Anna's ABC's

We finally got her to do it! Anna actually let us film her singing her alphabet! If any of you know Anna at all, you all understand what a feat that is for us to get her to "perform" at any level!!! Enjoy!

PS: Isn't she cute??? Oh, and she still doesn't believe us when we tell her it is " Q, R, S" and insists on singing to this very day "Q, U, S"! We're just her parents, what would we know anyway?

OH MY!!!

Sheesh...this past week has been about the craziest week we have had since I got married!!! Let me just fill everyone in on the past events. You all read about the trip to Twin Falls, the blow out, and all of that, but oh....there's more!

Wednesday, we got a call from Health and Welfare, and in a nut shell, my mom was being charged for child endangerment and child abandonment. Because Ben was with us for spring break, we were given protective custody until there would be a court hearing. My brother Caleb, who was staying with my mom for his spring break, had to be put in a temporary foster home. No one could get in touch with my mom, no one knew where she was.

Thursday, we got a call back from the social worker telling us that the court date would be on Friday afternoon. We were told, because we do not have any custody or guardianship rights for Ben, then if we could not get an attorney to file for guardianship of Ben, he would have to go to foster care.

So...in all the craziness and chaos, we hired an attorney...hopefully we won't cringe when we get the bill, and are now in the process of getting guardianship of Ben. He is now staying with us, we are not sure how long, but he is transferring to the elementary school here on Monday and will finish out third grade with us. After we got back from court on Friday, Saturday we spent trying to get our house in order from all week, wash our laundry, and recover from all the suddenness of what has happened!

Saturday night, even though Russ and I were exhausted, we began preparing for our talks that we were asked to give in sacrament meeting on Sunday! I was up until two in the morning preparing mine, while Russ slept on the couch! He prepared his talk in the morning, 20 minutes before we had to leave, and had only 2 index cards with a few scriptures and notes jotted down!! I had two pages that I typed, as well as two talks with all the high lighted parts I was using for my topic!! It makes me crazy that he can pull off a great talk in church with so little written down!!! I have to have everything on paper!!! But we survived and it actually felt good to finally have to speak again. The last time Russ and I spoke at church was when we were first married...over 4 years ago!

Ben loved church and had a great time! He looked really good in the suit we bought for him! I will post pictures later of everyone. We have been through so much, too much to try to explain in words, I believe, but one thing I can say is that I am overwhelmed by the support we've had from both sides of the family and from so many friends, old and new, neighbors, ward members, from people near and far. Thanks you so much for being our strength and support, for without it, we would have never been able to get through all of this.

I still feel like I am in some sort of shock, and as difficult as this change has been for me, Russ and I could never have made a different choice as to what we have done. We will have to make a lot of sacrifices to keep Ben here with us, and sometimes I wonder if we can make much more than we already have. Some moments it seems like too much for me to handle, I feel like I worked so hard to overcome my past, to work through it all, and live my life and create my own family where I felt like we could create our little heaven on earth, and now we are the responsible guardians of my little brother too. It seems incredible and crazy, and yet now I am playing the role and seeing through my own eyes what many of my aunts, cousins, and grandparents saw and went through when I was around Ben's age! I know this is what Russ and I are supposed to do, and so we will take one day at a time, and do our best with what we have been given.

But....sheesh......oh my! What, oh what an experience this has been!

This week is spring break for Twin Falls schools. We drove down to Twin Falls to pick up my little brother Ben, and my sister Haylee, so they could spend spring break with us. I picked up Haylee in Idaho Falls, where she was at a dance competition with my aunt and her kids. As I was driving on the interstate, I heard a funny sound coming from the car, and wondered what it was. But as I kept driving, I didn't notice anything else, so I tried not to worry. I picked up Haylee, and we headed off towards Pocatello. We made our stop there, at Wal Mart, to buy some snacks and drinks, and let Anna and Carter get out of the car for a bit. As we were in Pocatello, I kept debating on whether I should stop at Russ's parents house, and just let Bob (Russ's dad) check over our car to make sure everything was in order. But I talked myself out of it, feeling the need to just get to Twin Falls.

So, we left Pocatello, and somewhere between there and the Raft River exit, as Haylee and I were just chatting away, we heard a huge "explosion" coming from my car! Haylee, immediately started to close her eyes and hung on for dear life, expecting sudden death, as I looked out the rear view mirror to see an almost complete tire go tumbling behind us. As scary as it was, I calmly switched lanes, and then pulled over, while driving on only three tires and one rim. When the car finally stopped, I was shaking! I called Russ (since he had to stay in Rexburg because we did not have enough room for everyone in our car). Russ told me I would have to get the spare tire out of the trunk and put it on! That's when the panic set in! I have never done that before, and probably watched Russ do it once before we were married! And to be honest, I wasn't really paying attention!

Luckily, a couple and their daughter stopped, and the nice gentleman put on the spare for me, in which I watched VERY carefully, in case I needed to do it again! We drove 50 mph to Burley, where the local Wal Mart put on a new tire for us, and then we finally made it to Twin Falls after being in the car 6 1/2 hours!! The trip should have only taken maybe 3-3 1/2 hours! Whew! What an experience! I suggest to all of you women....have your husbands take you out sometime and learn how to put on a spare! One day you will be very thankful!!!

And as for listening to my "instincts" from the very beginning of the trip, I am sure that I was having these tiny pricks of thought throughout the trip, and they were coming from the Holy Ghost, trying to warn me! I know now that I should not dismiss such feelings ever again! What a learning experience!

