Montana

We moved to Montana December 17, 2010. We are loving it! People here are so nice and have welcomed us with open arms! We have a great neighborhood and a huge yard. I can't wait for summer and the girls to be able to play outside. It's been pretty warm and all the snow has melted. People here have said that the snow will come soon enough. I'm excited for the snow!

We are getting unpacked slowly but surely. Going through boxes and getting rid of things that we don't use. We have a lot of STUFF! It's so amazing how much stuff we accumulated in 4 years. It's nice to be able to go through and simplify.

It been so nice to have Ryan home every night! We are getting back to having a "normal" routine. The girls look forward to him coming home every night. He has gotten busier at work and seems to enjoy it.

I will be 28 this month and time has just flown by! I am at home with the girls right now. I am, however, looking for some part-time work. We are wanting to get out of debt and with Ryan's flexible schedule he will be able to stay with the girls while I'm working.

The girls are growing like weeds! Kate is almost 3 and in 5T pants! She has been complaining of her legs hurting, which are growing pains. She is such a sweetheart, when she wants to be. She loves puzzles and can put them together for hours! She loves helping mom cook dinner. Some of her jobs are to set the table and clear the table and she loves doing it! She loves watching Caillou, Dora the Explorer and Go Diego Go. She is our sugar-a-holic! She would eat sweets for every meal if we let her. Needless to say, we have put all sugar on top of the cupboards. She loves playing with her sister. Bryn is our little cuddler. She is 14 months and is in 18 month clothes. She sees her blanket and just lays on it and cuddles it. She is still crawling but so close to walking. She stands on her own now and has taken a step already. She loves baby's and stuffed animals. She has to have something small in her hands at all times. She follows her sister everywhere and loves playing with her. She eats more than her sister and usually anything we give her. We are so blessed by these two sweet girls! They are our everything!

Welcome Bryn Lee

It all started Friday November 5th while walking in Walmart... All of a sudden I felt a gush of fluid come out, enough to make my pants wet. So I called my OB and she suggested that I head to the hospital to get checked. Ryan was at work which was a good hour away. I dropped Kate off at Melissa's and headed to the hospital. I hadn't pre-registered yet because I wasn't due until the 20th and I actually had the pre-registration scheduled for that next Thursday. So while I waited in a room for the Doctor and Ryan I got all the paperwork filled out. I remember waiting and waiting and wondering and wondering if we were going to have this baby. My contractions were coming every 10 minutes but felt more like braxton hicks (no pain). Ryan arrived and they then did 3 different tests to see if it was amniotic fluid. They came back and weren't entirely sure if it was so they had us walk around the hospital for an hour to see if it leaked anymore. It didn't so they decided that I had a small tear in the sack and that it was plugged for the time being. So they sent me home.

The next day, Saturday, I helped put together a baby shower for a good friend. My contractions were still 10 minutes apart but were starting to get stronger (not anywhere near having to breathe through them). That night they were 7 minutes apart and stronger. Still not breathing through them but enough to get my attention. I took a bath and they subsided and I was able to get some sleep that night.

Sunday I felt fine to go to church. My contractions were definitely stronger and getting more painful but they were so sparatic that it wasn't a big deal. I ended up going to bed just fine... until I was awakened by contrations at 1:30 am Monday morning. I tried going back to sleep but they weren't having it. I decided to get into the bath to see if they would go away. Nope... they didn't. I have a clock in my bathroom with a second hand and I remember sitting in the tub counting through the contractions realizing that they were 4 minutes apart and about a minute long. After being in the bath for almost an hour I got out to start packing my bags (yeah hadn't done that yet either). As I'm getting a list loaded off the internet having to literally pause and breathe every 4 minutes I decide it's time to wake Ryan up. I was seriously worried that if we waited any longer that I wouldn't have the option for the epidural! LOL yeah... I go in to wake up Ryan and all I have to say is "Sweetie, I'm in labor. I think it's time to go to the hospital" and he shot straight up out of bed. Classic!! I called Melissa to come over until Kate woke up and was able to get my things packed between contractions. When Melissa arrived we left for the hospital (the contractions were really starting to get painful at this point.)

