Year End Review from Iowa

Year in Review from Iowa

2010 has been a busy and eventful year for us here in Iowa.
In February our little Pooka-shell (who isn’t quite so little anymore) turned 6 years old. She has lost all of her front teeth and is looking so grown up lately. Her favorite thing to do is read. She astounded us by reading “Charlotte’s Web” all by herself the summer right after kindergarten. She still loves animals, more especially wild cats and wolves or dogs. She is quite good at running on all fours and pretending to be said animals…so cute. She is a great big sister and has a knack for convincing Bubba-do to agree to almost any idea she has…quite the diplomat. She is now in 1st grade and doing wonderfully. She is becoming a great speller and writer. Her favorite subject in school however, is art.

Our strapping boy, Bubba-do has reached an all time record of 29 pounds. What a boy! He turned 4 years old this July, and has been enjoying preschool. He has the most charming disposition….always wants to help. He is mommy’s little gentleman…opens my car door every time! He still has a fascination and aptitude for mechanical things and buttons. He and daddy have recently found a bonding experience by playing Lego star wars on the wii…oh boy! He is starting to read a little and is very good with numbers and counting.

Hubby and I had been trying for another baby for quite some time…going through many procedures and even an emergency surgery for me. Then on the day of Bubba-do's 4th birthday party we got a wonderful surprise…a positive pregnancy test! We are all so excited and thankful to be expecting Savanna Blake Empey on March 7th 2011 (my 33rd birthday). I have been feeling pretty darn good. I even kept teaching Zumba until I was 20 weeks along. We are now at almost 29 weeks and are getting the nursery ready.

At church hubby is serving as a ward missionary and teaching the Gospel Essentials class. It is amazing to see all the missionary work out here. We have had the opportunity to go to Nauvoo (about 2 hours away) many times and feel the Spirit there. The pageant they do in the summer is something everyone should see, and the Temple is beautiful.

I was serving as a Relief Society teacher the first half of the year, but was then called to be the chorister in Sacrament Meeting! Yikes…I was scared of that calling. I can sing until the cows come home, but not so confident in anything involving music theory or rhythm. I am getting the hang of it and our ward is very forgiving :0)

Hubby is working so hard and becoming such an amazing OB-GYN doctor. He has been through month long rotations in reproductive oncology, endocrinology and infertility, labor and delivery nights, gynecology surgery, Clinic chief, and high risk OB. His typical work week is at least 80 hours, not counting the time he spends at home doing mountains of paperwork. At last count he had delivered over 300 babies! We are so glad he is training to do what he loves, but we will all be grateful when residency is over! He should start interviewing for positions back in Utah some time this coming spring or summer.

We have enjoyed many “typical Midwestern” things this year…from picking apples at our favorite orchard, to corn/hay mazes and catching fireflies. We have been camping and played at “Adventure Land” (an amusement park here). We visited Nauvoo and swam at the lake. It has been a year of joys and pains…we are learning a lot and stretching in ways we didn’t know we could. We are so grateful for the blessings of good health, a warm home, fabulous children, wonderful extended family, friends, the beauty all around us, and especially the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas to you all!

Love, The Empey Family

A rare glimpse...

This is a tribute of sorts to my amazing, brilliant, very hard working hubby. I do not get to see him in action delivering babies and taking great care of patients. These pics are a rare glimpse courtesy of a wonderful photographer we know. Hubby is the one with the super cool curly hair and sweet smile. I am the one who pretty much runs things here at home since hubby is working so much....so it is very special to see him here, in his element...getting ready to go. He has the coolest job...apart from being a Mother, delivering babies has got to take the cake.

Let the pushing begin! Here with a Medical student behind him and a nurse to his left. The other fellow is one of his bosses teaching as they go.

Moment of truth! It amazes me that he has now delivered over 100 babies... He looks like he knows what he is doing :0)

Nothing more beautiful than that...except for our own children of course. A healthy baby boy.

His face says it all...confident, sweet, excited but focused. I wish I got to see him working more often...the operating room must be intense.

Doctor Empey...You have worked soooo very hard to get to where you are. The schooling was long and hard, the residency hours...brutal....the student loans enormous. But it is worth it at moments like this. Every time I put the kids to bed on my own or go to church with out you. Every day we tip-toe around the house so you can sleep during the day to work at night... Even when I look at our bank account and wonder how we will make it all work this month...It is worth it...to see you making such a difference to your patients...ushering in new life. You are amazing and we love you...

