Disney on Ice

Last week we took our kids to the "Disney on Ice Mickey and Minnie's Magical Journey" show. They LOVED it! I thought Gavin might get antsy half way through, but nope. He sat on Dan's lap the whole first half and didn't move a muscle. I think he was in shock at seeing the characters so close (he doesn't remember Disneyland). Then the second half of the show he wanted to sit by me and he just stared munching on his popcorn. It was so cute! Zane kept saying "This is the coolest thing ever!" I also thought Lindsay would have gotten bored because she tends to do that during movies, etc... but not once did she ask me when it was going to be over. I'm so glad we went and I think we'll go again next time. Our 12th row center, $10 seats weren't too shabby either!



Lion King

Ariel and Eric

Lilo and Stitch

This was the boys' favorite part; when Captain Hook got swallowed by the crocodile.

The Peter Pan story was their favorite.

I love Computer Nerds!

I love that my husband poses for pictures when I ask him too. I also love that he's a computer nerd! A few months ago he was sitting at work working on something and got the idea that he could probably come up with a program to make what he was doing easier. He has just recently decided that Programming is the computer field he wants to go into, but does not currently do that as his postion right now. He got two other guys at work to go in on this little project and then they found out that the business he works for was having a "Science Fair" in San Francisco and anyone who had any projects or programs that they were working on could come to the Fair and demonstrate them and win prizes. Well Dan and his 2 buddies were approved to go and last month they went to San Fran for 2 days. There were 4 other entries and Dan and his buddies won 2nd place!!!! He won a Playstation 3, $150 in gift cards and a jacket. Not only that, the company was so impressed with the program they are going to use it as one of their programs. Now, "what is the program", you might ask? I have no clue. He's tried to explain it to me about 3 times, and it goes over my head! But I am so proud of him! I think Programming is the way for him to go!!! Love you honey!

Happy 6th Birthday Lindsay!!!!

Happy 6th Birthday Lindsay! We're so proud of you and are so happy you're part of our family!
We love you so much!!!

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Happy 9th Anniversary!!!!

Happy 9th Anniversary Lovey! It's flown by so fast and I can't believe we have our 4th baby on the way! I needed ya! I got ya! I'm keepin' ya! I love ya!

So do you think we've changed in the past 9 years! Hmmmm...........

Draper Temple Openhouse

On March 5th, we went to the Draper Temple openhouse. It was amazing! The kids were sooooo excited to go. Lindsay and Zane had a lot of questions and even more the next morning. Gavin was still kind of sick from having Croup so Dan help him most of the time. Zane did good through most of it until he got really thirsty and kept whining about getting a drink, but the drinking fountains were turned off. I asked Zane what his favorite part was and he first said, "the tunnels!" I explained to him that the tunnels are not part of the temple, we just walked through those so we weren't out in the cold until we got inside. Then he and Lindsay both said the Celestial room was their favorite. They also liked seeing the oxen around the Baptismal font. I've been to several temple openhouses, but never have they let you come into the Sealing room and sit down. It was so nice because we could explain better to the kids how we get married in the temple. Instead of them having the image of walking down the aisle. We also all really liked the cookies and water at the church afterwards.

Lindsay's haircut

Lindsay has been dying to have her haircut for a while now. I let have get a little cut off in November, but that was it. Then she informed me that she wanted it cut to her chin! When I went to my last hair appointment, I told Ginger to just cut off a little at a time. We ended up at about her shoulders (a little over 3 inches) and I told we'd do that for now and maybe the next time go shorter. Her hair is so fine it's hard to do an A line cut on her, so I was too scared to have it to her chin. She loves it though and it's a nice change for her!

Before

After

Sleepover!

A couple of weeks ago, Lindsay slept over at Missy's house for Kaelynne's birthday party. So I took Marcus and Spencer, Missy's boys, to my house to sleepover. It was Zane's and Gavin's official first sleepover (well having someone sleepover here). They always have fun with their cousins. They watched "Madagascar 2" at night, then did sword fighting a lot of the next morning. I'm glad they were good, especially since Dan was at a Scout camp that night! :)

What the Croup, again!

