Oldroyd Clan

California Adventure Day 2

2012-01-23T13:50:00.002-07:00

We were up and ready to rock for Day 2! All of the kids were so excited. We started our day at Soaring over California! Holy Cow it was so scary. When Ryan and I went 7 years ago with no kids I hated it. I was doing fertility shots and other medication and so I had a hard time with movements and heights. I was hoping it wouldn't be as bad, it was better than before but still freaks me out. Brooklynn loved it. We then headed over to get a Fast Pass for the Tower of Terror, and since it wasn't too busy we were able to go on it a few times. Love that ride. Unfortunately Brooklynn wouldn't even try that one. What a fun day! We saw Minnie Mouse after that and Oh did Cam like her!!! Pictures with characters will come later. Still working on all my hundreds of pics.

Cam's favorite part of the day was Buzz Lightyear. Brooklynn just loved it all! I remember as we were planning the trip Ryan's parents weren't all that excited and were coming just to come with us and help us all with the kids. But they liked it too! Also for lunch my sister-in-law Nanci and I took our girls (minus the babies) to the princess lunch. It was Nanci, Bailey, Graciey, Brooklynn and me! It is super expensive, but really fancy and totally worth it! We just had a blast! (Those pictures to come later too! Day 2 was also a success. We stayed to watch the awesome water show. If I can get videos to work on here I will add it later, but the last few times I couldn't get videos to work. What a great trip so far!

Disneyland Day 1

2012-01-17T19:22:00.004-07:00

Day 1 at Disneyland was a huge sucess. The kids LOVED it! The only bad thing is the first ride we went to was Mr. Toad's Wild Ride... OOPS! A little scary. We made up for it going on the Tea cups and Dumbo right after. After that Brooklynn and Gracie didn't want to go on any ride that was inside a building. Brooklynn's favorite ride was Splash Mountain and Cam's was the Buzz Lightyear one in Tomorrowland. (Brooklynn hated that one by the way.)

We had so much fun and didn't even have to go back to the hotel for naps. Both Cameron and McKenna fell asleep in the strollers so we just kept on moving!

I will say Day 1 at Disneyland was a huge success!

Trip to California

2012-01-17T19:15:00.004-07:00

We finally did it! We went to California! We didn't tell the kids we were going, although any time they heard us talking and planning Brooklynn would say. "I know we have to save more money." So we told them the morning we were leaving that we were acctually going on a trip to Disneyland. It was awesome, Brooklynn was in shock and didn't believe us. They loved the airplane ride and Cam was in awe!

We went to visit my sister-in-law Nanci's brother. He has a super nice condo and we went swimming. They did a BBQ for us and we had yummy cupcakes! It was a good first day in Cali!

More pictures to come of Disneyland!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T20:28:00.002-07:00

I promise I will update soon. It's been busy. Have a happy holiday week.

McKenna is one!

2011-10-30T12:36:00.012-06:00

I know, I am almost a month late. It has been a busy week. I can't believe that McKenna is acctually one year old already. It is exciting and sad at the same time.

I was so surprise and happy to be pregnant again. And a little scared to have two kids so close together. This pregnancy was a lot tougher on me than Cameron. Not only did I have the same problems as I did with Cameron- Worry with pre-eclampsia, my heart issue- Sinus Tachacardia, But this time I had Gestational Diabetes. Of course I did everything I was suppose to do for hers and my health and safety, but it was tough. My doctor said I did really good, not many stick so strickly to the diet. I had to do weekly stress tests and everytime it was suppose to be a 20 minute apt ended up over an hour, due to the fact that McKenna's heart rate was not ever in the range it was suppose to be. And the weekly ultrasounds showed that the placenta had some calcifications, which is why McKenna was so little. Normally diabetic babies are bigger, but she wasn't getting as much nutrients because of the placenta. But she was still healthier in my body than out at that point.

When she was in my belly she played a lot of tricks on me. At 3 in the morning on Cam's birthday I went to the hospital with contactions. They said that my contractions were pretty hard and really close together, but I just wasn't dilating. Then a few days later the same thing, but I got sent home again. A week after my first visit I was having contractions again, I was nervous, because I didn't want to get sent home a third time. But I felt like it was really it. We went into the hospital and they had two rooms and asked if we wanted room 5 or 8. Room 8 was the same room that I was in the two times before, Room 5 was the room Cameron was born in. We told them room 5, maybe it will bring us good luck. And it did! I was finally a 4 so they wouldn't send me home. I told them that once they broke my water I would be a 10 in no time and I was right. In less than an hour I went from a 4 to an almost 10. This was a much easier delivery than Cameron. With him I pushed 45 minutes and with McKenna they tried once and had me stop and wait for the doctor. When he got there it only took 2 and she was born at 8:37pm on October 23rd.

And there she was my baby girl was born. She was beautiful and amazing. With her hat on she looked just like Cameron, but with it off she had her own unique look. She was born with lots of Black hair and chubby cheeks. She was only 5 lbs and 14 oz. and went down to 5 lbs 4 oz.

The kids were so excited and loved her so much. Actually love her a little too much sometimes.

She was born with such black hair, but now it is so blonde it is almost white.

I love how wrinkly she was!

She has always stayed so little and I just retired some of her 3-6 month pj's.

Her blessing was so neat and she looked beautiful in her dress.

Precious!

She has the cutest little face with a little nose and chubby cheeks. My brother told me she looks like a Cabbage Patch doll and I kind of agree. What a cutie!

She just loves her brother and sister and always follows them everywhere.

She is our little sunshine!

She is the light of our family!

Loved these two pictures!

McKenna loves her babies, and playing with Brooklynn and Cameron. She loves making silly faces. She is good at giving kisses and has a few different kinds. She puckers and gives you a normal kiss, she blows kisses, she closes her lips tight and smacks open her mouth and her most loving kiss that she only does to me, Ryan and Brooklynn is that she opens her mouth and licks our cheeks like a little puppy.

My little Buddy is 3 Years old

2011-10-14T13:54:00.016-06:00

Cameron

I can't believe Cameron is getting so old. Wow, where has the time gone? He is my little miracle and now he is talking and independent and doesn't even want to hold my hand.

I was blessed with an Angel Brooklynn and then surprised with my little miracle Cameron. We were so surprised. I was happy and scared at the same time. I wasn't sure how to handle pregnancy and there were a few scary moments along the way.

I remember that I kept asking my doctor if he could induce me just a little early so I could have a Halloween baby. He said no. Then I found out I had Pre-eclamsia and when I was at my 3 week appointment he said "Well I will induce you early." I was expecting him to say in the next few days or next week, but was very surprised. "So can you be to the hospital by 1:00 today?" I just started crying. I know I know. I asked for it, but I never really thought it would come.

We got to the hospital and by the time they got me in a room it was about 1:30. They got me all set up and started the petosin and my doctor came around 3:30 to break my water. I still felt fine. I sent Ryan down to the cafeteria to eat lunch and man oh man, that is when the contractions started. I didn't want to bug the nurses or Ryan so I waited until he came back and they called to get my epidural. It was lovely. I LOVED the anesthesiologist. He has done several of my surgeries and D&C.

Poor baby had a little trouble coming into this world. Also my heart rate went up to about 170 and so they stopped, gave me some oxygen and called the doc asking for an emergency C-section, but my heart rate improved and I was breathing better. My doctor had been waiting and at 7:35 my doctor came in to see how things were going and Cameron was born at 7:37 PM. It was an amazing experience. How lucky to be blessed with special and very different experiences with my 3 children.

Cam just tugged at my heartstrings. He is very independent and very curious. I remember the day this little 12 month old pushed his highchair over to the counter and climbed on up. He taught his almost 3 year old sister how to sneak some treats.

Our little Cam was born with the cutest misshapen head and wore a darling helmet. Poor boy was so hot wearing it and so we put a fan in his room to keep him from sweating so bad. Unfortunately Cam had a hard time sleeping with out after the helmet was removed and we have to keep the bathroom fan on for "white noise" to help him go to sleep.

Cameron loved his mommy and would not take a bottle or binky. It was so hard, but we got through the first year and he did fine after that. And now here we are 3 years old and he doesn't like to hold mommy's hand anymore. Well I know he still loves me. It is just hard to see them grow up so fast. Really who can resist this cute boy!

Cameron's Favorite Things

Food- Pizza, String Cheese, cupcakes, grapes, Strawberries and most of all Cereal.
Movies- Astro Boy, LeapFrog Learning, Sam the Fireman, Beauty and the Beast (and most other Disney movies) and most of all any of the Toy Story movies.
Toys- Daddy's phone and pager, anything that looks like a gun or sword, trucks and cars, his awesome Strider bike, his Toy Story figures and his Buzz Lightyear gun.

~Cameron is cuddly one minute and jumping and running all around the room the next minute.
~Mommy hates taking him to stores since he loves to hide from her, but once she finds him he says. "Mommy, where you go? I looking." He is lucky he is so dang cute!
~He is such a character and makes the cutest faces.
~Cameron has a silly sense of humor and always trying to play jokes on us.
~He doesn't want to take naps, but once mommy tucks him in he just rolls over and goes to sleep. (Hope we can get it to last awhile longer.)
~Cam is a ladies man, he loved kissing all the girls at Disneyland.
~He looks super cute in orange, especially his orange hat.
~Cam does not want to go potty, but I think he is ready, just a little nervous. We are giving him a little more time to make sure.

Our little Cameron is my little bubbsy and we love him so much! What a blessing he is to our family.

22 years later...

2011-09-27T19:20:00.005-06:00

22 years ago my brother was saved. After being missing for 5 days and 5 nights with out food, water or a flashlight, he was saved. It was a miracle. I was only 7 years old, but it changed my life forever. I grew in my faith in God and miracles.

I am so grateful to have my brother with us now. He is the husband to Johana and dad to 3 awesome little dudes (all boys). He is in the Branch Presidency and works as a Graphic Artist for the LDS church. With out him life would be with out.

So many people's lives changed for the better. There were many special experiences that were shared through this incident. Many strangers becoming friends.

A family was brought together. I am grateful for my family and for miracles.

To see what I wrote last year and see the slideshow click HERE, 2 years ago HERE

My little girl grew up before my eyes

2011-09-27T19:14:00.003-06:00

Brooklynn started Kindergarten. I can't believe it, she left me. It was hard, but I know she has to do it. I just have loved being home with Brooklynn for the last 5 1/2 years. Getting to know every detail about my sweet, funny, OCD, artsy, creative girl. She is my bestest little friend. Brooklynn loves people and so thoughtful. She comes home from school and tells me that she is always trying to play with other kids. I love my girl.

Brooklynn has Miss Fullmer and I think it is a perfect fit for her. So far I really like her and Brooklynn loves her. It makes it a better experience for me and Brooklynn that we both like her teacher.

Brooklynn is so happy to have her friend Ashlynn in her class. And they are getting to know so many more kids.

Lightning Storm

2011-09-27T19:10:00.005-06:00

About 3-4 weeks ago there was an awesome lightning storm. It was beautiful. I sat on my back porch and watched it for over an hour. I couldn't get many great pictures, you never knew when or what direction it was coming. I did get this one and it doesn't even do it justice. I loved it! Ryan was at work and watched it on the roof at Primary's that night. He got some great video on his phone.

Record Reunion

2011-09-27T19:02:00.005-06:00

In the Summer we had a Record family reunion. (Ryan's mom's side of the family)

Grandma and Grandpa are so cute. We love them so much and love that the kids get to know them. Brooklynn loves to go play with the doll house and always finds the Minnie Mouse to play with. Cameron LOVES Grandpa's airplanes, but Grandpa has to keep an eye on him. Ryan of course loves Grandma's tuna sandwiches. I don't know how she does it, but she just makes them better.

Grandma and Grandpa Record with 4 of their 5 kids. Mike, David, Susan and Barbara. Christine is not pictured- we miss her so much!

Update in progress

2011-09-23T09:37:00.003-06:00

I definately have some updates to put on the blog. Things have been busy and crazy.

I found out about 6 or so weeks ago I had Pnemonia. It was not fun. I did not get better and I went back to the doctor twice. After describing how I was feeling he said that I still had some of the residual pnemonia in my lungs, but wanted to test me for Mono. Guess what it was Positive. No wonder. After 11 surgeries, 2 D&C's and 2 babies, I have never felt so tired in my life. It is the most aweful feeling ever. I have good days and bad days, a few days ago I couldn't hardly even leave the couch. Ryan had to take Brooklynn to school and pick her up. But the last 3 days have been good. I just hope I am getting better finally, but he did tell me that it can last most commonly from 4-6 weeks, but even known to be active for years. And once you have Mono you always have it and it can come and go. My dad have active Mono for 10 years. So that is one excuse that I haven't blogged in awhile.

Here are a few more of my excuses...

Brooklynn started Kindergarten

McKenna is getting another tooth and has not been sleeping well so I am extra tired

We went to Disneyland (yay, it was super fun)

And I am just plain lazy and have found other stuff to do!

So wait and more posts to come. Here is a cute picture to tide you over!

Bryce Canyon

2011-09-23T09:04:00.003-06:00

We had a lot of fun when we went to Bryce Canyon. It was beautiful. I honestly thought it was one of the most beautiful places I have been.

We did a lot of hiking and poor Ryan and Ron were sore and tired from their half marathon, but they were troopers.

Loved this shot. The sun was shining right inside the mountains.

This mossy cave was awesome. It was dripping water all over and just looked cool.

Me and my Ryan.

We hiked down this huge mountain, going back and forth on the trail and it put McKenna right to sleep.

We were right on the edge, it was pretty freaky, but a good picture. I will do anything for a good shot! ☺

Ooh La La!

