Those with weak stomachs might want to turn away

So many of you are probably wondering what the heck has been happening to me the past month or so. I will try to give an update without too many details for those who are weak stomached. First off, I am expecting baby number 4. Nick and I were most definitely surprised, but are excited none the less. Since this is baby number 4 I was pretty confident that we would have no complications and have a easy labor. We didn't have insurance at first and I wasn't too worried, because like I said, it is number 4. Luckily we changed our mind on that one.

When I am pregnant I often get UTI's or kidney infections. I am used to it and usually can tell the symptoms as soon as they come about: lower back pain, frequent urination, burning, thirsty all the time. So I felt these symptoms and kept going to the OB to get my urine tested for bacteria and other odd things. Each time, it would come back clean. I think I went probably every week for 4 or so weeks. I could tell something was wrong but the blood work and everything always came back clean.

Dr Barton finally told me that it was lower back pain and that I needed to just go and see a chiropractor. That is when I came in and said, "no, it is not just back pain, and a stupid chiropractor is not going to do anything for me." He sat down and told me some of the things that pregnant women can get, but how un-likely and rare it was. He finally ordered an ultrasound of my bladder and kidneys.

By the time I was home from the hospital there was a message from Dr Barton that said to come back into the office right away. Obviously this isn't good news.

He sat me down and explained that I was one of these rare cases. The uterus had planted itself in just the right spot so it is smooshing the ureter from my right kidney to the bladder. Basically my right kidney was so full of urine that I had to get emergency surgery the next morning at 5:30 AM to get a stint placed.

I went to Mountain View Hospital in Idaho Falls to have Dr Taylor place a stint (a fake tube to replace the smashed one). The surgery went successfully. Well, that is until I went into labor. I was only 22 weeks at this point and so labor was NOT a good thing. I was sick to my stomach and in a great deal of pain. They hooked me up to monitors, IV drugs, I was taking oral drugs and getting shots of turbutaline in my arm every couple of hours. The surgery that was supposed to last 45 minutes at the most ended up being a 12 hour ordeal. They finally sent me home with oral medications to take any time I had a contraction.

The next day I was still having contractions and was in a substatial amount of pain. They scheduled me for emergency surgery yet again. I had to first go to Dr Taylor and get the stint removed and then head over to the hospital and get a tube put it. So at 2:30 I went to get the stint removed (EXTREMELY PAINFUL) and headed over to East Idaho Reginal Medical Center to have a nephrostomy tube placed in my kidney.

The surgery went well and the contractions had stopped. This was on a Friday. It totally sucks to have this tube. If you don't know what these are, it is a tube that goes from my bladder, to the kidney and out of my back. There is a long tube that connects to a 600 ML bag that my right kidney drains into. So I have this tube and bag that I have to hide underneath my already tight clothing. Fun.

Monday the pain came back and the contractions started again. I swore that if I would have pushed the baby would have popped out. I went to three different doctors trying to find out what was going on. They thought that my appendix might have been failing. Luckily that wasn't it. They put my in the hospital overnight on a morphine drip in order to just relax my body and the uterus and bladder. I slept for many many hours and it was REALLY nice.

My wonderful mother flew in from Hawaii the day after my surgery to be with me for a few weeks. I honestly don't know what I would have done without her. She was my lifesaver. She cooked, cleaned, took care of the kids, weeded, sorted, nurtured and loved me. I needed my mom. She made it possible for me to just relax and not worry about cleaning and taking care of the kids. Although I am sure that she was exhausted each night. It isn't easy having three kids under 6.

I started having problems with my tube again. It was bleeding and not flushing like it was supposed to be. In the end, I had to go and have another surgery to replace the tube because the stiches had ripped out of my back. I am so glad once again that my mom was here to take care of me. She took me to the surgery and made sure that I was okay so that Nick didn't have to take work off. My neighbors have been really great to take the kids on a whim too since all of the surgeries have been kinda last minute.

I have been doing pretty good this week until yesterday. It started bleeding again pretty bad and it hurts really bad. Once the girls wake up I am going to head to the OB and just have him take the dressing off and see if he can see any infection or bleeding around the site. My kids have been really good to me since my mom left on Monday. Madalynn especially has been really helpful to me.

Also yesterday I took the kids to lunch at the park and someone hit the van. I guess not just hit, smashed. I got the estimate today it is going to cost 1800.00 to get it fixed. Stupid dishonest people. Like I said on facebook, there is obviously a lesson that I am supposed to be learning and must not be getting it yet. Maybe patience and long suffering is it.

The good news is that the baby is doing well and in no harm. Well that is what they tell me, but I am on some pretty extreme drugs so hopefully the kid is surviving it. I am actually doing well, it just stinks not being able to shower, bath, wear cute maternity clothes, sleep on my right side, lay down flat on my back and go on long car rides. I could have it a lot worse and I am grateful that Dr Barton listened to my and decided to send me to get that ultrasound because otherwise things might have turned out a lot worse.

