Peyton's going to Kindergarten!

I can't believe Peyton is old enough to start Kindergarten! He has been so excited to go. The only tears were when he thought he wouldn't see me very much because he was going to be at school all day (he's a Mama's boy, what can I say). Once I explained that he would only be in school for less than 3 hours, the tears were gone!

He did so well on his Kindergarten testing, he knew a lot more then I thought he did, I definitely can't take all the credit. When asked to identify a number the teacher held up number 79 and he knew what it was. She said "WOW Peyton, that is awesome that you knew the number 79! How did you know it?" He replied "hmph, I just sounded it out!" Silly boy.

I know he is going to have a great time learning and playing with new friends.

Going to meet his teacher (nice pose buddy)!

Ready for the first REAL day of Kindergarten.

The last month...

February flew by. Things were pretty crazy with me working 3 nights in a row but things went just fine as we knew they would, there were very few break downs thankfully!
We started out the month by squeezing one last tubing trip in. Peyton's friend had a fun sledding party and we were introduced to an awesome hill! We got some new tubes for the kids but it was pretty dark when we got there. We didn't get a lot of pictures but we had a ton of fun!

Bailey had her tonsils out on February 4. The surgery part went well but because of her age we had to stay overnight at Primary Children's. Her pain was pretty bad and we weren't too surprised by her reaction to it, poor thing. The night at the hospital was a crazy one filled with much crying and discomfort for Bailey. She went into surgery at about 12:30pm that day. After the surgery she was barely making it 3 hours before she would be writhing in pain, which was a problem because she could only have the Lortab every 4 hours! The last hour was spent unsuccessfully trying to distract her. At one point she had pain meds at 9:00 then at 10:00pm she was screaming so bad saying it hurt. The more she would scream the more her poor throat would hurt, it was an endless cycle! Knowing that she had another 3 hours before she could have anything we begged the nurse to call the Dr. and see if she could give her something else. She came back and said they could give hr Benedryl, better than nothing I guess, except for the fact that the Benedryl and Lortab combination made Bailey's oxygen levels drop all night! Needless to say I didn't sleep much because I kept needing to move the blow by (a funnel that blows oxygen into her face) so it was pointing at her face since she kept moving!
Her recovery (the next 2 weeks) was just as rough. For almost 2 weeks she needed the Lortab every 4 hours, sometimes we would barely make it 4 hours! The day was pretty predictable including at least one crying spell that would lead to vomiting due to a very sore throat and gagging. As expected, we also dealt with the result of narcotics added to decreased fluid intake which is constipation, that was super fun for cute, innocent little Bailey who slapped me in the face after I nicely announced to her that I was going to do 1 last glycerin suppository (the last of 3, which didn't end up working anyway:( ). Good times, glad that's over with! Most importantly we had a lot of great, very kind family who were willing to help out with Bailey since she couldn't go to daycare for 2 weeks but I still had to precept. Thanks Betsy, Jenny, and MeeMaw!

Dan and Peyton gave Bailey and I these beautiful roses for Valentines Day. The red roses were for me and the pink were for Bailey. What sweet boys we have!

Precepting turned out to be an ok experience. I didn't get my first choice of specialties, or my second, or my third, well, actually I didn't get any of my choices at all but at least I got a good preceptor. I was at David Hospital (not my choice either) on the Women's Surgical GYN unit and also did about 1/3 of my shifts on Postpartum. I learned a lot about piggy backing antibiotics, PCA pumps and meds, hysterectomy's, bladder slings, and postpartum care, removed a whole lot of Foley's and checked dozens of fundus'. All interesting in their own way but not really something I would like to spend my nursing career doing. I may have liked an experience with labor and delivery since it provides a little more action and my experience in that specialty is very limited but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Anyway, I'm glad that's over and now I am back to working for $ which is always nice!

Last but not least, today we finally got Bailey's hair cut. If you remember she was quite the hair twister as an infant and can still be caught with her finger stuck in her hair. All the twisting made the left side of her head a little thin and bald in some spots. Her hair is growing back ok and the shortest spot is now almost to the top of her ear. We decided to try to even it out a little since the right side of her head had hair that is all the same length and fairly thick. It looks so much better now and you can barely notice the difference. She is getting to be so grown up, I just can't believe my baby is going to be 3 in 2 months!

My Sanity...

Before the chaos of February starts (I'm precepting and Bailey is getting her tonsils out, added to all the school and family stuff, and my new diagnosis of Celiac disease!) I just wanted to share a few things with you. They (in no particular order) are all bringing sanity to my life as I'm in my last semester of nursing school (Yahoo!) and things are CRAZY!

