Old Kitchen Bowls, Loads of Laundry, and Blankets...OH MY!!

Well, as much as I wanted an uneventful week, I didn't quite get one. Kelsey, Lanaea and I came down with the flu, each of us got it about a day a part from one another. Kelsey started us off, then Lanaea, and I finished the party with probably one of the worse flu bugs I have ever had!! Kelsey was a trooper and was content most of the day as long as she had Sprite, her throw up bowl and a show to watch. Sweet Lanaea didn't know what to think about her sickness. She sat most of the day on our rocker-recliner chair with a blanket and throw-up bowl next to her and would drift in and out of sleep for most of the day. There were times, however, that she would get up and mosy about and then I would find her in the most un-usual places. The strangest being underneath our kitchen table laying on her stomach sucking her thumb. It broke my heart. However it was nice that I didn't have to control her craziness to help protect her healing chin. In the days that both Kelsey and Mylee were sick, they both felt better at the end of the day and were pretty much back to normal the following mornings. I on the other hand it pretty bad and didn't recover quite as quickly. Should have got my flu shot--next year for sure!!! Blake was sweet and came home from a long day of work around 8:30PM and gathered all the girls up and got them working. They did all the dishes and cleaned my whole house!! It was such a burden lifted off my back!! After about 24 hours of being quite sick and unable to eat anything, Blake gave me a beautiful blessing and then I went to bed and got a WONDERFUL night's rest and woke up the next morning feeling significantly improved!! I felt so blessed that I had recovered so quickly. The Lord also showed me His tender mercies that morning by helping me realize how blessed I am to be a wife and mother. All of our girls came into mine and Blake's bedroom and loved us in each of their own ways. Lanaea talked our ears off, we didn't understand most of what she said, but it was sure entertaining to listen and watch her. Kelsey was our little snuggle bug and Mylee tried to steal a couple of tickles here and there to get a laugh out of Blake. She also told us about her dreams...I wish I could remember what it was to share it with you.

Even though I was still pretty weak, I felt well enough to go to the laundry mat and do our laundry with all three girls. Blake had to go to work, but we were blessed that he was able to stick around in the early morning with us. The day got better when some friends invited us over for BBQ and we had a nice visit and our girls had a wonderful time playing with their two girls. Blake got paged to the hospital and ended up having to leave a little bit early. On a side note, word of warning!! Never try to make potato salad when you only have an hour to prepare it!! It turned out so bad I stopped by Sam's club on the way to pick up a chocolate cake. We were late to our party, but I think the chocolate cake ended up being worth it! Like last week our week ended up really nice. Today was a beautiful and relaxing Sunday. I also made some killer chicken tacos with spanish rice that I was pretty psyched about!!! My girls loved it too!! Yes another recipe for my growing collection!!
Before I leave you for the week, I wanted to tell you a funny story about Lanaea this week. As you know she split her chin open two weeks ago--which I'm happy to report it is healing and looking good, she did split it open slightly though and you can't close an old wound, grrr!! It will be okay though. Well, this week she picked at her skin on her hand and tore a tiny piece of skin off. I have had more tears about that tiny little ouchy then the huge gash on chin!!! I found a trick though, as long as a piece of tape was over it, she was happy. She woke up in the night last night crying because her tape had fallen off. Once I replaced it, she went right back to sleep. Same thing happened at church today, only I didn't have tape to replace what she tore off. Luckily a sweet grandma came to my rescue and kept handing back toys to keep her distracted. That grandma didn't even have any children by her and she was pulling more toys and activities out of her bag then I have ever brought to church. It was pretty funny! At one point I piled everything up and showed it to Blake and he looked at me wide-eyed and we both just laughed. I hope to be a grandmother that helps rescue young mothers too one day.

From the ER to the Fort Worth Stock Show

 This has been quite the week!! Monday morning Lanaea slipped in the tub and split her chin open!! At first I thought she had just bit her tongue and I couldn't figure out why there was so much blood. Then she lifted up her head and said "Hurt" and pointed to her chin. It was split open!! I panicked for a split second but said a pleading prayer out load and got myself put together. I was still in my pj's, but I manged to get all the kids dressed and we headed off for the E.R where I planned to page Blake. I called him shortly after the incident along with numberous texts that said, "EMERGENCY!!" He never responded though so I assumed he was in surgery. Sure enough he was when the nurse in the operating room called me in response to my page. We had to wait about an hour before he was able to come down and see us. He gathered some supplies and we went home where he fixed her up. He used dermabond to glue her up. My heart has been sick since. I usually always get Lanaea out of the tub first, but for some reason I got Kelsey first out that day. Mylee had decided she wanted to play dolphin and crashed into Lanaea causing her fall. My heart has just felt sick and it's been hard for me to sleep thinking of the incident and the scar she'll have for life. Good thing Blake is a doctor or my doctor would have just cause to hate me and be seriously annoyed with me. Serious though I feel like I need to cage my kids up!! They keep getting hurt. Now that the week has come to a close though I am feeling better and I got a good night's sleep last night.

