Laughter-- The Best Medicine

I had lithotripsy on the 13th. A "surgical" procedure in that you are under general sedation and intubated, however no incisions are made. They take an ultrasound machine and pound on your side to try and break up the kidney stones. They pounded for an hour and a half, 4000 joules pounding my side, penetrating my organs. They take X-Rays intermittently to see if the stone is breaking up. I also had to have a CT scan prior to the procedure to assess its orientation in the kidney. After all this radiation, I fear any future children will have webbed feet and hands. Unfortunately my 8mm nemesis didn't respond so well. So I am left feeling like I have had the crap beaten out of me and I still have a stone. To top it off, the kids picked up a respiratory infection and both are coughing like crazy and poor Jake with his asthma coughs so hard he vomits. Sunday was not a good day.

On a lighter note, Eli, my amazingly wonderful Diabetic Shoe Fitter husband received an emergency phone call last night around 11 pm just after we had laid down to go to bed. His patient, an elderly female, frantically called to say, "I can't find my shoes". I got such a kick of
Eli's swift response in deescalating the situation. Ah, the thrills the being a diabetic shoe fitter's wife.

I hope we are all feeling better by Christmas. I am ready for some fun.

The Sword and The Stone

I am gaining empathy. I have been in some pain. It feels like a knife in my gut. It is the kind of pain that makes one think, "put me out of misery and let me die" type pain. It all started last Saturday after Eli and I went out for some Pho. I thought maybe it was just indigestion. Ate a bottle of tums, took a hot bath, and put a heating pad to the area. The pain resolved. I was fine until Wednesday. I had been prepping for the Thanksgiving dinner we were having, when all of the sudden the sword in my stomach and through my back returned. Unfortunately Eli was traveling and couldn't get home right away. Jacob did his best to care for me and Mason. While I was writhing on floor yelling out orders, he was doing his best to get Mason a diaper, get me my phone, get Mason some crackers (which ended up being marshmallows). I actually ordered a pizza from my phone. Once delivered, I opened it up on the floor and let the kids have at it. Poor Eli walked into a thrashed house, half naked kids, and a wife on the floor wanting to die. Pain resolved, went to bed and was fine until Thursday.

We were sitting down to dinner, Eli, all his brothers and their spouses and his parents. Ten adults, 2 preschoolers, 3 babies. A beautifully decorated table and a tasty thanksgiving feast.
Pain is back and I am in bed with a heating pad. Lasted all night. Woke up friday morning, felt okay. Went in to work. Got in to see Tricia, the other NP at my office. We both thought maybe gallbladder, gastritis, something upper GI. She ordered an ultrasound. Started me on a regimen of acid blockers.

Ultrasound Diagnosis: An 8 mm stone in my left kidney.

Bam! And it still needs to pass. This is going to be an experience.

Stuffed Kids

Gearing up for Halloween

I have taken a break on the home improvement project (for few days) and tried not to ignore the kids quite so much. It is hard to say, "No wall. I am not going to paint you even though you are kinda beat up and the cabinet just got the ultra shiny white deluxe treatment". I have a gallon of tan-gray "cedar key" waiting to adorn my kitchen walls.

P90X is going well. We have been faithful with the workouts. We were doing the meal plan, but blew out grocery budget in the first 2 weeks of the month. Now were are trying to do a more budget friendly version.

The kids are good. Still tons of fun. Mason isn't the napper she used to be. She just wants to play. I can't blame her. She was sentenced to nap after nap the months of August and September in order for the cabinet refinishing project to be completed. I feel crummy for being a negligent parent, but I learned my lesson. (#1- Just Buy cabinets from home depot. #2. Don't buy a fixer)

Let's move onto some photographic relief:

She flies through the air with the greatest of ease....

First things first after church. Pants--off. Cowboy hat and boots-- on.Jacob's beloved "cowboy" hat (actually it's an old hat of mine with a black bow in the front) went missing. My sister in law lent this massive sombrero. It just wasn't the same-- in got in the way while trying to make playdough and kept hitting Mason in the face on the stroller ride to the store.

