"Mom! Look what I did!"

thank you son.


now i need a recipe involving lots of pears. . .

I Boiled my Baby

As if Elle hasn't gone through enough lately. Tonight as Brian was finishing up the dinner dishes I gave the kids a bath. I am not a seasoned mother by any means, but I am not brand new either and I know all about being safe in the bath. I checked the water before I put my kiddies in and it was warm. Nice and warm. In they went and I sat on the toilet and plucked my eyebrows while the bath filled up.

Usually Elle is at the top of the tub, opposite of the faucet, but tonight McKay somehow switched spots with her and she ended up right under the water flow. She was happy just watching McKay play whatever he was playing and grabbing at toys here and there. She's a pretty sturdy girl, so I don't feel like I have to be right there with her at all times. I just let them play.

Well, after about five minutes I looked over at Elle and noticed that her face was kind of red. I then noticed McKay giving her drinks of water from a cup and her coughing every time he did, so I thought that she was red from coughing/choking on the water. I told McKay to stop and went back to my eyebrows. Well, about five minutes after that I decided that she was really red. . .and then it hit me! She was right under the faucet!

I reached over and felt the water and it was HOT. It was the kind of hot that I would use in my shower. One time Brian told me that after I get out of the shower I kind of look like Charlize Theoron in the movie where she plays a lesbian serial killer. I took enormous offense to this because, you see, she is very, very ugly in that movie. I can't remember what it was called- I didn't see it. But I remember those ugly previews. I tell you this because he blamed my extremely hot showers on this comparison. I still feel ugliest right after a shower, but what can I say, I like them very hot!

Anyway, back to my baby. The water was very hot and I looked down at her and the whole side of her back that had been under the faucet was bright red. And her bottom. And her legs. And one of her arms. I picked her up- she was a million degrees- and began pouring cool water on her. When this wasn't doing much I stuck her back under the faucet- cold this time. I then began to feel extremely bad and guilty and started to cry. . .just a little. I don't know, if you boiled your baby you would probably cry too.

Brian came in and I told him what I'd done. . .horrible mother. . .and he told me that she would have been crying if it hurt her and that worst case it would be like a sunburn. He tried to make me feel better, but I still felt awful. At least she wasn't crying. But you know that old story about boiling frogs? How you put them in a pot of cool water and slowly boil them and they never know it's happening until they die. Yeah. I kept thinking of that. Of course she didn't cry. . .

We figured out that when I first turned on the water, Brian also had the sink water running and when he turned it off it changed the temperature of the bath water.

She's okay . . . and sleeping peacefully. By bedtime she wasn't even red anymore. But I will be on the lookout for blisters in the morning. And then if I see some I will crawl in my bed and never come out. . .

My poor girl.

Today at Target . . .

McKay said to me,


"Mom. When I grow up, maybe I can be a lady who gives out treats in the store!"



Hmmm. . .

My Birthday Boy

My son loves to pretend. He also loves animals. So there really is nothing better for McKay than pretending to be an animal. We go through different phases. Sometimes we're elephants; sometimes we're tigers. Right now we're on a horse kick. You can find us galloping around outside and McKay has even gone so far as to eat grass. . .like really eat it. But for his birthday it was Lion King all the way. Once I gave him the option of having a Lion King party I could not even mention any other ideas.

So there I was. My three year old convinced I had the talent to make him a lion cake. My three year old pretending for four straight weeks that we were Simba, Nala and Mufasa. When McKay started his Lion King phase my sister dug out some old Lion King figures that no one in her house was playing with and let us borrow them. By the second day of possessing these little guys, Brian and I kind of wanted to die. Okay, not really die, but we definitely were ready to send them back. He was so obsessed with playing Lion King. He wanted to do it first thing when he woke up, during every meal, and every time in between. I was all Lion-Kinged out. But I managed to pull it together for his party and he was in heaven.

He had to wait a little while before the big party. We held him off by giving him presents in the morning.

And having a yummy pancake breakfast on the special birthday plate.




After awhile it was finally party time.




These cute little lions (plus a shy one hiding around the corner) were quite a bunch.

(McKay, Matthew, Ethan, Gray and Drew (not pictured))


They were pros at the game "Sleeping Lions".

And perked up as they rocked out to "I Just Can't Wait to be King" with moves like this:

And some serious moves like this:

"Lion-Lion-Hyena" (aka, duckduckgoose) was everyone's favorite game. . .although most of the lions didn't ever totally get the concept.




