Days are Flying...and Mama is Tired

I can't believe how unbelievably tired I have been!  It's like...since I'm out of school (kind of...I'm only taking one class instead of 4) my brain must have shut off, and so I get more tired faster!  Or Miss Grace has been having so much fun and excitement with me that she's just pooped me out every day.  Whatever it is, it's been fun.  Today was especially fun because we got to have her little friend over!  This friend, Samantha, has two new twin brothers that are almost 3 months old and she was so excited to share them.  But what she was more excited about was that she got to play with Grace!  They were absolutely and positively smitten to see one another, and it was as if they'd seen one another every day for this past month.  Seriously...they hadn't seen each other for almost 2 months and they just stuck to one another like glue.  I loved watching Grace have so much fun!!  And I got to cuddle with two twin little boys, so that's always nice :)  Oh, and my friend showed me how to cut up a watermelon the right way so that it was less work.  Pretty neat if I do say so myself :)

Oh, and today was gymnastics day, and Grace did great!  I absolutely adore watching her in the gym, and she's doing so well.  After gym we were supposed to have home therapy but the therapist had to go to a meeting.  So we just played and had fun :)  Obviously nap was coming at some point, but instead, she choose to play, jump on her bed, bang the doors, etc etc.  So I watched through the camera while she played and had fun, and I pecked away at the keyboard finishing up homework.  Then at 3 pm I let her get up and play, and then at 4 is when our friends came.  Dinner was spaghetti with beef sauce and watermelon, and then Grace desperately needed a shower!  You know how little ones get when they've been playing hard, and you go to give them a kiss and it's just...not their smell?  Well, that was my girly!  So off to the shower we went, and I'm so proud of her because she washed all by herself!  I did her hair, of course, and then pointed everywhere for her to wash.  What a great job she did, and she was so excited to help that it wasn't a bother for her.  After the shower came bedtime, and boy was she tired.  Within minutes of being tucked in, she was asleep.  Poor girly!  Tomorrow is school, and it's her fun day because it's...LIBRARY DAY!!!  

Shew, it's 9:45 pm and I'm ready for bed.  I do believe I see a very early bedtime for me.

Amanda

Good Church Day

Grace did so great in sacrament today...actually, in all her church hours!!  But especially in Sacrament it was great.  She only got up a couple times, and that was ok with me.  There was the one time she growled like a lion as loud as she could!!!  But I just don't let myself get upset about this anymore.  I laughed it off, calmed her down and we moved on :)  She didn't even need to come out for a diaper change for the second or third hour, so that's great.  

After church Daddy left to go to the cabin.  There is a new oven to put in and some other things to do, so Brad headed up to help on all that.  Grace went down for a nap and was up playing for a while, but I was so absolutely tired that I took a nap.  We went visiting teaching at 5:30 and Grace tried her best to be a good girl!  She did well and during our last appointment, a neighbor friend snagged her from me and took her in their house to play, so I got to visit without worrying about her being too loud.  Granted, the third visit did have 3 kids she could have played with!!  Oh well :)

Very quickly it was dinner time because we got home about 7:15 pm, and then bedtime.  Grace was in bed by 8 pm but she played for a little while, and so she wasn't asleep until 9 or so.  And now it's 12:21 am, so technically I have written this on Monday, but I'm changing the time on it so it will count for my Sunday post.  Ha ha ha!

A great day...a quick day!!

Amanda

Totally Different Pregnancy

I can't believe how different this pregnancy is from my first one.  I haven't thrown up at all, but boy is the nausea horrible.  I've had to take a nausea medication but this makes me sleepy, so I either stagger around in a fog, or I'm making sure I have clear access to a bathroom just in case.  I stay in bed in the morning and eat saltines, carrots and ginger ale, and Grace usually watches a show on TV.  She's gotten a ton more TV time since I've been feeling so gross.  And even though I try this out, I'm still feeling the nausea throughout the day.  I can't wait for this first trimester to be over, that's for sure.  It's actually getting worse over time so I'm really hoping I won't end up throwing up at all.  I'm also thinking about talking to the doctor about a chewable prenatal pill.  These huge swallow pills make me gag so much, and this doesn't help the nausea.  

I'm still insanely hungry as well.  Yesterday I had my typical breakfast, and then I ate snap peas throughout the late morning, some of a chocolate bar, crackers, leftovers...for lunch we had roast, carrots and snap peas...and then I snacked all throughout until dinner time, which included a peanut butter sandwich caked with peanut butter!  For dinner we went to a buffet in Idaho Falls and it was so yummy!!!  And actually filling, which was nice.  Granted, by 10 pm I was hungry again and had some chips and ice cream.  I know, unhealthy.  But I eat healthy all throughout the day really well so I really have to splurge sometime, right?!

Shew...I'm nervous to see how much weight I've gained by my next appointment.  I go in May 14th and I was 144.5 lbs, so we'll see how much more I've gained.  Uh oh!

