Hormone Days

A month or so ago, I sat the girls down and had a little talk about hormones.  I'm sure you're thinking, "WHAT?!?!?"   Yes, they are young, but let me assure you it was necessary.   I kept it very brief and general.  We talked about some of the emotional side effects that hormones have on their mother.   They need to know about them because hormones are a very real part of my life and they affect the way I interact with everyone now-and-then.  I have always had problems this way, and I'm afraid the girls will have the same issues.  Anyway, we discussed that about one day per month, Mom gets really angry really easily.  It's not their fault and Mom will try to control it, but there's just about one day per month that they need to watch out.  There's also one day per month that Mom will cry A LOT and feel very sad, even though nothing's wrong  (pretty sad that they'd have to learn this, but like I said, it is just a fact of my life). 

The girls listened and asked a lot of questions and I think we all went away feeling good.  Since that time, if I start to get cranky, one of the girls will ask, "Is this one of your hormone days?"  Sometimes they're right, and I hadn't even noticed it until they pointed it out.  When Nicki's cranky, she'll ask if I think she's getting hormones yet.  Funny kid.  A few days ago, she was talking to my dad on the phone and telling him about how busy her Saturday was going to be.  Then she piped up with, "Plus, Mom's having a hormone day."  Grandpa Smith was like, "What?"  and she said, "A hormone day.  You know, when she's mad all the time?"  At this point I wrangled the phone out of her hands, totally mortified.  Luckily for me, my dad raised me and he knows what a psycho I am so he was cracking up.  Needless to say, I made sure to have another discussion with the girls about how hormones are kind of private and we don't usually tell other people about them.

I'm writing about this now because I realized that my last entry was pretty negative.  I must have been having a hormone day.  I was feeling tired and overwhelmed and cranky.  Sorry about that.  I always tell David that he married a very emotional girl.  I feel things very deeply - both joys and sorrows.  I try to emphasize the fact that my highs are very high and downplay the depths of my lows.  I also happen to be an expressor (is that a word?).  I have a degree in communication, for pity's sake.  I just tell people how I feel without filtering for appropriateness sometimes.  Sorry about that, too. 

I have two very good, close friends in our ward.  We used to be in a Primary presidency together about five years ago and we still try to stay close.  They called me yesterday morning (after I wrote my negative blog entry) to see if I'd like to go to lunch or to get a pedicure or something.  As I said that I couldn't, I burst into tears.  It was very embarrassing. I told them to go on without me this time and I'd try to come some other day.   Anyway, that afternoon, my friends showed up at my front door.  With them, they had a cute floral arrangement, a movie based on a book we all loved, and my favorite candy.  They also brought three cupcakes from the Cocoa Bean so we could eat them together and visit for a while.  Can you believe my friends?  They really are amazing!

Later, I was telling my mom about it and reading to her the funny card they gave me.  She said, "Remember that one funny 'Hang-'In-There' card I gave you once?  Oh, and what about that other one I sent the other time."  All at once it occurred to me that I'm always in some sort of crisis mode.  People are ALWAYS stepping up to help me and lift my spirits.  I'm pathetic!!!  So many people have come over to visit, brought get well presents to my kids, offered their help, brought dinner, and other acts of kindness just this past two weeks alone!  I'm not even counting the other times when people step in and help me out!  It's amazing!  Just last night I discovered a package on our front porch.  It was a cute gift and note from my sister-in-law in Chicago.  I am so touched.  I really am surrounded by many amazing people.  I just feel terrible that they feel the need to help me so often!  I'm sure I don't reciprocate nearly as well as I should.  But the good news is, now that I've had my eyes opened, hopefully I'll be better.  I'll stop whining so much and I'll try to serve more.  And maybe I should have the hormone talk with my friends and family as well.  "I just have hormone days.  I'll bounce back out of it in a day or two. I know life is good.  Sometimes, I just forget to mention that part."

