Merry Christmas

We had a very MERRY Christmas!

We give thanks for our Savior Jesus Christ who came into this world to teach us how to love greater, live better and follow him in all things and for his sacrifice that makes it possible for us to return to live with him and our Father in Heaven someday.

We are grateful to be sealed together as a family for time and all eternity.

On Christmas Eve we made and decorated stocking, Christmas tree and snowflake

sugar cookies for Santa. Cody thought it would be easier for Avery to use a spoon to frost her cookies...Avery thought the spoon was the perfect tool to assist her in sneaking as much frosting into her mouth as possible.

She basically ended up frosting her body instead of the cookies.

Brinley on the other hand worked tirelessly to decorate the cookies perfectly for Santa.

Aspen is coming alive! She is sleeping better at night and screaming louder every time we get into the car. She is surviving her vivacious sisters and is close to getting her last cast off.

Thank you Lewis family for the darling bows!

How fun it was to experience the girls pure delight and excitement as they placed the cookies, carrots and cheese out for Santa and his reindeer (the cheese was Avery's idea).

In the morning they burst into our room with the report that Santa did indeed visit our home and that they actually "heard him land on the roof while they were sleeping,"

simply amazing!

Santa brought Avery a sleeping bag and strawberry toothpaste,

he brought Brinley a music box and kid camera!

A HUGE thanks to those of you who contributed to our Christmas celebration, we love you!

Finding Ways to Cope...

include placing Aspen among the knives and toaster oven; the only spot in the entire house where Avery can't torture

her with oodles of smothering kisses, playful pokes

and failed attempts at picking her up.

However, this new spot only works when I am in the kitchen because Avery is still quite

capable of pulling the bouncy seat along with the baby off the counter.

When I figured out my new little trick I almost felt like I won the lottery!

It's the small things that make this Mama happy these days.

Grandma Ginger's Visit

After undergoing MAJOR back surgery in May I was prepared for a Grandma who
was going to need lots of rest during her week long visit...boy was I wrong.

My Mom was amazing!

She cooked, cleaned, went grocery shopping, took Brinley to school, entertained Avery all day long, held Aspen while I took mid-day naps and participated in many arts and crafts sessions with the girls utilizing neat new items she packed from Utah.

We thought it an appropriate time for a Chocolate Bath while Grandma was here since she started this ever so fun tradition when I was just a little girl myself.

As a parting art gift Grandma presented the girls with these fun dress up glasses which originally are covered in a black film and when scratched reveal the bright colors.

On Monday night we made these graham cracker Gingerbread houses

for our Family Night activity.

This has become one of our Christmas traditions.

That very night Brinley took her turn in our room all night vomiting

and complaining of a very soar throat.

Yesterday Aspen had a procedure done called a "Heal Cord Release" where her Achilles tendon was cut, this will help release the tension in her foot and assist

in the continuation of foot correction.

We have been fortunate to have a sweet and experienced casting tech named Sheri. She is so kind each week and treats Aspen like her own. We also have a fabulous Orthopedic doctor, some patients travel hours each week for their kids to be treated by her.

Last night I piled the girls in the car and we headed off to take Grandma to the airport. Let me paint a quick picture of the scene as Grandma hugged the girls and the Mommy and started walking away from the car: Brinley bawling in the back seat, Avery screaming repeatedly "Grandma don't you leave me" with outreached arms and me trying to keep it together and be reassuring to my kids that Grandma would be back again soon...

right Mom?

(This picture was taken before we even got in the car when Avery had a little premature

freak out thinking that Grandma was leaving right then.)

Thank you Mom, we love you!

December Club Night

After Aspen's weekly cast change yesterday morning I enjoyed an

evening of stampin' with my

monthly clubies!

Club projects included THIS cute little penguin ornament gift card holder made with a variety of our fabulous punches, THIS holiday tea purse made using a standard envelope and this "Season's Greetings" ornament card using the Season of Joy set and the reverse masking technique.

Instead of freezing my tail off to take the pictures outside like I usually do, I took the project pictures inside hence the flashed out lighting...sorry.

Here is what one may find in my living room on the first Tuesday night of any givin month. Are you jelous? Join the fun! A new club series begins the first Tuesday of February!

And last but certainly not least, on Monday night we had said good-bye to my wonderful cousin Ross, his wife Kaite and their two girls Vanessa and Elisabeth.

They lived here for about 17 months and are now off to New York for a

new job opportunity. We will miss them!

Elisabeth and Aspen were born on the SAME DAY in the SAME HOSPITAL! On the way up to our recovery room we stopped by their room (right down the hall from ours) and let the girls meet for the first time.

