Life Is What Happens When You're Busy Making Other Plans

I wish I could say that I've been busy changing the world and curing cancer over the last couple of months, but I can't.  I've just been busy with life.... and I have neglected my blog.  Sorry Terri!  Blogging, I have decided, is a lot like dieting.  Sometimes, you just have to face the music, get on the scale and start from where you are.  So with that in mind, here is the overview of what we have been up to for the last little while.

William.... the littlest Pierce.  He is getting so big.  He turned one in January and in all honesty, this is where I got hung up.  Somehow, all of the pictures of his first birthday got moved to some weirdo directory on my computer.  Anyway, he is such a cutie pie.  We had a farm themed birthday party for the little guy and did "breakfast for dinner" for all of our family.

Here's a view of the awesome cupcakes that we made for the party.  They looked a lot awesomer online, but you know, I'm not exactly world renowned for my baking skills.

Or my cake decorating skills.  Obviously, the black icing got a little carried away 

and this little pig has a runny snout.  Oh well, it tasted fine.

Here are all of the Homer cousins posing with the cake!

Here's a great picture of my little man with my mom.  

He is such a happy baby and he LOVES both his grandmas soooo much.

Like the haircut?  Yeah, me neither.  This little bounder cut his own hair literally 10 minutes before I was taking him for his 1-year-old pictures.  He was in the bathtub, grabbed my razor, and took out a patch of hair two inches up his forehead.  Unfortunately, this was the best fix we could manage.  Luckily, as I write this, it has almost grown back.  Ugghhhh.  I wish I could post the pictures that we took, but unfortunately, those are the ones that are giving me fits.  They're on my Facebook page so that's just going to have to be good enough for now.

Will is now walking, if not running, nearly everywhere he goes.  When he's out the door, he makes a beeline for the street, which is going to make for a hard summer.  Recently, he has begun to take notice of the TV.  While TV is a battle I am constantly fighting with my older kids, I am thrilled that Will likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse enough to clap and sing along, and most importantly, let me have 20 minutes to take a shower or load the dishwasher without "help."

Bottom line with this boy is that he's wonderful.  I am so happy he is in our family.

Jack, or Jacko as he likes to be called.  This boy is still doing his best to trudge through kindergarten.  He's really looking forward to first grade because he gets THREE recesses and gets to have lunch at school.  Jack has become hooked on video games this winter, so it's so nice that the weather here is finally starting to get nice and we can spend some time outside.  Jack is so excited to be able to ride his bike to school again and play on the swingset outside.

Jack also had a birthday in January.  I wish I had a better picture, but Jack's birthday fell on Day 2 of my pre-op surgery liquid diet, so needless to say, I wasn't too thrilled to be taking pictures of birthday cake.  We also had a friend party for Jack this year that was dinosaur themed and a good time was had by all.  I was so busy trying to keep 12 6-year-olds entertained that I neglected to get any pictures, but we played games, decorated cookies, ate dinner and watched a movie.  The kids were running carefree through the house when their parents came to pick them up, so I guess it can be considered a success.

Sweet Little Allie -- I'm telling you, this kid is awesome.  She has finally started to make the connection between success in school and finishing her homework.  I am so proud of her that for the last several weeks, we have received an "Allie has no missing work" email instead of the horrendously long lists we were receiving at the first of the year.  Allie made it through the science fair and her project on photosynthesis.  She has read two really big books so far this year; The Invention of Hugo Cabret and the first Harry Potter book.  Her anxiety is getting better, her wit is razor sharp and we are even hopeful that she may start to grow soon.... she is feeling a little left out by her sisters recent growth spurt.  Allie is LOVING sewing and made her Easter dress this year.  She is also really enjoying starting to cook more. She is always eager to help and is still so great with Will that it just makes my heart sing.

Erin.  Where has the time gone?  I have less than a month until this little girl turns 12.  She is growing up so fast.  As mentioned, she has grown almost  a foot since school started.  Her feet are nearly as big as mine and when we went looking for Easter shoes last week, the best pair we could find were 3-inch heels.  Yikes!  In January, Erin got braces.  She was so excited and she has actually done really well to take care of her teeth.