Wow, long time no blog...catch up now!

The last few months have been mostly very good. My baby belly is getting rounder and I am finally feeling those longed for movements from our new little one! This pic was taken at 20 weeks
We have really been enjoying the fall. Fall is my favorite time of year, and fall in Iowa lasts much longer than it does out west. The colors are gorgeous and the weather is so perfect. Here is a pic of us using our fire pit in our back yard, and some cute shots at the ward camp-out. Daddy with the kids and Bubba-do proudly roasting a hot dog! Both kiddos climbing trees....

THEN CAME HALLOWEEN.....
Pooka-Shell decided to be a vampire...she looked awesome! Bubba-do made the coolest batman ever! I searched forever for his costume and ended up finding a great deal online. Daddy as "Superman in the midst of changing from Clark Kent", and Me as a pregnant butterfly. With Halloween on Sunday this year we enjoyed festivities throughout the week...culminating in the ward "Trunk-or-Treat" on Thursday night and the kids school parties the next day. Here is our "trunk" It was fun the decorate and show off our pumpkins.

Next came our annual visit to Wilsons Apple Orchard and for some extra fun we went to a corn maze on another cute farm.












This was our first time in a corn maze with the kids. They loved it,especially climbing on the hay.
We have so much to be grateful for. And are looking forward to the rest of the Holiday Season this year. Everyone is healthy and happy. Daddy started a new rotation this month so his schedule is very busy...(wake at 3:30 am and get home around 8pm and work from home for a couple more hours!)we make the most of the times when we are all together. We are all looking forward to our new arrival in March. I am feeling pretty darn good considering we are now 23 weeks preggo. I have been craving protein all the time.....Cheeseburger anyone? I can't do Zumba anymore, but I try to go walking frequently. The best part so far is that now I can feel baby move everyday.....We are so blessed and have a loving Heavenly Father to thank.

Full Circle...yes, already

When I first started this blog, I did so because my heart was aching. I needed to get it all out. If you have read my first post you'll know the reasons. We have two wonderful children and had been trying for over 2 years to have another. We felt like it was never going to happen. We did so many tests and procedures. Our last attempt was at IVF, which resulted in a tubal pregnancy and emergency surgery to remove my left fallopian tube. It was all surreal and overwhelming. Fast forward.... After my surgery we were just trying to get ourselves prepared mentally to try IVF one more time. We were told to wait for at least 3 months...That was difficult...I felt like we had lost so much time already. Yet, I wasn't really ready to go through all that again. An impasse.

A couple of weeks past my surgery things were getting back to normal. I was healing well both physically and mentally. I had reached a place where I didn't want to beg God anymore...I would just take what He was willing to give me. The weeks passed. I knew I had to be back to a regular cycle in order to be ready for another IVF attempt. Nothing had started yet...not too unusual considering all my body had been through...but I had to check. I have never been so sure that a pregnancy test was going to be negative. I have taken too many to even remember. As the results spread across the test, my jaw dropped to the floor. There was a dark test line showing up before the control line was even there!. For those who don't know...you usually have to wait at least 3 minutes for results. I was beyond shocked. How could this be? We didn't use medication, or timing, or ovulation predictors. Then I was worried. What if it was in the wrong place again?? I showed Hubby and we both just laughed. This was too crazy. Went to the hospital that same afternoon and Hubby did an ultrasound for me. There it was...right in the uterus where it belonged...with a beautiful heartbeat. A miracle...a blessing.

Of course I have had all the normal worries and concerns that go along with any pregnancy. But everything is looking wonderful and we still can hardly believe it happened like it did. I am now 16 weeks along. Saw the heartbeat again just a few days ago. Hoping to feel regular movements soon. And know I will have something very exciting to blog about for the next 5 months
"My life is a gift, my life has a plan. My life has a purpose, in Heaven it began" I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for this blessing...and for His Guidance and Spirit when I felt like I couldn't endure all the waiting and wondering

Long time no blog....

It has been a month since I posted here. I have been a little busy living the life I blog about :0)Since I wrote last, Bubba-do and Pooka-shell have started school. Pooka-shell is in first grade, and is amazing and brilliant. She rides the bus to school and loves that. I was nervous about the whole bus situation, but it was handled with order and I feel better about it now. I had that moment as I said good-bye to her as she got on the bus for the first time....I wanted her to miss me. I wanted her to look longingly back at me as I did at her.....didn't happen. She hopped on board, totally confident and ready for her next adventure. I did however, drive to school and meet her there so I could make sure she got to her classroom... just for a couple of days.

