Love good Health

We have had our fair share of bumps in the road as far as health these past 6 weeks.  In the latter part of January, I starting getting dizzy one day.  It lasted for about 2 days before I decided to get my feet zoned.  The very next day, I woke up with sinus congestion and head cold.  After 7 days of the head cold, I woke up one day to be completely dizzy.  I even stumbled into the wall when trying to walk into my bathroom.  I ended up going to my doctor immediately. I didn't have an infection, but the doctor thought it was related to inner ear problems.  I received a priesthood blessing and some Mecclazine for the dizziness.  They both helped and I was back on my feet the next day!

A few days later, Clayton got a runny nose and ended up with Croup that night at 1:30 am.  I got him right into Wee Care in Layton, where they gave him a shot, irrigated his ears a dozen times, said he was the best patient they had ever seen, filled his pockets with suckers and sent us on our way. 

A couple weeks later, Cooper came into our room one night at 3 a.m to tell us that his "man" parts were really painful.  I couldn't figure out what was wrong, but I knew he was hurting.  I put him in a warm bath and after questioning him and "probing" a bit, realized it was his "sac" that was causing him the problems.  He said he had been awake all night and they it hurt to sleep on his side.  I gave him Motrin, tucked him in bed and he finally fell asleep.  The next morning, I let him sleep in and when he woke up, "they" were swollen and red.  We got him right into the doctor.  They did an exam and a urine analysis.  Everything came back fine, but they wanted to make sure that the blood vessels were wrapped around the testes strangling it to death, so they sent us up to another clinic to get an ultrasound.  After lots of probing and many pictures, we found out that he just had an infection.  After one day of antibiotics, he was able to run and play and sleep normal again. He was such a good sport after going through all that crap! I was proud of him and I enjoyed spending the day with him, even though it was for a bad reason.

We have been so blessed with good health.  These are little things compared to what some people go through, so I feel blessed.  I am thankful for modern medicine, for medical advancements, for amazing doctors who are kind and caring, and I am thankful for priesthood blessings that help us feel comfort in times of need!

Sledding

On Saturday the 16th of February, we didn't have plans, so we decided to take the boys over to Emma Russell park to go sledding.  The weather was starting to warm up and the snow was starting to melt so we figured we better get them sledding soon.  On this particular day, the sun was out and it was kind of warm. The boys didn't have to wear snow clothes or jackets.

Cooper had a blast going down the hill over and over again.  It is the perfect place because its not too steep that it scares them and its not too long that they have to spend all their enery walking back up to the top.  Clayton was fine just to take his little shovel and dig in the snow.  He decided to go down with Cooper one time.

Bryce wanted to try going down with Cooper also.  They ended up tipping over both times, but they had a good time. I just sat at the bottom of the hill taking pictures and enjoying their smiling, happy faces.  We let the boys play for an hour and then headed for home. 

Valentines Season

This year, I thought it would be fun to put a heart on the boys' room each night after they went to bed.  On the hearts, I would write down some of the reasons we loved the boys.  I put a sign on their door that read, "We Love You Because....". We did this starting on the first and ending on the 14th.  Clayton thought this was the coolest thing ever.  Each morning he would wake up and look for the new heart.  "Mom, what does this one say?"

For Valentines, Grandma and Grandpa Hatch sent them a heart wreath with a little bit of candy for each of them.  They enjoyed this and loved the candy.  What a cute idea! We decided that instead of giving the boys candy and junk for V-Day, we would take them to a movie! We took them to "Wreck It Ralph".  We got popcorn, candy, and some drinks and headed to the movie.  This is one of our favorite things to do as a family. We enjoy watching the boys laugh and have a good time at the movies!

We traded off kids with Jacqui and Jared, so we could we could each go out for V-Day without spending so much money on a sitter.  Bryce and I went to dinner at Dickeys BBQ (Yum) and then we went to Jack Reacher.  It was a pretty intense show.  It's always nice to get away and have a date with my husband every now and then! Love my family....I am blessed!

IFV Round #3

After I got home from being in Texas over the Christmas holiday, I started about thinking about trying to have another baby.  In August, I was talking to Paul about faith and some things that I was struggling with as far as our failed attempt at the frozen cycle of IVF.  We had briefly talked about trying IFV again.

At that time, I received a blessing and felt that I should just have patience and continue to serve those around me, as well as my family.  I felt like I didn’t need to be in a rush to have another baby.  

Anyway, in January, Bryce and I started talking about the possibility of doing IVF again. We talked about the Lords will, about the fact that I am not getting any younger.  As, I have tossed the idea around in my head, I have had many thoughts on the subject.  

