Family Photo Shoot 2010

Here are some shots my sister took. I thought she did a GREAT job. Especially considering the bad lighting we had with the family photos because we had to sit and wait for a storm to pass us over. Some are still in their raw image and need some photoshop work done on them, but I thought you would all enjoy looking at them.

My Mom, Sister and Nephew Come to Visit!!

My Mom, sister and her little baby boy came to visit us for 5 days!! We had so much fun!! I was SO excited to get visitors; they're hard to come by here. We had a wonderful time! We went shopping, had movie parties, had a hair bow making party until 1 A.M one night--that was FUN!!!, my talented sister took our family pictures in a cotton field, I took my sister couponing, and we went apple picking. It had been 15 years since it had been just me, my mom, and my sister. Up until that point, it had just been our little three-some until my mom re-married when I was 13. I have so many fond memories of doing things with just us three. Brighton and Lanaea

My mom is a champ at cleaning so it was nice to have her help to get my house looking nice. I went and rented a carpet cleaner to shampoo my carpets while she was here. It was SO nice to have her help. I had been dreading that chore, so it was nice to have some help. In fact it was a real treat to have someone other then me cleaning up messes. It's amazing how much can get done in a little time when you have some help!! In fact as I write this now, my kitchen is overflowing with dishes, dinner dishes are still on the table and there is a pile of clothes that needs to be folded on my family room floor. And what am I doing? I'm blogging!! After some convincing (from me) I decided those things can wait until morning.My sister Megan making homemade Oreos with my girls. My sister is a really good baker too! She's a woman of MANY talents!

Our outing to pick apples turned out to be quite an adventure! As we were driving we drove past a beautiful ripe cotton field. It was beautiful!!! I had to stop and have my sister take some pictures. I had dolled the girls up hoping we could get some cute pictures at the apple orchard, but I had to take advantage of this beautiful cotton field. Mylee would cooperate and I wasn't able to get a picture of all three of my girls together, but my sister got some good shots of Mylee by herself and some awesome landscape pictures! It started to rain really hard too and the wind picked up. In the rain we continued driving to the apple orchard. When we arrived it was closing in 30 minutes and it was still raining. When we had ventured out Sunday night to take some family pictures it was raining then too. Kelsey said a little prayer for us and it stopped. I told Kelsey we needed her prayers again. She prayed that the rain would stop, and it did! I stayed in the car with the babies because it was a little cold outside and my mom and sister and the girls ventured out into the apple orchard. The owners let them use a golf cart so they could pick their apples quickly. I thought it was funny that they let them use it. They had a wonderful time and came back with some yummy golden delicious apples. We tried to stop at the cotton field again on the way home to get some pictures, but Mylee and the weather would cooperate again.

When we took them to the airport to fly home Mylee innocently and sweetly said, "Grandma I'm done with you now." In other words, I've had lots of fun with you Grandma, but it's okay if you go home now. We all got a kick out of it!! Awww, the innocence of children. THANKS FOR COMING MOM AND MEGAN!!

Look Who's Standing up Alone!!

Have I ever mentioned that Lanaea Joy is just a JOY!! Well, she is ;). She's growing up so fast and I'm trying to treasure all the sweet little moments I have with her as a baby. A couple of weeks ago--when she has just turned 9 months--she started standing up by herself!! I couldn't believe it. She is such a petite little thing, I was surprised! She loves to stand up by our fireplace hearth and get toys out of the toy box and stand up by her toy pictured above.

She's a champ at crawling and gets into and eats EVERYTHING! This is my 3rd baby and I'm always surprised at the little things they find on the floor. Today she got booted to her exersaucer because I could keep up with her and our littered floor!
Both Kelsey and Mylee adore her. Kelsey had placed her in this basket and was playing house of some sort with her. Kelsey is really good with her and Lanaea gets noticeable excited when she sits to play with her. Mylee thinks she good at playing with her, but their interactions ALWAYS end up with Lanaea crying and Mylee acting innocent. I've had to teach Mylee that you don't pick her up, especially by the NECK!! And you can't tackle her or put her under a blanket and play hide-n-seek! I've also told her that you can't dump a whole pile of cheerios on her high chair or she'll choke, etc, etc. Lanaea, we LOVE you!!

My 28th Birthday

My birthday was WONDERFUL this year!! A few weeks ago I literally forgot how old I was turning. I knew I was turning 27 or 28 but couldn't remember exactly. After doing the math though I couldn't believe how OLD I was getting!! Okay, so I know it is not that old. I feel completely content where I am at in my life. There is nothing that I would change. I have a loving husband that honors his priesthood and loves me. I have three BEAUTIFUL daughters that bring me more joy then words can express. I'm able to stay at home and nurture my children. There is nothing more that I could need or want--my family means EVERYTHING to me.

