Resourceful

Somehow I forgot this picture from Memorial Day. Our jet ski is not working. The kids usually get pulled on the tube behind it, which is one of my favorite things as well. They resorted to this. (if you look close there is a rope between the paddle boat and tube...click on the picture it will bring it up larger) It is not quite as fast as the jet ski, but truly resourceful! The things kids come up with make me smile! It kept them busy for quite awhile! Who needs to fix the jet ski with a paddle boat full of kids around!

Memorial Day

Ryan took Rylee and Zoey to the cabin on Sun night to stay the night and then they came back in and got Avery and I to spend the day with them on Mon. (I really didn't want to have to visit the portapotty 8 times a night out there.) We had a great day. It was a little chilly and windy in the morning, but the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful day. The girls had a ball. They loved going in the paddle boat and canoe with daddy. Avery wore her life jacket all day. We could not get her to take it off. She was funny. They played so hard that they fell asleep coming home on the very bumpy road and slept all night. We will take the much needed baths this morning.

Cute cousins

Izzy and Zoey

The twins...Ethan and Avery


Braden and Zoey

I have been working on hanging pictures in our playroom of the girls and their cousins. I took these over the past of days and thought they were pretty cute.

Zoey's hair is combed

This post is for my mom... she gives me a hard time for not combing Zoey's hair before I take pictures and post them. So here is proof that I really do comb her hair!

What is normal?

We've all been guilty of saying..."when things get back to normal" I think it is safe to say that crazy is normal around here. In the past month, everyone in our family has been to the hospital or DR for something....nothing normal. Ryan- appendix, Rylee tooth, Zoey scissors to lip, Gina- leg swelling ( will explain later in post) The latest was Avery yesterday. About 5 minutes before I was to walk out the door for my OB check up, Avery fell and hit her chin on our tile floor in the entry way. She hit right on the edge as she was coming up the stairs. Well, she gashed it open pretty good. I ended up throwing her in the car, PJ's and all and took her with me to my DR. Thank goodness DR Sheridan is a family DR and can handle just about anything. She said due to how deep the cut is and where it was located, glue or a butterfly would not hold it together so stitches it is. We had to call Ryan to the office from work to literally hold her down while she got 5 stitches under her chin. They didn't want me to attempt to hold her since I am pretty pregnant and they didn't want her to thrash my belly. We have a band aid on it so she won't pick or pull at the stitches. Luckily, they are dissoluble and we won't have to hold her down to have them pulled. It was hard to listen to her yell and cry so loud from being restrained. She was good though and was happy to be rewarded with a push up from 7-11.

Now about me, I have been having some swelling in my right leg below my knee. My DR sent me to the hospital to have a doppler ultrasound study done, since pregnant women are more prone to blood clots. Thank goodness, they did not find any blood clots, but my veins in my legs are really stressed due to how the baby is laying and putting pressure on them. I have extra trouble because I do have varicose veins in my legs (when I was little I thought that they were "very close" veins since you could see them so well) Any ways I am to take it easy, keep my leg elevated when possible and never sit on it, cross it, or keep it bent...which is going to be a hard habit to break since I love to sit on my feet. I also have to wear compression hoes for extra support. Which I went to the pharmacy to get and after taking all my information and me waiting for over an hour they tell me that my insurance has to preauthorize them and that can take up to 2 weeks. UGH!! Why couldn't they have told me that when I first got there and they knew what insurance that I have.

The silver lining...
-my baby has flipped and is in head down position (no more need to worry about C-section or having him turned and my back doesn't ache like it did, but is the reason for the swelling)
-the girls and I are all covered under Denali Kid Care so no $20,000 hospital bills for us like Ryan got...yeap, $20,000 for his appendix. CRAZY! There is a chance since we don't have insurance we can get some assistance through a program at the hospital.
-We are truly blessed. We have had some crazy things happen, but nothing too horrible. I said to my DR a stressful and crazy pregnancy means an easy labor, delivery, and recovery, right??? She smiled and said "one can always hope" So any extra prayers you want to send our way we won't object!

