Easter

Mmmmm, peeps are gooood....

Too busy to even care about loking at the camera!

We had a wonderful Easter this year. It was so great to learn more about our Savior on Sunday, especially now that I am in primary and get to hear what my kids learn about. I also love that my kids are old enough to know the true meaning of Easter. The Easter Bunny is fun, and so are all of the activities that go along with it, but it makes me happy to ask my kids "Why do we celebrate Easter?" And they will reply "Because Christ lived again!"

My kids had a blast finding their Easter baskets and also got some cute new outfits. We had a huge dinner at Andy's parents that was delish and it was fun to spend the day with them.

Easter Fesivities

My brother Doug and his cute wife Kimmi had an Easter brunch and egg hunt at their house on Saturday. My kids really cleaned up and got a ton of candy! We are set for awhile. And it was delicious. Thanks Doug and Kimmi! We had so much fun and the kids loved it.

This was so funny. Baron crawled to the nearest egg, figured out how to open it and just started shoving candy into his mouth. He was such a mess afterwards!!

Coloring Easter Eggs on Saturday Night

Andy was excited about something

Preschool Farm Fieldtrip and Easter Egg Hunt

On Friday Jnoah's preschool had their annual farm fieldtrip and Easter Egg Hunt (or mad dash, whatever you want to call it :) I was able to go along. It was fun to see the cows and feed the chickens, and then gather eggs. We had a little picnic afterwards. I'm so glad my friend Becca's daughter Kenzie goes to Jo's school because they are such good friends and that means I have someone to hangout with as well. It was a blast.Feeding the chickens
Jo's friend Aiden from preschool


I love this boy!

Strep..... Again

Okay, if you want to skip this post, feel free, because all I'm going to be doing is venting...

If you're still reading, get ready.

I am so SICK and TIRED of giving the medical world my hard earned $$$ (alright, I didn't earn it, but the man I'm in charge of did :)!!! And I am so sick of my sickly kids (well, not just the kids... all of us)!!! If it's not one thing, it's another...

Laylah has had strep 6 or 7 times in the last year. I was just informed today that she is going to need her tonsils out. Oh joy... at least this is her first big thing. She hasn't been one of the expensive ones! (Come to think of it, she's still expensive... oh, and there was that tanning bed I had to pay for for a week when she had jaundice as a newborn... oh, and I just thought of another. She was recently diagnosed with excersised induced asmha (sp?))

Jonah, on the other hand, had two surgeries before the age of two ( tubes in his ears, and eye surgery on his clogged tearducts- unrelated to his current eye thing) and now he has glasses which will force me to see the eye doctor at least 2-4 times a year (if not more) and of course it's my BOY who has this problem, so of course the glasses will probably get broken at some point, and I will have to buy NEW ones. I'm surprised nothing has happened to them thus far, although they are covered in scratches. I'm also forced to buy these ridiculously overpriced eye patches every couple of months! Grrrr...

And then there is poor little Daph, who when she was brand new got RSV and had to be on oxygen for 2 weeks and that machine was like 100 bucks a day. And since then (I swear her immune system was damaged because of that) she is sick about every other week with one thing or another, and I cannot even begin to imagine how many times I have taken her to the doctor. She also has allergies and is constantly on allergy meds so she is not miserable.

That brings us to Baron. He has acually been a quite a healthy little guy, only been to the doctor a handful of times thus far. But I better knock on wood, or he'll be my first with a broken limb I bet. But he's still expensive. I mean, he eats more than me for heaven's sake ;)

Then there's me.... we all know I'm a mess, so moving on...

Andy was just diagnosed with chronic tendonitis... whatever that is. And he also has a bad back, and he catches every virus there is, I swear. Good thing he can work from home on occasion and that his work is so kind.

Last but not least, we have our cute little pup, Sadie. I just found out that she may be pregnant (whoops.... I never got around to getting her spayed, and lets just say we have a few "frisky" male dogs in the neighborhood) Hopefully she isn't, but if and when those little bundle of joys come, I'm sure they'll bring a big vet bill with them.

So there you have it! I am tired of SICKNESS and other costly medical STUFF! I knew kids would be expensive, but COME ON! Give me a break here! Okay, that's all... and if you're still reading... thank you :)

Bear and the Ball

Baron has been obsessed with balls lately. He will crawl to one and pick it up and throw it and then chase after it to throw it again. He and his Papa figured out a little game together. It was so cute.

