Grateful

Late last night (or really, really early this morning), I had cause to think of a few things for which I am profoundly grateful.

-The power of the priesthood

-Promptings of the Spirit

-A car with gas, ready to go

-A loving Heavenly Father who blessed me with green lights, and no police officers

-Top-notch medical care at our disposal

-An amazing husband to stay home with our amazing son

-Kind medical professionals who help a frantic mother feel at ease

-A beautiful, happy little girl

Campbell has been sick with a cold, and for the past couple of days I could tell she was starting to get croupy. Nothing we haven't dealt with before. I knew the drill. If the coughing got too bad at night, just bundle her up and take her outside, or turn the shower on HOT and sit in the steam in the bathroom. I didn't like the sound of her breathing before she went to bed, and watched her chest to make sure she wasn't sucking for air. She looked okay, and I prayed I would know if/when I needed to worry. We all went to sleep.

Shortly after midnight, I heard Campbell wake up crying, and I waited for a minute to see if she needed me to go in and get her. She quickly started crying in a panicked manner, and I went in to see what was wrong. She was coughing and crying, and sounded HORRID! I looked into her little eyes, and she looked scared. I immediately felt, "She can't breathe. Take her in now." I told Brock that I thought she couldn't breathe, and handed him to her as he started the water in the shower. I threw some clothes on, and he put her in her car seat. I asked him to give her a blessing before we flew out the door.

I shortly debated whether to take her to Lakeview, or spend the few extra minutes to drive to Primary Children's. It was a short debate, since I have full confidence in the doctor's at PCMC, and little-to-no confidence in Lakeview (no offense for those of you who go there. Just bad experiences on my part.) We got there in great time, and were admitted. She was checked out by 3 nurses, and 3 doctors, none of whom liked the sound of her breathing. Thankfully, her oxygen saturation was still in the acceptable range, and that eased my mind. They had me hold cold mist in front of her little mouth for 2 hours, and gave her some steroids to open her airway. After being there for 2.5 hours, she sounded good enough to go home (even though she still had a noticeable stridor). They gave us a prescription to give her another dose of steroid tonight, and sent us on our way.

On the drive home, I finally was able to relax, and felt such a deep sense of gratitude to my Father in Heaven. I know croup is not really life-threatening, but when your child can't breathe, it seems pretty life-threatening at the time. I don't think I have ever been so terrified in my entire life. Just to see the look in her eyes, and know she felt scared about what was going on in her tiny body pushed some sort of mommy button in mine.

I know there are many people who lose children, and have to deal with things so much more serious than I ever have. I am so, so, so grateful that that has not been the case with me, or my kids. I hope and pray it never is.

Thanksgiving Weekend

BVTT '10 - AKA "B" vs Turkey Triathlon 2010

For Thanksgiving this year we met up with Bri and Andy in Sunny St. George. We experienced the joy of Black Friday shopping, and found a deal on these scooters. Dad decided to buy one for each of the kids to use in our first bi-annual "B" vs. Turkey Triathlon. For some of us, it ended up only being a duathlon, because we don't all have bikes, and the pool was packed.
Pre-race family photo

The first leg consisted of riding the scooters, and let me tell you, scooting is hard! My legs were burning for sure! There was a bit of a hill, so going up was tough, but coming down was pretty fun. Andy got going so fast that he melted his back tire. Sweet.
The second leg was running, my favorite! I don't remember how long we went, but it was nice to be able to run outside, and enjoy the beautiful scenery.
The third leg was a bike ride, for those that were interested/had bikes to ride. Apparently they had a lot of fun on that leg of the race too.

We had a great time eating, playing games, and relaxing together. It was great seeing Dane and Campbell play with toys that my siblings and I used to play with when we were little. I love my family, and am so grateful that we are close. I hope that we will always have strong friendships, and remember how important family is.

Thanks Mom and Dad for a great weekend!

Daner-isms

(Brookie came over to visit, and was holding Campbell. She was bouncing, and the following conversation took place.)

Brookie (said to Campbell): "How are you doing, you bouncy baby vampire?"

Dane (very matter of factly): "Vampire's don't bounce. They fly. Fly, fly, fly (as he was flapping his arms)." So funny!!!

(Cooper was outside, and running around like a nut.)

Dane: "What's Cooper doing?"

Me: "Just being a little crazy."

Dane: "Oh. Not a big crazy, just a little crazy."

Dinosaurs and Pumpkins

I'm sure I should be posting about Christmas, but seeing as how I have yet to show off the cutest dinosaurs EVER, I thought Halloween should come first.

Dane has been obsessed with dinosaurs, and knows more about them than most adults. So I got ambitious, and decided to make his and Campbell's costumes this year.

