Jammie Days

And we're back! We were in UT for a week and then I was sick for a week so I haven't been keeping up on blogging. That, of course, means that I am behind and have tons of pictures to post. Luckily I have to do some picture exchanges with my sister through regular old mail so I can catch up on all the old ones while the new ones from our trip are being sent.
Both of the boys absolutely adore Halley.
The two weeks before we went to UT Bradley had a class break from school. We did lots of fun things. I really enjoyed having him here. He is growing up so much, and he has totally changed since he had his surgery. He has a much better attitude and is sleeping better and is even more helpful around the house. It's wonderful!
Anyway, we were able to stay in our jammies for a little while longer than usual, and I got these cute pictures of the kids all sitting on the washer. I wish I could have gotten just one when they were all looking, but I think that is a lost cause . . .
Gotta love those funny faces! Halley is waving and making a funny face.I know it's a lot of the same pictures, but they are so darn cute, and their faces show so much personality in each one.
I love my kids, and I'm so glad they love each other!!

Gratitude

I am up at 3:24 this morning with a lot of gratitude in my heart. I have had two experiences that have really helped me realize how much Heavenly Father loves me.
A couple nights ago, Halley just totally randomly let out a few little screams. I am a very light sleeper so I naturally woke up. She didn't cry anymore, but I felt a little funny so I tested my blood sugar, and lo and behold, I was way low. (For those of you who don't know, I have diabetes, and having low blood sugar is bad. You can have seizures and stuff.) I thought, "Hmmm . . . maybe she woke up just so I would wake up."
Well, about ten minutes ago I woke up from a HORRIBLE dream. It was one of those dreams that make you really mad and sad and scared and all those bad emotions at the same time. Well, I kept trying to go back to sleep, and I couldn't because I was thinking about the dream.
Anyway, so I decided, well, I may as well test my blood sugar. Yikes! My blood sugare was not 138, it was 46 (normal for me is 80-120)! Holy cow! I am still feeling a little weird.
I am so grateful that Heavenly Father is looking out for me. When I was first diagnosed, I had NO problems waking up in the night if my blood sugar was low, but I guess I am more tired now - what with three crazy children keeping me on my toes all day and sometimes during the night. He he he . .
So, I am off to bed with a feeling of humility and gratitude because I know someone cares about my family and me and our well-being. Oh, and I am going to change the basal rate on my insulin pump really quick too. I think it must be too high, and that's why I've gone low.
Goodnight!

Random Pictures from March

Here are a few pictures I've taken over the past few weeks.
Some of these are of Halley pulling herself up on her knees. She does that all the time now. These first couple are from the first few times she did it. I love these pictures because of her hair. I had it up in a cute ponytail, and I can't remember if she wiggled in the car seat and it came out or if Connor was playing with it, which he sometimes does. Grrrr . . . anyway, it made for a cute picture. Her hair sticks straight up after it's been in a ponytail.
And here's Connor. How could it have been him? He looks so innocent.
This is a shirt my bestest friend, Shelby, made for me for a Christmas/birthday present. Yes, she MADE it. Isn't she awesome??
Here's another one of Halley pulling up on a chair. Connor was actually peeking through the chair at her, but I missed that photo opportunity. :(
And this cute picture is of Halley in a dress my sister bought for her while she was on her cruise. I even did her hair all cute. This was right before church, and we were in a hurry so I only got one picture, and then my camera died. By the time we got home her hair was all messed up from napping at church, but she looked really cute, huh?

Jump!

