2008 - WHAT?!

And PS - HApPY New YEAR! I'm weirded out that it's 2008.

OMG - First Steps!

My little guy is growing up so fast. Today he took his first steps. He's feeling pretty confident and will go about 3 or four steps. Crazy! I know. How did this happen? His life sure has flown by... Hopefully, 2008 will be slightly slower - or I'll just be scared.
Nerds in training. Isn't it horrible? What's a girl to do?

Golden Oldies???! J/K - Golden Birthday - Doug is 30... Holy Cow!

My SWEET husband turned 30 yesterday... Can you believe it? 30? I don't think he can. So, Happy Birthday babe. I hope you had a good one. We didn't do much, but the night before we went out to dinner - and I surprised Doug with having a few friends at the restaurant when we got there. It was fun. And on his birthday, I just made him one of his favorite meals, and I tried very hard to make him not have to lift a finger. (It didn't totally happen, but I refrained from calling for help with dinner or the boys several times.) It was all pretty low-key.

There are so many reasons that I love Doug. I'm so thankful for him.

Here are just a few:

-He's so helpful. He does so much around the house and helps with many, many things - I'm spoiled.

-He is very righteous. He keeps me on the right track. I know the woman is supposed to be the virtuous one is the relationship - but he's definitely better than me.

-He is such a great father - he loves his boys, and loves to spend QUALITY time with them.

-He's so smart. He knows so many little facts, and is ALWAYS right about details. I'm usually wrong, and that's okay - that's why we're a good team.

-He's so talented. He's really good at everything he does.

-He still thinks I'm cute and sexy - 2 kids later.

-He loves me and takes very good care of me.

-He keeps our life light-hearted. It's easy to be in a good mood around him.

-He's really very clean; he cleans up after himself really well.

Like I said, these are just a few... I could go on and on - but it's late, and I'm so tired. So... I love you Doug!!!! You're so loveable and awesome! Here's to feeling 23 forever...

TMI...

As many of you know, Ben is WAY into dinosaurs right now - and has been since about August. I guess a large part of this obsession is mine and Doug's fault. We have encouraged it because it's so educational - and hey, there are worse things a 3-yr-old could be obsessed with - right? He got LOADS of dinosaur stuff for Christmas! Puzzles, games, books (coloring and reading), toys, etc. I keep thinking that the tide will soon be turning on this phase, and then it will be on to the next big thing - but I'm starting to wonder if I really need to consider being the mom of a very ambitious paleontologist; a Ross, if you will. I'm sure many of you have been through this.

The point is: tonight, Doug was reading Ben a bedtime story (well, one of many of the dinosaur books we've borrowed from the library), and I happened to catch a few facts being read. It got me wondering about some things related to dinosaurs and the current extinction theory and stuff - so I started googling. About a half hour into it, I started thinking, "What am I doing? My Friday nights have amounted to this? Man, I really know a heck of a lot more about dinosaurs than I EVER imagined I would know." Is this completely insane that I am so INto this? I have memorized like, 50 species of dinos, and all their family lines and stuff. It's totally crazy. Perhaps even crazier though, is that Ben knows most this stuff too. He can tell you some of the most complicated dinosaur names - and it's so cute. But am I the only one that this happens to? Do you ever just get TMI about the stuff your kids are into? Holy cow.
That's Christmas morning and the Spinosaurus and Pterodactyl that Ben got from Santa. He wants to tote them around where ever we go. It's pretty cute, but also kinda annoying. Lots of love to the B man. He's one bright little stud.

Merry Christmas to all... and to all - a Good Night!

Ahh... I've had such a great Christmas. I haven't had a ton of time to blog lately - sorry, and I feel like I've been so busy up until now. But seriously, my schedule feels wide open after today! It's so nice. It's been a great couple of days, with a lot of time to hang out with friends and my cute little family. We know we have just SO many blessings! And we sure are grateful that the Lord loves us and takes such good care of us - and we're so grateful that God sent him to this Earth to be born. We have so much! There's nothing like a completely indulgent and over-the-top Christmas morning to help one come to that realization. I am happy. Here are some highlights of the day: We went to JoAnna's (what a kind soul) for dinner and to get together with friends and the missionaries. We had a blast. Oh well, back to life tomorrow - Doug's got to be back at work. Bummer. That's Mayo for ya. But luckily, I've got lots of new toys to keep the boys well-occupied for the day tomorrow - so I can probably take tomorrow off! Ha ha. Wishful thinking is fun. After all, it is Christmas.

