ok blogging world..... I'm back!

I'm so happy to say that I just got my early Christmas present. Since our laptop has been acting up I haven't been able to get much blogging done. Well I just got a tablet and will be able to get all caught up! Be warned!

Big News

Well, we got an email (yes an email) from our landlord yesterday. The business they own has grown quite a bit and they need to expand... into the rental house! We are going to be moving again in 30 days... now for packing and home hunting! AAAHHHH!!!!! I cried a lot yesterday. But now I'm in action mode. Here's to another adventure!

Aunt Lianna's Visit

Lianna came for conference weekend. We had a fun time! She had some mission friends over and went to conference on Saturday. On Friday we took road the trax and dragged her to Gardner Village which is all decorated with Witches for Halloween! We had a fun lunch and got some yummy fudge and wandered around! It was a great time! Come visit soon Auntie!!

A first

The pictures are out of order!

Getting Casted

The bent arm!

Waiting to leave the Er!

Getting the splint

The Cast!

Well it happened. We have officially been inducted into that part of parenthood. The part that all parents dread happening ... And secretly wonder just how long it'll be before they get there. For us we thought we would have that dreaded ER visit a long time ago. We were pleased that we were six weeks shy of four years.

That's right, on September 19, 2011 Oliver broke both bones in his left upper wrist lower forearm. We were out in the front yard. I had been doing a bit of yard work. I had given a 5 minute warning so we could go in and have dinner. I turned around to put some clothes in the dryer and heard a smack on the concrete followed by lots of crying. I knew it was not good right away. Oliver doesn't cry over every skinned knee. He cries if he's truly hurt. We went inside and he sat on the step in between the living room and kitchen. Oliver was chalk white. For anyone who knows my O man at all you know his cheeks are always rosy! I cleaned up his scrapes and looked at arm. I could tell it was bad because there appeared to be a bend in his arm. I called a friend of mine who is a nurse at a pediatric orthopedic hospital. Her and her husband came right over and with their insight I decided a trip to the ER was in order. Our sweet friends drove the boys and me (since Berto was at work with our car).

After X-rays we found that he had in fact fractured both the radius and ulna bones. As soon as it was splinted the color came back in his cheeks.

We had to wait a whole week for his cast. He picked blue and to my surprise the cast is waterproof which is amazing! He has to wear it for four weeks, and it could take up to a year for his arm to appear straight again.

Our other first was on Saturday September 24, 2011 our sweet Isaac took his first steps. He was holding onto Berto and took three steps to the couch! He's not walking yet... But I am afraid it will be any day now!!

Parental Question and Advice PLEASE!

Ok, I have about 5 posts that I've written and need to get pics cropped and uploaded for... but this is going to take a priority. Oliver is in his 3rd week of preschool. He comes home everyday and is bouncing off the walls, is mean to the baby and does not listen. What do I do? Nothing seems to help. I've threatened, put him in time out, spanked, try to give him love and attention. I'm at my wits end and considering (gasp) pulling him out of preschool. I don't know if it's normal for a kids to behave like this. Is it just a faze? On the days he's NOT at preschool it's business as usual. He's not nearly as hyper and disobedient. Of course there is some of that. He's not quite 4 years old. BUT on preschool days it's out of control. I don't know what to do.

Isaac's dreaded Iron

At Isaac's 9 month check up they tested his iron and it was LOW. :( We spend the next six weeks making sure he had BEEF at least once a day to try and bring those numbers up. Last Thursday September 8, 2011 we had his follow-up appointment and to our dismay his iron was even LOWER. It was such a bad morning. After rushing Oliver to preschool and rushing back to pick up Isaac, on the way to the pediatrician I got into a little fender bender. There was no damage to either car but it was still nerve racking. Then to have to doctor tell me his iron was even lower. I was on the verge of tears. I had to take him directly to the outpatient lab at the hospital for some blood work. That was awful. They stuck him THREE times before they drew any blood. They were doing a more accurate hemoglobin test and testing for lead poisoning. The pediatrician called back Thursday evening to let us know that his iron was a bit higher from the blood test. It was basically at the very low end of normal. So we only need to give him a multi-vitamin with iron each day. PHEW. It will take a week for the lead test results to get back. In the meantime I contacted our landlord to find out how old the house we rent is. Thankfully, it was built in 1981 and they worry about lead in homes built prior to 1978. That is a huge relief. I'm not nearly as concerned as I was about the lead poisoning. Just a little more stress than any mom wants. But a multi-vitamin everyday I can handle if it gets his iron levels up so he's not anemic anymore!

