Kindergarten

I registered coop for Kindergarten yesterday. What?! Where did all that time go? I can't believe he is big enough to be going to real school. I don't think the reality of it will set in until I actually walk him to class the first day but I can't say that it's something I am looking forward to. I know it will be good but, oh my! What's he going to learn? From the teacher and the other kids. Mostly the other kids. Well, here goes. My babies actually are growing up!

Second cast

Well, due to the bathtub incident, we ended up taking Ava in to get a new cast a few weeks earlier than planned. The cast was dry but just to make sure the Doc had her come in just in case. That was good and bad. We didn't know until Monday afternoon that we would be going in on Tuesday which meant Justin couldn't be there again and we had to find last minute babysitters for Coop but it was comforting to make sure her skin was ok under the cast. But my sweet Grandma Brown let Cooper stay overnight because we had to be there early in the morning which was a huge relief! The initial plan was to take the cast off and put it on the same day at the hospital but that would have meant no break for her and no bath at home either so we opted to take her to the pediatricians office Monday afternoon to get it off so she could have a little break and get a nice long bubble bath. And she loved it! She was bending all over, scooting on her bum, and running around like it was the best day of her life! I think I was just as excited as she was about it. It was nice to be able to see her move without as much struggle for a bit.

So, our day went a little like this: Wake up at 6:15 to get ready, wake Ava up at 7 and put her in the car to head up to the hospital, get there at 8 and get checked in and head to our room, get all the vitals checked and change into her little tiny gown, change 2 very stinky diapers!, play with Ollie the elephant making him do back bends and front bends until about 11:30 when they were ready for her, give her the meds to make her drowsy, talk to the drs, lay her in the little crib and watch them wheel her away, cry because I will never get used to that, wait until abt 2 to get her back, cuddle my baby girl, look at her feet and realize they were poked 11 times to get the i.v. in =(, she finally was able to eat some yogurt and jell-0, get an x-ray at abt 3:45 which looked awesome! She is now at abt a 20 degree curve instead of 54 degrees. Yeah! It's actually working! And they were able to do the cast under her armpits instead of over her shoulders like a tank top so that she is able to use her left finger which is awesome. We got the i.v. out abt 4 and left abt 4:30, got some food since we hadn't eaten anything all day, picked Coop up at my Grandma's and finally made it home abt 6:30. So, it was another long day but not half as stessful as the first time. We knew what to expect this time, I remembered the stroller! (lifesaver), Ava was used to the cast so it wasn't quite a shock when she woke up, she wasn't sick!, Coop was having much more fun at my Grandma's, and we didn't have to be there at 6Am this time. So it went much smoother and she's doing great. They think she will need one more after this to get her back where they want it. We both can't wait until they are done!

AAAhhhhh.....nice warm bath after 2 months!

Getting her oxygen checked in our room before the cast

Happy little nakie!

Cute in her little gown


Mom and Ave. They wouldn't have had to poke my head 11 times to find a vein! yikes

And I was determined to get more pictures this time but my camera froze and wouldn't do anything after this one. Good thing Costco will take anything back!


The doctors and nurses up there are pretty amazing and take really good care of us. We are done until after the baby comes (unless she falls in the tub again!) so we'll see how it goes with new baby in the mix to.



Just some stuff I want to remember: We were watching Utah Gymnastics on Sunday and the kids thought it was pretty cool and kept doing 'back bends' and 'front bends' that's why she thought it was so great when the elephant did it. She was standing on my lap while we were waiting and wanted to do a back bend so I held her and she did. She hasn't done it without the cast on and her back popped like four times. She gave me the cutest scaredest face I have ever seen her make and about cried! I think it shocked her so much! She wanted a love and wouldn't do another one after that!
She was much happier this time when she woke up and hardly cried at all. I was expecting a meltdown like last time but I think she was just used to the cast so it wasn't as big of a deal.
She teases and will say things like milk, juice, milk, juice so you don't know what she wants and she did that when they were asking her what color she wanted. pink, purple, pink, purple so they did purple with a pink stripe around her belly. Little stinker
And she looked so tiny after getting the cast off on Monday. She wasn't a little football player, which actually comes in handy sometimes when you have an older brother. I snuggled her as much as I could because it felt so good to have her be so soft and cuddley. We kept the cast and knew it was heavy but couldn't believe how heavy! It has to weigh about 5lbs and when you only weigh 24lbs that's a lot to carry around!

And it happened...

When we first got Ava's cast I wondered how we were going to keep the thing dry for 3 months straight. I mean, she's 2. Nothing else really needs to be said. But we have done pretty good. We survived the 3 days of barf without getting too much on the cast, we haven't had food or drink spilled that got it wet, and not too many incidents with poop or pee getting all over it. So, with 2 weeks to go I thought we were pretty much home free. And then I put Coop in the tub. Ava likes to come play in the bathroom while he's in there but we haven't had any problems until yesterday. The little basketball was just a little bit too far away from her and while I was turned the other way washing Coop's hair I suddenly had feet up by my arm where a head used to be. She was in, cast and all! Luckily I pulled her out before the back of it got wet but the whole front side was pretty much soaked. So, needless to say we spent quite awhile last night with the blow dryer and one naked little Ava trying to dry it. We changed the shirt underneath last night and today so we'll see how much it dries out. If not she may get a longer break inbetween casts than we thought. Oh my. Well, at least it didn't happen 2 months ago!

