Loosing My Mind???

I think I am going to apply for an early retirement. Is that allowed? My kids don't really need a mommy for 18 more years, do they?

Every once in a while I want to tally up all the craziness that has plagued us since Madeline was born. But really, who is counting? Okay, maybe me, maybe a little. A friend of mine just e-mailed me and said "Life will get better and the medical thing will hopefully only be this years struggle and not next years too." Amen sister! I have not been able to say "At least we have our health" once this year! I suppose I have other "at least's." Like... "At least we have a roof over our heads" and "At least we have food on the table."

Our latest crazy....Emily had a seizure on Saturday. They are not sure why yet. A ct-scan was done and now they want a lot more tests. We are waiting to hear from the pediatric neurologist at John Hopkins. She has been perfectly fine since the seizure and I guess now it is just a matter of waiting. It weirded me out pretty good, you never expect to witness something like that. Life is never what you expect I suppose. We are feeling pretty positive about the whole thing, and know in our hearts she is going to be just fine. It is Emily after all. She is absolutely one of the the most stubborn human beings I have ever met. She will NOT let anything get in her way!!!

What I have learned through all this is something I have always known...family comes first, family is everything. In the midst of our crazy weekend we were able to attend an amazing church conference for the young women, which featured (for a few seconds) my niece Elise....

http://www.lds.org/broadcast/gywm/0,7726,2298,00.html (You have to listen to President Uchtdorf's talk! It might be my favorite General Authority talk of all time! You can see Elise during the video clip parts).

I went with my mom, Cyndi, Elise and Anna. Anna is not 12 yet, but seeing her among other young woman made my heart burst with love and anticipation. It is so exciting to think she will be in Young Women in a matter of months.

The love continued on Sunday when we celebrated with family and dear friends Elizabeth's baptism. It was a beautiful day! The girls sang "If the Savior Stood Beside Me." And Uncle Ben gave a talk on baptism. Our friend's little girl, Camarie Dover was baptized as well, which made it extra special for Elizabeth. Such beautiful girls, such a beautiful decision. I felt very honored to be her mommy and proud of her commitment. It was a perfect ending to a not-so-perfect weekend. So I guess I am not ready for retirement after all....

FYI

Watching the Food Network while eating hospital food DOES NOT make it taste any better.

Broken Record

Maddie is in the hospital again. It's not RSV, It's not H1N1. They are not sure what it is????
She is just miserable. A fever over 102 for 6 days now. The IV antibiotics seem to be doing the trick though. Her fever is FINALLY down. Now if we can get her to sleep, she just cries and cries. Hopefully we will know more in the morning and she will not have to stay long.

One positive...the nurses all knew her little face by name. They are all so sweet. There is this one nurse from last time, Christy. She is a blond little thing from Georgia, and calls Madeline, "Maddie Girl" in this perfect southern accent. I love her, and would bring her home with me if I was allowed. She is such a good nurse!

One negative...the glaring, harsh, hospital lights have made me realize that I quite possibly have the ugliest hands EVER. They are uglier than my 90 year old Grandmothers...

Does anyone else try and find things to laugh about when all you really want to do is cry???

Some Like It Hot

Did I tell you we ALL had a stomach flu last week? Have I mentioned that we are sick AGAIN. Not a stomach flu, something else. Coughing, sneezing, snot, high fevers.
Today Emily has a fever of 102.4. Audrey has a fever of 103.2, and Madeline has a fever of 102.1.
And my body temp is 104. Nope, not a fever, not yet...just roasting while ALL three girls lay on me. Sigh.

Happy Birthday Elizabeth

Elizabeth turned eight yesterday. Unbelievable! She is being baptized on March 28th and is so excited. We love Elizabeth for so many reasons.

When Elizabeth was born Jeff and I were so...relieved. It was a difficult pregnancy, which resulted in bed rest for me. The hardest part was the waiting, after a late-term miscarriage the year before, we had been on pins and needles the entire 9 months. Elizabeth Kathleen entered the world with a load of hair, big blue eyes and PERFECT eyebrows. Anna was so proud to be a big sister, and was instantly in love.

Elizabeth has never been a patient person, which I suppose she gets from me. But I really blame it on Dallin. When she was four months old she, I am sure, KNEW there would soon be a little brother to keep her company. They had a plan, they did NOT want to be without each other for very long. I can just picture them plotting in Heaven, Dallin promising her he would not be far behind.

Before Elizabeth was born I had always planned on calling her "Beth" but boy was I wrong. She has never been a Beth. She is Elizabeth, through and through. Although, every once in a while we use her Uncle Marshall's nickname for her..."Lizard Bath".

One of my favorite things about Elizabeth is that she says what she thinks no matter what. There is no beating around the bush with her or second guessing her. If she doesn't like something she lets you know. We always know how Elizabeth feels! She loves all things girly, especially clothes. She would wear a dress every second of her life if I let her.

For her birthday Jeff and I took her on a mommy-daddy date to see Alice in 3D and out to dinner. She wanted seafood and got to have her first taste of Lobster!

Happy Birthday Elizabeth! We LOVE you!

Flash Back--Happy New Years

So I figured I would go backwards with my...
"Rogers' Year In Review"
Gotta start somewhere.

2009 Year in Review

Now that things seem to be slowing down and routines are getting back to normal I am feeling sad at how much I have neglected my blog. I started this blog as a way to journal the Rogers' life. 2009 was a pretty pathetic blogging year for me. I want to be better. I know that we are headed into March but I thought I would, over the next few postings, play a little catch up.

