Caution: Bragging Moment Ahead

Okay, serious mama bragging moment here! Connor was the 3rd Grade Student of the Month for February! His picture & a little paragraph that his teacher wrote about him were on a bulletin board at school during the entire month of February. I had great intentions of getting a picture of Connor by his bulletin board, but it just never happened. Yep, mom of the year right here. On March 1st, I told myself that I was going to meet Connor right after school & take a picture of him by the bulletin board before they switched it for the month. But, as luck would have it, they took down the February kids & put up the March kids right on day 1. Oh well! So, here's a picture of Connor holding his picture & paragraph from his teacher & his certificate for a free meal at Cafe Rio. Since you can't read the paragraph that his teacher wrote, here it is:

"Connor is a wonderful leader! He is a great example to others because he always strives to do his best. Connor comes to school on time, prepared, and ready to learn. Connor is attentive and participates well during lessons. He also strives to assist and encourage others in his class to help them learn. He goes the extra mile in everything he does. He has shown excellence this year in his commitment to learning and achieving academic goals through hard work and determination. Connor wants to excel and work hard and he does because he makes goals and takes the necessary steps to achieve them. Keep up the awesome work, Connor!"

Ahhhh! Proud mommy moment right there! This is a pretty big accomplishment, considering there are over 120 kids in the 3rd grade, and he was one of only nine that will be chosen this year! Connor is such a great kid! He has his moments like every kid does, but he has this really true desire to do what is right & always try his best. Now, if he could just transfer that to the way he treats Aiden, he would be golden! :) We love him to pieces!! Way to go Con Man! XOXO --Mom

Stupid Little Gland

<----- See this? That's your thyroid, or at least an artist's conception of what your thyroid looks like. Turns out this little gland in your neck basically controls your entire body, and the way it functions. So, when something goes wrong with this little tiny gland, your whole body is affected. I know from personal experience.

I haven't felt quite right for a little over a year. If you do the math, I was pregnant with Vivvie at that time. (I swear that girl screwed up my body so bad. Good thing she's so stinkin' cute, right?) I chalked up all my symptoms at the time to being *very* pregnant and went on with life.

After I had Vivvie, things seemed to return to normal. Yep, it must have just been the pregnancy. But, about two months ago, I started to have all sorts of weird symptoms. I would notice that from time-to-time (okay, pretty much all the time) my heart would be beating really fast...as in over 100 beats a minute, even when I was just sitting around doing nothing. I couldn't breathe very well at times. My hands and feet started to swell, just like they do in pregnancy. My hands would get tingly now and then, and sometimes I would get jittery too. One day while I was at work, I suddenly got very light-headed and felt like I was going to pass out. I guess I went white as a ghost and looked horrible. My producer actually decided cancel my weathercast for that half hour because I just physically wasn't able to do it.

I decided to go see my family doctor. There were too many weird things happening, so I knew something wasn't right. My doctor did some blood work. She ran seven different tests. I asked her what sort of things she was testing for. Words like "Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma," "Leukemia," & "MS" came out of her mouth. That was a long weekend waiting for those results to come back.

On Monday afternoon, a nurse called me. She said, "Your lab results came back." Okay, here we go, I thought. "Your TSH level is at zero, so that means your thyroid is overproducing. It's called hyperthyroidism. We need you to come back in 10 weeks for more tests." I was relieved & terrified all at the same time. I didn't know anything about Hyperthyroidism! I immediately got online & started researching. I had pretty much every symptom on the list--fast heart rate, problems breathing, swelling, jittery hands/feet, and weight loss. Well okay, I hadn't lost much weight, but have you seen me at any point during the previous 30+ years? I'm a twig of a person, even though I eat cookie dough for breakfast! I've always been that way. Maybe this explained why.