I found the cutest knit hat pattern on Ravelry, and had tons of fun knitting them. The outfits turned out just as cute as I had imagined, though next time I won't wait until the week of Halloween to start sewing.

Rawrrrrrr!

Brock's birthday is around Halloween, and he had class that night, so I surprised him by taking cupcakes to his work. They were really fun to make, and tasted pretty good too.

At Brock's work, Halloween is a pretty big deal, and each year they have a costume contest with prizes and such. Brock was a mariachi player, complete with mustache and guitar. He came in second place in the "funny" category (I think that's what category it was). We'll have to be a bit more creative next year.

They also invite the kids to come and go trick-or-treating around the office. It is really fun!

Brock's side of the fam threw their first annual Halloween party. I had spent so much time on the kids' costumes, that I had to be a pretty lame cowgirl. Isn't Brock's mustache delightful? I'll post more pics of that gem later.

Adam and Sheridan planned the party, and it was tons of fun. Dane LOVED bobbing for apples, and was the first one to actually get one (though he got the stem, it still counts, right?).

Each year we carve pumpkins as a fam, and it was really fun this year with Dane actually choosing his own pumpkin, and wanting to help carve it. It was a great night together as a family.

Today

1:00- Put the kids down for a nap

1:30- Kids still not sleeping. Decide to go in and get Campbell, so Dane will sleep.

2:00- Dane has finally quieted down, so I go in to change Campbell's diaper and put her back down. Instead, I find this:

I guess Campbell will just have to wait.

Campbell

So, I realized that I haven't posted much about my favorite little sweetie lately. She is getting SO big, and VERY mobile (in her own way). She is 8 months now, and seriously the most gorgeous baby girl I have ever seen in. my. life. Totally, completely, smitten. Forgive me if this post is a little disjointed. That's how my dear ol' brain is feeling today.

She is so much fun these days. She is getting more and more interactive every day. She LOVES to cruise around and grab onto anything and everything in sight. If you decide to take something that she has her eye on, she will let you know how she feels about it.

Though she is not crawling yet, she does get up on her knees and rock, and has a very effective way of pulling herself to wherever she wants to go. I actually had her in the Bumbo the other day, and ran to go to the bathroom. When I came back, she was on her tummy next to said Bumbo with a car in her mouth and a smile on her face. It's a good thing she was on the floor to begin with, is all I'll say about that!

She is never happier than when she is playing with her brother. And nothing makes me happier than seeing my two beautiful children playing nicely together. Dane is getting better at sharing with his sis, and Campbell couldn't be happier playing with all his toys.

Brooke took this picture of her as a pirate. She loves to grab at her headbands and take them off of her head.

We are so blessed to have Campbell in our family. She brings so much love and joy with her, and we ALL adore her!

Dane

Dane is really very, VERY good at being two. I'm pretty sure he has perfected the art, in fact. Though he did get a headstart with practicing before his 2nd birthday, he has become a master at it since.

Much to Brock's dismay, he loves finding my makeup and practicing his artistic skills.
"What?!? I'm just "making something" here. Oh, that mess on the floor? No idea."

Lipglass does wonders for your complexion, don't you know? You should try it sometime.

Despite all of his shenanigans, he really is my best little buddy. I adore him, and am so grateful to have such a bundle of energy around to keep things interesting. I'll tell you what, there is NO chance of getting bored around here. No sirree.

Just a few things I love about my little muncher-roo:

-He loves to build "bridges" these days, and wants me to sit and build them with him.
I love that he wants to play with me.

-He loves to read a million books a day, and his favorite question (even when he absolutely knows the answer) is "What's that?" or "What are they doing?"

-The other night, I put him and Campbell to bed, and I usually give Campbell the last kiss before I leave the room, but this time I didn't, and he was adamant that I not leave the room before I gave her a kiss. This morning was the same story when Brock left for work. Bell was sleeping, so Brock didn't want to wake her, and Dane had me get Brock back inside to give her a kiss.
He is always looking out for his little sister, and he loves her so much!

-When he wakes up, he comes and lays down on the floor by the door, so he can see out under the crack, and says, "Mommy, I awake. Come 'ere an' open the door, meeeee."
I love it.

-When going to bed at night, he LOVES to be sung to, and is constantly requesting "Last more song."
I tell you, it's hard to resist.

-He has picked up on the fact that I do NOT like spiders. So he brings them up every chance he gets, just to see my reaction. "Mommy, I eat spiders." "Mommy, I like spiders." "Mommy, draw a spider." He'll find them in any book he can, and say, "Mommy, look!"
He is such a funny kid!

