x-box widow?

for those of you who have husbands that enjoy visiting the 12 year old inside of them by playing video games more than once a week, you will completely understand this post, and why i had so much fun writing it.

i just found this picture, it is so fitting, paris, one of the most romantic places on earth with a big x-box sign next to it. very nice! just how i would imagine a man would think of a fabulous vacation, a beautiful city and his x-box! just kidding! even though i am truly not and x-box widow, sometimes, i prefer to play the martyr. (i'll admit i like to complain about it) i feel it creates a support group of sorts. (he, he!) so, how do you know if you're a true x-box widow? hmm, let me count the ways...

16. your sis in law asks to have the husband not call her husband more than once a week and you ask for the same courtesy

15. there are certain numbers and messages you don't tell the husband about that show up on the caller id (can't figure out how to block them on the cell phone though)

14. when you're out of town you know to call home before the husband leaves work, and, in case that doesn't happen, you know the conversation will be held to a minimum with the greatest response from the husband being an uh, huh every so often

13. you seriously think about bribing your friend's husband to kidnap the husband, drag him to a bike store and spend a small fortune just to get the husband a new hobby (ok, it really is the husband's goal to get into biking not mine)

12. you, all of the sudden, have long lost friends and family members across the country, translation: there is always someone the husband knows online - any time of day

11. you no longer feel the need to ask anything about any game

10. you are shooed from the room because you are distracting and getting the husband killed on cod4

9. you actually know what cod4 is, even without one question

8. your 5 year old son refers to friends and family by their gamer tags

7. you actually know what a gamer tag is

6. the reason for the very expensive very large tv is that it was rated very high for gaming purposes

5. your travel plans are not made until the husband has figured out if there is enough time to play upon arriving home and upon travelling, the husband receives many calls asking the estimated time of arrival

4. it appears the husband talks more with the "boys" than he does with you

3. you have actually thought about joining the game because you for sure can't beat it

2. you are not offended and not surprised when a family member starts referring to the game box as sex-box

1. and, here's my favorite, the husband buys a very nice tv for the room you have been banned to because he feels the guilt of knowing you're watching the same tv you got for your wedding almost 9 years ago. aka before hd.

now, here is my disclaimer: this post was made in fun, i do love my husband, and he does put the kids and i first. he is a very attentive father and husband, and i really couldn't ask to share my life with a better person. i just came across this picture and it got me thinking! very funny! and just for the record, i will admit to buying him the x-box live package! love ya babe! (referencing the office babe)

i am a survivor

waiting at the finish line
i'm the runner in pink and black - trying not to die!
natalie, me and adam we finished!

a week ago today i was a nervous twit. i was so anxious about the half marathon i was about run, i had a hard time thinking of anything else. well, i ran 13.1 miles on saturday and not since child birth have i been so involved mentally, emotionally and physically in a cause. i do believe i was a little too consumed by it but, it was something new and very foreign to me. it has been an amazing journey and i'm still in shock when i think about what my body and mind just accomplished. i could say my half marathon was awesome, no problem and that i loved every minute of it but, i'd be a big fat liar! i came into the race expecting to be tired towards the end, to want to quit sometime along the way but, i didn't expect to hit two major mental blocks on top of that! i'm proud of finishing what i set out to do and even though i finished about the same time as the man who came in 4th place for the marathon, i never stopped and the only time i even slowed up was to drink, considering my first attempt at hydration left me coughing and giggling for the next mile. i was lucky enough to meet up with some friends, and towards the end, it was following their lead and picturing my family at the finish line that kept me going. the scenery was amazing, we started at the base of the mountains and ran by three parks, residential areas and had quite a view across the valley. it was a beautiful, cool morning and the adrenaline of running with thousands of people was quite exhilarating. so, overall, i would have to admit i did enjoy myself and the second i crossed the finish line eric and my sister in law already had plans to have me run another race with them in august. i still am amazed at what can be accomplished when you put your mind to it. i feel like this race taught me so much more than just about running. hopefully, i will carry what i learned into my spiritual life. that it's not about cramming the night before, that it takes a lot of hard work and some sacrifice (sleeping in) to reach any goal. so, even though i missed the 2 hour mark, i only came in 5 minutes after my goal of 2:15, at 2:20. hooray!