This little chipmunk was really hungry.

When the kids misbehaved they went in jail.

When we weren't hiking the kids were relaxing watching a movie.

Two colored eyes

2011-08-16T20:37:00.006-06:00

5 years old

Brooklynn has the most beautiful unique eyes I have ever seen. One eye is all blue the other eye is half blue half brown.

Check out more beautiful eyes at I♥faces.

I missed the contest by 30 mintues, but still thought I would put it up here.

Here are her eyes through the years!

18 months

2 years old

4 years old

Lately...

2011-07-23T13:29:00.006-06:00

I haven't blogged in awhile. We've been busy, sick and just plain lazy. Gotta love summer!

Zoo!

I can't remember if I put these pictures on the blog but if I did here they are again...

A few months ago we went to the zoo with my sister. We had a pass for a year and hardly used it. Sad, but the couple times we went it was really fun.

It was McKenna's first time. Both McKenna and Cameron were so good and stayed in the stroller.

Brooklynn's favorite is the giraffe's. Can't go to the zoo with out a picture with the giraffes.

Cam enjoyed all the dinosaurs. He thought it was so cool.

Brooklynn loves aunt Terra.

So does Cam.

They might fight, but they really love each other.

Me and my girls!

I had found this picture of my brother awhile ago and loved it. I wanted to take a picture of his oldest son Caleb. Originally I was just going to do him in the cowboy hat and gun and crop out the horse of Josh's picture, but my aunt had a horse and it turned out so cute.

Father's Day!

For Father's day we went swimming with my dad and also celebrated his birthday.

Cam stayed close to Ryan and he even let Ryan take him down the big slide.

McKenna and I got in the water a little bit, but she was content staying in the stroller.

The kids had a blast in the water. Usually Cameron hates swimming, but he acctually had fun.

Love this picture of Cameron. He was singing as he steered the ship.

Brooklynn loves water and I could barely get any pictures of her staying still.

Life Flight

Ryan started his new job with Life Flight and we went to visit him at work. The kids thought it was so awesome. They got to sit in the helicopter and asked Ryan all sorts of questions. Cameron kept asking "Where mote?" (where is the remote? He thought the monitor was a tv.) Since that day all Cameron talks about is helicopters. He thinks his daddy is the coolest! (I do too!♥)

Bryce Canyon Half Marathon

Ryan's dad got released awhile ago as bishop and decided he wanted to start running more. So they signed up for the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon. Ryan took a break this year from marathons and is just doing half marathons. Next year we are going to Boston so Ryan can do the Boston Marathon.

Our hotels were these cute little cabins and the racers passed right in front of our hotel about 6:45 am at the halfway point. The kids were still asleep and so I turned on the baby monitor and my mother-in-law and I went out front to cheer on some racers. Ryan passed us around 6:45 am and Ron was about 7:20 am. I checked on the kids and McKenna just woke up. So I went next door to the other room to feed the baby. All of the sudden on the baby monitor I heard Cameron's little voice. "BerBer! NO ONE HERE! BerBer!" Poor Cam was so confused. I ran back in the room to them. Not too long after Ryan and Ron came back. They both got their goal times. Ryan did 13.1 miles in 1 hour 18 minutes and Ron did his in 2 hours. They did awesome.

I have more pictures of Bryce Canyon, but I will save that for later.

I ♥ faces- A touch of Whimsy

2011-06-27T14:23:00.008-06:00

Sorry the photo is fuzzy. I can't get photo bucket to work. I will work on it. Here is our picture for now. To see other entries click HERE.

Thomas the Train

2011-06-16T15:48:00.002-06:00

For Memorial Day we went with my family/mom to Thomas the Train.

Cam loved his new whistle.

So did Berkie!

Zack and Cam our two little monkeys!

My sweetie!

I don't know why Caleb was grumpy.

The conductor was so nice.

Sportin' new tatoos!

LOVED the cotton Candy!

Cam going to town too!

Who is this weird guy?

Sir Topham Hatt- Oh Cam loved him and kept running back to give him hugs!

In front of Thomas.

Five of the six Grandkids!

Preschool Graduation

2011-06-16T15:38:00.002-06:00

My little girl graduated from preschool. I can't believe how fast life is passing by. It is crazy. She loved preschool and loved her teacher Miss Amy. At the graduation there was a program and my favorite song was "A Tooty-ta"

"A-Tooty-Ta A-Tooty-Ta A-Tooty-Ta-Ta... Thumbs up!"

"... Elbows back, Legs together, Knees apart! A-Tooty-Ta A-Tooty-Ta A-Tooty-Ta-Ta..."

"... Bottoms up! A-Tooty-Ta A-Tooty-Ta A-Tooty-Ta-Ta"

"...Tongues out! A-Tooty-Ta A-Tooty-Ta A-Tooty-Ta-Ta"

"...Eyes closed, Turn around! A-Tooty-Ta A-Tooty-Ta A-Tooty-Ta-Ta!"
Best song ever!

Berkie with Grandma Bean!

Brooklynn with Grandma and Grandpa Oldroyd!

Our little family! Afterwards we celebrated with the grandparents and got icecream at Cold Stone. Brooklynn got lots of new books to start reading as her gifts. We love you Brooklynn. You are so smart, talented, creative, have a love for learning and a zest for life!

Zoo

2011-06-12T14:11:00.006-06:00

We went to the zoo a few weeks ago with my sister. It has been so long since I had taken the kids and they loved it.
Brooklynn's all time favorite animal is a giraffe. Had to get a picture with the giraffes.

AHHHHH! Don't eat me.

McKenna was so good just hanging out in the stroller.

Cameron did not want to sit on the elephant. It didn't help that right when I sat him on it the elephant spit out water with a big noise.

Berkie and Terra watching the elephants.

Cameron with Terra- we were almost done and he was so tired.

My two kiddos. A day at the zoo.

We love our baby McKenna!

10 Years!

2011-06-12T13:28:00.004-06:00

Last month Ryan and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. I can't believe it has already been 10 whole years. We have gone through so much in the last 10 years and still holding strong.

I LOVED my wedding cake. So for our anniversary I had a neighbor of mine make a small version of my cake. I loved how it turned out. Go Here to see her other cakes. (P.S. They taste so good)Ryan thought it was cool and was really surprised. It was fun.

She also made three little cupcakes to represent our 3 little kiddos. Brooklynn and Cameron really liked having their own cupcakes to eat.

Brooklynn LOVES Minnie Mouse and has since before she was even one years old.

Cameron is obsessed with Toy Story and so I had to have his with Buzz.

McKenna is little just like the cute little mouse on Cinderella.

For my gift from Ryan it is an IOU. He is taking me away for a night to a hotel with no kids. We had planned it before, but because of his new job and also since McKenna still has trouble sleeping at night it is hard right now to get away. Plus I just feel bad leaving McKenna with someone if she is going to wake up all night. Right now she is getting teeth and let me just say that last night I saw just about every hour.

I also made a little video showing us in the last 10 years. Hmm who are all those different girls with Ryan? Wow I changed my hair a lot.

What it's all about

2011-06-06T22:58:00.004-06:00

I still haven't gotten a full nights sleep in a very long time. When I was first pregnant, last February, I got up at least 3 times a night. Now my sweet McKenna just loves me so much she has to see me at least once a night too. It has been a bit hard lately.

Tonight Cameron and McKenna were in bed by 8pm and about 30 minutes later it was time to read to Brooklynn and then her bedtime. About 9pm she came out and told me she was scared. I told her not to be scared and that I would come and check on her later.

Every night I have checked on my kids since the day they were born. Sometimes even twice a night. They are always sound asleep. Sometimes in crazy positions, sometimes they are wrapped tight in their blankets or like tonight their jammies are in a wad in the corner of the room, because it is too hot. But they are always asleep and fine.

The instant I walked in her room her eyes opened wide and she smiled at me and said "I love you." She closed her eyes again and instantly went back to sleep. I kissed her sweaty little forehead and turned off her lamp. Now this is what it is all about.

I ♥ faces- from a distance

2011-06-06T17:06:00.003-06:00

I♥faces!

Happy Mothers Day!

2011-05-25T21:36:00.003-06:00

We had a neighbor (Sprinklebelle Cakes) make these yummy cupcakes to celebrate Mother's day. I asked if she could put a sillhouette on top. It went along perfect for the gift we got them.

It was so fun getting to go through My Grandma's sister's pictures and see all these amazing women that I come after. I love history and geneology and have learned a lot through it. (We are making a different picture for my grandma, but we are still trying to find a picture of my mom with her two sisters.)

After I finished my family's picture I decided to try and see if I could get enough pictures for Ryan's mom. Thankfully Grandma Record had them all.

I made a separate picture for Grandma Record of her three girls.

It was so much fun, I love this kind of thing. I wish I could do it as a job.

My mom loved her picture. *

My grandma was shocked and so excited.

*Ryan's mom and Grandma liked theirs as well (I think), but I didn't get any pictures of them.

Happy 4 Years!

2011-05-25T21:28:00.002-06:00

4 years ago (I know I am a little behind on my blogging. Plus Brooklynn had her surgery so we went late.) ANYWAYS... Brooklynn was sealed to us April 7, 20007. We like to celebrate it each year with not just Brooklynn but all our kids how blessed we are and happy that we are a family forever.

We walked around Temple Square and got a tour of the Conference Center.

Then we always go and eat at the Lion House Pantry. YUM! It is so good.

Love the rolls!

We are so blessed to have the gospel and the opportunity to have our kids sealed to us.

Royal Princess Day!

2011-05-15T14:42:00.002-06:00

Brooklynn loves anything princess. She asked me once if princesses were real. My first thought was no, but then I realized. "Oh yes they are." I told her about the upcoming wedding and we had decided that we would watch it together and celebrate.

I babysat some friends and so they all made some crowns the day before.

One of my favorite things on her wall is a saying that says "Daughters of a Heavenly King" and a picture of Brooklynn and McKenna. We always call her a princess and I have always told her when she grows up and marries in the temple she is just like a princess. Since Brooklynn was 2 she would watch Disney movies and alway call the castles temples. I love that.

Brooklynn dressed up in her Belle costume. She looked so pretty.

She wanted me to dress up too so I put on an old prom dress.

Cam acctually liked it too and enjoyed watching with us.

I loved that she got to see a real princess. I wasn't really into it before the wedding and then I realized that this was a part of history and to let me kids be part of it.

It was hard at first, because I was having one of "those" days. I didn't feel pretty and really didn't want to get dressed up. I just wanted to mope. But I saw how excited Brooklynn was and I had to do it for her. I had a lot of fun, especially spending it with my kids.

We had a muffin tin lunch and of course had to have Fish and chips. We added some fruit and a treat too. Since it was a fairytale wedding they each got a new fairy tale book.

The kids LOVE Fish sticks. Which is unfortunate, because I can't stand the smell or taste.

They always eat so good too.

McKenna was asleep the whole time, but after she woke up we dressed her like a princess too.

McKenna 6 months old

2011-04-29T17:23:00.002-06:00

My little girl is 6 months old. I can't believe it. She is such a big (tiny) girl. She is just a joy. She is ALWAYS happy and smiling. She is starting to get to the "stranger danger" stage. If she doesn't really recognize someone or not sure where I am she gives the biggest bottom lip. It is just so cute. McKenna does not crawl at all and does not sit up by herself. If I put her on her tummy she throws her arms back like she is trying to fly and just cries. I still do tummy time, but she HATES it! She practices sitting up with a boppy behind her and she does pretty good, but she is just a bit floppy still. She prefers being held and getting LOTS of attention. (Spoiled much?)

McKenna still does not sleep through the night. I have tried EVERYTHING! Both Brooklynn and Cameron slept all night before 4 months old. One thing that the doctor thinks is because she pee's A LOT. Almost every day I have to change all her clothes and blankets, sheets etc. Sometimes even after she has been changed an hour earlier. They have run tests and checked for diabetes but everything looks normal. So that is good. He just thinks her production is a little more than normal. So in the night I usually have to change her since she is soaked. So I guess I will survive and not have a great sleeper this time around.

She loves to talk and make noise. I always know when she is ready to get up for the day, because instead of crying she is just chattering in her bed. She likes to make bubbles and lots of drool. She is getting teeth and not too grouchy about it yet. She loves to eat and does so good.

At her 6 month appointment she is doing so good. Except that she was scared of anyone who touched or looked at her wrong.

Weight- 12 lbs 10 oz. (5%)
The picture shows 12.12, but she was wiggling and they told me 12.10
Height- 26 inches long (50%)
Head- 3% She has a tiny little head.

I have a skinny tall girl. Just like her sister and daddy. I thought for sure she was 13 maybe even 14 pounds, but she hasn't quite hit 13 yet.

I can't believe my little girl is already 1/2 a year. Life goes by way too fast!

Easter

2011-04-29T15:38:00.004-06:00

I had to buy the girls matching dresses. Brooklynn has had the cutest dresses, but never blue. When I saw these outfits I couldn't resist. We love Cam's boat shoes and hat. DARLING!

Brooklynn said we have to leave something for the Easter Bunny since we do for Santa. OKAY! She is so sweet and thoughtful.

So I went in my prize box and found Brooklynn's Rapunzel and Flynn Rider dolls. The books I have had for over a year waiting for a good occasion. (They are poems by Jeff Foxworthy and so fun) And they each got a new movie.

Now the Toy Story toys were a must. Cam is OBSESSED with Toy Story and so we have slowly been collecting the figures. My mom gave us a bunch that she had doubles of. He loves them so much that he sleeps with them. I only let him take 3 to bed.

