We've made it 5 years!

Happy anniversary Jon!  The day started at 1:30 with Sophie crying out.  Teething, no doubt.  Lydia walks in to Sophie's room and I tell her I'll be in to check on her as soon as I calm Sophie down.  Sophie's almost asleep when Lydia can't wait any longer.  I set Sophie down and thankfully she doesn't cry out much, because Lydia's need is greater.  "Stuff came out of my mouth," she tells me.  Throw up all over the bed, on her favorite blanky (which soothes her to sleep) and on Daisy, her dog.  I change her sheets as quickly and quietly as possible, knowing that Jon needs to be up at 5:30 and on the road by 6:00 so he can head to Manila and slay dragons for us, and want him to get as much sleep as possible.

Not surprisingly, the day ended with Jon and Sophie falling asleep on the love sac and Lydia staying up way past her bedtime.

Despite the weeks and weeks of Jon's overtime and hours and hours of service in our church callings, oh, and the months and months of nightly wakings with our darling daughters, I wouldn't change life as we know it for a minute!  Thanks for the adventure the last five years has been!  I'm looking forward to the next five, and the five after that, and the five after that, and all the excitement yet to come!

Happy Birthday Lyds!!

Little Lydia is three!!   It's hard to believe she's been part of our lives for as long as she has when it feels like just yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital.

We've been talking about her birthday for months.  Originally she wanted a kitty cake, but a few weeks ago (around Easter) she changed her mind.  A Blu party, inspired by Rio, captured her imagination.  This morning she and I made bluebird cupcakes while Sophie napped.  She was mostly a big help in the beginning... until dipping her fingers in the cake mix became her priority.  Anyway, they came together nicely in the end, and Lydia seemed really excited about them until Jon came home with balloons.  At which point the cupcakes could have vanished and nobody would have cared!  Really, the night could have ended right then and both Lydia and Sophie would have been beyond happy.  You should have seen them!!  Sophie couldn't stop smiling and refused to let go of her balloon.  And Lydia.  She kept telling Jon and me that she had a pink balloon.  And that Sophie's was purple.  And that's all she wanted to talk about.  She ran around and around worrying about her balloon, and when she was separated from it so that I could do her hair she started crying.  I had no idea that a balloon could make such a difference to the birthday girl.  All the difference, apparently.

Anyway, it was a fun evening with family, and Lydia was sweet and excited about all of her gifts.  It cracked me up to hear her announce, "it's Twilight Sparkle!" When she opened Aunt Cathy and Uncle Caleb's gift.  She knows her My Little Ponies.  From those ponies, and the many movies and books she's familiar with, this little girl has an incredible imagination.  And now, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Frazier, she has her own baby doll so that she doesn't have to wait for Sophie to nap so that she can play with hers!  She's grown so much since her last birthday.  I loved seeing her share the little beanie stuffed animals with Sophie that Aunt Jess and Uncle Derek gave her.  Sharing.  Such a hard lesson to learn!

 It seems like every day she learns new words or memorizes songs or rhymes.  She loves to tell me that Soph and Tophe rhyme.  She'll sing primary songs in the bath and sometimes at lunch.  Today she started singing, "Hi, my name is Joe.  I have a wife and three kids and I work in a button factory..."  She's also a little artist.  She draws faces really well.  Always upside down for some reason...but they look great when she's done, so the crayons from Grandma and Grandpa Blackhurst will be well used.  And she still loves being read to as much as she always has.  I love reading to her before she goes to bed at night.  But my favorite part of the night was watching Lydia run back and forth across the sidewalk in front of our house.  She loves to do that every day, and she's fast!  Even our six year old neighbors have commented on her speed.  Her bloody toe didn't stop her.  Didn't even phase her. If given the option she always chooses to go barefoot.  She's one tough cookie!  Happy third birthday Lydia!!  We love you!!

Happy Easter!

I know we're a little late, but just had to document these little darlings in their adorable spring dresses.  Don't you just love this time of year?!