Now this little pachyderm looks sweet enough, but if you have food or anything that has the slightest ressemblance to any food she will fight you for it. And yes.... she does know how to wrestle (I will save that for another post).

Oh Jacob, I know it is hard to part with your monkey costume (size 6-12 months) but i think it is time buddy.


Naughty girl. I don't know what makes the tumble down 30 stairs so appealing?


Thank you for listening.


My favorite part of the season... The Pumpkin Patch



More pictures to follow.

The First Triple Birthday

Eli spent all day making an amazing cake for the three of us.
My litte girl is 1. Sigh. Mason is so fun. Eli describes her as, "a good sport"; Always happy, ready to play, wrestle, or be turned into a canvas for Eli's artwork. I am just amazed how quickly this day came.

How crazy it this? 3 generations all born on the same date.
While in Vegas we checked out the children's museum. They had a stage, costumes, and best of all Disney songs playing. Jacob had a blast performing as Mickey Mouse to "Supercalifragilisticexpalidocious" and "Bippety, Boppety, Boo".

P.S. I probably ate about half of that cake. It was awesome-- my dad's part: German chocolate with a layer of chocolate ganache in the middle, my part: yellow cake with fresh raspberry filling. Mason's was more for show--confetti cake with pink lemonade frosting. Good thing Eli purchased P90X for my present. We start on Monday. I'll spare you the before photos.

Also, my lack of blog updates is due to my current zeal for home improvement projects. In the last 2 months I have refinished the cabinets in our kitchen and bathrooms, painted the garage and some of the house, and pressure washed the deck with plans to stain it soon. It feels good to finally be fixing up the fixer upper.

Big 3!!!

Jacob Elijah started life a little 5 lb lump and his mother was happy.


Well that baby grew and he grew and he grew and his mom enjoyed it all so much she was so happy.But that boy continued to grow and grow. He grew until he was three years old and started doing more and more on his own and his mother was happy--- but not really.
How come each year is more and more fun, but I still get so sad that I am one year closer to a greasy teenager who doesn't want to spent time with his mom?

I love you Jacob, please don't grow up too fast and don't forget to visit your mom.

Enough sadness.

We drove to California for Addison and Ashley's wedding. We took I-5 on the way there and took the 101 coastal highway on the way back. It was awesome. I am in love with California.



Jacob and Mason are just fun. They were great travelers.

I had no idea how huge the LA temple was. The walk from the parking lot was about a mile, I swear.



Mason made friends with Addison and Ashley's photographer and we got some great photos. Thanks Kayla!
The sun, beach, family, friends......I am ready for my next trip-- LAS VEGAS BABY! It going to be a triple birthday party. Can't believe Mason is already a year and that she shares a birthday with my dad and I.

Mason 9.0

9 months and counting. Can't believe how fast its gone by. It seemed like Jake was little for so long.




4 top teeth all at once?!! poor baby. She looks so different. My little vampire girl has bitten me twice-- I screamed in pain, she cried and it hasn't happened since.





Eli made a tofu taco helmet after dinner. Obviously, she wasn't as amused as her daddy.



Happy Father's Day. We the day prior at Chuck -e-Cheese (Sigh). It turned out to be okay. Eli became the pop-a-shot master and it was quite entertaining to watch him enjoying it so much.


Log Jam



Guess who is 90% potty trained. It just took him getting to that "All by myself" phase.
Summer is finally here. The 4th of July was cold and overcast (we had a fire going all weekend!). But this week 90's. Crazy!

Eli took a job working for my brother, Nathan, at his medical supply business. I am super excited. I feel like I have my husband back. His commute to work went from 2 hours/day to 10 minutes. This means more time with the kids and more help around the house (Hallelujah!).
Summer here we come!

What the what?

Can anyone tell me what is wrong with this picture? Yes. A fire in June. Why? Because it is cold (50 F), wet and rainy. Blah. Why do we live in the northwest again?

