One more Ellie update

Rachel & Scott's blog is now public, so if you want any updates, feel free to go read her blog and give her some love (comments)!  Ellie had a good week from what I heard, so thank you for any prayers offered in their behalf!

http://scottrachelandmason.blogspot.com

July Trip to Utah (major picture overload)

We took another trip to Utah to visit family and attend the Allred Family Reunion at Bear Lake (week of July 24).  We snuck in lots of fun outings and I even ran a half marathon!

When we arrived at Nana's house, Kendall was overwhelmed with all the family around.  She kept her smiles to herself, and just mostly stared at people.  She had a staring contest with Papa that lasted forever!  Papa also let her watch some of a Tim McGraw concert on TV and she watched it for a long time.  I think she has a crush on him!  Kendall was pretty good on the trip - on many occasions it was just easier to hold her then let her crawl around, and she was mostly content to be held when I needed her to be (at home she likes to be left alone - she just crawls around and gets into everything).  She woke up a lot in the early evening hours, and I didn't even know how to put her back to sleep because she sleeps through the night at home and hardly ever wakes up.  So Brandon rocked and held her which worked for him, and I ended up just laying her on my chest over and over and scratching her back until she fell back asleep, and if I was extra tired then I'd make her a bottle to help soothe her back to sleep.  Thankfully she went right back to her old routine once she got back in her own bed.

Because of the hour time difference, Rachel and Andrew got to stay up until at least 9p every night it seemed (late for us).  There was so much to do and see, they were just so darn happy to be in Utah with family and cousins.  And they were loving to play outside - it has been a long, hot summer for us!

We went to Jump On It, they hiked to Bridal Veil Falls, went to Liam's birthday party, saw "Monsters University", visited the dinosaur museum, went to Sundance to see "Annie Get Your Gun" (Brandon & Rachel), swam at Riverside, attended church with Chris & Kacie, and lots more I am sure I am missing!

Since it was Pioneer day/week in Utah, there were lots of fireworks in the evening hours!  Mom got a big pack from Costco and Chad was the official lighter.  Mom requested that Chad read the names of all the fireworks before lighting them, which was kind of funny actually.  Brandon put himself in charge of the background music.  We all sang along to "God Bless America" and "Baby, You're a Firework".  I love hanging out in the front yard at my mom's house with family!

On Pioneer Day, my sister-in-law, Cindy and I ran the Deseret News Classic Half Marathon race in SLC.  It was Cindy's first race, and I wanted to make sure that we stayed together.  She was a trooper and was not feeling well during the run, but she did fantastically.  I really pushed her the last few miles even though she wasn't feeling good.  Our time was 2 hours, 38 minutes.  Cindy has actually ran another one since then and was feeling much better - she loved it and even got a better time!  Go Cindy!  For me, it was a beautiful course that was mostly downhill, and the last couple miles are part of the route for the Days of '47 parade which made it kind of fun.  As strangers cheered us on, I kept saying back, "Thanks!  I think we're going to win!" :)  My body felt good, and I didn't feel like puking my guts out at the end, so that was a bonus!  My mom, Brandon and the kids were at the finish line, and Rachel and Andrew came out and gave me a hug and Andrew held my hand and ran with me for a few seconds.  It was a precious moment!  Afterwards, we went to the Original Pancake House (a Chicago favorite) and it was delicious as always.

On our way to the reunion at Bear Lake, we stopped by Primary Children's Hospital to see Ellie.  I held her while she was taking a little snooze and then she woke up and was so happy to see her mama, and I loved being there watching Ellie and Rachel interact with each other.  What a sweet, little fighter spirit that Ellie has, and we are so happy that she is in our family!  I felt an overwhelming amount of love for her even though I have only spent a little bit of time with her.  

The reunion was so much fun for the kids and adults!  We went to the lake two of the days and Brandon's parents rented jet ski's and a boat, so everyone got spoiled with some fun lake time.  Kendall was a little tricky at the lake because she wanted to crawl around and eat all the sand and rocks.  Nancy & Val brought Rachel's kids since her and Scott were still at the hospital with Ellie, and everything went really well.  Nancy and Val did so much to make the trip super fun!  And Pookie and Papa are SO generous and paid for all the lodging for the whole family.  We all stayed in a lodge together (60+ people) and we each had food assignments to feed the whole Allred clan.

