conference

I love conference weekend. I always take notes because I think I have ADD or something. I have the hardest time paying attention, I do better if I write things down. And then when I am asked about what I liked I can't remember anything. So... after going thru my notes I am going to write a little about my favorite talks and hopefully this will help the messages sink in more, haha! I liked Elder Scott's talk. He is one of my favorites. When we were at BYUI, he apologized for not being able to shake everyone's hand so he gave us all a virtual handshake at the beginning of his talk. I like how he said to "be what you want to be by being what you want to become." There are a lot of qualities I wish I had and the only way I can do that is by being that person I want to be. It's kind of like back when I had a list of what I wanted in an eternal companion. Well, if I wanted those qualities in my companion, I also needed to be those qualities. And now that I have an eternal compaion I hope to continue to strive to be the best me I can be. He also said that we should be thankful when Heavenly Father lets us struggle for a long time because it is then we can grow and become better people. For some reason, I am having the hardest time in my life confidence wise. I am trying to be grateful and become a better me. I liked Pres Eyring's talk. He said to trust in the Lord, do whatever he asks, and to search for his will in everything. I also liked how Sis. Cook said to never do anything we don't want our children to do. That was a good reminder. :) Elder Lawrence gave a talk to parents of teenagers and eventho I don't have teenagers, I still found it useful. He said that parents who love their children cannot afford to be intimidated by them and parenting is not a popularity contest. Our children may not understand why we won't let them do something but they will be grateful someday, hopefully. :) And he said that if your spouse doesn't feel comfortable about doing something then show respect. That is huge, I think. I hope I remember that. I'm sure there will be times when Jonas doesn't want the kids to go somewhere or do something and I do and that can cause friction. But I hope that I can remember to respect Jonas and to talk it out. He also said that we should encourage our children to not be a couple until they are ready for marriage. This means after high school for girls and after the mission for boys. I have always agreed with this and luckily Jonas agrees too. And to keep up with family prayers, scriptures, dinner, FHE, and interviews. It is a crazy place we are raising our kids in today! And of course Pres. Monson. He is a prophet of God and I am so grateful! He reminded us to be thankful for our many many blessings. Money can't even buy the things that really matter in life like family and the gospel and that is what we usually take for granted. He told us to frequently express love and gratitude for our family and thank Heavenly Father daily for all we have. It was a great conference! I look forward to reading it from the Ensign. I am soooooooooo far from being anywhere near perfect. And I hope I can atleast be humble and kind to those around me. I hope I can be a good wife and mother and never lose my testimony.

The kids did ok during conference. I printed tons of pages that kept them pretty busy. My sweet mom made them cupcakes. They got to eat one for each of the first presidency. And then the 12 had different snacks and treats. They stayed in front of the tv for all 4 sessions, excited to see what treat they got next. Maelie couldn't wait for Elder Bednar to speak and he ended up being in the last session. He is her favorite because she met him when she was a baby right after he got called to the 12 from being Pres of BYUI.

Maelie's GI called this morning and her biopsies all came back normal. This is a good thing for sure but I'm really not sure what to do now.

We are headed to Canada early Thursday morning! We haven't been on a trip longer than a couple days since last time we went to Canada about 15 months ago. I am so ready for a trip!!!

Maelie's fun hospital experience

On Thursday morning I took Maelie to Banner Desert hospital to get an upper endoscopy and a colonoscopy. She has had constant tummy pain, frequent UTI's, and some other unfun things. I was hoping to find some answers and I was hoping the answers wouldn't be scary and they would be easy to fix. Instead of finding answers, a small problem was created. There are a few risks in getting this procedure and lucky Maelie got one. The dr's little suction hose got her colon and gave her what the dr calls a hickey. Wanna see a picture? I have one. :) Anyway, I should find out about her biopsies next week. But.... because of this the dr wanted to keep her overnight to make sure she was ok. We were there from Thursday early morning to Friday about noon. I hadn't even thought of this possibilty at all but we made it. We juggled the kids and my mom helped a ton and it worked out fine. Maelie and I slept in her hospital bed from about midnight to 4 am. At 4 am they woke us up to get Maelie's bloodwork, her least fave thing in the whole entire world and it took me and 4 nurses to get some blood out of her. Poor poor girl. But luckily we were at the new Cardon Children's hospital and it was great! After the bloodsucking, Maelie got to go in this toy closet and pick any toy she wanted. They were good toys, too. She got a Kailan lego set. We got to be there as a family for a few hours Thursday night and eat dinner together. Kyla and Jaxon loved the train garden, waterfall, and giant chess/checkers set. Maelie enjoyed doing crafts, watching movies, and visits from family. That girl is such a champ! It's too bad she came home with that pesty tummy ache plus bleeding. I am keeping an eye on her and I have the dr's cell number and a straight in to a room at the hopsital if Maelie needs it.