Mudding

This is Nicks new hobby. He goes on Saturdays with a couple of guys from his work. I know that he misses his motorcycle, but I think the truck is much better for him. The lady who works with him wanted his motorcycle for her son and she wanted to sell this truck, so instead of any selling, they just traded straight across. It has been nice to haul away grass and weeds and junk. The one in the picture isn't his, because he can't take a picture of himself, so I think it is Camerons. He is the only one who didn't get stuck on this turnabout thing, and he has the weakest truck. It just shows that he is the man and can do anything.

Notice anything missing?

Madalynn is an old pro now on her bike. Thanks to her dad she can ride without training wheels. I wouldn't have taken them off because I am an over protective mom and didn't want her falling and getting hurt. Nick took them off and said, "you will learn how to ride a bike without training wheels." The first day she cried and cried. The second day she tried and tried. The third day all she did was ride and ride. That is what she does now too. She is FAST and likes to show off a little too much. She whips around corners and scares me to death. She is so proud of herself and it is so funny to listen to her now. She will see kids at the park and say, "they must not be going into kindergarten because they still have training wheels on their bike" or "(name) just turned six and she still rides with training wheels, I bet she has to go to kindergarten again." Everything revolves around Kindergarten now. Can you tell she is super excited to go? I can't beleive that I have a kid in Kindergarten. YIKES!

Is something wrong here?

I know that all parents think that their kids are brilliant and will brag about them, but I can honestly say that Nathan is brilliant. He talks up a storm, he knows what he wants, and he knows how to get it, he picks out his own clothes, socks and shoes, he says his own prayers and basically is just too smart for his own good. Well this is what has started recently. Don't think that I am not thrilled because I am, but he is TOO young to be potty training. It makes a lot more work for me since he is too little to climb up on

the potty himself (heaven forbid he use a little potty!). He is too little to take his own pants off and he doesn't know how to unstrap his diaper (BLESSING!!). He tells me when he needs to poop and usually makes it to the potty in time. The other day he even told me he needed to pee pee and it did start to drip a little bit, but I think he got a little scared having it free and not tight up against a diaper. I just assumed that he would be at least 3 before this stage started, but hey, I am all about less diapers so GO FOR IT BOY!

Grandma Nilson and Grandkids

What can I say, we tried. We tried to get some cute pictures for a long time actually. We even broke out the licorace in order to get the little one to cooperate. Madalynn kept closing her eyes, Haylee looks at other things besides me, and Nathan is just Nathan. I am still not quite sure how Madalynn got her eyes closed EVERY time because my camera is like 3 pics per second. She is fast I guess. Nathan and Grandma made a special bond when she was here as you can tell by the picture. He loved her. Obviously the girls did too but there was just a little something extra special with her and Nathan. She was going to take him back to Hawaii with her since she will be back on July 18th, but we decided it probably wouldn't be a good idea in the end because of health risks and boredom. Haylee had the hardest time (well besides me) when she left. Haylee cried for a long time when the bus pulled away from the hotel. I was in the same boat. I had to sit there in the parking lot until my eyes were unblurred. Madalynn was like, "what is the big deal guys, she is coming back." I only had two other minor meltdowns that day.

Madalynn and Haylee

When my mom was here I was trying to get a picture of all of the kids together, but the individual ones worked much better.

Autumn and Nathan

I forgot that I didn't have these pictures when i updated my blog in Washington last time and they are just too cute to not add. Well the one of me is not so cute, I look a little out of it or something. Nathan was really funny with Autumn because he really liked her, but if I was holding her, or paying attention to her, it was a different story. If I would hold her, he would point his finger at her and say, "MOVE" or "DON'T". At one point I was holding her, he tried to wack her with his plate in order to get her off of my lap. However, when I wasn't holding her, he loved to give her kisses, touch her hair, hold her and wrestle her (we had to watch that part). I am excited to see what he does with another new one around.

Cleaning with Grandma

Cleaning outside with Grandma Nilson

The kids love helping clean outside...well they play while I clean or in this case grandma cleans. My mom wanted to help me clean the backyard so that the kids can play out there in the fenced yard while I just sit and rest. Nathan is in the stage where if we are out front, the first thing he does is rush to the street, and I am just not able to chase and carry him. My mom was such a HUGE help when she was here. There were things that needed to be done for a while and just weren't happening. She washed out the pool and bleached it, she emptied the old sand out of the sandbox and cleaned it, she washed the baby swings, she weeded, she mowed the lawn (which is no easy task with a push mower), she helped trim the rose bushes, she helped make the DI pile. The kids were eager to help clean things with the brush and to play in the water.

Is this Paint?

No it isn't paint...it is butter. I am a breakfast cooker. Not sure why I like to cook breakfast so much, because I hate to cook any other meals. I usually make blender wheat pancakes, wheat waffles, eggs and hashbrowns, french toast and oatmeal. We have a butter dish that sits on the table and apparently Nathan decided to experiment and taste it. He knew he was in trouble as soon as I came around the corner, but it didn't stop him from smearing it all over the table anyway.

Legacy Air Show

Each June the Rexburg airport has a air show where people around the state and other areas come to show off their skills. Nathan is OBSESSED with airplanes, as any boy his age would be, so Nick took Haylee and him to go and watch the show. They didn't last that long, but did get to see enough to satisfy the airplane hunger.

