I don't know what to say....

Yesterday Scott and I had our appointments with the doctors in Salt Lake City, and it did not go as well as we had hoped. The baby likely has a condition called heterotaxy which not only effects the heart but several organs such as liver, spleen, kidneys, lungs and intestines. We don't know the severity of the damage, and cannot know until after delivery. I can't really talk about it right now, because I am having a hard time not being overcome with sadness in front of my boys. Our induction is scheduled for either Oct 30 or 31. I may or may not update in a few days after things have sunk in.

Photo tag

So Debbie tagged me to do this post where I have to do a yahoo/google image search for pics to go with my answers, so here goes.

My Favorite Vacation
Scott and I took a trip to Hawaii about 2 years ago, just the two of us, and it was amazing. We stayed at a semi-ghetto hotel only about 2 blocks from waikiki beach, and we really enjoyed walking down everyday and just enjoying the water, sun and view. We did all the normal tourist stuff, like going to the Polonesian Cultural Center, seeing the Dole Pinapple Farm, etc. But my favorite part was Hanauma Bay, we did some snorkeling and saw some awesome sea-life. We also didn't put on enough sunscreen and got fried, but it was still the coolest part of the entire trip.

My Favorite Color
Red! I love red, about 80% of the clothes in my closet are red, and I always want red to be the color scheme of every room. I also really enjoy black and gray, or all three together, but red is at the top of the list and has been for a really long time. Scott and I have a quilt that his mom made for us when we got married that is red and black, (I think she thought I was crazy when I picked the fabric!) and I adore that quilt, our bedroom is centered around it, as well as our attatched bathroom. She also made me a quilt for Christmas a few years ago (a smaller one) in the same colors, that I also love. She knows me so well! I use that quilt as a chair blanket for when I am in the rocking chair watching tv or holding one of my kids at night or something, and it is so comforting.

My Age
26 (27 in about a month)
I don't feel 26, I still feel like a teenager most of the time. Now that I am entering my late twenties, that's right late twenties, I have come to the realization that I actually am an adult. It feels strange. You'd think that after getting married and having kids you'd feel your age, but I never have. But I am noticing that slowly I must be growing up. I get annoyed at teenage girls giggling and talking at the movies, and see clothes that the kids are wearing and think, that is so 1984! And then I have to laugh to myself cause when I was in high school my mom would always say, those are the same style of clothes I wore in the 70's and I would be so annoyed with her, whatever mom! Oh man! I am getting old!

My Favorite Treat
For some reason, ever since I got pregnant I have craved sherbet. I keep it handy in my freezer at all times. I like the Good Humor Rainbow flavor best, you get a little bit of everything. Everytime I eat it (at night while I watch t.v.) it feels so great. That is until the kids come over and mooch it all! I will even give them their own bowls of the stuff, so I can have mine all to myself, but they finish faster than me and still end up eating half of mine. Oh well, I guess it's good for the weight gain factor!

My Favorite Food
Enchiladas, or more specifically, my mom's homemade cheese enchiladas. They are so very delicious, and so very bad for you I am sure. When I was growing up I would always pick enchiladas to have for my birthday dinner, and still would if Mom lived close enough to make them for me. I try to make my own every once in a while, but its not the same. I am getting hungry!

The Place I would like to travel to most
Scotland
I can't tell you why exactly, but I have always wanted to go to Scotland and explore an ancient castle. I also like the idea of traveling to a foreign country and still being able to speak english to the locals. Someday, when we are rich, we will take our kids to Scotland and make some amazing memories together. I can't wait.

The Place I Grew Up
Midvale, Utah
I love Midvale, dispite its many negative qualities, it also has some good ones. I have such great memories of walking down to Vincent Drug (yes, the one from "The Sandlot") and buying 5 dollars worth of penny candies. I actually think I know where the house from the picture is located, since I lived just blocks away from "Old Midvale". I'm pretty sure it is still standing on center street near my Grandma Floyd's old apartment.

The Place I Live Now
Boise, Idaho.
I love it here in Boise. We have only lived here for about 9 months now, but we are really happy with our decision to move here. It is a "big, little city" and we love that aspect. You get all the perks of living in a bigger city, without all the negatives. We actually live seconds away from a cow farm, and just minutes away from a llama farm, and yet downtown is less than 10 minutes away. Most importantly, it feels like home. Everything you could ever want in a place to live is here. We highly reccommend it to anyone who is looking for something new, or even if you aren't. (I am talking to you Maxine and Mark, Brad and Lisa, and Van and Katie!)

