Vulnerabilities

So I read this book "The Gifts of Imperfection" by Brene Brown.  It was interesting.  I didn't get as much out of it as I thought I would, but it made me think, so that was good.  (Or maybe not....sometimes I think too much.)

Anyway....something she talked about frequently....or at least stuck out to me was vulnerabilities and how we tend to hide them.  Are you a vulnerability hider?  I think everyone is, it's just how much so.  Brown talked about how there are three areas in which people are the most vulnerable: dancing, singing and laughing.   I found this SO interesting.  I know there are people who don't like to do these things because they are embarassed, but man alive, I am not one of them.   Here's a bit about me on each of these topics

• Laughing - I snort when I laugh.  Sometimes really loud.  I get teased about it, I get egged on to try to get a snort.  Friends and family judge how funny something is by how many times I snort.  Sometimes I'll try to hold it in (which essentially means it is delayed, they always come out), but HECK, IT'S ME!  It's who I am.  I didn't used to snort.  Something happened during my pregnancies....it started after Peder was born and got way more prevalent after the girls.  I'm the girl who laughs so hard she snorts.  I'd rather laugh so hard I snort then not laugh at all.
• Singing - I sing A LOT.  I sing to my kids, I sing in the shower, I sing along with the radio.  If you're driving down the road and you start laughing at someone who is jamming along to the radio, it's probably me you're laughing at.  There are pictures of me unabashedly singing my guts out on facebook.  Yep, I'm the girl who can't carry a tune but sings at the top of her lungs.
• Dancing - OH MY GOODNESS!  I love to dance!  L-O-V-E IT!  We have dance parties around our living room and kitchen.  If I hear a song I like while at a store or restaurant I will start singing and dancing along.  I'm pretty sure I get this from my mom (She was SO embarrassing when I was a kid! LOL).  I have memories of dancing around with my parents when I was growing up and one of my favorites is dancing around a cabin we rented to the song "If I had a Million Dollars" the summer before I left for college.  Right now my workouts are to Just Dance 2 and Gold Gym's Dance Workout on our Wii.

Apparently these are not my vulnerabilities.  I'm a free spirit.  I don't embarrass easily.  I will NEVER be ashamed of having a good time through laughing, singing or dancing.   These things help to get me out of my head when I'm thinking too much, when I'm very grumpy or when I'm just having a hard day.

This is my current favorite song to sing and dance to.  I crank it every time I drive to school.  Don't let a moment slip away!

Time to Simplify

The holiday season always, ALWAYS stresses me out.  I get depressed, grumpy and overwhelmed.  It makes me sad, because I really do LOVE the season, the smells, the sentiments and the giving.  I love everything related to Christmas, but every year I get down emotionally.

So now, this year, actually in the last 24 hours, I've decided to make some changes.  Most of you know that every year I send out handmade Christmas cards, with a family letter and picture.  Every year I spend at least 20-30 hours designing and making the cards.  That doesn't include the letter, picture or addressing the envelopes.  Since I've been so busy this year I haven't even started any of that process.  So....I'm not doing it this year.  I'll still send out cards, but it will be a photo card that will take me an hour or two to make the 80 that I usually send out.  There's one load off my shoulders.

I'm also changing the family letter.  I'm not going to do the traditional format.  I haven't quite decided what the new format will be, but it will be quick and easy to do.  No more worrying about the grammar, spelling, etc.  In all honesty, it may just be a list of things from our year.

Now....what will I do with all this extra spare time that I have?  Well, first of all, I'll sleep.  WA-HOO!  I love sleep and it hasn't been around much lately, so I'm going to reacquaint myself with it.  THEN....I'll actually be able to enjoy my children's wonder of the season, rather then stressing about what else I need to get done this year before the holiday gets here.  I'll be able to bake and decorate cookies, take them shopping for each other and their dad, and continue our family traditions while being fully present rather then thinking of something else.  I'm also going to spend some time with my rarely seen husband....doing goofy things like playing Guitar Hero or kicking his butt at Wii Boxing.

