Sunday Thinkin'

*We had some crazy wind gusts today -- one of my favorite trees in our backyard snapped at the trunk. Chloe was really upset by it. She came in, "Mom, my favorite tree in our backyard is broken. I really don't want it to be dead." It was pretty sad -- it was a really lovely maple. Why couldn't it have been one of our prolific sumacs??
Do you see that brown thing sticking out of the ground near the fence post? That's the 3" trunk of this tree.

*Stanton took the kids outside as the storm front moved in. As the winds were gusting, Lily looked at Stanton and said, "Is he coming, Daddy?" "Is who coming?," Stanton asked. "The Savior," was Lily's reply. A nursery lesson or remembering?

*Chloe had a pretty rough day today -- regression from the huge improvements she's been making. I wasn't very patient. And I'm sorry for that.

*Sacrament meeting was c-razy. I was sweating bullets. Our snack cups are really really small, but when they're spilled all over the floor, it feels like an entire box of Cheerios. And a drink spilled all over the floor never seems minor. Thank goodness it was water. Unfortunately, it spilled on Jared Day's church manual. Sorry Jared.

*We attended the baptism of a boy in our ward Saturday. It was a sweet experience. And Lily just didn't understand why she couldn't dress in white and get baptized by her daddy right then and there.

*Speaking of baptizing, Jared was holding Cannon during sacrament meeting and spilled a sacrament cup of water on his head. His dad, Craig, leaned over and said, "Cannon's been baptized!" (Angie, I hope that's okay to tease about? Tell me if it isn't, please!)

*I've been pondering this scripture today after a great lesson from our bishop, Bishop Farmer. 2 Nephi 2:22-23

22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.

23 And they would have had no ^achildren; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no ^bjoy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no ^csin.

Families are the center of Heavenly Father's plan and I'm thinking this scripture reveals why that it so. "...they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy for they knew no misery..." Isn't that the truth? Children are the most intense source of misery we can experience (I know, I know, but stick with me for a minute...) -- whether it's the unfulfilled desire for children, or a child who is rebelling, or the early stages of nursing, or temper tantrums , etc. But experiencing that misery makes the moments of joy so incredibly joyous. Holding a newborn in your arms, seeing a child take his first steps, hearing them tell you about their first day of school, sending a child on a mission, seeing them marry a good companion, etc. Family is where we experience the best and the worst of life -- and, for me, it helps me understand that even at its worst, it's the best.

*I'm wondering if Brigham's missing his former role of baby of the family...
*Brigham is starting to learn what it means to "talk like a big boy" and the benefits that follow. His favorite word lately is "Peeease?"

Happy 2nd Birthday, Brigham!!!

Yesterday was Brigham's big 2nd birthday. Unlike his sisters at this age (who didn't really have anyone to learn from), he was very into the whole idea of it being his birthday, opening presents, and blowing out candles.

The evening began as all of my kids' parties do: with me frantically trying to get the cake frosted and the presents wrapped as the grandparents were arriving for the party. My mom couldn't make it down early enough to make frosting for me, so I bought it from our local grocery store. Boy am I glad I did because I had to make the cake twice. The first time I made it from scratch and even though I've made about a googillion cakes in my life, I didn't let the cake cool in the pan for a few minutes before turning it over. Needless to say, what I got was a very delicious cake that was half stuck inside the pan and half out on the cooling rack. Since that was at about 4 pm and the party was at 7 pm, I opted to use a box mix for the second one -- I found a doctored up recipe on the internet using sour cream and it turned out okay -- even though I was, by then, running pretty short on time, I waited for the cake to cool a bit before turning it over and HOORAY! It stayed together! It ended up being super cute and Brigham, my little tractor lover, was very excited about his "actay cake." He blew out the candles about 5 times and after each time, he'd say, "Mo, Mo" and we'd light them again. He loved it.
Please don't mind the unfrosted parts. I forgot to buy white frosting. And Brigham's two, for crying out loud -- he doesn't care. Come to think of it, I don't care either.As for presents, he got spoiled, as usual. But it's a lot of fun to watch a kid get so excited over everything he opened. And he was super patient with the girls, who opened about 1/3 of them for him. He got a bunch of matchbox size tractors, a big tractor with a trailer, a dump truck and front loader, a Thomas pull along train, books, fun little Monster trucks, and a Thomas push popper thing. This was sort of our inauguration into "boy" toys, with the exception of one dump truck, so it was a lot of fun to see his reactions. And the girls like them as much as he does, of course. Toys are toys, right?
Thanks, Mom and Grandma J, for driving from Idaho only to turn right back around to head home. And thanks, Dave & Judy, Grandma Allen, and Grandma Barbara, for coming even though you had other things going on last night. We love you!
I love pictures like this -- all the grandmas together (minus Grandma Rose -- we missed you!). Grandma Barbara has some nice black eyes, right? She fell out of bed, sweet thing.

