Joining the Club

Here we are almost the end of January and I'm still trying to wrap up 2011.  Well not much has been happening this month anyway, I think January is kind of a bummer month, I'm always sad that Christmas is already over and it's time to put the decorations away, and there's just nothing too thrilling happening.  So I'll just go ahead and finish up my 2011.  I decided I could not end my 2011 blog with out posting about this major milestone in my life...

This was a big year for me, first I joined the "3 Kid Club", which I was not quite sure about wanting to be a part of.  But I'll say that although being a member of this club is definitely challenging, I am LOVING it.  I am just so in love with the little man that initiated me into the club, that it's a complete joy.  Have I mentioned lately how cute he is?

His blue eyes just melt me.  More of this cuteness coming soon.  

Next I joined the "30" club.  I was really, really not excited to join this club at all.  Completely dreading it.  I know some think it's no big deal, but it was a tough one for me.  It's definitely not fun being a member either, the  pregnancy weight has been coming off about 4 times slower than when I was a spry 25 year old new mom.  And I swear, the Fates of Age are evil and the minute you turn 30 they are just waiting to bring out the fine lines around your eyes! And suddenly make you very aware of just how noticeable  the expression lines between your eyes are, it's as if they are trying to make them deeper by the day!  And as if that wasn't bad enough they also start to work on the expression lines around your mouth!  It's like enough is enough!  One fine line at a time please!!!  It's been more than I care to take!  

Now, the reason I had to write about this...

since I had  joined the "3 Kid Club" I also had to cave and join the "Mini Van Club"!  This is old news to my neighborhood friends, I've been sporting this thing since summer, but I just had to document this and also share it with my far away blogging friends.  I NEVER thought I'd drive a mini van!  Ever.  Why not, I drove my Mom's in high school?!  Maybe that's why.  Although my Mom's mini van was very cool.  It was a stick shift.  No one else had a stick shift van.  Most girls couldn't even drive one.  I was very proud I could drive a stick, I was lucky my Mom taught me to drive in that cool ol' blue, Ford Aerostar.  Good times.   Anyway, still, I really never ever wanted to drive one.  I love, loved my Honda Pilot and was sad to downsize and sell it a few years ago.  Our goal was to come back to a Pilot as soon as we could afford it.   But what can I say, minivans are just too practical.  Ryan and I discussed the mini van vs. pilot many nights during the last trimester of my pregnancy.  And I'll just tell you this, it took me one day with baby #3 in a car seat to be totally and completely over the "I'm never driving a mini van" syndrome.  I am SO over it.  I LOVE my mini van!  (Except for the tan interior.  Shows way too much dirt. Don't get tan, go for grey.)  Every mother of three should have one.  If you are on the fence about a mini van vs. SUV, go for the mini van, you wont regret it.  And no one will think you are less cool.  Just totally practical.

Pierson's Broken Arm

You may have noticed in all of our Christmas pictures Pierce has been sporting this lovely blue cast.  If you didn't notice then you probably need glasses.  I have an excellent eye doctor I can refer you to if that is the case.  :)  Thankfully the cast is off and the broken arm is old news, but this definitely needs to be included in our blog - our first broken bone.  Well not our first broken bone. Heaven knows Ryan and I have both had our fair share of broken bones, so I should say the first broken bone of our children.

Pierson was playing with his buddy Joey one afternoon, they flying paper airplanes, which I used to think was a safe activity!  Us moms didn't see it happen so I am uncertain of what exactly happened, but apparently Pierce and Joey both dove on the ground to catch a paper airplane and Joey's knee landed on Pierce's arm.  They came into the house, he was crying pretty hard and at first glance I thought maybe he had broken his wrist.  The way he was holding it looked like it was really hurting and his hand was just hanging from his wrist.  I took him home and we put some ice on it, he seemed to be able to move it fine and he didn't have any swelling.  We figured he sprained it and that he'd be fine so we didn't get it checked and sent him to school the next day.