Our Family Update

Here's how we're doing, person-by-person:

BRONSON:  I think Bronson's getting a little better.  He doesn't cough as much as he did a week or two ago.  He still wakes up pretty stuffy and drippy, but otherwise seems to be fine.  He's a holy terror, though.  He has a freaky sixth sense for any time that a bathroom door is left open in the house - even for a few seconds. He's also a garbage digger, choking-hazard-finder, present unwrapper, DVD unshelfer.  He is a very tall toddler, so it's hard to keep stuff out of his reach.  I feel like I can never get ahead while he's awake because of how destructive he can be, but he's so cute and smiley the whole time that I have a hard time being angry with him.  He's not a very big fan of all the attention Josh has been getting and he wants to be held ALL THE TIME!!!!  He also needs a haircut desperately.  His hair grows straight out and he looks like a little puff ball. 

JOSH:  What a hard week Josh has had.  There were a few times when I thought things were getting better, but they weren't.  He's been refusing to eat or drink more than a sip here and there for days.  He's skin-and-bones, pale, weak and very VERY cranky.  For a day or so I thought we might have to take him back to the hospital to get an IV.  He HATES taking his medicine.  Not only does it taste yucky to him, but I think it burns his throat.  I have to force it down his throat every few hours around the clock.  He's screaming and crying and choking - I feel like I'm water boarding him.  It's a nightmare.  I  hope it will all be worth it in the end. On a good note, he seemed to turn a corner yesterday.  He woke up miserable, threw up everywhere and cried for about an hour.  Then, he took a bath and asked for scrambled eggs, which he ate and kept down.  He ate a few more things throughout the day.  He even came to our Sunday night visits with the girls and I.  Last night was rough, though.  He woke up many times screaming.  We're not in the clear yet.

 

NICOLE:  Nicki got her hard cast on last Friday.  She was having a hard time choosing which color to go with (she was leaning toward red for Christmas) until she heard that she could have glow-in-the-dark!  Then her mind was completely made up.  It's awesome!  She was very brave while they put it on.  She didn't cry or freak out, even when she saw how black-and-blue-and-purple her arm was with three pieces of metal poking out of it.  She hasn't been complaining of the pain much any more.  In fact, the doctor warned me that in about a week, she'll be banging it around and using it as a weapon.  Great.  We took her to the store on her way back to school and let her buy a pack of colorful permanent markers so she can have her friends sign her cast.  She was thrilled.

ALISON:  About once per day, I go on the hunt for Alison.  She's usually reading a book somewhere.  She recently had her reading level bumped up at school and she's been loving the tougher books she can read.  When I find her, I kiss her on the head, say hello and thank her for not needing me right now.  She has been earnestly praying for it to snow before Christmas.  I hope for her sake that it does.

DAVID:  David has been getting more and more sick every day.  He's coughing all the time, dripping sweat, even when he just sits there, and aching all over especially in his head.  His cough keeps me up during the few hours per night that I'm not taking care of some kid.  He went to the doctor on Saturday because he could tell that it had gotten to the pneumonia stage.  It had.  He got a shot of steroids and a shot of antibiotics right there, then started a round of antibiotics at home as well.  Hopefully that will help soon, but last night was terrible.  I guess a blessing in all this is that his work is frighteningly slow right now.  He doesn't have to worry about getting coverage so he can take time off.  (The work situation is pretty bad.  The nursing home shut down half the building last week because the census is so low.  We're not sure what the future holds).  Dave's been home with the boys quite a bit this past weekend while the girls and I ran errands, went to a baptism, attended church and delivered neighborhood gifts.  He's been reading, watching lots of videos with Josh and playing old-school video games (that's what he's doing in his picture).  He's also been thinking about making exercise videos for nursing homes to play for their residents.  I think that's a great idea.  He certainly has the expertise.

KELLEY:  I'm tired.  Really, REALLY tired.  On top of all the medical issues around here, I've got church responsibilities (did I mention that I haven't been released as choir director yet so I'm doing double duty until after the Christmas program?), Christmas shopping to finish, tons of wrapping to do, parties to prepare for (I accepted the assignment to be in charge of Alison's class party the day before Nicki broke her arm and all heck broke loose around here), books and books that I'll never have time to read, worries over Dave's work and extended family challenges, an extra kid to bathe, dress, wipe, etc. since Nicki is one-armed, empty cupboards (and budget), laundry and dishes piling up, and a baby following me around wanting to be held unless he's too busy destroying something.  At least I'm not milking goats.  We're planning on going to Utah on Friday so I have to be completely ready for Christmas by Thursday night.  I know it will all get done, but I honestly can't imagine how.