So, Gavin has had Croup several times. The first time was 2 years ago when he was 6 months old. He had it so bad he was at Primary Children's Hospital for 2 days. Then he got it again a year ago (also in March) when we were in St. George with Dan's family. We spent half the night in the ER with him then. Then last summer he had it, but it wasn't too bad. Bless my Pediatrician's heart! He have me 2 doses of the steroid they use for Croup to have on hand because he gets it so often and so bad. So he told me at the first signs of it (which I know very well now) I can give him the steroids. Well, this past October he woke up one morning barking like a seal and struggled a little bit to breathe, so I gave him some steroids and it loosened his airway and he was pretty good the rest of the day. Well, thankfully he has been pretty healthy this past winter (better than last year). This past Monday night, we put him down to bed at 8:00. He did not have a cough or a cold. He went right to sleep. At about 11:00 pm, I was in the kitchen and Dan was in our bedroom. We heard Gavin cough and it sounded like a dying seal. Then he started crying and it did not sound good. Dan and I both went running into his room. He was sitting up, half awake. We got him out of his bed and brought him into the kitchen . We lifted his shirt and he was sucking his tummy in so hard to try and breathe (a big sign). We got out our last dose of the steroids, crushed it up and put it in chocolate syrup on a spoon. He fought us to take it, but we got it in him. Then we turned on the hot shower and let the bathroom get steamy. Dan took him in there for about 10 minutes to help open his airway faster. Within the hour he was breathing a lot better. It was so scary and if I hadn't had those meds on hand I would have driven right to the ER, that's how bad he was struggling to breathe. He watched Dan play some video games for a while then he wanted to sleep in his own bed! I was shocked. I wanted him to sleep with us so I could watch his breathing through the night, but he was fighting us to sleep in our bed, which is very strange.

He did good through the night, thankfully. The next day, I took him in to see the doctor. They gave him one more dose of the steroid so he would be ok for that night. Then they gave me more to have on hand. He told me because Croup comes on so suddenly and he gets it so often, it's a good idea to always have it on hand. He said he would eventually grow out of this. I am grateful for medication and for a doctor that trusts me to have the medication on hand. Gavin now has a cold and loose cough, but is doing better. So if you ever wonder if your child has Croup, you can give me a call! :)

Zane is all ready for Kindergarten!

Last week I took Zane to his Kindergarten doctor visit. I didn't tell him about it until about an hour before we went so he wouldn't be freaking out about all day. When I told him, I thought he'd ask if he needed shots. But instead he asked if they were going to swab his throat! He ahtes when they have to that! Thankfully, I didn't have to lie and told him no. He was so excited to have a little date with me. It was kinda breaking my heart though because he didn't know about the shots and I didn't want to tell him until we were there. They checked his weight and height, 42 inches tall, 42 pounds. Perfect. Eyes, good. He cried when they had to poke his finger to check his iron. The Doctor came in and did the physical exam. Great. Then I had to break the news to Zane that he needed to get 4 shots. He started bawling. I tried to get his mind off of it, but it didn't work. When the nurse came in and we tried to get his pants off, he freaked out. Then he said, right before she was about to do the first shot, "wait a minute! Wait a minute! I have to tell you something! I need to go to the bathroom!" He was trying to get out of it, but he'd just gone to the bathroom. Poor kid. So she hurried and did all 4 in less than 10 seconds and he was done! He got a bag full of goodies then I took him to get an ice cream cone. I was so glad to have that done. Phew!

Then yesterday we got him registered at the school. It's so weird to think that in September, we'll have a 1st grader, Kindergartener, Preschooler and a new baby! What an exciting year!!!!

6th Picture Tag

I suck at following through with tags, but this one was easy. I had to go to my 6th folder and pick the 6th picture. Here it is. Me and Gavin at Laguna Beach. This is when he had his curls before we shaved them off. Cute little stink! Feel free to do this tag if you'd like!

