Making Merry in Minnesota

We got back from Minnesota on Saturday; we had a fantastic trip! However, my computer is in for repairs, and Brian's computer doesn't have photo re-sizing capability, so I'll have to post pics when I get my computer back (later this week hopefully). Stay tuned!

Things went so smoothly. We were a day ahead of that huge snowstorm, no one got sick, all 3 kids did incredibly well during the drive, we saw lots of family and friends. It always takes me a few days to re-adjust to normal life, but we're getting there.

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. Happy New Year! (yes, I'm writing this on New Year's Eve. We've been to a party and now are relaxing for the evening.)

To the great northland

We're leaving for Minnesota tomorrow! We're driving. Normally, we like road trips. Connor and Isabel have proven to be super travelers (especially with the addition of the DVD player on which they watch movie after movie as the miles zip by). It's Lucas I'm concerned about. He's not a newborn who will sleep the whole trip, and not old enough to be entertained by hours of movies. Hopefully it goes smoothly!

I am excited to see my family - I haven't been to my parents' house in a year and a half! I've seen most of family members at various times since then, but it will be nice to be all in one place.

We'll be gone for 10 days, and I'm sure I'll have lots to blog about when we return. In the meantime, have a terrific Christmas everyone!

Isabel's first haircut

Isabel had her first haircut today. She did fantastic! We'd been talking about it for a few days, and she knew she would get to pick any lollipop from the basket when she was done (she chose pink of course). She got to choose between sitting in a truck chair, or the princess corner. Surprisingly she chose the truck chair! She'd seen Connor in it many times, and must have thought a haircut wasn't a haircut without the truck chair. She had an inch cut, and it really made her hair shinier and healthier.

Pics from before...

During...
and after the haircut...

We go to Cool Cuts 4 Kids, and they do a little first haircut book:

All in all a success! She's getting so big.

Christmas, part 1

We had Christmas tonight with Brian's family, as we are heading to Minnesota on Thursday. The kids got to pacify a bit of their Christmas fever! They got some fun gifts. Connor and Isabel got themed TV lounge chairs, blankets, pajamas and books (Cars for Connor, Princess for Isabel). Here they are trying them out - they're definitely ready for a movie night!

Connor enjoying his stuff, including his Lightning McQueen slippers...


Isabel enjoying her gifts, including a dress-up set with a purse, earrings, bracelets, rings and shoes. The earrings were a smash hit, she could not stop looking in the mirror!


Lucas enjoying his play blanket, music toy and teddy bear.
Thanks Paul, Kathy and Erin! Now that I've posted this I've got to tackle the daunting task of a packing list. I HATE packing, but not as much as I dislike unpacking.

Surgery re-cap

It's done! Lucas has been the biggest trooper ever, and did a fantastic job today. We got to the hospital at 9:15, and spent the morning getting his vitals, physical exam, etc. He looked so sweet in the little hospital gown. We handed him over to the nurse at 11:20, and she brought him back to the OR. They put him to sleep with gas, put in an IV and a breathing tube, and gave him an epidural - yup, just like a pregnancy woman gets. Brian and I got a pager in case anyone needed to reach us ASAP, and we grabbed a quick lunch and went back to the surgery waiting area. At 12:30 the surgeon came to tell us he did great. After he was stable enough, they brought us back to love him up. He had to wait a couple of hours to make sure everything was OK, and then were able to go home.

He has to keep a bandage on for four days, and will have a catheter in for a week (which we have to remove ourselves on the 7th day - gulp!). The surgeon warned it will look way worse than it feels in a few days. He's on steady Tylenol and Motrin for at least a couple of days to keep the pain at bay.

He was just a super baby, and is really sleepy tonight. We're happy to snuggle him all night!

The nurses all were in love with him; can't say I blame them :) Overall, it was as positive experience as it could be, considering our 6-month-old just had surgery. Here's to a quick recovery Lucas! We love you.

Woo-hoo!!! (or in other words, trials, tribulations, and great blessings)

In other news today, I got a great phone call from my brother, JJ. He graduated with a business degree 1 1/2 years ago, and shortly thereafter decided he wanted to go to law school for environmental law. He took the LSATs and got a solid score. However, after an unsuccessful round of law school apps last year, he took a job as a manager at a Walgreen's store. He felt disappointed, but decided to give it another go this year. And, he just found out he got accepted to the Vermont Law School, which has the #1 environmental law program in the country! We are so proud and excited for you!!!

This is a simple yet important reminder to me to enjoy the current situation, because in the end, it all works out. Specifically, I need this reminder in the housing arena. Without doubt my biggest trial right now is our inability to sell our house. I never dreamed we'd be in this townhome 6 years later with 3 kids. Friend after friend has come and gone and moved into 2 or 3 houses in that time (and I am truly happy for each and every one of you!), and here we sit. I will fully admit I struggle with having a positive attitude about it.

However, for every trial I've gone through, when it's said and done, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. For example, the couple of years shortly after I graduated from college were very interesting. I was making some big changes in my life, and most of my college friends had gotten married or moved on. It was a very lonely, transitioning time in my life. I spent most of my time working, serving in my singles ward, and volunteering (at one time I had 4 volunteer projects: at Minneapolis Children's Hospital, at the Minneapolis Ronald McDonald House, at Former MN Viking and current MN supreme court justice Alan Page's Education Foundation, and as a literacy tutor working with a 32-year-old, father of four, man who had a third-grade reading level). And when I wasn't working, serving or volunteering, I was running. I never had time to feel down, even though I did feel alone a lot.

And in the end, I would.not.trade.those.years.for.anything. Period. They were extremely formative years and I am grateful for them.

