Pieper to the Rescue

Pieper is such a crazy little girl. She is sort of like a tomboy but at the same time she loves to dress up in princess dresses and play with dolls and make-up. She also has a fascination with bugs, especially "rolly pollys" or potato bugs. A few weeks ago I was outside cleaning out the garage and Pieper says, "Look what I found mom." It was a grasshopper that she was holding between her two fingers. I screamed so loud it scared her and she dropped it. She just sat there staring at me with a confused look on her face. I explained to her that I didn't like bugs and spiders so it made me afraid and I screamed. She still just sat there and stared at me like I was so dumb.

Last Friday I had my niece Laura Ann sleep over and she was afraid of a rather large fly that was crawling around on the floor. Pieper quickly ran over and began to pick the fly up but I quickly caught up to her and told her to leave it alone because it was dirty. I told her that we (meaning Jeff) needed to pick it up with some toilet paper and throw it away. Pieper met Jeff half way into the bathroom and said, "I'll do it Dad," and she did just that. She picked up the fly with the toilet paper and then flushed it down the toilet.

Earlier today Jennifer was downstairs and she started screaming because there was a huge spider. Janet and I thought she was probably overreacting a little bit and figured it was probably some small house spider. Well when we got downstairs we realized that Jennifer was not joking and there really was a huge spider. Pieper said, "I'll got get some toilet paper." I quickly put that idea out of her head because it really was a huge spider that seemed to resemble a hobo spider a little bit and it seemed to be rather aggressive and I didn't want it to jump on her or bite her. I ran upstairs and got a glass bowl and put it on top of it so it wouldn't get away. I figured it would require some more assistance so we called my dad to come up and help us. He claimed that he took care of it but we never did see the spider. Jennifer's pretty sure it crawled away.

Ab Workout

For a couple months now Madison has been trying to sit up. If you lay her down on her back she will lift her head and legs up at the same time and try and sit up. It's pretty funny to watch because she gets so frustrated. You would think she would get a good ab workout but her stomach seems to be getting larger not smaller.

Pieper's Funky Outfits

Pieper loves to dress herself and lately she has come up with some pretty crazy outfits. Lately pajamas have been her theme (and usually she likes to wear Adriana's). I had to move her pajamas onto a higher shelf in her closet so she wouldn't be able to reach them because it was getting a little ridiculous.

So Pieper decided to bag the pajamas and get into her socks. This is one of her "special" pajama shirts that she found in the laundry.

This is another great outfit that Pieper picked out. It's a cute top and bottom but not that great mixed together.

Madison's New Toy

I pulled out this toy a couple months ago because I thought Madison might enjoy it but she was a little too short so it hurt her arms to sit there so she would just cry and cry. About three weeks ago I put Madison in it and low and behold she had grown a few inches so her feet could touch the bottom.

She liked it for the most part but every once in a while she would get upset because the toy would get away from her so she couldn't chew on it anymore. She would scream at the top of her lungs at the toys because she was mad at them.

One day Harrison decided to tease Madison and he raised up the legs so she couldn't reach the bottom anymore. She was so upset with him and she cried until he lowered it back down.

Sometimes my kids get in these weird moods where they actually like to help me clean and they do it without complaining. Needless to say, when that happens I have to take advantage of it because those times are rare. Parker would finish once project and come ask me what else he could do. It was a great day and we got a lot done. I LOVE it when I have help cleaning the house. Parker's only stipulation was that he didn't want to do the toilets (neither did I).

I realize that I have not written anything for a while but life has been so crazy that I haven't even had a chance to do much of anything lately (or so it seems). I just wanted to write about something that happened the other day.

I was on the computer the other night and Pieper came in to the office and stuck her butt out and said, "Mom will you do these up?" I looked over and she had her pants on backwards and needed me to zip and snap them up. Pieper is famous for putting her clothes on backwards and inside out so it was not big deal to her. The funny thing was that she knew it was backwards but she didn't care.

Later that night I was getting ready for bed and Jeff started laughing so hard. He called me over to where he was sitting and pulled on the back of the shorts that I had on. I guess I had put my shorts on backwards so the tie was in the back. Jeff thought it was pretty funny, mostly because it wasn't the first time I had done it. It usually happens at least once a week.

I guess I know where Pieper gets her bad habit of putting her clothes on backwards.

Haircuts

I asked my mom to cut my kid's hair before school started so they wouldn't look like orphans without a mom that loved them or took care of them. Harrison didn't really want his hair cut but being the mean mom that I am I made him.

I guess getting a hair cut must relax Pieper because she could barely keep her eyes open. Before my mom started Pieper said that she wanted her haircut like Harrison's.

Adriana likes to get her hair cut because she thinks it will make her hair grow longer.

Parker got his hair cut a couple days previous by a neighbor so he didn't get to participate in the fun.

