Cranes

Neil's friends decided to challenge all of his friends and family to make 1000 paper cranes to string in his room as well wishes for him to get better. Here are the 5 I made to signify the prayers of our family of 5. They will be sent to New Jersey tomorrow.

9 months and counting...

Our big boy is 9 months old!

(I just found out that the photog. who took this picture has it hanging as a 20x24 canvas in her home. She is unable to have children and says this is the perfect reminder of sweet babies.)

Wow, has it been 9 months? Most people look at him and think he is about 6 months but nope, our little guy is a pip squeak at 9 months. Zac is developing great, rolling over, scooting a round a little and sitting up to play with his toys. Though he weighs only 16 1/2 pounds, he's still doing great! After spending the last 3 months doing weight checks at the doctor, Zac is finally on the growth chart, yay! He hasn't been there since before he was 6 months old. He is only at the 5th percentile for weight but that is progress. As a comparison, Hayden was 2 pounds heavier at his 6 month appt.!

This chicken wing should help in the weight department!

If he hadn't have been on the chart at this appointment, we would have had to start a myriad of blood tests to see if there was something wrong. Possibilities could have been a liver problem, kidney problem, celiac disease, chrone's disease, and many others. Thankfully we are pretty sure hs is OK. He still has massive bouts of vomiting, even on his special formula. The doctor was really having us up the amount of formula we fed him but I think that was a reason for so much vomit. I have now reduced the amount and he's doing better, hopefully he's still gaining weight! The doctor has ordered a lot of high fat dairy, and she has suggested lathering butter on everything he eats. That's good for him, he loves toast and grilled cheese, oh and pizza, cheetos, fries you know, all the super healthy foods!

We love this little man, he is a ray of sunshine every day. I don't know if I could ever wish for a better baby.

(the spacing of this post is off too, I don't get it, sorry.)

Do we fail to tell people what they mean to us?

As I sit, thinking about my awesome cousin I love to think of the funny things he has done. The sweet young man that he has become and the example that he is. I pray for his recovery and I pray for my Aunt and Uncle who can't even hold Neil in their arms because he is too fragile, even a voice can spike the swelling in his brain. As I sit here I wonder, have I told the people I care about how much they truly mean to me? If so and so was in an accident tomorrow, would it be too late to tell them how much I love them?

At 16, I lost my 15 year old cousin in a tragic car accident. That was hard, really hard. I wrote a letter to Jordan after he passed away telling him how much I admired and appreciated him. He was so talented, he had so much going for him, his life was too short. It tore me apart that he may not have known how much he meant to me, we had grown apart in recent years and I missed him. It took a long time for me to get over the feelings that I never was able to express to him.

Almost 4 years ago, I lost my mom to a tragic brain tumor. I got to tell her goodbye and I was able to express to her my deepest feelings and how much she meant to me. But why did I wait so long to thank her for being the most amazing mother in the World? Why didn't I express this to her on a daily basis before she was sick?

Life is short, it is precious... I hope I can be better at telling the people I love what they mean to me.

Andy, have I thanked you for accepting me for me? For loving me whole heartedly inspite of the fact that I am not the best housekeeper? Thank you for keeping me grounded, for calming me when I feel out of control.

Hayden, you are such a special gift from Heavenly Father. You amaze me daily, you make me nuts but you are you. Don't ever change, I love you just the way you are and I look forward to every new day with you.

Brynley, you are the sweetest snuggler. I love that you just want to be with mommy all day. I love your little lisp, I could squeeze your cute bum a million times a day and never get tired of it. I love your sweet singing, you make me smile.

Zachar, Thank you for choosing me and for choosing our family. You have been a precious gift, I cannot imagine our family without you. I look forward to getting you out of bed every morning, I could hold you 24 hours a day and not get tired of it. Your smile melts my heart.

Grandma, have I told you that I think you are amazing? You are always so helpful, you have helped me over the years more than you will know. I am so lucky to have such a close relationship with you.

Aunt Shelly, have I told you that you are like a second mom to me? Have I thanked you for stepping into that role? Do you know how lucky my kids are to have you and without you, it would have been so much harder to not have my mom...

Dad, have I adequately thanked you for the sacrifices you made during my childhood? You worked countless hours at two jobs trying to make ends meat so that we could have a good childhood. Thank you, it did not go unnoticed...

