One Busy Weekend

Thank goodness for holiday weekends, right? I feel like we crammed so much in to the weekend I was actually grateful for it to all be over. Here's how it all went down...


Friday my sister got married. Yay! Friday was also H's valentine party at school. We didn't want her to miss the party so N's parents graciously agreed to come to our house and stay with the three younger kiddos and then pick H up from school while N and I went to the sealing and luncheon. They (N's parents) then brought all the kids to their house so we could get ready for the reception. So we were at the reception visiting with everyone and making sure things went soothly. (One quick side story. I was in the kitchen helping with the refreshments and when I came out K was in the hall. He told me that he had gone potty, but he couldn't reach the soap or water. When I tried to help him he told me that the bathroom I wanted to go in was for girls and he is a boy. So, I had to find N so he could help K wash his hands. The best part about this story is that K went potty unprompted by his parents in a church building he has never really been in ALL BY HIMSELF!) The kids were all over the place (and having a great time, I might add). Once again, N's parents to the rescue. They took our kids back to their house and put them to bed for us! How great is that. N and I were then able to help clean everything up without having to worry about the kids getting in the way. We spent the night at N's parents and woke up the next morning to get ready for...

The "Happy Birthday Arizona!" party my mom was throwing. Last year my mom gave everyone an Arizona quarter and told us to hold on to it because in February she was having an Arizona party and the quarter would be our admission. Everyone in my family put their quarters in a safe spot and then forgot about them...until a couple of weeks ago when we all tore our houses apart trying to find them. (Okay, maybe that was just me). So, we played a matching game about Arizona (complete with a lesson about the 5 c's). The goody bags were all things about Arizona. There was a copper pencil, a copper trinket, a magnet, some stickers and a book about the capitol. After a long day there, we went home to get ready for...

Sunday. We went to church, made cookies and then went to N's parents' for his mom's birthday. We stayed there for a while and came home because we had a busy day planned the next day...

We started out having our Valentine's day breakfast of heart shaped pancakes (We weren't able to have it on Valentine's Day because we were at N's parents' house). N called the fire station that is about a mile or so away from our house to see if we could take a tour (nope, cuz it was a holiday). We then went and hiked Thunderbird Mountain. H has been wanting to go hiking and everytime we go to my sister's house she sees people hiking this particular mountain. We decided that the weather was perfect for a hike. So, I wore R in my sling and N wore M in the backpack and away we went. The kids an N got to the top. I stopped about 50 feet from the top because R was arching too much in the sling and I felt like she was going to fall out. It was also a steep climb and I wasn't exactly comfortable doing that with R on. H said she could see the whole world from the top of the mountain. Then we all hiked back down and N had an eventful hike down. Because of the hike down we ended back at N's parents' house (more on that in a post dedicated completely to that!). We then went shopping for a treadmill or an eliptical. We didn't buy either. Then we went home for dinner and a movie (we watched Madagascar 2). Finally it was bed time.

We had a fun weekend, but I am so glad to be back to the regular old routine days.

Pictures of R

Here she is seeming pretty content. We don't see this side of her so much. Unfortunately.

Yes, she is learning to smile. She isn't very consistent with it yet, but it is there.

Ahh...now this is the R I know so well. This is how most of our afternoons/early evenings are spent.

Here she is looking all cute. Almost makes me forget the picture above...Almost.

Got this one by accident. Guess she was tired of me taking her picture!

Valentines

Tomorrow H's class is having a Valentine's Day party. Today she and I made her valentines. We got the idea from Tiffin. I printed the hearts and cut them out (H isn't allowed to use scissors in our house) and she addressed them all. Then we both stuck the pencils through them. They turned out cute and H is excited to give them out tomorrow.

Is it Already the Middle of February?

Actually, I'm kinda thinking "Is it ONLY the middle of February?"

Here's our family after R's blessing

The month started on a wonderful note...R was blessed by her dad. He did such an awesome job and gave an absolutely beautiful blessing. We were lucky enough to have a ton of family there. After sacrament meeting we (all of my family) went back to our house for about an hour until we left to go to Buckeye for Emmalin's blessing. Her dad also gave a great blessing. Then it was lunch at the Clarks after their sacrament meeting was over.

The next day I had my 6 week check-up and was declared "normal"...whatever that means!

Saturday Kristi went through the temple for her endowment. It was so wonderful to be in the temple. Kristi took to it swimmingly. She and Mike are so happy together. They make a great couple. Tomorrow is the big day...can't wait.

I have been given a calling in our new ward. I'm teaching the 2nd Sunday in R.S. I'm really looking forward to this calling. I enjoy teaching. I just hope everyone else enjoys me teaching. I was so relieved to get this calling because I honestly thought they were going to call me to nursery and let me take M a few months early.

Earlier this week I helped out in H's kindergarten class. I became very proficient at using the copier, but I also got to help with small reading groups. On Tuesday I stayed and ate lunch with her. It was kind of funny because as we were walking into the cafeteria she pointed to one side of tables and told me I had to sit over there. I asked where she was sitting and she pointed to the other side of the cafeteria. I asked if I could sit by her and she said no because she was sitting by her friends. I was able to convince her to let me sit across the table from her. She's in kindergarten and already embarrassed by her mom!

