Really?

Haili has been waking up at 5:00 am for the last two days. Bleh. I usually work out from 5:30 to 6:30. Then I quickly shower and get ready because the girls are usually up by about 6:30 or 7. I'm considering getting Haili an alarm clock and setting it for 7 am. My hope is that we can make a rule that Haili can't come out of her room until the alarm goes off... I'm really hoping this works! Any suggestions on handling super early risers?

Grateful

I am grateful for...

family,
health,
good books,
scriptures,
prayer,
dress-ups,
naptime,
giggles,
story time,
family home evening,
charades,
Christmas music,
my cello,
Kevin's job,
the internet,
hand sanitizer,
our car (210 K miles and still going strong!),
temples,
diversity,
sewing machines,
apple pie,
Kevin's sourdough bread,
girls' nights,
good friends,
late-night talks with Kevin,
sunshine,
snowflakes,
sledding,
mountains,
family vacations,
camping trips,
Dad's sweet and sour pork,
sushi,
soy sauce (only Kikkoman),
Christmas lights,
exercising,
spider traps,
our home,
good night kisses,
computers,
crayons,
princess coloring books...

And so much more! Most importantly I think I am grateful for life. I'm grateful that everyone in my family has good health. I'm grateful that sweet Laurie is alive and thriving. What a blessing this life is!

Winter and other happenings

It was a nice day, and then this...

You can't tell from the photo, but the snow is actually blowing horizontally. We're in for a big storm! I'm just glad I'm not driving in it...

Sorry to keep so many of you in suspense with regards to Laurie's condition. Laurie was only in the hospital for 3 days. The main reason she was hospitalized was to get her breathing under control and to get her to eat. She wasn't too happy being stuck in a hospital room...



We just got word that she was approved for synagis shots again (the RSV vaccine) and we're just waiting for the final go ahead from our insurance company. I'm really excited that she qualifies for these shots - as it will only help keep her healthy this winter.

We've officially entered "seclusion mode" in our household. Call me crazy, but it hasn't been nearly as hard as last year. Perhaps it's because we have a bit more room in our new house, or that Laurie isn't on oxygen or a feeding tube. I won't lie - last year I was depressed a lot of the time. It was very lonely and difficult! I mean - I didn't leave the house during the day unless it was to go to a doctor appointment. I ran errands in the evenings when Kevin was home to watch the girls. No one could come over. I especially appreciated all the phone calls. But even then... it was an extremely lonely and difficult time! Not so this time. Not sure why... I have a lot of projects to keep me busy, I'm getting up early to exercise, I have some fantastic friends in our new neighborhood...it feels like our family has been given a fresh start.

I have a brother who lives in town and attends the local university. James and his fiance come over every week to laundry and have dinner with us (when they are healthy, of course). It's been really fun to have them over and we look forward to it as a highlight of the week.


The other night we had a birthday celebration for Stephanie. She's a great person! All of my brother's have found EXCELLENT spouses. Seriously. They are amazing! Don't James and Steph look like a happy couple?


My youngest brother, Spencer, recently returned from an LDS mission to Thailand. The day after Spencer came home, my brother Jacob (pictured with Spencer above) was sealed to his wife in the Logan LDS Temple. It was a great weekend full of memorable experiences!

Kevin has been bitten by the cooking bug! Kev has always made us sourdough bread. Lately, he's been reading every cookbook and website on sourdough to try different recipes and techniques. His bread is DELICIOUS! He made 5 loaves of zucchini sourdough bread yesterday and today made these 3 loaves of apples sourdough bread. Yum! This morning he made us cinnamon and ginger sourdough waffles.

That's what we've been up to lately! Have you updated your blog recently?

In the hospital

Well, some of you may be wondering where I went... Unfortunately I wasn't able to meet my goal of 30 days of blogging. However, I think I have a good excuse... On Thursday evening Laurie came down with a little cough. I decided to take her in to see her pediatrician on Friday morning. She had pneumonia! We started her on an antibiotic and nebulizer breathing treatments. She was doing a lot worse on Friday night, so I took her to the ER. They did more breathing treatments and kept an eye on her for about 3 hours then let us go home. She was fine on Saturday and Sunday - but on Monday night, she took a turn for the worst. I brought her in to the ER early this morning and she was promptly admitted to the pediatric unit.

She's on an i.v. - getting steroids and antibiotics - and she's on oxygen. Laurie gets a breathing treatment every 2 hours. She's pretty tired and so is mommy. We're not sure when we'll be going home, but I'm optimistic that it will be soon!