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Today is mine and Randy's first date anniversary!!!! Yep, 15 years ago we went on our first date!!! We tried to go to Paula's for dinner, it was too busy, then Pizza Factory, too busy, so we ended up at Taco Bell!!!! We would probably do the same thing today!!!! After a lovely dinner of burritos and laughs, we went to the movie Bio Dome. Dumb movie, good times. I wont deny that we might have made out during the whole movie and then some more after the movie, but I will say, it was a lot of fun!!!! :)

I didn't know then how amazing and wonderful my life would be, but I'm so glad I chose this life. Randy makes me laugh so hard every, single day. He thinks I'm beautiful (cellulite, stretchmarks and all) and makes me feel like a princess. He is the perfect daddy, son-in-law and husband. Things we never knew would happen 15 years ago.

I don't feel worthy of the man I scored, but I will thank my Heavenly Father everyday for him. His is the yin to my yang. If you know us, you know there's no one else on Earth that would put up with me!!!! Not only does he not kill me, but he continues to build me up and love me. A true angel!!!!

Happy date anniversary, baby!!!!

Maybe we should make out tonight just to celebrate? :) Love you!!!

Oh my naked body!!!!

Caution: this post contains inappropriate material for some readers. There is talk of nudity and a situation that would be embarrassing to most people.

Don't say you weren't warned!!!

It was established long ago that I do not possess the gene that makes people embarrassed. Not only is that gene broken, but I don't understand how it works for other people. What does embarrassment help with anything? How is it beneficial to get embarrassed? There are cases in my life when it is probably a good thing I don't posses that trait or I would probably die. This is one of those times!!!!

So, it was about 10:45 last night when I was on Facebook and my neighbor said it was snowing. I wondered if she was in Idaho or something, I didn't think it was snowing here in Sunny Southern Utah. Well, I was going to get in the shower, so I stripped naked in the big room while watching TV with Randy. As I was leaving to get in the shower, Randy heard what he thought was rain and I told him it was snowing. So, we went to the back door to see if it was rain or snow. Keep in mind that it is almost 11pm and our back yard is pretty private. As we stood at our back door, staring into our yard to determine if there was snow or rain falling, I caught some movement in the corner of my eye......... our neighbors were in their carport, locking their car doors!!!! I started laughing at the thought of Randy standing in the doorway with our porch light on to light us both up and me, in all my glory, nothing but a smile on my face, in the doorway standing right next to him!!!! Yes, I was completely naked, staring out our back door!!!!!

I ducked to the side, laughing hysterically!!!! Randy stood in awe that I wasn't embarrassed. He just didn't know how it was possible!!!! I surprise him regularly, but I think he's getting better!!! But just imagine what my neighbors saw, if they saw anything!!!!

THIS (7+ month pregnant) hot body......

NAKED!!!!! I know it's scary, no one should see it naked EVER!!!!

I ended the night taking the shower I had planned on before "the incident" and all was well!!!! I think this is one that will be laughed at for a long time!!!! Do I think it's normal for me to laugh so hard at my own stupidity? Probably not, but my mom taught me that if you can't laugh at yourself then no one else should laugh at you!!!! I am just providing some comic relief for everyone!!! I am just giving like that. I will sacrifice!!!! HAHAHA!!!!!

Being naked in the security of my own home has never been a big deal to me and will continue not to be a big deal. I want my kids to be comfortable with their bodies and where better to teach them that within the walls of our own home? I grew up with lots of sisters and a mom that was not overly "modest" if you will. I could never leave the house dressed inappropriately, but if my mom was in the bathtub today when I go to her house, I would not hesitate to go in and chat with her. It's just how we do things and it's ok for us, so I never knew any different. I have always had a positive self image and I think that is why. I plan on passing that on to my kids this same way.

Now, before you get all excited about us being exhibitionists, we don't parade around naked. If we're getting in or out of the shower, we just don't make a fuss about the kids not being clothed and covering up at all times. That's just how our family operates in our home. There's my soap box moment of the day!!!!!

Now back to that picture of me and my hot mama body.....
enjoy your night and don't stand in your doorway NAKED!!!!! :)

Life changing news for the Clyde family

So, about 9 1/2 years ago, our baby was diagnosed with a birth defect called Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). We didn't know much about it until our Perinatologist referred us to CHERUBS, a support group for families dealing with CDH. Well, to make a long story short, when we had Tyler, our odds were that he (if born alive) would have a 50% chance of survival including 4-6 months in the NICU (in a children's hospital 300 miles from home) and have a lifetime of health problems. The only answers we were given as to why this happened was, "if the mother took a bath in pesticides in the 8th week of gestation, that might increase the odds of your baby being born with this birth defect". WOW!!!!! I knew we would eventually find out more.

Tyler right after his surgery on day 5 to put a patch on his diaphragm
to make it complete, keeping his guts out of his chest cavity.
He was a VERY sick baby. Very, very sick.

