Bailey's New Room/Rick's new office

Peanut...love that dog. Yes...four computers in one office :)

Bailey has moved down to Ashley's old room. New paint, new blankets...and room to put all her stuff. She loves being downstairs and spends a lot time playing. We took Bailey's old room, which Rick put 4 coats of white paint on the wall and shopped at Ikea for his new office. Still a work in progress. We need new flooring and window covering.

Bailey - Mini Drill Team 2011

Ashley and Bailey

Abby...

Bailey, Abby & Nick at the beginning

Abby, Dominque and Bailey dancing just for fun :)

Dominque, Bailey and Abby- the three amigo's and best friends.

Nick - Dental Craziness

Nick has a bad cross-bite plus the bonus of having extra unneeded teeth. Before Christmas we took him to the dentist, which he ran away, got a strep infection, missed a week of school and was just plain miserable. We finally got the quad put in 10 days ago. He had his quad put in on January 7th. He cried from the moment I picked him up at school all the way to Logan. I ended up having to call Rick to come help. He finally went in and the younger Dr. Poole was so good with him. He talked him through the whole process and fitted the quad in. He asked Nick how it felt and if he wanted him to cement it in. To our surprise, he said it didn't hurt, so away Dr. Poole went cementing in the quad. Nick has gotten used to it and is very good about brushing his teeth and keeping it clean. He never wants to go to the dentist again, but the orthodonist is fine.

Christmas/New Years

The boys won. They are proud winners!

The Girls=notice the mess they made :)

My babies. Haiden brings me so much joy. Bailey and Haiden are soooo close. He calls her "B". I'll tell him its Bailey, and he calls her Bailey a couple of times, but always goes back to "B". So she is "B" along with his blanket and his sippy cup. I love that boy.

Oops...I missed a week blogging (now it is several weeks). That would be because I was soooo sick last weekend. I had the worse sore throat ever and couldn't talk. I went nowhere and mostly laid in bed for 4 days.

So we will start with our family Christmas Eve Party. For the past couple of years, I've had a family party at myself (family: meaning my kids and their kids/spouse's/girlfriend). We made a big batch of Chili, I gave everyone a pj's and then we played games. This year we added a Gingerbread house/train contest and did boys vs. girls. We are going to continue this project next year, but they have to start from scratch with a box of graham crackers, frosting/glue guns and candy that I will provide. It was so much fun. Haiden came over and it was great. I will say that I did miss Kortni this year. Michael brought his new girlfriend Tyff. Nick was so excited this year. He just couldn't wait for everyone to come. He even gave out the pajamas.
Ashley won the Headbanger game. The kids loved playing it. It was fun. This year was all about fun so lots of games. Michael got an electronic dart board and gift certificates to the movies and the bowling ally. Tyff got Lotions and perfume from Bath and Body works. Ryan & Ashley got a soft dart gun set (hours of fun and beware to the neighbor dog).

Ashley & Ryan. She loves her zebra hat :) Ryan spoils her.

Christmas day was quiet. Bailey and Nick received everything they asked for. Bailey wanted a doll house that she is building with her dad, a pillow pet and a bed for her doll.

Nick got lincoln logs, lego's and a pillow pet. My kids are so good this year. They just didn't want clothes. I am so happy to have a wonderful family.

Family Traditions....

For the past couple of years, we have made a trip to see the Salt Lake City Temple at Christmas time. The last two years, we have parked in Ogden and rode the Frontrunner Train to SLC (Cost of $12, and so worth not dealing with driving & parking). We always eat at JB's and walk around the temple grounds. We love this and we are so lucky to be able to do this. Nick's birthday is on December 20th, so we try to make it extra special for him. This year, I made a decision to take the kids to Build a Bear. I normally wouldn't do this because it is very expensive, but I already told Nick I would.


Nick picked a camo bear and camo clothing. He loves this bear. I think you are never to old to play at build a bear. Ashley & Ryan made two bears also. (One a gift for Ryan's sister and the abomidal snowman for themselves).

Bailey bought the ipod bear that acts as a speaker. She loves her bear and has it hooked up to her stereo.

We had an awesome time. Nick did get a bad tummy ache at the temple though, but he still wanted to walk around the visitor's center. Every year we have gone, the Westside High School Choir has been there singing. Nick wanted to listen, so we watched them perform.

The weather was horrible going and coming home. It was snowing badly when we left and raining badly when we came home, making the roads slushy and messy. Still worth the trip and Nick & Bailey love there bears. I also bought a bear for Haiden. I seriously miss him when I don't see him every other week.

Other things going on this week: Last week Nick had some teeth extracted. Then he got strep. On Tuesday, he was not better and his fever was high, so we ended up in the ER on Tuesday night. The doctor gave him a shot of rocephin and a new antibiotic to help him kick the infection. He finally showed signs of feeling better on Thursday. This was been a horrible experience for him and he may never go to the dentist again :) He will be going to the orthodontist in a couple of weeks to have his quad put in to straighten out his cross-bite.

Friday, the kids had a school Christmas Program. Nick had missed school all week and was not wanting to go, but his sweet teacher talked him into dancing with the class. He did very well. Bailey's class sang a couple of songs too and she did very well. She loves to sing and dance. She blew kisses to the audience as she exited the stage. She's a funny girl.

