Off to Primary Childrens

Boy, what a day.  This poor kiddo has been in some major pain.  Her leg has been really hurting, and it goes anywhere from walking on her toes to screaming and crying as she collapses on the ground.  Other times she seems fine, which is the weird thing.  Her class had a trip to the gymnastics center but she didn't get to do much of anything because of the pain.  We went to the doctors office to get her checked out before leaving for Primary and her doctor thought it was probably just growing pains but wanted to check with an x-ray.  But seriously?!  An hour later we find out that the doctor ordered an infant full body scan and they couldn't get a new order written because the doctor was at lunch.  So I canceled the scan and we headed to Primary.  I contacted the nurse from Spina Bifida Clinic and she scheduled for us to see a doctor there about the leg because we are worried about it being her spine retethering.  

We are waiting to see if we can figure out the x-ray information.  Thankfully they had some toys because these kids were SO bored.

It's always so refreshing to get to the Ronald McDonald House.  We have to meet with a dietician, a nurse, and now another doctor about her leg and I'm just so happy that we can get to the house and relax.  They know us and they love little Grace and Levi, and they give us so much attention and support.  We have dinners made for us all, there are games and activities and it's just wonderful.  After we ate we went and made a pinata (well, Grace and I) while Daddy and Levi hung out together.  Grace had such a great time plastering the balloon with glue and paper.  Talk about sensory awesome!  And since it was Cinco De Mayo, they had chips and salsa for the kiddos to eat.  After we made her pinata, we went out back of the house and they had awesome things to play with!  She loved dressing up as a fire fighter, and that is where we found daddy and Levi playing!!  It was so cute to see them up there in the firehouse fort.

Who knows what tomorrow brings?  At least we are in the right place for Grace and to try and figure out what's wrong with her leg.

 Look at that awesome girly!

 There is the fire boy!!

 And my little girl turned....firefighter Grace!!!

AHHH!!!  Grace is spraying me!

Amanda

Girl Scout Community Service

Today we had a community service project and it was so fun that we got to take Levi with us!  The community is going to put in some soccer fields but they needed rocks removed from the field, so we went and helped out!  Grace and Levi both LOVE rocks, and are always collecting rocks so I knew they would have a great time with this.  Not only that but Grace is a super big service giver and so I knew she would succeed with this.  And Levi, oh my goodness.  He LOVES tractors and so he was super excited to see that there was a tractor at the field.  They did great!  They lasted a little more than an hour and found so many darn rocks.  Fabulous.

 Look at that big girl!  She's looking so stellar with her vest on and is ready to tackle the rocks.

 Look at this huge rock that Grace found!  Great job, girly.

 There's the super awesome tractor!  Grace and Levi both loved the tractor and I could really tell they wanted to get in like they do with Grandpa Hildreth.

 Rake girly, rake!!  She's working so hard to get those rocks out of the dirt.

 And this guy with the shovel and rake.  Oh my goodness.  Once he got one of these, he was NOT going to let go!  The fits he threw when someone needed one of these were so crazy!  Crazy cute!  Spins around a couple times and then throws himself on the ground.  Oh boy.

I love you kids so darn much!  FOREVER LOVE.

Amanda

Sun Oven Dinner

I made my first sun oven dinner of the year and not only was it a success, but the kiddos loved it!  Steak and potatoes, and then I steamed broccoli and we had leftover alfredo spaghetti as well.  Grace wasn't too keen on the steak but she LOVED everything else, and Levi devoured everything.  I love that my kiddos enjoy my cooking!

Amanda

Dance Party

We had a dance party today!  So cute and oh so fun that no pictures were taken :)  But boy was it fun.  Grace was such a great big sister and took Levi's hand and danced with him.  These kids rock and I'm so glad to be their mama.

Amanda

The Zoo!

We made our first trip to the zoo this year!  It was a cold day and the kiddos were a bit off so it wasn't very exciting, but near the end it warmed up a bit and so did the kids.  Here are some pictures!

Every time I bring Grace to the zoo, I always forget to bring cash so she can get a penny imprinted.  But this time, I remembered!  Miss Grace and Little Levi were so excited to turn the crank and just couldn't wait for the penny to come out!

PS.  Grace's leg was SO darn sore so for the most part, she was in the stroller.  Poor girly.  But both the kiddos were in such good spirits even though it wasn't the best day for anyone.

Amanda

Wonderful Update

It's been forever since I've updated, and I will be going back and filling in for the huge amount of time that has been missed, but for now, I'm going to start fresh and update from today.  This past week Grace has received a lot of fun packages in the mail, and of course, we have to document it!  So, here come some pictures!

How exciting!  So much fun stuff and the kids are just LOVING the crash pad!  That was an awesome buy, that's for sure.  So much fun!

