.2014 year so far.january.

.the 2014 year so far has been....

awful.

.we have seriously been sick for 3 weeks, since coming home from utah for christmas.

.think im kidding.

.b woke up with croup monday morning, when we woke her up to get on a plane ride home.

.not kidding.

.only good part about it. it totally wore her out and she just wanted to sleep the entire plane ride(s).

.i called the doc's office while we were waiting to get off the plane to set an apt the next morning.

.surely croup.

.next morning. parker got it. called and doc office and my fabulous doctor just called in an order for him. we know each other too well. i also woke up with a head cold and a yeast infection. awful.

.friday i finally went into a doctor (3 hours later) i got a prescription and started feeling back to normal over the weekend. 

.and that ^^ was week one.

.week two.

.we had just gotten over croup and yeast infections, and head colds, and were doing well. tuesday parker and brooklynn are playing at the art table and i hear parker fall and start crying.

.we walked over to me. i cuddled with him. he stopped crying. and i figured it was time for a nap.

.put him down for a nap. he sleeps and than i go to wake him up. 

.he is crying. in his crib. laying down. 

.weird.

.i start making dinner and he is just whining a TON. 

.than dinner time comes around and i realize he is not using his right arm.

.GREAT.

.i went to basketball that night, but told andrew if parker was still awake when i got home, I would take him to the emergency room. he wasnt. (i had a wellness check up scheduled for 10am wednesday ANYWAYS...so i figured i would see what she thought).

.wednesday. wellness check. both kids are getting big. b is 26 pounds. parker is 22. parker is in the 97% for his height and 8-10% for his weight.

.doc comes and takes a look and sends me to get xrays.

.that was a nightmare. i went to the wrong place, like 3 times. finally kinda found it. (another long, boring story). but we made it, we got them done. they said they would call my doctor and i will hear from her.

.an hour passes. doc calls. parker has a buckle fracture (no room between his bones, its just bone on bone). call cast doctor tomorrow to set up apt. until than give him ibprofren every 6-8 hours to bring down any swelling. otherwise NO cast.

.thursday. call cast doc, they say sure, we can fit you in at 9:40 (its 8:40, i have no one to watch b, still in bed, both kids in bed, and i havent showered, oh AND its a 25 minute drive). my awesome vt volunteers to watch b. i threw a headband in my hair to cover my unwashed hair. we got there like 10 minutes late, but we survived. we find out when we got there that not only does parker have a buckle fracture, he also cracked the main bone in his elbow. awesome. parker did AWESOME. he seriously was so great. went home with a blue cast and told to NOT get it wet at all.

.weekend goes by, we are adjusting to a cast. andrew is fighting allergies like mad. 

week three.

we get all the way until WEDNESDAY with no major complications.

i deliver dinner to two fabulous families. one being in my old ward and about a 20 minute drive. I wasnt thinking about traffic when i said i would drop it off at 5:15. drop off dinner, and start the drive home. 7 minutes into our drive parker is crying. and than.

puke. all over my car. all over his toys, all over his books, all over him, all over his cast.

the smell was awful. and we were STUCK in traffic for 40 minutes. 

.got home. cleaned/disinfected my car. hosed off his carseat, took it apart to wash. 

.knock on the door, missionaries, unannounced. they were talking to us, and than....

puke. all over me, all over my floor, all over parker and his cast.

the missionaries quickly said their goodbyes and we dealt with cleaning.

cleaned parker AGAIN, cleaned my floors, disinfected, i took a shower. 

.3 hours go by. its 11. time to put these kids to bed. 

.kids to bed. i lay down, hear parker gasping for air. 

.run in, he threw up all over his clean bedding, and him. 

.bath again for parker. and than i hear crying.

.brooklynn threw up. all over her clean bedding, all over her stuffed animals, all over her ipod.

.bath for brooklynn.

.get them cleaned up, and made do with what blankets, sheets we had left that werent in the washer already or waiting their turn to be washed. finally get to bed at 12. 

.2 b comes in crying. starts to throw up, and race her to the toilet. she left her track as we ran. 

.andrew hears parker start to stir, grabs him and runs him to the toilet, and they made it. change brooklynn. put both kids back down for bed. and pray we can get some sleep.

.hour hour later, im running to the toilet, and doing so every hour.

.we made it to morning. andrew went on a walmart run at 6:30am for more disinfect wipes, gatorade, sprite and crackers.

.i continue to throw and feel awful. at 4pm i finally stopped throwing up, and still am SO weak and feel horrible. the kids are almost completely back to normal and at that point had gone 14 hours without throwing up. 