gaps

I got Maelie's 1st grade pix back yesterday. I was excited that she would get the whole missing teeth pic and asked her to make sure she smiled big and showed off those missing teeth. I was not dissapointed with her pic. She is getting her EGD done tomorrow morning at the hospital. I hope we can get some answers without the answers being too scary if that makes sense.

Kyla also has a gap in her teeth but hers is not from losing teeth. I wonder if that gap will disapear when her big teeth come in. For now I think it's adorable. She had a great idea to put a carrot in her gap at dinner. Silly girl!

primary program

Jaxon has always been an AWESOME sleeper. Goes right to bed at night and right to bed at naptime. Well... recently he wants nothing to do with naptime. We put his road mat in his bedroom so he can have his own space to play with his cars. He plays in there for hours at a time. So this past week I haven't put him in bed but just let him play with his cars and he usually ends up on the floor like this. He looks so sweet when he sleeps. He really needs to quit growing!

Today was the primary program! Kyla's 1st and Maelie's... 3rd! Kyla was worried at first about saying it without help but she did it. I was up on the stand and Jonas said her part was pretty loud, but cute. :) Maelie did awesome. Kyla was pretty wiggly and ended up on my lap towards the end. I always love the primary program, it would be nice to watch from the audience but atleast I could see both girls from where I was sitting. I love all the songs! So awesome and the kids are so cute singing them. I love my primary class! They are seriously some of the best kids. I love each one of them so much and I think I will be really sad to see them move on in January. Here is a little video after church of the girls saying their part and singing part of a song. Funny that Maelie forgot her part in the video because she never forgets it.

nothing to blog about

Yes, we are still alive but I haven't taken any pictures. That's how I blog. I upload pix, see what's there and blog about it. We are heading to Canada in 2 1/2 weeks and I am REALLY excited! I wish I were atleast 30 pounds lighter because everything is more fun skinny but what do ya do? I am excited for cooler weather, it's been in the 40's there, yay!! And I am really excited to go to Waterton, I need to see beautiful scenery I think once a day, but I guess once a year will have to suffice. :) And it will be great to be with Jonas' fam too of course. His little bro is coming home from his mission while we are there and we will get to celebrate Canadian thanksgiving IN Canada. I got a new double jogging stroller on Thursday. I plan on taking Jaxon and Kyla to the park on the other side of our mile block each morning. I hope the weather will cool down really soon because from 9-10 when we can go, it's still getting into the 90s - ugh!! Jaxon had his check up this week after his surgery and his hearing is perfect. So maybe he can learn English now instead of jibberish. :) I will miss his jibberish tho, I need to get it on video. Jonas is on a campout with the deacons, they are finishing their fishing merit badge. Shannon came over last night to hang with us and after she left I fell asleep watching netlix on the laptop in our room. I can't go to bed by myself anymore. This morning we had bountiful basket pickup and Jonas always does it. So I had to load the kids up at 7 am and go get the basket. It was super heavy and I barely made it to the car. I got bread and tortillas on top of the fruit and veggies. When we got back home Kyla and Jaxon rode in our new stroller (I love that stroller and so far the kids do too) while Maelie rode her scooter around. And then Maelie and Kyla rode their bikes. I told Maelie it would be a good goal to take her training wheels off before she was 7, I thought that was a reasonable goal, but she did NOT! Tomorrow is the week before the primary program and since we have overlapping wards in our building, the whole primary will be crammed into the primary room to practice, should be interesting. Maelie has her part down, Kyla does with help and she is a little worried about doing it without my help, so we shall see how she does. This is her first primary program! It will be fun having 2 kids in the program this year and I am hoping I will get to sit in the audience. Last year I sat up front because I had a girl in my class that wouldn't sit up there without me. Anyway, I have sure been babbling for having nothing to blog about. I am going to go mop this dirty floor!

