Grandma Hiett

I love this woman!

Let me introduce you all to Jason's Grandma or (Omi), Theadora Lydia Hiett. She is the most amazing, caring, beautiful, funny and loving woman I have ever met, and when I grow up I hope to be just like her! And yes, Omi is my little girl's namesake.

Here are a few snapshot of the fun times she had with my children this Christmas while we were home in Etna. There are not many people that my Noah will just latch onto, but Omi is one of them!

Elina + Basketball = ROFLMAO

After Elina's last ballet recital we asked if she wanted to dance again or try something different. And she chose to do basketball with the 5-6 year old group here on Fort Carson. She had her first practice tonight and only cried twice. The first time was when I told her to wait for a drink of water and she could have one after practice. Apparently she was not only taking a water break, but a break to rest her arms. And the second crying episode was when her team came in for a huddle at the end of practice and to say their team name "Forest Fires!" Apparently they yelled to loud and hurt her feelings again! D-R-A-M-A! Wish us luck these next few months!

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas here at the Brown home, and here are just a few pictures to share our joy with you. We are up one family member because Kylee Chandler is staying with us for a few months while she has a school break from BYU Idaho. Of course there are none of the momma, she was to busy being the photographer!

Lydia and the Whoopie Cushion

Noah has had a few whoopie cushions and loved playing with them. Until they popped or until his mommy got tired of blowing them up over and over and over. So Santa brought him a whoopie cushion that is self inflating and will not pop! Yeah! Little did we know how fast his baby sister would pick up on the fun...

Surgery

Thanks to the comments of my adoring blog fans : ), I realized that I have given no details regarding my recent surgery. So I will give a short version and a long version. Short version: after delivering 3 very large babies I had to have some repair work done down south. Long version:

Be warned! Unless you are looking for all these juicy details, if you keep reading you will probably come across a bold case of TMI!

In case you didn't know the story of my sweet Lydia Belle she was an accident baby. Jason and I were done having children (so we thought) and I went into the GYN at Fort Huachuca and set up for a Mirena IUD placement. And much to my surprise when I went in for my appointment a month later I was already pregnant. Needless to say, no IUD for Ariel. So it took a few months and a lot of tears and I finally got over the shock. And of course we just LOVE Lydia! And she is perfect for our family, and we just don't know what our life would be without her. So now that we are moved and settled here at Fort Carson I went into my GYN and said I think I have a cystecel (sp? my bladder was falling out). And the doctor checked and said well, yes you do. But you also have a prolapsed uterus and a bulging urethra that needs to be fixed as well. So after lots of talking to Jason, a ton of research and family history to learn more about this, and a few prayers we decided to go with the surgeon's recommendations for the repair work. And on Dec. 3rd I had a hysterectomy for my prolapse, a cystecel repair for my sagging bladder, and a monarch sling put in to help my bulging urethra. I was in the hospital for three days and had great nurses and a very supportive room mate that had almost the same procedure done. And my recovery is a long six weeks of no lifting and lots of bed rest. Which the lifting is the hardest part because of Lydia being 14 months and not quite walking yet. She really misses my contact the most. Luckily I have had the help of so much family and friends that are doing their very best to love my kids and take care of my house like I do. And that is where I am right now, coming up on three weeks since my surgery, and doing my best to stay in bed. Who would have thought it would be so hard to rest?

Elke!

I need you to send me an invite to your blog...we have been missing out on you and your family! ariel.brown@us.army.mil Thanks!

Noah's 3rd Birthday

A few years ago I did a teenage mutant ninja turtle birthday cake for my friends little boy. So I figured we would "recycle" the cake pan and do a ninja turtle cake for Noah. And that was the plan all along, I even had Noah on board with it. Until...I went to the party supply store and there is not a ninja turtle to be found! So last minute we switched to Batman. Luckily he loved it! And I sure was second guessing myself for taking on this huge task of a homemade cake when I should still be in bed! But I had total guilt trip because last year he had a store bought kung fu panda cake. Blah blah blah, I survived and it turned out perfect!