A few things I love about my Briggy boy:

*His face. He has this face that I just can't get over. He gives the best puppy-dog eyes and smiles with his entire face.
*His kisses. He is by far my most cuddly kid and I love his sweet kisses for me and everyone else. I also love that he'll sit on my lap and rock for a long time.
*His desire to be one of the big kids. He observes everything the girls do and is willing to try it all. Most of the time he's pretty good at it, too!
*His language. It's definitely improving with every passing day, but I have loved this phase of "guess what I'm trying to tell you, Mom." He's been a patient little guy as we've tried to learn what he's trying to say. And now that he's getting new words all the time, it's even cuter.
*That he's here. I am so thankful that the medical care he's received to this point has made it so he can be with us and healthy and normal. The more I get to know him, the more I am so thankful he's my baby and in our family.

Happy Birthday, Brigham!

You've Got Questions, I've Got Answers

I've been a comment slacker lately. Oh, no, I've been great about reading them, just cruddy at answering all your questions...

Who does Cannon look like?
No one. Except today I noticed he has the same cowlick in the front of his head that Chloe and I have.
And he has Emily & Jimmy & Dave's freakish toes. Really, they're identical. I need to take a picture of that still. But only when those 3 are present and in the picture.

Oh, and Stanton says he has my chin...or chins, if we're being honest.

How are the kids doing with Cannon?

Great. They like having a real live dress up doll. And he doesn't seem to mind it one bit. Usually.

Where did Cannon get his name?
Cannon is Stanton's middle name. It's also his grandfather's name (Stanton's grandfather). All of our kids are named after someone.
Gregory is my dad's name. He's pulling for us calling Cannon "C. Gregory" Sorry, Dad, it's not gonna happen. Love ya.

Is Cannon in your room right now?
Technically, no. Cannon, right now, is laying on the table next to me wondering if his cries will somehow communicate to me that he has a dirty diaper and is hungry. Yes, son, as soon as I'm done with this post.
And for the real answer...yes, he sleeps in our room right now (our closet, to be exact), but I hope not for long. We're planning to move Brig downstairs to Lily's old room soon.

Is Lily potty trained?
Yes. We went on vacation in February and when we came back, she was in underwear. I highly recommend this method. And I bonused our babysitter. And I would like to do it again when Brigham is about 3.

Will your boys share a room?
Probably one day. But not today. And probably not for a few years. Our girls shared, then were terrible and had their own rooms, and are now sharing again. It's only taken 4 1/2 years to get there. I don't plan on pushing it any sooner with the boys. Although I won't be giving up our craft/ham room now that I've had it, so it could be sooner than later.

What on earth is ham?
I'll just go ahead and answer that one now, since I know it'll get asked in the comments and I'm not likely to do a post like this again anytime soon...
Ham is the nickname for amateur radio. I'm a ham operator. So is everyone else in Stanton's family except his mom. It's like the family's secret handshake. You have to learn it before you can get in. It's nerdy. And I like it.

How do you get your young family to do scripture study?
Well, we make like Nike and just do it. I don't have high expectations and that's helped. I just read a chapter out of the picture scriptures every night. And if they're struggling, I read one picture square or however many picture squares they can handle. Sometimes we can read 2 or 3 stories. Every now and then, they even like the regular scriptures. I don't always have Brigham (2) sit in; he often causes more trouble than I like to deal with.
Another thing that works well with the girls right now is giving each of them their own blue copy of the Book of Mormon (or Bible if that's what you're studying). I still read the picture one usually, but we turn their books to the story in the actual scriptures and they feel like they're really following along. Sometimes we give them a colored pencil and have them underline every time they see the word "God." It's an easy one that they can recognize without reading. They like it a lot.
They like to recite the scriptures we're reading. So we'll just pick one or two verses out of the actual scriptures and whisper short sections of it in their ear so they can repeat it. It makes them feel like they're reading with us.
Lastly, I really try to remember that they're little. We do what works on a particular night. Sometimes we really do get just one picture square read and some nights we read for 20 minutes. We let the kids decide. And just like getting their hair done, we keep doing it and they just know it's part of the routine so there's no use protesting it. But guess what, it's not at all perfect. And I'm okay with that.

