Farabee's

Testing Testing Testing

2022-09-16T14:16:00.001-07:00

Here we are in Costa Rica! I am just putting a few pics up to see if I remember how to blog. This used to be such an awesome outlet for me to journal. I don’t think anyone reads blogs anymore which is probably a good thing. I never want to lose my blog. I really need to figure out how to print all of my entries. So, this is just a little test run.

November 5, 2015

2015-11-05T20:13:00.001-07:00

Today has been a busy one. The kids all got up and we're happy this morning for school. Kash and Paizly hopped on the bus at 6:53am. It was COLD! The mornings are consistently getting colder and colder finally. I feel so sad putting the kids on the bus when it's chilly. They say that it's ok. I still feel bad. When I got home from the bus stop I woke Claira Joe and Derick. Derick always gets up so easily. Once he's been waken, he does not go back to sleep. CJ on the other hand, it takes several times to get her out of bed. She is a deep sleeper and does not wake easily. She is usually pleasant in the mornings. All the kids really are. Once I knew they were awake, I hopped in the shower. When I got out, I could hear Claira Joe tending to Lou. It was so sweet. The kids all take really sweet care of her. They are all mindful of her and pretty much cater to her every need. It makes my heart so happy to see.

The day went on, I had a Dr. Appt. then I strolled around a furniture store for a bit, waiting for Erick to get to town so we could have lunch together. I love his company. He is my best friend. No one else I would rather spend my time with than him. The boys are at Blayne's Birthday party. Claira Joe is at tutoring and Paiz and Lou are in bed. It's been a good day.

It's Been a Minute!

2015-11-04T10:20:00.001-07:00

Well...I'm ashamed that I have let my blog go the way I have. I used to be so good and faithful. I have now downloaded the app on my phone. I am going to strive to be better at blogging daily as more of a journal. I don't think anyone really looks at this thing anymore. That's ok with me. It's going to serve more as a journal than anything from here on out. Here's to being a better me, staring with journaling/blogging.

Good Bye, My Sweet Womb...

2013-05-28T20:38:00.001-07:00

It's been 3 weeks and one day since I had to say this good bye. I remember laying there with an IV in my hand speaking with my two surgeons. Nurses were scurrying all around me. Weaving in and out between, Erick, my Mom and Dad and Roland. They were all so chipper (the nurses) one even said to me, " oh man if I were you, I would have held a, Yank the Ute Party before coming in." I laughed a little but what I really wanted to do was cry. This "Ute" was the starting place for five beautiful babies. It held them for 40 weeks until it was time for me to hold them in my arms. I could never throw a party for losing something that really is a treasure inside my body. We knew we were done having children. My body told us that when I was pregnant with Lyndee. However, I would be lying if I didn't in my heart hope for, just one more. So this day was not a silly one for me. Not at all. I am thankful that I had fought my fear with faith. I knew I would come out ok. That was no longer my concern. When the anesthesiologist came in, that's when I began to cry. She assured me she would take care of me. I just kept crying. I was sad. I knew, this was it. There was no turning back. I was just sad.

Upon waking up, I felt so groggy but, not too groggy to feel the intense pain. The nurses were so sweet and kept telling me to push my pain button. I would push it and then wake up, I'm not sure how much later in extreme pain again. They would again remind me to push my button. They told me I could push it every 8 minutes and the Morphine would automatically inject through my IV. Erick took over from there. He never let 9 minutes go by for 24 hours. He is SO good to me. I could not have asked for a better companion. He cared for me and catered to my EVERY need. The Dr. Came in the next day and removed my bandages. This is what we saw.

GROSS, I know. I was VERY swollen and bruised and wrinkly from all the bandaging. This is only part of the incision. It stretches a mere 14 inches. And it felt as bad as it looked. I kept my magical morphine button for two and a half days. As good as it was for pain, I was so confused the whole time I was on it. They would ask me questions and I remember not knowing how to answer them. My speech was slurred and sloppy and as hard as I tried, I could not give a straight answer to the nurses and Dr's.

I stayed in the hospital for 5 days. It was good to go home. Emotionally, at this point I was fine. I had not cried since Pre op. I honestly don't remember much about the first two weeks. Other than pain, pain and more pain. I have since had just a few emotional moments. I find myself crying over silly things on TV or on FB. I don't think it has REALLY sunk in yet. That it is gone. I find myself wondering what is there? What does my anatomy look like now? How do things work on the inside now, now that the center of my womanhood is gone? So, as you can see. I'm still confused. I'm still sad. I'm still just not really sure how I feel about this whole thing.

I am thankful that I am healing. Swiftly at that. I'm thankful for everyone that has helped me and supported me and cared for me and my family. We are truly blessed and grateful.

So here I am 3 weeks and 1 day later.

From the outside everything is healing quite nicely. Now, I just have to work on the inside...

Lets Go Back to the Beginning...

2013-03-01T17:19:00.001-07:00

So here is a random Blog Post that has a little bit of a back story...

