Sick January

We are tired of being sick.  Goodbye January!

Brandon started up with a cold over Christmas, and it was a bad one but his body takes it pretty well.  He said it took about 10 days before he was feeling good again.  Andrew and Rachel both caught a little something in Utah, but it was a mild cold and only lasted 3-4 days.  Kendall brought sniffles with her to Utah and continued them there, but it never got bad.

The day after Christmas, I caught whatever Brandon had and it was nasty.  The worst part about my colds are the coughing at nighttime.  I slept on the couch for a few nights, and since I couldn't take much of anything because I was nursing, I was feeling pretty lousy.  When I called my doctor's office, they said to use a humidifier and take cough drops.  Yeah, thanks for that tip (lame!).  I was totally sleep deprived and exhausted of being sick.  We made it back to Arizona fine, and I waited it out until day 10 when I was still coughing at night and not getting a ton better.  (On top of all this, I also got some random pink eye infection and had to see an eye doctor and get prescription eye drops.)  I finally went to an urgent care on a Friday night after Brandon got home from work, and I am SO glad I didn't have to take the kids with me because the wait was forever and there were so many sick people there.  So disgusting.  Apparently, I had acute bronchitis, which I think they over-diagnosed a teeny bit, but I was desperate to get better.  The diagnosis resulted in a shot in my butt, a z-pak prescription, and even a breathing treatment of albuterol in the office.  I give Rachel breathing treatments all the time, so I thought it was strange to be on the receiving end of things.  I finally got out of there after three hours, and that was with a call ahead appointment.

I'm so glad I took care of myself and got some meds so I could start feeling better.  Because I was just about to embark on a super sick week with Andrew and Rachel.  It started with fevers on Monday night and we didn't leave the house until Friday night.  In between that is all kind of a blur.  A lot of whining, wiping noses, giving medications, filling humidifiers, sleeping in random places, breathing treatments, lots and lots and lots of coughing, pink eye and eyedrops for both kids, etc.  I hate to complain, but this was the worse I had seen them in a long time and I finally had the sense to send them to the doctors during twilight hours on Wednesday night.  Brandon helped me out a ton by taking them so I didn't have to take Kendall to the germ infested office.  Andrew had a double ear infection which was causing his coughing and night waking, and Rachel needed a steroid to help with her relentless coughing (they gave her what they give her when she gets croup, although this wasn't croup - just her asthmatic coughing / reactive airways that happen when she gets a nasty virus).  So we got our meds, and the kids FINALLY started feeling better on Friday night.  It was a long week!  Then on Sunday, Brandon and I woke up feeling sick (AGAIN!); I am sure we caught something from the kids.  We all stayed home from church that day.  Thankfully, our colds were short lived and resolved themselves within the week.

During all this gross sickness, I am so thankful that Kendall stayed healthy (other than just occasional sniffles) and she was an absolute angel that whole week when we were taking care of Andrew and Rachel.  She slept through the night three times that week (which was especially nice since Brandon and I were both up with the big kids at different, random times all week)!  I recognize this as a tender mercy from our Father in Heaven, and I am so grateful.  Really, she was SO patient, slept well at night, was content in her swing or activity mat, easy to put to sleep, and just all around happy.  We just love her to pieces!

Kendall's Blessing

While in Utah, we had Kendall's blessing at my parent's home on Sunday, December 30.  Kendall was 9 weeks old, and we were able to have most of our immediate family there.  Brandon did a great job giving her a beautiful blessing, and Kendall fussed through most of it.  These first few pictures of her were taken around 12 weeks old, the collage was on her actual blessing day.  We sure love this girl!

The picture of Brandon holding Kendall is to remind me of how she likes to be held when going to sleep - she tips her head way back and looks out.  

Andrew, 2 years & 3 months

Grandma needed a new picture of Andrew for her grandkid wall, so I made Andrew do a little photoshoot with me in the garage.  What a handsome little man!  I just loved all his little faces - I tried to narrow it down, but just couldn't.  What was memorable about this photoshoot, was that I couldn't get him to stand still in the place I needed him to (about 5 feet in front of the backdrop) - he just kept running around and being silly.  Then I thought I got a genius idea to have him stand in a box, so that he wouldn't get out.  Wrong.  The box became a new toy - he kept sitting in the box, then getting out and in and even trying to crawl inside.  Finally I called for reinforcements (dad) to come help me and get him to stand still and smile, as normally as possible.  The results were worth it, and I think these pictures are a pretty accurate portrayal of my cute little man (even with the disheveled hair and shirt, semi-dirty face with bonks, and pinkish cheeks). 

Funny faces!  The first one is when he says "cheese!" (forced smile) and the second is him telling me, "Noooo, you're the dookie-bye!" (his made up word)

BEHIND THE SCENES - notice the barefoot feet and mismatching pants and THE box that ended up being a terrible idea.  :)

Friends and Family Pictures

My best friend, Kasey, asked me to take Polly's 1 year old pictures (a few months ago) and I've been meaning to post them ever since.  I love love her kids, and love her sassy, sweet Polly girl!  

