Proactiv, a true and loyal friend.

Yes, its true! It always pulls through for me when I am in desperate need, such as now. I swear that the older I am getting, the worse my acne is. I have either been using prescriptions soaps and creams, or Proactiv for the past few years. Just as I begin to embrace my fair skin, all these red pimples decide to show up...leaving me with what could be porcelain skin, instead looking like a 13 year girl who is wearing her first training bra. I always go running back to my Proactiv though. Our friendship is quite the cycle. I start using it and it clears me up immediately and I stay quite clear for a month or so. Then my skin goes back to normal so I stop using it. After a few months of just using my dove soap and benzoil peroxide, or my acne-aid soap and scrubber, I come running back to Proactiv, begging for her forgiveness and her help!!

And if any of you have used it lately, how about the new snap lids instead of the stupid lids that you have to twist on and off. Genius, I tell ya! AND the new moisturizer with SPF 15. That's what I am talking about!!

FYI-Every single picture of me from Emily's hospital stay was touched up, so don't go saying "you don't have acne" or "you don't need acne medication".

Thank you photoshop, another dear and trusted friend of mine.

The Kite Runner

This was an excellent book. Very sad, but very thought provoking and moving. I had about 80 pages left and have been anxious to finish it. Not just because I loved the book, but because it was due back at the library yesterday. (oops!) I decided to hit mute on my remote control during the commercials of American Idol tonight so that I could pluck away a little at a time. About half way into the 2 hour show I found myself not caring so much about who was singing what. All I cared to do was finish the book.

I added the movie to our Netflix que. Has anyone seen it? Comments? I hope it's good. I think it was up for Golden Globe or something this past year.

While I surprisingly didn't cry while reading the book, I am sure I will bawl my way through the movie.

Literally speaking.

Tonight on our way home from a days worth of errands in Barstow, Gracey decided that as we were driving right through the middle of nowhere, she needed to go to the bathroom. We asked her if it was number 1 or number 2....of course it is number 2! We are minutes away from being home and so we asked if she can hold it. She says she can. My sister Bailey, who is visiting us for the weekend, says "Squeeze your cheeks!"

A minute later we turn around and can you guess what Gracey is doing? Yup! Squeezing her cheeks. Both hands on her face, squishing it as hard as she can.

Gracey is one funny gal! I guess for a 3 year old, all things are literal.

And now we are home

Emily was released yesterday and we are so happy. she is still coughing a lot but is so full of anti-biotics that the doctors didn't seem to worried about it anymore. She will be taking an anti-seizure medicine for at least 2 years now. It is called Kepra and we really hope that because of this medicine that we will never have to experience a seizure again. She will have to do follow up EEGs and other check ups, but right now life is looking pretty bright.

She had just gotten the IV taken out. Still not sure she likes the nurse or not.

Taking our last trip in the wagon

Loving the elevators

It sure is amazing how fast life can change. One minute I was playing with my bright-eyed little girl, the next minute she was in the emergency room and we weren't sure what in the world was going to happen. We are truly blessed to have such amazing doctors, technology, and facilities. We also feel blessed to have such amazing family and friends who were ready and willing to drop anything to help us, all we needed to do was to say the word. Corky and I are very thankful to have both of our girls home with us. Life is good.

Finally going home!

Friday and Saturday

I forgot to mention that my mom drove me and Gracey home Thursday night while Corky stayed with Emily. I really needed a good night's sleep (because I felt and looked like death) and Gracey had school the next day. We got home and I crashed. I knew that I would sleep pretty good considering that I had slept a total of 10 hours in the past 3 days, but I didn't think I would sleep for 12 solid hours. It felt excellent. I felt refreshed and relaxed, better than I had all week. I had good reason to feel better, Emily's anti-seizure medicine seemed to be working and her pneumonia was getting better. Slowly and surely but at least it was definitely getting better.

So Friday and Saturday were pretty much uneventful. We kept busy by taking long walks around the hospital....and that's about it. Not much else to do. The weather in San Bernardino was excellent. We enjoyed being outside in the courtyard and Emily's favorite thing was the elevators. They were the fastest elevators I have ever been in. Your stomach is sure to drop just going one floor at a time. Emily giggled every time we went in them.