Ashley and Ryan are still waiting to close on their house. It has been a stressful time for them and a bad experience. I'm hoping she gets in by Christmas.

No real news on Michael. I invited him on our trip to SLC, but he said he had plans to go snowboarding. We are hoping he comes to our Christmas party on the 24th. We will have to see. We really miss him and wish him the best.

Crazy Week.....

This week has been so crazy. Nick had dental surgery on Friday. It was tramatic for him and tramatic for me too. He is extremely difficult when it comes to the dentist. I took Friday off work because I knew it would be a tough day. When I tried to get Nick ready to go, he locked himself in my bedroom and refused to come out. I bribed him an.d gave in to giving him one of his birthday presents. I gave him the DS game I was going to give him. That got him into the car. He asked lots of questions about what was going to happen (1 impacted tooth (extra permanent tooth and his 2 eye teeth). When we pulled into the dentist office, he freaked out because he thought we were going to the orthodonist. He hates the dentist. So when I parked he got out and ran from me. I spent five minutes chasing him and then I called Rick to come help me. Rick got him into the office. The dentist stayed hidden because he knows how Nick is. The anesthesiologist put Nick out and the dentist pulled the teeth. When Nick was done, he was extremely out of it. He was so cute though, he kept telling me he loved me and wanted hugs. He also wanted Bailey. The nursed asked him to bite down on some gauze and he bit right into his lip. Rick had to take off work so I could watch Nick on the way home and stop biting his lip. He slept most of the day.

On Saturday, Ashley, Bailey and myself went Christmas shopping for most of the day. It was fun, but Bailey was super whiney. By the time we got home, I was iritated with her. She had picked out her new bed sheets and comforter for her new room. She was very happy about this. I checked on Nick when I got home and he was running a really high fever. I gave him some tylenol and he went back to sleep. After a couple of hours, I checked his temperature again and his fever was still high. I called over to the hospital and they said I should bring him in because he shouldn't be running a high fever. I took him in and they found that he had a strep infection. So not only did he have dental surgery, he has a bad strep infection. He slept most of Sunday and is not fever free. Bailey also woke up Sunday with a bad, bad sore throat and headache. I am assuming she has developed strep throat too.

I went to church and taught my Sunday school class without Rick. Rick felt pretty lucky. The lesson was a good one though, so I didn't mind. Only three of the kids showed up, so it was fun. Bailey had found an old book of Ashley's on how to make friendship bracelets, so after church, we put in Ramona and Beezus and made some bracelets. It was fun. I wish I had had the patience to do this type of stuff with Ashley when she was younger. I think its something I've learned as I've gotton older...take the time to learn and do fun things with my kids.

No pictures this week, I can't find my camera. All I want for Christmas this year is a new camera! Seriously need one before next weekend. We are holding to our family tradition of going to the SLC Temple and seeing the lights. So Excited!

Week 3.....

Wow, I've been typing this blog for three weeks. So much fun for me and it makes sure I follow through on my commitment. Now I just need to be better commited to some more goals in life. This has been a crazy week. I went back to work on Monday. I cried all the way to work. I used to love my job, but now, it is just a job. I think that there are more important things in life then spending 50 hours a week working with people that don't want to be there either, plus the 7 1/2 hours driving every week is getting on my nerves. Oh well....not much I can do about that. I need money, so work is a necessity.

On Thursday, Kortni texted me and asked if I could watch Haiden this weekend. (I'm always glad to see by grandson). We made arrangements so I could have him all weekend. I picked him on on Friday and I will be taking him to his Grandma Stacey's this afternoon (he finally fell asleep from total exhaustion). I love to see him and get to spend time with him. Kortni is such a good mother and Haiden is a supreme little guy. We took him to my work Christmas party on Saturday morning. This was the first time he has ever been to the movies. We saw Despicable Me. We all liked the movie (Nick said he loved the movie). Haiden ate popcorn for the first half, then he got a little fussy and went to sleep. He was very good. We then took him to church on Sunday for all three hours. He was very good during Sacrament meeting, but he refused to go to nursery. I just kept him with me through Sunday School and Relief Society. When we got home from church Bailey, Haiden and Nick played and watched Avatar and ate lots of cheetos. Ashley and Ryan came to visit and brought a bazillion k'nex to everyone to build stuff. Haiden was getting tired so he laid down with grandpa Rick and fell asleep. I should mention that while all this playing around is going on, I made bread, pumpkin bundt cake and put beef stew in the crock pot :)

Michael called at the first of the week and wanted me to bring him his birth certificate. He said he is joining the Army. We hope that is the truth and he does go into the army. We want the best for him and I hope that is what he needs to get his life on track. Nick was so excited about that news that he told his whole class that his big brother was joining, so I hope he does.

Ashley & Ryan are still not in there house. They are hoping soon to get closing done. I hope soon for them also.

Nick visited the orthodonist this week and it was decided that he needs to have some dental surgery to remove three teeth. In two weeks, he will have a quad put in so his teeth can start moving to where they are supposed to be. He was very good during the process. He has reached his 50 point mark for A/R Reading (no pictures...I need a new camera). He missed the big hall walk, but they are going to let him do it next week.

Enough for now....

Bailey has been good all week. She was excited to see Haiden this weekend. She has played and played and played with him since we picked her up from school on Friday. She really loves kids and ecspecially her nephew.