Damon. Sian. Olivia. and Sophie

SO Proud!!!

2012-01-12T14:58:00.000-08:00

Today I was so proud when Olivia came home from school and showed me that she passed of knowing the letter of the alphabet and their sounds. She has been working really hard on knowing them! What a great moment as a mom to see her face and see how excited she was! Way to go Olivia!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-03T13:34:00.000-08:00

Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year. I deck the house out with decorations, have Christmas music playing all the time and enjoy sitting in front of the fire on the chilly evenings. This year was no exception. The girls were so excited for Santa to come, especially Olivia who just couldn't wait. She hated when we got presents in the mail and I would tell her she couldn't open them yet. Every morning she was always eager to open the new day of the advent calender. We decided this year to get a real tree, which was gorgeous. We also had a fake one on the front porch and we were going to set up another one in the basement for the kids to decorate, but I never got around to it. This year we also hosted our first Christmas party, we had our neighbors over, who we usually bbq with. We made the party a white elephant party and to not have to worry about kids we hired a babysitter to watch them in the basement. It was great, we plan on making it an annual party. Santa was very good to us this year, we all got more than we deserved. Damon got some new games for his x-box, a new watch, some clothes and movies. I got a new camera, which I'm SOOO excited about, my parents got me a kindle fire too which I LOVE! Olivia got a leap pad explorer, clothes, movies, a scooter, books, play make-up, a ball she can bounce on. For Sophie this was the year of the dolls for her, she not only got a Ariel and Rapunzel baby dolls but than just a regular baby doll. She also got new clothes and books. My parents got the girls a Rapunzel vanity with play make-up and a princess suitcase. We really did have a wonderful Christmas!

Meeting Santa and giving him their Christmas lists.

I love the pure happiness in their eyes!

Olivia at her school program!

All those kids are just kindergartners, you should have seen how packed the gym was!

In their Christmas Jammies

Opening the stockings first

Sophie showing off her new lipstick.

And her new stick on earrings

Gifts from Nanny and Grandad.

Showing of her new leap pad.

Opening up her Ariel doll.

The tree with the presents all ready to be opened.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We had a great one and were all happy with what Santa put under the tree.

Halloween

2011-12-07T12:07:00.000-08:00

Yes I know that it is almost Christmas and I'm just now blogging about Halloween, but I had to show some of the fun we did over Halloween. The Saturday before we went to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point, it was our first time going there and it was so much fun! They had so many things for the girls to do. On Halloween we had a neighbor BBQ on our driveway we used one of our neighbors fire pits so we could all stay nice and warm. Then we combined all our candy and took turns who handed it out. We have the best neighbors and we like to get together often and have bbq's and parties. I however was lame and didn't take any pictures of it. Also on Halloween Olivia got to wear her costume to school and they do a Kindergarten parade and all the kids walk by in their costumes, there was one little boy who didn't have his on and it was so sad, poor kid. Olivia was Rapunzel this year, of course and Sophie was a cow, she had a sign saying "Eat More Chicken" like the Chick-Fil-A ads but would not keep it on. Okay that is a quick wrap up of our fun filled Halloween weekend! Sorry for the picture overload, there were just to many cute ones to choose from.

I love these girls SO much, they are so darn cute!

My cute family!

Love this photo!

My hand looks huge in this photo, weird camera angle.

Such a cheese ball!

Wouldn't be a ride if Olivia didn't get scared at some point!

Maze fun!

Jumping on these huge pillow bounce things!

So they had these forts all over and you could by them. They had boats, airplanes, truck, helicopters, they were really neat!

My kids are obsessed with face painting and we have to do it every time!

Carving our pumpkins, Olivia only did it for about 5 minutes and then was done. She hated the feel of the guts!

Posing with the pumpkins

The cutest cow I've ever seen!

Look at all the kids dressed up so cute!

Here's Rapunzel!

Virginia

2011-11-23T20:51:00.000-08:00

Well when we finally made it to Virginia, we were so excited! It was great to see Betty and Oscar and meet my newest niece Iris. We spent a few days at Emma's and Steve before heading down to Williamsburg VA for our family vacation. By that time the rest of the gang had flown in. We spent a week in Williamsburg and did lots of hanging out and swimming. Since we went in July the heat and humidity were pretty bad. We had fun though all being together and watching the cousins play. Olivia had a great week learning how to swim, I was SO proud of her watching her swim across the pool, takes after her mommy! It was a great vacation and even though the drive was long to get there, I would do it again tomorrow. I wish we lived closer to my sister Emma and her family, we love being with them!

Doing some yoga with Auntie Megs

No vacation is complete without a ride on Grandad's back!

Silly girls!

Look at her go!

Betty practicing swimming with her mommy!

Group shot, minus Steve, Oscar, Iris, me, and mom and dad

Olivia in her colonial hat

Oscar hanging out in the stroller.

Family picture outside D.C. Temple

Nauvoo, IL

2011-10-06T09:19:00.000-07:00

Nauvoo was probably my favorite stop we did on our trip across country. The spirit in this town is amazing, and some of the stories I heard while there is something I will soon not forget. When we first arrived at Nauvoo we thought we would just spend a few hours in the town and then be on our way. After arriving there though we soon realized that we needed at least a day there to make it worthwhile. There is so much to do there in the summer months that you could easily spend 5 days there. We were lucky to actually know a Sister Missionary who is serving in there right now, she is from my dads ward. So we looked her up and she gave us a personal tour. Some of my favorite moments from our stay there, was hearing Olivia after seeing the Nauvoo Temple for the first time exclaim how that is where she is going to get married. Going on three different wagon rides and each time Sophie would fall asleep, they were the best. Then on one wagon ride they asked if there was any Welsh decedents, which obviously we are, seeing how that is where my parents grew up, they than asked us to sing them a song, funny, good thing my dad and I have good voices, lol. I'm so grateful we were able to stop there along our way, I left with an even greater appreciation for all that the pioneers did and sacrificed for us.

After Nauvoo we drove about 20 minutes and stopped at Carthage Jail, where Joseph Smith was martyred. It was a very spiritual, reverent place, unfortunately my children were not being so well behaved at that stop. It probably isn't the best place to take a 5 and 2 year old too. I am so very grateful for all that Joseph Smith did for us, and I'm glad that I was able to go to the jail and pay my respects.

After we left Carthage Jail we then drove for about 15 more minutes and stopped at the house of one of the missionaries who taught my parents. I had never met him before and it was great to be able to thank him for teaching my parents the Gospel. It was fun to hear him and my dad catch up and talk about people they both know.
I highly recommend that if you ever get the chance you must stop in Nauvoo and do the tours. It really is such a neat place.

Nauvoo Temple, where Olivia wants to get married.

Olivia with Sister Miller, waiting to go on a wagon ride.

The mansion house where Joseph and his family lived.

This must have been before Sophie fell asleep, not long before though.

John Taylor's home

Statue of Joseph and his brother Hyrum outside of Carthage Jail

The window that the Prophet Joseph fell out of

The original door with the bullet holes

Carthage Jail

First tooth and First day of Kindergarten..

2011-08-30T15:51:00.000-07:00

So far this week we have had a quite the eventful week. On Sunday Olivia lost her first tooth and then today she started Kindergarten. I was a nervous wreck about her starting school, more I was nervous for her to ride the bus. True to Olivia fashion though she did great. I repeated many times what bus she needed to get on to come home and to make sure that she sat by Reagon her neighbor friend. She had a great time and is excited for the next day. All day today Olivia was asking me if I was going to cry, well I was doing good until she got on the bus. Then the tears came. I just can't believe that she is old enough to be in school. Now she will always be in school. No more spontaneous road trips, everything will have to be planned around school breaks. Today I definitely feel like a grown up. I'm not just a young mom with young kids, I now have a kid in school! She loves that she is old enough to go to school. Oh and you bet after she got on the bus that I drove to the school to make sure she went to the right classroom!

Outfit all ready to go the night before!

Getting ready to go to the bus stop!

Going on the school bus!

Walking to her classroom!

Big smile for her first tooth to fall out!

Our LONG road trip across country part 1....

2011-08-28T17:42:00.000-07:00

Well this summer we did a family vacation (on my side) to Virginia where my sister Emma and her family live. Since Sophie can't fly on planes because of her oxygen need, I knew that I was going to have to drive. However because there was no way that Damon could take that much time of work my dad was gracious enough to come along. The drive there the girls did so good. We left Friday morning and got to Virginia I think Wednesday evening. Along the way we stopped in so many church historical sites. It was really neat. So for the next few days I am going to be FINALLY blogging about our trip. Now be warned they will be very long posts.

Somewhere in Wyoming.

At a rest area but I just loved the look of the windmills in the horizon.

Blowing bubbles, a sure way to keep a toddler and five year old entertained.

At Winter Quarters visitor center in Nebraska, such a neat place and a great place to stop for a few hours.

My pioneer children. Olivia getting to see what it is like to pull a hand cart.

Winter Quarters temple.

Flooding in Iowa, they had so much that part of the freeway was closed, making us get lost and spending a couple of extra hours on the road.

Look at all those sandbags along the road!

So many cornfields in Iowa, I have never seen so much corn in my life!

An Amish family! I was so EXCITED to see them. I have never seen Amish before and thought it was really neat. They were very nice and gave me a wave as we drove by.

Mississippi River, was even bigger than I had imagined!

Indio, Ca

2011-07-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

About a month ago the girls and I packed up the van and headed down to Indio, Ca. It is 30 minutes away from Palm Springs with an elevation of -13ft. The reason for the trip was to see how Sophie would do in low dry heat. It was about a 12 hour drive and I knew I couldn't do that all in one day by myself. So the first day we drove half way to Las Vegas and spent the night. Since my mom was just getting back from England, my dad arranged that she fly into Las Vegas so she could come with me to help me out. Well seeing how my dad hates to be left out of anything he then flew in the day after we got to Indio to Ontario CA which was about 90 minutes away from Indio. The girls were so excited that Nanny and Grandad got to be with us. The resort was GORGEOUS but the weather was miserable. It was SOOOO HOT there, 113 degrees for most days. To say the least we spent LOTS of time in the pool and in our air conditioned condo.

The trip was good though because we were able to see how well Sophie did in low elevation in dry heat. She did really good and was having really good numbers! We had a fun time and wish that Damon could have been with us, but he had to work.

Look out Sophie's red face from the heat!

Feeding the ducks that lived in the lagoons at the resort.

Breakfast on the balcony.

Olivia doing one of her many jumps into the pool.

Sophie with Grandad, floating in the pool.

It looks like Olivia is crying in this photo, but she's not, just wiping the water of her face!

In a blink of an eye..

2011-07-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

I don't know when it happened but Olivia has gone from this:

To this!

She has really grown up in the last few months. I think she is just becoming the most beautiful girl and her personality is really starting to come out. She LOVES to play outside and would all day if I let her. We live in a wonderful neighborhood surrounded by little girls and they all love to play with each other daily. I can't believe that she will be starting Kindergarten in the fall and riding the bus! Ahh I'm super nervous about the bus and I will probably follow it the first couple of days, lol! How I got so lucky to be this girls mom I will never know.

St. George

2011-06-12T23:09:00.000-07:00

A week ago we went down to St. George with Damon's twin and his family. My sister-in-law's grandmother has a condo down there so we got to stay there. The condo was in a nice subdivision with a nice pool and playground. So you can just guess where the girls always wanted to be. They loved the pool, and with the weather being in the high 90's who wouldn't. We were there for 3 nights which was just perfect.