-No one can make sister laugh like her big brother. No one.

Top of Utah Half

On August 28, 2010 I ran my second half marathon.  I was fortunate enough to convince a couple of my sisters to do it with me.  (I have the absolute best sisters on the planet, just in case you were wondering.)  I've decided races are much more fun when you have someone to do it with you.  Even if I'm not running along side them, just knowing that someone I love is in it with me makes the whole experience much more enjoyable.  

Brookie and Meek headed up to Logan with me, Brock and the kids.  Brock's brother, Logan, was sweet enough to invite us to stay at his place for the night (as he lives in a house with a few other guys while he is going to school.)  We picked up our packets, and tried to get as much sleep as we could before we had to wake up much earlier than any of us wanted to in order to get to the buses on time.

It was a beautiful run starting at the Hyrum Electrical Plant up Blacksmith Fork canyon.  The race started at 7:00, and the weather was beautiful.  I honestly don't remember what my time was (I'm writing this entry a year and a half after the fact...better late than never, right?), but I didn't care.  I had an 8 month old baby girl, and just wanted to run the whole thing.  I accomplished my goal, and that is good enough for me.

I was able to find Brookie before the finish, and we ended up running the last bit of it together, which was awesome.  I loved crossing the finish line with one of my very best friends, who also just happens to be my sister.  

The finish line is always a bit of an emotional experience for me.  Especially when I see my amazing husband and kids.  I think of them often when I race, and unbeknownst to them, they are the ones who cheer me on, and keep me going when I think I want to quit.  Running for me is more mental than anything, and they help me keep my head in the game.  I honestly could not do it without them.

After Brookie and I finished, we waited at the finish line for Meek.  We waited for what seemed like way too long, and I was starting to get worried that something had happened.  Meek has never been much of a runner, but she was an absolute champ when it came to training for this race.  She worked soooo hard, and had had some issues with her IT band, so I was concerned that she was on the side of the road somewhere unable to continue.  I decided I would just walk back along the course until I met up with her.  

I found her, and thankfully she was still moving, though barely.  She was having major IT band issues, and was in so much pain that she could barely walk.  She has a bit of a stubborn streak, however (though I have no idea where she got it since the rest of us are absolutely NOTHING like that) and would NOT give up.  She was determined to do her very best until the bitter end (and she may or may not have really been bitter with me for convincing her to run this blessed race....)

We jogged as best she could for the last mile or so, and she FINISHED!!!!!!!  I was so proud of her!  She completed something that was truly difficult for her to do, and someday, maybe, I can convince her to do another one with me so she can have better memories associated with racing :-).

The proud finishers:

My good friend Michelle, who lives up in Logan, was able to run the race "with" me too.  She smoked all of us, but it sure was fun to see her at the beginning, and the end :-).

And this is a cute picture of the fun Dane had swinging in uncle Logan's hammock.  Isn't he the cutest?!?

For Aunt Bri and Uncle Andy

We sure love and miss you two!!!

Car Tree

We were sitting at breakfast this morning, and Dane started talking about the "car tree." He told me all about Daddy playing with him and the "car tree." It took me a while to figure out what he was actually saying.

If you can figure out what he's saying, you'll get a fabulous surprise from yours truly.

Good luck!

***Candice wins! And not because she guessed correctly, but because she was the only one who guessed!!!
The answer is: Apricot Tree :).
I finally figured it out because he pointed to the apricot tree in our yard :)

Daner-isms

--"I clap the bug."

(Said while clapping. He has seen me smash bugs that are flying around, by smashing them between my hands. Now he likes to "clap" them too.)

--"She's so cute."

(Said about Campbell this morning when she joined us at the breakfast table for some of her own cereal.)(7.7.10)

--"Daner, what's the coyote doing?"
Response: "He's looking for a mouse."

(Said coyote did in fact find, and eat said mouse.)

Later, upon seeing an antelope:
--"Daner, what's the antelope doing?"
Response: "He's, uh, looking for a buffalope."

(It was decided that a buffalope is in fact a mixture between an antelope and a buffalo, much like the jackalope, only much, much bigger.)(In Jackson Hole, June 2010)

--"Dane, please don't do that. I mean it. That's not what we do."
Response: "It's really funny."
"No, Dane, it's not funny. It's not nice."
Response: "It's really funny."

(What. A. Twerp.)

Man, I LOVE this little boy!

Delicious!!!

I am SO in love!

