Family Christmas Party and Kris Kringle

OK, so after the long wedding day we had a family party the next day. Oh, it was so much fun!

My aunt Laura had made a compilation DVD of old home videos from '79 to '91. I loved it! The party was held at the clubhouse of one of my cousin's places and it even had a movie theater—it was set up like a real fancy theater. I loved watching the movie because it had my brother playing Santa Clause at around age 10? and all the cousins would take turns sitting on his lap. I even got to see my little sister Kirsten as a baby (My parents didn't take a lot of pictures of us because they didn't have a camera).

They also had a basketball/raquetball court and the kids LOVED that!

We ate, talked, ate, sang, ate, hung out, ate, played and well... ate! At least I did! The food is always my favorite part! (smile)

Thanks to all my wonderful family for being there! I even got to meet my cousin's son who is around Baby's age and I got a picture of them together. So cute!

Mom, having fun!

Socializing

My cousin's son and 4 were having a blast with the cool sink—I think Little Man has that look on his face because he knows what 4 can do with a water pistol! :)

Entertainment—my mom and sister have fun while I am in the other room nursing...

My uncle Eric had too much fun when he was assigned to buy a ball for the gym... Thanks Uncle Eric—it was all worth it!

Daniel and Tynelle cheesing

13 having fun on Grandma's guitar

And the one who was responsible for it! Yay! You did a great job! Thanks!

And then later that night while we were eating dinner with my brother Aaron and his wife Chelsea we had a visitor pop in the back door! 4 and 10 were so excited it was cute! 13 was there too but 18 was on gone so she missed out on the fun! Kris Kringle even brought us each a gift! Baby got a stacking toy, 4 got a Memory game, 10 got matchbox cars, 13 got a Swap it! game, 18 got perfume, and Marc and I got a DVD! How sweet! Thanks Kris Kringle. It was such an appreciated surprise visit!

And, yes, 4 is wearing tights with no skirt... I don't know, she likes it... anyway, just look at the pictures.

My Little Sister Ties the Knot!!!

So, I am finally posting about Kirsten and Jeremy's wedding day.

We all headed down to the temple where they were to be sealed for time and all eternity. The kids all waited in the waiting room while those who were attending the sealing went inside to see the ceremony. We had a bit of a wait. We were able to walk up the famous spiral stair case though and that was cool. It was such a treasured experience to look around and see all my siblings there in the temple. What a blessing. I can't imagine what was going through my parents' minds while they watched their last child get married. My favorite part was after the ceremony was complete and the Sealer called my sister by her new last name—Kirsten looked a little taken back. I think it was then that it actually hit her that she was married.

The luncheon was awesome. It was dutch oven catered and there was tons of great food.

The reception was incredible. Must have been my parents last one because they sure went out with a bang. My mom and dad, along with our good friend; Steve Keele, created the castle backdrop! All I can say is WOW! The cake was a castle, and on all the tables was a rose with a glass dome (like Beauty and the Beast). It was a Fairytale wedding.

They had dancing too. 10 was in heaven. I was so panicked in the days before the wedding because I know that my kids get really overstimulated and overwhelmed, so I expected that Marc would have to take them home early. I was proven wrong as 10 danced his heart out to all the music in front of everyone. The best part was when 10 "fainted" on the floor because that is what happens in Snow White and Enchanted—they eat the poisoned apple and fall to the floor. So, since this was a fairytale wedding he had to pull the apple trick. But, the catch was, it was during the Bride and Groom dance and right in front of the bride and groom. We couldn't talk him into getting up and out of the way—it would ruin the drama—so I drug him off the floor as he still lay "lifeless" for effect. It was quite funny, and I do hope that Doug sends at least that clip to me! (hint) I do hope that Jeremy and Kirsten enjoyed 10's novelties, because I know that he really had a good time! He even urged the cameraman (my cousin from Pointe Digital) to film him running around the castle for a bit there! (Thanks Doug, you're a trooper!) It was so much fun.

4 even wore her Snow White Dress, Baby wore a tiny a Cinderella dress and Jessie's girl wore a Cinderella dress to add into the fairytale theme! Fun! I hope I will have more pics of that later.

Here are a few.

Just married out of the temple

A blurry picture of the castle backdrop

4 and 13 dancing

Kirsten, Marc and Baby had a dance, so I had to take a pic

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X Marks the Spot...

for my three treasures.

