the other hand needed attention. I was more concerned with her because last year we ignored her ear pain cries (she can be dramatic and sometimes it's hard to tell when she's being honest) and her eardrum burst during the night. At this point John, who was working late due to his trial today, rushed home to watch Owen so that I could run Ains to ann urgent care center down the street in an attempt to avoid emergency room fees, we'll see how we did when we get the bill. Ains did indeed had an ear infection so we headed off to Walmart to await our drugs.

I thought our medical mess was over until Owen woke up at 5:00 this morning. I tried and tried to get him back to sleep. At about 7:30 I finally turned a light on and noticed that his eyes were really red and swollen. I called the doctor's office as soon as is opened, and after an unpleasant exchange with the receptionist, I got a call from a nurse and we are headed to the doctors office shortly (I still don't believe that the soonest they could see me was 3:30 today). The nurse didn't seem to think that he had pink eye (please no!), so I guess we'll go get some sort of perscription and Owen's eyes will hopefully be back to normal soon!

So what I thought was going to be a boring two days turned out to be quite exciting. Because on top of all our medical issues, yesterday was a snow day, school was cancelled, I spent FOREVER shoveling our walks with two (come to find out, sick) kids, and I was on the phone all day with people wanting to buy my rocker from craigslist (It sold and is gone, by the way.) Whew! Super long post...finally over too!

One Proud Mom!

So, I'm sorry to post something simply to brag....but I'm going to do it anyways! Last week Ainsley's name was chosen during primary to present the Faith in God theme during opening exercises this week.

In order for you to be completely impressed with the story that is to follow I think you need to know the whole theme. It is, "I am a child of God. I know Heavenly Father loves me, and I love him. I can pray to Heavenly Father, anytime, anywhere. I am trying to remember and follow Jesus Christ.

I remembered Ainlsey's assignment Thursday afternoon and so I decided that we might want to run through it a couple of times, mostly so that she would understand how to repeat the theme after someone said it to her in bits and pieces. I was surprised when we started practicing that she already knew a lot of it and was trying to say it along with me instead of waiting for me to finish a section before repeating. After running through it a few times she seemed to have the whole repeating thing down, and she was starting to know it pretty well.

On Saturday we reminded Ains that she would be giving the theme on Sunday and she stated the whole theme for us and only missed 2 words (on the second Heavenly Father she just said him, and she left out remember at the end). Needless to say I was amazed. On Sunday she was convinced that she wanted to give the theme by herself. I was sure that when she sat down at the front of the chapel (our primary opening exercises are in the chapel) and saw all of the kids she would get nervous and want help. I asked her one last time if she wanted help after she had a chance to look out on her audience. Again she reassured me that she wanted to do it herself. I then went and talked to the Primary counselor that was conducting and told her of the situation so that she could jump in and help Ains if she needed assistance after all.

I have to say that I was a mother beaming with pride as my little four old walked up to the microphone when it was her turn. She stood up and repeated the whole theme all by herself, with no help from anyone, talked clearly into the microphone, and then went and sat down so proudly. I try not to be a mother who thinks their kids are super amazing at everything, but I felt justified in my pride for Ains as several people commented on what an amazing job Ainsley did. So there you have it, Ainsley was amazing!
(This picture is an old one, the only one I could find of Ains in a dress, at a moment where she was proud of herself for her building. Unfortuantely I was not able to take pictures during church!)

A sad realization

Yesterday Ains had a moment of realization that made me both sad and proud at the same time. The kids and I were in their bathroom brushing teeth and getting ready for the day. Owen was standing on the toilet (because he has deemed that his "spot" even if it is completely unsafe) and Ains was on the ground. They were getting kind of rowdy and making each other laugh. Ains got a little carried away and suddenly went over to Owen and gave him a shove. Owen fell in between the wall and the toilet. Obviously there were immediately cries from Owen, but after a few seconds Ains started crying too. I knew she immediately knew she had done something wrong, but I still wanted to make her apologize to Owen and understand that what she did was not okay. After some time of sobbing she finally told Owen that she was sorry.