Later in the week on Wednesday night we had an awful scare with Blake's health. It was seriously 14 hours of you know what!! One of the complications from his surgery is the risk of getting bowel obstructions in his small intestine. He has had obstructions in the past, but as time has gone on he has been blessed with fewer incidents. Wednesday night however he got one of the worst obstructions he had had by far. Having a bowel obstruction is a serious condition that needs to be attended to quickly if it persists too long. If his obstruction didn't clear within the next few hours we were prepared to drive to Abilene where his doctor is, for him to be admitted to the hospital. Which at that point we would be looking into possible surgery which neither of us wanted! We were both up all night. I laid in bed with my heart racing, feeling sick with worry. I felt so helpless. Blake of course was miserable, but a trooper through it all. With all the pain and discomfort he was experiencing, the only thing he had to say was "Oh man!" I find myself constantly amazed at his stamina and faith. The obstruction finally did clear the next morning and within two hours, after getting some much needed rest, Blake was back at work as though nothing had transpired over the last 14 hours! To make matters worse Kelsey woke up later in the evening throwing up and she continued to throw up and feel miserable into the afternoon. After everything had settled down, I snuggled Kelsey up with a bowl near by and put a movie on for she and Mylee and I went and laid Lanaea and myself down for a nap. I was emotionally and physically drained!! I had grabbed my phone with the secret hope that I might receive a phone call from a loved one. And sure enough, just as I was about to lay down I received a phone call from my mother-in-law because she felt she needed to call me. It could not have been better timing. I'm glad she was responsive to the spirit that morning to call me in my time of need.

 Friday managed to make it though the day with no drama and we went to the 116th Annual Stock Show of the city of Fort Worth. At the show there is a carnival, a petting zoo, various animals on display for show--mainly cattle and horses, but others as well. There are also various vendors at the event along with a daily and nightly rodeo and various shows and performances. We didn't have tickets to the rodeo, but we mainly walked around the various vendors and went to see the animals. It was a lot of fun and the animals were a hit! Lanaea was especially fun at the petting zoo. She was fearless like usual and wanted to pet every animal. If an animal would put its face in hers she was say, "Hey" and either brush it away or move. Mylee was a little more timid but came to enjoy the experience and Kelsey, like Lanaea was fearless and enjoyed every minute of the experience. Kelsey asked at one point when we were going to go to the buck show. At first I didn't understand her question, thinking she thought there were supposed to see male deer there, but then realized she was talking about the bull-riding. We have to take our girls to a rodeo one day. You would think it would be easy in Texas, but we haven't managed to attend one yet!!

 Saturday was mostly a day of rest. Blake studied most of the day and the girls and I caught up on some household chores. That evening we went to Sam's club of all places to get our $9.00 pizza and free samples. Yes, we are cheap and yes this is what we call eating out. We had a great time though and Blake even surprised us with ice cream smoothies...YUMM!! They had great samples too!! That evening Blake and I watched "Courageous". I would highly reccommend watching it!! It was wonderful. It's a Christian film that is about these police officers learning and committing to be better fathers. There was so much truth in what was said and the message of the movie was so powerful. Blake and I got some great ideas to do with our own daughters. My favorite idea in the movie was when one of the fathers took his 15 year-old daughter out to eat at a nice resteraunt to signify it being her first date. He explained to her the significance of dating and some rules. He also gave her a ring that would be replaced one day with her engagement ring. It was very sweet and touching.

This Sunday was really nice too. We had a beautiful lesson in Sunday School on Adam and Eve and their fall and Blake and I were able to watch Kelsey give a WONDERFUL talk on agency in primary. I felt SO PROUD of my daughter. She got up front of the whole room of children at the podium with her talk in hand and spoke loady and clearly the words in her talk and then she closed with a beautiful testimony about the the Prophet Joseph Smith, testifying that he was a true prophet and of our Savior Jesus Christ. She is growing up to be such a beautiful young lady both inside and out!