.9pm i get a blessing from andrew. <<<----this 2-3="" 8="" a="" and="" awful="" better.="" but="" clean.="" crackers="" dinner="" doing="" down="" every="" fed="" felt="" fluid="" forced="" from="" guy="" he="" home.="" hours="" house="" i="" kept="" kids="" laundry.="" made="" me.="" met.="" my="" nbsp="" needs="" night="" on="" p="" runs.="" saint.="" somehow="" still="" sure="" the="" thursday="" time="" up="" walmart="" was="" went="" were="" when="" with="" worked="">

.next morning i felt WAY better. still a bit weak, but i could function. i took both kids to the doctor to get parker a new cast, since it stunk like vomit. (it seriously was so bad we put a thick sock over his cast for 2 days so we didnt have to smell it). b came with me this time and was so interested in everything. i let her pick parker's cast color. after telling her pink was NOT an option because daddy would kill us, she picked BRIGHT neon green. 

.saturday we caught up on house cleaning, me and b went shopping at oldnavy and target. my grand total was $68.00 but after deals and rewards, and coupons, i paid $8 total. it was fabulous. we survived one more week.

.and now its monday. another new week and parker has a cold. nothing bad. just runny nose and a bit of coughing here and there. 

.and if you made it all the way to this part of the post, you may be thinking, this is the LONGEST post ever. and it is. because it has felt like the LONGEST 3 weeks of my life. i just pray we are done with sickness in our house, and broken elbows.

.here are pictures from the last 3 weeks. most are captured during the 2-3 day gaps of happiness, because the nightmare of another sickness took over.

.waiting to get x-rays.

 .pre cast...waiting for them to come in and put it on. 

 CAST. (yes he has a different shirt on, i brought it just in case the other was too hard to get on overop of his cast)

 .this was what was wrong...in medical terms.

 .before he hit his eye in the ONE small spot with no padding.

.mid january and i am out enjoying shorts and a tshirt. it was 80 degrees.

 .fall at the gymnastic place and hitting his eye on the ONE spot that does not have padding...the other eye is from him falling and hitting it on his cast...cast burn i guess you call it?

 .parker waking up b and telling her to come play.

 FIRST DAY OF NURSERY. He wanted to make a statement....a mark on each eye and a cast.

 .my sil did this in her daughters hair...it was SUPER cute...but i realized b pulls off "high" pony tails and crazy buns better...but it was still way cute.

 .lunch date with daddy. kids played on the play ground while we ate lunch.

 .b makes her bed every morning... i think she does a great  job.

 .parker PEED and POO-ED on the toilet 2 times! He was dry for 2 days.....and than...the flu hit us. 

 .she LOVES building towers.

 .sick with the flu. see how awful we look. 

 .new bright green cast, sister picked out.

 .she went shopping with me. when i looked down, she had these boots on. she wanted them SO bad. 

 .everyone who reads my blog and knows Emma...do these not remind you of her...the boots she wore with the fuzzy balls that would bounce around. i had to take a picture to show andrew. 

 .yogurt was a must after a long and successful day of shopping...and because it was buy an adult cup, get a kids cup free.

.treat us a little better 2014. will you? at least through valentines day so i can enjoy my birthday and valentines day with my family?!?

.Christmas 2013.

.this year we got the opportunity to spend christmas in utah with andrew's family. i had called andrew's uncle (dave) and begged him to come too, instead of thanksgiving (which they do every year)...after lots of begging, they agreed. it was a lot of fun.

.sunday. santa came! we asked him to stop by our house early and bring some small presents. he did. he brought a backpack and suitcase for each kid, and filled our stockings with candy. after church we celebrated christmas with our little family, and than facetimed with my mom and dad so they could watch brooklynn and parker open their gifts from them. the kids LOVED their gifts.

.we arrived to utah late monday evening. we were suppose to get in around 11:30pm, but due to delays we got in about an hour later. the kids were AWFUL the first flight. parker wouldnt suck on his paci so he screamed and screamed about his ears. he didnt want to be in his carseat. he threw his paci. b didnt want to sit. she kicked the seat in front of us. she yelled. she screamed. AWFUL. the second flight was MUCH more enjoyable. it may have been how late it was, and them being tired. it may or may not have been the melatonin i put in their bottle/sippy.

 stop in arizona...eating some dinner.

BEST SIGHT EVER

.tuesday- i shopped with my sister in the morning, and hung out at home in the afternoon. andrew took off with his cousins and shopped as well. it was just a very low key day.

