Plan "be"

Little Blessings

The littlest trouble!

Always poppin around!

Middle Man growing up!

Mini Me!

Learning my lesson

Have you ever really sat and listened to your kids talk?  Sometimes as I really sit and listen, I am shocked to hear myself.  Yes, I cringe at what comes out of their little mouths, as I know it has come from me.  I have been trying to write some of these things down, as not only does it remind me to watch what I say and where I say it, but gives me a good laugh!!

I have already shared some of these with friends, and I run the risk of some jaw dropping I can't believe you shared these.....but they are a true reflection of life here in the Price house....and honestly, who doesn't need a laugh!

Just last week as I returned from my early morning radio show, I found Alexa,Andrew and Ayden in my bed. Nate was gone hunting and a friend had come over to sit with them while I attempted to inspire the early morning listeners!  What I didn't realize until I laid down with these three little people was how inspiring Nate and I are on a daily basis.  As we are rolling around laughing and tickling one another I jokingly say how stinky their breath smells, and tell them all they need to get to the bathroom quick to brush the bugs off their teeth.  Ayden, without hesitation pipes in, "yeah Andrew your breath smells like a cat dumped in it."  I can assure you this has never been said to the kids, but I can picture Nate or I laughing and saying it to one another.  I had my back to him and had to bury my head in the pillow to hide my hysterical laugh.  Once I had gained some composure I leaned over and explained how this does not sound very nice and I didn't want to hear him say it again.  OOOPS!  Better than this, was the belly laugh on the other end of the phone when I called Nate to tell him what had come out of his sons mouth. Oh if my mother-in-law could have been in the room!

Yesterday's experience was an example of brotherly love as Andrew kept teasing Ayden that he got to stay home and play with their friend Kohen, while Ayden was at school.  I still can't believe Ayden hasn't figured out that a three year old knows his buttons and is trying to make him angry.  I could only take a few minutes before I cut in and said, "Ayden, can't you see Andrew is trying to make you mad?  Kohen will not be here today, he's sick."  Again, without hesitation Ayden turns to me and says, " With the Swine Flu, or what mom?"  As I started to respond, he and Andrew turned around uninterested and headed outside to play.  As they were walking out the door I saw them look at each other and I heard Ayden say to Andrew, "What is the Swine Flu anyway?"  Andrew just shrugged his shoulders and said, "I dunno Ayden." Notice it was the three year old pronunciation,not I don't know Ayden!  They make me laugh!

Today was a day like every other Thursday.  I loaded up the four kids in the taxi-van and headed down the street to drop off Alexa at school.  The normal chaos began to unfold about half way down the first block as Asher yelled agua, agua, agua, Alexa and Ayden fought over who was going to get more candy for Halloween and Poppy began to scream that he didn't want to go to class.  Any of you that have been around all of this know that on any given day one or all of these many noises can grate at you like nails on a chalkboard.  Today I was doing well at tuning it all out, but did hear Ayden scream, "Poppy if you don't quit crying and be quiet I'm going to come unglued."  I chuckled to myself in the front seat, as this is what I always say when I am really upset.  I had visions of him standing on a playground shaking his fist telling some kid he was going to come unglued.

Today when we walked in the door from preschool Ayden came running up with a styrofoam airplane he had found stuffed under the backseat of the mini-taxi, that we think had come out of a Quizno's kids meal.  This was not the kind of airplane that assembles itself, but instead one with lots of little pieces that I needed to put together.  Normally, this would have been a simple task, but Asher was already in his high chair screeching bite bite baaaarrrrr, bite, bite, baaaarrrr so loud I couldn't hear myself think. Let's not forget Andrew running in circles stabbing at the dog with his light sabor, and Ayden impatiently asking me over and over when I will help him.  Without losing my pieces I threw a baaaarrrrr on the babies tray, told poppy to head outside with his sword and asked Ayden to wait just a few more minutes so I could get lunch going.  One would have thought I had asked him to wait a month, as he shrugged his shoulders sighed heavily and said he always has to wait.  Lunch only took a few minutes and in another 5 minutes we had the airplane put together and flying around the room, but not without Ayden turning to me to say, "Wow, thanks.  Is this what mom's are made for?"  I wanted to shout, "YES YES, This, and and about every other reason on the planet," but instead humbly smiled and said, "Of course Ayden."

