The Awe of the First Snow

WHAT?

Look what we woke up to...

Actually when we first woke up it was just raining, but before we were ready to leave for school it had turned to snow. I think that would qualify as the shortest fall ever. We only had a couple of weeks of really nice cool weather and now it is down to the bitter cold snow weather.

Zoe was the first to discover that it was snowing and for quite a while afterward I repeated heard, "Mom, is snowing!" Then after dropping Maggie off at school we took a little drive and she kept saying "is snowing" over and over. At one point she said "Mom, is snowing. It's Christmas!" I laughed a little and said "Oh it is?" and she replied, "Yes, Mom I know. It's Christmas!" I love the idea that to Zoe all we need to have Christmas is cold weather and snow. At this point no gifts and craziness are necessary!

14 TO GO

my lovely belly at 26 weeks

we ONLY have 14 weeks to go

that seems like forever

A Dramatic End

So how did our fun weekend end? Well...Saturday night Maggie ended up tripping on a toy and twisting her ankle. Nothing serious, but still full of drama. Luckily Grandma was prepared for such an event and pulled out her magic-heal-all "band aid". She got her ankle wrapped up in an Ace Bandage and was amazingly better. Until Sunday morning. Her pain returned and she was hopping all over the house. However, when we got to church and I asked her to try and walk normally she was able to do it without any arguments or even thinking about it. Drama indeed!
(this photo is of Maggie's wrap job once we got home)

Sunday afternoon while Dad, Mom and I were all snoozing on couches and in rocking chairs we heard a boom come from the spiral staircase. Then shortly following that we heard a Zoe cry that indicated she had actually hurt herself. I couldn't get my fat pregnant belly off the couch quick enough so Mom was already down stairs checking on her before I could even sit up. When Zoe walked around the corner she had a nice bloody scrape down her shin.

We really did have nice weekend! We just can't escape without some kind of drama. Mom and Dad need to prepare for our next visit. They only have 4 days!

The Colors of Fall

The ski lift ride in Sundance was amazing. It was cool and breezy and relaxing. I loved it. Most of all I loved the fall colors. They were breath taking and of course the camera can't quite capture it. I tried though. Here are some of my attempts...

This coral color was my favorite. It was so vivid and beautiful.

I LOVE FALL!

A Last Minute Drive

Friday afternoon when Glenn came home he informed me that one of they guys from work had invited him to go hunting on Saturday. Since we didn't have anything else planned he decided to go. I decided I didn't want to spen the whole day at home with nothing to do. I called Mandi to see what they were doing, but they were all sick. She told me that Mom and Dad were going to Sundance for the day to ride the ski lift and check out the festival that was going on. We decided that we would meet them there and then spend the rest of the weekend at their house. We had lots of fun on our last minute trip.

We arrived in Sundance before the others so the girls were patiently waiting and watching for Grandma.
When we first got on the lift Zoe was holding on to me for dear life. That soon changed and we were hanging on to her for dear life. She would scoot her booty closer and closer to the front of the lift scaring us all to death.
At the bottom of the lift they had a band playing and there was this balloon guy giving the kids free balloon animals. The girls waited in line for their turn and then decided they wanted flowers. They didn't last too long. Zoe's started popping right after we got the pictures.
Zoe enjoying the scenery on the way back down the mountain.

I was able to click a quick shot of the others as we made the turn to head back down the mountain. I'm pretty sure Maggie had a blast riding with Landon, Camille and Starr.

Zoe was holding onto Grandma making sure she was safe.
Zoe and Grandpa took a stroll to check out the fish in the pond.



Landon found a nice walking stick and Zoe just had to help him with it. She wouldn't let go. Landon got a little frustrated with her.

Opinions please!

I made this infant carseat cover a while ago and think it is so cute...If I have a girl it will for sure be used. If I have a boy this one will most likely be donated to our YM/YW silent auction fundraiser.