Well the next afternoon I got a call from the school and had to go pick him up early.  A ball had hit his arm while playing at recess and it was really hurting him.  There was still no swelling, but we figured we better have an x ray to be sure.  Ryan took him in for the x ray that evening, the Dr. told them it wasn't broken that is must just be a bad sprain, they wrapped it up and told him to be careful with it for a few days.

Well the next morning after I'd sent him off to school I got a call from the Dr. saying I needed to bring Pierson back in.  Why??? His arm was broken!  The problem was that they were thinking he had hurt his wrist so when they looked at the x ray that was the area they were looking at.  The x ray did show the break but it was at the very bottom of the screen and when looking at it on the computer it was covered by the date and information.  So when the radiologist looked at the x ray in the morning he immediately called the Dr. to let him know this was a broken arm.  Pierce had a choir field trip that day, which he was really excited about so I didn't go get him, I figured he'd call me if it was really hurting him.  Yes, I felt like the mother of the year sending my son to school for 2 days with a broken arm!   When he came home I told him the news and we headed over to get the cast put on.

I thought it must be a tiny hairline fracture if the Dr. hadn't seen it, but it was very noticeable, even to me, both bones were actually fractured just below his elbow.  The image just needed to be moved up on the computer screen and there it was!  He was a really good sport about the whole thing.  He seemed really interested watching the Dr. put the cast on, and of course he was excited to pick a BYU blue color.  Then once we got in the car and and cast started to harden I could literally just see his spirits fall.  He was so sad once he realized how uncomfortable it was and how little he could move that arm.  I was so sad because his Christmas piano recital was one week away.  He had been working so hard on 2 recital pieces this year and had one of them memorized for weeks and played it beautifully, the other was a harder piece and he was working so hard to get it and was so close to having it memorized.  I was so sad he wouldn't  be able to play.  I tried to cheer him up with trip to the store for a prize and Arctic Circle for a shake.  Julianne and Joey were so sweet to come over when we got home and bring him a get well balloon, a treat and a card Joey made for him.  You'd have never known anything was wrong when Joey showed up with a treat for him!

The first few days in the cast were frustrating for him, he couldn't write well or cut with scissors and it was just plain awkward.  His teacher was really nice to help him at school and Ryan and I wrote out most of his homework for him.   He decided to go ahead and participate in his piano recital even though he could only play the left hand notes.  Kathryn was so sweet and played the right hand with him.  I promised him we could have a special recital at home once the cast was off.  After a few days he was doing great and he did just fine adjusting to the cast.  Fortunately he only had to have it on for 4 weeks!

Here he is on the last day of the cast, getting ready to go get it taken off, he was happy about that!

He was a little nervous about that saw!  And Jensen was terrified, the noise is pretty bad!

I took him out for a celebration lunch at Ice Berg and then we came home and SCRUBBED that arm!  I gave him a little spa treatment and his arm was looking great after that.  It took him about a week to start using it normally. He was so used to eating with his left hand,  I'd notice him doing it and remind him he could use his right hand again!   He started working hard exercising his hand and  re-learning his piano songs.  A week and a half after getting it off he felt ready to perform his songs.  We had a fun little recital for him at home, I made special treats and we had Grandma, The Halls, The Woodburys and The Brooks come over.  He loved it and I know he felt really special having everyone there for him.  Now he is back in business and I'm reminding him to "be careful, I don't want another broken arm!"

Our Christmas

Christmas, it was such a joy this year.  Well mostly.  Of course we had a few fits from our drama queen.  But, we had a wonderful day!  I love having Christmas on Sunday, so nice.  (And I was very happy that we had 1:00 church!)  The kids did great sleeping in until about 7:30, then we made them wait until Jensen woke up at 8:00 to go downstairs.  Luckily they were so excited for his 1st Christmas they didn't even put up a fuss about it. Here are a few highlights...  

