Love it!

We love the "I'm a Mormon" series found here, and this one in particular made us happy. (:

In response to comment on previous post

Everywhere I turn right now
There seems to be a mess
Laundry is piled to the sky
It’s pathetic—I confess

The kids are getting hungry
Lunchtime’s almost here
I should be doing SOMETHING
But I’m paralyzed with fear

Fear of dirty diapers
And playing referee
Fear of peanut butter
I know that’s hard to see

So I sit at the computer
To escape for just a sec
Collect my thoughts and stop myself
From being such a wreck

I’m greeted by a comment
From my sister-in-law, Jen
It’s creative, funny, witty
I give it a perfect “10”

My favorite thing about it
Is how it gives a great excuse
To skip out on all the messes
And forget I have the blues

Instead to craft this poem
In answer to her own
To fill her in on my side
And let my plight be known

You see, Jen, here’s the problem
I have such good intentions
Of blogging every single day
Without your interventions

I get through my busy, crazy day
And get the kids to bed
I sit at the computer
A thousand thoughts within my head

Should I write about sweet Lexi
How she’s loving her new school
Or how Taylor kissed me in front of friends
Making me feel so cool

I could write how we are “Jimmered”
And how March Madness is consuming
All our thoughts and time this week
Or would that even be amusing?

Then there’s always Graci’s party
Make-a-Wish gave way back when
That I STILL haven’t blogged about
What a slacker I have been!

A post with all the million ways
Our family has been blessed
By the sweetest friends and neighbors
Maybe that would be best

Or maybe I should open up
About how hard it all can be
How disappointment, fear, and grief
Seem bent on taking me

A fluffy post, just pictures
Or a post written in letters
Stories of the highs or lows
Which one would be better?

There are field trips, dates, appointments
I could write about all night
Or funny things the kids have said—
Do you see my plight?

And as I sit at the computer
With all these thoughts inside my head
I give up and say to Jer
“Let’s watch MTM instead!”

BUT…

You took time to write this comment
And I was flattered, yes indeed
That you like to read our little blog
And in fact feel quite a need

To hear about this life of ours
So I recommit
To keep it up more daily-ish
And not so easily quit

One more thing, dear sis-in-law
You should carefully consider
Your writing talent is apparent
Your comment made it clear

I think it’s time for you to start
A blog all of your own
You have an unmatched talent
To tickle funny bones

I think you’ll find it cathartic
And you’ll keep us all amused
With your witty way of writing
Please, Jen, don’t refuse!

Sledding!

It was Lexi's first time, and she loved it!!

Half Empty or Half Full

Full: Lexi knows how to wash her hands by herself.
Empty: The faucet in the bathroom is very difficult to turn on and needs to be changed if she is going to be able to wash by herself in that room.
Full: I am fairly confident in my plumbing abilities.
Empty: The new faucet sets us back $50.00 and takes hours longer to install than I thought it would.
Full: I am able to spend some time with Taylor and Parker and help them learn how a compression fitting works.
Empty: Shortly after we finish the sink, I am reading to the children in the living room when suddenly we hear the ocean trying to rush into our home through a 1/2 inch pipe.
Full: The compression fitting failed while we were at home, and not the next day while we were at church.
Empty: It was the hot water fitting, so I was scalded as I turned off the water under the sink.
Full: I had purchased the more expensive, flexible tubing at Home Depot, just in case I couldn't get the cheap tubing to work. Therefore, I was able to re-repair things and get the water running again right away.
Empty: Myself and everything that had been stored under the sink were soaking wet.
Full: I have a sink and stuff under it:)

Jer

Way to go, Taylor and Graci!

Remember those science fair projects we were completing the night before they were due? Well, both Taylor and Graci were finalists from their class, and continued on to the school science fair. We were so proud of them both! Taylor ended up being chosen as one of 20 to move on to the district science fair at Utah Valley University. There, he competed against kids from 21 other charter schools. I was able to take him and we had such a good time together. I was so impressed at the amazing science projects on display. There was some great competition, and... he advanced to state! Looks like we're headed down to BYU in a couple of weeks. (:

The perfect ending to a perfect date

I'll write more about my date with my boys tomorrow-- I'm too tired right now. But I will tell you how it ended! As it turns out, I was hit with a bad cold last night and was pretty miserable. I drugged myself up enough to take the boys skiing today, and we had a blast. But at the end of the day I was completely exhausted. I knew that I was coming home at dinnertime, and that there would be a lot of kids wanting my attention, and that I owed it to Jeremy to take over. I was not looking forward to it-- only because I didn't feel well at all. But after I walked in the door and greeted all my cute kids, Jeremy sent me in to take a hot bath. He then came and brought me chicken noodle soup and orange juice and told me he was taking care of dinner for the kids.

