Bank Account and Taxes

Doesn't the title just give you the heebie jeebies? That would be my day :) This morning I woke up and went and picked up 2 of my co-leaders for the Girl Scout troop and traveled down to mainside (45 minutes away) to open our bank account for the troop. We were almost turned away because we didn't have a special letter but thankfully the treasurer for the whole service unit was there and had ours. We about had a heart attack though because we have to have a bank account to sell cookies and this was the only weekend we could do it. And we never go the letter sent to our troop personally so we weren't just being careless and not bringing it. Anyways, the account was opened and we traveled back home. And then it was time t go get our taxes done. Its nice to see the return we are going to get but not fun whatsoever. Also having 3 kids there as well just makes it even more not fun, lol. So, my morning was spent sitting in a chair listening to boring stuff and signing tons of paperwork, woo hoo!!! Have a great weekend!

Cookies!!!!!!

Trust me, I have felt like I am a Girl Scout leader, especially with all the happenings last month. However, last night I felt like a real troop leader. I went with my co-leader to our first cookie meeting. We got to try the new cookie, which is yummy by the way...it has cranberries and white chocolate in it, and saw all the incentives for selling and of course all the confusing and stress causing details of how to actually do cookie sales. I am kinda looking forward to it though. Cassidy is excited and wants to sell a bunch so I am getting pretty excited too. So, don't be surprised when I hit you up for 10 boxes.........my little girl wants to sell :)

Hello, my name is chicken!!!!

Yesterday was my biopsy day. After my last appointment I knew this was the next step so I had psyched myself up for the needle in my mouth followed by the clipping of my tissue, lol. I don't think I psyched myself up enough though. We got to the doctor and checked in and had a nice waiting period. I don't like waiting when I am nervous, it just makes it worse. Once we got in to see the doctor she felt the lump under my chin and said she was concerned about it and would like to remove it with surgery. Then she looked inside my mouth and said she would like to biopsy that one today. Not shocking, I knew it was coming. So, she took me into the next room and started setting up. I saw the needle and all the fun tools. I admit, I was super nervous. I was praying over and over in my head for God to calm my fears and just let me get through this. Oh, and along with the doc was a resident who of course wanted to feel everything she felt, not too fond of student doctors in that type of situation and another guy, I think he was a nurse or something. Anyways, she said she would start with a numbing spray that tasted like banana. Lets just say that's the worst tasting banana I have ever had in my life!!!!! After that was done she said that the needle was next. I asked her to stop (surprised?) I don't think it was so much the needle, that part is a quick pain. I think she over sprayed the numbing stuff and a lot went down my throat and I started to feel like I couldn't breathe or swallow. It was just a horrid feeling and I didn't think I could handle having her in my mouth for 10 minutes (that's how long she said it would take) If I had a hard time breathing just sitting there, her hands in my mouth wouldn't make it any easier. I tried reasoning with her (do I really need this biopsied?), lol, and we ultimately came to the conclusion that since she already was scheduling me for surgery to remove the lump under my chin, that she would just add the biopsy in my throat all on the same day, I would be put under and never know the difference (until I wake up in pain at least, lol). So, we scheduled my surgery for the 3rd of February. Next Monday though I have to go in for a CT scan where they inject me with dyes and crap and see if they can see what this lump is before surgery. And since I am allergic to bee stings I have to be on special meds for 24 hours leading up to it so I don't have an allergic reaction during the scan. It all just sounds like too much fun doesn't it? I am actually very nervous to be put under. I don't like the feeling of knowing I am going to sleep because I am being drugged and then of course the thought of, what if I don't wake up? I know I shouldn't go there but I am paranoid, you all know that :) So anyway, any type of prayers would be nice. Mostly to calm my fears, I think I can handle finding out what it is, if anything at all, the procedures are just wearing on my right now.

Beach day!!!

Oh how I love being back in sunny California!!!!! Today, in January, the same time when last year we were wearing mittens, scarfs and beanies and preparing ourselves for the bitter cold that would hit us as soon as we stepped out of our nice warm home, I put on a light jacket, packed up the kids, and headed to the beach to have lunch with some friends. Seriously people, the beach day does exist in January!!!! I was so excited. For those of you reading this who were born and raised here and haven't had the freezing opportunity to live in other states, heat in the winter is non-existent and I am sure most are questioning why they live in the bitter cold right about now. It was such a nice day here!!! Like I said, we packed the kids in the car (yes, Will too, he is still on leave this week) and went down to the beach for a lunch date. Our beach on base has a park right on the sand and a covered picnic area right next to it so it was the perfect spot. 2 of my friends from Mops, one of the hubbies and a sister were all there, and poor Michael was the only little boy out of 4 girls. I am sure he will be more excited when he gets older :) After playing on the playground and eating some lunch, we decided to put our feet in the water. Little did we realize the adventurous little ones who wanted way more than their feet in the water and when the big waves hit, they ran toward them and not away from them. Lets just say someone walked away with a drippy butt, lol. Sounds lovely right? I think I laugh only for the fact that it wasn't me. All in all, it was a great day!!!!!!!! I love you sunny California!!!!

