MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel like my blog will never catch up to my real life. I have been soooo busy, but with the arrival of Christmas I see the start of a little "down time" in my future.



In the meantime I wanted to wish a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS to y'all!! I was only semi on top of my Christmas cards so only half of our peeps got the pictures. If you didn't get a Christmas card from us and you usually do ... it isn't that I don't love you, it is more likely that the envelope with your name on it is still sitting in a nice stack on my ironing board upstairs, waiting to be put together and sent. Maybe I will be better next year and not only send out ALL my Christmas cards so people know we love them AND get a Christmas letter together for next year.


I have definitely had the BEST Christmas ever (yup, even with the frigid temperatures that I grudgingly live in)!!



Here is my Christmas low down:

1) Since I don't usually have both of my boys home in the morning we have been celebrating Evan's Christmas Break by eating loads of sugar and having lots of fun activities, and crafts.

2) The Palmer cousin Christmas party. There is always so much pressure to have a memorable white elephant present at the exchange. I was quite proud of my discoveries and have to say that they were much appreciated by the people who I was hoping would appreciate them. I brought "Comi vs. USA" army men with "Comi mints". The other present was "bacon flavored floss" and "bacon bandaids".

3) Christmas Eve spent with Justin's dad. We had turduckin and other yummy appetizers, while keeping tabs on Santa using the "Santa Tracker".

4) The spiritual portion of our Christmas Eve with our boys. They loved watching http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icilgwdHiZg which is a tradition from my side of the family.

5) Sprinkling "Reindeer food" on the front lawn so Santa's reindeer could find us.

6) We were laying in bed with our boys singing Christmas carols and Evan says to us very forcefully ... "No more singing! We have to go to bed now so Santa will come!"

7) Watching my boys open WAAYYY too many gifts this morning. (we both went a little overboard this year ... whooops!!) We better talk about this problem for next year.

8) We were skyping with my parents and sister when my brother Alex got online. His mission president is letting them skype home instead of call. The problem is that we have been practicing all week and can't get the group video to work. When Alex came online I could see him!!!!! I don't know why I got to see him, but I did, and he got to see my boys too. I ended up getting dropped for this practice run so my parents could see him. I will talk to him tonight with the rest of the family but I won't get to see him so I am counting this as my Christmas miracle!!

I CAN"T believe that I got to see him. I just kept staring at him and giggling! Can't wait to talk to him later.

9) We are on our way to spend the evening with Justin's mom and siblings.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

(here is our Christmas Card ... for those who should have gotten it, and didn't)

SAN DIEGO: PART 2

Ohhh soo much fun ... and finally this is the last installment of our trip back home.

I think this might be one of the only moments Hayley wasn't crying when Landon was around. She was NOT a fan of him, but oh did he LOVE her!!!

Our family went to the Mormon Battalian together. It was nice because all of us that were there got to go. LOVE THAT!!

(one of these days Justin will get to go, sorry Babe)

Evan got to dress up in army gear!

and he LOVED LOVED LOVED this cannon!!!

We got to drive up to Malibu to spend some time at Brandon's place. All I will say is that I could live there!!! One of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. On the way back home we stopped at Ben and Sharley's apartment. It took a little longer to get there than we had planned, but after a couple of turn arounds we finally got there. We shared some doughnuts, laughter, and once the kids started screaming we got back on the road. I wish I was able to get some pics of Ben and Sharley, but I was wayy too distracted with my children who were breaking down.

It was so fun to see where some of my siblings live. Being the oldest and living out of the country I just don't get this kind of opportunity.

(this is Cher's house overlooking the ocean.

p.s. it is nothing to some of the homes we saw!!!)

Before the boys and I left San Diego to come back home we went to the zoo with Grandma and Mandy. This snake was CRAZY!!! Evan was our own real life Harry Potter. Everywhere Evan went the snake followed. I'm just glad that the glass didn't dissappear!!

