Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Teddy Bear Parade!

Today, Mikayla's preschool put on a Teddy Bear Parade for the parents. Mikayla and I made a float for her stuffed animal yesterday and they got to wear their jammies to school (she was very excited about that). All of the kids were very cute - so were their floats. There wear some very fancy floats out their - I don't think the kids helped much with those. Mikayla's float won the "loveliest" award. Her float was wrapped in purple paper. They couldn't have wheels on the floats, but I cut out hearts to look like wheels on the sides of the floats. I had some die cut hearts and teddy bears, so I let Mikayla color those and I pasted them on the sides of the floats. It turned out very cute. One neat thing was when Mikayla was coloring the teddy bears, she decided that they all needed eyes and mouths. She gave each of them a face in the anatomically correct places. I am still amazed that she is learning these things and growing up so fast.

Mikayla in her Dora jammies and slippers.
Even though it isn't evident in this photo, she is happy to have us there. Gavin is sleeping in that brown polka dot sling that I am wearing. That has been a wonderful thing to have. It lets me carry him around in such a way that I have free hands and I can give him a bottle of breast milk without having to get him out.

I had to throw in a picture of Gavin with his sweet little smile - he is such a cutie. He is starting to play alot and his activity level grows daily. He is such a fun little baby - even if he won't sleep in a crib by himself.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Reflection of an amazing man


My mother called me last night to tell me about the passing of our beloved prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley. Even though I knew that his time here on Earth was coming to an end, I was initially a little surprised and taken back. At first, I was a little sad. President Hinckley was such a dynamic individual. He was a fun-loving and humorous man- I always enjoyed listening to him speak. I also know that he received direct revelation from our Heavenly Father in which he guided us into a path of righteousness. After taking some time today to reflect on his life I am truly happy for him. He had a wonderful and fulfilling life. He is in heaven with his sweet wife, who I am sure was waiting for him with a big smile, and our Heavenly Father. He served us well in this life and I know that he will continue to serve us in the next life.
Other than the most recent General Conference, the last time I saw him was at my sister, Emily's graduation from BYU. I remember thinking how special it was to have the Prophet at your graduation - I was a little jealous of my little sister for that. I have had the opportunity to meet him in person on one occasion when I was in high school - it is a truly humbling experience to be in the presence of such a holy man. I hope I never forget the feeling I had shaking that great man's hand.
I posted this picture of the prophet, because I will always remember him with that cane. He seldom used it for its inherent purpose - it was often used to wave at people and poke at various things. I always got a little chuckle from watching him do this.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Shake, shake, shake

I tried to upload this with my previous post, but I was having some trouble with it. This is a video I took this evening og Gavin playing with a rattle. This was the first time he held on to it for a significant length of time. Sorry about the background noise - we were watching Extreme Home Makeover.

Gavin at three months

Well, Gavin will be three months old on Tuesday. I can hardly believe that he has already been with our family for three months. He is such a sweet and cuddly little baby.



This picture is an example of what can happen while I am trying to make dinner. Gavin was sleeping in the swing and Mikayla ran into the kitchen, yelling "I gave hime a pillow!!" I rushed in to make sure there wasn't one covering his face or something and this is what I found. Mikayla had put a doll pillow behind his head and gave him the orange monkey toy. Gavin just sat there and took it. I think he will grow to be a very tolerant child.
I have had a good bit of trouble trying to get a picture of Gavin smiling. I bought this new camera and it just before it takes a picture, it puts a red light on the subject to reduce red eye. Well, this red light always suprises Gavin, so most of my pictures have a "deer in headlights" look to them. I have started having to hold the camera down and bring it up just before taking the picture, which doesn't often result in a well-posed picture. This one turned out pretty cute though. You can also see how big he is getting.




Round 2

Well, snow has fallen in Georgia for a second time in less than one week. Mikayla was so excited to get to play in the snow again - I hope that she doesn't think that this is the norm. Snow started falling heavily around 10am and lasted until about 5pm. Most of it stuck, but we did lose some since the temperature hung around 33 all afternoon, so a little bit melted as it fell. We told Mikayla she could play in the snow after he nap. In hindsight, we should have put her down for a late nap, because the best snow was out during her nap. Oh well, she didn't seem to know the difference and had a ton of fun.
She was so excited for her daddy to pull her around for a "sleigh" ride.
Jeremy had a snowball fight with a bunch of the neighborhood kids. Mikayla was a little defensive at first of her daddy, saying "Don't hit him!", but she soon saw how much fun they were having and even threw a couple of snowballs on her own. Me and Gavin (held securely and warmly in his Snugli) watched from a safe distance.

