Birthday Thanks!

Since my birthday fell on Thanksgiving, I thought it would be appropriate to name 32 (my age)things that I am thankful for.

First, I am thankful for everything that The Lord God has given us. For his unconditional love, forgiveness. Without Him, none of this list would exist. 2. My husband Matt is my life. He is my friend, my partner, my everything! I am so lucky to have found him. He makes me a better person. He is fun, he is handsome, he is a good listener. He loves me no matter what.

He is a great father. He is good at everything he does! He is amazing and I love him so much!

3. I am thankful for my daughter Lauren. She is my little buddy. She is smart, funny, articulate, sweet, cute, and fun-loving.

She is my perfect little angel!

4. I am thankful for my son Jamie.

Although at times he is a handful, other times he is affectionate, funny, attentive, and he LOVES to laugh. And he is so stinkin' cute!

5. I am thankful for my parents. They are the BEST. Can I say that they are perfect?! They always seem to know what to say, and what to do...when I was a kid and now! They are patient, loving, easy-going, supportive, and reliable. Now that I am a parent, I have a new appreciation of all that they have done for me over the years...and I never remember them complaining, or losing their patience! I wished that I could say the same for myself! They always seemed to sacrifice so much for us....even now! They are such wonderful grandparents! I think my kids would rather be with them than us!

Okay this should be #11 but, the pictures uploaded weird. SO...I am thankful for boating. I love going boating. It is great to have the wind blow my hair, breathe the clean air, it just always makes me feel alive.

6. I am thankful for my siblings...(and my niece). My brother John paved the way for me in almost everything I have done. He is smart, cool, and funny. My niece, Alysia is also very funny, sweet, and loving.

My sisters are also amazing to me. They are beautiful, fun, determined, stylish, and SKINNY! They are such good friends to me, and I am lucky to stay close to them no matter what. It is great to have people who can relate to you in so many ways. They are the best!

7. Okay, this is to represent my extended family. I have a HUGE family! I love having a big family, and I loved that when I got married I got an even bigger family. I have family in ten states, all across the country, and even outside of the USA. It would be great if they all lived here, but it makes the time that we do spend together, even more valuable. I am thankful for all my family for sure!

Another one out of order..lets call this #13....I love the color white. Especially a nice, clean white shirt!

#8. I am thankful for my nieces. Alysia (19) in the picture above with my brother. Also, Isabella (3) and Madeleine (8 months) BELOW. I love little girls and I am thankful to have so many in my life! I just found out today that I will become an aunt again in June of 2010. Matt's sister is going to have a baby and I am so excited!

9. No picture for this...but I am thankful for friends. For me, every person you are friends with, leave an impression on you forever. Friends mean so much to me, they are like family that you get to choose. It is nice to have someone that you can relax and laugh with, or someone to lean on, to cry to, to whine to. Right now, in particular..I am especially thankful for Heather Lyons and Beth Landgrebe. They are the girls I talk to nearly everyday...the ones I would be lost on a daily basis without.

10. I am thankful for my pets. My dog Pepper (14 years old) and our cat Oreo (almost a year). I think that pets make a home, a real home. Pepper is loyal and sweet and causes no trouble. Oreo is funny, playful, and causes a ton of trouble. I am also thankful that these two get along so well with each other...snuggling every night.

#12..I am very thankful for my health. I am also very thankful that my family and most of my friends are all in pretty good health. I think that it isn't something you appreciate until it is gone..and my recent scare with the kids and me being sick sure helped remind me to appreciate NOT being sick.

#14. I am thankful for the house that I live in. It is my dream house. I still can't believe it is mine!

#15...I am thankful for Discover Card. The job that I have had for 13 years now. They have taken care of us over the years. I also love that it is down the street from my house! I am also thankful for the actual Discover Card, I use it for everything and LOVE the Cashback bonus. He he he!

#16...I am thankful for Weight Watchers. The best diet out there in my opinion. I guess that I can finally brag and say that I have lost almost 20 pounds since 9/09/09 doing the Weight Watchers method.

#17. I am thankful for dancing. I think that I will always consider myself a "dancer". It is my passion in life. I love EVERYTHING about it, formal dancing, dancing in the car...watching dancing, coaching dancers, or even seeing my daughter grow in it. In my life it has brought me self-confidence, many friends and lots of experiences. If I could be doing anything I wanted as a career, it would revolve in some way around dancing...if only.....

