The Peach

My niece was born yesterday, April 8, 2009. She is a peach. And thus we will call her Peach. Her given name is Cameron Grace Poole. She is absolutely perfect. Here she is:

Aren't her cheeks so cute and chubby?! I LOVE her!

She is such a laid back baby. She is just happy to be here. My sister Marissa was in labor for 20 hours and then they decided to do a C-Section. She is doing well and I am so excited to see her be a Mom. She's always been very good at taking care of those around her, and she always made Meg and my childhood so much fun. She is so creative. This little Peach is so lucky to have her as her Mom.

Here are more pictures...

(Meg and Jesse with Peach)

(Quenten and Peach...notice her sassy facial expression...she already knows he's trouble :)
(Me, Meg and Peach...isn't she just stunning?!)

As you can tell I am a proud Aunt and I am so excited to watch her grow up!

The Last Place You'd Expect...

I was reminded of how blessed I am in the last place you'd ever expect...the emergency room. Now, this post is not for you to feel sorry for me by any means, at the moment I am getting a lot better. I am still weak and in pain, but I am leaps and bounds better than I was on Saturday.

Let me give you a little background info. 3 weeks ago I had strep throat and so I took A LOT of anti-biotic. They always make me feel a little icky, but they did the trick and I started to get better for a day or two. The next thing you know I have a horrible chest cold and I am coughing up crap right before "American Fork Idol" was supposed to open. Since I was supposed to do Opening Night my doctor put me on Steroids. I HATE Steroids. They always make me feel very unlike myself, but I needed my voice back ASAP so I took them anyway. But the combination of the anti-biotic and the steroids did a number on my belly and so my Crohn's Disease started acting up. For the last 3 weeks it has been one thing after the other (after I had quite a long bout of healthiness, might I add...) and then I went to a new chiropractor last week and he adjusted me too roughly, so I started getting headaches...

So Saturday morning I woke up at 5:00 AM, ran to the bathroom and threw up. My head was pounding out of control. I was in Migraine mode. It was the worst headache I've ever had, so I called for Jesse, told him to grab a bucket, and that we needed to go to the Emergency Room. So we got in the car, called Meg so she could meet us there, and off we went. Luckily I did not need to use the bucket (the thought of puking in a bucket just seems horrible to me, I've never done it before and I hope I never have to). We went to Jordan Valley Hospital and luckily there wasn't anyone else in the waiting room so I was helped fairly quickly. Meg got there and they took me back to my room.

As they were taking me down the hall and I looked into a few of the rooms, I saw many people who were all alone. And at that moment I felt a surge of peace because here I was with the two most important people in my life.

I don't know how people go thru life without a twin and a husband. Why was I so blessed? I have no idea, but I'm glad I did whatever I did to earn this right. Because I wouldn't have it any other way. They took turns answering the doctor's questions and they took turns helping comfort me.

The doctor ordered a head CT just to make sure everything looked normal and it did, so they got me comfortable, gave me some prescriptions and sent me home.

Like I said before, I am feeling so much better now, I just needed to say how grateful I am to have Meg and Jesse. I am so very blessed, and I recognize and appreciate how very blessed I am. And now I am planning on it all being up-hill from here and having a healthy Spring and Summer :)

(This is the only picture I have of the 3 of us on my computer at work, so it will have to do...)

On a different note...

Jesse and I were eating dinner tonight and we were having a conversation about work or something and out of no where he said, "On a completely different note, maybe next time you post something on your blog it should be positive." It took me a little off guard, but I must say I agree. I want to post something happy. So I thought I'd go thru some of my pictures and add them here and chat about the fun things I've done with some of the fun people in my life.

Here goes...

This is a picture of me and Meg from Christmas Eve 2005. We always go to my Dad's house on Christmas Eve. This tradition is on my top 5 things we do every year. It's right up there with the yearly trips to Disneyland (thanks to Jesse I have gone to Disneyland or Disneyworld once a year since we were married in 2002). In this picture we were showing off our model pose...and we were, um, successful? It's a classic twin picture....

