Friday Night Highlights

My perfect Friday night.

A good babysitter.
Some time at the Temple.
A really yummy dinner with good conversation and lots of laughs.
In bed by 10!

Yes ma'am I'm a happy girl tonight!



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Battle Wounds

My Keags loves to do gymnastics and tricks. She is quite good at them for a darling little 4 year old! Last night, with the Frenchs at our house, the energy was high and the tricks were many. Right when I was about to walk out the door to go to Young Women's, Keagan tried a new trick that just didn't go so well! She was trying to run up and put her weight on the handles of Riley's metal toy grocery cart and gracefully kick her feet high up in the air. Sounds spectacular right? I think we've been watching a little too much "So You Think You Can Dance!" Obviously the cart is not stable or heavy enough to support her, so the basket flipped up and hit her straight in the noggin!

In the other room I heard the hit and the immediate tears that followed, and knew it was not going to be good. I ran and scooped her right up and when I pulled her off my chest to look at the damage, I knew the blood covering my white shirt was not a good sign. She had cut her right eye in three different places and it just absolutely broke my heart! I felt so bad for my sweet girl! As a mom, when your babies hurt, you hurt!





We went straight to the Urgent Care center. She was hurting and very scared, but calmed down once we were there. Thankfully we brought Nana! We were lucky enough that she could get liquid stitches, the Dermabond glue, instead of the good ole needle and thread! She was such a good girl and was very brave! I was supper proud of her!

Today, now that the adrenaline has all worn off, I just feel so bad that her gorgeous little face is all cut up! She is still as stunning as ever, just with some battle wounds. At least she got them with some flare, and going all out. That matches her personality perfectly. Come to think of it, this may just be the beginning. Really between her and Riley I should probably just buy stock in Urgent Care. Or better yet, I should lasso in a cute ER doctor! I bet he would come with an unlimited supply of Dermabond! But until then I have my gorgeous girl with her battle wounds to cuddle up with tonight. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Memorial Day

Our last minute plans turned into a fantastic holiday! The park, swimming from 10 til 3 at the Gleannloch pool, glow in the dark miniature golf and cannon ball, then a delicious breakfast for dinner at the one and only IHOP! My pride is not too great for a "kids eat free" deal! Plus my girls love them some pancakes! We had way to much fun all day with the our crew. AKA Taryn, Hudson, Reagan, Kellie and Addie. Floatin in the pool, jammin to 90s boy bands, lovin on my kids, and laughing so hard my stomach aches. That sums up a great day. So thankful for all the men and women who sacrificed so much to fight for my family's freedoms so we can have days like this!
























































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She Sleeps Again!

Since we have been home from Chicago, Miss Riley hasn't been sleeping well. I think she just loved being in the same room with Keags and I. My snoring must sound like a lullaby that lulls her to sleep. The last week it got to the point that she was waking up three to five times a night, crying and wanting me to get her out of bed. I could have sworn I don't have a newborn, but it sure felt like it! I do usually adore to be on the receiving end of cuddles from my babies. But not so much at 3am! There was also the good quality family time when all three of us ended up in my bed. Its a queen size. Inevitably Riley would kick Keagan and Miss Keags is a bear to wake up. She would respond as expected with dramatic tears and a good old fashioned strong squeeze of Riley's arm or leg. That would then set off the tears for Riley. Good times! And I didn't even mention the fact that its amazing that I could balance on the small sliver of the edge I had to sleep on! I know you're supper jealous.

Well I reached my breaking point this week. Its just that this is one momma who seriously needs her sleep!

I reluctantly decided to let my baby cry it out again, to get back to being my good sleeper. I just really missed her 7 pm to 6ish am snooze. It was absolute torture the first time I went through the whole cry it out method! And even though this is probably the fourth time we've been down this road, it's still torture! It's purely horrendous to listen to your baby cry half the night. But I knew it would pay off for both of us with much better and much neded sleep, so it was worth it. I really wish I could correctly apply the same principle to exercise!

Wednesday night was the night. I let Riley pick out her favorite jammies and then we had a little chat. I explained mommy loves her but I wasn't coming back in her room till morning and that she needed to sleep all night long in her own bed with no crying. When she quickly shook her head "no" I knew I was in for a doozy!

It was a long night. She first started crying for me a mere half hour after she fell asleep. By 2:30 she was sitting up straight in her crib staring down the camera above her bed just screaming her guts out. The girl was more then a little mad! And I laid in bed heart broken. She would then pick up one of her three stuffed animals, Mr Ray, piggie or Dora and throw it against the end of the crib! Again I mention, it was a LONG night! And the poor thing had puffy swollen eyes the next morning as a testament to that! I'm pretty sure my eyes matched.