Just look at that cheesy toothless grin!

Look closely and you can see her through the door window. I obviously lack skill and proper equipment to take very good pictures.

Bubba-do finally found a place to go to preschool this year. We adored the preschool he was going to. It was on a real farm with real animals...so great. Alas, our finances required a change. We had heard a lot of good things about a preschool very close to our house so we got on the waiting list (they were already full) After a lot of praying and searching out all our options...a miracle...a spot opened up! Great teachers, great place, great location. Our little super-hero

I really tried

I am discovering that the public school system is quite flawed. It is designed to produce people who will follow orders and show up on time. These are not bad things necessarily...but they are not enough. I fought so hard. I wanted my child to go to a school that I felt good about. I researched, I visited and prayed about all the "choices". That was the problem...I thought that I actually had a choice. I could choose to leave the school that we live near because of the poor test scores. The district had paperwork that listed all the other schools we could consider. I did a lot of foot work! Come to find out there really wasn't much choice. Everyone who leaves our neighborhood school gets sent to a certain other school. They made it seem like we actually had some say in where she went.....that was very misleading.
The other school that is our only choice...was not one of my first choices. It is under heavy construction...a chaotic mess. The test scores are better, yet I still feel uncomfortable about it. Pooka-shell can take a school bus...she is excited, I am nervous. I need to keep her safe...I need to let her grow up but not let the world decide how or when. I considered home schooling very seriously. But because there was a "chance" that I could get her into a school I felt comfortable about....I wasn't prepared.
I will be closely guiding her as she educates herself. I her experience to be rich and full. She is exceptional! She will get more, and better than I did. She will realize that she can learn from classics and great mentors...not just school books and arbitrary grades. As I learn more, so will she. We are setting the stage...the example for the rest of the children in our family. Thank goodness for the wonderful libraries here. We will make the best from our situation. It will be interesting to see how this school year goes for her. She will be assessed for the "gifted and talented" program, and either subject, or full grade acceleration. It will be a process to discover where she stands academically in all the subjects. Here we go...wish us luck.

All I want for Christmas.....

For weeks now, Pooka-shell has been wriggling her two top front teeth. They were becoming quite a nuisance when she tried to eat. She even told me she was afraid they might fall out at night and go down her throat. She lost her first two (bottom) when she was only five years old.....I thought that was a little early. And now, at six years of age, two more are gone!

It is a strange thing for a mother to witness such rites of passage in her first born. I wasn't prepared for how much older she would look...and sound with those teeth missing. I sat with her and encouraged her to wriggle and twist them. We used a little teething gel left over from her baby days. She kept at it, and as it was becoming apparent that they were truly coming out....she was "shaking with excitement just like Wilbur" (her words, she just finished reading Charlotte's Web). Her little face flushed and her fingers shook...then out came the tooth! So exciting. The next one took some patience, but she did it. Here are the results.

11 years and counting ....

Happy birthday yesterday to a hard working, amazing daddy, always humorous doctor hubby! Yesterday was also our 11 year wedding anniversary. It is kind of neat having both days in one. For one thing, hubby will never forget his own birthday...therefore he will always remember our anniversary....good insurance for him ;0)

At this stage in our lives we are not able to celebrate such momentous occasions in a way I feel is fitting to the importance of them. Hubby was working all day...I had errands to run and meetings to attend. And we have no money to spare. We did the best we could. The kiddos made him their own style of birthday cards and even woke up at 3:30 a.m. to give them to him as he left for work. I got him one single present and hoped he could manage to get off work before 10 p.m. so we could spend a few minutes together.

Miraculously he was home by 7 o'clock (thanks to co-workers who helped) and our very kind friends were willing to watch our kids at a moments notice so we could go to dinner. The dinner was great and inexpensive. The time together was rare. The birthday cake and candles made it an occasion....and we did celebrate the wonderful day that hubby was born and our family began. Here's to many more!

Bubba-Do is four

Today our Bubba-do is four years old...Where did the time go? When we moved here, his big sister was the four year old and he was still the baby. Now he is dangerously close to kindergarten. I love how he adores frogs. I love that he constantly says "Mommy, I wuv you!". I love how generous he is...he almost always shares with everyone..especially big sister. I love that he is always excited to help with everything...even cleaning a toilet. I love that he is mechanically minded and is always pushing buttons, taking things apart etc. I love holding him...and the fact that at four years old he only weighs 27 pounds makes him so holdable. He is sweet and funny and brave and very intelligent.

