Pre-Halloween FUN!

One of the most awesome things about Rexburg is that they are SUPER family oriented.  They had an early Halloween activity for families.  Now, think of the tiny towns that have the street with all the little shops that all work together to make a fun time for the town.  Now, this isn't "main street," but it's still a cozy, tree lined area.  Anyways, the party was from 1-5 pm, a mix of small restaurants, Deseret Book, and some tiny apartments on the other side of the street (they are tiny old homes so they aren't overwhelming).  Each shop had candy and some of them had activities for the kids to do.  There was a suit shop that had bobbing for apples!  WHAT?!  I haven't seen that in so long!  Each apple had a sticker on it and the color coordinated to a prize.  I was walking by with Grace and telling her that she was too young to do it, and the person working the activity stopped me and said, "You go ahead and grab one.  She's too young anyways!  Have fun!"  So I let Grace pick one (orange sticker) and she got a HUGE candy bar!  She chose the cookies and cream candy bar.  There was a horse drawn hay ride (SUPER FUN!), and all sorts of characters passing out candy.  It was great because Grace got used to all the people handing out candy (Cinderella, Hunger Games person, Duck dynasty person, Indian, all the princesses that you can think of, Ursela, etc), and so she would go up to every single person.  Oh, and there was a "headless horseman" that was riding a clydesdale!  Awesome!  So, some pictures...

 SO CUTE!!!  ROAR!!!

 Grace was pretty nervous about this part, but once I touched some of the stuff and showed her that it was okay, she was fine.  Her outfit was so hot that she didn't want the head part on.

 Aw, how cute!  One of the princesses with Miss Grace!  See her bucket of candy?  That's what all the characters were carrying around.

 Taking a break.  By this time she was VERY tired.

 Ok, just about done.  There's the headless horseman.  Grace was pretty fussy and so I couldn't take the time to get a second picture.

And here's her goodies!  YUM!

After this we went to a ward dinner, and that was fun.  grace got to play with her friend, Robert, for quite some times, she had a baked potato with chili on top, and then a cookie for dessert.

Amanda

October 10th Catch Up

So, I'm way behind about some things!  So, I'll catch up.  Grace got a package from Mee Maw and was very excited about it!  It was cute to see her playing with it.

 WOW!  So fun :)  She turned the envelop upside down and shook out the necklaces.

 This was her "I'm zoned out" look.

And there's the real deal smile!!  SO CUTE!!

Amanda

Wow, So, Lots Has Happened

Sheesh, time flew.  And a lot has happened.

Sunday was tough. Grace had a really tough time during sacrament, which then leads to Mom having a tough time.  And as if that wasn't enough...so, Grace has done a lot of chest of drawer tear apart sessions while she is supposed to be napping....

 October 9th

October 23rd

Yeah, so, I took the Chest of Drawers out...and then later, every single thing came out. (Oct 27th)

So, now it's like a prison (that's what Brad said!) and it's true, but I was just SO done with her playing with everything and not taking a nap.  I really worry that she's transitioning out of naptime and I just don't want that!

So...now we come to the 27th...ug.  I had moved Grace's chest of drawers into my room and it stood out in front of our door frame to the bathroom about 2 inches.  Brad was giving Grace a bath and took her out and told her to stay where she was (on the rug because the floor is tiling), but she didn't listen.  She tried to take off out of the door but...she slipped.  And...

 OUCH!

 4 stitches...

On my poor girlies head.  :(

But look at how she was acting after her stitches being put in...

HAPPY!!