Meredith, have I told you that I love you and I am so thankful to have you as my best friend? I so admire your creativity and your ability to do fun things with your kids, I wish I had that.

Meghan, do you know how I am in awe of the fact that you are having your 3rd child, with your oldest being barely 3? I could never do that, I don't have it in me. It takes a special person to be able to handle so many little kids.

Uncle Joe, thank you for accepting us and letting us overtake your house when we come to visit and for loving us unconditionally. Thank you for giving Aunt Shelly to us on so many occasions.

Henry and Sharon, have I told you that I love being a member of your family? Thank you for accepting me with open arms and letting me be a part of your lives. Sharon thank you for all of the beautiful gifts over the years.

Aunt Lori, have I told you how I am amazed that you can get up early and teach Seminary every morning? Have I thanked you for letting Andy and I stay with you last year? Thank you for being who you are and for being an example to me of a great mother.

Uncle Scott, thank you for picking us up in New York last year, it meant the world to us that you would do that and I am not sure that I actually ever sent a thank you card. I love hanging out with you, you're one cool guy.

There are many others, I could go on forever so don't feel offended if you are not included here, just know that I love you all.

(Sorry that the post has no spaces between paragraphs, it has them in my draft but takes them out when I publish it, not sure why...)

So sad... Sweet Neil...

For those of you who may read this, could you send an extra prayer out for my cousin Neil? He is the coolest 18 year old you will ever meet. I posted about him in July after our Family Reunion in Oregon. We seriously love this kid. He was in a very serious car accident on Friday night and has sustained serious head injuries. We are hopeful that he will get better but for now things are looking pretty bad. It's funny, Neil is quite a bit younger than me and I feel a little more like an Aunt to him rather than his cousin. I have honestly never met anyone like him... I hope that my sweet Hayden (who reminds me a little of Neil as a kid) will grow up to be a great young man like Neil. Thanks for your prayers!

Edited to add... Here is a link to Neil's blog with updates for those interested http://neilstoneupdates.blogspot.com/

Cuties!

I was playing with some settings on my camera and got some pretty cute shots if I do say so myself!

Precious little man

Our dirty little secret... Brynley's obsession with pacifiers. She managed to wrangle up 9 and had them in her bed last night! So weird... Ususally, she only sleeps with them!

Our Gingerbread House!

This will be the first of many new (old) posts over the next few days...

A few weeks before Christmas we had a Gingerbread house family home evening. Thank goodness for the Costco kits, I could never make this from scratch, and for 10 bucks, you can't beat that! At least this year I put the roof tiles on the right way. Hayden had fun decorating as did Brynley, though I think she ate more candy than she actually decorated!

Zac's ready to go!

Brynley and Hayden were really concentrating in the beginning

Daddy helps put the candy in a pattern

Our finished house!

Waaaa, I miss blogging!

This is a quick post to say that I am totally missing blogging and as soon as I can get time to get on here I will be making a few marathon posts. These posts will include, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Temple Lights, Moving into our new house, A broken pinky toe at IKEA... and maybe a few more. Between trying to still unpack my life, get Enrichment mtg. together for Thursday, get a million things typed up for Golden WHEEL, babysitting children EVERY day this week, and trying to write a talk for Sunday... I'm not sure when it's going to happen. Quite frankly, I'm not sure when my entire house will be unpacked... this could take awhile. Stay tuned...

I hate choosing paint colors...

I have A LOT to catch up on and I won't be doing it tonight.... However, I really cannot stand choosing paint colors.

Quick story: I had to choose the main paint color for my house the day after Christmas. I bought 5 quartz of different paint colors and slapped them up on the wall, waited overnight and went back to look. I got a few opinions and officially decided on a color that looked the best with my tile, counters, and carpet. I went and got 10 gallons of it and just for kicks I asked to see the paint chip for my paint from my last house (it was no longer on display). Would you believe that after mixing a couple of colors and then lightening the color slightly, I came up with the EXACT same color that I painted my last house???

So, if you come to my new house and it looks a little familiar, your eyes aren't tricking you, it is the same color as my old house. The worst part is, I totally wanted a change with this house and now I'm back to the same old color... Oh well, I guess I can switch it out again in 6 or 8 years when I need a change, gadzukes.

I'll have to post comparison pictures once we get furniture in!