Neeltje's Goose Egg..

The way Neeltje actually received this bump on her forehead is really funny. I know it is always funnier when you are there, but I will try to explain the best I can.

I was getting ready to go out for the night on a date with my hubby when I hear a blood curddling scream! With my kids, I naturally assumed it was the result of 2 children fighting and waited for the culprit to come and tattle about the going on's. It was Neeltje who appeared in the bathroom doorway and she was crying. Her hair was hanging in her face the way it always does, because she can't leave her ponytails in to save her life. When I finally got her calmed down, this is what she explained.

We had a sectional couch. She was standing in the 90 degree angle up on the back of the couch. What a great place to jump from, naturally. So she did. She was trying to jump to the arm rest. When she landed on the couch cushion, it was springy enough to launch her into the air and over the armrest. She landed head first in a basket that holds all of our Nintendo Gaming Systems.

I couldn't understand for the longest time what she was so upset about until she was talking to me and used her arm to brush her hair out of her face, and then I saw it! A bright purple goose egg on her forehead. She wanted to see it and when she looked in the mirror, she started to scream worse then she had when she received it!

School pictures...

I hate to sound so negative, but I detest school pictures. You pay so much money for less than mediochre pictures. They send the kids to recess and then take their pictures...I have received our fair share of horrid pictures, so I stopped buying them. I just do them up that day, (so their yearbook looks okay) and I take a picture of them myself and photoshop it. I had a difficult time with my new camera as I am still getting used to it (red-eye), so i turned them to B & W. Ethan is at that awkward age where he is figuring out what it means to "be natural" so his looks funny, but Aunna and Neeltje look as cute as ever.

Before and After

In July of 2006 Todd and I bought a home in Bountiful, UT. This home was great structurally, but aesthetically...not so much. We have 2 and a half years into this remodel and we are pretty pleased with the results. I am searching for the photos I have of the "before" for the kitchen and front room. Hopefully I can find them soon.

Main Bath: Not much needed except a new coat of paint, light fixture, and shower curtain and rod. The last color was peach...not exactly my style.

Master Bed: I didn't take a picture of the old master and I should of. It was priceless. A half wall of the 80's floral mint green, rose, and light blue wall paper. A nice popcorn ceiling (asbestos), and holes everywhere!

Front Room: Yet another room I never took a picture of...but I will try to explain it. See the wall with the bookcases and fireplace. It was all those 70's gold flecked mirrors on the whole wall with a white brick fireplace in the center. My sister and I had a rude awakening when we took the mirrors down to find wood panelling underneath. When that was removed, there was no sheetrock. This room cost 10 times what we planned to spend on it in the long run!

Second Bath: No real overhauls here. Just changes the paint from purple to beige.

Family Room Before: What you cannot see in this photo is the "popcorn" ceiling, 15 yr. old Berber carpet, wood panelling painted white, and a dated stone fireplace that doesn't work.

Family Room After:

We did a lot, I know. But this photo shows the still needed baseboards, and decor on the walls.

After Kitchen:

The kitchen was the biggest needed update. The old kitchen had a "U" shaped floor plan that brought a cabinet return right through the new island. The cabinets were so low you had to squat down to see people between the ountertop and cabinets. The stove had 2 burners working, and an old yellow oven!

Ethan Turns 9!

Ethan turned 9 on July 31. It was very unfortunate that at this time I was still on bedrest from my back injury so we postponed his party until a future date. This date ended up being October 11! I know, it is horrible that I am not more on top of things. Here are some pics from his party. We had a lot of fun. They had a contest to see who could blow the biggest bubble and the pictures are pretty funny.

HALLOWEEN 2008

Like most of you know, Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year. This year I wasn't able to fully enjoy it as this hysterectomy has been kicking my hiney. But, at last, here are pictures of the kids. I have the hardest time getting them to pose individually as the call for candy is too great. So here are the group pictures.