The food was delicious, but I was not as good about monitoring what Rachel was / wasn't eating (I'm seriously wondering if she ate any fruit that weekend?!).  On the last night, she threw up everywhere!  She wasn't sick, just had too much junk food and was running around way too much.  Because of this, she missed out on the big cousin sleepover the last night, and she was devastated!  Then we left first thing the next morning, and the cousins were still asleep so Rachel couldn't say goodbye to them.  As usual, she was heartbroken as we left Bear Lake and headed home to Arizona.  She always recovers fairly quickly, but she gets so sad about goodbye's and leaving after a fun trip.

Such fun memories!!  There was a talent show for all the great grandkids to perform - a big Allred tradition.  Rachel bravely sang, "Reflection" from Mulan and she did fantastic!  Later during Grandpa's devotional, Rachel was playing with her loose tooth and it fell out.  Kennedy wanted in on the fun, so she went over to her dad, Chris, and asked him to pull out her already loose tooth.  He did and so both girls lost a tooth at Bear Lake and the Tooth Fairy found them there!  Good thing both their tooth fairies are on the same currency plan ($1 per tooth)!  And good thing  our cousin, Leslie, had some glittery makeup that the toothfairy borrowed (bad idea to make the money glittery from the get go).  What a fun memory for those cute cousins to have lost a tooth the same day!  There were so many girls Rachel's age there, which makes me SO happy - Kennedy (6), Allie (5), Brynn (4), Rachel (5), Lexie (4), Reagan (5).  And Andrew and Chase became good friends also this trip.

On the way home (13+ hours from Bear Lake all in one day), I had a little melt down after feeling like white trash all day.  First off, I didn't have on a bra because Brandon "accidentally" packed it away and I was too lazy to undo all the luggage in the back of the car, so I didn't wear one all day.  Just a few other examples - at a gas station stop, I walked in the women's bathroom and there was a man using the bathroom with the door unlocked.  Very awkward.  Then we went to the grossest Wendy's in Las Vegas and it had a bathroom with two toilets - both of which did not have any doors, just two toilets out in the open.  And one of them was absolutely disgusting.  Sorry for the gross detail here, but it is needed for what happened next.  While we were eating (I had taken just one bite), I was trying to hold Kendall at the same time, who seriously needed a diaper change, and she grabbed hold of my wrapper at lighting speed and knocked my sandwich open and face down onto the disgusting Wendy's floor.  I was done.  I stomped out of the place like a child and changed Kendall's diaper and got her in her pajamas while I debated whether or not I should eat the sandwich that had fallen on the floor.  5 second rule or no?  Ask for a new one or no?  Buy a new one or no?  In true white trash fashion, about an hour later (after pouting about the crappy day) when I got hungry enough, I ate the sandwich!  Sorry if you just threw up in your mouth!

Worst & best compliments ever - in the same day!

Written Aug 10th

Today at the waterpark (in a swim suit) I got asked by nice Hispanic lady if I was expecting again.  She even touched my belly.  Nope, still just working off the last baby and had a large breakfast, but thank you for asking.

Later this evening, we were at a restaurant and the gentlemen at the entrance asked to see my ID.  YES!  Best compliment ever after the worst insult ever earlier in the day.  I think these two experiences cancel each other out.

Written Aug 19th

Two Saturdays ago we took the kids to Sunsplash for our end-of-summer reward since they completed their summer goals.  (Rachel completed a reading chart & Andrew is learning to identify letters.)  We had a great time!  The only tears were shed after we made Andrew go on a fast tube slide and he was not happy about it.  His stomach can hardly handle a swing, let alone fast rides.

