When it rains, it pours...

For the past month and a half, I swear at least one of us has to be sick. Khloe, Chip, and I have been sick alternately and on and off. We all had trouble sleeping and breathing at night about a month ago, and that led Chip to go to InstaCare on a Sunday morning which turned into a visit to the hospital to get a CT scan to make sure he didn't have appendicitis. Well, $1,000 later we were told he didn't have appendicitis, and that they didn't know what was causing him pain. {EYE ROLL HERE}. Then a week later something bit him on the hand and gave him a rash and nasty looking bump. Then,  a week after that I had my infamous appointment to get an IUD. Well, I had been having very strong impressions not to go through with it. The day of comes along and of course I say to myself "Don't be ridiculous. This is supposed to be amazing birth control." So off to the doctor I go and as I am sitting in the chair waiting for the doctor to come in, I have the same feeling again. "Don't do this". I ignore it. The doctor comes in, shoves that thing inside as I feel like I am literally going to pass out from the pain and possibly die. The doctor takes off his gloves and says "There you go, kiddo. Hope that wasn't TOO painful. Have a great day" and walks out the door. Meanwhile I am trying to keep a clear mind and get a grip. This is supposed to be painful, so I had heard. Anyway, that was on a Wednesday. Saturday morning rolls around {my birthday} and we are off to Salt Lake to do some shopping before we have to be back to Provo for our first date since Khloe's arrival. We get to the mall, do some shopping, and then Khloe starts coughing and getting fussy. We head back to the car and get the girls in their seats just in time for Khloe to completely regurgitate her last feeding. Fabulous. Dinner plans are automatically canceled as we will be tending to a sick infant. That night, I wake up to take care of Khloe and start having jabbing pains right above my right hip bone. It is so painful that I start bawling and Chip wakes up. He gives me pain meds that held me over till morning. I go to church with Kami and Chip stays at home with Khloe. We come home and I think I might as well  go to InstaCare to make sure nothing is wrong with me...at least nothing serious. My intuition was beginning to warn me something had gone wrong at the doctor's office. I tell the doctor there that I have a gut feeling it is the IUD. He checks for the strings and lo and behold, he can't find them. I told him that I also couldn't find them the day the IUD was put in. My OBGYN never thought to ask me to check to make sure I could feel them or at least to make sure I knew what I was supposed to be checking for to make sure the stupid thing was in place. he simply put the thing in and walked out. I stupidly thought it must be "normal" not to feel the strings since he didn't mention anything about it and according to the research I had done online, some women never feel the strings, even when the IUD is in place. SO- he sends me to the hospital to get x-rays and a CT scan. Sure enough, they found the culprit. The darn IUD was right behind my navel, implanted in my abdominal wall. I am told to go home and get ready to come back to have surgery to get it removed. APPARENTLY, the doctor had punctured my uterus when he put it in, implanting it directly in my abdomen. What a charm he is, right?! Long story short, I show up at the hospital at 7 pm (6 hours after the diagnose), have surgery, and go home at 1 a.m. Monday morning I start having chest pains and head to the E.R. They didn't find anything wrong.

Everything starts getting back to peachy-keen reality and then Chip gets a really weird, nasty rash on his face. Turns out it is a staph infection and it looks like he has infected pimples all over his face. $100 later, he is finally healing and almost back to normal. SIGH.

We are celebrating my birthday and our 5th anniversary this weekend. {I HOPE}. Here is to hoping we can stay healthy for at least a month.

A little sun worshiper in the works

Khloe left the hospital with a little bit of jaundice that spiked over the next few days. Luckily, we were not short at all of extra helping hands. Nana, Buelo, Ariel, Alexa, and Lycia were all in town and provided much needed support. Having to watch Khloe strapped to her mini tanning bed as I called it 24/7 was not easy at all. Luckily she has a very sweet and serene demeanor about her and despite not feeling well, rarely cried and just wanted to be held one way or another.

