Resigned to Day-Trips

I really should have taken a hint from our last visit to Logan. After a 1:00 a.m. wheeling of cribs to other bedrooms so everyone could get some sleep, I should have known better.

But no. I thought things would be different this time (don't ask me why...) Well they were different - much WORSE!!!!

Here's a general timeline of our night last night:

7:30 p.m. Baths
8:00 p.m. Bed (I thought sticking to our normal routine would encourage the girls to just go to sleep, and all would be well....)
8:30 p.m. Both girls are still wide awake and pretty cheesed that they are still in bed (i.e. they were both screaming)
9:00 p.m. So Tessa can get to sleep, Lily is hauled off for a regrouping, and an ice cream cone (talk about rewarding the bad behavior!)
9:30 p.m. Back home, Lily has been drilled on what is happening next - BED - but resisting mightily
10:00 p.m. Lily is still running around
10:30 p.m. Lily FINALLY decides she's ready for bed
11:00 p.m. Wow and I crash

Now at this point, I would have been fine, but my Tess has been a very light sleeper. Every time Lily rolled over, Tess would break into sobs and wails. I got up a few times and got her to fall back asleep, but by 2:00 a.m., she was done. I took Tess and we went downstairs. All the lights were on, and my brother-in-law was asleep on the couch. I booted him upstairs, and a few minutes later, I heard Benji start crying.

2:30 a.m. Benji is still crying and he and Mary join Tess and I in the living room
3:00 a.m. Benji is convinced it is play time and Mary ends up taking him for a drive to see if she can get him to sleep
3:02 a.m. Lily wakes up screaming
3:10 a.m. Seuao and Lily show up in the living room
3:45 a.m. Lily is still awake, but decides that her bed upstairs would be better, so and and I go upstairs while Tessa and Wow hold the fort down in the living room
5:00 a.m. Mary returns - Benji is still awake!
6:00 a.m. Lily wakes back up, ready for her day!

It was a long long long long long long long long long long night.......

Seriously - I don't know if we can do overnighters in Logan anymore! I don't know what to do! Any advice? Anyone? Anyone???

Ahem... Chips off the old block?

From: Dad
Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 10:03 AM
To: Rachael; Mary; Rebecca; Lexy; Renee; David; Allen; Sarah
Subject: Memorial Day weekend

All,

Since Mom seems to be persuaded that I have already made some sort of formal invitation to you all for this weekend, herewith the reiteration of my heretofore orally transmitted proclamation:

Whereas, this is, upcoming, a 3-day holiday weekend; and

Whereas, at least some of you [read: Sarah] get Monday off; and

Whereas, the recently-acquired and large barbecue awaits its inaugural firing up of the season; and

Whereas, 4 'blockbuster' movies will be playing; and

Whereas, the weather is supposed to be nice;

Now, therefore, any of you all who can find your way home to Logan this weekend may expect to find said alleged barbecue, 'blockbuster' movies, and/or other various & sundry delights on the ticket, mostly on the parents' tab,all for the mere asking price of a little help in getting the garden in and planted in the process.

Further your affiant saith naught.

Love,
Dad

-----------------------------------------------

The funniest part about all of this were the responses:

From: Rachael
Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 10:06 AM
To: Dad; Mary; Rebecca; Lexy; Renee; David; Allen; Sarah
Subject: Re: Memorial Day weekend

Love it!

We're in!

Uh, I mean:

Whereas, I [read: Niusulu female parental unit{long-running inside family joke}] hereby respond in the affirmative, and assert my influence in persuading the other Niusulu familial units in participating in the aforementioned activities.

-----------------------------------------------

From: Mary
Sent: Wed, 20 May 2009 10:49:16
To: Rachael; Dad; Rebecca; Lexy; Mom; Sarah; David
Subject: Re: Memorial Day weekend

Upon the successful resolution of numerous contingencies, the undersigned will be equipped to corroborate said alleged request.

Regards,
Mary, et al.

-----------------------------------------------

From: David
Sent: Wed, 20 May 2009 10:59
To: Mary; Rachael; Dad; Rebecca; Lexy; Mom; Sarah
Subject: Re: Memorial Day weekend

dur, me like food... logan good....movie fun...garden sux

How's that!

