April Adventures

The month of April started off with another check-up for Annalyn and since we were going anyways I set up an appointment for Brynlee as well and I got her a referral for speech so see about some of the sounds that she still can't make, as well as a referral to see a counselor. She has still been having a lot of stomachaches that are most likely caused from anxiety so we got something set up for her to be able to talk to someone and see if that will help her anxiety. She ended up throwing up right before the appointment and refused to get in the car and go. That just made me more determined to take her. In the end she might have really been sick because a few days later Miriam started throwing up. Miriam threw up all day and all night long. She was miserable. I ended up taking her to the doctor as well because at the time she was the only one throwing up and was pretty miserable. There was nothing they could do for her and then that night Kyla threw up as well. 

Kyla seemed to be feeling better on Thursday which was a relief because we had scheduled for her to get her tonsils out on Friday. I talked to someone on the phone and they said to bring her in even if she was sick and they would do an exam on her to see if she was well enough to get her tonsils out. I had to wake Kyla up kind of early on Friday morning. She couldn't eat anything and she slept in her clothes so I just picked her up and told her to get on her shoes. She just laid on the floor. She had been super nervous about getting her tonsils out and had woken up crying a few times the night before. It broke my heart because the first time she seemed to still be asleep but she just kept crying, "I'm scared, I'm scared," over and over again. Kyla slept the entire car ride to the hospital and then made me carry her inside. At this point I could tell she must not be feeling well because this was not normal behavior for her. While I checked her in she laid down on the check in desk and tried to sleep. She kept telling everyone she was tired. I was hesitant to do the surgery when she wasn't feeling well. Then did an exam on her and declared that they couldn't find any reason to postpone the surgery. They said normally they give the kids some medicine to make them a little bit drowsy but Kyla clearly didn't need it. She was falling asleep the entire time I was checking her in. It wasn't long until they wheeled Kyla back for the surgery and took me to a room where I filled out some paperwork and read a conference talk. Before I was even done reading, they came in and told me Kyla was done with her surgery. It took them a while until they wheeled her back to me. They had to wait for her to wake up. They eventually brought her back to me and I was relieved to see her awake and looking well. The nurse told me she accidentally took Kyla to the wrong room at first. I could hear the parents next door tell her that was not their kid. I am glad I got her back. Kyla was still pretty drowsy and a little bit out of it but I could tell she was relieved to have the surgery over. She told me it wasn't even scary because she was asleep the whole time. She drank some juice and sucked on a Popsicle for a little bit and then they declared her fit to go home. The doctor that did her surgery came in and asked Kyla how she was feeling and asked her if she could breathe through her nose. Kyla tried it, paused, and nodded with a surprised look on her face. "it kind of feels weird, doesn't it?" her doctor asked. It really cleared up a lot of space in there for her.  

As soon as Kyla was done we went home. Joel got the kids off to school and was holding the baby and doing work on his ipad when I got home. Grandma Verna took Summer for me. Kyla went right to sleep and I got her medicine before Joel went to work. Kyla tried the medicine and hated it so refused to take anymore. Eventually she was in so much pain that she took the medicine. The medicine made her feel drowsy, dizzy, and kind of constipated so after a few days I just started giving her ibuprofen. Kyla was miserable for the entire two weeks after her surgery. She slept in our bed and would wake up multiple times crying in pain. There was one night the only thing that would calm her down was popsicles so she got to eat several popsicles in the middle of the night in our bed. She was whiny and miserable during the day as well. I was so grateful when she finally started to feel better. She had to miss one day of preschool but went the rest of the time. She did rest a lot and watch lots of TV those weeks. 

The first weekend in April brought general conference. We stayed home most of the time to recover with Kyla but we did make a quick trip to visit my parent's and see their little chicks. My dad told the girls they all got to pick two chickens out so they brought their nail polish and Brynlee, Annalyn, and Summer used some nail polish and painted their chicken's feet. 

During the next week of April, we spent a lot of time playing outside and in the house. Brynlee went to activity days and we watched Elowyn one day that week but for the most part we stayed home and rested with Kyla. On Saturday of that week we went to the church and watched Nick and Jace get baptized.

Kyla had a preschool field trip on the 17th and I was able to take Summer and Miriam with us to the Children's Museum. We had a lot of fun exploring and playing in all of the different rooms that they have there. Summer did not want to leave and threw a major tantrum and refused to get buckled when it was time to go. My sister Heather brought Elowyn with her and Remi so Summer had a great time playing with Elowyn. It was fun to watch Kyla interact with her friends at school.

