I have always enjoyed baking, not so much cooking but baking I really enjoy. If someone else would clean up after me it would be even better but you know this is not a perfect world! I love baking with my little girl and I think she loves it just as much as I do. I have been looking for a good chocolate chip cookie recipe and so Abby and I decided to try this one out that was on the back of the Ghiradelli Chocolate chip package. Because if the name I figured it had to be good. We had so much fun baking together and she was so good at putting things in and then cleaning up and then making another mess and then cleaning that up, I think she will be a great baker someday. Well, the recipe ended up not being that good and I think we ate two and they are still sitting on the counter. Not even Leo would eat them so back to the drawing board. Leo tried his hand at his own recipe and we just won't talk about that attempt. I love my husband and his creativity! We have been trying to stay busy and keep our mind off of Mom and her ever going pain that is slowly, slowly, slowly getting better. I love my kids and their willingness to help their lame mom. I am so lucky!

They are leaving....it is like they have a life back home or something...like an autistic son, 2 annoying chihuahuas, and a house to take care of. It is so selfish for me to want them to stay longer and I know that they need to go home but it is so scary knowing that I will not have that safety net anymore. I would rather have a baby than do this again. I am still so tired and get worn out so easy and I hurt still so knowing that I have to take care of 4 small children while my husband works is really scaring me. It is times like these that I wonder why I moved so far away from my parents and the rest of my family. But then it all comes rushing back as to why and I understand that it is Heavenly Father's plan mine. This is just one more trial and one more test and one more hard thing to overcome and I hope that the time will go fast and that I will be able to be the bionic woman that everyone is expecting (because of the metal in me). I am hoping and praying for that day and it will come but not next week nor the week after. I am so grateful for both my parents and the help and the relationships they have formed with my children. Three out of my four kids think they are going to go home with Grandma and they are going to be some disappointed kids in a couple days. I have the best parents EVER!!! Idaho I guess you can have them back now :(

I had an amazing opportunity this week and I am so grateful to my parents for being here so I could go!! Right before my surgery, Abigail's hearing teacher invited me to go see Rachel Coleman (creator of signing time) with her but it was 5 days after surgery so I was not able to go. I was so upset and felt like I had missed a huge opportunity to see her and to hear her. So Monday I got a call from Amanda saying that Rachel Coleman was doing a conference in downtown Sacramento at the State Education Building and she could bring someone and that I was the first person that she thought of. I was beyond excited for the chance to go and see her. It was so amazing. They had deaf and hard of hearing kids from the San Juan Unified School District do a little presentation and it was so incredible to see older kids that have the same things that Abigail has and to see them succeed and be in the world and be so smart and good at everything. It gives me so much hope for my little girl and that there is help out there.

Then Rachel Coleman spoke and her story is truly amazing and inspiring. To take a disability and make it so much easier for the rest of us to help our deaf children is so awesome. She told her story beginning to end and it was amazing to hear how hard she fought for Leah and made it that much better for everyone after her. Things are still not the greatest but they are a whole lot better now than it was. Her story is truly inspiring and amazing and I am so grateful for the experience and I hope that I can be as good of mom to mine as she is to hers. I will never forget that experience!