When I was a young little 12 year old girl...something happened to me. That thing that I learned about in the 5th grade class from the nurse. That thing that my Mom really had not told me too much about. Not to her fault. I guess we just didn't think it would happen. Anyways, what accompanied this change was, EXTREME pain and discomfort. This went on for a few years. We went to the Dr. several times and tried SEVERAL different approaches to ease this pain. When I was in the 10th grade, under the guidance of my Dr. We decided that it would be best if we did a laproscopic procedure to see if I had Endometriosis. If I did, the Dr. would then "clean it all out" and I should be good. The surgery went great. There was in fact, a LOT of Endomerial Tissue to be found. She got me all cleaned out and I went on my way. It helped quite a bit. For about a year and a half then, the pain came back and it came with a vengance this time. The pain was just awful. Again, we tried different methods to ease the discomfort I was experiencing. I am pretty sure I was on every. single. birth control that ever existed. That was not fun! Anyways, in 2000 we decided to have the procedure again.
Everything was set to go. At the time I was working at Southwest Student Services as an Origination Officer for Student Loans. I LOVED my job. Mostly, because of the people I worked with. We were really good friends. The day of my surgery, I went to work half day because I only had a set amount of sick days and didn't want to waste a single one. That morning, I had a bad feeling about the surgery. I could not pin point it but, it was not good. I went to work and I remember telling a co worker Franklee (frank) about my feelings. I told him that I thought I was going to die. I even went as far as to tell my dept, goodbye. Like a real goodbye. Not an, I'll see you when I get back one. They all thought I was being my crazy anxiety ridden self and sent me off. My Mom picked me up at my apartment and we headed to the hospital. I made her stop and let me get my eyebrows waxed first because, I didn't want to be laying there with nappy eyebrows! I was also pretty upset that they were going to have to remove my piercing in my belly button! I LOVED that thing!
I told my Mom about my fear. She assured me that I would be ok and that I was just freaking myself and everyone else out. I knew I was not.
The next part of this story is not mine...It is what I have been told. My parents kissed me and sent me off. I do remember crying and the nurse being so sweet and wiping my tears and telling me not to cry crocodile tears. That all would be alright and I would be awake before I knew it. As my parents waited in the family waiting room time was going by. Since we had done this before they knew about how long it should last. That time passed. Still no word from the Dr. Hours passed, nothing. They knew something was not right. At that moment, a nurse came in and told them that something had gone wrong but, that I was now breathing on my own and that Dr. K would be out to talk to them when they had the bleeding under control. Again, the time passed for my parents...slower than they ever remember it passing. My Mom looked up to see Dr. K walk in and direct my them to a private room to speak. She then proceeded to tell my parents that in all her years of pratice, she had never hurt a patient and today she hurt their daughter. She had lacerated my Venacava. Which is the vein that is equivelant to the Aorta. One pumps the blood into the heart, one pumps it out. She had to cut me open from above my belly button to past my pelvic bone. She didn't know what happened right away and this was the only way to find out. She proceeded to hold the vein with her own hands as they airevaced the best Vascular Surgeon from another hospital in the Valley. He could have drove but, there was not enough time. I would not survive. He came and, repaired the vein. She told them that never in her life had she seen so much blood. That she was scared. Only time would tell the outcome of this story.
Now back to my part...I was in the ICU for a week. I had lost so much blood, over 1/3 of all that I had. I was in a coma like state. I can remember the Dr's coming in and talking to me and asking me to do things like, squeeze their finger. I would, then I would hear him say, "no response" It was so strange...Not scary at all, just strange. I can remember hearing my Mom's crys. Feeling my Dad's strong hand rest on my forehead. I could hear him and my Mom cry together and talk about the what if's. I remember my Brother C.C. coming in to see me and he could not stay long. It was too much for him. He said I looked like I was already dead. He said I was gray and flat. Then to top all of this off...I started my period...More blood loss. Blood transfusions ensued.
So obviously...I lived! Everything turned out just fine. I was given a blessing by My Dad and a friend of his. I KNOW it served it's purpose. Things started turning around after that. It was a VERY long recovery but, I recovered and that is all that mattered. We did find out though, that the endometriosis was very bad. It was EVERYWHERE. It was a mess. My Dr. told me I probably would never be able to conceive a child and that IF I did, that I was very lucky. She also told me that if I did have children that as SOON as I was done, I would need a hystorectomy. So she was obviously wrong about part of that! I was blessed to give birth to my first child in 2002, then my second in 2004, my third in 2005, my fourth in 2007 and my FIFTH in 2011! EVERYONE a MIRACLE!
So where does this story go now? Well...as you might have guessed, about 8 months ago the pain returned. It is interesting to know that from the time I became pregnant with Derick, I have not suffered from this pain until now. Anyways, I went in for a routine Pap. My Dr. called me and said that the results were abnormal and they had sent them for further testing. Those test results came back positive for Cervical Cancer. I needed to come in for a biopsy. Also, my IUD was found to be lodged/imbedded in the side of my uterus. He said it would probably need to be removed surgically. We went in for the Biopsy and while he did that, he was able to remove the IUD as well. OUCH!!! We ANXIOUSLY awaited the results. Something about being told you may have cancer really messes with your head. Thankfully, the results came back in my favor. However, there is enough questionable cells and precancerous cells that He is concerned. I would need to come back every 3-6 months for testing. Then we had to discuss how we could manage the endometrial pain that I am in. After a lot of appt's with my Dr as well as with an OBGYN that specializes in cancer in women only it has been decided that I will be having a complete abdominal hystorectomy on May 6th. They will be cutting me from one hip to the other. They are doing this to allow for them to see everything. To remove ANYTHING they don't like the look of. I will be in the hospital for probably a week then home to recover for 6-8 weeks after that.
How do I feel about this? I am not really ready to go into all of that at this point. I know this is the right thing as does Erick. Knowing it is right and being totally ok with are two different things. At least for me they are. The biggest thing for me, is I am scared. REALLY scared. EVERYTHING is different now. I have a husband and 5 babies that I am responsible for. I know the risks, they frighten me. I also know that I cannot live a good quality life with the pain that I am dealing with now. Not to mention, the risk of cancer.
So there it is. That is the update. I have only told very few people all of this at this point. Only because it is not really something that just comes up in conversation. Not because it is a big secret. So...this story is far from over but this is where it is for now.

also, I am not proof reading this right now, so please forgive any grammer errors as well as punctuation errors.

Going Back

2012-04-01T21:36:00.001-07:00

Well....I am sure some of you saw this coming. To be honest, I did not. Tomorrow morning, Kash and Claira Joe will be joining Derick back at Pathway! They are very excited. Claira is sleeping FULLY dressed, shoes and socks included. My heart is heavy and my eyes are full of tears as I think of what is to come in the morning. I have LOVED having them home with me every day. It has TRUTHFULLY made our lives so much easier, calmer, just all around BETTER. Which is EXACTLY the reason I started doing Homeschool. So why on earth am I sending them back you ask? UGH...I don't have a real clear answer on that myself. They just did benchmark testing and they all 3 did great. However, I find myself doubting my ability to teach them all that they need to know despite the results of the testing. Socially, they are doing great. Emotionally, they are doing better than they ever have. Especially our Kashie Boy. I am feeling like I am just not doing enough. All HS Advisors keep telling me that I am doing a great job and that this is totally normal to feel this way. Even their teachers have told me that they feel this way sometimes. That's another thing...their teachers...all 3 of the kids LOVE their teachers and miss them dearly. They constantly talk about them and wonder what they are doing. They want to visit them as often as possible. It was hard for me to compare to these great teachers. (in my mind anyways) So tomorrow morning, it is back to the grind. I am not looking forward to it. I am not looking forward to the rush of it all again. I am NOT looking forward to the homework and projects BUT, like HS, I will do it. I will do it because it is what is right for RIGHT NOW for us. I honestly do not think we have seen the last of our Homeschool Days. I LOVED it and the kids LOVED it. I don't like them feeling torn. I told them all that if they wanted to do HS again next year we will go for it. Kash and Claira Joe say they want too, Derick is undecided. We will see. Thanks to everyone that has been a support to me. That has given me a shout of confidence. That has send me an email of encouragment. I appreciate all of those gestures MORE than you know. SO, tomorrow I will cry again, just like I do on the first day of school every single year. I will probably mope around all day long and watch the clock in anticipation for them to come home. NOW, DON'T GET ME WRONG...I will for sure enjoy the quiet in the house too but I will miss them. I will miss them terribly. And once again...I will PRAY that I am making the right decision for our kiddos and our family. Time will tell...It always does.

