The Jacobs Family

Happy 7th Birthday Heidi!

2010-12-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

Heidi's birthday is exactly one week after Macey's birthday, and the day before mine! The best birthday presents I ever received were in 2001 and 2003 :). It is definitely a busy (and expensive!) time of year at our house, but I love sharing it with these sweet girls.

Heidi's birth day was very different from my other kids who were all born by emergency C-section. She was born only 2 days before her due date, and I got to experience the whole water breaking, rush to the hospital, and labor thing. She was born with a full head of thick, black hair, and the nurses all fought with each other to be the one to wash that hair. That day was so special to me, as she was my only baby that I actually got to see being born. We love Heidi so much, sometimes my heart just aches with how much I love her. She has a very special purpose on this earth, part of which is to teach Scott and me some very important lessons about love and life. Happy Birthday sweet Heidi-Bug!

Here is Heidi throughout the years...

Happy 9th Birthday Macey!

2010-12-06T09:46:00.000-07:00

Macey turned 9 last Monday, November 29th. I CANNOT believe that I have a nine-year-old! We celebrated her birthday by having a yummy shrimp dinner (at her request) and birthday cake. We will have her birthday party in a few days.

Scott and I are so proud of the little lady that Macey has become. She is such a sweet sister to her siblings, always offering to help them and me and playing silly little games with them. It can be hard on her sometimes to be the older sister of twin toddlers and a child with autism, but she never ceases to amaze us with her sweet spirit and understanding. We are so very blessed to have her in our family!

I was thinking back to the day she was born and how crazy that day was. I was only 34 weeks and was at work, and I started having contractions. It had been a very difficult pregnancy already, so I decided to go get things checked out just to be on the safe side. Scott met me at the hospital, where the nurses checked me and said I was contracting regularly and already starting to progress. My OB was at his own appointment right down the street, so he told the nurses to give me a shot of terbutaline to try and stop the contractions and he would be over after his appointment to check on me. So I got the injection, and I immediately began to feel very very sick. In the meantime, my doctor's doctor was running behind, so he decided to head over to the hospital and check on me while he was waiting. About 10 seconds after he walked into my room, I passed out cold and Macey's heart rate started to drop. Scott said my doctor watched the monitors for a few seconds and then said, "Get her to the OR, we have to get this baby out!" So Scott went from being in a room with me and about 10 doctors and nurses to standing in a room all alone wondering what was going on. They wouldn't allow him into the OR because it was an emergency and the didn't know what was going to happen. The next thing I remember was waking up with some pretty severe stomach pain, and not knowing anything else. Scott was there and held up a picture and said, "Here's your daughter!" It was a very surreal experience. Tiny little Macey weighed 4 lbs 14 oz, and spent 5 days in the NICU before coming home with us. It was nice to have a few days to prepare for her arrival because we didn't have everything ready yet! I can't even tell you how grateful we were that my doctor decided to come check on me when he did, he is an angel! And he was able to do an emergency C-Section and still make it back for his appointment.

I just cannot tell you how much I love this girl, or how absolutely amazing she is. Happy Birthday Macey!

Macey through the years...

Fun at Freestone Park

2010-11-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

I took the kids to Freestone Park a couple of days ago for a photo shoot in this amazing weather with Harmony the service dog. We had such a good time, and the pictures turned out gorgeous! Our photographer was my friend Tiffany Hatch, and Brian from AZ Goldens took some shots too. I must say, my kids are pretty darm photogenic! Maybe that is because they are just beautiful kids anyway :). Here are some of my favorites, enjoy!

Thank you!!!

2010-10-23T12:35:00.000-07:00

Our family is truly amazed by the outpouring of love and support that we have received from family, friends, and even complete strangers. This process has been incredible so far, to see the community coming together to support our little Heidi. Because of all of you, we are almost 1/4 of the way to our fundraising goal! We appreciate every single donation, no matter the amount, more than you will ever know. Heidi and I would like to say thank you to every single one of you from the bottom of our hearts!

Heidi's Blog

2010-10-20T22:20:00.002-07:00

We are in the process of getting Heidi an autism service dog, and we are so excited about it! These dogs are absolutely amazing. We are in the fundraising stage right now, so I created a blog to keep everyone informed of our progress and about any upcoming fundraisers. You can visit Heidi's blog at

www.helpingpawsforheidi.blogspot.com

You can also visit her fundraising page at

www.servicedogforheidi.com

We have had several friends and family members donate already, and we want to say how much we appreciate all of you! We are so excited for Heidi to have the benefits that a service dog will bring, and your help means so much. Thank you for your love and support!

Jacobs House = Craziness

2010-10-08T09:11:00.007-07:00

Ready for another post packed with all of the craziness going on in our house? Here it is!

We are participating in the Walk Now for Autism Speaks event on Sunday, October 31st in Tempe. We have formed a team of friends and family members to walk with us, and people that we don't even know have joined our team. It has been so amazing to see the love and support that people have given us. If you want more info on the walk or if you would like to join our team and walk with us, you can visit our team website at http://www.walknowforautismspeaks.org/arizona/teamjacobs
. There is a link on the page that will allow you to register and join our team. We would love to see you there!

Why are we getting involved with Autism Speaks? We just completed all of Heidi's assessments and evaluations (hours and hours of testing), and she was diagnosed with autism. There are three "levels" of the autism spectrum: Aspergers (the least severe), PDD-NOS, and autistic disorder (the most severe), and then of course there is a wide range inside each category. When we started this testing process, there was some suspicion that she was on the spectrum, and we thought that her diagnosis would end up being PDD-NOS. We knew that she didn't have Aspergers because she has a speech delay, and that is a non-qualifier for Aspergers. A PDD-NOS diagnosis means that the person has some signs of autism, but does not meet all of the criteria for an autistic disorder diagnosis. Heidi was diagnosed with autistic disorder. I honestly can't remember much of what the doctor said after, "Heidi fits all of the criteria for autistic disorder." I just broke down and cried. Not because of the "label", but because I was so heartbroken for Heidi, knowing how much she is going to struggle in her life. Now that I have had a week to digest and research, I know that everything is going to be OK and that there are so many things that we can do to help Heidi. God has a plan for Heidi. She has been in speech therapy for 3 years and occupational therapy for 1 year, but now she is going to have even more therapies and resources available to her that will help so much. It is very nice to know exactly what is going on, we have been trying to get a diagnosis for almost 5 years. I feel so relieved that now we know what we need to do to help her, and we can learn how to see into her world and get a better idea of what we can do to make life easier for her.

Macey has been working hard at her rehearsals for Little Women, even putting in some 9 hour days! I can hardly wait until her performances. I am so proud of her, she is so dedicated. I will definitely post pics and video of the performances.

As for me, I have been staying super busy researching autism, treatment options, resources, etc. I had to immerse myself in figuring out how to help her to keep myself from being sad. It paid off, because I have found so many great resources and organizations that have been so helpful and supportive. Additionally, after almost FIVE years of being a the waiting list (and using deferrals, withdrawing, reapplying, wash, rinse, repeat), I am finally starting nursing school! Whoo hoo! Yes, life is crazy, and this is going to be hard, but I don't think there is ever going to be a perfect time to do it. I will be doing weekend classes (Fridays and Saturdays), so I will still be home during the week with the kids. I am excited and nervous, I have been waiting for this for so long.

Scott has been traveling for work a lot. He is going to Belize in a couple days for business and to check out living accommodations. Yes, I said living accommodations. I will do a whole separate post on that another day, but in a nutshell, we are seriously thinking about relocating our family to a more peaceful environment.

Ryan and Jenna are, well, how should I say this...they are 3. That means independent, silly, dramatic, but oh so sweet and fun. I know that I have said this before, but I love watching a boy and girl grow up at the same time, the differences are so apparent at such a young age. They are two peas in a pod, best friends one minute and then twinenemies (as another twin mom friend put it) the next. We sure love these little people.

So, that's the latest! I will try to update more often so that each post isn't jam-packed with craziness!

Lights, camera, action!

2010-08-16T08:33:00.002-07:00

Our adorable little Macey auditioned for her very first play on Friday, Little Women the Musical, and got a part! She got one of only 6 parts in the children's chorus, for which TONS of kids auditioned for! We are so proud of her! She is so excited she can hardly contain herself. She begins rehearsals later this month and the performances are October 25th-29th. Congratulations Macey! We love you!

The Twins Are 3!!!

2010-08-09T09:35:00.010-07:00

Where have the last three years gone? Well, to be perfectly honest, the first year with twins is slightly blurred due to lack of sleep, but still, it has gone by so fast. These sweet little kids (not babies?! KIDS?!) are so incredibly amazing, we are so blessed to have them in our family. Being a mom to twins is so special, I am so glad that God chose me to be one of the lucky ones.

Ryan and Jenna are constantly entertaining us with their silly little antics and their special bond. They play together all day and have cute conversations non-stop. Yes, twin toddlers means "double the trouble", but it also means "double the love and entertainment." I love being able to watch a boy and a girl grow up at the same time, raised by the same parents, and see how truly different they are from each other. Even little things like throwing a football or how they express anger or frustration.

I have been thinking a lot about that crazy day three years ago and the scary and painful days leading up to it and following it. I am so thankful that Ryan and Jenna are so healthy for how early and tiny they were. Especially Ryan, as he gave us quite a scare for a day or two after he was born. Those weeks in the NICU were agonizing, but all of it was so worth it, and we now have these amazing little kids! This is the video from when they were born. There is nothing too graphic in it, but if you are really squeemish you may not want to watch it (it does show Ryan getting intubated for just a second).

Looking back at the last 3 years...

Oh yeah, I have a blog!

2010-06-09T15:16:00.016-07:00

There have been so many things that are blog-worthy going on around here, just no time to actually sit down and do it! One fun thing we have going on is that we got 3 baby goats! I know, so random, but I am a huge animal lover and I have always wanted a goat, so for Mother's Day I got them. They are so adorable and we just love them to pieces. They aren't going to be just pets though, we are going to put them to work! We are planning on milking the females (Lucy and Dolly) when they get a little older, but my little male (Johnny Cash, Cash for short) is definitely just a pet. He adores me, and I him, and he has the cutest little personality. He nibbles on my clothes or my hair when he wants some attention, and he actually will knock on the back door telling us he wants to come in the house! I do draw the line there, no goats in the house, but we have to make sure the doggy door is always closed because they try to come in that way. The goats and the dogs get along just fine, so we let the goats roam around the yard all day and then just put them in their pen at night. It has been so fun to learn how to care for them. We have had some illnesses and injuries that we have been able to fix, and it has been such an awesome experience for all of us. We have been looking at houses that are on 2-3 acres, and hopefully before too long we will have our own little farm and many more animals!

Cash, a Nigerian Pygmy

Dolly and Lucy, Mini-Nubians

Scott has been super busy at work. He has been on several trips over the last couple of months visiting new and prospective clients. I don't know who the business trips are more exhausting for - him or me! I cannot imagine how things would be if he was still at the Fire Department working 24 and 48 hour shifts. His 8 hour days are long enough for me as it is! God definitely directed us to make the decision for him to leave the department, and we are so grateful for the blessings we have been given. He was recently promoted to COO, and I am so proud of him. He works so hard and is so amazing at everything he does. I know I have said it before, but I am so lucky to have a husband that can do ANYTHING!

