Black Friday worthy

This is not my picture... But it is pretty close to what I saw, except these people look like they are being nice.

I told Crispin, my brother in law, that our experience on black Friday was "blog" worthy. Seriously, I have the best brother and sister in laws. They crack me up and there is never a dull moment! Annie wanted to go to Walmart on black Friday. So at 9 PM, I decided to go with them. When we got there, hardly anyone was there! Crispin really wanted to get a power wheels for Marcus. I just kept saying to myself, it's going to happen, it's going to happen. I WANTED to get that for Marcus! Then the crowds came. OH MY!!! We decided to spilt up and watch out for them, since no one knew where they were going to be. I had teamed up with a few girls I knew from HS, and around 11:40 we saw the power wheels coming... WOW, I have NEVER seen a frenzy over a toy like this!! People just started grabbing, even though they weren't suppose to touch them until 12:01. I just happened to be right there, so I grabbed one, surprisingly they weren't as heavy as you would imagine! So I'm trying to carry this bulking box around, trying to find Annie or Crispin... All of the sudden, I hear Annie screaming at me and so I started screaming!!! I was shaking so bad, it was kind of funny. Soon after Crispin showed up and he was all excited. He said he saw some coming out and that he was heading to get one, when he heard us screaming. HAHA, it was a fun night with them!!! And I am glad that Marcus is going to get the coolest gift ever!!

Just another day

OK, by far, today was one of the HARDEST days as a parent.

Around 9 AM, Grant started crying and screaming. I went into his room and he was curled into a ball on his bed. I tried to soothe him the best that I could, but nothing worked. He told me his tummy hurt him. I had no clue what to do. My first thought was pepo, but I couldn't get any answers on whether it was safe to give him, and so I called the nurses hotline. By this time Grant had a fever of 102.5 and I was told to take him in, NOW. This scared me to death!! So as calmly as I could, I got the kids ready. I am so thankful that my Mother in Law could help out and watch Cami, because it ended up being a much longer day than I thought it would!

We went to the urgent care, and I knew the Dr there. Grant wasn't as hot, but when he touched his stomach Grant was not happy, and began to cry. Dr. Z wanted him to get labs and an ultrasound done, and so he sent us to the ER.

A parent should NEVER have to see their child go through so much pain. When they put the IV in, they asked if I wanted to step out of the room. Of course I didn't, I am his mom and I needed to be right with him!! Grant was such a brave little guy!! Even though he was in pain, every time I put my head down, Grant wanted to know what was wrong. It was almost like he was helping me through it!!

I was there with Grant alone for almost 4 LONG hours! I had to be alone (& strong) when Grant got his IV, and had his ultrasound. I'm grateful that Randy came over, and I wanted to cry just at the sight of him. He gave Grant a blessing, and Grant semi woke up for him. Right after he left, Mark came in... Relief.

By this point they ruled that the ultrasound was inconclusive, and so Grant would have to have a cat scan. Wait, run that by me one more time?? Scared, I weighed the options. Could I live with myself if it was in fact his appendix and something happened? Could I live with myself knowing full well that he was being exposed to radiation? We went a head with the CT. They had to sedate him to calm him down enough to hold still. After they gave it to us, one of the guys from radiology came in and he sort of looked like Randy, but to Grant that was his Grandpa... Funny #1. Then they wheeled him into the room, and once Grant saw the machine he was like, "WOW", funny #2!!! After waiting an hour the results came back. Grant hadn't held completely still, but from what they could tell, he was ok. So we got to go home!! HURRAY!!! After spending 6 hours there, we were both ready. We were just instructed to watch him closely.

Last night Grant ran a temp all night, and being a paranoid mother, I slept with him all night. I am so grateful for medicine and the technology we have today!! I am so impressed with the strength Grant had and the example he set for me. I love him to death, and it was the hardest thing to watch as a parent!!

Ensign Post

I usually don't post religious post, mainly because I often fear that people will roll their eyes or judge me. I realize that this is something that I need to get over, because I am not ashamed of the church, nor am I ashamed of my testimony. This has been an interesting week, as far as testimony growth goes.

Last Sunday was a general stake conference for Arizona. My in laws, bless their hearts, had the kids sit with them. This left Mark and I with the ability to listen! Sister Barbara Thompson (2nd counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency) spoke about faith. She told a story about how she wanted to know the Book of Mormon was true before she started seminary. She read it over the summer and as she finished the last few chapters, she made sure everything around her was in order. She had cleaned her room, and made sure she was in a place where she could receive revelation about the truth of the book. She knelt down and prayed about it, but to her amazement nothing came. She just felt at peace about things. Some times you have to just recognize that you already know the answer.

