PAGING DR. HOUSE

*** WARNING ***  

The following blog post has grotesque pictures. Not pretty. 

Those with weak constitutions are urged to skip this post. 

Once upon a time, not long ago in November of 2003, I wasn't feeling well. I got the chills and my body ached all over, you know, like when you get the flu? So I went to bed. When I woke up, my leg hurt. My ankle was bright red and hot. And it hurt. Long story short (5 ER visits, many, many different antibiotics, several doctors that didn't listen and then and finally getting admitted) I had an infection on my leg. It hurt. Really bad. I was in the hospital for a week on heavy drugs to stop the infection. It hurt. Bad. 


Diagnosis? Unknown.

~*~*~*~** magically fast forward to September 2011~*~*~*~**

I wasn't feeling well. I got the chills and my body ached all over, you know, like when you get the flu? So I went to bed. When I woke up, my leg hurt. My ankle was bright red and hot. And it hurt. Déjà vu much? Same leg, exact same spot, exact same symptoms. Went to the ER. Ended up staying for a day or so. This time, they took me seriously! 

Ankle in the ER. You can't see the line I had drawn earlier (it faded),
but it had grown about  an inch over the course of about 7-8 hours. 

Went home, then had a follow up with my ever so awesome doctor. A couple days later... 

Same leg, a few days later, four new red, hot, painful spots,
but the ankle area is going down and 'healing'

Leg swollen, and random red, hot, painful spots, but the red area that was on my ankle, going away. 

Went back to the doctor, and was put on an additional dose of oral antibiotics, and and then went home and kept my leg up (again) for a few days. This seemed to help. After the next doctor check up, things were looking much better. I still never got a definitive answer as to what has been plaguing my leg.   Fortunately this time it didn't get nearly as bad. In 2003, the infection was almost up to my knee before it started rescind. I hope this is the last time this mysterious infection and I dance around. It is very painful and worrisome and something I can live without. 


Paging Dr. House..... 

THE DEMISE OF THE 7th BIRTHDAY CAKE

 I can't believe Sam is 7!!! What a fun, crazy year it has been! Last year she had a big party (9 girls, a tea party... did I never share the pictures?? For shame! Remind me and I will, it was awesome!), so this year we stayed low key. At the last minute I invited two of her friends over as a surprise. We went and saw Lion King in the theater, played at the park, had pizza and then... cake.  

Pernell picked up a cake from Costco. Way too much cake! After we let the girls decorate it a little more and sang Happy Birthday to Sam, I asked if they wanted nice, clean slices of cake on a plate... or just forks. They opted for the forks. And went to town. It was AWESOME!!!  I mean, seriously, we would never finish all that cake! Why not make memories, right? :) 

They started out so nice.... 

......... then they started getting a little more daring... 

...... even GrandmaCookie (my mom) got into it... 

....... then they just got silly!

...... and crazy??? 

The final damage. 

WORTH IT. 


Happy 7th birthday, Sam-I-Am!

NO SALT, PLEASE!

Somebody, I won't mention names, but this 18 month old has managed to get a decent size hole in our backdoor screen over the summer so that she could escape when she wanted (custom made doggy door?). I was getting ready to go to bed at 2am and look what came in through the hole! YUCK!!!!  I let a little note for Pernell to take care of it. He's a good guy. :)

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Kaylee started 5th grade and Sam started 1st grade at Dorothy Fox Elementary.  So far they love it and are both doing really well!!!   Clara has been a little lonely, but she's slowly adjusting. It is nice to have the one on one time with Clara, but her best friends are still her sisters.

The Tale of the Eye

This is the tale of a little girl, her left eyelid, and the scar that surely will be....

Once upon a time there was a 14 month old girl named Clara, and a 6 year old girl named Sam. They were cleansing themselves from the activities of the day of Memorial, which included a fun gathering of many friends and food. While frolicking in the tub of bath water, Miss Clara stood, grasping her mother's hand and the tub side. It was the perfect opportunity to play the age old game of 'Peek-a-boo'.  Up and down the little miss went and then she slipped. 


It was the perfect slip. SMACK! Her face right on the edge of the tub. Immediately her mother flung little miss out of the tub into her arms.  Upon first looking over Miss Clara, there was no blood insight and a huge relief came over her mother as she tightly hugged the crying little miss.  Pulling her away for another look brought nothing but pure shock to her mother. Blood was gushing out of Miss Clara's left eye. With the eye closed, one couldn't tell where the precisely the blood was coming from. Just somewhere on, in or around the eye.  *at this point, it should be known that mother is normally a calm, collected individual when it comes to things like this, but not this time.*
Mother screamed for father to come in there. Father called mother's sister to come get Miss Samantha and Miss Kaylee. Mother managed to get Miss Clara dressed and cleaned up and discovered that the blood was coming from a perfectly slanted gash across Miss Clara's left eyelid. Sister arrived quickly and they are out the door in record to time Ye ol' Emergency Room. 

