Brooklyn's Birthday

(It's only taken me a week to get this post done) Brooklyn had a FABULOUS birthday. Brooklyn got a new Princess bike for her birthday. She was so excited for it. We wanted to get her a bike last year for her birthday, but she wanted nothing to do with it. (I think she may be the only 5 year old that doesn't know how to ride a bike.) She loves the bike and we have a hard time keeping her in the house and getting her in when it is time. She also had a field trip with her preschool class. For her 2 years of preschool I have gone on every field trip with her. She informed me that she did not want me to fo with her. I have to say I was quite sad. But she had a blast. Before her birthday Sean had asked her if you could do anything or go anywhere you want for your birthday, what would it be. Brooklyn's reply was, "Jenny's bowling alley." (I have to preface this- Sean had the week off of school and work and was really hoping Brooklyn would say Disneyland or something.) She didn't choose Disneyland, instead bowling. My cousin and her husband own the bowling alley in Tremonton and have invited us over so many times. We had a BLAST!! We had lots of good food, fun bowling, and GREAT company! Brooklyn is such a lucky girl- she has so many people that love her. I have tried to help her realize that it doesn't matter how many presents she got or what they are- she has a great support system behind her. Thank you to all our family and friends that took the time to come and support our sweet girl on her Birthday!

My aunt Paula made Brooklyn a Sleeping Beauty cake and we had Princess cupcakes

One spoiled girl

(My friend Rachel and her family showed up at the bowling alley for FHE. It was funny that of all places we would run into each other would be the bowling alley in Tremonton.)

The girls were exhausted when we got home and went straight to bed. At 3:00 in the morning, Gracie woke up and was BURNING up. She had been on an antibiotic for a week- so I knew that this wasn't good. She just layed around all morning and I called the doctors office and they said I should bring her in again. When we got there her temperature was 103.5 and that was on Motrin and Tylenol. The doctor did his exam and said that her ears had healed up from the infection and that she had another infection on top of that in ther left ear. The doctor asked me if she had had a flu shot this year and if anyone else in our family was sick. I told him that she had had a flu shot. He then goes on to ask me if I had heard of the Swine Flu and told me that she had all the signs and symptoms that was leading him to think that she could possibly have that. WHAT!?! So they had to do the AWFUL flu test. It took 10 minutes to get the results back and I was so relieved when he poked his head back in and said it was negative. What a relief. She is on a much stronger antibiotic and is slowly getting back to herself. This has gone on for 2 1/2 weeks now. So I am hopeful that she will be completly over it soon!

Past 2 Weeks

The 15th was my dad's birthday and we had a great party! Sean had to work so the gals and I went out to my parents house to spend the evening with them. I know I have said in previous posts what a great dad I have- so I will say it again! I feel so blessed to have the dad that I have. He is such a great person and example to me. My gals are so lucky to have him as their pops. They adore him and love him so much- and so do I!

I love this picture of Pops and Brooklyn looking at each other

It has gotten to the point that Gracie prefers Pops and Grandma over me. My dad was holding her the other day and handed her to me and she had a complete and total meltdown. It made me feel great!

On 17th Sean, me, and the gals headed up to Island Park. Ric and Paula have a TimeShare up there that they weren't going to use and if anyone didn't use it- they would just lose the week. My dad headed up earlier that day and we went when Sean got home from work. We had a few setbacks and didn't leave until later than we had wanted. It takes about 4 hours to get up there if you go the right way. When you get to Idaho Falls you are to take an exit that will take you through Rexburg and to Island Park. About the time we were supposed to exit- Brooklyn had a MAJOR meltdown and I wasn't paying attention. About a half-hour later Sean asked where we were supposed to go. I told him we would go through Rexburg and it would take us right there. To make a long story short- we missed the exit and ended up adding an hour onto our late trip. We did make it there- and the gals were thrilled to be out of the car- as was I. On Saturday we had a delicious breakfast and then we all went swimming. Brooklyn had the time of her life- Gracie not so much. I finally got out and got her and I dressed and she was content to watch Brooklyn swim. After swimming we decided to drive into West Yellowstone- Brooklyn was really wanting to see a buffalo (not likely so see one between Island Park and W. Yellowstone). As we drove through town a noticed a sign that said Yellowstone Park now open. So we went to check things out and sure enough it was. Brooklyn LOVES Yellowstone so you can imagine how happy she was when we drove in. It was a successful drive in. We saw lots of elk, lots of buffalo- taking their sweet time walking down the road, a beautiful waterfall, and to top things of when we were heading out we saw a huge grizzly bear. Brooklyn remembered seeing bears this summer when we were there and was saying she wanted to see one. We kept telling her that we probably wouldn't because they might still be hibernating.

