On the Up and Up!

Everything with me is doing great!! I had my two week follow up last week and everything is healing fine. The Dr. said I will be weak for one to two months because of the blood loss. (I think I should have taken the transfusion they offered!) Anyway, all is well!

O's birthday happened while I was down. Let me just say, "Bryce deserves a medal!" He ended up having to do the entire birthday party! We had 12 kids over that Saturday after surg. I thought I would be fine to sit on the couch and just kind of supervise, but once the first friend came I started to throw up! There was just too much commotion! Bryce did such a good job though! I think I just might have him host all of the birthday parties in the future! I can not say he did it alone though, I do have to mention that I have such wonderful people in my life. My friend Marcie made a birthday cake for the party and stayed to help Bryce. My mom came over to help, along with Brooke and Melissa! I am so thankful for my peeps!


Valentine's Day also happened while I was out of commission! We just stayed home and watched a movie. Bryce picked up a heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's. It was nice and relaxing! I must have known subconsciously that things were not right with my body because I had already bought Bryce a card, and the day before surg. I made sugar cookies and froze them! So on Valentine's Day, we (Bryce and the girls) were able to frost them and deliver a few!

I'm so Complicated!

Due to a few complications, I have to be down completely for 1-2 weeks. ughhhhhh! I feel okay for the most part. I am dizzy and weak from all the blood loss, and my incisions are sore, but other than that, I feel great! hahaha! I am not taking any of the pain killers, they make me CRAZY! I do not see why people like that stuff!
I could not ask for better friends and family. They have helped me so much. I am VERY blessed. Thank you all!

Happy Birthday "LOVE BUTTON!"

Today is O's 4th birthday! She has been so excited for weeks! The day after Bryce's birthday, O woke up and asked, "Is it my birthaay now?" No, that is not a miss spelled word, O doesn't say her "D" in birthday, it is birthaay. We love O so much and can't imagine life without her! Enjoy the slide show of her other birthaay's!

One BAD Weekend!

Friday morning, I woke up feeling really awful! My stomach hurt so bad that I couldn't move. I also couldn't breath. We decided to take me to the ER. To make a VERY long story short, I had a cyst on my left ovary. It ruptured and bled into my abdomen. They ended up removing the cyst, which was larger than a tennis ball! And sucking all the blood out of my abdomen, which was 500cc's of blood! Here are some pictures.

Sorry if you have a weak stomach!!!

This first picture is a picture of the cyst. It is on the right side of the pic. The dark red part is were the cyst ruptured and bled into my ab.

This is the cyst again. They are pulling it back exposing the blood vessel that caused all the damage.
This is the pool of blood in my abdomen. 5oocc's to be exact!

Anyway, I feel sooooooo much better now! hahaha!!!

Craft Time!!

Always in January, I get the blues. Oh how I wish I lived some where warm!!! I feel much better when I do the things I love. So here are a few of the crafts I've been making. I am focusing on the girls rooms right now! If anyone has another cute craft idea let me know, we can craft together!

Heart for O's room!

(yes there are rhinestones on the big heart! I love bling!)
O for the O!

K for the K

OOps!! I just erased the "Child of God" sign for Oakley's room! Hers is brown and it sits on her shelf. K's is red and hangs from her shelf.

K's room

The Super Bowl!!!

We had such a fun night tonight! We went over to our friends house to watch the Super Bowl. I was rooting for the Cardinals. They lost, but that's okay. At least we got to watch our commercials with our funky glasses!!! And the food.... the food was sooooooo good! We had pizza and salads. I made my caramel brownies and chocolate caramel pretzels!!! We had yummy cookies, and rice crispy treats!!! Aahhhhh.... I will definitely be hitting the gym tomorrow!

The gang!

Yes I really am that much taller than everyone! And, I'm kind of hunched over too!
The crew with their glasses!

We locked the kids in the basement with a TV and their glasses! (Just Kidding!)

Oakley the Sun Beep!

"Mom it is not Sun Beams, It's Sun Beeps!" So there you have it! Here is Oakley our little "Sun Beep"

Hallelujah!!!

