please come please

I am begging you to please come and be my audience!!!!

I have another Quintet performance next week on May 4, 2011.

It is an INCREDIBLE oboe program and I am sooo excited to perform some of this music. I even play the English horn on this concert. I am so lucky to be able to have this many MAJOR solos in one program.

Justin is out of town and it makes me sad that he won't hear it.

I need an audience. Please please please come!!!!

Knox Presbyterian Church

7:30 pm

I have tickets ... just call me ... please.

easter weekend

Happy Easter Everyone!

I will try and keep the long story short. Oh who am I kidding!!! I think this post is interesting, but if you are not wanting to read a novel make sure you read the stories in the middle. I think they are worthwhile ;-) We drove up north to the West Edmonton Mall to play with our boys. We love Love LOVE the recreation center in Red Deer and always make a point to stop there when we are going through the area.

Let me tell you, this place is amazing and is fun for all ages, is fun and functional for both Landon AND Evan, and is warm for Mama. We played and played and played. There was one moment where my heart stopped. Evan wanted to go down a waterfall by himself. It was small and though I was hesitant I am trying to not be the one to constantly dampen his fun. Naturally I was at the bottom waiting for him. Well he goes down and there is a current at the bottom of it and he gets sucked under the water. I quickly grab for the yellow neck float and pull him up. Justin and I both had a small heart attack and what does Evan says when he comes up???? "Let's do that again!!!" Evan wasn't very pleased when I told him that we would never be doing that again. I did try and reassure him how good it was that he held his breath.

(Landon is always trying to undress himself! He would walk around naked if I let him.)

From the rec center we continued the drive to Fantasy Land. The boys had a lot of fun, but we were fairly limited as to what we were able to do with them. I don't think they noticed and it ended up being a really fun, wonderful family day for the four of us.

(Evan looks soooo much like his Tummy mommy here, it is crazy! Seriously, AC, if you are reading this compare it with some of your pictures)

(we did this ride a couple of times, and if our boys had the choice they would have stayed here all day long ;-)

(check out Evan's suave look as he passes the camera)

(that blur is Justin. Evan kept saying "Daddy you are so brave!!!")

My Grandma lives in Edmonton and so we stayed with her. We were all pretty lame and went to bed really early. We knew that we had another big day ahead of us so we wanted to recharge.

I wish that I had pictures from the next day, but alas ... it was too hard to manage the camera AND make sure my children didn't die. We went to a full on waterpark, which has created some very lasting memories for our family. Before I dig right in to story time let me say (feel free to skip over this rant if you'd like) ...

if you have a disability and you are attending the water park at West Edmonton mall prepare to be VERY frustrated about the changing area. There are no change rooms big enough to fit a wheelchair, the aisles by the lockers are barely big enough to fit a wheelchair, and there are no change tables or private areas for people who cannot weight bare.

Ok now that I am done with that: STORIES!!!

1) We may have traumatized Landon. They have a children's section of the water park, not kiddie area, but still for children. Adults are not allowed to ride with them (stupid rule) but could catch at the bottom. The slide doesn't look that bad so I run down to catch both of the boys at the bottom. Landon goes first. Landon is so freaked out that he stops himself in the middle of the slide and spends the next couple of minutes screaming! Justin and the life gaurd are at the top yelling at him to let go. I am at the bottom convinced that my baby is drowning. Finally he slips and comes down the rest of the way. If only there were words to describe the terror/relief to see me on his face. Next came Evan ... crying as well. THAT was a BUST!!!

2)I was sitting in the hot tub with Evan towards the end and he tells me to move because he can't see. I asked him what he was looking at and he points to a girl sitting in the hot tub across from us and says "Her". I asked him why he was looking at her, to which he replied "Because she is sooooo beautiful!" He then proceeded to give me updates every time she smiled. When it was time to go I asked him if he wanted to tell her that she was beautiful. He said, "Yes, I will swim to her." And he did. He swam over, introduced himself and told her how beautiful she was. :-) Such a charmer!

