Fast Week

Sometimes I just can't believe how fast the weeks go by, like this week.  It's amazing to see the time fly by, and especially amazing when I realize it's been since Tuesday that I've last written!  There hasn't been much to share because Grace has been sick with a bug...one that really likes to have her nose look like a faucet.  Poor girly.  But it hasn't held her back at all!  She's still having a ton of fun playing, as usual :)  It's so nice that I don't get a crabby kid when she's sick.  It makes her going through her colds and sicknesses so much easier to deal with.

Well, I had this partially written up two days ago and now it's Saturday.  I'm just trying to quickly drop a line before heading to bed...it's 10:45 pm and I'm so tired!  I've got pictures of an Easter package from Dado and Papa, pictures of her painting, me fixing her ceramic doll that had we received from Dado and Papa that was broken on arrival, and so much more!  But for now, just words :)

Amanda

CIRCUS!!!!

We had so much fun with Lisa at the circus!!!  Here comes an overload of pictures :)

This camel was so cute!  It definitely didn't want to be on stage, but was such a good listener.  Grace was so excited to see the camel...well, pretty much everything!  2 hours of zoo fun and she sat quietly and didn't wander at all!  There were moments that she was scared because of the loud speaker that we didn't realize was right in front of us, but all in all, she did great!

So much fun!!  It was hard for Grace to see this because of the huge light that you see in the picture, but we moved here and there and she got to see most of it.

Fun clown!!!  I'm so glad she wasn't scared of him.  There was a bum clown that she wasn't too sure about, but she did wave to him.

SO MUCH FUN!!!  This is during the intermission and you can definitely see the happiness on Miss Grace's face :)

This was so much fun to me!!!  Of course Grace liked it as well.  These elephants were just so well trained and this was really a highlight for Grace and I.  

And this was the scariest for Grace and I both.  I was scared because of what could have happened if it went wrong, and the noises were really loud and Grace was nervous.  

All in all, it was an absolutely wonderful day.  Grace, Lisa and I had the most fun time, and I'm so glad Lisa came up with the idea to go there!!! 

Amanda

We are Home

Well, we are home.  We bought tires because I thought it would be horrible weather like it was on the way to Montana but it was beautiful weather the whole way home.  Figures!!  Oh well, though, we needed new tires anyways.  

Here's pictures of the weather on the way...

And here is our little Grace having fun in the back seat!

When she was doing this with her blanket, she was saying "See, Mom...see Mom...see Mom..." over and over and over!!!  She was extremely talkative, pretty much nonstop the entire trip!  She only fell asleep when we were about 45 minutes away from Brian and Lisa's house.

After we got there Grace got a super fun gift from Aunt Lisa and Papa Brian!

This is so cool!  Thank you guys so much :)  Grace absolutely loves this and uses it pretty much constantly.  It comes with books that you read and push the buttons along with it when the picture of the button comes up.  A great gift for Grace.

We had so much fun!!  Daddy, Devon and Brian went skiing while Lisa, Grace and Mommy stayed home and had so much fun.

Mommy and Lisa did a ton of this....

...while Grace did this....

Ok.  I helped with it but this is pretty much what she was always doing.  Playing with blocks, the animals, tons of toys in a box Lisa has for the kids that come play, watching cartoons, playing with Devon's dog, Ellie, and so much more!!  Oh, and we went to the circus but I'll make a post specifically for that.  

One of the days we had a girls day we went to the mall!  It was a lot of fun.  We had Chinese food for lunch from a super yummy place and then Grace got to play in the kid's play area for a while.  

We had a fun time walking around the entire mall, and Grace really enjoyed the Build a Bear Workshop!  

I so would have gotten her a bear but those darn things are so darn expensive.  I'll probably have her make one sometime but at this point...shew!

Here she is playing in the play place!  I like this area because they are soft play toys instead of being super hard like playgrounds outside.

She really likes this ladybug, as do I.  She had a great time playing :)

Well, that's all for this post!!  On to the Circus!!

Amanda

Fun Time

We are having a great time at Brian and Lisa's house!!  That's why I haven't written in so long :)  We left home on Thursday at 1 pm and headed up, and now it's 10 pm and we're settling down for the night.  We leave tomorrow morning to go back to life, and it's a bummer that it went by so fast!!!  Grace has had a great time but we've got to get her to go back to school and therapies and all that stuff, but I think she's getting sick!  oh no!  The darn weather and then probably her being around sick kids at school, it just doesn't help the situation.  

We went to the circus with Lisa!!  It was such a great time and will talk about it in another post, but for now, I figured I'd do a super quick recap.  Circus, Hobby Lobby, late nights, bananagrams, super yummy food, playtime and lots more :)

All in all, it's been a wonderful visit. I've thoroughly enjoyed being here and can't wait to see the family again for Memorial weekend.  

Amanda

The Pout-Pout Fish

I'm so sad to say that one of Grace's favorite books have met it's death.  I am so sad because she would ask for it all the time...over and over.  She'd sit in her room and read it by herself, have her home intervention therapist read it to her, and she'd talk to herself in bed about "Mis-ser Pout-pout Fish."  She had once again played with her diaper instead of just going to sleep for nap time, and so I had to wash all her blankets.  I didn't realize the book was wrapped in the blanket and didn't even think to look because she's not allowed to have anything in her bed with her!  So...as I opened the washing machine and saw the chunk of book, I wasn't happy.  :(  Poor Miss Grace...