Later that night, we got a babysitter (Kristen Woods is our latest babysitter since Juliette is headed off to BYU) and met some of Brandon's co-workers at "The Yard", which is a super hipster restaurant in Phoenix.  What's memorable about this experience to me is that Brandon was SO close to wearing his handmade gold sequin shirt, and I had to really convince him not to wear it.  I told him it would be fine to wear if we were going to someone's house, but since it was an establishment, I encouraged him not to wear it.  I am SO glad he didn't wear it, because I would have been mortified.  It was the most hipster / singles scene place that I have ever been.  I think had he worn it, we would have been kicked out - or maybe even beat up.  I was already feeling out of place, I'm so glad we didn't have gold sequins drawing more attention to us.  Brandon completely disagreed and wished he had worn it.  :)  We are definitely 30 and feeling old and even drive a minivan - that's still considered hipster at church though, right?

This is the shirt I wouldn't let him wear to "The Yard".  He did, however, wear it to Pickleville Playhouse while at the reunion at Bear Lake.  The best part about it is that he sewed it himself, and there aren't any buttons, just velcro.  

Kendall, 9 months

- Kendall has a total of 6 teeth right now.  For a couple weeks, she only had 3 on top, missing one of her middle teeth and she looked so goofy, but now all 4 on top are in.  I'm still getting used to her having teeth - I kind of miss her gummy smile!

- She loves swinging just like Rachel did, and it makes her giggle out loud.  That makes it all worth it to stay out in the hot sun and keep pushing her.  She also giggles sometimes when I put her in her bed.  She loves her bed, and has been our best sleeper so far.  

- She dislikes being in her high chair and tries to maneuver out like nothing I've seen before.  She's a pretty good eater - I wouldn't describe her as picky, but she is messy and slow, yet impatient to sit for a long period of time.  And I can tell that she is getting tired of baby food and wants big kid food.  I would say that feeding babies at this stage is one of my least favorite things to do.

- Seriously bad hair month.  And she will NOT wear a bow.  I put one in, and she takes it off and chews on it immediately.  We've got some serious long hairs and short hairs all in the wrong places.

- Kendall loves Rachel and Andrew, and gets so excited to see them and play with them.

- For now, she's a momma's girl and prefers me to put her to sleep.  And sometimes when she is tired enough, she is such a sweetheart and lays her head on my shoulder while I rock her and softly tickle her back.  She loves to be scratched/tickled, unlike my other babies at this age.

- She crawls super fast and is good at pulling up and cruising along things.  She even stands on her own occasionally!  

- She loves to swim

- She excitedly waves both arms up and down when she gets excited (especially when she sees herself in the mirror and when she sees brother/sister after her nap)

- She says the sounds mama/dada/nana but not for anything specific.

- She puts EVERYTHING in her mouth, and I don't get hardly anything done while she is awake!
- We love everything about her!!

House Progress

They are still cruising!!  The exterior is complete, and they are working on the final touches in the house.  It looks like we will close the week of September 9th.  WOW!  We are so excited and go by and see it often.

Photos ~ Baby Blake & The Waters Family

Took and edited some photos this summer...  Blake (Kasey's baby) was so sweet, but it was a newborn session and I was so nervous about it that I lost sleep worrying about it the night before.  So dumb, but it really is very stressful for me when it's for someone else.

When we took Shalauna's family photos, we had the most strange, random guy run up to us to tell us that he thought he might seizure anytime and told us what we needed to do in case he did.  Thankfully he didn't seizure, but he did hang out with us during quite a bit of the photo session.  It was so random and awkward, I'm not even doing the story justice.  Then Shalauna and Jason were trying to get Zac to smile and they started singing him the "Star Spangled Banner" - no kidding, this was their go-to make-him-smile song.  I was peeing my pants laughing at them making the weirdest noises and singing patriotic songs.  Whatever happened to peek-a-boo and Old Macdonald Had A Farm?

Blake Perkinson, newborn session

  

Can we be done now?  I'm exhausted!

Shalauna & Jason Waters Family - Zac is 4 months old

First day of School

Today is the first day of school!  Rachel is starting full-day Kindergarten at Ishikawa Elementary and her teacher is Mrs. Caha (pronouced Sawha).  School is from 7:45-2:15 (early out on Wednesday at 1:45).