McKenna got some new toys and a cute outfit with leggings. It was a fun Easter the Easter Bunny was glad to get this stuff out of the box (FINALLY)

Ryan and I gave the kids a little Book of Mormon and the cute statue.

Brooklynn's was hidden in her doll house.

Cam's was hidden in the cupboard!

McKenna's was in her swing.

Ryan and I got a new shirt and dress and some candy, also some books I got two books I have been wanting The Help and Eat Love Pray (ha ha Ryan does read...right?) Yep, he doesn't read, BUT I got him books that he would like. He got the Lance Armstrong book It's Not About the Bike, but the Journey Back to Life and a personalized signed copy of Paul Cardall's book Before My Heart Stops.

Paul Cardall's wife works with my sister-in-law and then he was also a patient in the PICU. Ryan was never his nurse but they chatted and Paul even called Ryan one night and played the piano for him. Paul wrote Ryan "Ryan, I miss my days in the PICU. Crazy huh? Miracles happen. Paul Cardall."

It was a good Easter and it is so true, Miracles do happen and we have to remember why we celebrate Easter and how blessed we really are. We are so thankful for our Savior. I am always trying to remind the kids of why we are here and what really matters. I love that now Brooklynn understands more about why we celebrate Easter.

Easter Egg Hunts

2011-04-29T15:36:00.004-06:00

Oldroyd Easter Egg Hunt

We did a fun Easter Egg hunt with the Oldroyd family. The kids went wild and found a lot of eggs. We had lots of money in the eggs. Total was about $20+. Cameron really didn't care much about the eggs and just wanted to ride the bikes. Brooklynn had fun but isn't really the competetive-sporty type. My kids got about .50 total. Oh well, they got lots of candy and other prizes.

Dennis Easter Egg Hunt

At my moms Easter Egg hunt the kids had so much fun as well. Here again, Cameron didn't really care, but for the kids it's "Even Steven" or as my siblings call it "Communism Easter Egg Hunt". So they got a ton- Coloring books, purse, candy, Barbie toys and much much more.

Now for the adult Easter Egg hunt (no pictures) it is ... AWESOME!!! My mom goes all out. It is usually you get what you get. Well one year she decided to let us all find the eggs, the winner got $5, but then she would even out the prizes. EVERYONE- (but me) complained. I didn't mind because I always lose anyways. My brothers and sisters called it the communist Easter Egg hunt. So it only lasted one year.

My mom gets a weird satisfaction out of watching her 4 kids and 3 in-laws jump, run, push, search and body slam. Now everyone in my family knows that I do not push or body slam so they don't do it to me. I am not competitive in that way. But everyone else is fair game cause they do it to each other. In the past 11 years Ryan has won a majority of the hunts (most eggs), Johana and Josh do really well at getting awesome prizes. Jake and Terra also do well and I think everyone, but me has won. I always get the least amount of eggs. Now that Camille is in the family she got less than me though. This year Ryan won with 70 eggs, he got about $20 and a Jamba Juice gift card- the rest candy. I got second to last with 35 eggs, about $20, gift cards to: Barnes and Noble, Target, Fresh Market, Movie theatre, 2 Toys R us tickets and I found the Golden egg which was $25 gift card to Olive Garden.
Thanks mom it is so much fun.

Brooklynn's Surgery

2011-04-29T15:35:00.004-06:00

Brooklynn had Strep 5 times in 12 weeks. Also in the 12 weeks Cam had it twice. So we got her tonsils and adnoids out. She was so brave waiting and had so much fun. She wasn't even scared, but I cried... Okay- I didn't cry, but my eyes welled up a little. It is a scary thing sending your child off with someone else. She got to make a sack puppet Bunny and color a hospital doll. She named hers Olivia. (I thought I had a picture of it, but I will add it later.)

Brooklynn woke up and told me that she didn't like the watermelon flavor that they gave her in the mask. "I should have chose Root Beer." We took her home and got her a Slurpee and she got to watch a movie in her bed. She took her medicine so good and hardly complained. She never got the bad 3rd day that usually comes after surgery, but days 6 and 7 she had really bad ear pain. She is now better and so far so good. I am done with this strep thing.

Brooklynn got some "Get Better Presents!" We gave her new jammies and Cameron and McKenna gave her a Princess book. My mom (Grandma Bean) gave her a Belle doll and some other princess stuff do use while she was sick.

Ryan's New Job!!!

2011-04-20T21:58:00.002-06:00

Ryan is the newest member of IHC's Pediatric Life Flight Team. Congrats to my smart and talented husband. To me it seems so scary, but Ryan has always wanted to be on Life Flight and I support him 100%. I can't wait for this new adventure in our life.

St. George

2011-04-13T14:26:00.003-06:00

About two weeks ago we went to St. George for a little getaway. We stayed in the condo with Ryan's parents. While Ryan and his parents went golfing the kids and myself had a little picnic for lunch and watched a movie. One night we went to an awesome park to play. Brooklynn is a little timid at this kind of stuff but she had fun and was more daring than I expected. She did get hurt though. Cam is not scared in the least and even when he fell really hard twice he got right back up to play again. We did spend some time just in the condo. Cam watched a lot of movies, Brooklynn colored and McKenna just sat and looked cute. One night Brooklynn wasn't feeling well and had some allergies. Once we put a wet cloth on her eyes she went right to sleep. The next day Brooklynn was feeling worse and worse. Only one more day until we were leaving. On the drive home we called the doctor and went straight to the doctors office. Brooklynn had strep for the 5th time in 12 weeks. (We made an apt with an ENT and she is getting her tonsils out this Friday.) Of course we had a blast swimming. It wasn't all that warm, but still fun. Cam HATES it, Brooklynn LOVES it and McKenna didn't know what to think of it. All in all a fun trip and we love St. George. It is Ryan's favorite place to go, I am sure for the golfing mostly, I like the shopping. Thanks Mom and Dad Oldroyd for letting us come with you.

4 years ago... what a blessing!

2011-04-07T15:19:00.003-06:00

"The temple will be an ever-present reminder that God intended the family to be eternal." --Ezra Taft Benson Today is a special day. Four years ago Brooklynn was sealed to Ryan and I in the Salt Lake Temple. I am so thankful she was brought into our lives and we are so lucky. What a blessing to know that even though she wasn't born in the covenant that she can be sealed to us so we can be a family forever. We love celebrating as a family the blessing of our temple sealings and every year we go to Temple Square to remind us of this wonderful blessing we have. Brooklynn has been really sick with high fevers so we are posponing this year hopefully to next week. Here and Here are some of our other times we have celebrated as a family.

McKenna Mae

2011-03-29T21:17:00.003-06:00

My grandma Budd is very special to me and I lived with her growing up for about 8 years until I got married. She is forgetting a lot now and she is always so happy that I finally have a baby. I then get to remind her I now have 3. She is so sweet and always good with the babies. I just love these pictures of her with McKenna. I really wanted to name McKenna after her, but she scolded me to please not name my baby Merle. So I thought I would just do the middle initial M. I told my neice that is nice because that is Ryan's grandma's initial too. Merle and Maxine. My neice Katelin said you should do Mae for MErle and MAxine. Then it hit me. MAE stands for our 4 grandma's. Merle, Maxine, Aleene and Elaine. I am so proud to have 4 wonderful grandmas. Two of which are still with us. And McKenna is a lucky girl to be named after such great women. Love you all my grandmas!

Somewhere over the rainbow

2011-03-29T21:07:00.002-06:00

About a month ago after I dropped Brooklynn off at preschool this is what I saw. I ran home and just grabbed my little camera. The rainbow was so amazing, but it just doesn't show how cool it was on camera. You could see it end right to the ground, in my neighborhood. Too bad I didn't find a pot of gold.

Firestation

2011-03-24T07:55:00.001-06:00

St. Patricks Day and more

2011-03-22T20:41:00.003-06:00

Warning- I know the pictures are bad quality lately. I have been using my little camera. The more I look at them it is driving me crazy. My little camera is just so easy to grab. Sorry... Enjoy anyways!

The day before St. Patricks Day Brooklynn was in her room for awhile during her quiet time. She came out with all this stuff. It was the Leprechaun trap. She set it up and explained to me how it worked. You see the Leprechaun has to climb up the binky clip on top of the box. Then in the opening of the bag he will see a cupcake and money. Just when he goes to grab the money, he will slip in and fall and be trapped in the bag. Then we get all his gold. Simple huh? Unfortunately he is smarter than us and it didn't work. Brooklynn thought it was so funny that he left footprints on the table. We always get left a special powder, when we add water it makes a yummy drink. She couldn't believe that he ruined her trap and had it all over the table.

We can't forget that the silly Leprechaun turns our milk green too. For lunch the kids had green mac and cheese, and green koolaide and the green oreo cookie. YUM!

Brooklynn goes back and forth in her mood about wanting to read. She doesn't like to "practice". So I had these wooden pictures and some foam paper from years ago. So I thought of a fun way for her to practice. I added velcro to the back on the picture and the foam. I wrote the words on the foam and she can practice matching them. She loves it. So does Cam. Even though I bought those probably 5 years ago (I think when Brooklynn was a baby) They finally came in handy. *See Ry all my unfinished crafts will eventually find a use.*
Also Brooklynn was coloring in her coloring book and asked me how to do this word search. I explained it and I was amazed. She found all the words by herself except 3 of them. And those three were a lot more difficult. One was backwords, one up and down and the other diagnol. Good job Berkie!

Apparently McKenna watches her big sis and loves to read now. Her little books are her favorite. She just stares at them like she is really reading. I love it. Such a cutie!

Unfortunately Cameron hasn't been up to much except... Trouble. Yep you really are seeing him cutting a strawberry with a knife. This kid is sooooooo lucky he hasn't broken a bone or gotten stitches yet. Not to mention he was first trying to bite the strawberry off the knife. I have to constantly keep an eye on him. P.S. I happen to have been holding the camera looking at pictures when I caught him doing this. I snapped one picture and immediately took it away.

Fun Night at our house!

2011-03-15T20:07:00.004-06:00

This morning we went to the doctor and found out that Brooklynn has strep for the 4th time in 2 months. They informed me that we came in January 15th, February 15th and now March 15th and all three were positive for strep. Plus she went to the Insta Care February 27th. (They are trying a 3rd different kind of medicine and then when she is better she will be checked to see if she is a carrier as well as probably all of us. She may go to a ENT to talk about a tonsilectomy also.

So I had a fun, sick, lazy night planned for us to watch a movie and relax in jammies so she can feel better. After dinner I cleaned up, vacuumed, swept and mopped. Got the kids settled in pj's (not that Cam ever stays in them). McKenna woke and and was ready to eat cereal. I was just changing her diaper when I heard "cough-cough, Gag" I look up and there is Cam gagging the good ol' Oldroyd gag. But then I noticed something in his mouth. He was chewing on Brooklynn's hair elastic and was choking. I jump up and right when I get to him he throws up all over (my new carpet). I run to get towels to clean him up. Brooklynn (my sweet girl) starts cleaning up the carpet. I get it all cleaned and there is poor little McKenna on the floor- oops I forgot I was changing her diaper. There she was naked. I feel the floor and she didn't pee on it. Thank goodness- she ALWAYS pees whenever I change her. I grap the clean diaper and there she goes. It gets all over the carpet and clean diaper. I grab another washclothe to clean up the pee. Brooklynn yells "Mom, Cam is feeding McKenna" He is feeding her the cereal and bright green peas while she is laying on the carpet gagging.
Finally I get things cleaned up and everyone settled. Kids are watching a movie now. Oh and all three kids have a fever of 99.5 or higher. Phew! I wanna go to bed.

Brooklynn's sleepover with Gracie

2011-03-08T13:11:00.001-07:00

Brooklynn had her cousin Gracie sleepover a few weeks ago. They had a blast and loved every minute of it. Cameron felt left out and bothered them most of the time. But I think it was a fun night for the girls.

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess

2011-03-08T13:07:00.003-07:00

It was Dr. Suess' birthday last week and this is the 3rd year we have celebrated it. The first year we went to Story time and Cat in the Hat came. (Brooklynn HATED it) Last year we did the same as this year. So we had a Green eggs and ham and waffle breakfast while watching Cat in the Hat. I gave the kids each a new book and the kids colored pictures from Dr. Suess' books. It was a fun day and I am beginning to like our new tradition. I hope the kids always love books as much as I do. I love introducing the kids to new books and sharing my love for books. I always am looking to get new books to add, since most of our books have been my old ones when I was little.

Yummy Food!

2011-03-03T14:10:00.004-07:00

Eating her yummy food. She is going to be a good eater like Cameron.

McKenna started eating solid food and right away she just loved it. Once her mouth gets going, it just doesn't stop. She just goes crazy. And if you don't shovel it in fast enough she gets really mad.

Love her big beautiful blue eyes.

She looks darling in these big hats and I love putting big bows on her head too.

Buzz Lightyear to the rescue

2011-03-03T14:08:00.002-07:00

Cameron loves Toy Story and in this video he is doing the part from Toy Story 2 where there are two Buzz's and so he is saying "I the real Buzz, No I real Buzz Ightyear..."
So cute!

Happy (late) Valentines!

2011-02-24T21:38:00.003-07:00

Pictures I took of the kids for Valentines. Don't I just have the cutest kids?

The kids woke up to some fun little gifts and I made pink muffins.

Brooklynn made us a little gift. She gave Ryan one of her games and me some matching words. Brooklynn's hair was two heart pig tails. (Thanks Mona-kay for the cute idea) It looked better right when I did it, before she was all wild like. I got Ryan some yummy Sprinklebelle cupcakes with chocolate covered strawberries. They were divine. Brooklynn picked out the long stem rose for Ryan (funny huh? Hope he likes roses- I liked it anyways.)

