All The Kings Horses, and All The Kings Men.....

couldn't put Ava's elbow back together again. But the doctor could, and now she's in a splint. On Monday, she'll get a BE*A*UTIFUL cast the goes up past her elbow.

She fell off our kitchen chair. It was a very tragic event. Nate thought she dislocated her shoulder, but her shoulder looked ok. She stopped screaming for a minute, but then she kept holding her arm, so I called the doctor, and the doctor said to come into Instacare. At first, they thought it was her wrist because it was swollen. They took her to get x-rays and they came back just fine. Then Nate mentioned that whenever we touch her elbow, she cries. So, the doc started feeling her elbow, and she started screaming! They took her back again to get x-rayed, and it showed she broke her elbow.

Pics will come soon.

It's been a tragic couple of days. Ava is extremely independent. Take that independence away because of a broken elbow that has to be in a sling, and you get one extremely ornery 2 year old.

On the upside, I took Hallie in for her 4 month old check up. She is 24 inches long and weighs 12 lbs. 11 oz. She is growing like a weed! The doctor couldn't believe that she is sleeping through the night and that she's all ready tripled her birthweight. She's a champ!

Look Who's 4 Months Old!

Time has gone by too fast.

My little Halliekins is 4 months old.

I love her cheeks and the way she growls at me.

She loves her hands and is starting to drool.

She now goes to sleep around 9 p.m.

She smells like heaven.

She laughed for the first time the other night.

I love her.

Holidays

Licking the beater. That's our favorite part of making cookies!
Our yummy cookies!

Fresh pinecones that we picked up in our court.

Part of our Christmas tree decorations.

This Christmas has been sooooooooooooo busy! Ava has helped me complete lots of projects, but our favorite thing to do is bake cookies. We also had fun picking up pinecones! I was going to dip them in some glitter or something, but never got around to it. I also got a new camera (YAHOO!) and so I have been taking TONS of pictures.

Meeting Great Great Grandma

I love these hands.

Kind, beautiful, strong.

What a precious picture.

The main reason we went to Idaho was so Hallie and Great-Great Grandma Spaulding could finally meet. Grandma S. has sent countless letters and cards since Hallie was born. Grandma remembers when my mom had toxemia and has been really worried since I had Hallie. It was so good to see her and talk to her and know that she is doing all right. She will be 90 years young in May and she is the kindest, most thoughtful person I know. I love her dearly. It was just amazing to watch her interact with our two girls.

Kids These Days

Just now, Nate was watching the sports part of the news. All of a sudden, Ava exclaims, "Daddy! Don't watch that!"

Muaaaah muaaah haa.... my influence over her is AMAZING! :)

It just cracked me up.

A-HA Moment

Today, Elder Richards from the Quorum of the Seventy came and spoke to our ward during Sunday School and Relief Society. I was really excited because I always learn a ton when I hear him speak. He was our old stake president, so I've heard from him alot, and today I had one major A-HA moment.
We were talking about being an instrument in the Lord's hands, and how that relates to being a parent. I have always known that motherhood is a divine role and that I am here to teach my children, but it never occured to me that I am actually an instrument in the Lord's hands. I learned that there are three things I need to do to for my children. They are:

1. Teach truth

2. Encourage

3. Rescpect Agency

To be able to teach truth, I must know truth, understand truth, and live truth. Then I can teach it to my kids. Second, I need to encourage them to live the truth. Some other verbs we talked about today are: persuade, help, love, support, influence, inspire, motivate, and labor diligently. Don't use force. The third thing is what I struggle with the most: respect agency. I know the gospel is true and therefore EVERYONE should know it's true and live it's teachings. Well, that's not exactly how things turn out. This third principle was an answer to my prayers. I have a brother who is not making very wise choices right now, and I get frustrated with him because he knows better and therefore he should do better. I have been praying for guidance as to how I can be a better sister, and today's discussion was an answer to my prayers. I need to practice these three steps, and most importantly, I need to respect his agency. So, I need to abide by these principles in order to be an effective instrument in raising my children and developing relationships with my family.

