MOVING!

On Saturday, we are moving to Norwalk. I HATE MOVING!!! Jared and I have been married for just 2 years, and this will be move #6. However, it will be nice to live in a cheaper place, that is actually bigger. It isn't as nice as our apartment complex now, but it is worth the money we will save. Anyways, if there are any guys reading this that want to help, go with the feeling! And for any of you wives reading this, feel free to volunteer your husbands- jk, but we will need help with a few bigger items. Any takers, give Jared a call... he is in charge of this move, me and my huge stomache are going to sit this one out.

A Good Day!

Monday started out pretty rough. Over the weekend I had been experiencing some strange stomache pains (the best I can describe it felt like a combo of cramps, gas and 1000 too many sit ups). So I went to my fertility doctor early Monday morning before work. They did an ultrasound and found that my ovaries are hyperstimulated (aka 3x the size they usually are) and there is liquid forming around my ovaries and uterus. Basically, I wasn't just being a sissy like I thought I was being. So with a few instructions on how to alleviate the pain and bloating (see sidenote), they sent me on my merry way to work.

Let's be honest, physically my job is not so easy. One of my kids is a frequent bolter, and it HURT to run after him. He wasn't in a great mood either, so I got screamed at, hit, kicked, etc. alot that day. Toward the end of the day, I was thinking to myself, there is no way I can come back tomorrow, I should just quit my job! I hear the movie theater is hiring, who needs this trauma everyday? As I am thinking this, I pull my band aid off of where they had taken my blood. My boy was very into the book he was looking at, but looked up when I said ow as I pulled it off. He got a very concerned look on his face and began tenderly rubbing my arm and saying, "Owie...owie....owie." He did this for a at least a minute before going back to his book. Periodically, he would pull my sweater sleeve up and doing the same thing, almost as if he were saying, "Are you ok, does it hurt?" He is pretty non-verbal and usually not affectionate at all- I usually have to bribe him to get a hug. It was so sweet!

What a good day!!!!!

* Sidenote: The doctor told me it would get worse before it got better. I have to weigh myself and measure around my waist a couple times a day. When I started I was 27" around and weighed 129lbs (how embarassing to admit). By the end of the day yesterday I was 31" around and 132 lbs. How crazy is that?!?!?!

Grateful Sunday

Today is Easter, and I am especially grateful for the Savior. I am so grateful for everything He has done for me. In sacrament meeting today it was mentioned that we don't have crosses like other churches do, because we don't focus on His death- we focus on the fact that He lives. I LOVE that aspect of the gospel.

It was really neat to hear the Easter message adapted for 3 year olds in Primary. It was simple and clear, Jesus gave His life for us and then rose from the dead 3 days later. The kids had been very active (as all 3 year olds are) throughout Sharing Time and most of the lesson. However, when Claudia (my co-teacher) spoke of His death and resurrection it got very quiet (relatively). The kids became engaged in the lesson, asking and answering questions- and I could see that most of them understood. It really struck me and I am grateful for that experience.

I think sometimes I get carried away with trying to understand the "deep" concepts of the Gospel, and occasionally feel spiritually dwarfed by others' comprehension. I realized today that is not important. I have a testimony, however simple it may be, of the Atonement and Resurrection of our Savior. I may not have all the deep insights that others' have, but for right now, what I do know is good enough for me.

On a less spiritual note, I am also grateful that my parents taught me to take responsibility for my actions. I have noticed lately that many kids at my school have not had the same oportunity to learn that lesson. It is obvious that their parents have not taught them that their actions have consequences. I don't know how many times I have heard, "Well, this person made me do this, or if you hadn't done this I wouldn't have done that." What a way to live, how will a person survive in this world with that kind of mentality? Sometimes it is hard to accept responsibility for a mistake, but at least I know how. Way to go, Mom and Dad!

Let It Be!

