A day with Grandma!

Last Sunday us girlies spent a little bit of time with Grandma!  We had so much fun eating popcorn, drinking cokes, and laughing with her down at the little cafe in her new apartment. She is a trooper and is doing incredibly well! 

You are such an inspiration to me. I love you Grandma and I am so excited for our new tradition!  You mean the world to me!

Motivation!

Who would have thought that something as simple as the Wii could be such a motivator!  All it takes is one little bit of complaining after I ask them to do a certain task... and this is the threat. "Girls, you either get it done like I asked, or you can chose to ignore me and be grounded from the Wii. What do you choose?"  "Oh.... the Wii.  Now what did you ask us to do?"  I know this phase won't last forever, so I'll take advantage of it while I can!

Surgery? Not yet....

This is so humiliating... but you know how Mom is about this stuff.  So we headed off to Primary's early this morning (I'm talking 5:00 a.m.) for my PDA closure.  By the time we get to the hospital it's 6:00. Of course we have to sit in the waiting room a little while, so by the time we get called back it's 7:00.  I'm STARVING at this point because the last time I ate was 6:00 the night before! But I never cried!  The nurse came to check my vitals and had Mom change me into this getup!  Well, she didn't like the way my lungs sounded, so she called in more staff.  After many people listened to my lungs, they gave Mom and Dad the option to continue on with surgery and take a few scary chances, or give me a prescription for antibiotics and reschedule.  After listening to the pros and cons, I'm so glad my parents chose to reschedule.  Not only so I could eat, but because I could have ended up in ICU fighting for my life if something went wrong.  I know my parents love me!  I'll be back to PCH February 5th to try again.  I'm not too thrilled about the hospital clothes, but I am ready to be healthy!  Thanks for your prayers!

BIG day!

Tomorrow is a big day for the J-man!  He will be going to Primary Children's Hospital for an operation for PDA closure.  We love you baby boy!

Ready, set....

I know I post a lot about Justin.... but we are so proud of him and his progress!  He has a great therapist from the school district that comes to our home twice a month to work with him and also teach us how to make him stronger. (His therapy will move on to more detailed things as he gets older like speech, etc.) Just one week ago she taught us how to put him in the crawling position, even though we know he won't crawl for a while. We need to get his body used to the position and also get him strong enough to be able to hold the position, which is very hard for him.  When she first put him in the crawling position his little arms would collapse to the ground.

Not anymore!  He always amazes us!  Just a little bit of therapy and a lot of patience sure pays off with him!  He might not be moving, but he sure is able to hold himself up!  One step at a time!
I know this probably isn't appropriate... but I had to do it!  He is JUST like his Daddy.... and I love him even more for that!

Togetherness!

This by far, is one of my most favorite Christmas gifts that I received this year. (Thanks Wendy and Ian!) I have felt so many different emotions this past week. Every time I pass this as I walk through the house, it brings me peace and comfort.  

I absolutely adore my little family and wouldn't know how to function with out each and every one of them.  I am so proud to be the Mom and Wife that I am even though I know that I don't have it "all together."  Now that I have this hanging to remind me.... it doesn't really matter!  All that matters is that "together we have it all!"

Take Two

It was only the end of September when April decided that she had enough of sharing a room.  She wanted and "needed" a room of her own.  She put a lot of hard work into the color scheme and even helped Dad paint.  As happy as she wanted to be... she just never seemed quite satisfied.  Every single weekend (and I mean EVERY SINGLE weekend) and off track, there would be a spread of blankets on Aprils floor so that they could sleep together.  During this time, Brynn was doing terrible with her change downstairs with Taylee.  Maybe it was because she was only 3 or because she prefers to be alone and play alone. Either way, this whole situation just wasn't working!  During Christmas April decided that being alone just wasn't that cool after all.  So guess what that meant for Mom and Dad?  More painting (because if she was going to move back downstairs, she needed a room that looked a little more "grown up."), more moving furniture up and down the stairs, and more throwing out of trash that had been collected in these few short months. But we agreed... it "needed" to be done! This is the new color scheme that April and Taylee agreed on.  Thank goodness I kept those blue comforters from a few years back!

Needless to say, Brynn is very happy with the change also.  She can play with her toys in peace and quite... just the way she likes it!