More Good News

Claire has crawled into our bed every night since Monday with a high fever. Dad gives her medicine, and I take her back to bed and sing to her for 30-45 minutes until the fever breaks. (You can guess which act of love she remembers most---the medicine.) Today I took her to the doctor and he was almost certain it was the flu. I could just imagine the next month at our house as we slowly passed it between all of us. He checked her ears last though, and she's got a bad infection in the right one. So some antibiotics ought to clear it up in a few days. Thank Goodness! I'll take anything that's not contagious! While we were waiting for her medicine we bought her some construction paper and new WASHABLE (lesson learned) watercolors and brushes. I got a big spontaneous hug when those went in the cart.

However the doctor also got a look at Kyle, and without even weighing him suggested that we cut back a little on the feeding! He's a big boy despite the fact that he spits up constantly. Hmmm, maybe I should just cut back on the cookie dough and that will lessen his caloric intake.

And the Jehovah's Witnesses stopped by today. Jill and Sandy. I talk with them because I think that if Karma is real, maybe someone out there will talk to our missionaries. Today's "five minutes" was about the suffering that is in the world. They think that Satan is the ruler of this world. I don't know about that. Though I'm not blind to the fact that there is suffering in the world, I think there is a lot of happiness. One thing I know, if there are babies somewhere, there is also happiness---a lot of it. One quote I find myself saying over and over daily is from For the Strength of Youth: " You are a child of God with great strength. You have the ability to choose righteousness and happiness, no matter what your circumstances." Of course I didn't think of telling them that at the time. They'll be back. That's for sure.

Good News

I just got back from Relief Society Enrichment Night--or group, or whatever it is now. I was in YW's so long it's going to be a while before I get all the terminology right. Either way, the evening was called "Cooking with Beans." The funny thing is that just a few weeks ago I told Taylor that I really wanted to learn to cook with beans. So I determined to go when I heard about it on Sunday. I haven't really done much in this ward because I had Kyle so soon after we moved here and then I had my surgery. So this was big for me to go.

Anyway, the good news is that I think I may end up liking it here after all. I had a nice time talking with the other women who seem quite a bit like me. It would seem that no one else can both cook exciting, delicious and nutritious meals while simultaneously keeping their house perfectly clean either! Though I'll always miss our Ridgecreek Ward friends, I just might be okay here, and I'm excited to get to know everyone. I don't know how people move without having the Church around for making friends.

My Eye

A number of people have asked about my eye, so here's the deal. I finally got the eye on Valentine's Day. (It's pictured above in its creation process) It unfortunately is not what we expected. When I got myself into this mess I was told that it would be a surgery with a six-week recovery. I would quickly get a prosthetic eye, then possibly an eyelid surgery soon after, and that would be it. Turns out that it's a huge process. I had evisceration surgery December 4, but someone messed up on making appointments so it was 11 weeks until I got the prosthetic. Because of normal residual swelling, the prosthetic won't actually fit properly until June (if I am lucky). In June they'll make it fit correctly and then I'll see the surgeon for major eyelid surgery which will hopefully be in the late summer. Needless to say we're disappointed that I won't look normal until August at the earliest. Right now though the eye itself looks normal, the fit does not look similar to my other eye. It's a different shape, and it's quite far back in the socket. Although I feel better about going in public now than when I had the pirate patch, it's still incredibly disheartening to have expected near-perfection in six weeks and find out it's actually closer to a year before people will stop staring at me.

Fortunately pageants gave me the chance to learn a lot about makeup, and I'm slowly finding ways to mask the differences. Though I can't say I'll be sharing a close-up picture of myself anytime soon. This too shall pass I'm sure, but it sure won't be easy. Anyway, that's my rant for now.

Wedding Day

It's finally here (and already over)! Whitney's wedding has come and gone. We had such a good time catching up with family and friends throughout the day. Claire had such a good time re-aquainting with cousins and dancing the night away. She ran from one side of the dance floor to the other until she was so worn out that she could barely walk. It wore her out---after it was over and almost everyone had gone I found her trying to drink out of a water pitcher. She also loved the availability of candy as it was on every table and relatives were more than happy to oblige her polite "candy, please."

Whitney and Rob looked so happy and we are so happy that they are so happy. However upon our return to our snowy home and their departure to sunny Mexico, we're pretty sure that after five years and two children we deserve a second honeymoon. That will happen as soon as I can ever have more than a couple months in a row that I'm not nursing or pregnant---and there are really no gaurantees on that one.

Happy Valentine's Day

As Valentine's Day is the day for love, I've been thinking a lot about love. One of my favorite things to watch is the love developing between Claire and Kyle. I like that she has no reason to really like him---he stole a lot of the attention and time that used to be solely hers. If that were me, I'd be pretty mad, but she has this intense love for that little boy. Sure, she's not perfect, and she gets upset sometimes when I have to feed him or when others pay attention to him, but for the most part I'm amazed at how well she handles it. She LOVES him. And she tells him she loves him all the time. I really think that that is pure love. I think her love for him is a perfect example of Christlike love. She loves him simply because he is her brother. The best part about it is that I really think he feels the same way. He watches her so closely and smiles so big whenever he catches her eye. I just know that they'll be good friends forever.

First Post

In the last month I've received about five emails from friends saying that they were the last in the universe to start a blog. As each email arrived I had to consider starting one for our family, and finally gave in. So I guess I am officially the very last person in the universe to begin a blog. I don't know if what I have to say is necessarily interesting, but I can post the things that Claire says; and though she is also not necessarily interesting, there is a good chance that what she says will be funny. And I think that is worth hearing. If all else fails I can post pictures of my kids, and that's really what will make people come back time after time. Well, who am I kidding, the only people that will read this are probably our parents, but they'll like it. Here goes nothing...