Mo-Tab and more

On Friday night we went with Leslie to the Mo-Tab Christmas concert at the conference center. Rachel also came with us.
The concert was great! We enjoyed it. The performers were really talented. Rachel grinned really big when the usher asked her if she liked it. She loved it. I was surprised that she knew who Handel was. I guess they've been learning about composers at school.
The tickets were originally my sister Jenny's. She couldn't make it, so she gave them to us. The tickets somehow must have ended up in the VIP section. We could see President Monson, Mitt Romney and many of the other general authorities. They were only several rows away. I thought that was kind of cool.
Getting out of the parking garage was not fun. We sat there for at least an hour. That's what happens when you are three levels down and everyone leaves at once.
On Saturday, my mom took me to Olive Garden for lunch. Then we went birthday shopping. I found a cute dress at JCPenney. We still need to go Christmas shopping. She always just has me pick out my own gifts. I had fun.
Today was my birthday. We woke up rather tired because we didn't sleep well. I don't know why, but our power went off and on all night long. Every time it would come back on, the humidifier would start back up, and our alarm clock with large numbers would start flashing. And of course, it just makes noise when everything powers up.
Dan made me a yummy breakfast of hashbrowns and pancakes. The kids got up early and made me a book. They drew pictures and wrote how much they loved me. It was really cute.
Dan bought me a new coat and some other things. I love my kids and husband!
Tonight, we went to my parents house for dinner and dessert. My mom made me Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie. It was yummy. The candles my kids put on my piece were backwards, so it looked like I was turning 13.
I was quite surprised with the gift my sister Leslie gave me. It was a rather heavy box. Dan joked that it was a lump of coal and some lingerie. Leslie likes to tease, and last year for Christmas she gave Bridget a lingerie top, and me the lingerie bottom. Well, Dan was probably hoping it was lingerie. It turns out that she bought me a Kitchenaid Mixer! I'm going to make some chocolate chip cookies with it tomorrow.
I had a nice birthday, and a great weekend!

Sunday Rambling

The other day (the coldest day yet this winter), our house was so cold. I kept turning up the thermostat and adding more layers of clothing. After a while, I went down to the furnace to investigate. I guess Alex has discovered how to turn the furnace off. The furnace closet has bifold closet doors and does not have handles on the doors. But he can get it open without the handles. Anyone know how to childproof that? Every time the house starts to get really cold, I have to go turn the furnace back on.
Last week, I posted "Whine Fest" about not feeling good. Guess what?? I feel really good now. After two days on antibiotics, I felt totally better. Now I am kicking myself for not figuring out sooner that I had an infection. It should have dawned on me. I've had other infections before with similar symptoms. I just thought I felt awful from surgery. I think I am gonna start running again tomorrow. Not hard and long. Probably just two miles slow.
We put up the Christmas decorations on Monday. The kids are loving it. They are fascinated with the lights. Every time I turn around, the Christmas tree and garland are turned on. Anna loves playing with the nativity. The nativity characters are glass, but she hasn't broken them yet. And I'm not too worried out it. I bought them at Walmart a few years ago.
I made the mistake of buying a huge box of candy canes to put on tree. I had to take them right back off, since Alex would not leave them alone. I gave him one to eat, but that was not enough. He wanted them all.
Alex is so busy, but he is so cute. He loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He says cute things. He is a fun toddler, even though he gets into everything.
I asked Rachel what she wanted for Christmas. She said she wanted stickers and dry-erase markers. I asked her what else she wanted. She said "Nothing. I have everything I want." I thought that was interesting how content she is with what she has. I've asked her several more times what she wants. She has come up with a few more ideas. I guess she is just getting harder to buy for because she is getting older. She is getting to the "Tween" stage. She is a sweet girl. I don't ever want her to turn into a teenager.
Well, I guess that's all my rambling for today. I need to go change a diaper.

It has a little while....