We also talked about having love as the motivating factor in our lives. Our love for the Savior should inspire us to be more kind, patient, loving, forgiving, and full of charity. Our love for the Savior and our Heavenly Father should motivate us to do our visiting teaching. I admit that sometimes I do it just so I can report that I've done it. But I need to teach truth to my sisters. I should be visiting them because I love them as the Savior loves them. I should be serving them and making sure they are taken care of.

I need to live by the Spirit so I can be guided to do what the Lord wants me to do. I am an instrument in building up the kingdom of God. I need to live worthily so that I can be an example to others.

This was my A-HA moment.

It's A Love-Hate Relationship

I don't love-hate many things. Ice cream would be one. I love the taste but hate the inches it adds to my waist. Sports are another one. I love them because they make my hubby happy and I do like going to sporting events, but I HATE them on TV. But I think my biggest love-hate relationship is with Wal-Mart. When I can afford to shop somewhere else, I will. But I'm sure most of you can relate, but a student's budget calls for the least expensive of anything, and Wal-Mart produces those cheap prices. I also dislike going there because I hate getting asked if I want tamales in the parking lot, and I am not a fan of reading things in Spanish and English (no offense). I also hate the long lines and all the people who don't know shopping cart etiquette.
I usually put off grocery shopping til the last minute. I have to prep myself for like 2 weeks before I can really go. And by the time I have jazzed myself into going, it's Saturday night at 9:30 p.m. Well, in Utah, that's Mormon shopping time. But I must say, last night was the exception. I drug myself to Wally world, but to my surprise, I found a parking spot within 2 minutes, and it was near the door!
I walked in and it was practically empty! It was glorious! I had a few run-ins with people, but nothing major. The prices were even lower than ever, and it was relatively clean. To top it off, there wasn't any lines and the cashier was actually friendly! What really made my trip was that I wasn't asked if I wanted tamales..... I think that was my first pleasant trip! But don't think that this will become just a love relationship. It will always be love-hate.

3 Months Old!

It seems like just yesterday our little Halliekins made her debut into our lives. I can't believe how much she's changed! I didn't take these first 3 pics, the nurses in the NICU did, and then they sent me a CD of all the pictures they had taken. I am so grateful they did because I don't remember the first time I saw her. It was about 4 hours after she was born, and I was so doped up on meds that I could only sit in the wheelchair, hold my head up, and focus my eyes for about 5 minutes. I didn't get to hold her right after she was born because she was whisked away.... but I have enjoyed looking at these pictures.

And here she is.... 3 months later!! She is finally growing out of her newborn clothes. She will smile a ton at you, only if it's in the morning. She usually has her hand in tiny little fists and likes them by her face. She is most happy when you are holding her and she can look around. She has the deepest blue eyes I have ever seen, and I just love love LOVE her little cheeks and double chin. I could kiss them all day! She is finally sleeping through the night (about 8 hours) and usually has one blow out a day, usually around 7:30 p.m.

What a crazy 3 months it's been, but I couldn't imagine our lives without her.

Just Can't Get Enough

Can you tell she likes to dress herself these days?

Look at those cheeks!

She always has her fist by her face.

On another note....

How does this happen?

Picture Perfect

Hallie is starting to grunt, so that usually means feeding time, but I wanted to post some pics....

Ava apparently thought Hallie would enjoy this dog on her head.

Hallie's cute little hands.

Hallie's blessing day.

Dan and Ava having fun at Grammy's 50th birthday party

Best buds.


Hallie's blessing day.... she's exactly 2 months old!


Opening her presents. She had lots of help!

Blowing out her "Abby Cadabby" candle

I made her birthday cake and thought I was pretty clever because I said "HABBY BIRTHDAY" instead of "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" because she wanted an "ABBY" cake.

Side view of the cake. It was yummy!