I was getting 10 ready for school when the phone rang. I thought it was probably Jessie; she usually calls in the mornings when I am getting the kids off to school. I couldn't answer it because 10 and I were reading before he got on the bus. After he got off to school I checked my messages. It was the lab at the hospital and they said they sent Baby's test results to her doctor. I called immediately and requested them to fax the results to me.

Listening to the fax print out was long, almost like it was in slow motion. I have waited eight weeks three days for this test result.

I read the bottom of the fax searching frantically for the result. It wasn't at the bottom.

It was in the middle: This patient is predicted to be affected by Fragile X Syndrome

I thought I would be strong.

I wasn't.

I balled like a baby.

The tears covered the phone buttons as I called all of my family. Although my heart soared as 4 sang "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" at the top of her lungs as I relayed the news. That song will now, forever, hold a special place in my heart. I think it was her way of comforting me.

The tears flow as I type.

I knew all along, I just was hoping I was wrong. I think both Marc and I knew. We just kept thinking, no, not this time.

I love her. I am so grateful for her. She is perfect, to me. I am just scared that I can't fulfill her needs.

I am scared.

I know Heavenly Father will guide me and help me, but, today, I will cry, and cry a lot.

I have so much to post, but, I know you all have been waiting to hear. I will post about all the weekend's wonderful happenings later.

Thanks to all of you, ahead of time, for your love and support.

Kids Who Count! Here I come! Did ya miss me??

Liberation and Celebration

Liberation—

No more O2 for Baby which means: no more tangles, twists, trips, attachments, machine humming, tank switching, walrus face, irremovable face stickers, heavy oxygen tank to carry, changing the tubing when she spits up in them—or gets boogers in them— Ah, liberation!

(For those of you who were wondering about walrus face, I call it that when she would get the two little tubes that go up her nose under her top lip that gave her the look of a walrus with the two tusks coming out—it was one of those things that made me chuckle out loud every time.)

Look at her sweet naked face. Oh, how I love it. To see it without anything covering it is such a sweet sight.


Celebration—

That would be two-fold. 18 has grown in talent so much, her performing is much improved, she is so fun to watch AND it was great to celebrate Christmas through great music. The Chamber and Concert Choir of her high school do such a great job. Here are some pictures of her in both her choirs. Her green dress is Concert Choir and the black dress is for Chamber.

She's 18!!!!

So, I guess because she is officially an adult I can call her by her real name here on this blog.

But, I won't, just because I am an over cautious mom! So she is 18!

I can't believe that I have an 18-year-old daughter! Ya, I know, I didn't birth her, but, still she's my daughter! And she is 18!

Did I say she is 18?

Anyway, here are some pictures from our little Sunday celebration with my family.


She is so cute! She wanted apple turnovers instead of cake. My sister, Jessie, made them for her as her gift! 18 was so happy!

And just for fun, I thought I would put a picture of her from her 13th birthday—when she first became a teenager!

Aww. Good ol' Orlando Bloom.

It has been a fantastically wonderful 7 1/2 years! I love you 18!!

And so it goes...

"Oh, how nice," I sit in my bed and think to myself. Dentist appointments for the two youngest that day at 10:15 am so I don't need to rush around getting them ready for school. We can all sleep in a bit.

I over-estimate the time I have and in my last-minute rush I realize I have forgotten all their meds. Pull back into the driveway, run into the house and dose up all the prescriptions, run back out, give the two older ones theirs and save Baby's to give at the Dentist office because of time restraint. It is 10:10 am and I am flying down the Interstate at 80mph (I am underestimating my speeding because I don't want to really get into trouble. You all know I was going faster than that) in the boat of a Suburban 1/2 ton that really shouldn't be running that fast.

I had arranged for my mom to be there at the Dentist office to help me with 4 and 10. I whip into the parking lot and I see her van there, grateful she is there. But as I drive around the packed parking lot a few times I begin to wish that my mom would have parked on the street so that I could have her perfect spot right next to the dentist office entrance...

"Wishes really do come true," I think in my head as my mom comes out to wave me down to take her spot she had saved for me. Oh, what a great mom! "Thank you," I whisper to myself. Then I proceed to take my entorrauge out of the car. Baby in the car seat, Baby's oxygen, Baby's apnea monitor, Baby's diaper bag, my purse, then undoing 4's car seat belt in the very back seat—then quickly I must rush to the other side of the Suburban hoping that 10 will hear my pleas to stop running so he doesn't slip on the ice and trying to shuffle 4 out of the car with five items hanging from my arm. Again, my mom comes to the rescue and helps with 4 and 10 before any mishap befalls them—or me.

