Ramblings..

I still need to post pictures of our Christmas which I will do however, not right now. I right now am thinking of more important things such as why must the snow plows come down my street during naptime? It is just downright rude, I have two little curious boys that really need to sleep.

But, seriously I was thinking today what it is that can bring us joy and how amazing it is to see the Lord's hand in our lives. I remember not to long ago thinking that I was stuck in my life and then I ended up in SLC, not because I wanted to, rather the Lord wanted me to. It was the best decision of my life and not just because I met and married Miguel. But, because I grew and started to discover who I really am. I am convinced that this is a life long journey and one that can be trying but oh so worth it.

So in that spirit I am giving you my New Years Resolution. This comes from my good friend Janene. She and I were talking and she mentioned that one year rather than having a list that she had a theme. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEE IT!! Because, I am know to create these huge lists, get overwhelmed and reach for the chocolate and Diet Coke.

So this is my theme...... JOY!! I am going to do those things that will bring my family and I joy. It will include the traditional lists of losing weight, because I am not joyful about my extra 15 pounds I put back on after losing over 60. But, it will also include being joyful in my life and if people don't like well they can take a hike. The people that matter will support me and that in the long run is what is important.

So those are my ramblings for the day. I need to figure out where I want to go out to eat since a lovely sister in my ward volunteered to watch my 3 in addition to her 5 so I could have a nice birthday dinner with hubby.

Ponderings on a snowy day...

My kids are finally sleeping, and I am taking a few minutes to ponder things.
Now... for those of you who know me well, this could be scary. My ponderings can go from deep, spiritual things to just downright bizarre things. So in no particular order here are my ponderings for the day.

• Why is it that I never had a problem with acne when I was a teenager but, now have a horrible time as an adult. I mean really, just move this big one on my nose to the middle of my nose and I could be Rudolph.
• Why do I sometimes crave be a domestic goddess and other times just want to curl up and be a city girl.
• Why can I not focus on one thing at a time? I have so much that I want to learn but, zero patience.
• I wonder what my calling will be in church one day, Don't get my wrong I like being without a calling right now, I need to get back to where I need to be.
• Why do kids fight naps and as adults we crave them?
• What is it about Christmas that makes us sentimental, it doesn't matter who you are or what religious belief you are it just makes you sentimental.

And here is the biggest one of the day... Do I really need another Diet Coke? The answer no not really, what I really need to do is go and clean my van. Do I really need to go out tonight to see a movie.. The answer to that is most definately.. now the question is which one and do I want a movie partner or do I want to go solo??

The biggest blessing of the day... My husband who cracks me up as he is flirting with me via text messages and my kids who are finally, thankfully asleep.

I can't believe it has been 5 years...

This is our Anthony Alexander now.. He turned 5 on the 18th and he is funny, sweet, skinny and a carbon copy of his Daddy.

He makes us laugh and makes a smile.

This is him as a healthy, chunky, baby. But, for those who have never heard and those who don't remember, his entrance into this world was dramatic and scary.

This is Anthony the day he was born after he had been transferred to St. Marks NICU...

See.. how tiny he was and all the tubes.. Here is his birth story.

Anthony was not originally due until Jan. so the weekend of the 18th Miguel and I decided to take a romantic getaway to Heber City, UT. before it became to difficult to do so with more than one child. Now I should preface this by saying that I had been in preterm labor for 2 1/2 weeks but, nothing was happening. I had talked to my midwife and was cleared to go and cleared to go in and out of a Jacuzzi tub while there. I was in horrible pain (I have rotten pregnancies) and a warm jacuzzi sounded like heaven to me. So anyways Miguel and I left. I joked with my friend Shauna before leaving that maybe I would be lucky and have this baby, we drive to Heber City and I joked with Miguel that hey the Hospital is close so if I go into labor we are good, then we went to dinner and had a relaxing evening. Relaxing except for the fact that my contractions kept getting worse, the medicine wasn't working and then when I went to the bathroom I was bleeding. So off to the ER we went. Remember how I said the hospital was close by.. like literally 2 minutes away, well it was except that when you are in labor, your husband is useless in an emergency because he freaks out and the ER entrance is under construction you don't happen to be looking for a small sign that says Emergency, it takes a little longer than 2 mins. I mean really, I was in full blown labor here. So after yelling at Miguel to drive here, no drive there, no get your butt in the car NOW... I grabbed the cell phone and called 911.

Here was our conversation...

911- 911 what is your emergency.

Preggo Ganine- I AM IN LABOR THAT IS MY EMERGENCY..

911- Go to the ER.

Me- I am but can't find the entrance...( insert heavy breathing and panting..)

911- It is to your right..

Me-Can't see it. My husband is running around.. no entrance..( some screaming inserted here.)

911- Go to this entrance

Me-SEND A STUPID (I might have swore here, I do have a sailors mouth sometimes.. like when you are in full blown labor) COP HERE NOW!!! I AM GOING TO HAVE THIS BABY NOW.

