Merry Christmas

We just wanted to wish you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

School is out, parties are over, shopping is done, breakfast is cooked, and the house is clean! Now it is time to enjoy the true meaning of Christmas and enjoy it with family.

Merry Christmas! Love, The Kelly's

Life without the letter between x and z

For one reason or another, the letter between x and z doesn't work on 'mi' 'kee'board. I am 'tri'ing to figure out what is going on. I wonder if it could be the end result of a certain 3 'ear' old 'boee' 'tri'ing to text on the computer. Just 'tri' it. Just 'tri' to 'tipe' without one letter. I bet 'ewe'r big brain goes 'crazee' like I am. What did Danielle 'sae'??.... "going 'crazee' until 'ewe' are face down in a chocolate cake, mumbling a bunch of nothing?!" I am almost there.

Joke for the 'dae': What is the difference between the swine flu and bird flu? 'Ewe' have to take oinkment with one and a tweetment with the other. (Thank 'ewe' Scott Blair for that fabulous joke!)

HA HA HA HA HA. (ok. time to wipe off the chocolate cake....I am 'officiallee' losing 'mi' mind.)

I like to look for Rainbows

Ok. So I admit that I had the typical feelings that most people do when they see their oldest child getting baptized. "Has it really been 8 years since I held her as a sweet little newborn?! Has 8 years really gone by that quickly?! Am I really old enough to have one of my children getting baptized?! Have I taught her enough about the Holy Ghost to have her make the right choices?! Is it really only going to be another 8 years until she can date?!?!?!?!" Like I said, typical feelings. I was prepared for those feelings. I will tell you what I wasn't prepared for.....my emotions.

Holy cow!!!!! Blame it on hormones, blame it on lack of sleep, blame it on whatever but where in the world did the emotions come from?! All my sister in law, Molly had to do was look at me before the Baptism service started and I started losing it. Like to the point where I couldn't even sing the songs or hide my emotions. RED PUFFY EYES, here they come! Tissues, I had...Composure, I did not. I even heard my brother in law, Matt say something to his 3 year old daughter about "look at Aunt Angie...she is crying." And he was on the side pew. Not even sitting next to us. ARG!

It was a great baptismal service. Talks were fabulous, songs were sung with spirit and a special excitment was in the air.

I loved the fact that it was just me and Addie in the dressing room. I was able to watch from the side of the font and see her grinning ear to ear. She couldn't stop smiling. It was great! As I was getting her dressed, I realized the next time I help her into a white dress will be her wedding dress (in 20 years). It was a moment that both Addie and I just looked at each other and hugged. It was a very sweet moment. A tender mercy moment.

Thank you to everyone who came and supported Addie on her special day. Especially her Gma and Gpa Llewellyn who flew from AZ to be a part of it!

Eight is GREAT!

I can not believe it but Adelaide Joy is now eight! I can not believe it was 8 years ago that I seriously quit going to BYU a million times because I couldn't handle the pressure of my Economics midterms and having a baby that would projectile vomit after every feeding. But how she has changed my life for the better!

It is hard to put my feelings into words. (where are you Kathryn when I need you to write something sweet and sentimental?!) But I will try to express my love for this beautiful girl!

She has been so good from day one! All I would have to do is say her name in a scolding way and she would stop in her tracks and come back to me. She wants to be good. Literally, has a desire to do the right thing. She is always happy and well mannered. She is obedient. She loves to help others. And she wants to make others happy, even if that means she doesn't get what she wants. She is my song bird. She is constantly singing and actually has a good voice. She has guts to sing a solo at her great-grandma's funeral when she was only 5 1/2! And she did a great job, always in tune. But that is how she has lived her first 8 years. Always in tune with the right things: church, family, school, activities, friends. I am amazed at how much she teaches me. I will catch her praying in her closet, after I have had a serious mommy temper tantrum, asking forgiveness for making me so upset. She loves to learn, both secularly and spiritually. As long as there is singing involved, church could last 8 hours for all she cares, she loves it. She wants to do what is right. She has definitely lived up to her name: JOY! She is just a joy to be around. And she wants others to be joyful as well.

I am excited to see what the next 8 years will entail. Hopefully I will be able to be worthy of such a wonderful daughter because I know she is wonderful inspite of all of my imperfections as a mother.

I LOVE YOU ADDIE AND I AM SO PROUD TO BE THE ONE YOU CALL MOTHER!

IT'S A ...........

First of all, I am feeling 100% better. Yes, I am still on Zofran but I have been off of IVs for quite some time now, maybe over a month. I am able to shower, clean, cook, do laundry and run errands. But even though I can do those things, doesn't mean I actually do them......ha ha ha ha. But no seriously, this is my happy stage. I am 21 weeks and doing good. The best way to start my 'happy stage' before I go into my 'preterm labor stage' is finding out the sex of the baby. So here "it" is:

Yes indeedy! We are having a BOY!!!!!!! Can I tell you how happy I am! I honestly thought we were going to have a girl just because this pregnancy has been so hard. And I stressed over it. Not about having a girl but just about finding out. I have had nightmares that this baby was hiding and we wouldn't be able to find out. I had nightmares I missed my doctors appointment. I had nightmares that I went to a hospital in AZ on accident for the ultrasound. I have had nightmares for two weeks now. But now HE is real. We can start thinking of names. And getting the kids excited! This works out great because now the girls can share a room and the boys can share a room.

And boy oh boy was this little guy active. He was constantly moving.

This sucks!

