Evidence

I finally uploaded pictures from my camera.  Now you can see why I was SO ANGRY about the tree getting put up on Nov 6.  This happened within a day or two of the tree going up:

Thankful

As November comes to an end and December starts up I am so thankful for what I have.  I have not had an easy year.  I had a rough pregnancy, we had to move, one of my best friends moved to Oklahoma, and I had to leave my baby in the hospital for eight days.  Even though my life is still not perfect and I still struggle with different things on a daily basis, I am so thankful that I have four healthy kids and a husband who works so hard for us so that I can stay home with the kids.

I have had two cousins that have had major events happen in their lives that really make you put things into perspective.  My cousin Clarissa went home today after spending 102 days in the hospital following a really bad four wheeling accident.  It has been a big struggle for her and her husband.  They have both worked so hard so they can be together at home instead of in the hospital.  I am so amazed and thankful for all the miracles that have happened in their lives.  Today I found out that another cousin had to take his daughter in for surgery today only to find out that the cancer she beat 4 years ago is back.  It breaks my heart to think about all this little girl has already gone through and what she has ahead.  I also pray that I will see another miracle happen and that she will beat cancer for the second time in her life.  She is a strong little girl and has the support of many family members behind her.

When things like this happen it really puts things into perspective.  The things that I struggle with on a daily basis are not that important and I really need to learn to get over it and look at the big picture.  I am so thankful for my family both my little family and my big extended family and for the love and support we feel from everyone.  I don't know what I would do without family.  Living so far away from everyone makes you appreciate everything even more.  At this Christmas season I hope I am able to focus more on the love of the Savior because I know that if I can do that, everything else will fall into place.

Disneyland in Pictures

Wendy, Ellie, Katie, Amanda, Lauretta, Andrea, and Samantha with Rapunzel

Josh and his buddy Aaron petting a goat.

Halloween

We had a Toy Story theme this year!!

Woody

Woody and Jessie

Jessie, Woody, Bo Peep, Buzz

Woody and Buzz

We met up with Optimus Prime and Bumblebee

The Strip

Jeff's brother, Steve, is in town for a couple days for work.  Tonight we drove down to The Mirage to take him to dinner.  My family has lived in Vegas for 7 1/2 years but we have never gone to the strip.  Jeff and I had to laugh when we got off the freeway and the kids started talking...you would have thought we were on another planet!!  It was dusk so all the lights were on and the girls were loving it.  They said it was magical so we were quick to tell them that Disneyland is magical this place is bad and it is where people come to do bad stuff.  Their responses: "You mean they come to smoke....they drink alcohol...they wear tank tops with the strap off their shoulder."  We just laughed!!!  Now our kids can say they have seen the strip...even if it was just out the windows of our van as we were driving to dinner!

Andrea's New Look

We got a letter from Andrea's school a couple weeks ago that she failed her eye exam.  We thought she might just be shy or didn't know what they were asking so I asked her what they did.  She told me that she could only see the big shapes and not the little shapes.  My heart sunk.  I have horrible eyes and have been praying that none of my kids would get my eyes.  Well, Andrea seems to have gotten my horrible eyes.  She has one really bad eye and one that is just a little off.  Because of this we have to have her wear a patch a couple hours a week on the good eye to get her brain to use the bad eye again.  I can tell it is going to be a struggle.  I also need to get a different patch for her eye because the one I found was way too big!

Andrea before

Add some purple star glasses

The new look!

Looking a little smarter!

This is Jeff's new toy that we got the same day as the glasses.

Trying out the patch in her sister's shoes.

My Little Pirates

Ben observing all the craziness!

He's finally growing

Ben is starting to look like he is gaining weight.  His arms and legs are still really skinny but his face looks fuller.  He is starting to grow out of his newborn clothes because he is getting too long!  He still fits in the newborn diapers but we are almost out of those so he will soon be moving to size 1!!!

Josh LOVES his brother!!

Labor Day Weekend

We made a trip up to Utah over Labor Day to bless Ben.  We LOVED the cooler temps and playing outside all day in my parents backyard.  My brother got a bunch of pictures with his nice camera so I didn't see the need to take my own!  I will post them when I get them.  I did take these pictures.......

Chris and Jennifer showing off their firefighter hats that my kids wanted them to wear.

Will and Josh.  Somewhere there is a photo of Samantha and Isaac (Will's brother) that looks similar only Samantha looks like the giant....the only difference is that Samantha and Isaac were 3 days apart (he was 3 months early) and Will and Ben are 7 or 8 months apart.

My dad trying out the wiggle car.

Ben relaxing outside.

Jeff watching the BYU game with his dad and the kids.

First Day of School

The craziness of school has started once again.  We now have two kids in two different schools that are 25 minutes apart.  In case you are wondering, mornings are crazy at our house.  I have to have all four kids out the door by 7:40 AM because Andrea's school starts at 8:00 AM.  After we drop her off we drive Samantha to her school that starts at 8:40 AM.  We get home from that a little after 9:00 AM (unless we have an errand to run) and then get back in the car at 10:15 AM to go pick Andrea up (kindergarten is only 2.5 hours).  We get a little break after that and leave at about 2:45 PM to pick Samantha up.  We get home at 4:00 PM to do homework, eat dinner and go to bed so we can start again in the morning.  Did I also meantion that I have a newborn that eats every 2-3 hours??  I feel bad for Josh and Ben because they spend way too much time in the car!

Andrea did awesome on her first day of school...especially since I severely miscalculated the masses of people that would be driving their kids to school on the first day so we barely made it as her class was going into the classroom!!  I felt like a horrible parent to have to basically throw my child into her class and rush off to take her sister to her school.  We never got any pictures at her school...oops!!

Despite the fact that she didn't want to go to school this year, Samantha LOVED her first day and was excited to go back!

WE ARE A HAPPY FAMILY

Benjamin Blake Nichols

Benjamin Blake Nichols was born on Thursday, July 28, 2011 at around 9:20 PM.  He weighed 6 lb 10 oz and was 18.5 inches long.

The NICU team notice Benjamin having some problems with his breathing shortly after he was born.  His breathing rate was really fast...he was taking short quick breaths.  They took him and admitted him to the NICU so they could monitor his breathing and give him some oxygen.  He was also given an x-ray on his chest and it was discovered that his lungs weren't quite developed all the way.  They gave him some medicine to help his lungs develop and open up.  Luckily, he only needed the one dose because his x-rays this morning showed that his lungs were perfect!!  He is ready to be of the oxygen and has started feeding today.  I am hoping that they can get him to pass all the test he needs to this week so that we can have him home before next Saturday!

I must say that having a baby in the NICU makes your hospital stay a little different!  I don't have a baby to take care of so there isn't much for me to do in the hospital.  I do go over to the NICU frequently to hold Benjamin's fingers or hold him but it isn't the same.  I am not looking forward to going home empty handed on Monday.  I came to the hospital to have a baby and I want to leave the hospital with my baby!!