Khloe Sofia Price

This pregnancy was even harder than Kamila's...nausea until 8 months, heartburn from the 7th-9th month, back pain, major water retention, the works!! Thank heaven that the one wonderful thing is that the prize at the end of the "trial" is a beautiful, healthy baby girl. Our second little princess was born on March 26th at 8:15 a.m. It was a very happy and special day for me...As I held my second child in my arms, I remembered my grandfather who passed away that same day 2 years ago. It brought a tear and smile to my face as I contemplated the beauty of the plan of salvation. The veil feels so thin at times like these.

Khloe's birth itself was a huge difference compared to Kami's. We knew what to expect and we got to share it with Nana, Ariel, and Kami...Memorable moments include Chip almost passing out and having to lay on the floor to collect himself and Kami shouting out "She {Khloe} is all creamy!" when her little sister made her debut. We are absolutely in love with our baby girls...and very tired :)

Keep Your Fork

Sometimes the answers to our prayers come in ways much different than the ones we had hoped for, even expected...but they always come. February was a whirlwind month of emotions. Tio Chuy passed away abruptly on the 9th. I was shocked when my mother broke the news...I was so sure that Heavenly Father was going to have him be a vessel that would prove to all of us who love my uncle that miracles do happen. I couldn't come to terms that my surety had perhaps just been subjectively imposed. Looking back I can now see that the serenity and faith that everything would turn out alright that I felt, was real. It wasn't a fabrication of any kind. We all had been praying and fasting that he would be healed...and he was. He is now in a place where he is no longer suffering but happily and fully engaged in the Lord's work on that side of the veil. What a blessing it is to know that God lives, that His son made it possible for us to rise from the dead and be with our loved ones once again in his presence. What a wonderful thing it is to have the true gospel along with temples and the keys of the priesthood to make sealings for the eternities possible. What a joyous thing it is to know that Tio was greeted back home by his mother, his father, his ancestors and that he continues to live and share that beautiful smile with those around him...the same one he will greet his wife, kids, and loved ones with when we return to our premortal home.

Sometimes we don't get the answers that we expect, in the way we had hoped...but we always receive the answers that Heavenly Father knows are best. It truly is a beautiful thing to have hope in times of despair and sadness and to know that the best is yet to come.

Keep Your Fork

There was a woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. So as she was getting her things "in order", she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in. The woman also requested to be buried with her favorite Bible. Everything was in order and the pastor was preparing to leave when the woman suddenly remembered something very important to her.

"There's one more thing," she said excitedly.

"What's that?" came the pastor's reply.

"This is very important," the woman continued. "I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand."

The pastor stood looking at the woman, not knowing quite what to say. "That surprises you, doesn't it?" the woman asked. "Well, to be honest, I'm puzzled by the request," said the pastor. The woman explained. "In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, 'Keep your fork'.

It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming...like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance! So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder 'What's with the fork?'. Then I want you to tell them: "Keep your fork....the best is yet to come".

The pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the woman goodbye. He knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death. But he also knew that the woman had a better grasp of heaven than he did. She KNEW that something better as coming.

At the funeral people were walking by the woman's casket and they saw the pretty dress she was wearing and her favorite Bible and the fork placed in her right hand. Over and over, the pastor heard the question "What's with the fork?" And over and over he smiled. During his message, the pastor told the people of the conversation he had with the woman shortly before she died. He also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to her. The pastor told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either. He was right.

So the next time you reach down for your fork, let it remind you oh so gently, that the best is yet to come…

33 weeks and counting

I have 6 weeks to go and time could not go any faster...or slower. Depending on the day. Most days I feel great and then there are days that heartburn and sciatic nerve pain just have to ruin. However, I am soo grateful that the nausea and vomiting finally became a thing of the past {29 weeks is long enough!}. We are so excited to meet this little girl. Kamila constantly talks about how the baby in Mommy's tummy is her baby too and that she is going to be "the best tall sister in the whole wide world". It is surreal that we will have 2 little girls in our family.

