Ok, I might be kind of copying this post of my sisters’, but I thought it was a great way to recap our January. Usually, January is the long, cold, boring month, where there is nothing really going on, so we fill in the time by evaluating our life and making goals and getting all organized again for the new year. And that stuff is all good, and I like doing that stuff, but this January just seemed to fly by! That might be due to the fact that we didn’t come back from California until the 7th, and then we had a few trips to Tahoe/Sacramento. So, I didn’t really end up doing too much of the normal January kind of things. And then I think, so what did we do all month? Whatever it was, it sure kept us busy! So, here it is . . . . The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of our January.
We’ll start with The Bad. I gave myself ONE goal this month. Yep, just one. Because I knew it would take a lot of effort and patience from me. And because I really wanted to accomplish it. That one goal was to get this little boy off of his blanket.
Yes, James is ADDICTED to his blanket. I think I’m going to save the whole long story for another post, but let’s just say . . . . we are in the thick of it.
The Good! Annie and Leah have recently started new dance classes with an amazing dance teacher in our ward, Heidi Mills! When we moved here a year and a half ago (crazy, right?) I was asking around about dance studios, and I just never found anything I really liked that wasn’t too far away. There were rumors going around that Heidi was trying to start a studio somewhere, so I decided to just wait for that. In the meantime, Annie’s been taking a little dance class at her school, but it’s not very technical or anything, and there are like 30 girls in her class. Definitely just more for the fun of it. So I was so happy when Heidi finally started up her studio! It’s close to our house and Heidi is just the best teacher. Both the girls are loving it! Annie is in a ballet class and Leah is in movement/tap. I’ll have to take pictures one of these days!
Another Good! I got a new church calling! Haha . . . . not that I was hating on enrichment or anything, but after planning Relief Society activities for 4 years, I was definitely ready for a change. I think I was just getting a little burned out. So, my new calling is Primary Music Leader! I’m definitely a little intimidated by this. Mostly because I’ve only been in primary for like 3 months in all my adult life, and (this is the biggest reason) I’m going to have to sing in front of everyone. I mean, I like to sing, and I sing in choir and stuff, but I don’t sing solos. Ever. And now I’m going to have to. And most of those primary songs are way too high. I’m an alto. But, I’m going to have to swallow my pride, and not care how I sound. And once I get over that factor, I think I’m really going to love this new calling. I love primary songs. And I love kids. And the best part is Annie and Leah are in there. And I’ll go into nursery every week and do singing time with the nursery kids in between junior and senior primary, and it’s going to be so fun having James in there. So yes, I’m nervous, and I’m sure there’s going to be a huge learning curve for me, but I am definitely excited about it too.
I finally read this book . . . .
and watched the movie. I thought they did a great job with the movie, but I definitely liked the book better. Dan watched the movie with me and I spent the next hour as we were lying in bed going on and on about all the things they left out in the movie because I felt like he didn’t have a full understanding of everything. Oh, and this is a Good, because I always feel like I’ve accomplished something when I finish a book. Especially one I’ve been wanting to read.
The Bad. We finally took these things down: 
So, it should probably be a Good, since we were way overdue, and it was getting a little embarrassing, but I’m always kind of sad to take down our Christmas cards. I like to look at them when I come down in the mornings and be reminded of all the amazing people we have in our lives. And it’s usually the last remaining hint of the holidays, so by removing it, it’s the final realization that the holidays are over. It’s time to move on.
The Good. Leah’s about to move up a level in gymnastics! She just needs to master her handstand. That means that we only have a few more weeks of going to gymnastics on Wednesday evenings at 7pm. I don’t like taking up evenings with extracurricular activities when we don’t have to. She’s been going at this time slot since October, and I’m already anxious to change to a morning or afternoon class.
I’ve been addicted to CNN lately. Watching a lot of this:
I don’t want to get too into my thoughts about politics right now, but yes, we are Romney supporters, and yes, I’m nervous for him. And yes, I really think I’m addicted to CNN right now. If I have a free moment, I turn it on. I watch it while I work out, while I eat breakfast, and late into the night. Especially after debates. Dan is getting a little sick of it I think. He says they just say the same things over and over. He may be right. This is Good and Bad.
We are loving our new TV in our bedroom. Definitely a Good. We bought it with the money my parents gave Dan and I for Christmas. So thanks, Mom and Dad!! Now I can watch CNN in bed.
I’ve also been watching a lot of these guys lately:
This is also a Good and a Bad. Good, because they had such an awesome season after being gone for so long. The Niners are back, baby! Jim Harbough won Coach of the Year in his rookie season as an NFL head coach, and the team ended with a 13-3 record after having like 7 losing seasons in a row. Their play-off game against the Saints was one of the most exciting play-off games I’ve seen . . . . with 4 lead changes in the last 3 minutes of the game. I was watching the game in our Hyatt hotel room during our Tahoe weekend, and when the Niners scored a TD in the last few seconds to win the game, I was cheering so loud. Along with the rest of the hotel:) The Bad is that they should have been in the Super Bowl. Their loss against the NY Giants was pretty sad to watch, and they really should have won that game. Oh well . . . . now I can just chat with all the other wives at the Super Bowl party our friends are hosting, and not have to be so into the game:)
Another Good! The weather this month has been gorgeous! Spring like, really. Although everyone else acts like this is a Bad. Something about how we need moisture in the area? Or rain? Or snow on the mountains? Hmmmm.
