Friday, January 28, 2011

Happenings around here

I guess it is finally time to update our blog a little. So much has happened and yet I have been really reluctant to write about it. Perhaps it is because I really would just as soon not remember December and January. It seems we were sick nearly the whole time and just dealing with so much stress.

Mikelle's sweet puppy Chloee got hit by a car just a few houses down from our home. It was so difficult watching her suffer and I wasn't really sure I was ready to relive that experience by writing about it. I'm pretty sure she broke her ribs and punctured her lung. She coughed up blood for a good 25 mins until she finally passed away.  I do not know what we would have done without the help of our neighbors Matt and Amy Ence. I still get teary when I remember the look in her eyes before she passed away. I think that having Chloee was a very big learning experience for the whole family. Even though she was really sweet and fun, she was a lot of work. She chewed and chewed and chewed up everything. Did I mention that she was always chewing on stuff? She tore up the whole drip system in the back yard. She would even chew up boxes in our garage that were sitting on the shelves. If it was in her reach she chewed and tore it apart. She wasn't even able to have any blankets or towels because she could shred them within minutes. She had an extreme amount of energy. She would literally jump over the top of our other dog, Daisy. Even after getting exercise she still had unlimited amounts of energy. She sat really funny and had a lot of other quirky personality traits. She will be missed greatly but it is also a huge blessing to not have her here right now. We were already debating what to do with her. She was so much work and too much work for Mikelle to take care. Mikelle earned a puppy. She originally wanted a smaller dog (which would have been great) but her dad really wanted a black lab like the one he used to have. I think that she felt compelled to have one because she wanted to impress her dad. It made the situation very difficult. We now have a better understanding of what our family can handle.


















Matt took a really difficult test and passed! Yay! That was such a huge relief when all that was over. Hopefully he won't procrastinate until the last minute next time. I am really proud of him. He spent a lot of time studying for it. It was also at a time when he had a lot of big projects at work (example: the new airport.)You rock babe! I love you!




Christmas was great because of all the support and love from all of our family. Matt's test that he took was an extra $200 that we didn't really have to spend. Although he got reimbursed for it, it made things a little tight especially with all our other bills right now. I am really thankful for all of our family and the effort that they went into to make our Christmas special. We are truly blessed. Love and friendship truly are the best gifts in the world.



New Year's Eve came and I ended up with a bad case of hives. The following week after I got my next progesterone shot I ended up with my hives getting worse and a trip in the middle of the night to the ER. That was so much fun, NOT! I am also very sure that Benadryl causes me to have seizures. Although I didn't recognize that's what it was at first. After we got home from the ER I took some more Benadryl and started feeling yucky again. My heart was racing. I felt a weird feeling starting from my stomach and going up the rest of my body (kinda like the feeling before you pass out.) I was kinda light headed and then I started shaking uncontrollably again. Even my facial muscles were tight. That was when I realized I was having a seizure. I have had grand mal seizures in the past but never anything that I was conscious for. That was when I correlated the two. That was exactly how I felt before I had them in the past. Again, I am also left feeling thankful. I am thankful for priesthood blessings. I am thankful for a husband that lives in a way so that my family and I am able to have that blessing. I know that we will be okay. I just had a much better sense of peace after my blessing. It is such a great feeling to know I have a Heavenly Father that is taking good care of us. What a blessing!

The last couple of weeks we have had the flu. Matt and I had it a few days but poor little Logan has been miserable with it forever. He is finally mostly over it. He only threw up the first day, but the days following he just wanted to lay around and not do anything. He didn't even want to play Angry Birds one of the days. He is so obsessed with that game, so if he chooses not to play then he is really sick. He kept handing me his throw-up bowl and saying,"Um, no thanks. I don't want to do that any more. No thanks!" It was the saddest cutest thing ever. Even though he wasn't throwing up the whole time, he hardly ate anything. He is skinny as a rail. Poor kiddo. It is so nice to finally see his appetite is back and he is starting to play again. Honestly, I don't think I could have handled it any more. He is extremely whiny and even just a tiny amount of boogers in his nose sets him off. Then he cries and then he gets upset because he has tears. Yeah, it was a rough cycle!



The weather is starting to get really nice. Up in the high 50's. I took Kass, her friend Bailee, and Logan (before he got sick) to the Sand Dunes in Snow Canyon Park. It was so nice. I loved that I could lay around while Kass and Bailee ran around. Logan kept himself occupied forever just scooping sand and sticking sticks in the ground. He was so intent on his work that I could hardly even get him to look at me or talk to me. We have a spot in our yard for a sand pit. I think we will definitely need to clean it out and get us some nice sand for it.



