Our Growing girls!

Sisters!

Kailee has recently started not eating her meat or veggies, so I tried bribing her with stickers. Here she has eaten 1 green bean for each sticker you see. The next night, I could distract her by talking about the colors and get like 2 bites of veggies in for each sticker. She loves stickers!

First Kailee insisted on wearing her Elmo slippers, then her gloves, and then she put on her hat. Pinks and reds are a great combo!!

Kailee at the ward Christmas party!

While the primary children sang, Kailee stood in awe! Pull down Allie's dress, take her hands out of her mouth, put a smile on Kailee, and remove my arms... and this is one great picture!!

Allie sucking her thumb!!It snowed like .2 inches and because it was icy, school was cancelled!!! So Daddy spent the day with us!!

Her new outfit from Mama Bert!

Still cute in pigtails!

Jared's Christmas Concert!

Jared had his 1st Christmas concert Friday night and his students were awesome. Jared is seriously an awesome Choir teacher. I was very impressed with the songs these little sixth graders were performing. This video is of the closing song where all of the classes sang together. It's a beautiful arrangement of "Let there be Peace on Earth." I had so many parents introduce themselves to me after and tell me what a difference Jared has made in their child's life, what a wonderful job he is doing, and how much the choir program has improved since he got there. I could tell that his students really loved him too. I dropped Kailee off to play with a friend and just took Allie with me, who no longer sleeps through loud noises I guess. She was quiet and kept dozing, but would then awake during loud songs or when the backdoor would slam. I was so annoyed that people would come in during the middle of a song and let the backdoor of the auditorium slam. It was so loud. Aren't there concert etiquette rules about that? Jared said he didn't hear it though, so that's good. Anyways, please listen to this beautiful song and give Jared a round of applause for a great first semester!!! I'm so glad Jared chose a profession that he loves in which he can make a difference in the lives of many children. I love that he gets weekends and summers off too! And a 2 week Christmas break. Teaching is the greatest job!! I love you honey-bunny and I'm so proud of you!!!!

Our temporary house!

Videos of Kailee!

The BEST movie!!!

A friend recommended that I watch the movie "North and South." I did and it was one of the best movies ever. I loved it. There are 4 - 52 minute episodes, but it does not seem that long at all. I was so intrigued throughout the entire movie that it was difficult to stop watching it, but I had to because I only had 1 disc at a time (through Netflix). There are 2 episodes on each disc, so if you have Netflix, definitely watch it; you won't be disappointed. I cannot wait to read the book, though I wish I had read the book first.

Thanksgiving!

I'm so mad I forgot my camera. You'll just have to use your imagination. Jared had the whole Thanksgiving week off, so Friday after work, we drove to Houston to see our buddies Alex and Cathryn (and Bella...their cat!) We got to hang out with Dave and his new wife Danielle and Jake too. (All of Jared's roommates once again reunited). We played Settler's of Catan, went out to eat, and played some kiddie murder game where we hold hands and the murder keeps killing people and then you guess who the murderer is, lol. We also ate sloppy joes and had a great time! We had lots of fun there for the weekend, though the drive up with 2 sick kids was miserable. It took us 5.5 hours to drive 3 hours. A visit to the doctor let us know that Allie's 2 ear infections was what was making her so cranky and causing her to not eat or sleep much.

Anyways, on Monday we went to Austin to stay with Jared's sister and her family. Jared's family from Utah also came down for the week, so the house was packed and we had a great time. Kailee loved having so many people to adore her and play with her! Jared's Mom also had a family picture arranged in which half the family wore BYU hoodies and the other half wore Longhorn (Univ. of Texas) hoodies because that's where Jamie graduated from law school, where Adam is finishing up business school, and Terrie, Amie, and Kevin always where UT stuff since they're from Texas. We had our girls in blue shirts. My BYU bow saved Allie from looking like a boy! I can't wait to see the pictures. Terrie made the BEST thanksgiving dinner and pies ever and we had a fun week playing games, hanging out, and going to chuckie cheese's. And there's a possibility we'll be going up to Utah to hang out with the whole crowd again in a few weeks. Keep your fingers crossed that gas stays down! And if you'll be in Utah, we hope to see ya! Sorry about the long post!

Back to blogging!

