First E.R Visit

Cordon was on the toilet (he's potty trained now yippe!!!) and suddenly yelled "mom, my tummy hurts." I blew him off and told him it was because he was hungry and dinner was going to be soon.  Then I heard a cough and a splat.  I quickly cleaned things up since we had company due any minute, but things very quickly went down hill from there.  Every 20 min he would throw up.  These weren't just a simple throw up then go about your day, these were full body spasms that would leave him sweating and gasping for air.  He had no other symptoms and between throwing up he was up playing and acting as though nothing happened.  Eventually it started to drain him and after another spell he collapsed on me and I couldn't wake him up.  That is something I hope to never experience again.  It wasn't until I stripped him down in a cold room that he finally opened his eyes again.  After talking to the pediatrician and more throw up I bundled him up and took him to the E.R.  Chris called a friend who dropped everything and came over to help with a blessing.  It is such a blessing to have the priesthood in our home and to have good friends that we can call on when needed.  We got to the E.R and the receptionist handed us a bucket and told us to wait.  Sitting in an ER waiting room, in the ghetto, at 11pm is quite the experience.  The guy next to us talked to himself and rocked back and forth the entire time we were there.  Fortunately we only had to wait about 30 min, which is good, because every time Cordon threw up in that bucket people would slowly inch away from us and at the time it was really bothering me.  I probably would have done the same thing, but I was stressed and worried and having people give you dirty looks and inch away was not what I needed right then.  Although, during one of Cordons spells a lady walked over and handed me a box of Kleenex to wipe his mouth.  I wanted to hug that women. It's amazing how far a simple act of kindness can go.

After checking him over, the Dr. decided to try some medicine first before they hooked him up to IV's, which I was glad about.  He threw up the first one but kept the second one down and it finally settled his stomach enough that he threw up every 45 min instead of every 20 and that was enough to keep him hydrated.  At 1 am he was still throwing up but doing better so I decided to take him home so he could sleep.  I slept on his floor that night and even though he squirmed and moaned and coughed the rest of the night he didn't throw up again.  

The pediatrician told me that if a child goes 8 hours without going to the bathroom then they are considered dehydrated and should get an IV.  He went 15 hours without going to the bathroom.  It took him a week until he was completely back to normal.  The first two days he watched movies or slept and had no energy.  He would try to get up to play with toys then just lay down until I came and carried him back to the couch.  It was so sad to see him like that.  Although, I did get some good cuddle time with him.  The Dr. thinks it was just some virus but the fact that he had no other symptoms and no one else got it, I think it was something he ate.  I'm so grateful to have my healthy boy back and for modern medicine, and insurance.

 He was very excited to be a 'patient' in a hospital and talk to all the Dr's and nurses.

Little Devil

Eliza was being super cute and giving me lots of kisses so Chris got the camera.  Instead of getting a cute mother daughter photo, Chris got the aftermath of a little sneak biting me, HARD!  That little punk went in for another kiss and decided to change her mind.  If you look close you can see the bite mark on my check already starting to show. And check out that smug look on her face.  I think we all know who is in control here. 

Tool Time

Warning: this is a shameless bragging post about myself. 

We all have something we enjoy doing during our free time.  Something that takes us away from reality for a little bit and helps us recharge.  At least I hope we all do.  For years, my something was outdoor activities.  Chris and I spent countless hours rock climbing, wake boarding and snowboarding.  Then we moved away from Utah and realized that those activities were harder to get to and not always the best quality.  Then the kids came, and you can't exactly do those things with a child strapped to you and babysitters get expensive.  Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and wouldn't have it any other way.  I still had my books, but I wanted something else.  Something more physical I could do that would let me detach for a little bit.  About a year ago my friend told me about http://ana-white.com.  It's a website chuck full of DIY building projects.  It also has tons of versions of those projects and lots of good chat boards with people ready to answer any questions you have.  I spent hours on her website that first night and was drooling over the projects I could do.  I was ready to buy out Home Depot right then, but I found out you can't paint or prime or stain wood if the weather is below 50 degrees and it was December.  So I had to wait.  Finally, when it warmed up this spring I started my first project.  I turned my garage into my work area and very slowly I was able to get 4 projects done over the summer.  I realized very quickly that I couldn't work on anything when the kids were awake.  Cordon wanted to "help" and Eliza didn't like the noise. So my window of "project time" was pretty slim. I learned that it isn't as easy as I thought it would be, but they are functional and I loved doing it and I learned a lot from each build.  I'm already counting down the days until spring when I can do more.

