Be Delicious!

Ok, so this has already been a great Christmas! I have received a few gifts and they are all wonderful!

Camie gave me some fun beaded bracelets and earrings that she bought on her recent vaca. Love them.

Lindsay and Larry gave me the best perfume from DKNY called Be Delicious. Isn't that a wonderful name for a perfume. Plus, it is shaped like a green apple and smells wonderful. I can't get enough of myself!



Ryan and I bought ourselves a freezer for the garage about a month ago. It is our big gift to each other. We needed one and money is tight so it became Christmas. I bought him some stocking stuffers and he found them and thought I got him toiletries. I found them in his drawer in the bathroom. Funny. I guess I'll have to get him a few more.

Then our friends bought us The Book of Mormon for Families. I have wanted it for so long. I love it!

More great books!

Update!

Loved A Thousand Splendid Suns. It was so amazing just like his first novel! Check it out. Plus I can't wait for the movie version of The Kite Runner. I saw a preview on Sat and it looks pretty great.

I also read another really great book called My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I loved it. It was a great book where I wasn't sure what I wanted to happen or whose side I was on. It was written in differing viewpoints kind of like The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and I loved it. Loved The Poisonwood Bible also!

Return to list

Here is my list from last week.

All bathrooms scrubbed (done but dirty again will only be surface wiped before trip)
All floors vacuumed and scrubbed (almost there, kitchen needs scrubbed and master bedroom vacuumed)
Toys organized and not just thrown in toybox (ummm, this one may not happen)
Storage area reorganized (half way there!)
Windows washed (done!)
Car washed and cleaned inside (inside almost done, outside will happen tomorrow)
Boy's rooms cleaned (Yep!)
All CD's and DVD's organized for trip (Done!)
Laundry washed, folded AND put away! (done for last week, will start again tomorrow!)

Try and get some Christmas cards out! (not happening this year...sorry.)

Tough Days

So the past couple of days have been a bit rough for us.

Yesterday (long story short) Fin climbed up my dresser while I was in the shower and somehow managed to open a Costco size bottle of acetaminophin. When I got out of the shower he was surrounded by pills and crunching on one. I had no idea how many he may have eaten.

Off to the ER. We spent the next several hours in the emergency room but after some blood work it was determined that he didn't need his stomach pumped. Glory Be! We were home around 2. What a nightmare.

Last night he did not sleep well. Now this is not normal for Fin. He is a sleeper. He goes to bed around 7:30 every night and several times a week sleeps until almost 9. Then he will take two naps a day. So when he was not only waking up last night, but waking up screaming at the top of his lungs we figured something was amiss. I finally gave him some Motrin to cover anything that might be wrong. We never really figured it out.

Around 5 this morning Evan woke up and threw up on his floor. He was sick last week with a 24 hour thing and he was throwing up a ton but I thought that was all taken care of. Ryan put him in bed with me and finished the night on the couch.

This morning I thought it smelled like poopie in my room but didn't think much of it. I hopped in the shower while both kids were still sleeping as I had an early OB appointment. When I got out I told Evan it was time to wake up. He stood up and I realized he had diarrhea earlier and it had leaked all over the place. Fun clean up.

I hurried and put him in a quick shower since I was running very late at this point. While I went to get him clothes he tooted and the results were running down his leg. Back into the shower and into a diaper for him. I wasn't going to deal with that all day in underpants.

He said he felt better and we went to the doctor's. He was fine. We then went to the grocery store where he couldn't get enough food. He kept asking for more snacks. (good thing I cam prepared) He was so good in the store and stayed right by me the entire time so I decided we would stop and get a donut at the Dunkin' Donuts at the front of the store on our way out. We got a few donut holes and I got a hot cocoa. As we were driving home I heard him start to moan. I asked him what was wrong and got a loader moan in return. When I looked at him in the mirror I saw a green little boy with wide eyes. I pulled over immediately and told him to hold on until we were out of the car. By the time I opened the door he was vomiting all over himself and his car seat. Ugh.

I was also on a pretty major road (422) and didn't feel so safe. I took of his coat, his pants and tried to wipe up as much as possible. (all this was done in between retching myself due to my fragile condition) I couldn't bear to put him back on that nasty seat so I put him in the back with a seat belt and drove very carefully home.

What awaited me with the carseat was the nastiest vomit clean up I have ever experienced. I can't fully describe how awful it was. All offensive fabrics have now been cleaned with upholstery spray and the rest are in the dryer.

All of this makes me very nervous for our LONG drive in two days. If he starts vomiting or having diarrhea we may stop somewhere in Ohio and stay there for the holidays. I just can't handle it. I guess I should bring lots of dishtowels for emergencies and febreeze spray for the smell.

He has seemed fine the rest of the day. He has laid around on the couch watching movies all afternoon. It was a day of Alladin, Peter Pan and now Wonder Pets!.

Perhaps it was just a fluke. With his reflux he does have random throw ups but not this close to a flu and with accompaning diarrhea. *sigh*

Is it worth a doctor's visit? I don't think so.

The best part of this day was the doctor's visit. I heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time! I saw it during the sonogram but hearing it is always so great. Evan loved hearing it. He was so excited.

Great Books!

I just finished a wonderful trilogy and I wanted to tell you about it! I know I love finding out about great books to read and thought you guys might as well. I learned about these particular books from getting an email through that good reads site. Gretchen had placed these on her list and said she really enjoyed them so I immediately ordered them from the library since she has impeccable taste in books!

