Bring on 2012

I know a lot of you really enjoyed the year 2011, but for me, it was probably one of the worst. Don't get me wrong, there were some really fantastic things that happened last year that I will never forget, but I am glad that 2011 is finally over!

To start off the year was pretty good. I got my haircut the shortest I've ever had it, and my sister Kimberly just got her mission call and left in February to the Halifax, Canada mission! I was sad to see her go, but it was great to see her so excited about it. We both celebrated our first birthdays as parents. Dan got a job with Eagle, and it was a job that he really enjoyed! However, this also meant that he had to go to Toronto for training for two weeks, and then one more week a couple months later. Then shortly after that, I had my gall bladder attack. NOT fun. I did so many tests and was at the doctors almost every week it seemed. They scheduled me to have surgery while I was still nursing Casper, so I turned it down. Good thing that hasn't bothered me again.. *knock on wood*.

In the Spring, I celebrated my first Mother's Day, and Dan celebrated his first Father's Day! Casper got his first haircut, and soon after that he got his first ear infection. Then came Casper's first Canada Day where we celebrated in Invermere and that was Casper's first overnight trip! The summer was a pretty good time. We went to Kelowna with Dan's family and probably had the best vacation ever! After this trip, Dan and I tried to plan our own trip to San Francisco/L.A. in October. But with Casper's first birthday and Thanksgiving, we postponed it to the beginning of November. But then that snuck up on us and we didn't have time to plan it, so we decide to plan for December. Lucky thing we did because the beginning of November was when I got appendicitis! (So glad I'll never have to worry about that again!). December comes and we see the prices of flights, etc. and panic. So we eventually decide that we will go in January. Plus, it's a good thing we didn't go at Christmas time because that is when Casper had his first puking-fest.

Now that 2011 is over, I am hoping that nothing comes in the way of us going to San Francisco/L.A. because the flights are booked and there's no looking back now! I sure hope 2012 brings us a lot more good things rather than bad. Especially because the world is supposedly coming to an end this year..

Christmas 2011

Wow, I'm sure this Christmas we'll never forget, but never want to remember. It all started on Christmas Eve. We all decided to take an afternoon nap so that we could be ready to go out for dinner, go to the Heritage Park Nativity and play games with Dan's sister Jackie and her husband David who were visiting from Oregon. We were awaken from our nap by Casper screaming in his crib. Now this isn't really anything new, but it wasn't the same scream that I normally hear. This scream sounded like he was really scared. I go into his room and there is puke all in his crib and on the outside of his crib, all dripping down the sides. It. was. everywhere. I panic! I call Dan into the room and I just don't know where to start! Casper wants me to pick him up, but he is covered! Dan went to get paper towels and I carried Casper to the bathtub. He was so terrified, he had no idea what was happening. I felt so bad. Dan was so great, he cleaned up all the puke and even washed his sheets. We both knew then that all of our Christmas Eve plans went out the door. Casper wouldn't eat much and he ended up going to bed early, then Dan went and got take out from Denny's and we ate in.

Christmas morning we got up and got ready for church. It was actually really nice going to church on Christmas Day. We were able to feel the spirit more and hear the great talks given. Plus, it was nice to have only one hour of church! Our ward started at 9:00am, which worked out perfectly because afterwards we went home to put Casper down because he still wasn't feeling great, then we opened our gifts, then we went to my sister Jodie's house to see Kimberly on skype! It was so nice to see her and chat with her. It was so different from the Mother's Day phone call because I only got about 30 seconds to talk to her. This time we actually had a conversation! And she was able to see Casper and how much he's grown since she last saw him in February. After that we went to Dan's parents' place to spend the rest of Christmas Day there. We had a delicious dinner and visited with each other. Grandpa Reese was there along with Spence, and Laurie and their boys. Of course Jackie and David and their little Sophia was there too. They left to go back home the next day. But we found out while they were here that they are expecting again in July! Congrats to the Gipson family! We are so excited for you!

Christmas night, we went to bed late. Which I wish we went to bed earlier because at 2:00am we were woken up once again by Casper screaming! He puked again.. I was hoping that it was all over with because he didn't puke all Christmas Day, but I guess not. Casper didn't really eat anything for the next couple days because whenever he would it would most likely come back up. I felt so bad! This boy loves to eat, and now he's scared to eat! However, now that a week has passed, he seems to be better. It's still not to nice coming out the other end, but it's better that what it was! I hope Casper doesn't remember much from this Christmas because if he does, he might not like Christmas next year. Here is to Christmas 2012 being a whole lot better!

December and Such

I know it has been awhile. I have been recovering well from my surgery and I am happy to say that I can finally carry Casper again! I missed being able to hold him in my arms! My follow up appointment is next week, and I'm guessing it will go well.