I am so glad we have a little boy. They really are as charming as everyone told me they would be.

Daddy even had the weekend off to celebrate with us! The men of the house on party day.

Happy Birthday Bubba-do. I am so glad you were born. We love you!

Independance day

This fourth of July was different. The weather was beautiful, the sparklers were lit....we even had a nice dinner with friends. But this year the fourth of July landed on a Sunday, the Sabbath. We did not go to the parade...we were in Sacrament Meeting (worship service). It was an important lesson for our children...to show them where our priorities lie.

When we moved to the Midwest I never fathomed that holidays would be celebrated on Sunday. Naive? Maybe...it just wasn't on my radar to wonder. Growing up in Utah, if a holiday did land on Sunday, everything was just celebrated the day before, no question about it. Here everything is open on Sunday and it is really just viewed as the same as every other day of the week. City wide activities, carnivals, parades....you name it...usually on Sunday. Kind of stinks

It was interesting thinking on the driving force that created this great nation.... The desire for freedom to worship according to the dictates of our own conscience. We have that freedom so many lived and died for. As I attended church with my family on the fourth of July, I could think of no more appropriate place to be.

"Customer NON-Service"

Times are tough.... We all feel a financial pinch these days. We are at the point that we are trying to get a modification on our mortgage loan. Let me first say...This did not happen because we bought some hugely out of our budget house. It is a comfy place that fits our family's needs at this time. We bought 2 years ago with an interest-only special loan for physicians in training. The interest only part will last for 5 years, which is fine because we will only be living here for 4....Then comes the problem.

I think we were hoodwinked...don't you love that word? Our monthly payment was manageable...we were doing fine. Then suddenly we find out that when we bought the house, the "estimated" property taxes were way under "estimated". Our payment needed to increase by over $400 a month to cover escrow! Not cool. It isn't like we were the only house on this street and the title company couldn't have known what the property taxes were going to be....hoodwinked I tell you.

So we have been working with our mortgage company to modify our loan. I am glad this option exists, or we would have had to move, but the process is infuriating. Our mortgage company's customer service is amazingly horrid. Not the people mind you....they are relatively nice, considering. It is the system the company has of dealing with folks doing these modifications.
We actually started this process last year in December. We filled out tons of paperwork and were assured we would be contacted if anything further was needed from us. After not hearing from the bank in some time, I called to see what the hold up was. "Oh didn't someone tell you... we are requesting copies of your bank statements etc." So we faxed the requested items that next day.
It turns out that the bank had "requested" those items long before I ever found out about the "request". Also they had issues with the fact that our bank statements had a web address on them....well duh....we only do online banking/paperless...Those are the only statements we have access to! So they decided to cancel/deny our request for modification....."Your only option is to start the process over." Holy Hannah!!! So we started over....vowing to call the bank weekly so they don't pull the same garbage.

The typical phone call to his bank goes something like this. "Hi, I have paperwork in process for a loan modification and am calling to check on the status, and to see if there have been any requests made for additional information from us." "What is your loan number ma'am? And the last four digits of your social security number?" (I have all these memorized now) After giving them the info they put me on hold to check things out.....I hate their elevator music. After about 5 minutes on hold, they invariably tell me that their department doesn't handle/service my loan so they will transfer me to the right department. This happens every time, no matter what number I call. I wait on hold while they transfer me, and about 40% of the time I get cut off and have to start the whole mess over. Once I reach the second department they usually say "I'm checking the notes on your account......let me put you on hold. After a long hold I usually get sent to yet another "team." Occasionally some inexperienced person will tell me that our request was already disqualified because we didn't send requested info by their deadline. My blood just boils!! "No, no, that was when we tried this process the first time and your company screwed up and made us start over!! Check again please." This system is bonkers. Why doesn't some status indicator come up to any computer in their system when our account info is typed in!?

After being transferred to four different people/teams and being on the phone for more than a half an hour....I finally reach someone who knows something (most of the time) and they tell me "Yes, we received your fax and there are no requests for additional information at this time." Praise the Heavens! I straight answer to a simple question. This is how far we got last time we tried this (before they messed everything up) So if we reach another milestone I might actually believe we will settle this some day. Or maybe they will take so long we will be finished with residency, sell our house and pay the escrow shortfall that was never our fault to begin with. Until then.... I have a weekly date with an arduous, stressful phone call....You jealous?