Later that week I took Brynlee and Kyla both to speech. Kyla is officially no longer a thumb sucker. I am super proud of her and that accomplishment. It was not an easy thing but she did great. Brynlee had a speech evaluation and they found out that she is a little bit tongue tied, she has a tonuge thrust, and she has big tonsils which all factor into her speech problems. They thought she would just need a few sessions of speech to fix her speech errors. She tends to slur her s sound and she struggles with the th sound. It is not a close drive and taking five kids to speech for Brynlee is no easy task but I feel like it is important to try and fix it now so we set up speech for Wednesdays after school. Luckily they have a fun toy section in their waiting room and I took the opportunity to take the kids out to get an ice cream cone and we played at the park after speech the first week that I took Brynlee.

My niece Remi had a birthday and Kyla and Summer had fun celebrating with her. We helped grandma put in and plant some of her garden this month. The girls always love a chance to ride on the tractor. We tried to get the kid to stay in their room at night by giving them call back cards and taking them to the dollar store every time we were able to keep 10 of them. Annalyn kept hers easily and got several trips. It took the other girls a while but they were eventually able to all earn some trips to the dollar store.

My aunt Paula came to visit with my parents and while she was there she took some time to give the girls some sewing lessons. Kyla went to the kindergarten open house at the school she will attend next year and is now officially registered and excited to start school.

Joel got some fun new bikes for the girls from a friend at work and they have had a blast playing on those things. The wheels are falling apart but that hasn't stopped the girls from riding them. We also went to the library, celebrated Easter and Summer's third birthday this month. Joel also bought us a new van from an online auction and we had it shipped to our house from Washington. It got here on the last day of the month. The side door and back panel as well as the front bumper had some damage so Joel got it for a good deal and was able to fix it up so we have a nice new van to drive.

In other news, Joel and I celebrated eleven years of marriage this month. We got to go on a date to the temple and were able to eat a quick dinner before Miriam got fussy and we had to go back home. It was a much needed chance to get away and enjoy some alone time together in the temple. I sure am grateful for him and for all of these fun adventures we have gotten to share in together. 

Summer's Slime Birthday!

Summer requested a slime birthday for her party this year. She watched someone on Youtube do a slime party and has wanted one ever since. This girl loves slime but she always ends up getting slime stuck in our carpet and all over her clothes. She likes to sneak it places and then leaves it. When she gets it on her clothes she tends to take her clothes off and hide them so I can't get it off right away. We have had slime all over beds, in hair, and several other places throughout our house. Because of this slime has been banned at our house. I know that Summer loves slime and since she wanted slime for her party so much I decided we could make an exception to the rule for one day and we planned a slime party for this girl. She was pretty excited about it and talked about it for weeks. We invited some of her cousins and she had all of her sisters there. 

Brynlee made and decorated Summer's cake all on her own this year and I think she did a pretty great job. She decorated it to look like it was covered in green slime. I took Summer with me to the dollar store the day before her birthday and she got to help pick out some glitter and things to decorate slime with. She had so much fun in that store. She also got to pick out one thing for sleeping in her bed all night several nights in a row and she took the decision very seriously. She picked out several different things, walked all over that store, and changed her mind half a dozen times before she decided to get that fancy little boat sand toy thing. She was pretty proud of that toy she picked out and super fun to shop with.  

Summer's birthday was on a Saturday so she woke up early and together we decorated the house. The girls got everything set up and ready for the party hours before the party was set to start. When everyone arrived the kids had a ton of fun making and playing with their slime. They all really got into this activity and made some fun different slimes. I love how they all turned out a little bit different. 

After we made slime we sang to Summer and had cake and ice cream. Then Summer opened up all of her presents. This girl opened up all of her presents as quickly as she possibly could and then would throw it down and grab the next one. She loved everything she got. Summer spent the rest of her birthday playing with her new toys and then she played outside with her cousins.     

We sure had fun celebrating this girl on her birthday this year. She did end up with slime all over several different outfits. The dress she wore that night was covered in slime by bedtime. She got it in her hair the next day so the slime didn't last super long in our house. I did discover that vinegar takes slime off with little ease. I just soaked Summer's dress and hair in vinegar and it came off super easily. The kids had a lot of fun with the slime while it lasted. Summer keeps telling us that she is going to have another slime birthday party next year so I am guessing that she loved it. (The picture below is of Summer with the cookie that she got from her nursery teachers. She was super stoked to get a cookie that she could eat all on her own and ate every last bite of it.)

Summer is Three!

