New Year Goals

Hey, guess what? I missed another Braggin' Wagon Wednesday blog. Whoops. Unlike last time I missed, this time I didn't do it on purpose, I just didn't know it was Wednesday. My days are all starting to blur together. I need to take down our Christmas stuff and bring order back into our lives! Anyway, tomorrow is New Years Eve, so I thought I'd write down a couple of my boring goals for 2011. Its quite lame, so you don't have to read on if you aren't interested.

1)Read more. Last year my goal was 12 books for the whole year, I don't know how many I actually read, but I'm pretty sure it was 30+. I'll set the goal at 25 for this year, just to be safe. (suggestions welcome)

2)Exercise more. Not just walking either, which is what I do most of the time now, but actual exercise.

3)Lose the weight that comes from having baby number 4, so far that weight gain is still at zero, so hopefully that shouldn't be too difficult. The difficult part is to lose the weight I gained when I was completely stressed out from baby number 3. That part will be a challenge.

4) Be happier. No specifics, just happier in general. (okay, one specific, somehow stop Dexy's temper tantrums, that will make us all happier.)

5) Get better control over our finances.

There you have it. More goals than last year, but very attainable. Good luck with your resolutions. Happy New Year.

Two weeks of fear are over

Today was our appointment with Maternal Fetal Medicine to have an ultrasound. It was a VERY long ultrasound that pretty much left no stone unturned (except baby's gender), and ended with the most incredible, and amazing news. Our little baby is developing exactly as it should. Everything looked normal. EVERYTHING. From its brain to its kidneys, from its heart to its stomach. Things were where they should be, the size they should be and functioning as they should be. We feel as though a huge weight has been lifted from our shoulders, and we are elated and relieved beyond words. It is the completely opposite feeling we had the first time we stepped foot out of that office, and we couldn't be happier. There is a lump in my throat as I think of all the people who have been praying for us, and I am comforted in knowing that the Lord was with us through it all. Thank you to all of you. Also, I am sorry if I worried anyone (Marde) by not calling or blogging promptly. I know I have a tendency to close in and shut people out when something bad happens (for example finding out our last baby had a heart defect, I kept to myself, cried a lot, and didn't answer the phone), so I understand why you may have thought the worst. It wasn't my intention to upset anyone.

Anyway, here are a few ultrasound pics (sorry about the terrible quality).

That is the baby's heart and heart rate. The rate was 137 bpm.

This is a view of baby's nose viewing upwards from the chin. I thought it was funny because it reminds me of the end of Charlie Brown's Christmas when they all face up to sing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" Its showing that the baby does not have a cleft lip.

Baby's adorable profile. SO CUTE.

Ps. We decided not to find out the gender of the baby, but Scott thinks he saw evidence of a boy, and the Ultrasound lady said "he" a few times. I'm still holding onto the hope of another girl though. We'll find out in May I guess.

Clever Santa

What do you do when a three year old asks Santa for snow, but the weatherman says its not in the forecast? Well, if you're clever like Santa, you improvise. Santa was so nice that he brought some snow from his very own front yard and put it in the freezer for Dexter, and left him a note to check for it. Santa's handwriting was suspiciously similar to my own, and the snow was suspiciously similar to shaved ice from our snow cone maker, but luckily, no one was suspicious. And what, you ask, does a three year old do with a baggy full of North Pole snow? Well, he eats it, that's what.

Dex with his delicious ice. I swear he really was happy about it, he just doesn't like to smile for the camera.

Here are some more pics of our Christmas Shenanigans. I hope you all had a great Christmas too.

Brunson kid's with their new art easel set.

Corbin's haul.

Dexter's haul.

Ivy's haul.

Braggin' Wagon Wednesday

Finally. I did it. I'm finished. THANK GOODNESS! I went to Walmart last night after the kids went to bed. It was ridiculously, frustratingly crowded. I am not a fan of crowds, or rude people, and it was a crowd of rude people. I maneuvered through the crazy people, and stuff crowding every isle and got the last few gifts on my kids Christmas lists (except for the snow that Dexter asked for, obviously it isn't something I can buy). I also went to the grocery side of the store to get the items on our grocery list. That side of the store was practically a ghost town, which I found weird, but quite relieving.

Our kids are getting kind of screwed on Christmas this year. We did the best we could, but some years are just harder than others. At least they are little, and hopefully won't notice. Somehow we managed to get Corbin the biggest thing on his Christmas list, which when he told me what it was, made me shiver down to my very core. He wanted a drum set. A freaking drum set!! We CANNOT afford a drum set! I didn't know what to do. I didn't want him to be disappointed, but seriously what could I do? Then I heard about a fabulously genius invention called paper jamz, and I could breath again. It saved the day, and I think he'll be happy with that. Anyway, Merry Christmas everybody!

Christmas Letter 2010

For those of you who didn't already get our family Christmas letter in the mail. Here's the blog version. (ps..this is how we announced our pregnancy, so I know you already know, but when I wrote it, nobody knew.)

So far 2010 has been just great,

We've a lot to be thankful for,

Here's a recap of what we've had on our plate,

And the things we have in store.

Corbin is six; He started school in the fall,

He's such a brilliant kid,

He's not very big and not very tall,

But his brain power flips my lid.