Good News/Bad News

In the midst of our sad day yesterday, we lost the TV remote.  The Brand-New TV remote.  Our last one went missing a month or so ago, along with a few sippy cups and toys.  We're pretty sure they got thrown in the kitchen garbage by Bronson when no one was watching.  I put a $.50 reward on it and the girls searched high and low, but without success.
The good news is, I found the remote last night at about 11:00.  The bad news is I found it when I was switching a load of laundry from the washer to the drier.  In case you were wondering, TV remotes are not water proof.  Thank you, Bronson for teaching us that important lesson.


UPDATE: DECEMBER 16TH:
Talk about the tender mercies of the Lord!  Somehow, our TV remote turned out to be water proof after all!  At least this time.

Be Prepared To Cry

     Josh went in for surgery this morning.  He needed to have his tonsils and adenoids removed, as well as a turbinate reduction (basically a liposuction of the tissue in his nasal passages because they were so swollen and inflamed from years of sinus infections).  This all seemed to happen very fast to me.  One day, we were checking for allergies, the next we were putting him under the knife.  But when Nicki went in for surgery last week, we did some checking into our insurance and decided that it made better financial sense to get him in before the end of the year. 
     I tried to prepare Josh for what was coming.  Nicki helped quite a bit by explaining every detail of her visit, accentuating the good parts like the free teddy bear, the cartoons on you own personal TV, and the bed that moves up and down.  We also went shopping for popsicles, pudding, and other soft foods the day before.  That was fun.  He was excited about those parts, but pretty nervous about the pain.  When I woke him up this morning to get ready, he said, "I don't want to go to the hospital.  I'm not hurt."  I explained that he wasn't going for a broken arm.  He was going because he was sick and he needed to get the sick stuff out.  He said, "Okay, Mom, but not now.  The hospital's closed."  I told him the hospital never closes and he said, "Let's pretend our house is the hospital."  Cute boy. 

New teddy bear!

The nurse is taking the lidocane cream off his hands.

     Josh did really well for the first while.  He loved the teddy bear and the moving bed and the cartoons.  He didn't even flinch when the IV went in.  He did cry after, though, but that's because something went awry and the nurse had to keep pulling the tubing out and flushing fluid through them and stuff.  It was pretty horrible, and he was so brave that the nurse gave him a second teddy bear for his efforts.  After that, he just watched TV quietly until it was time to go.  He wouldn't talk to anyone or even make eye contact with them.  Who can blame him, though?  A few minutes before they wheeled him away, they put a medicine in his IV that made him drowsy and relaxed.  It's funny to me to see how differently each of my three children who have been in surgery reacted to the same medicine.  Ali chattered away non-stop about strange fairy tale creatures and the like.  Nicki went dead silent and moved in slow motion.  Josh looked sleepy, but he seemed practically normal in every other way.  He was even able to keep talking to Dora the Explorer on TV and catch me up on the plot when I wasn't paying attention.  Anyway, at about 8:00 am, the doctor came in to answer all my questions and by 8:15, Josh was being wheeled away.

Relaxed and sleepy.

