Lessons from a Staph Infection

In an effort to have this whole ordeal over, I thought I would put down the lessons I have learned from going through this for the last five weeks.
For everyone who didnt know I have had a nasty staph infection for over a month now and it is still not completely healed. I have to say I am sick, sick, sick of the whole thing. This has been by far one of the worst things I have gone through in my life so far, but these are the lessons I have learned....
1. I will never take my body or my health for granted again. I would give anything to be able to go workout or just stand for longer than a couple of minutes without being in pain.
2. Chronic pain really sucks! For anyone who has to deal with this without any solutions other than taking pain meds, I am completely sorry for you. Being in pain changes who you are, you become very irritable from the pain and from the lack of utter control you have in your life.
3. Being able to take care of my kids and home isn't the worst thing in the world...at this point I would settle for a lifetime of house cleaning if I could do it without hurting and needing to lay down every couple of minutes.
4. It is okay to let people help....this is a big one for me. I have had so many kind people bring over dinner, call and check on me, offer advice, take over some of my church responsibilites, etc., etc.
5. Doctors don't always know everything...in fact it is pretty much a guessing game for them. The verdict is still out on this one, if this finally heals then he will be my biggest hero, if it doesn't then I will kick myself for not going somewhere else from the beginning. In the end, you are your best advocate, I have probably driven my doc crazy but I need this thing done with and quick.

My mom always taught me to look for the gifts in any trial...so I am going to list those as well.
1. I have had time to read more books in the last month then probably in the last five years, I have learned about Henry VIII and his wives, Queen Katherine, and Lincoln.
2. I have not spent any money on frivoulous items, my bank account has gained much from this experience.
3. I have gotten closer to the people in our ward.
4. I think I have caught up on my sleep for the next five years.
5. I have gotten to see how much people do care for me including my husband, who has changed bandages, applied ointment, accompanied me to the doctor when it wasn't always convenient, gone for treat and Diet Coke runs, cooked dinner, taken care of the kids, taken over carpool, picked up prescriptions, and called every doctor he knows to try to find a solution. This may be the best blessing of all.

There you have it I have learned much and been blessed much so now I can be done with this....RIGHT?

View from a 4 year old

Ethan loves to steal the camera and take pictures. I thought some of these are quite interesting, maybe there is a budding photographer in there somewhere. Anyways, here is a pictorial viewpoint from a four year old's level.

Apparently, he was outside for this one, not sure where I was.

This is Zak's bike....he was spinning the wheel and then taking the picture.

I am not sure if he arranged the crayons himself, but either way they are kind of laying at interesting angles.

"Finding Nemo" literally

We call this one "Inside of a Hamper"

Here he is taking a picture of himself in our mirrored dresser, don't mind the dirty clothes on the floor. I love how intent his face is when he is holding the camera.

Extra! Extra!

My daughter Lauren has been in the newspaper not once but twice here in Logan. I barely made it into our school yearbooks when I was a kid. Not only am I a proud mom, but I stand in amazement at how much she has grown. The first picture was front page news (yes this is a small town) about a big sister to be class, she went to when I was pregnant with Chloe. The last one, she was voted by her coaches to be the athlete of the week on her cheer team. Probably, because she tells the other girls to quit being babies, suck it up, and work harder. She gets that from her dad, whose favorite saying is "Cowboy Up" He is not a cowboy so don't ask where that came from. It was funny how many people saw and recognized her in the paper, apparently people still read it here. I thought everyone got their news from the internet these days, but apparently not in Logan. Anyways, she is a great girl and now the whole valley knows it too!

It's a long gross story...

This weekend we went to yet another cheer comp down in SLC, when I woke up I wasn't feeling too well, I had the chills and was quite dizzy, but being the sweet husband Zak is, he told me to get in the car because he was sure once I ate something I would be fine. I, too hoped I would feel better and I didn't want to miss the girls competition. First I should tell you a couple of days before (NOTE: You may want to stop reading now, it gets gross from here on out) I went swimming in a public pool, not sure if this has any relevance or not, the next day I noticed a boil on my leg ( I have had these before but never like this) I hurriedly go to the doctor to have them fix it, that entails them slicing it open and draining it (SEE I WARNED YOU) Immediately, I feel slightly odd, but think I am just traumatized from what I have been through. Cut back to Saturday, I am at the Cheer Comp, my sister comes, and Zak is right I feel a little better. We are just chit chatting away when all of a sudden I feel cold again and about 1 minute later this happens.......

And about 15 minutes later I end up here.......

I completely turned white and started shaking all over. My sister rushes me to the hospital, without Zak even knowing, he's off chasing Ethan somewhere and can't hear his phone.

Luckily once I got to the hospital they got me right in and gave me some massive antibiotic shot (which hurts like a mother). I pretty much slept for two days straight and woke up today feeling closer to myself. The doctor thinks the infection started to spread and my body was trying to fight it off.

I am okay today and no worse for the wear, except I may never go in a public pool again. So, that's my long gross story!

Zak and Ev- still together!

Whenever I see these pictures, I can't believe that those punk kids are still together after 14 years. There have definitely been some hard times and times when one or both of us thought is this really the right thing. I think what has saved us is that we are both very stubborn and neither of us wanted our kids to go through what we went through with our parents divorces. When it comes right down to it I think marriage is mostly about two people who dont give up when times get hard and are always willing to say they are sorry. It also helps to have a husband who can deal with all of my craziness and a wife who can deal with all of his messiness! I love you Zachary!

Spiderman Birthday! Ethan turns 4!

Ethan had a blowout Spiderman birthday party this weekend. Spiderman even stopped by for the festivities! We had Mindy and Tricia's kids over and played lots of games (note: no need to plan lots of games for four year olds they are happy running around playing with each other)

We had a Spiderman Pinata

We had fun shooting the bad guy (Zak) with our webs (silly string)

and no party is complete without a Spiderman Birthday cake!

It was fun to see how excited he got, because he watched his sisters get parties for the last few months and it was finally his turn. His first comment when we got the table set up was "All of the children are going to sing Happy Birthday to me, right mom?"

The last four years havc been crazy, adjusting to raising a boy after two fairly easy daughters, but it certainly makes life more interesting. I know there will be a day when I will miss all of his mischief and wonder where my little baby went. There is nothing better than having his little arms around me and telling me he loves me, even if the next words out of his mouth, are him calling me "Poop"

Best Christmas Ever!!!

I cant really pinpoint one reason why we had such a great Christmas, so I will pick the Top Ten Reasons why this was the Best Christmas ever....

10. We actually got to spend it with all of our family..


9. First White Christmas in 6 years, complete with a new snowblower for Zak


8. First Christmas with the new puppies, Santa even brought them new beds.


7. Niki's present which made me cry.
6. New rendition of The Night Before Christmas and The Polar Express as told by Zak and Chloe.


5. The homemade cinnamon rolls my little sister, Rigel and I made, which took us two whole days!


4. Ethan falling asleep before all of the Christmas Eve festivities were over.


3. Actually having other people there so they can take a family pic of us, thank you Rigel and Scott!


2. First time snowboarding for Chloe, Ethan and Lauren, who are pretty good after only two lessons!


1. The best reason why this was the greatest Christmas ever.......our kids were happy for one whole day with no fighting!!!