Wednesday, October 3, 2012

September 2012

This month has been quite eventful and not the good kind! We started off on Labor Day with Aspen breaking her arm. We started the day off not really having any plans for the day, but decided to go see some cousins and friends. We ended up at a friend’s house with some bratwursts for dinner. The kids were playing downstairs in the basement and the adults were upstairs cooking dinner. Brevin had just gone outside to check on the brats on the grill when Aspen came upstairs cradling her arm and crying a little bit. All she said was “Mom, I hurt my arm.” Looking at her arm from across the room I could tell that something wasn’t quite right. The thought crossed my mind that she had broken it, but I didn’t want to believe it. I went over to her and she kind of handed me her arm and then I knew for sure that it was broken. It just felt weird and looked even worse up close. So, someone went outside and got Brevin. I think we were both in shock a little bit. I was holding Aspen and started shaking. Someone had to take her from me so that I wouldn’t drop her. So then Aspen, Brevin, Chett and me got in the car and headed for the Emergency Room. We got all her papers filled out and then Chett was hungry. So, I went to the waiting room to feed him while Brevin went with Aspen to get her vitals and into a room. Right as we got to the Emergency Room several ambulances were showing up with patients from a car accident so the nurse said that our wait was probably going to be a while for a room, but then a doctor came into where we were waiting and basically told the nurse off and said that he had a room we could go to and that Aspen was getting that room no matter what (LOVE that doctor for that!!). So, Brevin and Aspen went on back to the room, got situated and got some x-rays. By this time I was done feeding Chett and ready to go back and sit with Aspen, but they wouldn’t let me go back there because Chett is younger than 14. So, then I called my mom and had her come sit with Chett while I went back with Aspen. By the end of the evening we had quite the group at the ER! Grandma and Grandpa White, Grandma and Grandpa Johnson, and Uncle Jared all came to help with Chett and to see Aspen and give her a blessing. She was so glad to see everyone. She would rather have seen them under different circumstances, but whatever. She got more toys this way…HA! So, anyways, when I finally got back to Aspen we were waiting for the x-rays to be developed and for the doctor to come in and set her arm and splint it. The anesthesiologist came in and told us what medicine he was going to give her and how it would affect her. It was the weirdest experience ever…kind of disturbing too. The medicine made her extremely relaxed, but didn’t put her to sleep. He said that it was like “the lights are on, but no one is home” kind of effect. When he put the meds in her IV I watched her relax completely. I even asked the doctor if she was still breathing because she just didn’t look right to me. Her eyes were open and everything, but Aspen was not in there…LOL. They told us that when the doctor set her arm that she would feel it, but she wouldn’t remember it. So, if she screamed not to worry because she won’t remember it hurting. When he set her arm she kind of moaned a little bit and sat up in the bed a little bit, but she didn’t scream at all. We were all very impressed with that! Then they put her splint on and left her to let the medicine ware off before we could leave. The funniest thing that happened that night was while her medicine was wearing off. The doc had just finished putting her splint on and the x-ray technician was taking more x-rays and asking her some questions. She was still pretty out of it, but she would answer every once in a while. The x-ray tech asked her one last question before he left the room and Aspen didn’t answer, so I got in her line of vision and said, “Aspen, are you okay?” Then Aspen kind of sat up and looked me straight in the eye with her eyes all wide and concerned and said “Whaaat??” Her voice was so high-pitched and totally NOT Aspen’s normal voice that it caught Brevin and I completely off guard and we busted up laughing for a good long while! After that she had to drink some water to make sure she could keep it down and then got some pain meds in her system and then we got to leave.
 
We stopped by McDonald’s because we didn’t get to eat before we had to leave for the ER. Then we went and got her pain meds from Walgreens and headed home. Hadley got to spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa White that night. When we got home Aspen opened her toy from her Happy meal, which was a little notebook, and got so excited! She yelled across the house “MOM!! McDonalds must have known I broke my arm and look at this cool notebook they gave me to write in!!!” (Aspen LOVES notebooks!!) I think she might have been a little drugged still…LOL! She got to stay home from school for the rest of the week because she was either hurting or I was too afraid to send her because the splint they put on was just some gauze and an ACE wrap on two sides of her arm.
 
 
She had to keep the splint on for 3 weeks and then just last Monday she got her hot pink cast.
  
She has it signed by all of her friends at school, guys from Daddy’s work, cousins, and lots of other friends and family. Taking a bath and getting dressed have been quite adventurous some days, but we figure it out. She has figured out how to do just about everything she could do before she broke her arm and if you tell her she can’t do something because her arm is broken, she will prove you wrong!
 
After she broke her arm, Aspen lost her first tooth! She was complaining one day about her gums hurting back behind her two bottom front teeth. So, after ignoring her for a while about it I finally looked in her mouth only to find that she had a tooth coming in behind her front teeth. After a couple of days and a night of failed door-slamming-tooth-removal techniques it fell out while she was eating a PB&J sandwich. Seh took a bite and then pulled it out of her mouth and brought it to me and asked if it was her tooth. Good thing she didn't swallow it! The tooth fairy brought her a dollar for it that night and she thought it was the coolest thing ever! Now when she smiles she tries to make it show. I hope she didn't do that in her school pictures she just got taken...
 
