our night at the ER and alex's 15 month appointment

Yes, you heard me right. ER.
It was a LOOONG night.
at about 7, Alex was carrying around his stuffed dog and, of course, tripped and hit his head right on the edge of the coffee table.
We were expecting it to be just like any bump, but he was actually bleeding. Not gushing blood, but still bleeding. It was right under his eyebrow. We got out the ice and got the bleeding to stop and realized that it was a little wide. Of course we didn't have any butterfly bandages, but it was in such an awkward place and we didn't think that we could keep it closed enough to heal well, so we went to the ER.
And it was a LONG wait.
We got there at about 8. Were checked in at about 8:25. Then we sat around and went on a LOT of walks for about 3 hours. at 11:30 we were called back to sign paperwork. Then went back out to the foyer for another 30-50 minutes. We went back into one room and the Dr. came and looked at it and decided that stitches would be the way to go. Then we moved to another more isolated room since we knew that Alex would be doing a lot of LOUD screaming. So at about 12:30, they came in and we strapped Alex into a papoose, which is a back board for babies with velcro straps that go all the way around his body. Since Alex doesn't even like blankets covering him, you can probably guess that he was pretty mad.
So the attending held his head (he said he was a REALLY strong kid... you don't say?!) and the Dr. taped his little eye closed and numbed him up and then stitched him up.
It was so sad to see my baby SCREAMING and the look of terror (and anger) in his one little eye. Not something I want to do again. Oh wait... we get to strap him down again on Tuesday to have them taken out. GREAT.
After that, Alex was very happy to just be held by mommy, but we had to restrain his hands so that he wouldn't touch the stitches. Which, of course, he hated.
Luckily he was pretty tired by then (seeing as it was 12:45 and he's just been screaming for 15 minutes), so he went to sleep pretty quickly.
We got home at 1:30 and he slept with us so that we could make sure he didn't mess with his stitches. He would get anxious if he realized his mommy wasn't right next to him, so I didn't sleep too well.

Funny thing was, I was going to have him in bed by 7:30 that night because he had a Dr. appointment at 8:45 this morning.
So we woke up at 7:50 this morning and headed out to the Dr.'s office. Alex's previous experience was pretty fresh in his head, so he did NOT like being there. He cried when we went in the little room. Cried when the nurse wanted to weigh and measure him and take his temperature. And cried every time someone would come in the room.
You can imagine how much he loved getting his toe pricked and a shot in each leg.
Poor guy.
He's now asleep and I'm hoping that he will take 2 LONG naps today to make up for last night.

Oh, and here are his stats:
15 months old
23 lbs 10 oz, 30%
33in, 94%
and head circumference 46 cm, 20%

and some pictures of his little head

before. It was just a little cut, but wide enough that we didn't think we could keep it closed and that it would result in a large scar without stitches.





and after. Just a bandaid over the stitches. We'll get a picture of the actual stitches later.

for my girls, from your picture taking nerd

UPDATE on my machine:
It kept jamming. So I called customer service. When I described what the machine was doing to the man, he said, "hmm... ya I don't like the sound of that." They said it needed to be repaired. I could go and switch it for a new one at Target where I got it, or I could send it to them for repair. The thing that made me laugh is that he said they would charge me $16 for freight back to me and that it would probably be about the same to send my machine to them through USPS. Uhh... the thing weighs about 30 pounds! So I am in the process of trying to find one at Target. I got this machine on clearance for half the normal price. I'm guessing someone returned it for the same reason. But it makes me a little happy that I can get a new one that SHOULD work for the lesser price. If I can't find one at a store, they have free shipping online right now, so that would work too.
Anyway, I may pull out my old craiglist kenmore machine to see if it can do the job until I get this one taken care of.



here's what I did today on my quilt before my machine decided to crap out on me!

he's a little boy!

