The Monday of Medical Mayhem

We survived!  It has been an interesting two weeks at the Lloyd home.  Here are some "notes" about it...

Two weeks ago, Travis and I took Nathanael in to an oral surgeon to have a tooth exposed that was not coming up.  The orthodontist said that they had done all they could do with his braces without that tooth.  When we got to the office of the surgeon, he recommended that Nat get all four wisdom teeth removed because he had to be "out" for the exposing anyway and it is much better to do this procedure when the wisdom teeth are there- but not totally developed and have large roots.  We ultimately left the decision to Nat and he decided it would be better to get it over with and have it behind him.  Everything went well.  When Nathanael woke up, he kept claiming that he was fine and kept insisting that we take him back to school.  He claimed that his brain was sharp and that he just couldn't talk. Really???  Then when we got home, he jumped out of the van, went inside the house, and ran down the stairs before Travis or I could help him.  He just kept telling us that he was fine!  Of course, the medications wore off and reality set in later.  Anyone who has had their wisdom teeth out can relate to how miserable one can feel.  Despite the pain and not really being able to eat, Nat was a fairly good patient.  He took his medications when he was supposed to and kept himself hydrated and rested.  He is finally doing soooo much better and we are all grateful that it is behind him and he can enjoy the holidays!

That same day, I had scheduled a dentist appointment for four of us to have some dental work done.  What a pain!  I did not know when I scheduled the appointment that Nat would have his wisdom teeth out that morning.  Lindsay needed a small cavity filled.  Poor thing!  She takes such good care of her teeth and yet she is the one whose teeth are not as strong as the others.  I felt like I had to keep the dental appointment because it is so hard to schedule that much time.  Anyway, she got her cavity taken care of and I don't need to worry about it anymore.

Ethan needed one tooth extracted.  It needed to come out to allow for some other teeth that are coming in and must have space.  His teeth don't come out!  Almost all of them have had to be taken out by the dentist.  When we see the teeth after they come out we realize why they don't just fall out on their own.  The roots are unusually long!  His teeth look like talons!  Ethan handled everything well and I don't think he complained at all.

Clarissa also needed to have her teeth extracted as well.  She had to have four little baby teeth pulled.  I overheard the dentist saying how easy it would be to pull out those little teeth. He was surprised when it took a little more effort because, like Ethan, Clarissa has roots that are extremely long!  Unfortunately, that night, Clarissa's bottom lip was extremely swollen and continued into the next day.  I wondered what in the world was going on because I had never seen this with any of my other children.  It ended up that because her lip was numb and she had never experienced that sensation before, she bit her lip over and over-hard and caused many canker sores as well as a giant cold sore.  It took several days for her lip to heal and be normal.  Even though she was in pain, Clarissa did not complain!  She was awesome!

While we were waiting during Nat's surgery, Zachary was breathing funny.  It wasn't so obvious at that point that something was wrong and I debated whether or not to call his doctor.  I finally decided that he needed to be seen, so that evening after the dentist, I took Zac into his pediatrician.  By that point, it was obvious that he was having trouble breathing.  The doctor gave us an inhaler and put Zac on an antibiotic and told me to come back in two days.  I took Zac back to the doctor and it was determined that he has asthma-triggered by a cold.  I had juvenile asthma but grew out of it and so I hope that Zachary grows out of this too!  I just need to watch him close every time he has a cold now.

As you can tell, it was quite a day, but I am grateful that it is behind us and that we can enjoy the holidays.  My "moment of joy" was when Nat was changing his cold packs on his cheeks every thirty minutes.  He asked Clarissa to go get the frozen one out of the freezer for him and take the one back that he had just been using and put it in the freezer.  She told him that she would be happy to and was a cute little nurse!  When she gave the ice pack to him he said, "Thank you sooo much Clarissa!"  I really thought their little exchange was so sweet!

Cathy

The Lloyd Characters

Once again, we have celebrated Halloween...already? Well, here are a few "notes" from the Lloyd home...

Nathanael decided to be Dr. Doofenschmirtz from Disney's "Phineas and Ferb" for Halloween. He really enjoys watching that show. It gives him time to laugh and "chill out" from his crazy schedule. Every year, our family carves pumpkins for Halloween. Nat really does not like cleaning out the pumpkins! When he was little, he would cry and cry when we tried to get hime to pull out the pumpkin "guts". It is so interesting that still after all these years, he carves out his own design but refuses to clean it out!

Lindsay was a "goth" this year for Halloween. She looked pretty convincing! At a ward Halloween party, an elderly woman came up to me and told me that Lindsay looked so much like me when she was all "dolled up" like that! I really was not sure how to take that compliment? Was it the black lipstick or black eye shadow? I know, it was the nose piercing! Ha! Ha!

Ethan was Harry Potter this year. He was perfect for it with his new glasses! We were lucky because we already had a costume that some of our other kids had worn. It seems that every year we either have some character from "Harry Potter" or "Star Wars". This year we had both! Ethan really is into Harry Potter this year and has already said that he wants the Lego Hogwarts Castle for Christmas.