 

Project 1: a library cart. I love this little reading, play area for the kids

 

Project 2: an end table I use for a TV stand.  I love the look of stained wood but It's very unforgiving.  Paint hides all my flaws but stain magnified them, especially the "stain able" wood filler.  It may be awhile before I attempt stain again. 

Project 3: Cordon's platform bed.  I really love this bed.  I love that it's low to the ground so Cordon can easily jump in and out and he no longer needs the safety rail. I called my dad a lot during this project.  I kept messing different things up and wouldn't know why. So i would text him a picture and he would tell me what I did wrong, how to fix it, and what building supply to buy to avoid that mistake again.  I love technology, and my dad

 

Project 4: I had some scrap wood and good weather, so I threw this together real fast.  I didn't follow a plan, which means it's pretty crappy, but it looks better then how we had Bud's food and water before.  

Auto Correct Gone Wrong

Things That Make Me Smile

*When I tell Cordon I need to do something to him that he doesn't want me to do (like clip his nails) he says "You don't want to do that!"

*As soon as Eliza hears a key in the door she looks towards the door, gets all excited and yells "DA DA!"

*Cordon tries to give commands to Bud and Bud just looks at him like "seriously? You think I'm going to obey you?"

*Eliza thinks everything can be turned into a necklace and tries to put any object she has around her neck. 

*Cordon tries to throw his food on Eliza's tray when he thinks I'm not looking, and she eats it as fast as she can before I take it away and give back to Cordon.

*Every morning when I'm doing Eliza's hair, she always puts down whatever she is playing with so she can fully admire herself in the mirror.

*Cordons latest game of "elevator." He informs me that it's time to get in the elevator then he will stand in a closet for a couple minutes.  That's it, he just stands there. 

*These Pictures-

Happy Halloween

We had a great Halloween this year.  Cordon is now old enough to understand holidays and get excited about them.  When we started talking about costumes I threw out a few ideas and the one that stuck was a farmer.  We just happened to have an old chicken costume so I threw that on Eliza and we had a cute little farmer and his chicken for Halloween. 

 

Bass Pro Shops offer free Halloween and Christmas photos.  They aren't the greatest quality but they are cute. 

 

Cordon really wanted to wear the chicken costume.  So I squeezed him into it and he ran around all excited, then realized it was very tight and begged me to quickly take it off.

 During our wards Truck or Treat, Eliza and Dad handed out candy while I took Cordon around the cars.  He did one quick loop then wanted to sit in the car and help dad. 

 On Halloween, Cordon was all set to dress up as a farmer again but I talked him into wearing the spaceman outfit instead because it's warmer and easier to spot at night.  He was so cute trick-or-treating.  He would ring the bell then run back to me.  When the door opened he would run back to the door and yell "trick-or-treat" as loud as he could.  As we walked to the next house he would say "I'm so excited." Check out the paper on the door.  Not only does Harrisburg have a specific day and time to trick -or-treat (usually the Thursday before, so kids don't get hurt during weekend traffic), but our apartment complex give us papers to put out if we are participating.  It makes it so organized and you don't have to worry about bothering anyone that doesn't want to hand out candy.

 Let me explain my costume. The morning of the Trunk or Treat I was outside spraying polyurethane on a headboard I had made.  Normally I am really good about wearing safety glasses but I got lazy this time because it was just a quick spray. Of course the wind decided to shift and I got blasted in the face with polyurethane.  My eyes started burning immediately, this made me a bit nervous. I read the back of the can and it said to flush eyes and immediately seek medical attention, this made me more nervous.  I called my Dr and they told me to get to an optometrist as fast as I could, that made me even more nervous.  I called the optometrist and they said the same thing, at this point I'm panicked and wondering if I was going to be blind. I got to the Dr's office, she looked at my eyes and said "oh, your eyes are sad." that is not what I wanted to hear.  Long story short, I did some pretty good damage but nothing permanent thank goodness.  I got a goody bag of eye drops and spent three days with blurry vision and a week of dried out eyes.  Imagine putting Vaseline in your eyes then trying to see and have a blow dryer constantly blowing in your eyes.  This of course brought on massive headaches and made it impossible to get anything done.  Anyways, what does this have to do with my costume you ask?  That first day, my eyes were incredibly sensitive to the light and they were all puffy and red so I was stuck with sun glasses.  Chris suggested I go as Ray Charles for Trunk or Treat but we didn't have anything that would work for the rest of the ensemble.  So I went as the next best thing, Chris.  Sunglasses, BYU, and headphones.  All that was missing was a Coke. 

