Our Christmas Vacation...So Far

A quick rundown of our vacation up to this point.

Wednesday. Dec. 17th: We have some great friends who were willing to brave the storm to get us to the airport (we're thankful that we got there early, apparently the roads were getting worse by the min, making getting there difficult). Our flight was delayed for an hour and a half, so we had plenty of time for lunch, shopping, running up and down the terminals, playing... and not getting into much trouble thankfully. Enough playtime in the airport that it was nap time on the plane! After we got settled in at Grandma and Grandpa's we headed out to Cafe Rio for a long awaited Shredded Chicken Salad.
Thursday: Up and off to our favorite tree lot (truth be told it is the only tree lot that we have bought our tree from in 20+ years -Robinson Tree Farms) to pick out the "perfect" tree. This year it was decided that it would be skinnier than usual to leave us more room for the growing crowd that we have for Christmas. After getting back I was done for, some sort of flu bug had me whipped. I was off to bed, and everyone else was able to have a great time.
Friday: I still wasn't feeling well, and was told to stay down and get better. Unfortunately everyone lost their appetite when Braden threw-up at the breakfast table. Poor little guy, I hate seeing little kids being sick. The washer started going.
Saturdayy: I'm feeling better (still a bit queasy, but up on my feet and functioning), Braden is still vomiting, and now Brit has it. Oh aren't we a fun bunch to be around. I got out and got a little shopping done today. Grandpa, Grandma, and Sasha started decorating the tree. Sasha had a diarrhea diaper, here we go with another one? Washer is still going.
Sunday: Grandma made it to church, only because she had library duty today, I'm still good, Braden is still sick, Brit is flat in bed/running to the bathroom, we don't want Sasha sharing what she might have (no more symptoms, or episodes today thankfully), Grandpa is sick now. The washer is still going, and going, and going. Braden really isn't doing well, Grandma and I take him to the ER for possible dehydration. Unfortunately it was confirmed, he vomited again in the ER so they decided to keep us for an IV bolus, and another one, and then decided that since he wasn't keeping oral fluids that they would admit him to RTU for an overnight IV. They think we will be out within 24 hours.
Monday: We're technically admitted to RTU, Grandma goes home at 2am, Mommy and Braden spend the night. More IV fluids, more oral fluids, more vomiting, so we are staying another night. Brit is feeling better, Grandpa is still down, Sasha hasn't had any more symptoms. The washer is still going, going. going, and going. Grandma is working so hard to keep the germs down so that no one else gets sick (more company coming, and family for Christmas). Braden isn't keeping things down, so we are staying another night, I started getting really worried around 1am and thought that Braden really needed a blessing, thankfully there were a couple of staff members in the hospital who were able and willing to help us out. (didn't really want to make the "heart attack" call as Brit called it that time of the day if I could avoid it)
Tuesday: Grandpa is doing better, but still has some cold symptoms, Braden lost his dinner, but they are thinking that he just had to much milk, so we are good to go. His personality seems to be back, so we are excited to be going home. Washer still keeping up with us. Sasha still seems to be in the clear. JJ and Chris have made it into town, and have been added to the mix, it is great to see them. Emily is still avoiding us and for good reason, she can't afford to get sick.
Wednesday: Braden didn't have a good night (vomiting, and diarrhea), or morning (again, and no interest in drinking). After talking to the RTU Dr. "Mike" he told us to come back in. So off to the ER yet again, a catheter, and another IV. This time they decided to admit us upstairs. We miss Dr. "Mike", but we do have a good team of doctors up here. I unfortunately decided that I would like to have another go at the sick "patient" thing again myself. So shortly after getting him admitted Grandma came and took me home to bed. Brit stayed with Braden at the hospital today and is staying tonight. Grandma and Grandpa G visited Braden and Brit at the hospital for a while in the evening. Sasha is still going strong. Grandma hasn't even been phased by this. A great had goes to the washer, still going. Grandma, Grandpa, JJ, Chris, and Sasha had a great time at the family Christmas Eve Party (Emily and Matt were there along with all the Aunts, Uncles, and cousins)
Thursday: Christmas in the hospital, Santa was really good to Braden. He is still so lethargic, it is so hard to not know what is wrong, still no fever, just can't keep anything down. It made splitting the holiday for my sisters with their husbands families much easier since it was decided that we would put off celebrating until a later date. I'm feeling a little better by evening, so I headed up to the hospital, wearing a mask to make sure that I don't give Braden anything else. The doctors kept apologizing to Brit that they don't think that we will be able to take Braden home today, he had to keep telling them that it is ok, that we aren't planning on it, that we would rather stay and make sure that he is doing better. Brit stayed again, he "loves" his chair bed.
Friday: The doctors think that we can go home later today. I'm still not totally sure how I feel about that, we will give it a little more time. His personality seems to be coming back a bit better, his appetite seems better. It's been 26 hours since he last threw up. Here it comes again, and so does another night here. Sasha is really feeling testy, we can't blame her, her world must be feeling really strange right now. She is struggling not having her family all together. She has a cough now so we aren't taking her up to see Braden, it just isn't worth it to risk it. My family decided to have Christmas tonight, so much for waiting till Braden got home from the hospital. Oh well, our Christmas will be getting him home and having him healthy.
Saturday: Things are going really well, he made it through the night without the IV, since it went bad at 6am yesterday, so they took it out to see how he would do on his own. His personality is really coming back today. He has a little bit of a rash, but the doctors say that it isn't anything to worry about, that they think that it is related to the virus. (he still hasn't had a fever with any of this, no one has). We are really encouraging fluids, and restricting any solid foods at this point. The doctors said that when we feel comfortable we can go. He is exceeding his fluid intake requirements by himself, and keeping it down. Also that if he is vomiting once or twice a day we are still ok, just look out for dehydration. We finally got to take that wagon ride out, and are home!!! The poor washing machine won't know what to do without running around the clock, neither will Grandma. Thank you so much everyone for all of your help, we don't know how we would have done it with out you.
Sunday: Today Brit and the kids came to church for Sacrament, Grandma, Grandpa, JJ, Chris, and I were able to go for the whole block (thank you Brit for letting me do that). We went to Grandma and Grandpa G's after naps, and were able to have a part of our Christmas with them, Ian, Crystal, Courtney, and Caleb (it was the first time that we met their kids!) were also able to make it. Sasha broke out in hives, started itching, and then was having a hard time breathing a little later. It is hard to have her allergic to dogs, she loves them so much (at a distance at least). Thank you, it was nice to spend some time together. Now everyone is sleeping, and hopefully will sleep well all night. So to all a good night!

