The month of April

*written in October 2011


Oh what a month. The month that my world was turned upside down and brought about 6 months of sheer craziness!! The month that we found out that we were moving to England and began the frantic journey to prepare for our adventure overseas (have I mentioned that moving overseas is so incredibly overwhelming and a major pain?!?! although life is getting back to normal now, it has been a LONG 6 months). Preparing for the move kind of took over my life for a bit and I am so glad that is all behind me. I better get back to the month of April before I start going off on a tangent about the move. So during the month of April both Drew and Alivia had surgery. Livi got tubes put  in her ears and Drew had his tonsils/adenoids removed as well as tubes put in his ears. Livi's surgery went smoothly and she was a champ. She was a little sad at first, but mostly because we had to wake her up at 5:00 am to go to the hospital. The nurses all fell in love with her and wanted to keep her. She was super sweet after she woke up. Totally drugged and dazed. :) The nurses said that when she woke up she didn't make a peep. she just grabbed her blanket and layed down with her bum in the air and looked around with her big beautiful eyes. When they brought her back to me the only she wanted to do was play with the stethoscope. It was actually quite comical to watch her in her totally drugged up daze.

Drew's surgery was pretty rough. When the Doctor told me that he needed to be out of school for 2 weeks I kind of shrugged it off  thinking they were being over cautious. Wow, it really was a long 2 weeks of recovery. poor kid. He was miserable! The doctor said that his tonsils were HUGE. After removing them they put them in a plastic cup and the doctor said that his tonsils filled up the whole cup which rarely happens. Bigger tonsils = more surface area that needs to recover. I am So grateful that Andy's mom was able to come and help take care of him. She was an angel. I may have lost it with out her help. One of the side affects of the surgery is really stinky breath. They cauterize the throat as they take out the tonsils and it smells like rotten burned flesh mixed with the worst morning breath for over a week. It was hard to even be in the same room with him because it stunk so bad. But Grandma Cindi has true unconditional love. She snuggled Drew and even let him lick her face while playing dogging without complaining once about the stink! haha. The surgery was successful though because he has stopped snoring and can hear much better now which we are so grateful for.

this is the only picture we got we the phone camera :(

Avery also had her dance recital in April. She had such a good time and loved performing on the big stage.

And then of course there was Easter Sunday

The Easter Bunny brought the kids rain boots for England

Livi enjoying a few treats before breakfast

The kids walking up to the ward Easter egg hunt

And that my friends is April in a nutshell

Be our Guest

The kindergarten class at Bell Elementary proudly presents your dinner! The kids all worked really hard in music class to put together a performance of Beauty and the Beast, complete with singing and dancing. For weeks Avery walked around the house singing All the words to Be our Guest. Avery was so excited to get dressed up for the big night. They did such a good job!

Before the Show

Avery and Ms. Schwisow

2009 edition

We just got our 2009 blog book in the mail and it makes me SO happy. We love to look at it together as a family and reminisce. I know I say this a lot, but kids grow up way to fast. There are so many things that they do or say that I think I won't forget about, but some how I always do. Keeping up a blog can be hard, but when I get my blog books in the mail, I remember why I blog. So those little moments of childhood won't be lost, but cherished forever. If you haven't made your blog into books yet, I highly recommend it. It is worth every penny, even if you are on a tight budget! Just do it! you will be so glad that you did!

I decided to make a subway art cover for the book. I love how it turned out and it was fun to make! If any one wants help making one, let me know :)

This one is for you, Duke :)

Avery's front tooth finally fell out on Sunday. It has been hanging on by a thread for a few weeks and she wouldn't let us pull it out. She has now lost 4 teeth and has 3 more loose ones. They are dropping like flies I tell ya. The best part about her loosing teeth has been talking to her about my Grandpa Duke. He had a full set of dentures and I always thought it was so funny when he took them out. Every time We would visit him I would beg him to take them out. His response was always "Take one of yours out first, then I'll take out mine." I would wiggle and wiggle and wiggle my teeth in preparation for his visits hoping that one would fall out. I got lucky a few times, and boy were those some happy moments. We would sit on the porch swing together, just hanging out, talking, joking, and laughing at his toothless grin. Oh how his belly jiggled like a bowl full of jelly. I loved his laugh. Thanks for helping me remember the good times Avery! :)

Dance like no one is watching-a little V-day fun

My niece Brittany is always making cute friendship bracelets for Avery and Andrew. Since she came to visit us this summer, avery has been asking if she can make some like Britt. Last year I came across the cute idea to hand them out as valentines. I found a really easy knot friendship bracelet and showed Avery how to do it.  It was such a fun after school activity for us to do together. She made most of the bracelets all by herself :)

My favorite part of the day is when me and the kids have crazy fun dancing like no one is watching! We crank up the music and sing and dance our little hearts out!!

