P.S.

Corinne started 'really' crawling today. She's been getting around for about a month, doing a hop/skip/jump/wiggle/roll/shuffle thing that's just too cute. I put her down at my friend's house today to show her and Corinne took off doing a 'real' crawl and has been doing it ever since. Totally cute! I love that baby!

Things I've learned (about myself) this week.

1. I'm not cut out to be a single parent
2. I'm not cut out to be a nurse
3. I eat (lots of crap) under stress

So, last week (Thursday) Steve had a kidney stone 'blasted'. This is a description of the procedure:

Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL)

Procedure - The patient lies flat on the lithotripsy table or partially submerged in a water bath in older models. The lithotriptor is then targeted to the stone using fluoroscopy, a low radiation energy. The stone is fragmented by high-energy shock waves that are generated outside of the body. Shock waves travel through the body very much like sound waves. The energy of the shock waves is delivered to the stone in focus and not to the surrounding tissue. The stone is fragmented to particles of a size that can pass spontaneously. An incision to remove the stone is thus avoided.

Sounds simple and painless ect right? Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. They don't tell you that it's like being beat up. It's just 'shock waves' which are like 'sound waves' and it doesn't hurt. um, right. Also the anesthesia just might make you puke for 5 days. Lovely. Fabulous. So Steve's been out of commission for days. They told him that he'd be back to normal activity in 24-48 hours. At 48 hours he could hardly sit up without help. The dr. is concerned and ordered an ultrasound, which Steve had done today. Then they called and ordered at CT scan after seeing the results of the ultrasound- that's comforting. Really. Steve was finally able to go back to work today, but still is pretty weak and out of it.

I've tried really really hard to be a good wife and a good mom this week. I really have. I'm now ready for a vacation. I am terrified that they're going to tell us something really bad tomorrow. The dr. kept insisiting that there couldn't possibly be any fragments of the stones left. That if there were that Steve would be in extreme pain- but then he ordered the U/S anyway. So who knows, I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

So that's our crappy week in a nutshell. Steve went upstairs after the procedure on Thursday and didn't come back to the first floor until Tuesday when he went to work long enough for his boss to take one look at him and send him home. I've gone up and down our stairs more times then I'd care to remember- although my butt and hips definately needed the exercise- especially since I broke my until Valentine's day goal of no 'treats'. I've still not eaten fast food though (go me!) I'm for sure a stress eater though- no doubt about that after this week. Too bad I'm not a stress cleaner or a stress exerciser though huh?

What a week!

It's been a long (for me) and painful (for Steve) week. I don't have the energy to explain. More later- but for now I'll give you something to do. Apparently it's national de-lurking week (month? year?) Okay really it's just an excuse for us bloggers to boost our egos a little by knowing who's reading. (PS- for those that don't know, a lurker is someone who reads but never comments. ) So leave a comment so I know you've been here. I removed the login- so you don't have to login or have a blogger account. Just make sure and sign your name so I know who you are. For all your trouble here's a picture of my cute Corinne working on the crawling thing. She's kind of lurching herself around from the hands and knees position, but prefers the 'army crawl' the most. Super cute however she does it.






Anyway- more about us later when I can put two coherent thoughts together.

I found my camera! Woo! You know what that means right?

A very picture heavy post! First off- here is the update to my living room- my table, rug and the curtains I made (with lots of help- thanks Connie!) Yay! The rug wasn't what I thought it was going to be (I ordered it online)- but I like it better then what I thought I was getting- so that's good!

There is another set of long curtains on the dining room windows. I also painted on Monday! It's amazing how much paint and curtains can change a room!

The other night I set Corinne in her crib so I could get her pajamas and she immediately grabed onto the railing and pulled herself up! I ran downstairs to get the camera but by the time I got back upstairs she'd sat down again. I sat there waiting for her to do it again but she just kept getting madder and madder since I was sitting there and not picking her up! This was as good of a picture as I could get. For New Year's we went down to Phoenix to visit Katie and Gordon. We went to the Phoenix Zoo where they were having a Noon Year's Eve party. They'd brought in a bunch of snow for those poor deprived children from Phoenix who'd never experienced snow before. Ashley thought it was great- Megan and Annika weren't impressed with it because it was cold and wet... They also had vendors handing out stuff, the favorite was Krispy Kreme hats filled with dougnuts. Annika wasn't that impressed with the zoo. But I did get one picture of her smiling.
Corinne enjoyed herself! Isn't she just the cutest baby ever!?!