Kailee getting ready for the big move to Mckinney! We moved the end of October and are living in a family friend's mother's house while she is away nannying her great-grandchild. It's an old home in the historic area of downtown Mckinney which is a beautiful area. Lots of homes are being remodeled around here. It's a 2 bedroom, 1200 sq. ft. home, which is like double Wymount size... so we love it! It has 1.5 baths. The half bath is in Kailee's room, weird huh? The other bathroom only has a shower, but it's a big one with a seat and a rail in case we need help getting up! I'll take a video of it soon so all can see our lovely home. Jared works 1.2 miles away and rides his bike there, so I get the car! There is a big lake about 2 miles away that has trails all the way around it for me to rollerblade! There is a park and the library about a half mile away too! I love it here! We only pay utilities/property taxes here, so we are super lucky and grateful to be here and currently saving for a 2nd vehicle and a house!!!

Bath time!

Last bath for a while... the house we're living in now doesn't have a bath :( At first, she loved the shower, but now she just cries and wants to get out. I never realized what a luxury a bath really is until now. I miss baths too.

Aunt Jess made this cute dress for Kailee! Can you believe it was still summer weather in October? Aren't her pigtails cute?!

Pic. taken at 3 months, but now she is 4 months and today we had her 4 month check up!

She is in the 73% in height, 83rd% in weight, and 98% in head. At 2 months, she was around 50% for everything, so she has really grown. She weighs 15 lbs. 13 oz. And once again, we have another girl with a big brain!! Allie can roll from tunny to back, coos and caas a lot, and is still getting up about 3 times a night (after I go to bed). After she's completely healed of her ear infections, I think she'll start sleeping longer periods of time. She is a great napper and sleeper, she will go down drowsy now, but she gets up in the night to eat a lot more than Kailee did at her age. Allie has a beautiful smile and is so dang cute! We love her to pieces!

3 months!

Allie at 3 months

Once Kailee got the hang of trick or treating, she would say "peas" grab a piece of candy, say "tankou" and then run to the next house. Eventually she got tired and to speed things up, Daddy would hold her! Allie did not dress up. She stayed swaddled in her car seat and slept most of the time.

One of Jared's best friends growing up used to live here. This is Mr. Moralis with Jared and the girls!!

Kailee loved trick or treating!

At one house, instead of saying "trick or treat", she said "happy bir-day!"

Nana sent Kailee a princess costume and she loved it!

She walked around the house saying "princess." 1 month later, she still says princess all the time and runs to her room, puts on her princess veil thingy and sits at her princess table and plays. In the last month, Kailee has become more independent and has gotten more of an attitude and an opinion about everything. She says "no night night", "want mommy... no daddy...no want mommy...etc.' she can never make up her mind. She started throwing little fits when she doesn't get her way too... like when she can't have 3 servings of raisins, or when I hold Allie and not her, or when she wants to go outside, but I currently can't because I'm feeding Allie. That's the hardest thing I'd say with 2 kids... trying to put Allie to sleep while Kailee is talking, whining, or yelling right beside me. I try to distract her and play whispering games, but sometimes it backfires and she does just the opposite of what I'd like her to do and starts yelling really loud. She has also started yelling "want it" when she wants something. We have a feeling she learned that from nursery. Though she's entering into the terrible 2 year, she is a sweetie! She loves to give Mommy, Daddy, and Allie hugs and kisses. She runs up to me or Jared sometimes and yells "kisses" or "hugs". We got a swing off of craigslist that you attach with rope to a tree and she loves it. She loves to play with other kids, watch elmo, barney, or strawberry shortcake (which she calls (cu-cake). She loves to jump off of her chair onto pillows, read books, play princess, play outside, eat, and she LOVES medicine. She is getting over bronchitis and has loved her antibiotic and Allie had 2 ear infections and she would always beg for Allie's medicine too. Kailee has big, beautiful eyes and the cutest smile. She is a doll. She loves to entertain guests and she loves to run errands with Mommy or Daddy. She is quite the bundle of joy!!

Diaper change?..."no, no"

Lots of updates!

Granny and Kailee at the park!
Oops
Granny & Allie!
Granny teaching Kailee how to drive!
The 4 grand kids!

Granny came to visit!!

