Halloween!!

I love Halloween! I think it is so much fun to dress up the kids. We have been so busy fixing up our house we didn't have a lot of time to plan for costumes but it seemed to work out ok. This year Emma was Dorothy, she has never even seen The Wizard Of Oz, she just saw a picture of Dorothy and LOVED the red sparkly shoes and wanted to be her. She was so excited to get to wear lipstick and carry around her stuffed dog in her basket. TJ started out as a caterpillar but changed into a dragon at Grandma's house and little Rees was a lion. It was a busy day and by the time we got all dressed up and ready to go trick-or-treating Rees was so tired she just couldn't handle it. So we put her to bed at Grandma May's and took the older kids out. It was a fun filled night. After trick-or-treating around the block we took the kids to a party at our friend's house. They played lots of fun games and got lots of treats and cupcakes. After the party we went to one of Jared's long time friend's parents house for soup. It is something they do every Halloween and it is always SO good! The kids had fun playing and we ended up staying way too late. All in all it was a great day!

Poor Rees is not very happy. She wouldn't let me paint her face and TJ was mad because his costume was too small and hurt his head when we put his hat on.

TJ was a little bit happier when we switched his caterpillar for a dragon.

Emma and her friend Meili at the party

Favorite 8's

I've been tagged...

8 Favorite TV shows:
1. The Office
2. 24
3. Seinfeld
4. Everybody Loves Raymond
5. House
6. Antiques Roadshow
7. Biggest Loser
8. Extreme Makeover Home Edition

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Outback
2. Cheesecake Factory
3. Olive Garden
4. Robintinos
5. Mandarin
6. Cafe Rio
7. Macraroni Grill
8. El Matador

8 Favorite Bands:
1. Dashboard Confessional
2. Counting Crows
3. Maroon 5
4. Secondhand Serenade
5. Dave Matthews
6. Taylor Swift
7. Muse
8. Dispatch

8 Things I did Today:
1. Went to church
2. Made dinner
3. Ate Halloween candy
4. Changed diapers
5. Took a nap
6. Dishes
7. Watched Football
8. Read my book

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. My house being done!!!
2. Bedtime
3. Twilight movie
4. Alone time with Jared
5. Running
6. Christmas
7. Summer/Boating
8. Playing with my kids

So now I tag Amanda, Heidi, Jeannette, Elise, Madison, and Anna. Have fun! I actually had a pretty hard time with this, especially the music. I just don't listen to music that much anymore!

Idaho fun

A little while ago Nancy's husband, Chris took Jared and I shooting up in good old Swan Valley. It has taken me a while to post because of my computer problems but I thought there were some cute pictures so I am doing it now. It was the first time I had ever shot a shot gun and I was so afraid it was going to hurt. I had so much fun and I actually hit some of the skeets! We also brought the BB gun and taught Emma and TJ how to use it.

I thought this picture of TJ and Jared was really cute.

Emma and me

Nancy getting ready to shoot

Jared showing off his skills

Me and Chris

Thanks Chris, it was a lot of fun!!

Birthday Girl

My baby turned 1!!! Rees had her first birthday on Wednesday, the 8th. I can't believe she is so big already. I love this little girl SO much! She is the best little critter ever, she is always so happy. I feel so blessed to have her in our family and have loved watching her grow and learn over the last year. Here are just a few of my favorite pictures of my little Rees-A-Roni.

2 year anniversary

I can't believe it has been two years since my surgery! I haven't written everything about this time of my life down officially anywhere and I want to keep a good record of it. But because it would be so long I decided to do a short version here and the long version somewhere else. Even the short version is long, sorry.

It was two years ago in June that I had a consultation to get my wisdom teeth out, the right side of my lips had been feeling numb for a while and I could feel my wisdom teeth coming in so I put the two together and decided I needed to get them pulled. When I told the oral surgeon about my numbness he immediately called in an appointment for an MRI and told me I could either have a brain tumor or have had a mini stroke. Of course this freaked me out and I started to cry (a result of being up ALL night the night before with kids). So that same day I went in for an MRI. I had also been having little dizzy spells if I turned my head too fast or if I put my head upside down to blow dry my hair which, of course, I shrugged off as an inner ear infection or something.