Rachel is SO excited.  After meeting the teacher on Monday night, Rachel REALLY wanted to go to school yesterday.  Last night she filled out a questionnaire for her teacher:
Favorite thing about school:  my teacher*
Favorite color: pink
Favorite food:  pizza
Favorite show:  Scooby Doo
Favorite animal:  giraffe
What do you want to be when you grow up?  cowgirl

*good girl following after her mother's footsteps ~ kiss up  :)

Craziest part about today was that I didn't cry.  I know!  Brandon says I'm heartless.  In my defense, I think that her two weeks of going to summer school at Ishikawa really helped me adjust and know what to expect.  I am just really excited for her, because I cannot provide at home what she'll get from school.  Of course I will miss her - she's the cutest 5 year old I know and she's my best buddy.  She is so helpful at home and plays with Andrew and Kendall so well.  They will miss her SO much!  Crazy to think that Andrew will be home with me for 3 more years before kindergarten because of how their birthdays fall.  p.s.  She picked out her own backpack - it's Hello Kitty.

Yesterday was the last day of summer (not in the heat sense, but you know what I mean), and we had a great day!  It rained in the morning, so we played out back (the monsoon season has been weak this summer, so we were happy).  While running errands, we found a splash pad.  Hmmm...we didn't have swim suits or a change of clothes, so I warned them that if they got wet, they would have to be happy and deal with it.  They got soaked (even Kendall), and they had a blast!!  We got back to the car and they stripped down to diapers/underwear and rode home without any clothes on - they thought it was the silliest thing ever.  Last night we had a special back to school dinner and got everything ready for this morning.  A good end to a great summer, and hopefully the start of a fantastic new school year.

Andrew brought his backpack - wants to be just like her!

Ellie Update

After a 2+ week stay at Primary Children's Hospital in SLC, Ellie & Rachel are at home tonight and Scott is on his way home from his internship in Omaha.  All good news for the Murray family!  During her hospital stay, she got a tracheal tube in her throat and a g-tube (feeding tube) in her tummy, which will hopefully help her with all the things she's been struggling with all along.  Rachel, Scott, & Nancy are all trained to take care of her around the clock (seriously, someone has to be with her 24/7), and apparently she has a couple large bags and a backpack that need to go with her wherever she goes.  

We went and saw Ellie at the hospital last week while we were in Utah, and I just fell in love with this sweet thing - she was absolutely precious, and we love her so much already!  Ellie woke up from a little nap, and was so happy to see her mama!  She was just enthralled with Rachel and completely smitten, and was sharing lots of smiles.  I was glad I got to see her at that moment and to see her so happy.  I know it's been a tough road and there will continue to be ups and downs, but she is in very good hands with Rachel and Scott.  

Ellie Jane.  So sweet - smitten by her mommy.  I just LOVE this picture.

Lots of smiles and interactions with mommy, and it just melted my heart to witness it

4th of July

We spent the 4th with the Shumway family (Katherine & Shane - friends from Chicago), who now live in Show Low (Lakeside/Pinetop), AZ.  The weather was AMAZING, and it was a much needed getaway from the heat!  We stayed at their darling home in the middle of the forest :) for a couple nights and tagged along with them to all their family events.  We went to a parade in Eagar (Mandy's stomping grounds) and then to a BBQ at Shane's sister's house.  The parade was perfect - short, simple, and lots and lots of candy thrown.  They got as much there as they do at Halloween - it was nuts!  We were happy to spend the whole day outside and enjoyed the cooler weather.  Later that night, the dads took the older kids to the fireworks in Show Low, and Brandon said it was as good as the ones in Provo.  So we were impressed with our small town 4th of July experience!  Of course we missed our family, but Katherine and Shane were great hosts and it was fun to catch up with them.  As we left, Rachel was crying in the back seat because she was sad we were leaving and said that she was going to miss Ella.  Tender little heart.  On our way home, we made a pitstop in Snowflake at the temple (Snowflake is where Brandon's dad grew up) and stopped to play at a park and enjoy the weather in Payson.  It is pretty crazy that we can go from the hot, hot desert, then up to the mountainous woods in an hour and a half.

p.s.  Katherine took me to my first Crossfit class and it kicked my butt!  I have total respect for all you Crossfit chicks out there!

Happy 4th of July!

Rachel, Ella's cousin & Ella

 

They got loads of treats at the parade - Andrew, Sam, Rachel & Ella

 

puppy love!

View from the Snowflake temple