Here is Vanessa enjoying one last play time (for now) at "Avery's house."

A Visit to see Daddy

We have missed our happy smiling & energetic Avery.

It started last Wednesday night with conjunctivitis in the eyes,

followed by several days of the stomach flu and this morning Daddy diagnosed

her hurting ears as a double ear infection and called in antibiotics.

And so amidst her lethargic like days and up all night nights we think of happy times, like last week right before all of this started when we took one of our frequent trips to see Daddy at work and Avery ate this.

After a brief playtime on the bench we went up to the intervential radiology lab where Avery screamed outside of the procedure rooms for a lenghty period of time while we waited for Daddy to walk us to the car. Before he had emerged Aspen decided it was lunch time and joined in the screaming chorus.

Soon Avery was hysterically trying to break into the room to fetch her Dad and I found myself sitting in the middle of the hospital hallway holding Avery away from the door as she vibrantly exclaimed "I want my Daddy right now!"

Doctors and nurses passed by doing their best to smile and make some kind remark about my two beautiful girls who were disturbing the peace.

The time arrived to break the news to Avery that we would need to head to the car without seeing Daddy again (because he got stuck doing those doctor things he does so well). As I wove in and out of people making my way through the many hallways & elevators to get back to the car using one hand to push a still screaming hungry Aspen in the long SUV sit and stand stroller and persuade Avery (who was in a full on melt down) with the other I realized that barring a miracle I was not going to be able to make

the 20 minute drive home until Aspen was nursed.

I made it as far as the Heart Hospital (I have to pass though it to get to the car) and quickly created a little nook in a busy hallway using the stroller and two chairs to barricade myself in an attempt to discretely nurse (I used the nursing cover Jill) and keep

Avery from running away at the same time.

(this is Aspen when she is happy)

Let me sum the rest up in a faster version. Nursed one side, Avery is poppy so I set Aspen down screaming and change Avery on the floor, nurse Aspen on the other side, she is poppy, change her on a little table, attempt to get a burp out so as to avoid a projectile vomit on the ride home, all the while Avery finds it absolutely hysterical to run as far away as she possibly can (because I am stuck feeding the baby) before I really raise my voice and she either slowly makes her way back to me with a sly grin and a few chuckles before running away again or some nice stranger feels sorry for me

and helps her back to my side.

Oh how I will look back and long for these crazy days when my children are grown. Even as I find myself in these types of situations I have to just sit back and laugh a bit and be thankful for motherhood opportunities which help me grow in patience

and love my kids more each day!

And to end off this post a sweet picture that I forgot to add to the last post!

Grandpa Young Comes to Visit

Last weekend Grandpa Young caught a glimpse of our lives here during his 4 day visit.

We SO enjoyed having him in our home!

His loving, patient and calm nature reminds me of my husband.

The girls loved playing with Grandpa even though they started to get sick during his visit.

Sickness did not keep them from a Daddy & Grandpa daughter date to the Elmo Live Show OR from enjoying a trip to Graters Ice Cream!

On Sunday we blessed Aspen and it was so special to have

Grandpa participate in this important event.

Grandpa, thank you so much for visiting us, you are welcome absolutely any time!
We love you.

Becca Berry Photography

A few weeks ago my friend Becca came over to the house

and took some fantastic pictures of Aspen!

Although the other two girls did not cooperate much at all,

Aspen was on her best behavior for her first photo shoot.

(this is one of her two darling daughters)

We are SO thankful to Becca for blessing our family with her fantastic photography talent.

You will see a few of the sweet pictures in our Christmas card making

it's way to your home soon!

Check out her site at www.beccaberryphotograhpy.com

Avery sings I Love to See the Temple

Avery delights in singing a variety of songs throughout the day. As you can see in the video, it is very challenging for her to sit still...ever.

We are privileged to hear her darling vocals in the car, during outside play, while getting ready in the morning and especially via the baby monitor during her nightly ritual of singing Brinley to sleep...and for up to an hour after Brinley has fallen asleep.

Brinley has been busy on big sister duty most recently teaching Avery the days of the week and months of the year by singing these

two songs with her over and over again.

Thank Heavens for Friends

My dearest life-long friend Paige and her daughter Brooklyn came into town

all last week to help us out as we continue to transition to life with three kiddos.

The girls loved their daily coloring contests, trampoline & backyard play, board game time, reading, eating and painting with Paige. Poor Brooklyn became Avery's new little victim and endured her fair share hitting and pushing, in between the abuse Avery showered Brooklyn with affection and even started to share...a little.

