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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Will, the missionary farmer


I feel like Will hasn't gotten a lot of blog time lately so here is a post to remedy that AND share about an FHE activity we did last month - getting the boys' missionary banks started.
Will has always been pretty psyched about serving a mission someday, but lately it's occupied more of his day-to-day ponderings. He has that blessed innocence about him that makes things so cut and dry - there are people out there that don't know about the church and Jesus and the Book of Mormon, and he's going to go tell them. He's so funny with the things he comes up with; we've had to clear a few things up. Apparently in primary or somewhere they talked about the early missionaries in the church that left their wives and families while they proselyted, because he told me the other day that he was going to choose a nice wife who would be a good mom while he was off on his missions :). Oh, and that's another thing - he's pretty sure he's serving more than once. Just today he told me he's going on ALL the missions. Not sure who's paying for that, but Godspeed little buddy!

But really - his future mission is constantly on Will's mind. He asked about the MTC (Missionary Training Center) the other day, so we looked at pictures online and talked about it a bit. He's psyched to see Unky Quinn tomorrow, since not only did he reside there while prepping for his mission back in the day, but he currently works there on the 'physical education staff' (at least that's what his shirt says). I love that Will has this sweet desire to serve a mission so ingrained in his mind - I'm excited to watch him continue to prepare himself and eventually fulfill this goal.

Hilariously, Will's other future plans are to be a farmer. We read this book a fair amount:
and I'm not sure if Will just thinks it looks really fun, or if he's somehow obligated because there's a book, or what, but he is going to be a farmer. For a while he called himself a missionary farmer, until we explained he'd have to do one before the other :). 

So, on a related note, we spent a Monday night in October readying the boys' missionary banks. This is something we've needed to do forever, and I finally made them a couple of months ago in preparation for our Super Saturday for church.
We had a HUGE ziploc full of change that my dad donated for their mission funds a while back. Now it's finally distributed (not at all evenly; we just shoved piles towards each boy), hooray!

And here are my incredibly goofy boys posing with their missionary banks...

And (just for Holly!) here are some pictures of the boys after church at different times this summer. Now that it's cold, they get to ditch the ties in favor of sweaters over their white shirts; I'm a pretty cool mom.
I'm really grateful for my three boys and what sweet spirits they have. They love church and primary and the scriptures and the articles of faith and I hope that they can maintain that love (maybe let go of some of the cheesiness, but keep the love, haha) as they get older and more jaded and have more activities competing for their time and attention. I hope that when doubts creep in or when they feel detached or unworthy, they'll remember the gospel principles of repentance and forgiveness that they learn about in primary. I hope that they'll remember how to recognize the Spirit and how to develop and strengthen their testimonies. And most importantly, I hope that they'll remember that the love their Heavenly Father has for each of them is unconditional.

Whew! Okay, I really wasn't planning for things to get so intense there (I'd blame pregnancy hormones, but I've never been exceptionally emotionally stable, haha). The main point of this post is that Will is still around and is darling and we look forward to big things from him in the future, both in the mission field and the, uh, potato field :).

Friday, November 22, 2013

A belated birthday present for Chuck


Chuck and I have a running joke of sorts about how he frequently has to talk me into things that end up being awesome. And mostly they're things that make MY life a gazillion times easier, which adds so much intrigue as to why I drag my feet about them in the first place... sigh.

SO, as a special birthday present (a day late) for Chuck, here's a rundown of just SOME of the things he's given his seal of approval to right of the bat...
that I had to be talked into and then gave my seal of approval.
(apologies that both these pictures are semi-blurry and that Dan Swenson has his arm around Chuck's shoulder in that shot. Turns out we have less than a plethora of pictures with our thumbs up - obviously something we'll be remedying....)

1. Film cameras vs. digital cameras
Ah, an oldie but a goodie from back in the day. I was one of those people (at least I hope I wasn't the only one...) who was initially really hesitant about digital photography. I fancied myself an idealist who championed the 'real' nature of film photography and eschewed the cheap imitation that digital would offer. Chuck shook his head regularly and continued to shove the digital camera into our hands until I saw the light and started snapping three hundred pictures a month :).

