Quick Boise trip

Last weekend we zipped over to Boise. It's hard to believe I haven't been over there since October! When we moved over here I thought for sure we would be over in Boise all the time. Our lives are just so busy it gets hard to find the time anymore.

We had a fun couple of days and CRAMMED in so much!

Saturday we started out the day over at Big Al's bowling alley and arcade. Wow! Meridian has come a LONG way! What an incredible facility! The kids all had a blast with cousins!

After games we headed outside to the new Village shopping center to see the fountains and listen to the music. Parker said, "Feels like I'm in France."

In the afternoon we ran over to the train depot and had Nat take a few shots of us. I have absolutely zero photos of my whole family since Ty came along and we have a special attachment to the depot since that is where Nate and I had our wedding reception almost 13 years ago! 

That night we headed over to Westside Drive In for dinner and then headed to Merritt's to get "sconed" with our friends. Such a fun night!

My friends were crazy about my little Tyguy. It was fun to finally have him meet them!

Sunday we went to church with my parents and then headed home! Quick trip but so needed. 

3 months old

Oh, little Tyguy, TyTy, small fry, bubsie, bubba, bubs, bussie (as Anna calls you), tiny mister......you're 3 months old already and growing up WAY too fast for this mama. Stop it....NOW. I can't handle it!

You've sure had an adventuresome first 3 months of life. You've taken a trip to CA, and a trip to the PICU. You are toted around everywhere and are such a good little sport about it. You have an ear piercing little scream and you sometimes sound like a little squeak toy when you get worked up to a really big cry.

At 3 months old you are getting so big....weighing almost 14 pounds. You are getting a little bit better at sleeping at night but you sure fight it every night. You love to sleep in our bed still which is something I always swore against....but hey, you're the baby. And we really like you. You found your hands recently and even laughed for the very first time. Of course, you did laugh after you farted and then puked all over me. You little stinker.

I adore having you in our home and with our family. Our family would not have ever been complete without you here. Thanks for being the sweetest baby on earth....I love love love you.

Valentines Day

Heart day was wonderful this year! I kicked off the morning by going over to my sweet friend Katie's house to scoop up some of her wet laundry to take home and wash for her. Her basement flooded the night before and I wanted to get over there and do something to help her out. I picked up some heart shaped pizza's from Papa Murphy's on my way over to stick in her fridge too so she wouldn't have to worry about dinner.

After running home and getting the first load in the washer, the babies and I met up with Nate for a delicious lunch at Stockman's. So delish. I'd never been. It felt like everyone was starring at us and our noisy babes but I didn't care. This is the stage in life that we're in.....and there's nothing we can do but make the best of it and just laugh at ourselves.

After lunch I ran home and put the babies down for a nap. I threw some chocolate dipped strawberries on a plate and headed over to my sweet neighbor's house. She is currently in the trenches of chemotherapy and I just wanted to bring a little love her direction on Valentines Day. We chatted and laughed for a good 30 minutes or so.

A little while later the boys came home from school and showed me all of their valentine treats.

Nate got home soon after that bearing gifts for the girls in his life. Pretty sure this was the first time he bought roses from an actual flower store. He sure paid and arm and a leg for them but they really are beautiful.

The kids had made us some homemade valentines too which is always so sweet and funny.

That evening we went to the local high school basketball game. It was really fun. I honestly haven't been to a high school game since I was in high school. Crazy how long ago that was.

A wonderful day....one of the best Valentine's Days I can recall.

O yeah, and our little bubsie.....he is doing well. Bouncing right back to himself. We're so grateful.

A trip to the PICU

Well it was quite the week last week. Wednesday afternoon I had a carpet guy come to tighten and stretch our carpet. We moved all of the furniture into the kitchen while it was being done. As soon as I paid the man and he left the house I asked Parker to hold Ty while I grabbed the vacuum. I grabbed the vacuum, turned around and watched Parker trip over the basket that holds all of our piano music. Parker went flying. He let go of the baby (seemed like slow motion)..and Ty went head first into the hardwood floor. Really hard. Ty was screaming, and I was screaming and crying but doing everything I could do to try to keep myself thinking clearly. Parker was absolutely hysterical. So was Dallin.

I tried to calm the baby down..tried to feed him but he wouldn't eat, then all of a sudden he fell asleep. I decided give him a bath to wake him up but then immediately changed my mind. I bailed on the bath idea and headed straight to the ER. I called Nate and told him to come home to watch the kids NOW. As I drove to the ER I kept thinking, he must have a concussion. That must be why he is falling asleep. I called my friend Sharla who is a nurse in the NICU. I asked her if I was over reacting by taking him to the emergency room. She told me to take him...its always better to be safe than sorry she said.

At the ER they escorted us right in and took us back to a room. I just held Ty and tried to keep my tears under control. Everyone was asking me a million questions. I had a hard time remembering Ty's birthday and his birth weight. My brain just doesn't work when under mega stress. Everyone wanted to know exactly what happened...which wasn't surprising. "How far did you drop him? What did you trip over?" Agh! I didn't drop him!! I had to correct them I don't know how many times!