My Last Name
Brunson-apparently the guy in the pic is Doyle Brunson. I have no idea who he is, but several pics popped up in the search so, I thought I'd use him. He is a professional poker player.
I love being a Brunson. For the 3 years Scott and I dated, all I could think is how great Brunson sounded after Rochelle. I feel so honored to be a part of such an amazing family. I always think of Scott's Grandma and Grandpa Brunson when I met them years ago, while we were still dating. They were so nice, and funny. They really made me feel welcome at family get-togethers, when I wasn't technically family. I will always appreciate that.

My Middle Name
Ann. This is Ann Patchett, she is an author. I haven't read anything she has written, but I chose her picture because I have always wanted to be an author.
I haven't always appreciated this middle name, I mean, everyone's middle name is Ann. But as I have gotten older, I decided, it's a middle name, who cares if it is common. I have learned to love it.

My First Name
Rochelle. This is LaRochelle, France. I LOVE my name, I have always loved it. I have only met like two other people face to face with my name. It gets annoying when people constantly call me other names (for example, Roxanne, Raquel, and Rachel) but I really enjoy being unique. This name comes with several fun, and sometimes strange nicknames. Some friends in high school called me Roach, and my family came up with plenty of rhyming nicknames like, "Chelle-bell", and "Chelly belly boo bop the dinner bell chelle", and the list goes on. But it is a good, solid name, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Something I used to Love
Poetry, not neccesarily reading it(although I do like reading it) but writing it. I used to write at least a poem a day, and now I haven't written anything in years, besides the annual Christmas Letter. I really miss it and wish I could get back into it. When I started this blog I actually thought, maybe I could write poetry again, but so far it hasn't happened. I really need to try harder.

My Favorite Animal
Oh panda's! They are so cute and cuddly and I just want to play with one of those sweet little babies. I know this answer is so cliche' but I can't help it. Aren't they cute!

So anyway, now I am supposed to tag others, so Anngee, and Lisa, it's your turn. Also Max or Mark, I would love to see something from you!

A little scare, and thoughts on nudity

So yesterday I had a little "uh oh, I think I'm in labor scare" that I just thought I'd share. I spent the morning trying to clean most of my house (but I didn't finish, like always), and had finally gotten around to getting lunch ready for the boys and I. While we were sitting at the table, I kinda started having some abdominal pain, which I assumed was gas. After lunch I sat down on the floor as the pain was getting worse, and then decided to try to go to the bathroom to see if that would help (sorry if that grosses you out), anyway it didn't work. The pain continued as I bathed the boys (yes, they bathed in the afternoon, I'm pregnant, don't judge!) and got worse, it started to radiate into my lower back, and that's when I thought, "oh man, I'm in trouble." I texted Scott a little warning that it might be time, but I was really hoping it wasn't, since I still have about 7 weeks til my due date. I got the boys out of the bath, and put Dex down for his nap. I laid down on floor on my left side and had Corbin get me my "what to expect when you're expecting" book and read the differences between false and real labor. I was pretty sure it was false labor (although the differences between the two make it hard to tell), so I decided to take a bath and spend the rest of the day taking it easy. It worked and within an hour or so the pain stopped completely. I was super relieved, I think Scott was a little disappointed.

Onto subject number two, this is a little wierd and I just want others opinions. How old is too old for your kids to see you naked? I try not to let Corbin see me naked anymore (he'll be 4 in November), but sometimes he barges in while I'm in the shower, or getting dressed and catches a glimpse. It's hard to avoid when you are a stay at home mom, unless you don't want to be clean I guess. Also, ever since Dex bit his tongue, I am extra paranoid about him hurting himself again so I always make him come in the bathroom with me while I shower. The shower glass is clear and he usually stands there and watches me the entire time, kinda creepy. He is only 17 months old, so he wont remember that, but will Corbin. I don't want to "screw him up" or something. I would love anyone elses thoughts on the subject.

And finally just a funny thing that happened the other day. Scott and I were outside in the backyard playing with the boys and it was about 7 or 8 in the evening, so the mosquitoes started coming out. I got the bug repellent to spray everybody down (don't want that west nile virus) and while I was spraying Corbin he said, "This is so I don't get speghettio bites?" It was funny.

Halloween is coming

We are getting into the halloween spirit in the Brunson house. We LOVE Halloween and I get super excited at the first hint of fall weather. Scott has been holding me back from putting up our halloween decorations for a few weeks now, but yesterday I finally talked him into it. I would just do it while he was at work, but the boxes are stored in the garage where the spiders live and I am too afraid to touch the boxes or go through them because of my irrational fear, but that's another story.
Anyway, the putting up of Halloween decorations got me reflecting on our other fun halloween experiences with our adorable boys, so I just thought I would put some pictures up of Corbin and Dexter's Halloween Costumes.


