Blog Fog

Blog Fog: I am thinking this must be something akin to writer's block but in a computer sort of way. Whatever it is....I have it! =)

Top it off with pudding!

After downing a fair amount of spaghetti (see post below), Olivia had her first independent experience with some pudding. I think you can see by the pics that she loved it and was asking for "mo".








Do you think that pudding could be some sort of miracle grow for hair? We can only hope! LOL!

Slip, Slurp Spaghetti!

Olivia is SO funny when she eats spaghetti. She has the art of spaghetti slurping down to a science. I decided today to try to capture it on camera and although I couldn't get the best shots, I think you get the idea. LOVE this girl!

Uh...the weather outside is frightful?

We woke up this morning to snow (not so unusual) BUT it was 11 degrees (yes, that's ELEVEN) with 14 mph winds for a grand total of NEGATIVE 6 degree windchill! If it was January *maybe* I would understand but APRIL???? Just a week ago we were sporting 60 degree weather (nearly 70) and it was wonderful! I feel like we're moving backwards instead of forward here!
Now, this picture was earlier in the week but pretty much sums up our day!

Night Away

Sage and I took the opportunity to go (by ourselves--thank you, Dad and Mom!) to Big Timber last night to check on the house and make sure everything is still working and that the house wasn't blown away by the famous Big T winds! I hadn't had a night away from the kids since we moved to Dillon in March 2007! Our house was still there and looks good as new--oh, wait....it is basically new! We are still not sure what the future holds for us and this house. It has been for sale for 13 months and the market is DEAD! Our contract with the realtor is up at the end of the month and so we hope to list it for sale by owner. Without the realtor fees, we can lower the asking price by about $14,000! If that doesn't do it, we may just be moving back. I figure it's a win/win whatever happens because it will be what's supposed to happen! Please keep us in your prayers to make the right decision! Thank you!


Isn't it a cute little house? Let's hope the rightful inhabitants will make it a home!

The Trouble with Tubes

Anyone every read "The Trouble with Trolls" by Jan Brett? Well, that is the inspiration for my title.

As most of you know, we have had the WORST luck with our kids and ear infections. Kyle had tubes put in a week before he turned one. Aubrey had hers put in when she was 16 months old and Olivia was 9 months old when she got hers. I think I cursed us when, in our christmas letter this past December, I stated that we hadn't had any more EIs since October. Well, we have actually had many more since BUT the worst thing is that Kyle, who was doing SO well--as in only 3 ear infections in nearly 3 years post tubes, has had 3 in the past two months. After two bad nights with him (read previous post on my baby mafia members)I got him into the doc today. He still has one tube in (which is another story since we were told by one ENT last May that both were out) and that ear is full of debris and junk (could be fluid draining) and the other non-tubed ear was infected. We see the ENT at the end of the month for ALL three to have their ears rechecked. Apparently Aubrey's are working their way out as well (someone asked me if they had a warranty plan on the tubes =P!). And Kyle's shouldn't have ever been in more than two years without being surgically removed. So who knows what the future holds for my little ones' ears but let's just hope tonight holds a good night's sleep for all!

Conspiracy Theory

I think my children are secretly trying to do me in. Beneath those sweet innocent faces must be the little workings of the baby mafia!
Let me tell you my story and you can come up with your own conclusion. My night last night started out much like any other night. The kids were asleep in their beds (even Aubrey who was uprooted from her crib) and I was in bed a little after 11:00 pm. I have started having another cough (reminiscent of when I had bronchitis last month) which also did it's best to keep me awake. I finally got up and found whatever cough syrup that was handy (ended up being the children's stuff), drank up and prayed for some shut eye. Sometime after 12:30 am, I heard my youngest little conspirator crying out for me. Knowing she couldn't be hungry (well that and I felt too tired to drag myself up the stairs) I just scooped her up in my arms and she and I laid down in the extra bed in the room she sleeps in. I think we both dozed off around 1:00 am. I was O-U-T!! At 3:00 am my oldest conspirator started whining. Kyle RARELY wakes up at night. As I laid there deciding what to do and trying to make out what he was whining for, I had a great plan that I would lay there so as to not wake up Olivia and Sage could get up with him. Sounds like a good plan, right? Well, then it dawned on me that Sage was working and would therefore NOT be getting Kyle. I laid Olivia back in her crib very carefully and went off to help Kyle. He was thirsty so I got him a drink and shuffled my way back into my bed hoping to pass out on the bed and not the floor. Not long after, the middle conspirator (aka Aubrey) decided that although she was now in a bed that she could get out of, she could not for some reason get out to get her sippy cup. "Sippy cup," she cried. Up I got again, retrieved said sippy, handed to righful owner and off to bed I went again. A few minutes later, Kyle decides he needs to go potty. Now this kid has been potty-trained for almost 2 years and does not need any assistance but for some reason at 3:30/4:00 he felt the need to inform me of his need to go. Before my eyes could even close again, Olivia was awake and crying. This time I got up the energy to make it upstairs for her bottle, handed it to her and once again, headed to my bed. Well, apparently she missed her bed mate for the night and was not having any of me sleeping in a room all by myself. It took her a little while this time to go back to sleep and as the clock reached 5:30 am, we both sank into the pillows. Perhaps under "normal" circumstances, the children might've slept in a bit after a night like that but Olivia was up and ready to go by 7:30 when I had to get up anyway to get ready for church. The irony is that I had to wake the other two (anyone else's children ONLY attempt to sleep late on days they can't???).

