February Phone Favorites

Oh February, there were ups there were some scary times. There were birthdays and snuggles and creations. It was a busy month and I feel like the rest of the year is going to fly by just as fast. Here are a round up of this months favorites. 

These two making the same exact face has me cracking up.

Please let me bottle these moments up forever!

You're children may be half Canadian if they are outside playing when it's -20F. That wind was NO joke!

This was giving me all the feels!

Getting some homework done.

Making our own little roller coaster.

This used to be just a fun shirt (I got this at Savers when Duke was little) now it's a political statement and it makes me cringe. 

Sunday lessons at home give me all the warm fuzzies. I LOVE home church. I love the spirit it brings into our home. I love the peace. My favorite!

Just a boy wearing his Daddy's hat and holy SWOON. This boy melts my heart!

Birthday dinner at Braden's house. Such a fun group. And that's a wrap on February. Now to puphot the finishing touches on E's birthday party. Wooo hooo!!!

9 Years Old

 Age: 9

Height: 

Weight:

Nicknames: Peanut, Kiddo (Daddy), Mufficita (Pa).

+ E is the BEST big sister. She is always there ready to help with Roo. She plays, sets up shows, gets him snacks. We call her Little Mini Mama. Roo loves his big sister so it is really nice when she jumps in to help! 

+ She is a really wonderful student. She enjoys school and her favorite subject is art and math. She works hard and is always willing to go the extra step to make her work stand out.

+ E has a great group of friends. She is a light and is really good at navigating drama around friendships. She has some great friends that come over to play and it's so fun to see her in a social setting and see how she thrives. 

+ E is still ALLLLLL about the crafts and making things. She loves to work on projects together and I wish that we had more time to do that. Doesn't matter what we're making, E is all in.

+ E loves to play games and is really quite competitive. She likes to play Catan with Mama, Daddy & Duke and will play Yahtzee with Oma. 

+This girl is a wonderful reader. She has read all of the Percy Jackson books, the first three Harry Potter books and has started the Hero's of Olympus series. I am so dang proud of her and I love that she loves to read!!

+ E is becoming quite the little chef. She is starting to experiment in the kitchen and has learned how to make Mac n Cheese. We'll see how this develops! 

+E is a BIG Harry Potter fan and oh. my. lanata. it is so dang fun to enjoy something together. Her room has turned into a Hufflepuff Dormitory and we have some plans to make it even more exciting. We have been reading the books together and I love getting to spend some time and watching her fall in love with characters.

+ E is the most sincere and genuine person I know. She knows your feeling without having to say anything. She is empathetic, and kind. She is always thinking of others and she thrives on positive reinforcement. She is bold and brave but in the most humble way. She wants everyone to be happy and will often put her happiness on the back burner to serve someone else. She is all the good things in this world. 

+E is starting to find a love for Lego. After the summer spent at Gramma's building all of Daddy's Lego, it sparked a love for building. Her favorite sets are Harry Potter themed. 

Oh sweet girl, you will move mountains as you grow. Please don't ever change. You are so loved!!

E's Birthday

 

Last night as an 8 year old.

E's birthday was low key. She went to school we came home and I made some Ramen as her birthday dinner and Papa and Gram came over. She went with Daddy to pick out her special birthday treat and she choose donuts. We snuggled and opened presents and I just couldn't wrap my head around her being 9. One more year and she'll be ten. Where did the time go?!

Story of the 10 Virgins

 Our friend was going througth the temple for the first time and invited us to come along. The temple is on an appointment/ living ordinances only, for sealings and endowments because of Covid. Which means it's a pretty big deal to be able to attend at all. I got all dressed up and put on a face and did my hair. 

I love the temple grounds. I love even more that Jakob matched me on purpose. 

We get into the building and take out our card to get scanned. Our cards ended up being expired. It read August of 2020.... it's 2021. I called the bishop and he said that he would vouch for us and that we could go in but they wouldn't allow it. to say I was salty would be a major understatement. We were worthy, had an endorsement form the bishop and with COVID going to the temple is a big deal, not to mention the babysitter we had to get and pay for. And while I was obviously unimpressed with the whole situation, I couldn't help but think of the 10 virgins. How they were all there, all invited and ready to go but when the time came some where not 100% prepared and when they asked for help, they still couldn't get in. 

One day this will serve as a great object lesson, but until then, I have some cute temple pictures ;)

Sprout's Estropia Surgery

 

Last summer we were on the plane headed to Vegas and I noticed Sprout's eyes were crossing. At the time I thought it was because his hair was in his eyes and that he was just focusing on that. Turns out that wasn't the case at all. Sprout had a condition called Estropia where his eyes move independently from each other. He can still see out of both eyes but one of them tends to get lazy and turn off while the other focuses. This condition can be corrected by wearing glasses (which didn't work in our case), or surgery. The picture above is an extreme instance where his eyes would shift. Most of the time it was hardly noticeable. We debated about we there or not we should even do the surgery, but in the end decided it was probably for the best.