We made a fun Valentine lunch. "pink sandwhich (Brooklynn has called jam sandwiches that since she was 2), pink juice, red apples shaped into hearts, pink muffins. And of course I gave the kids a new book. They loved it all.

Got these yummy Valentine donuts at Walmart.

Each day we wrote something that we love on a little heart. It has been something fun that we do depending on the holiday. I always love seeing what the kids say. (we wrote on front and back so you can't see them all.

Since Ryan had to work on Valentines night, we went out to dinner a week late, It was nice being with Ryan alone- even if it's just for an hour or so. Also Ryan bought me some awesome photo lights and a backdrop to take pictures on. I can't wait to start using it. All in all a great holiday. I am so lucky in love with a great hubby and amazing kids.

Fun Stuff

2011-02-24T21:35:00.003-07:00

Brooklynn got to have a sleepover in our basement with my sister (she lives with us) Brooklynn loves her special time with Terra.

Cameron went down before he went to bed for 30 minutes to be with the girls. They had a blast and so did Mommy. It was nice having the kids all in bed and taken care of so I got some alone time. (doesn't happen too much)

Random

2011-02-18T08:00:00.003-07:00

So to Celebrate Chinese New Year I made a Chinese dinner and Brooklynn colored some pictures. She made a dragon.

Random pictures of my big girl- Who is almost 4 months and finally hit double digits! She is 10 lbs 8 oz. Wahoo!

On Feb 5th it was Ryan and my 11th year (first date) anniversary. He always remembers and on his way home from work brings me flowers. To defend myself I stay at home and don't always know the date (especially early in the morning)

Groundhog's Day

2011-02-08T16:08:00.005-07:00

Brooklynn was sick one day last week and couldn't go to preschool. She had us do our own preschool. She even made pictures showing what activities we were to do.

We colored some pictures getting ready for Groundhogs day.

Brooklynn colored hers very carefully.

She then found a shoebox and ripped it to peices. she made little groundhogs for each member of our family. She told me "Mom, I'm so creativful huh?" She sure is.

There is Cam's Ground hog.

McKenna just hung out!

The next day on Groundhog's day. We traced their shadows.

Then the kids colored them in.

They hung on the door for a week, but we just threw them away because they kept getting ripped.

Brooklynn helped Cam with his. She gave him earrings like Uncle Eric use to have. She thought it was so funny.

We had ugly little groundhog desserts. (They definately didn't turn out.) I used what I could find at home. Oh well the kids liked it and thought they were fun.

Snow day

2011-02-01T11:38:00.003-07:00

Brooklynn feeding McKenna a bottle. McKenna is really picky about her bottles, but she is getting so much better at taking them. Last week I was gone 4 separate times from Thursday night- Saturday afternoon and Ryan was left with all 3 kids. It went good and McKenna took a bottle two times and slept the rest. Wahoo!

Last week it was a snow day and so we pulled out the muffin tins. I don't have time to do it and figure out fun things every week anymore, but we do it randomnly on special occassions. I just used what we had at our house and so we had chicken rollups (since it was so cold and we roll up in blankets.)

As always the kids enjoyed it!

Cheese!

They love to dip.

Gotta love the treats too!

We made a fun project and Brooklynn couldn't wait for Cam to wake up from his nap. So she made both of them.

They turned out really cute.

Brooklynn loves crafts!

Why I blog

2011-01-23T15:09:00.001-07:00

President Gordon B. Hinckley: "You will have significant experiences. I hope that you will write them down and keep a record of them, that you will read them from time to time and refresh your memory of these meaningful, significant things. Some of them may be funny. Some may be of significance only to you. Some of them may be sacred and quietly beautiful. Some may build one upon another until they represent a lifetime of special experience."

3 months already

2011-01-23T15:00:00.003-07:00

McKenna is already 3 months old today. I can't believe how fast the time goes by. She is so sweet and still just a tiny thing. Although I am noticing that she is getting bigger and has chubby cheeks.

I sure love baby smiles. She does the best too!

Birthday Carnival

2011-01-22T10:39:00.006-07:00

Brooklynn's cousin's Abbie and Tyler both have December birthdays too. Since all three had big birthdays this year, we decided to do a big party. Brooklynn and Tyler turned 5 and Abbie turned 8.

We had a fun birthday carnival and the kids had a blast. Brooklynn wanted to invite everyone in the ward and her preschool, but that would be a lot of kids. So we had to set a limit of kids for Abbie, Tyler and Brooklynn. I wish she could have invited all the kids she wanted, but we just couldn't.

We had so many fun things at the party. There was a lot of Games

And more games

Face Painting

Lots of kids and family that came

And more family

And more kids

Popcorn, cupcakes and fun.

The big hit was the wiggle cars (bumper cars)

and lots of Gifts

It was so much fun and I am glad that we got to do this. Now I only do big birthday parties for the kids first birthdays, fifth, eighth and from there we will see. So in a year I have McKenna's, then 3 more until Cameron is 5 and Brooklynn is 8. Phew. I can't even think about that yet. I am lucky I got by the holidays.

Brooklynn's Stats...

2011-01-20T15:03:00.003-07:00

Brooklynn had a doctor apt too, but she was sick with Strep so they just weighed and measured her height, but didn't get the percentages.

Height- 42 inches
Weight- 36 pounds
I have a tall skinny girl. It is crazy, Cam was sick too and he weighs 32 pounds. I can't believe it.

Her doctor wouldn't do her shots since she was sick and Brooklynn was so excited she didn't have to get a shot.
Now that she is better she keeps asking me "when do I have to get my shots? How many days?" Well I remember when I was 5 I got to pick out a My Little Pony after my shots and I remember every detail about it. I told Brooklynn I have a prize for her and if she is brave she gets something special. Brooklynn always makes sure that it is okay to cry when she gets her shot. So the definition of brave at our house is that you can cry, but you still have to let the nurse give the shot with out hitting or screaming. If you are Cam you just give the nurse a dirty look and say "OUCH!"

Brooklynn is doing so good at preschool and even learning a lot of new words. This week she made thank you cards for her birthday and I wrote everyone's name on them and she colored them. She was able to sound out almost every single one and knew who's they were. I am so proud of her. Well I sure have a special girl who is just so big, sweet, funny and my bestest little friend. Love you Berkie.

McKenna's Stats

2011-01-19T10:17:00.006-07:00

McKenna's Stats

This was for her 2 month appointment, but we were a little late and she was about 2 1/2 months. And in a few days almost 3 months. (I've been a little behind.)

Height- 22.5 inches 50%
Weight- 8 lbs 13 oz. 3%
Head- 14.3 inches 3%

She is still so little. I couldn't believe it. I thought that she was closer to 10 lbs though. Nope I was wrong. I knew her head was still small since I can't keep a headband to stay on that little head. Finally now I can tell her head is getting bigger cause she can kind of wear her bigger head bands. She has a long skinny body, she is still wearing newborn diapers, but her clothes are short and baggy. So she has moved up to 0-3 month and even a few 3 month.

McKenna is doing good and very healthy. She has acid reflux and takes medicine morning and night. It helps out a lot. McKenna still wakes up at night but it is not too bad. She goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:00 and wakes up about 3 or 3:30 am. Not too bad. She then sleep until about 7 or 8. Too bad Cameron likes to wake me up about 6:30 every day.

I love that she smiles now and we can even pull out a giggle here and there. That she tries to grab at things. I love that at night she tries to get her little hands out of her wrap and I here her sucking on her fists. Yes, it is frustrating, but I love that my little girl loves me so much. If I am not holding her she isn't the happiest, you have to hold her JUST RIGHT or she is not a happy camper. McKenna is the sweetest little person and I can't wait until more of her personality comes out. We are so lucky she is in our lives. Love you little Kenna or Cocoa.

We've been busy...

2011-01-17T12:11:00.010-07:00

Brooklynn's birthday

Brooklynn turned 5 years old on December 28th. It was an amazing day and I can't believe it has already been 5 years. I just thought about the day we got to wait outside the hospital room for her. I remember hearing her first cry and that was my first cry as a mother. What a blessing she has been in our lives. I am so glad that Heavenly Father entrusted her to us. How lucky am I. It was a great day to just celebrate as our little family of 5.

Brooklynn has been collecting these statues and gets one on her birthday every year. She can't wait to grow up and get married in the temple and be a princess. I love that whenever Brooklynn was little and watched princess movies she always called the castles a temple. What a little angel I have. I can't imagine life with out her.

New Years Eve

For New Years Eve I wanted to go to the Aquarium for the New Years at noon, but didn't want to go by myself with the 3 kids. So I called up my sister-in-law and we were going to have our own party at noon. I got all ready to head out to have our Party. I was so excited, my mom and sister were all going to be there with us too. It took me almost 15 minutes to pack up the car and get the kids all buckled and then guess what??? My car wouldn't start. I took the kids out got all our bags out also and I was freezing. I didn't want to even try to get the car started. So I decided we would just have our own little party at noon. We had a picnic in the living room and watched a movie. At noon the kids banged pots and pans together. We had a lot of fun.

That night Ryan had to work so we rented Ramona and Beezus. Such a cute movie. It has become one of my favorites. Ramona reminds me a lot of Brooklynn, she has such an imagination and gets some crazy ideas. I sure love her. Brooklynn LOVES it and wants to buy it so bad. Ryan's sister Allyson told us that if you leave your shoes out on New Years Eve, Jack Frost will leave you something. So this year we decided to give it a try. Brooklynn was so excited she left him a picture and she was so excited that he kept it. We woke up to a great surprise. Ryan got new tires for his bike, I got a movie, Brooklynn got a Teanna doll, Cameron got a McQueen flashlight and McKenna got a little ball.

Abbie's Baptism

My neice Abbie turned 8 years old and got baptised. It was a very nice baptism and I was glad we could be there and celebrate this big event in her life. We had a nice dinner afterwards, but I didn't get any pictures. Congrats Abbie! We love you!

Sick Kiddos

Brooklynn got strep and it was bad. This picture was the next morning and looks good compaired to how bad it had looked. Her throat looked aweful and she had strep not just in her throat. Poor girl had 103+ temp and could hardly walk. So glad that she is better.

Cameron didn't get strep but ended up with an ear infection. We took the last few weeks easy and had a lot of time to hang out in jammies and just play.

McKenna's Blessing

McKenna got blessed on January 9, 2011. We did it in our sacrement and it was such a nice blessing. I am so thankful that Ryan has the priesthood and has been able to bless all 3 of our children. He is such a good dad. We are so thankful for our sweet baby girl McKenna (or Cocoa as Cam calls her). She is such a blessing in our lives.

Sleeping Arrangments

Cam started climbing out of his bed, so we decided to prevent any accidents to change his bed to a "big boy bed". Every night we put him in bed at 7:30ish and we hear him making noise for about 20 minutes. When we got and check on him before we go to sleep this is what we find. Cameron loves Toy Story or as he calls it "Weeba" (Woody Buzz). He always has to sleep with them. I sure love my silly, crazy, totally "boy", sweet, fun little guy. He is a blessing in our lives. Cameron has the best little personality and I am so thankful for him.

Brooklynn has always been my good girl at bedtime. We always read all the kids a story before bed, then Brooklynn reads her own books for about 30 minutes and either Ryan or I will go read a chapter out of one of her books. Then she just goes right to bed. Easy Peasy! She also loves to look at her baby books at bedtime.

McKenna loves to sleep. If she isn't sleeping she thinks that it is lunch time. This girl loves her mamma. She is very particular at who is holding her and how you are holding her. She also will not take a bottle from anyone but me. She is starting to get better, but she still prefers mommy. I guess it's another year of having a baby attached to my hip. I love her though.

My creative girly

Brooklynn LOVES Preschool and she loves learning. Brooklynn has always been very creative and loves to draw, paint or color. One of her favorite things is to make up stories or have me make up stories for her to draw pictures for. Last week at Preschool they have been reading the 3 little bears stories and they made little puppets. She was so excited. Every day after lunch when Cam takes a nap- Brooklynn has quiet time and she can color, read, or just play quietly in her room, so I can get McKenna to sleep and have a little "mommy time". I found Brooklynn acting out the 3 bears story. she made a house, beds, pillows, chairs and porrage for all the bears. Wow she sure is smart. Good job Berkie!

Ryan's Birthday

2010-12-31T14:55:00.003-07:00

At the beginning of December Ryan turned 31 years old. (old I know.)

We gave him a few fun gifts and celebrated a little.

Brooklynn loves picking out gifts for Ryan. Especially stuff she can do with him.

In the morning Ryan went mountain biking with a friend. (This is the 3rd year in a row that he has gotten to mountain bike on his birthday.) He hopes to do it every year. Later that night we left the kids with Ryan's parents and we went out to dinner alone. It was nice.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-31T14:42:00.006-07:00

We decided this year to make Santa S'mores cupcakes. They were delicious. I think Santa liked them too cause he ate them right up.

We had a busy Christmas Eve this year. We first went to my dad's for lunch and some gifts. It was nice to spend time with my Dad, his wife and my grandpa Dennis. We love the book he got us signed by the artist Al Rounds.

After that we headed over to my mom's to hang out then we had a nice dinner and opened some gifts. The kids got spoiled and had a blast.

We then headed to Ryan's parents to open gifts, read the nativity, opened up jammies and some dessert. This year we made matching pj's for all the kids. (Well I should say Danielle, Allyson and Nanci made the jammies. I was there, but only sewed a few parts. Good job ladies.) So it was fun, but has been decided that from now on we will buy the pj's. The kids were running wild, but it was fun. After a very long, exhausting, fun day. We finally made it home by 10pm.