Macey and Heidi got out of school a couple weeks ago, and they have been staying pretty busy with friends and activities. Macey is taking ice skating lessons, and Heidi is in ballet. It is so fun to watch these little girls grow up and do well in their activities, I just love it. And in this heat, it is especially nice to sit in the ice rink for a little while and have to actually wear a sweater!

Heidi was recently diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder. We have known for a while that she had this, but it's nice to have a diagnosis so that she can get the services she needs. She has been doing occupational and speech therapy in school, but now that school is out we are doing it privately through Cardon Children's Hospital. We have also been doing deep pressure therapy (brushing and joint compressions) every 2 hours at home. We are hopeful that she will continue to improve, and we know that God has a special plan just for Heidi. She is such a sweet girl, we absolutely love her to pieces. We have been seeing a developmental pediatrician in Scottsdale, and we have an appointment with a pediatric neuropsychologist next week to have more evaluations done. There is some suspicion that she may also be on the autism spectrum, and the neuropsychological evaluation will either confirm that or rule it out. One thing that would be very beneficial about her getting that diagnosis would be the amount of services that would be available to her. So we are anxious to see what happens and we are just taking it one day at a time. Whatever happens, we will make the best of it and do whatever we can to give Heidi everything she needs, because she deserves the best of everything!

Ryan and Jenna are growing up so fast. They will be 3 in August, and I can't believe it! I love those two little kids to pieces, but they sure can be a hand full. They are at the age where they say the funniest things, and Scott and I just look at each other and laugh. We still call them "the babies", but they are definitely little kids now. They have that special twin connection that is so cute to watch. Anytime one of them gets a snack, they always grab two of whatever it is and share. In the mornings Ryan always gets out two sippy cups and fills them up with ice water for the both of them. We moved them out of the same room a couple of months ago, and the first couple nights were heartbreaking. They cried for each other for a long time when we put them in bed. They are much better now, and in the mornings, the one we get up first always runs into the other room to say good morning. But of course twins also means double trouble. I cannot believe some of the messes and situations they get into together. I used to suffer from insomnia pretty bad, but it hasn't been a problem in the last few months!

I have made some big changes with my work situation. I was so busy several months ago that I had a friend come in and work with me so that I wasn't having to work 6-7 days a week. It was a great problem to have! Then within a couple of weeks Scott started telling me that he would love it if I would take a break from working for a while, I broke my foot, and Heidi was really struggling, so I decided that all of that was a sign that I needed to take some time off. It has been a bit of an adjustment for me to be home full-time, but it was definitely the right decision, especially with everything going on with Heidi. I miss my job, but I love that I get to be here for my kids. Most of the time ;).

Easter Pictures

2010-03-18T13:08:00.007-07:00

Scott's dad and step-mom surprised Scott and I yesterday by taking the kids to get their Easter pictures taken. They took the girls to a hair salon and had their hair done first! So fun! I can hardly stand how cute my kids are!

One of these days...

2010-01-21T08:40:00.002-07:00

...my house will be clean, the laundry will be washed, folded, AND put away, I will have returned everyone's phone calls/texts/emails, and my stress levels won't be through the roof. At least I hope so! Everything that is going on right now, although insanely busy, is also very exciting, and we are feeling very blessed.

Ryan and Jenna are, what can I say, two-year-olds. They keep me on my toes all the time. They are best buddies and partners in crime one minute, and beating each other up the next minute. I can't believe how grown-up there are. They aren't my little babies anymore, they are little people. Sometimes I get sad that there won't be anymore babies, and then the twins color on the wall or put a whole roll of toilet paper in the toilet, and I am immediately grateful for what we have :). As long as my friends and family keep having babies that I can snuggle, I am good.

Macey and Heidi are both in Girl Scouts, and it is Girl Scout cookie time. They have had fun selling, selling, and selling, trying to earn money for their troops. They have also been busy with weekly troop meetings and their Girl Scout Investitures, the ceremony where they officially become Girl Scouts. This has kept me pretty busy, too, shuttling the girls to their meetings, taking cookie orders, and sewing on patches. It is so cute to see them in their little uniforms, and the things they learn are such valuable life lessons. I am so glad that they wanted to be Girl Scouts.

Scott has been very busy at work, there are some really exciting things happening that I will expound on in a later post. He still misses the guys at the Fire Department, but we know that he made the right decision changing careers. He is a natural at his job, and he absolutely loves being home every night and weekend. It has been so good for our family to have him here. I am still so proud of him for being able to make that sacrifice for our family. He loves his job, and it is so strange to think that he has already been there for 2 years.

My work has exploded in the last few weeks! In December I started looking for a new salon to work out of, and I was having a really hard time finding the perfect situation. Scott and I prayed that a good opportunity would come up, and guess what? It did! I found a salon in Chandler that was going to opening on January 1st, where I would be working with a massage therapist and a Naturopathic doctor. The massage therapist had been in the field for a long time, and was finally opening up her own salon. Her problem was that she sells mostly packages for massages, facials, and body wraps/scrubs, and she did not have an aesthetician to work with her. It was not luck that directed me to her. I have been working like crazy with her, and I actually had to hire another aesthetician already to help take some of the work! I am working out of that salon, and I am still working out of my first salon. I am also in the process of opening another salon on Scottsdale that I will use to teach my classes. Needless to say, 3 salons is extremely busy and stressful. After January, I will move out of my original salon and only be working in the Chandler salon and teaching in the Scottsdale salon. Despite the economy, I have been teaching 2 classes a month, which is a lot of work in itself, not to mention all of my aesthetics and permanent makeup. Things should settle down in a couple of weeks, and I am extremely happy about that. My poor house has received most of the neglect. But as long as Scott and the kids are happy, healthy and fed, I will try not to stress myself out about the condition of the house too much. One of these days it will be spotless, but I'm not holding my breath.

We learned this week that Scott's Grandpa is very sick, his cancer has spread throughout his body. If you could, would you please keep him and the family in your prayers, as it is obviously a very trying and emotional time.

Tucson Adventures

2010-01-06T09:01:00.003-07:00

Macey and Heidi went to Tucson with Scott's dad and step-mom over Christmas break, and they had tons of fun! They went to the Biosphere, to Colossal Cave, and went horseback riding. They sure had some fun stories when they got home.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-06T08:30:00.007-07:00

We actually had a white Christmas this year! We spent it at Scott's mom's house in Pinetop. The kids had so much fun playing in the snow, and it was cool to actually have a chimney for Santa to come down! It was a little too cold for me, I am definitely a Phoenix girl, but the kids didn't seem to notice that it was only 20 degrees. We had to bribe Ryan with hot chocolate to get him to come inside!

Petting Zoo 2009

2009-12-15T21:39:00.008-07:00

For the girls' birthday party we had a petting zoo and over 20 very excited and very loud little girls (there were a couple of little boys, too, but they were severely outnumbered.) It was so much fun, and it made Scott and I realize even more how much we want to have our own little farm. We had a calf, several dwarf goats, many rabbits and chickens, a couple ducks, a pot bellied pig, a sheep, and a llama with an anxiety disorder (sounds like a Disney movie, huh?). Seriously, this llama gets anxiety when it is around people for too long and it will start drooling. He lasted about 30 minutes, it was pretty funny.

Thanksgiving and Birthdays Galore

2009-12-09T12:04:00.003-07:00

It has been a very exciting couple of months in our house! We had a great Thanksgiving, Macey turned 8 on the 29th of November, Heidi turned 6 on the 6th of December, and I turned the big 3-0 on the 7th. Wow! I taught a Permanent Makeup class from the 4th-7th, so I didn't get to spend mine or Heidi's birthdays at home, but the girls are having their birthday party this Saturday so we can celebrate then. I am teaching another class on the weekend of the 18th, and then we will be ready to have an awesome Christmas together as a family up in Pinetop. What a crazy month!

Thanksgiving 2009

Trick-Or-Treat!

2009-11-02T12:09:00.004-07:00

The kids had a very fun Halloween! We went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood for about 30 minutes, and then the girls wanted to go home and hand candy out to the neighborhood kids. I remember being little and trick-or-treating for hours, trying to fill the bucket up to the very top. They love seeing all of the different costumes, though. Poor little Ryan did take a tumble out of the wagon and got some nasty road rash on his forehead. He was fine once I gave him another piece of candy :). Once we were out of candy we went to a Halloween party with our small group from church. The kids all ran around like crazy people on a sugar high, and the adults got to talk and hang out. It was the perfect Halloween.

I think I jinxed our family when I said how nervous I was for the Swine Flu in my last post, because we all got it except for Scott! I don't know how he was able to glide through, but I was glad he did so that he could take care of the rest of us. Hopefully we are done for illnesses this winter, I definitely think we have had our share!

Here's some very exciting news: Heidi had her yearly visit with the cardiologist this morning for an echocardiogram, and both of her heart defects are GONE!!! She has a perfect heart! We are so happy and thankful that she was able to overcome this all on her own. She is such a sweet little girl, we just absolutely love her to pieces.

My procedure went well also. The doctor called me when he got the biopsies back, and it looks like I have Crohn's. I have to have a couple more tests done before we know exactly where I stand, but at least we are starting to get answers. I am not happy that this is what I am dealing with, as it is a lifelong disease, but it is also nice to know why I have been so sick and losing so much weight. We are going to try to do as much homeopathic as possible, as I really do not want to have to take several medications every day for the rest of my life. I would also like to prolong if not avoid any surgeries as well. From the research we have done, it seems that by being very careful with your diet, you can go into remission and stay there for a while. That diet is no grains, dairy, processed foods, sugars, sweeteners, starches, blah blah blah. Most fruits, vegetables, and meats are on the "legal" list. I sure am going to miss my breads and mashed potatoes! But if it helps me feel better, it is worth it.

Lately

2009-10-22T10:01:00.003-07:00

We have had a big change in our family within the last couple of weeks. It was a very hard and emotional decision to make, but Scott and I felt like we made the right decision for everyone involved. Marley is no longer living with us, she has gone to a very loving home where she will be adopted and have an amazing life. She is still in the family, and that makes it easier for us, but we still have feelings of sadness and guilt. I won't get into all of the details that went along with our decision-making process, but we know that in the end, this will be a positive experience for everyone. We are so happy that we were able to have her in our family for a year, and see her develop into such an amazing little girl. It is strange with her gone, and we miss her.

Scott and I have recently joined a Life Group for married couples at our church, and to say that is has been an amazing experience would be an understatement. We are studying the book His Needs, Her Needs, and it has been an eye-opener. As a wife, you want to believe that you are meeting all of your husband's needs, and when you realize that you could be doing better, it is very humbling. It is so exciting though to know that Scott and I will be able to improve our relationship in ways that we didn't even know needed work! We have made some incredible friends as well. God definitely directed us to this specific group of people.

Macey and Heidi were on Fall Break all last week from school, they didn't go back until Tuesday of this week. It was nice to spend time with them, but we were all ready for school to start back up. Unfortunately, they made it back for one day of school and then both got sick. The cold and flu season is not nice to our family every single year, whether we get flu shots or not. Like everyone else, we are paranoid about the Swine Flu, especially with Ryan's asthma. Hopefully that particular germ will STAY AWAY!

