Halloween

This is being written a little later than I wanted. Once Halloween is over, I am so done with it, but I was too busy ripping out the dead flowers in my yard to get this done. That is something I have been procrastinating for weeks, and today's weather was irresistible!

We had a great Halloween! Syd was a fairy, Jess was a princess (again), Kayman was a rooster, I was a devil, and Andy was a hippie/rocker/long-haired-dude. My parents came out to see the kids in the afternoon so they could be home for their trick-or-treaters. They live at the top of a huge hill and lots of the kids make the trek up there for the BIG candy bars, so my parents like to be there for them. We had fun with them for a while at our house!

We had a trunk or treat at our church and got WAY too much candy! The kids loved it and I loved seeing all my primary kids in costume. They looked so cute! We then went home for our traditional "Frito Pie" Halloween dinner with Andy's family. Frito pie is frito's, chili, cheese, corn, tomatoes, and sour cream. So yummy! After dinner we headed out for more candy! It was fun to see the kids so happy and having fun. Kayman finally got the hang of it, but for a while he kept giving the people at the door his candy. What a sweetheart! Enjoy the pictures!

I have SO many pictures from Halloween, so I just made a slideshow for y'all.

I also wanted to post a few of my favorites cause I just LOVE them!

Back Update

I have been going to physical therapy for nearly 3 weeks and doing the exercises prescribed diligently. Sometimes I feel worse after the exercises, and sometimes I feel better. The pain has actually moved from my butt to my hip and my piriformus muscle is VERY tight. I've been stretching it the best I can without further aggravating the nerve.

After 3 weeks of physical therapy and only minimal relief, I decided to go ahead with a cortisone shot in my back. I made the mistake of looking online for people who had done this before and got only negative feedback from people who had adverse side affects. This made me so nervous!

Yesterday morning I went in to Dr. Zamas, who is phenomenal if you are in need of someone, for the injection. I was getting so anxious and nervous for the shot I was really wishing I had taken a pain pill. The thought of a huge needle sticking into my spine right next to the nerve that is killing me was very scary. The Dr. came and got me and told me to lie down, hold very still and that it shouldn't last more than about 90 seconds. He hooked up the X-ray machine so he could see if he was in the right spot and injected the cortisone. The pain shot down my leg making my calf and foot tingle, but it was no worse than it has been for the last month. I was so relieved that it didn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought!

In the picture above, the white thing is the disc, grey is the spine, and yellow is the nerve. My disc and bone are both pushing on the nerve from different directions. The cortisone shot is supposed to reduce any inflamation in the area, and had some lidocain in it to numb the nerve for a few hours.

I felt the relief from this immediately! I was able to bend over and put my shoes on pain free for the first time in a month! Now that the numbness has worn off, I still feel it in certain areas and just need to be careful when I move around, but I am SO much better than I was! Hopefully this is the answer for me and I can keep it under control without having to turn to surgery. Thank you to everyone who has helped me and my family during this time. I really appreciate the great friends we have!

Hand-me-downs

We got enough snow this week that the kids HAD to go out and play in it...before school! They love winter! We still have not taken the trampoline down yet, so jumping on it with snow was heavenly for them.

Kayman's snow clothes from last year still fit, luckily. I got him some boots from Kid to Kid for $6, and knit his hat. The only thing I didn't think of was gloves. Good thing Jessica's from last year fit him! Poor kid. Maybe I should knit him some?! Maybe.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Pumpkin Patch for FHE Monday night to get a few pumpkins, one of the favorite things for the kids this time of year. Kayman has been looking at the pictures on our calendar (us at the pumpkin patch last year) and wanting pumpkins! I did attempt to grow some in my garden this summer, but they never even flowered. I hear they are the easiest thing to grow...but not in my garden. I think I put them in a place that doesn't get enough sun and stays too soggy. Anywho, we went to the pumpkin patch to purchase some. After we picked them out we took the kids on a hay ride, which they loved...

...except for Jess. She hurt her foot or something and was a little grumpy.

Kayman loved the hay ride!

Wheelbarrow full of kids and pumpkins!

Jess found her favorite pumpkin, which was not easy because most were rotten and soggy.

Our little farmer.

Blissfully happy Man!

Witches at Gardner Village

Gardner Village is amazing this time of year. They set up some really fun witches and displays and the kids love to go there. This year we went with my friend Robin and her kids. Here are the girls with the chocolate-lovin' witch! Spooked Syd right out!

Jessica the witch

Syd the witch

The boys. They found this spot all by themselves, sat together, and posed for pictures. They are good little buddies.