As that week went on, my symptoms seemed to get worse. I was jittery all the time, my swelling was getting worse & my heart rate never went below 100. That Saturday I was at work. I was having problems breathing, my hands were so jittery that people could see them shaking, my heart rate was up to 125 at one point, I was sweating like crazy. I got really scared. I called Mike, who decided to call one of our neighbors who is a Physicians Assistant. Our neighbor was worried that I might be going into what's called "Thyroid Storm." It's when your thyroid puts out a sudden burst of thyroid hormone that can be lethal if not stopped. We decided I needed to go to the Emergency Room. My parents came to the house to stay with the kids, Mike jumped in the car & headed up to Salt Lake, and I did my 10:00 show (yes, I still did a show while all this was going on. And, it was not pretty, I might add). Then Mike & I headed to the University of Utah Hospital.

Luckily, it wasn't Thyroid Storm. But, the ER doctors said obviously my thyroid was overproducing like crazy & that I needed to see an Endocrinologist that week. There was no way I could wait 10 weeks for more tests. They gave me a heart medication that was supposed to bring my heart rate back to a more normal range (60-80) until I could get in to see a specialist. Even on the heart medicine, my heart rate was still in the 90s, but it was an improvement & I was grateful for that. On Monday, I called my family doctor & asked if they could help me get into an endocrinologist quickly. They were able to pull a few strings & get me into a specialist the following Thursday.

When I went to my appointment with the endocrinologist, he examined me & decided that one of two things might be causing my hyperthyroidism...postpartum hyperthyroid or Graves Disease. I was hoping it was the former because the latter just didn't sound good. Who wants to have a disease that has the word "graves" in the name? The doctor explained to me that hyperthyroidism is caused when the thyroid is attacked in some way, usually by your own antibodies. The thyroid tries to fight back by releasing more thyroid hormone.

He went on to tell me that Postpartum Hyperthyroid is actually quite common. When you are pregnant, your immune system is suppressed (as if pregnancy wasn't already hard enough, right?) Then, after you give birth, sometimes your immune system will kick into overdrive. Those extra antibodies then attack the thyroid, causing inflammation & hyperthyroidism. It usually occurs 4-8 months after giving birth. It eventually goes back to normal once your hormone levels return to normal, and very little treatment is needed. Vivvie is 12 months, so I was out of the normal range...but he said it was still a possibility.

Then he moved on to Graves Disease. Graves Disease is an auto-immune disorder where your antibodies attack the thyroid. The problem with Graves Disease is that it doesn't usually go away on its own, and can not be cured. The only way to treat it is to get rid of the thyroid completely--either through radioactive iodine which attacks the thyroid & kills it off, or through surgery. At that point, you become Hypothyroid, meaning your body isn't producing enough thyroid hormone, and you have to take thyroid hormone for the rest of your life.

We were hoping for the Postpartum Hyperthyroid.

More tests were ordered. First blood work, and then a Radioactive Iodine Test. In the Radioactive Iodine Test, a small amount of radioactive iodine was given to me & then multiple scans of my thyroid were done for the next 24 hours to see how much of the iodine my thyroid would absorb. The amount that was absorbed would tell my doctor what was causing the hyperthyroidism. I must admit to you, it was slightly unnerving to walk into a room that said "Nuclear Medicine" on the door, and it was even more unnerving when the guy who did the test told me not to try to go through airport security for the next 48 hours because I would set off the machine. Awe-Some!

The results came back a day later...I was diagnosed with Graves Disease. An appointment was set up later that day to talk about treatment options. When I met with the doctor, he told me that I had a mild form of Graves Disease. In about 20% of mild cases, the disease can go away on its own for unknown reasons. Usually this only happens if you've only had the disease for a short time. The doctor was unsure how long I had had it. My symptoms had only started recently which meant it may have just started. But, on the other hand, he pointed out how thin I have always been my whole life. In fact, he told me that my metabolism is probably 2 1/2 times that of a normal person. NO WONDER I CAN'T GAIN WEIGHT TO SAVE MY LIFE!!! If I've had the disease my whole life, it could explain why I've always been so thin & been able to eat whatever I want without gaining an ounce. The doctor decided it was worth watching for a year to see if I'm one of the lucky 20%, but he told me not to plan on it. He put me on an anti-thyroid drug in the meantime. We decided that, if I'm still showing signs of hyperthyroidism after a year, we'll go the Radioactive Iodine route & kill off my thyroid.