He's such a good brother, an amazing child,

He brightens up our lives,

He's quiet and content and rarely goes wild,

And he's good at everything he tries.

Dexter is adorable he's crazy and it shows,

He runs and plays and wiggles,

He causes mischief wherever he goes,

But always makes us giggle.

He's sweet and cuddly, a real mama's boy,

But he likes things to be his way,

And if you're not careful, he'll take your toy,

But his kisses will make it okay.

Ivy is a fan of 2010,

No surgeries from which to recover,

You wouldn't believe how healthy she's been,

The world is hers to discover.

In the last year she's learned to walk,

And run and jump and climb,

She eats like a champ, and loves to talk,

And be Dexter's partner in crime.

Scott is the greatest, as you already know,

He recovered from surgery in July,

He makes my life easy, and makes my heart glow,

He's an all around wonderful guy.

Rochelle is so happy being a wife and mother,

She can't believe how fast time flies,

The kids are so great, why not have another,

Guess what? She's pregnant......Surprise!

Merry Christmas to all! We hope it goes great,

Good luck in the New Year too,

Remember the Savior, for Heaven's sake,

And know that we love all of you.

Merry Christmas!

Love, Scott, Rochelle, Corbin, Dexter, and Ivy Brunson

Pregnancy Stats

So I didn't do a braggin' wagon blog this week. I didn't feel like it and didn't think anyone would mind. Then yesterday morning at about 8:30 I got a call from someone asking me where it was. I don't want to name names (Mom), but this is for you to make up for my lack of enthusiasm this week.

Pregnancy stats:

Gestation: 17 wks, 1 day

Weight gain: 0 lbs (Don't worry, the doc isn't worried. I was overweight to begin with).

Symptoms I'm experiencing: Extreme fatigue (I thought the whole tired thing was supposed to go away in the second trimester...not true for me this time around, I fall asleep every time I sit down for more than five minutes) and cravings.

Speaking of cravings: Potatoes (in any form, but mashed are particularly appealing) and oranges.

Fetal movement: I have felt a teeny-tiny little thump in my lower pelvis area a few times, but I'm not sure that its the baby.

Maternity clothes: Not yet. Still fitting in my regular stuff (probably because they are all chubby people clothes).

Hope that makes you happy Mom. Love you.

Ivy's heart update/living the next 2 wks in fear

Ivy's heart update:

Ivy had an appointment with her cardiologist, the fantastically quirky Dr. Womack today. He said that our little Ives is doing magnificently. He specifically called her an adorable pistol. Her sats are in the normal range (for her) at around 77 percent, and pretty much nothing else has changed. Dr. Womack couldn't believe how big she is now, and just gushed over her cuteness (as most people do). No need for an echo for another 6 months. We're so happy for our healthy little firecracker!

Living in fear:

Being pregnant at Dr. Womack's office brought back memories of June 2008 when we first met him so that he could confirm the regular doctors suspicion of Ivy's heart defect. I was 20 weeks pregnant at the time, and it was a truly awful day. Today I am about 16 1/2 weeks along, and living in fear of history repeating itself. Unless you have had a baby born with any sort of health issues you can't know the feelings that I go through. My number one fear is that I caused Ivy's heart defect, and that it can happen again. Every doctor assures me that it was nothing I did, but they also cannot give a clear-cut answer of what did cause it, and so I live with the fear that it could have been me. What if I did something wrong. I was not always consistent with taking my prenatal vitamins, and I drank caffeine. Also, I have always known that taking advil/motrin while pregnant is a big no-no, and therefore have been very careful to avoid them. But when Ivy was about 6 months old I learned that taking them while pregnant can cause heart defects, and I began to doubt myself. What if I took some before I knew I was pregnant, or took some by mistake? Its a horrible feeling to have this guilt, but its there, and I can't help it. This time around I've been more careful, avoiding caffeine, taking my prenatals EVERY SINGLE DAY, getting lots of exercise and plenty of rest, eating better and of course, sticking with tylenol. I have an appointment with Maternal Fetal Medicine two days after Christmas to have a thorough ultrasound to check the baby's heart and other organs to make sure everything is developing correctly, and until that day, I fear for this baby. I pray that Heavenly Father won't let it happen again. I pray that I don't have to watch another baby go through countless surgeries and pain in order to live a somewhat normal life, but I am still afraid. I don't know how I'm going to make it through these next two weeks.

Can I just say...

My kids are freakin' adorable!

Corbin likes to wear mom's winter boots with his jammies (or any other time. For some reason these boots are quite the coveted item in our house).

Dex sleeping in his jessie hat and moon boots (and this isn't the only time its happened! I could have posted pictures of the exact same situation but on a different day).

Ivy loves her tights. She always wants to wear them. She's such a girlie-girl (which is weird for me since I'm not). But can you blame her for wanting to wear them? They are CUTE. I wish I had some too!

Braggin' Wagon Wednesday: Geek of all trades

My husband is a bit of a geek. It's true. Need proof? He works at an internet marketing company doing their video and audio editing. That's the real world version of the high school A/V club. He's also A+ certified (which means he can fix computers) and even worked at CompUSA in the tech department before they tanked. He LOVES video games, especially old school stuff, but still enjoys the new stuff too. Anyway, I'm not making fun, I think its cute. Plus, its not something he's embarrassed about, its something he admits to proudly. Recently he "modded" (I don't really know what that means, or if I spelled it correctly) an Xbox and a Playstation 2, and is pretty excited about it. He also fixed my laptop this weekend when it had the dreaded blue-screen of death and refused to restart. What would I do without him?

