Happy Easter!

Wow, I know I am a little late posting these picts, but they are too cute to leave out! Especially Benson in a suit! Thanks Lyda! We had a great Easter. We had an Easter egg hunt with our neighbors which Brielle and Benson both loved and then Easter morning the kids got their Easter baskets full of fun surprises. Later that day after church, I made a full dinner including ham, funeral potatoes, salad, and even strawberry pie. Our friends the Clarke's came over to share it with us. It was great. Easter is a great holiday, and I think it is sad that the true meaning of Easter gets overlooked. We don't really talk about the Easter Bunny at our house, because really I think it is a little scary and I would rather keep the true meaning of Easter the main focus. I am going to put a link to my friends blog who I think summed it up quite nicely about why we really do celebrate Easter.

Our crazy life!

So on Tuesday morning I was loading the dishwasher and cleaning the kitchen. Benson woke up so I went in to get him out of his crib and brought him back out to the kitchen to feed him breakfast. I went around the corner and I forgot that I left the DW open. Well next thing I knew Benson and I were one the ground both bawling our eyes out in pain. I had tripped over the DW and landed right on my stomach and my arm. Well, obviously my first concern was for Benson, and he had a cut on the back of his head. ( I know the poor guy has had a rough few weeks. See previous blog about ER). But other than that he was fine, just a little scared. My next concern was for the baby. I fell really hard on the tile floor and was scared, so I yelled for Brielle to get my cell phone and I called Doug. He came home from work and took me to the OB to get the baby checked out. What a blessing that everything was fine. After they did an ultrasound they told me not to worry, and that he was okay. Well, then my last concern was for my arm. I tell you what, it hurt so bad I couldn't even move it. I went and got x-rays and another blessing that it is not broken. The bones are just bruised and the Dr. said it will take a few weeks to heal. Isn't that great. So I can't really move my left arm, but it could be worse. I am just so grateful to all my wonderful friends who watched my kids, and cleaned and brought me meals! What would I do without you! You truly are my family away from family. Thank You!

Our day in the ER

Oh I guess boys will be boys right?? Last Friday Benson decided to stand backward on the kitchen chair instead of sitting in it. I was loading the dishwasher right by him and the next thing I knew the chair was tipping over and he fell face first on our wood floor. He let out a horrible scream, and I ran over to pick him up only to find his nose bleeding profusely out of both nostrils. It was so sad! He face started to swell up immediately and I couldn't get the bleeding to stop. I called the Dr. and they told me to take him to the ER for x-rays to see if it was broken! So I called my neighbor and dear friend Wanda to come and stay with Brielle and I rushed out the door to the hospital. It was a little hard to drive and hold his nose at the same time, all the while he was screaming his head off. Doug met me at the ER and they took him back at a room to look at him. At this point we realized that he was holding his finger too, and it was already bruised and swollen. So they took him in for x-rays on his nose and his finger. After what seemed like forever and Benson had finally fallen asleep from crying so much the Doctor came back in the room and told us that neither his finger or nose were broken but that they would be swollen and sore for a few days and get really black and blue. These pictures don't really do it justice, but I posted them anyway. He is doing much better now, but I am afraid this wont be the last time we will visit the ER with this child!

Another year older and Wiser too??

In our church the primary kids sing a song about birthdays that says the phrase, "Another year older and wiser too." Now I am not sure that fully believe that I am so much wiser than I was last year, but since I just turned another year older I started to think about my life. I never really expected to be 26 years old and on child number three, nor did I expect to be living in South so far away from my Utah roots. But every year I seem to have experiences that make me grow and learn more about myself and what is important in life. I am so blessed to have my little family. I love Doug and Brielle and Benson so much and I can't wait to love the baby just the same. I love living in the south and being with my family away from family. We have some great friends and we have been so blessed to meet so many wonderful people. The year from when I turned 25 to this year was quite an eventful one for our family, and I guess the experiences of being unemployed for 7 months and Doug's church calling have made me a little wiser. I just hope that I can always take the wisdom that the Lord wants me to gain and put it toward being better. That is a lifelong goal right? I really am grateful for all that I have and I hope that my 26th year in life will be one that makes me wiser too!

P.S. I had to include a picture of the Roses Doug bought me for my birthday. I usually don't like roses, but it was so sweet because I had seen an ad on TV with these exact same roses and just made a comment in passing about how beautiful they were. I didn't even realize he was listening, but he surprised me and brought them home. I thought it was sweet.

Happy Fourth Birthday Brielle!!!

I really cannot believe that Brielle turned four on the 7Th of March! She just seems so old. She had a great birthday. On her actual birthday we got up and made a pancake breakfast where I carried on the tradition of my mother and made her a special B pancake. Because Brielle starts with a B of course! Then we painted pictures and watched movies and that night we went out to her favorite restaurant...Chick-Fil-A. :) After dinner we came home and ate cupcakes and ice cream and opened some birthday presents. One of the pictures is of Brielle in a cowboy hat which was her favorite present of the night. My mom and dad sent her that, and they actually sent real cowboy boots too, but the camera died so those aren't posted. Then we topped off the night with a pajama party and watched the new Barbie movie Mariposa.

She really is a lucky girl because she got to celebrate her birthday twice! Last Saturday we had all her friends over and threw her an Island Princess Party. My dear friend Becca helped me make the cake, which was an adventure, but she loved it. We played Luau games and ate pizza and ice cream and she had a blast. The picture of the limbo is of my friend Alices girls. They were amazing at getting low. Most kids just ducked under it. We also played throw the ring on the pineapple and the kids loved it. You really don't have to think of hard party games, kids just love a challenge. We were a little sad that it was raining so we couldn't play in the yard, but overall the party was a hit!

We finally made the move!

Well, I am finally back from my big blogging break. My life is slowly getting back to normal after a few weeks of moving and unpacking. We absolutely love the new house. It seems to fit our needs quite nicely and it is just good to finally be a home owner. Granted it is a lot more work than renting but it is nice to have a place to call your own. I have included some pictures of the inside of the house, and I am sure we will be making updates, but this is what it looks like so far. I am glad to be back in the blogging world and hopefully I can feel good enough to keep it up.