NieNie Day

I just found out about this, so it's a little late...

On Aug. 16, 2008 Christian and Stephanie (Nie) Nielson & Doug Kinneard, the flight instructor were in a place crash in Arizona. Doug passed away after arriving at the hospital but Stephanie and her husband lived. They remain in critical condition at Maricopa Burn Center. Christian has sustained burns on over 30% of his body. Stephanie’s body was burned over 80%. They have months of surgeries and the medical bills are expected to be in the millions. They currently live in Mesa, Arizona and have four beautiful children.

I have never met this family, but wanted to get the word out. Designmom has declared today Nienie day. Auctions have been setup all over the blogosphere in hopes that we bloggers can somehow come together for this family who needs us. If you go to Designmom's blog, there is a humongous list of links to bloggers who have donated their handmade items or skills to help out. All of the proceeds will go toward the Nielson family. Please go check it out! Even my awesome cousin-in-law, Dana, has donated some of her adorable handmade kids clothes. If I can figure out if it's not too late, I might post something for the silent auction as well.

The silent auctions end either Saturday or Sunday night, depending on the blog they are listed on. Please see if you can help this family!

Update on Levi

Levi is finally doing better! He still had a pretty high fever until yesterday afternoon. He ended up sleeping almost all day, and I kept checking on him, worrying that he had stopped breathing or something. But he was fine; he just needed lots of rest, I guess. When he woke up, his fever had broken and he was all sweaty. But I was so happy that his fever had finally broken after 3 days of his fever never really going down that much! He was all back to being Levi- ready to play and smiling and laughing.

This morning I noticed that he had a rash on his face and tummy. That got Peter and I wondering if he never did have an ear infection. Rashes are usually caused from viral infections when the incubation period is over and the kid is getting better. (Man, the older our kids get, the more we know about kiddie illnesses!)

Well, I took him to his pediatrician for his follow-up today, and we were right. I guess the poor kid never did have an ear infection. Levi's doctor said that when a kid has a fever, their ears can appear inflamed, but it doesn't always mean an ear infection. Plus, she confirmed my suspicions about such a high fever for just an ear infection.

Turns out Levi got Roseola, which is just a viral infection. The symptoms are a high fever for 1-3 days, followed by a light pink rash that covers the body and sometimes the face. Jonah had Roseola; I don't know why we didn't think about that until this morning when we saw the rash.

So thank goodness, we can throw away that anti-biotic that Levi was taking- he detested it. And now that he has the rash, he is on the mend and no longer contagious! Like chicken pox, kids only get Roseola once, so Eden might still get it, unless she had it once. I can't remember right now.

One thing is for sure- I am not going to the ER for my little kids anymore! I won't trust any doctors besides pediatricians anymore. What a waste of time, plus a misdiagnosis! AARG! And now a big ol' bill too, probably. Thanks, Erin, for the info on the urgent cares. We were trying to find Good Nite Peds, but gave up when we couldn't find it because we were worried that Levi would have a seizure. We were so close to calling either you or Jen to look it up for us (they weren't listed on 411) but it was 11:00pm and thought it was too late.

So, bottom line: Levi is doing better. Thanks for your concern, everyone! I really hope that we don't have to go through anything like this again soon!

What a Happy Anniversary!

When I think of how I'd least like to spend my anniversary, a few things come to mind: at a Hannah Montana concert amid thousands of annoying screaming tweens, cleaning toilets at an amusement park, or in jail. Well, spending it in the ER wasn't much better.

Poor Levi started getting a fever yesterday mid-morning, and when I look his temp the first time, it was 102.2, I think. I gave him some medicine and then the next time I took it was at about 5pm. He was at a 103.1. So I gave him more medicine and he slept. Then he woke up crying later and his rectal temp was a whopping 105.2! I was freaking out because the poor guy was shaking and I was afraid he was going to have a seizure. We called his doctor, who told us to take him to an urgent care or the ER. We couldn't find the urgent care she had directed us to, so we went over to the hospital instead. That was a bad idea. We should have searched for that urgent care longer.

