Ladies Night!

All of Shawn's maternal aunts came into town and a few girl cousins and we all had a blast! I love these ladies like they are my own blood family, like I have known them my whole life. They are hilarious, sweet, caring and oh so much fun to be around. We had a ladies night one night and took the light rail into downtown Phoenix and ate Mi Amigos and did a little window shopping. It was so much fun and as always the visit was far too short!

Nebulizer

When Hugo was a baby he had RSV and he got a Nebulizer to take home (back when we had really good insurance) It worked like a charm and we never had to admit him to the hospital and since then we have used it a few times for some reoccuring asthma for him. Well Jack has been sounding not so good in his chest lately and the dr reccomended trying the same medicine with the nebulizer on him just to see. For the past week Jack has been sleeping horribly!! He has been waking up in the middle of the night and screaming for an hour or more so last night we tried the breating machine. He loved it! We tried the mask first and he just played with it, then we tried the mouth piece and he just held on and breathed the medicine. He slept much better!! He only woke up once and went back down pretty easily. I dont know if it was a fluke or not, but he looked cute, he was breathing much easier and seemed much happier. What a cutie!

Happy Birthday February

Happy Birthday to my beautiful sister Charmaine. This one was a doozey :) She is the oldest of us 5 and she is such a perfect oldest sister. She looks out for us all and keeps us in line! (Right now she is sayin "you better recognize!") She is gorgeous on the inside and out. She is absolutely hilarious and can keep us all rolling for hours on end. Its always a party when Charmaine is around, and even when she is not, (seeing as she lives in Iowa and we don't get to see her as much anymore) she can have us laughing via phone, skype or even remembering fun times. I miss her like crazy and she is honestly one of my very best friends. I love you Charmaine!!! And she gave me one of the best presents saying she might come visit this summer. YAY!!!

Happy Birthday Logan and welcome to late 20's... its fun here! Logan is so sweet in his very humorous own quiet way. He has a very interesting sense of humor and I love being around him. He makes Clarissa and Bou so happy and for that I love him more than he knows!

Happy Birthday you two, you deserve everything you could ever want... I LOVE YOU!!

I have never felt so stupid...

So I don't really know if this is appropriate to blog about, so maybe just don't read it, its my blog :) But if you do choose to read, especially my sisters, moms and girlfriends, tell me what you think.

I have had this lump under my arm since I was pregnant with Hugo about 3 years ago. When I was prego they sent me to get an ultrasound to check it out. They said that they were slightly concerned about it but since I was pregnant they couldn't really do anything about it and to come back after not being pregnant if it gets worse. Well at first it was this hard marble like lump with no feeling really. I only noticed it shaving my arms. I didn't really want to go back though because that place was awful! They had me topless on the table for about an hour with doctors in and out. I think the technician must have been new and didn't know what she was doing, but still it was so embarrassing and I was scared the whole time. Well anyways, the lump grew bigger and softer and I was going to bring it up again to my doctor but I got pregnant again pretty fast so I pushed my concern away and left it alone. I know too sometimes with all the hormones and milk, etc. it probably wasn't a big deal. Well I had Jack and it was still present. So I went it for my yearly exam a couple weeks ago and brought it up to the Dr. He recommended I see a specialist, so I called the specialist who required me to have films from a ultra sound and mammogram first. So I called to get that, which a needed a prescription from my doctor. SERIOUSLY!!!

Anyways... I finally got in to get a mammogram and an ultrasound (different place from before) and they have me fill out a ton of paperwork and listen to a million risks. They have me scared out of my mind now. They call me back have me change into some tissue paper and come and get an ultrasound. The technician takes a zillion pictures and seems to be getting lots of info??? she then says she needs a radiologist to come in and let her know what she can tell me. My heart is racing. So he comes in and is so irritated and quick with her and doesn't care one lick what the crap I have to say. He looks and is asking her "is that what you see, is that what you see, is that what you see?" He then tells me to get up, tells me that some lymph can get swollen when you have a cold and I can get dressed and leave.

I was MORTIFIED! First off, I don't have a cold, or have at all this season. I have had this lump for 3 years!

I had a friend that had a lump and they stuck a needle through her chest to lift up tissue in order to move it to find the lump better which sure enough needed to be removed. That is not what I want (ouch!), but he seemed to not even give a rats you know what. He didn't ask me to move into the "position" where I can feel it, nothing! I wonder if he thought it was my age- I was clearly at least 15 years younger than anyone else in the waiting room. Was it because I am on AHCCCS? I don't know.... In my heart of hearts I don't think I have breast cancer, but how many times have they been this insensitive and not given patients the attention they deserve. I think of Susan dying of colon cancer in her early 20's. She was a super healthy college track athlete. Its scary!!!

So anyways, My mom and Shawn both think I should write a letter. I'm no good, so actually my mom wrote the majority of it, but this is what I have so far....

To whom it may concern.

