Got some things to tell ya!

As you know... it's been a wild couple of months. But this week, a few GREAT things have happened.

Of course, Donny was SO great!!! You'll have to read the comments if you haven't. Also, I've added a few I got by email, cuz they were great!! And Nick was so amazing.

Then on Wednesday, the most WONDERFUL surprise came in the mail. I've told you of my LOVE for "Wicked" the musical. Well, a friend was taunting me about how so was going to see it. It isn't in Salt Lake, and I have NO idea when it will be. ANYWAY....

SHE SENT MY THE PROGRAM. Now...before you think...Oh...that's just mean...It's 12 by 14, FULL of pictures from all different productions. It is SO beautiful, and really gave me such a better picture. Here are some of my favorite. Emma LOVES it, and every time we listen to the sound track now, we have to look at the book, and the corresponding pictures. It's too cute!!

It seems like such a simple thing, but it meant the world to me! Seriously cried looking at all the pictures!

Then, we got Jack's Dafos, "altered". They weren't giving him quite the right amount of support. NOW, they look great!

THEN, I took Em and Parker to the dentist. I was telling the dentist, how I really wanted to fix my yellow teeth in front. They are yellow from fillings, and the ONLY way to whiten them was veneers. We have a flex spending for medical expenses, and this year we put aside money for Steve to get lasik. Well, he didn't qualify. Bad for Steve, good for me.

I asked the dentist if there was anyway to get them done before we go to Vegas, on the 21st. He said, How bout tomorrow morning?

OH MY HECK!!


$825 later, I have two new teeth. Right now they are temps, but the permanent ones will match my other teeth. I really never thought it would happen. I thought I'd have ugly discolored teeth forever. He also suggested invisalign. And to fix everything else, to have "perfect teeth", will cost...ready...$11, 450. Um...maybe not...of course my portion would be half. Um...still...no! I MAY do the braces another time, that would be $2500. And take about a year to get them straight.

I'm sure, you never even noticed, if you know me...but I did. It is so nice. I have honestly NEVER spent that much money on something for ONLY me, in one stop. I have twinges of mommy guilt, but I'll get over it...I promise!!

Then last night, I went off the deep end.

Thats right...Hamsters. Dwarf Hamsters to be specific. Call me crazy. But...I thought we could all use a cute distraction. Everyone is TOTALLY in love. Here are more pictures of our newest family members. Freddy, and Nibbles. I got them off Freecycle. Meaning they were free. :)

So...that's about it.

Thanks for sticking till the end. Also, I''ve joined a group of bloggers called Wordless Wednesday. So be looking for that on Wednesday.

Till then...

Dreams do come true!

Make fun all you want. I have loved this man since I was like 8. Ok ... maybe more like 12, but you know what I mean.

And the LOVE is deeper than "puppy love". When I was little, he and Marie were on TV. My family was SO drawn to them, because we were the only Mormons in our town, and to see them on TV was the greatest thing for us!

As I got older and more into singing, I grew to love him on a different level. He has a voice that touches my soul.

My life long dream is to sing with him. I've emailed Oprah, but she hasn't gotten back to me yet. It's only been 4 years. I may send her a reminder. :) I told him that by the way, and he told me to keep trying!! heehee

I also had a chance to talk to his wife. She was so nice. I HAD to tell her what I've just told you, and, most importantly, that she is my hero. she giggled when I told her that. I said, "Um, you ARE married to Donny Osmond! I asked her if he was planning on an upcoming TV projects, and she said nothing was on the horizon. We talked about that All American Dream Show, and how it was such a disappointment. I told her I wanted to be on it, but my dream is to sing with Donny, so that would have been weird. She said, "That would have been cute!!" Oh well, that dream was killed.

Now...I will tell you how the meeting came to be...whether you want to hear it or not!! ;)

We have some friends who are in The International Children's Choir. They were performing at the Rotary International Convention, opening ceremonies. They also were planning on being the flag bearers, like in the Olympics, ya know!

Well, the kids wear VERY elaborate costumes, and it was too soon for them to change out of them to do the flags. So my friend called me to see if Nick wanted to! He was so excited!! At first they told us parents couldn't come to watch. But Sunday morning, my friend called to tell me they had made arrangements for the parents to be able to watch, on the jumbo-tron back stage. I was so excited to get to watch Nick participate in such a cool, once in a lifetime thing. I got a few of pictures, and a little video of it. Note that we were watching the back of the jumbo-tron, so everything is backwards. He was so old, and really "owned" it. We were SO PROUD!!!