On November 26th was Dan's company's Christmas party and this year they had it out in Canmore! It was so fun to go to a party with Dan! It's the first time that has happened ever since we've known each other. I got my haircut that day and the hairdresser curled my hair too! The whole company wanted to meet Casper really bad, so we decided to bring him with us. I also felt bad leaving him again after the whole incident at the beginning of November, I couldn't bare to leave him at home overnight again. So we dressed him up all cute and showed him off to everyone. People just started melting around him. It was funny to see. My parents were kind enough to come out to Canmore and watch Casper in our hotel room as we ate dinner. Then after they slept over in Calgary to head to Okotoks the next morning. Thanks mom and dad! Of course Casper went to bed super late because he wasn't sleeping in his crib, so the next day he was pretty crabby. Let's just say that next year Casper will be left at home to sleep in his own bed :) All in all though, it was a pretty fun night! I never met anyone from Eagle before except for two girls back in the summer, so it was nice to finally put a name to a face!

It's hard to believe that December is already here! I put up our Christmas tree on December 1st, and I think that's the first time that has ever happened. It's usually always so late in December that I debate whether or not it's worth actually putting one up. However, I didn't get the decorating done because I wanted to get new lights for the tree this year. So a couple days later I found some that I liked and I decorated the tree! It's nice to have it up long enough to appreciate it. Except this is the first Christmas that Casper is actually mobile. Sometimes I ask myself why I had to set up the tree so early this year, but I'm hoping that Casper will learn with time that we don't touch the tree or hit the balls off the branches. *sigh* I will make it through.

December 3rd was our ward's Christmas Party. Instead of having the traditional Christmas dinner party, they had a Christmas brunch instead. I'll admit that I wasn't too excited about it at first, but it turned out to be great! The food was so good and it was at a time of day where you still could get other things done. Plus, Dan had a show that night so he was actually able to come! Santa came too, and Casper wasn't really sure what to think about sitting on his knee, until he got a treat bag of course. He carried that thing around for rest of the time there. Thanks Santa!

Casper has been growing up so fast! I don't have exact measurements, but people at Dan's Christmas party thought he was over two, and he wasn't even 14 months old yet at that time. Casper is such a tall boy! I don't really notice it a whole lot until he is with other kids. How did this happen? Where did my baby go? He is starting to wear 18 month clothing and he barely fits on his change table. He may be a giant, but I love him to death and wouldn't change a thing about him! He loves to eat, and loves to sleep. How am I so lucky? He even would just sit in his crib and play quietly until I came to get him, even in the mornings! However, I think he's slowly getting out of that phase unfortunately, but I am still grateful for all of those mornings I was able to sleep in because he was so content. Once he is out of his crib, you can't get him to stay still! He is always on the go and there's never a dull moment. Unless of course if he's eating. I'm sure if I let him, he would eat all day long. He eats anything that I give him and I am still wondering what food he will spit out because he doesn't like it, because that just hasn't happened yet. I hear of mothers having a hard time with their kids not eating or sleeping, but I still don't know what that feels like. I'm sure I will one day, but I'm just loving it right now! Casper also loves to read. Ever since my surgery Casper has learned to bring books to me and I will read them to him (obviously because I couldn't move), but that still continues! He will bring me books and he will sit and listen and look at the pictures. He will point to the things that I normally point to while I read, and he is always willing to turn the page for me. It's just so cute!

That would be muffin sticking out of his nose.. I freaking love this kid!

Mystery Emergency

What a crazy time I am going through right now. Last week on Wednesday I was feeding Casper some lunch and I started getting a stomach ache. I thought maybe I was just really hungry so I ate some yogurt, but it just seemed to get worse. I finally ended up on the floor and was kneeling up onto the couch in pain! I had my iPhone with me and I looked up what this could be and I saw that it could be a gall bladder attack. Great. I knew I should have gone through with that surgery earlier this year! But this time it stayed in my stomach and moved to the right. I texted my sister Jodie and she offered to take me to the hospital. I almost didn't go because I was still convinced that maybe it was just nothing, but I went anyways. I told Dan and he said that he would meet me at the hospital. Jodie came and we took her boy Connor and Casper to my other sister Kristie's house. We finally got to hospital and I could feel every bump in the road. We arrived at about 3:30pm and I was seen right away! Then they actually had a spot for me in the Emergency Area right away too! I totally thought I would be in and out really fast if this keeps up! I was put into a reclining chair and they told me they needed to get some blood work done and set up an IV for me. I told them I really didn't like needles, I just can't look at it going in and I'm fine. But then I started to get really light headed. I told the nurse that I was going to pass out, and she just thought it was because of the needle, which it wasn't but I couldn't explain that to her because I was so out of it! Oh well. They eventually got what they needed and I was ok. Dan finally arrived and they eventually examined me. I told them I was sure it was a gall bladder attack, but to my surprise when they examined my stomach they told me it was probably appendicitis! Just add another thing on the list of all that has gone wrong with my body since Casper was born!