We went to the Banner Gateway hospital, and although I have heard good things about it, I will not go there again unless forced. The staff was so lazy and slow-moving, someone could have died right there in the ER and they wouldn't have known it. They were too busy joking around with each other and moving as slow as possible. Trust me, I have been in a lot of ERs and waited and I know that's to be expected. But this place was insane. I could only see one person who actually looked like they were working hard.

Levi and I got there at 11 pm. It was about 1 am before we were called back to the triage area. There were only 3 people ahead of us when we arrived. You can imagine how fun this was waiting for 2 solid hours with a feverish, cranky baby! After we saw the nurse, we waited again until about 4 am (3 more hours) to be called back to a room. Once we were there, we saw the doctor almost right away. That was at least nice.

She determined that Levi had an ear infection and also wanted to check for a UTI. So the poor kid had to have a catheter- it was horrible. His fever had broken by the time we got in to see the doctor, of course, but they did tell me that 105.2 can happen in ear infections. My kids don't really get them, so I had no idea that their temp could be so high from just an ear infection. At least it wasn't anything more serious.

We had to wait another hour for the results from the urine test, and we found out that he didn't have a UTI. Thank goodness. So at about 5 am I finally was allowed to go home. Peter had dropped me off, so he had to pack the kids up and come get me. I think I got to bed around 5:45 am. At least the Olympics were on. I don't think I could have lasted that long if there had only been Rosanne reruns on.

We were supposed to go out this afternoon. I had to call my babysitter and tell her what happened, and we spent the entire day taking turns sleeping, giving Levi Tylenol, Motrin and his anti-biotic, and putting on movies for the other kids. I have been dragging myself around the house all day like a zombie and I've barely eaten anything. I have been sleeping on and off all day; so has Peter. Jonah was really sweet today while Peter and I were falling asleep on the couches downstairs- he went upstairs and got our pillows and brought them down to us. Jonah and Eden were really good today, considering that Peter and I weren't ourselves. I haven't even taken a shower today- I feel disgusting!

So in case you are looking for a great way to spend your anniversary, choose a resort or a cruise instead! Actually, we are just glad that Levi is doing okay. He is still in pretty bad shape. His fever keeps coming and going, and although I haven't taken his temp since we got home, I know it's about as bad as it was. The Motrin and Tylenol are kind of keeping it down, but not really. So hopefully that anti-biotic will kick in and get rid of this infection. For any of you who don't know Levi, he is the happiest baby ever- always smiling and laughing, and now walking! But he has just been in a lot of pain and is so tired and you can just see how hard this is hitting him. So please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. I am hoping that we will start to see some improvement soon!

Our 5th Anniversary!

I can't believe that it was five years ago that we went through the rollercoaster of being engaged and getting married! I'm so glad that Peter finally consented to marry me!
It feels like some sort of milestone, but also like we've always been together. I guess that's how you know you're comfortable. I can't wait to see what the next 5 years will bring. I love you, Peter, and can't wait for more adventures with you!

Flash Back Friday- Track

Okay, I know I have skipped a few Fridays, but I am not going to do this every week. I'll just do it if I can get around to it.

The other night I watched the 800m individual semi-finals for the Olympics. Can I just say- track and field is awesome. And of course it brings back lots of memories for me, having run track for four years in high school. Although the 3200m (2 mile) was "my race," I also ran the 1600m, the 800m individual, and the 4 x 800m relay.

Anyway, back to the Olympics, the USA runner in the first heat was Nick Symmonds. He won his heat and ran a good race, never getting boxed in and keeping in a good position in the pack. He did have to scoot out at the end in order to pass a guy, but that's okay on the last straightaway.

