A Father's Love (Written only for my girls)

For some reason blogger is not allowing me to upload pictures today so I'll wait for the update on the girls. We have been super busy lately but we're doing well. Matt and I both have new callings in church that we are very excited about. Matt is now the 11 year old scout leader and I am the Beehive advisor so we work with about the same age of kids. It has been really neat watching Matt after receiving this calling because he has yet again amazed me with his hard work and dedication to what he does. He was given zero guidance and very little information with this new calling and it has been quite a few years since he was a scout himself. Instead of complaining and making excuses, Matt studied scout material for three straight days online as well as went to a scout office during his lunch to obtain more information. He really puts his full effort into everything he does. Only three days after being set apart to this new calling, he held his first activity/meeting at our home and was successful in getting every scout but one to attend. The girls and I were at home that night and it was really fun observing the boys and watching this new transition start, the girls had fun entertaining the boys too. I am so impressed and grateful for Matt's genuine ability to take care of his responsibilities and care for those around him.

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Many people from both church and work have commented on Matt's attitude and how genuine he truly is, always trying to help those around him whether it be volunteering for service projects, donating to different causes, or spending extra time or attention helping others at work be more comfortable or more successful. I have noticed these qualities in my husband since day one of meeting him just over five years ago and I have benefited from them every day since and still do. I have a very strong testimony that our family is blessed because of the hard working, worthy priesthood holder, and genuine guy that is my husband. Even with everything else going on around us or in our lives that get stressful or chaotic, I know that at the end of the day I have my husband to lean on and can strengthen my testimony with his and our worries and stress start to disappear.
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For anyone reading this, I do not share this with the intent to boast and hope that it does not come across as such. There have just been a lot of different things on my mind and happening lately that continue to remind me of the power of living a good life and doing what is right. I use my blog as a journal that I print out for my kids and I want them to have the testimony of their mother when they're older that they can turn to.

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Girls, I want you to know that I love your father and support him fully. I also know that he loves and supports me fully. I want you to know that your father is a good man that does what is right, even when others aren't watching. He is full of integrity, love, and charity. One thing that is undeniable as much as anything else is that your dad loves you. Ever since the day you were each born, he has made a constant effort to be there for you. He comes home at a good hour to make sure that he gets quality time with you before you go to bed. He holds you when you are sad, plays with you when you are happy. He misses you when he is away even if it is only a short time. Both of you have such a strong and special bond with your dad that reminds me of the relationship I have had with grandpa my whole life. You light up whenever you hear his voice or see him walk through the door. When you get sad, you often cry for him. I pray that you take advantage of having such a great relationship with him, he will always be one of your best friends that you can turn to for anything at any time. We both love you more than you'll ever understand until perhaps you have children of your own. We can tell you this and do tell you this all of the time, but if you ever forget or wonder what it was like being one of our children, I want you to know and remember that you were very lucky to have a father that loved you so much.

Love, Mom

Chopped

I went to the salon this morning and had them cut off 11 inches. They also layered my hair and gave me bangs which you cannot see very well in this picture. I'm still in a little bit of shock but I am glad I did it.

Fun Packed Weekend

Friday right after work we took off to go camping with Bryan and Allie. We had so much fun and look forward to going a few more times before the year is over. We got to our campsite right before it started getting dark and set up our tents. We spent most of Friday night trying to build a fire but all of the wood was wet so we never did get a constant and large flame. Luckily, it wasn't nearly as cold as we anticipated it being. We all had a lot of fun hanging out, talking, and eating different treats.

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Sienna and her puppy all ready to go.

They went to bed just great for us...but they didn't stay asleep so well. Sienna did pretty well but had about a 10 minute episode around midnight where she kept yelling, "I want to get out of here." We got her back to sleep rather quickly and she slept the rest of the night. Sadie, on the other hand, didn't do so well. She went to bed really easily but woke up very early in the morning and worried that she was going to get too cold, I moved her around too much trying to get her situated and caused her to wake up and become too alert. She got very upset and only wanted to leave the tent but wouldn't let me hold her. After screaming for quite some time we decided it was best for Matt to take her to the van so everyone could get some more sleep. It was a long night and Matt ended up sleeping without covers when they came back to the tent but we all had tons of fun and want to go back soon.

The girls snuggling with Aunt Allie.

Making some delicious breakfast! I made some egg and cheese English muffins and they really turned out so yummy.

Lounging out by the fire.

Sadie and her duck.

Sienna and her puppy eating some snacks. I love that the girls have their favorite stuffed animals that they take everywhere.

Helping mom clean up the tent.

After cleaning up the camp sight we played some Frisbee and football in the parking lot.

We didn't get any pictures together camping so we decided to take one on the way home. We had such a great weekend together. I love the time we get to spend as a family.

Saturday afternoon after catching up on some sleep we went to a pumpkin patch with some friends. I love pumpkins and so do my girls.

What beautiful people!

Sienna and Savannah sitting by Elmo.

The family with the animals from Madagascar. Sienna's favorite movie is Madagascar and we watch it a couple times a week. She was so excited to take a picture with Marty.

