Mother's Day Gifts

Every Mother's Day since 2002, I have been spoiled.  I am spoiled with the amazing love of my children and I am so grateful!  This year was no different.  First, I was treated to this AMAZING overnight cream cheese-stuffed lemon french toast with strawberries (from Our Best Bites).  It was so good I want to eat it every day for ever and ever!!

I am so lucky to be the wife of this wonderful fella!

Leonard also got this beautiful flower bouquet for me.

This is my favorite Kaleb.

Kaleb, along with the Young Men at church, passed these booklets out to all the women.

This is my favorite Noé.

Noé gave me this darling puzzle.

This is my favorite Gavin.

Gavin gave me these 2 notes.  He said at school his class made origami flowers for Mother's Day, but he couldn't make them.  I love the notes he made me instead!

This is my favorite Teague.

Teague wanted to write me a story for Mother's Day, but then he decided he wanted to write a 20 chapter book!  He's finished 6 of the chapters so far.  I can't wait to read the rest of it!

This is my favorite Hiram.

He gave me this gift and adorable photo card.

The gift was another stepping stone for my garden (it's now outside next to the one Teague made a few years ago) and the card was this cute questionnaire.

 

This is my favorite Ali.

She made me this cute hand-heart card.

This is my favorite Macy.

My friends Niki and Cathy gave me this yummy hand soap with some great quotes about motherhood.

We had Sister Austin and Sister Johnson over for dinner.  They came over 2 hours early, so they could each have an hour to skype with their families.  They are great missionaries!

(We had Elders Symes, Arellano, and Dorich over last week for dinner, but I missed getting a picture.)

The sisters brought me this adorable pink gerbera daisy to add to my bouquet.  I was definitely spoiled!

Some Thoughts on Mothering

Last year on Mother's Day, I shared the first two thoughts on facebook.  This year I shared the last one.  I am so grateful for my mom, my step-mom, my angel mother-in-law, and all of the other "mothers" I've had- aunties, grandmothers, teachers, church leaders.  For many years, I've had a hard time on Mother's Day because I feel guilt for all the things I wish I was doing differently as a mom.  However, this year I just focused on my gratitude for being a mother!  If my children know that I love them with all of my heart, then I think I am a successful mother!

  

National March for Life on Parliament Hill

Twice in my life I've been asked by medical professionals if I wanted an abortion.  The first time was at our initial consultation at the third fertility clinic we went to (we got treatments in Provo, Utah; Canterbury, England; and finally Las Vegas, Nevada).  Leonard and I were asked if we were candidates for selective reduction.  I had no idea what that even meant.  (Can I selectively reduce the size of my thighs?  Um, yes please!  No, that's not what they meant.)  I looked at Leonard with the question in my eyes, and he calmly replied to the doctor that no we were not.  After we left I asked him what that meant.  He explained that it meant that if I were to get pregnant with more than one baby, would we want to abort one or more of them?  I was floored!  We were there to receive help having a baby.  If I were to get pregnant with more than one, I would be singing, "Hallelujah!"  I did get pregnant with more than one- I got pregnant with our sweet twins Kaleb and Noé and let me tell you, I sang, "Hallelujah!" often!!

The second time I was asked was when I was pregnant with Macy and we just found out she had Down syndrome.  We met with a Genetic counselor (Len was in India still, but my dear friend Leslie was with me) and she asked me if I wanted to have an amniocentesis to get a 100% accurate diagnosis of Macy's Trisomy-21.  I told her I did not, as there is a risk of miscarriage, a slight risk, but a risk none-the-less.  She told me that was fine because I wasn't planning on terminating the pregnancy.  She then said, if I did want to terminate I would need to be 100% sure she had Down syndrome.  At this point, I wanted to scream!  It was as if she was saying that if my baby didn't have Down syndrome, she would be worth having, but if she did then her life wasn't worth it.  The only reason why I took those blood tests during my pregnancies (in my geriatric years, ha!) was to help me prepare if they ever came back positive.  I'm so glad I did have that time to prepare before Macy was born.  However, now I kind of wish those tests didn't exist as I've learned that 90% of babies who do receive their diagnosis in utero have their lives ended.

I was actually asked a second time if I wanted to keep Macy.  After I had the ultrasound that revealed her heart defect, my obstetrician point-blank asked me, "Are you sure you want to have a baby that will require open-heart surgery and has Down syndrome?"  I blurted out, "YES!" and then started crying.  My doctor then said, "Good, I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page.  What I think is right and what you think is right, might have been two different things."  In that moment, I loved that man!  He was on my side!  And more importantly, he was on Macy's side!

I am so pleased with these kiddos for their courage and bravery to share their beliefs with the world!  They attended the Pro-Life Mass downtown, listened to speeches at Parliament Hill, then began their demonstration walking around Parliament Hill.  Soon they were met with an angry crowd of protesters chanting, "Abortion! Abortion!  Abortion!" who glared at them with hate and malice in their eyes.  Luckily, the march planners had a plan B in mind, so the group quietly turned around and marched in the other direction to complete their trek around Parliament Hill.  Again, I am so proud of them and again I am so blessed that I get to be Kaleb, Noé, Gavin, Teague, Hiram, Ali, and precious Macy's Mom!

Pre-op Day

We went to the hospital for FIVE hours to do all of Macy's pre-op stuff.  First, we met a surgical nurse (our's was off that day, but we previously met her) to get all of Macy's measurements taken.  Next, we met the social worker again to make sure our family has a support system to help us out during her surgery day and recovery period.  Finally, the surgeon came in (Dr. Maharaj, a lovely man) to go over all the nitty-gritty of what will actually happen during our sweet girl's open heart surgery.  Man, it is DANG scary!  I feel that she is in good hands though and I know that Heavenly Father is watching over her and her medical team.  I have faith that everything will work out all right (regardless of the outcome, but of course, I want her to be healthy and well!).

