Feeling better

I am so glad to finally have a family that is feeling better. Two Fridays ago Dacia got a cough, then Sunday on our way home from Elko Ash had a fever and threw up in the Artic Circle on the way home (don't worry she was too tired and sick to eat she only threw up lemonade). Then Monday she threw up some more at home. So we missed swim lessons on Monday with sick kids. Then Ash got the cough that Dacia had and Dacia also got the runny and stuffy nose with it. I debated even taking them to lessons on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday morning Dacia tells me "my tummy hurts" so she goes and curls up in her bed and falls asleep. So we missed the last day of swimming lessons. That afternoon I start to get a sore throat and started feeling horrible. In the mean time Brylee got the stuffy runny nose too (her first cold). Friday I felt like I had been hit by a truck I was so achy and I kept getting the chills. That night Ashlyn was coughing so hard she kept throwing up what was in her stomach, so Erik took her to the KidsCare only to be told to wait it out a few more days. She just had a lot of drainage, but they really couldn't do much. Saturday and Sunday we all stayed in, except for Erik. I don't know how he managed to stay healthy while the rest of us felt so miserable. Today we finally got out of the house. Dacia and Ash still have a little lingering cough, but feeling so much better. Brylee has actually done pretty good with her cold. She had a little bit of a decreased appetite, just as she was started to get really good with the baby food. She has woke up at least once during the night either at 11 or 5:30, but I didn't need to nurse her everytime. So we are still doing pretty good with her sleep. Her naps have been a little shorter than normal though, but I can't complain too much. Dacia actually started sleeping through the night when she was 7 months old but then she got her first cold and then back tracked and it took another month to get her to sleep through the night again. So I am very lucky that Brylee has done so good with this cold along with the new teeth and shots she recently had.

Family Pictures

I haven't gotten around to uploading the family pictures to make a slideshow yet. So I thought I would post a few of my favorites so you can all see how good of a job Jen did. The new pictures on the right of the blog are all new ones that we just had done too.

I really like this picture. I wish Bry was looking up. But hey, it's hard getting a 6 month old to cooperate.
Erik and I haven't had a picture taken together since I was just barely pregnant with Dacia. We had some family pictures done a couple years ago, but the girls were so antsy that we didn't get many taken.
The girls really are best friends. I am excited for Bry to get older and pal around with them.
I love my girls!
There are so many more, but I am not going to post them all.

There are some cute ones of Erik with each of the girls.

Thanks Jen. We love them.

(now we still need to go have them printed)

Happy Birthday to ME!

Ok I know you have been waiting for it. So here are my 27 random facts about me in honor of my 27th Birthday.
1. I use to play to piano & clarinet, I can barely site read music now
2. My first job was at Subway when I was 15
3. I bought my first car before I even had my drivers license
4. Liked the color pink even before I had all girls (actually one of my wedding colors)
5. I had braces when I got married. I had the top ones taken off for a week and put back on when we got back from our honeymoon
6.I don't like smelly lotions
7. I have used the same lotion faithfully for 15 yrs or more
8.I love power tools. I could spend hours in Lowe's
9. I like to put together furniture
10. I am a vanilla ice cream person
11.Been married 7 years and just barely changed my drivers license to Gumbrecht in March
12.I love Jamba Juice and my favorite Mother's Day gifts has been gift cards to Jamba
13.I love the smell of fresh dirt
14.I am the first grand daughter on my Mom's side
15.I have been to the Bahamas
16.I want to learn to crochet hats
17. I was in the school spelling bee in 5th grade
18. I broke both bones in my left arm in 3rd grade falling off an exercise bike. I was standing on the seat counting the links on the Christmas chain
19. I only have heartburn when I am pregnant
20. Despite all the normal complaints, I actually do enjoy being pregnant
21. I have had many different job, but I think my favorite was when I worked at Target
22. I fell in a stream when I was 1
23. I have had stitches in my head
24. I have had to learn to be an outdoors person
25. I just started watching LOST for the first time this month. I am on season 4
26. My 2nd toe on my right foot is longer than the 2nd toe on my left foot. It can curl over and look like I don't have a toenail. Yah, I belong in a freak show
27. I love having my hair washed, pedicures and massages. I just love being pampered

