No more So's.

So, I noticed that I start almost every blog with "So"...I will try cutting down on that! How annoying!

Back to Life as Usual

So, the boys are unhappily back to school and I have been home with Nolan for the past 2 weeks. It is truly amazing how a child can go from being "not so fun" to a great kid in so little time! I really think he has enjoyed spending time with me alone, with no work interruptions. It has been really nice to be able to be home with him like this. I quit my job 3 1/2 years ago at a place that I was quite comfortable with, in order to be home with my boys, only to be tied to a desk for the next 4 years. All the while, I never really spent too much time with him (or the others) and he is now 4! Next year, he will be in preschool!

New Update on Michael

So...Michael had a seizure on Saturday, December 27th. It was pretty bad. It lasted for about 30 minutes. He was air-evac'ed from Flagstaff to PCH (His second home lately). They did tests and put him on an anti-seizure medication. I saw him on Sunday (1 day later). He was a bit slower, but he seemed OK. A day or so later, he had the anti-seizure medication in his system...Not good. I saw him on Wednesday and he couldn't complete sentences, he couldn't stand by himself, he had no fine motor skills (Couldn't read, write, tie his shoes, play cards). We were all devastated! He had an EEG and it said that he had slow brain activity. He also had a CT scan of his body and it showed a nodule in his lung. The doctor said it was possibly a fungus, infection or his cancer was back. They did a biopsy, but the tissue was too small. They said they were going to need a bigger sample later in the week which would be very invasive and end him in the PICU for a few days.
Last Sunday, they were going to let him out for a couple days before his big surgery, but they decided to keep him to do some experiments with the seizure medication. They totally took him off to see if the motor skills and speech would come back. But they wanted him to be in a controlled environment so, in case he had a seizure, they could take care of it right away. The next day, his speech improved, his motor skills started coming back...It was great! AND he didn't have any seizures!
Yesterday, he was supposed to have his second biopsy. Before the biopsy, they needed to do a CT scan to mark where the nodules were. Imagine their surprise when the nodules shrank and almost became non-existant. The Dr. said there was nothing to operate on and the kiddo gets to go home when he wakes up! Truly an act of God!
This boy is truly a child of God. He has looked to God for every trial in his life, and HE has provided for him. Michael is truly a miracle child!

Another Tag

Got tagged by my friend Audrey - a couple of days ago.


5 Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago
1) I was a Newlywed. Very Exciting!
2) Working at Costco.
3) Painting my new house
4) Not thinking about kiddos yet!
5) Not living the Christ-like life I should have been!

5 Things On My To-Do List Today
1) Laundry
2) Think of what I want to do with my employment
3) Clean house
4) Go to the snow
5) Make a snow man with my boys!


5 Snacks I Like
1) Cookies
2) Chocolate candy bars
3) Ice cream and milk
4) Graham crackers with butter
5) Brownies


5 Things I Would Do If I Was A Millionaire
1) Pay for my nephew's medical bills
2) Help my church build a bigger building
3) Help out several members of both sides of the family
4) Adopt a little girl
5) Buy a bigger home

5 Places I Have Lived (For Various Lengths Of Time)
1) Mesa, AZ
2) Mesa, AZ
3) Mesa, AZ
4) Mesa, AZ
5) Gilbert, AZ

5 Jobs I Have Had
1) Oooh! Unemployed at the moment...As of yesterday!
2) Admin Assistant for an Auction Company
3) Costco...Administration, FrontEnd, Door
4) Red Eye
5) Matta's


5 People I Tag
1) Wow...I don't think there are 5 people who read my blog, but if you do, you are tagged!

Have fun!

my Headache

So, I got this headache last Tuesday, that I thought was merely a rattle of my head from coughing. Then Wednesday, it got worse. By Thursday, I went to the ER because I was thinking the worst. I went to a hospital near me, which I absolutely LOVE, simply because you are in and out within a couple hours ALL THE TIME! After doing blood tests, a chest x-ray (For my cough), and a head CT, they found nothing out of the ordinary and they diagnosed a severe headache (They couldn't say it was a migraine, because you have to have more than 1 migraine to call it a migraine). They sent me home with some Vicodin. Well, it continued to hurt over the weekend. I couldn't get up longer than 15 minutes without my head throbbing. Rob, by the way, was AWESOME! He takes such good care of me and the kiddos! I LOVE HIM more every day!
On Monday, I finally got into the doctor, and he said I strained a muscle in my neck from coughing, and it is reflecting into my head and creating a tension headache. I have been prescribed a "drug cocktail" of sorts and it seems to be working better now. I have actually been able to sit up. This morning, I actually was able to go have coffee with the neighbor girls for our annual Christmas Eve morning get-together. But the doctor said it could take 3 days to 3 weeks until I am 100%.
It still hurts, but I think I am on the mend, finally! Thanks everyone for your prayers and support this past week! I really appreciate it!