What a Guy...

2012-03-06T09:13:00.001-07:00

Our little Derick who is not so little anymore. According to him, he is now a "pre-teen." Having him home these past couple months has been so wonderful. He is such a good boy. He is SUCH a big help to me with the other kids. We have fun together. I love talking with him about horses and lizards and dogs and pretty much any living creature that exists. His goodness is immeasurable. So last week when I started feeling like he should be back at Pathway, I could not help but want to just be selfish and keep him home with me. I'm not sure why I started feeling this way. Things are going great with HS. All the kids really enjoy it. We briefly entertained the thought last Friday about going back to Pathway and Derick was leaning towards going back. Yesterday, I decided to ask him what he would if choose if the choice were his alone. He was not sure. So we made a pro/con list. There were more pros for HS and no cons for HS and only 1 con for Pathway. He still felt like he wanted to go back. So I asked him to go and pray about it and spend some time alone to ponder on his thoughts. E did. Later in the afternoon, we talked again and decided he would go back. My heart is happy for him and totally broken for me. I enjoy him, I will miss him. I am a wreck! I am thankful that I really like Pathway and that he has a great teacher that is excited to have him back. Derick got right up this morning and got ready. He was so excited, he barely said good bye I me this morning. He did say, "thank you."So here I sit, eyes full of tears waiting to spill over. Praying once again, that I am doing right by my boy. By all my children. The only constant in this crazy life of mine is change. So on to another new adventure. I miss you my Bubba Love!!

A Long Overdue Update

2012-02-16T11:36:00.001-07:00

I was doing so well...what for 2 days? Oh mercy....I REALLY want to be a more faithful blogger! More than that, I want to get my blog in a book. I feel the need to get that done. Sort of anxious even. Anyways....Onto the update already...
First thing first...My little Squishy Lou is GROWING faster than I like to acknowledge. HOWEVER, for memories sake I will. Just for a moment though. She is 10.5 months old now. REALLY? How did this happen? She is beautiful and silly. At 9 months old she started standing on her own with great balance. She is now taking steps. Not full on walking yet but she is VERY CLOSE. Just 2 nights ago she started saying "uh oh" and it is PRECIOUS. She says the "uh" part SUPER HIGH. She says Momma and Dadda too. She crawles around EVERYWHERE and LOVES Koda's food and water. She opens every cupboard she can as fast as she can. She LOVES to be outside, just like the rest of the kids. She is EVERYONES FAVORITE. I thought the excitement of her would ware off after a few months. NOPE! The 4 big kids are just as hopelessly in love with her as I am. They NEVER leave her alone...NEVER! Lou is very tolerant of her siblings love most of the time. We are still nursing! She went on strike a couple day's ago, but we rectified that and are back on track, thankfully. I am hoping to make it to a year with her. I have never nursed this long. All in all....My little Lou is BREATHTAKING. I am shamelessly in LOVE and ADORATION of this little being. She is the heart and soul of this family right now. I am in the happiest place in my life that I have ever been in and want to savor every single second of it. Just to be clear....Lou is not the only reason I am as happy as I am. It is the entire package. My Cowboy, ALL 5 of my babies, my life in general. Blessed, I am.
Now onto Homeschool!! You know when you have a baby and after just a couple days or weeks, you think to yourself, "what did I do before you? I feel like you have been in my life forever." That is sort of how I feel about HS. I don't know what I did before this. I don't know what I did without my kids all day everyday. I am still learning. I have A LOT to learn, and thankfully I have the drive and desire to do so. We are doing a program that is in conjunction with the Charter School the kids used to attend. It is called PATH. They have provided me with the entire curriculum and many resources. It has been great for me. I felt so lost in the beginning. If I'm being TOTALLY honest, I still feel a little lost but that's beside the point. Anyways, one of the really great things about this is on Thursdays, the kids go to the school for their "specials" they get to do art, dance, music, science etc. all in one day with all the other PATH students. It is a lot of fun for them and it also gives me a little break. I get to regroup, plan, do laundry or just be lazy! The kids are really enjoying HS. Derick does miss his friends at school and I really do have a lot of guilt about that. It is something that I struggle with almost daily. I think as time goes on, this will be less of an issue. I sure hope so anyways. (Derick is 10 too!! that is an entirely seperate post but SERIOUSLY....THAT IS CRAZY!) I love that boy! Overall, the kids are doing just great. We are learning together. We are changing things up almost daily. I think we finally have a schedule we are going to stick too with the most potential for all of us to learn and be happy and be happy together. One of the things that I struggled with the most when making the decision to HS was giving up my time every day while the kids were gone to school. Really, that is the one thing that I have not even missed. Funny huh? I think so. Life is good. I am doing good. I am tired, really tired. It feels like it is worth it though. So I will keep going. We will keep going, with faith.
I know this update was all over the place...Sorry for that and the mumbo jumbo babbling. Thanks for reading and THANK YOU for all the feedback and support. I often read back over the comments left on my blog. I love them. THANK YOU!