I LOVE BROOKE WHITE!!! My sister knows Brooke White and has been working on getting me hooked for over a year. So vote for her, she is great and so "pure" as the judges have labeled her. Last week she gave an amazing, emotional performance of the song "Let It Be". The combination of her voice, the emotion she put into it and the words really touched me. The words go like this (as if not everyone knows them):

When I find myself in times of trouble,

mother Mary comes to me,

speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

And in my hour of darkness

she is standing right in front of me,

speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.

Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree,

there will be an answer, let it be.

For though they may be parted

there is still a chance that they will see,

there will be an answer. let it be.

Let it be, let it be, .....

And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light,

that shines on me, shine until tomorrow, let it be.

I wake up to the sound of music,

mother Mary comes to me,

speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

Let it be, let it be, .....

I am sure this song has different meaning to everyone, but this is what struck me as I listened to her sing it. I feel like I talk about this alot, and I am sorry, but it is something that is really big in my life right now. I want a baby so bad, and sometimes I really struggle with the fact that almost everyone I know has been blessed with a child, except us. I was having a rough night when Brooke sang the song and it hit me hard. I will be a mother someday, when the time is right. I know that it will sometimes be really hard to be patient, but it WILL happen. I am doing everything I can do, so for now I need to stop worrying about it and (at the risk of sounding cheesy) I just need to let it be!

The 3 A's of Our Week

A #1: Accident

In high school I drove a 1988 Dodge 600 which we endearingly called Brutus the Beast. Then in 2004 I bought a 2001 Plymouth Neon. I NEVER got in an accident when I drove those "starter" cars...in fact, I had a clean driving record (with the exception of 1 speeding ticket-darn those Utah highway patrols). When Jared and I moved to CT, we bought a new Honda Accord. I LOVE this car, it is the first brand new car I have ever owned. Maybe 2 months later I rear ended someone on my way to work. It wasn't a bad accident, with so little damage the police didn't file anything about it. So finally 3 weeks ago we got my beloved car fixed and I was a happy girl once more.

Fast forward to Wednesday: I am driving on the highway. I was actually driving with my radio off trying to have a little quiet time of personal reflection. Out of nowhere a HUGE rock (practically boulder) comes flying at me. It hit my windshield with a vengeance and created a spirally bull's eye crack bigger than my hand (not to mention, scared me to tears). Here is some photographic proof of my near death experience: (the 1st one is the best picture to show the damage, I just like the 2nd and the 3rd makes me giggle)

A #2 Anniversary (yesterday)

Wow, 2 years! I have heard people say the first 2 years are the hardest- I hope that is true, because if it is the rest of eternity will be a walk in the park. We have definitely had our ups and downs, but it has been an AWESOME 2 years! We love to have fun and laugh, but have also had trials that have brought us closer together than we could have imagined. I love Jared SOOO much. Ok, enough cheesiness... we went to Cheesecake Factory to celebrate. Jared gave me a necklace and pearl earrings, and I gave him (drum roll please).... a sweatshirt- so romantic, huh? Just kidding, it is what he wanted. Here is us at dinner:

A #3 Artificial Insemination

We had our 3rd cycle of IUI yesterday (yes on our anniversary) and today. We are feeling pretty good about this round- not to mention how cool it would be if it works on our anniversary! Right now I am trying to find the balance between having faith and hope, yet preparing myself for if it doesn't work. Feel free to keep us in your prayers, we could use the help! Don't worry, though, if this doesn't work, we have 2 rounds of invitro available through our insurance. Here is my medical bracelet (I like to put pictures with my posts, and there aren't alot of options for this subject).

Those are the 3 A's of our week.

Whoa baby!

I was watching Jon and Kate Plus 8 the other day, and had an "aha" moment, as Oprah would say. They were doing a viewer question/answer session. One of the emailed questions asked them how they ended up with sextuplets...their answer was IUI. On Friday (approximately) we will be doing our 3rd IUI treatment. To be honest, I feel pretty educated with the whole IUI (also called artificial insemination) so I was well aware of the "risks" of a multiple births. However, as much as I have read and prepared, nothing spells it out quite like this:

I realize the odds are like 1 in a million, but lets be honest the odds are there. I feel like whatever Heavenly Father has in store for us we will be able to handle. But right now this is how I am feeling (and don't be afraid to join me in this): WHOOOOAAAA!!!!!!