I have many concerns about my recent visit to your facility. I came on the recommendation of my doctor after I had found a lump under my arm. I was to receive a mammogram and an ultrasound. I did not receive the mammogram. I filled out all the paper work, read the warnings and I signed the form saying that I understood the risks. I did receive the ultrasound. The technician seemed concerned and helpful. I told her that I could only feel the lump in certain positions and that I have had it for approximately 3 years and that I have been observing it grow slowly. The technician allowed me to move into a better position so that she could get a better picture of the area. After she looked for several moments she suggested that she would like the radiologist to look also. She seemed genuinely concerned. A doctor came in, I told him my same concerns, but he did not allow me to change my position to better view the lump and he seemed very unconcerned. He said that lumps are common and that getting them with a cold is of no concern. I told him that I did not have a cold and that I had the lump for several years and that it is changing. He told me that I could leave and not to worry about it.

I have read several self exam instructions and they tell us to check yourself laying down, with arms above the head, in the shower, sitting, standing, every position except standing on one’s head. I have been very concerned about this lump for some time and feel like I was dismissed curtly, possibly because of my age or circumstances. In any case I do not feel that I was given the best care, I left feeling embarrassed and pushed aside.

I am simply still concerned about a lump in my underarm that I feel still needs attention. Thank you for your time.

Anyway.... sorry for the long rant. I usually try to be such a positive uplifting blogger, but hey, this is life! Tell me what you think. Should I bother even sending the letter? Should I change it? Am I over or under reacting?? Tell me honestly.

A perfect day for...

Lacy and I took advantage of perfect weather and went out back to read while the boys took naps.
Lacy got bored of reading after a while and decided to give her animals a "ROCK CONCERT!"

Hugo woke up and did not want me reading. He wanted me to play, Mommy, play!

Yay! Mommy come play!

Jack was not happy that I was in the cold grass. He was very unsure. He usually gets a nice blanket rolled out for him, like a red carpet. It was perfect today and his little toes needed to feel the crisp, cool grass!
Now he is REALLY mad. I took the ball and lured him too me. I'm coming Mommy, but not happily! (this picture makes me laugh out loud every time! It may be my favorite picture of all time!!)

Hey, this isn't so bad!

Now I am going to scream a bunch of jibberish at you Mommy for making me go through all that trouble when you could have just picked me up and placed me in the grass yourself!
As always, Lacy looking gorgeous doing a dance in the grass!
If you aren't in Arizona, you should be jealous, its heavenly right now. If you are, GO OUTSIDE! This includes me, peace out, I'll be in my back yard!

Lacy turns 5!

Lacy turned 5 this past weekend!! Holy cow she is so grown up! She had a wonderful week picking out what to eat for dinners all week, having lots of parties and going to the zoo. I let her pick out dinners all week and this is what she picked, pancakes, tomato soup and grilled cheese, sloppy joe's, candy meat (that's what she calls sweet pork) and on her birthday she picked her favorite... RIBS. The doctor asked her what her favorite food was yesterday and he burst into laughter when she said ribs, he said he has heard it all but never heard that one! She is so hilarious and is always making us laugh.
We let her have some friends from preschool and church over on Saturday and they had a blast doing crafts, hiding treasures, playing in the yard and eating treats! She loves to entertain and loves to be the center of attention. We also had family over on Sunday and once again she loved having every ones eyes on her! I took her to the doctor yesterday and told her she had to get some shots. She was crying and carrying on.. I told her I would take her to QT if she would be super brave and she did scream and beg the nurse not to give her any more (she had to get 4)! But overall she did really good. Once we got into the car she said, "Mommy you are so awesome for keeping me healthy!" She is always saying things like this that make being her mom so rewarding and so fun! She is sweet and always aware of the feelings of those around her. We love Lacy and thank Heavenly Father daily for sending her to our family.

I did this last year and thought it was so funny, so once again I did a little get to know you quiz with all Lacy's answers. I didn't edit... so here you go.

If you HAD to change your name, what would you change it to?
Lacy Little Brown
What would be your dream job?
a mom
If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?
everywhere except for bad peoples houses
Are you mostly a clean or messy person?
clean
You're given 1 million dollars, what do you spend it on?
the zhu zhu pet land, and I’ll answer the rest of it tomorrow
If you could be any animal, what would you be?
a butterfly
If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
super flowers, I would shoot flowers out into the air
What is usually your first thought when you wake up?
eat breakfast
What do you usually think about right before falling asleep?
have a drink of water, brush my teeth and give mommy and daddy hugs and kisses
What's your favorite color?
rainbow, every single color
What's your favorite animal?
a dog
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
heaven… (then I said, Lacy you will be 10 in 5 years) then she said, oh yea I’ll be having a party for my 10th birthday
Do you plan on getting married?
yea, yes to Andin
Ninjas or pirates?
ninja, whats a ninja?? and no I don’t want Andin to be a ninja or a pirate I want him to be a dad!