It has been a relatively nice day today.  Brad and I are noticing that Grace has excessive emotion, energy, attitude...etc.  SO we are starting to wonder about ADHD, well, at least I am.  So Brad and I discussed it and we will be cutting out almost all sugar.  I'm not going to be super anal scouring every single nutrition label (ok, maybe I will), but there won't be any more candy, chocolate, ice cream, maple syrup, granola bars, sweet cereal (actually, the only cereal she'll eat is Post Spoon Size Shredded Wheat), cookies, honey, and cakes.  It's going to be hard because of my hectic schedule as it is, I don't know it I'm going to be able to homemake a lot of this stuff.  Homemade: granola bars, bread, spaghetti sauces, crackers, and...other things.  I'm still researching.  And then we had a surprise...or two surprises. Grace was in her room for about 1.5 hours, and so I thought she was perfectly fine, playing with toys or reading books.  But boy was I wrong.  I was deep into homework and out comes Grace... "Pooooop."  Dangit.  I won't go into details but Brad and I were SO frustrated.  I took a couple deep breathes and took her to the bathroom, took care of business, scrubbed down the bed and bed side guard, and got more laundry started.  I can't wait for the "body anti-strip suit" to get here.  We've tried everything we can think of...backwards zipped footie pajamas, taping the backwards zipped footie pajamas around her chest and covering the zipper, taping the diaper with duct tape some times and packing tape the other times, and having her wear socks on her hands so she can't manipulate the zipper.  So I've decided on buying some button up shirts and some pants and sewing the two pieces together.  So it will look like different outfits but they will actually all be one pieces.  Hopefully this will stop her from stripping and...  I will also be doing something like this with dresses as well.  I'll buy some dresses that actually fit her (her's are a little too small) and sew some legging into the bottoms of them so she can't just lift the dress.  Thank goodness for Deseret Industries!!!  That way, if this ends up not working, the shirts/pants are only costing me $2-3 each.

We still haven't gotten the catheters we're supposed to be using.  After our last visit to Primary Children's in Utah, we were told to catheterize every day with french 8 catheters (were using french 6 but they are too small).  I've contacted our supply company over and over and keep getting the same answer "it's backordered."  Ug.  What a pain.  So I'm really hoping we get them soon.

Shew...deep breath :)  New things coming up that we will have to deal with, but we will figure it all out.

Amanda

Gym and playtime

Today Grace had gymnastics and she did such a great job!!  She got to swing on the rings today and did such a fabulous job!  I was a little surprised to see just how well she could hold on.  Once again, girly has amazed me.  She had such a great time with her classmates and has a ton of fun doing all the activities each week.  It's so sad because her coach, Coach Cheyenne, might be going on a mission and so we are going to lose her as our fabulous coach!  Hopefully we will get someone that works really well with Grace.  There was a bounce house for the kids to jump in today but Grace has never liked jump houses, so it's ok that she didn't go in.  She enjoyed sitting next to coach while they watched the other kids jump and slide. 

After gym we had home intervention therapy.  I could definitely tell that Grace was tired because she was everywhere today, but even after all this hard work, she didn't nap!  After therapy we headed to Idaho Falls because Brad needed to pick up something for testing his breathing at night, and then we ran a couple more errands, and all that time she was still awake.  And then she didn't nap when I actually did put her down for nap at 2:30 pm.  4 pm came and I figured, "what's the point?"  So while Daddy went off with a neighbor to go help with some things, Grace and I went to Walmart to pick up some stuff for an Easter package for Allison and Andrea and some goodies for Kailyn!  After this we went by Taco Bell through the drive through and the car in front of us died, so a manager and another worker came out to help him push his way through the drive through.  Then I followed them to where they parked and asked if they needed a pull (of course they did).  So Brad came but good guy as he is, he got their car working again so we didn't have to pull them!

When we got home we ate our Taco Bell while watching "Racing Stripes" and then Daddy put Grace to bed!  Now it's 9:30 pm, we are tucked into bed but it looks like a Brad will be getting back up to spend some time with a neighbor.  So it will be just me in here :)  Girly movie, here I come!!!

Amanda

Grrr...

Well, Brad and I are both done with the naptime/bedtime diaper play.  I bought an "anti-strip" jumpsuit that will hopefully be here by Friday.  We'll see if that works out for this issue.  After having to bathe her for nap time, I spun her around in her footie pajamas as I wrapped her up with packing tape.  It worked for nap time, but not night time.  I did the same thing for bedtime and when I went to check on her at 10:30 pm, she was down to her diaper...ug.  I don't know what we're going to do if the jumper doesn't work.  I'm going bonkers with this.  It's been every day this past week...

Grace got to go to school for one last day before Spring break!!!  She was super excited to go to school and when I went to pick her up, I brought her teacher and aides caramel cinnamon rolls and orange juice to celebrate the beginning of Spring break.  Ms. Kim was SO excited!!  And Grace was so happy that I got her a donut as well.  We had our donuts...

And Grace was so excited!!!  The rest of the day we just hung out.  We went on a walk together and saw our friend Robert on the walk!!!  Grace was so excited to see him, and it was just so cute to see her get so happy, waving at her friend as they walked closer and closer to us.  What was the funniest is that she waved and just kept walking right by instead of stopping to talk to him!  I guess she was really enjoying her walk.  Panda Bear got to go with us and he had such a great time. :)

Later we took a picture together just because it was fun...

So cute!

All in all, a good day except for the nasty nap time stuff.  

Amanda

Fast Day

It seemed like a really fast day today.  We stayed in bed until about 10 am because we were all just being so lazy!  Grace came to bed with us about 8:30 and we all just snuggled until Grace started pulling hair and slapping...she could just say that she's hungry!  After breakfast we got dressed to go run at the outdoor track at the school as well as run the stadium bleachers, but it was so darn cold that we only made it two laps around (1/2 mile) and so we went to the stadium bleachers.  There was an old man going up and down over and over.

Brad and I tried out the BYU-I stadium bleachers today. 3 times later...we're beat (up and down=1). Then we look over at this guy...he's easily 60+ years old...soaked in sweat and chugging along with his walking sticks. I asked him what number he was on...96 (up and down=1). WOW. What an inspiration. He said, "I did 120 Thursday and 105 Friday...I have done this for 2 years." WOW again. He also said, "This is a great workout for moms. It burns calories fast and it's easy...I've lost 60 pounds. Don't give up." I won't, bleacher climber, I won't.

That is the post I put onto Facebook today about the old man.  What a great guy he was!  