Dental Extravaganza!

Today is the day that we've finally got a FIRST TOOTH! (Well, yesterday technically...) YAY! And as early as almost 11 months baby!He's officially joined the ranks of the pioneers before him, also known as 90 percent of other kids his age. We know, we know, he's so late with the whole tooth-thing. But hey, we're just proud he's got 'em in there at all. Ben got his first tooth right at 11 months. So that's on par for us I guess. And that's okay - we're so proud of it. That's why we're posting this. I tried to get a decent pic of his mouth displaying his new pearly white, but he wasn't havin' it. These pics show that at least he's into the important things in life: oreos, the remote, and maybe a little drinky-poo, etc. To go with news on Spence's mouth, this week, he's also had a little thrush. Weird, I know. I thought that only happened to newborns. But I think it's due to the whole antibiotic-thing, from what I've read on it anyway. It seems to be going away with a some acidopilus and yogurt though - so it's all good. Just thought I'd update everyone on this fascinating milestone... Can you believe that kids actually have teeth?!

Let's put him up there with Dickinson!

Ben loves to rhyme and make up silly things. I wrote this down about a month ago and just found the paper today. This is what Ben said to his brother.
“Dear Spencer:
Roses are Red,
You are Cool,
And come home,
And that’s a rule.”

All I’ve got to say is: RANDOM!!!! I don’t even know where he’s heard that poem before, let alone making up his own version of it. A literary prodigy? I’m not ruling it out…

This picture is kinda funny, not only because this is really how they always are, but also because they've both been sick and definitely look it. In fact, Spencer had his first diagnosed ear infection last week, and actually had to be on antibiotic! That's the first time either of my kids have had to do anti's. We've been lucky so far, I know.

What's the deal with Committees? (Read it hearing Jerry Seinfeld's voice in your head - it's better that way.)

I’m on the activities committee in our ward – cool, I know. Can you sense my tone here people? And Saturday night, we held our Christmas party – which I was in charge of. Our committee chair doled out an event for each of us to be in charge of throughout the year, and now I understand why. We did a Christmas Luau, and it turned out great – despite everything that went wrong. But, over the last month, I have worked so hard on it. It has taken up so much of my time and energy. All the work I had to do for it was constantly looming in the back of my mind. Maybe it’s because I’m a stress-case, and maybe because I have never had to plan a party for 250 people before. But part of it, at the very least, is explained by this awesome definition provided by Reader’s Digest about the nature of a committee (given to me by dear JoAnna). It’s the reason why I felt like the burden lay squarely upon my shoulders, and the purpose of this post:

Committee – A group of the unwilling, picked from the unfit, to do the unnecessary.

Why is that so dang true? That pretty much sums up my feelings toward my calling. Not that I am unwilling, but the committee as a whole, kind of is. Isn’t that how every committee you’ve ever been on has been though? I found it poignant. I guess I just wanted to vent on the whole situation. However, since we pulled off the party, I feel pretty good right now – like I have my life back. This huge event is finally out of the corner of my brain. And that is nice. Oh, and being “In Charge” is crappy. Enough said.

Most Un-Fun Snow Day Ever!

We've had a lot of crazy weather lately. Most notably snow and ice. I guess everyone in the country is in the same boat though. There's been some crazy weather lately. Can we say 'it's the end of the world as we know it?' ... or something.... We only ended up with 3 inches this weekend, but are supposed to get 3 or so more tomorrow. Maybe our next time playing out in it will be a little more enjoyable...

The least fun snow ever! Ben played on the deck (where he usually plays in the snow) for a half hour, and he must have fallen 50 times! Above are some of Ben's more graceful moments. It was so crazy icy. He ended up just laying on the ice and licking it for about 15 of those minutes. The icy was so solid that he couldn't shovel at all - his usual favorite for playing in the snow. He wanted to make a snow angel, but as you can see, no angel marks on the ice! Ha Ha!

The roads have been way icy and not plowed well in the neighborhoods. Church was actually postponed Sunday because the parking lot wasn't plowed - it was a big ole' ice rink. They guy who usually plows it slid off the road into a ditch and broke his plow, which was nothing out of the ordinary for people on Saturday, unfortunately. So, we only had sacrament meeting 2 hours later after the snow was removed, but VERY few people were there and willing to brave the roads. That's pretty much how everything has been going lately. :( Why do we live here again? Arrgghhh!

Other Stuff We've Been Up to Lately...

Spence LOVES to splash as much as possible.
Anyone else think of Frida? Sweet Uni- dude...