     Much like the week before, I studied my scriptures, read a book, and talked to David on the phone (by the way, David really wanted to be there.  He took the day off and he wanted to be the one who took Josh in, but I couldn't stand the idea of waiting at home.  He was very kind to let me go while he stayed home with Bronson.).  It took nearly an hour before the doctor came back to report how things went.  He said Josh did very well.  He had large tonsils and adenoids, not leaving much room to breathe.  They really needed to come out.  The turbinate reduction was successful and he hoped that it would make a big difference.  He gave me my instructions for the next week or two, explaining that it was going to be rough.  Josh would be in a lot of pain and because of the turbinate reduction. He would bleed from the nose for a couple of days, then he would be packed full of scabs and clots for another week or so.  I am supposed to bring him back to the doctor on the 22nd so he can flush out his nasal passages.  (shiver)
     A few minutes after the doctor left, the nurse came in and told me I could go back to see Josh in recovery.  I could hear his sleepy, moaning cry down the hall, but I had to ask if it was his because it didn't sound like him.  I wasn't prepared for the way he looked, and I started crying as soon as I saw him.  He was curled up in a ball on the hospital bed, his whole face covered in blood, his eyes closed and puffy, quietly crying, "Mom. Mom."  When I held his hand and talked to him, he opened his eyes slightly then closed them again and resumed crying, only this time he said, "Home.  Home."  We wheeled him back to the room and I got in bed with him.  For several minutes, he cried and slept in my arms in about 30 second intervals.  He kept asking to go home.  After a while, the meds kicked in or something because he settled down a little bit.  He ate a couple of popsicles and drank quite a bit of juice, but he ended up throwing it all up right as we were leaving.  I was told that he swallowed a little bit of blood in recovery, so they expected him to do that.

Coming out of it in my arms.

Doing a little better

This moustache strap holds the gauze in place to catch the drip.

     I wonder if they expected him to throw up seven more times before the night was out. He threw up all over the car on the way home. That was rough because I couldn't pull over right away. Eventually we made it home where David had a bed set up for Josh on the couch. He's so miserable. He tries to sleep, but wakes up a few minutes later because of nausea. He's dripping blood and in a lot of pain. He's hungry but can't keep anything down. I wonder if it's the codeine in his pain meds, but he's been on codeine before without a problem, and his vomit is always dark brown from blood.  I think he's just dripping blood into his throat and swallowing it. 
     A couple of sweet moments:  When the girls came home, they were totally shocked at all the blood on his face.  They wanted to hear all about it.  I started to tell the story, but Josh interrupted me.  He said, "Let me tell them, Mom."  I said, "Okay," Here's the story according to Josh:  "Well, I went to the hospital and the doctor came in and he let me take home my food (the blue Jell-O he didn't finish) and I woke up and I got a teddy bear and there were buttons on my bed and then I threw up."  The other cute moment was when he said his prayers before bed.  I let him lay down in bed and just say his prayer there.  I expected him to have a sad, please-help-me-feel-better prayer, but instead, he had a long, grateful prayer.  He thanked Heavenly Father for each one of us and each one of his stuffed animals and his pillow and the prophet and many other things.  As I listened to him, I thought about how different my prayers would sound if I were in a similar situation.  For about the fifth time today, I started crying.

Quickly

I need to go to bed, but I don't want to let a few things slip by without recording them in our family history:

Nicole has been getting better each day.  She's still in pain and she hasn't gone back to school yet.  She's a pretty cranky patient, but if I had a bruise that took up my whole right arm, I'd probably be less than pleasant too.  Her class sent home get well cards with Alison today, along with her daily home work assignments.  They were very cute.  They all had pictures of penguins (her favorite animal) and sayings like, "You're a great person.  You're fun to play with.  I love you like a friend."  She'll be a celebrity when she goes back.  Kids are so cute.  One of her classmates is in a ward that shares our church building and when he saw her in the hall yesterday, he put his arm around her and said, "Hey!  Lookin' good, Nicole!" 

One of the benefits of Nicki's accident is that it forced us to make a decision with the goats.  We'd been talking about when we should dry them up and breed them out again.  It's pretty complex, you know - deciding whether to dry them both up or only one and breed them at intervals, how much milk we need and whether it's worth it to sell milk to families in the community or just get enough for our own family, etc.  I wanted to dry them both up before we go to Utah this month so that I wouldn't be worried about them, but we just kept going out and milking them day after day.  Being in the hospital with Nicole when I should have been out milking was the decision maker for me.  I told Dave, "Okay.  We're done for now."  And we are.  We'll start thinking about breeding here in the next week or two, when life slows down.  Poor goats had a couple of uncomfortable days, but they're already getting used to the change and Dave and I are loving having our nights back.