Wow, it is always a fun sight to wake up and see what Santa left. I love that Santa wraps all the gifts in white. Sometimes though he has to borrow a few blankets of ours to cover the big gifts. But we don't mind.

The kids got a lot of fun toys. These are all the toys from Santa, mom and dad, grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins. Too many presents. We really scaled down this year, but after all the gifts from family put together, I think we will scale down a little more. What do you think?

This year was hard for me to get something for Ryan. First I was going to get him a nice gift card to his running store. The very day I was going to go there, Ryan informed me he was going there. Then I got him an MP3 player since he lost his and mine. Well come to find out the day before Christmas I find out he found his. Man this boy is hard. Well I ended up having him pick out new running sunglasses. Ryan did so good though. He got me a Kindle. I started looking into them a few days after Thanksgiving when I saw that everyone was buying Nooks and Kindles. I decided that I would save some money and buy one after Christmas when I got all my christmas money. Come to find out I opened one on Christmas. Even better that Ryan bought it before I was even looking at them. Good job honey. I love all the free books you can get on it and I even bought a couple. Now that I got my kindle I had $300 saved and we got nice new carpet for our living room. What a great Christmas.

Some of the kids favorite gifts were...
Brooklynn- Doll house, barbies, MP3 player, Goldilicous (she has pink and purple and really wanted Gold), Nickolodien's Wii fit for kids, Scooby Doo Haunted House, Tangled Leapster game
Cameron- Bike, Curious George movie, Wii Elmo game, Toy Story figures and Train set
McKenna- Swing (mom's favorite too), magic wand, baby block and books and teddy bear
The kids also got Toy Story 1,2 and 3.

Some of our favorite gifts were...
Ryan- XBox game, badly needed t-shirts, car washing stuff and he does like the MP3 player (it is better than his old one.)
Dani- Kindle, Wii Biggest Loser, some new shirts and fun new board and card games (and my new lush carpet. I will get a picture soon.)

It was a great Christmas to spend at home and with family. Always nice to remember the true meaning of Christmas. I love that Brooklynn understands and it is important to her.

Holiday Happenings

2010-12-20T18:47:00.008-07:00

So it's been awhile. Here are some things we have been up to lately... Ryan and the kids decorating our tree. The kids colored the paper to make our Christmas countdown. Then we put service things that Brooklynn and Cameron had to do each day as they ripped off the link. (some of the things were... color a picture for someone special, call someone on the phone and tell them you love them, sweep the floor, Do something special for someone and so on...) The kids told me some things they wanted and through out the last month or so I was saving ads. Brooklynn helped cut them out and glued them on their papers. We did see Santa and showed him, but he let us take the lists home to save. Nice guy. Each year Ryan and I have been married we get a new book for Christmas. We are up to 10 books. (even though we have more Christmas books we only have 10 official christmas books.) So the kids got to open a book to add to our collection. This year we opened two. Last week we made a gingerbread house. It is one of Ryan's favorite things to do for Christmas. Cameron kept eating all the candy, but Brooklynn took the project very seriously. As she does most artsy things. It was fun and messy and a great tradition. Our ward does a Christmas breakfast every year and Santa always comes to visit. Brooklynn is always DEATHLY afraid of him. This year she said that she would at least go talk to him, but she wouldn't even be in the same room. So Cameron and McKenna went with out her. I was surprised that Cameron wasn't nervous. He just sat on his lap and jabbered to him. We have also spent a lot of time reading our Christmas books and almost every night we have watched a new Christmas movie or 30 minute show. It has been a fun year so far.

Last week

2010-11-29T12:02:00.004-07:00

We have had quite the winter storms lately. Last week when "the big one" hit. (It was pretty bad, but only lasted a few hours. Ryan had to work and said he had never been so scared. He couldn't see more than a few feet in front of him.)We decided to have a pajama party and watch movies.

McKenna joined in on the fun!

The kids got their sleeping bags and got all snuggled to watch The Polar Express.

One of Brooklynn's favorite things is pajama parties and she loved it.

Cameron had fun, but didn't really stay laying down too long.

This is a picture I took towards the end of the storm. Not a great picture, it looked a lot worse in person.

Thanksgiving... I am so bad. I didn't take any pictures for Thanksgiving. This year we spent it with the Oldroyd's. So the night before we went to a movie with my family to see MegaMind. I got to see about half of it. Right away McKenna woke up and started crying. I had to rock her the whole time. Then about 10 minutes in Cameron decided he didn't want to watch, he wanted to play. So unfortunately Ryan walked around with him. But at least Brooklynn got to see it all and loved it.

The next day we had our dinner and dessert. The boys played video games and the kids ran around the house making messes. Of course the three daughters-in-law planned our Black Friday trip. Danielle, Nanci and I go every year together and have a blast. We planned our route and left at 11:30pm. We had a blast. My neice Katie went with us this year too. I was lucky to get everything I wanted.It was a great Thanksgiving.

Every year I do a different thing to write what we are thankful for. This year we made a hand turkey and wrote on the feathers. We have so many things to be thankful for here are some of them...
Ryan- My family, ability to run, good job!
Dani- Best hubby and kids, a good night sleep, the gospel!
Brooklynn- Best fmaily ever, Popcicles and gogurts, Scooby Doo glasses!
Cameron- My cozy Bobo, Cereal, Dinosaurs!
McKenna- Binky, food, swaddling blankets!

Pictures

2010-11-23T20:38:00.003-07:00

Doesn't Brooklynn look so Stylin' in her new glasses? I love them.

My 3 kiddos. Got these cute matching outfits and wanted to get a picture. Can't wait till the blizzard is gone and we can take some Christmas pictures. (Don't you love Cameron's battle wounds? Thanks Berkie! Now he has a huge scratch and goose egg on his forehead... The toy box won that one.)

McKenna is one month old today. (As of 3 minutes ago actually.)

Cam & McKenna's stats...

2010-11-17T07:23:00.009-07:00

"Let us simplify our lives a little. Let us make the changes necessary to refocus our lives on the sublime beauty of the simple, humble path of Christian discipleship—the path that leads always toward a life of meaning, gladness, and peace."

--President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "

Cameron went to his 2 year well check and I was a little surprised by some of the stats.
He is 36.4 inches tall (90%)
28 lbs and 2 oz. (50%)
his head is 19.4 inches around (70%)

Cameron is a healthy happy boy. He loves to eat and doesn't ever stop moving. He had to get shots at his appointment and just like his silly laid back personality when the nurse stuck him he gave a dirty look and said "OW" Then they stuck him one more time and he looked at Ryan and again said "Ow". He didn't cry one bit. That's my boy! We love him lots!

At McKenna's 2 week apt. She is doing great. At birth she was 5 lbs 14 oz. and they had us go back 4 days later. Then she weighed 5 lbs 7 oz. So not too bad. She just needs to be back at birth weight at 2 weeks.

She was 20.1 inches long,weighed 6 lbs 4 oz,and her head 12 inches around.

She is doing great and I was surprised how much weight she gained. She loves to eat and is a pretty good sleeper. She only wakes up once in the middle of the night and then again between 5:30 and 6am. Not too bad. She is a sweet little thing and we sure love her.

Stay tuned for pics of Brooklynn in her stylin' new glasses. She looks so stinkin' cute. We sure love her too!

Celebrations...

2010-11-16T20:26:00.003-07:00

Last Sunday we celebrated a bunch of birthdays for October and November. It was first Cameron's birthday October 15th, McKenna was born October 23rd, My bday October 27th, My grandma Budd turned 86 November 2nd, Grandparents 65th anniversary November 7th, My Grandpa's 91st bday November 18th and my brother blessed their baby Zack.

Smile for the picture...

Everyone singing happy birthday and anniversary to us all.

For some reason I was the only one who blew out the candles. Good thing we didn't have each individual candle that would burn the house down. (it would be 273 candles- that is including the anniversary. YIKES!)

My cute Grandparents holding McKenna. They are so special to me and have been a huge part of my life and growing up.

4 generation picture.

Another 4 generation picture. My mom has 6 grandkids now and these are the only 2 girls so far.

Brooklynn loves feeding McKenna a bottle. We make sure to give a bottle at least 3 times a week. Poor mommy and Cameron spent a year together with only a few hours away from each other. It was a hard year. We are making sure McKenna takes a bottle.

McKenna Mae's Pictures

2010-11-05T12:44:00.004-06:00

(CLICK ON THE RIGHT TO TURN OFF MY MUSIC) This is a song on the Taylor Swift new cd. It is called Never Grow up. I love it. It reminds me of my girls and life right now. I don't want them to get any bigger. I love them at their ages and am scared for life to change. (I don't want to get older either.) So girlies Brooklynn and McKenna (and even my boy Cam) remember all the fun things life brings and all these fun memories you have as a youngster. Live life everyday and enjoy it.

This is a blanket that a good friend made for McKenna. I loved the color and how it matched her hospital bow.

LOVE LOVE this picture. Mostly because it is so true. Daddy does adore his sweet McKenna.

Can you believe how tiny she is? What a little squirt.

Oh, I caught a gas smile. So I know babies mostly smile because of gas, but when I tickle her chin I can get a smile and Brooklynn use to smile when I would sing to her. So.... there!

My mom got her these cute jammies. I just love the little Cindy Lou Who nightgown.

They took a picture like this in the hospital, but I am not paying a ton of money to buy their pictures when I can take them myself. So, I think I did a pretty good job. I think it is precious. Holding her daddy's finger. You can really see how small she is by the size of his finger and her little hand.

Just another favorite showing her cute face. I love my girl. Although it has been a tough adjustment going to three kids, I wouldn't change a thing. I love my three kids and each of their different personalities. We are starting to get a schedule down. I guess it isn't so hard having three it is just that the other two are always wanting to touch and hold her. Cam has attempted to get her out of her carseat and Brooklynn even picked her up today. I just can't leave McKenna alone with them. Hopefully their excitement wears off and things will calm down. On a side note I went to the store today by myself with all three kids. It went great!

My Birthday

2010-11-04T13:34:00.006-06:00

Last week was my birthday and it was a little strange since I had only been home from the hospital almost 2 days, had a new baby that both nights home was up all night. Plus my hormones were crazy. But of course my sweet hubby and kids made it great. Ryan bought me flowers and wrote me the sweetest card. Most people know Ryan by his jokes and sarcastic personality. Not everyone realizes how sweet and romantic he is. He always personalizes my gifts and is so sentimental. He will buy me a book or cd and write me the most amazing card that tells me why he picked that and what I mean to him. This year he brought me flowers for our 10 year anniversary of our first date. (Let me just say that I forgot.) Also he wished me a happy anniversary on the 10 year anniversary of the day he proposed too. (again I forgot. But both nights he had been at work the night before and had seen the date, I just got up and didn't realize yet.) He is just so thoughtful.

Ryan always makes me cry by his sweet words. Here is just a peice of what he wrote me in my card.

"Happy Birthday! I hope you have a wonderful day. I want you to know how much I love and appreciate all that you do. You are the best wife, mom and friend I could have ever wished for. I am so proud of you and who you have become. I love you so much...."

I have the best hubby ever!

Since I had diabetes during my pregnancy I went 3 months with out eating cereal. It was so hard, cereal is my comfort food especially during pregnancy. I LOVE buying the Halloween cereal and couldn't even have any. So Ryan bought me a few boxes to make up for it.

Our printer has broke twice and I haven't been able to print anything for months. I have gone to neighbors and family and used their computers. We have bought new cartridges in the past but it didn't fix the problem. Finally we figured out what was wrong and Ryan bought new stuff to fix it. Yay! Also when I am ready and back to normal, Ryan is taking me shopping to buy some clothes. I can't wait.

Brooklynn & Cam picked out the new Taylor Swift cd for me. Brooklynn Loves Taylor Swift.

Of course she had to draw me a card. What a little artist she is.

Halloween

2010-11-03T14:08:00.004-06:00

We had a fun Halloween month and did some fun activities. I have too many pictures, so I just did a slideshow. We went on a witch hunt at Gardner Village, Brooklynn's preschool had a Halloween party/parade and then the other pictures are of Halloween day. Brooklynn was Alice in Wonderland, Cameron is Charlie Brown, McKenna is a pea in a pod and we are the farmers. Hope everyone had a happy Halloween.

McKenna Mae Oldroyd

2010-11-01T14:27:00.004-06:00

McKenna Mae Oldroyd joined our family Saturday October 23, 2010 at 8:37 P.M. Finally... I know I was only 37 1/2 weeks, but when you have one early and you are borderline preeclampsia it feels like you wait forever. Especially since I was having contractions at the same time each night for almost 2 weeks. Friday night I didn't get woke up with contractions and most of the day was calm. I was thinking "this is the calm before the storm. When I woke up Saturday morning to rain/snow I knew it was coming. Most of the day was pretty calm with few contractions. The night before Brooklynn said a prayer that I would have the baby later the next day. (She had a birthday party she really wanted to go to.) I dropped her off at the party and the contractions were getting harder. Not but 30 minutes after I picked her up, I knew we should go to the hospital.

We got there around 3ish and I was only a 3+, great, they are going to send me home again. So we waited the hour and surprise I was a 4. The nurse thought my doctor was out of town and I started crying. I now wanted to be sent home cause I didn't want a different doctor. Luckily she called and he was around. About 6:30 I got the epidural and then the on-call doc broke my water and said I was still a 4. Even though I had the epidural I was still feeling the contractions. I knew once they broke my water I would start dilating. About an hour later I told the nurse that I was feeling a lot of pressure and she checked and I was a 9. It went so fast. They called my doctor and didn't even have me start pushing until he got there. With Cameron I pushed about 45 minutes and this time it was only 2 and she was out. My heart rate did the same but didn't go to 170 like with Cam just 160. Things went well and I was glad it was an easy delivery.