Day 2

2012-01-10T12:00:00.003-07:00

Well...Today was pretty good. It is a little hard to know WHAT TO DO! The kids are anxious to learn and I don't have our curriculum yet so we are just doing workbook pages and reading and writing in our journals. Which is fun and all but it is also leaving me feeling a little inadequate of this journey. I am sure I will feel better when I have the curriculum from the Path Program.
Today as they were sitting writing in their journals, I was looking at my sweet kids and I could not help but second guess myself AGAIN! I keep doing this. I wish I could just stop it already! I can usually redirect my thoughts after a few moments but not soon enough that some of those thoughts can't penetrate my heart and soul for a moment. I think of silly things like my poor little Derick, and all of his good friends and his teacher. He is not with them anymore. There was NOTHING wrong with them to begin with. UGHHHHHH is this the right thing for him? Will any of his friends show up for his birthday party next weekend without him there to remind them of it? Oh dear, I hope so! He LOVES Social Studies...I don't know the first thing about SS. Mr. Metcalf his teacher really loved teaching that topic which is one of the reasons I think Derick liked it so much. I pray I can offer that same enthusiasm for the subject as well as the others. Then there is Kash, who honestly, I wish I could have left in school. Why? Well he is doing GREAT in school. I think he needs to be in a classroom with peers and a teacher. He had a great teacher. However, he was NOT EVEN SORT OF having the idea of everyone else being homeschooled and him having to go to school. Maybe he will change his mind. Maybe I will. I don't really think it was wrong to pull him out but I think he was just fine where he was. My sweet little Claira Joe. She also had an amazing teacher who was helping her LEAPS AND BOUNDS with her reading especially. Tutoring her twice a week on her own time etc. So can you see why my heart feels so conflicted? Can you see why I am such an emotional wreck over this? I miss the school already. I miss their teachers and friends. I miss the drop off and pick up line. I miss KNOWING that they are being taught the things that are required. HOWEVER, I love having them here. I love seeing the relationships between ALL of us already strengthening after only 2 days! I love that they want to do this and that they know it takes all of us working together to make this work well. I love that we went to Skateland last night and had a blast and got home a little late and were able to sleep in until 7:30 and still have a full school time together. Well rested and calm without the crazy rush to get out the door BY 7:30. I love that once again, we had meaningful Scripture Study and prayer.
So today, this is where I am at. I am all over the board. I still feel this is the right thing for us. It is hard. I didn't ever think it would be easy, not for one second. I didn't know my heart would feel this way though.
Day 2 is done, we are off to play together in the backyard and enjoy the rest of the day!!
Thanks again for all the love and support AND advice!

1st Day of Homeschool

2012-01-09T11:40:00.000-07:00

We JUST finished our first day of school! It went great! Last night as a family we got our classroom all ready. The kids were super excited to help. It was super fun. The kids wanted to name our school. They decided on Farabee Fantastic '5' School and Farabee's Flock. We could not choose between the two. They love that I am the Teacher and Erick is the self appointed Principal.
Everyone got up great this morning and we had breakfast, the kids were anxious to start school. We got dressed (sort of) and headed to the classroom. I don't have the curriculum yet so today was about rules and planners and review worksheets. We began with a prayer and scripture study. I got the kids each a little chalkboard that they got to draw on while I was reading to them and after, they told everyone about their picture they drew. They really liked this and seemed to pay better attention to what I was reading because they wanted to draw about it.
We then made some class rules. A whole 5! They are cute. After that, I needed to lay Lou down for a nap so Derick read to everyone. When I came back down they were all listening to him read. AWESOME!
After that we did some writing, we got out our journals and I gave them the topic, "What do you think of Homeschool?" This is what Derick wrote: I think homeschool is really cool. I like it alot because I get to spend time with my family. I also like thta Mom is our teacher. Its really nice to spend time with my brother and sisters. Its totally different than regular school. I LOVE HOMESCHOOL! How cute is that? After journaling, we did some review worksheets. They helped eachother and spoke kindly to each other! When I told them we were done for the day, they were all super bummed! haha! I will enjoy this while it lasts. hehe! So now, they are playing board games TOGETHER. I am off to start some laundry and prepare dinner! I KNOW this is the first day and we don't have our regular stuff here but this is a start and it is a GREAT START!
I have received SO MUCH love and support from so many people. I have heard a very few comments that I tried to brush off. That is something that I have always struggled with. I will keep working on that as this is something that people are HIGHLY opinionated about. That is one of the reasons that I was so private about this decision. I only spoke to people that had experience in this about this decision. This was a VERY PERSONAL decision that only Erick and I could make. Some people seem to be bothered by this. I am sorry that I hurt feelings but I am not sorry for the way we went about this decision. If I am being honest...My feelings have been hurt in this as well. The TOTAL LACK of acknowledgement from people that we are close to is sad. It speaks VOLUMES to me about charachter and love. I have worked really hard the past few years to be a better person and treat others better and mostly, to not be judgemental. I don't feel it is ANYONES right to place judgement on a decision made by another. If you are not them, you have no place. That is all for my little rant for now.
I LOVE my family, I would do anything for my kids if I thought it was the best thing for them & our family. I know this is right for us for right now. Like I previously said....I do not know what the future holds...but I am excited!
THANK YOU for those of you that have been supportive and honest. I VERY MUCH APPRECIATE IT!

My Cat named Mrs. Momma

2012-01-05T14:12:00.000-07:00

It is time to let the "cat" out of the bag. My cat, is named Mrs. Momma....
Starting Monday, I will be homeschooling all my children. Let me elaborate just a bit because I KNOW what most of you are thinking....WHAT THE H...E... double hockey stick is she thinking?
If you would have asked me 6 months ago what I thought about Homeschooling my kids I would have laughed in your face at the thought. It was something I have never considered. Then "it" happened. What is "it" you might ask. I don't even really know. It is that feeling you get in church when it is Fast and Testimony Meeting when your heart is pounding out of your chest and you just KNOW you have to get up there and testify of what you KNOW to be true. I KNOW this is the right thing for our family right now.
I do want to be clear on something...this has NOTHING to do with Pathway. I LOVE Pathway and their staff. All three of my kids have AMAZING teachers that I adore. Which makes this even harder for me. (emotionally)
Erick and I have prayed and prayed and prayed and talked and talked and talked. I have spoke with all my kids teachers as well as the Principal and have full support and understanding from all of them. How amazing is that?
You might ask, "what about the social aspect?" to which I reply....Um Have you met my kids? That is the least concern that I have with this. I have spent coutnless hours doing research, talking to other Moms that homeschool, visiting their homes, reading books etc. I knowwhat I am getting into. I am not naieve to think it is going to be rainbow's and glitter all the time. I know this will be a challenge for all of us. I know that I am giving up all my "free" time during the day every day and guess what...I can't wait! The way we have been living is crazy! I have 5 kids, 4 of which are involved in a lot of things combined. Everyday is a rat race. Every day we are rushing and rushing and going and I am yelling and frazzled and busy. We do a lot yes, but the QUALITY is not there. I need quality with my children. I need time with my children. I need to KNOW my children. This will give me that opportunity.
I do not know how long we will do this. It may only last 2 weeks!! I am not afraid to admit when I have made a mistake. We may go back to school next year. We may be Homeschoolers for life! I do not know what the future holds. What I do know is that both Erick and I feel a great deal of PEACE with this decision. We know we are making the right decision for our family.
So I need to ask something of you my friends and family. Please, trust me. Trust that I know what is best for my children who I would do ANYTHING in this world for. Please, hold off on any negative comments whether they be on my blog, FB or in a converstaion with someone else.
I am sorry for those of you on FB that I strung along with this but I needed to go to the kids school and let their teachers know what we were doing before I put anything out there. You are probably feeling let down at the big announcement! :) sorry! haha!
A new adventure is on our Horizon...I am excited at the possibilities with my children. I will keep everyone posted at how things are going! So starting Monday between the hours of 7-12 if you have to call me...call me Mrs. Momma. ;)

Some more Baby Blues...