 To say I was nervous would be a major understatement. I wasn't so much worried about the outcome, I had a pretty good feeling that everything would be successful, but I was worried about the experience for Sprout, would he be scared, would he be in pain. Would he not understand what or why this was happening and how would that feel for him. 

Children's Mercy was incredible. They were great with Sprout, got him some shows and had a goody bag with coloring and a race car. He was really brave and sat with my and snuggled. He wasn't scared or nervous and I was so grateful.

He was so gosh darn cute in his little gown. He didn't like wearing a dress, but he was a rock star about it and giggled when his booty stuck out.

He was also allowed to have a toy and his blanket. Elephant didn't leave his side and he was so excited that he got to come with him.the hardest part for him was taking of his necklace. He cried fro quite awhile when they asked him to take it off and told them that it was his and he needed it back. To be fair he has worn it every day since he was 6 months old, but I was really amazed at how attached to it he was.

It was time to go. He hopped up on his little stretcher, gave me a kiss and our nurse Esther rolled him back on his "magic carpet." I was so worried I felt like I was going to puke. His procedure was over in less than 45 minutes. Dr. Atkinson came in to talk to me and said he wanted to come right away because the nurses said that I was nervous. I was so disappointed because I thought I was hiding it so well. He said said there was very minimal bleeding and said that he was really impressed with how little he bled and that was why the surgery was so fast. He also said that he started breathing on his own again right away.

I got to go back to recovery as he was waking up and the first thing he did was look at me all bleary eyed and said "Mama, where is my necklace?" I told him he was wearing it (the nurses had put it back on right after the procedure) and I put his hand on it and he asked again "but where is it?!" I asked him what his name was and he said "Tired." I asked him if he hurt at all and  said "I want it out" I ask hims what out and he raised his hand with his IV.. The nurse said we could snuggle and so I picked him up in his blanket and rocked him for while while his grogginess wore off. He said that he couldn't see and I told him that was okay, then he said that everything was blurry and I told him I would ask about it. They told me it was from the anesthetist and the ointment that they put in his eyes. He asked for his friend so I grabbed Elephant and he said "No, not that, my friend Brigham." It was so dang cute.

He ate some goldfish and drank a ton of juice and then had a burp that was big enough the nurse came in to see if he puked. He was pretty wobbly when he stood to get dressed. He got wheeled out to the car in a little wagon and the nurse gave him a choice of a stuffed bear or a stuffed elephant. He looked at her suspiciously and said "No I'll keep my elephant." I told him that he got to have a new friend for Elephant and he said "Okay, I'll take the elephant." And put him in the wagon suspiciously. We got in the car and I asked him what he wanted to eat. He hesitated a looooooooooooooong time then he said "PIZZA!"

 He was pretty snuggly when he got home, but was acting like his usual self. The red was spreading in his eyes but he wasn't complaining, just said they were itchy. 

By bed time he was running jumping and acting completely normal. I kept up on his pain meds for a day or two and then he was completely fine. You wouldn't have even known he had a surgery if he didn't have red "Baymax Eyes" (as we called them). He slept through the night fine until 5:30 a.m. when he came downstairs upset. We asked him if his eyes hurt and he started to cry because his band-aid had fallen off where they took out his IV and he wanted another one. 

To say I'm relieved would be an major understatement. Oh my heart. I'm so proud of this boy and am so thankful that everything went smoothly and he wasn't in pain. 

 I asked him a few days later about going to the hospital and he said "There wasn't anything scary Mama." I am so thankful for the nurses and the staff that work so hard to make kiddos feel safe and loved. I am so thankful for the prayers that people had offered up to our Father in Heaven in our behalf, While I was sitting i that waiting room I could feel them.

Oh Sprout, you are so loved!

Valentines Week

 

This year I really wanted to try and minimize Valentines week this year. I tend to try and make things bigger and bigger and my kids expectations were getting a bit out of control. I also knew that I didn't want the kids to have a ton of candy. So this year I made up the que cards and went small and simple for the kids and honestly, it was perfect.

Then every day we had an activity and seriously these were even better than the treats. We made heart shaped cocoa bombs. 

Super simple stained glass paper towel art.

Heart shaped pink pancakes.

Our Home Depot Craft.

We made bath bombs. They were so fun!

We made a fun fort.

Jakob's just keep getting naughtier and naughtier, so I'll share the PG versions. He got a skip rope to help with our fitness goals. 

He also got a Ocean Panther shirt. He loves Otters and this was a home run for him!

We had our first annual formal dinner. Jakob made the bourbon glazed pork chops and holy Moses they were incredible!! 

Everyone got all dressed up and we lit some candles. 

Jakob truly out did himself!

I decided to make a cake and it was not turning out as expected. Just as I was on the brink of tears Sprout came up to me and asked if he could help. We had a fantastic time sitting together giggling while he made his cake and while it is absolutely not perfect, this cake means a lot to me!

 

Happy Valentines Day! These guys are my whole world.