Blue Skies and Easter Time

Yay!  All our prayers paid off!  Tommy's fever only lasted 24 hours and then he and Elsy only had minor coughs so off we went to the Tri-Cities for the weekend!  

The trip was the easiest car trip I think we have had with the kids in a long, long while.  Since Elsy no longer takes naps I let her play on the iPad in the car but Tommy needed to take a nap so I gave him his fadoo (pacifier) and his blue tag blankie so he would fall asleep.  He sat and looked out the window for an hour and a half straight just enjoying the scenery.  I couldn't believe it.  He hardly made a peep (except now and then he would mention the colors of the highway dividers or say "Animals!" when he saw some cows).  He did finally fall asleep around Selah.

I just can not get over the sky when we go there.  Look at that clear, blue, not cloudy, not rainy, gorgeous, big sky!  And no soggy grass!!  We were just in heaven.

We played outside all weekend long.  The kids all got swards while jumping on the tramp.  I am not sure if that was a good idea, but nobody got hurt so I guess it was fine.

My dad got out his new four wheeler and he took all the kids on rides.

My little motorcycle girl loved it.

Trying two at a time.

We all just enjoyed sitting out on lawn chairs chatting while the kids ran around.  My dad recently removed a cherry tree from his yard so the kids all got shovels and sat in the dirt spot and played and played and played.  They got so dirty but it was fun.  When Elsy stood up, every step she took a cloud of dust would puff off each leg.

On Saturday, during nap time, I took Elsy and Hannah to an Easter carnival at Flat Top Park that a church was putting on.  Almost everything was free and the girls had a blast.

They got free cotton candy and their faces painted... and lots of candy.  My sister Riley and my mom came with us and Riley won the cake walk so we all got yummy cupcakes.  I do not eat very well when I got visit my family, but I do eat good. ;)

My brother-in-law Steve is really good at working with wood.  He had made a Maui hook (from Moana) for his son and Tommy loved playing with it.  Elsy's cousin Ezra had a little green rock they had painted and drawn a black swirl on to be "The Heart of Te Fiti" and Elsy and Hannah and Ezra ran around throwing the heart and then finding it, and slowly walking up to uncle Steve singing, "They have stolen the heart from inside you, I know your name...." etc.  until they got up to him and put it on his chest.  Anyway, you have to have seen the movie, and if you have you would know that it was just absolutely hilarious at how seriously they took it all.

Hannah is into a show called DC Superhero Girls, or something like that.  She had three of the dolls and each of these three would play them all weekend as well.  Elsy was always Bat Girl.  Hannah also would round up Elsy and Ezra to read them this superhero book.  These three are just so hilarious together!

We dyed Easter eggs....

and had a bon fire!  Saturday just felt like such a long day!  It was so packed with fun stuff.  I think it was all very therapeutic for Logan and I, we have not seen much of the sun in months and it was also fun to be around good company.  I would look out the window and Logan would just be sitting outside in the sunshine on a lawn chair.  

Tommy was in heaven because at my mom's house there are guns and light sabers!  I really need to get him some of those for at our house.

Easter morning came a little to early for all of us adults.  I think my sister Sharee's kids woke up at like 5:30 or something?  Luckily ours stayed in bed until almost 7am but we were all so exhausted from staying up the night before (we had all watched Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them) and doing some Easter-ly business.  After the egg hunt a lot of people went back and took naps.

Elsy and Tommy were delighted with what the Easter bunny brought them.  They were a little spoiled this year because a Grandma Easter bunny contributed unexpectedly.  Both of the kids got little binoculars and the Gup B and Gup X from Octonauts (which are like little submarines), as well as a necklace and a car!  It was so exciting for them.  Elsy was a little concerned that both Gups were for Tommy but we assured her they were for them to share.

Logan sent me this picture while I was in Relief Society of a picture he had taken with little Tommy.  I just LOVE it because I can never get that little guy to smile for pictures!

We had a good laugh after Sacrament Meeting because he kept running from Logan at one end of the pew to my dad at the other end of the pew, back and forth, and then climbing all over my dad.  After my dad just couldn't believe how much wiggling he was doing.  He said, "He could just not hold still!"  We laughed because that is just the story of my life.  Even when Tommy was an infant and I would try to rock him he would just fight and kick.  Even now when he wants to ra-rock before bed he climbs all over me and changes positions constantly, and when I think he is just to uncomfortable he stops... for like 30 seconds before wiggling again!  Haha, but when I ask if he doesn't want to rock in the rocking chair he gets upset.  I just don't really get it, but I'll take him any way I can get him.

Elsy and Tommy got new Easter outfits.  I thought they looked so cute.  And I was grateful for a quick famliy photo.  I always cherish these... but they are also always a guilty reminder of how grumpy I get trying to get the kids to hold still and smile.  I wonder if taking family pictures will ever be a good experience... I don't think so.