So, that's my novel of what I've been dealing with lately. The anti-thyroid drug has helped me quite a bit. My heart rate is usually in the 70s now, the jittery feeling is gone, the swelling has decreased dramatically & I can breathe again! It's awesome to finally feel like myself after such a long time. Nothing like sickness to make you realize how grateful you are for your health! Who knew such a small little gland could cause such a big fuss??? --Lindsay

Dear Vivvie #12

Dear Vivvie,

You are now ONE-YEAR-OLD! I have no idea where that year went. It has been the fastest year of my life. Now I know what old people mean when they say, "Don't blink or you may miss something." I feel like I just had you, then I blinked, and now you are already one year old! And look how stinkin' cute you are...


You are still a tiny little thing. Here are your stats:

Length: 28" (17th percentile)

Weight: 17 lbs. 3 oz. (2nd percentile)

Head Circumference: 43.4 cm (9th percentile)

Yep, I guess you really are my daughter with stats like that. Did I mention that you are freakin' hilariously cute?

We threw you a grand party for your 1st birthday. We had all the family over. We ate dinner first, but I didn't take any pictures. Then we moved on to presents. You weren't sure what to think at first, but finally sort of got into ripping the wrapping paper...


After you got the wrapping paper off, you would pull the contents out of each box with this "super excited" expression on your face...

Everyone spoiled you mercilessly! After presents, we moved on to cake. Here's your 1st birthday cake. Don't get me started on it. It was supposed to be WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY better than this, but the cake place messed up and didn't make the cake that you were supposed to have. They had to make this one last minute instead. Sigh... Oh well, it's still pretty cute. And, it probably tasted better than your original cake would have tasted because this one was made with butter cream frosting instead of fondant. Plus, I got 50% off because they screwed up. And, you know how I love a good sale...


We sang happy birthday & then let you tear into your cake. Your "tearing" consisted of you daintily dipping your finger into it...


And then tasting it. You weren't quite sure what to think at first. In fact, by the look on your face, everyone thought you hated it. Hmmm, maybe you aren't my daughter...


But, after a second taste...


You became a fan. Okay, so maybe it's possible that you could really be my daughter...

Then you went to town on a cupcake. And, we discovered that you are obsessed with cookie dough ice cream. And, when I say obsessed, I mean you are so obsessed that you scream if the person who's feeding it to you doesn't get a spoonful in your mouth every 3 seconds. Okay, that settles it...there is no doubt now that you are my daughter!


I still can't believe that you are one-year-old! I love this stage! You are doing the cutest things. For example, you have started feeding yourself. In fact, you prefer to feed yourself now. Oh, and you like your food salted. What baby likes their food salted??? Well, you do. If I'm feeding you a vegetable, any vegetable, it better darn have salt on it or you won't touch the stuff.

You definitely know what you like & what you don't like, and you make sure everyone around you knows it. I'm pretty sure that if I were to look up the word "diva" in the dictionary, your picture would be beside it.

Your newest word is "what?" If I ever can't find you, all I have to do is yell out "Vivvie!" and then I'll hear you reply with a cute little "what?!?" It is so cute!

You will still only stand on your own when you don't realize you're doing it. You won't even think about walking, if you're not holding onto something.

You are a crawling maniac, and you love, love, love to climb the stairs...even though you're not supposed to. In fact, I'm pretty sure you KNOW you're not supposed to climb the stairs & you just don't care one bit. Anytime you get caught going up the stairs, you get a big grin on your face like you're super proud of yourself for disobeying. Oh boy! I'm sure you're going to be a joy as a teenager.