2011-04-19T12:10:00.000-07:00

It is HARD having a newborn! It really is! I think I forgot! I think we always forget! The first few weeks of sleepless nights, unpredictable new little one, gas drops, trying to get the hang of nursing...That has been our biggest challenge with Lyndee Lou.

She nursed like a PRO about 20 minutes after she was born and continued to until we found out she was not gaining weight. Then we had to suppliment with formula. I am pretty convinced she now has "nipple confusion" She does not latch on right to the breast anymore and has a hard time latching correctly to the bottle as well. She can't even get the hang of a pacifier. We have tried many! So now, I have SUPER SORE breasts a nasty case of Mastitis and a baby that prefers the bottle to me. Talk about a heartbreaker!!! I am not yet defeated...but I am close. REALLY close! As of now, I nurse her on both sides (painful) and THEN I have to give her a bottle of 3oz. When I pump I get anywhere from 2 to 3oz. and the Dr said that should be plenty but this little Lou Lou is a little chow hog!! So we are going with it.

My emotions are pretty much all over the place. The other morning I went to breakfast with a couple friends. It was so nice to get out. One of them paid me SUCH a nice compliment. One that made me feel amazing and that I was who I have been working REALLY hard to be over the last couple years. THE VERY NEXT DAY, another friend came over to see me and the baby and as we began to visit and catch up it was brought to my attention that I had REALLY hurt her feelings recently. It just broke my heart. Really it did. She is one of the most giving, sincere, and lovely people I know. I expressed how sorry I was/am. I am still sorry. What took place over those two days...of EXTREME HIGH and EXTREME LOW is EXACTLY what is happening like 25 times a day!

I know it will pass. I know once I start getting more sleep and my little Lou starts to get on a bit of a schedule I will feel better and have a little more control of my emotions. My Momma reminded me that my body is recovering from not only having a baby but from surgery, from being in SEVERE pain for weeks, from laying in bed for nearly a month. It is going to take time.

I started yesterday keeping my Book Of Mormon out on the counter so that I can read even just a little when I pass by it. I am trying to keep an ongoing prayer in my heart all day long for peace and for the Spirit to be with me. I have been playing uplifting music rather than having the TV on during the day. I KNOW these things will help me get through.

Mostly....I have been doing a lot of this...

Which is the VERY BEST thing for my soul.

When I grow up...

2011-04-19T08:35:00.000-07:00

I want to be a Mother...and have a family.

I can remember singing this song as a little girl. Being a Mother is all I have ever wanted to be. Recently we have noticed such a physical resemblence in Paizly that looks just like me when I was her age. She is 100% my Mini ME! The other day I came into the front room and found this...

Paiz and her 5 Babies. She is so nuturing and loving and sweet. She is always playing babies ALWAYS!

It made me smile.

NEVER and ALWAYS

2011-04-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

It has been three weeks since Lyndee Lou came into our lives. How can that be? Why is it that these three weeks have FLOWN by and the last three weeks of pregnancy went SOOOOO SLOW? It is crazy to me. Lyndee is precious. She is perfect in every way. EVERYONE is loving having her here and can't get enough of her. The kids constantly beg to hold her and kiss her and love her. It is a bit overwhelming at times well...most of the time right now but I am trying REALLY hard to be patient with them. I know they love her so much.

As I have spent much time reflecting on what has taken place in the last month and a half I become a bit overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with gratitude and sadness at the same time. I suppose I have a classic case of the "Baby Blues"

It all started the day after we had Lyndee. I got up that morning and got in the shower in the hospital room. I clearly remember stepping in...being freezing and wishing the water would heat up quicker. I looked down at my stomach like I usually did in the shower prior to having Lyndee. I would admire my big ole' tummy and rub it and try to see her move inside of me. I don't know what I expected when I looked down this time but the tears started and they were coming fast and it became a little hard to breathe. As I sit and type this right now, I am having a similar experience. My heart aches at the thought of never carrying a baby again inside my body. It feels the way I suppose grief would feel. Like I am mourning what I will never have again. I took a really long shower as I tried to compose myself before getting out. Erick does not do well with crazy emotions! So I try to spare him as often as I can. It is really hard for me to grasp that I will never...

Have a BEAUTIFUL pregnant body again...

Or feel the gentle and NOT so gentle movements of my baby inside of me. The hic-ups and the feet and hands pressing out my side...all of it.

I LOVE being pregnant and I usually feel AMAZING while I am and I did up until the last trimester.

It is so sad to me that I will never have this again.

And I will never...

Have the feeling I had in this picture when, I knew it was time to push and I was SO scared and SO excited all in one moment. When everything was falling into place and coming to an end and a beginning all at once. I LOVE that moment, I will cherish it.

And I will never get to wait in anticipation with Erick getting the cameras just right to capture the looks on our kids faces as they get their first look at their new baby. This is the 4th time we have done it and we look forward to this moment every time. It is so fun to see the love they have for the new baby.

And I will never have ALL OF THESE "FIRST'S"

Her first little hair do...getting ready to go home from the hospital...

Daddy loving on her, getting her all ready and calm to go home...

Coming home to Welcome Signs for all of us.

Everyone getting to hold her for the first time in the comfort of our own home.

I also will never....

Be on bedrest for over 3 weeks again. Where I cannot be the kind of mother that I want to be or the wife that I want to be to my Cowboy. In so much pain that I spent more time crying that not.

This is where my thoughts start to make a turn around for the better!

I will never...

have surgery 5 day's prior to giving birth and have to worry what kind of affect it will have on our baby or myself.

See what I mean? There are so many NEVERS and that's a very hard pill for me to swallow. However, I am not blinded so much by all the "nevers" that I cannot see the 5 BEAUTIFUL 'ALWAYS' that I will have forever. (To be totally honest, I am 100% certain that if I had just had my 12th baby rather than my 5th, I would still feel this overwhelming sadness that I was done having children.) I am eternally thankful for every single second that I have with each of my children. Life is good and I know that as we move into this new phase of life...the non baby making phase that so much fun and joy await us. Our family is beautiful! I love our first family photo below...

THIS is my ALWAYS...

Lyndees Birth Story...

