Busy

This afternoon Parker and I were talking about our trip to Utah and how fun it was to see everyone. The first person he talked about was grandma Tate. He loves her so much and they really have a special bond. One of his favorite things in the world is to play cars out on her patio. I told him that grandma Tate was grandma Stephanie's mommy and that if grandma Stephanie was here she would love to play with him all the time. Then he asked me if grandma Stephanie was coming to our house. I told him that she couldn't because she lived in heaven but that we would see her someday. He thought for a moment and then said, "she's busy." I asked him what she was busy doing and he said, "playing with Jesus."

Updates

It's been a while since I posted so I thought I would give you all an update since I know you have been going crazy wondering what is going on in our lives.(: We are in Utah right now just hanging out and visiting family. Andrew is flying in this afternoon and we are going to his 10 year high school reunion tonight. Thanks to the climate change, the kids and I have colds. Two nights ago I was up all night with them. Poor little guys couldn't sleep and were so miserable. Hopefully we will all be on the mend before our flight Monday. I don't remember if I've already posted this but Parker is potty trained now. He has been for a while. I'm so proud of my big boy! He loves wearing undies (especially his Thomas ones). It's nice to only be changing one bottom now. Nine months was not our magic number for M's eating problems. We were back at the pediatric gastro this week and we are now on a new medication on top of the prevacid. She is still a little underweight, but not bad. The dr. said that he didn't want to do an upper GI scope just yet which was a relief. He also said that we would probably have to work with her eating until she was 2, which was not so much of a relief. I hate that my little baby is on two medications a day already, but the new one seems to already be helping. Please keep M in your prayers that we can get this all worked out. She is right on the verge of crawling. It's so cute when she pulls herself up on her hands and knees and then looks at me like, "what do I do now?" Today was first time she coordinated her hands and her legs for a few seconds. Parker has been loving being back with the family. He is so loved by everyone and I am so grateful for that. We had a family bbq on Wednesday to raise funds for melanoma research and it was great to see everyone that was able to come. Jamie and I are hoping to make it an annual thing so hopefully we can make it a bigger event next year. Thanks to my family for their generous contributions so that hopefully someday we can find a cure or even just effective treament for this horrible disease that took my mom. Thankfullly we kept the bbq inside because it it HOT here! We have only been in WA for a month and a half but we were already used to the cooler more humid weather there. I have spent this vacation feeling like I was melting!(: We will be sad to leave our family, but happy to get back to the lovely 75 degree weather in WA.