Do you know of any good give-aways?
Yes, as a matter of fact, I do! My friend, Jill, is having one even as we speak. Are we speaking? I'm not sure what to call this whole blog communication thing. Anyway...go visit her. And tell her I sent ya.

Any questions?

Is 4 1/2 the Magic Age?

Chloe is turning some sort of corner lately. Far fewer temper tantrums. Much more obedience. An incredible interest in the scriptures. And helpful. Very, very helpful. Yes, I'm bragging. But wow, I didn't know it could be this good.

Tonight after scriptures:
Me: Okay girls, I want you to go get in your beds and I'll tuck you in after I get Brigham to bed.
Chloe: Okay, Mom, I'll be obedient.
Me: Thank you.
Chloe: I like feeling the Holy Ghost. I feel good when I do what you ask.
And she was in bed when I got down there.

And on the lighter side...
While watching a Wendy's commercial today:
Chloe: Mom, look, it's Wendy. I think she must be Old McDonald's sister.
My kids call McDonald's "Old McDonald's"

Lily is still deep into the 3s. That's the tough age around our house. BUT, we moved her into Chloe's room this weekend and ta dah! she's going to bed without protest. And she's not scared of the "darkness" in her room anymore.

By the Numbers

Nights meals are being delivered to us: 10

Times Cannon wakes up in the night: 1

Hours Brigham cried night before last: 4

Hours Brigham slept last night: 14

Hours per day spent feeding Cannon: 7

Diapers changed in the last 2 weeks: 120+

Olympic Fever

We've watched about every bit of Olympic coverage here at our house this past week or so, including the daytime coverage. It's beginning to show.

We were in the bathroom on Friday doing hair when I told Lily she had the Chinese national colors in her hair (she had red and yellow elastics). Chloe misunderstood me and thought I meant her hair-do was Chinese. This is a hair-do she never likes me to do on her, but since she thought it was Chinese, she asked for it, too. I can tell her pretty much anything is very Chinese and all of a sudden she is all for doing/wearing/eating it. I'm evil for using it to my advantage, but the Olympics will be over in a week....

This morning while feeding Cannon, I had the men's volleyball match against Serbia on. The kids, as usual, all gathered in the room (why don't they play elsewhere? They're always right on top of me when I feed him...). I was not surprised they were mesmerized by the tv, but I was shocked when I realized Chloe was totally following the game and pointing out when USA got a point and when the "blue team" got a point. She was cheering with such passion, it was cracking me up. "Go USA, Go USA!!! Oh, the blue team got a point. Mom, the USA didn't get it. Oh, hit the ball!!! Yay USA!!" Before she'd totally caught on to the concept of Team USA, she'd ask me if they were from our ward. HaHa! I was impressed with how quickly she caught on to how the scoring works.

Adjusting

The kids are doing remarkably well with the addition of little Cannon, considering that he's turned their lives upside down...

Chloe loves to hold him. Loves it. She'll hold him for a good 20 minutes sometimes -- and wow is that helpful. And she stays pretty calm when he cries and can get him happy again. I hope he keeps letting her hold him as he gets older and more aware. I really appreciate the help. Almost every time she holds Cannon, she asks if I want to take a picture of them. They're cute enough I indulge them most every time.
Lily likes to hold Cannon, too, but she doesn't last more than a few minutes. She talks about him a lot, though. And I think she enjoys having a little more time to herself when Chloe's busy holding baby. I do love how Lily calls him "The Baby Cannon."
Brigham has been interesting...he loves Cannon. He loves to hold him and kiss him and pet him to death. It's darn cute. But he is acting out toward me and even Stanton sometimes. He's waking up in the night or not ever going to sleep at all. That was the case last night. We got him in bed at around 7:45 and he cried until midnight. We got him out around 9:00 and let him snuggle with us and Cannon, but he went right back to crying once we put him back in bed. I do think he's getting some new teeth, but I suspect there's a little need for attention there, too. We'll have to wait and see with him. I hope we don't do many more nights of the crying -- it makes him so grouchy in the morning. I am grateful, though, that he's not acting out toward Cannon. That could be disastrous. These are the sorts of things I'm catching him do lately. Funny and non-destructive...I can handle a dress....
Cannon slept from 11:00 pm to 6:00 am last night. What??? It was awesome. I'm not counting on it continuing, but I'll enjoy the nights I get it! He's eating so well -- and the nursing isn't killing anymore (thank goodness because Phelps is done swimming -- what would I do???). I took him to the doctor a week ago and he was already up to 7 lbs. 1 oz. I've never had a baby gain weight in the first week. I guess he's eating enough! He's changing so much -- maybe more quickly than the others did? Or maybe I'm going crazy.