2011-04-02T21:26:00.002-07:00

We were "scheduled" for induction at 9am on March 26 2011. I had never been induced before and honestly had heard nothing but horror stories about it. So I was a little nervous to say the least. I didn't sleep much the night before and got up early that Saturday Morning, showered and made sure everything was ready to go. We got the kids off to a friends who had a day full of fun planned for them. I called the hospital around 7:30am and they said I had been "bumped" that it probably would not be for at least a few more hours. I honestly was ok with that. I was a little disapointed but overall, fine. So I got back in bed as I was still in a lot of pain from my surgery. I called again around 11am to see where I was on the list and the gal was so sweet and said probably 2 more hours at least. Still, I was ok...then about 10 minutes later the hospital called me back and said they were ready for me! I hollared to Erick and we hit the door running!! We stopped at Arby's for lunch. I was craving a French Dip Sub and I knew once I got to the hospital I was not going to be able to eat anymore.

We got to the hospital and they got me registered. Then we waited in the waiting room for them to come get us.

They got me in a room at 12:56am and got my IV started.

At 2:18pm they started my Pitocin. The nurse explained to me that they would up the dose every 30 minutes.

About an hour or two later she came in and said that Dr. Falk said to get that Pitocin going! That he had planned on coming in around 5 to break my water.

My Parents got there and our sweet friend Virginia who was on Video Camera Detail also came to join the waiting game party!

Chloe' got there as well as my OTHER sweet friend Emily who was acting as my Doula/Photographer. We did a lot of sitting and WAITING....

All the women in the room got GIDDY over these tiny little diapers and the little hat. I honestly could not believe that the time had come...I was within hours of meeting our daughter.

We watched a few Basketball Games...

At 6:00pm Dr. Messner came in and said she would break my water unless I wanted to wait for Dr. Falk. I agreed. I was a 2 when I checked in at 12:00 and was only a 3 at 6pm. I knew that once my water was broke I would start to progress.

They were pumping me so full of fluids...my face along with everything else started to get PUFFY!

Our WONDERFUL Nurse Fraza...she was so sweet and doting on me. She has been a Nurse for 17 years. I adored her and was sad when 7PM came and she had to go home.

Our new Nurse Leslie came in, she was JUST AS wonderful and it was an added bonus that she grew up in Lehi as well.

Virginia was teaching Chloe how to crochet.

I brought my tweezers because I really needed my eyebrows done and I knew Chloe' would be more than happy to do it for me! This is the 9th Birth we have done together. She is my very best friend. Just having there is such comfort to me. LOVE MY SISTER

At 8pm The nurse checked me again...I was a 5 and I got the GLORIOUS EPIDURAL!!

Erick is showcasing Lyndee's going home outfit...

Along with the little shoes that Virginia just whipped up while waiting...

This is when the fun begins...I could feel my body starting to transition and I needed to focus. There were a lot of people in the room, visitors coming and going but I pretty much tuned everyone out from this point on...

As with any birthing experience, there is a lot of worry.

I was not sleeping here, I was concentration on the transition...I could feel every contraction. Not painfully rather just tightening. It was the perfect epidural.

However, with all good things like an epidural in my case comes the INSANE ITCHING...I thought I might claw the skin right off my face and stomach. The cool rag helped ease the itch a little.

I love this picture with my Mommas hand. She has ALWAYS been such an amazing Mother.

I remember laying there trying to be in tune with what my body was doing, and all of a sudden opening my eyes and saying "I need the nurse, there is a lot of pressure.

Emily ran out of the room and got our Nurse. Sure enough, I was a 10....It was time. She called Dr. Falk who was en-route to the hospital right away. She told me to hand on, that he was coming. The next few minutes were a little tough for me as I wanted to push so bad but Dr. Falk had not yet arrived. As our nurse Leslie saw this she began to prepare herself to deliver this baby...just in case.

My one true love, My Cowboy. He has sacrificed so much through this pregnancy. The love we share is undeniable!! We do not speak much during this process, we never do but we don't need too. A little glance or touch of the hand is worth a thousand words between us.

At 10pm Dr. Falk came running in...I was MORE THAN READY!!

At 10:15pm...Lyndee Louise Farabee came Earthside....

Her delivery was flawless, perfect, even HEAVENLY.

This picture is amazing to me. It is so crisp and clear and raw. It is BREATHTAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL to me.

They handed me my daughter...and my heart soared. She was here, she was safe, she was beautiful. She and I together after 9 months of dreams and questions of what she would look like? What would her cry sound like? Would she be ok? Would I be ok?

ALL answered in a moments time. A moment when the space between Heaven and Earth collide. Everything was good. Everything was good.

There were a lot of people in the room for her birth. I was actually unaware of the crowd. This whole experience, (the birth) could not have gone smoother for me. It was flawless really. The love and support I felt during Labor was perfect. I remember bit's of conversations that I could hear as I was focused on transitioning and they would make me smile and then I would fade back into my own place with ease. I am SO very thankful that I was able to take part in this Heavenly experience of bringing Lyndee into this world. What a blessing... to be a Mother.

The Ramblings In My Head The Night Before...

2011-03-25T20:59:00.001-07:00

It is strange KNOWING you are going to have a baby tomorrow. How am I supposed to sleep? I have a million things running through my head. Nothing of real value or purpose just stuff. The kind of stuff that makes it hard to sleep. So I just took my Ambien and I am hoping that soon I will drift of to dream land and that I will have a great night's sleep and wake refreshed and ready to HAVE A BABY!

Tonight is the last night that I will quite possibly ever be pregnant. I have said this before but it feels more real this time. Not just an irrational thought of someone that is SO beyond uncomfortable they can't even stomach the thought of EVER feeling this way again. This time, seems different. I AM SO VERY uncomfortable. Every part of my body hurts when I move. My pelvis has felt out of place for over two months now. My feet ache, especially my left foot. It tightens up and I can hardley put it flat on the ground by the time the day is over. I am achey all over. Not to mention having to pee ALL THE TIME!!! I know it sounds like I am complaining, I'm not. This is par for the course. This is part of being pregnant and I have known that with the last 4 of my children. (This all came as a surprise to me with our first!) I REALLY LOVE being pregnant. I do, I LOVE feeling the growing baby inside of me move and kick and hic-cup. I LOVE IT! I love the way I look. I know that seems crazy but I feel like I look the best when I am pregnant. I am no super model but it is when I am most confident and comfortable with my body. I LOVE the way people look at me and treat me. Pretty much everyone is nice to the big ole pregnant lady and I love that. It is hard to think I may never feel or experience these things again.

This pregnancy has BY FAR been the hardest on my mind, body and soul. Mostly, my body but the three are as I am discovering DEEPLY connected. Duh right? RIGHT!