When I saw her I knew she was tiny, but didn't realize how small. She was 5 lbs. 14 oz. and 18 1/2 inches long. I was sad that her new going home outfit would fit her, luckily I packed a preemie outfit just in case. I felt like it was deja vu. She looked so much like Cameron. Once you take the hat off she looks different, but you can tell they are related. The top picture is Cameron and bottom is McKenna.

A very happy Big Sister, loves the new baby.

After exploring the hospital room and pushing a bunch of buttons, Cam snuggled little sis. too.

Grandma Bean with her 6th Grandchild.

Grandma Oldroyd holding her 16th Grandchild.

Family of 5.

Leaving the hospital. What a teensy thing.

37 weeks and counting...

2010-10-20T15:33:00.004-06:00

I am 37 weeks and about 1 day now. Last week at 36 weeks I went to my doctor and everything was going well. I actually gained 2 pounds, I had been losing weight and it was good to see it go in the right direction. Still measuring 3 weeks small though. I have to do weekly Non-stress tests and weekly Ultrasounds to keep an eye on the baby. At that time my baby was about 5-5 1/2 pounds and looking strong. He told me that I was a 2 and 75% effaced. That was exciting because with Cameron I delivered at 37 weeks and was only a 1 and 80% when they started me.

Every time we asked Cameron what he wanted for his birthday he said "baby, bobo (blanket)" Last thursday we went to Gardner Village and walked around a bit. In the middle of the night I started having contractions and they were about 5 or 6 minutes apart. I started getting nervous when they got a little harder and closer. We went to the hospital and the nurse said they were now 2-4 minutes apart. It was so funny because it was Cameron's actual birthday and we thought he may acctually get a baby for his birthday. Unfortunately after the hour I wasn't progressing and was sent home. At least we got to have a fun day with my buddy for his birthday.

I have continued to wake up (almost at the exact same time) with contractions. They are very close together but not hard enough. Monday I went back to my doctor for my 37 week apt. This time I lost a 1/2 pound, but nothing to be worried about and am measuring at 32 weeks. Which they said was normal now since she has dropped. My protein goes back and forth between traces and 1+ and my Blood pressure was a little elevated, but not quite enough to induce me. I was a little disapointed that I was measuring the same as last week- a 2 and 75%. With out too many details my doctor said that my body is ready to have a baby, but just not getting there with all my contractions.

I knew I only had two days until Ryan had to go back to work. Now I don't mind baking her a little longer, but really don't want to deal with the stress of not having my husband around at night and going through the pains by myself until he can meet us at the hospital. Unfortunaly it didn't happen yet, so the next couple nights will be scary for me. (especially since I wake up at 2am until about 6am of night with contractions.) I have also had cramping and contractions pretty consistenly for about 48 hours, but they just aren't hard enough to do much. I did go to the hospital again the other day for other reasons (not contractions), but to get something checked out and I was pretty sure they wouldn't keep me. I was happy to find out I was now a 3 and 80%, so all my contractions did do something. They kept me there to see if I would change, since I was having contractions under 5 minutes apart. My protein was now a 1+ and my blood pressure was still elevated. After an hour they checked me again no progress. My blood pressure was the same but only a few numbers off what it would be to be concerned and start me. I was sent home again. (I knew it.) So I just have to deal with a these contractions and wait until they are a little harder. I just wish they didn't keep me up all night. Oh well, my little angel will come when she is ready. I can't wait to hold my little angel and see what she looks like.

Cameron's Birthday

2010-10-17T15:03:00.004-06:00

On Friday our Cameron turned 2 years old. I can't believe he is getting so old. And he is going to be a big brother soon. Everytime I would ask him what he wanted for his birthday he would say Baby,bobo (blanket). Well he almost got his sister on his birthday, but it didn't happen. I will write about that later.

At 2 Years Old Cameron:
~Is finally starting to talk where people other than Mom know what he is saying
~Sleeps 12-13 hours at night, plus a 2 hour nap during the day.
~Loves to sing Popcorn Popping, Twinkle Twinkle and Sunbeam song.
~Is a big tease to everyone, especially his big sis Brooklynn.
~Likes storytime, although he doesn't listen to what I am reading, but gets his own book.
~Loves to play puppy, but doesn't like the real thing.
~He is ALL boy
~His favorite food or snack is cereal.
~Just learning to enjoy tv and movies.
~He loves phones and remotes, not fake ones... the real thing.
~Cameron is a both a mommy and daddy's boy. It depends on the day and situtation.
~Loves food, any and all. He will climb on chairs, get in the fridge, freezer, and counters to find it.
~He is very sweet and ALWAYS has to give hugs and kisses. Especially to stall at bedtime.

On Cam's birthday we went to Gardner Village on a witch hunt with the Oldroyd's (I will post those pictures soon.) Then back to Grandma Oldroyd's for pizza and cupcakes. First we lit the candle and he blew it out right away. Then when we were first singing Happy Birthday Cam had a HUGE smile on his face and was so excited he all of the sudden fell off the chair. OOPS! Too bad I didn't get a picture or video. It was funny. Don't worry he didn't get hurt.

We were going to make birthday breakfast on the morning of his birthday, but had a few issues (I will write what happened on my 37 week pregnancy post) We made up for it on Saturday morning. Brooklynn was a big help making it with daddy. Breakfast was all done and Cameron was still asleep. We opened his door and he was so excited for one of his favorite meals... pancakes.

At the Oldroyd party on Thursday Cameron was too distracted and didn't really open gifts, but now that they are opened he loves all his presents. Friday night we had just a family birthday celebration and gave him a couple more gifts and had a cake. I was surprised how much he liked the books. Cameron got a lot of fun gifts from cousins and us dinosaurs, two frisbee balls, clothes, sunglasses, a new bobo (blanket), books, a little backpack like his sisters (so he will stop carrying around her purses), a train and car. I am sure there are a few more, but he was spoiled.

Conference Weekend and Other fun stuff...

2010-10-13T21:25:00.005-06:00

Over conference weekend Ryan had St. George Marathon and my doctor suggested because of my history it was best I stay home. So I started out the weekend having a girls night and went and saw a scary movie (since Ryan won't go with me) We had so much fun.

Conference and St. George Marathon

I was trying to think of what I could do with the kids. Saturday we decided to paint pumpkins. Of course this is Brooklynn's favorite thing to do.

Cameron got his hands dirty too and joined in.

Sunday we finished the pumpkins and put stickers all over them. Let me also add that Brooklynn loves conference and between the two days (8 hours) She acctually sat and watched about 2 hours.

Cam had more fun sticking the stickers to other things, but we eventually got some on his pumpkin.

We ended up having a lot of fun that weekend. Although we missed Ryan we kept busy. By the way Ryan did AWESOME at the race. It was his personal best and ran the 26.2 miles in 2 hours 49 minutes and 50 seconds. Ryan was 11th place in ages 30-35 and 47th place out of 5,900 people. Way to go Ry!

Muffin Tin Lunch

I don't always post them, but we still occasionally do Muffin Tin lunches. The kids love them and usually eat great when we do it. I gave the kids a new book I ordered from Brooklynn's school and so we had a Halloween/orange lunch.

Cam loves it!

Berkie does too!

The Hunger Games

Over a year ago my friends have a little book group and it was my turn to choose a book. My sister-in-law told me about a book she just read called Hunger Games and I told the group that was my choice and after explaining the plot I got some weird looks. So then the next time I told them I might change it and two girls told me NO! They had already started and LOVED it. So we got addicted to the series and so now we just discussed the third book at another meeting. Lindsay was so cute and ordered cupcakes from a neighbor who owns Sprinklebelle. Aren't they awesome? They taste good too.

Gracie's birthday party!

2010-10-03T13:08:00.002-06:00

My neice Gracie had her 3rd birthday party a few weeks ago and we had a great time.

Ryan's sister and her family couldn't come to the park, so we are missing one of the little girls. But here are the others.We love our girls!

Here are our little trouble maker boys. Cam has decided to join thing 1 and thing 2 in their mischievous ways. But they sure are cute.

The kids had fun playing on the swings.

It was fun watching the kids do the pinata. Every time Cam hit it his tongue stuck out so far. Brooklynn was very dainty and girly when she hit it. It was Brady who finally broke it open.

Luke Alexander Dennis

2010-10-03T11:16:00.003-06:00

My nephew Luke was born on September 13th at 5am. Here is a picture of my mom with him.

Luke is my brother Josh and his wife Johana's 3rd boy.

Luke is sure cute and he looks a lot more like his oldest brother Caleb.

We love you Luke, welcome to the family.

I ♥ faces- chalk

2010-09-28T19:57:00.003-06:00

I haven't done one of these in a long time, but this one sounded fun. I had some energy today and so we played outside a three different times today and did some chalking. Isn't my girl so cute?

To see more I ♥ faces photographs click HERE

Miracle

2010-09-27T10:38:00.009-06:00

{I know that I do a post every year. Sorry if you don't like it, but this is a big part of my life and I am so thankful for today.}

24 years ago my mom woke up to me screaming in the middle of the night. I was panicked, I started explaining that something happened to Josh and I described that he was in the mountains in a hole and he couldn't get out. Everyone was looking for him but couldn't help him. I described more of my dream to her. She explained to me Joshua was okay and sleeping in his room. It was just a dream. Well 3 years later when I was 7 years old this dream became very real.

September 22, 1989 my older brother Joshua Dennis was 10 years old and went missing in a mine. He got seperated from the other scouts and leaders and didn't have a light. He couldn't find his way back out. Family, friends, Tooele police and Search and Rescue scoured the mountain and mine for 5 long days. Wednesday September 27th the last day of the search, the mine was to be closed and sealed to prevent this from happening again. John Skinner knew where to find Josh, he dreamt about it. After being turned away day after day, finally they let him have one last look. John along with two search and rescue workers went in for our final hope. After about an hour Josh was brought out to the light safetly. I am very grateful for all the people who helped search, and for John Skinner's persistance and faith.

While Josh was still in the MTC, he wrote John Skinner a letter. "I've been pondering in my mind all day," said Josh, "the things that I'm thankful for, and the list never ends. I thought of you when I read this scripture in Mosiah 7:12, {'I am very thankful before God this day that I am yet alive, and am permitted to speak and I will endeavor to speak with boldness.'} P.S.," Josh ended the letter, "I'm glad you know what it means to search."

Some times we will be rescued and sometimes we will be the rescuers. I know I need to be rescued more often than I like. We need to remember to be open, listen to the spirit so we will know our purpose at every moment. Although we may never experience anything like this, we have our moments of darkness. We need to have faith, know that miracles do happen and we will see the light. {Love you Josh}

Today is a day that I realize all my blessings. I am thankful for husband and kids and grateful for their love and support. I need to take time and enjoy the moment more often.

"In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in the years." ~Abraham Lincoln

To read the whole story that I wrote 2 years ago click HERE

My loves

2010-09-18T19:59:00.004-06:00

The last two days have been hard. I have been tired and hurting and not wanting to do much. It doesn't help that Cameron is a wild boy and every 30 seconds is into something else and climbing on something. I have told people in the past how busy he is and I always get "the look." You know the one that people think I am just complaining and my child really isn't that hard. Until they see, I have had so many people lately tell me what a mover Cameron is and they can't believe he is such a busy boy. It is true he keeps me up and moving after him.

Brooklynn isn't as busy, but she is definately a girl and always wants me to play with her. She loves lots of attention and when she doesn't get it... Well life is OVER. Lately she has been a little more whiney than usual. I think it is more just that I can't do as much as the kids would like. Tonight we went to the store to get a couple things and we ended up staying there for over an hour. There was no shortage of tears either. Poor girl told me that her friend told her that her eyes are beautiful with out her glasses. She told me she doesn't like glasses anymore. She is more of an emotional challenge.

On the way home I heard the new Brad Paisley song. It reminds me of Cameron to the T. It is such a good song. I just can't believe how much I love both Brooklynn and Cameron. No matter the bad days, it is all worth it. They are always my babies and I will love them forever. Seriously who can resist these cute faces??? I can't.

There isn't a music video yet, but here is the song. Remember to click on the side and pause my other music. Enjoy!

Preschool

2010-09-13T15:13:00.002-06:00

Brooklynn started Preschool last week and she was SO excited.

They had to bring a poster about themselves sometime in the next few weeks, but Brooklynn was so excited she wanted it ready for the first day.

I decided to have a special lunch for her first day. I wasn't really prepared ahead of time, so it wasn't really "school themed", but Muffin tin lunch is always fun.

Cam enjoyed the lunch too. It was really a weird day for him though, last year when Brooklynn was gone at preschool he was napping so for him to be awake with out his sister was strange. He didn't know what to do. He kept asking for BEBE. (Berkie)

We had a special gift for Brooklynn after her first day of preschool. This is what I gave all my neices and nephews for their first day of school too. The book I just added, because she LOVES Junie B. Jones and I have a box full of books and other misc. toys in my basement that I have bought and save for special occasions.

Second day came around and she still loves school. I hope that she continues to love to learn and read.

Labor Day

2010-09-13T15:01:00.003-06:00

Ryan had to work the whole Labor Day weekend so we spent a few hours Monday at my mom's and then after with Ryan's family too.

At At my mom's the kids played outside to play some new games that my mom bought.

Unfortunately the kids were not interested in the games and just ran around.

Caleb loves it when Brooklynn comes over to play with him, but doesn't get along with Cameron so well. They still had fun though.

I take that back... Zack played with the games. Just not how it says in the rule book.