After this we headed back home, Grace got lunch and then we put her to bed...oh boy.  About 4 pm I went in to find a chocolate baby.  Yuck...I won't go into details, but I'll say it's the worst that I've ever seen.  So very quickly it was bath time and laundry time :(  

After this we played at home for awhile but then we all started going stir crazy and so we went to Albertsons to turn in some monopoly cards we have for the game going on.  I doubt we'll win anything, but it's fun trying :)

I'm telling you, this day went by fast!  We got home and watched a TV show while having dinner and then very quickly, as I was finishing up an assignment and Grace was coming in from playing outside with daddy, it was bedtime!  So I tucked her into bed, read her a book "The Way I Feel" and now she's in there talking herself to sleep!

It's 8:40 pm, all my homework for the rest of this week and a lot for my psychology class for next week is done, and so we are going to go watch some TV together (Brad and I).  It will be nice to not be taking 4 classes soon.  I'll just have one math class and I can handle that course load.  It will be a nice break.

Amanda

Goodbye Grandma/Grandpa

Today grandma and grandpa Hildreth had to go home after the nice visit we had.  They were going to a family birthday dinner and so they had to meet up with everyone going to the dinner at 5:30.  It was such a nice visit!!!  And Grace was so absolutely excited the entire time that they were here, and it was so sad for her that they went home.  But we'll see them again soon once the snow melts and we can travel :)

Grace had a great day at school today.  She always has so much fun at school and today was especially fun because she got to go to the library and check out two new books!  SO FUN!  I love walking into the library and seeing her getting her books scanned by the librarian.  She looks like such a big girl resting her head on her arms while she watches the librarian check out books.  I wonder if she ever wanders around the library and pulls all the books off like she does at the city library?  I'll have to ask!

The rest of the day went well.  At 7 I left to go work out at the gym and Kenna and Jarik came over to hang out for awhile, so Grace was happy to see them.  I got home about 8:45 pm, put Grace to bed and then we went downstairs to watch Frozen with the kids.  They left about 10:10 pm and now here I am at 10:52 pm getting ready to shut down for the night and say goodnight!

Amanda

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today was Brad's birthday and it was so fun to see Grace so darn excited.  Grandma and Grandpa Hildreth came to visit!  They got here yesterday and so Grace has been absolutely wired continuously because of all the excitement involved with family coming just to see her!  At least that's what she thinks. Anyways, we had a special birthday breakfast for Daddy this morning.  Sausage/cheese/eggs with hash browns and juice.  Then Grace got to go to gymnastics and did a fabulous job there, and her therapist didn't come to the house so she got to watch her Pirate cartoon while I worked on some homework and made lunch.  The grandparents and Daddy had went to visit some family in Rigby and so I had time to get lunch done before they got back.  We had spaghetti and oranges for lunch and boy oh boy was it yummy!  Fast forward a few hours (after nap time and homework time) and it's time for birthday dinner!  We all went to Applebees and it was so yummy!  It was the grandparents, Brad, Grace, me, Ryan and Skyler and Mariah.  It was nice to have a big group celebrating Brad's special day.  Grace had a great day and was so happy that she got to have her own "kid's meal."  And it was so absolutely huge that she brought most of it home!  I also brought mine home because the first dish I got had a hair in it, and so by the time I got the second one I was full.  Yuck...a hair.  Bleh.  

After the super yummy meal came... CHERRY CHEESECAKE!!!  Happy birthday Daddy :)  

All in all it was a great day.  Grace girl has been super hyperactive since grandma and grandpa Hildreth came and it's cute...but also overwhelming!  I love her being so happy because it's so much different than her usual "bored" self.  Grandma and Grandpa leave tomorrow and she's going to be so sad to see them go.  But I can't wait for Spring because that means traveling and seeing family.  And she's been asking to go to the cabin almost...every day actually.  I love that she loves it!!  It really is a magical place and the fact that family is there makes it even better.

I love you Grace girl.  I know I don't write every day but that doesn't mean we aren't having exciting times or that I'm forgetting.  I've got a lot of schooling and since it's almost the end of the semester, things are really stacking up.

You're my sweet girl and I couldn't and wouldn't ask for any other little girl :)

Love, 

Mommy

Warm/Cold day

I can't believe how different the weather can be in one day.  Grace went to school this morning and it was pretty cool!  While she was at school I went to workout and I had to wear my jogging outfit.  After I was done I still had to wear it back to the car because of how cold it was.  I picked up Grace and then we came home for a little while.  By then it was warm enough that she could be out riding her tricycle!  We went to Walmart after a while and got Grace a helmet, elbow/knee pads and gloves so she can be so much safer on her tricycle.  This thing tips if you sneeze towards it, so until we can find something better, this is what she's going to have to use.  

Very quickly came lunchtime and then nap time, but hm...no nap today?!  We actually headed out to Idaho Falls to run some errands, and so we had a super chatty, super tired and rambunctious girly that did all she could to stay awake!  IT was a tough trip for her with how tired she was.  But we finally got home about 4:30 pm and thankfully, she fell asleep on the way home, so she got her little catnap in.  The rest of the evening went pretty slow and with no exciting things to do.  Normal play, horseback rides, doll house and her Pirate kids show.  Then cam dinnertime and bedtime!  And now it's 9:49 pm and I'm writing on here!  Tomorrow we don't have any plans...we'll see what comes.  Going hiking would be nice but we'll have to see how the weather is.  Supposedly it's going to snow tonight, so we'll see.

Amanda

Busy Days

Well, yes, today is Thursday and I haven't written since Monday.  Darnit.  But oh well, I do the best I can.

Tuesday Grace had gymnastics and then home intervention therapy, and everything went well with this. G race did great with her bum drops, climbing up onto the vault and then jumping off, and when she went into the pit, it as so cute because one of her little class friends tried to help pull her out of the pit!

Wednesday she had school, and she was absolutely so excited about it!  Today was library day and I have to say, I think she likes this day the best out of all three school days.  We also have our weekly play days with Robert and Jordan, and this is another thing that Grace really enjoys!  It went really well this week, too, so that doesn't hurt!

