The Beginning Of A New Year!

I was listening to the radio the other day and the familiar Christmas song came on repeating those old familiar words...

"So this is Christmas

And what have you done

Another year over

And a new one just begun"

It got me really thinking back on this past year. Every year there is always something I look back on and wish I would have done more, been better, worked harder, accomplished more and on and on. I so often feel regret and sometimes a bit of disappointment and depression thinking of how little I have progressed.

When I heard those words I started to really reflect taking them to heart

"And what have you done?"

What had I done? I had my 3rd little girl. With that the years memories were not about what I had done or not done for that matter, but the feelings I had had. The past years memories were filled with pure love! I don't think there has ever been a year like this past one. One full of personal and family trial. But I have never felt the Love of God and of our Savior more fully. I felt that They were aware of us, of our situation and of our unborn child. I felt Their love so fully though prayer, fasting, family and friends all of which were there every step of the way. Though much of this year was spent sick and on the couch accomplishing nothing, there have been some of the most amazing feelings of love, peace, and indescribable joy! We feel more than blessed! So in spite of all my sort comings, faults and stumped growth, that is not what I am focusing on this year! I'm grateful for the growth, love and Joy we have felt! Let's bring on the New Year!

Merry Christmas and The Happiest New Year!

Dec Fun!

Dec 2 Write letters to Santa! Yummy desert. Ice cream served in a candy cane cup, topped with whip cream and green sprinkles!

Dec 3, Kris and I painted the girls fingernails and all listened to Christmas music!

We have the best dad and husband!

Dec 4, we missed out!

Dec 5, We decorated Gingerbread houses!

Dec 6, We worked on Christmas cards!

December is Here!

I have been waiting for this Christmas season for almost 2 years now. Last year I was prego and so sick. I felt horrible and I don't do much if anything to get my family or I in the Christmas spirit. In fact my Christmas tree sat in my living room for weeks half put up. My cute friend B called several times and offered to help me get it up or come and do it for me, I know you might want her number she is the best! Needless to say I have been waiting for another shot at the season. We kicked it off with our new Advent calender!

So yesterday was the first day... It was so much fun to watch the girls figure it all out.

The girls getting the tag off!

Scratching to see what the activity was.

I don't have a picture of them opening the box, but the activity was to decorate the Christmas tree. They were so bummed our tree was already decorated. Kris and I had done it almost a week ago. But when they opened the box it had a 4 tiny pink ornaments and a little note that directed them to the storage room where they found their own little tree for their room. OH MY GOSH! You would have thought they had died and gone to heaven. Molly kept telling me over and over that I was the best mom ever and that I was the best mom she had ever had (funny, I'm the only mom she's ever had) It went on and on and on! Best money ever spend. They got to decorate it all on their own. It was so cute. They were singing songs and loved every second. I loved just watching them. This was the big kick off!

They are looking forward to tonight's activity and so am I!

The A Family

Happy Thanksgiving!

Molly and Stella LOVE to color. I have a huge jar of crayons on my table and they have spent many hours sitting there coloring. Molly has really become a great little reader and as a by product she has started writing notes all by herself. She recently brought me this one and was so proud of it! She did it all by herself (although some of you might think I may have helped her with the spelling, Ha ha ha!)

A Turkey is

A Turkey is a funny bird

It's head goes wobble wobble

and all it knows is just one word

gobble gobble gobble

Happy Thanksgiving!

Laryngomalacia

When Molly was just a baby she spit up ALL the time. Her reflux was so bad and really just would drench everything. It drove me totally crazy! I hated it! I hated when people would ask to hold her because I knew that she would slime them! I was always so embarrassed by it. She was spitting up solids when she was a year. It seamed it would never end. One of the cute ladies I was serving with in YW at the time brought this clip to me one Sunday! She said that she saw it and thought of me! I love that Cindy Evans! I have hung on to it through the years to remind me that even though some things are hard and seem to last forever, eventually it will be over and things will be ok. Well this was the first thing that came to mind when Nora was born. I knew from the time I first fed her that she had reflux. There was even one time in the hospital she stopped breathing and seemed to be choking. She was fine by the time the nurses got there, but she will do that a lot, just stop breathing... we will come back to that.

I never thought that a baby could spit up as much as Molly did... OH WAS I WRONG! Nora has way out done Molly. I captured this picture of Kris and Nora. Kris wasn't too happy about me running for the camera and not a towel, but when I talk about Nora spitting up this is totally normal...

I don't know that you can tell but it has gone down the couch cushion and was dripping on the floor. My floor is always soaked! (really I don't know that these pic still do it justice).

Really this is normal at my house! There are 3 kinds of spit up (according to my sister Cydne)

1- the drool (this is just a light little drool like spit up, maybe need a burp cloth, but not bad at all)

2- the babbling brook (not a ton but others might thing so. It just comes all the time like... well a babbling brook)

3- the geyser (this picture is the geyser! It drenches her you and everyone around you. It comes out of her mouth and nose typically shooting straight up and out! she needs a good bath and you a shower after as well as a towel and scrub brush to clean up the couch, carpet, wall or anything else in close proximity after.)

