Kemp Kuties

Tom sawyer & painting the fence

2011-11-30T10:40:00.004-07:00

I logged into my work computer this morning, and instead of streaming NPR on my speakers while I worked, I decided to put NPR on the shelf in change for some Christmas. So I pulled up Google to search for non-stop Christmas Music, and broke out laughing at Google's background image.

This is what Tony likes to say I do when I need help with something. He likes calling me "Tom Sawyer" and claims that I always have someone else "paint my fence."

I like Tom Sawyer. I think he's crafty and clever.

I'm pregnant!!

2011-04-01T10:34:00.001-06:00

April Fools!! Have a great day and play lots of pranks - especially on your kids! Loves, ~A

Get this: Moms of multiples

2011-01-18T09:56:00.006-07:00

I get this all the time. All the time

Hope you enjoy hearing the conversations I have had, and continue to have. Gotta love it, though

Couped up with Croup

2011-01-02T14:52:00.013-07:00

The last week of 2010 was marked with fevers, coughs, CROUP, medicine, and bundling up to sit on the front porch @ 3am with Becca.

Monday, 12/27, I noticed Becca was coughing, and her eyes were beginning to rim with red - a sure sign she's getting a cold - so I started dosing her and Mary-Gail (prophylacticly) with medicine. Becca's fever would subside, but I'd spike again when she was due for her next dosing (I hate the fever). By Wednesday I was sure Becca had Bronchitis and dialed the pediatrician. We'd been down this road before, 2 years ago, and Becca was hospitalized for a week w/double bronchitis and pneumonia! Becca was moaning and injected the occasional cry, "I don't want to go to the doctor!" and "Mommy, my tummy is hot" and "My head hurts." Lovey had just gotten off work and met us in the physician's parking lot; he collected Mary-Gail, while Becca and I hauled our bundled-up selves to see Dr. Later.

Wednesday @ 4:15pm

Thankfully Becca's fever never got higher than 102.3

(did I already say I hate fevers?)

We made it to the office just before they closed. The MA weighed Becca and took her height: 31.6 lbs and 40" tall, a definite light-weight. Her blood pressure was 98/58 - high, but normal for her - and her temp was 100.8. The Tylenol was working. Then the MA took Becca's oxygen saturation. I held my breath; it was 93%. Phew - I knew then that it wasn't Bronchitis.

Dr. Later came in shortly afterwards. Becca perked right up. She turned into a regular chatter box: "Dr. Later! Dr. Later! I have an owie on my leg, but I don't want a shot." "Dr. Later! Dr. Later! I got bandages for Christmas!" After talking to Becca about all her owies and her Christmas experience, Dr. Later listened to Becca's heart, lungs (please don't say it's pneumonia), checked her throat (please don't tell me it's Strep), checked her ears (I could manage an ear infection), and pulled down her bottom eyelids of her red-rimmed eyes (I didn't know what to expect with that).

"She's got Croup." We've never "done" Croup before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Dr. Later said said the best thing for Croup was to take her outside. WHATEVER! Hearing that went against everything I knew to do as her mother. Dr. Later knew me and my attitude and protective nature of my girls - he's seen us since Day 1 in the NICU and saw us through the nightmare week in the hospital two years ago - and offered more insight to me. He said he once spent the entire night outside holding his 5 year old when he had Croup. "Of course," he said, "it wasn't below freezing then."

Crazy how I understood and related to this better than when Dr. Later simply stated to take Becca outside and let her breath in the cold air. It's because Dr. Later went from "doctor" to "father." Croup is an inhalant problem - the lungs aren't expanding enough to let air in, and so they fill up with fluid, which will produce coughing fits. The cold air would help open Becca's lungs, and help turn her non-productive cough into a productive one (coughing up phlegm). I told Dr. Later that I'd been giving Becca breathing treatments with our nebulizer, but it hasn't seemed to help. He said to keep with the breathing treatments, gave us a prescription for Predisone (a steroid used for asthma since both Becca & MG have a mild case of asthma), and reminded me-as a father to a mother-to take Becca outside for some cold, fresh air. He also suggested, as a father to a mother, to mix the Predisone with chocolate syrup because the medicine tastes awful! Right-e-o. Becca & I have been on our front porch, all bundled up, sometime between the hours of 1am to 3am since Wednesday night. Mary-Gail provides us with laughter and company in the daytime as she joins us. We're three little Eskimos on the front porch, breathing in deeply.

Thursday, 12/30 Becca said she wanted to blow bubbles. What the sick girl wants, the sick girl gets. We pulled out the bubble guns (what is it with us and guns?) and loaded then up with fresh bubbles. The girls made a bubble mountain.

Thankfully we're doing much better. We only have 3 more doses of the awful medicine which usually makes Becca gag (Becca doesn't like Chocolate - who's child is she? - so she takes the medicine straight up). Lovey gave her a blessing Friday night because Becca's fever was still persistent. I'm happy, ever-so-happy, that her fever is gone!!! Hooray! And, her coughing is less and less, although we still sit on the front porch in the wee hours of the morning, taking in deep breaths of freezing cold 9 degree air.

"Mom! You gotta see this!"

2010-12-31T15:03:00.020-07:00

And that's how our Christmas started. Well, it started with both girls climbing into bed with us at 6:30 am; Becca was restless for breakfast (as usual) and went downstairs to the front room to turn on the Christmas lights. She came back upstairs without saying anything. Lovey & I did a sideways glance at each other, like, "did she not see what was in that room?"

Becca couldn't wait any longer. She was hungry! I asked her to check on the Christmas tree lights and to look out the window to see if it was snowing, and then we'd have breakfast. And that's when we heard her exclaim: "Mom! Momm! You gotta see this! Mom! Dad! This is awesome!"

MG was out of our bed like lightning, asking Becca as she ran down the hall and stairs, "What is it Becca?! What is it?!" And then Lovey & I heard her say "Oh my heck!"

Time for us to get a move on.

Christmas 2010: Santa (or the Grinch) brought us scooters!

It Christmas!

Mary-Gail & Becca's kitties play together

Mary-Gail loves her animals

A mad dash to open this joint present...

Two nerf guns @ ammo - awesome

These cute puppy-dog purses were from Grandma & Grandpa at the Beach (Tony's Mom & Dad). These purses have been a huge hit with the girls.

That Mary-Gail, she's such a clown!

I love this man. He has a great smile and a hearty laugh - it was a great day for us as we watched Becca & Mary-Gail delight in gift giving and gift receiving

Lovey gets the best Christmas present from his mom - Scrapbook pages. I love these pages so much - I get to see Tony's life before me: pictures from his childhood, days as a father to Ali & Avery, pics of his Army days...I truly cherish this gift. It is my favorite gift too!

Some of these pictures took Tony way back.

Becca was the gift giver to Daddy - she was so excited!

Mary-Gail helped out too, but couldn't use both hands to unwrap Daddy's gift - she's got a Ring Pop on her finger, come on!

Daddy got the gift he's wanted all year, a projection alarm clock. (The girls took scissors to Lovey's old alarm clock and snip! went the cord).

Mom & Dad came over to see us and the girls. Lovey rolled up the floor rug downstairs and the girls showed Grandma Pink & Pappy their quickly acquired skills on their new scooters.

Mary-Gail makes me laugh! She's jumping up and down on the scooter board, thinking she's doing one of those tricks the big kids do on their Razor scooters. She's a hoot!

Merry Christmas my lovely littles

"Santa will take my brain"

2010-12-23T15:53:00.010-07:00

According to Mary-Gail, Santa is going to take her brain. That's right, her brain. She & Becca were painting, and talking about Santa. I snagged the camera and started to record Mary-Gail (Becca said she had to "focus on her painting, mom").

Mary-Gail painted a full sheet completely red (she said it was her "wall" - she does have a completely red wall in her room) and was painting another sheet of paper when I caught her on video. Mary-Gail said it was her brain and that Santa was going to take it.

*************************************************************************

In this video, Mary-Gail's brain picture has evolved into a cake (she's been talking about cake-her birthday cake-since March, 8 months before her birthday!). I told her I wanted to eat her cake, and she said I would get sick. Thanks for looking out for me baby girl. I love the interaction between Mary-Gail and Becca; they are best friends and treat each other with kindness (99% of the time - they're sisters afterall). My favorite thing is hearing Mary-Gail say, "Becca, I'm talkin' to you." She says this to me and Lovey all the time! And when Becca is talking about the bed she's painting, Mary-Gail was reminded of the time that she (Mary-Gail) threw-up in her bed, but quickly moves on to offer Becca more paper so she (Becca) can paint all the beds.

Becca asked Santa for a candy cane

2010-12-22T22:53:00.031-07:00

Baby Becca next to a full size candy cane, 12/2/2006

Aunt Carol gave Becca & Mary-Gail their first candy cane (@ 5 days old!). Now here we are, 4 years later, and Becca's asking Santa for a candy cane.

We saw Santa at Trolley Square in Salt Lake when we drove to see the lights at Temple Square (Dec 10). Becca asked for a Candy Cane. He happily obliged and pulled a candy cane from his bag. Wow! Becca's wish was instantly granted. Mary-Gail asked Santa for a "pink present." Santa asked her if a candy cane would do. "Is it pink?" Well, then, hand it over Santa!

Christmas is almost here! Becca & Mary-Gail woke up to massive amounts of snow on Tuesday. We're talking m a s s i v e !! They were screaming through the house, "It's Christmas! It's Christmas!" and when I tried to explain that it's Christmas time, and that Christmas is actually on Saturday, they refused that truth and raced to the Christmas tree asking (more like telling) "We can open our presents now?"

Of the 4 presents that were under our tree, only 2 remain. Yes, we've already opened presents. How could I deny Becca & Mary-Gail's excitement and thrill of Christmas?! I let them open their present from their teacher, Miss Jamie, Tuesday morning. She gave them books! A girl after my own heart.

Who's your FedEx Man?

2010-12-21T05:15:00.003-07:00

Here's mine:

Lovey was making deliveries in JoJo's neighborhood on Saturday (mandatory work day with Christmas right around the corner), saw my car in her driveway, and stopped by for a surprise visit and a must needed break. Becca & Mary-Gail were happy to see him, as was I. I don't think they "get" what Lovey does, but I sure do: jumping in and out of trucks all day long, chasing the clock to deliver on time, dealing with idiot drivers and traffic, driving trucks in the summer w/no A/C - it's a brutal, very physical job, and Lovey's been working for FedEx (on and off) for over 20 years.

Lovey told us a funny story about a house he delivered to. I poured Lovey a large glass of Diet Coke, which I bought earlier (JoJo's house is a "BYOS" house {bring your own soda}). After Lovey finished his drink, he said no longer felt like "Driving Miss Daisy." Instead he felt like "Top Gun." Go get 'em Ace.

Lovey's break was over so he trudged back through the snow to his truck.

This week is crazy busy for FedEx (obviously). And even though Lovey is phyiscially tried after a long day of jumping in and out of his truck (today it was 14 hours!), he comes home with a smile on his face musters up energy to help me with the bedtime routine for Becca & Mary-Gail.

I love my FedEx Man.

Gone, gone, gone...the Guac is gone

2010-12-20T17:04:00.005-07:00

This is for Formerly Phread...

Your Gourmet Guac was happily received Saturday evening. It was completely gone by mid-morning Sunday. (I regressed to my toddler days and licked the container clean). Delicioso!

Muchas Gracias mi amiga.

Gingerbread houses, except not with gingerbread

2010-12-19T22:16:00.016-07:00

Gingerbread houses, only these are made with cinnamon graham crackers

(already made, perforated, and not as heavy)

I am so "last minute:" last minute decision making, last minute dinner prep, last minute, "hey, let's make gingerbread houses!"

I had been planning a family night to make gingerbread(graham cracker) houses, so I'd been gathering the candy and graham crackers. Yesterday I got the frosting and another bag or two of candy, and talked to JoJo about making gingerbread houses. In my mind I was planning it all out and inviting family over to participate. However, I decided last minute (read above) that TODAY was going to be the day. Today at 4:30pm. So last minute.

Becca, Mary-Gail, and I stayed home from church today. Becca had been a little sick at school on Thursday, and Mary-Gail had thrown-up twice at school on Friday (she's all better now though). And I haven't been back to church since my surgery. So we all stayed home in our PJ's, and I think that's why I decided today we were going to make our gingerbread/graham cracker houses. Becca & Mary-Gail painted and colored while I frosted the graham crackers into place and put them in the cold garage to harden. Even though they had almost 4 hours to harden, the little roofs still collapsed. Boo-hoo!

Reese's house was the first to loose it's roof, but she didn't get flustered. Instead, she made an "adobe house" (her words) and kept on adding (and eating) candy. Reese also created a garage (of frosting and candy) next to her house.

This project was perfect for the perfectionist! Rebecca scrutinized over where to put each piece of candy.

Everyone had about the same amounts of the candies to use for decorating (and eating). It turns out licorice was Cy's favorite of the candies. He was the quickest to use it all up. I actually think he hid it inside his house (see the red licorice peeking out?)

Reese is seeking ideas from Gage's house. The building continues...

Gage started with a couple different designs, but ultimately settled on a house with surveillance cameras and barriers. Oh, it also had a driveway. Nice touch Gage.

This was Mary-Gail's happiest day! A day where we get to play with candy, decorate with candy, and eat CANDY. Whoo-Hoo! (Have I mentioned Mary-Gail had 2 cavities which were recently filled?) Mary-Gail's A-Framed house was quickly demolished and restructured in a straight line, providing more surface area to cover with candy. She's nobody's fool; that child is smart!

I helped Becca with the squeezable frosting and drew hearts all over her tin foil. She didn't want me to "mess up" her house.

Becca told me "Good job Momma"

Those silly Chrisman's!

Grandma Pink helped Bug with her house. Bug was eating the candy just as fast as Grandma could put it on the house!

Bug's house. Looks more like an over-decorated shed. I love that girl!

Pappy used his carpentry skills, design expertise, and patience as he created his and Grandma Pink's house

Ta-dah! Pappy built Grandma Pink the house of her dreams: "a one-bedroom bungalow with lots of natural light and a "breeze way" in the open rafters." Pappy even put a wreath on it to make it look homey.

More details of Grandma Pink's dream home: a licorice fence surrounds the perimeter; a licorice hedge leads up to the front door; hot tamales are "Spanish-inspired" tile shingles that edge the roof, with milk chocolate chips as accents; a giant lemon flavored licorice wreath hangs from the pitch of the roof, almost disguising the open rafters; and little red hots dot the walkway which is composed of fluffy white frosting. Pappy used a very broad color wheel to create his masterpiece. What a house!

