Laparoscopy

I had laparoscopy yesterday. Everything went really well. They only had to make two little incisions. The lower one is right near my c-section scar, so I can't even feel it. I think it's because they went through all old scar tissue, so there is no feeling. The other one is through my belly button. I'm pretty tender and there is a dark bruise the size of a silver dollar.

They removed about 20 cysts off each ovary and a large growth in my uterus. I'll know more when they are biopsied. Also, my uterus was flattened, whatever that means. I was a bit drugged up when the doctor came in to talk to my mom. :) I'll ask more when I go to my follow up next Wednesday. My mom did say the doctor was very happy with the whole thing.

Feeling pretty good today. I slept the last 24 hours with help of the pain meds. I think I'm ready to join the land of the living again.

For You Lion King Lovers

The other night at dinner, Dallin dipped his fingers in his food and did, what we now call, the "Simba." It came out of no where. I had never seen him do it before. I had to ask him to d it again so I could get it on camera. I know it won't be that funny for most of you, but Russ and I couldn't stop laughing. A little too much Lion King at our house I guess.

Dr. PhD

So, it happened. Russ defended his thesis yesterday. And good news....he passed. It was a stressful day for him, with a great ending. He is thrilled to have that part over. Now he just needs to finish formatting his thesis correctly so it can be accepted by the thesis committee (sounds easy but I am told it is a long and hard process.)

Russ's old math adviser was in town for a math seminar. I didn't go to the seminary ( I had enough math listening to Russ defend), but after Russ and I were invited to dinner with 7 other math professors. I was so nervous because I knew I would have nothing intelligent to talk about. I'm sure you are thinking, "Nicole has nothing to say? Usually it is the problem to get her to stop talking." As it turned out, they were all really nice and easy to talk to, not to mention funny. I really enjoyed myself. Russ works with a great bunch of guys. No wonder he likes what he does so much.

We had Thai food from a place in SLC called Sawadee. It was so good! My favorite was the coconut soup and the yellow chicken curry. It was fun to go as a large group because we ordered a buch of different things, and all shared. Now I just need to talk my family into going. :)

By the way, I learned the answer to a life long question of mine... How many mathematicians does it take to split a check at dinner? Answer: At least 8 unless you have a number theorist, which we did not. :) I always thought it was so funny that Russ had a hard time doing simple math in his head when he knows such complicated things. I have now learned it's just the way the mind of a mathematician works. :)

A quick picture of us after the day was over. It was a great day!

Oh Yeah! I guess I should mention today is our anniversary. I guess the fact that Russ has passed totally over shadowed that. I think it is fitting that he should defend the day before our anniversary. I remember thinking when we got married it would be 5-6 year till he was done with school. Six years later, and he is well on his way! I'm a lucky girl to have him.

Today was a fairly warm day, especially for February, so Dallin and I decided to play outside for a while. About 20 minutes is all I could take. I mean, it still is February. :) Dallin was cold too. But he did have fun. It was the first time he got to ride his bike outside. He got it for Christmas, and has been riding it in the house. He loved it. I still need to get him a bike helmet. I know not everyone wears helmets while they are just riding trikes, but I thought it would be a good idea to get him use to the idea. Am I being paranoid? :)


Dallin got how to use the petals, but decided he liked to push himself around better.

Confession and a Question

OK, I have a confession. I finally took down my Christmas tree/decorations on Wednesday. And to make it worse, the only reason I finally got around to doing it was because my visiting teachers were coming over I was totally embarrassed to leave them up. Maybe sometime soon the boxes with the decoration will actually make it to the storage area. :) I can't believe I forgot how much bigger my front room is without a tree taking up so much room. Dallin had a but of a breakdown when we took it all down. He didn't want his Christmas to be over. It's a good thing we didn't do lights outside. I'm sure they would be up till April. :)

Now the question....Mops? I need a new mop. I had a cheap one from when we first got married. I threw it away about a year or so ago because it was GROSS. Since then, the floor has been scrubbed by my husband, on his hands and knees, with a scrub brush. Since it's so time consuming, it doesn't happen as much as I would like. So I want to know how you all clean your kitchen/bathroom floors. What do you use? How often do you do it? (I understand if no one wants to admit that one :) How do you keep it clean between deep cleanings? With the way Dallin eats, I feel like I need to mop daily! (which I don't do) I know after six years of marriage I should have this cleaning things down, but I always want to learn new ideas/tricks from other people. Thanks!

The ABCs (Mostly)

Here is Dallin's ABC....Well, sort of the ABC:

Long Christmas Post (but at least it's mostly pictures)

A quick run down of the Christmas holiday.

We Dallin to Christmas Village. It was an experience, that is for sure. First, he wanted to run in the snow, the only problem was that the snow was so packed down and it has been so cold that it was more like ice than snow. He fell quite a few times. Also, his hands froze because he wouldn't wear his gloves and his tongue was burned on hot chocolate (Mom's fault. Opps!). He got all sticky with marshmallow and insisted that we ride the little train that drove around 25th street. When we were done I think everyone was ready to go home!

This year I made sugar cookies with Dallin. He loved it! I thinned the frosting so that he could paint it on. The only down side was went he got a hold of the sprinklers while I was getting cookies out of the oven. He dumped with upside down and held them that way till I could get them from him. Quite a mess to sweep up, but totally worth it. He now asks all the time to make cookies.
What beautiful creations (they tasted much better than they looked)
Braegger family Christmas party is always on Christmas Eve. It's a fun one. And for once it wasn't snowing on Christmas Eve! It seems like the last few years we have been driving there in the snow.

I didn't get too many pictures of Dallin opening presents Christmas morning. He wasn't happy having the camera out for some reason.
He got playdough from Santa. He loves to play with it, but insists that Mom or Dad play with him.


He got a lot of fun toys this Christmas, but one of his favorites is a blow up cow. Go Figure.