A couple of videos of Braden

Tonight I am thankful for:

Being able to stay home with our kids, being there to see all of the little things. At breakfast this morning Braden was eating really well with a spoon(in his left hand even :). He usually just holds a spoon in one hand and eats with the other. I really love watching as he is developing. Today Sasha started making fun of how Braden is talking, it is so cute. I had forgotten how much fun it is to hear the early chatter of conversation. I just wish that I could understand him.

I hope that you enjoy these as much as I did watching him this morning at breakfast.

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To cut or not to cut

For those of you who have known me through most of my life this I guess is what I have often looked like from behind, or there is always this familiar look.

I decided that I was ready for a change, I couldn't afford a whole new wardrobe (though a few new things sure would be great), so I thought that a little something with my hair could work. What do you think?

Yes I realize that my eyes are closed, but it was the clearest picture, sorry.

When I got home Braden took a few minuets to realize who I was, and has been just fine since. Sasha keeps reminding me that "mommy hair short" and that we both got our hair cut. Brit loves it, and so do I. Now to figure out how to get it to look like this on my own. Good luck to me!

Cute Things Kids Say - Part 2 "The Backfire"

So, a couple of posts ago, we talked Sasha into not getting up until it was 7:00am or at least to stay in her room until then. Well, today that backfired - she slept in. Since it was passed 8:00am, "Daddy, no seben my clock!" She was determined to staying in her bed until there was a seven (not just a seven on the clock, but a seven on the left side - where it is supposed to be). I tried to explain that it is ok to get up anytime after seven and that seven had already come and gone. Eight comes after seven so it is ok to get up, but she didn't buy it; her clock had to have that seven on the left side.

Solution? yep, you guessed it. We changed the time on her clock so that it was just a few minutes before 7am and we let her wait until the clock turned over. Then she was so happy to come eat breakfast with us (even though it was actually 9am).