Pappy said the two marshmallows standing up next to the home's entrance are him and Grandma, "welcoming everyone to their home." Awww, for cute!

(Just a few minutes later, Bug came along and ate the "Grandma" marshmallow!)

Lights, Temple Square and 11 years

2010-12-19T20:42:00.012-07:00

Friday, December 10th was mine & Tony's ELEVENTH wedding anniversary. To celebrate we took Becca & Mary-Gail with us on a date! We braved the horried rainy/windy weather and ventured up to Salt Lake City for supper and to see the lights at Temple Square. We ate at The Old Spaghetti Factory in Trolley Square (it has always been our stop when we go to see the lights, even when I was a little girl), and then we drove the short distance to Temple Square. As luck would have it we got a parking spot right next to the temple! Oh the look on Becca & Mary-Gail's faces when we got out of the car. Becca exclaimed, "there are millions and millions of lights!"

Mary-Gail saw the horses and the carriage rides and begged to go see the horses. Becca chimed in with her, and so instead of going inside Temple Square, we went to see the horses. Lovey, ever the romantic and sweet husband and father that he is, treated us all to a carriage ride. Mary-Gail nearly collapsed she was so excited!! She bounded into the carriage and began chattering about everything. Our driver, Mr. Chris, couldn't start his "tour-spiel" until Mary-Gail calmed down. We bundled up with the blankets and off we went. Our horses name was Tom, and he was just as vocal as Mary-Gail, with lots of "neighs" and blustering whinny sounds. Mary-Gail thought it was fantastic!

Mary-Gail got her wish - a carriage ride!

Did you know that horses can hear the stoplights changing? I kept noticing that our horse, Tom, would begin walking forward just seconds before the light changed green. Mr. Chris confirmed that the stoplights' sensor makes a high-pitched noise right before they change. The horses hear it and understand that the noise means "Go!" (That and Tom had been pulling carriages for 12 years, so he definitely knew the route and noises.)

Such a sour look on this tired girl's face as we wait for Daddy and the double-stroller

I snapped the picture of the nativity and turned around to see this beautiful statue.

It made me tear up. A Mother and her children...

The Salt Lake Temple

The headquarters for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

An amazing feat to build this beautiful temple. Worked commenced April 6, 1953, and was completed April 6, 1893 (40 years)

Angel Moroni, sounding his trumpet to all the nations...

Lovey showed us all a great time. I think next date-night the girls will want to come too!

Putting up Christmas

2010-12-17T17:47:00.002-07:00

Who are these little cuties?

I don't even remember my girls this little! These pics were from November 26, 2007, 3 years ago, the day before their 1st birthday. We were putting up Christmas; Rebecca & Mary-Gail were my little elves then, and they're my bigger elves now. I am so sad they are getting bigger. Rebecca insists she is 5. "I'm FIVE mom; at my birthday last year I was FOUR and now I'm FIVE." (Everything with Rebecca is "last year"). And Mary-Gail can't wait to be big like me, "Look Ma, my tummy's getting bigger like yours." (Yikes!) Had I known then that these little angles would be my last, I would have relished every day - every moment - instead of trying to rush things on. I know I can't stop time, and I certainly can't stop Rebecca & Mary-Gail from growing...but I will relish every day and every moment. Especially now...especially now.

Christmas 2007

This Christmas season has been such a delight already. Becca & Mary-Gail have been hysterical to watch: they are super, duper excited about everything! I should have been filming their responses to each plastic tote and cardboard box that Lovey brought out from the crawl space. Let's just say there were lots of "Oh my goodness!" and "Still more stuff?" exclamations.

When we set up Christmas this year, I was just 2 weeks and 2 days recovery from surgery, and didn't know how much help I'd be. I started to get totally bummed thinking about it, but seeing the delight and surprise and joy in Becca & Mary-Gail's eyes brought me back to life. Lovey had to climb under the house to get all our boxes & since the plastic totes were clear, Becca & Mary-Gail would scream out what was in each box. I love that they don't hold back their emotions!

Rebecca was (and still is) completely mesmerized by Christmas lights. It was her insistence that made Lovey put up Christmas lights outside. (But let's be honest, I would have done it while he was at work). Mary-Gail focused her attention to the Christmas tree ornaments, wanting to unwrap and hold each ornament and talk about them: where they came from, what they were. I continued a tradition my mom began of getting a new ornament each year with the date on it, and I have one from each year since Lovey & I were married (1999). I thoroughly enjoyed watching Mary-Gail unwrap the ornaments and helping her and Becca put on the ornament hooks to hang on the tree.

White Christmas lights dance across Becca's lap

Mary-Gail studying the ornament of the Rainbow Row houses (Charleston)

w/Santa across the top

If it looks like the Christmas tree's bottom right branches are lower than the others,

it is because they are!

Becca & Mary-Gail placed most of the ornaments there

The overloaded bottom branch

Occasionally Becca r e a c h e d and hung one higher

Mary-Gail hung onto this ornament. It was from 2004, and is a

Hallmark "Our Family." The picture inside is of Me & Lovey

w/Pixie & ArlaMae on the Charleston beach

I just had to add this picture again. They are so big! 3 YEARS later! THREE YEARS!

The Christmas Tree was done, and the decorations were all hung.

Becca turned her attention to the musical Santa Claus

(Mary-Gail opened the pretend presents in his sack on his back!)

This is going to be the BEST Christmas yet!

Girls with guns

2010-12-11T11:11:00.002-07:00

Lovey has this idea that his two little girlie-girls are going to grow up and be sharp-shooters.

(NICU picture, 12/27/2006: Mary-Gail, Left; Rebecca, Right)

When we were first married (eleven years ago Friday, Dec 10th!) I adamantly refused to let Lovey keep his two rifles in our one-bedroom apartment. When we bought a house the next year, Lovey kept his rifles in the cellar.

Then we moved to Charleston, SC, and his rifles were stored in the attic (the kind with the drop-down stairs {that was the coolest part about the attic}). I tried to sell his rifles at our "EVERYTHING IS $1" moving sale, but Lovey pulled them back inside. Shortly before we moved back to Utah, Lovey's brother gave him a new pistol.

Lovey took up shooting as a hobby nearly 4 1/2 years ago. He really became hooked with target shooting while I was pregnant and on bed-rest with Becca & Mary-Gail. Lovey said there was too much estrogen in the house, and he needed to feel like a "man." That year for his birthday he got a box of ammo. Very manly.

Now, he eats, breathes, dreams, and lives shooting - that is, when he's not working or playing with the girls. I don't know what happened to those two rifles he had when we got married, and I don't know how I allowed even one gun into my house. I think Lovey's idea of Becca & Mary-Gail being sharp-shooters might be realized. Even at 1 1/2 months old in the NICU, Becca & Mary-Gail already had their pictures taken with a gun in their hands.

(Sunday, 11/28/10: Becca & Mary-Gail, ready for church...almost)

Becca & Mary-Gail got these play guns for their birthday this past month, and I couldn't help my mind as it recalled a time 4 years ago to when Becca & Mary-Gail were struggling in the NICU. Lovey & I had had a conversation with our NICU nurses about guns and shooting. (One might think that type of conversation is not appropriate given the situation we were in. But, again, given the situation we were in we tried to talk about things that didn't pertain to surgery, wires, blood CO2 levels, tubes, milk residuals, weigh loss, etc). The next day when I came to the hospital to hold & feed my babies, the nurses had taken pictures of Becca & Mary-Gail holding a play gun (which, for reference, is only 12 inches long). Lovey & I laughed and laughed - a good laugh from what I can recall because shortly afterwards, Mary-Gail's health spiraled downwards again. (Ah, life in the NICU).

Now, 4 + years later, I don't argue about guns or shooting. And when Mary-Gail hollers at me down the hall, "MA, WHERE'S MY GUN?!" I don't have convulsions.

Ying Yang & ArlaMae

2010-12-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

We found out two weeks that ArlaMae is blind - glaucoma. It's permanent.

I took the girls (all four of them) on a very slow walk around the cul de sac 2 weeks ago. I had the furry girls on their leashes, and Becca & Mary-Gail rode their tricycles. I noticed that ArlaMae was nervous going down the steps from our house, and she wasn't fiercely pulling me by her leash to walk faster. Instead, she was right by my side (so not typical of ArlaMae and walks), but I didn't think anything of it until she walked right into the back of Mary-Gail's tricycle. This shook ArlaMae up some. And then she walked right off the sidewalk into the gutter and stumbled to get re-centered. ArlaMae started to do her yipping/crying sound, which usually means she's super excited, but in this case it meant she was super scared.

By the time we got around the cul de sac and "safely" back to our driveway, ArlaMae had walked off the sidewalk one more time. I suspected she couldn't see well, but the true telling factor was when I gave ArlaMae and Pixie their doggie treat. ArlaMae just sat on her haunches instead of getting super excited about a treat. I held the doggie treat out to Arla, just to the right of her, and she didn't see it. I moved to the left of her, held it out, and she still didn't see it. I called her name, and only then did she turn her head to me. Arla's eyes were blue - my baby's beautiful golden amber eyes were a cloudy blue.

Tony had to carry ArlaMae inside because she was so nervous about the cement steps. He took her to the Vet last week and had her blood drawn for diabetes and thyroid - which all came back normal. The Vet did an eye exam and confirmed that ArlaMae was blind due to glaucoma. The Vet said Arla could still lead a happy life, and that she would adapt and get more comfortable with her surroundings, but her vision would never return. I thought Tony was going to cry; ArlaMae is his baby.

ArlaMae still walks into the doors sometimes, and will walk into the chairs if we don't push them back in the table. Tuesday I took all the girls down to Aunt Carol's house to visit, and like usual I put the furry girls in Aunt Carol's back yard. When it was time to go, ArlaMae wouldn't budge - she was so scared. Even though she has been in their backyard countless times before, she could see then - she can't see now! I felt so awful for just leaving her there thinking she would be OK. Isaac ended up having to carry her home. Bless ArlaMae's little heart.

So our Ying Yang has been disrupted for a time. ArlaMae is, however, being very brave. I watch her climb the steps and see her thinking, "...seven, eight, nine." It hurts me to see her struggle to jump onto the couch or the bed; she's really just guessing how high, how hard to jump. I've kind of been up and down with my emotions anyways, and now with ArlaMae my emotions have gotten more crazy. I think December is going to be a roller coaster as ArlaMae & I settle into our new lives.

Playtime after "the storm of the century"

2010-12-09T12:32:00.014-07:00

Snow, snow snow! The massive, terrible, cancel-school-&-work-snowstorm of the century was predicted to happen on Tuesday, Nov 23rd...it didn't happen until Friday night/Saturday, Nov 28th. But, when you're FOUR years old, who cares when the snow comes, so long as it comes!

Daddy's helpers

Mary-Gail throws her 1st snowball this season...it missed me by a long shot!

She got another snowball, and walked it to me to smush on my robe

Mary-Gail's pleased with getting snow all over me. Little Turkey!

more snowball throwing

Direct Hit!

Lovey woke early Saturday morning, and headed outside to shovel the walks, driveway, and road. Becca & Mary-Gail were ecstatic that snow had finally come! They were a wiz and a blur as they put on their new snow bibs, winter coats, gloves, and new snow boots and joined Daddy outside. I wrapped myself up in my robe and snagged the camera. It was a good thing Becca & Mary-Gail couldn't move very fast in their snow get-up, otherwise they would have white-washed me for sure.

The snow's all melted now. But next time I'm joining them for snow angels, snow ball throwing, and igloo building!

A few words mean a lot

2010-12-07T21:15:00.005-07:00

My sweet sister, Carly, posted something about me. I now have a tear-stained face, but not because I am sad. Rather, because I am blessed.

To see what I mean, click here and you'll be directed to Carly's Blog post, or go to Carly's blog http://www.spenceandcar.blogspot.com/.

I am so lucky to have a wonderful sister (and friends/family) who care about me. Thank you CarCar, for building me up when I have felt so smashed down.

LOVES
~Amanda

I am so looking forward to this again!

2010-12-07T19:00:00.005-07:00

My body is s l o w l y recovering from surgery. The bruising on my wrist from my IV is barely visible now (even though the bruising stretched a good 4 inches down my arm), and my incisions are looking great - well 2 of the 4 anyways. At my 2-week post op appointment last Friday, Dec 3rd, Dr. Jeffrey Thorpe was super surprised (pleased) to see me doing so well. I still have a hard time sitting upright (and sitting up w/o doing the side-roll), and I feel/look like I'm 80 years old when I bend down, but I am still so grateful to be doing this w/o pain. I told Dr. Thorpe I thought I had a hernia above my belly-button (below the incision); the area is hard(er) and protrudes when I cough, sit up, sneeze, etc. Dr. Thorpe confirmed that although the areas is hard and the edges are defined, it is not a hernia. Rather it's a subdermal hematoma, and I should use a heating pad to help dissipate the pooled blood. And then he asked what it was that I had been doing. Well, being a mom, (and working from home some). Dr. Thorpe smiled and just asked me to take it easy(er). Okey-dokey.

This really looked nasty, but it's almost gone now

I am so looking forward to my next appointment in 4 weeks when I will be cleared for all regular, normal activities. I can't wait to be doing this again!

Pulling these little turkeys around the house

(5 days before surgery)

Journey to the Promise Land

2010-12-07T18:54:00.008-07:00

It started out like this...

And then I heard Becca & Mary-Gail discussing "the ship"...

Lots of noise and commotion, and then I saw this:

Becca telling Mary-Gail to climb aboard "the ship."

Not surprising that Mary-Gail wanted to be a princess as she journeyed to the Promise Land

And Mary-Gail climbed aboard, settled in and pulled out the treasures she

packed for her long journey "across the sea to the Promise Land."

I have a video of these girls packing their ship, and getting ready to set sail. I'll see if it will upload (I've been having problems uploading videos lately...)

Watcha reading?