Here he is with his newly improved Playstation 2. Look how happy he is about it!

But his most impressive recent work, isn't geeky at all......He replaced our kitchen faucet (because the old one practically exploded while I was rinsing some spaghetti noodles). I know, it sounds a little lame, especially when my dad, 2 of my brothers, and 1 brother-in-law are all plumbers, but I couldn't have done it. Plus we probably could have paid someone else a lot of money to do it for us, but Scott figured it out, and got the job done. Good job babe. You're one valued asset around here! Thanks for doing all the handy man stuff!

Not feeling confident yet....at least the old one is out!

Its underway.

The instuctions.

It works, now he's just got to replace the old sprayer thing with a soap dispenser.

That's not a phone you dork!

Soap dispenser, coming right up.

The man at work.

Finished. Isn't it beautiful. Nice job, my love.

Ps. Please ignore how dirty the kitchen is in all these pictures. I didn't have a working sink for about two days, it was bound to be dirty.

ps again. If you like hearing about geeky Scott, take a look at his geek blog at geekaweek.com, its pretty enjoyable.

Can He Be Any Funnier?

I'm so glad Dexter is a fluent talker these days. Ever since he started talking he seriously says the cutest, funniest, and silliest things ever. Here's a true gem from this evening.

Dex: Can we sing the song about Jesus and the monster?

Scott: What song about Jesus and the monster?

Dex: The one from church where the monster bites Jesus' head.

Scott: What? I don't think there is a song like that. Rochelle, do you know what he's talking about?

Rochelle: What song Dex?

Dex: The one where the monster bites Jesus' head.

Rochelle: I don't think there is a song like that. Jesus wants me for a sunbeam?

Dex: No! From church!

Rochelle: I don't know what you are talking about.

Scott: Is it the song where Jesus lays his head in a.....manger? hysterical laughing begins from both Scott and I, and doesn't stop for several minutes, while we both have tears running

Scott and Rochelle: This song? we sing "Away in a manger"

Dex: Yeah that one.

Scott and Rochelle: more laughter.

On my mind....

1) Why? Why does my hair only curl on one side. My whole life it has been this way. Every time I curl my hair I think, this time its going to be different, both sides will curl evenly. But every time I am wrong. I feel lopsided. Its so annoying.

2) How come every time people ask how many kids I have and their ages do they say, "Wow, you are busy!" or "Oh, you're due for a break." And then give me a look like I'm nuts. Yes, my kids are close together in age, but I like it that way. If they only knew.....

3) If I pay a homeowners association fee, shouldn't the homeowners association shovel the alleyway on the way to the school? I mean what else are they doing with the money in the winter? If they have landscapers in the summer, they should have shovelers in the winter. Right? I can't push the stroller through all that snow, so instead I have to hold Ivy the whole walk. It's hard, and I'm a wuss. My shoulder still hurts.

4) One last thing. Netflix instant play on the wii makes me happy. That is all.

Happy Thursday!

Braggin' Wagon Wednesday: Snow Day

When I was growing up, I remember only getting one day off of school due to snow (there may have been two times, but I only clearly remember one). That day was so great. It had snowed several feet in the night. Enough for my sisters and I to stand at the top of our fence and fall backwards on our backs into the snow. I walked for hours with a neighbor/friend (because my sisters were wusses and went back inside) down the street through the snow that had been plowed and went to our waists, and came home with completely frozen pants. Did I mention that it was great?

Anyway, my point is, growing up in the Salt Lake Valley where it snows a lot, you only got to miss school because of snow if it was several feet deep. This morning I woke up to a phone call at 6 am from the school district saying school was cancelled due to snow. It is pretty snowy out there, but not THAT snowy. Maybe 6 to 8 inches? I don't know. Anyway, I'm not mad that its a snow day, I'm actually pretty excited, I just think its funny that different places have different standards. If we had to miss school every time it snowed 6 inches when I was growing up, we would have missed most of the winter days!

Here's the view from my front window

And the one from the back door. See the kitty prints. Stop pooping in my yard stinkin' cat!

Anyway, bring on the pancakes and hot cocoa! Yay!

Thankful

Since I was out of town and crazy busy over the Thanksgiving holiday, I couldn't do a thankful post. So I'm doing it now instead. Here are just a few things that I am thankful for:

1) A warm house on the frigid cold days.

2) Food to fill my tummy, and the tummies of my adorable family.

3) A six year old boy who is so mellow and well-behaved that I marvel that he's mine, since I am not so mellow and well-behaved (just ask my mom).

4) A three year old boy who is so cute and fun and crazy that he makes every day an adventure. (there is no question that this one is mine)

5) A two year old girl who lights up my life and reminds me to live everyday to the fullest. She also keeps me busy, because she gets into a lot of stuff. Never a dull moment around here.

6) A husband who treats me like a queen, and accepts and loves me for who I am. He can also drive through the snow like a mo-fo! Thanks for getting us home safely babe!

