What You Lookin' At?!

Check out this poor kid.
Matthew woke up yesterday morning looking like this.

He looks like he's been in a boxing match, or looks like Will Smith in the movie Hitch after he eats shellfish. We figure he had an allergic reaction from a bug bite on his eyelid. He didn't seem to be bothered by it at all (the sad look on his face is him whining after waking up from a nap) Benedryl didn't seem to help at all. I tried icing it, but how do you get a two-year-old to ice his eye!? Tonight it seems to be a lot better. My sister-in-law gave me some good suggestions to try. It's just so bizarre, that I had to post it. Have you seen anything like this with your kids?

Sealed in the Temple

About 2 weeks ago, Rob's parents went through the temple for the first time. It was absolutely amazing! After his parents were sealed for time and all eternity, Rob and his three sisters got to be sealed to them. It truly was a miracle- we seem to be seeing a lot of those these days.

Rob baptized his dad in September, and normally he would have to wait a full year before being allowed to go through the temple. Because he has acute myloid leukemia (AML), they worried he wouldn't make it that long. His Stake President put in a request to the 1st Presidency that they waive the year requirement for his dad. He got a letter back from President Monson, allowing him to go to the temple early. I am so thankful that I was able to be at the temple with them. It was truly a remarkable experience. -Life changing stuff!

They have had so much support- it's been incredible. Twenty-one family and friends came to be with them at the temple. This is the new Draper temple, and it is gorgeous. During the open house, we toured this temple with our kids, Rob's parents, and his sister Tara's family.

Here's Rob & Jill, Clint & Sena, Robert & Shirley, Steve & Tara, and Walter & Charity.

Rob's mom, Shirley, and 5 of her 6 siblings: Kenny, Gary, Dave, Sandy, Shirley and Jana.Here is Rob's family with their friends Dennis & Gail, and one of their daughters, Tori. Dennis was the family's faithful home teacher for years and years when they lived in California. What an impact he made on this family! At the time, none of them went to church. But slowly, one by one, they've all made it to the temple.I can't put into words what a special event this was for our family, nor can I describe the feelings there. I'll just say that it was absolutely amazing, and we are so thrilled that they are sealed as a family. We are so proud of you, Grandma and Grandpa.

Thanks to my sisters Terri and Laura for watching my kids so I could be at the temple. I was nervous about leaving my 4-week-old Abby for 5 hours, but she did great.

Rob's dad had a bone-marrow biopsy not long before the trip to the temple. He is in remission! Another miracle. Earlier this year, his cancer cell counts were up higher than when he arrived at Huntsman. The doctors didn't think there was much more they could do for him, as they had exhausted all the known treatments he was eligble for. As kind-of a last chance shot, they gave him a chemotherapy that's normally for a different bone marrow disease. Now, after 4 rounds of this milder chemo, he's in remission again! They are preparing him for a blood core transplant later this month. It's risky, but we cross our fingers, and pray for yet another miracle- that it will eliminate the cancer from his blood. Good luck Grandpa! We love you.

Sarah Rides

A few weeks ago Rob found a 16" bike for Sarah at a yard sale on his way home. Nathan was as excited about her learning to ride as she was. For a few days as they would head out the door, I'd hear Nathan say, "Ok Sarah, are you ready for another bike lesson?" I had no idea what exactly they were doing out there, until Sarah came in the house saying that she had ridden across the yard. I asked if she meant that she'd ridden across the yard with Nathan holding on. Nope, she'd done it alone. I had tried helping her a few days before, and she didn't seem nearly ready to ride. What a surprise when I went out and saw Nathan help her on the bike, steady her and help her across the driveway, then let go. She rode for quite a ways across the yard.

I suggested we try on the road, and she rode so fast that I couldn't keep up. She doesn't really know how to stop, so she rides up on some one's lawn, and bails off the side. She is such a little daredevil! The bike seems so big for her, but she's now learned to get on and get going all by herself. Way to go Sarah, and thanks for the help Nathan!

Memorial Day Fun

For Memorial Day, we ended up having most of Rob's family and my family over for a marathon barbecue. It was so much fun having everyone here. It was the first time we really hosted anything at our house, and it was so nice having room for everyone. We ate and ate, played lots of games, and the kids ran around like crazy. Here are some photos from the day. I missed taking pictures of Bolongo Ball, and Rob shooting off his potato cannon.

Here's Matthew, Logan, Camryn, Brandon, and Gus.

Nathan, Weston, and Sarah

Sarah and MadiIt was fun having Sena and Clint in town from Arizona. Here's Sena with Abby.

Hi Clint, I know you're reading this. Watch for future posts with gorgeous pictures of your girls.

Ryan showing his monster serve as he and Nathan take on Jim and Rob in an intense badminton game. Matthew and Adam were so cute together. Gotta love Matt in his sleeper and fleece pull-over.

Matt's just kicking back on his Mater. What cute boys!
Abby had a ton of people to hold her- and loved every minute of it.