We decided that on Sunday we would go to church and then go have a picnic at Old Faithful. I have never seen Yellowstone with snow or Old Faithful. (Gracie woke up that morning with a nasty cough.) The highlight of the drive there is when we passed a coyote running down the road. Brooklyn of course loved this. When we got to Old Faithful it was really windy and quite chilly and we had over an hour to spare before Old Faithful went off again. We went to the Durango and had a picnic in it. By the time Old Faithful went off, both girls had had it. And didn't quite enjoy it as much as I thought they would. But it is still an amazing sight.

That night, Gracie became one sick girl. She was running a high fever, coughing, and had a runny nose. We were going to stay until Tuesday, but decided to come home Monday. I got her into the doctor and found out that she has double ear infections. So it has been a couple of longs nights. But I think that she is finally feeling a little better.

It was fun to go up there as our little family and spend time together and get to have some time with Pops. Thanks dad for everything- we had a blast!

Brooklyn's Birth Story

*Really long post with lots of pictures

I can't believe that my baby is going to be 5 today. I decided that since I have never written down her birth story I would do that. I still remember it like it was yesterday. About 3-4 weeks before she was born, I found out that I had Toxemia and had to go and bed rest. Those were a long couple of weeks. The last 2 weeks of bed rest- I was having to go into the doctor every day to get my blood pressure checked and to make sure there wasn't protein in my urine. So I was ready for her to come. My doctor decided that he would start me a week before was due. A couple days before, he stripped my membranes. It also happened to be my sister's college graduation. I really wanted to be there for her and got permission from my doctor to go. At the time, my grandma had a wheel chair so we loaded it into Paula's van, got my grandpa, and we were off. My grandpa, bless his heart, decided that he was taking care of me. He pushed me everywhere in that wheel chair and wouldn't let anyone else. It was really sweet. So the night before I was going to get started Sean and I were laying in bed talking. Like we could sleep knowing that in a couple of hours our sweet baby girl was going to be with us. I still remember the exact conversation we had. We were discussing about how some babies when they are first born really aren't that cute and we were worried that our baby might not be. (I know silly- but I think it is a valid concern.) We had to be there on the 27th at 7:00 in the morning. They got me hooked up to the Pitocin and started my labor. It was a slow process. They couldn't turn the Pitocin up because everytime they did, her heartrate would slow down. Eventually, I was given an oxygen mask that I had to wear for the rest of the time. At 6 PM they informed me that I was fully dialated. They informed me that most first time moms push for about 2 hours and then gave me the option to start pushing then or let the baby sit and descend for an hour. I chose not to start pushing. My nurse came in after the hour to check on me and was shocked because the baby was there ready to come our. She informed Dr. Heiner that he better HURRY. At this point I was kinda getting nervous- I had my mom come in to be with us. The nurse told me I was to relax and not to push at all. She told me that the baby had A LOT of hair. As we were waiting I really thought that the nurse was going to end up delivering Brooklyn. When Dr. Heiner got there at about 7:15, it is like you see in the movies he kicked off his shoes, ripped off some clothes, and got geared up. I pushed through one contraction waited for the next and did half a push and Brooklyn was born. She was born at 7:31 PM- she weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. and was 19 inches long. She was perfect and FAR from not being cute. The first time they put her in my arms, I was so overwhelmed that Heavenly Father would entrust this beautiful spirit into my care. My grandma Vone had died a year before and I knew with every fiber of me that Brooklyn had just come from being with her. As I looked into Brooklyn's eyes- I felt as if I were looking into the eyes of my Grandma. That was a tender mercy from my Heavenly Father. At that exact moment, as I looked in those eyes, I knew that my Grandma wanted to tell me that she loved me. It was a very spiritual and emotional moment in my life. My family was there waiting to see their first grandchild and neice and Paula and her family were there and brought my Granny Ila. When Sean went to give Brooklyn her first bath, we have the sweetest pictures of my Granny watching from the window and the look on her face in priceless- she was thrilled with this new baby. She came into my room and told me how proud she was of me. It was also a special time having her there. We decided to name her Brooklyn (after the Dodgers) IlaRee (after my granny). (It was quite cute my Granny couldn't believe that we would give Brooklyn her middle name and was thrilled. She would tell anyone she could that we gave Brooklyn her name. Every so often she would ask, "So what is her middle name?" She knew darn good and well what it was, but liked to hear it.)