I need opinions on my next one. I can't decide on which buttons to use. I used some really large ones on the first and I love them, but I don't have any that size to match the current one.
Here are my options...
If I use the larger pink ones it pretty much makes it another girl blanket. The others could be neutral, but they are much smaller. I just can't decide!
HELP!

Zoe's Castle

The city has been making some improvements to our area and one thing they did was put an archway over the entrance to the pond.

After we drop Maggie off at school we take a ride up to Glenn's work to say hi. On our way home we drive past the park and Zoe wants to "go in the castle". I'm not sure where she came up with that, but it's very cute and we usually take a minute to drive in and see the pond. It makes her happy and she always says "whoo hoo" when we drive under the archway.
This bear keeps a watchful eye on all who enter the castle!

Just Silliness

I was trying to get Zoe to sleep the other night and asked her to bring me my pillow. (I put it on my stomach to give me a little bit of protection from her squirming) Instead of bringing my little pillow she drug out my huge c-shaped body pillow. She couldn't figure out how to climb over the arm of the chair with the pillow on it so she went under the pillow and then decided that was way too much fun.

I'm sure you would be shocked to learn that I was unable to get her to sleep!

Maggie was watching all the craziness from the couch...

We Have a Cusser

Zoe has decided she like the "s" word. I'm not sure where she picked it up from, but she has put it to good use in the last few weeks. A few days before Mom came up to help us out Zoe was sitting next to my chair playing with something on the floor and she breaks out with "SH.., SH.., SH..!" Lovely! Then we fast forward to yesterday...Sunday...during sacrament meeting! Actually it was a little before church actually started so there weren't people sitting around us yet, but still it was pretty embarrassing. I tried to change her thinking before she popped out another one by saying "oh shooty pops" and she just laughed and said "yeah". I have tried to just ignore it and hope she gives it up, but she still breaks it out once in a while.

What do I do? It's hard not to laugh because she says it so cute.

Maggie Would Be So Jealous

Today was Glenn's day off so we got to have lunch with him.  We met Lindsey, Steven and Brandon at McDonald's and had a great time watching the kids play and getting to chat with Lindsey.

The reason Maggie would be jealous is because she has not had the chance to eat in the sadles yet.  She gets a little too crazy so we have to keep her by us.  I am not about to attempt to eat my meal while sitting in a sadle.  It does not appeal to me at all.

Even though she was up and down most of the time she did really well with her lunch.  Maybe we can let Maggie try it next time.

Zoe has decided that she likes Cheeseburgers more than Chicken Nuggets.  Maggie would be ashamed!

Zoe and Steven enjoying their lunches and good conversation!

Blog, Blog, Blog Baby Blog...

You're just another picture to blog!

(thanks for the inspiration Miss Taylor Swift!)

Last night was less than fun and we got less than stellar sleep thanks to Zoe. For some reason she got VERY restless and fussy several times during the night. Glenn got her out of bed twice and walked around with her to see if he could get her to wake up and tell him what was wrong, but she never did. Just tears and whines. She actually kicked me pretty hard twice. Luckily my back was turned to her so she did get my sore belly.

She didn't wake up this morning until almost time to leave for school so she rode in her jammies. When we got home she wanted to get "clothes on". I handed her an outfit and asked her to go to the living room so I could change her diaper. She didn't quite make it that far. As I was walking past the toy room I saw her on the floor with her jammies off, shirt on her head trying to put both legs in one hole. I casually asked her again to come into the living room for a diaper change. She walked in very slowly as she didn't even take the time to pull her shorts off. I didn't mind as it gave me time to grab the camera and install the battery that had been charging.

I love the independence of a two year old. Well, love might be too strong of a word, but it is cute...sometimes!

