February

February has been a mix of the good the bad and the ugly around here!

• Ben is still dealing with his health issues. I don’t think I’ve talked much about it but he had some really heavy unexplained bruising for awhile so we finally took him to the doctor. They tested him for a bunch different things including leukemia. We had no idea it could potentially be so serious, which is why we waited so long. After lots of testing, they’re pretty sure he has something called ITP which is a condition where, for some reason, your immune system starts attacking your platelets (platelets help your blood to clot). A healthy person should have a platelet count of 140,000 and the first time they tested Ben’s blood his count was 14,000, which means he is a bleed risk. His body didn’t respond to the first treatment, so we’re moving him on to the the second treatment and hoping and praying that it works and gets his platelet count permanently back up to normal.

• Ben’s grandpa passed away earlier this month. I think there is always sadness at seeing a loved one die but luckily, in this case, we were also grateful because he hadn’t been well for quite a long time. We were very grateful though because it afforded us the opportunity to go down to Idaho for the funeral and that was a trip I think our souls were in need of.

• In Idaho we were able to see all of Ben’s family-every single person-which rarely happens. We also saw so much of both sides of his extended family. Ben and I were able to go to the temple together. I got to go running in higher-than-freezing temperatures. And we got to watch everyone love on our girls which always warms my heart. We decided we could’ve left Wendy in Idaho and she wouldn’t have minded hardly one bit. Oh! And my brother and sister-in-law drove up from Utah with their girls just so we could have lunch together, let our girls play and so we could meet my newest niece! I’m in love!

• I feel like traveling, and especially traveling in the winter, always ends with sickness. This past week the girls have both been down with fevers and colds. But I am thanking my lucky stars that there’s no vomit and that we’re on the tail end.

• We bought a bed! And it’s a king! Why do they even make any other sizes of beds? Haha just kidding but seriously we are loving all the space! Ben’s hoping to make a bed frame for us so the mattress is currently resting on our floor and it has become THE number one play place. It’s been a long winter so I don’t even care!

• Speaking of winter-we have basically doubled our sunlight hours from the darkest day of the year and it is wonderful. We soak up as many rays as we can (which isn’t much because it’s still freezing outside) but it is such a blessing to see the sun! We’ve been so deprived that we’re glad every time the sun is blinding us. Ha! We’re pathetic codependents;)

Our March is totally packed with visitors (starting this Friday!) so you might not hear much from me! (Although, if I get my act together, I do have a handful of almost-finished posts I could hurry and finish…but you know me, so don’t plan on it;). Hope everyone else had a good February!