2. DVR
Okay, this one I think is kind of a stretch (especially since we haven't even had satellite or DVR for over a year) but we'll include it on a technicality. When we first got Direct TV back in... '06... we included DVR in our order, but there was a mix-up and the technician didn't set it up. In all of my non-confrontational-ness, I told Chuck it was fine and that we didn't need DVR. He insisted we call back and get it fixed. And boy was I glad!!

3. A bigger, fancier crock pot:
We got a wonderful little crock pot when we got married (it's the green and white one in the corner) but a few years ago Chuck brought home a bigger one - with a 'warm' option! I was sure this was an extravegance that we didn't need, but all of the delicious meals that Chuck has made in it since (and, hey, quite a few that I've made) have sold me on its value in the Izatt kitchen.

4. Along the same lines, our griddle:
Pulling it all the way out for a picture seemed like a lot of work, haha. Chuck brought this bad boy home a few years ago (probably around the same time as the crock pot and also the same time i stopped sending him to Walmart by himself...) and I was, again, dubious. But then he showed me the magic - cooking multiple pancakes/grilled cheese sandwiches/quesedillas/etc at the SAME time and convinced me that I was worth such convenience. And my life has never been the same.

5. And finally, the most recent example - parking our van in the garage:
(rest assured there are loads more examples but I'm short on time and long on pride...)
A month of two ago, Chuck brought up the idea of cleaning out the garage a bit so that I could park the van in there. I immediately vetoed the idea - it would be a lot of work, garages are for stuff not cars, I don't mind parking outside, etc. He reminded me that I refuse to scrape windows (I seriously can't take the sound of scraping. Shivers are going down my spine just thinking of it) and I reminded him that I have no qualms about wasting money and destroying the ozone layer by letting the van idle for a few minutes every morning.

Finally Chuck took advantage of his dad being in town last month and got. it. done. They had to rearrange things - move the upright freezer and gun safe to the side and move the food storage shelves to the front - but they did it, and now the Uplander gets tucked safely in the garage each night (and usually during the day as well).

And I love it. It's amazing to just waltz out every morning and buckle everyone in to a not-freezing car and head over to school with complete visibility. 

And the fact that Chuck embarked upon all that hard work and effort for someone who was fighting him about it is incredible - especially considering this is what he goes outside to every morning:
Except that this picture was taken at 10am and he leaves for work at 5:20am, so minus a few degrees for the temperature and add a cover of darkness. Hard to believe he didn't clean out the garage so he could park in there himself, eh?

BUT, lest you think our marriage is entirely one-sided and that Chuck has all the brains and foresight and I'm just along for the ride, I'd remind you that after some pretty serious flirtation and Chuck having my phone number, I'm the one who had to call him - the phone call that led to our first date and now nine and a half years of marriage. Soooo I think I win on that one :).
Here we are last night on Chuck's real birthday! (Ignore the blurriness and the photobomb by a picture of Jesus :).)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHUCK! I SURE DO LOVE YOU!

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Funny Jackers


What better way to mark the occasion of my FOUR HUNDREDTH POST than by running through some of the most recent hilarity in our home provided by the one and only Jack??
(although, another good way to mark 400 posts - about five and a half years! - of blogging might be to actually get my motivation on and print it all out into blog books... everyone still use blurb for that?)

Sometimes Jack walks around the house with a witch hat on and the whole world in his mouth. I guess he got tired of it orbiting round and round him...

Caught red-shirted adding some helpful marks to Clyde's homework.
I like how he's looking down and to the side; clearly trying to figure out the best line to feed me about his innocence...

This day he was happy enough to leave Clyde's homework (on its antiquated "paper") alone and get some ipad time with Disney Junior:
Cute smile, right? The problem is that he knows it!!

Oh, this is from our lazy September days relaxing in the yard; he's blowing the grass out of his Croc:
It just made me laugh, what a mimic!

From another September day out front, this one watching Chuck mow the lawn...
and little Jack thinking this arrangement was totally legit and I was just going to start up the van and start drivin'. Sorry kiddo!