Creative juices flowing

For a long time, I have wanted to learn to knit. About 3 years ago, my good friend, Michelle, tried to teach me. It resulted in potentially the worst scarf ever half-made ... I never finished. After Campbell was born, I needed a new hobby. My mom is the absolute greatest, and scheduled for the "B" family girls to take a knitting class. Bobbie was already way ahead of the game, and my mom had been an old pro at one point in her life, but the rest of us were pretty uneducated when it came to making anything beautiful with yarn.

Our first project was a simple baby hat. They all turned out pretty cute, and we were all sold on the whole idea of knitting. The second project was a dishcloth. I may be the only one who finished this project, and I made two for myself, and two for my MIL for Mother's Day. I'm pretty proud of them, and what I could create with my own hands.

But I think my favorite project so far was what I made for my mom for Mother's Day. I decided to make her a knitting needle carrying case (though she doesn't have too many to fill it with yet, I'm hoping she'll be as excited about knitting as I am, and fill it sooner or later). I had so much fun making it, and am really happy about how it turned out. I used a combination of a couple of tutorials I found online, and then made a few adjustments. You can find the tutorials here and here. I added some batting to give it some more heft, and changed the fabric combination for the inside. Now I need to make one for myself :).

The Inside

The Outside

A little flower embellishment

Voila!

Dane's 2nd Birthday

We celebrated Dane's birthday in style this year. My side of the family goes to Jackson Hole every summer, and this year, we had to get it in before Bri and Andy moved to Arizona for medical school. That meant that our trip landed right on Dane's birthday. It was so much fun! We started the day with breakfast at Nora's and had their amazing banana bread french toast (yummers!!!). After filling our bellies with lots of deliciousness, we headed out to Jenny's Lake for a beautiful hike. We finished off the day with homemade mac and cheese and birthday cake, and lots of fun presents.

The Birthday Boy at Nora's

At the top of the hike, we were rewarded with these beautiful falls.

Dane only wanted Daddy to carry him, and freaked out whenever anyone else tried.

He LOVED ridding on Daddy's back, and kept talking about it for weeks after.

Campbell loved the hike too:)

Sitting with Bapa, opening his presents.

Dane loved playing with his birthday balloons before he released them into the air:)

Dane had the great luck of stretching his birthday celebrations out over an entire week! Since we were not able to have the "A" side of the family there for the festivities, we just had to throw a proper birthday party for our little guy.

He is OBSESSED with dinosaurs, and so we decided to use that as our theme. I attempted my first "real" cake decorating, and was pretty pleased with the results. Dane LOVED it, and that made it worth all the effort. We always love getting our families together, and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful summer night with them.

The cake

The Birthday Boy--Oh so happy to be taking a picture.

(He was upset that he couldn't keep playing with his toys while we cut the cake and sang happy birthday.)

The whole fam

At two years old, Dane:

-Can sing his ABC's

-Can count to 10

-Sings a number of Primary songs, which include (but are not limited to) his favorites of I am a Child of God, Pop Corn Popping, Once there was a Snowman, I Love to see the Temple, Love One Another

-Loves dinosaurs, and knows the names for more than I do.

-Loves all animals, and is fascinated to learn ALL he can about them. He can sit for hours on end reading about all the different kinds there are. He knows names to things I have never heard of before, and can spot them out in pictures.

-Is amazingly good at throwing tantrums.

-Gets very concerned when he hears someone else crying. He has such a tender heart.

-Still LOVES taking a tubby, or anything else involving water and getting wet.

-Loves watching videos of himself, or seeing himself in pictures.

-Knows his colors

-Loves, loves, LOVES his daddy

-Loves playing with Cooper

-Is mostly good at playing with Campbell

Those are just a few of the things I can think of off the top of my head. It's hard to believe he is already two. He is so full of life, and is such a great talker. It's fun to start seeing what kinds of things go on in his head. He has always been so observant, and it's really starting to show how much he has learned by just watching and listening. We are so grateful to have him in our family. He's a great brother, and a wonderful son. We love you Daner!

It's Potty Time!

For the past 3 weeks, we've been working on potty training. Let it be known, that I was the one dragging my feet on getting this party started. Dane has been interested since before Campbell was born, but I just couldn't muster up the desire to potty train with a newborn. It finally got to the point that I couldn't think of any more excuses, and decided to take advantage of his desire before it went away.

He has been doing awesome with #1! We even went out of town this past weekend, and he stayed dry on our drive up to Jackson, through our hike, and also through our bike ride. (Not consecutively, mind you) I'm really proud of how great he's done. Such a big boy!

Unfortunately we have some troubles with #2. In the three weeks we have been working on this, we have only had 3 successes. I've even bought presents to provide some incentive, but it just isn't working. I'm at a loss. I need some pointers from those of you who are more experienced than I am.
Any thoughts?