December 3rd ~First visit with Santa for the season

The daycare that Kailee works at has Breakfast with Santa every year... the little ones got to go meet Santa and do their best to convince him that they are on the nice list this year. Nate was excited this year to meet Santa and sit on his lap. He has told us several times that he is on the nice list. Can't believe the year has flown by and here we are ready to celebrate Christmas already!

Noah is definitely on the nice list! For sure!!!Kami.... naughty or nice?!?!?!
Hyrum is for sure on the good list... right Bummy?!?!
Nate said he is on the top of Santa's good list!
Kalli tried to convince Santa she has been good all year!

Kailee is 19

~November 30th my sweet Kailee Anne turned 19!
My beautiful little girl is all grown up.
I cannot believe how quickly those years have flown by.
She is so much fun... she is the light when she walks in the room!
I can't wait to see what she does with her life...
and I am so very grateful that she is my daughter!
Happy Birthday sweet girl... and may this year bring you joy and happiness and
dreams come true for you! And Kailee got the neatest present of all...
a new cousin, Sariah was born!
Happy Birthday Sariah,
Welcome to the world!!!

The Hand

I went through with the surgery and came through with flying colors. We had to be at the hospital at 8am and thankfully when we got there, they had been standing around waiting for us. The surgery before me, a total knee replacement, had to be canceled and we were ready to go. Good I guess because I didn't have time to really think about it, though it did put a rush on things considering I still needed to pump before I went in or be in pain for a few hours. They let me pump and then came in and got ready to put the IV in. Now... I have to put this out there... I DETEST IV's. As in, they terrify me. I know, I know... I have had 11 c-sections and 16 children so a little IV shouldn't cause me a panic attack just knowing it is coming. But it does!!! I also never understood WHY they don't willingly numb your hand before they jam a huge needle in it! Well... ok, I get their explanation in theory. The only problem is that their theory works backwards for me. I tell them that my veins explode if they don't numb it first. It never fails in our hometown hospital that they basically tell me I lie... they don't believe me. But I DON'T lie, and it IS true. If you don't numb my hand first, the vein ALWAYS blows. So, the nurse tells me that they don't have time. I tell her that they will have to make time when my vein blows and we have to do it all over again so why don't we just do it right the first time. She tells me that the vein doesn't hold as well if it is numbed first. I tell her I promise mine will. She tells me again they don't have time. I tell her it will take just as much time to have to do it over than to do it right the first time. Did I mention I have this horrible, overwhelming phobia of needles?

Guess what? She wouldn't do it, and jammed that needle in, and said 'oops'... and moved it around until I had sweat dripping down my face. I was feeling woozy and ready to pass out (I will point out that I have actually FELT one side of a c-section being performed TWICE after the spinal wore off, I could feel them cutting, stapling, the works, and can handle that... but NEEDLES... not so much!). The nurse continued to dig around, commenting on how sorry she was that she was digging around. I did say, "I told you so..." but that didn't help me any!!! The other nurse told her she thought it WAS in place but by the time they figured it out, it was a mess!!! Thankfully the anesthesiologist came in then and said that HE would do it... it wasn't nearly as horrible. But... what is bad is the hand that was operated on wasn't nearly as bad as the one that was bruised from the failed IV attempt!!! And you can't really see to appreciate the bruise in this picture! The surgery itself wasn't horrible... well, that I know of. They knocked me out for it but it was only about 15 minutes and before long I was back in the room and ready to go home. Buffy kept my baby boy all afternoon so I rested, but really was fine and it didn't slow me down at all except not being able to get it wet for a few days. Which was a nice break from doing the dishes!!! :)

And after two short weeks, the stitches are out and I am now free to do dishes again!!! There is only one tiny spot that is still numb at the very tip of my middle finger and the doctor said that if that is the only spot I should be completely healed within a few weeks. Now to build my strength back in my hand.... but hauling Noah's car seat in and out is working wonders!!!

Thankful Day 30 (Caught up!)

Thankful Day 30
~I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I am grateful for the peace that has filled my life because of it.
There are moments in life when you wonder why something is happening and without the knowledge of who we really are, why we are here and where we are going,
I cannot imagine how much different my life would be.
I am thankful for the gift of peace that comes when the storms are raging around me.
Without the hope that comes from the gospel,
life would seem incredibly unfair and scary.
I am grateful for the power of the Priesthood and the many times it has blessed my life.
I feel blessed every time I enter the temple and feel the Spirit of hope
in a world where many lose hope.
I am so very grateful for the knowledge of our purpose here,
and most of all I am so very thankful to realize that even when things are hard, great knowledge comes through the trials and peace comes in knowing that no matter what, every experience will be for my own good and that I can look back and know that the hardest times in my life is when I have felt the greatest blessings of comfort and peace.

I am so very thankful for the atonement and for the knowledge that it is not weakness to lean on the arm of the Savior...
that this is where we find our greatest strength!

