9 Years Ago...

...we made it official.

It's been the best of times, and the worst of times, and even though I was silly and only twenty I managed to make the perfect choice to get through all the crazy times of the past nine years.

I LOVE YOU TOM CHAMBERS!

Daddy's Home! (FOR GOOD.)

Talin now has someone with extreme patience to help him with his homework and Collin has someone that can tolerate his non-stop energy.
As you can see, the boys are all over Tom each night when he walks through the door.
Okay...so am I.
I'm beyond thrilled to have my husband home.
We're all happier.
And I think I've started something not so good. I will never be able to cook, do dishes, or anything for that matter in the kitchen without a helper. Caleb LOVED being up at the sink.

And he got a new hearing aide on Thursday. It's giraffe print (look closely), super cute!

I also decorated for Halloween.

Went a little crazy with the cobwebs, but I think they look super cool.

And this is what Caleb looks like at dinner almost every night. Sorry about the red eye, but I can't figure out my photo editor since we moved.

This is him after he's destroyed his dinner and thrown it to the floor.

I'm also really excited because my sister Amy had a baby girl on Monday morning. Yeah!!!

She is beautiful and tiny and I'm jealous. Who thought I'd be baby hungry?

Amy named her Azure Mae, I think it's an awesome name. I can't wait to help Amy with taking care of her, although more than likely that won't happen because I'll be chasing the monkey above!

Dear Tom,

I think it's time to come home now.

Caleb has stopped puking for an entire week, but we are now doing a therapressure program to stimulate him into eating. That sounds funny. But pretty much I think you'd be better at doing it than me. I'm suppose to brush his entire body down every two hours and then do joint compressions on him and then wipe the inside of his mouth with my finger and tap on his jaw.

Well I was thinking that if you did it first thing in the morning and in the evenings, I might follow through a little better and keep it up during the day. I mean we'll never know it works if we don't try it!

Anyway....

Talin needs help with his homework in the evenings, and Collin needs someone new to entertain, we've all grown tired of his antics.

October won't come soon enough.

Love,
Me

Evolution of Hair (in only 18 months time)

So last night I was going through old photos on the computer and reminiscing over the last year.
I mean it's been a crazy ride since Caleb was born.
Lot's of change.
Lot's of adjustment.
And apparently a lot of hairstyles.
In fact I found myself becoming more and more amused with the extremely different haircuts and colors I have done in only an eighteen month span. I know I like to change my look, but I've never been this versatile in such a short amount of time.
So for my own amusement (and yours) I'm posting the pictures.

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I neglected my appearance throughout the entire Caleb pregnancy, and this fine mess was the result.

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My attempt at sprucing up my hair and saving on money led me to dying it blond all by myself. It's not the worst job I've done, but definitely not great.

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The baby blues were hard, especially with a sick baby and lots of appointments and mountains of stress.

So when Cyndee came for a visit in July she treated me to a cut and color, and this was the result.

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Two months later I found myself wandering a Sally's Beauty Supply, trying to come up with another self beauty treatment to cover my dark roots. In the process I struck up a conversation with the lady working there and asked for advice.

Her advice?

"You need to go dark, because your blond hair shows all your blemishes and isn't very flattering for people, especially since it's fall, dark is in when it's fall."

I fell for her bullying and went dark.

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Another two months went by and I found myself approaching Caleb's heart surgery date.

Complete nerves.

So what did I do to calm them?

Of course, I cut my hair.

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I love short hair.

I kept telling myself that when I lost all the baby fat I would chop my hair off.

So when that day came I did it.
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The move to Arizona.

Every time I'm around my family and I have dark hair I get tons of mentions about how good I look with blond hair.

Well since I was getting crazily shaggy with my pixie cut I decided to trim it up and go blond.
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Last but not least.
The most current look to date.

More blond, more bangs. I could be five again.

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After writing this post I realize that I have no right to be irritated with people when they don't recognize me. Seriously. It's amazing my children aren't confused yet.

Long Afternoon. Short Post.

Turns out it's not blood. Whew!!
We figured out that the new antibiotic he's been on has turned his poo the blood color. Normally it turns "normal" kid's poo an orange color when the chemicals react. Not Caleb. But "normal" children eat food. Not Caleb.

And this evening was not fun. My fridge was seriously dying, and I was ready to pull out my hair at the grating/whining noise it was producing. So we switched it out (w/an old crusty fridge living in our garage). Well, Cyndee and I thought we could do it ourselves. Yeah, we're stupid. So I called Rachel in a freaky fashion (Sorry Rach) and her and Dan came over and we put Dan to work.
Long day.
Glad it's over.
Goodnight!

There's a poopy diaper in my fridge...

Did I get your attention?