Flash forward 5 minutes later and Ains is still crying while Owen is now running around playing happily. At this point I'm begging Ains to stop crying. I told her that Owen was the one that got hurt and he wasn't crying anymore. After asking her over and over why she was still crying she finally said, "It's all my fault!" I felt so bad for her. She really, truly felt sorry for what she had done. I then pointed out that Owen was fine and not hurt badly, and that in the future she just needed to be more careful to not hurt people.

I think this is the first time that Ains has been really sorry for hurting someone else. She is finally feeling empathy for others. While it was obviously something sad for her I can't help but think it was a little breakthrough in her emotional and social development. My little girl is growing up!

Boxing

John decided that he wanted to have some way of working out at home that was relatively inexpensive. He chose a punching bag and a jump rope. So John now has a punching bag hanging out in the garage and is able to work out. I think it's freezing in the garage, but he claims that he warms up quickly. With the punching bag, of course, came boxing gloves. These are a hit with the kids. Hours and hours of boxing fun (all supervised of course). I think Owen looks so funny with them on, especially if he is trying to punch something.

I'm ready

The couch is sold and gone, the carpet cleaners are on their way (I figure now is a convenient time to get the carpets cleaned), and my couches are going to be here tomorrow. I think I'm ready. If I could only get the chair sold....

I'm Totally Freaking Out Here

How pathetic is it that I fret and worry over any purchase over $15. I just spent a decent chunk of money on the above sofa and love seat and now I know that I will be thinking about my decision for weeks to come. We have been looking for new couches for quite a while now. Our living room furniture is mismatched and ranges from 5-7 years old. All of it was bought scratch and dent and is really starting to wear out. The tubing in our couch continues to fall out and we just keep cutting it off. There are also a few holes in the couch. Our chair has a broken arm and holes in the fabric too. When we began our search we decided that we wanted microfiber or leather. But the more we looked the more we liked the leather. You just can't beat the durability...they can last 40-50 years. We just couldn't find a set that we liked that we could afford...until yesterday.

On a whim, and partly out of boredom, we decided to go take a look at a few furniture stores nearby and after looking at A LOT of sets we found this leather set on sale for only slightly more than all of the microfiber sets we have seen. So we looked/sat in it for a while last night. We came home and put the kids to bed and then John headed back with the tape measure and a few more questions. I felt a little rushed because the sell price ended today. I hate feeling that way, like you have to make a decision fast to get a good deal. But, I guess it often seems that you have to be prepared to act on a good deal when it comes along. So as of John's second visit to see the couches he was sold and decided he wanted them, but I still wasn't sold because I'm the most indecisive person I know.

I headed back today with my mother because I'm weak and need a second opinion and constant reassurances. I sat in the couch for a long time, thought through all of the couches we have looked at. Thought about what would be a good purchase in the long run. Asked the sales people a ton of questions. Asked my mom a ton of questions. Then I decided to take them! You have no idea what an accomplishment this is for me. Usually other people have to make decisions for me. John was even proud of me for going ahead and buying them with only the support of my mother (it usually takes more than that). After buying the set I even made my mom go back and sit on the couches with me and remind me that I had made a good purchase. So now I sit here hoping that I made the right choice. I guess I have 2 weeks of having the couches in my home to make sure I like them before the sale is final. But, I've already listed my current furniture on craigslist so if I do take them back and my furniture has sold we'll be furniture-less.

