2 Special Days!

Lexi had a birthday on the 15th of May. She was SO excited! She loved all of her presents & was equally excited with each one. After Ethan's soccer games we had a picnice lunch and headed to the zoo. Don't waste your money there: no bears, no zebras, no mountain lions. We saw a whole bunch of monkeys & 2 penguins. They're bringing in some polar bears & sea lions, so go when they actually get some cool animals. The kids had fun though, it was the first time Makelle got to see all the animals that we've been talking about. She LOVED it! Lexi picked Red Robin for her birthday dinner. Ethan is starting to get goofy, every time we get out the camera he strikes a silly pose; too cute! Lexi is FINALLY 3. She's been asking every day for months if she was 3. She's going to start pre-school in September, I don't think she's really excited, but she needs it! Lexi loves playing with babies & wearing my high heels. She loves talking on the phone & she loves her baby brother!
On Sunday we blessed Kyler. Thanks to all our friends & family for making his day so special! I can't believe how big he's getting... all except for his head, he was 75% for his height, 50% for weight & 20% for his head. But I think he's adorable! He's very laid back & rarely cries. He loves to smile; as soon as he sees me he gives me a big cheezer. I love him!

You've Had a Birthday Shout, HOORAY!

I can't believe Ethan is 5 already! The years have just flown by! He's been so fun...

Ethan is so loving & caring. He can always be found by the little kids giving hugs & kisses. He's always willing to help me out & do whatever I need him to do. He loves playing soccer & has a natural ability to do it. If he doesn't score at least 5 goals he's just not happy. But he always tries his best. He's one smart kid, he's reading & telling time. He loves pre-school & is looking forward to kindergarten! He's been planning his 5th birthday since his 4th birthday. He wanted a party with a pinata & he wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese. He got his wish & we had 12 little 5 year olds running around our house having a ball. Then we took him to Chuck E Cheese for dinner. He's now planning his 6th birthday. Throughout the day Lexi would say "Happy Birthday, Ethan!" It was cute that she remembered it was his day. And surprisingly there was no fighting all day. BEST DAY EVER!

Lexi loves to hold Kyler, every opportunity she gets she's always asking to hold him. He's smiling so good now, even the kids can get him to smile. Moab, a little girl I teach piano to got the first laugh out of our little guy. He's so fun & sleeping at least 8 hours at night, YES!!

Ethan's pre-school took a field trip to Wheeler Farm- thanks Jackie for helping me out with the kids! I couldn't have handled all four kids by myself at a place like that! They had lots of fun running around in the freezing cold! It was fun, I look forward to getting out more as the weather continues to warm up!

Oh & FYI the tiniest picture in the collage is Makelle on time out. She puts her nose in the corner & stays there for one minute. She cries the entire time... but stays there, surprisingly! It breaks my heart, but does the trick; she doesn't repeat that behavior when I put her there. Yesterday I saw her putting her dollie's nose in the corner... too cute!

I guess it wasn't the worst day

This post is mostly for me. I want to remember what happened, but then again I want to forget about it too. It was a really emotionally draining day. The day started out fairly normal. About 9:30 a.m. Kyler started being REALLY fussy. He's not a fussy baby by nature, he's so happy & content to hang out. I figured he had a stomach ache, because of something I ate; that happens all too often. I held & cuddled him ALL DAY LONG! Emotionally draining! He would fuss through feedings, but was still eating; I wasn't too worried. As the day wore on there were no smiles, he slept or cried. I could tell he was in pain & felt bad about the pepperoni I had eaten. About 6 o'clock as I was feeding him I noticed that he felt warmer than usual. I took his temperature... 101. Here we go again. I had just taken Makelle into the doctor last Friday for her temperature of 103 (they think she has a sinus infection). I called the doctor & they asked me to bring him in. The doctor took a LONG look at him. No ear infection. No evidence that it was viral. No evidence that it was bacterial. The doctor proceeded to tell me that 97% of the time it is viral, but there was a 2% chance it was bacterial. There was no way to find out unless they did blood tests, urine samples, maybe even a spinal tap. The thought of nurses & doctors poking & prodding my son had me in tears. HE'S ONLY 7 WEEKS! The doctor felt it best to send us to Primary Children's Hospital downtown... the one in Riverton doesn't admit infants overnight; so he thought it best to start downtown in case he needed to be monitored overnight. I went & picked up Jeff & my mother-in-law took the older kids to sleep over at her house. It was nice to know they were well taken care of, one less or more like 3 less things I didn't have to worry about. We got to the hopsital about 9 o'clock p.m. The waiting was probably the worst part. I just wanted to know my son was going to be ok. As we waited in the waiting room a couple of patients waiting their turn started talking to me & were genuinely concerned for Kyler. I in turn was asking about their situations & feel so blessed that this was only our first (& hopefully last) trip to Primary's. We finally were able to be seen. They poked & prodded, he cried & fussed. We would get him settled down & they would poke & prod some more. I did leave the room for part of it... I'm not a fan of needles & I hated to see him in so much pain. Jeff stayed with him & was my rock the entire time we were there. He was so calm & knew everything was going to be fine. I think I cried for 9 hours straight. About 1 a.m. my dad & Jeff gave him a blessing. That was the first time I felt comfort... the Spirit was so strong in that tiny room. I'm so grateful for the priesthood! And finally at about 2:00 a.m. the doctor came in & told us the blood tests came back normal. We are still waiting on the spinal tap test. We get the results tomorrow & pray that it is normal. As they were discharging us they took his temperature one more time, it had started to go down. I was hopeful once again that he would be fine. Today he is giving me smiles & acting more like himself. He is still one sleepy baby.. all that prodding all night long sure took a toll on him. We love Kyler & are thankful to our Heavenly Father for blessing us with this sweet spirit!