Nick's Birthday

Yesterday was my middle son's birthday! Happy 6th Birthday Nicky! We Love You! Because I have had a debilitating headache for a week now, I wasn't up to celebrating in my normal fashion, so it was a laid back birthday for him. I woke up and made him breakfast in bed, which he preferred not to eat because it would get crumbs in his bed...God bless him! So he ate at the coffee table in the family room, while watching TV. He got to play video games all morning until my wonderful sister came and picked up the boys and took them to her house for a few hours. While there, they jumped on the tramp, played video games and made a birthday cake for Nicky. Rob and I ended up going over there around 6 and Cindy made tacos made Nick's day extra special. My family is great. Thanks for all your help this past week. I have not been very much help with the headache that I have had, so it is wonderful that you can all pull things together and make my kids feel special!

Nicky was so excited to be 6. He kept saying to me, "Mom, it's great that I was 5, but now I am 6!" He just likes that number, for some reason.

Even more Sons

I love spending time alone with each son. I don't get to do it very often, but when I do, it is the most precious time in the world. Yesterday, Nate had to work on a book report that was due today. Well, Grandma wanted to take the kiddos to a Norwegian party, but I wouldn't let him go, due to all the homework he had. As soon as the other boys went to the party though, Dad and I decided to take him out to lunch for a little one-on-one time with us to get him motivated. We let him choose where he wanted to eat. Bless his heart! He wanted to go to Someburros. That kid has such excellent taste in food! He is such a good kid. After eating all of his food, he said, "I have the best mom and dad in the world!" I truly think he believes it too! :) What a gift!
After we got home and did his report, he was able to play video games with dad for a while, which, I think, Dad dug more than Nate! I love my sons! They all have their different personalities.

More Sons

So today I got suckered into Nick faking being sick. This has never happened before with my kiddos. This morning, he told me that his throat hurt really bad and he couldn't talk right. Well, immediately, I go into panic mode and think the worst...Strep! I call him out sick from school and call the doctor. Of course, as soon as Nate was gone to school, Nicky felt fine and was running all around the house. I took him to the doctor, and there was no strep. The doctor even said that his throat didn't look too red...Oh well. I made the best of it and had a Nick and Me day. It was fun. He enjoyed some time alone with mom.

Sons

Have you ever had one of those days where you just want to strangle your children and then they do something to make you realize that they are a TRULY special gift from God?
The other day, Nolan was being a holy terror. I was ready to trade him in for a new model. Nothing he did was a good choice. I don't want to embarrass him later, so I will save all his bad deeds in my head and hopefully forget about them.
Well, I had to run up to Costco to get a couple things. Of course, I tell him that he needs to be good. We are there and he isn't making a peep. Finally, when we are done shopping, I realized we hadn't eaten lunch so we will get a slice of pizza. We sit down and out of Nolan's mouth comes, "So Mom, how was work? Did you have a good day? What did you have for breakfast? Waffles?" It melted my heart. I reached across the table and gave him a hug and told him that I Love him! Thanks God, for helping me out that day! I was at my wit's end until that point!

4th Photo

My girlfriend Audrey tagged me into doing this fun little game.

The rules are, go to your My Pictures folder, choose the 4th folder and then the 4th picture and tell the story behind it. Do this without checking first to see what the photo is - more fun that way!



This is a spot we camped at in Hope, Alaska. It was very majestic as you can see by the photo. We were there in 2004, visiting our good friend Karen. I was 5 months pregnant and was lucky to be able to sleep in a motorhome, which was much more comfy than the ground! After we left Hope, we took Karen's other car and drove down to Seward where we stayed for a couple days. It was a wonderful trip. One that I was happy to be able to take my kids on. One that I hope to go on again, possibly for Rob's next sabbatical.

If you are reading this post, you have been tagged! Have fun!