Proof of Lucie's attitude!

So I broke the cardinal rule the other day and now I'm paying for it. I mentioned to someone that Adam and I had been really lucky so far and haven't had to deal with any stitches or broken bones, yet. Of course, three day's later Lucie fell and broke her elbow.

She was throwing a temper tantrum about getting in the car so Adam picked her up and had his one arm around her waist. Of course, again, she would arch her back and fall to the floor. I guess she tried to catch herself and broke her arm instead. We went to American Fork Hospital ER first and they did an x-ray but as soon as the orthopedic surgeon saw the x-rays he said he wouldn't touch it and then they sent us to Primary Children's. Me, being an emotional parent as well as cheap, couldn't handle the thought of an ambulance so we decided to drive her there ourselves. The nurses at AF wrapped her arm as well as they could and then sent us on our way, with several pillows to balance her arm. By the way, they tried three times to give her an IV but couldn't find a vein so Lucie still had to pain medication whatsoever. That was the longest, most stressful drive I've ever been through. You don't notice how bumpy the roads are unless your need them to be perfectly still. So we got to Primary Children's and they rolled out at stretcher to get her, luckily AF had called and arranged everything before we got there, and then we were bombarded by doctors and nurses. Adam and I had no idea what we were doing there until the surgeon talked to us about what exactly was going on. Apparently, the spot where Lucie broke her elbow is very near a growth plate and they needed to put pins in the bones to keep it in the right spot. Also, she was losing her pulse in her hand so they needed to do it quickly to maintain her circulation in the hand and prevent another operation. They rushed her into surgery and she was out in about an hour. It as very quick, hardly enough time for me to stress and freak out properly. They wrapped her arm up in ace bandages and put it in a sling for now, and in a week we go back to the doctor and she will get a hard cast then. Her arm was VERY swollen and they weren't able to cast it because of that. So now I have to watch Lucie, Jackson and Daphne VERY closely to make sure that nothing happens to Lucie's arm. Daphne is really cute about it. She knows that Lucie is hurt so she keeps trying to give her hugs, which WOULD hurt, so she adds a degree of difficulty to the situation.

I have to say though, I'm incredibly proud of myself. Normaly I am a wreck and can't hold my emotions together during a crisis and Adam has to do that for both of us. This time, Adam felt so guilty for dropping her, he had a very hard time not showing his emotions. So that left me to be the tough one. At first I thought this had to be a sick joke from GOD but, I did better than I ever have before. I was able to, inspite of them trying 5 times to get an IV and waiting 5 hours to give her ANY pain medication, hold myself together. I'm not going to lie and say I didn't cry at all, but I didn't let Lucie see me cry and that's more than I can ask for.

The timing REALLY sucks, but at least it didn't happen any closer to Christmas than it did and she will have a hard cast and be feeling much better by the time school starts again too.

Merry Christmas!

SHOT UP!!

Lucie just started biting her nails, and that is one of my biggest pet peeves out there. So, I immediately made her a chart and put it on the fridge. She get's one star per day if she doesn't bite her nails and she needs to get 10 stars to get a "surprise". Well, Jackson saw it and wanted one for him too. So we made one for when he has "nice hands". My family LOVES charts! I have kind of a potty mouth and say, teasingly, to Adam "shut up" a lot lately. Well, that is on our list of naughty words so the kids make sure and let me know that it is not okay to say that word and that I need to apologize to Daddy right now. Jackson must have gotten sick of reprimanding me so yesterday he had some markers and a piece of paper. He loves to draw so I didn't think anything of it. Then he started asking me how to spell: Annie, saying, and shot. When he held up the paper for me to see it read very clearly: Annie no saying shot up. I couldn't stop myself from laughing out loud as did Adam. So now I have my own chart on the fridge too and when I get 10 hearts I will get a "surprise" too!!

Daphne and Lucie's "new" room

We decided to move Daphne into Lucie's room the weekend but before we could do that we needed to "remodel" Lucie's room and turn it into the girl's room. I think it turned out great! We painted Lucie's dresser to match Daphne's and then painted over the pink walls to yellow. What do you think?

Christmas Concert!!!

Some of you probably know that I've been planning (along with Lindsay) a Christmas fundraising concert for Friends of GIANT Steps. Well, it's almost here!

November 21, 2008 from 6:30 to 8:30 at the Provo Tabernacle in Provo. We have been lucky enough to have BOTH the Utah Valley Bell Ringers and Noteworthy performing that night! We will also have hot chocolate and doughnuts outside. Make it a family night and bring the kids for a truly entertaining evening.

Prices: $10 for adults (12 and up)

$5 for children 6-11

or $25 for a family (2 adults & up to 3 children)

I hope to see you all there!!!

Growing up is SO over-rated!