Mom's been there for fifteen minutes by the time I arrive. "Sorry," I apologize to her and to the secretary smiling at me. I quickly fill out papers and send 4 back with my mom to get her started on her check-up. I give Baby her meds and gather her up to check on 4.

4 is doing well, needing a little encouragement, but, well nonetheless. In fact 10 is skipping around the office wildly, giddy with excitement that his grandma is there. So he has me fooled into thinking that it will be a smooth sail through his own check-up...

Now, if you have not yet learned that with Fragile X Syndrome comes anxiety and hyper-sensory you should know that a Dentist in their face, and their mouth, bright lights in their eyes and foreign objects in their mouths are not exactly a delight. When the dental assistant tried (very sweetly I might add) to attempt a cleaning it was horrendous! I was holding him down and trying to hold back my tears at the same time. Why was I ready to cry? Many reasons: 1) the fact I have a disabled child who no matter what explanation you give him about the dentist he will never fully understand, all he sees is someone trying to hurt him 2) Knowing that he is getting too big for me to hold onto him during circumstances such as these, he is getting too strong to restrain 3) feeling so sorry for him that he is feeling so invaded and threatened and there is nothing I can to to comfort him and 4) the sheer look of terror on his face as I look him in the eyes to tell him it will be OK.

Finally we give up and decide to just forgo the whole thing and let him watch 4 with the dentist. My mom was over in the corner with 10 while I sat with 4 and kept her calm till the dentis came. Mom was practicing with him to open his mouth wide and let the dentist have look. He was becoming very proud of himself that he was able to open his mouth for her and not cry. So when the dentist was done with 4 we asked if he could check 10 while he was sitting up and if he could do it without any tools. "Please," I begged in a silent prayer. The dentist obliged and 10 proudly sat himself down, decided he really liked his new dentist... long story short—he made it through a mild check-up. He has a deep cavity in his 12-year molar that isn't even all the way through yet, and three other cavities on some baby teeth ready to fall out. 10 will need to be put under for that dental work, of course, but I am thankful to his new dentist for winning 10 over.

Mom took the kids and me and treated us to a hamburger–it was the only way to keep 10 happy about his dental accomplishment. Thanks Mom!

It doesn't end here.

You know how you go to the dentist for your check-up and they give you a toothbrush and toothpaste and a little prize... 10 and 4 got those too. But, 4 lost hers somewhere along the way. "Aaargh!!!" Is what I am thinking when 10 realizes that the only toothbrush that exists from his traumatic experience has now been chewed on my 4 (oral sensory thing) and looks like it is a year old!!! "Where is the other toothbrush? Where could it be? 18 (Ya she's 18 now--I will post her pictures and such later, after I get all this off my chest) can you go find it? Look in the car, on the ground, in the kitchen!" No where, she can find it no where. I can't either. The drama begins. Weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth—it was a biblical experience. The day just gets better from here :}

No, really it did. I went to 13's concert where he sang a solo "What Child Is This." It brought tears to my eyes. He has such a pure voice. I was so proud of him I was beaming! He sang two verses all by himself—he was so brave. 18 was proud of him too. She came with me, it was fun to have her there to sing along with and laugh with. My mom, Marc's parents, Amy and Frank came too.

Don't you just get a kick out of kids in junior high?
Ppth! Check out the girl on the right--wuteva!

After the concert we went to the grocery store and this is where it just made my day even "better!"

I was talking to Marc on the phone while I was in the car because I can't walk and talk at the same time (smile) so I sat in the car talking to him to help in a favor for my sister. I got out, locked the doors and proceeded to get groceries in the store. After a long drawn out check-out experience I realized I had forgotten to get another gallon of milk, so I sent 13 to get that while I sent 18 out with the grocery cart to start loading the existing groceries purchased.

Where are my keys?

Darn purse.

Can't ever find anything in here!

Where are they?

Here?

No!

.....

I left them in the car.

The doors are locked...

and the keys are in the ignition!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look-A-Likes

This post is for everyone who thinks that 4 and Baby look a lot a like... this is a picture of them in the same dress at about the same age. Tell me which one is which, let's see if you are right.

Some things I haven't posted yet...

I forgot to post about Thanksgiving...

