Happy Birthday, Lucy!

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's a . . .

 Mini-Michael!

 I can really see Mike in her in these pictures. 

 

 Especially this one:

 

I think we can all agree he can stop claiming she's not his now, right?

The Worst Wife Ever

I may be the worst wife ever. 

Back in November, I heard that Kristin Chenoweth would be coming in concert for New Year's Eve. 

For those who don't know who Kristin is (you must be living under a rock, but okay, I'll still tell you), she was the original Glinda in Wicked in 2003, but I've been a huge fan of hers since she made her Broadway debut in 1997's Steel Pier. 

She's just amazing.  I own every ablum she's ever recorded (4 solo albums, not to mention original cast recordings). 

Needless to say, I was dying to see her show.  Dying. 

So much so, that I may have told Mike that if he didn't get me tickets for Christmas, I would be serving him with divorce papers the next day. And he knew I could (I know people). 

I know!  I'm the worst wife ever!  (Let the judging begin.)

I wasn't really serious, but that's how bad I wanted to go! 

Keep in mind this was back in November. 

All through December, leading up to Christmas, I badgered Mike with my request.  Every time he would ask me what I wanted for Christmas, I would say, "to go see Kristin."  And he would laugh and tell me it wasn't going to happen.  I secretly hoped that he was kidding. 

Then the show sold out. 

Crap.  Now what?!  What if he really didn't get tickets?!  I told myself it wasn't really a big deal and I would still live even if I didn't get to see the most talented person that I idolize perform live. 

Well, come Christmas morning, Mike handed me an envelope to open.

And my mom and sister said that I burst their eardrums with my scream. 

Turns out, he had bought the tickets back in November. 

Yes, he had taken all that flack from me for more than a month, just to surprise me on Christmas. 

And I felt horrible for the threats I had made.  (I know, I know!  I'm the worst wife!  But that's okay, because I have a great husband who makes up for it (suck up much?).) 

New Year's Eve finally came and we headed up to The Eccles Center in Park City.  (A side note: I prayed and prayed that it wouldn't snow that day, because if you know me, my biggest fear is being in the car in the snow.  I was so worried that we would have to miss Kristin because we wouldn't be able to drive up the canyon.  It snowed the morning of New Year's Eve, but by the time we left, the roads were mostly snow-free.) 

This is us, waiting for the show to start (Mike refused to turn around for the picture). 

I cannot even tell you how great the concert was!  Kristin looked absolutely beautiful! 

 

Mike was surprised that I was a "wahoo" girl.  I even toned it down because I didn't want to embarrass him, but had I really "wahoo-ed," I would have been without a voice the next day. 

 

And even Mike had to agree that Kristin puts on a great show.  She really knows how to connect with her audience. 

 

(Another side note:  To the people of Utah:  REALLY?  You're going to a concert on New Year's Eve.  Yes, it's 2 degrees outside.  But do we have to dress in jeans and Ugg boots?!  (Kristin even commented on how "casual" some people were dressed, but she was kind and said it worked.)  I seriously do not understand this.  Why do some people think it's okay to dress like that for the theater?!  (Ask Mike, my biggest pet peeve is people who don't dress up to go the the theater.)  UGH!) 

 

(Another, another side note:  At one point, Kristin invited 2 people on stage with her to sing "For Good" from Wicked.  We were sitting too far back for me to be picked (bummer).  One of the girls (who said she was 14) was wearing a dress that barely covered anything and NO tights.  BARE legs.  Remember, it's 2 degrees outside.  She wants to dress like a hooch, fine, that's her decision, but WHERE IS HER MOTHER TO AT LEAST MAKE HER WEAR A COAT IN THE FREEZING COLD WEATHER???????   (We saw her walk into the theater, and she, and her two other bare-legged hoochie friends, were not wearing coats.)  If Lucy ever walks out of the house like that . . . no . . . Lucy will never walk out of the house like that.  Period.) 

 

Anyway, it was so much fun and Mike is the best husband ever for indulging me and putting up with my screaming that night. 

 

I know. 

 

I owe him big. 

 

Huge. 

 

Mega-huge.   

The Problem With My Generation . . .

This past weekend I was unfortunate to witness the growing problem with my generation and peek into the future (and be utterly dismayed) at what the world is coming to. 

 

At our annual Ward Christmas Breakfast, one of the best ladies in our ward stepped up to the microphone and proceeded to discuss the tragedy that occurred in Newtown the previous day.  She was holding back tears (and me too) as she read a letter her sister had written asking for letters, pictures, donations, anything to reach out to the families of the tragedy and show them love, kindness and support. 

