Sweetest Husband... EVER!!

Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of our engagement. I mentioned this to Josh in the morning at breakfast time and wished him a happy anniversary. Well, last night when Josh got home from a LONG day at work (he was gone almost 12 hours) he had a surprise for me. He walked in the door with a dozen red roses, got down on one knee and asked if I would marry him. I responded the same way I did 10 years ago, "Of course!" Then added, "Only for the next 10 years, after that you better propose again." *wink, wink*

This time there were more tears...tears of gratitude and joy. While I was kissing Josh, Ceithlinn said, "Oh, how romantic," wistfully.

I love that we can show our kids this type of love. This is real love, not a fairy tale love or strange relationship love. THIS is true, deep, heart to heart, soul to soul, love you for you are and what you will become come, unifying love. This is one of the greatest gifts we will be able to give our children.

I am so very grateful for my sweetheart. He truly is the perfect match for me. He strengthens my weaknesses, supports me in everything I do and go through, he is me best friend and I can say I am I better person because he is in my life. I am a very blessed woman to have such a husband.

Here's to another 10 years... and another 10 after that... and another 10 after that... and another 10 after that... well, you get the picture, until forever and eternity.

Matthew and the Clogged Sink

If any of you are surprised by the title of this entry, you don't know our son. Matthew is very hands-on, active and curious. On March 15th I went into the small bathroom and saw that the sink wasn't draining. I figured it was due to the towels and wash cloth that were sopping wet and in the sink. I removed these and the sink still didn't drain. I called our almost 5-year old over and asked if he knew why the sink wouldn't drain. Our conversation went something like this...

"Matthew, do you know why the sink won't drain."
"Yes, I put a washcloth in it."
"You put a washcloth in it. I removed those." I am a little confused.
"No, I put a wash cloth IN the sink," getting a little frustrated that I am yet again not understanding what he is very plainly saying.


"You mean you put a wash cloth down the drain?!" My heart is starting to speed up slightly as I try to figure out how on earth he got a wash cloth into the drain. 
Matthew at this point smiles and says,"Uh-huh! I put it in the drain." He is so very proud of himself.


So, I look down the drain and see that there is something white in there, but it doesn't look like a washcloth. It is too far down to reach from above the cupboard. So, I clear out the cupboard and get what I need to clear out the P-trap. I had to get a long wooden spoon to push the unknown white thing down the drain so I am able to reach it with my fingers on the under side. This is when I wished for those extra two inches. I was able to do, but the contortionist had to come out.


The white thing, now identified as a flushable wipe is out and so is all the water that was in the sink. I had a bowl,  but it wasn't quite large enough. Water spilled all over the inside of the cupboard and I knew that if I attempted to lift said overflowing bowl the mess would get worse. So, using my noggin I grabbed our handy turkey baster and sucked the water level down.


I was just about to put the P-trap back on when the phone rang and the kids answered. The conversation I was overhearing didn't quite make sense so, I hurried into the living room. My sister, Melanie was on the phone. We spoke for a little while and had a good laugh about the clogged incident. 


Josh got home from work shortly after the phone call. He asked if he would please pick up some pizza for dinner as hadn't had time to make anything. I then mentioned how I needed to go and put the bathroom back together. Matthew proudly announced, "I already did!" I thanked him ever so kindly and gave him a hug. I will be honest, I didn't look in the bathroom before doing this because I wanted him to feel appreciated and validated in that moment. Matthew just beamed and said, "You're welcome!" (He really is the best at beaming. His whole face radiates, just wonderful).

Josh and the kids left to get the pizza, and I took a deep breath before entering the bathroom as I wondered what Matthew did to "put the bathroom back together." What I saw melted my heart. The P-trap was back on. There was a little blue plastic hammer in front of the sink. I could only guess he was using his tools to put the P-trap back on. I found out later that he "just used his hands." He did a pretty good job of it. The P-trap was straight and almost completely tightened. Can you say, "Aaawww!"? So very sweet. 


It is nice that Matthew is getting big enough to clean up his own adventures. :) The other up is that I was planning on cleaning that cabinet and sink out anyway. He was helping me complete my to-do list without even knowing.

Tonsillectomy for Ceithlinn

Ceithlinn has had very generous sized healthy tonsils for a couple of years that we have monitoring. We hoped that she would grow into them so no surgery would be needed. Then in February she started snoring, not waking rested, and coughed for the first hour she was in bed. So, we took her in and discovered that her tonsils were almost touching her uvula. Surgery was scheduled for March 8th, much her her chagrin.

The day that surgery was scheduled lab work was requested. Ceithlinn really, really, really HATES shots (much like I did at her age... for those that may remember this usually included crying and/or screaming if I even thought there might be a shot... Mother's curses are real). I knew drawing blood would be a bit of a production. She started out brave and logical, and the the needle came out. It took about 15 minutes, Mom and 2 phlebotomists to get the blood that was needed. Afterwards she was able to return to school and show her battle wound so, it was worth it.