She is so cute but so very assertive! If it is not the way she thinks it is supposed to be, then it is wrong. That is the way it seems. She is so so very smart though and we love her so much. Thank you Sasha for making our life so interesting and so much fun!

Chip off the old Block!

Everyone always asks where Braden's blond hair came from since neither Hilary or I have blond hair. Well, I am pretty sure I figured it out. Can you see the resemblance?

Cute Things Kids Say

So, I just had to post some more of Sasha's sayings because they are so darn cute!

"Legabug" is a ladybug
One of my current favorites is "Sita Jonkin" which is Sister Johnson - Sasha goes over to Sister Johnson's house for Joy-School once a week and absolutely loves it! When I play with her and tell her she is too fast for me - she repeats with "too fass me!"

We have been trying to get her not come out of her room before 7am because we don't really want to be woken up before that if we can help it. So yesterday, I got to sleep in just a little bit because I was going into school an hour later and I wake up to this: "Daddy, get down." First of all, not thinking straight because this brought me out of a deep sleep but I realized she wanted me to get down from our bed, which is really high for a bed. "Daddy, time wake up!" So I said "what?" and Sasha said "Daddy, see" as she grabbed my alarm clock, "a seben. Time wake up! See! Two sebens!" She was showing me that there was a seven on the clock and therefore it was time to get up and that there were actually two sevens because it was 7:27 am. I couldn't argue with that because that is exactly how we have been teaching her to stay in her room until 7:00 in the mornings. It's not time to wake up until there is a seven on the left side. Well, she apparently understands that all too well now - I don't think we'll ever be able to sleep past 7am again!

"waj" is the garage.
"Turtin on my winnow fall off" means that the curtain on her window fell off. We keep a thick blanket over her window to make her room dark and keep the light out in the morning (especially when it gets light before 7am).
"Sassa say bayas" means Sasha say prayers when she wants to say the prayer.
Sasha says the cutest prayer. I think it is something that I can write here:
"Heaby fahva, daikoo day, bess food, name chee-us wice, amen" If you can't guess, this translated means 'Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, bless the food, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.' She is such a smart little girl! and she has such an amazing memory! We love her so much and are so grateful to have her here as part of our family and to teach her about life here on earth and a bit about the gospel as well.

Won't be too long before Braden starts rattling off coherent words and sentences! Right now, he jabbers, but he sure jabbers a lot!

Mommy & Sasha's Story Time

When looking at this picture I know that it is difficult to imagine anyone else fitting in, but stuffed animals seem to multiply, blankets of course are required for each of them, they seem to have become quite prolific!

Though my favorite thing is the desire that Sasha seems to have of spending a little more cuddle time with me. Every day when it is time for bed, and after Daddy tucks her into bed she has the same request... "Mommy in now!" ie. Mommy you need to get in my bed with me to read stories. She gives me a specific animal to rest my head on, tucks me in, climbs out to close the door if I haven't, then picks a story to read to me. Tonight she wanted me to sing to her.

I really am so appreciative of the time that I have been able to spend with her on a one on one basis. I want to be able to really enjoy this time that I have with her, while she wants to be with me. I love Sasha so much! (even on the "hard" days)

Salon Days

Today was a big day for Sasha, that's right, her 1st hair cut! I called and made an apointment, luckily she was about a week out, because when I asked Sasha if she wanted to get her hair cut her resounding answer was "no!" After about a week of talking it up she was really excited, she climbed up into the chair without any hesitation, she loved seeing herself in the mirror. It wasn't until Kim started spraying her hair that she started looking a little nervous. She didn't cry, yell, scream, or even fuss, her stylist told us that she was "probably the easiest cut I've done (kids cuts)" . You be the judge, but we love it. It was a hard decision for me, I have a hard time seeing my baby girl growing up, but she looks so cute with her new cut.

getting started

The first cut
A little nervous
Loving the results!!!


Even had a fun time at the Salon, thanks Kim for letting him rearrange your shelf.

The Big Game!

We went to a friend's house to watch the BYU vs. UofU game on Saturday, thanks for letting us in. We were the only ones there in RED thanks for not kicking us out, just upstairs :) as the gap in the score continued to widen. According to our friends there, we are brainwashing our children. Oh well, let the "brainwashing" begin. This is Sasha's favorite PJ shirt (at least for right now).

CONGRATULATIONS UTES!!!