My fingers are aching, my eyes are aching

So it has been a few months since I have caught up in the blogging world or the world of the web and I miss it. It has been nice saving the money each month and saving the time. I am in Washington right now and my sisters house in Renton. Before I came I put my pictures on a CD and I brought my cord with me so that I could transfer the ones I took here. I have been posting for about 2 hours today and I posted for about an hour last night. Hope you enjoy! It goes from the beginning to Madalynn's singing competition. It will probably be another month or two before I update again unfortunately, but I love that you all miss me. I miss looking at yours too!

The Childrens Museum

In Factoria Mall they have a little children's museum that is free after 5:00 on Fridays. Amber and I decided

that we would try to take the kids if possible. It was a lot of fun for them. They had water activities, music activities, a big kids land with legos, trains, food, balls, animals, rockers, slides and more. Nathans favorite part was the water splashing. Spencer liked the balls or there was a little machine where you sent a scarf up a blowing machine and it would blow it back at you. Autumn is demonstrating the blowing machine for your convienence.

Splish Splash

Typically children don't get this wet at the museum. They did have little vests that the kids could wear, but since Nathan was splashing so much, it didn't even help to have the vest on. He was SOAKED by the end of the water part so I had to go to Target and buy him some new clothes. I found an outfit for 3.75

more Childrens Museum

more Childrens Museum

Autumn Nicole Carruthers

Amber's baby was born the day after Thanksgiving and she is still a teeny tiny little bundle. Ginny called her a pixie because she is just so petite and I think I agree. She has the cutest little mouth and chin in the world. Seriously, she is a doll.

Spencer and Nathan playing with Abby

Nathan and Spencer both enjoyed throwing the ball for Abby the dog and watching her go down and fetch it.

Abby, Nathan's new best friend

The family that I used to nanny for,t= the Meachams, had a chocolate lab that Nathan loved!!!!! I thought he would be a little timid and run away from the dog, but the opposite was actually the case, he loved her. He played fetch with her, fed her treats, wrestled her, rode her like horse and gave her treats and his meals too. Nick and I have decided that every boy needs a dog.

Amber, Spencer and Autumn

The Monkeys

The Woodland Park Zoo

I was able to go to Washington for 10 days and we did lots of fun stuff. The first excursion was the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle.

This was Nathans first time at a real zoo and he loved the Giraffes, Zebras, Bears (which he came face to face with) and the ducks that were trying to eat his lunch.

Taking off!!!

Since I HATE to take off an land in airplanes I wondered exactly how Nathan would do. I think the pics explain it pretty well but he loved it. It also helped that we flew over the Salt Lake and he loved to see the water. He was very kind and also let bear have a little peak. The plane ride really wasn't as bad as I had planned since we did have a whole row to ourselves, but Nathan did have his crying fit for about 30 minutes or more. Not so fun.

SLC airport

While we waited for the airplane to come, Nathan and I discovered a little play area in the airport. There were a couple of other kids around Nate's age and size and he loved it. He also enjoyed the Scooby Doo bone crackers I got in Idaho before i came.

Inseperable

I am not even sure if inseperable is the correct word to describe the bond between Haylee and Nathan. Haylee loves him with all of her being. Not sure that Nathan returns the EXACT same amount, but he loves her as well. Nick and I joke that Haylee is never further than 5 inches from Nathan at any time exept dinner, when Nathan is one one side of me, and Haylee is on the other. Even in the car, they sit beside eachother. Haylee is going to be the best little mommy when the time comes, she is the most affectionate little girl in the world.

Am I ready for short weather again?

I love pulling out the shorts and getting all summerized, but Haylee reminded me why I dislike the shorts in the summer. We were on our Sunday walk and she took a fall and cut up her knee. I have learned to not panic or over-react like I usually would at the sight of blood because all it does is upset them. We have a first aid kit with all sorts of goodies and fix them up as soon as we get home. Poor Kiddo.

Oh Nathan

This is what Nahtan was doing when the girls were opening their presents

The Easter Bunny came inside too?

Man are the kids lucky or what? Madalynn got a Barbie bed, some new pajamas and a Hannah Montana shirt. Haylee got....can you guess?...chapstick, new pajamas and a new coloring book. Nathan didn't open him until later in the evening, but he got a color wonder set and a Hurley sweatshirt.

Attempting to get Easter outfit pictures

Well...I tried. Madalynn's picture is good. It shows how pretty she is going to be when she grows up. Haylee is always giving the wonderful cheese which we love so much, and Nathan is just Nathan.

More Easter Egg Hunt pics

Our Easter Egg hunt

The Easter bunny came while we were at church and put some eggs in our front yard! Can you believe it? Madalynn had to make sure that everything was fair and so she would double check Haylee and Nathans baskets every now and then.