May your normal be a little less crazy than mine! :)

Car Show

Home Depot had a car show this past weekend. The guys (Ryan, Brant, and Larry) were asked if they wanted to put some cars in. Brant and Larry both put their cars in. Ryan's car was not able to be in it...it is not able to be driven at this time. (you may want to ask him about that) It was a fun day. The girls had a blast!

The girls with Grampa's car

Even though Grampa and Uncle Brant had some cool cars there this was Rylee's favorite...can you guess why???

Zoey writes her name

Zoey (3 years old) wrote her name for the first time all by herself this morning. She can also recite our phone number, which I did not teach her. She learned it from listening to Rylee. She is one sharp cookie. I wish she got to go to Pre-K next year, but she has another whole year to wait.

My Mommy!

It wouldn't be a proper mother's day if I did not honor my own mom. She is a great woman, who has taught me a lot through the years. She has strong faith. She is full of charity, love, and service for others. She is willing to help anyone who comes along, or finds special ways to brighten people's days. She spent many years at home, dedicated to me and my brother, to our learning and well being. She always let us help her with the projects she was doing even if we made a mess. Her patience is incredible. ( I wish I would have inherited more of that from her) She was and still is very supportive. I am very blessed to be able to call her mom and I can only wish that I am half that mom that she is. I sure wish that we lived closer, but that is not in the cards for us right now. There are days that you just need your mommy and nothing else will do. I love you mom. Thanks for being such a great example!

My Mother's Day

Beautiful flowers that I got from my husband.


The flowers that my girls picked out...Rylee said that "they have pink that are my favorite, purple that is Zoey's favorite, and I think Avery likes yellow. That's why we got them mom."

Me and my beautiful daughters


Me and my handsome hubby...Rylee took the picture.

I had a good day. We went to church and then rested and then to my in laws for dinner and fruit pizza (YUMMY) We were able to talk to Casey (who is serving a mission in CA) He is doing great. I am so thankful that I get to be a mother. It is a tough job, but worth every minute. Children are so precious!

Pre-K Graduation Day

Rylee and her cousin Camry graduated from Pre-K on Wed and now are on their way to Kindergarten. She just doesn't understand why she has to wait ALL SUMMER long to go though.

In her cap and gown, getting her certificate from Ms. Manion, the principal.

The last day of Pre-K was spent at the pool. They got to swim and go down the slide. Then they played on the playground and had a picnic. It was a great day, but would have been nicer if the wind didn't blow.

Where's the baby?

Ever since I have started to show, Avery has thought that she has had a baby in her tummy too. We are at the DR today have her checked out since she has not been feeling well. The DR lifted up her shirt to feel her stomach and Avery said" Be careful, there is a baby in there!" Do you think she has heard her mommy say that every time she jumps on top of me???

Welcome Alena Marie!

Rylee checking out Alena

Zoey thinks she is pretty cute!

Rylee thinks she is sweet!

Alena Marie

We are happy to announce that we have a new member of the family. My niece, Alena Marie Ellis daughter to Brant and Jennifer, was born on Friday, May 1st at 3:00 PM. She was 8 lbs 7 ozs and 20 inches long. It was a rough delivery for both mom and baby, but they are recovering well. Thanks to a very loving Heavenly Father who answers prayers and also blesses the hands of the DR that handled the situation beautifully. Might I add that Rylee and I both think she has a fantastic middle name.

Say cheese, Avery

Avery loves to have her picture taken mainly to see herself on the screen afterwords. What did we ever do without digital cameras??

Another visit from the toothfairy

Rylee has had another tooth that has been loose for awhile. She has been wiggling it with her tongue every chance that she gets. We were in the grocery store the other night and she said "here mom, here is my tooth" Boy was that a change from the last tooth that we lost!!!