-----------------------------------------------

From: Rebecca
To: Dad; Mom; Rachael; Mary; Allen; David; Lexy; Sarah; Lance
Date: Thu, May 21, 2009 at 7:52 AM
Subject: Re: Memorial Day weekend

Whereas, as a self-alleged instigator of said rumors; and

Whereas, oral transmittance of alleged barbeque and movie delights are binding within the Nolan household; and

Whereas, the familial unit of Nolan-dom is in want for furtherance of bondance,

The Sortors kindly acquiesce to your generous invitation.

Addendum A- Lance is planning on doing some camping this weekend, so there might not be as much Lance/ Ella action.

Addendum B- Pulling the proverbial “pregnancy card” on the “little help in getting the garden in and planted” tid-bit (I tend to concur with Dave’s profound “garden sux”), but am happy to help wrangle los kiddos!

:D

Love y’all!

-----------------------------------------------

From: Lexy
To: Rebecca; Dad; Mom; Rachael; Mary; Allen; David; Sarah; Lance
Date: Thu, May 21, 2009 at 9:15 AM
Subject: RE: Memorial Day weekend

Okay so Dave is the only one that speaks my language. SO what Dave said...Except for garden sux part, thta is what I am excited for! I love that part.

Anyways I am not going to try and sound sophisticated. sorry guys.

You become what you married.

haha

lex

-----------------------------------------------

Seriously, have you ever seen a bigger bunch of nerds??? The funniest part is how hilarious we all thought we were!

Maybe we spend a little TOO much time together!

Wish Me Luck!!!

After years of complaining about my dusty blinds and dirty baseboards (and we won't even talk about the bathrooms...) I have finally decided to take some time off work and just GET IT DONE!!

I'm going to spend all day tomorrow purging - tossing everything that I don't use and/or LOVE and reclaiming my house back! Then Friday will be the big scrub-down.

I'm tired just thinking about it, but it MUST be done.

Enough is enough!

Mom

When we found out my mom had a brain tumor a little over a month ago, I didn’t really know what to think. There were so many questions, so many variables, so many unknowns.

As she went to the specialists and the picture became clearer, the reality of the situation set in. It seemed that the more information we had, the more nervous I became. I tried not to let my mind wander into the “unthinkable” zone, but it did. Frequently.

No one talked about it. None of us questioned the “what if?”

My heart wouldn’t let it go.

I kept trying to brush it aside. Trying to be strong for her, but mostly for me. Trying to pretend it wasn’t bothering me, but it was…

On Easter weekend as all the kids were egg-hunting and the family was together, Sarah started taking pictures of Mom with each of the grand kids. My mind went there again… I finally asked Mary (arguably the most level-headed when it comes to medical stuff) if she was worried. She confided that she was. She said there are just so many things that can go wrong. It’s just scary.

Later that evening my Dad gave Mom a blessing in preparation for her surgery the following week. I did feel a glimmer of peace, but my fears were deep rooted, and I wasn’t ready to let go of them quite yet.

I went to the hospital early Wednesday morning to wait with Granny and Mary. Mary works directly with the surgeons there, and had coordinated the “A” Team to take care of our Mom. I knew she was in good hands, but the thought of people, humans, poking, prodding, snipping and generally messing with her BRAIN is scary! We waited and waited.

When the surgeon came out and told us it was he was very happy with how things went, I felt such an enormous wave of relief. He said the tumor was the size of a very large walnut. It wasn’t the biggest one he had ever seen, but it was quite big. It had wrapped itself around her carotid artery, and they physically couldn’t remove the part that had wrapped around with the instrumentation they had, but there was such a small portion left, and they will monitor it closely with MRIs and can treat with radiation if needed down the road. He said the part of the tumor that was compressing her optic nerve and causing her to lose so much of her vision was gone, and she should have significant improvement in that respect much sooner rather than later. Of course the one of the biggest challenges she will have will be regulating her hormones again. It will take some trial and error and TIME to get things rolling smoothly, but words can’t describe how relieved I was knowing this stranger living in my mom’s brain has been evicted!

When the surgeon left, my sweet Granny burst into tears. (We are cut from the same cloth when it comes to worrying!) The relief she felt just overwhelmed her! Unfortunately that’s right when my dad walked into the waiting room! Poor Dad! It’s amazing how fast your mind can race through a million scenarios, and I could see them all on his face. He had to turn around for a minute until we called him over and told him the news. We all had silent prayers of gratitude in our hearts.

