Hot Turning Cool...

A week in review....

It has been nasty, hot this past week... like {90} degrees. I know my AZ friends are rolling their eyes, but it really is warm when you add the humidity. Too warm to go outside during the day, unless you have some agua to cool off in. Unfortunately, I had to throw away our slimy pool that killed the grass and bred mosquitos. Pity. So Wednesday afternoon I had the lightbulb idea to dump Collin's toys and use the bucket as a {pool}. And I scrounged up the screw- on, play hose that we found at a garage sale. I'd say he quite enjoyed it. And got some great speed on that wet diaper going down the slide.

And not long after, we had some friends show up!

Well, the next day I decided to splurge at ToysR'Us and buy one of the big, hard plastic pools. It was on sale for $13. Why not? I had to have someone help me get it out to the car, then fold down two seats and {taco squish} it in. I filled it right up so it could warm and he could play in the afternoon. Except we ran out of time. And then the next afternoon it rained. So I poured out the water and let it dry against the garage. Must have looked really enticing. Because the next morning it was gone. Granted, it was a windy night, but I'm just not sold on the idea that it literally {blew} away. It was just too heavy. Darn our non-fenced-in backyard. Everything is just ripe for the taking I guess. I'd like to be one of those positive people that just thinks "Well they must have needed it more than I did". But unfortunately I'm more vindictive. I'd prefer that they get a nasty sunburn the first time they use it. OK, well not their child,  just them.

On Thursday I participated in my last {mommy panel} session at Fisher Price. In a town about 25 minutes away, there is a massive Fisher Price center/factory/ what have you. It's really a quaint little town called East Aurora (check your Fisher Price toys- maybe it says East Aurora on it!) and then you turn a couple corners, and bam, there is Fisher Price... security check-in and everything. I went to 4 sessions total (we were out of town for 2) and they were once, every other week. I would join about 6 other moms in a room with a double sided glass wall and multiple cameras and sound devices. Every 15 min., for an hour and a half, a new researcher or designer would come in with models, blueprints, and ideas to show us and get our opinion on. Sometimes we'd fill out surveys or explain which packaging we liked better, why a certain playpen was more appealing, etc. and they would just hang on every word. To be honest, it was kind of nice. You felt important for being a mom in a whole different sense. And we got paid! I didn't mind the candy bowl they passed around either. :) If you're interested in doing it, just call Fisher Price and see if they have any spots open. Once you do a 6 session group, you can't do it for 2 years, so that's it for me, but it was kind of a fun, unique experience I'm glad I got to do!

Thursday night, I hosted Book Club at my house (I was going to take a picture, but then chickened out). I think I'll do a book review soon in a different post... don't get too excited :) But what was really nice, was Trav took Collin to a UB football game that night while I was running around, trying to get ready for the book clubbers. :) When he walked out the door, I thought it probably would be a disaster, with Collin being fussy or running around the whole time, but I was wrong! Trav said he loved it and did awesome. Just sat in his lap the whole time, watched the game, clapped when everyone else clapped, and grooved to the happenin' tunes of the marching band. Woohoo Collin!

Saturday morning, our ward had a service activity at the ward building that centered around spreading new mulch where all the soil was. Luckily, they had a nursery, so Trav and I both could help. It was great weather (even on the chilly side) and it felt great to do some manual labor. Not this sissy dish washing or laundry stuff I do all day. I was spreading manuer! haha. It took a couple of hours, but it felt great to be outdoors and working with our other ward members to help take care of our building. It's true what they say, service really brings people together!

(And yes, that is our church building in the background... not your typical looking LDS chapel on the outside)

Sunday brings great news. Fabulous news, really. Collin went to his first day of nursery!! Hip hip hooray!! He was a week early, but we fudged. Trav dropped him off and he didn't cry or really blink an eye (our child loves us dearly). We went to Sunday School together for the first time in... I can't remember how long, and it was amazing.

On our trip home this summer, my younger sister made a comment (as we sat out in the foyer with our kids during Sunday School) that she couldn't wait for a baby to take care of during church that would get her out of boring classes. Shelley and I just looked at each other knowingly, then I gently broke it to her that actually, you MISS going to class, and would much rather NOT be taking care of a toddler in the hallway. You would have thought I told her that Matthew McConaughey did not in fact have bulging biceps. It just could not be true. She will find out soon enough.

Well, everything was going great, until I got pulled out of opening exercises in the 3rd hour. I assumed he had a poopy diaper. Not so lucky. Apparently he had been doing great, until he ate a crayon, then threw it back up, all over himself. But she assured me, that he was doing wonderful before that, loving "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and the Wheels on the Bus" and playing with toys. Well, that was a relief. I had no spare clothes, so I rinsed his shirt in the sink, best I could, then took him back. When I picked him up, she handed me his coloring page. I was so proud of him. I might be a nerd.

Right after church, Rach and I went over to Roswell to visit our friend, Megan. Sunday was her birthday. I've attempted blog posts before about Megan, but was never able to finish. They never seemed adequate. I'll try once more...

At the end of July, Megan went into the hospital to have her first baby and subsequently found out that she has leukemia. I really cannot even fathom it. Literally in labor and being told you most likely have a life threatening cancer. She had to leave her baby, just hours after she was born to go to Roswell, the cancer institute in Buffalo. I cry every time I think about how we found out. They had texted us that Megan was in the hospital and would probably have the baby that day. By the end of the day, we hadn't heard anything, so I checked Facebook, to see if any news was posted. Instead, I read a heart wrenching plea from Megan's mom, begging anyone in Buffalo that was friends with Megan and Ryan, to please go be with them. She said that they thought Megan might have leukemia and of course their family wasn't near, so she just wanted someone to help in some way, since she knew they wouldn't ask for support themselves at the moment. Trav and I were able to go down to the hospital for several hours that night and I was priveleged enough to spend the next day with sweet, baby Rylee. Since then, its felt like a rollercoaster of events... at one point, not given hope by the doctors that she'd make it through the day. I can't imagine how Megan, Ryan and their families have dealt with all of this. It's faith and strength I've never seen before. Megan is truly amazing to me. It's humbling to watch all that she has to go through with the chemotherapy and treatments. It's a reality check for me. How quickly life can change. How fragile it is. How much we rely on our Heavenly Father. How He is in control and we are not. How powerful faith and prayer is. And also, how trivial some trials become when everything is put in perspective.

While we were visiting, the nursing staff came in singing Happy Birthday, bringing balloons and hugs. I instinctively sprang into action, digging my camera out. I kind of felt dumb afterward, but now I'm glad I have the pictures.

Megan is scheduled for a bone marrow transplant near the end of the month and then should be able to come home the end of October. We can't wait!

If you want to know more about her story you can visit http://prayersformegan.com/ 

                    HaPPy BiRtHdaY MeGaN! I hope 27 is a good year!

And as a finishing touch, for your viewing pleasure... I introduce you to a little boy who gets very upset when he doesn't get what he wants.

First he runs through all the {signs} he knows, which don't mean what they are supposed to... they all just mean {I WANT! FIGURE IT OUT!}

But my favorite would have to be the supposed {water} sign..... three fingers bounced on the chin. Only he pulls his whole face down with his fingers, smooshing his nose and exposing the insides of his eye. It cracks me up.

I took this a couple months ago.... doing the {more} sign so that he looks like a ballerina. Otherwise, he presses his fingers together as hard as he can, looks at them with consternation then back up at me, like... Hello?! I'm doing the SIGN!!!