This year I'm slowing down rather then speeding up.  I'm going to hold my family close and really enJOY the season.

The Christmas Season is Here

I took this picture on Sunday after we had decorated our tree.  The wonder of Christmas has filled my children's hearts and I'm SO happy and proud that they are mine.

My baby boy is 5!

Can you believe it?  Peder is 5 years old today.  FIVE!  Seriously, how did that happen.  He was snuggling with me this afternoon and overflows all over the place when he sits on my lap.  Was it really 5 years ago that I could hold him in one arm  and he would sit so easily in the crook of my arm.

Look at him now.  Isn't he just an adorable little boy?  My gosh that smile can totally light up my day.  Look at how happy he is with his 24 mini-cupcakes he picked out for his birthday cake (he'll get a fancy Scooby Doo one for his birthday party in a couple weeks).  We were singing happy birthday to him and he just looked at me with that sweet smile of his. 

Here he is with all of his presents from our little family.  He got a cowboy hat and Sheriff badge from me and Jake, a lasso from Mari and a pair of chaps from Emmy.  He is all ready to be a cowboy.

When he was all done opening his gifts he said, "Thank you so much you guys!  I LOVE IT!  Everything is so cute."  That made me tear up.  Oh my gosh!  I am SO proud to be his mommy.  Happy Birthday to my little Sweet P.

Our Weekend Highs

A summary of our weekend in the great things we experienced!

Friday -
1.  We went to the Minneapolis Camping and Vacation Show and found a camper we want to get when we buy our next camper.

2.  While looking at a camper one of the sales people asked us if the girls are twins.  We, of course, said yes and he talked about his twin boys.  He mentioned that his twins were premature.  I told him that our girls were born at 38 weeks and his response made me soar.  He said, "It's obvious, they both look very healthy."  HOW AWESOME!  I love that people look at my girls and see healthy kids!

Saturday -
1.  I got a ton of studying done!

2.  SLUMBER PARTY!  Peder, Emmy and I had a slumber party in the living room.  We watched a movie, had a special snacks and shared a bowl of popcorn.  I love slumber parties with my kiddos!

Sunday -
1.  A Valentine's Day surprise from Jake!  He doesn't like Valentine's Day, but made today special because I've been struggling with stress level.  Jake and I haven't been able to spend much time together lately.  We got to my parents' house to pick Mari up from her weekend visit and the kids brought me two Valentine's cards.  Jake had asked my parents to watch the kids and we went out on a date.  We went to see "When in Rome," which was really cute and fun.  Then we went to Target, wandered around and got some new clothes (for me) and Valentine candies for Jake.

2.  An awesome TWIN moment between Emmy and Mari.  When we got to my parents' house to pick up Mari, the girls ignored everyone else.  Emmy and Mari yelled each other's names and ran into each other's arms.  They hugged each other and were SO excited to see each other again.  It totally melted my heart.

A Peek at our Night

Tonight we went to run some errands.  We headed over to Woodbury to check out Michael's and I made a trip into Archiver's.  On our way back to Target in West St. Paul, the following scene happened.

Emmy:  Singing at the TOP of her lungs.  And I mean TOP.  She was joyously singing like she often does.

Peder:  Got kind of annoyed with the singing.  Told Emmy to stop.

Emmy:  Kept SINGING!  Sang so loud I couldn't hear Peder talking.

Peder:  Repeatedly:  EMMY STOP!

Me:  Started singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star at the top of my lungs.  MUCH louder and more annoying than Emmy was.

Peder:  "That's MUCH better!"

And that is a small snippet of our life.  Enjoy!

Merry Christmas from the Early Kids

Emmy, Peder and Mari want to wish all our friends and family a VERY Merry Christmas.  We all hope that it is filled with joy and happiness and safe travel.