The following day Sean had finals so my sister came to hang out with me and then my mom came. We had the funnest time playing with Brooklyn's hair and enjoying time with her. Her hair was amazing from birth. She was born with a headfull of dark curly hair. The ends looked like they were frosted with a light brown. It was such a great day with lots of visitors.

The next morning when the pediatrician, Dr. Visick came to check her out he mentioned that she looked really yellow and probably had jaundice. He wanted to get her blood checked to see what the levels were. When the results came back we found out that our perfect baby girl had a blood incompatability and had a disease called Cummes Positive. What happens is that my body created antibodies against her blood cells so when she was born they attacked her blood. This disease only effects babies at birth- and has no long term effects. They immediately put her in the NICU under lights and started these treatments from Primary Children's. (It was kinda funny to see- because she was in by all the premies. Here she is this 7 pound baby- she looked like a horse next to them.) It was so hard to watch her. She had a tiny IV in her arm. At first they would bring her to my room when it was time to feed her and then we would take her back when she was done. Then they told us that she needed to spend as much time as possible under the lights- so we would walk down there to feed her. Then right back under the lights she would go. One day I was walking down to feed her with my mom and when we got there- she had an IV coming out of her head. I had never seen such a thing. At this point I lost it. (I had been strong up until then.) I would have given anything to take her place. The nurses felt really bad because they thought I knew they had moved it there. They informed me that her little hand just couldn't keep the IV in any longer and that the head is really a better place for the IV to be. After the first intial shock of seeing that- I realized that it was better for it to be in her head. At this point I was released from the hospital. They offered us a hotel stay where we could get one of the rooms at the hospital and stay there. I couldn't imagine having to leave my baby. I felt for the moms whose babies had been there for weeks. We had quite the routine while we were there- we would go every 3 hours to feed Brooklyn and get to hold her for a half-hour. All I wanted to do was to hold and rock and love my beautiful little girl. It was torture not being able to. She was given a blessing by Sean and my Grandpa and told that she would overcome this quickly and be a healthy girl. Every day I waited for this to happen. I learned then that this was all on Heavenly Father's timetable and not mine. I had to learn a GREAT deal of patience in the following days. Days went on and Sunday came and we were told that the hospital had filled up and that we would have to leave. On came another breakdown! How could I leave my baby? I couldn't talk without bawling. We became close to the nurses that were taking care of Brooklyn and Mel told us that we should go home and get a good nights sleep because we wouldn't be any good if we kept going the way we had been. We went home and did sleep relatively well. When we got to the hospital the next day- we got the news we had waited 6 days for. She would get to come home. She still had to stay under the lights at home, but we got to have her home. We were ecstatic. Watching Sean and I bathe her and get her ready to come home was comedy central.

We lived in my Granny's basement at this time and I got to help take care of her. It wasn't long before her and Brooklyn became the best of friends. Granny would sneak Brooklyn licks of her popsicles, give her tastes of her "Krispie", and sneak her anything else she could. When Brooklyn was walking every night after we got Granny in bed Brooklyn would go walking in there and we would hear my Granny say, "HELLO THERE!" This soon became a fun game for Brooklyn and would go in there multiple times. I know that Brooklyn gave my Granny an extra year of life.

