March Get Together...

We had our March family get together at my parents house on Saturday. All of my siblings (and families) made it except Jennifer (who lives in Texas) and Stacy's husband Justin. My parents made Navajo tacos, which is a family favorite. We used to have them a lot growing up. They make homemade scones and have all the fixings to put on top... it is so yummy! There was also chips and salsa (our favorite from a local restaurant) and fresh fruit. The good thing about scones is they make the perfect dessert as well... homemade strawberry freezer jam, honey butter or whatever you'd like on them (in my niece Claire's case it was whipping cream and sprinkles.) They also offered several different kinds of ice cream but I think everyone was pretty full at that point. Of course the kids didn't turn down Creamies :)

My Dad showing Jamison (Shalane's boyfriend) his gun... I think he did this with all of us girls while we were dating growing up. But if you know my Dad at all you know he's not really a very intimidating guy... I think he uses it more as a bonding experience :)

After everyone had full tummies, we all just hung out and then my parents let the kids grab for money. We used to do this as well growing up. We all loved it! How ever much money you could grab with one hand you got to keep...

The kids faces lit right up when they found out they got to do this and KEEP the money. This time it was a bowl of nickels... Maddy made out with $2.30

Avery $1.10...

Stacy did a pretty good job of getting somewhat candid pictures of everyone there...

Jamie just found out a few days ago that she's having another girl... we are so excited!

Ben usually sneaks away to take a nap... doesn't he look so cute all curled up in a pink teddy bear blanket!?! HA!

Dallin, being the oldest grandchild there of course got the most money... $3+

My parents & my niece Claire.

Lola

Stacy & Cole

Jace

My brother Shawn... can you tell where he stopped along the way???

My sister Shalane (and boyfriend Jamison) and my brother Justin

Nana & Avery

Thanks for having us Mom and Dad! The food was super yummy and we enjoyed spending time as a family!

Saturday 3/26/11

Cardiologists, Dentists & Family Dr.'s...

Last month Avery had her NICU follow up appointment. The Pediatrician recommended we have her see a Cardiologist to check her heart murmur. Her appointment was this past Thursday. I was expecting a quick appointment (maybe thirty minutes to an hour), but we ended up being there over three hours. Needless to say it was a long day! Being stuck with three and five year olds in a room for that long isn't fun at all. I had planned on having time to go back home and feed the kids lunch before taking them to school. The appointment went through lunch time, I had to reschedule my hair appointment and the kids were an hour late for school. OK, enough complaining-on to the appointment. After we got signed in and I filled out some paperwork Avery had an EKG...

After the EKG Dr. Judd's assistant of the day came in and did an exam and listened to her heart very thoroughly in several places. Then Dr. Judd came in and reevaluated her. They both heard a pretty significant heart murmur. Avery had a PDA shortly after she was born while she was in the NICU. It was successfully closed with Indometacin. According to Dr. Judd, PDA's reopen 30% of the time. They were pretty sure this was the case with Avery. The Dr. decided to have Avery get a Echocardiography to determine the size of the PDA and more importantly get a better picture of, and accurate measurements of her heart to make sure her heart hadn't enlarged as a result. If it had enlarged she would need surgery to close the PDA because overtime the heart would be working too hard and keep enlarging and eventually give out. The ultrasound was over an hour long but Avery was a trooper...

When all the testing was complete the Dr. informed us that the PDA was really small and her heart wasn't enlarged at all. Everything was functioning perfectly and that she wouldn't need surgery. It was a huge relief! She recommended we just follow up and have her checked every year... that I can handle!

You can read more about Avery's delivery and NICU stay here, here and here.

Note: Her PDA was originally found when she had her first Echocardiography in the NICU on 4/18/07 when she was 8 days old.

Thursday 3/24/11

On Friday (the following day) Maddy had a Dr.'s appointment. Tuesday evening he and Avery were playing in Avery's room and Maddy came out crying saying he swallowed a penny. We did our research online but called the Dr. the following morning to get his advice. We were told if it "hadn't passed in 48 hours to have him seen so they can make sure there wasn't any kind of blockage." We never "found" the penny so we were back at the Dr.'s office (we had been there a couple weeks earlier with him due to stomach problems)...