Emmy, Peder and Mari in their new jammies.  They get a pair every year on the 23rd, so they have special new jammies to open their gifts in the next morning.

Reading a very special Christmas story with Daddy before bed.  You can see our new couch that was delivered today.  The fabric on the pillows is what I picked out for our chairs.  It doesn't really do it justice, but we do love our new furniture!

Our Christmas tree all ready for our celebration that starts tomorrow morning.  I just love how beautiful and festive it looks!

After 7 years....FINALLY!

I have lights on the outside of my house!  WA-HOO!  Jake put them up for me on Friday night and it was COLD!  It will be a process, but next year I hope to get him to put lights up the peak of the front of the house. 

This is me, with my permagrin, after Jake had put up the lights.  I L-O-V-E them!  And Jake!

My Babies are Two!

Two years ago today my baby girls were born. After a difficult pregnancy, uncertainty and finally excitement, they arrived at 10:30 and 10:31a. My beautiful baby girls were born and I knew our family was complete. We never thought we'd be a family of 5, but I can't imagine anything else or anything better.

So now here we are, 2 years later. My babies are no longer babies and it has been quite the ride. I think back to that day and I cry. Not only because it was such a scary day, but because I am SO thankful to now have 2 happy, healthy girls that exhaust me with their playing and fighting, rather then being exhausted because I've been sleeping in a hospital for days on end.

Today's Smileys are all about my girls and their birthday!

1. The girls still love to snuggle with me. This picture is from the day they were born, right before Emmy was transferred to Children's. I had to get a picture of us girls.

Me reading to the girls tonight before bed. I love my snugglebugs.

2. Funfetti Birthday cake with buttercream frosting. YUM!

3. How happy the girls got when they realized that the song we were singing was just for them....one at a time.

Mari with her cake.

Emmy with her cake. (Don't you love the happy smiles?)

4. The fact that the box their birthday present came in became a toy too. Even Jake got invited to play in there!

5. The new house in our backyard.

6. Seeing their new present for the first time. "WHOA!"

7. The new aprons the girls got from my sister for their birthday. The package came in the mail today and I just about died because of how cute they are. They also came with oven mitts, a hot pad and a wooden spoon. They also got a new cook book. HOW CUTE ARE THEY?

Emmy modeling. Notice that she put her own shoes on?

Mari very confused as to why I wanted her to stand so far away from me. She just wanted to climb into my lap right away. But I HAD to get a picture of how cute they are in their aprons.

8. All the birthday wishes the girls go. Such nice family and friends!

9. Taking the girls shopping to get all the stuff for their birthday party on Saturday. We were gone all morning, I was in pain the rest of the day, but we had a good time and it was nice to get out of the house.

10. Peder helped me make and decorate the girls' cakes. He was SO excited to help that he started crying when he thought he wouldn't be able to. He is such a good big brother.

11. The girls giving each other hugs all the way through Target. It was so sweet.

12. My little family of 5 and the love that lives here.

Happy

I look at my life and can't help but be happy. Everything I have done has brought me to this point in my life. The horrible decisions that I look back on with sadness and the decisions that brought me great happiness have made me who I am today. And I am happy with this person. Sometimes I still do stupid things, say the wrong thing at the wrong time or just blow it, but I know that those who love me will forgive me. And those who are going to let who I am or what I believe affect their feelings or respect for me probably aren't people I should be around anyway.

So I look around me and I see my family whom I couldn't love any more if I tried. I see a wonderful, caring, loving, hilarious husband and wonderful father. I see a little boy who is full of energy, testing his limits, handing out hugs left and right, and loves to play games. I see two girls who are learning who they are, one is shy, the other little miss independent. One with a flair for the dramatic, a love of books, a deep affection for all things stuffed and a tendency to follow the crowd. The other is one tough cookie, a HUGE risk taker, a major snuggler and a social butterfly. I helped make this family and they couldn't be more beautiful.