Clarissa was soooo cute this year as Junie B. Jones. She loves those books and I can often hear her laughing out loud in her bed as she reads at night before she goes to sleep. Clarissa took quite awhile to decide what she wanted to be for Halloween-but when she did-it was perfect for her! She was quite entertaining quoting phrases from the books. I loved it!

Finally, Zachary was Yoda from "Star Wars" this year. I had always promised Travis that we would have one of our little ones be Yoda because the baby/toddler costume was so cute. Since Zac is our last little one, it was kind of now or never! He loved Halloween!!! This was the first year that he got to go trick or treating. Travis took Ethan, Clarissa, and Zac this year because it was his turn. He dressed up as a Sith Lord to go with Zac. Zachary was his "little green friend". Travis asked Zac if he wanted to walk or be carried and Zac kept saying "walk". He walked for over an hour and did not want Daddy to carry him! I guess candy is a pretty strong incentive for him. Hmmm. Good to know for future reference! Because it was Travis' turn this year, the weather was fantastic- so just be aware that next year, the weather will be miserable because it will be my turn and the pattern has never failed! I don't really like trick or treating. I didn't even really like it as a child! I remember one year in which it rained and rained and I was so cold that I begged my dad to take us home ( I think it was only after one street). Anyway, he encouraged me to continue and as time went on, I noticed that my hands were turning blue and I told my dad that I was so cold that my hands were turning blue! He took me home and I realized that my hands were blue from the dye that was on my witch's hat! (I really was panicked that it was a permanent condition!)

Well, my "moment of joy" was when the pumpkins were all carved and set out on the porch. For some odd reason, I get a lot of satisfaction out of making sure each pumpkin is scraped very clean before a face is carved in! I know it is weird but that is just the way I am- a little weird!

Cathy

Nostalgia

Here are some "notes" from the Lloyds...

Nathanael sang in a concert for Lone Peak High. It was their fall concert. I couldn't go to the first one and so I was excited to go to this one. I really enjoyed the concert. They sang a couple of pieces that I sang in my junior year. The concert really took me back to some great memories-although I can't believe that it is now my son making those high school memories!

I was helping Lindsay pull a costume together this last week for Halloween. She has decided to be a "Goth". I remember in eighth grade that I dressed up as a flapper for Halloween. I think that that was the last time that I really dressed up for Halloween. Wow!

When I took Nat and Lindsay to the orthodontist this last week, I had Ethan get a free consultation. He needs A LOT of orthodontia work! I felt so bad for him! I remember having so many lovely problems with my teeth growing up! Oh, well! At least we can get them fixed and he will be even more handsome than he is now!

Clarissa has told me who she has a little crush on and how when she sees him, she gets a little shy and embarrassed. I thought back to my crush in elementary school-really it was one boy throughout all my years. However, I regret to say that I was not very shy or embarrassed around him, I probably frightened him off!

Zachary has learned the names of all the animals in the book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? It made me think of how many times I have read that book over the years...again and again and again....

My "moment of joy" this week was when I saw Zachary in nursery take his little cup for his snack and throw it in the garbage without someone telling him to do it! Yeeeaaaah! (Unfortunately, it probably won't last!)

Cathy

Apples and onions

I think when soccer season ends-which is soon, I will be able to be more consistent with this blog. Here are a few "notes" from the Lloyds...

"Apples and onions" is a tradition that we do at dinnertime as a family. Each child gets to go around the table and tell his/her "apple" or good thing for the day and his/her "onion" or bad thing for the day. True to the sense of humor of our children, some really like onions but don't like cheese and some really like cheese but not lima beans etc. So basically, sometimes its the "onion" of the day and the "cheese" of the day and so forth... Having said that, here are some "apples" and "onions" from the last couple of weeks...

Nathanael has been doing really well on his soccer team. It is amazing to see how far he has come from working so hard! He even scored a goal from about 40 yards out which arced up high and went in behind the goal keeper. This is his "apple". His "onion" is that he had scored a great goal along with his teammates and the referee called offsides on his teammate and so the goal did not count. Travis said that he was "robbed" and that it was a beautiful goal.

Lindsay's "apple" is that she got to perform in her first choir concert of the year. She is in SSA-the women's choir at her junior high. They performed a variety of songs from different musicals and they also got to do a little choreography with it. She had a lot of fun performing! Her "onion" is that she has had a really bad cold and has felt quite lousy. I don't know that she has felt that yucky for a long time.

Ethan's "apple" is that he is playing flag football right now and has scored a touchdown and extra points. Ethan is really fast and his coach calls him "crazy legs". His "onion" is that it took us forever to finally go and buy him some new shoes because his old ones were full of giant holes. At the store, the new pair that he had picked out seemed to fit, but the next day he tried to put them on for school and they were definitely too small. He was very disappointed not to have new shoes and have to wear his holy shoes.

Clarissa's "apple" was that she was able to save her money and buy a Junie B. Jones book at the book fair at school. Her "onion" is that she lost her homework this week and has to make it up. Her teacher is very positive with her and does not make her feel bad, however, Clarissa feels bad about it anyway -which I am so glad that she cares about it!