3)Our locker jammed (of course) and Justin went to get some help. While I am holding Evan in the shower I watch Landon slip and smash the back of his head on the tile floor. (now let me remind you that this kid is TOUGH) well he just fell into my arms screaming (understandable). The next thing I know he is turning purple, his eyes roll back and he passes out!!!! It was only for a second, and I don't know if it was from the fall or from forgetting to breathe, but it was SCARY!! Especially because I was holding a floppy Evan and now a floppy Landon. It took everything in me to carry them both across the slippery tile floor to a bench where I could easily hold both. All day we watched him for signs of a concussion and I think he is fine .... but man oh man! Can we say adventure???

We head back and pick up Grandma, make the drive home and go to sleep ... eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Easter Bunny.

Oh the magic of childhood!!! The Easter Bunny left a trail of candy from the boys rooms to their baskets. You should have seen the wide eyes of wonder on Evan's face when he saw what was on the ground. I wish you could have witnessed the cuteness of Landon's Hansel and Grettel moment following the trail of candy, while stuffing it in his mouth!!! It was beautiful!!!

Church of course was lovely, dinner with family was wonderful, and my bed looks sooo inviting. It was one very busy weekend.

p.s. the weather was FINALLY nice and I even got a tan line when I went and sat on my deck!!!!

(first signs of life in my yard. Is that a plant with a bug on it???)

(cuddling with sweet baby Levi)

(check out how small he still is!!!)

HAPPY EASTER

from our family to yours!!!

heart warming

First I would like to say ...

I got a letter on Facebook from an old acquaintance in Florida. It was beautiful. I miscarried at the same time as she did, she was also 11 weeks along. Our emotional and physical experiences were very similar, except that she hadn't told anyone she was pregnant. She "happened" upon my blog and thanked me for helping her through the last couple of weeks. I am glad that my experience was able to help someone. I find it amazing that an old friend from my past was not only experiencing something that I was going through, but that it was happening at the exact same time and the same week of our pregnancies. Thank you LDF for your letter! You are an inspiration to me and it gives me strength to know that I am not the only one to experience what I did.

--------------------------------------------

I want to share a story that Evan's teachers sent home. He has a book and in it was written:

"Evan usually has a bucket of water that he plays in because he can't reach the water in the water table. Today Paige pushed him over to the big water table and gave Evan funnels and buckets so that he could play with her. It was really heart warming to watch! They spent half an hour there laughing the whole time!!"

Landon had a hard day today. Poor guy ... lets hope this isn't an indication of the rest of our week.

I'm an Auntie again

Little Levi William Meyer decided to make his appearance 3.5 weeks early than he was expected. He was born on April 9 and weighs a very tiny 5 lbs. 10 oz. The "hopsipull" (as Evan would say) has stupid rules and since we aren't the grandparents we aren't allowed to see him.

We cannot wait to see this sweet little man and smother him with our love.

Another event that occurred on April 9? One of my dear sweet friends Lori Lester became a Mrs!!!!! I am so excited for her and wish I could give her my love and congratulations in person. Lori is one of the most kind, thoughtful, God-loving people I know. We have been friends since the 6th grade and adore her today more than she will ever know.

As for my little family of 4? We are well!!! Evan hasn't had a major melt down in over a week now (knock on wood). He has small tantrums, but nothing huge. I don't know if he is just growing out of it or it is the improvement in the weather, but I LIKE IT :-) Also this weekend Evan had only one accident in his pants. Does this mean he is starting to want to go to the bathroom in the toilet??? I'm not going to hold my breath, but here's to dreaming :-)

Speaking of the weather I think we might actually be coming into spring! I mean maybe. In about a day and a half I went from not being able to see my front lawn to now the snow is almost all gone. THAT is a good sign! This morning while Evan was eating his breakfast he looked out the window at our backyard and yelled ... "LOOK MOM .... GRASS!!!! Why is it brown?"

Some other funny things Evan has said lately:

We were going over nursery rhymes because they are learning about them in school. I started reviewing "Baa Baa black sheep" I started the rhyme and said "Baa Baa black sheep have you any wool? Yes sir yes sir three (and then Evan yells) SUITCASES!!"