Seizures

I really don't think I will ever get used to seeing my little girl have a seizure. And I am not talking about the grand maul type where she is on the ground and unconscious, however that is my main fear with her. Tonight we decided to make cookies and part of the recipe calls for crushed peppermint candies. So, I put them in a bag and started beating them with a meat mallet. Cass was so excited to be making cookies so she was standing right next to me. She was all smiles but after about 10 hits with the mallet it started fading and she got a real serious look on her face. Her eyes started fluttering a lot and her eyes were half in the back of her head. I stopped what I was doing and asked if she was ok, she was staring off into space but managed a "yeah". A minute later though, she decided she didn't want to be in the kitchen and needed to sit down. So, she did and came back when the banging stopped. It is so hard to see her go through this. All it took was a loud noise and her watching me and she was in a seizure. It just scares me, that for the rest of her life she will have to be sheltered from things we do normally everyday. The stuff we take for granted, small things like baking cookies with your mom.........I just don't get it, and I don't like it. And of course she asks us later that night why she has to have Epilepsy and why she just cant be like all the other normal kids. Normal kids? How do you explain to her that she is normal, she just has to do things a bit different? I think I am finally settling in to the fact though that she does have to do things different and I cant get mad that she doesn't want to try things. I think a couple of times I have pushed her in a certain way to try things that scare her, but the look in her eyes, the shear terror, I cant do that. "Normal" or whatever you may call it, is not her normal. It makes me sad for her but I do realize that one day when she is older, maybe she will embrace it more, become an advocate, or when she sees another little girl with that look of terror in her eyes, that she can hug her and let her know it will be ok, because she is ok. I am so proud of my little girl, and so scared all at the same time.

Goodbye Christmas

So, even though it is still weird to think that it is a new year already, it now looks like it in our house. The tree got taken down along with all of the decorations around the house and what decorations we did have outside came down as well. I think Hayley was excited to have the carpeted front room back. That is the only part of the house downstairs that is carpeted and that is where we put the tree. It was pointless to have her in that room during the month of December. She would crawl super fast to get to the tree and anything around it, so we would pick her up, tell her no and put her on the other side of the room with her toys......I am sure you know how the pattern repeated itself numerous times until we decided that room would be off limits as long as the tree was up, except for Christmas morning of course :) I have to say though, my front room looks really empty, the tree took up one corner and was so pretty so to have it gone, it looks empty and I want to decorate, haha.

Happy New Year!!!!!

New year, new blog :) We actually ended up having a really fun new years eve night!!!! My original plan was to just stay home and pretty much be bored. Last year I bought fun drinks for the kids in cool little cups and we had silly string wars and popped the confetti poppers, but it was hard keeping them up until midnight and by 9:30 the fun had worn off and we had cranky kids all night. Not to mention that when it actually did hit midnight and counted down and hugged and kissed one another, they looked at us like "that's what you kept us up for?!!!! really?!!!!!". So, this year I decided I wasn't going to make them stay up and if they did then we would have a quiet nice time, that pretty much equals boring on a super fun scale, lol. However, I found out that my Aunt was staying home as well and that she would have my cousins 2 boys with her, and after telling her my amazing plans, she had us come on over. We stopped for dinner at Ruby's along the way, and a side note on that one, we got the creepy waiter again!!!! I think we have only been to that Ruby's 3 times, once as a family and once just me, my mom and the girls. And every single time, no matter where we are sat, we get this creepy guy with a creepy stare and he just freaks us out!!!! Anyways, after dinner we headed to my Aunts house. She lives in a super cool, new loft apartment in Anaheim and her huge living room windows look out over Disneyland. So, while the kids played with one another, which is so nice to see by the way, I love that they love playing with their cousins, we had some martinis and played mad gab. Then it was 9:30 and time for the first round of fireworks. We turned off all the lights and watched. We have been to her apartment before to watch them so we had seen that showing before but it is still pretty awesome to watch. After that was over, I put the baby down and we all sat and talked, while the wee ones played some more. Poor Josh (my cousins oldest boy) couldn't last and conked out around 10:30. But, the rest of us stayed up and at 11:50 we turned on the countdown in New York's times square and counted down. Right at midnight the night sky lit up. The Disneyland fireworks were amazing!!!!! It was like 5 minutes of a grand finale, just amazingly beautiful. I wish Hayley was up so I could squeeze her into the new year but instead I held my Kendall and watched all teary eyed. I swear the baby blues, over emotional thing still to this day has not gone away......God help my girls on their big days because I will be a wreck!!!!!!! Then today, after a fun morning with all the kiddos again, we headed over to the Irvine Spectrum and did a little shopping with my sister-in-law and my niece. Just a wonderful start to the New Year, lets hope 2010 is a great one!!!! Oh, and I got a super cool new planner, which is needed so I don't lose my head or any commitment I forget I volunteered for, but I never knew I could get this excited over a planner, what a dork!!!! Happy new year everyone!!!