Our girlie is so strong, and can get through anything.  She cried for only about a minute after hitting her head, and in the beginning, I didn't even know that she had hurt her head.  But then I saw the blood in her hair.  What a nasty feeling in my stomach when realizing she was REALLY hurt.  So I took her to the ER and they took us right back (there is NEVER a wait in the Rexburg waiting room!) and took us to an awesome room!  Floor to ceiling underwater decorations, whales and dolphins painted on the walls, fish hanging from the ceiling, a wall full of toys, and a TV.  WOW!  They numbed her injury and she was a bit fussy, but after I turned the TV on she was fine.  We waited about 30 minutes for the numbing to work (a nurse came in 15 minutes through to reapply more numbing solution), and then they wrapped her up like a burrito. :(  I didn't like it at this part because I knew what was coming.  Grace was still watching her movie and the doctor got started.  Grace did pretty well but when the doctor got to the last stitch, Grace was able to feel what was going on.  Then came her deep crying (the one that leads to throwing up) and I bit my tongue so I wouldn't cry.  The doctor said she had also hit a blood vessel (seriously?) and she would have to numb it with an injection at this point, so I told her to just hurry up and finish.  Poor Grace.  After she was done they sat her up and then came the dry heaves.  And then, once I picked her up, came the vomit.  But it was just a little and I didn't care that she got me.  My poor girly.  She calmed down pretty quick once they brought a stack of stickers, 2 Smarties, and a pink octopus squeaky toy!  

What a night. 

And then we left on Monday around 2 pm to head to Utah for a doctor's appointment.  We had to stay in a hotel because Grace was sick, and so we couldn't stay at the Ronald McDonald house.  Darn!  Farther from the hospital and so it was more time to get there, and then we went the wrong way!  Oh yeah, we went swimming the night we got there, which was nice.  Ok, back to the appointment.  This was on Tuesday (today).  She got her eyes checked, we got the ok to stop patching (WOO WHOO!), and she has to have another surgery...  Dangit.  So we are scheduled for January 16th, 2014, which is 6 days after Skyler and Mariah's wedding!  Oh yeah, by the way, they are getting married!  Another post.  Hopefully this will be the last surgery. 

All in all, a busy few days.  I'm glad to be home but I'm behind in my homework because of the 2 day trip.  So I have to hurry up with all that tomorrow (Wednesday), and hopefully get on track.  

That's all :)  Shew.

Amanda

Shew, the Day is Finally Over

Today was a tough day.  Mommy and Grace were both really bored and tired, and so we both were getting on each others nerves.  Plus she never took a nap, and so that was really tough on both of us because she never gave in.  So we took a really long walk, two times around the block.  She was so tired from it!  But she needed it.  And she went down at 8 pm and went right to sleep.  I will NOT be okay with her not taking naps!!  AH!  I want her to nap as long as I can possibly get her to.  

Well, I'm done with the rest of the homework for this week, and so Saturday is open for whatever we want.  There is a floor hockey church game at 7:30 in the morning, but I don't know if we will go.  Then at 1 there will be a trick or treat party starting over in Hemming Village, which is a little shopping center.  So we will skip nap and go to that, go on a horseback ride, trick-or-treat, look at all the pumpkins, and it's just going to be so fun!  And then after that the ward is going to have a Harvest Dinner, and so we will go have potatoes and chili without me worrying about homework!  Hurray!

All in all, a good ending to a tough day.  We had a nice dinner together, just Grace and I, and we cuddled before she went to bed.  She was a really good girl while getting her ready to go to bed, and then she went right down.  Shew.

Goodnight.

Amanda

Sunny Days

I can't believe Wednesday is already almost over!  Sheesh.  Yesterday was a fun day.  Grace went to gymnastics and did great, as always, and then she had her therapist come over and work with her for an hour.  Then lunch time/nap time, and this is where she was a problem.  I had a meeting online at 1 pm and so I couldn't deal with the naked and dirty Grace that decided it was fun to take her diaper off.  So Daddy got to deal with bathing her and getting her sheets and pack and play mattress washed.  And so of course she had to sleep in the toddler bed, which meant playing, getting up, messing around...long story short...she only had a half hour nap before our friends came over.  It was our first day of home preschool and it was interesting.  We talked about grocery shopping, the food you get while grocery shopping, and glued some pictures of food on pictures of grocery carts.  It was tough for Grace to want to be involved because of the lack of sleep, and so she was a bit crabby.  After home preschool we went on a field trip to Broulims and circled the items that we needed on a bingo cards for the kids.  This was fun :)  Grace enjoyed pushing the cart around, helping grab the items and put them in the cart, and obviously, getting a cookie from the bakery was the best.  She got to have a cookie!!!  YUM!  We also got Nutter Butters/Oreos filled with chocolate (3 for $6), donuts, a bunch of bananas, and a little strawberry milk because she was such a good girl!