We got to the hospital at 4:30 am Monday morning, Nov 8th. They checked me and I was at a 5, 80% efaced and -1. So they admitted me, whew, I was glad it wasn't another false alarm. They started getting the things done for the epidural and such. Getting the epidural took what seemed like FOREVER as I'm having to bend over with my huge belly and extremely painful contractions!! Finally he got it in and I was able to relax. Not long after the epidural my water broke and I was at a 9.5, 100% and ready to go! I pushed for about 15-20 minutes and Bryn Lee was born at 8:07 am! She weighed 6 lbs 9.5 oz, 18 3/4 inches long! What an amazing experience! I remember feeling so good after having her! I was amazed at the night and day difference the delivery was from Kate to Bryn. Amazing how different your body acts and preforms from being forced to doing it in it's own time! We are so glad to have Bryn in our family!

Health, Heartburn and Halloween

Oh being pregnant and sick are never a good combination. This head cold has really hit me hard for some reason but I think I am on the downhill slope! Halls and Vicks Vapor Rub you are my friends!


Not to mention heartburn and what a nasty thing it is! This little girl is gonna have lots and lots of hair!


I have decided that for Halloween we are going to be Monsters' Inc. aka Barney's Inc. Someone told me that Kate looked like Boo and I thought that that was a cute idea. So... Kate will be Boo, Ryan will be Sully, and I will be Mike with my belly as his one eye! Not sure how it will actually turn out but we'll see. It'll be cute!

Amazing How Fast Time Flies

Especially when your having fun! A few things we have been doing these past few months.

• Ryan started a new job with Heliqwest Int. as a helicopter mechanic. A bitter-sweet moment saying 'good-bye' to Barney Brothers and doing what he loves. It has been hard adjusting to him traveling but it is so nice to have him home for 10+ days all to ourselves! A new chapter in our lives.
• "Baby makes the belly go round" is one of my favorite maternity shirts. Yes, my belly is getting round and rounder as time goes by. Only 9 weeks to go for 'D' day November 20th, until we can meet our second daughter (her name will be announced at birth).
• Summer has been full of sun, fun, friends & family! We went swimming, visited many parks, going on walks, play places, story time, petting zoo, & playing with friends! We took many, many visits to grandparents while daddy was away. So much fun to see family!
• Kate has been growing like a weed and getting faster (as mom gets slower). She is definitely in her toddler two's stage (not necessarily terrible just curious ;) At her 18 month Dr. appointment they were amazed with her development. She is speaking over 100 words, her favorite right now is 'no'... She hops with both feet off the ground (which doesn't happen until 2 or older), understands direction really well (if she chooses to obey) and is so vivacious and spunky. She loves, loves, loves babies right now and loves giving her baby sister kisses (mama's belly). She will have a hard time adjusting when sister gets here I'm sure but she will be such a great big sister!
• In April we decided we needed an economy car for Ryan to drive when he was commuting so we bought a 2008 Mazda M3. Little did we know the dealer did NOT have clear title nor a title, for that matter. What a mess!! Over the next few months we dealt with the dealership buying time b/c they already had their money, our lawyer charging us for actions that did absolutely nothing, and a car we couldn't drive b/c the temp tags expired. Finally, 4 months later everything was taken care of and it has been a nice little car to drive.
• In June I was released as Young Women's President. That has been bitter-sweet. I miss seeing the girls every week and being a constant part of their lives but they are in good hands! I am thankful for that experience and am amazed at how devoted people are to their callings. I appreciated all of the support I was given. I have been able to focus on our new growing family more.
• Droid Incredible has been the source of our entertainment lately. I am loving my new phone. It is nice to have everything in one spot and readily available... plus it has fun games ;) oh the little things in life...
• Moving... oh moving. Well yes at some point. Still in the air at this point. Helena or Butte Montana will be our home soon. Still waiting on the contract to be signed for the helicopter. In limbo... We are working on getting the house ready for either new owners or renters. So grateful for all those that have helped with the updates! We have decided that nothing will happen until after the first of the year due to the upcoming new addition to our family, kinda hard to be flexible at this point. Praying still for this choice for our family and new chapter in our lives.

I'm sure I have left quite a bit out and as for neglecting my blog, I am sorry. Here are some pictures taken over the summer!

My beautiful girl

Makes me smile :)

I love this one!