Then about two weeks ago Brevin’s truck quit holding coolant and was rendered undriveable. So, we took it to the shop and borrowed Jordan’s truck from Grandma and Grandpa White. Good thing we had a car to borrow! Don’t know what we would do without family and their willingness to help us out in hard times!
 
Then, at right about the same time the truck quit, the battery in my car died. I found out it had died on the night of Brevin’s softball game. I had just talked to Brevin on the phone and told him I was getting in the car and headed to the game. We hung up and I went to get the kids in the car and Brevin put his phone in the truck and went to warm up and get ready for his game. I got out to the car, got all loaded and went to start it and it just clicked at me…GREAT! Luckily, Grandma White was at the house that night and was able to give me a jump so I could get to the game. I would have just stayed home, but I was afraid Brevin would be worried if I didn’t show up to the game and he didn’t have his phone on him to call him and no one at the game would answer their phones either…UGH! So, we got to the game, told Brevin what happened and went the next morning to get a new battery.
 
Then, just after the battery in the car quit, one morning while daycare was showing up at the house, Hadley answered the door and then went to shut it with the handle pushed down and somehow managed to break one tiny little piece in the handle that holds the spring closed so that the handle will spring back up after you pull it down. So, now the front door won’t stay shut unless the door is deadbolted. After all of that this month I have been extremely cautious and on-edge about something or someone else getting broken.
 
Let’s just say that Brevin and I have both been a little stressed out this month. If ever there was a time of trial in our lives! Oh well, it is all in the past and we are getting things fixed slowly.
 
On a much lighter note, Chett turned three months this month. He is such a handsome little guy! He is about 17 pounds and putting it on fast! He has had some allergies this month, making sleeping at times difficult...for EVERYONE! We still love him though! We just bought him some 3-6 month clothes because he wasn't fitting in the 0-3 month anymore and now he is getting really snug in the 3-6 month clothes! The funny thing is that he really isn't chubby anywhere except for his double-chin and some rolls on his legs. Other than that, he is just one very solid boy! I can't believe how big he is getting!
 
I think that is all that went on this month. I think that is enough excitement for 30 days, don’t you?? Here are some random pictures from the month:
 
Having fun with the hats at Atwoods one day:
  
  
Chett in his bouncy chair. He loves this thing!
 
Chillin with Daddy:
  
Chocolate faces!!
 

(I am giving Chett a bath in the background. Isn't that a wonderful picture of my best side...LOL!)
Hadley sporting her jewlery...ALL of it!
  
Cute skeleton jammies from Grandma Johnson:
 
They even glow in the dark!!
Chett sure loves his blankie!!
 
Passed out at Keaton's football game:
 
He LOVES to be outside!! (As long as there is no wind...he gets tummy aches easy.)
 
We went to the mall one day and they had a big fire truck in the parking lot. The fire fighters were giving out coloring books and these fireman hats. Aspen thought it was hillarious to put it on Chett. I think it is pretty darn cute!
 
Sleepy boy!
 


Hadley posing:
 
He is getting so good at controlling his head!
 
 

Thursday, September 6, 2012

August 2012

This month Chett turned 2 months old and weighed a whopping 13 pounds!! He was in the 75th percentile for his weight and the 22nd percentile for his height. I couldn’t help but laugh when I heard that! He is so round and chubby and I just love it!
 
Poor guy got poked 5 times at his 2 month appointment! I guess they ran out of the vaccines that are a combination so he had to get poked more than most babies. Jade, his cousin that is a couple weeks older than him, goes to the same doctor and she only got poked three times at her 2 month appointment! I was a little upset for him, but what can you do?

The White clan got together for family pictures so we would have a picture of everyone together before Jordan left for his mission. A family friend, Walfri, took the pictures for us and they turned out great! I don't have the one of the whole group, but here is our family:
 
 
 
All the kids went swimming in the little pool and played for a while after pictures.
Noah was tired...LOL!
 
 
We decided the weekend before school started to take the kids to the Springfield zoo. We didn’t take many pictures while we were there simply because we have been there so many times.
 
Aspen’s first day of school was great! I took her to school and picked her up and she had a wonderful time! She loves her teacher and has friends in her class from JumpStart.
 