Otherwise, I'm good!!  I've been told to be thankful for nausea, which I am, don't get me wrong!  That means the little one is growing stung  But whew...come on body!  Remember this from last time and deal with it like the first pregnancy...no nausea at all!!

Amanda

The Days are Flying By!!

Holy smokes I can't believe that I've missed writing for so many days.  It seems to be that we are flying through these days.  Today has definitely been an interesting day.  Brad and I have pretty much slept through the whole day...dangit.  He didn't sleep very well last night and I have been feeling sick lately and so I'm on a medication, but this mediation makes me SO tired.  Insanely groggy.  So poor Grace watched TV most of the day.  I highly doubt she cares but I feel so bad!  She's down for a nap right now and I'm really hoping I'll be able to get through the rest of the day.  That's pretty much been our Saturday.  

On Friday Grace got to go to school today and she was so excited because Daddy took her and picked her up from school!!  It's always a special treat for her to be taken by daddy because she gets to show him off to her classmates.  After school we played and had lunch, and then we headed to Idaho Falls. We met with a lawyer because we are having my will written up, and Brad's rewritten.  I am so excited that it's almost finished because I will feel that Grace is safe in case of anything happening to us.  We also talked to her about some issues we are having with our Polaris Razor, and the company trying to swindle us, and she's going to help us out with that situation as well.  I'm really hoping we get what we have been fighting for.

School is almost out...can you believe it?!  Grace gets out about the middle of May and I really can't believe that the school session is coming to an end.  Grace will remain in preschool again another year while most of her classmates will move to Kindergarten, but that's ok.  One thing about Grace is that she is very easy going, and she's not going to mind one bit that some of her classmates are gone.  It's so cute to hear her talk about them.  "I saw Weston...Kai was there."  I love it!!!

Amanda

Eating so Much

I am always eating so so so much.  I can't believe how much I've been eating.  I feel like I should be a blimp by now!  A bagel and banana for breakfast (of course shared with Grace), already hungry by 10 am so I had some more food, lunch was half a sandwich shared with Grace and then a cucumber with seasoned rice vinegar (yes, the whole cucumber), waffles for dinner, and then I made deviled eggs and had 4 eggs worth I think...oh and then there was a bunch of tomatoes.  Shew...I now feel so full!  It's 11:05 pm and I'm definitely ready for bed.  I'm hoping this baby will let me sleep without being woken up by my stomach grumbling!

Oh, and yes, there is still nausea.  Bleh.  As long as I eat in the morning and then chew mint gum constantly, I have been able to push it away.  I haven't used any of the nausea medications from the doctor because I really don't want to be taking anything that's not really necessary.  I'm really hoping it doesn't get any worse than it is right now!

All in all, I'm doing well.  I'm about 6 weeks along, so I'm hoping it continues on well.

Amanda

Random Photos of Grace

I just had to share these super cute pictures of Grace :)

 Today girly was supposed to be sleeping...but this is what I saw in the camera screen instead!

 Miss Grace laying on her hoppy pillow.  That dress is a hand me down from a friend, and it's a size 7.  WOW.

 At gymnastics (Tuesday!).  She is such a cutie.

And smiling :)  My girly that I love so much is super duper cute.

Amanda

School and Friend

Today was library day at school and, as usual, Grace got some great books!!  It was fun to walk into the library and have her spot me.  "MOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!!!  I dot books!"  She ran to me from the other side of the library and it was super cute!  We checked out her books for a while before heading home because she was so excited to share the books with me.  We did our normal things for Monday/Wednesday and Friday...playtime and then some lunch.  We had the other half of my Subway sandwich...oh, I didn't add it here!!!

Last night I was craving Subway, so Brad went to get some for me.  All the other things were so exciting!!!  There was also a watermelon and six 1.5 quarts of ice cream!!  Mmm...so this is what Grace and I ate for lunch :)  Then came nap time...with no nap.  Silly girl.  Robert and Jordan came over to play for a while and then the rest of the evening seemed to fly by!!  At about 6:30 (after dinner...waffles with chocolate chips) Grace was so so tired, so I sat with her by her bed and read her a bunch of books.  She was tucked into bed by 7 pm and by 7:05 pm she was OUT.  What a tired girly.  

The rest of the evening went by fast and it's now 11 pm.  Shew.  I've been chowing down on all my yummy veggies (a cucumber and tomatoes have already been devoured!) and watching a movie while Brad is out at the movies with Ryan and Breck.  It's definitely almost time for bed.

Amanda

Falling Behind

I have noticed that I was doing so well with posting, and then all of a sudden I got lazy!! 

On Saturday we had an Easter Egg Hunt!!!!  Here are a boatload of pictures :)

 The Easter Bunny came!!!  It was so fun to watch him hop around here and there :)  

He was so close to up but when we knelt down to pet him, he hopped off.  Grace said, "Doodbye Easter Bunny!"

