Rear-Ended

Brent and Emerson were rear-ended on Friday evening. Brent was stopping at a stop light and the driver behind him wasn't paying attention. He swerved at the last minute and smashed into the left rear of our car. The damage isn't bad enough to make the car non-drivable, but metal was bent so the cost won't be small to repair it. Both Brent and Emerson are fine and that's all that matters.

Randomness

A lot has been going on, not all of it good. I guess I’ll talk about the most daunting first, so here goes. My dad has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He has been having problems with balance and movement for a long time and finally decided to get it all checked out when Dad fell on the ski slopes this year and almost had to be life flighted to the hospital. Once people outside our family kept telling my parents how Dad didn’t seem right, they started to listen. That aside, he has the most wonderful PD doctor. She is located at the Elk’s Rehab Hospital here in Boise and specialized in movement disorders. She is a specialist in PD. They like her very much. On his first appointment, she gave him a prescription for some medication and a schedule for increasing the dosages. He says he feels better, but I think it’s still a little too soon to tell that much. He goes back for his next appointment the first week of June. It is really hard to see your dad, who has been so active his whole life, become so weak and not able to do all the things he has loved doing. He’s even contemplating selling the boat. For now, he can’t do anything that requires balance, which are all the activities he loves to do. He can’t water or snow ski, bike, or basically any other sport. I know he is getting very good care and his PD doctor says he will live a very long, full life as they manage his symptoms.

As many of you know, Brent and I are trying to get pregnant again. We have been trying for 8 months and it is taking its toll on me. It took us 3 years to get Emerson so going through that again is not my idea of a good time. The problem is that the longer I’m off the birth control pill, the more opportunity my endometriosis has to grow back, which in turn makes it harder to conceive. It is very frustrating and difficult for me to deal with at times. My body sends me mixed signals that you should only get when you are pregnant, which just creates this big emotional rollercoaster that I know I didn’t buy a ticket for. Well, I guess I did the minute we started trying to have a baby. It is getting to the point where I have to weigh my options, keep trying and risk the endometriosis coming back which brings with it lots of pain, or go back on the pill and not have anymore kids, thus stopping/slowing the endometrial growth. Having Emerson actually flushed out years of endometrial tissue, making cycles after giving birth so much less painful. It has been amazing not to be in so much pain during my cycle every month, so I have to make a choice. I just don’t want to be put in the position to make it.

Ok, so I know this has not been the most enjoyable post to read, but it feels like good therapy for me to write it all down, so there it is.

Vacation!!!

We just got back from a week long trip to the Oregon coast and Portland. We rented a little house on the coast with another family and had a great time. When the Robinson's went home to Boise, we headed north to Seaside and Astoria. After that, we stopped in Portland and stayed with Tom, Cindy, and the boys. We watched Hunter and Lawson win a baseball game and Emerson had tons of fun playing with them. I will post pictures soon with more descriptions of our very fun trip.

The Weekend!!!

We had a fabulous weekend!

On Friday night, Kevin came over and we played Rock Band until midnight. Ok, Emerson and I didn’t last until midnight, but Brent and Kevin did. Kevin brought his equipment over because he has more Rock Band songs than we do. Pizza, pop, and Rock Band… how can you go wrong?

On Saturday, we went shopping for Mom Butterfield’s bday dinner. We bought a leg of lamb and I made dinner for all the Butterfields to celebrate Mom’s bday. We were sad Jody had to miss it, but I think she had more fun in San Francisco. We had lamb, potatoes (Yukon gold because those are Mom’s favorite), salad, asparagus, bread, and of course cake. It was a very good dinner if I do say so myself! After dinner and cake, we played Rock Band, Wii bowled, and dominos. It was a fun night.

On Sunday, Emerson jumped on the bed and said, “get up mommy, it’s morning time!” I eventually got out of bed and the three of us hit the zoo. The Boise zoo is so nice because you get to see the animals up close and it is small enough that just spending two hours there is perfect timing for a three year old. When we got home from the zoo, we did lots of yard work. Brent mowed the lawn and edged it while Emerson and I planted seeds and tomato plants. I was surprised his attention span for yard work lasted as long as it did!

All in all, it was a fabulously full but fun weekend!

The "Mommy Mafia"

I have heard many people tell me their opinions on why I'm a good or bad mom and lately it has been over my choice to be a working mom. It makes me really angry when people try and tell me how to parent. What works for me and my family doesn't have to work for you or your family. Every family is different. Why can't everyone just be ok with that? Well, I ran across an article today that I thought I'd share. It talks about just that... accepting your own choices as a mother and not judging the choices of other mothers. It's a good read and I thought I'd share it with all of you.

Surviving the 'mommy mafia'

Olympics!!!

Brent's cousin, Christian Niccum, is competing in the doubles luge today!!!

http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/athlete=2171/index.html

Uncle George

Uncle George has passed away. He was a great man with a very spirited sense of humor. He is with Aunt Barbara now and that makes me happy. We love you Uncle George and we will miss you very much.

wii adventures

We had the Robinson clan over to dinner on Saturday night, then broke out the wii. We played rockband, bowled, and even fenced! The kids were so much fun to watch. Grace loved playing the drums and Emerson had a fabulous time wii fencing with Nolan. I think we had more fun watching them play than they had playing! I know the dinner I made was awesome, but definitely second compared to the wii activities!!!

Stuck in the elevator all alone...