18. I love SOCKS! I hate sandals and can't wait to change into socks when I do wear them. I also MUST sleep in socks. I have socks on constantly. I also love funky socks and oh, socks that match my outfit make my day!

#19...I also can not live without my neck pillow. It may sound crazy and I have no idea why..but in order for me to sleep, I have to have something nuzzled under my chin. The neck pillow works perfectly. The one pictured below is in much better shape than the one I use. Poor Matt must deal with the rag of a neck pillow that I have to drag everywhere with me.

20. I also can not live without my reality shows! I must watch nearly every single reality show there is. There are a few that I have seen every single episode of every single season..like So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing With the Stars, America's Next Top Model, The Real World, America's Best Dance Crew. Matt and I also LOVE Big Brother, Amazing Race, The Mole. I could just go on and on....

21...I am very thankful for contact lenses. I HATE wearing my glasses and I am so thankful for this wonderful invention that helps me see and feel like a normal person.

22. I love where I live. I am thankful that I live in Utah. I love the weather here, the opportunities, the conservative place that it is. It will always be home.

23..I am thankful for Sushi. I am thankful that I gave it a couple of chances..because now it is my favorite. MMMMM....and my favorite place to eat..Teppanyaki...I am thankful for that place and for the one day a year I get to go there...usually my birthday.

24. I am thankful for SOFTLIPS. This is the best chapstick ever. I put some on every night before bed. Ahhh..menthol.

25. I am a very sentimenal person, so I am thankful ever so much for the invention of pictures. I love to remember the past and all the memories. I am thankful that I have been the owner of a digital camera for a year now. I love my Nikkon COOLPIX that I won at work. Go me!

26...I am thankful for Diet Dr. Pepper. Especially in the bottle. I look forward to my one daily treat with much anticipation! All this goodness and NO calories. THANK YOU!

27. Okay, I am also thankful for junk-food. Being on a diet, you always tend to have a love/hate relationship with junk-food. At least with Weight Watchers, you can have a LITTLE of the bad stuff. My favorites are those Reeses Eggs or the Trees or the Hearts, whatever season it is, I just love them so much more than the regular cups. I could go on about other goodies, but I will stop there before I cheat! But oh how sugar makes me happy...much thanks for that!

28. I am thankful for hobbies, things that keep me busy and out of trouble. I also am thankful for the little bit of money I make with my hobbies. I love beading....and...

....I love Scentsy. I love smells and it is so much fun to get to experience all the samples, it never gets old to me! 29. I am thankful for tweezers, without which I would surely have a uni-brow.

30. I am also thankful for nail-files, without which I would have annoyed sharp points on my nails.

31. I am thankful for my cell phone. My trusty, reliable RAZR! I started texting about a year ago. I now think I can text at a normal speed. I love that texting helps you communicate much quicker. It helps you keep in touch a lot easier too. It is very entertaining. Aren't cell-phones cool?? Much thanks!

#32 Last but not least...I am thankful for my Laptop computer. Matt bought me this baby for our anniversary. I love that it helps me blog, check my e-mail, stay connected to friends and family on Facebook. It helps me keep in touch with you! I am thankful for you! I am thankful for comments, so please leave one!

There is a saying that goes "There is always, always, always something to be thankful for." I love that saying. There is certainly a lot to be thankful for!

Seriously who does that?!

Lately, my parents have been working so hard to make some improvements around their house. The Saturday before last, at about 4AM...my Dad was having trouble sleeping after working all day painting the basement. He heard a car pull up and watched as a couple of people got out of a car. I am so thankful that he didn't confront any of them...but they left a "gift" on their brand new fence! I still can't believe that people go around doing this! Especially on people's property! They live on a busy street, I am sort of shocked that they had the guts to do it and that no one saw them!

They managed to spray-paint, or "tag" every panel of their fence!!

Luckily that next Monday, a crew came and cleaned it off! THANKFULLY it cleaned up very nicely.

But SERIOUSLY! WHO does this kind of thing?! People tease me because I live in West Valley...but this happened in the middle of Murray... Maybe one day this won't be a problem, hopefully! Seriously.

So YOU think YOU can DaNcE!

