A Funny

I hope I can remember the details of this well enough for it to be as funny as it was at the moment. Spencer, Audrey, and I were sitting in Spencer's office (it's really our closet with a desk in it. You know, the quietest room in the house.) and Spencer jokingly pushed up on my belly and was worried that it had hurt me. I told him it actually helped relieve some of the pressure, so he said, "You just need a girdle." To which Audrey quickly replied, "No, it's a boy."

Ready to Pop

I'm at that point I get to during pregnancy when I'm feeling ready to have a baby. This, of course, doesn't mean it's going to happen any time soon. It just means I pray extra hard that it will. (Pretty wussy, huh?!) Honestly, though, I think the final weeks of pregnancy are so straining because, when the deed is done, it makes you that much more thankful to hold that baby in your arms. Who cares if you're not getting any sleep. At least you can lay whichever way you want, roll over without the earth shaking, and get out of bed without calling in the National Guard! This sounds a lot like complaining, but in all honesty, I just can't wait to get this little guy out so I can get back to some sense of normalcy. (Even though I'm not really sure what that's going to mean.)
I realize, too, that there are women that have it much worse than I do, and so, I give props to them. More than props, actually. There's a sister in our ward that has diabetes, so she has to drive and hour and a half to the doctor once a week and will have to deliver there. That means she'll have to find someone to watch her other 2 kids while she delivers and hope that everything goes smoothly, so she won't have to leave them overnight somewhere. Her husband is in the Army Band, too, so he travels a lot which could mean she'll be on her own when d-day comes.
Thank Heaven for no complications and all my wussy aches and pains.
On a less complaining note, Audrey is doing better. We can't take her outside because she coughs up a lung every time the fresh air hits her, but other than that, she's doing much better. You'd never know she was sick, actually. I don't know if it's because it's such a normal part of her life, but she doesn't complain and can always find something to do, even when she has to miss out on preschool.
I'm enjoying these final days of 3 kidedness and hope I'm up for the 4 kid challenge. We obviously know it's what Heavenly Father wants, so we're up for the challenge, because we know He'll help us along. I'm also really thankful that Spencer is around for this one. Having him home for the whole month of March will be awesome! His boss has been really great! Thank Heaven for great bosses.

Number 65

Okay so maybe it's more like six or seven but the number of times Audrey has been to the ER or urgent care is climbing rapidly. Last night we added another tick to the ER side of the stats. She woke up at about 1 this morning and was having a coughing attack. This isn't all that unusual (in fact, as I write this, she's having a pretty awful one) but her further symptoms alarmed me. I went in to give her a drink of water to help her throat as this is usually what she requests in such situations. When I tried to give it to her, she seemed delirious and wouldn't make eye contact with me. She'd pause as if to take a drink and then would either swing her head around or just fall back onto her pillow. As I was trying to figure out what was up, I placed my hand on her chest and was taken back by how rapidly her heart was beating. I placed my head on her chest and tried to count her beats per minute but honestly couldn't get an accurate count. After consulting with Jaime and looking online to learn a little more about children's heart rates, I decided we ought to take her in.
I admit I'm a bit of a fretter when it comes to my princess Audrey. Interestingly enough, when it comes to the boys I tend to be a little less compassionate for some reason. Anyway, I'm still glad I took her even though it turned out to be less of an emergency situation than I originally thought. As it turns out, it seems (the Doc didn't sound positive) she has RSV again but her oxygen levels aren't as low as last time (when she spent several days in Utah Valley RMC). The hospital staff administered a breathing treatment including some medication to help open up her airway and also x-rayed her chest which is where the diagnosis came from.
So, chalk up another adventure for Audrey. She's a little angel and was very cute through it all. She kept telling me about the differences between the doctor and nurse and asked me all sorts of questions I couldn't answer about the equipment in the room. We got home around 530 this morning. It was a good time. - SBT

A Crazy Night

What an interesting night. At about 5, I took the kids outside and we all went for a bike ride. (I have an awesome husband that got me a bike for our anniversary present and I LOVE it!!) Everything was just swell until Spencer, Jr. found out he couldn't play with his friends since we were starting our nighttime routine. He made it into the house before anyone else and locked the door so no one could get in. Fortunately, he hadn't realized the front door was unlocked or this could have been a lot more serious than it was.
Just after we all got inside, I got the kids in the bath and was just getting Isaac dressed when I heard Audrey crying and screaming in the bathtub in my room. I went to see what was wrong and walked in to find her mouth bleeding down her chin. I asked her what had happened and she told me she didn't know. (Always a good indicator that she was doing something she shouldn't have been.) I figured she had bumped her mouth while she was splashing around or something, so I got some tissue and tried to clean it up, but it just kept bleeding. The cuts didn't look deep, so I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't stop bleeding. The weirdest part was that it looked as though the blood was coming from the outside of her lip. She had three small cuts on the outside and the bleeding just wouldn't stop. (Did I mention I couldn't get the bleeding to stop?!)
I walked out of the bathroom and called Spencer to see if he had any ideas about how I could get the bleeding to stop and when I walked back in, Spencer, Jr. was standing over the tub being concerned for his little sister. When I asked Audrey again what had happened and she wouldn't tell me, Spencer, Jr. said he thought she had cut herself with my razor. At that point, Audrey confessed.
So, the 6 year old figured it out and Audrey has three cuts just above her upper lip and a Hello Kitty band aid over it, because I still couldn't get the bleeding to stop. We had a little chat about how girls don't shave their faces, or anything else for that matter. She remained surprisingly calm throughout it all and hopefully, she'll never shave her face again. The up side is that she won't pull any hair out when she yanks the bandaid off.

