Spencer Overload

I took some cute pictures of Spencer today, so I thought I'd share.

My poor children both fell asleep while I was hanging new blinds in their room. Ethan fell asleep on the couch with Daddy. Spencer was not so lucky.


Here's a pretty good one of Spencer's new teeth. He has the same snaggle tooth Ethan had. (But not for long; they're coming in fast!)


These are the cheesy smiley faces he made while I was taking pictures of him. (I think he was really enjoying having the camera in his face. What a ham!)





Spencer really likes pointing at things (and people) lately. When he masters a skill, he really likes to show it off!



Striking a pose.


On the move.



Another one of Spencer's new tricks is saying (shaking his head) "no". Oh what a joy! I guess the bright side is that it's getting a little bit easier to tell what he does and does not want. I tried to get him to wave to the camera, but he wouldn't. Oh, well I'm sure you can all picture it. Oh, and the big scratch on his arm is a gift from Ethan, of course.

Quick Update

I went back to see Dr. Hoopes today. Before I went I thought my vision might be better and he confirmed that it is! He said it looked like the spots had improved by about 70% (although, they couldn't find my chart and I don't know how good his memory is). He also gave me the all clear to wear contacts, but I need to wear them less than I did before. I had only been wearing them 2 or 3 days a week before, so I'm not sure that I'll wear them much at all now. I still have to see my regular eye doctor in a few weeks, but things are definitely looking up!

Purse Tag--SO Embarrassing

I was tagged by my sister and am now required to reveal the contents of my purse/diaper bag. This will be the story I tell when somebody asks me my most embarrassing moment from now on. I usually can't think of one, but this will do. I wasn't lucky enough to be tagged shortly after cleaning my bag out like my sister was, so this is quite difficult to share. Here are my embarrassing photos.

I really love my bag (a gift from my sister-in-law). It has a TON of pockets to stuff things in (as you will see in the remaining photos).

Various papers and receipts.

More various papers and such.

This is all just trash. (GROSS!) Notice the sacrament cup? :)

Appointment reminder cards (most are past).

My wallet, candy from my grandpa's funeral, and other necessities.

Things I acquired at yesterday's appointment.

All of these are definitely necessary. (Except, maybe, the TWO baby spoons!)

Although these weren't in my bag when I was taking these pictures, my phone and
keys usually are.

After doing this I'm starting to think I need a smaller bag, but I don't think I could give up all of the wonderful features this one offers. I am tagging Stephanie and amykaniggit.

Finally! (I Hope)

I spent 2 1/2 LONG hours at the Hoopes Vision Center today along with my very kind Aunt Diane who watched (fought with) my kids then drove me home afterward. My dad also was able to come as he was in town for work. After seeing three different doctors, the last one (Dr. Hoopes, Jr.) finally was able to tell me what is wrong with my eyes. Turns out, it's not any type of virus. My eyes are suffering from a lack of oxygen due to contact lens overuse. Obviously I was instructed to continue wearing my glasses until they cleared up. He gave me some steroid drops to use for the next couple of weeks that he said should help my eyes to heal. I have to see him again next week to check for improvement. Then I will need to see my optometrist again so that he can give me the ok to go back to using contacts (although I'm not entirely sure I want to). Dr. Hoopes said that some people's eyes can handle years and years of contact lens wear, but some can't. He said that even if my eyes do heal completely this could happen again. If it does he said I just shouldn't ever wear contacts again. So... I am relieved to know what's wrong with me, but I am not excited that I have to continue wearing my new trend: sunglasses over glasses. (I REALLY need to find some clip-ons that fit my frames!)

Oopsy!

Ethan still has trouble pronouncing some words. There are some that only I know what he's saying. One that he pronounces incorrectly is stuck. For some reason he says it A LOT. I can't help but chuckle every time he says "Mommy, I suck!". Shaun still gets a little shock sometimes when he says "suck" before realizing that he's really saying "stuck".

An Aunt's Touch

There is apparently something about having an aunt around that makes Spencer want to show off. Last Thursday, while Kimberlie was here, Spencer finally (a month and a half after his first two erupted) cut his third tooth, crawled on his hands and knees for the first time, and learned to drink from a straw. Although he sometimes forgets how to crawl and use a straw, it was a very big day for him. Then, on Saturday, Spencer waved for the first time (to Kimberlie). It was so cute, and now he waves every time we walk through a doorway. He is growing up so fast and it is so fun to watch his little brain work. He now gets so excited when he knows he has learned something new.

Also, a little update on my eyes. Everything seems to look the same as it did Saturday, as of yesterday. My eye doctor's partner (his daughter) explained to me that the reason they are so stumped is that normally when people have eye herpes (which it looks like to them) their eyes look like mine for a day or two then break out in sores outside of the eye then it goes away; sort of like a cold sore. Mine is just sitting beneath the surface, not changing much, and not going away. I am off to a cornea specialist tomorrow to see if he/she can tell me what's wrong with me.