Mom spent a few days in ICU, then a few more a couple floors up. I was able to go see her most days and brought the girls in to visit towards the end. She was able to go home four days after the surgery, and is really doing quite well! Her vision did improve greatly within just a day or two, and although the “brain meds” are still being sorted out, hearing her happy voice on the phone again is truly a blessing.

So now, especially on Mother’s Day, I have so much to be grateful for. Against all odds, really, my Mom is still here. There have been so many times Heavenly Father could have taken her, but I’m convinced there is more for her to do!

I keep thinking of a quote I heard about a month ago during General Conference:

“The future is as bright as your faith.”

I never “lost” faith, and in my mind, I knew everything would be fine, no matter the outcome. But remembering that through our own faith, we can determine, in effect, our futures is what I'm realizing. No, we can’t control events, but we can look within ourselves and chart our attitudes and outlook on these things.

I am excited for the future and what it will bring. Sure, there will be more challenges and things will never get “easy,” but it is indeed looking bright!

What It's Really About

With everything going on in my life right now, this picture that Lexy took is such a special reminder of what Easter really is all about.


In my heart, I know without a doubt that I will see my brother John again. What would have been his 29th birthday was just a few days after Easter. Because of the ressurection of my Brother, Jesus Christ, the only One who could overcome death, I know that my own brother still lives.

This testimony isn't something that I take for granted. I am blessed with this knowledge, and will carry the responsiblity of sharing it, teaching it and living it with me forever. The words to one of my most favorite hymns expresses my feelings so much better than my own:

I know that my Redeemer lives.
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, He lives who once was dead!
He lives my ever-living Head.

He lives! All glory to His name!
He lives, my Savior, still the same.
Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives:
"I know that my Redeemer lives!"

Easter Weekend

Easter was so much fun this year! On Saturday we headed up to Logan bright and early. Lily even made it in time to go to the Easter Egg Parade at Lee's Market.



It was so cute! All the kids lined up and followed the bunny trail through the store and got little goodies along the way. Lily really wanted NOTHING to do with the Bunny himself in the meat department, but once we got past him, she was all over it! We had a great time!





That afternoon, we did an Easter Egg Hunt for all the little kids.



Ella helped me "hide" the eggs, and the kiddos LOVED it!

Rather than wasting her time hunting for eggs, Lily was MUCH more interested in cracking open the eggs and cramming all the goodies inside into her mouth as fast as she could!





Benji was pretty content just chilling, watching all the action.



Ella helped Mia find the eggs, and I think they were the first ones done!



Noah was the one on the prowl!



We did a special treasure hunt for Ella, complete with lots of little frogs to add to her collection! You're welcome, Beck!



Tessa preferred the aerial view....



That is, until she realized no one was going to take the candy away!



A group photo attempt...



This is the face I saw ALL WEEKEND.... "Open it Mama!"



We ate Easter dinner that night, and headed home. We didn't stay for Sunday just because I'm not ready to trust Tessa sleeping in another bed right now. She's been doing so well at sleeping lately, but I'm not convinced she has it down, and won't totally regress once we break the rhythm. So, it was a quickie trip to Logan, but so much fun.

I am glad we were back home on Sunday though, because after church, Seuao got a call from his cousins from Vegas. They were in town for the afternoon, and we scrounged up some dinner for them. It was nice to visit with them for a little while! (And for the record, Samoans DO like homemade chocolate chip cookies, despite my husband's certainty that they would NOT!)

After they left and my girls got some much needed naps, we did Easter baskets. We kept it pretty simple, but some beads for Tess and a "Kicky Mouse" coloring book for Lily made their day!





It was such a fun weekend, all the way around!

(Yeah, I got some mileage out of that cute pink polka dot ribbon!)

I'm back!

I know my last blog post was only a couple of weeks ago, but it feels like an eternity! I feel so neglectful of this poor little blog! The intent of starting it in the first place was to help me keep some sort of "journal" of my family and what's been going on. However, when carving out time to maintain said "journal" falls down the priority list, it becomes yet another thing to feel guilty about not doing. For this, I apologize! (And blame a little bit on my IT department at work who has again blocked all blogs from our network...) Nevertheless, here I am! Kids are asleep, Wow is still at work, and I won't let the .jpg's sitting in my camera stop me from posting!

I'm back!