911- OK.. calm down and take deep breaths

ME- (All of this is in my head by the way... YOU MORON.. I AM HAVING A BABY AND YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN????))

911- The police officer is on his way.

Sure enough he was so the police officer and hubby help me into the ER room..

Now this took maybe 10 mins. but, by the time I got to the toilet, changed clothes, and was examined I was fully dilated and Anthony's head was crowning.

Now let me just say that I had not planned to go natural, I wanted my drugs thank you very much and I literally begged for an epidural but, it wasn't happening. Now, let me also say that I have a high tolerance for pain, but only when I am prepared for it. I was NOT prepared for natural childbirth, so I was loud and was screaming at the top of my lungs, in fact so loud that I scared the daylights out of Miguel and he dropped my leg. Not a smart thing to do. But, I had a good nurse and a good doctor (sorry Doc I did contemplate kicking you in the face when you told me to stop screaming) But, he was good and had me use that energy to push and I had Anthony in less than 20 mins and naturally. All was good, we thought. But, see when you have a child that fast it doesn't give the baby a chance to get all the fluid pushed out of his lungs, so Anthony was having a hard time breathing.

To make a very long story short, Anthony was transported by ambulance from Heber City to SLC to the NICU by my house. Because it was Christmas and because he was in the NICU and they treat everything as a crisis (they are amazing people), Anthony was in there for 10 days. We brought him home on the 28th of December.

I love him dearly and am amazed always at his birth experience. He was my preemie and we shed many tears when he was first born. But, now he is a sweet, active, intelligent little boy. Because, of him I chose to have Max natural and a lot less dramatic I might add, and because of him I have more compassion for parents with children who are in the hospital. His first few weeks of life were trying but, not life threatening. We were lucky and are lucky every day to have him in our life.

A typical night

So tonight was kind of a chill out night, we needed it after the week we have had. But, in true Medina fashion a night is not a night without drama and some whining involved.

The kids were playing on the stairs, even though we have told them how many times to not do that ( I swear I talk to air most of the time), when we heard this bad whack followed by screaming. Anthony had managed to hit his temple right on the corner of the banister. A huge goose egg proceeded to form, luckily it didn't cut open. But, the poor kid freaked me out, then an hour or so later Max did the same thing on the back of his head. Then going to bed, Jacque literally flew into her bed and hit her foot on the top bunk bed and then proceeded to fart in my face. Nice. But, to top it all off my husband forgot where the door to our bathroom is and walked right into the wall.

Yep, a typical day in our house. Lot of injuries, Mom just wanting to read and be left alone and oh who can forget Dad running around with a stocking on his head, a pillow from the couch under his shirt, and two oranges stuffed in his shirt, chasing Max around the kitchen pretending to be Santa. Max thought that this was truly hilarious and I couldn't help smile and thank God once again for the amazing man that I married. My life is a tad stressful, my kids are a tad wild, but it is a life that is better than I had ever dreamed of and for that I am truly grateful.

Dear God,

I know that you love me, that you know me and that these precious children were sent here to me for a reason. But, God I promise I was not this bad as a child. I did not constantly beat the daylights out of my brother and sister. OK... it does help that I didn't have a sibling until I was 12 1/2 yrs. old, but that is not the point. The point is that I did not chuck shoes at my moms head while she was driving, I just threw huge tantrums in the middle of the store. I did not expect my mom to take care of 3 kids all at once, while she had to pee, I only expected her to take care of me. So I ask you God.. what did I deserve to get that little devil named Max?? He is darling do not get me wrong, he is cute, charming, has the biggest brown eyes ever, and I adore and love him; but, could we please send him some major chill pills?? I promise that it would help my days and my sanity, not to mention Miguel's sanity.

I will hopefully, be starting a job in the evenings in Jan. Please, please, please send chill pills asap or I do believe that Miguel will have a nervous breakdown.

I love you and I know that all things work together for our good. But, if he is this wild at 3 I am not sure I want to see 16.

Thank you,

A most tired, worn-out, slightly frazzled Mom.

New House..

Okay these are not in order. But, here are some more pictures of the house with our furniture in it. We love our house and have no plans to move. Hear that NO PLANS TO MOVE!! We are loving our new ward, well new again. We have been in it before,we are still in the same stake and we only moved 4 blocks away from our old house.


This is our front entryway as you walk in the door.

This is the view looking from the back of the living room to the front door.

This is the view as you enter the front door.

Living Room

Last but not least is my pretty house.

Halloween

Our Halloween was really crazy. We had family in town for a major shopping trip (from Venezuela) so we didn't get to do all we had planned. Miguel and I had planned on dressing up, but there was no time. But, here are some pictures of the kids dressed up.




This is a tired little, blue crayon

A little tired witch

Max is a happy little, blue crayon

Anthony was not happy about wearing his Ninja mask.