One of the days we spent up at Zions National Park. It was beautiful! We did a nice hike and got to walk under a waterfall. I was so proud of Olivia, she hiked up the whole thing and did a really good job keeping up. Sophie got it easy and got to ride in BOB, lucky girl!
On our first morning there Damon and I were actually able to go the St. George Temple it was so beautiful inside, I loved it! It was such a nice moment on our vacation to go and do that.
The trip was a nice break, we had such a fun time with everyone and all the cousins had so much fun playing together.

On our way to the pool!

Look at that cute ruffle bottom!

Swimming with daddy!

Having fun with cousin Alyssa!

Oh its so bright!

Our outdoors girl!

Standing under the waterfall.

I love this picture!

All smiles!

For Nanny...

2011-06-11T13:06:00.000-07:00

My mom is in Wales right now taking care of my grandmother, and I was told by my dad that I needed to add some pictures to the blog because she was going through grandchildren with drawl. So these are for my mom. They were taken last night before bed. We have been spending LOTS of time outside enjoying the sunshine.

Oh and the last two pictures are from what I got this morning at Bountiful Baskets. Quite the assortment of fruits and veggies!

Preschool Graduation..

2011-06-06T11:42:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Olivia had her preschool graduation! Unfortunately on that day she was not feeling good at all, so the picture below is the best one we got. We just loved the preschool she went to. Teacher Nisha is such a great teacher and has a wonderful preschool set up in her basement. Olivia loved going to preschool and is really going to miss Teacher Nisha. Graduation was a cute little program with some songs and counting and saying their ABC's. Teacher Nisha made all the kids scrapbooks of things they had made throughout the year, it was great to see just how much Olivia has grown this past year.

5 YEARS OLD!!!!

2011-05-22T13:10:00.000-07:00

On May 7th Olivia turned 5 years old!!!! I can't believe I have a 5 year old!!! This was the first year that she had a friends party, we ended up having 14 little girls over to our house for a princess themed party. They were all so cute and came dressed up as cute princess's. Olivia loved every minute of her special day. This is her last birthday before she is in school, tear. This August she will be going into Kindergarten in a brand new school. Whenever we drive by her new school she always tells me to look at how big it is. I don't know how I will handle her going to Kindergarten, and she will get to ride a school bus! I am super nervous about the bus, but Olivia is beyond thrilled about it.
Okay back to her birthday, so this year Olivia got a bike. She had been telling us FOREVER that she wanted one. She is so cute riding it, and is very cautious. She always got a blow bouncy ball pin from my parents, luckily we have a basement where is fits great. Then with all the presents all the guest bought she made a killing. I'm so glad that she has some great friends. Olivia is my little social girl and make a friend anywhere but she really has some great friends. I'm so proud of her and the wonderful girl she is becoming. She is still fiercely independent, but she has a big heart. She is always looking out for Sophie, she hates to see Sophie get hurt and will actually cry herself. She is such a sweetheart and I can't wait to see what year 5 brings for her!

The birthday girl coming down the stairs in her new princess dress.

Her new bike!

With some of her friends.

Some more of her friends.

Getting ready to hit the pinata

First hit!

Sophie gets a turn!

Cousin Alyssa does the final hit!

Of course Olivia cries because the pinata is broken!

Waiting for the cake!

Neighbor Sunnie

Sophie in her costume

Ready to blow out the candles

The Tangled cake

Cute cousin Megan

Opening presents with Reagon (another neighbor) looking on

More neighbors Kendra and Hallie

And this is how Damon was 15 minutes after the party was over!

Look who's 2!!!

2011-05-21T17:27:00.000-07:00

Crying before she got her cupcake!

In her new car

Miss Sophie turned 2 on May 6. I can not believe that she is 2!!! Where has the time gone. Her birthday was pretty laid back. My parents were in town and so we went out to dinner to the Mayan, seriously if you are ever in Utah and are going out to eat with your kids go there. They will be entertained the whole time! Then when we got home we let her "blow" out her candle on her cupcake. Love this little girl SO much, we had no idea how much two years ago she would change us forever!

Want to know what $700 dollars can buy you?

2011-04-23T10:06:00.000-07:00

A oxygen concentrator! How exciting for us that we get to spend that kind of money on medical supplies, blah. We have been looking at these for awhile to buy one for Sophie. We have had some insurance issues lately and it just made more sense for us to buy one instead of renting one. So last night I was looking at them online and found one that had a built in pediatric settings, meaning it could go as low as Sophie needs it. It was on sale and had all the features we needed, plus free shipping, haha. We have mixed feelings about actually buying one, it is a little sad we hoped that we would never have to get to this point, but right now this is what she needs. Next week we will be purchasing a pulse oximeter so we can check her blood oxygen levels. Pretty soon we will have our own little hospital in our house. Good thing I have a nurse for a husband!

what do you get when have to have 5 shots...

2011-04-08T15:17:00.000-07:00

A new pair of shoes!!! Olivia yesterday had to get 5 shots for Kindergarten and since she was needing a new pair of sandals for the summer I figured that would be a great price for being good while getting shots. She did cry alot and Damon had to hold her down but other than that she did good. Lets just say what goes around comes around ( she is just like me when it comes to getting shots). She LOVES her new sandals and I'm excited that she got her first pair of salt water sandals.

Sophie..

2011-04-06T11:39:00.000-07:00

I realized the other day that I haven't blogged about Sophie for awhile. Well she is now 23 months old! Ahhh where did the time go. She weighs 22lbs and I'm not quite sure how tall she is. She is still tiny and size 12-18 month clothes fit her well. She doesn't talk much so we are working on that, but she can sign. Mostly more, bird, please, cracker, milk, drink, juice. What words she can say she says them pretty well. Her favorite word is nay for horse. She loves to stand by the back door and watch the neighbors dog, they have a HUGE dog and she is fascinated by him. She is getting to be quite bossy and independent, seriously can I not have one kid who isn't, lol! She picks on Olivia alot and Olivia cries about it alot. You would think being three years older that Olivia wouldn't let it bother her, but it does.
Sophie is a big time momma's girls, Damon puts her to bed or she will just cry and cry until she throws up if I put her to bed. She wants to be with me at all times.
She is still needing oxygen at night and sometimes during the day. We still have no answers as to why she needs it though. I actually have started giving her a all natural vitamin that is supposed to help kids with lung issues. We will see how is works.
I had an experience with Sophie where we were in a store and I was talking to a lady, she then looks at Sophie for a little bit and tells me what a wonderful spirit she has. That is exactly how we feel, she is someone very special who will touch many lives. All in all she is so sweet and we love having her in our family. She brings joy and laughter to all of us! We couldn't live without her!

Beckham!!!

2011-03-28T15:08:00.000-07:00

Saturday night we went to the Real Salt Lake vs LA Galaxy soccer match. I was VERY excited because this man was there!!!

I have the slightest celebrity crush on him, I think he is quite dreamy, ah who am I kidding he is HOT!!! Damon being the great guy that he is wasn't the least bit jealous, maybe its due to the fact that not in my wildest dreams would I get to talk to him, haha.

Even though his team lost it was still great to see him play and you can really tell that he is a great player.

It was nice though to ~~stare~~ watch him for 90minutes. Ahhh so dreamy...

It was a wonderful evening watching number 23!

Look what we bought!!

2011-03-10T13:57:00.000-08:00

So I have been telling Damon for awhile now that we need a bigger vehicle. Our car just wasn't cutting it, we never had enough space to go on trips, and if we went out and had to take the stroller we couldn't fit anything else in. Well I found a great deal of some vans at a dealership in Salt Lake. So last Saturday Damon and my dad went up and took a look at them, I didn't ~~wasn't allowed to~~ go with them because I'm a sucker for a good salesman. Well they came back and told me they had found one, and today Damon went and got it. I LOVE it!!! He did such a good job picking one out, I hadn't seen it before today. Its a 2010 Chrysler Town &Country, it used to be owned by car rental place so it has barely any wear. Stow-n-go seating, automatic doors, and a plug like a normal plug you find in your house. We are pretty excited for the plug because that means on road trips we can just plug Sophie's oxygen concentrator right in, haha, most people don't have to worry about that. Anyways it is so great and I'm so thankful that Damon has good taste and knew what I wanted, he is great! We now each have a working vehicle, so I won't have to be waking up at 5 any more to take Damon to work. YAY!!!

Winter Wedding Wonderland...

2011-02-23T11:06:00.000-08:00

This last weekend I had the opportunity to be a part of my best friends wedding. The wedding took place in Bend, Oregon. Since it was just going to be so much hassle to travel with the kids and we weren't sure what the roads would be like, I got to go all by myself and fly in. Salt Lake has a direct flight to Redmond Oregon which is about 20 minutes from Bend. It was a perfect solution. I flew in Friday and it was go, go, go. We got pedicures and manicures with the bride. Then it was of for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. After dinner the girls and the brides family went to the reception hall to get it all ready for tomorrow. Now Melissa (the bride) is a REALLY organized person. Everything was planned out, she had this huge binder that was all colored organized. She put so much thought into the details, even buying soap and paper towels to put in the bathrooms to match her colors! That being said it really was the most beautiful reception I have ever been to. I'm so glad that I have a husband who is willing to let me go away for the weekend and have fun. It was a much needed break and I enjoyed every minute. Melissa and I have been best friends since we were kids, to be able to be a bridesmaid for her was a privilege.

Friends since high school, apparently there is a photo of all four of us on our high school graduation.

First dance. I love this picture she looks so happy

Another best friend, Jesi. Both of us were bridesmaids.

Melissa and I, right before the ceremony.

Reception room.

Okay so Melissa's dad made this sign of all the ski hills they have skied on. It always had how many miles they were from Bend.

Cake and cupcake table. Brides mom made it all.

Chargers for the plates. Brides dad made all 175 of them.

I've had a birthday shout HORAY!!!

2011-02-14T13:53:00.000-08:00

Today I turned 26, wow! I can't believe that I'm 26, I still remember my 16th birthday like it was yesterday. I was telling my good friend when we were out walking this morning how I was feeling old. She then went on to tell me how someone in our subdivision just died one Saturday. This lady was diagnosed with cancer exactly one month ago, she was 23. My friend (who's birthday is tomorrow) is excited to be getting older, because it is another year we have had on this earth. I couldn't agree more! I'm so glad that I have lived 26 years on this earth, hopefully I will have many more. Happy Birthday to me! Oh and being how it is Valentine's Day happy that to all the rest of you. Or as my husband always says, what is Valentine's Day its just Sian's birthday, haha, love that guy!

Dance....

2011-02-03T12:48:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting for awhile to sign Olivia up for a dance class. I finally got around to doing it for the new year, and she LOVES it! Every week she is so excited, she wishes that she could go more than just once a week. The great thing about this class is that it does tap, ballet, and tumbling, so she gets a good variety. Olivia is so funny though, usually the rest of the day she will wear her leotard and tights, she just loves them.

Glasses!!!

2011-01-21T16:32:00.000-08:00

Well we knew it would happen eventually, Olivia has glasses! With my eyes and Damon's we knew that are kids are bound to have them. She really only needs them right now for watching t.v. and school work. She picked them out all by herself and she wanted red ones. I think she looks adorable!

Update!!!