We were in that first room for 3 hours!  The next 2 hours were spent meeting the anesthesiologist, getting her blood work done, getting a urine sample from her, and finally having chest x-rays taken with her stuffed in this baby vase (technically a pigg-o-stat).  She hated that thing!  And I don't blame her!  She cried the hardest while she was in that- even more so than getting her blood taken (2 pokes) and giving a urine sample with a bag taped to her privates, then having to be removed like a band-aid, (ouch!).  This girl is as sweet as they come, but as I've said before- she is also one tough cookie!

I'm having lots of anxiety though.  I just can't wait until her surgery is over and all is well and I can hold her and take care of her again.  They are expecting she'll be in the hospital for about 2 weeks, have about 6 weeks of initial recovery, but it will take a year for her to make a full recovery.  I don't want to wish her "babyhood" away, but I can't wait for that day.  I love you Macy girl with all of my heart!!

Mini-MTC

Kaleb and Noé got to go to Montreal for a bi-stake mini-MTC (Missionary Training Center) experience.  All of the youth were given a mission companion and put into a district.  They attended workshops put on by current and former missionaries and the Montreal Mission President was also in attendance.

District 1.

District 2.

District 3.

District 4.

District 5.

Kaleb's district.

District 6.

District 7.

Noé's district.

District 8.

The highlight of the day was being able to serve in the Montreal temple!  I'm so glad my kids get to participate in wonderful events like this!

Our ward's young women and their awesome president!

Road trip back home singing along to The Greatest Showman!

21 Years!

Twenty-one years ago, I was 21 years old and married this wonderful man!

I thank God every day that I get to travel life with him.

Together we have built our family and do our best to raise them with love.

Here is our shelf for May that represents spring, but it will always represent our anniversary to me.  Love you Leonard with all that I am!

(PS- We celebrated our anniversary a week late with a lovely steak and shrimp dinner at Moxie's.)

Thumbsucker

Look what Macy can do.

Oh no!

Teague was also a thumbsucker and sucked his thumb until he was 5.  He's 9 now and I'm pretty sure braces are in his future.

Whenever I catch her sucking away, I swap it out for her pacifier.  She'll then spit out her pacifier and replace her thumb.  The battle of wills has begun, ha ha!

I want her to be able to comfort herself, but there are many bad side-effects of thumbsucking. Besides misalignment of teeth, children can have problems with their speech, eating, getting chapped skin, as well as possibly catch other illnesses from germs on their skin.  Plus, it just becomes a bad habit that's hard to break.

We'll keep working on it!

(By the way, she's an ambidextrous thumbsucker, oi!)

Look-alike

Last year in India, Kaleb found his doppelganger in his friend Julius.

This year in Canada, Noé found her look-alike in her friend Navy!

I want a look-alike!

My 1st incentive reward

So last week I blogged about my new eating plan, in hopes to get my body healthier and to lose some weight.  I weighed in at 221 and my goal was to reach 215 by the end of May.  I believe slow weight loss (about a pound a week) is the best for my body and easier for me to maintain.

Well, I was so surprised yesterday when I did my first weigh-in to discover that I had lost 8 pounds!  Whenever I've changed my eating habits, I've always lost the most weight that first week, so I expect it will slow down this week, but I am pumped to continue to eat as best as I can every day and to drink as much water as I can.  A couple of days last week I was too busy to follow my schedule exactly so I didn't get my last quart of water drank or eaten a snack.  I'm not rigid in my plan though- I think flexibility is key, and so far so good.

Yesterday after Macy's hearing test at the hospital, we made a quick stop at the mall next door to visit the Pandora store.  I chose the Around the World charm.  I feel like it's the perfect companion to my Home, Sweet Home charm as they are representative of my love for travel and hearth.

Since I reached my previous May goal, my new goal is to reach 208 by the end of the month to earn another charm.  Please wish me luck!

Florida Adventure

Going on school trips when I was a kid, were some of my favorite childhood adventures.  When I was in 5th grade I got to go to Dana Point, California with my Gifted and Academically Talented class to study oceanography and spend a night on the replica Pilgrim ship.  It was fantastic!  That year our group also did an archaeology dig for artifacts we had created supposedly from an advanced alien civilization that had visited our planet in the past.  I wasn't able to go on that trip and I still regret it!

In Junior High I went on 2 year end trips- one to Magic Mountain, the other to Disneyland.  But in High School is where the real fun and adventure began!  I was able to go on 6 trips.  My sophomore year I was on the Drill Team and got to go with our music department on both the fall and spring trips.  My junior and senior years I got to go to cheerleading camps each summer, and each spring I got to go on the music trips with Spectrum (our school's amazing show choir- more like a music, dance, theater choir!).  All of my school trips were to California and we went all over it from San Diego, to Los Angeles, to San Francisco.

Well, my son Kaleb just got back from his first band trip to California's sunny cousin- Florida!!  He got to spend an amazing week visiting all 4 of the Disney Theme parks (a life long dream of mine!).  That's right, they went to Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios.  They also got to visit the Kennedy Space Center.  They performed on the Marketplace Stage in Disney Springs one afternoon, but otherwise got to play the entire rest of the week!  I'm so glad he got to go, but I think I missed my calling, when can I become a high school band teacher?  Sign me up!

Here are some fun pictures his band teacher shared with me:

In the email his teacher sent me she said, "Here are some highlights.  We had so much fun!  Kaleb is a treat!!"