This morning I went to the dentist because I've been having some pretty bad pain in my mouth since Monday. Turns out I have an impacted wisdom tooth which is surprising because when I was younger my then dentist told me my wisdom teeth were so far down they'd never come up. This new dentist told me (and showed me) that one of my wisdom teeth has already come in, one is impacted, one is just sitting there in my gums and one is completely missing. March 9th is the big day. And, as if that weren't enough, it's taken me 33 years but I have finally gotten a cavity. My perfect record is ruined.

Today I was sitting in the drive thru at the pharmacy and I started to wonder what they must think of me. In the last two months I have filled scripts for 800mg Ibuprofen, percocet and vicadin. I wish I could say the vicadin worked. Not only am I sleepy, nauseous and jittery, but it doesn't take the pain away. What's the point?

And finally, at the risk of jinxing us, I think K might be potty trained. He even appears to be night time trained as well. It is wonderful. Seriously, I can't even tell you how happy I am about this. I can hear the choirs of angels singing.

We're Done!

It's official...I filed our taxes today. We are done and now happily awaiting our refund. Let me say that having two babies and buying a house in the same year really make for a nice refund!

Sleep Walking?

Last week I was talking on the phone with one of my sisters. I heard someone walking around (dancing around is actually more appropriate) and I went to check it out. It was H and she was dancing in K's room with her pj's and undies around her ankles. She was looking for the potty and I think she was still mostly asleep. I quickly explained that she was not in the bathroom. She looked at me and then tried to sit on K's bed to go to the bathroom. I ushered her out and tried to get her to the bathroom, but she found a closet instead. Again, I told her she was not in the bathroom and I ushered her to the toilet. She made it and then went straight back to sleep.

Tonight I was talking on the phone with one of my sisters (not the same one as before). I heard someone walking around upstairs and I went to see what was going on. H was dancing around trying to get into K's room (he had fallen asleep on the floor by his door) because she had to go to the bathroom. Having been through this before, I quickly took her into the bathroom. She was dancing around and seemed utterly confused as to where she was. I had to put her on the toilet so she didn't have an accident. Luckily, she made it.

Now, I'm not so sure what is going on. I don't even know if she is awake. I'm thinking she must not be because she doesn't remember the next morning (well, at least she didn't the first time. I'll have to ask her tomorrow). I just want to know, why K's room?

I had mentioned this to my mom after the first episode and she said it sounded a lot like one of my brothers (to protect the guilty I will refrain from saying which one) except he peed in the closet. NICE!

R Visits the Cardiologist

Today was the day. R's appointment was at 10:30, but we had a 10:00 check in. We got there at 5 til and signed in. I got all the paperwork filled out and then we waited. And waited. And waited. At 11:30 someone came out and told me they hadn't forgotten about us, they just didn't have any available rooms. Finally, we were called back. She had her blood pressure taken...4 times and then she had an EKG. The doctor came in shortly after that and listened to her heart. After listening he ordered an echocardiogram. We had that done and he told me she has a hole between the 2 ventricles in her heart. It is about the size of a pen point and is deep in the muscle. According to him, we should never see any symptoms and it shouldn't complicate her life at all. In fact, there is a good chance it will close on its own. He said, "If you had to choose something to be wrong with the heart, this would be a good one to choose." So...we go back in 3 months and hopefully it will be all closed up.

I SO Want This!

Wouldn't it be great to win this?
http://inevergrewup.net/

R and M Go to the Doctor

Originally, I thought I would be able to handle taking 2 kids 1 and under to the doctor all by myself. Then, the part of my brain that is in charge of rational thinking engaged and I realized I should probably have N go with us. Of course, that meant we had to take K as well. So, the 5 of us headed to the doctor this morning after N and I were able to convince K that only M was getting shots today, not him. We got to the office and after a brief wait they took us all back. The MA took all their measurements and asked all the development questions and then she left. Our doctor came in and rechecked the kids. When she was checking R, though, she took an extra long time listening to her heart. At first I figured it was because R was less than cooperative, but then she had me try to calm R down so she could listen again and she took a long time again. Turns out R has a heart murmur. The doctor really isn't too concerned about it, but she does want it checked out by a cardiologist just to be safe. So, a week from tomorrow R gets to go to the cardiologist. N and I aren't too concerned. We went through the same thing with M and his is just an innocent murmur that will not affect his life at all and will probably go away on it's own when he is older. Here's hoping R's is the same.

Happy First Birthday M!

Last Saturday M turned one! We were trying to figure out what to do to celebrate and decided on having a picnic in the park. We opted for the Railroad Park out in Scottsdale. The kids LOVED it! H loved riding the carousel, K loved the trains and M just loved being outside.





This is how K rode the carousel. I'm pretty sure he enjoyed the ride.