Here is Steve and Gordon (notice the hat) waiting for us outside the petting zoo with the sleeping children.

And here are Lily and Ashley brushing a goat.
Here is Megan being a bat or a bird or something (I don't remember)

Things I think about

How come I buy a 15 oz can of men's shaving cream and it cost $.94 but when I buy a 7 oz can of women's it costs $2.24?

Why is it that within the first hour of mopping my floor someone spills something sticky on it? This time is was apple juice.

I painted my living room and hung my (finished) curtains. It looks freaking awesome. I'd show you but I lost my camera. It's somewhere in my house (it has to be) but since I spent all week painting and hanging curtains I didn't accomplish much else. I'm working on it though and I'm promising pictures soon.

Until Valentine's day...

So- new year's resolution time.... I hate new year's resolutions, I really do. I remember family home evenings every year where we were supposed to make goals, and making goals in young women's to earn some award (which I didn't do and will probably regret when I'm either called to serve in young women's or when Ashley hits 12 which is in 5 years). Anyway, I hate them because I feel like it's so trite that it's a new year and a new beginning and a 'new you'. Yet it's so ingrained in me that I can't help but do it. Seriously. Even though I don't mean to I do, I find myself making lists in my head and making impossible goals. I think somewhere deep down inside of me there lies a perfectionist. I clearly remember when I was a child telling my mom (on numorous occassions) that I was going to 'be perfect all day'. I think that January first my inner perfectionist screams, 'you need to be perfect' and I yell back, 'you're joking right?' So here are my resolutions- first the perfectionist, then me 'fixing it' so that it's possible:

1. Have my house spotless and 'company ready' at all times, get into a real routine so that everything get's done on a regular and reliable basis.

*Look into hiring a cleaning lady so that the bathrooms and floors get done well at least once week.

2. Be a better mom, don't yell ever, come up with lots of crafty, educational things for my children to do rather then watching TV.

*Look into preschool programs.

3. Find my perfect body that's been eluding me. Reach my goal weight by my birthday.

*Well, this one is actually my focus this year. I'm 'just saying no' to treats (desserty things) and fast food until Valentine's day, I figure I can last that long. I'm also committing to running (the whole way) a 5 K this year (by my birthday). Not sure about the perfect body thing, but certainly a more healthy body then the one I've got.

4. Become a spiritual giant and make sure that my family is consistantly having FHE, and family scriptures and prayers as well as personal scriptures and prayers and couple/companionship scriptures and prayers... really this list seems neverending

*um, yeah. FHE we do fairly well at, same with family prayer. My goal is to read the Old testament this year (guess I'd better get started) and work on the other stuff one at a time...

5. Learn how to play the guitar, learn to speak Spanish, read several dozen 'classics', ect, ect, ect...

*right, in all your spare time. Maybe pick one? Um, yeah- we'll see

6. Cut down on internet time?

*ha, ha, ha, ha- then I'd have to take up watching tv!

I think I had something figured out when I was younger though. I think you can do anything short term- so maybe I'll make from New year's to Valentine's day resolutions... maybe then being perfect won't seem so overwhelming.. Now, who knows a good maid?

Vote in my poll

This is my current beverage of choice:
Stephen's French Vanilla Gormet cocoa
So if you were to have a cup of this would you say,
"I'm going to have some French Vanilla hot chocolate"
or
"I'm going to go have some hot vanilla"

This is a true debate in our house. Yes, we're pathetic. You don't have to be registered to vote- just vote 'hot chocolate' or 'hot vanilla' in the comments section. Please vote the right way (um, my side) and I'm not saying which way that is. Ready? GO!