It is these and the 3000 other ups and downs with them every day that keep me going!  They continue to amaze me with their imaginations, humor and love!  Little blessings!

so much to do.....so little time

 Some days I can't believe the ride.  Life that is....there are so many twists and turns, ups and downs, starts and stops.  Even if you are someone who likes to have their life planned out, you might as well give this up and go with the flow, because around every corner there is an unexpected surprise!  I had a friend recently tell me that life is about the dash....the time between when a person is born and when they die.  It is what you do with this dash that you will be remembered for.  I find it interesting to think of life here on earth as a dash.  We hear and talk all the time about slowing down, balancing the balls and enjoying life, but in the end it's a sprint to get done all we can in the blink of an eye!

Maybe this is why I have such an incredibly hard time slowing down.  I find time and the need to get things done is even more pressing now.  Don't get me wrong, I wasn't oblivious to the fact that one day I would die, but never really imagined the possibility that I might only live to be 60 instead of 90.  That's an extra 360 months to do things, another 2,520 days to make a difference, or not!

So in an effort to not waste a moment....which I might add is driving Nate crazy....I awoke this morning at 5 a.m., got in my car and headed downtown for our first of many live radio broadcasts!  Yes, I will be live with my three friends and business partners every M-W-F from 6:00 to 7:00 a.m. on macsworldlive.com.  Our show is called Be Inspired, and we hope to fill the hour with tips, fun and inspiration!  This is one of the many pieces I have been working on to bring women together to make a greater impact.  When asked why I don't sleep, it's because I have so much I want to get done and God has blessed me the ability to do it all, with little sleep!  Now i just have to come up with a way to convince everyone else this is a gift from God...........and going to bed at 10 p.m. really isn't going to be the magic ingredient for a cure!!  I want to maximize every minute of everyday!  There is so much to see and do!

blood draw

The first time since college I have had more than just a 24 hour bug or common cold.  The flu hung on until Tuesday and by Wednesday I was diagnosed with walking pneumonia.  I of course get the "special" treatment and have the pleasure of taking a very powerful antibiotic, because I can't afford to have this turn into bacterial pneumonia.  Most people would be begging for a drug or drugs to put them out of their misery, I am told if I don't take them I am going to be held down and force fed.  I laid in bed angry and defeated I had to give in to the "fear" the pharmaceutical and medical world and once again be a contributor in lining the pockets of one this country's leading industries.  Not to mention the thought of being held down=)

Here is the crazy part.  I've been sick for almost a week and was probably at my worst Wednesday when I went in for my blood draw.  When they called me back from Nebraska at the end of the day I expected to hear my counts were down and things didn't look good.  Instead, everything looked perfectly normal and my platelets had gone back up to the highest they have been since June.  I have noticed my lymph nodes are not as big and my night sweats are not as frequent.  I am not banking on complete remission here, but maybe somehow I will be able to escape the Chemo for awhile.  I will go back to Nebraska on November 10th for a more thorough appointment.  In the meantime, I'll keep praying!

you get what you get and you don't throw a fit

There are so many funny moments with four kids.  I know the laughing and smiling is therapeutic.  I do sometimes wonder how four little magnificent creatures can create such a storm of emotion in just a few short moments.  To one moment gaze at them with so much love it explodes from my body, to not thirty seconds later question why God thought I could handle four, as I peel them apart.  It's a wonder I have remained sane, although some say this is up for debate=)

Some of my best moments are taking the kids to school in the morning.  There are days they cry, kick and scream all the way to school, and complain all the way home.  But, most days there is a steady stream of conversation in the back seat, as they figure out the world. 

Wednesday morning I had loaded the three boys up to take Ayden to preschool.  Nate had taken Alexa, as this is the usual day he takes her to school.  We were just pulling out of the neighborhood and Ayden says, "Mom, I think we should have five kids.  Five is a good number."  I responded with, "Well honey I think four is perfect and Daddy and I can't have anymore kids."  In my mind I was thinking how I would respond when he asked me why.  My first thought was to tell him I am sick, and having another child is not something we can do.  This of course is not what I would really say....but the thought crossed my mind.  Just as I was getting ready to give the more generic answer, Ayden chirps in with, "I know why, because you just get what you get."  I smiled, and happy to not have to answer any complicated questions said, "Yes, Ayden, I guess God thinks four is a good number."  At the same time both boys start chanting, "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit, you get what you get and you don't throw a fit."