The last little while has been pretty stressful for me (kids, school, getting a business started, life in general), and a few months ago I started losing weight and having a lot of stomach pains. It is pretty common for me to lose a couple pounds when I am really stressed out, so I didn't think much of it. But the weight continued to come off, no matter how much I ate or what my stress level was. I have now lost 20 pounds, which is just ridiculous. My doctor did a lot of blood work and everything looked good. I was happy that everything looked normal, but frustrated at the same time because I really wanted some answers. She sent me to a specialist, and tomorrow I am having a procedure done so they can take a good look inside and get some biopsies, and HOPEFULLY we can figure out what is going on. It's hard not to get nervous, my mind starts going crazy with all the possibilities, but I'm hopeful that we will get some answers soon and get my body back to normal. So if you think about it, send some good vibes tomorrow to me and the doctors that we can get to the bottom of this.

Meet Jasper, the newest member of our family:

For some reason, I decided that I needed a little bit more chaos in my life. This time it came in the form of a Chihuahua puppy. He sure is a sweet little guy!

We are very excited for Halloween, it is a big holiday in our house. Scott goes crazy with his fog machines and he looks forward to Halloween every year. The twins are wearing their octopus costumes again because they are so cute and they still fit, and they don't really care anyway! Macey is going as a blue tiger (she is so funny and creative) and Heidi will be a butterfly. I am glad that it is on a Saturday this year so we can keep everyone up late. (I am also excited to raid the kids' candy!!!)

Labor Day

2009-09-09T08:48:00.011-07:00

We were able to escape the heat this past weekend and go up to Pinetop for Labor Day to visit Scott's mom and grandparents. The weather was amazing, and as usual, we had a great time. The kids played outside all day long (without sweating to death), and we went on a picnic by a stream, caught a bunch of crawdads, and the kids all played in the water. Heidi found a crawdad that was so big it looked like a lobster! Unfortunately, in the chaos of trying to get 5 kids out the door, I forgot my camera on that little outing, but my brother-in-law Tim took his and got some awesome pictures which I will post when he emails them to me (hint hint Tim). We also got some incredible mountain storms, with crazy thunder, lightening, rain, and hail. I love storms, so I sat out on a hammock and read a book while it was pouring rain. It was so relaxing. All of the kids had so much fun playing, going on adventures with Aunt Clover, wrestling Dad and Uncle Tim, and playing in the stream. Scott and Tim took Macey and Heidi shooting, and the girls loved it! They are such girly girls, but they sure love doing things like that with Daddy.

My trip out to Madison was awesome. It was a very busy and exhausting week, but I am so glad that I went and got my certification. The class was Monday through Thursday, 10-11 hours a day. Then I would go back to the hotel and read for a couple hours before going to sleep. I missed the family, but it was nice to have a few days away. I have two classes almost locked down already, I can't wait to get started!

I recently finished reading The Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games and Catching Fire). Holy cow, those books are amazing! The third and final book doesn't come out for a year, and I don't know how I am going to be able to wait that long! I was really lucky with the Twilight Series and Harry Potter, because I didn't get into them until all of the books had been released. But this next year is going to be torture! Now I am waiting for the third Hunger Games book, the final Harry Potter movie, and the rest of the Twilight movies. Whatever will I do? ;)

Happenings

2009-08-21T11:46:00.006-07:00

Macey and Heidi started school on the 10th, and they are absolutely loving it. Macey is in 2nd grade, and she thinks that her teacher Mrs. Cole walks on water. Heidi is in Kindergarten, and she is in heaven. We decided to put her in all day Kindergarten because she did almost 2 1/2 years of preschool/pre-K, and I thought she was ready and would be bored with more 1/2 days. We are so glad that we made that decision, she definitely was ready and has done so well already. She has the same teacher that Macey had for Kindergarten (Mrs. Tripathi), and we absolutely love her. Mrs. Tripathi has twins too, so she completely understands how crazy life can be at home. It is still weird for me to "only" have 3 kids at home all day, but there is still plenty of noise and plenty to do. Next year we can start preschool for the little ones, and then I really won't know what to do with myself!

I am leaving on Sunday to go to Wisconsin for a class to become certified as a permanent cosmetics instructor. I am really excited to do this; it is a great opportunity and I am so happy that I was invited to this school. It will be hard to be away from everyone for 5 days, but I will be in classes for 10-11 hours a day and then crashing at my hotel at night, so it should go by quickly and then I can get back to my family. I need to find some books to read on the plane, so if anyone has any favorites, I am open to suggestions. I just read all 7 Harry Potter books in 14 days (LOVED THEM!!!), so I need some new books. I have heard that Hunger Games is amazing, maybe I will try that one.

Finally, my website is now up! I am happy with how it turned out. I am in the middle of redecorating my salon, and once I am done with that I will add some pictures to my website. Check it out at www.emergeesthetics.com.

Happy Birthday Ryan and Jenna!

2009-08-10T09:37:00.008-07:00

I cannot believe my babies are two! Their birthday was yesterday, Ryan was officially two at 6:10 pm and Jenna at 6:12 pm. I can't believe how much they have grown up in just the last few months. They are these adorable little people with the best personalities. Ryan is definitely a boy, getting into everything and climbing on everything he sees, but he is also the sweetest little boy in the world. He is so mellow and loving, he loves to run around the house and hug all of his sisters all day long. He is definitely a Momma's boy (which I LOVE), and he gives the best hugs and kisses. Jenna is a smart little sassy girl. She is talking so good, and she will definitely let you know where you stand with her at any given moment. She has the most infectious laugh, and the cutest chubby cheeks and dimples. I am so lucky to be their Mom, they have brought so much love and happiness into our family.

Ryan right after birth 3 lbs 15 oz (the little stinker gave us a pretty good scare by scoring a 1 on his first Apgar)

Jenna right after birth 3 lbs 13 oz

Look how tiny their heads are compared to our hands!

My first little glimpse of Jenna (I didn't get to see Ryan for a couple of hours, they whisked him up to the NICU)

This was the first time I got to hold them at the same time.

Here they are on their 1st birthday

And at their 2nd birthday party

Fourth of July and More

2009-07-19T15:27:00.006-07:00

The last month or so has been pretty action-packed around here! It has been exciting to have my own business, I am absolutely loving it. It is definitely a lot of work, but definitely worth it.

Scott and I celebrated our 8th anniversary on June 26th. In some ways it is so hard for me to believe that we have already been married for 8 years (and been together for over 10), but then I look back and see everything that has happened in the last 8 years and I can't believe that we have fit it all in there!

We took our first big family to Park City, UT for the 4th of July. We were up there for just over a week, it was so amazing. I don't know if I could even describe in words what 4th of July is like in Park City, you seriously have to experience it yourself to know how amazing it is. Of course, the weather was perfect. It was hard to believe that everyone back in AZ was suffering in the blistering heat, and the high in Park City was low 80's (we wore sweaters at night!). We had a huge 4-bedroom condo right on the golf course, and the kids loved being able to run out the back door and play in the grass without sweating to death. There was a family from Pennsylvania in the condo right next to us who had daughters the same age as Macey and Heidi, so we all became fast friends and enjoyed some late night BBQs and glasses of wine while the kids ran around having a blast. On the 4th, the town shoots the fireworks off from the golf course, so we just walked right out our back door, set down some blankets, had dinner, and watched the show. There were thousands of people just covering the golf course. Kids were running around everywhere, people were shooting their store-bought fireworks off all over the place (they aren't illegal in UT like they are in AZ), and everyone was just so happy and relaxed. The kids all slept awesome the whole trip, too. We seriously couldn't have dreamed of a better vacation. It sure was hard to come back to this heat and reality.

Scott and I went by ourselves one day to Olympic Park, where the Olympic athletes train. We had a blast watching them and going on the Alpine slide and the zipline that goes over the park. We all walked around downtown Park City several times, they had so many things going on for the holidays. I really don't think that we can go anywhere else for the 4th of July now that we have been there. I used to live in Virginia, and even the festivities at the Pentagon don't compare to how things were in Park City. We took our Wii and Wii Fit with us, and after the 3 little ones went to bed at night, we had some awesome family bowling tournaments. What a perfect vacation!

Emerge Esthetics

2009-06-16T13:04:00.003-07:00

After much soul searching and consideration, I have decided to start my own skin care business- Emerge Esthetics! The last week has been a whirlwind- finding a location , getting equipment and product, setting up a business with the state, setting up accounts, etc. But I got it done, I signed my lease yesterday, and I have my first client tomorrow morning! Oh my gosh! I am actually booked for this week already. I decided to do this because it is what will work best for my family, and I knew that I eventually wanted to have my own business, so I decided to take the plunge and just do it now. My studio is in Gilbert, so it's close to home and pretty central for my current clients. In addition to permanent cosmetics I will be offering customized facials, microdermabrasion, epidermal leveling, waxing, PCA peels, lash/brow tinting, and professional Image and Rhonda Allison treatments. I am so excited, this is exactly what I had imagined for myself. My website is being built, and once it is done I will put the info on here. So everyone who would like to have some treatments done, give me a call at 480-628-4314!

San Diego

2009-06-15T07:55:00.009-07:00

Macey, Heidi and I had a great weekend in San Diego. It was so fun to take a little road trip with them and spend some time together. I was a little worried, because I got my first "Are we there yet?" about 30 minutes into our drive. But we survived the drive and they were so excited to get to their cousins' house. It was so fun that my mom was visiting SD, too!

We had some jacuzzi time:

A tiny bit of relaxation time:

Some Balboa Park time:

Some awesome beach time:

And some Wii Fit time (our favorite was Hula Hooping):

This little trip was exactly what I needed to relax and take a break from the craziness that has been going on the last couple weeks (I will post about that later today!).

We made it!

2009-06-05T11:59:00.008-07:00

It feels like so much has happened since I last updated my blog! It's all good stuff, though. I passed my practical and written exams- YAY!!!!! I was so nervous, I have had several friends fail their practical and have to re-take it. I had to wait 8 days to get my results, and when I saw the letter in the mail, I wasn't sure if I wanted to open it. You can imagine my relief and joy when I saw "Pass" on the results page. Whew! The written was pretty straightforward, but I finished 110 questions in about 20 minutes, so then I was nervous that I had rushed through it too fast! Luckily, I only had to wait about 15 minutes for those results. I got my license in the mail last week, so now I am official and ready to go! I just need to find a good job!

I also did my permanent make-up certification class a couple of weeks ago. That was one of the most fun but exhausting weekends I have ever had. It was four days in a row, get up and get ready, drive an hour to the class, tattoo or get tattooed for 11 hours straight, drive an hour home, and then get up the next day and do it all over again. It was a blast though, because my friend Chakeia and I did the class together. I performed and received several procedures, and got a nice start to my portfolio. I want to get a few more pictures for my portfolio though, so if anyone is interested in getting any permanent make-up, I am going to do just a few more procedures for a drastically reduced rate (just to cover my supplies). I have a couple of people booked already, so get in touch with me quick to make sure you get a great price. This is definitely something I can see myself doing for a long time. A lot of people would probably think it is monotonous, sitting there for a couple of hours doing very detailed work on such small areas, but I already have a passion for it!

Macey and Heidi have had a great summer already. They have had tons of play-dates, swimming, and sleepovers with grandparents. Next weekend we are going to have a girls weekend, and the three of us are going to go to San Diego to visit my sister Summer and her family. I cannot wait to get some alone time with the girls.