Jeremy, Mikayla and some of the kids in the neighborhood built this snowman. I am almost embarassed to post the picture, because it is not the prettiest snowman ever built. (this is a problem with trying to make a snowman from about one inch of snow - you get all of the yucky stuff from the ground) Jeremy was pretty proud of its size though. Mikayla made it a snow girl by putting flowers on her head.
After playing outside, Daddy and Mikayla each took a warm shower and Mikayla came down and snuggled with Gavin while holding her "Frosty" She even got some "warm chocolate" (per Mikayla hot chocolate is too hot!)

It was such a fun day for our family. I am so happy that Miayla got to exprience snow and that we built some memories for our family.

The "Noyal" Ball


Lately, Mikayla has been really into Cinderella. She has never really been into watching movies, but in the past week, I have probobly watched Cinderella half a dozen times (a welcome change from Dora). She recieved a trunk of dress up outfits for Christmas and also a set of princess slippers. She loves to get dressed up in her gowns and glass slippers so that she can go to the "Noyal" Ball. We have tried to tell her that it is the Royal Ball, but she insists that it is the "Noyal" Ball - so cute.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Poor Kayla

Well, as you can see from my previous post, we had snow yesterday. Mikayla had so much fun playing in it. However, the snow had pretty much all melted yesterday afternoon.
Mikayla woke up this morning and went about her normal morning routine. Then she remembered the fun she had yesterday and proclaimed that she wanted to go outside and play in the snow. The poor thing is crying in her Daddy's arms right now because we had to inform her that the snow was all gone. Unfortunately, she hasn't figured out how Georgia works with these kind of things.
There is some more snow forcasted for tonight and tomorrow morning, so maybe we'll have a repeat performance.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Well, we had a little bit of snow here in the south last night. It started snowing lightly around 5 pm, but as the night went on the snowflakes got bigger and the ground was covered in a thin blanket of white snow!




We went to my parent's house for a little bit. Jeremy was working and my mom is leaving to go out of town this weekend and Mikayla desperately wanted to see her. My parents also desperately wanted to see Mikayla and Gavin. My Dad had fun pulling Kayla around in the sled - Mikayla kept saying that she was "going on a sleigh ride!" While we were out their, the snow turned to freezing rain, but that didn't seem to deter our little three year old in the least. She was so excited that winter was finally here.

This morning, the snow was pretty much all ice, but we still all went out and played outside for a little bit. After all, snow is quite a special thing here in Georgia.


These are some pictures of the "snowman" that Jeremy and Kayla built. Mikayla kept singing "Frosty the Snowman." She also wanted us to build a bigger one, but unfortunately there just wasn't enough snow. She had fun anyway.


Sunday, January 13, 2008

Well, I hope this is almost done

Well, today I made ANOTHER trip to see a doctor about one of my children. Friday went very well with both of them-I thought that we were starting to improve with things. However, last night Gavin was very irritable and woke up about every hour, screaming in pain. He would only fall asleep after he had basically cried himself to sleep. He wasn't wanting to nurse and I couldn't even get him to take a bottle of Pedialyte. It was a tiring and absolutely heart-wrenching experience. Deciding that I couldn't wait until Monday to take him to the doctor, I took him to the pediatric urgent care center to get him checked out. They diagnosed him with a double ear infection. I feel so bad for him - I can only imagine how much that hurts. They gave me a prescription for antibiotics and some drops that numb the ear canal. Between Tylenol and the ear drops, he has been MUCH better today. I hope and pray this is the end of this bought of sickness at our home. I, personally, am worn out and tired of seeing my little ones sad and uncomfortable.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Long week...