7) In-laws that welcome us to their home with open arms every time we come to town. Even though we bring a big mess, a lot of noise, and total craziness. They also babysit for countless hours, let our friends come hot-tubbing, and don't mind when we drink all their milk!

8) Parents who taught me to be independent (whether on purpose or not), and who love and care about me and my family enough to skype us even when all the kids won't say hello, and just stare at themselves on video.

9) Friends who still want to hang out with us whenever we're in SLC, even though its been three years since we abandoned them. Not to mention going to see the lights at the temple with us in the freezing cold! We always look forward to seeing those guys, there are always a lot of laughs to be had!

10) The gospel and what it brings. I was reminded this weekend of what it means to be an eternal family and it brings tears to my eyes. I am so thankful that I have it in my life, and can't imagine living any other way.

A Laugh For You

A few words from Dex during the boys 12 hour stomach bug extravaganza.

1) Wednesday morning, 3:30 am, in the bathroom curled up on the floor: "My stomach just keeps being all crazy!"

2) Wednesday morning, 4:30 am, standing over me as I lay in bed: "My bed is all Puuuuky!" (emphasize the "u" sound).

3) Wednesday morning, 10:00 am, standing by Corbin while he puts on his shoes: "Corbin's shoes are all muddy because he puuuked on them!" (once again, emphasis on the "u" sound).

I love that kid. Way to make me laugh during a very unpleasant, throw-up filled day.

Its beginning to look a lot less like Thanksgiving

I had a very long, and difficult week. I couldn't wait for the weekend. The kids had school off on Friday, so I decided to have a pajama day. We all wore jammies all day, and wanted to something fun in them. I came up with the idea of putting up our Christmas decorations, since we had already started putting up the lights outside (trying to avoid the cold). We usually do this the day after Thanksgiving, as tradition. Unfortunately, we won't be home to do that this year, and would have to wait until the next day the kids had off of school (Saturday, December 4th), but I didn't want to wait that long. So we went in the garage, I made the kids stand lookout for spiders, while I pulled the boxes out and brought them inside. We spent the whole day putting up our Christmas stuff, (we aren't finished yet). It was so fun, and such a nice way to end my super busy week. Well apparently all this Christmas spirit brought on SNOW! We woke up this morning to it falling. The kids instantly wanted to get dressed and play outside, so they did. They tried to make a snowman, until they got too cold. They took a break to warm up, but by the time they were ready to go back out, the snow had stopped falling, and had all melted (the best kind of snow, in my opinion). Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Merry Christmas!!

Bundled up and ready for fun!

The beginnings of a snowman!

Warming up with some hot chocolate and spongebob!

Whiny Wednesday: Oh, My Aching Head!

Okay, so I know my tradition is braggin' wagon wednesday, but I changed it this week for one reason and one reason only....My head is KILLING me!

Here's the back-story:

I remember very vividly my first ever migraine headache. I was 12 or 13 years old. My sister, Brit and I went to a friends house a couple of blocks away to play. As we played I noticed my head starting to hurt, but tried to ignore it because I was having fun. Later my mom called and said we had to go home, so we left. As we walked my head was throbbing so bad that I could hear it in my ears. By the time we got home I was crying from the pain. My mom was mad because she thought it was an excuse to get out of doing chores, or eating dinner or something, so she sent me to bed. I didn't sleep. I lay in my bed crying and listening to the throbbing. All of the sudden I felt sick, and before I knew it I threw up all over my bed. My mom came in, and was furious at me for not running to the bathroom (in my defense, it came on really sudden, plus I was on the top bunk). Anyway, I don't remember how it all ended up, but I know that day changed my life forever.

I have spent the last 17 or so years suffering from these awful headaches. And not just once in a while, but OFTEN. If you have ever had a migraine you know what I am talking about. They are HORRIBLE, in fact, most people can't function at all when they have one. I have been dealing with them so long and so often, that most of the time, I manage to still make it through the day, functioning as if nothing was wrong. But every once in a while I get one that kicks my butt!

Monday it started. It continued through the night and into Tuesday. I tried to sleep, but it kept waking me up and reminding me every few hours that it was in charge. It continued all through the day on Tuesday, getting worse with every hour. No medication helps, no amount of dark rooms and silence can put a dent in the pain. By the time Corbin's birthday dinner at IHOP came, I wanted to cry. As we sat in the noisy, bright restaurant I felt like I was going to throw-up. Luckily, I didn't but I barely ate. I got through the day, but I am afraid for tomorrow. I don't think its going to be gone. I just got up after lying in bed for the last two hours, and it still feels the same. I had taken some tylenol, it was dark, it was silent, but my head continues to pound, and I can't sleep.

So I beg of you...Do you have any sort of remedy that will at least diminish the pain? I'm dying here. Anything you think I might not have tried, or anything that has worked for you? I don't think I'll be able to make it through a third day without breaking down at some point. HELP ME!

Six is the magic number

My baby boy is six today! Last night when he went to bed he said to me, "This is the last night I will be five." and I said, "Yeah, I'll see you when you're six!"

Here are some reasons that he was the best five year old around:

1) He is seriously so well-behaved (most of the time).

