Opinion Please...

So, I've always considered myself a "long hair" person.  I've pretty much always had long hair.  When I was pregnant with Cooper it got really long... like to the point I was hating it.  It seemed too stringy and yucky, (granted I needed a trim and some highlights really bad).  So I cut 10 inches off and donated it.  I loved having shorter hair.  It was so fast to do, and I really do feel like it looked more "stylish."  I've actually been growing my hair out, because I wanted to be able to do more with it.  Has anyone noticed that long hair is totally the trend right now, and so stylish?  Well I see all these people with long hair, and then I kind of miss my long hair, and keep thinking, "I am so a long hair person.  I've always had long hair."  But then the other week, I had to get up early, and get ready early, and have my kids ready... all by 9:00.  It was really hard.  My hair took a long time to do.  And then I thought, "What in the crap am I going to do when I have to be teaching preschool this fall, and have to BE THERE by 9:00 with Cooper dropped off and a babysitter?!  I am going to die!"  So then I thought I should cut my hair.

Well, I have a hair appointment on Wednesday, and I really just can't decide what to do.  I could always wait and cut my hair when school starts, keep it long in the summer (pony tails are good for days at pool), but then it seems like summer is the perfect time to cut your hair short, because it's just so summery.  Or I could just keep growing it out, even when I am teaching, because ponytails really are pretty fast, it just might not get washed mornings I teach :) and then I feel like if I cut it, all this growing out time has been a waste.

Oh, and here is the other kicker.  We are getting family pictures taken at the end of July/beg of Aug (?) with Matt's family.  Last time we did this, I was huge pregnant with Sydney and really looked so bad... like I'm not kidding, I seriously HATE those pictures of me.  So I really don't want to look bad this time!

So here is my question for you, my faithful readers.

Cut it now?

Keep it long?

What looks better?

and WHY?

Seriously... help me out!

Long hair before I cut 10 inches off... keep in mind it REALLY needed a trim and highlights!

Short hair

Where it's at now... and yes, needs at least a trim and highlights...

And if you think of some kind of hair that would just look fab on me, send me a picture.  Ha ha... thanks!


Oh and here are some hair styles I like...

I just don't know if I could pull this off, but I think it is so cute.
And I have had bangs before, and yes I hated them.

Probably my favorite actually
Love this, but I pretty much always love her hair
I would need to keep growing mine out,
and really who's to say it would actually look like this?
Plus, is it just going to take too long to do?

Does anyone else deliberate this much when they make a decision about their hair?

Bees' Game

A couple weeks ago we got some free tickets to a Bees baseball game.  It was Larry H Miller employee appreciation day, and since my dad is a LHM employee we got to use his tickets, since he had to work.  We got free dinner, and they had face painting, and other activities for families, plus of course the main event... the baseball game!  We rode TRAX up to the game, and back, which the kids loved.  They love to "ride the train" that daddy takes to school.  And we could never pass up a free baseball game!

Sydney wanted a flower on her face, she held so still the whole time!
If only she would do that when I do her hair!

Cooper got a baseball on his cheek... so cute!

They each got a balloon, Sydney's was a "love flower" (notice the heart)
and Cooper's was a puppy.

Bumble
Cooper loved him, Sydney didn't

Climbing the rock wall all by herself!

Woops...

Thanks for the tickets!
We had a blast!

Rheumatoid Arthritis, Vitamin D, and Running

I have always been a summer girl.  I absolutely love summer and everything about it.  I have been enjoying this warmer weather that we are FINALLY beginning to have consistently and am feeling a lot better these days.  This winter and spring (because it never really warmed up during spring) have been kind of hard for me.  First of all, being stuck inside all day every day with no car is hard.  There were some very good things about this winter that made it better than others, like playgroups at the church and having more space to be stuck in at home (much better than our 2 bdrm apartment!)

But there were some things that made it harder too.  My wrists started hurting me near the beginning of the year.  I would wake up and they would be stiff and sore.  Getting Cooper out of his crib and changing his diaper would hurt them, and of course other things I had to do in my daily life.  They actually started feeling better after about a month, so I was pretty happy.  Then I got a bump on the side of my hand.  It was swollen and hurt really bad.  Some days it would hurt worse than others, but it was really weird.  While I still had the bump on my hand, my knuckles on my hands began hurting.  They always hurt the worst in the morning when I would wake up.  They would be stiff, swollen, and sore.  I would lay in bed in the morning just thinking how bad my hands hurt and how much I didn't want to get out of bed and do all the stuff I had to do.  Some nights I wouldn't even be able to sleep because my hands hurt. I noticed that the colder the day/night was, the worse my hands hurt.  I had no energy to do anything I needed to do.  Laundry and cleaning would get so backed up because I kept getting so tired throughout the day.  Even after I took a shower, I had no energy or desire to get ready.