.wednesday- CHRISTMAS- the kids woke up, when gpa started playing music downstairs to wake everyone up. he wont admit that was his intentions. but we all know, when the music starts playing, grandpa is ready to open presents. the kids got spoiled, as did andrew and myself. the BIG HIT for b was her doc mcstuffins doctor set. she absolutely loved it. parker was SUPER attached to me for the first 5 days not knowing people, and being out of his element. so he was just straight up grumpy. 

b was SO upset i took her away from the presents to take pictures.

see how mad she is

.she has MASTERED the look

.b LOVES blocks and building towers.

 she did this ALL BY HERSELF

 i can take pictures now that pictures are all taken

my little doctor

 hulu outfit from hawaii

 she did face

 and this one

and this one in 10 seconds.

.thursday- we all woke up, for the much anticipated CALL FROM ELDER WESTENSEE. the call was CLEAR, he looked GREAT, he was happy, he was funny, we absolutely LOVED seeing him/and talking to him. he got to talk to him about 1.5 hours through skype, and we have the entire thing recorded (thanks to my nerdy hubby). 

After we ended the call with Evan, we put Parker down for a nap, and left Brooklynn with gma and picked up our old neighbor from the rexburg ward, ashleigh. we headed over to Zupas to meet up with the Tucker family. I would be lying if I didnt say, i was nervous, and sick to my stomach the entire drive there. As I saw them walk up, my stomach dropped, and all i could do was hold them and cry. you could see the hurt in their eyes, but you could also feel the STRONG spirit of Ella, and the STRENGTH of this family. The beginning of lunch was a bit slow, not knowing what to say, what to talk about. But QUICKLY turned into laughter, and great conversation of the rexburg ward, of our lives now, staring at Stu Jr, I mean, Dylan....he is seriously one of the most adorable little boys i have EVER seen, and he reminds me SO much of Ella in blonde-boy form. We talked of our future plans, and my favorite...of Ella. I absolutely LOVED that they talked about her. You could feel her presence, and you just KNEW the love they have for her. They are such a SWEET SWEET family. As our lunch date came to an end, Ashleigh and I couldnt help but cry and  whisper in Nicole's ear that she is strong, and that she is a WONDERFUL mommy. As I hugged Stu, I thanked him for being such an amazing home teacher. For the influence he was to our family, we are still in debt to him for. He was there when Andrew and I needed him, he didnt know that at the time, but he was. There are times Andrew and I would be in a heated argument and he would stop by to check on us, or call to schedule his home teaching (which he did EVERY.SINGLE.MONTH.) I absolutely adore the Tucker family, and I am SO thankful I was able to meet them, have them in my life, and be such an example. As we drove home, i couldnt help but just cry for them, but also cry because of the strong example they are to me, and for their strength and testimonies that families are, and will be, together forever.

.friday- i hung out at home, ran a few errands by myself, andrew and his cousin went snowmobiling and had an absolute blast doing so. we played games until late that evening with everyone.

the girls coloring together

saturday- andrew went snowmoiling again, and i headed over to my sisters for the day with the kiddos. we did a little shopping, but mostly hung out at the house, and let the kids play. we met up with andrew later that evening for buffalo burgers. andrew wasnt a fan. their fries were to die for. yum!

 my kids destroyed my sisters house

.sunday- got up for 9am church. came home and took naps, ate lunch/dinner. andrew and i took the kids, and met with ronnie and rkl and headed up to my aunt nae's house for a mcdonald christmas party. there wasnt as many as last year, but it was still fun to see everyone. i cannot believe how big they have gotten. ronnie and i rocked at "nertz" we headed home around 9:30 and than i left about 20 minutes later to pick up my baby sis and her hubby from the airport. (they were in pa for christmas with his family).

.monday- got up and got the kids ready and packed to go back to ronnie's house. it will be the last time all 3 of us (me, ronnie and bre) hang out with only 2 kids. they are both pregnant. bre is due in april, and ronnie in july. we shopped for maternity clothes for bre, and than headed home and got our "crafting" on. bre and ronnie made burp clothes and baby blankets, and than ronnie and I made headbands. (i have been in a headband mood lately). i headed back to andrew's parents house late, got the kids to bed, took a shower, and packed us for the next morning to head up to his parents cabin.

.tuesday- we left by 9am to head up to the cabin. they have been working on it for a long time, and i dont even remember the last time i had been up there. it has been QUITE a change. crazy different. its close, and i cannot wait to see the finished product. andrew and i took the kids four wheeling and they LOVED it. it was parker's first time and he loved it so much he fell asleep! i know, crazy kid. andrew and i headed back home around 2ish. got to the house, showered, and headed back out to temple square. it was beautiful. chilly evening, but still very pretty. so many lights and people and just a special feeling walking around the temple grounds. we got home, and it so happened to be new years eve....so we stayed up WAY too late, ate WAY too much delicious food, and had WAY to much fun.