2) He's very, very patient with his brother and sister, and plays with them so well.

3) He's super happy all the time, and makes everyone else happy. He loves to be silly and make Dex and Ives laugh.

4) He's a super helper. He helps pick up all the toys whenever I'm about to vacuum, and gets me things when I ask him to. He even occasionally cleans the bathroom!

5)He amazes me with how intelligent he is, and with the kinds of things he can figure out. Last week he was asking me all about why Ivy's heart doesn't work like his heart, and I think he understands it better than I do. I said, "Wow, Corbin you're smart. Maybe you'll be a heart surgeon someday." and he said, "I will only be a heart doctor if I can be a guy that holds stop signs for kids when they come home from school too." I laughed and laughed. He says such funny things.

Happy Birthday big guy! I love you more than words can say. Thanks for being such a wonderful kid and making my life easier. You were the best five year old ever, and I know you'll be a fantastic six year old.

Getting into the Christmas spirit

I realize that it isn't even Thanksgiving yet, but here I am to talk about Christmas. Every year since Scott and I got married we have sent a Christmas Letter. I love writing our Christmas letter. We try to be a little different than the average, so I write a poem every year instead of the traditional letter. It is hard sometimes but fun, and as we keep having kids it gets harder to keep it short, but we still love to do it. Most of the time we send it with a little picture, sometimes not. Last year was a disaster. I tried so hard to get a picture of my cute kids that looked Christmas-y, and I failed miserably. No one would smile at the same time, and there was lots of pushing and shoving. I had lots of cute pics from throughout the rest of the year, but I wanted it to look like Christmas, something I thought I wouldn't be able to achieve with a pic of my kiddos standing at the beach in their bathing suits.

This year I have discovered the solution. Shutterfly! You can use any picture you want and it is put on a super cute background that looks Christmas-y! My kids can be at the beach and it still looks like a Christmas picture! How cool is that?! The cool thing about Shutterfly is that they are giving me 50 free holiday cards just for blogging about it, when I would have done it for free! And do you want to know the very coolest thing? I found the perfect one to go with the Christmas Letter paper I picked out months ago! It was a hard choice because I like so many, including this one and this one. I'm going to have the cutest Christmas Letter/picture combo around!

Are you jealous? Don't be! Blogger's get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly.....sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Sorry about that

Sorry to all the family that receive emails of my blog posts. I was working on some Ivy stuff and reposted some super old posts on accident. So, please don't be confused, I'm just not as smart as I thought I was. Please ignore all the ones I did today.

Whoops-a-daisy

Hey, guess what? Yesterday was Wednesday! Oops. I forgot about my braggin' blog. I was busy and the thought just never crossed my mind. Oh well, maybe I'll remember next week.

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So Dex re-started preschool this week. He was finally approved to be in the class on October 27th because of his speech being lower than the 7th percentile (he was in the 6th percentile). He gets to go in the afternoon now, like Corbin. IT IS FABULOUS!! I drop them both off at the school at 12:50, put Ivy down for a nap right away, and then its me time for close to three hours. I love it! I don't quite know what to do with myself, there are so many possibilities. I can write, read, work on a project, watch a movie, take a nap, or clean without it getting re-messified two seconds later. So far......well, I've done a whole lot of nothing! I decided that since its the first week, I'm just going to take this four days to catch up on my laziness. After nearly 6 years of non-stop mothering I think I deserve the break. I'll get to all that other stuff next week.

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I'm getting excited for Thanksgiving. I love food. I love eating. Bring on the mashed potatoes and gravy, pass the rolls, and please, don't take all the turkey.

We're headed to SLC for it this year. I can't wait to see family and friends. We get to see my brother, Shane and his wife, Anngee sealed together and to their two adorable kids while we're there. I am really excited to get to be there.

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Its COLD outside. It feels so sudden. I swear I could get away with wearing no jacket for the longest time while I walked the kids to and from school. Now I have to wear my coat, gloves and a hat because the wind is so cold it freezes my ears in a matter of seconds. At least it isn't snowing yet. I could live without snow.

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Anyway, wish me luck for getting my act together next week. I'll try harder to make everyones day with some sort of fantastic post. Sorry I forgot Mom, but you didn't remind me this week! Ha ha!

Still A Miracle At Two

Ivy turned two yesterday! Can you believe it? I can barely wrap may brain around the fact that it has been two whole years since that adorable little girl came into our lives. She has brought so many blessings to our family and so much joy. She makes us so happy every single day that I can't even tell you about it without sounding like the cheesiest cheese-ball on the the face of the planet (too late right?). She's so cute and happy and wonderful that its unfathomable. I swear that she is the happiest person I know, even though she's got more reasons not to be than most of us. I can't imagine my life without her, it would be incomplete. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father let her stay with us this long, and pray everyday that she can stay longer. I love her so much.