So apparently I was a lot sicker than I thought. My worst day was actually on my birthday at the end of August. I couldn't stop throwing up. It seemed like my zofran just stopped working that week. So I had to swallow my pride, call the dr, and say it is time for me to be on an IV. And I called the RS President and said we need meals. So my birthday present came a day later and I was hooked up to the homecare IV.

And I guess it was alot worse than I thought. The nurse said that I was so dehydrated that my heart rate was slow and blood pressure low. (didn't know that could really happen) My mother in law said that I would just stare at the wall and not respond to anything. I remember just being sleepy. (ps I owe Chloe Ann a million dollars for coming over, spending the nights when Mike was out of town, cleaning, doing laundry and putting up with my out of control kids. And yes....they have been completely out of control, somehow they knew they could get away with everything since I was hooked up and couldn't chase them around the house)

So it's almost a month later and the nurses called me today to tell me that I am going to have my 'file' closed. Which means I am ok.HOORAY!!!!!! I had a melt down on Saturday because I did too much on Friday and was throwing up again. During heaves, I am bawling, telling Mike "I don't want to be put of the IV again! The nurses said if I threw up again, they would hook me up!!!" Saturday was not a good day.

So this is the purpose of my post: In 3 years from now when I think, "wouldn't it be nice to have a cute little baby" this will remind me. I AM NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN!!!!!!!! I DON'T WANT TO DEAL WITH IVs, NEEDLES, FLUSHING IVs, CATHETERS IN MY ARM, AND PUKING!!!! NEVER, NEVER, NEVER AGAIN!!!!! (the rest of my kids can go to that lady on TLC who is pregnant with her 20th kid)

(The 'lemonade' which Spencer calls it is actually vitamins in the IV bag, not urine. It had the worst after-taste. That alone made me sick.)

NEWS!

A couple of weeks ago, Mike came home and read the following ad in the classifieds:

WANTED:

Father of FOUR!!!!! Loving, kind , handsome, and able to scold kids at times.  And also patient, willing to pay for cleaning ladies and a lot of fast food. (Even if she throws it up right after.) And don't forget, willing to clean up urine because wife is throwing up so hard, she peed her pants.  Services needed until March.  And then baby duties will be involved.  Preferably a husband that goes by the name of Mike or Miguel.  Call Angie for more information.

SCHOOL'S OUT... FINALLY!!!!!!

We have started summer, officially on July 2.  That was Addie's last day of First grade!  But I do have to admit that I don't think I even had senioritis this bad when I was a senior in high school.  I took Addie out of school a couple of days here and there the last few weeks.  Why?  Why Not?!  So this is how we celebrated the last couple of weeks of school: 

we went to This is the Place park with our friends, the Witts

we celebrated the formation of a new school district(first time in 100 years) by going on a bus ride

and then we had all of the end of the year field trips.

 Not to mention Bear Lake for Father's Day weekend.  (more pics coming)

And we had the BEST 4th of July I have ever had.   Bike parade, food, shaved ice, more food, ambush of water balloons from the Witts, and even more food and then fireworks!  It was a blast!  LITERALLY! 

Thanks to the Carn's for making it such a fun day.  They were so organized with everything!  And the food was yummy!  I can't wait for round two!

Things my kids have said this week!

I have heard a lot of people writing down the funny things their kids say.  Well, here is my 'journal' moments I have had this week.

SPENCER:

We are at the mall getting on the elevator.  Another quite wholesome-looking family was in the elevator with us.  And then the elevator started to move and Spencer yells, "Mommy, I love this thing....it tickles my pee pee!!!"  

What do you say when Molly Mormon is standing next to you in the elevator?  I just giggled and said, "Spencer, please don't yell."

JAYNE:

We were having one of those wonderful, relaxing Sunday mornings.  A lot of times the family turns into a bunch of tickle monsters.  So as Jayne was being the tickle monster, she says, "Mom, don't worry.  I promise I won't tickle you anymore.  I promise!!! I am just going to put my fingers on your feet and wiggle my fingers."  Which she then continued to tickle me!

ADDIE:

Addie is in that wonderful stage of life where she thinks I don't know anything.  Like I have never gone to elementary school.  So she comes up to me and says, "Mom?!  Can I please give you an Indian burn?"  I started laughing and said, "NO!  I know what an Indian Burn is and you can't give ANYONE in the family one!"  Then she replies, "Mom, I know how to make you say 'how'."  And I totally fell for it and replied, " How???"  She started giggling.  And then I realized what just happened.  "Sucker!!!" was what I told myself.

New Moon

If you have not seen the New Moon trailer yet....boy have you been missing out. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!! It looks awesome!  

I just hope this new director puts Edward in more 'classic' of clothes. I thought he kind of looked like a slob in Twilight.  

Like Edward was wearing Rob Pattinsons' clothes. I always thought Edward was a classic, sharp dresser.  

Kind of like Matt Lauer. So we will see in the movie, huh!

I have seen this video a million times and I can't wait for November 20!!!!!!!!!

(I must be really stupid because I can't dowload the video.  

Just go to www.stepheniemeyer.com to see it.)

It's a Small World!