The second heat also had a US runner, a rookie on the international level, Andrew Wheating. I think the poor guy psyched himself out a bit and forgot all of the basic strategies of the 800m event. He did a lot of things wrong, probably because he was a little star-struck being at the Olympics for the first time. I'm sure that would be very distracting and he was undoubtedly under a lot of pressure. He started out slow, letting the pack get away from him. He had a lot of ground to make up, which isn't easy when you've only got 2 laps around the track. He basically had to run on the outside of the pack, and consequentially a farther distance than the rest of them, to make up for the lost position. When everyone started kicking in at about 300m to go, he had wasted a lot of energy making up ground, and couldn't really keep up. He did have a good kick for the last 100m, but it was a little too late. I felt bad that this guy didn't qualify for the finals. Hopefully he'll get another shot someday.

I was explaining all the these strategies to Peter as we watched the race. It was really exciting remembering the feeling of racing. Running is one thing, but competing just brings such a high. I know a lot of people who aren't runners think that running is easy; just go fast and you'll win. Well that may be true if you are a sprinter, although there are strategies there too. But distance running requires a game plan. You have 2, 4 or 8 laps and you can't just run your fastest the whole time. There are definitely techniques to learn and apply.

So as I have been reflecting on my short-lived high school running career, I dug up some pictures of track. I couldn't find any action shots of track- just cross country. Our track uniforms were awful. Here is our 4 x 800m team:
I wish we could have had some outfits like the US team's. But back in the day, we wore those ugly baggy things with spandex underneath. Don't you think we would have looked better in these?
I love the aerodynamic sleeves for the sprinters. Ha ha! Those are rad.
Anyway, I have lots of fun and fulfilling memories of track (and cross country). Very fun times! Of course, we worked really hard and had a lot of cases of shin splints.

State Runners-up in 1995
(I have raccoon eyes in this picture- my mascara sweated off)

State Champs in 1996 and 1997!

I pulled my hamstring the other day and have been limping around the house, and I didn't even do anything strenuous! I can't figure that one out. I must just be getting old! Oh, the good old days when I was in shape...

Questions

I know: when my kids are tired.
I want: a backyard for the kids to play in.
I wish: my downstairs closet would organize itself!
I smell: my new candle- bamboo! Yummy.
I miss: being able to just walk out the door and run 6 miles if I wanted to.
I hate: the chicken dance (and song). I will not do it!
I fear: my judgment day.
I crave: fresh green beans. Weird, huh?
I search: for ways to make this house a home.
I regret: buying such an expensive wedding gown.
I love: hearing my kids laugh.
I always: call Peter at work a few times a day.
I believe: that my kids will do great things.
I dance: with the kids in the living room.
I sing: alto and tenor in church.
I don't always: see my own potential.
I am not: done having kids!
I write: lots of lists for everything.
I lose: track of time when I'm out doing errands or shopping.
I win: at scoring a great husband with an awesome family.
I never: go to bed before 10:30.
I listen: to Coldplay and John Mayer lately.
I can actually be found: running around the house like a chicken with its head cut off picking up clothes and toys at least three times a day.
I am scared: of people harming my kids.
I am happy about: kids out of diapers! Can't you tell from my recent 5 posts about it?

More Potty Training News

Jonah has continued to do great with potty training! My two concerns earlier were about going at school, and that he preferred the little potty. Well, he already is overcoming those two concerns.

Today he did great going to the bathroom at school. They have a bathroom connected to their classroom, so it is pretty convenient. I think on Thursday I will let him wear a Pull-up at school for the last time, then send underwear for him to change into at school.

Since the preschool doesn't have a little potty, he had to go in a big one and was fine. Today after school when he needed to go, I asked him if he wanted to go in the big potty or the little potty, and he chose the big one! So there he goes again, exceeding my expectations. I don't even have to hide the little potty- he already is okay with the big one. Awesome!

Anyway, sorry for posting about this so much. I am just floored that it has been so smooth for Jonah. I totally underestimated him and I guess potty training in general.

Eden will be doing it soon, I think. She has been wanting to sit on the potty like Jonah and even has been telling me when she poops. One kid at a time, though. Man, that will be nice to have only one kid in diapers when I have been used to three! That will save me about $60 a month, plus in a month when Levi quits formula, that will be another $50 or $60 a month! Woo hoo! I might celebrate and get the kids a trampoline! But I digress...