My only good pics of Madi, you know how she is.  She was thrilled to find a La La Loopsy doll in her stocking, espcecially since this was her only toy.  Side note: we've been having issues called- Madi wont pick up her toys.  We've been warning her for months if she didn't start taking better care of her toys she would not get any new ones for Christmas.  She hasn't improved so we stuck to it.  We did not get her one toy.  Trust me this was harder on me than it was her!  Santa brought scooters for the kids, (I didn't get a pic of Madi with hers) so that was perfect- something for outside and our kids have never had them before so they were very excited!  So, the Loopsy doll was the only toy she got.  She was very happy and she is lucky Santa is a softy.  Next she is modeling her new hat Santa also left in her stocking.  And last new books from Budgey.  (She LOVES books so it was something exciting we could give her that was a non toy.)

Pierce with his Transformers scooter from Santa and Star Wars shower set, (Madi got a Hello Kitty bath/shower set, these were a hit also!) and excited about a Star Wars ship from Jensen.

Jensen had a hard time deciding what he was more excited about, Madi's new toothpaste...

...or his new basketball toy from Santa.  Both were great fun for him.  Thank you Santa! 

There was so much to be excited about, it was toss up for him between the wrapping paper, the box his new toy came in, the actual new toy or Big Brother's Star Wars shower decals.  An exciting morning for sure!

After we enjoyed seeing our gifts from Santa, we let the kids open one gift each (one from each other), then we told them gifts from Mom and Dad were for after church.  Even though we had the 1:00 time slot, I needed leverage! We enjoyed a slow morning and a yummy breakfast of  muffins and eggs then got ready for church.  We tried for a family picture and got a moderately decent one...

Then of course I had to take 20 pictures of this cutest boy, here are some favorites...

My sweet little man's 1st Christmas, he really is such a joy in my life and our home.  I am so thankful for him and especially how happy he is!

Can't get enough of those ornaments!  (He soon discovered the sparkly ones aren't that great.)

After a short visit to the cemetery to take Christmas trees to Todd and Grandpa, we finally let the kids open the rest of their gifts.  I actually enjoyed dragging it out, it wasn't all over in the first 20 minutes of the morning, it was nice.

Exited to finally get Episode 6!  This middle pic of Pierce is my favorite!  No, he is not ecstatic over the Costco milk carton, he was realizing Mom had put the transformer he was hoping for in there!  I love tricking him by wrapping things in random boxes!  He was one excited boy.  We gave him Iron Hide and Star Scream, the Auto bot and Decepticon he's been wanting for so long.   

This was were Madi's 3rd fit of the day came, she got pretty upset when she saw Brother getting 2 new toys and she didn't get any.  She was excited for another new book, Fancy Nancy, and new pink boots, and cute new pajamas, but when she opened up the curling I gave her while Pierce was getting a toy, oh my!  She finally calmed down and said she wanted to keep it when I said I'd just take it back to the store.  I just hope she'll learn from this and decide, with out me threatening to take them to D.I., and yelling after 10 times of asking her calmly, she is capable of picking up her toys.  

After gifts, we had Grandma come over to join us for Christmas dinner, we watched our family home video from a few years ago with Grandpa reading from the scriptures while the kids performed the Nativity, then we read a new Christmas story - "A Christmas Dress for Ellen".  If you haven't added this one to your Christmas story collection, I definitely recommend it.  But I'll add a warning too, it's a major tear jerker.  I could barley get through it.  It was a great way to end our Christmas day, a beautiful reminder of all that we are blessed with.  Truly we have so very much and have so much to enjoy.  The kids were very excited to have Grandma sleep over and went to bed knowing the party wasn't over yet!  

Ryan and I stayed up enjoying some time together and looking through my new cookbook, Our Best Bites.  (If you have not "met", Kate and Sara, you are missing out!  Check them out!)  Where we found a delicious recipe that Ryan made for breakfast the next morning!  That's right, he let me sleep in as long as Jensen slept, got up and  made french toast with homemade caramel syrup that was pretty much like the yummiest thing ever on french toast.  Great morning.  The kids loved having Grandma here, between that and the syrup it was like Christmas again.  

It was a wonderful Christmas and a very special one with our new little man to add to the fun.  Not to mention that Christmas with an adorable 7 month old was WAY more fun than last Christmas getting over pregnancy sickness! Much to be thankful for.  

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!