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

The definition of torture:

2009-05-18T11:40:00.005-07:00

...Is having to wait 7-10 business days for the result from my state board practical exam! It feels so good to have it finished, but I won't relax until I get that piece of paper in the mail that says "Passed" on it. I feel pretty good with my performance, but you never know if you forgot something that the examiners are looking for. I really really hope that I passed and that I don't have to go through that again! I have my written exam on Thursday, but you get your results from that as soon as you complete it. Thank goodness for that, or I might die from anxiety.

I have been working on the cutest gifts for Heidi's teachers for the end of the school year. I am making them class cookbooks. I sent home cardstock with each of the kids to write their favorite recipes on and write the teacher a little or or draw them a picture. I have gotten some of the cutest and most creative recipes back. My sister Lisa and I worked all weekend to make these books super cute, and this is the final product (the pictures are the outside cover and the inside first page):

You can't see much detail of the glitter, but we glittered all of the tiny details all over the pages. By the time we were done we had major hand cramps! I think that Heidi's teachers will love them. They have all been awesome teachers, we will miss them next year when Heidi goes to Kindergarten.

One down, three to go!

2009-05-13T19:56:00.002-07:00

I have been slacking on my blogging! Just when I think things can't get any busier, life proves me wrong. The flu that we had stuck around for almost 5 weeks. Marley, Jenna, and Ryan kept passing it back and forth to each other. It has been about a week now since anyone threw up or had a fever, so hopefully (knock on wood) it is gone. Over the last week I completed my 40 hours of didactic for my medical laser technician and laser safety officer certificate. I took my test today, and I got a 98% on it! I never thought that I would ever need to know so much information about wavelengths, light, the electromagnetic spectrum, and everything else that comes with medical lasers. We didn't just learn about hair removal lasers, but also Photo Facials, fractionalized lasers, all the different IPL treatments, and too many others for my fried brain to recall at this minute. It feels so good to be done with this part. I take my practical state board exam on Monday, my written state board exam next Thursday, and then next Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday I have 12 hour days for permanent cosmetics. So in 2 weeks from now, I will be completely done and ready for a vacation. This going to school with 5 kids stuff is exhausting!

I have also been slacking on my picture taking, but I promise that I will get some on here soon.

Woo Hoo!!!!!

2009-04-25T10:44:00.002-07:00

I'm done! I'm done! I'm done! I can't believe it! It still seems pretty surreal. It was very anti-climactic because I had the flu this week so I didn't get to go to my last day of school. Ten months of hard work and I didn't get my last hoorah. It is going to be very strange this week to not have to rush off to school. I will actually get to cook AND eat dinner with my family, tuck the kids into bed, and have some relaxation time with Scott. My next steps will be taking the state boards, finishing up my laser certification, and taking the permanent cosmetics course in May. It is all so exciting!

We have had the absolute worst flu-bug in our house the last couple of weeks. Everyone got super sick except for Scott. He claims he skated by because of all the fruits and veggies that he juices everyday, and he is probably right. But the rest of us wanted to die. Heidi and I had it at the same time, and we were both in my bed, each with a bowl right next to our head because we couldn't even roll over by ourselves, let alone jump up and run to the bathroom in time to throw up. It was miserable. Everyone is feeling a lot better now, Ryan seems to be holding onto the germs a little while longer than the rest of us. Hopefully by next week everyone will be all better and we can all celebrate that I will not have to go to school anymore!

Very Hungry Caterpillar

2009-04-16T13:57:00.002-07:00

Here are a couple of videos of Jenna "reading" The Very Hungry Caterpillar. In the second video you can hear Marley's sweet little voice saying, "I love you, too."

Easter Etc.

2009-04-16T09:59:00.005-07:00

We had an awesome Easter weekend with lots of family. Summer, Alexis, Joseph, and Jayden came from San Diego to join in the festivities. All 9 grandkids were able to be together for the weekend, it was so fun! We did the traditional Easter egg hunt, egg coloring party, and the Easter Bunny came and brought lots of surprises.

And I FINALLY got "The Twin Picture", better late than never! I was just glad that they still fit in the swing together.

On Sunday Macey attempted to do a flip while jumproaping on the trampoline, and didn't quite stick her landing, resulting in a broken finger. A pretty darn good break, so the doctor said. She was so brave, and I am so glad that my kids aren't afraid to be daredevils.

FOUR MORE DAYS OF SCHOOL! And if that isn't exciting enough, I also have an interview with a cosmetic surgeon already! It is a combination aesthetician/patient consultant position, so I would be doing skin care and also working on the cosmetic surgery side. Talk about the best of both worlds. It is in the Biltmore area of Phoenix, which is still a great area for aesthetics and cosmetic surgery even the way the economy is right now. I am so excited, wish me luck!

I love them so much!!!

2009-04-10T13:23:00.003-07:00

Laser Hair Reduction

2009-04-09T15:26:00.002-07:00

I only have 8 more days of school! Woo hoo!! I will still be doing laser hair reduction through the school until I get all of my laser hours done, so if anyone has been wanting it, call me! By being a clinical study of mine, you would get a HUGE discount (ex: $210 for a 6 treatment package for underarm!). Email me for specific prices.

Look at this face!

2009-04-09T12:51:00.001-07:00

More Wedding Pics

2009-04-08T08:41:00.006-07:00

Thanks to Scott's beautiful and amazing cousin Jenae, I have some more pictures from the wedding. Thank you Jenae!

The Rehearsal

Tim and Clover

Scott and his dad, too bad there is no resemblance (insert sarcasm)

Tim and Clover sitting in a tree...

2009-04-05T14:30:00.005-07:00

Scott's brother Tim got married yesterday in Flagstaff, so we took a family trip up there for the festivities. Scott was a groomsman, and Macey and Heidi were flower girls. It was so cute to see them walking down the aisle throwing flower petals, they did such a good job and they loved the responsibility and being able to be a part of Uncle Tim's and Aunt Clover's wedding. It was a busy busy weekend, and if I had not had Scott's family there to help me with all the kids, Scott would have had to check me into a mental institution on our way back into town! Thank you a million times to everybody who helped us with the kids! It was also FREEZING in Flagstaff! It was snowing when we pulled into town, and it snowed for most of Friday night and got down to 25 degrees. It made me remember why I live in Phoenix. But the wedding was gorgeous, the bride was absolutely stunning, and it was so fun to see Scott's family and be able to hang out with them for the weekend. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get many pictures, as I was chasing toddlers around pretty much every second of the day, but hopefully I can get some of Scott's family to email me some (Jill? Jenae? Hint hint.) We are so happy for Tim and Clover, we love having Clover as a part of our family.
Macey and Heidi in their Flower Girl dresses

Aunt Jill playing with Marley

Our "nursery" set-up at the hotel

Andrew, Jenna, and Marley

Another exciting endeavor!

2009-03-27T12:26:00.002-07:00

I only have about 4-5 weeks of school left, just depending on if I can make myself get in a few extra hours a week. I can't believe that I am almost done! I have been thinking about what I want to do once I graduate, and I already have a couple of things lined up. Since I will be an aesthetician and laser certified, there are a ton of options for me. But in order to make myself even more marketable and open up even more windows of opportunity, I am going to get certified in permanent cosmetics in May, and I AM SO EXCITED!!! I had my lips done several years ago, and I have always thought that it would be fun to get certified. Scott and I were talking about it the other day, and he said, "Why don't you just do it?!" So, I did! The money that you can make from that is insane. You can charge up to $500 for each procedure (lip liner, full lips, eyeliner, or brows).

Also exciting, the garden is completely finished! We planted carrots, tomatoes, jalapenos, squash, bell pepper, beets, lettuce, onion, cilantro, watermelon, cantaloupe, and pomegranate. It is so fun to go out there every morning and see the progress that our garden is making.

Drive It Til The Wheels Fall Off

2009-03-20T10:17:00.002-07:00

About a year ago Scott decided that it would be fun to buy an old Turbo-diesel Mercedes. I'm still not sure what he liked about those cars, but I have never liked it. I'm sure that it was fast in it's day, but it's days are long past. I have always hated driving it, but it was nice to not have a car payment on it. It had a brand new motor, so it drove well and the A/C worked. Scott said we would just "drive it til the wheels fell off". Well, I drove it until something fell off, but it wasn't the wheels. On Wednesday I was driving down the freeway on my way to school, going about 70 in the left lane, when all of a sudden I heard a really loud noise, followed by a horrible scraping sound. I looked in my rear view mirror and saw smoke and sparks flying out everywhere. So I got off at the next exit and pulled into a parking lot, got out of the car, and saw that the whole muffler and both tailpipes had broke loose and were just dragging on the ground! So I called Scott and he came and picked me up and took me to school. "Okay Scott, you had your fun, now I want something that I can drive without worrying if I am going to burst into flames!" I said. We had been talking about getting a new car for a couple of weeks, so this wasn't a horrible loss to me :). I'm just glad that the car didn't catch on fire and that I was able to get off the freeway right away. Can you imagine driving behind someone on the freeway and all of a sudden the bottom of their car falls off?! It was pretty comical, more so now then it was at the time. We kept going back and forth about what car we wanted to get, and I was getting pretty frustrated with Scott because he kept changing his mind. Little did I know that he already knew what he was going to get me, and he was just terrorizing me on purpose. When I pulled up to my house coming home from school last night, I was super surprised to see a shiny Jaguar in my driveway!! Scott was standing there too, just laughing at me because I had just lectured him on the phone 10 minutes earlier to make up his mind because he was driving me crazy. Anyone who knows Scott knows that he likes to tease me, but I'm just glad that he made up for it this time. :)

Bachelor Party

2009-03-18T10:58:00.005-07:00

Scott spent this past weekend in Colorado snowboarding for his brother Tim's bachelor party. They had so much fun, Scott really needed to go have a break and hang out with the guys. Scott got so crazy that he actually broke his board and had to buy a new one!

Almost done!

2009-03-18T09:29:00.003-07:00

I am almost done with school! Hallelujah! As much as I have enjoyed it, I am ready to be done, take my state boards, and start working a couple days a week. I have about 5 weeks left, which I'm sure will fly by, just like the last 9 months have. We are doing some really fun stuff right now, things that made me interested in Aesthetics in the first place. I am taking my laser class, which includes laser hair removal, photo facials, fractional laser, etc. I am also in a clinical aesthetics class, where we are learning epidermal leveling, LamProbe, and injectables. Yesterday I did an "Epi-Plus" on my friend Erin, which is an epidermal leveling followed by a pomegranate peel. Her skin looked so incredibly amazing, it was wonderful! Today I am getting an Epi-Plus, and I can't wait. It's like Christmas Eve. What epidermal leveling is is basically removing the top layer of the skin (the disjunctum) with a razor blade. Sounds crazy, huh?! The results are awesome, and believe it or not, there is no pain with the treatment (unless of course you do a peel). Part of the cost for our laser class includes getting 3 areas done. So last night I got my first underarm laser treatment. I am also going to do bikini and legs. There are only 2 other girls in my laser class (that is what the above picture is from), so we get to let loose a little bit and just have a blast (no pun intended). I LOVE what I do!!