And a conversation between Lily and Lindsay (my cousin):

Sitting at the bar eating pizza, Lily passes gas...
Lindsay: What was that?
Lily: My gas was talking to me.

School Shopping...

I've been doing my favorite version of school shopping this morning -- the online version. I ended up getting a great deal at Children's Place -- I got 19 items (enough that I only need to buy a couple of cheapy turtlenecks at Walmart and all 4 kids will be set for winter) for $150 and that included shipping and tax! They are having some decent sales right now, plus $5 shipping (no minimum), and there's an online coupon (FA78) that gets you an additional 15% off. I was pretty pleased with the deal....and Children's Place is a good quality product that I've always been happy with.

Okay, so nobody in my house is going to big school, but preschool counts, right?

Thank Goodness

Thank Goodness for the Olympics. Watching Michael Phelps and crew dominate at the Water Cube has made the completely excruciating event that is breastfeeding a much more tolerable experience.

Thank Goodness for disposable diapers. I had completely erased from my mind the sheer amount of bowel movements a newborn has per day.

Thank Goodness for good self-esteem. Chloe reminds me daily that my tummy is still "huge." Just yesterday she observed it was getting smaller.

Thank Goodness for good friends. My neighbor Chalisa came and watched Brigham this afternoon so I could go watch the girls on their last day of swim lessons. And I am so glad I did. It was so nice to spend some time admiring them and cheering just for them.

Thank Goodness for blogging friends. I was having a "moment" yesterday trying to juggle the chaos that will now define my life when I hopped on Google Reader for a moment of sanity. Amidst the 70-some-odd posts I'd missed in the last several days, I caught a gem from Janelle of Regally Blonde. She quoted Marjorie Hinckley saying, "These are the Golden Years." It gave me a much needed moment of perspective and clarity. The rest of the day was so good because I allowed it to be golden.

Thank Goodness my little ones love their baby brother so much. They are adjusting well and showing so much patience with Cannon and I right now. The only thing I worry about is him getting loved to death. A pretty great worry.

Thank Goodness for my beautiful little Cannon. He's a missing piece I didn't even realize was missing. I am completely in love with him and find myself not even dreading the middle of the night feedings. What an angel.

Just Trying to Remember

Cheryl, my friend since 6th grade, came to visit me in the hospital! She took a detour through Logan on her way to Idaho just to see me! What a sweet friend.

He's Here! Baby Cannon is Here!

Cannon Gregory Allen is here! Born at 2:33 pm -- 6 lb. 11 oz., 20 inches long.
We got to the hospital at 10:40, Doc broke my water at 11:30, I was slowly progressing...6 cm. to 7 cm. over the next couple of hours. Nurse checked me at 2:15 and called me an 8 cm. Five minutes later I had a crazy big, uncomfortable contraction and told Stanton the baby was coming. The nurse came in, she called the doctor and I tried really hard not to push until she got here. By 2:25, she was in the room and I just started pushing. He was here by 2:33. Wow. It was incredible. My labors have all been fast, but he was the fastest once the pushing started. It was so neat to do that again.

About 20 minutes after I had him, they shipped him off to the NICU. His color was just a little dusky and he had the cord (which was long) wrapped around his neck a couple of times so they wanted to be sure he was SATing okay. He ended up having low blood sugar for quite a bit of time. He was in the NICU for a good 4 hours or so, but is back up with me, looking pink and beautiful. His blood sugar picked right up after eating a couple of bottles. While he was in the NICU he discovered his thumb:
That always gives me butterflies. I think I might try to force the binky, though. He has a really unique nose -- completely different from the carbon copy noses our other 3 have. It got squished quite a bit, I'm sure, during delivery, as he was posterior. It's cute and long and so unique!!! Oh, he is a squishy little bundle. What was I stressing about?!
Cannon and Mom about 4 1/2 hours after his birth. Gorgeous, squishy little person! I already love him.