Preschool

Oliver and his friend Anya in front of preschool on the first day!



Oliver and Anya with Miss Sam!

Oliver started preschool on September 6th. He was sssooo excited! He has been going for a week and a half now and all last weekend he begged to go to preschool! I asked his teacher how he did after the first day. She said " Oliver did fine today. I know that he had a blast because he was REALLY excited and happy throughout the class. He had a lot of energy and I am excited to help him learn to channel it. Please don't ever hesitate to email or call me, I am happy to help and reassure in any way that I can."
My sweet little ball of energy! Ha! He loves it! His teacher's name is Miss Sam. She's just awesome with the kids. I am so happy that he's having this time to learn and grow! And Isaac is loving having a couple hours of time with mommy and daddy and NOT having toys yanked out of his hands every time he gets a new one!

Oliver's teeth Follow-up

After a second visit to the dentist for Oliver's face plant his teeth have not changed (which is good). I guess we are supposed to look for signs of trauma for up to a year post accident. But as of now they are fine and good and DON'T NEED TO BE PULLED!!!

9/11/11

I have a ton of catch up blogging that I'm still working on... but I felt like I needed to get this written down. On facebook on the 10th Anniversary of September 11th a friend of mine posted what she was doing that dreaded morning 10 years previous and asked to share what we were doing. So I shared what I was doing and felt like I should write it down here.

I can remember that I was at home getting ready for work and my mom called me in to her bedroom to watch the news with her. I was horrified and spent the rest of the day (next couple of weeks) listening to talk radio as I worked out of my car. What really hit home to me was the fact that two weeks prior to 9/11 I had turned in my mission papers. I was waiting for an envelope that could send me anywhere in the world. I know it's nerve racking for anyone waiting for their "call" but I felt especially terrified because of the state of the United States and of the World at that moment in time. I received my mission call that Thursday. It was signed and dated by President Gordon B. Hinkley September 11, 2001. That said so many things to me about the importance of the missionary work I was about to do. It told me that it is so important that the world was falling apart around us (at least it felt that way) and President Hinkley the latter day Prophet didn't stop to watch the news, he kept moving forward. He kept issuing mission calls. I felt like that said that now more than maybe ever before the work needs to go forward.

Thank you Jaclyn Snyder for encouraging me to write this down for my kids to read in the future.

Vacation 2011

Sea World

Disneyland

Airport seeing Lianna!
Well, we went to California in August! It was a nice vacation and the main reason we went was to celebrate my sister Lianna's return home from her mission to Omaha, NE! It was so much fun to see her! We flew which was the best idea I've ever had! We arrived in CA on August 18th! Lianna arrived home on the 19th! We had a whirlwind of activities. We met Lianna at the airport with signs of love, went to her open house the following day, listened to her wonderful homecoming report on Sunday, ate dinner and celebrated Lianna's birthday at my moms on Sunday, Went to Disneyland on Monday, rested on Tuesday (ha ha), went to sea world on Wednesday and flew home on Thursday! PHEW I'm still exhausted thinking about it! It was a super fun trip! Oliver loved Disneyland and Sea World. Isaac LOVED Lianna! Which I'm so glad he did because she hadn't met him yet!

We also stayed the entire trip with our dear friends Greg and Carol Ann! They are so amazing to put up with us for so long! Our boys play so well together, 4 boys ages 5 years old down to 10 months and I think we had one little argument in an entire week! We are always so grateful for their welcome home!