And then there's today :)  Today was therapy day and Daddy got to take her to therapy so I could complete an online meeting for school.  She had so much fun and when he went to get her and they were walking up the front steps afterwards, it was so cute to hear her talking to Daddy as they climbed the stairs.  She is such a big girl now and I'm SO happy she's doing so well!!  After nap time Grace and I went on a run and I'm SO excited!!  I went 5 miles and it took me 1 hour.  Grace was in the jogging stroller and fell asleep after awhile, so I never had to worry about her trying to climb out or anything.  It was so fulfilling to actually get through that run, and I even went uphill past the school towards the Temple and then down Temple road (that's not what it's really called but I don't know the name of it).  Near the end of course there had to be a train blaring it's horn and it woke Grace up, but I'm really glad it didn't scare her.  Then quickly came dinner (mashed potatoes, pears, banana, broccoli and elk).  YUMMY!  And it was amazing to see just how fast the time went by!  Bedtime came while I was doing homework and Daddy was playing with Grace (Lincoln Logs) and it was so darn cute watching them play!  They made letters with the logs, Daddy showed Grace how to make a hat (made a square out of lincoln logs) and then turn it into a frame around her face.  I loved watching them, and it was really hard to focus on my homework.  And it was so great to see her actually putting the pieces together correctly and she kept going, "...and dis one goes here...and dis one goes here...and dis roof goes here..."  It was SO CUTE!  She was so focused on playing with Daddy and it was beautiful to see.

Ok, that's all for now.  It's 10:10 pm, I've gotten way ahead in my PSYCH 201 class so that I have less work in the coming weeks, and I have about 2.5 weeks left before all my classwork is open and...if I push hard, I can hopefully get done early so I can have that many more days of freedom!

Goodnight, all :)

Amanda

Fun Monday

Today Grace got to go to school!  She just loves school, and I'm so glad that she loves school.  The time change was a bit difficult for me this morning and so she got to school a bit late, but that's ok.  I got to walk into class with her and that was really nice.  She went right over to her cubby and hung up her jacket, and then I helped her hang up her backpack.  And then she got to wash her hands and she said, "Mom, tum on.  Dotta wash yer hands."  But I said, "I am going, Grace!  You get to stay and have fun at school."  And then off I went.  They are learning about Dinosaurs this week and the letter D.  So cute!

While she was at school Daddy and I went to the college and lifted weights for a while.  We'll be doing this Monday, Wednesday and Friday and then I will be going running Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  I've got my 10k coming up as well as the half marathon, so I gotta keep up!  After working out for a while we headed home for a quick protein boost and then I got to go pick up Grace.  She is always so excited to see me after school and will come running to me.  People probably think we look silly but I don't care.  I'm bending down towards her with my arms all the way out and a super goofy smile on my face, and she yells out "MOM!!!!!!" and comes running to me the same exact way :)  This is what I live for!  And this is why I drop her off and pick her up from school.  Because I just love seeing her so happy to be going to school and then seeing me afterwards.  

We went to Walmart to get some gelatin, 100% grape juice concentrate, creatine and protein powder.  So now Brad and I will have creatine before we work out and then the protein afterwards.  That will be helpful.  I also got Brad some reading glasses, a knee brace for me since I'm having a lot of knee pain when I jog/workout.  

Anywho, after we got home it was lunchtime/naptime, and then I worked on homework.  Dinner was homemade lasagna, creamed corn, and water, and then dessert was a Reeses peanut butter heart!  While we were all at the table still we had FHE, and then we went to the school track to walk around for a while.

After coming home I quickly made some fruit snacks, and then it was off to bed for Grace!

Now it's 9 pm and Brad and I are at a loss at what we want to do!  He has a movie he wants to watch but I'm not into watching movies about war and the military, so I think I'll start looking for colleges that offer master degree online programs and also try to find some good scholarships.

Amanda

Oh Boy, Diapers

My girly just loves going through diapers during sacrament!  We had to leave sacrament 3 times to get a fresh diaper on!  Shew :)  But I don't care.  Everyone knows about Grace and how difficult it is for her to learn how to potty and so I don't worry about anyone and what they might be thinking.  And then there was one more time during primary, but that's ok.  It was fun seeing her in between her classes :)  And she had such a great time in her primary class!  She got a little card that her teacher made that says "I can be reverent during sacrament" and it has a little picture of a girl with moveable arms that makes her fold her arms for prayer.  The next thing she got was a little booklet her teacher made that said "I can pray for others" and then it has all sorts of things that she can pray for in it.  And then she got a bag with "Dear Heavenly Father...I thank thee...I Please bless...In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."  And then it has a whole bunch of little cut outs of pictures that Grace can pray for.  Her teacher is so wonderful and has done such a great job with Grace!

After church Grace had raviolis for lunch and then off to bed she went!  Now it's 4:20 pm and that little one didn't fall asleep until 3 pm, so I'm probably going to let her sleep a but later.  All in all, a good day so far!

Amanda

Cold Day and a Friend!

Boy oh boy was it cold today.  Grace and I are so ready for the sun to come out and to stay out!!  We looked out her window after nap time today and just longed to be out there playing and running around!  Thankfully Spring is March 20th and I'm hoping with that comes the sun.  So all we did today was preschool and then went to DI, but we didn't find anything fun there.  Grace didn't actually ever nap, so we were up at 3 pm which meant a long day.  It went surprisingly fast, though, because Grace got to have her friend Sabrina over!!  I got to get some homework done while they played and then really quickly came dinner time and then bedtime!  Shew.  Sometimes days go by really slowly, but then there are other days that go incredibly fast.  This afternoon was one of the incredibly fast days.

But now here I am at 9:30pm, should be doing homework and instead, I'm watching Switched at Birth and writing on here..this writing is SO much more important than homework!!

Ug...I can't wait for school to be over.  That way I can spend time with Grace and Daddy without having to worry about my darn homework getting in the way because of my mind being swamped with due dates, exams and other stuff.  

I love you Grace!  

I have been trying to work on Grace's Supplemental Needs Trust, Letter of Intent, and Will.  It's a lot of work, tons of paperwork, and I'm at the point now where I'm trying to find a lawyer that works specifically for clients with special needs children.  I'm really hoping to find one soon.