Then it was time to gather at the water hole.




And what's this? A lion cake! Except I didn't decorate it. Because of our seven hours in the emergency room the day before and an early morning doctor's appointment for Ellery that day, my sweet mother-in-law came down to help. And help she did. She made this lion cake cuter than I ever could have. Lucky us.




And then it was over. My baby was three! I can't believe it. I think time starts going in warp speed once you have kids. Sometimes it seems so weird that I have a three year old. We have been doing this parent thing for three years and although it goes by fast, it seems like we've had kids forever.



But enough about that. Lets end with some fun words about McKay. Oh my goodness, how do I even describe my little boy? He is amazing. He keeps us busy. He keeps us playing. . .all the time. And he is such a little sweetheart. I honestly don't think it's much of what Brian and I do or have done, he just is a pleasant kid. He came that way. And we're sure glad he came to us.

Mary Jane

That's what I've been calling Brian all summer.

You see, Brian requested these babies for Father's day in June.

He bought them to run in, you know, to improve his form.

And since then they've been sneaking in to his everyday wardrobe.

They're supposed to be as close to being bare foot as you can get. . .with out actually being barefoot.

He gets a lot of attention whenever he wears these things.

And we all know how much Brian loves getting attention.

Every time he's out in them some stranger will comment.

They've also gotten a lot of attention from me. . . in the form of nicknames.

Mary Jane is of course my favorite, but I also enjoy monkey feet, reptile, wet suit, and another favorite, little prancing dancer.

These babies also evoke a stream of disgusted squeals from all his sisters.

They can't believe they have a brother with such poor fashion sense.

But Mary Jane doesn't care. He's commited to these shoes.

He loves them.

Minis

The month of August was pretty busy for us. We had what we're calling a bunch of "mini" vacations. One or two night trips that were quick, but still worth mentioning on our blog. So instead of doing four individual posts, here they are, altogether!

Mini #1: Wind Rivers

Ha ha ha. I should not be writing this. I don't even know where they went. Brian, his dad McKay, and his brothers Ken and Darrell took a boys trip up to somewhere in Wyoming. They hiked around a lot, saw some pretty scenery, and did manly backpacking things that I don't know the technical terms for. I know that Brian and Ken were so excited to pack for this trip. . .I can only hope the actual trip was funner than that. They saw a bear, "It's a Hard Knock Life" was stuck in McKay's head the whole time, and they all talked about how fun it will be to do it again some day.

I was so happy that Bri got to go on this trip because he's been dying to go backpacking all summer. It's a love that he and the rest of the boys in his family all share. They love camping and backpacking is even better! It took them the whole summer to find a time that they could all go, but they did it and I think they all had a great time.

Mini #2: Park City

Then it was the girl's turn. We had so much fun in Park City. Brian's mom, Adele, planned such a fun little getaway for us girls. We got pedicures, ate a yummy dinner, went in the hot tub, watched Olympic gymnastics, ate a lot of treats, and most importantly shopped! I savored the feeling of only having myself to worry about. It was very weird not having to load kids into car seats and only having to worry about feeding myself. Weird, but so wonderful. Highlights:

• We were lucky to find a place that had five pedicure chairs. We laughed when a lady came in to get her nails done looked at us and commented to the owner, "Wow. Did you have a whole bus load show up?"

• Doing facial masks in the hotel. That's what me and Missy's arm are holding up in the picture.

• Eating dinner at Main Street Pizza and Noodle. We all walked in there with appetites the size of China. . .but then quickly realized that we were just a bunch of girls when we had a whole pizza leftover.

• Adele treated us to everything! We are sure lucky to have her as a mom/mother-in-law!
  

Mini #3: Andrew's Baptism

Next we went to the outdoor baptism of this cute little nephew of mine.

Here he is climbing out of the very cold river, right after the act. That's one perfect boy right there.

The baptism was at my brother-in-law's father's cabin. They were kind enough to entertain us afterwards with lunch, horseback riding and four wheeling. A few quick things:

• I was in charge of leading the music. Me. I'm serious. Stop laughing, although it doesn't really matter, because while I was leading my whole family was laughing at me.

• McKay showed up to the baptism in full cowboy gear. He could have jumped out of his boots- he was so excited to ride a horse.