Since we've already paid a ton of medical money this year, and since our insurance coverage gets worse next year, we've decided to rush and get Josh's surgery taken care of this month.  He's getting his tonsils and adenoids removed, as well as some sort of opening up of his nasal passages. He's going to the hospital on Wednesday morning.  I'm really nervous about how it's all going to go (Josh isn't a big fan of the medical profession ever since his hydrocele surgery when he was 14 months old) but I'm looking forward to the changes it should make in his health.  Both he and Bronson are sick right now.  Bron is terrible - frighteningly sick as usual.  If I had a choice, I'd get his tonsils out too.  He's so sick all the time!  The doctor won't do it, though.  He's still too young.  So, anyway...stay posted for yet more medical logs coming from the Gee house.

Nicole's Turn (the Abridged Version)

For those of you who don't have an hour to read my last post, I'll abbreviate it:

Nicki fell off the zip line at school yesterday.  She broke her arm.  Bad!  She went to the hospital this morning and had three pins placed in it.  She's whimpering a little still, but she's going to be alright.

Nicole's Turn

     We seem to be having some medical issues around here lately.  After writing about the boys and their allergy test and Alison and her ear infection, it's time to write about Nicole's medical crisis.  This one takes the cake for sure, though.
     Yesterday, December 7th (Pear Harbor Day, by the way) I received a phone call from school while I was feeding the boys their lunch.  It was the secretary calling to inform me that Nicole had fallen off some playground equipment and wouldn't stop crying.  That's pretty unusual for Nicki - she usually laughs off any tumbles she makes in public.  The secretary said she could move her fingers, but her arm hurt really bad, and she wouldn't let them touch it.  I quickly loaded up the boys and took them to the school.  Nicki was pretty hysterical.  I took her home initially, but after talking to David on the phone, I loaded everyone back in the van and went to the doctor's office.  David told me that the only way to be sure if it's broken or not is to get it x-rayed.  Nicki did NOT want to go.  She threw a full-fledged temper tantrum (the first of many).  In her defense, she was in a ton of pain and totally terrified.   I think she might have been in shock a little bit too.  All she wanted to do was sleep.
     On the way there, Nicki told me a little more about her accident.  She was playing on the zip line.  Why exactly does an elementary school have zip lines in their playground equipment again?  Anyway, some "older boy" was taunting her.  She tried to go across harder or faster, but she fell.  She fell face-first and caught herself by the hands.  I guess the shock moved up into her right elbow.  The boy who had been taunting her laughed at her.  Needless to say, we've been trying discuss the importance of forgiveness with her because she really wants to murder the kid.  She got up and went to the principal, who took her to the secretary, who called me.
     At the doctor's office, she had some pretty terrible moments.  Taking her shirt off over that hurt arm sent her into a fit and straightening out her arm so that they could get an x-ray was seriously torture.  That part was hard for me to watch.  I understand that they have to get the arm in a certain position in order to take the picture, but her arm is BROKEN and it can't GO into certain positions.  It was sad.  Anyway, we all survived it.  I spent most of the time trying (unsuccessfully) to keep Josh and Bronson, who were long past their regular nap times, out of trouble.
     When the X-rays came back, two doctors looked at them.  I thought they looked good - no bones sticking out at strange angles or anything, but both doctors gasped.  Gasped, I tell you...GASPED!!!  They said it was broken on her growth plate and they sent us immediately to a local orthopedic surgeon.  Luckily for everyone involved, David was able to take some time off so he took Nicki to the surgeon and I took the boys home to bed.  The orthopedic surgeon said that the break was barely above the growth plate (luckily) but that it was a pretty serious break for a little kid.  He said that she would have to go to the hospital first thing in the morning and possibly have pins put in her arm. 

Resting at home after a very long day.