On Monday I received an email letting me know that my cousin, Katie, would probably be passing away within the week. Katie is the oldest of the cousins on the Bingham side... And my memories of her are limited. But I know and remembered how incredibly awesome she was. As I heard this news, my heart sank and I was left with a surprising ache. My cousin, Alison, summed it up best... If I were in her shoes, could I have the faith that she had? Could I leave my children, knowing that it was the Lord's will?

That night I sent a text to a friend of mine asking her how someone has unwavering faith. Her reply was that she didn't know. I am extremely grateful that I get the ensign!! That night I happened to pick up where I left off the night before, which was a talk which was given by Bishop Richard C. Edgley. With all of my questions regarding why Heavenly Father would take Katie away, I read, "If confusion and hopelessness weigh on your mind, choose to "awake and arouse your faculties" (Alma 32:27). Humbly approaching the Lord with a broken heard and contrite spirit is the pathway to truth and the Lord's way of light, knowledge, and peace." And he later went on to say, "Because of my faith, I approach the unknown, unseen and unexplained with unquestioning assurance."

Wow. I felt as if a little of my sadness had been lifted, because I do have faith that the Lord know why he is doing this, and that there is a bigger plan. The next day I went and visited with my mother in law. I brought the topic up, and like a brick it hit me!! I would like to think that I would have the same faith she did, but the reason I struggle so hard about it is because of Grant. There are details about my previous marriage that I hate to think about. But it is because of that marriage that I have Grant. If anything is to happen to me, I cannot say what would happen to him. I know that Mark would fight for him, but in the end, it's up to the court. I'm petrified that Grant would go to be with someone he does not know, and would be scared. I would not be there physically to help him, and to love him. I know he would not get the love and attention he so desperately needs. Because of this reason, I fear death.

Today was Katie's funeral, and I have yet to hear how things went. I am positive that there were many tears shed, and many great memories shared. I am sad that I was unable to attend. But I know that some day we will meet again, and I will be so happy to tell her how much her faith has helped mine.

OK, there is my ensign post. I'm sorry my thoughts are all over the place!!

Date Night

Have you seen the movie "Date Night"? It is a pretty funny comedy about a husband and wife who go out on a date... A well needed date. Since I'm sort of in the Young Women's, I had to go to the stake dance last night, ugh. But my wonderful in laws came to the rescue and watched the kids, so that my wonderful husband could go with me.

He was so sweet all night. He took me to Denny's for an omelet, we went to Walmart and looked at toys, he got me hot chocolate and then whisked me off to the dance. The dance made me appreciate my old leaders and all they did for us! But over all, I had a great time with my husband, and felt semi younger ;)

Thanks Mark for a wonderful night!!

It's Grant, minus a body part

I know you're wondering why such a brutal title... It's been that kind of morning! Grant hasn't been happy these past few days, mainly from lack of sleep, and this morning was no different. After trying to get him to calm down from one of his melt downs, he was sitting in front of one of our sofa's. The next thing I know he's screaming because he "hurts".

I, being the "wonderful" mother that I am, just thought it was part of him having a hard morning. He didn't give me much of a chance to see anything, because he ran off into his room. Moments later he came out with blood everywhere, which then sent his mom into a panic. I, at first thought he had bit a hole through his tongue, but after closer examination, I realized that he had in fact pulled his tooth out, roots and all. I would LOVE tell you how, but he didn't do anything that would cause this... Except biting. He bits things when he gets mad, and all I can think of is that he bit the blanket on the couch and it got stuck.

I called around to all the dentist here in Sierra Vista, and to our luck, everyone was closed, except one! The good news is that they were able to get him in right away. Everything I read previous to this said that if a child loses a tooth before they naturally fall out, they then need to put a spacer in. This dentist said that we should just let it be and let it heal without anything in it!! That means Grant will go 4 years without a tooth there!!!

So how is Grant?? He calmed down pretty quick after this happened, and was sooo interested in his missing tooth. At first he wanted me to put it back in... Then he just wanted to just look at himself in the mirror, and he wanted to show his friends his tooth. I guess boys will be boys and moms will be worrying moms!!

Is it just me??

Since turning one, it seems as if everything about Cami has changed, or is it just me?? She is getting bigger, and just doing TONS of things she wasn't doing before. It makes me sad, because she is no longer a baby, but I am excited to keep watching her grow!!

Can you believe she eats Mexican food?? She even held her own at Pancho's... She out ate the boys, of course they were to busy being boys, BUT still!!

I love everything about this little girl!! She has definitely captured my heart!!!