• Grandpa Cordell took Jana, Mark, Brian and I on a horseback ride. I was doing kind of okay, until we crossed the river and Jana's horse freaked out and took off running, back over the river, back to the cabin. I was a little bit worried about Jana on this wild, runaway horse, but mostly I was worried about myself. I was already feeling scared, my horse could sense my fear- at least that's what they told me- and Jana's sudden departure made my horse all upset. I was pretty much crying and wanted to get off and go back, but then Grandpa Cordell had some words with me. . .which were pretty much, "Stop being a wimpy girl. Relax and don't be ridiculous. You're not going back." (said in a really uninterested, no patience for helpless girl voice) What do you know, he was right? After Jana returned unharmed, our ride went much smoother. I think it's because I kept petting my horse and giving him positive reinforcement. ". . . we're friends, aren't we horse?"
  

Mini #4: Bear Lake

Oh I wish I had some pictures of the cabin we stayed in. Brother-in-law Mark's family has a "cabin" aka, second, very large home, in Bear Lake, Idaho. It was pretty huge, and pretty amazing.

After arriving on a Friday night, we started the weekend off with a yummy breakfast, made by the men of the family on Saturday morning.

While breakfast was being made, us girls were privileged to be audience to a one-of-a-kind show. I don't know what kind of show it was, but there were lots of costume changes and some really great dance moves. Highlights:

• Eight year old Bryson in a skin tight, black, cat suit. Couldn't get the picture to work, but it was quite a sight.

• After McKay came out dressed as what we called a snowman (see bottom right photo) he looked at us and said, "I'm not a snowman. I'm a princess." Then he began to twirl around with Ethan, the french maid. We were so proud.

After the wonderful show we headed to the lake for some swimming, boating and an outdoor lunch. On our way, we were the first car stopped by a little scout in a huge bike helmet and some sort of a bike accident in the middle of the road behind him. He was stopping traffic, and we could see that a boy was having a seizure in the middle of the road (what is up with seizures?). I poked my head out the window and asked, "Do you need a nurse?" Obviously this scout troop did need some medical help, so Brian hopped out and did some more of his "medical things" and I watched in the car. Then I realized that I had my camera and so I snapped a shot, just because I was feeling proud.

That's Bri kneeling in the white shirt. The paramedics took a long time to get there, but when we left the boy was doing okay.

We had such a fun day swimming and boating. McKay loved the boat, he even got to drive which he found very exciting. Ellery loved eating the sand. We kept her binky in the whole time, but she still stuffed hand fulls of sand in her mouth when we weren't close enough to stop her. It was really gross, but what can you do? I went on the tube-thing with Brian screamed the whole time, and afterwards we all jumped in the water for a swim.

I have never been in more beautiful water than Bear Lake. It is so blue and so clear and so pretty. You can see down really deep in the water. And the best part is, it feels so clean. I didn't even feel dirty after I got out and dried off.

We ended the day with a campfire. I tried to get some songs going, because I am the musical one in the family, but it didn't catch on. The kids loved roasting marshmallows, starbursts and brown bears (cinnamon/sugar breadsticks).

And that's it! Ah, I'm relieved to have this mini post out of the way.

Up next, Lion King mania! Get excited.

Scariest day so far

I have so many things to post about. So many little trips and happenings in our family. I feel behind here. But all that will have to wait. You see, last night I went to bed without washing my face. I was so exhausted and fell asleep snuggling a crying baby and I just didn't care enough to get up and wash my makeup off. I don't think in all our five years of marriage Brian has ever seen me not wash my face at night. I do it every night. But after going through the scariest day so far, and trying to catch up and throw a birthday party after that, I was tired. Just really, really tired.

So what was this scary day? On Tuesday afternoon my little Ellery had a seizure. Well, she either had three seizures, or one long one, depending on how you want to look at it. I went into her room to wake her up so we could get ready to go to the dinosaur museum with Katie and her kids. Elle sat up in her crib as McKay climbed in to play with her while I was getting things ready. The next time I looked at them Ellery was laying on her side at McKay's feet, very obviously having a seizure.