That's why Heavenly Father sent me

During the holidays Cooper was helping me make caramel for turtles while Ava was asleep and we were just talking about stuff. I don't even remember what now. But he started talking about how he is good at fixing things (which he is) and was telling me that if we had a flat tire then he could probably fix it for me since he has helped Dad so many times. And if he had the muscle to do it I have no doubt that he would. He continued about how he was strong and can fix stuff for me and then he said, "That's why Heavenly Father sent you boys Mom. So they could take care of girls. That's why Heavenly Father sends boys." True, true. My four year old knows something lots of boys don't. I remind him about that sometimes when he is bugging Ava. One of the best conversations I've ever had. Now if we can just help him to remember that the rest of his life I think we'll be ok!

2010 ChRisTmaS

Christmas was awesome! December was a busy month. We had 5 Christmas parties 5 nights in a row, the live nativity in Alping which is always so amazing, got all the shopping done (because despite the fact I say I will get it done before December every year, it never happens), and were able to spend some good times with family and friends. I love Christmas. It's even better with little kids. They had fun buying gifts for each other and we had an elf on the shelf that watched them for the month of December. They loved getting up to find him every morning. Cooper helped me make the caramel for some yummy turtles that we took to neighbors. It was a great month!

The kids shoveling the one dusting we got. It didn't matter if they missed a spot, it was all melted in a few hours anyway

A car kit Coop got at our big family party

Ava got Squinkies. She loved them but I don't know where any of them are now. They are about the size of a penny


Mmmm...! Enjoying a red velvet cupcake at Justin's Grandpa's party

Coop and the cousins watching the train at Grandpa's

Grandpa Brent helping Coop with the train

Reindeer food one of my cute neighbors gave us. Oats and sprinkles. They sprinkled it on the lawn Christmas Eve to attract the reindeer

Sprinkling the reindeer food

Ava getting her present from Santa at Grandma Myrna's. She wouldn't sit on his lap but yelled form across the room,'Thanks!" and that she wanted a baby doll for Christmas

Coop getting his present and orange from Santa

Christmas Jams!

Coop's stuff from Santa. He kept asking Santa for a boat. What the? Not just a toy boat, a real boat you can sit in. Santa wasn't going to worry too much about it since he already had a remote control car for him but since that was the ONLY thing he asked for, He figured he should try. So, this is what he came up with. It was a hit! Bear Lake will be even funner this year!

Ava's desk, crayons, and colored pencils from Santa. Perfect! It's just her size. She asks me to color at least 10 times a day so now she has her own little spot. Notice the pink and puple crayons in her hand. They are her favorite. We've got a girly, girl!

We spent Christmas Eve at Justin's Grandma's. Had a yummy ham dinner and Santa came to visit. We all opened the presents from Grandma (ice cream maker-score!) and then the usual wrapping paper fight. Can't go a year without that! The kids woke up about 8:30 Christmas morning (hallelujah!) and we opened gifts. It was so fun to see their reactions. Coop kept saying, "I knew he would bring a boat!" We didn't even need to unwrap anything under the tree. They would have been totally content with what Santa brought. Both our parents and Justin's brother came over for breakfast at 9, we went to our Christmas program at 11, headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Brown's for fondu, Justin's Grandma and Grandpa, and then to his parents for their party. Busy day, but so fun! As usual the kids got too much stuff. Some of Coop's favorites were the boat, legos, and remote control car and a firetruck that really sprays water. Ava's favorites are the desk, and a baby doll she got from Grandma Myrna that she named Emma and she sleeps with her every night and sings her rock a bye. I got the keys to our Tahoe in my stocking (hee, hee) and a Kindle Fire. Another score! and total surprise. And Justin got a Ripstick. If you come by our house you may see Coop on his bike with a rope tied to it pulling Justin around. It's quite a sight! Even though there were lots of gifts and fun it's so good to be reminded of the greatest gift of all-the Atonement. We're so grateful for Christ's birth and sacrifice for us.

At 30 weeks...

So, at 30 weeks I am feeling pretty good. I feel like I did at about 38 weeks with Cooper and I can't believe I still have 2 1/2 more months! Hopefully she won't be a 10 pounder but that's sure what it feels like. I am starting to feel like if something doesn't get done before she comes then it will never happen. I think I've been driving Justin nuts about getting beds for the girls, painting, cleaning out the garage and the basement and getting rid of all the junk in the house. So, I feel totally unprepared at the moment and ready to be done at the same time. So, even though it's not very comfortable and I feel like I weigh 300lbs, I am grateful for the opportunity every time I feel her move. 10 more weeks!