The Community Easter Egg hunt

The city of Rexburg puts on an Easter egg hunt each year by the High School. My sister in law and I went 3 years ago and were not impressed and I planned on never returning...however, Madalynn wanted to go and so we just went. They have little sections marked off so Nathan was in a section and the girls were together. I stayed with Nathan and Nick took the girls with the video camera (once I can figure out how to post videos on here, I'll get those on here too). Nathan thought the eggs were balls and so when the dropped the barrier thing, I said, "Nathan go and get the balls!" It went a lot better than last year (when Madalynn and Evan got no eggs) but still not as well as Haylee and Madalynn would have hoped. Madalynn got 4, Haylee got 2 and Nathan got 6 eggs. As you can expect in a college mormon town, there are lots of kids. Nick said. "I have never seen that many eggs go (there were probably 1500 or more) in such a short amount of time. By the time I took the girls to the other end of the field, they were all gone."

The Easter bunny

The Easter bunny made an apperance at Walgreens and Madalynn wanted to go and see him. Nathan was not very into the whole weird looking thing holding him, Madalynn loved it and thought it was funny that the bunny was wearing tennis shoes and Haylee wouldn't go without sister so that is why there isn't any of her alone.

My little helper

Nathan loves to help me cook. His favorite thing is to use the hand mixer and mix things up. He loves the oven mitts too.

Haylee and Daddy ice fishing

One weekend in January we went to Franklin, Idaho for Sayge Kellers baptism. After the baptism and luncheon the boys and some of the kids went ice fishing. Nick decided to take Haylee and I was taking Madalynn and Nathan into Logan to see my cousin Brenda. I think Haylee had a good time with Nick. She loves Daddy daughter time and doesn't really care what they are doing. She looks cold, but Nick said it was actually not too bad. She was layered with tights, pants, thick pants, and at one time she had snow pants on too.

He really does have hair...honest.

Nathan really did have nice hair before his hospital experience (see a following post) but because they had to shave the top for the IV, we had to cut it short so it didn't look so silly. His hair was always crazy when he woke up from a nap. He also discovered he can climb into the oven drawer and finds it quite amusing.

You'd think I wasn't feeding this kid

Honestly? I don't think that there is doubt in any mind whether or Nate is getting enough to eat. He isn't hurting in the weight department by any means. He loves to eat. Apparently I wasn't feeding him fast enough one evening, so as I was cleaning the kitchen I turned into the living room and saw this sight (the chocolate chips). I must have been really into my dishes because I keep my chocolate chips in the freezer and I did not hear the door open or close. So once I got the chocolate chips cleaned up...which was no easy feat (just a side note for other moms who need to clean up mini chocolate chips: Vaccums scatter and spread them EVERYWHERE. I thought that would be my best bet, but they went ALL over the place.) We ended up having to pick them up by hand. I head back to the kitchen to put dinner together, look over and see Nathan sitting eating a cup of noodles. He had to have opened the box, got through the plastic wrap and taken off the paper lid. Honestly?

Sick Hay Hay

If one sick baby wasn't enough, lets add another to the mix. Haylee was sick all weekend with a fever of 103.5 and RSV as well. Since she is older, it doesn't effect her body as much. She was just kinda out of it and slept on the chair in Nathans hospital room with us. Poor thing still tries to smile even though she feels so nasty.

RSV and Pneumonia

Oh where do I even begin. Being in the hospital is something that you never want to experience with your baby. Nathan had a cough for quite a while, but the doctors always say..."coughs can last 7 to 14 days and don't need to be treated." I let it go for a while and then it turned into the croopy deep barking cough. I took him to a local doctor (I typically take my kids to a ped in Idaho Falls but I was also sick and didn't want to make the commute), and he prescribed a nebulizer and some albuterol. Nathan seemed to be getting better, then he took a turn for the worse. Long story shortened a little bit: I took him to Community Care a few days later and they did a RSV swab and it came back positive. RSV is a respiratory virus that effects children under the age of 2. They hooked him up to a thing that tested his breathing levels. They like babies to be 92 or higher, with 90 or less being hospitalized. Nathans levels were 82. They told me to go straight to the ER and get admitted. Long story shortened again: ER doctors in Rexburg are morons. They have doctors that rotate through the ER, so one day you might get a podiatrist, the next day you might get a Family Practitioner. Pretty messed up I know. The ER doctor came in, Nathan was crying, and said, "he is obviously getting enough air to cry so he is fine" and sent me home. The next day was Friday and Nathan was pretty much un-responsive. His eyes were all glazed over, he wouldn't smile or talk to me, and you could hear him wheezing from across the room. By this point I was desperate because I knew that if he went much longer, he might not make it (sounds EXTREME, but I am serious). I took him to yet ANOTHER doctor, the doctor walked in the room, saw Nathan and said, "I am directly admitting him, go straight to the hospital and they will have a room waiting." Of course by this point I am an emotional basket case and knew that he would need to get shots and blood work and all sorts of stuff that I don't deal with. (That is where Nick comes in and saves the day). Okay, long story shortened yet again: we were in the hospital from Friday to Sunday, Nathan had an IV in his head, he had chest X-rays, things connected to his feet at all times, Oxygen blowing at him and much more wonderful hospital stuff. It was a LONG weekend and we were so glad to get home.

