Happy B-day to ME!

For my birthday on February 7th I was completely spoiled. On Friday the 6th my wonderful friend Janelle took me out to lunch at Applebee's. It was chaotic of course since she has two kids the exact same age as mine and we are both prego again. Many of the elderly people expecting a quiet and relaxing lunch were not too pleased with the 6 of us. One even made sure to let us know that Janelle's daughter was storing her chicken strips in her dress. Every eye was on us but we didn't care. The waiter was relieved when we left but we made sure to tip him well. The poor guy had a mountain of food under the table to clean and far too many half eaten splenda packets (Daniel is a little sneak) stuck in the seats.  Still, it was fun to talk and eat out. Janelle is always so much fun she keeps me laughing the entire time! Thank you for a great lunch. 

At lunch we hit a milestone with Jaxon. I ordered him food at the restaurant. Plain grilled chicken and broccoli, but it was off the menu. I was so excited. Yeah Jaxon! Can't you totally tell he is enjoying himself? This kid eats like a horse. He shoves it in until it is gone. Look at those cheeks; like a chipmunk storing food for the winter. 

That night Johnny sent me to pick-up pizza for dinner. He had invited another couple over to play games. I was really upset when I came home to find he brought home a try of sub sandwiches from Subway too. He was in the shower and I made a point to go in and tell him I was upset he had spent so much money on unnecessary food for dinner. He looked at me very strange and just said "OK". I still didn't have a clue he was throwing me a surprise party. He had insisted on sweeping and mopping the floor the night before but I didn't put the two together. Not until multiple sets of our friends started arriving all at the same time did it dawn on me. I was totally surprised. It was fun to hang out and celebrate. Thank you to everyone who came. Thank you babe! It was a great party!  I feel so lame I can't believe I was so easy to fool! 

Trip to Cali

Well I have been back for a week and this is the first opportunity I have had to post. 

I drive alone with my two boys to CA on 02/08. NO Stops! I am a mad woman, what can I say? We made it in just over 4 1/2 hours. YEAH! 

Monday we were supposed to go to Lego Land but it was cold and raining so I just drove straight to LA to my sister's house. We had fun visiting and talking. I had to work all week so I set up my computer and listened to my crippled sister try to take care of my boys while I worked (FYI: My sister broke her collar bone in two places snow boarding the week before). 

Tuesday my sister had to go into work so I tried to work from her house while attempting to entertain my kids. It was rough  but we all survived. I spent most of the day crying over my lost 5 year anniversary diamond earring. It still makes my cry to think about it being gone...

That afternoon we went to the most AMAZING children's museum. It is the Zimmer Children's Museum in downtown LA. AMAZING. After we had our vehicle searched going into the parking lot we went inside to see a real plane. The wings were cut off and the kids could go sit in the cockpit, push all the buttons, pull all the levers, etc. It even had a gas pump. This was Daniel's favorite part of the trip! They had a full size children's theatre on the same floor. 

Downstairs they had a real ambulance for the kids to play in, a tree house, multiple kitchens, a bouncy area, a water play area (Jaxon helped himself to a few sips), craft rooms, and the world's largest pinball machine. It was 2 stories. After the child would put 6 huge rubber coins in the slots the balls would go crazy. I literally had to pry Jaxon's hands off and sling him over my shoulder to make him leave. Luckily my sister's brother-in-law Jimmy was with me and took Daniel upstairs to the plane while I was downstairs with Jaxon and the pinball tokens. If you ever go to LA make sure to check this out. It was totally and completely worth the trip! That night my wonderful (almost) sister Lee came over for me to lay my head on her shoulder and feed me Thai food. After that I felt much better about losing my earring. 