If you know me at all, you know that dancing is my passion. I love EVERYTHING about dancing, I danced almost my entire life, I was on my high school drill team, I danced for the University of Utah's dance team, and I coached a high school team for two years. I even took an adult jazz class for a few years, until Jamie was born. Well, my dream was to become a High School teacher and to coach a Drill Team. So, things didn't go EXACTLY as planned...so now I sort of live vicariously through Lauren's dancing AND ALL of the dance shows on TV. This summer was HEAVENLY with three dance shows on. My most favorite by far is "So You Think You Can Dance"! I have watched faithfully since season one! I have seen each dance like 20 times each! Last year and this year some friends and I went to the concert when they came to town. It was sooo much fun! I really loved Season 5 and enjoyed seeing the dancers and dances LIVE. One of my favorites this year was Kayla (below): I also ADORED Brandon! He is SOO talented!

Randi, who is from Utah, was also an early favorite of mine!

My friend Shannon, was in LOVE with Kupono! Check out her cheeser just LOOKING at him! She didn't even know I was taking her picture...he he he!

The entire Season 5 Crew! It was such a great show!

So, I bought these tickets THE SECOND they became available back in July! When it came time for the actual show, it had been a hectic week! The kids had been in the hospital that week and then I was sooo sick that weekend. I was worried I might not make the show! I was grateful that my parents watched the kids for us so that I could go out to dinner with Matt and my girlfriends; Heather, Darla, Lindsay and Shannon. It felt good to actually do my hair and makeup after such a stressful, crazy week. I was not back up to speed for another week AFTER this. I guess this was the first step in my recovery! I wish that I coulda got a picture of the gang, I always forget to take pictures...grrr.

Well, I did manage to take a few. Here is a pic of my best friend Heather and me. She is such an amazing person. She is always there for me, no matter what! I can tell her anything and everything. I don't know what I would do without her! It is GREAT that she loves reality shows as much as I do..he he he!

I also got a pic of Matt and I. He was such a trooper! He put up with us four silly girls for a night, even riding in the trunk on the way there and back! Although he doesn't share my passion for dancing, I think that he was amazed by the talents of the dancers. I think his favorites were Ade and Jeanine. Thanks Matt for being supportive of all of my hobbies and interests. Love you babe!

Every Season!

Don't you just love how every season, each kid needs an entire new wardrobe? Wish they would stop growing and be my babies forever!!!

Halloween...thrills and not so good chills!!

Okay, I am a little behind on my blogging. I hope that when you get to the end of the post you will understand. Let me share some great memories (and not so great memories) of the past few weeks.

This is one of my most favorite pictures EVER of Jamie! I think he looks so cute here! Matt's Dad's wife Tina had us all over for dinner and pumpkin carving. It was a blast. She is such a great cook and hostess! Jamie hates to get dirty, so I actually carved this one for him. What a silly boy!
Tina helped Lauren with her skeleton. Note her medal around her neck for "scariest". She was so proud. Great idea Tina! She always has sweet thoughts like that!

I can't believe that I have NEVER done this before, but I bought my kids matching Jammies. They may be so mad at me one day, but I loved it. I thought it was soooo cute. I must have washed those Jammies like 5 times so that they could wear them over and over before Halloween was over! I love Jammies and I love Halloween!

Jamie was NOT cooperating with my trying to get a picture of them together, what a stinker! So, here are them INDIVIDUALLY. Jamie is NO poser!

And Lauren is ALWAYS ready for a photo-op! What a cute girl!

Matt's birthday was on Friday October 30th, so we invited some family over for a costume party. I was soo busy with the planning, cleaning, and decorating before the party. DURING the party I was so busy entertaining, chatting, and disaster avoiding that I barely took any pictures! I am so mad at myself for that! Here are a few that I did manage to take, and I am hoping that others that took pictures, will kindly SHARE so that I can add to my sad little collection!

Matt was "Ricky Bobby" and he won a prize for "Most Creative"! Jamie was a vampire and he won for "Scariest", Lauren won for "Cutest" with her kitty costume. I swear it wasn't rigged! Greg won for "Funniest". I got a good shot of him, but due to his wife's request, I am not publishing his photo. He He He.

Matt opening his presents, you can see some of the guests. Matt's sister, Kristen gave Matt a car and Jamie fell in LOVE, of course!! Here he is trying to find where Matt hid it.

Here is my niece Isabella (after she took her costume off), Lauren, and Matt's cousin's son, Enrique. They are all sporting Vampire teeth.