Home from the Hospital

On Sunday the 15th we were able to come home from the hospital. I was extremely excited to get home and sleep in my own bed and be with Nick again. Nathan was still a little out of it and had a HORRIBLE diaper rash (I spared the pics of that) which didn't make things any better. He was the most excited to come home and see Haylee. We surprised Nick and the girls when we came home and rang the doorbell. Nathan saw Haylee and instantly wanted to get down and give her a BIG hug. It was such a picture moment but of course I didn't have the camera on me. He was also excited to see Madalynn and Daddy of course. But I have to say that I think his bike probably came second.
I am so grateful for the power of the priesthood in my life. I am also so grateful that I married a worthy priesthood holder. Nick was able (along with Neil Ricks) to give Nathan a blessing in the hospital and I am positive that without that, we would have been in there many more days. Nathan drastically improved within just a few hours after the blessing.
I am SOOOO glad that we are all healthy again and the weather is starting to improve a little bit. I have to say I think that we were pretty lucky to make it all winter without getting sick until just March. Now all we need is more sunshine so we can play outside!

More pictures of her singing

Here are some more pictures of Madalynn at her singing competetion. She got to have her hair done two nights in a row by the Paul Mitchell beauty college. She loved all the attention and make-up. She totally loves to be dolled up. I will be posting her videos of her singing soon and if you want more information you can go to www.rexburgstandardjournal.com and she was in the paper on Saturday and Friday.

And the winner is...

The final night on January 23 she sang "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" and "A Dream is a Wish". She did AWESOME!! The first two nights she wouldn't go up without me and was nervous to sing. The final night she walked right out to the mic herself and didn't even hesitate to start singing. She definitely had the cute factor. And the winner is...Madalynn Hubbard!!! She won!!!! She won!!! I am still kinda shocked! She won $500.00! She is going to buy a Wedding Barbie and then we will teach her the lesson of tithing and we will put the rest into a Savings account for her. I am such a proud mommy and I definetely have bragging rights!

Upper Valley Idol 2009

Madalynn auditioned for an upper valley idol competition back in early December and made the call-backs. She performed on Jan 9 and sang "We are the Dinosaurs". She made the top 9 so January 10 she sang "If your Happy and You Know It" and "I love to See the Temple" and made the top 6. Here are some pictures of her singing and getting her hair done.

Mom can I make dinner?

The other night Madalynn asked if she could make dinner for us. I don't enjoy cooking so I obviously said yes. She made us a gourmet meal of Peanut butter and jelly, doritos, juice and

cottage cheese and pears. What a good little helper. For those of you who have or have ever had a five year old, I don't need to explain the outfit.

First day of preschool

After being on the waiting list for 2 years, Haylee finally got accepted to the BYU-Idaho Preschool program. She LOVES it. I am so glad that Haylee has a time to herself to go and play with other little kids that don't beat her up. She is so happy to get up and go. She is up and dressed by 6:30 each school day.

Chapstick boy

It is so hard to be an attentive parent when you are driving. I didn't realize until I got home that Haylee had given Nathan her HUGE MEGA size twizzler chapstick to hold. Well Nathan didn't just hold it, he ate it, spread it, smeared it and smashed it all over himself, his carseat and his BRAND NEW outfit. Little stinker.

Cousins

Madalynn and Haylee love playing with their cousins. Breeanne and Evan and Madalynn are all about the same age and have a good time when they all get together. Haylee and Aimee and Parkert also play really well together. The other night Anne and Breeanne and Aimee came down to watch Madalynns singing competition and they had a BLAST dressing up and dancing around the front room to the Doodlebops. Oh how fun to be a kid.

Jake Hubbard

This deserved its own special post just dedicated to Jake. This is Nick's oldest brother and I just happened to catch him as he turned to me. Thank you Nikon for fast cameras! We love you Jake!

Hubbard Nativity

Lets just say...we tried.

Having 11 grandkids age 5 and under makes for a very noisy and very fun family get together. This year we wanted to try to have a nativity with all the grandkids being a part while grandpa read the Christmas story. I think it lasted until they walked out of Grandma's bedroom to the hall. Kids were crying, yelling, running and some were being active participants. Madalynn and Evan were Mary and Joseph and held together pretty well. Nathan was baby Jesus and lasted about 30 seconds in the basket. Haylee was a shepherd and she was just her cooperative little self. Not really caring what was going on around her. It ended up falling apart but it was fun to see the kids all dressed up. (the random picture is of Aimee my niece).

Random Pictures from Christmas Party

Here are a few random pictures of the kids from the Christmas party. Grandma and Grandpa Hubbard have a couch that has a little nook in the middle. I think it is one of the favorite places for kids to hide and play. This is the first time that Nathan had the opportunity to play in the nook. They also have a horse that is a favorite of all the grandkids. This was also Nathan's first chance to play with the horse now that he is walking. Nathan is also a great wrestler and is now able to gain up on Haylee for all the pestering that she has placed on him up to this point.

Gotta love family Christmas parties

I am at my in-laws right now for a Christmas party tomorrow. We came out today since Nick didn't have to work and so that i could up-date my blog and attend to my forgotten life. I have been in here forever it seems like typing and typing away! Thanks Bill and Brenda for letting me use your computer and for slacking on the mother duties for a season. Tomorrow all of Nick's siblings will be here along with their kids. I think there will be 24 people here. YIKES. That is a lot of noise and a lot of stimulation for some. Should be fun and loud and energetic! Have fun catching up with my life! Love you all!