When I am home my parents don't have a ramp for their van. What we end up doing is lifting the 300lb. chair into the back of their van. Obviously I can't do this alone. Normally it is my Dad or brother that is helping me. When I am out without them I search for a man who looks strong enough to help. When we got to the zoo I got this man to help. When we were leaving he comes walking up and offered to help me again. I was in shock at the timing!!! The best part ... he operates the zoo's train and is called "Captain Choo Choo"

I didn't have a ton of time this vacation so I was thrilled that I got to spend a little bit of time with Lori and Hannah (from the CBC group). Lori taught us how to make these REALLY cute felt flower hair piece.

This is what I came home with. Yes I did indeed operate all of this by myself through customs with both of the boys. Remember that I didn't say I handled it gracefully, but I am still impressed that I did it!!!

(notice my felt flower hair piece ... thanks Lori!!)

Now the reason for my trip home...

CONNOR!!!

My oldest friend Mandy had her first baby and I went to see her and her sweet baby Connor. It was soooo much fun to spend some time with them and to watch her mother her sweet baby. She even let me take some newborn pictures for her while I was there.

Congratulations again Mandy :-)

oboe

This week has felt like finals week when I was in University! I have had "stuff" (mostly music) to do every night from last Sunday to today. Tis the Season !! Since Landon is awake and insisting that I sit next to him while he eats his breakfast I am going to try and write a quick ditty about what has been happening.

Do you remember my audition that I took back in September?? (the job that they loved my playing but not quite enough?) welllllll ........ A LOT of good things have been happening because of that audition. They have been giving out my name and that means that I have had a job the last 2 weekends and will be playing next weekend as well. I even had to turn down a job because it conflicted with our own congregations Christmas program (which I am in charge of).

I can honestly say that I love playing. No .... I LOVE PLAYING! I am a happier person when I know that I am going to get to perform. Wearing my all black concert attire, tuning, just being on stage does something to my soul that is unexplainable. I can honestly say that I don't care what I am playing. Of course it is a dream to play "the deep stuff" but I love playing pops concerts just as much. There are musicians who quit major orchestra's because they feel playing all of the pops concerts is an insult to how hard they have worked to play at this level. I feel that I have worked this hard to play at this level so I can perform. I like "the cheese" as I put it. If the audience is happy ... I'm happy. Call me strange but think I have the best job in the world!

I feel like I have it all right now. My husband has a great job so I don't really have to worry about making money with the oboe (although I do and it is nice), and I get to be a full time mommy and still work. What could be better?

San Diego: Part 1

Justin said to me the other day, "You know this next month is going to be crazy for us ... then again when is it not?" That is kind of how I feel right now. We are constantly busy, which is stressful, but at least we are happy. Such is life I guess.

So the boys and I went to San Diego for almost two weeks. I will break up our trip into two segments.

I was so proud of my boys when they held Tom, my brothers ball python. Landon had no problem although he was a little nervous when Tom decided to start tightening around his leg (we got him off just fine). Evan was excited to hold Tom, and not so excited when Tom started to slither up his pant leg ... I wouldn't like that either!

When I decided to come home my sweet hubby got me tickets to the Bronco Charger game for my birthday. I asked my brother Ben if he would be my date for the night. We were both so excited, eventhough we had to park about 8 miles away. It was a great night despite the frigid tempratures and the slaughtering of my team.

The weirdest part is that we find our seats and slowly realize that we were surrounded by Canadians. It gets even weirder ... the two Canadians sitting in front of us were Mormon! Strange!!

my favorite sign there ... maybe it would have been true if the broncos had played him more. I love my Timmy boy!

It really was COLD. A stranger a couple rows up saw me shivering and let me use her blanket for the rest of the game.

We took the boys swimming at the YMCA so Evan could excersize. I had to turn into a Mama bear to get them to let Evan use his neck float, but they eventually did.

Sarah and Dad liked playing with my camera.

