Happy Birthday Audrey

Sweet little Audrey turned 3 today... she was sick for part of the day, but wanted McDonalds for dinner. I think she ate 3 fries and 1 bite of chicken nuggets. I wish I coud have forseen that, I would have suggested something a little better! Anyway, she opened her presents and was SO excited about her pink princess dress-up set... it's similar to a white dress up set Hallie got for her birthday last January (Audrey always wants to wear it). Now she has her own and she's so happy! I can't believe my baby is now 3 years old...

I am thankful for...

1. My children (even when they are naughty and I think I can't do this another second). I sincerely love them and love being their mom.
2. Spencer... where have you been my whole life? You are so good to me and I am amazed daily that you are a part of my life. You make me so happy. Thank you... I love you.
3. Our health. We are so blessed to be healthy and strong. I am very grateful.
4. My job. Even when I can't hardly stand it. I am very thankful to be employed, work with people I enjoy, and have health insurance.
5. This country... it isn't perfect, but we are so blessed to have the freedom of making our own choices. And I am thankful to those who continue to fight and are willing to die for that right.
6. My family & friends. After all I have been through over the past year (and more), I am so appreciative of the love and support I have received.
7. Opportunities. Sometimes the greatest blessings come when we least expect them and in the most unusual ways. I am learning to always be open to change and never let opportunities pass me by...
8. Time. Each day is a gift and I am learning to appreciate the expereinces and memories each day brings.
9. Simple things. It doesn't take much for me to be happy and content. I am grateful for the small things in my life that make the journey so much sweeter. And for those in my life that do small things that let me know they care and love me.
10. The Lord. He has blessed me with the above and in so many additional ways...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Riding in the car...

This morning as I was driving to work with Miss Hallie and Miss Audrey, there was a commerical on the radio about the dangers of secondhand smoke. Hallie asked me what "hand-smoke" was, so I explained the danger of breathing the air around someone who is smoking. I told her about getting the smoke in your lungs and that is isn't good for your body. She thought about that for a minute and then told me "we shouldn't eat marshmallows anymore either". What????? "Yeah, they get smoke in them when we roast them in the campfire, so they aren't good for our bodies." LOL... after I quit laughing, we talked about how marshmallows are ok... and hotdogs too. I love how little kids think... so cute.

Happy Halloween!!!

Hallie as Batgirl & Audrey as Tinkerbelle... at their pre-school costume parade.

My cute girls.


All ready for trick or treating.

Audrey was SO tired... she was not happy about posing for pictures.

Hallie loved her costume... she came up with it herself out of the blue. I didn't even know she knew who batgirl was...

Scary Skeleton Dallin. He was so excited about painting his face... turned out pretty cool!

Quick visit to grandma's.

Pirate Spencer =)

Gypsy Pirate Rachel (love the tattoo Spence drew on me)

Ready to storm the neighborhood...

Sorting and eating the candy

Dallin and Max spent over an hour going through their candy... picking & exchanging it.

P90X

Day 1 of 90 starts today... Spence and I are starting P90X and are gonna get toned and super healthy. I am excited and scared all at the same time. It's an intense workout regimine and nutritional plan. I can do this, but what am I thinking starting it before the holidays? No, it will be fine... the 12 weeks is up just before New Years, so come 2010... we'll be starting the new year out right.

I'm debating posting before and after pics... we'll see how I feel as time goes by. But stay tuned for updates periodically... I am hoping to see fantastic results!!!

Happy Birthday Kesley

Kesley turned 16 yesterday... I know, how is that possible??? She's a sophmore in high school... I don't know where the time went. She wanted Spence and I to take her to the Spaghetti Factory with her boyfriend Devon and best friend Tazia (who also turned 16 the day before Kesley). And then afterwards we went back to our apt and had cake. I think she had a great time....
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KES!!!

Fun afternoon at the zoo...

We had a super fun afternoon at Hogle Zoo with our SIX kids... had a few moments with them all running in opposite directions, but it was a great afternoon. So many cute new baby animals at the zoo. Loved it...