I feel so blessed that Sean and I are the parents of this beautiful, sweet firecracker. She has touched so many lives in our family and is the light in our lives. She is such a good big sister to Gracie. A great cousin. And a good friend! She is 5 going on 18. She is STILL in love with Troy from High School Musical and informs everyone he is her husband. When she turns 18 she informed us that she is changing her name to Gabriella. She loves all animals- especially our dog, Sandy. She loves to hold my hair. She is ALL girl- she loves lip gloss, necklaces, bracelets, purses, pink, make-up, high-heels, dresses, etc. Happy Birthday Sis- WE LOVE YOU!

7 lbs. 1 oz. - 19 inches long

First Bath

I love how Sean is adoring his beautiful baby girl and you can see my Granny at the glass- the look on her face is priceless.

I Love my Granny

Finally to our room- you can see how puffy and swollen I had gotten from the Toxemia

Meeting Grandma Sue and Pops

I think this is my favorite picture of at the hospital. Brooklyn looks like a little Eskimo.

Brooklyn meeting Grandma Gisele and Great-Grandma Harris

NICU

NICU

The day I came down and found the IV in her head. She still has it in her hand too.

NICU

Day 6- we get to bring her home

Her blessing day

Birth

1Year Old

2 Years Old

3 Years Old

4 Years Old

5 Years Old

Brooklyn's First Soccer Game

I have great memories of playing soccer when I was younger and have been so excited for the day Brooklyn could play. Thursday was her first game. I wasn't sure how she would do- but she actually did REALLY good! She got some good kicks and did a corner kick and kicked it hard. (I am having a proud parent moment) She plays on a 5 year old/6 year old team. The 5 year olds are definately smaller and less cordinated than the 6 year olds. I think her team won 10-1. Here is to a great season!

(Her new face for pictures)

She is number 14, just like her daddy

We couldn't resist getting her these cute black and pink cleats

Gracie enjoying the game with Paula

WICKED

Teresa (Chelsea's mom), Chels, me, Nat, and Mallory

About 2 years ago my sister was in New York and say the play "Wicked" on Broadway- she raved on and on about how good it was and that we all needed to see it. When we heard it was coming to Salt Lake we decided that we would go. In December tickets went on sale and my awesome dad, sister, cousin Jan, and Nat's sister-in-law went down and stood in line for over 4 hours in the cold to get us tickets!! It was quite the ordeal and they ended up between the 4 of them getting 22 tickets. THANKS guys for standing in the cold and getting us the tickets. We went on the 16th and I have got to say it was WICKEDLY (haha) incredible!! The only thing I knew about this play is that it was from the 2 witches perspective from the Wizard of Oz. Not only was the play extremely entertaining- lots of laughing- it also had a GREAT message of not judging others and people aren't always what you think that they are!

On a side note- Thursdays are like the worst possible day for me to go because Sean has school and can't miss and all my babysitters were going to the play. But we just got tickets for when we could. I was really stressing out over what I was going to do with the gals. Brooklyn has dancing on thursdays- through one of my friends in my ward I was able to get that taken care of- thanks Heather! Sean's mom came over and watched the gals for awhile- the gals had a blast with grandma- thanks Gisele. And then my sweet baby brother came over. He was quite nervous about this, but was able to get both gals in bed. In the middle of the night Brooklyn woke up and said, "me and Brett really had a good time." And then went back to sleep. Thanks Bretty!

I would highly recommend seeing this play if you ever get a chance. It is one of those things that you come out a better person! What a great night!

Easter Weekend

*This post is going to be long and have a lot of picures
I have had a hard time getting this post done! We had a fantastic Easter Weekend!! We started the weekend off by going to Baby Animal Days at the Historical Farm. The girls loved it! We took Brooklyn 2 years ago and it seemed like there were 2 baby animals, but this year there seemed to be a lot more baby animals. Brooklyn loved them all- but her favorite part was the turtles (that I didn't get a good picture of) and the Easter Bunny. Gracie seemed to enjoy herself as well she wasn't a fan of the baby duck- but LOVED the baby bunnies! It was great weather which was awesome- we had a blast! That night we also dyed Easter eggs and had a fun time doing that!