Amanda

Cookie Selling Day 2

Grace got her numbers up to over 100 dollars today!  It was a crazy day though because it's literally snowed ALL DAY.  We went out for about 45 minutes but it was just so so cold that I didn't want Miss girly to get too cold or sick.  It was quite beautiful, though, to be out there walking with Grace in the lightly falling snow.  And they weren't flakes as much as they were extremely tiny balls of snow.  She does so great with selling, and she's got so much patience, but it was pretty cute that we'd get to a door and knock, and it wouldn't even be 30 seconds that she's saying, "Ug, there's NO ONE HERE!"  And most of the time she ended up being right :)

Since it was such a yucky day we stayed in the rest of the day and we just cuddled and played.  A good day for sure.

Amanda

Cookie Selling Day ONE!

Grace did such a great job selling cookies!  Right after school she had a lady to go visit to sell cookies too, and then by the end of the day, she sold 64 boxes of cookies!!  I was so amazed with how well she did.  It was so cute because with the first lady we sold to, when we were all done, Grace asked if she could have some cookies.  I thought it was just the sweetest thing and it's something that Grace would do.  She's just got the softest heart, and that's what makes me love her so much.  She just makes me so happy.  And then what did she do in the evening?  Chased Daddy around and around the island!  It was so adorable.  And Levi wanted to play SO SO bad but he's just not quite there to where he can run with them.  Grace and Levi are so cute together, and they sure love each other, which is wonderful.  

Not only did girly sell 64 boxes, but she lost another tooth! She was chewing on my shirt and when I flipped my shirt out of her mouth, out popped the tooth! It's so amazing to see my girly blossoming. I really thought going door to door would be a struggle the entire time, and to be honest...it was tough. It was...I don't know the word...but as we went door to door there were SO many different emotions coming out. Excitement with the flapping hands, nervousness with the spinning in circles, tired with the screeching, bored with the raspberries blown, more excitement with kicking snow and flapping. But she did it. And she succeeded. I am so proud of you, Grace. Cumulatively sold cookies for 4 hours. Great job Grace! And now the tooth fairy gets to visit tonight!!

Amanda

Just About There!

We had a girl scout meeting tonight and Grace got all her paperwork so that she can sell cookies!  I don't know who is more excited...me or her!  And doesn't she just look adorable?!

Amanda

Practice Makes Perfect

We had fun today working on lines while swinging downstairs.  Grace is so lucky to have a swing in her basement!!!  Knock knock... "Hi, my name is Grace.  Would you like to buy some cookies?"  "SURE!  What are you going to use the money for?"  "I'm going to go to GIRL SCOUT CAMP!!"  

Did I mention I love this girl?

Amanda

My Girl Scout

I'm so excited that Grace is in Girl Scouts and that I get to go through this adventure with her!  Cookie selling is coming up and this will be our first time, so I'm completely thrilled.  And Grace knows that whatever money she earns she gets to use to pay for Girl Scout camp and so every time we talk about camp she just screams with excitement.  So there are so many fun things coming up.  Here's my girl!

I love you so much girly!!!

Mommy

Girl Scout Party

Today was a fun day because it was all about getting ready to go to a girl scout party tonight!  It was so much fun and I loved that I could sit at the wall and watch Grace without having to be there with her.  We made cupcakes to take as a snack because each girly had to take a snack.  They were raspberry frosted sherbert cupcakes.  I sure didn't like them but Grace sure did!  She got pictures taken, played games about the cookies she'll be selling, played a money game to try to learn about money, and got to have pizza and soda for dinner!  FUN!

She had a great time baking with mama :)

Amanda

Dinner and the Movies...for the adults!

Grace got to stay home and play with Levi and Elaine and a super fun babysitter!  Actually, there were two of them!  This is one of the blessings in disguise...Grace has no stranger anxiety.  Now, this is horrible for so many reasons, but in this instance, it's nice because she can have someone stay with them and she won't get worried by it.  And because she stays with the babysitters without sadness or fear, Levi does this same thing.  It makes it to where I'm not stressed as well.  I would definitely worry about her if she had been nervous.  She is so good at reading people, which is so helpful!  Cafe Rio and Pan for the adults!

Amanda

McDonalds fun

Time to visit McDonalds :)  Cabin fever already so we had to get out!!

Amanda

Happy Thanksgiving!!

It was such a great Thanksgiving!  We had a great time doing donuts in the Razor, playing bananagrams and playing with the new slide!  Of course there was also some snow fun but Elaine isn't the biggest fan of the snow.  Too bad because it's so much fun!  It was a nice Thanksgiving and glad that we had some family there, even though the crowd was little.  The kids and Elaine get along pretty well, but there are times that it gets difficult.  But that's normal with any kid!

What a great day!

Amanda

Sissy Coming

Wow, the trip for Sissy and Daddy coming from California is so yucky!  It has taken them 17 hours to get to Jackpot from Roseville.  Seriously?!  Grace REALLY wants to see sissy and holy cow, it's taking forever!!  So I let her watch TV to keep her mind of sissy and Elaine not being here, but she ALWAYS stands in front of the screen and that just can NOT be good!  So I put her fort in the way in hopes that she won't stand so close.  Hm...mommy wasn't very smart.



