Molly and her infamous croup

Last night, I was in this ER with our little Molly Ann.  She had a brutal case of croup and just couldn't breath anymore.  I had stayed up with her trying to help her sleep until about 3 am, and then we had to go in.  As I was sitting in this dimmed ER room with a few nurses walking here and there and giving her some respiratory treatments and some steroids, she snuggled up on my lap, fell asleep on my chest and just worked her little heart out trying to breath and keep her oxygen levels up and a fever down.  As I watched her suffering, I was reminded of when she was a baby, and to no fault of her own, she was stuck, not being able to breath.  The suffering part of this life was in the forefront of my mind, but I couldn't help but feeling this intense love and how this is how our parents and our heavenly parents feel about us.  We have been blessed by this special little girl, and although it was a minor scare, it was a great reminder of how she is so precious.  

Garrett's Big Day

This is a  long video, and for the benefit of Grandparent's living far away, so they can get a quick glimpse into what Garrett is like, and how he spent his 2nd Birthday.

Words of Encouragement

Never underestimate the power of words of encouragement.  Lately my little Garrett, out of the blue, will start cheering, "Go Mama, Go Mama" or "Go Molly, Go Molly" and put his hands up in the air, and cheer us on.  The first time he did it was when I was exercising at a park, on what seemed like my 1000th lunge, and he could tell I was starting to struggle.  He just started to cheer me on.  I felt a little boost, and continued on.  May seem silly, but it helped a little.  Granted this morning, he started yelling, "Go Mommy, Go Mommy." when I was cutting his grapefruit, and he wanted me to go faster so he could eat it.  BUT, I thought...words of encouragement are good...and I should never underestimate what it would do for someone else if I gave a little "Garrett Shout Out"  So, to all of you..."Go Mama!"

Sweet Peas from the Bells

This post is to help our family remember some really amazing people that we have met here.  These are some sweet peas that we got from these great people in our ward.  They are always calling to see if we want to visit and "pick" something or help with something in their home.  I have completely fallen in love with this cute couple.  They have done it all and seen it all.  They are in their 80's and the wife has Rheumatoid Arthritis REALLY bad.  She sat and told me stories the other day and I just thought how I wanted to be THAT cool when I am old.  I think that one of the reasons I love them so much, is they remind me of my grandparents who have already passed.  The most inspiring thing about her is that she can barely move, her hands are all curled up from the RA, and she gets up every day and does geneology.  She pokes at the computer with her painful hands.  She has about 70,000 names done or something like that.  When I think life is tough, I think of what it really means to endure to the end. I had wonderful examples of this with all of my amazing grandparents.  So this day, I am grateful for those examples around me and around my children of faithful people who endure gracefully to the end.  

You know you're a MOM when...

We have had a good weekend, and very busy because we had my sister's kids.  It was pretty uneventful...and a lot of fun, except that Garrett decided it would be a good time to climb out of his crib when his cousin and sister were in there with him sleeping.  But instead of coming out of the room, he would just jump on the kids.  Logan(Garrett's cuz) came out very sweetly, and said, "I know I am not supposed to get out of bed, but Garrett is jumping on me."  :-)  The pics above was last weekend at the pier, and Molly made everyone wear vests(I thought Garrett looked particularly cute with his white socks and shorts...very much like a miniature tourist). :-)  We had a great time going to the park, Micky D"s and the beach where all the kids got to surf with the help of Sam and a friend.  It was a great weekend!  But back to the title of my post...you know you're  a mom when...you are thirsty at the restaurant and the waitress is slow, so you get your kids water, and pull the straw up to the top and drink the water off the top to avoid any "sediment' that has accumulated at the bottom.  I sure would like to hear anyone elses, "You know you're a mom when..."  :-)  

Excuse our sorry faces...we have had the flu.  We have plugged along and snuggled our way through it. Fever, aches, chills, snot, and more snot.  We have maybe turned the corner today, for which I am grateful.  But through all the shows(the first time I have ever regretted not having cable), I just wished my Mom could come take care of us...cause nobody does it like my mom.(Then you realize you ARE the Mom, and you have to buck up) The last pic of Garrett sums it up....dazed, hot, red eyes, and just tired.  He got off this couch and took two steps to then call out...c'mon mom, c'mon mom, cause he couldn't be more than two feet away from me at a time.  Hopefully that little habit fades quickly, but it was pretty cute at the moment.

Dancing

Easter was highlighted by two cousins dancing.  Molly of course couldn't get enough, and Logan was kind of tired of doing such "pretty" things.  Maybe if Molly wouldn't have called it beautiful Logan would've participated longer.   This was after a "hunt", egg coloring...and our now traditional "Easter/Christmas Eggs"  What a great day!