To Remember

The other day I read a confernece talk and they talked about making sure your kids know you love being a Mom and how important motherhood is to you.  So I told my kids that morning how I'd always wanted to be a Mom and I love being a Mom.  Later that day things got rough and I was having a hard time with the kids.  Lexi looked at me and said, "Remember you always wanted to be a Mom right."  She sure put me in my place.

Carter had a cavity that had to be filled.  When we got home it was hurting.  He told me he wanted one of those things.  I wasn't sure what he meant.  He put his hands together and on his head.  I knew then he was asking for a blessing.  He asked if Daddy and Grandpa could come give him one of those.  It was so sweet.

The other day Carter was in my bed in the  morning.  When we finally got out of bed he looked at me and said with a smile, "I smelled your pillow and it smelled like your hair."

Trevor

Trevor is quite the toddler.  He is into everything and is my most destructive child.  If something gets left out it won't be in one piece for long.  He likes to tare things and bite things off.  He knows what he wants and if you don't give it to him he will either hit you, bite you, or scream until he gets it.  He doesn't forget what he wants.  He once asked me for a cookie before nap time and I told him he could have one after his nap.  Literally the first thing he said when he woke up was, "Cookie."  He keeps putting legos in his mouth and knows he isn't supposed to.  He will look at me and wait for me to look away to put them in.  He gets time outs in his room now.  He is getting revenge on Carter for all the times he tortured him.  Carter is always running to me screaming because Trevor is hitting him or trying to bite him.  We took away the bottle at the beginning of the month.  He doesn't like sippy cups so he just uses a straw.  He is extremly difficult to get to eat.  We tried taking him off his reflux medicine and he stopped eating almost entirely.  He's back on them and is doing better but is still difficult.  He loves treats though.  He eats oatmeal for breakfast, pb&j for lunch, and soup or hot dogs for dinner.  He likes fruit, fishies, crackers, cereal, and fruit snacks.  He threw up the night we gave him spaghetti so I think it had too much acid in it for him.  Despite his difficulties he is so fun.  He is amazing with balls.  He throws anything he can in the air and chases it and then repeats.  Cole played air hockey with him and he was so good at it.  He could return the puck without any problem and scored all the time.  He likes to dance and recently started doing the pony.  He winds up his arms and then does twirls.  He likes nursery a lot more now and plays ball most of the time he is in there.  Lexi has dressed him as a girl a few times which is quite entertaining but I had to put a stop to it.  He still has amazing hair.  His favorite thing to say is No.  He gets in a very negative mood at least once a day and will only respond with a NO to anything you say.  He is becoming more of a Daddy's boy.  He loves my hair and pulls it a lot.  He doesn't sleep through the night consistently.  He loves balloons but always rips the strings off of them so they get stuck in our high ceiling for weeks.  He gives the best kisses and is the most polite child I've ever met.  He always tells everyone thank you and if he accidently hurts you he says sorry.  We love him.

The Good and the Bad

It has been quite the year for me health wise.  I have had more challenges and flukes than ever before.  Despite everything that's happened it's been amazing to see the tender mercies that have helped lessen my suffering.  At the beginning of the summer I went in for a lasik exam. Everything was going well until they looked at my nerves behind my eyes.  The doctor then asked me if I get many head aches.  He then asked the nurse to get another doctor.  The other doctor examined my nerves and they concluded that they were inflamed.  It wouldn't effect whether or not I could have lasik but it could mean there was a tumor behind my eye.  They sent me to a specialist.  In the meantime while waiting for my appointment with the specialist I began to have terrible head aches and mouth pain.  It felt like a sinus infection.  I had been having them on and off again for the past 10 years.  They had recently gotten more frequent and typically I couldn't get a cold without getting an infection.  Thus, I'd been on and off of anti biotics a lot.  My pain was getting really bad and happened every day.  I went to the ENT and got put on a new anti biotic.  It wasn't helping.  I then got into the eye doctor speialist to have an ultrasound of my eye.  I was very nervous but felt like it was going to be ok.  Luckily I didn't have cancer.  My nerves were just inflamed.  I went to the dentist to make sure I didn't have any teeth problems.  He assured me there weren't and could even see the infection in my sinuses on his x-ray.  He looked at older ones and they were infected too.  I then knew I wasn't making up the chronic infections.  I'd had them for years.  After that I called my ENT because my symptoms weren't getting any better and they scheduled a catscan.  I waited and waited for the scan and results but they weren't happening.  Then I broke out in hives.  Everyday I was dealing with headaches, mouth pain, and now hives.  He put me on a steroid and read my catscan results.  I had a cyst in my sinuses.  The steroid he put me on took away my headaches, hives, and mouth pain.  It was such a blessing because Carter was having his tonsils out and I needed to feel well enough to take care of him.  We were also blessed because Trevor got sick while Carter was recovering and Carter didn't get it.  Once my surgery happened the recovery was harder than I had anticipated.  Cole was able to help me for a few days but the day he went back to work was so hard.  Luckily it got better after that.  I was also blessed because Trevor was sick during this time and I didn't get it.  At my one week follow up appointment I almost passed out.  Then right before my three week appointment I got a bad cold. and a weird mark on my forehead that hurt.  It got worse and looked swollen.  When I went in for my follow up they looked at it and told me I had shingles.  I just wanted to laugh. When I texted Cole to tell him he never responded and then when he came home he didn't mention it.  I asked him if he got my text and he looked confused and then said he thought I was kidding when I said I had shingles.  Even my shingles have had mixed blessings.  They happened on my forehead which is one of the more comfortable places to get them.  I was already going in to the doctor anyway so I didn't have to make a special visit to find out what was going on and pay more money.  It was general conference when they were happening so I didn't have to go be seen at church with them.  All in all it has been one thing after another but truly we have been blessed and I'm grateful for my Father in Heavens watchcare over me and my family.