Erin has finished registering for Junior High next year and is very excited to be able to take French and Honors Science.  She is looking forward to new friends and is excited to have a social life.  She has started wanting to "hang out" with her friends and wants to know if I'll "drop them off" at a movie or the mall, or whatever.  Shocking to me, she has decided to run for 7th grade class officer.  I think she would be great, but I am so nervous for her.

Erin is also busy with her sewing.  She made her Easter dress this year (which I will post about next in the Easter edition of the blog) and she also made her dress for the 6th grade Valentine dance.  This kid is awesome.

She has also been working hard in school and trying her best.  I am happy to report that her essay for the 6th grade DARE program is one of three finalists.... way to go Erin.

Bek.... well, obviously, life has been different for me over the course of the last couple of months.  I will also be posting today on my diet progress; so tune in later if you're interested in that.

After the end of last year that was decidedly "no bueno," things have really started to look up.  I have begun to quilt more, and although I have a long way to go before I would consider myself a "real quilter," it has given me something new to focus my energy on.

I've got a couple more in the works and hope to have pictures of those soon.

In February, we celebrated Valentine's Day with our 2nd Annual Pierce Family Valentine Dinner.  It was soup.... because I was still on liquids, but it made the day awesome.  The kids got their new Valentine jammies, aren't they cute?

And the girls got Valentine's flowers from Grandpa.  What a guy!

It was so much fun to celebrate with the ones I love this year for Valentine's Day.

The last month or so has also had lots of opportunities for fun times with friends.  I went to the Opening Night Gala of the new City Creek Center and shopped until I dropped.  I went to H & M for the first time, bought stuff at Sephora and reveled in the fact that Salt Lake City again has a Disney store.  It was a fun night with my friends Amy & Michelle.  

Another fun thing in March was the midnight showing of the Hunger Games.  I loved the book series, so I was thrilled to be able to see it with friends on the night it came out.  However, I have to say that returning home at 3 am really made me feel my age.  I don't think I'll be doing that again any time soon.

I am really enjoying the nicer weather and have been working in the yard like a mad woman.  Our backyard is barely recognizable compared to what it was a year ago.  In a few weeks when the garden is planted an our water feature is in, watch for a blog update.

Matt, the MAN!  He has been spending more time at home lately and I am LOVING it!  I really do like the fact that he gets to travel for his job, but I have loved having him home hanging out with us.  He is working hard and has finished more things off the "honey-do" list in the last week than he has in the last year.  He is training for his first full marathon on May 19th, and is spending his Saturdays on long runs between here and Farmington Canyon.  We have fired up the grill a time or two already this year and Matt has been hard at work with me in the yard.  I am so grateful to have a man like him who pays attention to the details of our lives.... I am much more of a broad stroke kind of girl.  He is always trying to make life better for all of us.

We have been dating.... doing some really fun stuff.  We have been reading books together, attending concerts, going out to dinner, exercising together and doing family history.  I know, we sound like we're 70, but it has really been fun to make time to do things together this year.  We are planning some fun vacations for the summer and I'm sure that it'll be an adventure.

Well that, as they say, is the rest of the story.  I'm sure there are things that I have forgotten and will be reminded of as the day goes on, but life is good.  We are busy trying to figure out our new normal with four kids, a mom that needs to pay attention to herself and a dad that travels.  Not to mention the chickens and the dog.  We love our families and love the time we get to spend with them.  We are loving springtime in Utah and looking forward to being outdoors more and making the most of this life that is ours!

A Point of Clarification

This lovely picture was taken on the morning on February 6, 2012; the day that my life changed forever.

This is me today; one month later and 17.1 pounds lighter.  

The first picture does not reflect the 21 pounds I had lost since Christmas.  

So I posted on Facebook this morning that I had lost 17.1 pounds during the last month and a number of you have asked what I am doing..... I have waited nearly 4 months to post about this, and hopefully this explains part of my absence over the course of the last little while.

On Monday, February 6, I had a procedure called a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy.  In essence my surgeon removed 2/3 of my stomach.  When I'm fully healed from this whole adventure, my stomach will hold about 4-6 ounces of food.  This procedure has been used for years to treat ulcers; in fact, both of my grandfathers had this done and I hadn't even made the connection.