Wednesday we went furniture shopping. My busted up sister, myself and the boys in a furniture store. Sounds bad, right? Yep. It was the last day and all the merchandise was covered, packaged and rolled up. We were asking them to open items for us to take a look. The second I put Jaxon down to look at a rug with Jeanine he ran face first into a metal vase and blood was everywhere. We rushed him to a tiny bathroom in the back, forced him to rinse his mouth with water, and examined his disgustingly mutilated tough. He literally almost bit the right side of his tough in half. All we could do was stick a huge roll of gauze in his mouth to try and stop the bleeding. I was covered in blood and he was covered in blood. Unfortunately I was wearing white! My sister quickly got a great deal on a table and rug and had them load it up. Jaxon didn't stop bleeding until the next day. My grandmother said to use sugar to make the blood coagulate. That was the only time we could get Jaxon to open his mouth so we could inspect the damage. My wonderful cousin watched the boys that night (blood, screaming and all) while I went to dinner and Phantom with my sister, mom and grandmother. We went to Eva Longoria's restaurant Beso. AMAZING!  PERFECTION on a plate. It was to die for!  Literally! We then walked to the Pantegas theatre and watched Phantom. Again, AMAZING! The Phantom's voice could melt my heart into a mushy puddle of goo. It was all I could do not to sing along. The entire cast was wonderful. 

Thursday and Friday I spent back in Hemet at my parent's house. My dad almost fell off a roof at work on Tuesday so he was not really up for much play time with the boys but it was a nice visit. My parent's gave the boys bathes and read them stories. It was cute to watch them interact. Johnny flew out Friday night. I missed him so much! The boys missed him too. My life is just not complete when he is away. Saturday we celebrated Valentine's day by sealing 44 of my dad's family in the Redland's temple. We hung out with friends and enjoyed some time together after being apart. Sunday we had church and drove home. Overall it was a trip of some major ups and downs but it was so great to spend time with my family again. 

   

Phantom!

The first time I saw Phantom of the Opera I was in 4th grade, 9 years old. My grandma used to take the entire family to a musical each Christmas. This particular show was one of the greatest nights of my life. What an experience. Michael Crawford played Phantom. I was completely entranced the entire show.

I remember waking up to the sound of Phantom of the Opera on Sunday mornings. My mom played the music so we would be familiar with it before going to the show. My sister and I used to lay in bed at night singing the songs. At one time she and I could recite the entire show word for word. Trust me, that was one sure way to annoy the heck out of my dad! Well, my wonderful, magnificent, talented and otherwise spectacular sister is taking me to Phantom of the Opera in LA for my birthday! Yeah! I can not even begin to tell you how excited I am! I love you sis! 

Afterthought: Maybe I should go finish your wedding scrapbook before I come to see you. I mean it is what? Only your third anniversary in March...oops!

Hulse Baby #3 01.26.09

Here is Hulse baby #3. The ultrasound tech said I am measuring exactly on my due date - August 27, 2009. I totally and completely think this baby is a boy. Johnny and I make boys. That is just how it works for us. I feel wonderful except for being tired and that is to be expected. I have not been sick at all. If I were having a girl I think I would be sick. I just "feel" that it is a boy and I am okay with that. 

For now we will call "it" peanut, but I like Wesley (**sigh**, it makes me think of Princess Bride). Johnny is thinking Wyatt. He said he wanted Wyatt, Morgan, or Virgil. I vetoed the last two in a heartbeat and told him to stop watching Tombstone! I have issues picking names. I want all my offspring to have a name of their own, no rhyming or all starting with the same letter. They are each unique. I don't even want them to have the same sounding end to their names. I think Wesley Hulse would be a good name. Not to knock Wyatt but I have never been a fan. For some reason I think I would feel the need to dress him as a cowboy his entire life. 

If by chance this baby surprises me, (which I highly doubt) I like the name Eliza. Johnny only likes Eliza if it is spelled Alyza, but that is a little too strange for me! He also likes Angelica but that makes me think of Rugrats. I like Eve, but does that sound strange? Eve Hulse? It seems we need a first name with more than one syllable. 

It is late and I should not be thinking about baby names yet. 30 more weeks to go.

My happy boys...

My happy boys in their Christmas church clothes. I love sweater vests.