So technically, I got two 2-hour "naps" last night and have felt the effects! Now you tell me.....look into these faces and tell me you don't see something of a little heathen in each! ;)




I REALLY need to go to bed now....but if I don't seem to blog for a few days, you may want to come find me--perhaps I will be in the fetal position in some corner!

The BIG move

Aubrey has been in either a crib or pack-n-play for her whole little life so we decided that now would be a good time to make the switch to a bed. Her early morning screaming sessions to be let out of her crib also assisted GREATLY in our decision. So while the girls were out getting dirty, we got Aubrey's new bed all ready for her. I suppose her initial reaction should've been a good indicator how she really felt about the move. She just stood there and looked around as if to say..."Nice...now where's my bed?" She and Kyle played around a bit on the beds and then abandoned them until bedtime. After prayers, Aubrey climbed up like a big girl onto her bed without any trouble and I thought it was going as easily as I had thought it would. Well, after about 5 minutes, she started crying and didn't stop so I went in. She told me....."new bed........mine". *translation* "I don't like this new bed. Give me mine back!" Having already put the crib away and hearing the shrill echoes in my head of her early morning wake up calls, she just will have to get used to it I guess! I *do* feel bad, don't get me wrong. I feel as though I have taken her favorite blanket away or something but again, *imagine SHRILL*
MOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYY rings loud and clear in my head and if we can avoid that tomorrow morning, a few tears tonight will be worth it!

FINALLY...it was warm.....

We had a great day in the sun today. We had the pleasure of going to a local park and having a picnic with some friends--the Lagunases. The kids had fun on the slides and swings. They had SO much fun that we all came home and had a THREE hour nap--VERY rare and VERY much appreciated and needed. After dinner the kids headed out to the backyard. Can I just say how nice it is that I have THREE mobile children this year?!! Last spring Aubrey still wasn't walking and Olivia was only a few months old. Here are a few pics I snapped.




And (as children do best) the girls found some mud.

I *think* I have an idea of what labor is like??

So maybe this is a bit farfetched--something I will never truly know but humor me here. I have physical therapy 3 times a week for 1/2 hour to help strengthen my knee postop. Now, I've been making good progress (therapist says I am ahead of the game **pats self on back**) and I was SO proud of myself for getting a mile in on the bike before my 5 minutes were up (and I burned 30+ calories I'll have you know). Each therapy session, I either get a new exercise and/or more reps with my old exercises. I was feeling pretty good about my progress today having done 30 reps on multiple exercises and even survived the squats without too much agony. To end the sessions, the therapist stretches me. Now, stretching sounds nice and relaxed, right? HOLY COW!! So he was "helping" my knee bend as close to my bum as possible and I thought I was gonna pass out right there. As I groaned in pain, I was SURE he was gonna let up but you know what he told me (the nerve!) "Breathe deeply and count to ten." Ha! As soon as he released my leg (for a couple of seconds only)I commented how I had three c-sections but think I knew how labor must be. He chuckled and said I was going to learn the skill yet! LOL! I have been very sore all day and I only had three 10 second segments of pure torture. To you mothers who have truly labored to have your babies....I have new respect for breathing and counting to ten! One...two...three...four...five...six...seven...eight...nine...TEN!
This pic is a couple of weeks old (and looks much better now!) but just a little visual for those that want to see the "baby" I labored for. ;)

Toilet Teeth and Enemas: A Child's Guide to Gross Survival

No matter how hard we try, our children will find away to somehow totally gross us out!

Tonight while I was supervising teethbrushing (yes, I was too worn out to fight Aubrey's shark teeth so I let her and Kyle brush their own tonight *gasp*), I took my eyes off of my precocious 2 year old for one second and out of the corner of my eye, I see her dipping and brushing from the TOILET!! UGH! Not that this is a first time event mind you but I was THERE. The other times she had a partner in crime (aka Daniel) and they managed to use several toothbrushes but at least I wasn't in the room so they had full reign I guess you could say.