Over Christmas, Chad asked me to take some family pictures which is a tiny bit tricky with how cold and snowy it had been.  We ended up at my in-laws and did some impromptu head shots of Hailey & Logan in their living room.  It wasn't ideal lighting, but they turned out good.  Hailey is 5 months and Logan is 2 1/2.  It was very tricky to get Logan to smile, but luckily he likes me a little bit and we caught a few!  And I thought the family ones outside turned out great, and we only were outside for 10 minutes or so, so the kids didn't get too cold.

Over Christmas, some ladies and I threw a baby shower for Shalauna, who is having a little boy (Zac) in March.  I did the invitations, and my mom and I did the decorations, Pam took care of the food, Laura did the thank-you gift, and Sheena brought a cake.  We're so happy for Shalauna's new arrival!!  I took some pictures for her, and her house has a lot of amazing natural light.  Here's a few.

The spread ... we matched everything to her bedding she chose

Shalauna with Pam Covey & her girls (we both used to babysit for Pam when we were teenagers)

Sheena & Shalauna

Mom, Shalauna & I

Soccer video from last fall

Hilarious video of Rachel playing soccer, showing off her "skills".  You can skip ahead to 30 seconds. The end is fantastic when she shrugs in exhaustion and kneels down right in front of the goal.  

Kyle & Brandon's Christmas Card 2012

There are no words to describe ...

These pictures were taken in Orem's University Mall in the front studio window where onlookers smiled at this festive family - cue double take - until they noticed there were two dads?  With 4 children under the age of 4?  Huh?  Some passerby's laughed, others looked seriously confused, and some stopped in their tracks to stare.  And there were even some older people that were so ticked - we thought they were going to throw rocks.

Can I just say that the photographers were very professional during this unconventional photo shoot - we were all very impressed.  They had no idea what was going on, but I'm pretty sure they caught on that it was a joke by the end of it.  I was there to help and take some video, and they were referring to me as the nanny.  At one point, the photographers referred to Kyle as "dad" and Rachel said, "No, that's not my dad, that's Kyle Flanagan!"

Please ignore Andrew's outfit (green shirt with the festive tie and blue shoes), and Kendall's red tights under a onesie that says, "Mommy's best gift" - ironic perhaps?  And the darling little girl in the picture that you might not recognize is Kyle & Annie's daughter, Etta.  Happy holidays from our dysfunctional families to yours!

Christmas Day

On Christmas Eve right around bedtime, Rachel heard Santa's bells outside, so she informed everyone that they needed to go home quick and go to bed immediately!  She was way into it, and I have never seen her jump into bed and fall asleep so fast.  The kids slept great and actually slept in, so we didn't have to wait long at all for Chad, Cindy and kids to come over.  It was a great day, and Kendall slept all morning so that we were able to focus on the big kids.  We spent the morning at my mom's, the afternoon at Hale's and then visited Grandma Parker that evening.

We are so grateful for this time of year and for our wonderful family and friends.  I love the magic of the season for the children, and how their faces light up at every new activity.  I love thinking of gifts to give others, and finding ways to help those around us.  I love the smells and the tasty treats.  I love being together as a family.  I loved the snow, and having to bundle up or feeling like we're stuck inside.   We really had a great time.

I guess I'll record the gifts we got so that our posterity can see how spoiled we all are.  :)

Whitney - Blendtec blender, rug for family room, hose reel, amazon gift cards, canning accessories, photography accessories, about 5 packs of jolly joes from my brothers
Brandon - ipad mini, nerf guns, cheese slicer (he asked for one, hates using a knife I guess), table saw, router table, costco-size jelly bellies and york peppermint patties, pocket gig
Rachel - Bullseye, Jesse Hat & Rapunzel with short, brown hair (Santa gifts, and thankfully she earned back the Rapunzel doll because that one wasn't going to be under the tree unless she started behaving better), Lalaloopsy minis, tap shoes, new leotard, jewelry box, art & craft activities, care bear, Lotso, Barbie car and clothes
Andrew - Woody & Buzz (Santa gifts), strider bike, pirate ship with guys, spiderman house, romote control firetruck, care bear cousin, Chuck dumptruck, some movies (Cars, Lorax, Madagascar 3), lunchbox
Kendall - new clothes from Grandma & Nana.  We didn't get her anything - not because we don't love her, but because she's 2 months old and the third child.  :)

The loot!  The motorcycle bike was for Logan.  

Kendall slept the entire morning!  I fed her around 5a and then she slept in until 9:30am - great timing so that we could  just enjoy the morning with Andrew & Rachel.  

Santa Gifts!  And she earned back her Rapunzel with some better behavior.  :)

Santa gifts

New leotard & tap shoes from Grandma Nancy - what a cheeser!

Strider bike without wheels from Grandma

Papa Wally & Pookie

Love this picture!  Grandma Parker with Kendall - look at Kendall smiling at her!  She was so sweet to Grandma Parker.