It was a great movie, but....

Oh, the magic word "but." Isaac and I went to see a movie last night which we NEVER do. Typically due to lack of time, money, movie selection and trustworthy babysitters, it just doesn't happen. Well, my parents happened to be in town, so we took advantage of the opportunity to skate out for a few hours and catch a movie. We had watched several movie trailers online to see which movie was the most appealing, and we finally chose one a few weeks ago. We arrived at the movie a few minutes late, which didn't seem to be a problem. There was probably a total of ten people in the entire theatre. Isaac, me, a handful of ten year olds, and a mom chaperoning the 10 year olds. All in all it was nice to get out, but not the greatest movie. It reminded me how bad the world is getting. Seriously, the movie degraded marriage in several different ways, tried to make illegal drugs look appealing, had constant alcohol consumption, and had way too much bare skin. Call me sheltered, or call me wise, I prefer not to see those kinds of things. We spent half the movie looking away or plugging our ears. The movie had a good storyline, and was moving in the plot, however the bad definitely outweighed the good, in my opinion. It makes me grateful for the gospel and the values that the gospel encourages; like modesty, the Word of Wisdom, and respecting and appreciating men and women's divine roles. It made me grateful for a wonderful and faithful husband. So the movie was good....but...I think Isaac said it best, it had potential.

The other thing that made me sad was the fact that there were all of these 10 year olds there watching the movie, and their mom was WITH THEM allowing them to see these things. True, they could be out doing worse things, but they could be out doing better things as well. Children, teens, people at a young age in general are so impressionable! Even my sweet almost two year old can see or hear something one time- good or bad-, and she remembers it. Imagine how much more kids remember things when they get older. The movie made gay relationships seem perfectly normal, cheating on your spouse expected, drinking a natural habit, and doing illegal drugs fun at any age. Sad. I hope that as my children grow older that I can instill values in them that they will be able to carry with them always and keep them away from the bad things that are so prevalent in the world.

On a lighter note, when Isaac and I were first married, we found out about the coolest DVD player EVER! It's called Clearplay. You can filter out things like profanity, nudity, vulgarity, obscenity, dishonoring the flag, and even mushiness, along with several other things. We purchased one when we were first married and LOVED it! Even some kids movies takes the Lords' name in vain or even swears, in a PG movie! Clearplay takes that out. Love it! I would highly recommend this player to anyone and everyone! We watch all of our movies with a clearplay filter. You can purchase them online at clearplay.com, or at Deseret Book in some stores or online. It makes a great gift for you, or for someone else.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good.
We had Madi's doctor's appointment today, and it went pretty well. She's 12lbs 6oz and 24 1/2 inches long. She's following her growth curve, which is exactly what we want to see. We also had an x-ray taken today. The results showed that there is less fluid in her left lung, and the heart and trachea are back within "normal range." All in all, our prayers continue to be answered. We didn't have to make a trip to Boise today, thank goodness! Per our discretion we are able to reintroduce breast milk again, and wean her off the yucky formula.

The Bad.
Not really too much to report here, I just thought the title was catchy. :) We are sad that there is still some fluid in her lungs, but as long as it continues to improve, we are good to go. There is some worry with reintroducing breast milk; and that is if her body doesn't tolerate it, her lungs will start to fill up again, which is the reason we are so hesitant to take this next step. The doctor said that Boise recommended to wait 2-3 months. When he called Boise to ask for a more definite time period, 2 or 3 months, they said "yes. " Basically there isn't a whole lot of research done on this to really know an exact time period of how long these things take to heal, so it's really up to our discretion. No pressure, right?

The Ugly.
On a lighter note, I seem to be suffering from post-partum balding. Haha! Seriously, though, I'm losing hair like crazy! I think I might start wearing a hat when I go out, thank goodness the weather is cooler, or how else would I explain that! I was complaining tonight to Isaac about it and he said, "I don't know why you're acting so surprised, this is exactly what happened last time." True, but can't a girl complain! Seriously, a woman's body goes through a lot when she is prego and has a babe. I still don't think I'm fully recovered from my first babe. It's sure worth it though!
For all you ladies who have had two plus kids, you have to read this post! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! (I say two plus kids because let's face it, the first kid was way easier to bounce back from!)

Thanks again for all of your love and support!

By Small and Simple Things

Yesterday I was going through old mission pictures and letters. It was a lot of fun looking back on my mission, and being able to recall some pretty amazing and wonderful experiences. As I was looking through some letters I happened to find a page that had been ripped out of a coloring book. I unfolded the page to see a carefully colored picture of an ant that was putting up a piece of wood, a support beam. The caption on the page read, "Little pieces of wood helped hold up the walls." I didn't give this picture any thought beyond how sweet it was that a young child in one of my areas had taken the time to color and give me this picture. They may not know or understand the magnitude of what was written on those pages, but I think I now do. "By small and simple things are great things brought to pass" (Alma 37:6.) Like the ant in the picture, the beam he was putting up was quite a bit smaller than the other ones in the picture, but by putting up that piece of wood, it helped hold up the walls. "Little pieces of wood helped hold up the walls." Those little pieces of wood are the small and simple things of life.