Random Ramlbings

I am really in the mood to vent...problem is there is no theme. I have a handful of things on my mind and they don't really connect to one another. You will therefore kindly disregard the haphazard nature of this posting.

My beautiful children..... They are out in our backyard playing in the kiddie-pool. There is a window where I can sit inside and keep a very close eye on them without being out in the humidity. They play together so well...this was not always the case. When we brought bubba-do home from the hospital, pooka-shell was two and a half. She had never been a really cuddly, nurturing type (didn't like playing with dolls) so she was not interested in this new baby in the least. That continued up until about a year and a half ago. She had just turned 5 and little brother had suddenly turned into a live in play-mate. They get along wonderfully most of the time, and they play for hours. Sometimes I wonder what I should be doing. When they play for long stretches I think maybe I should join in....have some "quality time"....This never works out right....they play much better with just the two of them.

That brings up a question. Am I a horrible mother because the childrens games they play kind of drive me crazy? Many kids would ask their parents to play toys with them or hide and seek.....My kids want to act out (in detail) the stories they have either read in books or have seen in movies. I don't want to say all the dialogue from The Lion King one more time! This is weird right? I am an actress at heart and love being someone else onstage, but can't stand these type of games for more than a few minutes. I am so glad they have each other...I kind of stink at playing the way they'd like. I try, I really try. I have a great memory too, so I can recite the books and movies they desire....I'd rather read to them any day, or build blocks, or I don't know...I am ranting.

Schooling. I am a parent of a child recently graduated from kindergarten. This year has been a learning experience for me as well as her. I say "me" because hubby doesn't deal directly with most of these issues...he is just trying to survive residency. Our pooka-shell is extremely bright. I know, I know, every parent says this. She started reading very early, and now, after kindergarten, is reading at a third grade level. She picks up new concepts very quickly and has a huge appetite for learning. Her elementary school has some issues. The kindergarten was awesome, but once you get into any of the upper grades...the test scores are very poor and behavior issues abound. We talked a lot about it and prayed for help deciding...we should transfer her to another school for next year. There are a handful of schools that we could look at...I visited every one of them. I toured each place and asked a lot of questions. I had a good feeling about two of the schools, so I requested placement there.....Ugg no room at the inn! The one place there is room is one of the schools I don't feel comfortable with. So now I have to fight to get her where I feel is best. I wish we made actual money so we could send her somewhere great.

Have you ever had some really hard time in your life and thought you were doing okay afterwards....only to find out you aren't quite "okay" yet? It has been almost three weeks since I had surgery to remove a fallopian tube. I am healing well, I even went back to teaching Zumba. I am dealing with everything...or so I thought. I went in for a post-op check up yesterday, and I fell apart. Unfortunately I wasn't able to see any of my regular doctors. They sent in a PA that knows hardly anything about my situation...that did not help. She was clinical and matter of fact. I was on the verge of tears and not hiding it well. It is not just the loss from the surgery. The infertility/IVF roller coaster is a lot to recover from. Not to mention the stresses of being a resident's wife etc.
My faith has been shaken...that is a frightening, unsettling feeling. "This too shall pass" they say, but for now I cry when I talk about these things.....That brings up the last question

Can you be extremely grateful for all the blessings in your life and part of you still ache and wish for things you thought you would have or do or be? Does that sadness mean you are not truly grateful? Or not grateful enough? I have struggled to validate my own feelings. Why should I be sad when I have so much to be happy about? It is sort of like having a dual personality. One who knows how blessed she is and enjoys every moment....the other who is dealing with loss and hurt and disappointment, trying to heal and move on. Somewhere these two meet and become one whole person.

There you have it. That is about 1/4 of all the ramblings in my head......Til you read again