After this we went to the park and called our other friends to come play, and Grace had an OK time playing there.  I think she was excessively tired from lack of sleep and it was a bit cold out there.  So when we were getting ready to leave I offered her friend Samantha one of the donuts that Grace and I had gotten, but when I went to try to open the door, the door lock cylinder broke! AH!  So now I was stuck there.  But, thankfully, I had had a feeling to keep the windows open and so thankfully, I was able to get my arm in and get it unlocked.  The rest of the day was just dinner and playing until bedtime.

Of course today I totally forgot about the door lock cylinder being broken.  So guess who locked the door once I got to Grace's gymnastics center so I wouldn't have to worry about someone stealing my wallet?  ME!  So we had to get a ride home, and we'll have to go back after Grace takes a nap (it's 1:16 pm now and she's STILL awake).  Then Brad might go to the cabin.  We'll see.  So far, that's our day!!

Amanda

Monday

School day!  Of course Grace is excited about this.  Off she went.  I have noticed that she's been a bit more cautious about going to school, so I'm wondering why this is.  But it's not horrible.  Just a bit cautious.  But off she went and I headed home and got some homework done.  I am usually one of the first people to the school to pick her up but this time I got carried away with homework and she was one of the last picked up in her class!  Oops!  Silly mommy.  

After school we made oatmeal cookies!  Oatmeal raisin, actually.  We made a double batch because I've got a lot of friends that I want to pass them out to.  Grace got to help pour in the ingredients into the mixer, and she got to eat raisins while I added the wet stuff.  She was doing so great and was listening really well about not touching the mixer...but....right after she helped me pour the oats in (remember, it's a double batch so it's really full), she yanks the mixer to speed 3 and AH!  Oatmeal went EVERYWHERE!!!  Of course I was super sharp because of the knee-jerk reaction, and I took her off her stool and told her to get out of the kitchen, but after seeing her startled face, I quickly took a deep breath and tried again.  I called her back and calmly talked to her about what happened, and why I had been asking her not to touch.  And then I made it a learning "game" of sweeping up the oatmeal with our "cup" hands.  She did really well!!  I was glad that I was able to fix what I had done, but I'm hoping that soon enough, I won't lash out like I did.  I'll just be calm throughout the whole thing.  I apologized to her because I shouldn't have reacted so quickly.  It startled me, and then angered me because of the mess, but then quickly, I realized that I could use this as a teaching lesson.  When she had walked off after I lashed out, her face said fear, sadness, confusion.  But after I called her back, calmed down, and was happy and working with her, she totally changed.  After we were all said and done, she walked off happy, laughing, and then she even turned around and said, "Thank you, Mommy!"  It was so darling to see!

The rest of the day went quickly.  Lunch time, naptime, wake up time, errands, dinner time, bedtime.  Shew!  Daddy did great giving her a bath and getting her into bed, so that was great.  I doorbell ditched two neighbors with "you've been booed" cards :)  I love doorbell ditching sweets!

All in all, a great night.  After Grace went to bed we had a family home evening about testimonies, and that was great.

Amanda

Fast Day Again

Another fast day today.  Church has changed to having sacrament first and Grace actually did really well with this.  I thought it would be tough on her but she did all right.  Then she went to Sunbeams without a problem.  After church was naptime....ug...she didn't fall asleep until 3:40 pm!  CRAZY!  I would be so tired.  Oh, and she fell asleep naked after taking her diaper off.  Bummer.  Anywho, I woke her at 5 after I got dressed and ready to go jogging and then she and I went out for a jog.  I really pushed myself today and I'm so excited because I'm getting a little better each time.  It's so fun to go with her because she just kicks back in the jogging stroller, and sometimes she crosses one of her legs over the other.  It's just so totally cute!  It was still cold enough for her nose to run and her hands to turn red so we quit after a while, and she had a lot of trouble warming up after.  Her body just kept shaking from her being cold.  So I turned on a show and had her sit on a heating pad until she was nice and warm.  Oh, and then she had a corn dog for dinner...or should I say that Scotty had one for dinner!  She either put it on the ground or offered it to Scotty and it was gone within seconds.  I was pretty mad because I've reprimanded him SO MANY TIMES not to eat from her but he's spoiled by Brad and so he gets away with it.  Oh well.  She and I had taquitoes instead, watched "The Next Great Baker" with the boys (Skyler and Ryan), and then she went to bed.  She was definitely tired...off the hook tired.  She was doing her crazy witch laughing that never seems to stop and I actually had to hold her head down so I could brush her teeth.  She laughed way loud the entire time, and I think I lost my breath a couple times because of how much she was making me laugh!  And now it's 8:16 pm and I can here her settling down in her room.  I give her her "Night night Elmo" that she got for her birthday and she just LOVES IT.

