Tribute to Bits...

I'm afraid that as I sit to write a tribute on Elizabeth's 5th birthday, I find that this is perhaps the most difficult tribute for me to write for my children. Not because she doesn't have a ton of wonderful qualities, but because I feel like she is my child who I have the least grasp of. Let me say that as my children get older, I think she is the reason that I am supposed to homeschool. Her personality is such that she would struggle terribly in school, but can thrive if I ever figure out what drives her (besides Disney princesses and candy)! So, let me just offer a few random thoughts on this child I am so blessed to call mine.

1. Bitsy is CRAZY! It is unbelievably difficult for her to contain her gigantic personality in that little teeny body...and she is teeny. She goes and goes all day long until she crashes. Then heaven help the soul that tries to wake her!

2. Elizabeth is a dancer. This is what I tell myself now. She doesn't mean to be naughty or obnoxious, her body just needs to move and dance. If I don't provide the opportunity, then her body acts out in other ways. :)

3. Elizabeth is wonderfully sweet and affectionate. She is a little cuddle bug and loves to share hugs and kisses.

4. Bits LOVES books. She will sit and listen to books for hours if I am willing to read them. It won't be long now and she will be doing this on her own. She is catching on to reading concepts unbelievably fast. Smart as a whip, that girl!

5. Bitsy is a wonderful caretaker. We found that when Katie was born that Elizabeth could sit and hold her, perfectly still and gentle, for at least a half an hour at a time. Perhaps you have realized from the other things I've said that sitting still is not generally her strength. But to take care of her sweet baby sister, Bitsy is willing to do almost anything.

6. Bits is a GREAT big sister. She loves to play with Abby and share her toys...although she is admittedly a good negotiater to get the toys she really wants!

7. Elizabeth is probably the most outgoing, friendly child I know. She is willing to say hi to, play with, ask questions of, etc. anyone at any time. As you can imagine we have to watch her like a hawk.

8. Bits has a beautiful little voice and loves to sing. Even more fun is her ability to make up a song about anything she is doing. Yes, life is STILL a musical for Bitsy.

9. Elizabeth is inquisitive beyond anything I have ever seen. She is CONSTANTLY asking questions and looking for real answers. I really don't know how I'm going to keep up with her much past 5!

Elizabeth is a beautiful, smart, funny, sensitive little girl. She is a spitfire with energy to match anything we can throw at her. I love her and am so glad she is mine!

Sorry...

Sorry, I don't mean to drone on and on about this. But a good friend of mine, who also happens to be a doctor, just told me that an ectopic pregnancy is one of the few true emergencies in life. Up there with a heart attack or stroke. I had NO idea it was that serious! I know it felt like hell though!

P.S . You do realize that the whole distance runner, wonderfully low resting heart rate thing is now on my permanent medical record, right? Just making sure.

High points & low points...

I thought I'd share with you some of my thoughts on my recent medical issues. We'll start with the low points so we can end on a happy note...

1. I'm sure you are all wondering. They did take at least a portion of both tubes, so no more babies for us. I feel fine about this for now, but I'm sure I'll have days when I cry buckets!
2. They had to do open surgery, and just couldn't follow my c-section scar. So now I have a lovely plus sign on my belly...totally Frankenstein!
3. Recovery sucks! Can't wait to be able to hold kids again, and exercise.

High points...
1. I was already in the hospital. I mean really, I had morphine immediately.
2. When the doctors were giving me the initial once over they asked if I exercise. I told them that I run a couple of miles a day. They responded that that explained why my resting heart rate was nice and low...QUANTIFIABLE RESULTS people!!!! My working out is paying off!!!
3. I had Jacob when I was 24 and have been incontinent ever since. Yes, I just confessed that to everyone. But not much longer, now I can get my bladder fixed!!! You have no idea how much this perked me up right before surgery when Jon mentioned it.
4. I have the best friends in the world and have been incredibly well taken care of.
5. No more crazy "feel good - get pregnant - feel good - have baby - feel good - get pregnant - etc." cycles for my emotions and ability to cope with life. ( I assume that all of you mothers out there know what I'm talking about.)

As you can see, there are many more positives that have come from this experience than negatives. All in all, we are all doing great.

Tender Mercies...

I really don't know how to start, so I'll just jump right in. On Thursday I was in the right place at the right time, and I experienced the tender mercy of the Lord because of it.

My friend Cathie and I were visiting another friend in the hospital. As we were leaving I felt some abdominal pain, and as soon as I said this to Cathie, I started to black out. In a matter of minutes I went from being perfectly fine to blacking out in an elevator, extreme pain, 60/40 blood pressure and sweating like crazy. Cathie rushed me to the ER (just down the hall) where I was given immediate and excellent care.