Speaking of becoming a teenager, you're only 12 years away from it. And, if the next 12 years go by as quickly as your 1st year did, it'll be here before I know it. I hope life slows down a little bit. I love you just as you are right now & want to soak in every second of it.

Happy 1st Birthday Vivvie Girl! I think I'll end your last letter in the same way I ended your first letter because it is exactly how I feel every single day. "I just want to tell you how much I love you already! I am so happy to have a daughter & to have that daughter be YOU! I always felt like I would have a daughter someday...and I am so glad that you are finally here!" Thanks for finally joining our family Viv. You really, truly have completed this family...our little Grand Finale, as we like to call you. We all adore you to pieces. Love, love, love you!!! --Mom

Valentine's Day 2012

Happy (belated) Valentine's Day! I have mixed emotions about this day. On one hand, I'm pretty sure this holiday was born when Hallmark got together with all the florists & jewelers they could find and said, "Hey! I've got an idea!!" But, on the other hand, it's about the most wonderful thing in this world--LOVE--plus, there's candy involved...and who can complain about that?

This year, our Valentine's Day was pretty low key. Of course, the kids had to make a Valentine's box to take to school. In the past, we've always just wrapped a shoe box in Valentine's wrapping paper, stuck a few stickers on it, and called it good. I was fully prepared to do this again this year. But, Connor had other plans.

He came to me one day and said, "Ummm, Mom. Do you think we can do a COOL Valentine's box this year?"

I replied with, "Okay, what would make your Valentine's box cool? Do you want more stickers? Some ribbon? Different wrapping paper?"

"No," he answered. "That's not what I'm talking about. I mean a REALLY COOL box...like all the other kids have."

"And what makes the other kids' boxes so cool?" I asked.

"Well," he said. "They're not regular boxes. They make them into cool things...like monsters, or Legos...or even iPads! How cool is that? An iPad Valentine's box!"

"Oh no!" I thought. "I'm the uncool parent who sends their kid to school with a lame shoe box wrapped in Valentine's paper, when other parents are making boxes that look like iPads!! Because, let's be honest...nothing SCREAMS Valentines like an iPad! Who are these parents & why do they have so much extra time that they can sit around & think up ideas for unique Valentines boxes?"

After my silent rant was over, I remembered my best friend for situations like this...Mr. Google. That man has all the answers...all of them. So, I sat down & typed in "Cool Valentine Boxes." Voila! At my fingertips were millions of brilliant ideas! There were Dinosaur boxes, Dog Boxes, & even boxes made to look like a school bus. I thought to myself, "This is so awesome! How did people parent before the internet?" Then I thought, "Oh yeah, they probably just wrapped & decorated shoe boxes like another parent I know."

After looking through hundreds of ideas, Connor & Aiden decided they wanted to make boxes that looked like Pirate Ships. "Because nothing says Valentines like a pirate ship!" I could hear my own words coming back to bite me...


We got the idea from this website. The name of this blog is Last Minute Mel. On it, Mel promises to have lots of great ideas for various situations when you find yourself with very little time to do a project. Well, let me just say that Mel must work pretty quickly in those "last minutes," because it took us several hours! But, in the end, I thought they turned out pretty cute. Sorry this picture is a little blurry. My camera was on a weird setting...


Mel even had some great ideas on how to make a pirate ship a little more "Valentinesy." Like writing "Ahoy me HEARTies" on the sail, and adding "Surrender ye booty" toward the bottom near the slot where classmates could drop their Valentines. Here was Connor's sail that he decorated...

And, here's Aiden's...

I thought they turned out great! I was so proud of them. I couldn't wait for my boys--the boys that usually had the lame decorated shoe boxes--to have the coolest box in the class.

When Connor got home from school, I asked him if all the kids thought his box was awesome. He said, "Um, not really. This one kid had made his box into a giant SHOE, and everyone thought that one was the coolest." What?!? I had been beat out by a...SHOE?!? Yeah, cause nothing screams Valentine's Day like a...SHOE??? {{Sigh}} Calm down Lindsay. Calm down. Let's move on...