Thank goodness Brian was home because I called him right in and I was excused from being the "medical parent" which I am not at all good at being. It was then I began to be the hysterical parent, which I do just fine. Ellery was still seizing and her lips and hands were blue. I wanted to call 911, but Brian was doing "medical things" to her and so I waited for instructions from him. We're guessing the seizure only lasted about a minute, but every time Brian would pick her up, to take her out of the crib, or to take her to the car to go to the doctor, she had another seizure. I called 911 and Ellery just laid on the floor moaning with her eyes closed. I have never been more scared in my life and as I was waiting on the phone with the dispatcher I could not believe that I was calling the paramedics for my ten month old baby. It was strange that this was actually happening to us.

The paramedics came and assessed her. They checked some more "medical things" and I tried my hardest to calm down, on account of my three year old who was witnessing all of this. A shaking sister, a frantic, crying mother, and six grown men in full uniform in your house is unsettling, to say the least. McKay didn't know if he was supposed to laugh, cry, or get excited about what was going on. He did a little of each. They told us that she needed to go to the emergency room and that they could take her or we could. We opted to take her ourselves.

I can't even begin to write about our day in the ER. I will have to condense majorly, because we were there for eight and a half hours. It was a very long, scary, and worrisome process.

Brian's dad came down and they gave Ellery a blessing. I was really overwhelmed with the power of the priesthood as I watched Brian's dad silently walk in the room and wait for the nurse to leave before they gave her a blessing. I just really felt the power they had as they were waiting for the chance to give it to her. I feel really grateful for that blessing and feel that Elle's outcome was a result of it.

Snoozing between tests. Don't look at my dirty heel, please.

They tested Ellery for everything that they thought could have caused a seizure- CT scan, blood work, and a spinal tap. It was so hard to see our baby going through such traumatic procedures. Basically every test they ran came back negative. They couldn't find a cause for the seizures, which was scary and very frustrating. Elle was a trooper though. She mostly just laid in our arms and slept between pokes and probes.

Recovering from the spinal tap. Loopy and sweet and very happy to see her daddy.

At about hour four I suddenly realized that Brian would have to quit his job and just watch Ellery with me all the time. We would have to sleep by her and watch her every second. We would have to buy a little mattress to put by her crib. And I couldn't' drive anywhere with her because what if she had another one in the car. Would I see it? Would I know? I also decided that I could no longer nurse her because if it happened during that I might not ever recover- emotionally or physically. I was pretty sure I would have to worry about her having another one for at least a year. . .maybe longer.

After about six hours in the ER, Brian felt her and noticed she was warm. He took her temp and it was 103. The doctor didn't really know what to make of this, but after conferring with her pediatrician they thought that it may be a febrile seizure (from a fever) but that the seizure came before the fever, when usually it's the other way around. So this was good news because that is the best cause for a seizure because they are usually isolated incidents and won't happen again. We were relieved to get to go home but also unsure of just what would happen. I was also very relieved because I had a Lion King party to throw the next day, and I really wanted to be with my little boy on his birthday.

We saw her pediatrician the next morning after an uneventful night. . .well. . .uneventful if the mother of all breakdowns once the kids were in bed doesn't count. After hearing the complete story and checking her out he was fairly sure that the seizure was caused by the fever, but he was concerned about why she had a fever. They could find no source for the fever. He decided that we'd just say it was from her runny nose/cold and watch her really closely. He also talked to me about the likelihood of her having another one, which was small, and also told me that if she did it would probably be in the next few days. Cancel the mattress, and Brian doesn't have to quit his job. Whew! Now I feel more prepared if she does have another one, and although it would be scary, I feel like we could handle it if we had to.

After her appointment we scrambled around and received help from my mother-in-law to complete party preparations, and we were able to enjoy a fun, busy day with our little birthday boy. Ellery was pretty tired and wanted to be held a lot, but we were happy to do it.

I am so relieved and happy that she is okay. I was more scared than I have ever been. There is nothing like seeing your baby like that. Nothing. Today I am able to think about it without getting teary, but it's taken three days. I am so grateful for the prayers that were offered on her behalf. I really felt them. I know that our whole family and many of our friends were praying for her, and it was really neat to be the recipients of that. I know that they made a difference.

And now today. Today it took us until three o'clock to get ready for the day because we just gave ourselves the day to do nothing. It felt good. We felt like we needed to get out and do something so we went to a park and played and then treated ourselves to dinner. I feel rested and although I'm still pretty jumpy and paranoid about any little movement Ellery makes, I'm better than I was. And she's for the most part better. And when McKay isn't retelling the story of what happened, he's better. And Brian? Well, he was pretty cool and collected all along, so he's just the same. And now I'm off to wash my face.