Why did I do this?  Well most of you who know me, know that I have never been what some would call "slight."  I've always had some meat on my bones and I have tried since I turned 12, lo those many years ago, to try and figure out how to manage my body and my weight.  Everything stayed pretty much in check through high school despite the horrible eating habits that teenagers are known for.  Well, when I graduated, went to college, got a desk job and started real life, the weight really started to rear it's ugly head.  Over the years I have tried pills, diets and been a Weight Watchers dropout more times than I'd care to mention, with small amounts of success.  I've had personal trainers and tried to exercise on my own.  I have a husband who is very supportive and concerned about my health... but it didn't seem to make any lasting difference.  As anyone who has dieted can attest, it's very hard to lose weight and even harder to maintain.  From my experience, this is multiplied exponentially when you have a great deal of weight to lose, i.e. more than a hundred pounds.  I could deny myself and force myself to exercise for 6-8 months, but I didn't ever see the kind of success that would put me on the cover of People magazine.

So after some investigation, a lot of thought, discussion and even more prayer, I made the decision to have this surgery.  In the end, I am hoping to lose 125 pounds; that way my drivers license wouldn't be a bold-faced lie anymore!  Sad to say that I have several items in my closet that have been with me through pregnancies that I'd like to get rid of.

So here I am at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center on the morning of my surgery.

I look hot, I know.

We checked in, I got this spiffy outfit and these really cool socks and got ready for the surgery.  I have to admit that I was a little scared because outside of having my wisdom teeth extracted and ear tubes and tonsils as a kid, I haven't been through any surgical procedures.  The courage it took for me to do this was great, considering all the horror stories you hear about people dying after elective procedures.  This has happened in my family....  I know this is real.

I have four beautiful children and an awesome husband that I love with all my heart and I would hate to be taken away from them too soon.  In the end, it was this very fact that convinced me to move forward. I want to be a good example to my children; especially my daughters.  I don't want them to have to endure what I have had to endure in regards to this issue.  I finally realized that the only way I was going to be a positive influence on my family was to make this change for myself.

This is me in my room after my procedure.  Obviously, since I am smiling, I am still doped up.  

After a couple of days in the hospital, I came home to start the real work.  I have to say that I have never experienced discomfort in my life like I had the first few days home.  Although the procedure is done through a series of laprscopic incisions, the gas bubbles I had after the fact were killer!  I couldn't lay down, roll over on my side, do much of anything but sleep in a chair.  So I sat there and watched the first season of Downton Abbey and became addicted to Food Porn; watching Food Network and the Cooking Channel and wishing that I could eat something that would require chewing.  I had been on liquids for a week before my surgery and had two weeks of liquids after the fact.  The last two weeks I have been on "soft foods" which means anything mushy, soft, pureed or chewed to the consistency of paste.  Jealous, aren't you?  Over the last four weeks I haven't had more than 500 calories a day to eat and have been trying to get back into the routine of being me; but trying to reinvent myself at the same time.

A couple of observations.

• You may not see me in anything but sweats and stretchy clothes for the next 3 months.  I tried on a pair of jeans a couple of weeks ago, and damn it if they still fit and hurt for that matter.  With three incisions on my waist line, I'm going to take the chicken way out and live in sweats!  
• I REALLY miss bread!  I'll be able to add it back in later, but right now it is not a part of my diet.
• Learning to cook healthy things may be a bit of a challenge for me.  Let's be honest, cooking is hard for me in general, but healthy cooking, that may take a bit of getting used to.
• I have a wonderful family support system.  Matt has been awesome at helping and my mom has been a saint.  Because of lifting restrictions I can't lift Will and since Matt has been gone over the last couple of weeks, my Mom has kept Will and taken care of him.  Between her and my mother-in-law, my laundry has been done and my children have been fed and cared for.  How blessed I feel.
• I have wonderful friends and neighbors.  When we moved here 6 years ago, I couldn't put my finger on the reason why this house was THE HOUSE; but it was and I'm so grateful I listened.  We had meals from friends, help with carpools and more support and love than I ever thought I deserved.  Again, I feel incredibly blessed.