More Isn't Always Better

I made my trip to the eye doctor yesterday and was surprised to hear that the scarring is now also in my left eye. It is hardly noticeable and I don't think it has gotten any worse since yesterday morning, but it is there. My doctor is confused as to why there is no redness or pain and thinks it may not be a virus. He asked of I get cold sores and said it may be herpes, but he is still not sure how much worse it will get or if it will ever get better. He is sending me to a cornea specialist on Monday for a second opinion. Although I can still see well enough to function normally, this may be more serious than I thought. Hopefully the specialist will be able to give me more of an idea of what to expect. I am also hoping that if I have to have surgery there will be a true silver lining in the form of corrective surgery for my near-sightedness. From what I've read it looks like it would be very possible to have both procedures done at the same time (possibly with little or no extra cost). I really am just speculating about all of this; trying to see the bright side, even if it is through clouds.

Seeing Clouds

On Tuesday afternoon I was on the computer (of course) and I noticed that things were looking different through my right eye. I usually can see really clearly with my glasses on, so I thought this was very odd. I decided to ignore it (sort of, I was still wondering what could be wrong). Then, yesterday morning when I got on the computer I noticed that my vision was even worse than on Tuesday. I was curious so I went on WebMD to see if I could "self-diagnose" my problem. That probably wasn't the best idea because I started to think I might be having a stroke. Then I determined that the loss of clarity was actually cloudiness and not blurriness. That sort of calmed me down, but I was still very nervous about what might be wrong with me. Was I going blind? I decided to call the eye doctor and make an appointment for the afternoon. Luckily Kimberlie and Mom were going to be in town to help me out with the kids and a ride if needed. At first I thought the doctor would think I was crazy, but then he looked into my eye and said "ohhh". He knew exactly what it was. What a relief (I guess). Turns out that I have some sort of virus in my eye that has caused cloudy scars on my cornea. He didn't say much of what that would mean for me, but he did say that because it's a virus there's nothing he can do about it. We just have to hope it doesn't get worse and that it heals on its own. He told me to stop wearing my contacts for now. When I got home I looked up corneal scarring and virus on the trusty internet and I found out that one option to restore my vision could be a cornea transplant. Weird! My vision is a little worse today, but I'm still hoping it will get better before I go back to the eye doctor on Saturday. Although I am still worried that I might completely lose vision in my right eye, I am so glad that it wasn't a stroke. Partial blindness is so much better than the possible effects of a stroke!
The picture is of cornea scars. I don't think mine is that bad though.

Sisters

Aren't sisters great? Well, mine are. Although the reason for their visit was not all good, I was so happy to spend time with my sisters this past weekend. My sisters and I always have a blast when we are together, and although we usually suffer from a lack of sleep it is always worth it. Last night both of them stayed at my house and I was so excited to have them here. I love them both and they are my best friends. I could talk to either of them on the phone for hours, and three-way calls are always fun. We all live WAY too far from each other, so phone calls are essential. My sisters have given me six of the cutest, most lovable nieces and nephews ever. They are always willing to help me with anything (especially by giving great advice) and can always provide a great laugh. They have both always been great examples to me and I've been blessed to have them to look up to. I know they put up with a lot from me (especially since I am the "baby sister"), but they never seem to mind. I was sad to see them go today, but luckily I get to see Kimberlie again later this week.
I love you (and always miss you) girls! Although you can't always be here for me, thanks for always being there for me, wherever you are!

Time Machine Tuesday- Memories of Grandpa

My Grandpa Roberts passed away on Sunday. We've seen this coming for a while so we were all prepared and are glad that he doesn't have to suffer with weakness anymore. We will be going to Idaho this Saturday to celebrate his life.
I never lived very close to my grandparents, so I didn't have a lot of time to get to know my grandpa, but I do have some fond memories of him. The first thing that always comes to mind when I think of my grandpa is See's Little Pops. Grandpa always had a supply of Butterscotch Little Pops to give to us (his grandkids). They were (and are) so yummy. I always looked forward to going to Grandma and Grandpa's house (or having them visit us) and getting some candy from Grandpa. He even gave me a whole box of them for my baptism. Grandpa was very good at fixing things and had an engineer's mind. He had the coolest "toys" in his room that we always loved to play with. I don't know what they were called, but they both included metal balls and demonstrated some laws of physics. I also remember that grandpa had a lot of baseball caps. Some funny, some not. One of my favorites was a pink (I think it was pink) one with a very long bill. It was funny. Grandpa also enjoyed making latch hook rugs. There are some very nice ones around his house. One that Ethan and I really liked last time we went there was a portrait of Christ hanging on the wall in the hallway.
Grandpa was a great man and very loved. We will miss you, Grandpa, but we'll think of you fondly every time we eat a See's Little Pop!

Grandpa and Grandma Roberts on our wedding day.

Got Spring?

I am not a winter person. I know I said in an earlier post that I missed St. George weather. I am still missing it and it is May. Yesterday we reached a high of only 47 degrees. Again, it is May! We had snow showers (none stayed on the ground) and some mountain areas only about an hour away from us got 32" of snow! Where is spring?! I am really quite finished with winter weather, I sure hope it ends soon. It is warming up again and is supposed to get up to the 70s in the next week, but I have lost all hope that it will continue past the seven-day forecast that I saw last night. The thing that really doesn't make sense is that we've had to endure this cold spring, but haven't received enough precipitation. Please, spring, get here (and stay) soon!