So that was our vacation in a nutshell! Enjoy the pictures! I figure there isn't a whole lot to say! We barely blinked the whole week we were so busy with things to do! But it was a great time! I think two weeks later my kids are still recuperating! :)

5K

No, No we did not win $5,000! But on August 6th Berto and I ran a 5k! It was fun! I am still trying desperately to get rid of some of, any of this baby weight that will not fall off of my body from my dear sweet Isaac. I had only ONE goal for this race... it was TO NOT FINISH LAST! And I didn't so I was happy! We just did a fun run with the Salt Lake Running Company... the one thing we learned about doing a free 5k... You HAVE to wear their hideous free shirts WHILE you run! We also WON an awesome New Balance Backpack in their raffle! It was a great experience and Berto and I have decided to run the Salt Lake City Half Marathon in the spring! WOO!!!

The Dreaded Face Plant!

Sitting in the dentist chair waiting for the dentist to give me the verdict! Watching a movie!!

The teeth. This is after he pushed them forward a little with his tongue. (The discoloration has been there since his baby teeth grew in).

What a day! What started out as a promising day turned out to be one of the most traumatic days I've experienced this far in my parenting journey! I know I sound totally mellow dramatic... and I feel that way... and I'll probably feel really silly in a few days after I read this blog post... BUT I am still feeling the emotions of the day.

Ok, so today we decided to head up to the outlets in Park City. Berto and I have been in need of a few clothing items and are preparing for a trip to California. Also, Oliver has been needing new shoes... so our plans were made. After a quick and successful shopping trip I was sitting in the shade with the baby and Berto was letting Oliver test out his new Nike's at the playground. After about 15 minutes they came calmly walking over to me. I was surprised because Oliver doesn't typically leave a 3 year olds happy place (playground, park any where really) without a fight. Berto starts to tell me he tripped and fell and I suddenly realize there is blood coming out of Oliver's mouth. I hand off the baby to inspect the damage and find his right middle front tooth and the one next to it are severely pushed back and bleeding. PANIC. NAUSEA. DREAD. SORROW. Those are only a few of the emotions I felt. I get out my phone and start calling our dental insurance to see what our coverage is. THANKFULLY, I talked to a wonderful lady who suggested before I see our provider through our AETNA DMO, that I call our health insurance and see if they have accidental dental coverage! SCORE! I called and YES, he is covered 100% after a $50 copay which was a much better option for us than paying 20%! And they were amazing. They took the accident report, and helped me find a provider that could see him immidiately AND stayed on the phone while I made the appointment. They also told me EVERYTHING I needed to say so that they were billed properly. What a blessing!

So, we raced down the mountain. Oliver fell asleep so I called my mom and cried. I was trying so hard to keep it together for Oliver when ALL I wanted to do was morn for his poor front teeth.

Ok, so we made it to the dentist. They took an x-ray and thankfully there was no damage done to his permanent teeth which are just chillin up there waiting to come down. The dentist cautioned us not to have him numb Oliver up and try pushing the teeth forward. Oliver had already pushed them back up pretty far with his tongue and the Dentist didn't feel that he'd be able to do much more and it would be more traumatic than necessary for Oliver. So, basically they want to see him for a re-evaluation in 2 weeks as I guess it can take some time to really see the damage with dental trauma's. We just have to watch him for any absesses or anything like that or if he's in extreme pain then we have to bring him back in. The dentist doesn't think they'll fall out or anything like that at this point. So really it could have been much worse. I know that it's not the end of the world, they're just baby teeth... but I'm sad. The poor kid already had discolored baby teeth from who knows what reason... and now they're all wonky (for lack of a better term).

I am relieved that he's ok... but I'm sad. My Oliver doesn't look quite the same when he smiles. And he's been so subdued today. I think he got really scared and I think he's in some pain... and that breaks my heart.

Playing Catch Up!

My pictures uploaded in the wrong order... but I'm too tired to fix them!


At the legacy field museum with Grandpa and Anna! I think they both have a way to grow before they're basketball players! :)

Isaac with Grandpa Rick at the Thanksgiving Point Dino Museum!


