Roran and Audrey meet

My brother, Devin, and his wife, Karissa, came for Thanksgiving and we finally got to meet their little boy, Roran who is just 6 weeks older than Audrey.  We had a good visit and good food.  Thanks for coming to see us!

uncle devin playing legos with wyatt

mara's nose in the healing process

Lessons from my daughters

The other day Audrey was laying on my bed and I left her to go check on the other kids when I hear her start screaming like she is in pain. I run in there to find her pulling  her own hair!  She had grabbed a handful of hair and was holding on for dear life.  It was sad and oh so funny.

Lesson learned: We are often the source of our own pain in this life.  Letting go of can bring peace.

What do you do with a 6 year old who is boy crazy already????  I have been trying to figure this out and today Mara learned a very important lesson:

Lesson learned:  Never chase after a boy you like- it can cause lots of pain and you can lose part of yourself (like a tooth- thankfully it wasn"t a permanent one.)

lunchbox

Friday was a rough day around here.  In the process of all the craziness of the morning and trying to get everyone ready and out the door in time to get Nate to his doctor's appt in Summerlin (25mins away) and then head straight to drop Mara off at school (20 mins back toward home) and get back to Nate and be supportive during his procdure, Mara forgot her lunch.  This wasn't discovered until I was dropping her off in front of the school.  She had a complete melt down.  She was screaming at me to go home and get it.  I didn't have time.  I thankfully found some cash in my purse (mini miracle in itself) and told her to buy school lunch.  That was NOT the solution she was looking for.  She lost it again and then I lost it and just shoved the money into her pocket and nudged her toward the school.  She was so upset that a teacher told her to go to the office and call home.  She called Nate's cell phone instead ( he is at the doctor's office getting prepped for an unpleasant procedure)  He doesn't answer but listens to the voicemail- calls me on my cell as I am driving back to Summerlin.  I told him I can't go back home and get her lunch until later so he calls the school and tells them she has money to buy lunch and that maybe the problem is she has never bought lunch before and she is scared because she doesn't know what to do.  ( This is where I feel like the worst mother in the world but am eternally grateful for a husband who understands our daughter better than I ever will.)  When I pick her up that after noon I am afraid she won't speak to me, but she has forgiven me.  We have a little talk about what happened in the morning and Nate was right- she was so upset because she didn't know how to buy lunch.  A nice kid in her class walked her through it all and she was just fine, but she said she never wants to buy school lunch again.  We also discussed that it is HER responsibility to make sure she has her lunch in the morning- I will make it but she has to take it.  SO- this is what I found on the kitchen table this morning...

She wrote herself a note so she wouldn't forget!  How cute is that! And speaking of cute, how cute is this

Happy 1 month Birthday Audrey!

3 weeks

I can't believe Audrey is three weeks old! It seems like time has just flown by and yet it is hard to remember life before she was part of our family. The doctor just called to let us know her kidneys are just fine! Nate called shortly before that to tell me that his Doctor just read the results of his renal scan and everything looks perfect! We may be at the end of our kidney problems for good. I forgot to post about Wyatt's 4th birthday. It was mixed in there with visits from grandparents, great grandparents, blessing, dr visits, h1n1 flu shots, etc. We celebrated a few days early so he could have family here to help him party. We had a picnic at the park with his Delozier Grandparents, Higginson great Grandparents, and his great aunt and uncle. He picked a bat cake at the last minute and it turned out okay considering my sleep deprivation, lack of desire to go to the store to buy the stuff to make it the way I really wanted to, and that my kitchen was torn apart. He received 7 new sets of Lego's- his favorite is the spiderman set from Grandma and Grandpa Bingham. He is such a big boy now- I can't believe he is 4 already! Today started out with me feeling like supermom- I made banana-strawberry pancakes from scratch while holding a needy 3 week old and making a lunch for Mara. I got Mara to school and then got 30 minutes of exercise in, a shower with no one bugging me, pumped a bottle of breast milk while reading my scriptures, then I figured out how to work Skype to talk to my brother, finally got Audrey to take a nap in her crib and not in my room or in my arms, and helped make a few Lego race cars. Now I am feeling like tired mom, but happy mom. I just may be able to survive having three kids after all! I just hope the kids don't think they will be getting supermom everyday- I am not up to that!

2 weeks

It has been a very busy 2 weeks! I am happy to say that those two weeks are behind us and life should be calming down for a while now. -As of yesterday Audrey is 8 lbs 12 oz and 21 1/2 ". -Nate just finished putting my kitchen back together!!!! I don't have baseboards or flooring in the kitchen but at least I have a functioning kitchen again. -My mom had her first surgery and all went well. She is home and will have lots of down time to knit until her next surgery sometime after Christmas. -Mara faced her paralyzing fear of public bathrooms and she is still alive! -I finally got my house cleaned and I feel like I can start functionally somewhat normally again.

Audrey survived her first (and hopefully last for a long time) medical procedure. She had a renal ultrasound today to check to see if Daddy passed his bad kidneys on to her. She did great until they tried to look at her bladder. She cried and fought them and then peed all over their table to get even with them. We won't know the results for a few days, but we are not worried. Nate also had a renal scan today to see how his body is healing. We will see the doctor next Friday. As we begin to near the end of 2009 we are hoping that this will be the end of the medical challenges for awhile. We are grateful for all the lessons we have learned, the blessings we have recieved, and the endless help we have recieved from all of you!

I really didn't think it possible to have three perfect babies, but so far that is what we have. Audrey is a miniature bundle of sweetness. She sleeps well, eats well, and cuddles well. She only cries if she gets cold or has a messy diaper and you can barely call it crying when she does it. She is unlike Mara and Wyatt in the fact that she loves to be swaddled. Mara and Wyatt hated to be wrapped up but she loves it. She is just so snugly and lovable. She is so fun to watch as she sleeps- she makes the best faces- I wonder what goes through her little mind! When she is awake she is wide awake and very curious about the world around her. She just looks and looks. It is fun to see her turn her head to the sound of familiar voices. Mara and Wyatt are so good with her- they just love her so much. Wow-how did we ever feel like our family was complete before she came???

blessing pictures

Thanks to my mom for spending the weekend finishing the dress!