SO...tonight, I am going to rub my belly. I am going to have a good cry. I am going to pray with all my heart that everything goes well in the morning and that our BEAUTIFUL baby girl comes safely into this world. That she and I make a perfect team during the delivery and we are able to come face to face without complication.

Birth...what an AMAZING adventure. It is a BIG DEAL and my heart is full tonight. I will also pray that my sweet Cowboy can get some sleep tonight. He has been THE MOST amazing support to me these past 2 weeks. I recently wrote about falling "in love" with him. Well, it has happened again. Who thought it possible to fall in love again? I didn't, I just thought you fall deeper and deeper. I guess in a sense you do. But I have fallen all over again.

What a lucky one I am.

Night...

My Ship is Sailing in...

2011-03-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

I will keep this short and sweet as that is about all I have in me right now.

Can I first just say this is a very strange place that I am in emotionally right now. It is uncharted territory for me and I am not sure I am the right Captain for THIS particular ship. I am trying to be though. I am giving it my all, fighting the big huge waves of emotion with whatever ounce of rationalization and strength I have left in me at THIS moment. Or at THAT moment because that is how it is...one moment, I am just fine being cooped up in this room all alone watching Netflix, reading books and magazines. Getting up ONLY to use the restroom. (which in and of itself is enough to make any ship in my conditin sink.) THEN there are the OTHER moments when I am a WRECK!! Literally! The pain is overwhelming allthough... I AM healing and this pain is a BETTER pain than I was having before surgery. So my nerves are SHOT. I am SO short fused. Any loud noise or commotion, I just can't handle right now. I tend to act like a child...I cover my ears, start to cry and beg EVERYONE to just go away for a moment and let me find my CENTER again. You know, get back on course. Come back to the reality of what IS.

Here is what IS...

I am 7 days away from my due date. I had surgery 5 days ago. My hormones are TOTALLY OUT OF WHACK and my family and friends have picked right up where I left off a few days ago. As if, nothing ever happened. Clock work! It is a beautiful clock and it works majestically. It really is a well oiled machine. It is in place solely because of the organization of the Church and I could not be more greatful. I could NOT. That being said, it is hard to watch sometimes, even in my heartfelt gratitude. It is hard to just lay here on what feels like my sinking ship and watch the hands of the clock so smoothly round the face day after day, hour after hour, minute by minute.

My heart is full. My life is full. We are about to have a BABY! What a beautiful ship we get to sail on. What an amazing opportunity to be served and blessed and feel the true love of Our Savior through the hands of others. I can see the horizon just beyond the clouds that KEEP trying to block my view. I am determined to keep my eye on that beautiful horizon and let this ship sail in...completly in control realizing that I am NOT the captain of THIS ship, it is in HIS hands. I trust HIM completly or I would have never set sail on this journey.

To everyone that has blessed us...PLEASE know we are aware of your and your service and we THANK YOU!

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...Pregnancy in all its glory!

2011-03-19T12:24:00.000-07:00

I am laying here in bed waiting for the so called pain med that I am on to kick in. (I am allergic to Narcotics so what I do take is not that strong.) However, it is strong enough to make me a little loopy. So I will keep this to the point.

About couple months ago, I thought I had something called fistulas. OH YEAH...MY SPELLING WILL NOT BE GOOD...DON'T JUDGE, I'M A WRECK! :)

ANYWAYS,

So I thought I had fistuals or fissures is another name for them. To my knowledge that is 100% WebMD fed, they are like paper cuts on/in/around your rectum (gah! I hate that word! sorry!) I was TOO embarassed to ask my OB about them so I attempted to self treat them per internet instructions. As the pain intensified and the bleeding did as well I finally got desperate and asked Dr. Falk what I should do. He wanted me to see a Colol/Rectal Specialist ASAP. I was able to get in that day. Turns out I did NOT at all have fissures, I had Level 4 (which is of COURSE the highest level...I NEVER do things partially) Internal hemorhoids. He said I will without a doubt have to have surgery on them 4 weeks after the baby is born unless they get worse. This surgery is pretty major and requires minimum 3-4 week down time recovery! WHAT?! For the remainder of the pregnancy I was to take it easy and hope things didn't get worse. Well on Tuesday...THEY DID! For whatever reason, My lovely internal roids decided to show their UGLY little faces externally. When I say little...I am kind of joking because these dang suckers were easily the size of a grape. I have never been in so much CONSISTANT pain in MY LIFE! So I tried to take it easy and do all the things your told to do with them to ease the pain and hopefully shrink them. What I didn't know/understand is that they were thrombost/strangulated. So they were not going to get better on their own. Well, the bleeding started up again so I called the Specialist. He wanted to see me but it was already nearly 4pm so we set up the appt. yesterday morning. Erick took me in and the Dr. took a tiny glance at my booty and said, "you have to have surgery TODAY. I can't imagine the pain your in." Because I had eaten breakfast we had to wait until 5pm to have the operation. I was scared but excited to have some relief. He assured me that Lyndee would be safe and there would be a Labor and Delivery Team there the entire time.

So we headed over to Ericks parents so I could lay down and relax before the surgery and for Erick and Roland to give me a blessing. Then at 2:30 we headed to the Hospital. We got checked in and they took me back and started my prep right away.

The surgery took about 35 minutes and everything went great. Dr. Falk my OB even came in despite the fact that he was finally off call after 18 days straight. He told Labor and Delivery he would stay for the entire surgery and moniter the baby himself. He is so good to me.

So here I am today, the day after. I am in A LOT of pain. My heart is heavy as now I have to decide if I should have a C-Section or still attempt a vaginal delivery. I have 10 days until my due date. I don't know what to do. I am praying that the pain will subside soon and I will be able to get some rest. SO many people have blessed us so much these past few days, but that is a seperate post that I would like to do when my mind is clear and I am not distracted by pain.

Thank you everyone for the concern. I know this was a bit of TMI but a lot of concern has been expressed and I didn't want to put ALL THIS on Facebook but also know how it feels to be concerned about someone and not really knowing what is going on. So here it is...Pregnancy #5 in ALL IT'S GLORY!!!

"You want me to give you some Sass Momma?"

2011-03-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

Oh my Sweet Sweet Paizly Rose!! The other day you came out from the hallway with a pencil hidden behind your back and a VERY mischeveous little look on your face. I asked you what you had been up to. You said. "Nothing Mom, just writing my number." When I went to look there were "P's" EVERYWHERE!! She had tagged up our house! I was SO excited that she could write her P that I could not even get mad at her! I just expalined to her that in the future, I hoped she would use paper and you know what...