Saturday was especially nice because while my mom took Gracey to a nearby mall, Corky and I took turns with Emily while the other one went to the Redlands Temple that was only about 10 minutes away. It was so nice and peaceful, and a great ending to the crazy week.

Here are a bunch of pictures taken during those two days.

Emily sleeping with her best buddy, Mike

Grandma Joyce and Emily

Checking out the fishies.
Being silly with her baby doll

Daddy and Emily

Milk, it does a body good.
Clutching her baby doll tight.
Gracey was so sweet to bring her some yogurt and feed it to her.
Gracey, who has magically grown before out eyes this week.
I LOVE this picture of these two. This picture also shows how pretty the L.A. area can really be.

Corky recycling wishes(we didn't have any loose change on us), and pretending to fall in the water.

Emily laughing at her daddy being a goof.

We are so happy that we can be together.

Gracey having to show off her inner, thrill-seeking, dare-devil

Emily following in her sister's footsteps

Emily practicing her pucker!

Giving some big kisses to her baby doll. I don't know why the baby doll is so special....I ask for kisses all the time and don't get them this good! (just kidding, I do...but I am still jealous!)

Wednesday night and Thursday

Wednesday afternoon, we are feeling pretty happy that Emily has been transferred to the regular children's wing and out of the ICU. She is now able to drink, eat, and do whatever she can at this point. She is coughing a lot and is congested, but they determined that she has a bout of pneumonia but nothing too serious.

Corky decided that he will drive back to Fort Irwin (about 110 miles) to pick up Gracey, shower, and sleep for the night. I would stay with Emily. Emily is exhausted and falls asleep at about 6:30. Meanwhile, I am recognizing that the crumminess that I am feeling isn't just from being tired and worried. I can tell that I am getting sick myself. Emily finally fell asleep and the only way for me to see a doctor is just go downstairs to the E.R. there at Loma Linda. Had I known I would be there for 6 hours I would have gone a lot earlier. I went at 10:00pm and waited for 3 hours. I began to worry that Emily would wake up by herself and be scared so I went up to the front desk and in all of my sobbing glory tell them my story. They said that I could go back up and visit her for probably 30 minutes. I went back and she was still asleep so I lay down and took a 10 minute cat-nap, and then headed back down to the E.R. where I waited until 2:30am. I finally saw the doctor and he ruled out strep throat, which is what I thought I was getting again. He told me that he would prescribe me a z-pack and that he would be right back. I listened through the curtain for another 45 minutes to him and another doctor talk about the Lakers, and Kobe Bryant's 3-point shot, and the San Antonio Spurs, and basketball playoff games, etc, etc, etc. I was getting SO UPSET! All I wanted to do was be with my baby. No wonder there stupid emergency room was backed up 6 hours!!!!!!!! Oh! My blood boils just thinking about it.

Anyway, back to Emily. I get back up to her bedroom at 4:00am and she is awake and they are giving her a breathing treatment. Apparently her oxygen levels dipped a little while I was gone. After the breathing treatment she was over, she fell right back asleep but I had the realization that Corky and I needed more help. We didn't know what to do with Gracey. Our friends were more than happy to keep her but we were afraid that she would feel abandoned. I finally relented to the fact that I am not Superwoman and I needed my mommy! ;) I called her the next morning and asked her to come. She left her work, packed her bags, and hit the road within an hour’s time. I was so grateful.

Corky finished a couple of things at work while Gracey was at school. They came down and I was SO HAPPY to see Gracey, and so was Emily. Not long after that, my mom showed up. Also on a happy note, Emily was a lot happier riding around in the wagon and seemed to be a bit more like herself.


That day, I met with the team of neurologists and they told me that the EEG did come back with abnormalities. It showed seizure activity in the front left lobe of her brain. They say it is hard to say tell exactly what caused the seizure but with her starting to get pneumonia that may have been what did it. Not that she had a seizure because of pneumonia, but that she is prone to them and so the pneumonia triggered the seizure. The doctors told us that way that Corky and I described her seizure and the mini-seizure she had a few weeks ago matches perfectly of what they would expect from that part of the brain. The blank stare, staring off into space, the slight trembling, etc. Another of my concerns was that because the most recent seizure last so long (45 minutes) that it caused permanent damage. The neurologists were able to confidently say that there was no permanent brain damage because of it! Victory!!

PICU at Loma Linda Children's Hospital.

It’s probably a good thing that I couldn't ride with Emily in the helicopter. I would have been a crazy/bored mess waiting at the hospital to come. Corky and I got there about 2 hours later and still couldn't see her for another 2 hours. As soon as she had arrived, they started doing a bunch of testing on her. An EEG test, a lumbar puncture, and a ct scan. She had to be sedated again in order for them to perform all those tests, not to mention that being intubated probably isn't all that comfortable.

When Corky and I arrived at the hospital and were finally directed to the Pediatric ICU, we were told to sit in the quiet room to wait for the doctor. We sat there for what seemed like an eternity. Eternity is not what a waiting parent wants when they don't know what is going on, especially in that quiet room where you only imagine the unimaginable. Finally, the doctor comes in and speaks to us. He first praised the Fort Irwin doctors for handling her so well and responding so quickly. (That was good to hear) Then he told us that her ct-scan came back perfectly normal...another HUGE relief. No growths, tumors, or bleeding on the brain to be concerned for. They were still waiting on the lumbar puncture to know if she had meningitis or any other type of infection. Until they knew for sure though, they began anti-biotic. The EEG would have to be analyzed by a neurologist before we knew anything more.

Finally we got to go into her room and see her. Talk about heart wrenching, seeing her with all those tubes and wires and then strapped down to her crib. I was so glad she was still sleeping.

She finally woke up a few hours later and DID NOT like that tube in her throat. The doctors saw that as a good sign and decided to remove the breathing tube. Once that tube was out and she was able to actually voice her dislike for it, she did. She felt so crummy from all the drugs that she didn't like much of anything at that point. For about 3 hours, Corky and I passed her back and forth to one another. She was fussy and very irritable. At about 2:30am, the nurse came in told Corky and I to take a break. She could see how exhausted we were. They gave her a small dose of medicine to help her relax and so when Corky and I returned, she was sound asleep. We all were able to rest for about 4 more hours, which we all were in dire need of.

The next morning, Emily was a lot more eager to be held and snuggled and she was allowed some apple juice. It had been more than 24 hours since she had had anything to eat or drink. She continued to be monitored for seizures for the next while but was finally released from the ICU that afternoon. I think the biggest relief for her was being able to leave her room. She was getting really stir crazy and just kept pointing to the outside.

Emily's scare.

Last Tuesday (has it really been almost a week? It feels like a month) started off like any normal day. Sort of. We had made a quick trip to Phoenix the past weekend for a job interview with Corky and a little house-hunting, and we drove home Monday night. We arrived at our house at about 3:00am Tuseday morning, so as expected we were all exhausted Tuesday morning. We joke now that there was some divine intervention because rather than going back to bed Tuesday morning, I got up and unpacked all of our suitcases, started and finished a load of laundry and still managed to have myself and my girls showered and dressed by noon. If you know me at all, it takes me a good 2 days to recover from a trip like that. After I had finished my hair, it was noon exactly, me and my girls were heading downstairs to make lunch. Emily sat at the top of the stairs with a blank stair and kind of trembling, almost as if she had been startled by something.


Rewind to 3 weeks ago, Corky and I heard her blabbing in the middle of the night. I went into check on her and she was babbling and twitching. I pick her up from her crib and she seemed awake but was not acting herself. Corky and I took her into the other room where for about a half hour she wouldn't stand on her own, would blab, and woudn't focus her eyes on anything. Suddenly she snapped out of it and we all went back to sleep, not thinking much about it afterwards. We figured she was still in a sleepy daze.


Now back to Tuesday, this is how she started acting again but this time we had been playing right before and I knew she hadn't been sleeping. I call Corky and say "Remember a couple of weeks ago when Emily was acting funny in the middle of the night? Well, she is doing that again." He tells me that he is on his way home for lunch and is just coming into the neighborhood. Within that next minute, her face become even more catatonic, her trembling had worsened, and her heart was racing. As soon as Corky walked in the door we knew she had to the to E.R. So I held her as Corky drove to the hospital, which was about 1 mile away from our house. During that drive, her breathing became more of a snort and she still wasn't responsive. Something inside of me knew she was having a seizure even though it wasn't at all what you see on tv. She wasn't flailing her arms and legs, just minor twitches.


