a new month

Thank Heaven for a new month...
If you'll notice my blog has a new title...This mama is trying to be happy, but my counterparts only include Carson and Corby now.  A week ago I sat down with my parents and we talked about Lucy living here.  She's not adjusted to being an outdoor dog and their dog Willow has not adjusted to having someone else sharing her space.
So my dad drove me to the Humane Society where I filled out some paperwork and gave my dog another home. My princess of the furninture is the princess of someone else's furniture now.

 Funny thing is I've watched Willow since Lucy Left and she seems sad, what do I tell Carson?   
It seems like a month of death in November.... Saying Goodbye was just too much-- I don't hide it well. 

Is it over yet?

Is it over yet?  The Month of November I mean?  If the phone rings with more news of another death in the family I'm not sure my mom can take it.  I recently read my sister-in-law Shilo's blog and she was saying how much she enjoyed the month of November, but I guess if you have pleasant things to associate a month with it would make it better.  The only pleasant thing in my month of November was the birth of my son two years ago, other than that there has been a death in the month of November.
This year there were two...  my mom's cousin who is only 10 years older than she is had a heart attack on the 13th.  Then when my parents returned from that funeral in California my mom got a call from her sister the Saturday after Thanksgiving saying that their Aunt Ophelia had died on Thanksgiving.  My mom's boss thought she was lying when she told him, who makes things like that up?  I guess there are people who would, but I just can't imagine.
Yesterday was the funeral of my great aunt Ophelia in Texas, and the anniversary of my grandpa's death.  It must of been a Thrasher Reunion in Heaven yesterday, afterall- there's only 2 out of 12 kids still living.
3 more days.....

truckapalooza 2012--aka Happy Birthday Carson

On Saturday the 10th my baby turned 2, and it was crazy!  We threw him a truck birthday and there were no two trucks alike at that party!  For a week it's been nothing but trucks galore all over the place, poor Corby's even come up from the basement to find a few still one at 5:30 when he's left for work!
It was a hit to say the least, thank you to everyone who came and to those who came from far away.  It was great to see neighbors we hadn't seen in a while.  Great Grandpa Merchant's Tonka truck has been the big hit, because aside from the car transporter from Aunt Kami and Uncle Mark it has the most cargo hold.

Check out the pictures from Truckapalooza 2012

OH What a night!

Little man will turn two

Okay, so not posting all October means That you get three posts today.  I can't believe in five days my little man will be two!  I ordered my truck lover his cake and couldn't believe that just two trucks come with the kit I bought, so I guess I will be convincing his daddy to drive me to wal-mart to get more to put more on the cake.

When did this little guy goes from this baby to this little independent guy running around at his aunt's wedding?

Let's review October Shall we 2

So we posted about Kami's wedding and apparently I've been away from blogging for awhile and have forgotten how to post multiple pictures. 
A week ago today, I had surgery to help with the multiple seizures I was experiencing.  Since the surgery I've had two I'm still not sleeping all that well at night which means I'm probably having them at night still.

Halloween was fun, I missed going out with Corby and Carson around the neighborhood, but two days post op- meant I got to help pass out candy while Corby and PopPop took Carson.

Here are some pictures of me and my lion before he went...

Let's review October shall we

October consisted of three things for me this year...
My sister- in- law Kami's wedding-- check
vagal nerve stimulation implation-- check
and
Halloween-- Check

The first I worried about the most to tell ya the truth, simply because I was having so many seizures and I didn't want to embarrass her on her big day, but as luck would have it I had six the day before and NONE the day of but I did have 4 the day after. 
The wedding was beautiful Kami and I am glad that you and Mark made it home from Rome Safely.





 

Merchant Family and Newlyweds October 18, 2012


 

a new month, lots ofcraziness

in carson's room

 

Mama's defeated, Carson showed me who was boss in her room

 

I wonder if he's helping or having a better time getting soaked?

We've had a lot happening since my last post, we've had the carpet installed, the bathroom finished and Carson and I made carpet angels in each of our rooms, Carson's also been busy helping Muga, that's what he calls grandma in the yard while getting soaked!