2011-01-15T22:55:00.000-08:00

So it is 11:30 at night and I can't sleep because I have yet another cold and my throat is just SO sore. This has been the worst winter cold season yet for me, it must be because Olivia is in school 3 days a week. We are getting a lot more germs coming in our house. I decided that since I'm up I might as well update the blog and what has been going on. Really nothing has been going on. Besides Olivia being in school and Damon working that is about all our family is up to. Sophie is doing better after her bout with pneumonia. She will have an xray on the 24th of this month to make sure it is all gone. I am praying that it is. This will be about her 18th xray that she has had in her young life of 20months. That doesn't include the ct scans and live xrays that she has had. Poor kid, she is a trooper. Olivia is doing well and LOVES preschool. She loves Teacher Nisha and talks about her constantly. I often use Teacher Nisha as a way for Olivia to do something, like if Olivia isn't doing as she is told, I will say "Teacher Nisha would want you to listen to me" haha, I know I'm tricky. Damon is liking his job, he is still looking for full time work, but we are glad that so far where he is working has needed him almost full time hours. I think that is about it for now, I have a few other things that have been going on but they need there own posts.
Until then, here is a bunch of pictures from the last month. Enjoy!

Aww I love her in pigtails!

Last Sunday before church. Olivia is wearing this years Christmas dress and Sophie is wearing a lovely pea coat that my parents just got her when they were over in Wales visiting my grandparents. Best thing about it was they paid like 6 bucks for it!

Someone was tired!

I love this face!

Olivia pushing Sophie around in her babies stroller.

First Haircut

2010-12-27T08:08:00.000-08:00

So Miss. Sophie was in dire need of a bang trim. Being the good mother that I am I just whipped out my scissors and went to work.

Before, hair in the face.

During, look how good she is!

After: Gone is my little baby

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T18:02:00.000-08:00

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Santa's Here!

2010-12-13T15:39:00.000-08:00

Okay so Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday. I love it! Ask any of my family and they will tell you how nuts I go for this holiday. I love decorating, I love baking, I love wrapping presents, I LOVE Christmas music, I LOVE it all. Well one of my favorite things is seeing Santa and the magic behind believing in Santa. I never want my girls to not believe, its just magical. One night last week we went out to eat and after dinner we went for a walk and Santa was there just getting ready to leave. Olivia was SO excited to see him. She ran over and gave him a huge hug (unfortunately the camera wasn't quite ready). It was so sweet to watch though and I hope that I never forget how precious it was. She really believes in him and the magic behind all that is Santa Claus.

Look at that smile, she was a happy girl!

Another December Another Hospital...

2010-12-01T15:10:00.000-08:00

Well we are back in the hospital. Sophie has pnuemonia again and is in to be monitored to make sure it doesn't get worse. She is doing good, we arrived here yesterday and so far she hasn't had to have an i.v. put in. They say that if she keeps drinking she probably won't have to have one. She did have a fever but that is has gone. We are hoping that with the antiboitic she is on that she should make a quick recovery. Well quick for Sophie. Since she has her underlying breathing problems it will probably be a couple of weeks before she is completley up and running. If she keeps going like she is and not getting worse hopefully we will only be in here for a few days. The nice thing is though that this hospital we are in just opened a year ago, and just opened there pediatric floor two months ago. So everything is brand new and REALLY nice. Sorry for no pictures Damon forgot to pack my camara. Hopefully he will bring it for me, so I can get some of Sophie in her hospital gown. On the plus side since Sophie isn't feeling well I have been getting ALOT more snuggles than usuall, I'm am taking them all. She is so sweet. She is pretty terrified every time a nurse or tech comes in though. They have had to suction her out a few times and that is the worst. I have to leave the room. Her screaming and then the gagging she does is just to much for me to handle. I think Sophie will be very glad when she gets to go home, we all will!

Thanksgiving!

2010-11-27T09:29:00.000-08:00

So I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We sure did. This year was different for us though because we didn't spend it with my parents. I was therefore in charge of cooking the turkey, and the rest of dinner. AHH! I was a bit freaked out and called my parents TONS on Thanksgiving day with questions. Everything though turned out great, except the gravy which I added a bit to much of the turkey juices to it. I was SO excited though with how the turkey looked when it came out of the oven! These are the only pictures I took though the whole evening, just of the food, go figure!

This was the yummy pie that Megan made!

Bijou Market!

2010-11-15T09:43:00.000-08:00

Okay so for any of you who are going to be in the Provo area this weekend, I highly recommend going and checking out the Bijou Market.
It is my favorite boutique by far. They have so many vendors with some really cool stuff. Go and check it out, I know you won't be disappointed!

Hee Haw Farms

2010-11-11T08:40:00.000-08:00

Back in October we went to this great farm. They had all sorts of things to do: petting farm, hay rides, corn maze, a wagon train and lots of other fun stuff.

Olivia petting her first pig. I loved being with all the animals they were so cute.

Going down a big slide. Don't let her face fool you, she LOVES big slides.

Jumping into a hay pit.

Sophie on the wagon train. I know we actually got her out of the stroller and let her do something!

Driving the tractor.

Sophie playing in the corn box. She loved it.

Corn maze! This was actually my very first corn maze. I loved it. We let Olivia pick which way to go, and she actually got us out of there in about 15 minutes. She definitely has my sense of direction and not her dads, or maybe not.

We made it!

Y'all come back now, you here!

First School Photo

2010-10-26T11:49:00.000-07:00

Here is Olivia's school photo for preschool this year. I love how it turned out, she looks so cute!

Look what I made!

2010-10-24T15:22:00.000-07:00

I saw this wreath on a craft blog and knew I had to make it. I did it yesterday and I'm SO pleased with how it turned out. I love it!

As requested here is a link to where I found this. Mine is a little bit bigger than the one they show though. http://www.howdoesshe.com/corn-husk-wreath-tutorial

Swing Time!

2010-10-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of Sophie on her first swing ride. Is she not the CUTEST thing ever! Oh I just love her to pieces and her smile just melts my heart. She loved the swing and would have stayed on it forever!

Blog is Fixed, YAY!!!

2010-10-13T13:59:00.000-07:00

I need to give a HUGE thank you to the amazing Julie and her wonderful team at leelou blogs
They were able to fix my blog and make it pretty again for me. Thank you guys SO much, I am useless at figuring that stuff out and would not have been able to do it without them.
Julie you are the best!

My Husband the Nurse!

2010-10-08T14:02:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago Damon graduated from nursing school. One week ago Damon took the NCLEX and passed. Damon is now a registered nurse and I couldn't be more excited. Now we just need to find him a job.

His graduation was very nice and not to long, which is always good with two kids. Damon's parents and sister came from Portland for it and my parents were also able to come. We had a full house.
It was great having them all there to support him.

It has been quite the ride getting him here, but we are DONE!!!! I am so incredibly proud of him and his hard work to get finished. If you think about it, it was not the easiest to get done. We had Sophie, then Sophie got sick and then Sophie is still sick. He amazingly juggled it all. Good job Damon, you are amazing! Love You!

I look a little more excited than Damon. Sophie obviously doesn't care.

Preschool....

2010-09-08T16:06:00.000-07:00

Olivia had her first day of preschool today. She was so excited and looked so cute in her skinny jeans. I can't believe that she is old enough for this, just one more year before she is in kindergarten. She goes three days a week for two hours and 15 minutes. Her teacher is wonderful and she said that she did great. I was also excited because I went to the store with just one kid today and it was SO much faster. We are so excited for her and to see how much she will learn.

A Post Finally!!!

2010-09-06T16:39:00.000-07:00

Well I don't even know where to begin, I have been taking a little hiatus from this blog this summer. We have been having a great summer with much of it traveling to Lakeview. Damon just has one test left before he is done, YAY! Graduation for him is on the 22nd of September. He has been applying to nursing jobs everywhere from Utah to Virginia to Texas. We aren't sure where we are going yet.

On the 22nd of August I went to Portland to see if a lower altitude would make a difference for Sophie. I think it did, she seemed to do alot better and was breathing slower and not panting all the time like she does. Damon and I wanted to see if a lower altitude would help as to help our decision as to where he should apply for jobs. It will be a year in October since Sophie was put on oxygen and we still don't have any answers as to why she needs it.

Olivia was able to come to Lakeview on the 16th with my parents and spent a week here before I got to Lakeview from my trip to Portland. She had tons of fun with Nanny and Grandad and was getting lots of attention. They also signed her up for swim lessons which she did quite well in. Olivia will be starting preschool this Wednesday, she is SO excited. Hopefully she does well and actually learns something.

We are heading home to Utah tomorrow and I think Damon will be glad for us to be home. This last weekend has been busy with it being the Lake County Fair and Round-Up, it is a crazy weekend here in Lakeview. I was able to do something rare and go out Friday night without kids and go and catch up with old class mates. It was nice seeing people I hadn't seen in years, but it made me realize how very grateful I am for my life. Well that about sums up what we have been up to.

Oh I almost forgot one of the big things to happen this month is the fact that Sophie is walking!!!! It took her awhile to do it, but now she won't stop and gets into everything! She is so cute though, and says hi to everyone. She really is the sweetest thing and is such a snuggler I just love it.

Now I'll just post some of the photos from this last month, there are tons

Olivia with her swim instrutcer Carlee, she was great, and Olivia loved it!

Olivia riding her first elephant, this was a new attraction at the Lake County fair.

Olivia with her friend Rhianna.

Sophie doing some walking.

The iron lung.

Getting ready to throw out candy for the Labor day parade. My dad pulled the iron lung for the rotary club.

27 days!!!!

2010-08-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

That's is how much nursing school Damon has left. I am beyond THRILLED!!!! I can't believe it is almost done! YAHOO!!!!!!

July....

2010-07-24T21:10:00.000-07:00

Okay I can't believe that it has been a month since my last post. Where has July gone, it has just flown by. This post has tons of photos, because I'm just going to blog about the whole month. So lets begin with the fourth. My little sister was having her reception in Lakeview over the 4Th of July weekend. I wasn't planning on going, but at the last minute (night before) I decided to carpool down with Megs and her hubby Tim and the girls. It was lots of fun to see everyone, and the girls were SO excited to see Nanny and Grandad. The reception was lovely and I ate my fare share of key lime pie and raspberry cheesecake. One of the highlights for me was getting to see my best friends family. I love the Knowles family, they are like my second family. It was great getting to catch up with them! Oh and I also got to go to my favorite restaurant the Aspen Ridge, YUM!

When we got back from Lakeview, we came home to not only Damon but my other sister Emma and her family. We knew they were coming but because I went to Lakeview last minute, Damon got to entertain them for a few days. There main reason for coming to visit was Steve (brother-in-law) his parents were just coming home from serving for the past three years as Mission Presidents. They had to come with Utah to pick up a car, so Emma and Steve made a vacay to see them and us all at the same time. They also blessed baby Oscar too. Who is adorable and little chub. I think he weighs the same as Sophie. I don't know why but I didn't take any photos of him, and only a couple of Betty. I was SO excited to see Miss. Betty. She is so much fun, and talks your ear off.

Since all the Kings girls were in Utah, my parents of course were here too. We actually got some family photos done by Megan and Tim's wedding photographer. We haven't seen them yet, I'll be sure to post some when we get them back though.