So Corky drops me and her off at the entrance so we can run inside while he parks the car. I rush her in and tell the front desk that she is responding. She is immediately taken from my arms and rushed back to the trauma room. I was so afraid that they were taking her away from me and that I wouldn't be able to hold her again. Thankfully they let me follow though. I stood in that back room as they immediately started working on her. People rushing all around trying to do their jobs. They confirmed to me that she was in fact having a seizure. A few minutes later (I think? I have no timeline except for when the seizure started and stopped) I see a close friend and member of our branch come around the corner. He was a nurse anesthetis and was actually the one who assisted my doctor for my c-section when I delivered Emily. When he (Neil) saw me all upset and realized it was Emily they were treating, he rushed in and did what he could to help until the other anesthetis could arrive. I was so relieved to see a familiar face even though it was still chaotic at that point. At that point, 2 more pediatricians show up from the clinic across the street. There were about 15 people in that room, all doing what they could to help Emily.


Changing gears a little....this was Corky's perspective. He sat in the E.R. with Gracey as soon as they parked the car. He would have come back to find out what was going on but Gracey couldn't go and he didn't want to leave her there on her own. As he sat there waiting, he saw loads of doctors and nurses, literally running into the E.R. and going to the backroom. He knew it was because of Emily. I can't imagine how scary that must have been for him. I am sure he was imagining the worse (we all were quite honestly) and not knowing anything. Not to mention the feeling of helplessness.

After 45 minutes the seizure finally stopped. They pumped so much valuum into her little body that they put a breathing tube in her throat and were breathing for her. They assured me that she could probably breath on her own but rather than making her body work harder than needed, they did it for her. They were able to stabalize her enough to prepare her for the helicopter ride to Loma Linda University Hospital.


We feel very fortunate to have so many great friends and neighbors. I know anybody would have taken Gracey if I had asked but I called my friend Kelly and she was more than willing to take her. Corky dropped her off while I stayed with Emily. Our friend Neil called our branch president who met me at the E.R. Once again, it was so comforting to see a familiar face. When Corky returned, the E.R. staff allowed Corky and President Anderson to give Emily a blessing before she would board the helicopter. It was a beautful blessing that brought great comfort to not only Emily I'm sure, but to me and Corky. I really needed to hear it because it still seemed chaotic with all the people still working on Emily and all the machines and noises that were going on in there. While my heart totally broke because there wasn't room on the helicopter for me or Corky, I was comforted by the fact that her pediatrician and nurse would be accompanying her during the ride to make sure she remained stable.


So they got the helicopter all prepped and ready and they wheeled her out. By that time, I had my wits about me and was just so grateful and impressed by the hospital staff that I was overwhelmed with appreciation. We still didn't know what was going to happen but I had a sense of relief that I was so in need of. However, as they wheeled her outside, they had to wheel her through the E.R. public entrance. I saw a mom there with her child that was just younger than Emily and saw her heart break for me. I have no idea who she was but seeing her face snapped me back to reality. I realized that she was seeing me experience something with my child that every mother dreads. I felt her compassion and sorrow and I wanted to just hug her....maybe I should have.

Anyway, so off Emily goes in the helicopter. Corky and I watched as it took off and I joked that she beat me to a helicopter ride. I have always wanted to ride in one, but not like that.

picture 1- Loading Emily into the helicopter. Her nurse is in the scrubs and her doctor is just getting into the helicopter.

picture 2, 3, 4- Heading off to Loma Linda, about a 40 minute helicopter ride.

Dry Cheerios are for Sissies

Emily now insists on eating her breakfast like her big sister, Gracey. No more of that Gerber Oatmeal for her. She also likes to mooch off of anyone that is eating. Corky's grapefruit, my omelet, and any other food she can get her hands on in the morning. I wish she was this good of an eater at dinner time.