So here's to another week, I'm praying for an uneventful up-coming week with NO accidents!! Oh and did I mention we only have 3 more weeks here and then we get to go home!! I'm so excited!! Then we get to go on vacation to Utah to ski and see family. I'll find out in 2.5 weeks whether we will be having a girl or a boy too!!

Venturing Out

So I've been thinking a lot about how I share things on this blog. I've hesitated in the past to become too personal for fear of what others would think of me and I'm sensitive to maintaining the privacy my husband thrives on. Though I plan to keep things sensitive to my husband and family private, I've decided I am going to be more open to sharing my thoughts and feelings. There's something special that happens when someone comes out of their shell and shares their heart with you. It helps you feel connected and at least for me, it strengthens me. I realize I come off in this blog as though I have everything put together in my life, that my life is always peachy--though it's wonderful and I feel so blessed, I struggle like everyone and have my own challenges that I deal with on a daily basis. You might have already hinted in at this if you've noticed my sparatic blogging. I will go without months without blogging anything, then blog 10 posts or more. It's usually during those times that things are hard or I'm just busy. My hope in venturing out in this way is that I might touch someone else's heart and help them realize that it's okay to have bad days and that it's okay to make mistakes. I often find myself becoming completely overwhelmed when looking at all these craft/food/coupon/family blogs wondering how they do it all and why I'm not able to do the same. I'm sorry if reading my blog has done this for you. At this moment my kitchen sink is overflowing with dishes and there are still remains of breakfast at 6:30PM at night--this is not an unusual occurance for me. To be honest I'm sort of a basket case--my husband can attest to that one.

Okay now that I have that out, let's just say that our time here in Fort Worth has not been easy. I miss the comforts of my home and my friends. I never realized before how much I thrive off the interaction and friendship of others. I'm most happy when I am around others, whether that be serving or just interacting in seemingly in-consequential conversations. There's something special when you spend time and get to know someone else. Everyone has something to share and contribute and I gain strength through from other's examples and experiences. Since being here I have felt so isolated and alone. Our ward here has not been super friendly, minus one family that had us over for dinner. I've really come to realize how important it is to reach out and make newcomers feel welcome and loved. Being quite sick with this pregnancy hasn't helped our situation here any easier either. I'm happy to report though that I'm finally beginning to feel better and I'm finding the energy and desire again to enjoy my children and do things with them--did you notice my nearly 10+ new posts lately!! This week we even ventured outside of our small apartment and went to the library (yes we hadn't been in weeks!! and I had renewed our books from last time twice!), and we went to the Museum of Science and History, the National Cowgirl Museum and the Stockyards. Seriously this was a big feat for me and it did great things for my psyche even though I admit it's a lot of hard work truding along with three kiddos in tow! I did enjoy it though and so did my girls.


At the stockyards. The girls were so excited to meet a real cowboy and his horse!




A cute ride located in a corridor of authentic Texan foods and Texas gift shops. I can't wait to come back with Blake and get some Texas grub!




At the Museum of Science and History in their Children's Museum. It was a BIG his wiith my girls!





Oh if grocery shopping were still this fun!




Digging for dinosaur bones and other fossils at the Science Museum




Enjoying an interactive 3-D movie on the earth. The chairs moved and water splashed at us and everything. It was a HUGE hit with Kelsey, but the other two got scared and cried the whole time.




Riding a horse and catching cattle at the Science Museum

  I didn't get any pictures of the cowgirl museum because they didn't allow pictures, but the girls got to ride a horse there and see pictures of a bunch of tough cowgirls. Kelsey wants to ride horses like one one day.