Now we are to the end of the month and it has finally calmed down around here. We are keeping busy trying to stay cool. Olivia would have about 5 popsicle's a day if I let her. Sophie is STILL not walking. I think she just figures she has it pretty good with us carrying her. That's okay though she is such a sweet little snuggle bug that I'll take it. Sophie's new thing is holding up one finger. If you ask her if she is number one and she will stick it straight up. She has now even started waving it around as if to boss us around. Funny thing. Olivia is getting excited for preschool to start. We have been going over raising our hand and being patient. Tough things to teach, especially the being patient, but she is learning. I am especially excited for her to start preschool, three days a week two hours each time. I'm sure though on her first day I will cry though.

Well that about sums up the month for us. I promise it won't be another month before I post again.

Some pictures of Megan and Tim's Lakeview reception.

The Two Amigos
(at least when they are getting along)!

Sophie showing us who is number one!

Pigtails!

Splash Pad!

2010-06-23T19:17:00.000-07:00

Last summer we were introduced to a fun free splash pad about 20 minutes from us. Olivia loved going there, so we are very excited for the warm weather.

Olivia had to bring Ariel along with her.

Sophie tasting the water

I just love her polka dot swim suit!

I just thought this photo was typical Sophie, always crawling right up to me to see what I'm doing.

Tunnels.

2010-06-20T22:13:00.001-07:00

What do you do on a rainy day, you learn how to crawl through a tunnel. Well that's what Sophie learnt to do just recently at least.

On a side note, that is not pee coming out of her, that is her oxygen tubing.

Yellowstone Part 2

2010-06-06T12:30:00.001-07:00

I realized that I hadn't finished about our trip to Yellowstone. We really did love it there, and are hoping that next summer we can go again. It is so beautiful. So on our second day into the park we saw bear! We first stopped and looked through a telescope and saw some on a mountain about a mile away. While we were doing that a woman came and told us that about 10 minutes up the road was a grisly momma and two cubs. So we hopped in the car and drove over there. The funny thing about Yellowstone is if you go and you are driving through the park and see a bunch of cars and people with HUGE cameras on the side of the road, you stop. If there are park rangers with them, you get out. The momma bear and cubs were about 400 yards away and the cubs were SO cute. I wish I had a fancy camera with a nice lens so I could get better shots. That's my goal is to go there sometime with a nice camera to get the really good shots. That was probably my highlight from the trip was seeing the cubs. We had such a good time and it was just nice to go away and relax. I'm so glad that my parents have a time share so we can use it, ha ha.

Getting ready to go out for the day.

You can kind of see the cubs right up next to her.

The buffalo were everywhere.

Sophie One Year Stats.

2010-05-20T12:37:00.000-07:00

I forgot that put on here what Sophie's stats for her one year check up.

Weight: 17lbs- 3rd%

Height: 27"- 7%

As you can see she is a tiny thing. Nine month clothing barely fits her. The doctor told me that her being on the steroids would be partly to blame for her small size. Although Olivia was a little thing too, but not quite this little. Needless to say we will be going to the doctors about every 4 weeks for them to monitor it. We get to now stuff her face until she is absolutely can't eat another bite.

Yellowstone Part 1

2010-05-20T10:11:00.001-07:00

We decided about a month ago that we needed to take a much needed family vacation during Damon's next break in school. We knew that we didn't want to travel far with the kids, but we wanted to get out of Utah, we picked Yellowstone. On Sunday we got to Yellowstone and didn't actually go into the park until Tuesday. We are loving it though. There is wildlife everywhere. I thought growing up in Lakeview that I have seen my fair share of wildlife, but it is nothing compared to here. So far we have seen tons of Buffalo, tons of Elk, some coyote, a wolf, a few bears and bear cubs, a fox, oh and a few ground squirrels. The pictures below are from our first day in the park. We went and saw Old Faithful, which we got there just in time otherwise we would have to have waited another 90 minutes to watch it go off.
The first day there we passed a road saying river drive. Damon, thought we should go that way but we didn't. On the way back to the condo, we decided to go that way and saw that there where a bunch of cars parked and a park ranger. We had been told if there is a park ranger you need to get out, because there is probably something good going on. Well come to find out a pack of wolves had killed a buffalo and had been eating on it all morning and early afternoon. Right as we got there they had taken off. We were pretty bummed to say the least. The Park Rangers did tell us though if we came back a dusk we might see a bear come and maybe take a nibble on what was left over from the buffalo. So with that being said we headed back to where we were staying and had some dinner. Then we headed back to see if we might see some kind of wildlife.
When we get there, there was a few cars with people with there cameras out. Damon and I get excited thinking maybe there was a bear. No they were just taking pictures of a bald eagle up in a tree. But we get out and I walk up ahead to a good viewing spot with Olivia. Right then a lady points out something to her husband swimming across the river. I look and think its a coyote, but its a WOLF! I yell to Damon and he runs over. So for the next 40 minutes we got to watch a wolf about 100 yards from us nibble on whats left of the buffalo. It was so COOL!

The buffalo are everywhere.

Olivia and Sophie in front of a steam pocket. Sophie spent most of her time in the stroller or the car seat.

Olivia in front of Old Faithful.

The wolf getting a drink of water.

Taking some bites at what is left of the buffalo.

Damon and Olivia watching the wolf. You didn't really need binoculars to watch it only if you wanted a real close up look.

New posts.

2010-05-13T16:15:00.001-07:00

I have finally updated the blog, so look below for new posts!

Megan and Tim's wedding!

2010-05-13T16:00:00.000-07:00

On May 8, 2010, my little sister Megan married Tim Ellertson in the Ogden, Utah Temple. It was a beautiful ceremony and a gorgeous day. Here are some photos from the day.

They had a breakfast the morning of the wedding for everyone who was going to the sealing. It was so nice, with a couple of musical numbers from siblings on Tim's side. They are really musical. Than in the evening we had a reception down in Provo in Tim's parents backyard. It was gorgeous and tons of people came to celebrate with Megan and Tim. The reception ended with a bang with fireworks!

The happy couple!

Olivia took her responsibility as Megan's maid of honor very seriously.

Sophie celebrating.

These two have a had a really special relationship since Olivia was born. I have always felt like they have known each other for much longer than 4 years.

She loved her flowers. Good thing they are silk so she can keep them forever.

I have a 4 year old!

2010-05-13T15:30:00.000-07:00

I really can't believe that Olivia is 4! Where has the time gone. The week of her birthday was crazy busy. Damon and I's anniversary on Wednesday the 5th, than Sophie's 1st birthday on the 6th, Olivia's birthday on the 7th and then my little sister got married on the 8th. It was a hectic week to say the least. Thursday for Sophie's birthday Olivia wanted to open her presents with her. So Olivia thought her birthday was on Thursday after that, we tried correcting her at first but she wouldn't budge, so we gave up trying.

Olivia is my independent child. She is stubborn but very sweet. She always wants to help people and gets her feeling hurt very easily. She adores her sister and wants to play with her all the time. She LOVES the water, and would spend hours in the bath if I let her. She loves to be outdoors running around. She loves movies and popcorn. Since she was a baby she has been obsessed with shoes, just like her momma. She is my girly girl and loves to put on make-up. I can't put on make-up without putting some on her. She doesn't like to be left out of anything. She loves to sleep next to people, either me or Damon, or Megan my little sister, or my mom. She is a snuggler, its too funny. We love her so much and our so glad to she joined our lives two days after our first anniversary.

I decided this year to start a tradition where I do a birthday interview with her, I have had friends to do it on their blogs and I love it. So here is Olivia's birthday interview.

What is your favorite color? I will like pink. How bout pink. That's my favorite, pink. Strawberry pink.

What is your favorite food? I like french fries. Or how bout salad. I like different foods, like macaroni and cheese.

How old are you? I'm 4.

How old is daddy? I don't know. I need to grow up and I'd know. Umm 75 or 95.

How old is mommy? Umm, 25.

Favorite toy to play with? Ariel (doll from Little Mirmaid).

What is your favorite drink? I like soda, Sprite. But waters really good.

What is your favorite song? All the Single Ladies (this really is her favorite song).

What do you like to do with Nanny and Grandad? I like to go on dates, I like to go to Donald's (McDonald's), and go the movies.

What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be a princess!

Look Who's 1

2010-05-13T14:55:00.001-07:00

I can not believe that a year has already gone by since this sweet little girl has entered our lives. Sophie is my sweetheart. Such a blessing she has been in our life's. She turned one on May 6th, and we had a small celebration. She loved her birthday cupcake, and thought that was about the best thing ever. She isn't walking yet but has got the crawling down. A couple of weeks ago she started pulling herself up and standing. She is joy in our lives. Her first year we have spent a little more time in the hospital than I wished to have. Sophie is still on oxygen, but just when she is sleeping so that is a big improvement. I don't have her weight or height, her one year check up is tomorrow. She is a little thing though. Damon is always commenting on how short she is, I just tell him that I did have great grandmother who was 4'10", so she might have inherited the short genes. We are so glad we have her in our family and couldn't imagine life without her!

5 Years!

2010-05-13T14:30:00.001-07:00

Damon and I celebrated five years last Wednesday, on 5-5-10. I can't believe that we have been married five years, where has the time gone. We were able to go to dinner by ourselves, SWEET! Other than that, that was the extent of our celebrating. I guess that's what it's like when you have two kids. Oh and that week was crazy busy for us. Here's to another five and many, many more to come!

P.S. Doesn't Damon look so young! Oh and I look much less sleep deprived!

Curlers...

2010-05-01T11:53:00.000-07:00

I bought sponge rollers the other day and Olivia was very anxious for me to put her hair in them. She did very good sitting still and didn't even complain about sleeping with them.

Here she is with them in. Giving me her best smile.

After with the curls. I put in all the different sizes of curlers in her hair to see how well each one would curl. The straight pieces were the large curlers. The small rollers gave her hair a corkscrew, it was pretty cute. Here she is striking her model pose.

Blog Chain

2010-04-08T09:50:00.000-07:00

So since I tagged my sister Emma in the photo tag, she thought she would repay the favor and tag me.

I'm supposed to list 10 things that make me happy and 5 pieces of trivia about me. Then I get to pass it along to five people who will do this.

Here goes:

10 Things That Make Me Happy:

1. Damon
2. Olivia and Sophie playing together
3. Sophie getting to breathe room air(only when awake, working on the sleep time oxygen need).
4. Cupcakes!
5. Going on a date with Damon.
6. Talking on the phone with my bestie Melissa and my family!
7. Taking walks on warm spring days.
8. Swimming.
9. Cooking yummy food for my family.
10. Watching Olivia dance with the stars on Dancing with the Stars (she loves that show).

5 Pieces of Trivia about ME!

1. I LOVE to read, and usually always has a new book I'm reading every week, we go to the library quite a bit. Barely ever though do I read a book twice.
2. I've been to 11 countries, so I love to travel. But I get terrible anxiety right before the plane is about to take of, and if we hit turbulence at all.
3. I'm anal about how my dishwasher is loaded. I gladly let Damon do it, but if I have to had dishes to the dishwasher after he has loaded it I usually end up re-loading it so it is just right.
4. I've been a fan of Wicked for about 6 years now and I have yet to see the musical. It is my dream one day to go and watch it.
5. My all time favorite thing to eat is POPCORN, I love it and could have a bowl every day. My children also love it.

Okay now five people who will do this to keep the chain alive.
1. Karen
2. Sarah
3. Rachel G. (because you really do need to blog more)
4. Dani
5. Stacey

Photo Tag

2010-04-01T16:15:00.001-07:00

My friend Jena tagged me in a "Photo Tag". Rules are that you have to take the pictures how your house is now- no cleaning up. Here goes:

Kitchen Sink:

Fridge: We have some leftovers to eat.