 Going to get some Easter Eggs!  Grace had a special section just for children like her!  There was a section for 2 years and under AND/OR Special needs.  I was so happy because last year there wasn't a special needs section, and Grace only got three Easter Eggs because all the other kids understood what to do, but she didn't.  So it was such a treat to be able to be in this section.

 Look at her working so hard to pick up the eggs!  Thank you to Daddy for taking pictures of us finding the eggs!  Grace got so many eggs, and she got a lot of special treats and goodies.  She even got free Pizza Pie Cafe coupons for herself!

"HI DADDY!"

On Sunday Grace did GREAT during sacrament.  She rarely even got up and was really good about sitting and reading her books.  There were a couple times that she struggled against me, but once she realized that she would have all the freedom she wanted as long as she stayed on the pew.  It was a relief to me.  She ate her goldfish crackers, followed along in the hymn book with me during the songs, did great with picking up one piece of bread and her little cup of water, and even folded her arms sometimes!  After church it was nap time and she did great with her nap time!

And here we are on Easter Day hanging out together.  We had barbecue baked chicken, mashed potatoes with barbecue gravy, mixed vegetables, orange slices and water.  It was SO YUMMY!!!

It was a nice Easter and Grace had a great time seeing the family come over.  She really thought they came just for her, so she was extremely happy, giggly and talkative.  Fun Easter!

On Monday Grace got to go to school and she was so excited for it!  I just can't get over how happy she is about going to school.  I love love love that she enjoys school.  Then we got to have her friend come over at 2:30 pm from down the street, and she was so excited to play with her little friend Sabrina, and then our other family friends came over for dinner, and so she got to play with Robert and Jordan!  We had roast, mixed vegetables, orange slices and water for dinner, and then Julie had brought a jello salad.  It was a fun day and Grace had a great time with all her friends.


Amanda

NAUSEA!!

I am having so much more nausea with this little one in me than I did with Grace.  So much, in fact, that it's really nerve wracking.  A lot of people are scared of the dark, or are scared of blood or whatever.  I am scared of throwing up!  The feeling of not being able to control my body and it's functions, not being able to breath during the process, and then the horrible taste afterwards just really plays with my mind.  And I was having that nausea pretty bad today.  I was also lightheaded and having stomach pains...so I gave in and picked up the anti-nausea medication the doctor had prescribed for me.  I'm not one to take pills very often.  I don't take them for headaches or menstrual cycles...I just don't feel like they are always necessary.  But after talking with two pharmacists to be sure that this compound mixture is safe for the baby, I'm going to give in.  I can't give Grace the time she needs if I'm completely focused on NOT throwing up.  She is going to need attention a lot, especially once she starts seeing changes in my body and understanding that I can't do as much as I did with her (jumping on the trampoline, rolling around on the floor, letting her jump on my stomach, etc).  So we talk about baby a lot, she now has one in her tummy too (so cute!), and at this point, it's going ok.  But she has already started lashing out so she can get negative behavior, and this is worrisome because I'm only about 6 weeks into the pregnancy.  I'm extremely tired recently, and she has seen this with my lack of desire to do much more than sit.  And so she's acted out by tearing a page in a book she received from her aunt and uncle, by grabbing things off the kitchen counters that she shouldn't have (knives--and to think they were far enough away...once she can reach the center of the island, I've lost! , candy, or anything else), throwing things at us (specifically Daddy today), pushing keys on my computer when I was trying to print something, screaming while sitting next to me after asking her "Mommy is on the phone, can you please keep a quiet voice for a minute?", and playing in her...pants.  But because I can see that she's seeing a difference, and that she's uncomfortable and confused, we are working on positive redirection and constructive feedback.  It's amazing how calm we've been because so many of these things used to peeve us to no end.  And we can absolutely see the difference when we are positively constructive versus the harsh and negative tones that sometimes slip out when something has been extremely frustrating.  This is pretty much going to turn her world upside down, so we are starting early on getting her accustomed to different schedules (though more reinforced), different actions from us (I'm trying to not pick her up as much, but when I can really tell she needs cuddles, we'll sit on the couch), and differences in our time span we allow her to misbehave.

