Another update

Just thought I would fill everyone in on what is going on in our lives. Yes I have been extremely emotional, overwhelmed and stressed lately. First of all life is almost back to normal from Ike. I still have a large stack of paperwork to finish, but I keep putting it off to do other things. My first big race is coming up - the Ragnar Relay! It is on Oct. 24-25. I'm on a team of twelve girls and together we are running about 185 miles from San Antonio to Austin. It's going to be so fun! Last of all - Hailey. We took her in for her normal dermatology appointment about two weeks ago. She has been having regular appointments since she was born. Long story short - Hailey will be having surgery to have the birthmark on her head removed. It will take two or three surgeries to completely remove it. They will send a part of the first bioptsy off to check for cancer. At this time they do not think it is cancerous. However, the risk of it becoming cancerous over the next few years is increasing, and because of the location of it - monitoring it is becoming more difficult as her hair grows in. We know the best option is to take care of it now. The option we chose is to remove it in sections, and "stretch" her skin so when she is done all she will have is a scar. We did not want to do a skin graft because she would be in surgery for a long time, and no hair would grow from the skin graft. Her first surgery is Thursday, November 13th. She will be in surgery for one hour. They will have to shave her head (oh no...it took these 16 long months to actually get that little bit of hair she has!) and she will have a "mummy wrap" for two days after. (Wish us good luck with trying to get her to leave that on!) They would like to do the second surgery 8 weeks after the first surgery, but they need to see how the first surgery goes, and evaluate how Hailey does with the anesthesia and recovery. I, of course, am a total wreck, but both Bridger and I know that this is the best solution at this time. Finally - for the Grandparents - here are a few pictures!

Carson and Hailey love WiiFit.


Keeping Carson and Hailey happy with no power. THANK GOODNESS for the laptop and Disney!
Our friends let us borrow their generator once their power came on...THANKS!
This is what our countertops looked like forever!
Munching on some goodies during show time! Hooray mommy's break time!

Just smile and nod

Okay, question for all you runners out there. Or all you who don't run but want to answer! What is the deal? Why do I feel so compelled to smile or say hello or good evening to everyone I pass while I'm running. Let's be honest here...inside we are all thinking, I'm going to die, why am I running right now, how much farther, I need a drink, it's so hot, ugh I have a wedgie, etc. Yet when we pass someone (usually another fellow runner) we put a smile on our face, and say hello, as if we were saying I love that I am out here running right now and I'm not tired at all. We all know it's a fake smile, so why do we do this? (This does not apply to you Nicole B. I truly believe you are happy when you are running!) :)

The POWER is Back!

Hip Hip HOORAY! We have power again. After 12 long horrible days and 11 agonizing nights, our power came back on! Thanks to Hurricane Ike the past few weeks have been CRAZY.

We took a few photos and video, but we will have to post it later. The hardest thing was definitely NO POWER for almost two weeks. Bridger and other members worked for quite a few days chopping down trees, cleaning yards etc. We were really blessed. We just lost a little bit of our fence and some shingles. Many of our friends had trees go through their homes, and flood damage.

There was a little bit of mass panic here after the storm. People waited in lines for over 4 hours to try and get gasoline. The wait to get into the grocery store was a few hours long also. They are very worried about looting, so they limit the number of people who can go into the store at one time. It was very interesting.

Another hard thing was not being able to use our water. We got the go ahead to start using our water again about a week ago, and that made things nicer. It's a good thing we had filled up our tubs before the storm, because we ended up using some of that water. We had plenty of bottled water to drink, and food to eat. Unfortunately because of the power outage we lost EVERYTHING in our fridge and freezer. We also lost about 90% of the things in our deep freeze. UGH...all that money down the drain.

Some of our friends who received power only a few days after the storm were kind enough to let us borrow their generator. It was a life-saver. We could plug in our fridge, and run a fan. We even plugged in our tv and wii one night and had a little party here!