Zoo

2009-03-15T21:40:00.009-07:00

Today I took the kids to the zoo, and we had so much fun! Marley spent last night and today with my mom for some special Nana time, so I "just" had 4 kids at the zoo. Scott is in Colorado snowboarding for the weekend for his brother's bachelor party, so we decided that we needed to go do something fun instead of just sitting around the house. It was Ryan and Jenna's first time, and they loved it. Their favorite animals were the orangutans, and Macey and Heidi were crazy about the stingrays. The weather was so nice, it was the perfect day to go to the zoo.

Here are some cute pictures from the last couple of days.

Garden and Sickies

2009-03-03T10:46:00.011-07:00

Scott is almost finished with the garden! He will finish painting it this weekend and then we will plant everything. We are also going to paint the chicken coop. We let Macey and Heidi pick what colors we are going to paint everything, and Macey picked turquoise and white for the garden and Heidi picked purple for the coop. We are going to have a colorful backyard! Here are a couple pictures of the construction process.

I am making good progress on my projects as well, but I don't want to post any pictures until everything is done. :) But I absolutely love how everything is turning out! I start my laser course at school tonight, and I am so excited! We do laser hair removal and lots of different laser treatments for the skin, including vein removal and wrinkle reduction. Can't wait!

The kids have all been passing around hand foot and mouth. These poor kids have been miserable! High fevers, no sleep, blisters, yuck. Ryan and Jenna got the sickest. When Jenna had it, she screamed for 3 days straight. She wouldn't sleep or eat, we were all exhausted. When Ryan had it, all he wanted to do was sleep. He would just fall asleep wherever he was when he felt the need for a nap. It was actually pretty sad. Marley got by with a few blisters, she didn't get a fever. Macey and Heidi both had high fevers and only a couple blisters. The only thing that would cheer the little ones up was Elmo. Let me tell you, Cinderelmo is even more annoying at 2:30 in the morning!

Jake must not have been feeling very well either. :)

Sick Jenna, surrounded by Elmo, watching Elmo, trying to eat something.

Nana brought everyone ice cream cones to cheer them up and soothe their sore mouths. These were the twins' first ice cream cones!

Can they be any cuter? I don't think so!

2009-02-17T15:48:00.003-07:00

When I took Heidi to school today, she walked up to her teacher and said, "Ms. Jennie, you are looking so so cute today!"

Macey came running in the door from school today yelling, "I have to get my homework done! I have to get my homework done! I'm having a Girl's Night Out with my friends tonight!"

I am a lucky Mommy.

Busy Bees

2009-02-16T14:38:00.007-07:00

Wow, things are busy at our house! I guess that is what happens when you have 5 kids. And then throw in work, school, activities, and redecorating, and it just gets insane! I am having so much fun redecorating. It is coming along slow, since it is pretty much impossible to paint and stuff with 3 toddlers around, and they don't all nap at the same time. Since I have school until 10 at night, that really only leaves me with the weekends to do it. But I can't wait to get it done. I have so many fun things to do, I can't wait to see the finished product. Here are a couple of pictures of the family room repainting project.

The starting color was a mossy green, and I decided that I really needed to brighten the house up. So now we have one accent wall of a cool, bright green, and the rest of the room will be that pale yellow that is on the left wall. The green wall will be covered in family pictures. That green looks awesome with the plant shelf items I got. I am most excited about the kitchen. It is going to look so completely different, I can't wait to get it done and post before and after pictures. There are several things that I have been wanting to do in there for a long time, that I am now finally going to do. Molding, hardware, countertops, a backsplash, I can't wait!

Scott has been super busy with work. He is just a natural at his job. It was so scary when he was leaving the fire department because he loved it so much and he was so good at it. But he is the type of guy who is good at everything he does. He is the most selfless man, I love him so much. For him to leave a job that he loved so much in order to be home with his family more and provide a better financial future for us is just amazing.

The kiddos are also doing great. Macey joined the Science Club at school, and she comes home every week with some really cool and fun experiments for us to try at home. She is being tested for the gifted program at school, she is so bored in all of her classes because she is so advanced. The other day my dad asked her how school was, and she said, "Well, it's good. But it's kind-of a waste of my life right now because I already know everything." HAHAHA! Her teacher has her do extra research projects and tutoring to challenge her and keep her from being too bored. Heidi is loving her class, and is definitely the princess, so her teacher's say. I cannot believe that she is going to be in Kindergarten next year. I am really having a hard time with that, she was my baby for so long. Of course, she can't wait and asks me everyday when she is going to be going to Macey's school. Ryan, Jenna, and Marley are the same cute little stinkers as always. I love that they are more verbal now, and that they can follow directions! Ryan and Jenna are just so in love with each other; they definitely have that twin bond. It is really neat to watch. Marley is a feisty little thing! She has already perfected the "dirty look", but then the next minute she is loving on you. Definitely a 2-year-old.

"The Look"

Spaghetti Face Jenna

Spaghetti Face Ryan

Ryan climbed on the table and got hold of Heidi's Outback Steakhouse leftovers.

Little Mama

Sometimes I feel like I live in a Nudist Colony. The kids always seem to be naked!

Treasures

2009-02-10T15:35:00.010-07:00

Yesterday I got a much needed day off thanks to my fabulous, beautiful, sweet, amazing mom. She stayed with the kids so that I could go shopping and do some fun things by myself. I came home rejuvenated, and loaded up with some really fun treasures for my redecorating projects. Here are a couple of things that I got (I put them on top of my cabinets so that the kids wouldn't destroy them while I got the painting done, so please don't pay attention to the dust.).

I got a lot more little things, and I will post pictures of all of it once I get the painting done and everything in its place. I have some really super gorgeous paint colors picked out, and I can't wait to get started!
Ryan has started a new thing where he will tackle one of his sisters to the ground and give them kisses and raspberries. It is pretty funny to watch.

What did you say? There's two?!?!

2009-02-06T10:25:00.003-07:00

Two years ago yesterday we had our first ultrasound and found out that we were having twins. I cannot believe that it has been that long! That is a day that I will always remember every little detail about. Of course, Scott was working at the fire department, so I called him and said, "Are you sitting down?" He right away said, "Why? Is it twins?" So many emotions went through me in those first few seconds after I found out: fear, shock, excitement, nervousness, you name it, I felt it. Of course you have the fear that you will lose one or both babies, and then you wonder how much weight you are going to gain (admit it, that was one of the first things you thought, too), and you wonder how long your body will be able to carry two babies. But now we have our sweet little pink and blue cupcakes, and they were worth everything that we went through to get them here.
Here was our first ultrasound (Ryan was baby A and Jenna was baby B).

Knock knock?

2009-01-29T11:59:00.003-07:00

Marley was sitting at the table eating her lunch, and she said, "Momma! Knock knock?" I was thinking, there is no way she is trying to tell me a knock knock joke, she just turned two! But I said, "Who's there?" And she said, "Daddy!" "Daddy who?" And with a huge smile on her face, "Daddy rocks!" I was dying, it was so stinkin' cute!

Lots of pictures!

2009-01-28T10:13:00.007-07:00

Things have been so busy around here, I haven't had much time to blog. Between 5 kids, school, Scott's job, foster parenting classes, and extracurricular activites, sometimes I have a hard time just remembering to breath! Scott and I have been going to foster parenting classes to become certified foster parents. That way Marley will have a lot more resources available to her. Those classes are on Monday nights, and then I go to school Tuesday through Friday nights. It seems like the weekends are always packed full of things as well, so there is very little to zero down-time around here.

We are really enjoying having fresh eggs everyday. Out of the 4 hens, 2 are laying brown eggs and 2 are laying green eggs. I am gong to have to start thinking of creative things to make with eggs so that they all get used up. Scott has been working hard on the garden, he built a retaining wall around it this past weekend, and this weekend he will get the soil all ready to plant. He has also gotten into juicing, so every morning and night he makes these crazy juices that include all kinds of fruits and vegetables. The girls love helping him juice, but they aren't too interested in drinking it. The color kind-of freaks them out. It will be nice when we can go out to our garden and pick our own fruits and vegetables to juice!

I am getting ready to repaint and redecorate the whole house. I don't know when I will have time to do it, but I am pretty excited. I want to do bright, cool colors, granite countertops, window coverings, the works. I will post before and after pictures once I get it done.

Now for the good stuff...

The Shack

2009-01-27T21:32:00.005-07:00

I just finished reading the book The Shack. It was seriously one of the most amazing books I have ever read. It is a fictional book about God and His plan and why painful things happen to good people. I have always had a hard time knowing that such bad things can happen to innocent children, and why God doesn't intervene, and this book answers that question. The Shack is one of those books that will change your life. I am begging all of you to please read this book! You will be a better person because of it! You can go to the website www.theshackbook.com for more information.

Happy Birthday Marley!

2009-01-21T15:54:00.003-07:00

Today is Marley's 2nd birthday! Such a big girl! It is strange to me sometimes that she is only 2, because she talks so well and has more hair than I do! We are having a party for her on Saturday, and I can't wait to see her face when she opens her Elmo Live. She is OBSESSED with Elmo. Macey and Heidi are so adorable, they are making her a homemade boardgame (Macey's idea), and they have been working so hard on it. Macey also made Marley the cutest birthday card ever. The front says: "Your 2nd B-Day", and the inside says: "I hope you have a swell birthday. Your 2nd year of being alive. Good luck! Love Macey". Happy Birthday sweet Marley! You are a precious little girl who deserves all the love and laughter in the world.

The Mom Song

2009-01-11T10:34:00.000-07:00

This is so funny!!

If you didn't already know that I am obsessed with Twilight...

2009-01-04T20:42:00.001-07:00

...here's further proof.

Jenna

2009-01-03T17:40:00.003-07:00

Jenna walked up to me and bit me on the leg today (so hard that she gave me a blood blister!). I said to her, "No no Jenna, that is not nice. That is a no-no." She walked her little self over and sat down in the "time-out corner" and just sat there and looked at me. Little miss smarty-pants!

Our first egg!

2009-01-03T14:42:00.008-07:00

We got our first egg today! Obviously, it is not from the chicks. We got 4 laying hens yesterday so that we could start getting eggs sooner. We were told by the gentleman that we got the hens from that they probably wouldn't lay any eggs for about a months, until they got comfortable with their new home. So we were very surprised when we went out there today and saw a brown egg in one of the "condos". Scott did an amazing job on the coop. It has 12 roosts, or condos as we like to call them, and lots of room for the chickens to run around. In the mornings, the girls and I go out there and feed the chickens, and then let the chicks out in the yard to run around for a while. The chicks have to be kept in a cage until they are grown, other wise the hens will kill them. I really think that I could live on a farm! It sounds weird, but it is so relaxing to just go sit out there and watch the chickens and smell the hay. We decided that when we move, we want to buy a house on a couple of acres so that we can have our chickens and more little farm critters.

My Uncle Robin, cousin Linsey, and her husband Matt came over on Thursday to give Scott some gardening advice, and he brought 4 of his horses with him. He took Lulu and Sally out of the trailor and let Macey and Heidi ride them up and down the street. You should have seen their faces!

Marley, Ryan, and Jenna have been having so much fun on our trampoline with the beautiful weather. We have an in-ground trampoline, so they can get on and off by themselves.

Here's Ryan helping Daddy shovel rock to make room for the garden.

Feeding sister.

Little studmuffin

The "Chicken Condo"

Feeding her baby

Cheese!

