Just thought I'd let you all know

I'm still surviving. :)

I have not completely lost my mind and I don't feel like I'm drowning...yet.

I don't have time for much of an update. I will shoot for one later this week.

No defecit

That's my goal. Wait, that makes it sound like I'm an under-achiever. I'm really not. I do have higher expectations of myself, but when all is said and done, the important thing is that I pass my classes. :) So far, so good. I had my first exam in med/surg yesterday and my first exam in pediatric nursing today. I passed them both. I actually nearly aced my peds test. Med/surg was rough! They still have to PAR our exams, so my scores might go up a bit. I'm hoping for a few percentage points in med/surg just to give me a bit more of a buffer.

Life is keeping my busy!!! My calendar is full. I had an exam yesterday, one today, a careplan and assessment due on Thursday when I get to my clinical, a SNA meeting tomorrow, my first shift at the U is on Friday night. I have another med/surg exam on Monday. I also have two careplans to memorize for OB that I need to pass off, a few videos to watch in the library at school and two service learning projects to help coordinate and do.

Last night about dinner time Maddie had a horrible croupy coughing fit and we decided she needed some medication. I packed up my peds book and notes and we headed to the ER while Aaron stayed home with the twins. I ended up not having time to look at my notes much, but it turned out okay. The doctor gave her an oral steroid and sent us home with two more doses. I'm glad we went, the night was quiet and she seems much better today.

The girls are so much fun. The other day Cami came up to Aaron and very seriously said "I not Cami, I Ku Fu Panda!" The twins love panda bears. We picked up takeout from Panda Express the other day and they were so excited about the pictures on the bag and the boxes. We went to the fair on Saturday and they loved the animals. Church on Sunday was actually pretty uneventful - I took crayons and paper and the three girls used their chairs as a desk and colored quietly throughout most of Sacrament Meeting. Both Brie and Cami went to nursery without any fuss and that was so nice! Maddie's been home sick the last two days, I'm hoping she'll be well enough to go tomorrow. She's getting a little stir-crazy.

Aaron has been great with the girls and patient with me as I get back into the school groove. We're taking it a day at a time and we're really looking forward to the semester being over but we're all managing okay! Oh - and we've booked a trip to Disneyland for a week in December. That will be great! Less than 3 months to go!!!

What I'm doing

Tomorrow is my first clinical at PCMC. It will be a long day. They have asked us to take Trax in because the parking is bad for patients' families (I actually remember this from when the twins were in the NICU). I'm fine with it, it will give me some extra study time. However, I also need to go to the U to have my TB test read and get my badge so that I'm officially ready for my first shift next week. My clinical doesn't start until 9 so I have time to do this stuff beforehand, but it means I'll have to leave my house at 6:15 to make sure I get to the hospital on time. My clinical goes until 8, then it's Trax to the park and ride lot and then the drive home. I'm not planning on getting home until 9:30 or later. Yikes. My peds rotation is only three weeks long so it won't be too bad. I start my OB clinicals at the end of September, Med/Surg clinicals start at the end of October and go through December 4th. The days won't be quite as long for those though.

Friday I will be studying during the day and then that night I'm meeting up with a big group of ladies who are lucky enough to be enjoying a retreat in Heber for the next 4 days. I knew I couldn't swing it with my upcoming exams, but I do want to get a chance to see some friends I haven't seen in awhile and meet some of the ladies from our group that I haven't met yet. We're going to dinner at the Snake Creek Grill and I'm really excited about that.

Saturday we are planning on taking the girls to the state fair. Aaron also has a co-worker getting married that day so he wants to go to the reception on Saturday night. Sunday we'll go to church and I'll be studying every chance I can over the weekend for my tests on Monday and Tuesday. Monday is my first med/surg exam (yikes) and Tuesday is my first pediatric nursing exam. I have been studying for 2-3 hours a night almost every night for the last two weeks, I hope that I'm ready enough by Monday to pass the test. That's all I'm asking for!!!

Making progress

I have blogged about the twins' pooptastrophes before. The most recent one was about 3 weeks ago. Aaron was home, I had put the twins down for a nap. I smelled something, we went to check on them and found another "art project." Aaron quickly took them into the bathroom and scolded them, scrubbed them off in the tub and then put them in the shower (their very first shower). I kind of stayed out of the way because, well, none of my disciplinary tactics had worked on preventing future poop finger-painting events. I was working on cleaning up the mess in their room instead.