Now really to the bring this all together. She has always been a super noisy eater, she snores in her sleep and on a regular basis stops breathing or chokes. When talking to her Dr about all of this she was then diagnosed with Laryngomalacia. All of these things were symptoms of this and there were more that fit her situation exactly. She is still taking the meds for Reflux and as they get older they are supposed to grow out of it. I feel so bad for the poor thing. It will typically be around 12-18 mon. Here is some of the info on Laryngomalacia.

Laryngomalacia

Laryngomalacia is best described as floppy tissue (epiglottis and arytenoid cartilages) above the vocal cords that falls into the airway when a child breaths in.

• Laryngomalacia is the most frequent cause of noisy breathing (stridor) in infants and children.
• Laryngomalacia is the most common congenital anomaly (birth defect) of the voice box (larynx).
• The cause of laryngomalacia and the reason why the tissue is floppy is unknown. The part of the nervous system that gives tone to the airway is most likely underdeveloped.

Infants with laryngomalacia have intermittent noisy breathing when breathing in (inspiratory stridor) becomes worse with agitation, crying, excitement, feeding or position / sleeping in the supine (on the back) position. These symptoms are often present at birth and are usually apparent within the first 10 days of life. However, noisy breathing (stridor) of infantile laryngomalacia may be present in babies up to one year of age.

Signs and Symptoms of Laryngomalacia:

Symptoms will often increase or get worse over the first few months after diagnosis, usually between 4-8 months of age. Most children with laryngomalacia outgrow the noisy breathing (stridor) by 12-18 months of age.

Other symptoms that can be associated with laryngomalacia include:

• Poor weight gain
• Difficulty with feeding
• Regurgitation of food (vomiting or spitting up)
• Choking on food
• Apnea (stops breathing)
• Chest and / or neck retractions (chest and / or neck sinking in with each breath)
• Turning blue (cyanosis)
• Gastroesophageal reflux (spitting up of acid from the stomach)

Mild Laryngomalacia

Infants in this category have non-complicated laryngomalacia with typical noisy breathing when breathing in (inspiratory stridor) without significant airway obstructive events, feeding issues, or other symptoms associated with laryngomalacia. These infants have noisy breathing (stridor) that is annoying to the caregivers but does not cause other health care problems. These patients will usually outgrow the stridor by 12-18 months of age. Even though your child may have mild laryngomalacia, it is still important to watch for signs or symptoms of worsening laryngomalacia.

Moderate Laryngomalacia

Infants in this category have the following symptoms:

• Noisy breathing when breathing in (inspiratory stridor)
• Regurgitation (vomiting or spitting up)
• Airway obstruction (from floppy voice box tissue)
• Feeding difficulties without poor weight gain (failure to thrive)
• Clinical history of airway symptoms severe enough to warrant multiple visits to an emergency department or hospital
• Gastroesophageal reflux (spitting up of acid from the stomach)

These patients also will typically outgrow the stridor by 12-18 months of age but may require treatment for gastroesophageal reflux. Even though your child may have moderate laryngomalacia, it is still important to watch for signs and symptoms of worsening laryngomalacia.

Severe Laryngomalacia

Patients in this category often require surgical intervention for treatment and to lessen the degree of symptoms. Your doctor may recommend surgery if your child has any of the following symptoms:

• Life-threatening apnea
• Significant cyanotic (blue) spells
• Failure to thrive with feeding difficulty
• Significant chest wall and neck retractions with breathing
• Requires oxygen to breathe
• Heart or lung problems as a result of chronic oxygen depravation

(We are lucky Nora only has a Moderate case)

You can read more about Laryngomalacia here

For Now we will just try to keep our sense of humor about all of this and post this cartoon all over the house...

Such a Great Helper!

So this morning I was getting the girls ready for school in the bathroom and one of the girls said something like "What's wrong with our toilet?" I shouldn't even be blogging about this (reflects so poorly on me). Well nothing was wrong it was just dirty. Time to clean the toilet. It has been on my list but for some reason we had a hard week just keeping on top of the picking up. I feel like I have so many irons in the fire right now I just am not getting anything done. Blah blah blah. I could come up with a million excuses, but the bottom line (no pun intended) it just was not done.

So I have been working intensely with Molly on a "Star Student" packet and doll for her next week when she is the star student. So cute... More to come on that. Anyway Stella was in and would. I wasn't really paying attention anyway I was putting Nora down for a nap when I saw this as I walked by the bathroom...

I wondered if I was really seeing what I thought I was... So on closer investigation...

Yes folks! That is our bottle brush! The brush that I use to clean out Nora's bottles. REALLY! I'm so amazed that she knows what she is doing and in all honesty the toilet really did look a little better, which grosses me out even more seeing it on the floor!