2010-12-06T22:17:00.001-07:00

Need a good read? Try these books, which I've recently finished since being home from surgery:

The Help, Kathryn Stockett
One for the Money, Janet Evanovich
Two for the Dough, Janet Evanovich
Three to Get Deadly, Janet Evanovich
Four to Score, Janet Evanovich
A Long Way From Chicago, Richard Peck
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Kate DiCamillo
The Crippled Lamb, Max Lucado

I finished reading The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, when I got home from the hospital (a "must-read"; made me so grateful for human/equal rights). Then I lit into the book borrowed to me by Lori B. from the Parent Support @ the NICU. It was One for the Money, a Stephanie Plum novel, by Janet Evanovich. Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series is about Stephanie Plum, an unemployed Jersey girl turned bounty hunter, who is always in the wrong place at the right time. I sent Lovey to the Library to get Two for the Dough, Three to get Deadly, Four to Score, (all of which were finished in quick succession) and I'm on a "waiting list" for High Five. There are thirteen Stephanie Plum novels in all, plus two "in-between-the-numbers" novels. So here's a super SHOUT OUT to Lori for getting me hooked!

Another SHOUT OUT to Ann for lending me A Long Way from Chicago, by Richard Peck. Oh, I loved this book (brother and sister from Chicago spend one week each summer visiting their grandma, who they know little of, and quickly come to realize 'Grandma' isn't your typical grandma). I'm headed to the library this week to get the sequel, A Year Down Yonder. I can't wait! Plus, Ann also lent me The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, by Kate DiCamillo, a very thought provoking quick read; and The Crippled Lamb, by Max Lucado. Ann highlighted this book on her blog not too long ago, and I'd wanted to read it ever since. Needless to say, I will definitely be purchasing this book for my little family, and it will be our new 2010 Christmas book (a little tradition of mine is to get a new Christmas book each year).

And my sis-in-law, DarDar, gave me three books which I am now mentally, emotionally, and spiritually ready to read: In the Hands of the Potter, by Camille Fronk Olson; Not My Will, But Thine, by Neal A. Maxwell; Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive, by Jack Canfield, et al. So another SHOUT OUT to DarDar. Thank You!

Now, if you're in need of a children's book, I have one for you.

A story about friendship between Alexander, the pesky house-mouse, and Willy, Annie's favorite wind-up toy. Alexander overcomes his jealousy of Willy, and does something so remarkable, so selfless, to save Willy from being thrown away. This book has become a favorite of ours. It's fun to create all the different voices for Alexander, Willy, and the Magic Lizard as you read it aloud. Plus, there's a good morale to the story, and that's always a bonus for me!

Pixie & ArlaMae love bedtime stories too

My favorite girls in my favorite shoes

2010-12-05T20:22:00.001-07:00

It's not a secret that I am a lover of shoes. And it's no secret that I love high-heel shoes. So is it any surprise that these girls love them too?

I love this picture, even if the bathroom is messy. And yes, that is Mary-Gail's toy spider on the ground. She leaves them in strategic places (her bed, kitchen counter, or like here on the bathroom floor)

Look at those intense, piercing blue & brown eyes!

Mischief. These two girls have mischief written all over their faces

(especially the child on the left)

Giggling about something...

Ciao!

Left hand? or Right hand?

2010-12-03T16:12:00.010-07:00

Left-handed...

Becca's reading from her October issue of Highlights magazine, while Mary-Gail colors her birthday cake (and decides which hand to use to color with)

Right-handed...

Left-handed...

Right-handed...

Mary-Gail is focused when she colors. About the only thing that seems to take her away from her drawing is what color to use, and which hand to color with! These pics were taken Tuesday night, 11/23, shortly before supper-time. Mary-Gail & Becca had recently arrived home from their weekend stay @ Mommy Arlynne's house, and I was discussing with them their birthday. Mary-Gail immediately rambled on and on about her birthday cake and how she wanted a big cake with lots of stories (layers).

She asked me to draw her birthday cake, and like I'd done so many times before, I drew the outline of her layered-cake, and Mary-Gail filled it in with color. She is practicing coloring in the lines and did a pretty good job on the little cake. She was so excited about her birthday cake that she added another layer! Mary-Gail drew her candle on top of each cake too. And when I asked her if she only wanted only one candle, she said, "No ma, I'm four. I get four candles." O K! She and Becca got four candles on their cakes - their individual 2-layer cakes.

Married again, 42 years later...

2010-12-01T23:45:00.000-07:00

My parents got married {again} on Monday, November 15, 2010. All their 6 kids (sans my older brother, Jason, who wasn't able to make in in from NYC) were there to celebrate!! Monday was an exciting day; I mean, come on, not very many people get see their parents get married.

My Dad was in "stealth-mode" and had trickery up his sleeve planning the wedding and honeymoon. My mom was so twitter-paited that she didn't even wonder what was up. Dad told Mom they were getting married in SLC, but before they could go, he needed to take care of some business in downtown Provo. Mom accompanied Dad to the courthouse for the "business" and low and behold, here are all her kids and their spouses (plus CarCar's twins)! Surprise! We're here for your wedding - surprise!

Pam, JoJo, Mom, me, CarCar, Dad

(the Rosser's hadn't arrived yet, and the spouses got cut from the pic - sorry boys!)

JoJo planned my mom's bridal shower the Thursday before the wedding (Nov 11th), and that was super fun (and hilarious watching my mom act like she was 20 years old again). And JoJo planned an after-"I DO"-party w/a cake and some bubbly. CarCar put together a travel basket of goodies for Mom & Dad, and she burned a travel mix CD including all the songs they used to listen to (Kenny Rogers, Ronny Milsap, Air Supply...). Seeing my parents happy and together again made me cry

Their first dance (again)

JoJo also planned a "Welcome Back" party for Mom & Dad after they returned from their honeymoon. We rendezvoused to Magleby's for supper, where we presented them w/a photo book complete with our memories from growing up, and then we all kicked it @ Mom's (mom & dad's house now) for dessert - compliments of Pam. Yummy!

"Real love stories have no ending..."

That's my beautiful sister, Carly. This was the first time Carly got a babysitter for her twins. What a milestone Car!

Hello cutie-kuties

2010-11-29T22:44:00.003-07:00

Family pictures, Saturday, November 13, 2010
photos by Jayson Mansanerez

Thanks to JoJo for keeping us smiling during pictures

Thanks to Heather Ellison for Mary-Gail's hair clip

Thanks to Jessica Davis for Becca's hair clip

I needed something cold on my stomach after a long day of bending, sitting, standing, lifting (whoops) and climbing. So I grabbed a {large} bowl, scooped out some ice cream, and headed downstairs to unwind with Tony. The cold bowl felt good on my incisions, and of course, the ice cream felt good going down my throat into my stomach (I'll regret it later when I can get back to exercising...maybe not).

I gave my tired eyes a rest - I've read 4 books these past 2 weeks - and vegged in front of the TV. CBS was airing November Christmas and I immediately became hooked. Mid-way through the show I was bawling my eyes out, while Tony kept reminding me it was just a show. Not to me it wasn't.

The little girl reminded me so much of Becca, except that the little girl had cancer. The girl's mother asked, "Why couldn't it have been me?" (Why couldn't the mom have been sick instead?). Isn't that usually the way we think? Let no harm or foul come to my children, give it to me instead. And I was overcome with emotion, grateful that I had "C" and not Becca or Mary-Gail or Tony. What would I have done if the little girl in the show was Becca? Probably the same thing the father did - move up the holidays and make sure each day counted.

Becca's ears must have been on F I R E with how much I'd been thinking/crying over her, and shortly before the show was over, Becca stumbled her pretty-little sleepy eyes downstairs and on over to me. She climbed up into my lap and laid her little head on my chest, "Mommy, why are you crying?" "I'm just so happy to be your mommy." And I am.

My family, November 2010

2010-11-28T16:38:00.006-07:00

Everything has changed. Everything. I publicly announced on my blog on several different occasions 6/2008; 7/2008; 10/2008; 11/2008; 9/2009; 10/2009) of my personal desire, hope, dream, and prayer for getting pregnant again to become a reality. I've had this discussion with my family & friends more times than I can count. And finally, finally it seemed like having another baby would become a reality. And just when we had worked out the details of caring for Becca & Mary-Gail during the daytime, and while I was on bedrest; and just when we had the money saved; just when I started the medicine for In-vitro Fertlization again, and had gotten on the calendar...nope.

Yes, my heart still aches for something that I'll never be able to do again. I would say to myself, "'When I'm pregnant again, I'll do this & that differently," or "When my child doesn't eat this time around, I won't go into panic mode (Becca & Mary-Gail were "sleepers" - not "eaters" - & I was constantly worried about it). I also said I would forget about buying all the silly toys for the babies/toddlers and just buy doggie toys (doggie toys are perfect for child development, believe it or not). And I'd handle potty-training differently, and wouldn't be so freakish about winter weather. Well, I don't get a second time around. I only have this time now. And I'm grateful for that realization, because I'm shifting everything I have, all my energies, to focus on the family I have now. Not to say that I still don't morn or think about the tragic loss of my dream of prenancy and more children (and the loss of my cervix & uterus), because I guarantee this won't be the last post about those losses. But I have an abundance of blessings from the children I have now: my two daughters. I have my brown-eyed, blonde-hair Rebecca LaRae; I have my blue-eyed, brown-hair Mary-Gail Darleen. They are mine forever, and I am their mother forever.

I am a mother. My greatest blessing, and my greatest accomplishment.

My family

Rebecca & Mary-Gail's FOURTH birthday

2010-11-27T21:46:00.015-07:00

This is how it ended:

And this is how it began:

We had a family get-together tonight to celebrate Becca & Mary-Gail's F O U R T H birthday! We had pizza, lemonade, and then a dress-up show...

McKena orchestrated several outfit changes for Becca & Mary-Gail. Becca's outfit took the cake

And speaking of cake:

Happy Birthday Rebecca

Happy Birthday Mary-Gail

Rebecca conducts & sings the "Happy Birthday Day" song

We sang it for Becca and for Mary-Gail - no sharing the birthday song here

Rebecca can always be found doing this finger-thing

Lights out for the wishing and candle blowing...

...and blow out the candles!

Mary-Gail's face makes me smile

"Sister, sister, do this! "

"Like this? "

"No, like this!"

I finally caved and gave them a fork to eat their own "Happy Birthday Cakes"

Everyone else got a cupcake. And, I forgot to get out the ice cream - rats!

Time to open presents!

Auntie Carol, Uncle Jack + kids, & Jacob + Michelle

Princess Aurora slippers and Wild, Wild West pink guns! (Tony was so happy!)

Aunt Pam, Uncle Joshy + kids

Ballerina Barbie Dolls & a special, hand drawn, picture-puzzle from McKena

(both Becca & Mary-Gail took their ballerinas to bed)

Grandma Pink

Hello Kitty coloring books PLUS, Becca & Mary-Gail get to go out to eat and go shopping with Grandma Pink -their first time ever!

Aunt JoJo, Uncle Jed + kids

Llama Llama, Holiday Drama book & coloring markers

Mary-Gail dove right in to open her gift bag from Mommy & Daddy

Mary-Gail was so excited., "Look Ma! I got lips!"(aka, Ariel Chap Stick - Mary-Gail LOVES lips)

and new clothes.

Great-Grandma Gourley

Mary-Gail and Becca get their birthday cards from Great-Grandma Gourley

Becca takes time to ponder her birthday card from Great-Grandma Gourley. Thanks to Aunt Carol & AmyCakes for being the most super-duper birthday helpers ever. Aunt Carol read Great Grandma's Birthday cards to Becca & Mary-Gail and when the girls discovered there was money in the card (by way of check) they were ecstatic! Thank you Great-Grandma Gourley.

Uncle Jack helps Becca put on her gun belt and shows her how to draw

Becca & Uncle Jack

(I wanted to include the 1st picture, even though I mistakenly cut off Uncle Jack. I loved Becca's ensemble: Tinkerbell outfit, one Jasmine slipper, and one high-heeled shoe...all complete with her new gun belt w/a gold belt buckle and pink gun holsters. Awesome!

Mary-Gail tore into her Aurora dress-up shoes and her Ariel Chap stick.

Then she headed downstairs to watch the movie that was playing *how to train your dragon* (it's a good one)

Turns out the guns the girls received from Aunt Carol & Uncle Jack were squirt guns.
Uncle Jack showed Becca how to "load" the gun, and Becca raced back to the kitchen
and started shooting at Daddy...

...and her two name-sakes, Grandma Pink (Rebecca) & Great-Grandma Gourley (LaRae)

And then I got shot.

Happy #4 Birthday my girls!

Becca & Mary-Gail's mini 5-day vacation

2010-11-27T06:01:00.001-07:00

My family is amazing! I have a freezer full of frozen meals, my addiction to Diet Coke was met (thank you DarDar, JoJo, & CarCar), My sis-in-law, Pam, has offered to help me put op my Christmas stuff, and my two little girls have recently returned from a fabulous 5-day "vacation" @ Mommy Arlynne's house.

Aunt Carol arranged for Becca & Mary-Gail to stay with Mommy Arlynne for 5 days (Friday - Tuesday) so I could have a little more time to recover after getting discharged from the hospital (plus Carol understood that I was struggling with how to care for Becca & Mary-Gail once I got home). Uncle Jack picked up the girls bright and early Friday morning (11/19) at 8:15am. Becca & Mary-Gail were so excited to ride up to SLC w/Uncle Jack (Mary-Gail thought they were going Trick'o'Treating at Uncle Jack's work again!). Uncle Jack dropped them off at Mommy Arlynne's house, and there they stayed through Tuesday afternoon (11/23).

Becca & Mary-Gail called me every night before bedtime. They asked questions like, "Are you getting better Mommy?" "Why do you have owies on your stomach?" And my sweet little Mary-Gail was missing me so much - she lingered on the phone with tons of "I love you Mommy." Mommy Arlynne sent me pictures and cute messages every night too, which I attached below. Mommy Arlynne has watched our girls for us before: in January 2008 when Lovey & I went on our cruise. And that's when "Auntie Arlynne" turned into "Mommy Arlynne." Mommy Arlynne was absolutely thrilled to have our girls for the weekend! And I was thrilled when they came home Tuesday. I kept telling Lovey, "Look at them! They are so tall! They've grown so much!"

And a huge shout-out to my family, friends, and church members who have served us these past 10 days. I appreciate all the phone calls, e-mails, drop-ins, treats, and my family appreciates all the meals. They have been wonderful!

My two angels going to church w/Mommy Arlyne and family. Joe helped Mary-Gail get her jacket on & zipped up. Can you tell it's on inside-out?
I didn't notice either until Arlyne told me. Do you know how hard it is to zip up a jacket inside-out?