Christmas Decorating - Check!

Giggle Monkeys!

A Christmas Miracle! AKA: Ben's Hernia Story.

Warning: This is not the short version. If you can't handle rambling blog posts - you better quit while you're ahead. I apologize for my excessive and needless detail. I feel that I’m turning into my mother more and more each day! :) Don't tell her I said that...

So, Ben was supposed to have hernia surgery today. It's a hugely long story, (well, my version anyway.) So, here goes:

About a year or 2 ago, we noticed this little pea-sized rock on Ben’s tummy, right above his belly-button. It was only visible when Ben flexed or coughed. It’s been the same size FOREVER! I was pretty sure it was a hernia, but it was so small – I wasn’t too worried. I finally brought it up at the doctor a couple months ago, and they said we should talk to surgery about it. I half expected them to say that it was so small that we shouldn’t worry about doing anything about it.
But we had the consult 2 months ago, and they told us that we DID need to get it surgically taken care of before he reaches adulthood. We just thought we'd do it now - our deductible is paid up, and we already had a baby this year, so we didn't think we'd have to pay too much, (but still more than we wanted of course). So, Doug went in with Ben to the surgical unit this morning as planned, and they gave him a narcotic to relax him, thinking that he’d be going right in. But he ended up having NO muscle control from it. The doc came in, and had a hard time seeing the hernia. Since it is really only visible when he contracts his tummy muscles, we chalked up its elusiveness to the drugs. – Just as a side note, it relaxed him so much that it seemed like he was drunk! Totally sloshed! His speech was all slurred; he couldn’t hardly walk, sit up, or remember or say anybody’s names. When Doug asked, “What’s my name?” Ben just said, “MMoe!” He actually peed all over Doug because he couldn’t even hold his bladder! (I later asked the nurse what they gave him, and she said it was an amnesia drug… I don’t know if that kind of drug really exists, or if it was some sort of subconscious slip.) So, they had to wait there another 2 hours until it wore off, and probably another hour because the doc had to do another surgery in the meantime. So sad. I think I would have been freaked out to see him that way. I was at home with Spence when this all happened because we were not allowed to bring other children onto the surgical floor. But when he called me and told me all this, I panicked and felt like I had to come. So, I got a sitter for Spencer, and got there after it had worn off.
But anyway, when the surgeon finally came in again (5.5 hours into this), we got him to flex and show where the hernia was. The surgeon said, “Is that as big as it ever is?” And I said, “It’s normally a little bigger, but over the last couple of days, it’s been kinda hard to see.” I noticed this, but just thought I couldn’t get the right angle or something. The doc noticed that he has another condition where the stomach muscles aren’t as close together as they should be, but they’ll grow nearer over the next 2 years and won’t need correction. Anyway, that’s probably all part of it, but we can’t figure out whether the hernia is fixing itself, or what. But it’s hardly there anymore! It looks like there might be something below it now though, and it’s hard to tell what it’s doing because of the muscle wall-thing. The bottom line is that the surgeon said that right now, the hernia is too small to operate on, and the risks would not out-weigh the benefits! (I MEAN BENEFITS NOT OUT-WEIGH THE RISK! OOPS!) We should only need surgery if and/or when it gets bigger, or he complains of it hurting. Once the muscle walls grow closer, we should know what it’s doing. The weird thing is, as the day has gone on, the hernia is even less visible! So, to sum-up: Pretty much the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to us. But it’s probably a miracle, and I shouldn’t say weird, but amazing! He’s seriously been healed. I can’t believe it. The Lord has truly blessed us, probably because we really couldn’t afford extra medical bills. Although it feels a little like a waste of time – ours and the surgeon’s, nurses, etc. – our money, one of Doug’s vacation days, and on and on. But hey, we’ve seriously witnessed a miracle here, and so it’s a small price to pay, I suppose. It would have been a lot more expensive, and for a little guy like that to have to have surgery is not preferable. So, we are blessed - although we feel rather stupid! It's just a crazy story. And now that you know every little detail, I’m sure you’re as fascinated as I am with all that transpired this morning.

This is a pic of the new condition - the abdominal muscle gap that will grow together in a couple years. (oh, and there's writing on Ben's stomach from where the surgeon was gonna cut. The dot nearest his belly-button is where the hernia is/was. And above that, it says BW. His initials... weird. I'm really interested to hear the rationale behind that. Are they seriously worried they might get confused with who it is they just wheeled in, and who they're cutting open? )