Thanksgiving/Christmas

Ok...I've got some catching up to do. Thanksgiving we spent in Arizona. It is always fun to visit Scottsdale and take in the beauty of the desert. Mostly, it is always nice to leave frigid temperatures for warm ones and get to see the family. We got to meet Hillary and are so excited to have her join our family in like 2 weeks!!
For Christmas, we headed to El Paso...Ariel had been in Utah for about a week so the 4 of us got to drive home together. We got to meet Lycia and spend lots of time with family and, my favorite thing to do in EP- eat. Even if it didn't agree with baby. We had originally planned to stay only for Christmas but then we found out Tio Chuy was coming to visit for New Years and that the family was having a special get-together per his request. The day before Thanksgiving  he found out he had a brain tumor and lung cancer. As if that weren't enough to take in already, he was told he wasn't expected to live much longer. My Tio is a man that has been physically strong his entire life, strong and robust. He has had a car fall on him and obviously survived that. He is the uncle who always said the most hilarious yet irreverent/embarrassing things. The one who asks you "So are you going to marry this one?" when you introduce him to someone you are dating and if you say no or change the subject, he will proceed with "Then why are you bringing them around?", a big smile, a punch in the arm, and apologize to the person who he just met for his inappropriate joke.
He is still the sweet, caring jokester...but a much more frail one. I couldn't hold back the tears when I saw him for the first time in months...
Now he is quiet, slow-paced, and not as witty...but he hangs on to that smile. We have prayed and fasted for his well-being and I have no doubt in my heart that the Lord answers our prayers. Since December, he has had a successful surgery on his brain that allowed the tumor to be completely eradicated. He is undergoing chemotherapy for his lungs and his doctors are astonished with his progress. His hair isn't falling; it is coming in thicker and has more hair now overall. He hasn't lost his appetite and is able to keep things down.
I know in my heart that Heavenly Father loves him...and his family, and every single one of us. There is no telling what will happen in the future, but whatever it is, I know we will all be fine...because families are eternal.

One Little Word

I keep coming across friends who are joining the One Little Word movement. If you are like me about a week ago and have no idea what this is, you are in for a year-changing treat. {or so it should be}.

This movement encourages us to think of one word that will be the catalyst for our goals, dreams, and pretty much everything that we do this year. I have my list of resolutions made out yet I kept feeling somewhat irritated {discouraged, maybe?} that I had to look at it everyday or else I would forget every exact goal written down. No biggie. I've dealt with it and plastered it somewhere I know I will see it every morning so that there is no excuse for shortcomings.

Anyway...back to OLW. I am very excited about this. One word to remember. That is all. One word to burn into my brain and heart that will be my constant companion throughout the day, wherever I am, whatever I am doing that will help me stay on track and do the things that matter the most.

This is possibly the hardest thing I have had to do today: to choose such a pivotal word among thousands that race through my mind yet don't feel just right. Have I mentioned that being a perfectionist has to be the hardest thing about being me and should be considered a complete character flaw instead of a effective character trait?

I digress.

The word that spoke to me, {no, yelled at me} was patience.
I really, honestly, genuinely, ardently want to be a literally patient person...with my beautiful 2 year-old, with my darling husband, with family, friends, everyone I know, with God....but especially with myself.
As I prepare to hold in my arms another of Heavenly Father's choice children, I am constantly caught in an inner turmoil; a grapple where my self-confidence in raising another child and still do the things I have to do and love to do, seems to dwindle and thoughts of incompetence plague my heart.

So, my one little word I hope will remind me to:

be patient with my shortcomings. I am not perfect and never will be in this mortal life. It is ok if I don't prepare a stellar dinner every night that looks like it was made by Rachael Ray. It is ok if I didn't get to reading the full 2 chapters of scripture study for the day. I can only try my best each day. Tomorrow is just another chance to make up for today's shortcomings.

be patient with progress. goals aren't accomplished overnight. It will take months to get my pre-baby body back; it will take weeks to get used to juggling a toddler and a newborn; it will take days of not leaving a messy house before I figure out how to have happy babies, clean home, and a happy me.

be patient with those around me. God loves them, flaws and all...I am no one to judge them or think my way is better.

be patient with God's timing and plan. He knows why things happen the way they do, when they do, or when they will. There is no point in wishing for a different phase of life, a different city to live in, a bigger and newer house to call our own and not simply dwell in. Trust Him. He knows me better than I know myself.

After all, it is...


Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It’s time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes
And leap…


I’m through accepting limits
‘Cause someone says they’re so
Some things I cannot change
But till I try I’ll never know.

Be patient, Keep trying, and Take leaps. Lots of them.