Friday afternoon, November 19th.
Mary-Gail and Becca /Joe sandwiched between them during quiet time

Sam reading to Becca & Mary-Gail before bedtime

Mary-Gail and Joe; Sam & Becca.

The boys were more than happy to share their room with the girls.

Mommy Arlynne's text said it only took them 20 minutes to quiet down and fall asleep too. Amazing!

Becca & Mary-Gail slept toe-to-toe. They loved the bunk beds

Welcome home Rebecca & Mary-Gail; You were missed!

Just how much do you wanna know?

2010-11-26T02:40:00.003-07:00

This post is dedicated to the robot in my life...the da Vinci Surgical Robot. This hunk of metal combined with cutting edge technology, plus Dr. Jeffrey Thorpe, Dr. C. Joseph Glenn, and 8 other "proctor doctors," performed my surgery on Tuesday, November 16th. I was happily discharged on Wednesday, November 17th. I must say I am a little (a lot) wordy here, but there are pictures at the end, so that makes it worth the time to read! Plus, I made the front page news of the "Our Town" section B in our local newspaper! Go here to check that out. (click on the image tab and scroll through the photos)

One of the reasons why I opted for the robotic assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy, aside from being a good candidate, is because the recovering time is cut in half – instead of a 4-day hospital stay, it’s a day and a half; and instead of a 6-week recovery, it’s more like 4-weeks. I have 4 puncture wounds on my stomach instead of a searing 12 inch long horizontal cut across my abdomen. And I can sit up/stand up with out much assistance (I still have to do the "sideways roll," but I don’t have to worry about my guts falling out). I’m relieved the surgery is over and my recovering is well underway. And I had an experience earlier this week that helped me close the book and soften my feelings about the “why’s” I’ve had. What I know and feel is that I am grateful. Very, very, humbly grateful for my life, husband, and amazingly healthy, charming, beautiful, smart, happy and joyful daughters. I am full. Now get ready to read all about my surgery...

**Everything you wanted to know (and even stuff you didn't) about my robotic assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy...**

My awesome sister, Joanna, volunteered to have Becca & Mary-Gail sleep-over at her house Monday night, so Tony & I could have some time together and leave for the hospital early Tuesday morning w/o any hiccups. I packed an over-night bag for Becca & Mary-Gail, smothered them with kisses, and held them tightly. I knew I wouldn't be able to hold them for a long time after my surgery. I wouldn't be able to hold my own babies. The lump in my throat is swelling just thinking about that.

I packed myself an over-night bag also. But instead of including fun goodies for a hospital stay on Labor & Delivery & NICU like I had anticipated for sometime in May, my over-night bag was pitifully depressing. I threw my hair dryer and mouse in just to give the bag some weight and take up space. Tony & I stayed up talking late into the night - mostly Tony was speaking kind, reassuring words. I always have him tell me, "Everything will be OK," so I asked him to tell me that again and again - even though both of us knew this was going to change our lives forever.

4:45 am Tuesday morning came way too early and way too fast. I took a ridiculously long shower, dressed and climbed into a nice, toasty-warm car. Tony had been warming it up for our drive. We checked it, completed some paperwork, and waited for the admitting nurse to call me back. When she did I think all the blood drained from my face, because Tony very quickly took hold of me and wouldn't (thankfully) let me go. The nurse drew 3 vials of blood and she asked me to give a urine sample. What's the urine sample for? I asked. We need to make sure you're not pregnant. I laughed out loud - joke of all jokes. The nurse took Tony & me to the "holding room." I was to change into the hospital gown and put on the bright, yellow hospital sockies. I thought to myself, "and cover up this awesome pedicure I have? What a shame.

I gave my urine sample, changed, and was holding my emotions together - my facade hadn't crumbled yet - and then nurse needed me to sign a few more things. "This form is for your consent for surgery; and this form says you understand that you will be sterile after having a hysterectomy..." Lights out. Black splotches. Shaking hand. Terrible, terrible, terrible signature.

She left me and Tony alone. The facade crumbled slowly at first, and then came crashing down. Why did I have to sign a consent? Why did I have to sign my name to that stupid paper? I know why, but...why? I could care less about having stupid cancer. What I was really upset about was being "sterile." Today we were supposed to have an ultrasound to check my uterine lining and determine when my embryo transfer was going to be….but after today I wouldn’t have a uterus and there would be no embryo transfer.

It was time. I was wheeled down to the OR in my hospital bed. The OR nurse was Caroline (ooh - that was supposed to be the name of our next daughter - Caroline Joanna Kemp...). Caroline said she had been in on every one of the surgeries that had been performed with the use of the da Vinci robot, and not to worry - everything will be OK. Dr. Glenn came by to see me before surgery, and Dr. Thorpe was right behind him.They said they were almost ready. The nurse anesthetists started my IV and ran the antibiotics. I told him I wanted to see the robot before I was knocked out with the Versed. He and Caroline (I just love that name!) wheeled me into the OR room. Dr. Thorpe was smoothing out the wrinkles on the surgical bed- so nice of him - and while I waited to transfer myself to the bed, I beheld the da Vinci robot. It looked like a giant spider! And all I could think was, "This is the latest and greatest in medical technology. This is going to be awesome." And then the Versed hit me and I don't remember anything else.

The da Vinci (aka, "the giant spider")

I was told the surgery lasted 3 hours - from 7:30 am - 10:30 am. I didn't wake up until 12:20 pm: my blood pressure had plummeted. We're talking 54/40. I was given 2 bags of IV fluid during that 2 hour "intermission" and was on canula oxygen. It wasn’t until after 12:40 pm that I was transferred to my room, Room 323. Tony was there waiting. He looked relieved, which made me feel nervous - like, what do you know that I don't know - but then I learned that he'd been waiting in my room since 10:30 am. Poor thing.

By 3 am the next morning I was ready to get up and go for a walk. That's right - 3 o'clock in the morning. With the help of my nurse, I did the "old man shuffle" to the nurse’s station and then shuffled back. I was exhausted! Dr. Thorpe rounded at 8 am and said the surgery was successful: I had minimal blood loss, my uterus and cervix were removed intact, he felt that the cancer was contained to the cervix and uterus, and didn't see the need to remove any lymph nodes, but the pathology report would confirm the findings. Dr. Thorpe said my blood pressure was "interesting" and I agreed. The first part of October my blood pressure was running higher than normal for me (I attributed it to learning I had cervical cancer), and I believed that this significant drop in my blood pressure after surgery was due to my inability to continue my quest for more children through in-vitro fertilization. Dr. Thorpe said that I would most likely be discharged that day (Wednesday) if things went well. (Which was code for, among other things, if my BP could rise and my heart rate could drop {it was over 100 bpm}).

My IV and catheter were dc’d and I took a shower, did my hair, and after Tony arrived @ 10 am, I decided I should put on my makeup ("fancy word" for mascara & Chap stick). Tony said the Robot was in the lobby and I begged my nurse, Sara, to let me go down and see it. She got authorization from the Nurse Administrator and we three took the elevator to the lobby.

The da Vinci Robot was there; it was truly awesome. The da Vinci robot staff couldn’t believe that I had actually had surgery 24 hours earlier. They were amazed that I was up and I’m sure they were amazed that I was dressed and ready for the day (I know I was). I showed off my (4) ½ inch long slits in my belly, and everyone gathered round for a look. The local paper, The Daily Herald, was on sight doing a spotlight on the da Vinci Robot and I was questioned about my experience, what I thought of the robot, and how I was feeling. I was able to sit at the console and get a quick run-down on how the da Vinci operated. I practiced my surgical skills by using the robotic arms to pinch small rubber bands and move them from one small silicone cone to another. And my picture made front page news in the Local News, section B.

Before leaving the hospital my blood pressure had risen to 98/64 and my pulse had decreased from over 100 beats per minute to just 92 beats per minute. One might ask how I remember all these numbers and specifics of my care after surgery. And I remind them that, "I'm from a family of nurses. We talk about stuff like this at dinner. We remember all the little things because that's what nurses do." (And I write things like this down because I’m a mom of preemies and I’m neurotic).

These hospital gowns are so flattering...ugh, I already look swollen

Hee, hee, hee. It's 6:30 in the morning, and I'm having major surgery today

After Surgery

My awesome sisters, JoJo & CarCar! CarCar brought her twins, Quincy & Tenley, too.

Their visit & gift basket brightened the room and lifted my spirits

CarCar and Quincy

There's that swelling I was talking about. I had one bag of saline every hour for the first 8 hours before they knocked down the drip speed! Talk about dehydration - whooh

Wednesday morning, Timpanogos Regional Hospital Lobby. I'm talking with Rustin Beck, Business Development for Utah County's MountainStar Hospitals

Rustin Beck is giving me a run down on how the da Vinci operates

Slip your middle finger and thumbs into the finger pads and look into the view finder. A laser beam senses your head is engaged in the view finder, and gives you control over the da Vinci. Your hand movements operate the da Vinci's movements - you are in control of the robot and its movements at all times. Once your head pulls back from the view finder, the laser senses you are no longer engaged and will not allow you to move or manipulate the robot.

Image copied from Yahoo image search (da Vinci robot)

This is what I'm "operating" on: moving tiny rubber bands from one silicone cone to another.

And this is a depiction of how the da Vinci can perform a hysterectomy. I had 4 access sites and my uterus + cervix were intact (instead of morsilated) and were removed vaginally.

Image from Yahoo image search (da Vinci robot)

This is it, The da Vinci Robot

My hands are clasping the finger pads, and my head is engaged. The black console is the view finder, and what I'm looking at as I look into the view finder, is the silicone cones and tiny rubber bands. This is virtual reality at it's best!

No way! This is too cool!

Back in my hospital room, waiting to get discharged...

Along with my dropping blood pressure, and rising pulse, I had a fever of 100.5 after surgery. My nurses gave me a "goal" of doing 10 sets with my Incentive Spirometer (IS) every hour. They said the IS is the best way to deter pneumonia and to help reduce fevers. I was on that IS every hour. Slowly my fever began to decrease, and my bp increased. My pulse never did return to "normal," but it wasn't over 100 anymore. My final stats were: 98/62, 92 bpm, and my temp was 98.8. Good enough for a 12:45 pm discharge on Wednesday.

The IS is a lot harder than it looks. Sorry Dad, I gave you a hard time when you had to use the IS; now I understand it's not that easy, and can be a bit painful too. xoxo

One of my amazingly awesome nurses, Sara. Isn't she beautiful? She took great care of me, and was able to get authorization for me to leave the floor (with her and Tony) and go to the lobby for my rendezvous with da Vinci!

Oh, I just love my Incentive Spirometer

Me & Tony. He's been worried about me, but I think both of us can stop worrying. Tony has done a great job caring for me!

*** The Daily Herald ran an article on the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System on Thursday, November 18, 2010. Go to www.heraldextra.com or click here. My picture appeared in the paper - crazy! (Go to the "image" tab and scroll through the images)***

see my new project...

2010-11-23T13:50:00.006-07:00

These felt roses are so cute!! And I've found a new application for them. I'm in the process of making this wreath. Go to The Pretty Poppy and get a tutorial for your new wreath. Felt Roses are so cute...on hair clips, headbands, broches, necklaces...and wreaths! I hope to have my wreath finished this Friday, since my body is not going to make it for Black Friday shopping this year.

Welcome to Holland

2010-11-22T19:01:00.000-07:00

This clip comes from a book I read while Rebecca & Mary-Gail were struggling as 27-week micro-preemies in the NICU at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. I actually think the first time I read it was after we came home from McKay Dee Hospital in Logan, UT, with Mary-Gail from her heart surgery @ 11-days old (terrible experience!) I used this quote when I tried to explain to family what I was going through with Becca & Mary-Gail, their ridiculously early birth, their serious medical problems, and my henious roller-coaster of emotions. This quote explained what my experience of having preemies was like (and how the journey would be from then on). It pretty much summed up how I felt then; and I think it sums up how I feel now. The last 3 paragraphs speak what my heart feels.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND
By: Emily Perl Kingsley
***While she was working on Sesame Street, someone asked her to explain what it was like to have a disabled child, and this is what she said***

What it feels like to have a critically ill newborn (or in my case now, having to face cancer and a hysterectomy when I was in the process of In-vitro Fertilization. My change from "Italy" to "Holland")

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to

Italy

. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Questions answered

2010-11-15T19:25:00.009-07:00

My surgery is tomorrow morning. I should be nervous about the word ending in "-oma" but I'm not thinking about that. I should be worried about the surgery, but I'm not thinking about that either. What I'm really thinking - and what makes me hurt - is that with this hysterectomy I will be loosing my fertility forever; I will never have children again. It stings; it hurts; and I'm sad that this has happened now. Why? Why now? Can't this adenocarcinoma wait 9 months? Just give me this chance to be pregnant again...

Lovey & I were in process of In-vitro Fertilization again. I called the UofU, got on their calendar for the cryo-cycle, started the meds and was supposed to start Lupron on Sunday, October 24th. I'd have ultrasounds on Tuesday, November 16th & Tuesday, November 23rd to check my uterine lining, and then the embryo transfer would take place that following Wednesday (either November 17th or November 24th depending on the thickness of my uterine lining). The daily 10mg Progesterone intra-muscular shots (as thick as peanut butter or molasses - take your pick) would begin and continue for 12 weeks. I'd be on bed rest for 3 consecutive days following the transfer, and we'd know if we were pregnant on February 3rd - my mom's birthday! I had it all planned out, see, and I was on the calendar! The calendar! After 2 years of me and Tony talking about this, having a consultation and exam, declining a super awesome job opportunity because we were going to get pregnant, postponing the IVF processes for a year, having another consultation and exam the following year, seeing a perinatologist about my cervix and his 2nd opinion for a cerclage at 12 weeks (and bed rest after that), we were finally in the process! And on the calendar! Now I'm on a different kind of calendar - one for a hysterectomy, which will be tomorrow, Tuesday, November 16th.

I met with the Gynecologic Oncologist, Dr. Andrew Soisson, on Monday, October 25th. I pulled the pathology report from my biopsies and did some research before my appointment. The more I know, the more comfortable I am - regardless if it's good or bad information. I realized this with my dad's aneurysm, 2 open-heart surgeries, and Becca & Mary-Gail's 3-month stay in the NICU. Once I have all the facts presented to me, then and only then, will I disseminate the facts and determine what I am going to worry about and what I'm not going to worry about. However, even with my research I couldn't get the pathology results out of my mind: "...mitotic figures are very prominent...proliferation index {cell reproduction} is very high...best characterized as adenocarcinoma...no evidence of infiltration..."