So here I am, a month out, trying to figure out a new normal.  I'm not quite back to all my activities, but I'm feeling really great about the decision I made.  It was definitely drastic and not something I considered lightly, but I feel deep down that this was the best decision I could have made.  Contrary to what many people think, learning to live this way is HARD.  This is definitely not the easy way out.  However, when all is said and done, I believe this will be worth it.

I am so grateful for the love and support of family and friends.  I am grateful for modern medicine and for the medical personnel that have made this change possible.  I look forward to my new life and hope to experience all the great things that life has to offer.

The Error of My Ways

I have been called to repentance.... literally.  When we attended our Stake Conference a couple of weeks ago, our Stake President challenged us to be active in social media.  He talked extensively about being in a "Mormon Moment" with all of the attention focused on us in politics and entertainment these days and asked that as Latter-Day Saints that we be actively and anxiously engaged in "setting our light on a hill."  Message received.

It has been nearly a month since my last post and I am happy to report that things are going very well.  I have been trying very hard on focusing my efforts where they need to be focused and not worrying so much about the stuff on the fringes.  I feel like I am finally close to bringing some balance back to my world, but blogging has definitely been on the back burner.  I have a lot to catch up on, and I fully intend to, but I just wanted to say how grateful I am for the January I have had and for the perspective that I have gained over the last couple of months.

As I have rededicated my self and redoubled my efforts, I have found my life blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord.  Things have gone more smoothly in our home.  Matt has been home, which has been wonderful.  Our children have been happy and healthy and life is good.

I have taken time to prepare for lessons, made time for visits and tried really hard to study the scriptures.  We are not 100% yet on any of these endeavors, but we are making great strides.  I am thankful for the Spirit in my home and in my life.  I am grateful for inspired leaders and for personal revelation.

This may be a little much for some of you who read my blog.  I sincerely hope that none of you will take offense, but I would be remiss if I didn't express the gratitude in my heart for the blessings I have received over the last few months.  I am grateful for the sacrifice of Savior; for his ministry and his mission.  I am grateful to know that I am a child of God and that he loves me.  I know He is mindful of me and that he knows of my struggles.  I hope to always try my best to be a force for good and to be the kind of person that He would have me be.

Run, Run As Fast As You Can

I am not, nor do I ever believe I will be, much of a runner.  It's exhausting and everything jiggles.  I feel like an idiot and I'm pretty sure I look like an idiot.  Needless to say, don't expect to see me running a race anytime soon.

Matt, however, that's a different story.  Although running is relatively new to him, he has embraced it and, I believe, thoroughly enjoys it.  More than that, it makes him happier.  Recently I saw a runner wearing a T-shirt that said, "The more I run, the less I want to run away."  That, in a nutshell, sums up the impact running has had on Matt's life.  It gives him the opportunity to reflect, to work through things and to refocus his efforts and attentions.

He has really enjoyed running in the races he has signed up for thus far and is planning on running his first marathon in May.

Just after New Years, we were lucky enough to join Matt at his Half-Marathon in Walt Disney World.  Originally, he was looking to 2013 to run his first Disney race, but with my brother running in January, the temptation was too strong.  Leaving the girls home (they couldn't miss school), the boys and I flew with Matt to Florida for a quick trip of running and funning.

This is Matt on the morning of the race; at 3:30 a.m. to be exact.  He left the hotel and caught a bus to the starting line near Epcot.  The race started at 5:30 a.m.  and by 7:00 a.m. the boys and I were on our own bus headed to meet him at the finish line.

This is where we waited.  We paid a little extra, got some T-shirts and blankets, had access to private port-a-potties and all the hot chocolate we could drink.

Little Will, although still mostly asleep, managed to cheer for his dad.

Jack mostly colored and drank hot chocolate.  He was tired too, but what a trooper.  No complaining! 

This is Greg and Matt after the race.  They look a little tired, but I think they were both really glad they did it.  On top of everything, we were so lucky to get to spend a little time with Greg and Sarah and the girls, since I spent most of Christmas vacation sick; blech!