Favorite Pair of Shoes: These are the favorites right now, they are super comfy and I think cute.

Favorite Room:
I would have to say that my favorite room in our house is the family/great room. I love the fact that I can be in the kitchen and still be able to keep an eye on the kids. Or when we have people over it is so nice to just have space to move around.

Laundry Room: This room looks really good compared to what it usually looks like. I have been trying to just fold the clothes right as they get out of the dryer. Next step, putting them away :).

Bedroom Closet: Now I must explain that Damon is the one who uses the closet the most. I just hang some shirts and dresses up in it. I have a dresser that I use. So that is why that it is not the neatest on the shelves.

Bathroom:

What my kids are doing right now:

When I first started taking photos Olivia was playing nicely with her Barbie. Then when it was her turn for the photo, she was having a little meltdown because she couldn't do her Barbie's hair just right.

Sophie fast asleep in her crib. Isn't she sweet.

Self Portrait:

Luckily I was planning on going out today so I wasn't in sweats with hair a mess.

Now its my turn to tag some people. I tag: Emma, Dulci, Jessica, Elizabeth and Emily. Have FUN!

Crawling..

2010-03-18T10:09:00.001-07:00

This cute little thing has started crawling, well about three weeks ago at least. She is all over the place and we have a hard time containing her.

This is what our house looks like every night after a fun day of playing in the toys. I had forgotten how much kids get into stuff once they become mobile. Can't complain too much since she just started at 10 months, could have been a lot sooner.

Cooking Time

2010-03-03T14:31:00.001-08:00

Someone sure is excited to help mommy in the kitchen.

Long Time no Post...

2010-02-20T11:18:00.001-08:00

*Warning picture overload*
So I know that it has been FOREVER since I last updated the blog, so sorry to the two people who actually look at this thing, lol. I have just been a slacker and didn't think I had anything to write about. Then I remembered that I did have some news I could share. SO..... my little sister is getting MARRIED!!!! She is marrying a great guy named Tim Ellertson who is from Provo. They will be getting married May 8,2010 in the Ogden Utah Temple. We are very happy for them and Olivia is excited for the veil (which she is obsessed with). Also my bestest friend Melissa is getting married next year on February 19, 2011. I'm am supper excited for I get to be one of her bridesmaid, YAY!!! Although that does mean that I have to loose a few, or alot, of pounds. Other than that life has been pretty normal. Well as normal as our life can be.

Sophie is still on oxygen, but she is actually able the last couple of days to be on room air while she is awake. We are hoping that the steroids are finally working and maybe (knock on wood) in the near future she can be off the oxygen. She is now 9 months old, I have know idea where the time has gone, Oh wait yes I do its been driving her back and forth to doctors appointments. She is a doll, she is soooo much fun and has the cutest cheesy grins. She isn't crawling yet but can scoot around in a circle pretty well. She is always so happy and just loves to interact with people. She gets supper excited when we put her in her car seat, and usually will be asleep within five minutes of being in the car. She loves to sit in her high chair and eat food and is pretty good about trying anything. She is a joy and we love having her in our family.

Olivia, is well Olivia. I don't know I think three is has been a rough year for her and ME. But the laughter she brings into our home is so special. Lately she has been into asking questions, and I mean LOTS of questions. Going on car rides with her used to be quite, now she will talk the whole time. She exhausts Damon and I, and usually by 7 pm we are soo glad that it is bedtime for her that we can't get her up there fast enough. She is in Primary now in church and loves her Sunbeams class. Only problem is because of Sophie we don't go very often because I don't take Sophie with us. So unless my parents are here visiting or if for some strange reason Damon might have the day off, she really doesn't get to go every Sunday. Last week though we were able to take her and she gave her first talk in Primary. It was sooooo cute. I was so nervous for her but she did great. She has no fear when it comes to public speaking (unlike her mother). They were announcing who was going to give the scripture and the talk, and she heard them say her name so she just gets up and runs to the microphone. It was hilarious and great. I was laughing and crying all at the same time. Oh and she pretty much had her talk memorized. So proud of her.

That about sums up what we have been doing. I will definitely not let it go so long before I update this thing again.

All of us out to dinner at Tucanos for my birthday.
Megan and Tim.
Sophie eating in her bumbo with her cheesy grin.

Olivia's first fat lip.

At the Kangaroo Zoo.

Sophie with her nebulizer, one of the many trusty medical equipment we have at our house.

She loves to roll over like this and fall asleep.

Playing with Grandad.

Picture from this morning. Playing on the floor.

Eight Months....

2010-01-19T12:13:00.001-08:00

This cute thing turned eight months on the 6th. As you can see she is still on oxygen, and thanks to steroids has gotten supper delicious chubby cheeks. Apart from being on oxygen she is a healthy little girl, and is so happy. We love her to pieces and feel so blessed to have her in our family. I can't believe that she is already eight months, poor thing she has been on oxygen for half her life. This past year, we have dealt with more doctors and hospitals then we would have cared for but through out it all Sophie has been a delight and has gotten many doctors wrapped around her little finger. She is still a mystery as too what is causing the need for oxygen. We feel strongly that she will get better some day and will live a perfectly normal life. So, Sophie now weighs 16lbs and some (she is gaining every week due to the steroids). She is sitting up very well. She can scoot around in a good little circle on her tummy, not quite to crawling yet. She has four teeth, two on top two on bottom and she is getting two more on top. She likes to eat and put anything in her mouth. She loves to be around people, which isn't surprising seeing how much she has spent in the hospital. She is very easy going as long as she is with somebody. She can say "mama" and has been for awhile now, and she has just recently started saying "hi" and waving. She is soooo cute and we just love her to pieces. She loves to play with her big sister, and always has a smile for her. Damon and I feel very blessed to have two wonderful little girls. Sophie is a very special little girl who is an inspiration to us all.

Christmas...

2010-01-03T14:34:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas with my whole family, which hasn't happened in about 4 years. Olivia was very excited to see that Santa had come and left some presents behind. She was a very lucky little girl. We did our usual family tradition of getting new pajamas Christmas eve and we started a new one of making sugar cookies for Santa. We also did some of the fun traditions that my family did too. Christmas was extra special this year, in the fact that Sophie was able to come home from the hospital and be with us. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Oh and the first photo is our family Christmas photo, it would have been sent with our Christmas cards but with Sophie being so sick I couldn't be bothered to finish them. Always next year.

Happy Birthday!

2009-12-19T06:42:00.000-08:00

So today is my amazing husband Damon's birthday. He is 27 today so to celebrate I thought I would list 27 reasons why I love you!

1. You always put me and the girls first.
2. You are a VERY patient man.
3. You are a worthy Priesthood holder, and you take that responsibility very serious.
4. You like my cooking (well for the most part).
5. You have a great testimony of the Gospel and you are not shy to share it.
6. You always know how to cheer me up :).
7. You are working so hard right now to get done with school, so you can make our life better.
8. You (unless you aren't there) like to put Olivia to bed.
9. You love that you have two little girls.
10. You are always so encouraging when I want to try something new.
11. You wanted to marry me in the Temple, and we did.
12. You love to travel, and can't wait till we can take our kids all over the world.
13. You are a hard worker.
14. You take Olivia out to the park or to the store just so I can have a little peace and quite.
15. You used to come to all my swim meats when I was coaching, even though I knew they were boring for you.
16. You always make sure that you spend at least one hour a day with just me and the girls, even though I know half the time you should really be studying.
17. You always come with me to get blood drawn, cause you know how much I hate that.
18. If I'm mad at you, you make me hug you until I'm not anymore.
19. You still like to tease me.
20. Your knowledge about the Gospel amazes me.
21. You let me drive the newer car and you drive the clunker, even though you do more driving.
22. You will watch chick flicks with me(except Twilight, because you couldn't stand that movie).
23. You will do the dishes if I ask, and not complain.
24. You served a mission, and want us to serve one together.
25. You don't laugh(at least not too loud) when I am being goofy with Olivia and we are either dancing around the house or singing.
26. You think I'm beautiful and you tell me.
27. But the most important thing I love about you is that you fell in love with me when I was 16 and you have never looked back.

I love you honey!

Improving...

2009-12-18T10:19:00.000-08:00

My mom said to me yesterday that I haven't posted anything on Sophie for a week so I thought I better let you know how she is doing. She is doing much better, in fact as I am typing this she is sleeping in her hospital room breathing room air. She hasn't done that in 2 MONTHS! Her stats are good. So this last week she had another ct scan to see how the lungs were doing and they have improved. We are pretty sure that the steroids she is taking are helping with that. She has had more blood taken the last couple of day for more testing, but so far they have all come back negative. She has been having some really runny diapers so they are watching that to make sure she doesn't get dehydrated. We were hoping that maybe that she could go home today but most likely it will be tomorrow, unless she gets too dehydrated. We are so happy though that she is getting better. She will have to go home with some medicine, but hopefully that will only be for a few more weeks. Thank you everyone for all your prayers, they have helped us stay calm during this stressful time and they have helped Sophie get better. Oh and the doctors still aren't quite sure what made her sick they are thinking that it was a viral infection.

Update

2009-12-11T18:34:00.000-08:00

So here is a quick update on Sophie. She is still at Primary's Children Hospital, not quite sure on how long we will be here. She has tons of tests done so they can try and figure out what is wrong. We have two lung specialists who are husband and wife, we have a team of 3 doctors who are also working with her. So she had an echo done on her heart, it showed that her heart was fine, which is a relief. Yesterday they did an bronchi scope, which means they went done her airway with a scope and then took some of the fluid that is in her lungs. The tests for that have all come back negative. She also had a cat scan on her lungs and a live x-ray where she swallowed some chalky stuff and then they watch it go down, the point of this is that they wanted to see if there are any tears or holes in her esophagus. All of those tests can back fine. Sophie has all the doctors a little stumped as to what is the matter. Obviously there is something wrong, she can't be without oxygen and she breathes really fast. So the lung specialist wants us to try a acid reflux medicine to see if that will help with the liquid in her lungs. Also they are going to start a short trial of steroids, to see if that might help her breathing and maybe develop the lungs a little more. SO that is where we are at right now, if this stuff doesn't work we (meaning Damon and I plus doctors) will start discussing doing a lung biopsy. I'll keep you all updated, sorry no pictures, I've been a little pre-occupied :).

Primary Childrens Hospital..

2009-12-07T21:26:00.000-08:00

So this morning we wake up to some snow, Damon and Livi go out and shovel it (I'll post photos of that later). When Damon came back in, I was trying to get Sophie's oxygen stats, and I couldn't get it to go above 84, so Damon took over the reigns and he couldn't get it any higher either. We raised her oxygen level and waited about 15 minutes and checked it again and it still wouldn't go higher, at that point we are thinking that the machine we have must not be working well so we decide that we better take her into our doctors office just to be safe. We take her in and they can't get a reading higher than 85, not good. So the doctor decides that he wants to do an x-ray on her. Well the x-ray comes back and shows that it could be a few things, pneumonia, respiratory virus, or maybe even something to do with her heart. Well we bump up her oxygen and again and see that her stats aren't getting better. So Damon and I decide that we better take her to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City. That is where we are now, Sophie has been admitted, and tomorrow they are going to do a echo gram of her heart to make sure that is working properly and we will go from there. I am assuming that she will be having lots of tests done, but hopefully we will be able to figure out exactly why she just can't get off the oxygen. I will keep you all updated, the hospital has wireless so I have a laptop here. Hopefully in the next couple of days we will have some good news.