Well, now I'm going to do some homework in hopes that I can get most, if not all, done before Friday so I can go to the ward harvest party and another movie party this weekend.  Oh, and then there is a small area down the street, a small shopping center, that's having a trick or treat walk and tons of games, activities, food, free horseback rides, etc from 1-6.  I can't remember the day but I think it's the 26th.  So we are definitely going to that!  Grace will have a great time.

Amanda

Fun with Family

We've been having a great time with family :)  Grace has absolutely loved having Gabe here to play with, and I'm so glad that they have this time together.  All the family has sat and talked for awhile, and it's just really great to be able to sit around, relax, and chat.  The time also seems to fly by so much faster, which is definitely crazy!  It came to be noon before I could imagine!  Grace got us up about 7:45 am and that wasn't too bad.  And after a little while Gabe came up to go potty and Grace was SO excited to see him!  From that moment on we played :)  Now the kids are in bed and we all are just relaxing.  I finished the rest of my homework and so I'm watching 19 Kids and Counting, and will be going on Pinterest in a few minutes to find some last minute ideas for preschool.  We will be having Grace's friend over for preschool, and his mom and I will be splitting teaching.  We will do this Tuesday and Thursday and will swap houses.  So I'm nervous but also excited.  Nervous because I don't know if I'm actually going to keep up with it and excited for obvious reasons.  

This evening Janelle and Arron have a meeting to go to so we get to have Russell, Devon and Gabe stay here and hang out!  Grace will enjoy that :)

That's all for now!

Amanda

Hurray Day!

Today is going to be such a fun day!!  Grace is in preschool right now, then we will have a play day right after, lunch time, then nap time, and then a Halloween party at 5-8 pm.  Skyler, Ryan and Mariah are coming home from Utah tonight and then Janelle, Aaron, Gabe and Tyson are coming to stay for the evening!!  Hurray!

Amanda

Wow, this week

This week has gone by so fast and I can't even believe it!  I looked at the date of my last post (Sun) and I just could not believe that it was already Thursday!  So, lots of catching up to do.  

Sunday: Church went well.  She always loves going to class and so she had no problem heading off to stand with her class.  I was so happy to hear that starting next Sunday we will be having Sacrament first rather than last.  I like this more because Grace is happy right when we get to school, but once we've gotten to the 3rd hour she's just really tired and fussy.  That's what happened this past Sunday and so shew...I'm glad to hear this.  But what's not so fun is that starting in January, we will be going to church at 11 am.  I really do not want to have to take Grace to that time because that means she won't be able to take a nap until after 2 pm.  Oh boy.  

Monday: Preschool!  There wasn't much that we did since she didn't have therapy.  Right before nap time a friend came over!  Hurray!  SO they all played for about an hour, we talked about starting preschool together (we'll start T/TH next week), and then we had a quick snack before they left.  Nap time came and it was so nice.  She went right down after a little while instead of staying up forever like she normally does.  

Tuesday: Gymnastics!!  She always has so much darn fun in gym.  She did a great time on the balance beam!  She was actually able to very slowly walk along the balance beam with only tow hands being held, rather than the "under the armpit" hold like she's had the last couple of times.  So I was so excited!!  And she did well with her somersaults, she did around jumps on the targets...it was so cute because she would walk around in a circle in place, and then she would jump.  She's so awesome and she understood the concept of what she was supposed to do.  She did run around a few times when she wasn't supposed to bit it has changed and gotten so much better since the first time.  She is really understanding the concept and I'm happy.  Oh, and she worked on the bar this time too!  She held on just long enough to get her toes to be pulled up and tap on the bar.  HURRAY!