Choosing carpet

For this post you will have to close your eyes and imagine the scene, after reading it of course!  I have yet to find my camera and this was one of those moments you say to yourself,  "I wish I had my camera."
  As most of you who read this know we've moved in with my mom and dad.  It's been a slow going process, and every decision has met with a disaster or a roadblock of some kind.  Today was no exception.  Mom and I had looked at some carpet samples at an Rc Willey in town a few weeks back because we were IN TOWN, we took the samples home but decided none of them matched the paint...so we had my dad drop of the samples to the cranky lady who helped us the previous day.  When my dad dropped the samples off the lady had asked him if we needed him to come out and measure, he called my mom and she thought sure why not.
The guy came, was here not 10 minutes and left.
   The following  Friday, the lot of us--mom, dad, Jake, Corby, Carson and I-- we decided to drive into the RC Willey in West Valley.... Hang in with me I'm gettin to the part where I'm in need of my camera--We go back to the carpet area and the salesman asks,"How can I help you?"  We explain we are finishing the basement and we want a carpet that will withstand an almost two year old and we point to Carson and he flashes his killer smile and says hi.  The salesman says hi and explains that we will want a flecked carpet, so that if things do get spilled it won't be noticable right away...so then he asks about our paint choices and he pulls a few out.  Corby bends down and says, "So Cars, what do you think?" and no joke he shook his head no. 
Then with the next one he puts one on the floor and Carson sits on it and then lays backs, wiggles
 around, sighs and smiles.  That was my need my camera moment.  It was classic!  By the way, that was the carpet we all decided we liked and chose for the final purchase.

The Joy of a new baby

The Packard/Harrison clan grew by two feet on July 20th, Zayne Michael Harrison surprised us all by coming after a week of fun planned by his grandma Char- he missed going to the zoo to see The Rocky Shores with this Big Brother and cousin Carson and to see the broadway play Wicked  , where everything makes sense in the Wizard of Oz if you see that first.  I think Zayne was just tired of missing out and wanted to join the fun, so the following day he woke his mama up for an early morning trip to the hospital and by 11:30 a.m. was here to join the human race and has since then brought nothing but joy to our lives.

He is small 6 lbs. 4 oz at birth, but Small babies are also mighty--my little one was smaller than Zayne and he's almost 2!  

The good life

At my house this is what summer isall about a creamie.... This photo says it all

yes boys, that is a clip in his hair...the torture continues with him as it did with Jake and Jake is as masculine as they come

Swim Reunion

On July 6 we were invited by the mom of one of our swim buddies Grady to the Valley Fair Splashpad. Having moved away from West Valley and only go there to visit my in-laws I rarely go any where else in West Valley.  But the city has really built up things around the outside of the mall.  Carson really wasn't sure what to think of the randomly shooting spurts of water and X didn't know what to think either.  I chose to leave out the pictures of  X who stripped down to nothing but his swim diaper, and was cohersed to leave even that on. All in all we had a good time, Xavier finally decided to get dressed to his mom's relief, and Carson got out and enjoyed playing on the stairs.

An unsure but wet Carson watching from a safe distance away

Summer swim lessons

This summer Erin and X, Carson, and me and my mom who filled in when either mom needed her participated in swim lessons for the boys.  This is the second summer for X but the first for Carson and it was definitely a fun two weeks.  Carson wasn't as brave as I thought he would be though, on the last day the kids got to play on the big slide and X rode the slide with a teacher at least 10 times!

 Have to get Carson back into a pool soon!

My week since memorial day

This past memorial day... my family held a yard sale, which turned out to be a pretty good success. Each participating family came away from the sale with have sold something.  Then Corby and I met up with his family to visit his grandma Merchant's grave and in the 45 minutes to the hour we were visited with family we both got burned
Luckily, it was just the two of us.  About an hour later we made our way out to WestValley to Grandma Alaine and Grandpa Lance's.  It's tradition every year to walk the mile from their house to the cemetery where most of my family and my MIL's father and cousin are buried.  By the time we returned for the BBQ, Corby and I were fried!  According to my SIL, I  matched the shirt I was wearing that day.

Tuesday- I woke up with a sore throat and a headache

Wednesday- Spend the day with hot and cold chills-didn't get out of my pj's

Thursday- See repeat of Wednesday

Friday- Shaking uncontrollably-went to the instacare- was told it was just a virus and was insulted by the doctor because I wore jammie pants
 
Saturday- Missed my niece Makayla's 2nd Birthday because I didn't feel good still, glad I was home though when Corby called in distress-he'd blown a tire coming home from Makayla's.  So dad and I went out to where they were stranded. It was a scary experience for Carson as his grandpa and dad jacked up the car and tried to get the spare off, which in the 9 years I've owned it has not been on the ground until now. It was a long night!

Sunday- felt well enough to walk with my boys and Lucy to the Park.