Ezra got Hungry Hungry Hippos from the Easter bunny.  The kids got into some good fights over it but it was mostly a fun thing for them. 

We were oh so sad to leave on Sunday night and get 'back to real life' as we always call it.  Especially when we drove over the mountains and it started to rain again.  Today while it was pouring down Elsy (who was having a rough morning to begin with) said, "I HATE the rain!" I was feeling a little upset too and I said, "I hate it too!" And then Elsy calmed down a little bit and said, "But we do need it."  I am always so surprised at her wisdom and am always grateful for her optimism.  The other day I told her she was being a ray of sunshine and I was so happy for her.  I was trying to change Tommy's diaper and he was having a rough time of it.  I said to him, "Are you sunshine or a storm cloud?"  He told me he was a storm cloud.  Oh brother.

One thing we were excited about coming home was that Elsy started her first ever session of swimming lessons on Monday.  I just could not get over the price... $80 for only 8 lessons!? But they were the cheapest I could find in the area, at the Issaquah Community Center.  I just can't stand it.  I used to teach swimming lessons for $25 for ten lessons.  The cost of everything out here is just insane.

But!  Elsy absolutely loves them.  She was really nervous for a couple of days while I tried to prep her for it but as soon as I started acting really excited for them, she quickly followed suit.  She was the first one in and the last one out and she bounced up and down the ENTIRE lesson she was just so excited.  And I just love the little thing they are on in that picture up there, they call it a table.  Its just PVC pipe and some sort of mat but it contains the kids really well while the teacher, Abbie, works one on one with each kid.  We had lessons again today and Elsy was just as excited.

I felt sad that Tommy couldn't get it because there is no open swim during lesson time but I decided that since he never gets the iPad at home it would be okay for him to get to play while she was in the water.  He was over the moon.  I just love his chubby little toes!

This week coming home from the Tri-Cities has been a little rough on the landing.  The kids have had a hard time coming back to their schedules and I have had back to back errands and things to do every day so they just have been drug around everywhere.  Yesterday was especially hard for me because I had my doctor's appointment.  After running a couple different exams the doctor told me I have a couple of nodules inside me and after answering lots of questions they are pretty sure I have endometriosis.   If you don't know what that is here is a quick explanation.  Everyone's uterus (or every girl's uterus haha) is lined with a lining called the endometrium.  Endometriosis is when endometrial tissue is found in other areas of the body.  It basically acts the same as the endometrial tissue that is found inside the uterus but it is just in the wrong spots so it causes a lot of extra pain in the abdomen that, in my opinion, just isn't necessary!  I have been having a lot of pain all throughout my abdomen throughout the entire month so this explains a lot.  I was glad to finally have some answers but at the same time I am really sad because endometriosis is a big cause for infertility and can't always be helped.  Apparently I am really lucky to have had Elsy and Tommy when I did so I am really grateful for that.

Anyway, so what is to be done?  Next Friday we are being scheduled to go in for a minor, outpatient  surgery.  It's called a laparoscopy and it is where they go in through my navel with a tool to look and see if I really do have endometriosis (apparently there is no easier way to confirm it).  If I do for sure have it, then the doctor will insert other tools to help try and clean it out with a heated tool like a laser or something.  Ugh.  I just did not go into my appointment yesterday thinking I would be leaving with a surgery date?  But like I said, I am at least grateful we are making progress into helping me not have so much abdominal pain and finding help on the road to try and grow our little family.

But since I was having a rough day yesterday I was so surprised to come home from teaching piano lessons with the kids (since Logan's new job I have had to take the kids along with me) to a spotless house, flowers on the table, homemade lasagna in the oven sending its lovely aroma about, and classical piano music playing in the background.  It was so wonderful and I had a laugh about the classical music.  I gave Logan a hug and he was just sweating!  Haha!  Apparently he hurried home and tried to get it all done before I got there.  I am so grateful to him.  He has been such a big support to me when I'm not feeling good or when I am down about wanting to have another baby.

I could tell yesterday that Logan and I were taking some extra moments to be extra grateful for little Elsy and Tommy.  I didn't realize what a blessing it was for us to be able to have them.  And as the reality of the possibility of not having any more kids has been sinking in I have been wanting to slow down and really live in each moment with them all the more.  I know there is still a possibility that goes both ways of being able to have more kids and not but I am feeling at peace knowing that God has a plan for me.  The primary song, "I Will Follow God's Plan" has been stuck in my head the last couple of days and it helps me feel better, "My life is a gift, my life has a plan.  My life has a purpose, in Heavn' it began.  My choice was to come to this lovely home on earth and seek for God's light to direct me from birth.  I will follow God's plan for me, holding fast to his word and his love.  I will work and I will pray; I will always walk in His way, then I will be happy on earth, and in my home above."