May 2016 - A True Blessing

We are still adjusting to having a new baby in the house! Waking up in the night to feed her, making sure all her medical equipment is clean, it's a lot of work taking care of a newborn who has medical needs. When I am feeling overwhelmed I remind myself how incredibly blessed I am to have the kids I do. Abe is the most loving and caring big brother that I ever could have wished for. Monet is so loving it is almost too much sometimes! My kids love each other. So, even when mom is tired, they can take care of each other (to an extent).

I made these beautiful shadow boxes for each of the kids. They each have things from their individual hospital stays when they were each born. It was a really fun project for me and I am happy with the way they turned out!

When daddy comes home from his work trips it is all snuggles all the time!

Bridget is still on oxygen but is continuing to improve. She is a fighter and I am proud to be her momma!

Monet is continuing to grow and learn. Each day she learns a new word it seems. Although, at times, it takes some time to "translate" what she is trying to say :)

Abe is still my big strong boy. He has really taken to being "the man of the house" when daddy is out of town.

My world

Just had to document.... Abe is allergic to mosquito bites. You can see he got bit right on the cheek and that's what made his eye swell up! My goodness!

Bridget is 3 months old! She is still a tiny little thing but is hanging in there! 

We often take pictures when daddy is out of town so he can see what we are up to.

Monet has really taken to her castle room lately. It took her some time to warm up and the steps were hard for her at first. Now that she knows how to get up and down the two of them spend a lot of time together playing in there.

Monet has also taken to climbing into confined spaces. She gives us a laugh every day with the different places we find her!

I got my passport! I have only been out of the country once and it was to Niagara Falls, Canada so I didn't need my passport at the time. But, with Tyson traveling so much I wanted to be prepared in case I get the chance to go somewhere with him!

Silly selfie to send to dad :)

Watching the SNOW..... Yes, the snow in May.

And then playing at the park the very next day.....

We had an awesome time at the zoo this year. We got to go with Dan and Evan. The kids had so much fun running around with their cousin all day!

Just us girls!

Abe is just chillin' on the train

Bridget FINALLY got to meet her Great Grandma Audrey. She was able to come to town and we were so happy these two could be united. So much love in those arms.

Bridget received a baby blessing from her daddy. This is something we do in our faith. The patriarch of the family gives the child a name and a blessing. It is something that is very dear and special to us. It was a beautiful day that I shall never forget.

Look at that gorgeous girl!

The day was made even more special by an heirloom we now share. When I had Monet, my mom used my wedding dress to make a blessing dress. Monet was blessed in that dress and now Bridget has been blessed in the same dress. The same material was used in three big events and I am so happy about that. My mom is amazing, she even made the blessing dress in the same style my wedding dress was! 

So many friends and family members were there and we were so glad to share this special day!

Sadly, we sold Tyson's Toaster this month. It was costing us way too much money and time with all the constant repairs it needed. Goodbye old friend.

Aaaaaaand we bought a truck! Tyson's dream truck! It has enough room in the cab for all three carseats side by side and we quite like it! Hazaah!

April 2016 - Change is Good

Tyson is loving his new job. It means he gets to visit new places every weekend, meet new people and have fun! I am a proud wife and I am so happy he has this opportunity.

Monet, watching General Conference. Every six months we get to hear from the leaders of our faith (We are members of the Latter Day Saints, aka LDS, aka Mormons) This is such a great time for us to get guidance. It is something that has really helped me through many times of my life. It is no shock that I received much guidance about our current situation with Bridget's medical needs and my role as mother. I love my faith!

Abe and Monet are still loving having a new baby in the house!

Here she is without her oxygen! Fresh out of the bath :)

Baking cookies together is one of our favorite things!

Abe really loves to help with any form of cooking or baking. He loves the process of mixing things up and seeing what happens. He is going to be a chef one day

We were able to play outside at the park a few times! The weather has been wonderful.

Bridget had a swallow study done to check out her little jaw and how it is affecting her eating. We know it is affecting her breathing and that is why she continues to have oxygen but the eating is something else all together. So she drank a special bottle while the Dr took x-rays. It was actually really cool to watch! The formula in the bottle showed up more clearly in the x-ray and you could see how everything works.

The update from the swallow test is that she is not allowing fluid in her lungs when she is eating. YAY! She still struggles with making sure things work correctly and I got some tips on how to feed her so she keeps up the good work. The ENT is going to keep her on oxygen for now.

These are the travel tanks we have stocked up! Each one lasts 40 hours so this is what we take when we are out and about.

This is the large tank that stays in our room. It is HUGE and I don't even know how many hours it lasts!

Hanging out

Monet was REALLY mad that I wouldn't let her pick Bridget up out of the pack'n'play. How dare I!?!

Movies in Mommy & Daddy's bed.

Bridget is 2 months old!

Just off to take Bridget for a Dr appointment. Today we went to get some equipment to make sure everything is still growing properly

Me and my girls :)

A little about Tyson's new job; He is now part of the Seminar Team for Adam Ginsberg and Get Motivated. This means he gets to travel every weekend and teach people about building their own business. He really loves it.

I love that the kids like to play together. Abe and Monet do just about everything together and they don't seem to mind!

Abe ADORES Bridget. Can you tell?

Some of her first smiles.

I got to travel with Tyson and see what his new job is all about! We went to Chicago together.

The kids didn't miss us one bit! They stayed at their Nana and Papa's house and cousins were there too!

Dinner with my man, in Chicago. I loved getting to go with him on this trip. He is amazing and I really enjoyed getting to see him in his element. It helps that I like everyone he works with!

The only tough thing about this new job is that Tyson is gone every weekend. But I do have three amazing, beautiful kids to keep me going! Life is good!