  I do not feel the least bit prepared for this baby. Our insurance changed this last July and it is awful! It is like the new "Obamacare." Let's just say that our deductible is insane. It's making it very difficult to have anything left over to buy stuff for the baby. Ha! It's actually making it very difficult just to have money to pay the bills, let alone any left over.  We have been really blessed by family helping us out yet again. I still need to get a few essentials like a car seat for the baby... kinda important and some other things. Luckily, we are prepared with clothing for either a girl or a boy. Our sweet little baby was modest and did not want us to know what they were. I love that after trying so hard to get them to move we looked over at the face and they had a huge grin on their face. How cute is that? Little stinker! I can't believe how much I already love this little one and they are not even here yet. What a blessing!

Just today I found out that my grandma passed away.Grandma Florence, I just want you to know how much we love you! You will be missed greatly. You were a wonderful example of love and generosity. I have watched you give all you had even when you had so little. Your example of showing your love was truly inspiring. I can't even imagine the heartache you have felt losing a son and also losing your eternal sweetheart. I feel nothing but great peace knowing that you were greeted warmly and taken in their arms and also the arms of many others that also loved and missed you. It is such a blessing to know that you are no longer in pain and having to suffer from your earthly pains and sorrows. You will always hold a special place in my heart and in the heart of my children. I have so many great memories of our time together to share with my children and keep me company until we meet again. I loved playing with your costume jewelry and watching you cook. I love that you always made my favorite things eat, you even made them special just for me. I loved going to church with you and grandpa when I was younger. I loved the way you sang the hymns with such emotion and dedication as if you really were bearing your testimony to the words of the song. I love that you let me come to nursery instead of going to my own class. Your love for the little kids was astounding. I can't remember a time when you weren't babysitting or in the nursery or just happy to be around your grandkids or your great-grandkids. I love you forever!

Anyway, that has been our crazy life the last few months. Crazy, hectic, but still good, full of blessings.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

A list

1. I love the way Logan says, "Hold you?" instead of hold me. He got hurt yesterday and wanted to be held all day. He says," Hold you mommy. Make me feel better. I hurt." I don't think I could ever explain to him that I need to hold him just as much as he needs to be held.

2. "Wonders never cease." What a great saying! However, I am changing it to "Laundry never ceases!"
Enough said.


3. I have been wanting to decorate for Christmas even before Halloween was over. Halloween is my least favorite holiday. We have someone not feeling well every year. This year it was me.

4. I keep staring at my 22 gauge needle and I'm having a difficult time trying to convince myself that I can do this again. Then I remember how great it is to have a happy healthy baby. Yay for ouchy stingy progesterone shots (even if they are a pain in the butt or um.... my hip) and other modern medicine that helps with healthy full-term babies. Yay for Logan, my first baby born at 37 weeks (full term) and healthy! I CAN DO THIS!

5. I will NEVER ever own a puppy again as long as I live. (Disclaimer: I might take this back when I'm old, and my kids have moved out of the house and I actually have time to spend training a puppy. If I start thinking about please talk me into an older dog. )

6. Easiest way to make Kassidee mad in the morning: Tell her, "Today will be a great day! " She will argue that it is impossible to know if it will be a great
day. I love arguing back that our perception can make it a great day. This girl needs to get on debate when she's older. She would be fantastic! Just sayin'!


7. I will never ever understand why my kids do some of the things that they do. EVER! Sometimes I don't even want to know.







8.
Corn Smut is better than other smut I have seen but I will still never try it. I don't care if it is a delicacy in other countries like Mexico. I don't care. I don't want to and you can't make me. Why would I participate in anything called "smut.?"

For more info on what it is click here.






9. These 2 are bestest buddies. I wish Loggs would play with other kids as well as he plays with Mia. He loves her. (Evident by picture of him trying to kiss her.) I love how she is just grinning at him and he's got his kissy face all ready.














10. Things Logan says and does that I hope I don't forget:

While playing his "guy game" (Plants vs Zombies) we were watering his flowers and seeing what color they would be. First one, "It purple!" Second one, "Purple again!" Third one, "Purplicious!"
Yes, he has sisters.

While working in the garden he points at a tomato that was a funny shape (it looked like our peppers) and says, "Oh yay a pepperoni!"

While chasing him and teasing him he stops and says, "Stop it! Don't eat me all day!"

He commonly says, " Oh yeah. I knew that."

When I try to do his hair he cries out," It my hair! It my hair! I do what I want!" I know for a fact that he gets this from listening to Kassidee.

While playing on the tunnel at the park he turns to a kid that was going to come in, holds out his hand ( to stop) and wags his finger at him and shakes his head no.

He is mostly potty trained. HE did so well the first few weeks when we trained him and then it's like he just stopped caring if he pees his pants. At least he never poops his pants (except a few times that he was sick.) I have no idea what to with him at night time. If he goes potty right before bed then he wakes up dry. Getting him to sit on the potty when he doesn't want to is such a struggle and he won't go if we try that. I even tried sitting him down and pouring warm water on him to try to get him to go. No such luck! He also refuses to go potty first thing in the morning. He actually watched all of Wall-E before he would even go in and try. He has really good control for the most part, it is just getting him to go when he doesn't want to. I took him hunting on the last day of the hunt. He refused to go until after 10:30 am. Keep in mind we left before the sun even came up. I don't know what to do with him and he is extremely stubborn.