Recipe for summer

So, today I was outside...only briefly, as the humidity and heat were stifling. But after weeding the garden, my three year old and I decided to check how our strawberry patch was coming along. Only a few days ago we had picked and enjoyed a few handfuls of beautiful sweet berries. This alone was quite impressive to me because of past experience with "growing" strawberries. Growing up in Utah, my family always had a small patch of strawberries. We didn't take great care of it....no amending the soil, or watering when it probably needed it...just left it to nature. Nature provided a berry here or there...never very impressive. Fast forward to Iowa. Last year a kind neighbor gave us a dozen or so strawberry starts. I planted them not expecting much (see above). That summer we had a few nice berries...more than I ever saw in our measly patch out west, but nothing you could make jam out of. Then this summer began. Our little starts had multiplied...sending out shoots and creating daughter plants...they had doubled what we started with. Still, I wasn't impressed until I saw all those blooms. We might really have some berries this time! Our three year old always remembers to ask a blessing on the strawberries when he says his prayers. A few prayers, a little compost, and occasional weeding was all it took. We picked so many berries today I was inspired to make up a recipe to use them. This picture is what we picked the first day....today there were three times this many...amazing stuff to a non farmer like myself....and now, the recipe. At first I wanted to make a traditional strawberry shortcake type thing, but there were no milk free, egg free shortcakes out there.....I really checked. So I was walking down the baking isle in the store when I saw a box mix for "apple crisp". I have made that before from scratch, substituting the real butter for something sans dairy. So I decided to make a sort of trifle, with crumble "topping" going in place of pound cake. Bubba-do could have soy whip cream (not too terrible ) and the rest of us could enjoy the real thing....Here goes.

Strawberry Delight

• 1 pound strawberries washed and sliced
• 1/3 cup sugar

Crumble

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 cup quick oats
• 1/2 cup melted butter (or allergen free margarine)
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Whipped Cream

• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup sugar

* Before starting, place bowl, whipping cream, and beater(s) in freezer to thoroughly chill. Remove them as soon as berries are sliced and start whipping the cream. This will make the cream whip up a lot better/faster.

• Wash and slice strawberries. Mix berries with 1/3 cup sugar and set aside.
• Pour heavy whipping cream into chilled bowl of mixer and whip at medium speed. Add 1/2 cup sugar gradually. Whip until desired thickness (not too long, it will start turning to butter!) Taste and add more sugar if needed.
• Prepare crumble by mixing brown sugar, flour, oats, melted butter, cinnamon and vanilla with a fork until it resembles coarse crumbs ( a.k.a. "little pieces" ) set aside in fridge for better texture.
• Layer ingredients in a dish in this order : crumble, strawberries, whipped cream etc...

Enjoy this wonderful taste of summer!

I can proudly say I made up this recipe, and it is delicious!

Food Allergies

Growing up, no one in my family was allergic to anything consumable....pollen, flowers, maybe cats. My first child passed through all the food transitions without a hitch. Then came bubba-do.

It all began when he turned 10 months old. In retrospect, there were signs before that, but 10 months is when we took notice. He was in his high chair experimenting with finger foods...probably cheerios. Pooka-shell and I were enjoying some Mac and cheese and I decided to let him have a little. Boy oh boy he loved it! I thought "Great! Another food to add to his repertoire." He had a few fist fulls and then started rubbing his eyes. I wiped him clean and he had a little more...proceeded to start rubbing his hands through is hair and fussing. I thought he was just being messy, so I ended lunch and cleaned him up. As I was wiping his face I noticed hives popping up everywhere he had smeared the cheesy sauce. Soon his little eyelids were swelling and he was crying like crazy! Thankfully I had the presence of mind to get the benadryl and give him a small amount....I didn't know exactly how much he weighed. I called his pediatrician's office in a panic. It was hard to get a hold of a live person..I HATE talking to a recording!!! Finally I got a nurse and they said as long as he was screaming like that (they could hear him) and was breathing okay, the benadryl should do the trick. They told me the right dose (double what I had given him). Poor baby! I gave him the meds and a nice bath to get any remaining residue off his tender skin. He was swollen for hours. The next week we had an appointment with the allergist.

They scratched him and waited for swelling....they drew blood from his tiny arm. He reacted strongly to proteins in Milk, Egg, and Peanut. Man! Where did this all come from? I wish I had known while he was nursing....he never was a good eater...maybe if I stopped eating those things he would have done better...

Our lives now...There is a huge learning curve when it comes to dealing with food allergies. How do you make a birthday cake without eggs or milk? What about chocolate chip cookies? Milk and egg are in everything!!! What about snack time at school or church? I had to discover these things so he would not suffer, or miss out too much. There are also lovely, well meaning people who claim that the dramatic rise in "food allergy diagnosis" in children is exaggerated and that most of those diagnosed don't have a true allergy. Who cares? It doesn't matter what you call it....My son can't have your birthday cake :0(

I must carry a bottle of benadryl and an epi-pen around for my son "just in case". I have to instruct babysitters to administer meds, and make substitute treats to take with us whenever we go somewhere food will be served. I learned that lesson when he cried so tenderly at a party because he couldn't have a cupcake like everyone else. Missing out on all that yummy high calorie fare (cheese, cake, scrambled eggs, ice cream...you know, all the good stuff) has made it tricky for Bubba-do to put on weight...he is almost 4 and weighs 27 pounds. Every year we get him checked by the allergist because many kids grow out of their allergies....no luck yet.

