Twilight

On Thursday night I think I was doing just about the same thing as about every other woman was doing, attending the twilight premiere, I knew there was a lot of excitement for the movie, but never did I imagine this, I got to Jordan commons and after driving around the parking lot for about 15 minutes I finally found a parking spot, and walking in the theatre was a whole different story, other than Swiss days I don't think I have seen this many woman in one place in my entire life, they were screaming, they were dressed up and then you have me looking at all these woman like they are possessed or something, don't get me wrong, I'm a twilight fan, but I have my limits. My friend Sheri got us tickets to the midnight premiere and I have to say I was expecting more, I liked the movie but I didn't love it, I guess i was just hoping for more between Bella and Edward, and well at times it was just a little to cheesy for me, but i was entertained. So thanks girls for a great night out, it was very much needed!

3 YEARS old!

Happy Birthday Daniel!

After 23 hours of labor Daniel finally entered this world via c-section on November 23, 2005. He came in weighing 5lbs 12 oz and 19 inches long, but as little as he was he brought the most amazing spirit into our home, and I have to say the day he was born was the happiest as well as the hardest day of my life. During my entire pregnancy I had no idea what was in store for me, I probably had 12 ultrasounds and not one of them gave any indication that I was going to be delivery a child with a disability, and even after he was born, we didn't know the fullness of his condition until he was 2 months old. These last 3 years Daniel has brought us more joy than I could ever imagine, I don't always fully understand why I have been given this challenge, but I would never change the way things are in a million years, Daniel is one of the happiest, fun loving little boys I know, and he has a smile that will just melt your heart! As I sat at the computer looking back at all his baby pictures I couldn't just pick a few out, so I put together some collages of my little guy growing up, as I was looking at these it brought so many memories back, from all the surgeries, to dr's visits, to birthdays, to vacations, and all the good and hard times we have had, as I sat here in tears looking at all his pictures I realized how lucky I am, and how fortunate I am to have been trusted with this sweet little spirit. Happy Birthday Daniel, we love you and hope you had a great birthday! (to see the collage better, just click on it to make it bigger!)

First solids!

This is what happens when I don't feed it to her fast enough! She just loves her rice cereal, and if I take to long between bites she gets pretty upset with me!

Miss independant! She kept reaching for the spoon, and wanting to do it herself!


Not quite sure how this spoon works yet

Then to top it off, she thought it would be fun to blow bubbles at mom while she had food in her mouth!

Disney on ice

Last Saturday we took Daniel to Disney on Ice, and he LOVED it, he was dancing, and singing, just doing what kids do best, just having the time of his life. Jason and I were actually very entertained as well, its been years since I have been, and it was a great show for all of us! Plus it was nice to have some one on one time with our little guy and I thinked he loved having our undivided attention the whole evening as well.

4 Months!

as you can see, she has her own way of sitting in her bumbo, she just can't stop reaching for those cute little feet!

My baby girl is already 4 months old! Wow, really where does time go? We had her 4 month check up today and she is seriously growing like a weed, as of today she is weighing in at 15 lbs and 26 inches long! Like I said.....growing like a weed! Well, here are a few things about Brielle at 4 months.
*She is now rolling over both ways, she rolls from her belly more, but just recently she has started rolling from her back to belly as well.
*She has discovered her feet and is constantly trying to shove them in her mouth
*She loves to blow bubbles and making razzing sounds, and she has become very vocal lately
*We are now officially sleeping through the night!
*She is getting real good at reaching for objects and and trying to maneuver them to her mouth

*We just started her on rice cereal and she love it!

And Just because he's so cute I had to add a picture of my handsome little guy!

Spina Bifida Clinic

I'm a little late on this post, but on November 7th we took Daniel to clinic at Primary Childrens. And I am happy to say, we got the green light! They were so amazed with him and how much he has accomplished since our last visit in April. So as each doctor and therapist came in, we got nothing but good news, no surgeries, and no tests! We do have to continue our annual bladder studies and ultrasounds of his kidneys, but those only happen once a year, but really other than that, we are in the clear for now! Once again this little guy is proving to all of us just how strong he is and against all odds he is doing things I never thought he would do! The little things that come so easily to other children Daniel has to work twice as hard to do, and I couldn't be more proud of him and his willingness and motivation to learn and try new things. We love you Daniel and keep up the good work!