My week in review

Last Monday Dan headed off to Colorado for work. No big deal, except the morning he left I woke up with a burning in my chest like I was getting sick. Dan had a cold and cough the week before and Lindsay had gotten it too, so I was guess it was my turn. On Tuesday, I woke up to go teach dance and I didn't have a voice. I went anyway and after dance I started getting achy and cold. By Tuesday night, my nose was stuffy and I was coughing. I didn't sleep well that night and when I woke up Wednesday, still very achy and cold. I decided to drink some apple juice, then drank a cup a of water with some medicine to take the aches. Within one minute I was in the bathroom throwing up (the first time in this pregnancy). I felt like crap and was supposed to go teach dance again. I just couldn't do it. My mother-in-law came and got all 3 of my kids (Lindsay was staying home from school all week because she was still coughing) and took them to her house all day! Thanks Ma! It helped a ton so I could just rest. I was starting to feel better on Thursday and Dan got home that night. What a relief to have him home.

On Friday, my cute cousin, Katie, married Robby in the Salt Lake temple. They are such a cute, crazy couple. The day was really nice. I was feeling a lot better too. They had their reception at in a little building at the Gallivan Center. It was beautiful.

My other cousin, Emily (Katie's sister) caught the bouquet and her boyfriend, Randy, caught the garter. They were so excited!

This was taken outside the temple. Here's 6 of the 7 girls in my family (Amy will be home from her mission in April!). Jenny and Missy are on the end pretending to be sad they are not pregnant. Us 4 in the middle are the preggers. We are in order of when we're due. Laurel is due April 2nd, Heidi is due April 12th, Karen is due April 23rd and I'm due June 5th. April is going to be a CRAZY month for our family.

My sister Jenny, her hubby Ben and their son, Carter came from Arizona for the wedding so on Saturday, me, Karen, Jenny, Beans (aka Melissa Smith) and her sissy, Shauna, went to breakfast and to see the movie "He's Just Not That Into You". We loved the movie. It was very entertaining and true to life. We laughed a lot when they talked about drive-by's past guys houses that we liked, etc...

Karen

Melissa

Jenny

The kids with Carter

When I woke up on Saturday before going to the movie, my cough had gotten worse and it hurt really bad when I coughed. It also tasted a little like blood when I coughed (I know, gross!). After the movie, we hung out at my mom's to spend time with Jenny and Ben before they went back to AZ. I started getting really achy and cold. I got a sudden fever and noticed I was having a hard time breathing. After a couple of hours, Dan took me to Instacare where they said I had Pneumonia. What the heck! So I've been on an antibiotic all week and I'm feeling so much better! I rested for 2 days and my mom brought dinner on Monday for us. Thanks Mom! I'm just glad I'm feeling better.

Love is in the air

Last week Zane came home from Preschool and he kept walking around sighing really loudly and rolling his eyes around. I finally asked him why he was doing that and here's what he said:
Z-"I'm in love"
M-"You are? With who?"
Z-"Annie, at school."
M-"You are huh?"
Z-"Yes and there's something I have to tell you that's kinda weird." He got all shy.
M-"What?"
Z-"I told her I loved her and she said she loved me too." He had the cutest smile on his face.
Z-"Then there's something else that's kinda weird but I don't want to tell you."
M-"Just tell me in my ear then."
Z-"She kissed me!" He whispered it.
M-"She did!!!! Where?"
Z-"At school!"
M-"No, where? On the lips or cheek?"
Z-"Right here." He pointed to his cheek.
PHEW! It was very cute the way he told me. Then we got in the car and Lindsay was in the back seat with 50 questions like "Did she kiss you during playtime?" "Did she do it then so no one would hear?" "What's her last name?" It was hilarious! So our 4 year old is in love. He picked her Valentine out special and even wrote her name on it. I'm not worried he's growing up too fast. I think it's pretty dang sweet!

Gavin-ism

Last night after we had put Gavin to bed, we were reading scriptures with Lindsay and Zane. Gavin kept calling me back into his room for any reason he could think of. Finally I told him I was not coming back in anymore and to go to sleep. Within a couple of minutes, he was calling me again. I just ignored him at first, then I yelled, "What do you need?" Then he said, "open my door," which it was already open a little. He kept telling for me to open his door and I just kept ignoring him, then he got mad and started yelling, "Mom! Open my DANG door!" We almost died from laughter. Then after a few times of yelling that, he heard us laughing and kept doing it to be funny. This kid sure knows how to keep us in stitches!

Hide, Seek and Eat

Last week Dan was playing Hide and Seek with the kids. He was looking for Gavin and this is where he found him. Funny kid. I think it was pretty creative.

