Busy Times

Things have certainly been hopping around here.  Brinley just had her first surgery for this year.  We found out that her Baclofen pump that was put in last August had not been working since it was put in.  It had a crack in it near her spine so she never got the medicine that she needed to help her legs become looser.  It was frustrating because we had been telling them that the bump on her back was not normal, and that her legs weren't getting looser.  Finally after a year, someone finally believed us.
So they replaced the cathedar and it is now starting to work.  Thank goodness!!

 She is healing up great.  She has always been such a trooper.  In fact, she got out of the hospital on Friday and participated in a 5K with Push To The Finish.  They truly have been wonderful.  They have volunteers that push special needs kids in wheelchairs or strollers in races.  Brinley LOVES it!!

 

We are loving life right now and all the blessings we have.  I will post about our house hopefully soon.  :)

Slacker, slacker, slacker!

Yes, yes, I am a slacker.  I haven't blogged in a long time and I have no excuse other than the fact that I am a slacker.  I have a lot of news to post about, but I need to download the pictures and get them on my computer first.  But to kind of give you spoilers.....

1. Caden was baptized!
2. Caden lost more teeth.
3. Spencer has truly become our little climber monkey.
4. Brinley has changed her appearance.

So, hopefully I can get Brinley's teachers Huntsman Award application finished this weekend and get the blog updated.  Then I can focus on everything else.  LOL!  I am nominating Brinley's Preschool Teacher for the Huntsman Award this year.  She truly deserves it!  We love her to death!  :)

Spencer Is The Big "One"!!!

That's right folks, one whole year has flown by!  Spencer had his birthday party last week and totally LOVED having his cake and ice cream.  I really can't believe how fast time goes by.  It really seems like just yesterday that I was driving to the hospital with Bill to have our little man enter this world.  I definately have to say that life has not been dull since he has graced us with his presence.  Out of all the kids, he is our most active, most binky "needy", most active at night, most hungry, and most independent of any of them.  He is also so smiley.  He is ALWAYS smiling.  That is unless it is the middle of the night and he is hungry.  Or if he is tired.  He won't go to sleep unless he is in his bed.  Pluses and minuses to that for sure.  :) 
I am so glad that he is part of our family.  He definately adds happiness to every part of my day.  I love seeing his face all happy and excited when he learns something new.  He has been learning new stuff every day too.  Just yesterday he learned how to climb up onto Brinley's toddler bed.  So when she climbs up into bed, he joins her and then starts to body slam/tickle her.  LOL  It is hilarious.  :)
Here is to another great year with our little man!  Love you buddy!

Merry Christmas!

I have to say that I have the best kids EVER!  :)  We were driving around town today, listening to Christmas music, and the song "Oh Holy Night" came on.  All of a sudden, Caden starts singing along with all the joy in his sweet little heart.  He sang the entire song and then told me that he loved me and that I was the best mommy in the entire world.  I seriously LOVE that kid.  He is truly a joy and a huge help to me in my life.  He is my own personal warm fuzzy.  LOL  :)  And I have to say that I have needed a lot of that lately.
The Saturday after school let out for Christmas break, Brinley and Spencer both ended up in Instacare with hand, foot and mouth disease.  Lucky, lucky us!  Well, this last week, they have slowly started to get better, and we have quarantined our house.  But, Caden and Bill have also come down with it in the last couple of days.  So, still quarantined, and hoping beyond all hope that I don't get it and everyone is better for Christmas.  It's safe to say that all I have been seeing lately has been spots.  LOL  One good part to all of the spots and fevers and such is that I have had really cuddly kids, especially Spencer.  :)  He has been the most clingy of all.  But I just enjoy snuggling wtih him cause it usually never happens anymore as he is always active and everywhere now.
Last month we were able to get our family pictures taken and when we were leaving to wait for our pics to process, they asked us if we would like to get some pics with Santa for a trial thing they were doing this year.  So we of course said YES!  Here are some of the pics that we were able to get.
In having sick kids upon sick kids, I was not able to get our Christmas letter sent out this year.  So, chalk it up to another year that I didn't get it done.  Just know that I really do want to get it done.  It's just that life gets too busy, and my kids are a higher priority than a Christmas letter.  :)  Hopefully next year we will be in our new home and I will have a little more time to spend writing a letter.  LOL

Spencer REALLY wasn't digging the Santa bit.