Jessica refused to sit with Syd and Man for this picture.

Jess and Man in the photo booth.

What a great day! It was nice to get out while the weather was still warm. Beautiful day!

Halloween, here we come!

The girls were invited to a halloween birthday party and had SO much fun dressing up for it! We went all out on their hair and glitter. Jess is a princess and Syd is a fairy. Can't wait for Halloween!

Boys will be boys

Kayman and I get to spend a few hours alone when both the girls are at school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I made a point to spend a lot of the time with Kayman on Thursday and really enjoy him without being distracted by housework or whatever.

We had a fun time outside finding bugs

Posing for pictures like his sisters,

And the 5 minutes I take outside without him, he finds daddy's cocoa puffs and helps himself... He thought it was pretty fun to crunch them in his hands and walk on them. What a stinker! I hadn't had this with my girls and thought I had avoided the cereal box dumped on the floor incident, but Kayman wants me to experience ALL the joys of parenthood! :)

Here he is getting into the decorative basket that belongs on the toilet. I walked in and asked him what he was doing and his response was, "Neen up, neen up, evo evo" (Clean up clean up, everybody everywhere) And then he started to put everything back into the basket! What a good boy. How can you get mad at that?!

Please, NO SURGERY!

WARNING: This may be very boring to you readers...long and detailed about my current back trouble.

When I was around 12 years old I found out that I have scoliosis (curvature of the spine). It hasn't caused me a whole lot of problems over the years, although I would get back pain in my SI joints periodically. I have to be in just the right position when doing certain things like lifting and, um, well sneezing. It really is ridiculous, but sneezing in the wrong position has sent my back into spasms many times.

I started going to a Chiropractor in July of this year just to help get a little more motion in my back. It felt pretty good for about 2 weeks, then I had a severe episode of SI joint pain shooting through my lower back. I couldn't bend over to pick up Kayman, carry him around, and getting dressed was very painful. I kept going to the chiropractor in hopes that he could fix the problem, but to no avail.

Then I remembered that I had heard something few months back. I heard that the nutri-sweet in diet soda can contribute to nerve pain and numbness. I had switched to diet 5 months earlier, so I immediately stopped drinking diet soda. Yea, I'm back on the hard stuff. I tried. Anyway, it did help for a few months until 3 weeks ago. I was at the gym doing a step aerobics class and felt my SI joint pop. It didn't hurt, but I knew it was going to give me fits for the next few days, so I took it easy. About 3 days later I sneezed in the wrong position. I had been holding Kayman on my lap and didn't have time to "brace" myself. It really is ridiculous, I know. When I sneezed, I felt shooting pain go through my lower back again, and it wouldn't go away. After a few days my sciatic nerve started bothering me to the point that I couldn't sit down without severe pain. I tried all kinds of stretches, I iced it, and did everything people who have had sciatic pain recommended. Nothing helped in the slightest.

Oct. 1 we left for St. George for Conference weekend, and the ride down there was pretty miserable. I had to lie down the entire time and could not get the pain to subside. The next day I got a deep tissue massage in St. George because I heard that they can really help relieve sciatic nerve pain. It felt good at the time, but then the next morning I woke up (I say woke up, but I don't think I really slept a whole lot because every position was excruciating) and the pain was shooting down to my knee. The day before it was only in my butt.

I got through the day, standing, and finally decided to call my brother-in-law, who is an OB/GYN and deals with patients with sciatica, to see what he recommended. He told me to get to the Dr. as soon as I got home because he was worried about a possible herniated disc in my back, and that can cause drop foot (a condition where the muscles involved in flexing the ankle and toes are weakened). He prescribed some muscle relaxers to help me get through the rest of the trip, and I don't remember a whole after that. I did sleep pretty well, but when I woke up in the morning the pain was all the way down to my foot. I couldn't stand, sit, lie down, or do anything without wanting to die! I took the muscle relaxers and slept ALL day. We left for home that evening and I lied down in the back of my sister's car and tried to sleep. Seriously, nothing more miserable than this pain I was feeling. It was so terrible!

Monday morning I was noticing major weakness in my left leg. I couldn't walk without a limp because my foot just wouldn't respond. I got into my Dr. who ordered an MRI (and some good meds to kill the pain) and I was lucky enough to get it that afternoon. I got into an Orthopedic Dr. on Wednesday. (Thank you Karen for the referral) He read the MRI for me and it turns out that I have a bulging disc in my lower back causing stenosis (when the spinal canal narrows and pinches the spinal nerves). Another disc had a tear and protrusion.