Hospital Stay

On the 12th of August I went in for a hysterectomy. I didn't really think it was a big deal but Jeff was sure nervous the entire time. Everything went well but they wanted me to stay a couple nights in the hospital just to watch me. While I was in hospital my family and Jeff's family were such a great help by taking care of the kids and making sure that they were fed. While I was in the hospital my hematocrit was low so they decided to give me a couple pints of blood. I wasn't too concerned about it because I am anemic and it's always low but the nurses sure were stressed about it. So I got the blood and everything seemed to be fine. I was released on Thursday afternoon and went home feeling pretty dang good. Jeff had everything arranged so that the kids could spend a couple days with a couple of my sisters so I wouldn't have to worry about them and could just focus on getting better. My doctor told me that I needed to be on bed rest for three weeks (which is impossible with five kids and a business to run) but I knew that wasn't going to happen so in my mind I figured that one week would probably be good enough. Everything went well on Thursday night and I just stayed in bed while my husband waited on me all night. I have to admit that it was actually quite nice to just lay there and relax. The next morning Jeff sent the kids to Jennifer's house so that I could rest some more and he headed off to work (after countless times of asking me if I was going to be okay on my own). Everything was fine the first half of the day and things seemed to be going well. Around noon I started feeling more pain in my abdomen and my back so I took some pain medicine. For some reason it didn't work but I didn't really think too much about it and just figured that the morphine block that they had given me was probably just barely wearing off. So I stayed in bed and just watched TV. As the day wore on the pain got worse and I suddenly developed a fever that just kept getting higher and higher. When it reached 103.5 and I could barely move because I was in so much pain I decided to call the doctor. They told me that I needed to immediately go in to their office. I called Jeff and told him what they said and he came home as soon as he could. He didn't seem to be too stressed until they did an ultrasound and saw that I had some sort of liquid floating around inside. They immediately sent me over to the hospital to have a CAT scan and have some blood work done up. At the same time they decided to admit me and get some fluid in me because I was dehydrated. I normally don't mind having my blood drawn or an IV put in but for some DUMB reason my veins would not cooperate. My veins kept blowing out or rolling so the nurse would hit a nerve. I was almost in more pain from them trying to get the IV in than I was from my stomach. After five tries and five huge bruises they got a pediatric butterfly IV into my arm. I was so relieved! Once they got some fluid into me they took me down for a CAT scan, which showed that I had some internal bleeding so I was immediately taken in to the operating room for another surgery. This time they had to make three small holes in my abdomen for the scope and laser to go in. They were able to get rid of all the blood but they never found the source of the bleeding and figured that it must have clotted itself off. Later that night I was in quite a bit more pain but not as much as I was before the surgery. Jeff and I were so relieved that they were able to fix the problem without any complications. I had to stay at the hospital until Sunday afternoon. Once again my family and Jeff's family helped out with meals and the kids. Several members of my ward also brought meals in, which was such a stress reliever.
I had to take it easy for another week and could not drive during that time either, which just about killed me. I also had to rely on other people to help me out with my kids so I could take a nap or just rest during the day.
It was a rather crazy ordeal and I am still not back to normal but I am so glad that I got it done! As I have thought about the whole thing I had the thought that maybe Heavenly Father was trying to teach me a lesson about taking it easy and accepting help from other people, which are two things that I have such a hard time with but because of the surgery I was forced to do both. It is so much easier to serve other people than it is to receive service from others (at least for me). I also realized how precious life is and that things can drastically change in such a short time.
Pieper still asks me if my stomach hurts and if I need to go back to the hospital. Yesterday she said, "My stomach hurts, I think I need to go to the hospital like you. Maybe my stomach is bleeding (bweeding) too."

I feel bad that I don't have any pictures but it's hard to take pictures of yourself and since I am the only one in my family that ever thinks about it they just didn't get taken.

Madison decided to start sitting up while we were in Washington. Before that she could do it for a couple seconds but now she is doing it for longer and she loves it when we sit her up. She is to the point that she gets mad if we lay her down.

She got pretty upset when she fell over.

Last Friday we were at a party and Pieper was sitting on my lap. All of a sudden she asked me, "Do you have nipples on your arm?" She caught me so off guard I just sat there and stared at her. Then she said, "I have nipples on my nose." Then I realized that she meant freckles. I quickly corrected her and a couple times since then I have reminded her of what they are called so she doesn't make the same mistake again and embarrass me or someone else.

Madison has finally decided that she can hold her own bottle but the funny thing is that she will let go of it if I put her blanket by her. She lets go because sometimes I prop her bottle up with her blanket so she must figure that if the blanket is there she doesn't need to hold it. She thinks she is pretty hot stuff because she will pull it in and out of her mouth and she gets the biggest grin when she does it.

While we were in Washington we decided to try and feed Madison some baby food. Needless to say, she didn't like it at all. We tried sweet potatoes and green beans. I don't really like them either so I don't blame her at all.

Washington Trip

On the 24th of July we flew out of Salt Lake and headed for Washington state to visit Jeff's Grandma Duvall. Our flight didn't leave until late on Thursday so we flew into Spokane and spent the night. The following morning we got up and drove to Moses Lake, which is only about an hour away. Once we got there we were greeted by Grandma and Dawn and Dan (Jeff's uncle and aunt). We had a great time visiting with everybody and catching up on what we had missed out on.