When we got back to Rexburg Sunday evening, we talked Ben into letting Russ give him a hair cut! Ben was thinking it was cool to grow it out long, probably how a lot of kids are doing it now, but somehow, this little nine year old just couldn't pull off the look! So, Monday morning, Russ cut it all off, and we had to take a "before" and "after" picture! Here it is:
Doesn't Ben look so AWESOME now with his spikey new hair-do??? I think he almost looks like a different kid!
I decided to give Carter some spikes too, since we all decided the two boys have some similar traits! I do have to mention that both of them are quite cute! Carter was a little hard to work with and was not too happy about getting his picture taken, but after a few takes we got a pretty satisfactory picture.

Ta da! We sure love this cute little man! Anna and Carter have had so much fun so far with two visitors in our home, and granted, it feels a little cramped, but we love to have friends and family over to stay and play!

A year ago....

This is what we were up to about a year ago! Time goes by too fast, but I am glad I can look back and see that we were trying to make the most of it! Dang it....I LOVE my kids! That's my baby girl....and my whole life! Isn't she adorable? Anna has grown-up so much this last year! She is so smart and is such a great big sister...most of the time! She has an amazing imagination and loves to play "pretend" with anyone! She loves books and telling stories, she can pretty much do ANYTHING all by herself now, and she's still as stubborn as a mule! Some things never change! We have gone through some major tough times with Anna, but she learns and is always wanting to make better choices. She tells me often, "Mommy, Jesus want us to make dood choices! When we make bad choices, it make Jesus sad, huh?" Anna loves to have Family Home Evening, playing games on the computer or playing board games with the family. She loves her movies and cartoons! She is still such an organizer and a little OCD about certain things...but let's face it, she takes after her mother! I love to listen to Anna talk, and some nights before bedtime, she will sit on her bed with me by her side, and talk and talk and talk about virtually EVERYTHING! ! What means the most to her is when we spend TIME with her. I love those moments I have with my daughter! She is such a little pouty, grumpy rain cloud at times, but then such a bright spot in our lives too!



And here is Carter, also known as "Tartar Sauce", "Bubby", and "Kid"....among many others! He has changed so much in a year! A year ago the kid couldn't crawl and could barely roll around! All he wanted to do was hold my hand and walk! Hmmmm, just like his big sister! Carter has always been full of smiles and has had such a fun and pleasant personality! Now, a year later, we are seeing the "other" side of that personality! Yes, the one that shows his stubbornness, temper, and how mischievous he is turning out to be! Carter is talking so much now and can't sit still for a minute! He loves to kick and throw balls, watch basketball on TV, LOVES balloons, and playing with his cars and trucks. He already enjoys teasing his sister and looks at me all the time with a little look that says, "I'm about to be up to no good!" and did I mention the word "Temper Tantrum"?? Well, if you ever want to see a good one, just come on over to my house!! He will even add to the drama by banging his head on the floor a few times, then slap his hand over the top of his head where he purposefully hurt it, and then come running to me for consolation! On the other hand, Carter will randomly come up to us and give us loves and kisses, and he is always smiling about something! You just cannot resist a cute little guy with dimples! We love our little Bubba so much! Dang it.....I LOVE my kids!! Did I mention that yet? I feel like a momma bear and Anna and Carter will always be my babies! Ah, isn't being a mom just the best?

So, tell me, what were YOU doing a year ago???

Hey...don't come around our house....

Let me "vent" a little about the sickness that has hit our little family over the last month! It all started with Carter only a few weeks ago, when he came down with croup. This is the third time since October. The poor kid could barely breathe with all the wheezing and coughing, so we ended up taking him into the doctor's clinic and he got a steroid shot, which helped immensely! He actually slept all night, which we were so grateful for! We were going on three nights with little sleep, and barely functioning during the day because of it!

After Carter started to get better, Anna woke up one morning a few days later and started throwing up! She did that all morning, then seemed to be fine, but then that evening came down with an awful cold. Her sinuses were all plugged up and her eyes were watering constantly, nose running consistently, and she was quite miserable! To add to the miserable-ness, I came down right after that an awful sinus cold too! I think over the next two weeks, I literally blew out all of my brains! Yuck!

We had a break for a few days, we were all finally getting sleep at night and feeling quite happy during the day. Anna was once again learning to talk without whining constantly and we didn't have to worry about Carter throwing himself on the floor because we looked at him wrong!

Wait...I spoke too soon...just this past weekend, Anna and Carter got sick again! It started with a runny nose for the both of them, and then progressed into coughing which continued to the point that both of them would cough until they threw-up...mostly liquid and a lot of mucus! They weren't eating anything, and just laying around acting really lethargic. Even Carter, who cannot sit still for more than a few minutes, would just sit on my lap and never move!

Sunday, we decided that they had more than just a bad cold. We took them to the clinic and they were tested for RSV, which both of them had. We were given a prescription for Albuterol to give them with breathing treatments and then to come back again on Monday, since Anna had a fever and her oxygen sats were only at 85%. Hopefully, they both get better soon! To add the cherry on top of the sundae, I just came down with another sinus cold last night. Woo hoo, we're so excited! The hardest part is watching our kids feel so miserable, and not being able to do very much about it!

So, don't come around our house, if you are wise, because it is full of a bunch of grumpy, whiny, temperamental and sick people....yes....including me!