genes

i often wonder where my kids come from, i wonder how they were put together, why andrew received one thing and georgia another. it's amazing to me how completely different they are, and yet they came from the same two people. i know, scientifically there is always an explanation but, there is still the missing explanation of exactly why.
i'm thinking about this today because i am surrounded by these small, strong personalities all day long. andrew is absent minded but dang smart. i feel he takes the repressed genes in both eric and i (i know of them through our siblings) and excels in science, math, and any type of learning, really. he is reading well passed a first grade level and he's only in preschool. granted, we have him in private school but, come on, you have it or you don't! he has always been so interested in learning, we would read books for hours when he was small and he always has a million questions about everything. he spoke in paragraphs shortly after he turned one and he hasn't stopped. he's usually one of the first in his class to pass off the milestones like recognizing the letters, blending sounds and reading the short books they provide and i have always been amazed by this. his teachers are always quick to comment on his love of science and math and what a bright student he is. his mind is like a locked box, once he sees or hears something, he doesn't forget. he remembers things that completely stump both eric and i. it's pretty funny, actually, because neither eric or i were strong students. we tend to think more abstractly and more visually.
this is where georgia comes in, her mind (so far) works so much more like mine. she loves to entertain herself whether it be by shoes or markers. she has been slower than andrew in using words, and walking and is pretty low key. (as long as it's her way) she is always rearranging everything and loves things that are pretty, colorful or that make music. although both of our children have shown great artistic talents, i feel georgia may embrace this more fully than andrew.
i love watching them grow into themselves. i love seeing andrew's quirky personality that is so much of his father's and i love seeing georgia opening up into a fun loving 19 th old.
so if you can explain to me why, i'd love to hear it, but i doubt i will be too satisfied. i am holding to the explanation of that's how our heavenly father made them.

state of mind

if you asked me where my mind has been this past while, i couldn't tell you. i have been in full survivor mode taking care of what needed to be done. i know this was due to the stress from not knowing what was going on with my sweet baby girl but when i opened my oven on saturday to find some fabulously cooked baked potatoes in there, i couldn't tell you when i had planned on eating them. eric just said, "nice babe" and i finally broke down and realized i hadn't been as ok as i previously thought. but, my state of mind has changed and we are definitely on the up side of things. we've been having some serious miracles around here, and i'm not talking about finding the potatoes before they started growing funky, i'm talking old testament miracles. upon seeing the doctor for the umpteenth time, i was referred to some specialists who took the time to listen to my story, give georgia thorough exams and gave me the same answers i was feeling in my heart. that georgia was 100% fine. she received puzzling looks and a+ marks from both the orthopedic doctor and neurologist and i received some answers. the answers being that sometimes when a child deals with pain, the pain will go away but the memory of the pain is so real, their reaction will linger. so, georgia's reaction was to not bother her legs so, she stopped walking. (oh, did i mention both of these appointments happened to land on the same day and were interrupted by my car engine smoking? oh, yes, on the way to the neurologist, across town might i add, my car developed a slight smoking problem. i called eric in tears and my knight in his shiny functioning car cancelled his day, called the tow truck, the insurance company and picked andrew up from school. what can i say more than, see why i married him? he seems to come through for me when i can't deal with anything more.) so miracles? yes, miracles, before all of my appointments, we asked a good friend of ours to help eric give georgia a priesthood blessing for the healing of the sick. as i held her in my lap and listened to the blessing and her giggling at her not so reverent brother, i had peace come over me, i am so thankful to have the priesthood in my home, wow. so, when i was going to these appointments i carried the words of the blessing and the words of my prayers in my heart. i know that georgia was found perfect because the blessing of the priesthood, of our faith and the faith of those around us. there were so many small things that could have been... scary things that i didn't want to think about that could have been and she came out perfect. well, not exactly perfect, she still wouldn't walk. but, today after eric put her pretty new sunday shoes on, he placed her on her feet and she took a few steps. yes, she was clinging on to eric as if her life depended on it but, she made the effort to use her legs. i immediately swooped her up and tears welled up in my eyes. i know we still have a long route ahead and that we are not entirely out of the woods but, this is the best thing i have seen in a long time. eric and i were so ecstatic we still have the goofy smiles on our faces! so, thank you for the prayers and the support, we're doing so much better. and, don't worry, i don't think i'll be making any baked potatoes for a while.

popsicles and toes

well, with all the trauma here at the marshall house we are pleased to tell you that we are still laughing and still getting into mischief! i woke up the other morning to a foreign noise outside my bedroom window. our friends had handed down a small trampoline and to my surprise, upon looking out the window, i found my shirtless son bouncing to his hearts content. this wouldn't be too funny but the boy had a full popsicle in his hand... it was only 8am! i wish i could have captured this moment but, as i went downstairs to grab the camera, the popsicle was gone and he had stopped jumping. later, i questioned his behavior and he simply rolled his head back and shouted "butthey'resoooooogoooood"! that same day i found a surprise with our georgia. you see, i spent the better part of sunday afternoon coaxing, bribing, restraining and frustrating georgia trying to paint her little tiny toes. no luck - at all. so upon unbuckling her from her car seat after a rushed morning to get andrew to school, she proudly pointed to her toes and said "toes mama, toes" i caught a look and started laughing. the reason she was so proud? she had painted her toes herself, with the dry erase markers. i'm guessing this happened in the 5 seconds i decided to take a shower earlier that morning! as you can see, even with all the uncertainty and not knowing what is going on with georgia, she has kept her personality alive and she and her brother keep reminding us of what is important and the bigger picture that is life. it's being a family, smiling at the silly things that come and to not obsess about things we can't control.