Update...

2009-12-06T15:24:00.000-08:00

Well I thought that I would give you all a quick update on Sophie. She is still on oxygen, I think we are going on our 8th week now. The pneumonia is all cleared up and has been for awhile, but she just can't seem to get of the oxygen. She had a doctors appt. on Friday for her sixth month checkup which she is seven months today so we were a little behind, and everything looks really good with her, but because she can't get of the oxygen we are getting an appt. with a pediatric lung specialist. Hopefully we can get her into that appt. before Christmas so we can figure out what is going on. All in all she is a happy little girl who likes to be entertained. She loves to smile and stick her tongue out which is so cute, I have yet to capture it though. Olivia can really get her laughing which is adorable, I love that they both just love each other so much. Sophie is always looking for her sister and Olivia is always willing to play with her. Sophie isn't crawling or anything yet, she can roll over and has almost mastered sitting up. She does really good with her oxygen tube, it really has come in handy sometimes as a toy for her, she loves to chew on the tubing. Its kind of sad that her favorite toy is a oxygen tube. Sophie has been eating some solid food for a couple weeks now, and she is doing pretty good at it. Most of the time though she just gets so distracted by her sister that she really doesn't eat that much. We sure do love having her in our family though, and are just praying that we will figure out what is going on and that she will be over it quickly.

Temple Square...

2009-12-06T15:17:00.000-08:00

We had the opportunity to go and see the lights at Temple Square the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It was so beautiful and pretty busy. We walked around for a couple of hours and then headed back home. I love going to Temple Square at Christmastime with all the beautiful lights, it is such a special experience to be there.

Disney on Ice..

2009-11-15T17:57:00.000-08:00

On Friday we got to go to Disney Princess Classics on Ice, it was so much fun. I loved and so did Livi. My parents bought me and my sisters tickets to take our girls. We were 5 rows from the rink so we had great seats. I think that me and my little sister Megan were more excited than the kids, we had always wanted to go as kids but never got to. Olivia got a little scared from the Beast from Beauty and the Beast, and the witch from Snow White freaked her out. All in all it was such a fun day. Since it was in Salt Lake we drove down and then parked a little further away so we could ride the train, Olivia loves riding the train. We loved the show though, I would get so excited when a new princess would come out. My favorite was the Little Mermaid performance, Olivia's was Ariel and Cinderella and the skate shoes and the snakes(eels in little mermaid), she told me more but you get the idea. Since seeing the ice skating, Olivia spins around on our wood floors all day and tells me she's skating. Thanks mom and dad for the great memories, wish you could have been with us!

Halloween

2009-11-08T14:06:00.000-08:00

So here is a picture of Olivia in her costume. She was going to be Minnie Mouse but at the last minute she decided that she wanted to be a kitty cat instead. Our Halloween was pretty low key, we just went to the trunk and treat at the church and then she helped hand out candy at our house. This is our first Halloween in a sub-division and we got quite a few trick or treaters. It was fun to see all the kids in their costumes. Poor Sophie didn't even get to wear her costume, she is still on oxygen, so she keeps a low profile hanging out in the back of the house wear she won't come in contact with anybody, we don't want to get her sick again so keep her pretty secluded. Olivia loved Halloween though and anytime a kid came to the door she would ask them what was their name and what was their costume.

Home

2009-10-25T18:51:00.001-07:00

Were home. Sophie got to come home on Thursday afternoon. She is still on oxygen, so we have her all hooked up at home with the oxygen machine. I was really nervous at first about her coming home on oxygen, I actually stayed in the hospital one extra day just because it made me so nervous. In reality though it really isnt that bad. Hopefully she will be off the oxygen the end of the week, that is what we are hoping at least. Bringing her home was so good for her. When she saw Olivia and our dog Red, her whole face lit up. She adores her sister, and she looked better after about 30 minutes of being home. Here are some pictures of her in the hospital, oh and one from today with her hat on that her Nanny made her. Thank you everyone for you support and your prayers. She was pretty sick there for awhile. We are glad to have her home and see her smiling again.

Want to know what we've been up to this weekend.

2009-10-18T18:20:00.000-07:00

Well I don't have picture for this post but I'll put some on when I get home if I ever do. Well this weekend was quite eventful. Friday I took Sophie's temperature and to find that she was at 101, so I gave her some Tylenol and let her sleep. Well I checked later in the evening to find that is was up to 103. So we quickly loaded the kids in the car and headed to the ER. They quickly got Sophie and I back, Damon took Olivia for a car ride. Well once in the ER, she had to get put on oxygen, get a catheter, get an IV put in and then get blood drawn for multiple tests. Oh and she also got some xrays, which if you have ever had a newborn get xrays you will know that they strap them in this contraption with the arms sticking straight up. Then after all of the that a Respiratory Therapist came and sucked out all her boogers for testing and he also administered a breathing test on her to help open up her airways. Well we found out that through the xrays that she has pneumonia. SO she has been admitted to pediatrics and we are now on our third night in the hospital. She is doing better, I wouldn't say she is out of the woods yet. She is still on oxygen and we are trying to lower it but every time they lower it past a certain amount the machine she is hooked up to starts beeping. So right now we are just keeping her on oxygen. Because Friday was the first day she had a fever and we brought her in then that has definitely been to our advantage. The poor little girl though she just wants to be snuggled. She is getting an antibiotic for the pneumonia and a medicine for the flu. The pediatrician is thinking that it is swine flu but we won't no for sure until late tonight or tomorrow. That kind of freaked me out, I have been so worried about swine flu, but that doctor has told me a few times that us bringing her in so soon was a VERY smart move. Everyone keeps asking me how I'm doing and to be honest I haven't given myself/or wanted to think about how I'm doing. I'm sure she will be okay, but the doctor told me to be prepared to be here a couple of weeks. My parents who are lifesavers, drove through the night last night and got here at 2:30 am. They have Olivia so that is one less thing to worry about, although do you ever stop worrying about any of your kids. Please keep little Sophie in your prayers, our little snuggle bug is needing some help. I will try to keep you all updated, hopefully in a couple of days she will be able to breath without the help of the oxygen. You know I remember when I was little thinking how the hardest thing I would probably ever have to do was go through child birth, but that is nothing. I think the hardest thing to do is to watch your child suffer, you feel so helpless. It makes you realize how our Heavenly Father must have felt when he watched Christ on the cross.

*Got back the results for the H1N1 this evening, and it came back negative, sigh huge relief.*

Want to know what we have been up too!

2009-10-11T13:01:00.000-07:00

So on Friday, Olivia came down with a nasty stomach bug. She was throwing up all day Friday and on Saturday she was having some bad diarrhea. Today she seems fine, but she has had a fun few days of watching movies and drinking sprite. The pictures of her is how I found her on Friday, poor girl was so exhausted she just fell asleep right there on the steps.

Cute Girl...

2009-09-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

I figured since I did a post on just Olivia yesterday that I better do one just of Sophie today. Sophie is so much fun and we just love having her in our family. She is four and a half months now, and on her fourth month doctors appt. she weighed 12lbs 10oz which is in the 22 percentile, and she was 23 inches long. Her hair will get really curly if it gets wet or if she is at all sweaty it will just kink up on the sides. We still don't know what color her eyes are going to turn yet, they are a dark grey at the moment. Olivia's eyes were dark grey until about 7months and then they turned to brown, so we'll see. Sophie is just such a cute little thing. She has the cutest laugh and always so smiley. She is still our little snuggle bug and we just love her to pieces.

Hip Hip Hooray!

2009-09-23T16:34:00.000-07:00

This little girl I can honestly say is potty trained. For the past three Sundays Olivia has gone to church in panties and even tells her nursery leaders when she needs to go to potty. The only time she wears a diaper is at night when she goes to bed. I'm so proud of her and so excited. It is so nice to not have to worry about that.

2009-09-15T17:49:00.001-07:00

couple of new post below. ENJOY!

Key West 2009!

2009-09-15T17:28:00.000-07:00

So the day after Sophie's blessing me and the girls tagged along with my parents and my lil sis to go see my adorable niece Betty and her parents. We had a great time, it was supper hot so we stayed inside most of the time and played the Wii fit, which I love, I want one bad! Emma and Steve were supper gracious and let us all stay with them, big thanks to them, especially Emma who has been feeling a little under the weather. Don't worry she will be all cured of it sometime in March. Yup another niece(we hope) or nephew is making their way to the Johns family. I'm supper excited to see what they will have. I had tons of fun playing with Betty, she is soooo cute, but boy oh boy does Livi now how to make her mad. Poor Livi lets just say that she had some nice teeth marks to bring home to show her daddy. Damon had to stay in Utah and look after the fort, and go to school and make some money. The sad thing is that was probably our last visit to Key West, Steve and Emma and Betty will be moving up too Virginia in November for Steve's work. But we are pretty stoked for them to move up there because then they are just 3 hours away from NYC, so mine and Damon's plan is we'll go visit them and then leave the kids with them for a weekend and go have some fun in NYC<>

Sophie's Blessing Day...

2009-09-15T17:10:00.000-07:00

On August 25th we were able to Sophie's blessing at our house. It was a wonderful occasion and we had many friends come and see this little angel. Sophie was just that an angel, she loves to be held, so she is a happy girl as long as someone is holding her. Damon gave her a wonderful name and blessing, where she was told that she has many wonderful qualities. She is such a special spirit and we feel so blessed to have her in our family.

So this is Nathan and Phyllis Tanner. Nathan was a Mission President for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in England, him and his wife Phyllis became very good friends with my parents almost like family so when I born they asked him to be in my blessing circle. He also was the Sealer who married Damon and I. So we knew that now that we live in Utah that we had to ask if he would be in the circle for Sophie's blessing too. We were so excited and felt very blessed for all of the wonderful people who came to help us celebrate. It was a great gathering.

Sophie with Grandad. She looked so cute in her dress. Damon's mom had made it for Olivia but I'm going to use it for every girl I have and then hopefully they will use it for their kids.

Sleepy Girl.

2009-08-19T18:26:00.001-07:00

Look how big I'm getting! This is Sophie having a good snooze after big sister has gone to bed, finally undisturbed sleep!

Duck Pond.

2009-08-19T18:19:00.000-07:00

So yesterday we went to Provo to see Auntie Megs, while we were there she took us for a walk to the duck pond by BYU campus. Olivia loved it, she got really excited when she found some turtles. I loved seeing the baby ducklings, they were so cute. A couple of times Livi almost fell into the pond, she loves the water and wants to stand so close to it. Megan and I were afraid we were going to jump into the dirty pond.

Happy Birthday Betty!

2009-08-17T11:26:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to my beautiful niece Betty! She turned two today. I love this little girl so much, she is the sweetest little thing and is so much fun to play with. I took this picture of her back in April when her and her parents visited and I just love it. I love her blue eyes. Hope you have great birthday Betty, we LOVE you!

Update

2009-08-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

Quick update on Livi. I took her to the doctor on Monday about her chicken pox. They weren't spreading at all so I was wondering if they actually were chicken pox. The doctor looked at them and didn't think that, that was what they were. So what are they. Its a viral infection, which he says she could of gotten anywhere (gross). It looks similar to chicken pox but I guess the bumps were different. Since it is just in her mouth and bottom it is more like foot and mouth, but we joke that it is mouth and butt since that is where it is. Luckily he says it is almost all gone, and even today it has cleared up a ton. She has very few in mouth just on the roof and still on her bottom. So yup that's the update, no pox.