Left to Right: Patrice (my neighbor) holding Megan a princess. Ethan is Batman, Kiyomi (Patrice's Daughter) is Giselle. Back to the left is Bradley as a Dinosaur, Kelsey (neighbor) a princess, Aunna is a Bride, and Neeltje is a Pink Unicorn.

I'm Gorgeous Inside...

That is the verbage appearing on top of our realtors sign in the front yard. We felt that putting the traditional "MUST SEE INSIDE" was too demanding, and wanted to put positive subliminal messages into potential buyer's heads.We have been working really hard to get the basement finished, and I can't believe the changes from before to after. I am going to get pictures posted soon.

Running...

I have been trying really hard to get my stamina back, so I can "run" again. With all the miles I used to log... 8 laps seems like such a little feat. But to this body, it has been a big deal. I can't believe how much this hysterectomy has robbed me of energy! I can honestly say i wan't prepared for all of this. But, since I want to look on the bright side of things, I have increased my pace since the removal of that organ. I have taken a minute off my mile, and that is a very good feeling!

My Storybook Life... Not!

If I told you everything that has goine on this year, you wouldn't believe me. I am totally serious... How could so much happen to one family in 10 months? In an attempt to keep you all up to date with our family, I will give a year's re-cap:

• January- We turned in all of our hard work for approval. We offered the bank our business plan, the marketing plan, cash flow, net worth, credit applications, etc. for their approval. We also made the offer to lease the space for the business.


• February- Signed our life away. We signed personal guarantees that if our business fails, we will somehow have the money to pay back hundreds of thousands of dollars. No biggie, right?


• March- The headache with the contractor begins. I think I was driving to South Jordan about 4 times a week dealing with construction issues and permits, and working on the licensing... with 3 kids in tow. Oh, and I was training for my half marathon.


• April- Still dealing with the contractor. I run my half marathon. TWO WORDS: Stomach virus. Starting at mile 6 I was on a hunt for every stinking port a potty on the way. At mile 10 I took a pit stop in the local 7-11 for about 20 minutes. By mile 12 I couldn't walk or my muscles would seize up. But I did finish! In a measely 3 hours. It took 3 days to recover from dehydration. :o)


• May- We open the doors to Mountain Pointe Physical Therapy on May 5. We are trying to see if we have what it takes to support our family on our dreams. I end up in the ER with 2 rupturing ovarian cysts.


• June- I have surgery to remove more cysts on June 4. Still open for business.


• July- Back pain. I love being a mom. To the point I would sacrifice myself for my children. And I did. Megan was about to topple down the stairs, when I quicly reached for her, throwing my back out. I dropped to my knees and couldn't move for 45 minutes. It was then that i decided to call Todd and have him come home to help me. 4 days later, I was back in the ER via ambulance because I was having muscle spasms so bad that I couldn't move. After 4 weeks of Lortab and Valium, I was good to go.


• August- Cellulitis via the Alpine Slide in Park City. I couldn't tell you what happened. All I know is I biffed it on the slide causing an abrasion on my leg...simple really. Until I developed cellulitis, and discovered i was allergic to Neosporin! how many people are allergic to it you may ask? 1 out of 4. Oh, we also celebrated 10 years of marraige. Then i had my hystorectomy the last week of the month, 2 days after the kids went back to school. Pretty huh?

• September- My incision opens back up and I get sick. Sick to the point that they thought I had viral meningitis. So they did a lumbar puncture. It was negative. The puncture leaked causing those really awesome headaches, which was treated with narcotics and caffeine. Well that didn't work so well as I was getting the rebound headaches. I have tried to block this week out, as I never want to repeat it again! 4 visits to the ER in one week is enough for me.


• October- we are returning to normal. But I think we are on the prayer roll at church, and the ward missionaries have us on re-activation status since we have been so "active" throughout the summer. Started training for another half marathon...looking forward to it.

Little Piece of Summer

I love the Back To School time of year. Life calms down a bit, the older ones are back in school and it means more time to spend with the younger ones. I love this because you get to spend time observing them when it is not to hot, not too cold, and they have the backyard to themselves. Without the hovering fear of the older ones in the way. They have an awe for life and I love to see them smile.