48 - 24

Dinner at Red Robbin

After kindermusik on Friday we went to Red Robbin for dinner. It is so nice to have dinner made and cleaned up for you.

I just love Sasha's eyes in this shot!

Braden devouring his dinner, all except the mandarin oranges, and loving it!

Sasha discovering the joy of broccoli "swimming" in Ranch, she loved the broccoli almost as much.

Brit and the kids, having a great time!
Thanks babe for taking us out to eat.

Story Time

I think that these are a fairly accurate representation of story time at our house at bedtime.

Who can sit still, it is so exciting. Off the couch, on the couch, off the couch, change places...
Books, books, books, which to choose? Can't decide, read them all (or at least for a couple of seconds each)

This is one of my favorites, Braden is transparent, you can see Sasha and Daddy reading right behind him. He was so excited to come show me the treasures that he had found.

Christmas time

Yeah, we know, Thanksgiving isn't even here yet but we decided that since we are going down to Utah for Christmas, we would enjoy a little decoration around our house while we are here. So, we decided to set up our new Christmas tree (Hilary resigned to getting a fake tree, so that we can have a tree here, since we will be spending most of the season away and wouldn't be able to keep a real tree alive. Also because we got it for $10). And as you can see from the following picture, we already found a present under the tree!



Who knew Santa would come so early! Sasha thought it would be fun to pretend to sleep under the tree. I think this year is going to be so much more fun for us with her being at such a fun age. Braden will have fun too, but he will be just as lost as Sasha was last year.

Can't wait to come see you guys in SLC!

Moving

My thoughts of gratitude are moving to my new blog, a pot of me, so that we can keep this more about things happening to our little family. I will still be keeping this updated, and if I find that it is taking too much time I will combined them later. For now Brit and I have decided that we will try it out this way.

Saturday's Post of Gratitude

Sorry this is a little late, I had gone to bed, couldn't sleep, and realized that I hadn't written anything down today. So here I am.

Today I am grateful for the opportunity to take a long drive and spend some relatively uninterrupted (the kids can only entertain themselves for so long in the back seat, that's ok) time talking with Brit. In this world of constant interruptions, and so little down time from everything and anything going on around us; radio, TV, internet, phone, friends, work... it seems as if you can spend a countless amount of time "together" without really being together. So today I am thankful for time with my own little family, and really getting to talk.



I am excited to see how much more aware of the little things that I am blessed with. It seems to me that I am doing better at paying attention to, or being aware of these things. So thank you to those who gave me the encouragement to start this.

Joy

Today I am grateful for:

I happened to glance over at my computer while this picture was up on my screen saver. I am so thankful that this was caught on film. I love seeing the joy in Grandma's face as she is looking at her great granddaughter (I had to post this one with Braden as well). I love looking back and remembering things that have so much meaning to me.

Thanks for loving all of us so much Grandma!

I love you!

A Life Of Thanksgiving

We had a great Enrichment Activity on Tuesday night that focused on giving thanks for the many things in our lives. One of the stories shared was an excerpt from this talk by Elder Eyring, we were encouraged to keep a record daily of things that we are grateful for. I am going to start today, some days I may record things on paper, others here. I have been looking for a way to become a more positive person, I hope this will help keep me focused on the positive things around me, and be more grateful for those things. So here is to a life of thanksgiving.

Something that I'm thankful for today:

Between nap and lunch we took a few minuets to play with some toys in the front room. Braden "ran" down the hall, poked his head into his room (Sasha and I could see most of his body), looked out at us and and said "pa boo" (said quickly & with a short sound) - (peak-a-boo). I am so thankful that I am able to be home to witness and enjoy these moments. Now to enjoy more of them.

COOKIES

Sasha and Daddy were sitting on the couch while I was getting Braden to sleep for his nap this afternoon, when I sat down in the kitchen, what did I hear? ...Sasha reading her first story out loud to Daddy. "COOKIES" Congratulations Sasha you are doing so great! I'll get a video for you of it when she decides that she will perform on camera.

Music & Friends

Sasha and Braden have always loved music, they both lead the music in sacrament, or any other time that they hear it. Today Sasha started singing! It took me a minute to figure out what she was saying... "I Am A Child Of God" I'm not quite sure how to type her version of the song, as I figure it out I'll post it.