As you know, this Clyde family doesn't do anything the way we are supposed to. We suffered through some REALLY hard times. Really hard. But Tyler has a determined personality and never gives up, right from the minute he was born. His defect was quite severe, but he defied all the odds and came home on day 28 on only oxygen and reflux meds!!! He has no major health problems that are connected to CDH and he is talked about as "Miracle Tyler". We get comfortable with him being a healthy kid and sometimes he gets sick and we realize how he is not "normal". We live with the fear that the patch that the doctors put in him at birth and then modified at 4 months, could come loose and he could die. Yea, it scares the crap out of us, but he's been doing great.

This is Tyler at 4 months before his second repair.
That is pain you see in his eyes. Absolute and unbearable pain.

Over the years, we have done genetic counseling, blood work, questionnaires, and other things to help find the reason that kids are born with CDH. It's a slow process. A couple months ago, I got a letter from the University of Utah about participating in more research, of course, we agreed. Last night I got the call from a doctor in Salt Lake City. He gave us news that could change our lives and lives of future generations.

He informed me that Tyler has some very distant relatives living in Utah that also have CDH. There has never been any genetic link proven, but this newest research has found a possible link between us and them and the doctors and dying to get their hands on our blood. To tell you how distantly we are related, you would have to go back 6 generations from Tyler to even see where we are related. He wouldn't tell me if it's my side or Randy's side of the family, he knows, but couldn't tell me yet.

This is life changing. Because of our participation in past research and that other family's participation, we could possibly be changing the future course for CDH. I can't tell you how happy I am!!!! This is the kind of news we have waited for, for almost 10 years and others for so much longer!!!!

The doctor will send us containers to do our blood work. Randy's uncle Fred will do the draws for us like he has in the past and we will ship it back up to SLC. This doctor was so excited to tell us the news and I have been on cloud 9 since the phone call!!!!

He told us an easy way to explain it to people, it's like Tyler is a book, a big novel. In all his pages, there are 2 sentences that have grammar errors. In the blood work, he will try to find those 2 sentences and link them to the other distant family member's 2 sentences!!! It's so specialized and exact that it makes my head hurt to think of what they are trying to do.

After the phone call with the doctor, we talked to Tyler about it all and it was cool to get to explain my beliefs on this. I believe that Tyler lived so that he could participate in research to help find a cause and cure for CDH. I have always felt that. Medically speaking, he should not be alive, so we are truly blessed and I feel it's our obligation to do this. Tyler understands and agrees. I'm so proud to be his mom. It's not been easy, but I know he is a chosen spirit put on Earth to do good things.

Anyhow, that was long enough, but it's just amazing news and our family is so happy!!!!!

If you want to take a minute and watch THIS VIDEO I made to document his journey with CDH, I thank you. Awareness is a big part of getting things to happen!!!! Have a good day, everyone. I know I will!!!!

New Year!!!!

I'm soooo ready for 2010 to be over!!! I'm looking forward to 2011 and the good times that are going to be had this year!!! Our Christmas was GREAT!!! We started out Christmas Eve with my family at my house for our annual party. Christmas morning after the kids saw what Santa brought them, we called my parents and they came over to watch the kids open presents. It was so fun!!!

After that, we always eat donuts and go to Randy's parent's house. We all get spoiled by the Clyde's!!!! This year's code (remember LAST YEAR'S code? Read almost to the end of that post to see what I'm talking about) was vowel sounds. It wasn't easy to figure out, but somehow we got it. Randy was oo, like on his presents were words with the oo sound!!! It was fun!!!

One of my favorite presents of the whole day wasn't even for me. When Randy crashed his motorcycle a year and a half ago, I was so thankful that he had such a good helmet and that he wasn't too macho to wear it every time he got on his bike. When he crashed, his head went through the back window of a Ford Explorer. If he didn't have his helmet on, that crash could have easily killed him. Well, that helmet has been sitting next to our piano since the crash. I just couldn't throw it away, it represented how blessed I am to still have my husband. Finally, this Christmas, I asked Randy's brother to make a helmet bag for his crashed helmet so we could keep it forever. I knew Steven could make it, he's made a few of his own. Well, Randy didn't know I had asked him to do that and Christmas morning when Randy opened his present, it was a helmet bag, but what I saw was what Steven embroidered on the bag. GLASS PUNCH!!!!

A glass punch is a tool that Steven has for his work (he's a Utah Highway patrolman) to break windows in emergencies. I laughed SO HARD and Randy had no clue what was so funny!!!! It really was one of the best presents this year!!! THANKS STEVEN!!!!

New Year's Eve was just kind of chilled out this year. I'm tired and didn't want to do anything big. My sister, Blanche and her family along with my parents came over to play games. Well, about halfway through our mean game of Phase 10, someone walked in my carport door, when I looked over, I saw my nephew's daughter. My brain didn't work for a minute, I was so confused. I knew it was Brooklyn, but they live in Kingman, AZ!?! They surprised my sister and came up last night. I LOVE surprises!!!! It was so great to have them here!!! I love Brandon and Lacey so much and it's terrible having them live away. I HATE IT. So any chance we get to see them is always a good time!!!!