I love it when you know someone who knows someone that knows someone that knows you.  Well this is the latest experience I have had.  My neighbor/good friend has a younger brother who is going to work on a farm in Wyoming for the summer.  So I asked, "Oh. Where in Wyoming?"  He replies, "with my aunt and uncle in Cody."  I start screaming and have a 14 year old boy looking at me like I am crazy.  So I go to Katie and say, "You have an aunt and uncle who live in Cody?!?!?!?!"  And now she thinks I have fallen off of my rocker as well, because her response is, "yesssss."  I then tell her that right when your aunt and uncle are at your house to pick up your brother, let me know.....I KNOW they know people that I know!!!!  So I meet her aunt and uncle and sure enough, they know people that I know.  Not just that but are neighbors to people that I know.  The best part is that the people that I know is my old college roommate from Ricks, who taught me all of my homemaking skills.  Who I spent the two Thanksgiving holidays with in Powell, while I was up at Ricks.  I am sure Katie's Aunt and Uncle think I am crazy because I couldn't stop talking about my friends from Powell and Cody. They listened to some crazy lady (me) telling stories that happened over 10 years ago in Arbor Cove's Apartment 1A up at Ricks. And how people from Cody single-handedly carried me through the Economics program at BYU.  

So as you can see, it truly is a small world after all.  I love that now, even after 10 years of being out of touch, of thinking of my wonderful roommate often, thinking of how her family is doing, you always have another chance to get connected again.  So thank you to Katie's aunt and uncle for Jamie Jacobsens' information.  Now I only have one more roommate that I need to find......anybody know Carly Jiles Lowry, from Provo?!  These two girls were my best friends in the truest sense.  They taught me so much. I am who I am because of my experiences with these two ladies up at Ricks.  We laughed together, we cooked together, we cleaned together, we white-gloved until 3 am together, and we cried together.  They were there for my wedding and I think of them constantly.  I can't wait to get in touch with Jamie and Carly.  I love them!  

We love Miss Lacey!!!!

You thought this was going to be some end-of-the-year tribute to Addie's and Jayne's teachers right?!  WRONG!  This is a tribute to Addie's 'Up With Kids' Director, Miss Lacey.  She is a golden star!!!!!  First of all, she knew how to handle Jayne at the beginning of the year, until Jayne quit.  Secondly, Miss Lacey knew how to put the kids in their place and still be nice about it.  Third, she was so animated that Addie would go home and act like she was Miss Lacey.  Fourth, she is as cute as punch and taught these kids a TON about performing!!!!!!  And you should have seen the shoes she was wearing.  Can I say "HOT!!!!!!"  (Ok.  I couldn't resist the pic of her shoes.  And this pic doesn't do justice.  Just look behind Spencer.)

The play that they did was "Enchanted..starring YOU!' and it was so cute.  Addie was The BEST Eeyore ever!  (Am I biased?!)  We taught her how to kind of 'sulk' out her lines like Eeyore would have.  And she did it. She was a hit!

The funniest part was after the play, I had both Jayne and Addie crying.  Addie was crying because she loved Up With Kids so much and she was going to miss Miss Lacey.  Jayne was crying because she quit in December and didn't get a trophy (actually an Oscar) after.  It was a good lesson for Jayne to learn...stick it out and you will be rewarded.  And I told Addie that she will be coming back in the fall.  Just enjoy the break.  

This is Addie's friend Lauren.  She LOVED Enchanted maybe even more than Addie did. Let's just say that 'Up With Kids' was right up their ally!!!   

Thanks to the family for coming.  Sorry about the directions.  And just think....only a year until we can do it again!

Happy Mother's Day!

Here is a shout out to all of those moms out there!  HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!  I hope your day was as wonderful as mine was.  

I got breakfast in bed: scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon.  Yummy.  The kids were very cute about it.  After relaxing (and making sure everything was cleaned up by Mike), I had to focus more on the fact that it was Jayne's birthday as well.  I had to make Jayne's butterfly birthday cake.  (her pictures coming later) It was a hit.  After church we went to Mike's parents house and enjoyed the whole family.  It was a great day!  I was even able to talk to my brother who is serving a mission in Knoxville, TN.  

To be honest, the only way it could have been better is if I could have wished my family "Happy Mother's Day" in person.  At least I was able to talk to them on the phone.  

Kids and their imagination!

As some of you may know, Jayne is a constant thumb sucker.  If she is happy, sad, tired, bored, thinking, whatever....she is sucking her thumb.  So yesterday while having a quiet moment on the couch....we had a conversation that went like this:

Me: "Jayne? When are you going to stop sucking your thumb?"

Jayne: (heavy, long sigh) "Mom can I tell you the truth?" 

Me:  "Of course you can tell me the truth.  I hope  you will always tell me the truth."

Jayne:  (Looking straight into my eyes) "Mom.... (long pause)...... I am a wizard."  "And wizards HAVE to have braces."

Me: (trying to keep a straight face and keep the same serious mood that is in the air) "Okay.But I think even wizards stop sucking their thumbs."  (I really can't remember what I said after her comment....I was just thinking....I have got to write this one down.... don't laugh.  Don't laugh.)

So if any of you know how wizards stop sucking their thumbs.....I am all ears.  She will be 5 on Sunday.  The only thing that gives me hope is that I have never seen a 16 year old sucking her thumb.

10 years!

Yesterday was our 10 year anniversary!!!!  Yep, Mike has had to deal with all of my issues for 10 years now.  I can't believe the time has flown by.  We had a great day yesterday.  It started Thursday night when he gave me 10 coupons for car washes.  LOVED THAT!!!!  And then I woke up on Friday to 10 tulips and cards with each one.  He has been doing this every year.  Can you imagine what my house will look like in 30 years with 40 tulips in a vase?!?!?!  I can't wait!!!!! Then we went out to eat at Tuscany.  Good food.  Great company.  Great presents.  Mike gave me 10 new pieces of jewelry.  They are beautiful!  I truly was spoiled yesterday!