Matt had such a fun time and he is planning to return next January.  We will definitely be taking the whole family and Matt is convinced that he's for sure running the marathon.... maybe even the Goofy!  Keep training honey; I'm proud of you!

Rock Bottom and New Years Resolutions

My good friend Lisa says she likes to blog because it is like "brain vomit."  You can say whatever you want and just get it out of your system.  So, in honor of the new year and in light of the last couple of months, this blog is my year-end purge.

Things have not been going so well, as of late.  I guess, technically, we are all fine.  We have managed to make it through most of December and are still talking to each other and still standing, but the journey has been a little rough.  I'm not so sure that it's been a bad couple of months for everyone in our family, but it has sucked for me, and as they say, "if Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."  So, first and foremost, let me apologize to my kids and my husband.  Life with me hasn't been easy and I know that you've earned a battle scar or two.  Thanks for caring enough to fight.

I haven't blogged for a while because whenever I have thought about doing so, I am reminded of a line from Bambi:  "If you can't say somethin' nice, don't say nothin' at all."  I haven't had a lot of positive things to say lately and although I am nearly always up for a listen if a friend is going through a hard time, I hate whining!  Sometimes, it's all I can do to keep myself from shouting in ALL CAPS on Facebook, "I'm sorry you're tired, or have a headache, or whatever..... get over it!"  Which, honestly, is what I know I need to do with some of the stuff that has been bothering me.... so I'm getting over it!

A recount of the battles we've fought in the last two months:

• My depression.  You may or may not know, but I am one of "those women" who needs medication to function.  At least right now.  Mental illness, at least the mild kind where I only loathe myself has a tendency to run in my family.  Were I not a Mormon, I would definitely be a drinker, but since I have the whole Word of Wisdom thing, I medicate with pharmaceuticals.  During my adult life, I have been off and on medication; mostly on for the last three years or so.  I have a tendency to want to bite off more than I can chew and am a pleaser by nature, so that leaves me feeling overwhelmed a lot.  I am also, sadly, very co-dependant.  I hate that, but I have a hard time when those close to me are not well.  I absorb their angst and it becomes my own.  Needless to say, I reached my saturation point somewhere during the first part of November and it has been downhill since then.  Sadly, you don't often realize things are bad until they're really bad.  That's how depression works.  When I finally called the doctor in November to say, this isn't working anymore, I was informed that I would have to switch meds.... so much fun.  So, I went through a period of adjustment and I can say finally, that I'm starting to feel like myself again.  It is unfortunate that all of this had to happen at this time of year, and yet, I'm thankful it did, because I'm not sure I could have pulled through this without Matt.  He has been so thoughtful and has tried really hard to understand where I'm coming from.  My kids have also tried really hard.  As a parent there's a lot of stuff that you have to let roll off your back.... when I start feeling down, it all goes inside.  The kicker was when one of the girls informed me that I'm great at coming up with ideas but that I suck at following through.  True?  Yes, but I don't need that from my kids, you know?  I am thankful for modern medicine and for the fact that someone, somewhere discovered that Prozac makes me feel better.
• Family Drama.  I have wanted to blog about this, but can't detail specifics without causing problems.  Suffice it to say, I would like everyone in my family to remember the story of the Little Red Hen.  When she asks for help with growing, harvesting and milling the wheat, no one will help, but when the bread is hot out of the oven, everyone is lining up for a slice.  If you're not willing to get dirty and be involved when it's hard don't be thinking you're due for a reward at the end.
• Church.  It is so easy sometimes to forget what a blessing the Gospel of Jesus Christ can be in my life.  Like all of these points, it's nothing new and most times, I take the simplicity of it for granted.  Like most other areas in life, it's easy to become overwhelmed by the commitments and requirements of being a member of the Church.  So many times we go through the motions and don't really pause to recognize the significance of our actions.  I find this is especially hard when you have small children.  I might add that boring High Council talks and crappy missionary addresses don't help either.  For the last six years, it seems as though I've been listening at church with only one ear.  I'm hearing part of the message, but I'm struggling in digesting it and living it.  I've had callings that have made this hard, but now, find myself without that excuse.  I do have things I'm responsible for, but if they go undone, no one really notices, or at least complains.  The kids make church hard; life makes church hard!  However, it's time for some personal accountability.  I am not doing the things I need to be doing to make the most of this gift I've been given.  I am not doing what I should be.  So for 2012, I am making a vow... I will read my lessons ahead of time.  I will come to Sacrament Meeting prepared to help my family have a meaningful, spiritual experience and I will do my Visiting Teaching.  I am a firm believer in the mantra, "fake it til' you make it!"  Let's hope that I make it soon.
• "I need a wife!"  In all seriousness, that's why I had kids, but my daughters are heretofore not great at seeing and/or anticipating my needs.  I would like to have someone who could see when I was struggling and offer to do the dishes, or feed the baby, or sort the laundry.  Matt is mostly gone, and when he's home, HIS to-do list makes me cringe.  I need someone who does the dirty work; I may hire out so let me know if you're interested :)
• I'm still FAT!  There's really not a whole lot to say about this, other than the last month or so has been an incredible time of self-reflection and self-evaluation.  I have looked at things and considered things about myself that I hadn't before and I am looking forward to some very positive changes in 2012.
• Christmas.  I generally love Christmas.... and every holiday south of Halloween, but I have struggled this year.  For the first time in my life, I can say that I wouldn't have decorated for Christmas at all if I didn't have kids.  This is not like me.  I normally love celebrating holidays; the food, the decorations and the parties, but this year, not so much.  I haven't wanted to go anywhere, and I certainly haven't wanted to have anyone over (see the "I need a wife" section.)  Halloween was pretty benign at our house this year, we did Thanksgiving ourselves, and when Allie woke up on Christmas Eve and ran to the toilet, I knew that was the icing on the cake.  Thank goodness for Alan and Katie and their willingness to host a New Years party or all would be lost.  So if any of you wondered, and/or cared..... it's not you, it's me!
• Illness.  Will has had an ear infection since October!  That's crazy.  We've been on antibiotics and drops and had diarrhea at our house like you wouldn't believe.  Will has been teething, Allie was puking and I have been down since Monday with a stomach bug from you-know-where.  I hate feeling sick and I hate having sick kids.  Fortunately, I think we've kicked the ear infections and I'm happy to report that I'm back up an at em'.