We may not have a ton of money, a large, beautiful house and we give up things for ourselves so our children can have more, but we are still happy. We have fun together. There is a lot of laughter in our house. Love lives here.

Be Happy Song of the Day: Say Hey (I Love You) by Michael Franti and Spearhead

Today's Smileys:

1. A Father and Son spending the afternoon together.


3. The unadultered joy of a 3 year old.


3. Spending time together as a family, even if it is just for a few minutes.

4. Mari's first ponytail.

5. Having twins.

6. Mari taking care of me and tucking me in with her stuffed animals.

7. My parents taking the kids over the night tonight so Jake has a chance to work on projects around the house tomorrow.

8. The girls waving bye to me on their way out to the van. They were all excited to go to Grandpa and Grandma's and would turn around on their way down the sidewalk and yell, "BYE MOM!" and wave to me. Way too cute.

9. Getting some quiet time today.

10. Jake picking up Pride & Prejudice from the library for me.

11. Realizing how lucky we are to want the same things and that the most important of those things is time together as a family.

Smiles

Today was a pretty good day. I am stressing a little bit because our Chrysler dealership is one that Chrysler wants to close. This stresses me out because of some of the things we were promised when we bought the van 2 years ago, like life time free oil changes. In order to qualify for that you have to do your regular maintenance with the dealership and we've been doing it for the last 2 years. If it closes I'm going to feel a little lost and little annoyed about that.

Today's Be Happy song of the day: Rock & Roll by Eric Hutchinson

Today's Smileys:

1. A visit from Leslie. She brought us supper and hung out for awhile. I got to chat with her and the kids showered her with attention. I know we enjoyed having her and it sure seemed like she enjoyed being here. :)

2. A card in the mail saying I was being thought of and prayed for. It warmed my heart.

3. A REALLY good morning this morning. I made it until lunch time with very well controlled pain and barely limping. It was SO nice.

4. Peder's confusion over no longer having quiet time. Super cute.

5. The girls playing peek together on the couch.

6. A nice dinner that we only have to throw in the oven. Gives Jake some time to do other things since I can't do much around the house.


7. The kids wrestling with Jake and all 4 of them giggling away!

8. Getting into my scrap area for a little bit. I finished one layout and then Jake caught me overdoing it. :) He yelled up the stairs, "Meliss, are you overdoing it?" To which I responded, "Maybe...." That resulted in me being told to get back downstairs and sit on the couch. LOL....oops. :)

9. Jake making chocolate chip cookies because I said that I wanted some to celebrate National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day tomorrow. He's so sweet.

10. Naked baby butts walking into the bathroom for their bath.

11. Bath and Body Works Shower Gel

12. PartyLite candles

Happy Mother's Day

Today has been a painful day. I was able to make it to church, even though it was a difficult thing to sit for that hour and I eventually stopped standing up to sing, it was nice to get there. I've been wanting to go, but have been unable to. I spent the rest of the day on the couch, but it was worth it.

Things that made me smile today:

1. All three kids laying on the air mattress with me after breakfast this morning.


2. The look on Megan's face when the projector at church went into stand by mode. I had to contain my laughter. :)

3. Downloading new songs to my iPod Touch. I love that thing. Right now I'm trying to only do HAPPY, upbeat songs. Suggestions are more then welcome, especially if you have a song that you hear that ALWAYS gets you smiling or dancing.

4. Mari's great love of shoes.

5. Emmy's great love of hats.

6. Peder helping his sister up when she fell over. He's a sweet big brother.

7. A delicious Mother's Day dinner. Chicken, cheesy potatoes and corn. YUM-O!

8. Playing catch with Emmy today and her bubbling giggles.

9. Our church praying for my hip and the offers of help.

10. The "train" making it's way through our house. Mari is the engine, Jake and Emmy are the passenger cars and Peder is the caboose. Very cute.