I was surprised that my parents ACTUALLY dressed up! I had to take a pic! Here they are with me and my sister, Ashley. I was a witch, but my hat didn't fit..so, I don't really look much like a witch.

Here is my niece, Madeleine. Wish I woulda got a picture of her in her costume, she was soo cute. Well, she is still cute, even without a costume!

Okay, let me start with the NOT so good part. The day after the party was Halloween. We were so exhausted after the party, so on Saturday we all lounged around all day. The first clue that something wasn't right was that the kids were NOT excited to go Trick-Or-Treating. They were whiny and wanted to quit early. Lauren still put on a smile for the pictures though! That's my girl!

My pretty kitty! Again, Jamie would NOT co-operate with a "brother/sister pic". GRRR!

This was Jamie's best shot. He was a froggy so that he could be warm. What a sad little face!

Here was Jamie's booty:

Lauren's booty:

Next clue that things might not be quite right is that after returning from Trick-Or-Treating, Lauren headed straight to her bed and to my shock, fell asleep! Not even eating a single piece of candy!! After a little nap, I put the kids into their Halloween Jammies one more time for our traditional visit to the grandparents. Everything looks fine, right?!

Grandma "T T" had treat bags for the kids. Lauren ate a few pieces...okay, back to normal....Or so I thought....

I had to work that Sunday after Halloween, so I went to bed early. Lauren had been having a little bit of a cough at night, so to help her sleep Halloween night I gave her some cough medicine. She woke up at 430AM, which is VERY RARE for her, she was asking for more cough syrup. Jamie had slept well that night, which is UNUSUAL for him IF he was sick. BUT to this point he had shown NO signs of being sick except a runny nose. SO, I headed off to work leaving Matt in charge of the kids for the day. When I got off, I was surprised to see Lauren STILL in her Jammies...she is usually the first one up and dressed. I was also shocked to hear that they had moped around all day and not eaten at all, and Jamie had begun to cough. They were also running a fever of 100. We gave them Tylennol to see if anything would change. I had also begun to feel "not so good" when I arrived at work. Matt went outside to do some yardwork and the kids and I decided to chill inside. Jamie was acting SOOO weird, not moving, his eyes kind of spacey, I still couldn't get him to eat, and then he threw up ALL over me. Lauren wasn't much better. I know that I can over-react sometimes and I didn't want to be over-dramatic, but where does the line stop between that and it being a true emergency? My good friend Beth kept urging me to take them to Urgent Care. I must have called my mom five times to ask her what to do. Finally, I got on the WebMD to investigate Swine Flu. **I do want to insert that I have voiced my opinion MANY times that I believe that the Swine Flu thing is a little blown out of porportion** BUT I learned about it and how its largest fatalities are with kids 0-2 years of age and those with previous lung problems. Jamie was BOTH of those. Everytime he gets a cold, it ALWAYS goes to his lungs and he becomes wheezy. It scares me, but happens so often, I am used to it. Well..Beth's words kept rolling in my head and with 10 minutes to spare, at 9:50pm, I just grabbed the kids and not much else and headed to Urgent Care. I paid for ALL of our co-pays, thinking we all had the same thing. The minute the Doctor and Nurse see us, they begin to panic, which scared me. They hooked them up to machines testing their blood oxygen levels, they were both in the low 80s. Jamie was "retracting" meaning that all of his body's energy was being used to help him breathe. I was very unaware of how dire his situation really was. They told us that the kids needed to go to Primary Children's Hospital IMMEDIATELY. They said that the kids were not stable enough to be transported by car, that we would need to go by ambulence! I called Matt and gave him the news to follow us up there. He was just as shocked as I was. It was my first, and hopefully ONLY ride in an ambulence. The kids were champs and handled it all pretty well. So, we arrive at the hospital and they check the kids out, give them breathing treatments and run a few tests. They immediately start treating them for Swine Flu. I am feeling like CRAP too, but trying to be tough for them!! FINALLY we get admitted and we are told we will be there for five days. FIVE DAYS!??!! Scenarios start running threw my head, What about work? What about Lauren's school and her dance class? What about the dog and cat? Oh NO, what about the load of laundry I left in the washing machine? AND I didn't set the TIVO for this week's shows! Well...I think that when you are in that position, you just DO what you have to DO! Especially when your kids look like this....oh poor Jamie:

Lauren STILL in her Halloween PJs with her "Kitty" pigtails.