Well the bottle brush made it into the garbage and I scrubbed the floor 2x's (and I wonder why I can't get to what I need to. I'm too busy cleaning up the messed the kids leave behind.

Nora's Blessing Part 2

Here is my sweet baby in her amazing dress. I LOVE it! My mom was not able to participate or be part of the blessing so I asked her if she would make Nora a blanket. Turns out that didn't work out. Such a big project for someone who has no time, and I picked out the most difficult blanket for her to crochet. Anyway she was a great sport and ended up getting Nora this blessing dress in Japan instead. I love the dress, but love also what it represents (Amazing grandparents that love this baby and were busy serving the Lord. I love that the dress was from Japan representing family there that was not able to be with us, not only my mom and dad, but my little sister also serving in another mission in Japan.). I think this dress represented them so well. I love this baby Nor Nor. She is so sweet and adds so much joy and happiness to out home. How would we ever live without her?

Growing Up!

My baby rolled over all by herself today (back to tummy). I can't believe it! She is 4 months and growing WAY too fast! I wish more than anything I could slow these moments with her down.

Cyd, This Is For You!

For Therny!

Nora's Blessing.

On Sunday Sep 25th we blessed Nora. What a great day it was. I have been looking forward to this day for a long time. We could not be happier to have Nora here. I still look at her and can't beleave she is here. She is such a miracle to us. Through all of the crazyness of my pregnancy I would dream about this day and what I would do to make it stand out and be special.
The day was amazing. Kris did such an amazing job with the blessing.
Some of the things that were said in her blessing:

We are so grateful that she is here and part of our family.
She was told that she was given 2 gifts. A body that she should protect. Do no harm to your body. Don't take any harmful substances. The second gift is Agency. "You'll use it for good."
She will respect, love, and have a close bond with her mother. She is a child of our Heavenly Father. Treat others with respect because they are also children of our Heavenly Father. She is a product of Fasting and Prayers of loved ones. She would have a testimony of Fasting and Prayer and grow close to her Heavenly Father. That when she falls short she can come to her parents for help and rely on her Savior Jesus Christ to repent and in times of grief or sorrow.
You'll be married in the temple for all time and eternity
Your sisters can't wait to show you the ropes.
The blessing was amazing and oveoulsy was the highlight of the day but all of the little details are so much fun as well. Here are the details of the blessing.
Her dress was given to her by Grandma. She got it in Japan and it was so fun to have a little something to represent Grandpa and Grandma who were not able to be there.
Once we got home we changed her into her onesie. This was a tradition that was started with Molly. Cydne's husband Brayden was on his mission when Molly was born and had his sister send a gift for her. It was a onesie with her name on it and a little mini blanket. We put it on Molly the day she was blessed signifiing that she had been given a name. I love the tradition so much we have kept it going. So we put on her Name once when we got home to keep her dress nice and signify what the day was all about.
Now for the party.

For the drink we did pink lemonade and water.

The dessert table was my favorite part. I made some of my favoritis. Raspberry bread pudding, mini chocolate cupcakes and mini pumpkin cupcakes (both favorites of my family) Homemade banana pudding, and a brownie triffle. I threw in some sugar cookies, and whoopie pies.

Red Velvet cake! I added a little banner.

This was taken just before I had gotten all of the bread pudding out, so it's not completely finished. I love decorative pom poms they added some color and height.

For favorites I wanted to do something to say thanks for coming and all of the prayers and support. I settled on a picture frame for each family. I got some frames from Ikea sanded a little to ruff it up and then primed and panted it with chalkboard paint. Then I wrote up a little note that said thanks for coming and then some ways they could use the frame. like for birthdays, holidays, good luck for taking a big test, take a funny pick of yourself and put it in the frame with a little note to cheer someone up the list is endless. Just a fun way to make someone's day special.

For lunch we did pork burritos, homemade salsa and chips. I borrowed my moms chaffing dishes (I want some!) and then put the GOOD tortillas (meaning the ones you have to cook, so good if you haven't tried them you should), rice in another and then the pork in the last one. I filled both of those white bowls with salsa one more spice and the other more mild and then then lined the bags of chips on both sides. I wanted to have the chips in some kind of container that there weren't a million hands going in and out of. I got these little brown bags and then added a label to mark them as "Chips" so that everyone would know what they were. This was taken before the food was out and all set up. I put the plates in front and then I found the most awesome cutlery at Zurchers (totally look like real silver ware) It gave it a polished look with less dishes to wash.

Thanks B for helping me hang these at 11:00 the night before you left town! You rock. I really appreciated the help, but also I had a blast.

OK! This had to be my all time FAVORITE thing! I love the cupcake toppers. I loved the idea of making this more personal. Bringing the attention to Nora and making her the Star of the day. They weren't super hard to make and I loved the impact they had. I will be doing this for almost every party from here on out.

kisses with Nora's Name on the bottom.

Favors for family and friends.