Kids climbing on the bronze rhino.

Dallin, Hallie & Max

Audrey enjoying her ice cream - actually my ice cream that she stole ;)

Ashley & Kesley

Spencer and me =)

baby tigers

baby giraff

baby elephant


cute penguin


black bear

Ambulance, Hospital, Ugh!

Last Thursday Hallie was coming down with a cold, but was still well enough for preschool/daycare. At lunch I checked on her and she didn't want to eat, just wanted to lay down and rest... she was starting to wheeze. By 4pm I went down to check and she was struggling harder to breathe, so I took her home. I soon realized she wasn't getting better and was more lethargic, so I called her Dr and then took her to Kid Care (insta-care). As we are checking in, they tell me their facility isn't contracted with my insurance. Great... so where do I take my child??? About this time, the nurse came out into the waiting room and took her O2 reading, scooped her up and said, this kid's not going anywhere...

So we spent the next 3 hours giving her oxygen, albuterol, steriods... anything to get her to keep her oxygen levels up... nothing was working. So they transported us via ambulance to Primary Children's Hospital. After 7 1/2 hours in the ER, a chest x-ray, and more breathing treatments... she was admitted at 4 am.

She was NOT thrilled about being back in the hospital. Everytime someone walked in, she shreeked, "what are you going to do to me???" She even yelled at the janitor. Her lungs were all crackly sounding and her oxygen levels couldn't be stabilized... we got to spend the next 2 days confined to a hospital room... do you know what it's like to be in a room with a bored, overly-tired, very dramatic, bossy, scared, sick 4 year old??? I wanted to light myself on fire at several times...

But we made it. She was released Saturday night and diagnosed with severe asthma. She'll be on daily maintenance for a long time... hopefully it will help us avoid these scary flairups in the future. So scary to see your child struggling for air.

So even though she wasn't the best behaving patient... she was by far the cutest...

School update

Kesley started high school this year... seriously can she be this old??? She's taking drivers ed since she will turn 16 at the end of this month. After really struggling through jr high... at 4 different schools mind you, she loves high school. This is one relieved mom, I have really hoped this would be the case. It's fun because she is attending the same high school I did! She's excited about this weekend's football game and so far has straight A's... this is amazing!!!

Dallin is in fourth grade and is attending a brand new school... just built and opened this fall. It is a beautiful building and only a block and a half from our apartment. He has a super cute teacher and was thrilled to find out many of his friends from our old WX neighborhood are in his class! He's had a great start, now just to keep this kid motivated (and quiet... he likes to chatter). Oh, and he loves reading... yay!

Hallie is in the pre-school program at her daycare. She is so thrilled to be in the "big kid" class. She's looking forward to learning how to read and is figuring out how to sit still and follow directions... so hard when you are only four. But she wakes up excited for school everyday, especially today because she also starts dance lessons this afternoon. Seriously, it's all she's talked about for the last 2 weeks.

Audrey is attending her daycare class minus her big sister, which has really rocked her world. She's had a rough time and had a few tears missing Hallie. Yesterday was great though... she made it through the whole day without biting anyone AND she proudly stripped off ALL her clothes and used the potty all by herself! She had her teacher rolling with laughter when she found Audrey buck naked, but proud as could be. Ah, one step at a time.

Yep, I love back to school...

DISNEYLAND for my birthday

Spencer and I went to the happiest place on earth to celebrate my birthday... It was an awesome weekend... my best birthday EVER!!! And the best thing??? We didn't have kids with us. Now I know, Disneyland is so much fun to experience through the eyes of your kids (and we are taking all 6 of them back later this winter), but it was great to do what WE wanted to do, stand in lines without anyone complaining or whining, and seeing other people's kids meltdown and smiling because we weren't dealing with it. BUT, almost everything we saw or rode made me think about how much the kids would love it, so I am very excited to take them back, but was equally excited to be there with just Spence...