As the weather warmed up and the sun started shining more, I thought I would start feeling better and have more energy.  But it didn't happen.  It was all I could do to make myself take the kids to the park, because it seemed like so much work.  Since my hands weren't getting better at all, I decided to go to the doctor.... (I know I should have gone earlier, but I always hate going and having them tell me that nothing is wrong!  I have a phobia from all those negative strep tests as a child.)  So I went to the doctor about 2 weeks ago and told him about my wrists and hands hurting.  He asked about fatigue and I told him that I have been having some.  It actually was weird because I hadn't thought too much about it until he asked me.  I just kind of thought it was the typical "winter blues."  But when he asked me, I realized how fatigued I really was every day.  He took x-rays and blood tests and we made a follow up appointment.  About a week after my appointment he called and told me that I had tested positive for Rheumatoid Arthritis and that I was very low on Vitamin D.  He started me on some Vitamin D supplements and Aleve.  

I had my follow up appointment yesterday and he told me about Rheumatoid Arthritis.  The reader's digest version is: It is an auto-immune disease and is not curable.  They can treat symptoms, but treatments have a lot of side effects because they attack your immune system and weaken it.  They can also use steroids to help with flare ups.  We took another blood test and a urine test to make sure nothing else was going on and discussed my Vitamin D levels.  I should be at least at 50 and was at 28.  So he said that taking Vitamin D should help me feel a lot better and energetic.  We decided that I should not do any treatments for the R.A. at this time because it isn't very bad yet.  So for now I am just taking Aleve twice a day along with my Vitamin D.  I will have to go in every 6 months and have levels taken to see how it is doing, and then we will decide what to do each time.  

My hands have been feeling a bit better with the warmer weather.  My knuckles are still a bit swollen and don't feel right, but I can do pretty much everything without having too much pain.  The Vitamin D has been helping me feel a lot better.  I have felt my energy level increase, which is making me happy (and the sunshine really helps a lot too!)  

For a while I was really scared about what this would mean in my life.  I didn't want my kids to think of me as a mom who was sick but did the best that she could.  I want them to think of me as a mom who played with them and did fun things with them.  I want to be able to physically do all the things I need to do to be a good wife and mother.  It scares me to be diagnosed with arthritis at 26 years old.  I wonder what things will be like for me when I am 50, or 60, or 80 when people typically get arthritis.  I really don't know how it will effect my life or how I will handle it.  But I am feeling a little better about it and will just take it one day at a time.  I am glad to know what was wrong, and to be doing some things to make it better.

I have also started running in the mornings these past couple weeks.  Matt is so sweet and bought me some new running shoes (mine were probably 10 years old and too big) and a jogging stroller/bike trailer.  I make it out at least every other day, sometimes more, and I can run a mile without stopping and usually I stay out for 2-3 miles with some walking mixed in.  The other day my brother watched my kids so I could go without a stroller and it was SO MUCH EASIER!  I ran almost 2 miles without walking that day and improved time on my mile.  So at least pushing an extra 60+ pounds is improving my endurance!  It feels so good to get out and do something that is good for me and it makes me feel better throughout the day.  Between that and the Vitamin D, I am feeling like a whole new person during the day, but by bedtime I fall asleep so fast, usually on the couch.  

Overall, I am feeling much better about myself.  I am trying to learn to not stress about having a spotlessly clean house, or about where we are going to live in the fall, or about other things that I really don't have much control over. (Yes, I am a control freak).  I don't want to be someone who is always stressed.  I want to enjoy life, and I want my kids to enjoy me.  My kids are growing up so fast, and I want to be able to look back and think about fun things I did with them, and not remember my clean house.  So, I guess if I can't do it all... and I can't... then I need to pick which is the most important.  Someday my kids will be in school, and I will have more time to clean.  But until then, I will just apologize to you, because if you ever come over unannounced, there will probably be toys all over, and laundry and other things, and it won't necessarily be clean.  I just need to be ok with it, otherwise I won't be a happy person, and I want to be.  

Anyway, sorry for the longest post ever that was purely about myself.  I just thought there might be a few people who would want to know what was going on with me.  