What a Week!

Last Saturday: Went to a birthday party. Daniel started throwing up pink frosting in the car on the way home.

Sunday: Daniel threw up all over the kitchen. Johnny and I traded off at church. Sacrament meeting was quite peaceful sitting all by myself. Laundry.

Monday: Daniel was getting better, Jaxon started getting sick. Laundry.

Tuesday: Jaxon started throwing up. Johnny was out of town. Laundry. Laundry. Laundry.

Wednesday: Daniel was complaining his tummy hurt. Jaxon was still sick. Daniel was bored being in the house and threw screaming tantrums most the day. The boys were hardly eating anything. I came home from a church activity to Jaxon hysterical. After a few hours of him literally screaming in pain I took him to urgent care about 10:30pm. Diagnosis: Severe ear infection in left ear. Treatment: Antibiotics & ear drops. Pharmacy: Argument with pharmacist over pink coloring of antibiotics. In bed after midnight.

Thursday: Johnny was home from work. Yeah! I started getting sick. Daniel threw another tantrum and started slamming/kicking doors. I tried to stop the door slamming as he swung the door shut. It went back and the door lever caught him in the forehead. Daniel started screaming that he couldn't see. See below. 2nd trip to urgent care. (about 5pm) Diagnosis: Hematoma and one missing tube from the left ear, vision was not impaired.

Treatment: Cold packs & heaps of motherly guilt. Emergency trip to COSTCO for pull-ups. Jaxon pukes up the pink antibiotics after checking out. Johnny starts calling Daniel funny names.

Friday: 1am Daniel in our room saying his ears are bleeding. Screaming, crying, complaining, bribing, pleading, etc. 3am Daniel in our room saying his ears are bleeding. 3:01am 3rd trip to urgent care. Receptionist laughs as I walk in. They kindly don't charge me. Dr. confirms Daniel's ears are not in fact bleeding. His left ear is just draining fluid from having the tube come out. Daniel says "okay" stops crying and I take him home. He goes right to sleep. Ward temple night. Crying in the celestial room over my terrible week.

Saturday: I still don't feel good. Suffering from guilt, pregnancy, and sleep deprivation. Playing in Pioneer Park. Fun time with family. Daniel enjoyed seeing the train. Jaxon and Daniel play in the water of a drinking fountain. Daniel falls in the water and hits his head again (same spot). More motherly guilt. 5:45pm talking with neighbors; hear Jaxon scream. Johnny is holding our crying baby but it is not a normal cry. Jaxon had an inch and a half gash across his chin. 4th (YES 4TH!) trip to urgent care. Receptionist laughs as I walk in. Diagnosis: Split chin. Ear infection in left ear is gone, now right is infected. Treatment: Medical glue and gauze. Stay on vomit inducing antibiotics.

Sunday: Can't even lift my head off the pillow. Still feeling sick. Sleep until 9! Oops, church started at 8! Walk around in a daze. Try to go to another ward sacrament meeting to "make up" for missing ours. Fight with Daniel for almost an hour over wearing his church shoes. Go to the other ward. The meeting started an hour ago...we were misinformed. Go home. Crawl in a hold and die. Try not the think about the $150.00 we spent at urgent care this week. Pray we don't have to go again.

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008 was small and relaxing. My parents came into town from California. Since my little sister lives in Nepal and my older sister had her tonsils out the day before it was just us. I enjoyed having my parents come and my boys LOVE Mumzie and Pauna!

I didn't put up a real tree this year. Only a sad little outline on the wall. I know. I was a Scrooge, but honestly it was better this way. My boys would have destroyed a real tree and I was feeling overwhelmed as it was. So, this is all we had, but love was a plenty, so we were not left wanting.

My boys loved their new Radio Flyer wagon. Jaxon climbed in and out all day. They also loved playing new games and spending time together. I love Christmas.

The boys looked so cute in their new Church clothes (thank you cousin Kim & Aunt Louanna).