Worn out

What always amazes me is how kids can fall asleep in the weirdest positions and places. How do they do it??

This is what happens when Jason is asked to watch Brielle!

The other day I was just exhausted, and I had already put Daniel to bed but little Brielle was just not ready to go down yet, so I asked Jason if he would mind watching her and put her down for me, he said no problem, well after tossing and turning in bed for a bit, I decided to go see how they were doing and this is what I find, Jason on the computer with Brielle in her Bumbo watching daddy play his video games. She was happy as can be sitting there, now why can't she be like this for me during the day when I have a million things to do!

My sweet baby girl!

So I realized today that I have no recordings of my sweet baby Brielle, all I have is a few minutes from when she was in the hospital, I feel terrible! By this time with Daniel I had like 2 video tapes full, but I guess thats what happens when you have more than one to take care of, and a million other things to do, so with that, I finally sat down with little Brielle and got her cute little personality on tape. This video shows Brielle playing on her tummy and then rolling over, she has been rolling over from her belly since about 2 months, but she has yet to roll over the other way, I think its mostly due to being stubborn, she is not a particular fan of her belly, and so she's probably thinking why would I purposely roll over there. Enjoy!

Finally!

Brielle has finally slept through the night! Wahoo.....i'm not totally getting my hopes up, because with her track record it seems we have a couple good nights, then we are back to waking up every 2-3 hours. But we have never had the kind of night we have had these last two nights, and all I can say is it feels good to sleep, I finally hit a breaking point with her, and decided its time to get this girl sleeping through the night consistently, it may seem mean, but I decided to use the "cold turkey" method, neither of my kids have been the type where I can go in there room talk to them, and try soothing them from there bed, they just want to be held, so two nights ago, I fed Brielle her final bottle of the night, and gave her lots of hugs and kisses and told her sorry in advance for doing this to her, but she'll thank me later, it was about 10 p.m when I did this, then off to bed I went, and like clock work I heard her at about 1:00 a.m starting to fuss, and then came the screams, I had to fight every urge to go running in there and pick up my sweet baby. But I stayed strong and just layed there in bed until finally it was silent, it worked, after about half hour of crying she finally gave up and went back to sleep, she finally woke up at about 5:30 a.m, so it was a start, then night two came and I gave her a bath fed her and held her for a bit, then at the same time I put her in crib awake and gave her a million hugs and kisses and left her, but this time no crying at all, I could hear her cooing and moving around a bit, but she finally went to sleep, and at about 1:00 am Jason heard her stirring so he went to see if she was awake and she was, but this time she never started crying, she just eventually went back to sleep, and then we didn't wake up until 7:30! wahoo, so lets hope this keeps up, and I guess this next week I'm going to be a schedule freak, just to make sure I don't ruin this wonderful thing we have going, so lets keep our fingers crossed and hope this is a sign of things to come, SLEEP!

Family time and date nights(yes, thats right 2 date nights!)

Jason and I had our 4 year anniversary last Wed, and with all our crazy schedules we decided we would just hang out as a family and go dinner and that we would celebrate with a date night that weekend, well it turned out we got two date nights(without kids!) and not only were they date nights, but my parents took the kids for the whole weekend! On Friday my parents came down and we had a little Halloween dinner, and just hung out, Daniel was still a little out of it from that morning and all the medication, so we decided with him still having no clue about Halloween, we would spend the night in, well come about 7:00 p.m my parents head on out back home with my two little kiddos, Jason was at work still, but when he got home, we got to spend the whole evening together, without having to worry about diapers, feedings, and just relax, watch some movies, and of course finally get some sleep! I don't think I have slept that well in a long time, Jason still had to work the next morning, but I didn't get up until 9:30 or so, I must say though, as nice as it was to have all this free time, I found myself at times wandering around the house wondering what to do, but I just enjoyed this time I had to myself and relax. That night we met up with some friends at Tepanyaki for dinner(mmmm, just thinking about it makes my mouth water) and then enjoyed another night of lounging on the couch and having another night of uninterrupted sleep! Now I did miss my kids like crazy, but I know for myself and Jasons sanity we needed to do this, now I don't think I could I could do this very often leaving them for an entire weekend, but I must say every so often wouldn't be so bad, plus having this time with Jason, and not always being interrupted by the kids was quite enjoyable! So thank you mom and dad for taking such good care of our little ones so we could have a weekend together!