Through the course of my stay, the doctors figured out that I had an ectopic pregnancy. Remember that miscarriage I thought I had a couple of weeks ago? Guess not. The baby was growing in my left fallopian tube, and it ruptured while I was leaving the hospital. As it turns out, the doctors consider this life threatening due to the risk of bleeding out. To make a long story short, they operated and got got everything fixed up by that evening. I came home Friday evening and am recovering nicely.

I have no doubt that I was on the Lord's errand when we visited our friend and that I was blessed because of it. I hate to imagine what could have happened if I'd been home with the kids, or driving somewhere. I am grateful to know that the Lord is mindful of me.

Home

I love where we live. East Bethel...Where the North Metro meets the North Shore. In East Bethel all the lots have a couple of acres. People might mow a half an acre and leave the rest weeds. No one cares if you have broken down vehicles on your property. In fact, Jon and I often joke that it is code...you must have at least one inoperable vehicle in your back yard (incidentally, we have two). People drive big trucks, and have lawn tractors, not mowers. As if all of this is not evidence enough of how "white trash" our city is, we saw an all new low this morning. At our annual city parade , which is fantastic and conveniently lines up right in front of our house, the mayor was walking as politicians often do in parades. He had candy for the kids, and for the adults...beer. BEER!!!! Have you ever seen such a thing??!??! Welcome to the wrong side of the tracks! Is it any wonder that we homeschool in this community?

Secret Dreams

In preparation for the show, I've been listening to the music for Wicked constantly. Well, listening is only part of it. What I really like to do is put on my iPod and go hang out in the garden where I sing at the top of my lungs. (We have 3 acres, but it occurred to me this morning that my neighbors can probably still hear me!) So, there you go, not a secret anymore... I still dream of being on the stage! Don't most people grow out of the actress dream much earlier in life?!?! I think it is that there is almost no music quite as fun to sing as show tunes. Well, for now I suppose I will continue to live vicariously through attending the theater. Thankfully Jon enjoys that as much as I do!

Tag (again)

This one is just a little different than the one I did last time...
What was I doing 10 years ago?

Getting ready for our delayed honeymoon to France...dreamy.


What is on my to-do list for today?

It's the end of the day, so I'll tell you how I did. Shower. Check.

What are 3 bad habits of mine?

1. Lack of productivity. I really don't understand how I can be doing stuff ALL DAY LONG, and yet never accomplish anything.

2. I tend to neglect my children when I get into a REALLY good book....hello Twilight Series! :) Frankly, it doesn't even have to be that good.

3. Not having enough patience. That is an understatement.


3 Things you might not know about me?

1. I currently have the best calling on the face of the earth, Laurel Adviser. I get all the fun of hanging out with the 16-18 year old girls, and none of the responsibility of being in a presidency.

2. I am back to being a workout junkie. Gym 3 times a week for weights and an easy bike, 3 times a week running. Loving every minute of it. Although it seems that weight is harder to lose after age 30 and 5 kids!

3. I am a complete political junkie. I love knowing what's going on and being involved. I always go to my caucuses and become a delegate. You have no idea how fun it is for me to to have the RNC Convention here this year!


4 movies/t.v. shows I love:

1. The Office, although it just wasn't the same caliber post writer's strike. Let's hope that gets corrected next season.
2. Lost
3. Amazing Race
4. Bachelor/Bachelorette...I know, totally guilty pleasure. Although, minus the Andrew Firestone season, it usually doesn't get overly racey (how do you spell that?).


4 Books I love:

(These are what I consider must reads)
1. The Hiding Place
2. 50 Things Your Kids Won't Learn in School
3. Night
4.Papa Married a Mormon


4 Jobs I've had:

1. Hardees
2. Kitchen Aide in nursing home
3. Nursing Assistant
4. Helped start Family Focus, now the Family Life Education Institute...you can probably google it. I haven't looked into it for a while now.


4 Places I've lived:

1. Roseville, MN
2. Boulder, CO
3. Provo, UT
4. Red Bank, NJ


5 of my favorite foods:

1. Sugar
2. Chocolate
3. Cake
4. Brownies
5. Cinnamon Rolls
(OK, there are a lot of other things I like, but I do a have a wicked sweet tooth...hence the need for the working out!)

Bloggers I'm tagging:

1. Sharon
2. Tammy
3. Katie
4. Jenni

Life

I really have a great life...charmed you might say. It wasn't always that way, and it probably won't always be that way. But, for now, I can't imagine life being any better. So, when I figured out a potentially sad thing yesterday, I was fine, and still am. For the first time in 6 pregnancies (yes, six) I had a miscarriage. I was only 6 weeks along, so there really was no attachment yet. I also don't have a problem with natural physical processes or things like death.
It's funny, I always thought that I would be fine with a miscarriage, but knew that I couldn't know for sure unless it happened. Now I know, I really am fine. Let's face it, six pregnancies...it should have happened long ago. The odds were not in my favor.
So, life is still great. We are still happy. No worries.