Happy girl

E-I-E-I-O

2008-12-30T10:11:00.006-07:00

Scott and the girls decided that they wanted to grow a vegetable garden, and a rather large one at that. My Uncle Robin is a gardener and has a really neat garden, so Scott called him to get some advice. Robin gave Scott another great idea: Why not have fresh eggs every morning as well? Twelve hours later, there is a huge chicken coop and 6 baby chicks in our back yard. All five kids are in heaven! Macey and Heidi are out there with them all day, and the babies love the chicks, too. The chickens should be laying eggs in a few months. Fresh eggs anyone?

Sweet little Jenna-Bug

2008-12-28T19:59:00.003-07:00

Jenna is talking and signing so much, everyday she blows me away with all the new words that she learns. Here are two videos with just a couple of her words and signs. Don't you just want to kiss those cheeks?

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-26T10:09:00.002-07:00

We had an amazing Christmas! The kids didn't wake up until about 7:30 Christmas morning, I was the one who kept waking up all night looking at the clock to see if it was time to get up yet. On Christmas Eve we had our traditional Mexican dinner with my family. My dad and step-mom Karen were able to visit from Texas, it was nice to have them here. I absolutely loved seeing the kids' faces on Christmas morning, it was absolutely priceless. This was Marley's first big Christmas, we were so glad that we could make it fun for her. The only thing that I don't like about Christmas is that it comes and goes so fast. It seems like every year it gets busier and busier, and that makes it harder to feel the Christmas spirit. But as long as the kids have fun, I am happy.

My Sugar Plum Fairies

2008-12-24T12:08:00.005-07:00

Macey and Heidi had a magical night at The Nutcracker! The were mesmerized the entire 2 1/2 hours, and of course they were the most beautiful little ladies there. Here are some pictures of them getting ready and a couple at the ballet.

2008-12-22T14:49:00.001-07:00

Christmas with Rick and Doe

2008-12-22T14:09:00.003-07:00

We had Christmas with Rick and Doe on Sunday night (Scott's dad and step-mom), and we all had a great time. Scott's brother Tim and his fiancee Clover were able to come down from Flagstaff for the festivities. We had our traditional Christmas story reenactment, the girls love dressing up as angels and shepherds every year. The kids opened some presents, and I don't think I will ever forget the look on Marley's face when she opened up her first present, a little dog that moves and barks and has a little purse to carry it in. She was just so excited to have a special toy that is all hers, and she carried that little puppy around all night.

On Tuesday night, Macey and Heidi are going to The Nutcracker with Rick and Doe. They are so excited! We went and picked out beautiful Christmas dresses and shoes, and I cannot wait to get them all dolled up to go to their first ballet. I will definitely post pictures of them all dressed up.

Santa

2008-12-21T10:11:00.002-07:00

We took the kids to go see Santa last night, and we were quite a spectacle! Trying to manage 5 kids, 3 of who are 1 years old, in a line for 1 1/2 hours is probably more entertaining to watch than to do. I even saw a little boy counting our kids, and I thought, "We are one of THOSE families now! HAHAHA!" Of course Macey and Heidi were so excited to see Santa and tell him what they want for Christmas, but we weren't sure how the little ones would do. Jenna didn't cry, but she had a rather confused look on her face. Ryan and Marley wanted nothing to do with Santa, they were screaming! After they took the picture, everyone in the line clapped, it was hilarious.

White Christmas

2008-12-18T12:43:00.001-07:00

This is the most amazing version of White Christmas I have ever heard. It is sung by my older sister, the fabulous Summer Brighton.

I love Christmas!

2008-12-15T10:58:00.006-07:00

I cannot believe that it is almost Christmas! This year has gone by so fast. Scott took all 4 girls to get a Christmas tree yesterday while I stayed home with our little man because he wasn't feeling very good. We decorated it last night. I love doing this stuff with the girls, and I can't wait until the little ones are old enough to understand (and not pull the ornaments and lights off the tree!). My mom gave me the most beautiful ornaments I have ever seen. They are all different shapes (candy, bows, flowers, ice cream cones, berries, gingerbread houses) that look like they are dipped in sugar. Here are a couple pictures, although the camera doesn't do them justice.

And here are pictures of the tree hunting and decorating.

And of course, pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Back to school!

2008-12-09T11:39:00.002-07:00

I am finally going back to school tonight. I ended up taking 4 weeks off for my surgery and Scott's illness, it will be nice to get back. I miss my friends and giving facial treatments! I apologize to those of you who had to cancel or reschedule your appointments to do my absence, but I am back now, so let's get you in! I'm dying to do wonderful things for your skin!

Everything is great here. Everyone is feeling good, we had a good birthday party for Macey and Heidi on Saturday, and I am 29 now! I feel too young to be 29 and have 5 children. I know that 29 is young, but in a year I will be 30, and that is weird.

I cannot believe how good I feel with these hormone pellets. I haven't felt this "balanced" in a long time. No headaches, hot flashes, night sweats, and let me tell you, those testosterone pellets really make a difference! I will spare you any details, but I will say that Scott is a happy man. :)

Here are some pictures of the girls' birthdays, Thanksgiving, and the birthday party. Enjoy looking at all the cute faces!

Happy Birthday Heidi!

2008-12-06T18:38:00.004-07:00

I cannot believe that you are 5! It seems like yesterday that you were born, my only full-term, natural delivery. You were so little, 6 lbs 9 oz, with a full head of black hair. The nurses loved your hair so much, they fought over who got to give you your baths! You are such a sweet, smart, helpful little girl. I love your kisses, your back-pats, and the way you tell me at least 10 times a day that you love me. You are my buddy, my little Heidi-Bug. Daddy and I love you so much!

We have a diagnosis!

2008-12-02T12:42:00.002-07:00

Finally! We now know what Scott has been battling. He has Haemophilus Influenzae, which is a very rare bacterial infection that everyone is vaccinated for as infants (the Hib vaccine). It is often fatal, and probably would have been for Scott if he hadn't been vaccinated for it when he was a baby. Just another reason why you need to get your kids vaccinated! Luckily, they have had Scott on antibiotics that treat this infection for 5 days now. He is feeling so much better, and his oxygen saturations are starting to climb. The bottoms of both of his lungs are all crinkled up because he hasn't been able to take deep breaths for several weeks, so he just needs to work on taking deep breaths, and then everything will be good. I am so happy to know that he is going to be okay. Thank you a million times to everyone who has kept Scott in your thoughts and prayers, we appreciate you all so much. I can't wait to have my Scotty back home!

Scott

2008-11-30T14:58:00.002-07:00

Well, there really isn't much to update. His oxygen levels are still low. Yesterday they had him on 3 liters of oxygen, and his sats were around 92-93%. Today they had to bump him up to 6 liters, and his sats are staying around 87-88%. His pulse is around 100-110, which is still high but better than 130. We are still waiting for his bloodwork to come back. The test for Valley Fever should be back tomorrow. The doctor told us today though that most people who get Valley Fever don't get so sick so fast. So we feel like we are back at square one. If he isn't doing better tomorrow, they are going to biopsy his lungs. He is not looking forward to that, but it sure would be nice to have some idea of what he is fighting. The doctor also said that most patients with pneumonia, even patients that are in their 70's, if they even require hospitalization, are in and out of the hospital within 2 days. It just doesn't make any sense that a 30-year-old healthy man is having such a hard time keeping his oxygen levels up.

We have had so many people helping us and showing their love and support through all of this. My sister Summer and her family drove here from San Diego to stay with the kids, so I have been able to be with Scott all weekend. His mom and my mom have also been helping with the kids and the house. We have also had so many phone calls and some visits from Scott's friends and family, we feel really blessed to have such awesome people in our lives. Scott's friend Joe came by this morning and brought doughnuts and visited for a while. Thanks Joe, it was so nice to see you, and you made Scott's day.

I will get back on when we get a more clear answer to what is going on. Thanks again to everybody who has offered their services in any way. We couldn't do this without you!

Happy Birthday Macey!

2008-11-29T21:26:00.004-07:00

Seven years ago today you came into our lives, 6 weeks early and a tiny 4 lbs. 14 oz. You just couldn't wait to get started on all the fun things that life had in store for you. You are such a sweet girl, Daddy and I love you and appreciate you so much. You made us parents, and we will love you forever and ever. Happy Birthday sweet Macey, you are the best!

Update on Scott

2008-11-28T18:43:00.002-07:00

Well, Scott ended up in the ICU last night in Pinetop. His oxygen was really low, and his pulse was really high. His blood pressure was all over the place. When they did his chest x-ray and CAT scan last night, they saw something in his lungs that they couldn't identify. They did another chest x-ray this morning, and whatever he has in his lungs had increased dramatically. The doctor was very concerned because they couldn't identify what was going on and why it was getting so much worse so fast. He told us that there was a chance that Scott would have to be put on a ventilator by tonight or tomorrow if things got any worse. So they ended up airlifting him back down to the valley where there are more specialists. I got the kids and luggage loaded up and we drove home. He is still in ICU, but he is feeling a lot better. They were able to lower the amount of oxygen that they were giving him. They did another chest x-ray, and nothing had changed, which was good since it had gotten worse in such a short amount of time through the night. They still aren't sure exactly what is going on, they have to wait for several blood tests to come back, which could take several days. They decided to treat him for Valley Fever, in case that is what he has. He feels so much better, the high altitude was not good for him. I am just hanging out with him in his hospital room, enjoying some quiet time. Once we get some more answers I will update again.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T20:26:00.002-07:00

I hope that everyone had a great Turkey Day! We are in Pinetop for the weekend, and it is so beautiful. It snowed all day today, and Macey and Heidi were having the time of their lives making snow angels and catching snowflakes on their tongues. They would go play for a while, come in and warm up in front of the fire and take a warm bath, and then repeat the process. They did that all day. Marley, Ryan and Jenna enjoyed watching the snow fall from the window, but they weren't too interested in going out in it, which was fine with me because I am a huge wimp when it comes to cold weather.

Today I am thankful for so many things. My amazing husband, first of all. Not only is today Thanksgiving, but it is also the 10 year anniversary of the day we met. I never in a million years would have imagined that in 10 years from that night, we would have 5 kids! I am also so very thankful for my kids. Every one of them brings something different to my life, they are each so sweet and precious. I am so thankful that at Heidi's appointment with the surgeon yesterday, he didn't feel a mass. He ordered an ultrasound just to make sure, but the fact that he didn't feel anything is a very good thing and means that if there is something, it's not a tumor like our pediatrician was worried about.

But in true Jacobs fashion, there has to be some sort of health issue. This time it's my 2 men. Poor little Ryan's eardrum perforated a couple of days ago, so he is not feeling really well. And the day after my surgery, Scott got a cough that has progressively gotten worse over the last couple of weeks. He went to the doctor several days ago and they told him that he has bronchitis and viral pneumonia. They gave him several medications, but he has kept getting sicker and sicker. Today he started getting a fever and having a really hard time breathing, so we took him to the E.R., and his oxygen saturations were at 79%. They did a bunch of tests, an x-ray, and a CAT scan, but they still aren't sure what exactly is going on. They are thinking either pneumonia, a bacterial infection in his lungs, or valley fever. They admitted him into the hospital until they can figure out what is going on and get his oxygen saturations back up. He is on 12 liters of oxygen just to get him into the 90's. So we are stuck up here in Pinetop until they figure out what is going on, and then hopefully they will transfer him to a Phoenix hospital so that we can go home. Poor Scotty, he is so so sick. I have NEVER heard anyone cough harder than he has for the last couple of weeks.