It was AMAZING to see the community and neighborhood really pull together. It is sad that is takes something like this to help us bind together though. Everyone was constantly knocking on everyone elses doors and asking if you needed help moving broken trees, or if you needed water or food. We got to know most of our neighbors a lot better.

Since it was so HOT and insanely crazy with no power after about 7 or 8 days we left our house and stayed with a friend about 8 minutes away who had power. She was so kind to let us all stay in her air conditioned house. She even fed us! THANK YOU SO MUCH! You saved us big time!

Church was cancelled the first Sunday, since many roads were blocked by trees and power lines. However last Sunday we still had sacrament meeting. The power was still out at the church, so it was a bring your own flashlight to sacrament meeting. It was very interesting. However, the Spirit was still there and it was amazing to see all of the members so dedicated to be in the chapel at 8:30 a.m. Many of the members still did not have power (we didn't either), so it was fun to chat and make sure everyone was okay.

Anyways, I'm sure you are all bored of reading this, but I thought I would post a little update. I'm sure there will be more posts on the way with some pictures and more details.

Hurricane Ike

Run from the water, hide from the wind. That is what we are planning on doing! We are planning on staying here for Hurricane Ike. We are prepared with food, water, games, etc. Thank you to all of our friends and family who have called to make sure we are okay and ready. We will let you know how we are after the storm!

Last Week

I wanted to post this over the weekend, but got busy. Last week was full of excitement for us! Carson started preschool last week! HOORAY! He goes for a few hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Here are some pictures of him ready on his first day of school.




Was Hailey excited to have Mommy all to herself? OH YES!
Carson LOVES preschool. He enjoys telling me all about his day and everything he's done. Last week they talked about caterpillars and butterflies, and he brought home some of his art projects. I am so excited for Carson and hope he continues to enjoy it!

Um...couldn't think of a cool title

Okay I know I've been the biggest blogger slacker ever, but I am finally going to post some pictures. Most of them are outdated and random, but I'm sure the grandparents have been itching for something!

A few pics from Carson opening presents on his B-day:

Random pictures from the zoo. Yes we are crazy and go in the heat!

Hailey in her dress from Aunt Danielle:

Carson is really into painting lately:

Bridger put Hailey in Carsons pajamas. It was so cute! Then they all played horsey:

So Carson has been asking to watch Sleeping Beauty lately. I thought that was kind of odd...but he only wanted to watch the end....of course the part with the bad guys. This is what I found one day - Carson using the Wii controllers to fight the bad guys.

Random Ramblings

Hello everyone. We are still here. I just really haven't felt like blogging lately. I do have lots on my mind though.

Bridger and I ran a 5K last Sat. Bridger did AWESOME running it in 24:46. I improved my time from two weeks ago, and ran 32:21. I don't think I'll run anymore 5K's for a while. I am starting to think I am completely NUTS for signing up for the marathon on Jan. 1st. Really, what was I thinking?

Hailey is running around like crazy. Yes, running. She is non-stop moving. She tries to talk, but its still mostly jibberish. It is kind of sad that my baby is gone, I now have a toddler.

Speaking of toddler, Carson is not one anymore. He has turned into a little boy. Where has all the time gone. As much as I love looking over and seeing him play army dudes all by himself, or make believe pirate ship, it almost breaks my heart. Does he not need me anymore? He is capable of so many things. Am I holding him back because I don't want him to grow up?

As you can tell I have been thinking about my children a lot. I know we are constantly told, never compare yourself to other moms, etc. but lets be honest we all find ourselves doing it. I often wonder, am I doing a good enough job? Am I teaching them the best way? Am I letting them explore enough? The list goes on and on. I see so many AMAZING moms out there and I just seem to get more and more frustrated. So for all you perfect moms out there...share your secret. I want to know how you do it all.....keep the house clean, cook not only meals everyday - but treats too, teach your children, play with your children, exercise, serve others, make time for your husband, and still find time for personal time.