I cannot believe we are already here, the week of Christmas!  The time is flying by way too quickly!  I am not ready for Christmas to be here, simply because I don't want it to be over.  I love everything about the Season and it has been especially fun this year with Jensen around.  Here's a look at some of our Christmastime traditions and activities we've been enjoying...

We always kick off the Season with a trip to the Jubilee of Trees and a visit with Santa.  Pierce and Madi were both very excited to see him this year and Jensen was perfect!  It was a little miracle that I got this picture...

...all three children looking at the camera!  And very nearly all smiling!  (This was also a very sweet day, it was the day that Baby Sarah was born!)

Next up was our 4th Annual Gingerbread House night with The Woodburys!
Kathryn is so good to do this, she does all the work - making real gingerbread - and we just show up with some hyper kids and some candy.

Madi, Ryan and Pierce working hard on our gingerbread house, and Jack Jack working hard to get Pierce's attention!

It was all just too exhausting for Jensen.  He zonked out!

It's like I have 2 big boys!  They did a great job on our house!

This year Kathryn stepped it up a notch and did a more complicated house design for us.  It was very cute!  But unfortunately our gingerbread was a little too soft, (it was delicious, but too soft to hold up!) and this became the year of gingerbread house collapses!

Jack adding his trucks to the mix, Woodburys with their house before the inevitable cave in, and the poor house after the collapse!  Darn!  We had fun making them but we both missed having them on display all month long.  Our collapsed about 30 minutes after we got home.  We love this tradition and we all look forward to it each year!  I hope we can continue for years to come!

On the 9th we had Madi's Christmas Dance Recital.  She was very excited to perform, she loved her routine and especially loved that her song, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" was the same song Brother was playing for his piano recital.  (More about Pierson's recital later.)

Annie & Madi, they love taking dance together!

That little gap got a little bit bigger that afternoon...while we were getting ready for her recital,  I tortured her and got the 2nd loose tooth out!  Yes there were screams of torture, and yes there was joy and excitement the second she realized what happened, again!

Madi, my beautiful dancer!  I was very proud of her, she is such a cute little performer and she did great.  It is so fun watching her! 

And I have to say that this has been my favorite thing about this Christmas Season...

Our little "Budgey Boo"  (his silly nickname we've all started calling him) has been very interested in the tree...

It's just about the cutest thing I've ever seen.  It seems like I'm just more in love with him each day!  He is such a joy in my life and in our home!  I am particularly enjoying his age right now, (I LOVE this stage!) he is so much fun, so happy and playful, and not a destruction crew.  yet.  Seriously, the funnest baby stage and so perfect for Christmas.  Love my sweet boy, so excited for his First Christmas!  Now I better get moving, still have all our gifts to wrap, treats to deliver, groceries to buy, laundry to do....

Baby Shower!

I have to start with a little background on this post.  This is a story I must write down...and it's not even about me.  So, if you've been around my blog for awhile you know my friend, Julianne.  I've had a link to her adoption profile on my blog for awhile (YAY for needing to take it off!)  and her boys, Joey and Tommy, have  made an appearance on the blog a few times, along with her hubby Joe, AKA Bishop Brooks.  Anyway, Joe and Julianne have been trying to adopt another baby for over a year now, and we have been praying and hoping along with them for another baby to come to their family.  On with the story...