And because of the awesome weather, the kids have been wanting to play outside. Which leads us to the Ugly. The only thing I’m allowing in the Ugly category, because nothing else came close to this when I think about how scary and emotionally draining this was. It happened on Wednesday, January 25th. The kids wanted to jump on the trampoline, so I took all three of them out there, put them on the tramp, and zipped up the net. Leah came in the house a few minutes later to get something, and on her way back out, I told her to make sure she zipped up the net again. She zipped it up, but not all the way. And a few minutes later, she somehow fell through that exact foot of netting that wasn’t closed, and hit her head on the cement. She screamed the loudest I think I’ve ever heard her scream, and I immediately brought the kids inside. Annie was needing to get ready for dance class anyway, so I told Leah to lay down on the couch for a few minutes while I helped Annie get ready. She was saying her head hurt, but she seemed fine otherwise. I checked on her about a minute later, and she was completely fast asleep on the couch. I knew that you shouldn’t let your kid sleep right after they hit their head, so I woke her up and carried her out to the car so I could take Annie to dance. I dropped Annie off, and then drove to Costco to fill up our completely empty tank with gas, all the while trying to talk to Leah to make sure she was okay. She was in her booster in the back seat, and just kept saying in a very groggy voice how tired she was. She wouldn’t really answer any of my questions and just wanted to lean her head against the window and fall asleep. I kept trying to keep her awake, but I could tell she was getting worse. While I was getting gas, I texted Dan, “Leah just hit her head pretty bad and is acting really weird . . . . I hope she’s okay!” He immediately called me back and just as I started to talk to him on the phone, she started to throw up. I knew right then that this was bad. Very bad. I quickly finished at the gas station, drove back to Annie’s school and grabbed her out of dance (because I didn’t want to worry about how she was going to be picked up), and decided to just go straight to the ER. Leah threw up 3 or 4 more times on the way to the hospital, getting it everywhere because she was too out of it to throw up into the bag I threw back to her. I was so worried about her. I probably should have dropped James and Annie off at a friend’s house on my way, but all I could think about was getting her to the hospital as fast as I could. So when we arrived, I had all 3 kids in tow. Leah and James were barefoot from being on the trampoline and Annie was just wearing her dance leotard and tights. Oh well. At least I had my double stroller. Leah was so out of it, and still just wanting to lay down. Her head kept bobbing every which way and I could not keep her awake for the life of me. We had to wait for about 20 minutes after we checked into the ER, but as soon as the triage doctor came out to asses everyone, he took Leah in immediately. He checked her out, and I guess decided it wasn’t too critical, because he sent us back out to the waiting room and told me to just try to keep her awake until we were called back. That was no easy task. I would wake her up every few minutes, she would barely open her eyes, and then she would fall immediately back asleep. When I was successful in keeping her awake for a few minutes, she would just throw up again, but just a little, because there wasn’t much left in her. It was during this time that I decided to call a friend to come get Annie and James (because all James wanted to do was to run around the ER waiting room in his bare feet, and that for sure wasn’t going to happen) and thankfully, Dan finally showed up on his way home from work. We really only had to wait about 45 minutes before we got called back, but for some reason, even just a few minutes in that depressing place feels like forever. Well, to make what’s already a long story a little shorter, over the next few hours, Leah slowly started to come back to her normal self. And by the time they wheeled her bed down the hall to have her CAT scan and neck x-rays done, she was pretty much back to normal, saying things, like, “Weeee! This is fun!” Silly girl. Oh how that was music to my ears. We were uneasy about the CAT scan, but the doctor was saying we really should do it to make sure her brain wasn’t bleeding or something else that would only be detected by the x-rays. They only allowed one of us to stay in the room with her while she got the scan done. Dan stayed. I waited out in the hall and cried my eyes out. I hate seeing my kids like this. I just prayed that she would be okay. And I couldn’t help but think that it was all my fault. I should have followed her back out to the trampoline and made sure she closed the net all the way. How could I be so irresponsible? I hated myself at that moment. She shouldn’t be in there. We should all be at home, all safe and sound. No wait. It was Wednesday night. She should be at gymnastics right now. Having fun and being carefree like a four year should be. Not being told to lie very still in her hospital bed while they put her through this huge machine where radiation would permeate her body to make sure her brain wasn’t bleeding. Oh my, I was a wreck.
Here’s my poor baby girl in her hospital bed. She had woken up by this point, but was still vomiting a little.
And here she is being all brave for her CAT scan.
She even managed a smile for Daddy! I know it’s a little blurry, but I just had to include it. (Dan took these with his iPhone.)
Well, you can imagine how relieved we were when they finally told us everything looked good. She just had a very bad concussion. And after almost 5 hours of being at the hospital, I was so happy we were taking Leah home all safe and sound.
And just so we don’t have to end on the Ugly, let’s end with the Good. (Because really, in life, the Goods should out way the Bads:) We spent lots of hours this month on the phone trying to work everything out, but we finally booked our flights and hotel accommodations for my family’s summer vacation . . . . to HAWAII!!! We are so excited, and glad that it’s all taken care of (well, mostly). And wow, there sure are a lot of logistics to work out when you have a large family and you want to make sure everyone is there. I mean, we had to work around work schedules, school schedules, baby due dates, dental school unknowns, summer plans, etc, etc. But we found a week that works for everyone (the first week of July) and found some great deals on flights. We’re going back to Maui, our favorite island. We can’t wait for some more of this!
2010 in Oahu
And that, my friends, is a wrap. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of our January.