The surgeons came to me and they left the decision up to me whether or not to get a CT scan. If I did, they would determine if it really is appendicitis. If not, they would do the surgery anyways and see if it was appendicitis, and take my appendix out either way. Well, I thought, if I didn't need surgery, I would much rather not have it. So I opted for the CT scan. I finally got the CT scan at about 8:30pm I think. And the nurse told me that it would be about half an hour to and hour or two until I get the results back. But she also said that if there was something wrong that needed attention right away, it would be quick. So I sat in my uncomfortable chair and waited. Dan eventually got up and started walking around because of boredom. There was another guy there who also got a CT scan just before me and I saw the surgeons come and talk to him about his results, then they walked right past me...ok? The nurses kept asking me if anyone has talked to me yet and I kept saying no. The nurses paged them over and over and then finally one of them was coming. But that was just to tell me that there was an emergency CT scan that they had to cover first and then they would come back...yeah right! That was at about 10:30pm. Finally after waiting about 5 hours I thought I should try to get some sleep. I started to fall asleep and then a guy that I didn't even meet before came to the nurses and asked why Kelly Glenn was still here? This was at about 3:30am. I thought I was just going to go home because obviously it wasn't that urgent because it has taken them so long to get back to me! The nurses told him that no one had talked to me yet about the results, and he said it was ridiculous! So he came over to me and told me my results off hand! Why couldn't anyone do this before?? He told me that I did have appendicitis and that surgery was the only cure. There is no antibiotic that heals it. Great. I have never had surgery before! They told me that it would happen within the next 12 hours. So after he left I called Dan who already went home at about 2am to tell him that I needed surgery and that it would happen in the next 12 hours. So I thought he could get some sleep and I would talk to him in the morning about what their plan was. Then I thought I should get some sleep. Probably about 15 minutes later they came to me and told me I had a room upstairs and that my surgery was booked for 6:00am! So, in two and a half hours? I called Dan again and told him the news and he was planning to be there before I went in.

I got into my room and got about an hour sleep. The nurse told me they would be coming for me at 6:00 but she woke me up at 5:30 and told me they were coming right now! I really don't think they understand time frames in the hospital. So it ended up that Dan didn't see me before I went into my surgery, and I was pretty nervous. I didn't want to be cut open! They rolled me out of my room after I called Dan to tell them that I was going in. I have to admit, it was nice being rolled around in my own bed! They stopped me in the waiting area of the Operating Room as they got everything organized. I met the nurse that was going to be in the OR with me and then one of the doctors came out and went to the front desk. The lady there told him that another doctor was coming but was running late and he started swearing and getting mad. He came over to me and introduced himself as the grumpy doctor. I'm assuming it was just his sense of humor. But then they rolled me into the OR and the sweet nurse was telling me everything that I needed to know. The other doctor shows up and the doctors just start arguing with each other right in front of me! I thought it was totally unprofessional, and I was also even more nervous! I was just hoping they would work things out before they start working on me! They gave me some oxygen and fed something through my IV to knock me out. I only remember taking a couple breaths and then I was being woken up by some lady saying my name. I remember shaking my head side to side because I was having a hard time catching a breath because of the breathing tube they had had down my throat. Then I was rolled out and put back into my room. Dan came shortly after, but I really don't remember much of it. He told me he got there at about 9:00am and could tell that I needed some sleep so he didn't stay too long.

The incisions were three small marks. One right below my belly button, one on my left side and then one below my pant line. I'm so happy they didn't have to cut my whole side open. They told me that I wasn't supposed to lift anything more than 10 lbs for 4-6 weeks! Ummm, I have a 13 month old who is a giant. They didn't really have any answers for me. Thanks a lot. The whole time I was in he hospital I was so worried about Casper. He ended up sleeping over at Jodie's house and then Kristie took over in the morning. Dan picked him up later that day and brought him to come see me. I missed him so much I just started crying when they came in, especially because Casper was holding a "Get Well" balloon! I know that Dan understands what was going on, but Casper had no clue! I felt so bad for just leaving him without any warning. And I was also sad that I couldn't pick him up and just hug him. We went for a bit of a walk through the hallways and Casper was a big hit with everyone who saw him! I was so happy to see my family that night.