Thursday night she only had a quick whimper and whine several times. And last night my rock star sleeper was back! 7:30 to 7! And now we are back on track. Im SO thankful! My only question is why I didn't do this earlier. That was my question the very first time I took this step.

Now it's probably time to kick her sister out of my bed too! Keagan ends up there every night. Unfortunately the cry it out method definitely wouldn't work on her. But, the thing she's got going for her is that she is easy to sleep with and I barely realize she's there. Except for the random crazy sleep talking, or shall we say sleep bossing. And then there is the times when she wakes me up because I'm snoring! Hey that's not very nice! I thought they sounded like lullabies!


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And So It Begins

Today was Keagans first official day of summer. Yesterday was her last day of her 3 year old preschool year. The Bunny class at John Wesley was a fantastic group of darling kids, with the fabulous Miss Kacy and Miss Leah orchestrating all the fun! Those two amazing teachers have helped Keags learn so much and given her so much love! We actually love everyone at John Wesley and feel so lucky that Keags will have a third year there next year.




Yesterday afternoon Keags and I sat and looked through her book of pictures from throughout the year that her teachers gave her. It solidified to me how much Keagan has learned and grown over this school year! And also what a fun year she was blessed to have with so many fun activities and cute friends. Now how am I going to keep her that entertained all summer?!




Keags with all the boys. Surprise, surprise.


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Thirty What?

I'm 34. At least I think I am. I had a birthday on Thursday, but I am always forgetting how old I am. What's 2013 minus 1979? I'll wait while you get your calculators.

The celebration was really a great one. Not very many people can say they've been serenaded by 4 darling Vietnamese women and an entire nail salon! That's a rare group that I'm lucky to be a part of.

This birthday was one of the bests I've had in a long time. I unfortunately think it was a result of pity because I had such a rotten Mothers Day. And I'm not one for pity. But at this point I guess I'll resign myself to it because it resulted in a great day.

Everyones efforts to help make my day special really meant so much to me! Nana went all out. Her and Kirk decorated the kitchen like I was 8 and was having a birthday party. So cute! She had taken Keagan shopping and had several cute gifts which both girls were ecstatic to give me! Then she let me sleep in til 8 and picked up the girls from school! Sa was awesome too. She took Riley to therapy and both girls to school. Plus she set up an incredible massage appointment that I thoroughly enjoyed! Mentioning I enjoyed a massage almost seems redundant. After a delicious Chinese lunch, Taryn and I had good laughs while she treated me to pedicures. That's when the previously mentioned serenading went down. Special! Also several friends thought of me enough to send or drop by a little something. And as cheesy as it is, you really can't under estimate around 150 people taking the opportunity to wish you a happy birthday on Facebook!

We ended the day with a casual pizza party at home with none other than a heavenly buttercream cake, the Frenchs and the Dibbles. We laughed till our stomachs hurt and I went to sleep early feeling loved and pampered. Is there a better combination? There couldn't have been for this girl on this birthday! Happy 34!





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Our Reality

I love me some reality TV! The Survivor finale was the highlight of my week. You may find this depressing and pathetic but it's actually just good ole wholesome and cheap entertainment. I have finally come to not only openly admit my love for the reality shows but also learn to limit my exposure as not to waste too much time in front of the boob tube. And I still have to leave time and room on the DVR for my cop shows too.

That being said, I'm not sure why I would ever need to watch other people's crazy lives. My little family's life is crazy enough! We technically could have our own reality show. Just filming all of us when we eat dinner at Sa's house could provide enough entertainment to send the ratings soaring! But some episodes might make people think we are totally scripted and fake because it just couldn't all be true. But oh it is! And then other episodes would show the random and the fun.



Like Monday night when we went swimming with the Frenchs for Family Home Evening (Monday night/family night). This little girl was thrilled to swim and devour three pieces of pizza! And then there could be the episode about Keags and I running into the Weiner Mobile!!


After I taught her the song of course and we were back in the car, she says "mom can we please buy a car that's shaped like a chicken nugget?" I told her no because I was afraid she would try to eat it!

And of course there could be those amazingly inspirational episodes of my Riley girl and all that she is accomplishing! The miracle baby continues to persist beyond expectations and make me so amazed and so proud! Those episodes could also star all the amazing teachers, family members, principals, therapists and friends that are helping her along the way!

Maybe I should use my iPhone to start filming the pilot! Hollywood here we come!

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A Girl Needs Her Dad

I completely stumbled upon these pictures last night and they reduced me to tears. The ugly uncontrollable kind. They are all of my dad when he was serving his mission in Northern California in 1962 and 63. I can't remember seeing many pictures of my dad with hair! By the time he met my mom, the hair on his head at least, was already fading fast. I stared at these pictures forever as the tears poured down my face.
