I forgot to bring my camera to Mary Bridge Hospital the day of the surgery. Kind of bummed about that because she really did look cute in that little hospital gown. (Note: pictures would have been taken pre-operation) Ceithlinn really was brave while the nurses asked questions and took vitals and did everything to prepare for surgery. At one point she did start to really cry. So, I held her and rocked her and reminded her that their were angels to watch over her, Heavenly Father and Jesus loved her, we loved her and I would be right there when she woke up.... we say something similar each night before the kids go to sleep. They call it "angels."... That seemed to help a little, but what really helped was the new black stuffed puppy that was given to her. She named it Pizza Planet, after our dead Black Moor fish.

Surgery went well. Recover at first was a bit rough. She got a little sick from the medicine and blood. I felt so helpless as she cried and was sick. I just held the spit bowl in one hand and her hair back with the other. (I know that's gross, but it's what happened). Within an hour she was doing better. She absolutely refused to sleep. She said she didn't want to miss anything. (We had the same issue when she was a baby, too.) She asked the nurses questions and enjoyed the Popsicles.
She was really excited to be able to ride in the wheelchair when it was time to go home. She had a smile on her face.

Once home we kept her pretty well pain drugged alternating Tylenol and Motrin with Codeine at night. The first three days were pretty rough, we spent lots of time reading, cuddling and watching movies.  After the three day things got better as far as pain and her desire to be sitting up and doing.

Ceithlinn was given some daffodils from Sister Shari Duffin in the ward. This past August we were able to go to her flower garden and pick flowers to arrange. Shari remembered that Ceithlinn liked flowers and brought some over. This made Ceithlinn feel so special. The bright yellow was a nice touch of sunshine for the house, too.

When all was said and done Ceithlinn missed about a week and a half of school. She is doing great, though. No more snoring, coughing and waking up very tired.

Time to Catch Up

So much has happened in the last month. I am going to attempt to catch up. Below are the topics I am hoping to cover with dates... that's for my benefit.
     Mar. 8, 2010 -- Ceithlinn's Tonsillectomy
     Mar. 25, 2010 -- Ceithlinn's School Program -- she had a speaking part
     Mar. 26, 2010 -- Matthew's 5th B-day (actually celebrated on Mar.29th)
     Mar. 27- Apr. 12, 2010 -- Melanie and Aaron visit (this will be done by day)
     Apr. 16, 2010 -- Family Camp Out
     Apr. 20, 2010 -- Ceithlinn's Field Trip to PDZA (Matthew & I chaperoned)
     Apr. 21, 2010 -- Jog-a-thon
     Apr. 22, 2010 -- Trip to Canada
     May 8, 2010 -- Henry David King's birth
     May 14, 2010 -- 80s dance at BLE
     May 16, 2010 -- Ceithlinn loses 3rd tooth

And, more Ceithlinn and Matthew-isms. They are so wonderful!

Wow, that's a lot! I keep meaning to catch up on Sundays, but don't. Maybe this will be motivating to get that done, especially since I will be starting college in June and will have even less time to update the blog. Hey, I know! Less time on Facebook... now that's a novel concept.

Hope you all look forward to the blog. I will be better. If you see me on Facebook, ask if my blog is up to date. Honestly, I think this is more important.

More Matthew-isms

Matthew chose to ride the carousel car with Melanie and Aaron

I just LOVE 5 year olds! Matthew has recently said a few things that have just really touched my heart and funny bone. As some of you know, my sister, Melanie and her 7-month old son, Aaron were just here for a visit. The day we brought them to the airport Matthew looked at Melanie and said, "I need to keep you." Aaahhh! She felt so loved.

The day before Melanie and Aaron went home, Aaron was hanging upside down in my arms, then I'd bring him up, then he'd go down, and up, and down and up....you get the picture. While we are doing this Matthew is beside us and starts singing to Aaron his first musical composition, "Upside up, upside down, upside up, upside down, I love you, Aaron. I love you, Aaron. Happy birthday to Aaron. Happy birthday to Aaron. Happy birthday dear Aaron. Happy birthday to Aaron!" Aaron smiled the whole time. I thought that was a wonderful love song.                        

Aaron and Matthew were "wrestling". Can you see the love?

One of Matthew's favorite things to play with are the magnetic letters on the fridge. (Somehow, I don't have a picture of this. :( That will change) Now when he is playing with these he regularly has battles. Our lower case M has gone the way of the trash because it was so demolished the battles get so intense. Anyway, Matthew was playing yesterday with his letters and changed from battle to song. This is what he sang, "My Grandpa Dave, my Grandpa Dave wants to meet people a lot." Then he went back to his normal play. Very random and very cute. I love this boy!