I have a really, really good man for a husband.

Really.

Mommy and Sons

It's just after midnight, so this post will show up as having been written on Saturday, but I'm still counting it as a Friday post, giving us one a day so far this month!

I do a couple of father and sons outings a year. One includes Xander and the other is just the older two boys. I also get a lot of time with Taylor and Parker through coaching. So this weekend, Christi is on a mommy and sons outing with the two oldest boys. I'm sure she'll give some details when she gets back, but it involves an overnight tonight at a hotel and a ski day tomorrow! What fun. I must admit, I'm a bit jealous:)

But I did have a fun night with Jess and Graci! We got the movie "Enchanted" at the library and watched it with licorice, Reese's pieces and Sugar Babies. Life is good.

I'm running away...

You know those days. Everything goes wrong. Your house is a mess and you don't know where to start. Kids are particularly needy. This has been my day. And I have to say, I was pretty excited when 12:45 rolled around and it was time for the bus to pick up Elli. Xander had just left for his school, so I would just have Sophi and Lexi here. Sophi usually naps, so I was thinking of all I could get done with it just being myself and Lex.

Elli and I go outside and wait for the bus. We wait, and wait... After finally making a phone call, I find out that today was early day, and we had been gone when the bus had come earlier. Lovely. I calculate whether it's worth it to get everyone loaded and drive her to school myself, but realize that she'd only be there for a half an hour, and decide against it. I bring Elli back inside, who is not very happy that she isn't going to school. I look around at the mess and feel very overwhelmed. Sophi is crying and Lexi is repeatedly asking for a bath. She's already had one today, but I figure it will give me 15 minutes of freedom, so I put Sophi down for her nap and put Lexi in the tub. Elli's out in the living room creating messes I don't want to know about. I hide in my room and call Jeremy to talk. He tells me he's eating Chili's southwestern eggrolls for lunch. My mouth waters and I want to switch places with him. But I fight the urge to feel sorry for myself and decide I'm going to go out and conquer the mess that is my home. At that moment I hear Lexi call out, "Elli, no! No, Elli!" This piques my interest, as Elli is supposed to be in the living room and Lexi in the tub. I go out to check and find this:



Oh, Elli.

At least she took her shoes off.

Sophi never did take her nap, BTW.

And, yes, I do realize that instead of posting this, I could have cleaned my living room-- but the drive is gone.

Lovely, lovely day.

--Christianne (:

Sports Gal

This morning I was helping Xander learn how to dribble a basketball. We worked together for several minutes on the kitchen floor. He had the biggest grin on his face as he was able to rapidly go from no dribbling ability to some dribbling ability. At one point I looked over at Sophi and jokingly asked, "Are you going to play basketball some day?" Xander laughed out loud and said, "Sophi can't play basketball...." Christi started to say, "Well maybe she could stand on one foot and..." At that point Xander finished his statement: "...cuz she's 2!"

What a beautiful way to look at his little sister. The sky's the limit for both of those kids!!!

Jer

What cures all?

Long day. Another 100-minute round trip to Primary Children's Medical Center for Jesi. Lexi's IEP. I took Parker on a daddy date to the BYU-New Mexico basketball game. Christi home with the other 7 by herself. I started the day at 5:45 am going up to the church with Taylor and Parker to play basketball. I get home from the game tonight at 11:20 pm. I'm exhausted. Christi conked out on the bed waiting for us to return. Our arrival wakes her up. "Are you in bed for the night?" I ask. She looks at me with both stress and sleep in her eyes. "I could get up and watch a Mary Tyler Moore," she replies. "I have good news!" I say. I hold up two Mint Chocolate Utah Truffles. I can see the stress just ooze out of her. A peaceful, serene joy now surrounds her like an aura. Life will go on...

Sophia Breanne

I still remember how I felt the first time I saw a picture of this little girl of ours. Something in her eyes called out to me and she immediately had my heart.

She still does.

In fact, she has captured a lot of hearts. Our whole family is smitten with this imp of ours. It has been so much fun to have her in our family and to see the love that everyone has for her.

Sophi sparkles. I don't know how else to put it. Her spirit is full of life and light and spunk and sweetness. She is just the right combination of sugar and spice. She has brought so many smiles into our home. We love, love, love our baby girl!