Something that Gavin has been saying a lot lately is "what the...". For example, last night I told him we were going to Grandma Tracey's for dinner on Sunday and he gasped liked he was shocked and said, "what the...". No he doesn't finish the sentence. He just says "what the". It's hilarious!

20 Weeks ~ Half way there!

Here's my belly at 20 weeks. Don't ask why I'm posing this way. This picture took 8 tries and this was the best. I'm not digging the pictures of myself lately. We had our ultrasound today and no we did NOT find out the sex. We haven't found out with any of our kids and that's the way we like to do it. The due date is still June 5th and it couldn't come fast enough. The morning/afternoon/evening/night sickness is pretty much gone now but I still get it every once in a while. This time it lasted until almost 18 weeks! I've got a lot more energy now and even feel like I'm nesting at times. We've been cleaning and dejunking the house the past 2 weekends. Bless Dan's little heart for helping me.

I have back problems when I'm not prego but it is so much worse when I'm prego and this time it's the worst it's been. Thank goodness for my chiropractor who also happens to be my bishop. The only awkward thing about that is that I don't know whether to call him Dr. Miller or Bishop Miller. I usually say Bishop at church, Dr. at his chiro office and Jared when I panic and don't rememeber which to call him. My back and neck are doing a little better.

So people always tell me they need to be prepared when they have their baby so that's why they find out the sex. Well, let me tell you, I'm always prepared, right down to the a boy and girl name picked out including middle name. So with this baby we have a girls name, but are struggling with a boy name, so I'm up for suggestions because I want it picked before hand. We're leaning towards Isaac Bentley, but I'm not set on it yet. Any other thoughts?

I felt the baby move for the first time on Christmas Day and I was only 17 weeks. That is pretty early to feel a baby and the earliest I've felt mine. And it's been jumping all over the place since. At the ultrasound today, they told me my placenta was behind the baby so that is why I can feel it so easily. They couldn't get a very good view of the placenta so I have to go back for another ultrasound so they can check. Also, the baby was facing towards my back with it's belly right up against the placenta so they couldn't get a very good shot of the face, so they will be checking the mouth then as well. But everything else looks great! We got some cool shots of the baby.


This is the baby's leg and foot.
Baby's hand on the right and spine at the top.

This was the best shot of the face they could get. Face is on the upper right side with it's little hand by the face. Belly is towards the left side.

Christmas 2008

Christmas was so good. Our kids kept telling us all day long, "this is the best Christmas ever." We went to my parent's on Christmas Eve for German food, gifts and to watch all of our Christmas videos that we all made (you can see ours a few posts down). We got a lot of fun things. Lindsay got a Cinderella doll that crawls from Granny and Grandpa. Zane got a race track and Gavin got a Spiderman Dry erase board for the car from Granny and Grandpa.

My parents gave a safe to put copies of all of our home videos and pictures in.

Christmas morning, before going downstairs to see the tree.


Gavin hugging his Indiana Jones.



Lindsay has been obsessed with playing Clue lately. Funny thing is, it always ends up scaring her. So we got her Clur Jr., the Case of the missing cake. No one dies in this game.

Santa also brought the kids their own scooter. He sent them on a Treasure Hunt around the house to find them .

Santa totally surprised us with a Wii, and I mean totally surprised. I knew nothings about it. Zane got the Lego Indiana Jones Wii game

After we were all done opening gifts, Gavin took his mints he got in his stocking and lay on the couch eating them. I was making breakfast and didn't know where he was. I came around the corner and there he was. I said, "what are doing?" He said, "just eating my mints."



Christmas Day we went to Dan's parent's for turkey dinner and presents. We got some nice things. His parents made a wood puzzle and puppets for the kids. They also gave them a ton of books with a cd of all of us reading the books that we had prerecorded. So when the kids are reading the stories they can listen to the cd's with their aunts, uncles and Grandma and Grandpa reading the story to them. It is really cute.

Dan and his brother's playing Gavin's fishing game.

Dan's parents gave a wheat grinder and wheat. I'm anxious to try it.

Ma Doney made this for us.

Lindsay

Zane

Gavin

The day after Christmas we went up to see Grandma Skousen and spend some time with her.