I researched Dr. Soisson too - I wanted to understand his knowledge and experience with this type of cancer. He's the top dog in Utah. He works at the Huntsman Cancer Center {his address in SLC is "Circle of Hope," but after my appointment with him I didn't feel any hope}. We discussed my options: I could have more biopsies, removing more and more of my already compromised cervix, which would create serious complications for a cerclage, let alone maintaining a pregnancy; I could have a laser treatment, which has a 90% success rate. However, the cells on the internal part of the cervix are similar to hills and valleys - "rolling ridges" is how Dr. Soisson referred to them - and there is the possibility of missing the cancer cells on the slope of the "hill." Another treatment is to use a cream. Treating cancer with a cream? Are you serious? And then the final option...abdominal hysterectomy. Wait, what? I'm supposed to be putting embryos into my uterus and getting pregnant, not removing my uterus and going through menopause!

Very conflicted. And then Dr. Soisson said something I didn't want to hear. "Since you already have frozen embryos you can do surrogacy." Yeah, already thought of that. Actually, I investigated it 2 years ago; and then again last year; and then Tony & I talked about it some more and decided that because this would be our last pregnancy that I would carry the baby and confine myself to strict-bedrest. (BTW, Surrogacy is regulated by the FDA, which means the surrogate and her spouse/partner would be subjected to genetic testing, STD testing, and psychological testing for starters. Plus, Tony & I would be subject to psychological testing too. The price tag for all this testing is $10,000! The embryo transfer is $3,000 and then the meds are an additional $2,000 - $4,000. After all that, surrogates usually receive payment starting at $12,000 upwards of $40,000.

I researched my options, again. Brought home the Taber's Medical Dictionary from work so I could look up words I didn't understand and even those words I did. Wikipedia.com turned into my home-page. The cream option was a joke. The biopsies would preserve my fertility, but at what cost? I had 27-week twin micro-preemies. Could I handle having a 23-weeker? 24, 26? What if my pregnancy didn't even progress that far? Could I handle that? I volunteer at the NICU, and seeing the little babies covered in wires with tubes that feed them and machines that breathe for them; Seeing the bewildered and nervous parents; Not being able to hold your baby! (that was me and Mary-Gail. I was "lucky" with Becca - I was able to hold her 4 days after she was born). Not being able to hear your baby cry - Oh, I remember praying to Heavenly Father to just let me hear Mary-Gail cry. Let me hear her voice. I went to the NICU Tuesday, 10/26 & again on Tuesday, 11/9. I needed to go to see these little babies. To remind myself (not that I need reminding) but to re-live the trauma of micro-preemies and all the health problems associated with them. Could I have faith that the cervix I'd be left with, after having more biopsies, would be sufficient for a cerclage and pregnancy? And could I take a choice spirit from Heavenly Father, and knowingly make a choice that would impact this spirit's life forever? What about her progression though life? I would always feel guilt over being so selfish of wanting another baby that I threw caution to the wind, and now my beautiful child's life is limited - her experiences on earth have been limited because of me. No, I couldn't do that.

I still haven't come to terms with not having more children. I don't need to carry the child, or even birth the child (which is why checking into surrogacy wasn't a big dilemma for me). I learned a long time ago - 4 years ago to be exact -that carrying a child doesn't make you the mother; raising the child does. However, once I saw the determination on Tony's face that he would care for me, the girls, our home while I was on bed-rest, getting pregnant was all I wanted. Adoption? I would LOVE to adopt. International adoption is out of the question for us (I checked into that while we were still living in South Carolina). There cannot be a span of more than 10-years in the couples age; the couple cannot be over 50..and so on and so on. Adoption through LDS Social Services is very competitive. I have talked with the many women (who see the OB's I work for) who give their baby up for adoption; I know their perspective: they want their baby to go to a family that doesn't have any children. Private adoption is extremely expensive. So, I'm coming to grips that I will just have to adopt all the kids in my neighborhood and my church. Unless we're lucky, and a baby falls from the sky or is delivered to us by a stork.

Hysterectomy has a 98% success rate of eliminating the cancer, which means no chemotherapy or radiation therapy. I'll have some lymph nodes removed during the surgery so pathology can check them for cancer cells. The hope is that they will come back negative, and the pathology from my uterus will have "clear margins" (the cancerous areas haven't reached the edge/margin of my uterus & cervix). Clear margins mean the cancer hasn't spread; once it's gone, it's gone. And so are my hopes of having more children.

I'm morning the loss of a dream, a hope, an intense desire to have more children. A 2-year old desire (and that's not an exaggeration). I still have 6 embryos frozen from our 1st "fresh" cycle when we did IVF in 2006. It's amazing really, that we even did IVF. I didn't have any fertility issues myself; my husband had a vasectomy 18 years ago, and a reversal was out of the question (2% chance of sperm if we did the reversal). So we did IVF instead - ICSI (intra cytoplasmic sperm injection). On 6/6/2006, we extracted 22 eggs from me, 18 of which were perfect for fertilization. All eggs were a grade B+ or better and were fertilized by ICSI; 13 eggs fertilized, divided and multiplied into the blastocyst stage; 2 were implanted in me (which resulted in my perfect daughters, Becca and Mary-Gail!). We had 11 embryos left. 5 were lost due to over-fertilization/multiplication, and the remaining 6 were frozen for later use. We had hoped to use them this October.

Perhaps this is more information that I should knowingly disclose, but I feel that if I don't share this, then no one will know what a struggle this is for me, and why the timing is so ironic. Some might say this is a blessing that the cancer was discovered as a result of me going through the IVF process, and I can see their point. I just can't understand "why" it's a blessing right now. It's a struggle. And it will continue to be a struggle as I morn for a time. I'm changing how I handle things like this, and instead of pushing people away (like I typically do), I'm hoping that you will morn with me: "...morn with those that morn; comfort those that stand in need of comfort..." Please pray for me. I know my hardest days are yet to come, and I'm scared of coming home from the hospital - because then I will know that I'm done.

Guess who gets to sleep over?

2010-11-14T22:52:00.002-07:00

My other set of twins!!! Carly and her babies are in town for two weeks for my parents' wedding (tomorrow), Thanksgiving (Thurs, Nov 25th), and Becca & Mary-Gail's #4 b-day (Saturday, Nov 27th). When Carly confirmed the dates she'd be here, I told her I wanted her babies. I was hoping to have Tenley and Quincy this whole weekend, but Car's arrival date was pushed back to this evening. No matter - I patiently waited for her to arrive (Jo, Mom & Reese met Car & Spencer 1/2 way); I met Carly @ Jo's house, gave her a quick hello and hugs, and snatched my babies for the night. Carly gave me the run-down: what to expect, how to get them to sleep, how much Tenley & Quincy drink; and she kept asking me if I was sure about taking them. Of course I'm sure! My surgery is this Tuesday and after that, I won't be able to hold/carry anything. I am definitely sure...In fact, I was hoping to keep them through Tuesday morning, but one night will have to do. (All these photos are either from May or June 2010)

Me & Quincy Joanna - taken May 2010 when I flew down to help Carly after their birth.

I don't have any pictures like this of me and my girls...

Tenley Magnolia

Carly & I did an impromptu photo shoot: I brought Becca & Mary-Gail's dress-up tutu's, their giant flower clips, snagged a mattress sheet from Carly's linen closet, and viola!

Quincy (pink); Tenley (purple)

Tenley

The last time I saw these girls they were itty-bitty babies. Carly came to Utah in June and stayed at my Dad's house. Lucky for me I only live a mile away and could spend the afternoons and a few nights there to help out (thanks again, Lovey, for being so understanding). It was fun to listen to Carly explain Tenley and Quincy's personalities, who does what, how to get who to sleep & eat. I remember those days - trying to get my family to learn the tricks on how to care for Becca & Mary-Gail. I'll never forget when I was explaining things to my mom and dad when they were going to care for Becca & Mary-Gail; My dad turned to my mom and said, "It's as if we've never done this before, Rebecca." OK, I know they have (7 times), but a new mom is always so exact with everything!

Ahh, Quincy is so sweet in my arms; and Tenley is just hanging out

A tired mom, feeding & holding her twins while talking on the phone/texting...

...yep! I've done this before

I love my sisters and ALL their babies

Hooray! The twins are here (X2)

Becca & Mary-Gail (just before swim lessons) @ Pappy's house to see Carly & her babies

And on another visit to Pappy's house, Pappy dished them up a little ice cream.

Another Hooray!

Can you tell them apart? Who is who?

Tenley (L); Quincy (R)

We took Carly to a movie -the first one she'd seen since the girls were born and being on bed rest. 5 months of bed rest!! Ouch!

Rebecca & Mary-Gail have already devoured Tenley & Quincy (Pixie and ArlaMae have sniffed them, sadly realizing that these are babies, which means more of mine and Lovey's attention will be diverted from Pixie & Arla). Becca & Mary-Gail have reminded me like a hundred times that "Baby Tenley slept over at our house last time." (While Carly was here in June I stole Baby Tenley for the night. It was awesome! I wanted both babies, but JoJo already had dibs on Baby Quincy). I told Tony I could definitely do another set of twins - easy as pie. Now I just need a uterus...anyone? anyone? Please pray for me on Tuesday.

A Funeral at 2

2010-11-12T23:19:00.003-07:00

Last Thursday, November 4th, I went to my childhood neighbor's funeral. Lola Robinett, 88 years old. When Lola passed, her cousins called upon the Bishop to help with the funeral services. Bishop knew he could count on the Brown Family to help: Dad gave Lola's eulogy, Josh spoke,and I said the closing prayer.

Attending Lola's funeral brought a flood of emotions that I wasn't ready to deal with. Mortality, accountability, for my time here on earth, stewardship over what I have and have been blessed with, and other thoughts flooded my mind, and as I offered the closing prayer, my eyes were flooding and I was struggling - for me. The first part of October I was diagnosed with Adenocarcinoma, stage 1B cancer.

Becca at the Dentist!

2010-11-12T18:06:00.013-07:00

Becca went to the Dentist on Wednesday! This visit was more than the silly 'happy' visit she & Mary-Gail had last year: we actually got her teeth x-rayed, scrubbed, and flossed. (Mary-Gail's appointment is next Wednesday). Becca was so happy to be at the dentist. When one of the dental assistants came to get a patient, Becca ran up to her and tugged on her scrub top and said, "Dentist, dentist, I have a lost tooth." Becca had everyone in the waiting room smiling with her cuteness.

In preparation to our dental appointment, we've been reading The Little Critter's book, Just Going to the Dentist, by Mercer Mayer and Dora the Explorer's, Show me Your Smile. Becca & Mary-Gail loves The Little Critter books. The dentist room "looks like a spaceship" and there is a "super critter x-ray machine." both the books do a great job explaining who the dentist is, why we have to see one, and what happens if there are sugar bugs that eat our teeth.

When Becca's dental assistant, Miss Annie, came to get us, Becca grabbed hold of her hand and walked with her down to the room. Becca got on the chair just like The Little Critter and Dora did, and Miss Annie gave her a ride up and down. I told Miss Annie that I wanted to get a good picture of Becca's teeth to make sure there is a permanent tooth in Becca's bottom jaw. {See, Becca was born with a tooth! (Crazy since she was born at 27-weeks - 13 weeks early!) The NICU Ear, Nose, and Throat doc came by and sure enough, he confirmed that Becca had a bottom tooth. He flicked it out with his gloved finger, and our NICU nurse saved it for us}.

Miss Annie took us down to the panoramic x-ray machine. Becca was such a good little patient! She was excited to have everyone's attention (even the patients who were already in the dental chair getting their teeth cleaned, craned their necks to see who belonged to the excited, little angel voice). Becca sat in the chair, Miss Annie adjusted the chin rest, and Becca bit on the plastic stick. When I told her to "freeze!" she did so, and put her hands up in the "freeze" pose. Miss Annie laughed and laughed!

The Panoramic X-ray machine

"Super critter X-ray"

Miss Annie helps adjust the chin rest and bite piece

Becca's a little nervous...okay, she's a lot nervous, but she held still just the same

Miss Annie took us back to the room, and gave Becca 3 choices for the toothpaste she was going to use to clean Becca's teeth: cherry, mint, or bubblegum. Becca didn't even let Miss Annie finish: "Oooh, I l o v e cherry!" Miss Annie clipped on Becca's plastic bib, gave her another ride in the dental chair, and Becca settled right in. Miss Annie explained the tools: one shot water (and Becca got a shot of water in her mouth); one sucked up the water (Becca let Miss Annie put it in her mouth and sucked up the remaining water/saliva); one spinned in a super, fast circle and it tickled Becca's hand as Miss Annie pressed it against Becca's hand; the last tool counted Becca's teeth: 9 on the bottom and 10 on the top!

Becca LOVES cherry toothpaste!

All Done!

Look at those pearly white teeth! So beautiful and clean!!

Becca didn't have any cavities! That was such so super-duper good news. Plus, when the dentist came in he confirmed that Becca's x-rays showed that there was a permanent tooth in the missing spot on Becca's bottom gum. And I was relieved at that news too! Miss Annie kept saying she was so shocked that Becca's teeth were cleaned, and when she got the floss out, Becca loudly announced, "Hey, that's floss. We have floss out our home. I love floss!" Miss Annie couldn't believe that Becca knew what floss was; she said most kids don't know about floss, let alone a 4-year old. Becca got some fluoride painted on her teeth, and then we were done! I told the dentist and Miss Annie that we'd see them in 6 months, and Becca repeated (in a much louder voice), "See you in 6-months Mr. Dentist and Miss Annie!"

Lovey celebrates a birthday, October 10th

2010-11-09T01:15:00.001-07:00

Lovey's sister, DarDar + husband, Mark, invited us + Jack & Carol up for supper to celebrate Lovey's birthday. We hustled home from Thanksgiving Point, (see earlier post), got Becca & Mary-Gail situated with AmyCakes, and then turned around and headed back up north to DarDar's house. We visited for a while and then Jack+Carol & Mark+DarDar gave Lovey his b-day presents & cards. DarDar made a ginormous, everything-from-scratch-homemade 2-layer carrot cake. It looked amazing! And what did I do for my Lovey? Nothing. The gift I got for him still hadn't arrived, and I was just going to make a pitiful cake from a box. Thank goodness Lovey's sister and brother are super wonderful and made his day special. I'm seriously lacking in the "homemaking skills department." That's OK; I gave Lovey something that no one else could give him. :)

We went to supper at Texas Roadhouse, and it was d e l i c i o u s. Cinnamon butter on pipping hot rolls. Ummm. Mark & DarDar treated us - so generous! - and then the waiters/waitresses came out with a dessert for Lovey and a horse saddle for him to sit on while they sang to him. Lovey completely took everyone by surprise when he saddled-up and rode the saddle like it was a rodeo bull trying to buck him off. Crazy!!!