So, I took 8 videos of Halley in the jumper my sister loaned us, and I never got one that I really liked. Between her turning the other way and the boys trying to get in the video, it's almost impossible. This is the best one I got.
She is so cute in this thing, and it's like the only time we can ever get her to use her legs! This was a few weeks ago, and actually, she is just starting to want to stand up a little when we set her down. I am glad because from the time she was born, she has never wanted to stand up, like at all!!
Anyway, sorry for my annoying voice. I sound so different to myself. :)
Our Little Jumper

For Melissa

My little sister just sent me an e-mail telling me she can't believe Halley is talking. I can't even remember if I have done a post about her babblings, but here is a video of her saying, "Wow," (I know, it sounds more like a growl.) and doing her fish thing. The fish thing is her primary mode of communication now. We tell her to say "Mom" or "Bradley" or "Connor" or "light" or to point at her nose, and she usually responds with the fish face. At least she knows she is supposed to be opening and closing her mouth to talk, right?

She has said a few words in the past month or so. Her first word was "banana." It sounds more like "ma-na-ba-na-ma-ma," but she definitely knows what she's talking about. She also has said, "yum-yum-num" a lot. Yah, food is definitely her priority. She still hasn't said "ma-ma" in reference to me, but she just started saying "da-da" to Wes a couple days ago.
She still says "Wow" every now and then. This was the day after we taught her to say it so she was still doing it a lot. She hasn't done it as much this week, but it's cute because she usually points her finger at lights or other interesting things and tries to remember how to say it.

Kids, Kites & Kindred Spirits

First of all, I just want to do a little blurb about how grateful I am for so many wonderful friends out here in CA. I love in Anne of Green Gables how she describes her good friends as "kindred spirits." I totally feel that way about so many people I have met since being here. Living away from family is definitely not easy, but it sure makes it easier when there are good friends around! Thanks to all our good friends out here!
The day Halley got hurt, we had planned to go to the beach with some of these great friends I'm talking about -Becca, Russ and their cute son Vincente and Becca's mom, Pam. Because Halley is such a trooper we decided it would still be ok to go. It ended up being a really fun afternoon.Connor had fun holding Halley and the kite. She loved it too.
It was a little cold and windy, but it was perfect for kite flying! We had three kites up in the air for quite awhile. These three boys get along so well. I love Vincente's face in this picture. He was totally fascinated by the kites.
We also had a few episodes in which our wonderful kids let go of the kites. Man, kites go far when there's no one hanging on. I think they got away from us three times.
The first time it was hilarious because Becca and her mom chased after the kite - fast. Now, this is funny because Becca is nine months pregnant - yah, her due date was THE NEXT DAY! She is my hero. She ran after that kite two of the three times, and she is dang fast. I never even had to go that far into my pregnancies, but I know I couldn't have moved like that even the last month of mine. GO BECCA!I wish I had gotten a good picture of that, but oh well. Oh, and our good buddy, Russ, chased after the kite one of the times. He took a great dive into the sand. It was classic! We had so much fun.Here's a cool sort of silhouette picture. I love the beach in the background. Even if it was cold - it was a beautiful night.The kids also enjoyed playing in the sand. For some reason the boys love to make sand angels. They have done that almost every time we've gone to the beach. It's really funny..And we had dinner on the beach. By this time it was FREEZING cold, but we wanted to finish our fun night. We even had to put the extra socks I brought for Connor on Halley's hands. Here she is watching Vincente play in the sand.

Whistle While You Work . . . or . . . Jump on the Furniture While Mom and Dad Work

Last Saturday I wanted to just sit around and do absolutely nothing! Instead, we ended up moving the desk and cleaning under all our couches - which we haven't done since we moved in, um, a year ago. :) Then, we went to a bar-b-que at the park in the freezing cold! I didn't take any pictures at the park, but we got some fun ones of the kids playing around while we cleaned.
Wes also got a great picture of the BLACK WIDOW we found under our couch! Yah, I was absolutely freaked out! Wes caught it and, get this, set it free in our front yard!!! Are you kidding me? I was pretty upset. I am still not sure why he did that. I thought he took it outside to kill it. Grrrr . . .
I got some precious pictures of our baby girl! She is so sweet. See how much worse her injuries look, well, not her fat lip, but the rest of it. The scabs look worse than the initial pictures we took. They are already falling off though so I am glad she is healing ok.