The H- word

I love working with kids...everyday is so different than the last! One of my favorite things about it is the funny thing kids say. I will never get bored with the Guessing the Bad Word game I play on the daily basis with 1st graders. This is an age where they are eager to please, afraid of getting in trouble and they take their duty to tattle tale VERY seriously. Today, like many others, a little girl came up to me and said," Miss Lindsey, Brian said the s h word!" I am thinking, how does a 6 year old know this word (I am sure you all know what word I am talking about)...until I asked her what he said. With a horrified look on her face, she whispered, "He told me to shut up". I had to try hard not to laugh and reprimanded him for using "potty words" at school.

Here are some other naughty words and their abbreviations I have learned: the d word is dumb, the h word is hate, the s (with no h) word is stupid and my personal favorite the f word is fart.

In order to apply this new concept to my life, I would like to share a personal opinion with all of you. I h-word panty hose. I h-word the person who decided that they were a good idea. I don't think they are comfortable at all (so itchy), I have to contort my body in unnatural positions just to get the d word things on my legs (for a mental image, think about Princess Diaries or Mel Gibson in What Women Want) , my skirts always hike up because of the static and they rip so easy. On Sunday a friend was picking me up to go to a Relief Society fireside. I was in a hurry so I ran into my room and attempted to "throw" my pantyhose on. As I pulled them up, my fingernails (which are not as freakishly sharp as this sounds) ripped them and when I looked down my 8 fingers where sticking through 8 holes, of course followed by huge runs. I quickly discarded them and grabbed pair #2. I tried to be a little more careful, but on the last tug I heard a quiet rip, and watched the run go from my hip to my shin. I ended up making us late, ruining 2 of my 4 pairs and had to wear a pair that I am pretty sure is the oldest pair of pantyhose in the world. They have little black balls of lint or something all over them, holes high up on my leg (high enough to be covered by my skirt, but I am still self conscious about wearing something so hideous -even if no one can see) and I had to hike them up every 10 minutes because they are so stretched out. Doesn't it make ya feel so classy when your hose are bunched around your ankles- its a real crowd pleaser! That's all, I don't like pantyhose at all!

Grateful Sunday

My niece and nephew are almost exactly 2 years apart in age, and their birthdays are at the beginning of March (aka now). So today I am especially grateful for them.

I will start with Ainsley. I don't know this sweetie as well as I would like to. I have only been able to spend a little bit of time with her- I can't believe she is 1! The first time I met her was when I went to stay with Brooke for a couple of weeks a couple of months after she was born. My favorite thing to do was to get her to smile and get a picture of it with my phone. She was really easy to get to smile, but as soon as I held my phone in front of her, the smile would disappear and her eyes would get HUGE!!! It cracked me up every time! I saw her again not long ago, and she was starting to get a personality. She has recently started to call me (without Brooke knowing) and leaving me messages of her sucking on the phone, always fun to get. She was so easy to get to laugh. I have had a good time picking out little outfits for her (luckily for their closet space, Jared and I don't have enough money for me to buy all of them). Here is one that we got for her-(the shirt, not the wings), pretty close to the last time I saw her.

Now for Issac- I LOVE this kid. Seriously, everyone needs an Issac in their lives! When I stayed with them, I spent a ton of time with him. We went swimming in the baby pool, practiced winking, played a whole lot of Elefun and watched Wonder Pets. He also loves High School Musical (he does an amazing rendition of "Bop to the Top" ) and Cars (we came up with a little duet of Life is a Highway). Since that time, one of my favorite things is when he calls and leaves messages on my phone- my answering machine is full of his messages I have saved. My favorite went like this: "Hi Lindsey, I am calling you. Your my best friend. Bye." Anyways, this kid is the best and I LOVE him- I can't stress that enough. Here is my first picture with him, and a picture the last time I saw him. I hope to someday have the same relationship with Ainsley.

Happy Birthday Guys!