But this post is for my Mikey.  You can read it if you want to....I won't get dirty.  But just to let him know my feelings.  I don't express my happy feelings very often.  (But if I am frustrated he hears it.)  So here are some reasons why I love Mike!

1. He is the best father!  I love how he comes home and just plays with the kids.  I am nothing when daddy is around.  And I love that!

2. He honors his Priesthood. He hasn't missed a day of reading his scriptures since he has been home off of his mission.  (I have missed 3 days just this week!)  That amazes me.

3. He is a helper.  He will help anyone, anywhere, anytime.  You call, he is there.  And he can work magic at home as well.  Whole house cleaned in 2 hours!

4.  He makes me laugh.  Especially when I don't want to because I am trying to be mad.  I hate/love that!

5.  He loves to socialize.  Party?  Anyone.  Anywhere.  ANYTIME.  He always has something going.

6.  He helps raise our kids.  I remember the first diaper he ever changed and how he had to have a towel completely wrapped around his face.  And he was gagging.  Those days are long gone.  He can change a diaper in 5 seconds flat.

7. I love his passion for sports.  My favorite dates last year were going to the byu football games.  I will be sad that we don't have season tickets this year.  (Recession and all!)

8.  He will go to see a chick flick movie with me.  

9.  I love his laugh.  And his dimples.  Those bad boys have saved him so many times.

10.  He will watch the Bachelor with me and be just as excited as I am.

11. He won't watch Dancing with the Stars with me.  That is how I know he still has his manhood.  That would scare me a little.

12. He tells the girls 'Silly Sally Princess' which I found out last nite and made me cry.  My dad used to tell us make believe stories as well (George, Fred, Herbie stories)

13.  We can talk out our issues.  And then he fixes them.  J/K.  It is me who usually needs the fixing.

14.  He thinks Honda Odysseys are cool! And they are.

15.  He laughed when I told him I wanted to train for a triathalon and then told me what it exactly entails.  Why would anybody want to do that?!

16.  He is a good tipper.

17.  He freaks out about money.  My motto: when you don't have any, what is there to freak out about?  Ha ha ha

18.  He likes to play cards with his mom and dad.

19. He constantly wants his back scratched and now Spencer is onto the goodness.

20.  He listens to the Spirit.  Thanks for checking up on Addie at school.  Sorry the whole house was locked.

21.  He doesn't question my parenting skills.  Or lack there of.

22. He is tender hearted.

23. He married me in the Mesa temple and ripped Parley P. Pratt's temple robe, twice.  Shhh. Don't tell my family.

24. He wants to participate in the Nauvoo pageant as badly as I do.  (There is sarcasm to that.  I would love it...he would hate it but would do it for me)

25.  He thinks I am crazy because I love This is the Place park a little too much.

26.  he loves me for me.  Not how I look, how skinny (or not) I am, or what I am wearing.  he loves ME!

27.  He will hold my hair and rub my forehead as I am puking 7+ times a day being pregnant.  Then he will clean the floor since I was puking so hard, I peed my pants.  Are we really ready for that again?!

I LOVE YOU MIKE!!! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT THE NEXT 10 YEARS ARE LIKE!

The perfect day!

I have definitely had those days where my kids were so horrible I wanted to cry.  But Monday was a different day.  It was a perfect day.  The weather was perfect.  The kids were perfect.  We had fun, which was perfect.  Which made me want to cry but in a good way.  Addie is off-track and so I thought it would be fun to go to This is the Place park and have a picnic.  And then ride the train a couple of times.  (Nothing much to do there since it is still off-season but those two activities can really get my kids excited.)  And so we packed a picnic, drove there and began our perfect day.We started our picnic and just enjoyed it.  After our picnic, it was time for the train ride.  We were waiting for the train conductor to come for over a 1/2 hour and so I said, tired of waiting, "Kids, let's go to the zoo." Not wanting to go home and definitely enjoying the weather too much to drive home. 

So we drove across the street and had a blast!  I didn't have to deal with a stroller, diaper bag, diaper changes or anything.  I had Spencer hold one hand and Jayne was holding the other.  We saw everything!  All of the animals were out!  And my kids were sooo good!  Literally, a perfect day!   The sweetest moment of my perfect day was when I was holding Spencer's hand and he kissed my hand as we were walking around.  It melted my heart.  What a perfect gentleman.  I told him "thanks buddy" and he did it again!  I just think he was enjoying the perfect day as well.  

So I told the kids, let's get some ice cream sandwiches.  We enjoyed those on the drive home.  My kids were so tired they all fell asleep in the car ride home.

Easter scrooge or 'real' meaning of Easter celebrator

I don't know about you but I do not go all out for Easter.  We hardly talk about the Easter bunny. I definitely don't buy the $20 Easter baskets filled with junk.  And I really don't buy a lot of gifts.  Blame it on my growing up.  My friends would act like it was a Spring-time Christmas, getting $200cash from the Easter bunny, 5 new outfits, and then massive baskets from the Easter bunny.  Call me an Easter Scrooge if you want, I don't care.  We do color Easter eggs.  We do have an Easter egg hunt and have the kids get chocolate and have fun.  And I did get them new church outfits.  And Mike and I give them some kind of gift from Christ.  It might be a new book to keep them quiet in church.  This year it was cute CTR rings.  Not expensive but kid friendly.  Especially since Jayne chewed hers up in 10 minutes.  But on Easter I was wondering if I am doing my kids a service by focusing more on Christ or am I just making Easter boring.  And then I found this video and realized that, for my family, I like our 'traditions'.  Just go to Youtube and search Mormon Messages.  It is titled "An Apostle's Easter thoughts on Christ"  (for some reason I had issues downloading it on the blog).  Elder Holland's talk was, by far, my favorite talk during Conference.