Father's Day

I am so grateful to the fathers and grandfathers in my life.  These men have taught us how to be hard workers, how to be loving, how to always be thinking of others, how to be providers, and many other valuable lessons, all through their examples!  When I think about Matt's grandfathers, his dad, my grandfathers, and my dad, I feel so blessed that Matt and I were raised by such amazing men.  And I am especially grateful to Matt for following their examples and being the best father I could imagine for my children.  Thank you Matt for all you do for our family.  I don't know many people who work as hard as you do, or have as much on your plate as you do with school and work.  And then you come home and help the kids water their tomatoes, and help me get them to bed, and read BOM with us and have a family prayer.  You never complain, and are always happy and willing to help.  I love that the kids are always so excited to have you home, that they run to the garage when they hear the door open and run around screaming because they are so excited.  I even love that Sydney cries when you leave for work, because she loves you so much.  We love you so much and think that you are the greatest!

Sydney and Cooper bringing Daddy his Father's Day gift

Daddy's favorite treats and cards

This was my favorite,  read it

What could be a better activity for Father's Day than taking a nap with your dad?

Hobbies

So I went to a Relief Society Activity the other night and sat by a girl who is new to our ward.  We were having the awkward "getting to know you even though you just told me your name and I've already forgotten it" conversation.  Don't get me wrong, she was a nice girl, I'm just not the best at being outgoing and conversational.

So the first question this girl asks me is... what do you do in your free time?

Me: Uhhhh...

Her: Like when you have a little break from your kids, what do you do?

Me: Um... I do stuff on the computer.

Awkward pause of silence so I explain myself: I don't really have a lot of free time, my husband works full time and is in school
(while I'm thinking...not to mention he hasn't had a day off in over a month, Saturdays included, plus I don't have a car and pretty much never leave the house)
So I pretty much take care of the kids from dawn till dusk.  What do you like to do?

Her: I sew.

Me: Wow, that's really neat, I wish I knew how to sew.
(Ironic since I had just posted a blog about sewing!)

Her: So what do you do on the computer?

Me: (Thinking, I don't really want to tell her I check facebook, emails, and blogs a million times.)  
I have a blog, or I organize pictures... I don't know


Her: Well, it seems like we need to find you a creative hobby.



Then thankfully the activity began.

Oh boy.  I felt like the most lame person in the entire world.  I am the only person who pretty much doesn't do anything besides take care of my kids, my house, and waste my very limited free time doing pretty much nothing on the computer?

Maybe I really should take up sewing.

Sewing

When I was in 7th grade I was in the quarter-long sewing class.  I remember we made aprons.  It was one of the classes that I just really did not like.  I even remember doing an extra credit project that looked like it was sewn together, but really, it was all iron on things!  I am not a very patient person, so I always just thought that sewing wasn't my thing.  (Like when we made bracelets at girls camp with tiny little beads... oh my monotonous!)  Combine my lack of patience with my quest for perfectionism, and you have a bunch of frustrating projects that take forever and never look perfect.  I always thought that I was so not a crafty person.

Then I worked at a scrapbooking store... it introduced me to the world of crafts.  I learned that not all crafts have to be time consuming, boring, and try my patience.  I learned to enjoy working with paper, and my favorite projects dealt with paper, Mod Podge, and wood.  I also learned that I was pretty good at some crafting.  Still my interest in big, long, or unfamiliar crafts was quite limited, or nonexistent.  

As I've become a mom, my crafty bone has taken hold, probably thanks to all the blogs I see.  I still don't do a ton of crafts, but my desire to do crafts has increased.  I have actually found myself wanting a sewing machine.  Whaaaat?  I still don't know if sewing would be my thing, but I have tackled a couple projects with the help of more accomplished sewers.  

When we moved into this house, Nana helped me make some curtains to cover up our kitchen window.  I was involved in making them, doing most of the pressing and ironing for them...  I am known for my ironing skills- even though I really despise the chore.  But Nana still did pretty much all of the sewing (I wanted them to look good, ok?).  Still, every time I look at those curtains, I love the fact that I helped make them!

So my second sewing project (not counting my apron in 7th grade) happened to be a dress for Sydney.  And no way would I have tackled the project alone!  Some friends from our ward got together to make Easter dresses for our girls.  I picked out the fabric, and this time I actually did a little bit of the sewing (ok a very little bit, but some nonetheless).  They even helped me make a cute matching bow for her hair.  It was so fun to come home with a finished project and tell Sydney that I had made her a dress!  And guess what... she loves it!  So maybe, somewhere inside of me, there could be a seamstress.  Or maybe just a great ironing aid for an accomplished seamstress.  Regardless, I had a fun time making Sydney a dress and at least I have a few things under my sewing belt and can say I have finished a couple projects without pulling my hair out!

It really did turn out cute... dont' you think?!