Guess who's sleeping? & Dr Appt's

Guess who's sleeping? Me & Brylee.
Yes my little girl slept through the night last night. Yeah for Brylee. It started Saturday night. I was staying awake for her first feeding and she didn't ever wake up and I finally fell asleep. She didn't wake up until 5:30 and I put her pacifier back in her mouth and she went right back to sleep. Sunday night she woke up a couple times but went back to sleep with a little fussing. She did the same on Monday night, fussed a little bit at 1:30, then was up again around 3-4am I gave her some Tylenol cause she just had shots that day and she went back to sleep. SO last night she slept all night no waking up no fussing. I think she was up around 7am, but then went back to sleep for another hour. (Oh and all this while cutting her first teeth too. I noticed Friday she had her first tooth on the bottom and I think the another one is getting ready to break through.) She is now officially my fastest to sleep through the night.
Now If only Ashlyn would sleep through the night. She has been waking up and coming into our room at night. If Erik's not in bed she climbs into bed with me, if he is in bed she lays on the floor next to the bed. I usually just have to put a blanket over her. She went through this phase last month but then started sleeping through the night in her bed. Then she started doing it again. As long as she is not keeping me up all night I guess I am ok with her coming into our room.
Monday Brylee & Ash had dr appt's. Ash hadn't been in for her 3 yr checkup yet. She is doing great and she had to get 2 shots. For some reason the girls started calling them Tickle Shots. Ash was all excited to get shots. Then she cried for a minute and was fine. She was sitting in the chair and said "that didn't tickle". But she got her sucker and was happy.
Brylee is doing great too. She was 17lbs in the 61% and 25.5 inches in the 29%. At her 4 month appt she was 74% on her height. So her growth has slowed down a bit. She got 3 shots and one she had to drink.
Brylee is doing great with her rice cereal and last night she tried carrots for the first time.

Swimming Lessons edited

So I have to admit when the girls got in the pool today I was very nervous. The mother in me just wanted to jump in and be right there with them. For a while they were standing on a little platform in the 3-4ft deep water and I was sure that they were going to fall off and start drowning. They didn't. How can the teacher keep track of all the kids, someone will fall off. They didn't.
I had to keep reassuring myself that everything would be ok. They are trained lifeguards and can teach little kids to swim.
I had to laugh during lessons. The teacher was taking the kids one by one of the steps into the water and having them put their arms out and their body straight and flying through the water. She said to Dacia "do you want to be Superman"? Dacia said "no, Supergirl".

Happy Father's Day!

I feel a bit obligated to write something for Erik today, since he took the time to make a post about me for Mother's Day. He is far better at expressing feelings and is a much better writer than I,(I have the poems to prove it).
So I am going to resort to the cheesy writing styles of a gradeschool kid.
E is for Everything you do. You are the best dad. Everything you do is for your family. Whether it be working 2 jobs to support us and make sure we have what we need or taking the time to show your girls new stuff or teach them new things. The girls love going on dates with their daddy and would much rather spend time in the pet store with you than go to the zoo or some other fancy place.
R is for Respectful. You are an amazing husband and have treated me with the nothing but respect the 7 years we have been married (8 years together). I know I am not always the easiest person to get along with and have my moments that I am very difficult to even be around (ie...raging pregnancy hormones), but nonetheless you are very patient with me. I love you for that.
I is for Involved. You are involved in every aspect of our family's life down to the very minuscule details. You have taken girls to appointments, been there for talks in primary, and looked with amazement at every picture and drawing that has been hung on the fridge. And I know the girls haven't been in many activities yet, but I know you are looking forward to attending sporting events for them or even be willing to coach teams. You are a hero!
K is for Kisses. From butterfly kisses to princess kisses to the kissy monster, if the girls have invented a new kiss you have received it. We love attacking you with kisses. You are not scared of big open mouth slobbery kisses from Brylee and love soft gentle kisses from Dacia and Ashlyn. We love you.

You are a great dad and husband. You are a great example to our girls. I hope the girls find a husband just like their dad.

Spoiled Girl (Birthday, Part 3)

Dacia knew we were hiding her present in Erik's car trunk. So she was waiting patiently for daddy to get home from work yesterday. She has been asking for Barbie's for weeks now. This is her reaction when she saw the clothes she was getting.

We told her she had to look under the blanket and she found her Barbie's.
Then she was happy. Of course we had to buy 2. A blonde and a brunette so she would have one to share with Ashlyn. When Ash said her prayer last night she said "thank you for Dacia to get Barbie's".
She got a Dora art set. The girls went right to work last night coloring, cutting and glueing. They finally stopped long enough to ask for some cake and ice cream.
More cute clothes. She will be all set to start school with her new wardrobe.

Another Supergirl cake.