Where does it all come from?

I didn't even realize that this much moisture could come from the sky in the amount of time that it came. I was hoping that we were going to have a mearly white Christmas this year because of how the first of December was going. Boy was that dream shattered. Friday alone they recorded Rexburg in getting 8 to 12 inches of snow (this is on top of the 8 inches we already had). Christmas eve I heard it blowing outside but I didn't think I lot of it because it is always blowing in Rexburg. Christmas morning I woke up to 14 inches of new snow. Seriously, CRAZY!! On top of that, we had our power go out for 2+ hours on that morning. I thought that our dinner was going to be ruined...but it wasn't. Cars were stuck all over in our neighborhood. Nick and some other guys went out and snowblowed and pushed cars so they were able to get out. It has been really nuts how much snow there is. We didn't even have a chance to build a snowman because it got to deep to fast. I bet Madalynn and Haylee could stand in our front yard and be barely above the snow with their heads. Sledding has also been attempted and failed. Nathan cried for the first trip and the second was cut short because the girls were too scared to go (Nick took them). Nick and i just need to find a sitter and go without the shavers. Snow is so beautiful but it is so cold! All I can say is anyone in the market to buy a van and is in an area with snow...I LOVE MY SIENNA!!!!!!!!! It is AWD and it is amazing. There are cars off the road all over the place and at a stop sign just burning their rubber. I haven't even been hindered at stop signs or up hills or at stops. It really is amazing. Even Nick said that it is just as good as a four wheel drive pick-up only it doesn't have the same ground clearance. That is a compliment coming from a man who wants a truck more than anything else in this world.

Another Successful Year together

Christmas is so much fun. The lights, the decorations, the food...but most of all the spirit that it all brings. A lot of times it is so easy to get carried away with the Santa and the hulla-ballo of the season especially with young children...but that is not what it is all about. I even found myself getting caught up with the Santa thing since the kids are getting more into it, but I caught myself and Madalynn and Haylee and I sat out one night and read some Christmas stories and talked about Christ and his sacrifice and birth. I am so grateful to the Savior for his sacrifice for me and my family. I can't even imagine the selflessness that he has (of course i can't). I hope that I show my kids how important he is in our lives and how lost we would be without him and his example. Even though they got presents and santa came, I hope the understand the real reason for the season.

Mariposa

I am not sure what it is with Barbie that is so addicting to little kids, but I got a Barbie movie for Madalynn at the DI like a year ago and ever since then she knows all the titles to the movies, the characters in all the movies and the theme to all the movies. She hadn't even seen Mariposa when she started talking about the Barbie and grabbing it each time we went to Wally World. Then the WalMart "big book" came out and she saw that Mariposa was on sale for $10.00. From that day on she was hooked. I bought the movie on Amazon and gave it to her for her birthday in October. It was the hot item that she couldn't stop telling us and Santa about. She lucked out and Santa remembered...but she was dang close to not recieving it. She did all of the dishes one morning to earn it back from Santa (assuming he was watching at that particular time.)

Grandma and Grandpa Nilson got her a Disney Princess magnet/paper doll thing. She has not put it or Mariposa down since that day it seems like. She will alternate between the two (and some princess checkers she got) and play for hours. She even has me be Belle and she is Cinderella and we go to the balls together. It is so fun to play with her now that she is starting to play pretend more.

Chapit, Chapit, Chapit

All I want for Christmas is some tubes of chapit, some tubes of chapit, some tubes of chapit. Obsessed is almost a insult to say about the love of chapstick and Haylee. That is all she asked Santa for. Santa got her some mega tubes of chapstick. When I say mega...I mean mega. You can kinda see them in the second picture. Grandma and Grandpa Nilson got her a chapstick barbie. It is a Barbie that came with a tube of chapstick, a ring, a brush and sparkles on her lips. She would carry it around WalMart every time we went. She was so excited for both of them and is putting them on every 5 minutes (or more). I am not even kidding. It looks like she has had lip injections because the wax is so thick on her lips. Her husband will be pleased with her choices though in the future. :)

Kee Kee

My kids are all obsessed with cats. I was hoping that I could break one of the trend by enforcing dog things and objects in his life. To no avail. He is obsessed with cats just like the rest of them...maybe even more. Kitty (or kee) was one of his first words. Grandma and Grandpa Nilson got him this TY kitty for Christmas and here is the series of him opening the gift. He was SO happy and hugged it and kissed it and loved it for the rest of the morning. He even took it as a little substitute for his bear during his morning nap...that is, until he saw his bear.

The Socks

Socks are so much fun! The girls got gum, tic tacs, a toothbrush, chapstick, earrings, stickers and floss. Nathan got fruit snacks, yogurt puffs, and some chubby cars. Santa didn't have a fifth sock for mom...she sacrificed hers for Nathan. Nick got deoderant, treats, treats, treats, gum, body wash, shaving cream, treats, treats and more treats.

Good Christmas Morning!

The kids were nice enough to wait until 7:05 to finally be awake enough that the couldn't handle it anymore.