Jaxon's tubes

Today Jaxon got tubes put in his ears. We had to be at the hospital at 5:30 am. I was so worried about how he would act without his morning milk but he was totally fine. In the waiting room I was prepared with new toys - construction trucks, a motorcycle, and a new Thomas train. He was fine. :) When we went back, the nurse asked me to put some scrubs on him. He wanted nothing to do with them so he stayed in his diaper the entire time. While we waited for surgery time, I gave him wagon rides around the hospital, he watched a little tv, and played with his toys. When it came time for surgery the nurse took him back in the wagon and I had to go to the waiting room. That part was a little sad to see them take my baby away! His surgery was so quick tho and Jonas got there in time for him to be done. He was already awake when we got back there but pretty grumpy. He almost threw up in the hospital but other than that he has been fine today. I don't know why I was worried!!!

JEEPERS

On Labor Day we used one of our coupons from the entertainment book and went to Jeepers. I have never been there before, it's a cute place with lots of fun little rides for the kids. We spent about 3 hours there, but the kids probably could have stayed all day.

I lost my marbles :)

We crossed something off our LONG wishlist last week - dining chairs! And there's no picture of them sorry, but the kids had a blast with the boxes of course! And I'm thinkin' Jaxon has outgrown that PJ shirt, ya think? :)



Jaxon is pretty hard to understand and he was gesturing and speaking jibberish about something in the game closet, I had no idea what he wanted, but I got out the marbles and he has been playing with them since! Hopefully he doesn't stick any up his nose!

being a mother is harder than I thought it would be

When I dreamed of being a mother I only thought of the fun part. It seems a lot of the unfun part has been hitting me. It seems my kids have been making more messes than usual and don't you just love the dishes and the cleanups and the dirty floors? And not to mention the laundry or the screams from the backseat! I have been potty training Maelie since she was 16 months old (big mistake starting that early I know) and now she is 6. I feel like it is still a process. She still has to wear a pullup to bed and she has been having lots of accidents at school. I mostly just feel bad for her. Yes it is frustrating but I know one of these days kids at school will start making fun of her. She has also been suffering from stomach pain for a long time now. It breaks my heart when she says she just walks around at recess and doesn't play with anyone because her tummy hurts. The drs are driving me crazy. We have been to urgent care, her regular dr, a urologist, an allergist, and are now seeing a GI about this problem. and I am so anxious for some answers. I am trying to get her started on a bladder control program through the urologist as well. I want my little girl to go have fun and be a little girl. Maelie is such a sweet easy going girl, I want her to get over this. Kyla is probably the least of my worries right now wich has never happened before since her temperament and high maintenace is so opposite of Maelie. But she is healthy. Jaxon has to get tubes in his ears in a couple weeks. I know that is so minor but I try not to think too much of my little guy getting surgery. I am hoping his speech will improve after he gets tubes. I see some signs in him that worried me about Kyla and I don't know if I am paranoid or what. But anyway, I guess all I am trying to say is that when I wanted to be a mother I didn't realize how much I would worry about my kids. I know that I am so blessed and my kids could have HUGE problems and they definitely don't. But I am going to try and enjoy the fun moments a little more and try to make more of them. Because eventho being a mother is hard, it is definitely worth it. :)

the normal life

We need to go to Disneyland or something to make this blog a little more entertaining. haha, JK. :) The girls went back to dance this week after a year break and loved it! Now if I can get used to the drive and going every week all year long!!! The other pic is before our chicken pot pie dinner on Sunday, yum!



Life is normal, life is well. Maelie is doing a fun fun clean out diet this weekend. What a little trooper, I hope we get rid of this blasted stomach pain once and for all and soon! And here is a video of cute Kyla.