My Six Children

Cause heartburn.

On a blustery day...

Two years ago, Emily Lynn arrived. At 12:09a.m. I wanted a Valentine's Day baby. She said "NO WAY." It was in the cards for this kid to be stubborn. She has not proven us wrong so far! I have never met anyone with more personality. Happy Birthday 'Tator-Tot! We love so much about you!!

Tis the Season

For Some Turkey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!!!!!

I am Grateful for So, so, so many things this year!

Happiness!

Maddie gets to come home today!

Therapy

I have not had a moment to post in quite a while. I cannot believe I do not have pictures up of our newest addition. I will get to it, I promise. I even have some summer pictures and Halloween fun I plan on putting up. But for now, I wanted to blog for therapy.

Madeline will be three weeks old tomorrow. We all knew from the beginning of my pregnancy what a special spirit we were being given. No matter how shocked and surprised we were at first, our baby- on- the- way never felt like an "accident." She was definitely meant to be.

Madeline was born on October 23rd at 7:08pm. She weighed 7lbs 2ozs. Her hair was dark and she had a TON of it. My labor was a little longer than I thought it would be, but actual delivery was a piece of cake. She cried immediately and has barely cried since. She is such an angel. Her sisters and brother were instantly in love and have been so sweet to her. Audrey wants to hold her every second of the day and Emily is absolutely positive that it is "her" baby. She laughs EVERY time Madeline so much as squeaks.

Our sweet baby is an angel even when she is in pain. As most of you know we have been in the hospital with Maddie since yesterday when they diagnosed her with the flu (H1N1). Nothing has been harder than to see a brand new baby hooked up to IV's, and machines. Her sad little eyes stayed closed most of the day because the fever made it hurt to open them. But today...she is doing better. Her fever has been under control for almost 12 hours now and she is eating perfectly. She even had a bath! The doctor is very positive she'll be able to go home tomorrow. It is truly a miracle that she is not worse. The nurses here at the hospital are heaven sent! They have taken care of Maddie beautifully! I feel so blessed that I could be here with Maddie, that I could feed her, and hold her, and sleep by her side.

Thanks to everyone, family and friends, who have sent well wishes and prayers our way! They worked!!!! Jeff and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Blogging???

Yes. I am working on it.

The Final Count Down!

Tomorrow is October and that means it is Baby Month!!!!!! I cannot believe we are down to the final weeks. Panic has taken over as I realize how much I need to do to be ready! Thankfully I do not have a lot of shopping to do. We are soooo good on the whole girl stuff department. I have bought a couple of new girly things, and we need a new baby car seat but other than that I just need to organize and finish rearranging dressers and stock up on diapers. At my doctor's appointment today she told me the baby was already in position, head is giving pressure, and I am dilated to a one! Woo hoo! Can you believe I am here again???? Wasn't it just yesterday that I was blogging about having my last baby. Oi!

Fantastic Day!!!

Saturday was a wonderful, wonderful, day!!! My parents were sealed for time and all eternity in the Washington D.C. Temple. For those of you who have known our little family for a long time this was a very, very, momentous occasion. I have been waiting for this day since I was nine years old! I am so proud of my parents. It had been a rough year for them, and to think that they have come so far is just a miracle! Being sealed to my parents was truly an overwhelming experience. Beautiful. I am so grateful to have the knowledge that this life is not the end of our families and that we truly will be together forever! So many wonderful people were able to be there..old friends, new friends and family! Thank you for coming and making the day even that more special.

Counter

Evidently overnight I went from 4000 views on this blog to over 11000 views. Hmmmmmmm. I think there may be a glitch. Orrrr... I suddenly became vewy, vewy, popwulaaarrr.

Emily's Dance

This is proof of the Emily Dance...we can still get her to do it every once in a while. The best way we can describe it is a cross between the chicken dance and the Elaine (from Seinfeld) dance.

First Day of School

The first day of school this year was a whirlwind with new schedules, new schools, new teachers, and new clothes.

Dallin, the beaming first grader.
Elizabeth, the proud second grader, who is now at the "BIG" intermediate school.
And Anna, our woman-in-the-making, middle school student.

They were nervous and I have to admit I felt every bit as anxious as they did! Poor Audrey was devastated that they left her behind! (Did you notice her in the picture with Elizabeth, peeking through the , oh my, very hand printed, window...so sad). I tried to appease her broken heart with promises of preschool starting in October, but that did not seem to suffice.

Anna kept telling me that she would be okay if she could just make it through the first hour.
(I think the thought of getting to leave an hour and a half early to sneak off to a Killers concert is what really made the first day okay! And Dallin and Elizabeth were soothed with the idea of having a sleep over at Grandma and Grandpa's!)


Man, I am a cool mom!

Wanted: Personal Designer

Is there anyone out there that would come live with me for a month and tell me how to redecorate my house??? I do not pay and all I have to redecorate with is a whole lot of hand-me-down crap. I might be able to swing some paint. I would expect you to do all the work while I put up my feet and watch the Notebook and eat dark chocolate. Thanks.

Really Tired

It's 4 am. I'm tired. I am in the grips of pregnancy insomnia. There is nothing on T.V. There is no one on Facebook. My e-mail is all checked. My google reader is empty. I am bookless. What's a girl to do???