Amanda

Oh Grace Girl

I love you bunches, sweet girl :)  And you are so darn cute that I just love you to bunches!  We had an awesome day today.  You went to therapy for 3 hours so I got to get some homework done, and then it was nap time (so more homework time) and then when you got up you were as sweet as a bunch of flowers!!  Daddy wanted to go get some firewood so we all packed into the truck to head over and get some.  I put up your hair and you looked so darn cute!!  You got a scarf from Ronald McDonald house and so you got to wear this, as well as your big brown jacket.  It was so darn cute to see you in that scarf!  Well, these pictures aren't the ones with the scarf, obviously, but I thought they were too cute to not share!  She's helping put the dishes away.

  I am going to have to make you some because that scarf really complimented you...all of you!  It was so darn cold when we went to get logs that you were out with me for a little bit, but then you were SO ready to get back into the truck!  So I tucked you into the truck, put a blanket on you, and you sat toasty warm while we collected some logs.  It was so cute to see you poking your face over your carseat while you were looking out the trunk.  And it was so fun talking to you.  You kept asking me where dad was, and so I would say, "Daddy is cutting up so much wood so we can take it home and get warm."  

"Daddy cutting wood?"

"Yeah!  SO much wood!!"

"He's so busy?"

"Yes.  But he'll be back soon, ok?"

"Ok.  Is COLD ou-side!  Brr...I fweezing."

"That's why you are inside the truck!  I want you to stay nice and warm, ok?"

"O-tay.  Is time to go home?  Brr...Are we detting a-yot of wood to tate home?"

"Yep, we sure are.  It is so heavy!"

I love having conversations with Grace.  It is so wonderful.  And we have so many conversations that it's just so wonderful.

I love you Grace!

Mommy

Gymnastics day!

Grace did so well in gymnastics today!  She even got a ribbon because she did so well :)  I love watching her, and she does such a great job.  There were tests today to see what all the kids have accomplished and Grace got the "bear crawl" marked off.  She got a rainbow participation award, which is just amazing.  It's so fun because all the moms are starting to connect together and we talk a lot, cheer each other's kids on, and the kids are starting to look to all the moms for praise.  It's like we are the "gym moms" but aren't as crazy as the "dance moms" on TV.  I hope that this little group goes on together, but I don't know if that will happen.  The kids are all at different levels and there are many kids that are way ahead of Grace, so they might go ahead in a different class.  

I can tell that she's going to have some trouble in gymnastics.  She's got the hypotonia (weak muscles) and so it's really hard for her to do some of the activities.  Pulling herself up onto the bar and locking her arms is really hard, as well as lifting her feet up to the bars when she's hanging down off of the bar.  Anything with the bars is really hard.  But she'll get there.  I think we'll start some strength training at home, and when it gets warmer, we will definitely go to the park and work on it.  That's for sure!  We have a board here that I will set up for walking along the beam as well.  It's a bit wider than a beam and so it might mess her up a little bit, but at least she'll have more practice with standing on the beam.  Oh, and it doesn't help that her spine was messed with in surgery when she was 6 months ago.  That probably effected muscle growth as well.  She jumped into the foam pit today off the trampoline too!  Usually she gets to the end of the trampoline, drops down onto her butt and then slides in, but today she jumped!  I was so excited!!

So, great day so far.  Now she's working with her therapist here at home and I'm supposed to be doing homework, but it's hard to focus.  

Yesterday she stayed home from school because she still had a runny nose, and I didn't want her passing it on.  So we just messed around at home, and later in the evening we went to run on the track to get her energy out!  She does so well with her running and she's getting so much faster!  

Grace has started sleeping in her baby bed again.  It was just for nap but now she keeps asking for it for night time bed.  She's also undressing herself.  At first we would fight it, but she doesn't mess with her diaper and so we've just given in.  We just make sure it's extra warm in her room and that she has enough blankets.  I don't know if it's a sensory thing of the little rash that she's got around her diaper (I hope she's not getting to be sensitive) but we'll just keep letting her be naked as long as she doesn't start being gross with her diaper.

All in all, a good day so far :)  We get to have a friend over today to play, and then we'll go grocery shopping and Grace can get a cookie from the bakery.  We were supposed to start home preschool but I ended up choosing to clean out the closet in her school room and that was a more daunting task then I thought it would be...so we will push off school for a little while.

Amanda

Sick Sunday

We are staying home from church today because Grace has a yucky runny nose, and Brad isn't feeling good either.  I could have gotten through it but since Brad doesn't feel good, he slept in and so I'm taking care of Grace.  I don't like when Brad gets sick because he is always down for the count when he gets sick.  Grace is in front of the computer right now watching a Care Bears movie.  She has been insanely almost too much clingy this morning, and so she needed time to relax.  As did mommy.  I dumped out 4 cans of flour in hopes of making cinnamon rolls but the flour smells so much like tin that I have to let it air out for about 4 days...darnit.  So that stinks because I was actually in the mood to bake!  This flour is from the church cannery and it really disappoints me that it's like this.  It's only 4 years old.  So I definitely won't be relying on the church cannery anymore.

I wrote a letter to my brother, and he calls it stalking and harassment.  I am trying to see if he will get over himself after 9 years of not talking to me and will be a part of Grace's life, but it's sounding like he's being super childish still.  That's too bad.  It doesn't upset me because I prepared myself for something like this, but it's disappointing in the fact that he's going to let whatever he is mad about break up a sibling group that used to be so strong.

I made split pea soup last night and Grace chowed on it!  She really liked it!  And then for dessert I made quinoa chocolate muffins.  They don't need any flour, and so that's good!  Grace loved them and so did we, so I'll probably be making these again.  I'm hoping the kids will come over tonight for dinner (it's been planned but could change if Brad isn't feeling any better) because we are going to have chili, cornbread and the cupcakes that I made.  The only bad thing is that the deflated in the middle, but everyone online said that happens, so I'm not upset by it.

I can't wait for school to be over.  I've got 6 more weeks and I'm just SO ready to be done.  Last night I organized my fabrics and patterns and decided what I will make for Grace with which fabric.  If everything happens how I plan, I will have used up most of my fabric (the cotton, anyways) on clothes for Grace.  I still have a ton of fleece and flannel but people really don't want to buy anything that I'm offering to make, and so it just sits in the closet.  And I can only make so many blankets for Grace.  I was hoping to be able to get enough money for another year of gymnastics ($288) from the blankets, but I'll have to get it another way.  We only do gymnastics from September-May because the summer we are traveling so much that it's not worth it to pay for the summer.  It's going to make it hard for her to move up in classes but because we are doing this more for experience and therapy, I'm not expecting her to go up in levels really fast.

