Sick Sick Sick

At the doctors so so sick! 

It all started Friday, December 7th after school Ashlyn told me she wasn't feeling very well so I had her just rest thinking she was just tired. Well we had planned to go with Thuesons to see the Christmas lights at temple square and we were about to head out the door and Ashlyn all the sudden looked at me and said she really didn't feel good and headed to the bathroom. She had the flu that whole night and through Saturday. Then Saturday evening she started looking even worse with a 104 degree temperature we could not get down. Then Tuesday came and she was still running the 104 temperature and was so weak, I could tell she wasn't getting any better so I decide that afternoon to take her to the doctor. We went into the doctor and they checked her out and ran a couple of tests for bladder infection, flu, pneumonia, and a strep test. The doctor had us go to the hospital after the in office tests were coming back normal to get more tests and xrays. After being at the hospital for forever doing tons of tests. We headed home and the doctor said she would call us once she looked over the xrays and the other tests results come back. We got a call late that night and everything came back fine which just baffled the doctor and me! She said to see how she does through the night and if not any better in the morning call. We also were still waiting on the UTI results. So we were quite frustrated that the doctor couldn't find what was wrong and obviously something was. That evening and all through the night she was in lots of pain and just so sick! In the morning I called and they needed to see her right away! When we went back in and she was so sick she couldn't even walk or sit up for the doctor to look at her. She had now had a 104 temp since Saturday and it was now late Thursday afternoon! We ended up back in the hospital for blood testing and they were really worried about how dehydrated she was! She hadn't gone to the bathroom for a day and a half at this point. They were thinking at this point kindey infection or a blood bacterial infection. So these blood tests were going to show us if there was a bacteria infection then they would need to switch medications to fight the weird bacteria in her blood. They now ruled out kidney infection. I now was starting to freak out...here I was back at the hospital wheeling my little 6 year old around getting all these tests done and nothing was being found! We had to once again go home with no answers waiting through another night to get the results again! Brandon had had it by now and called the doctor and in kind of a nice way chewed them out for dragging this on for so long! It was now Friday and it was the waiting day so my body decided to tell me I was going to have a horrible sinus infection! To top it all off I was sick so I went to the doctor and sure enough it was..yeah one more thing! Ashlyn actually was starting to feel better and she woke up with NO FEVER!!! She would be up for a couple hours at a time now and play sitting up on the couch then she would have a little nap. This was huge improvement so we were keeping our fingers crossed the medications she was taking were starting to work! To make things even more complicated we were supposed to be leaving for Brandon's company cruise Saturday morning for a week! I was not going anywhere if Ashlyn was still as bad as she was and not getting any better! Brandon called to see if we could change our flight to the Sunday red eye instead of Saturday morning and the airline was saying it would be $700! Yikes we didn't really want to pay that, we were thinking we weren't going to go and just cancel it all together. Then Brandon proceeded to tell the airline it's because we are waiting for some blood tests for our sick daughter and the guy on the phone was all well that's a medical reason I will change your flight at no cost! We were floored! Maybe things were starting to look up! So Saturday morning came and guess what...Ashlyn woke up and wanted to eat breakfast and get dressed for the day! Yeah she was finally starting to feel better! I could tell in her face that she was starting to get her sparkle back to her! So we finally got a call Saturday afternoon from the doctor saying that the bacteria infection in her blood was not there and it actually was the hospital lab that contaminated her blood test!!!! We were so annoyed and kinda mad! After all this it was the hospitals fault! And that since she was looking and starting to feel better the doctor said it was the right medication and as long as she doesn't get a fever at all today! And whatever she had was finally getting out of her system. I just can't believe this past week I am so grateful for Ashlyn to be feeling better!

Being wheeled around in a wheel chair at the hospital doing all the tests! Too weak to walk! :(

 Ashlyn got a darling flower bear arrangement and Get Well Soon balloon that came from Grandpa & Grandma Bailey, Alexa, and Uncle Brandon! 

Yea It's December!!

This year a bunch of us ladies got together and made super fun Christmas Advent Calendars for our kiddos! I think I might have been more excited than my kids. :) So each day they would open up their envelope that would be either something Christmasy to do, a craft, or a Christmas book. It was a really neat way as a family this year to keep the Christmas spirit in our home.

All ready to open up Day 1!!

Home Sweet Home!

So I forgot to post back in August but we bought a house!! We are totally excited! We just love our neighborhood and ward so much that we want to stay for a lot longer than we had planned so the house next to us was a rental and the people that owned it were wanting to sell it. So we were like how perfect is that?! We got a heck of a deal and the best part is when we are ready to build again we are hopefully going to keep it as a rental. We already have renters in the basement which is really nice and they are the sweetest couple too! Then the floor plan works great for us right now, the main floor is the den, family room, kitchen, and powder room. The upstairs is a big loft (we are probably turning into another room), the master, 3 bedrooms, the kids bathroom, and the laundry room. We really like knowing we aren't going anywhere for a little while and having a home Brandon and I can do our fun projects with! You know us and always having a project going on!! :) So in a future post I will update you on all our projects and all the bedrooms I am in the process of redoing!