11. A sweet husband.

12. Being a Mommy.

Ups and Downs

Today has been a difficult day because I've been dealing with a lot of pain. But I still have wonderful moments of happiness. I have really been appreciating my bright spots lately and am SO in love with my family, it's probably a bit nauseating for everyone else to listen to!


Today's smileys:


1. "Say Hey (I love you)" by Michael Franti and Spearhead. Seriously, this song makes us all dance....even if it means moving my arms around like Mari and Emmy because I can't get up to do it.


2. Peder picked out Madagascar 2 to give to me for Mother's Day. It's cute and hilarious all at once. We will be watching it tonight at our slumber party.


3. Our annual Mother's Day slumber party. Peder and I started the tradition last year and will be continuing it tonight. Next year the girls will be old enough to join us. We have so much fun watching movies, eating popcorn and snuggling on the air mattress.

4. I got an iPod Touch for Mother's Day. I LOVE IT! Seriously, it's SO nice. I will now have something small to keep in my purse for scheduling all of our appointments. Plus it has an address book, internet accessible through any wi-fi, email, weather and I added a lists application. SO COOL!


5. Chipotle for lunch. YUM-O!


6. I got my mom's birthday present today and I think she is going to LOVE it.

7. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I've had discussions about the addictive properties of the minis. I think it applies to all chocolate and peanut butter cup sizes. I CRAVE them, constantly.

8. Cheeseburgers off the grill for supper. (Huh, just realized a lot of my smileys today have to do with food. LOL....I find that SO typical.)

9. Lidocaine Patches. I know I've said it before, but it bears repeating today. Necessary and helpful.

Fabulous Friday

My Fabulous Friday Smileys:

1. My parents came to visit and the kids were SO happy. Stampedes to the doorway. Mari adoring Grandma. Emmy pushing Grandma out of the way to get to Grandpa. Peder talking their ears off. And cute new jammies and outfits for all 3 kids.

2. Free HBO all weekend on DirecTV. Time to load up the DVR for rainy nights this summer!

3. I called my new doctor's office this morning to check for cancellations and my appointment is now scheduled for July 2nd....3 WEEKS EARLIER! Yes, I will be calling again next week, but I was SO excited by that news this morning that if I could have I would have done a happy dance! WA-HOO!

4. Sleeping in bed again last night and being able to cuddle with Jake. We both missed it! It took awhile to get comfortable enough to sleep (it took an ice pack on the hip for that to happen), but I slept much better last night then I had been on the couch.

5. Hearing Mari yell, "EMMY!" while they are supposed to be napping.

6. Grey's Anatomy. I LOVE THIS SHOW! And I am really liking Carev.

7. Peder pulling Mari around the house in the wagon.

8. The girls waving bye-bye to me as they walk into another room....or two feet from me....then two more feet....etc.

9. Peder eating a water chestnut at supper and doing the typical "kid eating something they think is disgusting" facial expressions and gagging.

10. Emmy giving Mari hugs.

11. That 70's Show. Always makes me smile.

12. Jake's Mickey Mouse voice

Keeping it up

So I've decided to keep up the power of positive thinking. This is something we discussed at book group this week and I'm implementing it to make it through the pain and my days. Biggest thing: I'm going to think positively about their being a cancellation at the doctor's office so I can get in before July 22nd. Let's go positive thinking!

My smiley moments for the day:

1. Waking up in the middle of the night to Peder crawling onto the couch next to me to snuggle. This morning he told me he had a bad dream and told me he was happy I was on the couch to snuggle with.

2. Waking up in the middle of the night to Jake snuggled up next to me on the couch. He came downstairs to go to the bathroom and told me he missed me and wanted to cuddle for a bit. (Can you tell I have very sweet men in my life?)

3. Getting the pictures I ordered in the mail. 630 pictures for Peder's scrapbooks. I am now caught up on printing out pictures for Emmy and Peder through December 2008. Now to get started on printing off some more Mari pictures!