So once I was there, I was told that they had seen Donny earlier in the day. I almost fainted. Was I really going to get to meet him? Then Nick called, and said he had just seen him. So off on a quest I went. Everyone was making fun of me. But I totally didn't care. I would have stayed there till midnight just to be able to talk to him. When I was "looking" for him, I was so nervous, and "twitterpated". Then, as I came around a corner, there he was, with his wife, and youngest boy. And some escort lady. I opened my mouth and out fell, "I've been looking for you!" He said, "Oh really??!!" I shook his hand and told how, I just loved him, and have for years...of course. Then I told him how I was gonna try to be on Pyramid just to meet him. He said, well, your too late for that! And we laughed. Then I told him about Oprah, which I have already told you about. And he graciously took a picture with me. I was very "not crazy". He he was so genuine, and sweet. I was calm, and acted my age, I know a stretch for me. When he was out of site of course, I had to sit down.

*sigh* It was everything I hoped and dreamed it would be. Well, we didn't get to sing together, but I'm working on that letter to Oprah! His even wife told me to keep trying, cuz he has never been on Oprah!!

So that was the healing for my soul event of the year. What a year it's been, even the last few months.

And thanks for sticking with me to read the whole story!!!

Dreams DO come true...

A new milestone...

That's right ladies and gentleman...Jack has swallowed a penny!

The most interesting thing about this is...as developmentally normal as it is, for him to swallow a penny, and get it stuck in his throat. They could not get it out "normally". They tried to get it out with a catheter ballon, under xray. I told them he was very stubborn and won't open his mouth. And I thought they really should sedate him. Well, they said, "This usually always works! um...it didn't. Because of his lowtone oral muscles, he couldn't swallow it down, or up. So they called the ENT. They decided, instead of puting him under, which would mean intubating him, risking pushing the penny into his airway, they would sedate him. This would give him more control over his airway.

That was really the worst part. The sedation gave him Nystagmus which was totally freaky! He was so lifeless, it was really yucky. But...once he was sedated enough, they just reached in and pick it right out.

So...what an adventure! He was pretty good getting the IV, and it took them 3 tries. Once he "came back" he was pulling all his leads off, and happy as a clam.

*sigh*

Oh, and notice on the xray, how cute his profile is. It almost looks like a portrait!! You can also see his under-bite, which he may or may not grow out of.

What is in store next week!

Oh, and he has oral thrush, that we started treating yesterday. Which is an issue in itself, considering he won't open his mouth....*rolling eyes*

Lagoon!

I keep forgetting to report on Lagoon! It was fun! Sadly, Emma had been running a high fever...AGAIN...so she stayed with Gramma. I was in tears the first 20 mins, cuz I kept putting my hand out to hold hers, and she wasn't there! It was bad! But I knew she really couldn't be there, so it made me feel a little better. It was Steve's work summer party., so everything was free! Can't pass that up!

Anyway...here are some pictures. Jack did great! He only got to go on 2 rides, the ferris wheel, and the log flume. Even the kiddie rides, were too much for him. Too fast, or too jarring. He DOES have a stick in his brain! He LOVED watching the boys go on stuff. Some of the rides we could see them. When they went on the Rocket, we could see them. Jack giggled every time it "went off". So when the boys went, he thought that was WAY fun. Here is some video of it.

So...enjoy the pictures. We had a great time!

Climbing Mt. Couch

Need I say more?? My days of a calm baby, who just sits, are OVER. He is constantly wandering around the house. The new phrase in our house is..."Where's the baby?" He likes to go in the bathroom, and shut the door. He likes to go in my/our room, his crib is in with us. And rummage through the stuff on the floor. I have my bridal picture leaning up against the wall, waiting to be hung...someday...it's stays on the floor because, well, I had a waist then, and it makes me sick to look at it. But I digress... Jack was looking at it the other day. Holding it up with two hands(it's as big as he is) and looking back at me saying..."Ahhhh!!!" And grinning!

He also loves to head into the dining room, which has a cabinet beside the table. He found LOTS of noise makers in there, AND a few things to stand in!! He's even figuring out how to make a cute face to get out of trouble!

So this is his newest thing.