This is when they FINALLY admitted us! Just tell me WHY you must tell your ENTIRE story to like 15 different people before they admit you. Can't they record it so that the poor mom who is losing her voice and can't swallow doesn't have to talk non-stop for 3 hours?! Seriously!

I have to tell you that the first night there was the worst night of my ENTIRE LIFE!!! We were all tired and not feeling well. Matt went home to move my car from the Urgent Care, make sure the cat and dog were taken care of, AND to move my laundry! He had been up since 430AM when Lauren first woke up that morning, so he was going to sleep at home. In the hospital that first night, they were woken up pretty much CONSTANTLY for vitals, albuterol puffs, swine flu medicine, prednisone, or to re-attach their monitors or oxygen canulas (which they both HATED!). PLUS, their monitors are going off non-stop which throws me out of bed everytime. I was in tears more than once. Those poor nurses must have thought I was a nutso! It was so hard to be strong when I felt so sick. I was coughing non-stop, running a fever, I was tired, worried, and just plain exhausted. Well, we survived that first night and things slowly get better and better. We had a speed bump on the second day as they tell us that they are worried about Lauren because when she isn't on the oxygen, her saturation levels drop so severely that they tell us they are going to do a test on her and if she fails it, she will be moved out of their combined room in the Infant Respiratory Unit into ICU. Oh, my goodness! I just about lost it. I was brave in front of her, but turned to Matt with tears in my eyes and told him that I just didn't know what I would do if I lost her. I think that health and life is something that we take for granted. LUCKILY she passes her test and continually improves! So, we also find out that the Swine Flu test comes back negative, the regular flu test omes back negative too. They tell us that Jamie has Asthma and that we all have the Rhinovirus. YIKES, Rhinovirus? Well, it is just a fancy name for the common cold! A cold? A cold caused all of this? Yup! For the kids the Rhinovirus led to a respiratory infection. After Matt attends the mandatory Asthma class we learn that Jamie in Urgent Care was only ONE step away from TOTAL RESPIRATORY FAILURE! That was the cause of the ambulence ride and the hospitalization. Here is Jamie with his much despised "Oxygen Monitor": In the dark, it glowed like Rudolph's nose:

Well, slowly they got better and each night got a little easier. As they got better, they got more restless. I begged my parents to come visit to relieve the boredom. They brought toys, yipee! Here is Lauren in her new Princess Crown and Earrings:

A shot with her and Pa Pa Bud. My dad is so cute!

Jamie was being a stinker! Here he is in "time-out". Even in the hospital!

Heading into our third night, things were much better. The kids, as shown here, are both off the oxygen for more extended periods of time. They both took a bath and were FINALLY starting to eat more than a bite or two. This last night, the kids only got woken up ONCE! They both dipped in their oxygen levels during the night, so we were worried about getting to go home. The rule was they had to be totally off oxygen for 8 hours and maintain above 90% saturation on their own.

They were excited to be able to play with each other, and be by each other's sides! Lauren was such a good example for Jamie. While it was hard to watch them both during it all, at least we didn't have to do it at 2 different times and at least they had each other!!! Awww! Again, they are in matching Jammies...NOT as cute this time!

Jamie is my little engineer! I had to take a picture of an example of his creativity. Here he has taken the hand-cuffs my parents gave him, hooked the cuffs to the top of the crib then hooked the tow rope from a car onto that. Where does he get those crazy ideas. He does things like this ALL the time!

Here is a picture of our room, not too shabby!

Lauren in her "mask".

Right as we are about to be discharged, Jamie runs out of gas!

Here is a picture of ALL the toys the kids were able to play with. I have such a great opinion of the hospital. We were treated sooo wonderfully! The staff, all of them, were great. They were patient, understanding, helpful, and kind. The kids food was great and so convenient. I am so lucky to have had the care that we had. Although I am a bit worried to see the bill, I wouldn't have changed a thing!

Here are Matt and the kids after we were "free!" If you can see the sign in the distance...it says "Respiratory Awareness Week". AND was it ever! Especially for us! We are VERY aware now!

And here are my happy kiddos back at home! They are showing off their newest stuffed animals given to them by Matt's boss, John. This sight is the BEST thing in the entire world! I love these kiddos SOOO much! I am so grateful for them! I am thankful for their health!

I also want to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers, e-mails, calls, texts, etc. We are also very grateful for the friends, family members and co-workers for their help and support. We love you all, thanks again!