Jared's birthday breakfast! His Mom made his favorite, biscuits and gravy with eggs and bacon! It was delicious!
Just when you think Terrie can't get any cooler, she makes a delicious dinner too. Messy chicken! And she made an amazing carrot cake! Jared had a great birthday and we were so glad his Mom was here to share it with us!
The big 27!! We put 41 candles on the cake as a joke, but he didn't notice! And we used half trick candles!

They have seen an angel!! Actually, while granny snapped the shot, I held up a cup to try and get them to look up at the camera; I guess I held it a little too high, lol.
Bath time!
Jamie's daughter, Ocean, told her Mom she wanted her friends on her birthday cake, so being the creative Mom that she is... here is the cake. Cute, huh!
Here is Ocean in her birthday costume! She's Cinderella!
We went to a park, which had this pond beside it and Eden got very very muddy. I only let Kailee get her feet muddy; maybe I'll be more fun next time!

Jared's sister's family and us!
Eden and Kailee at the pumpkin patch!

This bounce house was the best!! Pumpkin patches rock!
The three cousins!

Allie at 2.5 months!

Kailee in pig tails!
Wearing Daddy's shorts.


Weeeeeee!
Sisters!
Daddy's girl!
Jared's girl!
That's right; it's official! I went to his 6th grade concert last week!

Our trip to the Emergency Room...

Wednesday night at 11:30pm, Allie was running a fever of 103.0, so I called her dr. and was told to go to the emergency room because a fever at her age could be very dangerous. So we go and wait 5 hours in the waiting room (after they gave her some tylenol) and then spent another 4 hours in a room. Because she had no other symptoms except for being really fussy, they ran tests for possible bacterial infections in her urine, blood, and the fluid that lines her brain and spinal cord. The LP test was like an epidural; they stuck a needle in her back and took a half tsp. of fluid. Then they wanted to admit her to the hospital for 48 hours because it takes that long to get the culture results back (to see if any bacteria grows on any of the samples they took). All the rooms were full at this children's hospital, so they transported Allie and I by ambulance to another children's hospital. All the while, our relief society president came over to sleep on our couch to be with Kailee and then Jared went home at 7am to relieve her and be with Kailee. Once we got situated in our room, they came to visit us. Even on Tylenol, Allie was running a fever of 2.7ish all day Thursday. Her heart rate stayed around 170-225, which is high. While sleeping, she groaned a lot and if she was touched or when I'd pick her up, she'd scream so loud. She felt so miserable and it was so hard for me to see. She slept a lot though. Her body was working overtime to fight this infection or virus. They gave her antibiotics through an IV just in case she did have a bacterial infection. Thursday night Kailee stayed with a family in our ward that has 4 little girls. Kailee loves them. The Mom, Kathy, watched Kailee on Friday so that Jared could go back to work. Kailee has been saying "Kashy" ever since! Jared and a friend, Matt, came to the hospital to give Allie a blessing that night. Friday morning, Allie's fever started going down and by night time was back to normal. Jared stayed with Allie that night so I could go home with Kailee and get some rest. So, Allie used soy formula while I pumped! They got the results back Saturday morning and said everything was fine, she must just have a virus. I know it seems crazy to spend 2 1/2 days at the hospital just for a virus, but they have to run those tests on a baby so young because it's better to be safe than sorry. I'm glad I was there. I felt so grateful for doctors, medicine, and a husband who holds the priesthood and was able to administer a blessing to Allie.

Some of you have been asking for my delivery story which I never did tell, so here it goes. When I was dilated to an 8, Allie's heart rate dropped really low and the doctor had to act fast, so he had me start pushing and that didn't work, so he used forceps(sp) and that didn't work. So, everyone ran me down the hall to the c-section room. I felt so scared and was so worried about Allie. They got Allie out and when we heard her little cry, Jared and I couldn't help but to start crying. Time is money during these situations and I felt so grateful to have a dr. that knew what he was doing and good nurses. They worked in such a professional and timely manner; we were very impressed. The dr. then informed us that the reason her heart rate dropped was because the placenta had torn from the uterine wall and her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice. He said the reason he couldn't get her out with forceps was because I wasn't fully dilated and her head was turned sideways and was stuck under my pelvic bone.

Allie is doing fine now and weighs 11 lbs. Kailee adores her "baby ah-ee"! We feel so blessed to have 2 beautiful, healthy, and happy little girls!