That didn't work.

And that got boring so then it was time to play with some potato skins.  I was getting potatoes ready for dinner anyways so I decided to let the kiddos play with the skins :)  Oh the things us mamas do to keep our kids occupied!

And then finally!!!!!



They got here!  Little Elaine is here!

Amanda

Thanksgiving Feast at School!

Today was a fun day because she got to have a feast at school with all of her friends!  I, of course, had to be there to watch because it's my little girl and I just love participating in all these fun activities.  It was so sweet to see her interacting with the other kids and sharing a meal with them.  

There's my girl!!

Amanda

Let's go on a Walk

Sometimes, cabin fever just gets to you.  And it doesn't matter that it's so so cold out!  Just dress in your snow clothes!  And Grace did such a great job because she pushed the stroller for Levi :)  It's so hard for me to let her do these things because I fear for his life.  I mean, I know he wouldn't die, but still.  If the stroller tips or whatever then both kiddos could get hurt, and that would be so darn sad!  But she did so great.  Nice and slow, was able to aim the stroller so she didn't go into the grass, and stopped when she was supposed to.  Great job, Grace!

I love this marshmallow girly and her brother!  I know I know.  He's in a girl snowsuit.  Why buy one that would fit him when he's just going to grow out of it!!

Amanda

What a Good Sharer

I know that might not be a word.  But she is so great at sharing with Levi!!  It's been from so early on that she's wanted to share with him, and what is extra special is that I'm not usually telling her to share.  I've seen so many kids blatantly keep things from their siblings and I just wonder what's going through their minds when they do this.  I remember being at a girl scout event with Grace and all the girls got to have donuts.  One girl was walking out with her family and her little brother was asking so nicely if he could have a bite.  The girl just ignored him.  So his mom told him that his sister would most likely share half with him.  Well, she ate past the halfway mark.  He got a little more whiny about wanting some, and the mom told him he'd get to have some.  Well, she ate the rest of it while ignoring him the rest of the time and just acted like it didn't even matter.  And the mom was like, "Oh well.  It wasn't yours anyways."  Seriously?!!  How rude!!  Grace has no problem sharing, and many times, she's wanting to share something that she shouldn't.  Today it was some of her lollipop and bread :)

I LOVE MY KIDS

Amanda

Sensory Time!

Grace got to have some fun today with flour and baby oil!  It didn't work out as well as I'd hoped because it didn't stick together very well, but she had fun anyways.  It was cute because she wanted to get up onto the table and sit there while she played.  I'm not so big on rules when it comes to things like that.  I don't mind if she sits on the table or makes a huge mess, and that's something that is so funny because a lot of parents hate it when there are messes.  But I know that is just part of Grace.  She's going to make a mess, and she's going to get her whole body messy, but I don't care.  I'd rather her satisfy her need for sensory input then to have to follow a ton of rules about staying clean, or not sitting on the table or whatever else.  Those things really don't matter to me.  

This girl matters to me.

Love you Grace

Mommy

Sissy is Coming!

We bought fun advent calendars so that when Kailyn and Elaine get here, the three kids can open them together!  It's going to be so great to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with her!  Grace also picked out some underwear to practice wearing.  She's going to wear sanitary pads instead of diapers and we are SO hoping that this is going to work.  

SO FUN!!!

Amanda

Darnit. ER trip

Before having to go to the ER....



It's all fun till someone starts not being able to breath!

Incredibly hard time breathing, fever, cough...when she asks to be fixed, you know it's bad.  She got a steroid and double breathing treatment and we're finally home.  And I've finally figured out why this happens.  When Grace gets a cold, her asthma (new news to me) flares up just like today.  Just think.  This morning all she had was a runny nose.  By the afternoon she was wheezing, and then the ER.  My poor girly. :(

Amanda

Morris Visited!

Today Grace got to bring home Morris from school.  She loves to bring Morris home and have some fun times with him.  Today Morris got to play in a fort Daddy built, and Grace had such a great time sharing this time with Morris.

And Grace also LOVES LOVES her baby brother!  They get along so well on the good days and it's great to see.

We love you guys!!

Amanda

Civil Defense Caves

On Sunday it was such a beautiful day that we decided to go to the Civil Defense Caves.  In the 4 years that we've lived here, we've never been to these caves, so finally, we went!  I'll say it was an experience, that's for sure.  It was so hard to get in there!!  Grace and Levi had a nice time, and of course Daddy did as well.  We stopped once we got deep enough that there was a large pile of rocks, but Daddy decided to keep going to see just how deep the cave went.  The kids and I headed back to the entrance because, to be honest, I got a bit worried about being in there alone with two kids, so I was ready to head out!!  It was a beautiful cave.

It was a wonderful family trip :)

Amanda