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!

Poppi

When I had my surgery at the beginning of the month my sister Corinna flew out with her 10 month old son, Gage, and did SO much to help me and my kids and all the work in my house for two weeks! And even my sister in law Lucia was able to fly out for 10 days in the middle and do an awesome job, especially with Lydia! I was so blessed to have my sister's help and to be able to rest so much. But, nobody can compare to Poppi! My dad just walked into my house on Sunday (the day Lucia was scheduled to fly home) and surprised us all! He got word of the girls needing to go home and me still needing to rest. So he went to his WTU in Fort Sam Houston and got an airplane ticket to my house for the week! And to top it all off, Jason's grandpa Hiett passed away the day before my dad flew in. So because my dad was there to save the day, Jason was able to fly to Opi's funeral and I was able to stay in bed and rest. And let me tell you, he did it all! Cooking, dishes, sweeping and moping, laundry, diapers, chauffeur to preschool, playground, car maintenance, shopping, installing child latches on the cabinets, baths and bedtimes! We LOVE you Poppi! You are the BEST!

Painting Pumpkins

Better late than never...This mother has too much anxiety to carve messy pumpkins. So we just paint and make a huge mess that way! And I LOVE the sound Lydia makes when she tastes the paint!