Little Summer is now three years old. Here are a few fun facts about her. I asked her all of these questions and these were her responses. 

Favorite Color: Green
Favorite Food: Peas, Meat, and Mac and Cheese
Favorite Dessert: Ice Cream
Favorite Animal: Dinosaur
Favorite Movie: A Dinosaur movie
Favorite Shows: Llama Llama and Kate and Mim Mim
Best Friends: Elowyn and Bailey
Favorite Thing to do: Play
Favorite Toys: Baby dolls and balls
Favorite Song: Twinkle Star
Favorite Book: Llama Llama books
Favorite Game: Hippo Game (hungry hungry hippo)
Favorite Place to Go: The park
Favorite Holiday: Trick or Treating
Things she is good at: Exercising with mom
What she wants to be when she grows up: Big like Brynlee and Annalyn

Summer can be super sweet and helpful. She loves babies and is usually so good with kids that are littler than her. She can also be super mischievous and downright naughty. If a kid that she doesn't know tries to sit by her she might just growl at them and tell them to move. She likes to call people 'poopy heads' when she is mad at them and she has perfected the angry scowl when she is mad. I get that look from her a lot. 

Summer is super sneaky and is constantly getting into things she knows she should not be touching. She loves to steal Miriam's soother and hide it in her bed or in her closet. Lately she has taken to sneaking in Miriam's bed during her nap time to try and quietly steal Miriam's binky right out of her mouth. Then she sucks on it and hides it in her closet until she gets in trouble. She likes to play in the peanut butter and the nutella and has smeared it on several walls. She likes to grab spoons and eat big spoonfuls of that stuff as well. She will sneak in the pantry and get other things as well. She likes to play in the water and in her sister's make-up. She loves make up and fingernail polish. We cannot keep chapstick in this house because as soon as Summer knows where it is, she eats it. She likes to go in her sister's rooms and play with all of their stuff. I cannot buy Popsicle without her getting into them. I keep hiding them in new spots and Summer finds them. She keeps missing out on eating them with the family because she sneaks them when she isn't supposed to have them.  

Summer really does have a mind of her own. She likes to make lots of messes and then deny that she was involved. She likes to run in the rain and when she hears the sprinkles on in the front yard, I can guarantee that she is going to run to her room and change into her swim suit. So far it has not mattered how hot it is outside. She tried to run out there totally naked a few times but we didn't let her get away with that. Summer loves to ride on her little tricycle and is super fast on that thing. She rides it all over our little culdasac over and over again. Summer still takes her shoes off as soon as she can. She loves bubbles and she loves to eat candy and has a deep love for gum. She still doesn't love animals and only likes to be pushed high on the swing occasionally. Usually she just request little pushes. She isn't afraid to climb high and even climbed up the crazy ladder thing that the have at the community park and acted like it was no big deal. 

Summer is really good at throwing temper tantrums. I have had to leave the store and the library several times with Summer kicking and screaming. She usually has to be taken out of sacrament meeting at church at least once on Sundays and there have been several days when she spends almost the entire meeting out in the hall. She loves nursery and is always happy to go to her class. Most of her tantrums involve candy or a toy that she wants. When she gets really mad there is no reasoning with her.

Summer's hair has been really slow to come in but we can finally do little ponytails in it and make it cute. She likes to have her hair fixed. She also likes to wear dresses and tends to change outfits several times a day. Her favorite dress is her candy cane dress, she wears it all the time. I tried to move it out of her closet after Christmas and she was heartbroken so I left it in there and she wears it every time it is clean. Summer is also super independent. I found her washing her hands like that at grandma Verna's house one day. I offered to help but she told me she didn't need my help. Summer still has a super special spot for grandma Verna and she loves her cousin Elowyn. She begs to play with Elowyn and talks about her all the time. Those two girls play together really well most of the time but also fight a lot. Summer loves her sisters and likes to play with them and go where they go. She hates to be left out of something and a big tantrum is sure to follow anytime she gets left behind. 

Summer still wakes up almost every night and sneaks into bed with mom and dad. It was a struggle just to get her to fall asleep in her own bed with Kyla in there so for now we are just celebrating our success. We will work on the staying in her bed all night soon. She gave up naps long ago but will sometimes get tired and just climb in bed and fall asleep. She is usually grouchy when she wakes up from a nap and then she tends to stay up super late so we do not encourage her to take naps at our house. 

Summer is lots of fun. We love her joy and excitement for life. She is such a cute little ball of laughter and sunshine and we are grateful that she is a part of our family. We love you Summer girl. Happy Birthday!