Sweet Experience

Two weeks ago we visited Blake's cousin Kendell and his wife Emma and their 3 boys in Flower Mound, Texas--about an hour's drive. They had just had a sweet baby girl the day before--Gracie Belle, but due to many complications they didn't expect the baby to live much beyond her birth. Blake and I were able to see their precious and perfect little girl after she had reached her 24 hour birthday. By looking at the baby's face you would never know that anything was wrong with her. She was BEAUTIFUL!! After a short visit at the hospital we went to Kendell and Emma's home where Delwyn (Uncle), Shelly (Aunt), Tyler, Spencer, Caitlyn and Josh--(cousins) were. We had a wonderful visit and our girls loved playing with Kendell's 3 boys. Later that night about 6 PM or so we got a call from Emma's parent's saying the baby had flat-lined a couple of times and it seemed that Gracie's time was coming. Blake and I stayed at Kendell's home to watch the boys so everyone could go to the hospital. A few came back around 9:30PM to get some dinner. They had some chicken in the crockpot and Blake and I had made some rice. A couple of the siblings stayed at home with the boys stayed while the rest went back to the hospital. Blake and I left for home shortly after. The next day we heard word their sweet Gracie Belle had passed that evening at 3 AM. It was a sweet teaching experience this morning to teach our girls about death and that the sweet baby they met yesterday went to heaven today.

I have been so touched by Kendell and Emma's whole experience and have gained a stronger testimony of our Heavenly Father's plan for us and how special life is. Life is a beautiful thing and it's been a humbling experience to see this couple go through the experience of having their daughter die. Emma has kept a blog detailing their whole experience. It's been very inspiring and uplifting to me, bue to the sensitive nature of feelings and experiences expressed there I want to maintain their privacy and not share the link.

Guess Who's 2!!

 My sweet little baby isn't so much of a baby anymore. Yep she turned 2 on January 3rd! It's been a wonderful two years and she has continued to live up to her name Lanaea JOY! She is our little comedian and continually finds ways to make every member in her family feel special and important. For example, every day when Blake gets home from work she is the first one at the door with a loud and excited, "DADDY!!!" ready to give him a big tight squeeze and even a kiss at times. In a more subdued manner, she greets me like this in the morning when she wakes up.

 Lanaea is also very independent and like I have said before, a little dare devil. When we go to the park I almost have to be extra cautious of her just to show the other mom's I'm being responsible because she's so crazy. She gets that from her dad!! Her favorite or at least her most used word is "LOOK!" She's always anxious to show and share with us new things. Lanaea also loves movies. Though not always, she can sit through a whole movie with her sisters and be completely entertained. We watched "Mr. Popper's Penguins" a few nights ago and she was cracking up!! We got a kick out of it. The movie definitely would not have been as entertaining without her company.

I kept asking her to pose for a picture and for some reason she kept turning backwards. I guess she knew that she would want those beautiful blonde curly locks documents forever!! Nearly everywhere I go I get stopped by people commenting on her hair and asking me if it is natural--IT IS! If only she would keep rubber bands and bows in longer then a few hours.

Yellow cake with whipped cream and strawberries, YUMM!!

Lanaea and her new doll stroller. I don't know if it is more of a hit with Lanaea or Mylee though, this could get interesting!!

Trip to the Fort Worth Zoo!!

 On New Years Eve we met up with Blake's Uncle Bob and Aunt Kathy with their three grandkids and their son Doug and his wife Angie. We all had a wonderful time. The zoo was really nice and the exhibits were amazing. The day we visited, it was about 70 degrees outside so the animals were out and roaming around and we were comfortable. Look carefully in this post and you'll find a surprise!

Okay so I had to have a shot with Kelsey's beautiful hair do!

His guy was everyone's favorite. He/she was HILIRIOUS!! He kept putting this bag over his head along with a lot of other fun playful things. We also saw him inside because he came outside and Kelsey got to put her hand up to his against the glass. Mylee was terrified of it. He is pretty big and hairy!

Sweet Mylee at the Rhino exhibit.

All the kiddos, Denny, Kelsey, Lanaea, Cassandra, Mylee, and Cassidy

Lanaea and Cassandra holding hands

Mylee and Cassandra holding hands

Kelsey at the Cheetah exhibit.

Here we are at the end of our day. Lanaea has  run out of smiles, pulled her hair out and taken off her socks and shoes, not a good sign. Excuse my swollen face and belly, I'M PREGANT!! Due July 5th

After Christmas Fun and an Accident

 For Christmas this year my parents got us a Wii with some games, one being Just Dance Kids. It has been a lot of fun. It's so funny to watch Kelsey try to mirror the dance moves on the screen. Lanaea will even get into the action.

 On our anniversay of all days, December 27t, Lanaea grabbed one of our rubberized 5 lb weights and threw it at Kelsey's head!! Blake was gone at work and blood of course was gushing out. I was ready to run to to the ER, but he assured me he would be home soon to take care of her. I felt AWEFUL and haven't been able to sleep for a couple of nights since. I should have put those weights away! Who would think that a two year-old would pick them up and throw them?!! Poor Kelsey will have a scar for life now, hopefully it will heal up nicely and not be too noticable. Time will only tell how it will scar and heal up.