Next there's a picture of me and my sister Ashley at the Paris restaurant in Epcot Center at Disneyworld in April of 2006. We all had heat stroke that day from the extreme heat wave that was happening in Florida, and then when we went in to the restaurant the air conditioner was too much for us, so Ashley asked them if they had a table cloth she could wrap herself in, and they brought her one. I am obviously passionate about whatever subject we were discussing...

Next we have a picture of me and Jesse with Zorg (is that the bad guy's name from Toy Story? I think it is...) from the same Disneyworld trip in 2006. That trip was so much dang fun!

Here are Meg and Quenten with Zorg (Look at the guns on Meg!!! She is so dang cool....)

This is a picture of my sister-in-law Amy, my brother Jeff, and my sisters Cambria and Marissa while we waited for the fireworks in the Magic Kingdom:

And here is a picture of me, Ashley and Meg waiting in the Indiana Jones line:

Another picture of me and Meg making kissey faces....I think we need to try something different, we obviously have a problem...And finally in May of 2006 Jesse graduated from the University of Utah with his Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering. I was SO proud of him! It was a long 4 years of being alone for me, and 4 years of him working his butt off, so we truly enjoyed his graduation day. And look at how good he looks in his cap and gown! Oh, and he also gave his sash to me. You are supposed to give the sash to the person who motivated you and helped you graduate. It was very sweet of him to give it to me :)
Here we are with his "boyfriend" Clifton (it was a little inside joke that I had with Clifton's wife Melinda, because both of us would hear every day about how much fun our husband's had with each other...they were pretty much in-separable for their 4 years of college) oh and their cute little boy Ryker is in the picture as well (isn't he PERFECT?!)

I just posted a lot of things from 2006. Next time I will post some fun things we did in 2007 and then after that in 2008. So, more pictures to come :)

Inadequate

Lately I have been feeling very inadequate in all aspects of my life. I get frustrated so easily. In general I enjoy life and I try to have fun and surround myself with people who do the same, but the last 3 weeks I have not been the same ol' me. It's my own fault and yes, I give into it. So today I have been pondering how to pull myself out of this funk...

I decided to pull up http://www.lds.org/ and search "Inadequate". Several talks came up that I needed to read. Before I go on about the talk that spoke to me the most, I just want to say how very grateful I am to live at this time. I am so grateful that I can get anything and everything I need to lift me up with just a click of a button.

I read a few talks, but the one I needed the most was "Rise to Your Call" by Elder Henry B. Eyring (from the November 2002 Liahona). These paragraphs made me tear up:

"There will be times when you will feel overwhelmed. One of the ways you will be attacked is with the feeling that you are inadequate. Well, you are inadequate to answer a call to represent God with only your own powers. But you have access to more than your natural capacities, and you do not work alone."

"There is yet another way the Lord will magnify you in your call to His service. You will feel at some time, perhaps at many times, that you cannot do all you feel you must. The heavy weight of your responsibilities will seem too great. You will worry that you can’t spend more time with your family. You will wonder how you can find the time and the energy to meet your responsibilities beyond your family and your calling. You may feel discouragement and even guilt after you have done all you could to meet all your obligations. I have had such days and such nights. Let me tell you what I have learned."

"It is this: If I only think of my own performance, my sadness deepens. But when I remember that the Lord promised that His power would go with me, I begin to look for evidence of what He has done in the lives of the people I am to serve. I pray to see with spiritual eyes the effects of His power."

"You can have the utmost assurance that your power will be multiplied many times by the Lord. All He asks is that you give your best effort and your whole heart. Do it cheerfully and with the prayer of faith. The Father and His Beloved Son will send the Holy Ghost as your companion to guide you. Your efforts will be magnified in the lives of the people you serve. And when you look back on what may now seem trying times of service and sacrifice, the sacrifice will have become a blessing, and you will know that you have seen the arm of God lifting those you served for Him, and lifting you."

So I am going to be cheerful and stop beating myself up. I am going to accept help from those around me and do everything I can to return the favor in any way I can. I am so grateful for the Gospel and for the strength it gives me when things seem to pile up and get me down. Here's to thinking positive!

My life in a nutshell...