This really sounds awful.... I've complained a ton.  I'm sorry to burden you with all this baggage, but in an effort to clear out the old and ring in the new, I'm getting rid of it all.  There were some really cool things that have happened over the course of the last few weeks, and I'm planning to blog about some of these, but I needed to get this off my chest.  I needed to wipe the slate clean and start fresh.

When I got married, I was amazed at how much stock Matt put in making New Years Resolutions.  I kind of just looked at them as disappointments; how often do we actually stick to our guns?  With time, however, I have begun to look at the turning of a new year as an opportunity to begin again.  I am grateful that I am able to start over and I'm thankful that I have my family with me.  I'm glad for the lessons I've learned in 2011 and for all the possibilities that 2012 has to offer.  Happy New Year!

Christmas 2011

Christmas this year was crazy with four little ones around.  Actually, Erin isn't so little anymore, but there were four kids, two adults, a dog; all we were missing was the piggy stole from the shed.  Nevertheless, it was fun and we are truly blessed.

I have read many of my friends blogs talking about attending church on Christmas this year.... well, we didn't.  Christmas Eve found Matt & I busy being Santa's helpers when we heard the noise of someone throwing up!  That's right... Allie strikes again.  This kid has a knack for being sick.  Needless to say, we got our quiet Christmas day at home.

Every year for Christmas, we all get new Christmas jammies from Grandma Homer.  This is something that my mom has done since I was a kid... I think it was to make sure that we all looked halfway presentable in the Christmas morning pictures.  Another fun tradition I have with my dad is our annual Christmas Shopping Outing.  We have been doing this for close to 25 years.  On Christmas Eve, I meet my dad for lunch and we head out shopping.  When it was a kid, I went with him to help pick out gifts for my mom; now, it's more of a chance to sit and visit and be Daddy's Little Girl again.  Well this year, one of our stops found us at Fanzz and they had these great hats on sale... two bucks!  We got enough for the kids and as you can tell from the photos, the girls LOVED them.

