MRSA

So after what seems like a million trips to the doctor to figure out what the new pain is that Brooklyn has had in her abdomen, a phone call at home from the doctor now confirms that my little banana has MRSA (a penicillian resistant staff infection). It is now all over her skin and inside her bladder. She has been through so much I really hate to see her have to another problem, but what can you do. On the bright side, she is still the crazy little kid that she always is, and hopefully treating the MRSA will get rid of some of the pain that she has been having.

We have to keep her all bandaged up, but having hot pink bandaids definitely helps. She has also figured out that not wearing a shirt under her dress is the best way to show off her bandaids.

Now I am well aware of the fact that this blog is primarily about the kids, but this is the best way to send pic.'s to Chris in Iraq.

It's A Major Award

Tonight I promised Hallie that we would make something out of her book of kid crafts that she got for Christmas. Well with no hesitation it was decided that we were to make awards. Both Brooklyn and Hallie were each very proud of themselves for their grand acheivements (making the awards for themselves), and my most favorite part of it all was when Hallie and Brooklyn started arguing over who got to be 3rd place. Just another day with the kiddos I guess.

Snow Day

Today I decided to embrace the snow, embrace the cold, embrace the mess and head outside with the girls. Sadly enough and, I am ashamed to admit it, this is only the second time I have taken the kids out to play in the snow. It seems like life has been really busy and really crazy, and I really do not like the snow too much. However, today the sun was shining and we just couldn't resist.

The girls and I made a little pilot snowman in honor of Daddy

This is little Sophie. I am not a cat person at all, but she was posing

so perfectly I couldn't help myself.

Long Lost Friends

A week or so ago I was able to get together with some of my friends from High School. It has been 4 or 5 years since we have all been together. It was a blast to see them again only this time as mothers, and wives. It is really funny to think back, I am sure that we would have never imagined that we would live so far apart from each other and that we would have had so many kids by now. They are all amazing Mom's and friends and I hope that this is something that we get to do a little more often.

It was impossible to get everyone to look at the camera at the same time, but it was fun to try!

TEMPLE in PAYSON!!

They just announced that they will be building a temple in my home town, Payson, UT. It is long overdue there are so many people who have to drive an hour or more just to get to a temple. I am sure all you out-of-staters and mocking me right now, but in my defense this is Utah we are talking about and there are a lot of members south of Provo. So that being said, Hooray!, and although I am moving back to DC in a couple of months I will definitely have to come back and visit when it is dedicated.

Trip to the Dino Museum

To celebrate Brooklyn's Birthday with the Miller's we went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. This is the first time that I have ever been to this dinosaur museum and I must admit I was pleasantly surprised. They really crammed a lot into what looked like a small space.

There was a lot of activities for the kids, which was awesome. Including a place where the kids can play in sand and water and make their own sand volcanoes.

There was also a place where the girlies could dig for dinosaur bones. We had a really good time and it was so nice to spend a day doing something other than princess's and barbies. Chris when you get home we are going to have to do a bunch of this kind of stuff to toughen them up again.

Happy Birthday Brooklyn!!!!

Happy Birthday Brooklyn!

This week Brookie celebrated her 3rd birthday! I am sad and happy, I am sad that she is growing up but happy that the terrible two's mat be ending soon! Brooklyn has Systemic Mastocytosis which is a rare autoimmune disease that really limits what she can eat. Without medicine she can only eat apples. But with medication she can eat the following:

Apples, Grapes, Pork, Vanilla, Chicken, Zuchinni, Black Beans, Milk, Cheddar Cheese, Butter, White Sugar, Blackberries, Broccoli, Strawberries, Blueberries, Oranges. It sounds like a lot, but she can only eat the foods on the list which means no seasonings, no variations, no grains, etc. She is always really sad that she can not eat what the rest of us are eating and so this year we decided to have a birthday dinner where everyone could only eat what Brooklyn could eat! She was SO EXCITED! It was adorable, she kept giggling and asking for more and more helpings, until her plate was heaping, and she ate a ton too. All in all I think that we were all surprised at how good the food actually was, but I would hate to have to eat it everyday.

We are always trying to figure out different ways to make her food. My sister Ali had the idea to stuff the chicken, it was yummy!

On the menu: Stuffed Chicken (stuffed with broccoli, cheese, and bacon), Fruit Skewers, Bacon, Fried Cheese (her favorite), Steamed Zuchinni, and Orange Juice

Then it was time to open presents. In an effort to keep Brooklyn out of the toilets (I put a lock on the actual toilet lid, but she has now figured out how to lift the lid off of the tank), and the water on the fridge, I purchased a water table! She was pretty excited, and I was excited that it would fit on the tile in the basement.

Daddy delivered by getting Brookie some roller skates, something that she has been wanting for quite some time. They are actually pretty awesome because the wheels lock and so she can "skate" by walking around the living room in them. Aunt Ali gave her some silky purple jammies, she was pretty excited about those as well.

Now it was time for cake, but since she can't have cake we have had to improvise over the years. We have come a long way! I give you the evolution of the Brooklyn Birthday Cake!

On Brooklyn's first birthday we weren't sure what it was that she had but we were told no grains and no dairy only fruits and veggies, and at the time she could have jello. But . . . she could not have regular Jello brand gelatin so I made my own with apple juice. Lets just say she licked it once and that was it, it was nasty!

Last year we figured out that she could have Breyer's vanilla ice cream, because it is just sugar milk, and vanilla. She was pretty excited!

This year we took it up a notch and figured out that we could take the ice cream and mold it into cake molds, then frost it with pink whip cream, and top it off with pink sugar! Success! She was so excited to finally be able to have her own cake! It was awesome, and tasted good enough that we all had some, which was a good thing because it took 1 1/2 gallons of ice cream to get it to look like a cake.

Baking With Aunt Ali

This week I have had a terrible migraine that will seriously NOT GO AWAY! We are on day 7 and counting. So . . .everyone has been wonderful at pitching in and entertaining my crazy kids! My wonderful sister Ali decided to bake cookies with Hallie from her princess cookbook. Hallie loved it and made sure that they looked exactly like the picture in her cookbook down to every last detail (sprinkles in place, and white ribbon) she is such a perfectionist. I have to laugh. We love you Hallie and Ali

Citizen of the Week

It was finally Hallie's turn to be citizen of the week. She was sooo excited! To kick off the festivities I got to make a poster all about Hallie and all of her favorite things! Then all throughout the week she got to help out around the class. Then on Friday I got to come to school and tell all about the poster I had made, and then read Hallie's favorite book, which was "My Little Sister Ate One Hare," (if you haven't read it you should it is hilarious). After that it was time for the Citizen of the week ceremony, she sat in front of the class, while her teacher presented her with a Gold Medal. Very Exciting Indeed! It was also dress up like your favorite nursery rhyme day and so she was really decked out in her citizen of the week hat, gold medal, and her cat and the fiddle ears.

One of the duties of the citizen of the week is to pick a friend and deliver the role to the office. A job they take very seriously. Hallie picked Brooklyn and she couldn't have been more excited.