All My Children

21 Years Later

I remember the first time I heard about Laser vision correction. J and I were newly married and attending church just down the street from our apartment. During Relief Society I was talking to another sister and found out she had just gotten Lasik recently. That was about 12 years ago. I remember thinking at the time, someday, someday.... Since then both my parents and two siblings have gotten Lasik with great results. I let them be the guinea pigs.

I got my first pair of glasses when I was in 6th grade (except for a brief flirtation in 3rd grade). When I was 16 I switched over to rgp lenses and managed to stick with those the next 17 years. They weren't perfect, but my eyes were too dry for soft toric lenses. My eyes were pretty bad, I had astigmatism and a pretty high prescription. 3 years ago we switched to a high deductible plan with an HSA for our insurance. I started thinking that if we didn't have too many medical emergencies maybe someday we could save up enough to pay for Lasik. Well, one pregnancy, several croups and a broken arm later I started wondering if it would ever happen. J finally convinced me the beginning of this year to just go ahead and get it done. We could always put more in the HSA and have it tax free at least. One and a half months into the process we found out Loofa needed his tonsils out. I didn't think we would have enough in the HSA for both UNTIL I figured out we could do a prior year contribution to our HSA. Anyways, enough of the financial crap, IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!

My surgery date was yesterday, April 7th. Wednesday night I was freaking out, but refusing to admit it to myself; to the point I was physically shaking. Sadly I had no more xanax.

We woke up bright and early on the 7th to drop the kids off and get to Vancouver by 9:40am. The whole process was simple and streamlined. Before the surgery they gave me a valium and vicodin. That was nice. When they actually put me under the lasers I had a brief moment of panic, but they are quite experienced and just kept talking to me through the whole thing. I think the actual surgery took no more than 5-10 minutes. It was all laser, intralase, so they never touched my eye with a knife. It blew me away when I stood up and could see so clearly. J drove us home and then I slept for four hours thanks to the v drugs and a couple of tylenol pm.

Right now I have a lovely halo around lights and my vision is slightly over-corrected. They do that so that as it heals it will settle into the perfect correction, hopefully. I can't read very well because it made me farsighted temporarily, but I bought some reading glasses that will hopefully help. That stuff should all be better in about 3 months or at least mostly better. It is strange to wake up in the morning and not have to put on glasses or contacts.

I feel truly blessed to enjoy this miracle and I really do believe it was a miracle. I really appreciated the prayer Dr. Will said right before the surgery, I thank god for medical advances such as this. We truly live in a miraculous time.

Surgery Day

The kids had a snow day yesterday which was a relief. It was nice to not have to deal with that schedule on top of everything else. They probably could have done just a 2 hour late arrival, but whatever. Loofa, Fefe and I headed to the hospital at 1pm. The roads were nice and clear so we arrived early for our 2pm check in. We didn't have to wait too long in the waiting room before they took us back. The bed had this awesome tv. It swung out on an arm so you could position it wherever you were sitting. Fefe and Loofa curled up on the bed and watched spongebob for the first little bit.

We had about and hour and a half in that room while we waited for the surgery. Thankfully J came partway through. At one point we asked Loofa if he was nervous and he said "what does nervous mean?". Once we explained that to him he said "No" with a very indignant look on his face. I guess we were questioning his honor.

20 minutes before surgery they gave him a medication to calm him. We got some pretty hilarious video of his loopiness. J kept asking him math questions to test his reasoning power. I did get some good cuddles out him while he was under the influence.

The actual surgery only took about 1/2 hour. We weren't allowed to go back right way, not until he had woken up. I guess he was tired, because it took an hour for him to wake up. He was pretty happy to see us. As soon as they rolled the bed in he climbed up and gave me a big hug. He did great with his popsicle and didn't feel sick from the anesthesia. We were able to go home about 20 minutes later.

Loofa didn't have too much pain, but he did wake up alot last night. He claims he doesn't remember doing so though. I felt like I slept only 2 hours even though I went to bed at 10pm. He's been pretty chipper today, even ate some mac and cheese for lunch. He keeps trying to convince me to let him eat a morning bun, but he tried a piece this morning and it hurt. Other than the mac and cheese he's had alot of sugar drinks and popsicles. The doctors weren't exaggerating when they said he'd have bad breath too. Whew, it is nasty. Can't wait for that to go away.

Times

Loofa's surgery is scheduled for 2pm on Thursday! Later in the day when I thought it would be, but it should be easier to deal with the other kids in school at that time. Loofa is disappointed that he still has to go to school that day. He thought for sure he would get out of it. Of course, he still might if it snows like they are thinking.

Good news is that I "think" I might have fixed my iphone, at least mostly. We'll have to see if it can hold the cellular connection over the next couple weeks. It has fooled me before. I ordered a $10 dock assembly part off of ebay. It was my last ditch effort. So far so good. The only frustrating thing is that in the process of opening and closing my phone I think I killed the proximity sensor that shuts off the screen when it is at your ear. That is easy enough to work around though. I'm starting to feel like a mechanic. Fix one thing just to break another. Maybe I can repair that too someday when I'm feeling bored. That or just deal with it till I can upgrade :)

Schools, Tonsils and Caves

The boys have adapted extremely well to their new school. Loofa is much more social and seems to actually like most of the kids he is with. Brother B enjoys that fact that the whole class isn't constantly getting in trouble. His teacher is even teaching him algebra already since Brother B gets bored during math. Hopefully they won't close the school down in an effort to deal with next year's budget gap. It is very frustrating watching how they approach the whole problem.

For those of you wondering why Loofa needs his tonsils out, just take a look at this picture:

He hasn't had any tonsillitis, they are just inflamed for some reason. We can't wait to get them out!

