Quick Thought

Have you ever wondered how your children will think of you when they are parents? What things will they remember? I assume my children will have forgotten as much as I have. So, here are a few things I hope they remember:

I love them, no matter what.
I believe that they should do what it takes to be happy.
Their mother loves the scriptures and believes in the gospel.
Their mother loves to read, period!
The three rules; do what you know is right, do what you are asked to, and ask for help when you need it.
No one is always right, that is why forgiveness was invented.
Mom is allergic to onions.
I love them, no matter what.

A blessed woman

I woke up at 1 am and looked over to where my wonderful husband was sleeping. He has a CPAP machine, so I couldn't just give him a kiss, but I kissed his shoulder and told him I loved him. As I was coming back from the bathroom I saw bright blue eyes peaking up at me from teh cradle. I snuggled Maddy for a while until she went to sleep, enjoying the breeze from the fan and windows. I had just gotten Maddy to sleep in her cradle when Sarah came down for the third time, to tell me about her latest bad dream. She must have passed Joshua on the stairs, because he came down about 5 minutes later to tell me that he woke up with a headache. I ushered him back upstairs after giving him 3 children's tylenol and a hug. I didn't see Kat in the middle of the night, but I thought of her as I fell back asleep, wondering if she was going to come visit.

There are lots of challenges being a mother and wife, but I am so blessed to have a wonderful husband to support me through them. Even when we are both tired, and find ourselves being cranky with one another, I never have to wonder if he loves me, or if he will be there when I need him.

Trying to sleep

Grey oblivion behind my eyelids beckons
Tempting me with thoughts of blissful sleep
Breathing slows and brain synapses calm
Languid muscles snuggled up against my husband
Safe, secure, loved and infinitely tired

Pain shoots from nerve to nerve
Stiffening my muscles
Wrenching me back to wakefulness
My mind rebelling against the intrusion
My heart sorrowing at the loss of oblivion

Another chance at rest
Broken by the pain
That refuses to let
The medication sweep it away

If noses were roses....

I had a "rotorooter" nose surgery about two weeks ago. I was breathing better from the moment I woke up from surgery. I was also hurting a lot when I woke up. Which I kind of expected. What I hadn't known goign into the surgery was that they needed to take out twice as much tissue as originally planned, and they needed to break all the small bones in my nose to help the airway stay larger.

So, two weeks out, I still hurt. At least I don't have a lot of swelling on the outside of my nose, so you can't tell I had surgery on it, unless you catch me in the middle of a nose bleed. I keep focusing on the fact that I breathe much better than I have since I was a teenager, and that I am lucky to have health insurance that paid for the entire surgery. So, better breathing was both priceless and free.

Mormonads

We are starting something new with the kids for scripture study. We will still read a chapter a day in the Book of Mormon, but before we do that, we will have them choose a Mormonad and read the scripture that goes with it.



For those that don't know, Mormonads are posters in the New Era that visually explaina gospel principle. For example there is one where there are four puppies eating from a bowl and one puppy that is being left out. At the top it says "Make Room for Everyone" and then at the bottom says "Look around. Is someone starving spiritually or socially because your group has turned its back?" Then it has the scripture reference of D&C 38:25.

This is another one...





















After we have read the scripture and talked about what it means, then we are letting the kids put the mormonads up on the walls along their stairs. It is nice that they come in postcard size, so I think the kids will be able to put up all 56 of the mormonads. We should have them all up by David's birthday (October 24th) and I think it is a good way to introduce scripture concepts along with working our way through the Book of Mormon with them.



If you want to try it, they are not expensive, and can be ordered on the church's website. http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10151&storeId=10151&productId=42612&langId=-1&cg1=13794&cg2=13820&cg3=&cg4=&cg5=&sortId=3&sortOr=1&retURLtext=Back%20to%20%27New%20Era%20Posters%27&retURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ldscatalog.com%2Fwebapp%2Fwcs%2Fstores%2Fservlet%2FCategoryDisplay%3FcatalogId%3D10151%26amp%3BstoreId%3D10151%26amp%3BcategoryId%3D13820%26amp%3BlangId%3D-1%26amp%3Bcg1%3D13794%26amp%3Bcg2%3D%26amp%3Bcg3%3D%26amp%3Bcg4%3D%26amp%3Bcg5%3D%26pageId%3D1%26pageCt%3D15%26sortId%3D3%26sortOr%3D1

Update - The PICC line is in!! Woohoo!!

It seemed like it was time for an update. I am 9 weeks pregnant, and thrilled to be expecting one (1) baby. It has been a difficult pregnancy so far, but I am excited to be adding to our family, and I know that by the time I hold our son or daughter, this will all be a faint memory.

Today I had a PICC line put in. It is basically a permanent IV, and will stay in until the baby is born. I was having to go in to get fluids at least 3 times a week, and they were beginning to run out of IV sites. While it was kind of painful to have put in, it shouldn't hurt much after the bruising goes down and the insertion site heals more. It was much easier to get the fluids today, and it was nice to know that tomorrow they will just have to hook up the fluid bags without any poking around. (Although they will have to change the dressing tomorrow, but then it will jsut be once a week that they have to change it.)

We are going to see Christina this weekend, and while I am kind of nervous about our first meeting, I am also really looking forward to it. I hope that our pregnanies will be something to bond over, even if she does think it kind of weird that she will have a half-sibling who is younger than her daughter. It is nice that she is qualified to do the infusions while we are there, otherwise I am not sure my doctor would have let me go. When I talked to her about it today, she was pretty unsure about me going. The fact that I will still be able to get fluids is about all that made her say okay, even if it was still grudgingly.

Crazy summer

It has been hard to keep up with this summer. From picking berries to freeze for the winter, attending Cub Scout Day Camp with Joshua and 9 other boys, and trying to build the business, it feels like we have been doing a lot.

We finally have the start to a website that is functional. We have been working with a woman who is a great web designer, and we are going to refinish her table. If you want to see what it looks like, you can check it out at http://www.laurellanewoodworking.com/index_new.html

We have had a lot of projects going on. We refinished an outdoor sofa, and made several planter boxes for a woman up in Washougal. She is a teacher, and traded part of the value for her work in school supplies for the kids, so we have them all ready to go. I am going to put them in their backpacks this weekend. Then I won't have to think about it until school starts.

We also got a lot of wood at a great price from The Joinery. They sell their "ends" which are usually a foot to 3 feet long. It is all hardwood, and there is some beautiful things in there. We also got a good deal on some poplar, and will be using it to make bookshelves. We are hoping to make quite a few sets between now and Christmas.

It is hot here, and so I have been staying inside for the last few days. Now that the kids are back, I have a feeling I will be getting out more. If you haven't checked out our staycation blog, you should. you can just click on my profile, and it shows up in the list, along with Joshua's blog.

Hope everyone is staying cool!!