4. Having Savory Chicken (formerly Egg Noodle Chicken) by Kraft for lunch. It's a childhood favorite of mine, kind of a comfort food, and the kids LOVED it. Now Jake is the only one in the house that doesn't like it. Good thing we have lunches without daddy 4 days a week.

5. Being able to hang outside with the kids, even if I only observed from my hammock (and had to be helped getting into and out of it, etc.).

6. Getting lots of love and affection from all my kiddos during random "pauses" in play time.

Mari was my biggest snuggler today. She threw an absolute fit when she couldn't get into the hammock right away.

The girls.....I love getting lots of love!

Mari being so cute.

7. Peder's never ending energy...and the lovely outfit he picked out by himself today.

8. Emmy's crazy hair. Her hair is ALWAYS a mess, even when it's combed.

9. Eating supper outside.

10. Overheard conversations with a 3 year old. Peder's quote of the day, "Daddy, is my poop swimming?" Sorry if that offends some of you, but I thought it was HILARIOUS! I'm still laughing about it and that's why it HAD to be on my list today.

Positive Thinking

I've been really crabby and down in the dumps lately because of the pain I've had over the last 3 weeks. Although the 2 cortisone shots I had have helped, I continue to be in enough pain that I spend almost 24 hours a day on the couch. I even change the girls' diapers there so I don't have to get on the floor. The good news is that it sounds like it is a cam lesion that is causing all of this and that it can most likely be surgically repaired. The bad news is that I have to wait until July 22nd to see the only surgeon in the area that does this kind of procedure arthroscopically. Major bummer, but at least we have the next step in place.

So because of the grumpiness, I've decided to make a list of things that made me smile today:

1. Emmy asking for a high five after every kiss she gave me....even if she just blew me one.
2. Sonic ice cream treats to help with the heart burn this pain med is causing me....and a husband who will go get them for me at 9:30 at night.
3. A husband who will was my hair for me when I can't do it on my own.
4. Every single one of my kids wanting to cuddle with me after their baths. Every time the kids take a bath, I get a ton of snuggle time from little cuties wrapped in towels.
5. Finding new things to fill my time.
6. Watching a couple of interesting/good movies today
7. Pizza delivery
8. Lidocaine patches
9. Seeing other people very happy with their lives. Lots of my friends seem to be bubbling with joy and it's nice to have that bubble over to me.
10. Tri Towers Solitaire on Facebook....addicting

So there ya go....some good things going on during a bad situation. I've become a lot more appreciative of those joys!

Joy

There is no other way to describe how I'm feeling. My heart breaks every time Emmy whimpers and I feel horrible when her pain isn't well managed, but I see the future in that bare belly and I feel JOY.

I made the doctor tear up today. I told him that today would be the first time I'd every see Emmy's belly without stomas. She was flashed at me right after she was born and within minutes they discovered her medical issue. She was wrapped like a little burrito, I got to hold her and we took some pictures and then she was taken to the special care nursery. Later, before she left for Children's Hospital, I got to hold her again, but she was once again wrapped like a little burrito. So today, at about 3:30p, was the first time I had ever seen her with a flat belly. Anyway, he teared up when I told him that. Then I thanked him and gave him a hug....and his tears welled. An amazing doctor and I hope that today he knew how much what he does makes a difference in the lives of his patients and their families. Yes, he will be getting a gushing thank you card from me....he needs to know that I know how wonderful he is. And come to think of it, our pediatrician needs to know it too. A couple of doctors are going to get thank yous in the mail next week.

Today I am filled with love and joy. I think of the love that I am surrounded by and I tear up. I've cried tears of joy throughout the day today, because I can't contain the joy in my body and the only way for them to come out is in tears.

I have a wonderful family. A wonderful husband. A wonderful extended family. Wonderful friends. A wonderful support network. A wonderful church family. A wonderful life.