Naps...This has been the third day that she hasn't napped, and I'm extremely saddened by it because these naps are when I would usually do homework.  And school is starting this weekend.  So I'm really trying to hold on to the idea that this is just a phase, and that she's going to start napping again, but I think I have to come to the realization that it's probably over with the napping.  So I'm having to come up with a way to deal with this because we all know how excessively clingy she is, and how I have to be with her and entertaining her every moment.  I don't know what I'm going to do during the three hours that she normally slept in terms of having her work independently so I can still get things done I need to.  I've thought about giving her things in her room and allowing her to get up and have the freedom, but still have the door closed so it's her own personal time, but this is when pages are torn and cupboards are dug through, so I'm not really knowing what to do.  Once the baby comes, this would have been my time to also sleep while baby and Grace slept, so I don't know what we'll do when we get to that point of exhaustion with two children that need me, as well as school, home work, and everything else.  But there are so many other people out there that have done this, and I'm thinking WAY TOO FAR in advance, so I'll go back to the here and now.  Here is the hear and now...it's 12:09 am.  And I'm still up.  And miss Grace is going to be up at 7-8 pm.  So I better get my tushy to bed so I can be ready to wake up and have fun with her.  Tomorrow...well, today...there is an easter egg hunt for children with special needs, so we are going to go to that at 10 am and see what it's all about :)

Amanda

It's Friday!!

Another day of school, and another fun time!  Grace got to dye an egg in school today!  She was so excited to tell me about the eggs, and the Easter bunny, and all the activities that they got to do today :)  It's so exciting to always have her running into my arms and telling me the fun things they did in school today.  She's my sweet girly.

After school we had yummy lunch, played for a while, and then nap time...do you think it happened? Nope, it didn't.  I was out running quite a few errands while she played in her room!  That little stinker.  So when I got home at 4 pm I got my girly out and we had to have some cuddle time because she was a bit sad about something (which I never got out of her).  Then we were on a hunt for Daddy because we could NOT find him anywhere!!  He ended up being on Grace's trampoline...gr...daddy is too heavy!!  But anyways :)  Then the time just seemed to speed by!  Very quickly it was dinnertime and so we had leftover Subway and then Grace and I gorged on ice cream while we watched a movie together.  It's so fun watching a movie and eating ice cream with Grace.  Sometime I'm going to have to take a picture of Grace after she's fed herself ice cream...SO CUTE!  It looks like she's got a goatee that has dripped onto the table and her lap!  It's so hard to not laugh!  I don't want her to think it's ok, but I know she's trying her hardest, so I'm not going to get all upset over it.  It's so not a big deal!  After our movie (it was a short one...30 minutes) we cleaned up the ice cream and then played for a while.  It got to be 6:40 pm and she was SO needing to go to bed but it was just way too early, and so I grabbed about 7 books out of her library and we cuddled for 45 minutes on the recliner reading books together.  I absolutely love cuddling with my girly and reading to her.  It was so cute before we even started reading, too, because she had grabbed a book and was going to go sit on the recliner by herself and look at it, and then I paused for a minute and just watched her as she grabbed the book, climbed up in the recliner and settled in, and then looked up at me like, "What's up, mom?"  And when I said, "Do you want me to read to you?" her face LIT UP!!!  She said...

"Yeah!  Sure Mom!!  You to read to me and we sit in da chair and tuddle."

"Yep, I'll go get us some books and then we'll read, ok?"

"Ok!!!  (In her super excited shriek of ok)"  Then I hear her plop down onto the floor and then the pounding of her feet as she's running across the living room and down the hall.  I was in the preschool room finding some books and she came in behind me...

"Are you detting a-yot of books?"

"Yes.  Is that ok?"

"YEAH!  You get yots of books and read to me."

"Yep, I'll get a bunch and then we can read together."  Then we headed to the living room.

"We donna sit in the couch oh da chair?"

"Let's sit in the chair so it is comfier, ok?" (The recliner has SO MUCH MORE fluff!)

"O-tay."

"But let me sit down first so then I can have you sit on my lap, ok?"

"Oh, o-tay mommy.  Das a dood idea."  (I sat down, and then she climbed up)

"Are you ready for me to read, Grace?"

"Yes, yets do it!"

Isn't that just so stinking adorable?!!  I LOVE THIS GIRL.

So a good day.  After we read it was 7:30 pm and so we did teeth brushing, diaper and pajamas, best friends sleeping with her (Panda bear and Pout Pout fish), kisses and more kisses, turned on her Turtle moon and star light show, turned on her Cinderella light show, and then out I went.  Within 5 minutes of me watching the monitor, she was out!  Good grief, girly :)  You were tired!!

Good day, good day.

Amanda

Another Quick Day

I can't believe how fast time goes by!  Grace had therapy today so I dropped her off and then went shopping for 3 hours for Kailyn's baby shower!!  The time flew by.  Most of the time I was just scanning shelves to see what there was before making final decisions.