Smiling, I started to think about the Lymphoma and the blessing of this big family.  I too grew up with brothers and a sister, but also know the side of being an only child.  I think the four being so close is part of the plan.  Together they will be able to do things, feel things and experience things that alone would not be the same.  They will have each other to lean on and draw near to, when Nate and I are unable, or not around to do so.  This of course doesn't replace the role of a parent, but it helps fill up pieces of the heart, so the holes don't feel so lonely.

my life

There is never a good time for a mom to get sick. Somehow somewhere back in the beginning the clause that should've been added, stating "mom's need down time too," fell through the cracks.  In many cases, we have to practically be on our death beds to escape all our duties.

The past two days I have been one of these moms.  You see the hang up in our house is there are four kids, not two, which means somebody always gets left with mom.  This normally works as I have only had minor colds in the past 10 years, but with a fever, body aches and a relentless cough, watching Ayden catapult himself from the chair to my bed a thousand times, listening to Asher scream up,down bite, go and a thousand other directives, Alexa pick at and harass whoever is around her because she is bored and Andrew whine non stop for 30 minutes because he didn't get to go to the movie, I now understand why I've been spared serious illness!

Maybe this is God's way of showing me a glimpse of what I will be facing when I start chemotherapy.  The reality is the world doesn't stop and neither do these little people.  The truth is that unless my legs quit working, I will have to drag myself out of bed every morning, put on a smile and get through each day. Some days will be harder than others, but I know I will find the strength to do what I need to do. In the meantime, I will have to accept the fact that there is a mess in every room, the dust bunnys are piling up under my furniture and I only get to the mountain of laundry that sits in the hamper about once a week!  This is my life!

Year of the "sick"

The start of the Price flu season has begun early this year!  Most years we have been able to hold off until December and then we get hit hard until about Spring break.  One sure thing about having four kids is that if one gets sick, all will get sick.  It's the community effect thing we all keep hearing about in the news. We have our own little village here that often times looks and feels a lot like the inside of a petrie dish. All those little hands going from one thing to the next infecting every square inch of our house.  I've been fortunate enough in the past to have escaped 90% of what has struck, but I don't know if my luck will run the same direction this year!  I think we have spent enough money on medical bills and hospital visits to have taken 10 first class trips to Disney.  

Last year probably ranked in my top two for "I can't believe this is happening to me" moments.  It all started one afternoon in April with Ayden coming home from school with a stomach ache.  After a day or so of horrible diarrhea, fever and lethargy we awoke to Andrew crying he didn't feel good.  As Nate carried him to the bathroom he threw up all over his shirt.  Moments later Asher started crying and as I entered he too threw up all over his crib.  If this wasn't bad enough, Alexa came running down the hall and barely made it to the bathroom in time to hit the toilet.  What are the chances of them all coming down with the same thing at once.  The worst part was that Nate had to go to work, my mom was living out of town and my mother-in-law was willing to come, but lives two hours away and had to pack a bag before hitting the road.

So, as mothers often do, I strapped on my super mom cape and came up with a plan.  I set up the pack in play in the t.v. room for Asher, and a place for each of the kids on the couch.  They each had there own bowl to throw up in, and a small amount of fluid to sip on.  With all of their fevers above 103, I spent the next three hours in a constant circle from bathroom to kitchen to t.v. room.  I have never seen,nor smelled anything so vial come out of such little people in my life.  The worst part was that it went on for several days, and I ended up having to take Andrew to the ER for I.V. fluids twice.  He was so dehydrated they poked him six times before they gave up and said we should try "water therapy."  A method used in third world countries for dehydration, where you have the child drink one ounce of pedialyte every 5 minutes for two hours.  And we couldn't have tried this before the six holes and bruises covering his hands, arms and feet.  

I of course had a theory.  All the kids had eaten Mango and there had recently been a case of food poisoning from the mangos that had come from Mexico.  This was of course squashed when the test results came back showing all the kids had contracted the Rota Virus, a nasty gastrointestinal bug that usually only affects kids once, but is easily recognizable by the fowl odor and horrible symptoms.  I think the neighbors could of diagnosed it from across the street simply by the green fog that poured from our windows for over a week.  I know the quarantined/SARS sign in our front yard didn't help!  Just kidding!

From pneumonia, to three kids with fevers over 105, to a spring break trip at the ER, to over 10 days with the rota virus, to my diagnosis, to the chain of events this summer, I think we deserve our own wing named after us at the hospital and a medal of honor for survival!  You know it's gotten pretty bad when the doctor looks at you and says he is sorry you have had such a rough year and is pretty sure we have paid for part of the new Methodist West hospital being built in West Des Moines.  I think we deserve a break!  My cape has been worn thin and quite frankly my kids need a break!!