The next day on Friday I was finally discharged! My parents came to pick me up and bring me home and we got there at about 3:30pm. Casper was with Dan's mom most of the day, but she dropped him off just before I got there. I sat on the couch and Casper came and hugged my knees. Then my dad helped him up on the couch beside my and he just hugged my side for the longest time. I loved it! He wanted me to pick him up quite a few times but I just couldn't. About an hour later Dan left to do a small show so my parents stayed at home with me to help me put Casper to bed. It didn't take me long to feel pretty useless. I started to feel that motherhood was taken away from me. I didn't even feel like I was a wife anymore. Everyone needed to help me with the things that I have waited and worked so hard for. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate ALL of the help that we have gotten, but I just wish everything was back to normal. I guess this all gave me a better perspective on how much family and the church mean to me. I couldn't have gone through this without either of them.

I am home now and I am doing a lot better. My sisters have taken me and Casper in and cleaned my house and my mom has stayed with me for a couple of days. I have gotten a couple of dinners delivered to our home from friends. I have really felt the love and support that is all around me. Thank you to all that have helped me and my family in any way.

Halloween 2011

This year Halloween started for us on Friday October 28. I took Casper to our ward's trunk-or-treat activity! It was so much fun! Dan had a show that night so sadly he missed out. I dressed Casper up as Elmo and when we arrived there was a dance going on, and Casper got so excited! He headed right for the gym door. He didn't have time to wait for me so he went in with his cousins and found his Auntie Kristie. When I came in he was a little teary-eyed, but soon warmed up to the music and loved it! The kids performed a little parade around the gym so all the parents could get a good look at them. All of the costumes were so good!

Casper as Elmo and cousin Callum as Kermit

Casper was a bit confused on what we were doing out in the dark in the parking lot going from car to car. I think next year he'll get it better. My back was pretty sore from bending over walking him around and directing him where to go, but it was well worth it. I know he had a lot of fun.

On Sunday we went over to Dan's parents' house to show them a couple costumes we had for Casper, since they wouldn't see him on Halloween day. They just melted when they saw him all dressed up. We, of course, put him in his Elmo costume, and then my sister gave us a costume last year of a robot. Both costumes barely fit him and they were both 12 months. Sometime I wish Casper wasn't so big!

Halloween day it snowed in the morning. But luckily it melted during the day! I took Casper out to Market Mall to do some trick-or-treating while Dan was at work and he loved the fact that these nice people were giving him candy! By the end of it, he was done. He needed a nap and to get this costume off. Later that night Dan and I carved our pumpkins and Dan put out some orange lights. I think our place was the best looking house in all of our complex! We tried to dress Casper up again, but he was kind of fussy. We ended up just hanging out at the house and giving away candy. We only got about 15-20 kids. The last two girls we got came at 9:00pm! I think that's way too late for anyone to be trick-or-treating. Casper was well passed out in his bed already.

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween!

Thanksgiving 2011

Our first turkey dinner was with the Glenn's on Sunday night. The food was amazing! We had turkey AND ham. We celebrated with Dan's parents, Spence and Laurie and their three boys and also Will and Heather and their three girls! Will and Heather live in Lethbridge and don't normally make it to gatherings like this, so it was so great to have them there with us.

As mentioned before, we had our Olsen Thanksgiving dinner on Monday after Casper's birthday party. First we took some beautiful family pictures outside and then came back into the church to feast! We had so much food, but it was all so delicious! Since our family is getting so big, it was nice to have the church building to ourselves and not cramped up in someone's house. It was especially nice for the kids to run around! We were so lucky to have everyone in our family there, well, everyone except for Kimberly because she is on her mission. Speaking of which, she just got transferred to Newfoundland! Here is a little preview of the photos that we took before dinner. I edited my favorite ones.

Glenn Family

Amanda

Arlen

Bourne Family

Dykes Family

Mason Family

Olsen Family (minus Kimberly)

Our Family (minus Kimberly)

Kimberly in Newfoundland!

I am so grateful to have such a wonderful and big family. I love my family, I love Dan's family, and I love our family. I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving weekend!

Casper's Birthday Party

Casper had such a fun time at his birthday party! We had it on Thanksgiving Monday October 10th at the Panorama church building. It was nice because my family stayed after and we got pictures done and then had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner! It was perfect!

 Me and my one-year-old eating some pizza.

 One of the two Elmo cakes that I made the day before.

 We LOVE Elmo!

 The whole family with the cakes.

 Singing Happy Birthday.

 Mesmerized by the sparkler.

 First Taste...

  

 He really likes it...

 

 Delicious!

 

 

All done!

 Having fun in one of the bouncy houses.

 

Most of everyone who celebrated with us. Thank you all for being there for Casper!

Thank you for all the great gifts too! Casper loves them all!