Courtney's Engaged!

Alright, so this is a little late. Courtney has been engaged for a few weeks now...well, several in fact. I'm just now getting their picture up on here. Aren't they a gorgeous couple? Congratulations, Court!

Personality Test

I took this personality test, and here were my results:

You Are An INFJ

The Protector You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity. Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision - no matter what it is. You are an excellent listener, with almost infinite patience. You have complex, deep feelings, and you take great care to express them. In love, you truly see relationships as an opportunity to connect and grow. You enjoy relationships as long as they are improving and changing. You can't stand stagnation. At work, you stay motivated and happy... as long as you are working toward a dream you support. You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher. How you see yourself: Hardworking, ethical, and helpful When other people don't get you, they see you as: Manipulative, weak, and unstable

What's Your Personality Type?

Our Little Family

We're Home

The surgery went very well. I have a small incision on my neck, right in the front in the middle, and it's about 2.5 inches long. Once they got in there, they realized the cyst was much bigger and deeper than originally thought. They ended up having to remove the left lobe of my thyroid. This is okay because one can function just fine with half of a thyroid. I feel good with not too much pain. I feel like I slept on my neck wrong because the muscles are sore, but that's about it. My throat is a little sore from the tube, but that's totally normal. They will chop up the cyst and look at it in detail under the microscope just to make sure there weren't any small spots of cancer in there anywhere. I'm almost positive there's not because I've had it biopsied twice, so I feel good about it. I'm home, resting and doing great! Thank you for all your positive thoughts and prayers!

Cutest outfit EVER!

I'm sure I'll say that about a million times, because girl clothes are just way too cute. However, I had a lot of fun dressing her up for church on Sunday. Here she is, all ready to go, with her cute little church Robeez on!







I thought maybe the headband with the flower was a little much because she has such a small head, so I decided to change it. She fell asleep while I got ready for church, so here she is with her changed headband and totally knocked out.

Playing with her burp cloth...

Sariah is at the stage now where everything goes in the mouth. It's so cute! Here she is, playing with her burp cloth. Here's how it started...



A few minutes later...

Corona gets a bath...

Corona loves her baths! It was a little chilly outside on Saturday, but she got one anyways. Here's a cute video.

Surgery Is Scheduled

I am so grateful for the spirit. When I found this cyst, I didn't feel good about it. Then when it almost doubled in size, I REALLY didn't feel good about it. My doctor told me that I was alright, and the cyst wasn't affecting my thyroid. I didn't feel good about that answer at all. So, I decided to have a 2nd opinion. I went to see an endocrinologist this morning, who asked me, "Why didn't you have this removed when you found it?" I told him that I was told I didn't need it out because it wasn't affecting anything. You know what his response was? "If you would have waited another 6 months or a year to come see me, we would probably have to take your whole thyroid out. I'm scheduling your surgery for next week." I could hardly believe my ears and immediately said a little prayer in my heart, thanking Heavenly Father for the spirit. I KNEW something was not right. It isn't cancerous or anything scary, but it will start to interfere with my thyroid's functions if it gets any larger. The tender mercies of the Lord...

So here's the deal. My surgery is scheduled for Thursday, October 18. It's out-patient, so I'll be home by the afternoon. I'll have an ugly scar on my neck for a while. As it fades, you won't even be able to see it because it will be right along the natural crease in my neck. The cyst is so large, it goes from about the middle of my neck all the way down to my collar bone! I don't even want to think how big this incision is going to be!

I'll keep everyone posted! =)

Caught on Video - Rolling Over!!!

She has been rolling over forever, but we finally got it on video!!!

She's becoming moble!

While Sariah was on the floor with her octopus, she was moving all over the place! She'd scoot across the floor if I'd let her!

Here's how she started:



Then about 6 minutes later...



And finally...

New Friend

Sariah has this great toy that's an octopus with colored legs. Sariah LOVES looking at it, talking to it and playing with it!

More Time With Dad

Here she is with Dad one morning. They were having a grand ol' time!





Here's a cute video. She's JUST about to laugh! She's so close!!!

Eating her hands!

So this blog has officially become Sariah's. =) But I guess as parents, we live for our children and it's all about them!

Sariah has recently discovered her hands. If something touches her hands, she'll immediately pull them into her mouth. Also, when dad holds her, she chows down on his hands and fingers.

Here she is eating her blanket:



Here she is eating a bear rattle:



Here she is eating dad's hands! There's also a cute video...

Mount Lemmon

Well, we had our first trip up to the cabin at Mt. Lemmon since Sariah was born. It was in the 50's and just gorgeous! We had to bundle Sariah up to keep her nice and warm. She's in a hoodie sweater because they're getting ready to go for a walk and buy yummy giant cookies.

Here she is with Aunt Courtney. Don't be blinded by her new rock!!!



Here she is with Aunt Courtney and the newest addition to our family - Uncle Matt.



Here is Sariah and her Mama!

Funny Corona!

When we fed Corona this morning, she was just coming in from being outside. She was so hungry, that she didn't even come all the way inside to eat her food! She left the back half of her body outside!

Cyst Update!

Well, I had the biopsy done on my cyst, and it is all benign. PHEW. I knew it would be, but it is still nerve-racking walking in that office, laying on a table and knowing that the doctor is about to stick a 6 inch needle in my neck (with nothing to numb anything) and dictate to me what the next few months of my life will look like!

Here's the scoop - I have a colloid cyst. This is different than the cyst they found on my ovary. I'm tired of finding foreign bodies inside of my own body!!! This cyst will never stop growing, and is kind of funny. It will grow rapidly and then lay dormant for a couple years. Then it will grow rapidly again and then become inactive. This explains the pattern of growth/no growth that we've seen these last couple of years. Because it won't stop growing, it will continue to get bigger and will eventually interfere with my thyroid function. This is not good, so the doctor recommended that I have it removed to prevent any of those serious complications. I have a surgical consultation on Friday morning to discuss my options, what the surgery will entail, and what the recovery will be like.

I'm just so glad that things are fine, and this can be taken care of. Heavenly Father really looks out for us when we're very scared!

Biopsy Today!

For all of those who don't know - I have a large cyst on my thyroid. When I first found it two years ago, it was biopsied right away and found to be benign, thank goodness. I get it sonogramed every year to make sure it stays inactive and doesn't grow. Well...this year, it grew pretty significantly. When I found it in 2005, it was 3cm and hasn't changed since. This year, all of a sudden, it's 4.5 cm. That's a pretty big difference. So, I'm going in for another biopsy today to make sure it is still just fluid-filled and alright. I'll post when it's all over!