After being in the MRI machine for quite some time we were sent to wait for my results. Luckily, we knew the technician and she worked it out to have my OB/GYN give me the results that day instead of having to wait. So we went upstairs and waited...finally my doctor came in with the results. She looked at me and said, "I don't know how to tell anyone what I am about to tell you." Wow! Bad sign. She went on to say I had a brain tumor. She didn't know what kind or whether it was benign or cancerous. All she knew was that it was there. I was sick!!! Of course I started to cry...again. She told me I had to see a neural surgeon to find out more. The only problem was I couldn't get in to see a neural surgeon for another month! So, we waited again, not knowing anything.

After what seemed like forever we met with the neural surgeon and found out I had what is called an acoustic neuroma. A benign tumor, but a very large benign tumor that had to be removed surgically. The doctor actually used the word "giant". He went through all the complications and side effects and told me all about the surgery. In a nutshell, they had to drill a 2 inch hole in my skull behind my ear and take out my inner ear to get to the tumor, resulting in hearing loss on that side and a very good possibility of permanant facial paralysis on my right side, along with other possible complications and side effects. So we set a date for surgery. They also had to take some fat from my abdomen to plug up the hole in my head. Too bad they couldn't take it all out while they were at it.

I went in for surgery the morning of Sep. 26. I got all ready and waited with Jared and my mom and dad for them to take me to the operating room. I was scared out of my mind! As they wheeled my bed back I remember how freezing cold it was in the operating room and thinking as the room was going dark how glad I was I didn't have to worry and wait anymore. I got to go to sleep and Jared and my family had to wait in the waiting room. Lucky me!! 8 1/2 hours later I woke up and I was SICK!!! I was nauseated from the anesthetics and I was dizzy from losing my inner ear and my equilibrium. Not a good combination.

Before surgery the surgeon told me if I didn't have moblity in my face right after surgery it wouldn't come back. Sure enough, I couldn't move my face. The nurse taking care of me looked at me and said, "Oh my goodness, was your face like that before?" Nice. The surgeon checked up on me too and saw my face wasn't in as good of shape as they hoped. I was still a little out of it when Jared came in but I remember the look on his face. He knew my face wasn't working and knew I was probably upset but I remember him telling me how much he loved me and would always love me no matter what.

Time went on and miracles happened. I had a lot of blessings and a lot of people fasting and praying for me and I KNOW my recovery was a direct result of these things. My mobility in my face came back very slowly, suprising everyone. I was not as sick as they told me I would be, and I was up walking around with Jared at my side (I was still REALLY dizzy) faster than they told me I'd be. I had all of my doctors telling me they wished they could bottle whatever was making me recover the way I was. I was also able to come home sooner than expected. (YAY!!!)

I came home and continued to recover quickly but when I went in to get my stitches out, CSF fluid had leaked and made a big bubble on the side of my head. I looked like an alien. They told me it could take up to 6 months for the CSF to re-absorb and they might have to go back in and fix the leak if it was too bad. I got another blessing and prayed a lot! After a couple of days I could tell the bubble had gone down a bit. After a few more days the bubble was gone!!! I went back to the doctor a week later and shocked them all when I told them it had gone completely down. Another miracle! All the while my sweet mom and mother in law took turns every week taking care of my 2 year old Emma and my 9 month old TJ.

It took me a long time to get back to normal but now, 2 years later the only side effects I have are my hearing loss, the right side of my mouth is numb and tasteless, I get a really sour taste in my mouth sometimes for no reason at all that lasts quite a while sometimes, my right eye gets dried out a lot, and when I cry, I only cry out of my left eye. I also have a crater behind my right ear that makes it hard to make my glasses sit straight on my face. I consider myself VERY blessed!!!