My brave little guy!

After leaving Primary Childrens we headed to my mom and dads work to say hi, and they had a little halloween haunted house for us to go through. Daniel was still a little loopy from the medicine, and he had us all just cracking up!
My precious little girl!

Here we are in the waiting room waiting for them to give Daniel his medicine, usually they can do this test without it, but lately as Daniel is getting older he is becoming more aware of things and not as cooperative for the doctors. He was having a bladder study done and they needed to make sure he laid still for them and because my poor little guy had to have a catheter(sad huh...) we opted to have them give him a little sedation medicine, he wasn't knocked out completely but he was pretty loopy and very relaxed, which made for a more pleasant visit, and the doctors were able to get what they needed as well a little easier.

I am happy to report, Daniel is doing very well, the bladder study couldn't have gone better, and once again, nothing to worry about, and we don't have to come back for this test until next year! Wahoo!

4 Years!

Today Jason and I celebrate our 4 year wedding anniversary, this day is not only special because we were married, but exactly one year to the day of our wedding day Jason and I were sealed in the Washington D.C. Temple. The journey to get there was not easy, but with lots of support from our family and friends, we were able to finally kneel across the alter and be sealed for time and all eternity, I can't think of a better way to have spent our 1st anniversary, but to be with each other and our family in the Temple. I remember that day like it was yesterday, I was nine months pregnant at the time with Daniel and I remember kneeling there and trying my very hardest to not fall over, considering my center of gravity was off, but it was greatest experience and I feel so happy and grateful that both of our children have been able to be born in the covenant. In these last 4 years we have had many trials, and at times wondered what on earth we were doing, but working together as a couple and facing these challenges together we are a stronger couple, I fall more in love with Jason everyday, and I am so grateful he is my eternal companion! I love you Jason!

The Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend, me and the kids took a trip up to Grandma and Grandpa's house and then decided to head up to Farmington to the Pumkin Patch. Honestly I don't think Daniel cared for the pumkins, but he sure loved getting pushed around, he was just singing and grinning and we pushed him along the bumpy trail. But we did find two good pumpkins, and one little one for Daniel, we have yet to carve them, but I'm hoping we get to it before Halloween, I don't know what it is about this time of year, but it seems things get so hectic, and I just feel scattered.......I'm usually pretty good about being on top of things, but lately, I'm just not on top of my game. Oh well....what do you do, anyways, back to the pumpkin patch, we had a blast and Brielle spent the whole time sleeping in the Bjorn, we just wish Daddy could have come, but sadly he had to work :( maybe next year.

Gardner Village

Last friday me and my friend Viv attempted to go to Gardner Village, what a big mistake, I think every mother and her kids had the same idea. It seriously took like 15 minutes just to get in the parking lot, then trying to walk around with a double stroller was a joke, so needless to say after about a half hour to 45 minutes we decided it wasn't worth it, so instead we headed off to grab lunch at Cafe Rio (mmmmm, i'm craving it even as I write this). I knew it was UEA but with the many places to go in this state, I didn't think Gardner Village would be this bad.....oh well, hopefully we can make it back out before Halloween, I just love walking around and seeing all the decorations, and they have the cutest shops. But regardless we still had a great time, I just know for the future to not go on a Friday afternoon over UEA weekend.

On the GO!

*****Warning: This video is long, but I wanted to show you all just how good he is doing!*****
As many of you know, getting to this point has not been easy, it has taken Daniel 2 1/2 years of physical therapy, motivation from mom and dad, and as much as I wanted him to do it I knew he wouldn't until he was ready, and he is now ready! As hard as it has been, with having spent countless days crying, and numerous days blaming myself, i knew i couldnt make him do anything, it would happen when the time was right and he was ready. But I am so proud of him, and all that he has acomplished in his 3 years(almost) of life! So enjoy the video!