Jack is in that delightful stage (that ends loads before they turn 5 and 7, I can tell you that) where he loves helping out around the house. Usually he hands me things out of the dishwasher, but this day I wandered away for a minute only to return and find him taking the initiative of putting items away himself!
Of course, the silverware was unceremoniously dumped in the drawer and the plates (too high up for him to put away) were helpfully stuck back in the sink, haha. Whatever, he was willing and worked without complaint so I was happy!

And finally, Jack makes the best little valet/ladies' maid I could ever ask for. He is obsessed with my post-shower routine and helpfully hands me my toiletries - in order. And then he attempts to use them on himself :). I almost wish I used more products, because I think he gets a little bored of the 'deodorant, face moisturizer, foundation, eye liner, eye shadow, mascara' routine. Sometimes I do mix it up and comb my hair...
Would it be awful if Santa brought Jack travel-size deodorant?? I guess we'll find out next month!

Jack is such a ray of [gouging/stubborn/pinching] sunshine in our family, even when he wakes up at 5:30am demanding oatmeal. We love our Jackers!

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Sunday Best 2013

[Background: in a bout of shallowness, I made a goal a couple of years ago to wear a different outfit to church every Sunday for a few months. Then I extended it to a full year. And then I did it the next year. This is the third year I've made (and kept!) this silly resolution. I do it because I really don't get dressed during the week; I wear athletic shorts and t-shirts and such, so Sunday is my day to make an effort and wear fancy stuff. And it justifies my ridiculous collection of skirts and dresses, most of which I've either had since high school, were gifts, or were bought at DI/Savers. Plus it's a fun creative exercise; I usually try to coordinate my outfits with a holiday/seasonal color scheme or something like that.]

So I'm doing this post a couple of months early this year, so it only covers January through October. I figure November signaled the start of pregnancy/baby bump pictures (that will be all chronicled together next May-ish) since that's when I hit 12 weeks, and try as I might, my midsection prior to that couldn't reeeeally be attributed to a baby :).

JANUARY:
Things to note: the first week was the debut of my super cute grey skirt with orange/blue/cream stitching that my mother-in-law had just given me for Christmas. The second week was the debut of my new orange belt, a birthday gift from the awesome Maren. The third week was my effort to cheer on the 49ers in their playoff game. The fourth week was an homage to the ice and snow that wouldn't ever melt.

FEBRUARY
Only three weeks this month; I stayed home from stake conference with sick kids and sent Chuck instead. The first outfit is obviously for Valentine's Day and shows my serious lack of pink clothing/accessories, the next week I subbed in gospel doctrine so I had to look legitimate and wear something that wouldn't show sweat/nerves, and the last week was the Academy Awards so that's what I threw together.

MARCH
Ehh, things get hazy this month. The middle outfit was obviously St. Patrick's Day and the last one was Easter. I don't think there was necessarily a rhyme or reason to the other three...

APRIL
Once again, only three since I don't get dressed up for General Conference. The first outfit I had a navy blue cardigan that I should have kept on for the picture; I think it kind of pulled the whole outfit together. 

 MAY
 Random assortment... I think the last week was going for patriotic for Memorial Day.

 JUNE
 First week I wore my old high school colors to commemorate the tenth anniversary of my graduation. Week two is my awesome embroidered vest; this year I wore it buttoned, which I liked better. The fourth week I obviously wish I could take back. I really really wanted that dress to be cute and flattering and it juuuust wasn't. It went to the clothing swap a couple weeks later. And the last week was my Independence Day outfit!

 JULY
 The second picture makes me happy because I feel like such a rebel when I do things like mix black and brown :). The next week's outfit looks alarmingly like one from May but upon further inspection you can see that my necklace and hair flower clip were different. A little sketchy, I admit, but I had gotten home from Oregon like twelve hours previous, so leave me alone. The last Sunday was the debut of my RED hair so I figured I'd lessen the shock with some red accessories.

 AUGUST
 Week one was in Utah and I forgot to do a 'real' picture, so that rear view will have to do :). The next week was my ode to my dear mom for her birthday: she loves pink and green. The third week's dress was the result of birthday shopping with my mom at the Boise Savers; it was BRAND NEW WITH TAGS and I love it so, so much. I think I'll wear it this Sunday now that I think about it... (don't worry, I'll add leggings or something). Week four was to mark the kickoff of the college football season!