Water Babies (Birthday Part 2)

We went to the Aquatic Center last night. Dacia decided that she wanted to go swimming more than she wanted to go to the zoo. It was fun! The girls love the water and we don't go swimming nearly enough. The pool has a kid area that is only a foot deep and a little kids slide. Although I did take Ash on the big slide and I don't think I will ever do that again. We got going too fast and Ash was a little too heavy to lift her right out of the water when we splashed in. We both inhaled a lot of water in our noses. I took Dacia on a slide when she was little. She was only 1 so it was easier to lift her up over my head as we landed in the water. I did go on the slide again by myself last night after I took Ashlyn.

My kids were pretty fearless last night. When we first got there and getting ready to get in Ashlyn was ready to jump in the deep end.
I think Bry is the youngest we have taken a kid to the pool. She fussed for a while but then loved it.

We start swimming lessons next week. So they get to go to the pool 8 times in two weeks. They will be excited for that.

Happy Birthday Dacia, Part 1

Yesterday we went out to Tooele to celebrate Dacia's birthday with my family. Her actual birthday is the 10th, but since it was our week to go out there we figured we would just celebrate while we were all together.

This is our little girl on her 1st Bday.

(we hadn't gone digital yet, so these are our earliest pictures of Dacia on the computer)

And this is our little girl now. I can't believe she is turning 5.


Dacia was a little excited after dinner and wanted to get to the birthday stuff. After I teased with her a bit about it not really being her birthday and she had to wait until Tuesday then she replied but there's cake in the fridge (it's gotta be her birthday since there's cake), then we let her start opening presents. Dacia scored big with the presents and there is still more to come.

Grandma & Grandpa bought her a new nightgown.

and a ream of paper.

Dacia loves to draw. They gave her a pack of colored construction paper too.

And a jumprope, which she was totally excited about. Good thing Grandma bought 2 and Dacia is nice to share with her sister or we could have had a major meltdown yesterday.

She got a CTR bank, Nephi's Courage card game, Candyland game beach towel and lots of cute outfits

Dacia wanted a Supergirl cake this year. I really like making my kids cake and the girls get really excited watching me make them.

( I used the same method with Ashlyn's Dora cake. Arranging cupcakes together and them frosting them.)


Tonight we are doing part 2 of her birthday and going swimming. We were originally going to do the zoo today, but Dacia decided that she wanted to go to the pool more than the zoo.

Sad News

After a lot of thought, a lot of prayer and A LOT of tears, Erik and I have decided that it would be best if I went back to work.
Once upon a time when we were engaged I was a CNA. I found out that I can just retake the test to recertify and can get a job at the hospital. My goal is to get on at McKay Dee in Ogden. The plan is for me to work part time basically just to get insurance and a little extra money. After a recent poll of a few friends I found that we pay a ridiculous amount for our insurance and this is the worst coverage we have ever had.
I have been very blessed with a great husband that has been through a lot to provide for our family. He has sacrificed a lot of sleep and time working 2 full time jobs for over 2 years and right now he is just working a 2nd job part time. It's my turn to help and give him a break.
A down side is that I gave away all my scrubs last year thinking that I would never use them again and I wanted them out of my closet.
As hard as it will be to leave my girls I am actually looking forward to it a bit. Maybe I will regain some of my sanity, if it's not too far gone all ready.

Family Goof Offs

It was such a beautiful night, after our fun water fight on Friday we grilled burgers and spent the evening outside playing.

I love it when Bry cuddles.

The girls being silly. I got a pretty good burn being outside playing in the sun. Dacia's farmers tan is getting darker too. Just think, we got a lot of much needed Vitamin D playing in the sun.

Ahh, dad I'm upside down.

Erik thought it would be funny to do the soccer pose in front

of Dacia's goal with a little soccer ball.

Ok, so there are my 2 posts for the day. I should be good for a couple days. I have to go watch LOST now. I have never watched it before, wait I take it back, I think I watched part of an episode during season 2, but I didn't know what was going on, so I never watched it again. My friend posted a spoiler on her blog and I decided to give the show a try. All the seasons are online on ABC if you want to watch too. I have 9 episodes of season 1 left to watch.

Big Girl

I got the high chair out of the garage this weekend and cleaned it up for Miss Brylee to start using. She loves it. She thought she was so big sitting up to the dinner table with us on Saturday night.
She is really starting to love the rice cereal and this morning she did good opening wide for more. We are doing cereal for breakfast and dinner and I add a little apple juice to it. I need to buy some veggies for her, but I am kinda not in a real big hurry to start her on baby food. I think I'll just wait until she gets the cereal down really good.
Big Smiles! I love the dimples!