After ringing in the New Year and kissing the coolest dude I have ever kissed, it was time to start the year off right!!!! WELCOME 2011!!!!


Last night, the 2 little kids fell asleep early, so Maddison made sure to put our plates out for New Year's Jack. Randy's family has a tradition that if you put your plate on the table on New Year's Eve, if you've been good, Jack Frost will leave a present or 2 on your plate in the night!!! Thank goodness Jack thinks we were all good this year!!!!


We spent today hanging with Blanche's family, playing games, laughing too loud and making inappropriate comments about pretty much everything!!!! It's been fun having my brother-in-law, Michael make jokes about his daughter, Brittney and I having to enroll in over eater's anonymous. She's due in February and I'm due in March, so our bellies are getting quite round!!! It's been great!!!!

Now we're home and I'm pooped!!!! I'm ready to hibernate the next couple of days and snuggle with my family!!! I hope everyone has a good new year!!!!

Obviously Cambelle has been tired, too!!! She is asleep like THIS!?! Yes, I moved
the banana chair so her neck wouldn't hurt!!!

27 weeks!!!!

Tomorrow our baby will be 27 weeks along!!!! I went to my OB appointment today and everything is looking good!!! The "weigh in" is always fun (I have tried convincing my doctor that my purse weighs 80 pounds, but I don't think he's buying it)!!! The baby finally held still long enough to actually COUNT the heart rate!!!! 165 beats per minute. I think I will give Dr. Chamberlain another month before I pin him down on what he thinks we're having. He's been right ALL 3 TIMES!!!! This is one of the fun things with not knowing what we're having!!! He cleared me to go do Disneyland next month (YEA!!!!) and despite it bugging the crap out of Randy, it is NOT unsafe for me to be sleeping on my stomach!!! I go to sleep on my side and wake up FLAT on my stomach!?! I've always been a big stomach sleeper, but it really bugs Randy when I'm pregnant!!!! I found out that heartburn can be helped with medication and that my hands going numb will stop after I have the baby!!!!

This pregnancy is so fun, challenging, but fun. There are weird things that happen because I'm older, but every time I feel this little baby move, it makes me smile!!! The kids and Randy love to feel the baby move. It made Maddison cry the first time. She tried so hard to feel it move but as soon as she puts her hands on my tummy, it STOPS!!!! So, she finally got to feel it move and it was an emotional thing for her. It was one of the only times she got to feel the baby. I think it will be a good thing once the baby is born if Maddison can sooth it that easy!!!!

The miracle of birth is so cool to me. I love that our Heavenly Father trusts us to do this special work!!!! Even though we have c-sections and it's all very scheduled and controlled, it is so exciting and fun!!!! I don't look forward to the surgery, but sometimes I think of having a newborn and the blessings they bring and it makes me so happy!!!!

I hope everyone is having a good Christmas break, so far, I know we are!!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Christmas break... YEA!!!!

I love it when my kids are home from school. My favorite days are the "pajama days" that we don't get dressed and we eat horrible food all day!!!! I LOVE IT!!!! I love snuggling with my sweeties and just enjoying their company!!!! Hopefully we will find a "pajama day" or 2 in the next week!!! Here's to wishing you a couple days of down time too!!!

A needed post....

I've been needing to do a post about an experience we had, but I need to edit how I really feel and as you know, that's not an easy one for me!!! Randy and I had an impossible decision to make a couple of weeks ago. We AGONIZED over it for a week. We went back and forth from YES to NO a million times. Our hearts were saying YES and the Holy Ghost was telling us to say NO. We were so confused. We got priesthood blessings, went to the temple, enlisted the help of our family and our friends even organized a special fast for us. Still, we were confused. On faith alone, we went with NO. As it turns out, it was never a decision we needed to make. The State was not ready to do what they told us they were doing, therefor, it was never our choice to make. It was a situation that has changed our lives. Under all the anger, there are things that shine through this that we need to learn. Some things I learned:

*Don't ever trust DCFS. EVER. They (in our case) are NOT doing what is best for children. Job security is more important to them than removing a child from a dangerous place and dangerous people. (You have no idea how edited that is)

*Sometimes it's not the YES or NO that is important when we have a choice, it's what we do to make that decision. Did Randy and I get closer together? Did we lean on our Heavenly Father? Or did it tear us apart and make us loose faith? I'm happy to say we did what we were supposed to when faced with such a hard choice.

*And the most important lesson I learned is that our Heavenly Father is ALWAYS there for us. He was telling us what to do the whole time, we just wouldn't listen because it sounded like the wrong choice. I will never doubt Him again. I will never doubt the sweet feelings of The Spirit. NEVER.

I don't learn lessons easy and sadly Randy will be dragged through the mud with me while I learn these lessons, but we are bigger people because of this, and for that I am grateful.

To those who know the full story, remember that Heavenly Father will protect His children. One way or another. We have to have faith in that. It's the only way I can sleep at night.

Thanks for listening!!!