School is now BACK IN SESSION!!!!! Don't get me wrong... I absolutely love these girls, but 5 weeks of off track is more than I can handle! They are on A track. They went off right before Christmas, had Christmas and New Years off, then had their three week off track session! It has been hard because there is not a lot to do in January! It's too cold to go outside all of the time, and any indoor entertainment (bounce zones, movies, etc.) cost an arm and a leg! I think next year I might be looking at C track. I don't know though! All I can say is HALLELUJAH!!!! :)

Quick Trip to St. George!!

Bryce works down in St. George every three weeks. The girls and I decided to hitch a ride with him on Wednesday. When we got there, I couldn't believe how warm it was!! 68 degrees!!! We didn't need coats or anything! It made me wonder, "why do we live in Salt Lake again?"

Here are some pics of our fun times!!

The girls love playing on the luggage racks!
Oakley testing out her swimming puppy! She got it for Christmas and won't put it in the tub, "only swimming pools!"

Kaybree and her noodle!

Happy Birthday Bryce!

(***WARNING!!!!!.....cheesey post! :) ***)

Friday was Bryce's Birthday!!! I would have posted a happy birthday message sooner, but we were in St. George! I just wanted to say happy birthday to Bryce and let him know how much I love him. He is my best friend in the whole world and the best daddy ever! Happy Birthday!!! Love ya!

Since I'm talking about Bryce and how wonderful he is... I thought I should probably mention...Bryce won an award this last week!! Bryce works for Wyeth, a pharmaceutical company. Last week he went to Atlanta, were they held their national conferences. At the meetings, he won the Achievement Award!!! This award is the third place award for Wyeth reps nationwide!!! This is Bryce's third year with Wyeth, and his second award! Good Job Bryce!!

I Know Why Some Mammals Eat Their Young!!!

They must be off track!!!!!!!

Shayla is Here!!

I am a new AUNT!!! The favorite aunt might I add!!! Shayla Maria Franco was born January 15th, 2009 at 5:59 pm. She weighs 9lbs 4 oz!! and is 21 inches long!!! She is a CUTIE!!! I know I'm the favorite aunt because when I was born, I weighed 9 lbs 3 oz!!! Pretty close! hahaha!!!! Congratulations Brooke and Jeremy!!! She is beautiful!!!!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Dean!

Wednesday was my dad's birthday! He turned 54!! He took us all to "The Pie" were we enjoyed some yummy, yummy pizza!!! Happy Birthday Dad!! You're the best!!

Grandpa and Kaybree!
Oakster totally asleep in my arms!

Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act

So recently The "Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act" was passed. This act will end my bow business. Not only will it put me out of business, but almost every other childrens business out there. Here, read for yourself....
The new law requires that domestic manufacturers and importers certify that children’s products made after February 10 meet all the new safety standards and the lead ban. Sellers of used children’s products, such as thrift stores and consignment stores, are not required to certify that those products meet the new lead limits, phthalates standard or new toy standards.The new safety law does not require resellers to test children’s products in inventory for compliance with the lead limit before they are sold. However, resellers cannot sell children’s products that exceed the lead limit and therefore should avoid products that are likely to have lead content, unless they have testing or other information to indicate the products being sold have less than the new limit. Those resellers that do sell products in violation of the new limits could face civil and/or criminal penalties.

How to Love Your Family...

So I found this little poem thing... I had no idea there was an instruction manual on how to love your family! hahaha! I'm going to put it on my side bar, but I wanted post it as well.

How to Love Your Family

TEACH KINDNESS...share feelings... MAKE LOVING SAFE... dress up for tea... HAVE PEANUT BUTTER PICNICS... don't yell

TANGO IN THE MOONLIGHT... wish upon a star... SURPRISE THEM WITH ICE CREAM... listen... PLANT JELLYBEANS IN YOUR GARDEN... sing Jesus loves me out loud with joy...

PLAN A TRIP TO THE MOON... cry during movies... ENCOURAGE SILLY... carry lots of band-aids... TAKE DAFFODILS TO GRANDMA... laugh at yourself... SHARE A WISHBONE...

Be kind to one another... MAKE HAPPY-FACE PANCAKES... celebrate everything... RIDE BICYCLES INTO THE SUNSET... feel their aches... CELEBRATE THEIR JOYS...

Say yes as often as possible... WHISPER SECRETS... handle with TLC... teach them to reach for the stars... LOVE THEM... learn from them... BE THERE... BE THERE... BE THERE...

by Patsy Gaut