Wood creations

Jon's quite the handy man and can fix anything.  Anything.  Unfortunately I seem to unintentionally test him on that far too often.  Like the disposal last week.  Sadly, that's the second time I've temporarily ruined our disposal.  And then there's the rod that helps to open the blinds.  Yep, I broke it clean off.  And the time I was using the vacuum to clean the stairs and hadn't plugged the hose in correctly and was therefore cleaning nothing.  What a waste!

Anyway, that's not the point of this post.  He's totally the golden boy and I thought it was about time to document all his amazing wood creations to this point.  Because he not only fixes anything broken, but has this amazing ability to create fantastic and useful things made from pieces of wood.

I love these Geese.  They were his first project after we were married and turned out really well. They're cute and serve such a great purpose.

 

 This Shelf is beautiful!  We needed something to hang by our front door so we could put our jackets and hats on and instead of finding one at the store Jon went out in the garage and got to work and came back with this.

We talked about wanting to chart Lydia's growth shortly after she was born and then got serious about it after Sophie came along.  Jon looked on-line for deals and quickly realized that he could make one much better suited to our needs on his own than anything we could find and this is what he came up with!  I hope the girls cherish these quality growth charts!

Jon whipped these out last December for the Frazier cousins and Leila.  Pretty sweet, don't you think??

And then there's the Owl chair. LOVE this!  It might just be my favorite so far, but I refuse to state that definitively.  Everything he makes has been awesome.  This incredible chair came to be because Jon wondered if he could duplicate a little froggy rocking chair that his Uncle Jim made him when he was a little boy.  We had Jarom, Brittany and Leila for Christmas this past year and with Leila's token being an owl Jon thought it would be great to make an owl chair for her- a real special and personal homemade gift.  And he did!  Sophie fell in love with it after Jon put the stain on and before it was in Jarom and Brittany's possession, which means that Jon's work is not yet over!

 

She's Already One?! Finally!

So hard for me to believe that Sophie's one!  Just look at her!!  Such a beautiful and mischievous little girl!  Seems like much less than a year since she entered our lives and brightened our days, and yet by watching her today you could tell (or at least I can imagine) that she thought this day would never come.  It's like she's been waiting for and looking forward to her first birthday for a very very very long time and finally made it.  Finally!  So many things to look forward to.  She wants to eat everything she sees anyone else eating.  She thinks she can safely climb onto everything and nothing unfortunate will happen.  She's fearless and invincible.  Right?  She watches her sister and it's clear that she thinks she should be able to do everything that Lydia does and then some.  I've been looking forward to this milestone simply because of all the scares she's given us through the year and am so happy she's made it!!

Sophie got to watch me make her cake.  Not once, but twice.  And in fact it was actually the third attempt to get our little darling's cake just right before things really worked out, but I'll get to that later.  I'm pretty sure she would have preferred to be a little more hands on.  That's how this one rolls, but despite not being more involved I think that just seeing her cake was exciting for her.  I'd also like to think that she sensed something magical in the air and that perhaps that was the reason it was so challenging to get her to nap this afternoon.  We really wanted her rested up for the festivities, and I wasn't succeeding at getting her to cooperate so Jon (The Baby Whisperer) stepped in and that was that.

She woke up just as the first guests arrived so we dolled her up a bit and she was the life of the party!  Not really so much into opening her gifts, but she did kind of get the hang of it by the last one. She had lots of love and support from both sides of the family and we really loved having everyone over!

When everyone sang she was adorable and kind of shy.  She kept turning her head, but didn't full on try to hide.  She didn't seem to be loving the spotlight, and yet definitely wasn't hating it!!  And then the cake.  Oh the cake!  She didn't even hesitate.  She got right into it. Started squeezing the cake and really got a feel for the spongy texture.  Like I said, she's hands on, this girl!  Then she licked her fingers and it didn't take long for her to start downing that anxiously awaited piece of precious cake.  I honestly thought she'd be timid like Lydia had been with her first cake, but Sophie is Sophie, not Lydia and I shouldn't have been surprised at all to see her dive into it!  She was wearing that cake all over her face.  Oh yah, and on her chest too, despite the bib.  We even found it under her legs.  She wasn't messing around, this one.  We probably would have done better to hose her down at the end of the evening, but the sponge bath worked well enough.  She ended the day by taking a couple of steps on her own.  Something she's done a few times, but a little more confidently tonight.  It won't be long till she's running around with her big sister!  We love our little fire cracker and look forward to another year full of growth and excitement.  She certainly keeps us on our toes!