The Walk

The "be" team!

Light the Night

Another week here and gone.  I often wonder where time goes.  I think the slowest I remember life ever being was when I was living in Uruguay as an exchange student.  I was there to learn Spanish,so my entire 9 months was spent exploring and meeting people.  The family I was staying with only lived a couple of blocks from the beach, so I would spend hours sitting on the rocks listening to the ocean and reading.  What I wouldn't do now for 15 mins of nothing but peace and quiet on a beach with a book!  I only have myself to blame for my crazy life=)

Friday was one of those rare nights one might have when they are a freshmen in college, or in my case early 30's!  Some of my best high school and college friends came to town and we got last minute tickets to the Dave Matthews concert.  In celebration of the weekend and our lifelong sisterhood, we stayed out way too late and spent much of Saturday trying to catch up for the hours lost laughing and dancing.  We might have done a better job, but we had to be up and to the mall by 9:00 a.m. to support one of our close friends who has Lupus.  After walking around in a daze for an hour we all went back to re-energize for the Light the Night walk for Leukemia Lymphoma that evening.

It was a beautiful night, but it was hard to believe I was there as a "survivor."  It felt more like I was there in support of everyone else that was in need of support.  It was overwhelming to see all the red balloons lit up in support of someone they know with Leukemia or Lymphoma, and the few white ones that represented the survivors.  When I went to the table to get my balloon and she asked if I was a supporter or survivor, it took me a few seconds to remember why I was there!  Even as I walked away holding a white balloon, I felt like it was for someone else.  Next year I might suggest a third color that I'd name the "denial" balloon.  This is where I feel I've been at the last couple of weeks.

I was very touched by all the friends and family that not only showed up and walked with me, but donated to the cause, called and emailed.  It's amazing what people can do when they join together for something or somebody they believe in!  I truly appreciate all the love and support and feel blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people! 

circus life

I have to say I have been starting to worry over the past week that I have been misdiagnosed and that I really have Alzheimer's.  Many might say this has to do with four kids, a husband a dog and a company, but I can't shake the feeling I am losing my mind!  I write lists I can't find, I start projects I don't finish and I sent the babysitter to pick up Ayden from school, when he was watching a movie at home.  I knew it was really bad when I walked out of Target to find my car, and after 20 minutes of searching, I remembered mine was in the shop, and the loner I was driving was 3 feet from my cart.  Oh well, it could be worse, I could've unloaded my groceries into a mini-van that looked like mine only to find out it wasn't! No, this hasn't happened, but this is the place to look if it ever does=)

In reality we all have crazy things happen in the chaos of our lives.  Just a few weeks ago I got a text from a friend that she too was losing it.  She had locked both her kids and the keys in the car at the gas station, while the car was still running.  The best part is after banging on the car window for 10 minutes, trying to explain to her four year old how to undo himself from the car seat to unlock the door, and wondering if DHS was going to take her kids and the police cart her off to jail, her son reached over and rolled down the window.  She later said, "now why didn't I think of that?"  My best answer was, "We aren't perfect!"  "We can only be expected to be all things some of the time!!=)" 

Another friend called last week to say she had been having issues keeping things straight, and wanted to share a funny story.  She had sent her son with a friend for the morning, and he was dropped back off at house while the sitter was on a walk with the other children.  Her son had tried to call her, but she didn't hear her phone, and when she tried to call back it was busy.  After getting a hold of the sitter to tell her to get home, she called the neighbor to go over and sit with him, but when she got there he wouldn't let her in the house.  He had locked all the doors and went up to the upstairs window to yell, "nobody's home."  She thought he'd made a good choice to not let her in, and decided she'd wait on the  porch for the sitter to get back.  Her neighbor later told her she couldn't help but laugh at the thought of her entering the house to be hit in the head by a paint can, like the movie Home Alone!  It's scary when your kids have the solution before you do!

Life can really reach out and take hold of you, without you having a clue what has happened. Balance has always been a foreign word to me, but I am learning through this experience that without it, my life looks more like a circus than a broadway show.  Although this is entertaining to most, I can't see spending the rest of my life on a tight rope or in a cage taming tigers, although I have always thought it would be cool to be shot out of a canon!  Maybe I can settle for sky diving!