So, I thought I'd ramble a bit for anyone who cares to read.
On Wednesday, we went to the zoo with the kids since it was free zoo day. In case you didn't know, I'm a cheap-o. We picked up Dan from work on the way. All of the kids liked the zoo. Alex especially loved it. I could not get a good picture of him, because he would not look at me. He would not stop looking at the animals. He thought everything should say "Roar!" It was cute.
We had a nice Thanksgiving. We went to both family dinners like usual. My family ate at 11:45. My parents are early birds and very timely. It was yummy. Dan's family ate at 2:30. Alex fell asleep on the drive down to Utah county. When he woke up, he was very grumpy. During dinner, we took turns with him while he was screaming hysterically. We went upstairs and outside so we didn't disturb dinnertime. He calmed down after about an hour. Not exactly an ideal dinnertime, but we survived. The older three kids all slept at Grandma's house just for fun. It was very quiet around our house with just Alex home. I am so used to all the noise of 4 kids.
I have gained a greater appreciation for Dan these past few weeks. He has really stepped up and helped me out. He has been cooking, cleaning and changing a lot of diapers. As strange as it may sound, I almost feel like I am falling in love with him all over again. When he does kind things, it makes me happy and love him even more.
Sorry if this next part sounds like whine fest.
Before I had surgery, I seriously thought I would be able to run as soon as I hit the 2 week post-op mark. In a few more days, it will be three weeks. I still feel like I am barely surviving life. Until a day ago, I could breathe through my nose quite well. Yesterday, one side started getting swollen. I've also had the chills for several nights in a row. I think I have an infection on one side of my nose. Since I haven't felt very well today, I called the doctor on call with the ENT office, and they called me in an antibiotic. So, after church I picked it up. Yes, I went to church.....I'm attempting to do everything like I normally do.
I am still taking Tylenol every day and night. I have to take a nap every day. I know that the surgery was the right thing to do. The side of my nose that is not infected (the side that was fused) is so much better. I just really didn't expect to feel so crappy for so long. But hey, I'm not sick permanently. So I really can't complain. I am thankful that I am usually healthy, happy, and somewhat energetic.

Just for fun....

These are pictures of Anna, Rachel, and me, all around age 4. The photo quality isn't so good on the picture of me. Can anyone guess which daughter looks more like me? I just thought it was fun to compare the pictures at the same age.

A bit of rambling about my surgery

This week has been a week of misery. On Tuesday I went in for sinus surgery to fix all of my sinus issues.
I was really nervous for surgery. I hate the thought of anesthesia. What if I don't wake up?? I mentioned to my sister Leslie that I was nervous, and this was her reply. "Well, don't worry. If you die, I don't think you are going to hell." I'm not scared of going to hell. I just wanna be around to raise my kids.
When I went in to register for surgery, the first question the receptionist asked me was, "Do you want to be an organ donor?" I replied, "Yes, but not today." That's a great first question to ask a nervous patient.
Well, as I'm sure you know, I did wake up.
When I woke up, I felt awful. After a short time in the recovery room, they sent me home. I can't believe the state they sent me home in. I was puking, bleeding, and Dan had to carry me. Why do they make you stay so long after having a baby, but send you home so quickly after surgery? I didn't really want to pay for a hospital stay, but I sure wasn't ready to move when they told me it was time to go home.
The surgery took about 2 1/2 hours. They expected the surgery to be a little shorter than that, but things were much worse that they appeared on the CT scan. My deviated septum was partially fused to the other side of my nose. No wonder that side of my nose was always stuffy! It really was blocked off. They also removed a cyst that was filled with infection. In addition to that stuff, they fixed 4 other things that were wrong with my sinuses.
Each day I am feeling a little better and can be up a bit more. I am not allowed to bend down and pick things up for two weeks. I have a splint sewn in my nose. I am looking forward to getting it taken out so I might be able to breathe a little better.
Dan has been great through it all. The first night, he stayed up all night taking care of me. He stroked my head and tried to make me comfortable.
I've appreciated the help from my family, and dinner from ward members too.
I did not expect to be so miserable.......

Some days I'm really on top of things......

And some days I'm just not.
Yesterday we were supposed to do church clean-up in the morning. I went running with my mom and got back a few minutes before it was time to go. Dan went on ahead of me and the kids (who were being slow-pokes). A few minutes later he called me to say that I had the time wrong, and they were about done, so don't bother coming.
Then, I dropped my kids off at Primary program practice. I didn't realize that they were supposed to be in Sunday clothes. I didn't get a message or a note. Anyhow, they were the only ones in jeans for the practice.
Now, here's the clencher: I wore my shirt inside-out for half of the day. Rachel pointed out that the tags weren't supposed to be on the outside. I had gone several places with the shirt inside-out.
Yesterday, I felt bad about it all. But today, I think it is rather funny. I guess I really am crazy. :)

Halloween

For Halloween this year, Rachel was a "Southern Belle", Caleb was a ninja, and Anna and Alex were monkeys. I wore a black hooded cape, and decided that I was the witch from Snow White. Becca did my makeup--and she made me look a bit scary. I was surprised that Alex wasn't scared of me.

I took the kids trick-or-treating, while Dan passed out the candy. I think we gave out around 7 bags of candy bars. And we were stingy and only gave the trick-or-treaters one piece. I've decided that next year, we need to both take the kids trick-or-treating, so we don't go through so much candy. I'll admit, I love chocolate. I was disappointed that the Junior Mints got all gone by the time I got back with the kids. I should hand out suckers and keep the chocolate.

Dan took Buddy to get groomed on Halloween. They put a bandana with ghosts on him. We tried to groom Buddy ourselves a couple of months ago, and it went very badly (blood everywhere, looked worse than when we started). Buddy looked cute with his bandana and groomed fur.

I left my camera at my parents' house, so I wasn't able to take as many pictures as I would have liked. I still have my old camera, but the batteries were dying.

Alex is still loving the candy. His, and everyone else's.