Zachary's "apple" is that he is talking up a storm now! He knows so many words and the names of things. My favorite little thing that he does lately is say "up top" and holds up his hand so you can give him a "high five". I don't really know where he got that from! His "onion" is that yesterday he was asleep on the couch and rolled off and smacked his face on the floor. He had a little bloody nose. I felt really bad and have not worried about him rolling off of something for a long time! I guess I will need to watch that more for a while.

My "apple" or "moment of joy" was the night of Travis' 40th birthday. I was so relieved that everything had gone well and that he felt really good about it and felt very "loved". I am so grateful and touched for our extended family's support in coming to celebrate this milestone!

Cathy

Pretty cool

Yes, we are still alive....here are "notes" from the Lloyd home....

Nathanael earned the highest award that you can earn for the Varsity scouts. He was the first one in our ward to earn it thus far. It was pretty cool. He also sang in his first concert in high school. It was a special concert in remembering the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

Lindsay just celebrated her 14th birthday! To celebrate, she had a late night with her friends. She seemed like she had a great time. I hope she knows how amazing she really is and how grateful I am that she is my daughter. It is pretty cool that she is part of our family.

Ethan is busy playing soccer and participating in cub scouts. He is just about ready to receive his Webelos badge and then his Arrow of Light award soon after-pretty cool!

Clarissa scored her first goal for the season. A friend got it on camera and e-mailed it to us. She was really excited to tell her dad because Travis couldn't be there because he was coaching another game. It was pretty cool!

Zachary is talking more and more every day and turning into such a little boy! Right now he just loves cars! It is pretty cool how fast they grow and learn!

Because it has been 3 weeks, I have a couple of "moments of joy". The first one is that Clarissa had to write a poem about someone at school. She decided to write her poem about me and one line says, "She is a beautiful as a peacock". She makes me smile! The other thing is a little odd. I have been very ill for a couple of weeks. I had to go to the doctor a couple of times and when he told me what I had-I was so grateful because I could do something to get well and not just "wait it out". The doctor listened to my lungs and told me that I had pneumonia-which I was grateful that I could do something about it! When I told the doctor thank you for figuring it out-he just laughed. I guess it was a little odd that someone was thanking him for telling her that she had pneumonia. Because I have been ill, many have really helped me out and been so kind-again I am so grateful.

One other pretty cool story I heard was when I was watching some shows about the rebuilding of Ground Zero. There was a man who told a story of a tree that had been buried under all the rubble and had survived. They wanted to replant it on the site and so they took really good care of it and in 2010 it was hit by a terrible storm and again were not sure if it would survive. This tree did survive and they did replant it in the new plaza. It has some scarring and you can see where it has been damaged by 9/11 and the storm-but there is also a lot of growth. I thought that was pretty cool!

Cathy

Birthday, Soccer, and School-oh my!

A few "noteworthy" things from the Lloyds...

Nathanael just entered the 10th grade. He is officially attending high school! I just can't believe it! In my mind I am still 23 years old. I remember well my first day of high school and it doesn't seem that it was THAT long ago! He has a pretty full schedule this year but he feels like the classes are going to be very interesting. (I hope this attitude stays)! He is also really excited about his soccer season coming up soon.

Lindsay just entered eighth grade. She has turned into such a wonderful young woman. She is really excited about her classes this year and feels like she has so many great teachers. Her first soccer game was yesterday. It was sooooo hot! I had Clarissa and Zachary with me and they kept wanting to sit on my lap. I do not do well in the heat and it was all I could do not to jump up and scream!!! Lindsay, however, handled herself very well (she usually has a hard time in the heat as well). It is some unfortunate genetic problem.

Ethan entered the fifth grade. He is growing up so fast! He has a lot of friends in his class which makes it a lot more fun. He also had his first competitive soccer game yesterday with Travis coaching. Ethan played very well and it was a good experience for the team (The heat did not seem as bad as well).

My sweet little Clarissa is now a second grader and just celebrated her 7th birthday. Wow! We had a "mini-carnival" for her party. I stayed up until 2 a.m. doing a carousel birthday cake for her the night before. I thought that it turned out really well-but it slowly began falling throughout the day and just before her family party-it fell over. I fixed it as best I could and she still loved it. We were able to borrow a lot of cute carnival decorations from Travis' sister Jamie. It was fun! Clarissa also played her first soccer game of the season yesterday. I was a little worried because my brother Paul had coached her the last two years and she had a different coach this year. I was pleased to see her dribble all over the field-something Paul and Travis had worked on with her previous teams. One could tell she had been taught some great ball skills!

Zachary got to spend a lot of time with me because of the kids going back to school. He loves cars and he loves to take Ethan's Phineas and Ferb toys (a show from the Disney channel). I know he missed his siblings but it was nice to have some "one on one" time with him.

My "moment of joy" this week was when I stopped at a gas station after Lindsay's scorching soccer game and purchased a strawberry slushy-type drink. Boy-it hit the spot!!

Little Pioneer Children...