Daniel has always had to have his stuffed animals to sleep with, but lately we have had to add to that, bedtime just doesn't go smoothly unless we have tigger, pooh, his 2 hangers(i have no idea how he got attached to them!)his blanket and one of his cars, at first I would let him just go to bed with his stuffed animals, because I just didn't like the idea of having hangers and his car in his bed with him sleeping, but after a number of difficult bedtimes, I gave in, and he we have had no episodes, and he goes right to sleep. I'm not sure what it is, but I guess its a security thing for him, either way, I'll let it slide if it makes bedtime go smoothly and they don't interfere with his sleeping! But not only has he been sleeping with these, he carries them with him all day, you see him walk in the room with tigger and a hanger in one hand and pooh and another hanger in the other hand, and him just grinning away. Isn't it funny what these kids come up with.

Another new toy!

Up until about a week ago Brielle was not really a fan of her bouncer, well actually she liked the bouncer, she just didn't like the toy bar, if we put her in it with it on she would scream until we took it off, so about a week ago I decided to try it out again, and she loved it! As you can see she kept slouching down as much as she could so she could get a hold of the toys, she loves to bat at them, and has even figured out how to grab them, I love watching her in it, she is so animated and just giggles and smiles at the toys, although she still doesn't like it if we turn it on, I'm not sure if it scares her or what, but she is loving her bouncer now, and thats good news for me, because, I am now able to get a little more done around here, considering we trade from the saucer to her bumbo, to the bouncer, to moms lap, then dads lap, and then we do it all over again, but either way, she is a hoot, and I love this stage, when they start becoming aware of things, and you can interact with them more.

3 Months!

Brielle is now 3 months old! I know I say this every month, but seriously, its going way to fast! I have already had to pack away her 3 month clothes, and we have now been in 3-6 month clothes for the last month and we have already pulled out some of our 6 month outfits, how crazy! I was curious to see how much she weighed so I got on the scale with her, and she is roughly 14 lbs now! She's growing like a weed! So in honor of Brielle turning 3 months I thought I would share a few things about Brielle,

*She loves her hands, and she is constantly sucking on them and she gets really upset when she can't get her whole fist in her mouth

*She is constantly blowing bubbles with her mouth as well as making any other strange noise with her mouth (i think they call them raspberry's but I'm not sure, that's just what someone told me.)

*She is starting to be a lot more social, and is very curious of her surroundings.

*She loves standing in her saucer and sitting in her bumbo(which is so nice for me, I can actually get things done now!)

*She has started giggling, and I love making her giggle, I could sit forever with her playing and making every funny face I can think of just to get her to smile and giggle at me

*She can now fall asleep on her own, I no longer have to rock her to sleep, when its bed time I put her down awake and within about 10-15 minutes she's asleep

*She loves to babble and coo

*She is not a fan of her car seat! She does okay for a little bit, but we spend many times driving with a screaming baby, and a toddler looking at her like why is she doing this, please make it stop!

*She is quite the mama's girl, Jason will try everything to get her to stop crying and after much frustration he will hand her to me and within a few seconds she is quiet and content!

I really could go on and on about her, but we are so glad she is part of our family, and I feel so blessed to be trusted with this sweet little spirit! We just love our little girl and she certainly has us wrapped around her little finger!

Husband Tag

A. The rules are posted at the beginning
B. Each person answers questions about their sweethearts
C. At the end of the Post, the person then tages 4 peopele and post their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment letting them know they have been tagged

So here it goes

*What is your husbands name: Jason

*How long have you been married? 4 years on the 29th of this month

*How long did you date? Dated for 4 months, engaged for 2 months

*How old is he? 27

*Who eats sweets? He definately has a sweeter tooth than me

*Who said I love you first? he did, and he was nervous, it was so cute

*Who is taller? Jason

*Who can sing best? Neither of us can really sing

*Who is smarter? Depends on the subject

*Who does laundry? Me all the way, I'm very particular about how its done, he might help fold once in awhile, but I mainly do it;

*Who pays bills? I do, I don't think he would know where to begin if I asked him to

*Whos sleeps on the right side? Me

*Who mows the lawn? our landlords

*Who cooks dinner? I do mainly, but he'll help if I ask

*Who drives? I do sometimes, he has a problem of falling asleep, I know scary!

*Who is first to admit they are wrong? I am very stubborn and he can be at times, but he is most likely to admit he's wrong before me

*Who kissed who first? Jason kissed me

*Who asked who out first? we hung out for awhile, but he asked me out on our first real date

*Who wears the pants? I would say its pretty equal, we both have our say, and we pretty much all of our decisions together

i now tag......Viv, Niki,Mila and Brittnee