Megans First French Braid

I was finally able to put french braids in Megan's hair this morning.  It was pretty exciting for me.  Megan does pretty good for the most part while I do her hair so it wasn't too hard.  The hardest part is getting my big fingers to manipulate her fine hair.  It is so fun to do Megan's hair and I look forward to being able to more fun things in the future.

Tyler's School Sing-a-Long

Tyler had his Holiday sign-a-long this morning.  This is where each grade sing two holiday songs each.  Some sang very traditional songs and others were songs that I have never heard.
Tyler has been practicing his songs for weeks now.  He would sing them all the time at home and was excited for the "program."  Tyler really loves to sing and does a pretty good job.  Even Josh has started singing Christmas songs with Tyler.

Tyler was very specific about where he wanted me to sit so that I could see him the best.  The program started at 9:30 and I got there at like 9:05 and lots of the seats were already occupied.  I found two seats near the front on the side that Tyler told me to sit.  Megan, Allie, and I waited for Grandma Margie to join our party.  We all enjoyed listening to the kids and we think that Tyler did a great job.  Tyler is an amazing kid and I am so lucky to have him.  We sure do love him so much!

Tony's Fun Visit to the ER

Tony has had some health issues for a while.  It all started back in July when he got some major pain in his chest during sacrament and left church to go to the Instacare.  After some test they concluded that he had strained his pectoral muscle and needed to take it easy for a while to it could repair itself.
He tried to be careful and not lift heavy things for weeks, but like a week before we had Allie he started feeling really bad on his way to work and stopped at the ER to be looked at.  After more tests and lots of money they said he was still suffering from the effects of the strained pec.  Well, fast forward to last night (over 5 months from the initial pain) and you have Tony in bed trying to sleep and having a very hard time.  A little after 10:30 pm he told me his arm was tingling and he was light headed (felt like he might pass out), his heart was beating fast and he just felt off.  His head and chest/shoulder hurt off and on and he knew he needed to do something.
When you don't know what to do then it is time for a blessing.  I texted my neighbor, Max, and he came over and looked Tony over.  He did the blood pressure (which was all over the place), listened to his heart and lungs, etc.  Tony started totally shaking at this point and couldn't control how he was feeling.  Max gave him a blessing and we knew we needed to go to the ER.
I called Tony's mom, Margie and asked if she would come sit with the kids so we could go to the ER.  She said yes and was on her way.  After we got Tony dressed we headed to the ER.  They got him in pretty fast and started asking all the questions and started doing test on him.  They did an EKG, drew blood to be tested, they did a chest x-ray, and an CT scan of his head.  They were looking for possible blood clots, signs of stroke, anything that could be causing these symptoms (that have come and gone and the most random of times during the past 5 months...it really really sucks for everyone).  They also gave him some drugs through an IV to help with the headaches.  I made him sleepy so he was able to sleep off and on  while we waited for the test results.
The doctor said that all the test looked good the only thing he "maybe" could see is a little something on the EKG that should be followed up with a heart doctor to get a stress test and then he wanted Tony to see a Heart and Rhythm doctor.  He said that he didn't really know why he was having all these random problem (gee, that's awesome).  By the time we were discharged it was about 1:45 am.  We got home about 2:00 am and Tony's super awesome mom went home (it is so nice having people you know you can call at anytime and they will be there for you).  Tony was able to zonk right out but it took me a while to settle in.  Before I could get to sleep Allie was awake wanting a bottle.  I fed her and put her to bed and then was able to finally get to sleep around 3:00 am.  Allie then woke up at 7:00 am poopy and ready to start the day.  4 hours of sleep just isn't enough, but sweet blessings of the Lord have helped me get through the day.
I got Tony an appointment to see a heart doctor today and the Rhythm doctor on the 19th (their earliest available appointment of course).  The heart doctor today said that he doesn't think his issues are heart related but that he did want Tony to do a stress test just to make sure everything is looking good.  We got an appointment for tomorrow to do that stress test.
Tony and I don't really think that this has anything to do with his heart, but want the peace of mind.  He has an appointment on the 22nd with a doctor about his shoulder (which he thinks might be the cause of a lot of his pain and issue, but who really knows at this point).  We are trying to see if we can move that date up at all.  We really just want to get to the bottom of this so we can fix it and we can go back to being normal and doing normal things.
So here's to a good nights sleep and some answers tomorrow with the stress test!

Ginger Bread House FHE

Tony's mom got us one of those pre-made gingerbread houses that is assembled but not decorated.  They are perfect for little kids to decorate.  She has given us one of these gingerbread houses the last couple of years and it has made for a fun family tradition for us to do for a family home evening.





The kits get a little fancier each year.  This year they had a small green and red squirt bottles of frosting.  They made frosting little things much easier.  They also had a large bag of white sticky frosting that I ended up putting in a ziploc bag and cut the corner off and iced the house that way.  It was much easier then trying to use that large bag they provided.






The kids did pretty good to decorate their gingerbread men and help decorate the house before eating the candy.  I told them they could eat their gingerbread men after they were done and they were very happy about that.  The actual gingerbread is really hard so I don't know how they ate it, but they did...and enjoyed it.
Megan loved decorating the gingerbread.  She liked working with Tony and myself and using lots of frosting and lots of candy, lots and lots of candy.  