She hasn't! She is such a good girl!!

(P.S. I didn't want to wash the walls off because I love her work, but we had a cleaning Saturday and she said she needed to clean off her numbers. :( )

Paiz is VERY much into coloring right now. She will sit and color for hours! Literally....Like 2 hours at the time.

I found her a coloring book the other day at Target that was NOT a coloring/activity book JUST a coloring book. She LOVES it and will sit at the table and color every single page. She loves when someone will sit and color with her be she is also content to color by herself. The other day I caught her sitting with Erick coloring. He is such a good Daddy. I lOVE the picture of her looking at him. She adores her "Dada"

My friend Debbie signed up her little guy Logan for a mini sports class here in the Copa. She offered to take Paiz as well if I wanted to sign her up. I was not sure Paiz my little "Princa" would like it but I asked her and she said she wanted to do it. So off they went for their first class and she LOVED IT!! I wanted a couple pictures of them afterwards because I thought they looked so cute in their shirts. So these are what we got.

Then I told Paiz I wanted some of just her. This is the first shot and then she said to me, "You want me to give you some sass Momma?"

OF COURSE I DO!!!

And there you have it!!

Our little Sassy Girl!

xoxo my little sugar love

Spirit Week!

2011-03-17T20:08:00.000-07:00

The kids school had a Spirit Week. It was 5 days of FUN!! Well...sort of. I only took a couple pictures on these two days. Not sure why but these are pretty cute!!

One of the days was "Urban Cowboy" day. Claira Joe looked SO stinkin cute! I even had a couple comments later on how cute she looked from parents and even 2 teachers!!

Then there was Jersey Day (or something like that)

I honestly was kind of dreading this Spirit week thing. It is not so easy to come up with 3 different things for all the kids for 5 days but this week was very DO-ABLE and the kids LOVED it! We have been really happy with the kids school this year! So thanks Pathway for a super fun week!

An afternoon at the Farm

2011-03-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

The kids LOVE going to the "farm" This is where Erick's shop is. It is on the side of a Dairy. One of Erick's best friends run the Dairy and he let's the kids come and feed and play with all the animals. So Erick and John (our neighbor) took all the kids out there one Saturday afternoon.

Derick climbing into the pig pen

Logan checking things out

Claira Joe and Haley with the chickens

Cute little Paiz and "little guy" aka Logan hanging out

Derick and Justin solving all the worlds problems!

Feeding the baby Calves

Every one of the 7 kiddos had cowboy boots on. They thought it was the coolest thing. Such a fun time!

Regional Pine Wood Derby

2011-03-17T19:46:00.001-07:00

Well even though Derick didn't win the Ward Pine Wood Derby, He and Erick wanted to go to the Regional Races.

So we got an email late the night before the race. They had done NOTHING to Dericks car since the Ward Races. It has just been sitting on the shelf. So we loaded up the next morning early as a family and headed to Casa Grande.

This is pretty much how the races went!! Derick's car is the blue and orange one.

His friend Nick Urich came too!! Both the boys did great! Nick took second place and Derick took first overall!

Derick was SO VERY excited! It was a good lesson that if you follow all the rules it will pay off in the end.

The Pinewood Derby Shrine!!!

A couple of the Cheerleaders!! Man...they are CUTE!!!

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess!

2011-03-05T21:15:00.001-07:00

This year Kashie got to celebrate the Birthday of the GREAT Dr. Suess at school. He came home SO excited from his day. Mrs. Damron was even dressed up as The Cat in the Hat. She is awesome! He even brought home a recipe for "Green Eggs and Ham"

We had an entire dinner in celebration and Kash pretty much made it all!

My Cowboy was out trucking that night and our dear friends Debbie and her kiddos were over and her Hubby happened to be out of town as well for work, so we had this WONDERFUL dinner together! We put a Dr. Seuss Movie on Netflix to add to the atmosphere.

It was SUCH a fun NIGHT.

Thanks Kashie Boy!

I adore you my sweet little boy!

He cracked ALL the eggs and only got ONE tiny shell in there. We got it right out though. He was a pro at this! Debbie and I were majorly impressed with his skills!

We had BLUE pancakes and Orange Julius to drink!

Here are all the kiddos. They SCARFED every bit we gave them and even wanted seconds!

Debbie and I were talking as we were helping Kash make this dinner and watching him. He was SO happy and willing to work or do ANYTHING we asked of him. It really is AMAZING what a little one on one

time will do for a child. I needed this reminder from my own Cat in the Hat.

He is such a joy. Yes, he is ornrey...more than the rest but he is precious and beautiful and fun and funny! He was SO proud of his dinner and ate every second of the prep time up!

I am so thankful to be a Mother. Especially to this little guy!

I love you my Kash Money!

Asthma...again :(

2011-03-05T20:49:00.000-07:00

Another child with Asthma. At least it is Seasonal. Erick has suffered with Asthma his entire life and grew up doing these treatments every day. Last year, Kash spent the Winter doing these as he was diagnosed with Seasonal Asthma. We pretty much knew this was coming with Paiz. She got sick and her little body fought back but her lungs could not. She is a REALLY good sport about the treatments, I am sure it is because she feels so much better after them. Poor little sugar shug.

Notice her one shoe? Well she hurt her toe a WEEK AGO and insists it still hurts bad enough to not wear a shoe on that foot. She is such a charachter!

This day was particularly bad. It just wears her out to have to fight to breathe.

She is so beautiful.

Auntie Chloe' put that pink hair extension in her hair and Paiz LOVES it! She told me the other night when she was going to bed. "Momma, please take my pony out but NOT my pink fing...or else I won't be so so cute anymore."

Little does she know, that pink fing is not what makes her cute! Not at all!

Snowboarding Part II

2011-03-05T20:24:00.000-07:00

My poor babies eyes were sunburnt! It was the craziest thing that I had never seen before. Erick felt TERRIBLE! He assured me that next time, he will rent goggles and use more sunscreen. We think Derick was a little dehydrated as well. After he got some Gatorade and Ibuprofin in him he was good as gold again!

The kids really didn't act like their eyes or burnt little faces bothered them at all. They were on a boarding high I think!

They could NOT wait for Paiz to wake up to show her the snow they brought home. It was so cute. Erick said it was all their idea too.

I love how much they all love eachother.

We decided to make REAL snow cones out of the Snow.

It was so good just plain but a little flavored syrup sure did make it even tastier!!

Paiz was THRILLED with her present from the kids. She was sad that she didn't get to go with them...but by the look on her little face...

She got over it!