Sorry, it's kind of dark, I don't think of things like that until I see it. I'll remember for next time!

I have just recently figured out how to upload video (I know, I am seriously electronics/ computer illiterite) so I am happy I can do this now. I love watching other people's video, it's just so much fun.

Springtime

I know Spring has supposedly been here for a few weeks, although it has snowed since spring began and most days, is still in about the 50's. I love spring. I think it is my favorite season.

When I think of spring, I think of beautiful smells and flowers...

I think of rain and cleanliness...

But most of all, I think of... new babies!!

We have a good family friend that boards one of his horses where we board ours and his mare became (unexpectedly, ha!) pregnant. She foaled yesterday and had an adorable baby boy. He is so beautiful. I took my kids to see him and they loved it. They just sat and watched him for over an hour. So much fun!

Our Little Adventure

We went to Moab to visit Andy's sister Stefanie and her family (Savanna, Alaunna, and the cutest baby ever, Braxton) for conference weekend. We knew it would be a short little trip, and we knew we would be watching conference for most of it, but Andy just got a new gun and he wanted to go shooting with our bro-in-law Travis (who is a highway patrol officer, and has a bunch of guns) and I thought it would be fun to go on some fun little hikes with the kids, have a picnic, etc. Well, bad weather has been my constant companion on my last three trips out of town. I don't know what it is- bad luck I guess! Watch out Vegas, you're next!

Anyway, it snowed!! In Moab! In April!! Trav and Stef were flabbergasted, it had been in the 80's only a couple weeks ago. So, we were stuck inside for most the trip, but the cousins still had so much fun playing, and we did make it to the park for a bit, but after half of our kids got hurt- cut finger, huge knot on the head, split lip-, we headed home. It was also freezing!! I didn't get a lot of pics, although I sent Andy with the camera when he went shooting so he could show off his skills, but he claims he forgot to even pull the camera out. Ya, right :)

A few funny, and not so funny things happened though. We drove there Friday afternoon, and up Spanish Fork canyon, there was a huge snowstorm. The scariest thing that has ever happened to me was that day. We came oh so close to getting in a huge car wreck, and I'm still in shock that we didn't. Our huge SUV began spinning out of control at the top of the hill, and we started to slide into oncoming traffic. At the last second, our car jerked the opposite way (Andy claims he saw the angels pushing us the other way :) And then we spun backwards, facing the way we had been driving. Pulled over to the side of the road was a big truck pulling a trailer with a jeep on it (It was Jeep Safari weekend in Moab) and it came closer and closer. I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself for the impact, all the while thinking of my four darling children in the back and praying. We slid to a stop. I open my eyes and look out my window. We are about six inches away from the truck, and on the other side is a huge drop off. Wow. I start bawling and turn to check on my kids. Wish I had a picture. All four of them are wide eyed with their mouths gaping open. And Jonah says "Why did dad spin us around like that?" Andy's trying to calm me (he's always cool as a cucumber, in any situation), and I'm shaking like crazy. It was really scary. But after that, we made it in one piece :)

Later that night, after the kids were in bed, the adults stayed up way to late laughing, joking and having so much fun. After we went to bed at about 1:00 AM, at four in the morning I hear giggling and little feet running around. I go into the kids room and all the kids are awake and playing. I tell them nicely to stop it and go back to sleep because it is the middle of the night. They were quiet for a few minutes, and then louder than before. I go talk to them again, nicely. The third time, I wasn't so nice and dragged my kids out to sleep on the couches. Little stinks. At least they all took great naps the next day ;)
The last thing was, half of the kids got sick. I hate that. I guess that's what happens when two families come together and all the germs get swapped. Oh well, it was still so much fun and we had a great time. Especially the kids, they love their cousins! Our trip home was sunny and beautiful, of course. Thanks Stef and Trav, for a fun weekend!