So, when I look back on experiences like this, I really need to try to remember to make the most of where we are and what we have, because in the end, I am sure I will remember good things from our time here in this house, and I KNOW I will be all the more grateful for a house. Seriously, a yard??? That would be the greatest blessing I can imagine right now, and I like to think I would NEVER take it for granted. I don't know when it's coming, but I've got to believe when it does come, then it will be the right time. And that, my friends, is where faith comes into play.

I'm sort of rambling, but I'm having a thinking night. I'd like to think someday I will have a new house, and I want to look back and remember being on this end of things and wondering when this most sought-after blessing will come. I guess it all comes down to "this too shall pass," and whenever a trial is over, it seems like I come out on the other end saying, "that really wasn't so bad."

Surgery is ON

Lucas's fever broke today, and the urologist feels there's no reason to postpone the surgery, so he'll have his surgery in the morning. We have to be at Children's at 9 a.m., and his surgery is scheduled for 11:30. The surgery itself is supposed to last 1 1/2 to 2 hours, and then he'll be in recovery for a few hours. So, in all, we should be at the hospital for about 6 hours.

I am starting to feel really anxious about it. He has to have general anesthesia. So, he can't eat all morning (he has to stop nursing at 7:30 a.m.). At least he's too little to remember all of this.

So please say a little prayer that things go smoothly for Lucas tomorrow!

Lucas is 6 months

Lucas is 6 months today! Seriously crazy. He had his 6-month appointment today, and the timing was good. Poor guy has had a fever for 3 days. He came down with a fever Saturday morning, and has had one since. It's been low-grade or moderate-grade the whole time - I haven't seen it go above 102.6. I went in to the appointment thinking he must have an ear infection or something. For the record, none of my children has ever had an ear infection. None of them has even ever been on an antibiotic for anything at all! They've never had more than a brief stomach bug or average cold. OK, Connor did have a very brief bout with Croup this fall, it lasted 1 night. I like to think this good health is due the fact they've never been in day care and/or that I've nursed them all for a year (give or take); or it might be good genes. Either way, we've (knock on wood) had really healthy kiddos.

But, the pediatrician (who, BTW, I think is the best pediatrician ever!), said his ears are clear, his chest is clear, he just has a fever and stuffy nose. The problem with this, however, is that he's supposed to have his surgery on Wednesday. I talked to the urology office today, and the surgeon said I should call tomorrow afternoon with an update on how he's dong and we'll go from there. So, as of tonight, I don't know if he's going to have his surgery or not. That's somewhat unsettling. But cleary we want to do what's best for Lucas. Stay tuned! If he doesn't have surgery and still has a fever on Thursday, the pediatrician wants to see him again.

Otherwise he's doing great. He is almost the exact same size as Connor at this age, only he's 4 ounces heavier, and the same length. He's 15 pounds 9 ounces (25th percent), 27 inches long (75th percent). We just have long, thin boys.

His development seems to be right where it should, no concern for autism at this time. We'll keep watching! He's such a loving little boy, and brings so much to our family.

Word art

I've made my first foray into vinyl lettering. If you haven't heard of it, it's all the craze. I went to an Uppercase Living party a few weeks ago, and my order arrived earlier this week. I just finished my projects with the lettering. The first is an acrylic box that looks like glass. I filled it with little green glass ornament balls, applied the "Deck the Halls" and holly berry vinyl lettering/graphics, and wrapped it all up with a gold ribbon. Love it love it love it!!!

My other project is a tile (a simple $1 tile from Lowe's), with vinyl letting that reads, "Sit Long, Talk Much, Laugh Often." Brian asked if that's the official book club motto. Well, unofficially, it's my motto for all my friends and family!

Weaponry

I had a quick Connor Christmas shopping outing tonight at The Wizard's Chest, a super cool toy store in Cherry Creek. I found three gifts for Connor that he is going to LOVE. A Hoberman Sphere (he loves the one at our friends' house) a captain hook arm (he has been begging me to craft some sort of a hook for him to be Captain Hook), and a pirate sword, his very first weapon. Now, I'm not about to go out and buy a bunch of super-real looking guns, but I don't see any harm in a pirate sword. As long as he doesn't use it on his sister. He has become very into the Peter Pan/Captain Hook/pirate thing.

I feel like this year Connor's toys are becoming more "big boy" toys. Well, I guess he is going to be in kindergarten in August.

My sister and I had a conversation tonight about buying toys. I've never really enjoyed buying baby toys. I feel like it's often just buying for the sake of buying, and I never really know if they'll get played with. But as my kids get older and have more defined interests, it does make Christmas/birthday shopping a lot more fun, because the reactions get all that much better! As a mom, it totally puts a spring in my step to find gifts I know will be loved.

Guilty, Your Honor

Several of you have asked for an update on Brian's court appearance for his car accident, so I figured I better post on it.

He went to traffic court on November 8. If you've never been, here's how it works (at least in Colorado): you meet first with a district attorney, who tells you what you've been charged with, then asks you to explain what happened, then offers you a plea bargain. You take your plea bargain to the judge and then enter your plea.

When the DA asked Brian to explain what happened (driving home late, didn't expect a car to be stalled in the right lane of traffic, didn't see it in time, hit it), the DA said, "that same thing happened to me!" He offered to drop the 4-point ticket to a 2-point, $81 ticket. Brian took that to the judge, plead "guilty," and was done with it.

That should wrap up the accident saga. Oh, and our friends Jeff and Judi sold us the Honda Brian had been borrowing for a steal. That'll help us prolong adding a second car payment for now while we work through the outlandish medical bills we have from Brian's accident, not to mention having Lucas and Lucas's upcoming surgery. I cannot even seriously believe how much a few hours in the ER is worth!