With Tita in our front yard!


Both boys with Tito and Tita at the BYU Dino museum!



Isaac... I'm telling you I have my hands FULL!!!


Well, I'm playing catch up again! Once again I've been gone WAY too long! Geesh! Ok, so as far as Isaac goes... On April 26th he had his 6 month check up. He weighed in at 19.38 lbs in the 79th percentile and was 28.0 inches long in the 91st percentile! At about 8 months he started crawling. He is into EVERYTHING!! He's so much fun though! Such a happy, fun and smiling baby. His first tooth poked through right at 6 months and he now has 6 teeth. All four top front teeth and two bottom ones!
On July 21st Isaac had his 9 month check up. He weighed in at 21.1 lbs in the 61st percentile and 29.27 lbs in the 83rd percentile! Isaac is such a joy in our family!

Oliver is just a funny kid. He makes us laugh everyday. We love the funny things he comes up with all the time. He continues to LOVE trains, cars and dinosaurs! He is ALL boy! He is a great big brother. He loves Isaac so much. He's always concerned when he cries, and does his best to keep Isaac happy and laughing by doing goofy things to make him smile! Their favorite game right now is a little game of chase where Oliver runs around like a maniac and Isaac does his best to keep up. They both laugh their heads off the whole time!

In June Berto's parents made a quick visit. We took them to Temple Square and down to the BYU Dino museum. They also got lucky and they and Berto were able to go to a free Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert!

In July my Dad and Anna came for a four day weekend! We packed it full of eating, visiting, a trip to the Thanksgiving Point Dino museum, and a trip to the BYU Legacy Field Museum, oh and swimming, swimming, swimming at their hotel! It was a blast! We did learn that Isaac does NOT like the swimming pool!

Isaac's 4 Month well visit

I've been a bad, bad mom! Isaac is almost 6 months and I am just getting around to this post! It's been crazy around here! ;)

Weight: 16.9 lbs
Height: 26 inches
he's in the 82 percentile!

And just because I know I won't be on here for a while yesterday April 7, 2011 at 5 months old Isaac started SAYING MAMA!!! Oh yeah! What a little smarty! I was so excited! He's so cute when he says it! Oliver said it at 7 months.. I guess Isaac felt he needed to one up his big bro! So fun! Love my boys so much!!

Growing Boys!

My boys are growing WAY too fast! I can't keep up with it! Oliver is such a chatter box! he is so fun to be around! He LOVES sunbeams. He doesn't ever say a word but he loves it! On Sunday they learned about the Holy Ghost and when I picked him up from class he said "Mama, the Holy Ghost is going to save me!" It made my day! That was one of those blessed parent moments. I was so happy that he told me that!

Isaac had a big milestone today... HE ROLLED OVER!!!!!! We were doing tummy time and I ran out of the room to get some water... and when I came back he was on his back!!! And so it begins! But I'm so proud of my little man!

Babies, babies and more babies!!

Yesterday was SUCH a fun day!! I went to Lehi and had lunch with two of my mission friends Allison (Rock) Provenza and Katrina (Nurnberg) Dansie! It was so fun! Alli, Katrina and I were all pregnant at the same time and were all due in November and we all had boys! It was so fun to see each others babies!! Katrina also has a cute little 4 year old daughter named Malia! Oliver LOVES her!! It was a great afternoon with good friends and yummy food! I loved it!


The Babies! (Left to right)
Isaac born October 21st, Samuel born October 31st (Katrina's baby)and Dominic born December 2nd (Allison's baby)

Oliver, Isaac, Samuel, Melia and Dominic

I love that our boys are just a few weeks apart in age! I hope they will all be forever friends the way we have become!

My Boys

I'm already a little behind on "keeping my journal!" Gosh the time just gets away from me! But here's an update on the boys!

