Leaves

It is fall again.  I love the fall.  I love the changing of the seasons.  Here you actually get to get to the changing of the seasons here.  In Alaska fall last about two weeks and then it winter.  (We don't have spring at all it is called break up.  It is mud, puddles, and yucky for a couple weeks and then everything is green.)  I love watching the girls play in the leaves.  When ever we go for walks they love running through all the leaves.  Every year Matt rakes up the leaves and I take pictures of the kids playing in them.  It would be quicker for him to mow them.  But we both enjoy watch the girls run and throw them in the air. I am trying to capture as much of the childhood fun on camera as I can.  They love having their pictures taken they even get mad when I stop.  I love filling my house with pictures of us and our adventures. 

He wasn't sure what to make of the leaves till his Daddy started playing with him

She loved throwing the leaves

She kept saying it was snowing

Right before she threw them on me

Daddy buried them and they loved it

 

Someday I will sleep

Lately in our home sleep has become a luxury I can seem to afford.  In my lack of sleep I have learned MTV does play music videos but only at three am.  They also play Boy meets World reruns.  I am thankful for my dvr and Netflix as it gives me something interesting to watch other then infomercials at 3am.  I also need to keep several sippy cups full of water on hand for those late night night terrors. 
  Alex is still up every three to four hours at night for a diaper change and feeding.  This can last any where for thirty minutes to an hour.  Sometime he will doze off in the middle of a his bottle but if doesn't finish he is up in another hour. Which isn't thrilling.  There are some nights he likes to be up every two hours grumpy boy.  It doesn't help he has been fighting a cold for the past couple weeks and he has to be cleaned out a couple times a night.  He hates it every bit and screams bloody murder.  Poor kid. But has to be done.  Since he has issues with his heart we have to watch him closely especially at night so any weird noises wake me up.   
   Emme has been having night terrors every night.  Halloween always triggers it.  Don't get me wrong she loves the holiday.  But it is all the creepy decorations people put out that triggers it.  Other things trigger it too. Like skipping nap time too many times in a row, getting in trouble before bed (this happens a lot)  They start will lots of screaming.  She can be looking you right in the face with her eyes open but she is really asleep.  It like she is trying to escape or fight off something.  It hard to sit and watch it.  But watch I must so she doesn't hurt herself.  Trying to wake her up doesn't work you just have to sit and wait it out.  Sometimes it lasts twenty minutes or two hours. There times she scream so much she will vomit.  Sometimes she will take a sippy and drink water which stops her from vomiting all over her room.  She doesn't remember what the nightmare is about when it is done.  All she remembers is she was scared. 
   Livi has been sick lately.  We thought it was just the lovely cold we all have been battling this past month.  Every time we get better a couple days later we all get sick again.  She has been more cuddly then normal.  Not she isn't cuddly all the time.  This is a girl who loves to hug and sit in our laps.  She has woke up at night crying and wanting to be rocked.  So I get to sit in the chair and sing her songs.  One night she was so stuffed up she kept waking up so I started rocking her in the chair singing what hymns I could remember after about an hour.  I asked her where she wanted to sleep in her bed or the crib.  (She sleeps in the crib because Emme picks on her)  She said in your lap now sing Jesus.  Yesterday we took her to the doctor her cold has changed into a double ear infection.  There were no signs.  She didn't have a fever.  Never complained about her ears or messed with her ears.  I thought maybe Emme would she was complaining about her ears last week.  Nope she was fine.  Livi just showed signs of a cold.  Running nose coughing saying she didn't feel well. 
  Now I am starting to feel sick.  Not fun.  I am ready for this to be done.  I am tired of everyone being sick.  It also gets my anxiety up since our doctor told us that Alex's chances of getting pneumonia and fluid in his lungs are higher because of his heart.  So we have to be very careful with him during flu season. So if you are sick or feeling like it coming on don't ask to hold him please.  I would like to avoid a chest xray.  Which we were told if his cough doesn't improve we will need.  Kinda of scary and stressful.  You won't think he has heart issues by looking at him but his heart still has issues.  
   I miss sleep.  Some day sleep and me will be friends again.  I guess until then I guess nothing will get done at my house during nap time.  Just family nap time.  Well maybe not Livi is now crying which means she is missing a stuffie.  Or she needs more pain meds. 

Happy Birthday Emme!!!