Every Valentine's Day, we give our kids a little present. Shhhh...don't tell them, but it's usually just a leftover Christmas present. If I find that I've gone over budget on my Christmas shopping, then I just hide some of the presents away to give to them for various holidays throughout the year (Valentines, Easter, Birthday, etc.) That way, I don't have to stand in those wretched return lines. Nothing kills the holiday spirit like standing in a line of 273 grumpy people, so I just hide them away for later.

This year, Connor got a Trash Pack (and, yes, I discovered they are called TRASH packs for a reason), Aiden got a Cars 2 Spy Plane, Cohen got a Toy Story Army Helicopter, & Vivvie got a Cinderella Barbie. Yes, I realize she's not even one yet...but darn it, I've waited 9+ years to be able to buy Barbie dolls, so she's getting a Barbie doll...

Connor was happy with his Trash Packs (Next year, I think I'll just give him real trash. It's about the same thing, except cheaper)...

And Aiden & Cohen loved their presents too...

Viv, on the other hand...well, let's just say she wasn't too fond of her Barbie Doll. Okay fine, she hated it! She ripped the crown off her head & then threw the doll across the room. I tried to get a picture of her with her very 1st Barbie, but she didn't want anything to do with it & she cried anytime the doll came near her. {{Sigh...again}}

Okay, enough about the kids. On to Mike & me. Mike & I usually just go out for a nice dinner for Valentine's Day. It hardly ever happens ON Valentines because it's so blasted hard to find a babysitter on the actual holiday itself. But, we usually make it out within a week or two of Valentine's. This year, we decided to try something different. My sister & her husband usually just stay home on Valentine's Day & make a yummy dinner. That way, they don't have to deal with the crowds. So, Mike & I decided to try it out this year. We absolutely loved it! We made the kids PB&J sandwiches (yes, I know...parents of the year with that dinner) & then put them to bed early. After they were all asleep, Mike & I sat down to this...

Mike had basically tried to recreate our dinner that we had at Ruth's Chris a few months ago. We had Blue Cheese Crusted Ribeye, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce, a Salad, and Sparkling Cidar. It was heavenly! I'm so glad I married a great cook! We had a great evening together. We sat there for several hours, just eating & talking. And, we didn't hear "I need a drink" or "I can't fall asleep" the entire night. It was a Valentines Day Miracle!!!

So, that was our Valentine's Day this year. It was a great one...despite the fact that our awesome pirate ship got beat out in coolness by a stupid SHOE, and that Vivvie wanted nothing to do with her Barbie Doll (someday, maybe?). Throughout the day, I kept thinking about how blessed I was. Not only did I have one Valentine, but I had FIVE Valentines. And, I'm pretty sure they're the best in the whole world! Love them! Hope you all had a great V-Day! --Lindsay

Maybe They Should Call It the iPeacemaker

The Apple iPod...

Bringing brothers together since 2010. At least something can. --Lindsay

Dear Vivvie #11

Dear Vivvie,

You are now over 11-months-old! I can't stand how fast you are growing up. I wish I could freeze you the way you are right now because this stage is so much fun. You continue to be such a good-natured baby! You are happy & smiley most of the time. If you're not, it means you're hungry, tired, or your brothers are driving you insane. But, most the time, you look just like this...


Speaking of your brothers, they've come up with some fun, new nicknames for you recently. Aiden now calls you "Cutienne." And Cohen calls you Be-yun. It used to be Bibienne, but I guess that has become too tiresome, so he's completely taken out the middle syllable. I think you'll probably respond to anything at this point...

You still aren't walking on your own, but just in the past few days, you've started standing on your own for a few seconds at a time. You'll let go of whatever you're holding on to & stand there completely unaware of the fact that you're actually standing & balancing on your own. Then, when you start to get a little wiggly, you quickly grab onto the nearest thing next to you & hold on for dear life. I almost got a picture of you standing on your own, but by the time my camera finally got around to taking the picture, you had already grabbed on again...