Ainsley's Fourth

Yesterday was Ainsley's fourth birthday. We worked hard all day Saturday to prepare for the big event. She wanted a purple princess party (actually at first she just wanted a butterfly party, but since I think it was just something she said, as opposed to something she is really interested in, we encouraged her to think about going a different route...hence, the purple princess party). On Saturday we (by we I mean I) got the balloons, decorated, and got different parts of the cake made so that I didn't have so much to do after church on Sunday.
I think she had a great day. During church she got Happy Happy Birthday Ainsley dear sung to her during primary since she was the only birthday. She got to go meet with the bishop after church and got a package of M&M's. When we got home from church we decorated her castle cake, got games ready, and then made pizza for dinner. That evening her cousins came over and we had a fun party (which I didn't get very many pictures of...I guess I just go to caught up in the fun of it all). Every one came dressed up, Ains dressed up like Snow White and Owen wore the little elf costume Merel gave Ains. He looked hilarious. We played the Princess and the Pea game. Where first I read them the princess and the pea story and then they had to take turns sitting on pillows laid out on the floor and decide which one had the pea (aka ball) under it. Then we played pass the wand (hot potato), and the last game was crown the princess. I had a friend from my ward come and draw an Aurora poster for me, which turned out awesome, and then we blind folded the kids and let them pin on the crown. Then we just did cake, presents, and let the kids play for a while.
She got some great presents. She was super excited to get a Belle stuffed doll from Maddie and Zachary because she had given one to a friend for her birthday and I think she had a hard time parting with it. In fact, Paige informed us that they were on a super good sale at the Disney store so we headed over there and today and let Ains buy herself another one with some of her birthday money. Owen also got to buy himself a stuffed prince and a cool cup with some belated birthday money. He got both for $5. So go to the Disney store and stock up! Ainsley also got more stuff for her doll house and now wants to play with it non stop. She also got tons of other great gifts, but not from her parents...we were a bit cheap this year! Okay, so we did get her a couple of things. We got her a new pair of shoes, Duck Tales DVD's, and an Aurora figurine set. I always feel like I need to do to much for her birthday and so this year I refrained and I bought less for her than I ever have, and yet, I think her birthday ended up being a really fun day. So I guess I need to learn my lesson.

One last thing.....
Yesterday I sat down and asked Ains some of her favorites just for fun. It will be fun in a few years to see how her answers will change...so enjoy!

Ainsley's Favorites

Favorite food--Pizza

Favorite Color--Purple

Favorite Animal--Horsies

Favorite Princess--Sleeping Beauty

Best Friends--Abby, Ellie

Favorite Treat--Suckers,cake

Favorite Song--Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree, Sweet Caroline
Favorite Thing to Do--Play games like Candy Land and Cherry Game

Favorite Book--Angelina Ballerina

Boy, was I a dork!

This week I got an email from the Relief Society requesting 2 pictures, one current and one from our youth. I struggled to find a decent one of both. A current picture was hard to find because there just aren't that many of me. I'm usually taking the picture, not posing. And as far as finding a picture from my youth, it was just difficult to find one of me alone that I wouldn't
be completely embarrassed to share with the entire ward. I was such a dork, and quite a good looking dork at that. I know that every one goes through an ugly phase (and if you don't think you went through and ugly phase you are just in denial), but my ugly phase was particularly long and particularly bad. Here are just a few of the fine pics I had to choose from. I chose the last one by the way because I remember really liking that one of me when I was younger. It's as if even at that young age I knew that that picture would be one of the best for many years to come!

Language Meeting

I would just like to start out by saying, I was right! We had our meeting with a girl from the infant toddler program today. She spent about 30 minutes asking questions and doing activities with Owen. She then announced that not only will Owen definitely NOT qualify...he would be considered above average. His comprehension was in the 99th percentile, and his verbal score was in the 84th. I was pretty sure that due to his recent interest in talking there was no way he would qualify, but I guess now we know for sure. Plus we know that he is very bright, and that's always good to hear!

Sinter Klaus

Last night we celebrated a Netherlands Christmas. This is actually celebrated on Dec. 5th but we celebrated over a month late due to a SLOW postal service. Merel's mom had sent some fun things for the family and kids so that we could celebrate their Christmas too. She sent funny little santa's helper costumes and make up for the girls. I guess their faces are black from all the work they do and the soot in the fire place. Ains loved dressing up and dancing to the Netherlands music. (Almost as much as she liked watching her reflection in the TV as she danced).

We even put our shoes by the front door and then Sinter Klaus (I wonder if I'm even spelling that right) knocked on the door and left little treats in all of our shoes. I must say that Holland candy is a bit different than American candy. There were little ginger bread ball type things that were a treat the elves gave out. And there were also packages of Teddy Graham like crackers mixed with something like a huge conversation heart. Kind of a weird mix. There were also chocolates made in the shape of letters to match your first initial. It was a lot of fun to do/learn something from a different country. Maybe we'll have to pick a new country to learn about every year!

I Can't Take It!