The whole time we were in San Diego the weather was too cold to actually swim at the beach but we went to hang out and spend some time in the salty sea air with sand in our toes. Landon was the CUTEST. He just kept running towards the water, then running away because he had already experienced how cold that Pacific water is. Evan just liked playing with the slimy seaweed and the sand toys.

That night Evan suckered his Auntie Sarah into having a sleep over with him.


THANKSGIVING DAY: the second reason I came home.

Thanksgiving was the only day that was warm enough to make use of my bikini. I desperately wanted to get some Vitamen D into my body while I was home, but today was the only day that was even slightly possible. Oh well ... at least I got one day.

Ben had an unfortunate mishap with the pepper ... woops!!!

My mom and I decided to try getting our eyebrows threaded (ok, I kind of forced my mom into it). I LOVED it and I REALLY loved the results on both my mom and I.

We got to go swimming again and this time Brandon and Sydney came with us.

The water is one of my favorite places to be. It has always been one of my favorite places to be, but that has grown even more because of Evan. The water is the only place that Evan is free. He can move and excersize in the water. Since I don't usually have other people who can take pictures I had my sister take some pictures and videos of Evan moving under water. I can't even tell you how much I love these pictures because they represent my babies freedom and our hard work with him.

Evan crawling up the ramp.

Positivity

I learn so much from my children. I wanted to share some things that Evan has said that teach me to think more positively about things in my life.

Remember when we went to SMA camp in August? Well when we came back and went to church on Sunday Evan was talking to our Bishop. I was coaxing Evan along in the conversation. This is what happened next.

Me: "Evan tell Bishop Blaszczyk what everyone at camp had." (I am thinking that he will say they all had SMA, or they all had wheelchairs)

Evan: "FLASHLIGHTS!!"

Then last week the Muscular Dystrophy camp came up in conversation. I decided to try it again and again coaxed him into the conversation. I said

Me: "Evan, do you remember when we went to the Muscular Dystrophy Camp in Edmonton? "

Evan: "OH YA!!! Everyone had marmayos (marshmallows) and we all did the obstacle course!!!!"

This little boy of mine is so positive about his life. He has so many obstacles that he has to deal with both physically and emotionally. It isn't that Evan is unaware of his condition. He fully comprehends what his limitations are. Evan just doesn't dwell on his disadvantages, he chooses to see the light in his life.

Next time I am feeling down about things in my life I am just going to remember.......

"FLASHLIGHTS!!"

JUSTIN

What can I say about my husband .......

He is literally and undoubtedly one of the BEST people I have EVER met ... period!

I love you honey

Happy Birthday

popularity

"Popularity is the quality of being well-liked or common, or having a high social status."

How is it that people become popular? This is something that I have pondered many times in my life. The reason is that I have two siblings that were extremely popular in high school. I was never popular in high school, and have lived most of my life in my own level of anonymity (not popular, not unpopular). There was one month, while I was on tour, in my undergraduate degree that I was extremely popular. It was FUN! Now I have a very healthy self esteem. I can honestly say that popularity really doesn't mean anything to me, but it really was fun and I will never forget that month of popularity in my life.

The reason I am thinking about this right now is because of my sister, Alycia. She is a vibrant person, she is beautiful, she is enchanting, she is smart, and she feels very intensely. She is one of the popular ones. She started a blog when she got married and now every time she posts she gets a gazillion comments (I have seen 45 comments before). I thought it was probably people that she knew and then I found out that many of them are people who just happen upon her blog.

I would be lying if I didn't admit that I envy her comment numbers, but that is not the reason that I write my blog. I would write it if I never had any readers other that my husband.

Anyways, I am just curious about how come some people are naturally popular.

Any comments ......... (hint hint ;-)

Our week at Childrens

Our week at the Children's Hospital

(it is late so I hope all of this makes sense, and I don't know why everything is centered)

Last week Landon had surgery. Since about a month old Landon has had something called a "buried penis". Now essentially what this means is that the fat pad above his penis was too large and "sucks" in the penis so it appears inverted. The shaft of his penis was twisted and his testicles hadn't dropped yet. We fixed all of those things at the same time.

