Every day for a month!

Brace yourself! I am going to post daily for the next 30 days! I have really been slacking in the blogging department lately. Wish me luck.

Kevin recently returned from a 3-week business trip, his second one since he started his job at the end of May. I really can't complain, because Kevin LOVES his job and we feel blessed to have a stable income. We're just not fans of these long trips! They wanted him to stay for an entire month... thank heavens he was able to come home early! I think I would have gone crazy. Of course, I have a cousin whose husband is in the navy... when he goes "out of town" it's for months, not weeks. I honestly don't know how she does it!

Laurie is almost 16 months old! She is almost sitting up by herself. She is starting to put some weight on her legs, which is a good sign. I doubt that she'll be walking by her second birthday... but I have hope that she'll be crawling by then! I have a feeling that once she becomes mobile, there'll be no stopping her!

Haili is as cute as ever. We are going to be getting her a cello in the next month or so. She loves to sit on my lap as I play and she loves to dance to all the Suzuki Book 1 pieces. I also have a mini bow that she loves to do bow exercises with. Since we'll be in semi-seclusion this winter, we thought it would be a good idea to get Haili a cello. We'll have plenty of time to practice while we strive to keep Laurie healthy by staying home most of the time!

Here's to a hopefully uneventful RSV season!

An Overdue Update

Hello Everyone!

I know, I know. I haven't posted an update in over a month! Guilty as charged. We've had quite a busy summer. Here's what we've been up to:

1. We closed on our house on August 20th.
2. We painted our house (3 bedrooms, hallway, kitchen, and half the living room)
3. We moved in!
4. We moved OUT (and cleaned) our rental house...we're glad that's over!
5. We've packed and unpacked - I guess that technically goes along with moving, but I just had to throw that in.
6. Haili had the flu (not swine, thank goodness)
7. She gave it to me (that wasn't fun)
8. We've had 2 recent trips to Primary's for Laurie - both of which were uneventful (yay!)
9. We bought 2 koi to put in our 120 gallon fish tank in the basement. Our goal is to one day have a koi pond in our back yard - as these koi can grow to be two feet long! We named the white fish "Yoda" and the orange and white one was named "Nemo" by Haili. We bought them from Utah Koi in West Jordan. If you ever have the chance to stop by - it is the COOLEST place. This lady has this amazing pond in her back yard. You can feed the fish by hand. It's awesome.

That's basically what we've been up to the last little while. I have promised some friends that I would post pictures of the house... those will come soon! I just need to unpack the box with all of my camera equipment... wish me luck!

Our Very First ER Trip!

Well, it's official... we had to go to the ER for the very first time! Ironically, it did not involve little Laurie. This time Haili stole the show! On Tuesday night Haili was throwing a bit of a tantrum because she DID NOT want to go to bed. She was laying on the floor screaming. So I grabbed her hands and pulled her up to standing and then carried her to her bedroom. Nothing unusual. Well, she kept screaming and screaming. Finally after several minutes, I was able to calm her down and I started to read her books. Usually Haili loves to sit on my lap as I read. This time she just wanted to lay on the bed. She kept saying that she had an "owie" on her arm. Hmmmm... I tried to trick her into sitting up or at least to move that arm. No luck. When I tried to touch her arm, she would howl. My brother, James, was visiting and made her a sling. Shortly thereafter, Haili and I set off to the ER!

Haili was really a great girl through all this. I explained where we were going and she actually perked up a little. She knows that hospitals help babies and that they were going help fix her "owie". The doctor came in to examine her arm and not 30 seconds into the examination, he pulled on her left elbow and popped it into place! Haili started screaming and the doctor said he'd come back in 10-15 minutes... when she's stopped crying. Haili cried for probably about 5 minutes and then it was like an "ah-ha!" moment for her. She looked at her elbow and started to move her arm. "Mom! The doctor fixed my owie! My owie is all gone! I don't even need a band-aid!" She immediately turned into her normal, bouncy, happy self.

The doc did educate me on lifting kids by using their hands. Apparently your elbows do not fully develop until you are 4 to 5 years old. He told me it's not a good idea to ever use a child's hands to lift them up. It's also not a good idea to swing your kids using their hands. OK...I felt bad before, but now I felt even worse. It was completely my fault. But at least I've learned my lesson and I'm just grateful that they were able to fix everything quickly.

That was it. A relatively painless ER visit. One dislocated elbow and an important lesson learned by mom.

(By the way, Laurie is in the video in my last post. She shows up at about minute 6.)

Congenital Heart Disease Awareness

Please take a few minutes to watch this touching video. Little Laurie has a heart defect called Pulmonary Stenosis. At birth it was severe, but because of her surgery, it's now mild. Having a child with a heart defect has given us a new perspective on life. Many of our heart friends have inspired us with their faith and love of life. Some of the bravest people I know are these CHD children who have endured so much at such a young age. A special thanks to Paul Cardall for putting this video together and for inspiring so many of us "heart moms".

If the video doesn't work please click here
to visit's Paul's website and view the video.

8 ounces!

NEWS FLASH!

Laurie actually drank eight - yes, EIGHT - ounces of formula this morning! This has NEVER occurred before. It is normally a stretch to get her to drink a four ounce bottle. I am amazed! Just thought I'd share this fantastic news with everyone. Go Laurie!

House Pictures!

Here are some photos we took today during our outing to the house. The girls love playing there... Haili particularly loves all the dirt! Kevin finally finished the tile and he did a fantastic job, don't you think? He's relieved that he was able to finish everything before his upcoming business trip. Although I don't think he can move a muscle without experiencing some kind of pain... No pain, no gain... right?

Anniversary, Baby Blessing, and Pneumonia

Kevin and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on July 2nd! I wish I could say that we had a nice relaxing, romantic evening... but alas, it was not to be! I played with the American Festival Choir and Orchestra in a concert that night. We accompanied Maureen McGovern, Daniel Beck, and Jessie Clark Funk.

We did have a nice dinner from the Tandoori Oven that we had to eat in about 20 minutes... but it was nice, nonetheless. Kevin didn't even get to come to the concert because he was working on sanding and texturing our home! The girls spent time with my aunt in Springville. They took care of Laurie and Haili for a few days so I could go on tour to Idaho with the choir and orchestra.

On Sunday, July 5th, little Laurie was blessed! We appreciated all the family and friends who were able to come and support us. The blessing was beautiful. Get this - there were FIVE baby blessings with THREE more next Sunday because they couldn't fit them all in! Yes, we live in a young ward!


Because of all the house craziness lately: drywalling, texturing, tiling, etc. we have had the girls with several babysitters lately. Kevin has been working on the house at least 50 hours a week in addition to his full-time job. I've been putting in about 30 hours a week to help in when I can. Laurie picked up a bug somewhere and Sunday night she had, well, a REALLY bad night. I took her to the pediatrician on Monday and yes, she had pneumonia. Her oxygen saturation levels were in the 70s and would occasionally pop up to the low 80s. So back came the oxygen. She started looking a little better as soon as we put the oxygen on. She's on an antibiotic and albuterol. She is also TEETHING. Sheesh.

Laurie's doing better - but she's a pretty sick little girl. I'm just thankful that she's not bad enough to require hospitalization.

That's all of our news... I'll post pictures of the house soon!