We adjourned back to DarDar's house for a giant slice of her carrot cake. And oh my gosh! It was so, so, so good. So good! I'm definitely requesting a carrot cake from DarDar for my birthday next year!

Mark & DarDar were nice and only put one candle on the cake...

...a tombstone candle

And Lovey still had the lung capacity to blow it out. j/k

********************************************************
My gift to Lovey finally arrived on Saturday, October 16th. Rebecca & Mary-Gail were more excited about opening the present/box than Lovey was. Mary-Gail came running into the bedroom with a knife to open the box (yes, she was running with a knife - a butter knife).

Two birthday videos (nevermind Mary-Gail as she slices through her toes with the dulled butter-knife)

Lovey got all new Glock wear...

...I think he was really happy with all his presents. Happy birthday Lovey

Thanksgiving Point with the girls

2010-11-08T22:12:00.017-07:00

Saturday, October 9th, Lovey & I surprised the girls with a trip to the Big Red Barn at Thanksgiving Point. When I told Mary-Gail and Becca that we were going to get to see the horses and maybe even get to ride on them, Becca said, "Oh Boy!" and Mary-Gail jumped into her all-time favorite conversation of "When I was a ..."

"When I was a baby horse, you were a mommy horse and I said 'neigh'." Anything that Mary-Gail loves can be substituted in the above sentence. Spiders, kitties, doggies, dolphins, basically anything that's an animal. I have her cousin, Travis, to thank for that. Mary-Gail adored Travis and all his pets (snakes, lizards, bugs). Thanks Travi!

Saturday was coooold, and since I foolishly left Becca & Mary-Gail's jackets at school, I had to scrounge to find something warm for them to wear. Luckily their size 2T sweaters from 2 years ago still fit. (Sometimes it pays to be a preemie). Right off Mary-Gail saw the witch cut-out and started in about how she was going to be a baby witch and I was going to be a mommy witch, and Becca overheard Mary-Gail and thought Mary-Gail wanted Becca to be a baby witch too, but Becca didn't want to be a baby witch, she wanted to be a princess, and then the two of them started arguing about what they were going to be for Halloween, which was 3 weeks away...you'd never know the girls were arguing based on these pictures

Hello little witches

Same facial expressions in these two pics

Mary-Gail and Becca loved these ducks. They thought these ducks were the ducks we always feed, but when I told them that "our" ducks lived by Aunt JoJo in Springville, Becca said, "I know Mom. They just flied here."

And this goose kept squawking at me as if he were saying, "Yeah, A-man-Dah. We just flew here."

These geese were funny, standing on one leg. I think they were Chinese Geese...?

Oh, Mary-Gail loves, loves, loves horses!

Oh no! The twins are in jail!

Hello, Mr. Foo-Foo head chicken

Feeding time for the goats...the big goats kept picking on the little goats - mean

This little goat left the pack and sauntered over to Becca & Mary-Gail. It wasn't long before he figured out that he had two personal feeders

Mary-Gail & Becca scooped up the remaining loose hay for the lone, little goat

All done. Time to get a pony ride (the second of the day)

Hello little Miss Sassy-Pants

Hello little Miss Shyness

Becca rode the little pony that had one brown eye and one blue eye "just like me and Mary-Gail," said Becca

This little girl was in heaven! She got to ride on the big horses each time

Look at Rebecca & Mary-Gail's electric eyes! So beautiful

I was trying to get the girls' attention for this picture. I told them I had a giant spider on my shoulder, which is why Mary-Gail has the stone-cold-frozen look on her face in the 2nd pic. Rebecca stalled for just a moment, but wasn't fazed (she's used to this trick). I can't "cry wolf" with Becca anymore.

All in all it was a fabulous outing to Thanksgiving Point. I loved hearing the girls ramble on and on (mostly Mary-Gail) about the animals and what they were eating and how when they were baby goats/horses/cows/chickens they liked to eat that too. Oh my, the minds of my 3 3/4 year olds never stop working.

A boyfriend/girlfriend weekend

2010-11-07T21:40:00.017-07:00

Lovey took me away this weekend for a boyfriend girlfriend getaway. We left Becca & Mary-Gail in our niece, Amy's, very capable hands, and headed up to Park City Friday evening. Becca & Mary-Gail were ridiculously excited when they heard AmyCakes was going to sleep-over and play with them all weekend long; I recall Becca's exact words were, "Oh yeah! It's gonna be so much fun!" And Mary-Gail said, "Have fun on your date night."

We did have fun. We ate supper at the pub at the top of Main Street. Lovey had the buffalo burger, and I was craving the fish'n'chips. Neither of the dishes disappointed. We checked into the Marriott, I unpacked us (I don't like "living" out of a suitcase no matter how short the stay), and we snuggled in for a late-night movie.

Saturday started off especially wonderful because we slept in! I did feel a tiny ping of guilt after realizing that I was grateful to be alone with Lovey for the whole weekend - sans kids and dogs - but that "ping" was short lived. We got ready for the day, ate a late breakfast, and then headed to the outlets for some shopping. Lovey & I picked up some much needed clothes for Becca & Mary-Gail (i.e. pants! The girls are growing so tall that all their pants are floods!), and then Lovey made a fatal announcement: he wanted to go to Banana Republic.

We (I) spent the next 2 hours shopping in Banana. Lovey gasped when he saw my arms loaded with clothes, and warned me that the limit in the dressing room was 5. Whatever! I pulled him into the dressing room with me, and gave him his assignment: to remove the clothes from the hanger and then re-hang the clothes after I tried them on. (That's what my mom, sisters, & I do when we go shopping together, and now Lovey was in charge of that responsibility). Lovey was remarkable, and remarkably patient! And so full of complements as well as a few criticisms of the clothes I tried on. I nearly kissed him (actually I did) after I tried on each item! He made me/makes me feel like a million bucks.

And that's about how much money I spent in Banana Republic. I bought serveral shirts, sweaters, and a dress. The pants were awkward and the only style that fits my curves well is the "Jackson Fit" and there weren't very many pants in that style. I mean, really, I have like a 6 pairs of black slacks already - I seriously don't need another one (that's what Lovey reminded me when I tried on another pair of black slacks). Plus, Lovey said that after my surgery things will fit differently so we should wait and come back...I don't know if I want to come back after my surgery...

Nevermind that; here's to a fabulous weekend with my boyfriend. Thank you Lovey. And thank you for continuing this annual tradition of getaways! (October 2007; December 2008 PC; June 2009 PC)

Clothes for Becca & Mary-Gail: 2 hoodies, 2 dress shirts, 4 pairs of jeans, 2 leggins w/lace, 4 long-sleeved shirts, and a 1o-pack of socks! Whew!

My loot: Lovey took me to Banana Republic and let me run wild...

Becca gives the BEST responses: Oh my goodness! For me? I love it!

Lovey couldn't wait until Becca & Mary-Gail's birthday to give them the clothes he picked out: the jeans and hoodies. And Becca & Mary-Gail were so excited to get a present from Daddy.

Isn't he (and our girls) just the cutest ever?

Jesus is a God of Miracles

2010-11-05T23:05:00.004-06:00

In my family we've been the receipents of many miracles, from full recovery of brain aneruisym, 2 open-heart surgeries, miracle of getting pregnant, 27-week micro-preemie twins - it's been amazing. Mary-Gail gave her 1st Primary talk in church on Sunday, August 22nd, and the Primary's theme for August happened to be "Jesus is a God of Miracles." Could anything be more fitting? When we came home from church I requested an oncore and Mary-Gail obliged.

Don't cha just love my little miracle?

And here both of my miracles right before we left for church on Sunday, October 24th - the day of the Primary Program. All the little Sunbeams stood up and recited the First Article of Faith, the first fundamental belief of our Gospel:

"We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost."

They tapped danced all morning long in their "sparkly princess shoes"

What's for breakfast?

2010-11-05T10:00:00.001-06:00

Chocolate-covered Hostess Donettes -what else?

Miss Independent

2010-11-05T02:46:00.006-06:00

Rebecca LaRae, 3 11/12 years old, has consistently been able to zip-up the zipper on her jacket for a week! Oh my heavens - ths is h u g e for her. Becca always wants to do things by herself, and now she can zip up her own jacket. Hooray for Becca!

Her expression says to me, "Like it ain't no thing!"

When I asked Becca if I could snap her picture she, of course said yes, but insisted she stand in front of her 'Mr. Bones' that she and Mary-Gail colored at school.

You girls make me laugh

2010-11-04T23:38:00.003-06:00

Mary-Gail said to Lovey last night, "what do you want to be for Halloween Dadda?" (nevermind that Halloween is 3 days past). Lovey exploded with laughter. Mary-Gail looked confused by her Daddy's response, so she asked him again, "huh Dadda? what do you want to be for Halloween?" Lovey said that he was going to be a Mr. FedEx Man, and Becca responded, "ah no - not a Mr. FedEx Man!"

Mary-Gail looked me and asked me what I wanted to be for Halloween. I told her I was going to be an old peddler woman. And Becca echoed, "ah no - not an old peddler woman." I asked Mary-Gail what she was going to be for Halloween. "A witch {pronounced wea-ch} And I'm going trick-or-treating and I'll get lots of candy....more than I did last year." Lovey was mid-drink and almost shot water out of his nose when he heard Mary-Gail say "more than I did last year." I was laughing too and said to Mary-Gail and Becca, "You girls make me laugh," and then we three had a back-&-forth battle of "no you do; no you do; uh-ah, you do."

Tonight Mary-Gail feed her chatter-teeth some iceberg lettuce because "the teeth are hungry because they chatter, chatter, chatter all day and need energy...and lettuce is goood."

(Mary-Gail's chatter teeth getting more energy. please overlook my dirty counter tops)

And the Halloween song that continues to be sung - I love it!

I'm a Mean Old Witch with a hat;

And I ride on my broom with my cat - meow!

My chin is pointy and my hat is too,

You better watch out, cause I might scare you...

...1-2-3- BOO!

Last Call

2010-11-03T07:22:00.002-06:00

Tuesday at work one of the gals commented that her young son stayed up late watching a movie and didn't want to go to bed afterwards - he wanted to watch another one. I piped in - "We've been there." So, what do you do when your little ones have a serious all-out-breakdown when you say "no" to them? You circumvent the situation. Here's what Lovey and I do...

"LAST CALL." That's right: "Last Call." Becca and Mary-Gail know that when we say "last call" it's over - the movie, dinner, being crazy, reading books, whatever. "Last call" is our code name for done, finished, no more. However, we mostly use "Last Call" for reading books. I'll read with the girls until 7:45 pm and then I say, "Last Call," and the girls echo - "last call!" Becca will choose her last book, and Mary-Gail will choose hers, and they'll go find Lovey to join us. Lovey is in charge of reading the last 2 books. He makes it very clear to the girls that "this is the last book ever in the whole creation of reading books in tonight's nighttime-night," and then he'll have the girls rehearse to him what they do after he finishes reading the last book. The girls repeat the same thing every night, almost always in unison: "go potty, sing songs, say prayers, and go to bed."

Each night I watch Lovey reading to our girls, and my smile grows bigger (hard to imagine) and my heart swells with love for their interaction with each other. Lovey makes the high voices for the girls in the books (very comical), and he makes a great voice for the troll in The Three Billy Goats Gruff book. Animation is key for our little readers. Tonight I marveled at how similar Mary-Gail and Lovey are. Among other things they both love to read laying on their stomachs. Just thinking about that makes my back go into spasms. Becca and I prefer to sit up straight. So interesting that Mary-Gail looks like me, but has Lovey's family names and has his personality (easy going, carefree); and Becca looks like Lovey, but has my family names and has my personality (OCD, control-freak). I'll have to share how Lovey & I determined "who was who" when the girls were born...later

This is my favorite - Lovey shares a secret with Mary-Gail.

Aren't they just terribly cute?

I voted

2010-11-02T23:24:00.001-06:00

...and surprisingly I voted Republican. Good thing the "I voted" sticker isn't partisan.

While I vacuum...

2010-11-02T07:16:00.003-06:00

...they read. Vacuuming is my favorite chore - can it really even be called a chore if I enjoy it so much? Anyone who has a Dyson knows what I'm talking about. We've had our Dyson since our days in Charleston, SC, and the vacuum still works. That's amazing! I did have to have it serviced and have the temperature gauge replaced last year though; the repair man said I vacuumed for too long of a stretch of time. Clearly he doesn't understand the joy of having thoroughly clean and sucked-up carpets.

Enough about my vacuuming obsession and my Dyson - this post is about Becca & Mary-Gail. While I vacuum, they read. This day Mary-Gail chose to read, Snow White. She was so entertaining that I snatched the camera and snapped away. Mary-Gail was telling the story, and Becca was filling in the missing pieces, "No, no, Mary-Gail. You forgot about the Huntsman." Mary-Gail wanted to cut to the part with the Wicked Queen in disguise as the "old peddler woman" (can you believe they wanted me to be the "old peddler woman" for Halloween - what?!). We read this story all the time and I still get a kick out of watching their expressions when Snow White takes a bite of the poisoned apple and falls in a deep sleep - or dead, according to Rebecca..."and only true loves kiss will break the spell."

Welcome to November!

2010-11-01T23:08:00.020-06:00

It's Becca & Mary-Gail's birthday month!

This month is such a special one;

It's birthday time for you!

We'd really like to celebrate

This happy day with you!

Zip-a-dee-ay and heigh-dee-ho

Here's something we can do...

We'll sing a song that we all know,

"Happy Birthday to you!"

(Children's Songbook, pg 283)

Rebecca & Mary-Gail turn 4 YEARS OLD on the 27th!! They have been talking about their birthday since March. And everyday they say to me, "Cy said our birthday was in March. But it's not; our birthday is in November. Hurmph!" Mary-Gail carries around her music box, which she calls her "cake" and asks, "who wants a piece of my cake?!" Then she grabs a pretend piece of her cake (music box) and hands it to you. Yesterday she put the pretend piece of cake in my mouth and it was delicious!