I did take before and after pictures, but I will NOT be posting them :-)

I was so impressed with Landon. He was a gem before surgery. He didn't complain about not having food or drink. Landon made several friends (nurses AND patients) while walking the halls. I think he just looked unbelievably adorable in his hospital PJ's

I got to take him into the operating room and that is when he totally freaked out!! It took three of us to hold him down and get the mask on his face. Yes I cried when they put him under.

His surgery lasted just over an hour and I was so impressed with his surgeon. He gave me so much information about what he did and how it went. While I was waiting for Landon to wake up I was walking the halls and ran into my friends daughter. It was so random and unexpected to run into my friend and I am grateful because we talked until I got the page that Landon was awake. I went back to my baby's room and they rolled him in 5 minutes later.

It was rather shocking to open his diaper and actually see the parts that are supposed to be there. I may have even exclaimed "It's a Boy!" to our nurse. (she didn't laugh) My favorite part is that he was wearing an adult diaper. He had glue on his penis and they needed it to be tented. This thing was HUGE and I am so glad that I got pictures of it.

While Landon was in surgery I got him a special stuffy and luckily HE LOVES IT!!!!

YEAH!

He is healing very well.

beforehand

at one of the play stations

right before we went into the operating room

just after waking up

playtime after wards, he still couldn't feel his legs at this point (he had an epidural)

THE DIAPER

at home with his new stuffy

The day Landon was getting his surgery Evan was at home with his Auntie and he had complained a little about his ear. That night he didn't sleep very well (neither did Landon for obvious reasons) so the next day I took him into the doctors office and sure enough he did have an ear infection.

The next day he didn't eat very much and was constantly coughing. It didn't matter what we did he just couldn't shake it. Finally I called the Children's hospital and I took him to the ER that night. They were wonderful and even our Respirologist came to check on him. He warned me that they would probably want to admit him if he wasn't significantly improved.

(Justin said that I wasn't allowed to write an angry blog so here is the short version of what happened next)

They admitted him and this is where all of our problems started.

1) The doctors on the unit wouldn't listen to me. I was fighting with the doctors about everything! They didn't even know what SMA is (didn't know it existed) and were treating him as a "typical" child, which he is not!

2) I kept fighting with them on other issues (like food) that I knew he needed and they weren't giving him because it was "protocol". They refused to call our doctors that understand SMA and get a second opinion from them. Finally 2 hours later they called them and guess who was right about the food??? ME!!!

3)Our Respirologist was an hour and a half late coming to see us.

4) Evan was good enough to go home (where he would heal faster and I have handled him at this stage so many times) by 10-12noon on Saturday. They kept him until 9PM because of the way THEY had treated him. It was because they didn't listen to me. Everything they did in the 13 extra hours we were there I could have easily done at home (and already knew to do). I would have just taken him home and walked out of the hospital (he really needed to go home) except that we are going to have this Respirologist for the next 15 years and I need him to know that we respect him. This was not the time to be burning bridges. He suggested we stay (to cover the doctors butts) but he KNOWS that I was livid about it.

When we have our next appointment with our Respirologist I will be having a very important conversation with him about how our experience was and will be insisting that Evan have standing orders at the hospital so that this does not happen again. It will NOT happen again.

I am all for Evan being in the hospital when he needs to be, but DO NOT keep us there if he doesn't.

(picture of Evan about 2AM in the ER ... he was WIRED!)

I guess it did come out sounding angry ... sorry Justin!

Evan got 3 hours of interrupted sleep in 24 hours and I got 0 sleep in 24 hours. It is times like these that I am grateful for a husband who let me sleep in on daylight savings and take a nap the same day to try and catch up!!! What a wonderful man!