My life is JOY!

Yes We Can

My friend Jill posted this on her blog in November. I'm posting it here today because I LOVE IT! YES WE CAN! And yes I teared up.

Trying REALLY hard to stay positive

I've been really trying to stay positive. I've been battling a defeatist attitude for about a week now and have to really tell myself that things WILL get better. Today was another day that felt like it was filled with struggle. This morning my mom called me to tell me that a family friend had died after a very short battle with ALS. It was a difficult journey for his family and just sad news to get this morning.

Then Mari has been sick. She has had diarrhea and actually vomited this evening. We ended up taking her in to the doctor to get checked because she was dealing with such horrible chills and her hands and lips were purple.

Jake is still battling his illness, whatever it is.

I had my first physical therapy appointment this afternoon. It was painful and I learned that because I've been compensating for the pain in my left hip so much that I created issues for my right hip. The exercises she gave me are barely anything, but they send me into a great deal of pain. She also gave me new ways to sit, stand and get up from sitting to help retrain my muscles and get my pelvis more stable. She said it's going to be painful, but hopefully we can get it stable and strong. Then she said if I get back into working out that will help stabilize it tremendously. So back to the lifestyle change I made before Emmy got sick over the summer, and I will need to exercise consistently for the rest of my life.

But I'm trying to stay positive. I'm trying to look at the positive in my life and look forward to the good things. I don't want to be whiny. So here are some things that are good in our life and things we have to look forward to.

1. We have a wonderful support system. Our friends and family are SO great to us.
2. Saturday we get to go out to a really nice restaurant with my aunt and uncle. We always laugh with them and it will most definitely be a good time.
3. Emmy is having surgery next week and will no longer have a colostomy bag. What a POSITIVE step.
4. In February, Jake and I are taking a long weekend and heading to Stillwater for 3 nights. We are VERY excited for the opportunity to reconnect, do some fun things together and just hang out together. We've had 2 opportunities for "dates" since Emmy got sick in July. We need this!
5. In February I am taking a long weekend and going to a scrapbooking retreat with my sister-in-law. I am really looking forward to a weekend with a group of ladies who share the same passion as I do. SO FUN!
6. Our children are beautiful, wonderful and sweet. The cute incident of the day: Jake gave each of the kids a milkbone to give to Jesse. Emmy could care less about doing it, but Peder loves it and Mari was interested. Mari gave Jesse the milkbone and Peder gave her a hug and kiss and said, "Good job Mari! I'm SO proud of you!" How cute is that?

So that's a start of what I can remind myself of when I'm starting to feel bummed or just overwhelmed. I KNOW this illness will end, even if there doesn't seem to be an end in sight.

A DOUBLE WA-HOO DAY!

A picture of a box? If you have been to Emmy's Caring Bridge page, you understand the importance of this box. This is the last ever colostomy bag delivery that we will ever get. I cannot even explain to you how exciting that is for us here. WA-HOO!

So I've decided to try to do the photo a day thing. This is a HUGE thing in the scrapbooking world right now. Others are creating a special scrapbook for them. Right now I'm just taking the pictures and I'll decide what to do with them later. I just thought it was a good idea. Yesterday I took a picture of the Christmas decorations being packed up.

I have now been battling this cold for a week and this afternoon I realized why it seemed like I've been sick forever. I always tell Jake, I may get every illness under the sun, but when something lasts a week or two for others, it lasts a day or two for me. So the fact that I've been sick with a cold for a week and was fighting the stomach flu off and on for almost a week before that means that for me, I have been sick forever. On the plus side, I have my voice mostly back and I really do think I am on the mend. That could be because I took a 3.5 hour nap yesterday and a 4 hour one today. Hopefully I'm on the mend here....now to just get Peder and Mari over it too.

So far, despite my neverending battle with this cold, this year has already been a very positive one.