SEPTEMBER
 Week one was on Clyde's birthday, so I wore his favorite colors, which he thought was pretty great. Sorry for the action shot on week three, the others were even less flattering. Week five was a rainy day, so I happily wore my new Savers grey dress with all different shades of blue accessories.

OCTOBER
Again, only three weeks due to General Conference but I fit a lot of Halloween goodness in there! The first week I wore my spider web tights, which I really really love. The next week features a festive vest from... my dad! Love him. And the last week was the Sunday of Halloween week so I got to wear my awesome orange and black tights! They make me happy. 

As does that black dress - if you scroll back through, that dress makes an appearance four times in those ten months, more than any other dress/skirt. And it's also the oldest article of clothing pictured; my mom and I bought it for probably $15 at Mervyn's when I was in 9th grade in 1999 - FOURTEEN YEARS AGO. Yeah. I was just shy of fifteen at the time. I wore it to Sam's high school graduation a few months later, my high school graduation a few years later, my college graduation a few years after that. It's seriously the MVP of my closet.

And thus concludes my brief foray into being a fashion blogger. If only Savers would sponsor me, haha!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Remember-ing our September-ing


And thus it begins: a string of outdated posts from the days of morning/afternoon/evening sickness, that has happily transitioned now to mostly a little morning/mostly evening sickness. I'll take it!

Starting with all the festivities from Clyde's seventh birthday at the beginning of September:
I think this marks the second or third time we've dangled crepe paper from their doorway, but the boys have grown intensely attached to it and refer to it fondly as if it's been a tradition in our family from day one. I love easy to please kids!

Clyde wanted a Captain America cake, and I figured the shield would be the easiest aspect for me to recreate very poorly but have it still be recognizable:
I'm calling it a success! Poor Chuck would have done a much better job, but he was at church meetings so I got called up from the minor leagues in his place :).


Clyde was thrilled with his gifts and his party guests and his special day in general.

And he got an extra dose of birthday cheer at the end of the month at his classroom celebration!
Mr. Eilers is very smart and uses the last Friday afternoon to celebrate all the birthdays from that month - so September babies Clyde and Yaneli were the stars of the show :). I took in cupcakes and hung out to watch the kids play the elementary school classic "Heads Up, Seven Up". In case you were wondering, it still happens sometimes that eight kids stand up even though only seven kids' thumbs were touched, haha.

September meant soccer started for Clyde Monster:
This season was kind of rough for all involved. The younger brothers were NOT fans of being dragged to practices and games, and Clyde was on a new team/new coach that never really gelled completely.

I got to step in and coach one game, which was fun and a totally new experience since the U-7 level comes with a lot of changes: a bigger field, bigger goal, four kids out at a time, a referee, and coaches on the sideline.
Here are some action shots, along with his official unofficial team photo: Coach Maria, Zach, Hunter N, Hunter H, Asher, Davis, CLYDE, Jackson, Joey.

We had a couple of random/beautiful rainstorms in September and I was slightly obsessed:
You're welcome that I pared down the dozens of pictures I took to these five. I just love watching rain pour down!

Mid-September was when we found out that I was pregnant. I'm planning an in-depth, reflective, spiritual, probably oversharing, rundown of how we arrived at this occasion in our family but it was a very happy if slightly scary day when we found out for sure :).
I love the picture of the older boys matching as they headed to school - that was the day that the zillionth pregnancy test came out clear enough that I felt confident in saying I was indeed pregnant. Looking at this picture reminds me of what a gift my children are and how blessed we are to be able to add another one into the mix. Aaaand that delicious breakfast is what Chuck made me the next morning. I really really love him!

September was a very Scout-y month for Chuck; he went to Wood Badge early in the month (a blog is forthcoming on that; I'm going to force Chuck to help me write it!) and then the last weekend our ward attended a stake Camporee, woo!
Troop (Crew/Team/etc) 101: Brother Izatt, Brother Swallow, Brother Berthelson, Devin (? help me Maren!), Brother Haws, Justice, Jared, Caleb(?), Bishop Fleshman, Tristin, Brother Murphy, Brother Nelson, Brother Gray, Brother Swenson.