A little brother/sister bonding time. Livi thinks Drew is hilarious :)

BLAAAAHHHH

What is it about January that makes me feel so blah? It happens every year. I have NO motivation to do anything. Maybe it is the crash that comes after the "sugar rush" of the festivities (which pretty much lasts from September thru December for us with birthdays and holidays and all). Anyways, this blog is my journal for the kids and I need to start updating before I get so far behind that I give up and never blog again :) Plus, grandma Cindi keeps reminding me that she NEEDS to see pictures of her adorable grandchildren to ease the pain of their absence. :) so buckle your seat belts and hold on tight. It won't be anything fancy, I'm not even going to edit pictures, but here we go!

Alivia Rae

This little girl is FULL of personality and I love it! I can't believe she is already 16 months. Here are some random pictures of her from the last week

 A little marshmallow snack after nap time 

 Squeaky Clean

 Always playing with her tongue and holding her blankie

Playing Peek-a-boo with her brother

This girls hair is out of control. even brushed she looks like she has a bad case of bed head

Doing her fake laugh

Fun Facts about Livi

*She loves to read books

*She almost always has a baby or stuffed animal in one hand, and her blankie in the other

*She says "uh-oh" and "owie" and screams a lot, whether happy or sad (she learned that from her sister)

*She loves music and we have a singing/dancing party at least once a day

*One of her favorite "games" is jump shake your booty

*Her eyes are still big, bright, and amazing

*She weighs 18 pounds
*She wants to do everything her brother and sister do
*she likes to stick her tongue out
*She is a total Goofball

Andrew is FOUR!!

Andrew was so excited to turn four and have his doggy birthday party. He asked every day for a good month how much longer it was until his birthday. The day before his birthday we all got Strep throat. We had to postpone the party. He was really sad, but was actually a good sport about it. I tried to make the day fun for him even though we were all so sick (look at his glands in the middle picture. they were HUGE. so swollen in fact that the doctor tested him for mono and Hodgkin's). We decorated his room, had "pampakes" for breakfast and opened presents. He got a goldfish which he names Buzz.

The following week we had his party. He LOVES dogs and it was a perfect theme for a bunch of four year old boys. We painted their faces, played lots of doggy games like "trainer says", fetch relay, doggy doggy where's your bone, and more. They had to act like dogs the whole time. It was really cute.

Livi had fun watching the boys act like dogs. She tried to join in and do dog tricks with them.

 A few fun facts about Drew

* He LOVES PBJ and asks for one everyday. he calls them peanut butter and sandwiches
*His favorite colors are green and orange
*He eats at least 2 bananas a day and would eat more if I let him
*He is still a chatterbox and will talk to anyone who will listen
*He is very sensitive and sweet. He gives me a hug and a kiss about every 10 minutes
*He never has shoes on. he hates to wear them
*His favorite word is Bzillion
*His favorite phrase is "best ever". For example he says you are the best ever
*He weighs 33 pounds
*He loves roller coasters and was not scared at all by any of them. He went on the Tower of Terror twice
*He says the funniest things

Happy Birthday Buddy Boy! We love you!!

Ice Skating

We went Ice Skating with some friends on New Years Day. It was so much fun. They have these walkers for the kids to use and it made things so much easier. The walkers gave them confidence to try to skate o their own too. Both Avery and Drew did a great job for their first time. These pictures are terrible, but we had to remember the fun night we had :)

 Livi ate free popcorn while we took turns skating

Christmas 2010

Home Depot had a great black friday deal on Christmas trees. We found out about it towards the end of the sale. Andy ran to the store 15 minutes before closing to see if he could get one. They only had colored lights left, but the guy told him he could exchange it when they got more in. So he bought it. Problem was, they never got any more in. Nothing against colored lights, I just prefer white lights. We only had a little over a week before we left for Florida, so buying a fresh one wasn't worth it. The kids were begging and begging to put up a tree, so we just put it up and let them decorate it. They did it ALL by themselves. I loved it. It made me smile/laugh every time I looked at it. The kids loved it too. They were very proud of themselves. 

Waiting to  come down the stairs Christmas morning

Santa presents and stockings

Santa gave the kdis their own roll of tape in their stockings. It was a HUGE it. I think every inch of the walls in the kids' room is covered with taped up pictures. 

Drew asked for a zhu zhu pet. Santa got him a zhu zhu pet car

Avery asked for art supplies

Livi got a ride-on princess car. She loves it