We started my birthday celebration a little early on Saturday and went out to eat at Dennys for breakfast. General Conference doesn't start until 11 A.M for us so we made it an outing. Mylee and I received coupons for a free grandslam for our birthdays. I bought them chocolate milk though because I felt bad not paying anything (well expect for a tip), and the girls LOVE chocolate milk. It was a fun morning. And conference was WONDERFUL as always!! I love how conference is always around my birthday. I had prepared conference workbooks for the girls to work on and utilized the free games on scriptures4kids.com which Kelsey loved!!

On Monday sweet Kathy Cammack--whom I've told you about before (serve with her in YW's and she's like another grandmother to my girls)--came and took Mylee for the day. Then Marti Wallace (serve with her in YW's too, used to be my YW leader as a Beehive!) treated me to a pedicure and manicure and took Lanaea while I went to get that done. It was SOOO wonderful!! While I was gone getting my toes and nails done, Marti baked and frosted me a birthday cake!! That same day I also got a stellar deal on cereal at Walgreens--.20 a box for Frosted Mini Wheats and Raisin Bran--my two favorites!!! I emptied what they had on the shelf! When I returned home I picked up Kelsey from school, then Kathy brought Mylee home shortly after with a whole Lasagna in hand for us to have for dinner!!! Wha-hoo!! So I didn't have to make dinner. The girls adorned my birthday cake with some candy I had left over from Mylee's cake and we sang happy birthday later. Blake treated me to a shopping spree at Academy (sports store) so I could get some new workout clothes that I had been needing/wanting.

It was a WONDERFUL day!!

Mylee's 3rd Birthday Party

On September 27, we celebrated Mylee's 3rd birthday. From 10:30 until 3 PM a sweet lady I serve with in Young Women's took Mylee out for the day. Mylee just LOVES her!! She has been like my mom here and has been like a grandmother to my girls. While Mylee was gone, I worked on her cake and other details involving her party. What I thought would take a couple of hours, ended up taking me the whole day!!I really wanted the make the day special for her though, so all the time and effort was worth it. I made her a crown birthday cake out of sugar cookies. It was a BIG hit and one of the best cakes I have made. Kelsey has already requested that she have the same cake for her birthday. When Mylee saw her cake she said, "Oh Wow!! My cake!!!" She immediately wanted to pick all the little candies off of it and eat the frosting. For dinner I made her favorite, homemade macaroni and cheese. I ended up scorching it a little bit, but hoped my family wouldn't notice. Guess who was the first to notice?! Blake, of course!! Mylee didn't notice though and that's all that matters.

A couple of days prior we all went to The Dollar Tree to pick out some birthday gifts. Kelsey helped pick out some things for Mylee and Mylee picked out something for Kelsey. Kelsey and I picked out some playdoh, bubbles, toy binoculars, fairy wings, and sidewalk chalk. Mylee got Kelsey a Princess and the Frog puzzle. All the presents were a hit!! Sadly though, the binoculars are already broken and most of the playdoh is all mixed together--Oh well. When singing happy birthday, Mylee sang along with us and when we said her name she would say, "TO ME!!". When we finished singing she wanted to sing again, so we lit the candles again and sang again. I love how animated she is. Mylee received birthday cards from many of you. She LOVED them and was so excited to find letters for her in the mail. Thank you for thinking of my little princess.

We were able to use the money many of you sent her to go towards her new snow white bike. We brought this present out very last and she almost couldn't contain her excitement!! She immediately got on it and started to ride it. As she pushed on the pedals she exclaimed, "It works!!!" Blake and I let her ride on the tile for a few trial runs. The next day, I took her outside to help her practice. When the bike wouldn't move she would frustratingly say, "It's not working!" As I helped push her along, it was so fun to hear her giggle with delight.

It's been fun to see a different side of Mylee these last couple of weeks with Kelsey in school. She's much mellower without Kelsey around. I've enjoyed some one-on-one Mylee time. She is such a sweet little girl and I can't imagine my life without her. She completes our family. We LOVE you Mylee!!!