After Grace had therapy we headed home and had leftover dinner from last night for lunch today, but Grace was NOT into it.  She was SO tired!  But do you think she would fall asleep?  Nope!  She was up for the entire time until 3:45 pm.  I had put her down about 2 pm.  Silly kid.  So of course the rest of the day was pretty tough because she was so tired and cranky as well as clingy.  But we were fine together :)  She just needed a bit more attention and I was happy to give her that!  Dinner was sloppy joes with orange slices and spinach salad (Grace had peas).  It was really good, but she was so tired that she had trouble really focusing.  I pretty much spoon fed her because she just couldn't focus.  Poor girly.  It got to be 6:30 pm and I could really see that she was struggling with controlling her emotions and behavior, so she and I played with her kitchen set for about 15 minutes.  She was so cute :)  She just sucked on her juice bottle that her Aunt Lisa got her while I served her meals.  I'm so excited that she's getting better at not biting the plastic pieces.  That probably sounds silly, but I'm not kidding!  I had to take out all the cardboard items, such as the little cereal boxes or milk cartons because she'd chew on them, and I've had to really watch her when playing with the food because she has gnawed the plastic hot dogs flat.  I was so proud of her for pretend biting!!

So, 6:45 pm finally came and I could tell she was SO ready for bed.  So diaper change, teeth brushed, one piece pajama on, Pout pout fish and Panda Bear in bed, and off she went!  I tucked her into bed with her little friends and she was down!  It's now 7:26 pm and she's already asleep, and I so could be as well, no joke.  

Friday is preschool :)  She was pretty happy about hearing this since she likes school so much.

All in all, a wonderful day.  Interacting with Grace every day and every moment is so special to me, and I can't believe who she is becoming.  Sometimes I look at her and really can't even recognize her!  She's growing up, she's gaining knowledge, experience and strength, and having such a great time doing that!!  And what's great is that she still wants me to cuddle with her...ALOT.  And I absolutely love this because she's my little girl and always will be :)  She and I will sit together for almost an hour each time reading with each other, and she just loves pasting herself onto me and listening to me read!  I LOVE YOU GRACE!!

Amanda/Mommy

Doctor Appointment for Baby

I had a doctor appointment today to check on baby because I've been having cramping periodically this past month.  I especially had it really early this morning, but it doesn't seem to be a problem.  The baby, obviously, isn't going to look like anything because I'm only at 5.5 weeks, but I have a picture anyways!

The ultrasound tech said "think of it like a diamond ring, and your baby is the diamond in the ring!"  CUTE!

I got to see the heartbeat, and it was at 98 beats per minute.  That is not high enough but the tech said it's probably because the heart had just started beating in the past day or two, and so at my next appointment (4 weeks), it will be stronger.  I am considered high risk because of everything we had to go through with Grace, and so I'm glad that we will be watching out for this baby.  There will be numerous tests done that aren't invasive (like the amniocentesis is) but will tell us if there are genetic disorders or other developmental disorders.  And if I'm in need of a more professional birth than the hospital here can give me, then they will have me prepped and ready to go to University of Utah to give birth so baby can go right to Primary Children's Hospital.  We have a 25% chance of another disorder with this child, so while that is less than half, the doctor is still worried.  I'm glad we know what to look for early and I'm sure that we will have a safe pregnancy and birth, regardless of the genetic or developmental outcome.  What we are hoping and praying for at this point?  A strong pregnancy so that when the 3 month mark comes on, or even more than that, I can share with people!!  Hurray!  I don't want to share too much and then have something go different than what we would expect.

All in all, a successful appointment.  Only one baby in there so my appetite is just for that one!  It's obviously wanting a lot of food!  I had her double check just to be sure since I've just been so darn hungry.  It's insane!!  But I'm still at 144.5 pounds even with how much I've been eating (when hungry, not just all the time) and so I'm doing well with eating correctly.

Good night!

Amanda

Sissy is Having a BABY!!!

This is such an exciting post to write, and it's going to be so fun to come back to years after the fact.  Sissy (Kailyn) had her ultrasound appointment to see if she had a little boy or girl kicking at her ribs and.....  IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!  

 So cute :)  It's so funny that some parents are so ok with showing of baby parts on ultrasound!  I think I did for Grace's ultrasound!

 This is an arm.  Little girl was moving SO much that there were not very good pictures taken, so we've got what we got.

And a leg.  I told you there was too much movement!  You really have to be creative to try to understand what the baby is doing :)

And I'm throwing a baby shower!  Kailyn (and hopefully Antonio) is going to come up to Idaho to visit for a week, and so I'm going to put on a baby shower!

Aren't these so darn cute?!  I printed 30 of these from Walmart for $6.00.  Awesome price!  I've got so many more ideas for the baby shower but I won't post about them now.  I'm super excited and can't wait to see her, and hopefully him, soon, and for a whole week!

Grace is super excited that Sissy is having a baby!  I showed her pictures of Sissy's baby and she was SO excited that she jumped up and down and screamed "Is a baby!!!!"

She went to school today but I didn't get to take her because I had a doctor appointment.  She got to go to the library and was very happy to tell me that she brought two books home in her backpack.  I had to have my friend take me to my appointment at the last minute because the darn battery in the truck had died on me!  But I made it in time, my friend is great to be so flexible, and I made it.  All is well, no worries!  Check-ups are good.  After school we had some playtime and then lunch, and then Grace went to bed...well...she went to play in her room until 3 pm.  This darn girly does NOT want to sleep!  At 3:30 pm we went to our friends house (her little friend Robert) and they had so much fun playing while Julie and I made no bake chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies.  It was nice to go visit friends!