And finally, that same Saturday was the General Relief Society broadcast so I put together a carpool of some friends so we could all attend together:

Tiffany, Grace, Kristen, Jennifer, LeAnne, Maren, Lara, Jana.

As always, the broadcast was excellent. President Monson told a beautiful story that I will butcher if I try to recount exactly, but the main point was that a woman followed a prompting and took homemade bread to a woman she barely knew and that action had an incredible impact upon the recipient. This was especially meaningful to me since my friendship with Lara began last March when I showed up on her doorstep at 9:30 at night dressed in my running gear, bearing (sadly) not delicious homemade bread but instead muffins from a box :). I had met Lara a couple of times before, once at church a couple of months previous and once when I visited their home as Abby's primary teacher a couple of years previous, but really didn't know her at all. 

What has followed has been such a fun and beneficial (primarily I think to ME) friendship. I have been so amazed by Lara and her courage and determination as she fights colon cancer (remember the Relay for Life from July?). I have been inspired watching Lara and her husband Austin interact and cherish and support and serve each other. And I have been grateful as they have brought our family delicious treats - cinnamon rolls and sugar cookies!! (Austin is much better in the kitchen than I am!)

As we drove home, Lara brought up the similarities in our story as compared with the story that President Monson told and I felt so grateful again that I went along with a prompting to knock on someone's door late-ish at night and offer some silly muffins. I think a lot of times we feel inadequate when we're presented an opportunity to step up and do something or we dismiss those feelings that would prompt us to action because we're worried about how those actions will be received. I've been trying, especially in the last few months, to trust Heavenly Father and put myself out there more.


Okay, and that was September! You're welcome!

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Today I'm grateful...


Seven years ago today, our sweet two-month-old baby woke up very sick and unhappy on the morning of his special blessing at church:
 Here is his sad little face later that afternoon, snuggling with his youthful/dapper/amazing daddy.

We had wondered for a few weeks if something was wrong with our little Clyde Monster; on a semi-regular basis his tummy would get real big and real hard. We had called and talked to our nurse about it, but as soon as we were on the verge of taking him in, it went back to normal size. Clyde seemed in perfect health otherwise; he was nursing well and going through loads of diapers.
(Here's the best picture we have of what we referred to as his Buddha belly - this was about three days before his blessing.)

That Sunday it became clear that we needed to see his pediatrician. Our appointment was on Tuesday, and immediately when Dr. Schaffer entered the exam room she looked at Clyde and said, "Take him straight over to the hospital. I'll call and order the tests." And I'm 88% sure my heart stopped for about thirty seconds!

We walked across the street to the hospital, where scary possibilities like tumors were blessedly eliminated quickly, and we were left with a diagnosis we could neither pronounce nor spell nor understand: Hirschsprung's disease. But now I know it backwards and forwards! While Clyde was a wee fetus, his large intestine didn't develop correctly - the last portion lacks essential ganglion cells that allow it to contract and move things forward, like a conveyor belt. In Clyde's digestive system, waste was just building up and up until there was enough pressure that it was forced through that section - hence the looping pattern of a distended tummy followed by a regular tummy, intermixed with dirty diapers.
We stayed at the hospital overnight as I was trained in a mini-procedure to help clear out Clyde's colon - something I got to do 8-10 times a day for the next seven weeks, the traumatic nature of which (combined with the overall grossness) I'm not sure I'll ever recover from. Just before Christmas that year, Clyde underwent a seven-hour 'pull-through' surgery that removed the affected portion of his large intestine. 

Since then, we've had ups and downs with Clyde's body and the last few months has definitely been a 'down'. We're blessed that only a small section of Clyde's colon was affected (his is called 'short-segment' Hirschsprung's as opposed to 'long-segment' which can pose more problems initially) but the problem is that his actual sphincter is also affected, and not as easily fixed. Using an analogy from Clyde's pediatric surgeon, if you think about an automatic door (the kind that slide away from each other to open, ala my old Rite Aid store), normal spincters are able to essentially open and close to allow waste to exit the body. Clyde's can't do that; it's permanently stuck at 'almost closed'. This causes the same problem to occur - a back-up that is then forced through a little at a time when enough pressure builds up. 