Birthday Trip to IHOP

Blake was out of town on Mylee's birth date, so we were postponing her party until he got back in town. Even with Blake being gone though I wanted to do something out of the ordinary for Mylee's official birthday. I had signed up for MANY birthday clubs at restaurants so I had received a free meal to IHOP for myself and Mylee for her birthday. So we made a trip out of it. Our coupons were for a Tooty Fruity (pancakes with strawberries and cream with eggs, sausage and bacon). The girls LOVED it!!! Who knew that breakfast food would be such a hit!! The girls ate their WHOLE meal. I couldn't believe it. Except Mylee didn't finish her sausage--she didn't like it. After Kelsey had finished her meal she caught the attention of our waitress and said, "I want some more pancakes." She was very polite, but I thought it was so hilarious that she thought it perfectly normal to ask our waitress for more pancakes. I just laughed and told Kelsey she didn't need anymore pancakes. Our waitress was really sweet though and brought both Kelsey and Mylee some ice cream with chocolate chips in it for free as a complimentary birthday treat. We had a great time. Lanaea had a great time too and had to get out of her car seat and join me on my chair to be part of the party. When we got home we had a movie party and watched the new Tinkerbell movie I had rented from redbox.

Trip to the ER

Guess where we went today?!! The ER!! But really we just met Blake there and he took her back--whahoo FREE (okay wait, not technically, we paid BIG bucks--ie. med school-- to get this privilege)!! On Monday Kelsey closed our car door on her finger accidentally. Every day is has gotten worse. Blake had gone into work this morning even though he wasn't feeling great, but he is trying to fulfill his responsibilities at work the best way he can. He x-rayed her finger and there were no fractures--Yea!! Then we went to find Dr. McKee who is one of the attendings in the Ortho Dept that specializes in hands. She had told Blake this morning that she would be happy to look at it. On the way to her office we ran into a lot of Blake's co-workers. Blake would say, "Hey, want to see a really good smashed finger." Mylee has been complaining of it hurting and this morning I was particularly worried about it. It was very swollen and red. When we got to Dr. McKee's office she recommended that her finger nail be taken off to relieve the pressure and pain. She said that she doesn't usually take the nail off of kids, but hers was bad enough that it was in Mylee's best interest that it be done.

Faustin Stevens was one of Blake's co-workers we ran into. He is one of the chiefs and our good friend. He offered to do the procedure so Blake wouldn't be the bad guy and Mylee would respond better to someone other then her dad--not to mention that he wasn't feeling great. So we walked back down to the ER Ortho room and Blake got the room prepped and the items needed to take off her nail. I sat and held Mylee on my lap while Faustin did the procedure--don't worry he numbed it. Blake handed him tools he needed and helped me comfort Mylee. She cried the whole time, which was expected. Lanaea cried during the whole procedure too. I think she was upset that Mylee was so upset. It was quite traumatic. Blake went and got her a Popsicle after it was all done. I asked her to give me a happy face and this was the best she could do.

The Lunchbox Caper

On Monday I had put Kelsey's lunch bag in her backpack so she wouldn't have to carry it. So I was surprised to find it in our pantry when I got back home from dropping her off. I remembered hearing her open her backpack, but didn't think to check it before we left. Before lunch time I dropped Kelsey's lunch off at her classroom. It was so fun for me to see her sitting at her table working hard and interacting with the others kids in her class. When I picked her up that day, I asked her why she had taken her lunch bag out of her backpack. She said:

Kelsey: "Cause Mom, kids who don't bring a lunch get a tray."

Mom: "Oh, you wanted a tray today?"

Kelsey: "Yes."

Mom and Dad: "If you get stickers on your chart for two weeks (good behavior chart that gets sent home every day) then you can get a tray (ie: school lunch)."

Kelsey: "OKAY!!"

Climbing Kelsey

Did I ever mention that Kelsey is a CLIMBER!! One day out of the blue she said "Look what I can do Mom!!" I couldn't believe it.

Adventures in Abilene

We are finally home now. Blake was discharged from the hospital on Friday morning. We were all VERY excited to go home!! Blake is doing well and getting used to his new "plumbing system". His spirits are high and he is doing amazingly well. Mylee was happy to see us, but it took Kelsey a while to warm up to us. She had had a big week.

This Super 8 Motel room was my home for 5 days thanks to the generosity of my in-laws. It was very nice to have a place to stay while I was in Abilene. The room was very comfortable and Lanaea slept all night every night that we stayed. They also had a continental breakfast that I enjoyed each morning.

Here's a small shot of Blake's hospital room. We had Lanaea's port-a-crib next to his bed. Lanaea just chilled in there for 4.5 days!! She was a trooper. Blake is enjoying a popcicle in his chair.