     That was one long night!!  Alison came home from school totally freaked out because Nicole wasn't on the bus.  She was sure something terrible had happened to her.  When she heard about Nicki's arm, she couldn't help but cry a little.  She stuck close to Nicki's side all evening and kept trying to encourage and educate her about what to expect in the hospital.  After all, Ali is a seasoned hospital patient.  The boys took advantage of the fact that I was preoccupied and stressed by using all their messed-up-schedule energy to destroy everything in sight.  They flooded the kitchen, broke Joseph's head clean off of one of my nativity sets, messed up the Christmas tree, tried to open presents, fought and cried, and ate everything they shouldn't etc.  ugh.  We ate pizza because I hadn't thought much about dinner.  In the evening, Grandpa and Grandma came over and Grandpa helped Dad give her a priesthood blessing.  That was nice.  We didn't sleep very well that night.  Nicki was hurting and pretty nervous about what to expect the next day.  Since she was going into surgery, she couldn't eat or drink anything after midnight, including her medicine.  She couldn't get comfortable for long and she had a lot of questions to ask me.  We lay together on our reclining couch resting and whispering and adjusting.  After a few hours, we gave up on ever falling asleep and turned on a movie.
     Nicole and I arrived at the hospital bright and early at 6:00 this morning.  David stayed home with the kids and kept everything running smoothly.  Grandma and Grandpa Gee came over to stay with the boys once Dad left for work.  It sounds like they had a great time.  Josh sure loves his Grandpa Gee.
     Meanwhile, Nicki was excited to find a teddy bear waiting on her hospital bed.  She liked watching cartoons and adjusting the bed up and down.  Her nurse was a very nice woman named Nicole who knew David from when he was a kid.  Nicki liked her a lot until the IV came out.  Then she totally panicked.  I'm not kidding!  It sounds bad, but she reminded me of a cow in front of a branding iron.  She was hysterical and irrational and strong!  It took four of us to hold her down.  In hindsight, I remember the nurse telling me that they sometimes use gas masks to mellow kids out before they get an IV.  That probably would have been a good idea...

Pretty frightened.

     Not long after the IV was in, they put a drug in her that made her very sleepy and mellow.  She looked so vulnerable and peaceful that I got a little bit emotional.  Then, a very nice operating nurse came in and wheeled her away.  I waited in the room.  I called and updated David, read my scriptures, browsed the grocery store ads and read a book for a few minutes.  Then, I was done being calm.  I wanted Nicki back!  The doctor came in a few minutes later and told me that everything went well.  He said the break was pretty bad and that he needed to use three pins instead of two as he usually does.  He said she'd be in a splint for a week due to the swelling, but that we'd get a hard cast on her next week.  He told me a few things to be watching for, then left.  I had to wait for Nicki to come out of the anesthesia.  It seemed like it took forever, but she finally came wheeling in.

All done. 

Blue popsicle, butterscotch pudding, and apple juice.  Yum.

     Nicki was very mellow and somber-faced, but she seemed okay when she spoke.  She told me a little about what she remembered, but then she just wanted to rest and watch the television.  She was so sweet about thanking the nurse for getting her a popsicle.  When she was getting the IV out, Nicki said to her, "Thanks for fixing my arm for me."  Cute girl.  She had no trouble eating and taking her medicine, so they discharged her around 10:15 am.  After they wheeled her out to the van in a little kid wheel chair, we stopped at the Redbox to get our supply of movies for the long day of elevating and icing, then came home to relieve Grandma and Grandpa from boy duty. 

Back at home.  She's been wearing her surgical cap all day.

     Whooo.  That's the end of the novel for now.  I'm sure there will be more long and rambling entries to come.  I'm just so grateful that things turned out the way they did.  I'm glad she broke her arm and not her neck.  I'm glad her growth plate is intact because that little girl's got a lot of growing left in her. And I'm so grateful for all the friends and family who have been praying for and thinking about our little Nicki.

The Pierced-Ears Saga

 Oh what drama!  What a night!!! 

Alison got her ears pierced about a week after she turned eight.  That's how old I was when I got my ears pierced and several of her cousins got theirs pierced when they turned eight. It seemed like the right time.  Ali, who tends to psych herself out by over-thinking everything, was pretty nervous to get them pierced, but she went through with it and I was very proud of her.  I was especially proud that she didn't pass out - a real possibility with that girl.