 
On the second day of school I decided that I would take her there, but she would ride the bus home. What a fiasco!!! She got to the bus that she needed after school and was sat down, waiting to get going, sitting by some kids from church that she knew when one of the teachers got on the bus and started pulling kids off because “there were too many kids on the bus”. Aspen was one of the kids that got pulled off the bus. By this time I was standing at the bus stop by our house waiting for her to get there. My phone rang and it was her school. They told me that Aspen was taken off the bus because there were too many kids on the bus so they took sibling groups off…??? Aspen is my only child in school so why in the world did she get taken off?! They proceeded to tell me that she was waiting at the school for me to come pick her up. I still had daycare kids at the house and didn’t have enough room in the car to go pick her up even if I wanted to, which I told the lady on the phone. Then she tells me that the kids from church that Aspen was sitting by on the bus also got taken off the bus and their mother was coming to pick them up so she would ask their mother if she could drop Aspen off to me. I know the mom and we live close to each other, so that was fine with me. After about 5-10 minutes I had some daycare parents come and pick their kids up so I had enough room in the car to go get Aspen now. So, I hurried and called the school to make sure my church friend hadn’t picked all the kids up yet and was informed that they had put Aspen on another bus WITHOUT CALLING ME FIRST!!! “WHAT! What bus is she on?” I asked. “Umm, I’m not sure.” “Well, what time will she be at the bus stop?” I said. “I don’t know. Somewhere in the next 30 minutes to an hour.” UGH!!!! So, I went back to the bus stop and waited, and checked every one of the 12 buses that stopped at the stop to see if Aspen was on it, and each time I was disappointed and more and more worried. After about 45 minutes of standing at the bus stop I just happened to look down the road toward the house (I was worried that my last daycare mom would show up to pick up her daughter and we wouldn’t be there) and saw a bus parked at my driveway. My stomach dropped because they will not let kindergarteners get off the bus by themselves, which is great, but if a parent isn’t there to get them off the bus they simply take them back to the school. So, I started running as fast as I possibly could down the road pushing the stroller and dragging Hadley and the daycare girl (Hadley’s age) behind me. It had to be quite the sight to see, really! I made it to the bus, out of breath and quite flustered , to find Aspen bawling her eyes out and dry heaving because she was so upset. Poor girl! I got her in the house and calmed down a bit and then the momma bear in me came out! I got on the phone with the principal and superintendent so fast it would have made your head spin! I was outraged! How dare they take my daughter off the bus in the first place and then tell me that they were going to do one thing with her and then stick her on another bus without letting me know first?! I made it very clear that they are NEVER to take her off the bus again without asking my permission first! She is not in a sibling group, she is in fact my only child attending school!!! Rrr! I still get so mad just thinking about it! Can you tell?? Anyways, after that day the bus riding experience has been a lot better and she actually enjoys riding it. Our neighbors across the street have a granddaughter that rides the same bus as Aspen and has taken her under her wing and made sure she gets where she needs to be and gets off at the right stop. I am so thankful for Emma and so is Aspen!

I started selling Mary Kay this month in the hopes that I can stop doing daycare. Since Chett has been born and Aspen has started school I have really wanted to get rid of daycare. I want my house back and I want my free time with my kids back! I want to have the option to go pick Aspen up from school if I want to and go to her school assemblies and class parties. Right now, that is not an option and I hate it! So, I had been praying for something, anything to replace that income and I got a call from a lady in my ward to listen to a marketing call and ended up joining. I keep praying that it will work out and so far it hasn’t been too bad. No, I am not making enough yet to replace my daycare income, but you have to start somewhere. My goal is to be done with daycare by Christmas. It will be my own present to myself :-) I will get my house and free time back. YAY!!

That’s all for this month. Here are our random pictures and videos…

Chett has started "talking" a bit.
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 

Monday, August 13, 2012

July 2012

This month I took a BUNCH of pictures, but somehow they all ended up being of the same thing...Chett!! I am definitely a new mother again! I keep taking pictures of him in the same position over and over again because "it's just too cute!!" Ha Ha!!

Anyways, we had two major events this month. The first was the White family's first annual Fourth of July Bash. It was a TON of fun! The kids decorated their bikes and had a bike parade. We had a waterslide and water balloons and a swimming pool. There was tons of good food and plenty of great company! We ended the day with a firework show in the backyard. It was a great day!

 
Aspen wanted her bike to be a pink horse and Hadley wanted a purple unicorn. I think Dad did a pretty darn good job!

The parade:
 
 
 
 
 


The Slip N Slide:
The second big thing this month was Chett's Blessing day. His cute little outfit came from Grandma White (thank goodness she got one because I couldn't find one that I liked anywhere!). The blessing was beautiful, Daddy did a good job! After the blessing we all (Whites and Johnson/Bomans) got together for lunch at Lynn and Tina's house. It was fun to have everyone all together, but boy was it busy!
 
 
 
This month has just FLOWN by way too fast! I can't believe that my little guy turned a month old already and is fast-approaching two months! AAAHHH!!! Where does the time go?!
 
This is a big fire that happened in Diamond. We saw the big mushroom of smoke on our way home from Arkansas one day. This picture is taken about 20 minutes away (on the freeway) from where the fire was actually happening.
 

This is right up next to the fire. We could see flames, but I couldnt take the pictures fast enough to catch them. Just on the other side of this field (behind me taking the picture) were some homeowners out spraying their lawn with the hose in hopes of saving their home.
 
 
Here are the rest of the pictures/videos that we took this month:

This is Chett's very first "normal" bath after all his "owies" (as the girls called them) healed up.
 
 
 


Next to cousin Jade. She is just 16 days older than Chett.