We just had one catastrophe. Lanaea was having plumbing problems too, only opposite to Blake. In an effort to help her, I gave her a 9 oz. bottle of apple juice. She LOVED it and chugged it down. I was surprised!! Well it worked as you can see below. Blake and I were laughing hysterically. In fact we were laughing so hard that I had to leave the room because the straining from the laughter was hurting Blake.

Lanaea was happier too!! Good thing I had packed extra clothes for her! Sad thing that I didn't pack any for me.

Kindergarten Day 3

Yesterday morning (Wednesday the 25th) Kelsey had decided she didn't want to go to kindergarten. According to my mother-in-law Joyce, her room looked suspicious in the morning like she had gotten up and played in the night. Needless to say she was very tired and grumpy the next morning. She said to Joyce, "I don't want to go to school today." Joyce had to bribe her with some marshmellows she would get packed in her lunch if she got up. This got her going. Then Kelsey insisted that her hair be left down with a headband which wasn't going to fly that day because she had PE. Again Joyce had to bribe her with something which got her to concede. The next battle was wearing her winter coat to school because it was a little chilly outside. Joyce let her wear it walking to school, but convinced her to leave it with her before she went inside to her class. I was told that Kelsey woke up happy to go to school today, but ohhh the days I have to look forward to!!

Update**When I got home on Friday I looked in her school folder and found out she had gotten a yellow check for her behavior that day--which is NOT good. Not as bad as a red, but it's the next one up from that!! Apparently Blake would push the limits at school he was young too!! Like father like daughter I guess. She definitely doesn't get this trait from me!! I couldn't get out of Kelsey what she had done. She kept saying, "Humm, I don't remember." I also forgot to mention that she refused to eat breakfast that day. Good thing they feed them free breakfast at school.

New Posts GALORE!!

Life at our home has been a little bit busy so blogging has taken a back seat for a while. But being that I use this blog as our family journal, it was important to me that I update everything. During Blake's hospital stay this time I got everything updated. I just need to add some pictures of Kelsey's first day of school which I'll do when I get back home. It's taken me hours and hours and 4 days so enjoy!! You'll have to click back quite a few pages to see all that I updated.

Blake's 3rd Surgery and Kindergarten

I thought I would just share with you my journal entry I wrote today to give you all an update on Blake's surgery and Kelsey's first day of Kindergarten:

Blake just had his 3rd and hopefully last surgery yesterday. Kelsey also started her first day of kindergarten. The day started off early for me at 5:30 A.M. I hurried to finish packing and clean our bathroom for Blake's mom who would be using it for the next couple of days while she stayed at our house to watch Kelsey and Mylee. I went and woke Kelsey up for school and quickly went to french braiding her hair and getting her ready for the day. She was SO excited!! It warmed my heart to see her so excited and I was glad that I was able to participate at least a little bit on her special day by doing her hair. On the way to Abilene I got a call from Blake's mom that all went well when she dropped her off at school. When Joyce dropped Kelsey off at her classroom, Kelsey's teacher Mrs. Spradley said, "Are you Mormon!?" To which my mother-in-law replied, "Yes". She then asked her to see if I knew a girl her daughter goes to school with--I do. Joyce was surprised at getting asked such an abrupt question of that nature. I have learned though that people here in West Texas are uninhibited when it comes to religion. They aren't afraid to let everyone know they are religious and to ask if others if they are as well--which is great!! It also makes it really nice for missionary work. I was relieved to hear that her morning started off well!

Twenty to thirty minutes after Blake was called back to get prepped for surgery we were informed that Dr. Kendrick got called into an emergency case so his surgery was going to be delayed. Blake's surgery was scheduled for 12 PM, but he didn't end up in the operating room until 4:15PM. Chuck, Lanaea and I hung out in the family room located on the floor all of Dr. Hendrick's patients go to. It was great! We had the room to ourselves for most of the day. I had brought along Lanaea's pack n' play so she could play and roll around and take naps in it. It worked out perfectly. I was even able to catch a few z's with her. I called Joyce around 3:15 to see how Kelsey's day went. She immediately handed the phone over to Kelsey. When I asked her how her first day of school went she said, "It was AWESOME!!" I couldn't wipe the proud smile off my face. She then told me that she had spilled milk on her pants. But it was okay, she said, because it just dried. She also told me she got to sit on the rug and sing really funny songs and listen to some stories her teacher read. She then told she got to color a ROCKET SHIP!! She thought that was really cool. She also drew 2 giraffes and taught a little girl sitting next to her to draw a giraffe on her paper too. Her day went on without a hitch!! Okay except for that evening when we was demonstrating to grandma how she prevents Mylee from flushing her panties down the toilet (yes it has happened and no we have not experienced any plumbing problems YET!). In her demonstration she jumped up on the toilet seat thinking the lid was down only to land right in the toilet getting all wet and scrapping her back on the way down. She cried and cried and she even called me to explain the incident, which I didn't understand until Blake's mom told me the whole story this morning. Joyce eventually had to bribe her with a go-gurt she was to get in her lunch the next day if she stopped crying. I'm a little concerned about how her school schedule will affect her with it being ALL day. I won't hesitate to pull her out half day or even all together to home school her if it comes to that. I think Kindergarten will be really good for her though and hopefully she will get used to the schedule. To be honest though, it has been really hard for me to send her away like that. I worry about the influences that will surround her and the things she will learn from the other kids that may not be acceptable. She's my sweet little girl and I felt like I sort of gave her away a little bit today. I was able to handle these emotions without any tears though, which is good for me.