Gobble Gobble!

Our Thankful Turkey!

It's Turkey time again! We started off the festivities by making our yearly Thankful Turkey! He turned out really cute this year. The girls really got into places all the feathers and what they wanted on each feather. Parker even helped out lots too! This year my mom is in a lot of pain with her back and can't really do much so I was able to make all the pies the day before we left and some of the rolls. I had so much fun making 4 different kids of pies. I have only made one other pie in my life so at first I was a little nervous but after I got going I really enjoyed making all of them and seeing how they turned out! So I made a chocolate satin, apple pie with a crumble crust, a mixed berry with a basket weave top, and a pumpkin pie.

All the fun things I learned how to make! 

We then left for Boise on Wednesday morning and got there just in time to have our Thanksgiving dinner with Read's! It's always so wonderful to see our family and get to spend time with them. It was fun to see Rowan, Audrey, and Parker play together and try to talk to one another. Since they are all learning how to talk it's so cute to watch them. :) We are very lucky to also be able to spend a day with each family so we aren't rushing in between both our families on Thanksgiving. We feel very thankful for that!

Helping Grandma Read cook! 

Then Thursday we spent with the Bailey's. It was really fun to make Thanksgiving dinner for my family! It was a little different this year because Aubrey and Kyle started their marriage rotation and were doing Thanksgiving in Utah and Christmas in Idaho. So almost the whole family was there. And we got to have my Grandma and Grandpa Bailey eat with us too. They are always so much fun to talk to! The rest of the day we played games and enjoyed being altogether. Then one of my favorite days of the holidays season Black Friday!! We of course started off our day getting fueled up at Shari's for breakfast! It's so funny we always have such a great time a breakfast before we start our shopping day! We did really good this year and got most of our Christmas shopping done which was nice since December is going to be crazy.  We then got to spend Saturday hanging out with Brandon's family one more day before we headed home. I just love the holidays and the time we get to spend with family. I am so very grateful for so much this year! I will just name a few things; my sweet sweet husband who works so hard to provide for our family and is the most caring man ever and to top that off is the best daddy in the world, my Ashlyn she makes me smile everyday she has this happiness that exudes from her from the moment she wakes up to the moment she goes to sleep and how she is so willing to help out all the time, my Brookie Boo she is my spunky sweet pea I love how she plays I could just listen to her play all day and she is the best snuggler ever, my Parker Boy and he is all boy that is for sure I love how he is very determined in all he does and I love how he sings with my before bed each night and says "I wuv you mamma!" as I lay him down! I am also so grateful for my family I love being so close to my Mom and Dad, I never thought I would live away from them but even living in another state we are still so close, I'm grateful for my brothers and sisters I don't know what I would do without them! They are my best friends and people I hold so close to my heart I would do anything for them! I am very grateful for the best inlaws ever...they are awesome!! And lastly I am very grateful for the gospel in my life I love how each day I can pray and feel the spirit in my home  I love knowing I get to raise my children in the gospel and having that a rock in our lives. I am grateful Heavenly Father and Jesus, I know without a doubt he knows me, listens to me, and helps me in so many ways! I am so very grateful for this time each year so I can be reminded of all the wonderful things I am thankful for!

The Things I find...

Oh my sweet little Brookie Boo! I just love her and the things I find shes done or the things she says! So I have been cleaning out things to get ready for the holidays and just because I'm OCD and do this on like a monthly occasion! :) So I was in the girls room and looked to see if they had anything hiding under their beds and this is what I found...

An empty box with some notes written by her taped on the side. So I just had to ask her if I was ok to throw this out and this was our conversation;
Me: Hey Brookie can I throw this box away I found it under your bed?
Brooklyn: Umm No Mom! That's where I keep my eyes!! (very adamantly)
Me: (Trying to not laugh hysterically so I can see what else she will tell me) Oh you have eyes in here? What are they for?
Brooklyn: Well Mom I have eyes for the dark so I can see at night and scary eyes and play eyes to see my babies.
Me: Oh wow that's really cool! What eyes do you have in now?
Brooklyn: Just my normal eyes.  (Like it's no big deal)
Me: Sweetie that's really cool! Well I guess we will keep your box so your don't loose all your eyes!
Brooklyn: Ya don't touch it mom I have to keep it safe under here!