 

And I could barely hear her.

 

Not because the microphone wasn't working or she wasn't speaking loud enough. 

 

But because parents were letting their children run all over the gym, yelling, screaming and  completely disrespecting what was going on around them. 

 

Now, I'm not saying that I'm in any way a perfect parent (believe me, I KNOW I'm not perfect when it comes to Lucy, as it's been pointed out to me on several occasions), but when I was a kid there was NO WAY my parents would've let me run around and be noisy while there was a program going on. 

 

Why does this happen then?

 

Because parents today simply don't care. 

 

My generation feels that they are entitled to anything and that their kids are special and deserve to do whatever they want.

 

In short, we're spoiled rotten. 

 

Which, in short, is making our kids spoiled rotten. 

 

Entitled, entitled, entitled! 

 

We are so afraid of hurting our children's feelings and being their friend that we don't realize we are depriving them of the most essential parts of growing up, which, at times, includes disappointment. 

 

It's like that saying that I've read somewhere (probably Pinterest) that says "I'd rather raise a kid who knows what losing feels like, than a kid who gets a trophy for simply participating." (Or something like that.) 

 

Frankly, I'm scared to death that I'll be the same way and give in completely to whatever Lucy wants (at times, I already do, but only because she's 1, and I pick my battles with her).  But if I ever see her being disrespectful in a sacred situation, you can bet she'll get what for!  

 

Now, there are those out there who probably disagree with me (good thing only 2 people read this blog), but I don't care.  There are few things that I'll stand on a soap box for, and this is definitely one of them.  Kids need discipline!  But so do parents. 

 

I weep for the future. 

 

And now a picture to brighten your day:

Update on Lucy's JIA

Yesterday, Lucy had a follow-up appointment at Primary Children's regarding her JIA. 

She loved the toys in the waiting room. 

What she didn't love was the poking, the prodding, and the stretching that the doctors did to her. 

It has been determined that Lucy's JIA is not getting any better with the treatment she is on and we must move to the next step. 

So, on November 5th, Lucy will be put under complete anesthesia and given injections into both her knees and her left ankle (oh yeah, it's spread to her ankle now). 

 

I had thought that Lucy was getting better.  She was walking a little bit more than she had before we started treatment.  But, once the doctors watched her walk, they told me she must be in a lot of pain. 

 

They say that this treatment will really help her and she should be pain-free for 6-12 months  (or maybe longer!).  Which would make her even happier (a happier Lucy?!  Not possible!) 

We just really hope and pray that it works!

In happier news, we were blessed with a new great-niece and a great-nephew this past week.  Congratulations to Ashley and Rusty on Baby Claire and to Chris and Kelli on Baby Tyler!

Lucy The Limper

"Your daughter has Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis." 

 

What?!

 

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. 

 

Juvenile = child.

 

Idiopathic = unknown.

 

Arthritis = the reason my beautiful 16-month-old, who literally ran before she started walking, can't walk anymore. 

 

Lucy has been limping around for about 6 weeks now, so, after being seen by doctors, x-rayed (fun), and poked and prodded with needles (more fun), they have determined that she has Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA).  (Don't look it up on Wikipedia, it will only scare the beejeeus out of you.)  We originally thought it was just her right knee, but it turns out, it's both.  And we have to keep a close eye on her, as it could still spread to her other joints.  But we caught it early, so the probability of it causing permanent joint damage is minimal. 

 

So, besides the fact that my beautiful little girl will always have this condition (although symptoms after treatment may recede and become dormant until she reaches puberty (we're really hoping and praying for that)), she will have to have eye exams every 3 months for the rest of her life, because JIA can cause eye swelling and blindness. 

 

Turns out this is a pretty rare disease.  Only 80-90 children in 100,000 are diagnosed with JIA. 

 

We've started her on prescriptions to manage the pain and swelling, so hopefully, we can resolve her problems with those, otherwise more drastic measures will have to be taken. 

 

With treatment, the doctors have assured me that she can still lead a normal life, it's just a matter of finding what treatments work for her. 

 

So . . . even though this is not an ideal situation, it could be much worse.  (The words "cancer" and "leukemia" were thrown around at first.  And the word "heart-attack" could have been applied to me.) 

 

Through all this Lucy is still our smiling, happy girl. 

Lucy has learned to smile for the camera: