Happy First Birthday, Allie!!

~ Allison Nathylie ~

I can’t believe she’s one. I know that’s cliché, but it’s cliché because it’s the truth. I don’t know how the first year always passes so fast. A year ago she was this tiny 5-pound little newborn, and now she’s a little girl… crawling, playful, happy, always so sweet… with a little bit of sass starting to emerge.

I learned so much before, during, and after her pregnancy. I’m still amazed looking back on all of it. It was all such an incredible spiritual experience and I grew so much during it. I am so thankful for that! And then I was blessed with the most beautiful baby girl!

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I was about 10 days before my due date when she was born. I’d been so sure that she’d come earlier than that, so by that point I had just decided that she’d never come at all! I guess it always feels that way at the end. I went to the hospital for some bleeding, and ended up staying to have a baby. Everything went so smoothly.  Baby Girl, as I’d been calling her for so long, was just 5 pounds 9 ounces, the smallest of all our babies though not the earliest. We almost named her Paige, but when she was born she just looked like Allie. So we named her Allison Nathylie. I’m glad. It fits her so perfectly, and I love that she’s named after my Nana.

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She was an easy baby from the beginning, though she did want to nurse constantly from day one. I spent a very sweet summer just holding her and not getting much else done! But I’ll never regret it because I can never get those early days with her back again.

Allie has two teeth now she’s about 16 pounds. She’s finally crawling like a “big girl” up on all fours. She’s also climbing stairs and walking with help. She babbles constantly, smiles at everyone, and loves to play games. She nurses a lot and still refuses a bottle. She is finally sleeping at night, but after a year of getting up every 2-3 hours, I still wake up at midnight and 3am even though she doesn’t. I wish my body would get the hang of sleeping through the night again!

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She continues to have the sweetest little personality, joyful and content and so sweet. She’s also getting a little bit more assertive about the things that she wants, and it’s funny to see this tiny girl start to hold her own. She’s definitely a Mama’s girl, though she thinks Daddy is downright hilarious. Her brothers say she’s their princess and her sisters will always spoil her. She is quite doted on and adored!

I bought her clothes for her birthday. How could I get anything else? I had fun picking out some darling little summer outfits… cute little shirts, adorable skirts, hair bows, and a sparkly pair of shoes. All of it was on sale too! Even after a year, I still get a bit too excited over cute, sparkly, fluffy baby girl clothes!

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Allie’s birthday party was simple. I’ve learned that’s all we need on a first birthday, just the chance to be thankful… And take a few messy-baby-covered-in-cake pictures.

We were all with Josh on a wrestling trip so we found a park (the same one Daddy used to play at when he was little) and we celebrated her first birthday with pink and orange butterfly cupcakes. (It was the second time that we’ve celebrated a first birthday at a park while on a wrestling trip.) She wasn’t in the best mood during her little party, but she did love her cupcakes. She ate two!

     

     

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While I was picking our her cupcakes and a cute little pink and white “one” candle, I was just overcome with gratitude for this baby. I am so, so grateful for her. It still overwhelms me and brings me to tears, just thinking about how blessed we are to have this sweet little soul in our family. She is such a gift to us all!

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Happy birthday, sweet baby girl! I wish I could really tell you how much I love you! But someday, when you have your own sweet little daughter in your arms, you’ll understand love this big. xoxoxo

Happy 7th Birthday, Braden!

Braden Andrew. What a perfect little addition to our family! He’s creative and smart and witty. He can build anything and he can figure out how anything works. He has a great sense of humor. He loves to play. He still loves to cuddle (and I love that). He is such a good big brother, and he tries so hard to make good choices. He is a very interesting, unique, and complex little guy. He truly makes me a better mom.

Today that special boy is seven years old! I can hardly believe it! Seven years has gone by so fast, and being seven years old is… old. 

We had a fun day. Our morning devotional was all about Braden. I just talked about his pregnancy and delivery, and about all the funny and cute things he did as a baby and toddler. I talked about all the things that make him a cool kid now and what a good boy he is. Braden loved the attention and praise. He just beamed.

We spent the morning at the park and the afternoon shopping for birthday stuff at Walmart. We baked cupcakes together and Braden put together goody bags for his brothers and sisters. When Daddy finally got home from work (I wasn’t sure if Braden could make it until then!) we started the birthday party. Braden opened his presents first- lots of new Legos! We ate the dinner that he picked out (chicken wings) and then had cupcakes and ice cream. He even let me take lots and lots of birthday pictures. (Thanks, B!)

I am so in love with this sweet, special boy! He is such an amazing, unique, incredible child of God!! We love you, Braden! Happy birthday!

Memorial Day 2013

Visiting Grammy and Grandpa

 

 

Brenna is ELEVEN!

My beautiful girl. She’s eleven now. It’s hard for me to fully comprehend because eleven just seems so old. The baby and preschool years are long gone. She’s not even really a little girl anymore. She’s eleven, growing up, rapidly approaching those teenage years. She’s seems older in so many ways now. I’m grateful for her growing maturity (she’s even starting to babysit- awesome!) and also for the moments when she still seems young. I’m grateful that she still wants to snuggle with me at night before bed. I’m grateful that eleven years ago this beautiful girl made me a mommy!

Brenna’s big birthday gift this year was an iPod touch. She’s been wanting one for so long. Our big spender has turned into a big saver as she worked towards this goal. So, for birthdays this year, Josh finally got the kindle he’d been saving for and Brenna finally got her iPod.

Her party with friends (simple because her present was expensive) will be on Saturday, so her birthday was low-key. Daddy made her overnight strawberry banana French toast as she requested. We looked at new leotards and then stopped at Walmart. The kids pitched in to buy her some nail polish.

She always sees things she wants when we shop and I always tell her no, but because it was her birthday I found myself tossing little things in the cart for her as we passed them- super soft purple socks, glittery nail polish, gum, a few treats, and a container of “flarp” that she asked for (again, a little reminder that she’s not as old as she thinks she is).

She spent the afternoon at gymnastics because it’s her favorite place to be, and her carpool bought her a birthday milkshake on the ride home.

Brenna didn’t want a cake on her birthday. She said she’d be getting one on Saturday and she didn’t want two. I tried to convince her to put candles into something… Donuts? Banana Splits? Brownies? She didn’t want any of that, but eventually decided she wanted a birthday smoothie instead.

We also picked up peach rings and Jones soda pop to share with the kids. (The message on the lid of her pop was “You would be wise to consider a career change soon,” which was funny because she’s considering switching gymnastics gyms. She saved the lid.) I insisted that she blow out a candle even though there wasn’t a cake to put it in. And Joshua made her a balloon animal.

Brenna requested “girl time” before bed so we painted fingernails and watched TV together. Both girls ended up falling asleep in my bed with me, though I was the first one out.

I hope my baby had a happy birthday. I love her so much!!

Happy birthday, Boo!!

Happy Tenth Birthday, Josh!

Ten. Joshua is ten, and the past decade went way, way too fast.

Joshua’s birthday happened to be on the first day of Spring Break, which was very convenient. We had overnight French toast for breakfast and then went swimming.

After swimming, we picked up one of Joshua’s best friends and went out for ice cream. Josh got a giant sundae and then he and Will spent the rest of the day playing.

Nachos were his birthday dinner of choice. Homemade, of course. He ate a lot and didn’t get sick. (This was a huge moment for me because months ago he was praying that his gastroparesis would be better by his birthday. I’m so thankful that prayer was answered for him!)

I didn’t have any candles to put on his cake so I grabbed ten little tea lights and arranged them around his cake. The kids were all impressed and several of them asked for similar candles on their birthdays.

We finished the day by watching a Harry Potter movie (Mom, Dad, Brenna, and Josh) after the younger ones were sleeping.

Josh is eagerly planning his big birthday party. He wants his entire wrestling team there. He decided to celebrate after the state tournament so that we wouldn’t have to schedule the party around any of April’s big tournaments. He’s excited.

I have a million things that I want to write about this sweet boy, but I’ll cut it down and just say that he’s one of the strongest, smartest, most valiant people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. I’m very thankful that such an incredible young man is a part of our family. I know he will do amazing things as he grows; I know the Lord has amazing things in store for him.

Easter Weekend

Brenna has been asking to babysit for years. I’d always tell her that she wasn’t old enough and her immediate response was always to ask when she would be ready. I’d tell her the same thing every time, which was basically “when you’re ready, I think I’ll know.”

Suddenly my almost 11-year-old seems ready! So we started experimenting. She babysat so I could take a long nap on a Saturday afternoon. I left her in charge when I went next door to help a neighbor. I left a few kids with her while I ran a thirty minute errand. Each time she did well.

On Saturday morning, I left her with Maddie, Jake, and Drew while the rest of us went to the boys’ tournament. She did so well! I was very proud of her and very thankful for her help.

The boys wrestled well. Ash wrestled up a weight class because there was no one his size. He ended up taking 2nd, in spite of his small size. Braden worked hard, but lost several matches and took 5th.

Joshua wrestled in all three styles. His stamina has been an issue during his recovery from gastroparesis. We talked with him about it and this time he was able to push through that wall that he often hits when he gets tired. This was a local event, but Joshua actually wrestled kids from four other states, including some state champs. (I think kids were visiting family for the holiday.) Josh took 1st in all three styles.

After the tournament, we went to the park for a picnic lunch. The weather was wonderful and we had a great time at the park.

When we got home we found that the Easter Bunny had stopped by. There was a giant basket of treats and toys, and a bunch of eggs hidden in the back yard.

For scripture study in the evening, we talked about the Atonement, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Last week we started memorizing The Living Christ so we talked more about that as well. I think it will be nice to sit and talk about our Savior each day as we work on memorizing The Living Christ together.

The kids looked cute in their Easter clothes today, with the boys in blue and yellow and the girls in pink and green. Rick also made a delicious baked blueberry French toast for lunch after church. It was the best!

I am not full of beautiful words and profound statements on this Easter Sunday. But I can say with certainty that our Savior LIVES, that He died for us, and that He loves us more than when can possibly comprehend. I am thankful for His infinite, atoning sacrifice.

Leprechauns Again!

I’ve been reminiscing about St Patricks Day tonight, remembering the year that the Leprechauns left a large kiddie pool filled with gold coins and green balloons. Or the year they left a massive follow-the-green-yarn treasure hunt with cool toys left all along the way. Or the year they forgot to come and had to make an emergency visit the next morning. They always leave us with green milk and green bath water, and lots of treats and a few little tricks.

We have had so much fun over the years, from the time Brenna was tiny. I think the kids look forward to the Leprechauns coming almost as much as they look forward to Santa.

The Leprechaun’s offerings were minimal this year, two boxes of cereal and a large pile of gold coins. It was a much smaller stash than usual and one Leprechaun felt very guilty over this. She even cried a little (sleep-deprived Leprechauns can be so emotional!) but it was early, early Sunday morning when she realized the mistake so it was too late to fix it.

The kids didn’t seem to mind much. They loved the chocolate coins and the special cereal, and they were excited by the green milk in the fridge.

We made green pancakes and green scrambled eggs for lunch and enjoyed popcorn and smoothies for a snack. We all curled up for an afternoon movie together. All the kids wore green, an effort coordinated entirely by the girls.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Rick and I hired Brenna to babysit so that we could have an at-home Valentine’s date last night. She’s almost eleven now (I can hardly believe it!) and while she’s not quite old enough to really babysit all the younger kids, she does a great job in mock-babysitting situations. It gives me a little taste of things to come, when we have a built-in babysitter at home!

I woke up feeling sick, having caught the yucky cold that’s currently being passed around the family. So my Valentine’s present to myself was staying in pajamas all day!

Maddie got up early to surprise everyone with Valentine’s and breakfast. She’s such a sweetheart!

We spent the morning working on school. Things went smoothly and it was such a nice day, a welcome contrast to yesterday’s chaos!

I bumped science and preschool out until tomorrow so we had most of the afternoon free. We ate chocolate-chip-marshmallow pancakes for lunch, and made festive cookies and Valentine’s to take to friends. We watched Honey I Shrunk the Kids and spent a long time just relaxing before the carpool craziness started in the evening.

We delivered Valentine’s to friends, dropped the girls off at gym and cheer, and Rick brought me cake pops too! Happy Valentine’s Day!

Christmas Morning

I was the first one awake on Christmas morning. In fact, I’m always the first one up on Christmas while everyone else sleeps in until at least 8am.

As the kids woke up, they all climbed into bed with us. Once everyone was awake, we had morning family prayer and a short spiritual discussion about Grandpa, Jesus Christ, and the real meaning of Christmas. Then Rick lined all the kids up tallest to smallest and had them march downstairs singing the “here we go into the Christmas tree” song that he sang when he was a kid.

We did stockings first. Everyone happily pulled out treats and prizes. The tooth fairy remembered Braden and left him a dollar right in his stocking. We took our time, let our kids sit and enjoy the treats in their stockings for a while before we moved onto presents.

We always open presents slowly. We spend a lot of time and effort pulling Christmas together so I try to make the morning long and slow. There’s no flurry of wrapping paper around here!

The kids open just one present at a time, one kid at a time actually, while everyone else gathers around to watch. We take the time to get each present completely out of the packaging and explore it before we move on.

This takes a long time, but I like that we can enjoy the process and that each of the kids can feel joy and excitement over their siblings’ gifts instead of just their own. It’s so fun to watch all the kids as they gather around one sibling and share in their excitement over a gift.

It was a lovely Christmas morning. We granted some special wishes and delighted some very special children.

Once all the presents were open, the kids scattered to enjoy their new treasures. Rick and Josh immediately got to work setting up Joshua’s new (hand me down) computer. He doesn’t have internet, but he has lots of games on it and a few of his favorite movies too. He was so happy!

The girls painted fingernails, colored using their new art kits, and played with their dolls. The little boys ran around playing with Asher’s spy kit and Jacob’s boxing “glubs” and race tracks and action figures. Tough little Drew loved his pink baby doll.

Braden and I spent the morning experimenting with his Tasty Science experiment kit and he was absolutely delighted. He loves science and he loves eating so it was a great combo for him! He got some citric acid in his eye, which had me frantically googling while we flushed his eye out. He’s just fine now, thankfully.

Then Braden spent the afternoon building very creatively with his new Legos. He even figured out a way to turn a robotic, battery-powered bug into a working motor for a Lego truck that he built. (Side note: I love seeing all the differences in our kids! Joshua and Braden both love building with Legos, but Josh enjoys following an elaborate set of instructions, while Braden likes getting creative on his own.)

Poor Allie. She got her first fever for Christmas. She has been coughing since last week, but I was hoping that the fever would pass her by. No such luck. The poor baby was burning up. She had a hot, restless night on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day, she sat in my arms and watched all the action, still feverish. Christmas night, she just cried and cried all night long. It was an awful night for her. She is sleeping peacefully now so I hope we’re through the worst of it and she’ll start feeling better soon.

And speaking of feeling better, Joshua had a really good day yesterday. He didn’t throw up all day, the first day in almost a month (25 days) that he’s gone more than a few hours without throwing up. He started throwing up again this morning, but I’m glad he had a nice Christmas day! All he wanted this year was to feel better, and he did get that even though he’s throwing up again today.

I don’t know if Josh was given a little Christmas miracle, or if his meds are finally helping… or both. I kind of think that his meds are helping, which is good, of course, but it also makes me nervous because I don’t want him to have the disease/disorder that they actually treat! I was really hoping this would be something fixable instead of lifelong!