Braden is doing great at mimicking sounds, and words. It is so exciting to watch him as he is growing and developing. We are working with the kids on sharing and how to ask politely. Braden is very helpful with this. He loves to take Sasha's things, if she freaks out he runs away in delight at her reaction, but if she asks politely "Braden can I have ...?" He will nod and give it to her. It really is so sweet to see them together when they are getting along.

Let Your Voice Be Heard

All Elections should be of great importance to all of us. We are blessed to be living in a country where we have a voice in those who represent our country and there by each of us. Please let your voice be heard. It does count! The polls are open until 8pm - if you are here in Washington don't forget to get your ballot to the Ballot Box by 8pm, or if you don't have your ballot go to the nearest location also by 8:00om to vote. To find the location nearest to you go to www.spokanecounty.org/elections Don't forget your ID if you are needing to go in to vote.

Scentsy Party

I know that this is last minute, but I would love to have anyone that would like and is able to come over for the evening. Come enjoy some time with some friends, some food, and possibly get some of your Christmas shopping done early. Hope to see you there!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

We had a great week of Halloween, the kids got to dress up for Joy School. They had a great time playing in the gravel box, and all of the fun activities for the week. Here are some of my favorite shots of them through the week.

Thursday we went Trick-or-Treating at the Waterford. It was so much fun to see how excited they both were as they figured out what was going on. I think their favorite thing was their balloon they each got to pick. Braden had a "death" grip on his, there was no taking it away to tie it to his wrist, and it made it home. Sasha loved the orange string with a black balloon. We will be going earlier next year to let them enjoy the carnival as well as having a great time trick-or-treating to the residents.

MY "ba booo"

I love this candy thing!

Just in case you were wondering yes she did still fit in her car seat, and the buckle did go around her. The straps had to be stretched out a bit, but it worked.

Friday we spent all day in our costumes, it was a hit at all of our appointments! We even got to attend the Seniors Halloween Party at the community center. They had a party at their Kindermusik class, every one (well almost) dressed up. It's always a great time, they love going to "mosik cass".

Here is Sasha and one of her good friends, at our ward Trunk-or-Treat. How much fun it is to get all of that candy. Just convincing Sasha not to eat any until Mommy and Daddy could go through it to make sure it was "safe" (ie-nut free) proved an interesting challenging and not so successful task (at least she only went for the sucker).

Not ready to leave yet! There still has to be more!

We ended the trick-or-treating with a stop at a few houses, Sasha was having such a great time, she would just go on in. We will need to work on that for the future, that we don't walk into strangers houses even if there is a dog.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Where is Sasha?

She loves her books, animals, and blankets!

If you can't tell :)

Happy Birthday Brit

Sorry this is a little late honey. We have had a chance to celebrate for several days. It started last Monday Brit had the day off of school, we got to spend some time as a family at a farm out at Greenbluff. It was great we went on a hay ride, picked some fun pumpkins, hoped for some pumpkin donuts (apparently they only have them on the weekends), & loved the time together. We owe a great big thank you to our friend who came over to spend the evening with the kids and get them to bed (they were great for her, they love her :), it gave us the chance to get out to see Phantom Of The Opera. We had a wonderful time, it was Brit's first time seeing it, he loved the show. I'm so greatful that he enjoyed it, I look forward to more shows in the future. I loved that I was finally able to wear Grandma's fur, it was really nice to have a chance to get all dressed up and go out, just the two of us. On his birthday he got to work (the joys of being an adult - he really does like working there), and then we went to kindermusik and had a great time, the kids love going there. He got many birthday calls on his special day, which are allways appreaciated! Finally last night he got his "birthday dinner" and cake.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIT!

I LOVE YOU!

Tis (flag) Football Season

Week one... It was a wonderfully "warm" that is at least for a Saturday late in October. Brit really enjoys playing, it always helps that he's got a great bunch of guys to play with. They are undefeated after the first week of the Stake tournament (we'll keep you updated). He walked away rather sore (even more so the next day), and a couple of jammed fingers. All should heal shortly, at least in time to bang himself up again this Saturday. He grass-stained both of his knees, that took him quite a while in the shower to correct, but he's no longer my "green-giant".

I'm thankful that he enjoys being active and participating in ward and Stake activities. Thank you sweetheart for your example, and for being such a great sport.