 One day while we were out on a walk a lady came and started talking to me and Kelsey jumped in and showed her wound and told her all about it. The lady then replied, did you have to go to the doctor? Kelsey responded, "No, I get doctored at home. My daddy is a doctor." I thought that was so cute.


After Blake glued the wound up



Christmas 2011

 Christmas 2011 was a little different for us because one we are here in Fort Worth away from our home and second because Blake had to work the 23rd, 24th, and 25th. Luckily it wasn't too busy and Blake was able to be a part of the most important parts. I made Kelsey and Mylee their pj's this year. They're lucky I pulled them out this year, it almost didn't happen. I finished them Christmas Eve in the early evening! NEVER again! Next year, I'm eating up the cost and buying them. It does warm my heart though to have my girls wear something I made. Lanaea got store bought ones this year because she needed some footsie pj'.s She loves her froggie feet.

 Christmas morning was a lot of fun. The girls were so cute and appreciative and happy with all they got even though they didn't get one thing on their Christmas list--Kelsey had practically written down everything in the Target toy catalog on hers! Umm, yea, that was not happening!!

 Lanaea was the best! Everything she opened she would say, "LOOK!!!" and then come up and show us. I seriously can't get enough of this kid.

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Brown. This have been a beloved toy at our home!

Grammy Joyce made this sweet little dolls for the girls. They were so darling!

Lanaea loving her doll

The big disaster after presents were opened.

The girls sleeping in their tent they got from Christmas in their new sleeping bags with their new babies by their side. PRICELESS!!

It's hard to believe another year has gone by! This was a wonderful Christmas. Thank you to all those who thought of us this Christmas. We enjoyed reading many of your Christmas cards. I might actually get those out next year! We feel so blessed to have so many people that care and think of us. Since being here in Fort Worth I have really come to realize how much I value friendship and the association with friends and family. We love you!!

Christmas Adventures

 At the beginning of December we went to a play called "The Littlest Wiseman" put on by a local church. It was a fun experience. It was just me and my two older girls, Blake stayed home with Lanaea. I was disappointed that the story didn't follow the story exactly as it written in the Bible, but it was still a fun experience. It actually ended up being a teaching tool to help the girls pick out what happened and what didn't as it is written in the Bible.

 In December we also went to story time with Mrs. Claus. It was seriously the cutest thing ever!! She did such a GOOD job. The girls LOVED it. During the Rudolph song all the kids got Rudolph noses and Lanaea wore hers almost the entire time we were at the mall. She would get mad if anyone tried to take it off. Countless shoppers would stop me and comment on how cute she was.  At the end of story time the girls got a goodie bag filled with candy and a free meal at Chick-fila--so we stayed extra long and had lunch there at the mall.

Look at Lanaea in this video, it's hilarious!!! She loves to get attention and has NO fear or reservations! Where does she get that from!?

 This is our "Santa" picture this year. I know LAME!!! But I'm too cheap to pay to get a picture at the mall and they didn't have Santa visit at our Ward (Church) Christmas Party this year. Lanaea would have nothing to do with him. Mylee asked for a baby doll and Kelsey asked for a puppy.

We also enjoyed fun times at the play area in the mall. Surprisingly Lanaea only fell off the equipment once. She always frightens the other parents because she is so fearless. I've finally have had to just let her go and don't worry to much about her--that's within reason though.

 Cook Children's Hospital (where Blake currently works) put on a special Christmas event. It was quite a production with Santa there and a fireworks show that was better then some 4th of July shows I have seen. Lanaea cried and huddled up in my shoulder the whole time because of the noise. Kelsey and Mylee couldn't get enough of it!

 They got to explore a real fire engine and wear a real fireman's hat while at Cook Children's. This trip was also the first time that me and the girls had been to Blake's work. The hospital is amazing! I admittedly got a little teary eye-ed too walking through halls and seeing such young children that were so sick.

On one evening we went to go look at Christmas lights at a neighborhood not too far from us. This house was pretty impressive!! Probably one of the best and biggest light displays I have ever seen. The girls loved it.

Christmas of course wouldn't be the same without making gingerbread houses. I had to keep getting on Mylee for eating the frosting. Luckily she didn't come down with salmonella poisoning (I made it with egg whites). Lanaea of course just ate the candy.