Long, I know

That post was really long. It's no secret that I'm a long winded writer. I'm sure everyone's noticed. I just can't help it. And this was a pretty major story for me to tell, so it's long.
It's who I am, I can't help it!

Today We Had Twins

Brian and I spent a good part of our Sunday afternoon taking care of our new twin babies.

Sid is the big baby in the blue and that extra happy one is Seapot. Or Sea Pot? I'm not really sure, you'd have to ask Sid.

Mostly they just crawled around together and stood there at the shelf babbling at us. Sid is much more advanced than Seapot is and when she had a messy diaper Sid thought about putting a diaper on himself, but then opted to use the potty instead. It's sure nice just having one twin in diapers.

Sharing Time

In our house band aids are pretty much as good as magic. McKay will be hysterical from some sort of bump or scrape, and as soon as we mention the word "band aid" it somehow helps. The other night he woke up with an ear ache and was repeating his usual ailment phrase, " . . .but it still hurts!" There's really no talking him out of the pain when he starts doing that. After several different tactics for his ear ache I asked if a band aid would help. He looked up at me with his lips pouted but his eyes hopeful and nodded. So I slapped that band aid right over his ear, and what do you know, it eased the ear ache. Magic I tell ya!

So, obviously we go through a lot of band aids around here and I definitely have a favorite. Nexcare Waterproof Tattoo band aids. I love these! Not only do they come in fun characters- we have Nemo right now- but they are so light and really water proof. With old band aids we'd stick one on McKay and he'd take it off in less than two minutes because it was so bulky and wouldn't stick completely, which was frustrating when he actually needed one. Not with these. They are so light and make a seal over the cut so nothing gets in.

I'm still trying to convince Brian about the roll of bandaids in our house. He will look at me and say, "He doesn't even need one." Yeah, but. . .they're magic. . .so who cares? As long as they keep healing him I'm going to keep using them. Try them- you'll love 'em too!

Montana Highs and Lows

Finally, our Montana trip! We had such a great time in Montana with Brian's whole family. Here are the highs and lows of Montana, or rather the lows and highs. Bad news is always better followed by good news, right? Okay, here we go!

Lows:

• McKay throwing up the evening before we were scheduled to leave.
• Sarah practically having a mental/physical/emotional breakdown because of the above mentioned low.
• Waking up at 4am to start the nine hour drive.
• Lindy getting sick on our second day in Montana, as well as Brian and me, but not as bad as Lindy.
• Elise and Jaynie getting sick on our second night.
• Sarah wanting to cry on our second night.
• Ken, Adele and Missy getting sick on our third day.
• Feeling 100% responsible for your family throwing up and feeling miserable on a vacation.
• Getting eaten by mosquitos and seeing those pesky bugs on my little baby.
• My bangs freaking out. They did not like Montana.
• Realizing when we got there that I had packed all my garment bottoms. . .and NO tops! Nice.
• Realizing right after that I had also forgotten deodorant. Yum.
• Sharp teething.
• Allergies for my left eye.
• Oh no, we're not done with the throwing up yet. Jenn getting sick the day we left. Not a fun drive for her.
• Having the reunion in Montana end.

On the the Highs:

• McKay getting a blessing in the car in the dark at 4am and not getting sick again. Also, being SO excited about going.
• No crying, fits or vomit on the nine hour drive to Montana.
• Traveling with our portable DVD player. We LOVE our portable DVD player!!!
• Having two amazing aunts who helped our babies to be angels in the car.
• Breakfast at Smitty's in Idaho Falls with aunt Shauna.
• Staying in cozy cabins in the gorgeous Montana mountains.
• Playing games as a family while the kids were all sleeping. That hasn't happened ever!
• Seeing two black bears, plenty of bison, dozens of elk, a big horn sheep with a million babies, and a few moose.
• McKay naming his stuffed buffalo "Hootie". I just could not be more in love with the name he chose. Hootie.
• Somehow, Brian and I got the least sick out of everyone. So not fair, I know, but a high for us nonetheless.
• Ellery finally crawling forward!
• Horseshoe tournaments
• Listening to "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" on cd in the car.
• Swimming in crazy creek.
• All the fun sights and places to visit in Yellowstone.
• Talking on the radios between cars and giving each car a nickname.
• A beautiful picnic in the mountains.
• McKay finding an old fence in those mountains to be a cow in. . .or was it a sheep? Oh I can't keep all his animals straight anymore. It was one of those.
• Cousins playing together.
• Ice cream almost every night.
• Our family still loving us and being nice to us even though we got all but three of them sick.

