Matty's New Glasses

Today I took Matty to a new eye doctor. She did an awesome job during the exam. She was so cooperative and I could tell she won the heart of the doctor. During the exam I mentioned that her glasses didn't stay up on her nose very well. The doctor told Matty that she thought she had the perfect pair of glasses for her. We couldn't wait to see what she had!

When she seated Matty in front of the mirror she slipped these beauties on! The look on Matty's face was priceless! She did her signature eye-roll and said, "Ummmmmm..... NO." Too funny!

She chose an adorable pair of pink glasses that we should be able to pick up next week!

Later, I decided to share this picture on Facebook. Matty was mad at me. Then I started teasing her that I had ordered the "ugly" glasses for her instead of the pretty ones.

I ordered pizza for dinner. Matty was so excited about it she said, "You're the best mom ever!" and immediately added, "but you're not." When I asked why I wasn't the best mom, she said, "because you said we order those glasses."

A while later, Kyle and I were teasing her again that we had ordered the "ugly" glasses. Without missing a beat, she put her hands on her hips and said, "WHAT KIND OF PARENTS ARE YOU???" We laughed and laughed. What a funny girl!

Pins and Needles...

We are counting down to delivery day!! 11 days to go. I am scheduled for my c-section on the 13th. I am so ready to NOT be pregnant any more. :) I am excited to meet baby Mason, but also extremely nervous for surgery and, to be honest, a little worried about how I am going to handle three kids. Scary.

I remember the adjustment to a sibling being quite difficult for Matty. But the girls both seem to be really excited about getting a baby brother. Boy, is he in for a rude awakening. Matty and Anastyn are both prepared to be extremely “helpful”. They can’t wait to snuggle him, and squeeze him, and I’m sure smother him. Watch out little boy!

Anastyn must have heard me tell someone that we had two weeks left. This morning she asked me if baby Mason was coming out in two weeks. She is so smart and picks up on everything that is said. A while back, Grandma Marla asked her how baby Mason would get out of my belly. I am sure she wasn’t expecting Anastyn to have any idea. But she does have ideas. :) She told Grandma that my belly was going to “pop”. She just might be right…

How’s this for a pregnancy picture?? I look miserable. Just keepin’ it real. :)

Needless to say, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the newest member of our family!

Recent Happenings:Kyle was able to make it to the “Annual Fishing Trip” with the guys from St. George this past month. The weather wasn’t wonderful, but that didn’t stop them. He had a great time with his buddies – especially since he hasn’t seen them since we moved. We celebrated Mustang Days here in Lovell. Always a fun week. Kristin and I made poodle skirts to go along with the 50’s theme so the girls could be in the Kiddie Parade. It rained and the girls ran the whole way! I had a hard time keeping up with them to get pictures!!The girls had a great time catching candy during the parade and enjoyed the floats, music, and, of course, the can-can girls!! And last, but not least….Matty had to go to Billings for yet another “poke”. We got bloodwork done and saw the Doctor. Her bloodwork looks better – which is exactly what we wanted to hear!! Darn needles anyways…but nothing a little Cinnabon and Orange Julius can’t cure!!

Adventures In Motherhood...

Most of us would agree that being a mom is both overwhelmingly challenging and undescribably rewarding at the same time. The past couple months in our family have been loaded with lots of challenges and lots of rewards. Here is a summary....

A trip to Thermopolis to visit Aunt Emily, a.k.a Aunt "Enemy", a.k.a. Auntie Em. We don't make it over to visit her and Uncle Pat very often, so I thought it was post-worthy. Especially since my girls have a huge soft spot for their greatest of great-aunts. Children automatically fall in love with this woman. She is spunky and fun and caters to their every whim. We had a fun time visiting for the day and enjoying her and uncle Pat's hospitality!!