Last month we went to the girls' school's 25th birthday party. R Kids celebrated with cupcakes, face painting, games, balloons, and little prizes. What a blast! JoJo and Jed were there too with their littles, and it was fun to see all our kids play with their little friends from school. Mary-Gail was so excited about the birthday party invitation: it was a 15-layer birthday cake topped with two sparkling candles (the picture was drawn by one of the children at R Kids). Mary-Gail exclaimed, "this is going to be my birthday cake!" Oh boy...15 layers high? I already feel like the little fairy in Sleeping Beauty who can't make the cake for Princess Aurora. I'll have to pull out my magic wand (aka Carly & JoJo) to make it happen ;O'

Becca & Cy do the actions to their song

(Mary-Gail wanted to cuddle with me...awh!)

Mary-Gail gets her face painted...

...a flower

And Becca gets her face painted...

...a flower too, but here she's showing off the massive scratch on her cheek

(she was very proud of the scratch because she got it while she was helping Tony & me cut down our trees and stack the limbs in the truck)

Taylor Bug got a flower

And JoJo painted Cy's face...

...with a snake. Cy is thrilled!

Gage had his face painted with a snake, too

Kids in motion
Becca was "in the air" all night long!

Reese w/her friend Kennedy...

...they were best friends at R Kids

Cy with his friend, Sam

Becca deals a blow to Gage

I l ove these kids! Becca was so excited and full of energy that she just kept jumping up and down. Jed said to me after they finished singing, "Who's the pogo-stick?" No wonder Becca has killer, rock-hard calf muscles.

A roll of Smarties

2010-10-30T16:51:00.002-06:00

If this is what Becca does with a package of Smarties, can you imagine what she & Mary-Gail will do with all their Halloween candy???

What a surprise

2010-10-28T23:54:00.002-06:00

so i got hit with some pretty crappy news at the beginning of this month, and my Lovey wanted to cheer me up. he is so loving and astute to my feelings, and knew just what i needed...

something shiny and new!!!

do you love them? i do. becca, mary-gail, and i had just come home from walking pixie & arlamae & visiting w/jack & carol. i was mumbling something under my breath about how messy our entry way was; instead of picking up shoes, socks, and coats, i marched upstairs and saw these beautiful creatures sitting on my kitchen counter. aren't they lovely?!

i told Lovey that i didn't think i could use them because they were so pretty. he smiled at me, and i'm sure he was thinking, "honey, you hardly used the last set," but he didn't. he was sweet on me and said he couldn't wait to have me make our little family dinner with my new, shiny pots & pans. i got a kiss and then becca & mary-gail started dancing and singing, "you're gonna get married! you're gonna get married! when you're 24! in the temple..." see, we've already begun teaching our daughters the importance of getting married at the right time (when they're 24-years old), in the right place (the temple), to the right person (that is if Lovey doesn't shoot the guy first).

Neighborhood preschool

2010-10-28T22:00:00.017-06:00

**The letter B, the color Blue, the shape Square,

and the number zero**

Last year I did "Joy School" with 6 other moms in our neighborhood. A schedule was created with each mom taking a turn once every 6 weeks to host Joy School at her home. The lesson plan was simple: teach a letter, color, shape, & number. There were 8 kids total (I have twins, remember?) and school only lasted 1 1/2 hours. It was the highlight of Becca & Mary-Gail's life and the excitement of "going to school" would build over the week until it was school-day. I took the girls w/me to get backpacks: Mary-Gail chose a "Dora The Explorer" backpack, and Becca chose an "Ariel, Little Mermaid" backpack. Oh how they loved their backpacks! And they loved playing with their new friends. Some of the existing bonds between the little 3 year old girls were stronger than others, which made me sad that Becca & Mary-Gail weren't "included" like I would have liked, but made me more grateful that I had twins and they were (and still are) each other's best friends.

This year we joined the neighborhood Joy School again. Some of the girls had already turned 4 and "graduated" to a different preschool in the neighborhood (we've been on that preschool's waiting list since April 2008! 2008?! I've had my kids on a preschool waiting list for 2 1/2 years?). And some of the previous moms wanted a smaller number of kids in the group - I guess 8 little 3-year olds were too much for them, but I didn't mind (then I remembered they're not used to having multiple children of the same age like I am). So the group was organized down to 4 kids. My first turn was on Thursday, September 16th. I was in charge of the letter B, the color Blue, the shape Square, the number zero.

Here's what I did: made bean bags with the Big & little letter "B" sewn on (I sewed the number zero on the reverse side). The material I used was flannel w/little blue squares and the finished bean bag made a large square. The kids filled their own bean bag with...beans, then I sewed them closed, all the while making the "b" sound and enunciating each word that began with the letter b: "Let's fill our b-b-b-bean b-b-b-bag with our b-b-b-beans..." Once we were all done, we played hot potato, except it was "b-b-b-burning b-b-b-beans!" So much fun! It was wonderful!!

Big B, little b, what begins with b?

We had a snack: Life Cereal (we called it b-b-b-brown squares) and then we went outside to b-b-b-blow b-b-b-bubbles, and to b-b-b-bounce! The bubble wand blew bubbles that looked like a large zero's, and the kids jumped on the large b-b-b-blue b-b-b-base that was the shape of a square. (It all came together very nicely, don't you think?) I seriously lost track of time, and before we could do anything else, everyone's mom's came to get their child. I sent each child home with a b-b-b-blue b-b-b-balloon. Just for the record, I hate balloons because my girls fight over them with a vengence; but everyone needs a blue balloon when you're learning about "B"

I loved it so much, and I loved playing with the kids. My dream has always been to have a house full of kids, and it was realized each time I had Joy School at my house. I tried to arrange my schedule w/day care to continue doing Joy School this year, but sadly, my day care rate didn't change, and I couldn't "afford" to be home for the roughly 3 hours it took me for prep, play, and clean-up. I had to back-out of Joy School. Last Thursday, 10/21, would have been my turn again. JoJo says I should start my own neighborhood preschool...maybe.

I stole them

2010-10-25T21:43:00.007-06:00

Tenley {brown eyes, brown hair}; Quincy {blue eyes, red hair}

Oh yes I did! I stole these pictures right off my sister's blog because I LOVE HER & HER BABIES SO MUCH!!!! And that's not all I stole. JoJo & I each stole one of Carly's babies when she visited for a few weeks this past June. I stole Tenley and Jo stole Quincy (Quincy Joanna...of course she'd get her name-sake baby!) It was so much fun having Tenley spend the night! Becca & Mary-Gail were all over her, and Becca was very possessive of "the baby-sitter" - that's what Becca called the pack'n'play, "the babysitter." And when I lent it out to a lady in our ward for a week, Becca nearly cried. So sweet.

Becca has been in this baby-talk mode for a while now - like almost this whole year! - and I hear Mary-Gail correct Becca when she does baby talk, "Becca, you're not the baby; baby Tenley is the baby," and then Becca will respond with, "Baby Tenley can do baby talk. I'm a big girl."

JoJo and her family + mom were able to go to Paige, AZ, this past weekend and meet up with Car, Spence and their twiners. Jo & Car did a triathlon and rocked it! Jo came in 3rd in her age group (killer!) and Car came in 2nd in her division (seriously? Do you have to show up everyone? You just had twin girls and were on bed-rest for 5 months!!!) I'm not in the least bit jealous...oh no, not me...:)

I am wishing I could re-live my baby days again. Savor them this time instead of being overly neurotic. But can you blame me? I mean, Mary-Gail was supposed to be a vegetable and if you have seen Mary-Gail, or talked to her or played with her, you know she is anything but a vegetable. And Rebecca is so mature - she always tells me, "I'm the big sister Mom. I'm bigger." And I say, "Yes, you are. You are 4 minutes older than Mary-Gail!" And Becca says with a huge amount of elation in her voice, "Yeah, I know!" I love reading Carly's blog and seeing her devour her girls - her miracle babies. They are at my favorite stage: sitting upright, grabbing at everything, putting whole fists and whole feet in their mouths (and each other's mouths), babbling constantly and smiling at everything you do. I love it!

Carly & her girls will be here in just three short weeks and I plan on stealing both Tenley & Quincy for a night. What would it be like to have two sets of twins....hmmmm. I can't wait!!!

Is my mom coming, or what?

2010-10-14T22:40:00.006-06:00

That's what Mary-Gail said to her teacher on Wednesday. "Is my mom coming, or what?" Miss Kenzie told Mary-Gail that Mommy usually comes to get her and Becca when they're outside playing. Didn't satisfy Mary-Gail; she insisted that I come and get her and Becca from school right now!

I love the reception Becca & Mary-Gail give me when I drop them off AND pick them up from school. Becca & Mary-Gail always say, "thanks for taking us to school mom." Ahh, it's seriously so cute. Then they skip off to their class, hang up their coats, and give their teachers big hugs. It makes my guilt of leaving them for 8+hours a day a little less painful.

But my favorite is when I come to get them after work. Oh how these sweet little girls race to me with their arms outstretched, screaming all the way, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!" I snatch them up in my arms and we spin around and around. Becca squeezes my neck, and gives me big kisses, "muah!" And Mary-Gail seems to always say, "Mommy you came back!" (which brings back my enormous guilt of being away). Oh how my time with Becca & Mary-Gail has changed! Everything seems so scheduled now: have to rush through our used-to-be relaxed morning routine so I can rush us out the door for school & work; have to rush home to get started on my other job (home business - which is seriously on life support), and then I only have 2 hours left before bedtime @ 8pm. And sadly little Miss Mary-Gail seems to spend 1 1/2 hours in time out (not really, but really).

I know I'm singing the same sad song of working moms, but seriously? This sucks. I'm so sorry that my mom had to work (she doesn't ever complain, my mom, she is seriously a saint); and I'm so sorry that many of my friends have to work, including my best friend and sister, Joanna. I can say that before I didn't "know." I didn't know the turmoil mothers feel as they leave their precious little ones to work outside the home. I didn't know that time with your children could be so cruelly cut short. And I'm sorry for not being more sensitive. These realizations - these heartaches - are making me better: more aware of others, more understanding, less critical & judgemental. I hope to pay-it-forward with the little "free time" I have and be better. So now that I'm done complaining :) I understand that my time is too short to complain and be angry at these situations. After all, I do have two beautiful, intelligent, happy and very lovable girls, and they love school...and they love me.

Lovin' the hand-me-downs

2010-10-11T21:28:00.009-06:00

Way back in May (5 months ago?!) my sister, Kristie, gave Becca & Mary-Gail tons of hand-me-downs which included dress-ups, games, books, and my absolute favorite - Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head (and their 4 little babies). I swear I play with these more than the girls do. I always wanted a Mr. Potato head when I was younger. Now at 33 years old, and thanks to my older sister and her 4 kids' hand-me-downs, I finally have Mr. Potato head. Crazy...but so much fun!

The girls didn't even let Aunt Kristie in the house! They wanted the dress-up clothes immediately. Becca quickly transformed into The Little Mermaid, & Mary-Gail easily became Princess Aurora

Hello, Pappy. Meet "Princess Aurora"

Even Pappy wore a crown!

Mary-Gail requests to wear this princess dress nearly every day - at 7 am!

Thems were the good 'ole days when Reese would come play at our house until she had to go to school @ BYU; when I went to work @ 11 am and had all morning to play to Becca, Mary-Gail, & Reese; and all three girls were excited to be in Pappy's DayCare as Pappy watched them while JoJo & I were at work. Now the girls are at all day day-care, which just sent home 3 kids today who were throwing up and one confirmed case of Strep-Throat. Welcome to DayCare.

Sprinklers @ Pappy's house

2010-10-09T11:19:00.011-06:00

We always have a blast @ Pappy's house. This is the same day as the earlier post (August 17th). Becca & Mary-Gail make me laugh.

"Miguel, you wanna play with me?"

"Peace, be still"

(Becca & Mary-Gail like to play"Jesus" and Becca is saying what Jesus said to the stormy ocean, waves, and rain, "Peace, Be still")

The harvests are over

2010-10-09T10:36:00.011-06:00

This is how we all feel now that Pappy's garden is done producing. Pappy had a wonderful garden!! 2 rows of corn; 3 rows of red, baby potatoes; red, green & yellow bell peppers (and the red and green peppers were outrageously delicious!); baby carrots; red onions; beets; cauliflower; broccoli (the last bit went to flowering); cucumbers; watermelon; cantaloupe; 2 zucchini plants that took over the whole earth(!); and rows and rows of tomatoes. Pappy also planted pumpkins which we still have to pick, but we're waiting to pick those until the last minute!

These pictures were from our very first harvest. The tomatoes were so delicious - they actually tasted like tomatoes, instead of grocery store imitations.

The corn was sweet, sweet, sweet! While I shucked the corn, Becca & Mary-Gail practiced drawing their circles and snail-spirals.

Red beets - tasted just like dirt.

August 17, 2010

Becca & Mary-Gail & I made bi-weekly trips to harvest the tomatoes (their bounty was endless!) and to water Pappy's grass, flowers & gardens. I stocked Pappy's freezer with Popsicles, and between the Popsicles and pretending to jump on the "Pirate Ship" in preparation for our family trip on the "Big Boat," Becca & Mary-Gail were in heaven!

Gimme those red lips, Becca!

Whoa! Sometimes even still pictures can capture sound. I swear these pictures do just that

(Strawberries in the foreground)

This "Pirate Ship" (or a "trailer" as you and I would call it) provided hours of entertainment for Becca & Mary-Gail. I love my little girls' imaginations

More leaping and jumping. Cantaloupe, pumpkin, and summer squash in the background

Back row: Corn, potatoes, onions, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, tomatoes

Front row: zucchini, cucumber, & waermelon

The growing baby red potatoes! Becca & Mary-Gail helped Pappy plant the seeds, and their eyes were full of amazement when they saw the end result! I harvested one row of potatoes (the far left "dirt row") and there were two more rows to harvest.