Chicken Pox!

2009-08-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

Yup you read it right, Olivia has the chicken pox. I have no idea where she got it from. On Friday morning I took of her night time diaper to find a cluster of blister looking bumps. I showed it to my husband and asked if he thought maybe chicken pox. He told me to just watch them and see if they start to spread. Well I forgot all about them until the afternoon, Livi had just had a bath and as I was drying her off I saw the bumps again and noticed that some were now going down her legs. I called my mom to see what she thought, she told me to give the doctors a call. Well while I was doing that I took her temperature and it was 101 degrees. Our doctor was already gone for the day, but I did talk to a doctor and he told me I should probably take her to the InstaCare. Our doctors office also has a instacare. So I loaded the kids in the car and headed out. At that time Livi was not feeling well, she didn't want to move I could just tell she was not feeling well. Well when the doctor saw her and looked at her bumps she started thinking the same thing. She checked her throat and there where spots in her throat. She had the nurse do a strep test to make sure it wasn't strep. Well that came back negative so the doctor was pretty sure that it is chicken pox. The thing that gets me is that she was vaccinated for them. I guess you can still get them if vaccinated but hopefully it won't be as severe. Our worry now is trying to make sure that Sophie won't get them. She probably will but hopefully not bad. So yeah me and the girls are stuck at home right now. My mom is coming down today and I am so glad. She had this trip planned before Livi got the pox, but now it will be so much help. Livi has been doing really good. Its only at night do they start to bother her. The ones in her mouth really bother her at night. She has some medicine to help numb the mouth so I think that helps a little. They haven't scabbed over yet so we aren't dealing with the itching yet. There really aren't to many, the most are around her bottom. I'm just hoping that if Sophie does get them she gets them soon, because me and the girls are supposed to be going to Key West August 25th and I REALLY want to go.

The Happenings

2009-08-05T08:55:00.000-07:00

So I told my mom a couple of days ago that I would put some new pictures up, and I'm just now getting to it. Sorry. Nothing really has been going on. Me and the girls have just been hanging out at home and playing outside or going for walks to the park. We barely ever see Damon during the day, he is either working or at school and usually doesn't get home until about 7 at night. So when he does get home, we usually get the girls loaded into the stroller and put the dog on the leash and head to the park. We spend a lot of evenings there, we just love the park. Other than that nothing is new. Olivia has been having lots of fun playing in the sprinklers or in her little pool. We are still working on the potty training with her, some days are better than others. Oh so one of the pictures she has her head over the sink. Well I read in one of my parenting magazines that if your child has a hard time getting their hair washed to have them lie down on the counter and let their head hang over the sink. Then you roll some towels to put under their neck for some extra support. It then is like you are washing their hair at the hairdressers. Olivia loved it and it made washing her hair so much easier, didn't have to worry about water going in the eyes at all.

Sophie is doing really good, she is such a smiler now and it is so cute. She is also it quite the little talker, which isn't really surprising seeing how I love to talk and so does Livi. She is a pretty good little baby, the only time she is really fussy is when she is hungry and then its like you can't feed her fast enough. She loves to eat. Some days I think that is all I do is sit on the couch and feed her. Livi is still loving being a big sister, she loves to help me, which isn't always a good thing, but I do think that these two little girls will have lots of fun playing together when they are older.

Happy Pioneer Day!

2009-07-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

Probably anywhere else in the country July 24th is just another day. Well not in Utah, today is Pioneer Day and I think they might celebrate this more than the 4 of July. They have this huge parade in Salt Lake City, and then there are lots of different things going on around the state. Damon even is out of school today for it. It is quite the holiday here. We were thinking about going to the parade this morning, but I didn't really want to be on the road by 6a.m. just to get good seats, so instead we stayed home and had some homemade waffles with strawberries and watched it on the t.v. We are having a nice day home with Damon, now that he has clinicals we barely see him. He usually is getting home around 7p.m. each night, luckily though when he does get home he is all about spending time with us. So it is great to have him home with us today. I bought Olivia this huge beach ball that you hook up to your garden hose and water squirts out these holes, Olivia and the neighbor girl have been outside all morning playing with it. Later this evening they are doing another movie in the park in our subdivision, so we are excited to go and watch that, they will be showing Charlotte's Web with Dakota Fanning. Oh and I am so proud of myself and my cooking lately. I always worried that I might not be every able to cook stuff from scratch. Well with the bread rolls I made and then last night I made shortcake for strawberry shortcakes and they were so yummy. Homemade shortcake, sweetened strawberries and homemade whip cream, yummy. I told my husband that when our girls are older I will have some really yummy food that I make. Well hope all of you out there have a fabulous Pioneer Day!

Lakeview Visit.

2009-07-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

We had tons of fun in Lakeview. We were there over the 4th, so we went to the annual Rotary duck race, and then later we went and watched the fireworks. Olivia had lots of fun seeing old friends and getting lots of attention from everybody. I was able to do some hair for friends, which is always fun. We just had a great time seeing everyone and hanging out with the my parents. Oh one thing we did do was my mom and I took the girls to go and see UP. Olivia loved it, her laugh was so cute throughout the whole movie. At the end a lady a few rows in front of us turned around and told us that Olivia's laugh made the movie for her, I thought that was so sweet, and that is exactly how felt too.

Look at that cute little smile. She has started smiling and it is so cute. You have to work for them though.

I know this photo is fuzzy, I just thought it was so cute.

Livi and her best friend Maile, they were so happy to see each other.

Sophie with Granddad, getting some cuddles, she is our snuggle bug.

Olivia all ready to go and watch UP!

Portland Trip

2009-07-15T12:08:00.000-07:00

During our trip to Lakeview, my mom and I plus the girls all went up to Portland for some of Damon's family to meet Sophie. We had a lot of fun just relaxing, swimming, getting room service and visiting. I also got to see my best friend Melissa. It was so great to see her, we hadn't seen each other since Christmas time. I love getting to hang out with her, its just like high school, only I have two kids and we don't have all the high school drama. We had a really good time up in Portland. My mom and I have been getting in the craft mode. We have been making flower clips for the girls and we have started making jewelry. In Portland we were able to go to a bead store and craft stores to get more supplies, so in the evening that is what we did in the hotel it was so much fun. Of course we couldn't go on a trip and not go swimming. Everyday we went to the pool at least two times a day. Olivia loves the water. She found out that she can stand on her tippy toes in the three foot area and not be under water. She loved that. We all had a great time.

Lakeview

2009-07-03T08:56:00.000-07:00

Okay so real quick let me explain the photo with Livi and Damon. It was really hot one day so I gave Livi a cool bath to cool her down, well Damon thought that sounded good so he climbed in with her with his clothes on. It was so cute and Livi loved it.

So we are in Lakeview for a couple of weeks. I came down so people from church could meet Sophie and so Olivia could play with her friend Maile. Damon couldn't come because of school so my dad brought us here. Were having fun, it is always amazing to me how I could be away from Lakeview for years and it is always pretty much the same. Sophie did amazing on the trip down I was really afraid that she would scream the whole way, but she slept most of it. Speaking of Sophie, she is now 8 weeks old and is 11lbs 22 inches long. She is definitely getting some rolls on her. She is growing a lot faster than Olivia, we were always trying to get Olivia to gain like Sophie is but she just wouldn't. Sophie is starting to smile at me and it is so cute. We are still working on the potty training, I thought we had it down, but then she will just pee in her pants and not care. I don't understand it. Sometimes she has good days and other days we change her pants about 10 times. All in all the kids are doing really good.

pictures.

2009-06-19T08:43:00.001-07:00

Sophie turned 6 weeks on Wednesday, I can't believe how fast time is going by. Its seems to me like I was pregnant forever and now she is already six weeks. Damon started his second semester of nursing school, only 3 more to go! So we will once again not be seeing much during the day, yesterday though we went to his school and had lunch with him so that was fun. I think we will try to do that every couple of weeks. Sophie is doing well, last night was a rough one she had slept way to much during the day and then didn't want to go to sleep until 2:30 A.M. as you can imagine I am beat today. Other than that, she is such a sweet little baby, she really just wants to be cuddled alot. We call her our little snug bug. Olivia is doing great, and I would say is pretty much potty trained now, YAY. She only wears underwear now, and even wears it when we go out and about. My dad was here for a few days and then he went to England yesterday for a Rotary Conference and to see the grandparents. It was fun having him here and Olivia was very glad to see him, she wouldn't leave him alone. We only wish that Nanny could have come to. Anyway we took him to the airport yesterday, and Olivia was in underwear the whole trip. She did really good. After we dropped of my dad we went to Damon's school to have lunch with him, well we were about 10-15 minutes away when she told me that she needed to go potty. I was really worried that she might not make it, but she did. Yay. I'm so happy for her. She still wears diapers at night when she goes to sleep but other than that it is just undies. Well that is the happenings as of lately. Enjoy that pictures.

Yummy...

2009-06-12T18:50:00.000-07:00

So I'm so excited right now. I have just made from scratch, bread rolls, and they are delicious. They came out so big. I have now officially tackled yeast. These bread rolls are famous in our home and among many friends and churchgoers in Lakeview. We call them Kelly's bread rolls. Simply because Kelly, my mom's best friend, its her recipe. I'm so glad they turned out good, now Damon and I don't have to wait for Thanksgiving or Christmas, for either my mom or Kelly to make them for us. I really feel like a homemaker now, I can make BREAD!

2009-06-09T20:34:00.001-07:00

So the first picture is of me and the next one is of Sophie. I think that she looks quite a bit like I did as a baby. Then the next photo is of me and my sister Megan going on a motorcycle carnival ride, I thought that it would be cute to post a picture of me on one and then years later one of my daughter on the same ride, or close to the same ride.

The Happenings

2009-06-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

This a picture of Olivia plugging her ears during the parade because it was to noisy for her.

Well lets see, this last weekend was the Pony Express Days for Eagle Mountain. Its our big fair and carnival. Friday night we went to the movie in the park which was lots of fun. Then Saturday there was a parade and then at the amphitheater in our subdivision they had a country concert with Josh Gracin and Daryl Worley. We didn't want to pay to go see them, so we went to our friends house for a BBQ and there backyard faces the park where the concert was. So we sat on their back porch and listened, it was lots of fun. We didn't stay for the end of the concert, but at 11:30 they had a fire works. I sat in our bathroom on the edge of the tub and watched it. All the rest of the family was asleep.
Olivia also rode on carnival rides for the first time this last weekend, and she really liked it. She would have stayed all day going on the same rides, but luckily for me we had to be somewhere. I don't know what it is about carnivals, but I'm just not a fan. Maybe its the carnies that kind of gross me out, no I know it is the carnies.
We had a WIC appointment this week, and since it was the first time for Sophie she had to get registered so they weighed and measured her. She weighs 9lbs12oz and was 21 inches long. 75%centile for weight and 50Th for height. She is a little chub, she is only one month and is a pound and 12 ounces heavier. It is so strange for me to have a chubby baby, Olivia was so little for so long. Sophie just likes to eat all the time. I'll nurse her which is never enough so then after I have nursed her she will eat at least 2ounces if not more, usually more.
We are doing good, I'm exhausted most days and would love to have just a couple of more hours of sleep. Olivia is doing great potty training, she is in underwear everyday now, the only time she isn't is when we go out. I don't know what your supposed to do when you go out. Do I keep her in her undies? Other than that she is doing fantastic, she gets a mini marshmallow for going potty, 1 for pee, 2 for poo, so that has been a big push at getting her to go. She loves mini marshmallows. I'm so glad though that she is getting there. I love not having to change her diaper during the day!