Well, I think that's all for now.  I don't really want to do any homework right now but I know I should at least start, so I better get to it while Grace is watching her movie.  Oh!  Grace can get into 4h in September!  I don't know if she's going to be able to handle the curriculum so I might not put her in, but I really want her to be able to be involved in things for her age group even if she's not there developmentally.  But then I have to wonder...will it be worth it for her?  And will she be able to do any of the work, or will I be the one doing it all?  We'll see.

Amanda

Sick, Sick

I can't wait for summer just because Grace won't be sick!  We are all sharing something...she has the runny nose and last night it was the bark cough, Brad has pretty much been sleeping non-stop because of feeling so rotten, and I've got the yucky nose and a slight sore throat.  Darnit!  Spring is March 20th and I can't wait for that.

She didn't get to go to school today because of the runny nose, so we hung out in bed for quite a while this morning and then was lazy around home.  We had to run to the school to get a prescription and so we went to the track as well (while Daddy stayed home to sleep), and we walked 2 miles together.  Grace was so fast!  I didn't take the jogging stroller and so we just got to walk/run around together.  It was fun.

Naptime was nice because I got some homework done and got in about a 5 minute nap, and then we went to Idaho Falls to get gas and go to Chuck-o-Rama for dinner.  It was a nice day for all of us not feeling very well.

Amanda

Last Day of Gym makeups

We've been going to gymnastics 2 times a week for the past month because we missed all last month, and today was the last day.  It was a tough day for Grace just because there are more distractions and she doesn't have her helper, so I went out with her.  One good thing?  She walked on the tall balance beam by herself!  Her coach was holding onto the noodle that grace was holding onto and that was the only support Grace had.  Pretty impressive!  So she had school and then gym, and then time at home.  

Just a short note today.  I'm super tired so I'll read for a little bit and then head to bed.  I can't wait to be done with school.  It really takes a toll on me.  I feel like I'm 50 instead of 27.

Shew.

Amanda

Busy busy busy

I can't believe it's almost been a week!  Time has just been flying by and so now I'm here, with a minute to spare and so I figured I'd catch up.  We went to Utah Thursday-Saturday and everything went pretty well.  Dr. Hoffman said her eyes look great and we'll be going back June 21st.  And her bladder is growing and is almost the size that is typical for her age, but the bladder does contract sometimes on it's own.  So she might have to us medication later in life, but for right now, she's doing great!  And all her other organs look good as well, so it was a good trip.  She got so much stuff from the hospital and the Ronald McDonald House.  She got a big princess doll after her bladder pressure test, and she got a blanket/bear when we checked out of the House.  She also got another teddy bear from a friend we have there that works as housekeeping, a dress that a volunteer made for anyone, a doll with a crochet dolled that turns into a purse, a fishing game from the friend as well, and a toy set (purse, bracelet, hair clips) from checkout of the house.  TONS of stuff!  Oh, and she got a super beautiful twin size quilt from the friend as well :)  Grace is super spoiled.

We stayed an extra night because Brad and I were both so tired that we didn't want to risk driving home.  Of course we had to lose the key to the bedroom and so we had to pay $5 for a replacement.  Darnit!  

Church was tough on Sunday!  Grace was just a super wiggle worm and really tired, and so she was non stop moving and making noise.  She was brought to me out of second hour because of this and so I went back in with her to sit through the rest of the time, and then I had to go back in with her for third hour because she couldn't sit still.  Right when we got home she didn't even want lunch...she just fell right to sleep!  And she even asked to go to bed!

Today was the same way.  She went to school this morning and loved it as usual, and then we went to run some errands afterwards.  By the time we got home she got undressed and asked to go to sleep.  Literally, she said, "Mom, time for bed.  I go to bed."  She's started sleeping without clothes on and I'm ok with it because she's not gotten into her diaper, so that's good.  So I put her into the pack 'n play and she went right to sleep!  She slept until almost 4 and then while I was cleaning her room, she saw her friend Robert out front!  So we went outside to play for a while, and then came in, had some cereal, and now she's watching Super Why while I write this.  I had just finished up getting FHE ready for tonight so now we'll have dinner and then have FHE :)  And then bedtime and then homework time for me.

Amanda

Almost a Week

I can't believe it's been so long.  Well, actually, I can.  School has been insanely busy, we've been getting ready for Grace's appointments down in Utah, keeping the house up and getting to all Grace's activities.  Not that it's excessive.  I'm just needing to remember about priorities and scheduling.  

Grace did GREAT at gymnastics today!  She did every activity, and what's better?  She has a new helper and they worked great together!  Tumbles, swinging on ropes, jumping into the foam pit, playing with a parachute, walking on balance beams...WOW.  She did fabulous on the balance beams.    She was even able to jump on the short balance beam.  And on the tallest one she held onto a pool noodle, way above her head, and walked all the way across without too much help!  Her helper was very softly holding around her waist.  What a wonderful job she did.

After gymnastics was home intervention therapy, and she enjoyed this as well!  Her home intervention therapist is so sweet to Grace and Grace just loves having her over to play.  She was so sad when Alyssa had to leave today to go see another client.  She kept saying, "please play wis me?"  "Peas?  P-yay wis me?"  And then Alyssa said she'd come next week and Grace said, "ok.  Bye!  See you yater!  Bye bye baby in the tummy!"  And then she ran up and rubbed Alyssa's stomach.  Grace is such a sweet girl and I'm so glad I'm hers!!

Next came lunch and then nap time...or should I say playtime in the pack and play.  Grr.  And then we had a friend over :)  We were supposed to do preschool but I had to drop this for a while.  Just need to get through this semester.  I am on the verge of a couple grades going to B+ so I need to keep up.