Happy Halloween everyone!

Statue of Liberty

It's been two and a half years since we moved to PA, and a major item on our list was going to see the Statue of Liberty.  It was one of those 'we really want to and we will get around to it items.' What finally pushed us into going was finding out that the inside was going to be shut down for a year for maintenance.  Since our track record shows that we move every 2-3 years we didn't want to take a chance on moving before it opens again.  So I bought tickets and the soonest we could get them was 3 months later.  This put us going to see the inside of the Statue 2 weeks before it shut down.

We had fantastic weather that day and both kids were very cooperative for the 2.5 hour drive up and back.  We started off in a great old train station that 2/3's of the immigrants went to as soon as they were off the boats.  They were ushered into the back rooms so they wouldn't disturb the fancy Americans and they traveled in cattle cars.  We jumped on the ferry and it took us to Ellis island.  All I knew about Ellis Island was that the immigrants went through there and there is that one scene in Hitch when Eva Mendes looks at the signature from her ancestor and she bursts into tears.  

I now have so much respect for all those people.  The museum there had fantastic displays of individual families and their stories.  They also showed the whole process of what happened when someone got to Ellis Island.  With thousands showing up at the same time as you, the lines would put Disney Land to shame.  The employees had the process down to a science. Dr's could give an exam in 6 seconds and put chalk marks on the sleeves of those that needed a more thorough exam.

what really struck me was the feeling.  There is this over powering spirit there of reverence and humility.  I didn't feel bad for what they had to go through, I felt admiration.  

  

Chris and the kids standing in front of the main room that they crammed all the immigrants into when they first got there.  

 If you were detained for some reason then you got to spend your nights on these high quality cots.  Three high and side by side.  Look how narrow those beds are. 

After Ellis Island we were off to the Statue of Liberty.  We went straight to the base so we could go inside and just as we walked up they shut the gate and informed us that they stopped letting people inside at 3:30.  It was 3:30 when we walked up.  No amount of pleading or begging persuaded the guards into letting us in.  Even when I showed them that the tickets didn't say anything about being there before 3:30 they just shrugged their shoulders.  I was pretty ticked off, ok I wish that were true, I was furious.  I had been looking forward to this for 3 months and this may be my one and only chance and we missed it by 30 seconds because the website and tickets didn't have anything about it closing at 3:30. GRRRRRRR

So we walked around the island a bit then headed back home.  Chris spent the whole time telling me what was inside (he went as a teenager) and trying to down play it and tell me all sorts of reasons why it was good we didn't get to go in.  what a great guy. 

                                    The kids were being very uncooperative when trying to take photos

                                                              I love Eliza peeking through

 Cordon was so excited to be on the boat, but he refused to go on the deck.  I think he liked the comfort of the glass. 

Sighhhhhh

A couple weeks ago I was having one of those "I woke up on the wrong side of the bed" days.  I tried my best, but eventually I needed a quick break from reality.  Eliza was napping so I put Cordon in front of the TV and headed off to the garage to work on my latest project.  10 min later I walked back into the house and saw the bedroom door shut (uh oh).  I opened it and saw this......

I laughed pretty hard because I could not believe my sweet little mellow boy would make such a huge mess.  He's never done anything even close to this.  Just in case your wondering, Destin is nearly impossible to get out of carpets.  I'm still trying to get it out. Look at the look on Cordons face.  It had gotten in his mouth and he was freaking out over the bad taste.

The next day, while I was once again attempting to scrub the carpet, Cordon walked into the room and we had this following conversation,

Cordon: mom whats in my nose
me: I dont' know, you tell me
Cordon: a raisin
me: *attempting to stay calm* how did it get there
Cordon: I put it there, and it hurts

Fortunately it was easy to get out with tweezers, but I made a big dramatic deal out of the situation to try and discourage any future attempts to cram objects up there. 

Eliza is 1

Eliza turned 1 on Monday.  We had a small celebration with just the family and she loved the attention.  Our little social bug loves any attention she can get.

 Grandma and Grandpa T skyped to wish her a happy birthday.  She was annoyed that dad was holding her hostage when she just wanted to be on the floor playing.

 When we took the candle out and let her have free range with her cupcake there was ZERO hesitation.  She grabbed a fist full of icing and shoved it in her mouth.  That little girl is an eater.  She will eat anything we give her. 

 Cordon is so funny with cake and cupcakes.  He licks about half the frosting off then doesn't want anymore.

Hugging her new stuffed bear from Grandpa and Grandma T.