4 Weeks.

2009-06-03T15:06:00.000-07:00

Sophie today at 4 weeks.

Olivia on Sunday, I love this dress and cardigan. Got it in England. I love how her hair looks with the hair clip.

Wow Sophie is already four weeks today, crazy. Both the kiddies are asleep right now, so instead of cleaning up all the toys, I decided I would do some blogging about some of the stuff that Sophie has been doing and some of the stuff Livi has been doing. Sophie is doing really good. She seems to be really strong. The other night, Damon was holding her and she was holding her head up so good. She is sleeping pretty good for the most part, if she's not asleep though she just wants to be held. So most days I have my sling on and just have her in that, so I can still do things around the house. She is getting some chub, mostly on her face and belly(she's like her mom). We tried a different formula this last week, it seemed to make her pretty gassy so we are switching to what we were using before. Hopefully this will help her. All in all she is doing great. She sleeps so much usually that I can't really complain about her being difficult. The poor kid though, Olivia barely leaves her alone. She is constantly trying to give her kisses. This would be okay if they were soft kisses, but no they are the smother you can't breathe kisses. Oh and just today Olivia decided that she could pick up Sophie. I was in the kitchen finishing loading the dishwasher, and Olivia tells me that she can carry Sophie. I look over at her and sure enough she has picked her up. I tried not to freak out, I really didn't want Olivia to just drop her, which she did but it was back into her chair, so she wasn't hurt. Now I'm really going to have to watch Olivia.
Speaking of Olivia she has been going on the potty the last 2 days with no accidents. I'm so excited. She even took a nap yesterday with just underwear on, and woke up from it and went on the potty. We are making headway. There is no turning back now, I'm getting her potty trained. I went with the girls yesterday to Walmart, with Olivia in underwear, and I got her lots of little presents. She gets to pick one out every evening for going on the potty all day. Somethings she has are bracelets, smackers chap sticks(she loves those), a play phone, a little bouncy ball. Then she also picked out a new movie "Bolt", and if she goes on the potty all week, she gets that movie. I have it sitting on a shelf above our stove, where she can see it all the time. So last night she picked out the play phone for her to have. Today she has been telling me that she wants lipstick. She is doing so good, and hopefully this will work. She seems to be responding well to it, all we had to do was bribe her with things that she wants. Such a girl is she.
Other than that life is going good, we are excited for it to be summer here. Where we live there is an amphitheater at our subdivision. In the summer they do concerts there and every Friday they do movies in the park there. So this Friday is the first one, so were excited to go and watch that.
Oh and I also went to church this Sunday with both girls and it was just me, and I survived!

My Girls..

2009-05-30T19:32:00.000-07:00

Olivia is doing so good with Sophie. She really loves being a big sister. Last night we were all lying in bed together and Olivia says "baby sister is my best friend in the whole world." It was so cute. I really hope she feels that way when they are both in high school fighting over using the bathroom, right Emma and Megan, lol. I feel so blessed though to have to beautiful girls. Even with all the fights me and my sisters have been through, and trust me there have been many, I wouldn't trade them for any other siblings. I really hope that Olivia and Sophie have the relationships that me and my sisters have now.

Haircut.

2009-05-27T20:02:00.000-07:00

Olivia's hair has been driving me nuts lately. It is always in her face, and always looks dirty to me. It constantly has knots and she screams so bad when I brush her hair to get them out, and yes I do use detangler spray to get them out. Well today we went to the grocery store and there was this little girl her age that had the cutest little bob. After seeing her I decided that thats what I was going to do with Olivia's hair. So we came home and I gave her a haircut, thats the great thing about being a hairdresser I can do things like that, now if I could only figure out how to cut my own hair I would be set. I think the cut is super cute on her, and it is drying in a really nice style. So glad I did it. Here some pictures mainly for the family so they can see how cute she looks. Also a picture of Olivia and Sophie from this morning before Olivia's haircut.

Zoo

2009-05-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

Damon didn't have school on Monday so we decided to have a family day and go to the zoo. Megan was able to come with us, as she also didn't have school. Olivia was so excited about going, and had a great time. We made sure that she had a great time and let her do all the fun things that she wanted. One of her favorite attractions was the monkeys. She loved them and thought they were so fun to watch. In one area there was this orangutan who was just sitting by the window. He was so cute and so big. We just stood there watching him forever. It really seemed like he wanted to communicate with us. Olivia also loved the carousel. She loves those. She was on the tiger, and at one point when she went past us she roared, it was so cute. Sophie did fantastic during the trip, and pretty much slept the entire time in her sling. She is such a snoozer. It was a great day to be out the weather was so nice. We did remember to do sunscreen, but I forgot to do my arms so they are a little burnt. By the end of the day we were all exhausted and Olivia was fast asleep in about two minutes that we were on the road. Apparently everyone else in the salt lake valley had the same idea that we had, because it was packed we had to park about a mile away from the zoo parking lot. For being so busy though, it didn't feel that cramped in the zoo. We just had a great time.

Sophie.

2009-05-24T14:39:00.001-07:00

Poor Sophie has had quite the week. First my parents brought Olivia home this week, so all of Sophie's undisturbed sleep is now getting disturbed quite frequently. You can't blame Olivia though, she just wants to give some love to her little sister. Second, Sophie had her two week check up on Wednesday. I was a little concerned that she probably wasn't back up to birth weight and I was right. She weighed 7lbs5oz and she should have been 8lbs if not more. So we have had to start supplementing her with 2oz of formula at every feeding. We had to do this with Olivia also, I just don't produce enough milk for my kiddos. I still nurse her at every feeding, but we do the bottle first so we know for sure that she is getting something. Third, at this appointment they checked her Billi Reuben(jaundice) to see what level she was at. She had been slightly elevated when we left the hospital, and she was looking pretty yellow, especially in the eyes. Sure enough she was at a 15 which is pretty high, so they sent us the blanket to put her on. Poor girl though because it was high we went in the next two days after her appointment for them to check it some more. So she had to get her little heels pricked. She does really good though. The Billi Reuben(spelling) has gone down so we know that the blanket is working. We have had a good week though, the formula is plumbing her up in two days she went from 7lb5oz to 7lb13oz. We have a appointment for her on Tuesday and she should be back up to birth weight. If that is the case I then can ease of how much formula I give her and nurse her more. We are so glad to have Olivia back with us, we forgot just how noisy she can be though :)

Enjoy the pictures, one is of Sophie on her Billi Reuben blanket, and then the rest are just some cute ones from the last couple of weeks.

Baby announcement

2009-05-16T12:34:00.001-07:00

My sister Emma made the baby announcement for me. I think it is so cute and turned out so good.

One Week Old...

2009-05-13T14:07:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that Sophie is already a week old. She is doing really good, eating like a champ and letting you know really well when she wants to eat meaning screaming her lungs off when she's hungry. She sure is cute though.

Olivia's Birthday

2009-05-12T09:50:00.001-07:00

So Olivia's birthday was on the 7th and seeing how I had just had a baby I was still in the hospital, so we celebrated on Friday when we were all home. This girl really lucked out this year, actually I think she lucks out every year with Gaga and Nanny. Anyways she was very excited this year to get a cake and a bike. My mom and I looked everywhere to find her a good quality bike, we didn't want to spend so many dollars on something that really didn't look that stable. I remembered that there is a bike shop by our local grocery store so we went there to see what he had. We found the cutest bike for her. Its a pink tricycle that's all metal with some wood and it has a bell. Olivia loves it! She also got Cinderella dress up clothes from Auntie Megs which she was so excited for. I can't believe that Olivia is 3, she really is becoming quite the little girl. We are now past the baby/toddler phase and going into little girl territory. She is such a delight to our family. We love her to pieces and couldn't imagine what life would be like without her. As you know this week she is with my parents in Oregon. The house is so quite, at night Damon and I joke that this must what it is like when all your kids are grown up. Luckily Sophie doesn't let it stay quite for to long.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

2009-05-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to tell my mom and my sister happy mothers day and how wonderful they are.
My mom is the best and I love her so much for her example of love that she is always showing me. I know that if I ever need anything she will always be there for me. Love ya mom. My sister is a great mother and I'm so glad that we have been able to become closer as sisters because of our daughters. Emma is so kind and patient with her daughter and is always willing to offer me some really good advice. I'm so glad that I have these two wonderful women in my life to offer me support. Love You!

Also Happy Mothers Day to my amazing mother-in-law and my wonderful sisiter-in -laws and for the fine example you show me of being mothers. Hope you have a great day!

We're Home...

2009-05-09T18:22:00.000-07:00

So she's here and home with us. We came home Friday morning after two nights in the hospital. She seems to be doing really good, and sleeps a ton, I have forgotten how much newborns will sleep. She is so tiny and is barely ever not being held because we all just love to snuggle her. Everything went really well in the hospital, we went in at 7:30a.m. and they started me on an iv of antibiotics and then at 9:30 the doctor came in and broke my water and then they started me on the pitocin to get the contractions going. I don't know what time I got an epidural, all I know is that it was awesome, so much better than the one I got in Lakeview with Olivia. By 2:00 p.m., the nurse came in to check me and I was at a 8, she than had me roll over to my other side because that sometimes helps, well I did that instantly started getting really quick and hard contractions. The nurse was gone for about 4 minutes and I had Damon call her and she came back to check me and I was at a 10. So she quickly called the doctor and he got there in about 15 minutes. There was a point where I thought that I might not be able to wait for him, luckily he made it just in time. Now I don't really tell people how easy it is for me to have babies, because I feel bad for the moms that have a really hard time, but I am really blessed with the fact that having babies is very easy for me. I only pushed for about 5-10 minutes or about 4 pushes. Damon says I didn't even break a sweat. Sophie was here very quickly . She is so cute and Olivia loves her. Surprisingly Olivia is doing really well. Sophie was born on the 6th, so we did get our 5th-anniversary, 6th-Sophie's birthday, and 7th-Olivia's birthday. We gave Olivia a charm bracelet from Sophie for her birthday and she was very happy about that.

My parents went back to Lakeview today and they took Olivia with them for the week, just so I can have all this week to really recover. I was a little nervous at first simply because the longest I've been away from Olivia has only been a day. But I know she will be fine and is so excited to go on a long date with Nanny and Grandad.

All in all we are doing wonderful, just trying to adjust to now having two gorgeous little girls. We feel very blessed.

Welcome Sohpie Kate!

2009-05-06T14:42:00.000-07:00

This is Emma, Sian's sister, reporting that both baby and mommy are doing well.

Sophie Kate Bell
Born at 2:21 pm today
8 pounds even
20 inches long
lots of dark hair

Happy Anniversary Damon!

2009-05-05T08:56:00.001-07:00

Today is mine and Damon's anniversary. We've been married 4 years. I was telling him today that out of those 4 years I've been pregnant 2 of them.

Its been a wonderful 4 years Damon and I can't wait for the rest them. Thank you for being such a loving and understanding husband. Your such a great husband and father. Olivia and I are so lucky. I love you and can't wait for the many years to come.