Grace, as usual, loves playing with her friends!  they didn't stay too long because of dinner and things like that.  Quickly came pancakes with chocolate chips, eggs with sausage and juice for dinner.  Then a visit from Skyler and Mariah, and then a Care Bears movie!!  Hurray!

She went to bed super early...7:20 pm.  No nap means early bedtime.  And she was fine with it.  She's getting to be such a good girl about getting eye drops.  I have been giving them to her because of the growth on her eye.  The redness is going away but the growth is still there.  But that's ok.  We're getting it checked on Friday.

And now here I am shoveling through homework...well, after I finish this post :)

Amanda

Already Wednesday

I can't believe the days have gone by so fast!!  Already the middle of the week and no more school for Grace until next Wednesday!  Today she got to have a Valentine's Day party with her class!!  It was so great and she had such a wonderful time.  Of course I didn't know it was today...I thought it was Friday.  So when I went to drop her off and her teacher said, "Grace, did you bring your Valentine's Day cards?"  AH!!  So Brad and I raced out to Broulims and got cards, candies and a box of 10 100% juice containers and rushed back to her school.  We were in the front office getting the cards taped to the candies and the receptionist was helping us and then off we went to her room...well, there are a LOT more kids then I thought!  So we raced back to Broulims to get another box of juices and then got back to the school just in time :)  Shew!  We stayed to watch the class pass out cards/candy and it was so cute watching Grace!  She had such a great time and I can tell she loves all the friends in her class.  There was a little boy walking around and his name is Flash, and when she saw him she started following him and saying, "Hi, Flash.  Hi!"  And she was waving at him, too.  So cute :)  She's such a wonderful friend.

Oh, she went to gymnastics as well.  It was a super distracting day because there is a preschool going on at the same time and they had the rainbow parachute out, but she did the best she could when it came to listening to her teachers.  There was a little girl in the waiting area for the parents before class started...and I'm talking maybe 16 months old, if that.  Grace went up to her and very softly pet her on the head, stroking her a couple times, and then softly pat her on the back and said, "Hi baby" really softly.  It was so cute to watch her.  She is the most gentle girly I've ever seen.

So I have a friend that let my try out some essential oils and pills that she thought would help with my mood swings.  Well, I've taken them the past two days and I haven't had any problems!  Now, I don't know if that's because I'm on my normal high for my bipolar or what, but I've actually enjoyed the past two days.  So if this goes on for a while week I will most definitely be investing in essential oils/pills.  Knock on wood!  Grace has been super calm as well and so I know for certain that how she acts is because of how I'm acting.  And this gives me even more of a reason to keep on these items.  It's good so far!

Amanda

Just a Day

It's been a frustrating day.  I don't like that there are so many frustrating days in my weeks.  It makes it seem like the dark days will never end, you know?  Like, you see a bit of glimmer and think that everything is going really well, and then BAM!  Like, I can be holding Grace and she's being so loving, soft and kind and listening while I talk with Brad and then BAM!  She lashes out and grabs my glasses and rips them off my face.  What the heck?!  I don't understand how she can be so normal one minute and then randomly do something like that.  Like when she's deep in play with her dolls and then, as if someone whispered in her ear of what to do, she jumps up, walks over to me and slams the dishwasher closed while I'm loading it.  I wasn't engaging her at all but randomly she does this.  I don't get it!!  Or she'll be watching her show on the computer while I'm on my laptop on the couch, and BAM!  She climbs down off the chair, walks over, and slams her hands on the keyboard.  I DON'T GET IT.  And it's so frustrating, and draining, and it makes me sad.  Today was a fine day until she grabbed my glasses.  Now it's a bad day where she's going to bed, but she's not in bed because she's screaming at her door, slamming her hands into the door, and then crying for ice cream.  I want days like this to stop happening.  I want her to be able to mellow out, understand how communication and conversation works, and how to act appropriately in every day life.  Sometimes I'm so confused about how I'm supposed to teach her, and why things have to be so hard for her to comprehend.  I haven't had her sit on the potty this week because it's just so frustrating that she won't listen to me when I ask her to sit and stay.  I don't want to have to clean up anymore messes because she got up and walked around before she was done.  I want her to just be able to listen and realize, "oh, if I walk around I'll make a mess."  I haven't had her dress herself because it is such a fight, such a huge battle, and she sits there staring at me with a sly grin and repeats "huh?  Huh?" over and over and over.  She's now regressed to eating with her hands, as messy as she can, and our super cheesy (lets show her she's not upsetting us) voices are asking her to please use her fork, and we are showing her how to do it, and helping hand over hand.  But she stares at us while she reaches onto her plate, grabs a handful and shoves it in her mouth. 

I am really not understanding what's going on, and I'm really tired of having my patience always tested.  Most of the time I fail and it's so frustrating that I can be this super calm, patient, loving and accepting mother about all that she's been given to suffer through.  And it is suffering, but at this point, it's more us that are suffering because we are so clueless as to how to help her.

I want a day where it's a completely good day.  I don't want to be hit over and over, I want her to use a utensil, help dress herself, stay on the potty, lay right down for her nap, not take her diaper off and smear feces everywhere, and I want to be able to ask her "How was your day?" after preschool and have an actual response, not just "huh?"

Amanda

Shopping Saturday

We had such a good, fun and exciting day today!!!  Grace and I went to DI this morning around 10 am and after some wandering around, we bought a twin bed for her!  Just the headboard and footboard set.  It's absolutely beautiful, and Grace is SO excited!  It has 4 posts which really makes it look like a princess bed, and she has to really reach hard to get up into the bed.  But I put a stool in her room by her bed so that she could get up easily.  It's so fun to see her so excited about a new bed!  I can't count how many times she said "I have a BIG GIRL'S BED!!!"  It was just so darn cute.  

Other than DI, we didn't do much else today.  It was a beautiful day but I really don't want Grace getting sick, and so we don't go outside very often.  Grace got up from nap (she slept in her pack and play) around 4 and then we watched a movie together while I worked on some paperwork for a will for Grace.  Then came dinnertime...peanut butter chocolate chip pancakes!!  After this came some playtime!  Grace and I played with her dollhouse for about half an hour and it was so fun because she's getting much better at "pretending" with the dolls.  She makes them "tap, tap, tap" their feet as they are "walking" in the house, she has them hug/kiss, and one time she even put a dolls hand up to pet the pretend kitty without me even prompting her!  I was so proud of her and almost cried.  Ug, what a sappy mama :)  After playing for a while we read together and then she got to watch Magic School Bus because I had an exam for psychology that was due by 9 pm.  