Eliza is such a  fun baby.  She is very social and loves to interact with people.  She imitates people all the time and it's so funny to watch.  She is also my cuddle bug.  She is so squishy and loves to snuggle. She is just such a sweet mellow baby.  Even after a year I sometimes forget that she is around because she is so quiet and can entertain herself for hours. 

Groupon Fail

Disclaimer: below are some very unattractive pictures of me, but I just had to share this oh so fun experience I had.

Recently there was a Groupon deal for an at home bleaching kit that promised to whiten your teeth 1-5 shades.  It was 70% off the regular price, how could I refuse?!?!?!? So I bought one for me and one for Chris.  I eagerly waited for the package and was stoked to have a really white new smile.  Oh, how I was punished for my vanity.  Finally the package came, and as soon as the kids were in bed I tore that sucker open.  Looking at the contents and reading the directions made me quickly realize that this was going to fall under the category of "Beauty is Pain." Inside was a mouth guard full of bleach goo that would fit Shaq's mouth, along with a light that you had to hold against your teeth for 30 min.  But I was not going to be discouraged.  So I did the prep work of rubbing Vitamin E all over my gums then put in the mouth guard.  That thing was huge and I couldn't close my mouth over it.  I then pulled out the light and...... it didn't work.  So here I am with the mouth guard in and my light isn't working. Fortunately I had gotten two packages so I quickly opened Chris' and yanked the light out all panicked that those precious minutes with the guard on and no light was going to mess up my teeth some how.  So I grabbed the light and hip hip hooray it worked.  However, it also had a huge guard on it and now some how I was suppose to stretch open my mouth and fit this huge light in my mouth.  With some force, I got it then had to wrap my lips around it and stay like that for 30 min.  You've got to be kidding me! 

After looking at myself in the mirror all I could picture was this.....

While looking for the light that worked I noticed my gums tingling.  With in about 2 minutes they were on fire. The pain was so bad that my mind started racing through profanities which made me laugh again because then I was picturing why poor Ralphy had the soap in his mouth.

I kept thinking that I should probably take it out because i was in serious pain but my vanity and tight side took over and I kept chanting to myself "I paid $30 for this and it will be over soon and I will have beautiful teeth." So I decided to take my mind of it by cleaning the house.  Oh how foolish I was.  As I started to move around and pick up toys, the bleach in my moth decided to move and now my tongue was burning.  I quickly stopped and sat on the couch begging the timer to go faster "baby steps 30 minutes." By the end, my jaw and lips were aching from clenching down on the mouth guard and light. Finally the timer dinged.  I raced to the bathroom rinsed my mouth and looked at the damage......

 

I know the picture is gross, but seriously check out that damage.  All the white parts are blisters.  After whimpering and cursing myself for keeping those stupid trays in, I looked at the directions to see if there were any final directions I missed.   The final direction said "rinse and brush thoroughly."  Um, excuse me?  You want me to brush my teeth with blistering and bleeding gums?  What type of sick and twisted sadistic person invented this blasted kit?!?!?!?! 

The next several days my gums ached but it was bearable and my teeth went up 3 shades.  Yahoo!  I could deal with that.  It hurt but it was over and I had white teeth.....

A week later I looked in the mirror to once again be awwed by my white teeth and wouldn't you know it, they were back to their old shade.  "OH FUUUUUUDGE!"

Love This Photo

My mom emailed me this photo she took when we were there.  I think it's such a cute one of my dad and Cordon

Utah Week 2

 We got up to Chris' parents house and it was go go go until we left.  The first two days we ran around Provo doing all sorts of errands and seeing old friends.  Unfortunately we ran out of time and couldn't see as many people as we wanted.  The next two days Chris' mom watched Eliza and Cordon went with Chris to run errands and do a little hiking.  I spent those days running around like mad with Chris' two sisters getting everything ready for the family dinner Friday night and the open House reception Saturday night. 

Friday night the original Thompson clan and their spouses went to the Lion House for dinner.  It's been 10 years since just the adults got together and no kids were around so I really enjoyed laughing and talking with them.  Unfortunately, Diana's husband Rich is currently in Iraq for work and couldn't be there. 

The John and Mary Thompson family

 

 Can you tell they are brothers?  Chris and Bryan are 12 years apart but you would think they are twins.  Not only do they look identical but they act the same.  The same personality and manor-isms.  It's really fascinating to watch.  Bryan likes to say he is the 'original' while Chris claims is the 'new and improved model.' Whats more amazing is that the photos of John when he was this age are also identical.  I guess I know what Cordon is going to look like as an adult.