They did an exam and were pretty sure he is fine. We were told we could get an x-ray if we wanted to but we opted to just watch him and make sure everything stays normal in the up coming days.

Later that day Steve and I had Dentist appointments. The kids had Dentist appointments the week before. So in a 10 day period we all four had Dentist appointments and both Maddox and Avery had Dr. appointments. I think we've had our share for awhile (hopefully!)

Friday 3/25/11

Day at the Park...

Mother Nature has been playing mean games lately but we finally had a pretty nice day on Wednesday. We were excited so the kids and I decided to pack a picnic and head to the park. We invited my sister Stacy (and kids) to come along and we had a really fun time. The Easter Bunny gave Maddy this super cheap kite that we never used last year and he's been dying to try it out so we brought it along with us. He tried really hard but never got it up very high (the picture above was probably the highest he got it-you have to look close, the kite kind of blends with the sky.)

He sure had fun trying though!

We also brought some bubbles...

As you can see Avery hasn't quite figured it out yet. Maddy fared much better...

The kids can't ever get enough of the slides!

The kids absolutely loved feeding grass to the horses and were laughing so much at the noises the horses were making.

Dirty fingers!

Stacy & I being goofy :)

Wednesday 3/23/11

Leprechaun Trap...

When we were at my sister Jamie's house for our St. Patrick's Day meal (the day after) my nephew Dallin was talking about the leprechaun trap he made and how disappointed he was that he didn't catch a leprechaun. Up until this point I don't think my kids knew much about them. Maddy was really paying attention to what he was saying and decided he needed to make his own trap the next day. Notice the green shiny rock inside. I thought it was pretty cute but I think if anything this would scare a leprechaun away rather than entice one... all those creatures and such standing guard. I absolutely love the stages my kids are in right now. They are so creative and constantly pretending.

Saturday 3/19/11

That Word that Rhymes with Fetch...

Avery was crawling around like she was a dog and Maddox was throwing things for her to "fetch"... except he kept yelling the b word that rhymes with fetch. When I asked him why he was saying that he said that's what you say to a dog when you want it to get something... he now knows the correct term :)

Saturday 3/19/11

Gem & Mineral Show...

After our St. Patrick's Day meal at Jamie's house on Friday we went to the "Gem & Mineral Show" in Spanish Fork. It was my first time going to something like this and it was pretty interesting. Lots of pretty rocks to look at for sure. Here is some of what we saw...

Don't you love the VISA sign... trust me you'd need it if you wanted to buy some of these beauties! Some are in the thousands... 

Those big round things at the top are Dinosaur Eggs.

Beads anyone?

You can take home this turtle for the small fee of $975.00

The kids taking turns spinning the "Wheel of Fortune." They all got fun prizes.

Picking out some (cheaper) pretty rocks to take home.

The "walking" dinosaur that liked munching on people's heads...

Haha... sometimes this is how I really feel (especially at the end of the day when the kids haven't been on their best behavior.) :)

The kids came home with a few rocks, their "Wheel of Fortune" prizes, a shark tooth and rock candy suckers.

The rest of our rock adventure people...

Thanks for playing ladies (and kiddos)... hopefully we will be playing outside real real soon!

Friday 3/18/11

A Day Late...

Jamie decided to host a fun St. Patrick's Day meal for the kids on Friday (the next day.) The kids were definitely excited and it was yummy. The turkey for the sandwiches and edamame didn't make the picture. Don't you love her fruit rainbow!

Crazy kids!

Thanks Jamie!

Friday 3/18/11

St. Patrick's Day...

The kids were excited to wear green clothes today for St. Patrick's Day. They were bummed we didn't have a fun St. Patricks Day meal with their cousins like last year. Instead they both had dentist appointments and school. Oh well, I guess we'll try to have more fun next year. Maddy did give me a few pinches before I was able to get my green on though. Steve and I headed to the mall while the kids were at school and found some cute swim suits and Easter clothes... we even got an Easter outfit for Steve :)

Love this picture... Avery just adores Maddy!

Later on, Maddy wanted to take some pictures of me wearing my green shirt. He was acting like a real photographer telling me to pose and say "cheese." This was the best I had for him...

St. Patrick's Day,

Thursday 3/17/11