*sigh*

Nick had a theme when he was this age, "Must...get...higher!" As you can see, Jack has adopted it! He was so proud of himself yesterday, when he got up on the couch, he just sat there and played with a toy! Here he is once he reached it today! So proud!!

So...freakin...cute!!!

Ok, so Jack finds something new to do every day. I have some cute pictures of the new things he's doing.

First, and he's been doing this for a little while. He's STANDING!! He even claps when he stand!! And he's SO proud of himself!

Second, he's figured out how to handle a cup!


Third, and I'm not too happy about this one, He has figured out how a pen works. I caught him drawing on his hand. So I grabbed the camera.

This last thing, he's been doing for awhile, but I finally caught it on camera. He LOVES to push buttons, and...with his little crooked finger! It is SO funny! This is the bass amp in the office, it's under the desk, which is why it's so dusty. But he loves how it makes a different sound when he pushes the button. Too funny!


He's getting older and older. He is SO loving and sweet! He LOVES giving kisses,


He needs to learn personal boundries, but for now, it's totally cute! ...for now... :)

Just stay tuned, he'll be walking anyday now...heaven help me...

Some late night thoughts when I should be sleeping!

Just wanted to say how much joy Jack brings to our house.

Sunday, was a day from hell, caused by evil people who really need to take medicine, or to adjust their meds. People that have to get in the last word, even when it hurts people. If you don't believe me read her blog. I would give you the link, but that would be feeding the beast now wouldn't it!

Anyway...I was so irritated all day by people's ignorance, and Jack just smiles.

Look at that face. He melts my heart, and everyone around him. As, much as I complain about having 4 kids, I wouldn't get rid of any of them. And I'm not being ungrateful by any stretch of the imagination. It is just hard to meet the needs of all of them. And most of the time lately, I feel like I'm all alone doing it.

We are in for a busy summer though. We have several appointments for Jack, Emma's surgery, a couple of dentist appointments, and TWO, count em, TWO fun filled vacation type things!!!

First, there is a family retreat for the Children's Craniofacial Association right here in Salt Lake! There are many activities planned for the family to network, and commiserate. I'm so excited!! It's only $50 for our whole family, for the WHOLE weekend, AND...we get to go to Lagoon. Now I really don't care about it, but the boys LOVE IT. It will be nice to hang out outside all day too. We're also going with Steve's work this weekend! I'm most excited for the boys. I love to see them happy.

Then after Emma's surgery. WE ARE GOING TO VEGAS!!!!! There is a conference there. And I could not be more excited about it! Here is the link telling all about it! See why I'm excited!! It's going to be so good for the kids. We've NEVER done something like this. I'm also going to learn about starting a cleft support system in Salt Lake. Here is more info about that! It's going to be great!

Well, those are the thoughts running through my head this evening...at least the ones I feel like broadcasting to the world anyway...

Oh, one more thing...Most of you know of my love for musical theater...I came across this yesterday, during one of the more discouraging moments,it it filled my soul, and brought tears to my eyes. Not so much the words, and I'm not even really sure the background of the song, but the emotion is undeniable. I actually think this is when the Wicked Witch of the West began her reign. But...I do like the line..."Nothing's gonna bring me down!!" and she IS talking about going against the wizard..but whatever, in MY life it means something different, but I STILL sing it at the top of my lungs like she does...only she is better!! It's VERY cleansing to scream it!

:)

A new trick!!

So we have been working on this LITTLE thing for awhile. Sticking out his tongue. He started doing it in the hospital. His speech therapist will be so proud!!! As is his mommy. Let's hope he doesn't use it for evil.

heehee

Oh...and I added a few cute pictures too. Some are my favorites of him, from the zoo. Others are just cute hanging at home. Naked. :)

We finally did something fun!!!

Hogle Zoo had "Dream night". It was for terminally ill and disabled kids, and their families. It was after hours, and dinner and special things were planned. I had hear about it a couple of weeks ago, but didn't look into it. Because it was for the special child and 4 guests. There are 5 plus Jack. Then today, trying to think of something fun to do with the kids, I was reminded of this. I called the zoo, to see if by some miracle, they had tickets left, and...enough for my family. He said, well, I just had a cancellation, but it is for 2 adults, and 3 kids, will that work? Jack being a baby, it did!

We had such a good time. The kids were on cloud nine, it's been awhile. Here are a bazillion pictures, seriously. I hope you have as much fun looking at them, as we had at the zoo!!