An Update Before the Asterisks and Exclamation Points Start

We're here at the hospital. We got here and settled at about 10:40 and the nurse checked me right away. I was at 5 cm. By the time my doc got here a half hour later I was at 6 cm., so it looks like this baby was planning on coming today anyway. I have been having contractions fairly consistently for the last about 12 hours. Really weak, though, and only about 10 minutes apart. But they've been working regardless of consistency and intensity!

I had the epidural about 20 minutes ago and everything went well. It's always just the slightest bit nerve wracking to have that done.

Doc broke my water about 5 minutes before the epidural. She thinks I'll be quick and able to do this without any pitocin. We'll see.

It's about 5 minutes to noon. I'm sure they'll come check me again soon. I think this baby might come a little quicker than I was anticipating. I just figured since he'd taken so much longer to start coming that the delivery part would take longer, too. Looks like I was wrong.

I was hit by a huge wave of emotion a few minutes ago -- just realizing that I was going to actually be giving birth again, nursing again, having a newborn again...all of that. It came on so suddenly that I had a little breakdown. I'm really so happy to be doing this again. I am just saying a lot of silent prayers that this baby will be healthy.

Nurse just came in and thinks maybe we ought to do some pitocin. I doubt I'll be updating again until little man is here!

Serious Ketchup

I have some serious catching up to do on family events. I need to post about my G & G's 60th wedding anniversary party (yay G&G Rose! I love you!). I need to post about swim lessons. There are things I won't even remember I need to post about until I dump pictures off my camera.

But right now, I need to sew. I need to finish some quiet bag orders before I have this baby.

Oh...did I mention I'm having this baby tomorrow???!!!!!

Fin. Ished.

I finished Breaking Dawn today. I'm just happy to be done with the Twilight Saga. Sort of like I was when Harry Potter was done. I loved the whole series, but I am glad to have it out of my life! I am glad I can just moveon.org.

I will say that I thought the story was well-planned, well-told, and engrossing. Yes, there were some plot holes, but they weren't really going to change the outcome of the story.

And while I'm usually very very prudish about intimacy in books and in movies, I thought she handled all of those scenes with tremendous taste and restraint. I was impressed.

I really liked how everything wrapped up in the end. It satisfied me and like I said, I'm glad it's over. Until the movie comes out in December. I might have to go to that. Yep, I probably will.

Have you read the Twilight books? Did you like this one? What did you think?

Now Here's a MAJOR Award!

Proving once again that I am perhaps the luckiest person on earth, I won TaLaisa's giveaway. Yes, I won it!!!!! I'm really excited because I know what this girl is capable of. She gave me a beautiful necklace/earring/bracelet set (the earrings have 3 interchangeable charms...how cool is that?) for my birthday and I wear it probably 5 out of the 7 days in a week. And you know I have a lot of other cool jewelry. Hers is just the best! And now I get some more. I feel just the slightest bit guilty, since I've already received her jewelry as a gift, but not guilty enough to refuse the prize!!!

Visit TaLaisa's Bead Drawer to see the loot and to buy some of your own! Be sure to leave her lots of comments so she'll know we're anxiously awaiting her shop opening and the opportunity to buy from her!

Buncha Bum Shots

Like Father Like Son -- I love how his legs are crossed up in the air like that.

What is so enthralling in this bathtub???

Ah, sailboats -- thank you, Blue's Clues! This provided a good 20 minutes of fun for the kiddos -- and so easy!
In case you're wondering, you just need a plastic bowl, some play-doh, a straw, and construction paper. You can see what to do from there....

Guess What I Forgot?

A few things --

Like toilet paper on the $350 mad rush through Sam's Club.

And to pack a bag for the hospital...not that I need it yet....

And that my kids have swim lessons today through the 14th (my due date...whose bright idea was that?)....they've been in their swimsuits all morning.

And that Breaking Dawn came out this weekend....guess I'll have to go buy it since I'll be about number 697 at our library....

And that when there's nothing else consuming your thoughts, the last few weeks of pregnancy take FOREVER!!!!!!!! New Baby Boy, we're anxiously awaiting your arrival! Come quickly!


Finally, have you visited TaLaisa's Bead Drawer yet? She's having a great giveaway you won't want to miss. Tell her I sent ya!

G&G Rose 60th Wedding Anniversary

All of the unmarried grandchildren and great-grandchildren (there are more, but these are who made it to the party...)

With their five children and spouses.