.wednesday- we drove up to bountiful with brooklynn to borrow ski stuff from my aunt. we also picked up my NEW boots....sorry behind this. (i know your anxiously waiting. lol.) i found boots i liked. they were on sale for like $30 a piece. i went to the store to get them and try them on...they wanted $80 a piece and didnt even have my size. i went home, found an online code, ordered TWO pair for $50 and had them shipped for free. and i LOVE them. if they would of had them in grey too, i would of got them too. lol. We hung out at home, and got ready for the next morning of skiing.

.thursday- snow skiing. this is all andrew wanted to do when we went to utah. well turns out, it didnt snow ONCE when we were there, and as soon as we left, they got slammed. but we got lift tickets to deer valley resort for $40 a piece (usually $110 for a day pass) and so we jumped on it. this is only my third time going and i was alright. but i hated going with the boys, because they would "wait" for me and that bugged me. over and over i asked them to just go and we would meet somewhere, but they wouldnt. so at one lift, i just took off, and left them. we met up eventually. i since it was only my third time EVER going, i didnt like going down stuff i wasnt comfortable with. i found myself stressed and grumpy when i did that....so i went down the easy stuff and just worked on my form, turning, speed, etc. i may have had little kids blow past me, but overall it was a blast. we skied from 9-4:30. it was insane. we met up with the rest of the family at Zupas (my FAVORITE) and than i met with my sister and went and played basketball for 1.5 hours. to say i was tired/sore the next day would be an understatement.

the guys

the guys and one girl

 me and the boys

 bachelor. he is available ladies ;)

 this is taken with my phone. pretty huh!?

the guys.

.friday- uncle dave, aunt lisa, cousin derek and lindsey left in the morning for rexburg. derek FINALLY graduates in april and we could not be more thrilled for him. he is like a brother to me, and we do miss having him close and the random stops at our house when we lived in rexburg. debbie and i ran errands for half the day and left the kids with andrew. debbie took me on my very first IKEA experience. it was a blast. SO MUCH to look at. SO MANY ideas. SO MANY little gadgets. I got the kids some plastic bowls, plates, spoons, knives, forks, and cups. we hung out at home the remainder of the evening. watching the kids play.

.saturday- we woke up early and just played with the kids and hung around in our p.j.'s. i put parker down for an early nap, and we all got ready to go to jungle jims. it was a place i found online that said they are geared towards little children. so we thought we would give it a try. it was a LOT of fun, and the kids loved it. indoor. they had a mini rollercoaster, bumper cars, swings, carousol, airplanes (that go up and down). the kids LOVED it. everything fast was totally b's element. we headed to iceberg afterwards to get some ice cream. my sister met me at the westensee's to share the ice cream. than we headed out to make a couple returns and find me a byu shirt for the game. i hit up kohls and got 2 shirts for $13 bucks! wahoo. the guys met us at chick fli a cause i had 2 free meals. than we headed to the byu game. it was fun to listen to tyler and andrew talk about campus and how much it has changed. the game was a lot of fun. it was definately something I WANTED to do, and not andrew. but he went anyways, we had a good time, and i reminded him, he is married to a baller, who likes watching this kind of stuff. it was a great night, and lots of fun. thanks for taking us tyler.

look at andrews legs. lol

 b LOVED the spinning rollercoaster. it made me SO sick after going on it 4 times.

.sunday- i got up at 7 to get ready for church, to realize it was now at 11. went back to bed. got up, got ready for church (for real) went to church. came home. started packing. headed over to my sister's to say good-bye. weird to think next time i see her, she will have a BABY. headed home, did last minute packing. stayed up until 12:30 (WAY TOO LATE)

she was WAY sick with a sinus infection and did not want a picture.

.monday- woke up at 4:30. (running on 4 hours of sleep) out the door by 5:15. (noticed b sounded horrible- very "croupy") got to airport. prayed our bags werent over 50 pounds. got through security. got some breakfast. boarded plane. got kids situated. put parker in carseat and b on my lap. took off, and in the air. b is asleep and parker is just about to fall asleep and sw informs us that b has to be in the carseat and parker on my lap. i was NOT happy. why does it matter if i bought the freaking seat!?! woke up parker. thought for sure the plane ride would be hard. it was, just because i was tired. but parker did GREAT. got to our layover. grabbed breakfast (again) let the kids run around and play. loaded the plane. kids did FANTASTIC. both slept. landed, and back to reality. 

.it was a great christmas.