By this time the pain was only bad when sitting, so driving was difficult, and I noticed that my leg was getting pretty numb. When I was shaving my legs (I had to because I hadn't been able to reach them for weeks because I couldn't bend over!) I couldn't feel the razor on the outside of my calf and lower ankle. The Dr. did a few tests and I am showing symptoms of foot drop, which can sometimes be permanent if nerve damage is bad enough. He recommended I go to Physical Therapy for a few weeks and see how things progress, and he doesn't think I will need to have surgery. That is a VERY good thing! I hope the physical therapy helps. I'm only feeling very minor pain now, I can sit and sleep fine, but my foot is getting more and more numb. I have rolled my ankle a few times because that muscle on the outside of my foot is just not working. Simple things like standing on my tippy toes to reach something is impossible. Or chasing down Kayman when he goes running away from me outside, which he thinks is SO funny.

I go to physical therapy Monday, so hopefully there will be some good results from that. I don't want this to be permanent nerve damage. I have noticed in the last 2 days that my left arm feels a little strange and I have a slight tremor in my hand. I don't know if it's related, or just from all the muscle relaxers, but it is concerning.

I have been very blessed by all the help of my family and friends this last week. I thank you all who took the kids for me so I could get to the Dr. appts. I'll keep you updated as things progress!

How's that for a LONG blog entry?! I think it's a record for me. I just wanted to document this for me.

Leaf collecting

We took advantage of the beautiful weather just in time for the snow to come. The night before the big storm blew in last week we drove up to Brighton to get some leaves for the kids. They didn't mind the cold too much and had a blast running around the mountain collecting things. The girls got a lot of leaves, and Kayman got a few sticks and rocks. There were lots of rocks to climb on and they loved that!

On our way back down the mountain we saw this big tractor. The kids couldn't help themselves and started climbing all over it. Kayman found himself a nice seat right in the tire.

Alpine Slide

My mother in law invited Andy, me and the girls to come to her work party with them up at the Alpine Slide. We got the whole day with unlimited access to the slide, coaster and zip line. We had such a great time!

Syd rode down the slide with Papa, and you can see Nana just a little behind them on the other slide.
Jess got to ride with her daddy and loved it! She was so happy that she "beat" me down the slide. Nevermind the fact that I went behind them...I'm sure I beat their time! :)
Waiting patiently for their turn on the chair lift, which they loved!
Thanks Nana and Papa for such a great time! We love you!

What an artist!

Kayman had his first experience with a marker tonight! He found one on the floor that Syd missed when she cleaned up her art stuff, and thought he'd give it a try! He drew all over his legs, feet, Syd's shoes and the kitchen floor. How lucky we are that they are washable markers and easily cleaned surfaces! Kayman was so proud of himself. He loved it! The sad thing is that Andy and I were sitting right there helping Syd with her homework. I should have noticed how quiet it was and that something bad must be happening.

Kayman has really started to liven up lately. He loves doing silly things to make us laugh at him. When I pointed to his leg and told him no about the markers he just laughed this mischievous laugh with a smirk on his face. It's a good thing he is so stinking cute!

Sisters

Last weekend my sister Jaycie did a triathalon and I took the kids to see her finish! She did great! Here we are just a few minutes after she finished. The girls were so excited to see her run through the finish line, it was really cute. (For the record...no, I am not pregnant, and yes I will be starting P90X again Oct. 1st. Don't mind the belly.)

My sister is such an amazing person. I really look up to her and strive to become what she is. She is such a loving and caring person and does so much good for others. She loves the Gospel and lives it in everything she does. She radiates happiness and it's rare to find her in a bad mood. I just love her! She has some amazing physical talents as well. Her musical abilities have helped and inspired so many people, especially those she works with as a music therapist. My family and I love listening to her play the guitar and piano and sing the songs she writes. My favorite Christmas song is one she wrote and recorded called "Mary's King." She is a caring sister, a loving wife, a thoughtful daughter, a FUN aunt, and will be a wonderful mother some day. Love you sis!

Crossing the finish line.

We surprised Jaycie and this is when she first spotted us!

Jaycie, her husband Nick and my kids.

Transitions

We finally did it. Kayman is officially in a "big boy bed" and he is loving it! The first few days were rough and he wasn't too sure what to think, but he loves the freedom now that he is used to it.

We were having trouble putting him down for naps and at bedtime for a few days, he would cry and cry and say "downstairs" as I was leaving the room. I felt so bad leaving him when he was so upset. I thought he might be hating that he was caged up in the crib, so that is why I made the change. Syd was 15 months when we switched her and she loved it. Jess was almost 2 and did fine. For Kayman, it took a few days to get used to.