Perhaps the best discovery of Olivia's this day was an adult enema. Don't ask where she got it just know that yes, she was stealth-like. Now, I am only accostumed to seeing baby enemas which are teeny but holy cow....hope I don't need one of those for myself soon! Anyway, hoping that the ingredients are all natural (and maybe will stimulate hair growth ;)!) Ha! Not much was missing and I dare say more was on the floor than possibly got in her mouth but they need to put child proof caps on those babies!

Somehow my children have continued to survive so they must be born tough!

Aubrey the Ripper......

So all three kids were getting a bath together the other night (which is a very common affair in our house) and as I am gathering up everyone's jammies, I hear Kyle say..."Aubrey, you're ripping me off." I thought it was a strange comment (now when would he have heard me say that?) but went on my merry mothering way of preparing for their bath departures. Soon Kyle calls, "Mom!" so I went into the bathroom to hear Kyle say, "Aubrey keeps grabbing my pee and she's going to rip it off!" And there that poor little boy sits with hands clasped tightly between his legs and which stayed tightly clasped until I exited Aubrey out of the tub.

Of course I had to keep my composure and turn to Aubrey and be as serious as I could in explaining to leave Kyle alone but boy, have I had some good laughs about it!

Good, good times!

My Baby Boy Turns 4

On March 27, 2004, my life changed forever. Not only was I a daughter, sister, aunt, wife but I was a MOTHER!! Kyle Sage Hawley joined us at 8:21 am and weighed in at 6 lbs 10 oz and since he felt the need to jump into life feet first, was delivered cesarean.



As I contemplate the past 4 years that I have had this little guy in my life, I am so incredibly blessed. He has come with such an incredible spirit and I stand in awe that I have been allowed to be his mother. He is always thanking me for things. He is SO thoughtful and while I have been recovering from knee surgery, he has been right there to wipe my brow--SO sweet! He is sincere in his prayers and prays about anything and everything. My favorite is when he includes "The Statue of the Liverty" as he calls it. Thanks to Little Einsteins, he knows what the statue of liberty is and while we were in Las Vegas visiting family, he saw the replica of the statue at New York, New York and was very excited to see it!

Happy 4th Birthday Kyle! I LOVE YOU!

An Angel Returns Home

On Saturday, April 5th, a precious little boy, Ethan Isaiah Powell, returned to our Heavenly Father after his short 16 month stay on this Earth. For 14 of those 16 months, his little body fought and fought against leukemia. One of the most remarkable things about his story is the incredible faith of his parents, Ben and Becky. Ben set up a special website to blog his son's journey with the trademark works....PRAYER WORKS. His mission was to recruit as many "prayer warriors" as possible to pray for his son who was at St. Jude's in Memphis. Thousands upon thousands heard this plea and prayed daily for this infant who overcame multiple odds time and time again. On the days where he would take a turn for the worse, his dad would only plead to spread the word to pray for his son and on the days where miracles occured, he only wanted to shout for the rooftops that PRAYER WORKS! And soon to be added to that was BELIEVE!! Ethan was also referred to as little E and therefore BELIEVE became BeLIeVe in honor of this brave little boy.

I have been deeply touched as I have followed Ethan and his parents over the past year. When times were rough, I checked the website multiple times a day to see how Ethan was doing. And I rejoiced when yet another miracle occured and he was smiling and laughing.

The few days before Ethan's passing were very rough and he worsened very, very quickly. Even though his condition was fastly deteriorating, it was a complete shock to my spirit to read that he had passed away. I wept for the loss of this precious, precious child! I know that he is finally free of pain and cords and monitors and medication, etc. He truly is free. My deepest ache is for his parents who must let go for a time of their only child to whom they have devoted their entire life, love, energy to him and the fight against cancer.

It is the most profound ache I think I have ever had for someone I have not personally met but whom I felt I knew and loved!

His parents, although heartbroken beyond comprehension, have rallied yet again around their faith and are celebrating their sons life and his mission that he completed here and that he continues in Heaven. Their strength has been humbling.

It has made me hug my children a little tighter, played with them a little longer, withhold a word I might've said in rebuke, and love the moments Olivia has let me rock her.

I think she has had a sense of the passing of a friend she didn't know on Earth but with whom she may have communed in heaven. They entered this life only 24 days apart. She has seemed to have a sense of knowing that I need those extra hugs and those early morning or nap rocking sessions.

May we each take each day and love it! May we each take our family and LOVE them!! Ethan has inspired me! And though I am mourning his loss, I celebrate his life with this post.

In memory of this incredible warrior, please take a moment to visit his website and watch a video from a few months ago. And BeLIeVe..PRAYER WORKS!!!

www.ethanpowell.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJX2JwaWmbc