At 4:15 I got a call informing me that they had just started Blake's surgery. I became a little anxious when I didn't receive a call an hour into his surgery. This surgery was supposed to be a "no-brainer" essentially and wasn't expected to be very long. Dr. Kendrick didn't call until 6:35 PM. He told me he had finished the procedure and everything was closed up now like what was planned, but it had taken longer then expected because Blake had quite a few adhesions (scar tissue) that he had to cut. So much in fact that he had to open his abdomen up again about 6 inches. This was disheartening and a little upsetting to hear. It would have only been an 2 inch horitzontal incision where his stoma had been, but Dr. Kendrick had to cut vertically an additional 6 inches to get to all the adhesions. All in all though, I was glad Blake was okay and that they were able to complete the procedure that was originally planned.

I didn't see Blake until that evening at 9 PM. Chuck and I went out to dinner then we checked into the hotel. At that point Lanaea was ready for bed. I got her dressed in her jammies and put her to bed. Before long she was off to sleep. Blake's dad came over to my room to sit with her so I could go over and visit Blake. When I arrived at his room he was sleeping, but his color looked good--he wasn't pale like he was after his last procedure. Eventually he realized I was there and we briefly visited. His pain was at a 10 and he was very uncomfortable. But after receiving some Toradol on top of the Dilaudum he was taking, he started to feel a little bit better. He was unaware that Dr. Kendrick had had to open him up. He was disappointed to hear that. I was surprised that no one had informed him. After helping him brush his teeth and getting him settled I kissed him goodnight and went back to the hotel where I found Lanaea still sleeping soundly.

This morning Blake looked good. The pain meds make him really sleepy and his eyes roll back and he dozes off quite often. It's funny sometimes because I think he is sleeping and I'll say something to Blake's dad and then he chirps in like he fully alert. He pain is much more manageable today and he even went for a walk with his dad around lunch time. His wounds seem to be oozing more then his last surgeries however, so hopefully that is not a reason for alarm. Lanaea at the moment is sleeping in her port-a-crib. The mantra "3rd time the charm" is ringing true for me. I have found ways to entertain Lanaea much better then our previous visits and I found a better place to park our car and get to his hospital room. We hung out in the family room instead of the cafeteria like his last surgeries this time and I'm learning to read Blake's cues of when and when not he wants and/or needs my help and/or attention. I hope to get my blog updated during our stay this time. We will see how successful I am in getting that done with Lanaea to keep busy and entertained.

Love, Cami

Photo Shoot

On July 28, 2010, I took the girls to Maxey Park to take their pictures. I changed these to black and white and plan to hang them with black ribbon in white frames in their pink and white room. I need to get a better picture of Lanaea and a picture with all of them together, but overall I am really happy with them.

Lanaea is Sitting Up AND Crawling

At 7 months Lanaea mastered both sitting up by herself and army crawling. Before she would just roll every where, but now she army crawls everywhere. She's become quite good at it. She'll get on her knees and rock back and forth and try to make a lunge forward but will just fall on her chest. She hasn't quite figured out that you have to move your hands and feet at the same time.

Sitting up playing with her toys

Lanaea with her sisters

Aren't I big Mom!!

Bandaid Girl

I don't know what it is about bandaids and kids, but they LOVE them.

Getting swarmed by mosquitoes + leaving the bandaids down = Mylee putting them over all of her bug bites including the one on her chin.

Needless to say, we are out of Hello Kitty bandaids, but how could I get mad at a face like that!?