Ok, so yesterday wasn’t the best of days. I had a crazy work day, found out that I have to redesign my entire storm drain system because UDOT won’t allow for pressure flow (so freaking stupid), and when I was working late and falling asleep at my desk I decided to go home. That was the worst mistake of all. I proceeded to the elevators, pushed the down button, and then my day/late work night got even worse. The elevator did nothing. It didn’t move or open the door again when I pushed the open door button. It wouldn’t go to any other floors (I pushed every floor button). I had to push the call for help button. It routed me to some call center and I did reach a very nice man who helped me. He had to get help routed to me to get me out. All in all, I was stuck in the elevator for 45 minutes. It was not fun and topped off a not so good day. Here is a lovely picture of me waiting to be rescued. Please keep in mind that it was 9:30 at night and I was very tired and just wanted to go home.

Year in Review

Ok, so I know it has been a long time since I’ve written a blog update, so here goes… It has been a very eventful year. We lost more family members this year than the last decade combined, Emerson hit the big 3, and Brent and I hit the big 3-0. The economy tanked and we are grateful to have wonderful jobs. I’ve actually been quite busy lately working on a design build project in Utah. I’ve had to be out of town for the past few months in our Redding, CA office, but that should be over for at least a little while. It is hard being away from my hubby and our little man for so long. Emerson is growing up so fast and I don’t want to miss even a minute.

In January, I made the trip to Portland with Emerson and my parents in tow for the funeral of my great-grandmother, Iva Meacham. It was a beautiful service. She was a very spunky woman with so much character and life. She made my great-grandfather very happy and brought many smiles to the faces of all of those who surrounded her, including all her spoiled grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Emerson and I stayed with Tom and Cindy. Hunter and Lawson are so good at playing with Emerson. He talks about them all the time. This past weekend he was mad at Brent and I because we told him Portland was too far away for us to travel for the day so he could play with Hunter and Lawson.

February brought the superbowl and some more of Brent’s delicious hot wings. He has become quite the wing connoisseur.

Charlotte organized the annual Easter Egg Hunt in April. The kids all had fun finding tons of treasures in the grass, and the potluck dishes weren’t bad either.

I had surgery on my foot to correct a birth defect in May. I wrote an extensive blog about this earlier so I won’t repeat all the gory details again. I’ll just leave you with the following picture:

Brent and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary in June at Cool Hand Luke’s in Boise. We both had the prime rib and it was delicious! We were going to plan a “7 year itch picnic” in the park to celebrate with family and friends, but my grandfather’s death halted our plans. My parents had to go to Hawaii to take care of all of my grandfather’s affairs.

June was also the month I made Brent dress in a bikini in our backyard while gardening so I could enter him into a radio contest. It was called the “Baby Daddy Bikini” contest. Entries were dads dressed in swimming attire for a chance to win a rafting trip for 2 in the beautiful Idaho mountains. Since Brent was the only dad who actually dared wear a bikini, he won by a landslide. He had more votes than the rest of the entrants put together! He took a friend from work and the two of them had a great time.

In July we celebrated Independence Day by watching the parade. Emerson loves watching his granny play the pipes. We did our fair share of hooting and hollering for her. Then we went to the Robinson’s house and ate some fabulous ribs while the kids played together. Emerson was especially enamored with Grace’s bunny.

We took a much needed vacation in July to the Oregon Coast before ending our trip in Portland for my grandfather’s memorial. We found some crazy creatures on the beach, got sand in our toes, and ate Tillamook ice cream… YUM!!! The memorial for my grandfather was so wonderfully done. He would have been proud of all of his girls putting together quite the party for him. I learned so much about his very full life just by helping create a photo slide show to show at the memorial.

In August, we partook in Beer Fest with my mom, Luanne, and Jane, which was loads of fun. The food was great, and I’m told the beer was also. We even saw tons of people there we hadn’t seen in ages.

We also went camping in August with Mom and Dad Butterfield, Rob, and Jody… oh, and the two crazy dogs, Spike and Sadie. We went on a very steep hike and I couldn’t believe that Emerson walked the entire way up the mountain. He had to be carried down, but I was so proud of him.

The Western Idaho Fair also comes to Boise every August and we have gone for the past three years with the Solecki family. Steve was out of town so he couldn’t partake, but we had a great time with Andrea, Kylie, and Kierstin.

September was consumed with Emerson’s 3rd birthday plans and party. We had a pool party at Mom and Dad Dietz’s house. I made spaghetti since that is Emerson’s favorite and thankfully it was a big hit. Emerson loves trains so I made a train cake for him.

October brought Halloween and a very indecisive child who wouldn’t make a costume choice. After letting him stew over his decision for a few weeks, he told us one day after we picked him up from preschool that he wanted to be a red power ranger. We were totally shocked because he had never even watched the show (we don’t watch it at home and at preschool they aren’t allowed because it shows fighting). Apparently, a friend of his at preschool loves the show and told Emerson he was going to be a blue one so Emerson should be the red one. We were just happy he even picked at all!!!

In the fall every year they take school pictures at Emerson’s preschool. They turned out so well this year!

I started working on a project this winter that has helped me gain a whole new bundle of experiences. I had to travel to our office in Redding, CA for three weeks, then back for two more. This was my life for quite a while. I can finish it at home now, which makes me very happy.

Well, it has been quite the year and I hope I didn’t bore you all too much!

Rest in Peace:
Sean Butterfield (Brent’s cousin)
Iva Meacham (Elizabeth’s great-grandmother)
Jerry Dietz (Elizabeth’s grandfather)
Chuck Dietz (Elizabeth’s grandfather)
Richard Hall (Elizabeth’s uncle)