We had to document her height on her beautiful growth chart and she did her best to hold still for just a second, but then she was done.  So much to see and do and explore.

As for the cake and the many failed attempts.... Let me tell you about them... In deciding what cake to make for little Soph we knew that we wanted to make her a bear.  She's in love with this pink bear and since she can't tell us what she wants, a bear seemed the perfect fit.  We stumbled across a 3D bear cake mold that Jon's Mom had used to make her girls cakes when they were young and that amazingly enough, she still had.  So cool!  Jon suggested I test it out in advance just to make sure I didn't run into any bumps in the process.  Good thing I listened!  First attempt spilled out horribly and our bear was missing his tummy.  Looked like he was wearing bell bottoms.  It also made the house smell like burnt chocolate for a couple of days.  Not fantastic.  Oh, and it left me with a hideous burn on my wrist.  Not that I can blame the cake for that.

Attempt number two would have been wonderful but in my eagerness I hastily opened the bear before it had cooled and split him in half.  That delicious carrot cake was still delicious, but I'd lost all my presentation points and really wanted Soph to have her bear cake.  I'm pretty sure she was counting on it to look just right! ;) 

Finally, on the third attempt the bear turned out beautifully.  Just beautifully!  But it didn't have enough batter and so the bear paws weren't filled in all the way to the bottom so that when I turned the cake right side up it wasn't touching the cake platter, it was only resting on the stand and hovering about an inch above where it should have sat.  And as you might have been able to predict, gravity took over just as I was finishing the final touches of frosting, despite my best efforts to support this lovely bear's legs with Nilla Wafers and marshmallows.  Cracks everywhere.  Boo.  At that point we called it good.  Pretty sure Sophie wasn't too upset about it.  :) That's our girl!

We love you Sophie!!  Happy first birthday!!

Lyddy kitty

For Christmas Lyds got a dancing kitty from her Frazier grandparents.  It's funny to remember how much it frightened her to begin with, especially since the days of Lydia being a different storybook or movie character have essentially vanished.  She has meowed for months, revealed her sharp claws and paws, and crawled on the floor.  That's right.  Crawled on the floor.  Not just at home, but at the store, and at neighbors homes, at grandparents homes and even at church.  In fact things were getting a little out if control.  We found the need to set some boundaries.  No kitties at the table.  Jon would say that and then tell her, "it's the law." Something she's learned to repeat and clearly understands and yet can't resist pushing the boundaries and testing us.  Everyone at church has started asking how the kitty is and she loves it!  We're still working on her understanding that there are no kitties at church.  Is it really harmful?  I don't think so, but it's nice to know that she can turn it on and off.  And I know that she can, because at breakfast she'll suddenly meow and I'll meow back before I remember that there are no kitties at the table!!  She loves tricking me!

The other day she told me that her dancing kitty had a sore bum.  She took pity on him and also took the initiative to care for him by wiping her kitty's bottom with some wipes.  When I saw the wipes I thought she was taking some of the color out of her kitten's fur- the wipes looked orange to me so that was certainly a logical explanation, but as I think about it now, I'm not sure why I accepted that so readily.  I told her not to use those anymore and she suggested we buy some play wipes.  As a result Jon dried out some wipes so Lyds could have those much needed play wipes for her kitty or any other animal in need.  Later that day I discovered the Butt Paste with it's unscrewed lid and the light bulb went on.  The wipes were orangy because Lyds had pasted her kitten's sore bum with Butt Paste before wiping it with the wipes.  Something she's seen me do multiple times for Sophie when she's had a rash.  If I wondered if Lydia was paying attention I now knew for sure.  She's sweet and she hates for anyone to be sad or hurting.  I love that about her!

