Overheard...

Tyler has been running laps through our house for like 45 minutes straight.  

He just informed me that he ran 108 HOURS per MILE.  

Woah.  Not quite as fast as I think he was going for... 

Dream

Last night I had a thought-provoking dream. In it, I was teaching a Sunday school class (oddly with my parents) but there was only one class member present. It was a young woman who had decided that God isn't real and wanted nothing to do with church. When it was apparent that no one else was going to be there for class, I ended up putting my lesson aside and asked her about her beliefs... or lack thereof. She proceeded to ask controversial question after controversial question about church history and religion in general, some of which I had no good answer for. I pointed out to her that she had obviously looked very intently for evidence to back up her idea that God wasn't real, but had she spent any time looking for the evidence that He was? I then presented the fact that not only could I not prove to her that God was real, but likewise, she could not prove to me that He was not.

It was at this point that I woke up. In that half awake, half asleep state, I continued to ponder on the theme of the dream. If someone is looking for reasons to leave the church or even religion in general, they really don't have to look very far to find all sorts of arguments supporting their desire. It brought to mind one of my most favorite quotes, "the eye sees what the mind looks for." Sometime near the beginning of my own conversion, I realized that I had been going through the motions of church because of "the traditions of my fathers." I had been raised in the Church, taught about Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Plan of Salvation. I trusted my parents and teachers and it all felt good to me, but did I really believe it? Sometimes my literal and intellectual brain wanted to reject it all as preposterous without any concrete evidence or physical proof. I ultimately came to the point where I decided that I needed to choose if I wanted to believe or not. When looking at the two options, going toward the belief that there was no God left me feeling empty and alone, and my whole existence shallow. Whereas the idea of choosing to believe that there was a God who loved me, had a plan for me, and had my back, brought me comfort, peace, and fulfillment. 

So I chose to believe. That was the beginning of building my own testimony. Since then, I have experimented on the word and found the sweetness of faith. I have paid attention to how I feel when I read the scriptures and done my best to live as Jesus taught and recognized the feelings I had as the Spirit witnessing to me of truth. As a recovering perfectionist, I have felt peace in knowing that making mistakes is totally part of life, but the key is to learn from them... I've felt comfort and joy as I have repented and repaired and learned and grown in the process. 

So yes, I choose to believe. And that belief serves me very well. 

Sick Sick Sick!

No school Monday for Martin Luther King, Jr Day!!  We had Dan's family over for dinner and Carson ended up spending the night.  I thought it a little strange that Tyler fell asleep in the piano room while the big kids were building him an epic train track.

When Nathan got home from work, he clearly was not well.  He had a massive headache and wasn't sure if his stomach was about to revolt or not. He opted out of dinner and went straight to bed.  

Tyler didn't eat much for dinner and then fell asleep on the couch so I carried him upstairs to his bed.

Nathan woke up around 1am and daintily vomited in the toilet... seriously, it was so quiet I almost wasn't sure he was throwing up- no heaving, just a little tinkling sound.  He tried to lay back down but was just so achy and nauseated that he could not get comfortable.

And then Jace came down because Tyler had just puked all over his bed.

A.W.E.S.O.M.E!

I got that cleaned up and Tyler back to bed just in time to find Nathan once again bowing before the porcelain throne.  He didn't want to take Zofran because, "he wanted whatever was down to come back up", but he wasn't throwing anything up but stomach juices!  Ultimately he didn't have the will to argue so he took the Zofran and was amazed when just a few minutes later the nausea started to ease.  Crazy that it still took a little convincing for him to agree that he was too sick to go to work that day.  It was the first day EVER that he has missed of work due to sickness.  Pretty sure there have been days in the past when he shouldn't have gone to work because he was sick... but whatever.  Not this day though.

Jace woke up that morning not feeling great, but he was going to try to power through... uh, no.  I told him I was NOT going to get a phone call from school 30 minutes after dropping him off informing me that he wasn't feeling quite the thing after all, so he stayed home.

Hailee assured me she felt just fine so she went to school and I crossed my fingers.

This was the family room basically all day:

I did my best to keep Wyatt away from the sicko's...  we read books and played in his room, but inevitably anytime I was getting more Zofran or ibuprofen or trying to force fluid or food down one or more of my patients, he'd wander over and poke someone in the eye or find their water bottle and take a sip.  Ugh.

His turn came on Wednesday.