First:
http://downloads.sugardoodle.net/2009FHEBook.doc
This is a great little book of family home evening lessons for the whole year! This has made it so easy to meet our goal of holding FHE each week and my kids LOVE it! We print 2 lessons out every other week then Dan and I take turns giving the lesson. We also had this made by a consignee at Quilted Bear

This has also made it so much fun for the kids. I probably could have made this myself but there was just no time and we loved this one when we found it. The name pieces are stuck on by magnets...perfect!

Second:

and
and especially
They have made this semester and all of nursing school so much better. They all have helped me so much, the kids by being silly and by making me laugh and Dan by doing the things that I haven't been able too, like laundry, cooking, cleaning and entertaining our crazy kids.

Third:
Just before the new year Dan and I started doing what we call "the weekly article". Every Sunday after we get home from church we put Bailey down for a nap and spend some time together as a couple (P does whatever his little heart desires ie plays the Wii). Dan and I switch off every other week being in charge of picking the article. It can be about whatever we want it to be. We usually get the articles from here but have gotten them from the Ensign and other LDS websites. We both read the article then we talk about what we thought about it. This has been such a great thing. In a way it sort of forces an adult conversation which doesn't end up being forced, we are just forced to start it. This leads to great conversations week after week and some good quality ADULT time between Dan and I.

Fourth:
Weekly date night! I have such a hard time relaxing and weekly date night makes me do just that! Each week we plan a date night, sometimes it's just watching a movie after we put the kids to bed but it's time Dan and I are able to spend together, which is what we are shooting for. It's been so nice to spend quality time together so much and has for sure made a difference!

I'm hoping all these things (along with the fact that the end is in sight) will push me though the month of February! Here's to a good month!!

Sledding & Santa's Sleigh...

Yesterday after I took my last final for the semester (YIPEE) we went sledding with some friends. It was a lot of fun minus the steep slippery hill that provided a great workout for my outta shape bootie! Peyton had a great time going up and down while Bailey sat at the top watching contently (she did go down twice much too her dismay).

This morning Peyton's daycare class took a field trip to sit in Santa's sleigh! Here are some of the pics...

I PASSED...

I passed my LPN boards!! I tested on Friday and found out my results today. I am so excited and relieved. I am glad to have that off my back and planning for a fun Summer. YEAH!!

Hope I'm better than this nurse!

(the cartoon was Dan's idea, so sorry if anyone is offended)

7 More Weeks...

Spring Break has come to an end. Thankfully, Bailey is feeling better after her week long bout of sickness which along with Adenovirus also ended up including Strep (again) and ear infections (again). I'm headed back to school tomorrow to finish out the semester, and the kids are headed back to daycare (probably only to get sick again). I feel a little bit re-energized and I'm excited to be starting my OB clinical rotation on the 24th of March. It will be an interesting addition to my regular school regimen to say the least. A lot will happen in the next 7 weeks, including my final practicum, the ATI exam (the thought of this is a bit stressful), and finals. The end is in sight (not the permanent end, just the temporary one) which includes Summer!

Update...

I really don't have much to blog about other than the fact that school is back in, schedules are back to being busy and Bailey is getting sick again (gotta love daycare). It has been tough getting back into to the school schedule, at least the studying part, I got used to taking it easy over the break now I need to get back to my regular studying practices.

Peyton was excited to get back to school/daycare. I think he missed all his friends, and especially his teacher. Bailey on the other hand hasn't been too happy to go. Before the break she was to the point where she would cry only about half of the time when we'd drop her off, now she cries everyday. I'm sure she'll be adjusted just in time for the end of the semester.

Another thing I never posted about:

Over the break Stacey and I took the kids to the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. It was small and a little over priced but it was still fun. They had some cool stuff to see and touch, neither of my kids touched any of the animals but it was fun to see Gage's reaction to touching the sting rays.

This one's for you Oléa- the Zebra eel.

Finally!!

School is finally out for the semester, I took my last final a week ago today. It is so good to have a break, I can't believe how much time it seems like I have now, I'm sure it will fly by. Dan took last week off to help with the kids and the house for finals and he was a such a big help. I felt bad that he had to spend his vacation being Mr. Mom but he sure did a great job. Here are a few of the things Mr. Mom accomplished last week.


Put the Christmas decorations up in the house
Paint the bathroom
Decorate the bathroom (he picked out all the stuff himself)
Watch the kids- pretty much all day everyday
Make dinner (almost every night!)
Laundry- washed, folded AND put away!
Set up the tree
Put the lights on the tree
Put up the lights on the house (we did this together)
Clean the house for my after school party (while I was sleeping- after working a grave)
Dust the house
Vacuum the house (for about the 6th time during our marriage!)


I really am so thankful to have such a great husband, he has had to put up with a lot and I am thankful for his patience. I hope he enjoyed spending time with the kids and feels like having a clean house is rewarding (probably not like I do!) But anywho, just thought I'd mention that he is a great husband and father!


Just a few random pictures that were on the camera.