He is so lovable and gives kisses to us all day long. I love being in the grocery check out line while he gives one kiss after another. Let's just say the older ladies behind me think he is the most adorable thing ever. I think he does it just because he likes the attention he gets.



He is his daddy's boy lately. He gets so mad during the day when daddy is at work. He loves his daddy.



He has picked up a lot of naughty phrases from his sisters such as; "You don't talk to me like that!"
"I do what I want." "You're not the boss of me!" "I hate that!" "I don't like that!"

He uses 3rd person a lot. It always makes me laugh. At church he was eating a sucker and saw a sucker (the same kind he was eating) that Kass had. He starts throwing a fit. "That Logans!" Sometimes he'll say, "Logan loves you!"

11. Getting my son off of the potty is almost as hard as getting him to sit on it in the first place. There are too many things to do while sitting on the potty.... like eating a sucker or falling asleep. Yep, he fell asleep on the potty.























12. Nope this picture has nothing to do with Halloween. This is just everyday life for our poor dog. She is such a good sport about it.
















This isn't a Halloween picture either! I have many many more of these. I could do a whole post on just Daisy. Notice the enthusiasm in Daisy's face.









14. Kassidee won first place in reflections from our school in literature. Her entry will go on to Regionals! Great job Kass! She was most excited about getting the candy.


15. Mikelle is growing up way too fast! I remember when she was young and small and I miss that.



16. Not even something as cute as this would ever make me want another puppy.


















17. I totally skipped #13 and it's not because I'm superstitious. I was just seeing if you were paying attention.


18. I told Kass that Bryce and Annalee's family were coming to stay for Thanksgiving. She said, "How do you expect me to wait that long?" I agree with her.

19. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever get my house organized how I want. Th
en I watch shows like Hoarders and I am reminded that it could definitely be worse.

20. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. I just love everything about them. There is nothing like feeling "thankful" and being reminded of the blessings we have except for maybe being reminded of the best blessing we have ever gotten and it comes in the following month when we get to remember Him.

21. Mikelle doesn't wear junk. Just so you know.

22. I have the option of having an ultrasound this month and finding out what we are having, but I'm scheduled to have one in December anyway so I'm just waiting. Even though the anticipation is killing me, I am trying to be patient. I want to buy little baby stuff so bad.


23. Logan finally likes to read and be read to. I keep wondering what was wrong with him or if I was a bad mom. Maybe I didn't read enough to him when he was little. He just never liked it until now. I bought a book titled Everyone Poops. Guess what. He loved it and loves being read to now. He can sit and have me read for hours. Good thing we have lots of children books. He has a few books that are his very favorite and will pick those out every time.

I'm slightly worried about him having read the story about the 3 little wolves and the big bad pig before even reading the original one about the 3 little pigs because he is obsessed with the big bad pig lately. Should I be worried?









24. I have so many typos that I probably won't go back and fix.

The End

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Baby pictures

Perfect sleeping position



I love the poses with the hands behind her head. Actually it's too soon to be able to tell if it's a girl but I feel like it is. Maybe. I have been know to be wrong..... I'm not sure if that phrase sounds right. Hmmmm....




Cute little profile pic!



Monday, July 26, 2010

The look!


The scowl!

The fists!

The brow!


Mooooooommmm!

That's all I get these days!
I love the scowl!
Somehow, it just never disappoints.
It's almost as good as.....


THIS!

Cat that thinks he lives here


We were just minding our own business when we received a new visitor.

A furry new visitor!




Kass loved him!




It loved Daisy's food!





That's what Logan thought of the new guest!



AND that's what Daisy thought.

I'm on Daisy's side.


I did giggle though when the cat was hissing at Daisy and she just backed up and trotted off.
Laid down on the step and let the cat eat her food.
Yeah, we own a vicious dog.

Pioneer Day



Don't let the huge smile confuse you. She wasn't bored at all.

Logan got really into the beanbag toss.




Handcart ride




A few smiles!

We tried out Vernon Worthen park first to see what the good 'ol city of St. George had to offer for festivities. Answer: Not a whole lot!
It was pretty disappointing. Really. So we headed over to Ivins. Should have gone there first. It was awesome. They had bounce houses, swings, Ferris wheel, homemade slip 'n' slide, kits from Home Depot, and food booths. We had lots of fun until Logi got so tired we had to head home.


Matt and Logan helping Kass with her bug catcher kit.


Fun bouncy slide!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Marshmallow Fondant



I like making fun cakes for my kids and just because. I'm definitely not professional but I have lots of fun trying. I've played a little bit with fondant and wanted to make a fondant cake for Kass for her birthday. However, fondant is expensive and not very tasty. I looked up how to make marshmallow fondant and I must say it tasted much better and was super easy to make. It doesn't work as well for making things like flowers or other things because it's not quite as firm as regular fondant but it looks just as great on the cake.

For the recipe check it out on my mom's new blog: http://cookiesheri.blogspot.com/