This picture pretty much sums it up. Ains has been quite the whiner/crier lately. We have been working on it a lot and she is getting better, but then we have times like last night where the whining and crying just won't quit. We were getting dinner ready and noticed that Owen was doing what we all wanted to...plugging his hears!

Updates

So here are two updates from previous posts.
1. The Table. I ended up keeping the last table that RC Willey gave me. Why you ask? Because they offered me $90 to keep it. Their standard offer would have been around $25 but I think they were as sick of me as I was of them. Plus this made the cost of the table only slightly higher than the K-Mart table that we bought 7 years ago. I'll consider it a fair trade.

2. Owen's speech. We had our first meeting with a lady from the infant toddler program right after Christmas. She just mainly had us sign papers and explained the program to us. We have our next appointment set up for next week. This time a speech therapist will come to our home and do a more formal evaluation of Owen and then decide if we qualify for treatment or not. This program is so awesome though. I haven't had to leave the house once. They just come to me!

I'm a little worried Owen won't qualify because he has decided that talking might not be so bad. He will now say "na na" (ni-night), uh oh, bye bye, hi, and a couple of animal sounds. I still think he makes the sounds a little weird, or maybe I'm just forgetting how beginning baby talk sounds. So they will look at how he forms his sounds too when they come next week. So now I guess it's just a waiting game to see if he needs help, and then to actually get the help.

WOW!

Would you take a look at what I did! And with no help from anyone. And not even a pattern. Sure the pillow case is a little too wide and a little too short, but it will work great!

John got me 2 fabulous Christmas presents, a new super nice pillow, and a hot water bottle to keep my feet warm at night. I have horrible circulation and my feet are always freezing all winter long. John is pretty good at letting me put my icy cold feet on his legs at night, but that left me in a super uncomfortable position. So I asked him for a hot water bottle and he got it for me even though he was embarrassed to buy it because it said on the packaging that it was for enemas...who knew? And this morning while I was working out with my sister I mentioned that I might attempt making some sort of cover for my water bottle and she said she had one I could use as a pattern. She had been given one that someone bought from a store. Who would have thought there was any need to mass produce those things?

Anyways, I digress. Although these gifts were awesome, my new pillow wouldn't fit in my old pillow case and the rubbery hot water bottle didn't feel great at night. So I made myself a couple of covers for my gifts. The fabric is all pretty boring...but boring = cheap. The pillow case looks and feels like something that old lady pants would be made out of. It will be super soft and silky to sleep on tonight! I was going to put on tutorials (hahahahaha), but I felt if anyone really wanted to know how to make a pillow case they could just give me a call!

The Leak

This morning Owen and I had to deal with some very unpleasant events upon his waking up. Owen has been sleeping an extra long time at night lately, and so we have had a lot more leaks when morning rolls around. I think he must have had a gallon of water to drink last night before bed because when I got him out of his crib I felt his blankets and noticed that they were wet.


So I went about changing Owen, and when I unzipped his sleeper I realized that his diaper was so full it had burst! Little gel crystal things were all over him, there were piles of them in his feet. I have never witnessed anything like this before. Sure we've had leaks. Sure we've had gel things. But I've never seen a full on diaper explosion that didn't involve a pool.

After sticking Owen in the tub I headed off to check out the damage in the crib. I lifted out his soaked blankets and found that he had soaked through 3 blankets, his pillow, and still left a leak this big on his mattress! Gross! What is most disgusting to me is that I have no idea how long he had been sleeping in his own urine. I guess I need to go invest in some good overnight diapers for this boy!

Snow Day

We have quite the accumulation of snow here. We woke up to snow yesterday and this morning. After a slippery and slow morning of running errands (well, Owen and I ran errands while Ains was at school) Ains got to go out and appreciate the snow this afternoon. She decided she wanted to go out while Owen was asleep, which sounded okay to me because then I had an excuse for why I had to stay inside. Am I a terrible mother or what??? But lately I just don't enjoy the cold or being out in the snow. In my defense I went shopping for Owen some boots today so that I could take them out and play without him freezing, but I had no luck.