Oh my, has this been a long week! Sunday night, Mikayla started with a little cough and runny nose. I wasn't very concerned, initially. However, on Monday she had a temperature, so I kept her home from school on Tuesday. She was very upset about this - she loves going to school. She has been out for the past 3 weeks and was ready to go back and see her friends. Tuesday, Mikayla was doing better, but Gavin who had started coughing on Monday night, wasn't doing so hot. I took him to the pediatrician on Tuesday where they just diagnosed him with a cold. The tough thing with a newborn cold is that you can't do much of anything for them. All I can do is saline nose drops, bulb suction and limited use of decongestant nose drops at night only.
Well, Wednesday, everything seemed to be going okay with both of the kids until Mikayla woke up from her nap. She had only been asleep for one hour or so, when she woke up crying. I went upstairs and she is complaining of her right ear hurting. It was just before 4pm and the pediatrician stops taking appointments at 4pm. I called and they said if I could get there in 20 minutes that they would see her. I was so thankful, because Mikayla was very upset and uncomfortable. She was diagnosed with an ear infection and after getting some pain medicine, she was back to her old self.
Okay, now on Thursday, I went ahead and sent Mikayla to school. She hadn't had a fever since Monday and her cough was almost gone. She did great at school and other than being a little more tired than normal afterwards, she did great the rest of the day. However, when Gavin woke up from his nap at 3pm, I thought he felt warm. I checked his temperature and it was 100.9. Normally, I wouldn't worry about that low a temperature, but in my little 2 1/2 month old little boy, I was concerned. So I make another last minute call to the pediatrician and get the last appointment of the day at 4pm. They checked his lungs, his ears and did a little blood work to rule out any bacterial infection. Other than the fact that is little nose is so clogged and he is coughing alot, everything checked out okay. They think he might have the RSV virus, but since he normally such a healthy little guy, he seems to be tolerating it okay. They gave me a prescription for the cough and that is where we are today.
So in one week, I have been to the pediatrician and the pharmacy three times each. Jeremy had taken this week off from work, and I am so thankful that he did. I know this wasn't exactly what he had planned, but I don't know if I could have handled this as well if he hadn't been here. He has been such a big help to me.
Gavin still sounds pitiful "(doesn't he look pitiful in that picture!) - he an hardly breathe through his nose. It takes him forever to eat, because he has to take so many breaks to breathe. Thankfully, he has only had a low grade fever today. His cough wakes him up when he is sleeping, which means that I am not getting a ton of sleep at night. I am also having a hard time getting much done - my indoor Christmas decorations are still up. (I am hoping to fix that tomorrow, though) Hopefully, this will all be done sooner rather than later. At least, Mikayla is feeling better, so I only have one sick child to deal with. Keep little Gavin in your thoughts and prayers!!

Monday, January 07, 2008

GEAUX TIGERS!!


This is a picture of my three Tigers fans prior to Jeremy leaving to go watch the game. We hope that the Tigers do well in the National Championship Game tonight.
GEAUX TIGERS!!

Sunday, January 06, 2008

What a big girl!!

Mikayla has been doing a lot of things lately that make me realize how big she is getting. Yesterday, she drew this picture on her new art easel. I was pretty amazed at the little family that she drew, complete with legs, mouth and a nose.
She also LOVES to help me cook in the kitchen. She loves to help with everything from pouring ingredients into the bowl, stirring everything together, to pushing the buttons on the oven or microwave.
Another thing that has made me look at her as such a big girl is that she has graduated from the church nursery and is now a Sunbeam. She did so great today - no tears when I dropped her off with her new class. She was a little apprehensive, but with a little talk, hug and a kiss she was fine. This is a picture of her after we got home wearing her CTR (Choose The Right) necklace that they made.
I love listening to Mikayla and all of the funny things that she says. Of course, I can't specifically think of any right now to share with you, but I will try to be better about sharing them with you. They will definitely bring a smile to your face.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Hello 2008!! Good Bye 2007!

Well I have to say that this past year has brought many changes for our family. I look at the past year and see so many blessings in it. I truly feel so lucky to have the life that I do. I didn't ring in this year the way that I had hoped - sleeping. Jeremy had to go to bed early because he had to go to work very early this morning. Both of the kids were asleep by 10:30. I was watching Dick Clark, trying so hard to stay awake, but I just couldn't do it. At least I can say that I started the New Year well rested. I also return to work today - my maternity leave is done!! I am not excited about leaving my kids, but at least they will be with the best childcare in the world - their dad. Jeremy is such a wonderful father - I love watching him interact and play with them.
Well, I have thought about it and here is a list of my New Years Resolutions. I figure if they are in writing, maybe I will do a better job at keeping them.
1. Spend more quality time with my family - the key word here is quality. I want to create lasting memories with my husband and children.
2. Lose weight! I have a specific number in mind, but I don't want to share that with everyone. I do have a plan in place already. I am joining Weight Watchers next week, I am going to purchase a jogging stroller when the weather warms up and I have gotten some workout DVDs. I have to lose a little bit more baby weight, plus some weight that I had gained before I was pregnant. I am very determined to do this!!
3. Clean out and organize my home. I have several scary closets that need some serious attention and we can only park one car in our garage. I going to try to break it up into small sections so that I don't get overwhelmed.
Well, I wish everyone a happy and safe New Year!!