One October afternoon I talked with Julianne and she and Joe were preparing to speak to a group of birth moms that evening.  She was nervous and excited and I was nervous and excited for her, thinking that maybe one of the girls attending would hear them speak and she would be the one meant to place her baby with them.  I wished her luck and said, "maybe tonight's the night".  I needed to pick something up from her so she left it on the porch for me to pick up while they were at the meeting.  I pulled up to their house and very nearly had a heart attack!  There were several people in her driveway who had put up a banner on her garage saying "It's a girl!"  I was entirely confused!  I knew they were at the meeting speaking at that very moment, how could this have happened?!  So I got out of my car and talked with one of the girls who was there, (whom I actually recognized from having previously lived in the ward!)  A birth mom had chosen them!  They didn't know it yet!  She was at the meeting listening to them speak!  And wanted to surprise them!  I was FREAKING out!!!  They were getting a baby, and they didn't know it yet!  I was trying not to hyperventilate and thinking about the situation.  Joey and Tommy were down the street at Samantha's, and I knew I needed to make sure Joey didn't come out and see the sign before they were home.  I ran down to Samantha's, trying to breath, and told her what was happening!  She said she'd make sure the boys stayed inside until they were home and I went on my way.  As the kids and I drove to Ryan's office, tears were running down my face as I explained to Pierce and Madi what was going on.  Of course they wondered why I was crying and asked, "well aren't you happy?"  One of these days they'll figure out the happy crying thing!  I got to Ryan's office, and ran inside.  He could hear me running down the hall way to his office and then appeared in his door with tears in my eyes.  Of course he was alarmed, and with our luck, thinking - who died?!
 I told him, "they're getting a baby!"
 He was confused, "What?!"
"Joe and Julianne are getting a baby!"  I cried.  Literally.
Ohhh, well that was a relief for him to hear!
The next few hours were very long.  I was about to burst knowing they had no idea what was happening, that they'd pull in their driveway any minute and find out their life was about to change.  Not to mention be confused, as this was not a typical surprise!  I waited a few hours, thinking I was giving them plenty of time to come home, see the sign, call their case worker, find out what was actually  happening, talk to the birth mom, and call their family.  I pulled up to their house and they had only been home 5 minutes!  They were standing in the driveway, taking it all in!  I hugged them, cried with them and then I started breathing normally again.  What an amazing night!

Fast forward a couple of months... They have been greatly blessed with an amazing birth mom! Every thing went perfect with the birth and placement of baby Sarah into their family.  It has been amazing for me  just being a friend on the sidelines, to see this miracle come about.  Ryan and I had fasted and prayed together and with the kids for this blessing to come to the Brooks.  I have been grateful to have such a positive experience to talk with my kids about, an experience in which we have prayed for something wonderful to happen and it did! I have worried that the losses our family experienced last year have  felt like unanswered prayers to our kids, so this was something I was grateful we had talked with them and prayed with them about.  I have also realized what an amazing example of our Savior's atonement this situation is.  What a miracle it all is.

On to the baby shower...
I have never been so excited about a baby shower before!  I was just ecstatic for Julianne!  Samantha and I worked on organizing a shower for her and it turned out wonderfully!
Let's start with the food...

Look at this vegetable tray Samantha made...

Isn't it beautiful?!  Seriously, I was so impressed with her presentation!  And how darling to put the dip inside the peppers!  LOVE it!  

Kathryn mad these delicious mint brownies (a personal fav of mine!)  I love how she does pink frosting, so perfect for the occasion!  And did I mention they are delicious!

I decided to make cake bites since I wanted to make a "pretty" dessert for the event.  I tried a new one this time- coconut.  They were a hit!  So good and so cute, I did some dipped in chocolate and some in vanilla, they looked like little snowballs, I loved it!  I love making cake bites because they really are so easy, they look beautiful and everyone thinks you're fabulous!  You can't go wrong!  I also did some regular chocolate ones with pink drizzle on them, I had to have some pink in there.  

We also had delicious homemade cheeseballs, thanks again to Samantha and also sweet Roberta, and apples with caramel dip that Roberta also made.  We had so many great friends to help make the food, it was all fantastic!  Pretty and delish!  

Onto the decorations...

My sweet friend, Staci, provided us with the darling little banner.  Samantha did these cute little favors for the guest- mini star cookie cutters saying "a star is born" with a cute tag with Sarah's info on it.  So fun and so cute!  And since little Sarah was not going to be making an appearance at the shower (staying home to stay healthy) I put her pictures in frames and had them around the house.  

The Fabulous Guests...

I thought it would be fun to get a picture of everyone that came, this didn't happen, but I did get a few shot of some of our fun party comers!  I have such cute friends and neighbors!  

The guest of honor...

I love this picture of Julianne!  I made her pose for me with all of her gifts. So many sweet friends and neighbors came and brought so many fun and darling gifts for her.  It was fun to hang these cute outfits from my stocking hangers too.