When the nurse came into the room where Miss Clara and her parents were brought at the Ye Ol' Emergency Room, she couldn't even touch Miss Clara's head with out her crying (of course!). The merry young doctor came in and looked at her nice little gash and said it would need stitches and that she would need to be sedated Miss Clara in order to put them in.
If you recall in our 'Prequel to the Tale of the Eye', Miss Clara has been plagued with Asthma, there for a simple sedation procedure is not so simple.  
An IV. Respiratory Therapy, and many, many back up nurses/doctors/party-goers where used in case the little miss decided breathing was for the birds. 
Mother and Father were ushered out of the trauma room after Miss Clara was given the sedation medication (a double dose!). 

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

 An eternity of waiting, or so it seemed. Three teeny, tiny stitches and five minutes later, the merry young doctor retrieved thee parents of the little miss and once again, they were united. 


Little Miss Clara had no breathing issues and  came out of sedation, waging her tongue, swinging her arms and yelling at people.  She woke up long enough to open her eyes and take a few swigs of a bottle and was sent home (1:30am). 
The lasting effects of the sedation caused little miss to sleep until 11am the following day.


All was well. 

That is the tale of our first non-breathing related ER visit with Clara, and first stitches visit for any of our kids.

The Leftorium

I am left handed.

Cack-handedness. Sinister-handedness. Southpaw. Mancinism (the 'condition' of being left handed).

The only left handed person in my family (parents and sisters).

Kaylee... Sam.... Pernell? All righties.

Everything has always been catered towards right handed people. Scissors, potato peelers, all that stuff, made for righties. That is just the way the world revolves. According the the ever so reliable Wikipedia, 10% of the world is left-handed.

We are out numbered. But, look at some of the people that are lefties: Paul McCartney, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, Picasso, Oprah, Bart Simpson, Count Chocula, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Prince William, Dave Barry, Phil Collins, Judy Garland, Michelangelo, Kermit the Frog, and Leonardo da Vinci, to name a few. Ok, there is a huge list, go look!

I would say that the lefties of the world, past and present, are pretty dang impressive.

When I was learning how to play basketball, the coach in 5th and 6th grade taught me how to shoot and dribble with my right hand because he couldn't teach left hand. In 7th grade, I had an excellent coach who taught me how to do everything with my left hand, which was far more comfortable and it made me a better player (although that isn't saying much LOL!).

I thought I would be forever the solo lefty in a home full of rights. Until...

tonight.

We typically spoon feed her royal highness, but tonight we decided to see how she would do on her own. I gave Clara her plate of dinner and a spoon . The spoon was put into her right hand (bad, me, bad... I digressed... FAIL!!!).

Instantly.... well, see for yourself...

Look at that transcendent left grip on the spoon as she performs a perfect dive and scoop that only a naturally born lefty could perfect!

No longer am I the solo-lefty in a house full of rights. No longer am I the only one in the home that thinks in their right mind.

The plate, food and spoon all ended up thrown on the floor. Really, are we surprised? You saw her birthday video.

VIVA LEFTIES!!!!

*insert fun, catchy head-blog title HERE*

I blog a lot more than people know or read here. I 'head blog'. ALL. THE. TIME. I will see something and I think, "That would be a great blog post!" Then I think out the entire content of that blog post, starting with the extremely fun-to-read title. The blog is full of witty comments, fun rhymes, catchy cliché, with pictures to boot! As a matter of fact, this particular blog post was fully thought up at around 2:00am this morning (or yesterday morning?)! I frequently do this in the car while driving, or at the grocery store. "Twinkie? Oh! That reminds me of this time...."

Sometimes I jot down a thought or two that crack me up regarding the 'Head blog post' being created, but mostly... I don't.

Here is the problem. I used to have a really, really good memory. I mean, I could remember everything, no joke! I could observe and remember exactly what an entire class was wearing. Still to this day I remember conversation, verbatim, that I had in elementary school. Old phone numbers, addresses, locker combinations, cake!

Then I had kids.

After this last baby, my memory is about 50% of what it used to be (which is still good), and I have yet to come to terms with that, therefore I feel I don't need to write things down (well, maybe I have come to terms with that in regards to appointments and important events, I do put those in my iTouch). I usually forget to go post my 'most awesome' head blog post. Or I forget what it was going to be about. Like right now (this line was not created at 2am, but improvised right now), I had the best title for this post. It was perfect! It was a play on words that would make one, if not giggle, at least smile when they read it. And now I cannot think of what it was. I have even retraced my steps of were I was when thinking up this post. It started in the family room when I turned off the laptop. That is usually the time I think up my head-blog posts.

As I walked around the house double check the doors were locked (ok, triple checking), the title came to me once I hit the hallway to the bathroom. I thought, "OH! That is a GOOD ONE! Remember it.. *in a Homer Simpson voice with fist up* Reeeemmember!".

And now it is gone.

This is going to bother me.

I will probably think of it at... 2am.

*back to our regularly scheduled pre-meditated head-blog post*

I've decided to make more of an effort to transfer my 'head-blogging page' to my internet-blogging-page, so that this poor site has a little more entertaining content.