Another 3 Things

What are the last 3 things you purchased?

- Cotton Balls

- PJs for the kids

- Churro from Del Taco

What are the last 3 songs you downloaded?

- Forever- Chris Brown

- That's How You Know- Amy Adams (Enchanted Soundtrack)

- Shattered- O.A.R.

What were the last 3 places you visited?

- Logandale, NV

- Oceanside, CA

- Panguitch Lake, UT

What are your 3 favorite movies?

- Nacho Libre

- Bye Bye Birdie

- Best in Show
(At this moment. This might change tomorrow.)

What are your 3 favorite possessions?

- My wedding ring

- iPod and docking system

- My car

What are 3 things you can't live without?

- Visiting family (road trips)

- Music

- Peter and the kids

What are your 3 wishes?

- That I was in the best physical shape of my life

- That I had a professional stylist to do my hair and make-up everyday while I read so I wouldn't have to do it myself.

- That our kids turn out as good, responsible people who are active in the church

What are 3 things you haven't done yet?

- Spoken in my ward's Sacrament meeting

- Been inside the Salt Lake Temple

- Eaten sushi

What are your 3 favorite dishes?

- Tortellini with pesto

- Chicken enchiladas

- Homemade mac and cheese

What 3 celebs do you want to hang out with?

- Lindsay Buckingham (he just seems like such a cool guy- plus he's an awesome musician!)

- Steve Nash

- Henry B. Eyring (Well, he's kind of a celebrity, right?)

Name 3 things that freak you out

- Scary movies
- Car accidents (or close calls)

- That I don't know CPR

Name 3 things you are good at

- Raising good sleepers (I like to think I've had something to do with it!)

- Spending money

- Baking cheesecake

Name 3 things you are currently coveting

- A bedroom set

- A bigger backyard

- Verizon wireless instead of T-Mobile

3 bloggers I tag

- Anyone
- Who
- Wants (to be tagged)

Short Update on Jonah

Jonah has been doing awesome with potty training and has totally exceeded my expectations. Who thought Jonah would do so well? He has been telling me every time he needs to go, and we run into the bathroom and he goes. He usually uses his little potty on the floor, but he has used the big potty with an insert too. He can almost get his underwear up and down by himself, and he just seems to act like he's got this thing down.

It was a little scary sending him to school today because I had no idea how things would go. He wore a Pull-up the whole time, and was wet a few times. His teacher and I have great communication, so I think soon he'll be doing the same thing at school. Maybe by next week, he'll be wearing a Pull-up for the bus rides only and wearing undies at school.

When he got home today, he told me he needed to go poopy (which is what he says for pee too), and we rushed into the bathroom. He didn't go pee, but said he wasn't done when I asked him, so I figured #2 was finally coming. He did go #2 in the potty and I was so excited! I made a big deal of it and gave him tons of praise! I had told him if/when he went poop in the toilet he could go to the store and get a Thomas the Train toy. So we went tonight and got him one. I got a Percy train too just in case I need to bribe him again, but I think we are past the first hurdle and he'll do fine with #2 now. Yeah!

The only complications so far are school (which we are working on,) and he prefers the little potty to the big one with the insert. My goal is to get him using only the big one by next week. I plan to hide it and tell him he has to use the big potty now. That worked with telling him there were no more diapers.

Overall, he is doing great though. We even went out tonight to the store and did a few errands and he was fine. We did bring the potty in the back in case he had to go. He did have to go on the way home, so we stopped and let him go back and pee, then dumped it on a bush! Oh well, he did have a drink before we left. I think he'll keep doing great and I have high hopes for the rest of the week!

Jonah's First Day of Potty Training!