And there you have it!  That's my recap of the big event!  I was so happy to be able to do this for Julianne.  I have just been beyond thrilled for her and her sweet family to bring this precious little girl into their family.  I don't know if it's because I'm in baby mode myself, but I was so emotional during her whole experience.  I kept thinking to myself- what is your problem, it's not your baby!  I was crying half the day on the day of their placement, overwhelmed with emotion thinking of this amazing birth mom handing her baby over to them, something I know I can not begin to imagine.  And also overwhelmed with such joy for Joe and Julianne!  I can't imagine going through either side.  I have thought a lot about how different our trials are from one another.  This has made me even more grateful for the friends who help and support me in my own trials and made me want to be there to help and support my friends even more. Friendship is such a great blessing in my life, I am grateful daily for the strong and beautiful women who are my dearest friends.  I am so thankful we can help each other in our trials and share in each other's joys!

Madi's Big News

I was so not ready for this! Even though Madi is in Kindergarten now, it still just seems like she's my little girl. I was shocked when I realized her two bottom front teeth were loose! Pierce didn't loose his first tooth until the summer after Kindergarten, so this seemed very early to me. I was holding back tears, thinking this makes her seem so grown up! Loosing their first tooth, it's such a milestone for them.

She was excited to have a loose tooth and very excited about the Tooth Fairy, but she was terrified to have it actually come out. After 2 nights in a row of her having a major meltdown when we brushed teeth - it was hanging by a thread so brushing her teeth was making it bleed and she was FREAKING out- I decided I'd had enough... I held her tight and all it took was a little flick of my finger and it popped right out. You would have thought I was torturing her if you'd heard the screams. But once she realized it was out - me calmly telling her to spit as the tooth was in her mouth, she spit it out- and wow! Talk about a mood swing. Tortured child to giddy little girl in a fraction of a second. She was thrilled! Hoping she will trust me the second time around, not likely, but here's to hoping.  Awkward teeth stage her we come.  She sure looks cute toothless, I'll enjoy it while it lasts!

BREAKING DAWN!!!

My Husband is awesome.  The best.  Have I mentioned that before?  Well he is, seriously.  So, of course, I was excited about the opening of the latest movie in the Twilight Saga - Breaking Dawn...we always go opening night as couples with our great group of friends.  And, if you'll recall, my fellow Twilight Junkie and dearest friend, Kathryn, and I have always worn matching t-shirts to the movies on opening night.   We started just the two of us with Twilight,  and then convinced Mel and Lynds to join with us for New Moon.  We also made them for Eclipse, but they were a bit of a flop, so that night after Eclipse I decided- no messing around with iron ons anymore!  We are getting serious for Breaking Dawn! Ryan even came up with a saying that very night.  So a year and a half later, here they are...

Couples who watch Twilight together stay together!
Fan or not, you have to admit, it's funny.  Ryan designed the shirts and we had them printed at Extreme Graphics.  It was even more fun to have our husbands match us!  We had 10 couples in our groups, with 6 of us in matching shirts.  We got lots of compliments on our shirts and started thinking we could sell these babies!

Here's all the girls:  Lynds, Jana, Mel, Kathryn, Tonya,
Annette, Ashley, Staci, Kendra and Me.  I love all these girls!  I always say it, but I have the greatest friends!  They make waiting in line for Twilight movies, wearing silly awesome t shirts and having a thing for vampires so much fun!

Me & Kathryn - it's a tradition!

Lynds, Mel and Me.

Now, about the movie... I loved it!  It's funny, I've decided that out of the 4 books, my two least favorite books - New Moon and Breaking Dawn, are my favorite of the movies.  I was a bit worried about how they were going to play this movie out, but I thought over all they did a fantastic job.  LOVED the wedding, it was gorgeous!  And I thought they did an amazing job of making Bella look terribly sick.  And I have ALWAYS been ticked and disappointed at how they have portrayed Edward, but I thought it was improved this time.  Still not as good as book Edward, but a major improvement.  So there's my spill.

Love Ryan. Love Twilight.  Love my friends.  Love group dates.  Loved the movie.
Anyone want to go again?