So There Was a Time...

When I broke my foot. It isn't even a good story; toys on the floor, trying to keep Gavin from taking a head dive off a chair led to said broken foot.

Whoever invented crutches and made them the standard fare for lower extremity injuries must not have had any nerve sensations in their arms. Scooters are much better and by the time said foot is done healing my right leg will be twice the size as my left!

I won't lie and say this has been a walk in the park, (especially since I can't walk) but it's been eye-opening. I'm grateful for all my family, ward members and friends who have taken care of us. I'll never take for granted again that I can pick Gavin up and walk across the room with him.

Maybe this happened because I needed a reminder of how blessed I am to have the ability to take care of my kids. Every time I bend over and almost crack a rib on the scooter to pick up a dirty sock, I remember that I used to think it was hard to pick up socks with two working feet.

Perspective is an interesting thing.

Spring

We're all so glad spring is here! It's so nice to spend more time outside than inside!

We're go grateful for awesome neighbor kids who play with Lauren and Gavin so well. I know I don't have to worry about Lauren when she's with them. We couldn't ask for better neighbors! I am so glad that even though they're alot older, they are still kind and let a four-year-old tag along (Or boss them around, which is usually the case!)

We've been playing at the park, planting peas, cleaning out flowerbeds, and playing with cousins.

Cute Boy

Gavin just makes us smile. At Sam's yesterday, a lady behind us in line touched my shoulder and told me I had the cutest little boy she'd ever seen. The same thing happened earlier this week. A few weeks ago someone actually asked to take his picture he was so cute.

Personally, I think he is the cutest little guy on earth, but realistically I knew I was biased. It's almost going to my head that so many people have commented on his cuteness. ;)

I found this Oscar shirt in the hand-me-down bin and I thought it was hilarious. We've dubbed it as his Sunday shirt since he's such a grouch on Sundays. And of course he had to try out Lauren's new scooter and helmet making the perfect future blackmail picture.

 

Birthweek

It was Lauren's birthday this last week. I felt like we celebrated for a whole week! Three parties, treats at school, ice cream, cake...it was almost too much: she was exhausted, but so excited and happy!

She asked for a Princess-Frozen-Rainbow-Castle Cake, I'm not sure how close I got but she was happy with it thankfully! She's been interested in scooters so that's what Chase and I got for her and I don't think she's been off of it since!

 

 Listening to Conference always makes me think about when she was born. We listened to Conference while we held her in the NICU four years ago today.

Lauren is wonderful. I never quite know what to expect from her. She can be the sweetest and kindest kid I've ever seen and yet she can be so determined, stubborn and will-full.

She makes friends easily, She will walk up to any little kid, say "Hi my name's Lauren, what's your name?" and she's made a friend for life.

She lives on bandaids and kisses. Thankfully those take care of most of the hurts.

She takes care of everybody: her baby, and especially Gavin.

Once she's made up her mind it is nigh unto impossible to change it.

She remembers EVERYTHING. We picked out a stone on the temple that could be "her's" to make the temple special to her. We went once several months ago to touch it. We went again the other day and she remembered the exact rock and how to get to it.

Thankfully we don't have the melt-downs anymore, although being sassy and talking back to me are her new things.

She's constantly on the move, always running, looking, asking and hardly taking a breath before she talks.

She frequently says she needs Jesus and asks if she can see him.

We sure do love her!

Antelope Island

The kiddos and I joined my parents yesterday out at Antelope Island. We went for a walk/hike, played on the huge rocks, watched the buffalo, played with the little rocks, had a picnic and tried to fly kites. It was a great day!

Patience is Power

"Patience is Power." This is what my mom tells me. I also agree with the the principle "that we are blessed with circumstances we need in order to overcome weaknesses."

I must still be learning patience. Sundays are my best day for testing patience. I hope I get it figured out sometime soon so I can feel the power that comes from patience!

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In other news of the week: one of my good friends flew in from Kansas City this week for work! I haven't seen her for almost four years so it was great to catch up! She is one of the most open-minded, brave and smart people I know. Being a non-member, she always put up with the rest of us constantly talking about our church lives, asking questions and being respectful. Dinner at Maddox was yummy and fun as usual!

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Chase's doctor visit for his "colitis" was uneventful. The Dr. wasn't concerned that it would be anything serious; just a fluky infection. We're all about fluky things happening lately.

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The painting project has begun this week. I'm doing my research before I delve into refinishing our table. So I started on the kitchen stools first to get some practice and convince Chase that the table will look amazing when I'm done. :P I do think the table will turn out good, it's the chairs I'm worried about.

Feet and Colitis

So I'd been having a hard time dealing with my depression lately. Winter, dentist visits, tired, kids... whatever it was, I was struggling and disheartened. Disheartened because the doctor didn't have an answer to help me, and I felt like nothing would ever get better.

My sister texted me last week offering to give up a free foot zone session that her neighbor gave her. I accepted, being very skeptical about the whole thing. I don't buy into alot of the "natural" remedies for things claiming to be a cure-all. (Although some do have merit.) I also hate feet; they're gross. But what did I have to lose?

And honestly it was amazing! Sitting there with her working on my feet, I could feel a slight pressure in my head, but it didn't hurt; I felt relaxed, the anxiety and stress went away. I'm curious to see how long this will last. Granted I'm not going off my medicine anytime soon and I'm not ready to declare foot zoning a miraculous healing...but the hope it gave me that it's possible to feel better and think clearly was more healing than the actual foot zone.

Incredible what a little hope can do. :)

The second half of the week was interesting as well. Chase came home from work Tuesday with a sharp pain in his side. He went through the night with it getting worse and went to the doctor Wednesday. Basically they didn't know what was going on and ordered a CT scan Friday morning.

After thinking about all the horrible possible outcomes, and getting the royal run-around to get the results... he was diagnosed as not exactly having colitis, but would be treated like having colitis. So now he's on uber-strength antibiotics and is feeling much better!

He'll see the doctor tomorrow to try and find out why this came about. We're thinking it stemmed from his bout with Strep last month, (which was the worst case the doctor had ever seen.)

So phew that it wasn't a cancerous tumor! But we're hoping this won't turn into a chronic problem!