Hail Storm

2010-09-13T14:52:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago there was a horrible rain, wind and hail storm. It scared us so bad. Ryan and I both jumped out of bed and shut all the windows. We waited for the kids to wake up crying and neither of them made a peep.

They were so excited to go outside the next morning and play in the "snow".

Brooklynn loved it, Cameron took a minute to figure out what it was since really he doesn't remember last winter much.

He definately enjoyed it after a few minutes and kept throwing the hail at us.

Our garden started out really good, but then wasn't doing so good. We were just getting it to grow stuff again and then it got frozen. Luckily we have gotten some tomatoes, cucumber and potatoes from it. At least we got some fun out of the storm.

Baby Names

2010-09-07T19:14:00.004-06:00

I did this with Cameron and we ended up with the name that got the least amount of votes. It wasn't my first choice, but right when he was born I knew that was his name. So this time I had a list of probably 25 names for Ryan. He managed to tell me he liked about 6 of them. Well it is now down to 4. So.... tell me what you think.

McKenna Mae

Jadyn Sue

Charlotte Mae

or Sydney Mae

You can leave a comment or vote on the side.

Brianna Sue Oldroyd

2010-09-07T19:13:00.004-06:00

Here are some pictures I took of my neice Brianna. She is a cutie. She looks like her sister but at the same time different with her own look.

Of course we had to do a cowgirl picture. 3 years ago we did a similar picture of her older sister Gracie.

Brianna finally fell asleep so we could get a couple sleepy pictures. Those are my very favorite baby pictures.

31 weeks

2010-09-07T10:11:00.004-06:00

Today I hit 31 weeks. Wahoo only 9 weeks left. Long post. Big update on pregnancy, mostly for my own journaling.

To update on the last 5 weeks, there is a lot of info. 6 weeks ago I had my 26 week appointment and things were good. I gained the appropriate 1 pound a week. Baby sounded good and was moving around. I have been keeping hydrated which has helped with my kidneys and stones, although I still have a few painful ones. My heart rate has been doing good and not getting too high. I went almost 3 weeks without any protein, but it has come back and have traces of it showing up, but not a large amount to worry and my blood pressure is great.

At the end of that appointment I did my glucose test. It is no fun but doesn't bug me too bad. I wasn't surprised when I didn't pass. I did the same with Cameron, but passed the 3 hour test. So I went back a few days later to do the 3 hour one. First time passed, second time passed again. I knew that I didn't need to do it. I already went through this with Cam. Third and fourth came around and I failed. I was not happy. My doctor said mine was not very bad, but still had to take care of it. I went to see a diabetic specialist and nutritionist.

After seeing them it was not as horrible as I thought, but still a whole lot different than I was eating. It is difficult there are so many things I can't eat and have to watch. One of my favorite things is a bowl of cereal. That has always been my pregnancy food of choice. I can't even have that. I only get 30 carbs per meal (with 6 meals a day) so I have to be really careful. I eat a lot of salad for lunch and dinner and breakfast I either have cottage cheese and a fruit or one peice of toast with almond butter. I get pretty sick of eating the same old stuff, but of course I will do whatever I have to for the baby. There are a lot of risks and if I take good care of myself it will help minimize them. I am doing good and in 5 weeks have only had a few times that my blood sugar has gone up. I told Ryan that if this baby is born before my birthday I get a big yummy chocolate cake.

Now for my 30 week appointment it went good although I should have gained another 3-4 pounds I acctually lost a pound and a half. My doctor thinks it is just my drastic food change and they will keep an eye on it. I am also measuring 2 weeks smaller, but it is okay to be two weeks bigger or smaller. Everything else went good, she is still moving around and has a good heart rate and sometimes she likes to even wake me up in the middle of the night because she is so active. Next week I go to my 32 week apt and will start weekly stress tests to keep an eye on the baby. My doctor is being really positive and hopes to get me to 38 weeks at least... We will see. He also said "But also be prepared if we take her early." Cameron had the same due date as this babe and he was born at 37 weeks. Myself and Ryan's cousins wife are both pregnant and one baby will be #65 and one #66. We will see who's comes first. (Hopefully hers since her due date is 2 weeks earlier.)

I have been going through some Nesting stages and even though I am so tired I pull through cause I am just going crazy with cleaning, organizing and decorating. It has been a lot of fun though.

Brooklynn's pictures

2010-09-03T14:17:00.007-06:00

(Self Portrait)

Last year Brooklynn got a camera for her birthday, and she loved it. I got it at the day after Thanksgiving sale for only $5. The problem is it doesn't have the screen on the back, so the only way I know what pictures were taken are to download them first. Half of them are black because she puts it the wrong way or covers up where it takes the picture. The other half just are bad quality since it is a cheapo camera. Here are a few of her pictures...

Daddy walking in the kitchen.

Little brother Cameron.

Mommy and Cam.

Brooklynn wanted me to take a picture with her camera of her with her eye patch on.

Cameron's self portrait

Cupcake giveaway

2010-08-25T08:25:00.006-06:00

Sprinklebelle cupcakes is giving away 24 cupcakes. Go to her page to read how to enter the contest. The baker is in my ward. I haven't tried one of her cakes yet, but I have heard they taste amazing. All the designs for cakes and cupcakes are so cool. Yum!

Brianna Sue Oldroyd

2010-08-20T13:01:00.003-06:00

Ryan's brother and wife welcomed a new baby girl to their family. Brianna Sue Oldroyd. She is a doll. They wanted to be surprised on the gender, but all thought it was a boy. They sure got a surprise when she was born. She has a sister Bailey, brother Brady and sister Gracie. When I first saw pictures of her she looked like her sister Gracie, but then when I saw her in person she has her own look. What a cutie. Welcome to the family Brianna.

Eye Patch

2010-08-20T12:30:00.004-06:00

I think I have talked about this when Brooklynn got her glasses, but here is a reminder (for my own journeling purposes). When Brooklynn started walking I noticed that she walked funny. Some others noticed too, but some reassured me she was just learning it was ok. After several talks with her doctor he thought her legs and bones were ok, but of course said "Mothers know best." We were sent to physical therapy and they found her muscles were really tight, but not enough to explain how she walked and went very slowly up and down stairs. Anytime there was a crack in the sidewalk or a little bump she slowed down to go over it. We were stumped. I knew that something had to be off though when her brother who is 3 years younger went faster up and down stairs.

A girl at Ryan's work told him to get her eyes checked, because her daughter went through the same thing. Sure enough that was the problem. Her eyesight was 125/20. Right eye is perfect and left doesn't work so good. After 5 weeks in glasses she went back and there was a huge improvement 70/20. (that is with glasses, so she still doesn't see perfect wearing glasses.) Another 5 weeks later we went again and it didn't improve a ton, but still getting better at 60/20.

Her Opthamalogist decided to patch her eye once a day for 3 months for an hour. She was so excited the first day. Until she realized that we had to patch the good eye and she can't see well at all. Poor thing just cries. I am such a mean mom, but I just want to help it get better. One day she went to get on the computer and it was locked. She knows the password and normally just types it in and starts playing. It was about 5 minutes later I noticed that she only had about 3 letters typed in cause she couldn't see. It was a sad moment for me. She has her ups and downs with it, but sometimes we have to bribe her to wear it.

St. George

2010-08-20T12:11:00.005-06:00

Warning a lot of posts coming your way. I know that I write a lot. Feel free to just look at the pictures if you want. This is just our family journal/scrapbook. Enjoy! P.S. Half of the pictures I used my little camera and some my nice one. That is why some aren't as good as the others, still gets the job done though.

Last week we went to St. George to stay with Ryan's parents at the condo. We love our trips to St. George, mostly because that is pretty much the only vacation place we go and it is a blast. We normally go at least twice a year, but unfortunately I am not being allowed to go this October for the marathon. I will surely miss it. Especially since this is Ryan's 5th year too. Always next year. We had a great time, although we had a couple tantrums, a little boy who wouldn't stop turning on the microwave and climbing on the counters, a broken plate and a little girl who wouldn't go to bed, but still a fun trip.

At the swimming pool there is a cute little putting green. Cam liked that more than swimming.

In downtown St. George there is a little splash pad and river you can walk in. We didn't plan to stay long since it was 105 degrees out, but the kids had a blast. Now I wish I had brought their swimming suits.

We swam at least once a day and some days Brooklynn and Ryan went twice. Unfortunately they didn't heat the pool AT ALL. Even though it was hot outside, it was freezing in the pool. The last night we went it seemed warmer and that was the first time I got all the way in. It was still fun, but oh I wish it would have been a little warmer.

Brooklynn loved swimming and never wanted to leave. Cameron on the other hand HATED it. He would cry when we put him in. All he wanted to do was hang his feet on the edge.

At this condo there is a little pond that has some fish and we would go on a few walks around it. I took the kids a couple times when the woke up at 6:30 AM and I didn't want them to wake the rest of the house.

We sure had a blast and are so glad that we got to go again. Thanks mom and dad Oldroyd. I love St. George and I know Ryan loves it even more than I do.

YARD SALE!!!

2010-08-19T20:53:00.003-06:00

My family is doing a yard sale on Saturday. 100% goes to charity. It is for Students Helping Honduras. My sister-in-law is from Honduras as well as other family members. I also had the opportunity to spend over 3 months there when I was younger. They are trying to get kids out of Orphanages into a community of Foster homes. Get more info on the charity at http://www.studentshelpinghonduras.org/

Saturday 21 of August 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM at

4377 South Fernwood Drive (1395 West) in Taylorsville.

All the dough goes to Students Helping Honduras to help build an orphanage. If you can't make it, consider pitching in a few buck at the link below. Our goal is to raise $1000. Might be a l...ong shot, but we're going to try.

My brother is even be selling his Ibanez electric guitar that he's had since he was 15 :(

There will be tons of other stuff. Great Harvest is even donating bread, all the money for the slices goes to the charity as well.

My girl

2010-08-06T19:42:00.002-06:00

I always think, "Oh this is the best time, kids are so funny at this age." It just keeps getting better and better and what Brooklynn says gets more funny and cute. I have a very spirited child and some days are emotional and rough, but she is so funny and sweet too. Here are a few things that she says that have just cracked me up.

Work Prayer
{We let Brooklynn say the prayer when she wants to and she does the best prayers. We rarely have to help her. Some of the things that she says is so cute and funny. It lets us know she really listens when we pray}
"Dear Heavenly Father, We are thankful for our day and our food. Please bless it to make us healthy and strong. Please bless" {whisper} "wait daddy are you going to work?"
"No."
"Okay, never mind. Please bless our family tonight and Nanci and the baby..."
It was so cute. Side note... My sister-in-law had a cute baby a few days ago and I will post pictures soon.

Favorite Singers
"Mom, do you want to know my favorite singers?"
"Sure"
"Taylor Swift, Kelly Pickler, Carrie Underwood... Who sings that bee song?"
"Uncle Kracker." (I listen to country a lot in the car so Brooklynn knows them all)
"...Uncle Kracker, that's a funny name. Is he an uncle?"
"Probably."
"...Oh, Uncle Kracker and Justin Bieber."
"What!?!? Where in the world did you hear Justin Bieber?"
"Abbie told me." (her cousin)
Oh please help me, don't start this yet... I think I already have a teenager on my hands.

Spendy Art Work
(about the two pictures) Brooklynn loves to draw and paint and do any kind of art. She does some neat things. (very abstract). Once she tells you what her picture is of, it is cool cause you can actually see it. One of my favorite things is when she draws a picture of her self; she always has one eye that is just blue and the other that is half blue and brown. She is very detail oriented. She started drawing pictures and told me that she was going to sell them. I played a long for awhile, but she got serious about it and wanted to take them to family and have them buy them. I convinced her to practice first and give them as gifts and when she got older she could sell them. She agreed. (Her art work: Top left- A fish in water, Top right- Fireman getting out the fire, Bottom left- Monster face (it's upside down, but the lips are green and eyes black. pretty scary), Bottom right- a very colorful parrot. (I think it kinda looks like a Tucan.)

Sweet Prayer
"Dear Heavenly Father, We are thankful for our day, bless us tonight to be safe. Help us sleep good. Please bless mommy and the baby to be healthy and strong. Bless mommy to be sss... {whisper} Mom, I was going to say 'bless mommy to be sweet', but you are already sweet." Wow I have the sweetest little girl ever.

That's my girl and I love her to peices. She sure keeps life entertaining.

Lately...

2010-08-03T19:04:00.002-06:00

we have done a lot of fun things. Here are a few of them. Sorry the pictures are bad quality because I used my little camera. I have been lazy lately taking that camera around. It is just small and easy.

Went to the splash pad with cousins. I love going there, it is nice because the kids just play and for the most part I don't have to chase Cameron around. Although this day he was a little wild.

The kids had a blast.

Family time. Went on walks/bike ride. Cameron didn't last long, cause he just isn't fast enough to keep up. He would rather run. We also had an indoor picnic. (One of Brooklynn's favorite things to do.)

Went to the zoo with other cousins. So much fun, but really hot. The kids could have lasted longer, but us two pregnant girls were done after 2 hours.

Brooklynn had to get pictures and the mold for her mouth appliance. (Brooklynn calls it her braces.) She has a cross bite and they have to widen her upper teeth. Berkie did so good getting the impressions of her teeth. She gagged a little, but she didn't even cry or whine. She loved that she was in charge of the sucker and was a brave girl. The girl doing it was so impressed that she gave Brooklynn two prizes and a free icecream. She gets the appliance next week, I am nervous for that part, but after she did so good I am feeling a little better.

Brooklynn's Prayer

2010-07-22T09:29:00.003-06:00

Last night Ryan was in a hurry to leave to a concert and so when dinner came out of the oven it was pretty hot still. Brooklynn said the prayer...