For dinner tonight we had the yummiest chicken I've had in a long time!  It was a recipe that Julie gave me and I'm so glad I had it.  Here's the recipe:

Chicken and Potato Recipe

2-2.5 chicken breasts

1/2 c flour

1 t pepper

1 t paprika

(any other seasoning you want)

I added cayenne pepper, garlic powder and more of both pepper and paprika and it came out with a great taste...not too overwhelming

2 cups of potatoes, skinned and cubed (we did big cubes, like 1"x1"

1 cup water with 2 dissolved chicken bouillon cubes

1/2 stick butter

Melt the 1/2 stick of butter in skillet

While that is melting, put all your dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

Cube your chicken to bite size pieces and put into dry ingredient bowl. Mix around until all chicken is coated. Pour chicken and leftover dry ingredients in skillet with melted butter. Softly turn until chicken is very lightly browned, (about 3-4 minutes). Then move all the chicken to the middle and pour your two cups of potatoes all around the chicken. I had to work from one side, move all the chicken over, pour the potatoes in, and then keep going around in a clockwise manner until all the potatoes were on the outside. Then pour the 1 cup of water with dissolved bouillon cube on top of your potatoes and simmer on low (covered) until potatoes are tender. I also put pepper and garlic blend seasoning on top of the potatoes to give them extra flavor.

It should cook completely in about 15-20 minutes. Our potatoes weren't super soft but I don't like them that way. They were good enough that I was able to cut them with my fork.

It was SO GOOD!!!  And Grace had TWO servings, so that must mean that it was good!  We had it with steamed zucchini and a strawberry/kiwi/banana fruit salad mix.  A very successful dinner.

Daddy gave Grace a treat of watching POOH BEAR!!!  She was so excited to be able to watch it and had a great time.  While she watched it I discussed baby shower ideas with Kailyn, and it was pretty productive.  And now it's 9:04 pm and I'm beat.  It's time for bed for me!

Amanda

Quick Day!

Today seriously felt like it was the fastest day in a long time!!  Grace slept in until 8 am today, so that was nice :)  Then we were so excited to have a mommy daughter morning before gymnastics and went to Jamba Juice!!!  Grace had a small peach drink and I had a large starfruit and it was SO GOOD!!!  It wa so cute because when we got the drinks, she did her excited scream and yelled "I dot my Jamba Juice!!!"  And she was such a big girl drinking it and talking to me. 

 "Mom, I'm drinking my Jamba Juice, o-tay?"  

"Ok, Grace, you can have it because it's all for you."  

"Ok, because it's SO GOOD!  It's just so good.  Mom, can I have some of your Jamba Juice?"

"Of course you can.  Can I have some of yours?"

"Sure.  O-tay.  Dere you go!"  And then she gave me her cup and I gave her mine.  Sweet girl :)

We colored a picture so that we could hopefully win a $1 Jamba Juice!!  After Jamba was gymnastics and she did so great today.  There was a but of a struggle with listening, but it's because there was a new teacher and so there were boundaries that needed to be tested!!  Then of course came home therapy and this was even more tough.  I'm wondering if Grace is having a growth spurt because that's what it seems like.  Anyways, therapy came and went, we had fish sticks, oranges and cheese for lunch, and then she went off to bed.  But instead of sleeping, she sat in there talking for the full 3 hours!  Crazy girly!!  I took a little nap because I just couldn't seem to keep my darn eyes open.  After we got up and moving it was so cute because Grace came to me, grabbed my face in her hands, and looked right in my eyes.  She said, "I have my juice?  I have my Jamba Juice?"  It was SO CUTE!!!  I said, "of course you can have your Jamba.  And then she ran out to the kitchen and waited at the refrigerator for me.  After wasting some time, we went out to Broulims and did some grocery shopping and Grace got to get her cookie from the bakery, and then when we got home it was time for dinner.  We had leftover creamed beef over rice with kiwi (I have since learned that Kiwi is too sweet for her and she doesn't like it).  Next was bath time and Grace did GREAT at washing her own body.  I figured that she really needs to start taking care of some more things for herself.  Oh, like when she loaded the dishwasher for me after I washed the dishes.  She did such a great job!!

Didn't she do such a great job?!  I love it!!

Anyways, back to bath.  After bath time I was going to keep her up but she was just SO WIRED.  SO WIRED.  I was going to read to her in bed tonight but she slammed the door in my face, so instead it was very quickly time for bed at 7 am.  And by the time I put her in bed, tucked her in and gave kisses and love yous, she was quiet.  And by the time I had changed into my pajamas, she was already asleep!  Shew!  Tired girly.