Thankful Day 29 playing catch up

Thankful Day 29
~ I am grateful for friends!
My dad used to say that you were lucky if you have one true friend in your life.
I feel very blessed that I can say I have had several true friends.
Friends where you can not talk for months,
and then pick up right where you left off.
Friends who know you need them without saying a word.
Friends that share the joys and pains of everyday living,
who will cry with me,
and then make me laugh so hard I really am crying!
I cherish the friends that make my life so much better because they are in it!
You know who you are!!!! :)

Thankful Day 28 Playing catch up...

Thankful Day 28
~ I am grateful for the things I most often take for granted.
I am grateful for eyes to see, ears to hear, a nose to smell...
and hands to use for so many things,
like holding a baby, brushing my teeth, being able to tie Nate's shoes.... t
hings we just do every day without thinking.

Happy 5 month birthday

Happy 5 month birthday little man. 5 months... Such a small amount of time in the eternal scheme of things. Yet in the first 5 minutes of your life it was like you had always been ours. Like the puzzle was missing a piece so important that it simply could not be completed without you... And while some on the outside, trying to look in think that we had enough, they simply do not understand that we did not have enough, because we did not have you. They could not understand what we always knew... Our life would lack something until we had you. You have blessed our lives in a million little ways. You were sick all week. Each day when the kids walk into the house they immedietely came to us, and each one reached out to touch you. They needed to check on you before they did anything else. It is hard to even hope to explain to people who wonder why we want so many children. How do you explain something you can't understand with the mortal mind? We seemed to know what we would be missing without you. Now, here you are. A child I prayed for, an answer to those prayers.

Slow down time... Do not move so quickly. Because he is my 16th, I know all too well that 5 minutes all too quickly moves to 5 months, and then 5 years. And then to 15. And on and on. But for right now I want to breathe in your sweetness. I want to cherish each moment of my baby. All too soon you will be running to catch up with the others. So tonight, just be content to sleep in my arms. Just for tonight be safe in my arms and let me look down at your precious face and memorize how you look when you yawn and stretch. Let me pretend that I will always be able to protect you and fulfill your every need. Because I understand that when I blink, you will have grown and your only need from me will be the support to let you fly.

Good night sweet boy. Happy birthday... Thank you for healing my heart.

Surgery

A couple of months before I had Noah, my hand started going numb. It was annoying, but mostly when I was doing things like curling my hair, or (gasp) when I was on the computer. I kept telling myself it was not out of the ordinary to have strange things like your hand randomly going numb when pregnant. So I looked forward to the day that it did not feel like I was actually burning my fingers on a curling iron every minute of the day! I was so swollen that I was sure it had to do with the pregnancy.But the numbness didn't go away like I anticipated. In fact it escalated into full blown, horrible pain! I joked that I had c-sections where I wasn't completely numb that didn't hurt as bad as this did! I knew this was more and had many friends mention carpal tunnel. Being that we live in the modern age where you can actually google every topic under the sun, I did so with carpal tunnel. Yep, that sounded like me! The brace didn't work. Special gloves didn't work... and I was in pain 24 hours a day.

I FINALLY broke down and saw the doctor about it. He sent me off for some test that would provie it 100% that I had carpal tunnel. Sure enough, that's what I have! For the record... that test left huge bruises on my arm!!! Next step was scheduling a date for surgery. He told me recovery was 2 weeks and that I pretty much needed it to be wrapped for that long. So I put it off because I was in the middle of the season of team league volleyball I was playing! Not to mention the fact that peeling 30 lbs of potatoes for Thanksgiving wouldn't be happening if I had to have my hand wrapped. Instead, it is scheduled for tomorrow (I still miss my last two games tomorrow... which I am REALLY sad about!) but the constant tingling/numb/burning feeling needs to go AWAY!!!I am going to miss the use of my hand for 2 weeks... but will be so glad when I have feeling in it again!!!

~ wish me luck!!

Thankful Day 27

Thankful Day 27
~ I am thankful tonight for modern day medicine,
because of the blessing it has been to me to be able to have the family of our dreams.
If it had not been for some really amazing doctors,
my large family dream would have been taken away.
I am grateful for the doctors who take their jobs seriously
and go above and beyond for their patients.
I am thankful that even though I ended up having 11 c-sections
I was able to accomplish the dream I have had
since I was old enough to know!

Thankful Day 26

Thankful Day 26
~ I am grateful for my parents, and for my siblings.
I am grateful to have my parents here for a few days,
and I am grateful for my sister... and for the happiness she has found because of Pete... and that she is going to have another little boy to add to our big, crazy family!!!
I am grateful for 4 brothers... to know each one of their unique personalities and see how they have all turned into pretty great men!
And for their families... and that I got 3 extra sisters because of them!

And I am grateful for taco night with my parents and my brother Shayne, and his family!
It was fun to have them here, and to enjoy the chance to hang out...

~ Love you guys!!!