"Dear Heavenly Father, Please bless our dinner to not be so hot. Bless our food to make us healthy and strong. Please bless mommy and the baby to be good. We love you so much. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen."

She took a bite of her food and said... "Oh dang, it's hot. It didn't work."

What a sweetie.

Cameron

2010-07-15T14:12:00.007-06:00

The other day my sister was coloring with Brooklynn in a Charlie Brown coloring book and said that Cameron looks like him. Really he does. Especially if you see the profiles and if Cam's hair is slicked down. That might be his Halloween costume this year. We will see.

Lately Cameron LOVES his blanky. He has a brown blanket that he always sleeps with and wants to take all over. I was nervous that he would just get attached to that one. I gave him this new one hoping he would like it. He does, but got mad cause it wouldn't stay around his shoulders. Once I tied it he was very happy.

Cameron is talking a lot more and is just super cute. One thing that he started saying when we ask him "Why are you so cute? " is "I don't know." and he shrugs his shoulders. What a cute boy.

Brooklynn

2010-07-15T09:40:00.004-06:00

Since I wasn't feeling good it was really hard for me to take the kids outside in the heat and do stuff with them. I would try to think of some activities we could do inside that didn't take much energy from me. One day we made some cupcakes and Brooklynn decorated them. She loved it.

Over the years I use to buy crafts like crazy. (Before kids came along) Well I never really got to doing any of them. So I get them out once in awhile and let Brooklynn paint them. She loves it and painting is one of her favorite activities. She decided to make these for a couple of her cousins. She had a blast.

I don't have a picture, but Brooklynn has found another hobby that she loves. Unfortunately she gets it from me, she LOVES to clean, organize and re-organize. It drives me nuts. She is still so excited for the baby that she keeps cleaning her room to make space for the baby. Well it is fine that she tries to help, BUT she goes a little too far. She is trying to get rid of all her toys cause she is big now. Well I know if we get rid of them, she will be sad. She also gets bags and puts some toys in them and says that she is saving them for the baby. She is such a sweet girl, but I really wish she would relax and let me help her. Oh well, that's my girl and I love her.

23 weeks

2010-07-14T14:00:00.011-06:00

Bad picture sorry...

Two weeks of throwing up- $25 of wasted food
Two weeks of exhaustion= Ryan cleaning and cooking- $my own insanity
One Insta Care visit, two doctor visits- $70
Visit to Hospital to get 3 Liters of IV fluids- PRICELESS

Well I will get to the picture in a minute. First I will tell about my 23 week doctor appointment.

I am still measuring 1 week bigger. My heart rate has been pretty good. So far it has only gotten to 130, not the 160's and 170's that it was with Cameron. I have to check my urine from home 1-2 times a week to check for protein. It is showing traces to 1+, but my blood pressure is low so no worries there yet. Baby Girl's heart rate was 163 and she is moving and seems to be doing great. Everything is really going good, just had a little episode, but feeling much better. I am so grateful for a good doctor and family who helps me out. And of course my baby girl who we are so thankful for.

To make a long story still long... I have not felt well for a few weeks. It started out really slow but progressed to me doing nothing. I am the type that always keeps my house clean, laundary done and dinner made. Even when I feel sick, I do my best to push through. BUT this was different. After the Insta care and doctors visits I was showing UTI, possible kidney infection or stone, dehydration. They did blood work and it was fine. Plus the culture came back negative too. My doctor was out of town all week so the PA did nothing. Saturday I was having really bad pain and we almost went to the hospital, but I decided just to lay down and rest. I think I passed a kidney stone later that day. I felt so aweful. Monday my doctor was back and I saw him. In the last 5 days I lost 2 pounds and I was still showing infection and dehydration. So he sent me to Labor and Delivery to get some fluids and medicine. Ryan had to work so it was nice that my mom came with me and my sister stayed with the kids. We were there from about 7:30pm until 2am Tuesday. Baby was doing good and I think the fluids helped her too. She moved more that night than I have ever felt her before. It is amazing the difference, I feel so much better and should have done that 2 weeks earlier. They still aren't sure why I was dehydrated. I drink anywhere from 6-10 glasses of water a day. It could be my issues with my kidneys though. I am just so glad I am doing better and can be a better wife and mom. Most of all so glad that the baby girl is doing good too.

Faster than a speeding bullet...

2010-07-08T18:53:00.004-06:00

Last weekend Ryan has had his running watch for one year and these are his stats...

In one year he has...

Run 850 miles

Spent 103 hours and 3 minutes running

Burned 85,000 calories

As for me, I have run... Okay I am not even going there. I am so proud of my superman.

People are so rude

2010-07-08T18:25:00.002-06:00

I HATE Spyware with a passion.

I can't believe people do such crap. We have had spyware and viruses all week and can't get rid of it. While we are trying to take care of it we aren't using the internet on our computer. I have been able to borrow my sister's laptop while she is gone. I didn't realize how spoiled life is with internet. I hate not having it. GRRRRR!!!!

Fun with Cousins

2010-07-01T20:34:00.002-06:00

Last night my two neices slept over and we woke up and went to the Splash pad this morning. The kids loved it.

It was warm outside just a bit windy. So the girls got cold. Cam didn't care one bit and just kept running through the water. It was a blast.

Jake and Camille's wedding

2010-06-29T16:22:00.005-06:00

Last Thursday my little brother got married to Camille.

It was so nice to be there at all the events all day.

I didn't take very many pictures, but did take a few of the cute couple.

Myself, my sister Terra and my big bro Josh at the temple.

Brooklynn loved being a little flower girl and at the reception stood in line almost the whole time. She went to see her uncle and grandparents and everyone kept telling her how cute she was. She loved the attention and so she stayed in line.

Cameron on the other hand would not stay in one place and we were chasing him EVERYWHERE. He would sit still to eat though. He was so messy after all the food.

Jake and Camille left the reception to flower petals and bubbles. It was a long day, but we enjoyed it.

We are having a .....

2010-06-15T16:22:00.003-06:00

Sorry the picture is cut off and you can't see Cameron's shirt. I will try to fix it later.

Let me tell you Brooklynn is so excited and loves telling everyone. We are happy no matter what. Of course the best news out of the ultra sound it she looks healthy and heart looks great.

It's a ....

2010-06-13T21:43:00.009-06:00

Sorry no belly shots yet. I am a slacker. I will get some though. I just put on a few pictures of the kids since I have no other pictures.

So last week I had my 18 week appointment. Things are going good so far. Baby is measuring 1 week bigger, but my doctor said it is fine and very normal to be 2 weeks bigger or smaller. I did the same with Cameron.

Nesting is totally kicking in. Unfortunately all the cleaning and organizing is in the basement and I can't move all the big boxes with out help. I guess it will have to wait. Don't worry, I always find something to clean. I clean my doors, floor boards and cupboards close to once a week.

I was so excited when I started feeling the baby move. Ryan was able to feel baby move about 17 weeks. This baby is much more calm than Cameron and really doesn't move much. Pretty much on a schedule wakes up moves for a bit and is back to resting.

Okay okay. So I know you want me to shut up and tell you if it is a boy or a girl right? Well I can honestly tell you.... I don't know yet, but I am a slacker and didn't even get any guess from anyone. Now is your chance to tell me your guess. From the beginning I had a feeling it was a girl, but I know no matter how different every pregnancy is different and might be a boy. So here are all the symptoms/Old wives tales and you make a guess.

I have been more nauseated with this baby. Way more heart burn and acid reflux. I have craved strawberries and chocolate. I have broken out, where as with Cameron I did not. I am carrying low, just like with Cameron. Baby's heart rate has been 171, 166, 150, 153. Cameron's ranged from the 166-145. (not much of a difference). For me I would love either a boy or a girl. I already have one of each. Brooklynn would love a sister and girls are fun to dress up. Also I think of how fun it would be for Cameron to have a buddy to be so close in age. I can't wait to find out so I can get ready and know what the heck we are going to do about the rooms and beds. So what do you think????

Bar J Wranglers

2010-06-08T14:22:00.002-06:00

Here is just a small video of the Bar J Wranglers. They were awesome.

Jackson Hole and Yellowstone

2010-06-08T13:59:00.003-06:00

We went to Jackson Hole last Sunday through Thursday. Ryan had some time off and we don't ever go anywhere. (Except St. George) So we decided to try something new. We went to Jackson Hole and stayed in some condo's. It was so nice to have two bedrooms and a living room and kitchen. We stayed at the condo for a lot of meals. The condo was right in the middle of all the shops, it was so fun. It isn't really a place where you can do a lot with two young kids and a pregnant lady. Although we still had a lot of fun. Brooklynn loved all the shops and constantly asked to go look at them. One day after bugging us she ended up going 3 different times. The only thing Brooklynn didn't understand is why so many people kill the animals and hang them up. We did go to see the Bar J Wranglers. That was our favorite part of the whole trip. They were funny and great to watch. The kids loved it as well. The only thing is it started kinda late for us early eaters and the kids got really tired. They fell asleep during a really loud crazy song. We all had a blast. We also went to different museums, Brooklynn was really into it all and loved learning about new animals (not ones you see at the zoo).

Tuesday we went to Yellowstone. I went a few years ago with my mom and Brooklynn when we went to pick my sister up from her mission. (We were lucky then and saw a ton of stuff) Unfortunately it was really rainy and we didn't see too many animals. Brooklynn kept track of all the animals we saw. A swan, a few elk (no antlers though), lots of different birds, hundreds of Bison. Ryan really didn't get the full Yellowstone experience, but we still had a lot of fun. Cameron learned a new word while we were driving through Yellowstone... "OUT!" He did not like sitting in the car. We also went to Yellowstone's Grand Canyon and saw an awesome waterfall. Brooklynn was deathly afraid of standing on the mountain looking over. (I kinda was freaked too, mostly because I am always so dizzy, it just feels like I am falling.) Cameron wanted to jump right over the fence and play. He is such a boy. The hike about killed me but we made it back up and continued our drive. We got to Old Faithful and missed it as we were walking up. DANG! We were trying to decide between waiting another 90 minutes to see it or just finish the hour and a half drive back. The kids were done and starving and so we decided to just leave so we could make it back to the condo by about 7:30. We are lucky for the short time we were there. Just before we got there (only minutes earlier) lightning struck Old Faithful and 1 person was taken to the hospital and 8 others were affected. I am very thankful that we had a few things that slowed us down that day so we weren't there. Too bad Ryan didn't get to see it though. I told him someday he can go back and see it. We had a really fun trip and I had a lot of fun being with Ryan and the kids. It has been nice having Ryan home with us and am sad that he starts work again tomorrow.

Random...

2010-05-29T20:31:00.002-06:00

Brooklynn loves dressing up and when I would watch Dancing with the Stars she would always dress up in something "fancy". This was only one of her costumes that night. She has several costume changes.

Of course Cam had to get in on the action too. It was so cute to see them dancing around all dressed up.

This was a picture of Berkie on her last day of Preschool. It has been so fun doing the Co-op and getting to be her teacher and watching her learn and grow. It will be different next year when she goes away to a preschool but I think it will be good for her.

What is a mom to do when she is sick with a horrible headache, throwing up, dizzy and it is snowing in May? Well we set up Brooklynn's tent and they had a camp out. It kept the kids busy for hours.

They had so much fun and it was nice that I was able to lay down and feel better. They played games, read books, drank hot chocolate and watched a movie. The kids sure had fun.

To celebrate the end of our preschool we took the kids (and siblings) to the zoo. They had a lot of fun and saw all the animals.

Brooklynn and her friend Ashlynn were so cute, they kept holding hands. It was sweet that she also was very sweet to Cam.

Details...

2010-05-18T18:40:00.004-06:00

Thanks everyone for your comments. We are very excited. I felt very blessed and excited to find out when I was pregnant with Cameron and now to be able to give birth to two babies is a wonderful blessing. Although I have had a few hard times and been sick, I really try not to take any moment for granted. And wanted to say thank you to some dear friends who have been very sweet and supportive to me. Love you guys. Hope you know who you are.

So I know there were questions and details wanted so here you go...

How far along am I?
15 weeks

When is my due date?
November 9th

When was Cameron's?
November 5th, Yep! After years of testing and fertility treatments we found that my body just didn't work. My doctor thinks that maybe I really just ovulate once a year at the exact same time. WEIRD!!!

How is it going?
Good, no big problems. I started getting Hydronephrosis again at the exact same time as with Cameron, but it is doing ok now. Just a little back pain. This time around we found an issue but it is under control and so far no big deal.

Do you want a boy or girl or have any guesses?
I think a boy or a girl would be fun for different reasons. At first I thought it was a girl, since I was a little more sick and had the "girl" cravings. But really I know that a lot of those Old wives tales are just that. I think that Cameron would love a brother to get into trouble with, but Brooklynn REALLY wants a sister. She told me... "But mom, I already have a brother and I don't have a sister." In fact she gets really mad if I tell her we may have a boy. We have been working with her and I have her convinced that the baby is a boy, just so if he/she is Brooklynn isn't disapointed and if we have a girl it will be a big surprise.

Are you going to find out or be surprised?
I am going to be surprised, when I find out in 4-5 weeks. I like to be ready, I am a planner.

9 years!!!

2010-05-15T16:02:00.002-06:00

Nine years ago Ryan got stuck with me for ETERNITY!!!

I can't believe we have been married for so long.

We have had good times and hard times and all in all worth it.

It was such a special day and I am so glad we've made it this far.

Ry, I love you and thanks for everything.

Family of 4 to 5

2010-05-14T08:20:00.003-06:00