I want to thank all of you for your love and support in regards to Madi these last few months. We have felt your love and your prayers. Simple things like a smile, calling to see how we are doing, prayers, and several other things have all contributed to where we are now. All of these small things truly have made, "great things come to pass."

We have another doctor's appointment this Thursday for Madi. At this appointment they will take a chest x-ray to see if there is fluid in her lungs. If there is, there is a possibility that we will need to return to Boise for her to once again have a chest tube put in (they say the pain that she will feel is similar to dislocating a rib). If this is the case, we don't know how long we will be there for. I am very nervous about this, considering all we went through before. We are hoping and praying for the best. I would be so grateful if you could keep Madi in your thoughts and prayers this week, and especially on Thursday. Thank you again for all you have done.

Four Months and an Update

Madi is four months old today! It's hard to believe how fast time has gone. I feel like it was just last week that I was waddling around with a big 'ol belly- so grateful to be done with that! Madi is doing really well. She is gaining weight like a normal babe, and is full of smiles for anyone. We love both our girls so much! Gabi is 23 months, and will turn two in just three weeks! Time sure does fly!

The Girls watching a movie together (Probably Nemo)

This only lasted a few minutes :) Note Gabi holding Madi's hand so she won't touch the "butt"ons

Gabi trying out her winter coat for the first time

Our smiley girls!

Gabi playing with a big puzzle

Getting ready for church

Gabi sure loves her little "Mami"

Little Madi

Self-taken family pic, this was the best one...haha

Madi with her new toy (thanks Heidi!)

Gabi sharing, or stealing- sometimes it's a fine line for her :)

Some videos for your enjoyment.

As for an update, we go into the doctor's next week for another chest x-ray of the Madster to see how she's doing. If her lungs look clear, she can start having breastmilk once a day. Depending on how she tolerates it, she may be able to make the transition completly off of the special formula within a month. Here's for hoping!

Thanks again for all of your contintued love and support, we appreciate it so much!

Preslee

I want to share a blog that I found shortly after returning from the hospital. You can find the blog here. This blog is about a sweet family who lost their 18 month old daughter this last summer. It hit home for me considering what we had just been through. Even though I cry every time I read this blog, I also feel very comforted. This couple is amazing to me. They are so strong, and so full of faith, it has been very inspiring to me.
I feel so blessed that Madi's life was spared. I cannot imagine, and I sincerely hope I never have to, what it would be like to lose a child. I am so grateful for the gospel, especially for the knowledge that families can be together forever.

Refiner's Fire

This morning, for no apparent reason, I was lying in bed thinking about some dishes Isaac and I had when we were first married. They were beautiful stoneware that were a deep blue in color on the edges, and faded to a cream color in the middle. We purchased these dishes shortly after we were married using a gift card. They were expensive. We loved these dishes, and we loved having company over to use them because everyone always commented on them. We didn't own very many nice things when we were first married, so we took pride in taking care of these dishes.

Unfortunately, much to our disappointment we soon discovered that these dishes broke very easily. At first we were mad at ourselves. We needed to be more careful. After all, these dishes were one of the nicest things that we owned. We made every effort possible to take better care of the dishes. It worked well, until more broke. We went back to the store, sad, upset, and frustrated, prepared to buy a new set. The people at the store were extremely nice and offered to exchange them for us at no extra charge. We gladly took them up on the offer, resorting to the fact that we must of had "bad luck" with the other ones.

Home we went with smiles on our faces, and new dishes in our hands. Everything was going well, until the dishes started to break again. Once again frustrated, we returned to the store, which had no problem with exchanging our dishes again, stating that it actually happened quite frequently with these dishes. When we asked why, she said that these specific dishes are actually fired at a lower temperature for a shorter amount of time, making them more brittle. Astounded, and relieved that we weren't complete klutzes, we opted to exchange them for different dishes. The dishes we have now are plain in style and color. There is nothing fancy about them. They were fired at much higher temperatures and for much longer, fortifying and strengthening the material. In the two years that we've had them, we have dropped them several times, and yet all that has been broken is one plate.

As I thought about these dishes this morning, I thought about life, and how life is our refiners fire. The trials that we go through test what we're "made of" and strengthen and fortify our very being.

"In the pain, the agony, and the heroic endeavors of life, we pass through a refiners fire, and the insignificant and the unimportant in our lives can melt away like dross and make our faith bright, intact, and strong." James E. Faust (The Refiners Fire)

General Confernece 2010

I love conference time. I look forward to it with anticipation for about 6 months. :) Considering it happens every six months... :) I always feel that they are talking directly to me. I'm sure most people feel the same, that's the beauty of the spirit. For all those who missed the Saturday sessions, you can view them by clicking here. Enjoy tomorrow's sessions!