I was dying laughing! The things this girl comes up with!! So as I was thinking about our conversation I realized that lately I have been saying to Brooklyn that I can see what you are doing and to please be nice! And we had had a conversation a while back that Mom's can see what you are doing all the time so it's important that you are being good all the time. So I think she REALLY thinks I have eyes everywhere! Oh the fun things we as Mom's get to experience. I LOVE IT!! :)

New York

Brandon was able to go to New York for the first time on a business trip. He was pretty excited to see what is was all about. I was pretty jealous I have always wanted to go. He really liked all the cool architectural buildings and how huge all the buildings are! He said you can't even imagine how tall they are until you are looking straight up at them and they just don't stop! :) A bummer side to New York is all the nasty trash just piles and piles along all the streets. He got to see Times Square and Wall Street and he was even able to fit in a Knicks basketball game which was pretty awesome. He had fabulous seats and the seats came with all you can eat at any of the food places in the stadium! That's just prefect for him...a game and awesome food.  What more could a man want?! The best thing he had was this huge layered cheesecake and chocolate cake. I wish he could have saved me a piece! :) He also was able to see the Twin Towers memorial site. It was really neat with all the names of every person and emergency help that was involved. The neatest part of it was a single tree that didn't even get ruined in the whole destruction it stayed strong. I thought that was pretty amazing! On the business side of things it went as planned, not much to report on that.

Lunch Date

I try to eat lunch with Ashlyn at her school as much as I can. Today we surprised her with her favorite Subway for lunch. She was so excited she couldn't stop smiling and hugging me! :) We had lots of fun eating with her!

Love this girl! 

Look at how cheesy happy she was! :)

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree!

I absolutely LOVE the holidays and Christmas!!! So the second weekend of November we decorate for Christmas. I love getting all decorated before Thanksgiving so we can just enjoy our time with family and throughout the holidays. The ambiance of having my tree lit in my family room is just so magical! I decided not to do ribbon this year and added some decorative mesh...I'm so glad I love how it turned out! :)

Tooth Fairy Came to Visit

Ashlyn lost her 1st front tooth! I can't believe she is old enough to loose her front teeth. She's so funny when she realizes one of her teeth are loose she can't stop wiggling it until it's out. She lost her first front tooth and then one week later while a Wreck It Ralph the movie with Thuesons she lost her other front tooth while eating popcorn!! The tooth fairy left her this darling tiny note when she lost her first front tooth. She was so excited when she found it! I have to add that she looks so dang cute without her front teeth! :) 

She lost her 1st front tooth!!!

Just woke up to find a dollar and her note from the Tooth Fairy!

Her second front tooth just hanging on!

Our tooth-less girl! 

Halloween!!

Halloween is always filled with tons of things to do and lots of candy! It's one of my favorite days of the year! :)

 This year we had Ashlyn our beautiful Alice in Wonderland.

Brooklyn our sweet Rapunzel. (She posed herself saying "this is just how Rapunzel does it when I met her at Disneyland"...she was totally right and oh so cute thinking of that all on her own!)

Parker our cute Golfer Boy! I was surprised he (and his dad) let me put the tights/socks on him) He was also for our ward trunk or treat last week Clark Kent - Superman which he was super proud of with glasses and his cool shirt! :)

And of course since I dressed up last year my kids had me dress up again this year...I think I set myself up for me dressing up every year now! Yikes! Anyhow I randomly found a pirate outfit to wear. Parker was really excited, he loves pirates! :) Anything for my kiddos!

Ready for trick or treating!

Helping at Ashlyn's class party!

This year Aubrey and Kyle we were working at Kyle's family's pumpkin patch so we got to go and visit them while they were working! We took a fun hay ride, had hot chocolate, kiddos played in a little cornstalk maze, and of course picked out our pumpkins! It was really fun! We brought them home and the kiddos painted their pumpkins while Brandon carved out what they wanted. They all turned out so cute! :) 

Last week they got to dress for our ward trunk or treat, it's always a great way to start off Halloween! Then for dance class they got to dress up the day before and have a little Halloween dance recital during class. Brooklyn was so proud and just absolutely loves her teacher Miss Kim! Ashlyn got to dress up but she is now in the older classes so their wasn't a recital, bummer. Anyhow we started off our crazy Halloween day with Ashlyn's school parade. It's so fun to watch all these kiddos so proud of their Halloween costumes. Then off to Brooklyn's preschool for her party. We played Don't Eat Frankenstein, colored a picture, played ghost bowling, and had tons of yummy snacks! For lunchtime we of course went to Sonic and today was .50 corndogs the kiddos favorite!! Not too long after that was Ashlyn's school party. She had so much fun she got to make witches hats to eat, read a fun Halloween story, did a pumpkin craft, and played bean bag toss! Right after school is the park trick or treating, the kids love because you get yummy doughnuts and tons of candy! Then right after that is time for trick or treating in the neighborhood! I stayed home to make our traditional homemade chilli and cornbread while Brandon took the kids around the neighborhood. Halloween is just too much fun! We loved every minute of our crazy halloweeny day!