I'm still learning

One of my goals is to prioritize my time better. I LOVED Sister Julie Beck's talk.. it was the Saturday morning session of conference. It really hit me hard! That talk was for me! I'm trying not to tell my kids that I'm too busy, or I'll do it later. I'm trying to live in the moment. I'm one that when I start something I just want to get it done, I don't want to take a minute away & do something else. So... I'm trying to take that minute & hug & cuddle my kids when THEY want it & to give Jeff a kiss when he comes home, no matter how busy I may be. So this week I took some time & took pictures of the moments I saw.

Ethan & Lexi doing service... they volunteered to make our bed, so that I wouldn't have to. I love this moment! It makes me feel so special & loved.
Makelle playing peek-a-boo

Lexi & Ethan "playing" together. They were really fighting until I took out the camera.

Kyler smiling... it's just a little one. He was giving me huge ones until I took out the camera.

These are the moments I don't want to forget!

Easter Fun

Our cute little man is almost a month old, boy that time went by fast! He's adorable & LOVES to be held! I can hardly put him down during the day. Which I love & hate at the same time. He won't want me to hold & cuddle him for very long so I want to live it up while I can. But then it's hard to get other things done. I'm getting good at doing things one handed.
We colored easter eggs. The kids had lots of fun & didn't want to be done. They didn't have the patience to leave them in for very long, but the eggs turned out good just the same.

Makelle really wanted to join in on the fun. Mean mommy & daddy wouldn't let her. But she had fun peeking in on the kids.

Easter morning... They didn't seem too excited to do the hunt. They watched TV in our room for a while & then Ethan asked if they could go get the eggs. I was surprised they waited as long as they did, but I did get to sleep in a little; so I didn't complain.

Ethan was such a sweetheart. After they got all the eggs Ethan got Kyler's basket & put some of his own eggs into Kyler's basket; He just wanted Kyler to have some too. I thought it was so sweet of him to share!

Lexi with her basket.

Our cute little guy on Easter morning.

Makelle thought the dyed eggs were yummy... what a character!

We enjoyed conference & celebrating the ressurection of our Savior!

Adjusting!

Adjusting to 4 has been harder for me than adjusting to 3. I've heard people say that 3's the hardest. Well, not for me. I know it's only been 2 1/2 weeks, and maybe I should cut myself some slack. My kids are cute & have been very helpful, bringing me diapers & whatever I need. And Jeff has been so good to pick up a little extra slack around the house.

We decided to take pictures of the kids in their easter outfits. Makelle wasn't very cooperative when we wanted a picture of all the kids, so Jeff had to sit with them.

Kyler is still a sweet little boy, we're very blessed to have him in our family. He caught a cold from his big sister. Oh the joys of older kids. I have been a bit worried that it will turn into RSV because he's so little. Can I ask for prayers in his behalf? I need all the faith & prayers I can get. The more kids I have the more worries I get. Jeff gave him a blessing & I know he'll be ok, but that doesn't mean it'll be easy, I hope it is, but it's in the Lord's hands.

As you can see from the big middle picture, the kids LOVE him! It's as if he has always been part of our family.

It's all about Kyler

Kyler joined our family Thursday March 11th 2010 at 2:02 pm. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 5 oz. and is 20 1/2 in. long. He was alert for the first 5 or so hours & only cried once when he made his entrance. He still doesn't cry too much, but he definately speaks his mind when he's hungry {which seems to be more often than not} He's such a good baby & puts up with a lot from his siblings. The kids are adjusting well to him... Lexi always wants to hold him, Makelle likes to point & say "baby", but she doesn't really care much about him. Ethan is constantly washing his hands so he can touch him & kiss him.

We're so blessed to have Kyler join our family! I can't wait for the newborn stage to be over :)