He woke up Wednesday at 6ish and fell back asleep while nursing.  I usually can get him back to sleep after feeding him, but it's rare that he actually falls asleep while eating anymore... I didn't really think anything of it at the time, but then he didn't wake up again until 10:30.  He had a fever, didn't want to eat and clearly felt terrible- he was ready for a nap an hour later.  He wouldn't eat solids all day, only nursed (thank goodness I'm still nursing!) and slept, mostly in my arms.

Nathan again missed work on Wednesday (his last work day scheduled for the week), and he, Jace and Tyler pretty much laid around the whole day.  There definitely were some signs of improvement, but overall, they still felt crummy- headache, tired and just generally achy.

Thursday, Wyatt felt just good enough to let me know just how miserable he felt.  He was C.R.A.B.B.Y!  He wanted to eat, but ate very little, taking one or two bites of some of the things offered and then throwing the rest on the floor.  The other invalids were definitely feeling better, but nowhere near 100%.  Since we'd gotten a whole bunch of snow, Jace and Tyler bundled up and went out on the back deck to play.  I think they took 3 times as long just getting their winter gear on as they spent outside.  

Friday morning Jace was SURE he was well enough to go to school.  Tyler seemed back to normal but I kept him home from preschool (you're welcome everyone at preschool). Nathan felt much better but was still tired easily.  Wyatt was crabbier than usual so I don't think he felt great.  He flat out refused to sit in his highchair... he wanted to sit up to the counter (or on the counter) like a big boy.  

I ended up putting the booster seat from his highchair on a kitchen stool and he was happy- and safe!

What a week!  AND, we got a ton of snow, during the removal of which I discovered that it is possible to fit 5 cars in our garage:

(The plow truck in the single bay, the Mazda, Expedition, Acura in the double bay, with the Jeep around the corner)

So in light of Tyler's, Daddy's, Jace's AND Wyatt's symptoms, I'm wondering about Eli's 'concussion'... because really, a concussion from getting hit with a rebounded basketball? His symptoms: severe headache, dizzy, nausea and fatigue- all the same as everyone else, just a week ahead of them.  There just was no way of knowing at the time!  So all the rigmarole to get him back to be able to play basketball and it was probably just a nasty flu after all, HA!  *Ahem* I guess we can safely assume who got whom sick...

Another Concussion?!?

I went downstairs Monday night and found Eli watching a basketball game with Nathan.  It was odd because he was icing his head... I asked him why and he told me he had a headache- he'd been hit in the back of the head with a rouge basketball that had rebounded off the rim when his back was turned.  I didn't think much of it until the next morning when he came downstairs at 5am.  He'd been up since 3am with a horrible headache- he was also dizzy, nauseated and weak.  Awesome.  His neuro exam seemed fine to me, but with his history of concussions and seizures, I wanted him checked out before he played basketball again.  Unfortunately, we'd gotten 5 to 6 inches of very wet snow overnight, so first we had to dig our way out.  Of course.

The ER doc said that the 'observation period' had passed and since his neuro exam was fine he didn't need any imaging- it was likely a mild concussion, so Eli would have to complete a return to activity protocol over the course of several days to be able to get back to basketball.  He was pretty bummed because he had a game that night and his team really depends on him, but there was no way I (or his doctor or coach) was going to let him play!

We went home and he went straight to bed.  I thought it would be a battle to try to keep him low stim/dark room/no screens, but he slept the whole day, got up for little that evening and then went back to bed and slept all night.  The next morning his head still hurt pretty bad so he stayed home from school again, and again, slept most of the day.  By Thursday he was feeling much more the thing and, despite a mild headache, he felt ready and wanted to go back to school.  Friday we had a follow up appointment with his primary care doctor who outlined the plan for him to get back to basketball: once he was headache free for 24 hours, he could start some mild exercise- running on the treadmill or the like, but only where his brain would be 'moving' in 2 dimensions (up/down)... something that would not jostle him around much but would still get his heart pumping.  If he developed a headache or any concussion symptoms, he had to stop and wait 24 hours before attempting again.  If he didn't develop any symptoms, the next day he could increase the activity to be more rigorous, moving in more than just one plane- cutting back and forth solo, but no scrimmaging against anyone yet- getting another concussion at this point would be reeeeally bad.  He had a bit of a headache still on Friday, so on Sunday he ran on the treadmill... and his headache came back.  So now we're waiting another 24 hours before he can retry.  It's nice that there's no school tomorrow (Martin Luther King, Jr. day)... he follows up with his doctor on Wednesday and his next game isn't until Thursday, so we've got some time.

