"Nucular" Woman

Okey dokey! So now I am emitting little invisible doses of radiation. Or "nucular" as G.W.B. was famous for saying. I took my radioactive iodine pill yesterday at the hospital and now all I have to do is lay low for a few days and no kissing with the hubby. :( No, i dont feel any different. I only need one dose and it doesnt make me feel sick. The best kind of cancer treatment! I am sleeping in the spare bedroom and I have to make sure and wipe down anything that is potentially contaminated. My toilet has never been so clean! It gets a regular wiping down several times a day! Drink, pee, drink, pee, repeat.

Good news is I finally get started on my synthroid now and I got my first dose today. Yay! I may as yet get back to feeling normal again, sometime........whatever normal was. At least I know where the bottom is and I survived. My goal now is one year from now to be stronger and leaner.

 True Joy when children choose to live good lives. 

 My cute daughter Kari went to the Temple for her Endowments yesterday. (you can find more info on Temples at www.mormon.org) So pleased at her commitments to keep on the right path. Gina was her surrogate mom for me. Thanks sweetheart. I love you both. Kari and Jonathan will be doing their sealing in about a month and I will look forward to being there with them for that.

 My cute son Evan submitted the first part of his mission papers this last week. He will make an awesome missionary! It's hard to believe that my little boy is already at this step. How did this happen so fast? I'm so excited for him.

 Gina and BJ have a happy little family that is blooming. Kenley is a chatty 2 yr old. Can't wait to give her lots of gramma hugs in a few weeks.

 Chris and Kari working hard and loving each other. They have plans and goals they are working to accomplish. (chris....you got a true angel wife) I am such a lucky mom to have been blessed with the privilege to be a part of these lives.

I love you all so much.

Enumclaw, Girls and a Sweet Hubby

I took a trip to Seattle (technically Enumclaw, but no one knows where that is when I say it) last week to visit my family. I had planned for this trip to be a “David and Shelli” trip but as the day to leave got closer and closer my sweet hubby with his duty minded responsibility troll kept popping up. In the end he realized that he just couldn’t keep ignoring that darned troll and knew that he would have to stay behind. Dang-it!! So I did what I usually do in these situations when I find myself alone and in need of a buddy, I called my next best friends, my two daughters. Being the awesome, full of fun and ready to jump at a chance for an adventure on a days notice, we all jumped in the car including our newest girl chum Kenley.

What we didn’t do was tell the woman who taught me how to have wonderful girl dates with daughters. We decided that it would be much more fun to surprise Grandma with a visit from her new little great-grandchild. And…it was.

We laughed and chatted and ate our must have road trip food (corn nuts, twizzlers, and Mt. Dew). Kari played her ukulele much to the delight of Kenley who watched in fascination until she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer and fell fast asleep. All in all it was a great bonding time. One that may be our last for a long time so it was even more sweet. I have two pretty incredible women that I call my daughters.

I knew also that this trip would be a great testing moment to see how sweet hubby manages on his own without me. When the big move to West Virginia comes he will be out there for most of the time without me as I will stay behind to get Evan finished up with school. I did try to make things as easy as possible for him. I filled the fridge and freezer with easy “man meals”, I had all his clothes washed and ready to wear, and had the kitchen put in order.

Periodically I would text him a message or a photo. The first part of the week I would get the usual sweet hubby messages in return. Then later on after I sent him a photo his reply was “Next time, can you be in the photo?” He misses me…. The next day was our trip back home. His text was “I’m anxious to be with my better half.” When I got home he had actually made the bed and cleaned up both the bedroom and the kitchen so I would have a nice welcome home. Sweet hubby never makes the bed. Sweet hubby missed me bad! I love that he missed me. I love the cute messages saying he missed me. I love that he cleaned up in anticipation of my return. I love him!!

This next year is going to be really hard to be apart for so long. I remember dating long distance and getting on the plane to fly back and forth from Salt Lake to Seattle. I remember crying big tears every time I had to be separated from him. I hope that May comes realllllly fast this year.

Kaia, Ivy and Kenley

We have three little girls that have woven their way into our hearts in a way that can only be experienced and not ever explained in words. Only another grandparent knows this feeling and all attempts to describe this phenomenon are left with futile words. These three little girls are named....

Kenley, and.....

....Kaia and Ivy. 

These three little people have the ability to turn an otherwise very composed and dignified physician into a clown faced, nonsensical noise maker. I have witnessed this transformation many times now and it never ceases to amaze me how instantly this happens.

 

One minute I have a husband and as soon as the door opens with one of these little people, all notion of my former spouse dissapears and is replaced by facial contortions and some sort of new high pitched language that includes lots of clicks, raspberry blowing and giggling. It is truly a site to be experienced!

 When my "grand-parentage" was in the pregnancy stage I had all sorts of people who told me how wonderful it was going to be and how much fun being a grandma was going to be. What no one ever told me was the awe that I would experience as I watched our own children transform from "kids" into parents themselves. I have seen my daughter spend every minute of her day ensuring that my granddaughter's every need is taken care of. I have watched her stress and worry about every little cry and work so hard to study and learn about how to care for this new little person.  I have seen her give up her make-up, her fun clothes, her sleep, and sometimes her sanity, and has completely given up herself selflessly to make sure my granddaughter is taken care of in the most ideal way that she can provide. I have seen a young father who would really have loved to have a son, fall madly in love with this little angel. The moment he comes home from work, his first words are "Can I hold her now?"   

I have seen a son who his whole world used to be snowboarding, music and whatever mischief he could find turn into caring for two little girls. His mystical transformation into a true man came when we watched his "shell shocked" face as he came to tell us that not only was there a suprise on the way but that surprise was actually going to be Two surprises. Most hints of his former self were replaced with a very responsible dad who worked hard for straight A's in college, worked a steady job, and stressed over feeding and nap schedules.

I want to warn any of you who have yet to experience these phenomenon. The side effects of becoming a grandparent exhibit themselves in watery eyes, runny noses, warm fuzzy heart, and a disregard for your own schedule if there is a mention of a visit by little people.