It's Pneumonia

I was right to be worried about Nathan being sick for so long. He's got pneumonia! I'm so glad that I took him back to the doctor on Friday, because we caught it in the early stages. He's doing really well, and hasn't been running as high of a fever since he got on antibiotics. It's hard to keep him from doing too much; he gets feeling pretty good while on ibupropen and wants to play. Poor kid, what a way to spend his last week off-track. He starts up with school again on Monday- hopefully he'll be well enough soon so he can go back.

My Less Than Stellar Morning

Have you ever had a day where it was just one thing after another... that if you didn't write it down, your kids would never believe it happened the way you said. This morning was like that for me.
So, Nathan has been sick since Sunday. He's been running a fever of 104, a nasty cough, is tired and doesn't eat much. I took him to the Dr. on Monday, and it's just a virus. This morning he started coughing so hard that he threw up all over my recliner, his blanket and himself, then again all over the floor. I cleaned it up as best I could (knowing that I'd need to get out the carpet/upholstery cleaner when I had more time). Poor kid, I feel so bad for him, though he's taking it like a trooper. Abby wasn't too happy about me laying her down on my bed to clean up the mess. I thought it would make her happy if I changed her diaper then fed her. What do you know, she peed all over my bed while I had her diaper off. I stripped her down and hauled her wet clothes to the laundry, only to find Matthew walking down the hallway with a cup of yogurt. The spoon flipped out, sending a huge glob of peach yogurt all over the floor, which Matt promptly stepped in and tracked around the house. This all happened within 2 minutes, and I thought I'd had enough. I called Rob to see if he was done with his job, and whew, he was on his way home. Nathan laid down on my bed, and I sat on the couch to feed Abby. Just as she was dosing off, Nathan came in the room saying that he had a bad bloody nose. Rob had made it home and was mowing the lawn, so I hollered out the door for him to come help Nathan with his nose. As Rob was walking in the door, Abby spit up all over me and herself. I got us cleaned up and went into the bathroom to check how the boys were doing. It looked like something from a horror movie. Blood was everywhere. Have you ever seen what happens when you mix a bad cough with a bad bloody nose?! It means blood splattered all over the wall, the mirror, the counter, Nathan's clothes, a trail of blood drips on the floor, and a sink full of blood. Oh, and blood on my bed, where he got the bloody nose. Oh well, I already needed to wash my comforter after it got peed on. They got the nose to stop bleeding, and Rob cleaned up the bathroom while I rinsed out the bloody clothes. As I was getting Abby to sleep, I was kind of laughing about the morning, and thinking that all I needed was some diarrhea and we'd have all the bodily fluids covered for the day. A short while after I laid her down, she woke up crying. Sure enough, she'd had a blow-out. Nathan ended up having 2 more bloody noses (he can't keep himself from picking at the crusty blood in his nose), and he's worrying me with as sick as he's been. His doctor wants me to bring him in tomorrow. (sigh)
As I sat on the couch feeding Abby again (it seems like that's about all I do) I shook my head at what a crazy day it had been- and it was barely noon! Abby stopped eating, looked up at me and gave me a big grin, dimples and all. She even cooed at me for the first time!!! Aw, the life of a Mother! I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!

'Appy Birday To Me

The other day Matthew said, "hey guys, 'appy birday to me." It made me feel guilty that guess what? I hadn't posted anything about his birthday (nor posted much of anything lately). So here it goes.Matthew turned 2 the day before Abby was born. He loved every minute of being the birthday boy. All day, and for several days following, he sang "appy birday to me" over and over. Rob said that he had never seen anyone enjoy it being their birthday as much as Matthew. We didn't even do anything special either. Evan and Toni helped us with painting our old house, then we all had dinner and cake and ice cream.

Here is Matthew singing the birthday song. He got practice singing to his Daddy for his birthday not too long before.

I don't think I've ever had such a plain cake for any of my kid's birthdays, but he didn't mind. He just wanted the ice cream anyway.

He loves his Disney Cars semi trucks.

We love our Matthew! He is such a character. He does funny voices, animal sounds, jumps and runs around like a spaz, and keeps us hopping. He loves cars, balls, being outside and food- especially if it's from someone else's plate. He's the biggest mooch ever. His dad and grandpas all know that if they have food, they should expect him to request a bite and then another... He makes us laugh and laugh every day. He can also throw the biggest tantrums this family has ever seen, leaving me ready to pull my hair out. He makes up for it though by giving the biggest and best hugs. It melts my heart when he gives me a huge hug and says, "love you Mom."

Matthew the Big Brother

He is thrilled to be a big brother. I was worried that he would have a rough time with a new baby in the family, but I have sensed no animosity in him. He loves that little "Avee," as he calls her. Whenever he hears her crying, he calls out, "Oh, Avee crying. Comin' Avee." Then he runs to wherever she is. He sings Twinkle, twinkle, little star to her when she is sad. Here he is giving her a kiss and reading Go Dog Go to her.

When he wants to hold her he says, "I hold it." He gets the biggest grin on his face every time he gets to hold her. These pictures of him with Tara & Steve's new puppy were just too cute to not post. He loves doggy kisses. Blech!

We love you Handsome!