This is Corbin dressed as a turtle for Halloween 2005-his first Halloween


Corbin again Halloween 2006 dressed as a purple dragon


Halloween 2007 Corbin dressed as a lion


Halloween 2007 Dexter is dressed as a zebra for his first Halloween

We haven't decided on costumes for this year yet, but we are thinking about it.. Anyway, we don't have the greatest decorations yet, but I always paint on our front window (even though I am not much of an artist). This is how it turned out this year

SLC date confirmation

Clear your calender (those of you who care), we have a confirmation on when we will be in SLC to meet our doctors and schedule our induction. September 27-30 we will be there, and this really should not change. Hooray, I feel better to finally have all that under control. See you all in a couple of weeks.

My husband is no plumber! Coming to SLC

First off, I just have kind of a funny story. When we moved into our house a little over 2 months ago, we were super excited about our master bathroom because it is huge, and has a big tub and a seperate shower. The day we moved in, Scott decided to take a shower before going to bed, because of all the work from the day. I heard him start the shower up and turn it off several times, until finally I heard it continue going for a long period of time, and then turn off. I thought he was done. About 5 minutes or so later he still hadn't come out of the bathroom and I heard some splashing. So I went in to see what was going on and there he was sitting in the bathtub. I have never seen Scott take a bath, EVER, He is not a bath kind of guy. I was like, "What are you doing?" and he told me that the hot water in the shower didn't work, whenever he would turn the faucet to hot, the water would just shut off completely. So the next day he tried to figure out what was going on, he turned it on and off like 50 times and each time it would shut off as he went towards the hot side. He messed with the water heater too, but eventually gave up, so for two months now we have been using the shower in the boys' bathroom. Well, this week he got sick of it and decided he was going to open that wall up and figure out the problem to fix it. We didn't want to call a plumber, first of all they are so expensive, and second of all I have too many family members who are plumbers that I have a hard time paying anyone else to do it. Well right before Scott planned to dig into the wall he thought, I'll try the shower one more time. He turned it on really fast, it made a big air bubble sound, and hot water finally emerged. All this time, it turns out, it didn't work cause the hot water couldn't make it past an air bubble! I laughed so hard, it's a good thing we didn't open up the wall or call a plumber!

And to update FINALLY on when we are coming to salt lake, I was able to set the appointments yesterday, after several frustrating phone calls, faxes and appointment changes. We have scheduled appointments with the cardiologists at Primary Children's and the Maternal Fetal Medicine dept. at University Hospital on Tuesday Sept 30. So we will be there the weekend before,and monday and tuesday leaving Tuesday afternoon after all the appointments are done (Sept. 27-30). Anyone who wants to see us that is when we will be around. We will try to see everyone who is interested, but if we don't make it to you, don't worry, we'll be back a month later for a longer period of time. We will make time for everyone eventually.

Getting ready, My annoying cyst, Dexy's tongue

For the last month or so I have had a serious case of nesting. All the sudden I felt like I needed to get things done. Since the baby is going to be in the hospital for such a long time I decided to make her a blanket (which I haven't done for my other kids). It's very girly and trendy, I don't know what got into me, but at least she will have something during the times I can't be there with her. I also caught up the boys' scrapbooks and started another blanket for some friends of ours. I have been doing laundry like crazy, cleaning all the liners for carseats, highchairs, bouncy seats, swings, etc....needless to say I wore myself out, but at least I feel a little better about things now.


My hormones cause strange things while I am pregnant. Four years ago when I was preggers with Corbin I developed an "age spot" on my right cheek, and two years ago while I was pregnant with Dex I developed a cyst on my left cheek. My OBGYN actually told me that the cyst would go away on its own after I delivered the baby. He was wrong! So after I found out I was pregnant this time the cyst started to grow. It actually got quite large (very hard to see in the pics), and was so ANNOYING! So I asked my new OBGYN if it would be safe to have it removed while I am pregant and she said yes. So since we were filling our insurance deductable with all the stuff going on, I thought why not. I finally got it removed on wednesday by a fantastic dermatologist. He also checked the "age spot" on my other cheek and took a little piece to have it tested. I got to see the cyst after he had removed it, and I gotta tell ya, pretty disgusting! It looked like a slimy yellow marble with a dangling root! I wish I would have taken a picture so you could all be as grossed out as I was. I got two stitches that will be removed next week, and should have a tiny scar, which I am happy to trade for. HOORAY!



And to update on my little boy's tongue. I took him to the pediatrician on tuesday to get a second opinion, they called an ear, nose and throat specialist who told me that the ER staff should have stitched it, but now it's too late. It probably will heal into two seperate peices (like a lizard?) and he will need surgery to correct it. Are you kidding me, I was so ANGRY with the ER doctor that I cried. I tried to tell him at the time that I thought it really needed stitches, but trusted him because he is the professional, I should listened to my instincts and asked for a second opinion right then. I wish I could show you in person how funky and gross his tongue really is, it's unbelievable!