I only got one picture from that day. Marc was in charge of pictures with his new camera. The only one I have is of 4 with my Uncle Jeff. I don't know what she is doing but, it looks funny. My Uncle Jeff and Grandma came (my kids' Great Grandma). I was teasing my grandma that she and Baby looked alike because they both had oxygen on—tee hee!

We had Thanksgiving at Jessie's house this year and it was a lot of fun. We just hung out all day and ate and played games, laughed and joked around.

Marc's good looking cowboy picture on his ride with a friend...

Cute, but blurry, bath picture of Baby...


Decorating for Christmas...

Marc looks very intent on getting the ribbon on right.

13, 17 and 10 listen to Dad's instructions on how to decorate the tree...

4 didn't get to far in the decorating before she laid herself on the floor for a long winter's nap!

10 loves to take care of Baby, and made sure to
snuggle up with so they could both be warm while they rested.

We got pictures of everyone putting an ornament on the tree, but 10's and Marc's are the only ones that weren't blurry.

We finally got our tree up and all our Christmas decorations. It was a lot of fun and I always look forward to doing this with the kids. I hope they love it too.

I love Christmas! I am so thankful for a holiday that celebrates Christ and all he stood for. I hope we all really try to teach our children about Jesus Christ, not only during Christmas time but, all the time.

Then, the dryer trick. So Baby has decided that she needs to be colicky! Woo! She cries a lot. I have tried not eating so many things to see if it would help but, still cries. I can't get a whole lot done because I am holding her all the time. I do use the snugglie pack often but, my back gets achy so I just thought I would try the dryer trick. I set her on there and turned the dryer on and it was like magic!!! Yay!!! I was actually able to do something for 15 minutes straight without having to stop to soothe her. It was a nice break. Now, I do it at least once a day while she is in her carseat for about 15-20 minutes while I am doing dishes or laundry so that I can still keep an eye on her.

(Side note: The reason our dryer has the word "dryer" on it is not because we have to label things for the men in the house to know what they are nor for the reason of making sure that we don't forget what it is called. It is because I labeled some common household things so that 10 could learn the words and help him with his reading.)

We are still waiting for Baby's test results to come back. We will probably get the results next week when she has her eight week appointment. I wanted to get her in to the doctor before Kirsten's wedding so that maybe I could have one last item of baggage, ie, the oxygen or apnea monitor, to lug around at the wedding luncheon and reception all day.

I can't believe that my youngest sister is getting married. All of my siblings will be married. And I got to design all their invitations! How cool is that. Here is Kirsten's invite. I blurred out the personal info for safety reasons.

Fifty Feet of Freedom

Yahoo! Our home medical supply just brought me fifty feet of oxygen tubing so that I can actually walk around me house with Baby in my arms! I feel like a new woman!

No more listening to 4 cry about wanting to watch a video downstairs while I am stuck nursing Baby in my room upstairs or listening to Baby cry because she is hungry but I am busy in the kitchen trying to appease 4! Yay!

No more having to switch the nob-thingy-majig to another oxygen tank when I do have to go downstairs or into the kitchen with Baby in my arms. Aaa ha!

(Please, no comments about how that fifty feet of tubing will get tangled and people will step on it because it is so long or that it will get caught on chairs, toys, walls, or children while I am walking through the house. Just let me relish in my moment of joy and FREEDOM.)

Baby's got back!

Ya, seriously, she is getting a butt—a little chubby one! To prove it, at her weigh in today, she weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces and is now 20 inches long! Whoa!

Her doctor said that we could take two weeks off from weighing her because she did so well at her three week weigh in and I have been so anxious to see how much weight she had gained. I was guessing over seven pounds and another inch, so I was just about right! She has these little thighs, it makes me laugh. When she was born her legs were so skinny, little sticks really. So it is cute to see these chubby little thighs when I change her.

It seems as if she has been smiling at us here and there. I love it. She loves it when her daddy talks to her.

Oh, and today is my due date! Weird to think that she is six weeks old and I wasn't due until today.

Another triumph. 4 is potty trained officially. Even at night! Yay! I started about two or three weeks before Baby was born and she has had a week of dry nights now. I am so excited and proud! Yay 4!

10 and 4's funnies of the week

OK, background to this story:
10 has been learning about Native American Indians in school and is so enthralled by them. He loves to tell me about them every day when he gets home.

So this guy shows up yesterday to pick up some stuff. He had dark hair, dark skin and dark eyes. I left him outside the door with the door open while I went downstairs to get his stuff. Anyway, while I was down there 10 turned to 17, who was in the kitchen, and said,

"An Indian man has come here."