Sophi's a bit of a rock star in our neighborhood. The kids love showing her off and take great pride in her. I had her at school one day and they boys wanted to introduce her to their classes. They both came home and said that the kids talked about her all day long. They love it, and I love watching them revel in her. We have one girl across our street (9 years old) who comes over often just to play with her and Lexi and to help me out. I laughed the other day when she called and asked, "Can Sophi play?" She came and got her and brought her to her house to hang out with her friends, and has done it a couple times since. Sohpi definitely knows how to steal hearts.

A bit about Soph:

She's almost 2 1/2 years old. Developmentally, she is a bit younger-- which is honestly fine with us! We love having a little one! Sophi's language is delayed. She only had a handful of words in Chinese, but understood a lot. She has already learned more English than Chinese. Her little voice is soooo sweet and cute. When we first got her, she would try a word here and there but was mostly quiet. It's been over two months now, and she is definitely more verbal. She has this cute little language called "Sophi." It's a combination of babbling, half-words, and little barks. (: We love listening to her. Our favorite thing right now is hearing her sing "Baby" by Justin Beiber. She get's really into it, singing, "baby, baby, baby oh!" She also has her little version of "twinkle twinkle" which most people wouldn't recognize as such, but we do. (:

Sophi was obviously born without arms, but what most people don't know is that she also has issues with her legs. Her right leg is 4 centimeters shorter than her left, and she is missing her fibula in that leg. The doctors at Shriner's are quite fascinated with her (their words.) She is complicated, because it is harder to know how to treat her legs when she relies on her legs and feet for everything. In a child with her leg issues, but who has arms, they would either do a series of leg lengthening surgeries, or amputate her right foot and give her a prosthetic. Either of these treatments could facilitate walking. However, with Sophi, it's a bit different. They are obviously not going to amputate her foot, as she NEEDS it. And surgeries pose the risk of messing with muscles and the mobility she has with her feet. So for now, we are doing nothing permanent. She has been given shoes made especially for her, with a lift in one. They're pretty cute, if you ask me. (: She has also been given a walker to help get her on her way to walking. When she wears the shoes and is in the walker, she does pretty well. Still, it will be a long time before she can figure out how to walk on her own. Right now, her preferred mode of travel is to scoot. She sits on her bottom and uses one leg, then the other, to pull herself forward. You would be amazed at how quickly she gets around this way. Also, we were thrilled to find out that she will be getting her own wheelchair, which she will maneuver with her shoulder. This will be a few months down the road, but we are so excited for her!! The wheelchair won't really work well in our house (neither does the walker) but it will be great to have outdoors and when we go other places. As the doctors at Shriner's said, she's a bright little girl that should be given the freedom to get where she wants to go.

Sophi receives occupational therapy in our home. Her therapist is actually from Hong Kong, so that is fun! Every therapist and doctor that has seen Sophi is thrilled with how she is doing and amazed by all she can do with her feet. She can draw, use a fork and spoon, pick up little objects and put them in containers, wrap up her baby doll and rock her, put iids on markers-- really just about anything she sets her mind to. We have no doubt that she will be capable of amazing things.

Sophi has a great sense of humor. She makes us laugh all the time. Late last nigh, Jeremy was kneeling on his bed saying his prayers, and I came up and tackled him from behind. We ended up in a tickle fight, all the time trying to shush each other because Sophi was asleep next to us. Our giggles eventually woke her up, and she pulled herself straight up in her crib, barely able to open her eyes, and started laughing right along with us. She's just so much fun.

If I only had one word to describe our Sophi, I'm not sure what it would be. Magnificent? Exquisite? Miraculous? She is those words and more. Jeremy and I are constantly talking about what a gift she is to us.

And those eyes still do to me what they did that first time I saw her picture.

I'm in love!

Almost funny...

... but not quite.

Toward the end of January, I was lamenting the fact that we already had over ten doctor appointments scheduled for February. I thought it sounded like a lot. And surely with all of the medical issues and special needs that are part of our daily lives, it couldn't get much more drama-filled, right?

Ha, ha.

As it turns out, February offered double the original appointments. Some routine, yes, and others completely unexpected. For instance, our sweet Taylor had an appointment with a pulmonologist to check up on his asthma. They did an ECHO and an X-ray while he was there. When the doctor called a couple of days later to discuss the findings, I almost tuned him out. I was in the middle of folding laundry and answering various questions from my kids (questions that always come up the second they see me on the phone.) I thought surely that everything would be normal. After all, Taylor is one of our TWO that we deem healthy. So I was taken off guard when the doctor started out by saying, "Well, we have a few things to discuss..."