Saturday night was the reception at the church.  It was simple but very nice and there was a good turn out.  It was fun to see John and Mary reconnect with old friends and to meet those people and learn more about my in-laws

 The happy couple.  It really is amazing that they have hit 50 years of marriage.  That's pretty rare today.  John's response to this "you just have to live long enough." Congratulations to you both.  I'm so glad we were able to celebrate with you.

 One of the hikes Chris took Cordon on.  He's turning into a stereotypical boy and loves to be outdoors.  He talked about the hike for 2 days after. 

The infamous green shirt..... let me explain. 10 min before it was time to board our plane to go home, Eliza decided to throw up, not once, not twice but three times.  Of course she managed to hit everything; me, her, the diaper bag and the baby carrier. I used most of my wipes cleaning us up. I had an extra pair of pants for her but no shirt so I sent Chris off to hurry and find something.  He came back with the only thing he could find.  A green 2T size shirt with a girl M&M on it.  He paid $16 for this lovely thing which will probably make it's way to the back of the closet and never be heard from again.  we put it on her and raced onto the plane which was of course almost fully boarded.  Our flight home included 4 airports and 3 planes.  That is a lot of new people to see and chat with.  After the 100th time of correcting people and telling them Eliza is a girl and not a boy, then explaining why she was wearing an ugly green shirt, I gave up.  So for the last flight I stopped correcting people and Eliza became a cute boy that looks like his dad.  Good thing she is to young to realize what was going on.

Utah Week 1

Chris' parents celebrated their 50th wedding annivesary earlier this month. So the kids and I flew out early to spend time with my family.  Chris flew out a week later and spent a few days with my family then we all drove up to Provo for the big celebration. The kids did really well on the flight out.  They had a few melt downs as the day went on but eventually they both fell asleep and all was well.

Cordon slept like this for about 30 min.  How is that comfortable?

We did lots of swimming in my parents pool.  The little kiddie section is the best

Splash pad with cousin Warner

 My dad catches and kills the baths that roost under his porch because they make a huge mess and destroy things.  One night he left one out for the grand kids to 'discover' the next morning.  They were a little to fascinated by it. 

Posing with cousin Sydnie.  She calls this the 'Ariel Rock' and she loves to pose as Ariel

One day we headed over to my grandparents ranch.  If you know me then you know how much I love that place.  It's my own paradise.  Cordon had a blast there and did not want to leave.  We took the Rhinos down the canyon and Cordon giggled the whole time. Especially when he went through the water

He was stoked to be a 'Cowboy'

Playing in the mud. Somehow we managed to only get our legs muddy

 

my brother, Jason, is the craigslist king.  He finds the best toys for dirt cheap.  His latest was a 'back flip' thingy.  I have no idea what it was called but it helps you learn how to do flips.  He had just gotten it and never tried it and somehow I was the guine pig.  It was so fun. 

 

My brothers swing in his living room.  Eliza's kicked her legs like this the whole time she was in it.  I was cracking up.

 

Cordon cruising with Bugga (my dad) on Jason's segway

 

Attempting to ride the bull.  That is harder then it looks.  I had an awesome bruise the next day where I hit the horn as I flew over it's head

3rd Birthday

 Cordon has been obsessed with the solar system lately so we weren't surprised when he chose to go to the Planetarium for his birthday.  It's part of the State Museum which also has a really cute discovery room for kids.  The Planetarium show was a 30 min cartoon about aliens that have to save weather on the planets.  It was really cute and well done, and he loved it.  But of course he was extremely loud and kept yelling out things like "now were in space," " look, it's Jupiter."

Eliza not to sure about the pig in the discovery room

Cordon loves pretending to drive so he spent most of his time in the discovery room playing on this truck.

 For days Cordon kept talking about his 'planet' cake that he would get on his birthday.  I thought it was because he would get to eat cake, which is a rare thing for him.  Turns out he wanted the cake because that's when we sing the happy birthday song to him.  That's probably the most excited I've ever seen him get.  Who knew having a song sung to you would be so fantastic.  As a side note, that is the first cake I have attempted to decorate.  Yup, once again it shows I have zero domestic skills, but he loved it so that's what counts. He kept asking to eat the fondant planets.  I finally said ok and he shoved one in his mouth.  After a few minutes of chewing he gave me a pathetic look and said "Mercury is gross."

Showing off the loot.  A smock from Grandma and Grandpa Thompson, a sun/moon night light, and glow in the dark planets

"helping" dad put the planets and stars on his ceiling.