The books are called The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner. They are considered teen fiction but you know how much I love young adult novels. The first one starts out a little slow but I really enjoyed it and especially loved the end. The next hooked me on the first page and I couldn't put it down. The third is also great but I felt didn't have the grip that the second had. All in all a wonderful trilogy that I actually hope she will write more about the characters.

Today I started reading A Thousand Splendid Suns which is by the same author as The Kite Runner which I thought was an amazing book. I am hoping this one will also be as good. We'll see. I'm currently on page 5 so I can't really tell.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Well, the good news is that I am feeling much better today and I am really hoping this will continue. I only have 2 days left of my first trimester so I am really really really hoping that means the end of this vomiting and total exhaustion.

We leave next weekend for Kansas City! I am so excited to go home again this year for Christmas. We did the same trip last year and had such a great time. We are driving. A lot of people think we are crazy but it just makes more sense for us. To fly it would cost us about $1200! And we don't even have to get Griffin a ticket! Driving, even with hotels, will be much cheaper than that. Plus, we will have use of a car that fits all of us. Plus, we will be able to bring presents to and from. It just makes sense.

We had a great time last year. We take our time and stop when we feel the need. We are planning the same thing this year. It is funny because at home we never go to The Cracker Barrel but when we are on trips we go there all the time. On the road we stopped there every night for dinner. I guess it just sounds good to have heavy comfort food. Plus, they have such great breakfast as well. Mmmmm, I can hardly wait!

I have a ton of stuff to do before we are ready to leave. I have to catch up on SO MUCH cleaning. All the cleaning that I haven't been doing since I got pregnant and that Ryan simply hasn't had the time to keep up with. The list (and this is more for my benefit than yours) includes:

All bathrooms scrubbed
All floors vacuumed and scrubbed
Toys organized and not just thrown in toybox
Storage area reorganized
Windows washed
Car washed and cleaned inside
Boy's rooms cleaned
All CD's and DVD's organized for trip
Laundry washed, folded AND put away!

Try and get some Christmas cards out!


Whew! That seems like a lot but really it isn't too bad.

The biggest thing is that between now and the time we leave I only have 2 days off of work! Crazy! I am trying to look at it as a good thing and thinking about the money. So many people who work there took off for Dec so they just really needed me this month. It will definitely slow down in Jan.

The Youth are taking a temple trip this weekend and decided just about 2 weeks ago to make it an overnight. Well, there is no way I can get out of work so now I have to find a babysitter and all my sitters are gone. Ugh. I love the idea of them doing this but I think the week before Christmas is simply not the time. It has caused problems for us. Oh well, I guess we don't serve because it is easy,right? If you're wondering why this is an issue it is because Ryan is the Young Men's president and as such has to attend.

So, lots of stuff going on right now. I do love this season, though.It is just so much fun.

I hope you all are having a great and fun holiday season as well!

The life of a Star!

So as you all know from previous posts, Ryan has recently been featured on a television show from a webcam in our family room. Quite interesting, I must say. If you missed it here are all three of his starring performances that have been uploaded to youtube.

A little background information so you don't get lost. This show is called The Post Show and follows the week's airing of Heroes. Ryan has become very involved with "Heroes Wiki" which is a fan site for the show and has had the chance to interview several cast members, graphic novel artists and writers, the casting director, etc... They heard about him and called and asked him to be on the show. He has been on more than any other guest so far and they have asked that he be a regular when the show starts up again after the strike ends.

Anyway, here are the videos in case you missed it.

Stuff and more stuff

Questions:

How many times can one person throw up in one day? I may beat the record.

Does anyone else get angry at rising gas prices? It seriously makes me mad.

And milk? Who would have ever thought it would be this expensive?

Where does everyone find out about good new books? I seem to be running out of ideas of what to read.

If we are supposed to continue to multiply then why is it so difficult? I normally don't mind pregnancy too much but this time it is ridiculous. I can't function.

Does it matter that my house it a total wreck?

Will my kids be scarred for life if we don't put up Christmas decorations this year?

When will the writer's strike be over? I am totally frustrated that my favorite shows are ending early and there will be no new ones! Come on writers!

Do you find that laundry tends to exponentially reproduce per person in the household?

What is your favorite Christmas song? Mine is one by Micheal W. Smith. It is just his version of Angels We have Heard on High but it is so great and really gets me excited about the holidays. Ryan laughs because I just have something for pretty much any song that says Halelujah or Gloria! What better way to praise? But I'm also really digging this song my friend Mandy sent me on a Christmas CD this year. It is called "I Celebrate the Day" by Relient K. It is awesome!

Here are some of the lyrics:

And the first time that you opened your eyes
Did you realize that you would be my Savior
And the first breath that left your lips
Did you know that it would change this world forever
And the first time that you opened your eyes
Did you realize that you would be my Savior
And the first breath that left your lips
Did you know that it would change this world forever

And so this Christmas I'll compare
The things I've felt in prior years
To what this midnight made so clear
That you have come to meet me here

To look back
And think that
This baby would one day save me
And the hope that
That you give
That you were born so I might really live
To look back
And think that
This baby would one day save me


This group also has a very cool sound. I really really like it. So much that the first time I heard it I was truly crying.


Well, I hope you are all having a beautiful day. I am going to try and get something done while I don't feel like vomiting.