Here's a somewhat related funny story: The other night I started to watch the videos we took from the day Ivy was born, which included labor, delivery, her first echo-cardiogram, all her IV's and wires, her life-flight transport from one hospital to the other, me holding her for the first time, and Scott holding her for the first time. In case you were wondering, yes, I cried, I always cry. Anyway, that is beside the point. Corbin watched these videos with me and as a direct result the questions about where babies come from started flying from his mouth. Not that he's never asked before, but I've always gotten away with being very vague. Not this time. I had to answer these questions (without assistance from his father) in great detail. He wouldn't accept vague answers, he wanted DETAILS! To the point where he asked if he could see where they stitched up my episiotomy (no he didn't use that word, but that's what he meant!) Of course, the answer to that was NO. It was crazy, because he really seemed like he was grasping what I was saying, because he asked some pretty intelligent questions (maybe he'll be a doctor. Fingers crossed), but I was still cringing on the inside. The whole conversation was quite traumatizing for me, and probably him too! It makes me wonder about other families. So riddle me this readers: How old were your kids when they first asked? and What did you say? I am already having nightmares about when Dex starts asking. Ivy I can handle, she's a girl, somehow I think that makes it easier, but the boys......I don't want to tell them! It scares the crap out of me!

Anyway, back to Ives. Scott made this amazing video to chronicle her second year of life, so watch it and enjoy, and if you've got time, take a look back at her birth video and her one year old video. They are wonderful! Scott's so awesome!

Ivy's 2nd Birthday

Ivy's 1st Birthday

Ivy's Birth Video

Braggin' Wagon Wednesday: Singing Bee(s)

As you probably already know, Scott and I are teachers in the nursery in our ward. As nursery teachers we get to be with Ivy every Sunday. She really LOVES nursery, especially singing time. She has mine and Corbin's ability to memorize things, and seriously knows pretty much every word to every song. It is AMAZING, since she can't even speak in full sentences yet (almost though!). It has been so fun for Scott and I to get to witness her learning the songs and actions and just light up with joy when its time to sing. She's the third youngest in the class of 8 and she is the only one that sings! (its junior nursery, so they are all between 18 months and 2 1/2 years, so they mostly just listen) We think she is just the cutest thing ever, and we're not the only ones, the singing teacher loves her too, and can't believe someone so small can memorize all those songs. She's destined for stardom!

Here is Ivy singing "I am a child of God" Listen for the "Help me find a way" part, she sings it so high, it just makes me laugh!

The boys get in on the action and sing "Popcorn popping"

And finally all the kids sing "The hungry alligator" Its one of their favorites!

PS...I went to my very first parent/teacher conference for Corbin today. He is above average in pretty much everything, but his teacher says he is still extremely quiet and shy, which didn't surprise us at all. Good job being a smarty-pants Corbin. Now its time to work on being a little more outgoing!

Yay for Halloween

Halloween is great. It's always been my favorite holiday. I love seeing the kids dressed up (it doesn't even have to be my kids, I love seeing all kids dressed up!). I love decorating for it, and seeing everyone else's decorations. I love handing out candy to all the kids in the neighborhood (and there are A LOT of kids in our neighborhood). I love watching the old, gory, terrible, scary movies on AMC that are edited to the point where they don't really make sense (i.e. Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on Elm street). But I have to admit, I love it when its over too! I hate it for one reason and one reason only: the candy factor. The kids beg for it all day everyday until its gone, and I'm not the type of mom to just give them their stash and let them eat it until they are sick. Its going to be a rough couple of days until its gone. But, I refuse to let it get me down. Today is my birthday and I will only allow myself happy thoughts! Here are some pics from our halloween festivities.

Our annual witches brew, we combined it with pumpkin carving this year.

Oh how we love that witches brew fog.

Scott is drinking his brew with a chunk of the dry ice in the cup. Don't drink it up!

Me drinking the fog. Delish! Don't you love Corbin's concerned face in the background?

Ivy loving it!

Boil, boil, toil and trouble.

Ready to trick or treat!

Our Halloween day rainbow. Too bad none of us dressed as a leprechaun.

Can You Believe This?

Have you heard about this? It is a blog post that was published for Marie Claire Magazine. It is basically calling fat people disgusting. I couldn't believe it when I read it. I am not a skinny person, and have never been one. I've had skinnier times, but would never be viewed as "skinny" by the average american. I've done things to try to slim down, some things worked, others not so much, yet I remain chubby (and most of the time I'm okay with that). I am deeply offended that a magazine would publish such hatred. Telling overweight people that they got that way from being lazy or not trying hard enough is just wrong, and then saying that they don't deserve affection because of it just makes me sick. They say they can understand anorexia, because some people are naturally thin, but apparently being naturally fat doesn't exist. I disagree, and I think that Marie Claire Magazine (not to mention the author of this particular post, Maura Kelly) should be ashamed that they let such hateful things be said to the millions of americans that struggle with being overweight. This is just like racism in my opinion, I'm going to go ahead and call it fatism. Hating someone because they aren't like you is wrong. I urge everyone out there, whether they be skinny, or not so skinny to be tolerant of everyone despite their skin-color, sexuality, gender, religion, AND weight.

Ps. I'm sorry to go all angry on my blog, but I wanted to enlighten you all on how some people in the world look at the less skinny. I hope you aren't one of them.

Braggin' Wagon Wednesday: Sleepy blog

So I was going through my pics recently trying to find one in particular, and during my search I realized I take a lot of pictures of my kids while they are asleep in weird places, or at weird times, or in weird positions. Here is a slideshow of just a handful of these adorable pictures. Look out for the one of Dexter mangled in a kid-size shopping cart, its my favorite!