But here are some pix to prove I am not an Easter Scrooge.

Croup, shingles, and weeds

What do these three things have in common?  They are living at the Kelly household in one way or another.  We just got back at the dr.s office for Addie because she has croup.  Yesterday we were at the dr office for Addie because she had an ear infection and sore throat.  Last week we were in the dr office for Jayne for stomach issues that prevacid is helping.  So my kids have seen the dr 3 times in less than 5 days.  (don't get me started on the temper tantrum that Spencer had yesterday at the dr. office...all I am going to say is that the front office, drs and nurses all stopped what they were doing to watch spencer freak out since he wanted the whole basket of stickers)  That doesn't include my two dr visits last week.  I went in the beginning of the week with my kidneys hurting.  The dr said that I had a back spasm.  Whatever.  I didn't get better and so I made a second appointment 4 days later and as I was getting dressed, noticed all of these bumps right where it was hurting me internally.  I started freaking out thinking whatever has been bugging my 'insides' is now eating away my skin.  Dr. looks at it again and says, 'shingles'.  So now I am on pain meds and some massive blue pill that even a horse couldn't swallow.  

The good news is that I have realized I am an expert weed grower.  Anybody need any advice on how to grow weeds, give me a call!  All you need to do is look at them and they will grow.  Tulips...not growing.  Daffodills....not growing.  Perennials...still dead from winter.  Weeds....THRIVING AND BEAUTIFULLY GREEN!!!!!!!  All you need to do is spray weed killer and they will somehow still grow.  Pour a bunch of preen on the flower beds....and you still get weeds.  It is the best trick ever!  NO Hassle!  No worries!  Spent all last summer pulling weeds and whammo---they are back ready to challenge you in every way possible..  Even when there is snow on the ground, they will pop out and add color to your otherwise colorless ground.  Aren't they just wonderful!

I am doing what I do best....keepin it real!

St. Patrick's Day wishes

Addie brought this home the other day:

If you can't read it it says: "If I was granted a St. Patrick's Day wish, I would wish...... I would wish for pots of gold, and a baby sister and a baby brother and friends and toys to play with."

Let's just leave the twins to my sister, Heather.  I just love little kids imagination.  

Have you ever felt?

Have you ever felt that if somebody were watching you, they would be laughing hysterically at your poor attempt at something.  Anything?  Anyone?  I feel that way every time I have to snow-blow the drive way.  First of all, our house faces north so that the house blocks a lot of the sun to the drive way.  Second, our next door neighbors have a single story home so they really can have the sun melt a lot of the snow.  My neighbors across the street have south facing homes so that the snow melts 99% of the time without them even having to snow-blow.  Third, I am from AZ, how do you snow-blow properly?  Is there a specific pattern you need to follow so that you don't blow snow onto spots you have already cleaned?  In spite of my insecurities of snow-blowing....I do it anyway.  Easier for me to do it and hope that the rest will melt than wait for Mike to come home when the snow is ice anyway.  I just wanted to to tell you guys that my feelings were confirmed today.  I was out there snow-blowing away when the street guys came to snow-plow the street.  I looked up and the men were totally laughing, waving at me.  All I could do was smile and wave back.  Why were they laughing?  Was it because my 'pattern' is wrong?  Was it because the wind was blowing the snow back in my face?  Was it because I am an idiot and they could tell?  Was it because if I waited just a couple of hours, the snow would melt anyway so that I am completely wasting my time?  But I have tried that....NOT snow-blowing and then sure enough, the snow becomes ice and I have to shovel the ice to get it off.  Not my idea of fun.  So I hope my neighbors and anyone else who drives by, enjoys a good laugh.  I will be out there next time because I am so nervous about snow becoming ice, someone slipping, hurting themselves, and then suing us.  So just enjoy the laugh.

I think I'm ok now!

Booooo!!! Hisss!!!!!!  What in the crap?!?!  Please tell me that I am not the only one who wasted the last 6 weeks every Monday nite watching the Bachelor?  But just like the title, I do think I am OK now.  I just can't believe that he actually dumped Melissa on tv.  My major beef with that is that only 1 Bachelor/Bachelorette has worked out, none of the others have dumped their fiances on air, so why would Jason?!  I will tell you....RATINGS!!!  Stupid ABC!!! or if you actually think about it, ABC is extremely smart....I know I am not the only one who has talked for hours about the whole ending.   

Here is what it comes down to: ABC editing.  We really don't know what was happening.  Molly could have been the sweetheart from the beginning but ABC wanted to change things up so they made Melissa look like the best one for Jason.  And don't even bring up the whole 'producer coaching' stuff.  My major question is what was Molly talking about after the second 'after the rose ceremony' when she said that her character has been questioned the last couple of weeks?  We only found out the night before that Jason dumped Melissa for Molly.  How could her character be in question for weeks?  

All I know is that Jillian/ABC better be smarter.....I am really hesitant watching it anymore.

Fun in the Sun!