Overheard in the Bathroom (potty training version)

Dallin: Tyler, we go poop in the toilet to keep our underwear clean!  Why don't you go poop on the toilet and keep your underwear clean?

Tyler:  Because, that's just the way it works!

Off to College!

The day couldn't come soon enough for Bryson, and yet, I know that HE knew he'd miss home because just about every time he walked past me for the past few weeks, he'd give me a hug 💖

The timing worked out so well for him to finish work at Silverwood and then have a few days to get his room packed... at least that was his plan.  My was that he could leave 2 bins at home that I'll store, but everything else had to go with him or given away or tossed... he has a LOT of stuff and my house is not a storage facility!  😕  It ended up coming down to just about the last minute, but he finally got packed and we were off!

Daddy and Bryson planned to play golf along the way in Montana and I got to laze in the car, read and take a nap... somehow it was comfortable!

We stayed the night in Dillon so we only had few hours to Rexburg and 10am check in!  I don't think Bryson slept at all he was so excited!  As we pulled into his apartment complex, I was feeling very conscientious of just how VERY pregnant I was... I told Bryson that I'd just stay in the car and when he questioned why, I explained that I knew that no college freshman wanted his pregnant mom waddling all over campus with him... his response was so sweet, emphatically insisting that he did NOT care and that he wanted me to come in with him. 💗  We got his stuff in his apartment, met his roommates and had just enough time to go grocery shopping before his orientation.

 

While Bryson went to frosh orientation, Nathan and I walked around on campus a bit reminiscing about the good ol' days.  On our way back to Bryson's apartment (his roommates totally took it in stride that I was pregnant with my 7th baby) I was vaguely aware of an oncoming couple pushing a stroller but it wasn't until they passed by that Bryson really brought them to my attention saying, "See honey, you're not the only mom bringing their kid to college with a baby!"  We laughed about it and continued on.  Sitting in Bryson's apartment a few minutes later, Nathan got a message on facebook from MY roommate my freshman year asking if we were in Rexburg and if we'd just passed a couple pushing a stroller...  What?!?  Turns out, that couple was my dear sweet roommate Emily!  We met up a little later at good old Carriage House #113!  

  

Nathan was totally our honorary roommate, so he got in on a pic too!

Emily and I are the same age and, while she's not pregnant, she has an 18 month old... made me feel a teensy bit less embarrassed!

Between family and friends dropping off their kids at BYUI, it was a par-tay!  SO FUN!

We were all going to meet for dinner later that night but since it was a lovely evening, Nathan and I decided to walk.  On our way there, we passed a group of guys that were just hanging out outside talking... they were vaguely looking in our direction and I have NO idea where it came from, but I rubbed my belly and said, "sorry boys, I'm taken!"  Ohmygoodness, the look of pure revulsion on their faces!!  Nathan and I laughed so hard the entire rest of the walk to the restaurant... DYING laughing. 

The next morning, it was time to say goodbye and get on the road... not going to lie, I was SO excited for Bryson but definitely was emotional at leaving my baby.

It makes it so much easier not only that HE is so ready and so excited, but also knowing he's in such a great place.

Despite my best efforts for him to NOT leave a mess when he moved out, I got back home to a lot of junk left behind.  Ugh.  Ummmm, not sure what I am supposed to make of this though...

August Recap

Jace and Daddy went 'gof ball hunting' one night and came home with a crazy number of  golf balls.  Jace soaked and washed them up so obviously Tyler turned it into an opportunity for play!

His favorite looks like a mini soccer ball...

With all his new golf balls, Jace wanted to make a display shelf:

I can hardly keep clothes on this kids most days:

Just trying on mom's jammies:

He loves to jump!

 

(I don't dare!!)

Nathan and Matt Stephenson went golfing at the Couer d'Alene resort:

Hike with Bishop Longhurst:

Bryson and Dallin had to work so it was just Eli, Hailee and Jace that we took to Come From Away:

It was a fantastic show creatively done with a minimal set and only 12 actors in the cast.

Hailee and Jace made 'forts' and had a campout on the back deck:

Just silly:

He *almost* knows what it's like to be pregnant.  Except not at all.

Mini Mandalorian:

No explanation:

A serious call on the calculator:

I love when Bryson runs into people he knows at work: