Zoo Day 2013

 In early July, we took the kids up to Salt Lake to go to Hogle Zoo. We met up with Clayton's parents, his sister Monica and her family, and his sister-in-law Rachel along with her Audrey. It started out ok, well, actually, the minute we got Winston out of the car he started running. In the parking lot of course, right in the roadway. Luckily (ha?) he fell so I could catch him, unfortunately he got a nice bonk on his forehead. A few tears and one bloody shirt later (Clayton's), we were on our way. 

They set out African drums near the elephant show area for people to play on.

 Winston was still a bit subdued from his fall, and didn't put his heart into it like I thought he might. Normally, he freaking loves drumming.

 You can see his sad little head in these shots. Notice, however, that his forehead is still shaped correctly. Foreshadowing. (Get it? Foreshadowing? Forehead? Ok, dumb.)

Kathy, Eleanor, Natalie and Rachel flashing gang signs. That's what you get when you invite your So-Cal relatives.

Well, this is where the group candids and any animal shots end. Clayton had to leave us to attend a meeting in downtown Salt Lake so we went inside the covered building to watch Rocky the polar bear. We let Winston out of his stroller and he takes one, two steps then trips over a kid and falls flat on his forehead. Again, for the second time in about 3 hours. It was that super slick, hard concrete too, and when he hit it, it sounded like someone dropped a watermelon on the floor. I raced to him and he was livid, naturally. Instantly a giant button popped up on his head. Like, a two or three inch round area that had sharply defined sides. Like this. Ugh.

A bunch of other moms came dashing over and all of us check his eyes and try to assess the damage. I am losing it. I was honestly scared that this was the bump that would make him forget everything, that he would be our special needs child. It didn't help that he had a pretty good head bonk just the month before when he walked in front of the swings. That time he threw up and everything, but I didn't take him in, so I wasn't going to take chances this time around. Also, remember, he hit his head in the same spot just three hours prior! I know I sound dramatic now, and spoiler alert: he's fine, but right then I was horrified. It was such a sick fall. You could see it in the eyes of the other moms that they were freaked out too, all of them were encouraging me to take him to the hospital. Poor Winston, he was hysterical and wasn't calming down. He's never cried like that before. I left Kathy with the girls and ran with Winston to find a first aid station or Rex, who I was hoping could drive us to the hospital. Well, this was hideous for more reasons that just poor, hurt Win. If you haven't heard yet, I am pregnant, and was right in the midst of the "morning" sickness phase, so I was already nauseated and miserable. I asked a few employees, but they said there wasn't a first aid station. (There is.) I got some ice which he wouldn't let me put on his head of course. Add in an unreachable husband, triple digit weather, stress and trying to carry this very heavy two year old (33 pounds!) who is losing his mind, and it made for a pretty pathetic scene. I made it from the bears to the elephants before I had to just sit down and phone for help. I had to wait for my groups to catch up to me and then we all made it to the exits. Rex gave Winston a blessing in the car, which helped me probably more than him, then he fell asleep on the ride to the U of U emergency room (it was past his nap time, so I wasn't terribly worried about this). It was nice that there is an emergency room so close to the zoo, and one that specializes in just children! 

Here is my poor boy in the car on the way there. At this point the bump had lost it's defined edges and instead had just made his entire forehead swell to twice it's size.

 And a profile view, I don't have another for comparison's sake, but trust me, this is wrong.

 

 We get to the hospital and he wakes back up and starts screaming again. He just wasn't being Winston and I was heartsick. We get sent to a room and the doctors come and check him out. His is spazzing out at everything they try to do, he wont talk or anything. I knew that for the most part they would just monitor him, but it was comforting to learn that the front of the head is best if you have to get bonked, as the skull is thickest there. They could tell it hadn't fractured and said it was ok for him to go to sleep. That they would wait a few hours and then try letting him eat. Of course, the second they leave the room, he pops up off the pillow and says in his usual cheerful voice, "HI GRANDPA!" Oh man. That kid. He proceeded to play with his toy motorcycle, check out the whole room, scoot chairs around, do all his tricks and answer every question correctly, and basically assure us that he was right as rain.

Here he is pushing chairs around. He would peek out the window there and say, "Oh! So many!" Talking about how many doctors and nurses there were.

 We got someone's attention to let them know about the sudden change and so they let him have a popsicle right away. Here he is with grandpa Rex enjoying it.

 

 Grandpa got the other half.

We still had to wait a few hours before leaving, and Rex and I were both starving, but we made it through this little adventure at the hospital. It was nice to have Rex there for support, and I learned a ton about him that I never knew. Some fascinating stories, if they were mine, I'd wear them on a shirt telling people how cool I am. But that's Rex, quiet and humble. And can I say, all the doctors and nurses were so lovely, I really appreciate what they do and what they know. And I appreciate a Heavenly Father who truly looks after us in our time of need. I am so grateful for my kids and I recognize that most people don't have such positive experiences at the emergency room. I wish I could say that I have a new found patience for Winston's shenanigans, but I think now I just have an increased knowledge of how quickly that kid can break himself. I hope his armada of guardian angels do not depend on just my faith, ha ha.

Halloween 2011

So there are still 2-3 older posts that I should do first, but Halloween is always such fun, that I thought I'd do this one first and play catch up later. A few shots from a very long week. Parts of this are way too long, I am too tired to edit, so feel free to just look at pictures.

Our entry table. I glittered about 7 more pumpkins for decor around the house. Poor Clayton, he often goes to school all sparkly.

On October 26th, the Allee family hosted a ward trunk or treat. Clayton had class but I still wanted to go. Sadly I was still working on Eleanor's costume right up until the time it started. I'm glad I didn't volunteer to do a trunk this year. We were late, but got there in time for Eleanor to get about three pieces of candy and to see most of the folk's costumes. Getting a picture of her costume before hand proved challenging. She was so tickled to be out at night and to see her friends.Especially her sweet friend Kinsley. Note the hand holding. It's like they're being coached on extra ways to be adorable.I wish I had gotten a picture with Kinsley's coat off (Note- responsible parenting. Notice who is chillin' in just her costume?), but Kinsley was Lil' Orphan Annie, complete with dyed red hair and special locket. I helped her mom make the dress. She was so perfect with her naturally curly hair. So darling! I love how these girls get along. We have to make sure not to sit near each other at church otherwise it's a little love-fest reunion for the two girls. It can get hilariously distracting. I'm glad I got a shot of the three of us. I was going to be Darth Vader, and Winston was to be R2D2, but I hadn't gotten that far with the costumes at that point. Since Clayton couldn't come, eh.I took a bunch of shots of her on the street with her bucket anyways, as she was too dang cute. I ended up sewing down most of her "wires" as she kept getting them caught on things. The next day was my birthday. Funny story*: Clayton and I were both still awake on midnight the "morning" of my birthday so he said I could open my presents. I had already gotten a new camera for my present, so I wasn't expecting anything else. I was still dressed from the day so I said for him to wait just a minute, I wanted to get comfortable. I hollered out, "I want soft pants! Make it so!" (Since on your birthday you should act like a dictator if at all possible.) Clayton started acting super weird and suddenly wanted me to open my present a little too much. I got nervous that it was going to be a bag of fake spiders or something awful, when lo and behold- it was new soft pants! Some awesome MSU Law ones. Yaaaaaay! My one demand met! My husband is a freaking mind reader! Apparently making demands totally works. I need to try that more often.
* I realize that wasn't really funny, but more of a "you had to be there" type of thing. Maybe amusing at best. Sorry for the oversell. Back to Halloween.

Halloween playgroup. Wow. That's about all I can say. Amy Nielson, Britani Frampton, Sarah Stradley, Aubrey Boardman and a few others made it the best playgroup ever. It was better than most ward carnivals. There were games and treats and crafts and everything had the most amazing Halloween details. There was even yummy potato soup with home made rolls for the moms, which saved me from eating fast food on my birthday, and a slew of kid-friendly Halloweenish foods for the kids. I am so glad I set our alarms so we could wake up in time to attend. It's always so fun to see Eleanor with all of her little nursery friends too. Here is a group picture minus about 13 running children.
From L-R, Back Row: Valerie Abenroth, Emily Becker, Britani Frampton, Aubrey Boardman, Amy Nielson, Nora and Jody Evans, Abby and Elisa Hutchison, Daxton and Tiffany Alldredge.
Front Row: Dean Abenroth (escaping), Laurie and Kinsley Johnson, Marisa Christensen, Eleanor and Marianne Firth, Delicia Coupe, Sarah Stradley holding Bennet Johnson, Zach Johnson (Spiderman #1 behind) Josh Hutchison (Spidey #2), Abigail and Jessica Anderson, Angela and Grant Johnson and Thomas Nielson. The little purple fairy behind Jessica was a visitor whose name I don't remember.

And just the kids.
Most of the kids, Back row, fromL-R: Carter and Thomas Nielson, Eleanor Firth, Nora Evans, Jacqueline Stradley, Ellie Becker, Reagan Coupe, Samantha?... Front row, Lily Coupe, Kinsley Johnson, Robbie Evans, Zach and Grant Johnson, Abby Hutchison

Eleanor posing with the pumpkin she decorated. Each child got to decorate it using pieces from a binder full of stick-on options. Which is lucky as we never got around to carving our pumpkins at home. I'm telling you, the traditions I imagine for our family are so special. It's a shame I probably wont have it together enough to actually do them until our kids are in college.

The rest of my birthday was just so-so. Clayton had to study and had class at night, so we planned to celebrate on another night. I did a return at Target and then at Walmart. At Walmart I had the bad idea to try on some pants. You seriously can't know how random that is. The Walmart in Okemos is so ghetto, I hate it. It's not even a super Walmart so I rarely bother shopping there. Anyhow, for whatever reason, probably misguided birthday indulgence, I decide to try on some pants. (I know! Right? Pants, for me, at Walmart. Target? Sure! 90% of my clothes are from Target, but Walmart?) I have both kids in the cart and I am trying to maneuver it into a large dressing room when the cart hits the handle of the dressing room door and stops fast, toppling little Eleanor right over the front. She landed smack on her head on the hard, horrible floor. It was so sick to see. It's one of those things that you replay in your head and can't believe it didn't break her... ugh. Can't even type it. She was mega-upset, understandably, but the sweet pea calmed down after about 4 minutes. I had a hoard of employees there asking me to fill out forms and what-not. She was fine but I was rattled. Luckily no concussion, not even a bump or lasting bruise on her head. She must have quite the armada of angels looking out for her, thankfully.

I decided to call it a day after that. There was another trick or treat event, but she's only 2 and doesn't know what she's missing yet. We stayed home and caught up on Sprout and Project Runway, occasionally stopping to check our ABCs, colors and numbers. No memory loss, hooray! After picking up Clayton from school, we stopped by Sam's Club so I could get my obligatory cupcakes. Then we got awesome Korean takeout. Goo-ood.

Halloween night. I spent most of the day doing who knows what, thinking I would whip up Winston's costume a few hours before go-time. I had bought the fabric over a month before, but waited til the afternoon of Halloween to discover that it would not sew on my machine for anything. The vinyl binds up like crazy. Getting desperate for time, I resorted to my trusty glue gun. The hot glue worked ok, but once it was dry it was easy to peel apart. Combine that with not being able to find the long sleeved onsie to go underneath, nor his blue hat and he ended up with a pretty lame costume. Sorry, Winston. We'll try harder next time. Yes you love your second child as much as the first, but boy do they get hosed out of a lot of special things. He ended up wearing a knitted romper underneath, so at least he'd be nice and toasty when we finally made it outside. But it sort of made it look like R2D2 was baking bread out of his casing.

The kids on the couch. I like that at least together, their costumes made sense.

Cuties.

"Awww, my mom made my costume and it shows."

Out ready to hit the streets!

She really was adorably excited about it all. He fell asleep.

Outside we ran into our neighbors. Eliza and Eleanor had a sweet reunion.

Knocking on doors. If they took too long then she tried the handles. Whoops.

It was just so adorable! I know I've said that about twenty times already, but she just got so into it. People gave her a ton of candy, partially because we get approximately 2 trick or treaters on our block, but also because she was so sweet.

It was just cold enough to make one loop down the street and back. Also, Clayton had class again so there was no need to be too zealous. She doesn't quite grasp that the bucket of candy is all hers. Especially since mom keeps eating all the Whoppers and Twix from it. I did let her eat a full size 3 Musketeers when we got home. She thought that was pretty cool.

After a decent nap he woke up, confused as to why he was still wearing this plastic tube.

Sorry this was so long and chatty. Maybe if I blogged more than once a month I wouldn't feel the need to tell you about every thing that has ever happened.
Still to come, our trip to the Upper Peninsula and Jenni's trip. Those were both September. Egads.

Wee Boy Baby Shower

On April 28th a few of my friends and neighbors threw baby boy Firth a baby shower. It was downright delightful! I couldn't believe how many people came to show their love, it really is the sweetest feeling to know you have such lovely friends. And can I just say the food was freaking awesome? Such good treats. Here I am with my third? plate, you can see how excited I am about it. You can also see how the buttons on my shirt are working overtime. Poor buttons. Did I tell you how I a few weeks ago I ripped my pants all the way down the front? That was awesome. Anyhow...

Look at all the fun treasures! This little guy is freaking SET!

I am going to post the names and a little info of everyone as I want to remember everyone down the road. I apologize if it isn't your favorite picture of yourself, but I think everyone looks adorable. Here are Delicia Coupe, husband just finished his 1st year of law, 3 adorable daughters and they might be the funniest couple I've ever known. Jamie Helgesen, might be the hottest person I've met in real life, her husband just finished his 3rd year of law, she's mom to 3 adorable boys. They have just moved home to Utah and the ward just got sadder. Meg Hansen, crazy smart and has three of the brightest kids I've met, who also have the most beautiful curly hair, her kids are my go-to in Primary, they will always answer a question correctly for you.

Rachelle Woodbury now lives in Washington but was here randomly for the weekend! She is expecting her second baby a bit after me, she is a yoga guru and I miss her little Josh as I occasionally watched him. Angela Johnson is my wall-neighbor, she has to put up with all our noise. Her husband is in the middle of his post-grad something or other (sorry Timmy) in Soil engineering, or something. She is expecting her third son this summer and sings like an angel. Kristy Rivers is in the Primary Presidency with me and is my sanity each Sunday. She is hilarious, the mother of 5 darling girls and works while going back to school. Straight up awesome.

Aubrey Boardman is our resident party planner whiz, has two sweet kids and is rocking it as a "single mom" while her husband is working in California for the summer. Celina Wille is the mother to four kids, the wife of our bishop, a relative encyclopedia of nutrition knowledge and one of the best cooks ever. Speaking of awesome cooks, Kristen Gray makes the best pies and treats and is one of most creative and artistic people I know, and she's talented, not just creative. There is a difference. Sadly she and her husband are moving soon.

Ashley Stevens husband is finishing his schooling this year (child psychology?) and they have two of the sweetest girls. Her daughters are always dressed like something out of a storybook and she makes the most precious quilts. Ruth Seedall is another one of my street neighbors and the mom to four great kids. She is our fountain of knowledge as far as being a mom goes. Have a question? Call Ruth. Sadly we lose them after December but we try not to think about that. Kris Barncard is one of our Relief Society's treasures. She is one of the most charitable women I know and is so thoughtful and kind.

Lexie Phillips is the last of my street neighbors. She has four blond lovelies and is also leaving this Summer. Angela and I will need anti-depressants soon to deal. Lexie is insanely talented at anything baking or crafty. People watch to see what she or Ruth bring to ward potlucks as you will want to get some of theirs first. Marissa Christensen's husband is in the middle of medical school and she is so so stylish, always looks so ladylike and put together. She is expecting her second child this fall, I always want to carpool with Marissa because she is so fun to talk to. Jodie Evans husband just finished his first year of law, they have two insanely beautiful children and she is our resident ward hair girl. It's so much fun to have her do your hair. She also knows how to do all that couponing stuff that is way beyond my IQ level.

Mandy Wood's husband just finished his law degree and so they left us along with the Helgesens. The Wood family were one of our favorites, we went to Chicago with them this winter and had a blast. They have the best taste in food and both are amazing cooks. Mandy can make any party crazy- gorgeous and is so talented at decorating and the like. Their son is sooo cute. I already miss them like crazy. Jessica Anderson just had her baby girl Abigail a week ago! Her husband just finished his 1st year of med school. They are our super impressive performers. She can play a bunch of instruments- most amazingly is the harp, and he is a ballroom dancer.

Christy Bailey is also in the primary presidency with me and is just your solid, amazing gospel pillar. Her 4 kids are so cute and soooo smart. Humble as they come, she freaking made an entire quilt in one day for our baby and it is cuter than anything I could have worked on for months. And I didn't even know she quilted! Just amazing. Last but certainly not least, Emily Becker is our ward sunshine. Aside from being gorgeous, she is so fun to talk to. She is our ward librarian and I have to force myself to go to primary rather than trap her in there to talk to me. Her two daughters look like the 50's illustrations for Dick & Jane primers, all blond curls and dimples. Her husband finished medical school and is a bona-fide doctor now. Luckily they are working here in Lansing so we get to keep them longer.

Big ol' me! I'm the ward busy-body in that I want every one's business to be my business. I'm kind of pathetic in my calling (thankful for the other three that pick up my slack), my husband just finished his second year of law school and I am expecting our second baby, a boy this time, in about fifteen days. Wait, what? That can't be right. Hmm. I am a jack of all trades and master of none as is evidenced by my house full of unfinished projects and cluttered surfaces. Today Eleanor wore a swimsuit all day long! Oh, I should mention that it was raining non-stop and a little bit freezing in the house. I am apparently motivated only by my cravings.