Some random pictures of Allison and Andrea are below.  Happy Easter from them!

Amanda

No School Today

Too bad for Grace...she didn't get to go to school today :)  It was kindergarten registration and so there was no class today.  Which was a great thing because Grace slept in until 9 am today!  It was so lovely to be able to sleep in.  I was actually surprised that she slept in because she has very rarely slept in.  But always, after she woke up I brought her back to bed and then we played and talked and ate crackers until 10ish, and then we were going to go to Idaho Falls but decided against it.  We were going to go to Chinese Food buffet but I wasn't feeling too good so we just stayed home and ate leftover soup for lunch.  That was more than good enough for us!  Soup, strawberries, bacon grits and cheese for Grace.  It was yummy!  I didn't put Grace down for nap at noon since she'd gotten up so late, so we played until about 1:30 am, and then I tucked her in.  We were outside trimming tree branches and she was jumping on her little trampoline :)  She was supposed to go to sleep but instead, she decided to stay awake until 4 pm, which is when I started a little nap because I was so darn tired! So she and I both got up at 5 and then went to Walmart to just get out of the house and see some sun. But really quickly Grace was hungry, so we headed home and I made creamed hamburger (with corn and spinach mixed in) with mashed potatoes and oranges.  It was yummy! And Grace ate two servings, so obviously I had been starving her!  She helped me wash dishes and then ran off to have a shower while I did the dishes, and then I tucked her into bed after reading her a story.  Sweet girly when right to sleep at 8:10 pm, even though she'd gotten up at 5 pm!  That's one tired girl!!

All in all, a good day!

Amanda

Super Sunday!

There wasn't anything too super about today except that we had visitors!!!  But I'll get to that.  This morning I wasn't feeling too well, and so I didn't know if Grace and I would be going to church.  Brad had hurt his back on Friday and still was in pain and so he was laid up in bed.  But at the last second, I decided to just get my rear moving and get to church!  I'm glad I did because Grace had a great day in Sacrament and then with her class.  After church we had lunch, and then Grace went right down to sleep...what a good girl!  She woke up about 5 pm and at 6 pm, Mommy went to a women's fireside for church, so Grace got to hang out with Daddy!  It was a lovely fireside, they had great refreshments after, and I got to talk to Grace's primary teacher for quite some time.  It was a wonderful talk, and she shared with me that she thought it might help each person in the class if she had a personal aide, so I'm going to talk to the bishop about it.  I definitely agree, and am glad to see that she really cares.  She even cares about Grace so much that she actually spent her own time at home researching Spina Bifida!  She is a wonderful woman, and I'm so glad Grace is in her class.  So after that I was headed home and saw Mysha, Garon and their two kids headed towards our court.  I didn't think much of it except, "Aw, that would be nice if they were coming to see us!"  By the time I pulled into the garage and got out of the car, they were walking up the driveway!!  So they came through the garage with me and who was inside?!  The missionaries!!  They had decided to stop by!  So we had so many visitors :)  So the missionaries left and our friends stayed for some time.  They had brought chicken noodle soup, bacon cheddar grits and lemon tarts for Brad since he wasn't feeling well.  How sweet!!  They left about 9:20 pm, Grace and I had some chicken soup, and then Daddy tucked her into bed with a super cute story!  And now here we are, 10:30 pm, tucked into bed for the night.  Tomorrow there is no school because of Kindergarten registration, so that's really good because she can sleep in :)  Hopefully...

Amanda

Busy Week

I can't believe that I haven't been able to keep up with this darn blog even when I'm not in school!!  Silly mama.  It's been a crazy week this week, and I'm so glad we have a weekend.  Granted, every day could be seen as a weekend day for me, but not really.  On Thursday Grace went to therapy and worked really hard!  But not that, she had a ton of fun, too.  She's always so good at listening to her therapists.  When I went to pick her up she was working on speech with her, and it was so wonderful to watch.  They were working in front of a mirror and putting the alphabet pieces back into a puzzle.  As they were working with the letters, the therapist would have her watch her mouth while she was shaping the sounds of the letters so that she could really focus on the sounds and mouth shapes.  After therapy was lovely nap time and time for me to come up with some cute Pinterest ideas for crafts and sewing projects.  The rest of the day was our typical playtime and rest of the evening.  On Friday she went to school and had a great time!!  She always loves going to school so much and I am so glad that she feels this way!  After school we all went to Idaho Falls to do some major grocery shopping.  Mama was craving chicken and we got a ton of fruits for green drinks and just side dishes with dinner.  I've got to get a lot better at making sure each food group is on the plate.  While we were at Sams Club Grace was so excited because Daddy decided to buy her a trampoline!! We have one of the huge trampolines, but we don't have anymore room in the backyard because of the garden, the storage shed, a section of lawn that Brad tilled for my own garden, and then a playhouse that Brad wants to build sometime this summer.  So Daddy got her her own trampoline that has the fenced in sides and everything :)  We had a great time putting it together out back after dinner (mango chicken over rice with strawberries, peas and green drink).