Sinus surgery

It has been quite the summer for me healthwise.  I have had sinus infections on and off for the past 10 years and this summer was no exception.  They would come on and go away with certain anti-biotics for a week or two but then they'd return.  They caused me extremely bad head aches and tooth pain.  I finally convinced the ENT to get me a CT scan and they found a cyst and some poor bone structures so they decided to do surgery to open up my two maxillary sinuses and remove the cyst.  Well, when they got in there three of my other sinuses didn't look very good so they opened those up as well.  Honestly I was kind of looking forward to the surgery because it meant some time to just rest and do nothing.  The recovery was harder than I thought it would be.  The pain medication made me itchy, dizzy, and sleepy so I only took it for about 36 hours and then switched to Tylenol.  You have to sleep propped up which isn't too bad until the blood starts draining down the back of your throat and you wake up coughing or gagging.  I didn't get much sleep.  One night I slept with a cough drop in my throat and that helped but I'm sure it was bad for my teeth and a choking hazard.  I also really appreciate being able to breath through my nose and blow my nose now.  I had a hard time doing the nasal rinses because they're bloody and uncomfortable.  I thought maybe I'd be less squeemish after doing them but now the site of blood makes me even more uncomfortable.  I went in for a check up today and almost passes out when they showed me my sinuses on the TV screen while they shoved a camera in my nose.  It was painful but I'm healing and hopefully it will help me in the long run.

First Day of School

Lexi started first grade and Carter started preschool at Legacy elementary this year.  They were both excited.  Lexi was really excited to eat lunch at school.  The first day didn't disappoint.  She had a blast and has loved everyday since.  She's made friends with the other little girl in our ward that's her age and that's been wonderful.  Carter started school a little after Lexi did and he missed the official first day due to his tonsil surgery recovery.  He loved his first day and couldn't wait to go again.  He counts down the days, hours, and minutes until he gets to go.  He's learned so many things and I love hearing him tell me all his new songs and facts.  Mrs. April is his teacher and she actually grew up in my same ward as a kid and was my primary teacher.  I'm so grateful to live in an area with good schools.

Marriage

A while back Carter told me he was gong to marry me and it finally happened.  I was excited and it was sweet.  He gave me a ring and we danced.  Well, then he told me he needed to marry Grandma.  He decided that he would marry her at Christians wedding.  It was so cute.  They had a song where everyone was invited to dance.  Carter was searching for Grandma so he could dance with her and marry her.  He was serious about it and it was hilarious.  It touched my heart to watch my sweet boy dance with my Mom.

Trevor

Trevor is 20 months old.  He started nursery two months ago.  The first week he did really well.  He didn't cry but seemed confused.  The next week he cried the minute he realized where he was going.  He still cries when we drop him off but it doesn't last long.  He always comes out of there drenched because he is the kid that dumps his water.  I love having the two hours to actually listen to the lessons I'm taught so I don't mind him coming out wet.  Trevor is OBSESSED with balls and balloons.  He can spot a ball anywhere.  Anything that is round is a ball.  He loves to play with them and has a really good arm.  He can also spot a balloon anywhere.  I never realized how many balloons are all over this world.  Anytime someone in the family gets a balloon it instantly becomes his.  He is loving the power of the word No.  He often gets in the mood where he answers No to any question you ask him.  He loves his bottles and I am dreading taking them away.  He still is a very hard child to get to eat.  He usually gets bribed to eat what I want him to eat with something I know he likes to eat.  He likes fruit and hot dogs and treats.  Lately I've been able to get him to drink green smoothies. He is particular about certain things.  He doesn't like his sippy to sit on his high chair.  He doesn't like crumbs on his high chair.  He bites his finger nails and will hand them to you.  He's also discovered the "fun" in picking your nose.  He is pretty patient when he's trying to figure something out.  He will repeat things often without getting frustrated.  He still gives kisses and is biting a lot less.  He is really short and is only in the 1% for height.  He has the most amazing hair color and dark eyes.  He could be a model.  He knows Carter likes my hair so when I'm holding him on the couch and Carter is sitting next to me he will grab my hair and hand it to Carter and say, "hair."  He likes to dance and surprised me by singing along to a song we listen to in the car.  He loves dogs.  The neighbors just got a dog and he will always look for it but gets nervous when it comes running toward him.  He likes to read books.  He comes in the bathroom with me when I take showers and just lays on the rug next to the shower door until I'm done.   The other day he disappeared and it got too quiet so Lexi went to see what he was doing.  She started screaming and I immediately realized what he had done.  He played in the toilet water.  It was a first at our house.  I stripped him down to get in the bathtub.  Then he peed on the floor after I took off his diaper.  Luckily it's funny now.  He loves to play outside and can climb up the big slide on our playground by himself.  He likes to tease you and thinks he's pretty funny.  He calls Lexi, sissy which Carter did as a baby too.  When he knows he's done something wrong or he's gotten in troubl3e he often tells you sorry.  He is my most polite child.  He always tells you thank you.  When we were at the doctor the other day they gave him a prize when we left.  The entire drive home he kept saying thank you over and over.  I sure am thankful for him!