Well, I didn't want to post about this for fear that I would jinx myself by admitting that it wasn't that hard, but here I go anyway. I decided on a whim a few days ago that I was going to try potty training Jonah this weekend. We went to the store and picked out some Lightning McQueen undies, a package of Pull-ups, and a big bag of M&Ms for rewards. I tried to explain to him last night that we didn't have diapers for him anymore and that he was going to start wearing underwear and going pee in the potty.

This morning, we put his undies on him and he did pretty well. He pretty much watched movies all day and I gave him plenty to drink today so he would pee a lot. It worked! I realized that I needed to be watching him closely all day in order for this to work. The first time he went, he was over in the dining room kind of doing a little dance. So I asked him if he needed to go pee and he said that he did, and sat down on his potty that I brought into the living room. He went pee in it right away and did that about 7 or 8 more times today! He helped me pour in into the big potty and flush every time, then he got a few M&Ms for a reward. A few times today, he wanted more M&Ms, but he understood when I said that he only gets them after he goes pee in the potty.

He was in a Pull-up for his nap today, but other than that, he was in his undies. He did pee just a little in his undies the first three times, but he got the hang of it, and it wasn't a full-on accident. We went to Target today and he got a few more packages of undies- some Mickey Mouse and Thomas the Train undies. So hopefully, he's well on his way. I don't know what will happen with #2, because he never went #2 today at all. Hopefully it will be as easy as #1 was today.

Tomorrow he will wear a Pull-up to church, then undies the rest of the day. I am going to have to send him to school in a Pull-up as well until he gets the hang of it. But yeah for Jonah! Eden was also showing some interest, but I don't think she's really ready. Maybe when Jonah's done, we'll try it with her.

I think I psyched myself out with potty training ( like I do with most things), thinking it would be a horrible experience from day one, but I was wrong, at least for today. It wasn't too bad! Hopefully we will be done soon!

Olympics, Breaking Dawn, and Some Other Stuff

Okay, I'll start with the "other stuff" first. My parents came down and brought Eden back! It was great to see everyone and attend baby Phoenix's blessing. I have to admit, it's a lot harder with all three kids! I have been spoiled with just the two boys.

Also, it was Tibi's birthday on the 9th. Tibi has celebrated 3 of her last 4 birthdays here with us in Arizona. She always happens to be visiting here when her birthday rolls around! We ended up going swimming, then going to the mall to eat, and hanging out at my house playing games and stuff. Tibi and I even stayed up until 1:30 am playing Ticket to Ride!

So lately I have been walking around like a zombie, totally sleep-deprived and sluggish. I am totally addicted to the Olympics and have been staying up until 2:30 am watching them! I can't really watch much during the day with the kids around, plus they aren't even on all day, so there you have it. Even as I type this, I feel like I'm about to drop dead. I have way too many chores to do today though, so I'll just have to catch up on sleep later!
And now, to the final (and controversial) topic of my thread. I am sorry to admit it, especially to my friends and family who are die-hard Twilight fans, but I didn't really like Breaking Dawn. *Gasp*!!! Yes, I know I said before that I thought it was weird, but I liked it. Well, the more I have thought about it and gone back and looked at the book, the more I realize that I didn't like it. It's sad for me to say that, because part of me feels some loyalty to Stephenie Meyer and I have liked the first three books. And as much as I have tried to like it just for the sake of it being in the Twilight series, I couldn't. I could list numerous valid reasons for my opinion, but I think I'm just too tired right now. I do have lots of reasons and they aren't petty. I don't want to ruin it for anyone who did like the book, though, which is inevitably the majority of you. I realize that I might be the only person I know who didn't like it. So maybe I'm the weird one. I don't mind being the outcast; I just can't pretend that I loved Breaking Dawn when I didn't. Okay, I'm done. Feel free to comment. I might post my reasons later when I have some energy.

So You Think You Can Dance Highlights

Okay, I have to prove what I'm talking about below. Katee and Joshua are amazing and this show just rocks! Yes, it's a reality show, but I swear it's actually about talent without all of the circus and "losers" just for ratings. There were so many great dances this year, but these were some of my favorites from this season.