The following morning we got up and began working on Grandma's yard. We concentrated on one particular flower bed that needed to be weeded and spruced up a bit. We pulled weeds, put down plastic and bark, and added a couple more plants to Grandma's flower garden. With everyone working on it we got it done in a couple hours. A couple of the guys trimmed some branches from a tree so it wouldn't hit the power line, which Grandma had been worrying about for quite some time.

This is the flower bed that we fixed up for her. She was so happy by the time it was all done!

While we were there Jeff had his birthday so we got a cake and some ice cream to celebrate.

This was the first time that Grandma Duvall had seen Madison.

This is Jeff's dad, Scott, with his brother, sisters, and mom.

This is Jeff's Aunt Dawn. She was so nice and watched Madison for us while we ran to the store.

This is Kathleen, Jeff's aunt. She is such a happy, fun person.

This is Jeff's dad holding Madison.

This is Jeff's Uncle Craig. He is a lot of fun and so easy-going.

This is Jeff's Aunt Kay. She lives by Grandma Duvall and she takes such great care of her.

I am so glad that we had the chance to go visit with Grandma Duvall. We had a great time visiting with them. Grandma Duvall is such a fun person. She is almost 89 years old and she is so healthy and full of spunk.

Madison laughing

I started to record Madison laughing and as soon as I got the camera out she stopped. But I was able to get her doing it for a little bit.

One of our traditions for the 24th of July is to go to the parade. We stopped at Macey's and got donuts and milk and then headed over to watch the parade. We usually sit in front of my Uncle's shop but this year we decided to sit by Janet and Todd's house. We had a great time watching all the entries and the kids especially loved getting all the candy that was thrown out.

After the parade everybody went to Janet and Todd's house to visit for a little bit. It was nice to have some nice cold water waiting for us at their house.

Madison had a fun time playing with a balloon. I was a little worried that it was going to pop in her face but it never did.

After the parade we just sort of hung out and relaxed a little bit and then at 5:00 pm Joseph and McKell came and picked up Harrison, Parker, Adriana, and Pieper so they could go to my grandparent's house for a BBQ. We had a flight to catch that night for Washington so we had to leave and head to the airport.

My sister and her kids were involved in a pageant about the handcart companies that came across the plains. We decided to go and watch them on the 23rd since we were going to be gone to Washington from the 24th to the 27th. The pageant was amazing. It was put on at the fairgrounds and they did a fantastic job. I would definitely recommend it!

Creed did pretty good but he wasn't really interested in watching the pageant he was more into throwing wrappers, candy, etc. (pretty much anything he could get his hands on) through the railing and onto the dirt. It was pretty entertaining to watch him.

We lucked out and got a seat on the lower concourse so we could fit Madison's car seat and the kids had a lot more room to play and stretch out.

Jennifer got a little rowdy and kept wanting to run up and down the stairs but Dustin made her sit down and watch the pageant.

Adriana and Jeff

Kynli

I was surprised at how well Pieper did. She didn't really pay attention at all but she didn't try and run off, which I really thought she would.

The pageant was a lot of fun and I think we will definitely make it a tradition to attend it from now on.

On Tuesday, July 22nd my family got together to celebrate Janean, Jeff, and Dustin's birthdays. We met at my house and had banana splits and rootbeer floats. Everyone had a great time and they got some great presents.

The cousins always have a great time playing whether it's on the trampoline, the bikes, the swingset, or just running around. They all get along great and have fun playing together. It's so nice to live so close to my family and be able to get together with them all the time.

Life has been so crazy lately so I haven't had a chance to write about anything but hopefully things will calm down in a couple days and I can catch up. In the mean time I wanted to write about a couple things that the kids said before I forget.

Harrison found out that his teacher this year is Mrs. Beyal, which he is excited about for the most part. He is a little nervous because she loves art and he can't stand it. So we'll have to see how that all works out. Harrison is in the multi-age class, which means he has third, fourth, fifth, and sixth graders in his class. It's a great way for kids to learn and move ahead if they are advanced. I found out that a couple of my friends signed their kids up for multi-age and they are both going to be in Harrison's class. Both of their kids are girls and they are both in third grade so Harrison wasn't as excited about having them in his class as I thought he would be. His only comment was, "Great it looks like I'm going to be babysitting this year." Anyway...I was talking to Harrison about it again this morning and I made the comment that he would have to show them "the ropes" referring to Isabel and Addison (the two little girls). He sat there for a second and then he said, "What ropes?" I thought he was just kidding but he was dead serious. So for the next five minutes I had to explain what I meant by "showing them the ropes."

Tonight it was Adriana's turn to say the family prayer and she caught me a little of guard when she said, "God our strength will be press forward ever," and that was it and then she ended the prayer. I sat there for a second afterwards to make sure I heard her right and then she began to sing the rest of the song, which they had practiced today in primary. It was the cutest thing.