Recently we drove over to Otto to spend a little time with Grandma Great for her birthday. The girls always love to explore at her house. This time they explored in a few places they shouldn't have. I think Grandma was glad to see us go home that day. :) Besides dragging out every toy in the house and pulling clothes out of drawers, they also got into a drawer that had a razor in it. Being the curious little critter she is, Anastyn managed to cut her precious, most beloved thumb (the one she is constantly sucking on). She cut it pretty deep and, oh boy, was there drama. Drama, drama, drama. We had blood everywhere. On the clothes that they had pulled out of Grandma's drawers, on Grandma's carpet. Everywhere. And when we finally got everything under control and the poor thumb bandaged up, we thought it might actually be a blessing in disguise. We kind of thought maybe this would cure Anastyn of her obsessive thumb-sucking habit. You know - since she would have it all bandaged up for a while. Well, that's not really how it turned out. Now we just have an ambidextrous thumb sucker. :)
Somewhere along the way, we had Easter. We dyed Easter eggs the night before with BrookLynn and Elle (which I hate doing, by the way...way too messy). And, naturally, the girls loved finding their Easter baskets on Easter morning and eating candy. Oh, how they love candy. :) It was nice to be able to relax and enjoy General Conference on t.v. and we had a delicious lunch of ham and funeral potatoes and homemade rolls and jello at Grandpa Leithead's house. It was a good day. This past Friday night was Matty and my "all-expense paid" night in the Sleep Lab! Unfortunately, I have no pictures to share with you. I forgot my dang camera. I did get some pictures on my phone, but I have no clue how to get those pictures onto my computer. We were testing Matty for sleep apnea. Now, I knew this wasn't going to be a pleasant experience. And I also figured that I wouldn't get much sleep. But it really was worse than I had expected! Knowing Matty's history of doctor's offices and hospitals, it was no surprise that she was scared out of her mind the moment we arrived. So scared that she did, indeed, hurl all over the carpet in our room shortly after we got there. And her little hands were shaking the entire hour it took to get her hooked up to all of the wires. I lost count of how many wires they had her hooked up to. Ten on her head alone. Don't ask me how anyone is supposed to be able to get any sleep when they have wires attached to every part of their body. It was one of the longest nights I have ever made it through. I am pretty sure I looked at the time on my cell phone at least fifteen times during the night - just to see how much longer before we could get the heck out of there. I spent the entire night trying to make sure Matty stayed asleep, stayed untangled from her wires, and that the wires stayed attached to her through her very active tossing and turning through the night. I did not want to have to re-do the dang test! I do have to mention that I was slightly creeped out the next morning when the guy sheepishly admitted that he had forgotten to have me sign a form the before we had gone to bed. The one that says "Yes, I was informed that we would be observed on video all night long." I patiently signed and dated with the previous day's date and then thought really hard to remember if I had done anything embarassing-like scratch my butt-during the night. We were so happy in the morning when we could finally leave!! And I was so glad that Kyle and Anastyn had stayed the night in a hotel in Billings that night. I am pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to drive us home without falling asleep at the wheel! We haven't heard on the results yet, but we are hoping that we don't have to have this experience again for a very long time!!

Next. I was hoping that we would somehow be able to avoid this common childhood crisis. But that was not in our stars. Last night Anastyn found scissors. And she knew exactly what to do with them. I wanted to cry when I saw her bangs snipped off at the scalp. Luckily, she left a few longer strands on the top layer so we can camouflage them. :) It wasn't until this morning that I discovered that she hadn't stopped at her bangs. When I took yesterday's messy bun out and started brushing I realized that we were missing a lot more hair. Then I started taking out Matty's messy buns. This is when I realized that the scissors did not stop at Anastyn's hair. After brushing, Matty was actually missing a significantly larger amount of hair than her sister was. I was not happy. You can see the pile of hair in the following picture. I was extremely upset. And Anastyn could sense that. I heard her in the other room a little while later saying, "My Mommy doesn't like me." I had to explain to her that I did, indeed, like her. I just didn't like the haircuts she gave herself and her sister...

Anastyn is very aware of the upcoming arrival of her baby brother. She is so excited for him to come. She loves to rub my tummy and feel the baby moving. She and Matty came in to show me that they, too, had babies in their tummies this morning. I thought it was so cute. When they unzipped their jammies to show me, I discovered that they were actually expecting kitties. :) Too cute.

Oh The Joys!!!

Heartbreaker...

(intended to be posted December 4, 2009)

I hate taking my kids in to get shots. That’s probably why I finally got notified by the school that I had to get Matty’s kindergarten shots taken care of before today or she couldn’t come to school.