No. Seriously. There really is a poopy diaper in my fridge; of course I've carefully wrapped it in a grocery bag, and then another grocery bag, and then another grocery bag, and then a garbage bag, just to be extra careful. And I was quite pleased this morning that my fridge didn't smell like poop when I reached in to grab the milk.

Grossed out yet?

I am.

Feel free to stop reading, cause it doesn't get any better.

And for those of you with strong stomachs...continue.

Last night Caleb did his little man thing and pooped his pants. To my shock and horror the poo was filled with blood, all throughout. It was crazy. I kept thinking, what has he eaten, this can't be blood. But the kid doesn't eat!

So I call the G.I. Specialist on call last night. We talked for awhile about everything going on with him, he's had strep since Tuesday, been on an antibiotic, had severe reflux, it's been pukeville at my home, changed the antibiotic and then pooped bloody craziness. She first thought I should take him to the ER, then changed her mind and told me to call first thing in the morning to get him in to run a bunch of tests, and to put the poopy diaper in the fridge and bring it in today for testing.

Hence the poopy diaper sitting in my fridge.

I can't wait to get it out, but I still haven't heard from the doctor. I have this fear of hospitalization and long waits for scary tests or scarier results. This could be a fluke right? My mind is going a hundred miles a minute with different scenarios. Hopefully it will be figured out today and everything will be fine.

I'll be a good blogger and update. :)

Tonoto Natural Bridge

Today we escaped the heat, and went to the Tonto Natural Bridge.

Caleb got loaded and we were off.

Prepare yourself for a picture overload.

The boys were worn out, as you can see!

We've been really blessed to have Tom home on the weekends this past month while he's been in Tucson. This weekend is kind of our last hurrah since next weekend he'll be driving to Ohio and gone for a month. It's painful. I hate separation. Yes it makes the heart grow fonder, but it freakin sucks! We have vowed to never do something like this again, not like we had a whole lotta choice this year though.

Angry baby in castle.

I tried not to cry.

Off to School on the Bus this Morning

I had to fight the urge to follow in my car just to make sure they got there.

We're Alive!

This summer has definitely topped the charts at the shortest most stressful/emotional summer of my life. A few things that made it crazier than normal.
1. getting Caleb on insurance
2. being a single mother
3. living in a two bedroom condo with three boys and me and my mom.
4. figuring out all of Caleb's doctors.
5. spending hours and hours on telephone calls to transfer medical records, schedule appointment and out and out fight for this little boy to get everything he needs.
6. Finding a rental.
7. Moving into the rental with no husband around.
8. Saying goodbye to a husband, and then hello, and then goodbye, and then hello, and then goodbye, you get the picture. exhausting.

Today was the first time I felt almost normal. I love routine. We started routine this morning.
Up at seven.
Breakfast.
Off to school.
Talin ready for the first day. No jitters, just excitement.

Collin practically jumping out of his pants excited. This is the most normal picture I got of him all morning.

I drove them for the first day, but they took the school bus home. And I was surprised to see both of them jump off the bus this afternoon. They made it home. I like the whole school bus thing.

And the little boy who got left behind.

This is actually the result of Grandma walking out the door this morning.

I think life is going to get a little easier now that we're settled and somewhat acclimated to the sweltering heat.

By the way, I miss Iowa.

I miss my Iowa people.

This Past Month

We cried at the airport saying goodbye to Tom as he went to Wisconsin for a month.
And then we sobbed in the car, all three of us (this includes Tal & Col).
Then we loaded up and drove to Cedar City to visit family.

We celebrated many birthdays.

Made fondant for the first time.

Went blond.

Let Caleb ride a quad with the assistance of Madee.

Listened to stories of Africa the night Uncle Shane returned from the big hunting trip.
And forgot to take very many pictures of the fun week.

Then we went back to Arizona, living with Cyndee, looking for a rental. Oh the stress of looking for a rental!! If any valley residents know of a lovely 3/4 bedroom home that's under $1000, please contact me. I'm starting to feel desperate. I do require that the home is clean.

After two weeks of swimming, helping Mandi move and house hunting, we loaded up again and headed to the Cabin just outside of Payson. Where I took NO pictures, and relied solely on the camera skills of my sisters. Hopefully pictures and details will come in a later post.

After a week at the cabin I was joyfully reunited with my husband.

And it was joyful.

And a little uncomfortable when your blissful reunion evening is shared in a two bedroom cabin surrounded by tents, housing eight adults and sixteen kids.

Then yesterday we drove to the lodge to spend a week together here until Tom goes to New Mexico for a month. I can't speak of that day just yet.

Today we decided to go on a family outing and consequently torture our children.

Caleb enjoyed the free ride.

Talin and Collin suffered terribly. Little legs are not meant to walk four miles.
Tom and I went crazy walking at a snails pace to accommodate them.

We lost this one on the way back, he was exhausted.

And since being at Pinetop for only two days, I've officially decided I want to live here.

After residency of course.