Chocolate Chip Cookies for Briana

Today is the 7 year anniversary of my little sister, Briana's, passing. I can't believe that it's been that long. Sometimes it seems like another lifetime ago. Our family was so different then. I miss the way things were so much sometimes. I wish I could have appreciated better how lucky I was back then. My sister was always special. I don't remember her birth (I was only 4) so I don't remember how sick she was for her first few weeks of life. None of us knew how deeply that would affect our family at the time. I remember my mom saying that she knew something was different about Briana long before the doctors did. It was years before anyone had an anwer for my parents and I can't even imagine how difficult that answer must have been for them to hear. My sister had brain damamge. My sister's disability made our family different from most families but to us it was the norm. She was just Briana. My parents were so devoted to her. They constantly advocated for her in school and always gave her all the opporuntities for learning and fun that they could. As a parent now myself I don't know how they did it. Of course, Briana adored them. I can't help but smile when I think about the way Bri loved. She gave her love so fully and so freely. There were no agendas or complications. Her smile could light up the room. She loved to be around her family the most. You couldn't tell her about any family event more than a few minutes before or she would be asking you about it constantly, hoping that it was time to go. "Time it is", she would say. My aunt made a family video with everyone's pictures one Christmas and we watched that with her more times than I could ever count. When it was over we always had to rewind it and start again. She loved school and to learn, even though it was hard for her. She could count to 20 and knew her phone number. She had a great memory. She loved to have books read to her and she loved purses. She loved our cat, our dog, and Barney(: She taught me the value of family. She taught me to slow down and take a real look at things. She taught me to be more patient. She showed me what pure and honest love was. She was joy personified. We had hard times with her though. Taking care of a 2 year old and a 16 year old's body had it's challenges. I'm sure so much more for my mom and dad. Her seizures the last few years of her life were hard to deal with. I prayed everyday that she would be healed while drug after drug failed to help. I know now that my prayers were answered, just not in the way I thought they would be. Isn't that so often the case. Her sudden death was a huge blow to our family. Briana was really the center of our family life and when she died, it left a huge void in our hearts. I will always miss her more than I can explain but I wouldn't ask her to come back for a second. She is whole now and so happy. Her beautiful, perfect soul has finally been set free from her body. I can't wait to see her again in her glory and light. And she has my mom now. I know she made my mother's passage from this earthly life a happy reuion with a beloved daughter. I made chocolate chip cookies today in honor of my sister. She always loved to make them and loved eating them even more. I wish I had a picture of her but they are all on my other computer at home. Here are some cookies for my sweet baby sister. I will love you and miss you always until we can be together again.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my sweetheart! Here are some of my favorite things about Andrew as a father:
-He's funny! He is a total goof around our kids and always has them laughing.
-He tries hard. He always wants to be the best dad he can be to his kids.
-He is a great example. He is the most honest, hardworking guy I know. He isn't quick to get angry or offended by people and always sees the best in them.
-He treats me like a queen. He loves me all the time. It doesn't matter how I look or act. He has seen me in my worst and weakest moments and he still thinks I'm amazing and beautiful and he lets me know that everyday.
-He can't wait to hear all about the kids at the end of his day. He loves to have me tell him about all the cute and funny things that the kids do while he is at work.
-He thinks I'm an awesome mom and never misses a chance tell me so.
Happy Father's Day, Andrew! I love you!

My boy

Wednesday afternoon Parker was watching some cartoons and called me over to come snuggle with him. While we were sitting there he looked up at me with his sweet smile and said, "You're the best mommy!" It just doesn't get any better than that!

I'm on a roll...

Wow! I have posted a lot in the last few days! I just had to post these pictures of Parker and Makenna I took yesterday. It was 50 degrees and raining so we just hung out at home. I decided to kill some time by dressing the kids up and taking pictures. I wish I knew how to take nicer pictures and had a better camera but thankfully my kids are so cute they make up for it.(:





P.S. I really don't love Makenna more than Parker. Parker just hates having his picture taken.

Tug-o-war and moss

Parker and Sadie are best friends. They play all day and lately they have taken to playing tug-o-war with burp rags, dish towels, blankets, etc... Basically whatever they can find. I know I really need to put a stop to it but they look so funny! I love that Parker holds his end in his mouth just like Sadie!

This is a picture of Andrew's pet moss. He found it at a park we went to last week and took it home. Apparently Andrew has a secret (I guess not so secret now) love for moss. He is trying to keep it alive in the top of a cottage cheese container on our kitchen counter. He waters it everyday and he thinks it's doing fine. I think it's dying, but there's plenty more moss here is Washington where that came from.

Tacoma Zoo

Parker's two favorite things are trains and animals. He hadn't been to the zoo since before Makenna was born so I decided to take the kids out to the Tacoma zoo last week. Parker loved it! Here are some picture of our day.

The zoo has an aquarium in it and one of the exhibits they have are a pair of Beluga whales. The whales were really neat to watch because they would swim up to the glass and rub the glass when you put your hand to it. They seemed sweet and playful.

Here is Kenna chillin' in the stroller. She did so well! She wasn't super interested in the animals, but she liked being outside.

I like this one of Parker looking at some animals. He is such a handsome little guy already. Like father, like son. (:

This was Parker's favorite animal. I don't even remember what it's called but it was ugly. It was also swimming in it's own poop!