This park we went to was so much fun. It was gorgeous, had a huge river, and these giant instruments to play with. It also had playground equipment of course. It was fun until everyone got hurt :)

Some Good News

The day finally came. After months of waiting, I finally had my appointment with my specialist- The Reumetologist. He was actually very nice and spent a lot of time with me going over explanations and answering any questions I had. I am very happy with the news. Although he confirmed my other doctors suspicions of my diagnosis (ankylosing spondolitis), he told me that it was progressing very slowly. The only problem I should really encounter is the pain. He gave me some medication for that, which I will probably have to take the rest of my life, but to not have the pain I was having, which at some points was excruciating, I don't really mind. And the side affects of the meds are so small- the most commen being ulcers- which can be fixed easily. His prognosis over the next 30 years was, that if I excercise regularly and stretch regulary, I should have no effects except maybe a little stiffness and a small amount of pain now and again. I will have to see him a few times a year just so he can make sure that the disease is not all of the sudden progressing or anything like that. His biggest concern was my iritis, which can be controlled with my steriod drops, and I will also continue seeing my eye doctor on a regular basis.
Overall, I feel very blessed. At first, I was a little overwhelmed by it all, but now that I have some answers, I can't believe how much peace of mind I have. I feel like this is a challenge I can deal with, that I can handle. I feel overly blessed that it's not something else, something worse. Even if the disease was progressing rapidly, I would still feel blessed. I know Heavenly Father and He knows me. He knows the things we can handle and what we can't. I was talking to a friend about this the other night, and it is so amazing to me the challenges that everyone faces, yet somehow, we make it through. Something that might seem so hard to one person doesn't seem so hard for someone else to go through- and they can handle it and it makes them a stronger person. It is truly amazing to me to see people grow and becomed strengthened by their challenges.
One of the tender mercies I feel has been granted to me is my blessing of my children. I love being a mother more than anything. Yes, it is hard, and yes, it is a struggle at times, but nothing has ever made me more happy or been more rewarding. Let me explain...
When Andy and I were first married, I didn't want any children for a long time. I just wasn't the "mom" type. I didn't even like kids! But a few months after our marriage, we both felt promptings that we should start a family. So we went to the temple, prayed about it, and we did what we thought was right. Believe me, being so young, we got a lot of critisism. Soon after Laylah was born, we got the feeling again... so we had Jonah. And not too soon after that, we felt impressed to have another baby. By now I'm sure a lot of people thought we were crazy. We received a lot of snide comments about using birth control, about being able to control ourselves, etc... you get the idea. We didn't care. It was very hard at times, but I loved my children so much, I just ignored the comments. After Daphne however, I was ready for a break. So imagine my surprise (and it was a huge SURPRISE!!) when I found myself pregnant again. I was frustrated. I felt like I had done my duty, had my kids, and I wanted a break! I knew we wanted more kids, but not for a long while, and this little surprise had messed up my plans. It didn't take too long though before I was excited, (because I just LOVE babies) so then Baron came along. It was about a month after he was born that all of my pain started, and this whole roller coaster ride began for me. After talking to the reumotologist about it, he said it would be fine to have more kids (because of course I want more! :), but that I would not be able to be on my meds while I was pregnant. I will just have to endure the pain, and it will probably be that much worse when I am pregnant because of all the added weight and pressure on my spine. I know I will be miserable during my next pregnancy, but I'm okay with that. I didn't have to go through that with four of my pregnancies because I was prompted to have my kids when I did- and Heavenly Father was kind enough to send Baron when he did so it would be one less pregnancy I would have to have the pain with. And who knows if I would have even had all of them if I would have to be in constant pain throughout an entire pregnancy? I cannot imagine living without one of my children. I feel so blessed that I am even able to bear children, because I have friends that cannot, and I can't imagine the pain and suffering they go through because of that. So, I think I can handle a little pain for 9 months to add another member to our family that belongs with us :) I am so grateful for tender mercies and for the things I am blessed with. So much.

Can't Forget Daphne...

Last week was Daphne's turn for her little date with Andy. She, of course, chose to go bowling with just like her siblings. Andy said she loved it and was so funny the whole time.

Okay, remember how I totally schooled Andy and scored a 154 when I was with Jonah? Andy just happened to score a 156... don't worry, it's on!! I will kick his trash next time. (Although, I do suspect that he may have manually changed his score... he HATES when I beat him at stuff he thinks he should always win at :) No matter, I will still beat his score.)

Tiny Dancer

Ballet

Jazz

Laylah got her dance pictures... I thought they turned out pretty cute. I can't believe how grown up she is getting...