Katee and Joshua- Hip Hop (their first dance of the season)



Katee and Joshua- Lyrical
This dance was just so emotional- I really felt their pain in this one. Such amazing and great choreography.



Courtney and Mark- Jazz
You've got to get past the interview stuff for the actual dance. It is worth it!



Joshua and Courtney- Hip Hop



Mark and Chelsea- Contemporary



Mark and Chelsea- Hip Hop



Gev and Courtney- Contemporary (their first dance)



Joshua and Twitch- Russian Trepak



Kherington and Twitch- Viennese Waltz



Okay, I think I got carried away, but I just love this show! If you didn't watch it this year, watch it next year!

More Randomness

Okay, so just a few things. Today I went to Jonah's preschool class to volunteer. There actually wasn't much for me to do, because there are already 2 adults there and only 6 kids. Miss April, Jonah's teacher, says that his class is just really quiet and well behaved. They did a lot of different things and I could see that Miss April is going to be a great teacher for Jonah. Peter and I have already seen improvements after only 2 weeks. It was fun to see Jonah at school, although I think he probably does better without me there. Not that he was bad or anything, but I think he enjoys his time to be a big boy without mommy around.

I finished Eden's room, I think on Tuesday. I do still need to put the chair rail up, but we don't have a saw...should have thought about that first. We'll get around to it someday. We'll be getting Eden back tomorrow and I must say, Peter and I can't wait to see her.

Looks like Levi has this walking thing down pretty good. He has been walking well for a while now, but still crawled when he wanted to get somewhere faster. Now he tries to walk the majority of the time. Yeah, Levi! Our earliest walker!

So You Think You Can Dance is finally over, and sorry to all of you AI fans (I used to be one of you), this show kicks AI's butt! Way more talent, as far as I'm concerned, and more entertaining by far. That's all I'll say about that.

So congrats to Joshua, I was rooting for him and Katee the entire time! I am so happy about the results, especially since I didn't vote once. I know, I shouldn't get a say if I don't vote, blah blah blah. I watch the show for the entertainment, and this is one show where any of the top 20 could have been in the finale and it still would have been worth watching. Can't say the same for AI- remember that Chicken Little guy, Kevin? I mean, come on! Now I'm really done....

I am a little relieved that the show is over so I can have my Wednesday and Thursday nights back, although I will miss this every week:

Breaking Dawn

I finished it this afternoon. I did like it, but like my cousin Haley said, it was definitely the weirdest of all of the books. Some things were predictable, but most of it was like "what the......?"

Okay, I don't want to give anything away, but I'll just say that I liked it, but Twilight is still my very favorite. Happy reading, and let me know when you are all done!

I'll Be Back Soon

Yeah, so I won't be posting for a while because I'm too busy reading THIS:

See you in a few days!

Flashback Friday- Peter

Okay, as promised, I dug up a picture of Peter when he was a kid. Don't you love that hair? It took me about a half hour to find this one picture of him. I guess I need get some more pictures of him from his parents. I haven't seen many pictures of him as a kid or baby, and I really want our kids to have access to stuff like that.

Anyway, here is Peter at a friend's birthday party. I love the Garfield shirt.

Another Random Post

Levi is sprouting a tooth! I think the one next to it is coming soon as well. I can feel it in there. He has been drooling like crazy- I mean droll is pouring out of his mouth! He is still a happy camper, though, so he must not be in a lot of pain. Sorry he looks so weird in the picture. I was trying to get a good picture without him grabbing the camera.
Okay, so I decided that I didn't like the blue color that I had picked before. It was starting to look like sky and grass, and I was not going for that at all. Thank goodness I only had painted one coat, so I didn't waste too much time. And I am going to use the rest of the light aqua paint for my bathroom, so it all worked out. I picked up a can of paint that was darker and more of a robin egg blue. You can see the difference in the first 2 pictures. Anyway, now it looks like what I had pictured. I have one more coat, then the chair rail can go up! Woo hoo!