Yup, so we're all sad now that the zucchini loaves have been devoured, the fresh corn eaten, the potatoes stored for the next potato bar, the green & red peppers have been sliced and cooked with fajitas, and the cucumbers have been picked and pickled (THANK YOU AUNT CAROL!). Pappy's garden treated just more that our family - we brought the bounty to work for our co-workers, and shared through out the neighborhood. Gardens bring people together, and I think that's what I'm most sad about. Thanks Pappy for planting and nourishing such a rich garden, and for brining back the memories of us kids helping to harvest Grandpa's ginormous garden in Springville. xoxoxoxo

This is Not a Box

2010-10-06T22:13:00.011-06:00

We have this book called, "Not a Box." It's a very simple, very "plain" book. I wasn't sure of Becca & Mary-Gail's response to this book when I bought it. It doesn't have elaborate drawings, or lots of words & conversations. It's simply about a bunny rabbit and his box...well, "it's not a box." However, after just one read with Becca & Mary-Gail, their little minds began reeling with ideas, creations, and pretend play. This book sparks children's imaginations and my girls loved it immediately! Just like their "Harold and the purple crayon" book. And it just so happened that Becca & Mary-Gail found their own "not a box" to play with while Lovey & I worked in the garage.

Rebecca & Mary-Gail in their own "Not a Box"...

Which happened to be the "big boat" on the ocean...

...and then it turned into a race car "with no top on" and lots of snow inside "because there is no top on the car, Mom" ...

...which turned back into the big boat, but it was sinking. Ahhhh....

"...Quick! Get out!" ....

...and then it finally turned into their bed...

(kindof looks like their bedroom after they finish playing...messy!)

Go check out the book. And then save your boxes and play!

P.S. This was drafted in July, but slacker me never "published" it

LA Sightseeing tour, Sun, Sept 5th

2010-09-16T20:48:00.020-06:00

Lovey & booked our final excursion with Royal Caribbean for a sight-seeing tour of LA. Our return flight to SLC wasn't until 6pm that night, and we had to disembark by 10 am, so it was a good "filler" for us. The excursion was to start @ 8:30 am. We were instructed to meet in the Savoy Theatre at 8:15 am w/our bags in tow, and we'd disembark the big boat as a group. Oh, not so, not so. After waiting in the theatre for over an hour, being treated by Becca & Mary-Gail's pretend play, we finally wheeled our luggage out, said good -bye to the big boat, and entered the customs station. Can I just say that Becca & Mary-Gail are such good playmates! They humored me and Lovey, as well as several other passengers, while we waited in the theatre: Becca was the Mommy, and Mary-Gail was the baby, and the baby had to take her medicine, but she didn't want to...(seems very close to the real life scenario).

Climbing in the tour van

Don't know if you can read the writing on the blockade in the background - it says 5,000 lbs. I told Lovey that I felt like I weighed 5,000 lbs...and with that he blew a surprised whistle

Beautiful architecture. The dome looks like a bell my Grandma Next Door had in her china collection

According to our guide, this was a standard looking home for the early 1940's

Ritz Carlton (I love that name, "Carlton")

This is the Philharmonic Concert hall. It's a crazy design, but it's said to have the best acoustics. The sheets of stainless steel had to be "dulled" because the reflection from the sun was blinding.

Some famously delicious breakfast house (I didn't get a picture of the famously delicious hotdog establishment called "Pinks" either. The line at Pinks longer than this line, and it was only 10:30am)

hot! hot! hot!

"Dragnet" building

These designed were etched on the cement barriers along the freeway. Pretty cool

Seriously?

Hollywood stars. I desperately wanted to find Judy Garland's star, but was overwhelmed with just how many stars there were = both sidewalks were covered with them for miles & miles

The "Rat Pack" would convene at the Pig'n Whistle to discuss business, but would rarely order anything. The waiters would get angry b/c the Rat Pack would stay for hours and hours. The waiters began to argue with the Rat Pack and would try and kick them out; in turn, the Rat Pack would taunt the waiters...turned the establishment famous.

I would have liked to hike up to the "Hollywood" sign...perhaps another time, and definitely another dollar

Kodak Theatre

That way to Hollywood

Mary-Gail walked on the glass-tile-brook road, and Becca practiced her cat-walking skills. She gets it from her Daddy :)

And Mary-Gail gets her sweet tooth from me. Lovey spotted a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and got us 2 Carmel apples to share. Well, he got him and the girls a Carmel apple to share, and I got my own. He knows me so well!

"Departed" won the Oscar for Best Picture of 2006 - the year the girls were born

Next Stop: the farmer's market

Gilmore gas station

Aboard the double-decker electric trolley for a ride through the market

Beautiful, clear blue skies - matched Mary-Gail's eyes perfectly

Mary-Gail announced to everyone on the trolley, "Ma - I have to go poo. I have to go poo now." So we got back off the double-decker trolley, waltzed into World Market to use their bathroom. Becca & I found this awesome reddish-orange papassian chair. Becca loved it and was terribly disappointed that Mary-Gail did too.

Becca lovin' lounging on the chair

Becca completely frustrated that Mary-Gail loves the papassian chair too

After everyone had their turn in the clean, air-conditioned bathroom at World Market, we walked back to the entrance of the Farmer's Market
.

Please, won't you be my neighbor? I have my sister, Kristie, to thank for my early introduction to M A C. I love their lipstick - simply the best ever!

Becca was leading Mary-Gail as they walked hand-in-hand

They take good care of each other

Back @ the entrance I got distracted at a booth with some fabulous scarves. Lovey was with the girls and when I turned to check on them, this is what I saw:

Rebecca & Mary-Gail - fishing for money

Did you know that Lovey used to do this also? Only he wasn't 3 1/2 years old; he was a teenager who acted 3 1/2 year old :)

Sat, Sept 4 - at sea

2010-09-14T23:15:00.012-06:00

Last Day on the Big Boat
Random pictures from our random day at sea

2 ragga-muffins

"Agent Mary-Gail Destructo" destroyed the towel creation Mr. Lukmann made for them the night before. Seeing how sad (pretend) I was, she gave (read: threw) it to me and wanted me to fix it. Since I have no skills whatsoever, and could not repair the momma cow, I made up a story of how the baby calf discovered that she had wings and flew to heaven to met the momma cow who now lives with Jesus. Can you follow that from these pics Lovey took?

Baby calf flying away...

Mary-Gail was satisfied - phew! - and she showed me her skills as she flew from one bed to the other

Just in case you didn't know what day it was, the elevator floor can tell you.

We headed up to Deck 12 to play the arcades and used up the rest of the arcade $ Lovey put on his card. Mary-Gail & Becca gravitated to the driving arcades - Lovey helped out with the gas pedal

Becca tries the virtual surf board

I grew to love these windows as much as Mary-Gail & Becca did. They were perfect for a little "sit & snap"

Watermelon art

"Princess Becca" walking down the stairs.

She has killer legs. I'm jealous!

The girls hugging

This was/is a common sight. The girls hugging. They would race each other down the hallway to our room (our room was at the end, turn right, 1st door on left) and then whomever was the victor would run to the other and catch her in her arms. Loved it then; Love it now. I'm sure the other guests didn't love hearing them @ 7am though. But, hey, this is our vacation too, and a little laughter never hurt anyone.

And neither did a much needed siesta. Love the hair Becs

Cookies and milk and milk and milk. Who wants some more milk? I do!

(Not fair that Lovey snapped this while we weren't looking. Just proof of how much milk I did drink)

"Ta -dah!" Becca's one-legged stance w/out-stretched arm. Definitely a performer, that one

Hanging out in the window sill again. Oh, I love this picture!

Mary-Gail would see just how many steps she could jump down. I think she mastered 5!

More jumping - Mary-Gail in mid-air

Crazies!

There's my girls on their big boat, The Mariner of the Seas

Lovey, can you put on your "angel face" for me next time...

Just like that. Thank you Mary-Gail & Becca for showing Daddy how to smile.

Such sweet angels. Thank you!

More pics from Deck 12 and the Arcade. How do you win at Skee-Ball?

Watch the pro:

You use your legs and run up the ramp with the skee-ball in your hand

and drop the skee-ball in the 100 point slots. Duh!

Some photos just take your breath away. This is one of those for me.

Saturday was so, so, so windy and so very cold! I lost Becca's jacket, so we couldn't stay outside for long. We ventured through the boat and got a few pictures we wanted to take. Then we headed back to our room, ordered room service (we finally got the hang of it) and watched the show "UP." Lovey & I took the girls to this show last year, and can you believe it - they remembered. They also said they remembered me crying in it (the beginning is so sad for me), but I don't really think they remembered that.

Friday, Sept 3rd - Butterflies at Sea

2010-09-14T23:00:00.002-06:00

Loves these finger-painted butterflies? One of the crafts the girls did at the Aquanauts program.

Friday night was Formal Night again, but it was also lobster night. We had a dilemma: we brought no formal clothes what-so-ever, but we both wanted lobster. What to do, what to do. Lovey talked with our head waiter at the seated dining, and arranged for us to have our meals brought to our room as room-service.

The girls tried shrimp, and lobster, but weren't fans. Instead, they ate the prime rib (Lovey's little meat eaters!) and vegetables. They also ate 2 Caesar salads and absolutely loved the cream of asparagus. I should have taken pictures of them devouring their food, but I was too hungry to do anything but eat myself.

After we finished stuffing ourselves, we went swimming. Or tried to. The night was turning cooler as we were leaving the warm waters of the Mexican Riviera on our journey back to LA. And since the boat pumped in the ocean water, it wasn't as warm as it had been on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Plus, it started raining, and the rain fell hard. We didn't even shower off the salt water at the pool - just grabbed our wet towels and ran back to our room. Mr. Lukmann had been in to turn our beds down and he left the girls another towel-present:

a momma cow with her little baby calf. I think Mr. Lukmann was trying to tell me something with all the milk I was drinking!

Puerta Villarta, Cont...

2010-09-14T21:52:00.013-06:00

This was our view from our stateroom window as we pulled into Puerta Villarta @ 7am...Walmart & Sam's Club. You cannot believe how excited our girls were to see the "Kite Store!" in Mexico.

Our Pirate Boat excursion was @ 8:15am, so we hustled to breakfast (I needed my 4 cartons on milk, despite what my clothes were telling me) and we quickly exited the ship. As soon we left the security detail, we were bombarded by booths and vendors, which were booths lined up on either side of the exit, and they tried anything to get you to buy their shiz. We declined everything, and while we waited for our Pirate Boat wrist-bands, Becca & Mary-Gail petted this little donkey. The owner suggested we get a picture with them, which we did of course, and it was then that I learned he wanted $5.00 per picture. No. I'll pay $1.00 per picture, thank you very much. (Truth be told, I would have paid more, especially since I absolutely adore Mary-Gail's picture - she is definitely an animal lover - but I don't like being taken).

The owner said the $ would go towards the donkey shelter he ran...whatev

Lovey & the girls @ 8:30 am w/the Pirate ship and "the big boat" in the background

We boarded the Pirate Ship, then headed downstairs to the hold to have breakfast. The girls topped off with a Mexican-brand/style of Coco Krispies cereal. The milk label read "no refrigeration required" (I deciphered that from the limited amount of Spanish I retained from high school) so of course I had to taste the milk. I was evaporated milk! P.S. I l o v e evaporated milk. It was delish!

Aboard the Pirate Ship - just after they fed us breakfast

Loving Mary-Gail's furrowed brow. This is her "seriously?" look

And I love Mary-Gail's profile. This is her "I'm too sexy for your picture" look-away-look

(Puerta Villarta skyline as we sail to the beach)

OK, I guess I do have more than one complete family photos of us...

Mary-Gail loves to pretend she's dead. Tongue out and everything - awesome

Becca was laughing too much to actually be dead

Two pickers: Becca picking the skin on her top lip,

and Mary-Gail picking the sore under her nose

"But, Dad - I need to get in there! Pleeeeze!"

The Pirate Ship

The Pirate Ship dropped us off at the beach for a couple hours of play time. We body-surfed, explored, kayaked, and dug for buried treasure. Then we loaded back up on the speed boats and boarded the pirate ship for our return voyage home.

Poor Daddy is stuck in the stocks

and so are Mary-Gail & Becca

Mary-Gail gave up the ghost...

...literally

The Pirate cast did one final song & dance

We finally got back to the dock (the excursion was like 6 hours long!). We headed back to our room, had a little siesta, and then I decided we should go visit the Walmart. Becca & Mary-Gail weren't interested (they wanted to go swimming), but when we bribed them with gum, they quickly agreed. Becca became the line-leader and marched us through security and off the big boat. I loved this tree, so I begged Becca & Mary-Gail to "pretty-please stand in front of it so I can get a picture..."

speed limit sign on our walk to Walmart

hah - decipher this if you can

Cactus plant. I seriously wanted to buy a bag, or even just one leaf, but the big boat has silly rules about what you can bring back onto the ship. I didn't want it to be confiscated...

I love license plates. So just like any other vacation we go on, I have to snap a picture of a few.

Looking at the big boat from the Walmart parking lot

Thursday night we decided we'd go to the sit down dinning again. The previous nights we had just eaten at the buffet, but Wednesday we wanted a change and had a great experience @ the sit down dinning, that we opted for it again Thursday night. Our waiter, Mr. Edwin, was in love with the girls. He said he was a twin also -identical - and that in late October he will be transferring ships to work on the same ship as his twin brother. Mr. Edwin was really excited because he would also be able to be with his wife. Their contracts got mixed up and Edwin was assigned to this ship, while his wife and brother were assigned to a different ship. I asked Mr. Edwin what his wife did on the other ship, and he said she was a cabin attendant. Oy, vey - I understood that job very well from my days in Alaska as house keeping. We once cleaned a small, very small cruise ship and I hated it! (I didn't share any of that with Mr. Edwin, though).

Mr. Edwin brought the girls a special dessert: a brownie, vanilla ice cream, cookie "sandwich."

Thurs, Sept 2nd - Puerta Villarta

2010-09-12T23:18:00.010-06:00

A little piece of heaven in Puerta Villarta...

Oops, wrong picture. Here's what I meant by "a little piece of heaven":

Private homes; private beach; warm ocean water; cold, fresh, mountain water

Lovey caught* this iguana and the girls were mesmerized

Mary-Gail & Becca raced across the cold, fresh mountain run-off probably 30 times...

...and then they discovered the butterflies

* OK, so Lovey didn't really catch the Iguana. Someone approached me with it and wanted me to hold it, to which I flatly refused. But Lovey held it and the girls were completely mesmerized. And then I learned that the man wanted $20 dollars for the pictures I took. Forget it!

More Puerta Villarta pictures to follow. We booked a "Pirate Boat" excursion which dropped us off at this paradise location. Mary-Gail & I went kayaking (Lovey's back cramped up on him and Becca & they had to return prematurely), but mostly we body surfed the waves and went exploring. More pics to come - like 30 more pics!