Oh! Just remembered one more. We were going somewhere the other day I said, "Come on, sweetheart." 

He looked at me and in all seriousness said, "I'm not sweetheart." 

I said,"Oh, are you darling?" 

He said, "Yes, I am darling." So, now I call him Darling more often than other such names. I respect what he want to be called even if I don't understand the reasoning. :)

Ceithlinn-isms

A little while back I was making banana bread and realized I was out of baking powder. I tried borrowing some from a neighbor, she too was out of baking powder. So, when Ceithlinn got home from school I let her know that we needed to go across the street to Grocery Outlet and see if they had any. We went and were not successful. They DO NOT sell baking powder. I told the kids I needed to call Josh to see if he would be willing to pick some up on the way home from work. Ceithlinn asked if she could call. I said sure. The message that was left went something like this in a sighing voice..."Hi, Dad. Basically, we ran out of baking powder and went to Grocery Outlet to find some, but they don't have any. So, here we are going home baking powder-less. Can you please pick some up on your way home." Josh did pick up what was needed to finish our delicious banana bread.

My favorite part of this "baking powder-less." I would have said without baking powder, but baking powder-less seems so much better.

A second Ceithlinn-ism that left her PE teacher speechless happened this past Tuesday. According to her teacher, Mrs. Tripp, the kids were filing into the gym with both her and the PE teacher, Mr. Shaw on either side of the door. Now, to get the full impact of this story you must know that Mr. Shaw is very rarely speechless. He has a great report with students and is quick with comebacks. That said, Ceithlinn walked up to Mrs. Tripp and in all seriousness said, "Mrs. Tripp, I think I am going to get breast cancer."

Mrs. Tripp looked to Mr. Shaw for support and nothing was offered. So, she asked Ceithlinn why she thought that.

Ceithlinn replied while holding her left ribs, "Because I have a pain right here."

Mrs. Tripp smiled and said, "I think you will be okay."

Ceithlinn walked off and Mr. Shaw simply said, "How do you respond to that?"

Mrs. Tripp has shared this story with the principal and other teachers. They are quite impressed with Ceithlinn vocabulary and maturity in talking. Apparently, the principal asked, "Is that the same girl that came and asked if she could have an appointment with me." I didn't know Ceithlinn had asked for an appointment with Mrs. Miller. I will ask her about this when she gets home.

All I can say when I hear stories like this is, "That's our Ceithlinn." There is no one else like her. She brings so much joy and laughter into our lives. We are so very blessed.

On another note: I think the reason Ceithlinn was mentioning the stitch in her side is because she thinks she isn't a good runner because she is the youngest in her class. I think she may have been hoping for a way out of running that day.

Natural Mother

So, I have had a couple of interesting conversations this past week about and to a couple of new mommy's... baby's are under 1 year old. It seems to me that these two mommy's are doing what many of us have done and do. We/They expect that with the birth of a child comes all "motherly" knowledge. The baby is born and all of the sudden we should know what is wrong and how to fix it. Then, somehow if we don't have this, we must not be a "natural" at mothering. Really, thinking like this can drive a woman crazy and/or to tears. Believe me, I have been there, done that and occasionally still do that.

I have come to the conclusion that along with a beautiful new baby to love, a mother is given one great "natural" motherly trait. What is that you ask? A mother's kiss. A mother's kiss can make anything better. When a child is crying or hurt what do we do? We give it kisses and loves.

Now, let me clarify a little, making it better DOES NOT mean making everything all healed and well. It doesn't even mean that the child will stop crying and start laughing. Making it better means giving your child (or someone else's child) the security of not being alone and being loved. This knowledge makes whatever sad, bad, mad or hard thing "better" (easier) to deal with for the child.

A little story that happened recently. Will you indulge me? As many of you know our oldest, Ceithlinn recently had her tonsils and adenoids removed (blog about this will be coming this week). We were in recovery for a couple of hours. The first hour was the worst as she was literally sick. She couldn't keep a sip of apple juice down, was in pain and refused to go to sleep. Toward the end of the two hours, Ceithlinn felt better and was able to eat and keep down half a Popsicle and get up and move around with assistance (she was still a bit wobbly from the meds). I think I had just helped her get back in bed when she sat straight up and gave me a big hug. She didn't say anything, but the look in her eye and feel of the hug was said, "Thank you for being here, Mom." Though she still hurt and would for a while, the kisses and love I was able to give as her mother "made it all better."

So, let's be gentler with ourselves. Let's stand firm in the knowledge that we have the best super power EVER... a mother's kiss. The other knowledge comes with time, experience, and asking for and listening to the advice of other mothers. Here's to all the FANTASTIC mother's in my life! Thank you for helping me be a "natural."

Much Love