Either be warned, or be excited.

Silence

My sister Emily is in town (hmmm, that story is probably a whole other post, but let me give you the readers digest version.... they were evacuated from Japan after the big earthquake in March, ended up there, her oldest son was sick, went to the doctor, ultrasounds, cat scans, more doctors and it turns out he only has one kidney and it isn't working too hot. You can follow their adventure HERE) and so 'the cousins' have been playing a lot. I love having them here because it is nice for my girls to really get fun times with their cousins.

Anyway, when it gets quiet in our house, usually that means the two older girls are in the playroom doing a project or something and Clara is asleep. Yesterday was no exception. Well, except there was an exception, one of my sweet nephews was here too. And it was quiet. After a while it dawned on me that... boys don't typically get this quiet unless they are up to no good. I am regretting not taking a picture, but I found around 9 paper plates all over the playroom floor with paint in them (miraculously not one drop of paint landed on the carpet), glitter was poured EVERYWHERE, painted, glittery rocks were on the floor and Indy and Sam were both on top of the desks creating artwork. I should have taken a

picture, but I didn't. I am sure I will have another photo opt while the cousins are here.

This makes me realize how different boys and girls are.

We are having fun with the cousins and don't want them to leave. It is so nice to have one my sisters near by. We can drop our kids off at each other's houses on a whim, go shopping, all that fun stuff together. Here is a picture of Charlotte (Emily's daughter) and Clara. Neither are impressed, but man, we had to do a Costco run!!! HAHHAA!!!

The First Birthday

Holy moly, where has the time gone??? Clara turned one on April 2nd. Being that it was spring break and conference weekend, we opted to have a small little party with our good friends to celebrate not only Clara's first birthday, but also Milla's (Clara's 'twin'), who's first birthday was the next day. We had the party at their house, and are pretty certain after the cake episode, they may never invite Clara back (hehhee... we owe you big, Yosts!!!).

We'll let the pictures speak for themselves.... and then the Youtube video for the full effect. :)

(Clara is on the left, Milla on the right with a necklace)

I think it is safe to say that Miss Clara likes to hit things. Hmmmm.....

Happy Birthday, Clara! The year has flown by, and we can't wait for many, many more to come!! We love you much!

Quick updates

Let's pretend it hasn't been six months since this blog has been updated, shall we? :)

Clara has teeth! She got her first two at about 10 months. Just recently her top two fangs came down, and in the past week, she has now gotten 3-4 more. Poor kid, that is a lot of teeth to get at one time! She keeps them good and sharpened on my arm.

Clara is also standing, and has been for a few months. She is refusing to walk, we aren't complaining. :)

She is still having asthma issues, but she is under excellent doctor care, so we aren't too worried about it.

Miss Samantha had a fun first soccer season! She started the season not knowing the first thing about the sport, and ended doing quite well. We were so excited for her!!! (she is goalie in this picture)

Kaylee is having a great year! She is starting piano and has been such a huge help to us! She and Clara get along so well!!! Kaylee recently had dental ' gear put in her mouth to prepare her teeth for the inevitable braces next year.

Life is going well here at our home. I promise it won't be so long in between blogs next time! :)

Gone are our days...

.... of thinking we won't have to keep the house picked up. Clara has decided that if she wants something, she needs to do it herself. It is time to be mobile.

The catch is, she gets up.....

Gets on all fours, ready to go (don't mind the drool).....

Then can't figure out HOW this crawling things works and crashes.

And then throws a huge tantrum/cry/screaming fit.

It really is quite entertaining.

Once she finagles her way to whatever she is after, she is happy again (see video below for the full effect). We think it will be a matter of days (if even that!) before she gets it and takes off.

In the mean time, we really are now good about keeping everything off the floor. Neither Kaylee nor Sam were the type of babies that ever put anything in their mouths, stuck fingers in electrical outlets... Clara, not so much. If there is something on the floor, it deserves to be in her mouth. Just ask Sam about her homework.

We really are enjoying the baby stage all over again! :)

HALLLLLLOOOWWWWEEEENNNNNNN!!!!!

For some reason Sam took a liking to this wig and HAD to have it. She wears it well, I must admit!!

Clara does not like getting her picture taken. I can never get a good picture of her smiling, and she is a cheeser, too!! So, this will have to do.

So Halloween Costumes for 2010. Kaylee, Sam and I went to several different stores a couple

days before Halloween.

Sam wanted to be Dash from The Incredibles, but we couldn't find the costume in her size. Instead we found The Queen of Hearts. She loved it!

Kaylee wanted to be a Devil.

We were

fortunate enough to find both costumes on clearance! *does a happy dance*

Clara was a ducky. So cute! We only got

one picture of her, as she got sick and didn't wear it again.

We went Truck-or-treating with our ward on Saturday night, then gate crashed my friends party that evening. Both were fun!! Sunday was played low key. A fun Halloween this year for sure!!! :)