Happy Easter!

Easter pictures this year. I'm in love! 

But more than that, I'm grateful for my savior and that through his atonement Braden and I get to be a family with these kiddies for eternity. They are pretty awesome, if I say so myself. 

Skottys birthday weekend

Skotty has a birthday! And we totally lucked out in the spousal department! His fiancé Joe flew me up to Calgary , AB Canada to surprise him for a fun weekend. And Braden happily held down the fort at home for a few days. It was so awesome, a lot of napping, shopping, chocolate for breakfast, and HGTV watching. It was relaxing and so fun, just what the doctor ordered. Oh, and skirts coworker Jessica made these tasteful skott faces for everyone to wear at his birthday party lol. 

Oh , and I just happened to get sandwiched between the entire Calgary Flames hockey team at a very slow security check, a very Canadian way to be sent back to the USA. I'll hold on to that as I currently sit in the terminal, where my last leg (flight from Chicago to Charlotte) was delayed every fifteen minutes for 4 hours until they cancelled it...at 11 pm, and there were no more flights going out. And I got sick and was throwing up all evening... So I got to take a 2.5 hour nap at a hotel and now find myself sitting yet again awaiting a flight home. I'm anxious to see my babies and my hubby!

Mommy train

Seriously, I love being a mom, I know it's a cliche, but I really love it. Ordinary moments like this make me love it even more. I sit in front of the couch to watch a show with the kiddies. Eve comes to sit behind me with a hairbrush, Graham' parks it on my lap, and Greta takes up residence on my shins. Just a little train, and it's my favorite. 

Happy birthday slurpee

Happy birthday slurpee! We celebrated your 50th by having much too large slurpees and then having a giant sugar crash. Seems appropriate right ? 

St Patrick's day

Happy st Patrick's day! That sneaky little leprechaun hid little buckets of green treats, but luckily left a trail of gold coins to help them find them. I think they liked the priorities the best!

Spring is here

It's spring in North Carolina! And we couldn't be more pleased, nice weather opens up lots of opportunities for park days. In this particular shot, Eve was trying to climb up the slide, she was so close so I decided to try and get a picture. Instead, she slipped and lost her footing. And I got this picture....Greta...most siblings would be concerned when their big sister wipes out, not Greta. She's such a stinker! 

Greta and her puzzles

Whenever it gets quiet for too long, you need to worry with Greta. She's....curious. But this time, I pleasantly found her doing puzzles. This girl loves her puzzles! She can do 24 piece puzzles with no picture as reference, it's awesome! It does help that we have a few Minnie Mouse ones, that seemed to get her motivated haha. 

Family art Gala

It was the annual family art gala at Graham's preschool! It's a darling way they hold a fundraiser, they showcase the kids artwork and hold a silent auction. Yes, I know it may sound absurd bidding on my own kids art, but they are so cute guiding you around the hallways showing you their artistic property! Graham loved it because you can buy treats and pizza, but I loved seeing him so proud of his work. 

Brownie batter

When you need to get the brownies finished fast for the preschool bake sale, and the babies won't leave you alone....worked like a charm. A bath and the beaters, who could ask for more? 

Taylee's helmet #2

My friend Stephanie's baby girl Taylee moved on to her second helmet, so I got to paint it! I loved having the creative outlet! She wanted flamingos, I'll give her flamingos! 

Wacky Wednesday

Wacky Wednesday at school and preschool ! I love the dr Seuss themes they have, it's been fun for the kids to read different dr Seuss books and learn about him. 

Oscar Sunday

Oscar Sunday. I love it! I love seeing all the dresses, and I love Hollywood garbage, drama, and gossip. I tried to watch most of the big ticket movies up for a lot of awards, so I'd have a better idea of what was going on during the oscars. Braden couldn't care less. But he was such a good sport and watched with me. 

Sunday's are for scootering

Sundays in the 60s are meant for scooters. Say that 5 times fast. 