This first picture is a couple of days after surgery. I know I look horrible but wanted to post it for two reasons. First, to show how my face was paralyzed. I am actually smiling, you just can't tell. It had actually improved a TON by this time. At first it was all droopy and wouldn't move at all. I could move it a tiny bit when this picture was taken. Second reason is because I think it is hilarious how Emma looks totally freaked out. I don't blame her a bit though.


The next picture is of the welcome home sign my family made for me. If you look close you can see that my mom and sisters decorated my front porch for me too :)


I had a hard time deciding if I should post this last picture. I don't want to gross anybody out but at the same time I want to show what they did to me. This was right after I got home and finally got to wash my hair. I still couldn't make the room hold still and holding my head down in the water made it a lot worse. That is why I am laying on the side of the tub, I am trying not to be sick. My hair grew back pretty fast and I could hide my incision easy but I am a little disappointed I can't see my huge scar now.

My little vampire

I have just recently really gotten into the twilight series so I thought it was really funny when Rees started getting her side tooth before her two front teeth. The front teeth came in before the other side tooth so I guess it was more of a half vampire look...my own little Renesmee. Now only if she could tell me what she is thinking it would make life a WHOLE lot easier sometimes!

Finally!!!

Okay, so I figured out my camera and ya, I was just an idiot. But now I have some major catching up to do.

I love this picture of Rees. I was packing up all of our food and she got into one of the boxes and found her first chocolate chip cookie. She was pretty happy about it too, like mother like daughter :)

I know Jared's parents have been home for a couple of months now but I never got to post pictures of their homecoming, so here they are. Janie was crying before she even made it down the escalator.

I love this one of Frank kissing Emma on the cheek. She missed her Grandma and Grandpa so much!Anna made a welcome home banner that we all signed, this is a picture of some of the kids holding it up waiting for them to come.

Dang!

So, I haven't posted since we got the internet hooked up because I couldn't find the cord to connect my camera to the computer. Well, Jared found the cord today and I was so excited to finally post but for some reason (probably just me being an idiot) I cannot get it to work!!! I am so frustrated! Good news though...I talked to the people we are buying our house from today and they are almost done moving out!!! Since Jared's parents got home we have been living in our old rental but, knowing we are going to have to move again soon, we left most of our stuff boxed up. If I could figure out my camera I could post a picture of our lovely pile of boxes I have to look at every day. So it is good to hear that we can start fixing up the house soon so we can move in and finally get settled. In the meantime, I will try to figure out how to post pictures. I guess for tonight I will just have to get me a big bowl of ice cream and settle down to read my book :)

Yay!!!

So, we have the internet at our house again! I am super excited but haven't found the cord to my camera to post new pictures yet. We have been pretty busy moving and going out of town, but I finally feel like I have some down time before we move again so I will have time to do some catching up. I am so glad!!!

No internet!!!!

So, we have no internet right now and I almost don't know what to do. Since Jared's parents got home and we had to move, we don't have the internet at out house and probably won't for a while because we will be moving again soon (JOY!!!). I will try to post when I can but I already have a lot of catching up to do. I can't believe how much I miss looking at everyone's blogs!!

Sally

We found a new pet on our kitchen floor the other day. It is a little hard to tell from the pictures but it was a little praying mantis. Emma got attatched right off and started calling it Sally while TJ stayed back a bit. After a while he got used to it but not enough that he would hold it. After playing for a few minutes Emma let Sally go in our garden so she could go see her family.The kids watching Sally climb up the chair, they were really nervous about it at first.

Emma wanted to keep her forever but finally decided she needed to go home.

Farmington Festival Days

I ran in my first 5K for the Festival Days this year. Jared and I ran together, he was nice enough to wait for me and not run ahead. We ran it in 27 minutes, which is pretty good for me. It was a lot of fun and I would definitely like to do it again.