Wednesday: School again!  She got to go to the library today and got another book.  Of course I forgot to send the book with her to school and so I had to go early, but that's ok.  I didn't mind at all.  I got to watch her walk back to class from playing in the gym and it was so cute to see her walking back with her class!  I hid in the office so she wouldn't seen me and she just looked so big.  Then I got to watch them go into the library.  Gosh she's growing up so fast.  

Thursday: Oh, that's today!  She gets to go therapy today and while she's there, I will try to finish up as much homework as I can.  There is a party tomorrow in the community for Halloween and I want to be able to take her for the full time without worrying about homework.  I don't know what else we are going to do today.  We'll see.  She's wearing her butterfly costume today!  She found it this morning and demanded to have it on.  So, there we go!  Miss Grace Butterfly!  Oh, and she woke me up at 7:20 this morning!!!  Want to know how I was woken up?  SUPER BRIGHT LIGHTS were turned on.  AH!  It was so painful for my poor eyes...silly girl.  But I don't really care :)  Then she comes in with a quesadilla that daddy didn't finish and I forgot was on the counter.  Silly girl!...Just now I realize that's why she didn't eat her breakfast bar!  Anyways, that's all for now.  

Amanda

What a Weekend

It really feels like the weekend flew by.  I can't believe it's already Sunday.  It was an especially hard school week and so that's why I didn't write yesterday...darn homework.  Anyways, it is a rainy day today and burr, it's extra cold inside today!  Grace finally fell asleep for her nap (finally at 2 pm) so she'll be sleeping in a bit longer than normal.  Starting in January we have to go to church at 11 am (YUCK) and I'm not looking forward to that.  She has enough trouble as it is now at 9 am.  But I'm hoping she will do better.  Sacrament will be first instead of last so maybe that will make it easier on her.

Not much else to share.  Daddy is still in Montana and probably will be through Monday, and then they all come home and then we head to Utah to see Ciara and her girlies!  So I'm really hoping I can get as much homework done as possible before we go.  I was planning on spending all of Monday doing homework but now that Brad won't be here, I don't know if that's going to work.

Grace is back in her pack-n-play for naptime.  She was always getting out of bed, pulling everything out of her chest of drawers and then not taking a nap at all, so now she's confined.  It's working a bit more, yet she still is staying up too late.  It's something we're going to continue working on.  

Grace and I went out a few days ago and bought all the Christmas and birthday presents necessary for Ciara and family.  Since we are going to see them, we won't have to pay major postage so they will get to have more presents!  We also bought Kailyn her birthday present :)  So we are getting done early, and that's great.  Now we are working on Grandma Hildreth's birthday present, and hopefully she will like it.

That's all for now.  Another lazy day for Mommy!

Amanda

Wow, the Days are Flying By

I can't believe it's been so long since I've written.  I'm into my third week in class and I'm really feeling the pressure.  We've had days of smashing in play time, therapy, school time and me trying to get my homework done and that has left no room for blog time!  Nothing much has changed around here and so that's why I'm not too worried about having missed.  Today daddy, Skyler, Mariah and Ryan went up to Butte, Montana to visit Grandma and Grandpa Hildreth, and then they will all be going to the cabin.  It will be a special weekend :)

I think the only thing new to write about is Grace is having a horrible time getting to sleep for naps.  Now that we are using a toddler bed, she's all about getting up, out of bed, clearing out all 6 drawers of her chest of drawers, pulling everything out of her closet...oh, and getting naked too.  Ug.  I made her sleep in her pack and play and she still had trouble getting to bed.  Finally at 3 pm she fell asleep.  There is a party going on at the Farmer's Market that started at 4 pm but she needs her sleep!  We'll go a little later since it doesn't end until 8.

She's having so much fun in gymnastics!  It's wonderful to watch her walk on the balance beam, do somersaults, and run around having fun!  It's hard to not want to get out the and have fun with her!  She has a helper that goes out with her to keep her in line, but most of the time, she listens so well!