I was blessed with peace on Christmas day. It was wonderful. With Grandpa’s passing and Joshua’s illness, I’ve been so sad and stressed lately. It was such a blessing to have a worry-free day! (Of course, I’m starting to worry again now! Apparently, I just can’t help myself!)

So we had a relaxed, joyful, blessed Christmas. Rick has the rest of the week off. I am very, very thankful for all that we’ve been blessed with!

Sad Christmas Eve

My Grandpa had a heart attack and passed away today.

We had planned to visit Grandma and Grandpa yesterday, but the kids were sick so we decided to wait until next weekend. How I wish we would have gone. I would have liked one more hug.

I left the kids with Rick and drove to the hospital. Mike and Heidi were so sweet to wait there for me, even after everyone else left. I drove slowly, carefully, in the thickly falling snow.

I was able to kiss Grandpa, hold his hand, and tell him goodbye. I felt his love. He looked like himself, but so different too. I think that happens when someone dies. It’s easy to recognize that person, but they look different because their spirit, who they really are, is gone.

I’m so thankful that Mike and Heidi waited for me. They had their kids with them so I know it was no easy task. I’m glad I got to say goodbye.

After I left Grandpa, I went to Grandma’s house. I didn’t think anyone was home because there weren’t any cars. I knocked anyway and Grandma answered. She was there alone, at her request. She said she needed time to grieve in private.

We talked and cried. I mostly just listened to her as she shared some details and her feelings with me. I’ve never seen her so sad. My heart broke for her. I’m glad I could listen and that we could have those private moments together. As I left, more family arrived.

It’s so sad that this happened on Christmas Eve, of all days. It’s always hard when a happy day is forever marred by a sad event.

But as I’ve thought about it, I have felt peaceful. I am so thankful for the true meaning of Christmas. I’m thankful for the birth, life, Atonement, death, and resurrection of my Savior, Jesus Christ. His life and His sacrifice make this life beautiful and give us hope and comfort even in death. Even as I grieve, I am so comforted by these thoughts and feelings. I know that death is not the end.

I arrived home after dark, with snow still falling. Rick had fed the kids a yummy Christmas Eve dinner and made Christmas cookies with them. I’m so thankful for him, and that he gave the kids some normalcy while I was gone.

Joshua was so sad when I got home. He mourns so openly and freely. On top of that, he’s so discouraged lately. He’s been sick for so long and he was hoping he’d feel better by Christmas, counting on it even. There weren’t any words to make it better so Rick just held him and let him cry for a little while. My heart broke again, this time for my precious, sick, sad little boy.

We changed the kids all into Christmas jammies. I didn’t buy pajamas this year. We have so many pairs from previous years that every child had a festive pair of pajamas to wear. Some kids wore jammies from last year, others were from a few years ago. Allie wore the tiny red pajamas that Maddie wore on her first Christmas. It was sweet and sentimental to see all the kids in the Christmas jammies from previous years. Each pair reminded me of the Christmas that we bought those particular pajamas.

We loaded up the van and braved the blizzard and took everyone to see the holiday lights, a tradition they always look forward to. It was nice… Elaborate lights and a warm car and gently falling snow and I felt peaceful.

At home again, we gave the kids their Christmas goody bags from Grandma and Grandpa and tucked them all in front of a Christmas movie so that we could have some privacy to get presents wrapped. We always wait until Christmas Eve to wrap. That way, eager little boys won’t unwrap everything too early.

I always enjoy these last-minute wrapping sessions with Rick. We talk and wrap, while A Christmas Story plays over and over again in the background. It’s nice, festive and exciting, as we get ready for Christmas morning.

My heart is heavy tonight, but I feel peaceful too. I’m thankful for Grandpa and for his life. I’m thankful for this sacred Christmas holiday, and for what it represents, the birth of Jesus Christ. I’m thankful because I know that through the Atonement of my Savior, I will see Grandpa again. And I’ll get that hug that I didn’t get today.