I can't believe that we are here, but this year our girls only asked for a couple of things.  Electronic devices topped their lists.  Erin wanted an iTouch so that she can do FaceTime with her dad.  Okay, it's really her friends, but that's the argument she used to convince her dad.  She also got a pocket camcorder and ski lessons at Brighton.

See, even sick, this kid is fairly happy.  She just opened her Kindle Fire.  Allie has really started to develop a love of reading and this is all she asked for this year.  We debated whether or not to get it, but in the end, decided that she was responsible enough to handle it.  She takes very good care of it, doesn't use it when she's not supposed to and it has helped to keep the peace between her and Erin in a major way.  Both of them stick their headphones on and it is nearly bliss.  Worth every penny!  Allie also got a new iPod Nano (thanks to a recall and replacement from Apple) and ski lessons as well.

Will gets two pictures... mostly because he's so cute.  It was also his first Christmas and he was by far my most involved child.  Although we couldn't get him to open his own gifts, we had no problem getting him to play with his brother and sisters.  Will got a fun drum set with all sorts of noise makers, Little People, a quilt from Mom and a Lightening McQueen toy to ride around.  He got a walker that he used exactly twice before he didn't need it anymore and a chair of his own, which he loves!

Here's Will with his daddy!  This boy loves his dad!  Matt got a lot of great things for Christmas this year too.  I made him a couple of boards to display his race medals and bibs and pictures from his races.  He got a new Garmin watch with GPS and the best gift..... 12 months of prepaid and pre-planned dates from his wife.  I know, I'm awesome.

This was something that Matt work on incredibly hard to design and build for Jack for Christmas.  Any of you with little boys have probably heard of Beyblades.  They are an annoying Japanese fad... think Bakugan, Pokemon, Pogs, whatever.  Anyway, they're basically metal tops that "battle" in arenas.  Up until Christmas, Jack battled in Tupperware bowls.  Matt decided he needed something better... so he built this awesome arena.  He glued and sanded together pieces of wood; painted and designed the thing and put handles on it so he can take it when he goes to friends houses.  Jack absolutely loved it and my wood floors are grateful.

The other big project for Christmas this year was a quilt for Jack's new bed.  This boy has wanted a bunk bed forever, but since 9 nights out of 10 he seems to wind up in my bed, we haven't caved.  That is, until I found this awesome loft bed on KSL that fit his full-size mattress that he already had and gave him more floor space in his room to play in.  All that plus a desk he may actually need in the future.  Sounded great.  We bought it.  So, he needed a new quilt.  Matt and I decided that the boy would probably like Superman, so that's what we went with.  It was a little stressful to try and get it finished for Christmas, but boy, did I feel like a rock star when I gave it to him.

This is the only picture of me from the week of Christmas.  There were lots of things we wanted to do, but I spent the whole week on the couch, sicker than a dog.  Blech!

No More Ear Infections!

So my little man has had a problem with his ears.... we will refer to it as Homer ears.  I say this because I, my brothers and nearly every cousin I know of fought ear infections as a kid.  Now Erin?  Never had an ear infection in her life.  Allie?  Tubes at two.  Jack?  Had his fair share, but never got tubes in.  When he turned three and could barely talk, I was actually starting to regret that I hadn't pushed for tubes.  Anyway, Will had an ear infection at his 9 month check in October and it didn't go away until the end of December when he got his tubes.  Poor guy!

Here he is, pouring himself a spot of something before the big event.

Curiously looking at all the other kids waiting for their turn.  He wasn't quite sure what was going on.

In the end, it was a quick, and fairly painless procedure that at least, for the time, has put an end to his ear infection woes.  As I waited for his surgery and started overhearing some of the circumstances around us, I have to say that I was so grateful that my kids are as healthy as they are.  We have our fair share of bumps, bruises and sniffles, but no more than that.  More than anything this experience really reinforced in my mind how lucky we are to live when and where we do.