There are some up sides. He has developed a taste for lots of fruits and veggies. We don't have to worry about childhood obesity. He can have bacon, and hot dogs and cookies whenever he'd like....provided we can find a milk free bun for that dog. I have learned to be creative in the kitchen so he can have normal meals with the family...but oh how I wish to cook regular things like lasagna, or french toast (disclaimer: there are recipes out there for these things without his allergic foods...they just taste really yucky...soy cheese anyone?) And maybe someday he will grow out of the allergies...to celebrate I will bake him a cake...a real milk, egg, ooey gooey cake

BUBBA-DO SAFE FROSTING!

Home sweet Iowa home

Our little Bubba-Do

and pretty Pooka Shell

Thank you to so many

There are a lot of people to thank lately. I plan on making them all cookies and cutsie thank-you cards in the next couple of days so they actually know I am thankful....but here is the list of nominees...I'd like to thank

• The emergency room docs and nurses for administering morphine in a timely fashion...whew!
• The lovely OB-GYN docs who waited patiently for me to regain the ability to move/lie down, as I was too nauseous to "assume the position" for the ultra sound for some time.
• My most wonderful doctors who were not actually working that night, or even on call, yet they came in to do my surgery so I could feel I was in the hands of those I trusted.
• The sweet kind co-worker of hubby's (another doc) who offered to take my kids home, feed them, and put them to bed at her house so they didn't have to hang out all night at the hospital. You are an angel.
• The boss who found subs for my Zumba classes and didn't make a stink about me being out for another two weeks.
• Anyone who subbed for me
• The doctors who work with hubby who covered his shifts/patients for two days so he could be home to look after me.
• The numerous people from church who jumped at the chance to make meals for my family for an entire week.
• The sweet friend who drove my daughter to school every day this week since I could not.
• The wonderful "mommy friends" who took my son to play at their houses, with their kids so he had supervision and fun while I slept and recovered.
• The friends and family who offer so many prayers on my behalf
• All those who had kind words
• My children for putting up with all this chaos
• My husband for working so hard, and giving so much.

Thank you so much. There really is a lot of good in this world, and I am blessed to have seen much of it this past week. Now to make 14 dozen cookies.......

And now...the rest of the story

Me....what about me? Here I am... A daughter, a sister, a mother, a wife. Some of the more serious roles. And then an actor, a singer, a dancer, a baker, a candle stick maker....okay that last one is a lie, just wanted to see if you were paying attention.
I grew up in Utah...loved every minute of it. The variety of beautiful scenery everywhere you look. The Jazz. The focus on family. When you say "The ward" or "The stake center" everyone knows what you are talking about. The choices of radio stations and restaurants and entertainment. I now live in Iowa.....a smallish area 2 hours from the Capitol of Des Moines. There are no decent radio stations here.
The Midwest is an interesting place. The weather alone has nearly killed us. We arrived two days before the river crested in the floods of 2008. There was a guy canoeing down the street about a half mile from our new house...seriously. Summer's humidity was flabbergasting...Utah is very dry...I think now I like dry. Winter's 30 below zero temps were also an eye opener. But they have lots of bald eagles here, and pretty wild flowers.
The places I have lived/been are a part of who I am. I miss home very much, but I am grateful for all the learning experiences I am having here.
Back to me.... I was in a a school play in 4th grade..."The Wizard of Oz" and it was a revelation...I loved being on stage. I have been in dozens of musical theater productions and comedies and even a TV commercial or two. In college I discovered I also loved to dance. As a child, being one of 10 children, there was no money for lessons of any kind. College showed me Tap and Ballet and Jazz. I loved it all.
Sadly there is no decent live theater in these parts. I haven't belted a show tune, or made a crowd laugh for over two years!!! Agony! So last year I took a Zumba class.....basically dance for exercise. Totally fun. I went out on a limb and got certified to teach. I thought that was pretty brave. Then I was blessed to get a gig teaching at the gym I go to..... I am now on stage three times a week. Dancing and making people sweat....Oh the power! :0) Since my surgery I am obviously not teaching Zumba, that might make me explode. Hopefully I will be back at it an another week. People have called me "feisty" in the past, maybe that will work to my advantage.
I left behind family, friends, nice weather, world class theater, a plethora of dining options and radio stations...all I knew
I gained... yards without sprinkler systems (it rains so hard here nobody needs them) soil that will grow anything, beautiful wild life (there are bunnies in my back yard right now), tornado sirens, and fire flies. Being away from "Home" has made me appreciate it so much more "I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord"