He said it in his English accent, which makes it just that much funnier. I think the guy was actually hispanic so hopefully he got a chuckle and wasn't offended...

Yesterday 4 kept asking where Baby's "stinky" was. I told her that I hadn't changed her yet and that she didn't have a stinky. But, 4 continued looking, all the while asking, "Where's her stinky?" I chuckled when she picked up her pacifier (which I call a BINKY) and she said, "Oh, I found it. Here's her stinky!" Tee hee!

A Bit of Everything

I am nursing right now.. ya, sorry for the image, but, if there are any weird punctuation or whatever...just read on...

10 had a good little pizza party yesterday. i have to be careful not to direct too much attention to him--birthdays are hard for my younger kids because i think that all the individualized attention is too much for them to handle i guess. i remember when 4 fell apart when we sang her happy birthday. (Ok, I am able to use two hands now.) That threw us all for a loop when she did that. So I made sure not to have a birthdya cake or sing him happy birthday. I had to laugh really hard inside though, as 13 was playing "Happy Birthday" on the piano as he opened presents. Ha!!! I was also careful to only have three friends over, his best friend and two of his cousins. He got "Hannah Montana" the movie for his birthday present from us and we watched that after pizza. The kids had fun and we ate popcorn while we watched it. 10 was sure to bring out his microphone for the key songs of the movie. It was awesome!

Oh, ya, there was also the infamous $10 horse and rider shaped candy that 10 got from his aunt Jessie. I will definitely be posting pictures of that one! It was worth every surprising penny. (That's for you, Jessie.)

We have been waiting for the test results for Baby to come back so that we know if she has Fragile X or not. Well, after a long four weeks we found out that the testing center didn't have enough blood to perform the second test which would give us the results. The first test is not able to test CGG repeats above 30. Now to explain this part: to be a carrier you would have 55-100 CGG repeats on your X Chromosome, to have the full mutation you would have over 200 CGG repeats.

Anyway, we had to take Baby in to have her blood drawn again. She had to have 5 ml's drawn, which is a lot for a small baby. She had to have it drawn out of both arms in order to get enough. We said a prayer before we went, and I think that helped. She did really pretty well, considering. She was sucking on her pacifier pretty hard--poor thing.

So we have yet another month before we find out the results. I don't know that I am so anxious to get the answer. I don't even know how I will feel about it either way, I am kind of numb to that right now. I think I just want to get it over with.

Baby has grown so much, she is huge to me now. Instead of fitting in the crook of my arm when I feed her, she actually goes the length of my arm and her legs stretch out past my elbow. She has been awake more and it so fun to see her round little eyes. It really makes me laugh when she can't focus and her eyes cross—hilarious! She doesn't cry very often, she mostly grunts. She really has wanted to be held lately. She hardly lets me put her down. But, I must admit, her being my last one, I am not complaining. I love holding her every minute that I can. I just have to learn to be able to do things with a baby, oxygen, apnea monitor and a "hooter hider" in tow. Yes, I said "hooter hider." I got that term from a friend of mine--love it! And yes, I have to cover up because I have older kids around, and I don't want to embarrass them or myself. (smile)

I also forgot to mention that Marc's Dad and Sister have birthdays right before and after 10's and my brother Daniel shares a birthday with 10. Crazy because Baby shares my younger brother's birthday and Brighton shares Daniel's--go figure. So for both brothers I was able to call them early in the morning and tell them that they had a new nephew or niece sharing a birthday with them. Anyway, we had a triple birthday party with Gary, Amy and 10 on Sunday. My family joined in on it too. It was a fun time eating lots of great Mexican food.

OK, now for the pictures.

Just cute in blue... She is 4 weeks exactly in this picture

I had just bathed Baby and she was crying after we got out so I was comforting her.

Here is a few shots from the party on Sunday.

Chelsea and Baby—Chelsea just can't get enough of this girl.

Marc and his sister, Amy

Baby in her candy cane outfit—I think my mom got excited for Christmas... or candy canes...

Here's a good example of her cross-eyed look,
and 4's love for her baby sister

And... drum roll please....

The horse candy sucker thing!!!! yay!!! 10 would not take it out of his mouth long enough to get a good picture... tee hee!

Love this one... Jessie with 10... too cute!

Here they are coloring the gift that little M gave him.

The video below is 4 singing a song from preschool called "Special Me" I am singing with her in the background just to encourage her to keep going. She loves to wiggle when she sings too. So cute!