Kid Moments...

I have to post this little story, because it is so funny. Our little Bradley will be 4 in January. He is learning and growing, and doing things at a rate that just surprises me. He talks so well, and he is the BIGGEST crack up. He is also in this little defiant stage, and testing the boundaries constantly. Well, just the other night he was in the tub. He wasn't being very nice to his sisters, Neeltje and Megan. I warned him he was going to get out if he couldn't be nice. So finally, out he had to come. I told him to get out, and he looked and me and flatly said and emphatic "No". I told him he had to the count of 3 to get out or he was going to get a spank. He, of course, didn't get out (or this wouldn't be so funny). So as I helped him out of the tub, he had already started crying in preparation for the spank. I went to swat his wet bum and my hand just slid past his body. When Bradly realized that was it, his fake cry went from a stuttered sob, to a giggle. He turned to look at me and said, "Ha! That didn't even hurt mom!". When I asked him if he wanted me to make it hurt he screamed "no!" as he covered his bottom and ran out of the bathroom. I can't believe these little ones and where they come up with what they do.

Take a picture of me, Mom!

It amazes me how much children love being in front of the camera. The minute is comes out, that is all I hear, until I snap a picture and show them what it looks like. Bradley wanted to pose like this for his photo. He is our little class clown, he makes us laugh so hard.

Ethan gets his Wolf

Ethan received his wolf the day after my hysterectomy. I was not able to be there, but we did not deprive him of receiving it because he was just so dang excited. This picture just cracks me up! If you look closely you can see him eyeing the badge while his den leader is talking and looking for something else. He has this wicked little smile like he can't wait to get it into his hot little hands.

Hysteroctomy

I know it is not a pretty word, but that is what I had done last week (August 27, 2008). For those of you with faint dispositions, stop reading now. For the rest of you I will tell you why. Yes, I am young, 31 to be exact. That seems really young to be part of the "clean panty brigade" but when your body thinks it is normal to create cysts on a regular basis, you haven't much choice. The cyst mentality went so far as to have little cysts inside the tissue of the uterus itself, making my uterus the size of someone 14 weeks preggo. If I can spell it right, the condition is called adenymyosis, and it creates constant pelvic pain. As I was training for my half-marathon is when I noticed I felt a lot of pain when I ran and then there was intense streams of it throughout the day. The doctor informed me that the benefits of keeping my uterus were just introducing greater chances of uterine cancer. So, I made the decision with Todd and out it came.

I had 5 ovarian cysts removed with patches of endometriosis on June 4, 2008. During that surgery I was informed that with the c-section performed to deliver Megan, there was a small hole left in the uterus which made it much easier for the tissue to form itself around my ovaries, uterus and ureters. When they removed my uterus through my c- section scar, the doctor made mention of how much more endometriosis had formed in just 2 months, with more cysts, and a bonus... my bladder had "cemented" itself to the thinning wall of my uterus. Awesome, huh?

So I am very lucky to have had it removed, I am already feeling much better, but the healing time has been awful. I want to feel better now, is that too much to ask? I feel this has been harder than any of my c-sections, and I guess it is because I don't have the euphoria of a newborn to mask my pain. Funny how that works.

All Our Hardwork

This is a small representation of all the hard work we have put in timewise in the last 12 months. This is a copy of Todd's business card, with logo. But this is just a portion of what we have been doing. Business plans, contractors, planning, decorating, SBA loans, equipment leases, etc. While we were in the heart of our plans, Bradley would walk around the house like he was on the phone and pretend to be talking to someone and I would hear him say "uh huh, okay, bye..." then he would press the flash button on the phone and say "hello?", and say "just a sec..." and hit the flash. Wow!! Talk about mimicing what they see. But it is done and we are open for business. I will post pictures soon of the clinic and the inside as it turned out great.

MEGAN

This is our 5th little cutie! She is getting so big and I couldn't help myself as I snapped this picture with her current favorite face. She gets that big"oh!" expression everytime she does anything. And I really do mean that.