Gordon Bitner Hinckley 1910-2008

What a remarkable man. Tonight as I was taking in the news of his death, I felt a sadness that my children won't know and love him the way that I have known and loved him as a true and living prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I felt a sadness that they will only hear stories about how wonderful he was. Almost as quickly as that feeling came to me, a feeling of gratefulness and peace came over me. My children will know his teachings, they will know his humor, and most importantly they will know the amazing things he did on this earth. They will know how special he was to me and Corky, just as me and Corky know how special previous presidents were to our parents. Our children will know how much we love our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, our Saviour. They will know through our own stories, pictures, journals, blogs, and more importantly,they will hopefully know through our example. President Hinckley is a prime example of love, devotion, faith, compassion, and humor. I will miss him.

Tonight after I put my kids to bed, I rummaged through some old journals and found one entry that I wrote in October 22, 2000. It reads:

Today is such a special day. I went to Stake Conference in the Snow Canyon Stake and President Gordon B. Hinckly made a surprise visit. It was so AWESOME! (yes I really did write that!) I knew that he would be here because of some hints and few other "sources", but most of the congregation didn't know. I loved watching the faces and reactions of the people around. When he walked in at first, the few people that knew he'd be there (myself included) stood immediately. The rest of the people followed with confusion. Then they realized it was him and the whole room was filled with the spirit and lots of emotion. I got emotional and it was difficult to hold it in.

Seeing and listening to the prophet today was such a humbling experience. He's such a great man. This year he turned 90 years old and he is still so full of hope and energy.

Today was such a peaceful relief from this past week. After losing in the soccer playoffs I was really sad because it was my senior year. That means our season as a team is over, along with my high school soccer career. Then Wednesday, October 18th, we took Jared (my older brother) to the MTC. I wish he could have stayed one more week so he could have seen President Hinckly. He would have really enjoyed it. That's okay, obviously he left when he did for a reason.

Listening to President Hinckly speak and the other leaders, it just added to my testimony. What an awesome thing this gospel is. Its the biggest part of my life. If I didn't have the gospel, I wouldn't be where I am and I wouldn't be the person I am. Everything that I have or that I stand for is because of this church.

Today is an unforgettable day. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I've had to listen to these leaders speak. I saw the light of Christ in theirs eyes. I was only about 15 feet away from them, it was hard to miss.

I am so blessed.

I am so happy that I wrote my thoughts down that day. I even taped a program into my journal that I saved. I have scribbled in there that President Hinckley was presiding.

I am grateful for his sense of humor, I am grateful for the legacy that he is leaving behind, and I am grateful that he has made this earth a better place for me and my family.

I wasn't tractor-tippin'!

A few weeks ago, Gracey out of nowhere began saying "Holy Shoot!" at every little thing. Knowing that neither I or Corky say that, we weren't sure how she learned it. We just figured she picked it up at preschool. Then one day as Gracey was watching "Cars" for the 10,000th time, I noticed the cute little tow truck, Mater saying "Holy Shoot!" There it was, no more confusion for us. Funny that we didn't pick up on it earlier but she obviously took note of that phrase.

Yesterday, again out of the blue, she said "Sheeeoooot!" Once again, just like Mater. That has been Gracey's most overused phrase the past 2 days but I must say that I think it is pretty funny! If you can really say that there is ever an appropriate time to say it, she knows when. Sheeeooooot....for a 3 year old, her comedic timing is great.

And just for the record, I don't care that she loves to watch "Cars" over and over again. It is one of my faves as well. Next week I am sure she will be back on the "Cinderella" kick.

So sad.

Can you believe that Heath Ledger died? That is so sad. While I wasn't as much of a fan in recent times, I used to LOVE him. I remember my first encounter with him (like it was face to face!) was at Abby's house. We didn't have soccer practice that day and so I went straight to her house after school and watched "10 Things I Hate About You!" I loved him singing in the stands!

It really is too bad, he could have been great.

Girls Weekend In

Corky left for San Diego Saturday because he had 9 interviews set up for the long weekend, so it was just me and my ladies all of Saturday, Sunday, and today! To be honest, I wasn't totally looking forward to it. I was afraid that the girls and I would get bored, and when Gracey gets bored....she becomes a holy terror!