I loved having an extra set of willing Mommy hands to patiently calm screaming children, feed Aspen a pumped bottle in the middle of the night, clean up around the house, feed, wash and dress kids, drive Brinley to school, take the girls on fun outings and make day time naps possible for this tired Mommy.

At night when three out of the four kids were sleeping Paige and I would actually have the chance to talk (and hit our favorite ice cream shop TWICE).

I felt like we could have talked forever and ever!

Brinley was in an absolute 5 year old depression as we prepared to say good-bye. Tears streamed down her face as the time drew near. Once Paige & Brooklyn drove away the full on sobs began, we both shed some tears together.

Thank you Paige for spending your week in our service.

Thank you Tray for sacrificing your wife and daughter to let them be with us!

Welcome Trayden

Mandi (Cody's sister) and Darren are the proud parents of...

our newest nephew Trayden Darren Anderson!
He was born on Halloween night and weighed 6lbs. 5oz.
We are so happy for you and are excited to welcome this sweet

little addition into our family!

Aunt Kelty's Visit & Aspen's Foot

Aunt Kelty just took off yesterday morning...and we already miss her tons.

(because this post has taken me 2 days and 155293842938 attempts to accomplish Kelty actually left 2.5 days ago)

The girls were on cloud NINE for 5 days as Kelty played intensely with both of them.

Tea Party's on the trampoline , treasure hunts, board games, pretend stories, dancing, bath time fun, dress ups and making movies as you can see Brinley doing in the picture above.

One morning after dropping Brinley off at school Kelty took Avery to Michael's Crafts and they purchased art supplies for a day full of craft fun. While Kelty patiently helped Avery create a princess crown and lovely little heart shaped love card to Mommy, she also came up with the clues shown above for Brinley to go on a "Pirate Treasure Hunt" around the house.

Brinley loved finding the "hidden treasure" out back in the garden.

Brinley and Avery developed a closer bond with Aunt Kelty while she was here and they have not stopped asking for her since she left.

Thank you Kelty for being here for us when we needed you most!

On to little miss Aspen's club foot.

On Monday Aspen had her first plaster cast placed.

Above = Aspen gets a little appetiser before the cast procedure and

Daddy gives her one more castless cuddle.

(If you want to nurse in style with one of these cute covers go HERE and

check out my sister-in-laws talent)

These days the Ponseti method is used to treat children with club feet.

Here is a brief outline of what Aspens treatment will be:

1- On Monday she received her first cast spanning from the tips of her toes to the top of her thigh. This is the first of SIX casts she will have. Each week for 5 weeks her foot will be gently manipulated in between cast changes, the final cast

will stay on for THREE weeks.

2- After the casting process is completed she will be fitted for shoes which will have a metal bar in between them. These shoes will position her club foot in an over-corrected position. She will have to wear them for 23 hours a day for the first 3 months and then during nap time and night time until she is three or four years old.

Aspen was actually quite calm when her cast was being put on. In fact, up until Monday morning she hardly cried at all in her first two weeks of life, however things have now changed since that Monday morning which seems like it was so long ago.

Our only conclusion is that the cast is quite uncomfortable because right after leaving the Orthopedic Clinic Aspen learned to use every little fiber of her lung power and now continually expresses her discomfort through screams and cries.

Now she is happiest being held ALL THE TIME, so I have learned to use this magical little Mobie wrap that my friend Paige gave me and I wear Aspen as much as I can (even when attempting to take a nap). I do have to admit that it breaks my heart to hear her new vibrant screams of protest even though I know we are doing what is best for her.

Brinley and Avery have both expressed concern about their baby's new screaming sounds and shower her with songs, kisses and binki's throughout the day.

To learn more about Dr. Ponseti and club foot go HERE.

Halloween

Here are some Halloween pics. just a bit late.

Brinley was a cheerleader (great garage sale find this summer), Avery a pink poodle (Brinley's costume from when she was 2) and Aspen was a

little lamb who's fleece was white as snow.

It was SO fun to have Aunt Kelty trick or treat with us this year. Bless her, she ended up holding Avery (who was covered in sticky candy) much of the time and patiently helping her go up to the doors to trick or treat...more about Saint Kelty's visit coming soon!

One very important stop along our way was to Mrs. Vanhoose house. This is Brinley's pre-school teacher from last year. She also has been granted sainthood in my book because she has volunteered to bring Brinley home from school each day. We love you Mrs. Vanhoose!

Aspen had her first cast put on yesterday morning. Next post = Aunt Kelty's visit and an explanation of Aspen's club foot treatment.