Those "things" led us to a cardiologist and further tests. Without being too specific, it turns out that Parker stands alone as perfectly healthy.

Jessica has been going through something even more unexpected, which I won't discuss here for now.

And then, as if to put the icing on the cake, we believe Lexi had a seizure last night. We've been told if it happens again to go straight to the ER. We are now adding "neurologist" to our family doctors. Actually, now that I think about it, we aren't "adding" it-- Graci already sees one.

In fact, we have a neurologist, pediatrician, dentist, optometrist, orthodontist, opthalmologist, cardiologist (several), pulmonologist, ENT specialist, gastrointologist, orthopedist, vascular surgeon, geneticist-- those are just off the top of my head.

I am not complaining. I don't want to sound ungrateful. February has been full of blessings for our family. Two of our children, Xander and Sophi, are being treated at Shriner's Hospital, meaning we are not charged for their care. We have such good doctors and therapists who genuinely love our children. And I honestly feel like every time something hard happens, someone calls with an offer to bring dinner or something shows up on our front porch or someone offers to help with housework. These acts of service always come at just the right time, and without people even knowing what we are going through. We have been served to a humbling degree. We are very blessed in so many ways.

Still... as far as medical issues go, by the time we got to the seizure thing with Lexi, I'll admit I was left wondering, "Um... isn't it someone else's turn?"

ARGH.

Oh, and may I add that I had my purse stolen? Money, credit cards, drivers license, pictures, sunglasses, jewelry, my new watch, receipts, stuff from China-- all GONE. That's ok, because I have just tons of time to replace it all. The funny thing is, my purse was a fake Coach purse. Jeremy bought it for me in China for under $20 and I LOVED it. I had hardly even heard of a Coach purse, and was shocked to find out how much the real things cost. I never pay more than $20 for a purse. I googled how to tell if a Coach purse is real, and mine passed all of the tests except for one. So whoever stole my purse (we know it was stolen because the credit cards were used the following day) likely thought it was the real thing. I almost feel bad for them. In fact, I think I do.

Anyway... today is the LAST day of February. May March be easier on us... (:

--Christianne

Oh, and I haven't forgotten that I promised a Sophi post. It's coming. We've been so, so busy. And so tired at the end of the night. However, Jer and I had a discussion last night about how important it is to journal the sweet blessings in our lives and made a commitment to post every day in March. Whether we'll follow through is the million dollar question, but it's a good goal! (:

Our Little Princess!

The other day I look over the railing by the stairs and see this:


Xander had created a Hansel and Gretel type trail of soda crackers for Sophi to follow. And she was following it!!!



Sophi is quite flexible:)

Thoughts on Dad

I was talking with Taylor and Parker about my brother Tyler. It came up that Tyler was 24. Taylor's response was, "He's that old??? He doesn't seem that old! He's in great shape, has a nice tan and has awesome hair."

Hmm. So that's the description of a handsome young man.

"So Taylor, how would you describe your dear old dad?"

At this point, Parker, ever one to look our for those he loves, quickly jumped in with, "Awesome personality, great coach, fun to play with." Thanks, Park! Taylor (after some coercion) finally described me: "greyish hair...a bit chubby...and kinda' pale."

Later that day Graci came up to me, touched a spot of my face, and asked, "How do you get rid of the bumps?" Me: "Bumps?" Graci: "You know, the bumps." Me (catching on to what she meant): "Just say it, Grace." "You know...(then in a whispered voice) pimples." "Why are you whispering, Grace?" "Because it's embarrasing!" Thinking about how she had touched my face to start the conversation, I asked, "Do I have a pimple?" Grace: "You have lots!"

They know how to keep you humble:)

Jer

The Long, Long Weekend:)

At the end of January I had a business meeting in Orlando. I left on Monday morning and returned Thursday night. Prior to my leaving, Christi was somewhat overwhelmed with the prospect of taking care of the kids alone for several days. To help cheer her up, I suggested that she plan a girls only weekend sometime after I returned. She decided to go up to Rexburg, ID and surprise her sister Becky for Becky's birthday. Since it was such a long drive, she would stay two nights. Of course it would be even better if their other sister, Leslie, could go to. Leslie's husband is a firefighter, and wasn't able to be home the weekend they were going. So I volunteered to watch her three boys as well. So, yes. You have added that up correctly. Last weekend, I stayed home and single-handedly took care of eleven children for 48 hours...and they were all alive when Christi came home! The ages were: 12,11,10,7,6,6,5,5,4,3,2. And believe it or not, I actually had a lot of fun.