I hope this week goes better...We signed both the boys up for swim lessons- they start this Saturday the 9th...with the way Carson loves to "swim" in grandma's jetted tub-it should be fun!

Where did the month go?

My last entry was the 15th of April and today is the the 4th of May, since then our life has turned upside down.  We sold the house, sad day when I realized that I no longer owned my home someone else did, and have since then now moved in with my mom and dad.  Moving day(weekend) was anything but easy, and Lucy is now living outdoors in my parents backyard with their lab Willow.  Which she was not liking at first but then the boy next door took her  under his wing, which has made the transition easier.  She loves Mack and he loves her company too. 
Carson loves grandma and Poppop's BIG yard and is out there everyday with the dogs.
he is always on the canal with Uncle Jake or downstairs with Poppop chechecking out the progress of our new residence. 
So far, we've got the framing, roughed in plumbing and electrical finished and now we're waiting on the sheet rocking to begin. 
Look for pictures soon, once I find my camera... their are boxes everywhere!

Seeing spots

This is nothing to smile about



There are more other places too, but you'll have to use your imagination to see those

 For about 14days my little man has suffered with what one doctor believed to be pneumonia and prescribed amoxocillin.  This past Wednesday the 11th, he was still congested and by then had broken out in a rash...So PopPop(grandpa Mike) came to get us to take us to see the pediatrician.  Dr. Nagle wasn't there, she was one vacation, so we saw Dr. Esham... she said the then spotty rash was a side effect of the antibiotic that he'd been taking but didn't need to be taking, because what he has is likely RSV(bronchilitis) which doesn't require antibiotics. Viruses are tricky things to treat.  Does anyone know when babies get too "OLD" to get RSV?  Carson's had bronchilitis or RSV twice now.
I sure hope after going back in on Friday because the rash had turned into this(see pictures above) that with daily does of benadryl it will fade and go away quickly--  Frankly this boy and his mama are getting tired of being cooped up.  Carson misses and would like to play with his cousins.... anyone up for a play date after we get moved in May?

Easter 2012 and life

It's wierd to think that Easter was just this past Sunday because in my world it feels like it's been over since the weekend of the 31st.  That's when the Packards/Harrisons and these Merchants had our first Easter egghunt in my parents backyard.
It was sure fun to wtch the boys hunt for the eggs, the pictures that mama got weren't all that spectatular but we had a good time.

in other news....  since my last post, the potential buyer came back and lowered the cost of what he wanted for the repairs...  We are now in the process of finalizing the sale and need to be out by May 3rd!  My poor baby boy has been sick for going on 12 days now, and we were told it was pneuomia and were given amoxillician, but then today he broke out in a rash and so back to the doctor we went. It was a Sunday when he was seen before so we went to the kidscare, not his awesome doctor... Turns out he didn't need the antibotic- he didn't have pneumonia he has a virus similar to RSV... The reason for the rash-- his body way of dealing with the unnecessary meds. 

Enjoy pictures of the 2012 Easter egg hunt pre rash

already on the lookout for eggs even before Xavier and Uncle Phill, Uncle Bigdog, Pop Pop and Willow get  back in through the gate

He knows what to do-if I open them up I find goodies inside

Man, the difference 4 months makes- Xavier looks so much older standing there

it loks as if the foam basketball is floating, maybe it's magic, cool trick Carson!

As My World Turns

My life could be a soap opera these days, the only difference is I don't get paid the milions per episode where the plot thickens or takes a drastic turn in the script.On Monday I was having my home inspected to finish the sale of the home and then yesterday my realtor called to tell me that the buyer wanted Corby and I to give him more money to replace or repair a list of things.  My realtor and I agreed the smart thing to do would be to put my home back on the market to avoid having to give the prospective buyer the $5,000 more he wanted on top of the $5, 000 we'd already agreed to give in closing costs when we agreed to sale our home to him.
Some people are so greedy...geez...build your own if your that picky!  Now it's back to showing the house again...hopefully it won't take long to find another interested buyer.
If anyone knows someone looking for a reasonably good priced home, send 'em our way!   

First dentist visit

Today was Carson's first visit to the dentist and my opinion of dentists have changed some--the pediatric kind are cool!  Adult dentists still suck!  Funny thing we found out both Xavier and Carson have  two teeth that have grown together into one tooth... it will likely go away when their baby teeth fall out and then not be a problem. 
Carson left his first visit with a cape and a mask(not so very fond of the mask though), a cool toothbrush, and a helicopter as a prize... I want my son's dentist!  I managed to get a picture of Carson in the cape with the aid of Daddy.