Chef Ava

Today Ava and I decided to make some sugar cookies and cut them into the shapes of "pukums" and "ghoats". The first 3 batches turned out pretty good. I put in the 4th batch and proceed to help Nate get dinner ready. All of a sudden, we smell this awful smell.... but we just thought it was the oven burner heating up. Well, the smell gets worse. Nate opens the oven and a bunch of smoke comes flying out! Nate took the cookies out and they were BLACK. What the? Enter Chef Ava. She decided to help me by turning the oven on to BROIL. And this was the end result....

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... tasty.

Another Crazy Week!

So, on Sunday, we blessed Hallie. We are so lucky to have such wonderful family members who come and support us. Not only did we bless her, but we were asked to speak. It was a crazy Sunday. On Tuesday, the girls had their doctor appointments. Ava weighs 30 lbs and is 35 inches long. She is in the 80th percentile for both height and weight. Little Hallie weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs. 13 oz. and was 21 inches long. She is in the 7th percentile..... that's really good considering the first couple of weeks of her life she wasn't even on the charts yet. Wednesday night I had a craft group for R.S. We made cute fall wreaths. As soon as I finish it, I'll post a pic. Thursday I worked (boo......) Friday I worked (more boooooo......) and Friday night my family went and took family pictures at Murray Park. It was also my mom's 50th birthday so we went to Madeline's to celebrate. It was also kind of a last family dinner before my brother leaves for Afghanistan on Sunday. I've had a really hard time dealing with the fact that he's going. He truly believes in what he's fighting for, and I do too.... he's an amazing brother and I love him so much, it's just hard having that thought in the back of my mind that he might not come back. He's prepared to die for our freedoms and for trying to give others the same freedoms we enjoy..... and it tears me apart thinking that Ava and Hallie may never know their uncle who loves them so much.... so please pray for him. Anywho....

The Weekly Happenings

This past week was a lot of fun for our little family! On Thursday, my handsome hubby Nate celebrated his 26th birthday. On Friday, we went to our high school's homecoming game. It's always fun to see old friends. (Of course, I go to purely socialize and Nate goes to purely watch the game.) But it's always fun. I went to the doc for my postpartum checkup, and everything in my big body has returned to normal. Yay!

Nate's family started their own little version of "The Biggest Loser". Of course I joined because I have a good 25-30 lbs. to lose and this would be great motivation for me! I've exercised almost everyday, and I'm really trying to eat healthier. That's the hard part because I LOVE FOOD! And, I always seem to get midnight munchies, so I've really had to restrain myself from indulging in my chocolate cravings.

I start back to work tomorrow (boo) which I am not really looking forward to. But, it's necessary so I'll go and make the best of it.

Here are just some stinking cute pictures of my girls. Hallie is starting to be awake more during the daytime and is sleeping longer at night.... and when I say longer, she'll sleep for 4 hours at a time.... so we're getting there! I love my little family!

Just Wondering....

....why babies smell so darn good. MMMMMM..... I don't think there is a more comforting smell than that of my little Halliekins.






Also wondering........ how some women don't know that they are pregnant. I saw this show on TLC called (ta da) "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant". That's a mystery to me.

On Another Note

I'm such a slacker, but, what can you do? Move forward and keep on posting... Hallie turned one month old on the 18th. As of yesterday she weighs 7 lbs 2 oz. She is so cute and such a chunker! She's outgrown her preemie clothes and diapers, but doesn't quite fit into newborn clothes. She always has a very serious face and HATES waking up (she got that from me). She absolutely fights waking up, which means that she fusses for about 15-20 minutes before she actually decides she's hungry and wants some food. This translates into.... crappy sleep for me. If she wasn't so darn cute and didn't smell so darn good, I might just be a little crabby.

Ava has reverted back to wanting a binkie (dang it!) and just when I think I've hidden the binkies and there is no chance she'll ever find it..... it somehow appears in her mouth. Then she explains to me that she's just holding it for Hallie.

Today, Ava just wanted to hold Hallie's hand, so I took some cute pics.