It's not really fair to say I did it single-handedly. Grace, Taylor and Parker were absolutely incredible. They helped make meals and get kids to bed and change diapers and clean up. They even let me sleep in Saturday morning until after 9am! They are truly amazing kids. And in spite of all of the work we had to do to keep the 12 of us going, we still managed to have a good time. Taylor and Parker both came up to me independently and commented on how impressed they were that we were able to do everything we needed to do, without mom to help us, and still have fun. Leslie's three boys played a LOT of Wii. We were blessed with temperatures in the low 60's (record highs for this time of year) and so we were able to get outside and ride bikes and throw the football a few times. Sophi was the hit of the neighborhood in her walker. (The walker is another post for another day, but she is SO CUTE in it:)

Prior to the trip, Christi asked me what I was planning to do for church. I told her I would try to go. She thought I was crazy. In fact, she mentioned it to her mom, and her mom thought I was crazy, too, and should just stay home. (How often do you get permission from your mother-in-law to skip church?) But I really was going to try to go. HOWEVER...Friday morning dawned and Christi and I were both quite sick. I was really worried. I was barely convinced I could take care of all those kids if I was perfectly healthy. What was I going to do if I was under the weather??? But she left me anyway. By Saturday, Lexi, Elli and Sophi all had runny noses as well. That evening I told the three oldest kids that I would not be going to church, but that if any of them would like to, I would be happy to drop them off.

Sunday dawned, and there are few mornings that could be better characterized by Dicken's famous line: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times!"
Best: I was awakened by Taylor saying, "Dad, can you take me to church?" I cracked one sleepy eye and saw the Taylor had woken up on his own and gotten completely ready to go. Handsome as could be in his suit and tie, he wanted to go and worship. I was so proud. I jumped up and off we went.
Worst: I returned home and decided to say a prayer before I faced the day. I was on my knees and just starting to pray when Graci opened my bedroom door. She looked at me kneeling and said, "Oh, sorry. But it is kind of emergency!" I looked up at her and she said, "Elli took off her diaper and pooped on the bed. And she's eating it." OK. I can handle this. I am a grown man. I have had 38 years of life and 12 years of parenting to develop patience and unconditional love. I will not leave this for Christi to take care of when she gets home. I am a man. I want my mommy!!!

I went downstairs, and sure enough, there was Elli. The one small bright spot in all of this was that she had remained on the bed, which meant the mess was mostly confined to the bed. Elli had grabbed handfuls of the stuff and had basically made a foul snow angel on the sheets. She had indeed tried a mouthful. She had combined said mouthful with enough saliva to make a thin paste out of it, which she had then managed to spread over her face and throat. She looked like she had a mud mask on, minus the cucumbers. She had chunks of it in her hair. She had tried the "spaghetti test" with some of it. You know, where you throw spaghetti against the wall to see if it sticks? It stuck. I found it on three of the four walls.

Somehow, I managed to stay calm. In fact, my overriding emotion was sorrow and empathy for my little girl, that she would have to deal with things like this. I showered her off, washed the sheets and walls. I even gave her some ponytails when I was done. Ah, the joys of parenthood.

Really, though, overall we had a great time. And I have great kids!

Jer

Xander's future plans

This morning Xander came up to me and said in all solemnity, "Mommy, when I grow up, I'm going to have two babies-- one boy, and one girl." "Oh, that sounds perfect!" I replied. "And," he continued, "I'm going to have two girls." "Sounds good, honey!" "MOM, I'm not done yet... And... I'm going to have 41 boys adopted from China."

He wasn't being funny-- rather, he was very serious and earnest about the whole thing. I loved it. But I loved what he ended with the best of all... "And, I'm going to live right next door to you so you can see me every day and my two babies and two girls and 41 boys from China!"

Love that boy!

Hungry?

I came home from basketball practice with the boys. Christi sat me down and told me about the significant phone call we received from a specialist about one of our children's health. We discussed the fact that we have at least two more Dr.'s appointments we need to schedule on top of the 16 or so we already have scheduled for February. I told her, "Sorry hon, I need to leave in about 30 minutes for a baseball meeting and I'll be gone for three and a half hours. She responded:

"That's fine. I have this great homemade dinner all prepared for you...in my head. It just never got out onto the table."

;)

Jer

We did it!

The Christmas decorations got put away this weekend:) Pathetic little achievement, I know, but I'm still proud of us. Sophi woke the next morning and couldn't figure out what we had done with the tree. She's never seen home sans Christmas.

Photo Shop Phanatics...