Unfortunately that usually happens at inopportune times and is fairly unpredictable and very hard to avoid. We use a combination of stool softeners and laxatives and strategically timed bathroom visits, but there's only so much we can do.

 Which is where Botox comes in. The same chemical that's injected to relax wrinkled foreheads can  be injected around a tight sphincter to paralyze the nerves and relax it just enough to allow larger amounts of waste out. Our amazing pediatric gastroenterologist performed this procedure on Clyde two years ago and it's what allowed Clyde to transition from diapers to underwear and attend 'real' school as a first grader. 

We had hoped that Clyde wouldn't need recurring injections, but that doesn't seem to be the case. He stared having problems last spring that we attempted to combat with medication alterations and physical therapy - both of which helped somewhat and got us through the summer. This fall it's been very clear that something more needed to happen. 

 Hirschsprung's is really, really crappy - and I mean that in every sense of the word. Beyond the havoc it wreaks directly on Clyde himself, it also affects family's activities; we aren't able to travel at all right now, and very rarely other times. On a day-to-day basis, I always have to make sure I'm within a ten-minute drive of Clyde's school in case I get a phone call, as I have several times a week since mid-September. It limits Chuck's and my freedom; we can't leave the boys with teenage baby-sitters for long periods of time or around bedtime, leaving Grandma Pam to serve as our part-time, unpaid (but always sweetly willing!) nanny on her weekends home.

And again, then there's the effects it has on Clyde. I can't imagine the uncertainty he faces going to school every day, not knowing if he'll make it through the school day without any problems. The class time he misses when he makes his regular before and after lunch trips to the nurse's office to use the restroom there in privacy. The soccer practices that were cut short and the game he missed this season because things were so rough.

Which is why I'm so HAPPY today - another round of Botox injections was finally approved by our insurance and is tentatively scheduled for this Friday. It's been a really rough two months for our Clyde Monster, and I'm thrilled that things are finally coming together. We're prepared for the eventuality of another major surgery, but that will need to wait until his body has grown and developed more. But for now, we're grateful that these injections can serve as a solution in the meantime.

And that's how this post started - gratitude. As I got the news that we were approved, I was filled with so much gratitude that we can move forward and Clyde's life can return to being a bit more normal. Clyde and I talk a lot about his Hirschsprung's and how it's a challenge that he has to deal with in his life, and how that's okay. We talk about how other kids have to deal with things that are even scarier and ouchier and sadder. We talk about the blessings that Clyde has been given that help him cope with this challenge - like a supportive school staff and teacher who work with us and Clyde so well.
 
And the bottom line is that no matter how wretched and difficult and straight-up gross Hirschsprung's is, we'd deal with all of it a hundred times over to have Clyde in our lives and otherwise completely healthy.


Friday, November 1, 2013

A[nother] can't-miss announcement


Sooo Chuck and I realized that thus far we're three for three on sweet,
darling, perfect (albeit slightly goofy) babies . . .


 so we might as well go for a FOURTH. (Yiiiikes).

Yep, I'm pregnant! To answer all your questions:

* I'll be 12 weeks along on Sunday

* Official due date is May 18th (my doctor's birthday!)

* C-section will be sometime the week before that

* I feel wretched, but I'm putting a lot of faith into the magical first trimester mark on Sunday equaling me feeling fabulous again. Everyone cross your fingers! My poor existing children are especially hopeful that their mama gets her groove back. Not that showing up late to school every morning isn't fun, right?? 

* Chuck and I are trying to prepare ourselves for the possibility of a girl in case this ends up being one of those times Heavenly Father decides to demonstrate his sense of humor :). 

* Clyde and Will are both quite sure they're getting a sister. Jack adorably points to my belly when asked where the baby is, but he really has no idea that his little Jack-centered world is going to be rocked next spring. Jack is one of those children that was born to be a youngest child, which is precisely why he shouldn't be, haha.

Here are some pictures of the boys that we took to share the news with our families a few weeks ago - we made Jack's little shirt to match the ones that the older boys already had:
And that's our news! Sorry for the complete lack of blogging lately (also, emailing, texting, phone call returns, social interaction, etc). In between me hiding from the nausea underneath my covers, we had a fun October so the last two months will for sure be chronicled on the blog sometime soon!!