Bummer

I am sure you are seeing these pictures of Amber in the hospital and thinking we finally sent someone over the edge. Surely, she must have been admitted for exhaustion, or better yet this is the mental ward and we drove poor Amber crazy.

*

Well, the truth is that I wish we could completely explain why Amber is in the hospital. She has not been feeling well for months, but this past week her color was terrible, just terrible. It was not the pale you would typically see when someone is not feeling well--it was a strange hue of yellow, gray, and white. She had been to a couple doctors and at an appointment last Wednesday they drew some blood and found her to be at a 10 on the anemia scale, which is 30% below normal.

*

Friday she stayed home from school and literally could not get up. I asked Sherri to puhleeeese call the doctor and tell him her symptoms because she just seemed to be getting so much worse. The doctor suggested they go to the ER. Amber didn't seem to think a trip to the hospital was necessary, but Travis took it upon himself to convince her to go.

*

At the hospital the blood work showed Amber's iron had dropped to a 5! The doctor's say it is a real possibility that she could have gone to sleep and slipped into a coma. If she weren't an active and otherwise healthy young woman she would have fainted long ago. She had to be transported via ambulance to St. Lukes Boise and received three bags of blood overnight. While there she is enduring test after test ,plenty of yucky drinks, no food, and finally surgery this morning trying to get her happy and healthy again.

*

So, she is in surgery right now and we are anxiously awaiting news...

*

We love Amber so much and are grateful to her family for allowing us to think of her as one of our own. The many prayers said for her from our home have been so sweet and touching. We know she will be better soon and she is the most beautiful sick person I have ever seen!

Don't Blink!

Guess who seems to find herself into a lot a mischief these days? Little Miss Megan. In the following pictures I swear I only looked away for a second. Well, maybe a moment because in order to get in the sink she has to climb into and then on top of the high chairs, then over across the counter, finally landing in the sink. For the fully clothed bath experience I was IN the room, but had my back to the tub. Meg came in, we chatted a little, I turned around and there she sat. The best part was the look on Jake's face. I think he thought I was going to be mad. It is so hard to be mad a someone so cute! Seriously, she was even wearing her shoes.

First Grade Field Trip

Nicole, Emma, and Jake (oh, I mean Emalie)

It is tradition that the Homedale Elementary first grade classes go to the zoo for their annual field trip. Grandma Jo came out to stay with Jake, Megan, and Justin so I was able to go. It was such a fun day to spend with Emma. She is such a joy to be around, everything is easy with her. I love to watch how she interacts with her classmates and friends, and I loved having the day to talk--just the two of us. We were assigned to other girls from Emma's class to tour the zoo with us. The one girl was like taking Jake to the zoo! Note to self: never volunteer to take the child whose desk is separated from the other students and placed right next to the teacher's desk.

Once we returned home I found that Mary Poppins had been to visit. My fridge was clean, every laundry hamper emptied and washed, and almost all of the wash had been ironed. She is magical.

Softball

Spring hasn't decided to show her pretty face yet, but spring sports have started anyway. Emma has graduated from the ranks of t-ball and is now in machine pitch softball. She really loves it. Last night was her first game. I love their uniforms-they are replicas of the high school girls softball team...little visors, socks up to the knees, etc. Emma had two hits and when she was at the pitcher position threw the ball for an out. If only there had been sunshine!

Happy Easter!

Easter weekend was great. We loved watching conference. We loved coloring eggs. We loved going to Grandma and Grandpa's for a slumber party. We loved the Easter egg hunt. We loved Easter dinner. We love our Savior and are thankful for this time of year to remember Him.

Travis got all the colors set up and ask, "Ok who is ready to die?" ( Of course he meant dye, but I am still laughing ) :)

I remember one year ago like it was yesterday. I remember bundling up the babies in their full body zip up coats (Meg's had ears on the head) and putting them in their infant carriers. I remember coming home from hunting eggs and Travis tipping Megan upside down while she was still in her seat and kissing her rotten. Megan and Justin were still nursing, Megan's head was still crooked, they hadn't even crawled yet...they were still babies. Now they are adorable little toddlers, talking, running. Next year they will be ready for potty training! Time is going way too fast!

A trip to Grandma's always includes a bubble bath for the kids

Max joined the slumber party

Justin wanted to hunt eggs all day!

Awwwwww!

Advice

There are a couple of things you can always count on from Travis--a good laugh and advice. He has even been known to give advice on issues which are strictly feminine and I often have to remind him, "no uterus, no opinion". As far as advice goes, this week was no different. Here is a recap of how he fared:



Advice that went well:

Bless Annie's heart, for four years now she finds something that she feels works well and does not deviate from it. For example, she as been having her hair done exactly the same way for over a year now.

This week she trying to convince me to order a noneducational book from the book order. I was not about to agree to it until Travis offered this advice: he suggested that if Annie did her hair in a different style for ten days she could order the book. She was so excited! She quickly put together a list of ten different styles she might choose from and put it with our hair stuff. It has been so fun to see her step outside the box. Thanks dad for the great advice (or bribe as some may define it).

She wasn't thrilled to be having her picture taken, but look at her hair down! Sadly, she looked twelve to me that morning...

Advice that didn't go quite as well:

Recently Justin and Megan have been pretending they are newborns. The strict 8:30 bedtime is no longer and each of them has been waking multiple times in the night. Each morning Travis looks at a tired me and strongly suggests it is time to do away with nap time.

Do away with nap time?! The nap is something I anticipate each day. I scurry about getting things done. Megan thinks she is tremendously helpful as I fold laundry, but the truth is am much more efficient working alone. This holds true for many other activities--mopping, cleaning bathrooms, cooking, etc.

Well, I took Travis' advice. I decided not to put them down for a nap. By 2:00 this was the result:

upstairs couch

downstairs couch