And now for some proof. All together we took about 935 pictures so get comfy. . .there's a lot.

Here's the little sicky himself. Hard to believe that something so cute can cause something so awful.

Old Faithful

Picnic in the mountains. Top right corner is McKay being a cow. Ken is also cut off of the family picture in the center. . .but you can still see his leg. . .sorry Ken.

Church in a "barn". McKay has never been more excited to go to church! And church in a barn is pretty popular. It was packed!

Visiting Mammoth. I sure hope that's what it's called. We saw a ton of elk here, just hanging out on the lawn of the hotel. We also saw a bear and a big bull elk on the drive back. Very exciting.

McKay and Elise. So precious.

This here is the behind of a girl who can now crawl. It's kind of amazing given the load she has to carry. She was so happy and content to just hang out in the middle of the floor of the cabin- that's pretty much all she did.

At the cabin.

Lindy and Jaynie. I just liked this picture so I put it up. We went to this pretty waterfall that was pretty close to our cabin.

Crazy Creek. This was the weirdest river I've ever seen. It really was crazy. It was this raging river rushing down a mountainside. You can kind of get an idea from the top left picture. The water was very fast and very cold. But we found some little pools to enjoy and aside from the mosquitos taking advantage of our bare skin, we had a lot of fun.

Being tourists in Cooke City.

And that's it! But next up for me is a little trip. . .

with these girls. . .minus Elle, plus Missy. Can't wait!

the end.

mourning a loss. . .

I guess I will finally concede to Brian's label that I am a person who loses things. I am. I once lost my wedding ring- thought it was left in a hotel in California- but it was really just tucked into a crevice in my bag. I've lost my credit card a few times. And the big whopper, was last year when we sold our car. Brian's schedule was super busy so I was in charge of selling the car. Me. Nice, huh? Anyway, after the final transaction was made, somehow I misplaced the $10,500 check that the Arab gentleman had given me for our car. I thought maybe Brian was going to kill me. That was by far the worst, and after that incident Brian christened me with the title of someone who loses "important" things.


Well, I've been at it again. On Saturday night I was at the mall trying to take advantage of the Gap Friends and Family discount and my kids were just about done with the day. McKay found a stick in the parking lot and got a sliver in his hand and was crying about it the whole time. The sales lady gave him two bandaids and another one gave him a bear sticker and nothing helped. He was kind of out of control and SO tired. Ellery was extremely tired as well, but at least she wasn't crying. While I was in line I moved McKay to the stroller so he could have his breakdown in a comfy seat, and I carried Ellery. After I made my purchase I was trying to juggle Ellery in my arms, push the stroller and hang on to my wallet. I decided I didn't have enough time and energy to put my wallet all the way back in my purse which was buried in the stroller basket, so I stuck it on the sun shade of the stroller and thought to myself, "Okay Sarah, don't forget your wallet right there. It's not the usual place." Well, guess what I lost on the way from the Gap to my car? My wallet. So I'm mourning.


You may think I'm mourning the $100 bill that was inside. Well, it stinks that I lost that, but no that's not it. I mourned for that already.


You may think it's the cutest giraffe print wallet that I got in Texas at the one and only Sam Moon. Nope.


You might be thinking it's my credit cards. Wrong again. Those have already been cancelled and replaced.


It's my driver's licence. Or more specifically my driver's licence picture.


I just got home from the DMV where I got a new licence and the mourning began. You see, my old licence had the best driver's licence picture of all time. It was my twenty-first birthday. I was a size two. I had just come back from Hawaii and was extremely tan. My hair was long and blond and had not yet gone through the sacrifices of having babies. And it was just a really good picture. And I'm sad. Today my hair looks like a seventies disco dancer (not in a good way) and my face is round and white. Please mourn with me.


I know it's not a major catastrophe and as my dad would say, "No one died. Your children are healthy. You're okay." But I just want to be a little depressed about it for awhile. So I'm taking today. . .

And for those of you who are still concerned, we did get a replacement check, but I sure felt dumb asking for it : )