Yesterday was Emme's fourth birthday.  It has been fun to watch her grow and change this past four years.  She is such a little ball of fun.  She knows how to frustrate you one moment and melt your heart the next.  This year she is obsessed with Doc McStuffins.  It is this cute show that teaches kids to not be scared of the doctor/dentist.  She pronounce several months ago she wanted a Doc McStuffins party.  So Saturday we had her family party.  We had it at Matt's parents because our home is really too small to have that many people over.  (We have tried it before it didn't work well) We decorated the house in Doc stuff.  I made strawberry cupcakes with vanilla butter cream. Emme told me she wanted a cake too.  So I made a small cake to add with the cupcakes.  We had loads of food as usual what is a celebration with out yummy food.  The girls had fun playing with Stockton and Aspen (Matt's cousin's kids)  At one point Emme and Livi had Stockton pinned on the couch hitting him with balloons. When we blew out the candles Emme got to destroy her little cake everyone kept encouraging her to stick her face into it.  She became such a mess it is a good thing she got clothes for her birthday. (along with puzzles, magnetic dolls, pjs and doc kit) But you are only young once so I let my kids be kids.  The only thing that was hard was one of children repeatedly hit and pushed my kids.  Emme told him to stop and not to be rude, but Livi is more sensitive so I got to clean up lots of tears.  
For her actual birthday we went out to lunch at Olive Garden and then went to the fun zone in Sandy. They have roller skating, arcade games, and bounce castles.  The girls ran me ragged in the bouncey land.  Livi isn't a monkey like her sister so it required me to go and help Livi up the bigger stuff.  At one point we were climbing up this one ladder she lost her grip and we both fell.  And bounced onto the floor in between the two castle.  Livi starting crying as it scared her.  She landed on me so she wasn't hurt.  We decided to stick to the slides after that.  We had a blast.  Matt tried to do one of slides but being 6'5 didn't work well.  So he decided to stick to Alex duty.  For Emme's birthday dinner we had homemade pizza and cake.  She got more puzzles and pjs to open on her actual birthday.   She told me she had fun and wants to know who's birthday is next.
  

Spent several nights making construction papered Doc and Friends.  (L to R) Chilly, Lambie, Doc, Stuffie, and Hallie)

She insisted on wearing her costume to her party. 

Her cake and cupcakes

Even her baby bro got dress up for her party

These were bandaids with hearts on them. 

Beating Stockton up.  He is so patient with them and they love him

Livi wanted to wear her Lambie costume but we compromised on lambie ears and 

tutu.  

Emme with Aspen who had Alex

I love this picture.  I may have to frame it

Isn't she cute

Livi with Grandpa and Alex.  She adores him and has him wrapped around her little finger

The party

Unwrapping presents

Showing her cousin Riley her Doc doll.  (there was a lambie doll too but Livi quickly declared it hers)

Wrestling with Aspen

Hungry for cake

The after of the cake

Halloween

We love Halloween in our family.  We don't really care for the scary decoration. (With a kid prone to night terrors you wouldn't either)  We do love the pumpkins, leaves and the whole feel of fall.  The girls were super excited for trick or treating.  And it seemed that we were finally over the latest cold.  We spent the afternoon carving pumpkins.  The girls had fun scooping out the pumpkin guts.  After dinner we got them ready to head out.  Since it was cold we made sure we were layered and had gloves.  They loved going from house to house.  We stuck to house with porch lights on.  The girls got tons of candy.  After our second street Emme began complaining she was tired and wanted to go home.  This was odd from my chocolate addict.  So we headed home while Daddy and Livi hit a couple more houses.  We decided to change into our pjs and watch Hocus Pocus.  Poor girl was running a minor fever. She had no symptoms and was bouncing off the walls ready to go.  Thankfully it was a short bug.    I guess October has been the month of flu and colds in our home.

He was stuffie and slept the whole time

Carving pumpkins

Getting out the guts

They want candy

They loved out mummy door

Our first stop the Spencers

She loved holding Daddy's finger

Pre- Halloween Fun

The weekend before Halloween was pretty busy with different parties and activities.  It didn't help that the kids were getting over colds.  On Friday was the annual Sheriff's Halloween party.  It is pretty cute they have trick or treating in the offices, games, pumpkins and food.  The officers that we in charge of the event dressed like the Cast of Wizard of Oz.  One guy was wearing a cardboard box paint like the yellow brick road.  I wish I had taken a picture now.  Saturday the girls went to a friend's annual Halloween party.  I think is so cool this sister throws a Halloween party for each of her kids' friends.  She throws four parties on one day.  While the girls were at the party, I was attending are stake's family history expo.  I had been ask to help others with their research.  The first part was great because we got to hear from the former director of the family history library.  He now in charge of special projects.  There was a quote I loved that was in his presentation "Genealogy is expanding your charts.  Family History is expanding your hearts"  I love genealogy.  I spent three hours helping other with their questions.  Then it was time for Zayne's second birthday party (Zayne is Matt's cousin's grandson)  It was a construction theme.  It was so cute she had hard hats for all of the kids.  The girls had fun running around after Stockton and Aspen (Matt's cousin's kids)  I thought for a moment we might have to frisk the girls on the way out as they loved his toys.  Livi loved the hugging Elmo doll. And Emme loved the ball pit.  If we had room in our toy room I might consider getting one but I don't know where I would put it.  
  Sunday was the Primary Program at church.  It was Emme's first and since we haven't been in church much the last couple months it was going to be an interesting one.  She was at her silliest and gave her teachers a workout.  She didn't know many of the songs so the pretended she did.  She danced and twirled.  We spent the whole time just laughing at the things she was doing.  She wasn't being naught just her silly self.  

He was a viking

Livi at the bean bag toss

Emme decorating her pumpkin with stickers

They wanted to have their picture taken every inflatable

Trick or Treating

Hanging out with the Viking

Livi in her hard hat

Hanging out with their grandparents

She loved this

Waiting her turn to say her part.  Can you see the mischief in her eyes