Jon was reading to her one night and she asked that he remove her batteries.  So he did.  She loved it. And I love that she made the request.  She wasn't just a kitty.  She wasn't even just a dancing kitty.  She was a battery operated dancing kitty.  So clever!

Finally, the latest thing she does is ask a million kitty questions.  Do kitties need their blankets?  Do kitties sneeze?  Do kitties cough?  Do kitties eat broccoli?  Do kitties like PEZ?  Do kitties go sleep when the sun goes to bed?  Do kitties like milk?  Do kitties eat blueberries?  I could go on and on, but you get the idea.  It's really important to know what kitties do!!  Because she wants to be just like one!

This girl wants a kitty cake for her birthday and based on her focus I'm sure that that request won't be changing in the next two months.  I guess we'll just have to see.

Sophie scare

So, super scary incident on March 11th.  The week before that Sophie ran a fever most of the week.  We were pretty sure it was due to teething and weren't terribly worried about it, but it was still a concern and definitely not fun to see her in that state; super lethargic and sluggish.  Not the Sophie we know and love.  Anyway, Jon took her to the doc on Friday that week and was told that if the fever continued another two days that she might have a bladder infection and we'd need to do a catheter and run some tests.  Fortunately we weren't to that point yet.  At any rate, we made it through the weekend and her fever broke and all seemed to be well.  She was weak, but seemed to be on the mend.  And then on Tuesday I brought her in to shower with me.  We were just finishing up when Sophie screamed, threw her head back and went limp.  Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she was completely lifeless. I totally panicked.  I rushed out of the shower, set her down all the while wondering what to do once I called 911 if she wasn't breathing.  What if her heart had stopped??  What if my phone dropped the call??  What if I couldn't revive her??  What if...??  What if...??  What if...??  Fortunately once I set her down her eyes opened and she was breathing. She was completely drained of color, but she was alive.  That lifeless little form is something I'll never forget, but she was alive.  She wasn't moving, but she was looking around and so I immediately called Jon, who had me call her doctor while he rushed home.  I knew if he held it together I could.  However once we were told to go to the ER we both lost it.  Jon and his dad gave Soph a blessing and Jon's mom watched Lyds while we drove to McKay Dee.  Everyone there was real sweet with her and just loved her.  The doctor kept calling her Beauty Queen and told her she looked like Betty Boop.  Her physical exam checked out and she was told that she was perfect.  Nothing amiss. He didn't want us to feel that we'd come for nothing, so he told us our options and asked what we wanted to do from there.  Given that CT scans are full of radiation and could lead to leukemia in the future (there's enough research to back that up) and we chose not to do that.  Blood work required putting her under and our doc said we may as well do a CT scan at that point, which left taking a urine sample and running some tests.  But that required a catheter.  He told us that it would give us lots of info and we would have a better idea of what the next step would be. What could we do?  We opted to test her urine- so horrible!!  Poor Soph!  Thankfully we brought her pink bear with us and Jon had the sense to set it right beside her while the nurses did what they had to do.  And then we waited.  And waited.  And waited.  We weren't sure if we'd get the results right away, but finally the report came and her urine was spot on clean and perfect.  Basically she's perfect, so why did she pass out?  Our doc said without Sophie being able to talk to us and without him having been there there's no way to know for sure.  Based on the information he had he decided to call it a febrile convulsion.  Not a seizure because she didn't shake, but a convulsion.  It may have been her body's way of resetting itself after being sick and that was all it was.  Or we may be dealing with similar episodes in the future.  At that point we'd probably do a CT scan or at least consider it; though I've heard that they're only effective if the patient is actually experiencing one at the time they're being scanned... At any rate, needless to say it was a bit of a nightmare and neither Jon nor I wanted to set Sophie down much less let her out of our sight.  She's fine.  And for that we are forever grateful.