You love to eat "big people food" now. Your favorite new foods are fruit rollups, cookies & anything chocolate. Ahhhh, you *are* my daughter...

You really like to play with toys lately, but much to my dismay, you prefer your brothers' toys to your girlie toys. When I give you a doll, you usually look at it like your thinking, "There's nothing cool about this!" See what I mean...

Your latest trick is one that I'm not too happy about. You've started climbing the stairs. You're really good at going up, but you stink at coming down. You've tumbled a couple times, luckily just from the 2nd or 3rd stair. It means that I have to watch you like a hawk lately. If I take my eyes off of you for two seconds, I find you hauling up the stairs like this...

Once you get to the top, you like to spy on your brothers from the bridge. You could spend hours up here. However, it's right by the stairs & I have to get things done, so you have to come hang out with me elsewhere...

You got a little stroller for Christmas & you like to use it like a walker. As long as you've got your tight little grip on the handle, you can cruise all over the house like this...

You love it! It's probably the only girl toy that you like. I'm determined to change that...

Oh, by the way, you hate, hate, HATE your rocking horse. Case in point...

Haha! We love you Vivvie! Thanks for being such a great daughter. I obviously don't have any other daughters to compare you against, but I'm pretty sure you're the best in the world! You are sweet, smart, funny, beautiful, easy-going, & very happy. Love you! --Mama

Our New Years Resolution

Several years ago, Mike & I were on a date at Applebee's. As we were waiting for our food, a father & his teenage son came in & sat down at the table next to us. Somehow, we started talking, and they told us that they were having a Father-Son night. The dad went on to explain that he & his wife took turns taking the kids out on "dates." Each kid got to go on one date a month with either their dad or their mom. Then, the following month, they would go out with the other parent. It was their own special one-on-one time with that parent. Mike & I thought that was such a great idea & we decided that when our kids were a little bit older, we would start doing that same thing.

Well, this year was the year. We even made it our New Years Resolution. Vivvie is obviously too young right now, but we decided that we would take turns taking the boys out on one-on-one dates once a month. To help us with this, we bought "The Pass of All Passes." For those of you who aren't familiar with this pass, it is a year-long pass to 11 different venues. We figured it would be a good way (and a cheap way) to take the kids out to do fun things.

For the first month, we decided to take the kids to a fun center that is only a few minutes away from our house. They have a rock climbing wall, laser tag, a glow-in-the-dark miniature golf course, an arcade, a playset, and (in the summertime) some little amusement park rides. Connor & Mike went out first. They did some rock climbing...

And then moved on to some miniature golf. Mike tells me that he swears Connor is in this picture, but I can't see him at all...

The following week, Aiden & I went on our date. We started with miniature golf...

I used my flash, so you can actually see Aiden in my picture...

Then we hit up the rock wall as well...

And then finished up with some time on the playset...

Last, but not least, it was Cohen's turn to go out with Mike. Unfortunately, on the night that Mike & Cohen went out, the place was really crowded, so they spent more time in line than anything...

But, they did get a chance to try their hand at rock climbing. Cohen made it about halfway up the wall & then started to freak out and came down...

But, when it was Mike's turn to go up, Cohen decided he wanted to go as well...without a harness. Luckily, one of the employees saw him & got him down. Funny kid.

So, those were our "dates" for the month of January. Next month, we will switch what kids we take...I will take Connor & Cohen, and Mike will take Aiden. Connor already decided that he wants us to go play Laser Tag on our date next month. I haven't played Laser Tag in over a decade. I'm sure it will be an amusing site.

I hope that this is a resolution that we can actually keep up through the year and, hopefully, from here on out. It's amazing how much kids will open up to you when you are one-on-one & doing something fun together. I hope that it makes our relationships with our kids stronger, and that we have a blast in the process. I'm pretty sure this is the most fun I've ever had keeping a New Years Resolution. Hands down! --Lindsay