Burg Pediatric Dentistry--free publicity

 

The days of our Lives... our just since last Saturday

Like sands through the hour glass so are the days of our lives... Just kidding...
Well, for thouse of you who aren't aware, we are sellling our house, and for those of you who don't know there was an offer made while we were celebrating Bubba's 30th birthday a week ago(the 24th)... and now for those of you who aren't up to speed we countered his offerr of $230,000 and said 240, 000.  He accepted yay!  Monday morning we were supposed to meet with the realtor, instead Corby took me to the ER and Carson to his Uncle BigDog. 
With all that's gone on lately I chose to ignore the pain in my abdomen thinking I knew what it was and that I could just wait it out after all that's what I have to do anyway even with having gone to the ER-- but maybe it was a good thing I did go because not only do I have a cyst on my ovary(was what I thought it was) but the ER called me yesterday with a perscription ready to send to my local pharmacy because I in addition to the cyst I have a urinary track infection.
The meeting with the realtor took place still on Monday in the ER, I wonder if that was a first?  Carson had a good time with uncle and even got to see Pop Pop(grandpa Mike) that day too when grandpa had to bring him to the hospital when uncle had to go to school.  

The boys(X and Carson) are grearing up for an Easter egg hunt at grandma and Pop pop's before the priesthood session.  The Harrison's are headed to Vegas for a Family Reunion on the Yeardly side and won't be home for the hunt so grandma thought it would be fun to fill plastic eggs with money so that each boy could fill their banks to go to Disneyland and Vegas.

Enjoy the pictures of Easter's past

Master of the Stairs

For months now we've had a make shift gate up preventing Carson from falling down the stairs...because of the showings we have to take the gate off... so yesterday Carson figured out how to go up and down... When I woke up this morning this is what I found....
With daddy supervising of course


It's a good thing that he's mastering the stairs now because when we move in with my mom and dad we will be living in the basement.

March's snowfall

all smiles

unsure of what to think of the snow

"Help I can't see"

The saying is true I think... March comes in like a lion.... and hopefully goes out like a lamb. Carson experienced his first snow fall where he was able to walk around in it. Last week, the photographer came Tuesday morning to take pictures of the house and by that night there was tons of snow on the ground. I thought as I have other times when it has snowed that it would just melt by the time Corby got home from work on Wednesday but it didn't.

Later that day Carson heard the garage door go up and went to the back door and waited for his daddy like always, but he never came through the door. So I bundled us up and went to investigate. Corby was shoveling the driveway. I went back inside and got Carson in his snow pants and took him back outside to help daddy. Daddy took time out of his shoveling to have some fun in the snow with Carson.

A decision has been made

After months of mulling it over and pretending everything was all right when it isn't, we have made the decision to sell our home. The dream of home owndership is once again just a dream. I always worried when we had a family who our little one would play with... now I don't have to, moving in with my family gives Carson a chance to hopefully make friends with the neighbors kids. Hopefully make lasting frienships.

I only hope that everything will turn out okay in the end

A shout out to Jake aka BigDog

Pic 1- me and Jake

Pic2- Erin, Jake and I on mom and dad's bed(Jake was 2 maybe)

Pic3- Oct.2011- a tired Carson snuggled up to his best bud

So I don't know what to write really, I just felt the need to write. For those of you who know my family, you know that my brother Jake and I have not always had the greatest relationship... in fact both he and I have bite mark scars to prove it. It's true what they say I think as you grow older your relationship with your siblings change. They no longer annoy you, they become your friend. I think that's true with Jake and I, sure we still can get on each other's nerves but he has been such a wonderful "Uncle Bigdog" to both Xavier and Carson.

He has come to my rescue more than once when my health has been bad to help care for Carson. The two of them are best buds. We can joke around more and he's even using Me as a tutor now that that he's gone back to school... I think it's because I work for free.

My mama's baby will turn 30 this month! All I have to say is, ' Hats off to you Mom! Ya done good!'

Jumping the Gun?

Here's a picture that signifies spring to me... my little man in shades... what a cool dude! I may be jumping the gun in changing my background from valentine's to St. Parick's-but March always reminds me of spring and as I look out my window right now I see no indication of winter any more. Although as I was reading posts on facebok yesterday a friend who lives in Wyoming said they were experiencing a rather bad snow storm... go figure.