The first six weeks went as well as could be expected.  She did a good job of keeping them clean, even while she was in Utah by herself.  But once the studs came out, the drama began.  Her ears got infected.  Just as one side seemed to clear up, the other side would flare up.  It was a clear up/flare up cycle.  I tried to help, but nothing was working.  After about a month, I suggested that she just put the studs back in for a while.  That seemed to do the trick at first, but then her right ear got really bad.  I mean really bad! It was swollen and kind of purple looking.   There was a constant crusty scab behind her ear. It was VERY sensitive to the touch (of course, with Alison, just thinking about touching it sent her into hysterics).   I started to wonder if anyone ever got blood poisoning from an ear piercing. 

I didn't act like I was concerned.  In fact, I was slightly bugged that she was making such a big deal out of it.  David asked me a few times to just take the ear rings out and let the holes close until she got older, but I was like, "NO!  It cost money and time and effort!  She'll be happy in the long run.  She's just got to buck up!"  Nice mom, eh?

Well last night as Alison was getting out of the shower, I came into the bathroom and said, "Now's the best time to take that ear ring out and disinfect it - while it's all steamed and clean and the scab's washed off."  She begged me not to do it, but I went ahead and did it anyway.  That's when chaos ensued.  I'll try to tell you everything, but you'll just have to imagine that it all took place in about 20 seconds.

• The ear ring came out.  It has a long hair wrapped tightly around it INSIDE Alison's ear.  There was no way that ear was going to heal.   Alison let out a scream that shook the rafters and sent David running to see what was going on.
• Ali's ear started oozing and dripping blood and puss.  Nicole, who also came to the door when Ali screamed, pointed out the blood several times and David kept giving me advice until I finally shut the door on the onlookers and locked it.  Meanwhile, Alison was wailing and screaming and moaning and begging me not to touch it.
• I reached across Alison to grab some toilet paper so I could wipe the blood off her ear.  Suddenly, I understood a few words of her screaming jabber.  They were this: "AHHH!!!  THAT HURTS SO BAD!!!!   I feel sleepy!  I'm passing out...."  I caught her in my arms as she started tipping over backwards into the shower.
• I yelled to David to help.  I said, "Dad?  She's out!  She just passed out!"  Dave came running, but I had locked him out, remember?  So he started pounding on the door, "Let me in!!"  Somehow, I managed to hold onto Ali and unlock the door at the same time.  Alison was spasming in my arms.  I was standing and cradling her upper body like I was dipping her or something.  Her legs were flopping around and her eyes were open but totally vacant.  It's not a good thing for a mother to see.  Its been a few years since I've been around when Ali passes out.  I forgot how much I hated it!
• I slowly lowered Ali to the floor.  About that time, she came out of it.  Her eyes focused and she kind of flinched like she was startled.  Then, she started crying.  It was so sad!!!  And its not lost on me that it was entirely my fault.  I held her for a while as she jabbered away about how she felt and what she remembered and what would happen now, etc.  It was a good ten minutes before she felt strong enough to get up and get dressed.  Remember, she'd just gotten out of the shower when all this occurred.  Her towel had long since fallen to the floor, but that was the least of our concerns.

Needless to say, Ali has decided NOT to have pierced ears anymore.  Not now, maybe not ever.  Nicki is not so sure she wants them either.  She's going to wait until she's older than eight to make that decision.  Getting the second earring out of Alison's ear was a long, drawn-out, negotiating and reasoning, then demanding and threatening process complete with another near-pass-out (before I even touched her that time, she was just freaking out). 

I suppose I should feel really guilty, but I don't really.  I suppose I should have learned a lot of lessons and maybe I have, but mostly I just have to laugh.  I have to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all and at the spectacle we must have been and at the silliness of our little drama.  We just recently watched "Seventeen Miracles"-  it's not like we had any REAL problems.  It was an infected ear ring.  It's funny.  I'm laughing at all of us and I laugh with total love in my heart.  We're just livin' the dream.

Sue's Devotional Address

Last Tuesday, David's little sister Suzette gave the devotional address at BYU-I.  That's HUGE!!!  It's like talking at stake conference times 30 or more!!  She did an amazing job.  I'm sure it was a super stressful day for her, but I had a blissful time.  Let me tell you about it.