Matching duds

I made Nick some John Deere jammies 4 years ago and they are starting to get a little worn so for Christmas I decided that I would make some new jammies for him. Well I am one of those people that places like JoAnnes LOVE! I went there to get some fabric and saw all of the cute girly fabric. I thought, it can't be that hard to make jammies for all five of us. (Now remember I don't sew...at all...my mom helped me do the John Deere ones). I bought the fabric and it sat and sat and sat in my sewing/scrap room. Finally on the 23rd I decided that I might want to start making them. I opened the pattern and started to read. Okay, has anyone else who doesn't sew tried to read one of those? I had NO clue what all the chinese was about. My neighbor has a daughter who teaches eighth grade sewing and she just happened to be home for Christmas. She came over and translated the pattern for me into English and I made all five pairs of pajamas that day. It was 1:30 in the morning before I finished, but I did it!!! They are so cute if I might say so myself.

I am totally high school I know

I used to do this with my sisters all of the time. Nylons or Tape, that is. I, to this day, find it so funny. Even looking at these pictures while I am typing this out, I am chuckling. The girls find it funny too and will find my nylons and put them on and run around the house (dangerous choice). Nathan was not too fond of it. Besides the fact that my kids have above average head size, nylons aren't the loosest fitting apparel on the market. I love the one of Hay where her eye lashes are pulled up high. Oh my kids are such good sports.

I'm going to be a beautician when I grow up

In the back of my head I knew the day would probably come. I didn't want to believe it, and I was hoping since it hadn't already arrived so far, it wasn't going to. Well it came, and it came good. December 20th, 2008. I was sleeping and I faintly heard something about scissors. It was enough to wake me and listen a little more. I heard something about a trash can and hair. I called Haylee into my room. For those of you who know me, I am blinder than blind and especially in the morning when I have been startled to wake. Haylee climbed up next to me and I just reached up and felt her head. (the lights are still off in our room too). Her forehead felt a little bare. I told Madalynn to turn on the light and sure enough, Haylee's bangs were completely butch. There were also quite a few chunks missing from her piggy tails on top of her head. FREAK OUT! And trust me I did.

Most people say, oh you will look back and think it is funny, but I am not laughing. I had to chop off Haylee's hair that has taken THREE LONG years to finally grow the day before Christmas Sunday. It was not a happy time for me.

I feel so bad for Haylee because she keeps telling me that she wants piggy braids, but her hair isn't long enough to even do piggy tails anymore.

They did an awesome job of fixing it for me. They cut it really short and then took hair from the middle of her head to the front to be her new bangs. Most people can't even tell unless her bangs aren't combed forward right. She just looks like a new sharp grown up little Haylee Bug.

Mom and Dad's present

This is the gift that I made for my parents. I LOVE it!! I was so excited to get it done and get all the pictures situated and finally put the last touches on. I took it to UPS to mail it, and they said it was going to cost 67.00, plus 15.00 for the box and 3.00 for the bubble wrap. I was almost tempted since i love it so much and want to to get to my parents, but I convinced myself it probably wasn't worth it. It is hanging up on my wall and someday I will either send it or have someone that is going to Hawaii take it for me. Any offers?

Popper!!!!

On December 10th Santa came to the horses (carousel). You were able to go and see Santa and ride the horses. This really really is super exciting for the kids...especially Madalynn. She couldn't stop talking about riding Popper...her horse. It was really fun...the horses were even free!!! That is a rare occasion for Rexburg. They usually cost 1 dollar per child per ride. The girls rode three times in a row. Madalynn is so possesive of her horse. She is okay if there is another adult riding it because they are gentle, but if there is another kid on it, WATCH OUT!! When we got there, there was a lady riding Popper, and the lady got off to re-situate her daughter and Madalynn stole the horse. She pretty much pushed the woman to the side and climbed on without even flinching. The lady was really nice about it and let Madalynn ride Popper.

My start of a portfolio

Nick and other people keep pestering me (or encouraging is probably the better word) to start taking pictures of couples and families as a side hobby since I love taking pictures so much. I keep trying to convince them that I am not skilled enough. I have not taken any photography classes in my life or learned about lighting or other technicalities of picture taking. I just do it out of love. My little sister, Monica and her husband, Mat allowed me to take them out and take some pictures. I intend to do something with them for her for Christmas, but since i don't have the internet it has become harder than I thought. These are some of my favorite ones that I took. It is hard to think that Mon and I are related...she is beautiful.

Christmas Dresses

Our Ward Christmas party was earlier in the month of December and I had done the girls hair all cute and stuff so I decided to have them get in their dresses when they got home and do their Christmas dress pictures then so it wouldn't be so stressful on Christmas morning. I am SOOOO glad that I did this since Madalynn decided to cut Haylee's hair on the 20th. They both LOVE dressing up and spinning and posing (especially Madalynn). I didn't dress Nathan up because he was ready for bed when we got home and I didn't get any of him on Christmas Sunday either. I will have to dress him up again on Sunday and take some.