I am getting really excited for fall! It feels like halloween is just around the corner. ;)

Today is Thursday yup yup :)

I have nothing to blog about and yet here I am. I am supposed to be on the elliptical right now since I didn't wake up early, the girls are at school and Jaxon is in bed. I will go after this, I promise. :) I am having the hardest time of my life with my weight right now. How could I ever be depressed with this awesome family I have? I have no idea but I wish it would go away. Here are some recent pix and then I will go read my scriptures before I exercise, that should help. :) The first pic is self explanatory. Jaxon is an adorable handful. I need to call an ENT dr and see about his ears.

Maelie lost tooth #6 2 nights ago in her bed. So she will be writing the tooth fairy a letter very soon asking her to find it herself and bring her some money. :) I am so excited that she will be missing her 2 front teeth for school pictures coming up.

This is what Monday night looks like at our house. We always have FHE, it is very short and involves some stress getting the kids to listen to anything but the habit is there and the kids love it for the most part.

Maelie and Kyla have been wanting the Twinkle Toes that Skechers makes. My Mom found these cute sparkly tennies and then my sister put rhinestones on the toes. The girls love them!

Here is a random pic of the sugar free pear pie I made on Sunday since we got pears in our Bountiful Basket. It was really yummy, it tasted like Thanksgiving.

Jaxon is always wearing sunglasses lately, it's adorable. For some reason he likes them better upside down. He is petting his puppy Kyla. :)

Kyla rides her bike inside the house allllll the time!

And that's about it. Tomorrow is date night!

probably time for an update

Jason (my brother) and Katrina are the pround parents of little Alissa Nicole who was born on Tuesday morning. It was so great to hold her in the hospital on Tuesday. I am feeling slightly more baby hungry... but we are so happy that both momma and baby are healthy and doing well.

Kyla Wyla has been riding the bus to and from preschool this week. It is so AWESOME! I get an almost 4 hour break 3 times a week from this little sweetie. :) That sounds bad, but seriously it is good for both of us. I was worried that she wouldn't like the long bus ride but so far, she is liking it. She tells me that she sits next to Michael and makes funny faces and makes him laugh. She only likes boys because they like dinosaurs. ;) Jaxon and I have to grab Maelie quick from school and race back to meet the bus in time at our house. Kyla is still going to occupational therapy on Fridays. Her therapist was kind of running out of ways to help her because Kyla is a little angel at therapy but today another therapist came in and gave her all kinds of ideas and found tons of thing to help her with. Therapy is so interesting to me. It is for both of us and it helps me learn ways to help Kyla. Kyla enjoys going to therapy so that's good.


I don't have photoshop and just barely discovered picnik.com, it's so fun to edit pix! This was taken last week when Trevon came over to get help with his essays to apply for BYU-I. He stayed with Kyla and Jaxon while I went to pick Maelie up from school and when I told Maelie Trevon was at home, she couldn't wait to come home and call him a midget. :) It's great having Trevon home from his mission.

Jaxon is very cute don't ya think? Well, I think. He is definitely a 2 year old, full of spunk and independence! While Kyla is at preschool, Jaxon takes a nap. Let me tell you, I feel pretty spoiled during those hours without any kids, it's so weird!!!

Maelie is doing awesome in first grade. She gets a stamp everyday on her behavior calendar if she is good and a mark with a number corresponding to a bad behavior if she does something wrong. Well, I am pretty sure I won't see a number on her calender the entire year. And when she showed me her stamp the other day she told me "there are gonna be lots of stamps on my calender this year." I think she knows she's a good girl. She pretty much always does what she's supposed to. She has been having lots of birthday parties to go to. Last week she went to a sleep over themed party where they decorated a sleep mask and she has been wearing it to sleep every night. haha!

We are all doing well, trying to stay out of the 400* weather out there. The other day when we came in from picking up Maelie at school, both girls were chanting "let's move back to the snow" hahahahaha! Tonight is primary activity day for me and the girls, tomorrow night is a birthday party for Zac and hopefully we can get some work done and have some fun in the middle. Yay for the weekend!!