Of course we had to go down the slide a few times.

Family picture with some pumpkins.

Roanoke Fair

A city just north of us had their annual fair where citizens from the town can set up tents and sell or advertise for their companies. We went with the Jacobs (Tricia and Joci's family). It was a lot of fun because we don't often get together with them as families. There were tons of vendors set up selling their goods, lots of food, and of course bounce houses.

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Mommy and Sadie.

Joci and Sienna going down the slide. They absolutely loved it and went down several times.

Joci has a little obsession with bounce houses. She would stay in here for hours if you let her. Even if she had jumped for 20 minutes, she would still get upset when her turn was over. They had so much fun together.

Sadie playing with her tongue.

I'm sad I cut daddy out the picture but look how excited Sadie was. Sienna and Sadie are swinging and sliding girls. They love to jump too but they would go down slides or swing all day. We had a great time and after walking around for awhile, we all went to Chilis for dinner.

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Other updates from the weekend include the girls helping me throw our first garage sale with Sandy, Sadie getting her molars, and Sienna throwing up in mine and Matt's bed. The garage sale was so much fun. Sadie has been in a lot of pain from her teeth. Sienna went to bed so early Saturday and woke up at about two in the morning wanting to cuddle with mommy. She was so cute and walked into our room asking to snuggle with me so I had her climb into bed. A few minutes after, she coughed and gagged on her spit or something which caused her to throw up all over our bed. I ran her into the bathroom where she threw up all over the toilet and floor. Matt came in to help and she said to him, "Oh no, I'm so dirty." She wasn't sick, she just inherited her mother's gagging reflex. She took a hot bath and went right back to bed. Matt and I were nauseous the rest of the night.

What We Do When We're Stuck at Home

Even if the girls and Matt hadn't been sick this past week, we probably would have still spent the majority of our time at home. The weather has not been great and has rained on and off for days. One main difference between being sick and bad weather though is being able to have friends come over and play. I think we've done pretty well at entertaining ourselves and having a good time stuck at home without any friends. Here are some pictures of what we like to do to have fun at home.

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Saturday and Sunday we watched a lot of conference and started decorating for Halloween. Conference was amazing as always. I took notes for my Sunday School class and I am going to start doing that more regularly again, it helps me retain so much more but also I can look back and remember how I felt during certain talks. For example, during Elder Holland's talk I wrote that I felt the spirit so strongly and had constant chills. What a powerful testimony from an apostle of the Lord about the Gospel and The Book of Mormon. I am so grateful I was able to witness it.

Sienna spent a lot of her week in her underwear not wanting to get dressed. I am so tempted to put up pictures of the girls in their Halloween costumes but I am going to try and be big and wait.

The girls love playing in their blankets. This is Sadie trying to walk around the house with her blanket over her head. She kept running into the wall but just turned and would walk the other direction.

Sienna playing peek-a-boo with her blankets too.

We build lots of towers when we're home. Sienna built this tower all by herself. I was most impressed because it was top heavy and as tall as her. When I was trying to take the picture she had her hands in her face and when I asked her to put her arms down, this is what I got.

Yesterday, Sienna and I decided to make a paper chain "Countdown to Fun". It started by us talking to Grandma Anne about Disney World in February. I thought a paper chain would give Sienna a good idea when we get to do these fun things. First, we have Cancun with Nana and Papa and Matt's whole family over Thanksgiving. Second, we are going to Utah for Christmas with my whole family. Lastly, we are meeting my family in Disney World to celebrate my mom's 50Th birthday. (It will also be Brit's 30Th b-day, Ella's 6Th b-day, Kate's 3rd b-day, and Matt and my 5Th anniversary all in the same three days!!) Our countdown only made it to Christmas though, February is a little far away but we can always make another chain later.

Sienna holding up her hard work. She chose out what order to put the colors in and handed them to me. Of course Orange was very first. There are two balls on the chain covered with stones that represent when we go to Cancun and another for when we go to Utah for Christmas.

Sienna trying to be modest as she holds on to her chain. Sienna tore off the first ring last night before going to bed. She got so excited and yelled, "Sadie, now you come rip off the red one!" I explained that we can only take one off a night but that Sadie could do it next time. Today Sienna saw her chain and wanted to tear off another ring. I told her that we needed to wait until bedtime when daddy was home. She said, "I want to go to the ocean and beach right now." She is so sweet and I had a lot of fun doing different projects with her yesterday. She also glued different stones onto paper and made pretty collages.

We also rest a lot when we're stuck at home. Sienna took a long nap yesterday and Sadie got bored without her big sis to play with. I walked into the toy room to find Sadie sound asleep on the floor with a purse.

Look, we're dressed and ready for the day. The girls are feeling better but it stormed all night so we're staying home again today. So far we have eaten breakfast, taken a long hot bath, jumped on the cuddlebag together, and read a lot of books.

