ALLERGIES!!!

Here is a glimpse of why we got started down the road of life at the allergist's office, and all of the joys that have accompanied allergies. While there are challenges we are very blessed that it has never been too serious, and that she really has been a very healthy little girl.

Now that Sasha had her second birthday it was time to head on over to the allergist again. It was like a second home, or so it seemed, last year. The poor girl was in and out of the office getting poked over and over so that we could find out what was causing all of the trouble for her. I got her appointment scheduled, they sent us a lab slip, she had her blood work done over a month ago, so it would be available when we went in. It was a two month wait to get in to see Dr. Drain (whom we love by the way, it is worth waiting so we can see her) from when I called to schedule an appointment. When you go to the doctor most are only with you for a few min, Dr. Drain was in the room with us for nearly an hour today. She specialized in pediatrics and worked there for a few years and then did a specialty in asthma & allergies (whatever that is called), so she has been amazing with Sasha.

And the results are:

• Avocado now officially an allergy... we knew that from her reaction, now it is in her chart, so it is still off limits.
• Berries - not an allergy now... we are so happy that she can have these again, in small/reasonable quantities
• Dairy - no longer an allergy (the Doctor cheered, so did we)
• Egg - both the Doctor and parents think this is a false positive, she has never had a reaction, but good luck getting her to eat any, even smothered in her beloved ketchup
• Peanut - blood work showed no allergy, but the skin test showed a slight reaction still, so we are avoiding this one for another year.
  
  We are so happy that she is outgrowing her allergies, and hoping that Braden doesn't have any. Though if he does we hope they are the same ones.

Sasha & Braden

Here are some of the pictures that Ashley took of Sasha and Braden last month.

We love them and wanted to share them with you.

Thanks Ashley!

Make a Smilebox postcard

Braden and His BUBBLES

I am grateful to have this medium to do a little journaling of our daily lives. I have never been great at writing in a journal, but this has allowed me some excitement of recording things that I would otherwise most likely forget, like many things in my life previously. We all have those, the things that have made such an impact on us that we were sure that we would always remember, well then if we were lucky we wrote them down and at some future time were looking back, reading through a journal and come across one of those times. I know I have been surprised as I think back and am grateful that I had recorded what I was thinking about, feeling, and what happened. I also regret not being more through at times, or recording some things at all.

For anyone who has forgotten the simple joys of what life has to offer you only need to spend a little time with a young child. They have so much excitement for life and all it has to offer. They help us rediscover all of the things that are so easily taken for granted; the way grass grows, and where, the joy of discovering the perfect "flower" (a dandelion), bugs walking around, swinging, sliding, airplanes (how often that can be a joy when living under a flight path). Sasha makes new discoveries every day. Her favorite phrases and words change as she can say new things she develops new fixations, as these change I will post them on the side... Quotes by Sasha. Even Braden shows us frequently many joys that are easily forgotten, or over looked as we grow older. I am thankful to have some of these moments recorded in picture or on video to remind me of things that I love, and hope not to forget.

Thank you to our wonderful children for reminding me of all of the joyful things around us.

This is one of those things that makes me smile!

You may need to turn up your volume to hear Braden, sorry the mike on the camera didn't pick up his voice as well as I had hoped.

Law school grades

Got my first "A" in Law School - MAN that feels good! What's funny is it was in a class that I thought I didn't do so well on the final exam. Imagine that! I guess it's time to go celebrate! Thanks to everyone for all your support, especially my dear sweet Hilary who has to put up with all my stress and all the time spent at school (not to mention additional time spent at work now).

I promise, I am not bragging, I am just really excited. It took me two years to finally get something like that. It is not something I see very often, at least not on my transcripts.

Our Mommys Day Weekend

We had a great weekend. Brit finished finals on Thursday, and went to work Friday. We got to go to Kindermusik Friday as well. Saturday the adventures began... we forgot to find a sitter, our original plans fell through, we were having great time playing games with friends Friday night and didn't remember that we hadn't gotten a sitter for the kids until after 11:30, so... Sasha got to go with Dada and the young men repelling, and Braden joined me for a day of quilting. We all had a great time!

Sasha and her walking stick.

After Brit picked us up we headed down to Riverfront Park and went to see the Upper Spokane Falls. After the winter we have had it was incredible! Here are a couple of videos so that you can see what it looked and sounded like. The power of the water is amazing every time we go, especially in the spring. Standing on the bridge you get splashed a bit by the mist that is coming off of the rapids. We didn't get to go to the lower falls because it had started raining and it was time to head home for dinner. We will get there next time.

This is a picture of Sasha staring at the falls. She loved them, and keeps saying "ahme" (more) each time a video stopped. Apparently she loves watching them on the computer as well. We just may have a lover of the outdoors on our hands. We would love that! (No pictures of Braden, he was sleeping, and hiding from the wind.)