We got some adorable pictures of Macey and Heidi playing in the snow, so I will upload those when we get home. I hope that everyone has a fabulous and relaxing weekend!

Twilight at Midnight

2008-11-22T10:20:00.003-07:00

We waited in line for 4 hours to see the premier of Twilight. Was it worth it? Oh yeah, baby. I was definitely hurting the next day, but I would do it again tonight! I was so impressed with the movie. It was so true to the book, and they fit almost everything in the 500 page book into a 2 hour movie. We went to Chandler Fashion Square, and they had 10 theaters showing Twilight at midnight. Every single one of those theaters was packed with die hard Twilight fans like us. It was fun to people-watch, some of those girls had the funniest homemade Twilight shirts on, like "Edward's a lover, not a biter", and stuff like that. I will definitely be seeing it in the theater several more times before it comes out on DVD, when I will buy it immediately. :)

On a more serious note, we need prayers for Heidi again. I took her to her annual check-up at the doctor yesterday, and our doctor found a mass in Heidi's abdomen. She isn't exactly sure what it could be, so she wanted her to get checked out by our pediatric surgeon as soon as possible. There is a chance that it is another hernia, but it is not in the normal spot for a hernia. We are going to the surgeon on Wednesday, so please keep sweet little Heidi in your prayers. Even if it is just another hernia, she will still have to have another surgery. I am about at the end of my rope. This year has been so hard, one medical thing after another. I am so scared, but I am trying to just be positive. I will let you know what the surgeon finds. I guess you could also pray that our family has a break from all of this stuff for a while, I think we have had our share.

FINALLY!!!

2008-11-20T12:49:00.004-07:00

I thought that this day would NEVER get here! Tonight at 12:01, I am going to see the first showing of Twilight! I am so excited, I can hardly contain myself. Carolyn, Melissa, and I are going to make a night of it (as much as my body can handle anyway), and do dinner, maybe a little shopping (I might have to rent a wheelchair!), and then the movie! I will let all you Twilight fans know how it is. :)

Catch-Up

2008-11-19T10:21:00.005-07:00

I have tons of pictures that I haven't been posting lately since I have been out of commission. I will try to get them all on here now!

I am feeling pretty good, I think that it is just going to take a while to get back to normal. Hopefully, better than normal! My normal lately has been pain, and I am so ready to be feeling like my old self again. I got my hormone pellets put in yesterday (my 10th incision!), and I am really excited to see how good I feel with them. I had zero night sweats last night, and I slept all the way through the night, so that's a great start! This might be TMI, but oh well. Since I have been having so much pain for so long, poor Scott has not been having his "needs" fulfilled as much as he would like. I was nervous that after I recovered from the surgery, I would have no sex drive anymore, because that is part of menopause. Well, when they put in the pellets, they put in 2 estrogen and 1 testosterone. The testosterone helps with energy and, yes, sex drive. Scott was teasing me, telling me to have 2 testosterone pellets put in. I told the doctor yesterday that he had said that, and she said, "If I put 2 in, you won't ever let him leave the house!" She also said that once the pellets start absorbing, it might be very difficult for me to "abstain" for the 6 weeks that I am supposed to after my surgery. So funny.

We have had so much help this last week. Scott was able to take last week off work, and he was going to take this week off too, but our families have stepped in and are helping a ton. My dad, mom, Aunt Tina, and mother-in-law are all helping out this week so that Scott can go to work. We have such an awesome families!

Cuddling

Not feeling well, watching Baby Signing Times

Little gymnast

Tricky Marley!

Backyard soccer

Here, let me give you a ride!

Silly Heidi

He is a pro, unfortunately

This might be innapropriate, but have you ever seen tinier buns?

Handsome boy

Princess Marley

Here are the post-surgery pictures of my bruised, swollen, incision-riddled stomach:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a383/sajacobs1/cid__1115081635.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a383/sajacobs1/cid__1115081634.jpg

Ugh

2008-11-14T09:24:00.002-07:00

I had to go back and re-read what I wrote in my last post, those morphine pumps will mess you up! At first I didn't even remember that I had posted from the hospital, and then I got on here and saw it. I was impressed that I could even spell and make sense! So obviously, I am home now. I came home earlier than I probably should have. It wasn't until the second day in the hospital that I realized that I had been put on the post-partum floor. I don't care how many kids you have, for someone who is 28 years old, has had a hysterectomy, and just had surgery to remove every other reproductive organ they have and be put into immediate menopause, the last thing you want is to hear adorable, precious newborn babies all day. I was livid. I was emotional from the intense pain, emotional from the physical loss I had just had, and my body was adjusting to having zero hormones. I asked my nurse why they had put me on that floor, and she told me that they didn't have any beds available on the med/surg floors, so I got put there. She also told me that several of the nurses and a couple of doctors who knew my situation were very upset about it as well, and had talked to the hospital administration about it. I was crying about it, and my nurse called my doctor, who gave her a verbal discharge order. It was probably the fastest hospital discharge in history.
I think that I am doing pretty good emotionally. I have started hormone replacement therapy, and that is helping. I am doing the patch right now, but I am going to be doing what they call balance hormone pellets. They make a little incision in your hip and put in 3 little hormone pellets. This is nice because you get an even disbursement of hormones every day instead of the surges you get on oral hormones. You also only have to do it every 3-6 months, so you don't have to worry about taking a pill every day. Man, things I never thought I would have to worry about at 28-years-old.
As I said in my last post, they had to make 5 incisions to get the robot in and get everything done. One is in my belly button, and they other 4 are just below my rib cage, 2 on each side. They look pretty gruesome. My whole torso is so swollen, it is crazy. I was so glad that they found all of the things that they did, because that explains why I have been having so much pain. I knew that they would find cysts on my ovaries, because I have had those since I was a teenager. We suspected endometriosis, but they were surprised at how much I had since they had removed the endometriosis that they found when they did my hysterectomy. It's pretty unusual to have that much endometriosis when you don't even have a uterus, so they asked for my permission to use the tissue they removed for research. With all of the surgeries and pregnancies I have had, it was no surprise at all to have found adhesions. What was a surprise was that my bladder was totally and completely adhered to my cervix. They also found something else that they couldn't identify, so they removed it and sent it to the lab. I am really optimistic that after I recover from this surgery, I will be feeling so good and normal again. Hallelujah!
Scott has been an absolute angel. He helps me out of bed, helps me get up from the couch, brings me my pain meds on time, he is just the sweetest husband ever. If I am in bed and I need something, I just send him a text message (he calls it his "slave bell"), and he brings it to me. And he is taking care of all 5 kids, driving Macey and Heidi to and from school, keeping up the house, and cooking. He is awesome and I am lucky to have him.
I will be back at school on December 2nd, so call and schedule your appointments for that week. If you haven't been in yet, you have to come in for your complimentary facial! Just call the school at 480-964-7546 to schedule an appointment with me.

Update On Me

2008-11-12T08:39:00.003-07:00

Sorry for the rant, but I have to get this out. I must also warn you that I am on a morphine pump, so please don't hold me accountable for any nonsense I might type.

Ugh. I do not like hospitals. I don't understand why 101 people have to come in your room 27 times each in the middle of the night. It makes it so much harder to start feeling better when you aren't getting any sleep. And why do they make you get up and walk around at 4:00am? They seriously can't wait 3 or 4 more hours?

Okay, I'm done. My surgeon, Dr. Hibner, had warned me that there was a pretty good risk of tearing my intestines or some other abdominal organs because I had so many adhesions that were making everything stick together in there, and they were going to have to "peel" all the organs apart from each other (gross, I know). Luckily, Dr. Hibner is amazing and there were no major complications. The surgery was done with a robot. Dr. Hibner sat at a control table and "performed" my surgery while sitting several feet away from me. Pretty cool. I have 5 (yes, 5) new incisions on my abdomen. He found a bunch of adhesions, and my bladder was completely fused to my cervix. He also found several ovarian cysts and a good amount of endometriosis. He was able to clean all of that up, and then he removed my cervix and ovaries. The surgery took almost 4 hours! With robotic surgery they have you laying at an angle where you head is much lower than your feet, so my face is nice and swollen from laying like that for 4 hours.

Everything is going well except for the fact that my oxygen levels keep dropping. No one is really sure why, but I'm not short of breath or anything like that so I'm not worried. Before I can go home I have to be up and walking around, eating solid food, be off the morphine pump and on oral pain meds, and obviously keeping my oxygen levels up. Sounds like a lot of work, but I'm going to try really hard to get it all done so that I can go home. Thank you for all of the emails, phone calls, texts, and comments on Facebook! I will let everyone know when I am getting out of this stinkin' hospital.

Jake

2008-11-07T11:09:00.003-07:00

I have had several people asking how Jake is doing, so here's an update. He is getting so big! He is the sweetest puppy ever, he doesn't realize how big he is and he still wants to sit on everyone's lap. He is 4 1/2 months now. Here are some pictures of my 6th beautiful baby.

Kids are so smart!

2008-11-06T15:44:00.003-07:00

Something To Be Thankful For

2008-11-05T18:20:00.003-07:00

It's almost Thanksgiving, and I have been thinking about the many things that I am thankful for. Today we received some news that made me realize just how many blessings I have and how thankful I am for my children. Heidi had her appointment at the pediatric cardiologist today to check her little heart defect. They did an echocardiogram (ultrasound of her heart), and they were able to give us the incredible news that the hole in Heidi's heart has closed! I started crying when they told us, I have been so nervous for this appointment. She still has an enlarged aorta, but it is not big enough to cause any problems as of now, so they will just keep their eye on it and see what it does. I said to Heidi, "I am so glad that the hole closed!" And she said, "It's because I talked to God." Wow. What an amazing little girl she is.
I also had my pre-op today (I was in the car all day long). My doctor and I decided that he will not only remove my cervix, but my ovaries as well. I don't want to go through anymore surgeries after this, so we figured as long as he was in there he would just do it all. I am excited to not have to deal with ovarian cysts every month, but I am not excited to be in immediate menopause. I am trying to decide if I am going to take hormone replacement therapy or not, there are positives and negatives either way. My surgery is on Tuesday, and I'm not sure how long I will be in the hospital, but I will update as soon as I can. There are many risks to this surgery since I have so many adhesions and tons of scar tissue, so please pray that everything goes smoothly.

Trick-Or-Treat!

2008-11-01T09:15:00.010-07:00

We had Hannah Montana, Barbie Mermaid, Elmo, and two octopi at our home last night. They all had so much fun, Marley wasn't too sure about the idea of putting her candy in her bucket at first, she wanted to hold all the candy in her hand and hold the bucket in the other hand. She got the idea eventually and was so excited to get some candy! The twins rode in style in their wagon, eating Dum Dums and looking cute. We went out with a group of friends, so Macey and Heidi had some kids their age to hang out with. It was really cute when Macey would see friends from school, I don't get to see how she interacts with them when she is at school. She seems to be pretty popular!

Getting ready to go!

Can't we just go already?!

Isn't there supposed to be something in here?