After NYC, we took the kids and drove to AZ to visit my family.  We had a blast!  My mom and dad are getting ready to put their house on the market and so they had some small jobs for Mike and then I was going to help my mom paint.  It seems fair since she travelled to Chicago to help us paint our condo and then she helped us paint our house in AZ.  (No, I am not ready to paint my UT house!)  Little did we know we were entering the Twilight Zone of Paint Hell.  

let me start from the beginning: smallest room in the house had two walls painted a deep burgandy.  Home stager walks in and says get rid of the red walls, just paint them the brown that is on the other walls.  No big deal, or so we thought. My mom already had the walls primed and taped when we arrived.  It should have just taken one coat of paint and then 'texturizing' the paint since it is the Ralph Lauren suede paint.  (Remember when that was big 4 years ago?!)  So we got ready to paint and realized that the 'suede paint roller' had completely dried out.  We used a regular roller (strike 1).  It looked good that day that we painted.  The next day, walked in and saw white spots where the primer was not covered.  So we pulled out the paint and touched up (strike 2).  Now it looks like we had 5 year olds sponge paint the walls.  IT LOOKED HORRIBLE!!!!  So I tell my mom we need to get the right roller and start all over again.   The next day, after spending the night at my sister's house, I get ready to help my mom again.  My dad warns us that mom just had a melt down and she needs help. We find out that my mom had to paint ALL of the walls again.  After the 5th layer of paint, 2 1/2 gallons later ($40/gallon) my mom is crying because you can see the roller marks.  She has had it!!!!!!  I tell her, I will texturize the paint, don't worry about it.  So I make my brother help me.....it was his idea 4 years ago to paint this wall the stupid 'suede' texture anyway (strike 3).  So we get busy while ALL of my family is hanging out. And now the wall looks like suede!  All is fine but did not expect 2 walls to take us 4 days to paint.  Oh well, I owed my mom.

Highlights of the week: seeing my family; Moms afternoon out; seeing Bride Wars and our guys were the only men in the theater; seeing friends on Sunday; watching Ghost Town with the fam; Mike having fun with sleeping masks; dad telling grandkids 'George, Fred, and Herbie with Donald Duck' made-up stories; and putting the painting supplies away!!!!

I LOVE NEW YORK!!!

A couple of weeks ago Mike and I were able to go to NYC with our friends, Tiffani and Jeremy for the weekend!  We had an absolute blast!!!!  The first night, Tiff and I saw Mary Poppins, 7th row orchestra seating!  I loved it!!!! 

 Google the song 'supercalifragiliztixpealidocious" (sp?) and you will see what they do in the play.  Amazing.  If any of you are going to NYC, don't buy Broadway tickets in advance......just go to the half price ticket booth.  That is of course, if you are flexible in what you see.  Jer and Tiff were the luckiest..... 3rd row, orchestra seating, center, to WICKED!!!!! Mike and I are seeing it in a couple of months and so we decided not to join them.  We went to the Wicked Ticket booth and asked if they had any seats available for Sat.  These two seats were a cancellation and so if they had enough cash, the seats were theirs!  We told them to jump on those seats!!!!  They loved it!

My 3 favorite things were: Mary Poppins; World Trade Center TRIBUTE CENTER; and then not being there with my kids.  

Word to the wise.....people around WTC are still very sensitive about it.  We got off of the subway and asked a police officer and contruction worker where the WTC museum was.  Their reply was, "it is NOT a museum, it is a tribute center."  So I asked, "Where is the WTC Tribute Center?" and then they told us where to go. The tribute center was amazing.  I highly recommend it to everyone!  The crazy thing is that there were a lot of 'memorabilia' from AON employees.  It just put more of a personal touch for Mike and I. You get completely frozen in time looking at everything and reading what people were doing that morning. I completely lost my emotions when Mike came up to me and told me of a picture a little child had drawn and it says, "Daddy, I hope you are having fun in heaven."  After going through the group tour, we saw another officer and asked if we could ask some questions.  He said, hesitantly, "OK".  I asked how many buildings are they rebuilding.  He looked at me and said, "None.  They aren't REBUILDING any of them.  They are just building new buildings."  I asked, "Are people ok with

 that?"  He looked at me and said, "They didn't ask us, we didn't have a say in it."  That is when I thanked him and left him alone.  Of course, their sensitivity is completely understandable but I just felt like a jack ass that is all.

We had an absolute blast!  Did I say that?  I just loved walking around and seeing everything!  Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Central Park, Empire State Building, if you spent a week there, you still wouldn't see everything.  I am ready to go back.  thank you to Kim, Molly and Chloe Ann for watching the Kelly crazies!

Miracles, disappointments, birthdays, and surprises

First off, I just wanted to thank everybody for your support with my mother in law.  But the first topic of the title actually has to do with her.  She saw her oncologist for the 'mass' in her mouth that we all thought was cancer again.  Well, it isn't.  We all understood that the 'best case' scenerio would be malt cancer. Needless to say, we never thought that it could NOT be cancer.  Miracles happen and apparently  it is not this malt cancer.  They think it is just some kind of infection.  Tears of joy and relief were shed by many.  And now, as far as I understand, they will just watch and see what happens.  