emergency room fun

eric calming georgia, she refused to be bothered with the hospital gown and was much happier in just a diaper

georgia, inspecting her "ouch", her arm is taped into a splint to prevent her from taking the iv out


today was one of "those" days, the kind of day we all wish would be over even before they start. uncertainty was our compass and each action seemed to be fueled by that fight or flight adrenaline rush you only get when faced with fear. georgia was way overdue for many of her immunizations so, over the last year, we have been playing catch-up to get her back on track. so, wednesday i gave myself the pep talk and hauled her barely there skinny bum over to the doctors office. (oh, you know the pep talk, the i'd rather have my child uncomfortable for a few minutes than let her have the disease etc. etc. pep talk) all went well and she took the poky things like a trooper, i on the other hand was not so ok anyway, that night around dinner time is when she stopped walking. fine, we thought it was just soreness from the immunizations so i gave her some motrin and placed her little body into her crib. the next day she refused to put any pressure onto her legs and laid in my bed for a good hour, very un-georgia like, she is a mover and a shaker and not much has ever slowed this girl down. all day she was like this so, i started into the over protective mother mode and began to worry. i told myself to give it one more day, she was probably still just achy and didn't want to be bothered. this morning she woke up happy as can be but, once again she refused to put any pressure on her little legs. i called the doctor. the nurse called back a few hours later and a half an hour later we were in the office where georgia confounded the nurses and doctor with her odd behavior. half an hour after that, i was staring at the overly large fish tank for three fish waiting to be called into the triage center of the local emergency room. i don't know how many of you have been in this situation, but no matter how small the emergency or if you're just going to have some tests run, it is not an easy place to remain calm, no matter how fancy the fish tank. luckily, eric was able to come home early, pick andrew up from school and drive him to his cousin's birthday party. he walked into our room just after the nurse had extracted the blood needed for further testing from the iv in georgia's hand. georgia was so very mad, eric walked in and she immediately told about everything that happened (in her own language, of course) and leaped into his arms. not only did she hold me responsible, she wanted nothing to do with me. after a few x-ray films taken, a few sesame street videos watched, and a snack of bubble gum and cheerio's, georgia's iv was taken out and we were sent home. as each of the test results trickled in, we breathed a little easier, knowing what she didn't have. we still don't really know what is going on but, we do know that she is not fighting some seriously scary illnesses. the doctor seemed to think her refusal to walk and to use her legs has to do with some major inflammation of her hip joints and has instructed us on the care and what to watch for. he said he couldn't link it with her immunizations but then again he couldn't dismiss the possibility. so, georgia is due for some more immunizations in five months, i think i will wait on those. i am just thankful to be home, have her in her bed with her "bo" and "soft" sleeping peacefully. one thing i do know, a prayer was in my heart all day long and i had peace in my mind with all this crazy uncertainty happening that i know was given by my heavenly father. we'll keep you posted on her recovery.

cookies before bed

georgia, so proud of her chocolate face
andrew and his big as he is cookie
eric set his cookie down and couldn't find it on the granite, apparently, we have chocolate chip cookie granite!

once in a while our home has a certain magic floating around, this is the kind of magic that lands on the tops of each of our heads and drifts down into our hearts. this kind of magic is my favorite. it is the kind of magic that turns off the tv, urges us out the door to eat dinner on a picnic blanket at the park, to giggle and play on the floor with georgia, and to make chocolate chip cookies with andrew. there is such a peaceful warm glow when this magic comes, it is when we are together and i don't just mean all in the same room, i mean these are the times we really become a family. i love these minutes, they seem so fleeting in our rush about lifestyle that i just want to sit a second more, let the kids play a minute more and to eat one more cookie at the table with my chocolate covered children. i wanted to savor tonight so much longer but, alas, the clock tells the truth and school comes tomorrow so we had to end the night but, i have to tell you a secret, even with everyone in bed that magic lingers, and i get those overwhelming "i love being a mother" and "i love my family" feelings that are just hard to shake. i am just so thankful to know that these moments and these feelings are able to last for eternity. have you checked out www.lds.org lately?