I've always known that I was attached to my kids and didn't want them to EVER grow up but after this last couple weeks it's obvious to everyone around me that it's time to let go and cut the cord already. You're probably asking yourselves what huge special event caused this epiphany. Well, Jackson and Lucie were in their primary program and they asked Jackson if he would be willing to have a speaking part. He was supposed to say "paying our tithing". I teach in primary and so I was there during all of the practices. I'm more than a little embarrassed to say that everytime I could hear Lucie singing or when Jackson went up to the pulpit and said his part (all by himself just like the other kids) I would immediatly start crying. The first time this happened I thought it was most likely a hormonal issue so I started my cream to balance my hormones better. It didn't help. I continued to cry every Sunday when they practiced. Finally on the day of the Primary program, I knew what was going to happen and just warned everyone that I was going to cry and please don't tease me about it. That morning I asked Jackson if he remembered his part. He said yes and then blurted out "not paying out tithing!" and laughed histerically. You can imagine my horror as I can picture him up in front of everyone saying "not paying our tithing" and then giggling . We immediatly went to bribery. If he would say his part right, then he could get a new game for the wii. We got to the church early, which never happens, and then I really started to well up. My kids are growing up so fast. The closer it got to Jackson's part, the more nervous I got for him but he did it and hardly seemed nervous at all. He said his part and turned around to walk back to his chair with the biggest grin on his face I've ever seen. Needless to say I really started to cry, and in fact I'm tearing up just thinking about it now.

Then, if this wasn't enough, they asked him to give a talk in primary yesterday. I tried to make it easy enough for him to do himself, though I didn't really want him to. I printed coloring pics of things like a church, butterlfy, kids praying and then had him color them and glued them to popsicle sticks. All he would have to say is, "I can think of Heavenly Father when...I go to primary, or when I see a butterfly, etc.". We practiced and practiced. Then yesterday when it was time for his talk I went up to help him and he pushed my away. As if that wasn't enough he then gave his whole talk by himself. I wanted to burst out bawling and scream "It's not fair! You were supposed to be my baby forever!". That's when I realized that if I want him have friends and be "typical" then I would need to LET him be independent and grow up. I guess what I'm saying is I promise to stop hovering too closely. You can't expect me to cut the cord completely! He is only 6 1/2. I do have a favor to ask, if you see me not letting one of my kids grow up, please slap me and tell me to be grateful for it.

Is Halloween a Christian holiday?

Jackson and Lucie are just like all kids and LOVE to dress up. So of course they can't wait for Halloween. The official dress up day! Lucie wants to be a skunk, which I think is incredibly appropriate. Jackson goes between Obi Wan Kenobi, an ogre, and a king. Last night we were talking at dinner about what Lucie and Jackson think Adam, me and my sister Tina should dress up as. They both agree that Tina should be a princess. Then Lucie bursts out and is so excited to say, "Dad! You should be Jesus!". Needless to say we could not stop laughing and had to explain to her that while it was a good suggestion, Daddy would not be dressing up as Jesus for Halloween.

Campbell Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Free family tree template - Family tree template

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Tonsill update

Jackson got his tonsill's out on Tuesday and has been a champ since then. To my surprise, he seems to recovering very quickly! He doesn't want to drink hardly anything though so we came up with the idea of using a timer. Every 3 minutes when the timer goes off he takes 3 small sips of water. It seems to be working great. For some reason I'm mean when I ask him to take a drink, but if the timer goes off that's just what happens. Thank you GIANT Steps for one more helpful tidbit. He is supposed to take an antibiotic to keep him from getting an infection. However, the Dr. told me that he wouldn't have to if we could keep him from other people especially kids. Lucie and Daphne are fine but no neighbor kids or friends for the 10-12 days it takes him to recover. We decided to hold him hostage for a couple of days instead of trying to fight him on another medication. Hopefully, we'll be able to leave the house and see people in about a week from Sunday. Till then, I email, A LOT!

Adam's attempt at baking!

Tonight Adam and I were kind of in a fight so he decided to "surprise" me by baking peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. In the 8 years that I have known him he has NEVER baked once. He found a recipe in one of my cookbooks and some "all-purpose" flour and began cooking. Now Adam didn't know that we have taken Jackson off the GFCF diet but haven't bought regular flour so the "all-purpose" flour he was baking with was a gluten free mix of bean flours. It became obvious that something wasn't right when we started smelling the baking cookies. They smelled like beans. Adam was determined that they would be fine though. He let them cool and then took them off the pan for everyone to enjoy. They completely disintegrated. Don't they look delicious! Needless to say, you can't just take any recipe and make it gluten free. Sorry Adam. Maybe in about 8 years you can try again.

Why I LOVE boys!