Don't these pictures make you sleepy?! They make me sleepy!

Halloween Carnival

Tonight was our ward Halloween carnival. We are in a pretty large ward, and it was seriously chaos. For some reason they decided not to do a trunk or treat this year, so we were a little sad, but we went to the chaotic carnival anyway, and had a.....well......chaotic time. The kids got all dressed up in their costumes and we headed over for a picnic-style dinner of nachos on the gym floor. I got a little stressed out because of the crowds (I'm not a fan of crowds and have panic attacks sometimes), and the kids barely ate anything, but I think they had a good time. I made some pretty cool cupcakes for the cupcake walk (the cutest ones there, if I do say so myself), and the boys had a hard time not eating them before we left. Somehow we managed to get all twenty-four there, without a single one stolen by a sneaky boy. Anyway, they had some carnival-style games, but unfortunately Dex was not blessed with a lot of patience so he couldn't handle waiting in line for any of them, so there was A LOT of crying and whining involved. Needless to say, we didn't last very long, but we're still glad we went to have a practice run of our costumes, and got to see some of our friends in the ward.

Its a graveyard of Halloween cupcakes. Yum yum.

My skeleton cupcake up-close. Pretty cute right? I was quite proud of them.

Aren't they adorable in their costumes (Dex and Corbin's were homemade by me) Dex is the male version of Jessie (toy story, and please excuse his untucked shirt), Corbin is Woody, and Ivy is Buzz (a fairy version to make it more girly)

All Dexy's crying wore him right out and he fell asleep in the car, still in his costume and sticky from cupcakes and cotton candy.

Braggin' Wagon Wednesday: Facebook and Reading All Day

I didn't realize it was already Wednesday, therefore, I have nothing prepared for my Wednesday blog. Oops. Here's two random and pointless things I did in the past few days.

On Monday I deleted my facebook account. I have mixed feelings about this. I communicate with a lot of people through facebook, so I'm sad to see that communication tie broken. However a little while ago I had a very strong feeling that I needed to delete all my information and pictures, so I announced that I would soon delete everything, and then proceeded to procrastinate it. Then the other day the feeling came again, but stronger this time, so I did it. I spent hours on the website deleting any information it had on me, including every single post I made in the past year and a half since I got the account, and then permanently deleted the account. No going back now. Sometimes you just have to follow the promptings of the spirit, even if you don't know why.

Also on Monday I received an email from the library informing me that my book was due on Tuesday. It was a book I had waited several months to finally get, but since I had picked it up, I hadn't had time to read it. I really didn't want to return it without reading it, I needed to figure this out. Plan A - Renewal, I went to the website to renew, but they wouldn't let me, having something to with it being on hold. Plan B- Buy the book and read it. This is not really an option since I don't like buying books I haven't already read. Plan C - Read the whole thing in one day (all 444 pages)..........I went with Plan C, I was up until 3 am last night to finish it, and didn't get it turned in on time, but one day late. I'm glad I didn't just turn it in without reading it first, and it was worth the one day fine. (the book was The Help by Kathryn Stockett in case you're wondering).

Well, I guess that's all I've got for you today. I promise to have something better next week.

About A Boy

Dexy isn't always the easiest kid to live with. He can be very difficult at times. But, despite all the temper tantrums, and fighting with siblings, he can still be very sweet and adorable. Here are two stories that make all the hard times worth it.

Cute story number one: This weekend we watched that documentary movie "Babies" as a family. Its a super cute movie that follows four babies from different parts of the world for the first year of their lives. We were about 10 or 15 minutes into the movie when it showed the second baby, just born, and wrapped in a blanket. Dex was sitting next to me on the couch and all the sudden he says, "That baby is so cute!" in his adorable little voice that most people can't understand. Scott and I thought it was so funny and laughed about it several times since.

Cute story number two: Today while the kids and I were walking over to the elementary school to drop Corbin off at kindergarten, Dex was spaced out and not really paying attention to where we were going. A lady walking her dog was walking towards us, I told Dex to watch where he was going, but he didn't and crashed face first into the dog. Normally my kids are TERRIFIED of dogs, so I expected a freak out, but he didn't. He stood there looking at the dog while the laughing lady walked on. He seemed so confused, so I said, "Dex, are you okay?" and he answered with, "That dog was beautiful." I wasn't sure I heard him correctly so I asked him to repeat it, he said it again, and then Corbin confirmed that he heard the same thing, that the dog was beautiful. Corbin and I laughed so hard I thought I would pee my pants. It was so funny and weird and unexpected that I can't get over it. I've never heard him say beautiful before, and I don't get why he said it about a dog (who we've actually seen a few times before on walks).Does he like dogs now, or was he just so dumbfounded by crashing into it that he forgot to be scared? So funny. And did I mention weird? It was weird.

One Year Ago

Ivy had her third open heart surgery (The Glenn Procedure). I can't believe its been a whole year! She has been doing great. She's still very small for her age, but she is consistent on her growing curve (still just under the 3rd percentile) which is all I ask. Her oxygen sats are consistently in the 90's, and she's as healthy as could be.

She's changed A LOT in the year since surgery. Her hair is growing like crazy, and she doesn't look like a baby anymore. She started scooting/crawling which eventually turned into standing up, cruising on furniture, and of course walking. Now she runs, jumps, dances, and keeps up pretty well with her big brothers.