She's also doing great in school.  Loves going, enjoys going to the library, and is just all around so happy to be there!  Never a compliant.


Our girly is such a sweetie.  I love her so much, as does the rest of the family.


Love you Grace girl.


Amanda/Mommy

Friends!

It was a fun day today.  For the most part.  Sometimes there were those times when Grace really didn't want to listen and so there were struggles, but that's ok.  Oh, and she didn't take a nap today, you little stinker!  Anywho, most of the morning consisted of being totally lazy and not doing much of anything.  When we went outside to get the mail we got to see TWO FRIENDS!  Wow!  We got to see Grace's new friend, Sabrina, from down the court, and then we got to see another friend, Robert!  They were on a walk.  Grace is always asking for Robert so she was so excited to see him.  They got to play, chase each other, run around, draw with chalk, and "fall" on the grass for awhile while his mom and I talked.  So it was nice.  Then came lunchtime, the unsuccessful nap time, and then we went to a neighbors house to play! (Sabrina's).  After eating a bunch of super yummy jalapeno cheddar chip, candy, playing (I played cards with the family while Grace and Sabrina read and played together), and then soon enough it was time to head home.  Then we messed around, did dishes, had dinner and then Grace and I worked on some of her school activities.  There was a struggle to get her to undress herself for a bath and so she didn't get to have one tonight.  She wouldn't even get up off the floor!  It was so hard to be mad though because she would squint her little eyes together, get her whole body shaking as if she was pulling SO HARD, and then her mouth was a full face smile!  SO CUTE!!  So of course she was sad that she didn't get to take a bath but she was out before she hit the pillow, so it was a good thing to skip the bath.

Amanda

Sunday

Missed a lot of days...with schooling for me, taking care of home and family, and general family craziness, I haven't been able to update as much.  Sheesh.  There isn't much to update on because Grace has been out of school for the week for Spud Harvest.  So, she will start back up in school tomorrow and we'll have lots to write I'll bet!

Oh, one good thing.  Grace woke up from nap today naked.  No, that's not the good thing.  The good thing was that her bed was dry and she jumped up and ran to her potty telling daddy, "I dotta go potty."  And potty she did!  Totally random, but awesome!!!


Amanda

COLD COLD COLD!

No, not Grace!  No sickness for her, but my goodness is it cold outside.  It's only 7:56 pm and it's 38 degrees.  We went for a walk at 7 pm and we FROZE!!  It was also sort of snowing today too.  I would have to say it was more like ice crystals about the size of Epsom salt.  For our walk I had Grace in her snow jacket, snow gloves and a beanie my grandma's friend made for her, and I was in my down knee length jacket Brad bought for me last year and thin gloves.  Next time?  Grace will have base layers on, as will I.  Brad was just in a normal jacket but I'll bet he was freezing!

Anyways, today was therapy day.  3 hours of therapy for her which means 3 hours of homework for me.  And then lunch time, and then naptime (which didn't happen), and then play time!  We made her stay in her room until 4 pm in hopes that she would fall asleep but she didn't.  When I went in there she had pulled out her box of diapers and they were EVERYWHERE!  I tried to get her to clean them up while I was in there but she tried to push my buttons and so I left the room.  It was done within minutes!  Silly girl.  I tried to get some homework done while she was awake but I just feel so bad about ignoring her, so instead Grace and I played!  We worked on her shape puzzles for a while and she did so great at matching the pieces together.  But then of course she realized that I was watching and so she teased me and acted like she didn't know what she was doing!  Silly girl!!  Then we played with some playdough that Dado and papa had sent her in the mail and then dinner time :)  Daddy made dinner tonight and it was so yummy!  Angel hair pasta with a very yummy topping.  Here's what was in it: Mushrooms, wax yellow peppers, peppercinis, tomatoes, onion, bell peppers, teriyaki sauce and olive oil.  YUM!

All in all, a great day.  :)  I love it when Daddy cooks dinner!!

Amanda

Fun day at Gymnastics!

Grace had such a great time at gymnastics!  It was so fun to see her with all her little classmates.  And she even knew one of them!  His family used to live in our ward but moved out a while ago.  Here's some pictures!

I love my little girl!!!!!

Amanda