Eli's dad made him that cart when he was little. That makes it almost 30 years old!


We opted to play indoors today. Mason loved her first ride.


May is getting a tooth. #2 is there too, but camera shy.

Thanks for all the kind words. I have been exercising, but get super discouraged because I try to go shopping but have no luck with pants. Why the skinny jean? The ankle is so freakishly tight it cuts off the circulation to my feet. I have meaty quads/buns and the popular styles right now just emphasize all the wrong areas on me. I end up looking something like this:


I spent all day at Nordstrom's Rack trying on tons of jeans. The last time I had been jean shopping was 2008. What happened to the good old straight cut jeans? Heck I would even settle for a nice boot cut at this point.

Guess What?

Addie found a great girl and is engaged to be married in August. Meet Ashley. She plays the piano, speaks German, and is as nice as they come. Welcome Ashley. We are super excited for you.

We had a lot of fun in Vegas baby. Jacob was so excited to fly in an airplane he couldn't sleep.

The next best part was the Go-Karts. I think I was meant to be a race car diver.
We went to a western show. The cowboys were shooting fake guns at each other. Jacob freaked out. Started crying. So they stopped the show. Shook hands. Hugged. And Jake tipped them each a few bucks.
Uncle Sean is loving Baby Bjorn. I misplaced Mason's hat so we had to improvise.
Red rocks rock.

I have a new favorite holiday. Mother's Day.
I was spoiled with breakfast, flowers, and a BBQ dinner.

I am so lucky to be a mom. I am so glad to be reminded of that.

P.S. So what did you think of Alice Cooper on Idol? SCARY!

PPS. Eli surprised me (us) with Blackberry's while I was gone. I am not a fan yet. I want my plain old phone back.

Finally an update

Jake and Mason take naps at opposite times so I have been busy with both of them hence the out dated blog.

So to catch up:

yes we got our car back. They never found who stole it. they were in the process of piecing it out-- seat belts, seats, all missing. our insurer had it all repaired. good as knew. We thought. Until we were driving to rural Elma, WA and our tire blew out. We put a spare on (Eli labored-- I observed and learned how) and found the nearest Les Schwabb. They checked the tire pressure in the remaining tires and they were all double what they should have been. After a lot of phone calls I was able to get our insurer to cover it.

Mason had her 6 month well child check. She is 90th percentile for her head circumference and 15th percentile for height and weight. She weights 14.6 lbs. I was hoping she'd stay average, but I guess we just make skinny big headed kids. At least they are cute.

I get to go to Las Vegas in 3 weeks. Looking forward to a vacation, but also traveling alone with 2 kids. It will be nice to have Jacob in his own seat. Thanks Mom and Dad for the ticket!!!

Next, been studying the old testament for my class. So interesting. So how come I didn't know the God of the Old Testament is Jesus Christ? I guess I always just imagined God the Father. Still I am learning. Forever learning.

I Bought Jillian Michaels workout DVD's. They are kicking my buns. But I am losing inches so it is well worth my time.

Slow Down Sister!

My baby girl is 6 months. If Mason keeps growing at this rate she is going to tower over her brother in no time.

She has started solid food and is already lounging about, demanding I keep the spoon coming.


This one is keeping me busy with potty training. He is totally in to it one day and the next completely refusing. So we are still working on it. I have polished my Mickey Mouse and Handy Manny impersonations and sometimes they can convince him to go in the potty.
We celebrated 6 years of marriage this month by attempting to play golf ( I haven't played in over 2+ years). And? I still love my husband even though he can out drive me on the golf course now.




P.S. Our car was stolen shortly after my last post. (Eli left it running in our driveway one morning and ran back in the house for his breakfast). We had the unfortunate experience of
driving the PT Cruiser for a whole month. What a piece! No room, smelled like an ashtray, and poor visibility (Eli bumped into a lady.. Yes... this was a heck of a month). If you ever get set up with one-- tell them you are allergic to crap.