We had a great time celebrating Grandma & Grandpa Rose's 60th wedding anniversary at Aunt Christie's.

Mitch and the girls in the pool

Nate & Mitch swam with the kids for 2 hours before the party and then Rob & Lindsay swam with them after dinner. They had such a ball. Lily is addicted to the water slide and Chloe loves the diving board. It was fun to observe them from a distance -- Lily is so social - she loves to be the center of attention and she often is without trying. Chloe, on the other hand, really likes to just hang back by herself and watch what's going on. Actually, she is often not watching everyone else at all....she's just enjoying being by herself.

Back to Lily for just a second...I had a moment of worry for her tonight -- she has this adorable, articulate, deep, inflection-filled speaking voice that is a joy to listen to. But the flip side of that is that everyone is constantly trying to imitate her. There's definitely not any malice or desire to make fun of Lily, but I worry sometimes that it will make her self-conscious as she gets older. I have a deep voice and I know from personal experience that it's something that's easy to feel self-conscious about. I think we'll just have to watch that one with her.

Anyway.....back to the party -- it was so much fun for everyone. I love getting to catch up with cousins I don't see often enough. And it was just so fun to see Grandma & Grandpa there with all their posterity -- I just can't imagine what it must feel like to be on their side of the spectrum and see all the kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids that have come because YOU got married. Amazing. And even more gratifying, I'm sure, that everyone gets along, loves each other, and are living productive lives.

Love you Gram & Gramps!

My cousin Bill, or The Great White Whale
Chrystal and me, or The Great Green Whale
Hannah and Chloe
Lily Love

Christie, I stole a bunch of these pictures from your blog -- thanks! They're terrific.

Rollercoaster Riding at Its Finest

I don't love the cliche, but there really isn't another way of describing this past little while with our Brigham. Dr. Everitt called this morning. The MRI showed some more accurate measurements of the left ventricle (LV) mass and they weren't where she was expecting them to be. The LV mass of a normal heart is between 37-83 grams (oh, I hope that's the right unit of measurement, I'm not sure all of a sudden). Brigham is at 29. The "normal" range, as you can see, is pretty broad, but Brig's not even at the low end yet. Keep in mind that Brigham's LV pumps against his lungs, so it is not getting the kind of "resistance training" a normal LV does, hence the low mass. That's the purpose of the PA band he has on. So, from these measurements, it's pretty clear that his heart hasn't grown into the PA band completely and so it isn't providing the resistance necessary to get that mass up to a normal level. It's really important that he have measurements well within the "normal" range so that when the double switch operation is performed and the LV takes over the systemic pumping responsibility, it will be able to handle the load.
Soooo....we're not there yet. It's not a cause for concern. It's just a cause for more waiting. We'll have another follow-up in December, but Dr. Everitt doesn't plan to do another MRI for 9 months or so.
Look, I know I should be thrilled about this. I am to a degree. I realize this means 9 more months of healthy, fun Brigham. That's a fantastic thing. But if I'm being real, it is hard for me to accept. I had just decided that this was really perfect timing...the way things looked like they were headed. No kids in school, a still relatively unaware child having the surgery, etc, etc, etc. Now we will be looking at Chloe starting kindergarten, Lily in preschool, the new baby in toddlerhood, and Brigham old enough to start forming some memories of the events he'll be enduring. I know, I know, it's not really that terrible, but for me right now, it's just another unexpected, unprepared-for, jolting turn on the rollercoaster.
I will be over it soon. And as much as I don't love rollercoasters, when the ride is over, I'm always glad I got on. It will be the same here. But for now, don't mind me, I'm just the girl on the front row screaming and crying and wetting her pants in sheer terror. Terror isn't the right word. More like emotional overwhelmance...but that isn't a word, so I guess I'll stick with...ah, what the hey, I like making up words. I'm just the girl on the front row screaming and crying and wetting her pants in sheer emotional overwhelmance. Come to think of it, the wetting her pants might be caused by pregnancy...but that's another post for another day....

And on a less dramatic note, the MRI did show a couple of good things that we hadn't been able to really measure objectively before...Brigham's ventricular function is excellent and the pulmonary artery's growth is normal -- the band is not causing any malfunction there. Those are very good things and signs that Brigham has good healthy months ahead of him.

If It's Wrong...

to want to just wear a t-shirt and sports bra all day....let my kids watch a ridiculous amount of tv....not get them dressed for hours.....and just veg today.....I don't want to be right.