So I finally set up the appointment. And yesterday when Matty got home from school, I casually mentioned to her that we just needed to stop by “an office” for a minute. She was cool with that. Until we pulled into the parking lot at the hospital clinic.

Then it dawned on her what was going on. She is no fool. “No! No doctor! – No Matty hurt!” she started whimpering. This little girl has had pain inflicted on her too many times at the doctor to believe that this wasn’t going to end badly for her. Oh, I felt like such a jerk. I am sure she was thinking, ‘Why would my mother bring me here? Does she like to subject me to pain?? Doesn’t my mother love me??’

What do you say to your child in a situation like this? So I just smiled at her calmly and said, “We just need to run in and talk to the doctor for a minute, ok?” My beautiful, trusting child took my hand and willingly walked into the waiting room. Thankfully she was entertained by the fish swimming in the fish tank while we were in the waiting room for way too long.

As soon as Matty’s name was called, I gathered up the girls and herded them along behind the nurse. As soon as we went through the door, Matty started volunteering Anastyn for whatever was going down. “No Matty hurt. I fine. Sissy hurt. Sissy’s turn!” I couldn’t help but giggle under my breath.

As usual, we had to wait quite some time before the doctor came into the exam room. Matty wasted no time pleading her case with the doctor. Again, she tried to explain to him that she was fine and didn’t need to get a ‘hurt’. She was more than happy to offer her little sister in her place.

All the while I just wanted to grab her little hand and take her home. My heart was breaking as she was begging me not to let her get hurt! Finally it was time. Poor little thing had to get four shots. And it is always fun when they make Mom help hold her own child down. That’s just mean! Thankfully they sent in enough help to give her three of the shots at once in her legs. As soon as that fight was over, she was given to me so I could give her a big hug and comfort her. But that was just a dirty trick because they gave her the fourth shot in her arm as she was hugging me.

She was so sad and I am certain she felt betrayed by me. But one of the most endearing things about Matty is that she is quick to forgive. She has always been a very tough little girl, and even though she hates to get shots and have her blood drawn, she has always been such a trooper about it. And it always melts the hearts of those that have inflicted pain on her when she says “Thank you” in a weak little voice when they get done hurting her. She does that quite often and it always surprises me. I’m not sure why she says it – maybe she is just thanking them for being done. I don’t know.

Thank goodness we are done with regular immunizations for a while now! However, it is time again to go get blood drawn in the next few weeks. And I will get to go through the guilt all over again!!!

Sorry, Matty! Mommy loves you!!

February 11, 2010

Hey! Hey, Lady!..... (more of the same)

As many of you know, Matty had congenital leukemia when she was born. We were blessed that it resolved quickly and without treatments. However, since there is a chance the leukemia could make an unwanted comeback, we regularly have her blood checked. And this means she has to be “poked”. At first, she got blood drawn every two weeks, then monthly, then every other month, etc. until finally we got clearance to do blood work annually. (The chance of getting the disease again decreases the older she gets.) You can guess how many times this little girl has been “poked” in her lifetime – on top of the normal childhood immunizations. So naturally she associates hospitals and doctor’s offices with pain. And the above episode with the vaccinations is branded into her recent memory.

Well, back in June or July last year we had gotten her annual CBC done. And they found that her platelets were a little bit enlarged. The doctor told us to make sure she got her multivitamin every day for six months and then we would check her blood again to see if it was due to a lack of folate or something. So, last month we did just that. We drove Matty to Billings to get “poked”. It was another heartbreaking event for me. When she saw the lab guy come in with his little tool box of vials and needles, she begged and pleaded and looked at me like I was betraying her in the worst way. She fought like she always does. She is a strong little girl. It took three of us to hold her down (why do they include me in this???) But we all got the job done together. And then she forgivingly thanked everyone involved and sweetly accepted her sucker and stickers.