Our happy little family.

The best kids EVER!

This kid NEVER stops!

Old blue eyes.  :)

My sweet little princess!

You've got to love her smile.

My little man!

He's getting so big!

The fun never stops with these three!

Brinley loved it when Santa copied what she said.

Trying to pull Santa's beard.  Shame, shame!

Here's hoping you all have a Merry Christmas and enjoy the time that you have together with loved ones.  I hope the spirit of Christ is present in your lives and that you feel His love for you too.
Merry, Merry Christmas!

The reason for the season.

It's Fall!

We have been having so much fun this fall.  Grandpa has two cherry trees in the front yard and hence we have had a TON of leaves to rake up.  We would rake leaves one day, and the next morning, you couldn't tell that they had even been touched.  Caden loves to use the leaf blower and Brinley and Spencer love to be buried in the leaves.  It has been warmer weather here too, so it has been very fun to play outside in the leaves.

Blogs are not dead

The other day I read a friends blog that said that since Facebook has come around that blogs are getting more and more scarce.  I don't want to be one of those that goes away.  I want to express my feelings.  I want to keep track of special moments and feelings that are going on in my life.  I admit, I haven't been the best lately at keeping my blog up to date, but I have tons of good excuses.  LOL  :)  None of them should be the reason that I haven't been doing it, but they are still there. 
Things that have happened since I last wrote is that I was issued a new calling.  I thought for sure that it was going to be Primary or something like that.  However, when they issued the calling, it was for.....Ward Choir Director.  Yep, one of my scariest callings ever.  Add to that, the fact that they also informed me that the choir would be singing 6 times in the next month and a half including singing in Stake Conference and that nobody really liked the songs that the choir had been practicing.  So, all new songs, and no time to learn them with all the holidays coming up too.  No stress, right? Riiiiight!  :)  So, luckily, I have been blessed to have people who have been coming and learning the songs quickly.  Little by little and with a TON of prayer and blessings, it is slowly coming together. 
Spencer has now gotten 6 teeth total.  He still has his grin that goes COMPLETELY off his face it is so big.  When he smiles, my world just falls into place and everything is perfect.  It also helps that he started to say "mama" in the last 3 days.  He is such a blessing in our family.  I don't know what we did before he came to our family. 
Brinley has started using a reverse walker the correct way.  She still walks with it backward better, but she has started to use it correctly and stands really tall when she uses it too.  She has also started using her "yea" and "no" correctly too.  She is getting better at trying to talk too. 
Caden has been growing and growing, oh, and have I mentioned growing?  I can't believe how big he is getting.  He is a fabulous helper and loves playing with Spencer and Brinley and making them laugh.  He has a great imagination and has started to create a book where he is designing his "inventions".  I can't believe that he is almost old enough to be baptized.  Heaven help me!  :)
Bill is still loving his job.  We both love all the guys that he works with.  He truly works with a great bunch of guys. 
This last week, we raked the leaves in Grandpa's front yard and had a BLAST!  Caden overcame his fear of the leaf blower.  Brinley had fun ripping all the leaves into tiny pieces.  Spencer just laughed at Grandpa and had fun throwing the leaves at everyone.  I love Fall!  The day after we raked the leaves, there were just as many leaves on the ground as before.  LOL  And it snowed yesterday to top it all off.  Caden cried "No!" all afternoon as the snow melted.  :) 
We are really looking forward to Thanksgiving this week and then on Saturday will be Brinley's birthday.  Good times!  We'll make sure to post lots of pictures.

Whew!

All I can say is that Spencer is not a very good teether.  LOL  :)  He has gotten 2 new teeth in the last little bit and he has been miserable.  He has not wanted to eat, drink, or anything else.  But, he has finally gotten back to his normal happy self.  I have pictures that I have taken, and I will download them as soon as I can.  I have been sewing up a storm and getting lots of projects done.  Hopefully I can get more done in the next little while as there are lots of Christmas presents to get done.  :)
So, for tonight, that is all.