Such a silly girl!

Helping with home improvements

Loves the coin-op rides!

Visiting Daddy at the hanger

Fell asleep on a walk with Grandpa

Loves to color EVERYWHERE!

Swimming with friend, Roman!

Take Care,

Traumatizing

This has been a post that has been very hard for me to write for 2 reasons: #1 My job as a mother is to keep my daughter safe and out of harms way and #2 By re-living this experience again and again I start to panic all over again...

It was a week ago tomorrow that this "traumatizing experience" occurred. I had been standing in front of my closet picking out a shirt to wear. (side note: my closet is not a walk-in, just a normal size closet with a door not sliding doors.) Kate was with me and was opening and closing the door behind me. Well she was having such a fun time I scooted in a bit so that it would be easier to close. (OK panic starting to settle in...) She must have tripped and with a click the door closed behind me. Mind you, I was inside the closet. No problem, I'll just open it... Well the doorknob on the inside didn't work. It just kept turning. Yeah... It would have been fine I'm sure if I wasn't extremely CLAUSTROPHOBIC! I started panicking! I was trying to push the door open but it wouldn't budge. Meanwhile, Kate, on the other side, was screaming because she couldn't get to Mama. As I was pushing, the full length mirror that was on the outside of the door fell down. Now not only am I worried about getting out but I'm worried about 7 years bad luck! I parted the clothes to either side of the closet to give myself some "breathing room". I remember saying "Heavenly Father, I don't know how I'm getting out of here but I'm really going to need your help!" I was able to calm down a little bit. It was strange because I would be calm and then I'd start thinking again and start panicking. I knew no one would find me for a while, Ryan wasn't coming home for lunch, and I wasn't expecting anyone to come over. Well, I told Kate to go get mommy's phone (which was in the living room). I heard Kate going towards the living room and thought "OK, I've got to get out now". When I was pushing on the door I remembered that the top of the door would give a little. So I climbed on my clothes bar, braced my back against the wall, meanwhile not hearing Kate coming back into the room and with a mighty kick the door flew open hitting her directly on the forehead causing her to land on her back. HOLY CRAP!!! She had a goose-egg the size of a golf ball and a line where the edge of the door had hit her just right. I picked her up and ran into the living room to get my phone. I called Ryan in a panic and he came home right away. She was fine after she calmed down from the initial shock. She was sure to have a headache though. We were worried that Kate may have had a concussion so we called the Dr. and she said to watch her for certain signs and to see if she was acting like herself. I thank my Heavenly Father that I was able to have the strength to get out and that Kate wasn't hurt worse. Moral of the story: Check your doorknobs inside and out.

I broke the door in half!

The infamous closet with the non-working doorknob.
My poor baby's head.

:o( My Poor Baby.

We Love to Eat Food (and Wear It)!

Kate loves her pasta. Mac n’ cheese and spaghetti are her favorites. While she is eating her ‘favorites’ she likes to rub her eyes, pat her head, and other things that would entail getting sauce all over her. Here are visuals of the above mentioned.

My Husband is the BEST!

When we got married there were a few duties that we had to iron out. Ryan grew up with his mom in charge of finances and paying bills. I grew up with my step-dad in charge of finances. Well for the first 2 or 3 months we thought that the other was paying the bills. I was the one that ended up taking on that duty. The reason I am saying this is LAUNDRY! I have a really hard time, no really hard time doing laundry. Not sure why... I love clean clothes and I love it when my closet and dresser are full. I love having more options when I get dressed (too many options). I do a load here and there but my husband ends up doing it. I can go about 2-3 weeks without needing anything washed so I guess I don't realize it when it needs to be done (other than the overflowing hamper). I have tried doing one load a day and putting myself on a schedule but it hasn't worked. I just wanted to say that my husband is the BEST! He has been doing the laundry which I appreciate. We had a "folding party" tonight and I realized how much he doesn't really like to do it but he does it anyways. He even does mine! Thank you sweetie~ I really appreciate you being strong where I am weak! I love you!