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At least when you're stuck at home, your best friend is stuck with you. Sienna and Sadie are both so loving and have tried to take good care of each other while not feeling well. These two tease each other, chase each other, love on each other and play so well together. Sienna loves teaching Sadie new things and quizzes her all of the time. Sienna is always telling me and Matt what Sadie is saying or needs too. She is actually pretty good at deciphering what Sadie says and sometimes they have little conversations. It melts my heart. Sadie can say a few things but even if she says a bunch of gibberish, Sienna will reply something like, "Yeah Sadie, that does sound fun" or "No, I don't want to do that right now." Another benefit of being stuck at home not feeling well is that the girls are super cuddly and loved being held. Aside from my babies being sick, it's been a great week.

May I Take a Shower?

Our house has been full of different illnesses this past week. Sienna spent all last weekend with a high fever but she had zero other symptoms. Her fever finally broke Sunday and she was free of one for two days. Although Sienna was feeling better, sickness had not left the house. Monday morning Matt woke up not feeling well and only lasted a couple hours at work before he went into the doctor to find out that he had pneumonia. Luckily, he had very early on symptoms of pneumonia and tested negative for the flu/swine flu. The doctor told Matt that he still had a 25% chance of developing the flu within the next 48 hours.

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Tuesday, I took Sienna to gymnastics and we left early because she wasn't participating or acting herself. Sure enough, her fever had come back. Sienna fell asleep on the drive home so I laid her on the cuddlebag where she continued to sleep. Sadie was still asleep in her crib from before we left, good thing too because had she woken up I doubt Matt would've heard her. So far Sadie had zero signs of anything and Sienna only had a fever but I was terrified that the flu bug was going to enter our home or that the girls would develop pneumonia. Matt slept all day Tuesday but the girls seemed well. Despite Sienna's fever, they both acted normal and happy.

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Wednesday came and Matt was feeling quite a bit better but still weak. Sienna's fever broke during the night and she woke up drenched in sweat, but it came back. At this point Sadie now had a fever. I decided to take Sienna into see her doctor and make sure that she wasn't getting the flu or pneumonia. They tested her for the flu and strep and both came back negative. The doctor said that she sounded great and he would never think pneumonia except for the fact that Matt has it. He sent us home telling us that if she got worse or developed any other symptoms to come back in Friday to get an x-ray to check for pneumonia. I took Sienna home and she took a long nap. During her nap, her fever broke and has not come back. Sadie still has a slight fever but no other symptoms. I don't know what the girls' bodies are fighting off but because they both have the same thing, it takes a lot of worries away from me that it could be something scary or permanent.

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This morning Matt went back to work. Sienna does not have a fever but Sadie does. I still feel well and clear of everything going around the house. This morning as Matt was leaving he kissed the girls and then me. He felt my head and said that he thought I felt warm and was possibly developing a fever. I told him that I felt fine and not warm at all. Maybe he was feeling heat from Sadie who was laying on me but he grabbed the thermometer for me to check my temperature. It was 92.3. Matt laughed and said, "never mind, you're freezing." Hopefully, there isn't a sickness that comes along with that. All joking aside, it looks like we're at the end of the illnesses in our home. Even though it has been a week of unknowns in our house and people haven't been feeling the best, we've enjoyed our time together. Matt spent lots of hours cuddling with his sick girls and watching shows with them. Sienna and Sadie have taken numerous baths together and I just kept praying that they would all feel better soon. I am grateful that things worked out as they did. Nobody had anything too serious and everyone was able to stay comfortable for the most part. To be honest, it was a lot of fun having Matt home for a few days. Even though we didn't do much besides relax, it was fun being all together. Now Matt has to go to work for two days and then we have another weekend.

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Here is a cute conversation with Sienna from last night after dinner.

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Sienna: "I want to take a shower with mommy."

Me: "I don't want to take a shower right now."

Sienna: "I want to take a shower with daddy then."

Matt: "I just got out of the shower. You can take a shower with me in the morning."

Sienna: "May I take a shower by myself then?"

Me: "How about you and Sadie take a bath?"

Then both girls got really excited and took a bath.

Fun

You have to have fun when daddy is gone. It's a good thing Matt didn't leave for too long because it is already getting to Sienna. Last night we called Matt but he was at the school doing a presentation and couldn't talk. Sienna got so sad and through tears said, "daddy isn't nice, he leaved me." I felt so bad. I think she'll be okay though, we're having a lot of fun. Yesterday, she got to hang out with Uncle Bryan and he gave her marshmallows. We also got a 'cookie ice-cream cone' together the other night before bed and Sienna got to sleep in bed with mommy last night too. It's been fun but we're all excited to see daddy today.

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This morning the girls have been playing train and I push them around the house in the laundry baskets.

Sienna's good friend Davin came over to play too. I always pretend to match Sienna up with her different boy friends but I think she has a legit crush on Davin. I don't blame her, he's pretty stinking cute and fun.

I'd be perfectly fine with Sienna hanging out with boys like Davin all her life. He is such a sweetheart. He has already helped the girls pick up their spilled cereal, helped Sadie up when she fell out of the box, and played nicely with Sienna. All without me saying a word.