Second, I saw the ENT on the 14th. I left with a nasal steroid and 'come back in a month'.  As far as that goes, I WILL be making an appointment for a second opinion.  After the appointment, I was replaying everything that he said and one thing stuck in my mind, and it wasn't good.  I was telling the dr. Spencer's medical history.  As I was explaining to the doctor, he made this comment, "Well even if a child had a cold and took a cat scan, it would show up as cronic sinititus.  Do you know that kids have 7-8 colds a year?"  Of course, it didn't hit me as to what he was implying until I was in my car going home.  You mean to tell me this doctor thinks that I was in his office because my son has had colds?!?!?!?!  Both he and I are complete fools, if he believes that.  I am giving him the nasal steroids and it really does seem to help, thankfully.  But I am pissed to think that this doctor thinks Spencer just has colds.  I will have to do what I have done in the past, video tape his coughing attacks.  And then prove to the doctor that I am not full of crap.  

There is another reason why I was disappointed, NO EXPLANATIONS.  He didn't tell me in detail what cronic sinititus even is, no diagrams of where his adeniods are, or how it affects your sinuses.  The dr. did mention that on a scale of 1-4, Spencer's tonsils are at a 3.  That explains his snoring at night (sometimes stop breathing) and we might consider taking those out, but it is hard to say since he has never had strep throat.  And his adenoids might be taken out.  My frustration, once again, is that I was expecting another Dr. Shimamoto.  Where everything is explained to me in lame man's terms, where he would draw pictures how the whole sinuses work, how he would tell me what he was writing down.  No such luck.  Dr. Kelly does not equal Dr. Shimamoto.  Boo hoo.

Third of all, on a happy note, Spencer had a great birthday party.  This conversation happened HOURLY at my house, last week. "My boys?  My boys readee for my birfday partee?" asks Spencer. My reply, "No Spencer, your boys are not readee for your birfday partee."  "Mom? Now my boys readee for my birfday pardee?" "Nope not yet Spence, in 4 sleeps they will be ready."  I love the fact that he went from saying, 'my friends' to 'my boys'.  You can imagine how excited he was that it actually came.  Football cake and all.  The funny thing is that the boys were very calm.  No high pitched screaming, no fighting over who is Gabriella, no jumping up and down in dress up shoes.  Just boys playing basketball and other games.  Good times.  Good times.

And finally, I had play group at my house this week.  I got into one of those moods where I wanted to make phone calls and appointments for everybody: dental, eye exams, health insurance questions, etc.  The boys were playing really well in Spencer's bedroom, or so I thought.  When parents came to get the boys, this is what we saw.

Brooke grabbed her son and ran, he was actually dry.  Cami quietly went out the door with her kind of wet son.  But I started laughing and grabbed my camera.  Sorry Cindi and especially Christa, who was literally leaving to go to NYC for work, your boys weren't so lucky.  I bet seeing her son completely soaked and having to put on new clothes was not in her schedule. The thing that I don't understand is how could I have not heard the water running.  Boy, those boys are sneeky.  Oh well, they had fun and it was really easy to clean up. Good times.  Very good times. (Mental note: buy more kid's shampoo.)

Stupid "C" word!

This post is basically for my mother in law.  You can read it if you want but just to let you know that I am writing to her.  

I would like to apologize for my behavior. I thought being mad at you would somehow make it go away but it hasn't.  I hate the fact that cancer has come up in your, and our, lives again, but it has. And so I am going to stop being mad; mad at you, mad at the doctors, mad at cancer, just plain mad.  I haven't even really explained to the kids what is happening again.  I guess that will be our subject for FHE tonight.  

This is my plan from now on: to be a supporting role through this, chemo and all. To help you whenever you need it.  To have the kids praying for you; for Mike and I to be praying for you, daily.  I know that you will fight through this again but I just hate that it has come back.  And then I thought to myself, if I feel this way, how in the world are you feeling?  For that I am truly sorry.  If you didn't know this before, I am a selfish brat.  I am sorry that I was thinking about myself and not thinking about your feelings.  I am sorry for being curt, short, or plainly, bratty. 

Mike and I are here to help you whenever you need us.  I know that you have felt the Comforting Hand before, and I know you will feel it again.  But I just wanted you to know that I love you.  I will be here for you whenever you need me.  I am so sorry for my behavior, you have done nothing wrong.  It has been me who needs an attitude adjustment.  Can I say sorry one more time, I'm sorry.

With that being said, let's kick cancer in the ass and then kiss it goodbye once and for all!  Don't forget, I can always shave my head with you!

I love you!  

Follow-up

I GOT!!!!!  I REALLY GOT IT!!!!!!  I GOT THE REFERRAL!!!!!  I did exactly what I had planned: called Dr. Shimamoto's office and had Spencer's records faxed to us.  Called our pediatrician and made an appointment for first thing on Tuesday!!!  At the appointment, the doctor was very sympathetic and said enough is enough.  He was wonderful.  Little did he know that this was make or break time.  If he was even slightly hesitiant, I would have fired him.  That's right....Doctors work for me.  I am the boss!!!!!

I think it really helped giving him another copy of his AZ medical records.  He saw that he was on antibiotics for 3 weeks at at time trying to clear up his sinuses.  The great thing is that I have an appointment with Dr. Kelly (isn't that funny) on the 14!  Spencer's birthday.  I hope this is the best gift I can give him.  It will be interesting to see what the ENT says.  I may even get a second opinion and go to Dr. Muntz who is the head Pediatric ENT for Primary Children's Hospital. I have friends that have seen Dr. Kelly or Dr. Muntz and they really like each one.  Thanks for the support, neighbor referrals, and I will let you know how the appointment goes on Wednesday!! 