Now it's 10:20 pm, Grace finally quieted down for the evening, I'm finished with homework, and we are probably going to get some ice cream and head to bed to watch a movie :)  Tomorrow is church!  And Grace is so excited about that!!

Amanda

So Busy

We are still so busy.  Grace has been doing well except for the fact that she's been undressing herself again during naptime and painting the walls.  It is so frustrating when this happens!  We have started using cool water when we have to wash her after this in hopes that she will understand that it is NOT fun to be washed with cool water.  I really hate that we have to do it but we have to find something that will work.  Grace loves going to school still and always asks what we are going to do.  She's getting pretty good at guessing what each day is going to bring!  And for the most part, she get's it right.  We went to the library and grocery shopping after preschool this morning and she got to get a cookie from the bakery!  She knows now that we will be getting a cookie when we go to the grocery store.  Today wasn't such a good day for shopping, though, because she was super fidgety and kept disobeying what I would ask her.  So for the first time ever she got a timeout in the grocery store!!

In the end, it didn't work.  She was still super rambunctious, touching all the groceries in the cart, and then looking back at me to see if I was getting frustrated.  We'll see if I take her next time!!  A while ago we pained snow but I don't know if I posted a picture of it so I will now!

So cute!!  All in all, it was a pretty good day.  Last night for dinner we had quinoa burgers and they were so amazing!  I cooked quinoa and then added tons of seasoning, bread crumbs, ground flaxseed, and egg.  Mixed all that together and made patties out of them, and we had these with double fiber English muffins smeared with avocado and a light spread of cream cheese.  It was fabulous!  Grace even loved it.  I made hers into scrambled eggs instead of a patty because I knew it would be easier for her to eat, and she wolfed it down so fast!  Tonight we had bison alfredo with egg noodles, sun dried tomatoes, peppers from the garden that were dehydrated, and we had broccoli on the side.  Grace is starting to enjoy eating "trees" and so I'm pretty excited about that.

Tomorrow is Saturday :)  I don't know what we will do but I know for sure that I've got homework that will need to get done.  We'll see what else there is.

Amanda

Busy Day

Today was such a busy girl day!  It was a blistering, freezing and insanely bitter -7 this morning when we drove to school and I was so close to just staying home and having all of us snuggle down into the covers, but school is important.  So she went to school and I got some homework done, and then after school she got to go to gymnastics!  We get to go 2x a week this month because we missed all of January.  She did pretty good today.  It was really distracting because there were 3 different classes out in the gym, but Grace did really well.

After this came lunch time and I was hoping bedtime, but Grace decided it was play time instead.  So after a while I kept doing homework and Brad took Grace out front to play in the snow!  Then our new fridge, washer and dryer came :)  It's now 9 pm and the fridge is put in place and filled, the washer is in place but the dryer is still being worked on, and the old things are over at the townhome!  Oh, yeah, we bought a townhome for rent income but for now, Skyler and Mariah are living there.  It's so wonderful having them so close :)

So grace just went to bed and I can still hear her in there talking.  I was supposed to go for a run tonight but I'm being lazy.  Silly me.  Grace LOVED having Sky and Mariah here because it's always a party when they are here. 

A great day!!

Amanda

Back to Our Normal Schedule

We are finally getting back to our normal schedule.  It's really nice to be getting back to life without crazy Utah doctor trips, wedding receptions and other travels or whatever.  Grace went to gymnastics today and did so well!!  She did every single thing she was supposed to today.  I was so proud of her trying her best.  I am always so proud of her.  

After gymnastics we headed home and had lunch, and then I had an appointment at the same time Brad had an eye appointment and so she got to go with me!  She was such a good girl in the doctor's office and watched Pooh Bear while I talked with my doctor.  Just a check-up.  No worries!  

Naptime came, homework time came with that, and then we all went to Walmart after to just get out of the house and see other live people.  

Brad and Grace had a wonderful time cuddling while I did homework, and then she went to bed at 8:45 pm.  They were enjoying their cuddling so much that I wasn't going to push her to go to bed on time.  But now it's 10:20 pm and she's still awake.  Gr..

Silly girl.  I love her so much.

Amanda

Healing!

Grace has been healing so nicely.  Her eyes are almost clear again and, while she's still extremely hyperactive, I think it's just because we've been in the house for so long healing.  So thankfully school is tomorrow, and then Tuesday we are meeting with two new children to see if they will be compatible with Grace.  I posted on Facebook that I'm looking for people with children of similar ages so that we can get some more friends for her.  Hopefully these two will work out, but we'll see.

It was a tough day for Grace in Sacrament today.  Like I said above, she's been really hyperactive and so it was a big struggle to get her to sit down, relax and listen.  And then Daddy and Skyler went up to share their testimonies, so of course Grace wanted to go up.  Well, she freaked out when Daddy took her and so it was pretty embarrassing.  But at least she was showing a desire.

We had Skyler and Mariah, Shannon and Steven, and Ryan over for dinner tonight!  We had homemade chili, rolls and juice for dinner tonight.  Everyone said it was pretty good, but it definitely could have used some more seasonings!  Grace LOVED having so many people over!  Of course they were all here just for her, and so she had a great time entertaining everyone.

After dinner Shannon and I went onto familysearch to find out how we are linked as family, and it turns out we are 9th cousins.  Her line comes to a man, my comes to a woman, and these two people are siblings.  Pretty neat!!

All in all, a great day.  I will be working on organizing the sewing room downstairs now that Skyler and Mariah have moved out, and will be meeting with city council on Wednesday to discuss my idea for the all0inclusive playground I want to have put into Porter Park.  I've written my proposal and am trying to decide if I should print it for each person, or if I should make a powerpoint.  I'm excited and the nerves haven't set in yet, so I'm happy about that!

Hurray!

Love you Grace.

Amanda