Saturday, I decided to brave the matinee with them and we saw Enchanted. I knew it was my only chance of watching it any time soon since Corky had absolutely NO desire whatsoever to ever see it in his life! I must say, I loved it!! I love those cheesy musical. Can you believe I haven't seen Hairspray? Anyway, Gracey was way into it and Emily became a little bored about half way through it. Luckily I had a bunch of suckers to save the day!

Sunday, church was a challenge. That is all I will say about that. Sunday night though was lots of fun. We watched Willy Wonka and baked cookies! Tony Horton, of P90X, would be so disappointed in me! I don't care, I had fun with my girls and cookies (or any carbs for that matter) have never tasted so good!!!

Today was lots of fun too. The girls just hung out with me all morning and followed me around as I cleaned all the bathrooms, dusted, vacuumed, and swept the house. Not usually my idea of fun, but for some reason today it was. After we did some cleaning, I made lunch for the girls. PB&J sandwich with slices of green peppers as their veggie! Gracey took a bite and said "Mom, thank you so much for lunch. It tastes so good. This is a great party!" You would think I made them a gourmet meal the way she was complimenting it! I got a kick out of that. She is such a sweet girl! Glad to know the she is such a fan of PB and strawberry jelly on wheat! Gracey also had swim lessons today. So that got us out of the house (it was too windy to play outside) and we all had lots of fun at the (indoor) pool.

Back to P90X...Corky and I are experiencing a fitness overhaul. We are doing a 90 day program of strict exercise and diet and so far it has been great! Well, the low carbs is not so fun for me because I really, really love my bread, sugar, fruit, etc. I used to think diet=hungry!! Not this one! We are eating a TON, just mainly protein and green veggies! Its been a fun thing to do together. We eat every meal together and after the girls go to bed, we exercise for at least 1 hour. We have done weightlifting,plyometrics , yoga , and abs, just to name a few! Do I sound like a walking billboard for this program? I feel like one. I have loved it so far and we are only into our 2nd week!

So I have both of my girls in bed and am now just waiting for Corky to get home tonight so I can hear about how his job interviews went! He has quite a few more coming up and today was great practice for him. We figure the more job interviews he gets, the higher his chances are of doing something that he will like!

A foot what?

This conversation took place last night after dinner when Gracey got to pick out a treat.

Gracey- "This is a foot-roller."
Me- "A What???"
Gracey- "A foot-roller."
Me- "No, its called a toots....OOOOOOOH! You mean a tootsie roll!"

It had me and Corky laughing pretty hard. We realized we rarely refer to our feet or toes as "feet or toes." We usually say "tootsies!"

Welcome to Corky's life....seriously.

Just a little update

Not a whole lot to write about. Well, I guess there is always a lot to write about but in my head I think there has to be a holiday, wedding, birthday, meteor shower, etc, before I actually write. Not today my friends, today I am writing just because.

We went to St. George a couple of days after Christmas. It was fun, minus my trip to the ER and being sick the entire time. No worries, the ER is the only place my insurance would authorize me to see a doctor. I knew I had strep throat and had been to the doctor a couple of days before and was given amoxicillin. That wasn't doing the trick. By Sunday my throat was so bad that I was spitting into a glass so that I wouldn't have to swallow my own spit. Isn't that pretty to think about? So the ER tells me that I not only have strep, but I have a case of mono as well. Yippee! So I got a penicillin shot in my booty and I was sent on my merry way. Anyway, that is why while we were in St. George, I made no contact with anyone. I figured that infecting my family was bad enough, I didn't want anyone else to get sick. So that was that.

Corky is going to be attending a couple of job conferences in the next month. He already has a few interviews set up that are looking really hopeful.

Emily is doing great, although we are putting up a fight with her eating habits. She does not like what I make for dinner, ever! She takes a bite and spits it out and shakes her head over and over. The past week though, Corky and I are getting a little more stern about her eating. She cries with almost every bite. She continues to cry but will clap her hands after eating off the fork. This is new to me since Gracey would eat anything and everything that was placed in front of her. I haven't bought jars of food or veggies for Emily (unless we're on a road trip) and I am not about to start now. The girl has got to eat.

Another funny thing she is doing now is shaking her head no to EVERYTHING! At least if it my idea. She is my little diva.