Zoe's Capooter

We decided to go to Don Pedro's for dinner tonight. I had the chalupa, and when it came out it was a huge fried flour tortilla kind of folded into an 90 degree angle. While I was eating, Zoe asked me something about my "capooter". I wasn't sure what she was talking about and then realized she was calling my chalupa a computer. We were almost done with dinner and she realized that my capooter was gone. I took a piece of the tortilla and set her up with her own computer and she quickly got to work on pictures of Sadie and Maggie. Too cute! Her imagination is just too much sometimes.

She is totally focused on the job at hand!

She's a whiz on the keyboard! A close up of her work. There is a picture of Sadie on her screen!

LOVE IT!

Ooops!

I thought the incision in my belly button had gotten infected so I went to the Dr. yesterday. He said it looked fine. The glue he put over it had just trapped some moisture in there so he pulled it off and cleaned it a bit. OUCH!! I liked him until he did that. Anyway, he told me everything looks good, but to watch it because it did look pretty irritated. Go figure! He also gave me the go ahead to drive again. Excellent! I don't have to bug neighbors or Glenn to get Maggie to school and back. I apparently did too much driving and such yesterday. I got so worn out and started hurting. I had to take a pain pill before bed. I was pretty bummed. I hadn't taken any since Thursday night and was feeling so good. I guess I need someone here to babysit me instead of Zoe. Today I have been doing laundry. Usually not a big deal, but I'm already tired and ready for bed. It's only 1:00. Someone stop me!

It's been one week today since my surgery and really things are going very well. I am truly amazed at the lack of pain I have had. My belly button has been super sore and the worst pain of all. The surgeon said the reason for that is that my uterus was higher than he anticipated so he had to kind of torque his tools around in order to not touch it. I hurt just thinking about it. It has surprised me that I feel absolutely no pain at all in the area of the actual organ removal. Very strange! Thank heaven for modern medicine that has improved this surgery so much.

I am 24 weeks along today. I hate pregnant belly picture of myself, but I do want to document this pregnancy since it's going to be my last and considering all that we have been through during it. Feel free to just ignore the picture!

It's Done

The surgery that is. The healing however has just begun.

Mom and I arrived at the hospital a little before 9:00am to get registered. The woman signing me in was getting all my info and then started asking about payment. I told her that we were supposed to be meeting with someone from the financial office, but had not heard from anyone. She got on the phone and spoke with someone that told her we needed to pay $400.00. WHAT?! What happened to the almost $2,000.00 they wanted a few days before? I was confused, but didn't argue. We will meet with the financial office later.

So onto the surgery...

I put on my super fabulous gown and way too sexy blue socks and climbed onto the bed. I was there a few minutes before the nurse came out to get my IV ready. I warned her that my veins were not that great and I usually have to get stuck multiple times before they get a good one. She decided that in order to give herself more of an advantage that she would warm me up. She put this funky plastic blanket on me and then turned it on. I looked like the marshmallow man and just couldn't resist having Mom take a picture. After being under this lovely warmer for several minutes she came back to check on me. She started slapping the back of my hand trying to find a vein. It felt like she was bruising me. RUDE! She was actually very nice and polite, just doing her job. She got it the first time, but then informed me that my vein got scared and she had to try again. Fantastic!! Second time was a success!

My OB came in a few minutes later and took a quick look at the baby on an ultrasound machine. Sorry, no way to see the sex. The monitor was way too small. I think she was just checking the heart. When she was done the anesthesiologist and her intern came in. They explained all the risks and such and asked several questions. I was totally fine until the bed actually started to roll and I saw Mom starting to fade. The tears started rolling and both the anesthesiologists were very concerned and kept asking if I was alright. After they got me moved to the surgical table I took a few deep breaths and off to sleep I went. No more tears!

I woke up in a labor and delivery room where Mom, Glenn and Zoe were waiting with me. I did start contracting during the surgery, but the medicine they gave me got that under control enough that they were able to finish. I was still contracting slightly and my uterus was agitated so they wanted to keep me over night. I was hoping to be able to go home and save us a bit of money, but the way I was feeling I knew I needed to stay. I was hooked up to several monitors through out the night to make sure all was well. By morning all contractions had stopped and the babies heart rate was great. Everything was good and I was released.