Yesterday I was trying to be funny and said "Oh poop" Well Evan didn't think it was funny and kept getting after me for saying bad words. I kept giggling at his "discipline" method when he finally says to me "Mom, why are you making me the bad guy??" It was so funny because he said it just the way that I do when he is being a pill.

Landon is just funny! He said "house" today and is currently completely obsessed with trucks (which are any kind of car, but his favorite are construction vehicles. Good thing we live in a construction zone ... hour and hours of entertainment!!!

education

I am a firm believer in things happening for a reason. Whether we learn the reason now, later, or after we pass on we will learn the reason.

Long story short .... I don't have Bells Palsy again.

That is really a good thing. My doctor thinks I have what is called a "complex migraine".

There are several types of migraine headaches. A "complex migraine" is one in which there are neurological symptoms such as weakness, loss of vision, or difficulty speaking in addition to the headache. In fact, a complex migraine may be mistaken for a stroke.

One theory about the cause of migraine headaches is that blood vessels in the brain suddenly narrow (or spasm) and then dilate; when the blood vessels dilate, the headache develops. During the spasm phase, certain parts of the brain may receive too little blood, and this may cause the stroke-like symptoms. However, unlike a stroke, blood flow is not permanently interrupted during migraine headaches, and the neurological symptoms are nearly always temporary.

My doctor gave me some heavy medication and we are watching it.

I really believe that everything that my body is going through right now is because of the miscarriage.

My wonderful doctor said that a complex migraine is triggered by stress. I wonder what I have had to be stressed about?

Eureka

So the boys socks have been disappearing. I have not been able to figure out where they are going. My washer and dryer couldn't have eaten that many could they? I finally figured it out. I pulled the Landon's crib away from the wall to confirm my theory.

I was right

My body is falling apart! Anything that is injured is flaring up. My tendinitis, my sciatica, my neck is stiff and I can feel my bells palsy threatening to return. The chiropractor thinks that my body is reacting to the miscarriage. He says he sees it a lot in women who miscarry. My bells palsy never really went away from November, but it has been manageable and only I notice. I have a thought that after I go to the endodontist tomorrow for a redo on my root canal it will help that. Hopefully .............

Thank you

Thank You

How can I say thank you enough? Through this whole experience of my miscarriage I have been literally surrounded by angels. Angels who have watched my kids, angels who have brought magazines, sweets, trinkets, cards, flowers, hugs, and prayers.

All of these have lifted my spirits. I am more grateful than you will ever know. This trial has been made easier because of you!

Relating to people helps me. Before this week I have not been able to find anyone else who had a miscarriage experience like me. I have read and heard that others experiences were very painful, but not as long. This week I was at my friends. I haven't seen her for a while and we were talking about everything that has been going on. She had the same experience as I did!!! It was quite therapeutic to talk to her. She literally had the same experience ... blood loss, the giant painful pliers, emergency D&C. It was good to talk to her.

Seriously??

I mean seriously????

Yesterday the boys and I were playing on a very dry, sunny deck. This is what it looked like this morning. The next picture is what it looked like this afternoon. Notice that the boat is gone.

funny story

Sooooo funny!! I went on a picnic, despite the cold weather, with some of my friends. It is the last full day I have with my boys while Evan is on spring break. I knew that we just needed to get out. We packed up all our stuff and met our friends all bundled up.

Well there were a really large, very cold, muddy puddle that Landon was obsessed with. He doesn't have any rubber boots and was wearing his cowboy boots. He was getting his pants wet and muddy. I didn't really care, boys will be boys. I figured we would leave once the water seeped up high enough that he would be cold. My friend was snapping some pics of my sweet baby when he tripped and face planted in the cold water! It was sooo funny and sad!! He was drenched and had mud on his beautiful face. Poor baby!

Moments later Evan starts freaking out, I mean really FREAKING OUT, because he thought there was a bug on his boot. This happened yesterday too. He totally loses it and I am wondering what is going to happen when the weather actually warms up and there are real bugs (yesterday was a dead bug, today was a piece of mud) that are crawling around. I asked Evan why he is afraid of bugs and he said that it is because they will eat him. No matter what I tell him he does not believe me when I tell him that bugs are harmless. We even went through a list of bugs and what their purpose is on the earth. It's going to be one very interesting summer.