Heidi, Faith, and Macey

Little Blake

And here are just some random pictures from the last week. Ryan likes to put everything on his head. In the first picture he has Jenna's little pants on his head. The second picture is mac 'n cheese.

Daddy's little helper (Scott was in heaven!).

This is my nephew Jayden. Isn't this one of the cutest things you have ever seen?! Look at how tiny the violin is!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T08:36:00.001-07:00

Pictures of the most adorable trick-or-treaters in the universe to come soon....

Disneyland Pics

2008-10-23T11:26:00.003-07:00

Here are the pics from Macey and Heidi's trip to Disneyland! Look at their precious smiles! They were definitely the most beautiful girls in the whole park.

Vote for Ryan and Jenna!

2008-10-21T10:24:00.002-07:00

If you would, please vote for the twinsies! They are the ones in the adorable pink and blue octopus costumes. http://www.azcentral.com/momslikeme/index.html

I've been tagged

2008-10-20T19:04:00.002-07:00

This one is from Megan in Florida.

10 Years Ago (Oct. 1998):
1. I was getting ready to move back to AZ from CA
2. I had graduated from high school the previous May
3. I was 1 month away from meeting Scott
4. I was driving my mom to an early grave with the people I was hanging out with (sorry Mom!)
5. I was probably sick because for some strange reason I am sick on every Halloween

5 Things on Today's "To Do" List:
1. Keep my sanity
2. Take Heidi to school
3. Pick up Macey from school
4. Try to get the 3 little ones to nap at the same time (Success!)
5. Get some homework done

5 Things that I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Pay off all our debt
2. Invest
3. College funds/retirement
4. Travel
5. SHOP!!!

5 Places I have lived:
1. Springfield, VA
2. Highland, CA
3. Altus, OK
4. Gilbert/Mesa, AZ
5. Sacramento, CA

5 Jobs I have had:
1. Banner Desert Medical Center
2. Cornerstone Pediatric Urgent Care
3. Body Sculpting Center
4. University OB/GYN
5. East Valley OB/GYN

I tag whoever wants to be tagged!

W-O-W

2008-10-20T18:27:00.005-07:00

Here's the table shot for you Megan!

Ryan loves pushing Marley around in this doll stroller.

Heidi's new haircut.

Supermodel. It looks like a photo from a magazine! Have you ever seen longer eyelashes?

The best big sister in the whole wide world. She is so amazing, I love my little Macey so much and I am so proud to be her Mom.

As you can see from these pictures, we have a very full house! I didn't think that life could get any busier, but I was mistaken. It's definitely busier, but Marley is just so stinkin' sweet that it makes it worth it. She is so snuggly and just loves the other kids. They play all day long, and the younger three are all napping at the same time! God must have known I needed to clean up and start dinner, so he sent down three heavenly sedatives that landed on Marley, Ryan, and Jenna at 11:00 this morning. We absolutely love having Marley here, she brings even more love, sweetness, and joy (and pink!) into our home.

Table for seven, please

2008-10-17T12:19:00.003-07:00

We are getting a new kitchen table to fit our ever expanding family, and our much used table for a family of four needs a new home! If you want it, it's yours. It is counter-height, 4 chairs, and has dark wood. This table has been used as an eating table, craft table, homework table, etc, and it shows signs of its multipurposeness (I made that word up myself). It would be a great table for a play room or game room. Let me know if you want it! :)

Ramblings

2008-10-15T20:46:00.004-07:00

I got out of Jury Duty today! I was so glad. The recording last night said to call today at 11:00 to see if I needed to report. So at 11:00 I called, and they said I had to report at the downtown courthouse at 1:00. What?! That gave me 2 hours to get ready, get Scott home or find a sitter, and drive to downtown Phoenix. So I called the courthouse and talked to the sweetest woman in the world, my new best friend, who told me that now stay-at-home moms can be excused from Jury Duty!
We are almost all ready for Halloween. Scott still needs to put decorations up, but all of the kids have costumes, and I have the night off of school. I can't wait to see the twins walking up to the door in their little octopus costumes holding little candy buckets (for me, of course). I might die of their cuteness. Macey is going to be Hannah Montana and Heidi is Barbie Mermaid. Their birthdays are coming up in a couple of months, so we are starting to plan their party, and let me tell you, it is going to be fun!
We have a couple busy and interesting months ahead of us. Heidi has an appointment in November with her cardiologist to check on her heart defect. I am really feeling like everything is going to be okay. But keep her in your prayers anyway! My surgery (hopefully my final one) is November 11th. It's at St. Joe's, which sucks because it's so far away, but that is where the specialists are. I am not looking forward to that recovery, but hopefully I will be feeling a lot better once I get through it.
And finally, we have a little announcement. I'll give you some clues. It wears diapers. It sleeps in a crib. It wears pink and has adorable dimples and curly hair. Can you guess it? Well, considering I don't have my uterus anymore, you are probably pretty confused, so let me help you out. We are getting custody of my sweet little niece Marley who will be 2 in January. We had a home visit with CPS last night so they could check out our house, and we have a meeting with CPS and the judge Friday morning. So it shouldn't be too long before we have another sweet little girl in our home! We know that it will not be easy, but we never considered not taking her. We have a structured, stable home, and Scott and I have an amazing relationship, I know that we will be able to handle it. Life will be crazy, but I wouldn't want things any other way.

Skin Care Tip of the Week

2008-10-15T09:18:00.002-07:00

Do you have sensitive skin? If your skin gets red easily, or you have a hard time finding products that don't irritate your skin, you might have sensitive skin. The best type of cleanser for you to use would be a creamy cleanser. Foaming cleansers have lathering ingredients that are known to irritate sensitive skin. Also, any fragrances in your products can make the sensitivity worse. Using mineral make-ups and fragrance-free products will make a big difference. Jane Iredale is a mineral make-up that is amazing and will not cause breakouts or irritation.

Cute Pictures

2008-10-13T08:17:00.006-07:00

Here are more adorable pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Jake's favorite resting spot:

I can't remember what he was upset about, but he looks so cute:

Ryan and Jenna in their new jammies. They are so cute!

Ryan is taking something from Jenna (like usual), look at her face!

HAHA! I got it back!

This isn't great picture quality, but you can see how big Jake is getting:

Jake always "sits" on my lap when I am on the floor, but since I was busy taking pictures, he decided that Jenna's lap was just as good. I don't think Jenna thought so:

Macey and Heidi have been at Disneyland and California Adventures all weekend, and they have been having a blast! Scott's parents bought them Disney Princess dresses to wear to Disneyland, so they have been walking around with those dresses and tattooed arms all week! Priceless! Macey even went on Space Mountain. Princess dress, half-sleeve, Space Mountain. My kids rock. Hopefully I will have a slide-show up soon of their weekend. I miss them so much, I cannot wait to see them tonight.

Belly Laughs

2008-10-11T13:50:00.001-07:00

Oh, the crazy things we do to make babies laugh.

Skin Care Tip of the Week

2008-10-08T09:08:00.002-07:00

It takes 90 days for a blemish to reach the surface of the skin, and another 90 days for it to heal if it has been "picked" at. When you pick or pop your blemishes, it causes infection to infiltrate the surrounding tissues, and your body treats it as it does any other wound. Picking your blemishes can also cause post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, which is a dark that is hard to get rid of. So don't pick your face! If you have blemishes that you just cannot keep your hands off of, see an esthetician (ME!!!) who can extract them the correct way without causing infection.

I am having so much fun doing treatments on my friends and family! If you are unsure that you want to come in for facial treatments, keep in mind that I can also do airbrush tanning, eyelash perming, eyelash and eyebrow tinting, back treatments, make-up application, and waxing. There are tons of fun options, and I know that a lot of you ladies deserve to be pampered. Email (sajacobs1@cox.net) or call me if you want more info.

Disneyland!!!

2008-10-07T10:48:00.003-07:00

Macey and Heidi are on fall break this week, so Scott's dad and step-mom are taking them to Disneyland for four days. The last time we went Heidi was only 2, so she doesn't really remember it. Here is a video of them reacting to the news that they are going to Disneyland.

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous! We have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather and no school this week by playing outside as much as possible. The girls still love to ride their quads around, and Scott and I can't help but enjoy them too.

Our neighbor Dallas loves the twins and likes to give them rides in her Jeep.

I don't know about you, but I would do just about anything to have my kids play with my hair. It feels so good! Last night I wasn't feeling very good, so Macey gave me a "face massage", foot massage, and neck massage, and Heidi did my hair. He are some pictures of Heidi's finished masterpiece.

Skin Care Tip of the Week

2008-10-03T10:25:00.002-07:00

I'm a little late on this, sorry. It's been a crazy week! Like I posted before, Ryan fell out of his crib and then Jenna's ear drum ruptured from an ear infection that she had absolutely zero symptoms from. Poor baby, she was suffering in silence without even a fever.

Do you know what the A, B, and C stand for in UVA, UVB, and UVC? A stands for aging, B stands for burning, and C stands for cancer. It is very important to wear a broad spectrum sunscreen that will protect you from the different UV rays. In a lot of tanning salons, they will tell you that their beds emit mostly UVB rays, so you won't burn as easy. But you will be subjected to a lot of UVA rays, so if you tan in tanning beds, wear a tanning lotion that has a sunscreen in it to protect your skin from those damaging and pesky UVA rays.

It is sometimes hard to find a sunscreen for your face that is not greasy. I have two sunscreens from the Image line that are awesome! One is oil-free, and the other is organic. If you are interested in either of these, let me know. They are really great products, and they don't feel oily under my make-up.

Thank you to everyone who has come in and gotten treatments from me! It is amazing how much your skin can heal from just one treatment. I can't wait to see what we can do for your beautiful faces.

Baby Jail

2008-09-30T10:14:00.005-07:00

Our little monkey boy Ryan gave us quite a scare yesterday when he climbed out of his crib and landed on his head. He's doing better today, but now he knows that he can get out! We bought a crib tent to put on his crib, and it is so funny. He looks like a little inmate.

I know that I have been lacking in the picture department lately, so here are some cute random pics of the kiddos.
Jenna eating a peach

Up to no good in the pantry

Sweet Macey

My Dad and Big Jake

Macey loves her babies!

Scott and Ryan

My little cupcake

Sweetest girl in the world. She does this new thing now when she really loves someone, she pats them on the back. We call it the "Heidi Back-Pat", and you are really special if you get one.

I know it's not nice to take pictures of babies when they are sad, but he has such a cute sad face. He was really upset because Scott, Macey, and Heidi went to the store and he didn't get to go. Look at his face; his soul hurt!

Twilight

2008-09-30T09:15:00.002-07:00

I am obsessed. I never knew that I could get so emotionally involved with a fictional book, but I cannot think about anything else! I read all 4 books in the Twilight Saga in 7 days! That's 2,444 pages total. Needless to say, my house is a disaster and I have a pile of laundry 20 feet high, but I don't care. It was worth it. I am begging you all to read these books! People kept telling me to read them, but I kept putting it off because I didn't want to read books about vampires, I'm not really into that kind of stuff. I can't believe that I waited so long. It is such a beautiful love story full of suspense and excitement, I am getting ready to read them again. (Of course, I need to get my house in order first.) And do you know where I will be at midnight on November 21st? Waiting in line to see Twilight The Movie!