Cookie Master, Cookie Cutter

I made a little 24 days countdown thing for the girls this year out of a mini muffin tin. Each hole has a new activity or prize or something fun to do or make for the 24 days. One of the days they got to make and decorate sugar cookies. It happened to be the same weekend that I came out to Arbon. Madalynn's cousins were out at Grandma's house too. It was fun for the kids to help measure, mix, cut and cook the cookies and then frost them once they were cooled. I think Haylee and Aimee mostly just ate the frosting. Breeanne lost interest after frosting one cookie and Madalynn stuck it out to frost all 6 of her cookies. They were so proud of their creations and were even more excited to get to eat them.

Oh Christmas Tree

Uncle Cody (Nicks brother) took the girls and myself out to find a Christmas tree. Nick's parents own a lot of land and we are able to drive around and find a tree that fits our needs just right. Cody is also a Christmas lover so he finds a personal tree for his bedroom so I was able to tag along on his hunt and have him do all the work for me (the cutting and dragging part).


Haylee fell asleep on the drive up the canyon and woke up with a little bit of a mohawk

We also took Breeanne (Josh and Anne's daughter) along for the trip. Cody was going slow enough that I allowed to kids to be unbuckled for a bit and look out the window to see our tracks in the snow.

Unfortunately for Cody, Cody's bronco, Haylee and myself...the car ride didn't sit too well in Haylee's belly. When she fell asleep I put her down by my feet because my arms were falling asleep holding her and the other two girls in the back were teasing her. I think with the mountain roads and the heat and the sleeping, she just got a little sick. Poor thing. We ended up driving around for 2 hours before we finally just settled on a tree. It is actually pretty cute, but I didn't take any pictures on this occasion because I, the car, Haylee, and the floor was covered in...

Guess where Lovee is?

I am glad that I found this before the actual search began because this is one place that I would have NEVER thought to look on my own. It was luck that I happened to come upon it. Can you guess where it is?







Seriously. I could not believe it. They were "sleeping". I don't know how long they had been asleep but they were defintely cold.

Santa visits

Madalynn and Haylee loved to go and see Santa. I think all in all we went to see him 4 times. He came to do the tree lighting ceremony on Main Street in Rexburg, he came to Walgreens for a free photo shoot, he came to the horses (carousel) and he came to the Parents as Teachers meeting. Madalynn kinda understands the whole Santa's helper concept, but she is still convinced that the one that was at the PAT meeting was the real thing. Too bad my memory card was at home so I didn't get a picture of him.

Haylee didn't really care either way, as long as she got chapstick for Christmas.

Nathan was not too fond of the big red guy. He did however enjoy the end prize which was the candy cane. He even knows how to open them and eat them without any assistance.

The kids dressed up and tried to act out the Christmas story. Madalynn is Mary, Nathan is a shepherd and Haylee is a shepherd (notice the sucker in her mouth). The other two kids are Nick's second cousins. This is as still as they got, and luckily my camera is fast. They were still cute and there were lots of proud parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and great grandparents.


We did a white elephant/present game and this is what Haylee got. She held on to it with her life for the rest of the night and for the next couple of days. Lucky for her, no one tried to steal it as part of the game because I think that she would have been heart-broken.



These are some turkey bows I made for Madalynn and Haylee for the thanksgiving occasion.

Nick the Logger

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My good husband went out and gathered wood for two weekends in order for us to have wood for our wood burning stove downstairs. He got 4 cords...which doesn't mean a whole lot to me, but it is a lot of wood. For two weekends in a row we spent all day on Saturday cutting, splitting, stacking and sweeping wood chips. I even took a few wacks with the axe. It was fun to just be with Nick out front working and accomplishing something. It has also been so nice having a fire each day and night. Even though the stove is downstairs, it is AMAZING how much less the heater kicks on. I guess the true test will be when our bill comes this month to see if it is really helping. We ended up with two rows of wood stacked all the way to the ceiling of the garage when we were finally done.

If you give a mouse a cookie...

We have lived in our house for a little over three years and have been blessed to have only found 3 hobo spiders, a few flies (which if you remember Franklin, Idaho this is a HUGE blessing), a couple of bees (still not sure where they came from) and last month....mice. SICK!! Nick and I went down to the storage room to get something for dinner and there were four empty bags of brown rice sitting on the shelf. At first I thought that Nick just canned some of the rice and for some odd reason just left the bags, until he said something about them sitting there. We had to clear out our food room of anything that mice could chew through. This was the sight of part of our kitchen for a week or two. It was so annoying to have to walk and trip over this. We caught four in traps and they ate 2 trays of de-con. I still don't go down there to get any food, but I think they are gone...actually I am almost positive they are.

TOO big Nathan

Independence is becoming a big thing for Nathan and he loves to feed himself. The only problem is, his sisters sometimes give him things that are WAY TOO big! On this occasion Madalynn had given him a half of a peanut butter sandwich...which he attempted to eat the entire thing in one bite. Usually you can say, "too big Nathan," and he will instantly spit it out. He was being a cheese this day...he just sat and smiled and wouldn't spit it out. Silly baby.

A Tisket a Tasket, Nathans in a basket

Nathans new thing is to climb into laundry baskets. He loves it when he climbs in and sisters throw toys and blankets all over him. He isn't too fond of the tipping of the basket when he tries to climb out. Too Cute!