Medical Frustrations

I hope you don't mind that I vent for a moment.  It is about my little bud, Spencer and his medical issues.  I am so over this whole coughing issue with Spencer.  I feel so bad for him and I feel bad for his body.  He has got to be exhausted.  All of his life, literally, he has had this horrible cough and would go into coughing attacks.  Sometimes his lips would turn purple, more often, he would throw up because he was coughing so hard.  When he was just a baby he would wake up in the middle of the night coughing.  I thought this was his way of saying he wants to be fed again, so I would nurse him.  Then he would go into such a coughing fit that he would throw up.  When he was a year old, I asked his pediatrician about it.  He said it is probably asthma since most year-old babies don't have allergies.  (Or maybe it is the other way around...I can't remember) So he was put on steroids and breathing treatments.  Not that much fun.  We did that for quite a while until I realized that the meds weren't really doing much.  We end up giving him more steroids and more breathing treatments.  Often times, the doctors freaking me out saying that he might have needed to be hospitalized if we would have waited one more day.  

Let's fast forward to when he is two years old, literally a year ago..... I talk to my friend about my frustrations since his coughing attacks haven't stopped and she told me that both of her girls see this amazing pediatric allergy/asthma specialist, Dr. Shimamoto.  (I recommend him to ANYONE!!!! He is amazing!!!!!) I called him up and made an appointment.  He listened to his lungs for a very long time and said he doesn't have asthma because he is not wheezing.  That is what I had been feeling, since his breathing treatments are useless, even though we still did it.  He said that maybe he has allergy-induced asthma where it is more allergies causing him to have these coughing attacks.  So he does an allergy test...negative.  He really isn't allergic to anything.  So now Dr. Shimamoto, who I love because he listens to me and he put everything in lame man's terms, says we are going to do tests.  Go down the list of 5 tests and see what it is. 

The first was a trip to Phoenix Children's Hospital for a sweat test to see if somehow he has cystic fibrosis, since I am a carrier.  Test came out negative.  Then he did a couple of other tests, mostly blood tests, all coming back negative.  The last test we did was once again at PCH, where he did a cat scan on his head and chest.  We find out that he has Cronic sinititus. Which is basically a constant sinus infection.  That explains why antibiotics would stop his coughing attacks but we really don't want him on antibiotics 24/7.  Remind you,  this is January/February 2008 and we are in the process of moving to Utah.  So Dr. Shimamoto says that the next steps are to go to a Pediatric Ear Nose Throat specialist and surgery will be involved, to clear up his sinus cavity so that he can breath again.  Great!  Wonderful!  Prayers are answered!!!!   so I thought.

I update our new pediatrician what is going on and he says that if he doesn't have the signs of being 'sick' then the ENT specialist won't be able to do anything.  So we have to wait until he has his coughing attacks again.  All summer long, Spencer was great.  No coughing attacks at all. That was short lived.  In late November, he started again.  He sounds horrible. He can't even sleep because he is seriously hacking up a lung. And of course EVERYBODY thinks he is sick-sick.  People at church give us bad looks like 'why in the crap are you bringing your sick kid to church?!" People at the grocery store shake their head and tell me I shouldn't bring a sick kid out in this kind of weather.  People at the gym look at me like, "are you seriously going to drop your kid off at the kids club when he is sick?!"  And my reply is always the same....."He has asthma,  we are trying a new breathing treatment". Even though I know that really isn't the case, it is just easier to explain it that way.  

So I see a different pediatrician, in early December, at the same office as our normal one since he had the day off.  I explain it to him and he says, here is a prescripction for Promethazine with codine in it to help him sleep at night.  If he is still coughing in a couple of weeks, come back in and we will say 'uncle' and go see an ENT."  I thought FINALLY!!!!!  We are where we were a year ago and time to move forward and get that referral for the ENT!!!  So he stops coughing until earlier this week, which I have given him more promethezine with codine, and that won't even stop it anymore.  On New Years Eve, I wake up to Spencer laying in the middle of my bedroom, staring at the wall, his lips WHITE and his face HAS NO COLOR WHATSOEVER!!!!!!!  I freak out, take him to our normal pediatrician and he says that since all of his vitals are normal, it might be a virus and he is just dehydrated.  (I was worried it was RSV or pneumonia) I ask him about the whole 'seeing a ENT' and he said, "If he doesn't stop coughing or he gets worse in the next couple of days, come back and we will see what we can do!"  I say, "OK, It is probably a virus.  have a great New Years Eve." and I leave.  What I should have done was bitch-slap some sense into this doctor, that I really do like, I really do, and refuse to leave until I got a referral for the ENT!!!!  

So here is the venting:  I am sick and tired of 'come back if he isn't better in a couple of days' crap.  "let's just give him one more prescription and see if that does anything"  Done with that one as well. He has had this for 3 years!!!!  Medicine is NOT helping!!!!!!  A YEAR AGO, he needed to see an ENT specialist and he still hasn't.  I really feel like an ENT would be able to help Spencer.  If any of you have heard Spencer's coughing attacks, he seriously sounds like he is going to hack up a lung.  I don't understand why the pediatricians are so reluctant to give me the referral.  UGH!!!!!!!  So here is what I am going to do..become Mamma Bear.  Monday, call Dr. Shimamoto's office and get another copy of Spencer's medical records.  Make an appointment with his pediatrician for Tuesday, he has Mondays off.  REFUSE to leave without a referral.  I even have an ENT in mind.  I just need a stupid referral. And then make an appointment with the ENT.  And hopefully get some answers.   Wish me luck.  Hopefully that won't take another year.