The other day, Lucie was pushing me to my limits. Everything I asked her to do, she would protest and throw a tantrum. Finally at about 5:30 that evening I had enough. I had asked her to pick up 2 toys and she flat out told me "no". Needless to say I was furious by that point. My face began to turn red and veins starting puffing out as I started yelling at Lucie to go to her room. I was really losing it and then I turned to hear Jackson say "I'll pick them up Mom." and then, "Mom, you sure look pretty today." I could not stop laughing at that point. At first I couldn't figure out where he got that from and then I remembered that Adam says the same thing the exact same way! That kid listens to everything!

Daphne's First Birthday

Sunday was a busy day for our family. Not only was it Father's Day but it was also Daphne's birthday. Since this was her 1st birthday we decided to celebrate Father's Day on Saturday and then Daphne's birthday on Sunday. Adam's parents were nice enough to let us have her party at their house. We gave the birthday girl her own cake on her table and she didn't know what to do at first. As you can see though, she quickly picked it up and had a GREAT time.

Translation...

Jackson was sick last week and wouldn't eat anything. Finally on Wednesday he was feeling much better but I still couldn't get him to eat. So I decided to pull out all the stops and take the kids to Chick-fil-a, Jackson's FAVORITE food! On our way he started screaming out of pain that his stomach hurt. He asked me "what is my stomaching saying?" because he thinks I can translate all different languages. I told him it was probably because he was hungry and his stomach wanted food. He replied "FEED ME" in a devil voice while scrunching up his belly. After we got the food and he started eating I asked if he felt better. He again scrunched his belly and said "Burp! THANKS FOR LUNCH!". I couldn't stop laughing.

Jackson's Surgery Cancelled

Jackson woke up with a fever yesterday and he was sheduled to have his tonsills removed tomorrow. However since he is sick (ironically with tonsillitis) his surgery has to be postponed. It has been rescheduled it for July 29th. Let's hope he is healthy then.

One year old attacks her older sister!

Daphne loves to give kisses to Lucie as much as Lucie loves to get them. By the way, did you notice anything different about Lucie's hair? Jackson cut her some VERY short bangs on Sunday. Lucie got a short hair style the next day.

Lucie's Graduation!

Lucie had her graduation from preschool today! She did such a good job singing and listening to her teachers. I LOVE the cap and gown!

Darth Jackson

So we bought a wii a couple of weeks ago and Adam rented the Lego Star Wars game. Jackson immediately loved watching and playing it. Maybe my plan to turn him into a boy through video games is working. He went from wanting to be Princess Leia to putting a pot on his head to look like Darth Vader in 2 days. I guess eveil is better than princess. Besides, what guy doesn't have a crush on Leia?

Lucie looks like Leia with her hair like that. She looks upset at Darth Jackson doesn't she? Maybe she wants to wear the pot.

Our little artist!

So for two day's now Jackson has been asking me if he can build his forest now. I had no idea what he was talking about so I kept saying "later" like the great mom I am. Finally, today he asked again and I said yes. I gave him the glue stick he asked for and kept cleaning, happy that he was entertaining himself. About 5 minutes later he came to me and said "Close your eyes Mom!" . When I opened them I could not believe what I saw. He had built his first diorama. I knew he had passed me by in many ways and definitely when it came to art, but even I didn't expect this. It took me about 5 minutes to figure out how he had even made it. I guess our boy with special needs is more special than we thought.

Walk for Autism 2008

Thanks to everyone who came to the Walk for Autism and showed support for our family! Jackson loved hearing his name being yelled and we walked past! He thought for sure he had to be a rock star!

Our pics from Disneyland!

Jackson is charting our course at Lego Land!
Who's gonna pull us up?
Daphne watches a movie on the plane ride to Disneyland!
Jackson is pretending to be a monkey and grooming Aunt Tina!

Disneyland!

We recently came back from a trip to Disneyland. It was wonderful! The flights went smooth (thanks to my sister who came with us), Jackson and Lucie weren't afraid of the characters, and Daphne was happy sitting in her stroller watching everything go by. The first ride we went on at Disneyland was Snow White. We thought we'd work very slowly into the big kid rides and Snow White is a princess. Jackson should love it, right? NO! He screamed and buried his head the entire ride. Then when we went to go on Pinocchio he sat on the floor and refused to get on. It was more than a little embarrassing. What's funny is after that Adam made a deal with Jackson and Lucie both, that if they went on 3 "scary" rides, then he would buy them each a hat. The next ride we went on was Splash Mountain. I thought we were in for it. To my surprise, Lucie loved it and Jackson wanted to go on it again. I thought I understood that boy, but I guess not. Both kids ended up with 2 hats. We can't wait to to back. Infact, Jackson keeps telling people he wishes that he could live in California with his mom. So now people are thinking that he's adopted! That's my son for ya.

I'm a blog virgin!

So I've been reading some of my friends blogs for a while now and I'm beginning to feel a little lazy/guilty that I haven't gotten on the bandwagon until now. I love reading others blogs to keep up what friends are up to so I figured I should start doing the same.