Happy Birthday Huey

Huey turned 7 (49 in dog years) March 10th! He is an old man or dog... Huey has been such a great part of our family! Ryan has had Huey since he could be separated from his mom. Ryan and Huey have been through so much together! Huey is a good boy! He does however take himself for walks on occasion. We haven't decided if fixing him would do any good or not. Poor guy. We probably won't do that to him! We love you Huey! Happy Birthday!

Not so good at blogging

Well, I think we (you and I) have figured out that I'm not so good at blogging. I'm not sure why that is but I will try to be better. I have also come to terms that my blog will be simple as I'm not really sure how to do everything! (If anyone knows how to do a slide show...)

November 2009 was quite a month. My husband decided to ride his 4-wheeler too fast around a corner rolling his 4-wheeler. He was in the desert by himself at 7pm at night. Yes... He had called me when he parked and said he was going riding. I then got a call 20 min later from him. Call after call, bad reception after bad reception I finally got a hold of him. He said that he had an accident and knew he broke his collar bone again. He didn't remember anything, where he was, what date it was or where he parked. I called 911 and they said in order to trace his phone he needed to call them. He did call them (even though he doesn't remember calling them) in the meantime the cops and I were looking for him where I thought he would be and he ended up being in a different area. By the time I made it to where he was he had ridden back to his vehicle (doesn't remember that either). He was taken to the hospital by an ambulance. He ended up having 3 broken ribs, punctured a lung, cracked a lower vertebrae, broken index finger, and broken collar bone (same one that he broke 4 times prior). He ended up having surgery on his collar bone. The Dr. said she could put 3 fingers width between the broken bones. He had a metal plate screwed into his collar bone. He is doing really well now about 95%. His 4-wheeler is still in bad shape. I asked him if he learned from it and he said 'probably well I just won't go "that" fast.' I've got to invest in body armor for this man!!

After the accident before surgery. You can see how much shorter the break makes his shoulder and how much it is sticking out. We're lucky it wasn't a compound fracture!

After the surgery.



We are a proud parents of a ONE YEAR OLD! I can't believe it. She is growing up way too fast! We had a "valentine" theme for her party. It turned out really well. We had friends and family there! What more could you ask for?! She had a lot of fun and got a lot of fun things. We got lots of books and some fun toys too. She has a book in each hand most of the time. She loves books. She is such a busy body. She is loving the outside and cries when it's time to come inside. We don't have a backyard, just rocks. She has been collecting rocks and putting them in her little "purse". I find them everywhere. Luckily I haven't vacuumed one up yet... She is talking so much. She signs and says 'more', water, mama, dada, all done, this, hot, book, pants when you ask her what a dog says and growls when you ask her what a lion says. She likes to point or poke at your eye since we are working on learning our body parts. She has been getting her 12 month molars. All 4 at once I might add so she is not a happy camper lately. We are just waiting for the last one to poke through. We have so much fun together. I am so blessed to be able to be at home with her and teach her and constantly watch her grow. We just love her so much.











I've been having this itch to be crafty. I have been wanting to get a spring wreath for my front door. I have seen some that I liked but of course they have been highly priced. I went to the craft store to see if they had anything and I saw a wreath that I liked. Price $99.00. Yeah right... so I wandered around the flowers and started collecting some that were similar to the wreath I had seen. All the flowers were 50% mind you and I was feeling gutsy so I bought the items needed to decorate a wreath. I did it! I really like it and it turned out great and I even had fun doing it! Wreath wanted $99.00, wreath made $35.00, time enjoyed PRICELESS. YEY!

Wreath Wanted

Wreath Made

I have been reading a self-help book. Stay Home, Stay Happy 10 Secrets to Loving at Home Motherhood by Rachel Campos-Duffy.

It has been a boost for me. I am not saying that I wasn't or am not happy staying at home. I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. This book helps you be a better mom and helps you to be able to laugh instead of cry. Rachels talks about taking care of you, the mom, sprititually, mentally and physically. How important it is that you take care of yourself and how important it is that you have a great support system at home (ie. your husband). I really liked her mommy motto "Doing small things with great love" by Mother Teresa. It is a really nice reminder that big things don't really matter it's the little things done with great love that make the difference. That is what a mom does. Notes in lunchboxes, goodnight prayers, tons and tons of kisses, reading books, hugs and more hugs. It has made me love and appreciate my "job" just that much more.

Until next time. Take Care!