Here he is taking his first nap in his new bed. So precious! I was actually surprised he fell asleep in the bed. I thought I would find him on the floor in the entrance to his room. He's getting so big!

Crazy Boy!

Kayman is officially crazy. This is his idea of fun. I was worried he would break his neck, so this didn't last long, but I just had to get video of it. He thought of this all on his own. Syd came into my room laughing and said, "Mom, you've got to come and see what Kayman is doing!" Here is what I found:

Summer extension

One of the only things I like about summer ending is the excuse to go to St. George to extend it a little. It had been too many months since we had been there, so since Syd was off track we took advantage of the time we had to spend a while in the George. We had a great time together with just our family. It was so great to be together with no responsibilities other than to just HAVE FUN!

As you can see, the kids were very happy to be together. The held hands in the car a lot of the time. When Kayman's hands were not occupied they found themselves full of sisters' hair, so luckily he was willing to keep them occupied this way.

Andy had to go home after a few days...someone has to work, right?! My parents came down the day after Andy left and spent some time with me and the kids. We took their boat out to the lake and had an unexpected experience on the way home. One of the tires on the boat trailer blew out. I did what I could to help my dad fix it. I'm sure glad it happened when my dad was there, and not when we borrowed it last week! We don't have a hydraulic jack that made it so easy to fix. He had to wedge a rock under it to get the trailer high enough to even get the jack underneath it.

We spend a lot of time at the pool at my parents' house. They are so nice to let us use their place, and we loved swimming where we could have the pool to ourselves without having to worry about keeping track of everyone in a crowd. The girls got very comfortable swimming in the deep end, and Syd even learned how to tread water. By the end of the first day their fingers were bleeding from holding on to the edge and climbing in and out of the pool so much.

Here is Jess posing by the hot tub.

Syd loved to jump from the edge of the pool onto this floaty.

Mr. Stud was pretty cool with his glasses on...as long as he was floating on something. He didn't much like being in the water.

Princess Syd soaking up the sun. Check out that view!

We took a trip up to Dixie Rock, a favorite place of ours. Andy and I used to go there with friends when we were dating in college. It's so beautiful! The kids loved hiking around on the rocks. It seems that none of the kids inherited Andy's fear of heights.

We are so fortunate to be able to go to St. George and have such fun times there as often as we do. It is one of our favorite places to be. Of course we always have to drive by our old apartment and show the girls where we used to live. They think it is pretty cool.

It seems like a lifetime ago that we were living there. It's amazing how much has changed and how fast the years go by. While I was there this week I ran into a lady that used to go tanning nearly every day when I worked at a tanning salon down there during college. She thought that maybe it was 3 or 4 years ago. I had to think about it for a minute before I realized it has been 9 years! I have changed a lot since then, and my life has changed a lot. I am so grateful for my loving husband and 3 beautiful children. My family is so wonderful and I am pleased with where I find myself after so much time.

Boating

Summer is coming to an end, and the fall is coming quickly. We decided to take advantage of the still warm weather and go boating while we still can. We went up to Jordanelle with some friends and had a great time!

The water was pretty cold, so I wasn't too excited when Jess requested my company on tube, but I decided I better go with her. We brought Kayman along with us and had a blast! I thought the kids would just cry when the cold water splashed in their faces, but they were having so much fun! I'm glad I made the sacrifice and subjected myself to a little discomfort. I know, mother of the year.

Kayman and Annabelle just enjoying the ride.

Andy catching some air on the wakeboard.

The girls took turns on flag duty. They did very well! They always claim the bow of the boat...the best place to ride!

Preschooler!

Jessica has been just dying to go to preschool. On the first day of school for Syd last year Jess cried the whole time Syd was gone. She really wanted to go with her. Now, after watching her big sister go for 2 years, Jessica's turn finally came around!

Jess was SO excited to wear her new shirt and show off her new haircut to Mrs. Teresa and her new friends. She knows 4 of the kids in her class already from church, so that helped her feel more comfortable. She had a hard time sleeping the night before because she was getting a little anxious, but in the morning she was just ready to go!

Mrs. Teresa is a wonderful teacher. She works very well with all the kids and helps them feel comfortable from the very beginning. Here she is with Jessica, who is still a little nervous. She was the first one there so I got to stay with her for a minute so she could transition.

Jess came home from school with a great big smile on her face and all kinds of stories about what they did the first day. She even got a piece of cake! She loves preschool!