About 10 min later we were taken by bed back to the Cat Scan room. They told me to make Ty stay still which was a complete joke. He was screaming uncontrollably and in a lot of pain. The bump on his head was huge and they were squeezing his head into this pillow contraption so that his head would stay still. We tried to get the picture 3 times and it wasn't working. Then the tech told me that if we didn't get a picture on the last try that we would be sent back to the ER room until Ty calmed down. I started to PRAY and PRAY that he would be still so we wouldn't have to do this again. 4th time was a charm and we got the picture.
As I waited back in our room for the results I kept thinking we would be just fine and be sent home. This over reacting mother would go home and all would be well. A few minutes later the Doctor came in and told me that Tyler had a skull fracture with some bleeding on the brain. We were going to be admitted and monitored overnight. He also proceeded to tell me that a year ago, the hospital we were at did not have a PICU Doctor and we could have very well been on a helicopter ride down to Primary's in Utah. Whoa. I lost it at that point.
In the mean time, Nate got the kids situated and he joined me at the hospital. I had friends drop everything to come and sit with the boys, Anna was taken to Jessi's house. My friend brought over a craft for the boys to work on...Valentine cards. Our home teacher is a surgeon at the hospital so he came over and he and Nate gave Ty a blessing. My neighbor (who stitched Landon up a couple of months ago) who works down in the ER came up to check on us. His wife sent him with a cinnamon roll, cookie, a coke and wrap for me. My friends brought Nate and I sandwiches from Jimmy Johns. I was feeling overwhelmed in the least with the love we were shown. My sweet mother in law dropped everything and came up to help so we didn't have to worry about the boys and Anna.  Then, while sitting in the PICU room trying to get Ty to eat, I looked up to see my brother standing right there in front of me. He didn't call, he didn't say he was coming....he was just there. So sweet.

Before it got to late, I had my brother go home and get Parker and bring him up to the hospital. All he knew was that he had hurt his brother badly...and then we was rushed off to the hospital. I wanted Parker to come and see Ty and see that he was doing ok. Parker sure beat himself up over the whole ordeal. He said over and over again what a horrible brother he was and that he could have killed him. We assured him that is not the case...accidents happen and we knew that he was a kind and loving brother who wouldn't ever do anything to hurt his baby brother. He is doing much better now and understands that things really do just happen. Honestly, it could have happend to anyone.

It was a long night. Every hour the nurse would come in and check him. They were just watching for signs of swelling. If there would have been more bleeding on the brain, a surgery would have to take place where they drill a hole and drain the blood. He would scream every time they would wake him up which was actually a really good sign.

The next morning another Cat scan was scheduled to make sure there was no more bleeding. Ty was so much happier the next morning. He wasn't screaming nearly as much and the second Cat scan went MUCH better than the one the night before. I think the Tylenol really helped to calm him down. They got a really clear picture and we could see the bleeding on the brain had stayed the same and so we were good to go home!

We went home that next afternoon and Ty has been doing well ever since. It was a very scary experience and a good reminder about how quickly things can happen. I was brought to tears that evening feeling the love from so many people...family, friends, ward members, nurses and doctors. I felt very buoyed up in a time of need and I am thankful....SO very thankful for all of the service given on our behalf. I'm so happy that Tyguy is fine and recovering nicely. He is such a sweet little spirit and I am so blessed to have him in my life. Life is precious and accidents happen. Each day is a gift! I'm thankful things weren't any worse than they were. A good reminder in the least. 

Valentines Party!

Well, last night we had our annual Valentines Party in the new ward. We've done this party in Boise, in our old ward here in IF and now here with people from our new ward. It was a smashing success! We had 11 couples come for a romantic night of fun and laughter. We did the same old games but added a few things. I had everyone's "song" downloaded on a playlist and when the song came up the couple had to kiss each other. It was hilarious. We had songs ranging from "You Sexy Thing" to NKOTB. We had the husbands draw their wives first date, we made valentines, enjoyed a slow song, and played "We always" "We never." 

I did all of the games but we had the party at my friend Bethany's house. She did so much to help and so did my other friend Jolyn. It was amazing having so many people reach out to HELP and make the load a ton easier. I absolutely love this ward. We have some seriously FUN and crazy people. I am so glad we ended up here. We are where we are supposed to be. 

Fun night! One of my all time favorites since moving here 4 years ago! ;)

\

Baby Tyler's blessing

I feel like I spend so much time in anticipation of fun family weekends and then POOF everyone has come and gone!. I'm suffering from family withdrawal this morning as I think about how blessed I am. It was so great having everyone here...if even for only a little while.

Tyler's blessing weekend was absolutely perfect. I'm so grateful for family who makes such a sacrifice to come here to turn around and head back home. The support means the world to me. I kept thinking to myself...if only my baby brother was here. That would have been the cherry on top! 6 months until he gets home. I can hardly wait.

Everyone showed up on Saturday afternoon. The sun was shining and we all headed to watch Parker's basketball game. He had a rough game and put a lot of pressure on himself to impress everyone. Unfortunately that backfired but it was still fun to watch nonetheless. His team played a really tough team but they still came out with the W.

Here are the pictures from the weekend:

Love this picture of the 2 babies together. They look SO  very similar. They could be siblings or twins. Love that they will always have each other as they grow up. 

Well, my last baby blessing is in the books. It couldn't have gone any better. Ty was blessed with lots of wonderful promises by his daddy. He was encircled in love by men who love and support him. It always brings a tear to my eyes thinking about how lucky I am to be his mama. He really is a special boy with a very strong spirit and we are so happy he is ours.