I realized the other day that we hadn't had a mess of disastrous proportions since that day. And then, it happened. Last night, Cami and Brie came out of their room holding hands telling us that they needed a diaper change. Indeed they did. I gave them all kinds of positive reinforcement for coming to tell me that they needed a diaper change.

Tonight, it happened again. They came out together and asked for a diaper change. Now, it just appears that I need to figure out how to get them to poop before I put them to bed for the night. :) Oh, and potty training...is an adventure I'm just not quite ready for. We're actually planning a trip to Disneyland in December and I just cringe at the thought of having two mostly potty-trained 2-year-olds in lines with that urgent need to go potty. I also didn't do potty training with Maddie until a month before her third birthday and it went incredibly smooth. Since the twins are just 2 years and 3+ months, I'm not in a hurry just yet. (Other than that a case of diapers has gone up from $32.99 to $42.79 in the last several months!!!)

Study break

Choose a singer/band/group - Answer using ONLY titles of songs by that singer/band/group. I chose Maroon 5.

1. Are you male or female? Woman

2. Describe yourself. Tangled

3. What do people feel when they're around you? She Will Be Loved

4. How would you describe your previous relationship? If I Never See Your Face Again

5. Describe your current relationship. This Love

6. Where would/do you want to be now? Happy Xmas (this semester will be over...and that will be nice!)

7. How do you feel about love? The Sun

8. What's your life like? Not Falling Apart

9. What would you ask for if you had only one wish? Figure It Out

10. Say something wise. Nothing Lasts Forever

Play if you want! :)

Big girl beds

We bought twins mattresses for the twins yesterday. While the girls were eating dinner, Aaron went upstairs to take their cribs apart. I was talking up their "big girl beds." I asked Cami and Brie if we should put their princess sheets on their new beds so they can go to sleep. Cami smiled really big and said "and JUMP?!?!?" Too funny. When I took them upstairs to put them to bed Cami said "Oh my goodness Dad! YOU'RE BREAKING THE BEDS!" She was a little worried about the cribs. :)

There was a lot of jumping before they settled down for the night, but it went well. We just put the mattresses on the floor so they can adjust to the new space of their bed without falling too far. They LOVE their Disney Princess sheets. I'm glad the transition went to smoothly.

Maddie's in Idaho this weekend with my parents. My cousin, Mackenzie, is being baptized today and they went up for that. She left yesterday afternoon and will be home tomorrow. I am sure she's having a great time, they were going to go swimming, see the water falls, and she's having a sleep-over with Mackenzie tonight.

Week two? Check.

I'm having a hard time finding my groove this semester. I'm two weeks into it. I partly blame the disorganized chaos that the instructors created...I do love the program at my school and overall my experience has been great. Unfortunately there are times when I find myself questioning why this is such a mess when they have been doing this for years! There has been confusion about schedules, tests, clinicals, issues with my financial aid...I could go on. I think everything is clear now.

The girls are struggling with my return to school. The other day when I went downstairs for breakfast in my scrubs, Cami said "You no go bye-bye, you stay home!" :( They are doing a bit better this week - there were no tears or objections this morning when I left them home with Aaron. Maddie said tonight at dinner that she didn't want me to be a nurse because she doesn't like me gone. It breaks my heart a little. I do know without a doubt that this is what I'm supposed to be doing right now though, and I feel like we are so blessed to have a schedule that allows for one of us to be home with the kids 95% of the time.

We had a nice weekend. We went to Swiss Days in Heber with the girls on Saturday. It was a bit of an adventure with the girls in the heat, but we had fun. We finished it up with a trip to Olive Garden for a late lunch/early dinner - the girls did pretty well there. There's always a 50/50 chance that it will be a nightmare or a somewhat enjoyable experience. Sunday evening after church we went to my aunt and uncle's house for a BBQ with my mom's family and finished the evening up at Aaron's grandma's house for cake and ice cream for Maddie and Grandma Nina's birthdays. Aaron worked yesterday so I stayed home with the girls and got caught up on some homework and housework.

Maddie is doing so well in the first grade! She got 100% on her first spelling test last Friday. She loves school. Cami and Brie are asking to go to school with her, it's cute. Brie has turned into a little hall monitor lately, she is constantly giving me the 411 on who is doing what and why so-and-so should be in trouble or is sad or whatever. Cami is constantly trying to make us laugh. She is a funny kid and laughs at herself frequently! It's hard not to join in. :)