First, I have voiced that sometimes its hard to get an answer as to when we should be doing a specific thing.  I have felt that sometimes the anticipation and excitement about the event over powers the answer that I am seeking to find.  

Second, I also have gone back in forth in mind as far as worldly things go. I feel like we are set.  We are financially stable.  We have two independent boys.  We can come and go as we please.  We can do our four wheeling with just the two boys.  We are done with the diaper, bottle, and binky stages. But then, I see how cute my boys are, and I think to myself…we could have another cute baby boy or girl.  We adore our kids, so why wouldn’t we want more.

As I have struggled with these thoughts, I have also thought a lot about the Lords timing in everything.  I know that it plays a huge part in life.  I also feel like things tend to fall into the right timing as well.  I also feel like having a child is a righteous desire and any time we are trying to do some righteous, we will be blessed.

I also know that I learned and grew a lot from the last IFV cycle.  It really tore me to pieces internally and emotionally, but because I was able to rebuild and gain a higher understanding of why things happen, I am a much better person today.  I have learned more about the love that our Father in Heaven has for us.

While I was in Texas, Sherrie gave me a CD by Mercy River and she told me that there was a song on it for me.  Here are some of the words to that song:

We pray for blessings; we pray for peace; comfort for family; protection while we sleep. We pray for healing, for prosperity. We pray for Your mighty Hand to ease our suffering.

And all the while, You hear each spoken need.  Your love is way too much to give us lesser things. Cause what if your blessings come from raindrops? What if Your healing comes thru tears? And, what if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know Your near? And what if trials of this life, are Your mercies in disguise?

For about a month, I have thought a lot about what to do.  I have wrestled with thoughts of whether to have another child or not. …but, I would say that many of those thoughts were worldly thoughts. Originally, I was thinking August or September, but when I mentioned it to Bryce, he thought we should start trying as soon as May or June.

I decided it was time to turn it over to the Lord and ask him what he wanted us to do.  I just asked him in prayer if He would give me some sort of answer or inspiration to whether we should proceed forth with the IVF. The very next morning, I got Cooper off to school and I started my scripture study. 

I decided to study the next Sunday school lesson, which so happened to be, “The Spirit of Revelation.” The first question said, “What can we do to study out a question in our own minds?” I answered on paper: read the scriptures, search it out in our minds, and meditate.

Second question: “Why should we study and ponder the scriptures when we seek revelation?”  My answer: Because the scriptures are words from prophets and from Jesus Christ that are for us in this day.

Next, I was told to read D&C 25:10. This passage hit me so powerfully and it reads: “And verily I say unto thee that thou shalt lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better.” Wow.  Did I read that correctly? I read it again.  It was an answer to my prayers and to all the confusion that was going in my mind for the last month. The study guide then asks, “Why is it important to focus on “the things of the (God) “rather than “the things of the earth” as we seek revelation?” My answer was immediate and I wrote the first thing that came into my head, because things of God are eternal, not temporary!

That pretty much sums it up for me.  Children are eternal.  All those other worries and thoughts were of the world.  And I have decided that whether or not we get pregnant with this IVF, I will be blessed.  I have seen and felt the blessings that came through the previous trial of the failed frozen cycle, and if I have to go through that again to grow closer to my Heavenly Father and Savior, then it will be worth it.  Either way, I will be blessed eternally!

Hyrum Dam

Bryce, myself, and the boys headed to Cache Valley for the day so that Bryce could fix Tawni's brakes on her car. We were able to visit grandma and grandpa for an hour and then spend the rest of the time with Jocelynn and the kids.

Cooper and Clayton always enjoy playing at Ty's house because he is so nice to them.  He is an older cousin but he is very loving and gentle with them.  He also has lots of toys and tons of Legos they can play with.  That day, Ty had a birthday party out on Hyrum Dam with his buddies. 

Jocelynn took us out to Hyrum, where we hiked down a long hillside, trying not to slide down on our bums. It was such a beautiful day with blue skies and temperatures around 40.  Once we got onto the lake, we were a little worried because we had never walked on a frozen lake.  Jocelynn and I took Clayton's hands and helped him walk over the ruts in the lake. 

Every time Jocelynn and I would step down, the first layer of snow with crunch down and it felt like we were going sink into the lake.  Actually, many of the ice fisherman would drive four wheelers and snow mobiles on the lake, so were shouldn't have been worried about going through the ice. We made sure that Clayton and Cooper knew to be careful and around the ice holes. 

Ty and the other boys caught quite a few fish.  Clayton thought the fishing was pretty neat and he wanted to do it himself.  Some of the boys tried to help him catch a fish.  Cooper just enjoyed walking around on the frozen lake.  He thought it was pretty neat to be walking on water!