She's working so hard helping Daddy!!!

We are almost there!

Hurray!!  It's done and she's so excited!  It was so cute to see her jumping around in there.

And here's a random picture of Grace from today (Saturday!).  I have to return the one we bought her because the hem came out of the sleeve, so I made this.  It's not perfect, but I winged it without a pattern.  She JUST fell asleep as I was writing this (3:42 pm) after being put to bed at 12 am, and she's still in the outfit so that's great!!  

Grace and Daddy at Winco yesterday (Friday).  SO CUTE!!

And today (Saturday) we went to DI.  We didn't get anything, though I did have some things in the cart. We had a fun time but it was time to head home for lunch and bedtime!  We cleaned the garage and it looks so good!!  I pulled all the bikes to the front but of course, they all have flat tires.  So I'll have to either fix them all, patch or buy new ones, or take them in for tune ups because there's a lot of noises that shouldn't be happening!

And here's our sweet Grace.  I think it's so cute how she fell asleep, but I'll definitely have to go put her arm up or it's going to go to sleep!  If she would have gone to sleep 3 hrs ago, she could already be up and playing!

All in all, a great day...or past few days :)

Amanda

All Better

Grace is finally healthy, and was able to go to school today!  She had such a great time and was so excited to finally get to go.  She also got to pick up two books from the library and I just love seeing her come running towards me carrying her books out in front of her.  After school we went to Mommy's school to drop off all the textbooks!!  Hurray, I'm finally done with school!  Grace was pretty excited with me as well, and enjoyed celebrating with me.  Now it's 2:02 pm and she's supposed to be sleeping, but of course she's in there laughing and throwing her dolls around in her room!  But at least she's staying in bed :)  

We went to gymnastics yesterday and she had so much fun!  She did a great job and worked hard.  We'll be going again today to have a make up day for last week since she was sick.  It's going to be at 6 pm so we'll see what happens with all the distractions of the older kids! 

All in all, a good day so far :)  We get to see a friend later today and play so she's excited about that, and I'm feeling boatloads of relief that I'm not in 4 classes anymore.

Amanda

Same ol' same ol'

Grace is still getting over her bug so she didn't get to go to school today :(  Darnit.  But she's going to gym tomorrow no matter what!!!  And then school Wednesday no matter what!  We've got to get back into the swing of things :)  Otherwise, it was a good day.  We went out to Gringo's for dinner tonight and it's finally 9:17 pm and I'm beat.  Time to head to bed...

Goodnight world.

Amanda

Gymnastics Ribbon!

03/04/14

I forgot to post this picture!!  Grace got another ribbon from gymnastics today!!

Hurray!!!

Amanda

Painting!

Grace got a painting kit from Dado and Papa for Easter, and so she got to paint it last night!  She had so much fun :)

I should have kept the black closed, but oh well.  She got to paint with the colors she wanted. 

Thank you Dado and Papa!

Amanda

Silly Faces!!!

Grace is so fun, and she loves making silly faces :)  So of course I have to show them off!!  

What a silly girly :)  I don't think I need to describe the pictures...they are pretty obvious!

Amanda

New Blog Welcome Picture

I finally changed the welcome picture.  I was done seeing the one of Grace in the hospital.

Before....

After...

Amanda

Grace's Easter Present from Dado and Papa!

Grace was so excited to see that she had gotten a present from Dado and Papa!  It was a happy Easter present, and she thoroughly enjoyed opening it.  Mommy and daddy got something in there as well...2 word search books for me, 2 Sudoku books for Brad, a card, and a pack of sour gummy worms!  It's funny because I got Kailyn gummy worms for a "sour craving" gift and told Dado that I was going to eat them, and so she sent me a pack of them.  How sweet!  Ok, well now we are going to have an overload of pictures :)

Here she is enjoying opening her package.  She was super excited that she got one!  When I called out that she got one, she came charging down the hallways and grabbed the box from me.

Grace is showing us her super cute card :)  

 And here she is wearing the Dora hair barrette that she got in her package.

And here's her whole stash!  There is only one thing missing, and there's a reason for that.

Her beautiful porcelain doll that Dado and Papa had sent was broken... :(  I've never had anything break in the mail, and it was so sad!  So I wrote out a claim online and I'm hoping they will reimburse for the broken doll.

I fixed it but it's still not the same.

She's pretty, right?  Dado said that she saw this and it all of a sudden reminded her of Grace, and so she had to get it for her!  

Thank you Dado and Papa for the wonderful gifts for Grace, and Brad and me as well!!  It was so fun to get them.  Oh, and there was a big bag of pull tabs which is what we collect for the Ronald McDonald house charity.

Amanda