Oliver is hilarious! He's a very reverent little sunbeam at church! He DOES NOT talk in primary AT ALL but we can't get him to shut up at home. His nursery leaders have always said the same thing. He just does not talk. Recently a girl at church was subbing in nursery. She told me she kept asking Oliver his name and he would NOT tell her. Finally she asked one of the other kids. I'm hoping that since sunbeams is more structured he'll start to warm up a little! This morning when he woke up (in my bed) I had turned on my bedroom light. He wined "the sssuuuunnn!!!" I told him it was the light and he said "I need you to tell me it's the sun!" I don't know where that came from! But it made me smile!

Isaac is as cute as ever! He's going through a VERY frustrating faze though. He wants ME to hold him 24/7. He's been taking 30 minute naps which is NOT working for me. I spend my whole day trying to get him to sleep. He's exhausted and cranky and will NOT let Berto hold him. He screams the minute Berto picks him up. I just don't know what to do. It's been going on this way for a couple of weeks already! I am exhausted. My house is a mess and I don't know what to do. I'm hoping he gets through this very, very soon.

Other than that there's not a whole lot to report! We saw tangled over the weekend! It was great! We all loved it! Even Isaac who was wide awake through the whole movie and only cried if I turned him away from the screen. I guess he must have liked the bright screen!

The Biggest Loser

Berto and I are joining with some friends in a friendly biggest loser competition! I need something to get me motivated and get this baby fat off! :) SO we're taking the plunge! For the next 12 weeks it's healthy eating and exercise to the finish! I think I'm going to win! :)

Oliverisms

I can't believe how fast Oliver is growing! Today was his first day as a SUNBEAM! This is the three year old Sunday school class at church! Up until now he's just been in the nursery! This is a big milestone! He did AMAZING! I was worried he wouldn't sit still or would cry and he did neither! I was so PROUD!

Earlier this week Oliver I had Issac sleeping in his bassinet and I was doing the dishes. Oliver comes in and says "Where's my baby brother??" It was too cute!

Yesterday we were having some friends over for cake and ice cream to celebrate Berto's birthday! Oliver was carrying around the paper plates and said "By mama, I'm going to school to eat cake!" I don't know where that came from but I want to go to his school! :)

Oliver is growing up SO Fast! It's bittersweet that's for sure!

Resolutions

I don't typically set New Year's Resolutions! I break them! But this year I have been feeling like I need to set goals and this was the time to do it! My BFF Heather and I decided that we'd help each other stay accountable so we might actually succeed with our goals!!

Here are mine:
1. House of ORDER!
I have been completely overwhelmed since I became a mommy of two! My house has definitely been on the suffering end! My goal is to follow the FLYlady and spend 15 minutes a day tidying up a room. I love her way of doing things and I know my house will always look amazing and I won't feel like I'm neglecting my kids!
2. Study
I definitely need to spend more time strengthening myself spiritually! This is my year for that!
3. Journaling
I am going to "journal" twice a week. I'm not going to write in an actual journal. I'm going to use my blog for that purpose. But I want to remember all of the struggles and happy times and milestones our family has. So twice a week is my goal!
4. Exercise 3-4 times a week!
I have GOT to get this baby weight off! Enough said!
5. Date Berto
Berto and I don't spend enough time together! We're always so focused on the kiddos! We have met some amazing friends since we've been in our little house here and we are going to babysit swap! Even if all we do is go for a drive for and hour and talk just the two of us we are going to do it this year at least once a month!
6. QUALITY family time
We are busy and I feel like even though we're together a lot it's not always quality time. This year we are going to make it all quality time! These little ones are growing up too fast already! We need to make every minute count!
7. Family Home Evening
We haven't been the best at family home evening. But now that Oliver is a little bit older I think it is the perfect time to pick that up and run with it!
8. Meal Plan
I started this a couple of months ago but I want to make it a habbit for life. I am going to meal plan every Sunday and grocery shop every Monday. This has helped us stay within our grocery budget and helps me to stay organized. It's also helping us to make healthier choices!

So those are my resolutions! I'm excited for 2011! I know it's going to be a great year for our family! We are trying to be service minded and I know that many, many blessings will come our way!

Wishing you all the best year yet!