The results this time weren’t much different. And the hematologist/oncologist she is seeing wonders if she might have a bit of sleep apnea causing her blood cells to be lacking in oxygen which can cause them to be enlarged. So we had to schedule an appointment with a pulmonologist. -Another trip to Billings-. I thought I was going to go insane on the way there. Every couple minutes, Matty would say, “Where we going?” Alternating between my patient voice and not-so-patient voice I would tell her, “We are going to Billings.” Then she would say, “No doctor – I fine.” To which I would respond, “Yes, we have to go to the doctor today. But I promise no pokes. Mommy won’t let anyone poke Matty today.” And then she would be fine for a few more minutes. And then we would have the exact same conversation over again. Well, we finally made it to the hospital. While we were there, she went up to every receptionist and nurse we talked to and started tapping their arm until she got their attention. Once they were listening to her, she would say, “Hey, lady. Hey. No pokes. I fine. Matty all better now.” And while we were in the exam room with the doctor, no less than twelve times, Matty did the same thing to him...“Hey. Doctor Office. (she thinks Office is every doctor’s last name.) Hey. Matty fine. No pokes!”

It didn’t matter that I had spent an hour and a half promising her that no one would poke her. She obviously didn’t trust me. She knew that I had let it happen so many times before and she wasn’t about to believe me. Isn’t that sad? I found it sad. And so I am the bad guy…at least on doctor appointment days. Next up – a night at the sleep lab – so they can see what goes on while she is sleeping. Ought to be fun!!

Such A Pretty Face...

{Miss Anastyn Belle}

Most would say that she is a beautiful little girl. I certainly think so. She has her father's beautiful skin and stunning brown eyes. And her smile - it has been known to take my breath away and cause my heart to leap. Yes, she has a pretty little face.

But typically once every month or so she gets a hideous cold sore. She has been plagued with these unsightly, painful curses since she was quite little. You may have noticed she was sporting one in the family photo on our blog header. That one was back in November. She has had many since. She has one right now. But this time it got a secondary bacterial infection which caused Impetigo. These lovely little red dots started popping up all over her face this weekend. She looks rough. I'm glad she isn't old enough to be self-conscious or embarrassed. Poor little gal. So now she is on an antibiotic and I hope it kicks in quickly.

I have never had a cold sore in my life. But it appears she will be suffering from them for the rest of hers. Poor unfortunate soul....

Update...and a trip to the Big City

We found the missing glasses! Matty found them herself, which leads me to believe that she knew where they were all along. Last week early in the morning I sat down on the couch with Matty to read her a book. She reached her hand down between the couch cushions (probably the only place we forgot to look), pulled them out, and handed them to me with a grin on her face. They were a little bent, but we were so happy to have them back!! Hallelujah!

Thursday Matty had two doctor appointments in Billings. I enlisted the help of both my parents. If you know anything about my children, you will understand why I would beg for help. :) Actually, I didn't even have to ask. My mom and dad are always so willing to make my life easier and I am so grateful to them. As it turns out, even with two extra adults along, our day in Billings still left us all exhausted...

We had to get up early to make it to her first appointment. I was freaking out because I had it in my mind that her appointment was at 9:00 and we were running late. There was no way we would make it there in time to get the car parked and get registered before 9. I was getting a little grouchy and anxious and was driving faster than I should have been when my dad kindly reminded me that the appt. wasn't until 9:30. Already my dad was my hero. I stopped speeding and was able to enjoy the rest of the drive.

The eye doctor appointment went great. Matty was such a good sport. She let the doctor put drops in her eyes without a fight. We had to wait 20 minutes for the drops to dilate her eyes. I always feel sorry for her when we have to do this. It is so uncomfortable all day long. It makes her eyes extremely sensitive to light and makes her vision blurry. But the good news is that her prescription hasn't changed! Yay! That means we don't have to buy new glasses...until the next time they are lost that is. :)

We did some shopping at my favorite, Target, and ate at the girls' favorite, McDonalds, and then we were off to the next appointment - Ear, Nose and Throat - to check on Matty's tubes. This appointment also went pretty well, except for the long wait we had to endure. Matty was so brave. She let the doctor stick instruments in her ear to clean out the wax so he could see her tube. She didn't fight or cry. I was so proud of her. Unfortunately, the tube came out with the wax so she doesn't have a tube in her left ear any more. However, the doctor said her ears looked great - no fluid or infection. And he said we didn't need to worry about replacing the tube unless she starts having problems. I was so relieved that we don't have to schedule a surgery right now. I get so nervous when they put her under.