Some big news for Gracey this past week is that she is being treated for asthma. She has been battling a cough since she was a newborn. The last 2 doctors I saw about it brushed it off once again saying "its just the time of year". I finally put my foot down and insisted on seeing a pediatrician who would FINALLY listen to me. I knew it wasn't just a chest cold. Her cough didn't keep her from doing things she wants to do, but it kept her up at night and would make her vomit. So this doctor put her on an inhaler twice a day and I honestly haven't heard her cough in 4 days. She has only been on the medicine for 5 days. It is such a relief as a mother to know your child can sleep undisturbed and breathe so much easier.

On an even happier note with Gracey, she started swimming lessons yesterday! She has loved the water and loved to swim since she was tiny. I was a little worried that she would be nervous without her lifejacket. She didn't care. She loved it so much and I love that she is getting a good start on swimming on her own.

Happy Birthday to my Emily-girl!

Today my baby girl turned 1. I love this girl so much. I was sure that I would never love anything as much as I loved Gracey. It wasn't until Emily came along that I realized that love isn't just shared or divid out...it seriously multiplies in an instant. I love this little ones personality, her humor, and her subtleties that only a mother or father can pick up on. It has been a truly remarkable year having her in it. Because of her arrival Gracey has become a great big sister, I have learned the importance of having and sticking with a schedule, and Corky has mastered the art of carrying "bose a dem" (translated to "both of them" in Gracey language).

This little one truly melts my heart with her big blue eyes. Happy Birthday Enemy! (also Gracey language...translates to Emily. We all picked that one up.)

9 months Portraits

Current Snapshots

Christmas!!

Christmas was nice and quiet around here....and as perfect as it gets I think. This is the 2nd time that we have done Christmas in our own home and not travelled and I really love it. Of course I love mine and Corky's family and always wish I could see them more often, it is just so nice to enjoy Corky's easy-going work schedule and just chill.

Christmas Eve we did go to some friends house who stuck around here and had dinner with them. Then the kids dressed up for the Nativity and it was really cute. Not being with family for the traditional big dinner/party, being with good friends is the next best thing.

Santa was so good to Gracey and Emily this year. He brought the kitchen that Gracey has been wanting so badly and Emily is old enough that it entertains her just as much.

The girls were spoiled, as was Corky and I. Corky got me a brand new camera that has been so great to have already. My pictures aren't blurry anymore, the resolution is excellent, and it has a 10x zoom. It should last us quite a while. In case anyone is curious it is aSony Cyber-shot DSC H-3. Corky also got me the Rockband game....which leads me right into Corky's present.

Corky got the X-box! He has been wanting one for so so so long but have never been able to justify the time or money. Since he won't be going to medical school and won't be spending all his evenings studying, we figured this would be great to play with.


We fully enjoyed everything about the Christmas season this year. We feel very blessed to be able to celebrate the birth of our Savior and to know the true meaning of it. We also are happy to have reasons to buy each other fun things. I love the holidays. There is definitely no better time of year. As you can see in the next collage, we are already enjoying our fun toys and are happy that the girls can be included. You also may notice that my Christmas tree is already down. I promise, I am not a scrooge...just always anxious to have my house back to normal. I love everything about Christmas decorations but I think if I kept them up for long periods of time....I wouldn't love them so much!

Gracey's performance.

Last Thursday was Gracey's preschool performance. We have quite the little performer on our hands (maybe spazz is the better word for it). Corky and I have been cracking up over this video all weekend and are happy that we were able to get it onto the computer in time to spread the Christmas cheer!

A little Quiz

1- If your daughter runs up to you with red stuff coming out of her nose, what's your first guess?
a) blood
b) red hot candy

2- If your daughter was too freaked out to blow her nose, would you think it is because she is scared of
a) the blood coming out of her nose?
b) the fact that something is stuck in her nose ?

3- After realizing your daughter has a redhot stuck in her nose and its finally taken out but she is still crying, what do you think the reason is?
a) it was scary?
b) the cinnamon from the red hot kind of stung?
c) all of the above


My (Morgan's) guesses: 1) a 2) a 3) a
The real answers: 1) b 2) b 3) c

Why do kids stick things up their noses???