Later that day we went to the park with the kids and had lots of hot dogs and snow cones while we watched a baseball game and let the kids run around. It was such a fun day!!!

At the park relaxing and eating snow cones

4th of July

My family always spends the 4th of July in Idaho, we had a lot of fun playing at the lake, floating down the river, and playing guitar hero. :)

TJ, Emma and Davis playing at the lake

It took a while before TJ would get close to the sparklers but when he did both he and Emma had a lot of fun. TJ also got freaked out by the little town's fireworks. Poor kid started crying to go to bed because he didn't like the noise. He was so sweet though, as I was putting him in bed in the trailer I asked him if he wanted me to lay by him because I was afraid he would be scared. He just smiled at me and told me I could go watch the fireworks. So cute!

TJ and Davis (Nancy's youngest) are only 3 weeks apart in age and when they get together you can pretty much count on them getting into trouble. They did some pretty funny things while we were in Idaho, here is a picture of them swimming in their clothes. They found the pool that we had put away, moved in under the pump, fugured out how to turn the pump on (which is pretty hard), and started filling up the pool.

While we were boating one day my brave little Emma went wakeboarding with Jared, she stood in between his feet on the wakeboard. It was awesome!!! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera. I will get pictures from my sister-in-law soon and post them later.

Time to babyproof!

That's right, Rees is officially crawling! Oh how time flies, it seems like she grew up over night. She is not moving around very fast (thank goodness!) but she can get where she wants to go. Here is a little video of her first crawling experience. She had to take a break for a big cheeser smile.

Chalk drawings

Emma and TJ were drawing on the patio with chalk this morning and when I asked them what they were drawing Emma told me "The Holy Ghost". This was followed by TJ telling me he was drawing "Jesus Christ with a headband". How funny is that? Also, when I asked TJ what he wanted to do today he replied, "Go on a mission". Kids are so cute!

Emma's Holy Ghost

TJ's Jesus with a headband :)

Vacation

Jared was nice enough to let the kids and I come with him to the northwest on his business trip a couple of weeks ago. It was a TON of driving but the kids did amazing!!! We got to spend some time in Washington with Jared's brother and his family for a couple of days and we were so glad. It was fun to see Clif and Jenn and the kids couldn't have been happier to be there. Here are a few pictures from the trip.We went to a Mariners game one night, only we got stuck in traffic and didn't get there until the 6th inning. It was ok though because I think that is all the kids could handle. It was still fun.

Emma, TJ and Ben on the train. As I was looking through my pictures I noticed Ben has the same kindof cool-kid look on his face in all of them. He seems so much older than he really is, he is a funny kid.

The boys playing ball

Awww, Emma loves her aunt Jenn!!! Thanks guys for letting us come, it was so much fun!

Stage Fright

Emma had her end of the year program for preschool last week, all the parents get to come and watch the kids perform some of the songs they have learned throughout the year. Emma was so excited for at least a week before the program telling me they had been practicing all the songs they were going to sing and she sang them at home all the time too, it was so cute to see her practice her songs. Well, on the morning of the program I told her today was the day I got to go see her sing and she couldn't have been happier. We got her all ready and made it to preschool and got ready for the program to start. Here is a picture of Emma and TJ before it started. Notice how happy Emma looks. These next pictures are from during the program. She started out great, singing and doing the actions.


After singing the first couple of songs this is all we got from Emma (above) and below is what happened near the end. It may look like she is doing actions but is actually going to wipe a tear. Poor Emma got so embarrassed it was all she could do to not burst into tears. It was sweet and sad at the same time. I wanted so bad to grab her and give her a hug! She stayed up there the whole time though, even though she was near tears. I felt horrible that she didn't get to sing her songs she worked so hard on. After we got home and she recovered from her traumatic experience, she felt bad and wanted to do the program again. I told her we couldn't so she settled with singing the songs by herself for us. I can't believe how much I love this sweet little girl!!!