Meanwhile, my dad had a genius idea - he and my mom would stay with Anastyn in the car and let her watch a movie instead of spending an hour and a half in the waiting room with a curious, restless two year old that has more energy than both of them put together. Me, being not so genius, failed to mention that you have to leave the car running to do this. Because when you have a dvd going, Sean Hannity (one of my dad's idols) blaring on the radio, and automatic headlights that stay on, the car battery tends to DRAIN QUICKLY.

So, when we were finished with Dr. Price, I called my dad's cell phone so he could come pick us up at the door. That's when he informed me that we were stranded! Aaaahhhhh! Luckily, the hospital parking lot is the perfect place to be if you are going to have a dead battery. The hospital security van is conveniently equipped with a battery charger! We ended up being stranded for all of 6 minutes!!

My sweet father stayed in the car with it running to make sure the battery would be charged back up while mom and I went into several stores. Then it was off to the mall. Have you ever rented one of those fire truck strollers for your kids? All I have to say is BRILLIANT! Highway robbery, yes, but brilliant all the same. I own a double stroller for my girls. But it is bulky and heavy and takes up so much room in the car. Not only that, but the seats are so close together that my girls just can't resist kicking eachother in the head and pulling eachother's hair. These firetrucks are geniously engineered. One seat is up high and the other is down low. There is heavy plastic surrounding their feet. And there is no way the kids can even touch eachother. They have a blast in the stroller because it has steering wheels and they feel like they are driving around the mall. So worth the 6 bucks, I think. Another shout out to my parents - they pushed the girls around more than their share and they took the girls to the play area while I shopped. Oh - the play area! My girls love it! Usually I don't like those things because I figure they are loaded with nasty germs. But when the kiddos are spending 15-16 hours in car seats, strollers, waiting rooms and booster chairs they just need a chance to RUN!!

**Note to self: next time, after trying on clothes and before leaving the dressing room, remember to zip up your freaking fly!!! :) Sheesh...save yourself some embarassment!


What a day! There was still Costco, dinner at Olive Garden (my fav!), and of course Wal-Mart. Then the long drive home. Needless to say, we were zombies on Friday. But I was happy with how well my girls did on the trip. There were only a few minor meltdowns, Matty only tried to escape once, and she was a trooper at her doctor appointments! Have I mentioned that I love my mom and dad??

That's Gotta Hurt!!

Kyle was unfortunate enough to have an experience with a kidney stone Monday. We've all heard it said that it is comparable to labor pains. What? Really? Yes, it is. In fact, as I stood in the ER watching Kyle writhing in agony, that is exactly what I was thinking...It was horrible. He woke up suddenly about 3:30 in the morning hurting. He was going to try to wait until 8:00 when the dr.'s office opened to avoid an er visit. But about 7:00 he couldn't wait any longer! The pain was so intense and he kept throwing up...I even had to pull over on the way to the hospital to let him throw up. At the er, they took blood work and a urine sample. They gave him shots in his hiney for the nausea and pain. 4 of them. Twice for the nausea and twice for the pain. After more vomiting and worries that Kyle might actually pass out from the level of pain he was experiencing, the dr. finally arrived, reviewed the lab results and examined him. He determined it was a kidney stone and informed us that it can take 24-48 hours to pass a stone...Excuse me? How long?? This was NOT what Kyle wanted to hear! So, with a prescription for some pain killers and dr's orders to "slam a six-pack of diet coke" (which supposedly helps with passing the stone) we were able to head for home. Poor guy did finally slip into a drug induced sleep thanks to a cocktail of ibuprofin, toradol, morphine, and lortab. This was an absolute nightmare for Kyle. We all felt extremely sorry for the poor man. It was awful watching him suffer like this. Thankfully, he passed the kidney stone the following morning.


Yes...it was quite comparable to labor pains...but instead of being rewarded with a sweet new baby all he had to show for it was a tiny little pebble-shockingly small to have inflicted such excruciating pain!! He is better today...went to work and everything. But we all hope and pray we don't ever have to experience a kidney stone again....EVER.