I pretty much just put the white frosting onto the house and then let the kids put on the candy.  Josh lost interest first and then just sat and ate the frosting (okay really Tony lost interest first, it's just not his type of thing).  Tyler and Megan were going strong until they used all the candy on the house.  It was fun crafting with them.

Allie was such a good spectator while we decorated.  She watched from her bouncer for a good while and then Tony got her out for a closer look.  She is such a cutie and a good baby too.  I love this picture!

This is the finished product.  It's not decorated to be the prettiest, but the kids sure had a good time putting candy all over it.  What cute kids I have!

After I took the picture of the finished product I told the kids that they could eat the house.  Tyler and Megan didn't waist anytime taking a big old bite.  Josh was still busy eating frosting.  We all had a good time and are thankful to Grandma for providing us with this fun tradition each year.

Kids Pictures

Allie - 3 Months Old

Allie turned 3 months old last weekend (the day after Thanksgiving).  I can't believe it.  She has started to smile a lot and also she can be quite the chatter box.  Tyler always thinks that she is saying real words like "mom" and "hi-ya."  It is mostly squeaks and squeals, but they are adorable.
She also really loves to eat her hands.  She sometimes gets her thumb in there and that makes her happy.  She still likes her binkey, but doesn't need it every time she goes to sleep.

She is sleeping really good.  She has only been waking up one time a night for the last couple of weeks.  Lately she wakes up around 4:30 - 5:00 am and then sleeps until about 9:00.  Their are some mornings that I have to wake her up to take the boys to school.  It is so nice to have a good sleeper.  After all the sleep issues with Megan we really needed a good sleeper.
She is still pretty gassy, but seems to be able to get it out a little better.  All my babies have been so gassy, poor babies.

Allie doesn't really care for her swing, but really loves her bouncer.  She likes sitting up and seeing all the happenings of the house and she likes looking at her self in the little mirror.  It is nice to put her in her bouncer while I am cooking and cleaning the kitchen and she does great.
I am proud to say that I have gone this whole time without having to buy formula.  We have gotten lots from the pediatrician and samples from the formula companies.  It has been nice, but we have currently run out of the powder formula and so I had to buy some.  But 3 months is a pretty good run without having to buy formula.

More Leaves

For a little while the weather has been really cold.  So cold the high of the day was right around freezing.  It had been windy and it even has snowed a little bit off and on.  But the last couple of days the weather has been pretty nice.  When it was cold and windy it made most of our leaves come off our trees and created lots of leaves in our front yard (and in our neighbors yards too I'm sure). 

Today Tony got off work early and the boys didn't have school so they were all just hanging out inside the house when I decided to send them all out to rake up the leaves.
It is kind of sad how much fun the kids have "working" outside.  They helped rake up the leaves and put them into bags with Tony.  I am sure that they were probably more of a hindrance then a help, but they really did try.

We have a large rake and a small rake and I recently bought a medium sized (but still kid sizes) rake to add our collection.  The kids all love having a rake to use.  I guess I need to buy another smaller one so they don't have to fight over the little ones.  I thought of that after I had already left the store.

I am sure that it will be windy again soon and then the rest of the leave with blow off of the tree and we will need to rake all over again, but as of right now it looks pretty darn good.  After they were done raking the kids got out their bikes and scooters and had fun riding around the yard.  It was nice being outside again and getting some things done.  That is the good thing about when it gets really cold, it makes you appreciate the warmer days that much more.

Silliness

Allie was on our bed with Tony hanging out when Koda jumped up to be with them and so Tony had Allie and Koda do some snuggling.  Koda is so good to put up with our kids and all their shenanigans. 

Megan wanted to be part of the Koda, Allie, and Daddy party on our bed so she climbed on up too.  If the camera is out then she wants her picture taken too.  She is too cute not to snap a shot whenever we can.

Now Josh and Tyler were watching shows on the IPad while we were hanging out on our bed.  This is a typical site at our house when the boys want some down time.  It is nice that they both like most the same things and get along most of the time.  They are great kids!

Indoor Soccer Has Begun

The boys have started their first season of indoor soccer.  Tyler gets to play on a real indoor soccer arena and it's pretty cool.  Tony is Tyler's coach and Hayden is playing with Tyler too.  It is fun having cousins play together.  It's fun watching them play with Julie and her family too.
Josh plays on the basketball court that they have sectioned off for the little kids.  It is pretty funny to watch.  The ball glides quickly on the floor and the kids all just run around chasing it.  It's a good time for sure.

Sunday Cuties

 The boys got to spend the night at Grandma's house with the other boy cousins and so we just had Megan and Allie at church.  They sure do look so cute in their dresses.
Megan can be just as rough and tough as the boys but she likes to get dressed up in dresses and twirl around like a princess.  I think it is the best of both worlds.  I don't think that I would deal well with a "girly girl" who cried for every little scrape and fall - Megan is a tough cookie.  So it's nice that I can still do her hair cute and dress her up.

Allie just deals with whatever I put on her.  She has quickly figured out how to get her hair bows down around her face instead of on her head, so that's not fun.  If she is like Megan she wont grow much hair until after she's 2 years old, so she'll need to learn to deal with bows.  We love our adorable girls so much!