Maybe it's the outfit he's wearing.
Maybe it's that he's walking around ALL of the time now.
And maybe it's that cute little face of his looking all grown up.
It just hit me today, as it does every so often, that my baby is a little boy.
Good thing he's so cute or else I might be tempted to have another baby to replace his baby-ness.

Here's the little booger himself:

let the projects begin!

I am trying to be more crafty and follow through on my projects. I have so many things I want to do, and am committed now to doing them.
Right now I have a quilt laid out on my floor. I am arranging the blocks. This will be my first quilt ever. It's just a baby sized quilt and a rag quilt, so not as intimidating as a full on quilt. It should give me a good intro.
I hope to get it finished this week so that I can put some red berries in my heart shaped wreath and get it out on my door for valentines day.
I am really excited to do some fun new projects and when all the ones I currently have on my plate are done, I can learn some new things! yay!
I'll post pictures of my completed stuff so that you can all tell me what a great job I did. ;)
Back to the quilt!

a deep post already?

I've been living with a sick feeling in my stomach the past 2 days. I have done a lot of praying and figuring out how I really feel.
Loving our neighbor.
Who are our neighbors? Family, friends, acquaintances, church members, the checker at the grocery store, and that long bearded guy I see every time I'm on Parmer and Mopac holding up his funny signs (although some are a little brash, but funny none the less).
Do I always do well at loving them? Probably not. But do I try? I like to think so. After all, I don't spit at the man on the overpass or glare at my grocery checker when they are slow.
Recently the issue of illegal immigrants has come into my life in a very real way that had me considering and reconsidering many gospel principles. I think this is a struggle for many people in the church.
We're taught to obey the laws of the land. We're asked if we do so in worthiness interviews. When I am asked this question I always feel like I am doing so. But never mind that I drove 5 mph over the speed limit to get to my interview. Or that I file my taxes the improper way in order to pay less. Or that maybe I am an illegal immigrant and got baptized and went to the temple.
So what is okay? Obviously, all of these things and more happen within the LDS church. And I dare say, much worse with people still feeling like they are okay. By all means, I should have every reason to dislike people who disobey the law of the land and continue living their life as a good member of the church. I feel so strongly about the gospel and following it's principles that it just doesn't seem right or fair that people can disobey and be okay with themselves as they lie and skirt around the "do you obey the laws of the land" part of becoming a member or getting a recommend!
But then a thought, a feeling, enters my heart and I wonder, is it really up to me to decide? Is it worth being upset about? Is it worth ending or not even having a relationship/friendship with someone?

Suddenly my heart is full of love. My head is pounding with such cliches as "love the person, hate the sin." and "Christ's law is the higher law". And then scriptures like, "I will forgive who I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men until seventy times seven." .
I feel surrounded by the love of Christ when I let go of all of my hateful feelings. It is only then that I feel peace. When I can look at the Hispanic person being baptized and not care if they are obeying the laws of our land or not, is when I recognize most that this church and the gospel principles are really true. I am happy that another person has found the gospel. It is truly the greatest things someone can possess and I wouldn't want to withhold those blessings from anyone.
As important as obeying the laws of the land is (and something that I personally try my best to do), it is not a gospel principle.
It can really be broken down into the most simple things. Believing that Jesus Christ is our Savior and died for us is. Having love and compassion and forgiving all people as Jesus did. Trying every day to do good enough to make it back to heaven with the ones I love. To me, those things are what this church is all about. These fundamental gospel principles are the reasons that I am a member of this church. They are what the true gospel of Jesus Christ is built on.
I have more of a testimony of truly loving EVERY one of my neighbors, no matter what, more now than I ever did before. And I have a testimony of the love that Jesus Christ has for each and every one of his children, no matter what they are doing or have done.
As should be everyone's goal, becoming Christlike, I think, will be my eternal one.
Speaking of which, I'm off to work on that forgiveness part...

My little work in progress

Well I gave in. I created a blog. Hopefully I can provide you with at least a little entertainment!
I'm working on being creative and putting cute stuff on our page, but it's going to take some time.
So here we are! Enjoy!