As expected I am quite sore, but I am able to do quite a bit. I was anticipating the pain to be as bad as it was after my other two laparoscopies, but have been pleasantly surprised that I can stand and walk with minimal pain. Sleeping has been difficult because of the air they pumped into me during the surgery is now hanging out in my shoulder. It hurts to breath, but it doesn't last too long. A little stroll through the apartment helps a lot.

Zoe has been a big helper. She gets very concerned when she sees me trying to get out of my chair. She has to hurry over and hold my hand and walk me to the bathroom. So sweet! In the hospital both girls had to help me push my IV cart around. Zoe thought it was a jungle gym and got pretty upset when we told her not to hang on it or stand on it. It was difficult to see everyone leave, but I was grateful that they all got to go home to nice comfortable beds.

I am so glad that Mom got to come up and be with us for a few days. Thanks for doing the laundry and the dishes. Thanks for taking Maggie to school and to her primary activity. Thank you for helping Glenn make dinner. Thank you for playing with Zoe. Thank you for letting me rest. Thank you for being a good kind mother and someone that I can look up to. Thanks Dad for letting her come visit for a while.

Today's the Day

Surgery day has finally arrived. My Dr. called Monday to let me know that he had been working all day Friday and Saturday with the hospital and insurance company. He wanted to let us know that our insurance wasn't going to cover any of the hospital expenses so he talked with the hospital's financial department and is setting up a meeting for this morning before the surgery to work things out. I am amazed at what he has done for us concerning the insurance stuff. He has spent many hours of his own personal time trying to to help us out and get things in order. I know we are blessed to have him as my Doctor. Most would have just shrugged their shoulders and said you deal with it! I'm nervous about what the hospital will have to say, but our hope is that they will be able to write-off a chunk of our bill and then let us make payments on the rest. I'm hoping the person we talk to has as much compassion as the Doctor and can see the necessity of this surgery and our inability to pay a huge amount for it. So once again we hit the floor with our knees and as our Heavenly Father to step in on our behalf and help us out. We sure have been needy lately, but are feeling and seeing the blessings of our faith and the faith of so many that we know are also praying for us.

Thank you all for your love and concern and I will be updating the blog and facebook as soon as I can.

And the Tears are Back

I was sitting here at home rocking with Zoe while she drifted off to dream land when my phone rang. I just let it go because Zoe was almost out and I didn't want to disturb her. The call was from the Evanston hospital letting me know that my insurance doesn't cover in-patient hospital stays so we will be responsible for the bill. We would have to have 20% down before the surgery. She then proceeded to tell me the cost...total bill: $9,690.00, our down payment: $1, 940.00. She then asked me to call her back and let her know if we would be able to get them the money Tuesday morning. Oh sure lady! Let me just pull it out of my ear.

After listening to that message I called Glenn to see if he would be able to pick Maggie up since Zoe didn't get to sleep at her normal time. He told me that Dr. Barton (the surgeon) had called him and said there had been some problem with the insurance and he was working on it and that he would call me when he found out what was happening. Yeah, right about here is where the water works started...AGAIN!

So, he finally called after what seemed like forever and said that the insurance would only pay a one time in-patient stay, but he was going to work it out so I wouldn't be an in-patient. He said there are lots of loop holes and ways to get around the insurance issues. He then asked me what the hospital had said when they called. I told him about the 20% down and such and he asked what they said the total cost would be. I have a feeling he about fell out of his chair when I told him. He said no wonder I was freaking out, but he would talk with the hospital and let me know what the final word is. He knows that I need this surgery and the consequences of waiting any longer would not be good for me or the baby.

We are still waiting to hear back from him.

I don't think I can handle much more of this. My stomach is in knots and my head hurts. I want to be done with it all. I want, and need, to feel normal again.