Brit and Sasha picked out a beautiful flowering plant for me. It has a low maintenance and low light requirements, so hopefully I can keep it thriving. I love it. Sasha also made this beautiful picture frame with this adorable picture of her in it. Brit made steak for us for dinner, and we found out that Sasha loves corn on the cob. Thanks for taking such great care of us Brit!

Sasha went right to the fridge when we got home and put up her picture. I don't think the stickers will last long, she keeps picking at them. This is the home that Brit found for my flower, it adds great color to that corner.

HAPPY MOMMY'S DAY!!!

Sasha is 2 (plus a few days)

What lucky parents we are to have the blessing of raising this beautiful little girl. Who knew how much she could change us. It has been such a blessing to watch her grow and learn. It is hard to believe how quickly time goes.

As a child I never understood how time could go quickly, it seemed to take an eternity to get to Christmas every year, let alone from Christmas to my birthday (about a month). Now as a mother I wish time would slow down a little so that it might be a little easier to savor all of the precious moments in life.

here are a few pictures of Sasha through these first two years.

Sasha is a great big sister, she loves to play and help with Braden. She also is wonderful to help around the house. We love watching her grow and learn every day. We are so thankful for the opportunity to have her as part of our lives.

Some fun things about Sasha are... when putting her to bed at night she has to kneel for prayers, she will sit up and read, talk, or sing to her animals for up to 2 hours. She loves to be outside going on walks, swinging, sliding, watching everything, it is great to rediscover all of the facinating things that nature has to offer with her (birds, weeds, water, bugs...). Her favorite movie is cars. She is a DADDY's girl! And Daddy loves it. She asks daily where Dada, Matt, & Grandpa are, she wants to play with all of you, or at least talk to you. Once she learns someone's name she develops an obsession with it. For now she seems to have a preference for men, so much for our guy shy little girl.

Sasha ease:

ahmee or ahmo ----> more

abby ----> happy

Bo Bo ----> her blue tiger

Shoosh Shoosh ----> her giraffe

awsize ----> outside

(panting) ----> dog

(whoowhoo) ----> owl/owl says

mama or bye----> bye

bebe ----> Braden/little

ah dah ----> all done

me me ----> meeting

aabo ----> apple

dis ----> this

Sasha's first joke:

(she got a pair of my shoes from the basket, took them over to show Brit and...)

Mommy (snicker) Sasha (snicker)

then she put them on and walked around the house, they appear to be her favorite for "dressing up"

SASHA WE LOVE YOU!!!

5 Down 1 to Go

As I am typing this Brit is taking his last final this semester!!! We are so proud of you Brit, you have been working so hard studying to learn and do well in school. Brit and I have gotten through 5 years of school together since we got married, and have just one more to go! (He has been in college for 7 1/2 years, and done great!) Thank you for working so hard to take care of us. I am very proud of you dear! You are a great daddy, husband and friend!

WE LOVE YOU!!!

Here's one for the books

“The human suffering which we ourselves generate – and this is so much of the grim and grand total – is not an indication of God’s indifference. Rather, it is the measure of man’s inhumanity to man. God’s empathy is not to be defined by man’s lack of empathy or by our sometimes stupid and cruel use of moral agency!” ~ Neal A. Maxwell

I think Elder Maxwell here had to have been speaking directly about law school finals! First of all, I am paying lots and lots of money for this education, this punishment and torture. Second, the whole method of law school exams and "testing what you know" can only be described as inhumane. Third, just because some of the professors (or some other students) might think they are gods, their lack of empathy and their cruel use of moral agency is not a reflection of the higher power's empathy.

I know God empathizes and sympathizes with me. I know He is watching over me. I also know that He is probably up there cheering me on. I know just as well as He does that I don't have to be the top of my class. Just as long as I do my very best, hopefully it will be enough to get a passing grade. As long as I am consistent in getting passing grades, I will graduate and get a law degree. However, these exams remind me that there are much more important things to life than suffering through excruciating mental stress and strain for two weeks straight. I am glad to have my wife and kids back during this time. I know at times, it may seem to them that nothing matters to me besides school, but that is not the case. Even though they can be a distraction to my study time, I love them so much and I am glad that I have such a good thing to distract me.

Thank you Hilary for being so understanding. You are a wonderful wife and friend. (and a great mommy too!)

What Will We Do?

Sasha needs a yard so badly to be able to play in, I can hardly wait to get her a yard of her own. Yes we have a "playground" at our apartment complex, though if they water the same way they did last summer it will be in a swamp again, and unusable (they watered twice a day). To make a trip to the park we need around a two hour stretch, which is doable at times. Here at Grandma and Grandpa's she goes "owsize" (outside) three to five times a day, for short to not so short bits. It has greatly reduced her tantrum outbreaks to have "out" breaks.

For those of you wondering about the little yellow dot... these pictures are showing part of the yard that we had such a great time in, and that I would love to have someday (at least one like it).

Thanks for letting us play!!!