Suzette invited all her local siblings and their spouses, as well as her parents and Grandma Shirley to be her guests at a special luncheon.  We ate a delicious and beautiful salmon meal with some of the administration of the college (a couple VPs, her dean and department head, etc.)  It was so fun to eat a nice meal with our family and no crazy kids running around.  We had some good laughs and pleasant conversations while we ate.  It was fun to listen to Jim talk with some of his old co-workers and even more fun to listen to Sue talk about the projects she's involved in.  She's such a cool lady, I'm telling you.  The whole thing kind of made me nostalgic for my business days.  I miss all the luncheons and parties and committees and projects and what not.  That's about all I miss, though (besides the paychecks).  Going to a luncheon before your sister speaks is much more fun than going to one for your own job.

Waiting for all her guests to arrive...

After the luncheon, we went to the conference center where Sue was going to speak.  It is HUGE!!!  I mean, it could comfortably seat the entire student body of BYU-I and maybe a few others as well.  15,000 seats.  No pressure, Sue!  We waited for a few minutes in the green room behind stage.  I couldn't help but think of all the great people (apostles and such) who have been in that room before.  Anyway, after a while, we went out to the stage.  Sue looked cool, calm, and collected but I was kind of freaking out!  She had three or four teleprompters and there were TV screens every few feet behind the podium for us stage-folk to see.  It was incredible.  I used to work as a stage hand at our theater in WSU so I was amazed by all the technical stuff: the lighting, the soundboard, the cameras and teleprompters.  It takes a lot of people dressed in solid black to put on a show, even a one-person devotional address. 

Terry, Kristi, Suzette, Jim, Grandma Shirley, Marilyn, myself, David, Amy and Shawn.  If this picture doesn't motivate me to go on a diet, nothing will. 

In the green room right before heading out to the stage.

Sue's talk was amazing.  She spoke on patience.  She had just the right balance of humor and poise.  She was profound, yet not overwhelming.  Her talk was uplifting and encouraging.  You can watch or listen to it online at byui.edu.  I was so proud of her/nervous for her that I was pretty teary-eyed the whole time.  I just love that girl!  I'm sure she was glad when it was over, but I didn't want it to end.

Sister Gee (taken after the talk was over).

Greeting students afterwards.

Allergy Tests

 I took both boys to the doctor today to get allergy tests.  It wasn't nearly as bad as I had imagined it being.  Josh was frightened and he cried a little bit, but he didn't flinch or scream or try to scratch his back in any way.  He was very subdued.  Bronson didn't care at all when he got poked.  He just kept smiling and giggling away. 

Josh being very brave after getting an extra poke on his arm.  They messed up on the first test a little. 

The challenge with Bronson was was keeping him out of trouble.  There were so many drawers filled with fun stuff and expensive equipment to break.

Each boy was semi-poked with 56 different substances that are the most comon allergens.  Things like pollen from several different plants, dust, dander from many different animals and a few foods.  David had this same test in January and he was allergic to 28 of the 48 things.  Three of them were severe.

So...guess what my boys are allergic to.   Are you ready for this?  They're allergic to...nothing.  That's right.  They have NO ALLERGIES!!!  Part of me is very glad.  The other part of me is going....what?!??!   Are you saying that Josh with his bloody diaper rashes every time he eats cheese is NOT allergic to milk!?!?!  And what about the two-years-and-counting runny nose and cough?!??!  Are you saying he's been getting cold after cold for that long!?!?  The doc said that we'll watch Josh (Bronson's too young still) for a couple more months and if nothing changes, he wants to take out Josh's tonsils and adnoids.  He also said that his left nostril looks like the glands have been permenantly swollen from constant inflamation (or something like that) and he'd like to surgically shrink them while he's in there.  Um, wow!  That seems pretty extreme.  Still, it's not like we haven't tried the antibiotic route a million times.  Maybe it's better to get it over with while he's young.  I hope it makes his life better to be able to breath, sleep, smell, and all the other perkes of having a working nose.