I hesitate to say this, but she is PERFECT! She is such a great kid. She is always happy, she eats pretty much anything I give her to eat, she lays down for naps and bedtimes without shedding a single tear, she takes her meds easily without any fuss, she hardly ever fights with Dexter, and NEVER fights with Corbin, she doesn't hit, she doesn't really throw tamtrums (sometimes she tries, but gets bored with it), and she listens to everything I say. The only thing I really get close to complaining about is that she has some trouble sharing, but all kids do.

If you didn't already know that this adorable, funny, and perfect little girl was born with heart problems, you'd never figure it out! I'm so proud of my little girl. Best year EVER!

Here are some pics.

Ivy's scar last year before surgery

What it looks like now (sorry about the blur, she's so wiggly)

Immediately after surgery. It still makes me sad.

Already sitting up within twenty-four hours of surgery. What a tough cookie.

Happy baby girl two days after surgery

Happy big girl 10 months after surgery

she amazes me.

A Look Back

October 2003

We were living in a teeny 4-plex in Ogden, Utah. Semi-attending school and work, but mostly playing video games, watching Rosanne, and sleeping in.

October 2004

Living in a 2-bedroom 4-plex in South Salt Lake, Utah. Eight months pregnant and anxiously awaiting the birth of our first child in November. Scott was working at CompUSA and attending SLCC and I was working at Mcdonalds.

October 2005

Still living in the South Salt Lake 4-plex. Scott, Corbin and I were sealed together in the Salt Lake Temple on October 15th. What a fantastic experience to see our baby boys hand put into ours and know that he was ours forever and ever.

October 2006

Recently moved into our first house in Kearns, Utah. A few months pregnant with our second child, and having a great time fixing up the yard at our new house. (we miss that house sometimes, but not the spiders who thought they owned it and we were just the tenants. Yuck!)

October 2007

Still living in Kearns, but already trying to sell the house in order to move to Boise Idaho for Scott's new job. Corbin was almost 3 and Dexter was almost 7 months.

October 2008

Recently purchased a house in Boise, Idaho, but temporarily living in Sandy, Utah with Scott's parents while awaiting the birth of our first daughter in early November. We were terrified and anxious knowing she would be born with severe heart problems. It was a rough time.

October 2009

Still had our house in Boise, Idaho, but once again temporarily living in Sandy, Utah while 11 month old Ivy underwent her third open-heart surgery on October 15th. We cried and prayed for her to be safe, and felt very blessed when she was sitting up in bed and dancing less than 48 hours after surgery. She was also released from the hospital after just 8 days.

October 2010

Still living in Boise, Idaho. Scott's parents just came for a visit to see their new grand-baby Aiden (Russell and Collette's newest addition) blessed. While in town we all went to the Boise temple and finished up Stacy's temple work. It was a really special day and I felt Stacy's spirit so strong that I wept. I'm so glad we got to be a part of such a wonderful experience.

What I Learned From Dexter's Morning Preschool

~My kids are not morning people.

~I am not the morning person I thought I was.

~All those parents that drive their kids to school are nuts. (no offense if you're one of them.)

~The cool morning weather is way more pleasant than the blistering heat of afternoon.

~Dex does not have attachment issues.

~Dex can be good and follow directions. So what if he only does it for other people.

~Dexter's teacher definitely does NOT have children of her own!

~I don't like it when people who don't have glasses (or children with glasses) criticize the condition of my kids' glasses. Do they have any idea how expensive they are or how quickly a three year old can destroy them!!

~The school takes TOO LONG to make decisions and I'm NOT a patent person.

Braggin' Wagon Wednesday: Amigurumi

Ami-what? You say. Amigurumi (I don't know how to pronounce it either). Its the art of making toys out of yarn. That's right, I called it art. So this is how it happened. Scott was looking at geek websites, which he does often and came across all these crocheted nintendo character toys. He thought they were so cool that he wanted to learn to make them. He went to the store, bought some supplies and came home and tried to learn. It was harder than he thought. Enter me, craft specialist, and practically professional crochet-er (just kidding), but I do know how to crochet. So I looked up how to do it and got started, and quickly took over. I think Scott has given up. Sorry babe. I didn't mean for it to happen (but you've been better than me at everything up to this point, it was bound to happen evenutally right? Love you!) First I made a monkey for Ivy. She LOVES him. His name is Morty and he goes everywhere she goes. I'm so proud.

cuddling with Morty at bedtime

Enjoying Elder Uchtdorf during conference (He's the family favorite)

The next day Batty here was born. I made him as a gift for someones birthday. I won't name names, but her birthday is October 19th!

And finally for Dex. Day three begat Wheezy the penguin. He's less a penguin than a creepy owl of my worst nightmare, but whatever. Dex still loves him. He wouldn't even put him down long enough for me to take a picture of just the toy!

Next comes a horse for Corbin and then a mickey mouse for Ivy's birthday, and then I will finally get to Scott's nintendo toys, which he is awaiting patiently! If you are eager to learn how to make such cute little dudes, I think I'm going to make a how-to dvd and sell it online eventually! So keep your eyes peeled.