In our family the Easter Bunny comes Friday night so when the girls woke up on Saturday they looked for their Easter Baskets. (we didn't get the best pictures of this) Brooklyn got a Troy and Gabriella Barbie and Gracie got a swing for our swing set. It was a fun morning and the girls were in Heaven getting to eat candy for breakfast. :)

After Easter Baskets, we got ready and went out to Sean's grandparents in Stone, Idaho. There Brooklyn dyed more eggs, we had and easter egg hunt, and a wonderful lunch. It was super windy out there, but that didn't stop Brooklyn from being outside pretty much the whole time we were there. Grandma and Grandpa have a 4-Wheeler and a Ranger and Brooklyn spent most of her time (and Grandpa's) out on those. Grandma was running around as usual trying to keep all the kids happy and take care of all of us- that I didn't even get a picture of her. Sean's grandparents are some of the neatest people I ever met. All of my grandparents have passed away and it is really sad not having grandparents. I feel so blessed that I have Sean's grandparents to be mine. I feel like I am their own granddaughter and love them so much! Thanks grandma and grandpa for the great day!

Sunday we had a great day at church. The gals looked so cute in their Easter dresses. We went to the Maynard's for the afternoon (my parents were in St. George for the weekend). Sean's mom made us a delicious lunch and we had a great time there. Both girls fell asleep on the way- exhausted from their busy and fun weekend.

Brooklyn is quite the poser. She does those all on her own. She has also started a new thing when we take her picture. Where she scrunches up her nose and cheeks. It is funny.

I love these girls they were being so cute when we were trying to get their picture.

And finally- I love the candy and easter baskets and all that as much as everyone else- but I think that it is very important that we recognize the real reason for us celebrating Easter. On the Sunday morning session of conference, Elder Holland gave one of the most powerful talks on the Savior that I think I have ever heard. That talk went right to my heart and strengthened my testimony of the Savior. The week of Easter was a very emotional week for me. The passed several months I have been reading in the New Testament- and in reading that I have grown to love and appreciate my Savior and what he went through on my behalf. And then in the Young Women's we gave the girls a thing called "A Walk with Christ." It goes through the last week of the Savior's life and gives scriptures to read each day and some story to go along with it. On Sunday we had a special Easter lesson and my heart was full. After church our family did a Christ Centered Easter activity and as I was trying to explain to Brooklyn how much our Savior loves her, I lost it and the flood gates opened. (I think that Brooklyn thought I had lost it.) And then I saw this clip on my sister's blog and it is perfect!! Our Savior was betrayed by one of his closest friends, he suffered unimaginable pain in the Garden of Gethsemane for the sins and trials that we all go through, he was ridiculed, had a crown of thorns placed on his head, pierced in the side, and then finally he was crucified! And then after 3 days, the bands of death were broken and he was resurrected. I love my Savior and I know that he lives.

Trip to the Firestation

On Monday, Brooklyn and I went to the North Logan Fire Department for a field trip with her Preschool class. It was a lot of fun! When we got there they showed us a very informative video- it was a big reminder for me on what to do in case of a fire. After the video we went into the bay and saw the engines and a firefighter put on the full gear. He let the kids come and and touch him to let them know that in case of a fire not to be scared of the firemen. They let all the kids climb in and through 2 of the fire engines- Brooklyn LOVED it. After the tour we were sitting outside having a snack and they pulled the engine out and raised the ladder. Needless-to-say, for Family Night we went over- I say went over like we had one- more like we made our emergency escape route and practiced doing it several times. Brooklyn could have done it all night.

They gave each of the kids a little fire helmet after the tour

I have just got to say that I love my girls!! Tonight we were hanging out while Sean was at the Priesthood Session- both gals had bathed I was in the kitchen cleaning up and came in and found them like this. Brooklyn had put on a Baby Einstein DVD for her and Grace and had lifted Gracie up (kinda scary!) and got them all covered up. Surprisingly, Gracie was actually sitting there enjoying the show with Brooklyn. They are at a really fun stage right now- where they play together and have a lot of fun together. Gracie thinks that everything Brooklyn does is the best and Brooklyn is such a great big sister!