There were a few ladies who were there but didn't make it into pictures, and so many more friends I could talk about my love for, but again, this was mainly for records, I just got a little carried away. My mom honestly gives thanks every day in her prayers for the amazing friends and neighbors we have here in Michigan. We do too. It's hard to have so many wonderful people come and go so often, but I am so glad we got to know some of them while we're here.

December In Utah 2010

Look at me! I'm catching up! So- for the Holidays Eleanor and I flew to Utah on December 1st. Clayton had the idea of us going a few weeks earlier so he could focus on finals and we could enjoy extra time with family. So we did. In the future, I don't think we could do another stint away from Clayton as long as we did, but we really had a good time.

Getting there was another story. The night before I am up packing around 1 AM like I always am before a big trip, when I hear odd sounds from Eleanor's room. I go in to check on her to find that she has thrown up all over her bed, pajamas, lamb (that HAS to go to Utah in about four hours) and anything else you can imagine. It was alarming, she has never thrown up that much in her life. I holler for Clayton and he takes bath duty while I clean out the crib and start emergency laundry. We get her and everything cleaned up and tuck her back in, hoping that she can sleep a bit for the trip tomorrow. Not 20 minutes later I hear her again. And once again she has covered everything. Repeat process. The next time Clayton is just rocking her in the room when she explodes again. Repeat process. The next time he is barely walking in her room when she goes for round #4. Good grief. I think the smell in her room was setting her off at this point. We debate whether or not to postpone the flight but she is finally done and now seems happy as a clam. Also- we had planned to drive a neighbor to the airport as well, so we figured we might as well go for it. The rest of the night, she watches Ice Age in our room in bed with me. Neither Clayton or I get a wink of sleep that night.

Being exhausted, weary and more than a bit hormonal from pregnancy, I was a tad emotional when a freaky lady screamed at me on the moving sidewalk because Eleanor kept trying to get back on it. Some days I really hate people. Eleanor was a doll and was super good on the planes. She also wasn't sick again, so that was a bonus. We had two flights, but didn't have to change planes. On the second flight I gave her Benadryl to help her sleepand she got in a good nap.
Here she is showing me what a trouper she is.
You can see that lamb got washed and dried in time!

Happily, Grandma and Grandpa Howell were there waiting for us at the airport. They even brought her balloons, which is about her favorite thing in the world.

We looooove Grandma and Grandpa! I was very much in the "sickness stage" of my pregnancy and was so needing a helping hand by this point.

Happy little reader on the way to Provo.

Back at my parents house, Eleanor was delighted to watch Toy Tory (how she pronounces it) on the big screen. Normally she gets to watch it on a computer or her portable dvd player. We even found her a tutu to match Bonnie's from grandma's dress up bin.

That weekend we celebrated cousin Jack's 9th birthday! This would be the relighting of the candles for the toddler set.

Jack is now properly attired in Michigan gear.

All the big girls went into another room to do glitter nails on our toes. After a few minutes my mom told me to come see Eleanor. She had taken a birthday candle and was dipping it over and over into the cake to "paint" her toes too. Resourceful or gross?




Sadly, I caught what Eleanor had and so for a few days we recovered from our illnesses and just relaxed. It was heaven. My parents even bought Eleanor a special Buzz Light-Year chair for her to lounge in.

We soon found our way to Tom & Jenni's house where Eleanor could watch neighbor kids play.

And hang out with her favorite cousin Allie, who shared all of her toys with Eleanor.

Later we got to see most of our Firth cousins at Grandma and Grandpa Firth's house. They got to put on the nativity. Here is Justin as Joseph, Autumn as Mary and Tyler as his usual donkey.

Eleanor and Monica were Angels. Awww, just like in real life.

However, I don't remember the angels being quite so
"hands on" with the baby Jesus.

Poor Mary. She had a rough time getting her baby back.

Eleanor's job was to hold up the star. Yeaaaahhh! She did it!

Later we opened presents. Or wrapped a few.

She loves her new purses from cousin Tate! It's a good thing she has two, as when her friends come over to play she now has enough to wear one on each arm as they get to watch. Yeah, she's still "learning" to share.

Later in the season we went to visit Santa at Riverwoods. Only Santa wasn't freaking there! Twice! And yes, I looked at the indoor spot too. I wont go into detail, but I was more than a little disappointed. Durr. Luckily she is too little to know if she is missing out.

She was still cute though.

Still to come! Christmas Eve, Day New Years Eve and Clayton's Birthday! Woo hoo! I will finish it!