Birthday Boy

Happy birthday to this tall drink of water! He's my rock, I love him to bits. He is an awesome dad, husband, and patriarch of our home. We are so lucky he's ours! He such a stud, he even blew out trick candles! The kids were in awe when he pulled that off.

On his birthday, it was a special day at work where all the coworkers go out and hang out. Braden was looking forward to it. So that day, around lunch, food poisoning hit me like lightning! Came it of nowhere, and my stomach was wringing itself out every 30 mins. It started at Costco. Let me tell you, throwing up in a Costco bathroom is probably one of the grossest things I've ever done....anyways, I didn't tell him because I wanted him to have a good time, but after about 7 pm I literally couldn't even get off the bathroom floor. Eve was taking care of both me and the babies, and I was a total wreck. She came to bring me water, crackers, and help in any way she could. She even brought me one of her blankets, with one of gretas Minnie Mouse toys to make me feel better. She came up to tell me she made dinner all by herself, she made everyone gluten free Cheerios and even put milk on it. She's the best. She got Greta dressed, teeth brushed, and all tucked in to bed complete with a story and song. But around 8, I cracked and called Braden. He immediately came home with zero hesitation, and didn't even make mention of cutting short his night out. 

The next day I was feeling better, but still weak and tired. Luckily I had planned in advance, his birthday celebration (Saturday night) was a night out with his guy friends at defy gravity. So a bunch of 30something year old guys went and played trampoline dodgeball, and went out for wings. He got to have fun, and I got to hang or with panera soup. Win. Win. Win. 

Feb madness and magformers

Having an FHE lesson on the story of Nephi and the liahona. We talked about how the liahona in our home is the spirit, and fighting with one another makes it so we can't hear it. Cross your fingers they remember this, they've been arguing a lot lately...magformers! Those are true best toys ever! We got the kids a set for Christmas, and Graham absolutely loves them! He will sit and play with them for hours, and the hints he comes up with are amazing, I love seeing his brain get to work and create new things. He makes rockets, "valentines" (3D hearts) cars, trucks, and other shapes and buildings. 

Feb 21 - little surgeons

After a thorough exam, dr Eve explained to me that one of my feet was longer Han the other and I have purple fizzy bumps on my knee. Both would require "big surgery". Her assistant was dr Graham, and Greta was the inspector. Luckily their skills allowed me to keep both limbs.

Feb 20ish 2016

Well, it's that time of year again. When the weather changes and brings on rain and a damp feel, Graham reacts to it. Whether it's asthma or allergies (mold spores) they are sill uncertain. So we just do the best we can to keep him as well and comfortable as possible. But things are business as usual for us here, just keeping up with school, preschool, and other various activities. 

60s in February

Weather is improving! The groundhog said an early spring, and I'm starting to believe him! We are getting high 60s in February! Also, Graham is proving to be quite the little dare devil. 

Eve and her progress

Big news!!!! Eve had her 4 month follow up, and she's growing!!! She has grown almost 3 whole inches and a whole shoe size since her diagnosis! I am so proud of her and per persistence and preserve stance through these changes. She's so patient, and so good at sticking to her new diet. 

Her Blood levels were still elevated higher than they need to be, but the doctor said she will give us another try to see if we can better manage the cross contamination, and hopefully avoid sitting at the "allergy" table at school. 

She is thriving! She wakes up with energy, she can be active without losing her breath, her hair is growing back,beer stomach distention is getting better, her palor has even improved. She's amazing, and we are so proud of her! We have to keep doing blood work every few months, but she's improving greatly. 

Her update: as a reference a normal persons blood work will show a TTG level of less than 4. An average person with celiacs will be anywhere from 4-30ish. Eve's blood work started at 179! That's why when her initial blood work panel came back they were so insistent on getting it taken care of asap. She's down to the teens now, so that's how much improvement she's had, it's awesome.