Hello world

Hello world.... I am starting a blog. I have been going through a lot of stressful life situations over the course of the last 10 years and wanted to get it all out!!!
I have been happily married for almost 11 years. I adore my husband.... he is one of the greatest men I have ever known. Supporting him through all his schooling and still doing things that fulfil me has been the challenge. My hubby is a resident physician... Which for those of you not "in the know" means he has been in school a looooong time. Associates degree, Bachelors degree, Medical school (M.D.), and is now in an additional 4 years of training to specialize.... he is an OB-GYN. Which is what brings me to the present situation.
We have two amazing children and have been trying to add to our family for the past 2 years with no luck. We have tried clomid, injectables, IUI, and this last month IVF. That saga goes like this. We have always wanted a "biggish" family, 4-6 kids. The first time we got pregnant, it turned out to be an ectopic pregnancy... that is when the embryo implants somewhere other than the uterus, usually the fallopian tube.. The problem was found early and I was able to have medication instead of surgery... thus preserving my tube. We then went on to have two children without trouble. We have been trying to have another baby for 2 years and thought I would get pregnant easily again.
Doctors I have seen say my ovaries are not as robust as they might be for a person my age (32), so because we have good insurance we opted to try IVF. It was a roller coaster with all the injections and the waiting game. When it came down to it I only produced 7 eggs! I actually had 6 the first time I tried clomid and all those injections only made 7! Out of the 7 only 5 fertilized and they did a 3 day transfer with 2 10 cell embryos. None of the remaining embryos made it to the stage where they could freeze them for later use.
The waiting was torture so I took an early pregnancy test that was faintly positive... I was shocked. A few days later the blood test was positive but the hormone levels were not as high as they should be (only 30) A few days later the levels dropped to 21. We were very sad and mad...but not surprised. We had a feeling it wasn't all going to be good news. Just when we thought we could get off the roller coaster, another blood test a few days later showed a level of 503! What the heck. Cautiously hopeful we got an ultrasound that day. That is when we discovered the pregnancy was in my left tube. Will this never end!? Tubal pregnancies can be life threatening so it was treated that same day with medication and the waiting began again. Would the medication work? Was there something wrong with the tube? after 12 days we again thought we were in the clear. It was last sunday...we had just come from an appointment to talk to our bishop (clergy) to let him know of our struggles and ask for advice. All of a sudden I started having strong pain in my left side. My poor husband had just come home from being on call all night and he desperately needed sleep. Here I was writhing in pain trying not to worry the kids....off to the emergency room.
The pain meds they gave me made me soooo sick, and the ultrasound revealed my left tube needed serious attention. Miserable. Shocked. I was reminded of a quote from the movie Bruce Almighty... He is at the end of his rope and is addressing God saying, "Smite me oh mighty smiter!!" ie....."what else ya got!? I was headed for emergency surgery. My tube looked very kinked and distended...I saw pictures. My husband was there in the O.R. acting as my advocate and a third pair of eyes. I have the most wonderful doctors. The tube was removed laproscopically. Maybe it is better this way....that side will never cause me problems again. But it will also never carry an egg to meet with a sperm and implant safely in my womb.
So here I sit. Recovering from surgery I never in a million years thought I would need. Now I am the one having meals brought to my family by loving friends from church. My belly is swollen and bruised. My tube is gone, and we still want more babies. I wish I didn't have this desire. I wish I felt like we were done. I believe God has a plan for each of us. I don't claim to know what he wants for me and mine. I trust him and will keep trying....after my sore heart and wounded body have time to heal. I am desperately thankful for our two children... now more than ever I see what miracles they are. I got a letter from the hospital today confirming that we can try again with IVF in 3 months. Until then.... I will be the best mom I can be to the most amazing children. I will tirelessly support my husband through his 80+ work hour weeks because he is amazing and I love him. I will pray for understanding, and healing and try to align my desires with what Heavenly Father wants for me. "God's will is what we would choose for ourselves if we had all the information He does"