The kids created this structure. Initially she was surrounded on all 4 sides, but I removed one side so she could breath.

Loofa's latest swimming class. He's really improved. I was hoping he'd move up to level III after this one, but not yet. I haven't been quite as on top of lessons with him as I was with the other two.

My big accomplishment of the week was making homemade rootbeer for the first time ever! I was so nervous, but it turned out, or at least everyone said they liked it. They swear they weren't lying either.

I have another appointment with the orthopedist tomorrow. My knee has been bothering me more again and my bursitis is still here a year later. I'm going to see a different one this time, I'm hoping to find one that specializes in my leg malalignment.

Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's tomorrow. We love you!

Do I Love My IPhone Too Much?

As many of you know, my sweet little 6 year old dropped my iphone into the toilet a month or so ago. Since then it has mostly worked, but I've struggled with reception issues. Everything else works great, but after a day to a week it would start dropping bars. Each time this happened I would open it up again and leave the logic board disconnected from the battery. I don't know why, but this would fix it, albeit temporarily. Yesterday I took it apart again, but it didn't work this time. I spent half this day researching to see if anyone had any bright ideas. I give up though and it hurts. This phone really has become my right arm. I never get lost, I can find McDonalds at the drop of a hat and I can get my email anytime, anywhere. That being said, it somewhat disturbs me how much it bothers me that I can't use it anymore. Have I become too dependent on it? I definitely play solitaire too much. If I really wanted to I could send it into a repair shop and see what they could do. I don't think I will though. I think this could be good for me, to go without for awhile and remind myself what life was like before the Iphone. I do have a cheap little nokia so you can still call me. I can also essentially still use the phone as an ipod touch. Might end up selling it on ebay as such.

The one question I'm pondering is, do I keep my unlimited data plan or do I cancel it and be forced to take the limited plan when/if I get another iphone?

I know, wah wah, but I am crying inside.

Tongues and Talking

Some more baby Q for your enjoyment. Notice the hilarious tongue action.

PS It is better quality on youtube with the HD setting.

Christmas 2010

I don't have any pictures from Christmas, amazingly. We had a fabulous time regardless. It was very relaxing and the kids all enjoyed their gifts this year. We made a very conscious effort to get toys we knew would be enjoyed and didn't just stock up on gifts to fill the queue. Both Brother B and Loofa got their first airsoft guns. I did have to return the original ones since they turned out to be crap. I'm excited for them to learn gun safety with something a little less dangerous. Fefe got the Fisher Price doll house. It takes up a lot of space, but is much enjoyed. Ephant got a stereo/alarm clock for her ipod. J bought me a black pea coat. He was nervous to pick it out on his own, but he did a great job. I feel so stylish at church now. I'm tempted to wear it everywhere. It's really soft wool too, not scratchy at all.

Christmas dinner at Aunt J's was great. Not too many kids there so it was pretty low key. The kids enjoyed trying out James' new kinect. We might have to get that at some point. Maybe next Christmas... Our present from Corey Grandparents was really fun too. They bought us an HD Flip camcorder so now we have an ultraportable camcorder. I'm sure it'll get tons of use. Morgan Grandparents treated us to a Christmas movie (Tron) and Christmas Bowling. I'm so out of practice! It was a tad embarrassing. Definitely need to go bowling more. The kids loved it though. Loofa was excited to put all his Wii bowling into real use. Ephant and Brother B enjoyed learning to bowl with just their own two hands. Fefe just liked to cheer everyone on and blow her hair in the hand dryer.

You can visit my youtube channel later to see our Christmas Interviews. My dad had a tradition of interviewing us each Christmas to talk about our year and we finally implemented it this year. It is pretty long, so definitely not for the faint of heart.

A Schmattering

At the beginning of December, our friends from church invited us to stay with them at their timeshare near Bend, Oregon. It was loads of fun, mostly because they're our kind of people! On Saturday we drove down to Bend to watch the Bend Christmas Parade. The kids kept refusing to move around so their feet got pretty cold about halfway through. Loofa was reduced to tears and too stubborn to do anything about it. It was pretty dang cold. Some evangelical church had a table with hot cocoa and a pitch. We welcomed the hot cocoa at least.

This was my favorite part of the parade:

Some random pics from December:

The kids just can't resist bothering sleeping parents.

Yet another choice outfit. All thanks to Ephant's dance classes.

You need to look at this pic up close to truly appreciate it.

This video is a little long, but I couldn't bear to trim any of it.

Let the Countdown Begin Again

My desire to blog is definitely starting to wane. I'm going to force myself though because this is about it as far as journaling goes and I know some family members actually like to see updates.

So, for your viewing/reading pleasure, what follows is the tale of a boy who has waited for his birthday, so long... ONE WHOLE YEAR!

Loofa turned six so he was allowed to have his first birthday party. I gave him the choice of going to a party place and just inviting 2 friends or staying home and inviting six. He chose to stay at home. Surprised me because I didn't know he had six friends. He invited 3 friends from school and 3 from church. None of the friends from school showed up.

We didn't have much of a theme to the party, mostly due to my own laziness. He wanted it to be a Wii party so after the scheduled stuff he just played wii with his friends. We had a craft, piñata, a game and a treat. Pretty simple, my kind of party.

Two days later was the family party. I broke down and bought him yet another scooter. He's not allowed to take this one to the park, so maybe if we're lucky it won't be stolen anytime soon. I also decorated the heck out of it with my cricut. Should make it easily recognizable from far away. Plus I used outdoor vinyl so it won't be easy to remove. Loofa also got another Wii game, Super Mario Galaxy II. Probably his favorite present since he's been dying for it since it was released. He's definitely put plenty of time into it.

He's already counting down to his next birthday. I keep waiting for him to grow out of this, but it seems here to stay. The boy loves his birthday.