Oh how I love this man! And oh how I miss him immensely! So much so that it aches within the pit of my stomach and closes up my throat making it hard to breath. When he left this life almost 6 years ago, he took so much of me and of our family with him. But I know he went to send my girls to me, to prepare a way for all of us in heaven and to do the work of the Lord. But knowing all that doesn't make it any easier that my life here would be so different if he was still here with me. If i could only just have one more great hug, one more pep talk, one more joke. Its almost unbearable for me to think about him with my girls. He was a fantastic dad, but more importantly he was a phenomenal grandpa. Those girls would be loved and spoiled so much more then they already are if their Pakka was here.

What does comfort me is the great joy I can find when I remind myself to have an eternal perspective. The gospel of Jesus Christ provides me so much hope that I will live with him again. I know families can be together forever and that is what helps me dry my tears. So until then I have to live my life in a way that would make both him and my Heavenly Father proud. I think the first step to do that would be to love and adore my girls. It's exactly what he would do. Just with alot less hair.
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The Windy City

Our trip to Chicago was so over the top fun that its hard to try to pour those memories into a blog post! It was a fantastic five days with such an incredible family! This really will be a vacation I will cherish for a very long time and I'm so thankful to the Chicago Ginn's for making it happen!

That being said, it didn't start out so great. Our flight was delayed SEVEN hours!! And two of those hours we were in the plane on the tarmac! All things considered, our two 4 year old travel mates did a pretty decent job. I think the waiting was probably the hardest on me! Thank heavens I had Nana!! We would have never survived! Thank you Nana!!


But once we got to the Windy City all the festivities began. Saturday was a beautifully memorable day for Kate's First Holly Communion. She looked gorgeous, the church was spectacular, and the service was lovely. I will never forget her face after drinking the wine sacrament for the first time or her response to a compliment. During mass I leaned down to give her a hug and whisper "you are the prettiest one here." Without even missing a beat she said "I know!"

Who knew you could have a Mormon Godmother? I absolutely love it and feel so honored!




I gave her the rosary I bought over 10 years ago at The Vatican while back packing thru Europe.








After the church Tyler and Vicki proved again that they really know how to throw a party! They hired a food truck that served up the most incredible gourmet burgers I've ever had from their drive way! We shared those with Vicki's awesome family and their great group of friends who are very nice people and great conversationalist. All the kids played outside together and there were lots of little girls to completely doat on Keagan and especially Riley. There was probably around 75 party guests that came and went but two close families stayed into the night. That worked out fantastic for me because I ended up winning 60 bucks when Keagan and Riley's assigned horses won the Kentucky Derby! And I had girls fighting over who could bathe my babies! Unfortunately the dynamic duo of Keags and Tess did maybe dampen the celebration just a little when they picked a bunch of the neighbors flowers. Apparently their horseys were hungry. That resulted in some great apology notes to the forgiving neighbors.




















How do you know it was a fantastic party? When you can't stay awake for breakfast!




Sunday was a day to relax in one of the most beautiful houses I've ever seen and let the kids play and have a total blast! We did go out to lunch and Maya and I teamed up to complete a poster board for her school project. But we really just spent most of the day relaxing and watching the cousins have an absolute blast together!











Monday was a busy day full of lots of fun. We went to the Shed Aquarium in the morning. By far the most amazing aquarium I've ever seen! It was spectacular! The Baluga Whales, the gigantic crab, jellies exhibit, touching star fish and dressing up like penguins were the highlight!




















After an enjoyably delicious lunch at Chicago Cut right on the water, we really enjoyed the beautiful Millennium Park. You can't go to Chicago and miss The Bean, which Keags calls The Pickle!
















And then we had a quick trip through the Art Institute of Chicago. Its fun to translate pieces from a text book to real life, so I really enjoyed the Picasso exhibit and the Thorne rooms!








For dinner we devoured Chicago style stuffed pizza! Yumm! I really shouldn't be surprised that Riley quickly passed on the kids thin crust cheese pizza and had an entire slice of this monster!




On Tuesday we made a little road trip to Michigan so Nana could check it off as the 47th state she's been to! The town of New Buffalo gifted us amazing views of Lake Michigan. It was darling and we had a great lunch, fun at the park and yummy ice cream.
















That night was more cousin bonding and memory making. The gruesome twosome of Keags and Tess happened to be playing a game of "hide from the evil baby!"




And guess who the evil baby was?




I thought it was harmlessly amusing but Tyler was not all to pleased and so nicely encouraged me to "be a parent!" Hahaha!

That was what made this trip so spectacular. Tyler wasn't working so we all had fantastic time together which was of course used to make fun of each other and laugh. And all the kids just played and played and cemented great relationships and memories! I am so thankful for our trip to Chicago, for the memories made, relationships renewed and strengthened and not least of which that our flight home was easy peasy! Thanks Tyler, Vicki, Maya, Kate and Tess! Love Chicago and love you all!












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