What People Think

You'd think I would have learned this by now but I'm finally figuring out that it really doesn't matter what other people think about me. I had the opportunity to teach Elders Quorum today and really felt the Spirit as the class contributed and made comments that gave me new insight into the things that are most important.
We were covering lesson 23 in the JS manual (we jumped 1 ahead last week so we were getting things straight) talking about Unity. Somehow we started talking about how lots of Brethren get nervous when they're called on to speak in front of a crowd. I know one Brother, who is currently serving as an instructor one week a month, really hesitated before accepting his call due to nerves and feelings of inadequacy. Anyway, it's interesting that this came up because I think it was just what he needed to hear. The comment was made that we're not professional teachers in the Church and we're not all about technique but rather focus on conveying things by the Spirit. Of course we believe in improving teaching skills through teacher development classes but the way we convey an idea isn't nit-picked to the point of making everyone self-conscious about how they say how they feel. After the lesson ended, I continued to think about the principle of not caring so much about what others think of me. I think we have a tendency to assume the worst when it comes to reading facial cues and reading between the lines of non-verbal communication. Maybe the adversary actually uses these as a method to get us to turn against each other before we ever have the chance to be truly unified; all this without any real reason.
This reminds me of the story about the man who ran out of Gas near a farm house. He started walking to the house to ask for some help. As he walked, he started thinking to himself that the farmer has probably had a busy day and wasn't going to be happy about any sort of interruption. He continued walking and went further with convincing himself that the farmer who lived at the house would probably be totally put out that he would even ask for help. For whatever reason, he kept walking but, after his knock at the door was answered and the door swung open, he yelled, "You know what, I didn't want any help anyway".
I think we often get offended when there was never any ill intent. We all know of stories where people leave the Church for years (or forever) because of something someone supposedly said. I'd guess that, in at least most cases, something was at least misinterpreted if not totally fabricated.
It's my hope that I can personally live without any real concern for what others may think (or what I might surmise others are thinking) but can rather focus in on what the Lord 'thinks' of me or how I stand before Him. Even if I'm the least popular person in the world, if I stand on the Lord's side, it won't matter if the crowds are calling for my utter destruction.
I realize this is a strange entry and has nothing to do with Christmas which is just around the corner. Part of the reason is that I didn't write in my journal today and it's therapeutic for me to write about the things floating around upstairs... so, thanks for 'listening'.
- ST

Technology

Welp, since it's the last day of November, I should probably play a little bit of catch up. Part of the reason I haven't blogged for a while is because my computer has been "in the shop" for about 2 weeks and Spencer was gone to NJ for one of those, so I've been partially without a computer. For those of you that don't know, that doesn't sit well with me. It was especially hard while Spencer was gone and I had ZERO computer to use. Thank Heaven he's been home for a week and the withdrawls have passed, but I do still miss having my own little friend to use.
Thanksgiving was great. Spencer's sister, Laura, and her three kids, Jordan, Ryland, and Anika came down on Tuesday and left on Saturnday. And my baby sister, Anna, came on Wednesday and I'll drop her off at the airport tomorrow. It was awesome to have family here as well as some friends. We had a couple families from our ward, as well. So, altogether, there were 18 of us. (It's a good thing we have a big dining area or we would have been outside in the rain.) Honestly, it was very fun and everyone was really helpful. Thanks for a happy Thanksgiving.
I won't write much else since it's getting late, but I do have some videos to load that will crack you up. Isaac is turning into quite the entertainer.
Until next time. (Maybe I'll get my computer back this week.)

My Best Shot

Okay so here I go. This could be interesting.

-8 Favorite T.V. Shows:
1. General Conference
2. BYU Football
3. Extreme Makeover - Home Edition
4. DIY Home Improvement Shows
5. How It's Made
6.
7.
8.

-8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Olive Garden
2. La Casita in Springville
3. Schlotzky's Deli
4. Teriyaki #3 In Lacey WA
5.
6.
7.
8.

-8 Things that happened yesterday:
1. Attended a video-telecon at 5:45 am
2. Couldn't find a parking spot
3. Rode my Bike to work
4. Did homework at lunch
5. Worked on a power point presentation
6. Came home ornery
7. Talked to one of our Perspective Elders
8. Went to bed relatively early

-8 Things to look forward to:
1. The Second Coming (if I can shape up)
2. General Conference
3. Thanksgiving Guests
4. Weekends
5. G Rated Movie Releases (getting pretty rare)
6. New Baby Arrival
7. No more profanity after my exit from the Army next November
8. Living in one place for more than 2 years

-8 things on my wish list/goal list
1. Charity
2. Weekly Dates with Jaime
3. Seminary Teacher Job
4. Help Rokit Fuel Succeed
5. Compete in a Triathlon
6. BS in Business Management (3.7 or above)
7. Help Perspective Elders receive the Melchizidek Priesthood
8. Attend the Temple Often