Ains said she wanted to go outside alone so I let her. I didn't think she would be able to entertain herself that long outside, but I was wrong. She sang and played and kept herself busy for at least 45 minutes. I got a knock on the window every 5 minutes or so to keep me updated on her lovely creations. We got pictures of the snow angels and the snow man/ball she made. Can you believe she made that snow ball all by herself? I provided the rocks and the carrot, but she did the rest. I love the little stick arm coming out of the stomach area. And poor Owen had to run errands all morning and then didn't even get the fun this afternoon. I guess what he doesn't know won't hurt him!

Priamary!

(L-R Sis. Adams, Ains, Nathan, Kiley)

Today was Ainsley's first day of primary. Most of her friends are already in primary but since she is a January birthday she's been waiting all year to be in primary. Yesterday Ains and I went to the church for a get to know your teacher breakfast activity. I got to meet my new class (I've got the 4-5 year olds) and Ains got to meet her teachers. Ainsley was so excited to be at a primary activity. She told every one that she ran into, "Hey! Did you know that I'm in primary!" One of her teacher's is Sis. Reed (her friend Kiley's mom) and her other teacher is Sis. Adams. Sis. Adams is a part of the deaf group in our ward (our ward services all the deaf people in the valley). Since there is a deaf girl in Ainsley's class Sis. Adams will be in there to sign for her. Sis. Adams will be a fun teacher, she reads lip super well, and talks really well, so you hardly even notice that she is deaf.

I was so proud of Ains today when I watched her during sharing time. She was better behaved than several of my 4 year olds. She paid attention,participated, and even sat quietly! I heard that her teachers got a kick out of her too. One of her teachers told me that they were doing get to know you activities and asking the kids their "favorites". Most kids gave an answer similar to what ever the first kid to answer said. But not our Ainsley! When asked her favorite song she told them that it was Sweet Caroline, and then proceeded to sing a portion for them. Apparently her teachers didn't know that there were any 3 year olds out there than knew that song.

Little Man

I have been meaning to get a picture of Owen's preferred hand placement for a while now. I'm not sure why he decided that his hand was most comfortable resting in his diaper, but he did. He must be all boy (minus the babies and necklaces). Owen is also still in his growly face mode. When a camera is near he scrunches his eyebrows until the picture is taken and then smiles proudly like he has done something great.

Party's Over

Usually I'm a little sad when Christmas and New Years are over. The house usually seems a little empty and I'm not quite ready to get back to regular life. This year, however, I feel differently. I was glad to take down the Christmas decorations yesterday, and instead of the house feeling empty I just feel like I have a bit more room. I'm ready to get the kids back on a schedule instead of playing all day. Both of my kids slept until after 9:00 today...that never happens. What am I going to do next week when I have to have Ains to school by 9:00? I guess I'm just ready to get back to structure and a daily routine. It was nice to have John home for so much of the holidays, but I think John and the kids are ready for a little space!

I am NOT, however, looking forward to the massive cleaning/organizing that MUST take place in my home today. After nearly two weeks of all of us being home almost all day every day there is some major cleaning that needs to be done. I also have to find a way to make all of our new Christmas additions fit in rooms and closets. The mess is driving me crazy, I'm just dreading the hours of work it will take me. And on that note...I'm off to clean...*sigh*

We're Gonna Party like it's 1999!

I must admit that John and I are not huge New Year's fans. We'd both rather just go to bed at a decent time rather than force ourselves to stay up late to count in the new year. Boring I know. But last night we got a babysitter for New Years Eve for the first time since Ainsley entered the world, and we went to a party with some couples from our ward for a big Karaoke party. I must admit that I was very skeptical at first...I thought I wasn't the Karaoke type. I was extra skeptical when we showed up and there was just the couple that planned the party there. But the night turned out to be a ton of fun with lots of people! John was up singing several times, (I'm kicking myself right now for not taking my camera with me!) and John and I got up and sang Sweet Caroline. For being unsure about a party I ended up having a blast and was hoarse by the time we went home (even though I wasn't up singing a lot I made sure to sing to every song from my seat). I think that was the most fun I've had at a New Year's party.

Although I have to say that the best part of the evening was when I was reminded of this awesome song from middle school. I can't believe I had forgotten about it and had to listen to it first thing this morning. (click on launch stand alone player)